Ch - 1

Ch 1:
Luna

I had just begun to accept that my life was ordinary. All those years spent wanting to be something more, something special. This all was nothing more than a faded dream to me now. I knew life for me was a routine; that mundane jobs and tedious commutes were the panicles of my existence. Pop-culture sitcoms and action adventure movies had riddled my mind on what to expect in the world today. Where a papercut may as well be the blade that knocks you down in your battle zone of a cubical. Life, well to me, was just that. Ordinary…

Even now as I biked to work for the umpteenth time this week, I still felt that way. The sky was blue and the grass was green, why fight something when it's proven right? It’s funny, in a very cynical way, that the ones that try to make their life’s a bit more exciting are looked down upon in our society. Ones that try to break the safety rails our fathers and mothers have put up for us.

Answers to the questions I ask were scattered throughout this misty plane we call life. My father and mother had told me about it. The adventures they went on, the tragedies they pulled through. Telling me always when I was little that later on down the line when I’m an ‘adult’ I can do the things they did. Little did I know that the actual ‘fun’ parts had come and gone.

Call me cynical, because I’m used to it. I have a very gloomy way of looking at this world. No “but’s” or “and’s” I know what I am, and I come to accept it. My life, like it will always be, is ordinary. And there’s nothing wrong with that, truly there isn’t. The feeling of contempt is a very nice feeling, but one has to realize a double-edged sword when presented one.

This is where my story starts off. A lone middle-aged man peddling fearlessly uphill towards his work. The storm clouds rolling over, calling out to him with their thunder and lightning. Nothing but a dull day of pencil pushing and paper stacking lay ahead of him.

***

Agony is a word you could use to describe me. Push after shove I heaved and hoed at the petals of my crappy garage-sale bike. Every cycle of the chain let out a small screech, one that had the capabilities to drive me insane. Yet I knew that it was my own fault for not fixing the damned thing up, my money was put to use somewhere else. Somewhere I needed it more, like video games or accessories I would find myself playing with at my desk.

Alright, I fold, I’m an impulse buyer, but in this day and age how could you not be? Advertisements have gotten so good at building up the ‘hype’ that when the product comes out, your body moves on its own and buys it out of instinct. Yeah, you could do some research, yeah you can budget yourself, yeah responsibility this caution that. But if we’re going to pull this ‘honest’ stuff here you know that both of us don’t give a damn about it. Mostly because time is money, or at least that’s my excuse.

Sweat dripped down from my brow as I pulled my magnificent ride up to the bike rack. My dollar store lock was starting to get hard to move with all the rust it had. That didn’t really matter, though, what mattered was that it was a deterrent. If someone really wanted to take my bike they would just bring a bolt cutter. Not like anyone would take my bike to begin with.

Clicking the lock closed my body moved on its own. The path I had to take was all but burned into my mind. Thankfully having it there enabled my mind to wander as it normally does. The thoughts of what I was going to have for dinner rolled on by. Which was probably going to be leftovers from that all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Normally, if not always these places don’t let you take home leftovers, but that’s nothing a few Tupperware containers couldn’t fix.

The usual sound of sliding doors and happy shoppers graced my ears. You know what I said about the battle zone of a cubical? Yeah, that’s not me, I have it way worse. My work, as much as it pains me to say, is at the local supermarket. ‘Why is that worse?’ you may ask. The answer is quite simple my dear fucking Watson, because I don’t even get a seat that’s why!

All these smiles people give me, and the fake smile I have to return. The basic pre-requisite for this job is putting on a mask of emotion. If you can do that, then guess what? You’re hired! Confetti and streamers fall from the sky, your best friend high-fives you, and the nearest girl plants a wet one on your lips.

But back to reality Casanova. If you think about it, you can’t really blame them, that’s just how business works. Want more people to come to your shop? Then just hire people that can always act happy and helpful. In the end, it works out more for you than it does for them, because now you know what they’re looking for.

Either way by the time my mind freed itself from its stupor I came to see an old lady fumbling through her wallet. Her items already neatly packed in their bags, and the payment process was pending. The moment I looked at what part of the process it was at, I instinctively rolled my eyes. Of course, this would be the part where the person could hand me coupons.

Thankfully, whatever divine being is out there had mercy on my soul. The elderly woman was just getting her card. With a simple tap on the debit machine, she was off. Have I told you I love technology? Because I do. It’s the one thing that restores my faith in humanity. No matter how dull or boring my life may be at the moment, I can always go home and have my own little virtual adventure.

‘With great power, comes great responsibility’ as the phrase goes. While I could escape the harshness of reality by just looking at a simple LED screen, the amount I spend on it increases my workload later on. Nothing comes without a cost, and I of all people know that well. We live in a world where magic doesn’t exist. So, you can’t expect your problems to just disappear.

No matter how hard it might be, we just have to follow the people before us. Their paths etched into the misty plane of life for people to follow. The only problem with this is that there are so many paths to follow, and we grew up being taught that we have to pick one of them.

It’s Ironic really, because the people that make their own paths are usually the ones with the most money. Mind you doing so is the equivalent of walking through hell, in nothing more than flip flops. The only people nowadays that are able to do it, are the people that have money to begin with.

One after another the customers come and go. The endless tide of people swarming every register available. It was a Friday after all, and everyone working here knows that Friday is the busiest day.

I personally never really got why it was that way. Sure, it’s the last day before the weekend, but you would think that these people would walk around the hustle and bustle and just do their shopping another day of the week. There are only two logical answers to this mystery. One they are all last-minute shoppers, lazy fucks like me that pushed all their responsibilities till the last minute. Or two, they are so busy that there is no other time to do their shopping up until now.

In the end, no matter how you look at it. Fridays are the days where the two opposite ends of the social spectrum come together in the combined effort to make my life -and everyone else working here- a living hell. It’s times like these that you wish you worked off commission rather than the hour.

At least it paid the bills, and that’s really all I needed it to do. If I had a roof over my head, food in my belly, then I was alright. Electricity and Internet were just the icing on the cake that allowed me to remove some stress. Which now that I think of it are almost as essential as food and water.

Like clockwork, the day eventually came to an end. The store was closing for the day and the only thing left to do was pack up, or so I thought.

“Hey Ari, you mind taking out the trash bins?” Questioned one of my co-workers.

Is it bad that I can’t remember his name? Or is it worse that this is the first time today that I’m actually having a conversation with someone? Either way, I had nothing better to do, so I graciously accepted it. He probably had something important to attend to or was it my fault for assuming so.

“You just need the bins at the booths? Or are we talking about every bin in the store?” I question avoiding the use of his name.

The co-worker shook his head horizontally before replying, “Naw, just the ones in the booths need to be taken out. I’ll do the ones around the shop on Monday. I just need to meet up with my sis at the airport. She’s coming back from her trip to Europe.”

Scratch my back, I scratch yours, seems to be the appropriate phrase for this situation. Nonetheless, it was a warm welcome to see people pull their own weight around here. If the guilt for not remembering his name wasn’t hitting me now, then I would be pretty sure I lost all emotions.

Picking my own bag first I headed towards his, “I’m jealous, a trip to Europe is exactly what I need right now.”

By the time, I arrived at his booth; he was already done packing up. Not like us cashiers have much anyways. The only thing that I carry is a book just in case it’s a slow day. Even so, he seemed to have packed quite a bit, a full backpack to be precise.

“I know what you mean. I could do with a little vacation myself. Anyways I’m gonna hit the road, see you on Monday Ari,” claimed the nameless co-worker as he walked out of the supermarket. It looks like his name will remain a mystery for another two days.

It’s funny how much one person can change your mood. Just that little conversation and I was already starting to feel like I could actually make it back home. Which thankfully, was all downhill. This is where the bike really shined.

Swiftly moving from one bin to the other I piled all the little bags into one big one. Time as it usually does continued moving, and I eventually had all the trash in one large bag. Since I was the last one in the shop I had to make sure that I got out before the automated lockup time. Now that would really suck, being stuck in a supermarket for an entire day.

Dragging the large bag outside, I heaved it up and over my shoulder into the dumpster. The force alone of the dropped garbage was enough to send the two plastic covers down. Which for me was actually quite convenient. Since it was raining I would have done it anyways.

Not wanting to stay the rain for long, I turned back around towards the back of the supermarket. This was when I noticed the wall lit up with a brilliant white light. Thinking it was some cars headlights I turned back around to investigate. What greeted me, however, was a little white orb floating in the air.

“What the fuck?” I said to myself as I walked closer.

One step was as far as I made it before the ball of white light grew in size. As if that wasn’t enough to scare the living hell out of me. It started to shoot out arcs of lightning that melted parts of the metal dumpster it touched. As it continued to grow I tripped walking backwards, which caused me to shuffle away. The feeling of rain upon my skin and water soaking my pants were forgotten in this haze.

My mind was buzzing with activity as it desperately tried to figure out what was going on here. The only thing that seemed to match the situation was in that one terminator movie I watched. But instead of having it last for a couple of milliseconds this thing was in it for the long haul. It wasn’t till two minutes later that it once again changed.

The ball shape started to shrink like plastic in a vacuum-form machine. Taking on the shape of a small quadruped. Oh, who am I kidding, this thing was a fucking horse with wings and a horn. Stuff right out of a children’s storybook or equally similar to some horror films. Funny how that works.

Throwing away those useless thoughts to the wind, I continued to watch as the features started to pop into existence. Like the color blue, black and the texture of fur upon its body. At this point, I was in a perpetual state of shock. My mind was telling me to run, but my body wanted to hide here. The conflict between the two caused me to stay put. Not a single muscle in my body wanted to move, for the fear that this new creature with this immense power would do if it tagged me as a threat.

Even if my mind wanted to intervene, it wouldn’t be able to. As the white orb finishes manifesting into the horse, the being immediately sprung to action.

The moment its eyes formed they darted around the alleyway we were in. Its ears swiveled all around picking up every single sound. When the hooves made contact with the asphalt floor, it walked up to the dumpster. This being, whatever it was, seemed quite different than your run-of-the-mill horse. Other than the physical ‘additions’ obviously.

Having observed the creature long enough. My mind finally gave my muscles some orders. Which, at this moment made my situation worse. The scrapping from my foot against the asphalt caused the blue mare's ears to swivel towards my direction. Like yin and yang, the eyes followed the ears and soon enough we were staring right at each other.

Seconds passed while my mind spooled up once again. I had heard that using your height to seem intimidating usually works when coming across animals. Within moments of realizing this, my mind hit the primer and fired the order; causing me to get up off the ground.

Seeing my full height, the creature’s ears pinned down against its head, in what I would only assume to be fear. With the ball now in my court, I made the next move and started walking towards it. If all goes well then the creature should get the message and run away. It was a risky plan getting closer, but one that I was confident would work.

Each step I took, the blue horse stepped back. It wasn’t long till the equine was backed up against the alley wall. Just one more step and we would see if my plan would work out.

“S-stay back! I-I’m warning you!” the blue animal cried out.

It was now my turn to back away, not from the warning mind you. This ‘horse’ had just spoken words, not only that but it was in English! The first thing to run through my mind was if I was insane, or maybe dreaming. A quick pinch to the arm removed the latter, leaving only the insane part left. Had I finally snapped? Were all those people right in saying that my attitude would catch up with me?

Yet now was not the time to think about such things. I had a clear problem right in front of me that I had to deal with, insane or not.

As I snapped myself out of my thoughts. I looked down upon the horse. Its face was streaming with both tears and water from the rain. Each breath it took was choppy and deep. Its eyes dilating and constricting at incredible speeds. Lastly, yet the most notable, was her wings twitching.

In this state, whether the creature scared me or not, did not matter. In fact, it pulled at me to do something. Why I feel this way, I have no idea. No matter how much my logical side tried to warn me about the mysterious creature that just appeared out of thin air. My body rebelled. Before I knew it, I was taking off my coat and placing it on the horse. Which comically flopped over its face.

Having the coat placed on top of it, the creature jostled around until its face poked out. I stood there watching over the being, still at a loss for words. I had gotten so used to my ordinary life that I forgot things like this could even happen. Obviously this was taking it way out of proportion, but nevertheless still reminded me.

“S-so you’re not goi-” was all the equine said before toppling over.

At this point, I wasn’t even surprised that it just keeled over like that. I had no knowledge of how it came here, but it must have taken a lot of energy on ‘its’ part. This was the best I could come up with from my observations. Yet, in all honesty, here I was still stuck on the fact that it was even able to talk.

It was just so surreal to think about, a horse talking. So, it came to no surprise that I instantly denied the fact that what I was seeing was real. Filing the whole event under the category of hallucinations, I began to think of what could have caused it. I hadn’t eaten much this morning, and my lunch was pretty small. If anything, this was probably the cause.

Nevertheless, I’m no asshole as far-fetched as that might sound. Like I stated before, I just have a different view on the world than most people. Yet, I couldn’t just leave this animal here laying on the rain-soaked streets. Come morning the thing would probably be dead or on the way to the local animal shelter. And seeing that it could in fact speak, made me consider taking it home with me.

Right about now was when my brain was letting me have it. Such a thought of bringing home an animal I knew nothing about without restraints was idiotic. Which brought up another good point, why not just restrain it? I had it already in my jacket, all I would have to do is tie the arms up and Wala! Not only would this put my mind at ease, but it would also save this horse the risk of getting sick and mistreated.

Acting upon my thoughts I leaned over and carefully took the empty sleeves. The moment my hands came into contact with the horse it started to shuffle. Out of instincts, my hands retracted and I backed away several steps. Thankfully, the horse was still out cold, its body just getting into a somewhat more comfortable position on the slick asphalt.

Moving in, I once again took the empty sleeves in my hands. Now I may not know how to tie the specific knot for this type of thing, but that didn’t matter. Instead, I just used the same knot one would use to tie their shoes. The catch here was that I tied the knot over five times, it would take anyone time to undo this. Which is all I really needed the knot for, as long as I had a little warning I could get myself to safety.

With finishing up the knots came the hard part. How the hell am I supposed to bring this thing home? Sure, it was much smaller than me, -coming in at about hip height when on all fours- but even that could be incredibly heavy. I’m well aware that horses, or in this case ‘ponies’ are not light creatures. The average weight is like what something like 600lbs which is 300kg. Yeah, there was no way I would be able to lift this thing.

That, however, did not mean that I was going to give up. I’m quite stubborn and today was no exception. I had come up with a plan and I was hellbent on seeing it through. Which may sound nice on a résumé, but let me tell you that sometimes it comes back to bite you on the ass.

Either way, I wasn’t going to go anywhere just standing here now was I. So, following the next logical thing other than carrying it. Which of course was to drag the fucker to my bike and see if I could somehow rig it up. I, of course, would come across that bridge when I got there. One step at a time, as the phrase goes.

Still, near the equine, I leaned over and grabbed the hood of my coat. Gently, I gave the thing a test shove, which to my complete and utter amazement came flying towards me. Equine and coat together.

You all could probably guess what happened next. The pony rolled in the coat and hit me smack dab in the chest. Sending both of us back to the ground. The force of the impact was enough to inflict a small grown from my lips. Sometimes it would be nice to be right every so often, but no the divines just had to alter this beings weight just enough to fuck me up. That is saying that they didn’t force this entire event on me to begin with.

Half expecting the pony to get up after all that commotion I wiggled free and distanced myself. Yet, once again to my surprise the pony stayed dormant. Either it was a heavy sleeper, or it was truly knocked out unconscious from what had brought it here. Hopefully, it was the latter seeing as I still have to lug its sorry ass back to my apartment.

Having experienced its true weight, I felt a little more confident in my ability to carry the mare. My confidence was rewarded as I learned that it was a fraction of a normal pony’s weight. Which now that I think about it, is pretty obvious. The wings on its back were no doubt used for flight, so this creature would have to be light to utilize them.

That being said, it was still no feather to carry. I, however, didn’t mind that much seeing as carrying it made this operation ten times easier to complete.

Entering the supermarket once again, I made my way to the front of the shop. My duties cleaning up were not really met, but I could always take the flack Monday and pull some overtime as repayment. If I was lucky nobody would notice, and I would be let off the hook. Sadly, even I knew that was a long shot. With my luck, something bad will happen because of the mess, and I’ll be the one blamed for it.

Letting out a huge sigh, I walked out the front of the supermarket and towards the bike rack. The storm was still going and without my coat, I started to feel the cold. As per usual, my trusted bike stood there ever vigilant. Placing the mare down next to the bike I kneeled down and placed my key into the lock. With a little bit of encouragement, the lock clicked open, and I rolled the bike away from the rack.

Out of habit I immediately swung one leg over and sat on the bike. This of course was halted when I realized the blue pony still snoozing against the bike rack. Rolling my eyes at my antics, I got off the bike and picked up the sleeping pony.

At this moment, I really wished I had one of those bikes with a rear rack on the back. That would make this whole process ten times easier. Sadly, I did not and I was going to have to carry the mare on my lap. It was the only option I could think of that didn’t involve either dragging her along the pavement or requiring duct tape.

Once again getting on the bike I place the mare between me and the handlebars. Thankfully, with the equine all bundled up in my coat, it didn’t really cause me all that much trouble. It was like going grouser shopping and bought one too many bags.

Making sure that we both were in position, I pushed forwards with my legs and started towards my apartment. The rain and wind doing little in aiding my efforts. Every now and then the wind would push me a little too much making me losing my balance. An important note to realize is that this all happened while going downhill.

After nearly dying from a heart attack every time the wind would pick up. I found myself arriving in front of my apartment. My mind constantly repeating the phrase ‘how the hell did I get myself into this mess?’. Every possible problem of taking in this pony ran through my mind on the way here, from police involvement to animal rights activists.

No matter how much I just wanted to drop this pony in the nearest ditch I couldn’t. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt that I was needed, that I actually had a purpose in life. This pony would probably be still in that alleyway; if I hadn’t accepted my friends request and come out to dump the trash.

As I thought of my situation I rolled the bike into the bike rack. The storm seemed to be getting worse which thankfully didn’t matter anymore to me. I was done playing around in the rain for today. Now all I had to do was somehow get it up into my apartment without anyone knowing or arising any suspicion.

Locking the bike up once again I carefully entered the main lobby of my apartment complex. As soon as I did I regretted it. The same steward was there looking right at me with one of his eyebrows raised.

“Hey,” said the steward.

“Hey,” I replied as I walked past him.

And that was it, no interrogation, no yelling, no phone calls to the police. Maybe I was overlooking something, or maybe I was just overthinking everything. Either way, I was home free. My apartment was only a small elevator trip away, which couldn’t be better timed. This mare was starting to smell like a wet dog.

After going in said elevator it wasn’t long till the both of us arrived in my apartment. The place looking exactly how I left it, a complete mess. To tell the truth, I never really cared much for cleaning up after myself, but now with this mare here I feel obliged to do it. She was a guest, and for a guest to see this would just be wrong.

First, however, I had to get this equine into a place where it can rest peacefully. Which, with this pigsty of a place left only one option available. Avoiding the mess, I walked to the end of the room and entered my bedroom. While small, it still fulfilled its purpose, and I’m sure this pony wouldn’t mind. Hell, it better not mind. I dragged it’s sorry ass all the way here.

Placing the horse down on the bed I went back out into the main room and visibly cringed. The kitchen was a disaster as dishes piled up in the sink. Half-filled bowls of cereal laid on the counter. The T.V area was equally messy, along with the rest of the apartment for that matter. Funny how you never truly see how bad something is until you’re about to show it to someone new.

“Well, might as well get to it,” I commented to no one in particular.

The first area I wanted to clean up was the kitchen. Any longer and the whole place would be like Chernobyl. Plus, getting the hardest part done first always motivates me to do the rest. Walking up to the counter I locked onto the dishes. It was going to be a long day, but one that I’m sure would pay off.

Turning on the water, I picked up the first dish. Parts of last night’s meal still stuck to it, but not for long. With a bit of discounted soap and a few good swipes with a sponge, the thing was already looking a hundred times better. Once I ran it under the water to get the soap off, it looked just like the day I bought it.

Continuing this routine, I found myself finishing all the dishes close to record time. The half-filed bowls took the trophy away from me sadly. Who knew milk a couple days old could stick that well and smell that bad.

Placing the last of the dishes into the cupboard, I moved onto cleaning the actual kitchen. Putting utensils where they actually belong and organizing the fridge. Which was actually quite easy seeing as I didn’t have much in the fridge to begin with, other than the beer and milk.

Like water, once I finished the kitchen I followed the flow and cleaned the T.V area than the entrance. Within a couple of hours, the apartment was looking good as new. The fruits of my labor were reaped when I took a cold one from the fridge and sat down on the couch. As I took a long swig from the glass I admired my work.

Too tired to watch some T.V, I placed the now emptied bottle on the stand next to the couch and laid down. Sleep came as easy as shutting my eyes and before I knew it I was out like a lamp.

Ch - 2

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Ch-2
Secrecy and Sparks

My ordinary life, the one I thought I would be living in forever, took a very unconventional turn. The path I was following in the misty planes of life, vanished before my very eyes. I was now forced to walk my own path, which was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. I was doing something no one else to my knowledge had ever experienced.

Yet, as things slowly started to change around me. My outlook on the world remained the same. The reality of my situation while was a nice change of pace, had its clear consequences. Ones that I would have to deal with in time.

Which brought me to ponder how long would this situation last? How long would it take for everything to be whisked away? For my own sake, I hope it would be soon because the longer you have something; the harder it is to lose it. Every good thing has an end, but the part that hurts is not the event that causes the end, but the memories of the time before the event.

I’m not wise nor am I smart, the words I say are obvious. Yet, some people mistake the obvious for words of wisdom. Either way, my life whether I like it or not has changed. For better or worse I do not know, but I have to move on. Time keeps ticking, and it’s certainly not going to wait for me…

***

Now if there’s one thing that you should know about me, is that I’m a very light sleeper. I was the only child in my family, and my mother and father were never the ones to make a lot of noise. So it comes to no surprise that I would develop a sleeping habit like that. Most people hate being a light sleeper, but I find myself loving it more often than not.

In fact, without the ability to wake up at any given noise, I would have completely snoozed over a certain midnight blue ponies attempt to tip-toe around me. A lot of work that coat restraining jacket did. Nevertheless, I was in no mood to freak out. Mornings were the worst, and if you happen to catch me before I get my morning caffeine, then I’m sorry.

“Where do you think, you’re going?” I questioned my eyelids still closed.

“You’re awake?!” The mare yelped.

This was when I realized the depth of the situation I had gotten myself into last night. While I remember taking in the mare for her own wellbeing, I completely forgot about her being able to talk. This, of course, caused me to shoot open my eyes and fumble off the couch. One of which didn’t feel good, especially this early in the morning.

Getting up as fast as I could; I looked down at the pony situated next to the front door. Well, at least that’s what I think because my eyes were still fuzzy from just being woken up. The world according to me at this given time was all blurs. Thankfully, thanks to many long nights with friends I had the sufficient skills to deduce what was going on. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to sneak past me while I slept.

However, this was unlike any other time. I had completely forgotten that the mare could even talk. Which, as soon as I realized that caused the both of us to enter an awkward silence. Me battling my brain to come up with a response and the mares no doubt trying to find a way to leave with no witnesses left behind. A reassuring thought to have early in the morning.

To my utter surprise it the equine was the first to speak up. “Thou will tell us where we are,” she commanded in an old English style. If she kept this up; I was going to have to give her to the pound. There is no way I’m waking up every day to old English being half yelled to me. I already got a boss, no need to add more to it.

Her question, however, would be kind of hard to answer. I doubt she is anywhere she would realize so I opted to show her rather than tell her. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. Deciding that this is the right course of action I spoke up, “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” I gestured to the wall at the other end of the room. A single heavy curtain blocking the rays of sun from coming through.

The mare looked at me with a quizzical expression, and I mean who wouldn’t. I pretty sure this is the first time she’s ever seeing a being like me. That is assuming she didn’t come here on purpose. Once again with the assumptions, I really need to stop with that. One day it’s going to be the end of me.

Nevertheless, even with her skeptical looks and unsure mind, she wandered back to the room. Which in all honesty surprised me. She was right next to the door, she could have easily just opened it and ran away. Either she’s confirming something she knows herself, or she’s putting a lot of trust into me to not do anything funny. The other alternative is that she knows she’s tougher than me and is simply following through to gather information.

Yeah, that’s mornings for you, always overthinking things and getting worked up over something that could be nothing, but I digress.

As the equine walked to the other side of the apartment, I walked towards the kitchen. My eyes never leaving her form. Do you see the problem with this? No? yes? Well, as soon as she reached the wall I managed to smack my toe right into the corner of the counter. Oh, how I wanted to curse to the heavens.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice. With a quick flick of her hoof the curtain withdrawals just enough for her to poke her head out. The moment her head peeked out, she gasped. Her ears flopped down, tail stood still, and lastly, her wings drooped a bit.

“Where art we?” the nameless mare questioned once again. This time more anger in her voice. It was as if she was putting the blame on me. When in fact, it was quite the opposite.

My mind was yelling for me to be asking questions of my own back at her. However, I quickly concluded that she needed them more at the moment. I was still in my world, and she was not. It is only right that she gets the first go at asking the questions.

“Northwest Territories, Canada, Earth,” I listed off in order.

If she didn’t know those words -which is quite likely- then it would be safe to assume she was lost. Of course, her question didn’t end there. Just like me she probably had hundreds if not thousands of questions just itching to be scratched. Since I was the one that took her in, the responsibility laid on me to see to it.

“What direction is Equestria from here?” she asked taking her gaze away from the window.

I was starting to regret taking her in as she started walking my way. Her face was stoic like a rock, the kind you see only on someone that is going to get an answer one way or another. Lucky for me, I have never heard of the place Equestria in my life. Which only meant that I was about to be killed in my own house.

“I’ve never heard of the place. Y-you just popped into existence at the supermarket where I work,” I answered truthfully.

“Pray tell, what is this supermarket you talk about? And what do you mean popped into existence?” She questioned just on the other side of the counter.

We were staring each other in the eyes. It was then that I realized something, if this equine does not realize what happened to her earlier then does that mean she did not cause the arcs of lightning? Was that just the mode of transportation that she seemingly unwillingly used to get here? If so then why was I still cowering, maybe she’s not as strong as she lets on to be?

Nonetheless, I still answered her. However, I put up my own front while doing so. “Look I was just taking out the trash when I saw this bright white orb floating there. Three minutes later of lightning arcing everywhere and poof you’re here.”

There was no point in telling her what a supermarket was right now. It was unimportant to the matter we were currently discussing.

Muttering some words under her breath, she seemed to visibly soften. Her head now hung low as she walked back over to the window to take another peek. “Not from here huh?” I questioned seeing her depressed state. Leave it to a female equine to change their emotions on the fly like that. Then again, I’m not the one being dropped into a new world.

“Nay, it seems like mine sisters forget her power sometimes. So, we take it that we owe thee one?” She questioned

“Heh, yeah that’s one way to put it,” I state pulling out a cereal box from the cupboard. I know it's actually where it’s supposed to be.

I felt more at ease with her current frame of mind, so I once again pushed my questions aside as with my fears. The day had just begun and I was starting to feel like I spent two hours running with how fast my heart was pumping back there.

The pony looked back at me with a small smile, the first one I had ever seen her adorn. “Then tell us what we can do to pay thee back,” the blue mystery mare commented.

“How about you take a seat and tell me your name,” I asked bringing out two bowls and filling them up with some captain crunch. Say what you must, that shit really gets you going in the mornings no matter how much it fucks up the top of your mouth.

Letting out a little chuckle the mare moved towards the counter. “A noble request, I shall partake in the consumption of the morning meal. Our name is Luna and what may thou be named?”

“Ari, short for Arik,” I relayed the information as I passed out her bowl and spoon.

The now named Luna looked down upon the spoon with focus. A bit too much focus if you ask me, it was like she was trying to move the spoon with her mind. It doesn’t work in case your wondering, I tried it myself on multiple occasions.

“You okay there?” I asked Luna as she continued to concentrate on the spoon. Her eyelids were shut closed now and she was furrowing her brow.

Hearing my words, she gave up with a frustrated huff, “We can’t seem to use our magic. Thou hath not put an inhibitor on, or around me?” Luna asked giving me an accusing stare.

“Magic? Inhibitor? Ha! Now you’re speaking fants-” I stopped myself halfway through that sentence.

“What? Is something wrong?” Luna prods me.

“I was just going to say you were talking fantasy when I realized that I’m having breakfast with a horse.”

“I beg your pardon?” Luna quipped.

“Sorry, unicorn,” I replied taking another mouthful of crunchy goodness. The term horse seemingly an insult. Good to know.

“I’m a Pony, an Alicorn if you will. I presume, by your words; your kind has never seen a pony.” Luna states attempting to pick up the spoon with her hooves. It times like these where I really revel in the fact that I have opposable thumbs. I mean I’m not going to let her fumble around with the spoon forever, but who says it needs to be right away.

When she dropped it again, this time hitting the side of the bowl I got up from my seat. “Where are thy wandering to?” She questioned.

“Do you always speak in old English?” I questioned, while my brain was pulling out my hair for not asking how she knew English to begin with.

Once again Luna looked confused as I reached into another cupboard above the fridge. “Thou mean Equinish?” Luna corrected to her ‘punny’ way of saying English.

“No I mean English, at least that’s what we call our language here. Seems it’s more than an international language now.” I mulled through my thoughts out loud as I walked over next to Luna.

She seemed like she was going to continue the conversation about our languages, but halted when I arrived next to her. “What are thy attempting to do here?” she asked as I brought out a roll of gorilla tape. It was a bit overkill for what I was going to use it for, but it was the only tape I had in the apartment.

“Helping you eat your meal, now extend your hoof,” I commented, reaching out my own empty hand as I did so.

With a bit of hesitation, she placed her hoof into the palm of my hand. Her fur felt like silk compared to my callous covered hands. Either way, I pushed passed the feeling relatively fast as I picked up the spoon I had given her. Before long I had applied a little bit of tape to keep the spoon in place while she ate.

“There, now you should have no trouble,” I commented admiring my work.

Luna looked at the spoon strapped to her hoof for a couple of seconds before giving it a go. As expected, it worked like a charm. The tape successfully held the spoon and its contents in place for Luna to munch on.

“Thou hath our gratitude,” Luna stated as she dug in.

“Once again, do you have to use old English? Is that the only language you know?” I question finishing the last of my bowl before placing it in the sink. Come next week, the house will be back to its original state again, just watch.

“We can, however, we do not want to,” Luna chimed as she herself finished the rest of her bowl. The tape amazingly came off without any of her furs. To be completely clear here, I didn’t realize that until she ripped it off with her teeth.

Rolling my eyes at her stubbornness and choice of words I put her bowl and spoon away as well. “So what now? What’s your plan?” I asked sitting back down across the counter from her.

Luna’s head once again dropped and her ears flopped down. “We wish for another favor of thou,” She asked looking at a spot on the counter.

“Let’s hear it,” I replied, bringing my head down to the palm of my hand.

“Will thou let us stay here until we find a way back home?” She asked breaking her gaze with the counter to meet my eyes.

Seeing she’s completely and genuinely lost, I would be a dick not to accept. Yet again, this could all be one giant act. How do I know she’s not going to stab me in the night and perform an autopsy on my body so she knows the weaknesses of mankind? I’ve been watching too many alien movies, haven’t I?

“Sure, but on one condition,” I state mulling over if this was worth it or not in my head.

My life would no longer be the ordinary life I come to love. I would have to spend extra money to feed this mouth and break the law harboring an alien. A lot of risks came with this deal, but then again, a lot of positives could also come to fruition. If I was going to make an offer for her to stay it was going to be a big one.

“And that is?” Luna questioned.

I smirked at this, Luna looked at me her hope filled eyes turning to horror as they met my mischievous ones. “No more of this old English stuff.”

I must have sounded like a parent telling their kid not to swear in the house. This, however, needed to be done. There was no way in hell I was going to listen to someone speak like a person back in the 15th century. It may be cool to hear once in a while, but not all the god damn time. Especially since everyone else around here speaks modern English.

“Thy ask too much of us!” Luna states.

“What was that?” I questioned back.

“Y…You ask too much… from… me.” She finally stated.

It was jittery as fuck, but at least it didn’t make me want to cringe. Mind you, old English is pretty cool, but everything has its ‘time’ and ‘place’. Either way, I let a small smile escape my lips in this little victory I had achieved.

The thought finally occurred to me. I wasn’t afraid of this pony anymore. Even though she was from another world, and looked completely different than everyone else. I found myself forgetting it when I talked to her. She was like any other ordinary girl I had come across, it just so happened that Luna was from another planet.

The silence must have been awkward for her since she once again spoke out, “Since we- I, have done as you requested, does thou- this means I am able to stay here?”

At least she was getting better at it the more time went on, and that’s really all you ask. Nothing is better than trying and giving it your best. At least that’s what the elementary school teachers have taught me, however some things they teach really make me question our education system.

“I see no problem with you staying here with that little problem out of the way,” I commented as I drummed my fingers along the counter top.

“Little?” Luna questioned with a scowl on her face, “I hardly think so.”

“Say it however way you like princess, you aren’t going to change my opinion on the matter,” I said with a little chuckle. Today was already off to an interesting start, I could only imagine what the rest of the day would bring.

Getting up from my stool, I looked over to Luna. She was staring back at me with prying eyes. It was like she was trying to siphon information from my mind. Rolling my eyes, I walked up next to her and flicked her on the horn.

“Magic doesn’t exist here you dunce; either way it's rude to read someone’s mind.” I quipped walking passed her and into my room. Passing the door frame, I could hear her exaggerated groan.

Dismissing her actions, I got to work fixing up the bedroom. Since she was sleeping during my ‘cleaning spree’ I avoided the bedroom. However, at this point it was kind of moot to finish, seeing as she saw it when she woke up. Nevertheless, by the time I came to this realization I was already halfway done.

By the time, Luna pulled herself together and followed me into the room, I was finished. Before anyone asks, no I’m not a fast cleaner. It just so happens that it took Luna thirty minutes to get her sorry flank up and moving.

The moment she walked in she broke the silence, “What’s your species called?”

“I’m a human or homo sapien as the nerds call it,” I answered straitening out the blanket on top of the bed.

Having done what, I set out to do, I pulled my attention towards Luna. Her forehoof was tapping her muzzle as she let out a soft ‘hmm’. “Human, such a funny name. I quite like the formality of homo sapien though, it has a nice ring to it.”

“You start calling me homo sapien instead of my real name and I’m going to drag your flank back where I found it,” I teased.

Luna held a mock-shocked look, “I would never! Clearly, thou hath the wrong idea of my personality!” Her mock-shocked look turned into a sly one.

I gave her the best ‘really’ look I could muster before saying, “I think thou has forgotten thy agreement.”

“You can’t expect me to switch over just like that. I have been using this way of speaking for quite some time now. It’s like asking a foreign pony to stop having an accent. These things just take time,” Luna lectured.

Rolling my eyes for the umpteenth time today, me and Luna exit the bedroom. As we both entered the main area of the apartment I spoke out.

“So like before, how do you plan on fixing this situation?” I asked taking a seat on the couch.

Following in my footsteps Luna plopped right next to me, “In all honesty, I never thought I would get this far.”

I bet the I.S.S could have heard that facepalm. Seeing my reaction, Luna was quick to explain herself. The secret here, however, is that no amount of explaining could fix what she just said. My mind was already filing her under the ‘improv’ section.

Since I could fit in that category as well, I decided to end her suffering early; “Don’t you have any friends back in your world that are trying to get you back by now? I’m pretty sure if you just wait the problem will fix itself.”

“Waiting on others to help you is not a way to solve a problem,” Luna stated with a swift nod.

“So you don’t have any friends, good to know,” I deducted.

“Pardon me!” Luna exclaimed.

“Am I wrong?” I question her.

“Well, no, but that’s not the point! I’m sure that my dearest sister will find a way to get me back home,” Luna claimed.

I let a smile grace my lips, she fell right into that one. “See, now all you have to do is wait. In less, of course, you have some way of bringing back your magic in this world.”

My statement seemed to effect Luna deeply. However, I couldn’t determine if she was really hopeful of really hopeless. The expression she seemed to give me was somewhere in between. Not wanting to take the chance of her being potentially depressed I changed the subject.

“Hay Luna?” I asked before thinking.

Her teal eyes soon met mine, “Yes?”

Well, that was a great idea, seeing as now I have nothing to talk about. In an attempt to come up with a topic fast, my eyes darted around her form. The first thing my eyes fell on seemed to just come blearing out my mouth. Hell, even Hitler’s blitzkrieg had nothing on the speed my mouth started the next sentence; “What’s that marking on your ass?”

Luna gave a confused look to me which I, in turn, gave back to her. It was really awkward for the first bit, handing around this confused vibe before Luna finally spoke her mind; “I do not condone the act of slavery nor do I have one for myself!”

“What? How did you get slavery from ass?” I questioned before coming to the sudden realization that our slang words may not match up. “Never mind, what I meant was butt, flank or glutinous maximus whatever you want to call it.”

“Ah, you mean my cutie mark,” Luna stated with a knowing expression.

“Cutie mark,” I repeated with a stoic expression on my face.

Luna rolled her eyes, “I’m sure you humans have something in your anatomy that is named something just as humorous as ours.”

“Well, we do have a nerve called the funny bone.” I claim before brushing it aside, “Either way, what’s that about, you ponies have a thing for butt tattoos?” I question.

“Nay, this mark appears when a pony finds their special talent,” Luna claims.

Looking back down towards her flank I could make out a depiction of the moon, “Like looking at the moon? You an astronaut? Or maybe you just really love moon pies.”

“Do humans have cutie marks? I assume no, from your initial reaction to mine.” Luna questioned changing the subject. She had an uneasy look on her face, maybe she was ashamed of her special talent. Or maybe it was something that would tip me off towards something. Like maybe the moon represented the night, and the black represented death. Either way, I was not going to let her change subjects so easily on me.

“You didn’t tell me what your cutie mark was about, though?” I questioned attempting to get her to spill the beans. I was probably overthinking everything again. That was one thing I was good at.

Luna broke eye contact with me as she sheepishly looked around the room. “It was the first one you listed, I love looking at the moon. Nights have always been my favorite; however, I get the feeling that some ponies don’t appreciate it enough.” Luna commented.

It was then that I realized on key fact about the pony race. They’re terrible liars, I seriously wonder if anyone from their world has tried to use that to their advantage. If they did, they would no doubt be the next Sun Tzu.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to push the subject any further. If she was going this far to lie to me about it then I would just have to trust her. Why was I putting so much trust into this mare, I have no idea? She just doesn’t look like the one that would stab you in the back later on down the line. Thankfully, however, this gave me a new topic to talk about with her.

“I’m sure you’ll get along just fine with the people in this town then,” I commented with a little chuckle.

“And how’s that? I seriously doubt that the general public would be thrilled to see an alien,” Luna retorted.

I do have to give her some credit where it’s due. The general public would be freaking out if she just showed up. “Other than you being a pony, people here in Oaklyn love the night. Hell, there’s a midnight summer festival a week from now where they build huge bonfires to celebrate the longest night of the year. Here in Oaklyn the sun never rises on that day.”

I must have said something wrong because I think I just broke Luna. Her eyes are locked forward, her tail is motionless and her ears and wings are twitching. Truth be told, after the third minute like this, I was starting to get worried.

Thankfully, Luna got herself out of her stupor before saying, “How long do the festivities last?”

“Here in Oaklyn, they last all day, seeing as that’s how long the night lasts. They have stalls filled with goodies and tons of prizes you can win from games. It’s like any other festival really, just with a huge ass bonfire at the end,” I lectured.

“All day…” Luna trailed off.

“Yeah, all day,” I commented back giving her a weird look. I know that she’s technically an alien, but for a moment there I thought I was starting to get used to her. Looks like its going to take longer than a couple hours to accomplish that.

Before I could question her further, the cell in my pocket started to ring. This causes me and Luna both to jump in our seats. Her from probably never seeing a device make a sound like that and me from utter surprise that one of my limited friends was calling me. Taking the phone out of my pocket I swiped to answer.

“Yellow,” heh get it? Because it sounds like ‘hello’...

The moment I spoke to the phone Luna started to look at me like I was a crazy person. My speculation from before, just now being proven right. In order to dissolve the situation from getting any worse, I mouthed the words ‘later’ to her. Thankfully, she got the message and started to wander the apartment.

Putting the phone back to my ear I heard my friend Matt speak, “Hey Ari, you got time on your hands tomorrow?”

Looking over to Luna gazing out the apartment window I replied respectively, “No, not really why?” A part of me was just thankful that it wasn’t the landlord calling. Now that would have been a conversation.

“Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang with me and Alex,” Matt stated nonchalantly.

“Dude Alex is in Oaklyn! Why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier.” I exclaimed chewing on the choice before me. Option one, ditch Luna for the night and hang with an old friend. Or option two hang with Luna but ditch an old friend. The choice to me was quite obvious, seeing as I rarely get time with my friends.

“You think I got notice? He just popped by today at my doorstep with his suitcase. Says he’s got the week off and decided to visit. Sucks that you can’t come tomorrow, we’re going to Mulligans for the sake of nostalgia.” Matt boasted, he knew he had my arm tied behind my back. The fact that I was delaying my reply seemingly made it worse.

Finally, before long I folded, “Fine, I’ll come.”

“That’s the Ari I know. Just stop by my place at 8 pm and we’ll head off to the bar,” Matt scheduled.

“Yeah, yeah, take care Alex,” I concluded.

“You too Ari,” and just like that the conversation ended.

As soon as I hung up the phone, Luna was on me like a hound dog. “So, now that it's later tell me why I shouldn’t be finding another human to house me? Talking to an inanimate object is the first signs of losing your mind.”

“Is it?” I asked generally curious.

“I don’t know, but it sure is one of them,” Luna questioned back.

Rolling my eye’s, I followed up with a brief explanation of how phones work. “So, it’s like mail? Except done over these radio waves?” When I say brief, I really mean brief. She’s lucky she got even that out of me. Today has just been nonstop with the questions, I’m actually quite glad I took Matt up with his offer. A nice day at the bar will sure put me back into the game after what today will bring.

Ch - 3

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Ch 3:
Mulligans

No matter how far you may stray from the ordinary path, you’ll always find yourself back on it. The old routines get replaced by new ones, and soon you find yourself doing the same thing you were doing before, but in a new way. Some will no doubt object to this, and some will agree to it with open arms. Yet, in the end, we all must face the facts.

My routine may have been changed, but like everyone else, we find a way to make that our new norm. Life is fleeting and it’s our job to catch it, to sculpt it. Each person’s end is different from the others no matter how closely you follow the person’s path before you. The fact of life is that ordinary is a word that will eventually describe the unconventional, given time of course.

Me, you, the person you see on the train all have a self-worth. Each impact this little spec of dirt suspended in space no matter how much you want to deny it. It’s this self-worth, this knowledge that you’re a contribution to this world -whether you like it or not- that drives us to move forward. For if this world ends next week it does not matter. For you will at least remember that you, yes you, have lived to further the lives of others. Just by simply being there.

So does it really matter that we eventually all end up wandering the ‘ordinary’ path? Obviously, if you blow it out to these proportions the answer is clear as day. But sometimes the obvious facts aren’t so obvious during the times you need to see them the most.

As I said I’m cynical, most people will probably agree with this. Yet, the fact that I know my place in the world, that I know my self-worth causes me to generate this feeling of contempt. Even though things around me might be crumbling down.

***

Thankfully by the end of the first day with Luna, the questions seemed to have slowed down. Don’t get me wrong she’s still more curious than a cat about this new world. The question’s I’m talking about however are the obvious ones that someone knew would ask. With those thankfully out of the way, Luna was now able to act for herself. Not like she wasn’t doing so when she first arrived.

Best part hands down, was when I told her about how the weather works here. Which to my amazement is different than in this ‘Equestria’. It seems that Luna has a fear of lightning even though she won't admit it. Her wide eyes and twitching wings were a dead give away when I stated that the lightning here strikes randomly.

Nevertheless, the both of us actually came up with an agreement of sorts. Seeing as she was going to be my new roomie till she ‘pops’ out of existence. I’m sure when that time comes; I’ll probably spill my coffee all over my lap. Shit never works out for me, and I don’t expect it to change with this mare here.

First and most importantly, Luna has agreed to stay away from the public eye. Funny enough, it was her that came up with the idea, not me. She claims that she’s “lucky” to have been found by me and not someone else. When in all honesty, if it wasn’t me that found her it would have been that other worker at the supermarket. Still, don’t know his name, and I know it’s going to drive me crazy till tomorrow when I finally ask him what it is.

Secondly, I have decided that I would make the couch into a makeshift bed. Luna protested claiming that she rather my bed, but this was my house so she had to follow my rules. With a little bit of ‘persuasion’, she finally agreed. That was when I found out that she was just as stubborn as me. The list goes on and on, but nonetheless, I’m quite thankful that we sorted it all out.

“You know it’s rude to leave a guest unattended,” Luna comments.

The both of us were currently sitting down on the couch, the T.V playing some cartoon Luna found fascinating. Talking about Luna, she was currently sitting upside-down on the couch, her head hanging bellow the cushion. I was actually quite amazed that she was able to do that for that long.

Letting out a sigh I replied, “My old friend Alex is going to be there. It’s a rare occasion when I get to hang out with more than one friend. Plus, you’re a grown woman-”

“Mare” Luna corrected

“Mare. I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself for the night. Even more so, if that agreement we made is worth anything than you’re not a guest anymore.” I conclude.

Luna takes her eyes off the T.V and looks at me, “Then what would that make me?”

“A roomie,” I answer.

“I don’t like the term ‘roomie’, is there anything else you can call it?”

“No,”

Luna rolls her eyes at me, “Fine, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to see this bar you're going to. My sister knows I could use a good drink to get the edge off. What with all this stress of discovering a new world, I might be growing gray in my mane.”

“Good luck finding a way to the bar without being noticed by anyone,” I commented looking at the clock on the wall. Sometimes I really hate the damn thing, but then again it is the only thing that keeps me on time.

My statement seems to have shredded some light on her situation as Luna goes back to watching the cartoon. Some monkey was beating some other monkey upside the head with a banana. You got to hand it to them, shits pretty funny.

The silence I was enjoying was ruined when Luna once again spoke up, “How about we disguise me as a human, I can walk on two hooves.”

“Even after a couple drinks?” I question raising an eyebrow.

“We’ll deal with that problem when we get there,” Luna claims waving her hoof in the air.

I’m starting to think the blood is getting to her head. She’s been upside-down for two hours now, nothing good can come from this. Actually, now that I think about it, her passing out could be considered a good thing.

“Okay, say we dress you up and you’re able to walk around normally. What are you going to do when people notice your face? Because people ‘will’ look at it, and believe me no human out there has that much hair on their face.” I lecture.

Luna once again bats her hoof in the air, “It’s called a coat, and we can just make some silly lie.”

“And what’s this lie going to be?” Luna’s expression tells it all, she has nothing.

While I’m against holding someone back, this was for her own good. If she went out tonight there would be no doubt that she would be caught. The fact that she really wanted to go only made me feel worse. I was like the stereotypical mother shunning their child, telling them what they can and can’t do.

But for her sake, I had to force my hand on the matter. This, however, didn’t mean that I was just going to forget her completely whilst I was out. In fact, if anything, it was going to be the complete opposite. A sentient pony alone in my apartment isn’t the most calming thoughts one could have while drinking with his buds.

Knowing that she wasn’t going to win this one, Luna finally gave up. At least she can see the reasoning behind my statement.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to bring you back something,” I state following through on the stereotypical parent act.

The funny thing about it is Luna took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. “Then bring me back something with a kick to it.”

“I can get you some really good stuff, but I don’t know if you can handle it,” I state thinking about one alcohol in particular. It’s so strong it’ll downright fuck you up, sometimes inducing hallucinations. Since she was a pony for some random reason my mind clicked saying she would be able to hold more than your average joe.

Luna scoffed, “I’m sure I can handle anything you can throw at me. I was quite fond of wine back in Equestria.”

“Alright, just don’t come complaining to me if you start throwing up chunks,” I state getting up from the couch. “While I’m here, what do you want to do?” I continue looking towards the clock. The time was 3’oclock, the meet up with Alex and Matt didn’t start till 8 so we had some time to kill.

Finally flipping over on the couch, Luna once again wanders back over to the window. Pushing the curtains back a bit she once again peeks out. Letting out a long sigh Luna replies, “I don’t know. Funny you would think a pony would have many ideas on what to do in a new world, yet I can’t think of one.”

Walking towards the window I pull the curtains all the way back, flooding my apartment with bright sunlight. It’s been a while since I looked out this window, and I can’t see why I don’t do it more often. I mean I have a pretty good view of the city and the forest that surrounds it. It was then that an idea popped into my head.

“Hey follow me,” I state walking towards the entrance of my apartment.

With a curious look, Luna follows in tow; “Where are we going? You know I would like to remain hidden during my stay here.”

“Just follow me,” I once again claim.

Slipping on some shoes I exit the apartment with Luna. Immediately I walk down the hallway towards the elevator. Thankfully, nobody was here and that left me and Luna to wander around freely.

Arriving next to the elevators I enter the door beside them. The depiction of stairs clearly marked on the glass window. Glancing back, I can see the curiosity clearly etched across her face. Nevertheless, before she can formulate a question I continue up the stairs. Which in no time brings us to another door. This one was full metal with a glowing exit sign above it.

Not waiting around for her to say anything I opened the door revealing the roof of the apartment building. It was the highest building in the city, well if you can even call this place a city. To me, it was more like a large town. Nevertheless, the view seemed to have done the trick as Luna steps towards the edge and lets a smile grace her lips.

“This reminds me of my room back in Canterlot,” Luna claims as she unfurls her wings and lets the wind run through them.

I scratched the back of my head at that statement, “You lived in an apartment too? Or you some kind of rich pony that has a mansion with an excellent view?” I question thinking back to the conversations we had last night. She always seems to stay away from questions like these but I ask nevertheless.

From what she told me, their race was nowhere near as technologically advanced as ours. The biggest brake-through they had was some heart monitors and that was all powered by magic rather than electricity.

At my question, Luna’s wings twitched before snapping closed. It was quite disappointing, seeing as her wings were beautiful to look at. Never in all my life have I seen wings as big as hers, and I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like them again when she leaves.

“Neither, my house just so happened to be in a good spot when my family bought it,” Luna commented.

I, however, wasn’t all that convinced. Ponies, after all, were terrible liars, but I for one would see no reason to lie about where you lived. In realizing that I just swept it under the metaphorical rug and played along.

“If your view could match this one, then I would assume so,” I state walking up next to her. Looking down I could see the many people walking around the streets doing their afternoon errands.

“So, can you actually fly with those?” I question looking at her wings.

Unfurling her wings again Luna shook her head sadly, “Flying in Equestria requires a small amount of magic to be achieved. I’m afraid here in a world with no magic I will not have the strength required to lift myself off the ground.”

I let out a small laugh, “You truly are useless,” I state patting her on the back, “But that makes two of us.”

Luna chuckles at my statement before using her right wing to pull me in with it, “Just a couple of zeros.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t have to accept it,” I claim shuffling around in her wing. It wasn’t uncomfortable in fact it was the opposite. Her feathers felt like the finest polyester money could buy when it brushed up against my face.

Luna looked towards me with a completely straight face. Looking back into her eyes, I couldn’t help but curve the corners of my lips upwards. She seemed to do the same and before long the gates of laughter broke out. Our hollers left unheard by anyone but the two of us on top the roof of the apartment.

I laughed so hard that it started to hurt my lungs. Gasping for air I crouched down, chuckles still coming out every so often. I haven’t laughed that hard in what feels like forever and it felt good. Like I was letting go the stresses of the life for another day.

Beside me, Luna wasn’t recovering as fast as I was. Her laughter was at full blast, which was really entertaining to watch. But the crème de la résistance was the snort that she let out. As soon as it left her mouth her laughing stopped immediately.

Still chuckling a bit, I spoke out between my breaths, “Did, you just-”

Was all I was able to say before Luna budded in, “Nay, you heard wrong.”

“Whatever you say, princess,” I tease walking back towards the apartment door, Luna following me in tow. The only noise that could be heard filling the air are my small chuckles.

***

“Ari! You magnificent piece of shit! Always on time I see,” Matt yells as he swings the door wide open. He didn’t even wait to see me before he said that statement.

I give him a little smirk, “What would happen if it was someone else at the door other than me?”

“Like who? No one other than you comes over,” Matt states as he leads me into his humble abode.

Rolling my eyes, I answer him, “Oh I don’t know, maybe your mother.”

“You and I both know my mother is just as vulgar as me,” Matt reminds me.

He does have a point there. Last time I met his mother she told me to fuck off because I cooked a better Szarlotka. It may sound fancy but trust me, it's just a glorified apple pie. Got to love the Polish though, they say it like it is, no substitute.

Entering his living room, I come to see Alex sitting on the couch playing some game. He was always an avid player of video games, then again who isn’t. Some Wicher 3 or other was on the T.V; his character hacking through some poor animal. At least the graphics were good, I mean you could even see the innards of the thing as the sword swung through it.

Walking up behind Alex I shout “Behind you!” causing him to roll forwards -in the game of course- into the enemy he was fighting. Being already at low health the enemy made quick work by headbutting him.

“What the hell man!” Alex turns around to see me smiling back at him. My thought to be immunity was thrown out the window as Alex jumps over the couch at me.

Turning around I hightail it into the kitchen, Alex hot on my heels. “You think just because I haven’t seen you in five months I won't rough you up,” Alex yells in his British accent as he jumps again hitting me smack dab in the back. I trip over due to the weight and before I know it I have my left arm against my back.

Alex pulls up on my arm inflicting a bit of pain in my left shoulder. “Alex why!” I plead half laughing at the stupidity of it all.

“Cuz you killed my character that’s why!” Alex states pulling harder on my arm.

“uncle! Uncle!” I yell as he keeps the arm in the same position.

Alex is having none of it though, “Don’t think I’ll let you off that easy. Tell me that I’m the greatest.”

“You’re the wooooorrrrs-” I scream as Alex pulls harder.

“What was that mate?”

“You’re the greatest! I said You’re the greatest!” The pain too much for me to continue on like this.

Alex finally let’s go with a triumphant smile on his face, “There we go, good thing we got that all sorted out.” I couldn’t put my hand on it but something seemed off about Alex. Brushing it aside I rolled myself over.

“You’ve gained weight, usually I can toss you off me,” I say getting back up onto my feet. When I do, Alex gives me the death glare. He can look all he wants, he knows he had the jump on me last time.

“Fat or not, we going to Mulligans or not?” Matt comments as he enters the room. “Or are you two just going to stay here and wack each other off.”

“Bet you would like that Ari,” Alex comments causing me to punch him in the arm.

“Shut up and let’s get going already,” I agree with Matt as the three of us exit the house and head towards Alex’s car. It’s nice when you have a friend that owns his own car. That way you can just mooch off him and not worry about car insurance and shit like that.

With the car, the drive to Mulligans only took five minutes. The place was just down the street, in all honesty, we didn’t even need to bring the car. Nevertheless, we did, and now the three of us are seated along the bar on the usual barstools.

“Ay, the three stooges!” Mulligan chimes as we settle on down. We all say our respective welcomes as well as order our poison.

Matt always liked a classic rum and coke so he ordered that. Alex seemed adventurous so he got a drink call the black Russian. Mulligan said it had something to do with the American ambassador in the 1940’s. Either way, it was a stark difference to his usual Guinness. I myself just went with a simple Heineken.

Before we even had the chance to finish saying our orders Mulligan already had all of them in front of us. Hence why we love this place so much. If the beer is quick to get to you, the faster you can get wasted. Sadly, I was not the one getting wasted tonight, I do after all still have that problem back at my apartment.

“Now that I have some alcohol in me, I can say the real reason I came here to Oaklyn,” Alex claims taking a rather large swig of his drink. Which is pretty surprising seeing as its 2 parts vodka.

Matt looks over to him, “So you lied to me about your sister being in town?”

“You really should have seen that one coming,” I state chuckling. Alex was always the one for deception and manipulation in the group. If you’re not too cautious, he could spring something on you in an instant.

“You see, Ari gets it. That’s why I’m staying at his place for a month while I get my life back together.” Alex states happily as he pats me on the back.

And that’s when the Heineken left my mouth and onto the counter. ‘Fuck, he did it to me the bastard!’ I thought wiping my face with a town as mulligan wipes the bar of beer. I give him a quick apologetic smile which he replies with, “You better give me a big tip.” Once he’s done his work he moves to the other end of the bar to serve a couple.

“What the hell do you mean get your life back together? You had an amazing job! What the hell happened?” I half yell.

Alex takes a deep breath, “I got a message from the company three months ago, telling me that they were going to let me go due to budget cuts. Fucking pricks.” Alex claims downing the rest of his drink and ordering another one. “I called everyone I knew to see if they could help me, but when nothing showed up I made my way back here. I knew you two would help me out, so that’s why I came back.”

“Oh, shit man that sucks,” Matt states as he pays for Alex’s drink. “I was wondering why you brought so much stuff over.”

My mind still a jumble from the sudden info drop I ask, “But why my apartment? I don’t even have another bed. Clearly, Matt can take you in.”

“Hey, he asked of you not me,” Matt states attempting to distance himself as far away from the responsibility as he can.

“Well, to be honest, I had all my things shipped over to your apartment because it was the only address I knew here,” Alex said sheepishly.

Of course, that would be the reason, Alex wasn’t here when Matt got his own house. That, however, was going to complicate things. I had Luna back at the apartment, and if Alex lives there then that would make the whole place really cramped. Not to mention freak Alex out that theirs a sentient horse living in my apartment. I had to come up with a quick solution and fast.

“But I already have someone staying at my apartment,” I all but blurted out.

It was now my turn in the spotlight, Mulligan, Alex and Matt were all looking at me. “What?” I question taking a little sip from my beer.

“Who’s staying with you?” Alex asked only for Matt to grow a knowing smile.

“You got a chick, Ari? Why don’t I know about her huh?” Matt states causing Alex to look at me with a sly smile.

“You finally got a piece huh?” Alex claims with an approving nod.

As much as I hate it, this was the only way to cover up Luna. “Yeah, we meet one day when I was finishing up work,” I say not really lying with the last part.

“What’s her name?” Matt asks

“When can we meet her?” Alex questions.

“Is she a looker?” Out of all people, Mulligan asks.

“Luna, never, and what the fuck Mulligan get the fuck out of here,” I answer in quick succession.

Matt seems satisfied with my answer but Alex and Mulligan don’t look that pleased. Nevertheless, since he was on the clock, Mulligan followed the order and walked back over to the couple at the other end of the bar.

“Come on man, don’t hog her all to yourself. I want to meet the lady that captured my friend's heart,” Alex commented.

“Nope not going to happen, you're going to scare her away from me,” I reply playing along. Hopefully, this won't come back to bite me in the ass.

It seems that what I was trying to get across finally hit Matt. “So what’s going to happen with Alex if all his stuff is being mailed to you, Ari. It’s going to suck to move everything over to my place.”

At this point the three of us quietly drink our beverages as we think about what to do about Alex. It wasn’t long till I finally come up with the solution. One that I personally don’t like, but one that has to be done to help an old friend out.

“How about you come with me to my apartment stay the night and tomorrow we will set you up with a room in the same building. I’ll pay first and last. Obviously, you’ll have to pay me back the money some other time, but at least it gets you on your feet again. I could even put in a word for you at the local supermarket.” I state my mind.

Alex looks at me with an immense smile on his face, “Really! You would do that for me?”

“Well I rather keep my money,” I let it hang for some dramatic effect, “but if Matt can lend a hand with the money I’m sure I can set everything up.”

“You just had to add me into this mess didn’t you,” Matt stated.

“Don’t be a dick and just accept the terms you twat,” Mulligan stated slapping the back of Matts' head.

Grimacing at the slap Matt finally gives in, “Fine, how much are we talking about?”

“I pay for first you pay for last,” I simply state.

“Seems fair, but Alex has to promise to pay us back in full,” Matt says looking at Alex, a scowl on his face.

Alex lets out a fake laugh, “Yeah, yeah I’ll pay you guys back and then some. This is really going to help me out if we set this all up.”

The rest of the night went by in a blur. Alex told us all about what he was doing in the big city. Matt and Mulligan got in a fight about what was the best beer in the bar, and I beat all three of them at darts. Overall a very fun and productive night, but now came the part that I dreaded.

Alex, having drunk too much left it to me to drive Matt back to his house seeing as I only had one beer. Once Matt was home and Alex got his lone suitcase the two of us were off to my apartment building. The thought that I was missing something echoed deep within the recesses of my mind.

When we arrived at the apartment, I parked the car in my respected parking spot. It felt good that it finally had a purpose other than collecting dust.

“Thanks again for doing this Ari,” Alex stated as we made our way to the elevator within the underground garage that we were in.

I just nod my head in response as we walk into the elevator. Alex must have been completely devastated to ask for me and Matt for help. Usually, he’s a very proud person, and just now at the bar, he seemed defeated. If anything, I was doing this so I could bring the old Alex back to life.

Before long the two of us reach floor eleven and started walking down the hall. My mind a complete mess thinking on how I’m going to warn Luna to hide. In all honesty, I didn’t even know if I should tell her to hide. Maybe I could just show Alex and hope he doesn’t freak out and call the cops.

Nevertheless, that was not the risk I as going to take. When the two of us reached the door to my apartment I turned to Alex.

“I just got to warn you, Alex, my place is not as nice as Matts.” I say in a louder than usual tone. “you allergic to any animals? I heard that the person before me had a cat and the fur might have gotten into the carpet.”

“No, not that I’m aware of,” Alex claimed.

Just faintly, I could hear the shuffling of hooves on the other end of the door. “Ok good, I have some medicine in my room just in case.” I lied trying to get my message across. When I sensed to hear any noise on the other side of the door I opened it slowly.

All the lights were off, the window was covered with the heavy drapes. The whole place looked completely different than before. Flicking on the lights I motion my hand towards the couch that was now moved in front of the window.

“You can crash here, I’m going to switch into some more comfortable clothes,” I state walking over to the bedroom door.

“Where’s your G.F man? Didn’t you say she lived with you?” Alex asks out as he plops himself on the couch.

Turning the nob and cracking the door open I reply, “she’s out for the weekend, she’ll be back Monday.” I state slipping into the darkness which is my room. Closing the door behind me I can see Luna sitting on my bed with an unpleasant look on her face.

“What is the meaning of this?” Luna mouths in the dark.

“I’ll tell you later,” I mouth back as I get my clothes and quickly change and exit the bedroom.

Thankfully due to his alcohol consumptions, Alex was already out like a lamp on the couch. His shallow snores could be heard from where I stood. Smiling lightly that my plan worked I flick the lights off in the main room and walk back into the bedroom.

“Okay, he’s asleep,” I stated with a sigh of relief.

Luna looks at me with a serious expression on her face, “I thought you were going to hang out with him not bring him here!” Luna exclaims in a whisper.

“That was the plan, but he sprung this on both me and Matt, we had no idea that he was laid off from his job. We both came up with the idea that we are going to pay for his own apartment here in this building till he gets back on his feet.” I relay to Luna.

“Who’s Matt?” Luna questions.

Right, I never told her about Matt, only claimed that I was going out with some friends to the bar.

“Matt is one of the friends that I went to the bar with. He is helping me pay for Alex’s apartment assuming there is one available this short notice. He’s only here for tonight, after that he’s going to be living in his own apartment,” I say moving towards the bed.

“If he’s going to be staying the night then where do I sleep?” Luna questions.

“Here, obviously,” I reply getting myself into the opposite side of the bed that Luna sat on.

Luna looks at me like I just slapped her mother and called her a whore, “I beg to differ-!“ Is all Luna can yell before a clamp a hand over her muzzle. I quickly looked over to the door to the bedroom trying to hear if Alex heard what Luna said. When nothing could be heard, I let my grip go and lay back down onto the bed.

“Remember, keep quiet we can’t let Alex know you’re here or you get discovered. Alex isn’t really the one to keep to himself.” I comment.

Glancing over to Luna I can see a light blush cover her face as she gets into the bed next to me. Apparently, I had embarrassed her by covering her muzzle. Without any other interactions, I and Luna fall asleep, our backs facing each other.

Ch - 4

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Ch – 4:
Sight left Unseen

We sometimes forget about the beauty and richness that our culture brings. Forward we march into the unknown, brave faces never faltering when things turn sour. For we don’t just survive; we prosper. Through timeless sands, failure is met with success. The heights of our capabilities ever expanding as we grow stronger.

The monuments we erect stand vigil as reminders for those that come after us. Pushing the boundaries of nature to bring forth plentiful bounties. It’s easy to lose sight of the greatness we hold. Yet, through it all, we come out the victors.

Just the thought that I could overlook something so blatantly obvious, made me question my frame of mind. The gloomy outlook I have on the world was unjustified. The harshness every day holds are there not to act as a deterrent or an excuse, but a reason to push forward.

As I look out of the window in my room; I’m reminded of this. Beauty on a recently thought impossible scale laid before my very eyes. Cars traversing the asphalt roads and the planes scarring the skies above. All of which are shining brightly in the night. No other time can you take in how far civilization has come.

***

“See something?” Came Luna's voice behind me, causing me to jump in my spot.

“Jesus Christ!” Looking behind I can see Luna looking at me with a curious expression on her face. “Oh, it’s just you.”

The change in her expression is almost instant, instead of a curious look, it now displayed annoyance. “What do you mean just me?” Luna prods shuffling up next to me in order to partake in the viewing of the outside world.

“I’m not used to anyone being in my house, let alone sleep in the same bed. I was just surprised that someone was talking to me this early in the morning,” I state returning my gaze to the desolate streets, the occasional car passing by every so often.

Luna nods at my response, “Ah I see, so why are you up at this time? Is it normal for humans to wake up this early?” Luna asks turning to look out the window as well.

“For some yeah, but a majority of people wake up much later. As for why I’m up, I don’t want Alex barging in here,” I state flopping down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. The course texture of the ceiling filling my view. I always wondered why it was like that, or if it held some kind of purpose.

My statement seemed to have sparked interest in Luna as she prodded further into the subject, “There are some people that stay up all night? What could one do at night that can’t be done better in the morning?”

“First thing that comes to mind is work. I have the night shift on Monday at the market. So, I just wake up really late to stay up at night. When my shift finishes I just go to bed when the morning comes. At least for me, it’s easier that way.

Some people are astronomers, which means that they have to work at night. I night-fish sometimes when I have the night shift. Not to mention that humans love to party, and the time for that is almost always at night. Lastly, I have seen a lot of people in this city simply stargaze in the park or in their lawns.” I relay pondering if there was another reason people stayed up at night.

No answer came from Luna as she continued to look out the window, a long look in her eyes. Deciding not to disturbed her thoughts I got up and headed to the apartment's main room. Looking back towards Luna I see her still looking out the window. Assuming that she’ll be like that for a while I exit the bedroom and enter the apartment's main room.

As expected at this time, Alex was still sound asleep. Then again it was 4 in the morning, I wouldn’t expect anybody to be up at this time. Moving across the room I enter the kitchen and open the fridge.

Taking out a carton of orange juice I take a quick swig. The acidic taste hitting my tongue immediately making me recoil a bit before placing it back into the fridge. Looking back over the darkened apartment I come to see Luna peaking her head out of the bedroom.

At this time in the day, I really couldn’t care less if she came out. Alex was a heavy sleeper, and if I know him, he’ll be out for another eight hours. Hell, it was rare seeing me up this late, usually, I’m worse than Alex with sleeping.

“Hey, Ari?” Luna asks in a hushed tone.

Snapping back to reality, I look down towards Luna, “Yeah?”

“You said people in this city just seem to stay up and stargaze for the fun of it,” Luna states looking around the room, her eyes never landing on mine.

Nodding I reply, “Yeah, lots of people like to stargaze.” I really don’t see where she’s getting at with this. I’m too tired to really process anything at this time.

“Would you like to go back to the roof and look at the stars?” Luna asks.

Seeing as I’ll probably never be able to get back asleep, I nod, “Yeah, sure wait one second.” I state walking back into the bedroom. I’m only there for a couple seconds before I exit with two hoodies in my grasp. It’s been years since I have last stargazed, I was actually quite excited to once again gaze at the beauty the night gives.

Luna looks at the hoodies in hands with confusion then worry, “What are you planning on doing with those?” Luna asks backing away from me when I approach her.

Glancing at the hoodies I let out a chuckle, “Oh right, I tied you up in one of these didn’t I. Their just sweaters to keep us from getting cold. After all, it still is spring, and up here the nights aren’t warm.”

Looking down to Luna I contemplated if she even needed a sweater. With all her fur, she might already be fine. Yet, as the phrase goes, ‘better safe then sorry’.

As I say this I place one of the sweaters on. Seeing that they are no threat, Luna steps towards me and allows me to place the hoodie on her. Funny enough as it is, the hoodie seemed to fit just fine. Pulling the hood over her head I walk passed her and out of the apartment.

Luna obviously follows me in walking all the way to the roof. Holding the door open for her I place a piece of wood between the door and the frame. It would be really bad if we got stuck up here.

After ensuring our safety, I turn back around and find Luna already sitting at the edge of the roof looking up at the sky. Following in suit I sit down right next to her and join in on the fun. Thankfully, the skies were clear displaying a lot of the stars. The light pollution the town brought seemingly doing nothing tonight.

“It’s so different,” Luna states looking intently at the sky.

I let out a small chuckle, “I would assume so, who knows how far away you are from your world.”

Luna doesn’t respond, instead, she keeps her eyes locked onto the sky. Our hoodies flapping in the wind, time itself seems to halt as we just sit back and enjoy the view. It really is sad that I don’t do this more often.

“That’s the big dipper,” I state pointing to said constellation. If anything, I hoped I could break the ice a bit more with her. If she really likes the night, then what better way to do it then to talk about it.

“The ‘big’ what?” Luna questions looking at me with a confused look on her face.

“The big dipper, look,” I say pointing towards it once again. Luna leans in close to see what I’m pointing to. I then move from one star to the other till it draws out the dipper.

“Ah, a constellation.” Luna states with an amused look on her face, “what others do you have here?” Luna questions leaning up against me. And thus, I start pointing out and describing different constellations to Luna.

Time no longer held no value to me, I found myself enjoying this way more than I thought I would. The only thing that stopped us from continuing on forever like this was the sun. It’s golden glow erasing the stars from view.

“Oi! Get the fuck out of here!” I yell tossing a small stone at the sun.

Luna starts to laugh at my actions, “I think we better head back before your friend Alex wakes up.”

“Yeah, your probably right,” I reply getting up from the spot and heading back towards the door. What I see, however, stops me dead in my tracks.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Luna bumps into the back of me, “Why did you stop?” She questions rubbing her muzzle.

“The fuck is that!” came the yell of Alex. It has seemed like he has woken up early for once. A pleasant surprise on any other day.

Hearing his voice Luna walks to my side to see the event unfold. There was no way I could get out of this one. She’s wearing my sweater for crying out loud. Any lie I could come up with would be moot.

“Now, now Alex I can explain everything,” I lie as I slowly walk towards him. My hands in the held out in front of me. I could only imagine what is going through Alex’s mind, he’s now for the first time seeing Luna.

Alex just scoffs, “How the fuck can you explain this?” He says pushing me aside and marching towards Luna. His left eye twitches with each step he takes. I guess that not all people can handle seeing a talking horse.

By the time, I’m able to regain my bearings Alex has Luna backed up into a corner, and by a corner, I mean the edge of the building. Luna’s eyes once again dilate as her ears pinned back. “What have you done to Ari!” He yells out to Luna. His march halted when Luna’s at the very edge.

“We’ve done nothing towards thy friend!” Luna yells back bringing out her old English again. It must be something she does when she doesn’t know the person, or maybe she just does it to sound intimidating.

Trying to back her up I add in, “She hasn’t done anything to me Alex. I know things look really fucked up, but this is not how I thought you would react. What the hell's gotten into you?” I really don’t even need to ask that question, I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to it. Nevertheless, I used it to gain more time.

Alex gets closer to Luna, his face cracking a wicked smile, “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you-”

And that was all she wrote for Alex as I clobber him in the back of the head with a piece wood that held the door open. Once Alex falls to the floor, I come to see Luna staring at me with fear and shock in her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Well, I was hoping it wouldn’t have to come to that,” I comment throwing the piece of wood down next to Alex’s sleeping form. I bring my hand up to scratch the back of my head as I release a large sigh. “You think that swing was enough to make him have temporary amnesia?” I ask Luna.

“I-I thought I was going to die,” Luna stated, her voice completely devoid of all emotions. The same shock and fear in her eyes. Not only do I have to deal with one problem now, but two problems. Letting out a large sigh I crouch down next to Luna. It really seems like she got a wake-up call from Alex’s aggression.

Looking her in the eyes I attempt the nice way, “You’re not going to die. Now come on and help me lug this guy back to the apartment. I need to find a way to introduce the two of you without him causing chaos.” Luna doesn’t answer, she just looks completely lost in her own little world.

Without any warning, I slap Luna across the face. The sound the came out was a clear indicator that I was able to snap her out of her stupor.

“WHY IS VIOLENCE THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS!” Luna yells out as she rubs her cheek. Not going to lie that smack hurt my hand a bit too. Fuck you Newton and your god damn laws.

Rubbing my now sore hand, I give Luna a huge smile, “Welcome back to Earth, now you going to help me with this piece of shit or not?” I state gesturing to Alex on the floor.

Luna scowls at me as she clamps down on Alex’s shirt. With her help, I was able to drag Alex all the way back to my apartment. Which was harder than it might seem, seeing as how we had to get him down the stairs and across the hall without making a lot of noise.

Dropping Alex’s body on the couch I wander back over to the kitchen. My hopes rest solely on the coffee machine in front of me. Caffeine is almost always the answer and when it’s not, it’ll help you get to the answer.

Looking over to Luna while my coffee brews, I notice she has the same long look in her eyes. Her ears were pinned down as she looks over to Alex.

“Really shocked you that much huh? Guess being backed up into a corner will do that to a person, or, well, a pony in this case.” I state taking the coffee pot out of the machine and pouring myself a glass.

Hearing my words, Luna looks over to me, “How, how do you do it?” She asks. Her eyes locked onto me, searching, no pleading for an answer.

“How do I do what?” I ask.

Grunting in annoyance Luna reiterated, “How do you cope without magic?”

This gets a confused look to come to my face. Taking a sip of the coffee I walk up to her next to the couch. Before I can say anything Luna once again speaks up, “In Equestria, everything is bound to magic, it flows through the very air we breathe. Everything we do uses magic in some way or another. Without magic, I’m exactly what you stated yesterday morning. I’m useless here.”

I seem to understand a bit more now. When she was backed up against a rock and a hard place. With Alex she was so used to having that third option of magic. When she realized that she couldn’t just simply pop her problem out of existence she became scared for her life. The basic principles of survival coming forth and showing themselves to her. It now made sense why she looked like she was going to cry after the event panned out.

In the end, after analyzing it further she came to the conclusion that she’s worthless. A feeling that could be very devastating if not fixed right away. Hell, people go insane from that very reason alone. Yet, it is one of the hardest feelings to dissolve, even if you give them something to hold onto it takes a while for them to actually grab it.

At this moment in time, actions stand out more than words. Setting down my cup of coffee on the counter I crouch down so that I’m on her level. With no words, I simply open my arms and look at her.

Confuse Luna looks towards me. It was up to her to ask for help. If she wanted it then she would come and get it. If she didn’t, well, then this would end up to be really fucking awkward now would it.

After a couple of seconds, Luna walks up to me and gives me a nice hug with her fore hooves. I can’t really tell from this position, but from the tight hug and shaking breaths I think it’s safe to assume she needed this.

After all, who wouldn’t, you can only keep a mask on so long before it brakes down around you. She tried so hard to be herself in a place so different from her own. She tried to stray away from the comfort she needed to live healthily. Yet, all it took was this little event for Luna to finally realize the reality of her situation. She’s a long way away from home.

“Thank you,” Luna stated with her shaky voice as she backed away.

I was really impressed when I saw no tear marks running down her face. She must be a lot stronger than I had originally thought.

Getting up from my spot I give her a small smile before picking back up my cup of joe and looking back towards Alex. His sleeping form resting peacefully on my couch. “So what are we going to do with him?” I ask trying to come up with a way to re-introduce Luna to Alex without him flipping out.

“I’m assuming if I show myself to anyone else this is most likely the reaction I should expect to get?” Luna asks, her voice slowly returning to its normal tone.

I nod, “For the most part if you showed yourself to a crowd I would imagine it would be chaos. Alone, I think you would get varying results. In the end, I’m glad you came to the decision to keep yourself hidden.”

“I have been known to take precautions in the past,” Luna smiled at the compliment before walking into the bedroom. Curious as to what she was doing, I waited for her return. Which thankfully didn’t take that long.

This time, however, it was my turn to give her a confused look. “How’s another sweater going to help out this situation?” I question downing the last of the coffee and placing it in the sink.

“Remember what you did to me when you first found me?” Luna asks. Her smile turning into a devilish smirk when I start to get where she’s going with this.

“So, you suggest we tie him down and force him to come to terms with you?” I reply.

Luna nods as she hoofs me the sweater. Taking it in my hands I quickly walk into my room and fetch my office chair before quickly walking back out. Positioning the chair next to the couch I slowly move Alex onto the chair. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up and with help from Luna, we managed to tie him down to the chair with my sweater. Who knew they had so many uses.

Taking a step back, me and Luna revel in our handy work. “We’re missing something,” Luna stated as she looks around the room.

“Yeah, something’s not right,” I question as I look at Alex strapped to the office chair.

I’m brought to my senses when I feel something prodding my left arm. Looking over I come to see Luna with the roll of gorilla tape in her mouth. Smiling I quickly snatch it up and take a rather large piece off.

Moving towards Alex I place the tape over his mouth. It was kind of fucked up that I was doing this to a friend, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Should we wake him up?” Luna asks.

I shake my head, “Let him rest, he got hit upside the head by a plank of wood. He deserves every minute of relaxation he can get.” I comment walking passed the couch and towards the kitchen.

“So, what are we going to do till he wakes up?” Luna questions as she walks up to the counter.

Sadly, I don’t have many things to do in the apartment beside some video games, go figure. Yet, there was one game I always had on me, because no matter where you are chess is always fun to play.

“Well, I have this one game call chess if you want to play. Rules are pretty basic so it shouldn’t be that hard to teach you.” I claim only to be answered right away by Luna.

“You have the game chess here?” Luna asks, a little spark in her eyes.

I nod, “Yeah, I’m assuming you have it in Equestria as well?” It was starting to get kind of weird that so many things were common between the two worlds.

“Yes, I’m fairly good at it.”

“Good, then I won't have to tone down my playing,” I respond walking towards the cupboard above the fridge. The main reason for the cupboard was for emergencies, the idea behind it was an emergency game for when the electricity went out.

***

Sweat pours down the back of my back as I shakily place down my knight in front of my king. Looking back up I can see Luna looking at the board intently. It’s almost as if she can see every single possible move and how they will play out.

Fairly confident in my placement I claim, “Your turn.”

With one swift movement of her hoof her queen positions itself right in the path of my king. “Checkmate.” Luna states. Having nowhere to go as I’m blocked in on all sides I let out an annoyed huff.

“You must be cheating there is no way I lost to you fifteen times in a row!” I exclaim leaning back in my chair.

Luna smiles as she quietly packs up all the pieces as well as the board, “Well, when you have a lot of time on your hooves, one learns to master a lot of things.”

“Really, by the way you explained Equestria, I would have assumed there would be a lot to do.” I comment as another question pops itself into my head, “By the way, how old are you?”

My question seemed to catch Luna off guard as she once again starts looking all around the room. “You know it’s rude to ask a mare her age?” Luna states giving me a sheepish smile. One that I don’t return.

“Come on its not like you’re a thousand years old, just tell me how old you are?” I ask again.

Luna shuffles in her chair and ruffles her feathers a bit. Nevertheless, she answers the question “26 years old.”

“Oh, wow we’re pretty close I’m 28, who would have thought,” I comment as I hear some rustling come from behind me. Getting up, I move over to where Alex is to see him start to wake up. Seeing this I motion over to Luna to stay behind him.

Before long Alex opens up his eyes and looks over to me. With nothing being said due to the tape I rip it off. “Ow Jesus that hurt! What the hell happened?” Alex claims still out of it a bit.

“You met Luna and freaked out,” I stated truthfully.

My statement seemed to bring Alex back to the world of the living as his eyes shoot wide open. He immediately tries to get up, but due to me and Lunas tying, he goes nowhere. “What the hell? Why do you have me tied up?”

Alex questions as he turns to look at me, “Because you threatened to push Luna off the top of the apartment.” I state rolling my eyes.

“I thought you said Luna was you girlfriend, not some talking horse!” Alex yells at me as he struggles to free himself. The bindings, however, are too strong and he gives up shortly. “Can you just get me out of this shit.”

A quick glance over to Luna I can see a soft blush adorn her muzzle, “I only said that to get you off my case. That all went out the window however when you decided to wake up early. I’m not going to untie anything until you promise you’re not going to freak out and cause an even bigger problem.”

“I won't, just untie me,” Alex says.

“I will but first you have to prove yourself and confront Luna again,” I comment. If he can come to accept Luna, then I will feel more comfortable letting him go. Then and only then could I ask him to keep this all on the down-low.

Alex goes quite for a minute, “She’s here isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is. You ready to once again see the sight left unseen by the public?” I ask Alex not really sure if he’s one hundred percent calmed down.

“If that’s what it’ll take to get these bindings off then yeah,” Alex comments once again trying to free himself.

I look over to Luna and nod at her to come into Alex’s view. It takes a couple of moments, but she accepts the orders and wanders in front of Alex. As expected Alex is once again speechless. However, this time it was his eyes that were dilating.

The silence is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. Thankfully, Luna steps in and breaks the silence, “I'm Luna, since you are Ari’s friend I am willing to forgive you.”

Not only Alex was surprised at her response. I was quite proud of Luna taking the first step forwards in mending their first impressions on each other.

“I’m Alex, I would shake your hoof but I can’t seem to move my arms,” Alex states as he gives me a dirty look. Then again, he had all the right to, I did everything but hog-tie him to the ceiling of the apartment.

Stepping into the conversation I say, “So now that you aren’t freaking out. You want to finish what you came here to do?”

“Dude, you got a fucking talking horse in your apartment and you're trying to change the subject?!” Alex exclaims as he looks between me and Luna.

Taking out my phone from my pocket I reply, “yeah, I’m quite aware of that. Standing around and staring at her isn’t going to fix any of our problems, mainly yours. We have to make sure you have a place to live.”

“You can do that any other day,” Alex quips.

“Yeah, and same with asking a million questions about her race and how she got here,” I retort silencing Alex. He was in the exact same position I was two days ago, so I knew exactly how he felt.

Letting out a large sigh, Alex turns all his attention towards me. “Alright, just untie me.”

“Not until you promise not to tell a soul about what you’ve seen here. If she gets found out, it’s game over man. I’ll be thrown in jail for harboring an alien,” I lecture causing Luna to move her gaze from Alex to me.

It looked like she was about to say something, but Alex came in first. “You have my word, I won't tell anyone. You can kick me out on the streets if I do.”

“I know, and I will if you tell someone,” I state with a stoic expression on my face.

“What about Matt? Does he know about this? I feel like Matt should know about this. I mean how long is she going to be staying here? If its long then Matts going to figure out eventually,” Alex brings up a good point.

I shake my head, “No, Matt doesn’t know. This literally happened two days ago, at the supermarket.”

“You found her at S-market?” Alex asks giving me a confused look.

Walking over to Alex I undo the sweater tying him down and let out a chuckle, “Yeah, pretty weird spot for some alien to just pop in.” With Alex now free, he walks over to Luna.

Seeing his advance Luna backs up,

“You’re really real,” Alex comments crouching down to meet Luna's face. “I see she’s got your sweater on too, were you serious with the girlfriend part?”

This question causes Luna to blush heavily before I respond, “I told you before, it was just a way to keep you from coming to the apartment. She didn’t want anyone to know that she existed. Her own words, not mine.”

“Shame, she looks cute with it on,” Alex claims standing back up to face me.

I let a chuckle escape my lips as I turn to look at Luna, “Yeah, she is kind of cute with that sweater on.”

“I am right here guys!” Luna states completely flustered. Her face was beet red and to tell the truth, it was kind of nice to just joke around after all that stress. I could even tell that when Luna calmed down she seemed visibly more at ease.

Alex turns around with a small smile, “Yeah we know. We’re just messing with you.”

Luna looks at us with a none-too-pleased expression written across her face. Seeing this, Me and Alex approach the door to the apartment, “Just some harmless fun. I’ll be back in about an hour or two. Hopefully, they’ll have an empty room they’re not using.” I state opening the door and letting Alex walk into the hall. “If they don’t, then Alex will probably be staying another night here.”

“Alright,” Is all Luna says as she attempts to take off the sweater. Sadly, with her hooves, it's a lot harder than it should be. Nevertheless, that should keep her company till I come back.

Chuckling to himself, Me and Alex exit the apartment and make our way to the elevator. As the door closes behind us I take out my phone and give Matt a ring. Since he agreed to help Alex out, I’ll have him e-transfer some money over to my account.

As the phone rings, I and Alex enter the elevator.

Ch - 5

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Ch – 5:
Respect where Due

“History is written by the victors” – Winston Churchill.

We all know that quote, we all understand that quote. As people put forth pride in their race, they also have to come to terms with the darkness that it holds as well. From every age, we’ve had fighters, people willing to risk their lives to save the lives of others. War is a word that bathes our history in blood and shrouds our beautiful culture in darkness.

Yet this darkness is a necessary evil. It pushes the mighty engines of our civilization to levels previously unimaginable. For those wishing to have pride in humanity, they must first come to accept what we have done to get here.

The crimes we’ve committed, the atrocities we’ve created, and the lives it has affected. The world is not perfect and nor will it ever be. As always in these types of things, you have to give respect where it’s due. Acknowledge the ones before you that gave you the ability to do the things you do today.

My life, as I have come to find it, was very dull before Luna came into it. I was contempt with it but always held that cynical view. Yet the more I come to show this world to Luna, the more I start to find myself wrong. Why did I look at the world like I did? Will I change my frame of mind? What is going to happen when she is gone from this world?

***

Waking up from my slumber, I slam the top of my alarm clock before it could go off. The same rough textured ceiling looked back at me as I recall the events of the weekend. Yesterday was chaos with Alex finding out about Luna, but at least everything is sorted out now. Alex has his own apartment -surprisingly on the same level as me- and Luna is back to sleeping on the couch.

Knowing full well that I have to get up, I push my body to the edge of the bed. Letting out a loud yawn I swing my feet over the bed and plant them on the ground. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I breathed in and stood up.

With the hardest part of the day done I walk to the entrance of my bedroom. Picking up my phone in the process. “Morning coffee, then I’ll get ready for the day,” resonated around in my mind as I opened the door to my room.

“What the hell are you doing Luna?” I ask walking into the apartment's main room, or at least what was left of it. For some odd reason, there were hundreds of pieces of paper scattered all around. Each one adorning a weird symbol. I have my speculations on what was going down, but sometimes it’s better to ask the source.

Luna looks at me with a joyful expression, “Ah Ari, perfect timing! I think I have figured out a way to get myself back home.”

“And that would be?” I question looking at the symbols. I really should get my morning coffee going before I start agreeing to anything.

“Black Magic!” Luna states triumphantly. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn I saw lightning flash off in the distance, but that’s impossible. There wasn’t a single cloud outside the window.

I take a look at her, then to the papers, then back to her, “You’ve finally lost it, haven’t you?” I more of stated then asked as I maneuver around the papers.

“This can really work Ari; black magic isn’t like conventional magic. Instead of manipulating the magic of the world, you create it. Theoretically, even if this world has no magic, I should be able to complete this ritual that will open a portal to Equestria!” Luna lectures as she walks over to me by the coffee machine.

She then enters this awkward silence; the only sound is the coffee being brewed. What makes it awkward was not the silence. No, what made it awkward was that she was staring right at me. This continued for a few minutes till my coffee was done. Picking up my cup of joe I take a long sip from it.

“Okay, what do you need me to help you with, in this ‘black magic’ stuff?” I could already feel the regret settling in. The name itself seemed to scream dangerous.

“Hold out your hand and close your eyes,” Luna commanded.

Taking another sip from my mug I do as she says. “Alright, now wha-ha-ha-haaaaat!” I scream out as I feel a blade come across the palm of my hand. Shooting open my eyes I come to see a large gash along the surface of my palm. The coffee that was once in my other hand is now all over the floor.

“What the literal fuck Luna! That fucking hurt! Are you out of your fucking mind?” I yell at her as I run towards the medical cupboard. Luna herself was wiping up some of the blood up off the floor with a piece of tissue paper. Before I could even bandage up my hand, Luna was already standing in the middle of the room chanting something, in some weird unknown language.

Rolling my eyes, I move my attention back to my hand as that’s the part that’s got me worried the most. With a quick flick of the wrist the medical cupboard opens up portraying a small, but well needed first aid kit.

Reaching up I take the kit in my hands and throw it onto the counter. It took some time fumbling with the latches, but eventually, I got it to open with one hand. Inside was what one would expect to be in a first aid kit. There was the first aid guide book -which I promptly, all but threw away from me-, a couple bandages, gloves, tape, tweezers, scissors the whole kit and caboodle.

I, however, was only after three of the many items. Taking the bandages out I place them to the side along with the scissors and tape. Looking back at the cut I attempt to see if I severed any arteries. Thankfully, it was a shallow cut and it didn’t look that bad to patch up.

Taking the roll of gauze in my hand I quickly wrap it around my wounded hand. In all honesty, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. I just know a bandage is a good way to stop bleeding. I’m sure that if I actually took that first-aid course in high school, I would be way better off right about now.

Sadly, I wasn’t one for taking extra courses after school. So, long story short, here I am wrapping this gauze bandage ten times around my hand before taping it shut. With the cut now bandaged I realized something. I really should’ve cleaned that cut.

Rolling my eyes, I tear the bandage off and bring out the alcohol wipes from the kit. Looking at the wipes than to the cut I visibly cringed. This was going to hurt like a mother fucker. Probably more so then it hurt getting the actual cut itself. Nevertheless, this was for a greater cause. I didn’t want my cut to get infected.

To tell the truth I was actually quite traumatized by this whole event. My hand was bleeding pretty badly, and Luna's demonic chanting in the background wasn’t helping the situation at all.

Inhaling a large sum of air, I quickly dab the alcohol wipe against the cut. Oh, how I wanted to scream, but that would require my man card to be revoked. Who am I kidding, that shit really fucking hurts. The least I could do was hiss as I continued to dab the wipe across the cut.

With the cut now clean, I re-bandage the wound with another ten wraps with the gauze. When the final wrap was done, I sealed it with the tape. Looking around for the first time after the incident, I take in the mess I caused.

Coffee was spilled all over the floor, the mug shattered, blood across the counter and by the fridge from my bleeding. It kind of looked like someone had a fight with their coffee machine and got shanked. An interesting image to have in your head.

Not wanting to deal with this later I immediately bring out the broom and mop. Quickly with the broom, I swipe up all the little shards of glass from the mug. Later I will have to come back with a vacuum just to be sure I got it all. Next, I took the mop out filled a bucket with soapy water and started going to town cleaning this mess up. After about twenty minutes I had the entire kitchen looking good as new.

The chanting has long since stopped and I have yet to hear Luna nor see her. Glancing over to where she was performing her ‘black magic’, I come to see her sitting in the middle of the papers looking down at the floor. It seems her spell didn’t work after all, not really a surprise here really. After all, magic is just a word that describes the unknown here on earth.

Now keep in mind, I was just cut by this mare deliberately. I was not the happiest camper right now, “Care to explain to me your actions?” I half-yelled at her.

Even from this distance, I could see her visibly cringe at the sharpness in my tone. I was having none of it, though, this was just unacceptable. God, I’m sounding more and more like a parent every day?

“Well? Have something you want to say to me?” I questioned her further as I walked up behind her.

“We’re sorry!” Luna yelled out half sobbing as she got up and ran towards the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Well, now I feel like a real asshole. The guilt of making her cry grew stronger within my stomach, was it really worth it? Did that sedate my anger, or did it fuel my ideology that maybe she’s really unstable right now with her life being turned upside down. Who am I the one to question how someone in her shoes may be feeling.

Thinking about it for a while I finally came up with the answer. It was so simple, Luna was feeling lonely. None of her kind is around, the thought that she may never see them again probably echoing around in her subconscious.

While she was in the wrong for cutting me, she still had her reasons. Hell, I would straight up sacrifice someone if it had a chance to bring me back home from an alien planet. The instinct to survive is a strong one that not many people can overcome, and this pony was able to hold herself back.

Walking to the bedroom door I lean my ear against it. The quiet sobs could be heard clearly through the door. The guilt for pushing someone over the cliffs of depression really hits you hard. Never in all my life, did I think I would have to worry about things like these. Yet, here I was, my soul duty to make this mare's stay, and or transition, as easy as possible.

Having heard enough of the sobs I opened the door. Why knock when you have full intentions to enter anyways no matter what she says. As per usual when I entered the room I got a full verbal assault on why that was a bad idea.

“We do not wish to speak with thou!” Luna half yelled in her old English way. Sitting on the bed her eyes locked onto mine, hers streaming with tears, mine full of guilt.

The heat of the moment sure makes taking the wrong path easy and that’s what I did. Nonetheless, I was going to fix my mistakes. The only thing holding me back would be Lunas willingness to open up and acceptance.

“That’s, where you’re wrong Luna. This is the time you need to speak to someone the most.” I started walking up to the bed and taking a seat on it.

Luna looked away, “We know what we require, time alone mends everything.” Her soft sobs stopping as she puts forth a front of determination. She’s strong I’ll give her that, but being alone is not the healthiest way to solve your emotional problems. I would know because I’ve been doing that my whole life. Only just recently, had I started talking to my friends about my problems.

Sighing I pulled Luna into a nice warm embrace, saying the one thing every person needs to be told at least once in their lives, “Everything’s going to be alright,”

And that is when the floodgates opened. I don’t think I have ever heard someone cry as much as Luna did then. To be honest, I do not think Luna will ever forget the lesson she learned today. Everyone needs someone to talk to, whether it’s a friend, family member, or even some random guy on the internet.

Her cry lasted another two minutes before she calmed down. By ‘calm down’ I mean she fell right asleep on my shoulder. It was really cute at first, but then she started to drool all over my shoulder.

Deciding that I would rather not have a sleeping Luna on me for the rest of her slumber; I slowly lowered her onto the bed. Getting up, I took a couple clothes from my closet and exited the bedroom for her to get some rest.

Exiting the bedroom, I immediately picked up all the papers and stacked them neatly on the kitchen counter. After all, I did spend all that time cleaning up when Luna arrived, I would be crazy not to try and keep it that way.

After stacking the papers on the kitchen counter, I pulled out my cellphone from my pocket and gave Alex a ring. Since he was just down the hall from me, I decided that I would go visit him while Luna was out. Work wasn’t until 9 pm today seeing as I had the night shift, so I basically had the whole day off.

“Yo,” Alex stated answering the phone, no hint of tiredness in his voice. The fact that he was starting to get up now was pretty concerning. Nevertheless, I continued on with the conversation.

“Hey, you mind if I come over? Got some things I want to talk to you about,” I ask walking over to one of the sheets of paper and writing a quick letter on it.

Alex paused for a minute before answering, “Yeah sure, just a mess here with all the moving boxes and what not.”

“They came in today?” I asked.

“Yeah, I really am starting to think what would have happened if you and Matt didn’t get me this place,” Alex commented as I hear him rustling through some box.

“Probably would have had one pissed off Matt. Either way, I’ll see you in two.”

“Yeah, maybe you can help me unpack?” Alex asked.

I laughed, “In your dream, me and Matt paid for the apartment. I’m just going to watch you unpack.”

“Don’t be an-” And that all Alex said before I hung up.

Friends, aren’t they awesome to fuck around with? Either way, with my meetup scheduled I quickly finish off the note, place it on the counter and dress into my everyday clothes. Having nothing left keeping me here I open the door to my apartment and walk over to Alex’s.

One knock on his door and Alex answered, his speed something I was always jealous of. “Dick move man,” Alex stated as he looked at me with a disapproving glare.

“You do it to me all the time,” I reply looking into his room.

He wasn't lying with the boxes, he’s literally got them everywhere. I never knew Alex owned so much. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t stay in touch for over a year. Nevertheless, I digress from the real reason I came over to Alex’s.

Closing the door behind me I speak my mind, “I’ve been noticing that Luna has been really depressed lately. I think it’s due to her being on earth rather than her own home. I have been trying to figure out a way to get her out of the house but nothing ever comes to mind. How the hell do you hide something like her to the rest of the world?”

“I really don’t know, but maybe we can think of something while we unpack?” Alex states

I roll my eyes at him, “I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t going to help, this apartment wasn’t cheap you know. Especially since you kind of sprang it on them last minute.”

“Yeah, but you’re my friend and I know you’re easy to guilt trip,” Alex states as he starts lugging a heavy box around, “Jesus this thing is heavy. If only I had someone to help me.” He continues with a fake sad expression on his face.

I chuckle at his antics, “you know that just makes me want to watch you work more.”

“Fuck you man, just come and help me already,” Alex commands as he places the box down and starts to go through it.

Since I’m not an asshole, I grab another box and started to go through it. The box contained nothing special, just some Tupperware containers and plates. It seems like the boxes stacked here were all his kitchen supplies. A quick look at the other boxes around here resulted in cementing my thought.

Closing the boxes, I pick the first one up and brought it over to the kitchen to start unpacking it. Alex was doing the same thing, except instead setting up the kitchen, he was setting up his computer.

A wave of nostalgia hit me when I saw it. He still had the same case and everything, “still have that old thing? Must be out of date by now?” I ask seeing as it was over seven years old now.

“You would think that,” Alex stated plugging in his surge protector into the wall, “but I actually upgraded mostly everything in here. New power supply, graphics card, and even the CPU. The only thing that’s the same is the motherboard.”

Placing the plates and Tupperware containers in one of his many cupboards I reply, “We have to play together again like the old days, you know those mini LAN parties we used to do.”

“Those were some good times, Quake and Warcraft 3,” Alex states as we both get a long look in our eyes, those were some good times. “We definitely need to do that again, hell I even got a switch to plug all our computers into.”

I nod in agreement, “sometime, right now let's focus on getting this place set up.” I comment.

Putting away all the items I once again head back to the boxes. Each one holding something different. Picking a random box, I open it up to see some sort of fur. Curious I take it out of the box to reveal a dog costume with a leash and collar to go with it.

“Why the hell do you have this?” I state chuckling to myself. I can only imagine Alex wearing something as ridiculous as this.

Alex looks at me and lets out a large laugh, “Oh that brings me back. It was my Halloween costume a while back. My parents said I looked adorable in it and forced me to go out trick-or-treating with it. Man, I was so pissed, I refused to talk to them for a week.”

As Alex relays this story, my lips curl upwards into a devious smirk. Alex looks at my reaction and seems to hatch the same idea. “There’s no way Luna’s going to let you put that on her. Even though she’s an alien, she has standers bro.”

“It’s the perfect way to get her out of the house, though. Nobody would even bat a second glance at this thing.” I claim turning it over to see the other side. It was in perfect condition for being so old. “Why keep it though? If it made you so embarrassed to wear it?” I asked.

“It’s a good memoir of the past. That and every now and then I get a good chuckle out of seeing it.” As Alex comments that, we both turn our heads to the knock at the door. Alex has a confused look in his eyes, while I place the costume back into the box and move it to the side.

Opening the door, Alex is greeted by Luna standing in the hall. Taking a deep breath in Alex is the first to break the ice this time, “Hey, Luna, what are you doing here?”

“Ari left a note saying that he came over to help you unpack and if I wanted to join I could,” She stated looking past Alex towards me. I wave to her as I take another box of kitchen items and head to the kitchen.

Alex looks at Luna for a moment before replying, “Yeah, sure the more the merrier.”

With a small smile, Luna steps into the apartment and immediately walks towards me, “So where can I help out.” She claims seemingly not wanting to talk about what happened literally two hours ago, man time flies when you’re helping a friend unpack.

I point over to the pile of boxes in the corner of the room, “Just pick one and put it where you think it belongs.” I state leaving my own box and walking with her over to the boxes, “But first I want you to try something on.”

Luna looks at me with a confused face while Alex starts cracking up at the mention of ‘trying something on’, “here we go,” Alex states as he looks over to me and Luna.

“What is it that you want me to try on?” Luna questions.

I give her a nice warm smile, “I thought that since you’re cooped up in the apartment all day, that maybe going outside and seeing the world first hand would interest you.” Luna starts to smile herself as she nods, “Well, I found the perfect way you can do that without raising any suspicion.”

Luna seems to be taking in everything I say, while Alex, on the other hand, is containing his laughter. Reaching into the cardboard box I separated from the rest, I pull out Alex’s old dog costume.

“Tada!” I claim holding it up in front of her.

Luna’s smile instantly fades, “you’ve got to be kidding me.” She states looking at me with the most unamused face I have ever seen. Hell, the queen of England would have a go at her money with Luna around.

“Come on give it a try, it’s your one-way ticket to seeing the world with your own eyes,” I comment pushing it towards her. Luna was definitely not having any of it and hooves it back towards me.

“Not even my sister herself could get me to wear such humiliating clothing,” Luna stated with a scowl on her face. I could already tell that there was no way she was going to try it on here. But maybe back in the privacy of my apartment she might.

Letting out a little chuckle, I take the costume back and place it in the box. “well if you aren’t going to wear it then get back to work.” Alex stated like he was some kind of boss. I and Luna, however, didn’t argue as we went back to work unpacking.

The day seemed to fly on by as the three of us worked, by the time all the boxes were unloaded the time was already 7:30 pm. Having work in an hour, me and Luna said our goodbyes and left back to our own apartment. Luna empty hoofed and me carrying the same box that had the costume in it.

“I’m not going to put that on,” Luna stated, taking little glances at me.

“Never said you were,” I reply back as I open the door to the apartment. What greeted me made my mouth drop. The apartment was spic and span, compared to how it was when I left it.

Sure, I cleaned up the coffee, blood, and glass but looking at the room now made what I did look like child’s play. The counter was shined, sink completely empty, first aid kit put away as well with the sheets of paper. Generally shocked I walked into throughout the apartments main room to see every nook and cranny spotless. Even my bed was made so neatly I could bounce a quarter off of it.

“Surprise,” Luna exclaimed in her normal tone.

“You did all this?” I asked still wandering around the house. Every window was cleaned and the closet were all organized. “How the hell did you do all this in such a small amount of time?” I asked remembering she only had two hours to do this. Even then she must have been sleeping at least half that time.

“Once again one learns all sorts of things when they are alone for long periods of time,” Luna claimed bringing up the memory of this morning.

Looking back over to Luna I can see she’s having trouble saying something. Instead of interrupting her I let her work it out. “I just wanted to thank you for being there when I was being all stubborn and sad.”

Hearing those words, I let a smile grace my lips, “Any time Luna, as long as you’re here on earth, you can always come and talk to me about anything.” I state looking around the apartment. “Well, I have to get ready for work. I have the night shift for the next three days so I’ll probably be up all night when I get back.” I continue.

“Then I shall get some rest and join you tonight. I was quite accustomed to staying up late at night back in Equestria,” Luna commented as she walked over and sat on the couch.

“I would assume so, was your job astronomy back in Equestria? You did say you love looking at the night sky,” I stated walking into the bedroom to get my work clothes on.

“One could say that,” Luna stated with a little chuckle.

Exiting the bedroom again I look towards Luna as she gazed out the window. The sun was already way bellow the horizon and the Moon well on its way up. She really did like the night, I wonder what lead her to become so attached to it.

Turning my gaze away from her I come to see the cardboard box sitting by the door. Walking up to it I grab the dog suit and walk back to Luna, “you sure you don’t want to try it on?” I ask dropping the dog suit next to her on the couch. “I mean, we could go see so many things like museums, libraries, parks,” I pause for dramatic effect, “The midnight summer festival?”

Her ears perked up at the last one, I knew I had her there. If she really did, in fact, love the night that much, then she might actually wear the costume in order to come. As expected she looks towards the suit than to me before shaking her head.

“I said it once and I will say it again I will never put such a humiliating suit on,” Luna commented with a stoic expression on. Yet through her eyes, I can see the mental fight going on in her head.

I let out a chuckle as I move over to the kitchen to grab a little snack before my shift. The time was now 8:15 pm. It only takes half-an-hour to get to the S-market so I had some time to brew myself a nice cup of coffee and P.B and J sandwich.

As the coffee brews, I look over to Luna on the couch. She’s constantly glancing in-between the costume and the night that laid outside the window. It was pretty funny to watch her mind at work, she was obviously battling her pride. I knew as long as I was here there was no chance in hell that she was going to wear that costume.

Yet, I’m sure she will eventually come to and wear it, if only for the summer festival. Taking my mug out of the machine I take a long swig and bite a big portion out of my sandwich. It was almost time to leave.

Finishing up my coffee I place the mug into the sink and walk over to the entrance of the apartment. Luna was still facing the window when I placed on my shoes and grabbed my coat, my B.P and J sandwich still held by my mouth as I open the door.

Taking another bite, I call out to Luna, “See you at 1,”

Luna mumbles back a farewell as I close the door and step into the hallway. However, I did not move from the front of my apartment door. A couple of people gave me weird looks as I just stood outside my apartment door as they walked on by. I gave them no explanation, just a passing hi.

When a couple more minutes passed by, I turned around and looked through the eye-hole in the door. There standing up was Luna trying to get herself into the costume. I knew that she couldn’t resist the temptation when she was alone. It was all the proof I needed, I was going to take Luna the festival this Friday one way or another.

Walking down the hallway towards the elevator, I thought to myself with a smile; She may not be a soldier, but she sure is a fighter and that’s something I can really respect.

Ch - 6

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Ch-6:
Flipping the Coin

Life doesn’t always go the way you want it. People you knew change and the world you built up knowing and loving will eventually crumble down. This is the fact of life, but also holds the lightest of memories. For in these dark times we wander, hope sparks, momentum is gained, and a push is received to get you running instead of walking.

It will hurt, it will be hard, but in the end, things will always level out. Just like a fisherman, the seas may be rough but the rewards are great. Change is inevitable, and one cannot expect to live their entire life in peace.

Out of all the things I know, this one I’ve come to accept. The cynical part of me thrives off these parts of life. Through tough times I have come, but I will continue to move on forwards in hope of a brighter day. With that, the cynical part of me fades and optimism is created.

The hard part is remembering, that one day -maybe not in the near future- everything will be alright.

***

David, that was his name. Funny how much your perspective changes when you figure out someone’s name. I’m sure David didn’t notice, but I owed him a lot. He gave me the chance to meet Luna. While he didn’t know that would happen when asking me to do it, it still happened, and that’s all that really matters in the end anyways.

Cruising on my bike I let my legs take a break as I simply stopped pedaling. The downhill slope to my apartment was always the best part of the night. I could just sit back, relax and watch as the beautiful colors of the shops lining the streets race passed me.

Most of the time, I would often find myself letting go of the handlebars and letting the road take me. Was it safe doing so? Hell no, but it felt good to let something else take control for a while. Especially when I’ve been working the night shift.

Passing by the local post office I place my hands back onto the handlebars. This was where the easy part ended and the normal part began. The hill no longer flowed downwards and I had to start pedaling again. Which at this point didn’t really matter seeing as my apartment was relatively close to the post office to begin with.

Turning on the street towards my apartment complex, I come to witness one of my worst fears imaginable. The apartment building was lit up with a multitude of blue and red lights as three cop cars sat at the front of the building. There were no sirens, just flashing lights that told the story I didn’t want to be told.

Still holding hope that Luna didn’t get figured out, I pedaled my bike up to the front of the apartment. Not even caring about the bike at this point I tossed it to the side as I ran up to the main lobby. Not many people were here due to the time of day allowing me to quickly enter the elevator.

My mind was racing as I pressed the button to my floor. I hoped to the high heavens that they were here for something else. Maybe there was a break in, that seems to happen a lot, or maybe some kind of assault in the hallways? I continued to think of more and more excuses instead of the one obvious one.

Reaching my floor with a small ding, I rush out the doors and turn in the hallway towards my apartment room. The moment I did so, my heart sank. Four cops were standing in front of my room with the door wide open. I couldn’t tell what was going on but they seemed rather contempt in just standing there.

Maybe they hadn’t found her just yet? Can I still salvage this? I questioned as I walk up casually to the officers. One of them saw me coming down the hall and signaled to his buddy.

“Why are you guys in my apartment?” I ask trying to act as clueless as I could.

This sadly was a mistake, the moment I said that the second cop walked around and grabbed my arm. Within seconds I was pushed up against the wall with handcuffs attached to my wrists. “You’re under arrest for harboring an illegal citizen in your apartment.”

The jig was up, they knew everything. I was so shocked, this was all happening so fast. As the officer read me my rights, I tilted my head to the right towards my apartment's door. Coming out was Luna with a furious look on her face as she attempted to remove the bindings. Even though she knew they were too strong she kept fighting.

If this is what happens to aliens in our world, our future doesn’t look so bright. I thought to myself as I continued to look towards her. This would probably be the last time I saw her.

Once again, she struggled with the bindings, yelling something at the officers that had her in cuffs. I couldn’t hear anything she was saying my mind was too much of a mess. After her yelling one of the officers pointed towards me. Luna followed his finger with her eyes and they soon landed on me. Her struggling instantly vanished as she looked upon me bound and pressed up against the wall by an officer.

She then mouthed something towards me, which I assumed would be something along the lines of ‘sorry‘. I, however, kept still, any attempt at fighting right now would be a waste. I always have the chance in getting away in court, however, that was just a faded dream. If anything, I would probably face time for my actions.

Funny how this all works out, I knew that this could’ve happen I just never though they were smart enough to figure it out. I guess the law always finds a way to make your life a living hell.

Continuing to look at Luna I noticed a second person come out the door. My blood ran cold as I saw the face of my old friend Alex. He wasn’t being held down or anything, it almost looked as if he was the one that gave them the tip.

When the officers did nothing else to him he simply walked passed me with an emotionless look in his eyes. This was the last straw, I couldn’t hold back my anger anymore as I yelled, “You fucking bastard Alex! You promised, I gave you that god damned apartment and now you’re just going to throw me to the dogs!”

Tears were streaming down my face now as he simply opened his apartment door and went inside. The memories of me and him playing in elementary school were thrown into the fire which was my anger. The loss of a friend and the birth of an enemy was too much for me to handle as I started to cry. What were all those years worth to him?

Was it for money? Was he really that fucking desperate for cash that he would toss his old friend aside? Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. To me friends were everything, they were the ones that picked you up when you were down. Not someone that tattles on you and walks away without a word.

I had enough, if this was what life was like then I didn’t want to be a part of it. They could take me away, throw me in prison I don’t care anymore.

The policeman that had me handcuffed, pushed against my back causing me to turn towards the elevator. Seeing what he wanted me to do I slowly walked with him to the elevator. Luna was left behind me as the two of us made our way. People started opening their doors in the hallway, probably hearing my yells moments ago.

Some looked at me with curiosity in their eyes, while others had disgust. They didn’t even know what I did and they were already looking at me like someone else. Hell, I even knew some of these people. I remember having little conversations with them in the halls. Yet it seemed that they were the ones that were disgusted the most.

Before long the officer was tossing me in the back of his car. The seats made of plastic with a little grove in the back so your hand can still be tied. Looking back at the apartment I could see Luna moved along as well. However, she was escorted to the front of another police car instead of the back.

Thankfully, this probably meant good things for Luna. They were not taking her in to get arrested, but probably transporting her to somewhere else. After all, she is an alien and I bet there are a lot of government officials that would want to have a talk with her. It felt good knowing that she wasn’t going to be locked up. I knew it from the start that they would never do that to her, but to see it eased the pain of what was likely to become of me.

The car suddenly jerked forwards causing me to be thrown back in the police car. I guess they don’t care what happens to you in the back of a police car. Either that or he just forgot to put one on me.

It didn’t take long for the car to reach the station. One other police car pulled in with us, but sadly the one holding Luna was nowhere to be found. Letting out a sigh I sit patiently as the officer exits the car and comes around. Opening the door, he forcefully pulls me out of the car and escorts me into the building.

Now I have never been in a police station before, so it came to a surprise that they were actually quite nice. In the main lobby, there was a desk in the middle with bullet proof glass around it with a couple of seats for people that are waiting. Obviously, at this time of day, the place was pretty empty, any if all officers were either asleep or out on duty. The only people walking around seemed to be dispatches or janitors.

Following a series of shoves, the cop leads me to a corridor where multiple cells line the walls. No one else was in any of the other cells which were really depressing. I knew that these were just holding cells, but did they really have to use this much precaution for someone that was just taking care of someone else. Nevertheless, they were cops and I’m pretty sure they run into a lot of surprises.

Once the cell is closed and the officer leaves I am left to my own thoughts. The cell I was currently in really had nothing to it, all that was in here was a bench and a toilet.

Having nothing to do in here other than rest, I laid down on the bench and attempted to get some shuteye, keyword here ‘attempted’. The minute my eyes shut closed I heard a strangely familiar crackling sound. Opening my eyes I turn my head towards the source of the sound.

Right next to me was a similar white orb suspended in mid-air. Seeing this I immediately fall off the bench in surprise. Just like when Luna arrived the orb started to shoot out arcs of lightning. Not wanting to die this young I tipped over the bench and hid behind it.

I could hear the lightning as it came into contact with the bench. The lower half of it bursting into splinters. Looks like taking cover was the right course of action. Shaking my head out of my thoughts, the lightning stops.

Peeking my head over the half-destroyed bench I come to see a white mare that had the exact same features as Luna. I would like to say that I’m surprised but this sort of thing has now become the norm for me.

“Great another one of you guys, as if one wasn’t enough!” I exclaim taking myself completely out of cover.

The white mare looks over to me with relief in her eyes, “Ah, you must be Ari. Take my hoof,” the unknown white mare claims reaching out her hoof to me. When I don’t move she once again states, “This is a matter of time Ari. Take my hoof!”

“How the hell do you know my name?!” I half yell I must be going mad with all these ponies showing up in my life.

The mare rolls her eyes, but that’s the extent of what she does as the two police officers barge into the hallway. Both of them look towards me then to the mystery mare. One of them is completely shocked, while the other one barges into the cell.

“NOW ARI!” The mare yells causing me to step out of my stupor and grab her hoof. The moment my hand comes into contact with hers I feel like I’m being pulled towards her. The feeling doesn’t stop, instead, it continues to get worse. Soon I feel like I’m being stretched like a Laffy Taffy all the while spinning around wildly.

The sensation only lasted but a moment before I’m thrown against the floor. The impact left me dizzy as well of a bit nauseous. Attempting to regain my composure I try to get to my feet. The moment I stand up straight I can feel the bile in my stomach start to rise. Acting fast I look around for something, anything, to contain what I’m about to spew.

Thankfully, I spot a nearby potted plant and run towards it. I arrive with not a second to lose as I proceed to evacuate everything within my stomach. I’m sure that the plant is going to just love that.

After getting rid of the main problem I look around the room I found myself in. My head still spinning causing me to have a hard time seeing anything. Nevertheless, it still looked rather elegant.

I could see rich colors of red hued with gold trimmings, pearl white flooring and pillars all displaying the shattered light that filtered through magnificent windows built in a mosaic fashion. Doing a couple spins around the room I can hear a familiar voice call out to me.

“Ari!” Came the voice of Luna.

Having so much done in the last hour or so my mind only registered the voice rather than what it was saying. Turning around slowly I sway in my spot, a wave a euphoria hitting my brain. I was no longer in control of my body as Luna trotted up to me. Her face a mixture of sorrow and relief.

“Did you know you could place your straw in the tab of a soda can to stop it from rising?” Yep, I was totally out of it. As if to push that fact further my swaying only got worse. Eventually, it got to a point where I lost balance and blacked out.

***

Opening my eyes, I come to see a ceiling that was not my own. The course texture I was used to was now replaced by a smooth slab of marble. Who would have an entire roof made out of marble? I have no idea.

Letting out a small grown I slowly sit up in the bed I found myself in. Was all that a dream? Or did it really happen? I ask myself as I look around the room. As far as bedrooms go this one was pretty huge. The checkered tiles accented the furnishings nicely. A lowly dresser lay in the corner next to a spacious writing desk, the doors leading in and out of this room were all oak, and lastly that one pony with golden armor seemed to match the color of the walls.

Rewinding myself there I look back to the armor wearing pony. He held a halberd at his side as his golden armor shined in the sun's rays that cascaded down from the windows. Seeing me awake he banged on the oaken door tree times before once again staring at me. He has good training, I’ll give him that. The police officers back home seemed rather stunned by the presence of another sentient race.

“Uh, hi?” I asked out loud not wanting to continue this rather awkward moment.

The guard sadly didn’t reply in any way shape or form. He just sort of stood there looking at me with an intense stare. It was almost as awkward as when Luna was staring at me when I was making my cup of joe.

Utterly confused on what was going on and why there was another pony here; I slowly got up and out of the bed. The guard’s eyes were like the Mona Lisa always watching never leaving. It was quite creepy the longer he does it.

Shaking my head, I head over to the door. This was apparently the wrong move as the pony angled his halberd so it blocked my path. “The Princesses require you to stay in your room. They have been notified that you are awake.”

Princesses? Am I really that important? And shouldn’t the king and queen see me rather than the princesses? I mean I’m no political genius here, but if a meeting with royalty is required shouldn’t you just go all out? Brushing those thoughts aside I nod to the pony and walk back to the other door.

The guard doesn’t do anything to stop me from opening it, so I do. On the other side lay a rather luxurious bathroom. The tub was big enough for more than one person. Deciding that it was not worth exploring at the moment I walked over to the window. I had no Idea where I was, so maybe this would help be regain my bearings.

The moment I looked out the window I frowned. I was apparently inside of a castle of some sorts. Outside the walls, I could see a sprawling city with little dots which I assumed were people walking around. Funny, I don’t recall ever hearing about a place like this. It kind of reminded me of some fairy tails that my mother used to read to me.

Before I could look any closer I heard the door to the room open. The guard announcing their entrance, “The princesses have arrived,”

Turning around I come to see four ponies, one of which was Luna while another was the mystery mare I saw while in the cell. The other two I have never seen before. They all had the similar appearance, one horn, and two wings. This must be the norm for these ponies, yet why were they here on earth? That’s when it finally clicked in my mind. Those were not ponies roaming the streets.

“Where am I?” Was the first question that came out of my mouth. The question seemingly coming out without my input on the matter.

Luna stepped further into the room, “Welcome Ari to Equestria.”

I looked at her then to the other ponies, then back to her, “What!?” I half yelled.

“We know this might be quite difficult for you to come to terms with. Seeing as your kind does not have the ability to use magic.” The white mare stated, “But I assure you, you are safe now.” Her voice was soothing to hear, but my mind was still buzzing with questions.

“Who are you all?” I asked, putting on a confused expression.

The white mare looked towards a smaller purple one. Seeing the white mare's gaze the purple one stepped forward, “I’m Twilight, princess of magic,” She then pointed over to a pink one, “This is cadence, princess of love,” Moving over she gestured to Luna and the White mare, “And these are Princess Luna, goddess of the Moon and Princess Celestia, goddess of the Sun.”

My eyes widened at that last part, “Wow, wow, wow hold it a moment here. Did you just say ‘Princess Luna’” I question changing my glance from Twilight to Luna. She smiled sheepishly at me as I did so. “You must be mistaken she’s told me she’s just a normal pony that lives with her family.”

Cadence looks at Luna before responding, “I don’t understand why Luna would say that, but here she is the princess of the moon.”

“Surprise!” Luna exclaimed causing the other three mares to look at her. She still had her sheepish smile on as her wings started to twitch.

“You didn’t tell him!” Twilight exclaimed. She wore the surprised expression really well.

I, however, was trying to come to terms with this. She was a princess? When she was on earth she acted, nothing like one? Why lie about something like this? The questions swirled around my head my shock quickly turning to anger as I remember Alex. Could I really trust someone else seeing as my own best friend backstabbed me?

“So, what else did you lie to me about?” I interrogated Luna causing her to take a few steps back.

“It was the only one we swear,” Luna stated as she stumbled with her own words. She looked towards the other ponies for help. Sadly, they stepped in and pushed me away from her. This confused me further as none of them were even close enough to me in order to push me back.

I go the answer soon enough as I say the horn of Celestia glow a bright gold before the doors shut closed behind them. The one guard that was in the room seemingly disappeared. My eyes grew at the sight of magic. I never really truly believed it, I always thought that maybe some type of phenomena caused Luna to appear in my world.

“That’s quite enough Ari,” Celestia stated.

That statement only seemed to grind my gears, “Like you would know, I just had my best friend stab me in the back for nothing more than money. Luna already lied once when I first met her, how do I know she’s not lying right now? Or maybe this whole thing is a setup?” I was really starting to get pissed off, the event of today just seemed to get worse and worse.

All four of the princesses seemed to visibly wince at my words, “It doesn’t even matter now does it. My life is ruined. Back home I’m a criminal.” I stated holding back my emotions. “You know how much it hurts to work so hard for something and for it all to be whisked away like it was nothing?” I questioned.

No one answered it was so quite you could hear a penny drop. Then came the question that I knew was gonna come, “You want us to send you back?” came Celestia’s voice.

I looked at her with a straight face, “What would you do in my situation? Go back to the world that hates you or abandon your family and friends?”

“I see that you need some time alone, we will leave you to your own thoughts,” said Celestia as she and the rest of the ponies left. When the door shut closed I fell to my knees and cried for the first time in a long time. My life was in shambles. If rock bottom existed this would be it.

Even if this place was the utopia Luna described, would it be worth never seeing my family again? The answer was quite clear now that I was a criminal, but that didn’t dull the pain. Sitting there I leaned against the edge of the bed, my watery eyes locked onto a small point on the wall. A couple minutes passed before I finally calmed down and the door opened once again.

I did not move my eyes, I just kept staring at the wall. Maybe this was all just a dream? I thought as I felt someone sit beside me.

“You know, someone once told me that the moments you want to be alone, are the moments you need someone the most,” came the voice of Luna, “I know I’m probably the last pony you want to see right now, but I want you to know that when you’re in Equestria you can come and ask me anything.”

I couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle, “Get your own god damned lines.”

“I would if I could think of a better one, but you know me, just useless little pony,” She commented wrapping her left wing around me.

“Nothing but a couple of zero’s,” I chuckled again, “So what now? Here, I have no choice but to trust you. You’re the only one I know,” I stated with a long look in my eyes, “I now finally get what it was like for you.”

Luna contemplated this for a while, “Well if you stay here I’m sure my sister won't force you to stay in the castle. Unlike your world, ponies are quite accustomed to new species.” Luna lectured.

“By the way you described it on earth, it seems Equestria is pretty much a utopia,” I comment as my stomach lets out a decent sized rumble. Luna looks to me with one of her eyebrows raised before a smile graces her lips.

“Either way we can discuss this while we get some food,” Luna states recovering her wing and getting to her hooves. Having nothing better to do, I get up as well and follow her lead.

Exiting the room, I find myself in a long hallway. Multiple corridors seem to branch off this one creating a labyrinth of halls. I could easily see myself getting lost here, maybe that what their design intended. It would at least confuse invaders for a while.

Following closely behind Luna as she expertly navigates the halls. I could see ponies of all sorts roaming the halls as well. Some take glances at me, but other then that its nothing to special. It looks like Luna was right with the ponies here being accepting of other races. A breath of fresh air if I’ve ever had one.

Within no time at all, the two of us reach what looks to be a little restaurant within the castle. Multiple ponies are seated around tables as they chat with one and another. Some stop and bowed to the Luna as we walk past and towards an empty seat, one of which we promptly sit down in. Now mind you these are not even seats, they’re just cushions laid on the ground.

I can’t even get a word out before the waiter comes. It was really weird seeing a pony wear clothes but I guess I’ll just have to get used to it, “May I take your orders?” He asks on a very regal tone. It was quite nerve racking being in a place that just screamed formality, seeing as I was only wearing work clothes. The logo S-Market doesn’t really scream professionalism.

To me it felt weird to just jump from all the chaos to having dinner with a princess. My mind was still trying to wrap my head around all of this. Yet, every-time I tried to peg this a reality my mind refused it, saying that I was dreaming or hallucinating it all. Either way, what ever was happening right now I continued to go with the flow.

“Just a simple fruit salad will do nicely,” Luna comments, I myself just order what she was having. Hell, I didn’t even have a menu to look at. The waiter nods at the two of us and goes his separate way.

Looking over to Luna I comment, “fancy place you have here.”

“I usually dine at the main hall with my sister, but I have gotten bored of the silence of being alone,” Luna stated as she levitates one of the forks to the other side of the table. My eyes lock onto it with amazement. This is what she was talking about back on Earth, real magic.

Luna sees my stare and lets out a little giggle, “I see we have a lot ahead of us in terms of integration goes.”

My eyes finally leave the fork, “So you really are a Princess, never thought I would befriend one.” I state attempting to get back in the swing of things. Sadly, with the event unfolding all around me, It’s kind of hard to remain calm and collective. I mean, there’s a pony flying from table to table delivering meals! How the hell do you not instinctively look at that.

“Never thought I would befriend a commoner,” Luna states with a light laugh. I just look at her with a ‘really’ expression. By the time, she’s done with her laughing the waiter comes back with our salads. I’m not really one for eating salads, but on the other hand, I was really fucking hungry.

The meal goes by relatively quickly, both I and Luna seem to finish our meals at the same time. “It’s funny because you don’t really act like a princess,” I state placing my fork down before leaning back on the cushion.

“Maybe not around you, but in night court I assure you that I take my position seriously,” Luna replies.

“What makes me so special?” I ask, “Why keep your position as a princess hidden from me? I really don’t see the reason?”

Luna looks down at her empty plate with a sad expression upon her muzzle, “It’s a long story, but ponies here don’t really accept me. They judge me for my past, it was nice having someone I could talk to that didn’t peg me as royalty or saw me for who I was, not who I am.”

My mind was screaming for me to prod further, to ask about her past, but I knew better than to open up old wounds.

“Hey, I’m supposed to be the sad one now not you,” I stated. This got a small smile to form on Luna’s lips.

Looking up at me she seemed to forget about what she was thinking. Since our meals were done, Luna got up and lead me back into the hallway. My life now would forever be different, but that didn’t mean that it was going to be any less exciting.

Ch - 7

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Ch – 7
Coming to Terms:

When disaster strikes in our lives, the shock is inevitable. Whether it happens right away or days after the incident. The point is that you can’t run away from it, eventually, we all have to face the walls reality puts forth. In this dark time is when you can truly see your true self. Do you accept it and move on? Or do you use it as fuel for your anger?

For you see sometimes the disaster isn’t the worst part. What is usually the case is what happens after the disaster. This is what makes our world truly amazing. We get knocked down so many times only to get back up and fight once again. Our pasts may fade, but we always strive for the future. A place where everyone dreams to be.

When I awoke that morning, I knew my life would never be the same. My family and friends -no matter how little- were all gone. The world around me seemed to spin just laying in the bed, my frame of mind cracked. I realized that I now walked a path alone in the misty planes of life. The adventure and excitement I thought a new path would bring, vanished as repercussions of my choices came to fruition.

I realized that sometimes it's nice to walk a path with others rather than carve one yourself.

***

It is often said that when you are lost, to look up into the sky above and spot the sun. That the brightly glowing orb will tell you where you are. Well, there are two problems with that. First what happens when you find yourself on a completely different planet in a probably completely different solar system.

Why is that a problem? It’s a problem because the sun no longer rises and sets in the same direction. Maybe, by some huge stroke of luck it would be the same, but let’s be realistic here. Secondly, and probably my most favorite of them all, is what happens when you’re not outside?

It was these questions that riddled my mind as I followed Luna. Her hoofs clopped against the polished marble before echoing against the tapestry rich walls. Portraits of famous figures accompanied the prophecies of old. It really gets one to wonder how they light the candles so high on these chandeliers.

Shaking my head out of its current train wreck of a path, I looked onto Luna. Her midnight blue coat a stark difference to the area around her. Her strides were elegant yet relaxed. It was as if she emanated an aurora of determination, order, and loyalty. I really couldn’t believe that I had missed these tail-tell signs.

Reaching two oaken doors, Luna’s horn ignited in a beautiful blue glow. Looking away from the amazing sight I come to see the doors surrounded by the same color. Magic to me was just starting to settle in, and to be quite honest it scared me. Every pony -at least to my knowledge- had the capability to manipulate magic. This, in turn, meant that every single pony on this planet is to a frightening level, stronger than I.

Then again, I have yet to fully understand the limitations of magic. Who knows, maybe they’re only able to alter what their physical self can. Throwing that idea out of the way -for now- I looked out into the new room that the passing of the doors revealed.

To my utter surprise, the throne room lay ahead. Unlike the first time I was here, I could actually take in the detail and craftsmanship that went into making such a place. The marble flooring accented the fine royal red rug that spanned the entire room. It’s gold stitching glowing in the sun's rays that filtered through the large mosaic-ed windows. Each beam shattering into a multitude of color as it did so. I don’t think I have ever seen such a place filled with so much color before.

As Luna moved forwards, I followed in automatic mode. My mind relishing in the fact that I was able to be here and see this wonderful place. Potted plants seemed to hide the bottom of the pillars as water flowed next to them in parallel with the rug. The source came from behind the thrones themselves. Two small holes spewing forth the life-giving liquid.

“Ah, sister, what brings you here?” Celestia stated as she sat on one of the two thrones. Her gaze landing on me shortly after, it was rather unnerving for such a high-status person, or pony in this case, to be looking down upon me.

Luna smiles at her sisters greeting, “I have come here to request the cancellation of night court,”

“I take it that you’re going to be using this time to make Ari’s integration as smooth as possible?” Celestia questioned seemingly reading her mind. It kind of ticked me off that they were talking like I wasn’t here, but then again, they were talking about something that would benefit me. That being said, I still should be allowed to place in my own opinion on the matter, one of which I did.

Walking up next to Luna I greeted Celestia with a smile, “You don’t have to cancel any duties, I’m sure there are other ponies out there that need you other than me. I think I can handle myself for one night.” I comment towards Luna.

Out of all things Celestia was the one to break the silence with a small chuckle, “I think Luna is asking this more for herself rather than you Ari.”

A mask of confusion glazes over my face as I looked towards Luna then back to Celestia. Then it suddenly hit me, she was using me to get the night off. I’m sure even the princesses will take an excuse to relax when they can.

When I start to realize what was going on Luna spoke out, “It is not like that. This request is solely for the sake of making your transition here as easy as possible.”

Hearing this I look over to Celestia, “She just wants to play hooky doesn’t she,” I claimed in a monotone voice.

My thoughts were cemented in place when Celestia nodded to me. I gave her a small smile as I looked over to Luna. If I had a camera I would take a picture, she was completely dumbstruck. She moved her mouth to retaliate but all that happened was her eyes darting between me and Celestia.

“I think you may have broken her,” Celestia comments with amusement in her voice.

A sudden shift in movement caught the corner of my eye. For the first time since my arrival in the throne room, I took notice of the guards lining the walls. Each stationed evenly in-between each pillar. Their golden armor and long halberds somehow blending in with the rich marble.

With a long blink, Luna looked towards her sister. “I told you why I came here, are you okay with my request?”

At least she got right to the point, but that only sprung more questions. Why did she have to ‘request’ permission from her sister? Was it some kind of sibling thing, that they had to ask each other for permission before doing something? Or was it for the soul fact of respect, that she tells her sister in order to inform her just in case she came looking for her.

Either way, I didn’t take history or politics in any of my college courses. So, evidently, I just tossed all this aside assuming it was just the way it works. No need to question it when it seems to work flawlessly enough to support a utopia like this one.

“Of course, you can cancel night court, it is your time of rule,” Celestia stated cementing part of my train of thought. “But I do have one question before you leave,” Celestia continues.

“Yes, sister?” Luna replied.

“Oh it’s not for you, the question is for our dear friend Ari,” She then turned to look at me. I myself was taken quite off guard by this sudden spotlight I had found myself in.

“Uh, yeah shoot,” I acknowledge.

“How did you get Luna to stop using the royal WE. I have been trying for century’s now and she never seemed to stick with it as long as she has now.” Celesta questioned.

I let out a warm laugh, “I just told her if she kept using it in my apartment I was going to kick her out.”

Celestia looks to me then to Luna, “Really that’s all it took?” Celestia questioned.

I nod my head, “You have to realize that she was at a really hard crossroads at the time.”

Celestia seems to get the gist of what I was saying as she turns towards Luna, “It’s nice to see you talking without it. Even though it wasn’t me in the end that ultimately changed it.”

Luna hearing this puts on a sly smile, “But, it was under contract that we would speak only like that under thy roof!” Luna exclaimed, her shouts seem to be at least ten times louder here in Equestria. Hell, the throne room only made it worse with its large area for the sound to bounce around in.

I look at Luna with a serious expression, “You go back to using that voice, and I’ll tell Celestia about you attempting dark-” And that was all I was able to say before a blue hoof found its way into my mouth.

With her hoof in my mouth, Luna looked towards Celestia with a sheepish smile. I could tell that Celestia was curious about what she had done, but surprisingly pushed passed it when Luna replied, “It was nothing sister, I think Ari is still a bit out of it from the teleportation.” In her normal voice.

“Uh huh,” Celestia said letting out a shallow breath, “Well, if that is all you came here to talk about, I have to get day court started.”

“Yes, that was it,” Luna confirmed as the two of us turned and walked away.

“I would like to talk about your exploits on earth with the both of you,” Celestia stated before we could leave the throne room, “Since you’re not going tonight court, I would like to take that time to understand the situation better.”

Luna looked back at Celestia with a confused expression, “What do you mean ‘situation’?”

Celestia’s horn glowed with gold as we both got pushed passed the threshold of the oaken doors, “I know my sister, and I know her enough to know that she wouldn’t so easily drop the royal WE.” And just like that the two doors were closed leaving a rather flustered Luna, and a very confused me.

The both of us seemed to brush what Celestia said under the rug as we continued to walk the numerous corridors. I, myself, following Luna closely of course.

“Where we going now?” I ask keeping my eyes on her. Instead of the parent on earth, I felt like a child here. It was like I was 4 years old again in a large mall, for if I were to lose sight of my mother I would be lost forever. Did I just reference Luna as my mother? Oh god no.

With me scrubbing my mind of that thought, Luna responded, “Since I have the day off, I thought I would do the honor of setting up the process of making you a citizen.”

I looked at her as one of my eyes twitched, “You’re so sure that I’m going to stay here. How do you know that I won't just up and leave,” I commented causing Luna to gaze towards me.

“Because you know as well as I do that your life on earth is over,” Luna stated dropping the bomb.

I know I said it to myself multiple times already, but to have someone else say it like that really builds up the walls of reality. “Wow, way to lay it down easy. I thought you were here to make my transition as easy as possible.”

“And how would one transition without coming to the conclusion that this is the best way to continue your life. I was simply pulling off the bandage, it would have hurt more had I said that later rather than sooner,” Luna lectured.

What really hurt though was the fact that she was right. I was still harboring this thought that maybe there was something I can do to return to earth without picking up the title I had been received. As she said she ripped off the band-aid, it really shows how much someone cares for you when they are willing to be the slap in the face.

Picking myself up from that deep thought I pick another one in hopes for greener pastures, “How are we going to start this process?” I ask. Back on earth citizenship is pretty hard to get, and if Equestria is anything like most countries then I would have to wait at least a couple of years before I’m officially considered one of them.

“The citizenship test usually takes 4 years to complete, but since you’ve got a princess that can vouch for you I can knock it down quite a bit,” Luna stated with pride in her voice.

“Celestia will vouch for me?” I joke.

This, however, causes Luna to slap me across the face with her tail, “Very funny, if you would have met Celestia rather than me back on earth, you would have to go through the full 4 years. Celestia was the one that founded the Citizenship act while I was-” Luna stops there as she opens the door to a study of some sort.

She doesn’t pick up where she left off, not really thinking anything of it I look around the study. It had multiple willow tables that were organized neatly in a grid fashion. Multiple bookshelves adorn the walls housing hundreds of thousands of books and scrolls.

Without a word, Luna seats herself on a nearby cushion and manifests a complete scroll onto the table. As if that wasn’t enough to blow my mind, she did the exact same thing for an inkwell and a feather. Really sucks that Luna didn’t get to explore the Earth. I’m sure she would have realized how useless a quill and ink are compared to the ball point pen.

Glancing over to the scroll, I can see some of the basic stuff one would expect to be on a citizenship form. Luna levitates all three in front of me before setting them down. Picking up the quill I dip it in the ink and proceed to drip the ink all over the form. Good start, it sure doesn’t look like anyone foreign wrote this.

Eventually, it got so bad that I had to say something, “Hey Luna.”

“What is it, Ari?” Luna questions look towards me.

I pick up the paper and show her, “Didn’t think writing with a quill would be this hard.” I state with a sheepish smile.

Luna represses a chuckle, “It’s so cute, looks like a foal wrote it.” Luna stated as she took the paper in her magic to get a better look, “if not quills then what do your kind write with?” Luna questions making the paper completely disappear before summoning up another one. I’ll tell you what, that shit never gets old, one moment nothing the next something.

“On Earth, we evolved passed using quills and ink, we use the device known as a ball point pen,” I comment this time doing the lecturing. I have a feeling once she realizes the potential discoveries I hold she will eventually ask me a million questions about different inventions.

She frowns at my response, “We do not have this so-called ‘ball point pen’. It looks like I will have to do the writing.”

Not the one to argue, I allow her to write what I tell her to. A couple minutes later and the form is complete. Once again, she makes it disappear, “Alright done with that one,” she claims before summoning up a large stack of papers.

“We have to fill out all of these?” I question with dread in my voice.

Luna nods, “As I said my sister is rather fond of the citizenship act. The only way around it is through lots of paperwork.”

“Great,” I state with a defeated tone.

***

Looking outside one of the nearby windows, I took a sight of a couple ponies flying around in the late evening air. Their chatter drowning out the periodic quill scratching next to me. Luna had taken it upon herself to fill the rest of the forms out seeing as it was supposed to be filled out by a witness.

I, myself, -while very thankful for her assistance- opposite to contrary beliefs, I was bored out of my mind. The flying ponies outside were slowly losing their interest to me. I guess, four hours of watching them will do that to a person. Either way, the quill scratching soon ceased. Looking over to Luna I come to see her with a very relieved expression.

“Looks like you’re finally done,” I state looking towards the tower of paper.

Luna smiles as her horn glows, as does the stack of papers, “Remind me to revise the citizenship act with Celestia.”

“You really think she’s going to make it a bit easier?” I question.

Rolling her eyes Luna gets up, “I hardly think so, but it’s worth taking a chance.” Luna stated as the stack of papers all but vanish from existence. A reassuring pop echoed around the study as they did so.

Having done all the paperwork, me and Luna gets up from our respected spots and head back into the hallway. It was exactly the way we left it, guards manning the well-decorated walls. It sometimes makes me wonder how many years it took them to collect all these pictures. Which lead me to another train of thought.

How old was Luna? Surely, she must have been lying when she stated she was 26. There was no way she could be a co-ruler of an entire country at that young age. As we walked down the hall I looked up at Luna trying to decipher the mystery myself. Yet, I couldn’t pin her age. Mostly because I don’t know how and old pony looks towards a young one. Would they have a gray mane?

Shaking the thoughts off I scanned over Luna’s form with my eyes. She looked, at least to me rather young. Her mane was its normal blue with no signs of aging as well with her coat. Then again, she did have to ask permission from her sister, so maybe there was some truth to her tale.

Glancing behind, Luna took note of me staring at her, “See something you like?” Luna teased.

I, however, completely disregarded that statement and asked the question I had been trying to solve. “Are you really 26? I find It kind of hard to believe that someone that young could rule over a country,” Luna's smirk vanished at my statement as she refocused her gaze forwards, “Oh come one, it can't be that bad,” I state walking faster so I can walk next to her, “40? 50?” I guess.

“I have lived for more than two millennia,” Luna claimed.

I looked at her with a straight face trying to figure out if she was lying or not. She has to be lying, right? Being that old would mean you were pretty much immortal. When no waver in her expression was given, I let a little chuckle escape my lips.

“That one hell of an age gap if you ask me,” I state patting Luna on the back. As soon as my hand landed on the back of Luna all the guards in the hall shifted towards me. It was pretty creepy if you ask me, so in reaction, I quickly brought my hand back.

Luna looked at me with a smile, “Which means you’re like a foal to me.”

“Says the mare that wanted to stargaze with me,” I state with a little smirk of my own. “So, what does this title ‘Goddess of the Moon’ really mean? What did you do to get it?” I question as we took another turn in the hallway.

“If you can wait till dusk I will show you,” Luna commented leading me into a room. This one looking a lot like the last one we were in. Except there were no books, and instead of multiple tables there was only one large one.

Looking towards Luna I questioned, “What brings us here?”

“My sister wishes to talk to us. Day court should be ending at any time now, so she will be here momentarily,” Luna claimed taking a seat on one of the cushions.

Curious I ask, “Wonder what she’s gonna talk to us about?”

“Probably about the events that took place on Earth. I suggest that you don’t tell my sisters at my attempt to cast dark magic.”

“Why?”

“Because here in Equestria it is considered illegal to practice or attempt to cast dark magic. Dark magic is known to easily corrupt the user with the power it is able to possess. If my sister hears about my attempt, I’m sure trouble will follow.”

“Alright, but I’m sure she’ll let it go. After all, you were trapped in a place that held no magic, to begin with. Surely she would listen to reason.” I reply.

“Reason or not, I rather not complicate things further. I have had enough of forms and papers for today.”

“Point taken,” I stated taking this time to look around the room. Not much was different as I claimed before. The walls were made from wood with pictures of famous ponies. The marble floor was shined, as a large rug ran under the table. Other than that, the room was pretty much empty, in a nice organized way.

As Luna, had predicted the doors to the room once again opened to reveal princess Celestia. She looked like she had seen bettered days. No doubt that the court got the best of her. Even I can say that back on Earth court was pretty brutal for the judge.

“Did you have a good time?” Celestia asks as taking a seat.

I groan, “If you call filling out stacks upon stacks of paperwork fun then yeah, I had a real blast.” Luna seemed to nod with my response.

“Boring but completely necessary I’m sure. Now if you will take a seat I will like to start off this little discussion.”

Taking my seat, I look over to Luna then to Celestia, “Ari, if you would be so kind as to relay what had happened on Earth during Lunas stay.”

“Sure, not really that interesting up until the end but I’ll give it a go,” I claimed getting more comfortable on the cushion. “It all started almost a week ago, when my co-worker David told me to cover him for the night. Which of course meant that I had to close the store. When he had left, I started to take out all the trash which is when Luna just popped into existence. Which by the way you guys need to get better at. Both times I almost got killed by the arcs of lightning coming off those things.”

“Arcs of lightning?” Celestia asks with a confused expression.

“Yeah, it even happened when you arrived. First, it’s a floating white orb, then next lightning everywhere. If I didn’t hide behind that bench I’m pretty sure I would have been toast, literally. Is that not supposed to happen?” I question.

Celestia and Luna both look towards each other, “No, maybe it is due to the amount of magic I placed in the spell. It should have been like a normal teleportation.” Celestia summons a scroll, quill, and ink to her and places it on the table. After a couple of seconds, Celestia nods for me to continue.

“After I found Luna she was so drained that she just passed out right in front of me. I didn’t want anyone to find out there was a talking pony walking around. So, I took the liberty of taking her to my place to lay low. After that, we basically just chilled at the apartment till Alex stabbed me in the back and called in the police. Still, have no idea why he did it.” I state still a bit miffed that Alex would do that to me. If I ever see him again, I’ll make sure to sock him in the mouth.

Placing quill to scroll once again she quickly writes down some things, “are you sure that is all that happened?”

“For me, it was a pretty eventful week, usually I would just go to work, get home, and sleep,” I comment getting Celestia to let out a chuckle.

Settling back down Celestia's eyes my bandage, and I knew exactly what she was going to ask. “You seem to have a wound, care to elaborate?”

Having covered up many injuries in the past it took almost no effort -at leas on my part- to lie, “A small cooking accident, slipped while carrying a knife.” I state placing my injured hand on the table.

Luna looked over to Celestia with a straight face. Thankfully she bought it. “Well, it sure looks like you had a pretty relaxing stay on Earth.”

Luna nodded, “It was quite nice up until the incident.”

“Other than what I had already said that’s about it,” I concluded the story. It’s funny how one week could be summarized with a couple minutes of talking.

Hearing that Celestia let out a large yawn, “Excuse me, but with that I think I need to get some rest. Once again, thank you, Ari, for retelling what your experience was like when Luna appeared. While it was rather short I’m sure I got more than enough information.”

“Information for what?” I ask my voice laced with confusion.

“Ponies may be ‘lenient’ with other species, but I want to add in a little safety room. I plan to create a little article in the local news about you. This way when most ponies see you, they won't judge you harshly.

It seemed like an all around good idea to me, so I obviously had no objections. With a swift nod of my head, Celestia got up from her seat and bid both me and Luna a good night. Which was weird because I literally got up five hours ago, jet lag really fucks up your sleeping schedule.

“You got anything else planned for today?” I asked looking over to Luna.

Shaking her head, she replied, “Nothing particular as I did take tonight’s night court off.”

“Well I’m wide awake, I’ll probably stay up the entire night.” At my statement, Luna's ears seemed to perk up as her smile increased slightly.

Getting out of her seat Luna walked over to the door, “If you’re serious about staying up the entire night, I wouldn’t mind giving you a little tour of the castle.”

I nodded to her request, I knew nothing about this castle. It probably had everything you could ever need and more. “Sounds like a sound plan,” I state getting up from my position and wondering over to Luna’s side.

“Splendid, where shall we start?” Luna claimed clopping her two front hooves together.

Frame of Mind

by CCpone

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