Months before the Elements of Harmony realized their destinies, the Canterlot Special Sciences division found an unidentified creature near the Everfree
Months before the Elements of Harmony realized their destinies, the Canterlot Special Sciences division found an unidentified creature near the Everfree. Unfortunately nopony seems to be able to understand a thing it says when it tries to communicate- except one pony.
Today was the day that Celestia’s routine inspection of the CSSD, Canterlot Special Sciences Division. Her evening had been quite pleasant to say the least, and there was no reason for her day to sour now.
As the Princess strode through the many halls of her castle, a labyrinth to most ponies, she navigated each and every turn with complete ease. As she rounded the next corner, her eyes landed on the head of the CSSD, a stallion unicorn named Bunsen Burner. His coat was a brilliant orange, and his mane flashed a vibrant red.
“Good evening, Your Highness!” Bunsen said as he quickly bowed to the Princess of the Sun. Princess Celestia let out a silent giggle before standing in front of her subject.
“Rise, my little pony,” Celestia said, gesturing with a hoof. She looked down at the stallion as he recomposed himself. “I hope everything in the special sciences division is going well?” Celestia asked, a tiny smile growing on her face. Bunsen Burner’s face lit up with excitement as he quickly turned to look behind him.
“Yes, Princess! We've been doing extensive research on several different types of magic that we haven't even begun to categorize on the Thaumic Scale!” Burner said with a toothy smile. However, Bunsen’s face quickly screwed into one of confusion, before he looked to the Princess once more. “We’ve also discovered a new species of animal native to the Everfree,” the science pony explained.
Celestia looks down at the unicorn with a frown. “And what seems to be troubling you?” she asked, taking a motherly tone.
Bunsen Burner looked to Celestia, adorning a serious face. “You see, Princess, this creature is like nothing we’ve encountered before. It seems to be somewhat intelligent, but responds with violence whenever it’s approached by any of our researchers. Also, this creature seems to have an inherent immunity to magic, which makes taking bio samples extremely difficult,” Bunsen said as the two ponies begin walking down the brightly illuminated corridor.
Celestia’s brow furrowed as she looked down to Bunsen. “And what do we know about this new species?” she asked with concern.
Bunsen let out a heavy sigh before looking to the Princess, a defeated look on his face. “To be honest Princess, the only knowledge we possess on the creature is what we can observe. It stands at about eighteen hooves tall, has four limbs with smaller appendages attached to each end, and is mostly hairless. It has several distinct facial features that one would see on a pony: Eyes, Nose, Eyelashes, and Mouth, though that's all we can currently identify. Its diet seems to consist of just about anything; It's eaten almost everything we've given it, and its teeth seem to indicate that it's capable of consuming animal protein. It's forward-set eyes suggest this species is predatory in nature.”
Celestia gave the pony a serious look. “When was this...creature...found?” Celestia asked, her mind racing with questions. Bunsen looked to her with a smile as they passed a room with a faint buzzing resounding from it.
“It was found around five days ago,” he responded.
Before Celestia could ask any more questions, they had already arrived at their destination.
Celestia looked at the door, uncertainty playing at her mind. “I assume this is the room with the creature in it?”
Bunsen looked to the door, giving a nod. “I presumed that this was where you would want to go first, before I show you any of our more complicated research,” Bunsen said, a small blush of embarrassment on his face.
Celestia chuckled, sliding the door open with her magic. “It's alright, Bunsen,” she said, a new smile gracing her face. As Celestia walked into the laboratory, her eyes instantly locked on a plexiglass box on the far side of the room. Inside of this plexiglass box were two more boxes with shapes carved out of the side, and a variety of different shapes that matched the carved sections of the box scattered about. More notably, there was a pink form, curled into a ball, lying in the corner of the box.
Bunsen Burner stopped next to Celestia before looking at the creature in the box. “It sleeps most of the day, as you can see,” he said as he fished his glasses from their resting place atop his head.
Celestia stared at the bundled up creature in the corner, curiosity in her eyes. “And you say you found this creature near the Everfree?” Celestia asked, getting closer to the plexiglass cage.
Bunsen responded from behind the Princess, “Yes, Your Highness, near the village of Ponyville.” The excitement was almost leaking from his voice.
Celestia walked nearer to the glass container, stopping mere inches from it. “I feel like I've seen you before…” Celestia whispered, trying to recall the beast.
Before Celestia could ask any more questions, the creature slowly roused from its sleep. As it slowly stood to its hind legs, it let out a long yawn.
“GGuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhh,” it bellowed, stretching its arms and limbs. As the being relaxed itself, it locked eyes with Celestia. “You're new,” it said, raising an eyebrow. In reaction, both of Celestia’s eyebrows flew skyward in surprise. Her gaze quickly turned from the creature, to Bunsen Burner, and back to the creature. “I wasn’t aware that this creature could speak,” Celestia stated, now looking to Bunsen Burner, whose expression matched that of a wall socket.
“I don't understand what you mean, Your Highness. Any form of communication this creature could possibly have would simply be low grunts and moans,” he said, frowning at the Princess.
Celestia looked at the creature, her brow raised. “I am Princess Celestia, Monarch to the Nation of Equestria. Who are you?” she asks, a serious tone in her voice. The animal’s eyes seemed to pop out of its head as he heard her speak. “Holy shit, you understand me?” it said with surprise.
Celestia gave a quick nod. “Yes, I can.”
“Ho-Holy shit, finally!” he shouted, jumping in the air with excitement. For some reason the biped quickly covered its center and took a seat on the ground. “This is awesome! I mean, you're a talking horse, so I don't trust you, but I'm glad I can finally get through to someone!” he exclaims as he pumps his left arm in the air a few times.
Celestia reeled back in offense. ‘Horses? This creature doesn't seem to know what species we are.’ She looked down to the being. “I am not a horse. I’m a pony!” she says with a huff. The animal looked up to her, an eyebrow raised, but his expression quickly disappeared. “Yeah, and I'm Elli,” he said, crossing his arms.
Celestia turned to see a very confused-looking Bunsen Burner. He fumbled a bit, as papers and quills around him scribbled down anything he was observing. “P-P-Princess, can you understand the creature?” he asked.
Celestia’s focus shifted to the creature, then back to Bunsen. “Yes, I seem to be able to understand it.” Her brow furrowed. “It also seems to be sentient,” she whispers to him.
The creature pounded its fist on the glass, remaining seated on the floor. Just from looking at its face, she could tell it was terrified. “Please don't leave, you’re the only person around here who understands me,” it said, it’s claw like appendage sliding down the glass.
Celestia turned back to Bunsen, a serious look on her face once more. “And release it from confinement; I’ll be personally overseeing it from now on.” Bunsen's expression erupted with surprise.
“Y-y-your highness! Are you absolutely sure? Think of the scientific research we can gather from whatever sort of connection you have with this creature! Think of what we could understand just from its unique physiology!” Bunsen blurted out, his notes flying into a neat pile on his back. Celestia raises an eyebrow and frowns at Bunsen.
She quickly pointed a hoof at the creature. “That is a living, thinking, feeling being. The only thing we will gain from containing it in these conditions is a brief lesson why we should not confine those who do not deserve it,” Celestia said with a stern motherly tone.
In the back of the room, she could hear Elli yell in joy. “Ha-ha, I don't understand what the ugly one said, but you go, Princess Solosia!” he shouted with joy as the back of his hand slams into the glass, his middle claw only standing.
Celestia sat across from Elli, between them rose steam from a tea kettle that sat on a small oak table. Celestia quickly lifted her cup with magic and sipped it for a moment, then sat her cup back onto the table. Her eyes focused on the creature sitting before her, covering itself with a blanket and looking in every direction imaginable.
As Celestia took another sip of tea, it spoke up. “So….where exactly am i?” It asked, now looking to Celestia with a frown. Celestia’s head tilts to the side as she sets her cup on the table.
“As of now” Celestia says, pointing to the floor with a hoof. “You are in Canterlot Castle.” She says, a warm smile dawning on her face.
Elli’s face scrunched, before he looked around. “Canterwhat Castle? I don't think you understand the measurement of how confused i am at the current situation.” He says before running a hand through his hair. Celestia looks at Elli, her expression still warm and motherly.
“Before we get to the information you seek, i'd like to formally introduce myself.” Celestia says, now sitting with a more regal posture. “I am Princess Celestia, Sovereign ruler of the Country of Equestria. I rule from the capital city of Canterlot, which is where we are at the moment.” She says in a very matter of fact tone.
Elli’s expression turns to one of focus as he looks at Celestia. “My name is Elli, citizen of the country of the USA. I usually live in the city of New York, but i suppose i'm not in Kansas anymore?” Elli says, his last sentence sounding more disheartened than the previous statements.
A small silence hangs in the air before Celestia breaks the ice. “I see how you might be confused by your situation, Elli. From the way you describe your homeland it seems as if you’re from..” Celestia pauses as Elli raises a hand and places it atop his forehead.
“Another world.” Elli says, exhaling heavily. “This is normally something that only happens in...well...no normal occurance ever.”
It was Celestia’s turn to exhale this time as she lifts her glass of tea to take a sip. “And it seems for unknown reasons, i am the only pony able to communicate with you. At least to my knowledge.” Celestia says, sipping her tea. The monarch places her tea down with a sigh, but her expression is soon replaced by a wide smile. “However, we cannot let the limitations of the current situation bring our spirits down!” Celestia exclaims. The white alicorn in front of Elli quickly stands from her seat and trots to a nearby book shelf. “What species are you Elli?” Celestia asks, her mind racing with curiosity. The sheer amount of questions racing through her mind could rival that of Twilight Sparkle on her first day at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.
Elli responded with a small grunt. “I would be classified as Human, were the omnivorous type.” He says, tucking a pillow between his legs as he tightens the blanket around him. When he had been released from containment, he had under the conditions that he would have a thick sheet to cover himself with.
‘Such a strange being...I wonder why he insists on being covered.’ Celestia thinks to herself, before she grasps a book from the bookshelf with her magic. After a flick of her horn it was placed on the table in front Elli. “Fascinating, and what is your world called?” Celestia asks as several more books fly onto the table in front of Elli, perfectly stacked.
“Well, our world is called many things: Gaia, Terra, Third Rock- but most just call it Earth.” Elli says, responding with a smile.
Celestia’s magic carries over three more books and places them on top of the already tall stack of books. “Do humans possess the ability to manipulate the manasphere?” Celestia asks, instinctively replacing a book that had been out of alphabetical order.
Elli’s face contorts to one of confusion. “Im sorry Princess, i couldn't understand that word you just said at the end there.”
Celestia turns to see Elli behind a stack of 20 books, cleaning and ear out with a finger. “Perhaps i was misunderstood? Does your species lack the ability to cast magic?” She asks, moving the pile of books so that nothing stood between her or Elli.
“Magic? You mean like that stuff in those old-” Elli began, but was interrupted by a knock on the nearby door. Celestias gaze quickly turned to the source of the noise, her ears swiveling with her gaze. Personally, Elli thought the fact that her ears swivel with sound was pretty adorable.
“You may enter.” Celestia says, a warm smile on her face. The door on the far side of the room slowly opens to reveal a small green and purple figure. “Spike, it's good to see you again.” Celestia says as Spike walks into the room, a nervous smile on his face.
“Heh, i didn't know you were meeting with somepony today. I can come back later if you want, i don't want to be a bother.” Spike says, scratching the top of his head. Celestia lets out a small laugh before looking to Elli. “This is Spike, the assistant of my personal student.” She says, now looking back to spike. “And to what do i owe the pleasure, Spike?” Celestia asks with a motherly tone.
Spike quickly retrieves a scroll from behind his back, but looks to Elli nervously. Elli looks to Spike with a smile, and from spikes perspective lets out a few grunts- then a long moan.
“Oh my god, he's just the darndest thing isn't he?” Elli says, looking at Spike. Celestia rolls her eyes before looking at the scroll in Spike’s claws.
Spike looks down the scroll before looking back to Celestia. “Well, i could have gotten these on my own but Twilight’s been flank deep in research lately. And with the upcoming summer sun celebration, she needs to be extra prepared.” Spike says, now rolling the scroll up and handing it to Celestia.
Celestia takes the scroll and then levitates 3 books from the pile on the table into Spike's hands. “And pray tell, what is the subject of Twilight Sparkle’s studies as of late?” Celestia asks, looking at spike with a raised eyebrow.
Spike looks to the side, before looking back to the Princess. “Uh, it was something along the lines of The Mare in the Moon.” He says with a smile.
Celestia smiles and nods before looking to Elli, who seemed to be waiting patiently. “Now run along Spike, my guest and I have very important matters to attend to.” Celestia says, quickly leaving her seat to nuzzle spike on the cheek. Celestia returns to her seat as Spike leaves the room, a dark look on her face.
“What's wrong?” Elli says, crossing his arms. Celestia looks to him, her face back to its normal smile.
“Absolutely nothing, now why don't we return-”
Celestia is interrupted by Elli’s hand in front of her face. “None of that now, we humans have a habit of letting things that bother us brood. Im sure i wont be able to understand what it is that's bothering you but I sure as hell know its better to talk about it than leave it be.” He says, crossing his arms again.
Celestia sighs, a smile of relief on her face. “You have a refreshing brand of bluntness, Ellie.” She says, now looking to Elli. “The events i'm telling you now take place roughly 999 years ago.”
Elli’s eyes grow wide before he throws his hands out in front of him. “Hold up, stop the bus, hold the phone, hold the pickles, dice the fries, step on the breaks.” He says in a single breath. “That's almost a thousand fucking years, and im too hungry to listen to this story unless i have some popcorn.”
Celestia lets out a small giggle, as she and her new friend delve into a tale long lost to obscurity.
“Long ago, Equestria was ruled by two leaders not one. Just as i raised the Sun, my Sister Princess Luna ruled the night; however the ponies of Equestria did not appreciate her night as she wanted them to. Luna’s jealousy grew as the ponies ignored her night; and eventually her envy overcame her. Unfortunately I had been blind to her frustrations, and chose to focus on ruling my people instead of realizing the grave mistake I had made. Unfortunately, Luna had succumb to a dark magic called The Nightmare. This magic corrupted her, and turned her into Nightmare moon.” Celestia pauses, looking up to Elli.
Elli on the other hand had been completely encaptured by Celestia’s tragic story, and snacked on the popcorn he requested.
After a brief sigh, The Princess continues. “Nightmare moon sought to make the night last forever, but that also meant taking me out of the picture.” Celestia says, her words full of sorrow. “We battled fiercely, however in the end I overcame her with the Elements of Harmony and banished her to the Moon.”
Celestia and Elli sit in silence, before Elli’s hand shoots into the air. “What are the Elements of Harmony?” He asks as his hand falls back to his lap. Celestia smiles and looks to a nearby window.
“The Elements of Harmony are ancient relics used to restore harmony when the balance is disturbed.” Celestia says, her gaze sticking to the world outside. “However since my sister's banishment they have not been properly utilized.”
Elli scratches his chin before looking up, and then back to Celestia. “And...you raise the Sun? Who raises the moon if your sister isn’t around to do it?”
Celestia nods and looks back to Elli. “Yes i raise the Sun; however in my sister’s absence i've also taken the responsibility to raise the Moon.”
Elli’s face contorts, from disgust to confusion, than to anger. “So you’re basically god?” He asks, a deep frown growing on his face. “I assume you’re immortal since you’re all-” Elli makes a few gestures with his hands. “-Flowy and ethereal.”
Celestia is taken back by Elli’s change in mood, but she retains her composure. “I am no God, my dear Elli. I can die just like anypony else.” She says, her smile never wavering.
Elli’s arms shot out from his sides. “You won't die though. This entire world screams Deus Ex Machina to me, with the guards and the perfect pretty pony castle. No offense Princess, but things seem too perfect here. I mean, you even have an overwhelmingly powerful weapon that has the capability of sending whoever you want to the moon or whatever.”
Celestia cringes a bit at Elli’s tone, but she lifts her teacup and takes a sip before sitting it down again. “This world does not go without problems Elli. My little ponies must endure the constant threat of war.”
At this Elli’s eyebrow launches up his face. “War? Like big ones?” He asks as his frown deepens.
Celestia nods, taking another sip of tea. “Tensions between Equestria and the Gryphon Empire are running high, unfortunately i do not see any diplomatic solution available at the moment.” She says, a hoof now resting on the table. “I do not understand your frustration Elli, but i can assure you that Equestria is far from perfect.”
Elli sighs before crossing his arms. “I think i understand now.” He says, lifting a hand to his chin. “Im sorry if it seemed like i was angry, i've never been keen on the idea of perfection.” The human states, scratching his chin.
Celestia nods, a motherly smile growing on her face. “All is forgiven my little human; however as this...unscheduled appointment grows longer, my schedule thickens.” She says as she leaves her seat. “Would you like to join me in Day Court?” Celestia asks, a tiny smirk on her face as she walks towards the door.
Elli sighs before standing to his feet. “As the only pony who understands me, I see that my choices aren't exactly vast and wide.” He says sarcastically, making Celestia giggle.
“It's not as boring as it sounds, my human friend.” Celestia says as they both make their way to the throne room.
o-0-o
Hour after hour had passed, Celestia seeing noble after noble, citizen after citizen, all managing to keep her poker face in tact.
“Whos this schmuck.” Elli says, looking at the noble pony in front of Celestia with a frown. To Elli, the pony was only speaking with neighs and whinnies. Celestia’s eyes shot to Elli as a small smile cracked onto her face. “This guy looks like he was born with his head up his ass.” Elli continues, beginning to rock back and forth in his chair.
Initially Celestia wanted Elli to watch Day Court from afar, but Elli had insisted he sit directly next to Celestia for ‘Dramatic Effect.’
The solar princess looked to the pony in front of her. “And to what do i owe this visit dear nephew?” Celestia says, looking down to her adopted nephew. Prince Blueblood had been a prominent member of the royal family since he was a colt, and Celestia decided to adopt him into the family.
“Auntie, i've heard these ridiculous rumors that the Summer Sun Celebration is being held in the village below.” Blueblood says, throwing his head back dramatically. “These rumors simply cannot be truth, as the celebration will be in Canterlot like it always is.”
Celestia sighs. She knew changing the location of the Celebration at the last second was bound to gain attention; however changing the location was imperative to her plans.
“Nephew, I changed the location of the Celebration for a reason.” Celestia states. To her side she could hear Elli snicker.
“I don't need to understand your language to know that this kid is a punk.” The human says with a groan.
Blueblood feebly stomps a hoof on the ground before whining. “But Auntie, the Summer Sun Celebration is always in Canterlot, what of the noble ponies who have already planned for it to take place in Canterlot?”
Celestia sighs. ‘Blueblood has always had a problem with change, i just have to hope he gets over this change soon enough.’ she thinks to herself.
As Blueblood vents his frustration in his head, his gaze moves to the human sitting next to Celestia. “What in equestria is that?” He asks, pointing a hoof at Elli. The human in question pointed to himself with an appendage.
Celestia looks to Blueblood with a smile, her tone switching to a stern motherly one. “This is Elli, he is….” Celestia trails off before looking to Elli, than back to Blueblood. “My new pet.” Celestia says, a sly smile on her face.
Elli’s head slowly tilts as his gaze rests on Celestia. “Th’ fuck did you just call me?” he asks.
Celestia ignores him, her smile still unwavering. The Solar Princes looks to Blueblood, and claps her hooves together. “If you wish to attend the Summer Sun Celebration, you must travel to Ponyville. Now run along Nephew, and let the next pony in line enter.” she says.
As Blueblood leaves the room, Celestia looks to Elli. The human’s chair now faced away from Celestia, and Elli’s arms were crossed over his chest. “Should we start leash shopping now, or do you want to skip straight to the toy aisle?” He asks, staying turned away. Celestia couldn't help but laugh loudly at the human’s antics.
“My dear Elli, i hope you did not take it offensively when i called you my pet. Calling you my pet is an easier explanation than you being an extraterrestrial.” Celestia says, still giggling.
Elli’s chair swivels around so that he faces Celestia, his arms still crossed. “I could have been like...a foreign dignitary or ambassador or something.” The human says, his face turning red from embarrassment.
Another pony walks into the throne room before either of them could say anything. This pony was a mare with a yellow coat, and a light blue mane. “Good evening princess.” She says, stopping and bowing before her monarch. Celestia nods to her, and takes a regal tone.
“Rise, my little pony.” Celestia said with a smile.
“Thank you your highness, its an honor to stand before you today.” The mare says, looking to Celesta with a look of adoration. “Your highness, i come before you today in request to halt the destruction of my family's home.” She says, looking at her monarch with pleading eyes.
Celestia raises an eyebrow. “I do not recollect authorizing the destruction of any civilian property.” She says, looking down at her subject. The mare before her quickly pulls a scroll from somewhere unseen and gives it to the Princess.
Meanwhile, Elli fiddles with the sheet covering his body as he observes the two ponies conversed about whatever. Elli, in reality could only understand half of the conversation- and to his knowledge, Celestia does not remember the authorization of the destruction of civilian property. “Im bored Princess, would you mind if I explored a bit?” He asks, looking to the monarch with a hopeful smile.
Celestia looks over to Elli and nods, before returning to her conversation with her subject. “Sweet!” Elli exclaims, jumping out of his chair.
“Why did I think it would be a good idea to stray so far from the courtroom?” Elli asks himself, the pitter patter of his bare feet following him through the seemingly barren corridors of Canterlot Castle. Elli’s memory had never been remarkable when it came to directions, so when he’d left the safety of the courtroom he was on his own. With the idea of being completely and utterly lost having escaped his mind, Elli began pondering his situation.
“Im stuck in a world full of small ponies that I can't understand- save one bigger pony. Why can she understand me? Why can I understand her? Will I ever go home?” Elli thought to himself out loud. He stops walking when he reaches an ajar window, it overlooks a vast garden- quite possibly the largest garden Elli had ever seen. “That's larger than the botanical gardens in New York!” Elli exclaims in awe. This garden was simply beautiful, no this garden was immaculate in both design and color.
Before Elli could admire the sight before him any longer, a voice rings from behind him. “Well im glad my design doesn’t fall on blind eyes.”
Elli turns around to see the same ethereal pony who he'd left alone a few moments ago. His left eyebrow shoots upwards, and his hands land on his hips. “You designed this…” One of Elli's hands raises to his forehead as he pulls it backwards and runs it through his long, unkempt hair. “Jesus, im at a loss for words. I feel like my knowledge of horticulture isn't nearly what it should be for me to be able to appreciate this next level of gardening.” He says almost sarcastically as he looks back to the sight behind him.
Celestia giggles, covering her mouth with a hoof. “I'm not sure one requires an education in gardening to be able to admire the beauty in nature itself.” She says, a smile remaining on her face.
Elli looks back to Celestia, a warm smile on his face. “You know this might be coming out of nowhere, but i'm grateful for all that you’ve done for me.” The human says, sincerity in his voice.
Celestia nods and her smile disappears for a moment; her gaze now turns to the open window behind the human. “If id known of you sooner, I'm sure I would have released you as quickly as possible.” she says, her eyes remaining distant.
Elli walks closer to Celestia and puts his hand on her shoulder. “Im sure there was no way you could have known, I mean shit; you're the only one that can understand me. If I'm being completely honest here, my people would have done the same thing if one of your ponies was somehow transported to my world. In fact I'm sort of glad that wasn't the case, my people are much less understanding than the ponies.” Elli finishes, scratching his chin, his face scrunching from the disturbing thoughts in his mind.
It was time for Celestia’s brow to raise this time, her lack of knowledge regarding Elli’s people had peaked her curiosity before; however the way he spoke of them now truly grasped her attention. “And how would it have been so different, my dear Elli?” She asks, intrigue now flooding her mind with possibilities of humans like Elli- but perhaps Elli was a different breed of human?
Elli lets out a small snort of amusement ‘Cute’ Celestia thinks to herself. The human looks at Celestia with a sarcastic smile and crosses his arms. “Well they definitely wouldn't just confine one of your ponies, but I can hardly speak for my entire species. We have at least four major world powers on my planet, and each of them handle things differently and ehh…” Elli pauses, his face screwed into the mix of uncertainty and confusion. “Lets just say my species has a very odd desire to see how an alien species looks on the inside, and outside.”
Celestia reels back slightly, images of any harm coming to her little ponies made her cringe with anguish. She quickly regains her composure, and looks Elli directly in the eyes. “Your species cannot be truly that barbaric Elli. They must have some sense of empathy, or compassion to something other than their own kind.”
Elli shrugs, his hands landing on his hips. “My people aren't barbaric, they’re just ehhh how do i put it..” The human looks up and bites his lip, deep in thought.
Celestia huffs, and her gaze rests on Elli. “Overly Curious?” She asks, trying to finish the humans sentence. However Elli walks over to a nearby wall and leans on it with most of his weight.
He runs his hands through his hair, once again tussling it back and forth. “Nah, i wouldn't say that, we have too much curiosity yes, but curiosity doesn't bring means to an end. Describing the human condition is something that even human scientists before me couldn't do!” Elli exclaims. “We’re just so…” Elli pauses once more, lost in thought.
Celestia’s hoof raises to her chin now, almost mimicking Elli’s gesture; as if his motions and movements were contagious. Elli was a curious being, a creature only she could understand yet there was still so much she did not. There’s no doubt the days ahead of her would be more than a hoof-full. Celestia is ripped from her thoughts by Elli who claps and snaps his fingers.
“I know what we are!” He yells, a smile on his face. Celestias head cocks to the side as a grin begins growing where a stoic expression once was.
“And what is that Elli?” Celestia asks.
Elli approaches Celestia, a wide toothy smile on his face. This gave Celestia a chance to notice that Elli’s teeth were very pronounced, and each held a unique shape of its own; some sharp and some flat, but all seemed to fit into its place. “We’re all just so Human!”
When Celestia had invited Elli to the Summer Sun Festival as her plus one he immediately thought ‘Damn, this crazy ass horse must be joking’; however there were two incorrect statement in the proceeding thoughts that went through his mind.
One: That Celestia was not a horse, and she had scolded him many times for calling her just that. Two: She was indeed serious when she told him she would be bringing him to the Summer Sun Festival which took place in a small town called Ponyville.
Elli often scoffed at the ridiculous names that Celestia had let her people give the cities in her country. “Baaltimare, Las Pegisus, Appleloosah, Mianehattan, Poniville.” Elli says to himself, each city name with its own degree of sarcasm. The last name he spoke in fact bothered him the most. “Poniville, Poniville, Poniville.” Elli says to himself, gaining the attention of Celestia who stood beside him. The pair stood awaiting a pony drawn carriage to the town in question, leaving time for them to spend in solitude.
Celestia’s gaze slowly shifts down to Elli, who wore an odd frown. He continued to mutter the name of the town over and over again, but his pronunciation of the town’s name was what bothered the Solar Princess the most. ‘Pon-ee-ville?’ Celestia thinks to herself as she looks at the confused human standing beside her.
“Elli, my dear human.” She says in an attempt to gain his attention. However the man’s attention remained glued to the empty space in front of him, his focus on pronouncing the name of the town gaining his full attention.
“Poniville, it just doesn’t sound right” Elli says, furrowing his brow once more.
Celestia raises a hoof and places it on Elli’s shoulder, slightly startling him. “I think you mean Pone-E-ville” Celestia says, a small smirk on her face. The human looks to Celestia with an eyebrow raised in confusion, before looking front and center once more. “Pone….e...ville?” He says to himself, before looking to Celestia for confirmation. Celestia nods, with a smile on her face. ‘There may be hope for him yet!’ she thinks sarcastically.
Before Elli and Celestia knew it, a carriage had dropped from the sky and landed in front of them, the large passenger carriage was pulled by five royal pegasus guards clad in golden armor that covered most of their bodies. One lead pegasus however lead the four guards ponies in the back rows; to Elli he looked to be the leading figure of authority.
The lead pegasus unhitched himself from the carriage's main pull and approaches Celestia.
“Good evening Princess Celestia, Corporal Iron Wing reporting for duty.” The lead pegasus says, giving Celestia a salute. Elli looks at the pony with a tilted head, before turning to Celestia.
“What rank is this guy?” The Human asks, looking to Iron Wing than to Celestia once more.
Celestia looks down to Corporal Iron Wing, and gives a small nod. “Hello Corporal, i'm glad to have such a skilled pony escorting me to Ponyville this afternoon.” Celestia says, a warm smile on her face.
Elli looks to Celestia with a crooked frown, than to Iron Wing. “Salute, Corporal Irun Wing.” Elli says, mispronouncing the pegasus’ name. He than stands up straight and gives Iron Wing a mock two finger Salute. Celestia looks to Elli with a smile, knowing full and well that Iron Wing will interpret Elli’s gestures and words as nothing more than gutteral moans and grunts. The Corporal looks to Elli with a confused expression, sizing up the Human.
“And who- er what is this with you?” The Corporal asks, now looking to Celestia. In Response, Celestia pats Elli on the back with a hoof.
“Ah, this is a dear pet of mine Corporal. Nothing to worry about as far as your concern goes.” Celestia says. Elli stops and slowly turns to Celestia, the expression of ‘are you fucking kidding me, this shit again?’ on his face. Corporal Iron Wing’s gaze shifts to Elli as a few curious thoughts pass through his mind, than his attention snaps back to Celestia.
“Understood Princess.” Iron Wing says before returning to his position in front of the carriage.
Moving on, Elli and Celestia enter the Pegasus drawn carriage. They take their seats across from one another, eventually meeting eye to eye. Elli is the first to speak, leaning back in his seat and exhaling.
“So, the Corporal has to escort us huh?” He asks with a raised eyebrow, his eyes now resting on the Solar Princess before him.
Celestia clears her throat before speaking, her voice much more relaxed than when she’d spoken to the Corporal. “Yes, Corporal Iron Wing is a very respected officer of my ranks. I can trust he will do well in escorting us to the village below.” She says with a warm smile.
Elli crosses his arms, his brow furrowed. “Why do we need an escort? I can literally see the village below from here.” He says as the cart shakes, and begins its steady motion forward. What Elli didn’t expect was the sudden rise in altitude; which gave the effect of his stomach rising into his throat, almost making him vomit.
A worried expression crosses Celestia, before she realizes what exactly is happening to the Human sitting across from her. Motion sickness is common in earth ponies that had never taken flight in a Pegasus drawn carriage before; however Celestia had never taken into account whether or not her Human compatriot had ever flown before.
“Elli” Celestia begins, concern filling her every word. “Are you well? I hadn’t thought to ask if you’d be comfortable flying in a Pegasi carriage.”
Elli’s head hangs, his hands resting on his knees. One of his hands raises, holding a single finger up near what he called a ‘thumb’. “Give me a sec, Celestia” He says slightly dry-heaving. Elli can feel his bowels moving along with the cart as it rocked back and forth, suspended in the air.
This forced Elli to do something he hadn't done in a very long time.
Elli looked up with a frown on his face, he could feel everything he’d eaten in the past two days rising through his throat. Every chunk and piece of food arose from his stomach with an awful taste. “Celestia, I'm so sor-” Before Elli could finish his apology, he whipped his head to the direction of the carriage’s open end. A torrent of vomit spews from Elli’s mouth to fly directly out of the open back of the carriage and over the open land of Equestria.
Celestia watched all of this happen before her eyes all in the time of ten glorious, revolting seconds. This scene usually would make any other pony reel backwards in disgust or even be offended by the sight, but Celestia on the other hand burst into a fit of laughter.
The carriage ride was a lengthy one at that, and the taste of vomit couldn't have stuck more in Elli’s mouth throughout the entire journey.
Elli stretches his arms and legs as he and Celestia step away from the carriage. In the time between Elli emptying his bowels and the carriage touching down on the soil- The Human had the time to explain his long past of motion sickness and how moving vehicles and shaking in general had made him sick to his stomach.
With a military escort in tow Celestia and her human companion made their way into town. Elli’s gaze moves to Celestia, a nostalgic look washing over her face as the two of them make their way past various buildings in the small town.
As the two stop to acquaint themselves with the towns small roads and alleys, Celestia feels a small tug on her mane before her gaze shifts down to Elli.
“Princess, this might be a bad time but I have to use the bathroom for the first time in what seems like forever.” He says to her, his legs crossed and his free hand holding onto his center once more.
Celestia chuckles lightly as she looks to one of her guards and beckons for them to come closer. As the guard reaches his grand destination, Celestia leans down and whispers something into their ear.
Almost as quickly as they’d made their way to Celestia’s side, Elli found that he now had a private guard at his side. As charming as having a guard at his side was, it satiated his need to urinate no more than a stale bagel would to a starving man’s hunger.
“Thanks for the Escort Celestia.” He says to her, giving a two fingered salute.
What Elli had not anticipated was using the bathroom in a world that was not his own- was the difference in toilet type. Celestia was right to assume that Elli had a basic understanding of plumbing, and how to use toilets in general.
A confusing half hour later and Elli was escorted back to Princess Celestia’s side, a look of discomfort on his face.
“I trust that you had no trouble using an equestrian bathroom?” She says, her normal Princess smile still holding.
Elli’s arms crossed over his chest, the new robes she’d given him wafting with the movement of his appendages. “It was an experience I will no doubt have to learn from.”
His eyes shoot down to the ground.
“I did my best to clean up after myself- considering your kind doesn't really use conventional TP.” He says with a disdained look.
Celestia chucked at this, covering her mouth with a single hoof.
The duo along continued along Celestia’s route- to make sure that everything was going smoothly and according to plan during this years summer sun celebration. The further into town the two of them got, the more Elli noticed that all of the ponies around him had begun to kneel down at the mere sight of Celestia.
‘Talk about deity’ Elli thought to himself.
Before he’d even realized it himself, Celestia and Elli were now standing in front of the tallest building in town.
“We’ve reached town hall.” She says now looking down to her guardsponies. “I’d like you all to establish a perimeter around this building; however my pet shall stay at my side at all times.” She says as a matter of fact.
Before Elli could even blink, the guards once seemingly attached to Celestia by the hip were now gone. Perhaps he’d underestimated and misjudged the cute and cuddly ponies by their adorable exterior? “An active militaristic threat would warrant such behavior out of guards, and she did mention something about the Gryphon Empire, but what are the chances of an attack at this specific time of day in this extremely specific spot of the country? Even if someone did launch a strike on Equestria wouldn't there be adverse effects on the universe in an entirety?” Elli thought to himself.
“That’s quite the train of thought you have, my dear Elli.” Celestia says, her smile unwavering.
The human could feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, he’d been thinking out loud again. Celestia nuzzled his cheek gently before making eye contact with him. “Today we do not worry about such threats as the Gryphon empire. I’d forgotten to mention the fact that some of my little ponies can be…” Celestia paused for a second before looking up in thought- her hoof tapping her chin. “Fanatical.” The alicorn says bluntly.
“Oh.” was all Elli could manage to muster from his still embarrassed state of mind. Now he sort of understood more. They continued on into what Elli assumed to be Town hall. “I guess I understand that, we had situations like that back on Earth in more instances than one can count.” He says finally breaking out of his stupor.
Celestia lets a shallow sigh escape from under her breath as they approach a front desk looking area. The entire building had Elli in awe honestly: It's interior was dome shaped almost like the sistine chapel was, except instead of fancy thousand year old art there were flags and banners of all sorts hanging from every angle. Balconies lined the perimeter what Elli assumed to be the top floor of the building which was directly below the beginning of the dome- almost like a cockpit theatre.
At the comparably small front desk was a stark white pony wearing black rimmed glasses, her mane and assumingly tail a solid brown- a color almost directly matching Elli’s hair color.
“Hello Raven Inkwell.” Celestia says as she approaches the front desk.
The white mare looks up and lets out a whinney of surprise- well at least to Elli she did. After a few more whinneys and unintelligible horse noises- Celestia responds.
“No, I am not here to check on Rarity- that role is for another pony. Today I am here to check in with Mayor Mare on the other preparations that need to be in order for the Celebration.” She says, the first part of her sentence more cryptic than the latter.
Elli decided he wouldn't look too deeply into it.
Another moment later and the human had followed his alicorn companion through two very large doors which were very well placed behind the front desk. They’d been so well placed and blended in with the rest of the wooden walls so well that Elli wouldn’t have noticed them unless the shiny golden knobs were protruding from them.
The entire encounter with ‘Mayor Mare’ went faster than Elli had expected. Some paperwork for Celestia to sign here, an exchange of words there, and they were done before he knew it.
“So Celestia, run me through what just happened within the last few moments.” Elli says looking at the Alicorn with an inquisitive look.
Celestia giggles as they exit the building together through the front doors. The two of them stop before Celestia looks at Elli with a gentle smile.
“Every year I hold a festival for my little ponies to celebrate the glory and prosperity of Equestria.” She begins. “I needed to make sure that all of the strings being pulled behind the scenes were tight enough; however this year will be different therefore I must make extra preparations.”
Elli’s eyebrow launches from its resting position. “How so?” He says, his tone practically flooding with curiosity.
“Spoilers my dear Human.” Celestia says, raising a hoof and touching Elli’s nose gently. “All that you must know for now, is that I have everything under control.”
This makes Elli uncomfortable, but he feels like he's not going to be able to pry anymore out of her right now.
“If you say so pretty pony.” He says flicking her hoof away from his nose lightly. It was no secret that she was hiding something from him- and the Human knew that with a supreme being such as herself, Celestia was going to keep secrets.
The Alabaster colored Alicorn turned away from Elli and began trotting towards her next destination, her mind focusing on the inevitability of the events to come.
The soft clicking of chess pieces moving across a smooth marble slab echoed throughout an extremely empty Golden Oaks Library.
Elli’s finger slid from a ponderous position on his lips to a pawn on the board as he slid it forward a space gently. His eyes gaze around the baren building but return to the Alicorn sitting in front of him, sipping hot tea while she looked at the bored calmly.
Done with all of the errands Celestia needed to do, she’d decided to take a detour to relax at a private spot nearby. The spot they’d decided to stay in was a vacant library, but the oddest feature of this library isn't the lack of books, it's the library itself as a building. “Its a Tree, that's also a Library! Or a Library that's also a Tree!” Elli would exclaim as they entered the building and began to unwind with a friendly game of Chess.
“Celestia, can I ask you a difficult question?” Elli finally says, breaking the silence.
The Alicorns eyes travel from the board to the Human, her expression remaining the same.
“You can ask me anything on your mind my little human.” She responds with a motherly tone.
A rook on Celestia’s side of the board is enveloped by a yellow aura as it moves across the board and gently knocks over one of Elli’s Knights.
Elli snaps his fingers in frustration as he brings them to his face and looks down to the board.
“Does your world understand the concept of Religion?” He asks, his left hand stroking the light facial hair on his chin. He looks at the board with a screwed up face in frustration. “I guess I asked my question the wrong way.” He says moving his hand to a bishop and sliding it over to take the Rook that captured his Knight.
Celestia looks at Elli, her expression unchanged. “Religion is an outdated concept my dear Elli.” She says waving a hoof through the air absentmindedly. “Throughout time my little ponies and I have had a deep understanding of our history and creation through time immemorial.”
Elli’s expression changes as his head drops and he lets out a sigh. “I'm not sure whether to be amazed or terrified by that answer.” He says running his hands down his face.
Celestia’s magic moves one of her chess pieces forward as she makes eye contact with the human in front of her. “Can you elaborate on that Elli?” She asks sipping her tea.
Elli taps his feet against the ground nervously as he looks down at the chess board in front of him. “Being Human is complicated Celestia, it means never knowing where you truly came from. The only real evidence my species has ever uncovered about ourselves goes back billions of years- and that’s still not even the predominant belief on the origins of my species as a whole!”
The man was now speaking loudly, his voice echoing throughout the libraries empty halls and high ceilings.His fists trembling at his knees, gripping the white sheet he’d been given.
Celestia remained calm but her face was now showing more concern than anything.
“Can I ask what made you bring this up?” She asks him, setting her tea down on an adjacent table with her magic.
Elli looks up to her, his face red and eyes teary.
“I'm not sure...I feel now my humanity has become more apparent to me now than it ever was? I have literally nothing now, my existence could be wiped from the face of Equestria and it would literally be an extinction event.” He says putting his face in his hands. “What kind of universe would do this to me?”
Celestia rises from her seat and walks over to the trembling human and drapes a wing over his back; She leans down to nuzzle his cheek comfortingly. “I cannot tell you I understand exactly how you feel Elli.” She begins, lowering herself to his eye level.
Celestia’s gaze softens as she rests against the crying man. “However, I can tell you I understand what it is like to be...alone.” She says, her tone dripping with regret. “Alone in a world that ages around you, in a castle with crumbling walls and shards of broken hope scattered beyond redemption.” Her tone changes, the Princess drops her regular demeanor and lets out a sigh.
Celestia turns and places a hoof under Elli’s chin and raises it to meet her gaze. His hands drop to his knees and their eyes meet.
Celestia smiles as they make eye contact, and her face returns to her normal warm expression.
“I’m sorry” He says wiping his nose on his sheet sloppily. “I didn't mean to cry and ruin these fancy sheets you gave me.”
Celestia smiles at him warmly as he hoof drops to the floor with a quiet ‘clop’.
“Do not apologize for feeling, my dear Elli. I may not be human, but I will be here for you every step of the way until we find a way for you to go home.” She says confidently.
Elli wasn’t crying anymore and now realized he’d just had an emotional break in front of the only sentient being he could communicate with. He was just embarrassed now.
But then her words echo in his head. “Find a way for you to go home”
The human looks to the Princess sitting next to him with a faint smile on his face. “You said you could find a way for me to go home?” he asks, confidence clearly in his tone now.
Celestia stood now, walking to the center of the empty library’s hub. “Yes my dear Elli, I will try everything in my power to find you a way back to your world.” she says, her horn glowing in a golden Aura now.
The room is soon illuminated by a blue orb manifesting near Celestia, said orb soon grows green features on it, and begins resembling a planet.
Elli’s eyes now clear, light up in awe as the details of the magic manifestation begin forming on its surface.“You made a hologram of the planet!” Elli yells as he rises from his chair and approaches the magical image.
Celestia smiles as she walks around the beach ball sized projection of Equis as she effortlessly wills a projection of the moon orbiting around Equis. “Yes my little Human, This is Equis and her moon.” She says gazing down at the planet's surface.
Elli reaches out to touch the projection, but Celestia holds his finger in her magical Aura, then releases her grasp once she pulls it to a safe distance. “Touching powerful magical projections can lead to Magic Burns my dear Elli.” She says now standing next to him.
“Interesting.” Elli says, looking at the projection of the moon now. The symbol of a mare now is very blatant in the pattern that the craters make along its surface. “I wonder the extent of magic?” He says, now clearly asking himself questions. “Is it like a muscle you flex? Or is it more a psychological phenomena?” He murmurs, his hands running through his now long, greasy hair.
Celestia notices Elli’s hygiene as she looks him over, she subtly leans in and sniffs him as he’s lost in thought. As if Elli’s bodily odor declared war on her nose, the smell violently assaulted Celestia’s nose like a chemical attack.
And for the First time in a millennium, she broke her Princess Face.
Elli had still been questioning things and looking at the projection, while getting as close to it as possible; before he was lifted in a golden Aura. The projections of Equis and the Moons slowly fade away as the surprised human is floated through the library hub and to the stairs leading to the second floor of the building.
“Hey!” Elli shouts in surprise. “Where are we going!”
Celestia is now wearing a gas mask she’d manifested from her magic, she continues up the stairs ignoring Elli and reaching the second floor.
Elli, confused tries to struggle out of Celestia’s grasp but fails to break from her vice magic grip.
“Celestia please tell me what's going on.” He says as they continue down dimly lit the second floor hallway and turn into a dark room. “Oh god, is this where the tickle torture happens?” He says covering his face with his hands.
Celestia’s eyebrow raises as she lets out a “Hrmph?” from behind her gas mask. More candles in the room light to reveal a luxurious bathtub with a showerhead attached along with every type of soap and and shampoo you could think of.
Needless to say that Elli was relieved.
“Oh, I just smell really bad.” Elli says lifting an arm and whiffing his armpit. “Oh yeah that's Human B O for ya.” He says now scowling at his poor decision making. “Guess that's another specifically human problem in gonna have to deal with.” He says wiping his nose with his arm.
Unfortunately, Celestia was ignoring his pointless muttering and determined to exterminate the smell that afflicted her dear Elliott. “I neef diff frr yoor oon ood!” She says from behind that gas mask before ripping the sheet from the human’s body, leaving him naked.
What happened next went strictly on the record as an accident.
Somehow, Elli’s foot escaped Celestia’s magical aura in his now panicked and frantic state from immediate and unpleasant realization that he was now Naked.
His foot kicked from out of Celestia’s magic grasp which made Celestia herself lose concentration producing magical feedback on Elli.
Magical feedback can be bad in many situations, as the effects of said feedback vary depending on the spell being broken or dispelled. In the case of simple Telepathy, should its grasp be broken- the object or being in its influence should generate a massive amount of velocity and force in the direction the feedback’s origin. The speed at which the subject of the feedback affect travels at is based entirely on the mass, density, and projected ballistic trajectory said subject.
Of course the magic power of the caster whose spell is being broken is also to be taken into account. Where as a lower level magic user would be able to use telekinesis- they would not be able to lift a large boulder as a unicorn of a more powerful caliber would be able to while committing the same effort if not less than the aforementioned user.
Breaking Celestia’s magical grasp meant that she was casually holding him with enough strength to hold 10 grizzly bears down
In this case, Elli shattered the barrier with his foot. His flailing foot shattered through the surface of Celestia’s magic grasp in a series of events that happened too quickly for even the Immortal Alicorn in the room to process what occurs in time to prevent anything from happening.
“Gwah!” was all that Elli could say before Celestia’s magical grasp shattered into a million pieces, simultaneously sending the Human in a flying kick towards Celestia’s muzzle. Fortunately, as his foot collided with the slowly disintegrating gas mask covering Celestia’s face- just grazing her nose and sending Elli flying through the wall of the Bathroom and out into the world at speeds which would rival even the highest recorded wingpower.
Celestia was frozen, she could almost guarantee her nose was broken- which had not happened in over 1000 years. Her mind also frazzled by the magical feedback rushing through her horn, like one of her limbs had fallen asleep- this is also something that has not happened in 1000 years.
Guards rushed into the bathroom, frantically going to aid the disoriented princess.
Celestia holds a hoof to her head as she closes her eyes, and opens them slowly. The shouts of her guards sounded incredibly muffled as her senses tried to recuperate from the shock of the Magical Feedback.
She shook her head, snapping out of her stupor and resetting her demeanor.
“...ess! Are you alright! What happened here-” One guard says, Celestia recognizes him as Blast Shield, a new Recruit under Corporal Iron Wing. Celestia raises a hoof to answer before another guard shouts from behind Celestia. “Princess are you alright, what's going on!” He shouts, frantically.
Celestia raises her hoof a little higher, ushering silence in the room. “I am fine my little ponies.” she says, bringing her her now bleeding nose. “There was an accident and my pet somehow managed to break my magic grasp.” she says as she looks around at the worried guards. Still standing in front of her, Private Blast Shield reaches down into a pocket of his armor and fishes out a small white kerchief.
Private Blast Shield stretches his hoof up toward Celestia with a smile as she turns back toward him. “You can use this if you’d like Princess, at least until you have a doctor look at your nose.” He says as Celestia reaches down and takes the piece of cloth from Blast Shield.
The room settles down, the guards now shifting their attention to the enormous hole in the wall.
Celestia, who’s head is now clearing up as she stops the bleeding in her nose turns back to the guards- wondering what they were paying attention to. Then she remembered.
“ELLI!” She shouts as her pupils shrink to pinpricks.
Applejack was a simple pony. She wakes up every day at the crack of dawn, puts on her hat, feeds the chickens, eats breakfast, tends to the orchard, takes care of the rest of her chores, picks applebloom up from school, eats dinner, and then goes to bed at the early ripe time of 9PM.
Applejack was a simple pony. Today she woke up to the sound of her roosters at the crack of dawn. With a stretch and a yawn, climbed out of bed, put on her hat on and started her day. Applejack’s morning today went as smooth as usual along with the rest of her schedule as she fed the chickens, ate a wonderful apple fritter for breakfast, and began tending to the apple orchard; Which was her true pride and joy.
Pulling a cart behind her, Applejack made her way through the beautiful apple fields, stopping at every tree with ripe apples and delivering a swift and expertly aimed kick to the tree’s trunk, making it shake violently, causing every single apple to fall from the branches of the tree. These apples fall into preplaced baskets she’d positioned there days before.
Applejack was always ready and prepared for anything that could come her way.
About halfway through her walk of the orchard, Applejack stopped and proceeded along her regular routine. She approached an apple tree with preplaced baskets around it, turned around, lifted her hind leg and delivered a powerful kick to the base of the tree. She closed her eyes and waited to hear the satisfying sound of apples filling the preplaced baskets, but nothing came.
“What the hay?” Applejack says, confused and now turning to open her eyes look at the tree she’d kicked before.
There was a single outlying dent where she’d kicked the tree which was normal, most of her trees had a ton of deep dents in them where she'd kicked before. Every appletree had a sweetspot and Applejack could always feel where it was. Applejack chuckles slightly to herself before bringing a hoof up to her forehead. “I have been working awful hard lately.” She says to herself, wiping the sweat from her brow and letting her hoof fall to the ground again with a soft ‘clop’.
“Maybe ah just need to kick it a little harder, heh.” Applejack mutters to herself, chuckling nervously at her weakness.
The orange mare turns around facing away from the tree and winds both of her hind legs back before unleashing a powerful and confident kick to the tree’s weak spot.
Apples did not fall from the tree, instead something else fell out of the tree. Something pinkish pale, and very heavy.
The something falls to the ground with a bounce and settles in an unnatural shape. Startled, Applejack lurched backwards as the limp shape on the ground let out a long, deep groan before shifting and flipping over with a thud.
In Applejacks mind, she’d just discovered an injured animal in one of her trees. Wonderful
“Well ain’t that something” Applejack says tilting her hat back to get a better look at the still groaning creature in front of her. It was pale pinkish and clearly had 2 front legs and 2 back legs, one of the back two seemed extremely bent out of shape. The sight of blood never scared the farmpony or made her feel queasy at all; however suddenly seeing the raw bone sticking out of the leg of the creature before her was enough to break the farmpoy’s composure.
As if on cue, the creature holds itself up on two of its legs and stares down at the lower half of its body for a few seconds. He then turns his head towards Applejack, she could see his small eyes gazing at her unsteadily before his face twists into a smile and he lets out a few grunts, then a long deep guttural moan.
Applejack nervously stands her ground before the animal as he reaches down and to Applejacks dismay, actually touches the exposed bone poking out of its leg. After which the creature passes out, collapsing to the dirt.
In that instant Applejack made a decision that she was not prepared for. It was almost like her instinct to help another creature, no matter the species completely took over.
In almost a single motion, she emptied the apples from her cart and replaced them with the creature. Lifting it was no easy feat, which was odd to the farmpony as the creature was tall, slim, and seemed to be nothing but skin muscle and of course bone. She lifted it into the cart in a position that would let his limbs hang out of it, his height making that no issue at all.
In the time it took to empty the cart and haul the creature into the cart, Applejack had come up with a plan on where to take the injured critter, and who to go to in order to properly treat it after she’d stopped the bleeding with her first aid.
It all seemed simple, but hauling this being from the Appletree to her barn two acres away was something that Applejack would admit to being the equivalent of pulling 3 carts full of apples.
By the time Applejack had reached the barn, she was already out of breath. She knew the creature hadn’t died from blood loss because she could hear it let out grunts and moans of pain every once in a while.
“Tough feller, aren’t cha’” Applejack says as she lets out a breath, turns and pushes one of the barn doors open wide enough to let the cart inside.
Applejack miraculously gets the creature out of the cart and sets it on the softest bale of hay she can find. She looks it over with a worried look at lets out a cry of pain and tries to grab its leg.
Applejack rushes forward and pushes it down by the shoulder. She’d gotten a good idea of the creatures physiology while trying to find a good way of lifting it into the cart. The strange being reminded her of minotaurs she’d seen in manehattan, but his small stature and hairlessness reminded her more of a monkey.
Applejack leans down to the creature as it opens its eyes and stares at her.
“Ahm going to try to help you. Ah will be right back.” Applejack says slowly, unknowing even if the creature could understand her- simply relying on her good will and intent to reach the critter.
This seemed to calm the being down, its breathing still heavy but its composure now regained.
Applejack acted quickly, having caught her breath while settling the critter onto the hay she could now gallop out of the barn and to her house not too far away. She burst through her front door, disregarding everything around and and rushing to the bathroom upstairs. Applejack swiftly entered the bathroom and retrieved the first aid kit- a simple but usable solution for a situation like this.
She rushed back down the stairs, passing Big Mac along the way who let out a simple “Mornin’” before sipping the coffee he held in his hoof. Applejack breezes past Big Mac without a word, first aid kit in her mouth and no hat on her head.
“Come on, come on, come on.” She mutters to herself, still worried about the creature’s blood loss in the back of her mind.
She gallops into the barn, before briefly sliding on the wet, bloody concrete floors.
Applejacks pupils shrank as her gaze rested on the creature before her now. His limp body sprawled out on the now completely blood soaked hay bale as blood continued to slowly drip from the exposed bone and wound. Her eyes fix on rise and fall his chest as she rushes to his side and begins administering whatever first aid she could.
“Ah just hope I'm not too late to help him.” She says to herself, now having stopped the bleeding and having begun the process of wrapping the wound. “Who should Ah go to now?” she asks, looking down at her first aid handywork. She hadn't been able to do anything about the exposed bone but she could make sure its wounds wouldn't get infected by disinfecting them.
Then her mind snapped to one pony.
“Ah should go to Fluttershy!” She exclaims looking down at the creature. It was now sleeping silently, only letting out occasional grunts of pain her and there.
“Ah should let Big Mac know about this before Ah leave just in case.” she says turning to leave the barn and close the barn door.
Elli slowly awoke from his unconscious state. Light flooded his vision as a surge of pain rushed through his body making him cringe in pain. “Yeah, definitely have a broken finger or two.” The human says to himself as he chuckles.
Elli’s eyes finally open enough to take in his surroundings, and to his surprise he found himself in a barn, laying on top of a very bloodsoaked hay bale. The barn’s dilapidated wooden walls and rusty tools lining the walls created the atmosphere of a countryside farm. Elli’s nostrils flared as he took in the smells around him, many of them sweet, some of the smells he picked up reminded him of his old summer camp.
“Heh, so I take it a pony discovered me after…” Elli’s mind flashes back to the series of events that unfolded- leading him to being incapacitated in an unknown barn.
“Okay…” Elli says to himself. “I broke the Princess’ magic somehow, and…” He pauses, a sound coming from the entrance of the barn in front of him drawing his attention. Elli’s eyes widen as a brawny red pony with a blonde man and half lidded green eyes enters the barn slowly. A single strand of wheat hung from its mouth as its eyes scanned over Elli slowly, calculatively.
It let out a single calm whinney as it lifted one if its front hooves lightly, before setting it down with a light ‘clop’.
In Elli’s mind, this was the pony that’d saved him in his time of need. He wished he could communicate with his saviour in some way, any way, that would signal nonaggression. His mind swimming from blood loss and his body writhing in pain- an idea suddenly struck him.
Elli locked eyes with the pony and focused every bit of strength he had left into his facial muscles. He desperately performed his best attempt at a toothy smile, as he raised two of his five fingers in the air.
“Thank you.” Elli says through his strained smile. After he’d said that, he swore he saw the pony in front of him nod slightly, or maybe it was just his consciousness fading as darkness encompassed his vision. “Oh yeah, a few broken fingers.” He says quietly, his head hitting the hay bale softly, and his mind slowly drifting to sleep.
Late in the day, the Sun had past its apex and had begun to set. The sky now a vibrant orange and the light strips of clouds littering the skies reflected its color just so slightly.
“Corporal, we must find him.” Celestia says, gliding over the streets of ponyville alongside Corporal Iron Wing and Private Blast Shield. Her eyes frantically scanned ponyville at a birds eye view, her newly recovered magic simultaneously keeping the Sun at bay from setting, and scanning the town for Elli. Her mind rushed with the possibilities that could have befallen her fragile alien friend.
Corporal Iron Wing glides alongside the Princess, his eyes fixed on her and her every action. “Permission to speak freely Princess.” The Corporal asks bluntly. The Princess in question doesn’t take her eyes off the ground as the three ponies sail through the sky.
“Permission granted Corporal” Princess Celestia says, her horn once again flaring and sending an almost invisible magical pulse to the ground.
The Corporal watches her do this three more times in the span of 5 seconds before he directs his attention to the ground.
“This creature assaulted you, why are we in the form of a rescue party and not a hunting party.” He says, his frustration clear through the natural breeze of the altitude they were flying at. Celestia’s face darkened for a split second before it returned to normal and she turned to the Corporal. Her magic no longer activating and her eyes now focused on him, the three ponies flying through the air slowed to a hover as they floated over the vast Apple Orchards of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Corporal, I explained that what happened was an accident. Elli did not assault me.That will be the end of any line of questioning concerning this subject.” The Princess says, her normal regal voice back and her composure regained. Corporal Iron wing scoffs and crosses his hooves. “What creature capable of breaking your magic and bringing you harm deserves anything less?” He says coldly.
The Princess’ composure remains calm, her voice unwavering as always. “Ive used my magic to scan the entire town, and the only place my magic weakened was farm.” She says, ignoring Corporal Iron Wing’s rant.
“But Princess-” Corporal Iron Wing begins again, but is interrupted by Princess Celestia.
“Did I not say that my previous statement was to be the last in the line of questions related to my pet?” She says, glaring at the Corporal. “I think I may be able to handle the rest of this situation by myself.” The Princess continues waving a hoof. “You're both dismissed.” Quickly snapping back to attention, but guards before Celestia salute to her mid flight.
“Ma’am” both of them say simultaneously. Princess Celestia and Corporal Iron Wing exchange a glare before the Corporal flies away with the Private in tow.
Celestia lets out a sigh before turning toward the apple orchard below her. The vast farmland before her was one of her first settlements, so naturally she knew each field like the back of her hoof. She first flew in the direction her initial magic scan told her that a sort of magical tug was detected. Setting her hooves down gently on the lush grass below her, Celestia found herself in front of a single apple tree. As Celestia walked around the ordinary apple tree, she found traces of blood in the soil around the tree, and what looked to be drag marks on the ground from the base of the tree to what looks like cart tracks.
The sight of blood worried the Princess, but that made the search for her dear human even more of a priority. Celestia lets her wings extend to their fullest length as she lifts them and launches from the ground in a single powerful wing thrust. Reaching cloud height in almost and instant, Celestia’s horn flares as she casts the same nearly imperceptible spell as before- scanning a certain radius around her. The Princess having changed the spell to now directly scan for the magical pull Celestia assumes Elli gives off, she's quickly able to sense the next magical pull.
“There he is.” She says to herself, a relieved smile on her face. Celestia lets out a sigh as she begins flying toward the signal.
“Sure is a long day today.” Big Macintosh said to himself idly as he leaned on the door of an open barn while chewing his favorite brand of wheat. Not that the stallion was complaining, the beautiful, warm sunset- which seemed to last hours, bathed Sweet Apple Acres in incandescent orange light. The silhouettes of the trees in the distant orchard filled the skyline as the sun seemed to hug the landscape.
Big Mac’s eyes shifted from the landscape and into the barn he was leaning on. There was something odd in his barn, and it perplexed his mind. His memory flashes back to what Applejack frantically told him before rushing off in a hurry.
Big Mac sat on the front porch of his family home as he opened a fresh box of chewing wheat. Pulling out a straw and sliding it into his mouth, he let its flavor fill its mouth- it was one of Big Mac’s guilty pleasures. Just getting into the taste, letting his eyes close as he enjoyed the flavor, Applejacks voice yanks him into reality.
“Big Mac! Big Mac, are you listening! There’s a critter and he’s real hurt so I put ‘em in the barn on some hay and put some bandaging on ‘em. Ahm’ gonna see if Ah can get some help, Ah just need you to make sure he dont go anywhere on his own or hurt himself. Can you do that for me?” She says quickly, almost too quickly for Big Mac to interpret, but he got the just of it.
“Eeyup.” He says with a nod.
Applejacks hooves move frantically as she trots in place. “Alright, remember he's in the barn.”
With that, Applejack was off before Big Macintosh could let out a single ‘Eeyup’.
“You sure are something.” Big Mac says as he looks over the weird, semi-hairless monkey covered in blood, in his barn. The critter’s leg was clearly broken among other probably injuries Big Mac could assess based on looks alone. The one time It had been awake to the stallions surprise the creature was docile. Big Mac let out a single ‘Hello’ and the monkey thing let out a wave and a sort of guttural cough, before passing out.
The stallion felt sorry for the thing and sincerely hoped that Applejack would be back with help as soon as possible.
The sunlight on the back of Big Macintosh’s neck felt especially hot now for some reason as he looked over the creature in the barn. Big Mac’s ears swivel backward as he hears the sound of hooves touching ground behind him.
“Thank you for taking care of my friend, my little pony.”
When Elli was yanked back into consciousness, he was met with silence and darkness. His eyes attempted to adjust to the dark around him; however the total shroud of blackness around him seemed endless. Elli could assess from his position that he was lying on his back, and the normal feelings of pain and ache from before had almost completely faded away. Most of his body was covered in what felt like extremely fine silk sheets, and his head was supported by pillows that felt like literal heaven compared to his previous sleeping conditions.
“Time to figure out what's going on.” Elli said in the darkness as he reluctantly but slowly lifted his injured leg over the side of the bed. In his efforts to sit up, he could feel what seemed to be broken ribs shifting around in his body with his every move. Surprisingly though, with each movement came less pain than he was expecting, and after a few minutes of struggle Elli had reached a sitting up position.
Elli’s environment was a complete mystery to him, but from what his olfactory senses told him he was definitely in some sort of bedroom. The feeling of cold tile met Elli’s feet as they made contact with the floor. “I need to find a wall to lean on.” Elli mutters to himself, rubbing the knee above his injured leg.
In a few awkward movements, Elli uses his uninjured leg to support himself as he crawls away from the bed.
Looking down and focusing on crawling forward, Elli struggled until the top of his head met with the cold feeling of a wall.
“Shit!” Elli says to himself as he uses his uninjured leg to lift and support himself against the wall he’d found. Elli fumbled against the wall for minutes, looking for a doorknob or maybe curtains that were covering windows. The human’s efforts were finally met with success when his hand finally met with a door knob at hip level.
“Bingo!~” Elli sing-shouts as he twists the knob gently. The door opens with a loud click as it slowly swings open, revealing more darkness. Elli’s finger reaches up to his chin as he ponders the darkness around him.
“Whats going on here seems pretty impossible.” He says to himself, hobbling against the walls and making his way into the corridor the door led to. Each step Elli made towards the next room was accompanied by an echo that gave the human the impression that he’d now made his way into a corridor. A very tall corridor at that.
“Okay, I've definitely made my way back to the Castle.” He says to himself, his thoughts echoing throughout the darkness “But everything is...dark?” Elli’s mind runs through every possible situation he could think of as he makes his way down the hallway, making sure to avoid stray door knobs hitting him in the hip.
The Hallways of the castle seemed to twist and turn, the very darkness around Elli seeming to lead him in whatever direction he turned to when he was met with a split in the corridor. His eyes now accustomed to the darkness, he could see extremely faint silhouettes of objects just in front of him. Whenever he’d attempted to press his face against any window he’d found he was only met with a dense never ending darkness, no moon or even any stars.
Fumbling through the next corridor he’d found, Elli’s foot is met with a dip down. Catching himself before falling forward, the human regains his footing and exhales sharply.
“Going down?” He says to no one in particular, albeit hesitantly.
...going…..down….?
The hairs on the back of Elli’s neck stand at attention as a feint whisper seems to caress his ears. His eyes widened as he felt a peculiar feeling growing in the back of his head; like something was literally tickling his brain. Elli takes a cautious few steps down the stairs as he relied heavily on the wall for support. The staircase Elli traveled down seemed to spiral downwards at a wide angle, each step echoing downward into the consistent darkness in surrounding him.
..yes….its….you..
Once again the voice comes from down the steps before him, the darkness in front of him now picking up a deep blue hue. Everything in Elli’s mind told him to turn back, hobbles as quickly up the stairs he climbed down, and bury himself under the heavenly covers he’d been wrapped in before.
“But this feeling..” Elli says to himself as his hand clinches into a ball. Elli holds his fist to his chest as a cold feeling spreads through his body. One of fear and regret, but also one of compulsion. This compelling feeling was so strong even his most primal urges couldn't resist it. The walls around him had now warped and changed to look like spirals of blue mist whirling around him. The stairs under his feet covered in a thick grey fog standing out from the darkness.
...we….meet...once...again…
As the stairs end and the haze around him shifts into a wide open space- Elli’s eyes fall on a pony standing in the center of the new room he’d found himself in. This new pony was tall, her coat as black as the darkness he’d found himself in before, her mane and tail seemed to be an ethereal sparkly mist that flowed from the blue armor she wore. A tall horn protruded from her head, interrupting the flow of her ethereal mane, and powerful wings laid at rest on the mare’s sides.
“You're like Celestia?” He asks out loud. Realizing he’d given away his presence, Elli did his best to regain his composure and convey confidence.
“At….last...we….meet...again…” The pony says to Elli as her head turns toward him and thier eyes meet. Elli’s ability to understand her spoken word baffled him, but what confused him more was the way she’d pronounced her words; each syllable seemed strained, like she was still learning the language.
The revelation of yet another pony who could understand him excited him, but at the same time the first things she’d said to him made no sense.
“Again?” Elli says, shifting his weight against the wall that supported him. “I don't think we’ve ever met before lady.”
The alicorn turns her head and lets out a whinney. “Perhaps…not...” she says, looking visibly upset. “Maybe...in...another...time?” she says, her head hanging. Before she says anything else, a blue mist akin to the alicorns mane materializes through the floor and rises to float in front of the stranger. The mist then rises and melds into the ponies mane.
The Alicorn in front of Elli stomps a hoof and lets out a whinney in clear anger. “Damn Elements.” She says in clear english as she turns to Elli and walks forward slowly, only to stop directly in front of him. The ponies eyes soften as her catlike eyes meet with Elli’s, and her hoof rises to gently meet Elli’s cheek.
Elli slowly recoils from this touch, but his literal being against a wall gave him no choice but to fall into the ponies reach. Her hoof caressed Elli’s cheek in a circle as the strange pony's face changed to a smile.
“Will...meet...again..” She says in a strangely loving tone.
Before he could say anything else, the alicorn in front of Elli melts into a thick mist, the deep blue haze and fog inhabiting the room vanishing with the change of her form. The mist she transforms into hovers in midair before rising and dissipating without a trace left behind.
Three days before the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia found Elli and transported him to Canterlot herself. His wounds from the magical feedback incident were extensive, multiple broken ribs along with a shattered leg bone. The state which Celestia found Elli in was terrible, but considering the circumstances of the incident, she was glad that a pony had been there to find him and administer first aid at least.
Two days before the Summer Sun Celebration, Twilight Sparkle sent a letter Celestia about Nightmare Moon. The implications of Nightmare Moon’s return had not gone unnoticed by The Solar Princess. Minor cults rising in popularity among the youth revolving around the mare in the moon, and of the many astrological mana surveys from her science team allowed her to predict the exact time and date that the spell would be undone. As prepared as she was, with every plan and contingency she could put into place- Celestia was still not ready. She knew it would not be her fight however.
One day before the Summer Sun Celebration Celestia’s order for Twilight Sparkle to travel to ponyville and be introduced to element bearers was put into place. While her intentions to guide the Element of Magic toward the other bearers was a risky and unpredictable one at that- the outcome would always be the same. While their identities would remain unknown until their emergence, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would be drawn to each other by the Element of Magic in order to seek and restore balance.
On the morning of the day of The Summer Sun Celebration Elli had begun a quick recovery. With most of the human's internal damage fixed via enchanted bandages- an alternative to medicine magic, the human was able to be moved to Celestia’s private quarters until he would awaken. Celestia made her way to ponyville after tucking the human in tightly, and making sure there would be guards nearby when he woke up.
Little did they know, this morning would be darker and longer than any other morning in the past 1000 years.
Elli found himself waking up to a cool breeze as well as sunlight, warmth, and comfort. His hazy mind fought back when he attempted to move his body but when he was finally able to gain enough strength, he took in his surroundings.
Elli was turned on his side, lying down over silky red sheets on a very comfortable bed. The human lets out a sigh as he pushes himself to be flat on his back. Elli seemingly sank into the bed below him, the red sheets consuming a third of his vision. “Oh no.” Elli says to himself as he grasps the mattress around him. As his hands grasp the bed under him, his eyes gaze upward to see a beautiful orange canopy hanging over him with an emblem of the sun masterfully stitched in the middle.
Elli’s attention to the canopy above him is ripped away as he feels his body slowly being pulled down again, like the mattress under him was giving way! “No….” Elli says as he frantically grasps at the sheets he’d been laying on, which now hugged his body tightly- almost constricting his movements completely. “No...no…noo!” He yells as he helplessly begins plummeting through the mattress.
Elli could not breath, he would later compare the feeling of falling through this especially dense cloud mattress to completely submerging himself in super glue. He fought and struggled against the dense clouds around him, but his injured legs and low energy proved his efforts useless.
“Not the best way to go…” Elli says to himself, shifting in the cocoon of sheets he’d found himself in. Accepting his fate, and doing his best to preserve his oxygen- Elli relaxed in a position he found semi comfortable considering the circumstances.
“...are you sure you can find the way back to your room alright sister? I know its been a...while….since you roamed the castle corridors..” Says a distant voice, getting closer to Elli with every word. He could tell who the voice belonged to, the indistinguishable clarity of their speech told him it was Celestia approaching. He had so much to say, so many questions to ask and apologies to give.
The sounds of two sets of hooves approaching gave Elli hope as he shifted uncomfortably in his silky confine to face the oncoming ponies. Elli heard the normal whinney in response to Celestia’s voice as the sound of the door knob being turned could be heard from where Elli was.
-3rd-
“Rest well sister, I will see you later tonight.” Celestia says to her sister as she watches her walk away into the winding corridors of Canterlot Castle. The alicorn turns around to face her bedroom door, a warm smile growing on her face. Her sister was back, Elli was alright, and the Elements of Harmony have been realized.
Celestia opened the door to her personal chambers, ready to greet Elli if he’d already roused from the deep slumber you found him in when you returned to Canterlot; however, instead of the sight of Elli sleeping on her marvelous cloud bed - she found the human in question, along with her sheets and blankets had completely vanished.
Closing her door behind her, Celestia walks around her room frantically searching for clues as to where her human could have gone. Before she resorted to using search magic, she heard a faint voice coming from...the bed?
The alicorn quickly rushed to her bed as the voice grew in volume with each hoofstep.
“HELP, I'VE BEEN UNBORN!” Yells a voice from deep inside Celestia’s mattress
Using her magic Celestia dissipates the cloud mattress with ease, revealing a ball of sheets and blankets resting on her room’s marble floors. The amalgamation of sheets and blankets falls apart as the clouds around it now vanish completely, causing Elli to sprawl out flat on the floor.
With shaky breaths, Elli flips onto his side and faces Celestia with an exhausted frown.
“Why did your bed eat me?” He asks, holding out a hand towards Celestia in confusion.
Celestia relieved that the human was feeling alright enough to incite humor- let herself decompress. “It may have something to do with your innate resistance to magic,” Celestia says sternly, watching the human groggily get to his feet and wrap himself in her sheets.
“Innate resistance huh?” Elli says mimicking Celestia. He walks over to her and reaches up to pet her head. “Thanks for saving me again, pony.”
Celestia blushes lightly as she watches Elli run a hand through her mane.
“Just as soft as I thought it would be.” He says nodding and letting his hand drop to his side.
”So what’s on the agenda today?” Elli asks Celestia. Celestia recollects herself as she looks at the human in front of her with a smile.
“Well, my dear human.” Celestia begins, raising a hoof to her chain. “There have been certain developments that you should know about involving my sister.” She says with a smile.
Elli cocks his head to the side. “The same one on the moon?”
Celestia nods and takes a seat where shed been standing. “Recently she’s been...relieved of her affliction.” she begins. “Luna is now staying in the castle, but she does not know of your presence yet.”
Elli’s eyes lit up. “That’s great Celestia!” He says with a smile. “She’s like, all horns and wings too right?” He says gesturing to Celestia’s horn and wings with a finger.
Celestia nods. “Yes my dear Elli, but why is that the good news?” she asks, confused.
Elli responds by reaching up and ruffling Celestia’s mane again. “Because she might be able to understand me like you and that other pony from my dream last night!”
Celestia’s head turns in confusion this time. “Elaborate on this Dream Elli.”
Elli takes a few steps forward, inches from Celestia’s face. “Before I do that, maybe we can talk about getting me some clothes.” He says, tucking her sheets under his armpits so that he could cross his arms. “I love a toga party as much as the next guy, but it's getting colder in the open air than I’d care to admit.”
Celestia reels back slightly. “Clothing? I’m sure I can find somepony to take your measurements” She says looking over the human. When she’d first encountered him, his distinct lack of fur did intrigue her. “Perhaps, does your species use clothing on a daily basis as a replacement for the fur missing on your body?”
Elli nods with a smile. “Its all thanks to this wonderful thing called Evolution!”
Celestia giggles as her horn flares dimly.
Nearby a tiny bell is rung, signaling the nearest maid or butler on duty that the Princess is in need of their services.
A closed door on the far side of the room clicks open to reveal a butler unicorn, wearing a posh suit and all.
“I am needed, Princess?” He says with a grin.
Princess stands and walks around Elli to see her trusted butler Codsworth wearing his hoof-stitched stitched castle uniform.
“Codsworth, what a wonderful coincidence.” Celestia says with a warm smile as a few coughs are heard from behind her. Codsworth wells with pride as he looks to his Princess with a smile. “And what can this old stallion do for you on this morning Princess?” The stallion asks.
Celestia turns to point at a bipedal creature standing behind her. “I was hoping you could make some clothes for my dear friend Elli here.”
Codsworth gives the being a single look over before staring back to the Princess and then to the creature again. The pony scoffs before giving Celestia a confident grin.
The stallion trotted around Celestia to circle the creature in question.
“..Hmm yes, standard bipedal spinal structure..” Codsworth murmurs before looking to Celestia. “I assume his genitals are external?” He asks with a raised eyebrow. Celestia gives a curt nod before looking back at Elli with a concerned face.
“He lacks hair on most of his body, so his species most like wears clothes daily.” Celestia responds.
Codsworth gives Elli another look over before His horn flashes a bright green. Elli’s sheet is then ripped off, making the human let out a yelp in surprise. He stares at Celestia while covering his midsection with his arms.
Codsworth lets out another scoff. “Princess I must insist your guest stand to his fullest height so that I may get accurate, his genitals are hardly the first I have seen." He says, his horn flaring to conjure multiple measuring tapes from out of sight. The measuring tapes flew around the uncomfortable human as Celestia did her best to reassure him.
After a few seconds, Codsworth was done and the tape measures vanished.
"Yes, I can work with these measurements," Codsworth says, a grin slowly growing on his face. "Yes Celestia, this creature's body structure is almost designed to wear clothing."
Celestia looks from the distraught Elli to Codsworth with a smile.
“I would never doubt your abilities or intuition Codsworth.” Celestia says with a nod.
Codsworth gave the Princess a bow. “The task will be done posthaste.”
With that Codsworth made his way out of the Princess’ chambers, leaving Elli and Celestia alone once again. As the door closed behind the butler, Elli quickly retrieved the sheet from the ground in front of him and wrapped it around himself.
Elli turned to Celestia, his hands tucked under his arms. “I could feel his eyes on me like I could those scientists of yours.”
Celestia, now facing the human, lets herself relax.
“He was merely interested in your physique.” She says dismissively with a wave of her hoof. “Codsworth and his family are very skilled ponies.”
Elli seems to choke on nothing again as she says his name. Celestia’s brow raises as she looks at Elli clearly holding back laughter.
“Is something funny my dear human?” Celestia asks.
Elli shakes his head, and fastens the sheet tightly around him. “Just odd parallels that i'm starting to notice.” He says, suppressing another giggle with a hand.
Before Celestia could say anything in return, a deep grumbling came from Elli’s stomach as he reached down and grasped it.
“Ugh, there's that feeling again.” Elli says clutching his stomach.
Celestia looks to Elli in concern as she steps closer to him. “When was the last time you’d eaten, Elli?”
Elli’s posture straightens as one of his hands launches upwards and hits his forehead.
“OH THAT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE!” He yells, letting out a few chuckles afterwards.
Celestia looked to the human with concern, he had not spoken much of his time in her world before his discovery. Her mind drifted back to what Bunsen Burner had told her before about his initial discovery of the human.
"It's eaten almost everything we've given it, and its teeth seem to indicate that it's capable of consuming animal protein. It's forward-set eyes suggest this species is predatory in nature.”
Elli’s hand fell from his forehead to clutch his stomach again as it began growling once more. “Why don't we discuss that over a meal, maybe something a little more than popcorn and tea?” He says with a grin.
Elli sat at an enormous marble table, a red tablecloth running over the center of its entire length, leaving the edges uncovered. Its excess length spills over its edges, and onto the center of his lap. The human’s attention however was focused on the plate of steaming bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns sitting in front of him. Drool fell from the side of his mouth as his hands fell to the dining utensils next to the dish.
Next to him, Celestia watched with a warm smile. She was glad her human had an appetite, however exotic his needs may be. Her eyes gazed down towards the bacon now being devoured by the human when she felt the tug of curiosity. Unaware of her gaze, Elli continues to consume his breakfast, now using the fork and knife to break apart the sunny side up eggs he’d requested.
Celestia’s eyebrow raises slowly as he then mixes the slightly cooked egg yolk with his hashbrowns. Taking a piece of bacon that he’d seemingly set aside for this mixture, he slices it into tiny pieces and blends the three ingredients thoroughly.
The Alicorn finally decided to speak up after watching Elli stir his meal for a few more moments.
“Elli, you understand I brought you food for eating? Not modern art.” Celestia says with a straight face.
In response Elli chuckles and places his utensils to the side of his plate.
“Don't worry Celestia, ill eat my food. You know there’s this chef on my world, this guy is the big kahuna I’ll tell you.” He says looking at her.
A smirk slowly makes its way onto Celestia’s face. “And pray tell Elli, what does that chef have to do with your breakfast?”
Elli Picks up his fork and scoops up a big glob of egg, bacon, and hashbrown. “That great Chef’s name is Gordon Ramsey.” He says as he puts the spoonful in his mouth. He slowly takes the spoon out of his mouth and holds it in front of him. “I didn't know the guy personally, but this guy was world renowned just for his taste in food. People all around my planet, even people who have no idea who he actually is.” Elli takes another spoonful of his mixture and lets out a soft moan as he chews.
Celestia smiled skeptically at Elli. “This human sounds like he’s obtained what we call in Equestria ‘Legend Status’” She says with a wave of the hoof.
Elli drops his spoon suddenly and looks at her with wide eyes.
“You mean there’s an actual ‘Legend Status’ in this world? Like a real title and everything?” He asks excitedly before quickly picking up the spoon he’d dropped.
Celestia shakes her head in amusement as she looks to her amazed friend. “Yes, however the requirements for such a status have not been met...” Celestia pauses for a moment and raises a hoof to her chin. “in a few hundred years, I'd say 3 and a half.”
After scraping another spoonful of hashbrown and egg from his nearly clean plate, he looks to her nonchalantly. “Who took the Medal?” He asks, taking a bite.
Celestia leans back in her chair and lets out a sigh, her smile briefly faltering before returning to normal. “That would be a pony named Jolly Appleseed.”
Elli exhales violently, almost spitting out the food in his mouth, but keeps it all in before swallowing and taking a deep breath. Celestia jolts forward in concern but Elli holds out a hand to stop here, his other hand balled up in a fist lightly hitting his chest.
“Im okay, I'm okay, I was just caught off guard.” The humans says through deep breaths. Celestia leans back, slight confusion showing on her face.
“Off guard? By what my little human?” She asks with slight concern.
Elli finishes his breakfast and leans back in his chair, the slight size difference between him and the chair causing his chair to grind against the floor. The human stretches out and folds his arms behind his head.
“Just another slight similarity between our worlds. Its almost like what is fiction in my world has its own way of existing here but in some slightly different pony-ized way. Like the laws of your universe and mine are so different, but abide by the same cookie cutter pattern.” He says in one breath, looking at the ceiling. A strand of hair slowly drops down onto his face before he lightly blows it out of the way.
Celestia chuckles, the humans words and ways of understanding the things around him may be a mystery to her; however she did know one thing about her human above all else. Celestia lifts a hoof to her face as a smile takes over. This creature with such a complex existence had almost inserted itself into her daily life and she felt as if he were already a close friend. The meaning behind his understanding of her speech and nopony else was a mystery, if not a sign that he’d been sent to her for a reason.
“You are quite the unique...person Elli.” Celestia says as she stands up and steps away from the table. “I do believe Codsworth should be done with your first set of clothes. Now that you're done eating, are you ready to head out?”
Elli stays in his seat and looks to celestia before stretching his arms in the air. “Carry me, magical pony Princess.” He says with a smile.
Instead of saying anything in Response, Celestia eveloups Elli in a weak telekinesis and lifts him from his chair to a standing position, the sheets around him almost falling off of him as she adjusted his posture. Elli lets out a yelp, before crossing his arms and looking at Celestia.
“Hey! You could have said no!” he exclaims, gripping the sheet around him tightly. Celestia lets out a giggle before trotting a few steps in his direction playfully.
“A ‘magical pony Princess’ does not have time to let a lazy evolved monkey ride on her exalted back.” She says sarcastically.
Elli lets out a huff before turning away from Celestia and walking away. “Alright alright, let's go get the damn clothes. These sheets aren’t even that comfortable anyway.”
Celestia walks forward to match Elli’s pace before looking down at the sheets he was wearing. They fit his body loosely, and he had tied it in a strange way. “Perhaps its the way you tied it? You said it was this ‘Toga’ style.”
Elli huffs in response and looks to her with a face of mock offence. “Well Celestia if you must know, the Toga is a way to tie a cloth around yourself in a way that presents dignity and nobility. It was the pinnacle of fashion for an entire nation called ‘Rome’ in my world. They were well known for their luxurious parties, rich nobility, happy citizens most of the time, and of course their military might.”
Celestia smiles at his anecdote, but frowns at the reference of his race’s genetic disposition to wage war. Elli had tried to explain it once before, but never went too far into it. Perhaps one day she would sit down with him and listen to his stories.
Celestia sighs and looks down to Elli. “Your world, your universe, its culture sounds vibrant yet scarred by a history of war and unrest.”
Elli says nothing in response, his olive green eyes focusing frontward.
As Elli and Celestia make their way through a large set of doors they’re met with a long hallway. Radiant sunshine flowing through the stained glass windows and onto the polished marble floors illuminates the castle, filling it with an inviting sense of security.
Elli winces with every other step as he follows Celestia, his leg still aching quite a bit from the incident. The bandages around his leg were as the Princess described them to be ‘Lightly Enchanted’. Elli still couldn't fully grasp the full power of Magic and its properties that defy his basic understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe; rather his universe.
Elli looks to Celestia with a frown as the round a corner, leading to two sets of stairs spiraling downward to the main hall of the castle. “You know the reason we humans wage wars with each other is because of one of the one fundamental differences between my universe and yours.” He begins, leaning on Celestia slightly as they begin to descend the steps.
“Well, honestly it's probably not just one difference, but i'll focus on the one that i'm trying to make a point of.” Elli says, almost slipping on the polished floors before being held steady by Celestias wing.
“Go on?” She asks.
“You see your universe is Geocentric, everything revolves around you- the only actual physical being strong enough to keep that universal law in place. The one fact that you- a” Elli pauses and puts his hands on Celestia, he makes circular motions with his hands. “Actualphysical embodiment of the diversities of your kind, Ponykind I mean.”
Celestia frowns slightly. “Go on.”
As Elli and Celestia reach the bottom of the first landing, the stops and bends down with his hands on his knees. “Phew” He says with a breath. Regaining his composure, Elli stands upright and lets out a breath. Celestia pauses briefly for Elli to catch up with her as they reach the second staircase.
There's a brief silence as The human and the Alicorn Princess make their way down the steps, the sound of their steps echoing against the high ceiling filling the quiet. Elli sighs. “As I was saying, the Geocentric universe, etcetera, but in my universe there's no such power to keep the cosmic balance from just fading away or descending into chaos. In fact, like I’ve said before, humans have no idea where we came from really. I mean we have some extremely early cave paintings, but the fact that humans exist was entirely something that happened out of chance.” The human raves, putting his hand on Celestias haunch for balance. “I bet ponies came from some Adam and Eve situation, where a single all powerful being created two others” Elli pauses, shaking his finger. “One male and one female of course. I'm sure that's where your pardon my french subraces came from. Probably some weird magic parallel to genetic mutation.”
Celestia was silent as they descended down the steps and reached the main hall. Elli let out an uneasy laugh before sighing.
“I'm sorry, I got way off my point there.” He says scratching the back of his head. Celestia Nods silently, but nods for him to go on. “Celestia, humans have a concept called ‘Religion’. It's the Idea that our existence isn’t just a coincidence, that some divine being created the universe in a day, and that us” Elli stops, and opens his arms. “THIS” He says, raising his voice. “Is all what it designed, its all for us to have.” Elli slowly spins in place, his arms still spread out. “And Celestia when over seven billion people are thinking that it happened in so many different ways.”
Elli stops facing Celestia, he lowers one arm but points to Celestia with the other. “They disagree and for some Religions in the past, not thinking that they were right was a crime Celestia.”
The Alicorn standing in front of Elli looks down with a frown. “I fear I may never understand why your race of people are so intolerant. I also fear the day when I might understand what it feels like to look past the greater good.”
Elli lets his hand fall to his side as he approaches Celestia, he reaches up and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Humanity is better left misunderstood, eh?” The human says with a goofy smile, rubbing her shoulder.
Celestia turns to him and meets his gaze with a warm smile. “Agreed my friend, now lets get you out of that luxurious toga shall we?” She says, walking down the next flight of steps. As they walk down the steps Celestia feels a light tug on her wing, she looks down to see Elli biting the tip of his thumb while lightly tugging her wing. The human looks up shyly
“Hey Celestia?” He asks quietly.
Celestia looks down at Elli with a grin. “Yes my dear Elli.” Some time passes before Elli says anything, but after a few seconds he speaks up.
“These sheets are actually really comfortable, and my leg is still sore. Please carry me the rest of the way?” He says, still biting the tip of his thumb.
As they reach the bottom of the steps to the Main Hallway, Elli bends down again and lets out another breath. “Cause i dont know if im gonna ma-” Before he could finish, Elli is lifted in the air gently and draped over Celestia’s back like a saddle. A giggle is heard from Celestia as the human adjusts his toga while atop her back.
“Dont worry my dear Elli, I was planning on carrying you through the second half of the walk anyway.” she says with a satisfied smile.
Elli lets out a huff, crossing his arms. “Still gotta warn me next time..” he says pouting.
Celestia laughs loudly as they begin the second half of their walk. Little did the human know Celestias guard detail following closely out of sight would record the first genuine laughter from the Princess today for the first time in over 100 years.