She was right. Things were different. Things were most definitely different. There was a quiet respect. A feeling of gratitude.
A couple of days after the recent events, I took a trip to the Barracks to work out my regular human body. And let me tell you. It was at this time when I missed my Vampiric strength. Whenever I first walked in. I received thunderous applause.
It was such an alien concept to me. I literally looked around to figure out what they were “clapping” for. I mean, I was used to the stop and staring of ponies at the strange, white, two-legged creature in strange attire walking around town.
The soldiers had warmed up to me in the few weeks I had been there, they were kind of like locker room buddies. Those guys who you could say “Hey” to but you never really hung out with. Save for Hot Shot.
And really. Other than Big Mac, I think Hot Shot was my only guy friend. And you know Mac. Stallion of few words.
Do you know what living with females that are obsessed with sugar and gumdrops does to a mans mind? Surprisingly little actually. But it’s still nice to be able to crack a dirty joke and not get looked at funny by the innocent (seeming) mares all over the place. The Stallions... Lemme tell you. They really know a thing or two. Sometimes they’re worse than human males. With the Mare to Colt ratio being like 6:1, there is no shortage of... extracurricular activities, and these boys like to brag about it.
I wont delve too much into that. But honestly, I don’t personally care about that Mare that Gold Arrow took home on the first date.
“She was wanting it colt!” He would shout across the room. “I guarantee you that I could get any mare in thirty seconds!” He would boast.
I would pipe up from across the room. “Gee, that’s pretty fast.”
“Dang right it is!” He would shout. “At getting mares? I’m the fastest!” He called proudly.
“How fast?” I ask
“Thirty seconds? Were you not listeni-,” He starts
“Thirty seconds till what?”
“Thirty seconds till I get-,”
“Off?” I ask.
…
“What? In thirty seconds I get off- OH MY CELESTIA”
I *buy some apples* you not. The entire Barracks exploded with laughter.
Where am I? I’m getting off topic.
Anyway.. Oh yeah. The new attention.
...
The new found respect was nice and all but it was really all useless outside the castle walls. The Princess had sworn all those involved to secrecy. Naturally some rumors were going to get out, given all of the ponies on duty that night and everypony involved. But most didn’t want to start a National panic. Especially if word got out that the entire Canterlot Castle was single-hoofedly taken over in one night.
Being an American, I was all for the freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. But I had read an Equestrian History book. It had been thousands upon thousands of years since anypony had faced a horror like this. Let alone a country that was recently terrorized by the return of Nightmare Moon, who is extremely attractive by the way, Discord, and Changeling attacks. The last thing they needed was assurance that their federal power wasn’t able to protect them from a single pony. What the public could never understand the power that that pony possessed and what she could do with it. That was why I was ok with it being hidden.
The one good thing that arose from the new attention. Everypony seemed to forget about that rumor that the local Human had been caught playing “studying biology” with the Princess of the Night. So that was good.
I took every step to ensure my new friend Scarlett’s safety. Every action that took place that night, every name, stripped from the record. She goes by Scarlett Night. Once she realized that she truly didn’t have to eat ponies, things got much better. The meatlocker was restocked at least once every two weeks, she didn’t have to feed that often actually. Which was nice. Usually once every month she told me. Which added to my suspicion of the timing of prior events.
It still kind of scared me, to know what kind of urges haunt a vampony mind. I experienced them myself. I really didn’t think to hard on it. I believed in Scarlett, she seemed to believe in me. I mean what are friends for?
By now it was the third week of the month trip into Canterlot. The Spring Royal Summit would end soon and everypony would go home. Twilight back to her treehouse, I back to Momma Rarity and work at the Sugarcube Corner.
Speaking of which, I really was beginning to miss Momma Rarity and little Sweetie Belle. It also felt like I hadn’t cooked a cupcake in forever. I wonder how the Cakes and Pinkie are holding up the joint. As my thoughts wandered, I heard a knock on the door.
I snapped back into reality and looked around. The Study was empty of all life. Twilight was performing royal duties, she had run out of things for me to do as far as my studies and just had me reading her Magic Textbook. Which I hadn’t been doing. Scarlett was being moved to the basement, it was too bright in any other place. Fitting for a vampony. I didn’t know what was to become of her exactly. I was assured her safety, but past that as far as implementing her back into society, I don’t know what the plan was.
I walk to the door, still in my sleeping clothes, hair messy and face unshaven. I was not ready to start the day.
The Princesses had given me a leave of absence since my little escapade in the dark. Given me time to rest, time to heal. But the week of lounging around was over. Couldn’t get lazy now.
I sat up from the table and went over to the door. Taking a moment to straighten myself up, I open the door.
“Oh hello there.” I say to none other than all of the Princesses, Shining Armor, Scarlett Night, Captain Sunfire, Corporal Hot Shot, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and the one I loved most, Rarity.
“Greetings.” Says Celestia who is standing front and center in the crowd of ponies. “May we come in?”
I look around at all the ponies. Completely dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say or think.
“Well… Pardon my French…” I start, “But I’m pretty sure this is your house.”
I hear a “WAAAAAAAAHOOOOOO!” and get tackled ten feet back by the big pink ball of joy.
We roll around on the ground for a second as I rough up her cotton candy mane.
“Pinkie!” I shout, “How the hay are you?!”
She giggles, “Pretty good now that I get to see my most favorite-est human eveeerrr!”
The rest of the ponies file in as Celestia and Twilight use their magic to clear the room of book shelves and tables and beds. It was kind of cool because each little thing had a slot in the wall that it slides in and it all kind of collapsed in on itself to make one large room.
I stand up and brush the dirt off my shoulders. Then I am greeted by the fruit mastermind, “Heya sugar cube! Did ja miss us?”
“You bet I did! But I am rather confused. What’s this abo-?”
In a blur of colors a Cyan pony is in my face, “Hey! Ben! Hows it goin’? Say! What’s this I hear about you saving Canterlot? That is like- literally- so awesome! Hey! Can you show me that one thing you did when you flew! That would be like, so cool if I could do a stunt like that in one of my-”
“Well first off I can’t exactly fly anymore.” I say, “Second how did you even know about that?”
“Uhhh Duh… Egghead over here tells me everything!” Rainbow Dash says pointing a hoof to Twilight.
“I filled out that freakin’ field report for Captain Sunfire over there… And I thought that was classified information?” I ask.
“Classified? Element of Loyalty ya dumb!” She says smiling widely.
I shake my head and smile, “Nice to see you too Rainbow.”
Fluttershy trots up to me, smiles gently, and rubs her head in my chest all cute like then trots off. Not a word spoken.
Now who’s missing?
I look around, all the other ponies are busy rearranging the room. Save for Rarity who refused to look at me.
“Rarity?” I ask stepping toward her. “Rarity is something wrong?
She sticks her nose in the air, “Hmmf..”
“Rarity come on don’t be like this.”
Turning her head to her side, “What’s my name?”
“Rari-… Mom”
She turns to me and smiles, “Now that’s better.”
I run and embrace her.
Hot Shot speaks up, “Woah, woah, Mom?”
Rarity states, “He’s adopted.”
The room laughs.
I release her and look at her. Smiling brightly I ask, “Tell me, how is Sweetie Be-?”
*SMACK*
“OW!” I cry out as Rarity’s blue-ish purple aura smacks me across the face. “What was that for?!”
“Don’t you DARE pull that kind of stuff with me, mister! Now you listen here young man, I sent you here with a promise that you wouldn’t get into any trouble! If you ever… and I mean EVER. Pull a stunt like that again! I will hunt you down and drag your sorry flank home! Understood?”
“Yes Mom.” I say holding my hand to my cheek which was now very sore. She’s gonna raise up some disciplined foals one of these days. Those are the best parents.
She grabs me in another hug, “Momma was so worried once she heard the news.”
I laugh, “Oh… I’m alright… The power of Friendship triumphed that night. Saved some old friends, made new ones.”
“Then Twilight’s taught you a lot hasn’t she?”
“It wasn’t something I didn’t already know. It was just reenforced into my mind.”
“Well I’m happy it worked out ok. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to-.”
“Hey… I’m ok. I’m fine.”
“But you might not have been. From what I understand you almost died!”
“But I didn’t!”
“Doesn’t ease my worry any more darling… Opal misses you.”
“Opal? That cat from Tartar- I mean heaven misses me?”
“She sleeps on your bed, you know? Just as you left it.”
“Really? How’s Sweetie Belle?” I ask, changing the subject.
“She’s fine, she misses you. She’s in town with Momma and Papa. It’s been a while since she’s seen them and we were in town.”
“Would I be able to see her?”
“Of course.”
“When?”
“As soon as we are done here, Ben.”
“What exactly are we doing here?” I ask
“We have something to tell you…” she says guiltily.
I look up at the ponies in the now circular room. There is a large round table set in the center. I waltz on over to my spot at the large table and take the seat nearest me. Rarity sits to my immediate right. Twilight to my immediate left. On the right of Rarity, is the rest of the mane six, excluding Twilight. Directly across from me sits Princess Celestia. To her right sits the Royal couple, Shining Armor and Cadence. To her left is Luna. To Luna’s left, and my right is the soldiers. Captain Sunfire and Corporal Hot Shot are accompanied by Scarlett.
“So…” I say. “Do you wanna tell me what this is all about?”
Celestia is the first to speak, “In light of recent events it has come to our attention that we may have gotten in over our heads.”
“We? As in all of us?”
“No… As in everypony excluding yourself, Corporal Hot Shot, the Captain, and our new friend Scarlett.”
“What do you mean?” I ask
Everypony takes a deep breath. I look around in confusion.
Celestia continues, “This world holds many mysteries. I don’t pretend to know them all. There are many secrets to be kept and uncovered. Secrets kept from us ponies… and secrets kept… from you.”
“Me?” I ask, pointing to myself.
Celestia nods her head. I look to Rarity for help.
“I’m afraid… We haven’t been 100% honest with you darling…”
I look down the row of ponies, each one of them, save the Soldiers and Scarlett, wear an expression of guilt.
I am silent, bewildered. I didn’t know what to say.
Celestia speaks again, “It had been brought to our attention that you now have become more involved in this world than most ponies. Your name is now known, and your face and figure are going to be written in history. One day that field report will become declassified, given a decade or so. That’s just how things work. Your name is guaranteed a spot in Equestrian history. As time passes it will fade to myth and legend. But what you did is most definitely true. I’ve seen it happen many times before. It will happen again. So ultimately. We had come to the decision that you should know everything that you need to know. For your sake and ours. We owe you a dept. That is why I have summoned everypony here today. I have summoned everypony here because they are your friends. Your allies. Your family. You must remember that no matter what you are about to hear will change that. We are your friends.”
“I… I understand.” I say as I prepare my heart to bear something heavy. What, I didn’t know. But I could tell it was important. And deeply… deeply personal to me.
“A few months before your arrival in Ponyville almost a year ago, there was an incident that was unknown to the public and still it. The Royalty of Canterlot was gathered in the center of the Crystal Empire, in a meeting similar to this one. It resulted of recent Princess Twilight’s coronation.”
I listen as I wonder what this has to do with me.
She goes on, “There was an incident late that night. During the night, a thief broke into the castle and attempted to steal the Element of Magic straight off of Princess Twilights bedside. Luckily, Princess Twilight gave chase and managed to corner the thief in a room full of ancient and mysterious artifacts. One of which being unlike the others. We call it the “Magic Mirror.” What this mirror does is bridge a gap between two places. And it only opens for a certain period of time.”
“Kind of like a portal?” I ask
“Precisely, it explains how the thief managed to get into the palace without breaking through frontal security. Using this Mirror, she managed to get in and get out without being stopped. Twilight, and Twilight alone was tasked with the retrieval of this crown. Although Spike, who is not present currently, opted to jump in with her.”
She pauses for a moment.
“So…” I say, “What does all this have to do with me?”
She gestures to Twilight who looks like she’s about to cry. Twilight looks up at me teary eyed. “I’m so sorry.”
I take her hoof in my hand and run my hand through her fur. “Hey. It’s ok, now just take a deep breath and say what you need to.” I say calmly.
Twilight takes a deep breath in. And releases it slowly.
“The… The place that it led me. It was unlike any other place I had ever seen. Its inhabitants… Its inhabitants… Its..”
“Come on Twilight, it’s alright. What about them?”
“They were tall. They walked upright, on two legs. They had hands. They were… Human.” She chokes out.
The news hits me. I didn’t fully comprehend it.
“I’m sorry could you say that again?” I ask
“They were Humans.”
“That’s what I thought you said…” I whisper quietly.
My heart begins to pound. I feel anger swelling in my stomach.
…
I stand up from my chair. Very quietly, looking down at the table. Hands pressed against the hard surface.
“What do you mean.. They were.. Human?” I ask deathly quiet.
Rarity reaches out, “Ben..”
“Don’t touch me!” I shout, snapping at the mare I called mother.
I move away from the table and face the wall. Moving towards it I lean against it facing the wall. Ponies to my back.
Nopony speaks a word.
“Go on.” I say
“Go on?” Asks Twilight
“Tell… the FREAKING story.” I shout at the wall.
“I.. I… I… didn’t know what to do at first. Where to go, or what to say, or anything. I began to trot and looked down to my hooves. They weren’t hooves anymore. They had become hands along the way. As I explored the new world I came across a very different society than our own. Along the road they had self propelled carriages they called-”
“Cars.” I state flatly.
“Y-yes…” Twilight says quietly.
The anger within me is wanting to burst out. I want to hit something. What I don’t know. All I knew was to keep my emotions from betraying my head.
“I soon stumbled across a building that the Humans called Canterlot High School.”
This struck something with me.
“Canterlot High School?” I ask, making sure I had heard that correctly.
“Yes. It is a schooling establishment that is meant for young adults that-”
“I know what a high school is, for God sake I was enrolled in one before I came here!” I snap, “It’s just that… I’ve never heard of such a place on Earth. Canterlot?” I ask turning around.
I see that the soldiers had now stood up and were hoisting their weapons high. Standing guard next to the Princesses. This kind of disheartened me, meaning the angry human was seen as a threat.
“Really?” I ask to Hot Shot and the Captain.
“Sorry… Just doing our job…” Says Hot Shot
I sit down next to Rarity. She takes my hand and strokes it with her hoof. I stare blankly at the table.
“Go on.” I say quietly.
Twilight gulps. “Well there, after a bit of exploration I found the thief. Her name was Sunset Shimmer.”
“Sunset Shimmer? Was that her pony name or…?” I ask
“What do you mean?” Twilight asks.
“Like is that the ponies name? What did she go by on Earth?”
Twilight looks at me confused, “She went by Sunset Shimmer. I don’t… Is that not normal?”
“The other people called her Sunset Shimmer? No one thought that was weird? What did they call you?” I ask
“They called me Twilight Sparkle because my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“And they didn’t eat you alive for that name?”
“No… Why?”
“It’s just that.. I’ve never heard of anyone calling their kid Sunset Shimmer or Twilight Sparkle before. I mean there are a few crazy parents out there. Anyway go on.”
“Well I went and talked to Principal Celestia and-” She starts
“I’m sorry. I’m going to have to stop you again.” I say, turning to the Princess of the Sun, “You were there as well?”
Twilight answers for me, “No that’s just it. This is why we didn’t tell you.”
I look at Twilight, “Elaborate.”
“You see. This place you call Earth. It was like you described that morning in many ways. So many aspects were the same, I thought for sure we could get you back home in no time. But something I noticed about you was different from these people.”
I sit back and listen.
“You tell me you are medium build, you were somewhat tall but had enough weight to pass for average. Well, by your weight you could’ve crushed the biggest guy there easily. You would’ve been a giant to most of these people. I about ignored that fact but then I noticed other things. One. Your head was too small.”
I almost laugh. Almost.
“Or maybe theirs were large. Your eyes were a lot smaller than theirs. I mean like WAAAY smaller. Your mouth extruded slightly more than theirs and your nose was more defined. Another thing, you were much darker complected. Most of these people were light shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, blue, and all sorts of colors while you were a brownish, yellow, tan.”
“Did you say there were multicolored people?” Anger being replaced by confusion.
“Yes. I assume that’s also not normal.”
“Nope. We have a few different racial groups, but none of em are green, pink, or any of those rainbow-y colors.”
“Even with that aside, with the questions we asked that morning I was pretty sure we still had the right place, and that you were just unique, but then you told us your name. Ben Short. I’ve never heard of a name like that since I’ve been alive.” She explains.
“Well I’ve Ben Short all my life.” I crack an age old joke thats been around since third grade.
A few of the ponies giggle.
“But back to the story,” says Twilight, “The peoples names were like pony names. Rainbow Dash was there, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Everypony was there except… it wasn’t actually THESE ponies.”
“So…? Kind of like a parallel dimension?” I laugh sarcastically. Seeing nopony join me. I stop. “Oh you’re serious.”
“Yes. Long story short, I retrieved the crown with the help of my new friends and returned through the portal just in time before it closed for another 30 lunar cycles. We had stopped the thief from taking over the world.”
“With just her? Did the crowns magic work?”
“Yes. It gave her amazing powers.”
“And she intended to take over the Earth?”
“Yes.”
“And it was just her?”
“Well she had help. Snips and Snails were granted powers also. And she turned the high school into her own personal zombies.”
“So super powered her and her henchmen plus an army of slow moving teenagers that hardly knew what they were doing were bent on world destruction?”
“Yes. I mean you’re lucky I got there in time to stop them or something bad was bound to happen or-”
I start laughing. Pretty hard actually.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asks me.
“I- I’m sorry it’s just that… that is a terrible plan!” I laugh
“Seemed like a pretty menacing plan to me.” She said
“Well.. Princess… what you don’t understand is. Is that even WITH the Element of Magic, there is literally NO WAY she could’ve taken the full might of the worlds military. I’ve read about the Element of Magic. It can’t even begin to deal the damage it would take to defeat an army of this sort.”
“What are you saying?” Asks Celestia
“Well.. As I said, Humans are really good at this thing called war. I mean.. All Twilight did was save some collateral damage. I mean I could’ve taken care of the problem with my .308 from a half mile away. Just imagine the Element of Magic vs. a B-2 bomber. Not even a competition. One sweep from an A10 Warthog would level her.”
“You have a lot of faith in your military!” boasts Rainbow Dash, “I bet I could beat one of these silly Warthogs in ten seconds flat!”
I look at her with a sarcastic look on my face, “An A-10 Warthog is a jet. A flying machine. It can go rather fast. It’s called a Warthog, don’t ask me why. Now Missy, you may have the speed. But unless you are a lot stronger than you look, you’d be the fly under the flyswatter.”
After that subtle reminder about dangers of human warfare, Twilight continues.
“Anyway, after filling out a report on what I had seen, it was put away. It was kept a secret that there was an entire other world out there for ponies to explore. We didn’t want them running amuck in that world. After that we began to forget about the incident, I missed my new friends but I wouldn’t be able to see them for 30 lunar cycles, which is roughly over 2 years. So we moved on. At least until you showed up.”
I interrupt her again. “Now see that’s the part I don’t understand. A little bit before I woke up I specifically remember you girls verbally wondering what I was. What’s that about?”
“This is a better question for Pinkie to answer.” says Twilight handing over the torch.
Pinkie stands up calmer than I remember her ever being. “Well, you see. When I said that I saw you during my regular late night slash early morning stroll, I said that I went and began preparing you a party. Well, that wasn’t the entire truth. You see. When I saw you, I, quick as a switcheroo, ran to Twilights library where I knocked and knocked and knocked because I was getting excited but I was nervous at the same time. I told her that there was a thing that she absolutely haaaaAAAaad to see on the park bench and so she followed me and followed me and followed me until we saw you laying at the bench and when she saw you she went “GAASP” and asked me if anypony else had seen you. I told her no and she said to go gather up the others!
We lickety split gathered all the girls up and sat around the bench to watch you sleep. And then… maybe it’s better for Twilight to tell the next part.”
I turn to Twilight.
“You see. As dawn drew closer and closer I began to realize that you would have to wake up soon. A crowd had begun to gather as ponies began to hustle to and fro in preparation for morning. I hadn’t yet decided what to do about you because Princess Celestia hadn’t gotten back to me. She was busy getting ready to raise the Sun herself. As I stated earlier you were different than the humans I remembered. I didn’t know whether to tell you or to keep it a secret. I mean for all we knew you knew exactly how you got there. So as a precaution we decided to play dumb. To use our unknowing personas to our advantage. When we saw the Sun come up we realized we had to make a decision fast, for you would wake up soon. A large crowd had gathered and were beginning to ask questions that we didn’t know the answers to. The only way to truly find out what was going on was to wake you. We quickly went over our story and confirmed it.”
“Even Applejack?”
“She didn’t agree to it. Element of Honesty.”
“How come you never told me?” I ask Applejack
“Y’all didn’t ask.” She replies
“I cast a waking spell to stir you from your hard slumber. As you began to wake I told the girls to act natural. That they did. We sent Fluttershy in who was deeply willing to help the innocent creature on the bench.”
“Well she did an excellent job.” I say waving at Fluttershy.
“Oh… well… You weren’t as timid as some of my other creatures…” says Fluttershy
Twilight speaks up again, “You see… We didn’t tell you because we didn’t know how. How to tell you that your home was just in reach but you couldn’t go back for a long time. How to tell you that it really may not be YOUR home. There were too many variables in the equation. We didn’t want to send you into the wrong world with no sense of direction or resources. We didn't want to send you on a wild goose chase. I wanted to tell you. I really did. I just didn’t know how.” She concludes.
I remain silent and think over everything I just heard.
After a minute of silence, Twilight speaks up.
“Are you going to say anything?” She asks.
“Don’t let my calm demeanor fool you Twilight. I’m thoroughly pissed. Peeved past the high heavens. I feel like you really shoved me down a sh*buy some apples* hole.”
“Oh…” she says quietly.
“But…”
“But?”
“I’m glad you finally told me. For the longest time I was wandering around aimlessly not knowing what to do with my life now that I was here. I questioned giving up. Just sitting around and wallowing in my own sorrows. You ponies seemed kind enough to take me in. Take me when I had nowhere else to go. So I gave it a shot. Here we are.
Don’t get me wrong Twilight, I’m mad. But I understand why you did what you did. I’m grateful for you looking out for me. I just wish you would’ve told me sooner.”
“Will you ever forgive me?” She asks
“Me too?” Asks Fluttershy quietly.
“Me three?” Asks Pinkie
“And I darling?” Asks Rarity
“Hey, me too? I’m really sorry bud.” Says Rainbow Dash
“It would mean a lot ta me if y’all did forgive me.” Adds Applejack
I look at the girls. The looks on their faces sincere and honest. We now had come to terms. They came clean. They truly were my friends.
Celestia chimes in, “I owe you an apology as well.”
“As do I.” Says Luna
“And I” says Cadence. She looks at Shining Armor.
…
She elbows him in the gut.
“PMF- and… I… guess I kinda… owe you one… I’m sorry.” He says
I look around at my friends and acquaintances.
“Friends. Ponies. You underestimate me.”
…
“So is that a no?”
I laugh, “Of course not. You were forgiven the moment the apologies left your mouths.”
I smile, “You see. I love my family back home. I miss them dearly. Even if I did have a chance to go back. What would you ponies do without me? Who would save you next time somepony takes Canterlot?” I throw a wink at Scarlett who rolls her eyes.
Celestia smiles warmly, “So it is settled then?”
“The hatchet is buried my Princess.” I say
“Very well. Then we can move on to other matters.” She says. “As you know, you have now become very involved in Royal affairs.”
“You have no idea.” I said glancing at her sister.
“I might.” she said eyes narrowing.
That shut me up.
“As I was saying. You have become very involved in Royal Affairs. Everypony has a certain desire for you. That is partially why these two are here.” She says gesturing to the two Soldiers.
Captain Sunfire steps forward.
“You really saved our flanks the other night. We are here because we wish to extend a special offer to you. Being a special case, as you not being a pony we are presented with a rare opportunity.”
I look at her. “Go on?” I ask now intrigued.
“We wish to train you. I was impressed at your ability to handle the situation. I want you on my regiment, soldier.” Declares Sunfire.
I am stunned. I did not expect that.
“Uhh… wow. Uhh.. What do I say?” I wonder out loud.
“You say yes, you dumb!” pipes Hot Shot, “You know how hard it is to get here?”
“Well I mean, it’s a tempting offer but.. I don’t even have a place of my own, let alone the know how to be a soldier. I’d need time to think it over. And… Don’t I have to be 18?” I ask, “Don’t I have to be a legal citizen?”
“Well… Yes.” says Sunfire, “But with the reputation you have and good standing with the Royalty I’d say that’s not a hard feat.”
“True. But at least give me time to think over the offer. It’s not something you just ask a person, even if he did just save the kingdom.” I say.
“Granted. You will always be able to contact me when you make a decision. The Princesses usually keep me well informed.” She states.
Celestia speaks, “And now Twilight wishes to speak.”
“Ben.” Twilight starts, “I told you at the beginning of this journey you would be able to attempt your own magic. It’s time I upheld my end of the bargain.”
“Hmm?” I say
She stands up and says, “I wish to train you. In magic!” She exclaims.
Still sitting down in my chair I begin to slowly laugh.
“Ha Ha Ha!” I laugh
“Is uhh… something wrong?” she asks.
The human sitting in the chair chimes “I know something you don’t know! I know something you don’t know!”
Everypony is getting very confused.
“Is he broken?” asks Scarlett
Suddenly I am standing against a column on the far side of the room, looking at the table full of ponies and my self-projection sitting in the chair repeating the phrase, “I know something you don’t know.”
In my fingers is an Amulet glowing a brilliant yellow-gold aura. I’m twirling the chain around my fingers and I say, “Turns out I haven’t been entirely honest with you ponies either.” I shout with a mischievous grin.
Everypony freaks out!
Twilight starts with, “Wha-? How did you-?”
Pinkie goes, “Wahoooo! Double human party!”
I sit and laugh. I disperse my projection and walk back around the table.
“You see,” I start, “I swiped this little jewel, the Aurum Amulet, when we were returning the one Scarlett stole about a week ago! I’ve been reading books, read a simple projection spell. Low and behold it worked! Took some practice, but I finally got it down!”
Celestia smiles, she is deeply intrigued.
Luna says, “Well how about that?”
I kick my feet up on the table and twirl the Amulet around once more.
“Livin’ la Vida Loki” I say, donning the God of Mischiefs persona.