Chapter 2
Arriving at Celestia's bedroom, Celestia released her guards for the night, promising that nothing would happen to her and her sister. Royalty they may be, but they could hold their own against most anything.
“Now Luna, I do warn you that he is asleep. Your sudden appearance may surprise him,” Celestia warned for the third time that night.
“Sister... please. Thou hast reminded Us of this too many times. We promise that we shall go slow and not attempt to frighten your pet.”
Celestia shook her head fervently. “He's not my pet, Luna. He's obviously sentient like us, if his speech patterns mean anything. Besides, I don't think he'll appreciate being called such.”
Luna laughed lightly. “Of course... Sister.”
Pushing the door open, the sister's were greeted by the site of Terrance sprawled out across the elder sister's bed, mouth gaping open and snoring.
“Well he certainly has Miss Applejack's bed manners,” Luna whispered quietly. Celestia giggled.
Approaching the bed slowly, the sisters were treated to a snort as Terrance changed position, but otherwise the room was silent. When they reached to edge of Celestia's circle-shaped bedding, Luna gave the man a sharp poke with her hoof.
“Awaken, you who sleeps in mine sister's quarters. Tell us what thou is.”
“Ya'll're... loud...” came the mumbled reply.
Now awakened by a new voice, Terrance sat up. Rubbing his eyes, he looked blearily around the room, noticing that nothing had changed from his previous surroundings. He was still in the shiny bedroom, along with the horse angel. Only this time there was a new addition. A blue horse. Well, this was a new color for him, usually it was white, black, brown or spotted. Oh well. About as normal as anything else that was going on, he supposed.
“Our volume has naught to do with Our question. Now answer.”
And it spoke in Ye Ole English it seemed. Wonderful.
“Well Ma'am, Ahm a... wait. Ain't yah suppose' to know what Ah am? Ah'd think yah would, seeing as how ya'll are angels and all... Ah dunno, Ah always thought God remembered us...”
Exchanging a look with her sister, Luna shook her head.
“We are not 'angels' or whatever it is thou has labeled us as. We are ponies. Royalty yes, but nothing more. Now thou shall answer Our question, or We shall hold thou in contempt!” Luna replied fiercely.
A little taken aback at this new personality before him, Terrance shook his head to clear his thoughts and decided to answer as plainly as he could.
“Well then, Ahm a human. A male one at that, and mah name is Terrance. Um... mind if ah ask a small question?”
Luna nodded. “Within reason.”
“This ain't all in mah head is it?” Terrance asked with a flat expression.
Celestia shook her head. “I'm afraid not, Terrance... You are in the land of Equestria, which is ruled over by the two of us. I am Celestia, Princess of the Day-”
“- and I am Princess Luna, Herald of the Night.”
Terrance tilted his head in confusion. “Princesses? Ya'll are horse princesses? Now ah've heard everythin'...”
POW
Now, having one's face slapped hurts. Especially when the person slapping you keeps their wrist limp for maximum lasting effect. The sting is painful, and the blow to your pride may hurt even more. But you have not felt pain akin to being slapped, until you get “slapped” by a hoof. A hoof attached to a very angry Lunar Princess. Only after you have had your face collide with the surface of bone, can you say you have been slapped properly. Such a slap is what Terrance experienced directly following his “horse” statement. And boy did it hurt.
Recoiling from the blow, Terrance rebounded with the anger one might expect from being hit in the face with no warning. Holding the cheek that got assaulted in one hand, he pointed in anger at Luna with the other.
“The HELL'D you do that for!?”
“THOU WILL NOT CALL US SUCH THINGS, IGNORANCE OR NOT!”
“What'd ah possibly call ya?!?”
“Thou labeled us as a 'horse'! Such a thing is crude, uncouth, and just... just...”
“It's known as a kind of racist term around here, Terrance,” Celestia cleared up.
The pain in his cheek forgotten, Terrance's eyes went wide. He'd been rude... to a woman... well, a female at least. His mother had raised him to give utmost respect to women, and he had followed her advice and her warnings all his life. And now he had just broken the most important rule she had taught him:
“NEVER insult a woman, even if she deserves it. Prove you are the better person, and treat her with respect.”
Now he was being told he had just done the equivalent to calling a black person- yeah he'd screwed up. Reaching forward, he grabbed Luna's hoof from where it was resting in the air. Luna was shocked at first and tried to pull away, but Terrance held on tight.
“Release Us! We hath not given thou permission to-”
The remainder of Luna's words were lost in her throat as Terrance gave her hoof a small kiss. Terrance might not now what was equal to a "hand" around here, but he could guess. He also might have been afraid of women who were bold, but he knew how to be chivalrous and a gentleman to them. Now was one of those times to be extra nice. Letting her hoof go, Terrance got off the bed. Standing tall, he took his Stetson off, held it over his chest, and inclined his head in a sort of apologetic stance.
“Ma'am. Ahm rightly sorry for being rude to ya'll. Ah was raised better than that, and ah messed up. And ya'll're right 'bout ignorance bein' no excuse. Ah 'pologize deeply... Mah bad.”
It was quiet as Luna was taken aback by his response. He really was a gentlecolt like Celestia had said. Maybe she had been a little strong with her actions.
“Well... we thank thou. And we're... sorry for striking thou so harshly. Twas not our idea to leave a bad first impression...”
Celestia smiled between the two of them. Looks like first contact wasn't going to go horrifically wrong after all. After a brief moment of awkward silence, Celestia cleared her throat.
“Well... I must say you are much taller than I took you for at first. What would you say your height would be?”
“Ahm six foot five, ma'am,” Terrance responded easily.
“Now, now, what did I tell you? Call me Celestia, please.”
“OK then... Celestia.”
Something about the way he had said her name made her feel a little fuzzy.
I can't be... No it's not possible. I only JUST met him!
It certainly SHOULDN'T be possible, Sister Dearest.
Celestia's eyes widened when she realized she had thought within the confines of her and Luna's mental link.
Lulu! I- uh-
If you start falling for this thing Sister...
I'm NOT! ... Am I?
Your thoughts are beginning to betray you, Sister.
Hush, Lulu! I'm trying to figure this out!
While you 'figure this out'-
“Well Terrance, what do you expect to do... here?”
Luna's sudden question caught Terrance off guard a little bit. What WAS he going to do here? He now resided within the confines of what seemed to him to be the greatest dream a little girl ever had. Not to mention that he was a grown man, and all these colors were a little odd to him. He wanted to get home that was for sure...
Or did he? He had to face the facts, the only thing he had back home were his horses. And to be perfectly honest, his workmate Tommy loved them almost as much as he did. Tommy'd be able to take of them in his place, but even if he stayed, what could he do? He wasn't especially smart so teaching these ponies anything more than they already knew seemed out of the question. Guessing from the harsh connection to the word horses, they probably didn't have animal farms, let alone horse raising. Maybe a vet? He did know his way around critters pretty well...
“Terrance?”
Looking up, he saw Celestia's face was showing a mask of worry. He had been standing there quiet for a while now...
“Well, nothing really tah go back to... but tah be honest, if Ahm thinking of stayin' Ahm not sure what Ah could even do for ya'll... Ah mean, Ahm used to hard work, Ah like critters a lot...”
“Wait wait wait wait... Thou means to tell Us that thou has nothing in the world to return to? No connections thou wishes to keep?” Luna also had a small face of concern at this.
“No Ma'am... The last of mah kin died a couple years back. And ah don't have much in they way o' friends. So, ah was thinkin' of a fresh start anyways... Why not here?” He asked with a small grin.
Hearing the poor man's explanation gave Celestia a deep heartache. Luna had explained the same thing to her not but a couple nights ago. She had come into Celestia's room in the dead of night, crying her eyes out. When asked what was wrong, all Luna had said was: “They're all dead! All gone to the years! Everyone we held camaraderie with is gone!” Realizing that the death of her friends from old age had just then sunk in, Celestia opted to stay up with her sister, if only to sooth her pain.
Looking at her sister, Celestia saw with shock that Luna was actually... smiling?
Turning to her sister, Luna broke out in a wider grin. “Sister! He has no friends!”
“Luna! How could you be happy about that! I thought you of all ponies would understand and be solemn about this!”
Shaking her head, Luna continued. “We are! But we just remembered! Who was it that helped us find friends when we thought we had none? Who is actually studying the Magic of Friendship right NOW?”
Understanding twinkled in Celestia's eyes. “Twilight Sparkle!”
Luna nodded furiously. “Indeed!”
Turning their attention to the confused bipedal in the room, they gave him two smiles of equal mirth.
“Terrance!” Celestia said, catching his attention. “How would you like to meet my student?”
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The time was set for the next day, since Celestia had lost sleep during the interesting events that had unfolded. Terrance was given a room directly next to Celestia's (much to the chagrin of Luna who believed he should have at least been sent to the guest wing), and considering he was now in a new plain of existence, he slept well.
Waking up early was never an issue for the rancher, he usually had to be at work by at least five in the morning most days anyway. This morning though, was a little different than normal for him. Stumbling out of bed, he found his way to the bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed that he needed to shave... at least a little. A beard was nice, but not when it went wild. Didn't need to look like one of those moonshine making hill-billies now did he? After taking care of his business, Terrance walked back out into the room he had stayed in. It was still weird, knowing that he was now in a world of bright colors and ponies. Maybe after a couple days he'd get used to it, Celestia seemed glad he had decided to stay.
Celestia...
Why was she so nice to him? If their positions had been reversed, he probably would have freaked out and sent her out of his house at least. Maybe after a week he'd be able to accept she was real, but she had accepted him almost immediately... it was nice, not to be shunned. In fact, Luna's reaction had been more logical. Maybe she was the more... technical of the two? She sure acted like it.
Terrance's attention was then drawn to the balcony. Celestia had walked out onto her's and was staring at the sun. Well that wasn't good for her eyes. Walking out onto his own balcony, Terrance opened his mouth to address the safety of her eyes, when she closed her eyes and began to glow.
It started slowly, with the air seeming to vibrate and waves of... sensation seeming to roll off of her. Little waves of air began to circle her hooves and her floating mane started to shimmer itself. Terrance had to shield his eyes as she gave off a bright flash of light, and when he looked back... his jaw dropped. Her ethereal mane had turned to a color of pure gold and it flowed around her face, as though she was underwater. Her white coat seemed polished, and it gleamed like the cleanest ivory. Her hooves had also changed to gold in color and they seemed to radiate heat, even from the distance Terrance was at. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing white, fueled by whatever unknown force dwelt inside her. And as he watched, the sun began to rise. Celestia began to raise her head, and though it seemed impossible, the sun seemed to follow her.
Celestia... was raising the sun.
As her head stopped raising, the sun reached the apex of it's journey. The sheer brilliance of it all was pure beauty, nothing Terrance had ever seen before even came close to it. And Celestia looked even better, if that was even possible. Head raised, she slowly began to close her eyes once more, her mane lessening its glow and her hooves growing colder. Soon she was back to her original state, and Terrance found himself still staring. Shaking his head to clear the haze her little "show" had put him in, he raised his hand and waved.
Celestia turned her head to leave, then noticed Terrance waving his hand. Had he been watching?
Oh dear! This wasn't just my normal Raising! Normal ponies aren't supposed to see that!
"Terrance! Were you watching me? You're not hurt are you?"
Terrance shook his head. "Nah, ahm fine! That was beautiful! What was that!? That right there was amazin'!"
Celestia stared back wide-eyed. "You aren't blind!? How can that be? Normal ponies aren't able to watch me when I Gather!"
Terrance tilted his head, confused. "But... ahm not a pony. And what do yah mean 'normal' ponies?"
Maybe being what he is... a 'human' he called himself?... maybe his kind are... immune to magic? "Perhaps we should discuss this over breakfast?" she asked with a smile.
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Breakfast consisted of several different fruits and what Celestia called "hay fries", which actually weren't half bad once you got past the grainy taste. Proceeding their meal, Celestia offered Terrance her accompaniment on the trip to Ponyville. He accepted on account that he felt like he owed her that much, she had been really nice to him since he arrived here. The trip was nice, and the company was very pleasant. Plus, Terrance had his fair share of questions answered.
"Ya'll said something about normal ponies? What did ya mean by that?"
Celestia had a small sad smile on her face when she answered. "Me and my sister... are the Princesses of this land, of Equestria. This is not because we were born into a higher social status than most. The fates, whoever or whatever they are, decided for all intents and purposes to make me and my sister immortal." Terrance had a flat expression on his face at this. "I know how hard it is to believe for one who does not know of us, but it is the truth. Us two have ruled Equestria for the past 20,000 years since it's creation. It is all we have known, yet we are very good at it... and we enjoy it. I have been content seeing this country flourish through the years. So many new inventions, new ideas, new ponies! In fact, just last month, a new bill came in that-"
"Ya'll sound so alone..."
Terrance's sudden statement caught Celestia off guard. His face, which had been turning happy, froze. She turned her gaze back from the window towards Terrance. She gave him a look of confusion.
"Pardon?" she asked, giving him a forced smile.
"Ma'am, ah don't mean to go pokin' mah nose into any o' your business, but ah know a mask when ah see one. Been wearin' one meself for the past ten years. All this talkin' 'bout how happy yah are? Hell, ya'll're hurtin' me, and ah ain't even in ya'lls position! Ahm sorry but ahm not buyin' it... not one bit. Ya'll're hurtin' pretty bad on the inside. Yah can lie to yourself and yer servants and yer sister... but ahm seein' right through yah. 'Cause ah know what it's like... hidin' all yer feelin's from everyone..." Terrance looked at Celestia straight in the eyes. Then he acted a little shy. "OK, Celestia. Ahm gonna do somethin', please don't hit me." And before she could speak, Terrance wrapped his arms around her neck, and hugged her. It lasted a few seconds, until Terrance felt wetness on his shoulder. Celestia had began to cry.
"You're the first... *sniff* ...to have noticed... *hick* ...in 5,000 years..." Then she began to cry in earnest, draping her forehooves over his own shoulder in a return hug.