Royal Palace Grounds, Equestria
November 13th
“Hello?”
It was a simple word, yet blew Jonathan away when it escaped the lips of the alabaster unicorn, whose voice sounded female. Unconsciously, Jonathan took a small step backward and frantically rubbed his eyes. Not only were there two mythical creatures standing in front of him—a unicorn and pegasus—but one of them had spoken to him. In English. Noticing his reaction, the unicorn edge forward slightly and asked another simple question, making sure to keep her voice quiet. “Can you understand me?”
As if automatically, Jonathan blurted out a quiet “Yes” in response. He mirrored the unicorn's action, and took a couple tentative steps forward out of the shadows, then paused. Brisk sunlight enveloped him, its warmness helping sooth his nerves. He knew he should continue—say something at least. His breathing was still shaky, but he did his best to steady it before continuing.
“Yes—I can understand you, but er...who are you?”
The two creatures looked to each other for a second, then back at him. They seemed puzzled by his appearance, but not in the least frightened by it. A silent agreement seemed to have been made between the two, though, as the white unicorn nodded at the younger and smaller pegasus, then smiled at Jonathan. “Allow me to introduce myself, then. My name is Celestia, and this is my younger sister-”
“I'm Luna!” the pegasus cried, the picnic basket dropping to the soft earth below. Celestia couldn't help but giggle into her hoof at the younger filly's outburst, “Yes—this is Luna.” Within his chest, Jonathan felt his heart rate slowly returning to its normal state. The two did not seem at all hostile—in fact, they actually seemed pretty friendly to him. This situation was certainly different from what all the stereotypical “alien” movies had made it out to be. There were no abductions, the oh-so-common 'take me to your leader' was not even once uttered...though to be fair, the roles were quite reversed at the moment.
Jonathan's gaze shifted unintentionally past the two fillies and his jaw dropped. A vast landscape with rolling hills stretched as far as the eye could see, thickets of willow trees scattered here and there. Up atop an aerie, a castle of gray-stone and marble stood, connected to two towers with pointed roofs that pierced the clouds. Having never left St. Joseph in his life, it was an absolutely breathtaking sight to Jonathan; a true architectural masterpiece to behold.
Jonathan realized then that he was drifting off, and looked back to Celestia and Luna. “Well, I guess it'd be rude not to introduce myself, then,” he said, tugging lightly at his shirt collar. “I...I'm Jonathan.”
“Well, it's nice to meet you Jonathan,” Celestia said, walking over to him. “My sister and I were just about to have a picnic. Would you care to partake?”
Jonathan slowly shook his head in response, “I'd hate to be a bother.”
Celestia laughed lightly, “Nonsense. You wouldn't be a bother in the slightest, Jonathan. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'the more the merrier'?”
“Come on, it'll be fun!” Luna added, a toothy smile on her face.
Jonathan let out a slight breath. Are you seriously even considering this? RUN, you idiot! the cynical side of his conscience told him from the dark of his mind. They're just trying to be nice, the least I could do is be kind in response. “Alright, alright. I...I'll join.”
The moment the words had left his mouth, Celestia grinned wider than he had thought possible. She picked up the basket in her teeth and strode past Jonathan down the steep, woodland-covered hill he had climbed just minutes before. Jonathan watched her disappear over the horizon before being spun around and almost falling on his rear as Luna galloped past him.
“Come on—you'll love our favorite spot,” she called out to him from a considerably large distance. Once his balance returned to him, the smallest smile found its way on to Jonathan's face. He wasted no time and quickly ran down the sloped land after the sisters.
After the quick meal, Jonathan lay on his back and with his eyes closed, enjoying the constant blanket of warmth the sun sent down through the shade. Leaves fell delicately from the looming trees and formed a blanket of red and yellow on the carpet of soft grass. Overhead, through the ever-thinning veil of branches and leaves, birds could be seen flying in v-formations toward the South. On the ground, some of the smaller woodland critters searched frantically for food to stockpile for the inevitable cold weather that would be brought in just a month's time.
Opening an eye, he turned his head and silently cast a glance over at Celestia. Following the unicorn's gaze, Jonathan saw Luna chasing after some particularly terrified looking squirrels. Speaking of woodland critters.... The tiny creatures stood no chance against the young filly. With each passing second, the distance between Luna and her prey grew smaller and smaller until it seemed as if she could reach out and touch them with a hoof. Just when it seemed as if she would catch them, the squirrels latched onto a tree and climbed its height in a frenzy, disappearing in to the autumn leaves. Looks like they won, Jonathan thought, smirking to himself. The little cheaters.
After a moment of silence the squirrels emerged from the leaves, poking their cute little heads out. They stared down at Luna in complete silence for a few seconds before—much to Jonathan's amusement—blowing raspberries down at the fuming pegasus.
“Perhaps it'd fare best if you just left the poor squirrels alone, Lulu!” Celestia called out to her, stifling a giggle. “After all, surely you haven't already forgotten the last time you hassled them?”
Luna walked over to the group and sat down, huffing and rolling her eyes. “Yeah, yeah...”
“Now, since we're all here and actively paying attention; I have a few questions I would like to ask you, Jonathan—that is...if you don't mind, of course,” Celestia said with a cordial tone.
Not particularly comfortable with the sudden shift of attention to himself, Jonathan coughed in embarrassment. “Well...I guess. I'll answer what I can,” he said, fumbling over his words.
Celestia smiled kindly, “Alright. Now, my first question is a rather basic one though it's the one I am most curious about; where are you from, Jonathan?”
Scratching his head, Jonathan sit silent a moment before sighing. “Well, I grew up in a city—er, town, named St. Joseph. Though...everybody I knew there just called it St. Joe.”
A giddy curiosity glimmered in Celestia's eyes upon hearing this bit of information. “What's St. Joseph like?”
“Hm...” Jonathan paused, unsure how to put his next statement, “It's a pretty big town—I mean, when compared to some of the other cities in the United States, it might not be, but it's still decently sized regardless.”
“United States...your home, I assume?” Celestia asked.
Jonathan nodded, prompting her to ask another question. “Okay, so what kinds of species live there?”
Jonathan stared flatly at her, “...in the United States? It's impossible to name them all, even if I could really try.”
“Well yes, I kind of expected that,” Celestia said with a snort. “What I mean is—what kind of sentient species live in the United States?”
Jonathan pointed a finger to himself, “Only us humans.”
“Sounds lonely,” Luna interjected, slightly catching him off guard.
“I agree,” Celestia said, frowning in thought. “Anyway, I have more questions to ask, but I'll save them for another time, as we really should get going.” She stood up, looking toward the empty basket when another thought popped in to her head. “On second thought, I do have one more question before we leave, though I do admit it might be a rather weird one to you.”
“...what is it?” Jonathan asked hesitantly.
“Are there any magic users in your land?”
Jonathan arched a brow and chuckled nervously, shifting uncomfortably in the grass, “Er...heh—no?”
“Oooh! Show him your magic then, Tia!” Luna bubbled, bouncing excitedly in place. Jonathan eyed the two curiously, but stayed silent. He later decided that it was the best course of action though, as what happened next would have stolen the words from him anyway.
First, an odd yellow energy enveloped both Celestia's horn and the two sisters' basket. Then, as if lifted by invisible strings, the basket was lifted weightlessly from the ground, and held in place in front of Jonathan. He caught it with trembling hands, almost dropping it in the process. This can't possibly be real...can it?
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he struggled to find the words to speak. Seeing Jonathan's aghast expression, Celestia couldn't help the proud smile that found its way on to her face, though Luna only found herself giggling.
“Seeing it used in person for the first time is pretty spectacular,” Luna admitted.
In a voice just barely above a whisper, Jonathan said, “I thought magic was fake....”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
“Well, back in my world magic was just fantasy; only used in books or old fairy tales. I mean, people did make 'magic shows', but those weren't real magic. Just the illusion of it,” he replied with a frown.
“'World'?” the sisters chorused, their eyes widening in shock.
“Earth; my planet.”
Both sisters gasped in unison and stared at Jonathan with a puzzled expression. Now might be the time to run. He quietly set the basket he had been holding onto the grass and took a step back, looking at the two with a solemn expression.
Quietly choking back a few tears, Jonathan, “If you no longer want to be my friends now that you know I am a...an alien, I understand.”
He turned his back and was only able to take a step before—with a few flaps of her small, but powerful wings—Luna flew over his head and landed in front of him, effectively blocking his path. “Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?” she asked. Jonathan could barely stand looking into her face, knowing he had caused the hurt look currently etched into it.
“Jonathan, where you come from has no bearing on how we view you,” Celestia added. Jonathan opened his mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance, as she continued. “Where you come from isn't who you are. Your personality is.”
His shoulders slumping, Jonathan sighed. “Right...”
“Now, come on! Our day is nowhere near over yet,” Celestia said with a smile.