> A Pony's Humanity > by DJSkywalker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pain. That was the first thing he felt. Spreading like a wave across his body, the epicenter being his very spine. The cause? A large, flat piece of wood that he’d found himself upon. Eyes of bright green were forced shut from the aches racking his body before they could open just enough to see a set of violet staring back only a few feet away. Silence echoed through the room as the two pairs stared into each other, but eventually it would break as he vocalized his feelings. “OW MY BACK!” The door opened with a slight ringing as the owner of the Golden Oaks library stepped back inside her home, sweat dripping off her horn as she let out an exhausted sigh, wiping her purple furred brow, followed closely by a gaggle of other ponies. Twilight Sparkle, newly crowned alicorn princess glanced back as her friends welcomed themselves into her home to rest up. Rarity always made her spot first, taking over Twilight’s couch to lay across her back, her horn bringing up a hidden hoof fan that seemed to wave on its own. “I am absolutely drained!” she lamented with her posh voice, looking over her usually well-cared for mane. “I swear if I find a single split end in my mane from those vines, Discord and I will have words.” A flutter of wings told the unicorn another friend had approached, smiling at Fluttershy who had hoofed over a glass of iced tea from the kitchen. “I know we’re on edge girls, but let's please not threaten Discord. He did help us clean up everything in the end, after all.” Her soft voice had a unique way of calming her friends, even in their exhausted state. “Sure, Shy,” Rainbow gave in quickly, zipping by to grab some refreshments as well, now resting atop a cloud she had smuggled into the establishment, much to Twilight’s chagrin. She narrowed her eyes at her pegasus friend, but gave in with another sigh. She was just too tired for a scolding about how bringing extra moisture inside was bad for the books. Applejack was the next to get a glass of tea. “Thank ya kindly,” she smiled at Fluttershy as she downed the entire glass. While used to hard work on the farm, even Applejack could feel the excess stress on her muscles. “At least we got everythin’ all cleaned up. Things can git back to normal by tomorraw.” There was a loud gasp, all eyes turning to Pinkie Pie, the only member of their friends not any worse for wear after their latest adventure. “Should I-” “Throw a party?” all of her friends finished for her. The party pony stared at all of them for a moment before turning to a wide grin. “Ladies, you read my mind! Best way to clear everypony’s mind of all that nasty plunder vines and give ‘em a big ol’ smile!” The girls all had a small chuckle, the former wielder of the element of laughter already upping their spirits. “How about we talk about parties later, please dear?” Rarity asked through a small giggle. “I believe the rest of us are quite tuckered after the day, but we’ll be happy to talk about it after some rest.” Twilight nodded along. “I think that’ll be best. We’ve all had enough excitement for now and we don’t want to be all out of excitement for one of your parties, would we?” Pinkie’s horrified face quickly shook to give the princess her answer. “Good. Now, I wouldn’t mind some of that ice tea and a good book.” As if the universe itself had decided to spite the princess, their calmness was interrupted as storm clouds suddenly formed in the library, encircling the central desk. The wind picked up, causing papers to scatter about, lightning flashing above their heads. “Rainbow!” Twilight instinctively scolded. “It wasn’t me, I swear! My cloud’s all nice and poofy!” Turning back to the storms, Twilight watched in horror as a swirling abyss opened within the clouds, spiraling above them like an encroaching tornado. Her hoof lifted up to protect her eyes, trying to think of what spell this could possibly be as well as how to counter it. Her thoughts were interrupted when Rainbow called out, pointing into the abyss. “There’s something coming!” “Brace yourselves!” Applejack cried, tackling Pinkie to the ground as she had just been staring at the portal with a goofy grin. Sure enough, Rainbow’s call hadn’t been incorrect as a shape became clearer and clearer as it fell from the abyss and only moments later, a body came crashing down on to the library’s table, Twilight grateful it didn’t break as there was already enough furniture to replace from the day’s events. Quickly as it appeared, the vortex swirled into oblivion, the wind dying down instantly, leaving everything to settle back to the ground. Putting her hoof back down, Twilight approached the body, looking to see a young stallion with deep blue fur. The outstretched wings instantly made it clear of the race, though she curiously couldn’t see a cutie mark on his flank like hers and her friends. Applejack poked her head up, eyeing the pony. “A pony? What in the hay just happened‽” “Some kind of vortex,” Twilight was quick to answer, making her way closer to the stranger, leaning right into his face as she tried to tell for herself. Though not even a moment after doing so, the stallion’s eyes opened to meet hers. A strange quiet settled between the two for the briefest moment before the stallion let out a pained hiss. “OW MY BACK!” he shouted, putting the girls all on edge. Rainbow and Applejack were the first to jump to Twilight’s side, cautiously glaring at the newcomer as he tried to roll off his back, letting out hisses and groans. “Ok, ok, come on, come on,” he mutters before finally being able to roll over. “That’s gonna sting for a while.” A hoof rubs his back soothingly as he looks around him, taking in his surroundings properly, blinking a few times. “What the? Am I dreaming or am I surrounded by multi-colored ponies?” That question took the others by surprise, even more questions populating in their heads. “Uh, you look in a mirror lately, dude?” Rainbow so “casually” asked. “What’s that supposed to…” The stallion’s question trailed off as he seemed to stare at Twilight, eyes narrowing. Twilight could feel a sweat growing at how intensely he was staring at her, wondering if he knew her, or if she had wronged this pony in some way, or maybe- “My nose is longer,” he finally spoke, the sense of dread instantly falling out of the surrounding posse’s brains. “What?” Twilight managed to ask, trying to feel embarrassed that he hadn’t actually been staring at her. Though her question went unanswered as the stallion started looking at his hooves and arms. “Oookay, this is super weird,” he said aloud while getting a close look at his hooves. “They’re so flat yet I can still feel like I can pick something up.You’d think without fingers…” He trailed off again, before he blinked, looking to his side where the tips of his feathered wings were stretching out. “Woah! So I can stretch like tha- I have wings! I have wings!!” He started laughing, rolling about on the table as he tried to grab his own wings. Applejack felt herself deadpanning at the scene before. “Do we need ta get a doctor? Fer the feller’s brain?” “You mean if there’s one in there, darling.” “D-don’t you think that’s a bit mean, Rarity?” Pinke couldn’t help but giggle. “He seems like a lot of fun.” She then turned to Twilight who was staring at him in curiosity. “Bit for your thoughts, Twilight?” Twilight blinked, realizing she’d been staring. “Sorry. It was what he said. Something about fingers.” “An’ what’s that mean?” “I’m not sure, but it gives me a hypothesis.” She would then walk closer to the stallion again who’d finally caught a wing to look at closely, staring in fascination. “Excuse me? Sir?” “Hm?” The stallion’s attention turned to the pony before him, finally able to properly look at her. “Oh sorry, guess I got carried away. I think most in my situation would be freaking out, but I don’t know. It’s really just… interesting.” “What do you mean ‘your situation’? You mentioned ‘fingers’ before as well. Were you not a pony before?” The stallion shook his head, getting looks of confusion from the girls around him. “I was a human before I… crashed here,” he finished after looking at where he was currently resting. “I thought so. I wonder if you found a different portal from the otherside of the mirror.” “Mirror?” Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, thinking aloud, but since you don’t know what I mean, we can rule that out. Does Canterlot High ring any bells?” He was quiet for a moment, his eyes blinking every now and then his face scrunched more and more. “No, it doesn’t. Actually, nothing does. I-I can’t remember.” “Remember what, dear?” Rarity thought to ask. “A-anything! Why can’t I remember anything‽” The pony started to take deep breaths, putting his hooves to his head as he scrunched up his face. “It’s like they’re right on the tip of my tongue but nothing is coming!” The girls all looked at each other for a moment, their eyes of matching concern being all they could do before looking back to the ailing stallion. “Nothing? What ‘bout yer name?” Applejack was the first to ask, only for her expression to dower at seeing him shake his head. “All I can remember was being human. Nothing else.” He finally looked at the group of ponies that had him surrounded, at first worried he might be in danger, but that thought quickly melted seeing the six faces of concern for him. Slowly he took his hooves down, looking between this color cornucopia before him. He felt a sensation on his hoof, looking to see Twilight had gently grabbed hold of it with her magical aura, gently pulling to meet hers, a calming smile on her face. “It’s going to be alright. Let’s see if we can help. Let me start by introducing myself: I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you.” The stallion stared at her for a moment before meeting her smile with one of his own. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Did I get it all that time?” The stallion asked with uncertainty, gently rubbing his head. Twilight nodded. “Perfect. At least your short term memory appears to be intact, when you’re paying attention, that is.” “I said I was sorry. These wings are so distracting.” He stared at the one on his left side, lifting it up and admiring the feathers, his eyes examining each individual- “We’re losin’ him again,” Applejack chuckled, having settle back down with the others not too far away. They had finally been able to relax after the scare of the strange stallion, getting fresh refreshments with one addition. “Y-your drink is gonna go cold, sir,” Fluttershy reminded him, bringing the stallion out of his own head again as he looked to his right where a fresh glass of tea was sitting. He looked at the glass for a moment before back down to his “seat”, putting together that he was still sitting right on the library table. “Oh, uh, sorry,” he jumped down off the table, landing on all four hooves, resulting in a befuddle expression. “Now that’s odd. Shouldn’t I feel unstable on all fours?” Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Humans are bipedal by nature, but maybe you’re not as unfamiliar with the sensation? Or it could be a side effect of whatever altered your body in the first place.” She watched him take a few careful hops in place, watching closely for any unsteadiness herself. “You’re right that there doesn’t seem to be anything off about your idling stance at least.” “Well, at least I’m not flailing around.” With a soft sigh, his wing reached out and took hold of the glass on the table, bringing it to his lips to down the cooling drink, pulling it away for a moment. “Woah, what is this‽ It’s delicious!” Rarity blinked for a moment, her own expression mirroring her friends as they watched the stallion. “It’s tea, darling. Is that… comfortable?” “This is tea‽ Wow, it tastes nothing like I remember. I hated tea.” He quickly drinks the rest of the glass dry, leaving it to clatter with the unmelted ice as he set it back on the table. “And what’s uncomfortable?” “Pegasi don’t usually use our wings like that, dude,” Rainbow said from her cloud, her face slightly scrunched. “You could damage your feathers if you’re not careful then say goodbye to flying for a while while they heal.” Her eyes started to dart about for a moment as he was now staring at her. “Dude, you’re staring.” He shook his head. “Sorry, sorry, just… you’re on a cloud! That’s so cool! Wait, fly? I have wings, duh! How did I not put that together‽ I could fly now! That’s awesome!” “Looks like he’s your speed, Dashie,” Applejack joked with a smirk, letting out a laugh as Rainbow tossed a piece of cloud at her. The others couldn’t hold back a few giggles as well, Twilight rolling her eyes before looking back to the mystery pony. “Let’s put aside the thought of flying for the moment,” she said, holding back a giggle as the stallion let out an “Aw.”. “We should be focusing on how it is you got here. You’re sure you don’t remember anything?” He shook his head, a frown returning to his face. “Sorry, nothing. It’s all a blank.” “O-oh, um, but you remember not liking tea?” Fluttershy asked, before slinking back a little bit. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” “You do have a point, dear,” Rarity turned and eyed the stallion, narrowing her gaze as if she were looking at a piece of stitching. “You’ve remembered this sensation of ‘fingers’ and now not liking a specific beverage. It’s rather inconsistent, if I may say.” All eyes turned to the pegasus as he tapped his chin, gently sticking a tongue out the side of his mouth. “What’s the best way to put it? It’s like theres this checklist in my brain, a list of information rather than any experiences.” “Like looking at a trivia section of a book summary?” Twilight brought up, getting knowing smirks from her friends who she gave a quick glance at with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. Though all their eyes shot up in surprise as the stallion shouted, “Exactly! That’s exactly what it’s like!” he beamed as he stretched his wings, looking at the feathers as if they were hands. “Trivial bits of my life back home. I can remember liking chocolate, sodas, burgers. I can remember I had a family; parents and a younger sister, but I can’t remember their names or even their faces or their voices.” His expression dipped more and more as he spoke. “It’s like faint ghosts clinging to my mind. I can recall brief glimpses of my world; computers, airplanes, the space station-” “The ‘what’ now?” Twilight briefly interrupted. He shook his head. “And it’s gone. Dang, I had something solid on the tech front, but it just slipped right on by the moment I lost focus.” Twilight blushed bashfully. “Sorry, I got curious about what you’d said.” She then watched as Applejack walked up to the stallion, placing a hoof upon his shoulder. Their eyes met for a brief moment, the farm mare giving him a knowing yet small smile before giving him a hug. It was brief but the stallion was left staring for a moment. “What was that for?” he asked genuinely. She gently tapped his shoulder. “Ya looked like ya could use it, sugar. I know a bit about what you were feelin’ ‘bout yer family.” “Oh,” he replied with a blink, feeling at a loss for words. “W-well, thank you, Applejack. I appreciate it.” She gave him a wink as she headed back to her seat. “Just ‘AJ’ is fine, all good between friends.” He found himself blinking again. “Friends? But we just met.” “What’s your point?” Rainbow decided to answer. “We’re all friends here, and that includes you, blue.” “Blue?” he asked, tilting his head up at her. “I mean, have you looked at yourself?” “Well, only parts I can see.” Twilight blinked, realizing that the stallion hadn’t had a chance to see his changed appearance. “I hadn’t even thought of that.” Her horn lit with magic power as a small mirror appeared in the air around her, floating over and in front of the stallion. “There, take a look.” He did indeed, looking into the mirror, seeing a blue, furry face staring back. His green eyes look up at his mane, using a hoof to pull on some of the strands and then letting go into the messy swoop of light and dark blue that was draped over his head. He flexed his wings a little, getting a good look at his wing span and then down to his… “I have a tail‽” Pinkie snorted and chortled. “That’s silly, Blue! Of course you have a tail, you’re a pony, duh!” “Humans don’t have tails, Pinkie,” Twilight corrected. “Oh, I thought they were monkeys!” “Related to apes, actually,” the stallion added before blinking and then frowning. “Oh sure that I remember.” He then let out a sigh as he gave himself another once over in the mirror. “Well, I can’t say the nickname isn’t deserved. Pretty much blue all over, save the eyes. I don’t think they used to be this green, but pretty close. Everything else is completely different.” “It’s a lovely trio of shades if I may say,” Rarity complimented, setting her tea down. “And we do have to call you something, as simplistic as it may be.” He put a hoof to his chin, looking up in thought. “You got a point there. Don’t wanna be just some nameless pleb until I figure things out. So, sure, I guess ‘Blue’ will work.” He then smiled as Twilight made the mirror disappear, sitting before the gathered mares. “It’s nice to meet you all, you can call me Blue.” “Nice ta meet ya.” “A pleasure, dear.” “H-hello there.” “Cool, blue-dude.” “Happy day to ya, Bluey!” Twilight smiled as all her friends gave Blue a proper greeting, nodding her head to him. “Welcome to Equestria, Blue. You can count on your friends to help you.” He smiled back at all of them. “Thank you, all of you. I think you six being around has definitely made this much easier to settle. I can only imagine if I just appeared in the wilderness or worse, I’d probably be screaming my head off or doing something incredibly stupid.” “It’s no trouble, dear. We most likely would be having difficulties if we hadn’t already absolutely tuckered ourselves out today. It’s been an absolute roller coaster of a day, for all of us.” Rarity leaned back against the couch with an extra tired sigh. “So whatcha gonna do, partner?” Applejack asked, readjusting her hat. “Ya said you’re gonna figure things out, but what’s that mean?” “Well, far as I can tell, for the time being, I’m pretty much stranded in a place I know nothing about, in a body not my own. I guess at the moment, all I can do is at least find some stability while I try to see if I can get my memory back. That might be the key to how I got here, and maybe it’ll be a way back. Not gonna hold my breath though.” “Why not?” Twilight tilted her head. “Shouldn’t you want to go home? Return to everything that you used to know as normal?” Blue shrugged his shoulders. “I’d have to know what ‘normal’ meant to me. I’ve got nothing to go off that tells me things are even wrong. I can remember being human, but is that even true? There’s just so many variables and mystery to all this and I rather focus on making sure my tomorrow isn’t grim before I focus on solving the future. Speaking of tomorrow,” he rubbed his head, now thinking aloud, “what am I gonna do about money? I doubt a hotel will take ‘sorry I’m an amnesiac with no coin’ as a suitable deposit.” Applejack let out a soft snicker. “Yeah that ain’t gonna fly, even in Ponyville. But yer right ‘bout that, sugar. Gonna need a place to lay yer head.” Twilight raised her hoof. “Well since you’re already here, I do have a spare room you can use.” The others all turned their eyes to the alicorn, Blue blinking a few times. “Are you sure, Twilight? I wouldn’t wanna inconvenience my new friends.” Rainbow smirked, “So we are your friends, eh?” He shrugged in response. “Who am I to turn down an offered hand of friendship? Well, hoof, in this case.” “That’s one reason why I’m offering,” Twilight explained, walking up close to the stallion. “We all have offered to be your friends, and friends don’t just let each other sit out in the cold of night.” “One reason?” Blue responded with a tilt of his head. Twilight gently rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “Admittedly the other is rather selfish. You’re an interdimensional being, whether intentional or not. As a scholar, I can’t let this chance go to waste to be able to talk with you more! Maybe even do some advanced studying!” Blue blinked again, putting things together in his brain. “Alright, I think I can agree to that as a condition. But no probing, drawing the line in the sand there.” “Yeah, Twi, at least take him out to dinner first before you get to probing,” Rainbow smirked before falling over on her cloud laughing as Twilight and Blue’s faces both exploded into matching deep red blushes. “Not even remotely what I meant!” Blue tries to quickly put out the growing metaphorical fire before him. “I-I just don’t want to become a science experiment, okay?” Twilight cleared her throat, using her wing to fan her face lightly. “T-that’s ok, Blue. I can respect your wishes. Just simple academic questioning and studying. It should help you more acclimate to your body as well, so, bonus?” Blue smiled and nodded, letting the embarrassment slide. “Bonus indeed.” He chuckled and looked around at his new gang of friends as they started chatting amongst themselves before he looked back at Twilight. “So Ponyville, huh? What can you tell me about this place?” > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time flew by as the mares regaled Blue with their many descriptions and stories of Ponyville, getting more than a few shared laughs and moments of awe. Sadly, all good things had to end as the sun started to set outside the library, the glimmering orange light catching Applejack’s attention first. “Aw shoot, looks like Ah lost track of time. Should’ve been back at the farm hours ago, we got lots to get ready for the harvest and now gotta clean up them darn plunder vines.” She stood up from her spot, stretching out her legs and back until a loud ‘pop’ sounded, causing everyone to blink for a moment before she sighed with a smiled. “There we go. Be seein’ ya, everypony.” She tipped her hat and glanced at the stallion. “Don’t be a stranger, Blue. Come by the farm when ya got a chance, Ah always like to show off mah family’s hard work.” He smiled back at her and nodded. “I’d love to see it, AJ. Have a good night.” “I-I should go as well,” Fluttershy gently lifted herself up with a small flap of her wings. “My animals are probably getting hungry and they deserve a treat after all the commotion.” “I feel like I could surely use a treat too!” Pinkie giggled, bouncing up on to her hooves. “I’ll go help the Cakes prepare some snacks for tonight and then I’m gonna start the preparations!” Blue looked around as the girls all giggled back at Pinkie, sharing glances to one another as his head looked from one pony to the next. “I feel like I’m missing some context here.” “Don’t worry, Bluey; you’ll find out soon enough~,” she replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows, more so than the newly made pony thought possible before she bounced to the front door. “There’s a lot to do in Ponyville, make sure to come see us all!” “I concur, dear,” Rarity gently stepped off the couch, checking her mane briefly before smiling with a strong smirk. “Don’t let Twilight’s studious nature rub off on you during your stay. We’d love to see more of you.” Twilight gasped with a pout at her friends as they all chuckled. “H-hey, I’m not that bad!” muttering an “anymore” under her breath as they all just grinned at her. Blue, for his part, was unsure of what was happening, but couldn’t help a small smile just seeing the dynamics playing out in front of him. Eventually, he would stand and bow his head to them all. “I promise to come see you all as soon as I can. And thank you all so much. Not only for the name, but for giving me a chance.” Rainbow flapped down from her cloud and gently buffed his shoulder with her hoof. “It was nuthin’, my guy. Nothing bad happened and you’re not exactly a monster of the week whose flank we had to kick.” Blue couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Thank the Lord for that,” he chuckled with his eyes closed, missing the glances he got for a moment. “Six ponies coming at me with the powers you’ve told me about? That may be some fella’s thing, but it certainly ain’t mine.” With a small chuckle coming from the others, they made their leave from the library, each giving one last farewell as they left, the door coming to a close after Fluttershy, leaving Twilight and Blue alone, the two glancing at each other as a silence settled. After a few moments, Blue cleared his throat, catching Twilight’s attention. “Well, it is getting a little late like they said, so, you hungry?” Twilight’s stomach answered for her, a loud gurgle echoing in the otherwise quiet building, getting a soft pink on her cheeks. “Yes, dinner would be great. I can go make some sandwiches if that’s alright. Unfortunately, I’m not all that great at cooking.” “I’m not that good either,” Blue admits with a smile. “But I think a warm meal would do us some good with the day you’ve told me about and all of…” he motioned to his entire body, “this. So if you’d let me, I wouldn’t mind cooking something up. If you got some pasta, I’m pretty good at some spaghet,” he chuckled to himself before blinking. With a tilt of her head, Twilight responded ahead of him, “I take it that was another of your weird trivia notes that you were left with?” With a nod as an answer, she gave him a gentle smile. “It’s alright. I can pick up on a few bits of ‘humanism’. Don’t be afraid to let them slip if they feel comfortable. And I do happen to have some pasta in the pantry, but I will not let you cook, alone at least. So if you know what you’re doing, I’ll be happy to help.” Blue couldn’t help a smile forming on his muzzle in return. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll get the noodles and we can work on the sauce together while they cook.” The two shook hooves on it before Twilight led the way to her rather simple kitchen. The library housing itself was rather limited compared to the central business. The kitchen was barely more than ‘nette’, consisting of a large sink facing the back window, a built-in oven with a stove top, a pantry built into the far wall, and even a refrigerator, which Blue couldn’t help but comment on. Twilight nodded. “It’s an older model, but works well. I did have to replace the crystal not long after I moved here, but that one has yet to run out, knock on wood.” She tapped her hoof on the log countertop with a soft giggle. “A crystal huh? Guess that’s magic for ya,” Blue responded as he grabbed the necessary ingredients from the pantry while Twilight got out the pans and set the stove. “But hey if you have a fridge, I’m not complaining. Means there’s some modern amenities and I’m not stuck in the dark ages of knights and ‘ye olde mutton’. Though speaking of,” he glanced around the pantry for a moment before he looked back at his new landmare. “Ponies don’t eat meat, do they?” As Twilight shook his head, the stallion sighed. “There are cases where a pony will eat another animal; pegasi are pretty fond of fish, but I don’t keep any on hoof. We don’t usually entertain and my family just don’t care for it.” Blue nods his head in understanding. “At least it’s not too shocking. So do your family visit often? If you need me to be gone when they come by, just give me a heads up-” He was interrupted as Twilight let out a sharp gasp as she put her hoof to her mouth, nearly dropping all the pans to the floor in the process. “Dear Celestia, I am so sorry! With everything happening, I completely forgot!” At his questioning glance, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself back down. “See, I don’t live here alone. I actually have my faithful assistant and my daughter living with me. I am so sorry I didn’t mention it earlier.” The stallion found himself blinking a few times. “Your assistant and your daughter‽” He then hissed through his teeth as he started thinking of their current situation. “Oh Lord, I am so sorry if me being here puts you in a weird spot. I don’t wanna cause any trouble with an ex or anything.” It was Twilight’s turn to blink before the dots were connected. “Oh no no, you’ve got it all wrong! I don’t have any special somepony, ex or otherwise. Nyx is adopted, she came into my life a few years ago, but that’s a whole story in and of itself.” A silent “ohh” was made on his face as he started understanding the situation. “Ok, ok, sorry I jumped the gun there.” As the situation calmed, he brought over the ingredients and they started to properly cook. “Nyx, huh? A pretty name.” “Thanks,” she said with a beam, putting the pot on to boil. “I came up with it from an old story I would read to her. It fit her quite well, so now she’s my Nyx.” Blue smiled back at her beam. “And your assistant? What’re they like?” “Oh, Spike? He’s a baby dragon, but even that’s a bit of a misnomer. He’s only a few years younger than me and since I hatched him, he’s practically family.” She then thinks for a brief moment. “No, not practically. He is family, like a little brother. Some seem to think we seem more like a mother and son, but I wasn’t the one that raised him. My parents and Celestia did a lot of the heavy lifting so it was more like we grew up together.” He nodded along quietly, prepping the sauce ingredients while waiting on the water for the noodles. “That’s sweet, really. To think I’d be in a land of dragons though. They were like the biggest legends; everyone wanted them to be real, so bad on Earth.” “Oh so that’s your planet’s name?” she asked with a spark of curiosity in her eye. “Our world is called Equus, while currently we’re the kingdom of Equestria. It’s the name of the entire continent too.” “So Ponyville, Equestria, Equestria, huh?” he joked, getting the proper response of rolled eyes from Twilight, making him chuckle. “Unfortunately I don’t think I can quite parse where on Earth I was from. I can make out a few countries if I focus, but I can’t narrow them down.” “It’s alright, no need to force it, really. I’ve read that memory loss can take some time to be undone, and you can stay here as long as you need to. We almost never use the guest room anyway.” Blue smiled before responding. “Thanks, Twilight. I really appreciate it.” He took the time to look around the kitchen, taking in the wooden interior. “I think I already like it here. It’s quaint and simple. Plus, it’s a library and, while I can’t remember if it meant anything to me, I can feel those books calling to me. I bet there’s some great stories that ponies can tell that I’d love to read.” Twilight felt a sparkle in her eye as she watched the stallion pour the noodles into the water, her magic squishing the tomatoes for the sauce. “I’d love to show you all of them! What are your favorite genres? I prefer nonfiction myself but I can easily get into an adventure or even a science fiction!” She continued to list off genre after genre of books in the library, giving a comment to each with their strengths and weaknesses while Blue stirred the boiling pot with a soft smile, letting her go on for several minutes before she realized she was being stared at and sheepishly pulled her head back behind her wings. “S-sorry. I just… really like books.” He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a barking laugh, nearly falling over himself. Twilight continued to pout in shame before he could calm himself back down. “Oh, oh Lord I needed that!” He chuckled a little more before giving her a placating smile. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Twi. Everyone has their passions, right? One of yours seems to be books and that’s great! There’s always something for everyone in books. If what I’m feeling is right, I’m more of a fiction reader, with sci-fi calling to me. Though I’d happily take any suggestions you have, especially if you have any on magic and the creatures of Equestria. That’d certainly help me get used to things around here. Otherwise I’m gonna end up staring at your magic, and trust me, it’s taken a lot of restraint to not gape like a confused fish every time you just lift something.” Twilight felt her cheeks get a little pink as he continued to speak, especially as he commented on her magic. “I’ll remember that, Blue. And I’d be happy to teach you about magic. You may not have a unicorn horn, but pegasi have their own unique magic. Like the cloud walking you saw Rainbow doing. And… thanks, for understanding.” “Hey it’s no trouble at all. You have to put up with this after all,” he joked, getting a giggle in return as they continued cooking. Their respective tasks took their attention, Twilight stewing the freshly made sauce while Blue was working the noodles. Soon enough the smells of cooking had filled the kitchen as the two components were completed. But then it all went wrong. “What the heck do you think you’re doing, woman‽” Blue called out. Twilight froze in the place, staring at him in shock with the saucepan lifted in her magic just barely about to start pouring the sauce on to the freshly cooked noodles. “You put that back right now!” Twilight frowned in response, narrowing her eyes. “I’m coating the noodles, of course! What else would I be doing? It’s how you make good spaghetti!” “Nah nah nah,” Blue waved off, motioning his wings like they were palm facing hands. “You don’t coat the noodles; that’s a complete waste! You fill the plates and ladle out the necessary amounts of sauce on each dish!” “It is not a waste! My mother would always pour the sauce right in so every noodle was coated to perfection with it! And don’t you dare say my mother was wrong,” she threatened, keeping her narrowed eyes. “Oh I’m gonna say it,” he challenged, pushing his nose near hers with his own narrowed eyes. “It’s a waste of the sauce when you can save the leftovers for several dishes even after we’ve finished this batch of noodles!” “Sauce them!” “Servings only!” The two ponies practically growled at each other before a new voice caught their ears with a clearing of the throat. Both heads turned in tandem, nearly cheek to cheek, to the entrance of the kitchen where a small purple dragon with green scales was looking at them both with question filled eyes. Next to him sat a deep black filly with a deep purple mane and tail as well as two, blue, cat-like eyes that gave the two adults the same look. It was the dragon that would speak, sass dripping from his lips as he did. “Are we interrupting something?” > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took several, long minutes for Blue and Twilight to calm down enough about dinner to explain what all had transpired. Though it ended with the two of them blushing in deep embarrassment while the young dragon and filly were left laughing on their backs on the floor. “Well, guess that’s my first humiliation in a new world,” Blue commented, clearing his throat. “Like the first scratch on a new car, best to get it out of the way.” Twilight was quite red in the face from being caught by her daughter and little brother in such a predicament. She cleared her throat to try and calm her emotions. “That’s enough, you two. It’s not all that funny.” Spike wiped a tear from his eye as he sat up, “Sorry, Twilight, but that’s a pretty funny reason to be yelling at each other for.” He pushed himself up onto his feet, dusting his scales off from being on the floor as he offered a claw to Blue. “Nice to meetcha, I’m Spike! Twilight’s number one assistant!” With a smile, the stallion put his hoof in Spike’s claw. “Back at ya, man. Call me Blue, your roomie for the time being.” That comment got the little filly to perk up after stopping her own giggle fit. “‘Roomie’? Is he staying here?” Twilight answered with a nod. “Yes, for the foreseeable future, Blue will be staying in the guest room here. I trust both of you to respect his own personal space and privacy while he’s here, understood?” She smiled from the twin salutes she received from her family before looking to Blue. “Well, now that we’ve been humiliated in front of children, how about we have dinner? And since you’re the guest, we’ll try it your way this time. But next time I’m cooking, we do it the traditional way. Deal?” Blue looked as she offered a hoof to him which he shook with a smile. “Aye aye, landlady.” The joke got a few chuckles out of the surrounding creatures as he moved to grab the pot. “Let’s get to serving then.” With some orders from the resident alicorn mare, the table had been set only moments later as she and Blue moved the sauce and noodles to the table and dealt out the portions for everyone to have a good serving. Soon enough, the four of them would have been seated and started digging in. “Mmm, this is really good,” Nyx spoke up after slurping a good helping. “Yeah, not bad at all. We might have to do it this way more often,” Spike agreed, twirling his noodles. In doing so he ended up missing the smug smirk Blue was giving Twilight who had a look of betrayal that turned into one of annoyance. His sense of victory accomplished, Blue happily ate up, watching the eclectic group he was dining with. Though eventually his eyes landed on the little black filly, taking notice of a feature that he’d missed. “Hey, I don’t mean to be rude, but are her eyes a little different?” That single comment caused all three of them to stop eating, glancing to each other, then at Blue, then at Nyx who then shyly looked away. Blue’s eyes tracked between them all, swallowing his latest bite as he clicked his tongue. “Ah dang, is that sensitive?” Twilight let out a soft sigh. “It’s… a long story. I don’t think we’re quite ready to share that. I’m sorry, but please understand.” Blue quickly nods his head, waving his forehooves in front of him defensively. “No no, totally I get it. I was just really curious about it since her eyes were pretty cool.” The filly’s ear flicked as she looked at him, curiosity shining in her cyan eyes, giving Blue a good look at their slitted appearance. He took note of the much more predatory nature of the Nyx’s eyes, but he just tilted his head slightly at seeing them so clearly. “‘Cool’?” Twilight parroted slowly, a brow raised at the stallion. “Do you really think that?” He nodded again. “I mean, yeah. They’re much different from what I’ve seen so far. Hers and Spike’s actually are pretty similar.” Said dragon and filly blinked and looked at each other. “The only difference is the eye color really. Hers seems more like a brilliant cyan while Spike’s got that emerald green to it. But their pupils are more like slits, like predators. It makes sense for him, but for her it’s unique. Makes her special.” “Special?” Nyx repeats, a soft redness shining through the black fur on face that most certainly wasn’t pasta sauce. Twilight giggled at her daughter’s blushing before glancing back at the stallion who was rubbing the back of his neck. “Well that’s kind of you to say. Isn’t it, Nyx?” The filly blinked out of her blush before nodding, remembering her manners. “Y-yes, thank you, sir.” Blue waved his hoof dismissively with a smile. “No need for any formalities. I’m no one special.” He then glanced at Twilight who had her brow cocked again. “What?” “Nothing special? Says the stallion who broke his back falling from a portal in my library.” Unfortunately for Spike, he was mid-bite hearing that tidbit of information, coughing and sputtering. Thankfully he was able to pat his chest to get the food down the right pipe. “What was that about a portal‽ You mentioned strangeness but you couldn’t have thought to tell us he came from a portal‽ Where’s this guy even from‽” “Earth,” Blue answered nonchalantly, receiving a deadpan from Twilight. Nyx raised her hoof. “Where’s Earth? Is it where earth ponies get their name?” Blue put a hoof to his chin. “That is a coincidence that you refer to ground in such a way. But no, it’s the name of my home world. I come from a… would it be dimension or universe? I was never certain what the difference was.” “Another universe‽” Spike shouted, his jaw dropping. “Are you even a pony‽” “That’s the crux of the issue,” Twilight interceded. “Blue claims that he was a human prior to arriving in Equestria, but his memories appear to be missing. That or whatever magic brought him has done… something to them. We can’t really say just yet without any further investigation.” “A human?” Nyx questioned. “You mean like where your other friends are with Sunset Shimmer?” It was Blue’s turn to blink in surprise, looking at Twilight. “So you’ve met humans before? I guess that would explain why you were familiar with some of the terms I was using. But you didn’t mention anything like that in your stories with your friends.” Twilight nodded. “They weren’t really there for that adventure so I didn’t bring it up. But yes, I’ve been to a world of humans. I even became one while I was there and made friends with the human versions of my friends.” To her shock, Blue actually nodded in some form of understanding. “So it’s a parallel universe. Slight deviations with distinct similarities. Was there anything else about it you could tell me? It could be my first clue to my memories.” “Well,” Twilight put a hoof to her chin, quickly setting aside her surprise as she thought back to her adventure. “We’d arrived at a high school and my friends were teenagers there. Definitely several years younger than they are here, but even I was a few years younger too in that human form. But aside from having those gangly arms and legs, everypony looked like they did here, even the same colors.” Blue frowned a little as she described it all. “I think we’re gonna have to cross that one off the list.” “Huh? Why? Wouldn’t that be the human world you know of?” Twilight asked. He shook his head, letting out a sigh. “While it could be similar, you saying everyone had different colors immediately rules it out. The Earth I knew had people of different colors, but most shared them with only a percentage of differentiation. Nowhere near the vibrancy I’ve seen between you all. None of your colors could ever be a human skin tone, with the closest may be Rarity, but even that was, well… a rarity.” Twilight snorted at the unintentional pun before she tapped her chin again. “So a human world with less color. It sounds… interesting. Oh I wish I could talk with my friends on the other side. At least then we might learn a few more things that could help.” “You can’t? Why not?” he asked before taking another helping of food. “The mirror we used to get there only opens every thirty moons,” she explained. “It hasn’t been very long since I was there so it’ll be some time before I can visit them again.” Blue tilted his head. “‘Moons’? What kind of measurement is that?” “You don’t count time in moons?” Nyx asked as Blue shook his head. “We were just learning about them in my class at school last week. One moon is 30 days, a whole cycle of Princess Luna’s moon phases.” “Oh,” the stallion nodded, putting things together. “An odd thing to go by, but I think I get it.” He then blinked and frowned. “Did she say ‘Princess Luna’s’ moon?” Spike was the first to speak up. “Well yeah, she controls it like Princess Celestia controls the sun. So they technically belong to them.” Twilight nodded with a smile, lifting a hoof to go into one of her favorite lectures before she looked at her house guest. He seemed to have been frozen stock still, one of his eyes twitching every few seconds while his hoof was stuck lifting up a portion of noodles. “Blue? Are you alright?” she finally asked. Though she would wish she hadn’t. Many ponies would complain the next morning at town hall with noise complaints from the library of all places. Their peaceful evenings all interrupted from the ear-piercing shout that rocked the town. “THEY CONTROL WHAT‽‽‽‽” It took nearly an hour to calm Blue down who had jumped into a rabid lecture into the motions of planetary bodies and the effects of gravity and light. While initially Twilight had been eager to learn, the absolute slander she was hearing about her teacher and friend had caused the impromptu lecture to turn into a debate, Spike and Nyx forced to stop the shouting match themselves. While they would laugh in later years over the “Great Space Nerd” debate, the two adults acted far more like foals than the very foals in the room until Spike had calmed them down by grabbing the hose from outside. To apologize to Twilight’s young charges, Blue and Twilight had to both apologize as well as clean up what had remained of dinner by themselves. As well as the surrendering of a treat for both Spike and Nyx, to which Blue was shown how a dragon chomps down on a gem, nearly losing it again over the price of rare minerals before quickly being shut down over how common they were in Equestria. A few hours passed as they spoke more, learning what they could about each other, though Blue was disappointed at not being able to hear the story of how Nyx joined the family, but was assured he would at some time. However, their time for sharing would come to a close as the night wore on. Twilight bid a good night to Blue as she took Spike and Nyx to bed, both of whom had fallen asleep while the former didn’t appear all that much better, the activities of the day taking their toll. Blue would wave them to bed as he moved to the guest room that was in the basement of the treebrary. With a hop, he would land in the lone bed of the room, looking around at the compact quarters, only enough space for said bed, a night stand with a clock and a writing desk. There was a small sliver of moonlight shining inside from a high placed yet small window on the far side of the room. The stallion placed his head on the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought as he looked back over the day. ‘A world completely unknown to me, a body just as foreign, surrounded by creatures that should be myth. And to top it off, I can barely remember anything. All in less than twelve hours.’ He sighed to himself before he smiled to himself. ‘At least I’m not completely alone. I’d go mad if I didn’t at least have someone to talk to. And they’re pretty nice too.’ He felt his eyes grow heavy as sleep started to call on him. ‘Maybe being a pony won’t be so bad. But at the end of the day, I’ll always be a human. It’s the only thing I’m certain of.’ His consciousness quickly began to drift, falling into the realm of dreams before he knew it, even with one lingering thought in his head. ‘I am certain, right?’