The Last Descendant

by Cup of Coffee

Chapter 34 - Not Like Home (Edited by JBL)

I had never been much of a reader, but there have been exceptions such as The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, as well as a few others. What they all had in common was magic. Honestly, the cover of the book could have a sticker on it that said ‘contains magic’, and it would have immediately caught my eye.

Now that I had a book in front of me that went into detail concerning actual magic, the first uses of magic, as well as its history… Well, I couldn’t stop reading. The fact that I now knew magic was real added another layer, namely reality, to the experience.

The book I was perusing concerned the history of magic as well as the first discovered spells. A warning was printed on the third page, stating that most of what was known of early unicorn society wasn’t entirely accurate, even the magic contained in the book. However, some time before the unification of the three tribes, some sources were considered somewhat valid, which lent some credibility to the book. With the invention of an alphabet and preserved writings found written on ancient scrolls, or engraved on thin wooden boards and carved into stone or metal, ancient history had been preserved.

I found it strange how the first kingdoms came to be in this world, compared to early human civilizations. Some of the oldest kingdoms existed thousands of years before the pyramids of Egypt were built. According to the author, the earliest theorized kingdom, at least among ponykind, was an earth pony dominion whose foundation was at least eight thousand six hundred years ago, according to ancient stone carvings. That beat the Mesopotamian civilization by over three thousand years! Then again, all I had to go by was human history, and I had no idea if humanity developed faster or slower compared to all other races. Still, even though the history of the first ponies was of some interest, the main topic of the book was much more appealing.

Magic had always existed, but it hadn’t been named as such until roughly 8400 years ago at the age of the first unicorn kingdoms, when a group of unicorns built a temple devoted to the study of the power they held. The ‘power’ the unicorns were familiar with was named magic, and the unicorns proclaimed themselves descendants of the gods, as common belief at the time was that only gods could use magic. Further study of magic revealed that the ritual the unicorns used to raise the sun and moon was actually magic being funnelled into the celestial bodies by thousands of unicorns at once. Later on, the belief that unicorns were descendants of gods simply faded as it was discovered that all creatures had magic within them.

As time progressed, an academy was founded and unicorns gathered to teach, learn, study, and develop their powers further. This in turn gave rise to the creation of spells. Some unicorns already knew several spells, but they were loath to teach their secrets to others, preferring to keep their powers to themselves. However, in time, they eventually were revealed. With the founding of the academy, the teaching of spells became commonplace, giving rise to an aristocracy of unicorns with powerful abilities, usually in the form of cutie marks and the boons they provided.

According to the book, the earliest known spell that unicorns learned was telekinesis, which was the ability to manipulate one object or several through magic alone. There was also the first offensive spell ever created, a bolt of magic that struck its target with pure energy. There were several variants created in the centuries to come. A shield spell was later developed to protect oneself from spells.

The development of spells, teaching, learning, creating, and study of magic continued for thousands of years, all the way until the unification of the three tribes, and still carried on to modern day. However, the truly golden age lasted over a thousand years, from 1250 PU (Pre-Unification) until 250 AU (After Unification). This age was referred to as the Pre-Classical era, in which many powerful unicorns lived and taught their craft, the most famous of them being one Star Swirl the Bearded of the Galaxy family.

Even the part about my ancestor I couldn’t skip over, not when I saw how much about his magic had been detailed. Star Swirl had indeed been a legend in his own time. While he had mastered Illusions, offensive, and defensive magic, and problem solving with ease, Star Swirl was best known for being a conjurer, a genius when it came to magic. He mastered every spell he came across and could outperform archwizards at a young age. He was also known for having an analytical mind, as well as being both powerful and resourceful. At the age of thirty-four, he became the youngest archwizard ever of the Golden Horn Guild, a high-ranking society of wizards in Unicornia.

Even though my animosity for Star Swirl hadn’t abated, I couldn’t help but be impressed by his feats. The book had an entire chapter dedicated to that bearded goat, praising him for both his wisdom and power. After reading the entire chapter, I had the distinct feeling that the author probably had a hard-on for Star Swirl’s long dead ass, what with the constant fangirling.

I was about to delve into the secrets of basic spell-casting in the new chapter when someone laid a hoof on my shoulder. Being so engrossed with the book, I didn’t notice anyone was there until Twilight’s face appeared before my own.

“Hellooo? Are you there?” she asked, waving a hoof before my eyes, snapping me back to reality.

“Yeah. Sorry, I was...um...” Laughing slightly, I held the book up to her. “Do you know how awesome this is?” I placed it down and sighed contently. “It’s like… all the things I’ve ever imagined falling into place. I just can’t stop reading.”

Spike picked up the book and looked at the cover. “We noticed. You were even more out of it than Twilight when she’s in her zone,” he commented.

I placed a slip of paper onto the open page as a bookmark before closing it. “It’s different from other books, especially when you know magic is real.” I rolled my head side to side, standing and stretching my legs and arms. “Knowing that it’s real and not fantasy makes it so much more appealing to me. It makes me think of possibilities.”

“And now you’re starting to sound like somepony I know.” Spike eyed Twilight knowledgeably.

She smiled and laughed. “I have to agree, you sound pretty enthusiastic about magic. I wouldn’t bet against you deciding to study magic somewhere.”

I shrugged. Maybe someday I could find someone willing to teach me, but I had my priorities set in stone for the moment: first a job, then someplace to live.

“Anyway, was there something you wanted to talk about, Twilight?” I doubted she would interrupt my reading without reason.

“I was about to suggest we go for a walk around Ponyville so that I can show you around. The sun will set soon, and I thought we could swing by Sugarcube Corner on our way back. What do you say?”

I nodded in agreement. “Sure, I need to stretch my legs anyway.” I didn’t say it, but I also needed to familiarize myself with the town. Although Ponyville wasn’t huge, there were enough roads and houses that one could easily take a wrong turn somewhere.

With Spike on her back, Twilight led the way out of the castle. The moment we stepped outside, I saw that we’d been in the castle for hours already. The sun was about to set, colouring the sky in various shades of red and yellow.

“How long has it been since lunch?” I asked while following Twilight, who seemingly had a destination in mind already.

“About five hours. You seemed pretty engrossed in the book, so I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

‘Huh. Well, it was an interesting book after all.’

I followed Twilight while she told me about the town itself. The streets were emptying, occasionally encountering a few ponies on their way home. Some of them were even polite enough to greet me. While I appreciated their words, I kept wondering if their welcoming nature was true or simply a facade. In the end, I decided I didn’t care. After all, I was merely visiting. It wasn’t like I was looking for real estate anyway.

Twilight guided me around Ponyville, first showing me town hall and the market, which by now was almost empty. Although a princess, Twilight told me that Mayor Mare effectively ran the town, even admitting that being in charge of Ponyville required skills that she didn’t possess. I suppose that being an all-powerful alicorn didn’t mean she succeeded at everything she tried her hand at. Or hoof.

Moving on, we wandered onto the outskirts of town. What I first assumed to be an ordinary forest turned out to be the apple orchard that belonged to Applejack and her family. There were hundreds of trees as far as the eye could see, all of them laden with fruit that would soon be ready for harvesting. According to my guide, Applejack’s family were the first ponies to settle on this land, bequeathed to them by Princess Celestia herself. While looking over the enormous orchard, I wondered what Applejack would teach me while I spent time with her. Knowing that running a farm required hard work, I had no doubt that some manual labour was in my future. It suited me just fine since Canterlot had made me a bit lazy.

Continuing on our trek through town, I spotted something strange on the outskirts—a lone cloud hanging about fifty meters above ground with rainbows pouring from it like waterfalls. It was the same cloud I remembered seeing from my room in Twilight’s castle.

I stopped and squinted at the peculiar sight. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the cloud.

“Rainbow’s house,” Spike answered. “Rainbow Dash is the only pony in town to have a cloud house.”

“A cloud house?” I scratched my head in confusion. Sure, I knew about Cloudsdale, and I knew that pegasi constructed houses there, but I imagined something more solid for building materials. “How does that work?”

At this point, Professor Sparkle spoke up. “All pegasi can manipulate clouds, but they can also shape them. They can create thunder clouds, rain clouds, and even make fog, but building houses requires densely packed clouds in order to prevent rain from falling through and isolate against cold, wind, and heat.”

I stared expressionless at the professor. “So… pegasus magic?”

“Basically, yes, passive magic in their case, same as earth ponies.” Twilight chuckled.

I remembered reading about magic in ponies. While earth ponies, pegasi, and bat ponies had something called passive magic, unicorns had active magic, meaning they only used a significant amount of magic when casting. At the same time, all ponies continually used a small amount of magic, whether they wanted to or not. In the case of unicorns, their magic drain was significantly higher. It was the same reason I had suffered for so long, as had my grandfather and possibly my mother.

We moved on, Twilight pointing out various businesses and stores. For such a small town, there was actually a fair bit of them as well, though they lacked the neon signs and obnoxious billboards back home. I noticed that most of the stores specialized in one thing or the other, such as one called Quills and Sofas. That was an odd combination. There was also a store called Barnyards Bargains that was like a miniature supermarket, though with a much sparser selection.

Twilight also showed me Rarity’s store, aptly named the Carousel Boutique. The building had an interesting architectural design, having a cylindrical shape with decorative pillars and sculptures on the outside as well as being very colourful. In my own opinion, the paint job was a bit too garish for my taste.

We didn’t venture inside. Seeing as the lights were off, she was probably not home. Moving on, we once again came to the outskirts of town and walked along a dirt trail. It didn’t take long for us to reach an idyllic location where a cottage in a small clearing with a few trees around it was located. The cottage itself looked more like a tree, what with all the leaves and greenery growing on the roof. Not only that, but the house and the surrounding trees were covered in birdhouses. Out of all the places in Ponyville I had seen so far, this place looked so peaceful and calm that it made me relax almost instantly.

“I’m guessing that Fluttershy lives here,” I told Twilight.

“That’s her place. How did you know?”

I looked at the birdhouses, listening to the various sounds of animals around us. “Just a hunch.”

Seeing that Fluttershy wasn’t home either—along with Discord, lucky me—we decided to head back into town. While walking, I looked up at the sky. Finally the sun had set, its final rays fading from the mountains in the distance. Mere seconds after the sun's rays were gone, the moon rose over the mountains, bathing them in soft light. ‘Idyllic,’ I thought to myself, ‘yet the sisters makes it look so easy. Celestia said they aren’t goddesses, but seeing their powers at work makes me wonder. Maybe they really are goddesses and just said they weren’t to put me at ease.’

We reached the marketplace and walked down a wide street until the most bizarre building I had ever seen came into view, a house that would fit right in in Wonderland. It was a tall three storey building with what looked like gingerbread for roof tiles, candy canes as pillars next to the entrance door, and cake frosting on the roof. The cherry on top was the uppermost floor that looked like a cupcake complete with fake candles.

‘Yup, that’s Diabetes Corner right there,’ I thought to myself in amusement. I had noticed that ponies had some interesting architectural choices popping up now and then. This building took the cake. Literally.

The lights were off for some reason. Maybe it was closed? After all, the sun had set. “Doesn’t look like it’s open anymore,” I said, turning to Twilight. She and Spike looked at me with smiles on their faces.

“Maybe somepony is here? Why don’t you open the door and have a look,” Twilight suggested.

I shrugged, seeing no harm in doing so as I slowly pushed open the door. The entire room was so dark that I could barely make out a few shapes.

“Hello? Are you guys still open?” I called out into the dark.

As soon as I uttered those words, the light was flipped on, ponies jumping out from behind the counter, tables, chairs, and whatever they could find to hide behind. Pinkie leapt from behind the counter, landing in front of me, balancing on her hind legs and smiling as wide as she could while confetti and streamers rained from the ceiling.

“Surprise!” all the ponies cheered.

A loud slam echoed around me, and for several silent seconds, I just stared at the door I had closed, attempting to figure out what the hell had just happened. The room going from dark to bright didn’t surprise me, but the ponies had managed to.

Problem was, if this is what I thought it to be, then I was way out of my comfort zone.

I slowly turned around and stared at the pony and baby dragon standing behind me. Twilight and Spike looked back at me, their smiles gradually shrinking when they saw my own expressionless face.

“What’s going on?” I asked flatly while crossing my arms.

Smiling awkwardly, Twilight said, “A surprise party for you. Pinkie’s been planning this ever since she met you back in Canterlot. She does this for everypony that visits town.”

I stayed silent, contemplating the situation. ‘A surprise party. For me. Oh no... Nonono! Crap! I never asked for this.’

“Do… Do you not like it?” Twilight asked, sounding and looking as if she was on unfamiliar ground. Even Spike looked uncomfortable. “I admit that I don’t know anything about human parties or festivities, but—”

I sighed and held up my hand as I stepped away from the door. “Don’t get me wrong, I do like a party.”

Twilight smiled. “Great! Then we can head inside and—”

“Small parties, Twilight, small. And with people I know.” I nodded towards the door. “There’s no one inside that I really know.”

Twilight gave me a confused look. “But Pinkie arranged this party for you. She’s there, and so is Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Spike and I will also be here. We know you.”

“In my own opinion, not nearly enough to warrant a party, not like the people I know best. And the others in there I’ve never seen before.” I may have sounded harsh, but at least I was honest. As for the party? I disliked large gatherings, to be frank. Whenever I had thrown a get-together, I only invited people I knew well, such as my friends and other people I had known for a long time. Grandfather never had to worry about me filling the house with drunken teens whenever I was young and he went away for the weekend. I had always had a low max limit to how many people I invited, and I liked it that way. Having twenty or thirty people in one house just made everything noisy.

The creaking of the door caught our attention. Pinkie pushed it open and stood in the doorway with a puzzled look on her face. “Did we surprise you? I’m sorry. You shut the door so quickly that I thought we scared you,” she said, looking all innocent.

I knew very well what I was sent to Ponyville to do; learn. However, attending parties was not part of that, as far as I knew. I shook my head. “No, Pinkie, you didn’t scare me. But about the party…” I paused for a moment to carefully collect my thoughts. Poor kid probably went to a lot of trouble to make all this happen. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not coming.”

Pinkie gasped. With how her ears drooped and the miserable look in her eyes, as well as how her mane appeared to lose some of its volume, it was as though I had physically struck her.

“W-Why?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Is it the balloons? Too many? I can remove some if you like. Maybe I can get rid of some of the streamers if you hate streamers too. A-And the cupcakes, cookies, and games. W-We don’t need to eat or drink or listen to music or play fun games if you hate them. We c-can find o-o-other ways to have fun.”

Needless to say, seeing Pinkie Pie on the verge of tears caused shards of guilt to pierce my conscience. She looked like a kid witnessing her favourite toys being destroyed before her very eyes. I had to try to salvage the situation.

I knelt in front of her, looking into her eyes. I even managed a smile. “No, Pinkie, I’m sure the party you’ve prepared is pretty good. The thing is, I don’t need a party. I don’t want a party. I’m perfectly fine without one.”

She looked at me with teary eyes, further inflating my sense of guilt. “But I a-always throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for everypony that visits. Even when Gilda was mean, she came to the party I threw for her.”

“I don’t know who this Gilda is, but let me tell you a little thing about me.” I placed my hands on her withers, giving a very light squeeze, hoping she would interpret it as comforting. This mare needed to hear it all—perhaps then she would understand. “I don’t like big parties, especially the ones where I don’t know anyone.”

“But you know us! Aren’t we f-friends?”

“Knowing someone, or in this case, somepony for less than a week doesn’t make us friends. Maybe that is how it is for you ponies, but for humans like me, making friends takes longer.”

Pinkie looked even more devastated. “We… We aren’t friends?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. Acquaintances maybe, but not friends. As I said, it takes longer for people like me.”

The look of saddened disbelief on Pinkie’s face told me that I had made things even worse. Her ears drooped even lower and her mane lost more of its volume, almost like a balloon deflating.

She took a few steps backwards, away from my hands. “Okay.” It was disconcerting how hollow her voice was, when compared to its normal cheeriness. “I… I’ll tell everypony that the party's cancelled. I just… thought we were friends since, you know, you were nice and I gave you hugs to make you feel better when you were sad.” She turned around and walked towards the door. “But I just made a mistake, that’s all.”

A few curious onlookers had gathered at the door, Rainbow and Applejack being two of them. When Pinkie walked in, they immediately noticed her stricken look and began to ask what had happened. I didn’t hear the answer before Pinkie shut the door.

Sighing, I stood up and put my hands in my pockets. I felt bad for saying I didn’t want to come, especially since Pinkie took it as a personal offense, but I would have felt even worse being forced to go to her party. After all, it was only a party. I couldn’t understand why she took this so seriously.

“So… that’s that, I guess.” I looked to Twilight and Spike, both of them seemingly disgruntled. “What? I just told her that I didn’t want a party. I didn’t know she was planning one.”

Sounding unhappy, Twilight merely said that we should wait there and headed inside, leaving Spike and me alone. “Nice. Way to go, Magnus,” the little dragon snarked, crossing his arms.

“What? I just said that I didn’t want a party. Is it against the law to say no?” I was getting genuinely confused by now.

With a sigh, Spike turned to me, giving me the stink eye. “No, Magnus, it’s not against the law. Ponies can say no if they want to. But Pinkie’s been planning this for almost a week. She’s the Element of Laughter and loves making ponies laugh and smile. It’s who she is; it’s even her cutie mark. She throws parties regularly just because she wants to. If somepony’s sad, she’ll go out of her way to cheer them up.”

He huffed as he pointed a claw at me. “Look at you, at what has happened to you lately. You’ve lost just about everything that matters to you. Your friends, your home, your home planet even. You’re stuck here… for life. Anypony would be sad if that happened to them. We’ve all seen you this last week, you know. There’re times when you get this faraway look in your eyes, and we all know that you’re thinking about your home.”

His irritated look faded as he turned towards Sugarcube Corner, his voice losing some of its sting. “Pinkie has seen you too. She knows you’re sad, and she wants to make you feel better. She can’t stand seeing anypony unhappy, so you were like a beacon to her. She knew you needed some cheering up, so she put this party together for you.” With a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumped. “And you just told her that you didn’t want a party. You rejected her offer to make you feel a little bit better.” He looked up at me. “So, yeah. But it’s your decision.”

For a long while, I couldn’t do much more than just look at Spike. A baby dragon he was, but hell, he was much older mentally than I could imagine. Heck, he even gave me flashbacks to a few times I had really disappointed my grandpa and got a stern talking to. Not the ‘son, I am angry,’ but the ‘son, I am disappointed’ version. The way Spike explained it made me sound like a Grade A asshole.

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. How could this happen just by saying I didn’t need a party? If I knew beforehand, I could have explained it to Pinkie in a way she might have understood. Now she was upset because of me, not to mention all the hard work she had no doubt put into this. The rest of the ponies in there probably knew about it by now, and it would likely turn them against me. The last thing I needed was being known as the alien that made Pinkie Pie cry.

“Spike.” The little dragon turned around and looked up at me. I stared at the door to the store, wondering if this could work. “If I went inside, apologized to Pinkie, and said I wanted to attend her party, would that salvage the situation?”

Spike thought about for a moment, looking at me quizzically. “Are you being honest right now?”

I shook my head lightly. “No, I really don’t want to go, but making the bubbliest mare in town cry will make the rest think I’m some sort of monster.”

“So just pretending, right? Faking it? Lying?” Despite his young age, Spike was good at giving me a disapproving glare.

“Saving what’s left of my reputation which has almost been destroyed after being in Ponyville for less than twelve hours,” I answered calmly.

Spike glared at me for moment, then put his claws under his chin. “Fine, fine. Honestly, I don’t think it’ll work, but you could at least try. Give it some effort, try to have fun, maybe you’ll like the party.”

“I can try…” I walked to the door, trying to come up with a decent apology. A few options came to mind quickly, but I decided that I should just be honest and try to enjoy myself. I doubted I could, what with so many strangers around me.

Knocking loudly on the door, I waited with bated breath for someone to open. It only took a few seconds. An earth pony mare opened the door, looking downright furious when she saw me. She was a bit chubby, had a light blue coat, her light red mane and tail reminding me of cake frosting.

“What do you want?” she asked harshly. I looked behind her; the store was filled with ponies of all types. In their midst stood Pinkie, being comforted by Fluttershy and her friends surrounding her. Most of them didn’t seem happy at my presence, least of all Pinkie’s friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash especially.

I looked down at the mare again. “I want to apologize to Pinkie.” Her glare did not diminish. “Spike explained a few things to me, about Pinkie and what she does around town and for everybody here. Can I talk to her please?”

The mare shot me one final acidic look before glancing over her withers towards Pinkie. She had stopped crying and sat on her rump, wiping away a few tears with her hooves while focusing on me. Fluttershy sat next to her, a wing draped over her back. Standing up, Pinkie walked over to stand next to the mare.

“It’s okay, Mrs Cake, I want to hear what he has to say.” Pinkie attempted a smile, though it was obviously difficult for her to do so.

The chubby mare huffed at me, but smiled warmly as she looked to Pinkie. “Okay, Pinkie, but just say the word and I’ll throw him out.” With that said, she went back to the crowd and stood next to a skinny, yellow, earth pony.

I sat down on the floor right in front of Pinkie and looked into those large blue orbs, searching for the right words. I had never been a good speaker, and with such a crowd gathered, the words didn’t come as easily as I hoped.

“Pinkie,” I began quietly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how much all of this, this party and stuff, means for you. Spike told me that you give everyone a party like this if they’re new to Ponyville.”

She nodded softly and sniffled. “I do. Everypony gets a ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville-Party’. That way they can meet and befriend us if they don’t know anypony already living here. It’s my way of welcoming them.” She added a small smile at her last sentence.

“And that you try to cheer everybody up.”

“I don’t like sadness,” Pinkie replied. A melancholy look passed over her face so quickly that I barely saw it. “When somepony is sad, they’re not happy, and when they aren’t happy, they miss out on smiling, laughing, playing, singing, and so much more.”

Just hearing Pinkie explain it like that, it sounded as if she had been fighting depression sometime in the past. She knew a lot about not being able to smile. “I didn’t know you do all those things,” I explained. “And I certainly didn’t know you planned a party for me. See, I’m one of those types that prefer small parties, the type where I know everyone. If there’re too many people there, I feel uncomfortable, and if I don’t know anyone there, it’s even worse. I had few friends back on Earth—I only had my closest friends—those who were like siblings to me. Of course, I had other friends as well, but they were not as close to me as my ‘siblings’.”

Pinkie continued to stare up at me, her disquiet still evident on her face. “Is… Is that why you said we weren’t friends?” She sniffled. “Just… acquaintances? Because you haven’t spent much time with us?”

I nodded slowly. “For humans, it takes time before we call someone friends. There are some who gain friends easily, but I’m not one of them. For me, it takes time. Even because of everything Celestia and Luna have done for me, I’m not sure if I can call them friends or simply allies.”

“But they helped you,” Pinkie protested quietly.

“Yes, they did, and they’ve helped me a lot. But… things take time. I’m not used to everything in this world yet. It will take a lot of time and effort before I can call this world my new home, and because I’m not quite comfortable around ponies yet, I think it will take time before I can call a pony my friend.”

“You have to try! You can’t be friendless!” Pinkie stated rather fiercely.

I chose to avoid answering Pinkie’s statement. If only she knew how many people went through their entire lives alone back on Earth. With how adamant she was about friends, telling her about it would probably devastate her.

However, our conversation had gotten somewhat off-track. “Now that you know more about me and my reasons for not wanting a party, do you accept my apology?”

I expected some time for her think, for her to wonder if she should accept or reject my apology as all people do. After all, it was only natural. What I didn’t expect was her mane to instantly regain its volume, followed by a strange inflating sound as she grinned as if she’d just received the greatest news of all time.

“Of course I do, Maggy!” she exclaimed animatedly. Giggling, she threw her forelegs around my neck, taking me completely by surprise. “Friends forgive, but we aren’t friends yet, but I know we will be. We’ll just have to work on it.”

Her sudden change of mood left me uncertain of what to say, so instead I chose to pat her back and neck gently. I was glad to see her return to her usual smiling self. While she giggled up a storm, promising that we would indeed be the best of friends and calling me Maggy all the time, I looked to the crowd. They all seemed relieved that the situation had been solved. Even the chubby mare seemed happy with the outcome.

“—and we’ll have picnics and play hide-and-seek and I can teach you how to bake all types of yummy cakes and we’ll decorate them with frosting that says ‘future best friends’ and—Oh, do you know how to make human cakes? I don’t, so you have to teach me and...” Pinkie went on and on, seemingly having already planned out how she and I were supposed to spend our day. With all the activities she had in mind, we would need a few weeks at best.

“Yeah, that sounds great, Pinkie.” I patted her neck again and gave her a slight push backwards, trying to pry her away from me. She got the message and stepped back, her grin still in place.

“Awww,” came the sound of the crowd watching us. They looked genuinely happy that Pinkie and I had reconciled. I was as well, seeing how happy Pinkie was again, but more so, I was relieved that I had dodged a proverbial bullet. If Pinkie became depressed because of me, word would soon spread to the entire town that I was to blame. Making enemies was not what I was here to do.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie cheered before freezing in place. “Wait! The party!” She looked to me, her smile shrinking slightly. “Will you still come to the party?”

More than anything, I wanted to leave, to go somewhere else and relax. I sighed as I looked the ponies waiting for my answer. Pinkie’s friends also looked quizzically at me, wondering what my answer would be. Spike had also entered the store, standing next to Rarity.

“Being here with so many would make me feel uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, I’m not comfortable at all right now.” I turned to Pinkie and sighed again. “But I will at least try.” I allowed myself to crack a small smile.

Even for such a little mare, Pinkie’s gleeful cheering was louder than a foghorn. And twice as adorable.

***

With everything settled, I had to take a look at what Pinkie had managed to put together in such a short amount of time. What she’d whipped up was nothing short of impressive. There was a veritable mountain of food and drink available for all: cakes, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, candies even, all decorated with enough frosting and sugar to make Willy Wonka depressed. Knowing that Pinkie worked at this bakery, I now had a pretty good idea of what drove her behaviour. Being around all this sugar all day, I guess that Pinkie’s blood sugar levels must be somewhere around pure sugar and thin cake frosting. As for drinks, she served various fruit juices, punch, soda, and other colourful liquids that smelled quite sweet and aromatic.

When it came to decorations, she had plenty of streamers and confetti just about everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling was a banner that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ in vivid letters. If that wasn’t enough, she had enough balloons around the house that it looked like she was trying to recreate Up. In addition, Pinkie had also set up some games for ponies to play, of which Pin the Tail was rather popular, judging by the amount of ponies that wanted to play.

A steady throb of bass resounded from a corner where a spiky-haired, sunglasses-wearing DJ had set up her turntable and speakers. The mare gave me a lazy salute when I walked by. I found it funny that the music the ponies played sounded so much like the sort you would find in a club back on Earth.

Being used to human parties and what you would usually find at one, I went to look for the one thing you could always seek refuge in, namely alcohol. A cold beer sounded just the ticket, though I could settle for a glass of wine. I eventually made my way back to the refreshment table.

However, there was none. No beer. No wine. No vodka. No whisky. I made a round around the table, sampling every liquid on display. Nothing contained alcohol. I knew from my reading in Canterlot that ponies actually made beer, wine, and the like, so I knew alcoholic beverages existed. Here, it was completely absent. Perhaps it was some part of their customs? That parties were to be free of alcohol? Honestly, it sounded dumb. Alcohol was a staple of parties, wherever you were.

Then it finally dawned on me, and I admitted to myself that I should have noticed sooner. The balloons, the streamers, the pastries, the fruity drinks, the games for kids… This wasn’t a party for adults—it was for kids. How come I didn’t notice sooner?

Realizing that my plans for a human party were out of the question, I resigned to just enjoying myself. I grabbed a cupcake and a glass of apple-flavoured soda and sat down at a table to enjoy the baked goods, and imagined myself being at a party back home. A real one, with beer and great music coming out of the speakers, specifically 80’s rock and metal. Damn, the 80’s had some good music.

However, my imagination failed me. It all was so bizarre; colourful equines all around, chatting with each other, sugary baked goods, equally sugary non-alcoholic drinks, human-sounding beats that were in fact not human at all. I felt like I was a guest at some extremely bizarre kid’s birthday party, and worst of all was that I felt increasingly out of place as each minute ticked by. And it was about to get worse.

All the while, I had plastered a smile on my face. It was as fake as my desire to be at this party. Even though Twilight and her friends were only a mere arm's length away, they couldn’t tell that my smile wasn’t genuine. They even came up to me and asked me if I had a good time, asking if they could get me anything. I had noticed that ponies had problems reading my body language, especially my face. I had no such problems, what with pony’s facial expressions being so clear. Unfortunately, ponies took my false smile as an invite to come up to me and have a chat.

One by one, ponies came to me to say hello and introduce themselves. They were all polite and as curious as one could imagine. Amongst them was a local candy maker, a doctor, a nurse, along with a female cellist of some fame. Interestingly, she was friends with the head-bobbing DJ, whose name I got from Rainbow Dash. There was also Lyra Heartstrings, a unicorn who was also a musician. For some strange reason, the mare never looked me in the eye, instead focusing on my hands. I knew that minotaurs only had eight fingers compared to my ten, so perhaps she found it interesting or simply strange. Mr and Mrs Cake, the owners of Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie’s employers, also stopped by to chat with me. Mrs Cake apologized for her anger earlier though I didn’t blame her, instead mentioning cultural and personal differences, as well as opposing personalities when it came to parties.

I had to give it to them; the Ponyville ponies collectively did their best to make me feel welcome. Not once did I hear a single bad word or name thrown my way the entire evening. However, I still grew more uncomfortable as the party progressed, especially when a few requested photos of them with me. After the party had progressed for perhaps an hour and a half, maybe even two, I felt that I had reached my limit. Here I sat, a grown ass man, at a party I didn’t want in the first place, surrounded by equally adult sentient ponies playing kids’ games! I looked around, taking in how bizarre it all appeared. It was just another reminder of how different we were.

I was currently seated at a table, pretending to listen to a random couple talking about something that had happened recently. What the story was about, I had no idea, having long since filtered out their voices.

“—and then Caramel managed to spill the seeds. Again!” the mare said as the stallion next to her began laughing. I just cracked a smile and nodded in fake amusement.

I emptied my glass of punch and looked towards the clock on the wall, noting that it was already half-eight. Good enough. Now I just had to find Pinkie and thank her for the party, then tell Twilight that I was going back to the castle.

“Well, it’s almost getting late and I think I should be going to bed soon. Pretty sure Princess Twilight won’t let me sleep in tomorrow,” I said as I stood up from the table. “Thanks for the company. I’m sure we’ll meet again. Good night.”

Both the mare and the stallion gave me a smile and bade me good night as I left their table. Twilight was the closest to me, currently talking with Rarity and Applejack, so I headed towards her.

“Hey, can I interrupt you all for just a moment? I need to talk with Twilight,” I said upon reaching the three mares.

“Sure.” Twilight followed me over to an unoccupied corner. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

I crouched next to her. “Listen, this party is nice and all, but I just want to go back to the castle.”

“You want to leave already?” Twilight looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s still early.”

“Yeah, I know it’s early, but I just want to leave.” Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but I quickly continued, “If you have the keys for the doors, I can let myself in and leave them open for you and Spike.”

Twilight looked like she wanted to object for a moment before sighing. “Okay, if you’re sure you want to leave, then we can leave. Let me find Spike first.”

“Good. I’ll need to thank Pinkie for the party before we leave.”

Twilight went back to Rarity and Applejack, probably to say goodnight to them before finding Spike. I went looking for the pink party pony, and she wasn’t hard to find. She was currently entertaining some ponies by juggling various items, some of which were cupcakes. Even without fingers and hands, Pinkie was a damn fine juggler.

The crowd stomped their hooves in approval of Pinkie’s act, and I joined in, applauding her. The sound of my hands must have sounded strange amongst the stomping hooves, as everybody’s eyes fell on me.

“Hiya, Maggy!” Pinkie squealed the moment she saw me and leapt forward. I barely had time to catch her before she slammed into me.

“Hey, Pinkie, this was a pretty nice party.” I wasn’t lying—for a kid’s birthday party, it was much better than my sixth birthday.

“I always do my best for my friends,” Pinkie replied with a wide smile.

“Yeah, that’s good. Um, I just wanted to say that I’m leaving now.”

Pinkie’s smile faded ever so slightly. I placed her down on the floor and she immediately looked at the clock. “Already? But we’ve barely started.”

“Yeah, I know it’s a bit early to leave, but honestly…” I leaned closer to her and whispered, “I’m not comfortable around so many strangers. Do you remember me telling you all that I hate attention?”

Pinkie’s mouth formed an ‘oh’ shape. “Ooh, I understand. Not really though; all these ponies are your future friends.”

“Maybe they are, and maybe not.” I looked around me. I couldn’t say I saw anyone whose name I could remember, only Twilight and her friends. “Point is, thanks for the party, but I’m leaving now.”

Pinkie pouted ever so slightly. “Aww, I wish you could have stayed longer. But this is your party, and you can leave whenever you want to. At least you had fun, right?”

‘No booze, no consoles with competitive games, no pizza, none of my friends, and no music that I like.’

“Yes, I did.” I even smiled in approval, though it frayed at the ends. Thankfully, Pinkie didn’t seem to be able to tell as she stood on her hind legs and hugged the stuffing out of my midsection.

“You have to take your evening medicine before you go. And tomorrow, I’ll be just outside the castle to give you another hug before you leave.”

I patted Pinkie’s head. If there was such a thing as caring too much about someone's happiness, then Pinkie was badly afflicted.

***

The streets were empty by the time Twilight, Spike, and I made our way back to the castle. The music coming from Sugarcube Corner faded with each step until all we heard were the sounds of the night. We were in fact the first to leave. The ponies at the party were kind enough to say their goodbyes to me as we left, showing that they weren’t angry at me anymore. I actually felt relieved by that simple gesture.

Spike was fast asleep on Twilight’s back. Poor guy must have eaten too much, and that was kind of strange. During the evening I saw him eat so many treats that in all fairness he should be acting like a propeller instead of snoring, what with all the sugar in those treats. Then again, sugar could affect him in other ways. Seeing as how he ate more than a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of gems earlier today, perhaps sugar had no effect on him at all. A wise man once said something that I thought fitting in my situation: “Much to learn, you still have.”

In contrast, Twilight cantered along at a leisurely pace while I followed her with my arms resting on my back. I had much on my mind; I was sure that at one point, my disliking of Pinkie’s party would surely come to light, and most likely Pinkie would be disappointed with me lying to her. Still, there wasn’t much I could do. It wasn’t like I wanted a party. I had a million things to worry about, and a party was not at the forefront of my mind.

“It was a nice party, wasn’t it?” Twilight suddenly said, breaking the silence. “Pinkie throws parties several times a month. Did you know she knows each and every pony in Ponyville? She even knows their birthdates so that she can throw them birthday parties.”

I hummed in agreement. “I’ve been to a similar party like this one before.”

“You have?” Twilight looked to me with that knowledge-thirsty expression on her face.

“Mhm, when I turned six,” I answered and looked to Twilight. “By human standards, Pinkie’s party was a birthday party for children, not a party for adults.”

A slightly perplexed expression appeared on Twilight’s face. “That’s how all of Pinkie’s parties are. Are you saying that you didn’t like her party?”

I paused for a fraction of a second. “No, I didn’t like it. As a matter of fact, I felt uncomfortable every single minute I spent in there.”

My words hung in the air for a few seconds. It gave Twilight the time she needed to formulate a reply. “You lied to her,” Twilight said in an accusatory tone, yet there wasn’t a hint of anger or annoyance in her voice, only disappointment.

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Yes, because I didn’t want her to feel as if she wasted so much time and effort for nothing. I never wanted a party in the first place, and when I told Pinkie and saw how sad she became... Spike told me a few things about her. Pinkie wants—no, needs to throw parties to cheer everyone up. Basically, I rejected her offer of cheering me up. You saw her, she cried in there, and ponies grew angry at me.”

Twilight huffed crossly. “So you came to the party because you wanted to cheer Pinkie up. Is that the only reason?”

“Partially, yes. But I also needed to keep my reputation safe and sound. Having the entire town as well as the mares who are supposed to teach me things angry at me isn’t productive.” I looked to Twilight. She didn’t seem as angry as before, instead adopting a thoughtful look. “Besides, I tried to have fun, but it’s difficult when I don’t know anyone, and her type of parties are nowhere similar to the type of parties I’m used to. I barely even know you and your friends, even though we’ve spent time together.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Are all humans like this when it comes to parties? And friends?” she inquired.

I shrugged. “Some people are real party animals, some aren’t. Take me for example; I don’t like crowds and I don’t like being the centre of attention. Imagine being in my stead, the eyes of the world are upon me.” I shuddered, even though the evening was quite warm. “I like my parties small and with few people, only the ones I know really well. As for friends, I think you could say that I choose my friends carefully.”

Twilight gave a half-hearted nod and turned to look ahead. We were getting closer to the castle. The silence was interrupted only by Spike snoring and a single question.

“What are human parties like?”

Twilight’s question brought to mind a few that I went to, along with the copious amounts of alcohol that came with each party. Not to mention the hangovers. Ugh, that was why I only drank until I got just a bit more than tipsy. It had taken a lot of research to figure that out.

“Whether they are big parties or small, perhaps just a few people, some things remain the same, namely alcohol. Beer, wine, the stronger stuff that will blow your socks off, or in your case, horseshoes. Depending on the party, food might not be served, only drinks. Music is mandatory, of course. As for entertainment? Well, there are many forms of entertainment, like these small machines that we can play games on.”

“Like board games or party games?” Twilight asked, her interest piqued. I was surprised to see she wasn’t taking notes.

“Eh, not quite. They are… um, it’s difficult to explain what type of games they are when your language doesn’t have a word for it. Safe to say, with one such machine, we can play many types of games. Fighting games, competitive games, those types.”

Twilight hummed to herself. “Human parties don’t sound like the type of parties we ponies have. Sure, we have parties with alcohols such as cider, wine, and stronger drinks, but it’s usually in moderate amounts, but that’s not to say that some ponies go a bit overboard. We do have bars, you know. In fact, a mare named Berry Punch owns a bar on the other side of Ponyville.”

“Good to know. I might visit one day.”

“Other than that, Pinkie always arranges her parties so that everypony can eat and drink what she serves. I don’t know if you noticed, but there were a few young fillies and colts at Pinkie’s party. In case you didn’t know, we have an age restriction on drinking alcoholic beverages.”

“As do humans.” I had actually seen some young ponies at the party, but they usually kept their distance to me. Children could be shy around people they don't know. Parents probably told their kids not to talk to strangers. Good advice.

We finally reached the castle. Twilight opened the large doors for us and closed them after we got inside. “Well, here we are. I should go and put Spike to bed. I’ll stay up for a little while longer,” Twilight said.

“Okay, I’ll just go to bed then. When am I supposed to get up?” I answered, walking towards one of the hallways where a set of stairs were located.

“I think seven should be good. It’ll give us plenty of time to prepare before we head out.”

“Seven it is. Good night then Twi—”

“Wait.” I stopped and turned to Twilight. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she looked at me. “You should tell Pinkie the truth.”

Sighing, I nodded slowly. “I should,” I said after a few seconds to think. “But… she would be unhappy with me. You saw what happened to her tonight. I know she means well and all, but I didn’t need all that hoopla. I’m here, aren’t I? Sure, a welcoming party was a nice gesture, but saying hi would have sufficed as well. If she starts crying again, I’d feel as if she’s using her tears to push me into another party.”

Twilight shook her head, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “You really think Pinkie Pie, my friend, the happiest mare in Ponyville, would guilt you into attending her party?”

I mulled over the idea for a few moments. That was basically what had happened tonight. She cried, I felt bad, and to make her feel better, I went to her party against my own wishes. Basically, she guilt-tripped me. Not on purpose—she didn’t seem like the type to do that.

“Not deliberately,” I finally replied.

For the next few seconds, Twilight looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. A raised brow, her head slightly tilted to the side, trying to figure out what I was, if I was intelligent, if I would try to eat her or not. I knew then and there that I shouldn’t have answered her question. No matter that she was a pony, she was female and I had just activated her trap card.

She put her hoof over her face and exhaled. By the time she lowered her hoof again, she shook her head and simply looked tired. Extending her foreleg, she breathed in and out deeply several times in a row.

“I know you haven’t been long in Equestria,” Twilight began, sounding exhausted, “and you haven’t known me and my friends for long. I understand that you’re wary of us and our ways. I guess that if I ended up among humans, I would be cautious as well.” She put her hoof down and looked up at me with the same glare that my old math teacher, Mrs Simmons, gave me when I just couldn’t get a math problem that kids younger than me would understand. I had always been lousy with numbers. “But you’re wrong about many things. Pinkie would never manipulate you into attending her party or anything else. She only wanted you to make friends and be happy tonight.”

I felt my shoulders sag under the truth of Twilight’s speech. I knew she was right; Pinkie’s behaviour didn’t suggest a manipulative person. For all her strange quirks, the pink mare only wanted to throw me a party to welcome me to Ponyville and to have a good time. Problem was, I never wanted any of that. I was just fine without a party. Party or no party, I didn’t care. So I resorted to lying to cheer Pinkie up and forced myself into a position I disliked intensely. Everything seemed to work out just fine, but it was still a lie.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and carefully nodded. “So if I told Pinkie that I didn’t like her party, and that I never wanted to be there, what would happen then?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered. She stayed silent for a few seconds. “But I think she would be upset with you for a little while. She doesn’t like anypony lying to her. I think that you should spend a few days thinking about it, and then speak to her. The longer the lie remains, the harder it is to tell the truth.”

“But would she reject me completely?”

“Of course not,” Twilight quickly replied, cracking a small smile. “Pinkie only wants for you to be her friend, and friends don’t lie to each other. She loves making friends—why do you think she’s friends with the entire town?”

It felt as if a small weight was lifted from my shoulders. If she was that forgiving… well, then I would think of a way to speak to Pinkie. When time permitted.

I chewed my lip and nodded. “I’ll think of a way to break it to Pinkie and make it up to her.” Heck, I even had a good idea in mind as well. Though it could perhaps be seen as bribery, I think that the pink party mare would approve of my plan.

Twilight smiled in relief. “That’s all I ask; be honest with your friends. I know that you don’t see us as friends yet, only acquaintances, but that will change in time.”

I smiled back. “Yeah, it might.”

Before either of us could say another word, Spike released a loud snore that echoed through the crystal halls. Hell, that was loud. Actually reminded me of the sawmill I worked at during the winters.

Looking at the baby dragon on her back, Twilight smiled. “I better get Spike to bed. He’ll get cranky if he doesn’t get enough sleep.”

“That’s kids for you. Sounds like it’s the same for baby dragons.”

“Oh, are humans like that too?”

I cracked a grin. “Yeah, I’ll stomp around the hallways and climb the walls tomorrow if I don’t get to bed now.”

Twilight giggled as she walked down one of the hallways. “Good night, Magnus. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night,” I called back with a smile on my face and began walking towards my bedroom.

I was relieved that my little issue had been partially worked out. I wanted to talk to Pinkie Pie and set things straight. I just needed to plan it out and choose my words carefully, and things would be okay between us. Twilight was right; honesty was key here, not just in relation to Pinkie but to everybody else as well. I had to start thinking more when I interacted with ponies, perhaps… try to think of things from their point of view? Yeah, that would be a good idea. Problem was, how do ponies think? Maybe I should pay attention to them, how they talk, how they think, how they behave with each other? Yeah, definitely should.

While walking towards my room I passed the open door to the library. I cast a sideways glance into the room and noticed that the book I started reading still lying on the table. Twilight would probably not miss it if I brought it to my room for some light reading before falling asleep.

Walking into the library, I took the book from the table and left for my own room. After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the bedroom. I left the book on the bed and brought my toiletries to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash up a little bit.

Afterwards I returned to the room, dressed down to my boxer shorts and got into bed. I could feel Twilight’s magic lingering in the bed. Somehow, it felt as if it stood in a huge library. It felt… silent, warm, yet interesting at the same time. I could not understand why.

Shrugging away the strange sensation the bed gave me, I opened the book and began reading from the bookmark. It was a new chapter.

The Basics of Spells during the Pre-Classical Era.

“Huh, now this looks interesting. Hope magic doesn’t need math to work, otherwise, I’m screwed.”

Author's Note:

Heyyoo! It's that time again! New chapter and more pony-human interacting.

This chapter I had planned for a while. I didn't want a typical 'human comes to Ponyville, meets Pinkie and enjoys the hell out of her party' kind of thing going, instead I took another, less traveled route. I can't remember a single story that compares Pinkie's parties with a kids birthday party. Comparing a Pinkie-Party and a human party, there are always differences, essentially, Pinkie's parties are usually for kids. I mean, cakes, candy, and stuff like that are for kids most of the time. But the show was meant for kids in the first place anyway, so I think Pinkie serving Jaegerbombs wouldn't pass through censoring. Growing up in the countryside, I've been to a few parties that required wheelbarrows to ferry people home. Where I grew up, just about every third household had a still in the basement, so that explains a few things concerning the types of parties I went to.

Still, I like how this chapter turned out. Not the full 100% acceptance, but not complete denial either.

As always, thank you for reading, and a big thank you to those that have given my story a like, and those that found me worthy of following. As always, constructive criticism is always welcome.

PS: Found a gif of JBL hard at work editing.

Comments

[Fireeaters]

Aha! You thought you could pull a fast one on ol' Fireeaters, eh? That's clearly a gif; not a simple photo!

[Cup of Coffee]

8193416 Darn... Just a small mistype.

[Skalula7]

Certainly a refreshing twist on a pinkie party. I'd probably feel pretty awkward being there as well.

[Bytestorm]

I have never wanted to punch a main character in the face so bad than I do now.

I mean, yeah, her parties are cutesy, kiddy-style parties, but the fact that he is so dense that he cannot see people trying to be nice to him, and had to have a kid point that out to him, ugh.

[truekry]

I don't want to be the devils advocate, but I remember several stories were Pinkies Parties were compared to a child's birthday party. Even she show did. Yeah, it was Chrysalis and she did it to be mean to Pinkie, but it was done.

Also, didn't Pinkie and Spike guild trip him into a party already? Maybe not knowingly, but she just did that in this chapter. Magnus only agreed to come because Spike told him that it is her purpose to make ponies happy while she was crying in front of the "whole" town. (And that just because someone didn't like to have a party.) I always thought that Pinkie learned that lesson with Cranky. Maybe asking if someone wants a party in the first place and if not, finding an alternative. Pinkie just recently (S7E11) showed that she is adaptable.

Maybe I'm nitpicking. It was nice seeing the human not doing a 180 and suddenly liking the party. Having Magnus being very uncomfortable and not learning every ponies name after meeting them once was also refreshing. A solid, but not outstanding chapter in my opinion.

[KaPe]

8193495
Trying to be nice to someone is all good and well. However, not everyone enjoys parties, especially surprise ones and after barely getting to know most of the participants. Just because throwing a party is a nice thing to do doesn't mean the main guest is obligated to enjoy it - or even attend at all. It might feel pushy and intrusive, which is exactly what happened here.

This goes double for this situation - someone who only recently had his whole life turned upside down, doesn't like being in center of attention and wants to slowly learn about this new place, is suddenly made a guest of honor, supposed to socialize with "friends" he barely knows. No respect for any cultural differences or anything - after all, a party will solve all problems. Wait, he didn't enjoy it? What a monster, poor Pinkie was doing it for his sake!

Most of the time it happens, we get a quick 180 after the protagonist sees Pinkie cry (or just be sad). Not only do they apologize, but also genuinely enjoy the party, thus proving they were simply being rude before. The fact that Pinkie was pushy and intrusive is glossed over.

[Bast]

8194121 Yup you pretty much said all i had thought about it as well. I hated how they got righteously angry just cause he didn't want to attend a party that he had no say in.

[Morphy]

I'd say this was good intentions gone wrong. I'm also confident Pinkie can come up with a party he will like. It would be foolish to thing she's not hosted "adult" parties in all her years in Ponyville. Granted, ponies are herding creatures so social components are a big part of their lives...

[Cup of Coffee]

8193495 I can't really say anything to your comment that KaPe hasn't already said. However, perhaps I should have made it a bit more clear that the party was for the ponies -and Pinkie in particular- trying to be nice to Magnus, not make him feel uncomfortable. I should also mention that Magnus isn't really all that into their cutie marks and their meanings, as well as the different ponies personality just yet. That is the reason why Magnus understood what he had done after Spike explained everything to him.

[Cup of Coffee]

8196632 I think that was when they were outside at the gazebo. Celestia and Twilight walked away to talk about it, away from Magnus. That is why he didn't hear them.

The main reason the princesses wants it closed is because it poses a threat to Equus and Earth. As long as it stays open, any ship can get close to it and be swept up and transported to a different era of Equus. Separation from family, friends, and their kind is the theme here, which is what Celestia and Luna wants to avoid.

Yes, the Ley line rope. I read up on your comment and wondered what I was thinking at the time I answered. I could say that it would be too easy, just for the sake of the story, or that it doesn't fit my plan. But basically, that is the truth of it. The two worlds won't meet. There won't be another human in Equestria, as far as I have planned. Twilight won't pull a miracle spell that's been forgotten for a thousand years out of her bookshelf either. This is what the story is about; an otherwise ordinary human with an extraordinary appearance and background in Equestria.

[Kevin Lee]

8194121 Agreed.
8194313 And Morphy certainly has the gist of Magnus' problem--well, it's really Pinkie's problem: she didn't try to figure out what would make Magnus comfortable.
I think the best way for him to communicate it to her would be for him to host a party for Pinkie and the rest of the Mane 6: a gentle, subdued gathering with pizzas & beverages so they can all just have a relaxed social interaction where he can properly apologize and honestly explain it to her, and more importantly, give Pinkie the opportunity to listen. After all, if she doesn't know what he likes & dislikes, then she can't give him a party in the future that he will ever enjoy.

[Morphy]

8197397

Magnus sounds like he has a kindred spirit with Cranky Doodle, eh? Well, it wouldn't be a worthy Life Lesson if we didn't have a chapter of anguish and anxiety to go along with it. It'll work out in the end and the struggle makes it all the sweeter.

[Kevin Lee]

8197728 Heh! Yeah, I can see those two meeting...

Cranky Doodle: "You never did listen to the wind, son."
Magnus: "Wai--whut!? Y-you-you sound like my Grandfather!!??"
Cranky Doodle: "That's me. Don't wear it out."
Magnus: "Wh-what are you doing here?"
Cranky Doodle: "Waiting on your lazy butt to show up. You've got 2000+yrs of renovations to make on that old castle Starswirl left to all us descendants! We're all waiting to move in already! Now GET TO WORK! "

[Cup of Coffee]

8197896

[Thetruterrarian]

8217001
Nothing wrong I just liked that part.

[Cup of Coffee]

8217010
Oh! I was genuinely concerned there for a minute

[butwhyistherumgone]

I'm enjoying the story but the mc is becoming more and more unlikable to me....Like I get that he was scared of discord and that he didn't enjoy the party and that he's just generally unhappy, but for the love of god just once when he comes across something he doesn't like could you just have him suck it up and act like a grown man immediately rather than needing to be berated by someone about acting like a dick first.

[Dragon of Shadows]

as for that gif the typing has increased 10 fold

[DDDDDDDDD23]

spike is being a little shit.

[monkeytsu]

Excellent chapter.

First off magnus is an ass, at the same time as an introvert I understand his reasoning for doing what he did.

I think as a character he could of handled it better.

[APoeticDeath]

Magnus is a Interesting character though he needs to work on somethings like his social structure with the Ponies he is around with.

Magnus seems to show traits of Autism as well seeing that he likes to keep the groups smaller and has issues with crowded Ponies it seems to me that he suffers from social-anxiety or social-paranoia