“Good job genius.”
“Do you have a problem Spite?”
“Ya I got a problem. We are dead. That’s what you get for trusting a random thing that comes up to you in the forest.”
“I have to agree with Spite here A, that was a dumb move.”
“No one asked you Bre. Why don’t you go play with your sister and mind your own business.”
“Us dying is kind of my business don’t you think?”
“I will say it again. Good job genius.”
“Oh would you two shut up.”
“Bre are we really dead?”
“No Pris we aren’t dead.”
“Oh good.”
“Why would you lie to your sister like that? We are spinning around in blackness without a body. Yea we are pretty much dead.”
“Bre doesn’t lie to me!”
“You have to be stupid to believe that kid.”
“Must you argue with everypony Spite?”
“Yea. Its kinda my thing.”
“Arguing is your thing? Is that like your special talent or something?”
“No kid. You can’t have a special talent for arguing.”
“I disagree Spite. A pony could probably have a special talent for arguing.”
“What makes you the authority on the matter Bre?”
“My big sis is smart. She knows loads of stuff.”
“Well isn’t that special. Does she know a way of not being dead? That would be a bit of useful information right now.”
“We are not dead.”
“Oh looks its mister no name. Finally decide to chime in?”
“I will speak when I wish. Your incessant ranting has begun to grate my nerves. Bre is correct on this matter. We are not dead. The Well of Eternity is breaking down our body and infusing it with power.”
“And how you would know such a thing?”
“Discord told me.”
“Discord told you. Well that just solves everything doesn’t it. You blindly follow that loser, and look where it has gotten…”
“Sleep.”
“…”
“Thank you brother. She was beginning to wear on me as well.”
“Apathy now is not a time for division. We must pull together now, and I did not believe that possible with Spite being awake. In order for us to assimilate into our new body we must be in unison.”
“I understand brother. I shall do as you command.”
“Very good. Bre you must instruct Pris to follow my lead as well.”
“If you say so. Pris we are gonna listen to him. I trust him to get us out of this mess.”
“Okay sis. Whatever you say.”
“Excellent. Now allow me to take the reigns.”
The waters of the well began to swirl faster and faster. It became a roaring whirlpool, and began to glow bright with power. Apollo stood above the waters looking down into it. The pony he had kicked inside apparently knew how to use the well to some extent, though its true powers were not known to him. The water splashed violently against the walls of the well, and threatened to pour out. Every time the water would spill over the edge it was met with an invisible wall keeping it inside.
The water continued to swirl faster, and slowly the bottom of the well started to become visible. A small circle expanded out from the center of the well revealing the marble surface beneath the water. A glowing mass of pure white light rested at the bottom of the well. The water continued to swirl, and began to rise. Eventually, a tornado of swirling water towered before Apollo as he looked into the Well of Eternity.
Suddenly and violently the water collapsed on the glowing mass of white light. The water of the well became calm, and no longer flickered with light. All the was left was the dark water sitting still in the night air. After a moment a single black hoof broke the surface of the water. It reached out over the edge, and attempted to pull the rest of its body out.
Apollo saw that the pony inside was clearly exhausted so he reached down and grabbed the hoof. He pulled the pony out of the water and tossed him onto the wet grass. Before him laid a black alicorn with a red, black, and purple mane. Apollo noticed the new alicorn bore a cutie mark of an eye eclipsing the moon. He was breathing heavily, still trying to adjust to his new body. It was not often that a new immortal emerged into the world so the dark figure took a moment to marvel in the moment.
“So what is your name?” Apollo asked after a few minutes.
The black alicorn was still breathing heavily, and it took him awhile to answer.
“I still have no name,” he replied.
“Well that is no good. You are an alicorn now. Or at least as close as you could get. You must name yourself or you will be unable to claim your powers,” Apollo stated flatly.
“What do you mean as close as you could get?” the black alicorn asked now having calmed his breathing.
“Well you didn’t go about it exactly correctly, but who cares right. You are now very powerful, and that is what you wanted right. You are also immortal now to boot. All good stuff I would say,” the tall human looking being answered.
“If I didn’t go about it correctly then how should I have done it?”
“Don’t worry about that. There is no going back now so it doesn’t matter. Like I was saying. With the new body comes a new name. You must name yourself. Usually with an immortal body you need to pick a name that matches your powers. It looks like you are a pony that deals in deception and trickery so think of something along those lines,” Apollo replied as he began to pace in front of the newborn alicorn.
“Following that logic. If I would have to pick a name for myself I think a name like Malitia would fit nicely,” the black alicorn said as it began to rise to its hooves.
The pony that now stood before Apollo was considerably shorter than Celestia, but still managed to be taller than Luna. He figured that Malitia would probably grow a bit more as he aged over the next couple hundred years, but it was truly impossible to gauge how an immortal might grow. There had never been a male alicorn until now so it was also impossible to estimate what his final height would be.
“Malitia huh. Going with a Latin name I see. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but it is so played out. Don’t you think? Whatever I actually think its pretty good,” Apollo responded.
“Then I shall be henceforth known as Malitia,” the black alicorn proclaimed as it spread its wings.
“Well that’s nice. What are you going to do now then?” Apollo asked having already grown bored with the topic of names.
“I have a promise that I must keep,” Malitia replied candidly.
“What promise would this be?”
“I promised to release Discord from his prison once I had this new power. With my new immortality I shall take whatever I want, and shall hold the world in my hooves. I can overthrow Celestia and Luna and free ponykind from their dominion,” Malitia proclaimed.
‘Well this guy is either very confident or very dumb. Why would he just tell me his plans like that? As if I would just let Discord be released into the world again…’ Just then a terrible thought occurred to Apollo, and a plan began to form in his head.
“There is no way you could release Discord,” Apollo informed the over confident alicorn.
“What?” Malitia asked completely dumbstruck.
“The enchantment keeping him in stone has just recently been secured. You don’t have anywhere near the power needed to break him from that prison. There is only one pony that could do it,” the dark figure answered.
“Who?”
“Celestia of course. Good luck getting her to unlock Discord. I mean the only possible way she would do that is if something unfathomable happened. Like if Porosis managed to get out of his own prison or something,” Apollo immediately bit his tongue knowing he had spoken too much.
“Porosis you say? Who is this pony?” Malitia asked taking a step forwards.
“No I have spoken to much already. If he were to escape he would take Celestia and Luna from the throne easily,” Apollo said backing away from the approaching newborn god.
“Is that so? Foalish human you have given me exactly what I want,” Malitia took to the air and soared out of the forest. He glanced a look back to Apollo whose face revealed true horror at what the black alicorn was planning.
After Malitia was out of sight Apollo relaxed a bit. He always had thought himself to be a great actor, and proved it time and time again. He began to whistle as he walked to the edge of the clearing. He looked back the place that Malitia had been standing moments before, and smiled.
“Idiot.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Twilight was pacing back and forth when I woke up. From what I could tell mornings in Equestria were pretty much like mornings back on earth. You wake up feeling like you need to sleep another couple of hours. You lay there with your eyes closed for as long as you can possibly manage until something makes you get up and actually move. Twilight just so happened to be that thing that got my ass in gear.
“Darky? Are you awake,” she asked having seen me stir.
I sighed and reluctantly opened my eyes to see the pacing unicorn watching me as she moved back and forth. From what I knew about pacing, it was something that you did when you were worried or anxious. Looking at Twilight now I couldn’t tell exactly which of the two she was. It looked like the lavender unicorn had managed to wear an actual rut in the floor as she moved back in forth. I didn’t know such a thing was possible.
“The Princess hasn’t sent word back yet. What if she actually is mad that I summoned a being to Equestria? What if there is some law that I have broken. I have never read of such a law in any of the books I have in the library, but what if its some ancient decree. What if she banishes me for doing this. I don’t want to spend a thousand years on the moon. I don’t think I could survive for that long. When I got back to Equestria would I even be able to adapt back into society. What if everypony in the future thinks I speak weirdly because I have been out of the world for a thousand years,” she stopped and looked at me. “What do you think?”
I gave her a shrug causing her to almost scream in frustration.
“You are absolutely no help at all,” she then sighed and returned to her pacing.
It wasn’t my fault that I had no idea what she was so worked up about. From everything that she had described about the Princess she seemed like a really nice pony. I couldn’t imagine the Princess Celestia that I had heard about banishing someone for a thousand years. Then again I had never actually met Celestia in person so for all I knew she could be some bipolar dictator. Now I was starting to become anxious, but I wasn’t going to start pacing. There is a much better way to deal with stress. Just don’t think about it.
I put my headphones in, and got up from my seat against the wall. As per my regular morning routine I made my way into the kitchen to scrounge up some food. I had managed to sleep past noon, which I found amazing since I was sleeping with my back to a wall. I opened the fridge to see if Twilight had anything that I would actually eat. Yesterday she had tried to get me to eat hay. I wanted to tell her ‘Hay is for horses’ but my brilliant pun would go unheard. Man I hated not being able to make jokes.
Inside the fridge I found various kinds of grass, and some eggs. The choice between the two was rather simple. I pulled the eggs out of the fridge and began to look for a pan to cook them in. While searching I contemplated just why one would need to refrigerate grass. Does grass go bad after some point? I suppose since it can be used as a biofuel then eventually it probably would spoil. How long did it take for grass to spoil? Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow this train of thought to completion since I was hit in the back of the head with a skillet.
I turned around and saw Twilight levitating the iron weapon in the air behind me; she didn’t look very happy. Her lips were moving, but not producing any sound. Was she mocking me? Her eye twitched, and she yanked my earphones out.
“What are you doing?” she practically screamed.
Assault me with kitchenware and then scream at me. Ponies sure had really weird house manners. I pointed at the eggs that I had laid on the counter to try and make her understand I was just trying to make breakfast. She sighed and floated the skillet to me so that I could use it to cook. I hesitantly took it from her and set it on the stove. Twilight’s horn lit up, and the burner under the stove ignited.
“I’m sorry that I tapped you with the skillet, but it seemed to be the only way to get your attention. I just received a message from Princess Celestia, and thought you should know,” she informed me.
The first thing I thought was about how she definitely did not just tap me with the skillet. Did she assume that because I was so much larger than her it would take a lot to bruise me or did I just come off as stupid? Then I wondered how she could have gotten a message from the Princess in the time I had been in the kitchen. It seemed awfully convenient that when I woke up and left the room that the letter had come. I mentally sighed, and motioned for her to continue. She floated up a letter and unfurled it so that she could read it to me.
Dear My Most Faithful Student Twilight,
I am sorry for not sending correspondence sooner, but things around the palace have been absolutely hectic as of late. I am glad that it was you that brought the human to the world, and not some other pony with nefarious intentions. I hope that you will make your way to the castle with the human so that I may meet them in person. Please hurry Twilight.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Twilight then curled the note back up and placed it in the saddlebags she was wearing. It seemed that I was going to be going on a road trip to meet the ruler of the country. I had once met a senator, and that was the most important political figure I can say that I have ever been introduced to. Now I was apparently big news and was going to meet the monarch of a country herself. My head may have begun to grow, but I didn’t really care. Being important was cool.
Twilight didn’t look as thrilled as I did about going to meet Princess Celestia. From the way that she had spoken about her mentor I thought that this would be exactly what she would have been hoping for. Instead she furrowed her brow in concentration and stared out into space. I shrugged and returned to my cooking.
I cracked two eggs and deposited them on the skillet. I was by no means a cook, but I could definitely make scrambled eggs. I grabbed a spatula from the wall near the stove and began to stir the eggs. Soon I was left with a yellow liquid that slowly began to solidify on the iron pan.
“What do you think it is the Princess wants?” Twilight asked, but the question sounded rhetorical so I continued cooking. “Is she really not bothered by this? If so then why did she contact me immediately about you? How did she even know that you were here?”
This mare really did think too much. My philosophy on life was to go with the flow. Don’t rock the boat. Twilight seemed to take a more cognitive approach to dealing with everything. It seemed like it took way too much effort, and I am not one to put much effort into what I do.
“We will leave for Canterlot this afternoon,” she announced before walking back into the main room of the library.
My eggs were finished so I chopped them up with the spatula and deposited them on a plate. Usually I like to have a lot of pepper on my eggs in the morning, but I was not able to find any. It seemed odd that it was so hard to find things in a kitchen owned by a neat freak, but what could you do about it. I pulled a fork from the third drawer I checked and carried my breakfast back into the room Twilight had walked into. The eggs were really fresh, and tasted magnificent. I wondered if everything here would be fresh or if they had a Walmart where you went to buy foods packed with preservatives. I hadn’t actually ventured outside of the library so I had no way of knowing.
I sat down on the table and continued to eat my eggs. Twilight seemed to be making some sort of list. She called for Spike and he lazily made his way down the stairs. The dragon looked annoyed to be roused from his nap, but took the note she was offering to him. It turned out to be a checklist. As I watched the odd back and forth of the two checking off items for a future checklist the bell above the entrance rung. In walked Rarity with two little fillies behind her. One was white with a purple and pink mane, and the other was pink with a white and red mane. It looked like a candy cane. Neither of the two had a mark on their flanks like I had seen on all of the other ponies I had encountered so far.
“Oh hello Rarity,” Twilight said turning away from spike and making her way over to her friend.
“Good afternoon Twilight. I stopped by to show my sisters the new visitor to town,” Rarity informed motioning to the two unicorn fillies behind her.
“Sisters?” Twilight asked moving closer to look at the pink filly. The two stared at each other for a little while before Twilight sighed. “Oh yes how are you two today?”
“Great,” the two fillies answered in unison.
“Well why don’t you go introduce yourself to the gentleman sitting on the table girls,” Rarity prodded.
The two fillies then raced over to me where they stared at me in awe. Children were not who I usually associated with. In fact I had a habit of avoiding children for the most part. Something about them just grated my nerves, but the two in front of me seemed pleasant enough.
“Hi I’m Sweetie Belle,” the white one declared.
“And I’m Pristine,” the pink one added.
I gave them a smile and waved at them, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible. I may have not particularly liked children, but I didn’t make a habit of going around and scaring them either. These two didn’t seem very wary of me though, which I was grateful for.
“When I got home yesterday I told Sweetie Belle about meeting Darky, and this morning Pristine was very adamant about meeting our mutual friend here,” Rarity said once against turning to Twilight.
“That sounds just like her,” Twilight replied.
I stopped listening to the two mare’s conversation as my attention was forced to the fillies in front of me. Pristine grabbed my pant leg to make sure that I was paying attention.
“Hi!” she exclaimed. I gave her a confused smile and another wave. Hadn’t we already been over this?
“He can’t talk Pris,” Sweetie Belle informed her sister.
“Oh yea,” Pristine replied. “Why can’t you talk?”
I felt déjà vu as I was once again assaulted by a question I had no way of answering. Even if I knew the answer to it, which I didn’t. I gave the small pony a shrug, which amazingly seemed to suffice.
“Can you do magic?” Pristine asked.
“Don’t be silly he doesn’t have a horn,” Sweetie Belle interjected.
“Yea, but dragons don’t have horns and they can do dragon magic. I heard that griffins can shoot lightning, and they don’t have horns either,” Pristine countered.
“Hmmm,” Sweetie Belle considered the possibility. “Well can you do magic?” she repeated her sister’s question to me.
I hefted my invisible guitar into place and strummed out a few chords. Both of the filly’s eyes lit up as they listened to me play a bit. I even seemed to draw the attention of Rarity for a moment, but once she saw me notice her she turned back to her conversation with Twilight.
“That was so cool!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“You can play magic music?” Pristine asked slightly confused.
I considered the statement for a moment and then nodded an affirmative. Essentially that was what I was doing I guess. The exact origins of the ability were completely lost on me, and Twilight hadn’t been able to find out anything about it so simply labeling it “Magic Music” seemed appropriate.
“What songs do you know?” Sweetie Belle asked.
I then began to give a simple demonstration of the different songs that I could think of off the top of my head. I wisely didn’t delve into the heavy metal genre and kept to things that were a little more PG. To my amazement Sweetie Belle joined in singing the lyrics to a couple of the songs. Apparently there was some crossover when it came to music between these two worlds.
The visit lasted for a while, and I had to admit that these kids were leagues better behaved than any that I had ever run into. Twilight was the one that reminded everypony that we couldn’t stay too long. She mentioned to Rarity that we would be headed to Canterlot in a few hours. Immediately the two fillies raced over to her.
“Rarity can we go to Canterlot with Twilight and Darky?” Pristine pleaded.
“Yea Rarity we haven’t been to Canterlot in so long,” Sweetie Belle added.
“Oh girls I don’t know. To just drop everything and leave like that, and on such short notice,” Rarity said chewing over the idea.
“Plllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaseeee!” Sweetie Belle and Pristine begged in unison.
To her credit Rarity held out for a while before caving to the begging of her younger siblings. “I suppose there is some business that I need to handle in Canterlot,” She conceded trying to save face.
“Oh thank you thank you thank you Rarity,” Pristine said hugging the older pony.
“You are the best big sister ever,” Sweetie Belle added.
“Well you two better go pack so…” Rarity was unable to finish her sentence as the two fillies raced out of the library. She then sighed and turned back to Twilight. “Well it looks like I will need to make arrangements for lodging once we arrive in Canterlot.”
“Don’t worry about that Rarity. I am sure that Princess Celestia will let you stay in that palace with us,” Twilight said.
“Are you sure Twilight? I wouldn’t want to put anypony out,” Rarity replied.
“It would be no trouble at all. I am sure of it.”
“You truly are a great friend Twilight,” Rarity said giving the lavender mare a hug. “I suppose that I should get to packing. There are so many things that I must bring. I will have to put together a few pieces to show the upper class dressmakers. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. I will see you later this afternoon Twilight,” Rarity said making her exit. She stopped at the door and gave me a nod before leaving.
That certainly was exciting. It had been brought to my attention that I would be staying in the palace. That was certainly something that had been glossed over. I was later today going to be staying in a palace and meeting the leader of an entire country. It was amazing how being pulled into a different dimension could change your life. That sounded better in my head.
__________________________________________________________________________
The castle library was very extensive. Floors upon floors were lined with books of every kind. Well over a thousand years of knowledge was stored on the walls of the library, and Quick Wit was the pony who was in charge of it all. Being the librarian of the largest collection of books known to ponykind was something that was an immense honor. In fact there was a competition held for the position after the previous librarian passed away of retired.
Quick Wit was on the second floor reordering the books in the zoology section. Some prankster had gone through and switched all the books about rabbits with the ones on penguins. Since the books were ordered by author Quick Wit’s task or putting the books back into proper order was very time consuming. The elderly red unicorn sighed as he finished placing the last book “Bunnies and Rainbows: A Field Guide” back into place and climbed down from the ladder he was on. Two hours of time completely wasted.
Quick Wit had been in charge of the library for nearly thirty years, and had seen many great mages study the books in these halls. Most of the ponies that came to check out and read anything in the library were unicorns that lived within Canterlot. The third floor was partitioned off so that only students at the magic academy and government officials could access the more powerful tomes.
The library was completely quiet at the time. There were no ponies studying or browsing for something good to read. This was something that occurred often during the summer when the students were out and playing with their friends. This time of year gave Quick Wit much needed time to himself. He made his way to the stairs and proceeded to descend the steps back to the first floor and his front desk.
As he approached his desk he noticed that there was a pony waiting for his return. He immediately recognized the tall dark alicorn as Princess Luna, and forced his tired bones to carry him across the floor quicker. The princess smiled down at him as he made his way behind the desk so that he could properly address her.
“Princess Luna it is a pleasure to see you today. What can I do for you your Highness?” Quick Wit asked after giving a bow.
“The pleasure is all mine Quick Wit. I was hoping that you would help me locate a very old and very rare book today,” Luna answered.
“Oh? What book are you looking for princess?” Quick Wit said pulling out a large registry from behind the desk.
“I am afraid that the tome I seek would not be in your registrar. I was hoping that you could lead me to the sealed archives,” Luna replied not letting her smile disappear.
“The sealed archives. What would you seek in there princess?” Quick Wit asked surprised at the princess’ request.
“I am sorry, but I cannot tell you. I do not take the matter of browsing the sealed archives lightly. Trust that I seek something of the utmost importance,” Luna said trying to get the consent of the elderly librarian. Luna had the right to access any of the archives in the library whenever she wished, but going through the librarian showed that she had respect for the position. Something that Celestia had told her she needed to show to win favor with her subjects.
“I would never doubt that your Highness,” Quick Wit said giving another bow. He pressed his horn to one of the drawers in his desk, and formed a simple unlocking spell. The lock to the drawer clicked open and the drawer slid out to reveal a large key resting on velvet.
Quick Wit lifted the key into the air with his magic, and turned to lead the princess to the archives. Luna walked quietly behind him, and he marveled at just how graceful the alicorn could be with her movements. Celestia had had a particular grace to everything that she did, but Luna had a pure beauty that could be seen from the simplest acts that she performed. The two reached the back of the library, and were stopped by a wall blocking their path.
Quick Wit held the key up to the wall and tapped it against the stone. There was a deep rumbling as the stone began to shift. The blocks moved slowly at first, but then began to spread more rapidly until they revealed a marble staircase lined with unlit torches that descended into the lower levels of the castle.
Quick Wit turned back to Luna, and waved her into the staircase. “I hope you find what you seek princess,” He said as Luna began to descend into the darkness.
The stones began to shift back into their original places, and soon Luna was surrounded by complete darkness. Since Luna was the princess of the night, she had no problem seeing through the dark shroud, but with a simple spell she ignited all of the torches along the pathway. She then slowly continued to make her way into the sealed archives.
The staircase wound around itself several times before it opened into a small room lined with bookcases. The books that were in the archive looked ancient; as if a simple touch could make them crumble to ash and cause their knowledge to be lost for all time. Luna knew that a spell protected any books from being destroyed or damaged while in the archives, but time still took its toll on the pages.
Luna walked along the aisle slowly making her way to the back of the dark room. Unknown to even the librarian that looked over the books, there was a small room at the back of the archives that only Celestia herself had ever seen. Celestia had told her about the hidden passage in the archives some weeks ago, and this would be the first time that she had ever laid eyes on it.
Against the back wall of the archives stood a small statue showing Celestia with the sun shining behind her. Luna gently nudged the sun out of its place behind her sister and down to the left. The stone behind the statue began to slowly move away to reveal yet another hidden room.
“How cliché,” Luna said to herself as she entered the last chamber.
This room was even smaller that the archives, and possessed only three books. They were protected inside glass cases that were enchanted with powerful warding magic. Luna looked over the various tomes before her. One was a small black journal that had no writing on the front of it. Luna remembered all those years ago when the notebook had wrecked havoc on Equestria.
On the center pedestal was a blue book that had one word printed on the front “Cookbook.” Luna had not been around when this book had appeared in Equestria, but the title was deeply concerning. Luna moved onto the final dark tome that laid to her right. It was the largest of the three books in the hidden room, and on its cover it bore the title “The Well of Eternity.” Luna frowned as she read the title.
“Tia said she destroyed you,” she accused the book, but it did not reply.
Luna’s horn pulsed with energy and suddenly she could see the magics that surrounded the case protecting the book. Slowly Luna began to undo the spell one by one until the wards were completely gone. She then opened the glass case and levitated the book out of it. The book opened in front of her and she began to read it.
The entire thing was written by hand, and told of the events that took place thousands of years ago. Celestia had not been lying when she said that the book was very dangerous and should be destroyed. Why she hadn’t done so was a mystery to Luna, or at least it was until she read the inside inscription.
The story of the beginnings should be told, and must be written down somewhere. The burden of the telling seems to fall to me. I want you to have this so that you will never forget that time. I know that I for one look back on it with fondness. Please keep it safe. I don’t know what would happen if this tome fell into the wrong hands.
With Love,
Anthony
Luna closed the book, and placed it back in its casing. She knew why her sister hadn’t destroyed the tome, and Luna felt the betrayal. Luna’s anger burned, and a deep seeded jealousy began to blossom anew. Luna quickly squashed the emotions and composed herself once again. She knew what that path led to, and never wanted to venture down it again. She began to replace that magic seals that were once protecting the large book so that nopony would know what she had been looking at.
Once finished Luna turned and left the secret chamber. She would not tell her sister about her visit to the sealed archives or about what she had found. If Celestia was going to keep secrets from her then she would keep secrets of her own.
__________________________________________________________________________
Waiting. Waiting is something that I enjoy very little. In fact it is something that I downright despise. I stood outside of the library waiting on some flying chariot to arrive that would whisk me away to Canterlot. One would expect that if ponies were able to create flying chariots that at least they would be on time.
I had to admit however that the Equestrian landscape was beautiful. At least what I could see of it. The library was in the middle of Ponyville so I wasn’t exactly able to get a great view of everything from where I was. I sighed as I leaned back against the tree and watched the ponies of the town pass by, and give me odd looks. I no doubt looked odd to them, and I had to admit that I still could not get over how many different colors the natives came in. I imagine that if you rounded up a thousand ponies and made them stand together then you would feel like you were staring at a rainbow.
Noticing the different colors that the various residents of Ponyville were did little to alleviate my boredom. I sighed again, and this time Twilight looked up at me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded my head. For some reason I felt that she might not like me very much. It may not be that she didn’t like me it may just be that I seemed able to aggravate her easily. It is not like I was trying to get on her nerves. Boredom just has a very negative effect on me.
I estimated that we had been waiting outside of the library for a whole twenty minutes. Twilight had told me that I should not try and play any music while outside because I may spook the ponies. Was a being from a different universe magically playing heavy metal truly that frightening? I didn’t think so, but apparently ponies can be frightened really easily so I wasn’t going to take the chance.
I looked down the road and spotted Rarity with her two sisters in tow walking towards us. Some of the ponies were giving Pristine a strange look. Some of them even seemed to be wary of her. I knew what they must have been thinking “troublemaker.” In my youth I had been one known to stir up trouble so I was used to the looks. I felt bad for the girl, but knew that one day they would eventually drop it. Or it would continue to get worse; you can never really tell in a small town.
Rarity made her way over to us and greeted Twilight and I “Hello Twilight and Darky. Have you been waiting long?”
I gave Rarity a deep bow like I had seen on TV. That seemed to excite her, and I couldn’t help but feel happy with myself.
“That was very good. Are you going to greet the princesses like that?” she asked.
I shrugged. Honestly I had not actually thought about how I was going to present myself to the princess when I met her. Now that she had brought it up I had to admit that I was a little bit anxious. Celestia was supposed to be royalty so would a simple wave and smile seem rude? Would a simple breach in decorum end with me being ejected from the castle? I doubted it, but at least the thoughts kept my mind of off the boredom.
Pristine and Sweetie Belle seemed to be playing some game that I did not understand the rules to. I doubt that there even were any rules as I watched the two fillies running around in the grass. Oh to be young and wild and free. What song was that from? I know that I knew it. Now I had something else that would occupy my time while I waited.
I thought to myself for what must have been another ten minutes before Twilight called out. She was pointing a hoof over to the city that was on a cliff face. I can’t believe that I hadn’t noticed it before, but that must be Canterlot. It looked like a city right out of Lord of the Rings. I found myself wondering how exactly someone had managed to build an entire city on the side of a mountain.
I imagine that first you would have to create the entire base of the city halfway up the mountain. The base would have to be reinforced as more buildings were built on top of it. Eventually an entire city could be built, and its position would be very strategic for defense. Or some pony magic could have been involved making all of my observations pointless.
The two golden chariots touched down in front of the library. I had been expecting an actual flying chariot, but this was just one pulled by pegasi. I felt cheated, but at the same time kicked myself for thinking that it would be anything different. Twilight began to load the luggage onto the vehicle closest to us, and Rarity started to load the other. One of the pegasi that had been pulling Rarity’s chariot detached himself from it, and opted to load her possessions instead.
The look Twilight gave was absolutely priceless. I was one that wasn’t able to judge the looks of the ponies, but I had seen men do the same thing for a beautiful girl back on earth. From the looks all of the armor-clad ponies were giving the fashionista I was betting that she was a looker. I decided that since no one was giving Twilight a hand that I might as well.
I bent down and picked up two suitcases that she had dragged outside and tossed them into the vehicle. They were amazingly light, but I guess that would be expected since I was so much larger than the ponies. As I began to move around the guards tore their eyes from Rarity’s flanks and began to watch me with caution. I noticed that they tensed up when I came near. This was going to be fun.
I looked down at one of the guards and gave him a toothy grin. I made sure to expose my canines, as much as was humanly possible and the reaction that I earned was priceless. The white pegasus first looked startled and then backed up a step towards his companions. I would have bowled over in laughter if I were actually able to laugh. Twilight gave me a look of disappointment, but I had been earning so many of those from her that it didn’t really bother me too much.
It didn’t take too long for us to load all of the bags into the chariots, and the guards to take their positions. We all piled into the various vehicles, and oddly enough I ended up alone with Rarity. Her two sisters had wanted to talk to Twilight about something so they had jumped into her chariot before I had been able to climb in.
The inside of the chariot was surprisingly roomy, and was able to fully stretch out my legs. There were two seats on the inside, and Rarity and I sat across from each other. Whatever preconceptions I had about sitting on gold were completely unfounded. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and I felt myself relaxing. I hadn’t been on something that wasn’t hard for over a day, and lying back on the seat felt amazing.
The chariots rocked into the air with surprising ease, and we were quickly flying over the landscape. I did not chance a look outside the chariot since I have a fear of heights. I used to be unable to ride on roller coasters, but over the years I had been able to get over that. I was still hesitant to look out the window and down several hundred feet to a deadly drop knowing that the ponies pulling the cart were the only thing keeping me alive. I didn’t even look at them because I was worried about distracting them.
“I noticed that you didn’t seem to have any luggage,” Rarity said trying to spark a conversation.
I lifted my head from the seat and looked at her. I wasn’t actually able to confirm anything she said so she simply continued speaking.
“Do you not have any bags, or a change of clothes?” she asked.
I shook my head. It actually hadn’t hit me until that moment, but I didn’t have anything to change into. I had no idea how long I was going to be here so this was very troubling. I noticed that most of the ponies I had seen didn’t wear any clothes. Would they expect that I would be okay walking around naked? That was a very disturbing thought.
“I noticed that you have been wearing those clothes since I met you yesterday. Do all of your people always wear clothes?” she asked.
I nodded trying to convey to her how dire the situation was. Eventually I would need a change of clothes and I very much doubted that I would be able to walk into a store and browse their collection. I would have to find somebody to make me a change of clothes, and that would probably be expensive. Since I had no money I would have no way to pay for new clothes. I was really screwed.
“That is amazing. So you always wear clothes everywhere. Your world must have a huge fashion industry. I wish that ponies here would dress up on more occasions, but I still am able to scrape by. I imagine that if I worked in your world I would absolutely be rolling in bits. Oh my! That means that you have no change of clothes do you. I must certainly make you something to wear. I have never designed anything for a non-pony before. This project will be a challenge. That is if you would allow me to make you something to wear,” Rarity added looking to me expectantly.
I smiled and gave her a small bow. It seems that this marvelous and amazing white pony had saved me from disaster. Now I would need to find a bathtub that was big enough for me. I imagine that would be an even more difficult challenge.
“Do you have any requests? I would hate to make you something for it to not be your style. Would you like some formal wear or something more casual? I expect that you wouldn’t be able to tell me now would you. Let me just ask yes or no questions then. Would you like a suit?” she asked waiting for my answer.
I considered the question for a moment and then nodded an affirmative. I had only ever owned one suit in my life, and that had been bought for a specific occasion. I thought that I actually looked pretty good in a suit, and would like to have one tailor made for me. Rarity seemed to like that I had a taste for formal wear.
“That is absolutely terrific. Suits and dresses are my specialty I will have you know. Yes I can think of some excellent things that we can do. I will have to find a studio to work in when we arrive in Canterlot, but I think I can have you this suit by tomorrow. I hope that works for you.”
I smiled and tried to convey my thanks to her. I think she got the message, and began to speak to herself about exactly what she was going to do with the design. From what I picked up this suit was going to be one of the most amazing pieces of clothing that I had ever seen. With that I laid back down on the bench and took a short nap.
I was jarred awake by the chariot touching down. I sat up and hit my head on the roof of the vehicle. I winced as I looked around trying to get a feel for where we had landed. It looked like we had landed in a large stone helicopter pad. I saw that Twilight had already made her way out of her chariot and was waiting for Rarity and me. Pristine and Sweetie Belle were running around marveling at the castle.
As I stepped outside I too looked up at the structure in awe. I had seen castles in history books and on TV, but this was something completely different. I felt like an ant in the shadow of the huge building. Actually the castle was made up of a lot of different buildings, but what towered before me seemed to blend together into one impressive monument to ponykind. The stained glass windows reminded me of a catholic church, but the architecture was a mix of all different European styles. I actually knew next to nothing about architecture, but I still felt reverence for the castle.
Apparently I had drifted off because Twilight had to jab me in the leg to get my attention. I stared down at the lavender mare as she motioned to the doors. Rarity and her sisters were already making their way inside, and various ponies were carrying our luggage inside. Twilight turned and trotted off into the castle, and I followed closely behind.
The inside of the building was almost as impressive as the outside. The halls were lined with paintings and small busts of various ponies. Every single thing that we passed seemed to be completely unique. Thinking about it though I guess that having a thousand years of peace would have culminated in an abundance of art. A thousand years of peace.
Now that I thought about it that seemed odd. Ponies were a peaceful race, but to never have a single war just felt out of place to me. From the last century alone I could count at least four different wars that my country had taken place in. Did that make humans a warlike race? No wonder the aliens always lose when they try to invade us.
During war is when humans have made their most rapid leaps in technology. So if a race didn’t have war at all would that stunt their technological progression? Ponies were capable of using magic, and flying around on their own so I guess they might be able to get over the handicap. Wow, thinking of not having war as a handicap. Humans really are a warlike race. I hope Equestria doesn't have large oil reserves.
We reached the large doors that lead into the throne room. Our guard escort and Twilight both stopped when we reached the doors. Rarity and her sisters had been directed to their rooms as we had walked through the halls and made their way to their chambers. Slowly the large wooden doors began to open with an ominous creak. Inside sat two very large ponies that looked at me with a mix of suspicion and hesitation.
The guards motioned for us to enter, and Twilight made her way into the throne room. I followed quickly behind her, not wanting to get left alone with the very sour looking pony guards. The doors slammed closed behind us causing me to jump a little. This did not seem like a very warm welcome.
Twilight didn’t seem to notice as she made her way over to the tall white alicorn and hugged her. The two embraced for a moment, and then the princesses rose and slowly made their way over to where I was standing. Celestia was just as tall as I was, and her sister Luna slightly shorter than her. The two princesses seemed to be sizing me up and trying to determine my intentions.
Then Celestia lifted her hoof and offered it to me “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria and this is my sister Luna. We welcome you to our country,” I looked at her extended hoof not actually sure what I should do. I mentally shrugged and bumped my fist against it hoping that it was the appropriate thing to do.
Celestia seemed genuinely surprised by the gesture and Luna began to snicker. The white princess quickly recovered and gave me a soft smile. At once the tension that was in the air melted. Celestia certainly had a disarming smile, and I immediately relaxed.
“It is customary to give your name when meeting somepony knew in Equestria,” Celestia informed me not losing her smile.
“His name is Darky, or at least that is what we have been calling him,” Twilight informed.
Celestia turned her attention to her student “Why do you call him Darky?” she asked.
“Because that is what Pinkie thought his name was,” Twilight replied.
“Can he not tell you his name himself?” Luna asked clearly confused.
“No he can’t talk. We don’t know why,” Twilight answered managing to make the dark alicorn look even more confused.
I thought I heard Celestia say something under her breath that amounted to “clever” but I was not entirely sure. The sun goddess then turned her attention back to me.
“That is unfortunate. It seems that we will not be able to converse very well then. I can have some researchers look into this matter, but know that Twilight is one of the brightest mares that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I am sure that she will unravel this mystery eventually. Is there anything else that you find out of the ordinary since you have come to our world?” she asked.
I nodded and demonstrated by playing a chord on my invisible guitar. Celestia seemed to brace herself as if expecting some kind of attack, but Luna just looked excited. Her jaw dropped and she looked to where my instrument should have been.
“Do you know Stairway to Heaven?” she asked earning her a not so inconspicuous kick from Celestia. Luna frowned and then harrumphed. She was clearly displeased with her sister denying her song request.
“Well it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but my sister and I have matter we must attend to. The guards will show you to your chambers in the castle. I hope that you enjoy a pleasant stay,” Celestia said ending the conversation. With a flash of her horn the large wooden doors began to open.
In walked several guards and they began to usher us out. They looked to be on edge, and something told me that I was not the only unusual visitor that they had in the last couple of days. We made our way from the throne room, and I looked back to see Celestia whispering something to Luna while keeping her eyes locked on me. The doors closed with a loud thud.