• Published 23rd Dec 2014
  • 8,904 Views, 410 Comments

The Equestrian Chronicle - Souldrainr



Slain by his best friend, Andrew Detmer now finds himself in a world of myths and legends made reality. A world where the Apex predator of Earth is but a candle compared to the raw power held by the dragons and almost god-like entities of Equestria.

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Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Edited by: lunarstallion

The trio’s journey back to the library continued in relative silence. The sun, though high in the cloudless sky, was not as unbearably hot as it could be in the summer months. In fact, it was rather pleasant, casting just enough warmth on Andrew's skin to feel nice, but bereft of the burning sensation that would often accompany such a sunny day. They had just entered Ponyville, and were likely within minutes of their destination.


He cast yet another glance at the mare leading the way at the same moment, it would seem, that she was looking back. She immediately retracted her gaze, looking straight ahead. Twilight was already on edge from the event in the Everfree, and the strange incident at the cottage seemed to only increase her discomfort.

***

Following Discord’s recommendation to speak with Twilight on the topic of ‘cutie marks’, Andrew walked over to the quaint cottage’s front door. The dense, green foliage that completely covered the roof just barely grazing the top of his head due to his height. He could hear Twilight yelling from within the home.


“For the last time, I am NOT going to make you a gourmet salad, what even IS a gourmet salad!? Isn't it just a regular salad but nicer looking-AH! What was that for!? That hurt! Was that supposed to help your case!?”


Amused and curious, he gave three brisk warning knocks and proceeded to let himself in.


The inside of the home somehow pulled off the same feeling of quaintness as the outside, yet at the same time it as full of what he could only describe as peculiar. Against the brown wall on his right and towards the center of the room was a cobblestone fireplace with several shelves filled with pots and pans above it, likely doubling as a stove. While wide at the base, the cobblestone narrowed as it neared the roof, leaving space between itself and the wall behind it. Along the towering stone were situated miniature stairs that spiraled upwards, branching along the wall towards the front of the house, as well as into the roof as it neared the ceiling. Along with a few birdhouses, similar stairs and pathways hung from the beige ceiling as well. If he had to guess, he would say there was a network of these miniature pathways that ran all throughout the house The floor was, predictably, hardwood. Unpredictably, wood was a light shade of green.


Ah yes, and the room was teeming with wildlife.


Twilight was standing in the middle of the room, having set down a collection of bowls, some filled with seeds, others with cheese, carrots, and various other kinds of food. She was surrounded by all kinds of animals; mice, birds, owls, as well as a full sized wolf with a broken left foreleg in a stint happily chowing on some scrambled eggs. All the animals were in the process of consuming their food, others patiently waiting their turn if a bowl was surrounded. Well, they were anyways.


From the moment he stepped through the doorway, all eyes were on him. And there were A LOT of eyes, even Twilight was looking at him, biting her lower lip anxiously, as if waiting for something to happen


He closed the door behind him with a creak, and then all hell broke loose. Birds flapped frantically, some fluttering to the assumed safety of their houses, others flying up the stairs in the farther left corner relative to Andrew’s position, disappearing into the second floor. The small critters scattered in all directions, the mice scurrying into the several mouse holes around the room. Two ferrets and a small army of rabbits scampered and hopped up the stairs and into the ceiling in a hurried, practiced fashion. By the end of the madness, several of the bowls were knocked over, what little was left of their contents now emptied onto the otherwise spotless floor. By the end of it, only two animals stayed behind. The first was a rabbit that was clutching his bowl of lettuce in one hand, and somehow holding an open tome of a cookbook, easily three times his weight in the other. It looked at him, then at its food, then back at him. Throwing the cookbook at Andrew with strength more appropriate for a bear than a rabbit, it snatched a piece of lettuce from its bowl and ran into the room on the left in front of the stairs.


That left him with a now floating cookbook, a startled Twilight, and a whimpering grey and white wolf cowering behind a small, blue, circular table in the far right corner of the room.


“So, uh, can you answer a question for me?” He asked haphazardly.


Twilight responded with a heavy sigh. “Later, Andrew. Just… Later.” She lowered her head as she turned and walked up the stairs.


He shrugged to himself. Yeah, he could understand that kind of reaction, after what just happened. He was caught off guard just as much as she was. Though he did find it more amusing than anything else after the fact. Using his powers, he quickly returned the food to their respective bowls, the fact that they were spaced apart a fair bit helping in determining what went where..


Finishing the task in only a few seconds, he turned his attention to the wolf with the broken leg. She, as it would seem, was in the far right corner of the room lying down behind the thin legs of the table, eyeing him silently. Her ears splayed back when he looked at her, and she rested her head on her front paws.


He was usually pretty well with pets, at least when he was younger anyways. He always liked dogs, and who doesn't like wolves? Going for the number one tried and true method of earning an animal’s trust, he walked to and grasped a sizeable piece of the scrambled eggs she had left behind. Getting down on one knee he beckoned her over with a sound while slightly shaking the food in his grasp.


The she wolf’s ears perked at the sight of the food, her tail giving a few flicks of approval. She slowly raised herself from the floor, and cautiously limped over to the human. He stayed still as she sniffed at, then bit the food out of his hand, giving it a few chews before greedily swallowing the morsel. Her tail was now wagging a mile a minute and she panted happily. She was a large animal, easily two feet tall excluding her neck and head. He wondered if all wolves were like this, as he had never actually seen one in person before.


He brought his right knuckle into her view, she tentatively sniffed at the alien appendage curiously before giving it a lick, as she was going for the third he moved his hand away and wiped it on his pants. She began sniffing his shoes and legs when he noticed a surprised Twilight at the top of the steps. Her forehooves were damp with moisture, likely from having used the bathroom, though he hadn’t heard any flushing from down here.


Twilight was beyond confused. For all intents and purposes, with Andrew’s ‘threat level’ being made clear with the earlier encounter with the timberwolves, Esmeralda should be hiding under a bed with her tail between her legs, even more so with a broken limb. Timberwolves were used to taking down tougher beast through numbers and coordination, but she was just a regular wolf. What could he possibly have done to earn her trust in the short time that she had been away?


“How did you?” She started, but stopped as Andrew began scratching behind the wolf's ear, much to the canines pleasure. The action only served to further confound the unicorn. Andrew had done one of the worst things a pony could do today, and here he was comforting a wounded animal when all others fled at the mere sight of him.


“Well,” he started, “I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean squat here, but on Earth humans domesticated wolves thousands of years ago, and they pretty much evolved alongside us since then.” During his... research... into evolution, he had come across wolves and, while he couldn't recall any specific details, he got the gist of the topic. “So,” he continued, trying his best to remember what he read, “With selective breeding, over the course of dozens, well, more like hundreds of wolf generations, we ended up removing most of their more aggressive, feral traits, and pretty much made dozens of new dog species in the process. It started off more to help us hunt, or to better control livestock, but once we had complete control over our food supply, we didn’t have much use for them other than keeping them as pets.” In truth he didn't know how many ‘dog’ species there were, so he tried to refrain from exaggerating the number. “Dogs as pets are such a big deal that there's actually a saying about them being ‘man's best friend.’” He made air quotes, confusing Esmeralda with the lack of ear scratching that was currently happening. When she realized it would continue no further, she half ran, half limped into the other room and out of sight.


Andrew was a true enigma. He had the ability to clear a room with his presence alone because of his anomalous predatory strength, yet despite what appears to be him radiating malice wherever he goes without even realizing it, he could just as easily befriend an injured wolf when, as far as the wolf should be concerned, she may as well have just stumbled upon a hungry manticore!?


She trudged down the steps and walked past Andrew, heading towards the front door. “Let’s just do our Q&A after lunch.” She said with a sigh. She needed time to think, as well as get a letter to Celestia as soon as possible.


Mumbling an only slightly irritated “fine,” the human followed the mare out the door.

***

After a lengthy but silent walk, the library was now only moments away. Looking closely, Andrew could see an unfamiliar face in the corner of one of the windows, upon being noticed, it immediately made itself scarce. “Strange,” he thought. That face was much too pink to be spike. Then again, it was a library, so guests were likely not uncommon.


“Oh no,” Discord stated from behind the pair, earning their attention without interrupting their stride, “it would seem that there is something of upmost importance that requires my attention.” Andrew saw him take out a foot long sewing needle and a basketball sized yarn ball. The individual strands, however, looked more akin to rope than yarn in thickness.


Before they could ask, he said, “It’s chaos business, nothing to concern yourselves with. I will keep an eye out from afar. If I am needed, just give me a call.” With that, he popped out of existence.


“Any idea what that was about.” Andrew asked.


“Honestly, I care more about getting something to eat.” The lavender mare replied. “Besides, I’m not sure I want to know what he gets up to in his spare time.”


That was an idea Andrew could get behind. Despite Twilight packing several sandwiches for the trip, they had fallen prey to ants by the time they were recovered. They hadn't had a bite since breakfast, and it had to be at least past one o'clock by now.


Coming upon the door to her home, Twilight opened it with with her magic and stepped through with Andrew following closely behind.


The second Andrew stepped inside, dozens of ponies jumped into view.


“WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA ANDREW!” They yelled over blasts of confetti. There were ponies of all races and colors in the room. Most were forgettable in appearance, but in the center of the room was a familiar face. Rainbow Dash. On her left was a white unicorn with a purple, styled mane. Then an orange Earth pony with a wide stetson with a mane tied in a… ponytail. Of course, why not.


Behind those three was a butter yellow pegasus. Her face mostly hidden behind her draping pink mane. Though obviously shy, her eyes were wide with wonder until she met his gaze and promptly retreated further behind her pink veil.


The rest of the room was looking at him expectantly. He wasn't a fan of parties, throwing up on the girl you were about to lay with and being made the laughingstock of the school does that to a guy. But this party was set up specifically for him, and it would a reeaaal dick move if he just ran away now. When was the last time he had a birthday party? He had no idea what he was suppose to do or say. Hi? Hello? Yeah, that's me? Your town was almost torn apart the other day, why are you throwing a party?


“Sorry everypony,” Twilight spoke up in his place, redirecting the room's attention to her. “Andrew is a little shy, he's just surprised is all, right?” she looked at him with a halfhearted smile.


“Umm, yeah. Right.” He answered, mentally thanking her for ending the awkward silence. “I wasn't told there was going to be a party.” He looked around the room. Besides the dozens of ponies -mostly mares-, there were a few tables full of a variety of confectionery, cupcakes, donuts, sweet rolls, and several other sugary delicacies he had no name for.


“Well duh!” Exclaimed a pink mare on his left. “It's a surprise party silly.” She was beaming at him.


“Indeed ms. Pie,” a light tan mare stated as she walked over to Andrew, coming to a stop right in front of him. She was an earth pony with a white mane and tail, as well as gold framed semi circle glasses that somehow balanced on the end of her short snout. “Hello Andrew,” she began in a diplomatic tone loud enough for the room to hear, but gentle enough to not bother him. She gestured to herself with a hoof. “I am the mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare.”


Andrew did his best to suppress a chuckle. Mayor Mare is a mare mayor, Nurse Redheart is a nurse, do ponies rename themselves after they get into their chosen career?


“From what Celestia has told me, you are a stranger to our world, is that really true?” She asked in a tone of curiosity.


He answered only with a nod.


She looked back at the room, “Well, there you have it everypony, now you can stop asking me when you just heard it straight from the source. Just please keep in mind that we are the aliens from his perspective, so be mindful of cultural differences when and if you ask him any questions.”


There were a few hushed conversations for a moment before Mayor Mare cleared her throat and began to speak again. “With that said, I am sure I speak for everypony here when I say we are delighted to welcome you to Equestria, as well as our humble town of Ponyville!”


Andrew smiled faintly. “Ummm, thank you. I.. I don't really know what to say.” Besides the courtesy ‘thank you’, he really was, truly, at a loss for words.


“You don't need to say anything Andrew.” Mayor said with a smile. “Just know that we are happy to share our town with you, and I would be more than happy to make sure your stay in Ponyville is as comfortable as possible. If you ever need anything, simply come by my office. ” She paused briefly before asking, “How long do you expect your stay to be?”


“In Ponyville? It depends. Maybe a few weeks, but it could easily be a few months.” it all depended on his progress with Twilight. “As for my stay in Equestria, due to… extenuating circumstances, it's going to be indefinite.”


Several audible gasps rang throughout the room. “But I don't mind.” He added. “Honestly it’s best for me to stay here anyways.” He raised a palm as if dismissing their concern. “It's really not a big deal.”


“But what about your friends and family?” A mare asked from the crowd.


His silence was the only answer she received, she didn’t pursue the topic.

***

With the pleasantries out of the way, the library was buzzing with dozens of conversations. Andrew made a beeline for the only thing on his mind right now. Food. He grabbed a disposable paper plate from the corner of the table, and proceeded to grab whatever looked good. His stomach would be killing him later for eating so many sweets, but that was future Andrew’s problem. From the corner of his eye he saw Twilight speaking with her friends, no doubt the topic was about him. He finished stacking his plate and walked over to a round, wooden table in the corner of the room and took a seat.


He grabbed a chocolate glazed donut from his tray and bit into it. It was delicious. Then again, it was a chocolate coated donut, he certainly didn't expect it to be bad unless it had some grass mixed into it. As he chewed on the soft, chocolaty goodness, three children galloped over to his table. “fillies”,he mentally corrected himself.


“Howdy mister!” said the filly in the middle. She had a light yellow coat with a red, ribboned mane. “I'm Applebloom.”


“Scootaloo!” called the orange, purple maned filly to her left.


“Sweetie Belle.” Said the white filly to her right, her mane was a mix of light purple and pink.


Andrew returned the greeting. Unlike every adult he had come across, none of these fillies had a tattoo on their flanks. Upon bringing it up, he was met with confused looks.


“You don’t know what a cutie mark is? Does that mean you still don’t have yours?” Sweetie Belle asked.


He pursed his lips for a moment. “How convenient,” he thought to himself. “No, I don’t have one, is it supposed to be special or something? I've noticed that you three are the only ones without them.” He could see Twilight and her friends looking in his direction a few yards away, likely waiting for his current conversation to end.


Their faces fell, Scootaloo being the first to recover.


“When a pony discovers their special talent, their cutie mark appears on their flank.” Her tone of voice grew more enthusiastic as she went on. “Like, if somepony is really, really, really good at playing the flute, they'll get a flute or music related cutie mark!” The others nodded happily in agreement.


“Then they might join a band!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.


“Or become a traveling musician!” Sweetie Belle followed.


“Oh! Or they could make snakes dance!” Scootaloo said eagerly.


Ok, so cutie marks appear when you discover something you are particularly good at, and it was apparently common to make a career out of it. Fair enough.. But…


“And if they don’t like playing the flute?” He chimed in.


There was a moment of confused silence between the three as they thought.


“That’s not possible!” Scootaloo replied in a confused tone. “Everypony likes being good at something, and I've never heard of sompony having a cutie mark of something they didn’t like.”


“Yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed, “Your cutie mark is always something that you like!”


“Ok, sure,” Andrew relented, “but what if you want to be good at other stuff too?


“You can be good at other things!” Sweetie Belle said. “You just won’t be as good with them as you are your special talent.”


“Wow, that... Kinda sucks,” He stated.


“Why?” They asked in unison.


“Well, what if you find out you're really good at…” He paused, thinking of something that they might understand. “Flying, what if you are good at flying fast, but you get into an accident that paralyzes your wings. You can’t open them, you can’t fold them, they just sorta hang there. What do you do then?”


They were frowning now, Scootaloo looking more aghast than anything else. Noticing the now muted festivities, he looked around. At some point ponies must have begun to listen to his conversation, as he saw similar looks all around, most prominently on the faces of the pegasi. Most of all on Rainbow Dash, who most directly related to his example.


Once they noticed that he was staring back at them, they retracted their many gazes and once again filled the room with their many conversations, now hushed. He took another bite of his donut as Twilight and her friends rushed over and ushered the fillies away.


“What were you thinking!? Twilight scolded in a hushed tone. “They're way too young to be hearing that kind of thing.”


The many mares arranged themselves in a semicircle around the table. Left to right from his perspective stood the white unicorn mare, Dash hovering in the air, the cowgirl mare, the pink mare bobbing up and down excitedly, Twilight, and the shy yellow mare behind her.


“Heavens, those three haven’t even gotten their own cutie marks yet,” Said the white mare with a shiver, “they shouldn’t have it in her head that something so special could be… taken away. Anyways, putting aside that topic, I simply must know where you had your clothes tailored!” She came uncomfortably close to Andrew and peered closely at his jeans. “Twilight informed me that you might be needing some extra clothing, but I doubt that even I could recreate such remarkable stitching.” Noticing the uncomfortable look on his face, she took a step back. “Oh, my apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Rarity, seamstress and proud owner of the Carousel Boutique.” She made a show of bowing slightly. “At your service.”


After he returned the greeting the pink mare bounced with ever increasing fervor. “Oh, oh, is it my turn!?” She called out excitedly before rushing towards him in a blur. Careful not to use his powers lest she run head first into his wall, he opted to step backwards as quickly as his legs could take him. She came to an sudden stop inches from his face.


She inhaled a deep breath, then the words began to flow from her mouth steadily and without pause. “Hi I'm Pinkie Pie but my friends call me Pinkie I'm so sorry I couldn't meet you sooner I just had to make sure eeeeeverypony knew that somepony super duper special is in Equestria or should I say somebody Would it be rude if I said somepony even though you're not a pony then again we say somepony when we talk about zebras and griffons so why not whatever you are wait why don't we ever say anyzebra or anygriffon.”


She finally paused her cascade of words by way of a sharp gasp.


“Oh my gosh, are you a body!? Is that why you're a somebody and not a somepony!?”


Andrew stared wide-eyed at the energetic mare, he looked over at the rest of the mares only to see them chuckling at his expense, as well as some of the other ponies in the room that happened to catch the interaction.


“I forgot to mention,” Twilight said with a grin, “that Pinkie gets quite excited when meeting somepony new, and you being the most “new” thing anything could possibly be in the whole of Equestria doesn't help much.”


“...Right.” Andrew replied as he freed himself from the pink menace. “And no, I am not a ‘body’, I’m a human.” He turned to the rest of what he assumed were the elements of harmony. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say your name has apple in it.” He directed to the stetson wearing mare.


“Well shoot, name’s Applejack, what gave it away?” She asked with a chuckle.


“Definitely not the apples on your sides. Funny thing about your name, where I come from there's a brand of cereal called Applejacks”


“Really? Apple flavored cereal?” She scrunched up her muzzle in thought.


“Well, that’s the thing, they taste nothing like apples. Not even a bit.”


“Then why are they-”


“No idea.” He shrugged. “So, who is the shy one? He gestured towards the butter yellow pegasus hiding behind Twilight.


Dash said, “Come on Shy, say hello to the alien. I woulda thought you would be excited about meeting a never-before-seen human.”


She mumbled something incomprehensible into Twilight’s coat.


“Oh come on,” Dash grumbled as she hovered her way to the shy mare and, with a gentle shove, pried her from her lavender shield. She looked up at Andrew then immediately hid behind her mane.


“Is there something wrong?” Andrew inquired.


“No, she’s just really shy around new ponies.” Dash clarified before leaning her head toward the mare as she mumbled a few more words.


“Really? I don’t see what the big deal is, he’s just a bit tall is all.” Rainbow stated with a shrug.


“Why? What did she say?” Andrew asked.


Dash lowered her tone of voice. “She said that she doesn’t feel safe around you. I mean, she’s shy around just regular strangers, so it’s probably just that you’re an alien stranger that has her all worked up. Don’t worry, she'll come around eventually.”


“Kinda reminds me of those animals at her house.” Andrew started, earning Shy’s attention. “Twilight brought us over there to feed her animals, but nearly all of them ran away when they saw me. The only one that stayed behind was this wolf”


Fluttershy’s ears perked up at at the mention of the wolf, and she raised her head curiously. “Esmeralda? Oh, I hope she didn’t give you any trouble, she doesn’t like most ponies.”


“Really? She was actually pretty nice after I showed her I wasn't going to hurt her or anything.”


“She was!?” She exclaimed, “is… is that normal for,” she tentatively gestured towards him with a hoof, “humans?”


“Well,” Andrew began, “yeah, pretty much every wild animal runs away when they see a human back on Earth. Small animals are just being themselves and running from the big bad predators. Some big animals like bears might not have a problem attacking a human if they’re being territorial or hungry.” He shrugged, “but as far as I know, most animals know how dangerous humans are, so even animals like lions and wolf packs mostly try to avoid us if they can help it.


“So, humans are...” Fluttershy gulped, the action a bit more visual than it probably should be, “dangerous?”


“Well of course, we’re natural predators.” He stated matter-of-factly. “I don’t see how we could have made it this far if we weren’t.”


“And, what exactly do humans usually eat?” Rarity asked. “That is, if you don’t mind my asking of course?”


“Don’t see why I would.” He shrugged and took a moment to think, he grew visibly annoyed at himself and shrugged again. “Everything.”


“Wait what? Whaddya mean everything? Everything everything!? Rainbow questioned.


“Yeah, ok, maybe not everything.” Andrew relented. “We can’t eat grass, hay, or…” He eyed a nearby platter full of sandwiches stuffed with unfamiliar flora. “Flowers.” He finished in a disgusted tone. “But we can eat nearly every kind of fruit, vegetable, fish, or animal. As for what we usually eat. I guess that depends on what part of the world you're in, too many different cultures and stuff… I'm no expert, but off the top of my head, chicken, pork, and beef is more or less everywhere.


Rarity’s otherwise pristine white face turned an unsightly shade of green. “Oh goodness, I'm sorry I asked."


The rest of the mane six elicited similar reactions of varying intensities. Well, all but one.


“What about cake, humans eat cake right?” Pinkie asked in an eager tone.


He nodded. “I'm pretty sure we're the ones that invented cake. No offence, but you're like hundreds of years behind us in technology, and probably everything else not magic related.” He shrugged, “You probably haven't gotten to our level of technology because magic takes care of most things.”


More intrigued than offended, Twilight wanted nothing more than to press Andrew for answers, but there were far more pressing matters that could no longer be postponed. She let her friends know she would be back soon and went off in search of Spike.


“So, if you're supposed to find your special talent on your own without a cutie Mark, have ya found yours yet?” Applejack asked.


Andrew thought for a moment, before looking at his open right palm. He smiled. “Yeah, yeah actually, I have.” He stated with pride.


“Well, what is it?” Rainbow questioned.


“My power is my talent.” He scanned the room, and upon finding a glass pitcher and generic red plastic cups, poured himself a glass. Several ponies eyed the occurrence curiously, while more than a few unicorns did the same in confusion. He set the pitcher back down and levitated the cup across the room to him, passing it right alongside Rarity’s face, making her flinch in surprise. Most ponies in the room were now eyeing the flying cup until it paused in front of Andrew.


“Before I got this, I wasn’t really good at anything. Sure, I got good grades in school, but that was mostly because I had to, or else...” He paused with a grimace. Composing himself right away, he continued. “Well, I had to get good grades, but I don’t play an instrument, I’m not athletic, I didn’t even know what I wanted to study after graduating high school. Then-” he closed his right hand save for the index and middle finger, which he aimed at the floating cup and wiggled back and forth. The cup mimicked the action, its swirling contents rising above the sides of the container, only to rise against an invisible barrier before dropping back down and repeating the process on the other side. “- I got this.”


The cup then turned and spilled its contents into the air, where it splashed against an invisible floor about a foot into its descent, then it swirled around within a quickly filling invisible, cylindrical container.


Andrew heard a few ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’, but his attention was focused solely on exercising his power. “There isn’t any magic where I come from, so it can’t be that. It also doesn’t react very well when affected by magic, so there’s that too.”

“As far as I know, me and two of my friends were the only ones that had this, I still don’t really understand what happened to us when we got this, and I guess now I never will. But anyways, I was a natural compared to them. After the coolness of having telekinesis wore off, they just treated it like a neat skill. But for me, it was the first time I found something I was actually good at, and I didn’t stop practicing.” The water rounded out into a sphere the size of a baseball. “When I started, I couldn't even lift a ball this size without having to rest. Now I can…” He was going to mention how he could lift buses and swat helicopters out of the sky, but then he would have to explain what those things were, what they carried... that would be a mistake. He chose to go with something bit more innocent instead. “Fly. Now I can fly.” He couldn’t hold back a smile. The ball of water flattened and contorted roughly into the shape of a human in a flying superman pose with an undulating, watery cape. “If you asked a group of people what superpower they would choose if they had the option, a good chunk would probably say ‘I wish I could fly’. Sure, we invented machines -planes- that do fly,” The water took on the rough shape of a passenger plane, “but sitting in a huge metal cage with two hundred other people is nothing like soaring through the air on your own. He gestured toward Dash with one hand, and the rest of the room with the other. “I’m sure all the pegasi here can understand the difference between flying by yourself versus in a carriage.” He recalled seeing one making it's way away from Ponyville during the storm.


There were several murmurs and nods of agreement scattered around the room, but even the non-winged guests could understand.


“How fast are they exactly? Rainbow asked. “Those things,” She pointed at the plane shaped blob of water with a hoof. “You said they’re made of metal, so it’s probably hard enough getting them off the ground, let alone going at a decent pace, right?” She asked skeptically.


Andrew shook his head, “No, actually, they're the fastest way to travel. Expensive sure, but nothing that most people can’t afford for distant vacations. I don’t really know any specifics, but the fastest jets could probably fly around the Earth in less than a day if fuel wasn’t an issue.” He shrugged. “Don’t quote me on that though, barely more than a guess. And I’m not even sure how big your planet is, but I don’t really feel any heavier or lighter than back home, so probably not much of a difference if anything.”


He sighed inwardly, he didn’t have stage-fright, nor did he particularly dislike speaking in front of a crowd, but he didn’t want to spend all evening on this. Though he would admit he did bring this upon himself with his rambling. He saw a dark grey hoof shoot up amidst the sea of heads. Caught off guard by the classroom-like experience he hesitated for a moment before pointing at it, as well as giving it a gentle telekinetic tap. It twitched backwards reflexively from the unexpected action as he called out “yes?”


Those who were surrounding the curious guest shuffled around, allowing her and Andrew an unobstructed view of each other as the white maned mare spoke.


“So, this… ability of yours,” she pointed at the water, still in the shape of a plane, “It seems to just be nothing more than telekinesis, yet you can do so much with it, and I’ve never heard of a unicorn able to make themselves fly without a temporary wing growing spell. Humans don’t have cutie marks, but would you consider that to be your special talent?”


He answered flatly and without hesitation, “Definitely.”


You also said that it doesn’t react well with magic, what did you mean by that?” She gave the plane a worried glance.


“Oh no,” he waved her worry away, “it’s not going to explode or anything like that, go ahead and try to move the plane with your magic. Better to have everyone see it for themselves than spread crazy rumors.”


She nodded meekly, then turned toward the plane and enwreathed her horn in grey, there was a very brief moment where a tinge of her aura appeared around the plane before it instantly sizzled and became completely replaced with a white cloud, immediately obscuring the water within. There were a few startled gasps from the crowd as the mare cut off her magic in surprise, and the white cloud quickly dispersed into obscurity, leaving behind a spherical blob that flowed back into the cup that it came from, now being held by Andrew.


“So, yeah, I have no idea exactly why or how, but I guess you could say me and magic just don’t mix. Twilight are I going to try and figure that out while I stay here.


“But, flying without wings… isn’t that cheating?” A tan, grey-maned pegasus stallion asked from the back of the crowd.


The human shrugged in response. “Probably, doesn’t change the fact that I can though.”


Before any further questions could be asked, the doorbell rang, and was promptly answered as a pink blur streaked across the room to answer it. Pinkie swung the door open and, standing on two legs with closed eyes, greeted the newcomer heartily. “Welcome to Andrew’s ‘welcome to Equestria’ party!”


“Thank you Pinkie, I hope I am not too late to the festivities.” Asked Celestia as she entered the building.


“Princess!” Shouted all but Andrew, followed by those present bowing in acknowledgment.


“Please, there is no need for such formalities.” She said in a soft, even tone. Everyone stopped their bowing as she continued, “I am simply a guest here, same as all of you. Our exotic young friend over there should be the center of attention this day.” She gestured to the human across the room as she entered the building. The door closing behind her. “How do you feel about Equestria thus far Andrew?”


He shrugged. “It’s ok so far, besides the magic, it’s more or less just Earth with the contrast turned way up. I mean seriously, how are you all not blinded by the all the color!?”


This earned him a few chuckles, and an amused grin from the alicorn. He could faintly hear Rarity complaining to herself about how she wasn’t ‘dressed for the occasion’.


“I see, so you haven’t run into any problems since you left the hospital?” She asked skeptically.


“Hm? No, not really. besides, it’s only been a day.” He shrugged, “what could possibly happen in twenty-four hours?” He immediately mentally berated himself for saying something so stupid after all that’s happened to him.


Celestia eyed the group of mares next to him, and was about to say something when someone from the crowd beat her to it.


“You’d be surprised mr. Detmer.” Mayor Mare said with a giggle.


“Princess!” Twilight called from atop the stairs, earning the attention of the room. Her face was damp, indicating why she had probably spent so long out of sight. She made her way down the stairs in a hurry while calling out, “I didn’t realize you would be coming today.” She half galloped across the room and upon reaching her mentor, immediately craned her neck up, Celestia returning the gesture in a pseudo equine embrace.


“I do apologize, but do you mind if I borrow you for a moment Andrew?” She asked the human. “There is just something I would like to clear up.” Although the tone of her voice was soft and motherly, and her expression peaceful, it was clear that this ‘talk’ was not at all optional.


“Sure, what about?” He replied.


Celestia chuckled in response, “I wouldn’t be asking to borrow you if I didn’t mean in private.”


Many of the guests laughed quietly as well, but whether they did so because they found the situation humorous, or because they felt the need to laugh alongside their ruler, who could say?


Celestia trotted past Andrew with Twilight in tow. Not needing to be told, he followed suit as well. The rest of the elements began to move as well when Celestia stopped them.


“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, but it would be best if I speak with Andrew and Twilight alone.” They nodded understandably.


While the rest of the room obliviously went back to their previous conversations, the elements gave each other worried looks as they saw the trio make their way up the stairs and into Twilight’s room.


“Whaddya think that was about?” Dash asked.


Rarity said, “Haven’t the slightest clue darling, but I sure hope Andrew hasn’t gotten himself into trouble already.”

***

After reaching the privacy of Twilight’s room, Andrew sat at the edge of the bed, while Twilight and Celestia chose to stand to his left and right, respectively, in a triangle formation.


Celestia's horn shone, followed by the walls of the room, no doubt a sound proofing spell. “So,” Celestia began as the spell finished. “You said that nothing of import occurred since yesterday, are you sure? She questioned.


Andrew furrowed his brow, looking genuinely confused. “Yeah, why?”


Celestia sighed heavily. “Andrew, I know what happened in the Everfree. And I will be the first to thank you for protecting Twilight, but I need to hear about what happened from your perspective.”


“Oh, those wooden wolves? Almost forgot about that with the party going on.”




“Andrew, you killed a timberwolf.” Twilight stated flatly.


Andrew shrugged. “Yeah I guess so. So what? It’s just an animal?”


Twilight's face was aghast with horror. “Just an animal!? How could you be so-”


“Twilight! Enough!” Celestia snapped. She turned back to Andrew. “Humans are omnivores, correct?


“Yeah.”


“And do you happen to know the global population of your species? Or at least the population of your village?"


“City.” Andrew corrected.


“City?”


“Yeah, it’s mostly cities and towns, not many villages in this day and age, unless you happen to live in an underdeveloped part of the world. As for the global population, it reached seven billion as of last year, it was all over the news..


The alicorn found it difficult to stifle a gasp. “S-seven billion? As in, with a b, not million?”


“Billion.” Andrew insisted.


“But how!?” Twilight exclaimed. “How can you reliably feed seven billion mouths!?”


Andrew shrugged. “Well, not all seven billion people have immediate access to food, but for the countries that do, we just use farms, same as you.”


Ignoring the insinuation that the poorer countries are ignored by those with wealth, Celestia continued the questioning. “And how exactly do you have enough space for the number of animals needed to feed such a population?”


Andrew bit his lip, looking for a way to say it without actually saying it.


“Well?” Twilight chimed.


“We’re very, umm.” He paused again for a moment. “Efficient?”


Twilight covered her mouth as she gagged. The implications were as obvious as they were numerous.


“I see. Celestia hummed softly. “And with the species of your world not being sapient, I assume they have no say in the matter?”


The human shrugged again. “We gotta eat right?” Though he would admit that many countries actually produce more food than they need, he would rather not divulge that bit of trivia.


Twilight growing visibly greener. “That’s. That is the most-”


“Twilight,” her mentor interrupted, “humans are omnivores, and with such an inordinately large population, they likely face trouble trying to balance land used for residential, urban, and food growing purposes. They are clearly predators at heart, and as such they look at the world in a way that is fundamentally different from how we do. We have to try give Andrew the benefit of the doubt.


“I’ve been explaining ‘human things’ all for a while now, is this going to go on for much longer?”


“Apologies,” Celestia said with a smile, “I simply wished to understand why you did what you did, and I believe I now know, thank you.”


He raised a brow in response, “Really? Why did I do what did?”


“Simple,” she started, “there was something threatening your life, and you reacted accordingly, as any other predator would.”


Andrew frowned, “I think you're oversimplifying it.” His life was in almost zero danger...


She smiled, “perhaps, but I believe that is the heart of it. Again, I thank you for protecting my student.” She turned towards her pupil, who splayed her ears and lowered her head under the gaze. “It's not just about cultural differences this time Twilight, Andrew is a completely different species from a world where his kind are the only sapient race, on top of being apex predators of said world. There will no doubt be many conflicting opinions between our cultures. I am sure most of which can be cleared up with a simple question, without the help of one of Equestria’s rulers.”


Twilight mumbled an apology.


“Hindsight is twenty-twenty Twilight, I understand your concern, but again, next time I’m sure it would be better to simply address your worries with Andrew directly. Right Andrew?” She looked back to the human, who was idly twirling a strand of his hair in between his fingers.


He nodded back, seemingly disinterested in the fact that Twilight had gone behind his back to arrange this.


“Also, try to keep your experiments away from the Everfree for the time being, although it was made clear today that Andrew has significant control over his abilities, I think it would do more good to exercise such talent in the safety of the basement.”


Twilight apologized again, this time directed at Andrew.


“It’s fine.” He said, finding the situation awkward and not wanting to prolong it any further.


The spell faintly glowing against the walls of the room fell as Celestia made her way to the door. Opening it with her magic. “Now then,” she said as she looked back at the two, “I believe there is a party to attend.”

***

It had been several hours since the last guest had left the library. Many even checked out a book or two that at some point caught their attention, much to Twilight’s excitement. The cleanup also proved trivial with Andrew’s talent and Twilight’s magic. There would be no tests tomorrow -Wednesday-, as it would be dedicated to more formally introducing him to the rest of the elements. Honestly though, he was mainly interested in visiting Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, as his need for fresh clothes was growing more and more with each passing day, all he could do currently was ask Spike to wash his clothes while he showered. He had no money of his own to pay for Rarity’s services, but with the element’s, especially Twilight’s, close relationship with the ruling diarchy, he figured money would be a non-issue.


Unfortunately, new body coverings were the least of his worries at the moment. Right now, he was cursing past Andrew for his terrible judgment. It was probably around eleven pm now, everyone else had already gone to bed, and he was eager to sleep in tomorrow, unfortunately, he was stuck... Sitting. After Celestia’s sound dampening spell from earlier in the day, he exercised his imagination to try and mimic the ability with his own power. Recalling that sound can’t travel in a vacuum, he created a “bubble” encasing his corner of the… room. He created the sound proofing effect by creating a regular bubble, then splitting it into two separated layers, one expanding and the other shrinking, making sure to leave no gaps along the edges. The end effect was two “solid” layers separating him from the rest of the room, and a vacuum in between the layers. The air didn’t grow very stale as there was a rather large potted plant next to him, but that also meant it trapped other in as well.


This was the last time he stuffed himself with a dozen alien chocolate donuts and called that dinner.