I wake up early in the morning to a knock on the bedroom door. After lying in bed for a moment, briefly wondering where I am, I sit up. My surroundings become clear as I rub my eyes. The sun is already up, judging by the amount of light pouring through the windows. No clocks hang on the walls, and I do not have a watch yet.
"Sir? Are you up? The Princesses have requested your presence." A high-pitched, excited voice calls from beyond the door. I groan and rub my temples. It is too early for anyone to be excitable, and I don't even know what time it is.
"I'm up. Give me a second." I climb out of bed, walk over to a mirror, and brush my hair with my hands. I take a moment to look myself over. Two silver-blue eyes meet my own. The person in the mirror's face is framed by scruffy dark-brown hair, a small dark mark rests under his right eye, my left. I suppose I look presentable enough, given my circumstance. Certainly two regal princesses won't mind a scruffy looking human. I try to smooth my clothes out; I made the mistake of sleeping in them last night.
"It's been more than a second! It's been like, a bunch of seconds!" Whoever this new pony is, they better be adorable. I don't appreciate being rushed by squeaky things in the morning. Might as well get the next ten minutes of my life over with.
"Hold your horses." I approach the door, open it, and am immediately tackled to the floor. As I open my eyes, I am immediately met with two curious blue eyes.
"Wow! So you're the mystery guest the princesses have been talking about!" This excitable little pony climbs off of me as I sit up. She wears silver armor with no helmet, a small sword strapped to her hip. The armor covers her flank, so I can't see her cutiemark. "I bet you're really excited to travel to Ponyville and meet all kinds of new friends and find real happiness here, instead of being a huge mopey-pants all the time, and then finally meet your special somepony!" A wide smile stretches over her cloud-white face.
"What? Are you some kind of wizard?" Her pale pink mane bounces as she quickly looks up at the ceiling.
"Nope! No horn! Can't do magic. No wings, either!" This pony concerns me. She's a guard, obviously, but she's a little too cheerful. It's almost like she could burst into song, or throw a surprise party at any minute. Do ponies do that kind of thing?
"Are you going to start singing and dancing?"
"Nope! Not unless you want me to. Princess Celestia told me to come get you, and do whatever I could to help you get ready." I almost ask her what I need to be ready for, before I remember what I discussed with the princesses last night. They hadn't known me for more than a day, and already they were allowing me to go to a new town.
"I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"Great! Let's go! My name's Pingpong, by the way!" She bounces toward the door as I stand and grab my journal. I notice that, unlike the princesses, this pony only stands about waist-high to me.
"Pingpong, huh? Cute name. I wish I could remember mine."
"Why can't you remember your name?" I shrug and scratch my head as she leads me out of the room.
"I probably hit my head or something."
"Amnesia?"
"I don't think so. I remember a lot of stuff. My name is the only thing that eludes me."
"Well, why don't we pick a new name for you?"
"Why bother? Anonymous suits me just fine. Besides, I shouldn't be around for more than a year." I hope this is a lie, but at the same time, I hope it's true. The little guard pony sighs.
"Aww, I was just starting to get to know you!" She looks up at me with the saddest expression I have ever seen anyone muster, pony or otherwise. I look away in an attempt to preserve what's left of my heart and spleen.
"I'm honestly hoping I'll be able to stay. I'll only be gone for a few months. I want to do some research on the Elements of Harmony down in Ponyville." Pingpong smiles at me and shuffles her hooves a little bit.
"When you come back, do you think we can be friends?"
"Of course." We stand in front of two large, ornate doors.
"Well, we're here! I have to go do guard stuff, but I'll see you later! Bye, Nonny!" The little guard bounces off before I can say anything, so I just wave. The doors open with little resistance.
"Good morning, Anonymous!" Celestia call from her seat on the throne. Luna sits beside her and waves to me. I approach them with a wave.
"Interesting guard you had. Back on Earth, our military isn't allowed to be fun and cheerful on duty." Celestia giggles softly.
"Pingpong is an exception, actually. Did you not get a good look at her?" I think for a second. She had an awfully poofy mane, and cheerful attitude.
"I did."
"And?"
"And what? Am I supposed to recognize her? I don't really know a lot of ponies, if you've forgotten."
"She is a descendant of Pinkie Pie, though she decided she wanted to be a guard in order to be more like her ancestor." Luna explains.
"Though, she is a tad misguided. Her ancestor was a baker, not a guard." Celestia continues, a grin played on her face. "Regardless, Pingpong is one of our best guards. She was appointed by Twilight Sparkle herself."
"Is she some kind of clairvoyant or something? She said something weird about me going to Ponyville and meeting a 'special somepony' or something?" I look back at the doors, expecting to see that strange guard there. Nothing.
"Her ancestor was an odd one, Anonymous. That we cannot deny. However, I do believe there is a more pressing matter at hand, other than the lineage of one of our guards." Celestia pulls a set of saddlebags from behind her throne and drops them in front of me. I stare at them for a moment before picking them up and looking inside. Two candlesticks, a key, and a scroll tied with red ribbon and a gold medal sit in one pouch. The other contains a rather large amount of golden coins.
"The candlesticks," Luna begins, "will allow you to write to us. Simply burn your letter with the corresponding flame: orange for my sister, and blue for me. The key is to a house on the outskirts of Ponyville, where you will be allowed to stay during your time there, however long that may be." Magical candles that send mail by burning it. I don't think I'll be questioning how certain things work in this world any time soon. As for already procuring me a place to live, they're princess; they have connections.
"The scroll should be given to the mayor as soon as possible. It will explain your circumstance. As for the coins, those are the currency in Equestria. They're called bits." I turn a few over in my hand.
"You use actual gold, melted down into coins, as currency?"
"Yes."
"Back on Earth we used paper money that was supposed to be backed by a gold supply, but it ended up just being a fiat currency. It ended up being completely worthless after a while."
"A currency that's worthless? How does that work?"
"Very poorly, unsurprisingly. Anyway, I suppose you're going to tell me how to get to Ponyville?" I sling the saddle-bags over my shoulder.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Pingpong will be waiting for you outside of the castle. She'll take you down into the mountain to the train station." Once again, I look back to the doors.
"Mountain?" I say, turning back.
"Yes. Canterlot City is build on the side of a mountain. We had to disconnect the trains that led up here, due to security risks. We ended up building another city inside of the mountain. There is an elevator that leads to and from the upper and lower cities."
"And I'll be taking that down to the train station?" Both princesses nod. "Sounds neat. Anything else I need to know?" They ponder for a moment.
"Don't let Pingpong board the train with you. She'll try to stay with you. She has a bit of a habit trying to protect all of the new ponies she meets, while trying to make them smile." I smile softly.
"I'll make sure she returns to the two of you, then. I don't think I'll be taking on a companion any time soon."
"Be safe, Anonymous. And good luck." Celestia says, as the princesses wave me off. It hasn't even been two days, and I can already say that I care deeply for them. I'm going to do my best to not screw up during my stay in their world.
With a wave, I depart from the throne room and follow the large red carpet directly across the long hall to another set of enormous doors. They open easily. I don't understand why doors three times my height and twice my width can open so easily. They're clearly made of wood and ornamented in gold.
"It's magic! You shouldn't make a habit of questioning things that are similar from your world, but tend to be different here!" The little guard-pony bounces around me.
"Hello, Pingpong." She latches onto my leg and hugs as tight as she can.
"Hi, Nonny! I missed you."
"I was only gone for a little while." I smile and scratch behind her ear. "But, I guess I missed you too." She makes an adorable squeaking noise before jumping off of me and standing at attention.
"This is all well and good, but I need to escort you to the train station, sir!" She salutes quickly and looks up at me, a solemn look on her face. I raise an eyebrow as Pingpong quickly breaks her bearing and starts hopping across the path leading to the castle gates. I follow her after taking a long glance at the castle. Already, I look forward to coming back, be it to return home, or to visit the princesses. "Hurry up, Nonny!"
"I'm coming," I say as I run after Pingpong. We pass through the gates, and I stand in awe for a moment as I gaze upon Canterlot City. Ponies, mostly unicorns, trot around in fancy hats and clothes and jewelry. Pingpong leads me through down the main street. Ponies stop their conversations and halt dead in their tracks as we pass. They stare, some abhorred, some curious. Pingpong just smiles obliviously. I cast my eyes to the ground, trying to ignore the looks of these ponies. I fear that I will be met with the same reaction in Ponyville. "You gotta smile, Nonny. You're different, but ponies don't know you, so they're going to avoid you and give you weird looks. Just keep your head up."
I smile and pat the hyper-wizard-guard on the head.
"Thanks Pingpong."
We walk through the town in silence, taking back alleys and avoiding as many ponies as possible until we finally reach a large hole in the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, we are unable to avoid ponies through this way. We enter the hole, and I start to look around. Hundreds of feet down, I can see an entire city, several times larger than the one we were previously in. A large platform floats up into a large hole in front of us.
"Here it is." Pingpong bounces on it it and turns to me with a wide grin. "Come on, silly! We gotta go!" I step onto the platform and wait for a moment.
"I don't get i-" I start to scream as the platform drops quickly. I lay as flat as I can and try to grab onto Pingpong, who stands calmly with a smile. "WHY AREN'T YOU FREAKING OUT!?"
"Because, there's nothing to be afraid of! It's magic, and it's perfectly safe!" I look around, borderline hyperventilating. There are no rails on this platform. That is the definition of not safe.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Pingpong nods enthusiastically as the elevator slows down.
"Yup! Runs in the family!" She bounces around me as I start to stand up. I feel nauseous, and almost fall off balance. Ponies that wait to board the platform stare at me, some giggling as I stumble after Pingpong.
"That was terrifying." I want nothing more than to curl up and cry right now.
"We're not far from the train station, Nonny! Just gotta get through this shopping district and we'll be in a big ol' plaza." I wish she would stop bouncing off so quickly. I hardly get to take in the scenery. Even if this part of Canterlot is extremely bland, it's still a step up from most places on Earth. Once I finally catch up to her, we walk together in silence. She frowns, and tries to hide it by looking away.
We enter the large plaza. Several other streets branch off from it, and a large train station stands on our far right. A large number of small stands are scattered through the plaza, selling knickknacks, trinkets, toys, and other souvenirs.
"I guess this is where we part ways." I look down at Pingpong, who looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "Please don't cry." She sniffles a little bit, and I kneel down to hug her. "I'll be back soon, you goofy little wizard."
"Pinkie promise?"
"I don't know what that is, but sure."
"Alright." She pulls a small letter out of nowhere and holds it up to me. "Take this to the ponies in Sugarcube Corner. They're old friends of my family, and they'll help you if you need it." I take the letter and put it in my saddle-bag.
"Thanks. I'll be sure to write to you, alright?" She nods and waves as we part ways.
As I take the first step into the train station, I make the mistake of looking back. Pingpong sits, watching me and crying. She's only known me for a few hours, and she's already this attached. I really hope it's just her, and not all ponies are like this. However, it is good to know that ponies can warm up to me quickly. At least I'll make friends quickly, until I leave.
I wave to her one last time before walking into the station. My first time alone. As I approach the train sitting in the station, a soft voice calls out to me.
"Sir. You're going to need a ticket." I turn to a small booth. A unicorn sits inside.
"Oh, uh... yeah. I guess that would be helpful. How much is a one-way trip to Ponyville?"
"Ten bits, sir." I nod and set the saddle-bags down. I stare at the faces of each coin as I dig through them. I shrug, pick ten coins up, and place them on the unicorn's desk. She stares at them, slides one toward her, and nine back to me. "These are ten-bit coins, sir."
"Oh." I place them back in my bag and take the ticket that she slides back to me. "Thanks."
"Have a good trip, sir." I walk over to the train, pass the ticket to an earth-pony stallion wearing a conductor's outfit. He raises a brow as I pass, but shrugs as I board. On the train, I look for a seat that has very few ponies near it. Not a lot of ponies board the train, and the few that do try their best to ignore me. I keep my gaze cast outside as the train starts to roll out.
Good bye Canterlot. Hello Ponyville.