A young boy discovers friendship in a new world. However, as the boy quickly finds out...that doesn't mean all is peaceful.
Yanked out of his own world, a young boy finds himself thrown into a land completely unlike the previous. Whilst already dealing with the problematic awkwardness of puberty, Jonathan must band together with his new group of friends if they ever want harmony to reign over the land again.
Notes: Will stick to canon for some things, and will completely veer off course for others. You'll probably be able to tell which is which.
Shoddy cover Image made by me—will possibly be remade or changed at some point in the future.
Lungs burning with every rapid breath, Jonathan hesitantly glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if his chasers were still in pursuit and upon spotting them trailing closely, guessed the distance between the two thugs and him was only a feeble 5 yards. Frantically searching for an idea, he realized that the only method of escape was to buy himself some time.
And what better way to do that, than with a diversion?
Luckily enough for him, an overflowing trash bin was placed a few yards ahead of him. Just as he passed, Jonathan kicked his heel in to the rusted, metal cylinder causing it to topple over, spewing its contents all over the concrete. Almost anticipating the sound, Jonathan couldn't help but feel a large amount of shame in the mess caused just a few yards behind him. Not the best idea to get distracted right now, Jonathan reminded himself, forcing the guilt out of his mind. You can dwell on causing other people extra clean-up work later. Turning down another dismal corner, he continued trekking deeper into the long-abandoned alley. Being first string running back on the middle school's football team, Jonathan was used to long periods of exercise. In spite of this experience, he felt his will to continue running fade little by little with each aching step. Cargo shorts sticking to his sweat slicked legs, Jonathan restlessly gazed ahead of him for any means of escape. Come on, come on! A door or something would be extremely useful...
And a door there was, a broken screen covering it from the elements. Grinding his teeth, Jonathan pushed himself to run faster, breaking into a full-tilt sprint. As he approached the door, Jonathan felt his spirits lifting and a small grin formed upon his lips. Skidding to a complete halt within arm's reach of the door, Jonathan doubled over, hands on his knees. Desperately gasping for the bitter-sweet air, his lungs seemed impossible to satisfy at first, but gradually the burning sensation dissipated. After a few seconds of rest, Jonathan thrust his hand toward the handle of the screen, yanking it open carelessly and letting it slam against the faded brick wall. The cool brass in his fingers, Jonathan turned the knob, lowered his shoulder and drove it forward in one motion.
Not at all budging, the door stood its ground and Jonathan crashed full-tilt into its solid steel. A quiet 'yelp' escaping his lips, the boy reeled backward from the door and instinctively reached for his now throbbing shoulder. For a few seconds Jonathan rubbed the aching muscle, mumbling angrily under his breath. He turned away from the door, letting the screen hang lazily open against the wall, and started jogging at a swift pace.
God, you're such an idiot Jonathan. Why on Earth would a random door out in the middle of nowhere be unlocked just out of convenience? Of course the door would be locked. What other possibility could there have ever been, he asked himself. That perhaps, for once in his life the gods (or God) would smile down upon and grant him just one small bit of good fortune? Doubtful. Even with having no concrete religious beliefs to speak of, the boy sometimes just couldn't help but imagine that the only deity that existed was a hateful one, hidden away in the heavens. Granting terrible luck to the boy at every given opportunity, a wicked smile would stretch wider and wider across its face, every small act of mischievousness filling the being's heart with glee. As if confirming this theory of his, a booming voice could be heard reverberating off of the walls from behind, the sudden noise shaking him from his anger.
“Guess who's back, you little snitch!”
Blood running cold, Jonathan felt a shiver run down his spine at the sound. Adding to the horror, he quickly whirled around another corner and found himself face to face with a red-brick wall. Dead-end, an all too familiar voice solemnly stated from within some part of his mind, bringing with it an almost suffocating sense of self-doubt. Subconsciously backing himself against the wall, he slumped lazily to the ground and buried his face into his hands soaked with perspiration. A shaky, surrendering breath escaped his lips, and he languidly glanced upwards once more at the sky for any signs of mercy. His eyes shot open in shock. In utter disbelief, he briefly considered pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. There, two to three yards off of the ground—perfect jumping height for the 5'8” boy—was a ladder. Presumably used for maintenance of the murky, cheerless building, the ladder led about fifteen stories up to the rooftop.
In a last-ditch effort he once again rose to his feet. Knees bending as far as they would go, Jonathan sprung off of the ground and toward the ladder, desperately reaching for something to grab. Cold steel brushed against his palm and he quickly wrapped his fingers around the rung. The metal groaned and creaked, straining with his weigh, but held strong. Wiping the sweat off of his opposite hand, Jonathan hesitantly reached up and gripped the next step. Meanwhile, several footsteps could be heard from below and the two men appeared around the corner. The shorter of the two, one of the thugs pointed a threatening finger up at Jonathan's climbing form.
“There's the bastard!” The man hissed, a twisted smile curling his lips. “We can get him, Manny, come on!”
The man took an aggressive step forward, but Manny put a long arm in front of him, halting the man. “Tony, leave him for now. We'll get the boy soon enough,” he said in a calm demeanor, his soulless brown eyes inspecting the teen who was now a quarter of the way up the ladder. “But-”
Manny put a hand up to silence him. Nodding his head toward at the alley, he silently turned on his heel, striding back around the corner and Tony, taking one last glance at Jonathan, begrudgingly followed him.
Eventually, the boy pulled himself over on top of the building and collapsed onto the floor. Arms aching, he rolled over on to his sweat soaked back and stared in the grim, gray clouds. Once again, the mocking voice echoed inside of his mind, You've escaped them for now, but what next? Unless you have another plan, all you've managed to do is effectively trap yourself. You need to think of something, Jonathan.
And I will, Jonathan replied mentally, a grimace etched into his features. He struggled to prop himself up on his elbows, but almost immediately fell back to the floor. After I rest for a second, of course.
After a minutes of rest Jonathan rose gradually to his feet, casually brushing some dust off of his shorts. “What's next?” he pondered quietly to himself, treading over to the edge. On another day, Jonathan would've been glad to just silently stand and take in the sights of the beautiful city, but today he had a different idea in mind. And after scanning the cityscape for a moment, the teen's thoughts returned back to the ladder. Maybe I could sneak back down and quietly make my way back into the streets? He briefly considered the idea, and seconds later came up with several situations in which the plan could fail, and just one in which it succeeded. Not liking the odds of it, Jonathan gave up the thought and followed along the outer edge of the roof, fingers softly scratching the back of his neck.
A different view of the cityscape gave him another set of options, one of which, Jonathan realized—was painfully obvious. 'Painfully' being the keyword, not too far away from his current position was a hotel building. On instinct, Jonathan glanced around the roof, looking for any planks of wood or sturdy scraps of metal. There were none. It was as if somebody had come before him and taken any materials of worth, leaving behind only soggy patches of cardboard and crumbled bricks.
“Guess I'll have to wing it, then” Jonathan mumbled to nobody in particular, his heart already beginning to thump against his ribs. Looking down at the ground below, he could almost feel it beckoning to him, wanting him to fall. Jonathan began taking steps backward, his sneakers silent against the rough cement. He didn't fear heights, that was sure. Though the thought of splattering all over the streets wasn't exactly pleasant to him, either. After fifteen steps, Jonathan settled down into a position similar to a 'three-point stance' in Football. With only one chance at this, the teen knew he couldn't hold anything back. He summoned all of his remaining energy, and launched himself toward the edge. Speed building as he drew nearer, Jonathan sprinted, arms swinging wildly at his sides. This was it, he couldn't change his mind now. Now all he could do was leap and hope for the best.
And he did.
Time seemed to slow down. Jonathan felt like the world had abruptly stopped spinning, the winds around him ceasing to blow. Below him, the cars were plodding forward, moving slower than the average human's walking speed. Any passerby-ers stood, almost frozen in time. For a moment, Jonathan could feel his heart's beating reduced to a single every few seconds, and then it sped back up again. His feet met with the solid surface of the hotel, and leaning forward to maintain balance, he kept his feet moving before braking from the forward momentum.
Jonathan doubled over, gasping for air. That could have very well just ended my life, he mused. A slight grin formed on the teen's face, and he couldn't help but silently chuckle at the realization. “I might just make it back tonight.”
He turned his attention to the door nearby, light gleaming off of the shiny, jet black metal. The door opened easily on it's hinges, and didn't make a sound as he closed it lightly behind him. Inside, the long corridor was well-lit but cramped, and with almost no elbow room he walked with his arms glued firmly to his sides. Meanwhile, between the tight walls claustrophobia began to set in, making his personal victory a little less sweet.
“...this isn't where I meant to teleport us...”
Jonathan paused. Curiosity struck him and he turned to what the gold plate attached to it stated clearly in black, printed lettering; Room 67. He cautiously and silently put his ear against the cool wood, listening in for any other signs of conversation.
“You're fine, Selly. Just remember to keep your focus next time, eh?” a male eventually replied in a baritone voice, his tone sounding amused. A light sigh could be heard in response, which sounded like it belonged to a female.
“I know, I know...”
Retreating his ear from the door, Jonathan chuckled lightly to himself and continued on his way toward the end of the hall. Must have just been the television...though the show did sound pretty interesting, honestly. After a few minutes of silently walking through the hall, he reached the metal door of an elevator. To the left of the elevator was a panel with only one button; an arrow pointing down—which he automatically pressed. I'll have to find that program on my TV when I get back to the fosters.
Above the entrance, a series of bulbs could be seen, each one labeled in order from left to right—numbers one through sixteen. The first orb to the left was lit, earning a small groan from Jonathan who impatiently crossed his arms with a huff, his left foot tapping against the ground to some nonexistent rhythm. After about one-hundred and seventeen taps, the two metal panels slid out away from each other and a triad of business men stepped out. They wore seamless Armani suits, tailored fit to a T. Squishing himself against the wall, Jonathan sidled past the group with a hushed 'excuse me' and entered the elevator. He activated the button signifying the lobby, and watched as the two plated slabs glided shut. Taking advantage of the long waiting period, Jonathan silently began plotting his next courses of action.
After I make it to the ground floor, I can book it out of here and immediately make my way toward Williams Street, though where do I go after I get there? Maybe I could make a quick pit stop at the gas station....
Before the door was even fully open, he stepped sideways into the small, quaint lobby. At a desk nearby, a female receptionist peered at him over the top of a magazine, “Oh—my apologies sir, is your room service button out of order?”
Jonathan quickly came up with a lie and replied, “Not at all, Ma'am. Just gonna go for a walk on the beach while my parents sleep.”
“Do you have your card for re-entry?”
Stopping before the exit, Jonathan turned toward the woman and forced a lopsided grin. “Of course! Carrying it in one of my front pockets,” to complete this lie, he softly patted both of his pockets.
The lady returned the smile before turning her attention back to her copy of Cosmopolitan. Once she could no longer see his face, Jonathan let out a quiet sigh of relief. Glad she believed me. Though I doubt I could have gotten into too much trouble, it's not really worth it to risk it.
Reaching for the doorknob, he had barely turned it when the door flung open and knocked him off balance. Staggered, Jonathan had no time to react when a man burst into the lobby and thrust a sharp right hook in his jaw. The initial hit hadn't hurt too much, but his head jerked abruptly to the side and he lost consciousness. As the teen's limp body slumped to the floor, the lady behind the desk began screaming in terror and reached for the nearest phone. Meanwhile, the attacker paid no attention to the witness, walking triumphantly toward Jonathan's unmoving form.
Tony stood victorious over him, a wide grin stretching across his scarred face. “I knew we'd still get ya', rotten punk.”
It was hours before Jonathan found himself drifting gradually back into consciousness. Or had it been mere minutes—he couldn't be sure, time seemed to drag on forever in the eerie darkness. In his current state of lethargy, even the most routine activities, such as opening his eyes, felt impossible to accomplish. After a few minutes, he mustered up enough energy to force his eyes open. From what he could tell, he was being carried like a child over somebody's shoulder. He couldn't decide where in St. Joe he was at, though as his eyes adjusted to the light he could begin to make out that it was the taller thug, Manny, holding him. Below them, wooden paneling creaked with every step.
“Ugh—I've always hated this pier, man. Always feels like it could collapse at any moment,” a groan came from somewhere to Jonathan's left.
Manny snorted and glanced at his companion, “Cheer up. We've just gotta dispose of this nuisance, and then we're outta here. Boss says he wants us to head back to the warehouse for our reward.” He adjusted the teen over his shoulder a bit, before letting a heavy sigh slip through his lips. “Now I don't know about you, but after running around St. Joe for the past hour or two, a reward sounds pretty damn nice about now.”
“Damn straight.”
They soon reached the end of the pier, and Manny brought Jonathan off of his shoulder and held the teen in his giant-like hands. Jonathan tried his best to peer into the man's eyes, and for a second he could've sworn he saw a look that kind of seemed...remorseful? Whatever the look had been, it was quickly replaced by their normal soulless look. He lifted Jonathan up above his head, and with relative ease tossed him into the chilly water. Jonathan's vision was quickly filled with hues of blue and green as the water rushed above his head. As much as he wanted to struggle, his body still hadn't fully awoken from the forced slumber and wouldn't respond fast enough. The cold water stung his skin and with every breath he tried to take, his lungs were quickly filled with the icy liquid. Along with the blue and green, a white hue began filling his vision as it became hazy.
This is it, Jonathan thought. Barely twelve years old, and I'm already dead.
With a sputtering cough, Jonathan returned to the world of the living and regained consciousness. He awoke staring up into the refulgent sky, set ablaze by the sun already high over the water in the east. The reflection of the golden glowing orb shimmered off of the water, which, when mixed with the sight of the lush, green forest surrounding him on all sides but one, created a stunning scene. It was breathtaking to say the least, the likes of which he had never before seen in St. Joseph. This fact drove the teen to believe he was somehow in a different location, and a lack of any recognizable landmarks confirmed this. Sand shifted beneath him as Jonathan propped himself up on an elbow to get a better view.
A very sudden squawk ripped Jonathan from his stupor—a seagull had somehow landed right next to the teen without him noticing. Startled, Jonathan made a silent shooing-motion at the bird, which caused it to take off and glide away to another section of the shoreline. He was still slightly embarrassed at the thought of being scared by such a small creature, but shook it off as he slowly got to his feet. That proves I'm still alive, I suppose.
It was a very weird sensation, being able to breath again. Lungs that were before filled to the brim with water were now fully functional. A heart that he was sure had stopped beating, thumped as lively as ever against his chest.
“I have to admit though, it's a very beautiful place,” he mumbled quietly to himself. He ran his hand through his close-shaven blonde hair a few times, attempting to remove any stray grits of sand. Promptly, he repeated the same process to his still-moist cargo shorts and shirt, but it was a fruitless effort, as the wet fabric consistently held the sand in place. After a few minutes of trying his outfit showed no improvement visually, and the teen gave up. With the sun rising, my clothes have to dry off eventually, he told himself.
Deciding he should leave the beach, he then turned toward the vast woods and began to scan the treeline for any openings. Almost straight ahead of him, a small gap in the trees caught his attention and with a closer look Jonathan noticed a dirt path trailing off into the forest.
The teen groggily vaulted over a small, grassy bluff, then ducked under an overlying branch into the trees. “Can't see more than ten feet in front of my own eyes...” Jonathan noted, squinting into the dense cluster of brown and red and orange. Using an arm to shift branches to the side, he then stepped out of their path and lowered his head as they snapped back into place. After a half hour of aimlessly traversing the footpath, the barren earth faded into a roughly cut stone. Used tantamount to some retro roadways, the stone was carved into four by four bricks in a fashion that suggested it was done by hand, rather than with a machine. Not too out of the ordinary, Jonathan thought, Seen a few of these in St. Joe. It was at this point that he noticed the lack of branches reaching out in front of him, and with no obstructions to his vision he saw a small clearing in the trees. Following the route eventually brought Jonathan to a sturdy looking bridge that arched over and across a fast moving stream. As the teen stood atop the curved structure he gazed down at the transparent water, riddled with pebbles of various sizes and colors.
It was a new experience to Jonathan, seeing this much of nature. He was much more accustomed to the city life, compelling him to sit and just take in the beautiful scenery. Who knew when he'd ever have another chance to do this once he got back home? If I ever do get home..., Jonathan realized, though his expression remained unchanged. Truth be told, he wasn't sure if really wanted to go back. Because it'd be so wonderful, going to back to the damned Fosters, a sarcastic voice said from somewhere in the inner folds of his mind. The good part of his consciousness quickly retorted, They could be worried about me.
Worried?! That shiner that you've just recently recovered from is DEFINITELY a sign of their worry.
Fervently shaking bad memories from his head, Jonathan decided that dwelling on them would eventually drive him insane, and stepped off of the stone bridge following the tiled pathway towards a gradual, low hill, where the pathway quickly gave way back to dirt and then grass. With each step, exposed calves and ankles were tickled by the wild arm's length grass.
What Jonathan saw at the peak stole the breath from his lungs.
“Come on Tia! Come on get up!” a voice called to her from outside of her slumber. Only making a groan in response, Princess Celestia made no effort to leave the warm, cozy haven that was her bed. She had accidentally stayed awake for a large portion of the night thanks to her new book, Levitation, Teleportation, and Other Useful Spells. The consequences of which had taken its toll on the the young unicorn. Invading her haven, a vivid beam of light penetrated the safe and welcoming darkness as part of the heavy blanket was lifted up and off of the mattress. Begrudgingly, Celestia opened a slightly bloodshot eye by just a fraction and found two deep, azure orbs staring back at her, which seemed to radiate pure cheerfulness. As frustrated as she was at being woken up so early, the smallest smile began creeping its way onto her face at the sight. The younger filly seemed to be slightly bouncing in place, trying to contain her excitement.
“The Pegasi are bringing the final Rain of the year tomorrow,” Luna said impatiently, “We gotta make this day count!” Celestia was springing out of the bed before her sibling had even finished talking.
“Oh my stars...how could I have forgotten?” she asked herself as she tried to shake the grogginess from her system. Her horn shimmered a bright yellow, and a hairbrush enveloped in the same golden aura levitated towards her. It happens the same day every year, Celestia thought, running the brush hurriedly through her tangled, fuchsia strands of hair. I should have easily memorized the date by now. Despite the short amount of rest she had actually gotten, the process of straightening her mane took a few minutes longer than expected. Several times, she had almost yanked half of her mane out just to remove the tangled brush from a particularly determined knot, which had earned a few laughs from her younger sister.
After removing the last knot, the snow white princess set the brush back down onto her nightstand and upon checking herself once over in the mirror, turned and started walking toward the already open door. An idea suddenly made its way into her mind, causing a sly grin to form on the filly's face. She paused and glanced back over her shoulder at Luna, “Would thou care for a little race, Sister?” she asked with a teasing smile.
Something seemed to click within Luna's mind as Celestia said this. Before she could even react, Luna was bolting past her and into the hallway, shouting something along the lines of “You-bet-your-flank-I-want-a-race!” The elder filly took off after her, laughing uncontrollably all the while. Luna easily kept the lead, actually gaining some distance from Celestia as they raced through the twisting and turning corridors of the palace they called home. Truth be told, the alabaster unicorn hadn't really been expecting to win this race, nor did she expect to even keep up. Just as much as racing was a routine competition for the two sisters, Celestia losing the races was a routine in itself. That's not to say she was incompetent, or even that she was unathletic, however. Compared to most ponies, Celestia was actually quite physically adept.
By the time Celestia reached the ground floor of the palace, Luna was already climbing up onto her chair and readily preparing herself for breakfast. Approaching the long, wooden dining table, Celestia sat herself in the seat next to Luna. On the ivory unicorn's plate was her personal favorites - two slices of buttered toast and a warm, blue berry muffin. The younger filly's plate was filled completely with a tall stack of pancakes, which were drowned in a heavy coat of maple syrup, and a large portion of scrambled eggs with diced ham cubes mixed in.
While munching down onto her first piece of the scrumptious toast, several ideas of how to spend the day raced through Celestia's head. She sat silent to contemplate the options, when Luna chimed in with her own idea.
“Why don't we *munch* go swimming in the lake?” she suggested, her mouth partially full of food.
The older unicorn cringed ever-so-slightly at the filly's ill-mannered habit and shook her head, “While it may not be too chilly today, the water will still be frigid unfortunately.” Luna looked slightly disappointed, but quickly brought up another idea. “How about a picnic then, Tia?”
A wide, toothy smile stretched it's way across Celestia's face, her velvet eyes glowing with a new found excitement at the suggestion, “Oh Sister, that sounds wonderful!”
The two sisters spent the rest of their breakfast discussing ideas for meals they could bring with them on the outing, and eventually they agreed on a collation consisting of four ham sandwiches, some apples, and for a little dessert they also included a couple of muffins. After preparing the meal with a speed surprising for her age, Celestia slowed her pace to be sure to place the items in a manner that the sandwiches would into a sturdy looking basket, which had been crafted for the Princesses by an expert basket-weaver.
Outside on the palace grounds, Luna was impatiently pacing. She had been doing so for several minutes; evident by the circle-like trail of flattened grass left in her wake. When she finally heard the heavy 'thud' of the castle door closing behind Celestia, she let out a frustrated groan and stopped her pacing. “What took you so long, Tia, you get lost in the kitchen or something?”
Celestia arched a brow, “You've been out here for five minutes.”
“Still!”
Sun high in the sky, the day was young and fresh. Rays of sunshine blanketed the land in a warm coat of light and the crisp smell of water was washed in from the distant lake. The wind brought a cool, gentle breeze, washing across the vast open fields surrounding the castle and flowing through the two sisters' fur. Ahead of them, the forest swayed lightly side to side in the wind. Leaves - red, orange, yellow, brown - tired of their constant struggle to live, begrudgingly released their grip on the bark and fell with a regretting silence to the earth. Celestia said nothing as she walked at her younger sister's side, taking in the scenery. It was all very beautiful. It was nearing the end of autumn; her favorite season. Whether it was the vivid shift of colors or the cool air that got through to her...Celestia did not know. A content smile remained on her face as they made their way across the grounds, her violet eyes absorbing every little detail. At her side, Luna held the small picnic basket between her teeth. She seemed to not mind the small task, a delighted smile curling the ends of her lips upward. To be honest, Luna was happy just to leave their home, it did not matter to her how far she had to walk. She—like her sister—loved the outdoors.
As the duo approached the luxuriant forest, a shadowy figure loomed over the horizon, causing the two to stop in their tracks. The figure, its features hidden by the shade caused by the overlying branches, mirrored the action and stopped.
It was a simple word, yet blew Jonathan away when it escaped the lips of the alabaster unicorn, whose voice sounded female. Unconsciously, Jonathan took a small step backward and frantically rubbed his eyes. Not only were there two mythical creatures standing in front of him—a unicorn and pegasus—but one of them had spoken to him. In English. Noticing his reaction, the unicorn edge forward slightly and asked another simple question, making sure to keep her voice quiet. “Can you understand me?”
As if automatically, Jonathan blurted out a quiet “Yes” in response. He mirrored the unicorn's action, and took a couple tentative steps forward out of the shadows, then paused. Brisk sunlight enveloped him, its warmness helping sooth his nerves. He knew he should continue—say something at least. His breathing was still shaky, but he did his best to steady it before continuing.
“Yes—I can understand you, but er...who are you?”
The two creatures looked to each other for a second, then back at him. They seemed puzzled by his appearance, but not in the least frightened by it. A silent agreement seemed to have been made between the two, though, as the white unicorn nodded at the younger and smaller pegasus, then smiled at Jonathan. “Allow me to introduce myself, then. My name is Celestia, and this is my younger sister-”
“I'm Luna!” the pegasus cried, the picnic basket dropping to the soft earth below. Celestia couldn't help but giggle into her hoof at the younger filly's outburst, “Yes—this is Luna.” Within his chest, Jonathan felt his heart rate slowly returning to its normal state. The two did not seem at all hostile—in fact, they actually seemed pretty friendly to him. This situation was certainly different from what all the stereotypical “alien” movies had made it out to be. There were no abductions, the oh-so-common 'take me to your leader' was not even once uttered...though to be fair, the roles were quite reversed at the moment.
Jonathan's gaze shifted unintentionally past the two fillies and his jaw dropped. A vast landscape with rolling hills stretched as far as the eye could see, thickets of willow trees scattered here and there. Up atop an aerie, a castle of gray-stone and marble stood, connected to two towers with pointed roofs that pierced the clouds. Having never left St. Joseph in his life, it was an absolutely breathtaking sight to Jonathan; a true architectural masterpiece to behold.
Jonathan realized then that he was drifting off, and looked back to Celestia and Luna. “Well, I guess it'd be rude not to introduce myself, then,” he said, tugging lightly at his shirt collar. “I...I'm Jonathan.”
“Well, it's nice to meet you Jonathan,” Celestia said, walking over to him. “My sister and I were just about to have a picnic. Would you care to partake?”
Jonathan slowly shook his head in response, “I'd hate to be a bother.”
Celestia laughed lightly, “Nonsense. You wouldn't be a bother in the slightest, Jonathan. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'the more the merrier'?”
“Come on, it'll be fun!” Luna added, a toothy smile on her face.
Jonathan let out a slight breath. Are you seriously even considering this? RUN, you idiot! the cynical side of his conscience told him from the dark of his mind. They're just trying to be nice, the least I could do is be kind in response. “Alright, alright. I...I'll join.”
The moment the words had left his mouth, Celestia grinned wider than he had thought possible. She picked up the basket in her teeth and strode past Jonathan down the steep, woodland-covered hill he had climbed just minutes before. Jonathan watched her disappear over the horizon before being spun around and almost falling on his rear as Luna galloped past him.
“Come on—you'll love our favorite spot,” she called out to him from a considerably large distance. Once his balance returned to him, the smallest smile found its way on to Jonathan's face. He wasted no time and quickly ran down the sloped land after the sisters.
After the quick meal, Jonathan lay on his back and with his eyes closed, enjoying the constant blanket of warmth the sun sent down through the shade. Leaves fell delicately from the looming trees and formed a blanket of red and yellow on the carpet of soft grass. Overhead, through the ever-thinning veil of branches and leaves, birds could be seen flying in v-formations toward the South. On the ground, some of the smaller woodland critters searched frantically for food to stockpile for the inevitable cold weather that would be brought in just a month's time.
Opening an eye, he turned his head and silently cast a glance over at Celestia. Following the unicorn's gaze, Jonathan saw Luna chasing after some particularly terrified looking squirrels. Speaking of woodland critters.... The tiny creatures stood no chance against the young filly. With each passing second, the distance between Luna and her prey grew smaller and smaller until it seemed as if she could reach out and touch them with a hoof. Just when it seemed as if she would catch them, the squirrels latched onto a tree and climbed its height in a frenzy, disappearing in to the autumn leaves. Looks like they won, Jonathan thought, smirking to himself. The little cheaters.
After a moment of silence the squirrels emerged from the leaves, poking their cute little heads out. They stared down at Luna in complete silence for a few seconds before—much to Jonathan's amusement—blowing raspberries down at the fuming pegasus.
“Perhaps it'd fare best if you just left the poor squirrels alone, Lulu!” Celestia called out to her, stifling a giggle. “After all, surely you haven't already forgotten the last time you hassled them?”
Luna walked over to the group and sat down, huffing and rolling her eyes. “Yeah, yeah...”
“Now, since we're all here and actively paying attention; I have a few questions I would like to ask you, Jonathan—that is...if you don't mind, of course,” Celestia said with a cordial tone.
Not particularly comfortable with the sudden shift of attention to himself, Jonathan coughed in embarrassment. “Well...I guess. I'll answer what I can,” he said, fumbling over his words.
Celestia smiled kindly, “Alright. Now, my first question is a rather basic one though it's the one I am most curious about; where are you from, Jonathan?”
Scratching his head, Jonathan sit silent a moment before sighing. “Well, I grew up in a city—er, town, named St. Joseph. Though...everybody I knew there just called it St. Joe.”
A giddy curiosity glimmered in Celestia's eyes upon hearing this bit of information. “What's St. Joseph like?”
“Hm...” Jonathan paused, unsure how to put his next statement, “It's a pretty big town—I mean, when compared to some of the other cities in the United States, it might not be, but it's still decently sized regardless.”
“United States...your home, I assume?” Celestia asked.
Jonathan nodded, prompting her to ask another question. “Okay, so what kinds of species live there?”
Jonathan stared flatly at her, “...in the United States? It's impossible to name them all, even if I could really try.”
“Well yes, I kind of expected that,” Celestia said with a snort. “What I mean is—what kind of sentient species live in the United States?”
Jonathan pointed a finger to himself, “Only us humans.”
“Sounds lonely,” Luna interjected, slightly catching him off guard.
“I agree,” Celestia said, frowning in thought. “Anyway, I have more questions to ask, but I'll save them for another time, as we really should get going.” She stood up, looking toward the empty basket when another thought popped in to her head. “On second thought, I do have one more question before we leave, though I do admit it might be a rather weird one to you.”
“...what is it?” Jonathan asked hesitantly.
“Are there any magic users in your land?”
Jonathan arched a brow and chuckled nervously, shifting uncomfortably in the grass, “Er...heh—no?”
“Oooh! Show him your magic then, Tia!” Luna bubbled, bouncing excitedly in place. Jonathan eyed the two curiously, but stayed silent. He later decided that it was the best course of action though, as what happened next would have stolen the words from him anyway.
First, an odd yellow energy enveloped both Celestia's horn and the two sisters' basket. Then, as if lifted by invisible strings, the basket was lifted weightlessly from the ground, and held in place in front of Jonathan. He caught it with trembling hands, almost dropping it in the process. This can't possibly be real...can it?
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he struggled to find the words to speak. Seeing Jonathan's aghast expression, Celestia couldn't help the proud smile that found its way on to her face, though Luna only found herself giggling.
“Seeing it used in person for the first time is pretty spectacular,” Luna admitted.
In a voice just barely above a whisper, Jonathan said, “I thought magic was fake....”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
“Well, back in my world magic was just fantasy; only used in books or old fairy tales. I mean, people did make 'magic shows', but those weren't real magic. Just the illusion of it,” he replied with a frown.
“'World'?” the sisters chorused, their eyes widening in shock.
“Earth; my planet.”
Both sisters gasped in unison and stared at Jonathan with a puzzled expression. Now might be the time to run. He quietly set the basket he had been holding onto the grass and took a step back, looking at the two with a solemn expression.
Quietly choking back a few tears, Jonathan, “If you no longer want to be my friends now that you know I am a...an alien, I understand.”
He turned his back and was only able to take a step before—with a few flaps of her small, but powerful wings—Luna flew over his head and landed in front of him, effectively blocking his path. “Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?” she asked. Jonathan could barely stand looking into her face, knowing he had caused the hurt look currently etched into it.
“Jonathan, where you come from has no bearing on how we view you,” Celestia added. Jonathan opened his mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance, as she continued. “Where you come from isn't who you are. Your personality is.”
His shoulders slumping, Jonathan sighed. “Right...”
“Now, come on! Our day is nowhere near over yet,” Celestia said with a smile.
Everfree Forest Outskirts, Equestria November 13th
Despite the sun being frozen in place in the sky, the groggy morning slowly faded from the land, and with it, the noon had come. The trio eventually found their way back to a low slung stone-arch bridge. Jonathan, recognizing the bridge, cast a curious glance over at Celestia. “Are we going to that beach?” he asked, pointing toward the winding trail on the opposite end of the bridge. Celestia followed his finger's direction with her eyes, then looked back at him quizzically.
“You've been to Verdigras Lake?” she asked Jonathan, a hint of a smile on her face.
“Well...” Jonathan trailed off into a thoughtful silence, remembering back to how he woken up there hours before. “Yeah, though it wasn't exactly...intentional.”
“What? So you just accidentally woke up on the beach. ...wait, did you happen to wake up buried in sand?” Luna asked from her position in the air. This earned a slight grin from Jonathan, which he immediately tried to conceal. He started to shake his head, but upon recalling what events had somehow gotten him here, he spoke up. “Well, you're half right, actually.”
“The 'accidentally waking up in the beach' part, or the 'buried up to your neck-”
“Anyway!” Celestia interjected with a slightly irritated tone in her voice. She huffed, and let herself cool down before turning her head towards Jonathan. “To answer your question, Jonathan; no. While we may visit the lake some other time, the destination I have in mind today is the town of Wedgemare.”
That's an interesting name for a town, Jonathan thought, amused. “How are we getting there?”
Celestia stepped toward the gentle, slow-moving stream of water. Peering over her shoulder, she said, “If we follow this river, we should get there in a matter of minutes.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then—come on!” Luna exclaimed from overhead. With a speed much greater than Jonathan had thought capable of the young pegasus, she bolted off. Despite the lurching of his stomach from just watching the sight, a low whistle escaped his lips as she seemed to disappear beyond the horizon. He heard a quiet chuckle come from Celestia.
As Jonathan turned to face her, she grinned and shrugged nonchalantly. “She is quite fast, isn't she?” He could only nod in response.
Breaking off into a brisk canter, Celestia motioned for Jonathan to follow her. “Come on—we should be getting going, lest we leave her waiting.”
The two eventually came to a pair of white-stone columns, surrounded on either side by seven-to-eight foot high walls. In front of each column, an armored guard stood, a stoic expression akin to stone on their faces. At their sides, lethal swords were partially concealed within leather scabbards. Just like the movies, Jonathan thought, a chilling nervousness running down the arch of his back. He had half-expected the stallions to stop and search Celestia and him, and thanked the gods when they didn't.
Following Celestia up the main road, he looked ahead to a bustling plaza, in which fillies and colts went about their daily routines. Various fruit stalls were set up around the square; carts of apples stacked in such a way where one small bump could send the pile tumbling down. This, mixed with the enticing aroma of fresh bread wavering in the air reawakened a stomach he thought had been full.
Distracted completely by his surroundings, Jonathan didn't notice that Celestia had abruptly paused once they came to an ornate fountain. He was only able to narrowly avoid bumping in to her, though thankfully she didn't seem to notice. Making a quick observation of her, he realized that she was looking around the area for something. SomeONE, actually, he thought, remembering Luna.
“...now where could she have gotten off to this time...?' she grumbled frustratedly, shaking her head. She cast a glance at Jonathan and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it with a sigh. After a moment of silence she turned back to him with a hesitant expression on her face. “Could you stay here a moment? I'm gonna go check to see where Luna's ran off to.”
With an affirmative nod, Jonathan then sunk down on to a wooden bench near the fountain. Celestia gave him an abashed smile before trotting off. He watched her nearly bowl over two older mares in her hurry, and after a quick apology to the pair, she disappeared into the crowd. She's quite the character, Jonathan thought, silently smiling to himself. The smile lasted until a sudden antagonistic thought popped into Jonathan's mind. She could easily be lying, you know. What if she's just trying to get away from you? Casting his eyes downward, he let out an inaudible sigh. As much as he usually tried to disperse that kind of thought whenever it came up, the more and more common it became, the more difficult it was to get rid of.
“Salutations, lad.”
Abruptly broken from his thoughts, Jonathan turned to find the source of this voice. It came from a relatively mature-looking pegasus—a stallion, from the sound of the voice—sitting on a bench to his left. His tan coat was nicely groomed, but had grayed slightly with age, which also showed in his mane and beard that were a shade just shy of white. The thing that caught Jonathan's eye, however, was an odd tattoo-like symbol on his flank. It was a gold compass, with a cluster of crimson four-pointed stars above the northern point.
“You don't look like you're from around here,” the stallion observed with a raised brow. No, really? “What's your name?”
“My name's Jonathan, or John for short.”
Tilting his head, the stallion asked, “Which do you prefer?”
“Jonathan,” he said without hesitation.
“And that is what I shall call you, then. It's nice to meet you Jonathan.” He smiled and stood up from the bench. Closing the short distance between the two, he walked over to the boy and held out a hoof. “The name's Silver Comet, though you can just call me Comet.”
Jonathan hesitated for a split second before shaking the extended hoof and giving a slight smile in return. After the gesture ended, Comet took a seat next to him on the bench. “So, how long is Celestia gonna be gone?”
“Not sure. I guess it really depends on-” It took Jonathan a moment, but it suddenly hit him. “...how do you know Celestia's name?”
Comet let out a hearty laugh, a spark of energy in his hazel eyes that seemed much younger than the rest of him. “Lad, I know the name of everypony—and non-pony—in town.” Seeing the aghast expression on Jonathan's face, he continued, “When you've been mayor for as long as I have, you tend to get familiar with the citizens.”
“Ah...alright,” said Jonathan, nodding.
“Now, as you were saying before?”
Jonathan put a hand to his chin in thought. “As I was saying, it really depends on how long it'll take for her to find Luna.”
“Oh, Luna?” Comet began, raising a brow, “She's in the library. Which might seem odd, considering her age—but she's actually quite literate for her size. I guess she takes after her sister in that way.” Comet's eyes strayed from Jonathan to something behind him.
“Speaking of the devil,” murmured Comet, pointing a hoof at the incoming unicorn.
Following the direction of his hoof, Jonathan saw Celestia walking slowly toward them. Judging by the disappointed look on her face, she had not found Luna yet.
“I honestly couldn't figure out where she's ran off to, Jonathan,” said Celestia, frowning slightly. “I've looked all over the place for her. I'm starting to think we should go ask Mayor Comet if he's...seen...her...” she trailed off as she noticed the stallion sitting aside Jonathan.
Comet turned and gave a knowing wink to Jonathan. “Have you checked the library, Celestia?” he asked.
It had been several minutes since they had given their farewells to the mayor. In this period of time, neither Celestia nor Jonathan spoke even a word to each other. With both having a clear destination in mind (even if the boy had no idea how to get there), there wasn’t really much to be said.
Or at least that’s what Jonathan thought.
In Celestia’s mind, however; the lingering question she had had ever since she first got a clear look at the human was what drove her to silence. As they walked past several buildings on their way to the library, she repeatedly cast glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Thankfully for her, Jonathan was too engrossed in his surroundings to notice. Celestia held her tongue for as long as she could, thinking it would be rude to dig so much at the boy in a single day. But really—
—the curiosity was killing her.
When it finally hit Jonathan that Celestia wasn’t walking with him anymore, he came to a stop. He turned and saw her still standing in the middle of the road a few feet back. There was a piercing look in her eyes that—if he had to be perfectly honest—was kinda freaking him out a bit. He raised a brow in confusion. Awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments, Jonathan becoming more and more uneasy as Celestia’s violet eyes never left him.
“Jonathan, why...why is your mane so short?” Celestia broke the silence, self-consciousness causing her to alternate her gaze from Jonathan to the ground.
Caught off-guard by the unimpressive question, Jonathan’s mind went blank for a few seconds. “Uhm—w-what?”
“Your mane! Why is it so...so short?!” Celestia asked, frustratedly huffing.
It took him a second. Jonathan took a steadying breath, then laughed to himself. “Well...for a few reasons, really,” he said, a hand subconsciously going up to stroke his chin in thought.
“Like what?”
“For sta...actually, shouldn’t we be walking as we talk?”
Celestia gave a small nod and trotted up ahead of Jonathan. Once he fell into step behind her, he continued by saying, “I guess the first reason for this haircut is practicality, really.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“...say the weather gets too hot,” said Jonathan, running a hand through his blonde-hair. “Don’t you imagine the experience being—you know—more bearable if your hair was short?”
“I suppose s—oh! My apologies, Vibrant Tenor!” said Celestia, hastily veering out of the way of a stallion carrying buckets of water. After recovering from nearly dropping one of the buckets, he gave a friendly nod to the two (albeit with an odd glance at Jonathan), then continued on his way.
“So, Celestia. Where’s this library at anyway?” Jonathan asked.
Celestia stopped and turned to smirk at him. “Right there,” she said, pointing a hoof over at a building not even ten feet away from them.
The low murmur of voices was just barely audible when they walked into the library’s entrance hallway. Said area was small; with wooden walls and red-tile flooring stretching across the hall from door to door. A mare, an elderly unicorn wearing spectacles, called out to them from behind a desk to their right. Jonathan followed a step behind Celestia as she trotted happily over to her.
“Why hello there, little miss…” the librarian trailed off. She squinted through her glasses at Celestia, then smiled in recognition. “Ah! Welcome back, Tia!”
“A pleasure to see you, Shrewd Tomes. Have you seen Luna today?”
“As a matter of fact; yes, I have! And—” Shrewd Tome’s gaze shifted to Jonathan, the friendly smile on her muzzle changing to one of curiosity. “—you know, young stallion...it’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen one of your kind here.”
“What do you mean, ‘one of my kind’?” The boy asked, eyes widening.
Shrewd Tomes adjusted her glasses, her eyes inquisitively scanning Jonathan as she spoke. “Why, you’re a minotaur, are you not? Though, then again—you DO appear to be missing quite a bit of fur…”
Mouth tentatively opening to speak, Jonathan was shocked to hear that the next words spoken were from Celestia, instead. “Actually, Tomes, Jonathan here is what’s called a hooman.”
“A ‘hoo-man’?”
“Uhm, it’s pronounced ‘hue-min’, actually,” Jonathan said, correcting them both with a slight chuckle.
“Hmm...a human, you say? In all my years of research, young one, I don’t think I’ve even once ever heard a thing about these ‘humans’.
“My kind isn’t really from around here.”
With one last smile on her part, the librarian nodded and said, “Yes, yes I can certainly see that now.” She turned to Celestia. “Well, I should be letting you two run off and find little Lulu now. She’ll be in the fantasy section, if I had to wager a guess. And tell her I said ‘hello’—that filly ran past me before I could even get a word out.”
“Thank you for the assistance, Tomes! And don’t worry, I’ll tell her,” said Celestia.
Nudging her head toward the door ahead of them, Celestia motioned for the human to follow her. The doorknob glowed that familiar yellow color, but she could turn it, the librarian called out from behind them:
“Oh, and—it’s Jonathan, correct?—I hope you’re enjoying your time in Wedgemare. Will I be seeing you around?”
His brow furrowed slightly as he pondered the question. WOULD she see him around? They have magic, Jonathan—it’s almost certain they have the ability to teleport you or something like that back to Earth.
But what if I tell them I don’t WANNA go back. Wouldn’t they respect my wish and let me stay? I can only hope.
“Probably...Shrewd Tomes,” Jonathan said, the foreign name on his tongue causing him to smile. If there was one thing in this new world that would take him awhile to get used to; not counting the obvious answer of magic, of course; it’d be the bizarre names. “Probably.”
Shrewd Tomes gave him a nod, and then disappeared into an area somewhere behind her desk.
Jonathan followed Celestia through the door which, after going down a short flight of stairs, lead to yet another door. As they went through the second door, Jonathan felt his knees almost buckle beneath him when the doorway opened up into a huge library area—bookcases a little below head-level for him neatly placed in vertical rows and along the walls.
“Jesus,” said Jonathan after recovering.
Operating on what seemed like auto-pilot, Celestia immediately turned to the right and walked along the wall. She glanced at him over her withers. “Jesus?”
Jonathan shook his head, effortlessly staying close behind Celestia as she continued toward their destination. Waving his hands toward the shelves around him, he said, “Nothing, nothing. It’s just that...I’ve never seen this—this many—”
“—books in one place before?” Celestia helpfully suggested, finishing his thought.
“Yeah…”
Celestia giggled, slowing her pace down until she was walking next to him so she could look up at him. “If you’re freaking out now, Jonathan, you should see the castle’s library.”
“...I can’t imagine anything much bigger than this, really, ” Jonathan muttered, his eyes once again looking around at surroundings in wonder. “You know, this looks a lot bigger than the building we saw from outside. Magic?”
“Correct! A Class-B Enchantment from the Chamber of Conventional Magic—the Sidratanos spell is actually a relatively easy one to cast, despite its monumentous effect on architecture,” Celestia explained, the words rolling off her tongue at a speed difficult to comprehend. Of course, at the moment the speed didn't really matter, as Jonathan could not comprehend a word anyway.
Jonathan looked down at the unicorn blankly. “...my god, it is going to take FOREVER to get used to this whole magic deal.”
“Well, if there's anypony in Equestria that can assist in introducing you to the concept of magic—it'll be me!” said Celestia with a look of pride. “Come on, follow me; we can go check out a book to help.”
“Wha—”
Celestia abruptly turned around, nearly bumping into Jonathan as she trotted toward her new destination. Wherever in this gigantic library that happened to be.
It took a jogging pace to catch up with her. “Wait, Celestia—hold on! Shouldn't we be looking for your sister?!” Jonathan cried, earning him a few glares from the various other ponies browsing through the books. He mumbled a quiet apology and followed Celestia down one of the aisles.
Violet eyes rapidly sifting through the hundreds of books lining the shelves, Celestia didn't look at him as she spoke in a hushed whisper. “Of course we are! But remember; we have all day to just mess around and do things. I doubt Lulu will just up and leave if we find you a book before we find her.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Jonathan sighed and lightly leaned back onto one of the bookcases. “I…suppose you’re right, Celestia,” he admitted. “But what are you looking for, exactly?”
“Give me a second and you’ll see. And…” Celestia trailed off as she looked through the titles, her eyes eventually coming upon the book she was looking for. “—a-ha! Here you go, Jonathan.”
Jonathan hesitantly grabbed the thick book and held it up in front of him. “Introduction to the Wonderful Art of Magic…” he said, reading the title aloud to himself.
While Jonathan would never say it out loud, the thing sounded to him like some sort of prank book or joke gift you'd buy someone when you had no idea what else to get them. From what he had already seen and heard about this world today, though; was it too farfetched to think that the book may actually contain information about magic? The mere thought of the possibility intrigued him at a level nothing else ever had. Right when he was about to open it, however, he found his arm being tugged toward one end of the aisle by some yellow haze.
“You’ll have time to read that book later, Jonathan. Now—come on, let's go find Lulu!” said Celestia a little too loudly, earning her a few glares and ‘shhh’s. Embarrassed, her face lit up with a blush clearly visible through her fur. She quickly muttered an apology to the nearby ponies but kept pulling Jonathan with her as she turned a corner.
They found the fantasy section of the library quickly after that. Like Shrewd Tomes had said, Luna was there with a book lying open in front of her. Celestia looked over at Jonathan with a smile he returned with a shrug. A silent agreement was made: they would just stand and wait to see if she'd eventually notice them. One minute passed with no results. Then another. A third minute passed—Luna still had no reaction to the two standing there. Finally, Celestia grew impatient, huffed, and stepped closer to Luna.
“Ahem.”
“…”
Celestia frowned at getting no response, but tried again—this time louder.
“Ahem.”
“…”
Standing idly by, Jonathan watched with an amused expression as Celestia repeatedly cleared her throat at the hopelessly distracted pegasus. That girl's mind must be a thousand miles away, he thought, staring at the odd display. A few ponies around them had merely stopped what they were doing and joined in on the observing. Jonathan couldn't help but wonder if this kind of thing happened often with the two sisters.
“AHEM!” Celestia cleared her throat again, though at this point she was practically just yelling it.
This finally seemed to have gotten little Luna's attention. She looked up from her book with a start, her eyes frantically darting to look around her until she came upon the sight of Celestia glaring down at her, Jonathan standing a little behind her, and about six or seven random ponies observing from a distance.
“Wha—oh...” said Luna, her cheeks flushing a little. She laughed nervously. “Heheh...hello, sister. Wh-what brings you to this fine establishment?”
“Oh, nothing—just doing some browsing around and looking for you! Luna, why did you just scamper off ahead and not wait for us?” Celestia chided, still leering at the small pegasus.
“We-well, you guys were taking too long!”
“The instant I told Jonathan how we were getting to Wedgemare, you bolted off.”
“I got impatient!”
Celestia rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Just...just forget it,” she said. A smile on her muzzle replaced the look of agitation as she walked over to Luna and looked down at her open book. “So tell me, Lulu. What book is this to have you so immersed that you didn't notice us, anyway?”
“A fairy tale!” Luna exclaimed. Happy to have a change of subject, she had a smile on her face as she lifted the book and showed Celestia some of the illustrations. “It's a story about a group of ponies that use the elements to fight crime.”
Tilting her head in confusion, Celestia levitated the book over to her and intensely examined the pages. “Elements?” she asked, not taking her eyes away from the pages.
“You know; fire, water, electrici—“
“Oh! Okay, you meant 'elemental magic'.”
“Yeah, yeah...I'm a pegasus, Tia. I can't use magic, remember?” Luna asked, frowning. That frown quickly turned into a smile as she took to the air with a few flaps of her wings. “I CAN fly, though!”
Celestia let out a huff, though any mask of frustration was betrayed by the still evident grin on her face. “I know, I know...but hey! Jonathan can't use magic and HE's willing to educate HIMSELF on the subject!”
“—or CAN he use magic?” Luna suggested. Her wings flapped a little slower as she lowered herself to look into Jonathan's eyes suspiciously.
Jonathan clutched the Introduction to the Wonderful Art of Magic to his chest. “Uhm, haha...no. As much as I wish I could—it's not possible for me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Are you SURE?“
“Yes, I'm sure.”
“...are you SUUUUR—“
“Luna, leave it be,” interrupted Celestia, closing the book. She levitated the book back into its original spot on the shelf—shown clearly by the empty space between two similar ones—and turned to face Jonathan and Luna with a smile. “Come on! We have a day we should be spending doing a bunch of fun activities. Why are we spending it in some library?”
Jonathan and Luna agreed. With a final wave to the librarian; Shrew Tomes, the three walked out the library's front door and back into the town. Once they started heading toward Wedgemare's plaza, a nagging question burrowed its way into Jonathan's head.
“Hey...Celestia.”
“Yes, Jonathan?” she asked, raising a brow at him.
Taking a second to think of how to phrase his question, Jonathan absentmindedly flipped through his book. “You guys keep bringing up how...we should be 'doing something today', or 'making today count'. ...what e-exactly is happening tomorrow?”
“It's the final rain of the year tomorrow!” Luna said.
“...what do you mean, 'the final rain of the year'?” asked Jonathan, still skimming through the pages of his book.
Celestia answered this time. “The final rain of the year is the last bit of raining Equestria gets before the season changes to winter.”
“How are you so sure of it raining tomorrow?”
“Because,” said Celestia, turning her nose up with a smile. “The pegasi schedule it for the same day every year.”
“...”
After a second more of walking, Celestia realized that Jonathan had stopped walking and turned to look back at him. He simply stood there staring blankly ahead, the book shaking in his hands. Frankly, he looked like he was close to having a heart attack. “Jonathan?”
“You guys control the WEATHER, TOO?!” he asked exasperatedly.
With it now being a little past noon (not that it was easy for Jonathan to tell with the sun not moving), the plaza of Wedgemare was now twice the center of activity it had been earlier in the day. Many stores and shop-stands that had been closed earlier were now open for duty. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies either walked toward various destinations, or simply stood and chatted with their friends.
For the town's citizens, it was just a normal day.
Sure, the trio of friends might've gotten a few odd glances here and there—that was to be expected when a new being popped into the town—but these ponies knew that many a strange-looking creatures called the young nation of Equestria and the surrounding lands their home, so they were used to such a thing. So after getting a good look at the hairless ape, the ponies shrugged and went about their day.
Truly, the sight of this all would have reminded Jonathan a little of his old home in St. Joseph...
…if he hadn't been so preoccupied with his struggle to come to grips with his new reality.
“So...let me get this straight.... You guys have magic: levitation, teleportation, etc.”
“Correct!” said Celestia. With a slight frown, she added, “Though teleporting is a little out of my reach for now.”
The second part of her statement was lost to Jonathan and the swirl of thoughts rummaging through his head. While he had been doing fine just accepting that magic was real in this world of talking, sapient ponies—something about controlled weather tipped him over the edge of disbelief. “And you—the pegasi—control the weather.”
“Again, correct.”
Jonathan nodded, reassuring himself more than anything. Laughing, he glanced up to the sky and hesitantly muttered, “...you know, I'm almost worried to ask if you ponies move the sun.”
“Actually—“
“Your highnesses!”
There was a disturbance from above. All around the three, citizens abruptly stopped whatever they were doing—some even managed to knock over ponies in front of them from a lack of paying attention.
Jonathan looked up to find the source of the voice, and saw it was a...flying carriage? Two armor-garbed pegasi flew in front of the white and gold vehicle, reigns held securely in their mouths. Lowering the carriage, the guards flapped their wings slower and slower until after several seconds; it landed soundlessly on the stone road. A robed unicorn leaped out.
“Hey, Cloves'!” Luna called out, wildly waving a hoof at the white mare.
Celestia looked more confused than anything, but waved anyway. “Hello, Clover.”
So these two recognize the wom—the mare, Jonathan thought, correcting himself mid-thought. He continued observing the green-maned unicorn with curiosity. Then, something struck him. WAIT, 'YOUR HIGHNESSES'?! ...the castle I saw behind them should've tipped me off, honestly—but SERIOUSLY?
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna—where have you two BEEN? The king and queen are worried sick about you two!” Clover asked. She was glaring down at the two with a look that could've melted rock.
Celestia recoiled slightly in shock. “Wait, wh—oh...” Suddenly, her face flushed a deep red color.
“What, Tia?”
“I...hehe...” Celestia giggled nervously, her eyes darting left and right. “I...kinda forgot? To tell mother and father that we were leaving today?”
Luna's eyes widened as she exclaimed, “You WHAT?!”
“I-it was an honest mistake!” Celestia shot back.
Clover still stood by the carriage, watching the two sisters bicker back and forth until the anger in her features slowly disappeared to be replaced by amusement. “Now come on, come on...just hop up into the carriage, princesses,” she said with a snort. “These guards here will take us back to the castle where I'm sure you two will get quite the stern talking to.”
“But what about our friend, Cloves'?”
Suddenly, all eyes were on Jonathan. One second; Clover was still standing over by the carriage, and the next; she was not even a foot away from him. She walked slow circles around Jonathan, her purple eyes intensely scanning every inch of him. “What...what ARE you...?”
“I-I'm a human,” Jonathan stuttered, uncomfortable with the sudden close-proximity.
Clover looked over Jonathan once more before she nodded to herself, turned in place, then hopped into one of the carriage's front seats. “...alright. Your...friend, can come back with us.”
“YAAAY!” Both Luna and Celestia climbed into the a carriage after Clover. They quickly settled into the seats behind her before casting expectant glances back over at Jonathan. He hesitated a moment—glanced around at the crowd of ponies still watching the event unfold within their small town—then let out a sigh.
You saw how that unicorn looked at you, who knows what they're gonna do to you once they get you into that castle, Jonathan?
I really don't think Celestia and Luna would allow that to happen.
How are you so sure?
Frowning at the thoughts in his head, Jonathan took one step toward the carriage. Then another.
This is your last chance, Jonathan! RUN!
Deciding to ignore the nagging pessimist in his head, he took a step closer and rested his hands on the gold trim. He easily threw a leg over the edge of the carriage, then climbed in and settled awkwardly into the seat right next to Clover. The thing was...surprisingly comfortable, but even that didn't do too much to help his nerves at the moment.
Within the next few seconds, the two guard ponies guiding the carriage flapped their wings and they lifted off the ground. Slowly, they gained height and turned toward the castle.
If it wasn't the paranoia about the unicorn taking them back to the castle making him nervous about this whole thing, it was the fact that Jonathan had terrible motion sickness—he had thrown-up several times any time he rode in a boat, and though he had never been in an airplane; he assumed it would be much the same. Truth be told, Jonathan expected his stomach to be doing turns from the movements of the vehicle. As the ride went on, however, and they passed high over the river from earlier, it wasn't actually that bad. The ride was turbulence-free. Eventually, as they continued flying higher and higher—Jonathan found himself actually sightseeing.
This land was beautiful; familiar-looking to him somewhat, but just so...different. Strange. New. These creatures—these ponies—they had magic. He hadn't even seen it to its full-extent yet, and it already mystified him. And not only that, but the pegasi controlled the weather here. To reiterate: the force-of-nature that proved to be difficult to even PREDICT back on Earth—these ponies CONTROLLED that. It was like something out of those cheesy old spy movies, though there didn't appear to be any diabolical villains or weather machines. ...that he could see, anyway.
With all of that in mind, though, a question slowly poked its way into Jonathan's head. A question that, while he had asked himself it back on Earth, he had never felt it was as...significant as it was in this land.
What did he have to offer this land?
He couldn't control a spark of magic. Levitation was but an illusion where he was from, and teleportation was more science-fiction than anything. Looking back to what had plagued his mind when he previously asked himself this question—he also didn't consider himself to be especially clever, intelligent, nor strong. Sure he had had good grades in school, but those didn't really require brains. And with football he hadn't really specialized in strength.
He was a runner at heart.
“Psssst!” Jonathan suddenly heard from his left, breaking him from his thoughts.
He turned to look at the mare, Clover, who was watching him with that same scanning look from before. From his spot in the carriage, Jonathan saw that she also had one of those odd tattoos on her flank and—true to her name—it was a four leaf clover. “Excuse me, Mister...?”
“...it's Jonathan. My name is Jonathan,” he whispered back. Despite being terrified, Jonathan decided cooperating would be the best course of action for the time being.
Clover looked at him with a confused look before muttering to herself, “...odd name...
“...anyway, Mister 'Jonathan'...I've never SEEN nor HEARD of one of your kind before. Not once! Even in all my years of studying with the honorable Star Swirl The Bearded.”
While Jonathan was not in the slightest bit familiar with the name, it did sound somewhat important.
“I'm sure you can understand how much of a scientific anomaly this type of thing is...correct, Mister Jonathan?”
He nodded in response.
“So, listen...would it—would it be acceptable to you if I—”
“S-study me?” Jonathan finished with a gulp.
“Indeed!”
Jonathan took his gaze off of her, peering over the edge of the carriage. Again, he didn't really have a fear of heights, but the idea of breaking several bones in his body on impact with the ground didn't sound at all appealing to him. Even with that in mind, though, he briefly considered taking the leap anyway. “Will it...will it hurt...?” he eventually replied, his eyes still not on her.
He nearly fell out of the carriage anyway with how much he flinched when he felt the mare nuzzle his shoulder. Looking wide-eyed at her, he instantly took note of the look of concern that had taken over Clover's face, and relaxed slightly.
“Despite how studious I may be, Jonathan...I still have a heart,” she said, giving him her best comforting smile. Clover had never been the 'motherly' type, but she could see that this colt needed it right now. “Please trust me when I say I would NEVER harm anypony.”
Jonathan stared into her eyes; searching for any semblance of lying or trickery in the bright purple irises, but eventually returned the smile when he found none.
“I'm just going to use a simple scanning spell on you that—is harmless,” Clover quickly added, seeing the look of worry in his eyes. “After that, I'll just ask you a few questions about your species; diet, lifespans, simple biology—that sort of thing if possible. ...do you think you can give an answer to most of these?”
“I’ll try my best.”
“That's good to hear! The spell should give me most of the answers I need, but it’s almost always better to hear it firsthoof from a creature’s mouth. Don’t worry, Jonathan, I'll try to make it quick once we get back to the castle, which...well, it appears we're arriving at right now.”
Looking down, Jonathan saw that she was correct. The castle he had seen earlier when first meeting the princesses (he still wasn't sure how to feel about that new fact) was below them, gradually getting closer to them as the carriage began to lower toward the ground. All the chills he had initially felt when he saw the castle—they were all coming back to him. Even from this height, Jonathan could see that the structure was GIGANTIC.
“Ooh! Ooh! Can't wait for ya' to meet our parents, Jonathan!” Luna exclaimed, rocking his seat with her hooves.
“Don't you forget, little fillies, the king and queen are still going to be upset with you,” said Clover, warning the two sisters. “You two know they take your safety very seriously.”
“Yeah, yeah...”
“Psst! Hey, Jonathan!”
Jonathan turned to see Celestia leaning forward in her seat (ponies didn't sit like humans, unsurprisingly), a brow raised. “Yes?”
“What was it that Clover talked to you about? I heard her whispering, but couldn't understand her—of course, I could've just used an eavesdropping spell, but I'm pretty certain she's trained to detect those....”
“She's just curious about humans is all. Apparently, she hadn't ever heard of us before.”
Celestia nodded, putting a hoof to her chin. “Well...if you're really an alien like you said, that's not surprising...”
After a few more seconds, the carriage touched down in front of the castle. Despite the ride not being anywhere NEAR as bad as he had expected it to be, Jonathan couldn't help but happily sigh when his shoes came in contact with the grass. Solid ground just felt so much better to him.
“Well, Jonathan, here we are,” said Clover, shaking her head at the fact that Luna had already disappeared within the massive castle. She smiled, however; and began walking toward the massive doors. “Now if you'll just follow the princess and I, Jonathan, we'll lead you to the throne room where—hopefully—we can get you acquainted with the king and queen of Equestria.”
Nodding, Jonathan followed without a word behind the two unicorns. This day has been...SOMETHING, that's for sure, he thought, idly scratching the back of his neck. Looking down at the book he had been cradling in his hand for the longest time, Jonathan grinned and once again skimmed through the pages absentmindedly. Speaking of which—I've STILL gotta make time to read this at some point today. If I'm going to be living in this world, then I really should get used to magic as fast as possible.
Noticing he had started to fall a little behind Clover and Celestia—who traversed the vast, beautiful halls of the castle with the utmost ease—Jonathan stowed the book under an arm and jogged to catch back up.
If one were to, at random, pick a citizen from the tens of thousands currently residing in or near Wedgemare, and asked him or her what they thought of the royal palace—chances are that they’d answer by complimenting its beauty. With just one look at the thing, a sensible pony would find it difficult to disagree.
A pleasant departure from other structures like it made throughout history, the royal palace of Equestria was built with more than just ‘protection from sieges’in mind. Instead of an unsightly moat and draw-bridge to surround the castle walls; bushes and flowers of reds, blues, and many other colors were planted around the exterior. And not only that—said flora was of the best quality to be found in the land, and was cared for each day by countless garden workers.
While the walls surrounding the castle were made out of a special granite enchanted for protection (it might’ve not been their first thought during construction, but safety was still a priority to them), the castle itself was constructed mainly of rich marble colored a grayish lavender. The rooftops completely abandoned that gray tone.
The interior of the palace had a strange look to it—to some, it seemed to look like two completely different buildings meshed together. Or at least with how the rooms were decorated. This unique look came from a decision that both the king and queen were going to have a say in how their home was to be designed—and to put it frankly: let’s just say that the two of them had much different tastes when it came to interior design. As a result of this, some rooms had simple, bright and sleek colored walls; with paintings and the occasional suit of armor as just a few examples of features. A simple stallion—and the king’s preferences reflected that personality trait. Other rooms instead featured elegant designs on their walls, each and every one of them one-of-a-kind, painstakingly crafted by only the finest artisans in Equestria. These, of course, were the queen’s choice.
One such location would be the throne room. It featured incredibly high walls, which stretched up to meet a pointed ceiling of glass. A thick blanket of the sun’s rays shone through the skylight, completely illuminating the large room and soaking it and its two inhabitants with warmth.
Said inhabitants, however, were so caught up in a debate that the temperature was probably one of the absolute last things on their minds at the moment.
“You know Gunther won’t like that, Hurricane.”
Keeping the partially rolled-up scroll in front of her with magic, Queen Platinum took her gaze off the paper for the first time in an hour to finally look back at her husband. King Hurricane shifted in his seat, the glare on his face never wavering as their eyes met. He snorted, quirked a brow and asked, “And why would that be?”
Platinum rolled her eyes and glanced back at the document. “You know why. Griffonstone just finished a very expensive war against a few of those zebra tribes. And seeing as King Gunther’s father gave us assistance with money back when Equestria was first founded—he expects us to at least return the favor.”
“And you know that that war was almost completely pointless, Platinum!” he shot back, throwing his hooves in the air. “That body of water they fought over isn’t even the size of the Verdigras—and I’ve SWAM across that—”
“Yes I know, Hurricane, I know,” said Platinum. She leapt down from her throne and set the document down on it, walking over to the stallion to nuzzle his cheek. “We just can’t really afford to risk losing what few allies we have, Hurricane—you know that.”
The king sighed, the expression softening on his face as he leaned down to return the unicorn’s nuzzle. “I know, I know...it’s just…”
“You’re worried about Celestia and Luna?”
Hurricane nodded, the crown on his azure mane sliding slightly from the movement.
“They do this all the time, Hurricane. I’m sure our little fillies are just having fun over in Wedgemare or at the lake,” said Platinum, readjusting her king’s crown with a giggle. “Celestia’s smart enough to make sure the two of them don’t do anything too dangerous.”
“...what about the time she accidentally lit Clover’s mane on fire a few years back?” The dark blue stallion’s smirk clashed strangely with the still-worried expression shown through his eyes.
Letting out a snort of laughter, the queen was shaking her head as she returned to her seat. “Oh, so my advisor’s pain is funny to you, hm?” she asked sarcastically.
“No—but come on, darling; Clover put the flames out quick enough.”
Platinum nodded, but put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Say, where IS that mare, anyway...? I sent her to get our children nearly twenty minutes ago now....”
“...so you were worried too, huh?” Hurricane asked, that signature smirk of his returning with full-force.
“Oh shush, will you,” the queen replied. Though the sternness of her voice was betrayed by a small smile on her muzzle. Still amused by her husband’s usual antics, she turned her attention back to the scroll from King Gunther. Just as she began to unroll it again, however; the main door to the throne room flew open.
King Hurricane’s eyes bugged out in pain when a blur, identical to him in color, nearly knocked him out of his throne in a tackle.
“FATHEEEER!” cried Luna, tightly wrapping her arms and wings around the stallion.
Hurricane wheezed. Regardless, he returned the hug the best he could and grinned down at her. In between pained breaths, he said, “Hello...little...Lulu. Where...have you been?”
“I was over in Wedgemare with Tia and our new friend!”
Having quickly recovered, Hurricane gave Platinum a quick glance before asking, “You two made a new friend?”
“Mmhmm!”
“Well...where are they?” Platinum asked, squinting to see if she could spot anypony through the still opened door. “And speaking of which—where’s Celestia, too?”
“She’s right here, your highness!”
Just then, three figures entered the room. Queen Platinum smiled as Clover and Celestia walked toward her and her husband. That smile faded slightly as she noticed that the two of them were being tailed by some unfamiliar, bipedal sort of creature. Looking over at the king, she could tell he was just as confused as her.
Celestia ran over to her confused parents and gave each of them a hug—which each of them returned, though their eyes never left the stranger still standing over by Clover. The unicorn respectfully bowed her head, shifting uncomfortably in her cloak. She cleared her throat before speaking. “Your highnesses, I apologize for getting your children back here a little late. They weren’t at the lake like I first anticipated.”
Platinum considered answering, but her husband beat her to the punch. “It’s no big deal, Clover,” he said, smiling down at her from the raised platform. “As long as they got back here in one piece.”
“We’re perfectly fine, father,” Celestia chimed in. “Luna and I were just showing our human friend Jonathan around Wedgemare when Clover arrived.”
What kind of name is “Jonathan”? Queen Platinum thought, her green eyes taking in the sight of the...human. That’s not really the...most urgent concern at the moment though, is it? With no prior experience with this kind of creature, I don’t have a way of really judging if he’s dangerous or not.
In spite of the previously stated example of Clover’s mane being the unfortunate victim of a misfired spell, the queen still wholeheartedly trusted her eldest daughter to not trust the wrong ponies. Sure, she was still in her very early years, but there was a genuine intelligence about her—Luna, too—that often betrayed their ages. Her and Hurricane had done the best they possibly could to raise their daughters right, even whilst already juggling the royal duties thrust upon the two only fifteen years ago.
Out of the corner of her eye, Platinum looked at the blank expression on her husband’s face and wondered, for a split-second, if he was sharing the same thoughts or concerns as her.
Suddenly, a warm smile broke out on Hurricane’s face. He stepped down from his throne and in a loud voice, said to the human, “As one of the rulers of Equestria, I— King Hurricane—welcome you to this land...Jonathan.” The name sounded strange on his tongue, but his statement still rung clear. “I trust Celestia and Luna enough to know that they wouldn’t befriend somepony who could be dangerous.”
It took a seconds for the words to register in Jonathan’s mind. When it did, though, a giant smile turned the corners of his lips upward. He opened his mouth to spew countless ‘thank you’s to the king, but it quickly became apparent to him that Hurricane had more to say.
“While I trust that you will harm none of our subjects, Jonathan, that does not mean I have no curiosities about you,” he said.
The queen spoke up this time. “That is true on my part, too,” she announced, her elegant voice easily heard throughout the large room. She stepped down from her throne and descended the stairs until she was on the same floor as Jonathan and Clover. As she walked a bit closer, she said, “Forgive me, as this may sound rude, but you do look quite...er, different, than most creatures I’ve seen in Equestria. Granted, I’m not much of an explorer, so that might not say all too much. ”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to bring up, Platinum!”
Clover face flushed slightly when Queen Platinum looked at her. “I-I mean—y-your highness….”
Platinum only shook her head with amusement, saying, “Clover, you’ve been my advisor since before that old conflict with the windigos! You have no need to refer to me with such formal terms.”
“B-but you’re royalty!”
“Yes, but I was royalty even back then. That, and you’re my friend, Clover. Please, just refer to me by my name.”
“A-alright. Heh, sorry, your hi—Platinum,” said Clover, quickly correcting herself.
“Now, as you were saying?”
“Right, right...now, as I was trying to say. I AM an explorer—or at least, I was back when I was still Starswirl the Bearded’s student—and I’ve never seen anything like Jonathan here.
“With further research, I could possibly find a select amount of creatures with similarities to humans, but even then the similarities are few and general at best. ...the closest thing that comes to mind is the maximus demonus, A.K.A. the minotaur, and even with those the differences FAR outweigh the similarities….”
While she wasn’t completely familiar with the exact scientifics, Platinum understood the gist of it.
“Excuse me, Clover?”
Attention in the room turned to Celestia. “From what he said, Jonathan over there originates from a whole different world from ours,” she said, oblivious to the effects of her words on Jonathan. She tilted her head, glancing at said human. “What was it called again?”
“E-earth,” Jonathan said, his voice break. If he wasn’t damn near-shaking in his figurative boots at the moment, he would’ve been deeply embarrassed about the voice crack.
Clover turned wide-eyed toward the boy. “You’re from a different world?!”
He nodded. The urge to run slowly started coming back to him.
“Oh my stars, this...this is amazing…” Clover muttered excitedly to herself. She started pacing around the throne room, with occasional glances at Jonathan. “This will be the scientific discovery of the decade if it’s true...an extraterrestrial being in Equestria…so much...hehe, so much DATA to be found….”
Trembling slightly, Jonathan took one step back toward the door. That look on the green-maned unicorn’s face was starting to freak him out. Noticing that his shoes made near no sound, Jonathan took another step back. Then another.
Luna noticed these small movements and flew over, standing in between Clover and Jonathan. “What do ya’ mean, data?” she asked, frowning at Clover. Jonathan saw this and...was shocked for a moment that somebody would actually defend him. Wait a second, no...friendship. Is this what having a friend is like?
Clover stopped her pacing, apparently shaken from her momentary daze. She blinked, then glanced at Luna, then at Platinum, then back to Luna, then finally—she looked over at Jonathan. At the terrified expression on his face. As she realized just how carried away she got with her reaction—a cold feeling of shame filled her chest.
“Sorry, sorry, I...got a little carried away,” said Clover, her gaze to the rug below her hooves. She sighed, then looked back up at Jonathan. “I knew you were an unusual creature, but...from a different world? Is that really true?”
Jonathan calmed down a bit, but still kept his distance from the mare. “I’m...pretty sure, anyway. I just woke up by the...by the…” he trailed off, trying to remember what the name of the lake was. He knew Celestia had mentioned it earlier. Back when they were near that one river. “...the...ugh—that one lake near the forest.”
“The Verdigras?” King Hurricane added helpfully, now sitting close by Platinum.
“Yeah! I just woke up this morning to find myself on the shore of the Verdigras.”
Clover quirked a brow curiously at this discovery. “Do you...recall what happened before that lead you to waking up there?”
Jonathan racked his brain, trying to recall what exactly he had been doing the day before he woke up this morning, but a lot of it was fuzzy. It had started off as most normal days did for him—waking up early in the morning. Several hours before his foster parents, thankfully, so he could at least watch some television before they woke up. After they had gotten up, Jonathan quickly left the apartment to get away from them and walked around outside. One thing lead to another out there in the city, and the next thing Jonathan knew—he was running for his life from some thugs.
How had he gotten them so mad at him? He couldn’t recall.
Gritting his teeth, Jonathan focused as much as he could into remembering the next few events. He remembered being caught, that’s for sure. You generally don’t forget a punch like that. After that, though…
“You having trouble remembering?” Clover asked.
Jonathan nodded, but kept his mouth shut. Things were becoming less cloudy in his mind as he looked deeper. He remembered climbing the ladder to the top of that building. The jump—even now—still gave him chills as he looked back at it. He...still felt sort’ve guilty about lying to the hotel worker, but desperate times call for desperate measures, no matter how dick-ish they may seem after the matter.
Suddenly it hit him.
“I...think I remember what it was that happened.”
“What was it?” Celestia asked. It became apparent then to Jonathan that quite literally everybody in the room was looking at him now. Even two guards in full knight’s armor, which had been standing posted outside of the throne room when Jonathan, Clover, and Celestia first came, were peeking into the STILL open doorway.
Ignoring the additional onlookers, Jonathan said, “These two men threw me into a lake. I could’ve sworn I had drowned, but the morning after I...I woke up here.”
It wasn’t really thrilling.
“How barbaric!” Platinum exclaimed after some time.
“What...could you have possibly done to make them do such a dastardly thing?” asked Hurricane, a concerned expression on his face.
“I...I really can’t remember.”
“Well, I’m sure whatever it was, it could not have possibly been bad enough to warrant such awful behavior,” said the queen.
Luna chimed in, saying, “Yeah!”
“Where...where were your parents during that situation?” asked Celestia, tilting her head in confusion.
Jonathan scowled. “Back at my home, probably—though I doubt they would’ve cared much, anyway….”
“What?! How could you possibly say such a thing?!” the queen asked, a hoof held over her muzzle. Her usually calm face was now contorted in an expression nearing horror.
King Hurricane looked much the same, though to a lesser degree. “I’m sure they’re worried sick about you, Jonathan.”
“Normal parents would be—anyway, uhm...Clover?” Jonathan asked. Avoiding any further questioning about them, he quickly changed subjects to (hopefully) divert their attention. “You were saying something earlier about using a—uhm, a ‘scanning’ spell, I think? When are you thinking of doing this again?”
“We just have to go into my laboratory to do it, so...whenever you would like, really.”
With one last glance at the other inhabitants of the room, Jonathan sighed and—with great hesitance—said, “Now is okay.”
“Great, great. I’ll show you the way then, come on!”
“So your height is 5’8. Would you say this is average height for young boys your age, or…?”
“Nope. Most boys I knew were only around 4’10 or 4’11 at most.”
“Early bloomer, then.”
Clover’s lab turned out to not actually be that bad. It sort’ve reminded Jonathan of the library in a way, what with the wooden shelves lining the walls and the countless books completely filling said shelves. Aside from those, though, it had a few features that Jonathan figured weren’t really standard-issue in most scientific laboratories.
In his world, at least.
On a desk that sat in the large room’s center; various pieces of what appeared to be equipment used for alchemy were set-up in a disorganized manner, though the glass vials, alembic, and retort were shined to near perfection. A safe assumption would be that the drawers of the desk were filled with ingredients used to create potions—Jonathan, however; didn’t feel it would be wise for him to do test that theory. At least not until he was sure that whatever was in there wouldn’t kill him from the slightest whif.
Another thing that mystified Jonathan within the room was this strange table off in the corner of the room. Its top was marked by these luminous, green patterns that seemed to glow with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Once again—Jonathan didn’t dare touch the thing. Maybe he’d have Clover give him a tour of this room at some point in the future.
Along with a tour of the castle, for the matter. That thing looked menacingly huge from the outside alone, and knowing what magic could do to buildings….
The cloth tape measure fell, discarded, to a heap on the floor. Clover levitated a leatherbound book over to her, then—much to Jonathan’s surprise—summoned a quill and inkwell from seemingly nowhere. After about a minute of fervent writing, the book and quill were set back down onto a small table next to her (where the Introduction to the Wonderful Art of Magic still sat unread, something which Jonathan was still very eager to delve into). She turned to face Jonathan with a smile.
“Now Jonathan, while with some of the smaller animals I could use a simple balancing scale to measure their weights...you’re a different story,” said Clover, her horn lighting up a bright green color. “So I guess we’ll just have to measure you the same way we weigh ponies.”
Jonathan lifted a brow at this, a feeling of slight unease in the pit of his stomach.
A string of green light connected the tip of Clover’s horn and the wooden floor, and from the point of contact; a small circle of around three feet in diameter appeared. The circle was glowing in a manner similar to the table in the corner of the room, though, it didn’t have as much a rhythm to it.
Clover turned from the lit-up marking toward Jonathan. “Once again, I can assure you this is harmless,” she said, a smile on her muzzle. “Simply step into the area within the circle, and within seconds I’ll know your exact weight.”
Having started to feel more safe around the mare, Jonathan mentally shrugged away the hesitance and walked into the circle’s center. Almost instantly, he felt a slight tingling sensation running through his body, from the the bottoms of his feet, up his calves and thighs. The feeling increased an almost unnoticeable degree as it reached his chest, but by the time it was at the base of his neck, he barely felt it anymore.
“And there!” Clover exclaimed, the quill quickly moving across the pages of the book as she wrote—she had apparently picked it back up while he wasn’t looking. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Jonathan had to admit: it really hadn’t been. The process as a whole had only taken around five seconds, and while it was certainly the first time magic had ran through his body, it hadn’t hurt at all.
The book and quill still levitated in front of her, Clover paced around the room as she continued asking Jonathan questions. “Now, Jonathan, since we’ve already established that you’re not exactly ‘average-sized’ for your age...would you say that 97 pounds is usual for others your size?”
Almost instantly, Jonathan replied, “No, not at all.”
Jonathan’s face flushed from the tone of his own voice. Subconsciously, he put a hand down to his stomach. “Well, not...not really, anyway. My doctor always told me I was...well, underweight for how tall I am.” Jonathan neglected to tell the mare that nearly malnourished had really been the phrase to describe him—it was just a bunch of semantics, really.
“Ooookay?” said Clover, an eyebrow raised. She was still a bit suspicious at how fast the boy answered her question, but decided to not push it. Afterall, she still had some science to do! “Next question, then. What does your kind eat?”
“Uhm...you know, lot of stuff—”
“Sorry! Let me clarify; are humans herbivores, carnivores, or are they omnivores?”
“Most are omnivores,” said Jonathan. Part of him thought about bringing up vegetarianism, but he figured it was probably the same deal in this world. With that thought, though, another one spawned within his mind. Aren’t horses not supposed to eat meat of any kind?
“...hey, uhm...Clover?”
Clover looked up to him from her book, which she had been furiously jotting some notes down into for the past few seconds of silence. “Yes? What is it?”
“Okay. I know you’re the one asking questions and all right now...but aren’t ho…” —Jonathan quickly corrected his terminology— “...equines supposed to not eat meat? There was this research project I had to do for school awhile back, about equines, and one of the facts I clearly remember finding was that their stomach couldn’t handle meat the same way it did plants.”
“Technically, yes; that’s true. However, since we can’t digest it in the same way, meat just passes right through our stomachs. It doesn’t harm us in any way—we just don’t really gain from it nutritionally,” answered Clover matter-of-factly. She then cocked a brow, her lips curving upward into an amused smile. “...say, how did you even find out we ponies eat meat, anyway? In Equestria, we consider it to be a delicacy of sorts!”
“Really, a delicacy? But Celestia and Luna had a little bit of ham in their lunch sandwiches.”
“What—are you...are you serious…” spluttered Clover, facehoofing. Hoof still firmly attached to her muzzle, she shook her head in a strange mixture of shock and mild disappointment.
“...what?” Jonathan asked, confusion evident in his face.
“Nothing, nothing, it’s just...while I imagined that those two fillies have a very different idea of what the hay ‘common food’ is, I didn’t they think they would go so far as to use it for mere SANDWICHES!”
Jonathan chuckled quietly at the mare’s outburst, which earned a hard stare from her. Clover eventually just grinned, though, and shook her head again with a few quiet tsks. “Fillies will be fillies, I suppose. Anyway—moving on, I suppose.”
Her horn was then surrounded by its green aura, and the magical ring around Jonathan’s feet dissipated into a nothingness with a soft hiss. For a brief second before she spoke again, Jonathan caught the soft scent of what could only be described as ‘nature’. “Now, just to confirm your answers—n-not that I think you would lie, by the way—and of course, to learn new information that would take too long to ask: let’s start that scanning spell.
“Are you ready, Jonathan? This process might take a bit of time, depending on how much there is that’s different about you. We might be here awhile.”
That familiar feeling of the jitters starting to build in his gut again, Jonathan shakily blew out a puff of air but nodded.
“I figured you would be,” Clover intoned, giving him a comforting smile. The energy around her horn suddenly shimmered with much more intensity than before, and a green tint overcame the brightly-lit room around them.
“Did you hear about that creature the young princesses encountered?”
“Yeah, it’s apparently some hairless, minotaur-type thing...stands on two legs and all, too...”
“Think it could be dangerous?”
“Psh! As if. I’m certain the Guard is more than capable to take the creature down if it’s a thre—u-uhm, sir!”
From out of seemingly nowhere, the large wooden doors shut behind Iron Clad with a soft thud, surprising the two guards chatting in their post. One of them—the stallion–had to scurry to pick his spear back up from off of the floor where the thing had somehow managed to fly out of his hooves. Iron Clad said nothing at this, turning his head to the right to look at the mare, then to the stallion at his left. His expression remained blank aside from an expectantly lifted brow.
“Our apologies for gossiping, commander!” the mare exclaimed, quickly recognizing the war-hardened earth pony. The helmet concealing most of her face let out a loud, metallic clank as a hoof shot up into a stiff salute. She was nervous, that much was undeniable—but that didn’t mean she would be so foolish as to completely disregard protocol.
Only a naive would let their nerves get the best of them like that.
Said naive simply stood there, shaking in his boots. “S-s-sorry, sir!” he squeaked. If one were to listen close enough, they could likely hear the guard’s teeth chattering from behind his visor.
Iron Clad’s gaze at the two lingered for a second or so longer before a small smile came to his face. “Relax,” he stated, the authority in his voice clear even when he wasn’t making any serious command. “Just hold out for another half-hour, you two. Shift’s almost over. After that—you can chitchat all you please.”
The guard-stallion’s helmet rattled with the severity of his nodding, and he sputtered out, “Y-y-yes sir! Will d-do!”
Quite the contrast to the stallion; the mare simply gave another shaky salute before returning to her usual position aside the palace doors.
The commander turned without another word, seemingly satisfied with the guards, and continued on his way down the hall.
After turning around another two more corners, the fire-orange stallion steadily slowed his gait to a halt. His calm, blue eyes scanned the hall around him. Once he was sure there wasn’t another pony wandering around—he hadn’t seen anything but the usual fancily decorated walls and wooden doors—he let out a relieved sigh, his normally stiff and proud posture dropping for the first time that day.
“Oh, sweet heavens...” Iron Clad hummed. He loved his work, don’t get him wrong. But after nearly seven straight hours of helping train new recruits, his leg and back muscles felt as if miniature knives were constantly being stabbed into them. Just minutes before, it had taken every last bit of his willpower to not show any signs of weakness around those guards. Especially around that stallion—the commander could tell how new the guard had been by simply glancing at his armor.
Shining. Hence the common nickname for beginning soldiers/guards: Shinies.
I suppose this is all just the price of having a public image to keep, thought the commander, grinning sorrowfully to himself. He took a moment to stretch his back a bit. Truthfully, no matter how painful of a price it could be on occasion, it was one he wouldn’t trade for the world.
Like previously mentioned, he loved his work. He had been in the Equestrian military and royal guard since they were even a thing, and had worked his tail off for over ten years in order to get where he was in the ranks. And in the fifteen years he had fought for this nation—and the five years he fought for the Earth Pony Tribe before—Iron Clad had seen, and experienced a lot. There had been a monumental shift in how ponies acted over the short history of Equestria. In its beginning, there was strife between the three races. He couldn’t even begin to try and count how many fights he had seen (and partaken in) that had started all because of differences in the pony races. Soldiers that had been waging war against each other only months before were now being forced to fight side-by-side. Pegasi didn’t like unicorns, unicorns didn’t like earth ponies, and earth ponies sure as Tartarus didn’t like the both of ‘em, either.
How were they supposed to live with ponies so different from themselves? Most, if not all of these ponies had been raised with hostilities towards the other two races implanted into their head during foalhood. That wasn’t something that could just be shaken off in a matter of days.
For the first year or two of Equestria’s life, everything was pure chaos.
But as it turned out, once ponies of the three races were forced to stand by, live near, and work alongside each other for awhile—they found they actually worked quite well together.
They had their differences, yes, but— “It’s kinda funny, really,” mused Iron Clad, currently preoccupied with observing a painting hung in one of the corridors. While he hadn’t ever been much of an artsy stallion, this painting held a lot of sentimental value to him. It depicted the first TRUE war Equestria had ever faced as a nation, nearly thirteen years into the past at this point. “It was in these many...differences...of ours that we ponies found...synergy. A sort of Harmony, really.”
In the military, sure the pegasi had wings that neither the earth ponies or unicorns did, but that meant that they had a better strategy against airborne foes. And yes; the unicorns did have magic on their side that wasn’t naturally available to earth ponies or pegasi, but that meant magical targets weren’t such a big worry to them now.
“...without all three races working together in harmony like we had been...I doubt we would’ve stood much a chance against Tirek’s forces…” he mumbled to himself. A grin came to his face one more time before he turned and continued on his way, a good portion of the exhaustion gone from his step.
A few minutes passed, and eventually Commander Iron Clad found himself at his destination; a door not unlike the ones on either side of it in the hall. Same golden doorknob, and the same finely-sanded wood. What the element was that differentiated this door from the rest, was a large sign nailed into its surface.
The Laboratorial Chamber of Clover the Clever. “Please knock before entering!”
The commander let out a single snort. Taking no heed to the sign’s message, he put a hoof to the cold brass of the knob and pushed open the door.
Clover wasn’t sure how much time had passed. After a hour or so of mentally keeping track—she simply lost count of the hours. What she was keeping count of, however; was that after filling THREE books with information on the human body, Clover was nearing having a fourth one filled. Cover-to-cover.
There are just so many oddities about these humans, she thought. While many unicorns would collapse from the extended use of a spell like this, Clover showed no signs of strain whatsoever as her horn continued lighting up the lab’s interior with a bright green glow.
I mean seriously, NO magic? It’s not even as if Jonathan’s body is made to passively resist magical elements. The makeup of the human body doesn’t even seem to take the concept into consideration!
Despite having stood there for a few hours at this point, Jonathan barely feels the weariness in his legs. His mind was currently occupied with the exotic feeling that this spell was giving him. The weighing spell had felt weird, that was certain, but this surge of energy just felt so...so different to him.
It was as if every cell in his body was being thoroughly ran through a computer scanner, with this feeling running through his body being what he could only describe as static. From the tips of his toes to his heels, up his calves and thighs to his waist (Clover’s face flushed a slight tint of red at this point). From his waist, it slowly ran up into his stomach and chest, where a temporary bout of uncomfortableness set in. It seemed as if his chest alone had taken an hour for the spell to scan, before the feeling of electricity eventually moved on from his torso and into his shoulders, where it coursed through both of his arms down to the very tips of his fingers.
Now, Jonathan could feel that bizarre energy slowly drag on up his neck and spine. The further it went up his neck, the brighter the green in the room seemed to become. Or was it just his eyes? Jonathan couldn’t be sure at this point.
Suddenly the door opened.
A large stallion in what appeared to be knight’s armor (minus a helmet) walked in, silently closing the door behind him. Clover, her horn still casting a beam of light at Jonathan, didn’t even need to turn to know who the pony was. A large smile found its way onto face.
“Hello, Irons! How are things, dear?” she asked.
Iron Clad glanced at Jonathan with a curious look. “Aside from me feeling like utter shit—things are going quite well, today.”
“Aw. Rough work day, I assume?”
His blue eyes not leaving Jonathan’s own for a second—something that greatly unnerved the boy—Iron Clad decided not to answer his wife’s question. Instead, he asked one of his own. “Say...what in Equestria is that creature, Clover?”
