Through Rose Colored Glass

by RiotBros

Answers, That Brought Only More Questions.

I looked around the city, the buildings seemed bigger now, the even seemed to glow more. But this new perspective was overshadowed by my guilt. I guess it was a mixture of anger against the princess, and a loss of care from the death of my friend that drove me to waltz out into plain sight. I would have never done it otherwise, I was pretty content with my life up until then. For someone who didn't belong in the universe they were in, I didn't suffer too much.

By now it was nearing evening, most ponies were already home from work. Those who weren't were too busy to notice me, probably mistaking me for a crazed homeless pony. I was pretty surprised, I always expected a huge reaction. I guess my mind blew it out of proportion after years of time alone, thinking. Maybe they just haven't noticed yet? I speculated. I was right.

"AUGH!" A scream echoed through the high-rise buildings. I winced from the implication and lowered my head, a sudden anxiety running through me. Twenty-four years of hiding, gone, in one minute. I had only my wild guesses to give foresight as to what would come of me. Considering how that had helped in the past, I opted to just play things by ear, and hope for the best.

I looked around at the ponies who were gathering across the street from me, they had mixed expressions of fear, confusion, and worry. I had the same. We both could only guess what the other could do, what sort of powers or abilities we possessed. I knew that Celestia could atomize ponies, but as for other unicorns, I was left with guesses. I knew that the pegasi could fly fast, one had even broken the sound barrier, but as for their agility, I assumed they were gifted. The 'earth ponies' were strong, but most of the ones here were weaker from working at desks all day.

I didn't want a fight, they didn't want a fight, so we just stood in equilibrium, neither wanting to disrupt the balance of the situation. So, I did what any other alien creature with little-to-no social interaction would do, I spoke.

"Hello, ponies! I am not here to fight you, or to wage war. I only wish to speak with your princess, then I will go back into hiding, and leave you to your daily worries and struggles." I knew how to sweet talk from reading political speeches in the papers, so I put my limited knowledge to good use. My statement seemed to relive most of the ponies, although some were still on edge, rightly so.

"W-what are you?" One asked, I couldn't tell which, so I just replied while looking at all of them. "I'm a human, and I've lived in your cities and towns for twenty-four years, and as far as I know, I am the only one of my kind." I had always figured I was alone, but somehow saying it out loud hurt more than thinking it, even more than believing it.

"How'd you get here?"
"Why are you here?"
"Can you go back?"
"What do you want with the princess?"

These questions and more were thrown at me, I couldn't separate them after long, so I just tuned them out. I knew that by doing this Celestia would have me taken to her castle, but I also needed to get revenge for Grumps. That old stallion had never hurt anypony, or human. He was a sweet old pony, just a little misguided. He was like a father to me, but also a brother. He filled most of the voids that had taken hold of me over years of loneliness.

It was a few minutes of unanswered questions being yelling with increasing volume before a guard came up to me. He told me that the princess had called for me, I replied with a, "Just take me to her."

The ride to Canterlot was long, boring, and uneventful. The guards pulling my wagon didn't say a word the whole ride, but then again, I was glad they didn't. I wanted to hold my nerve and my anger for Celestia. I was also racking my brain as to why Celestia would kill Grumps. He had never said anything about being on the lam, although I suppose he wouldn't have. It was a very confusing and just unreal situation.

I had never been to Canterlot before, although I had tried. Even the poorest parts of the capital city were richer than any other place in Equestria. The ponies here were the stuck-up, snobby type, so I wouldn't have fit in anyhow. Maybe doing this will be for the best, maybe it will pan out in the end. I tried to reassure myself that Celestia wouldn't kill me, and that I would be making it through the night, but nothing I did could dispel the thoughts.

It was nearly dark out when we landed, and I was immediately greeted by a dozen guards, all covered head-to-hoof in golden armor. What I assumed was the captain spoke first, "I am going to escort you to the princesses, just follow along and nopon- er, no one will get hurt." He paused after each word, I guess he thought I couldn't speak their language. I decided to play a little joke on him. I started babbling nonsense, making random noises that had no rhyme or reason to them.

"Iuosp Hureas, Ueyr! Utybs? Utybs? Dshue! Surtb!" I made all sorts of faces to go along with the psychotic noises, the guards had no idea what to make of it. I stopped shouting for a moment and just stared expectantly at the captain, he blinked twice before turning and whispering to his squad. I couldn't make much out, but I expected him to just drag me to Celestia and Luna. And that's exactly what happened.

Three metal chains, two locks, and four cords of rope later, we were on our way to the princesses. Canterlot Castle was amazing. It was so different from the skyscrapers of Manehatten, much more grand and better kept. Not a single wall had chipped paint, mildew on the corners, or cobwebs. I actually forgot why I was there to begin with for a while. Then the captain spoke up again.

"Hey! Prisoner, we're here." He turned to the guards, "Get those ropes of him, I don't want Celestia to think we were wasting her time." Two gruff stallions walked up and unchained and tied me. I was holding in a giggle from a few ways I had thought up to continue my prank. Ultimately, I decided to just cooperate, I didn't need any of these muscle-heads roughing me up.

I was pretty weak, fast, but weak. The only time I had ever exercised other than running, was one time back in Las Pegasus in a weight room. It didn't go very well. After that, I kept to running and begging, and had done only that until now.

The three stallions looked at me, they were obviously cautious, I guess there were rumors spreading of humans existing before today. Probably just legends, giving that I've never done anything scary or intimidating. I leaned in close to the captain, getting as close as possible. "I like your mane." I said, in a very seductive voice. He just stared in disbelief, and disgust.

"You can... talk?" He said, a bit of reluctance in his voice. I smiled widely and replied, "Oh, yes. I've spoken your language ever since I was young. I guess that means I'm the first human you've come across..." I actually felt dejected at that. I was alone.

"I'm not at liberty to say or not, but that's not important. Your presence has been requested by Princess Celestia of Equestria, do not keep her waiting." He said, with a very stern look and tone. His gruff attitude seemed... fake. Something about his whole demeanor was off-putting. Something I couldn't really make out for sure...

"Lead the way." He simply pointed to two, huge double doors. They were golden, with carvings and markings all up and down. The handles were gold, but had no marks, and the center of the left door had Celestia and her sun, while the right had Luna and the moon. They were pretty darn fancy, and that's not just me saying it, I'd heard many ponies of higher standards talk of the throne room.

I walked towards the doors, keeping an eye on the captain, I didn't trust him. As I pushed the doors open, I heard the clopping of hooves running away, I looked back to see the all but the captain gone, he shot me a "What are you waiting for?" look. I turned back and opened the doors the rest of the way. The room was big, no, huge. Granted, I had been in very few buildings over the course of my life, but this was breathtaking all the same. I looked all around as I walked further into it.

The windows were all stained glass, each depicting a different pony or place. They were beautiful, the amount of work that had to have been put into them... it was amazing. The entire room was incredible, the ceiling was at least thirty hooves high, and it too was decorated.

I didn't even see Celestia and Luna sitting at their thrones until I was right in front of them. I stepped back a little, although I was still reeling with anger. "What is it that you want from me?" I realized that she may have expected a little more respect, but I couldn't give a damn at that point.

"You made my job considerably harder with that stunt you pulled in Manehatten, I want to know why you did it." Considerably harder? She killed somepony, and I was the biggest problem?

"Revenge, of course!. You killed Ol' Grumps! I couldn't let that go unpunished, I don't care how, or how long it takes, but I will get that revenge." Celestia paused for a moment, thinking. She nodded her head and said something to herself before answering.

"Revenge is a complex thing, you want revenge for your friend, but you don't need it, you just want it. As for Grumps death, he is still very much alive, I just had to get him to the local guard station for questioning. You see, we believe Grumps is actually a pony named Scribe, he used to work for Vito Father. We think he knows were Vito is running his operation from, and we needed to get that information."

I couldn't believe it, if Grumps, or Scribe, was still alive, that meant that I'd just exposed myself to potentially all of equestria for no reason whatsoever. "He really is alive?" Celestia just nodded. "C-can I see him?" She frowned, "Not until our investigation is complete, we can't risk Vito finding him, or you saying anything to him to get him to stop talking."

"How long is this "investigation" going to take?" Celestia sighed, her eyes looking anywhere but at me. "I cannot tell you anything more about this, so stop asking." I was taken aback from her command, she had been almost nice before, but now she's like a totally different pony. "Now, give me one reason not to throw you in a dungeon for your little stunt."

I swallowed and thought for a moment, "Are there any more humans out there, hiding like I was?" Celestia scowled. "No. There were a few, not too long ago, but they made a few mistakes. Much like did." That shut me up.

"How did you expect me to react? Put yourself in my position for one damn second and think, how would you take it? What if somepony stole your sister and you thought she had died?" Please, please don't kill me.

"You're right..." Celestia mumbled, "Fine. Go, go back to your alley ways and crumbled cardboard home. But know this, if you ever, ever do something nearly as stupid as your last stunt... you won't have time to worry about punishment. Take him away!"

The same two gruff stallion guards came back and hauled me to the chariot. I kept thinking about what had just happened, Celestia threatened to kill me, she didn't kill Grumps, and she did kill, or at least banish or imprison the only other humans. Great, just great.

******

It took two weeks for me to get back into the groove of things, I ran out of food twice and water once. I tried to get Celestia out of my mind, but I found myself thinking about her a lot. How could she act so, so, tyrannical? I doubted she even had a warrant for Grumps' arrest. And what kind of torture were they using to get him to talk? These questions kept me awake at night for a long time.

When I had made it back to my alley, Grub and Smack were gone, I assumed they just left when they didn't find me or Grumps, and just thought they were in the wrong alley. Only problem there was now I had nopony to buy my food, and with Celestia's threats, I wasn't about to risk my life for a sandwich. I was in a tough situation for sure, but one that I knew I could get out of with a little ingenuity.

All I need now is a bucket, a snail, and a few cords of rope...

Comments

[Mr101]

I'm getting more and more into this I have to admit, can't wait for more.

[D-Bence35]

Celestia is a racist, luddite bitch. Period.

[RiotBros]

2791377 I can't help but imagine the Queen saying that.

[D-Bence35]

2791384 Now THAT would be satifying. Besides, the ponies themselves are quite ignorant and arrogant too. And that's the way we love them.

[Whitehooves]

Loving how this is developing, your casting celestia in very much a different light to how many normally do, but if there's history with her and humans it could prove to be a very interesting story.

One thing you may want to change. With the conversations, I felt I was getting lost between who was talking and whose reactions were being described. Maybe space these out in seperate paragraph setup as it'll give the story more flow I feel