Hazel Eyes in the Moonlight

by Oddling

1 - First Steps

Jim squinted his eyes as the light faded. Everything was a blur, which was one of the side effects he had been told to expect, but it made little difference to him overall. Even without his sight, his other senses had gone into a bit of an overdrive. The world around him was alive! The sounds of the birds singing in the distance and the gentle breeze through the nearby trees were amazing. The smells of flowers and fresh grass filled his nostrils – the air was so pure it was almost enough to make him die happy on the spot. The temperature was even at that sweet spot, just warm enough to be heavenly, yet cool enough to not need to worry about sweating.

The young man opened his hazel eyes slowly, and the sight that greeted him was unlike anything he had expected – even the pictures had failed to do this place justice. Canterlot… it was truly grand and awe-inspiring. The tall towers shot high into the sky as the body of the massive castle stood majestically in front of him. Jim pulled his gaze away from the castle to take in the rest of his surroundings.

Seven other people stood around him – two women, one with long blonde hair, the other a brunet, and five men. Two of the guys looked average; both with brown hair, but one of them let a rough beard and mustache dominate his face. The third man wore glasses, had short black hair, and dressed a little more formal than what would have been considered appropriate in normal situations, but his demeanor seemed to allude that it was necessary for some reason. The last two guys were more on the buff side with one sporting a long ponytail on the back of his head and the other went with a simple crew cut. They wore more casual attire.

Jim paid little attention to anything more regarding the other people. He had no interest in any of them, really. His gaze swept around and took in the sight of the large, circular stone platform the eight of them had found themselves on. ‘So this is the Equestrian Portal Hub…’ Jim thought. His hands slowly drifted up to run through his thick black hair as wonderment and hope filled him.

The peculiar sounds of rapid fluttering caught Jim’s attention and he looked up toward the source as multiple shadows swept across the platform. His eyes went wide in astonishment as he took in the sight he had not expected to see. A great white Alicorn, adorned with a crown, torque, and shoes of gold soared above them. Her mane and tail trailed behind her in a magical display of four colors; pink, purple, green and blue.

Beside the Alicorn flew another, this one a lavender color, with a more delicate-looking crown of gold. Her mane was not imbued with magic and was a deep blue with a streak of purple and pink. Both Alicorns were accompanied by ten white pegasi, all dressed in gold plated armor that flew in formation around them.

‘Holy shi… th-they’re here – they’re really here!’ Jim thought in utter astonishment. He had read about the Princesses of Equestria, but he had never dreamed that he would actually get to see them, much less be greeted by them upon his arrival. As he watched them circle around to land, it seemed like he was in a dream – one that he was unsure of whether or not he wanted to wake. His amazement quickly turned to one of slight fear as he realized that there may be a more specific reason for them arriving to greet the new arrivals personally.

The group of airborne equines came in for a surprisingly soft landing. With practiced ease, the pegasi guards swiftly moved into position, creating two uniform lines on either side of the two Alicorn Princesses. Jim simply stared at the display, a mild feeling of admiration tickling at his expression. He looked at the white Alicorn, remembering her name as, Celestia, the Princess of the Sun. He still had the pamphlet in his back pocket that had given him a brief explanation about the royal sisters who ruled over Equestria.

Before Jim could think any further about Celestia, the slightly smaller, purple Alicorn (one that Jim knew nothing about) slowly made her way toward the group of human visitors. She came to a halt about ten feet away and offered them a large and friendly smile. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the Princess of Friendship and it is my pleasure to welcome you all to Canterlot. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask – I’m more than happy to help,” she said enthusiastically.

The gesture seemed to mollify the rest, but it only made Jim slip into the first steps of feeling suspicious of the Alicorn. With his past history in dealing with overly friendly individuals, he was not exactly keen on letting his guard down – even for one of the happy little ponies of the most pleasant place known in existence.

The guy with the glasses and fancy clothes took a step closer to Twilight Sparkle. He bowed deeply, an act that made Jim cringe inside with how overly dramatic it was, and he started speaking to her. If Jim wanted to actually draw attention to himself, he could have made a similar move, but he really couldn’t have cared less. Something was bothering him. He let his gaze sweep across the platform, searching for the source of the feeling.

‘The fuck?’ he thought as he locked eyes with Princess Celestia. She had been staring at him since shortly after they landed. It was crystal clear, despite the calm gaze she gave off, that she knew he was different. Jim held his gaze with her. They silently stared at one another for who knows how long until a new sound caught his attention. He broke his gaze away to look up, just as a group of six thestrals landed around him.

“Is this the one?” one of the armed thestral guards asked.

“That is he, the one we were told about,” Celestia replied calmly as she approached Jim.

Jim eyed the six guards around him. Despite the move to surround him, and the spears in their grasp, there was little hostility coming off of the bat-winged ponies. Given the circumstances, he had very little to go on, but a small smirk graced his face for a moment before he returned his attention to the solar princess. “I take it this means you got my letter?” he asked her.

Celestia stopped just outside of the circle of ponies and gave a single nod. “Indeed, we did receive it. That means that your name is Jim. Correct?”

Jim nodded and lifted his hands up in surrender. “I’ll go in peace. Unless these guards are part of the normal escort in Equestria.”

Celestia offered a kind smile. “They are not part of the usual course… but neither are you. I hope you understand that we must keep you under a constant watch, for the time being,” she said calmly.

Jim shrugged and lowered his hands. “Yeah, I kind of expected it. I did ask to be put under arrest when I arrived here, after all. So… what now?”

Author's Note:

So, yeah, this is the latest (complete) idea that I've conjured up. This story will be more of a hobby piece until I get Behind a Shifting Mask completed. I'm also finishing up with my other story, Shadows Within the Light.

Even though this story was birthed by Halloween, it is not based on it. My little tale will follow Jim through his experiences, and depict (to the best of my ability) the real struggle of a cursed human as he tries to save himself. I hope you all enjoy the read. Chapter two will be out... whenever I can put enough time into writing it.

Comments

[VexEffects]

huh interesting start lets see where this goes

[bob1234567]

It like Halloween town. I get it