//------------------------------// // Ch.3 Meeting the Princess // Story: In the Middle of Chaos // by Agamer //------------------------------// “Welcome to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, and my home city,” Twilight proudly beamed. “So, this is Canterlot, I see: Much more extravagant then I remember,” Cadmium mentioned, hinting a little to much about the TV show. Twilight gave Cadmium another questioning look. “Thanks for the service. You are relieved,” Twilight thanked the guards as they bowed and turned, leading the chariot to some unknown destination. Canterlot was a grand city. The mountain just over the nearest tower served as a reminder of the city's majestic foundation. “Twilight, you said that you came from Canterlot just over a year ago. I've been wondering, how old are you?” Cadmium asked, curiosity getting the best of him. Twilight shook her head but smiled, “I am eight years old.” Cadmium just nodded his head at how young she was in human years. “I'm 16, and my sister is 18,” Cadmium stated as he saw Twilight's face start to widen in shock. Kloverfield on the other hand looked at Twilight and smiled, “Twilight, I did a little math in my head, and it turns out that you are about 16 in human years, relatively. It's about 2 or 3 human years per pony or horse or equine or whatever year, so to us, you're 16, 17, 18 ish. Us to you,” she paused, doing math in her head, ”I'm about 9ish, and Aid-Cad,” she corrected herself, ”is more your age, 8ish years. That's if ponies have about the same life span as Earth horses, 30 years. Humans live about 60, 90 years. And not to mention, if the years are the same length” She grew quiet as she checked her math. Twilight just looked at Kloverfield while she spouted out math before turning to Cadmium, “OK, that is... interesting,” She couldn't think of anything else to say. Cadmium let out a snort. “My sister has always had an uncanny knack for quadrupeds, particularly equines.” “I like animals, yeah, but I'm more prone to nature, and I'm even better with little children. They love me.” Kloverfield nodded. Twilight looked between the two and shook her head. “We should probably get going. The princess is waiting.” She started off into the beautiful castle, the very vision of every palace Klover had ever seen in princess movies. o.O.o The small company was hardly into the foyer before a kind voice greeted them. “My faithful student, it is so good to see you again,” Princess Celestia's kind warm voice sounded as she came to embrace the little purple unicorn. The human turned ponies stared in awe at the glorious pony princess. The cartoon did not give her even a quarter of the justice deserved for her brilliance. Her coat was the most brilliant, shining white, and her mane was more than just the sherbert colors, but more of a shimmering, silk, pastel rainbow moving of its own accord. Cadmium only stared, but Kloverfield felt impressed to bow, and she had never bowed to anyone or anything seriously before. She sat down, her belly to the floor, and she had her head lowered, trying to show respect to the great pony. Kloverfield froze when she heard the quiet, actually kind chuckles Celestia emitted. “You need not bow to me, Kloverfield,” she said, lowering her head to look at the small pony who timidly stood up before her. “You are not my citizens. You and your brother are not under my jurisdiction. There is no need for you to bow to me.” She smiled at Twilight's bewilderment. “Come, we will speak in private. There is much to speak of.” The siblings followed in awe, and Twilight followed after them. They were led to a cozy room filled with pillows on the floor for sitting on and a low table where several platters of food were laid out with place settings enough for the four of them. “Serve yourselves,” Celestia motioned. The ponies looked afraid to serve first until Kloverfield hesitantly put some food on her plate, allowing the others to feel alright putting food on their plates, although Cadmium had to have his sister help him, since he wasn't as good with his hooves as she was, and he knew no magic. “I know you are humans,” Celestia informed them. Cadmium looked up, “If I may, Princess, how do you know that we are human?” Kloverfield smiled slightly at his formality in speaking. He never spoke so formally. She decided that he must have felt as impressed by the princess as she was. “Stories. legends. You did not think you were the only species of sentient beings in the universe?” Celestia didn't sound harsh at all, but kind. “Of course not,” Kloverfield said. “There has to be other people and beings, and now, we know there are for sure. We just don't know how you know. We are actually very surprised that we came here. On Earth, Equestria, ponies, and cutie marks are all part of a TV show-- something imaginary and made-up, not fact.” Celestia smiled kindly, “It is not so surprising to hear this. My brother enjoys to remind his children of such things like this.” She received bewildered looks from each of the three ponies in front of her. Celestia laughed quietly, “My brother, Elohiem. I believe his humans call him God.” Kloverfield suddenly squeaked, “Wait, what?” “Elohiem is my brother. He is a god, and I am his younger sister, a goddess, but I am not yours. You belong to my brother, so you are never to bow to or worship me as you worship him. He is a jealous god. I am curious, however, why he has just sent you two in pony form to me.” Cadmium chimed in, “But wait, why would he send us? We are nothing special.” “Cadmium Core,” the princess began, “all my brother does has a reason, but he tends to be secretive of his purposes. There is a reason, I'm sure, that you and your sister were pulled through that tesseract, but I cannot tell you, for even I do not know,” Celestia explained. Cadmium looked at his plate. “OK, that makes some sense, but I do have another question. Is everything in Equestria fine? We do know of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the changelings.” Celestia nodded, “Everything is fine. Nothing is amiss. There isn't anypony seeking to cause harm as far as memory serves.” “Are you sure?” Cadmium asked. “Yes, all is well,” Celestia repeated. Cadmium simply nodded. Twilight found her chance to cut in, “Princess, when I first met Cadmium, I felt a slight tingle. I felt stronger and happier. What could have caused that?” Cadmium looked up when Twilight mentioned his name, “Twilight, I felt something too. When you used your magic to put those books back on the shelf, I felt like something was draining from me but when it left, more of it seemed to flow back, refilling the empty spaces almost instantly.” Cadmium and Twilight just looked at each other for a minute before the princess spoke, oblivious to the silently snickering Kloverfield, who was positive that it was just a crush. “A tingle? And you specifically noticed it when magic was used?” Celestia clarified, the two nodding. “You don't know how to use magic?” “Nope,” Cadmium said. Celestia studied the two ponies. “We can only assume that these feelings are magic related. Twilight, would you please perform a simple spell?” Twilight nodded, her horn already glowing, and an apple in the middle of the table changed to a rubber ball. “Did you recognize anything happen when you did that?” Celestia asked. Twilight shook her head. “And you, Cadmium?” the princess asked. Cadmium nodded, “Ya, that same sucky, replacy feeling.” Twilight giggled at his description and looked to her mentor. Celestia studied the green stallion. “I do think I may understand what is going on. Twilight, please perform a spell that you find difficult?” Twilight nodded and closed her eyes, working out a spell to give life to inanimate objects. A spoon started to shake from her glowing horn, and almost immediately, it was standing up, having formed limbs and a face and greeted them like old friends. “That was so much easier than when I tried it before,” Twilight said, astonished. “I had that same sucky, replacy feeling. It wasn't even any more intense,” Cadmium evaluated, glancing between Twilight and Celestia. Kloverfield held her chin in her hooves as she watched what was going on. Apparently, there was something more than a crush. There was some sort of legitimate magical connection between her brother and the purple pony. Suddenly, Celestia's horn glowed as lightning crackled across the ceiling, and after it stopped, she looked slightly weary for only a moment before frowning. “Nothing, Cadmium Core?” Cadmium flinched at the sudden 'psionic storm,' as he liked to call it, flash above his head, “No, I didn't feel anything.” Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “It is a connection only between you two,” she informed. She suddenly was between the purple and green ponies. Her horn was glowing softly as she studied each one closely. “Cadmium, do you really not know how to use magic?” she asked, looking at him closely. Cadmium shrank back a little, “No, I do not know how to use magic. Humans rely on technology and science, not magic.” “You are magical, though,” she noted. “You have magic inside you, and quite a bit of it,” Celestia said, pulling back to look at him. Cadmium just sat, dumbfounded. “You hold magic, Cadmium, and more than I've seen in most ponies. You're filled up, like a container overflowing with water.” Cadmium looked at his plate, “So, you're telling me that I'm some kind of battery?” “I'm not sure what a battery is. And you say that it replaces itself.” She looked over to Kloverfield. “Do you have any sort of power like this?” she asked. Kloverfield shook her head. “Not in the least. No magic.” She stood and circled, fluttering her wings. “Pegasus, remember?” Celestia nodded, returning to Cad and Twilight. “Twilight, you must work with Cadmium Core. Teach him magic and learn to use his energy. I cannot access it. The connection seems to be only between the two of you.” Twilight looked thoughtful but smiled, “It would be an honor to teach you, Cadmium. Princess, ever since the wedding and the changelings, I have been studying a book about revealing the true form of something. I have memorized the spell, but I have always been to weak to actually try it.” Celestia nodded, but at that, Kloverfield perked up. “You could see what humans are!” she squeaked. “Well, our true form is human, as far as we know, so you could see us for yourselves!” Twilight looked to Celestia for confirmation. The royalty gave a nod. She turned back towards the siblings who looked at her expectantly. Twilight gave them a nod and started her spell. A small cloud appeared around each of the siblings, and they condensed into their human forms. Klover lit up as she looked down at her hands, complete with all ten fingers. She was incredibly relieved to see that she was wearing her clothes from before they were zoomed. She felt a little dull compared to her blue and orange pony form, but she was happy to be human again. She was short and curved and looked just as much a little kid as she had looked like a filly. She had dishwater blonde hair that was curling into natural waves and ringlets out of her customary ponytail, and behind the same glasses were blue eyes that actually matched her pony coat. She grinned happily, although crookedly with one side pulling higher than the other, wiggling her fingers and her bare toes, before finding that her pale blue braces were once again in her mouth. She looked back to her brother who was just as she had last seen him. She had been asked before if she and her brother were twins, but they weren't; they just looked very much alike. He also had a round face, but he was built tall and solid, although more sturdy than athletic. He had short hair with the same color as Klover's but it looked darker since it was shorter. His wasn't curly in the least, only fluffy. “See? This is what humans look like!” Kloverfield chirped, holding out her hands and wiggling her fingers at them. “And we wear clothes all the time,” she explained. She jumped up and did a little dance to show them how she moved. “And we're bipedal!” “Finally, I can eat!” Cadmium shouted in glee. “Ugh, OK, pony food tasted better as a pony,” Cadmium groaned, wiping dandelion off of his tongue. Kloverfield giggled, already starting to run her fingers through her ponytail, a habit that she hadn't realized she missed. “Try apples,” she suggested. “They're more like human food. And I think this stuff's like oatmeal, but I can't remember if it was me who liked it or you who liked it.” She looked to the amazed Twilight and the studious Celestia. “My drawing wasn't too off, was it?” she asked. “It was hard drawing with hooves and a quill.” Twilight shook her head, “No, it wasn't. You are so different from us!” She was starting to turn from amazed to inquisitive. “Your whole race is like this?” she asked. “Yup!” Klover answered happily, moving out her limbs. “They aren't so different from us, Twilight,” Princess Celestia told her. “They act just like we do. Only their form is different. My brother looks like them; walking on two legs.” Kloverfield nodded. “We are a lot like you, but we don't have any way to use magic. We never have horns or wings. And we're not as colorful as ponies. We come in shades of this color,” she said, holding out her arm and pointing at her skin. She continued onto a very rambling descriptive rant of how people could look. “That is all very interesting,” Twilight noted, thoughtfully. “Do you mind if you go back to pony form now? I'm not sure how much longer I can hold this,” she said, and Kloverfield noticed that her brother had been looking sick, not even trying to finish his half eaten apple. “No, I don't mind. I can go back to being a pony,” she said and with a nod from her brother, Twilight stopped holding the spell. Another cloud appeared briefly around the siblings and condensed again, returning them to their pony forms. Twilight noticed Cadmium leaning on the table, “Cadmium, are you OK? I'm sorry. Did I over do it?” She was already starting to understand how this magical connection worked. Cadmium gave Twilight a weak chuckle, “Twilight, you're fine. It's just that I haven't eaten much since we've gotten here. Not to mention, I still don't know how to use this pony body.” Kloverfield trotted over to her brother, pointing a hoof towards the food, “Nobody will mind you eating like a horse until you learn how to use your horn. I know you get grumpy when you're hungry; eat up.” Kloverfield plopped down next to him, “So, you're a magic battery,” she said thoughtfully. Cadmium looked at his sister, “I would think more of a generator. Batteries have to have fresh chemicals or need to be recharged.” Cadmium thought of the chemicals batteries used, “Now that's ironic,” Cadmium started laughing, “I am a battery. All I need is Nickel, then I'll be a Nickel-Cadmium battery!” Twilight turned to the princess, “I think we lost him.” Kloverfield giggled. “No, he just went all science on us. Don't worry.” She plopped back onto the seating cushions. “I do have a question, though, Princess Celestia: Is there anyway for us to get back to Earth? And how did we get here? It was all very sudden.” Princess Celestia turned towards the little blue pony, “I am sorry, young one. I do not know if there is a way” She turned her back, “My brother has always had his reasons, even if I hardly understand them.” She frowned. “So, we might be stuck here...?” She didn't want to say 'forever,' but she was thinking it. Princess Celestia nodded. “I'm afraid I know not of a way to travel between worlds. It is a very powerful sort of magic, and I am not capable of the great distance needed to transport you back safely.” Kloverfield nodded. “I understand.” She did, but she still felt distraught, trying not to show it openly. She was very close to her family, and she had never been able to imagine herself without her father or siblings or stepmother. The thought of never being able to see them again made her so sad that she became very reserved, not wanting to be around people or talk or be friendly. Cadmium had just finished his scientific rant, much to Twilight's relief, and was now digging into the unattended food on the table. Twilight couldn't help but to laugh at his gusto in his now seemingly endless energy, “Your brother sure is an interesting one.” “Yeah, he is,” she replied with a smile. “You get used to it though.” She noticed Princess Celestia studying her, and she smiled awkwardly at her. “Your cutie mark, do you know why it is what it is?”Celestia asked. She was trying to figure why she had been sent with her brother, but she couldn't figure out why. Kloverfield nodded. “Yes, it's a quill because I write. It's a four leaf clover because it's sort of my sign,” she said with a shrug. “And orange because it's my favorite color.” Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “You're a writer, then.” “Yes, I love to write. It's what I do in my free time,” Kloverfield sqeed. Cadmium turned towards the princess, “And yet, she refuses to let me read her work.” “It's not finished yet, and I never said you couldn't. It's on the internet. I even showed you where it was.” Twilight chuckled at the two siblings, “I don't think this is the best time to ramble over that.” Cadmium was the first to notice Twilight, “Oh, I'm sorry. What did you want?” Twilight gave him a confused grin. Princess Celestia turned towards the window and gasped, “Sorry, I have to cut this short. I am late to lower the sun.” o.O.o The Princess excused herself, and the three young ponies found themselves in a rather cheerful friendly mood as they traveled back to Ponyville. Twilight was no longer timid about asking questions, and she was intent on learning about these humans and how they had lived before coming to Equestria. Now that the tension about keeping things quiet was nonexistent, the siblings were perfectly comfortable talking about themselves. The two royal guards who flew them home were rather confused though, listening to the rather bizarre conversation between the small group. When they landed in front of the library, Twilight and Cad continued on, talking about some magical unicorn thing that Kloverfield had no interest in, and so she partially stumbled out of the chariot, feeling bubbly and cheerful. She turned to trot backwards and smiled at the royal guards who were looking at her like she was some bizarre child. “Thank you! For the ride!” she chirped, since Twilight and Cadmium had become to immersed in whatever they were talking about to remember manners. The royal guards looked surprised, then chuckled and nodded to her as she trotted backwards, stumbling, then turning forwards to go inside.