I have never been a fan of heights, so when Twilight’s method of transport was a flying carriage I was opposed to the idea. I probably sound like a wimp; well, you’re not wrong, otherwise things might have been different in my life.
“Here we are.” Twilight said, getting out of the carriage.
“I’ll stick to the ground next time.” I said, following her on unsteady legs at first.
There were ponies in armor around the entrance to the castle I had been brought to. Each one stared me down as I followed Twilight through the doors leading to the interior of the large structure. Some were unicorns, while others were pegasai, and there were a few normal ponies, like Applejack.
“I feel like the odd man out here.” I said, as we walked through a long hallway.
“They’re just doing their job, besides you’re the first of your kind to set hoof here, can you blame them for being a little suspicious?” Twilight asked.
“Not really...so do you always say everypony, hoof for hands and feet and...ponify everything?” I asked.
Twilight giggled “You might be in culture shock for a while, but trust me not much is different.” she said.
I had to take her word for it. In a strange way everything made sense, everypony meant everyone or everybody. Somepony was the same as saying someone, still it felt weird to even think it let alone say it.
“Princess Twilight!” saluted two guards at a set of large double doors.
“Hello, is Princess Celestia busy?” Twilight asked.
The two guards looked at each other nervously before turning their attention back to Twilight “Prince Blueblood is in there…” one of them said quietly.
“Blueblood? Kind of a pompous name.” I said, thinking out loud.
Both guards turned to me at my statement. “You have no idea, he’s been a thorn in the Princess’ side for a while now.” one said.
“Hey, what exactly are you anyways?” the other one asked staring at me.
Twilight’s eyes widened as an idea formed in her head “He is the first of his kind to this land, somewhat of an ambassador, if you will.” she said winking.
“Oh, well we can’t keep somepony of importance waiting.” the guard on the right said, winking back before opening the door wide enough to slip through.
“So what are you, really?” the other guard asked, still hung up on his question.
“It’s a long story.” I said, which left the guard with a curious stare, but at least it wasn’t menacing like the others had been.
There was a shout from behind the door, followed by several heavy clacking sounds. I had come to recognize them as pony foo-hoof steps, and could only assume news of my presence here hadn’t been taken well.
“Who is this…ambassa-dor?” asked a white unicorn, most likely Blueblood, who I had half expected to be blue.
A look of terror was etched on his face upon seeing me, which made the guard still at his post snicker. I have to admit, seeing someone, or somepony man this would take some getting used to, go from livid to terrified within seconds was priceless.
“Sup?” I asked, causing him to take a few steps back.
“What is that thing!?” Blueblood asked.
“I am not a thing, I am a human.” I said.
Blueblood didn’t say anything, only scrunching up his face as he walked past me. His pace was rather quick, and he kept looking back at me until he rounded the corner. The feeling was less than encouraging, even if he was a jerk.
“So, this is the ambassador I was informed about?” asked an angelic voice.
On a throne, towards the end of the room, was a white mare with a mane and tail that seemed to flow with magic. Even though she was sitting down, it was obvious that she was much taller than the others. Which raised the question, if I was to refer to her as a pony or a horse?
“Sorry Celestia, I wouldn’t intrude under normal circumstances, but there’s a problem.” Twilight said, giving a small bow of her head before continuing. I guess she was humble even though she was a princess herself. I bowed as well not wanting to offend them.
“What problem would that be?” Celestia asked.
I felt a nudge in my leg, and looked down to see Twilight motion her head towards Celestia. I took a small step forward, and the fear that was racing through me seemed to vanish. I briefly considered the possibility that this was Celestia’s doing somehow, but pushed the notion from my mind.
“You’re majesty, this is all an accident, I woke up on one of your subject’s land and the thing is I’m not from here…as in from this world, not that you didn’t probably didn’t guess that.” I said.
“So, how did you get here then?” Celestia asked, a confused look on her face.
“Do you know what a wishing stone is?” I asked in return.
Celestia closed her eyes, as if in deep thought. A low “hmm” escaped her as she pondered on what I had asked making me worry if she could help me get home. After a few seconds she opened her eyes, and looked down at me with a sad expression.
“I can’t say that I do…” Celestia said.
“Is there something you’re not telling us? Any detail at all about how you got here?” Twilight asked.
“I’ve told you everything, I was ranting about a stupid letter my sister sent, then out of spite I made a wish, and I say that lightly, then there’s a bright light and loud noise and I passed out.” I said.
“Magic leaves little to wishes, I don’t think it was what you said that brought you here.” Celestia said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“While I may not know what brought you here, I don’t believe it was an accident, especially something this significant.” Celestia said smiling.
“Princess, I’m anything but significant, trust me this is a huge misunderstanding. I just want to go back to my old life.” I said.
“And you enjoy this life?” Celestia asked.
I hesitated in answering her. I hadn’t been mad at my sister that night, even though her letter is what started all of this, I was mad at myself. Truth was, I hated my life, and wanted change. I thought about arguing for my family, but even that fell in my mind as I recalled how I was broken goods to a drill sergeant father because I wouldn’t join the army, My mother wasn’t much better, constantly reminding me of my failures. She called it pushing, I called it annoying.
“No, but…I don’t know, I just don’t belong here.” I said.
“Twilight, may I have a word with you?” Celestia asked, prompting a guard to show me out of the room.
***
“He is a strange creature, are these the ones you saw when you ventured through the mirror?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, but I don’t think he came through the mirror, so his story holds up. If he had, he should have been affected by the spell and changed like I did.” Twilight said.
Celestia looked at the doors, pondering on what to do with the being just beyond them. He seemed harmless enough, but looks could be deceiving. Still, this human seemed to lack the confidence to do anything outrageous and posed little threat if there was any malice in him. Then there was the question of how others would treat him.
“Does anypony else know about this new comer?” Celestia asked.
“Applejack, but only because she’s the one who found him. I was worried how the others would react to seeing him.” Twilight said.
“I fear this as well, and with Blueblood having seen him who knows what will be said. I don’t want to use quarantine while we look into what force sent him here, but maybe it’s for the best.” Celestia said.
Twilight stared at the doors “I’ll do it.” she said her, glance not wavering.
“You’ll do what, Twilight?” Celestia asked.
“When you sent me to Ponyville you tasked me with making friends, and learning all I could about friendship, you never said anything about them being exclusively ponies.” Twilight said, looking up at Celestia.
“No, I suppose I didn’t. I'll see to this mysterious stone, I don't think it would have been a simple wish. To preform a spell powerful enough to send a non-magical being to another world would be next to impossible without the aid of an already established gateway." Celestia said, nodding to one of her guards.
***
The doors opened to Twilight and Celestia, both discussing something I was too far out of range to hear. Twilight looked back at me with a smile that was up lifting. Celestia was standing now, and I was right, she dwarfed her guards and Twilight, though I still had at least half a foot on her.
"What is your name?" Celestia asked "I don't think I caught it before."
"Daniel, your majesty." I replied.
"Well Daniel, until we can determine what exactly caused you to appear here, Twilight has offered to help you try and co-exist." Celestia said, with a smile.
Co-exist, a word humans have never been able to nail down in our years as a dominant species. In this world, I had a feeling I'd be hard pressed to find crime anywhere, and there was only me.
I took in a deep breath before exhaling "Okay, we'll do it your way then." I said, looking down at Twilight.