I stared up at the stain glass window showing Twilight and her friends, all defeating someone named discord. Amazing that these ponies can go back to living a casual life after something like that.
A world with no greed, violence, or hate, a perfect world…"This is all just a fairy-tale, no world can be this perfect" I said to myself, my words slightly echoing in the vast hallway. I heard Twilight call me to gather supplies, I had forgotten about that.
We all gathered supplies. A map, food, water, tents, and some marshmallows. "Why not have a little fun?" Pinkie reassured.
"Going to perform an ancient ritual to banish an unholy demon from an alien, and you get marshmallows…Good plan, I'll get some Mead as well."
We also gathered some rope, when I asked what it was for, Luna replied. "Let us call it…insurance…"
I could feel the princesses and guards staring at me, and sometimes even catch them in the act. Maybe I was onto something when I said that the princess was afraid of me. Then again, who wouldn't be? When you think about it, all races are xenophobes, always fearing the unknown.
But while everyone was occupied, I snuck down to the forge under the castle. I'd seen it on my way down to the prison and thought "well they won't know I'm gone for just a second…"
So I came, and I saw. A gigantic room of stone and steel, pots of molten steel boiling away, fresh virgin blades straight from the forge. So why did I come down here? Let's call it insurance…
The heat was incredible, like stepping into a pot of boiling oil. You could work up a sweat just by staying in here for a few minutes. There were barely any torches at all; the room was lit by the eternal glow of the simmering possibilities that was the metal.
I roamed around trying to find just a small blade, a dagger of some sort. Of course I mostly found armour, I doubted that ponies even used swords and shields but if I wanted one, this was the place. And it turns out they did. I found a dagger fit for a king. Metal that gleamed in the light with a subtle blue shade, perfectly balanced and it felt as light as a feather in my hand, with an eagle head on the tip of the handle.
This may seem like a nice blade to choose, but it would be too obvious for it to go missing. Instead I settled on one of many steel daggers, plain hilt and handle. As I walked I also picked up its sheath and a small rod of flint. I'd figure nobody would see those small details smudged out.
So why was I stealing it instead of asking the princess? Well I doubt that the princess would let me have a blade in the first place, I'm already dangerous enough as it is, but it's just in case we see a wild animal looking for some lunch.
I tucked half of the small knife into the belt of my pants and hid the rest with my shirt.
I came back up to the main hall, where everypony was waiting. "There you are where were you?" Applejack asked.
"I was just…taking a look around is all. This castle looked like it was conjured rather than built."
"Well that's a story for another day." Celestia said. "Let's head out then."
"Wait Tia, you must stay here to look after the castle while I am away." Luna pointed out.
"Do not worry sister; our advisors can handle this while we are away."
"Celestia, you know a princess must be in charge at all times."
"But this will be one of the only times I get out of the castle and get to have a little fun!"
"If I can be locked in the moon for a thousand years, I think you can handle this. You owe me big sister."
With a sigh Celestia surrendered "very well. I will stay here to look after the castle. Just…" Celestia pulled Luna close for a whisper. "Be careful around that one, we still don't know much about it." I could hear it from the other side of the room. Thank you werewolf ears.
With a loud cough that screamed 'let's go already' Celestia said: "well then, you had best be off. Good luck to you!"
With a wave we started off on our journey. Luna, Twilight and her friends, and I all teleported outside the walls to a forest on the base of the mountain, luckily no big side effects this time. "Let us go then, this shall be a long trip."
"How long are we talking?" I asked Luna.
"Around a day to get there on hoof, we should arrive next morn."
"Are you going to talk like that for the whole trip?"
"Yes, yes I will."
An uncomfortable silence fell across us as we walked, not a single word was muttered, not even by Pinkie Pie. It's like they felt as if something was going to jump out and swallow them whole. Did they notice I took the knife, or is it because I'm a werewolf? Maybe these ponies are just paranoid…
I broke the silence by saying "so why is everyone so silent? Usually Pinkie would be singing by now."
"Can you not feel it?" Luna answered, "This place is un natural. It has a tense feeling that keeps rising. Not to mention the unexplainable things that conspires within the trees."
"But this is just a normal forest, what's so 'strange' about it?"
"Are thou blind? Look at the clouds, and animals, and the flora."
I gazed up to the sky, clouds moving normally. No ponies around to help the animals, that's just nature. And the plants are growing normally.
"Seems legit to me, what are you all so tense about. It's weird seeing all of you silent."
"That's exactly what she means Michael." Fluttershy said. "The clouds are moving, plants are growing, and animals are taking care of each other…All by themselves." Her voice dropped to a near whisper.
"Why does thou not find this strange? What world do you come from?" I sensed a flicker of fear in her voice.
I couldn't help but laugh at all of this, as much as I tried to hold in it a burst of laughter came out. "What is so funny Michael?" Rarity asked.
"Okay…So we have a two pony mages, to Pegasi, two strong earth ponies, and a goddess…And you're worried because the clouds are moving…That's silly, this world is silly." I said in-between bits of laughter.
"Wait, this is normal for you then?" Twilight said.
"You know, if you came to earth you'd probably get nightmares or something. All of this, everything happening, is called science. But I don't think you know about that."
"Hey we have science." Twilight objected.
"Our two races could learn a lot from each other."
"Why!" Rainbow burst out. "What makes you humans so much better than us, huh? What do you have that's so great and that we don't?"
"Well we-"in mid-sentence I spotted over Rainbows shoulder, that black and white pony hiding amongst some trees. Shaking his head and hooves as if screaming 'NO! NO!'
"I…can't tell you…"
"Yeah, why not?"
It became obvious in a matter of seconds, I don't know if it was my werewolf instincts or my initiative, but it became obvious.
"Because if I do tell you, then you ponies would jump ahead in the technology tree, gaining new tech that would still take you hundreds of years to think up, and even some that only humans would think up."
"But if you do tell us, then couldn't we use it to help?" Luna noted.
"You could, but that's what happened to us. Human's had mastery over technology and almost destroyed itself twice in our own lust for power. I don't want that to happen to this world."
"Yes but-"
"Believe me; it's for the best…"
Another wave of uncomfortable silence came across us. I do not know how long it was before another voice was heard. But it felt like an eternity of eternities'.
I half regret starting up that conversation now. Because I knew what would happen next especially with someone as curious these ponies.
That sentence would ignite the spark of curiosity that ignites a question, which fuels impatience. Right up until it…
"Michael, why do ya'll hate humans so much?" explodes…
"Hate them? Applejack I don't hate humans, we're a great race, not that I'm trying to brag."
I heard a subtle 'yeah right' from Rainbow Dash. "Yeah Michael, why are you always so mysterious about Humans?" Twilight asked.
"I would also like to know." Luna added.
"It's not that we're pure evil or anything like that. We're actually a fantastic race. Art, music, technology, science, and writing. But if you look at some of things we can imagine, it shows how evil and twisted our minds can really be."
"You said that your race almost destroyed itself…Twice! How did that happen?" Rarity asked me.
"Two world wars…Where the whole earth took their weapons and slaughtered each other. And do you want to know why? Because we were tried of each other, so our best solution was to get rid of the other countries that we hated, permanently."
"Gosh…That sounds pretty grim Michael." Applejack said in a concerned tone. "Are all you humans like that?"
"No not all of us, best I can remember the world was at peace when I left. Or dragged out I guess."
"So is that all there is to your people" Luna asked. "If you don't enjoy some pony's company you…get rid of them?"
"No it's not like that. But our race seems to have an urge for killing or war…" They all trotted on silently.
"You make it sound really depressing you know that?" Rainbow joked, but as she saw no pony was laughing, she quickly regretted making it.
"But enough depressing history lessons! Let's talk about something else…"
Another couple of hours passed, Pinkie was singing all the way trying to lighten the mood after that surprisingly heavy story. And it worked all right; Pinkie seemed like Equestria's #1 anti-depressant.
But eventually my legs gave up on me, even if I was a werewolf, I hadn't had breakfast and we were walking nonstop for a couple of hours. I collapsed under a shady tree with a heavy sigh to rest.
"Michael, are you okay?" twilight asked.
"Yeah I'm fine…just really tired is all."
"Sheesh we haven't even been walking for that long, how can you be tired already?" Rainbow asked.
"Easy for you to say, you ponies are literally built for walking long distances. We're not; we basically removed walking if you wanted to go somewhere far away."
"But you didn't seem this tired a few days ago."
"A few days ago I had a fish for dinner, it may not be much but at least it's a bit of meat." Luna was petrified, thinking how Twilight and others could possibly trust me. The others all had terrible looks on their faces, remembering the sight of my face stained with blood.
"Oh don't give me those looks. Humans have to eat other animals for eat, it's part of our biology. If we don't we start to lose energy."
"Come, we must reach our camp spot before nightfall." Luna said, as she rolled up the map.
Only two minutes after we started walking again, a faint thumping rang in my ears. I didn't think anything of it at first; I thought that the forest was just playing tricks on me. But it grew louder and louder, stronger with every beat as it intensified.
"Okay, can anyone else hear that?" I asked everyone else. By this time the beat grew so loud it could not be ignored.
"Hear what?" Luna replied.
"That stupid thumping! It's getting louder."
"The forest might be playing tricks on you outsider. This is a strange place."
"No, a land of magic ponies is a strange place, this is a normal forest. But seriously, you can't hear that?"
"Didn't you say humans need...Well…To kill other animals?" Luna's voice had an obvious tone of disturbance.
"No no no, not like that." The beating grew into pairs, "wait….that sounds like a…" I stepped away from the others and off the trail, the volume of the beating slightly drained and climbed back up as I joined the group again.
"That's weird…" I walked over to Luna as the beating grew faster and louder. "Hey Luna, stop for a second…" Everypony stopped at this odd request.
"Michael," Twilight began. "Can't you stop acting crazy for one minute? Seeing pirates and stalker ponies, getting bitten by a wolf and now this?"
Twilight was right, a lot of weird stuff has happened to me in the short time I've been here. But I ignored her and leaned down to Luna's chest, listening for changes in the rhythm. The beats grew louder and faster once more, and then it was obvious.
"Luna, that's your heartbeat…I can hear her heartbeat, why can I hear her heartbeat?"
"Werewolf, let's just stick with that for now." Twilight said with frustration in her voice as she and the others trotted on.
A whole day of walking passed, and as we got deeper into the forest they didn't mind the 'creepy' details as much. The shadowy figures looking at us from the trees, or the clouds moving by themselves, it started to feel natural again, like I was back on earth. Luna's heartbeat had faded from annoying, to hypnotic, to silence. I didn't care about the explanation because it would probably just be magic anyway.
We arrived in a small clearing
"We should stop for the night" Luna said.
"Yeah alright." I said as I helped Twilight take her pack off.
"What no objections, no questions?"
"It's been a long day; I'm just glad to stop walking…And if I did ask a question the answer would either be 'magic' or 'werewolf'."
There was little talk as we all scouted out to do our jobs. Luna and Twilight pitched the tents, while Rarity 'insisted' on cleaning up the campsite. Rainbow and Fluttershy tried to clear away the clouds so no rain would fall on our heads, but the fact that their hooves went right through the clouds worried us all even more.
I was put on firewood duty, it might not be the most glamorous job but at least we'll have a fire going. As my feet shuffled along the forest floor I thought about what I could do with that dagger I'd slipped from the castle. Maybe make a fire of my own and go fishing? Then again I didn't know how to catch, scale or gut a fish so that was out. Also I'd probably be put in jail…again, if they knew I'd stolen something. Humans…We aren't that trustworthy are we?
Both Pinkie pie and Applejack were having trouble collecting wood for the fire, it felt good to be a human then; at least we don't need magic to pick up wood. "Hey you guys, you can go and help Luna with the tents if you want." I offered.
"Huh, why?" Applejack asked "don't ya'll want our help?"
"Well…Ponies can't really…Well you don't have fingers and it's pretty obvious that you aren't getting anywhere."
I could see Applejacks frustration in her eyes as she shot a quick glare at me. I don't blame her, being Applejack and all. But she went without…much of an argument, and Pinkie just tagged along as usual.
"Oh you humans, never wanting help, always thinking you have to do things alone." Turning around I could see that pirate with an amused look all over his face.
"Nope, not doing this again" I said walking off.
"Wait what? Come back!"
"Nope, not gonna happen!" I called back to him, it's bad enough that everypony thinks I'm crazy, I'm hoping that Luna won't have to know.
But like the devil that he is, he kept at it. Trying to lecture me about human behaviour as I collected the firewood, I tried my best to ignore him but he's like an itch that's just always there.
"Okay I'm back" I sighed as I dumped the firewood on the ground and walked into camp. Pinkie was balancing a ball on her nose while Twilight and Luna sat around with the rest of the group. But Rainbow was missing.
"Where's Rainbow, she usually want's to show off by being the first one done."
"Says the guy who gives big dramatic backstory speeches." I looked up and Rainbow was lying on a tree branch with a blanket and pillow.
So night eventually came, as the sun disappeared from sight we lit the fire. Pinkie was literally begging to break open the marshmallows only a few seconds after a small flame appeared. It was hilarious how we had to literally pin her to the ground to stop her from devouring the marshmallows.
I ended up pinning her to the hard forest floor and the others went back to tending to the fire. Her soft fur felt warm in my hands, I just wished the others could get the fire started already. Eventually Pinkie stopped thrashing and kicking, I almost let her up but Applejack called out.
"Don't let her up, she's just fakin' it."
And with Pinkie's cover blown she went back to thrashing. All those sweet she all day really pays off in the energy department, even though I'm double her size it still took a lot of effort to keep her pinned. But everything has to run out, so she stopped resisting for real this time as her energy drained from her. It's hard to believe that someone would get this upset about sweets, but that's Pinkie for ya.
"So…how's ya day been then?" I asked out of something to do rather than actual curiosity, due to the size difference it's quite awkward trying to hold a pony down.
"Let me up already Michael, don't you like marshmallows?"
"I do, then again I don't like having them run out in the first ten seconds."
"Yeah you can let her up now." Rainbow called to me.
"Kay" I stood up just to be bowled over as Pinkie charged towards the pink packet of sweets. "Yep that's Pinkie for ya."
In an instant Pinkie broke out the marshmallows, stabbed them on a stick and handed them out. Well more like forced our hands to take them but you get the idea.
We all sat around the comforting glow of a warming fire in friendly silence. Luna had performed a quick fireball spell to get it lighted "So do you know magic missile?" I asked.
"Magic what?" Said Luna, confused at my odd question.
"It's nothing never mind, just some old earth thing."
Hovering our treats over the fire, some literally hovered them over the fire. Luna had questions brewing in her mind and a thousand thoughts chattering away in her head. Just by looking at her I could see she was troubled.
We all sat on heavy logs that both Luna and Twilight magic'd over to us. Rarity and Fluttershy had thrown a blanket over theirs, everypony else sat normally. But for some reason Pinkie sat sort of…upside down…Her legs on the log and head on the ground she stared into the mesmerising flames. I can't blame her though; even the fire seemed more vibrant and alive in this impossible world.
I stared at Pinkie and the fire so long that I completely forgot I was cooking. My memory suddenly snapped back and I yanked the treat out of the blazing flames. It was dark and burnt on most sides and I sighed to myself. "I am not cut out to be a cook." I said to myself "but no use in wasting a marshmallow."
As my feet shuffled beneath me I noticed something hard and sharp underneath. It was poking and irritating my foot but I just thought it was a stone at first, until I reached for it. Brushing away a thin layer of dirt I found it gleaming in the light.
"That's not a rock…" I mumbled to myself, the others watched as I bent down and pulled out a magnificent gem from the ground. "What the hell?"
"Oh my gosh!" Rarity gasped. "Did you find that just now?"
"Wow…" Spike said as he admired the newly found treasure.
"Yeah but…" I looked at it closer and it obviously wasn't natural at all. A perfectly cut diamond, flawless actually, buried only a few centimetres beneath the ground. It was impossible. "It's probably fake."
"I can assure you that it is not, give it here and I can prove it to you."
"That's real alright" Spike noted. "I can tell just by looking at it."
"It's true that dragons do have a natural sense for treasure." Twilight explained.
"Orly? Let's see about that then…" I laid the diamond down with a sharp side facing up, and then found a huge rock, big enough I had to lift it with both my hands. "Thank god I'm not a pony anymore…" I muttered as I felt the incredible weight on my arms.
"What are you doing? You're going to ruin it!" Rarity called out in desperation.
"If this really is a diamond, then consider this: Diamond is the hardest substance known to man, and probably pony kind, it's going to take a lot more than this to ruin it!" I raised the huge rock up to my head then threw it onto the gemstone with devastating force. As it hurdled to the ground I could hear the whole group gasp in shock.
I expected to hear cracking, feel the vibration of the stone smashing the fake jewel, and see broken glass scattered around the boulder. But I was so wrong.
The boulder slammed into the gem with agonising force, enough to crush something as fragile as a fake diamond. Instead of smashing the diamond, the rock split in two as it collided with the diamond. There wasn't even any delay as the diamond seemed to cut right through solid stone.
The two pieces of stone lay defeated on either side of the diamond, which hadn't moved an inch. A silence hung in the air as we stopped and stared at the sight. The silence turned from what I thought shock to an 'I told you so' kind.
"Wait…WHAT!" I shouted to no pony in particular
"I told you it was real." Spike gloated.
"Why does this world have to screw over so many rules?" I sighed, sitting back down on the log.
Spike walked over and claimed the treasure then gave it over to Rarity. Out of nowhere Rarity managed to conjure up a jeweller's workbench. As she arranged the clusters of tiny knives, saws, and magnifying glasses she told me;
"I'm quite the appraiser you know, how do you think I know what gems to use for just the right dress?"
She as and studied in silence, using tiny magical lights to aid her. After five minutes she confirmed "yes it is real alright, almost flawless actually. But how did you find this?"
"It was just…under my foot." I hesitated, noticing an obvious question I needed to ask. "But how in Equestria can a diamond be buried under a centimetre of dirt in the woods? Oh that's new, I've gotten used to saying Equestria now…Equestria…E-questria, Equestria! It just rolls off your tongue!"
"Yes…Well anyway…" Rarity went back to studying the diamond treasure.
"What, this doesn't happen back on…That place you come from?" Spike asked.
"Let's put it this way: The chances of that happening are about as likely as getting sucked into a world of magic, and dragons and…" I realised now just how likely that is. "Ponies…Um…Yeah it just doesn't happen."
"That's weird, Rarity has a whole trunk full of gems right Rarity?" Spike explained but Rarity didn't give an answer.
"Anyway it's been a long day, let's hit the hay."
"Hit the hay?" Pinkie asked, sounding as confused as ever, as only a few things ever really confuse Pinkie. "I've only hit the hay in a punching bag, or maybe a cupcake…Maybe a punching bag filled with cupcakes!" Yeah, Pinkie always gets off topic like that.
"It just means going to sleep it's not…never mind I can't be bothered."
"Why so tired all of a sudden?" Spike asked.
"I've been thrown in jail, hiking for the whole day, haven't had any meat-"Luna gave me a shocked look, like I might eat one of them in their sleep. "Oh don't give me that look, you know humans eat meat."
"That is the problem, you have not had any and we are out here with you at night." Distrust flowed through Luna's tone.
"Yeah but I wouldn't- oh never mind! Both those things and now I've just found a priceless gem."
"Isn't that a good thing though?" Spike asked again.
"Yes- but no- but…Ah hell I don' know! I'm just really tired!"
The others caught onto the idea shortly after. Dowsing the fire and blowing out our lanterns we all huddled off to sleep. The thumping came back though; it went on and off all night. I was sleeping with Rainbow in my tent which brought back awkward memories of that…disturbing night…
"Well I just hope that Luna doesn't break out the beer for breakfast…" I thought as my mind slipped to sleep by the rhythm of Rainbow's heartbeat.