I awoke for the second time in this strange world, a world filled with various coloured animals known as Ponies. I first believed that there were only three types, as my only friend in this world, a little Unicorn by the name of Sweetie Belle, told me this but now I have discovered there are four races of Ponies, one of which is known as an Alicorn, who has both a Unicorn horn and Pegasus wings, and this is apparently because they are of a higher status than other Ponies. I was now looking at two of those Ponies, two of these Alicorns, and their hair alone is enough to make one go insane. One has hair similar to that of the night sky, and the other has a multitude of colours in her hair, similar to a certain Pegasus I met back in Ponyville, only this Alicorns hair appeared to be flowing in a non-exsistant wind. I can tell you this because they were standing over me at an uncomfortably close distance, looking down at me expectantly. They had their wings out, which was how I knew they were Alicorn, and felt an instant dislike towards them, hopefully they were nicer than the purple Alicorn in Ponyville. I felt that I wouldn’t be able to talk for some time, so I sat up and stared at the lapis Alicorn and Celestia, whose name I was told yesterday and remained with my conscious while I slept. I waved my hand meekly at the two, presumably, powerful figures, who I should hope did not watch me while I slept. Celestia smiled at me, while the lapis Alicorn allowed an enormous grin to break on her face.
“Sister, it is awake!” She exclaimed to Celestia, who wore a slight scowl at her “sister” “Luna, he, is not an it, do you not recall him speaking yesterday?” “Luna” looked lost in thought for a moment, than snapped back to reality as a pink tint surface to her cheeks “Oh, yes, we are sorry for that rude remark.” That made me even more confused, did Celestia say something offensive that I didn't catch. I raised an eyebrow to Celestia, who seemed to understand my confusion. “It is just how she talks, do not worry, I did not insult you.” She wore a genuine smile while saying this, which made her seem likeable, even though she was an Alicorn. I didn't think I would be able to talk so early after waking up so I thought it would be better to simply allow them to converse with me before being required to speak.
“My name is Celestia, and this is Luna,” she began, gesturing to her sister I nodded in understanding. “We are the rulers of this fair land, known as Equestria.” So that’s where I was, Equestria, it had a nice ring to it. I was about to nod once more, but then something made me stop. These two are rulers, but, they can’t both be Queens, can they? I rubbed my throat testing to see if I would be able to talk soon, another ten minutes and I should be fine. Luna seemed to notice this.
“Are you having trouble speaking?” She questioned, putting her hoof to her own throat. I was curious as to what she thought of me, was I just some, partially sentient being to her, or did she start rubbing her throat as if to make sure hers wasn't sore. I shook my head and held up all the digits on both of my hands, trying to convey the message of ten minutes. Unfortunately these Ponies did not possess hands, and therefore looked at me in confusion. It wasn't the first look of confusion I had gotten. I held up a single finger.
“One?” Celestia asked, unsure of the meaning, I was amused, the ruler of this land, and no idea how to count, actually that was a bit mean, she just hadn't seen hands before so, understandable. I nodded slowly and held up a second finger. “Two.” Luna stated. I nodded once more, and opened my entire palm, allowing all of my fingers to extend outwards. I could see Celestias’ mouth moving, counting my fingers. “Five.” She finished. I extended my other hand and opened my palm, so that now ten fingers were shown. “Ten.” In all honesty that probably took a minute, so it was now around nine.
I looked around, for some form of contraption that told time. I could see no such thing, but I did notice the sun shining through the window, so I pointed towards it. The sisters blinked. “Ten days?” Luna asked. I shook my head and made a squeezing motion with my fingers, as if I was crushing something very small.
“Ten hours?” She asked once more. I shook my head again and made the same gesture. “Ten minutes.” Luna stated, hoping she was right, which she was, so I gave her a sincere nod and smile. I decided to try and convey my whole message. I stretched out my fingers and held up ten of them once more.
“Ten minutes.”They said at almost the same time. I massaged my throat. “Your voice.” Luna said, as she had questioned the motion earlier. I held out a hand and put my thumb up. “Umm, “ The sisters did not know that that meant, honestly, there must be some form of creature in this land with appendages such as mine, it is a worldwide symbol for, no, quite possibly a Universal symbol, for ok. I shook my head in annoyance, which obviously made the Alicorns worry. “We apologise if we are unable to understand any of your, customs.” Luna told me, in a tone of concern, but it was hard to tell which we she was talking about. I waved my hands in an “it’s fine” fashion, only to realize they wouldn’t understand that either. I decided it would be better for them to be out of the picture while my throat healed. So I made ten fingers again, and hugged my chest. “You wish to be alone?” Celestia asked, with a somewhat disappointed tone. I rubbed my throat again, trying to show just until it gets better. She nodded solemnly and quickly nudged her sister to tell her to come as well. “We hope you get better soon.” Luna added before leaving, which left me alone to my thought, one of which was, which “we”.
I hadn't really taken my surroundings into account until now, as I had been too busy talking with the Queens, which made me question whether or not there was a single King, or perhaps two Kings ruling in harmony. The room which currently housed me was similar to the rest of the building, made of marble, although there were a few paintings here and there. One painting depicted a particularly old, but wise looking Unicorn, standing before a fiery mountain that appeared as if it belonged in the Nether. Upon the floor lay a carpet, it had a symbol stitched onto it but I couldn't make out what it was. I gazed upon what I had been resting on to see it was a large, regrettably, round bed that had sticks supporting what looked like a bright white carpet in the air. It had a bright white duvet, and several pillows, why would you need so many pillows, you only have one head.
I figured that time would pass quicker if I had a rest, so I did just that. I never did like sleeping on beds, they were always too soft and mushy. I thought I would be more comfortable leaning against one of the sticks that was supporting the flying carpet. It was surprisingly comfortable, and as I closed my eyes I found myself back in the land that I had loved so much. Thankfully, it was not Bronaghs dream, and I was allowed to simply explore whatever realm my mind had conjured up. I was having a peaceful stroll throughout my mindscape when I noticed a rather familiar looking building. It was the castle I was currently in, only, it looked as though it was built by a Craftian, and it just so happened to be made of marble. I was about to teleport towards it when I felt a strange sensation in the back of my skull. I whirled round, fearing this had become one of my nightmares, only to find nothing but the trees I had passed. As I turned back around, slowly, I heard the sound of something I was greatly fond of in Craftia. Music, it was one of the few forms of entertainment one had in the land of survival. I followed the sound of music to where it originated, which appeared to be from a poorly constructed house made of jungle wood, the windows appeared to be broken. I could not believe such amazing music was coming from here. There was a small door near one of the more broken windows, I peered inside, but there was nothing but darkness. I decided to open the door, allowing some light to spill into the room. I could not see anything, but the music was still coming from inside. This couldn't be a creation of my imagination, as I would not be able to imagine such music. It was then that I realised the music must be coming from outside this dream world, and that somewhere in a run down home, there is a person, more than likely Pony, with such talent that they deserve to live in this castle.
I needed to find this person, err, Pony and bring them in front of the Queens. I attempted to force myself to wake up, thinking of the rising sun, and myself rising alongside with it. I closed my eyes and when I reopened them I was inside the castle room. I stood up, after realising I had sat down in my sleep, and ran to the nearest window. It appeared to be made of glass panes, so I took one away from its rightful place and set it down on the ground. I thrust my head outside, ears strained for any sign of music. I heard a faint melody coming from below me, in a darker part of the city, I also heard a slight scurrying from behind the closed door. As I got ready to teleport the door opened quite suddenly. I was faced with Luna, one of the Queens of this land.
“Where are you going?!” She exclaimed. I smiled, knowing my throat was better. “To get you some music.” And with that I teleported to the ground of the city, hoping I could find the Pony before they stopped playing. As I reappeared of the ground, there seemed to be more residue off the teleport than usual. As I brushed it from my arm, I felt dozens of eyes stare at me. I looked up to see I had teleported into a crowded street. I could feel their fear, their sudden hatred of me, a monster that had just appeared out of thin air. I decided to act quickly. “Good Morning.” I stated and then began walking in a random direction, only to turn the opposite way when I heard the music coming from down the street rather than up it. I could still feel them staring at me, some of those stare turned into glares, which I had a hard time keeping my cool over, provided no one attacked me I would be fine.
“Halt!” Oh for the sake of Notch. I turned towards a Unicorn that appeared to be wearing golden armour. “Yes?” I questioned him. “I request that you come with me and explain your business here.” He seemed to have lapis and light blue hair, though it was hidden under his helmet. “Why?” The Unicorn looked taken aback. “W-well because I do not wish for you to terrorise any of the innocent ponies.”He answered, honestly, I was getting a bit tired of this.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit racist?” I couldn't think of a better word at the time. Now this, completely shocked the Unicorn. “How in Equestria is that racist?!” He shouted in disbelief “Well you see,” I began “you believe, that simply because I am of a different race of creature, or rather, different species of creature, that I must be considered dangerous.” I finished my sentence off, putting extra emphasis on dangerous. The Unicorn made a series of noises, most of which sounding like “I-bu-you- gaah.” He sighed in defeat “Ok fine, I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt, but I still want you to come with me.” I groaned, hearing the music fading away.
“Can’t you come with me, I need to find someone.” The Unicorn eyed me suspiciously. “I'm sorry but I can’t.” I kicked a small piece of stone on the cobblestone road, and noticed how it hit another stone, causing them both to go in the same direction. I smirked, a plan forming in mind. “And let’s say, I don’t come, and just continue walking, what will you do?” The Unicorns eyes widened. “You wouldn't.” I smiled and gave a small bow. “Good day.” I then proceeded to run like Nether in the direction of the music. “This is why you’re considered dangerous!” I heard the Unicorn shout after me. I smiled and turned round, only to see him at an extremely close pace. It caused me to scream in a kind of happy horror, like the kind when a friend scares you but you find it funny. I then proceeded to shout as he got nearer “Four hooves are faster than two legs, four hooves are faster than two legs, four hooves are fa- GAAH.”
I was tackled to the ground and ended up in a mess of hooves limbs and hands. “Ow,, ow ow, your horn is poking me!” I cursed as we tried to untangle ourselves. We managed to break and proceeded to lie flat on our backs, panting heavily. “I swear to Celestia, I am going to-” “SSSSHHH” I cut him off, I could hear the music at a much louder scale now, I realised I was in a part of the city that looked very run down compared to the upscale castle, even the houses surrounding the area where I teleported looked like mansions in comparison, and I have seen many of those.
“Where are we?” I questioned aloud, hoping the Unicorn would know. “Clay District.” He responded, groaning as he got up of the ground. I offered my hand be he shook it away. “But these houses aren't made of clay, they’re made of poorly constructed wood.” I crossed my arms in anger, wondering who would live in such places. The Unicorn shook his head at the statement.
“Then why did you come here.” I listened once more for the music, and found it coming from a house that looked almost as bad as the rest of them. I pointed a finger towards the house, the Unicorn followed it, and it was only then that he heard the music. “You came here, because of some music?” He eyed me incredulously. I nodded in affirmation.
“Well,” he walked towards the door “you've got good taste.” He knocked upon said door and motioned for me to come closer. The music stopped immediately, and the shuffling of a chair could be heard, as well as several latches being, hopefully, unlocked. The door opened an inch, and an extremely thin chain mail could be seen, as well as a bright purple eye. I blinked, it looked as though I was staring into the eyes of my brethren for a second. The door closed once more and a small ‘clink’ could be heard. The door opened about halfway this time. There was a grey Earth Pony standing there, with dark hair.
“C-can I help you?” She directed her question towards the armour wearing Unicorn. “uhh, I believe my fri- uhh, acquaintance would like to speak to you.” I was surprised he almost called me his friend, but perhaps he was just being hospitable. I crouched down in front of the Pony and looked into her eyes. I could see sorrow and torment masked behind a welcoming glance to the Unicorn. “I think, it’s a bit of waste to let talent go to waste, don’t you?” The Earth Pony looked at me with a bemused expression.
“And I suppose that you would be able to find me a place to express my talent then?” She clearly thought I was just attempting to make a fool out of her. “As true as that is, I was wondering why you play in such a bleak place, when there could be thousands of Ponies listening to your masterpiece.” A small tear appeared at the corner of her eye, but she held it in. “Because I was chased out by those same ponies, and forced to live here.” She held both sadness, and anger in her voice. I could hear the Unicorn beside me sniffle a little. “Well we can’t have that now can we. I don’t suppose I could see what you were playing could I?” The Pony nodded and trotted back inside her small home, leaving the door slightly more open, allowing myself and the Unicorn a look at what was inside. But there was nothing inside, nothing but a table, and a small piece of cloth. It angered me to think that someone, anyone could live like this. I could hear an aggravated snort from the Unicorn beside me, indicating he thought the same.
“What’s your game?” He whispered to me. “You’ll see.” I whispered back, as the Pony came trotting back towards us, carrying an extremely large instrument that I had not seen before.
“This, is my cello.” She waved a hoof over her “cello”. It looked very battered, like a pick on its last limbs. “And you played that music with this?” She nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. I plucked a piece of string on it. “Good.” I concluded “I placed a hand on the Earth Ponys back, and one on the Unicorns. “What are you do-” He began to question, but before he could finish, I teleported the three of us, to where I had been before this whole endeavour started. The room in the castle.
When I had reappeared there, the Unicorn looked a little dazed at first, but quickly regained his posture and composure, where as the Earth Pony, “BLECH.” A large amount of green liquid escaped from her mouth, perhaps I should have thought of that. “Oh dear.” I heard a voice from behind me. I turned to see Celestia sitting by a table, with a small something that appeared to have something steaming in it.
“Oh, hello Celestia.” I waved non-nonchalantly, the other two however, didn't. “P-princess.” The Unicorn stammered, the Earth Pony looked as though she would faint “Oh, you’re a Princess, I thought you were a Queen.” I shrugged. The other two looked at me with their mouths agape, whereas Celestia chuckled. I suddenly remembered the reason for all of this. “Oh yeah, Celestia,” I gestured to the Earth Pony “I brought you a musician.” And with that, the cello playing Pony, who looked as if she was going to faint, did so.
"Well, that's not good." I said, glancing down at the fallen musician. The armoured Unicorns mouth fell open. "I suppose we had best clean her up." She gave a call and several Ponies with white hats and red crosses on them came in, and brought her out. After they had left Celestia turned to me. "It was not very polite to leave from ones window." My eyes were drawn to the glass pane I had placed on the floor. "He-he, sorry about that, I'll put it back." I picked up the glass pane and placed it where it should be, but not before glancing down into the street below. When I turned around both Ponies were looking at me with shocked expressions.
"What?" I was generally confused about this. "How did you do that!" The Unicorn shouted. "Shining Armour, as much as I would like the answer as well there is no need to raise your voice." "Shining Armour" muttered something along the lines of "Sorry Princess." "How did I do what?" I asked once more.
"That, magic you did with the glass." Celestia said hesitantly. I stared at the glass pane which I had put back. "What, put back a piece of glass?" I said picking it up again. Celestias eye twitched slightly. "Y-yes, how exactly are you doing that?" "I'm just holding it." I replied, giving the glass pane a once over, wondering if there was anything strange about it. "I can do it with anything really." I said, spinning the pane on my fingertip.
"I doubt that." Shining Armour scoffed. I scowled at him, placed the pane back, and picked up a chunk of marble from the floor. Both his and Celestias jaws dropped open. I laughed at the "all powerful ruler" being amazed by something as simple as picking up a block, oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask her that.
"Hey, Celestia." I said placing the block on the floor, not necessarily in the same spot, just so I had somewhere to sit. Celestia quickly readjusted her expression and answered. "Yes?" "Why are you an Alicorn?" She blinked.
"I'm afraid I don't understand the question." I nodded and attempted to rephrase it. "Uhh," I noticed Shining Armour gazing at my seat with interest. "would you consider him a friend?" His eyes widened, "Hey don't bring me into this!" he warned "Your just an example." I replied, and turned back to Celestia.
"I, suppose I would, yes." I chuckled at Shining Armours reaction, he appeared to be a bit insulted. "Then why isn't he an Alicorn?" This took both Ponies by surprise. "Well,um, I suppose," She was clearly having a hard time choosing the right words. "I've actually been wondering that as well." Shining Armour said. Ok now I was confused.
"Why should you be an Alicorn?" I asked "You just asked why I wasn't." "Yeah but that was an example.""Well I'm married to one." "Is it Luna?" "No." "Is it her?" I pointed to Celestia. "No." "Is it Twilight?" "No- how do you know Twilight!" His sudden increase in volume sent me of my block. "Can we get back to the first question, please?"
Shining Armour "humph"ed at me, but turned back to Celestia, who was rubbing her head with her hooves. "Ok, you can't simply become an Alicorn, you have to do something tremendous first, and then there's a judge of your character and a meeting between all current Alicorns, it is a very long and boring task." She finished with a sigh. I somewhat grasped the concept now, but one thing still bothers me.
"Who is the Queen?" I asked. Celestia looked taken aback. "There is no Queen, there is only myself and Luna." she replied, a slight disturbance in her voice. "How can two Princess run a kingdom?" This land was getting more confusing by the second. "There was a Queen." Celestia said.
Her tone made it clear, and I understood completely. "I'm sor-" Before I could finish my sentiment the doors of the room were thrust open violently, and there stood the only six Ponies in this land I didn't want to see, well, four technically as I hadn't had a chance to talk to the pink or yellow one yet.
"You!" A certain Alicorn shouted "Yes?" she ground he teeth as my eyes travelled along the Ponies, my eyes stopped at the hooves of the white Unicorn, and then, they lit up in surprise. "Sweetie Belle!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms wide. Sweetie Belle ran forward "What are you doing here?" I asked as I swung her up onto my shoulder. "You're talking!" She shouted in surprise, leaving a slight ringing in my ears
"So are you!" I shouted back, than began laughing along with Sweetie Belle. "Hey!" We turned to see Twilight glaring at us. "What?" we said at the same time "JINX!" Sweetie Belle shouted "You owe me a milkshake." I understood the concept of jinx, but I has no idea what a milk shake was. "You are under arrest!" Twilight growled