Well, that went better than expected.
We spent, I'd say, around half an hour talking about all sorts of things. Most of the time it was about the space race, all that stuff. Luna seemed to be interested in all of it, but hey, I don't blame her; history can be fascinating if you don't have someone trying to shove it down your throat for most of your teenage years. Then they just fuck up your whole summer because they didn't fucking like you, and then-
...
Er, anyways, after a few more minutes of Twilight asking me questions and the rest just adding their questions related to the answer I had just given Twilight they finally decided to talk about what to do with me.
And of course, they had to go into the kitchen and leave me out of it.
Rude.
'It would have been nice to have a say in this...' I thought to myself, slightly irritated as I laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. It would have been nice to at least get a say in all this, but I guess it's only fair that I don't. After all, I'm the one in a body identical to their nation's leaders.
As I stared at the ceiling it gave me time to think; think about all that's been happening and what would happen if they couldn't send me back… Hell, I already missed Carl! The crazy son of a bitch always had something to say to cheer everyone up when we were feeling down.
But now that he wasn’t here, and I was all alone I started to think deeply about all that's been happening. Pushing the humor has kept me from having more than a few mental breakdowns.
"What if I can't go back... What if I'm stuck here forever?" Emotions that I've been trying to keep hidden started spilling out, filling my mind with things I usually tried to use humor to keep at bay.
Trying to add humor to everything was always how I dealt with these kinds of things. Whether it was a loss of a loved one or some sad story that hit way too close for comfort, popping out jokes was usually my go-to method.
Not very healthy, I know.
But that's not the point right now. I'm all alone here; all alone with nothing but my shitty humor and my Bear Grylls skills behind me. I'll probably fail and end up working at some fast food joint, but I sure as hell won't go down without a fight.
Before I could continue my little internal monolog, I was interrupted by the kitchen door swinging open. Not like when you throw a door open out of anger, but more like 'it was already open, and you just pushed it open completely.'
The two princesses, Twilight, and Applejack all stepped through the door and took the positions they were in before they went to the kitchen. I don't know why they decided to drag Applejack along with them, but I guess they have their reasons.
Celestia looked at me after taking a glance at both Twilight and Luna, almost as if they could communicate by just looking at each other. More so Celestia and Luna than Twilight, but I’m assuming she'll get there someday.
"We've decided to let you stay at the Canterlot Castle, where you will remain until we can find a way to either send you back to your world or disguise you as not to cause panic. I'm not sure if you're aware, but my little ponies tend to be skittish." She said as she looked over at Twilight and giggled slightly, causing her to look away with an embarrassed blush.
It made sense. I didn't know much about pony behavior, but, hey, I'll probably have a lot of time to learn anyway.
"I guess it makes sense, but what about the staff that works in the castle? They'll obviously figure it out pretty quickly." I said as I looked at her with my head slightly tilted to the side.
This time it was Luna who spoke first. "The castle staff shall be briefed on the situation; we have no doubt that they will be thoroughly professional and not say a word to anypony outside of the castle." She said proudly. She didn't go into her old English speech again, which was weird, just a few minutes ago she was talking like we were in the medieval times! I'll have to ask about that later.
"Well, alright then... When will we be leaving?" I already knew the answer, but I had a habit of asking about things that I already knew the answer to; don't judge.
"We'll be leaving right now. The sooner we start trying to send you back the faster you'll be able to return to your world." Celestia replied as she turned to look back at me again.
"Sounds great! I don't have anything to pack, so I guess I'm all set." I stood up from the couch as Celestia and Luna said their goodbyes to Applejack and Twilight.
I walked over to Twilight after she was done speaking with the princesses and looked down at her with a smile.
"Stay frosty, Purple." I then turned around to face Applejack. "See you around, Orange." I didn't give them time to give me a proper response because I was already halfway out the door, the princesses already waiting in the chariot outside.
I waved back at the two smaller ponies one last time before getting in the chariot, which was no easy feat, mind you. I caught myself from falling numerous times thanks to my large wings. I can already tell I'll miss them if I ever turn back into a human.
And back into a dude, more importantly.
I hadn't bothered to even think about the sudden sex change; I just assumed my little Jimmy was there, safe and sound. But I couldn't fool myself much longer, and if anyone knew me, they’d know that I'm a very adventurous man.
Dirty thoughts aside, I managed to get into the chariot after a considerable amount of effort, which both princesses took note of, both shaking their heads and chuckling.
Evil beings, they are.
The guards started to gallop forward and flap their wings, and suddenly we were gaining altitude. Despite them having to carry us and this chariot, they flew like it was almost nothing. It had to involve some spell. Otherwise, I might be staring at two little Pony Chuck Norrises in training.
After a few minutes, we were at a high enough altitude to see clouds pass by. It was an unusually bright day, giving me a full view of the rolling plains below and they were beautiful. Although it did look a bit cartoony, from far away, it almost seemed like a painting that could give Bob Ross himself a run for his money.
Okay, maybe I was over exaggerating a little. It didn't look like a Bob Ross painting, but it still looked stunning, like one of those things that look breathtaking from far away, but once you get close, it looks a lot less impressive.
It seemed like we were going to be flying for a while though, maybe an hour, so I better get comfortable. Which was kind of easy to do, this being a royalty chariot and all.
I looked to the side and saw Celestia looking down at the landscape like I was doing, probably bored like I was. And Luna was... staring at me; I almost jumped in my seat when I finally noticed.
"Er, nice weather we're having, huh?" God fucking... Social interaction simulator 2016 over here.
"Indeed... Say, what did you do before... all ‘this’ happened?" She replied as she looked me in the eyes. Getting straight to it, huh Princess?
"Well, I worked at an office and lived with my roommate and best friend, Carl. I had a pretty normal life, moved out from my parent's house when I was twenty. I originally planned to join the military, but due to some medical complications, I couldn't get in at the time. So I just went to university, got my degree, and got an office job." I said as I leaned back in the seat. I did consider my life to be pretty standard as of a few days ago. I guess I'm just a... average Joe!
...
Okay, remind me to never tell inside jokes that me and Carl made up; I doubt anyone would understand them anyway.
Apparently, Luna decided that this was an excellent opportunity to bombard me with even more questions. Things like 'favorite food' or 'favorite hobby' were thrown around a lot. It was kind of creepy how she was asking those types of questions, but I can't blame her. I would probably ask myself stupid shit if I found another version of me.
This went of for what seemed like forever, but it seemed like she finally needed a break, And by God, so did I. She was talking so much I considered throwing myself out of the damn chariot.
Luckily, Celestia didn't butt in, so I had some time to take a breather. I leaned back in my seat and let out a sigh.
After half an hour of boredom and some awkward silence, I finally started to see the city. And hot damn, was it big.
I wasn’t going to let the distance fool me; this was one big city. And the fact that it was suspended on the side of a mountain made it even harder to believe that it was that big, but one thing stood out more than the rest.
The Castle.
It wasn't as tall as some of those golden towers, but that wasn’t the point. The castle was huge! I thought it was going to be one of those castles that looked small from the outside and on the inside was just an endless maze of hallways, but that's not the case here; the castle looked really big from far away too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to observe it for much longer, as the chariot started to descend, seeming to aim for what appeared to be a large garden.
It was filled with all these weird statues too, everything from what looked like a griffon, to a strange chimera thing with different animal parts. It would have probably looked a little scarier if it didn't have the cartoonish features this world seems too saturated with.
We landed right in front of a large set of doors, causing both Luna and Celestia to step out of the chariot and leaving me to try and get out without falling, which was a lot easier said than done.
I got out about fifteen seconds after them and took a few steps back as the chariot took off in some random direction, probably to wherever they store the things.
I followed them inside and looked around for a bit while they walked. I had got a pretty good image on how the castle looked like inside by just glancing at the outside, but it still caught me off guard. It was like I was back in the medieval ages!
I kept following them for a few more minutes, not paying much attention to where we were going. I was too busy looking at all the shiny things, like a tourist that has never left their hometown.
They led me to a room which I assumed to be a bedroom of sorts; they told me to stay there until I was 'summoned.' I didn't know what they meant by that, but I brushed it off and entered 'my' room.
I closed the door behind me and immediately walked towards the bed. I didn't bother to look around the room at the time, mainly because I was dead ass tired and wanted to get some sleep.
I flopped down onto the bed and immediately started wiggling around like a dog, probably because the bed was the softest damn thing I have ever had the pleasure of lying on.
"Oh my fucking god, this bed has to be made of clouds or something!" I exclaimed as I hugged a pillow close. "These ponies know how to make bedding!"
I finally stopped after what seemed like hours, but in reality had probably only been around thirty seconds, before I finally started to settle down. I began to drift off to sleep as I wrapped myself in the blankets, leaving only my... tail dangling out of the bed sheets. God, I still find it weird to say that.
Although I could have sworn, I heard someone laughing in the back of my head as I fell asleep.