//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Fuel to the Fire 
// by KarlGaks 
//------------------------------//

As you entered the room, you noticed what was possibly the strangest creature you'd seen in your entire life as it swam in a large pool. It was a cross between a pegasus and a unicorn, but it was almost twice the size of the other ponies and had a rainbow-like flowing mane. "Why, hello there!” said the creature. “I would ask you to swim with me, but you’d end up getting your bandages wet. I am Princess Celestia. My sister couldn't make it; she unfortunately has more important matters to attend to." You stood there stunned for a moment, then quickly got your thoughts in order. "Oh, yeah, um, I guess you can just call me 'Q'." 

The princess climbed out of the pool and, with a mysterious glow from her horn, dried herself off. "It's a pleasure to meet you then, Q. In any case, as you may have guessed, I have a few questions." You simply shrugged and said "That's understandable, ask away." The princess trotted over to and sat down in one of the chairs around the pool. The sunlight from the glass roof made her coat glimmer, nearly blinding you when you looked at her. She noticed your plight and her horn glowed for a fraction of a second. A few moments later a few clouds had formed and were now blocking the sun a bit more.

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Q. I'm very curious to know where you come from. The Everfree, perhaps? Or maybe somewhere else?" You chuckled slightly, "Definitely somewhere else. I come from Earth, actually. It’s probably in a completely different solar system. Heck, I don't even know if it's in the same galaxy, or even the same dimension. I don't really know where on Earth I'm from, and I can tell you about the planet and solar system all that jazz, but I don't really know where I fit in in to all of it." The princess nodded, and spoke again, “fair enough, you can tell me more about that when we meet again. What I really want to know though is what you are and if you're dangerous. That's really the main reason I came here, actually."

"Well, I am a human, of course, and I'm only dangerous to someone who is threatening me. Seeing as no one has threatened me yet, though, everyone should be perfectly fine. I have a question for you now. How long will I be here? I can tell you now I have little desire to return to Earth. I'd rather not return to a place where I wouldn't even have an identity. Sure, I don't really belong here either, but I have more of a life here already than I'd have if I went back." Celestia twirled her hoof about, obviously thinking about the question. "Well... you'll probably be here most of the time, at least for the next couple of years. The public would completely freak if they learned we had a creature from another planet living here in Equestria, however cheesy that may sound. Your safety would be at risk as well, too many ponies would try to get at you, some to ask questions, some to kill you, and some might try to do a little something… else… Trust me, it's for your own good."

You sighed, knowing she was completely right. Celestia stood again and said, "I must leave now, for I fear I've already stayed to long. Until our next meeting, Q." With that she disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving you alone beside the pool. You exit the room to see Spitfire waiting outside the door. "Have you been waiting that entire time?" you asked the orange mare, looking down at her. You just now realized that she was only four feet tall. She moved her hoof in small circles on the ground looking a little embarrassed. "Kind of..." she trailed off. This made you laugh a bit, but the laughing unfortunately hurt your ribs, immediately ending your amusement.

"It's fine. What should I do now? I'm kind of going to be stuck here now, so I'll need something to do." Spitfire tapped her hoof in thought, "Well... You can't swim with the bandages... You could maybe-" She was cut off by the growling of your stomach. "I don't think I even have to finish that sentence now. Come on, let's get you something to eat."





The two of you had finally made your way to the eatery (which really was more of a restaurant) to grab something to eat. For all you knew, you hadn't eaten anything for a few days now. Then you realized another problem, another two problems in fact. You didn't know what you liked to eat, or even what you were allergic to. Then again, that might not be a big problem since you likely were allergic to anything and you supposed you could always just eat stuff and see what you liked. The other thing, though, was in fact quite troubling. Ponies don't eat meat. They eat things indigestible by humans like hay and other grasses as well as flowers and such. Additionally, when you glanced at the menu when you walked in you saw that pretty 
much everything on it you couldn't digest.

"Uhh... Spitfire? What am I supposed to eat?" She gave you a questioning look. "What do you mean? There are a lot of things on the menu!" The two of you sat down at a table in the far corner of the eatery and picked up your menus, which had been lain on the table. You looked at this menu and again saw nothing you had the ability to eat, even the pizza's crust had straw mixed in. "There are plenty of things I can't eat. You see, humans can't digest things like hay or flowers, and simple salads won't really fill us either. I suppose I could eat the pizza if I could get it without the straw mixed in, but I'd really hate to have them go through the extra work of making another batch of the dough just for me."

The mare simply chuckled, "If you want it without straw then just ask for it without straw! You're going to be living here for a while anyways. I'm sure they'll just save the stuff left over for next time you order it." You felt quite stupid now, but you thought it best not to bring up the meat thing. If anyone was going to hear about it, it was going to be Celestia. She's probably the only one that wouldn’t flip their shit if they hear you need protein to keep your body in a proper state. In any case, the rest of the meal went on fabulously. You and Spitfire talked for quite a while as you ate. Finally, once both of you had finished eating, you noticed it was about 3 o'clock and left the plates on the table for a waiter to pick up.

I really think I'm going to like it here.