Chapter 3: With
I looked around at the milling equines everywhere. And they were everywhere. I learned shortly after arrival that our house had been transported next to a castle. Yes that’s right. A massive. Freaking. Stone. Castle. Queen Tempora hadn’t been lying when she said she really was a Queen. I mean look at this! Tapestries, mosaics, ornate furniture, servants, the whole kit and caboodle.
Yet somehow, my Dad and her had managed to fall madly in love.
Oh it started slow. Those forays into the basement, where I thought my Dad was working on a big new project, he was just visiting this land called Equestria. At first he had made a splash, a new, entirely undiscovered, species in Equestria! Unlike Earth, at least as far as I knew, their First Contact policy was a lot more friendly. Probably due to number of mixed species all around Equestria, kind of like seeing a new foreign diplomat, or something.
Anyway my Dad made the front covers, became a bit of a celebrity and how he was ‘taken by Tempora’. Perfect in his eyes, he said. Amazing, witty, playful and innocent, Tempora was the woman/mare of his dreams. I didn’t have a preference one way or the other but I just never saw different species compatible physically. Romantically, yes they were both thinking creatures. Physically, not so much. Eww.
I guess what helped the most was that Dad was about as open minded as they come. I thought that if Tempora happened to be a glowing bit of energy instead, he’d still fall in love with her. It didn’t matter the physical form. He could be enamoured with anything.
“Hey," I heard my Dad call out to me. “Aren’t you going to help?”
“With the wedding?” I asked in a deceptively mild tone.
“Yes!” My Dad exclaimed in excitement.
“You mean the one that I found out today, on a universe that I didn’t know about for six months, to a person I haven’t met until a day ago?!”
My Dad frowned.
“To a pony," he said with a weak grin.
“What?”
“To a pony, not a person," he replied.
I almost screamed in frustration. My Dad can be the most insensitive person in the world sometimes. When Mom died the best thing he could come up with was ‘Mom’s dead’ and an awkward pat on my back.
I pushed past him.
“I’ll go help," I grunted, forcing my way past the startled ponies and slamming the front door to my house. I took a few more steps blowing out a noisy breath and slamming my fist into the side of an innocent doorframe. I regretted it a few seconds later, stalking away from the house and clutching my throbbing hand to my chest.
I wasn’t really mad that my father was getting married again, heck I thought it was a good thing. Only, he never bothered to tell me until they were basically married and then I was unwillingly whisked away to this weird-fantasy dimension without a so much as a ‘by your leave’. Less than an hour’s warning was not enough. I needed at least a few months to say goodbye to anyone and everyone I ever made friends with or cared about. Typical! I don’t think my Dad thought much about it at all, just poof! We’re here! The impulsive little...
With a growl I walked forwards, my thoughts in turmoil. I took a deep breath and forced my scattered thoughts to come together. I had to calm down. Remember a little of what my real mother had told me.
Think about it, I thought to myself. My Dad was still my Dad and even though Tempora was a mythical creature that I knew nothing about, she seemed nice...
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I didn’t really have much to hold against her. It’s just that… Why couldn’t she just move in with us? Heck, I could stay back on Earth and Dad could visit from time to time. I liked Earth, there were computers, the Internet, friends, crispy fries, soft drinks and school. Okay, school might not be high on most lists, but it was to me! I didn’t know if Equestria had any of that, but judging from the castle, I’d say we were pretty much in the medieval age. So the Internet was pretty much out of the question.
I wandered down a cobblestone path, taking care not to trip on the rough and uneven stones. One more thing to add. Where was the nice and flat concrete and roads?
Stupid family. The one thing in life you couldn’t really choose. I mused to myself darkly, kicking a loose rock on the path. It skidded into the bushes where it whacked something with a soft thud. I heard a surprised, but muffled, ‘ow!’
Surprised, I whipped my head towards the source of the sound. For a moment, there was a tense silence as whatever it was in the bushes and I stared at each other.
Crack. I heard a branch snap.
“Oh, pony feathers," I heard the bushes mutter.
“Tia! Mummy said not to use those words!” I heard another voice cry. They both sounded really young, maybe they were children?
“It’s okay," I called out towards the bushes. “I just wanted to know if I actually hurt anyone, I didn’t know there were people in the bushes.”
With a rustle and some more snaps, I was greeted by two little winged unicorns, obviously children, that tumbled out of the bushes. More of them, eh? One had a startling combination of pink, aqua and sky blue colours in her mane and tail. She looked at me with curious magenta eyes. The other one was a great deal more shy and had a midnight blue coat with a lighter blue mane and cyan eyes that shied away when I made eye contact. They both watched me warily as I sank to my haunches and smiled at them.
I noticed the blue one had a slightly redder mark on her flank, right in the middle of a crescent moon. I winced internally. Oops, I must have smacked the little one right in the flank.
I gestured towards the injury. “Does it hurt?” I asked gently. The blue one slowly shook her head. I let go a sigh of relief, these little kids were pretty cute, I’d feel bad if any of them had gotten severely hurt.
“Oh thank goodness," I said, reaching out to pat the blue one of the head. She shrank back a bit but slowly gave in as I gently stroked her mane.
“What are your names?” I asked softly, making sure to rub behind her ears, I heard that animals had a weak spot there. The blue one closed her eyes in bliss as she pressed her head up against my hand, not unlike a dog I once petted. Well, I guess that confirms it.
“Celestia," the bigger, white coated one replied confidently.
“R-Runa!” The smaller one mumbled as she was stroked more vigorously on the back of her head. Celestia giggled softly while Runa looked a little annoyed. Runa’s scrunched face became placid as I petted close to her neck. The bigger one looked jealously at my fingers and I chuckled, gesturing her to come closer. I patted her head too for a while. They both smiled pleasantly as I stroked their manes.
“There you are! I found you!” I heard a voice yell triumphantly. I got to my feet as both Celestia and Runa leapt to their hooves.
I spotted a pink winged unicorn around the same age trotting along the path at a half-canter, half-gallop. She stopped within a few metres of me cocking her head. Her mane was streaked with a shock of colours, like Celestia with deep violet, dark pink and cream going all the way from her mane to her tail. I don’t know if this was meticulous hair dyeing or if this was their natural colours, but these equines were all ranges of crazy palettes.
The pink one studied me with amethyst eyes. Seeing something she liked, she introduced herself.
“I’m Cadance," she giggled, rushing forward suddenly. I stepped out of the way quickly but she wasn’t even aiming for me. With a squeal, she leapt forward and tackled the two other little ones at my feet in a tumbling ball of feathers and limbs. I heard a muffled ‘Tag!’ and I watched slack jawed as they giggled and playfully wrestled until they stopped in a heap next to my feet.
“Woah," Celestia mumbled staggering to her hooves. “Woooozy.”
She collapsed on top of Cadance who merely grunted under the soft impact. Runa looked on from the sides with a grin. I couldn’t help but give a warm smile at their antics. Children will be children no matter what world you’re from.
“Okay Celestia, Cadance and Runa, I think we should go and find your parents," I said, glancing back to the path. Maybe one of the servant ponies could help.
I tilted my head in confusion as my suggestion was met with explosive laughter. I noticed that Runa didn’t look very happy, she didn’t join in.
“What? What’s so funny?” I asked them.
Celestia couldn’t speak, her muzzle was covered with both hooves and her whole body was shaking.
Cadance had a wide smile plastered all over her muzzle. “Her name is Luna," she explained, pointing a hoof at Runa, woops, I mean Luna.
Luna pouted.
“Just ‘cause I can’t say my ‘ers’ w-right," Luna sounded out. The other two burst out laughing. Luna looked miserable.
“Now, now, you two, there’s no call for teasing someone about how they speak. How would you like it if I started calling you Sir Restia? Or you Ray Dance?”
Celestia and Cadance looked adorably horrified when I mangled their names.
Luna giggled softly.
“Sir Restia," she chortled. “Ray Dance.”
Celestia and Cadance looked decidedly sheepish after that.
“Okay, I guess it was a little mean, Luna. Sorry," Celestia apologised, hugging Luna. Cadance joined in too.
“Sorry Luna, it was only a bit of fun.”
Luna nodded vigorously. “Okay!” She answered brightly hugging the two back. D’aww wasn’t that sweet? So quick to forgive. I nearly died of a heart attack. My word, this is why people have children.
They all looked at me and held out their ‘arms’. I couldn’t help it, I took an involuntary step back.
“Uhh, what?” I took another step back.
“Ride, ride!” they all chanted, getting closer, they all gave me doe-eyes and wide grins.
This is how you would solve war. I thought to myself. The ultimate weapon.
“I-I’m s-sorry," I stammered. “What ride?”
Celestia pouted.
“Mommy always carried us on her back," she explained jumping up and down on her hooves. “Carry us!”
The other two echoed the statement. I lasted a grand total of five seconds of their pleading. Seriously, you try.
With a sigh I scooped them all up in a delicious fuzzball of cuteness. “No wiggling," I warned as they promptly disobeyed me and wriggled into comfortable positions around my arms. Luna opted to cling to my head.
“On-wards!” She commanded pointing in the general direction of forwards.
“Yes, your Majesty!” I called back, they all cheered as I lumbered my way back to the house.
Perhaps staying here for a short while wouldn’t be so bad after all.