Chapter 5 - Dust
Water was running, children were running, you were running out of time.
Another mountain, a golden fountain.
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
Oh, your city lies in dust.
Oh, oh, your city lies in dust, my friend.
"...And that brings us up to date" I finished. Letting out a low sigh as I did so. Celestia gave the faintest nod in my direction, a small smile gracing her lips. I looked towards the two fillies, the unicorn's golden eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets and her mouth hung much lower than the Earth-pony, of whom just gave a weird 'O' of utter disbelief. Her emerald eyes squinted in awe and suspicion as she did so.
Finally, the silence was broken.
"Wait, whoa, whoa, whao, wait..." Lyra stuttered profusely while Applejack simply gawked at me, eyes wide, mouth agape and tilting their heads at me, purely confused. The unicorn shook her head, closing her eyes as she did so before both of them proclaimed;
"WHAT?! YOU'RE AN ALIEN!?"
...perfect sync.
I looked between the two fillies and let out a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess so" I said. After re-telling my story to the two little ponies, with Celestia watching the whole time, I got to admit, I got a little nervous when I neared the end. I had no idea of how the fact of me being from another dimension would affect their views on me. Obviously, I left out a couple small details to them, two minor pieces mostly, the first was that...questionable dream I had, because I actually wanted to keep Lyra as a friend and the other...well, I didn't want to give them nightmares about that thing I saw when I first got here. I reframed from these details when telling Celestia aswell, so there was another reason for telling my story like that. No way of knowing how the Princess would take to me lying to her. I most definently didn't mention anything about how I already knew them before I met them, that's for damn sure.
The silence that followed their uproar was almost maddening. However, that was before I saw the corners of young Lyra'smouth start to coil and jitter, trying to pronounce something. In one ear-bursting cry, she did.
"THAT. IS. AWESOME!!!" she yelled...right in my damn ear too then she began jittering uncontrollably with her speech. "This is incredible, I have an ALIEN for a friend, I can't believe it, I'm now the luckiest filly in Equestria, Rarity's are gonna be so jealous, tell me, can you shoot lasers from your eyes? Can you pick up a house? Can you punch through walls? Wow, just wow, this is amazing!-" Lyra managed to let out, surprisingly, without a single noticable inhale of breath.
I just stared at her, smiling. The way she rambled on ridiculously, frantically asking insane questions non-stop, excitedly bouncing with joy. Just watching her made every little worry fade, she was truly an adorable little unicorn. Lyra jumped out of my arm and onto the floor, bouncing on the wooden ground and practically destroying the old house. I chuckled slightly as I turned to face the orange filly to my left, she eyed me with the most uncertain, almost shocked stare she met my gaze with. My smile faltered at seeing her like that.
"I-...is it true?" she asked, in that little, accented voice of hers. I let out a sigh to collect myself.
"Yep, that's the truth"
Applejack locked eyes with me for a moment, I stared into those brilliant pools of emerald as she stared back into my own eyes with the sound of Lyra's constant jabbering became all but background noise. The orange pony broke the lock as she turned her head away and let out a slight chuckle.
"Well now Ah've seen everythang...but boy howdy, this has gotta be the strangest day of Mah life" she said with a small grin, shaking her head as she turned back to face me, her mane swaying ever so gently. I smiled at her before jokingly quoting;
"The strangest day of your life so far"
...Shut up, TV doesn't exist here!
AJ took to it and laughed at my (stolen) comment. Soon, we found ourselves giggling with eachother as Lyra continued to ramble on. That is, until, her voice suddenly fell silent. Confused, I looked down to the floor to see the green unicorn looking up at me with an inquisitive little gaze. It then shifted to Applejack, however, only for a brief moment before a more intense look plastered on her face. One of which I can't fully describe. I shrugged it off as best I could and smiled down at her.
"No, Lyra, I can't do most of those things" she prolonged her expression for a moment longer before it softened.
"Oh, well what powers do you have?" at this, I couldn't help but notice the Princess cocking her head in anticipation for my answer, I ignored it of course, it didn't really phase me.
"Uhhhh...I don't really have any powers, per se" I said, causing Lyra's look to falter ever so slightly. "I'm not an X-man" I said, the green unicorn perked up slightly in confusion.
"An...X-man?" she asked with a furrowed brow. I grinned at her before explaining.
"Oh, the X-men are a band of heroic superhumans, some can punch through walls and one can shoot eye lasers" Lyra's jaw dropped as both Celestia and Applejack gave me intrigued looks.
"What's a superhuman?" the orange filly asked.
"Well, I suppose it just means a human, man or woman that has special powers...but they're also called 'mutants'" I explained. I was astonished, never had I kept a girl, let alone two, no matter how old they were, entertained by regailing them about Marvel. I had no idea what Celestia thought about my tale, she seemed interested but remained silent. The fact that I was telling the story to none other than these three just made it all the better.
"Mutants?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah, see, all the X-men were born with special mutations in their body, it only varies from when exactly they activate. Most of them got it in their teens, maybe ranging from twelve to eighteen years old-"
"How d' ya know your's hasn't activated yet?" Applejack questioned. I was about to answer her until the unicorn gave her a glare.
"Shhhhh" she let out, turning back to me expectantly. I paused before continuing.
"Anyway...a long time ago, a good man named; Charles Xavier founded the School for Gifted youngsters-"
"Unicorns" Celestia cut in, I turned to look up at her and she met me with a blank stare. "School for Gifted Unicorns...that's my school" silence fell for a moment before I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.
"Uhhhh, really? Well that's...interesting, guess our worlds have a few things in common" I chuckled nervously at my remark.
"Indeed" Celestia commented, seeming to put herself at ease once more, she looked tense as she looked at me however.
"So what kind of powers did they have?" Lyra pressed on, jumping back onto the couch and gazing up at me with those large pools of gold that brimmed around her dark pupils. I smiled as I continue to explain the mythos.
As I neared the end of regailing the two filles about one the largest pieces of the Marvel universe, I let out a low sigh "And...that''s pretty much it" I finished off. While telling the story, Lyra obviously took to Wolverine extremely quickly, can't really blame her as she was just a child and would normally go for the more main-streamed ones, guess that's how it was everywhere. Applejack surprised me, taking most interest in characters like Rogue, in fact, I think she was the only one AJ found worth liking. No idea why though.
Personally, NightCrawler and Gambit were pretty cool but definitely, my favourite wasn't even an X-man.
You guessed it.
DEADPOOL!!
Oh, I miss comic books.
"Coooooool" Lyra commented. I grinned at her dumbfounded expression, she was in awe to put it lightly.
Soon afterwards, I found myself holding the front door of the rickety, old cottage, watching as Lyra scampered on out into the grassy yard with Applejack trotting slowly in pursuit. I looked up and saw Celestia walking throught the arch, glancing down at me and giving me an appreciative nod. I nodded back. I closed the wooden door, easing it shut on it's rusty hinges and with a satisfactory click, I smirked and turned around. At some point, Lyra got the idea to start a game of Chase with AJ, I was thrilled to see the orange filly respond in earnest and gallop straight after the unicorn's fleaing form. I walked up to the side of the Princess, watching them scamper about, giggling all the while. Without looking at her, I spoke.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked. Celestia paused before answering.
"First, we must deliver these two to their families" She gestured with a golden armoured hoof towards Lyra and Applejack, I followed patiently. "We explain this mis-understanding to Ponyville" I gazed up at her and nodded. "Then we can find a way for you back home" she finished, looking down into my eyes. A certain factor of her tone and stature gave me a weird feeling however, like as if not all was as it would appear. The alicorn seemed to be doing that to me all day so it became second-nature to just shrug it off.
Even though I had a feeling that would cease to work eventually.
"Ya really think there might be somthing in the archives?" I asked. Celestia gave me a serious look.
"There might" she said. I looked to the ground in solice. Unitl I heard an abruptly loud laughing sound.
"Oh, now you're dead!" Applejack challenged, bolting straight off towards the little unicorn who couldn't contain her excitement, laughing like a mad...mare. It was as if their joy just simply bounced off the atmosphere and into me, a smile made it's way onto my face.
"Well...I reckon we'll figure somthing out" I said happily, not turning to the princess. I felt her inquistive stare on me for a moment, a long moment, I might add, I could sense her confusion."Hey, guys!" I called out to the foals, they looked at expectantly. "C'mon, let's go!!" I said, grinning with a overly excessive wave of my arm. They scampered over to the princess and I, Lyra took position on my right and AJ stood adjacent to my left, we began to walk down the path before I noticed something. I turned back to see the white alicorn seemingly lost in her thoughts. "Your Majesty!" Celestia shook her head and quickly trotted over to us, looking sligthly embarassed.
My eyes scanned over the dated white pages of the hardbound book I had picked from one of the many, many shelves that surrounded me. Sitting down with my back placed firmly on the wall behind me, I sighed and closed the book and gave a quick second glance at the title.
Tome of Artifacts
Recorded knowlege of all Ancient Equestrian Magical Relics
By Starswirl The Bearded
I read the words on the front cover again before placing it carefully on the stack of old books that towered to my side.
"Bullshit..." I let out to myself. I leaned back and banged the back of my head against the stone wall, still though, as my head rattled, I could hear the shuffling of pages fluttering quickly aswell as an ominous ringing sound. I looked to my left to see the white alicorn, standing up straight, her horn glowing th faintest aura of pink as a book levitated in front of her, the pages madly flashing by before she closed it and tossed it aside within her magical grasp.
Celestia looked so imbued, so determined to find something useful but by the looks of it, she just simply couldn't. By then I had already accepted by now that there was nothing in this over-sized library even remotely about what we were looking for. Sure it was hard to comes to grips with but it must've been harder for her as she simply wouldn't stop going through this vast collections of books...that were all written by the same guy, I might add.
I should probably back up and recap up to where I now stand.
After we had briefly stopped by Sweet Apple Acres to send AJ on her way back home, she was quick to object. I could see the familiar feeling in her eyes, I can't really give it justice on how it makes you feel so I won't go into detail about it besides, I reckon most of you have felt it before. It was obvious she didn't want to return to the farm but thanks to the kind yet stern words of the Princess, she reluctantly complied.
After she turned, with Lyra in oblivious pursuit, I knelt down in front of the orange filly and gave her mane and gentle yet playful scuffle. She closed her eyes and giggled.
"I'll see ya tomorrow, kay, Applejack?" I said, she looked up at me with a small smile.
"Alright" she said, I smirked down at her before standing back up and quickly catching up to Celestia and the little unicorn. I felt Applejack's gaze on me, even as my back was turned. When I looked back, expecting her to meet my eye and waved, she instead locked eyes with me for a brief second, gave a shy grin...and turned, walking off towards the farmhouse.
I shrugged it off and continued walking with Celesta and Lyra.
Not really noticing the rather intense stare the filly was giving me after I looked back at AJ.
"So, you and Applejack are friends now, huh?" I inquired after about a minute of the three of us walking down the dirt path, the silence was maddening to say the least beforehand. Lyra looked up at me with a blank stare before turning to her hooves.
"I don't know" she answered, little to no emtion in her tone as she did so. It goes without saying, that I was confused.
"You don't know?" I said, Lyra didn't look up at me this time.
"I don't know, I think so...maybe" she said but then muttled something under her breath, I couldn't tell what she said but I think that was the point. She was obviously having issues with something, I would've persisted on what but at the time...it was not the time to do so.
Anyway, I was quick to realise where exactly we were going; Ponyville.
I felt a shiver down my spine as I saw the wooden sign in the dirt to the side of the road. However, that was soon remedied by the Princess abruptly stopping, just on the border from crossing into town. Lyra and I looked back at her in confusion before walking over to her inquisitvely.
"What's wrong, Princess?" the little unicorn asked. The alicorn looked down at her with a smile as she lowered her neck, almost becomign eye level with her as she spoke.
"I'm sorry but it's time for you to go home, Lyra Heartstrings" Celestia said, I was at first, a tad bit stunned at how she knew the filly's last name but quickly was able to give it no real thought. She was a god after all...at least, the equivalent of one.
"What? Why?" Lyra asked, in all honesty, I found it adorable. How she really just wanted to spend time to us...or perhaps just me. I was sure she was excited to see her ruler but...ahhh nevermind.
"This is something that may take all night, I'm sure you're family's already worried about you..." she glanced up at me for a brief moment, her expression laced with seriousness. "...and I do believe this may be something Kyle and I must do alone"
Alone? Why? What were we going to do?
Rationally, I had imagined something all out serious, emotionally draining, nostalgic and/or dramatic sequence of events that was just too bleak for a young mind to handle or understand. Something like that was running through my head at the time.
Unfortunately, my mind decided to go and betray me with images of Celestia's less...glamorous persona. You all know the one, I uppose it was her mentioning the word; 'alone' but I digress.
"Awww, can't I come!?" Lyra whined. Celestia merely shook her head in response and stood up tall, giving me a glance as I knelt down next to the young unicorn, much like I had done before. Lyra turned to face me with a dissapointed look. "Can I please come with you, Kyle?"
"Sorry Lyra..." I said, reaching out to rustle her unkempt mane roughly, elicting a giggle from the filly. She looked up at me with a short-lived grin before she frowned sadly. "...we'll hang tomorrow, alright?" I added.
The young unicorn, no, Lyra scampered quickly over to me and managed to wrap her front hooves around my waist. I chuckled and returned the hug as best I could from my position, feeling her nod her head ever so slightly with a faint 'mhm' sound, escaping her lips. I let out a quiet sigh as I noticed her eyes twitch while remaining clenched shut.
After a few moments, I gave a quick once over at Celestia...she was raising an eyebrow impatiently. I let out a low growl as I cleared my throat and pushed the green filly ever so slightly away. She untangled her legs from around me, allowing me to stand up entirely. I walked over to Celestia's side and gave one final smile towards the filly, of who I knew, was going to accomplish great things in her life.
I just knew it right then and there that she was a special kid, the term 'background pony' was simply all out degrading for someone like her.
She returned my gaze with a toothy grin before Celestia's horn began to glow ever so radiantly. The alicorn closed her eyes in concernntration but her muzzle was twisted into a serene smile. The light emitting from her mighty horn expanded and consumed us entirely before with a single burst...the image of Lyra's beaming face was gone.
However, only for a milli-second. As quick as we vanished, Celestia and I reappeared like nothing had happened, in the same way, same place, as if the Princess had simply not a casted a spell. My eyes widened and I tightened every muscle in my body because as soon as I felt ground beneath my feet...
All I could feel was pain.
I collapsed on the grass beneath me, grinding my teeth to try and surpress the oncoming violent screams ready to burst from my mouth. My body ached with unbelievable pressure and I was sure that something broken, fractured and/or punctured inside me but maybe that was my tendency to exhaggerated.
My point is, ladies and gentlemen is that whatever Celestia just did...fucking hurt.
Like everything particle of my being was on fire.
"Kyle!!" I heard the familiar young voice cry out. I cracked an eye open at the sound of quick hoofsteps to be greeted with Lyra's worried face. I scoffed half-heartedly.
"I-I'm...fine" I said between quick gasps. I found enough strength to gaze up at Celestia who wore a dumbstruck look. Her eyes were darting from her horn and back towards me, wide as dinner plates. "P-princess..." I let out a brief cough. "What...was that?"
"I'm afraid I don't know, young one..." she paused and gave me a shocked look. "That spell was supposed to teleport us to Canterlot, more specifically; the Royal Archives"
"So..." Lyra began before pausing, giving the princess a nfused look. "...why didn't it?" she asked. The princess just brief a heavy sigh and looked down back at me.
"I don't know"
This is where I had to step in.
Feeling the burning pain subside a bit, much to my relief, I stood up entirely, my side aching as I did so. I cupped my stomach with my right arm to try and suppress it with little avail.
"I may have an idea" I strained uncomfortably, my throat threatening to collapse with any movement. Celestia perked up and gave me an expectant stare.
"Oh?" she paused. "Well, what is it then?" she asked, almost sarcastically. I stared at her a moment, my brow furrowing slightly but my glare was short lived as I breathed a heavy sigh.
"First let's test if I'm right" I walked a few steps away from the two as they eyed me, confusedly. I spun around around, a determined look spreadking on my face. "Hit me"
Both Celestia and Lyra gawked i surprise.
"What?!" the unicorn gaped.
"Hit me with a spell, Princess" I answered.
"Mr. Mercer, I don't understand, why?" Celestia said.
"Just go easy, alright? If it doesn't work then...well, just be careful, okay?" I replied, releasing my side. The princess paused for a long moment, Lyra lookign back and forth at us both. Finally, the alicorn let out a quiet sigh before her horn began to glow brightly. Just as before, it ignited into a raging burst of light and then, much like how she had acted when she faced off against Chrysalis, a bright beam of golden energy shot straight me from the tip of her horn.
I closed my eyes, mostly from the light but more or less from the anticipation of pain. However, as soon as I figured the beam would strike me...all I felt was a somewhat unnatural warmth in my chest. I opened my eyes and gawked at what I saw. Celestia's attack had connected with my torso and was almost reflecting off of me, the light sending sparks around my body and fading into nothingness. It didn't bounce off me, it simply kept pulsating with energy as it continued to reflect off my chest. I looked up at Celestia and she gave me a surprise, impressed and somewhat shocked expression. She obviously came to the same conclusion I did.
The energy from her horn faded as did the glow surrounding it. The light dimmed down and I casually walked back to the side of Lyra, looking up at the alicorn blankly.
"Well..." she began.
"What just happened?" the little filly asked.
"...it seems that my magic has no effect on you, Kyle" Celestia said.
"Looks like it" I commented.
"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!!" Lyra added, almost mimicking what she had done earlier that day. "You can deflect magic?...But I thought you said you didn't have any superpowers!!" she continued.
I laughed a bit at what she said.
"I don't, Lyra, I'm resistant to magic because-"
"You're not from this world...and therefore are not connected magic in any way" Celestia cut me off, looking rather puzzled, if not dazed in thought.
What looked like really DEEP thought, actually. Although before she could say anything or me asking her what she was contemplating, Lura decided to cut in.
"So, magic can't hurt you? That's...pretty cool, I guess" she said, a mixed expression on her face as she looked down at her hooves.
"I suppose so" I said, my mind racing with the new found knowledge.
Magic, the one most key aspect of Equestria and I was no part of it.
I wondered on how the world would see me, how certain events would occur if I were involved. For example, a brief snippet of Discord's return (thanks to a few fillies) I might add falshed across my mind. If I was still here by then and if he were to corrupt me like the other ponies of Ponyville, namely the Element representatives, would he actually accomplish such a thing?
If not, I could just laugh and punch him in the jaw. I know he reforms for the better and even though a world where physics were meaningless and anything could happen seemed like a cool idea, he was still evil.
Plus, I'm not a Trekky, so I can't appreciate you, Mr. De Lancie, I'm sorry.
As far as I was aware, magic was just about everything in this world so what happens when something non-magical decided to enter the equation? To that, I had no clue and instead just continued letting my imagination of the future run wild.
However before any interesting thought came to mind, I noticed Celestia giving me a rather odd look.
"Princess?" I asked, she just stared at me for a moment before answering.
"As it would seem I cannot teleport you, we shall have to find another way to reach Canterlot..." she said, her large, majestic wings spreaded out, as if hinting at something. Her head cocked behind, gesturing to her back, I looked towards it and then back up to meet her eye, gaping slightly.
Now, I don't really want to go into detail about how awkward climbing onto Celestia's back was and straddling her like...well, like a horse.
Never did I EVER want to call them 'horses', something just didn't seem right about that.
And so, with a quick goodbye to Lyra, Celestia bolted towards the sky and I meant literally. You know the kind of force she used in the end of that one episode (of which's title eludes me at the moment) where she drops (like a boss) on the library's balcony? Well, that was how she took off the ground, powerful, mighty...god-like.
I tightened my grip on her soft, white pelt as we soared quickly through her sun-lit, cerulean sky. The flight was, in all rights, exhillerating. I had never known the Princess for such velocity, maybe because I had only seen her float a short distance from the ground or sit in a flying carriage before being whisked away by the two guards, that always pulled it. Not today however, on that day, Celestia really made it cleart that she had wings and knew how to use them. I could almost feel the smirk on her face as the cool wind breezed along her fur.
I gotta admit that travelling at those speeds, the wind in your hair, above the clouds, riding a goddess...Mate, ain't nothing like it.
It was unfortunately and rather obviously, a short trip. Celestia had flown us to, you guessed it, Canterlot. I didn't really get a good look at the city surrounding the castle but I can asure you that there was alot of white paint.
As portrayed in the show. Which was odd fore it didn't really look as though there were a buidling or two missing from the version I'd seen but rather that it was always like the way it was. If that makes any sense.
I turned my head back to the front to see a balcony, hanging over the city from a tall, majestic tower, branching off from the castle below. Celestia landed gracefully onto the hovering platform, folding her wings with an audible flap. I eased myself off of her back and she looked at me with a small smile before her horn lit up. The double-glass doors opened in synchronisation, in the grasp of her magic. Celestia walked inside but I didn't follow her. Instead, I turned around to look out at the marble city. The sun was beginning to set and I wondered how the Princess was keeping tabs on their position at all times, let alone exactly how and in what fashion she moved the Moon and Sun.
I decided to not think about it too much, made things easy for me so far.
However, looking down at the prestine town, my mind felt almost serene. My hands grasped around the railing as I glanced around at the world before me. All I could think about was how beautiful the scenary really was, what lyra and Applejack were...Hell, what everypony was doing. I knew I had to focus on the task ahead but you know what? Just to take a moment, collect your thoughts and just have a calm moment...I'll say it again; Ain't anything like it, mate.
"Kyle" I heard the Princess call out from behind me. I perked up a little and looked back at her for a moment. I turned back and let out an exaggerated sigh before half turning to her, looking up at the sun.
"Y-yeah..." I answered, still gazing at the world with a small grin, cracking my face. "...I'm...I'm coming" I breathed, nodding slightly. Celestia smiled at me before turning, me following closely behind her through her castle.
And that brings us to where I now sit. Reading through book upon book, upon book. Celestia had led me through the intrecet hallways of marble columns and red carpetting to what looked like a library. Of course, there were guards, stoic ponies in golden armour that gave me looks ranging from curious, to suspicious, to just down right glares. Being that Celestia obviously knew I was following her and looked quite at ease, they paid little attention.
Eventually we reached what looked like a museum but I knew better, this was a library.
A library dedicated to the vast and great work of an ancient, shaggy unicorn. I say 'shaggy' because apparently, Star Swirl was known for his facial hair.
Hell, he was called 'The bearded', cool title, sure but c'mon. Nobody called Gandalf; 'The bearded'.
Aww, mate, just thinking about beards makes me think of Joel, you know, the guy from 'The Last of us'?
Shut up, brain! Can't think about video games. Must focus besides there's no point getting all nostalgic about the wonders of Earth...again.
Back on track, anyway, Celestia opened the gate to the collection and walked inside, with me in tow. The following is pretty much what you'd expect.
"Start searching" she said and just like that, we branched off from eachother, both of us losing the other within the confines of paper-shelved...shelves.
Then after what felt like forever, I shifted my posiiton so I now kneeled on one knee and spoke to the goddess, not facing her but not before sighing, exhaustedly.
"Princess, have you found anything?" I asked. To my surprise, I got no answer from the alicorn. Confused, I looked up to find that she was not where I found her to be just moments before. "Princess?" I repeated, looking around at the surrounding shelves. "Princess Celestia?!" I called out. Even more confused now, I eased myself up from the floor, my back, neck and legs taking the brunt of my movement, causing me to wince.
Bloody hell, that ached. Don't know about you but when I sit down for the better part of an afternoon, my body doesn't tend to cope with it.
"Celestia!?" Once again, I yelled out for the princess but was answered by silence. It was then when I began to worry, I glanced around, eyes peeled for the sight of the porclain alicorn. I turned a corner around one the many, tall shelves and that's when I saw her. I let out a brief sigh of relief,, she was standing at the end of the corridor, back turned, her mane and tail waving ever so gracefully, like always. The relaxed smile on my face faded as concern took over my mind, why hadn't she answered me?
Carefully, I walked towards her, granted it was a long hall so I was rather slow to reach her. It was then when I noticed her horn glowing and what appeared to be a hard-bound, brown book below her muzzle, from what I could guess, her eyes were glued to the open pages.
She practically radiated seriousness.
Celestia was quiet as she read the mysterious tome, I could almost hear her brow furrowing as her back was turned. Only when I reached her, did I tempt to speak again.
"You highness?" I said. Celestia quickly shot up from her book and looked to face me, her eyes were were gleaming with an emotion I couldn't quite place but I remember an aspect of her gaze. Perhaps even several.
Disbelief, shock and realisation.
That's all I can say, don't want to give any spoilers now, do I?
"Are you alright?" I asked, Celestia quickly closed the book, let out an exhaggerated sigh and floated the tome onto the empty spaces bewteen two books. Strange thing was, she seemed like she was deliberately keeping me from seeing the book, not that I cared too much, I was concerned about her and didn't really think the book she was reading caused any problems.
Like an idiot.
"Yes...thankyou, Kyle" she answered, putting on a quick smile as she spoke. I gave a quick glance at the spine of the tome and to my dissapointment, nothing was written on the spine. I shrugged it off and turned back to the alicorn.
"Did you find anything?" I asked. Celestia paused and lowered her head in solemn, closing her eyes.
She didn't need to say anything after that, I knew what she had to tell me.
"No, I didn't...did you?" she said. I shook my head.
"Nuh" I said blankly. Suddenly feeling rather tired, I eased myself next to the book case on my right, groaning in exhaustion but soon relaxing on the stone floor. Celestia followed suit and sat down next to me, she didn't speak, nor did I, what was there to say, anyway?
The situation was clear. The knowledge of my coming here, that weird globe and how to send me back was to my own knowledge, non-existent. My thoughts drifted to my recent history the most, I decided to think about the more ancient part of my life later.
My family. My friends. My Bronies. My crush.
I remember thinking about them, those people that I'd never see again. To think it could've been prevented if I simply didn't answer the door. How would've things turned out, then? Surprisingly, I tend not to think about it.
After what felt like an eternity of simple nostalga filling my head, I looked up at Celestia, she wore a thoughtful yet...discontent expression as she stared at the ground, though I doubt she was really looking at it.
With the silence now aching at my mind, I opened my mouth to speak.
"Well...how do you suppose we tackle this, your majesty?" I asked causing the princess to gaze towards me with a rather sad expression.
"I don't know, Kyle Mercer" she stated formally before closing her eyes with a sigh and resting her head on the vertical surface of the bookcase. On the inside, I grinned at what she called me but my remorse was enough to keep it down. After a few more moments, an inquisitive look was strewn across her features. "Was that 'X-men' story you told to those two filles true? Are there such beings in your world?" Celestia asked. I paused before letting out a chuckle.
"Heh, no, it's just a comic book thing" I said, smirking at her naivety. "They aren't real..." the words faded as I spoke. "Or...maybe they are" I said, more to myself than her.
"What do you mean?" she asked, I stared at her.
"Well...I have this theory but I'm not quite sure how accurate it is"
"Go on" she encouraged. I took a deep breath before speaking.
"Celestia, do you believe in alternate dimensions?" I asked. She put a hoof to her chin for a moment before giving me a small smile.
"It's true I have never seen or been to one but I think it's a possibility, why do you ask?"
"I believe that every decision we make is...well, meaningless" this caught the princess a little offguard but I quickly cut her off from objecting. "Because, somewhere in the multi-verse, the opposite thing has already happened, of course, looking at it like that is rather depressing but it's not like every version of everyone is the same person. Each are seperate beings, they're just brached off from one another" I continued, Celestia gave me an intrigued look as I went on. "'Meaningless' isn't quite the word but I don't know how else to describe it"
"Interesting..." she muttered, a tinge of bewilderment in her voice. "But how does this make your 'X-men' real?"
"My next point; every idea anyone ever came up with created a world in it's own, which is why your-" I cut myself off before I said too much, Celestia rose an eyebrow at me but I quickly formed another sentence. "Which is why Xavier's little team is most likely dwelling on a different version of Earth...my home" I said with solemn, I chuckled half-heartedly as a new thought sprung to mind. "And probably the rest of Marvel".
To think I teleported here without seeing the latest Wolverine movie.
I fell silent, looking down at the ground again. In that instant, I wanted nothing more than to run up to my dad and...
My thoughts were interuptted by a tentative, golden covered hoof resting on my shoulder. The tears that welled in my eyes without my consent dried as I followed it up to the regal alicorn sitting in front of me.
"You miss your home, Kyle, don't you?" she said to me.
I lifted my arms, spreading them out as Celestia leaned into me and I into her. I wrapped my arms around her upper body as she did the same, resting her head on the top of my own and just like that, we hugged.
"Yeah...yeah, I do" I said as we embraced.
I don't know how long we spent in that library but the next thing I remember was Celestia noticing the time of day and asking me to follow her. She wasn't exhaggerating either, from my guess, it was well into the night and I was, to say the least, pretty buggered. The constant reading didn't help and between you and me...Celestia is super comfy.
Shut up.
Anyway, we walked through the castle for about ten minutes before she stopped by a door. She looked back at me with a smile before her horn glowed and the magic gripping the door swung it open. Celestia walked into the room, still with me following close behind. The princess turned around and grinned down at me.
"This is the royal suite, I hope it's to your liking" she said.
"To my liking? What, am I sleeping here?" I asked.
"Why, yes, do you have anywhere else to tonight?"
I opened my mouth to reply but quickly fell silent, I wasn't about to pass up a luxurious, large bedroom over a creepy barn or an even creepier abandoned, old house. Not to mention, I was still weary about that crazy looking thing I'd seen. No matter what, the image of that monster stll seemed to naw at me.
Some nights, I still hear it's domented voice in my dreams.
But I'm getting ahead of myself again.
"Thankyou, Princess, this is..." I breathed in deeply through my nose. "...This is great, thankyou, again" I managed. Ironically, I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Rarity's rather over-indulged thanking of the princess in that one episode. Celestia didn't seem to notice.
"You're very welcome" she stated, much like she had done in the same episode. I nodded, a gesture she returned before she began to trot past me, I watched her walk to the door. That's when something compelled me to speak.
Looking back, I wish I hadn't, it just sort of happened.
"Do...do you miss her, sometimes?" I asked. Celestia spun around to look at me, questioningly.
"Who?"
"Luna"
Silence.
Utter silence.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Celestia raised a hoof, gesturing for me to stop. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath and...smiled a little.
"Yes..." she said quietly. "...I do"
Celestia smiled at me one last time and closed the door with her on the other side.
I could practically feel her solemn as she walked away from the door.
I sighed. Walked over to the king-sized bed that graced the room. Removed my jacket and pulled the covers over, snaking my way under them. My mind was not at ease, almost threatening to give me insomnia but luckily after a few moments, exhaustion hit me like a sack of bricks and I fell asleep.
I decided to think about it more in the morning.
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All I can think about is who all he is gonna meet since all the ponies from the show are kids
Time jump?
Or will he get the powers of...
THE PROTOTYPE
Killing spree...
2962795 dude I fucking love you right now(no homo). That is an amazing song and if you hadn't posted it I would have.
Love this story! Can't wait for more!
2962768 Kinda what I wanted
2962795 *Sniff*
2963483 No, this is NOT Natural Selection
2964266 'ppreciate it, mate,
2964842
images.wikia.com/austinally/images/7/74/FEELS.gif
Yeah, gets me every time
awwww tis a sad day
good so far :D
Once Celestia finds out just how much Kyle knows of Equestria and Ponyville, will she choose to not press him for future knowledge? The MLP stuff will get spilled eventually and if anyone can handle the meta-knowledge, she could. In a self-fulfilling prophesy kind of way, Kyle might be the reason Celestia always seems to know how to nudge the Mane 6 into being at the right place or doing the right thing. Or history, in any dimension, is simply too big for a single human to change it (get over yourself Kyle, you're not that important) so anything he does will happen as it's supposed to, irregardless. Mmm, what's that called? Knowing the future but being unable to do anything about it? Oh yeah, the Cassandra complex.
And while being utterly immune to magic sounds kind of neat, it's a two-edged sword. He's also immune to it's healing effects as well. I wonder if this extends to alchemy? Heck, Kyle might make for a nifty cockatrice hunter seeing as how the chickensnake can't petrify him at all and he could stomp through poison joke all day without any ill effects since it's magic too. Timberwolves, manticores and hydras would still be deadly with their physical attacks though.
2977212
Hmmmm
Thankyou for that, gives some food for thought
2978857
Augh! The author's a changeling! There're everywhere! Aieee!
Kyle might be immune to you Changelings too, about as mind-controllable as a rock and immune to love stealing magic. No offense meant, Tom. Tho, levitating Tom and using it to squish Kyle like a bug is still doable.
Owch.
Kyle's disconnection from magic is the worst disability anything could have in Equestria, far more than Scoot's small wings or even a unicorn's horn cut off. Sounds a bit like dark matter. We know it's there, comprises 90% of all matter, and it holds galaxies together but we can't interact with it at all.
Still working through: Celestia is nice in this fic.
I can imagen discord snapping his fingers, and Kyle stands unfased by it, grinning at Discord.
Nothing happens to him, Discord repeats snapping his fingers with no avail, leaving him with an astonished face looking at Kyle... Then suddenly a devious grin cracks in Discords facial expression and he speaks with a low voice: "Interesting... You've got my attention boy!"
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130529132240/villains/images/thumb/2/2c/Discord_%27And_I_win%27_S2E1.png/640px-Discord_%27And_I_win%27_S2E1.png
I think he could tell her that her plan will work so long as he dos not go into detail hell him saying that mite be what gives her the idea if the future is set in stone as to the events (witch would explain a certain unicorns human hobby) in the show but it is a risk none the less... you know what never mined don't tell her this theoretical physics alt world stuff is a bit of a pain when you really try to figure it out