Chapter 8
I don’t remember exactly how long I gazed, transfixed, into the portal mirror. Frame-by-frame, I patiently watched my comrades in arms clash with those hideous monster bears. My interest peaked when I glimpsed my sister. The captain of her own corps of archers, she let her leadership and battle prowess shine through despite the lack of sound on my end. It took a full minute for each one of her arrows to land, but as if compelled by duty, I watched patiently. It was then that I realized that it was only through Equestria’s magic that I could now see the previously undetectable magic arrows. I was begrudgingly grateful for this, as otherwise the slow-motion combat was intolerably dull. When the magical light show’s novelty wore off, I wanted to stop; however, an ingrained need demanded I soak in as much of my homeland as possible.
For her part, Celestia patiently peered over my shoulder the whole time, completely silent. When I did glance back, she was mostly unreadable, but for a single moment I thought I saw a grain of disappointment—as if frustrated in her search for something unknown. Otherwise, she was only there compliantly adjusting the plane of view whenever I signaled. I knew I would have to thank her when I was finished, but I fell asleep before I got the chance to.
For a while, images of battle just witnessed danced through the forefront of my subconscious. Magical arrows flashed otherworldly light. Crystals flashed. Frontline brawlers exchanged cushioned punches. A pearl of awareness amidst my dream-addled state likened the illusion of harmlessness given by the slowed battle to the ponies’ soft training.
I suppose when you live in a gentle world everything starts to look soft, I mused, strangely philosophical.
Then, the dreamscape suddenly shifted, and the arid battlefield gave way to a small village road framed by flowers and cottages. The first thing I noticed was an earth pony couple gardening in their front lawn. They smiled and gave me a wave, which I was happy to return. However, I gestured not with a hand, but with a purple-furred hoof. I briefly found this odd, but purple was a pretty color for my cute little hoof, so what was the problem?
I gripped my bright-orange school bag tightly and started trotting hastily down the road. I couldn’t be late for my first day of school! Unfortunately, the endless road refused to cooperate. The houses compressed into nothingness and the path seemed to consume everything. I looked down at my tiny body, which was now rose-colored and my breast moved as I panted. I briefly tried twitching my undersized emerald wings, but lacking experience, I was unable to get any lift.
Tears started to drop to the ground in spite of myself. My perfected stoicism was completely absent as I sniffled, muzzle defeatedly pressed to the ground.
“Hello! You must be the new student,” a kind voice said.
I looked up at an adult earth pony, who was easily four times my size. His eyes shone with an unreal empathy, and I could felt residual warmth just by being near him.
“We’re all very excited to meet you. Can you tell me your name, young lady?” asked the chocolate-brown stallion.
“Umm…”
With another temporal jump, I was at the front of a garishly painted classroom filled with equally garish colts and fillies. They were all staring expectantly, and their mere gaze seemed to pierce my skin and inject raw anxiety. It was all I could do to hide behind the massive lectern at the front of the room.
I awoke, heart racing, in a cold sweat. I patted my body down and sighed in relief that no more of my features had progressed towards those of a baby horse. The fear I felt in the dream wasn’t surprising, but my reaction to it was. Why exactly was I so afraid of facing a bunch of pony children? I could understand being freaked out from suddenly being a filly, even if I was strangely okay with it in my dream. Fortunately, though, this acceptance did not seep into my waking attitude.
Who was that stallion, though? Do I know him?
Despite the brevity of his appearance, something about him stood out.
Figuring it unimportant, I shook my head and reached for the mirror on the bedside table. Finding it absent, I combed the room in search of itt. Although fruitless, my search did turn up a piece of paper which I was pretty sure wasn’t there before. I turned it over and saw a short series of puzzling hieroglyphs. Among them were multiple four legged stick figures and something that looked like a sun at the bottom.
Did Twilight leave her math notes in here or something?
Doubting it pertained to me, I set it on the bedside table. I then dressed myself in the least colorful clothing that had been provided and brushed my new hair with the brush in my personal bathroom. It perturbed me how effective the pony brush was, but I quickly got over it. Besides, it felt good to brush.
I pulled the door open, realizing I had no idea what this day would hold. My answer came in the form of the familiar armored pony waiting at the foot of the doorframe. I had to flail backwards to avoid tripping over him.
“Trusty?”
He lifted his head and let out a yawn. “Oh hi, Aron. The princess wanted me to give you this.”
Reaching into some unseen pocket, he procured a plain looking steel ring.
“This has a magic spell to help you blend in. It’s a disguise you can slip on and off as needed.”
Warning lights went off, and I recoiled.
“Wait! Wouldn’t that trigger another magical reaction if I get near it?”
Trusty smiled. “Oh, that. Princess Twilight explained to me that magical artifacts are mostly inert Apparently it takes a lot powerful magic to release any magic from within the ring. I thought Princess Celestia had explained it to you.”
“I see,” I remarked, turning the ring cautiously over with the hand I had the crystal strapped to.
What he said made sense. Otherwise, the spell keeping me free of ‘the call of destiny’ would be liable to transform me further. There was also the presumed translation spell they had also cast on me, which I was honestly surprised they hadn’t mentioned it yet.
I glanced briefly at the stallion. Trusty was an idiot, but he hardly had a malicious bone in him. If he said the princess wanted me to wear this, it was probably the truth. Swallowing nervously, I slipped it on. At first, I felt a phantom breeze cut through my clothing and felt a little bit lighter. I became aware of my breathing and every subtle movement of my body.
I looked expectantly at the pony. “Anything?” I asked.
He put a hoof to his chin. “Hmm. I don’t see anything different. Maybe the ring’s defective. Oh no, I’d hate to have to tell Princess Twilight.”
The maid pony from yesterday then came around the corner, carefully balancing a flower vase on her back. She took one look at me and started beaming.
“Oh what a cute colt! Is he a relative of yours, Trusty? What’s your name, little one?”
“Err, my name is… well” I stammered, unsure whether to lie or not.
She craned her neck back and pulled out one of the flowers, extending it towards me. “Are you hungry, sweetie?”
Thankfully, Trusty came to my rescue.
“This is Aron, actually. We’re trying on a new disguise so he can blend in. Given he’s a non-native species, we don’t want to attract too much attention, which hanging around the princesses and the royal guard tends to do.”
On cue, I slipped off the ring, feeling absurd in expecting some reaction. Nonetheless I got one in spades.
“Oh my!” the mare shrieked. “You were such a tiny colt, and now you’re so big again! What neat magic!” Still holding the rose, she offered, “You’re still welcome to the flower if you want it.”
I just shook my head, and she seemed to get the hint that my diet was thankfully flower-free.
“Okay. See you around!”
She gave a four-legged curtsy and went off to do more maid things.
“Wow, that really worked!” Trusty said.
I nodded in agreement, but then I became confused.
“Hang on,” I said. “Why can you see through it, but she can’t?”
The pony cocked his head. “I’m not sure.”
Eager to get the bottom of this, I commenced all sorts of experimentation taking the ring on and off. In no time at all, I determined that when Trusty was watching me slip on the ring he could see the illusion. Otherwise, his knowledge of my true form did nothing to penetrate the illusion.
“So what do I look like?” I asked, curious.
“You like like a colt on the smallish side with a caramel coat. Your hair is the same color as it is normally—well normally as of now I mean.”
I flinched at his lack of tact around what was still a very sore subject. Picking up on this, Trusty lightly hit himself with a forehoof.
“That reminds me: we can go to the salon to dye your mane now if you want.”
I thought about it briefly then shook my head.
“It’s fine. As long as they think I’m a pony, I don’t really care if I’m seen like this.”
It also didn’t help that my mental image of a pony salon involved a constantly singing barbershop quartet. Besides, I wasn’t exactly amenable to the idea of any type of salon, especially one that’s a pony princess’s personal paradise.
Hmm, alliteration, I thought, I wasn’t even trying for it.
Following my pitiable showing last night, I wasn’t eager to run into any of the princesses just yet, so I agreed to another day out with my “favorite pony.” We went down another awkward set of stairs for use of the castle staff. Every mare we passed seemed intent on cooing over me, which was a definite downside of this disguise. Apparently, the illusion didn’t adjust for the relative position of their perception, as they would awkwardly pet my shins and thighs.
Apparently Trusty had learned a lot from our previous outing, and this experience was considerably better. We weaved in and out of the various streets and side streets of Canterlot. We weren’t looking to buy anything, but every time we wanted to enter a store Trusty scouted ahead to absorb the brunt of a musical number if there was one. Ponies had such a fascinating variety of stores that I wondered how the economy could sustain all these niche business.
There was a store that exclusively sold books on Llamas and Alpacas, a store specializing in small porcelain figurines and even a shop that only sold items that rhymed with oil. It was particularly creepy when the proprietor tried to pawn off his worst-selling item on us—boil growth cream. However, the store that made us want to finally break out our wallets—read: Trusty’s wallet—was the corner bakery. The smells were truly tantalizing, smelling of the freshest bread and confectionaries. Trusty was eager to jump on a quarter dozen muffins and some frosted sugar cookies. Loathing all things sweet, I opted for some simple bread. I was not disappointed, as it was easily as good as the bread served at the princesses’ table, if not better.
We took a break to eat at the local park. It was a huge, wide-open space peppered with all sorts of trees, berry bushes and an abundance of flowers. Many ponies had set up picnic blankets and were chatting amicably with each other. Like most of the city, the majority were unicorns, with a small minority of earth ponies and pegasi. There were almost no foals, and I also noticed most of the ponies around us were mares. I speculated this was due to differing gender roles. We had different life paths for the sexes on Rhod, but perhaps here, the stallions were primary breadwinners here.
Getting up off the bench, I heard something running towards me. I immediately got on my guard and spotted a purple-maned silver unicorn filly dashing towards me.
“Oh no! I’m late! Master told me off just last week, and here I am late again. I am her number one apprentice, so I don’t see why I should have to bother with school. I guess just have to mix these up at school. Whoa!”
The filly tripped over some exposed tree roots and her saddlebags went flying. The filly quickly recovered, but she gave a look of horror as her precious cargo catapulted into the air. I didn’t even need my trained senses to tell me it was hurtling straight towards me. Trusty moved to catch her bag, but I picked him up and didn’t stop running until I heard the shattering of glass behind me.
Trusty frowned.
“Aron, why didn’t you help her?”
I shook my head at his slow uptake.
“By the sound of it, she’s a potion maker’s apprentice. What do you think would happen if I tried to catch her bag?”
His face showed understanding, but it became puzzled once more.
“Well, why didn’t you let me help her, then?”
“Call it a hunch, but I bet if I was within a hundred yards of you, your kindness would end up juggling a vial straight into my face.”,
“No….” the filly cried. “My elixir of true form. I worked weeks to get it just right, and now it’s all gone!”
I gave Trusty the smuggest look I could muster, and it was then that the filly caught sight of me and came stomping towards us.
“What are you smiling about!? Laughing at me, are you? You think my misfortune’s funny, so you just let my stuff break?!”
I shook my head.
“Sorry, I just didn’t think I could catch it, so I ran. Forgive me.”
This incensed her.
“Catch it!? You’re a unicorn, stupid! Use your magic!”
“Oh, I can’t use magic,” I responded, hoping to extricate myself from this angry tirade. I had half a mind to take off the ring, since I doubted she would keep flinging insults at someone five times her size.
She huffed.
“I might believe that puny horn on yours couldn’t do it, but you just picked up a royal guardspony for pony’s sake!”
I was stumped. Given what the illusion magic had made her see, she had a point.
“Hey!” Trusty interjected. “That’s uncalled for. Some ponies have smaller horns, but that’s no reason to put them down. How would you feel if someone picked on you for what’s different about you?”
The filly hid behind her mane at the guardspony’s rebuke.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I just worked so hard on those, so I was upset. I guess I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Trusty said with a compassionate smile, stroking the filly’s mane. “So, where do you go to school, my little pony?”
Suddenly the filly’s look of regret turned to fear. “Oh, no! You’re not a truancy officer are you? Is that why he’s with you?”
“No, I’m not. I just thought I could walk you there if you wanted.”
“No, I can get there on my own,” she said. “I go to First Canterlot Elementary.” Her answer was directed at me. “So, where do you go to school?”
“I...uhh,”
“I’m late because I’m Bubbling Cauldron’s one and only apprentice. What’s your excuse?” she asked haughtily.
“I don’t….”
Dang it! Why didn’t these ponies give me a cover story?
“These aren’t hard questions. Do you even know your own name?” she asked accusingly.
I turned to Trusty for help, and once again he delivered.
“His name is Sapphire Luster. He’s staying at the palace as part of an exchange program. He’s new to Equestria, so I’m showing him around.”
“Neat!” The filly said, smiling. “My name is Pestle Mix. Where are you going to go to school? Probably the School for Gifted Unicorns, right?”
“Err….”
“Actually, he hasn’t decided yet,” Trusty filled in.
The filly took three steps towards me, invading my personal space.
“You should come to Canterlot First. The School for Gifted Unicorns is full of stuck-up know-it-alls. After all, they clearly couldn’t recognize a prodigy such as myself.”
You’re one to talk…
“Well, I’d better get going,” Pestle said. “I hope you make the right choice; it sure would be nice to have another pony with advanced magical ability. And I could use another test subject after I turned the last one into a calf…”
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing. I’d better get going. Nice to meet you, Sapphire,” she said, leaving with a wink. I stared at her retreating flank and noticed her unique symbol, a fizzing cauldron and beaker.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Trusty chanted, “Aron’s got a marefriend!”
“Oh, shut up.”
We resumed our walk through vibrant Canterlot. I was starting to grasp some of the appeal of this world, as the endless pattern of pony colors and symbols parading by provided an endless variety of sightseeing. It seemed only fitting that the architecture surrounding them was just as diverse and creative. Although, it did strike me as wasteful; standardization certainly had its advantages, and as a soldier I understood that very well. Even if the ponies could never understand, our way was certainly better.
We had to push our way through the lunch crowd, eventually deciding to duck into a side-alley just to get out of the crowd.
*Clang!*
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Mister!” “Sorry!”
A female voice and Trusty apologized at the same time as two sets of armor collided. A pair of helmets also rolled onto the ground, giving me a good look at the mare. She was a fuschia-maned butter-colored pegasus wearing a white set of armor with hearts on it.
“Umm… I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry. It—it was my fault.”
“No, need to apologize, miss. After all, I shouldn’t have noticed you first. Especially—umm especially a mare as pretty as yourself.”
The pegasus blushed profusely and hid behind her long bangs, which were already covering most of her face.
“That armor—are you in the guard too? I haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?” He was wearing his typical goofy grin, which seemed a little bit broader than usual.
“Umm… Wallflower”
“I”m sorry, what was that.”
“... Wallflower.”
“What?”
“Wallflower.” Upon saying this she covered her mouth as if embarrassed for catching herself yelling.
“I’m Trusty Stead. Nice to meet you, Wallflower,” he said, extending a forehoof to her.
She shyly touched it, and he took two steps closer to her.
Noticing me for the first time and happy for the distraction she suddenly approached me and hugged my legs. “What a cute colt! What’s your name, little one?”
Apparently my disguise was extremely disarming, as it was the boldest she had acted yet.
“Sapphire Luster,”I said stiffly.
“Oh you’re a darling! Mr. Stead is this… umm… your son?”
“No, I’m just looking after him for the princess. He’s an exchange student.” He cleared his throat. “So, anyway, what’s a guardspony like you doing in this dirty alley?”
She looked down and away.
“Well, I was going on leave to visit my sister in P—Ponyville, and they gave… ummm… gave me the wrong ticket at the station. I didn’t want to bother them, so I made a round trip back to Canterlot. I wanted to buy another ticket, but umm… I was out of bits. I was hoping to find my b—boss, but I got lost…”
“I’d be happy to help you, Wallflower,” Trusty said. “I know this city quite well, and I could help you find your boss. But I assume you’d rather go see your sister instead, right?”
Wallflower weakly nodded.
“Then take these bits,” Trusty said, pulling some coins out of a special pouch I hadn’t seen before.
Wallflower backed away.
“I couldn’t… you don’t have to spend your money on me.”
For a moment, Trusty took on the aura of a competent—heroic even—guardspony.
“Nonsense. My division started carrying these pouches for precisely this reason—helping ponies in need. Princess Celestia has been thinking about instituting it across the board. Just because you are part of the guard doesn’t mean you need help any less.”
“Th—thank you, Mr. Stead.”
“Please call me Trusty,” he said, coming off somewhat cool.
She shyly accepted the bits and started backing away. She ducked out of sight, but had to come back to retrieve her helmet.
“I think I can retrace my steps to the train station—not that I don’t want your help, Trusty. I’m sort of good at directions, so I don’t need to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble at all, Wallflower.”
“No,” she squeaked. “You’ve already done so much for me, I couldn’t trouble you any more. Thank you again. Oh, and bye, Sapphire!”
“Good Luck!” Trusty called after her as she took flight and rounded the corner.
For a moment, Wallflower peered back around the corner, and locking eyes with Trusty she blushed and flew away again.
Trusty, starstruck and blushing himself muttered, “She’s beautiful… Oh, I hope I made a good impression.”
He nervously rubbed his front hooves together.
“Oh, I think you have a shot,” I said, nonplussed.
“What makes you say that?”
“Oh, just a hunch,” I said sarcastically.
“Well, we should be getting back to the castle,” Trusty said. “The princess doesn’t want you cooped up in the castle too much, but at the same time she’s also worried about you being out in the open for too long.”
“I understand. It’s those ‘changelings’ that she’s worried about, right?”
Trusty nodded. “Among other things.”
We waded back through the lunch crowd, taking a different route. There were fruit stands set up alongside the street, peddling all sorts of fruits and vegetables.
One particularly impressive gold maned, red earth pony was presiding over a stand of solid gold apples.
“Golden Exquisite! Golden Exquisite! Get the finest apples in all of Equestria. They’re of such exquisite taste that only a pony of great worth can appreciate. One-hundred bits apiece! Get them while they’re fresh—there’s no other way to eat them,” he called.
Whispering to Trusty, I asked, “Is that a lot?”
Trusty nodded.
“It’s more than a day’s salary for me.”
Running into a particularly thick mass of ponies, we stopped, and I took the opportunity to watch the luxury stall. A suspiciously short pony covered by a potato sack was approaching. The proprietor sneered and looked down his muzzle at the newcomer. Catching himself, he returned to a facade of professionalism.
“Welcome, my good pony. Will one be all? I can throw in an extra if you buy by the dozen. Smart ponies build wealth by taking advantage of great deals when they arise. Surely one as ‘sophisticated’ as yourself can appreciate this.”
The pony said nothing, but instead reached his or her muzzle forward and grabbed one of the golden apples, immediately dashing away.
“Stop! THIEF!” The owner cried.
He motioned to follow the bandit, but realized he’d be leaving his stall unattended. He then spotted Trusty.
“YOU! Do something!” the owner ordered.
Trusty nodded.
“I’m on it.”
He dashed after the thief, but soon the crowd made it impossible to continue. Meanwhile, the thief was using their short stature to duck under the crowd to make their getaway.
Not if I can help it.
Using my height, I jumped up on the wooden roof of a nearby house and jumped to an extruded stone block and onto a roof. The drab potato sack easily stood out in the crowd, and I didn’t take my sight off the thief for a single moment as I jumped from roof to roof.
The pony was fast, but fortunately my conditioning had given me considerable speed, even without my geomancy. Soon he or she turned onto a less crowded street, and I saw my opportunity. Cushioning my fall with a fabric awning I bounced to the ground, rolled into the pony thief and, using all of my strength, dragged the undersized pony to the ground. The golden exquisite apple dropped from their mouth and rolled a bit off the side of the road.
They tried pulling away with all of their strength, but I grabbed their tail and then pinned them to the ground. I felt a powerful kick from a set of back hooves. It hurt, but it was barely stronger than Trusty’s magically weakened kicks from when we sparred. I smirked, loving that they were putting up a fight.
Time to show them what thieves deserve.
I raised my fist with no intention of holding back, relieved that violence was the answer for once in this world. However, just as I was ready to bring it down, a flash of fire appeared between me and the thief. Momentarily blinded, I rubbed my eyes before taking a second look.
In front of me was a small orange bird wearing a sun-shaped mask and a miniature jumpsuit. For some reason, it was slowly shaking its beak at me. Then it landed on the bundled thief and pointed a wing down at it. All the while, a small crowd of ponies was gathering around in awe at the scene before them.
“Praise Celestia! It’s Rising Sun,” A mare exclaimed.
“Rising Sun? You mean the mysterious sun-themed, masked vigilante?” a male voice asked rhetorically.
“Yes, that’s the one all right. Nobody needed that information, Exposition Sayer.”
“I can’t help it, okay. It’s my special talent, okay? For better or worse.”
“Aron! Wait!” a commanding voice bellowed.
I turned my head to see the Princess of the Night descending with Trusty Stead securely held to her barrel. She put him down and turned to the masked bird.
“Well done, Rising Sun. Good work.”
The masked bird saluted and flew off.
I returned my gaze to the ponies and they were looking at me disapprovingly.
“What!? This pony stole from an honest street vendor. They’re the bad guy here!” I said, defending my intended retaliation.
“That’s not how we do things here in Equestria,” Luna said, shaking her head. “And besides, you may want to take a closer look at the “pony” you were about to hit.
“What do you mean?” I asked rhetorically.
Curious, I reached under the potato sack and attempted to pull the pony’s head out without releasing them. Shockingly, the thief’s body split in half under the potato sack, and what I had in my grasped was surprisingly light. To my surprise, the thief was actually a blue-furred orange-maned colt no bigger than Pestle.
“Let go of me!” he said, struggling in my grip. “You unicorns think you’re so great with your magic! In a straight-up fight you know you’d lose.”
“Blueberry, don’t say bad things about unicorns,” the female voice from before said. The other half of the thief’s body emerged in the form of an orange-maned, purplish-red filly.
“Ow!” she said, and I realized I was still pinning her tail.
“Sapphire, you can release them,” Trusty said..
Luna looked confused for a moment, but comprehension seemed to quickly dawn on her.
“But they stole that golden apple! They’re thieves; they’ll bolt the moment I let go of them.”
Luna approached us and looked the filly and colt in the eyes.
“Will you run off if he lets you go?” she asked sternly.
The foals flinched away, intimidated by Luna’s sheer size—and perhaps something else too.
“No…” they whispered in sync.
Luna looked at me with the same authoritarian expression. “Let them go, Sapphire. I trust them.”
Reluctantly I set Blueberry down and took my knee off the filly’s tail. The pair of them glared at me, but their attention quickly returned to Luna.
“Follow us,” she ordered.
The foals nodded bashfully, clearly knowing they were in trouble. As Luna scowled my way, I began to suspect I was too.
I’m not liking this ring too much. It makes everyone treat me like a child.
We followed Luna in silence back to the castle, with Trusty rounding out the rear of our party. The foals were practically shuddering, as not one peep was heard from them. Also, Trusty was apparently in professional mode, eyes fixed straight in front of him. It may have been a tense atmosphere, but I felt at home in it. After all of the day’s activity, it was nice to get a breather that silence could provide. After all, who knew what the second half of the day would bring.
In no time at all, we arrived back at the castle. The bustling sound of hundreds of hooves hard at work replaced the silence. We were led into a large throne room with ornate stained-glass windows. Guards were in each corner of the room, while three ponies stood at the center of the room, only two of which I recognized.
Celestia stood beside a pink alicorn with a multicolored pink, white and purple mane. Beside her was a buff unicorn stallion with a white coat and blue mane.
With a wave of a hoof, Celestia motioned us forward then waved over a white and pink earth pony who was holding a quill and piece of parchment.
“Quick Script, take note: we, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza hereby claim jurisdiction of this case: Apple Exquisite vs….”
Celestia glanced inquisitively at the colt and filly, firm but not completely devoid of gentleness.
After a long pause, the two finally realized that she wanted them to supply their names.
“I’m Blueberry Citrus,” the colt said.
“Raspberry Citrus,” his apparent sister supplied.
As they finished, the earth pony started rapidly scribbling on the parchment.
“When will the plaintiff arrive?” Celestia asked her sister.
“Soon,” Luna said. “He closes his stand in fifteen minutes and should be here soon after. I don’t expect him to press hard given his grumbling about time and money.”
“Very well,” Celestia said, suddenly turning to me. “Aron, could you come with me, there’s something we must discuss.”
Somewhat nervous, I nodded and followed her out of the room, Luna on my tail.
With luck, I’ll never have to use that expression literally.
As we put the room behind us, I could hear Princess Mi Amore ask the children, “Can you tell me where your parents are?” in the sweetest manner possible.
Celestia led me to the first room down the hall to the left, and given this world’s propensity for comedy, I half-expected it to be a broom-closet. However, almost, disappointingly, it was a fairly spacious conference room.
“You can take off the ring,” Luna said curtly.
I happily complied, but the atmosphere of the room meant this gesture couldn’t provide me with much relief.
“You’re late,” Celestia said, trying to downplay her annoyance. “I figured you were out with Trusty—don’t get me wrong he was perfectly within his right to take you; I figure it’s good that you feel comfortable with him. However, I thought my note stressed how important this is. I never like coming off like our time is too important to lose, but Cadance and I had some events planned, which we had to cancel because we were waiting for you. I suppose it worked out all right, since we can now settle this dispute, but why, Aron? Did you just lose track of time?”
I felt like I should apologize, but nothing she had said made sense. “Hold on, you never mentioned any of this. I didn’t know, and Trusty didn’t seem to know either.”
Celestia frowned. “Didn’t you get my note? I even enchanted it so you couldn’t miss it—a useful bit of magic, though easy to abuse.”
“Well I didn’t see—hang on, you mean that piece of paper with all those weird symbols? That was from you?”
“Yes, didn’t you read who it was from? I suppose my signature is a bit stylized, but it’s still perfectly legible.”
This seemed to be a sore subject with her.
Luna turned towards Celestia with the look of a half-formed epiphany on her face..
“So you did have the foresight to cast a translation spell on Aron’s clothing? Good thinking. I confess I had not remembered to take precautions for the language barrier myself.”
Celestia’s expression immediately became the opposite of her sister’s, warping into befuddlement.
“What do you mean, Luna? I cast no such spell. Weren’t you the one who cast the translation spell?”
The confusion spread to Luna’s muzzle as she slowly shook her head.
“And I had assumed it was you. Perhaps Twilight?”
“No. Although Rarity aided in preparing Aron’s wardrobe, I detected no residual magic on the clothing when we received it. Twilight couldn’t have had access to the clothes after that.”
“Then how...”
“I...I don’t know?”
The sisters gazed into each other’s eyes, exchanged a rapid, non-verbal conversation and seemed to come to an understanding.
“This is most troubling,” Luna said, “but we can understand if you couldn’t read it. Perhaps… Aron, are you literate? In your native tongue I mean.”
“Yes…”I said, trying my best not to be offended. “I can read both my native tongue and the language we are speaking now—we call it Lucens.”
“Hmm, any translation spell should have also applied to literacy as well. It doesn’t make any sense, but a spell is the best explanation we have,” the Night Princess mused. “But wait, most translation spells map the target language onto the user’s native tongue. Do you know of any exception, Tia?”
“No, I do not. This is most strange.”
Celestia made it a point to smile at me.
“In that case, it is a lack of diligence on our part. We should have foreseen this and informed Trusty of our plans. I hope you accept our apologies,” the Sun Princess said.
“No need to apologize,” I said. “Although, I am curious why didn’t you just have Trusty relay the message. He had to bring me the magic ring after all.”
“There is a reason, though not necessarily a most compelling one given the outcome,” Luna said. “It was by design that Cadance and Shining Armor’s arrival was kept a secret. If word leaked out to the housekeeping staff, they would have worked their tails off making the castle perfect. We could have told them this is unnecessary, since the royal couple will be here for only a short while; however, we doubted they would listen.”
“In other words,” Celestia said smiling, “maybe we should have trusted the pony with trust in his name.”
“An apt way of putting it,” Luna remarked.
“Aron, I have a proposal,” Celestia said, clearing her throat. “We would like you to observe this proceeding. We think it would be helpful for you to observe how we rule in Equestria.”
“Hang on! I have no intention of staying here, and you shouldn’t expect me to—”
“That’s not what we mean,” Luna said, waving her hooves in front of her defensively. “We confess that should you become a princess of Equestria this experience will indeed be useful. Instead, however, our intent is that you learn how justice is dealt in Equestria. I’m sure your home world does it more punitively, correct? That is why you wished to castigate the foals physically?”
I nodded tentatively.
“Then this will be a good chance for you to see our way. Come, let us return to the throne room.”
I followed them back and we waited in stiff silence for the better part of twenty minutes. Finally the shopkeeper entered in a huff.
All three princesses straightened their bodies. Despite still being drained of vitality, Celestia still emanated an aura of royal grace. She began by dictating the case name, the date, those presiding over the case, and witnesses present. Once finished she seemed to acknowledge the trial’s participants for the first time.
“It has been established that you, Raspberry and Blueberry Citrus stole this trademarked Golden Exquisite apple from Apple Exquisite’s stall”—she levitated the golden exquisite apple into view— “You then fled on foot before being captured by the combined efforts of a passing colt and local superhero Rising Sun. Does either party dispute these facts?”
“I do not,” the earth stallion said.
“No,” the foals squeaked out.
“There’s no need to be scared,” the pink princess said warmly. “As long as you tell the truth, you will be protected by the law. This version of the case isn’t set in stone, so you should speak now if you disagree with this version of the story.”
The children quietly deliberated amongst themselves before once more affirming that Celestia’s version of the case was correct.
“Then with this, we can proceed to the reparations stage. Apple Exquisite, do you claim damages beyond this single apple?”
The stallion looked bored, clearly thinking he had better things to do.
“I do not.”
“As restitution, will you accept the return of this apple along with the apologies of these foals?”
The stallion shifted his gaze towards the children and sneered at them, clearly holding a grudge.
“I will not,” he said. “Those apples, grown through our patented process, are sold with the ironclad guarantee of quality. I couldn’t possibly breach the trust of my customers by selling them something that has touched the street.”
Celestia, unmoved, simply responded, “Then what if I bought this apple from you? Would any grievance remain?”
The stallion looked relieved, but nonetheless he put up a token facade of politeness.
“Princess, I couldn’t possibly sell you tainted goods. It would be a slight towards you to accept full price for an apple that has touched the ground.”
“I’m sure somepony will still be able to enjoy it,” Celestia said curtly. Clearly she thought he was making a big deal out of nothing.
“Then, I humbly accept.”
He took a small bag of bits in mouth, and relieved to be done, trotted out the door, in-between two pegasus guards.
Celestia magically split the apple and gave a slice to everyone in the room, including the guards. It was small enough to eat in a single bite, and I chewed it, savoring the taste. Its sweetness was leveled out by a tinge of bitterness, but given the freshness it shared with most food in this world, I still enjoyed it.
“Such a pedestrian taste,” Luna griped.
“Indeed,” Celestia affirmed. “You can pick any apple off an Apple family tree, and it would be better. I do not understand why the nobles make such of a point of paying so much for these apples.”
“They’ve got to show off the wealth somehow,” Cadance provided, sounding like she was speaking from experience.
The foals held these apple slices in front of them, unsure what to do.
“You may eat,” Celestia said. “It is my apple, and I am allowing you to have some.”
After a few seconds of silence, the foals desire to comply with the maternal alicorn won out over their hesitation. From their expressions they clearly had had better apples before. Though they didn’t dare voice this complaint, it was obvious that they thought it sour.
“Now, can you tell me why you did what you did, my little ponies?”
The siblings looked at each other and nodded. “There’s a mean filly at our school named Annuity,” the sister said.
“She’s the worst,” Blueberry chimed in.
“She’s always picking on us,” Raspberry said.
“And her friends never let us play with them.”
I was wishing Celestia would ask, “What does any of this have to do with stealing an apple?” but for her part, the princess patiently waited for them to get to the point.
“She makes fun of us all the time because our family isn’t rich like theirs,” Raspberry said.
“She told us we could be friends if we brought her a Golden Exquisite apple”—
“But our moms said no—"
“And that there was no good reason why we shouldn’t be happy with regular apples.”
With how they were finishing each other’s sentences, I figured the two of them must be twins.
Then again, my brother and I never had any of that twin sync going for us, I thought to myself.
Princess Cadance chimed in, sweetly coddling the foals, “Did you tell your parents why you wanted it?”
“Yeah!” the colt answered quickly.
“But Mama Peach never believes us.”
“She says there’s no way in Equestria the daughter of Generous Endowment could turn out rotten.”
“Everypony always says that!” the filly whined.
Luna nodded in understanding. “Generous Endowment… he has quite a reputation. There’s certainly no shortage of charities and public libraries bearing his name. I hear he even volunteers himself on occasion.”
Celestia cleared her throat in an unassuming manner; nevertheless every pair of eyes in the room turned to watch her.
“Bullying is nothing to take lightly, and I will see what I can do about your situation.”
“Where do you go to school, little ones?” Princess Mi Amore Cadenza asked
“Canterlot First,” they answered simultaneously, smiling and hoof-bumped each other.
“HOWEVER,” Luna articulated, thrusting out her wings. “This is no excuse for thievery!”
The children shook a little. “But all we needed was one little apple—honest! We’ll never do it again!” Raspberry said.
The pink princess slowly shook her head. “What do you think would happen if everypony did what you did today?”
After a pause, the blue colt said, “Mr. Exquisite wouldn’t have any apples left.”
I had to stop myself from snickering at the simplistic answer to the much more general philosophical question.
Celestia smiled warmly at their answer and gently explained, “In a way you are correct. Little misdeeds add up and can escalate into much bigger problems. If everypony took what little things when they needed them, nopony’s belongings would be safe. Do you understand?”
The foals nodded remorsefully.
“How do you propose to atone,” Luna asked, stepping slowly towards them and stroking their withers with a wing.
“I...I guess we can pay for the apple,” Blueberry offered.
“That is one solution,” Celestia said. “However, if you had one-hundred bits, you wouldn’t have taken the apple in the first place.”
“Right…” Raspberry said.
“Instead, I want you to do something for me.”
The foals looked up. “Do you want us to slay a dragon?” Blueberry asked.
Celestia laughed. “No, much simpler than that: I just want you to help some ponies in the community by volunteering. In the same way that acts of petty thievery can hurt ponies, I want you to see that little acts of kindness towards others can go a long way towards making Equestria a better place.”
From here, the princesses explained that the two were to do five hours of community service each and laid out several suggestions. The three princesses expressed a hope that they would continue volunteering beyond their sentence.
Then, a pair of mares showed up to retrieve the children. They were clearly upset and thoroughly chewed out their children in front of everyone present. Clearly, the mares had their own sentence to dish out on top of that of the law. I, however, was more interested in these ponies’ relationships.
Did I assume too much? Are they not brother and sister? But then, why are their mothers lecturing them together?
Judging by their mane colors, Blue-maned Peach Spring was Blueberry’s mother, while fuschia-maned Lemon Rose was Raspberry’s.
Afterwards, the three princesses and the unicorn I assumed was a prince brought me to the dining room from before. This time, we didn’t bother with the secret passage and instead found the proper entrance not far from the throne room.
The newcomer’s introduced themselves as soon as we sat down in the cramped room: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza went by Cadance, while her husband was called Shining Armor.
“So are you a Prince?” I asked.
“No, no,” he said waving his hooves defensively.
“Guilt by association,” Luna explained, turning to Celestia. “I fear your ‘nephew’ has ruined that title for generations to come.”
Cadance smiled at me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aron. I can’t wait to get to know you better, even though, fortune willing, our time together will be short. Naturally, you want to return to your real family, but know if it comes to it, I will love you as your big cousin.”
I knew I should have been annoyed with the way she casually brought up the possibility of me being stuck here as a filly, but she was so earnest that I just had to forgive her for relishing the thought.
“So, Aron, what did you make of the trial proceedings?”
I sighed, deciding to be honest. “Well, Princess, I thought the children got off too easily. I understand it’s not the standard here, but I would have been beaten if I had stolen something as expensive as that apple. Even so, if you let them off so lightly, would that deter anyone else? I understand they are children, but the punishment should be somewhat proportional to the crime."
“So you subscribe to the doctrine that the punishment should fit the crime,” Luna said. “Indeed, that was our way once, but we have since abandoned it, for punishment is not the objective of justice.”
“Our philosophy,” Celestia explained, “is that a trial deals out what is necessary for the good of everypony. In this case, the foals didn’t seem like they would do it again, so we ordered them to community service in order to help them grow as ponies. Doing this is the best outcome for all, whereas extracting a fine from their poor family or hurting them would only make them resentful. We don’t want to punish them and have them wrong other ponies.”
I wanted to debate this, but the food then arrived. It was a vegetarian palette much of the same as before, save for a large, iced cupcake prominently placed at the center of each plate. The ponies wasted no time in devouring this treat, while I carefully ate around it. I tried to push it to the side of my plate in a vain attempt to make it less obvious, but Luna nonetheless noticed.
“Does your kind, not know of cupcakes?”
“No,”I said, “I know what a cupcake is; it’s just that I don’t eat them.”
“If you’d like we could bring in some cookies instead,” Celestia offered.
“No,” I said, “I don’t eat any sugar on principle.”
“None at all?” Cadance asked, appalled.
“None at all. On my world it’s considered a vice. Sugar rots the teeth and is detrimental to our health.”
“Hmm...” Celestia said, “For ponies it is the complete opposite—fascinating.”
“Reminds me of Twilight—the way you said that,” Shining Armor said, chuckling. “Has she ever turned down learning something new? Actually, I’m surprised she’s not here with us.”
Celestia laughed along. “Well, where do you think she got her sense of curiosity from?” she said coyly. “No, no, I can’t take all the credit. But to answer your question, she’s been away from Ponyville for some time and missed her friends. However, I’m sure she’ll come galloping back here once she learns of the mystery of the phantom translation spell. Aron, I hoped you enjoyed your stay in Twilight’s lab, because chances are you’ll be spending a lot more time there.”
“Great…” I said sarcastically.
From there, I told them about my day, filling in the parts they didn’t know. They gasped when I told them of the close call with Pestle Mix, and agreed that it was Equestria becoming increasingly aggressive in its attempts to correct me. Cadance found Trusty’s encounter with Wallflower absolutely adorable. She explained that her special talent was Love, and she loved hearing about all forms of romance.
“Wallflower’s one of mine,” Cadance explained. “She was one of the first pegasi to join the new Crystal Guard.”
“She’s more than a wee bit shy, but she has proven she can pull her weight,” Shining said.
Cadance seemed to be reminiscing. “Being in love can be so hard when you can’t confess. I wish her the best of luck.”
“Hey now,” Shining said, nuzzling his wife. “It’s not so easy for the stallions either.
“Hehe. I know dear,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheeks.
These ponies just met! I thought. Why are they so certain there’s going to be something between Trusty and Wallflower?
“Oh, that reminds me,” I interjected. “I thought those foals were brother and sister, but then two different mares showed up to get them? Are—I don’t want to sound absurd, but were they…”
“Yes, Peach and Lemon are special someponies,” Cadance explained. “Raspberry and Blueberry are lucky enough to have two mothers. There are three mares for every two stallions, so it’s natural that some mares fall in love with each other.”
Luna frowned in realization. “Do you have a problem with this?”
“No, no,” I said quickly. “We haven’t had taboos around that sort of thing for ages; although we are encouraged to marry for children, so it’s not preferred…”
I paused, thinking how to phrase my next question, concerning the children’s father. However, at that moment a certain purple alicorn poofed into the room, shouted, “Hi, everypony. Bye, everypony,” and picked me up with her magic to whisk me off to her lab.
I spent the next three hours being asked some variation of, “Can you understand me now?”
It was not my idea of an exciting afternoon.
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... The left forehoof doesn't know what the right forehoof is doing... nor the left or right hindhooves either. I think this ponified analogy is breaking down.
I'm still looking forward to reading more of this story. The dream was a nice shocking preview/fear of the future. I can't tell if its his subconscious mind or an actual preview, or something generated by Luna. It was, for lack of a better word, too Equestrian in what happened once he dreamed he was a pony.
I can't really tell where the Princesses stand on this, if they fully intend to have him go back or are just running him around until it's too late (assuming it is even possible to return him). His thoughts about Cadance's reaction are spot-on. How would she feel about transforming into a different species and gender?
And for the rebuke from Celestia about how the Princesses' time is value, it didn't stop Twilight from stealing him away, and once again only giving him partial explanations, like not knowing about the situation of the father. Boy, would he be surprised if he stayed as a filly and grew up, only to have a relationship with another mare and find out that the only requirement to get pregnant is love, and nothing more, such that there could be no father.
Woo update \0/
i think you mean "my interest was piqued"
I suppose when you live in a gentle world everything starts to look soft, I mused, strangely philosophical.
I speculate that when you live in a turbulent world, THEN live in a gentle world that everything would look soft.
Well, that was sudden!
Twilight ..
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As funny as it would be, I don't think I could do that to poor Aron. Somepony will explain it to him long before then. They're not trying to keep Aron in the dark about it; it's just that it's so second-nature to Equestrians that they don't even realize they have to explain it.
7164320
Your observation is probably more accurate.
7164270
The simple comments can be some of the most enjoyable to read.
pffft...
I'll bet he does, with a name like that!
I wonder if there's any orphanages in his name?
Wow... Generous Endowment. Such an... interesting name.
His time as Sapphire Luster was precious. All those mares fawning over him. Making him a unicorn is a clever way of covering up the actions of his hands under the illusion.
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What are you two talking about? This is a strictly E-rated story
Purple hooves, rose torso and emerald green wings. You had me scared for a second until I realised what you did there.
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To be honest, I'm undecided on Aron's final color scheme, so I'm floating ideas out there through the dream sequences.
Sheesh... just... brilliant. I'm stressed right the hell out with the end of my senior year and finals right now so seeing this update and it being so long and filled with such quality? Thanks for that, I really needed it.
But ya, you're doing a great job with this, I loved every word of it! From the war torn worlds perspective viewing the cartoony pony land to the silly antics of ponies going day to day. Heck, this is even the first time a story used a dream sequence that I didn't feel the need to skip over. It was short and contained that "nonsensical crazy but you accept it anyway" feel that most dreams have.
Wallflower and Trusty were super adorable, seriously. Think I just got some cavities from reading that weapons grade cuteness. Also glad to see Aron is ready and alert for wackiness trying to get him into a set of hooves. Really, I love how you're setting a perfect balance between capable without being omnipotent. You've done a great job of writing the different characters flaws and strengths in a very real and believable way.
So ya, awesome chapter, good job, looking forward to then ext one!
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Very nice to hear. By expressing how much you enjoyed it, you've passed the happiness on to me. I had a lot of fun writing this one because of the diversity. I wrote more loosely too. It's good to see it pay off.
Ho ho ho... Things are certainly going to be interesting when he ends up being a child, now won't they?
And so far he's got a horn and funky hair to hide if he returns home. I wonder when the wings will start to come in...
Hmmm.. Already thumbed this up a while ago, so... proceed.
wall this was an interesting chapter also a mare with a shy personality who is wallflower and has a sister in poney vile five bits says it's fluttershy surprised that no one else has pointed this out.
Speaks in a near whisper and her name is Wallflower...
Fluttershy! Your sister is here!
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Drat! Now the surprise is ruined
come on you give a pony a personalities that matches fulltershys and then say that said chapter sister who is in ponyvile it's a practical gives away besides you're a few years too early to trick me.
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Yeah know, the more I learn about Arons world and people the more I can't help but wonder about them. They seem almost like fanatics in someways and I also wonder if it's just from years of being cut off or if it is due to their government. I pray they don't find a way to Equestria.
7209873
Maybe I've just read too much Dune. It seems everyone in that series is some kind of fanatic.
It just occurred to me that I'm in a position to answer that prayer should it suit my whim. No wonder tvtropes calls the author god
Can't wait for the next part, i wonder if he'll become too young of a foal to even speak
It seems you forgot the closing [/small] here.
I think "mystery" is correct here.
"not" makes more sense.
So magic arrows are fine but spears and actual arrows are not? If this humanity ever encountered a species interested in war it would really be a one sided campaign.
I don't know why this is getting capitalized.
Trusty isn't the brightest, this seems to be implying pedophilia since Aron is an adult in his universe.
PLEEEAAAAASE have changelings. I want shit to hit the fan.
Extruded seems like the wrong word to me. It sounds right but to my knowledge it is more of a verb or describes a process; like extruded aluminum.
I hope it is explained why Luna is in the area or why Philomena runs around in a mask.
Can I have the logic behind capitalizing this?
I think the em dash should be within the quotes.
Need an ending quotation mark here.
If only sugar strengthened teeth and was really healthy.
Aron should have just left until Twilight politely asked him to go through tests. Or halfway through pretended he couldn't understand her.
Well then 'Generous Endowment'
Got chata.
we know his destiny
Ugh. I find myself hating the soft and mentally stunted equestria you've built more and more as I keep reading. (I consider any equestria where ponies mature at an incredibly slow rate to be mentally stunted. Technically not true but that's how it feels when I read about a 20 year old child. I support creative license and all that but I find that particular idea to be rather stupid).
Never mind me and my ranting; I'll keep reading or eventually get fed up and leave so whatever.
For God's sake, when is the actual story going to start happening, instead of an endless cavalcade of "the many and varied ways in which my headcanon of ponies is special and awesome"? Not even eating too many sweets is allowed to be unhealthy for them, because that would imply they have such a thing as vices or self-destructive habits. I am completely expecting some kind of self-absorbed discussion of "herd dynamics" and "estrus season" at some later point, as things stand right now.
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I couldn't agree more. Having a thirty-year-long childhood and still feeling like they're less mature than a human teenager a third that age doesn't do them any kind of favour at all.
Geez, if Harmony's this aggressive, I don't even think standing still will work, it might even cause the Elements to misfire at one point
I still like to believe as much as Ponyville or other towns are full of mares, there is still something like a "stallionstown", that just isn't being shown yet.
I honestly see no need to always point out that there are more mares.
king trusty and "his" little ponies.
It didn't really looked like he or she were into each other.
I'm not sure if I plan to continue with this story, I wait till you answered some of my comments to see how you explain it to me, otherwise I can't really get into it at the moment.
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It seems I can at least agree with some of your reasons and as much as I understand your comment I think I feel the same.
Something is just bugging me about this story and I'm really no fan of mind control stuff. I mean it looks like the world iself (harmony?) is trying to attack him and make him into what it thinks it's right, that and it seems to control the ponies in a way if you know what I mean.
I suddenly have to think about Guardians of the Galaxy 2 with that crazy living planet man which is the main chars dad.
8786930
I've looked over your other comments and yeah, I can tell that you feel the same about a lot of the things I had problems with. I'm happy for everyone who can enjoy the story as it is, but still, I'm glad people can see where I was coming from.
8786928
Not to mention that, beyond being annoying when done too often and without a need for it in the plot, it's also unnecessary.
This chart shows that, in canon, the gender balance is about in line with what you'd expect if the camera is following an almost exclusively female group of main characters in a species with a roughly 1:1 gender ratio. (Given that they're culturally similar to us and we tend to self-segregate along gender lines.)
Furthermore, Ponyville is also based on a late 19th- or early 20th-century farming community... and that has a forest of ways to justify us not seeing most of the stallions because they're out working the fields during the day. (Especially given that their farming is done with muscle power rather than machines and Earth Ponies look like they probably follow the human norm of males averaging more physical strength than females.)
Yeah, tossing someone from the middle of a war makes for different standards when it comes to justice...
Given how I just finished Xenoblade 3, I find his background about wars on his home planet pretty interesting.