//------------------------------//
// What's in a name 
// Story: Enderquestria 
// by Friday Knight 
//------------------------------//

“I don’t remember.”  A gasp went through the crowd. “Oh wait, yes I do, my name’s K-ack!”  “Kack?” Fluffy asked “What kind of name is that?” I didn’t understand what had happened, I tried to say my name, and something stopped me. I felt around my mouth, and realized that it was closing. “I can’t talk.” I said. Or I wanted to, instead, this is what it sounded like. “Mmmphmmhpmh!” A heard an extremely large gasp from somewhere in the crowd, and then found Pinkie Pie standing behind me. I probably would have screamed, if it were not for my mouth being closed. “You can’t talk because your mouth is stuck and it’s an adaption of your species to have your mouth closed as often as you can because it is only supposed to open when you’re angry.” She let out in a single breath. I looked at her, perplexed, and then gave a sign where my index finger and thumb joined together showing her she was right. “Yessss, I’m two for two today.” She brought her hoof inward, if she had the appendages required, she would more than likely be using them to clutch a fist of victory. 

“So what you are telling me is,” Fluffy began, “you cannot talk until your mouth opens again?” I nodded in confirmation. “And how long until you will be able to talk again?” I shrugged, showing I was unaware. It was going to be closed for an indeterminable amount of time. “So what should we do until then?” Fluffy questioned. I heard a cough somewhere in the crowd and saw Celestia’s head rise among the many Diamond Dogs. “If I may, I would like to borrow him for a bit.” She wants to borrow me? For what? “I was hoping he may help me in the building of homes for Ponies in need.” Ah yes, that. 

I turned to Fluffy, looking to him to see if it was ok for me to go. He saw me looking at him and chuckled. “Your life my friend, not mine.” I nodded, realizing why it was silly of me to look to him. I looked to Celestia and gave her a thumbs up. She was unsure of what it meant. “It means yes.” Fluffy called. I bowed my head a bit to him, thanking him for explaining. 

I was about to teleport to Celestia, when I looked to Fluffy once more. “Yes?” He asked. I pointed in the direction of the vault in which I had made the sword and chestplate for Fluffy. “You want a few gems for the road?” He questioned. I shook my hands, then contemplated a bit. I made a squeezing motion with my fingers. “Just a few, alright, I suppose you’ll be wanting your bench back too.” He started away to the vault, after seeing me nod in confirmation. I was just going to get that originally, but figured some high durability tools would help too. I followed Fluffy into the storage room, probably the last time I would ever be here. 

When we entered the room, my mind was still finding trouble contemplating all these gems, although there wasn't that much of an explosion going of this time. I gazed at the mountain of gems, trying to decide which would be better for tools. While judging my choice, it was evident Fluffy had made it for me already. He tapped my shoulder, and showed me a bunch of the gems I had used to craft my helmet. “Sapphires, do you recall?” I nodded in confirmation. He smiled and placed them in my hand, I counted ten. My eyes widened in shock. I looked at Fluffy once more and made the squeezing motion once more. His response was a raised eyebrow.

“Do you not see all this?” He asked, gesturing to the pile of gems. “That is a small bit, so take them, and put them to good use.” I clutched the gems, and smiled at Fluffy. I desperately wanted to thank him for everything he has done for me. Unfortunately, my mouth would not let me, but Fluffy somehow understood what I wanted to say. “Do not worry friend, warriors do not say “thank you”’s or “good bye”s, they say, until next time.” With that, myself and Fluffy clasped hands, a silent agreement to meet again one day, and to obviously have a rematch. I picked up the bench, placed it in my, Fluttershy’s bag, along with my gems. I nodded to Fluffy, and left him with the trove of gems, allowing him to be on his own for a while, and perhaps, to go back into the cellar with the ale. 

As much as I would have loved to join him, I had a duty, well, a promise more so, to help these Ponies in need. I saw Celestia and the rest of the Ponies, minus one pink Pony. I teleported over to them, giving Fluttershy a small scare, and nodded to Celestia. Seeing as I could not speak I hoped that Celestia understood my notion. She lit up her horn, and smiled at me, clearly recognizing what I meant. I stood back, realizing that she was about to teleport everyone from out of the cave, and while I appreciate the gesture, I much prefer to teleport my way. There was a bright flash, and everyone was gone. I turned to the crowd of Diamond Dogs, and saw Fluffy watching me from afar. I placed my hand on my forehead, saluting, before I made my leave. What happened next was unbelievable.

Fluffy saluted back, but so did the entire cave. Each Diamond Dog, even the pups, each held a paw to their hands, matching my salute. I could feel a tear forming in the corner of my eye. I dropped the salute before it could fall, the Diamond Dogs followed suit, and then started applauding. I took a bow and then teleported away. 
I found myself back at the clearing and noticed that there was no one else with me. I started to get worried, until I heard voices from down in the hole from where we had first entered the cave. “Where is he?” I think that was Shining Armour. “I don’t know, he backed away before we teleported.” That was Twilight. “Maybe he’s up top.” I heard a slight twang in the voice, identifying it as Applejacks. I smiled and waited for them to come up. My smile turned to a frown however, when I felt someone staring at me. I turned to where I sensed it coming from, only to find the forest from which I had gotten the wood to make the Crafting Table. I could definitely sense someone looking at me, but I couldn’t see them. I saw no tell-tale signs of an Invisibility potion being used, so why could I feel someone staring at me. 

“HEY HE’S UP HERE!” I heard a voice shout. I whirled around to find Rainbow Dash hovering above the hole, shouting down to the others. I turned back to where I had sensed the person looking at me, only to find the sensation missing. I knew it would be unwise to turn away, but I had, slightly more pressing matters to deal with. I watched the parade of Ponies pile out of the hole. “Where were you?” Shining Armour asked. I pointed down to the ground, and then made the same saluting signal I had earlier. “They were seeing you off then?” Celestia questioned. I nodded in confirmation, and felt a small tear creep out of my eye. I turned around before anyone could notice, pointed to the castle and started marching. I stopped when I realised I didn’t actually know where to go. I turned to them and placed my hand on the back of my head. “Don’t run if you don’t know where to go.” Rainbow called cockily. I frowned as she prepared to fly past me. As she did however, her tail was caught by a black hand, my hand to be precise. It was humorous to see her bounce back into the place where she took off, not necessarily on her feet, or, hooves I should say. 

I heard Applejack and Rarity snicker, Pinkie Pie on the other hand did nothing to hide her laughter. I felt a small tap on my foot and looked down. Sweetie Belle was looking up at me, with a small frown on her face. She raised one eyebrow in a “you know why I’m here” fashion. I sighed, well, I would have if my mouth was working. I looked to Rainbow, who was glaring at me. I placed my hands against my chest, and then threw them downwards. She obviously didn’t get what I was trying to convey, but thankfully, Sweetie Belle already told me what to say. 

“He’s saying sorry.” Sweetie Belle told them. Everyone looked to Rainbow and they could see a small blush on her cheeks. “Y-yeah well, next time don’t grab my tail.” She began stroking it as she held it to her chest. “It’s sensitive.” She trotted past me, her tail between her legs, as if fearing I would grab it again. I mentally sighed and followed after her, the rest of the Ponies following suit. I stopped suddenly, causing Sweetie Belle to crash into me, Twilight to crash in Sweetie, Rarity to crash into Twilight, etcetera, etcetera. “Why’d you stop?” Pinkie Pie piped up, obviously with a bitten tongue. I put a finger to my lips and drew out my sword. I felt that same presence that had been staring at me before.

I pointed toward the forest, looked at Shining Armour, hoping he understood what I meant. His eyes widened and his horn began glowing. Seeing this, Celestia, Twilight and Rarity all lit up their horns. Sweetie Belle made an attempt, but her horn just fizzled out. She was dragged behind the magic wielders by Fluttershy, who was hugging Pinkie Pie protectively. I looked to Shining Armour, and pointed to myself, then to the forest, made a clenching motion, and then pointed to him. He seemed to understand what I was saying, which was “I’m going in, If you hear something scream, please save me.” Although he might have misinterpreted it. 

I teleported into the forest, just behind a tree that was nearest to where I sensed the presence. I heard a curse word, which I do not wish to utter in this tale, and then a stern female voice. “Doctor, you can’t say things like that, it’s not polite.” I heard a smack and then a small whine. “I’m sorry Derpy but it’s after running away, and I am not going to let anything that dangerous roam these lands.” What? I’m not dangerous, and how does this ‘Doctor’ know who I am, I’d like to see his degree, telling someone what is and what isn’t dangerous. I had half a mind to step out from behind that tree and give him a good talking to, but unfortunately, I was unable as I couldn’t give even a bad talking to if I wanted.

I could at least put my sword away, maybe doing that would show I’m less of a threat. “Where did you go you beautiful beast?” WHAT? I swung around from the tree and glared at the man that called me a beast. I realised this scoundrel was a Pony, an Earth Pony, as I didn’t see any wings or horn. He had brown hair, and a lighter shade was his coat. The female next to him, was also a Pony, this one, was a Pegasus. It had a grey coat and yellow hair. The Earth Pony didn’t notice the fact I was glaring at him, until he noticed my legs at the outer rim of his vision. He and the Pegasus beside him slowly craned their necks upwards. When their eyes finally met I was extremely confused for two reasons. When I saw the Earth Ponies eyes, I felt as if I was looking into that of a Craftian, and when I met the Pegasus’ eyes, I could feel nothing at all, as one was staring at me, and the other was lazily looking at the ‘Doctor’.  We stood there for a few minutes before something happened.  That something was a pink blur breaking through the bushes with an armada of Ponies behind it. I say armada, what I mean is nine Ponies barrelling through a forest. 

There was shock on everyone’s faces as the Ponies circled the ‘Doctor’ and Derpy, I believe her name, I do not believe this Pony to have ever gone to medical school. “Derpy?” Rainbow questioned. “Dash?” “Doctor?” “Twilight?” “PINKIE PIE!” Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere in the middle of our little entrapment.  “What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, at the same time as the Doctor. “We could ask you the same question.” Rainbow Dash replied, at the same time as Derpy. “We are bringing him with us.” Applejack responded, along with the Doctor. “What do you mean your bringing him with you?” Pinkie Pie shouted, as did Derpy. “He is a friend/fiend.” Shining Armour and Doctor answered. “Enough!” Celestia called, causing the entire clearing to become silent, minus one unicorn. “But I didn’t get my turn.” Only to be hushed by her elder sister. 

“I believe there is a serious misunderstanding here.” Celestia began. “Why you two are out in the middle of White Tail Woods is none of my concern, even if the reason isn’t completely ‘foal-friendly’.” This gave both Derpy and Doctor an enormous blush, and immediately started excusing how that wasn’t what they were doing, only to be silenced by a small look from Celestia. I heard a small “What are they talking about?” being whispered, and I could only imagine who was saying that. “It would appear, that while we were making our way to the castle, to prepare for a trip to Appleloosa, we were being spied on.” “That is not true.” Doctor retorted immediately. “We were making sure this thing wasn’t going to hurt you.” I clenched my fist and raised it towards Doctor. “See!” He shouted, covering his face with his hooves. “Perhaps he is angry over the fact you called him a ‘thing’.” Rarity said in a condoning voice. I relaxed my hand and gestured to Rarity gratefully. “That still doesn’t excuse the fact he is clearly a monster.” I clenched my fist once more, but instead of hitting him, I tapped a nearby tree and it turned into a small block. I didn’t mean to do this, well, I did and I didn’t. I meant to punch the tree with great force, but I didn’t mean for it to pop off. It can only be done if the punch has great force or reason behind it, and seeing as I imagined the tree as Doctor’s face, I had all the reasoning I needed.  I have seen only a few Craftians able to take out a log in a single punch, one of the few had a cowboy hat, a magnificent beard, and a shit eating grin, I believe his name was Chunk Norris. 

Doctor stared at the small rotating block, and then recoiled in pain as it hit him between the eyes. “Gah!”He cried. “See you see, he just hurt me.” He started to look a tad like his friend in grey over there. Said friend was staring at me angrily, or at least, I assumed she was, kind of hard to tell honestly. “Why did you do that?” She asked, looking up at me, once more, kind of hard to tell. I made several gestures, none of which got through to her head. I finally turned to Shining Armour, and pointed to myself and then to him. He was obviously confused, mouthing the words “you” and “me” several times over. I pointed to myself, where my mouth should be, and then him again. His eyes lit up in understanding. “You’re being racist.” He said almost happily. “How in Taurtus am I being racist?!” Doctor all but shouted back at him. “Because you think just because he’s tall, black and carries a sword, means he’s dangerous. Oh wait, that’s speciesism, is that a word?” He looked over to Twilight. “No, but we can make it one, the new thesaurus comes out next month, and it’s actually not a bad term considering how much of it is going around.” She told him excitedly, she was particularly buzzed about the new thesaurus, whatever that is. “I’ll have you know that whenever I judge people I tend to be 100% right.” Everybody in the clearing, including Derpy, raised an eyebrow at this statement. “Well, maybe 79% right.” 

Celestia took a step forward and said “As much as I’m sure you trust your, instincts, I would like you to give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being, seeing as he hasn’t done any monstrous things so far.” She phrased it in such a way that she too, expected me to be some form of monster when she first laid eyes on me, but, I suppose if some strange creature were to appear in front of me and throw up out a window while I was bathing, I would think the same. Doctor made an angry grumble and a very soft and very angry “Sorry.” Could be heard escaping from his mouth. His companion on the other hand, made no effort to appear angry. “Sorry for thinking you were a dangerous beast and observing you to learn your weak points and then later blast you into oblivion.” I raised an eyebrow at Doctor, who looked around nervously. “I, uh, she, hehe.” He bolted for the bushes, dragging Derpy by the tail. “He always was a strange one, pity.” Rarity said, turning round and exiting the forest, followed by Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Da- you know it’ll be too tiring to name them all, she was followed by everyone. 

We found ourselves at the entrance to the marvellous castle that I had slept in the previous night, speaking of which, it was getting rather close to it. I could see the sun hovering gently just above the horizon.  As we walked towards the castle gates the Unicorn guards in golden armour stiffened up at the sight of me. I do not mean to say that as they were afraid, I am sure they have been properly trained, they stiffened to make sure their muscles were ready should I decide to attack, a little rude, but at least they’re prepared. I noticed a small black speck in the sky, getting steadily closer, and while I thought nothing of it at first, I figured it would be best to keep an eye on it. I was, uneasy, to say the least about this incoming projectile, so I did what any smart being would do, ask the nearest most powerful and wise person what to do. 

I tapped Sweetie Belle on her hoof, seeing as she was still over my shoulder, and I pointed to the thing in the sky. She squinted and put on a puzzled look for a moment, then smiled. “Uhm, Princess.” She called forward, causing Celestia to glance back, along with Rarity, which I have to admire, I have often done the same whenever I heard my sister ask a question.  “Yes Sweetie Belle?” The ruler of this land replied. “I think your sister’s coming in for a visit.” She ended with a rather large smile. This caused a smaller smile from Celestia, as she gazed into the heavens for her sister, which I now realise must be Princess, what was it, Lupin, no, Luna! That’s it. I haven’t really seen her since I jumped out the window, oh my, how is that Earth Pony doing, I don’t think I ever got her name. 

I waved up to the sky born Princess, wondering if she could even see me at this distance, then realised, considering I was tall, dark and handsome the only one of my species there, it shouldn’t have been that much trouble.  As we continued walking Luna got closer and closer, it was then I realised that she was descending at a much faster pace than she probably needed to, she was falling, and I, the mute alien, was the only one who noticed. I jumped in surprise, almost tossing Sweetie Belle of my shoulder, causing her to gasp. Rarity’s head whipped around so fast it probably would have broken the sound barrier. Rarity looked at me angrily, whereas Sweetie Belle looked concerned. “What’s wrong?” She asked quickly. I didn’t have enough time for guessing games so I did my actions as fast as I could. I pointed up, made a cross with my arms, and then flapped them. 
It looked as I just asked Sweetie Belle to make a complex redstone circuit, and I thought all hope was lost, until I heard a shout. “Princess Luna is falling!?” I turned and saw Rarity with shock on her face, along with several heads, including those of guards whipping round in our direction, and then skywards. There was immediate panic in the courtyard, as soldiers ran around trying to calm the storm that they obviously started, and even in my own group there was pandemonium. “She’s going too fast, we wouldn’t be able to catch her with our own hooves.” Rainbow shouted. “I don’t even think my magic could slow her in time.” Twilight exclaimed. I turned to look at the sister of said falling Princess, only to see her frozen, whether out of fear or shock I did not know, but I did know, what I had to do.

I took Sweetie Belle off my shoulder and placed her on Rarity’s back. The two sisters looked up at me, wondering what I was going to do, and in all honesty, I was wondering that myself. I ran towards the closest wall and grabbed onto an outcropping, searching for the next. When I found it, I teleported myself towards it, using whatever limbs necessary to keep me from falling. I heard several shouts from down below, most likely questioning my actions, and telling me to get down, but I ignored them. I continued this tactic, teleporting from wall to wall, balcony to balcony, until I was finally at the top of the tallest tower, holding onto a flagpole that carried what I assumed to be this nations national symbol. I jumped towards Luna, who was now roughly 10 metres above me and falling fast. 

I had heard about this manoeuvre in several stories that I had read over the years. The dashing prince jumps outward, catching the princess, and descends easily to the ground, landing with absolute grace. Only one of those aspects was correct, the fact I was jumping out to save a Princess. When I caught her, I felt too things, immediate weight, and immediate regret. I didn’t realize how much she weighed, and I know you aren’t supposed to talk about a woman’s weight, but, Notch damn, I forgot how heavy animals were, if these people even could be considered animals. I cartwheeled forward, almost being thrown away from Luna in the cycle. I held onto her for dear life, and then saw the ground speeding towards me. I had only one chance at this, and it wasn’t a very good one, or a very smart one.

I turned myself round so that my back faced the ground, and with all the strength I had in these bones, I threw Luna upwards. I hit the ground with amazing force, causing a large crater to form, and, from what I was told, my plan worked perfectly, somewhat. The force of my muscles pushing against the force of gravity, managed to make Luna, as I am told by Rarity, “Float serenely, for about two seconds.” Then gravity caught up again and sent her down into the crater, with a cushier landing than I had. 
I groaned and turned around, finding a still unconscious Luna pressed against my face. Had she been awake, this would be a most awkward situation. I began to push her off, or tried to at least. She seemed to have completely flattened me, pinning my arms to the ground, and to make it worse, I couldn’t call for help. A pink head popped over the rim of the crater. “Uh, I think kissing a Princess is against the law.” This sentence caused several heads to look into the crater, many of them guards. At first they looked angry, but then, after Twilight and Shining Armour started laughing, the stern expressions dropped into a ‘No problem, no punishment’ look. 

Luna was levitated gently off me, releasing my limbs from their imprisonment. I clambered out of the hole, holding my head once I got back on my feet. “It would appear you have helped us once again.” The soothing voice of Celestia helped to relieve my head ache. “We are deeply in debt to you, K.” She said, bowing on one knee. The ruler of a land bowing to me? Whoa. But what did she call me? 

“What did you call him?” Dash asked. “K.” Celestia replied “Seeing as that was the only letter we were able to get out of him.” She held a small grin on that last syllable. “Isn’t that the name of that guy with the weird thing that keeps flashing and making people forget where they are?” Everyone looked to Pinkie incredulously. Applejack brought her hoof to her head after a few seconds saying. “Pinkie, that’s the fella in that Mane in Black story you borrowed from Twilight.” Rarity eyed Applejack. “And how pray tell do you know that?” “Because I read it after her, I can read you know.” Twilight laughed, seeing her friends enjoying a book in her library, well, enjoyed I suppose, past tense. 
“Now everypony,” Celestia began, “we came here to better the lives of our fellow Equestrians, not bicker about Science Fiction novels.” With that, she turned into the magnificent castle that was her home, and the Ponies followed suit. I took a step into the castle only to be stopped by a small cough. I looked down and found, an unusual Pegasus. Where Pegasus seemed to have inherited their traits from the bird, this one seemed to have done so with a bat. This Pegasus seemed to have cat eyes, judging from the slanted irises. I couldn’t tell whether or not it was a boy or a girl. 

The Bat Pegasus reached from behind it and took out a piece of paper that was held together by two pieces of wood. It unravelled the paper and cleared its throat. “On behalf of the Night Guard,” girl, definitely girl “we, the Ponies under Princess Luna’s command, hereby thank you for saving our mother, and request that you join us tomorrow night, for a feast in your honour.” I was surprised. Firstly at how quickly that was written and brought to me, and second that I was invited to a feast. I was dumbstruck honestly. I had no idea how to respond, and that’s not just because I couldn’t. I had never been invited to a feast before, so I had no idea what to do. Oh, wait. I tell a lie, I was invited to the feast with the diamond dogs, although, I didn’t really eat anything.  I nodded gracefully, it was about the only thing I could do, seeing as how Ponies didn’t really know what a thumbs up meant. 

The Bat Pegasus nodded in agreement. “We thank you for saving her, we would have been here sooner, but we were chasing after a mysterious blue box that was flying away from a forest, almost hitting us in the process. We were so caught up with the fact that it almost hit us, we didn’t notice it hit our Princess.” I could hear a tinge of regret at the end of that, and understood why. If you spend your life protecting someone, only to have them gone due to ignorance, it can leave a great toll on your mind. I patted the Bat on the back, and pointed to my head, to her, and my heart. “How would you know how I feel?” She asked. Before answering I made another gesture by pointing to her head, then my mouth, well, the area where it should be. “Yes I understood that.” Apparently my facial expression was enough to give the next question. “I’m really good at charades.” I could hear her starting to cheer up a little. “Oh, my names Midnight Clover by the way.” I wore a similar expression to my previous one. “You’re not from here, so you probably don’t know about the names and stuff do you?” I shook my head, actually being intrigued to this story. 

“Well, when a pony is born, the parents give them a name, more than likely related to the profession they are in, or a profession they hope their foal to be in, like miss Applejack, her family has been in the apple business for generations..” I nodded, suddenly having a terrible realisation that the doctor of my old village was named Butcher. “But, it can also be based on their coat or mane or some other appearance of theirs.” She looked around and noticed Rainbow flying alongside with the herd of Ponies. Like Miss Dash over there, her hair kind of gives it away.” I nodded, wondering what her parents were like. “Or, it may have to do with a specific event at the birth. The word on the grapevine is that when young Sweetie Belle was born, her parents heard the bells of the local school and it was the most beautiful sound in that moment.” I nodded, thinking back to how Bronagh was born. Bronagh, in case you didn’t know, means Sorrow, in our language. She wasn’t the healthiest baby, and along with the fact her eyes were different colours, it was all my parents felt when her heart stopped beating. But, she survived, and managed to do the exact opposite of her name, and make almost everyone that saw her smile. Shaking memories out of my head, I pointed to Clover. “Oh me? Well, I was born at midnight, and I’m a Bat Pony. My mom really wanted a girl, so while she was in labour my dad was out searching and found a four leaf clover. They’re supposed to be really lucky, and apparently they are, because, out came me.” There was a large smile across Clovers face. She obviously had fun telling that story each time. 

“Ok, so what’s your name?” I tried to make it out to her, but apparently even if you are good at charades, there is just some stuff you can’t get. In the end, I just stuck up my thumb and my index and middle finger. “K? That’s it.” I preformed some gestures which meant “That’s all I can get you to understand.” She nodded her head in a fair enough sort of way. I pointed towards the group of Ponies waiting by the door. “Oh right, you have to get back to your friends. I will come and get you when the feast is ready. Do you eat meat or veg?” I put up two fingers. “Oh you’re an omnivore, good.” She nodded, then spread her wings and took to the sky. 

I like her. I don’t know why, she just seems like a person, or Pony rather, plus I was always fond of bats back home. “Hey K, come on already, I want to fill up on grub, now.” I heard the unmistakeable call of Rainbow Dash. Clearly she was hungry, or at the very least thirsty. I followed the sound of her rather obnoxious voice into a grand hall. On the table were a whole host of different foods, I didn’t smell any meat, which I considered normal, seeing as these Ponies, if anything like cows, were herbivores. I did smell cooked sugar, which I already sampled earlier thanks to Pinkie Pies Sapphire cupcake. I would have licked my lips if I could open my mouth. Time to eat, I hope they have Sapphires. WAIT. I ate a cake that used the same thing as my helmet is made of. I took my helmet of my head and stared at it. Am I able to eat this? I sniffed it carefully. Nope, smells like a regular helmet. Maybe it’s the fact she cooked it. 

I didn’t notice it at first, but as I sit down, I saw a rather large instrument sat next to me. And next to that instrument was the grey Earth Pony I had met earlier this morning. I peered round the large cello, and saw her stuffing her face. I was unaware that someone could stuff their face gracefully, but it was being done. I waved at her, and she stopped eating a moment to swallow. She smiled and nodded at me, clearly too full to speak. Well, that makes both of us. Although mine isn’t voluntary. Oh, I just recalled saying that I would tell you how my mouth works, well it’s quite interesting you see. What happens is –“Fillies and Gentlecolts.” A large voice rung through the hall. I turned to see Celestia at the very top of the hall, sitting on a golden throne. I remember seeing something similar once in Craftia, a crazed man with a crown and kilt sat upon a thrown such as this, calling for his subjects to perform tasks for his entertainment. I shivered at the memory, remembering how he defeated one of my brethren in the rain. Well, Wallace was kind of rude anyway, I’m not upset he’s gone. “We are here today, to welcome a stranger to our land.” I felt several pairs of eyes look at me, and suddenly realised that this meal was not just for our little group in the caves. All around me were the crowds of Ponies that I had run from in the town with Shining Armour. Speaking of which, he was now wearing his golden armour again, standing close by to Celestia. “Thanks to this visitor, a tremendous thing has happened. We have made peace with the Diamond Dogs living under Whitetail woods.” There was an instant muttering among the crowd, obviously thinking that their Princess had gone mad, and that it was untrue. “To prove it, here is their leader, Heavenly.” She lifted up a wing to show the elderly looking Diamond Dog that she had been talking to while underground. A gasp ran through the crowd. I couldn’t tell it was out of shock that a Diamond Dog was in the palace or out of disbelief. The only thing I did know was that they didn’t approve. I could almost sense the uproar coming, but before the storm came, a gentle wind broke through. 

“I understand that you do not want me here.” It was Heavenly. “I know you are scared of our kind, but we were equally as terrified as you were when we first met.” Her voice was soft and motherly, clearly trying to help the Ponies feel safe. “We have made peace,” I could sense the crowd beginning to grow rowdy again “but this doesn’t mean every Diamond Dog will be living as your neighbour.” The crowd stopped, realising that this was the truth, and obviously hadn’t been thought of before. “If anything, we will stay in our house’s underground, only coming up for supplies, and to try and better our relationship with you.” She ended her speech as quietly as she had begun it. There was conflict in the crowd. But not conflict against Heavenly, conflict as to whether or not there should be conflict. Eventually, the crowd just died down, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to shout. I caught a smile passing on Celestia’s lips. “Thank you Heavenly, now I wish to show you the peacemaker between our two tribes.” I felt myself standing up involuntarily. I saw a bright yellow glow around me, and realised that Celestia must be making me known. Another gasp went through the crowd, this one of recognition. Obviously rumour of my being had spread to the castle. Celestia continued her speech “He has shown us that even if you get off on the wrong hoof with someone, or should I say paw, it can be easily forgiven if you feel like you are up to the challenge.” I waved a small wave to the crowd, somewhat voluntarily. I could feel sneers of disgust in a certain direction, so while I was waving I raised only my middle finger in that direction. 

It was humorous to see them not knowing what it meant. “And what is best is that he has agreed to help build houses for our fellow Ponies, if not even a few Diamond Dogs.” A hubbub was heard in the crowd. One voice shouted “Where will he be building?” while another shouted “What are the houses like?” and “Where will we get the resources?” Celestia smiled as she said. “The building will be taking place in Appleoosa,” a groan went through the crowd, and a frown darted across Celestia’s face “which you all know was hit by that terrible sandstorm a week ago.” A murmur of acknowledgement was heard. “As for what they look like, I do not know,” with this she turned to me, as if asking me what my building skill was. I didn’t know, I could build mansions if I wanted, although that would take some time, and if this town was hit by a Sand Storm, I didn’t like the sound of that, then it would probably need quick fixing. I would still do my best to build. I looked at Celestia and raised ten fingers, then seven. Celestia looked puzzled, but then to my right I heard Twilight shout, “I think he’s saying on a scale of one to ten, it’s about a seven?” I saw Twilight stick her head from behind her friends, checking to see if she was right. I nodded in confirmation. 

“Well, I think that is very good news for the Appleloosians, and as for the materials.” She trailed off, thinking. “Our guest here is an accomplished miner.” That was a lie, sort of, she doesn’t know what I have done, I would just think of myself a little better than standard at best. “We shall be providing  some materials, most likely in the form of wood, but I am hoping that whatever materials he may require from the earth, he would be able to get them his self.” I gave a thumbs up, I didn’t mind getting my own materials, it would make the builds feel more like mine anyway. “Wonderful.” She stated, apparently sealing the deal. “We look forward to your builds K.” I nodded in a ‘thank you’ sort of way. “I thank you all for taking the time out of your busy lives to come to this hearing.” She told the audience. 

With that the crowd started to be driven out by other guards in gold armour. Why were all the guards white, I was right, they are racist. “Hey Shield,” I heard a guard say, “You coming to the salt block after work?” ‘Shield’ shook his head, “Can’t Spear, got no foalsitter, by the way, you think I need a manecut?” Shield took off his helmet, and suddenly his appearance changed from a stoic white guard to a Pony with oaky brown skin and a darker shade for hair. “Nah you look fine.” With that, Shield and Spear went their separate ways, Shield putting back on his helmet and turning into the white guards Pony again. I suppose Shining Armour’s skin is actually white, as he wasn't wearing anything in the caves.  As I was wondering about Ponies skin colour, I noticed the grey Pony, whose name I still haven’t gotten come up to me while balancing her cello on her back.

“Hello again.” She smiled. I smiled back and nodded in agreement. “Are you suddenly unable to talk?” She asked, a sly grin crossing her face. I nodded with a gesture of my hands which meant “Yes actually.” And she got it right. “Wait really?” I nodded again. “Oh, now I feel rude.” She looked slightly downtrodden, or would it be downtrotten here? I patted her on the back, showing it was ok and that I didn't mind. She smiled, and then said “I am grateful you brought me here, the Princess’s seem quite fond of my music.” I smiled and gestured to her cello, asking if she would mind playing. “For you? Not at all.” She reached around for her cello and pulled out a small stick with a string attached to it. As she laid the stick on the cello and began playing, I noticed that the stick changed the tune of the cello. It was an interesting song, must have been one from her home. As was sitting cross legged, simply enjoying the sound, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned to see Celestia smiling at me. 

“I am grateful for your friend, she makes the meetings pass by with much more ease.” I grinned and turned back to my musical companion and nodded my head to her tune. As it ended I clapped a small clap and she took a bow. “Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience.” I chuckled mentally at this remark. “My name is Octavia and I hope you have a safe trip home.” Oh, so that’s her name, well, now I know. A slam echoed through the hall as two doors were thrown open. A white Pegasus guard flew at such speed Octavia was nearly thrown off her hooves. I held onto her to prevent her from going sailing like the several others that were flung from their chairs. 
“Sir Iron Hide what is the matter?” Celestia asked, in a somewhat motherly scalding tone. “I-I’m sorry your majesty, but the Princess is awake.” At this Celestia’s eyes widened and she was gone in a flash. Everyone stood with their mouths open, before Twilight rushed through a hall shouting “WE NEED TO SEE PRINCESS LUNA!” of course everyone followed suit, running after the purple alicorn, well, everyone save myself and Octavia. I turned to her and raised an eyebrow. She apparently understood this as “Should we go to her?” to which she nodded in response. We got off our chairs and headed for the same hall everyone else did, but at a much more leisurely pace, wondering what lies ahead.