//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Day It Began // by Dyon //------------------------------// The guards in the Canterlot didn't talk to me as we walked through the hallways. They kept a very stoic expression and never smiled. This for some reason made them come off as moody, and moody people are tiresome. We made our way through the spectacularly decorated halls of the castle to some destination unknown to me. Supposedly we would be going to my allocated chambers. Twilight had left me with the guards when our meeting with the princesses had concluded. Apparently she had a permanent residence here in the castle. I let my mind drift back to the meeting that had just taken place. Twilight had no idea what I was when I arrived, but apparently the princess knew exactly what a human was. Twilight had told me that she had read every book that was in her library five times. Now how is it that something like humans wouldn’t have even been mentioned once in any of those books? This was a troubling question so I decided to ignore it for the time being. Celestia was an immortal god, who was I to question how she knew things. From the looks that she was giving me I am guessing that her previous interactions with my species was not pleasant. I would have to be on extra special behavior to make sure that I didn’t upset her. We finally arrived at my designated room, and the guards motioned for me to enter. There was a beautiful painting depicting Celestia in golden armor eclipsing the sun. A warrior princess, I would definitely not want to upset her. I found it odd that all the guards in the castle and even the ones that had picked us up in the chariots were white. Was there some rule that if you were a white pony then you became a guard? That didn’t seem right because Rarity was definitely not a guard. Then of course was the fact that she was female and I had not come across a female guard yet. Maybe there weren’t any female guards. That thought seemed to sync up with my observations so far, but at the same time it seemed off. From what I had seen so far females vastly outnumbered the males in Equestria, which would mean that there was a higher chance that any given guard would be female. Equestria hadn’t seen war in over a thousand years. Was there really any need to for there to be guards? The protection of the princesses was obviously very important, but did it require ponies to be around them twenty-four seven? Guards were wherever the princesses needed them at any time of the day or night. That invoked a not so pleasant thought about why all the guards were male. I pulled myself from my quickly souring thoughts and looked around the room I had been led into. It was in every way exactly what I had expected a room in a castle to look like. It was five times the size of my dorm room, and had lavish furniture everywhere. The bed alone was twice the size of a queen. It looked like absolute heaven, and I immediately jumped into it. I began to sink as the mattress adjusted itself to my weight. Every single position that I turned on the bed I found to be more comfortable than the last. This must have been some kind of magnificent enchantment. When I left Equestria I was going to somehow smuggle this mattress out with me. I propped my head up against a pillow and looked at the rest of the room. The closet at the far end of the room was open, and completely empty. I guess I couldn’t have expected them to magic up some clothes for me to wear. Though that would have been awesome. The tables and dressers were made of a dark wood that gleamed in the light of the chandelier. Wow, there was a chandelier in this room. Thank god I wasn’t paying for anything because I would never have been able to afford this place. I laid back down on the bed and began to stretch. It felt so good to be relaxing on such an amazing surface. I may have let out a few manly groans as I felt my limbs pop from me stretching them out. “Oh my.” My attention immediately turned to the pony standing in the doorway. Rarity was watching me with a shocked expression. How long had she been standing there? “I was just stopping by to ask if you wanted me to take your measurements for the suit, but if you are busy I can come back later,” she said turning to leave. I leapt out of the bed to stop her from leaving, but all I accomplished was scaring her. She backed into the door and looked at me fear showing on her face. I sighed and sat back against the bed, and she managed to get a hold of herself. I forgot that I was a huge hulking monster, and shouldn’t make sudden movements around small ponies. Rarity looked slightly ashamed of being frightened by me and took a hesitant step forwards. “So would you like to get fitted for the suit?” she asked. I nodded and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but my heart wasn’t in it. I don’t like to scare ladies. Doing so actually hurts my pride quite a bit. I slowly got up from the bed and followed her out of the room. She led me through the castle halls to where she had a studio already set up. There was cloth strung about everywhere. String was even strung out everywhere. The room reminded me of how my own room looks. Everything was thrown about and out of any container, but you always knew exactly where everything was. Organized chaos was a great method for keeping everything straight. Rarity walked over to a pony mannequin that had some black fabrics draped over it. The fabrics were enveloped in glowing magic and lifted into the air. They began to swirl around the center of the room that I was standing in, and Rarity turned to look me over. My hoody was pulled off me by her magic and a measuring tape began to work its way over me. I hadn’t been measured for very many pieces of clothing, but the rate at which Rarity worked astounded me. There was a piece of paper floating besides her taking notes as the tape did its work. I felt like a doll being toyed with, not something that I am into. Every inseam was measured, and I barely had time to feel any embarrassment about it. At least she didn’t hold the tape with her mouth. Then as suddenly as it had begun the tape flew back to one of the counters where it rested. The dark fabric began to cling to me, and fold around my body. Rarity scrutinized the black fabric and then moved it again. Her expression was incredibly focused, and I began to wonder how difficult it was to hold that many things in the air with telekinesis. If she was able to use that much magic and create at the same time then she must really be a mare able to focus intently on a task and accomplish it. Then the fabrics floated away from me, and back to the mannequin that they had been resting on previously. Rarity smiled up at me “Well I think that will just about do it. This is going to be a simply marvelous suit. I will get it to you by the time that you wake up tomorrow,” she said as she ushered me out the door. The door slammed behind me leaving me stuck out in the hall alone. That had certainly been a very interesting experience. I began to walk back to my room hoping that I would be able to get some sleep. That was when I realized that I had absolutely no idea where my room was located. Maybe I should have paid more attention on the way here. I started to wander the halls aimlessly hoping that one of the doors would have the words “human” written on them. Of course none of them did. I somehow wound up in the library. As far as libraries go this one was the biggest that I had ever seen. An elderly unicorn met me as I entered. He looked up at me with a friendly smile, which startled me. What could this pony have possibly seen to make me a not so frightening sight. “Hello there I am Quick Wit the librarian here. What can I help you find today?” he asked. I wasn’t able to actually read anything that was written down here in Equestria. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to learn a little bit about the language. How exactly was I going to ask the librarian to find me an English to Equestrian dictionary. I grabbed a piece of paper that was laying on the desk and a pen, and began to write on it. The phrase “I would like a dictionary.” was probably too much to hope for him to understand. When I handed the paper to him and saw him gaze at it with zero understanding I knew that I had failed. Quick Wit studied the paper a little harder and then something dawned on him. “I have seen these markings before. Wait here one moment,” the elderly stallion said as he turned from the desk, and made his way to the back of the library. That was a huge shock. Was there actually something written in English here? Such a book might go a very long way towards helping me learn about my situation. It didn’t take long for Quick Wit to return pushing a large glass case. He placed in front of me and then looked inside. I did as well, and was surprised by the stone on the inside. “David was here.” was cleanly carved into the stone. Judging from how old the rock seemed to be and how degraded the writing was the stone was absolutely ancient. This new piece of information just made me even more confused, and I walked away from the case. I decided that it was time for me to leave the library so I made my way out. I took one last look back and thought that I saw Pristine perusing the books. I once again found myself aimlessly wandering the halls. Since I had nowhere to go I began to admire the paintings on the walls. Most of the art was very old and had been degraded by time. The colors had begun to dull with time, and cracks in the paint were beginning to form. As I kept walking I noticed that the paintings were becoming older and older as I went. That is when genius struck me. If the paintings were getting older and older as I walked this way then if I turned around I would find myself in the newer parts of the castle. I turned around and began to quickly walk through the halls. The castle was huge, but eventually I arrived back at a painting showing Celestia in golden armor. I knew that I had once again located my room and quickly walked inside. The room was completely black, and I noticed that it was nighttime outside. I was thoroughly exhausted by the day that I had, and fell into bed. I laid there a few moments, and tried to drift off to sleep. When my own breathing became quiet enough I began to hear a shallow breathing coming from somewhere inside the room. My eyes popped open and I quickly scanned the room. In the darkness near the table I was able to make out an unshapely figure, but the most disturbing thing were the figure’s amber eyes, which shone in the darkness. When it noticed that I was staring it got up from the table and began to walk towards me. As it neared the bed I was able to make it out better. It was a man. A human had suddenly appeared in my room, and was walking towards me. I was hesitant since someone sneaking into your room at night wasn’t exactly friendly behavior where I come from. He stopped at the side of the bed and looked down at me, man this guy was tall. “We need to talk,” he said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. Then the whole world went black. __________________________________________________________________________ “Luna this is not right you must not do this,” Celestia pleaded with her sister. Luna had seemed to grow overnight. Her mane swirled around her in a purple haze and her eyes glowed with rage. She had been growing more and more depressed over the past couple of years, but something had happened that completely broke her. She was now twisted, and the quiet sister Celestia had once cherished could no longer be seen within the monster. “Oh Tia you are the last one that should tell me what I should and shouldn’t do,” she spat at Celestia. “What are you talking about Luna? I do not understand,” Celestia said taking a step towards her sister. The dark alicorn backpedaled, not wishing to be anywhere near the goddess of the sun. “Do not call me that. Luna was the name of a princess subjugated by her own sister. I will no longer be that weakling. My name is Nightmare Moon, and I shall take what is rightfully mine!” the black mare bellowed causing lightning to shoot down from the sky. “What has caused this sister? Would you really take the day from your subjects?” Celestia asked hoping that she could somehow talk her sister down. “Do you forget that it was you that first took from me sister? No lies or deceits were to be between us, but you were the one that broke that. You will reap what you have sowed, and I shall now take Equestria for myself,” Nightmare Moon ascended into the sky leaving Celestia behind. Celestia realized what had caused her sister to change like this. It had been so long since she had thought about that day, and now it was coming back to haunt her. The mistake she made all those years ago had finally caught up with her and stolen what she valued most. “Sister please, I beg you. Stop this, and come back to Canterlot with me,” Celestia begged. “You have held the moon in the sky for a full week's time. When will your wrath be quenched?” “Never Celestia. You and I created this world, and now they ignore me. My own sister has betrayed me. There is nothing left here that I wish to see alive. The moon shall remain in the sky until all is as dead as my own heart,” Nightmare Moon said looking sad at the thought. That dark mare quickly recovered, and gave the Reagent of the Sun a wicked grin, “As dead as your heart.” “I am sorry Luna at the time…” Celestia began. “I do not care for your apologies. You have robbed me Celestia. You stole from me the thing I care for most, and now I shall take what you most cherish,” Nightmare Moon broke into a fit of insane laughter. “You give me no choice then,” Celestia levitated six orbs from behind her, which began to shine with power. “You would not dare,” the dark mare gawked at her sister. The orbs began to spin around the white alicorn. “These were given to us to protect Equestria from evil. Now I must turn them on you. I am sorry Luna,” the orbs began to come together. They collided above Celestia into a single white light, and from the light shot a beam that held all the colors of the rainbow. The beam struck the black alicorn in the chest and she began to convulse as pain shot through her. Nightmare Moon was wrapped in the energies of the light, and began to scream. A few moments later the screaming stopped. The dark alicorn was no longer there, and the earth was scorched where she had stood. The elements of harmony fell to the ground dead. There were only five now, and they had all turned to stone. A single tear rolled down Celestia’s cheek, and she looked up at the moon. “Oh Tia I can’t believe it,” Luna cried into her big sister’s mane. “I know Luna. It is absolutely awful,” Celestia stroked Luna’s mane trying to console her. “Why would he do such a thing? I thought that he loved me,” Luna sobbed. “I don’t know why Luna. I truly don’t. It will be okay sister. We still have each other, and I will never leave you,” The elder sibling rocked the younger back and forth as she continued to embrace her. Celestia had not seen Luna shed tears in a very long time. Most of the time Luna was far more composed than Celestia, and she envied that about her. Now with her heart broken to pieces Luna was little more that a foal in her sister’s hooves. Luna continued to sob for hours, and Celestia just held her. Neither moved to break the embrace, and they allowed the moon to stay in the sky for much longer than it should have. It was the only time that they had not kept a strict schedule over the day and night, but neither truly cared. /\/ /\/\ /\/ Celestia woke from her fitful dreams, and began to look around the room frantically. It had been a long time since she had been haunted in her sleep by nightmares, but like every ruler it happened from time to time. She sat up in her bed, and gazed out the window. It was nearly dawn, and the moon was beginning to set on the horizon. Tonight it was red as it made its way over the mountains. Celestia climbed from her bed, and began to dawn her regal apparel. She would soon need to relieve her sister and raise the sun so that the day could begin. Her crown was the first thing that she put on, which was quickly followed by her golden necklace and the rest of her jewelry. One of the great things about being an alicorn was that she did not have to make up her hair in the morning. It flowed freely in an ethereal breeze as it always did. She glanced at herself in the mirror to make sure that everything was in its right place. Confident that she looked as regal as ever she turned from the mirror and walked to the door. The door opened upon her approach and she walked into the hallway making her way to the tower where Luna would be waiting for her. Outside her bedroom window a blue alicorn stood on the balcony contemplating what she had seen. Memories had begun to return to her ever since she found the book in the archives. She had wanted to make sure that they were real, and not some spell that the book had been enchanted with. Judging from Celestia’s dreams they were in fact her real memories that were beginning to resurface. Luna’s mind was a torrent of feelings. She felt betrayal for what her sister had done, and shame for the way she had reacted. She felt that she should have justice, but at the same time knew that there would be little point. It was so far in the past that it mattered little anymore. She crushed most of the betrayal that she felt, but a small bit of it remained, festering in the back of her mind. She looked to the sky, and quickly began to fly around the palace. It would be bad if Celestia arrived at the tower to see that Luna was missing. ________________________________________________________________________ “Hello,” Twilight called as she stepped into the room Darky had been given to sleep in. He didn’t greet her as she arrived, but Twilight really hadn’t expected him to. Once inside she looked around the room for the creature she had now come to know as a human. He was nowhere to be seen. “Are you hiding in here?” she asked the empty room, but was once again greeted by silence. Twilight remembered Rarity saying something about making him a suit last night so she figured that he might be with her. She left the room closing the door behind her a little harder than she should have. She couldn’t understand why, but it seemed like everything that the human did was to purposefully spite her. The guards quickly moved out of her way when they saw that she was in one of her notorious bad moods. Twilight was known around the castle to have very bad mood swings, and nopony wanted to impede the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Twilight stormed down the hall ready to give Darky a piece of her mind once she reached Rarity’s room. With a pulse of magic the doors to the room flew open startling the white mare that was inside. Rarity looked up from the clothes that she was stitching together at her friend. “Twilight what is the matter?” she asked moving around the table. “Is he here?” Twilight asked looking around. “Is who here?” Rarity replied as she placed all of her instruments down and made her way over to Twilight. “Darky. Is he here?” Twilight asked again. “No dear I am sorry, but I haven’t seen him all day. I was just finishing up on his suit and I was going to deliver it to him in a moment. Are you saying that you don’t know where he is?” Rarity asked clearly worried. Twilight let out a long steady breath as she calmed herself. She wondered why the idea of him being with Rarity bothered her so much. She looked to her friend who was watching her with worried eyes. Twilight collected herself since she did not want to place unneeded worry on Rarity. “It’s okay Rarity. He just wasn’t in his room so I got a little worried. I am going to go look for him. You should finish that suit I am sure that he will be happy when you present it to him,” Twilight said changing the subject. “Oh yes. I must say that this is one of my finer works to date. I know that I always say that, but this really is a masterpiece,” Rarity said turning back to her sewing. Twilight slowly backed out of the room as the white mare began to talk about fabrics and stitches. Twilight always was a pony that wanted to learn, but sometimes Rarity could just go on forever about a subject. Ponies really should learn when others are not that interested in what they have to say she thought as she walked down the hall. She decided that she would check the cafeteria to see if he had decided to get an early breakfast. She quickly made her way to the eatery, and looked at all the guards enjoying either their breakfast or their dinner. At this time of day the night guards were coming off duty and the morning guards were just starting their shift. The cafeteria was large and held several rows of tables. The actual dining hall was located in an adjacent room for the special occasions when the princesses would host guests. Since Twilight didn’t see Darky in the main room she decided to check in the royal dining hall. A dozen chandeliers hung above the massive stone table in the center of the room. A thick red rug covered most of the floor, and light filtered through the stained glass windows. The room was made to impress foreign dignitaries, and was currently unoccupied. Twilight sighed and took a seat at the table. She would need to think of the next likely place that Darky would have gone to since it didn’t seem that he was eating. A chef walked over to her and asked what she would like to eat. Twilight asked for a daisy sandwich and the chef quickly turned back to the kitchen to place the order. The doors opposite of Twilight creaked open, and Luna made her way into the dinning hall. “Hello Twilight,” she said as she approached the table. “I did not think that anypony would be in here at this time. I can leave if I am disturbing your breakfast.” “Don’t worry about it princess,” Twilight said waving off her concern. The dark alicorn pulled back a chair, and sat in it. Apparently chairs were a common thing in other countries, so they were used here in the royal dining hall. Twilight found them constraining, and didn’t much care for them. A simple cushion would do for her. “I have actually been wishing to speak with you Twilight,” Luna said after she gave her order to the chef who once again scuttled back to the kitchens. “What did you want to talk about princess?” Twilight asked intrigued that Luna would want to talk to her. Twilight had interacted with Luna on occasion but the princess of the night always seemed to want to keep her distance. “I was wondering how exactly you managed to summon a human to this world,” she said looking to one of the stain glass windows. “I read about a summoning spell in a book, and wanted to see if I could actually do it. The book said that creatures from different universes could even be pulled through the spell, and I was skeptical about that. Apparently, my skepticism was unfounded since it actually worked,” Twilight said recalling the other day. “Did this book that you found tell you to summon a human or was that simply happenstance?” Luna asked still trying to mask her interest in the matter. “It didn’t say anything about humans actually. It simply told me how to grab a sentient being from a specific world. If I recall correctly it gave me a way to pick that world exactly,” Twilight said as she tried to picture the specifics about what the book had actually said. “Where did you get this book Twilight? I must admit that I have never heard of such a kind of book here in Equestria,” Luna said as her mask of disinterest began to fade. “That is the funny thing princess. It was returned to the library with a stack of other books. Somepony must have not noticed that it was from the library and dumped it in the return box by mistake,” Twilight explained. “Is that right,” Luna said as she pondered the implications of this. “Can I ask you a question princess?” Twilight said as the chef returned with her sandwich. “You can ask Twilight, but I am not certain if I can answer it or not,” Luna said trying to be as cryptic as possible, another one of Celestia’s lessons. “You and Princess Celestia knew that he was a human, and you knew that he was here in Equestria before I told you. How did you know?” Twilight said. Luna sighed, and thought of how exactly she should answer before continuing. “This is not the first time that a human has come to this world. I am sorry, but I am not the one you should ask this question to. If you truly wish to know then you should ask my sister. She is your mentor after all, not I,” Luna said as she watched the chef place her salad in front of her. Twilight finished chewing the last of her sandwich, and then downed the rest of her water. “Thank you for your time princess. This has been a very nice talk, but I am looking for Darky and feel that I must find him,” Twilight said getting up from her chair. Luna gave her a nod, and then she turned and exited the room. Twilight made her way out of the cafeteria, and back out into the halls of the palace. She had no idea where Darky might have gone since she really didn’t know that much about him. She searched everywhere that she could think of. He wasn’t in the gardens, or the library. Though the librarian Quick Wit did tell her that he had come in last night. Twilight sighed, and made her way back to his room hoping that he would be in there. When she entered the room it was as empty as it had been when she had left. Twilight sighed and made her way over to the bed. It was much larger than any bed that a pony would need, but Darky was several times larger than a pony. Twilight wondered if it would have even been big enough for the human. Twilight got up on the bed, and laid down on a pillow thoroughly exhausted with the searching that she had done all morning. When she found him she would really have to make sure just how much trouble he had put her through. When she rolled over she spotted a note lying on one of the pillows. It wasn’t long, and it was written in perfect Equestrian, which was the first indication that it hadn’t been Darky who had written it. Twilight read it over once, and then quickly got up from the bed and raced out into the hall. Princess Celestia had to see this note as soon as possible. Twilight dashed through the halls, and the guards once again jumped out of her path. It didn’t take her long to reach the main hall where the princess was holding court. She was talking to an earth pony that had brought a bag of grain with him. Twilight charged into the room, but quickly stopped since she didn’t want to interrupt the princess. She knew how important it was that everything in the castle always seem like it was under complete control. Once the princes had finished speaking with the farmer he picked up his bag of seed, and made his way out of the room. Twilight quickly walked up to the princess cutting in line in front of a blue unicorn that looked very put off by being usurped her position in line. “Twilight it is good to see you. What brings you to court this morning,” Celestia asked from her throne as Twilight approached. “This morning when I checked Darky’s room I found that he wasn’t there. I also found this note,” Twilight said as she levitated the note up for Celestia to read. She took the note in her magical grasp, and read it once over. Dear Princess Celestia Reagent of the Sun and Monarch of Equestria Something Something Royal Something, I have taken the human to that place where things happened. You know the one, where we spent that magical night all those years ago. Yea that place, I have so many fond memories of it. Anyways, I took the human and we are going to have a nice little chat. Don’t worry I will bring him back in due time, and I hope that he won't get a bad idea about you and your kingdom. Well whatever happens, happens. Later. -A XOXOXOXOXO P.S. You should really find a shorter title. Writing out that whole thing is tiring. Get back to me when you figure some acronym out. The paper unexpectedly caught fire and Celestia’s eye began to twitch. The guards quickly ushered all of the ponies that were waiting for an audience with their princess out of the room and closed the doors. Twilight hesitantly approached the white alicorn that seemed to be having a brain aneurism. “Are you okay princess?” Twilight asked. Celestia let the tension out of her in a long breath, and sat back in her throne. “I am fine Twilight it is just that he always seems to know exactly what to do to irritate me,” she said as she blew the dust that was previously the note away. “Princess is it okay if I ask you a question?” Twilight asked not really wanting to push her luck. “You can ask me anything Twilight. I hope you would know that by now,” Celestia answered smiling down at the lavender mare. “You knew that Darky was a human. How exactly did you know that?” Twilight said taking a seat in front of her tutor. Celestia sighed. She then motioned for the guards to leave the room, and noticed that they weren’t happy being dismissed so many times in one week. The room was silent for several minutes as Celestia and Twilight just looked at each other. “Twilight you must understand that what I am about to tell you I have never told another living soul, and that you must never repeat it,” Celestia said to her student as she began to tell her of events that happened eons ago. __________________________________________________________________________ I woke up in what I would call a daze. I have woken up feeling dizzy and out of place a lot recently so I was only half dazed as I laid on my back on the cold stone floor. The room I was in was completely dark except for the starlight shining in through the windows. Now that I was looking at the windows I noticed that the room was absolutely massive, easily the size of the throne room back in Canterlot. I sat up and was glad that there was no pain lancing through my back. At least I hadn’t fallen through a roof this time. I looked around the room, and it was in fact a throne room. Though it was different from the one I had seen in the Canterlot castle. The windows were not made of stained glass, but instead a dark green shade of glass that filtered the light as it came into the room. Leading to the throne a green rug stretched from the entrance that had unlit fire basins on either side of it. The throne itself was made of emeralds and shined in the green light that came in through the windows. On the throne sat a man completely cloaked in black, and he was staring at me. I was getting the feeling that this guy really liked green. “Hello,” he whispered, but I heard him all the way on the other side of the room. “Um, Hi,” I replied and then clasped my hands over my mouth. I was actually able to talk. I hadn’t been able to do that since I came to this world. “My name is Apollo and you now stand in my throne room. The latter part you now doubt have guessed by now,” he said not moving from his throne. “My name is…” I started. “SILENCE!!!” all of the basins along the carpet erupted into green flame and a wall of fire shot up in front of Apollo. The room’s temperature remained steady despite the copious amounts of fire. “Do not speak your human name here. It is not safe,” he explained. The fire died down a little but still flickered in their bowls. “How am I able to talk at all?” I asked. I was really interested in that, a lot more than the magic fire or the reason that I was abducted, again. “You can speak freely in this room. It is a special room you see. However, when you leave here you will once again be unable to communicate with others. It is unfortunate, but those are the rules,” he explained as he got up from his throne. Apollo stepped through the fire like it was nothing and began to walk towards me. His eyes caught the green fire and flickered with light. They looked really sinister. “How are you able to do all that magic and stuff?” I asked as he made his way to me. “Because I have power. Were you expecting some other sort of answer?” he asked when I gave him a frown. I had been hoping that he would just show me a way to harness untold powers, but we can't always get what we want. “Now it is my turn for a question. What country do you hail from?” “I am from Ravnica,” I answered. He didn’t seem to like the answer I gave him. Maybe he had something against Ravnicans. “What year is it on your world?” he asked arching an eyebrow. “2134 A.D,” I said simply. I guess these would be normal questions to ask any alien that was suddenly in your world. “Wait a second. Where are you from? I haven’t seen another human here yet, and Twilight didn’t seem to know what we were,” I said turning the conversation around. “I am from here. Equestria is my home, and I am not human. I just… look like I am,” he replied. “Why do you look like you are human if you aren’t?” I asked pointing a finger at him. That was a very bad move, and seemed to cause him to become aggravated. I jotted down a mental note not to aggravate beings that had magic power and have kidnapped me. “Do you think that you have the right to demand answers from me!!!” the entire room shook, and the ceiling cracked as his voice boomed at me. I covered my ears and recoiled away from him. He was definitely able to be intimidating I had no question about that. “Sorry.” I said after he calmed down. “Just do not raise your voice to me again. I can always raise mine higher,” he said turning away from me. He walked back to his throne and plopped down in it once again. “The reason I appear to look human is because I choose to look as such. If I didn’t want to look like a human then I wouldn’t. It is simple as that.” “If you wouldn’t mind telling me. Why did you bring me here?” I asked making sure that I didn’t agitate him again. “Now that is the million dollar question,” he said smiling at me. “I wanted to talk with you. It has been eons since there has been a human in Equestria, and I wanted to get on the ground floor of dealing with you. You really have nothing to fear from me. I just wanted for us to talk to each other a little.” “What do you want to talk about?” I asked. “Mainly I want to talk about you. You say you are from the year 2134, which I find very interesting. The last time I met one of your kind they were from the year 1996, and that was several thousand years ago. Do you not find it interesting that thousands of years have passed here, and yet only 138 have passed in your world? That is assuming that you are from the same world as they were. So many questions come from such a simple piece of information,” he said as he pondered the implications. “That sounds like way too much thinking, and I am not really one to do a lot of thinking. I will leave those questions to you,” I replied. He smiled “Tell me about this country Ravnica. I have never heard of it so is it new in your world?” “The Republic of Ravnica was established in the late twenty-first century after the fourth world war. It has pretty much been holding the world together on its own,” I answered trying to remember exactly what I had read in my history books. “All very interesting things, but what I want to know most is about what you have experienced since coming here. Have you noticed anything that you can do here that you were unable to do in your world?” he asked. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? When I met Celestia she asked me the same thing, and I showed her that I could magically play music. She gave me this look after I did it like she didn’t know what to think about it, and then when I was leaving she glared at me,” I said sighing. “Everyone keeps asking you because it is very important. The powers of a human are something to be careful around,” he informed me. “What do you mean? All I can do is play music. Why do you have to be so careful about that?” I asked clearly not understanding. “That is a long story,” he said waving off my question. “It looks like we have nothing but time here. I know I don’t really have anyplace else that I need to be,” I pressed. “Very well if you wish to hear it then I will tell you,” he said and I swear that I saw his amber eyes begin to glow. “Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria…”