Chapter 3
Visit from the Gods
I was strolling across the small square near the library, carrying a saddlebag of supplies from town. My muscles no longer hurt anymore, which seemed strange. It also got dark quite fast so I picked up the pace and soon the library came into sight. After a few moments I clumsily opened the door with a hoof.
I entered the tree house and noticed it was fairly cold inside.
This is strange . . .
The lights were also out, with the exception of a small lamp that cast a dim light in the main room.
“Maybe Twilight and Spike already went to sleep,” I said to myself, not giving it too much thought.
I took the saddlebag off and put it on a table, where Twilight could find it the next day. I then headed to the small guest room, making my way up the stairway. When I reached the top, the temperature fell even more, chills beginning to run down my spine.
I was getting a little bit scared of that feeling, but then something even stranger happened: I started hearing voices whispering, slowly filling the library. By the time I reached my room, my legs had already began shaking. I was scared.
“Twilight, Spike?” I asked, uneasy.
There were no replies, just more whispering. They seemed so familiar, like a distant memory I couldn't remember for some reason. I slowly walked into the dark room, one of my hooves searching for the light switch. As soon as the lights were on, the door slammed shut, making me jump in terror.
Suddenly I realized the room’s walls were covered in big, dark markings. It was the same symbol, written everywhere. It was my cutie mark. The whispering grew stronger, as I started kicking at the door with my forelegs.
“Help! Twilight! Please, someone, anyone!” I yelled.
All of a sudden I stopped, hearing movement behind me. I turned around and the lights dimmed in the presence of another being. My heart stopped when a wave of cold air hit me in the face, paralyzing me.
“What do you want from me?” I asked whoever was in the room with me, a heavy tremor in my voice.
The lights suddenly switched off and the whispering stopped. The air around me was freezing cold and my heartbeats were getting faster and faster.
Then there were sounds of footsteps quickly approaching me.
“Nooo!” I yelled, bracing myself.
I was panting hard, my heart feeling like it was about to burst right out of my chest. I realized everything was another bad dream, and calmed down a bit. Sweat drops were running down my back and my mouth felt dry as ash.
It was still night outside and the moon was casting a pale light through the window. I leaned over to the small table near the bed, my hooves searching for the glass of water I knew was there. I grabbed it carefully and drank it all up in one go, feeling much better afterwards.
I then started thinking about what happened to me in the last two days. Why did I agree to go to London in the first place? Stupid Tom and his stupid ideas; they got me killed, or that’s what I thought. It could all still be just a dream, a very strange one involving a world I never could imagine living in. It had to be one, there was no other valid explanation. But what if it wasn’t? What if I actually died back in that dark alley and ended up in Equestria for some unknown reason?
The conversation with Death came back to me, the memories making the hair in my fur stand up. What if that thing was right and I was trapped between life and death? What if I was placed in that world as a second chance? A second chance at what, for that matter? One thing was sure: after years of being a convinced atheist, I started believing for the first time. I believed that something more powerful than me was out there, and that something put me in a dream world for a reason. I just had to find out what that reason was.
Those strange dreams had to mean something and my cutie mark’s mystery also had to be solved sooner or later. I couldn’t live forever in Twilight’s house. The harsh truth was that I had to start fending for myself in a world that all my previous knowledge probably meant nothing. I had to get a job, a house and all that. I had to start living. What was I going to do? I had nothing.
I slowly fell into a nervous sleep, all the thoughts about my future weaving more concerns in mind.
*** *** ***
Twilight let out a sigh, closing the book in front of her.
“It’s no use. I can’t find anything even similar to that symbol,” she said to herself.
It was still early in the morning and she was alone in the main room, several of books on the ground surrounding her.
My cutie mark was clear in her head and she had continuously searched for any clues that could tell her what my special talent was. Dictionary of your Mark, Cutie Mark References and Secrets of your Talent were just a few of the titles Twilight had been reading in the past couple of days. Even books like The rarest of Cutie Marks and their Meanings, Unicorn Mysteries or Secrets of Dark Magic didn’t hold any useful information on the symbol that was beginning to drive Twilight mad.
However she was still determined to find out what my cutie mark meant and also to find the one unicorn that attacked me that fateful night.
“Mornin’, Twi,” Spike mumbled, entering the room. He was dragging his feet, his eyes barely open.
“Good morning, Spike,” Twilight absently responded, still focused on a book about ancient magic.
“You should really get out more. Haven’t you read all those books already?” the dragon asked, without expecting any different answer to the question he’d been asking Twilight for years.
“This isn’t for me, I am trying to find out what Blink’s cutie mark means,” the mare said, turning another page from Secrets of Dark Magic.
Spike snapped out of his sleepy mood, a grin forming on his face.
“Ahh, so you’re just helping your special friend you saved two nights ago?” he asked with a silly taunting voice.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at him but immediately resumed her search.
“He is not my special friend, Spike. He’s a pony that’s been through a lot and I just want to help him. We have to find out who did this to him and I also need to get him to remember more about his life. Imagine being in an unfamiliar place, not knowing who you are or what happened to you.”
“Yea, yea, I get it. Worst. Thing. Ever,” he said, imitating a certain pony.
Twilight frowned at his assistant’s lack of sensitivity, but then smiled, a rebuke coming up in her mind.
“Well, I remember a certain dragon that I had to live at Fluttershy’s for a couple of days because he couldn’t stay alone in the library without me,” Twilight said, giggling.
“Hey, this place is pretty scary at night, especially with Owlowiscious’s creepy head turn,” The young dragon retorted, slightly angered at her for reminding him of that. “Plus, I’m older now and can sleep alone just fine, thank you very much!”
Spike crossed his hands, puffing smoke out of his nostrils. Twilight could only chuckle at the dragon’s defensive reaction, feeling that she had won the argument.
“Anyway, you should go and wake up Blink. Then you'll have to help him with his exercises.”
“Do I really have to?” Spike moaned.
Twilight gave him another grave look that made him accept his fate, and he made his way to the guest room.
*** *** ***
A knock at the door suddenly woke me up. I looked around and noticed the sun was shining through the window, filling the small room with blinding light.
“Window blinds . . .” I mumbled, ungraciously rubbing my eyes. I flinched a bit from the pain as my hoof pressed a little too hard into them, still unused to not having hands anymore.
The door opened and Spike walked in with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
“Hey dude, come on. Big day ahead for you, need to get those shaky legs in shape.”
“Morning to you too, Spike,” I responded, smiling at the dragon. “I had a wonderful sleep and I am feeling much better, thank you for your concern. How about you?” I asked him, with a fake but playful tone.
The dragon rolled his eyes, unamused.
“Yeah, we should work on your humor as well or you’ll end up having only Twilight laughing at your jokes,” he said sharply, but then started to smile devilish. “Or is that what you actually want, big guy?”
A blush started to form on my face but I quickly shook it off.
“Good one,” I retorted, rising my head while glaring at the small dragon.
I flopped out of the bed and started walking slowly towards the door, lazily dragging my limbs over the wooden floor, following Spike.
“You okay there, Blink?” he asked as we started going down the stairs.
“Yeap. I’m getting better at this, I think.”
My legs weren’t shaking anymore but I still had to tread carefully, as eye-to-hoof coordination was still tricky. I then felt a strange but familiar pressure in the lower part of my body.
“Uhm, Spike, could you please tell me where the bathroom is?” I asked uneasy, feeling the pressure building up.
“Sure. It’s right there, first door on the left. I’ll just wait for you in the kitchen.”
I entered the bathroom, which was right near the base of the staircases where he had pointed out.
After several awkward minutes, I left the bathroom, heading towards the kitchen.
“That was definitely . . . weird,” I thought, trying to get my mind used to the new experience.
I slowly moved across the main room, hearing voices coming from the kitchen. The door was propped opened, and inside Spike was sitting at the table, chewing on what seemed to be blue diamonds.
“Hey there, sleepy head,” Twilight greeted me, while levitating some flowers from a cabinet. “How was your sleep? Are you feeling any better?” she asked full of energy.
Spike started chuckling, remembering my earlier remark and almost choked on a diamond. I frowned at him and Twilight rolled her eyes, not knowing why the dragon reacted the way he did.
“I’m sorry Blink, but all I have for breakfast are some daisies and grass.” Twilight said with regret in her voice. “I'll have to go in town and get some groceries. Meanwhile you can start exercising and Spike will help you, as instructed.”
I sat on a free chair and Twilight brought a plate with the mentioned daisies and grass on the side.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sorry it's so basic,” the lavender pony said half-heartedly, heading out of the kitchen. “I’ll be back in an hour or two. I have to drop by Rarity's and give her a book she asked for a while ago. Spike, you follow the schedule we made this morning, and Blink, you listen to Spike.”
“Sure, Twi. Don't forget to say ‘hi’ to Rarity for me,” the dragon said, his eyes starting to glow at the mention of that specific name.
Twilight put her saddlebag on and left the library, leaving me and Spike alone.
“Who’s Rarity?” I asked grinning, revenge being at hand. “I saw that look on your face, is she a special dragon or something?”
Spike looked back at me, frowning in annoyance at my rather personal inquiry.
“No, she’s actually a pony. The most beautiful and gracious one in Ponyville, and the most talented dressmaker I know!”
His reptile pupils elongated more than usual and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“And don’t you get any ideas, buddy,” Spike hissed at me.
“Calm down, dude, I’m not interested in dating at the moment. I have more important things on my mind right now,” I said with a laugh.
The dragon’s face expression returned to normal, and he resumed eating his breakfast.
“Strange, yet cute,” I thought, holding a smile.
Spike was eating his blue gems and I was chewing on some grass when my eyes fell on the last of the precious stones in his bowl. I forgot those were actual, super-sized real diamonds. The light that shined inside the kitchen was reflected by them, casting blue squares on the walls. The dragon noticed my curious look, shifting a bit in his chair.
“What, haven’t you seen diamonds before?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Actually no, I haven’t. Wow, they are so . . . beautiful,” I said, genuinely amazed.
Spike’s look turned into a concerned one. His face then lit up and he got off his chair, heading to a small cabinet. After searching in it for a while and finding what he was looking for, he returned to his seat. The dragon then put a small object on the table and pushed it towards me with his claw.
“Here then, you can have this.”
It was a medium size blue diamond, similar to the ones Spike was eating, but even more lustrous and had a finer cut.
“I don’t know what to say Spike,” I mumbled, grabbing the diamond with my hoof, amazed by its beauty. ”Thanks a lot, it’s awesome.”
Back in my world, I could live like a king with the money I would get from that stone. I held the diamond delicately as my eyes studied its edges; it felt so weird holding an object considered so valuable by my old standards, yet just a food product for a dragon in this world.
“You really can’t remember anything before that night, can you?” Spike asked, still bearing that concerned look.
“Sorry, but I really can’t. I know what, for example, diamonds are supposed to be, but I don’t remember seeing one for myself.”
I felt a small pressure in my chest; the trail of lies was getting bigger. I was always the good guy back in my world, honest and hard-working, but I had a somewhat sick pleasure in deceiving people around me. Not for my own gain, but rather just for the fun of it. I couldn’t explain why I liked that, even in the cases in which my lies had absolutely no effect on me or the involved party.
After some reading into physiological behaviour, I found out it was a rare thing only some people do: my subconscious felt the need of protecting myself, as a being. By lying to others, even if changing subtle and irrelevant details, my mind felt I was protected, knowing that other people don’t know the actual truth. It gave me a rather fake feeling of having the edge on everyone around me.
It grew into a habit back home but here, it was a pretty big lie, a lie I felt I was going to regret at some point.
“Hey, are you still here?” Spike asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
“Yeah, sorry; was thinking about something.”
“Geesh, Twilight does that exact same thing every now and then . . . especially since you showed up,” the dragon said, smirking at me.
“How . . . nice. How about that training plan I've heard her talk about? Shouldn't we get started on that?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Aww sure, exercise time!” he quickly remembered, getting off his seat and heading into the main room. “Come on, hurry up. You got a lot of things to do today!”
Perfect . . .
I got up and followed the dragon, curious of what the exercises would actually consist of.
“Well, since you can walk now pretty much without any assistance, there is only one obvious thing you can do to improve your leg muscles.”
Spike then took a saddlebag that was lying on the floor near the entrance of the library, and dropped it on my back. I was surprised by its weight and I would have collapsed to the ground if I hadn’t tensed my muscles in time. I could barely keep myself on all fours and pain soon sipped into my legs.
“Come on, stop being such a wuss, I’ve just stuffed it with some books,” Spike mentioned, chuckling at the sight of me barely keeping my balance.
“Ohh my . . . the fu-- hell is in this?” I asked, my eyes tearing up a bit from the crushing feeling.
“Well, just a few of them . . . Twilight’s favourite ones.”
“Pffhhhaaa!” I managed to yelp, barely keeping my balance. I could only imagine the huge manuals or novels that were in there, knowing how much Twilight loved books.
“What's ‘hell’, by the way?” Spike inquired, curious.
“Uhm . . . it’s just something I use to say when I am mad. Anyway, what now?”
“Well, you go outside in the backyard, and just walk around for a couple of hours. Twilight said you could also use the fresh air. Now follow me,” the dragon instructed.
I followed my new personal trainer, a bit slowly due to the added weight of the book-filled saddlebag on my back. I was getting the hang of it though, and soon enough I was outside, in the library’s backyard.
This wasn’t at all how I imagined it to be. Even if the library had neighboring houses, there were no fences between them. The three house and the other homes around seemed to be resting on a tiny headland, and looking down the small slope I could notice a forest. Further away to its left stretched fields of grains and some more houses. That had to be Kazooie’s farm, since it was quite close to Twilight’s home.
Spike went out in the yard and laid down on a denser patch of grass, letting out a lazy yawn.
“Well come on, you won’t get any better if you just stand there,” the dragon said, making himself comfortable under the warming sun.
“Weren't you supposed to help me?” I asked, irritated by his drowsiness.
“Well yeah, I am supervising your recovery dude, and I'm here if you need anything.”
“You’re a funny one. I like that,” I retorted, managing a smile.
Spike returned a shrug, waved his hand in the air a bit in a sign of approval and then rested his head on the ground, enjoying the weather.
I looked away towards the far end of the yard. The smile soon faded away from my face as I started slowly walking in a large circle, thinking about how to make my exercise less boring. It felt a bit stupid to walk around like that and after a few minutes my legs were already tired.
“Come on Alex- uhh Blink, you can do it, you barely started!” I said to myself, grinding my teeth.
After a couple of minutes, the pain was getting harder and harder to ignore so I decided to take a break. I went to Spike, who was still resting on the ground, and crashed next to him, relaxing my legs.
“Tired already?” he asked, opening his eyes lazily.
“Yeah, I can barely feel my hooves but at least I can walk now without falling every two steps.”
Spiked laughed, recalling the first time I went down the stairs with him by my side.
“That sure was hilarious. You were like a young foal. But you’ll get better, don’t worry.”
A flap of wings caught my attention, and I felt my right ear automatically twitch towards the source of the sound, making it clearer. A brown owl flew pass me and Spike, landing on a small garden table. It turned its head all the way towards us and shortly after, the rest of its body, in a weird motion.
“I hate him when he does that . . .” the dragon said, with a creeped-out expression. “Anyway, this is Owloysius, Twilight’s pet,” the dragon continued, emphasizing the last word.
Whoo
“Owloysius, this is Blink. He’s staying here for a while until he gets back on his hooves.”
Whoo, the owl let out, tilting his head.
“Blink. I just told you, numbskull.”
Spike was slowly getting annoyed by the owl’s call.
“Well, he seems to be a nice fella',” I said, amused by the whole situation.
“Pfff, he’s quite the . . . charmer,” the dragon hissed. “Anyway, back to exercising, big guy. Twilight will be all over my tail if she finds out I’ve let you slack.”
“Okay, master Spike!”
The dragon returned to his lazy slumber and I got up, resuming my exercise routine.
I didn't even make half a circle when I heard those familiar flapping sounds again, and Owloysius landed on my saddlebag, adding to the weight.
“You must be kidding me,” I moaned, turning my head to the bird.
Whoo
The bird tilted his head at a perfect 90 degrees angle, which made me laugh again.
“Another funny one,” I thought, still smiling, and then carried on.
After about an hour of walking around the backyard and resting every now and then, Spike got up, stretched in a deep yawn and waved at me to come back.
I was near the far end of the yard then, Owloysius still on my back, keeping me company.
“Well that would be enough physical exercises for today,” Spike said, walking into the library.
I followed him back, feeling tired, but somehow better than before. The fresh air must have really helped.
“Now, Twilight also instructed me to give you these,” the dragon said, pointing at a stack of books on a table. He took the saddlebag from my back, emptied it on the floor and started packing the books he mentioned.
“Do I have to . . . read them?”
“Yep, Twilight told me you should try to read through these to get up to speed with magic and stuff. She doesn’t know what kind of memory loss you have yet so these are about Equestria places, history and all that boring stuff. She said they may actually help you remember where you come from, but that’s just Twilight trying to solve everything with a book.”
It did prove to be a good opportunity to get used to the new world I was in so I wouldn't look like a complete fool when I got out there. Concerns about my future started coming back at me but I shook them off, trying to focus on what I really had to do: get my body working as it should. And that included finding out my cutie mark's meaning and starting to use magic. I was, after all, a unicorn, so I had to have at least some magical abilities. I was at the same time afraid of what talent my mark could represent so I was a bit hesitant on doing magic.
“Well, these are all of them,” Spike said, mounting the saddlebag on my back. “I suggest you take them to your room and start reading or else Twi will have your tail as well,” he said, more or less joking.
“Okay then, thanks! Also, thank you for the supervision and all that, you’re a natural!” I added, laughing.
“No problem dude, you’re a cool guy after all,” the dragon said as he gave me a strong pat on the shoulder, making me tilt and almost fall, “but still weak as a filly,” he added, smirking. “Anyway, I’m in for a long bath so try and not get into too much trouble.”
He then left the room, leaving me alone. I went up the stairs, opened the door to my room with my head and went in, dragging my hoofs across the floor. I felt so tired and could have easily fallen asleep if I dared to get in the bed. I shook the saddlebag off my back and opened it with my mouth. Inside were a handful of books, one of them having the title Sights Around Equestria and a drawing of a dusty road leading towards a great city on the side of a mountain on the cover. It had to be Canterlot! Curiosity made me grab the book from the floor, take it with me on the bed and start reading it, turning the pages one by one with my muzzle. It was a clumsy way to do it but it was all I had at the moment.
“Thirsty . . .” I mumbled, licking my lips after about an hour of reading.
I got up and made my way into the kitchen downstairs. There was nobody in sight and Spike was probably still having his bath, judging by the sound of running water from the bathroom. Outside was getting dark and I started wondering where Twilight was, since she had to be back by then.
“Probably in some weird adventure with the rest of the gang,” I thought, while entering the kitchen. I then realized I hadn't met any other pony except Kazooie’s family and Twilight. I actually wondered what the rest of her friends were really like. Grabbing an empty glass, I started pouring some apple juice I found in the fridge. It seemed strange that ponies had all that technology and I started to wonder what else they had that was . . . modern. While I was thinking about the possibilities, I heard some strange noises from the main room.
Hmm, that has to be Spike finishing his epic bath; or Twilight finally returned.
I went out of the kitchen with my glass of juice hanging from my mouth as I walked slowly, not to spill it. Suddenly my eyes fell on what was in the middle of the room. My mouth opened in shock and the glass fell to the ground, spilling the juice all over the floor.
In front of me stood a large, white pony with big wings, a long horn and multi-toned colored mane. She was wearing a golden crown with a purple gem encrusted into it and a similar looking breast plate. The pony was looking at me with a mixture of anger and curiosity.
“Oh shit I’m fucked,” was the only thought that passed through my mind.
I quickly reacted, knowing exactly who was standing in front of me.
“Princess Celestia . . .” I said, kneeling with my front hooves. I kept the pose for several seconds, trying to figure out what were the reasons for that unexpected visit. I got back up, my legs shaking a bit from the tired muscles.
“Is he the ‘impending darkness that will fall upon all Equestria’ ?” Celestia asked with her head to the side, smiling.
She seemed more relaxed now, after she saw that I was . . . normal? But who was she talking to?
“Yes sister, he must be the one . . . can’t you feel it too?” a more serious voice came from behind her.
I immediately recognized Princess Luna. I didn’t notice her before because she was standing in a dark spot in the library, but then she was stepped in the light, taking her place near Celestia. Luna’s eyes were still focused on me and I bowed down again, this time to her.
“You are overreacting again, Luna. I can definitely tell that he does not carry any kind of force or magic the likes of which you have described to me last night.”
She then turned her head towards me, with a warm smile still on her bright face.
“Please excuse us for this unusual intrusion,” Celestia started, “you must be Blink, is that right?”
“Yes Princess,” I said, my head facing the ground.
Keep it calm and submissive, she’s the one that has the power to move a star every day before breakfast.
“Twilight has told me about the event that took place two days ago in one of her letters. I am sorry to hear about what happened and wish you a fast recovery,” the Princess stated in her soft but authoritative voice.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“In any case, my sister tends to overreact every now and then especially when it comes to strange magic.”
“I do not! I tell you, that unicorn over there is definitely the source of that magic I felt the other night,” Luna protested, but then calmed down as Celestia gave her a harsh, knowingly look.
“He might be but from what I was informed, he can’t remember anything preceding that night. He’s also very weak and can’t be of any harm to anypony. From what Twilight told me, I figured he’s quite a nice stallion,” Celestia added and I started blushing from the unexpected compliment.
“I wonder if she can tell that I’m lying . . . she is a God in among these places after all. Luna definitely feels something about me, why would Celestia deny it?” I thought.
“Well, there are royal matters I have to attend to at this time, Midnight Blink," the Princess said, “When you and Twilight find out more about what happened that night, please let me know through a letter. And if there is anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Of course, Princess.”
Luna puffed, retreating into the dark corner of the room and disappearing without a trace.
“Again, please forgive my sister, she can be quite a handful, especially since her return. But she cares a lot for her subjects. Regardless, I shall go now as well, I expect you to behave like a real gentlecolt while under Twilight’s care,” she said, smiling a bit strangely. Was that a smirk?
She then headed towards the library’s entrance, opening the door with her magic. Before leaving, she gave me one last look while I was kneeling again. Her eyes fell on my cutie mark and for a while, a hint of concern leaked through her official poise. Before I could notice it, she was already in the air, flying towards Canterlot.
I stood in the door, watching her becoming a small dot in the sky, as she flew further and further away.
“Well that was . . . something,” I said, then closed the door.
Luna must have felt my presence and alerted Celestia about it. She knew something was different about me, but how come her older sister didn’t feel it as well? Or if she did, why was she hiding it?
I was still having a hard time recovering after the unexpected visit from the two supreme rulers of Equestria. It was so surreal and I would have never imagined seeing both princesses so soon. I couldn’t wait to tell Twilight about it once she returned.
I climbed up the stairs and returned to my room. I felt so tired and I wanted to take a nap and get some of my thoughts in order. While thinking about how powerful and imposing the real Princess Celestia looked, I brushed pass the small table near my bed. The empty glass of water from which I drank the night before started wobbling, and after some tensed moments, fell over to the ground.
What happened next was amazing and terrifying at the same time. I reached for the glass with my head but it was too far away. Instead, my horn started glowing an eerie blue and the glass suddenly stopped, a few inches above the ground, surrounded by the same glow that engulfed my horn. I could feel a strange warmth in the top of my head and even weirder was that I . . . felt the glass, like I was touching it with my own hooves.
That was the first time my magic manifested. It happened so quickly, it was practically spontaneously and above all, it felt good.
Suddenly though, the warmth faded away and I started feeling cold. The air in my lungs felt like it was freezing and chills ran down my spine. I could only watch the glass, shocked by that strange feeling. Slowly, a tendril of black smoke formed near my horn, and started floating towards the glass. More soon followed, as I started hearing strange, distant whisperings.
“Not this again,” I thought, trying to stop the whole thing.
I felt my backside invaded by pain, right where my cutie mark was supposed to be. My vision blurred as the dark tendrils of smoke engulfed the glass, and started spreading around the room.
“No . . . stop!” I yelled with my last strength.
The shadowy smoke dissipated and the noises suddenly stopped. My legs started shaking, and then gave way from under me. I blacked out and fell to the floor, hitting my head against it.
End of Chapter 3