"Percy, Annabeth, look at yourselves."
This was so weird. I've been turned into a pony. A unicorn no less. According to Twilight, unicorns could use magic. That's great, but I've never had a supernatural power before. All I ever had was my brain. Sure, I was smart, but all of Athena's kids were super-smart, like me. So I outsmarted Arachne, something no other child of Athena had ever done, but wasn't it destiny? These negative thoughts polluted my head as Twilight brought us to her house. Apparently she lived inside a giant tree turned library. I loved reading, so I didn't mind, but what about Percy? The guy was practically allergic to books, with the effect of zoning out to sleep whenever he opened one. Percy... Something was weird about him, more than usual, I mean. He seemed... so sure of himself. It gave me a guilty feeling. For the first time, Percy knew all about something, someplace, somepony, and I was almost completely clueless. There was a lot that i wanted to ask him, but it could wait. To be perfectly honest, I liked Twilight. She reminded me a lot of myself. Her place was pretty cozy too.
"Now that we're all settled in, let's have a look at that leg, shall we?" suggested Twilight, pointing a hoof towards my splinted left-hind leg.
Twilight obviously knew magic well. She'd probably be able to fix it. After watching her examine my leg, both physically and magically, she shook her head.
"The break is to spread out for me to do anything. My expertise in magic is vast, but healing magic is something still beyond my league. That leg will have to heal up on it's own." she announced.
Perfect. Just perfect.
"Can't you do anything? Do you know somebody-er... somepony who can help me?" I asked.
"My friend Fluttershy could definitely help you out. She cares for animals at the edge of the forest, and she even helped me out a couple times. If there's anypony who can help you, it's Fluttershy." A smile faded into existence on my face. If I could get this leg fixed up, getting home would be a piece of cake. Percy came down from the living quarters floor, a little purple lizard in tow.
"Hey Twilight, Annabeth. Spike and I are going to have a look around. He says he's gonna give me a tour of Ponyville while you two talk about girl stuff." he announced.
"Alright. Just be careful, Spike. Percy may know a lot about Equestria, but it's never the same first-hand than it is when you see it from a TV show. I was going to take Annabeth to Fluttershy to help get her leg fixed up. Could you boys tell Rarity that I won't be able to make it to our little fitting and spa session?"
"No problem. We'll see you soon!" said Spike, and they were gone.
Turning to Twilight, I ask her:
"So what is Spike, exactly?"
"He's a dragon. I've know him since he hatched. As a matter of fact, I'm the one who hatched him, as part of an entrance exam."
"An entrance exam for what?" I ask, curious.
"Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns. It's this magic school I always wanted to attend when I was a filly. I almost blew the exam, but when Rainbow Dash (I didn't know her at the time) performed a Sonic Rainboom, it set off a magical surge, causing the egg to hatch, and a few other side effects. Needless to say, it caught Princess Celestia's attention and she took me in as her star pupil. Technically I never really studied at the school. The princess showed me everything herself, though she still gave me assignments and homework like any other teacher."
"Typical teachers. We demigods come as a natural enemy to school teachers. Most of us have ADHD and dyslexia, because our brains are hardwired for combat, and reading Ancient Greek. I'm a little better off than most demigods, Percy included, because I'm a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, so I learn things easily, and my attention span is far greater than that of the average demigod. So what's this Sonic Rainboom you mentionned? Sounds impressive."
"A Sonic Rainboom is created when a pony with a rainbow mane, like my friend Rainbow Dash," Twilight points to a picture of a cyan pegasus with the color spectrum for a mane and tail, "breaks the sound barrier. Many believe that you have to travel at Mach 1, but you actually need to accelerate so quickly that you skip Mach 1 and break the barrier at Mach 5. This not only breaks the sound barrier, but the visible light spectrum too. The result is that the rainbooming pony instantly doubles his or her speed, leaving a bright rainbow in their wake, and a massive rainbow shock wave, that can apparently cause a magical discharge. It's Rainbow's first ever Rainboom that actually caused all six of us to earn our cutie marks." She raised her lavender flank so I could see the pink star, surrounded by small white stars, drawn on her flank. "That reminds me: what do your cutie mark and Percy's mean? You have that triangle, and he's got a trident." she asked.
"Well Percy's would be obvious. His dad's Poseidon, god of the seas, oceans, and water in general. Poseidon's emblem is the trident, which is also his weapon of power. Percy's cutie mark represents his affiliation to the sea god. As for mine, this is the Ancient Greek letter Delta. It was the symbol of a great inventor called Daedalus, who was also a child of Athena. You could say that I represent Daedalus' legacy, because before dying, he gave me all of his last works, unfinished blueprints and concepts. The man was a genius, to say the least."
"Daedalus is to you what Starswirl the Bearded is to me. Starswirl was a great unicorn, a powerful magician, and he created many spells and discovered so much about magic on Celestia's behalf. His last work, which he never finished, contained part of a spell that completed my studies. By finishing his spell, I created new magic, and became an alicorn, a pony with both wings and a horn. Don't mind me asking, What did Daedalus give you, exactly?"
"See those saddlebags? Bring them over, and I'll show you." I replied. With her magic, Twilight slid the bag over to my couch, where I carefully unbuckled the straps and, with my hooves and mouth, brought out Daedalus' laptop. Just as I propped it open with a hoof, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane poked her head through the front door.
"WHERE IS SHE?? Oh, am I interrupting? I'm sorry." said the pony.
"Fluttershy? Good timing! Come on over and meet Annabeth!" said Twilight, a smile on her face.
"Hi there. You're Fluttershy, right? Glad to meet you." I said.
"Oh, good. I got worried for a moment there. Let's have a look at your leg."
After going through a quick checkup, the pegasus smiled.
"I know just what you need!" Opening her own saddlebags, she pulls out a strange cream bottle and some bandages.
"This is only going to sting for a moment. It's a healing paste I made by myself. It helps mend bones and I use it on all sorts of animals who come by for help." Then, covering her hoof with the substance, she generously lathers it onto my injured leg. She was right: it stung. But the relief that came after she tightly applied the bandage and re-adjusted my splint was definitely worth it.
Just as Fluttershy sat back, not only to stick around and evaluate my progress but to relax with us, a white unicorn with a purple mane bursts through the front door.
"Spike gave me the news. If you can't come over, I'll bring the fitting session to you, Twilight darling." said the unicorn.
"Rarity? Oh fine. Come on in and meet Annabeth while you're at it. I'm guessing you met Percy when Spike dropped by."
"That dark blue pegasus? Oh yes, he's something alright." Rarity turns to me, "He's yours Isn't he? Darling, where in the world did you find that gem of a stallion? I must say, he really is quite the catch. Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Rarity, I run a fine clothing shop not to far from here. It's a pleasure to meet you,"
Nodding, I tell her the story of how I met Percy, and the others listened intently, hoping to learn a little about my world. After that we chattered along about all sorts of thing, when three other ponies came knocking. That's how i came to meet Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. There I was, surrounded by a whole new group of friends, eagerly chattering about everything. For the first time in months, I forgot about being a demigod, saving people, going on quests. It was just me, being myself, having fun with friends. I thought to myself, that maybe, just maybe, being stuck in this world wouldn't be so bad, after all.
We went on for a couple hours when Percy and Spike came back, and the crowd dispersed, mostly. Everyone went home for the night except Rainbow Dash, who apparently had something to remind Twilight. Twilight was busy pondering something else, however.
"I just realized: I've only got one guest bed. Unless you two don't mind sleeping together in a small bed, Percy could go crash at Rainbow's house, being a pegasus as well, so he could actually go." explained Twilight.
Percy sat there, thinking for a second.
"I'll go with Dashie." turning to the cyan pegasus, he added: "If that's okay with you, that is."
"Hey, no problem! Can't wait to show you my awesome house! If you can fly on up, you're welcome to stay as long as you want!" replied Rainbow.
Raising my head, I clear my throat, instantly earning Percy's attention.
"There are still a few things I wanted to talk to you about, Seaweed Brain. And I want to address them now, seeing as you'll be going off someplace else." I interject.
"Uhh, sure? Okay," turning back to the other ponies, he asked, "Could you girls give us a moment?" and they trotted on upstairs.
"First off," I say with a big smile, "you watched My Little Pony? Every episode too? What's going on, Percy?"
"Like I said... It was a dare. Back at Camp Jupiter, we were at the barracks and a couple guys dared me to watch it, every episode. I kinda caught onto everything, and I guess it came in handy, considering that we're here."
"Oh, don't think that it's wrong! Far from that!" I exclaim, "I just think it's cute, is all." I add with a smile.
His face was getting redder by the minute. "So uh, anything else? Because I can get Rainbow and Twilight to come back..."
"Yeah that's all for now, Seaweed Brain. Go ahead and fetch them."
As he came back down, Twilight and Rainbow in tow, I notice a glint of amusement in Rainbow's eyes, and a bit of worry in Twilight's.
"All right, we best be going, now." said Rainbow. "Don't forget Twi: Flying lessons, tomorrow, ten 'o clock, my place." and she was gone, Percy following her.
Twilight walked over to me and helped me get up, grabby my saddlebags along the way, and guided me upstairs to her guest room, where the bed was neatly made. Popping on the light, she magically grabbed a quill and paper.
"Every time something new and unusual comes up, I write a letter to Princess Celestia about it. Hope you don't mind if i write it here?" asked Twilight.
"Not at all, go ahead." I answer, interested to hear what Twilight had to say to her mentor.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today was going to be relaxing day, but as usual something had to come up. This time, two humans found themselves in our world. Apparently, the world where these demigods came from also has a Tartarus, and that they can reach Equestria through it, but not the other way around. According to Percy, one of the demigods, monsters in their Tartarus dare not approach the portal, because it's a one-way trip. because of this, Percy and Annabeth are stuck here, in Equestria, and have been turned into ponies the minute they stepped out of Tartarus. I took them in to my care, and Rainbow dash agreed to shelter Percy. I expect your response with instructions on what to do next.
Your still-faithful former student,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Wrapping up the letter in a parchment seal, she brought it to Spike, who used his fire breath to send it. At first I thought he was just incinerating the letter, but I remembered what Twilight said about her special "mail service" she had with the princess. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and we needed rest. There was a lot of reading and planning to do.