//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Reestablishments 
// Story: What Separates 
// by Zurock 
//------------------------------//

	Looking back at Twilight, James felt confident he could make this recounting go a bit more smoothly.  He had recognized Twilight visually when he arrived because she was one of the ponies present when he escaped from the collapsing DT.  In fact, the Princess had told him Twilight was there when she explained that he would be staying with Twilight.  Since Twilight would have seen the structure he believed he could succinctly explain his presence in Equestria first.
"Alright," he said to her, "Let me explain where I'm from.  That large structure you saw yesterday was what some of my people called the 'DT' or 'Dimensional Tower'.  Basically it was a building made with the purpose of testing the theory of traveling to different dimensions or universes and-"
But Twilight's eyes went wide and she stood up and leaned in, her thoughts firing straight out of her mouth with all the suddenly realized implications.  "Are you saying you're from another universe?  That's amazing!  I mean, I had read a paper which speculated on the concept of multiple universes but no one has ever figured out if a spell could be crafted to open a portal to one!  How did you do it?  There was just so many unanswered questions and-"
She had completely derailed James' train of thought with her excitement.  He had taken her prior calmer mood at too much face value.  Or perhaps he had relied too much on remembering Princess Celestia's patience and unthinkingly assumed he'd get the same thing with Twilight.  This girl was a sponge for knowledge though, so the ramifications of this new information gripped her like a vise.  The sudden academic turn of thought also helped ease the underlying tension for her.
Twilight then recognized she had cut him off and apologized with, "Oh, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to interrupt."
Taking into mind her curiosity, James thought about forgoing the story in favor of a conversation.  He would have to drop the planned course he had but honestly it would probably be easier for him too.  If he let her freely talk back it would mean anything else that caught her interest wouldn't be an interruption.  Also, he would feel more at ease since it wasn't like him to give speeches.  His encounter with Princess Celestia had a certain awkwardness that wasn't just from not being used to telling a tale under the scrutinous eyes of a talking horse.
He spoke up, saying, "That's alright.  Feel free to ask questions if you have any."
Setting herself back down, Twilight took the invitation and asked, "How did your people open a doorway to Equestria?  I mean, how specifically was that thing supposed to do it?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you there," he said.  "I didn't build it or know how it really works.  Some rather smart people spent decades doing the research and eventually built it."
She was a little dejected that there would be no answer but also impressed with the appropriately grand amount of effort that seemed to have gone into it.  Some famous wizards had spent decades crafting their masterpiece spells.  Something that could move between universes seemed like it would naturally take a team of wizards a long time to put together.  She asked her next question, "So, why did you come to Equestria with it?"  She also remembered its destruction.  "And what happened to it?  It fell to pieces!"
"It was an accident," he replied.  "Both were accidents, actually."
Twilight cocked her head slightly.  "Both?"
"The DT was just part of their research.  It could THEORETICALLY move between dimensions," he laughed in his head again at the use of the word "theoretically" where it no longer applied, "but it was really just built to help them study and understand their theory."  James explained the ocean metaphor to Twilight, about how each universe could be considered its own island floating in a massive, infinite ocean.  The purpose of the DT was to start understanding that ocean, the void space between dimensions, because you don't just build a boat that you hope is seaworthy enough to take off and find other islands which may or may not be there.  Especially if you don't even know how to look for them yet.
Twilight put a hoof up to her chin.  "That makes sense.  It's like an extrapolation of how space normally works."  She gestured over to wall with a window saying, "I can't just take a step and wind up in a neighbor's house.  I have to go outside first to cross the street before I can enter their place."  Reflecting on it, she concluded, "So is that what happened to the structure?  The 'ship sunk?'"
"I don't know about that either," James said.  "Maybe.  I mean, that seems logical to me.  It had an incredible capacity to generate power.  Maybe when it came across a situation it wasn't built explicitly to handle, like 'running aground,' it lost its control over that power, which wound up tearing it apart."
Using what had been brought up so far, Twilight made the next logical deduction.  "You're stuck in Equestria now because besides building another that could work without falling apart it would have to find its way back here, then?"
James said, "Yes."  He shook his hand dismissively.  "I've accepted there's no way back.  I'll work through it in time."  He seemed a little more irritated than he was despondent.  There were some things he didn't want going through his head at the moment.  Like a dangerous, risky situation, sometimes it's better not to think about it but power through.  The thoughts and feelings can be sorted out later at a more appropriate time.  Since he was still trying to understand his current situation, he just wasn't comfortable enough to process everything.
The negative turn bothered Twilight, who tried to rebuff it.  "There's no reason to lose hope.  You never know what might happen."  But he didn't respond except to turn away slightly and curl his lip.  Twilight realized that she still didn't know anything about him or species, so though she didn't like the resignation to such a loss it might not be a good idea to push the topic further.  If she could learn more about him, she could figure out which approaches would be best.  That's the way you solve problems.
She searched for the best way to pick up the conversation somewhere else when James turned his gaze past her, fixating on something behind her.  Turning to look for herself, she saw the door to the bedchamber was open and she quickly made out the green eyes of her assistant peering over at them.  The bleariness in them showed as her assistant squinted from the light.
"Spike?  I thought you had gone to sleep?" Twilight said.
He yawned as he hobbled out from the doorway.  "I was asleep.  I thought you were going to wake me up when the new guy arrived?"  He had gone a few steps when he paused as he got his first look at James, still squinting from his weariness and the stronger light in this room.  Then he continued his way over to them.
"I didn't want to get you up if you were asleep," Twilight told him.  "I know you want to be up and out early tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah," he said, going straight into another yawn.
"So what are you doing up then?" she asked him.
"I heard talking.  Somebody sounded really excited."
Twilight got an embarrassed smile from not having monitored the volume of her voice more carefully.  "James and I were just getting to know each other better."  She turned to James to give a proper introduction.  "James, this is my assistant and friend Spike.  He lives in the library with me."  Turning back to Spike, she made the counter introduction to him.
Spike hadn't been present at the destruction of the DT, so this was his first time getting a look at James.  He had even less to go on than Twilight, knowing only the contents of Princess Celestia's initial letter.  Despite that and his present drowsiness he was cheery about the encounter.  For him it was just another meeting with someone new.  But there was one thing that stood out about this one.
"Huh," he said.  "I've never seen someone like you before."
For his part, James was rather cheery as well.  The change in focus moved away from what he didn't want to mull over and now he got to see another fantastical creature.  Even with the reptilian appearance there was a kind of adorable charm to him.  James genially responded, "I can truthfully say the same thing to you."
Holding out his hand, Spike said, "It's nice to meet you, James."
Here was another comfortable familiarity that perked James up an extra little bit.  Contrasted against the prior introductions to new ponies, something that seemed so regular stood out all the more.  He immediately took Spike's hand to shake it.  "Spike.  It's nice to meet you too."
They released their grips and Spike pointed his thumb over his shoulder to some items piled in a corner.  "Sorry about not having an extra bed, but I got out all the extra blankets and pillows I could so you can s... slee-" he yawned again at trying to mention the word.
Giggling to herself, Twilight nudged him back towards the bedchamber door with her nose.  "Why don't you go back to sleep, Spike?  You're really tired.  You'll have a chance to talk to him later.  You're never going to be awake early enough to make it to Rarity's when you want to if you stay up too late."
"Okay, okay," he mumbled and started drearily making his way back.  He stumbled a little bit with his steps.  "It was nice to..." he trailed off, shaking himself at the déjà vu.  James gave him a wave back.  "Good night," Spike said, which the others echoed.  Spike grabbed a hold of the door as he wandered back into the bedchamber.  It shut gently and moments later the low light from under the door faded.
Bringing her attention back to the conversation, Twilight was happy to see the distraction brought the general mood up.  Before she could ask a question, James spoke up.
"Your assistant's not a pony," he said.
"Oh, no.  Spike's a dragon," Twilight responded.
He wondered if he would have been able to guess that given enough chances.  It's a word he was a little surprised to hear at first, but it made its own sort of sense immediately.  Why not, after all?  His capacity for critical skepticism had been temporarily busted by this whole chain of events.  He was getting ready to believe just about anything that he was presented with.  But still it struck him.  With an inquiring gaze he said to himself, "It's funny..."
Since he wasn't laughing, Twilight asked, "What is?"
"Well," he began, "dragons don't physically exist where I come from.  That doesn't seem too surprising, right?"
She nodded.
"But they do exist as a concept.  They're mythical animals.  Used in stories and legends.  Fictitious.  Dragons aren't real, but the idea of them is," he said.
Twilight was trying to discern what precisely he was getting at.  "By crossing into another universe, it seems natural that you would possibly find yourself seeings things you've never seen before," she said.
"That's not what I mean," James answered.  "I crossed over and now I've seen what is specifically considered a fake animal back at home.  It just seems a little unusually... coincidental."
Now Twilight recognized what he was saying.  She thought about it for a second.  "I can understand why it might feel like that," she said, "but at the same time it seems silly to make those kinds of assumptions.  Although it's easy to imagine that another universe must be filled with completely unknown and unimaginable things, there really isn't anything to base that off of.  What can actually be known about a place you've never been to or heard of before?"  She brought up an old lesson she had learned about studying new subjects.  "Sometimes it's necessary to throw out preconceived notions before stepping into something new, otherwise they might bias your judgment in a way that holds you back."
"That's fair," James said nodding.  And with the teacherly tone of her delivery, he couldn't help but feel that maybe she was right.  He's already seen plenty he wouldn't expect but hadn't stopped to think about how they compared to some of the other, more "usual" things he had seen.  Trees, mountains, castles.  Even the whole idea of "an alternate dimension full of talking horses" had an almost expected storybook nature to it.  That's the kind of thing you almost innately believe you'll find if you ever wound up in another universe.  He wasn't sure why seeing a dragon caught him.  Maybe he was just becoming more lucid.  Still, Twilight had a strong point so he resolved to, as best he could, keep his skepticism suppressed.
"So are ponies mythology to you, too?" Twilight joked, amused by the thought of her own kind being the subject of some other world's stories.  But by the way he looked back at her and scratched his head she could tell the answer was a bit more complicated.  "Wait, are there ponies in your universe?" she asked, half guessing.
He wavered his head slightly saying, "Sort of.  But they're different.  Less colorful.  No horns.  No wings.  No society.  They can't even speak.  They're just... animals."  He had a twinge of momentary regret with his choice of final word, but Twilight seemed to take it in the inoffensive way he meant it.
"That's strange," she said.  It was suddenly less amusing for her to think about.  What would it be like for ponies that had none of the usual things in a place like where he was from?  In fact, what was it like where he was from?  She had intended to ask questions about that next before things took a sudden turn.  All she had to go on was what she saw yesterday.  She now knew what the bizarre structure was all about.  The only other thing that happened was Rainbow Dash pulling the two people out of it as it was falling apart.
That's when Twilight remembered seeing James and the other one like him fight, not long after Rainbow Dash had dropped them on the ground.  The other one moved at James with a large knife and they struggled over it briefly before James got it and quickly stabbed him.  She grew nervous again thinking about it.  It was a sudden and shocking thing to see.  For most of the time since she saw it, it had been plaguing her thoughts.  It was a dark riddle without an answer.  Like the lingering uneasiness at every unlit room that comes after reading a good scary story, it was an unsettling conflict of the desire to illuminate the truth versus the fear and risk of actually finding out what was in the darkness.  She was unable to put it off her mind until Spike coughed up a letter from Princess Celestia saying that she would be responsible for him.  Then she fretted over what would exactly happen when she met him.
But things had gone differently than she imagined.  Now that she had gotten the chance to talk him a little bit, she thought he seemed quite amiable in conversation.  He didn't even look particularly threatening, especially not in what he was wearing now.  She still thought it looked more like he was wrapped in a table cloth than wearing actual clothing.  Above all that though, she completely trusted the Princess over anything.  The Princess had put her on assignments before while withholding information, and the Princess had trusted that Twilight would carry through.  There was no reason for this not to be true now.  That, whatever the reason behind what happened was, the Princess must have believed in Twilight enough to know she could maturely understand the truth of the matter.  Even if she was a little afraid to find it out.
"James?" she asked, though there was a slight crack in her voice.
He fixed his gaze on her.  "Hm?"
"I'd like to a-ask you a... uh... a l-little bit about what happened yesterday.  A-after the structure collapsed."  Before he even had a chance to consider what she said, she suddenly continued, "B-but first!  How about a drink?  I'm a little thirsty!  Eheh..."  She just needed a moment to calm her nerves and focus herself.  She knew she could get through this, but now she felt too agitated from jumping so hastily from thought to action without taking the time to prepare.
"Alright," he responded.  "Water would be great."
"Sure!  No problem!  I'll be right back," she said, getting up and heading off towards the kitchen.  She muttered positive reinforcements quietly to herself, as well as a small chastisement for not asking for the break before bringing up the topic.
James looked down at the floor and brought his right fist up against his mouth in thought.  Princess Celestia had talked to him about Twilight's studiousness and curiosity.  The Princess also had a warning with regards to that terrible subject that she knew James and Twilight would inevitably talk about.





The rays of the morning sun cast into the room from the left of the bed, through the tall windows and their curtains.  James fumbled in the sheets for several minutes to collect some more rest.  Eventually he sat up, looking out from under the canopy of the bed at the windows and the morning sunrise as it filtered through the purple curtains.  He was in a guest suite at Canterlot Castle.
He got up out of the bed, again getting a look at the thing Princess Celestia had given him to wear last night.  It was a rather funny looking type of white robe.  The Princess told him she had just taken and old table cloth and sewn it up, cutting in holes for the arms.  It was only temporary until he could get some proper clothes made.  She had seemed pleased with herself, saying it had been a long time since she had tried her hoof at sewing.  It didn't look very professional but James was appreciative anyway.  As long as she wasn't requesting he go around without clothes like several ponies he had seen he was fine with it.
James checked the door to the room.  A guard was posted outside who requested he stay in the room as Princess Celestia would be up to meet with him shortly.  He turned back in and dropped himself on the bed and begin thinking over various events of the previous day.  The battle, the destruction, and the strangest event of all, recapping the day to a regal, talking horse in her castle.  He was curious as to Princess Celestia's intentions for him.  He was so sure by the way she reacted to his talk of war and fighting that she would just find a place to hide him away.  But she had absolutely assured him when he asked again after their meal that there was no castle dungeon and nobody was going to be locked away.  Keeping his thoughts occupied with these present matters also helped him deal with some of his loss.  He felt sure he could handle it in time; he had been in military service so there was always the chance he could suddenly lose everything, after all.  He just didn't want to deal with it at the moment.
The wait was only about fifteen minutes before the Princess arrived.  She invited him to follow her down the halls of the castle and into the gardens.  They casually chatted along the way.  She asked him how slept, if his cuts and bruises were doing better, if he was hungry, and such general conversational things.  It was only a short walk down some corridors before they crossed a large ballroom with glass walls that opened right up into the gardens.  They stepped out, welcomed by a soft breeze.  The morning air made things chilly for James, especially as his makeshift clothing wasn't very insulated or wind resistant.
The gardens themselves were quite beautiful.  By the colors of the leaves on the trees, it appeared to be very early in autumn.  It gave the scene the start of a warm color palette, but things hadn't given in to the change enough to lose all the lushness of summer.  A diverse arrangement of flowerbeds dotted the area, with buds in more spectacular colors than James had ever seen.  Several vibrant plants also popped out of hedges that were scattered here and there.  There were a few stone statues placed about as well, mostly of ponies striking dramatic poses.
Princess Celestia led him to a tree with a thick, curved trunk that branched upwards into a veritable cloud of leaves.  There were several arcs of short hedges surrounding the area, giving it a minor enclosed feel, and two stonework benches were at either side of the tree.  Although the ground was fairly cold, James enjoyed walking through the grass barefoot.  It had been a long time since he'd been outside without anything on his feet.
As they approached, Princess Celestia said, "I've been taking into account everything you have told me and I have decided what shall be done with you."  It was really the gentle, soft tone of her voice that kept it from sounding ominous.  "Since you are going to be a permanent part of Equestria, and your experience falls far outside the normal Equestrian way of life, you will be assigned to a pony who will take care of you and educate you.  What I personally ask is that you keep an open mind about the experience."
"Alright," he replied.  He felt she was putting an awful lot of trust in him.  His rational side thought it was too much trust to be putting into a stranger, especially with how seriously clear she had already made Equestria's anti-violence position out to be.  But his emotional side responded to her faith as well.  Being given such trust made him feel like it was that much more important to live up to it.  He could reconcile the feelings and go forward since he believed he had nothing to lose by trying, anyway.
"I know exactly the pony I will assign you to, as well," the Princess elaborated.  "She is a personal student of mine.  My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.  I believe her recent studies will be most useful in shepherding you into our world.  There is much you may be able to learn from her if you try, and she and the friends she surrounds herself with will be more than capable of assisting you with any needs.  For instance, with new clothes."  Princess Celestia looked James over once more, considering something.  "Perhaps," she said, "in time, there may be things that she will be able to learn from you."
She brought herself close to him so she could emphasize her main concern.  "Please understand, though.  Some of your experiences and your world are painfully against the Harmony that lives within all ponies.  Twilight Sparkle is a very gifted, intelligent, and curious pony.  She will want to know and understand you.  You must be careful with those parts of yourself and your history that could be dangerous to that Harmony.  Twilight will be able to understand.  I just wish for you to understand how important the Harmony is, how serious what you carry is, and to exercise caution with regards to those most terrible things you know of."
James wasn't sure he really understood what she was saying to him.  "Ponies hate war," was his initial interpretation last night, but the powerful way she depicted the knowledge and associated experiences, almost as if they were a weapon, seemed both profound and ridiculous.  Were ponies somehow so under informed or gullible that introducing the idea of taking things by force will get them all to start practicing it?  Or was it some kind of social advice like, "If you want to avoid making yourself a pariah, be careful what you talk about"?  He would have been "exercising caution" anyway as he wasn't one to press upsetting subjects if it wasn't important.
"Okay, I understand," he told her.
But the Princess' eyes narrowed slightly and she stared deeper into him.  She felt he wasn't lying, but he wasn't exactly being honest either.  This was the one thing that was important for her to establish before leaving things in Twilight's capable hooves, so she wasn't going to let go with a halfhearted acknowledgment.
Feeling the authoritative pressure, James relented.  He straightened his back and stood almost as if at attention.  Closing his eyes, he drew a breath.  Princess Celestia seemed like one of those individuals who was incredibly good at reading people so he needed himself to take this seriously.  In his head he resolved to keep her words always in mind and promised himself he would give them serious weight.  He still didn't feel sure he understood what it meant, but he was trusting time and experience to sort that one out.  Perhaps as he learned about Equestria from this Twilight Sparkle it would become clearer.
"Princess Celestia," he said opening his eyes, "I promise you that I will try my best to understand what you have told me and to exercise as much responsibility as I can bring to bear with regards to it."
The Princess smiled.  It wasn't the more committal, "Yes, sir!" he would have given a superior officer, but it did contain the honesty she was looking for.  "I believe you will," she said.  She walked over to the trunk of the tree and looked up, admiring the leaves' golden color.  She continued, "I will send a letter to Twilight Sparkle informing her of her new responsibility shortly.  A chariot will fly you out to her this evening."
"She's not here?" James asked.
"No," she answered.  "Twilight Sparkle lives in the library at Ponyville, a town not that far from here.  You emerged just outside of it.  In fact, you even saw Twilight herself yesterday."
He presumed she meant one of the ponies he saw after being dragged out of the DT.  He asked the Princess, "Where will I be staying until this evening then?"
"You may have the time between now and then to yourself.  Feel free to wander the gardens or the castle.  Talk with one of the royal guards if you need anything," she said.  When he didn't respond, she felt satisfied that everything was accounted for and wandered off into another part of the garden.
James was amazed at the leeway he was given.  But now he was also alone with his thoughts.  He sat down on one of the stone benches, resting his hands in his lap, and stared at the tree in silence.