When the final bell rang, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from his desk, joining his classmates as they made their way toward the exit.
"One moment, Saotome-kun," spoke up Ninomiya Hinako, his homeroom teacher, as he passed by her desk.
He paused and exchanged a look with Tendo Akane, his fiancée, as well as Kuonji Ukyo, also his fiancée, and shrugged his shoulders before approaching their teacher, who was — as was often the case — in her pre-teen form. He stepped onto the platform to meet her behind the desk, and when he got there she gave him a sheet of paper. Ignoring the doodles around the message, he read: "Sunset Shimmer would like to meet you behind the equipment shed in an hour. She knows of a potential cure to your curse and wishes to share it with you. Please come alone, and prepared to keep a secret."
Glancing up from the paper, he shot his teacher a questioning look.
Sunset Shimmer had shown up on the school grounds around a month ago. No one had any idea of where she had come from, although most assumed some English-speaking country. At first he hadn't paid her any mind, but she ended up on his radar because his homeroom teacher, who taught English, had become her warden — probably not officially — and he regularly saw her at school, learning Japanese. Despite how innocuous her existence seemed, the strangeness of her arrival, and continued presence, had made him wary.
That wariness felt even more justified now that this mysterious girl wanted to meet with him alone, keep a secret, and dangled the prospect of being curse-free. Either she was setting him up for something, for some unknown reason, or she was sincere in wanting to help him, and both scenarios raised a lot of questions; questions that he could probably only get answers to if he accepted her invitation and the terms attached to it.
Regardless, if a cure was potentially on the line, he had to pursue it — it was just that simple. The downsides of having the curse far outweighed the upsides, between the lack of control, making adjustments both in fights and social situations, the threat that loomed over him because of his mother's expectations, feelings of insecurity, and the confusion and doubt that harried his psyche. When broken down, all he really wanted was peace of mind, and that was worth the risk.
His teacher didn't catch his look, because she eagerly dashed around him and out the door; probably toward something fun or delicious, if the expression on her face was any indication.
"What did Ninomiya-sensei want?" Akane inquired.
He had to suppress a groan, seeing as his teacher's effort to be covert had been rather elementary — which wasn't a surprise, considering her apparent age. Thankfully, he still had his back toward the girls, so he crumpled up the paper and stuffed it up his sleeve before turning around to face them. With a woeful tone and accompanying gestures, he replied, "Oh, she just wants me to do extra work to prepare for the upcoming test."
Both girls regarded him with skeptical expressions on their faces. Confident that he had convinced them with his acting skills, he didn't pay them any mind as he walked toward the exit, keen on getting home so he'd have an opportunity to go out alone.
"What the heck is their problem...?" Ranma wondered aloud between pants, his back against the inside of the school's perimeter wall.
He'd been in the middle of slipping his shoes on at home, in the genkan, when Akane had appeared and asked him where he was going. Put on the spot like that, he knew he had to respond before suspicion set in, but his ad-libbed answer provided her an opportunity to ask if she could join him. When he couldn't give her a good answer as to why she couldn't, he knew that he had to cut his losses and book it.
She had given chase, demanding that he tell her what he was doing with their teacher, but yelling, "Nothing," in response had — unsurprisingly — been ineffective.
Konatsu had been staking out the house, so Ukyo had been alerted and both joined the chase. Shampoo added herself to the mix after he narrowly avoided colliding with her in the air, while she was making a delivery on her bike, before she even knew what was going on. Fortunately, no one else involved themselves, and only Konatsu had proved a challenge to escape from, which had required the activation of his curse and a disguise.
As he removed his house dress and bonnet, which he had used to hide his attire and hair within the short window of time that he'd had to disguise himself, he was acutely aware of the fact that he had used his curse for the sake of seeking a cure. Again. It was "funny" how that tended to happen; probably every time but once, to his reckoning. Hopefully that didn't mean that he wouldn't get cured, which had happened every time.
After converting his disguise into energy and storing it with his ki, he began to walk toward the equipment shed, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any potential interlopers. Much to his relief, he arrived at his destination without issue, and the only person that he expected to see was already there, waiting for him with crossed arms and a tapping foot.
Sunset Shimmer usually wore the girl's uniform while school was in session, but she had come back from Ninomiya's apartment wearing what he assumed was casual attire for her, based on the few times he'd seen her out of uniform. Her outfit consisted of a leather jacket, T-shirt, short skirt, a studded belt, and mid-calf leather boots. One side of her red and yellow-haired head was shaved, a consequence of her first encounter with the principal, but it didn't look bad with her hair swept to the other side. Overall, she kind of looked like a street tough to him, although he couldn't say what kind of person she actually was, on account of almost exclusively seeing her while she was learning Japanese during English class.
When her cyan eyes caught sight of him, she ceased tapping her foot, stood up straighter, then reached into one of her jacket pockets and pulled out several sheets of folded paper. Even from ten meters away he could see the dark, finger-shaped stains on them, and when he was close enough for her to hold one out for him, he was certain that the stains were chocolate. Not wanting to get any of it on his hands, he accepted the paper and unfolded it with care.
Looking down with his eyes, to keep her in his periphery, he read, "Do you swear to keep what I will reveal to you a secret? Nod or shake your head in reply."
Since he was already committed to seeing this through, he looked back up and nodded.
She gestured for him to follow her as she walked toward the trees in one corner of the premises, and he obliged after a second of hesitation, wondering why she was taking him there. The trees were fairly spread out, providing plenty of light, so an ambush seemed unlikely, and anyone looking wouldn't have a hard time finding them there. It wasn't until they were among the trees that he was able to see where they might be headed, because a large, lichen-covered stone was directly ahead of them. He was familiar with the stone, but he'd never thought much of it, assuming it had once been a part of a rock garden and had been left alone for one reason or another.
Upon reaching it, she walked around it and stopped on the other side, where she held out another piece of paper to him.
Once again making sure to not touch the chocolate, he moved the paper out of the shade of the canopy and read, "This stone is a marker for a dimensional portal. On the other side is the universe where I came from. If you choose to go there, you should meet a princess who would be willing to cure you. I can't guarantee that she will know how to, now or later, but she will if she can."
He looked at her, making his disbelief clear, then he glanced over at the stone. It was then that he noticed the side that they were facing was flat and almost entirely free of lichen, which gave the clear area an oval shape. It didn't look natural, but he was willing to believe that a dimensional portal could be possible: it wouldn't be too strange compared to some of the things he'd experienced before. In fact, it was a bit like that compact mirror that he had gotten sucked into, except a whole universe would be on the other side instead of being shrunk to fit into the space behind the mirror.
Thinking that it wouldn't hurt to try and touch the stone, and find out if there was a portal or not, he reached toward it with his index finger extended. Just before he would have made contact with it, the air shimmered with light and rippled, and he lost sight of half of his finger before he jerked his hand back. While the light and ripples faded, he held up his finger for inspection and was relieved to see that nothing unfortunate had happened to it.
Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. When he turned his attention to her, he saw that she was holding out the last sheet of folded paper to him. Distracted by the thought that there might actually be a cure waiting for him in another universe, he wasn't mindful of the chocolate stains when he opened it up and read, "Don't be alarmed by what you see on the other side, or what form you find yourself in. I wish I could be more specific on the details, but I'll explain why I couldn't be once I can tell you myself. Oh, and speaking of that: the princess will have a way to understand you, so you shouldn't have any trouble making your request."
He looked up from the message and stared at where the portal was with a frown, weighing if he should still take a risk and trust Sunset Shimmer. Shifting forms and going to odd places weren't strange to him, but neither were traps and ulterior motives that benefited someone else, often at his expense. He didn't have many good experiences with authority figures, either; so, even if this princess were willing to cure him, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a price so steep that he would be better off passing it up.
In the end, he remained steadfast in his decision to pursue this cure. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all. Plus, he would seriously regret passing up on the one cure that would have actually worked out for him. Besides that, if word of this opportunity became public, he'd much rather deal with the situation that would arise from him trying and failing than not trying at all.
With that last thought in mind, he returned the messages to Sunset Shimmer, steeled himself, then resolutely marched toward the stone. He couldn't help closing his eyes just before taking the step that would carry him through the portal, but they snapped back open when his foot failed to land on anything solid and he felt himself tipping forward. Rather than feeling the vertigo that came with falling, however, he literally felt his body being flattened and stretched as some unknown force seemingly pulled him through the inside of a rainbow in a dizzying fashion, and for a split second he could have sworn that he was seeing double.
Before he knew it, he was ejected out of the other side and landed on his face before he could get a good look at his environment. His momentum flipped him onto his back, where he slid on a cool, smooth surface before being halted by something decidedly non-slippery. From his supine position, the world was upside down when he opened his eyes and looked back at where he had come from.
What he saw was a mirror, and between him and it was a highly-reflective floor. Around the mirror were pillars and very large stained glass windows, and nearby there were swallowtailed banners hanging from the ceiling; which all made sense, considering how he was there to see a princess. When he turned his head to the side, however, he got a surprise when he saw a strange, light grey creature lying on the floor beside him, so close that he could feel their breath on his face when they turned to look at him.
They both yelped and hurried to their feet. However, in his rush to put some distance between them, he was reminded that his body would be altered and quickly discovered two things: it didn't feel natural to stand upright on two legs, and his new feet offered little in the way of traction to keep him from slipping on the floor. The other creature appeared to be having a similar problem, although unlike him it had wings that were flapping erratically and out of sync.
Noticing the red carpet nearby, and its promised stability, he enlisted the aid of his hands in the hope of sparing himself from further embarrassment. Unfortunately, he found out — too late — that his hands had been replaced by hooves, which didn't help the situation at all. So, after what felt like an eternity of slipping, stumbling, flailing and falling, he finally landed, stomach-first, with most of his upper body on the carpet.
Panting, he turned his head to regard the winged creature when he heard it land next to him and expel a loud exhale. Now that he had an opportunity to get a good look at it, their body seemed to be equine in nature, although not much like any equine that he had seen back in his own universe, aside from the black mane and tail. He thought they looked kind of stocky, like a pony, but the area between the eyes and muzzle was noticeably short compared to what he was accustomed to seeing on either a horse or pony, and their blue eyes were simply enormous. Then there were the wings, and as far as he knew winged horses were still fictional where he came from.
He also thought that they looked male, but he couldn't be sure.
When they noticed him, they blinked their eyes owlishly before asking, "You're not the princess, are you?"
He furrowed his brow in confusion as he stared at the male-sounding equine. "Do I look like her or something?"
"No idea," the equine replied. "I wasn't told what she looked like."
Their answer, and his own voice, gave him a bad feeling. Before he could reason out why, he heard a woman clear her throat from the opposite way he was looking; and above, judging by where the grey equine's eyes went, which widened in awe at what they saw.
His eyes mirrored theirs upon seeing her. She was tall, probably twice as tall as his current form, and from his prone position, at her hooves, she seemed even taller. She had purple eyes and a white coat that was tinged with pink, as well as wings and a horn, but what stood out most was her mane and tail, with their four pastel colors, flowing in the air as if they were subject to the whims of the lightest breeze. Some kind of large, gold accessory hung from her neck and hugged the contours of her breast, bearing a purple gem of notable size at its center, and on her hooves were some fancy-looking footwear.
However, when he caught sight of the tiara on her head, he eagerly queried, "Are you a princess," at the same time as the light grey equine.
Dread filled him as he snapped his head back around to regard said equine, who proceeded to tentatively ask him, "Are you... My curse?"
Ranma wanted to argue with — what seemed to be — his male counterpart, to say that he wasn't their curse, but the words weren't forthcoming. Not only had this been a very unexpected outcome, just from the travel between universes itself, but it was a new and scary predicament. It was one thing to prevent him from changing back to his birth form, which had happened many times in different ways, but what was the solution to having his two bodies separated? Based on past experience, he doubted that it would be as simple as going back through the portal.
As preoccupied by this discovery as he was, and because he was looking at his other self, he didn't notice the golden glow that appeared around the horn of the tall, white equine that was still standing nearby, which covered her ears in quick succession. However, he did notice when the ears of his counterpart were briefly surrounded by that same golden glow for a second, and felt his own tingle at the same time. Before surprise and confusion could escalate to alarm, he heard the white equine calmly query, "Excuse me, but who might you two be, and what brought you here?"
Ranma turned his gaze toward her, noticing that his other self did as well. They must have also thought that she might be a princess, if not the princess, because they politely replied, "I'm Saotome Ranma, and I was told that a princess might be able to cure my curse. It's supposed to change my sex back and forth, with hot and cold water." He gestured toward him. "Except, well..."
"I'm also Saotome Ranma," he picked up where his other self had left off, doing his best to quell his concern until he knew whether or not the princess that they were looking for would be able to address what happened to him. "I got split in two when I went through the portal."
"I see," the white equine temporized, giving him the impression that she had a lot on her mind. Before the length of her pause could become too awkward, her stoic expression softened and she continued. "I am Princess Celestia, and I will provide aid to you in whatever capacity I can."
Relieved that they had found their quarry so soon, he joined his other self in pulling himself completely onto the carpet before standing up, wanting to be ready for whatever came next. He watched the princess look over her shoulder and speak to another equine creature who had been quietly observing them from the base of a dais, politely telling them that their meeting will need to be postponed. Then she told another one, who was stationed by the throne, to inform the petitioners that there would be a delay, and to reschedule "anypony" if necessary.
After the two who had been addressed by the princess began to make their way toward the exit, said princess returned her attention to them and said, "Now, first, I am going to inspect this curse of yours. Please remain still and don't be alarmed by the tingly or prickly sensations that you will experience."
He shared a look with his counterpart before returning his gaze to Celestia and nodding his head, to convey that they were ready.
He watched as Celestia turned her head to face his other self first, before closing her eyes and lighting up her horn. It only took a few seconds for her to stop and reopen her eyes, at which point she stated, "I did not detect any foreign magic, apart from a few benign remnants of spells that will dissipate completely on their own."
Seeing his other self relieved upon hearing the result, for a reason that made him anxious instead, he gulped and turned his attention to Celestia, who chose that time to close her eyes and begin her inspection. His body began to tingle immediately, and he became worried when the inspection didn't end as quickly as the last one, especially when he saw the princess' brow furrow.
When it finally concluded, Celestia fixed her gaze on him, who would be affected most by her words, and somberly said, "I'm afraid that your curse still persists, although — based on what you've told me — in a diminished form."
He felt his ears drop along with his stomach. "What do you mean?"
"That body was created by magic," Celestia gently explained. "And that magic remains to enforce that it is young and female. The magic involved with the other aspects of the curse were dispersed in the separation."
After he bowed his head and began to wrestle with his emotions, so he wouldn't do anything embarrassing, he heard his other self ask, "Why were we separated?"
He heard Celestia hum thoughtfully before answering. "I can't say for sure, because not much is understood about the place between universes — if it can be called a place. However, perhaps this is an indication that what keeps our universes separated has more to do with what's between the universes than the universes themselves."
After chewing on that for a moment, he raised his head and regarded Celestia with pleading eyes as he asked, "Can you do anything to help me?"
Celestia closed her eyes and appeared to be considering her words carefully. "You have to understand," she evenly began, opening her eyes, "even if I knew how to recreate every aspect of your curse, it will be undone when you go back through the portal."
He felt what little optimism that he had been holding on to begin to slip away.
"Additionally," she went on, "from what I've read about your side of the portal, time flows much slower over there when the portal is closed; a month there is nine here. Unfortunately, right now I'm probably the only pony with the skill and power to accomplish what you desire, and there are many reasons for why I can't enlist the aid of a regent while I spend years in your universe learning a new method of harnessing magic and new spells."
"...So that's a no," came his quiet and despondent response as his gaze fell.
"I didn't say that," Celestia softly replied, causing him to look up and see her sympathetic expression as they made eye contact. "If your female body experienced growth since you've had it, that means I could make you younger. Given time, replaced cells in your body will eventually take enough magic with them for the spell to break, and then I will be able to reliably — and safely — change your sex."
He exchanged a look with his other self before switching his gaze back to the princess and asking, "How long would that take?"
Celestia looked up thoughtfully. "Hmmmm... My conservative estimate would be between fifteen and twenty years." When she lowered her gaze and saw the displeased expression on his face, she tried to soften the blow by adding, "However, it is possible that it could take ten, and only about a year of time would pass in your universe by the time you return home, with your desired sex and no curse."
"That's kind of like taking another training journey," his other self interjected, trying to be helpful, which earned them a dirty look from him.
"Would you two like to think about it in the privacy and comfort of one of our guest rooms?" Celestia offered them, although her gaze was on him. "It will include an en suite bathroom and free room service, so you can take as much time as you need to decide what you want to do."
A pair of growling stomachs pretty much dictated their answer.
Several hours later found him lying prone on an enormous bed, facing the wall. He had spent most of his time brooding and sulking about his situation; neither the opulence of the room, or the hay and flowers included with his dinner, could distract him from it.
His male counterpart was probably really bored and wanted to celebrate being curse-free, but they had enough sense to not advertise it and awkwardly tried to be supportive with their continued presence. They didn't need to say anything because both of them had been the same person not that long ago, so they knew what all the issues were, even if most of them either wouldn't apply to them or affect them much. Among those issues, there were five notable concerns that he kept coming back to.
The first two involved his mother, in the event that he remained female. If he indulged the things that he enjoyed about being a girl, would it reflect badly on his male self for having hid or lied about them, to the point — in particular — where his mother would want them, and perhaps himself as well, to commit seppuku? Or, would his mother try to fashion him into a traditional girl instead of letting him be his own type of modern girl? He didn't even want to contemplate what might happen if the subject of his sexuality came up, since he doubted that either admitting his continued interest in girls, or lying about it, would lead anywhere good for him.
The remaining three concerns would require him to be a guy again. The most significant one was his relationship with Akane, since either his male counterpart would advance their relationship while he was gone and Akane would be out of reach, or he'd have to make a choice on whether to compete with them for her affection or give her up. After that was whether his parents would push him to fulfill the arrangement with Ukyo, even though he was pretty sure that he would never see her as anything more than a friend, and had no interest in her business on top of that. Then there was the worry that Cologne might perceive him as being superfluous to everyone else, but still legitimate enough to satisfy Shampoo's and her own stake in him, and would actually put serious effort into forcing him to be together with Shampoo.
Apart from that, there was the thought of staying with the "ponies" — as they seemed to be called — and building a new life from scratch, even though he knew next to nothing about the world and its inhabitants. He couldn't even motivate himself to get up and look in a mirror, to see if he liked the way he looked or not. But the thought still made its rounds, because it was tempting to avoid all of the aforementioned concerns, as much as abandoning some aspects of his life would hurt, and let his male self move forward without him complicating things.
He heard someone knock on the door, followed by the voice of Celestia asking if she could enter, then his male self giving her permission. He continued to stay where he was on the bed and kept his gaze fixed on the wall, since he hadn't figured out what to do and wasn't feeling any better about his choices.
A few seconds after the door closed, Celestia asked, "Have you figured out what you want to do?"
He assumed that his male self hadn't answered verbally, because there was a notable amount of silence before Celestia said, "If you wish to go home, ask one of my guards and they will escort you to the portal. I'll do what I can to help them."
A few seconds later he heard the door open, which closed a bit later than he would have expected it to. After a brief moment of silence, his ears twitched when he heard several objects thump softly on the carpet, followed by a thud from a heavier one. Then something metallic was set on the nightstand, the sharp sound causing him to imperceptibly jump. Soon after he felt the bed shift, and he couldn't help looking askance long enough to catch Celestia — sans her accessories — laying down nearby.
"Do you feel like talking about it?" She gently entreated.
His first instinct was to shake his head in response, but he was feeling really off-balance from the situation to act upon it, and — although he tried not to acknowledge it — even vulnerable. He was in a foreign setting and body, facing a tough life decision where his other self had the advantage regardless of what he chose to do, and he was with a princess who seemed so... nice.
In the end, he felt too conflicted to answer. A small part of him wanted her to press the issue, to give him the excuse to say that he only opened up so she would stop bothering him. However, she seemed content to silently keep him company, either until she was dismissed or he was ready to talk. It made it kind of uncomfortable and awkward for him to keep staring at the wall, knowing that a princess was watching over him with patience and poise.
He didn't know how much time passed, but Celestia eventually spoke up and casually said, "Excuse me for a moment; I need to lower the sun."
He couldn't help turning his head to watch her leave the bed with an incredulous look on his face, thinking that she couldn't be serious. Even if it were somehow possible, the implications boggled his mind. Not just that someone had that kind of power, assuming that it would still be considered a feat of astronomical proportions in this universe, but that it was someone's responsibility.
When Celestia reached the window, she turned to regard him and said, "If I remember correctly, the sun moves on its own where you come from. Would you like to watch the sun set on another world?"
He was too curious, and intent on seeing if Celestia could literally move the sun, to even think to say that it wasn't the sun that was responsible for its movement in the sky, back on Earth, as he went to join her at the window. It didn't feel right to have the sill a few inches under his chin, and he wanted a better view of the sky besides, so he placed his new forehooves on the sill and raised himself up until his torso was parallel with the wall. When he looked up, to convey that he was ready, he noted that his eyes still didn't reach her jaw.
He watched Celestia look out the window and light up her horn before turning his attention to the sun. His eyes widened when it suddenly picked up speed and fell beneath the horizon in seconds, the moving shadows across the land, followed by the ebb of the sunlight's direct assault on his eyes, leading to the unveiling of the starry night sky, convincing him that the princess had manually made the sun set. She raised the moon a few seconds later, although he was so stunned that he barely registered it.
His reverie was broken when he heard Celestia lightly chuckle, who said, "It's been a very long time since I've gotten that kind of a reaction from somepony your age." Seeing that he was staring up at her, but still speechless, she gently added, "And it would seem that I successfully gave you a reprieve from your thoughts."
Since it was so rare for someone to go out of their way to be friendly and treat him well, without having an ulterior motive, he couldn't help regarding her with suspicion and asking, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I have several reasons," Celestia replied, calmly meeting his gaze. "First and foremost, I can't ignore somepony in need of help when they're right in front of me."
He simply nodded his head, willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Second," she continued, more solemnly, "your situation is not too unlike an experience I had a long time ago, with somepony very dear to me, so I feel compelled to help you avoid going down a similar path if you find yourself envious of your male self."
He didn't know how to respond to that, so he remained silent.
She hesitated before earnestly admitting, "And lastly, I am interested in adopting you."
That came as such a surprise to Ranma that his hooves slipped off of the window sill and he fell over.
Ranma accepted Celestia's invitation to join her at the low table, so they could talk. He and his male counterpart had eaten there earlier, although the staff had cleared all evidence of it, leaving only a plate of biscuits in the middle.
As he settled onto a cushion on one side of the table, Celestia deliberately chose to do the same on the other, who said, "I know you have a lot on your mind already, so I apologize, but I didn't want you to think I was priming you for my proposition if I offered it later."
Ranma nodded his head. "Thanks, I guess, but..." His expression turned puzzled. "Why? You don't even know me."
"You're right; I don't," Celestia conceded. "I would hope to remedy that over the course of nine months, and learn if my proposition would work out for both of us, but as for your question: I had a feeling about you."
"You had a feeling?" Ranma questioned, eyebrow raised.
"Mm," Celestia confirmed. "My precognition isn't nearly as strong as some of my other talents, but I can sense the potential of somepony's impact on future events, although rarely in what way. In your case, however..." She paused, her lips pursed as she considered her next words. "Your 'ripples' — shall we say — resonated with my own, to a degree I've never experienced before."
Ranma cocked his head and asked, "And that's why you want to adopt me?"
Celestia shook her head. "By itself, no. Your appearance caught my attention as well."
Ranma blinked his eyes bemusedly. "It did?"
Looking toward one of the back corners of the room, Celestia seized the standing mirror that was next to the wardrobe with her telekinesis and carried it over to Ranma's side of the table, setting it down beside him.
Ranma turned to look at his reflection, wondering what was so special about his new body, and nothing he saw was particularly illuminating. His mane and tail stood out the most, because they were seemingly made out of clouds instead of hair, starting out white near his body while becoming darker farther out, and appearing to be at the mercy of a breeze, but it wasn't like the princess didn't have an odd mane and tail as well. Then again, every other pony that he'd seen — so far — had regular hair, so maybe that meant something. The next thing that caught his attention was the horn on his head, which he'd noticed was capable of moving things around, although that was something he didn't know how to do. Beyond those two things, he already knew that the color of his coat was yellow, and found out that he still had blue eyes, and neither detail seemed noteworthy.
On an unrelated note, he did think that he looked cute, for this universe's version of a pony, but he would keep that to himself.
"It's exceptionally rare for a pony's mane and tail to channel so much unused magic," Celestia explained. "Magic naturally vents through our hair when we're at full capacity, but magic production is almost never so high that it gets to the point of altering our hair, much less to the extent that it adopts an elemental trait. It happens often enough with all ponies — especially pegasi — when magic is being utilized, whether intended or otherwise, but right now you and I are the only ponies whose hair is altered by excess magic alone."
"And that's good?" Ranma assumed, since it was partly responsible for her interest in adopting him, but he phrased it as a question because he'd feel better having an advantage if he chose to stick around for months or years.
"Your potential is great, but the burden of responsibility is also great," came Celestia's judicious reply.
After taking a moment to return the mirror, she continued. "Now, while those two things got my attention, the idea to adopt you occurred to me while I was thinking about your situation. Which — frankly — I knew nothing about, aside from your curse, what your trip between our universes did to it, and who likely sent you to me."
"You mean Sunset Shimmer?" Ranma guessed, who continued when he received a nod. "Why is she in my universe, anyway?"
Celestia's expression turned downcast and she released a sigh. "That's where she ran away to after I ended my mentorship with her and ordered that she be evicted from the castle."
Curious, Ranma asked, "What'd she do?"
"She became obsessed with becoming more powerful and felt entitled to becoming my equal, if not better," came Celestia's bitter reply. "I'd seen the signs, of course. At first, I tried to guide her away from such ideas gently. When that didn't work, I began to show my displeasure, then finally put my hoof down. Sadly, she only got worse, until she brazenly entered the section of the royal library that contained dark magic, which required my permission."
While Ranma mulled that over, and wondered why such an individual would try to help him, Celestia raised her gaze to meet his and said, "I've taken on a new protégé since then, a filly named Twilight Sparkle, and she has the highest potential to impact the future that I've ever known. Unfortunately, as it was with Sunset Shimmer in her youth, she holds me in high regard and she's more interested in her studies than she is in engaging with her peers. Perhaps she won't go down the same path as Sunset Shimmer, but I worry that I won't be the right pony, or the only pony, who can give her the guidance she needs."
"And you need to adopt me to help you with that?" Ranma asked, confused.
"It's a bit of selfishness on my part," Celestia admitted, and appeared somewhat apprehensive to be open about the subject. "I've had a hoof in raising several ponies over the centuries, but circumstances have always made me reluctant to fully commit as a parent, much less to have a foal of my own with somepony." She paused for a moment, to consider her next words. "And to be completely honest... With you, I think the stars have aligned. Not just for myself, but for Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps for yourself as well, should you decide to give this universe a chance."
Ranma looked away from her steady gaze, the mention of her potential age taking a back seat to thoughts of being adopted by a pony princess from another universe and making said universe his new home. He hadn't seriously entertained the idea of staying permanently before, but that was when he'd assumed that he'd have to start over in most respects. Moving on in that regard wasn't too much of a problem, though: his training journey had long since taught him to not get too attached to one place.
No, the new universe and body aspect didn't bother him all that much. There was pretty much only one person who really anchored him to his current home, and that was Akane, the girl he had been willing to remain a girl for if it meant returning to her alive. His relationships with other people either weren't so great or worth mentioning, or they were a really mixed bag or disappointing. And in the vast majority of cases, he doubted the state of those relationships would ever change. Maybe he'd be reluctant to leave some of them if it was just him, but since it wasn't...
Feeling once again like a third wheel in his own life, which he hated, he sought a distraction. Spotting the plate of biscuits, he leaned on the tabletop to reach the closest one, but stopped and furrowed his brow as he turned his hoof over, wondering how he was supposed to grab anything with it.
Celestia asked, "Are you unfamiliar with hooves?"
Ranma sat back, looking mildly displeased. "I normally have hands."
"Ah, I see," Celestia replied, understanding. "We ponies can wrap our hooves around objects with our pastern," she raised one foreleg and demonstrated what she meant, "a bit like a finger, but we can also make our hooves adhere to objects." She reached for a biscuit and showed it sticking to the underside of her hoof. "Like so."
She proceeded to push the plate closer to Ranma, who placed a hoof on top of a biscuit and tried to lift it. When he failed, he frowned and tried again, which led to the same result. Realizing that it wasn't going to work automatically, he paused and thought about what he could do differently. When it crossed his mind that he was trying to use a foot for a task that was usually reserved for a hand, he tried to apply a technique that he used to run and stand on vertical surfaces, and generally helped with his traction and grip, and his eyes lit up when it worked.
While he was waving his hoof around, to see if he could get the biscuit to fly off, he noticed another one levitate off of the plate, thanks to the golden glow surrounding it. Seeing that she had his attention, Celestia informed him, "Since you are a unicorn, you can also use this method."
Ranma looked at the floating biscuit, then her glowing horn, before looking up at his own and asking, "How do I do that?"
"It's as easy as willing it to happen," Celestia answered. "The difficult part is exercising—" The biscuit laying on Ranma's hoof exploded as soon as a light blue aura appeared around it, making him recoil and yelp before falling onto his back. "—control."
After she collected all of the pieces and transferred them to the trash bin by the door, and he recovered and returned to a seated position, she explained, "Unicorn magic is the most flexible of pony magic, but only because it's the wildest. And in your case, it's compounded by the fact that you also have a significant amount of pegasus magic."
"Is that bad?" Ranma asked, even as he eyed the biscuits and considered giving his horn another try.
"In some cases," Celestia replied, "and in yours it likely just means that you'll need to put in more work than the average pony. But that's not to say that there can't be any benefits, either."
That pulled Ranma's attention away from the biscuits, who looked up at her and asked, "Benefits? Like what?"
Leaning forward, Celestia revealed, "Well, in your case: walking on clouds."
Ranma blinked his eyes owlishly. "Seriously?"
With a twinkle in her eye, Celestia suggested, "I could fly you to a cloud, if you wish."
Glancing at one of her wings, Ranma couldn't help being interested in what was being offered. If he decided to stay temporarily, having some new and fun things to do would help distract him from what his male counterpart was doing. Thinking about them, though, reminded him that they'd had wings as a pony. He didn't know what all a horn could do, but the thought that he missed out on flight made him curious as to why he wasn't the same kind of pony.
"Sure," he responded, before deciding to sate his curiosity, since the princess was being so accommodating. "But can I ask you a question first?"
Celestia ceased trying to stand up and settled back onto her cushion. "Of course."
"How come I got a horn instead of wings?" Ranma queried.
After considering his question for a few seconds, and why it was asked, Celestia replied, "That's an interesting question. A pony's most recent ancestry will determine the tribe of pony they'll most likely be born as, normally, but you have no ancestry here. That leads me to think that — despite sharing the same life until you arrived here — your sex had a significant enough impact on your identity for a unicorn to suit the female you better."
Believing that he understood what she was saying, Ranma couldn't help asking, "Your behavior can affect how you look?"
Celestia nodded her head solemnly. "Often it's a brief and minor change, but in rare instances — under the right circumstances — it can be indefinite and significant. Our magic is as much a reflection of who we are as it is a resource that can be taken for granted."
Her response was more serious than Ranma had been expecting, and might have hinted at a past experience, but he was more focused on how it was relevant to him at present than worried about its potential dangers in the future. Because there were a lot of things regarded as being feminine that he denied liking to others when called out on them, as well as some that he even denied as being true to himself, while trying to maintain a masculine image and sense of self it had never occurred to him that he could be a lot more different than he allowed himself to be.
He didn't know how long he was pensively staring down at the tabletop, feeling unsure of how much he knew about himself, but he was brought out of his introspection when he heard Celestia tenderly offer, "Would you like some time alone, perhaps until tomorrow? Or would you be willing to talk about it with me?"
Ranma glanced up and regarded his host, ready to keep his personal thoughts close to his chest, as he often did, but wanting to trust the princess despite knowing next to nothing about her. He was out of his depth in this situation, making him wish he had a confidant, but his father's training had engendered a strong reservation toward trusting others with certain information, and his dealings with most other people hadn't inspired him to change his way of doing things.
After coming to the conclusion that he'd need more than the princess' kindness to open up to her, he figured it would probably be fine to try and address some concerns that were related to his troubled thoughts. Hoping that she wouldn't mind him evading her considerate questions, he looked askance and inquired, "If you were to adopt me, would that make me royalty? Would I have to," he re-established eye contact with her, "act a certain way?"
Celestia smiled reassuringly and said, "No. There is no line of succession to worry about, unless you want the responsibility and I find you worthy of it. And outside of being reasonably behaved, I hope you discover yourself if you haven't already."
With some disbelief, Ranma pressed, "Really? Even if it affects how others will think of you?"
Eyes dancing with mischief, Celestia leaned forward, turned her head slightly to one side and replied, "I would be looking forward to it," before winking at him.
After watching him stare at her incredulously for a few seconds, she pulled back and casually said, "So, do you still want to find a cloud to walk on? I'm afraid it's getting late, and I have to rise before the sun can."
"Uh, yeah, sure..." Came Ranma's distracted reply.
Celestia led him back to the window, which she opened long before they reached it. Once there, she lifted him in her magic and settled him upon her back. After she was sure that he had a firm enough grip about her neck, she placed her forehooves onto the sill before launching herself out the window, whereupon she spread her wings and glided toward a cloud in the distance.
Along the way, Ranma surveyed the moonlit landscape, and quickly discovered that the castle they'd left was built on the side of a mountain, with a large portion projecting away from it. There were waterfalls that fed into ponds, rivers and streams, both inside and outside of the city, which all flowed further down the mountain and eventually ran through a town in the valley as a single river.
Before he knew it, Celestia gracefully alighted upon the cloud. Once her wings were tucked back in and out of the way, she turned her head to regard him and said, "You may dismount whenever you're ready."
As acquainted as he was to falling from great heights and suffering no permanent injury, Ranma hopped off of the princess before it occurred to him that he wasn't in his usual body. Fortunately, right after the thought gave him a shot of adrenaline and made him go stock-still, he made a soft — if inelegant — landing that pushed out some puffs and wisps of the cloud.
While he prodded the cloud experimentally, Celestia took a few steps away from him before sitting down and folding her legs beneath her, which he absently noticed. He hopped in place, then again, before keeping it up, and eventually found out that the cloud had some spring to it while testing grip and friction. Once he felt satisfied with what he had garnered from that, he spared the princess a glance, noticed that she wasn't on her hooves, and proceeded to mirror how she sat. When he didn't fall through the cloud, he rolled onto his back without a second thought, where he made a pleasant discovery.
"Hey, this is really comfy," he remarked.
Celestia chuckled lightly and said, "Clouds make nice resting places for pegasi. Many use them as mattresses, despite the effort to maintain them."
Ranma rolled back onto his belly, and when he raised his head he noticed that it was hard to tell his mane apart from the cloud. "So," he began, before taking his gaze away from his mane, "pegasi can walk on clouds and fly. Can unicorns do more than move things around?"
"They can both do more than that," Celestia replied. "But, as far as unicorns are concerned, there's no real limit to what they can do; it's how we are able to understand each other, for example." Her expression turned more serious, as did her tone. "The real challenge is control and doing what you intend, when you intend it. For that reason most unicorns are content to only learn a couple of simple spells."
After Ranma chewed on that information for a few seconds, Celestia stood up and created a portal back to the guest room, and he looked through it with wide eyes.
"Let's head back," she suggested. "We can talk more tomorrow, if you'd like."
Ranma glanced down at the cloud, wishing he could try out more things with it, before reluctantly following the princess through the portal. He expected to feel something during the transition, he didn't know what, but all he felt was a shift in temperature as he entered the room.
Once he was fully in the room, he couldn't help turning to the princess and asking, "Is that hard to do?"
"Not at all," Celestia casually replied. "Even newborn foals can create portals."
Unsure if she was joking, or being serious and pretending to not entice him, Ranma remained silent while she closed the portal.
"Now," Celestia said, turning her attention to him fully, "I won't be free until the afternoon. If you'd like, I could ask my niece to keep you company and answer any questions you may have until then; perhaps give you a tour of the castle. She's a really nice young mare and I trust her implicitly, but I'll understand if you would rather keep to yourself."
Ranma considered her offer before asking, "Can I leave the room without her?"
"Of course," Celestia readily assured. "I only ask that you allow a guard to accompany you in that case, to assist you with directions and communication, and to offer protection if needed."
Cocking his head, Ranma asked, "Is this place dangerous or something?"
Celestia shook her head. "Not at all. But you are my guest, and seeking my help, so I feel it would be remiss of me to not do something to ensure your safety."
Nodding his head in understanding, Ranma eventually decided, "Alright; I guess I'll spend the day with your niece, then."
Smiling, with a bit of a twinkle in her eye, Celestia took a step back and said, "Then I bid you a good night."
With that said, she vanished with a flash of light.
Ranma blinked his eyes, partly in disbelief but mostly with the hope of clearing the afterimage from his vision faster. Once his view of the world was no longer impaired, he walked over to the mirror and stood in front of it, where he inspected his reflection much more carefully and earnestly than before. While he did, he also thought about his walk on the cloud, and everything that he'd seen a horn do.
After a while, he concluded that — at the very least — it would be interesting to live there if he decided to give it a trial run.
When Ranma woke up the next morning, he wasn't surprised that he'd had no trouble sleeping despite the circumstances. He'd long since learned the importance of getting an adequate amount of rest from his training journey, because his father rarely shied away from taking advantage of his exhaustion — especially when food was involved. Also, the training that allowed him to avoid danger while remaining asleep went a long way to ensure that he didn't wake easily.
No, what surprised him was his dreams.
Although far from a guarantee, he would have expected to have nightmares last night, if he had dreamed at all. Instead, his dreams had been strangely... pleasant. In one, he more or less relived the luxuries that he had enjoyed while staying at the Chardin's mansion, despite wearing an iron corset and starving at the time. In another, he was sprawled out on a cloud, lazily watching other clouds drift by, before eventually seizing one and molding it into a shape that distantly resembled a pony.
But the dream that his mind dwelled on most upon waking, in part because it had been the last, was the one where he found himself riding on Celestia's back while she flew over Nerima. There had been a sense of security and warmth there, and an idle acknowledgement that his forelegs were smaller than they should have been, but what he focused on in the present was the part where he saw his other self on the street below. Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi each had one of their limbs, obviously fighting over them, while a crowd of familiar faces surrounded them and created a din of demands, threats and taunts.
The message about his other self was obvious, largely because the thought had already crossed his mind that they had to deal with a mess that wouldn't fully apply to him anymore. Not that it had helped him to feel any better about his situation: he'd been willing to deal with said mess for the sake of the things that he liked about his life, after all. However, now that a lot of the things that he liked were no longer assured...
Thinking about it again wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he got out of bed and prepared himself to face a day that would likely have a significant impact on his immediate future, if not the rest of his life. Thankfully, although there wasn't a proper furo, he was able to have a relaxing soak in a large hot tub after taking a cold shower.
Shortly after calling for room service and taking a seat at the table, he heard someone knock on the door before an unfamiliar voice announced, "I'm Celestia's niece, Cadence. May I come in?"
He hesitated for a few seconds before inviting her in. The door opened, and the first thing to cross the threshold was a service cart, with a cloche-covered platter on the top shelf and things like tableware and beverages on the shelf below it. Immediately behind it was the owner of the voice, a female pony, seemingly around his own age, who had a pale pink coat, purple eyes, and a three-colored mane put up in a ponytail. Like the princess, she also had wings and a horn, although her wings transitioned to purple instead of fully matching her coat color.
By the time she had wheeled the cart over to the table, he couldn't help voicing his thoughts. "Ponies come in pink, too?"
Cadence giggled at his incredulous expression and genially replied, "Why, is no one pink where you come from?"
Ranma rubbed the back of his head and looked away as he said, "Er, not really..."
Cadence proceeded to move the platter onto the table, directly in front of him, and set some silverware in their proper places. They were shortly followed by small pitchers of syrup and honey, a glass of orange juice, and a stick of butter on a dish. He saw her magic aura appear on the cloche's handle, but she didn't lift it.
"You said anything would be fine for breakfast," she began, before raising the cloche, "so I hope you like pancakes."
As soon as the steam from the tall stack of pancakes washed over Ranma's face, and the scent it carried wafted up his nose, his mouth salivated. He almost forgot his manners and reached for the knife and fork, but he reined in his eagerness and brought his forehooves together before saying, "Itadakimasu!"
He typically took his time to eat when he wasn't starving, in a hurry, or being scrutinized in certain situations, but he started out even slower than usual because he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the princess' niece until he became more proficient at using his hooves. Said niece, who had chosen to sit within reaching distance of him on the left side of the table, seemed content to quietly drink her own glass of orange juice while he ate.
After he finished his meal, he leaned back and released a contented sigh. "That was really good. S'been a while since I've had pancakes."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Cadence said with a smile. "I wasn't sure what you liked, since you're from another universe, so I opted for something simple that wasn't a traditional food for ponies."
Ranma looked at her with confusion. "You made it?"
"Yes?" Cadence casually replied.
Ranma shook his head. "I just thought a servant would make it, or something." Wanting to change the subject to something more important, he asked, "So you know I'm from another universe?"
"Mm-hm," Cadence confirmed. "Auntie also told me that you aren't a pony where you come from, and that your name is Saotome Ranma."
Cocking his head, Ranma queried, "She didn't tell you that she wants to adopt me?"
Cadence perked up upon hearing that and grew excited. "Oh, she does?"
"Yeah..." Ranma confirmed, with a notable lack of enthusiasm. "But I still want to be a guy again and try to work things out with my parents and... other people."
That knocked the wind out of Cadence's sails, and her brow furrowed in confusion. "You're not female or an orphan?"
After taking a moment to decide that it wouldn't hurt to share information about himself and his situation with another pony, Ranma replied, "I have — had — a curse that changed me into a girl with cold water, and back to a guy with hot, but I got split in two while going through the portal. And, yeah, I have a family."
"I see," came Cadence's pensive response. She paused briefly before saying, "Well, if auntie wants to adopt you, I'm guessing it's not going to be easy to put you back together again, or change your sex." After he gave her a nod in reply, she leaned forward a bit, regarding him intently, and added, "And being female is off the table?"
Ranma looked away and evasively said, "It's... complicated."
Cadence's expression softened. "Alright; I won't pry. But, if things don't work out, I just want you to know — as somepony adopted by Princess Celestia — that you'll be in good hooves if you choose to stay here."
Ranma simply nodded his head to acknowledge the sentiment, since he didn't prefer that outcome. After a brief pause, to think of something else to fill the silence with, that wasn't about himself, he took the low-hanging fruit presented to him and asked, "Why are you her niece and not her daughter?"
Cadence considered him for a few seconds before folding her forelegs on the table and deliberately saying, "I have a good feeling about you. And I love the idea of having a sibling. So..." She smiled disarmingly. "If you promise not to share, I'll tell you."
Wondering why such a thing would be a secret, Ranma's interest was piqued. "Okay. I promise."
After taking a sip of her orange juice, Cadence said, "Well, apparently I'm distantly related to a princess who lived a thousand years ago. However, there is no known bloodline to connect me to her here; and, to add to the mystery, I was a very young foal when auntie found me at a... special place that was known only to her. Her leading theory is that I'm from another universe, and that my family might retrieve me one day. So, because she didn't want to replace my parents, she adopted me as her niece instead."
Ranma blinked his eyes. "Does your aunt make a habit of wanting to adopt people from other universes?"
Cadence smiled with amusement before leaning forward and asking, "Did she want to adopt you because you're from another universe?"
"Nah," Ranma replied, who scratched behind an ear self-consciously as he tried to recall the exact details. "It was because of some psychic feeling thing, my magic hair, and someone called Sparkle or something."
Perking up upon hearing that last part, Cadence intently asked, "Twilight Sparkle factored into aunties' motive?" After getting confirmation, she turned contemplative. Eventually, she smiled before querying, "Well, now that you've had breakfast, would you like to take a tour of the castle?"
Not having expected the topic to change like that, Ranma belatedly replied, "Uh... Sure."
With the assurance that it would be fine to leave the dirty dishes for the maid, he followed Cadence out of the room. As soon as the door was shut behind them and they began to walk down the hall of the guest wing, she looked over at him and casually said, "If you don't mind me asking: do you have any hobbies?"
Looking up thoughtfully, Ranma considered his answer until he frowned and said, "I dunno. Does napping and relaxing count?"
Cadence cocked her head. "Maybe? Was it necessary?"
"Sometimes," Ranma responded with a shrug. "I just learned to appreciate it during my training journey."
Curious, Cadence couldn't help seeking more information. "Training journey?"
"My old man's a martial artist," Ranma distractedly supplied, looking up at the stained-glass windows that occupied one side of the hallway that they had just turned into. "And he didn't want me... distracted."
"Is there a great need for martial artists where you come from?" Cadence inquired, sounding concerned.
After switching his gaze to her, and seeing the expression on her face, Ranma tentatively replied, "Uh... not really? I mean, at least where I live. I was taught martial arts because..." He paused, to ponder what the answer was, and grimaced. "Well, let's just say that it was probably more for the sake of passing it on to the next generation than anything else."
Cadence seemed to consider his words and body language before softly asking, "Do you like being a martial artist?"
Ranma turned his attention to the fore and said nothing, unable to trust what he might say. For whatever reason, he found it easy to talk with Cadence despite being a near-total stranger, and somehow she had advanced her inquiry to a very sensitive topic for him within minutes, one that — thankfully — hadn't been broached by anyone else. The problem was: while he could lie to them, he didn't think that Cadence had done anything to deserve it.
When it became clear that he wasn't going to answer her question, she opted to remain silent as they reached the turn ahead of them, where a door awaited on the window side. He watched her offer the two guards stationed there a smile before she opened the door and led him out of the building. After she paused to close the door, her eyes did a quick sweep of their surroundings before she sidled up beside him and gave him a brief but tender hug with one foreleg.
"If you ever wish to talk about it," she warmly told him, "or anything at all, my door will be open."
Stunned and confused, Ranma stood stock-still and stared ahead as she disengaged from the hug and walked away, feeling certain that he had missed something. After putting some distance between them, she turned aside and beckoned for him to follow, saying, "Come on; let me show you the garden."
Ranma hesitated for a second before he moved to follow, after convincing himself that he should give her the benefit of the doubt as far as her motives were concerned. She kept them on the stone walkway until they made it out of the castle's shadow, which was when she began to walk across the sun-dried grass. He could see a plethora of flower beds ahead of them, as well as statues and a fountain, which seemed to be a fraction of the garden if the other distinct areas — that he could see — were a part of it.
Along the way there, he decided to break the silence and sate some of his curiosity, since answering questions was part of the reason for Cadence's presence. Whatever he learned might prove useful later, if he chose to stick around for a while. "Say, um... How come ponies have pictures dyed onto their thighs?"
"Those are our cutie marks," Cadence replied, who looked over her shoulder to make eye contact with him as she continued to walk, "and they appear on their own when we realize something about ourselves that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives."
Ranma's brow furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?"
Cadence elaborated, "A cutie mark can represent a skill, task, role, lifestyle or a goal. When a pony gains one, they're guaranteed to have a talent for their calling and find it fulfilling."
A little perturbed that he didn't have a cutie mark, because of what it might mean, he opted to ask a follow-up question instead of dwell on it. "Why's it called a cutie mark?"
"It wasn't always called that," Cadence replied with a knowing smile. "For a long time it was simply called a 'quarter mark', but it was changed to 'cutie mark' during a period where 'quarter' was deemed too crude by the social elite. The change was primarily inspired by two things: how it was already common to call somepony cute if they got their quarter mark at a very young age, which was short for acute; and by a poet who romanticized quarter marks, named Cutie Pie."
Ranma considered that for a few seconds before frowning. "Wait, does that mean I'm dumb by pony standards?"
Cadence blinked her eyes incredulously before she understood what he was referring to, at which point she giggled and said, "Of course not. Even back then most thought it was superstitious for a pony's intelligence to be linked to when they got their cutie mark." Wanting to reassure him, she added, "Your situation is very unique, so I wouldn't worry about not having one."
"I wasn't worried," Ranma thought, trying to convince himself.
They walked among the flower beds in silence, mainly because Ranma couldn't think of any questions worth asking. It wasn't until they were moving around the fountain, on another stone walkway, that a question occurred to him, inspired by the water that had often determined his sex at inconvenient times. However, because of the subject matter, he was very reluctant to ask it.
Cadence seemed content to say nothing as they followed the path away from the panoply of flowers, which took them through a long pergola that was covered in flowering vines, mainly of the white and pink variety. Bordering the pergola, opposite of the castle, was a picturesque pond that hosted several species of waterfowl on the water, and loitering around the bank were other animals as well. Ranma tried to distract himself with the sights, sounds and smells of it all, but the question weighed heavy on his mind.
When they reached the end of the pergola, the stone walkway transitioned into a dirt path, which went through a fancy, wrought iron arch that was flanked by two large, square flower pots and continued into a grove of trees. Upon entering said grove, a couple of squirrels ran up a tree and a rabbit dashed into the safety of one of the few bushes in the grove. There was birdsong coming from somewhere unseen in the grove, but the birds that could see them watched their passage in silence.
Seeing the animals flee from them, and keeping their distance, was enough to convince Ranma that he should ask the question that was weighing on his mind. After figuring out how he wanted to frame it, he falteringly said, "Say, um..." When Cadence looked over her shoulder to make eye contact with him, he pushed ahead instead of retreating. "Do ponies, y'know, treat each other differently depending on, uh... differences?"
While he mentally berated himself for his performance, Cadence came to a stop, forcing him to do the same. After she turned around to face him, she considered him with a discerning eye before evenly replying, "This is clearly bothering you, so can you give me some examples?"
Ranma turned his head aside and looked down as he rubbed one foreleg with the other. "Like... Based on your sex, is there anything that's mandatory for a pony to do, or they're restricted from doing? Or... Is it normal to shame or ostracize someone for not conforming to social customs?"
He didn't see Cadence purse her lips, but he could hear the distaste for the subject in her voice when she replied, "While there are certainly traditions among families, cities and the three pony tribes that require certain physical attributes, by and large Equestria fosters individuality and the freedom to pursue what makes you happy." Her tone lightened as she added, "Just to give you a few examples from a nearby town... There's an annual event called the 'Running of the Leaves', a tradition started by Earth ponies, that allows unicorns and pegasi to participate so long as they don't use their horns or wings. There's also an annual competition called 'Sisterhooves Social', which I got to spectate a couple of years ago, and they allowed a filly's father to participate because the spirit of the event was more important than needing a sibling."
By now Ranma was staring at her attentively, whose interest had been piqued by what he was hearing.
"As for how we treat those who don't conform to social customs," she continued, with a slight frown, "it would depend. We're allowed a lot of self-expression, so somepony would usually have to go really out of their way for a whole community to turn against them. There are various groups who only want the company of like-minded ponies, of course, and you'll see a lot of them here, but — as a whole — Equestria is a pretty diverse place."
Seeing that she had succeeded in allaying whatever had been troubling him, she turned around and continued their walk through the grove. A few seconds later Ranma caught up with her, a few steps closer to her than he had been before. He felt better about the idea of staying in Equestria for a while, but still preferred a quicker solution to his problem and not missing a lot of time away from home.
The rest of the walk through the grove was uneventful.
Ranma spent most of that time wondering about Cadence, since he didn't think there was anything really crucial that he needed to know about Equestria that was left to ask — before making any kind of commitment to stick around, at least. It wasn't solely because he was warming up to her, but also due to rarely finding himself in a situation where he could get to know someone better and not need to worry too much about what he asked or shared.
When they left the grove, he could see a large arrangement of sculptures a fair distance ahead, and what appeared to be a very large hedge maze beyond them. Not wanting to spend the entire trek there in silence, he used their last conversation as a quick means of figuring out something worth asking her.
"Cadence?" When she looked over her shoulder, he asked, "Since you were adopted by royalty, and related to royalty, did you still get a choice on what kind of life you wanted to live?"
Smiling, Cadence replied, "Mm-hm. And I chose to be a princess because I can fulfill my life's calling on a scale that I can be satisfied with."
Wondering what she could be referring to, since the meaning behind her cutie mark wasn't apparent to him, Ranma tilted his head and queried, "What's your life's calling?"
"Family," Cadence replied easily. "I'll marry and have children, of course, but as a princess I can connect with, protect and foster everypony."
She had said it so naturally and unabashedly that Ranma was rendered speechless.
That wasn't the only reason for his silence, however, because he had also felt himself resonate with a part of it. He couldn't say which part it was, though: not only due to him being reluctant to consider most of it, but the part that he was open to was something that he'd done often enough and had never truly felt fulfilled by it; protecting others had often felt like a moral obligation and little more, and frequently didn't seem worth the trouble it brought.
He ended up spending the rest of the walk to the sculptures wondering what had appealed to him, and feeling uncomfortable throughout the process. Being vulnerable with someone and trusting that they would never take advantage of it, physical intimacy, having children, being responsible for said children... That wasn't a Ranma that he could envision yet — especially as a female. He didn't even understand why he wanted a family, between a father he neither respected or trusted, and a mother he'd been just fine living without until she entered his life.
It wasn't long before Cadence was introducing him to the sculptures as they passed them by, and he was glad for the distraction. What she told him about them was brief enough to not necessitate a pause in their walk, in part because most sculptures had no significance attached to them beyond what they represented and who made them. Apparently, sculptures of historical importance, or based on notable figures, were displayed at more respectable or appropriate locations.
The last sculpture was one that he couldn't help stopping for, however. It stood out from the rest because it bore the shape of a dragon instead of a pony, with its serpentine body and tail. Not only that, but each of its four limbs belonged to a different animal, its two wings were also mismatched, and its head appeared to be some combination of goat, donkey and deer instead of a dragon. Furthermore, unlike the basic and understated poses of the others, here the subject seemed to be dancing. Said dance was one he was familiar with, involving a squat position, crossed arms, and kicking out one leg.
"What's with this one?"
Unsurprised by his interest, Cadence readily replied, "This is Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. A long time ago he conquered Equestria and made life miserable for everypony during his rule."
"Why'd he do that?" Ranma asked, looking mildly confused.
Cadence cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Gesturing toward the sculpture, Ranma said, "I mean, if it's in his nature to be chaotic, why do the whole conquer and rule thing? Just seems like a very typical thing for someone to do with their power, y'know? Especially if he stuck with it instead of changing things up."
Cadence scrutinized the sculpture for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders and opined, "Perhaps the 'chaos' part was just a claim."
With that said, she began to lead him back toward the castle. After taking a few steps she said, "Judging by your reaction, am I right to assume you have spirits where you come from?"
"Yup," Ranma confirmed, who saw that they were heading toward a different entrance from the one they had used before. "We have all kinds of 'em."
Curious, Cadence asked, "Are there any like Discord?"
"In terms of power?" Ranma began, considering the kind required to conquer and control a nation. "Yeah, plenty. They aren't all that active, though."
"How come?" Cadence queried.
Ranma took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before replying. "Well, apart from the yōkai who fear us in general and avoid our attention, the stronger ones are typically old and spend a lot of their time sleeping. As for kami, they're usually passive or reactive, and we tend to respect and pray to them."
Cadence proceeded to ask him questions about the spirits of his world. Considering how many he had encountered during his life, especially recently, he had more information than most that didn't rely on myth or superstition alone, and he used the differences with reality to make his answers more interesting and entertaining. By the time they entered the castle, he forgot that he was on a tour, and she was too invested in her inquiries to properly provide one.
Their conversation went uninterrupted until they saw a pony enter the hall ahead of them, because they stumbled to a stop as soon as they caught sight of them before hurriedly turning around and dashing back the way they had come.
Ranma stopped and turned his head to regard Cadence before asking, "What was that about?"
"That looked like Prince Blueblood," Cadence replied, sounding unconcerned. "Don't mind him: he can be odd and bad-mannered at times, but it's usually for a good reason."
Ranma raised an eyebrow and pointed out, "It looked like he was running for his life."
Cadence merely shrugged her shoulders. "If it were any other pony I'd suggest asking him about it, but he has a talent for being elusive when he doesn't want to be found."
Pointing at his hindquarters, Ranma queried, "By talent, do you mean...?"
"Yup," Cadence confirmed, with a nod of her head. "The compass star is his cutie mark. If his goal is to avoid somepony, he'll probably find a way to do so."
Since he already had an adequate distraction while he waited for Celestia, Ranma disregarded the incident with Blueblood and started walking again. Cadence, with her curiosity in regard to foreign spirits adequately sated, followed suit and assumed her role as tour guide once more.
With his attention directed toward his surroundings, and being in a more populated area of the castle, he began to notice the stares, furtive glances, and whispers. He ignored them at first, assuming it was simply caused by an unknown pony being seen associating with one of the princesses. However, while Cadence was explaining their presence in the kitchen to a chef, said chef had stared at him with wide eyes and stammered a reply, which suggested to him that something more was going on.
So, as they were leaving the kitchen, he sidled up beside Cadence and quietly asked, "Say, what's with all the looks and whispering?"
Cadence kept her gaze focused ahead of them as she replied, "That's because it's been a long time since something this interesting has happened in the castle."
"People from other universes don't come out of mirrors all that often, I take it?" Ranma quipped.
With a chuckle, Cadence said, "No, they don't." More seriously, she added, "That said, I did tap into the rumor mill before breakfast, so I have a good idea of what everypony's probably talking about."
"You do?" Ranma responded, curious.
Cadence nodded her head. "Coming from the universe that Sunset Shimmer fled to was mentioned; as was a lack of cutie mark, which is understandable since it's very rare for a pony of your age. However, what was brought up most often was your hair, appearance, and... Mistmane."
Ranma gave her a sidelong glance. "Mistmane? That's not a hair thing?"
"She's a pony who lived a long time ago," Cadence informed him, sounding slightly amused. "And the reason why ponies are referencing her is because — among other things — she's known for her beauty and sublime hair."
The thought of being a good-looking female pony evoked a host of mixed feelings for Ranma, so he opted to steer around that part by saying, "That's what they call the kind of hair I have? Celestia said we're the only ones who have it, so I guess it makes sense that it's interesting."
"You're the fourth to have sublime hair in all of recorded history," Cadence pointed out, to emphasis how rare it was.
Ranma considered the significance of that before asking, "Who's the fourth one?"
Cadence silently regarded him for a moment before returning her gaze to the fore and saying, "It's not my place to say."
Although intrigued by her response, he didn't press her on it. Not just from not having enough interest, but to avoid spoiling the mood. Thus, the tour continued, although he mostly saw it as an opportunity to converse with her instead of familiarize himself with the castle. He suspected that she was aware of that, too, because she was always ready to engage with him even if it meant a new area of the castle would be disregarded.
After touring the castle they returned to the privacy of the guest room to have lunch, and following that they spent the afternoon exploring a variety of topics. Most of them were about the world beyond the castle walls and the one on the other side of the mirror, including their differences and similarities. Of course, given the circumstances, Ranma was the only one who got the benefit of seeing pictures of a foreign world.
At one point Cadence was reminded that he practiced martial arts and requested a demonstration, and he had been keen to accept: not just to show off what his life had been dedicated to, but find out how well his skills translated to a quadruped that had notable differences in dimensions and movement range. Despite some embarrassing moments during the adjustment period, he was able to impress his audience. In addition to that, he was pleasantly surprised by how much he could still accomplish with a pony body, and felt confident that he could condition his body to endure functioning on two legs for a longer period of time if he wanted to.
Shortly after dinner, with the room bathed in the rays of the evening sun, Ranma found himself feeling completely at ease while being in Cadence's company. He also couldn't help being intrigued by her and the idea of having a girl as a friend. Especially if he ended up sticking around for a while, because he'd never had the opportunity to talk with anyone for so long, or so freely, and he'd enjoyed it.
He was so comfortable that he was startled when he heard someone knock on the door. A second later he heard Celestia ask, "May I come in?"
Upon giving a positive answer, the door opened and the princess stepped into the room. She closed the door while she approached him and Cadence at the table, her horn alight and a book floating beside her head. When she reached them, she sat down across from him and set the book down on the table, its cover bearing the princess' cutie mark.
"How are you faring?" She kindly asked him.
"Good," he found himself replying, and surprised that it was true. He glanced at Cadence, who was sitting nearby, before looking the other way and self-consciously admitted, "I lost track of time, honestly."
Celestia smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
Turning to Cadence, she asked, "Out of curiosity, did you happen to take Ranma to the sculpture garden?"
Cadence's brow scrunched slightly. "I did." Then her face lit up with realization. "Oh, do you mean...?"
Celestia nodded her head. "I got word that Discord adjusted his position. He's now grasping his head and shouting up at the sky. Honestly, I can't tell if he's angry or in distress."
"Wait," Ranma interjected, "that's actually Discord and not a sculpture?"
Switching her attention to him, Celestia replied, "That's right; he was sealed in stone."
More curious than confused, Ranma asked, "But he can move?"
"Due to circumstances," Celestia soberly began, "the seal is not strong enough to completely immobilize him when he has energy."
Ranma blinked his eyes, nonplussed.
"He likely fed on your inner turmoil," Cadence helpfully explained. Seeing the look on his face, she tried to reassure him by adding, "Don't worry about it: it's been that way for a very long time."
Ranma hadn't been worried about that. Rather, it was the mention of his "inner turmoil" that had gotten his attention and worry. Intellectually, he knew that it probably wouldn't be hard to guess how he might think or feel, given his situation, but it was very personal to him and it felt like his privacy had been infringed upon.
His attention was brought back to Celestia when she pushed the book toward him, who said, "If you decide to stay here for any length of time, you can use this to communicate with Sunset Shimmer and stay up-to-date with events in your universe. At least, it's my hope that she will be accommodating after she was willing to send you to me for help."
After opening the book and seeing nothing but ordinary, mostly-blank pages, he regarded her with a questioning look.
In response, Celestia explained, "What you write in it will appear in its sister book, and vice versa."
Ranma silently considered the book, struggling to make headway on what course of action he wanted to take, when the princess said, "Ranma?" When he looked up to regard her, she compassionately told him, "I just want you to know: even if you decide to return home between now and tomorrow evening, we'll do our best to provide whatever counsel you might need."
Cadence reached over and placed her hoof upon his, and didn't speak until he met her tender gaze. "We'll understand if you are unwilling to share something with us, but our help will only be as good as our knowledge of the situation."
Unable to handle how much they seemed to care, and how they were able to discern that there was more to his situation than he had elected to share, he stood up and walked away from the table. Having a choice between looking at a wall, a wardrobe, or a mirror, he soon found himself staring at his reflection without knowing why.
No answers or insight came from the pony in the mirror, although it did make him realize how quickly he had become comfortable with his equine body. He'd thought that a week had been alarmingly fast for him to become comfortable with a new body, when he had switched from male to female and hadn't realized it had happened, but barely a day had passed and he didn't have to think about any of his movements or noticed how different they felt.
It raised familiar doubts that he usually tried to ignore, because he'd never been able to resolve them himself and had never felt confident that he could trust someone else with them.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the two princesses with their gazes directed elsewhere, giving him what privacy they could while awaiting his decision. His mind conjured up a phantom of Akane sitting at his vacant seat, then the princesses faded away as her circle of friends took their place. As he watched Akane receiving commiseration from her supportive friends, a scene that he had seen many times, he felt something clench within his breast.
He shook his head to banish the vision, then he turned back to his reflection and examined it from hoof to horn tip. There wasn't any doubt that he could live nine months as a pony, so the question was: should he? He could rationalize that he would be using the fast break technique to buy himself more time to figure out what to do, but he couldn't deny that he was now tempted by the idea of staying... and how conflicted that made him feel.
His frustration mounting, he glared at his reflection and impulsively decided to give the princesses a chance and open up to them. No one had a problem when girls did that, and no one was around to expose his birth sex — not that it would matter — or attack his manhood, so what was stopping him? It wasn't like he'd never utilized his female body for things that he wouldn't want others to see him do as a guy.
Despite how anxious he felt, he steeled himself and rejoined the princesses at the table, who regarded him with concern. After allowing himself a few measured breathes, he stared down at the tabletop and admitted, "I don't know what to do. If I go back as a girl, there's a good chance that I'll be expected to behave traditionally, or have to commit seppuku if I'm willing to live as a girl."
"What is seppuku?" Celestia cautiously asked.
Ranma hesitated, to consider giving a simple or detailed answer, and opted for the former. "It's ritual suicide."
Cadence gasped in horror. Celestia, however, schooled her features and asked, "Is that... normal?"
"Not really?" Ranma replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's more a case of having a mother who takes tradition and the honoring of vows very seriously, and a father willing to stake our lives on raising me to be a man among men so he could get my mother's approval for a ten-plus year training journey that required having no contact with her."
"Why would your father want to separate you from your mother?" Celestia calmly inquired, while Cadence silently gaped at him.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently he'd told my mother that her love would make me soft."
A long silence followed his response, with Cadence staring at him in disbelief and Celestia's eyes losing their warmth. The reactions worried him, and he didn't know whether to be more worried or relieved when Celestia closed her eyes for a breath before moving on.
She queried, "Would any other issues arise if you chose to live as a female back home?"
Ranma looked down at his forehoof, which he began to rock back and forth on the tabletop. "Well... Where I'm from there are certain expectations and disadvantages to being female, and some would apply to me if I do what's considered normal." His expression became one of disgust, and his tone reflected the same sentiment when he continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if either one of my parents arranged for me to marry a guy, whether I knew him or not."
Then he hesitated, not feeling comfortable with sharing the last issue that he could think of. Upon seeing the looks of concern that his pause had inspired, from two strangers who had been nothing but friendly and accommodating, he found the nerve to say, "Also, there's this girl that I'm engaged to." He bowed his head. "And I don't think she's interested in other girls."
Cadence leaned over the table and clasped his hoof between her own, her voice laden with sympathy as she said, "That's awful."
"It truly is," Celestia somberly agreed. "Because a year could be more than enough time for his twin to marry her."
Hearing his fear spoken by someone else, Ranma deflated and glumly mumbled, "Even if he doesn't, one of us will have to give her up."
Cadence moved over to his side, gently pulled him into a hug, and softly asked, "Can you?"
Ranma blushed and looked away, feeling uncomfortable from the contact but touched by the gesture, and the distraction made it easier to answer the question. "I don't know."
All he knew, for sure, was that he didn't want to be like the other guys and start fighting over Akane, either by competing for her affection or taking out his competition. Also, although he didn't want to admit it, his position made giving up Akane more practical for him than his other self.
Once a few seconds had passed in silence, partially to allow Cadence to comfort Ranma without interruption, Celestia inquired, "Is there anything else that concerns you?"
Ranma raised his head, to regard the elder princess, and admitted, "Well, thanks to my father, I have a second fiancée. My parents could force me to marry her, even though I don't like her like that."
After waiting to see if he would say anything more, Celestia asked, "Which set of circumstances do you dislike the least?"
"The one where I'm a guy," Ranma answered without hesitation, before releasing a heavy sigh. "It's just... It already feels like someone's trying to steal my life, and having no control over that for one or two years..."
While Cadence gave him a tender squeeze, Celestia regretfully said, "I wish there was more I could do for you. The only suggestion I can offer, is to go back home and try to make the best out of the situation. If — after a month — the best isn't good enough, you can come back here and plan your next step."
Ranma's brow furrowed with confusion. "What about trying this place out?"
"It's apparent that you want your life to change as little as possible," Celestia softly pointed out, looking sympathetic, "and I said I'd help you. Unless I have a reason to believe that you forgot about my offer, I won't remind you."
Ranma was struck speechless by the response and stared at her in disbelief. It was difficult to believe that someone could be so nice to him, to the point where it seemed too good to be true. For all that he knew, it could very well be a ploy to convince him that staying would be the best choice for him, when it was actually in their best interest.
Regardless of the motive, he acknowledged that staying might be the best of his options. No matter if he returned home as a girl or a guy, the most likely outcomes seemed so bleak. Starting over certainly wouldn't be painless, but perhaps nine months would be enough to convince him that — in comparison — it would be better to move on and leave his old life to his other self.
When he lowered his gaze, to contemplate what to say next, the bright cutie mark on the book's cover caught his eye. After considering what it was purported to do, an idea occurred to him, which seemed like a better alternative to going back as a girl and trying to work several miracles.
Once he fully committed himself to the idea, he looked back up at Celestia and resolutely said, "I'll stay here and see if I like it before making my final decision."
"Are you certain?" Celestia asked with concern. "Once the portal between our two universes closes, it won't reopen on this end for another nine months."
Ranma nodded his head, his expression grim. "I can't dismiss the option to start over out of hand, so I gotta know if it's something I can live with if things back home don't work out." He glanced at the book. "And I'm hoping Sunset can keep me updated on what my other self is doing while I'm gone."
"I understand," Celestia evenly replied, before levitating a quill and inkwell over to the table. "Would you like to send a message to Sunset Shimmer right now, to enlist her aid?"
"If you don't mind?" Ranma answered hopefully, before eying the quill doubtfully. "My English is kinda, well..."
Sunset Shimmer was doing her best to concentrate while she practiced writing basic Kanji, but her guardian, Ninomiya Hinako, was making it difficult.
She put down her pencil and looked across the cluttered low table, her brow knitting as she watched the young girl cram potato chips into her mouth, completely entranced by the anime playing on the television and oblivious to the mess she was making. Despite being very enthusiastic about teaching her in general, she was easily distracted by anything even remotely interesting.
...Still, she was pleased that she had found a Ponish speaker so willing to provide her with room and board, as well as eager to teach her whatever she wanted to learn. That alone made their meeting seem fated, but there were other coincidences that made her believe that going through the mirror had been her destiny.
The name of the country that she found herself in, for instance, was commonly understood to mean "origin of the sun." However, upon further investigation, just to be thorough, she'd found out that it could also be read as "sun book." What were the odds that she would end up at a place whose identity was tied to the sun, and could also refer to a book with her cutie mark on it?
Also, the ward of Tokyo that the mirror had taken her to, Nerima, literally meant "training horse." While that wasn't an exact match, horses were still a part of the equine family, and the closest relation to ponies as well. Regardless, training was exactly what she planned to do, until she felt ready to confront Celestia.
And speaking of training: in her pursuit to understand how magic worked for humans, she had encountered a symbol that kinda resembled the center of her cutie mark, called "yin-yang." She wasn't sure what to think about it by itself, but within the context of everything else she assumed that it was also a sign that her life was on the right track.
The only thing she really didn't like about her situation, was the fact that she lived at a place called "Friendship Apartments." It always reminded her of Celestia, who often tried to push her away by telling her to make friends. Honestly, it bothered her more than how small the apartment was, which was a single room with an attached bathroom.
When she saw a disappointed expression appear on Hinako's face, and heard what sounded like a commercial break, she told her, "Hey, sensei, don't forget to clean up before going to bed."
Hinako regarded her with a pout and whined, "But I'm tired..."
Sunset fixed her with a stern expression. "Do you want to set a bad example?"
Biting her lip, Hinako glanced at the television, confirmed that commercials were still playing, then jumped to her feet and said, "O-of course not!"
While she began to pick up the trash on the table, Sunset shook her head. Not only was it easy to take advantage of her passion to teach scholastically, but her desire to teach proper behavior as well.
She was about to continue practicing Kanji when her ears barely caught the sound of a familiar buzz. Turning her head to look at her backpack, placed near the head of Hinako's bed, she saw a faint glow emitting from the opening of the main compartment.
She frowned, wondering why Celestia had waited so long to contact her with the relay book. She supposed it could have something to do with Ranma, but whatever praise she might be willing to offer for that wasn't of any interest to her. After all, the reason she had brought the book with her, when the amount of items she could bring were limited, was to give the princess a means of apologizing to her when she realized the error of her ways.
Since the only way to know why she was being contacted was to look, she crawled over to her backpack and pulled the book out. Once she was comfortably seated on her legs, she opened the book and found the latest entry, suppressing the anger that flared up when she was reminded of how many pages had gone unused.
"Hey," she read, recognizing the princess' handwriting, "this is Ranma." Her brow furrowed in confusion, but her pause was brief. "My male and female bodies got separated when I went through the portal, and that's put me in a tough position."
"That's interesting," she thought, unconcerned about their situation.
"I've decided to stay here for a while, at least until the next time the portal is open, to see if I want to be adopted by Celestia or—"
"What!?" She screamed internally, her grip on the book becoming vice-like and her body shaking with rage.
She heard Hinako gasp in surprise and exclaim, "Sunset-chan, are you misbehaving!?"
Looking over her shoulder, Sunset saw her guardian standing with her arms akimbo and scrutinizing her with narrowed eyes. Having witnessed what she did to "delinquents" many times by now, and not wanting to experience it for herself, she hurriedly responded with, "N-no! I was just upset by something I read!"
Hinako appeared ready to inquire further when her attention was completely derailed by the sound of the anime's return. Sunset released a sigh of relief when her guardian quickly sat back down at the table and became enraptured by the television, completely forgetting about her.
Looking back down at the book, she reined in her anger before reading, not wanting her ki to flare up and draw unwanted attention again. "I've decided to stay here for a while, at least until the next time the portal is open, to see if I want to be adopted by Celestia or try my luck back home. I was hoping you could keep me posted on what male me is doing until then. I'd really appreciate it."
Disregarding the request for now, she scowled and wondered what Celestia found so special about Ranma. What did they have that she didn't, to get the same treatment as Cadence; who, very notably, had become a princess? She had spent years trying to prove herself, to elevate herself so high that they would always be close. However, the more that she had improved, the more that she had advanced through her lessons, the less frequent came the praise and more often she had been pushed away, to socialize with other ponies.
She didn't need other ponies. She had once thought that Celestia was the only pony that mattered, after the princess found her special enough to be her protégé, but she eventually realized that she wasn't any better than her parents. All her mother had wanted to do was continue her partying lifestyle instead of having anything to do with her unplanned child. And when the princess had chosen her to be her protégé, her deadbeat father had become jealous and his lukewarm treatment of her became cold.
She wasn't sure what Celestia's problem with her was. Maybe she was jealous of how fast she learned, feared her power, or grew uninterested in her, and that's why she had dramatically slowed down their lessons and tried to make her waste her time on others. Whatever the reason, not even the princess was going to prevent her from reaching her full potential, and for trying to discard her she would make her regret it.
As her thoughts turned to the other Ranma, she frowned thoughtfully.
While she was still upset that Celestia found them to be exceptionally special, she couldn't really be angry at them. Depending on how things turned out, she might even end up empathizing with them. Regardless of how she felt about them, though, they could be an unwitting spy for her while she learned human magic and figured out how to get the powerful humans to do her bidding. All she needed to do was ensure they remained there and stayed in contact.
With that last thought in mind, she went over to the table to get her pencil, where she noticed that her guardian was now sprawled across it and lightly snoring, a line of drool already pooling on the tabletop. She didn't pay it any mind, since it was a rather common occurrence, and brought her pencil back to her book.
After some careful consideration, she wrote, "I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'll let you know if anything notable happens with male Ranma."
Thinking that should be good enough, she returned the book to her backpack. Before she got back to practicing basic Kanji, she turned off the television and carried Hinako to her bed. After she was done tucking her in, she regarded her for a few seconds before shaking her head.
After Celestia finished writing the message in the book, she set it aside. Then, while returning the quill and inkwell to the desk, she said, "Hopefully she sends a reply tonight." Once her task was finished, she turned her attention to Ranma and continued, saying, "If not, simply keep the book nearby, because it will glow and vibrate when a new entry is made."
Ranma nodded his head in response.
With no immediate distractions forthcoming, he found his attention inevitably drawn back to Cadence, who was still hugging him, and he felt his cheeks match the warmth where their bodies made contact. He initially debated telling her to give him some space, or hint at what he wanted by trying to wriggle free from her grasp, but he couldn't convince himself to do either. It wasn't just because he didn't need to prove his manliness to anyone here, or fear the reaction from a variety of people, but because it was a very different hug from the kind he usually got.
It was nice.
Eventually, Cadence said, "I'm glad you decided to give us a chance." She gave him a final squeeze before drawing away from him but remaining by his side. "By the time I'm done doting on you," she went on, voice tinged with mischief, "you're going to be the softest pony in Equestria."
Ranma ducked his head shyly upon hearing that.
Celestia chuckled at his reaction before reassuring him, saying, "We'll only go as far as you allow us to, of course, so don't hesitate to tell us where you draw the line. Okay?"
With obvious relief, Ranma replied, "Thanks."
Cadence affected a pout for her aunt before she stood up and announced, "Well, I have a couple of errands to run before it gets too late, so I'll see you two tomorrow. Have a good night."
While Celestia bid her a good night in response, Ranma choked when he tried to do the same, because Cadence had planted a tender kiss behind his horn before walking away with a spring in her step. It had rendered him too flustered to say anything until after she left the room, much to his embarrassment.
"It seems like you made a very good impression," Celestia observed.
"Nah," Ranma replied, with a wave of his hoof. "She just feels sorry for me."
Smiling with amusement, Celestia replied, "I'll leave her to disabuse you of that notion."
Ranma snorted and crossed his forelegs imperiously. "When something is too good to be true, it usually is."
Smile vanishing, Celestia regarded him thoughtfully before saying, "If you're speaking from experience, I hope the next nine months won't be too much of a shock for you."
Before Ranma could formulate a response, the book began to glow and vibrate. After exchanging a look with Celestia, she got the hint and opened the book. Once she found the right page, she read, "I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'll let you know if anything notable happens with male Ranma."
While she had been reading, Ranma had moved over to the next side of the table so he could see the message himself, even though he could read very little of it. When Celestia raised her head, she seemed contemplative before she told him, "I'm glad that Sunset's looking out for you."
Ranma diplomatically nodded his head in agreement, rather than point out that his situation wouldn't have been possible if not for Sunset Shimmer's involvement in the first place.
After closing the book, Celestia met his gaze and informed him, "I had a room prepared for you, in case you chose to stay."
Ranma tilted his head. "What's wrong with this one?"
"Nothing, really," Celestia acknowledged. "I'm sure we can spare a guest room for the better part of a year. I just wanted you near, and I thought you might also prefer the privacy and having more freedom to personalize your room during your stay."
Remembering that he was going to give Celestia a shot at being his mother, Ranma realized that he was being given a choice despite that. Since he hadn't been given a good reason to distrust her yet, he decided that it would only be fair to try and make it work instead of dig his heels in for such a minor thing at the very start.
"Alright," he assented. "I'm ready to go when you are."
"Let me send this ahead of us, first," Celestia answered, before teleporting the book.
She proceeded to stand up and walk toward the door, which prompted Ranma to ask, "You're not going to teleport us, too? Or use that portal thingy?"
After stopping and looking over her shoulder, she casually replied, "And set a bad example for my daughter?" Upon receiving a dubious stare in response, she chuckled and explained, "Sorry; I have a particular fondness for walking and having a conversation when it's not a part of my official duties. We can take a shortcut, if you'd prefer."
Not knowing what to think about that, Ranma simply stood up and said, "Nah. A walk's fine."
Once they were out in the hall and walking side by side, Celestia looked down at him and said, "Because of my position, I must ask you to help me fulfill one of my obligations tomorrow morning."
"What obligation?" Ranma queried.
"A meeting with the press," Celestia replied. She continued, explaining, "Not so much about the potential adoption, although that will be the biggest point of interest for most, but to assure everypony that the age spell I will cast on you was not used frivolously."
Ranma cocked his head. "Helping someone can be frivolous?"
Celestia nodded her head. "Age spells are very restricted, to prevent somepony from abusing it and living indefinitely. Most of the ponies who qualify for it are those who had been comatose for a very long time."
"Makes sense," Ranma opined. Then, when a very recent memory surfaced, pertaining to both the princess and the subject, his eyes widened. "Wait, what you said last night... Is it normal for ponies to live for centuries, or...?"
"...Do I use a spell to 'freshen' up?" Celestia completed his question, with a disarming smile. "I do. Until such a time that another creature can move the sun and moon, without permanently debilitating their ability to utilize magic or abusing their power, I must remain to bear the responsibility — for everyone's sake."
Brow furrowed, Ranma inquired, "Have the sun and moon always needed someone to move them around?"
Celestia seemed to consider her answer before saying, "I don't believe so."
"You're not sure?" Ranma responded, confused.
Celestia nodded her head and evenly said, "There is much about the past that is unknown or uncertain, about both ponies and the world. Even my own lifetime is a font of myths, legends and oral lore." She focused her gaze ahead before adding, "We've had more than a thousand years to investigate the matter, and I still can't be certain if this is how the firmament has always been."
Ranma could understand that, considering all of the things that he experienced fairly regularly that most thought were ancient history or myth, although he wasn't accustomed to the mysteries of the past being that large in scale and so fundamental to one's life.
They turned down a hallway where a pair of guards were stationed at the other end, on one side of the junction. As if the sight of them had reminded her of something, Celestia said, "Oh, don't be surprised to see a guard stationed outside of your door tomorrow."
Remembering what she had said yesterday, Ranma wanted to assume, "Mostly for guidance and communication, right?"
"That's correct," Celestia confirmed. "Shining Armor's fresh out of the academy, and I thought this would be a good assignment for him to cut his teeth on." She turned to regard him with a playful smile. "Try not to give him too much trouble, alright?"
Bemused, Ranma replied, "What, are you expecting me to give him a little?"
Celestia looked up thoughtfully. "Enough to keep him on his toes, maybe?"
Looking at her askance, Ranma wondered if she was being serious or not. It was hard to tell because he didn't know her that well, with some instances last night being the only behavior he could compare it to.
After turning down the hallway that was being guarded, Ranma quickly noticed the double doors located at its midpoint, bearing a large image of Celestia's cutie mark. Once they reached them, the princess opened them without fanfare and led him inside. As he stepped onto a plush carpet, most of the room was softly bathed in light from several chandeliers, revealing a room that was much larger than he had been expecting for a living space, even for a castle.
He absently noted the sound of the doors closing behind him as he stood and took in the room. It had a high ceiling and was deeper than it was wide, on account of it having three distinct levels, with the bottom two partially covered by mezzanines. The first level, where he stood, was a living room that offered a variety of furnishings to sit or lay on, and provided an atmosphere well-suited for relaxing and socializing. The second level looked like a dining room, from what he could see from his vantage point, and seemed to accommodate a lot of people. As for the third level, distance and darkness prevented him from seeing what purpose it served.
Although he had seen his fair share of homes owned by the rich, as well as leaders of obscure groups of people, the room was still unique enough to impress him a bit. "Nice place."
"Thank you," Celestia graciously responded as she came up beside him. "Consider this your home during your stay. I hope it's to your liking."
Looking up at her, Ranma couldn't help chuckling before saying, "I've spent most of my life having a tent for a home, so I'd have to be crazy not to like it."
Celestia smiled slightly with amusement and hummed her acknowledgement. "There's still more to see, so I'll be keeping an eye on your sanity."
Ranma mirthfully snorted at her rhyming joke and followed her up the stairs on the right side of the room, which connected all three levels and ultimately led to a doorway. Along the way he saw more of the dining room, which had a hutch, cupboard, and other things like that under the mezzanine. The third level turned out to be a kitchen, and despite the dim lighting he was fairly sure that it was equipped better than most of the restaurant kitchens he'd seen.
Beyond the doorway was a spiral staircase, and when they began to climb it the sconces on the outer wall came to life and illuminated the way.
"Your room is on the seventh floor," Celestia informed him. "Mine is above yours, and you may enter it whether I'm there or not."
"That's kinda out of the way," Ranma noted with some levity. "You're gonna teach me how to teleport, right?"
Celestia chuckled and replied, "Teaching you how to teleport shouldn't be difficult, but don't worry: after I familiarize you with the other rooms, I'll show you how to traverse the tower quickly."
Soon after that assurance, they came across the first room. Celestia told him it was a bathroom, one primarily for guests since the bedrooms had their own. The second room was a library, and he was informed that he would have access to it after she had the opportunity to remove some books. The third room was the recreation room, which he was free to use so long as he left the darts alone until he was more adept with either his hooves or magic. For the fourth and fifth rooms, Celestia had turned serious and warned him to not enter either, which he didn't question. The sixth room was a spa of sorts, apparently providing a host of things pertaining to grooming and health that a simple shower or bath did not.
Finally, they reached the seventh room, whose door was sky blue and decorated by a smattering of life-sized versions of the princess' cutie mark. Said princess directed him to leave the staircase and stand beside her, on the platform in front of the door, before saying, "Now, if you don't feel like walking, simply do this in front of any door, or the landing at the bottom."
She proceeded to paw the floor with a hoof three times, and on the last stroke one side of each step collapsed, creating a smooth surface.
"A slide trap?" Ranma questioned, looking up at her incredulously. "Seriously?"
After coughing once behind her hoof, Celestia replied, "That's what it started as, I admit, but I've since modified it to do more. Allow me to demonstrate."
She moved onto the slide, then turned to face him and said, "If you do not use magic to grip or push with your hooves, there will be no effect. If you grip," she begins to slide downward, until she disappeared around the bend, "you will be sent in this direction." Then he was treated to the odd sight of the princess sliding back up and coming to a stop in front of him. "And it's the opposite direction if you push."
"I see..." Was all that Ranma could say, in light of the princess' latest quirk.
Seemingly unbothered by his reaction, Celestia rejoined him on the platform before pawing the floor three times, which returned the steps to their prior position. With that done, she casually opened the door and gestured for him to enter the room ahead of her, which was already illuminated.
When Ranma stepped into the room, he was momentarily distracted by the softness of the carpet, which felt surprisingly nice and would take some getting used to. Once he focused on the room as a whole, he saw that it was fairly large, and it seemed even more so because it wasn't furnished much beyond the bare necessities. On the far side of the room were two doors, which he assumed led to a bathroom and closet. As for the color theme: aside from the dark wood of the bed, nightstand and dresser, it was mostly beige and blue, between the blue carpet, the beige walls with blue trim, and blue curtains. Lastly, the nightstand had a lamp, alarm clock, and the book that had Celestia's cutie mark on it.
Apart from the promised comfort of the full-sized bed, he was pretty ambivalent about the room. It wasn't because he didn't appreciate what it offered, but even if he cared about the superficial details there was nothing that really spoke to his sense of style — if he even had one. Even when he had stopped wearing his dōgi several months ago, when his father had said that their training journey was over, all he'd done was pick a single style and stuck with it.
...Except for when he pretended to be a girl, but that wasn't something he was prepared to examine just yet.
"I hope it's to your liking," Celestia said from behind him. "I'd asked for minimal furnishings and a look that wasn't feminine, hoping that would be a good starting point. If you need anything changed, or added, please let me know."
Turning his head to regard her, Ranma sincerely replied, "Thanks. This is more than enough for my entire stay."
Celestia simply nodded her head. She stood silently for a few seconds before softly asking, "Are you ready for me to cast the age spell on you?"
"Yeah," Ranma answered as confidently as he could, trying to mask his nervousness. "This isn't the first time I've become younger."
Celestia tilted her head. "Oh?"
"Magic mushrooms," Ranma disclosed, as he looked askance and rubbed the back of his head. "The length of the mushroom determined your age when eaten."
Celestia smiled knowingly. "Perhaps you could tell me what happened, sometime. Now," her expression became one of reassurance, "don't worry: the spell will be quick and painless."
Ranma barely had enough time to nod his head before her horn lit up. A band of golden light appeared a second later and encircled him before closing in, but instead of pressure he felt an instance of vertigo as it burst into smoke. When the smoke cleared, his first impulse was to look down at himself, but didn't see much change. It wasn't until he looked over — and up — at Celestia that he really noticed his reduced stature.
"Oh," Celestia voiced in wide-eyed surprise. "You are adorable."
Ranma blushed and dug a forehoof into the carpet, feeling relieved to hear the compliment despite himself. "R-really?"
Celestia teleported a tall mirror into the room and set it against the wall before smiling encourangingly and saying, "See for yourself."
Ranma walked up to the mirror and stared at his reflection. Disbelieving what he saw, he leaned forward, until his stifles carried as much weight as his hind hooves, and really looked at his young visage. As far as adult ponies were concerned, he had no sense for what was considered beautiful, but he had absolutely no trouble identifying cuteness and he had it in spades.
Embarrassed by his reaction, he stood up and turned away from the mirror. Then he turned his head away from Celestia, when the expression on her face made it apparent that she had seen his.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Celestia soothed, before teleporting the mirror away. "You make a very cute filly."
Feeling conflicted, Ranma looked at her doubtfully. "But..."
Celestia shook her head and frankly said, "Are you happier being yourself, or fitting another's mold? Whether you stay or leave after nine months, I hope you have an answer to that question."
Ranma bowed his head and mumbled, "Easier said than done..."
Sidling up beside him, Celestia drew him against her side with a wing and earnestly replied, "It's rarely easy to find yourself, and where you fit. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you feel overwhelmed or hopeless."
Blushing, Ranma squeaked out, "I'll think about it."
Celestia chuckled softly and gave him a squeeze. "I hope you do. Now," she drew away from him and stood up, "after I lower the sun, there are a few matters that we need to address."
As Ranma watched her approach the window, he asked, "Like what?"
Celestia parted the curtains before looking over her shoulder, her expression schooled as she answered, "Your bedtime, for instance."
"Wha...?" Ranma voiced his surprise, his ears perked up in alarm. "You gotta be pulling my leg. I'm not even close to tired!"
Celestia held her expression for a few more seconds before she cracked a smile and stated, "Just kidding."
Ranma fell onto his face in response.
After enjoying his reaction, Celestia turned to face the window, lit up her horn and said, "Still, you may need to make some adjustments, between your new age and whatever you fill your schedule with."
"Schedule?" Ranma questioned, before picking himself up and watching the evening sunlight transition to moonlight.
Celestia drew the curtains closed before turning around to face him, saying, "Of course. Do you want to learn our history, or our language? Explore any hobbies? Assume any responsibilities?"
"Uh..." Came Ranma's intelligent response, since he hadn't really considered what all he would spend the nine months doing, beyond the adoption thing.
"And if you're up for it," Celestia continued, looking hopeful, "I can arrange a tour of Equestria."
"A tour?" Ranma said, intrigued by the idea. "Like, just cities and towns, or will it also include the wild parts?"
That seemed to bring Celestia up short, who contemplated her answer before replying, "I was imagining an expanded version of the annual trips I make." Her expression softened in response to his disappointment. "But, if it means that much to you, I'll try to include as many untamed areas of our land as I can."
Perking up at that, Ranma was quick to say, "Alright, then I'm up for it."
Smiling slightly with amusement, Celestia proceeded to point out, "Also, there will be a lot of ponies interested in you, and will vie for your time."
"Because I'm from another universe, right?" Ranma surmised.
"Mm-hm," Celestia confirmed. She paused before casually adding, "Also, they will be interested in your relationship with me, your sublime hair, any information or skills that may be unique to you, potentially the magical talents you happen to develop, your cuteness, how adorable you look when—"
"Okay!" Ranma interjected, his flushed cheeks undermining the effect of his furrowed brow. "I get it!"
Celestia relented, her deportment more solemn as she walked over and sat before him. "There's one more thing I want to address."
A little irritated from being teased, Ranma grumpily asked, "What's that?"
"Do you want to use a pony name?" Celestia queried.
Ranma blinked his eyes and cocked his head. "Is it necessary?"
"No," Celestia replied. "It would help you fit in, but beyond that there is no guarantee that it would be beneficial to you." Unabashedly, she revealed, "For the most part, I was hoping to give a name to my prospective daughter."
Ranma stared up at her hopeful expression, finding it hard to believe that someone could be so candid with him about their intentions without being manipulative. It sparked some suspicion, based on past experiences, but he was willing to give people the benefit of the doubt until they proved themselves untrustworthy, and so far the princess had yet to earn his distrust.
Regardless, the idea did help him realize that he would probably need to change his name in the future anyway, since having two closely-related people named "Saotome Ranma" was going to be problematic to others whether he was a girl or a boy, and his other self would probably have a stronger claim to the name. So, it might be a good idea to get accustomed to responding to a name other than "Ranma", whether he stayed in this universe or returned to the one he was born in.
However, before he could commit, he needed to know something first. "What name do you have in mind?"
"Arcadia," Celestia provided with a smile.
Not feeling good or bad about how the name sounded, Ranma asked, "Does it mean anything?"
"It's a mythical place," Celestia answered. "Said to predate Ponyland, and be the birthplace of ponykind. It's depicted as a paradise, where innocent ponies lived in peace."
Ranma regarded her with doubt as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You think it suits me?"
Celestia shook her head before kindly saying, "I chose 'Arcadia' because I hope it will be reflective of your time here. You have some tough decisions to make, and potentially a difficult road ahead of you, so I'll do what I can to make your stay pleasant."
Ranma considered her quietly, seriously wondering if she was actually real. An equine princess, from another universe, who could move the sun and moon, was over a thousand years old, and was very friendly and compassionate? If he wasn't so sure of his wakefulness and recent experiences, he would have assumed that such a description could only be found in fiction. Yet, here she was, and he had her attention; she wanted him to be a major part of her life, in fact.
"Alright," he finally decided, sounding more confident than he felt. "I'll go by 'Arcadia.'"
"Are you sure?" Celestia queried with some concern. "I don't want you to feel like you're being forced."
Ranma waved her concern away. "It's fine. I'm giving the adoption a fair chance, and assuming a pony name is probably the least I can do."
"Thank you," Celestia replied with a gracious smile. Then she glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand and released a small sigh. "Unfortunately, I must take care of some business before it gets too late."
Ranma nodded his head. "I understand."
Celestia leaned down and kissed the top of his head, making him blush, before warmly saying, "I'll have more of my time freed up for you in a few days. Good night, Arcadia."
Ranma silently watched her leave, his face still flush. Absently, he pressed a hoof to his breast, where another source of warmth had blossomed.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" He murmured.
