//------------------------------// // First Impressions // Story: Never Dream // by Ximer //------------------------------// Canterlot, home of the upper class ponies and co-rulers of Equestria. I had only seen it from the air when I had been bold enough to look down, which made me sick, and probably caused one pony to have a very bad day. I made it a point to keep my eyes closed when traveling by air carriage. Fortunately, we would be traveling by train today. "My ears are still ringing.” Isabella said, rubbing her ears. She had made the mistake of sitting almost directly under a speaker on the train. “I warned you that conductors have loud voices. Electronics don’t work the same as they do on Earth; in fact, most electronics are simply magically augmented devices.” I said. Celestia had received word that another human had arrived in her kingdom, my sister to be specific, and seemed eager to meet her. I assumed Twilight had been the one to let the co-rulers of Equestria know that the number of humans had been doubled. The sun princess was in for quite the surprise if she was under the impression Isabella was anything like me. She could be rash, and was a girl of action rather than words. I could only hope she made a good first impression, and didn't get both of us fried by some sort of magic beam. "Just try not to let your mouth think for you, you're talking to the being who raises the sun." I said, giving her a gentle reminder of what it was Celestia was responsible for, among other things not known to the public. "I wasn't born yesterday. I'll be good, I promise, mom." Isabella said rolling her eyes. I was about to respond to her comment when I saw a familiar cream colored unicorn approaching us. She wore glasses, and had her brown mane pulled up in a bun. During the party I had attended Celestia had referred to her as Raven, though she mostly stuck to the background that night. She was in charge of overseeing any events that were held. "Sir Daniel," Raven said bowing her head slightly. "I assume this is Isabella?" she asked turning her attention towards my sister. "Yep, and you don't need to add the sir, since I'm not really somepony official." I replied. The 'Ambassador of Earth' bit was apparently still a thing to some ponies. I mentally sighed in defeat, there was no winning with them on this subject. "I’m aware, but I have been requested to recognize your title as such while in the city and I don't want to slack on my duties. At any rate, welcome back, now if you would be so kind as to follow me." Raven said trotting off towards the station exit. “I was under the impression we would be meeting Celestia at the castle, not that it isn't great to see you again or anything, Raven.” I said. “That was the original plan; however her presence was requested elsewhere in the city, which is where I’ve been instructed to take you.” Raven replied. “Hard to believe ponies built this.” Isabella said looking around as we left the station, following the cream colored unicorn. “It's not as hard as you might think. Magic helps when managing the structural integrity of the buildings to ensure that they are in pristine condition. We can’t have the capital of Equestria falling apart.” Raven said. Snow still covered parts of the street, but for the most part they had been cleared for the various carriages that frequented the streets. Twilight had mentioned something about Winter Wrap Up coming soon. The snow probably wouldn't be around for much longer. “If you don’t mind me asking Raven, what was Celestia required for?” I asked ignoring the occasional stare from a few ponies, though most of them waved. Ponyville was a checkpoint into Canterlot, and it wasn’t uncommon to have ponies stop to rest before finishing their trip to the capital. Working at the train station all but forced me to interact with the travelers, or at the very least be seen by them. Isabella didn’t take the stares as well as I did. She was used to being in the lime light and loved being noticed. I found it amusing how in this world, for the time being at least, she was the exact opposite of how I remembered her. Given time she would start to act like her old self again, which might not be a good thing for Equestria. “A few of the nobles decided to think outside of the proverbial box and wanted to celebrate the seasonal change before the snow is cleared away. I personally like the snow.” Raven replied waving to a guard that only nodded. The guards that patrolled the city were as stiff as their castle counter parts. Each one moved more like a robot than a living creature, though if provoked I was fairly certain they could quickly put any doubts of their agility to rest. I preferred the Night Guard, they were far more approachable and actually had a sense of humor. “Think princess solar panel can ask her subjects to stop staring at me little bro?” Isabella asked. I could only pray she never used that nickname in front of Celestia. "Wait, you're her little brother?" Raven asked, stopping to point a hoof at me. "Yes, is that bad?" I replied, unsure why my age suddenly mattered. "Uh...no, I suppose not, just a little surprising is all. I assumed that you were older since you're...you know..." Raven said holding a hoof over her head. "Taller?" I offered, to which Raven nodded meekly. "Okay I get it; I'm short compared to the jolly green giant here." Isabella pouted. "Don't be so dramatic, especially with Celestia." I scolded. “I’ll be sure to curtsy, and be on my best behavior.” Isabella said nonchalantly. I ignored her sarcasm as several tents and booths set up in a large park came into view. Of all the places to picture a princess, I couldn’t imagine meeting Celestia here, but Raven didn’t stop at the edge of where the festivities were, and motioned for us to follow her. “Not gonna lie Raven, this is really weird meeting her like this.” I said, as we followed the cream colored unicorn closely. “While I admit it is a bit odd, I can’t control what Celestia decides to do, only manage events in a timely order and offer suggestions. Believe me, I didn’t think this was a good idea either, she said, and I quote, “You need to relax and take a day off, Raven” I just don’t understand.” Raven said, her voice growing louder as the crowd increased in size. “I don’t see the downside to a day off.” Isabella said with a laugh. “Things would become out of order, that’s the downside! Don’t even joke about something like that!” Raven squeaked, stopping in the center of festival. “Celestia’s a grown mare, I’m pretty sure she can handle herself for one day.” I said fighting back my laughter at Raven’s outburst. “I’m glad somepony has faith in my abilities as a ‘grown mare’.” said an angelic voice from behind me. Shit! I thought to myself before turning around to see Celestia. I didn’t need a mirror to confirm whether or not I was blushing. The few times I had met Celestia I had always tried to be tactful, and picked my words carefully. I was grateful that she was lighthearted about the situation. “Princess, I’m so sorry we didn’t see you there!” Raven exclaimed nervously. “It’s fine, Raven you worry too much.” Celestia said as two guards appeared from the crowd, breathing heavily, as if they had been trying to keep up with the princess. Celestia seemed to frown slightly when they appeared, but her smile quickly reappeared as she turned her gaze back to us. Why an alicorn with near limitless power needed guards in the first place baffled me, but some questions were better off without being asked in the first place. “Isabella, I presume?” Celestia asked approaching my sister. “Yes ma’am-I mean Princess, sorry.” Isabella replied tripping over her words. “It’s fine, though repeat offenses are punishable by a minimum of five years in prison,” Celestia giggled. “It’s very nice to meet you. Twilight only mentioned you once in prior letters regarding her progress with your brother. She kept an eye on him while he was studying to be a citizen so I'm surprised he didn't mention you more often.” she said. “He tries to disown me at every given opportunity.” Isabella said nonchalantly as she elbowed me. "You're not funny." I said rolling my eyes. “So do you plan on staying as well, or would you prefer to return to your home world?” Celestia asked walking through the crowd that parted at her presence. “I don’t think I can go back. You see, we kind of had to break the law to get the others home…that’s kind of my fault, since I gave the stone up in the first place.” Isabella said sheepishly. “Oh…I see. I suppose that would be an inconvenience to return to. I know that Twilight is grateful that she was reunited with her friend, Spike.” Celestia said, apparently our criminal activity had been left out of the letter Twilight sent given her reaction to the news. “So Princess, what’s the occasion? Griffons again?” I asked. “No, nothing complex. Twilight expressed her concerns that you weren’t getting out enough. She was planning on attending today, but other matters prevented her from doing so. Plus I wanted to meet your sibling face to face as I did you when you first arrived. You were going to be invited by her anyways so…” Celestia said smiling back at me. “Hey, check that out.” Isabella said, pulling on my sleeve to gain my attention. I looked in the direction she was pointing and noticed a ball toss game, similar to the ones from Earth. Three balls, a pyramid of bottles and an easy way to throw out your arm if you were too dense to realize they weighted down the bottles to make them harder to knock over. “Care to see if you’re better in this world than ours?” Isabella asked. “You seem to be implying I wasn’t good at the game. I simply don’t believe in wasting bits on something that’s fixed to make you burn through a pay check for the satisfaction of winning some prize you can probably buy at the store for what you paid to play the game.” I said rolling my eyes. “Sounds like somepony is…oh how did Luna word it…?” Celestia started, tapping a hoof against her chin in thought. “Fine, I’ll play your little game. Just don’t cry when you lose.” I said. I could hardly believe Celestia of all ponies was siding with my sister on this, even if she couldn't remember what insult Luna had come up with. The ponies that were contemplating playing the game put their decision on hold as we approached the counter. A few of them seemed nervous, but with Celestia present their fear didn’t linger for too long. “Two please.” I said to the unicorn working the booth, putting down the required bits to play. Six balls levitated from the ground behind him, and divided into three sets between me and my sister. Isabella picked up one of the balls and tossed it lightly in the air, experimenting with its weight. “Ladies first.” I said. Isabella didn’t respond, instead she drew her arm back, and threw the ball as hard as she could at the pyramid of bottles. A split second later the bottles toppled to the ground, which made a few of the ponies mouths hang open. Isabella seemed quite pleased with herself, and held her head up triumphantly. I brought my arm back in a similar manner, closing my left eye out of habit in the process. I took a step forward, right before throwing the ball, and was reward with the satisfying sound of the bottles scattering from the platform they originally rested on. Isabella’s face dropped a bit when she realized what had happened, and raised her eyebrow at me. “Here you go you tw-“ the stallion running the booth started to say, as two prizes levitated towards us. He stopped when he saw me slide a few more bits towards him, a perplexed look crossed his face. “Re-stack them, please.” I said. “You really want to do this?” Isabella asked with a coy grin as the bottles started to stack themselves. “I know you’d do the same thing if you had the bits, Izzy.” I replied nonchalantly. Isabella didn’t respond to me. She proceeded to knock down her pyramid of bottles once again with ease, which earned a few light hoof stomps from the crowd of ponies. My pyramid of bottles fell as well, earning another round of cheers. “Re-stack.” Isabella said before I could speak to the stallion in charge of the game. He looked at me quizzically, and I handed him the bits required to play again. With a shrug from the pony, the bottles started to glow a soft green color and stacked themselves once more. “Last round, we still have to get back home.” I said as my sister took aim at the bottles once again. “Yeah yeah, keep your shirt on.” Isabella replied, throwing her ball at the pyramid of bottles once again. Like before, the bottles fell to the ground and the crowd of ponies stomped and cheered at her accomplishment. I didn’t understand why they viewed such a simple activity as anything worthy of cheering over, but to each their own. The crowd grew quiet as I drew back and threw the ball in my hand as I had before. When the bottles fell to the ground another series of cheers came from the ponies that had been observing us. I was still confused as to why this game was anything to cheer over; perhaps they simply enjoyed a contest. Three stuffed toys each were lowered towards me and my sister. I looked over what appeared to be a stuffed dragon at the stallion. “Sorry if we held up your business.” I said, hoping he wasn’t upset at us. “If anything you helped it, I should be thanking you.” he whispered. I was about to leave, when I noticed a large white hoof slide another round of bits towards the booth worker. The hoof’s owner was none other than Celestia. She was full of surprises today, that or I simply hadn’t been around her long enough to really know her habits. “Please re-stack the bottles.” Celestia said, a mischievous smile adorning her face. Oh...fuck berries... I thought to myself. --- I held my sore, right arm against my chest. It felt like it had the consistency of Jell-O. Celestia had walked away proudly with six large stuffed dolls, until she gave a few away, opting to keep the one she liked the most. I was no pro athlete, which meant my arm was pushed to its limits trying to keep up with Celestia, who had requested more than one stack of bottles be set up as opposed to one pyramid each. I had learned a very valuable lesson, one that my arm wouldn't let me forget any time soon. Muscle can't always out preform magic, especially alicorn magic. “Don't you have work tomorrow?" Isabella asked with a shit eating grin. "Yep." I replied coldly. "And Luna said this wouldn't be fun." Celestia said cheerfully. "Luna's you're sister right?" Isabella asked. "Indeed she is. Luna raises and lowers the moon each night. She also sees over Night Court, which I was told somepony dropped in unexpectedly." Celestia said. "Yeah, the nobles didn't seem to care for my unintentional intrusion. I doubt they care for our being here at all." I said flatly. "Not all of them feel that way, I can assure you of that. My little ponies can be...hesitant towards change, or new things in general. This festival idea has been in the planning stage for...twenty years, if I recall correctly." Celestia said, tilting head back in thought. I nearly tripped from surprise when I heard how long the festivities, that now surrounded us, had simply been in the planning process. Compared to buildings and other constructs that were far more complex than a simple festival, the number was staggering. "Twenty years?" was all I was able to ask. "Yes, one pony would bring it up for discussion and it would be going swell, until a more, forgive my terminology, stiff necked noble decided that it was a waste of time and resources, or come up with some other excuse and it would be a while before it would be brought up again." Celestia replied. Hearing the princess call a noble stiff necked made me forget about the pain in my arm for a few minutes. Celestia was more down to earth than I gave her credit for, I felt a little guilty for misjudging her. "I thought Congress took forever." Isabella said. I rolled my eyes at her comparison as we continued to follow Celestia. There were still a multitude of booths, though most were out of the price range to purchase or play anything, thanks to the ball toss competition. "Daniel!" a familiar voice shouted over the crowd. Due to the volume of the crowd around us, I dismissed it as just a figment of my imagination. I wasn't sure why my imagination would have picked her voice, of all things available, to play tricks on my ears. "Daaaaniel!" the voice came through the crowd, a bit louder this time, dragging out the a. It's volume was enough to prompt Celestia and Isabella to stop at the sound of the unusual name being called. An unusual name for Equestrian citizens anyways. "I know that voice," I said scanning the crowd. "It's sounds an awful lot like-" "Surprise!" Ditzy Doo exclaimed as I turned around. Celestia and Isabella giggled at the pegasus' sudden appearance. I had come to expect that type of behavior from Pinkie Pie, apparently Ditzy had a mischievous side to her as well. The mail mare and I got along great at work, the first few days had included almost no interaction what so ever, but as days turned into weeks we had grown pretty close. She was also one of the first ponies outside of Twilight's 'inner circle' that I spoke with. Though a part of me didn't really count the encounter as legitimate, since I wasn't quite myself that day, courtesy of the lord of chaos. "Hey Ditzy, what brings you all the way out here?" I asked. "We're just visiting some family." Ditzy Doo replied, landing in front of me now that her unexpected greeting was through. Beside her was a tiny, filly unicorn, pale purple in color, with a blond mane and tail, similar to Ditzy's. The young unicorn hid behind Ditzy Doo's forelegs once all four of her hooves touched the ground. Only the filly's head could be seen, as she peeked out from behind the mare's legs, cautiously. "A friend of yours?" I asked, pointing at the unicorn that concealed herself once more upon seeing my hand rise towards her. "A bit more than that, this is my daughter, Dinky. She can be a bit shy around new ponies." Ditzy Doo said side stepping just enough to expose her daughter's head. "I assure you little one, there's nothing to be afraid of about these two. They harbor no ill intentions." Celestia said giggling at the little filly's reaction to me. "Princess! Oh my gosh! I didn't see you, I'm so sorry!" Ditzy exclaimed nervously, giving a quick bow to Celestia. Dinky had fled the safety of her hiding spot, if only by a foot, merely to return once Ditzy had rose from her bowed position. Ditzy did have an eye problem, one that had gotten her into trouble once or twice in the time that I had known her. Her field of vision was much different from a normal pony's. Her blind zones were different which made things a bit harder on the mare, but she more than made up for it being a hard worker and not letting it get the better of her. "There's no need to apologize." Celestia said, her warm smile ever present on her face as she spoke. I turned my attention back to the skittish filly, who had peaked her head out from behind her hiding spot once again. I knelt down to Ditzy's level, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Taking one of the prizes I had won, I held it out to the filly, her pupils growing large at the sight of the stuffed animal. "I-is that f-for me?" Dinky asked hesitantly. "Yep, I've got too many, I was hoping you could help me by giving this one a good home." I replied. A soft purple light surrounded the toy, causing it to levitate towards the unicorn. Dinky's face now sported a grin that was heart attack inducingly cute, if there was such a level of cuteness. If not, a new one had just been discovered. "What do we say, Dinky?" Ditzy asked smiling down at her daughter. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Dinky exclaimed, hopping up and down excitedly "Well, we should probably get going, Rainbow Dash is going to need all hooves on deck soon." Ditzy said. "Why? What happened?" I asked concerned, Rainbow Dash hadn't mentioned any problems. "You didn't hear? Thunderlane broke both his wings in a bad accident. A few ponies, namely Flitter and Cloudkicker, are down with the pony pox. Cloudchaser is trying to take care of her sister. It hasn't been the pegasi's lucky season I guess." Ditzy replied with a sigh. Wow...that really sucks. I thought to myself. "I wish them a quick recovery, and a safe trip home for you and your daughter, Ditzy." Celestia said her smile faltering at the bad news. "Thank you Princess," Ditzy said, giving a small bow before turning to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow Daniel." "Yeah, see ya." I said, as the mare and her daughter disappeared into the crowd. It felt as if the life of the festival had been drained with the bad news about the weather team. Rainbow Dash was probably a bit upset having to come up with a new plan on such short notice. It made me wonder just how many pegasi were actually out of commission. A burning sensation in my arm reminded me of my own physical predicament when I turned around too fast. I must have hurt it much worse than I previously thought. "I think we should call it a day too, I've got work tomorrow, and I'd like to sleep off this arm pain." I said. "I understand, it was fun getting to know you both a bit better. Perhaps we can do something like this again, when Luna is present." Celestia said. --- I looked out the window of the train, watching the snow capped forest rush past us as we approached our destination. There were only three other ponies in the same train car as us, two of them I had seen around Ponyville before so they didn't pay either of us any mind. The third stared at us constantly, as if waiting for something to happen. It was hard to believe that not so long ago, I would have had the train car to myself, segregation of species at its worst. I had learned what it truly meant to be alone, and it was a feeling I never wanted to experience or endure again. "You like her, don't you?" Isabella asked. "Pardon?" I asked in return, caught off guard be the sudden, personal question. "Don't play dumb, I may not be a girly girl, but I know when a man's looking at a woman...err, whatever, as more than just friends." Isabella said. "You're out of your damn mind is what you are. That's really creepy Izzy." I said. "Oh I agree, especially how defensive you're getting about it." Isabella said wiggling her eyebrows. "She's my co-worker, and I'll humor you for just a few seconds, even if I did like her I doubt she'd want to be associated to me in that way after what you did." I said. "You're still on about that?" Isabella asked rolling her eyes. "You called my boss, and I quote, a "fat winged fuck". I'm lucky I still have a job." I snapped. "It's not my fault he wouldn't move. You were quizzing me on signs and I was just doing what you asked me to." Isabella said. "He wouldn't let me leave his office the next day until I told him what that meant. Do you have any idea what it's like being forced to explain an insult to your employer?" I asked. "Not really, though I can imagine it was pretty funny from a third party's point of view." Isabella chuckled. The idea of a pony, human relationship had crossed my mind when I was bored several times. Especially when Timber, Strong Deck and I were together and talking about random topics that made no sense or were too 'free' for the work environment. I probably would have offed myself out of insanity if not for them. It was Timber who would casually bring up the subject, asking "if I had found a pretty mare yet?" or bugging me about my type. Out of fear of offending them, I never expressed my lack of interest in a pony as a partner. I would always tell them I hadn't found that special one yet, and it seemed to satisfy them. Thankfully it was a rare topic and I had come to assume it was simply a method of teasing me. I had been tempted once to say I had found somepony, just to see what their response would be. "Are you listening?" Isabella asked, derailing my train of thought. "Sorry I zoned out for a bit." I replied. "I said, that she seemed nice is all." Isabella said. "Leave it be Izzy. I'm not interested, understand?" I asked sternly. "Yeah I hear you. I was just joking anyways, you take everything so seriously, learn to lighten up." Isabella replied, leaning back in her seat. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted between a state of consciousness and sleep. If Luna had been on dream duty, or whatever she referred to it as, I'm sure she would have been a bit frustrated with the indecisiveness. I must have eventually settled on dozing off the rest of the trip, since what felt like a few seconds passed before Isabella was standing over me, shaking me. That was the one aspect about sleep that always fascinated me, it was how it seemed to make time pass quicker, at least for the person sleeping. --- Dinner had been nice, especially since I didn't make it. Isabella knew how to make spaghetti, which was always an awesome meal no matter what. My arm was still pretty sore, but it wasn't anything a heating pad couldn't handle. I was still amazed they had them at all. "That little filly, Scootasomething." Isabella said. "Scootaloo, you know her name." I said rolling my eyes. "Right, did she like the stuffed animal?" Isabella asked sitting down with a book Twilight had asked her to read. "She liked it, kind of made the others there a little jealous." I replied, rubbing my arm beneath the heating pad. "That one has you wrapped around her little hoof huh?" Isabella asked. "Yeah, she's my little buddy. She deserves better than that place though..." I replied. I did my best to keep an eye on Scootaloo, especially after learning about her condition. It had to be hard on a kid being an orphan, but being a pegasus that couldn't fly was something that had to bug her daily. It was something I had experienced for a short time, but I couldn't imagine enduring that feeling for my entire life. A knock at the door broke the period of silence that had fallen over the living room. Despite my arm's protest, I left the comfort of the heating pad just as who ever was at the door knocked again. Behind the door stood a familiar mare who had her hoof held up, ready to knock once more if needed. Though I questioned my door's ability to survive too many knocks from this particular mare. "Rainbow Dash, what brings you our way?" I asked, stepping aside to let her in. "I just needed to ask you something real quick...privately, no offense." Rainbow Dash said looking back over at Isabella. "Meh." Isabella shrugged, continuing to read. I closed the door behind me, the cold air greeting my under-dressed skin. I regretted not slipping a jacket on, but it was too late now, and hopefully whatever Dash had to ask wouldn't take too long. "Sorry, but I wasn't sure about how much she knows about...you know." Rainbow Dash said pointing a hoof towards her wings and then at me. "I gotcha, she doesn't know yet. So...what's this about?" I asked, I didn't see what Discord's little shenanigans had to do with anything, but I held my peace. "I need...oh Twilight would kill me for asking this, but I need your help...to get help from...drsmrgfn." Rainbow Dash said, mumbling the last bit. "Sorry, couldn't quite make that last part out." I said shivering a bit. "Ineedyour'sandDicord'shelp!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed quickly. I recalled what Ditzy Doo had said about the pegasi being a bit short hooved with Winter Wrap Up. I didn't anticipate Rainbow Dash coming to me about it though. I started to fold my arms, until a sharp pain advised against doing so. I looked down at her and sighed. "Why can't Discord just clear everything then, what's so special about me in this equation?" I asked. "That's the thing, you can't use magic, it's kind of a tradition. You don't have magic though, the way I see it, if he did whatever it is he does to you then you could help my team." Rainbow Dash explained. "That sound's like you're bending the rules a bit." I said. "It's not, I promise. Look, I'm hurting for a few dependable ponies. Believe me, I wouldn't have come if it wasn't bad." Rainbow Dash said. "Dash, I don't know the first thing about cloud busting. I mean I can fly a little, but it's nothing impressive, add something else to that and I'm likely to fall flat on my face." I said. "I'd help coach you through it, we've got some time before Winter Wrap Up. Please, don't leave me hanging." Rainbow Dash said, her expression slowly shifting to one of genuine concern. This clearly meant something to her. "Well...okay." I said, grinning as Rainbow Dash hoof pumped once in victory. "Great, meet me in the park, two days from today!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed excitedly. The cyan pegasus disappeared in a blue blur, leaving a rainbow colored vapor trail in her wake. Her sudden take off from the snow covered ground had sent snow sailing in all directions, most notably onto me. Shivering, I walked back inside my house. My sister was in the same position I left her in, I hoped she had stayed in it. I assumed Isabella respected my privacy enough to not eavesdrop on my conversations. My sister's knowledge of my past experiences and plans, or lack there of, were the farthest things from my mind though. Rainbow Dash said she was hurting for a few dependable ponies, it made me wonder what type of work I'd gotten myself wrapped up in.