Chapter 1
"Thanks for helping me, Twilight," I said, pouring the grape juice into a goblet.
She ruffled her wings, and smiled. "No problem, Luke. That's what friends do: they help each other."
We were sitting on the grass in a secluded meadow, in a far corner of Sweet Apple Acres. The sun had just risen, and the birds were still chirping in the trees. Morning dew was on the grass, courtesy of a pre-dawn agricultural watering service. In front of me was a tree stump that served as a table. Next to the stump was a picnic basket with a bottle of juice, a piece of flatbread, some utensils, and a picnic breakfast.
I placed one piece of the bread on a plate. "No, really. Not just for helping me find the juice and bread. For telling me about the spring equinox. For teaching me about Equestria's cosmology. You've helped me adjust to life here in ways that mean a lot to me."
"You're welcome." She said it in that quiet, honest tone I'd loved on the show, and I loved more in person; that moment when the joking fell away, and pure equine sincerity flowed like sweet wine. She blinked, and looked at what I'd prepared. "So, you said you'd tell me what this was all about when you'd gotten it set up." She levitated a quill and parchment
I took a deep breath. "A long time ago, my teacher, the King of the universe, had a garden, and in the middle were two trees. One was for eating, and one was just for looking at. My ancestors, the first family of humans, stole a fruit from the wrong tree on purpose and ate it. When the King saw them again, he told them that they had been cursed by their choice: they would become monsters, and then die."
Twilight gasped. "That's awful! It sounds like something out of the Everfree Forest."
"I know," I said, "He also said their children would carry the curse, and their childrens' children, because it wouldn't kill them right away. And they did it because an evil spirit possessed a dragon and convinced them that the King wasn't their friend at all. Well, the woman ate it because of that, and her husband ate it because she told him it was good for eating."
"Lies and mistrust, and an ancient curse? I'm so sorry, Luke."
"The King told them that the curse was so evil that the only cure was the blood of a slaughtered lamb," I said, "He killed one for each of them and made clothes for them from the skins."
She gasped, her eyes wide in horror.
"But it was only a temporary cure," I continued. "He banished them from the garden, because he couldn't let monsters stay, but promised them that one day, the curse would be broken forever. This meal is only a symbol of the final cure, which I took a long time ago, back on my world." I gestured to the grape juice and the unleavened bread. "Everyone who takes it is cured of the curse."
"Fascinating. So what happens now?" she asked.
"Well, I never learned the date calculation for the anniversary of the first dispensing of the final cure, which took place in spring a couple thousand years ago," I said, "So I've decided to honor it here on the Sunday closest to the spring equinox."
"I can tell it means a lot to you, Luke," said Twilight. I could tell she meant it.
"Thank you. Okay, here goes." I felt a bit silly, and I grinned nervously. She was sitting there with that studious look on her face, quill and parchment ready to take extensive notes.
The portal to Equestria had been a one-shot deal, the result of some magical experiment with mirrors. I had leaped through with only the clothes on my back, and the contents of my pockets and my memory. Consequently, I didn't have access to the exact words.
"Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took the bread, and said, 'Do this in rememberance of me. This is my body, broken for you.'" I picked up the bread, tore off a piece, and held it in one hand. Twilight watched intently, her quill capturing my words.
"This is my blood, spilled for your sins." I held the goblet in the other hand, then ate the bread and drank a sip of the grape juice.
Twilight waited to see what would happen. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. God, I thought silently, whatever happens to me here, let me never forget you, or stop relying on you.
The writing stopped. I breathed deeply a couple more times, thinking about my family back on Earth, hoping that my hasty disappearance hadn't hurt them too much. I thought about my job, my church, and everything else I'd left behind. Not for the last time, I regretted my decision. Yet I knew in my heart that I'd been forgiven if it had been the wrong choice, and what mattered now was living. Then I opened my eyes, and saw the beautiful world that had become my new home, the horse princess who had become a stranded alien's friend. Onward and upward, I thought to myself with a small grin.
I looked at the remains of the bread and grape juice in front of me. "That's the ceremony. And for clean-up, we just eat the rest with breakfast."
As we ate, I told her of my teacher, who had brought hope to the hearts of a world of monsters with his words, and died for the cure. I told her about my family, who had seen the cure fulfilled in their lives. I told her many personal things I hadn't thought of since coming to this magical land. And she listened, like a good friend. It was a good morning.