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// colorful, talking ponies... 
// Story: Stranger Things Have Happened 
// by Mulldragon 
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As consciousness slowly returned to me the first thing I noticed was that wherever I was, it was WAY too bright.

"someone turn off that damned light!" My voice came out weaker than I had hoped and I would have been lucky if someone right next to me had heard it.

I reached behind my head to raise the hood of my robe, only to find my second realization... someone had taken my robe. I raised my hand above my head to block out some of the light and opened my eyes. A quick glance down revealed a white wall, the foot of the bed I seemed to be on, and the fact that yes, I was naked. In fact I seemed to be missing ALL of my equipment!

"Great, I get tossed into this world and the first thing that happens is I get robbed." I kept my hand in place for a few minutes to allow my eyes to adjust to the excessive amount of light. "Well Yeta, time to sort out your situation."

I moved my hand and cast my gaze around the room. I found myself looking around a windowless room made of shining white marble. The room rather featureless: there was a strange looking white thing hanging off of a wall that if I had to guess was meant to hold water and had a small pipe and two small valves above it, next to that was what seemed to be a strange seat made of the same shiny material as the wall hanging, there was a mirror taking up the majority of one wall and a small table sitting in a corner of the room. The strangest thing about this room however was the fact that it had no visible way in or out. there were no windows, no doors, and basically nothing that looked like it could be used as a portal.

"Okay, so I entered the Aether, did what I went there to do, then got stuck floating for a while. After that I got pulled into a world by a pulse of energy and found myself weakened to the point of losing consciousness and asking unknown beings for help. Now I seem to be naked, in a bright room made of bright white materials everywhere I look, and on top of that seem to be in some kind of prison cell if the lack of exit is anything to go on." I let out a sigh and covered my eyes again "Sometimes, being so sensitive to light really sucks."

"First order of business, check current power status." I reached out into the arcane, searching through the lines of power, finding it oddly difficult to reach them. "Hmmm, that's odd, maybe i'm in a dampening field? Well, let's see if the lines are the same here. The line for Light magic seems to be especially strong here. The basic elements are about the same as back home, so I shouldn't have too much trouble with fire, cold, air, and acid spells. Everything seems to be normal except... no, that can't be right. Where is the dark line!?" I searched frantically through the weave of power around me, trying to find the power that makes up almost the entirety of my spell repertoire. Finally I found it, but it was small, tiny really. There was almost no power flowing through it. "Well... that's not gonna bode well for me. It explains why I passed out though, I'm so 
used to having that power flowing through me that I don't realize just how much it supports the rest of my power."

I let out another sigh. "Well Yeta, you aren't going to get anything accomplished by lying in a bed all day, might as well look for a way out or to contact whoever put me here."

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and put me feet on the floor. My left foot hit something and I looked down. There was a tray at my feet, on it was an apple, a piece of bread, and... a small pile of hay.

"Hay? Why would they give me hay?" I shrugged to myself and reached down to grab the apple. It may not be necessary for undead to eat but food still provides energy. I stood up and walked slowly toward one of the walls, tossing the apple into the air and catching it along the way, occasionally catching the apple to take a bite. When I reached the wall I ran a hand along it, searching for any kind of mechanism that might reveal an opening. 

While I was searching, I felt magic being used from the other side of the opposite wall. I spun around quickly and reached into the lines on pure instinct, grabbing the lines for fire and wind to create a ball of swirling fire in my hand... only getting an orb no larger than a marble. On a portion of the wall a rectangle began to trace itself and when it was complete the section of the wall slid away to reveal... a horse? I let go of my spell in confusion and the tiny fireball dispersed itself back into pure magic while I stared in confusion at the horse in front of me. No, not a horse, it had a horn so it must have been a unicorn. I had run across unicorns a few times in my studies. Creatures native to the Feywild that occasionally come to the natural world to protect forests and lakes and the like.

"What is a creature of the Fey doing here?" I asked in the language of the Fey, elven. It tilted it's head at me and I got a glimpse of it's back, it had wings. So, not a unicorn. Some kind of cross between a unicon and a pegasus perhaps?

While I was trying to puzzle out just what this creature was it opened it's mouth and spoke "Was that a language you just spoke? I don't believe I've heard that one before."

It was my turn to tilt my head in confusion "You can speak common yet you do not understand elven? Definately not a Fey then. Well, what you are can come later. For now could you show me where to find my equipment and the people that found me in that strange ruin I appeared in?"

"you are speaking to one of them right now, and as for your belongings, I felt the enchantments on them the moment I saw you and you won't be getting them back until we decide whether or not you are a threat to our ponies."

My eyebrows went up in confusion and I just stared at the pegacorn for a moment. She, at least the voice seemed feminine, was an alabaster white with what looked like golden jewelry on consisting of a large neck piece, hoof coverings, and a crown along. Along with all this her... mane? yes, mane consisted of many colors and was constantly billowing in an unseen wind and her tail seemed to be the same. "Ponies? why would I be a threat to ponies? and what's with the crown..." and then it clicked in his mind. The hay, the talking equine of unknown kind, the crown. "Are ponies..." I started only to get interrupted by her.

"Yes, ponies are a civilized race here and No you aren't the first human I've seen but you are the first to show up here."

"No human has ever been here and yet you've seen them before? How did you manage something like that?"

"My sister and I know that there are other worlds and we look into them from time to time."

"Well, that's odd. So there are no humans in this world? at all?" When she shook her head I sat down on the floor and put my hand to my chin, letting out a hum of thought "So, are there any other humanoid races here? Elves, dwarves, halflings, orcs?" She shook her head again. "Huh, seems I've wandered upon a very different world indeed."

"You seem to be taking this all quite well, from what I've seen I expected you to take things a lot more... aggressively."

"Well, when you've lived as long as I have you tend to see a lot of strange things, especially when you are an adventurer. Anyways, back to my equipment. Can I at least have my robe back? I can tell you all the enchantments on it if that would help ease your mind."

"I already know what enchantments are on them and you can have your things back." When she said this I began to stand up. "On one condition."

I sighed angrily "Of course there's a catch! There's always a catch!" I sat back down and stared at her "Well, what do you want?"

"You just have to let me read your mind again."

"Again?" I looked at her confused for a moment before it hit me. "You read my mind while I was unconscious?!"

"Yes, I did. So did my sister. We couldn't very well ask you why you were here and that seemed to be the easiest way of determining what to do with you."

"So you know why and how I'm here and who I am yet you still think I may be a threat?"

"We know that you are a necromancer and a lich. We also know that your name is Yetagain and that it isn't your real name, though even with you unconscious we couldn't find that, and that you came here by accident without any intention of harming us. And finally we know that under normal circumstances you wouldn't hurt us unless we tried to hurt you. What we don't know however, is how you will react to this new information. For all we know, you may just decide that attacking us is the best option now that you know more. However, if you let me read your mind I can find this out and if you truly mean us no harm then neither of us will have anything to worry about."

"There are things that I will not reveal, my true name among them, but those things have been long since protected by powerful enchantments." I closed my eyes and felt for the enchantments I had put upon myself so long ago. "Luckily those still seem to be in effect so if you have read my mind once then I have nothing left to hide from you, feel free. But, after I get dressed I have questions I want answers to."

"And I will see that they are answered. Now, this should only take a moment."

Her horn began to glow and she closed her eyes. I relaxed myself and closed my own eyes in turn. Within seconds I felt a presence pressing against my mind, asking to be let in. I did not resist and soon enough I felt that presence enter my mind. Images and thoughts flashed through my mind as she searched them. After a few minutes of this I felt the presence receed and I opened my eyes. The equine was turned to the side, talking to someone else. I heard the words "Yes your majesty" and the sound of a pony walking away from the door.

"A guard will be back with your things in a moment, until then I suppose I can start answering your questions."

"well, first off you know some of my darkest secrets yet I don't even know your name and that hardly seems fair."

"No, I suppose it doesn't" She smiled at me and walked into the room going over to the table in the corner opposite of me. "I am Princess Celestia, reagent of the sun and diarch of Equestria." She said as she sat down in one of the two chairs

"Reagent of the sun? Quite the flashy title you have there."

"It comes with the job of raising and lowering the sun each day."

"... What? You raise the sun?"

"Yes, and my sister, Luna, raises the moon."

"so, what happens if you die? does the sun just never move again?"

"My sister and I are immortal but if for some reason one of us can't fulfill our duties then the other can take over. And if that doesn't work a unicorn council used to do it and I am sure there are those that could learn to do it again."

"nothing is truly immortal, everything dies eventually. There is no escaping that."

As I said this a white stallion in golden armor entered the room with a stoic look on his face carrying my belongings on it's back "The items you requested, your majesty." he set them on the table and walked back out taking up a position beside the door.

I stood up and walked over to the table. I sorted through the items on the table seeing everything in place: white robe, black gloves, black boots, red belt with 11 pouches tied to it (the ritual pouch still presumably floating in the Aether.). I spent the next few moments putting my things back on and thinking of what my next question should be.

"So you obviously use magic, is it arcane, primal, or psionic?"

"From what I can tell our magic is comparable to your arcane."

"Good, that makes my next question easier. Why is the dark power line in this world so weak and the light so strong?"

"The dark thread is no weaker than it usually is as far as I know. However, Luna is the one to talk to about that, i'm afraid I can't use dark magic very well. As for why the light is so strong, that's because you are near me."

"I've heard of certain powers being stronger in places but never did I think they could be stronger around a certain entity. Anyways, it seems I need to meet this Luna at some point. When is the earliest time I can meet with her?"

"She is probably sleeping right now but she should be at dinner tonight if you would like to come and meet her then."

"That sounds like a good plan, about how long is it until then?"

"Dinner will be at seven tonight and it's two right now so it won't be too long."

"Okay then, I have three more questions for you. First, how long was I unconscious?"

"Two days"

"Second, how secretive have you been about my presence? I'd rather not have a crowd of reporters trying to interview the strange new creature tonight."

"Only Luna, the guards, the other six who found you, and myself know about you and i'm certain that none of them will go telling reporters about you."

"Okay, that's good. Now, final question. Why are you being so hospitable towards me?"

At this she grinned and stood up "Why not?" she asked as she walked towards the door. "There will be two guards stationed outside this room. If you want to leave simply knock on this section of the wall." And with that she walked out and the wall resealed itself behind her.

I went and sat back down on the bed with a sigh. "What have you gotten yourself into this time Yeta?"

The next five hours were spent going through my books and components, trying to research a way back home. So far, I had only learned one thing. Getting home was not going to be easy.