The sounds of birds chirping was the first thing I heard as consciousness returned to me. Slowly opening my eyes, I sat up and rubbed my face groggily, yawning expansively. Wiping the gunk out of the corner of my eyes, I began to take in my surroundings.
It was a rather large room I had been given, decorated beautifully with paintings and colourful flowers I had never seen before, counteracting against the sterile white walls and marble floor. Several articles of furniture were also present, notably a couple of luxurious couches with a coffee table between them and a desk with a wooden chair in the corner.
My eyes travelled slowly around the room until I noticed the two sizeable windows to the side of my bed. Further away was a glass door that led to a balcony outside. From the window, I could see that the sun was baking down upon the earth, and the sky was spotless, nary a cloud to be seen. It looked to be a beautiful day.
For the ponies.
‘I’m still here.’ I sighed and leaned back into the bed, disappointment welling up inside me. ‘It wasn’t a dream…’
I remembered the details of yesterday all too well. The unicorn, the princesses, the hearing—I wanted it to be an insane dream, but it wasn’t. I wasn’t human, had never been, and neither was my mother or grandpa. I was cursed by the very blood that ran through my veins—we all were.
I recalled Celestia saying that she had connected me to magic. Since I didn’t really understand the mechanics behind their powers, I could only guess that magic was so essential to them that not having it must cause some type of malnourishment that could eventually become fatal. However, Star Swirl had died of old age, and he had been on Earth for so many years. How did it all fit together, then?
My thought process seemed to be somewhat clearer than yesterday, now that my body and mind had had time to rest and recover. However, understanding some of the things the princesses and Star Swirl had discussed continued to elude me, especially since I had tuned them out when the major revelation about my very nature had been announced.
I exhaled and kicked away the bed sheets, and they unceremoniously fell to the floor without a sound. Swiping a hand across my head revealed that my head was drenched in sweat and my hands were shaking slightly. Only now did I realize I had slept with my clothes on. That was strange, seeing as I usually slept in my boxers.
Looking at my hands—noting with a grimace how larger than normal they were—I spotted fresh scars. For a moment, I couldn’t recall how they had gotten there, but then the memory of how I had smashed the mirror flashed across my mind. I had been so furious that I couldn’t even recall any pain from my rash actions. I knew that Celestia and Luna had healed my hand, even though I hadn’t asked them. Why had they healed it? Had Star Swirl asked them?
Their whispers of how everything would be alright floated to the forefront of my mind, and I struck the mattress, releasing my anger onto it. What did they know? They weren’t the ones who abducted me from Earth. It was that damned unicorn! He took me away! He tricked me! He…
He saved my life.
But at what price?
I didn’t want to think about it. I just needed to wake up from this feverish dream and hear some doctor tell me that I had been hallucinating for several days straight. I needed to hear my friends tell me how worried they had been, to hear them laugh at how I had been babbling about nonsense like unicorns, pegasi, and magic. I needed be released from the hospital and be sent home to rest, have a beer, make dinner, and then go for a walk.
I already knew that it wouldn’t happen. This was real—I didn’t even have to pinch myself to know that my being here was beyond the realm of any hellish nightmare.
That was the harsh truth right there. I was never going home, was I?
‘NO! It can’t be! I refuse to believe it! If magic brought me here, then magic can send me back. It can work in reverse, can’t it?’ I had to keep believing this, had to ignore the desperation in my own thoughts.
Suddenly, there were two light knocks on the door, and a feminine voice called from the other side. “Magnus, may I come in?”
That sounded like Princess Celestia, my ‘host’. This was her castle, yet here she was, asking if she could enter. It wasn’t like I could tell her no. Also, how did she know I was awake?
“The door’s open, I think,” I answered with a weary sigh.
The doorknob glowed briefly before it quietly swung open. Celestia stood there for a moment before entering, her golden shoes making a clopping sound as she walked in. She came to a stop a few meters from the bed, wearing what seemed to be her usual regalia of her gorget and tiara, just as she had yesterday. Her eyes seemed warmer and kinder than I remembered, and she wore a gentle smile on her face.
“Good morning, Magnus. How do you feel?” she asked cordially.
I glanced up at the ceiling and noticed that it was decorated by what seemed to be tiny crystals that emitted a faint glow. “Like I was lured away from my home. Good morning, by the way.”
Her horn glowed and the window opened, allowing fresh air to waft into the room. The slight breeze caused the curtains to part, allowing sunlight to fully flood inside.
“It’s a bit stuffy in here. I hope you don’t mind.” She walked over to the windows by the balcony and gazed outside.
I remained silent. What did she expect me to say or do? Jump out of bed with a smile on my face and continue on as though nothing had happened? I didn’t know how ponies would react to being in my position. Perhaps they couldn’t understand? After all, I had no idea how their thought processes worked.
“So, how do you really feel, Magnus?” she said, startling me a bit. I suppose I was displaying more of my inner turmoil than I expected.
“Do you really want to know?” She nodded, her multi-coloured mane rippling in the slight breeze. “I don’t even know what to feel.”
The princess adopted a sad smile and walked closer to me. “I cannot comprehend the emotions you must be feeling now. I imagined you must be quite troubled being in the situation you have found yourself in.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I answered, my voice laced in sarcasm. “This place, this Equestria…” I waved my arm around vaguely. I’m… I’m terrified.” I finally admitted, to myself as much as Celestia.
“Of what?” she asked quietly. I looked up, half-believing she was mocking me, though her face was impassive.
“Of what?!” I nearly shouted as I sat up in the bed. “Every single damn thing!”
I could see that she didn’t quite understand, judging by the look on her face. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and they slammed down on the floor with a loud clack.
“I’m an alien here! My first experience was being chained to a bed! I can understand you doing that because you thought I was a-a…”
“Unicorn Hunter.” Still, she didn’t react to my venting, merely observing me. It made my ire rise even further.
“Whatever! Then I have to stand trial! Totally understandable! And here’s where the shit hits the fan!” I narrowed my eyes and grounded my teeth, wanting to shout at her because of what had happened to me. I wanted to blame someone for it, to punch them in the face, to release my anger in a visceral, primitive way, but the one who had done this to me was already dead. It was no use. I took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling my anger drain away. “I can’t go home… I’m stuck here…”
Celestia favoured me with a sympathetic, yet sad smile. “I know, and I’m very sorry that you can’t go home. Nothing I say can erase your pain, nor can my magic heal the sadness you feel. However, you can be sure that my sister and I will help you to the best of our abilities.”
“Yeah, that makes me feel so much better!” I felt my voice cracking, feeling the first pang of fear grip me. “You say that as though I shouldn’t fear you ponies,” I stated, much to her confusion.
I stood up from bed and made my way to the nearby window, looking outside. There’s a beautiful garden below, probably one of the dozens I had glimpsed on my way to my hearing yesterday, and the air felt so clean and refreshing. Despite that, all it served was as another reminder that I was far away from home. I turned and gazed at Celestia, who was looking at me expectantly.
“A cage,” I finally muttered, my voice trembling as I swallowed ineffectively against the lump lodged in my throat. “Locked up to be researched and experimented on. Dissected. The newest addition to the local zoo. An oddity on display. A freak amongst ponies.”
“I will NOT allow such a thing to happen to you!” she sternly replied as she marched towards me, a determined look in her eyes and a frown on her face. “What do you think we are?”
“I saw the way your guards looked at me, the fear in the eyes of your staff when I passed them yesterday. It was as though they were looking at some shackled animal, and the safest thing to do was to stay as far away from it as possible.” I was aware that I was babbling, my voice tinged with paranoia. “You’re curious about me yourself, aren’t you? If even the ruler of this land feels that way about me, who’s to say what the average pony will think?” A small murmur in the recesses of my mind whispered for me to calm myself, and I strove to do so, fighting against the fear and despair that had clouded my vision.
Celestia slowly shook her head, as if dismissing the thought from her mind. She smiled at me once again, though her eyes seemed to pierce me, reading my inner emotions. “I will admit that I am curious about you, Magnus. I don’t think anypony could claim otherwise in my position. Your very nature and appearance here has all but guaranteed that. However, I swear on my magic and my crown that you shall never be placed inside a cage against your will. You will not be the subject of research, experiments, dissection, or whatever other cruel, uncivilized act that comes to your mind.”
“Can I get that on paper?” I riposted.
“I will make it a public proclamation, in person, if it assuages your doubts.” She nodded firmly.
I stared at her, daring her to do it, silently commanding her to run outside and make it happen. She didn’t. Why should she? She was a princess; she could do whatever she wanted. Locking me up and covering the fact that I was here wouldn’t be much of a problem. As expected, that line of reasoning did little to lift my spirits.
I walked to the bed and slumped down. Doubt, anxiety, and resentment were the major emotions churning inside me now. I didn’t trust these ponies—I couldn’t trust them. To feel this helpless… I felt as though I was breaking apart from within.
“We are not cruel savages, Magnus. We do not wish any harm upon you.” The princess took a seat next to me on the bed and draped a wing over my back. I could see the urgency in her eyes as she met my gaze, though I didn’t know why. “What you think will happen to you, those cruel depictions, they shall never come to pass as long I continue to draw breath. Luna and I both promised your ancestor that we would guide and protect you, and we both intend to keep our oath to him.”
Promises… All she offered me was promises, but how could I trust the assurances of somebody that I didn’t even know? There were only a handful of people that I trusted, and none of them were in this world. Even then, it took quite some time before I had grown to trust my friends, mainly by growing up around them and being close to them.
Still… I felt that I could trust Celestia to a certain degree, at least from last night. I hadn’t been afraid when the ‘magic’ ritual had occurred when they bonded me with magic. Now, my perspective had twisted. What had changed? Everything did.
I lowered my head into my open hands and groaned. I attempted to gather my thoughts, but it was as though they were being sifted through a sieve. Ideas on what to do appeared and quickly vanished, one after another.
Celestia patted my back with her wing. “I know it will be difficult for you, but I firmly believe you will be okay. Star Swirl told us much about you, and he held you in high regard.” I scoffed at the notion. If only he could have left me alone. But what would have happened to me then? Could he have been wrong? That was something I didn’t want to think about now.
I exhaled, letting my shoulders slump. I’d been tense since yesterday, and although I had slept well sans that vivid dream, my body ached. I felt as though I was coming down with a fever.
“Now, I’ve brought you something.” Celestia looked to the door, and one of the guards stepped inside with a large bag on his back. He trotted up to me and deposited the bag on the floor in front of me without a word. He bowed to the princess, being dismissed with a nod.
“Your belongings.” She pointed a hoof to the bag. “The clothes you wore when you were rescued, and some clothes we discovered in a bag amongst the debris. There are also some other items inside that we are unfamiliar with. The remains of your boat and some other items are being stored in a safe location.”
Well, that was something at least. I leaned forward, picking up the bag with one hand and placing it beside me on the bed. Opening it up, I find all my clothes, smelling as though it had come fresh out of the washer and folded neatly. There were three boxer shorts, a pair of socks that I no longer needed for obvious reasons, along with two T-shirts—one grey and one black with the image of a pair of white wolves howling at the moon on it. There were also two denim pants in black and blue, both of them well-worn and faded. Lastly, there were two long sleeve shirts.
In the bottom of the bag was small cloth sack. I picked it up and loosened the string keeping it closed. I took out the first item and was surprised to find my cell phone.
“So this is where it was,” I murmured as I held the small piece of technology that now represented one of the few reminders of home. It was a depressing thought.
“We were unsure of what this object was, though Star Swirl clarified its purpose. Am I correct if I say that this is a communication device?” the princess asked, almost looking over my shoulder at my phone.
“Well, yeah. Don’t you have them?” I thought mobile phones and radios would be commonplace, seeing as they had all that modern medical equipment.
“No, a device like this is impossible to create with our current technological understanding. Our best method of long range communication is either by courier or dragon fire.”
“Dragon fire?” I raised an eyebrow sceptically at her. “As in dragons? Actual flying, fire-breathing dragons?”
It took less than two seconds before the princess comprehended the meaning behind my question, and her mouth formed a small ‘o’. “Ah yes, Star Swirl told us of your world as well. This may come as a shock to you, but our planet is populated not only by ponies. Dragons, zebras, Saddle-Arabian ponies, griffons, minotaurs, diamond dogs, cows, donkeys, and many more, all of them intelligent creatures that can speak and think as you do.”
‘I think my brain just shat itself.’
“Magnus?”
Dragons. Dragon fire. Did the dragons work for the ponies? How big were dragons here? Maybe they were the size of tiny lizards? That could explain why the ponies used them to communicate. A weird image of a pony holding a phone-sized lizard up to his ear came to mind, with the pony talking into the dragon's ass and listening to the words coming from its mouth.
“Are you feeling well?”
Her query broke me out of that ludicrous thought. “Hmm? Sorry, I kinda zoned out there. I never guessed that so many creatures existed here.”
“I understand. We were told strange things about your world as well. Hearing about the behaviour of your sun and moon was actually a bit frightening.” She chuckled wryly.
I was about to ask her what she meant, but I instead focused my attention on my phone. The screen was blank, so I assumed it had been in contact with water. I removed the lid on the back and quickly disassembled it. I had once dropped it in water, but it had worked just fine after I had taken it apart and allowed the components to dry off for a couple of days. Now, I placed the various parts on the nightstand.
“What are you doing with it now?” she asked, taking a closer look at the different pieces.
“Letting it dry off. Phones can stop working if they come into contact with water. Hopefully it will restart after a couple of days.”
The next item I found in the bag was my sunglasses. I once preferred smaller ones, since they looked cool, but they didn’t block the sun as well as my Aviators did. The shades also ended up on the nightstand. My wallet was also in there. It contained a few coins, some dollar notes, a motel receipt, my driver’s license and Visa card, and a couple of photos.
Reaching down into the bag, I took out the last item. When I saw what it was, my stomach lurched.
“Oh no…”
“Is something wrong?”
What I held in my hand was the plastic bottle that had contained my painkillers, which were rather strong. It accounted for a few things: my aching body, sweating, the slight shaking of my hands I had noticed earlier—my mood even, although that could be explained by recent events.
I knew that I was addicted to them, having been prescribed them years ago. Other painkillers were like trying to clean Chernobyl with a plastic beach shovel—that was how effective they had been. I had attempted to change medicines before, but I always went back to these, though it was only partly because of how well they worked.
The lid of the bottle was gone, along with all of its contents. The last time I had taken one of the tablets must have been two or three days ago. Perhaps the lid had fallen off when I had been unconscious at sea? Not that it mattered now, anyway.
“Magnus?”
“I’m okay,” I lied to her. I felt completely defeated, knowing what would happen next. I was already experiencing the first stages of the withdrawal symptoms: slight fever, sweating, mood swings—and it was only going to get worse. In a couple of days, I would be a mumbling wreck.
There had been a time when I had attempted to quit the medicine cold turkey, just trying to muscle through it all. By the third day, I had been completely put through the wringer. Worse still, I had begun to hallucinate. Although I knew I had been seeing things, the fear and confusion could not be shrugged off that easily.
By the end of the fourth day, I had caved in and ended up overdosing on pills, chugging almost half a bottle. One of my friends had fortunately found me soon after and rushed me to the hospital, where I had been treated.
However, reminiscing about past mistakes didn’t help my situation. If I was right in that I had been without medicine for two days, tomorrow was going to be hell. I was nudged by Princess Celestia, which was something of a blessing. I didn’t want to be shackled to that line of thinking.
“I was about to have lunch now. Perhaps you would like to join me?” she asked as she stood up, folding her wings and tucking them close to her body.
I hadn’t had a proper meal in what must have been days, and the stuff I had been given yesterday had no taste at all. Real food sounded awfully tempting now. “Yes, thank you. I’ll need a moment to get ready first.”
“Of course, I will wait for you outside. That door leads to the bathroom, should you feel the need to use it.” She pointed at a whitewashed door that was tucked into a corner of the room.
I followed her directions to a bathroom that looked like something out of a five star hotel. Possessing rich marble walls and a tiled floor, the centrepiece was the large circular bathtub topped with golden faucets. The sink looked as though it had been carved by the hands of a master craftsman, with almost a sheen to the fixture. There was a small cabinet that held the various hygiene products one would expect to find.
Yes, this bathroom was definitely top notch. I had brought a fresh set of clothing with me and took a quick shower, leaving the dirty laundry in a conveniently placed basket. I also made sure to keep the bandage on my head and arm dry. I brushed my teeth, feeling like they hadn’t been cleaned in days. I slipped into my blue denim pants and grey T-shirt and left, feeling my spirits rise slightly. I briefly considered wearing a hoodie, but the temperature seemed too nice to necessitate it.
Exiting the room, I stepped into the hallway where Celestia and four guards waited for me. She greeted me with a smile. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Sorry about the delay.” I ducked my head slightly.
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.” She began to walk down the hallways with me slightly behind her, the four guards trailing us. Occasionally, we encountered guards patrolled the halls, and maids and butlers going about their business. All of them greeted the princess with a bow and a smile, and Celestia responded with a friendly nod. None of them seemed to be particularly afraid of her, and their expressions seemed to be more respectful than anything else. The perks of being royalty perhaps?
It was hard not to notice the height disparity between us. While most of the ponies reached just below my belt, Celestia was much taller, the top of her head reaching my shoulders. With her horn, she surpassed my height, but was still shorter than any normal horse from Earth. Then again, there was a world of differences between her and the horses back home, literally and figuratively.
Several times, I noticed Celestia looking over her withers at me, seemingly just to ensure that I was still there. The noise my hooves made on the marble floor left little chance for me to sneak away, not that I wanted to do that. The temptation of food was too much.
After a few minutes, I notice that she had redirected her gaze at my feet. Before I could wonder why, she spoke up, “I don’t mean to pry, but how do your hooves feel? My sister and I were told of your feet and how they worked. Do hooves feel uncomfortable to you in any way?” She took the opportunity to gawk even longer at my hooves and the copper-coloured fur draping from my ankles down to the floor.
“No, they don’t feel uncomfortable.” I wondered where she was going with this. Perhaps she simply wanted to make conversation? “It feels… different. They feel sturdier, I suppose. I think most of my bones are still there, except those in my toes. I can’t exactly wiggle them anymore.”
“I see. And the transition from feet to hooves; did it feel strange?”
“Yeah, it did.” I stopped to inspect my right hoof. I still had full mobility and freedom of movement, even though I walked on where my toes should have been. Could horses really move their ankles like that? I didn’t know, but my ankles and hooves didn’t resemble those found on an Earth horse. “It felt weird when I walked on them for the first time, but it didn’t take long to get used to it.”
“That’s good to hear.” She began walking again down the maze of corridors. “And your horn? Does it feel uncomfortable?”
I didn’t respond at first. To be honest, I was on the fence when it came to the bony protrusion. I didn’t like having it there, feeling as though it made me stand out. However, being a human in this world meant that I would stand out no matter what I did. As a kid, I had tried so hard to fit in with the crowd, to just be another kid in school. When the other kids found out I was part Native Indian, that was when the bullying began, a part of my childhood I would rather forget. In time, I grew to accept that it was alright to be different. If all the people in the world were the same, the world would be a boring place. Diversity was the spice of life.
“No, it doesn’t,” I replied shortly without elaboration.
After a few more corners and corridors, we descended a staircase and continued along another hallway, this one much wider. Eventually, we reached a set of double doors guarded by two guards, who opened them for Celestia and me to walk inside. The doors closed behind us, with the four guards who had accompanied us from my room taking up positions near the entrance.
The room was quite large, as to be expected from a castle. There were several woven tapestries interspersed throughout the room, as well as several small paintings on the walls near the windows. There didn’t seem to be any artificial lighting, with the burgundy curtains pulled back to allow the sunlight to stream inside. In the centre of the room was a low, rectangular table, large enough for several ponies to sit at, with several velvet cushions placed around it, looking similar to the ones the princesses had seated themselves on during my hearing.
The princess took a seat at the head of the table and indicated for me to sit down at her left, which I did. No sooner had we taken our seats when four ponies in cream-coloured outfits entered through another door, pushing serving carts towards the table.
With practised ease and elegance, they placed the food on the table. There were fruits and vegetables, bread and butter, along with three glass jugs with orange juice, apple juice, and water. There were also two covered plates, which they placed in front of the Princess Celestia and myself respectively. Occasionally, their eyes flitted on me for just a second or two, but it was enough to understand that they were curious about me. However, the issue was quickly forgotten as one of the servants removed the lid covering my plate and the scent of a well-made omelette wafted up my nostrils.
“Anything else you require, your Highness?” the lead servant asked.
“No, that will be all. Thank you,” Celestia replied with her usual smile that I had come to realize was almost an automatic response from her.
The servants left the carts near the door and exited with a bow, leaving us alone once more. For a moment, I just stared at my food. It looked like an omelette, smells like one too, and was accompanied by a fresh salad. They had even brought me a fork, knife, and cloth napkin. I wondered why they had cutlery here, what with the hooves and all, but it became apparent when I noticed the princess levitate the fork and knife with ease as she began to consume her meal.
“Is the food not to your liking?” she asked when she noticed the lack of activity on my part.
“What? No, I just...” I sighed, averting my eyes from her inquisitive gaze. “Never mind.”
I picked up the cutlery and started cutting the food into small portions. I really didn’t have any expectations of the food, but it was rather flavourful. Although the meal excluded meat, which I was slightly disappointed at, there were plenty of vegetables to be found.
Grabbing a piece of bread from the basket, I pasted some butter on it, focusing on the food and not on Celestia, who watched me out of the corner of her eye. Not a word had been said as I had begun to eat, and the silence was beginning to become unnerving. I decided to break it with some small talk.
“So, your sister and Princess Twilight aren’t going to join us?”
Celestia chewed her food and swallowed. “No, my sister is asleep. She rules during the night and so is usually not seen until the evening. As for Princess Twilight, I believe she is still asleep. She was still awake at sunrise this morning.”
I mulled over what she had said, trying to recall the scant knowledge I had of monarchies. “Rules during the night? You and Princess Luna share the crown equally?”
“Yes.” She wiped her mouth with the napkin delicately and sipped some water, all without moving a hoof. It was rather amazing, if somewhat unnerving. “She rules during the night while raising and setting the moon, while I rule during the day and raise and set the sun.”
I could understand sharing the responsibility of ruling a nation, though those situations rarely turned out well on Earth when it came to royalty. However, raising the sun and moon? I had seen their magic at work, had felt it on my body and mind, and knew now that it was a very real, existing force that could be harnessed by them. However, there must the limitations for what it could do, such as move an entire star.
“Sorry for saying this,” I stabbed a piece of omelette and brought it up to my mouth, chewing thoughtfully, “but I’ve seen some things at work here that I can’t understand. Moving an entire sun and moon is pretty much impossible. You might have tricked these ponies into believing that you can raise the sun and moon, but you can’t trick me.”
I didn’t know what came over me that made me say those words. After all, despite the courtesy that she had shown me this morning, she was still the leader of a country. Insinuating that she was carrying out a large scale obfuscation campaign involving the celestial bodies probably wasn’t in my best interests. Perhaps I had finally seen and heard too much to simply shrug it off. Perhaps I wanted to say that enough was enough. Maybe I wanted a sense of normalcy, like drawing a line in the sand that said ‘no lies past this point’.
“It is no trick,” she casually replied, seemingly not taking offense to my words. “Your world may be governed by a different set of rules of nature than ours, such as your sun and moon moving on their own. That is not the case here—the sun and moon are raised by my sister and myself.”
“If you say so.” I shrugged and went back to my food. Despite being given a glimpse of what magic could accomplish, I couldn’t believe her claims. How could I? Being able to move the sun implied that the planet itself was stationary and at the centre of a solar system, with all the other heavenly bodies orbiting this world. If that was remotely possible, it would mean that this planet was a hell of a lot bigger than the sun itself.
“It’s difficult to understand, is it not?” Celestia levitated the plate of butter with her magic and placed it between me and her. She then took the butter knife and placed it on top of the butter as a fencepost. “Look at the shadow of the knife.” Sure enough, the knife casted a shadow that touched my glass of water. What happened next was a word that kept coming back to haunt me… Impossible.
The shadow cast by the knife slowly moved away from the glass of water and came to a complete stop, the distance the shadow shifting about five centimetres. Then it moved back to its original position as though nothing had happened.
I stared at the shadow, not believing my eyes. Had the sun just moved to change the angle of the shadow? No. No, it had to be a trick. I turned to face the large windows where the sunlight flooded through. The sun shone down onto the land and the castle, seemingly normal. I stood up and moved towards the windows, shielding my eyes against the bright glare. I expected to see something out there that could give me a clue as to what had happened, such as a mirror making it seem as though the sun had moved. However, I did not see anything of the sort, just the guards making their rounds outside and a few gardeners at work.
“D-Do it again,” I asked, my voice shaky as I held out my hands in front of my eyes, making a tiny slit between my fingers so that I could see the sun without being blinded.
At first nothing happened, but then I clearly saw the sun move slightly to the side, then back again. It continued this pattern slowly several times in a row before resuming its original position, coming to a complete stop as though it had never moved. All I could do was stare, slack-jawed and in awe, my heart thumping in my head. I had just witnessed the impossible being performed; Princess Celestia moved the god-damned sun!
“Not quite what you are used to, is it?”
I spun around as quickly as I could and pressed my back against the window. Princess Celestia still sat on her cushion, chewing on a piece of bread while casually sipping water, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The sun streamed through the window, my body casting a shadow into the room. As I realized that, I almost fell over scrambling to get between two of the windows so that the sunlight couldn’t fall directly on me.
With shaking hands and sweat beading on my forehead, I tried to regain my composure, but that was a laughable thought right now. What she could do; what she did… I was nearly at the point of hyperventilating, my hands shaking violently at the spectacle I had witnessed.
“Magnus?” Celestia stood up and took a tentative step towards me, concern written on her face. However, the last thing I wanted was for her to get any closer to me right now.
“Stay away!” I shouted as I tried to scramble away from her. I ducked between two windows and reached the next spot where the sun didn’t shine. Celestia halted, one forehoof slightly raised above the floor. Her widened eyes took in my visage, looking chagrined at what she saw.
“I did not know that moving the sun would cause you this much fear.” Slowly, she placed her hoof down, barely making a sound as her metal-clad shoe touched the stone floor. “I did not mean to make you upset. Please forgive me.”
I heard the sincerity of her words, but my fear refused to acknowledge it. She had done what was supposed to be impossible, had done it so nonchalantly that her guards hadn’t even reacted. Her magic, her powers… To her, this was nothing! To me, this was powers on a godlike level.
With my back against the wall, I slowly moved away until I felt somewhat safe, though that was little comfort with her still in the room. With trembling hands, I slowly dragged my fingers across my face with my left hand while holding out my right, unconsciously pleading with her to keep away.
“W-W-What a-are y-y-you?” My voice stuttered so much that I was amazed that it came out somewhat intelligibly. “A-Are you…” I swallowed past the lump in my throat, “God?”
Celestia's concerned demeanour softened ever so slightly. “No, I am not. I am an alicorn.”
“A-And what’s an alicorn?”
A wry smile crossed her face, and she chuckled dryly. “That, Magnus, is a question many have asked, though sometimes the answer fails to satisfy. It may sound complicated to you, but I will try to explain it.” She walked back to her pillow and took a seat, but she was careful not to make any sudden movements. “The three main pony races that constitute most of the inhabitants of Equestria are earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Alicorns have the strength of all three pony races: the physical strength and connection to the land of earth ponies, the weather manipulation magic and flying capabilities of pegasi, and the ability to use magic that unicorns possess, only that the powers of an alicorn becomes stronger over time. My sister and I have lived for quite some time, so our powers are… hmm, well developed.”
“B-But you just… You moved the sun!” I argued weakly.
“I did, and it is my duty to raise the sun every morning and set it just as it is Luna's duty to raise and set the moon,” she answered calmly. “I merely wanted to demonstrate that ability to you, but I did not think that my display would provoke such a reaction.” She hung her head briefly, a faint frown crossing her face. “Please understand, our world is different from yours. What is normal for you may not be so for us, and vice versa. To hear of the behaviour of your sun and moon was quite a shock to Luna and me. A sun and moon that moves on their own, unguided, unguarded—it is frightening.”
I was torn, undecided on what to do. To have to move the sun and moon for days to pass, to actually have that as a duty? It was mind-boggling! The window was next to me, the rays of the sun shining right through it. I alternated my gaze between the window and Celestia, watching for any movement from her. She just observed me, seemingly not knowing what to do.
Slowly, I extended a hand towards the window, trying to touch the sunlight, but I hesitated. “I… Is it dangerous?”
“Not at all.” She smiled briefly, as if the thought itself was incredulous. “All creatures of our world are exposed to sunlight every day, and plants need light to grow. Did you not know this?”
“I do know that.” Cautiously, I exposed my hand to the sunlight, feeling its warmth on my hand. “Knowing that someone controlled that giant ball of plasma up there is like exposing myself to a loaded gun.”
“The sun is not a weapon,” she answers sternly, seemingly taking offence at my statement.
“In the wrong hands it is.” If the pony goddess princess in the same room as me could raise the sun, who knew what else she could do with it? Could she scorch the planet if she wanted to? I didn’t know, but right now I felt like I was an ant and she was the kid with the magnifying glass and a wicked grin.
“I do not have hands,” she countered cleverly. “Please, eat, your food is getting cold.”
Feeling the sun's warmth on my hand didn’t make me less afraid, knowing that she could use it anyway she wanted. However, it dawned on me how stupid I had been acting. She had guards, magic and the fireball in the sky. She could force me to sit down if she wanted to, but hadn’t done anything to me at all. So far, all she had done was give me a place to rest and a meal. What I was doing benefited no one, especially not myself. I needed to grab the reigns of my emotions. With a deep breath and a pounding heart, I took a step forward, never taking my eyes off her for even a second, Celestia watching me impassively.
“That’s it,” she encouraged as I shakily approached the cushion at the table and sat down. “There, now that wasn’t difficult, was it?”
“Stop talking to me as if I was a kid,” I scoffed at her.
“But you are a child to me,” she replied, chuckling at my words, “my little human.”
“I’m a head taller than you,” I countered. It was true, minus her horn of course. I took a bite of bread, feeling the sun warming my back. Why did it feel like I had a double-barrelled shotgun aimed at the back of my head?