King Arthur, Merlin. Two legends known to most all men. One soul is about to realize that some legends are based on reality, when he finds out just exactly where Avalon is.
King Arthur, a king among kings, one of the most well known figures of Earth's lore. Merlin the wizard, his close ally and friend. Thought to be mere legends to all, sheer happenstance proves to one individual that lore is often based on reality. These legends, and more, are proven true before his very eyes. His goal, however, is a simple one. Find a way back home.
Credits - A hearty thanks to PocoRitardo, who, although not a reader of HiEs, helped to refine many of the ideas contained within, as well as help me with some of the Arthurian Lore.
Note - Main 6 will be featured, however for the moment I chose Cadance and Shining Armor tags over them. They will play some role further down the line.
Chapter 1 - "I've Had a Rough Morning, Don't You Mind?"
The rhythmic dripping of water from somewhere set the time as I laid down on an old mattress, lumpy with age most likely. My surroundings were extremely drab, the dull greys of stone lining three walls, with a slightly less dull grey of some sort of metal lining the fourth. Yup, a cell. Murphy was having a field day with me today. At the end of what was supposed to be my Friday, the start of another wonderful weekend, I instead found myself captive.
It had started out as one of those days. Where, before you even get out of bed, things just seem to go wrong, regardless of what you do. When I rose out of bed, a soft squishy noise accompanied my left foot as it came to rest on the wood floor. My dog, in all his intelligence, decided to leave a present for me. Grumbling, I made my way over to the bathroom, doing the one legged hop the twenty or so feet to the toilet. I managed to stub my toe on the porcelain throne while cleaning up. And this was just the first few minutes of my day.
I had at least managed to get out the door to work on time. At least, until the twenty four car pileup on the highway happened right in front of me. Luckily, I wasn't part of it, but that was the only 'lucky' part of it. My twenty minute commute turned into two hours as the various vehicles were slowly removed from the highway. Arriving at work late never goes over well, even when there's a valid excuse. So, needless to say, I got chewed out by my boss when I finally showed up, somehow being the only employee affected by the accident. Bah!
So, the workday at least flew by. Seeing how my late arrival put me starting at a little past nine, I only had six hours of actual IT work to cover. Of course, we ended up getting slammed with work. One of our larger client's servers had all failed; the primary, secondary, and tertiary ones. Seriously Murphy, fuck off, it's my Friday! So, due to this workorder coming in late in the day, and being a high priority job, quitting time was moved from three in the afternoon to six.
Getting into my car, the low fuel light greeted my sight. Muttering quite a few curses, I made my way to the nearest gas station, to find that during my work day, the price of gas at all the nearby stations had increased by twenty two cents while I'd slaved away at work. Talk about a shitty Friday!
Once I got home, I cleaned out my pockets and beelined for the fridge. Nothing like a cold one to take the edge off a crappy day, while also starting the weekend. Sitting down in front of the computer, I set my beer down next to it and simply petered around online for awhile, catching up on the news and some stories.
Feeling hungry, I got up and made my way to the kitchen, deciding to have some breakfast for dinner. Grabbing the eggs and bacon, I set them on the counter then fired up the stovetop. After a few minutes, the sizzling of wonderful bacon began to reach my ears, the delightful aroma tickling my senses. Then, right as it was perfect and ready to be removed from the pan, it happened.
A large rumbling noise occurred, accompanied with massive shaking. An earthquake. Now, if I had lived in California, or any other part of the world where such a thing was somewhat common, it wouldn't have been such a cause for concern. However, I lived in Florida. One natural disaster hit the state with some frequency, and it wasn't earthquakes. I braced myself against the counter as the pan went flying off the stove; hot grease and my bacon clattering to the floor at my feet.
The shaking continued to intensify, knocking me on my ass after a couple of seconds. The rumbling became a thunderous sound, rising up from the ground, getting closer and closer. Next thing I felt was a searing pain covering my body, as if I had taken a bath in napalm or something; then, nothing.
I woke up to find myself where I currently am now. I've already had my little freak out, at least internally. Losing one's mind doesn't help much when you wake up after an earthquake inside a cell. And oh, did I mention that I'm not even a human anymore? That was quite a shock, let me tell you.
Now, being an avid reader of the fantasy genre for twenty years gave me a very creative and open mind. Throw a little bit of science fiction into that fold, and well, one's imagination could conjure up a lot of things most folk might consider odd. However, waking up with hooves and a slight snout was only the beginning of my troubles. After ensuring that I was indeed not dreaming, which was accomplished by clipping my nose against the cold wall, I attempted to take stock of both myself and my surroundings.
The fact that I was in a jail cell of sorts was very obvious. The first thing that came to mind were the novels in which magic prevailed over technology, or simply a lack of technology. No cameras, lights, or anything else electronic in sight. Not to mention the distinct lack of sound, implying that I was also isolated. With no one in sight, I really couldn't figure out anything else, so I turned my attention fully towards myself.
It was quickly apparent that I was some sort of horse, although obviously none that Earth had seen. My arms and legs, or should I say legs? All bent backwards of what I was used to, and were extremely flexible. I had a muzzle with a somewhat sensitive nose on it, which was still capable of speech... Thank god for the small things I suppose? I felt something cool on my head, but couldn't get a good look at it, as there were no reflective surfaces around for me to use. Turning my head to look backwards, I saw a tail that flicked itself as it came into view. Oh! I nearly forgot another important detail! My hair, or is that a mane for what I am now? That came into my vision was a near indigo in color. And, my new tail matched it as well. My... coat was a shade of green, the closest color I could pin on it was a sea green.
It was rather fascinating really; well, once I got past the memory of the pain. I didn't have much in my history to really place it on a scale, the worst I'd ever really felt was the one time I accidentally stood in an ant hill in sandals for a couple of seconds without noticing. Worst. Day. Ever. My foot was swollen rather well for the next few days, and for a year or so I refused to wear sandals. The sensation prior to blacking out though, it blew that ant experience right out of the water. I suppose that's to be expected though, since it probably did this to me and all that.
I figured it would be a good idea to get a handle on my speech. When I first checked it out, my tongue felt somewhat swollen, which was attributed to it being both larger and longer. Because of this, I stumbled over simple speech. Not fun, not at all.
"Teshtch." I focused a little more, feeling how my tongue moved around inside my mouth a bit more. "Tesht." I squinted a bit in concentration, "test. Test. A-one, a-two, a-tshtr-" Damn, almost. I sounded a bit funny talking aloud with no one around, but I figured it would be best to not sound like a drunk when I did finally meet whomever it was that had put me here. My voice was a nice rich baritone, at least that hadn't changed much.
It took me some time to finally get a proper handle on it. I considered myself successful when I was able to say the pangram 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' three times in rapid succession. Satisfied that I wouldn't make a fool of myself talking now, I decided to singing some. I didn't have the best voice, but I tended to do a pretty good job on karaoke nights down at the bar I visited with my buddies in Saturdays. The first song that came to mind was Breaking Inside, and I began singing softly aloud.
I started out softly, hesitation and uncertainty coming across in the notes. As time trekked on, I began getting louder, more confident, the sound echoing across the empty stone corridors. One song gave way to another, as it helped put my slightly troubled mind more at ease. Plus, the more I sang, the longer I could put off trying to walk. It was something that I wasn't looking forward to.
The sound of a door opening then closing reached my ears, and I immediately stopped singing, curious as to who it could be. While most folks would probably be going crazy to some degree, I was too practical to let such a thing occur... at least for now. Why panic over something that is out of my control afterall? A multitude of clopping noises could be heard, which I assumed were hooves.
The first figure to come into sight was a solid white horse, his mane some shade of blue that I couldn't quite put a name to. He was dressed to the nines in what appeared to be a military dress uniform of sorts, and I did a double take as I also noted the pearly white horn that rested atop his forehead. "Huh. Unicorn. That's cool."
His eyes tightened and narrowed as he rested his steely gaze on me as I spoke. I heard a few others out of sight and waited for them to come into view, but after a few seconds of a very uncomfortable silence, it appeared as is they were content being out of sight, at least for now. "So," He began, gaze never leaving me as a piece of parchment flew into sight, surrounded by a magenta color, as was his horn. "You are imprisoned under charges of trespassing in a restricted area. Depending on what you say, more charges may be levied against you, from assault to attempted regicide. Do you understand?"
My gaze was still focused on his horn and the floating parchment. It seems that I was indeed in a place where magic existed in lieu of technology... cool. I caught the last word he said as it snapped my attention back towards him, a slightly sheepish grin across my face. "Errr, sorry... I missed what you said. Is that magic? Pretty cool." I'm sure if I were to ever look back on this next part here, I'd want to shoot myself in the face for how poorly I handled the next few minutes.
His eyes widened in shock, then refocused on me as his tone turned to anger. "Foal, do you not understand the gravity of your situation? You could easily find yourself locked up for quite some time, and you don't even have the attention span to listen to your charges? Pathetic." He levitated a quill from somewhere and brought it to the parchment. "Now, what is your name?"
After a few moments of looking between his horn and the stuff he was levitating, I refocused and faced him. "Sorry about that, never seen real magic. Name's Arthur Ziegler, nice to meet you? Where exactly am I anyways?" As I was still laying down, and he was outside the door, I didn't make any moves to walk up to him. Besides the fact he might try to pound in my face, if the crimson in his face from anger was any indication, I didn't want to fall on my face and look a fool.
I felt a cold wave of something wash over me. Whereas my entry into this place was accompanied by a searing pain, this particular feeling was as if I'd just jumped into a frozen lake. Cold numbness encompassed my being for a few seconds, leaving me shivering slightly in its wake. I heard muted voices as another individual came into sight.
She was definitely something to behold. It might've been my new brain chemistry, but wow was she hot. Her coat, horn, and wings were a lovely shade of dark blue, possibly navy blue. Her tail and mane floated around, seemingly of their own volition, and rather than strands of hair a starfield lay in sight. I was reminded of pictures that the Hubble Telescope took, everything was in startling clarity.
"You! Human!" She growled at me, her stance indicating an extreme willingness to fight. "What are you doing here, what are your intentions?" Her head was lowered, the rather pointy horn leveled directly at me. I suppose the bars were a good thing, now.
I still ended up letting my thoughts get the better of me, at first. "Huh. Winged unicorn. Unisus? Nah, sounds like garbage. Pegacorn? Sounds better, that." I shook my head slightly, still a rather odd sensation, what with having a muzzle and all that now. "Since you know what I am, mind sending me back? I love the idea of magic and all that, but this isn't quite home."
She looked visibly surprised for a moment, raising her head slightly. However, her stance still spoke of impending action. "What do you mean? You know that we cannot travel between our worlds, that alone rests with your human magic. Don't bother trying anything though, not unless you want a nasty headache." She laughed a little in amusement at the end, seemingly taking pleasure in my apparent helplessness.
"Uh, lady, listen. Up until..." My eyes rolled upwards as I tried to calculate the time since waking up. "Maybe two hours ago, I didn't even know magic existed, it's been the stuff of lore for at least a millennium, if not longer. Even if I could access any, I have absolutely no clue how I'd go about using it." She looked taken aback now, confusion evident in her eyes and scrunched brows. For having an equine face, it sure was still plenty expressive, if not more-so, than a human face. "Now, mind telling me where I am, what I am, and how I can get home?"
She relaxed her stance, looking at me inquisitively now. "You say that you don't know of magic?" She trailed off at the end, closing her eyes. They remained closed for a few seconds as her horn became surrounded by an indigo color. Hah, same color as my mane, how funny! The glow cut off as I began to chuckle, amused at such a simple thing. Her glare killed it dead though as she fixated on me once more. "If I had my way, I'd just banish you to Tartarus and be done with it, but my sister sadly doesn't share my sentiment."
A large radiance filled the cell and hallway as a quiet popping sound occurred. I rapidly blinked in an attempt to regain my vision, my eyes watering slightly. As the spots faded away, two new arrivals greeted my eyes. I had thought the dark pegacorn to be rather large in stature, but one of the new arrivals was even larger than her, with a coat similar to the unicorn, except a trace amount of pink was evident in it. Her wings were massive, even folded in at her sides, her horn just as long and deadly looking, and her mane waved in the air as well. Instead of a starfield though, it was filled with colors reminiscent of a cool spring day, and for some reason was very comforting.
The second arrival was just a tad smaller than the unicorn, and wow, so much purple. Or, would that be lavender? Her horn was blunter than the other two pegacorns, and her wings smaller, but still looked rather majestic. As she embraced the darker one, I noticed her mane and tail had stripes of pink and blue in the very center, lending her an exotic look.
All four of them talked in muted whispers, I could see their mouths moving but heard no words. Magic, most likely. The darker one apparently heard something she didn't like, she kept hitting her hoof on the floor in emphasis of something as I watched them. Suddenly, sound returned, and the darker one walked off with the unicorn in tow. The two new mares looked towards me.
I felt another wave of something rush over my body, except instead of extreme cold, I felt more as if I were being caressed by down feathers. Relaxing, yet also somewhat tickling. The lavender mare's horn cut out the same time the feeling did, and she turned towards the larger one. "It's exactly what you said. Eight, Three, and Two right now, with the rest composing the unknown."
The taller one nodded. "I thought as much. No more on that matter for now though, we can discuss it later." She turned her head towards me, sizing me up. Her eyes briefly locked with mine, and in that moment, I felt sheer power, as if the force of the very sun itself was blazing into my soul. As she moved her gaze elsewhere, I was thankful for still being on the cot, as otherwise I would be on my ass for sure.
"I suppose I shall start off with introductions first, then from there I have some questions for you. I am Princess Celestia, alicorn of the sun, and co-ruler of Equestria, the land in which you are currently a guest of. This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, my protege, and alicorn of magic. You met my sister already, Princess Luna, alicorn of the night, who rules alongside me, as well as my Captain of the Guard, Prince Shining Armor." She paused and looked at me expectantly.
Luckily, I took her hint rather quickly and didn't waste too much time. Would be a bad idea to look like an idiot to these two when I'd already pissed off two members of what passed for royalty here. Not a good start, that. "I'm Arthur Ziegler, and uh, I'm from Earth. Not sure how I got like this though. Kinda weird, to be honest." I nervously gulped, the sound sending an echo through the silence.
Celestia nodded at my reply as Twilight wrote something down on a piece of parchment that she held in her grasp. "You'll have to forgive my sister's xenophobia, there was an... incident with one of your species that left a deep mark on her. And me." Another gulp on my part, and for some reason, it caused her gaze to soften, if only a bit. "Now, I'll try to stay impartial here and figure out exactly what is going on. Twilight?"
Twilight finished writing something down and looked up at me. "I only know a little bit of what's going on, but I would like to start with your arrival here, if you don't mind. You appeared out of what appeared to be a standard teleport in the middle of Luna's chambers, and landed on us. You were immediately blasted by her, rendering you unconscious. What do you recall, leading up into that as well." She spoke with a voice I'd expect from a researcher, a mostly flat tone, yet always questioning.
"Well, honestly, I don't recall any of what you said. I remember waking up here and having absolutely NO idea where or what I was. Before I lost consciousness, I was at home, on Earth, cooking some eggs and bacon. Then an earthquake began, which was really odd as the last one felt where I live was something like forty years ago, and it was barely felt. This one shook everything though, and knocked my frying pan clear off the stovetop. Then, there was this searing pain covering my body, and nothing. That's all I remember before this cell, where, Luna? Came and talked to me about an hour or two after I woke up."
The scritch-scratch sound of the quill rapidly moving across the paper was the only sound following my statement for the next minute or so. Celestia and Twilight shared some looks, and their facial expressions changed occasionally, but if they were communicating or not, I didn't know. Finally, they both turned back to me as the quill stopped moving.
"For now, I don't deem you a threat, and you seemed to be telling the truth. In the off chance you were lying to us and know how to use magic, however, know that there is an inhibitor on your horn. Any attempt to use magic will rebound, so the stronger the magic, the higher chance of you being sent right back into unconsciousness." A golden hue formed around the door and opened it as she stepped to the side. "Now, if you would follow us?"
"Horn? What?" My hands, uh, hooves shot up to probe my forehead. After nearly taking out an eye on the way up, they prodded around until I made contact with a spiral atop my own head. Sudden nausea coursed through me as I clinked a hoof against it a bit hard, my body letting me know it protested the rough treatment. "Huh. Fancy that." I sheepishly stared between the floor and my hooves, trying to figure out how to proceed.
I noticed Twilight acutely staring at me out the corner of my eye as I shakily moved to the edge of the cot and dropped my front feet to the ground. It was an odd experience, even though my hoof was a rather solid object, I could still feel the ground beneath me somewhat, almost as if I had balled my hands into a fist then put them on the ground. Taking the chance to stretch my back slightly, I made like a cat and was rewarded with a nice pop or two. Of course, when I looked back up, I flushed slightly in embarrassment as they looked at me with an eyebrow apiece raised, while fighting to hold back some laughter.
Now with two hooves firmly resting on the ground, I shuffled a little bit, and very slowly set down my rear feet. "Uh, a little help here... please?"
Twilight smiled slightly, turning to Celestia. "You owe me ten bits." Moving in to assist me, she came up to my side. "Now, I'm guessing you haven't tried walking since waking up. Our destination isn't very far, and only Celestia and myself will be witness to any... mishaps you might occur, so don't worry yourself. Too much, that is." She chuckled slightly at her joke while I gave her a deadpan stare. "Okay, so what you want to do is..." She proceeded to instruct me on how to properly walk. Talk about feeling like an idiot.
Luckily, it was rather easy to walk once explained. It took all of five minutes, three faceplants, and falling on my ass an additional four times to get it down. Satisfied that I would at least manage to make it to whatever room we were moving to, I followed them out of the dungeons. At the end of the corridor was a large door made of metal, which opened while surrounded by a purple glow. "So, the magic stuff. Anything you mess with glows?" I tried breaking the silence surrounding our small group, while also getting some questions answered.
Twilight was the one to answer me as we began to ascend a staircase. "Anytime we use magic, the field around our horn resonates with the object or objects we want to interact with. This allows us to manipulate them, and it also mirrors the glow around them because of the resonation." She recited it as if reading from a dictionary, leading me to wonder if she was the studious type. That, coupled with her note taking led me to that conclusion.
Celestia interrupted us before I could really come up with a reply to Twilight's explanation. "Please, I know that you have a lot of questions, but they can wait for now. Besides, we're almost there." When she said that it wasn't that far, she wasn't kidding. At the top of the stairs we had only walked a couple of paces before coming up to another door, although this one was carved from a tree of some sort. A crescent moon was nestled inside the sun and surrounded by a field of stars, the two colors creating a large contrast. Two guards snapped to attention and saluted both princesses while looking at me oddly. They dropped their salutes after being acknowledged then opened the door.
Walking inside, still being careful to not fall on my face, I missed the fact that there was a raised rug in front of me. Snagging my left forehoof on it, I went down face first, coming to a halt in the middle of a circle of chairs laid out in the middle of the room. Gently shaking the dizziness from my head, I took a look around.
Luna and Shining Armor were both seated, the former a deep seated look of scorn smeared across her face as she eyed me critically, the latter trying to hold back laughter. There was a new mare sitting next to him, another alicorn. She was mostly pink in color, with a small smattering of purple in her mane, and she was looking at me with... pity? As I rose to my feet, Twilight moved to sit down next to Luna, whispering something in her ear, while Celestia motioned with a hoof to an empty seat that was centered in front of them.
I managed to take my seat without making a fool of myself as Celestia took her seat. From my left to right they were all seated; Twilight, Luna, Celestia in the center, the new alicorn, and then Shining Armor. I nervously shuffled in my seat, the setup had the effect of a perceived trial, at least in my eyes.
Celestia quietly cleared her throat, as her horn illuminated and outlined the room in a golden radiance. A flare of her magic and it disappeared, then she began talking. “So, we’re gathered here to listen to your story, and come to a decision as to what we should do with you. Once you tell us your side, I’ll explain a few things as to why we’re going to such lengths. You’ve met everyone here, albeit briefly, with the exception of Princess Cadance, my niece, and wife to Shining Armor.” She motioned with a hoof to the alicorn seated to her left. “Now, please retell the circumstances of your arrival here, to the best of your memory.”
I went ahead and did exactly that, and, just to humor them a little, also added in all the smaller details of the day. It was rather humorous having to pause to explain Murphy’s Law to Twilight, as out came the quill and parchment once more. Luckily that was the only interruption during my brief, yet detailed, recounting of events.
After I finished, there was a rather nervous silence filling the air as I focused on my front hooves, quietly bringing them together, then apart again. Celestia's horn lit up, and within seconds they broke into a heated discussion. However, I heard not a single word of it. Magic. All I could do was sit there, and wait.
My mind wandered off after the first few minutes. It was extremely obvious to me that Luna hated humans, even if Celestia hadn't confirmed it. Whoever, or whatever, she had encountered, it must have happened not too long ago for her to bear such animosity. Had an aircraft ended up in their land somehow, and bombed something? There were plenty of instances of aircraft, and ships for that matter, simply disappearing, never to be heard from again. Hell, the Bermuda Triangle had all those rumors and whatnot floating around about it. If even one story in one hundred could be believed, who knows what had happened to color her outlook so.
As my train of thought came to its station, the magical glow died down and Celestia spoke, her voice abolishing the silence at last. "It has been decided, Arthur. By a vote of three yes, one no, and one abstain, we shall attempt to help you either get home, or integrate into our society here in Equestria. The spells necessary to traverse dimensions are not at the beck and call of us, however, and therefore it could be a rather long process." She relaxed slightly, as did the others.
"Well, that's good, somewhat, I suppose..." I nervously stated, trailing off as I looked down at the carpet, attempting to count the fibers.
"Now, I'm sure you might want to know why this was necessary. The last humans we encountered inadvertently brought much pain with them, some of it still felt to this day." Her voice dropped to a near whisper as she asked a single question; one that caused my head to shoot up, my brain to freeze, and my jaw to loosely dangle open.
"Have you ever heard of Arthur Pendragon and his son Mordred?"
My brain futilely attempted to reboot itself after the shocking question. My mouth opened and closed, reminiscent of a fish, as I attempted to get out some sort of sound. My brain was slowed down as numerous questions formed themselves within my mind, the loudest one being what the hell did Arthur have to do with Equestria? I mean, who doesn't know at least some of the story of King Arthur, Excalibur, The Knights of the Round Table, etc?
Celestia studied my expression, a faint concern showing itself in her eyes. "So..." She gently prodded me in the ribs with her magic, getting my attention. "I take it that the names are familiar to you?"
I mutely shook my head up and down in confirmation, my voice still eluding me. Celestia and Luna looked at me in shock, the others in awe. "It has been a long time, I would've thought..." She trailed off, uncertainty now showing in the creases on her face.
"I don't think there's many people who haven't heard of King Arthur..." I managed to say, my voice finally catching up. "I mean, he's an iconic legend figure in our world, the King of England some..." My eyes rolled into my head slightly as I tried to recall which century he was believed to have lived during. "One thousand and six hundred? Seven hundred? Years ago. We don't know a lot about him, but there is quite a bit of lore that has sprung up over the years."
Luna got up from her chair, looking Celestia in the eyes. "Unless you need me further, I see no reason why I should be here for this... history lesson, sister." Note to self, make sure to never be alone with this mare, not if I want to keep all of my limbs attached.
Celestia sadly shaked her head. "No, the important thing has been accomplished, Luna." She leaned in closer and whispered something, then pulled her head back after gently nuzzling Luna. I received a contemptuous glare as she left the room.
Twilight hastily got up as well and rushed to follow Luna. She paused, turning to face me. "I'm really sorry for her attitude, you'll understand why soon enough. I'll do my best to at least get her to cool down some, but... I can't make any promises." She turned towards the three remaining ponies in the room. "Good night you three!" She hastily ran out the room.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds, then was dispelled with a cough from Cadance. "So, uh... Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?" I attempted to get the conversation started once more, even if it was a rather corny one liner. Shining seemed to get the saying, while the two mares joined him in understanding a few seconds later.
"A very... interesting line, that. Remind me to remember that one, dear." Shining stated to his wife, keeping his voice level until the end, where he began to chuckle.
Cadance fixed him with a level gaze, showing me just how obvious it was that these two were married. Not only that, but one of them was probably going to be on the couch tonight. It seemed that there were a lot more similarities between our worlds the more I looked.
Celestia let out a short laugh of her own, then turned her attention back to me. "Well, hopefully if you're here for long, my sister will indeed eventually warm to you." She raised a hoof to the bottom of her chin, which caused a small chuckle on my end. It looked very comical, seeing a pony imitate 'The Thinker.' "Ah, yes. So, our first visit from humans was some one thousand and seven hundred thirty years ago. Two humans, to be exact."
I was racking my brain on what little lore I could recall in regards to King Arthur. I was an avid fan of both ancient mythology and the more popular lore, and this particular area was the creme of the crop. Even if most of the time thoughts of Monty Python filled my head when I thought on the lore, it was still a very fascinating subject. "I am going to go out on a limb and guess one of the visitors was King Arthur? And, since magic was probably involved, Merlin was the second?"
Celestia nodded as she began talking. "Indeed, the two of them appeared in the middle of a court session my sister and I were holding. It caused quite the commotion, and they were quickly apprehended and secluded from the populace. We had never seen a species quite like them, the closest we have here on Equestria are the Minotaurs."
I was leaning forward in my chair, drinking each and every word coming from Celestia. I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that the married couple were listening rather intently while leaning into each other. "Minotaurs? That's pretty cool. It sounds like a lot of what we consider mythology is true here."
"It could very well be, I only visited your Earth once. When my sister and I had the chance to sit down and question them ourselves, we learned a great deal about your race, and found the two before us to have no ill will towards us. We quickly came to respect them as a matter of fact, as their ideals were noble. Arthur was in the process of campaigning to win freedom for his people. Luna and I sympathized, as we ourselves had just recently abolished a darkness that had threatened all we held dear. We offered aid in the form of training, as it would've been unwise to expose ourselves and our ponies during the rebuilding period we were in." She stopped in her narration, conjuring a tea set and offering me a cup.
"This must've been when Arthur and his knights were fighting the Saxons, if I recall correctly. I don't remember the specifics, but he was going against superior numbers for most of the war, yet managed to prevail over his enemies so that he could set up a 'kingdom of peace,' as he envisioned it. You're saying you had a hand in that? Just... wow." I carefully held the offered tea cup between my hooves, ensuring that I didn't drop it. Drinking from it was another story, and I elicited laughter from the three ponies in the room at least four separate times.
Once the laughter was out of the way, Celestia continued her story. "Yes, my sister and I trained them in both combat and magic. I took Merlin under my wing and taught him how to harness the magic found here in Equestria, while Luna helped perfect Arthur's melee skills. She always was the more nimble of us..." Her gaze unfocused for mere moments, her mind caught up in memories, most likely. "I also had Luna assist me in forging a cosmic weapon; a most rare occurrence. There was just something about Arthur that told us we needed to lend aid, as much as we could."
A yawn broke free from the confines of Cadance's mouth, her face slightly flooding with crimson in embarrassment. It must be getting late in the day, although I didn't have any accurate way to tell that. "Sorry aunt, but I think it's time I went to sleep." She sleepily got up and grabbed Shining's hoof. "Come on, I need my snuggle pillow, Shiny." He grudgingly got up and let his wife carry him off.
He glanced in my direction as he was being whisked away. "Please, do me a favor and don't cause any trouble while you're in the castle... things are already interesting enough without adding anything you might be able to do on t—" He was cut off as Cadance pulled him through the sound barrier that Celestia had set up. I sat there in utter bafflement as Celestia was openly laughing, and loudly too.
"Wow... poor guy. I know who holds the marbles in that relationship." I muttered more for my own benefit, however it had the effect of sending Celestia into further laughter. "So... how exactly was she able to drag him out of here like that? They're basically the same size, yet it looked so... effortless, on her part."
She held up a hoof in reply as her laughs began to die down. Wiping tears from her eyes, she gazed upon me and replied. "It has to do with a pony's inherent magic. Shining is a unicorn, while Cadance is an alicorn. She has the added benefit of an Earth Pony's magic, which makes her stronger. We can explain all of that later on though, I'd like to finish this story and tell you what we have planned for you before it gets any later... Oh, there is one other thing."
The now familiar golden radiance formed and I felt an odd sensation above my forehead. My horn felt all tingly, and for some reason I was thinking of the candy pop rocks as to what it was. A moment later, I felt as if a large weight had been removed from me, and a spiral shaped piece of metal with a clasp at its base floated in front of my head. "What is that?" I enquired, reaching out a hoof to poke it.
She jerked it away from my hoof while keeping it within my reach. "This is a magical inhibitor. It's sole purpose is to prevent a unicorn from accessing their magic, allowing us to easily detain them when needed." She moved it to rest it on a small table nearby. "Now, back to the story, where was I..." She trailed off for a few moments in thought. "Ah yes. We forged Arthur a weapon that he could take back with him. He named it Caledfwlch."
"Excalibur?" I breathlessly asked.
She nodded, the corners of her lips uplifting in a light smile. "Yes. It and its scabbard were very much one of a kind. It's not often that Luna and I come together to form an eclipse and hold it for the time needed to forge and imbue such a weapon with the amount of magic we used that day. The sword was capable of blinding one's foes, and the scabbard held such curative magic in it that nothing short of dismemberment could kill the bearer. With the aid of it, and Merlin's new knowledge, they were successful in creating the kingdom Arthur had hoped for."
Celestia floated the teapot over and refilled our cups. With a muted thanks, I carefully picked the glass back up again. Back home, I already knew that American tea wasn’t as great as the British tea, however... This tea here set the bar even higher than imaginable! I savored its flavor, this time, as the blend of honey and other herbs melded seamlessly together.
We set our cups down, a small sigh escaping my lips. “Merlin and Arthur came and visited us every few months, always bringing tidings of their newfound kingdom, gifts, and news. All was rather well, to be honest. Their visits were something my sister and I came to look forward to, although my sister more so than I, at first." A faint smile graced her thinly pursed lips. "She fell for Merlin, you see. It took her quite some time, but after some time she finally convinced him to stay."
Now that was some interesting information there. "She loved a human? I wouldn't have expected that given her current... disposition towards me." I was on the edge of my seat, curiosity driving me to want more, and to hear how this tale ended.
"Indeed, they were quite smitten with each other after some time. Merlin used his magic to keep an eye on Arthur, then devised a spell to become a 'local.'" She briefly giggled as I looked on in bafflement. "Oh, he made quite a handsome stallion is all. For a few years, everything was going smoothly in both worlds. Merlin made the occasional visit, and..." She trailed off, a sudden haunted look coming into her eyes.
I felt it best not to press her on what she was about to say, and instead decided to try and get the conversion back on track. "Where did things go downhill? In the lore, Arthur was supposedly killed by the hand of his bastard son, Mordred. Is that what happened?"
She sighed deeply, a sadness contained within. "Yes, one day Merlin just completely froze, then his face just... dropped. He disappeared almost instantly and didn't return for some time. When he came back, however... Arthur was near death's door and beyond all our help. We had just enough time to say goodbye to an old friend." She took a sip of her tea, probably to calm herself some.
"Our reaction to this was... drastic, to say the least. Merlin brought me over into your Earth for a visit. The magic that permeated your planet existed in its very core, and I used my connection with the sun to seal it off from the surface. Needless to say, so long as your sun continued to burn, no one would be able to access the magic contained within..." She trailed off once more, a thoughtful expression crossing her face this time. "Oh, is it that simple? No, it can't be, but..." She muttered to herself, ignoring my presence for the moment.
I finished drinking the tea in front of me, making a mental note to get the details on how it was made before going back home. I could make a killing with it, if I didn't just end up drinking it all myself instead. I watched as a myriad of expressions crossed her face, it was almost comical. I noted yet again just how expressive a pony's face could be, I also took note of the sun on her flank, I'd seen other images on the other ponies, but hadn't enquired about it yet. Another mental note to make.
Celestia focused her attention back on me. "I believe I owe you an apology, it seems. Merlin had made mention of some potential issues with the actions we took that day, however I had nearly forgotten about them; recounting this tale brought them back to the front of my mind. It seems that when I sealed off the magic, your planet continued to slowly accumulate the magic behind my barrier. With no manner of 'bleeding' available to the magic, and a steady flow into an already limited space... something was bound to give. It would explain the earthquake you mentioned as well, the burst would be accompanied with some rather sudden events. It was basically complete chance that you were the person who was swept away in the current and brought here. Really, you could've ended up anywhere, so I guess there is some small blessing there..."
I sat there dumbfounded, all thoughts fleeing my mind. According to Celestia, I had been living on the equivalent of an explosive powder keg, ready to blow at any moment. What did this mean for Earth? What sort of damage happened, how many others ended up scattered to places unknown? "Is... is there any way to find out if anyone else was stranded here?" If I were swept here, then what about my friends, family, and anyone else important to me? What was the point of wanting to get home of there was no one to go home to?
"It's truly impossible to know..." She started, then took note of the expression on my face, "but it's very unlikely, I promise! The way my shield was designed would prevent the magic from randomly spraying everywhere. The pressure that caused it to fail probably only made a miniscule breach, think molecular level. This would cause the affected area, even at the surface, to be no more than a few paces in diameter. So, unless there were others around you?" A quick head shake was my only reply. "Then, it is highly unlikely anypony else was in the magic stream."
I sat there for some time, simply thinking as to what this all meant, for me. It seemed that if I could indeed make my way back, there would at least be something for me to return to. Got to look at the silver linings, I suppose. I couldn't really blame Celestia, it sounded as if she was simply trying to protect herself after being hurt, even indirectly. I remember when a close friend passed away a few years ago, I did quite a few drastic things myself to cope. Maybe not quite on the 'use a sun to seal a planet's magic' level of things, but still... "I see. Then, at least there's something to go back to." My voice had a cheerful quality to it, although some sadness did seep into the tone. "So, what happened next? I have a feeling that there is still more to this story?"
Celestia gave me a comforting look, while also slouching her posture in apparent relief. "Sadly, yes, and this is where my sister's hatred comes into play. With Arthur gone, Merlin had no more reason to visit Earth, and for some time all was well. However, around one hundred years later, Luna began to act somewhat erratically. I was rather wrapped up in the affairs of state; having taken much of the burden so my sister could spend time with her lover. Sadly, Merlin thought he could handle it on his own, by the time he came to me for help it was too late...
"You see, Arthur had killed Mordred, but only his body. Due to the more malicious aspects of magics that he had learned, his soul had rode alongside Arthur, eventually finding his way to Luna. He spent a century trying to subvert her for his own purposes, but never fully succeeded. The end result was that my sister lost her sanity, killed her husband, and the only way I could properly handle it all was to take another drastic measure..." Tears moistened her cheeks, the depths of her eyes filled with a sorrow that I'd only witnessed in war veterans before. "I banished her to her moon for one thousand years."
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, quite an impressive feat really, considering just how huge they were now. A thousand years? "That's... insane. Such a long time?" I noticed that she was openly crying now, I could only imagine how much guilt she still felt over it, even if she didn't have any other option available to her. Family is everything, after all. I clumsily got up, one of my rear legs asleep, and hopped over to the chair next to her, awkwardly hugging her around the neck.
Celestia opened her eyes in surprise and opened her mouth. No words came out, however, and she relaxed into my friendly gesture. She gently broke the hug after a few more moments, a sincere look of gratitude reflected deep within those amethyst eyes. "Thank you." She moved to stand up, her wings rustling lightly. "Even though my sister has been cleansed of his tainted soul, she's only been back for ten years now. I don't know how long her hatred will last, but hopefully it won't be focused on you for much longer." She walked towards the door, letting the barrier of magic finally fall. "Well, I know that the hour is rather late, but would you be interested in a late dinner before I show you to your room?"
Answering for me, my stomach loudly rumbled, causing a small grin to form on my face. I shrugged, finding the motion still easy to replicate, as I opened my mouth. "Seems that you've got your answer, I'm pretty hungry. If I was out for most of the day, then that tea was the first thing 've had in about a day." I carefully made to follow her, having feeling in my leg once more. "What's on the menu?"
She laughed, the sound warming me to my core. "Anything, really. We have a kitchen staff on hand that can whip nearly anything up on short notice. And oh, that reminds me. The only meat a pony can stomach is fish, I remember when Merlin found that out the hard way! You'll also find that you can eat hay, grasses, and flowers too now. I'll have to see what notes of Merlin's can be dug up after all this time, he might have some rather invaluable information left behind you can use.
I followed her down the many corridors, taking note of the intricate details that went into, well, everything. The craftsmanship was something that was rarely found back home, even the armor belonging to the guards we passed looked finely made. It was most impressive, a display of power, wealth, and knowledge all rolled up into one bundle for all to witness. I also took note of just how tall Celestia was. Luna had maybe an inch or two on me, but Celestia... She had to have had at least eight inches, if not a foot. It would've been rather intimidating, if she didn't seem to be so approachable to me on our first meeting.
"I said, how do you like the night sky? It's my sister's work, after all." Her voice broke me out of my thoughts, a faint blush creeping over my face as I realized my gaze had been fixated on her. She looked at me with a playful grin, letting me know that she noticed.
I jerked my gaze to the night sky, where a full moon dominated the sky. It looked to be at least three times the size of the one orbiting Earth, and the face of it was completely unblemished, causing me to nearly drop my jaw. Twinkling across the night sky were various stars, their radiance dominating the night sky. The last time I recalled seeing such a sky was back in my childhood, when my family went camping a hundred miles away from the nearest town. With no light pollution to compete against, the sky had looked very much like this one before me.
"It's... beautiful. You very rarely see such a sight back home, the lights of the cities tend to drown out all but the brightest stars at night. This, though..." I let out a content sigh, pausing in my walk to stand there and simply stare at the sky. "One could spend the whole night enveloped in it and not regret losing the sleep."
Celestia quietly chuckled, casting her gaze to the night as well. "Indeed. My sister is an artist, the night sky her canvas. Her first action after being cleansed of Mordred's influence was to take her brush back to the sky. I have no such talent, however. I only know order; doing what she does requires some sense of the abstract." I glanced over and noticed that a happy look on her face, an unseen radiance highlighted by her smile.
The loud rumble from my stomach reminded me of our original intentions. "Err, mind leading the way to the food? Even though I wouldn't mind looking at the stars some more, my body seems to disagree." I brought a small grin to bear on my face.
She laughed that clear, radiant sound once more, before turning her focus back to the walkway. "Very well, follow me please. We're not too far away, then we can order whatever you would like." Celestia began walking through the corridors, me following just a stride behind her off to a side. "I personally recommend a daisy salad with italian vinaigrette, or a daisy sandwich. We just took delivery of some of the best daisies grown in Equestria yesterday, so it should make for a great first impression."
"Huh." I found it interesting that the ponies here raised flowers like crops, while we considered quite a few of them to simply be weeds and wanted nothing more than for them to not mar our grass filled lawns. We arrived at our destination at last, a small private dining room, from the looks of things. A small table sat in the center of the room, capable of seating no more than maybe eight ponies. Cushions took the place of chairs, allowing one room to comfortably sit down.
The next hour or so was rather interesting, I have to say. I went ahead with what Celestia had recommended, the daisy salad. The flowers had oddly tasted like chicken, and when I made that remark, she looked at me slightly odd. I rather clumsily made my way through the meal, rather envious at Celestia's manipulation of the fork in front of me. Learning how to utilize my magic is a definite high priority, the lack of hands makes it ridiculously hard to manipulate objects.
We really didn't talk all that much, at least not about anything important. When I enquired into learning about magic, I found out that Twilight was going to start tutoring me tomorrow. I also learned some of the more recent events that had occurred in Equestria, I was rather surprised to learn that friendship was literally magic here, and that it had saved the land on more than one occasion, under the guidance of Twilight and five of her friends, no less. When Celestia informed me that she literally moved the Sun, and her sister the Moon, it evolved into a fifteen minute conversation about exactly how our planetary bodies orbited the sun.
I was also warned about Twilight's tendencies towards being a rather... inquisitive individual, to put it lightly. Celestia warned me that although she meant well, it could easily become overwhelming if I didn't have a firm hoof with her. I'm not sure what alarmed her more, though. That I openly burst out laughing when I heard 'firm hoof,' or my reassurances that I would be just fine with Twilight.
Finally, we were both done eating, empty plates before us, and a decent sized pile of used napkins in front of me. The hour was growing late, the moon well on its way through the night sky. Celestia slowly stood back up, letting out a very content sigh. "Well, I need to show you to your room. Do not worry too much about sleeping in, Twilight will be coming by late morning to grab you. She'll also be helping you fit into society here during your stay. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow, we'll have all of Merlin's works ready for you to look over as well, maybe one of them has a detailed description of how to use your human magics."
I got up myself, and on a whim I gave a slight bow to Celestia. "Thank you very much for helping me out, Celestia. I'll admit that this is indeed an odd occurrence, and if our positions were swapped, I can almost assure you that it wouldn't be as smooth as this has been." She nodded after a few moments, turning to walk out the door.
I followed her through the maze of the castle once more, unsure of my bearings after the fourth turn. Celestia was still silent, as if what I said had provoked a thought that required her to think on it. After a few minutes, we came to a lavishly decorated hallway with doors lining each side of the hall every dozen paces or so.
"This will be your room for now, I hope that it is to your liking, Arthur." She opened the door for me, and we both walked in. The room did not disappoint, that was one certainty. The bed alone looked to be a queen or king size, set on an elaborate four poster frame. There looked to be a door to a bathroom in the back of the room, and the carpet on the floor was so soft and smooth. The furnishings looked to be of the highest quality, even my untrained eyes knowing that they held a high level of craftsmanship.
"This is... phenomenal! This is easily the fanciest room I've ever stayed in." I turned from my observations of the room to look at Celestia. "Thank you, Celestia. It is perfect, and honestly, even if the room were half as fine as this one is, I would still be fine." I made my way to the bed, letting a loud yawn escape my mouth. "I suppose that I shall see you at some point tomorrow between the 'torture' that Twilight plans to inflict?" We both shared a brief laugh at my remark.
"Good night then, Arthur. And yes, I suppose I shall see you again at some point tomorrow." Celestia walked towards the door, but paused in the doorway, the faint moonlight illuminating her form. "I must ask, as it has been nagging me all day. How are you not freaking out over this? You've been transported to a whole new world and inserted into a body that is not your own. You are taking it far better than one would imagine."
Hmm, she raised a damn good point there. Quickly thinking, the answer came to me. "There was a great man who penned a saying. I've found that it is very helpful, and so I follow it the best I can."
Taking the bait, Celestia asked her question. "And what is this saying? It must be something most profound or thought provoking to keep one so calm in such an... odd situation."
Widely grinning, I opened my mouth. "Don't Panic."
Luna paced angrily in her room. "Why won't sister listen to me? She knows very well exactly what humans are capable of, we should've simply sealed him in stone and be done with it right then and there!" She fumed, only pausing long enough to bring up the moon.
The door to her room opened, causing Luna to look up at the new arrival. Twilight quietly closed the door behind her, walking straight up to Luna. Without a word, she wrapped her front hooves around Luna's neck in a reassuring hug, calming her down slightly.
Twilight held her hug for a minute, simply letting her body convey what she wanted to say. "Luna... I know that you're against it, but please... trust us? You know Celestia would not make a decision that could jeopardize any of us, you more than anypony else at that."
Luna sighed, her anger still present, yet held back. "I know that my sister believes such, love. However, I know what humans can do, how they think. It doesn't matter if their intentions are pure, they are nothing but a rot that needs be removed from our land before it can spread. I do not agree with the decision, nor will I ever. Just watch, he will prove me true, sooner rather than later."
It was Twilight's turn to sigh, as she and Luna walked over to their bed. "My Moon, please, just... try to let it go. I don't expect you to open your heart to him or go frollicking about, but can you at least try and be somewhat civilized with him? He is a victim as well, you know. Unable to go home at the moment, and with no knowledge of this strange and foreign land he now finds himself in. Just play nice, that's all I ask..." Twilight trailed off, a yawn escaping her mouth as she and Luna laid down upon the soft mattress.
A small grumble was Luna's reply as she held the smaller mare within her hooves, the two letting the first tendrils of sleep lay claim to them both. A tender nuzzling was exchanged between the two, covers magically pulled up and over them both. One last thought drifted into Luna's mind as unconsciousness claimed them. I will find some manner of dealing with him, he cannot be trusted.
Whiteness. Thoughts of The Matrix entered into my mind, white enveloping all I could see around me. The vague form of walls slowly came into being, closing in around me. Focused in the center of my vision, two hazy shapes emerged. The first stood tall and proud, standing on two feet, dressed in a rather casual combination of jeans and a t-shirt. A large smile graced his face, auburn hair framing hazel eyes. The latter was a much smaller figure, standing on four hooves. A horn adorned his head, and the overly large aquamarine eyes reflected a depth of inner peace.
The human and pony both sat down, facing each other and locking their gazes. A smirk formed on each face, as if one knew something that the other didn't. I watched them both closely, unsure as to what it meant. My focus rapidly shifted between them, awaiting the next move.
The white shifted to grey, darkening to black soon after, leaving just the pony in a circular spotlight. I watched as a scene unfolded before me, showing what could be. He strode through a faceless mass of ponies down a street somewhere, confidence exuding off his figure. An object fell from a roof somewhere, threatening another pony. Before anypony else could act, his horn was ablaze with a navy blue glow, the object hovering in the air mid descent. The ponies around him thanked him, lauding him as a hero.
The picture paused, holding the moment captive as the pony was posing to those thanking him. Everything became fuzzy, floating away in wisps. As particles floating away, new ones came in to replace them. He stood on a cliffside this time, clouds butting up against it forming an illusion of a sea of clouds. He stretched his wings wide, the wind rustling each individual feather as he closed his eyes. The sanctity of the moment went undisturbed for minutes, until at last, he snapped his eyes wide open and ran off the cliff.
His wings splayed wide, he caught the thermals rising off the clouds and soared without care. With no chains to tie him down to the earth, he was free, unburdened without a care in the world. No thoughts of responsibility, concerns, or worries. It was all in the here and now of the moment. Once more, the scene before me froze, an expression of unadulterated joy showing through the smile plastered on his face.
The scene faded this time, only to be replaced by another. He stood within a room, bustling with activity. Ponies in medical scrubs rushed here and there, urgency in their steps. The focus of their attention was a mare laying in an ornate bed, her belly swollen and breaths labored. He walked up to her and held a hoof, comforting her in this wonderful moment. Pain etched her face as a soundless scream escaped her throat, only to be overridden by the wailing only a newborn could manage.
The doctors quickly cleaned the babe and checked its vitals, then bundled it up. Handing it to the parents, they embraced each other in a hug, large smiles of warmth gracing their faces. He looked so happy, finally a family to call his own.
Family...
The moment shattered into a million pieces, falling like shards of glass. The pony was not spared this time. The human popped into focus, sitting in the living room of a very familiar house. I watched my human self slowly get up off the couch, heading for the stairs in the back of the room. Once upstairs, he made for the second door on the left, hand outreaching to grasp the doorknob.
A sudden twist and push revealed the contents of the room. The walls were painted a bright blue on one side, black on the other. Day and night, reflected on the walls; sun, moon, and stars all included. A small bed sat against the wall, a coloring book and crayons laying on it. Picking up a crayon, a little girl no older than six or seven looked up and smiled, her two missing front teeth making the sight that much more adorable.
"Angela..." I watched as he rushed over to her, picking her up by the arms and gently twirling her in the air, giggles escaping all the while. He brought her close into his chest, a bear hug uniting the two as one for a brief moment.
Wetness rolled down my cheek, this scene reminding me of what was truly important to my heart. Everything shifted back to the initial image of both the human and pony staring down each other. The pony flinched and looked away, the human jumping up and fistpumping in victory. I knew that no matter what, I had to return home, no matter what I had to do, or how long it would take.
A fanfare began playing as everything began distorting around me. "My, my, my... now isn't this a most... interesting development that we have here. A stray, and very far from home. Oh no, whatever can be done!" A voice floated from nowhere, yet it seemed to come from everywhere at the same time.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" I shouted, hoping to find the voice's source. The distortion continued, radiating from a central point in front of me. A vertical slit appeared in front of me, disrupting the very fabric of the environment. It lengthened, becoming the height of a door, then with a popping noise, it expanded horizontally, leaving a rectangular void.
A bicycle bell sounded out, shortly followed by an actual bicycle! The... individual peddling it was something else entirely. Although bipedal, his exact species was unknown to me, although he had various body parts of others that I recognized. A deer antler, a goat's horn, and an eagle's claw? Were just some of the many features on his body. A true chimera, riding a bicycle, wearing a clown suit. My jaw dropped as one of his hands moved to ring the bell once more.
He hopped off the bicycle and snapped his fingers, causing it to simply vanish. The doorway he had created snapped shut, the distortion rushing back in and disappearing. "Hey there, human! Glad to finally see another one of you folks, your world is so much fun to look at, ya know?" He walked up to me, a smirking grin present on his face as he reached behind his back. "You might want this back though, just talking isn't any fun at all!" He pulled out my lower jaw from behind him and smacked it into my chin.
My hands shot to my mouth, but nothing seemed to be out of place. Opening and closing my mouth several times proved this to be true, and a booming laugh began to echo from this creature in front of me. "Who are you?" I asked incredulously.
"I," the creature began, a snap changing his attire, now that of a pink pimp suit, complete with a jeweled cane, "am Discord, the God of Chaos! I must say, I am most pleased to meet you human, you all truly are such fun!" He stretched out a hand in greeting,
"Umm, it's a... pleasure to meet you?" I wasn't quite sure what else to say, I think it was the pimp suit that threw me for the spin more than anything else.
Discord walked around me, and I felt his gaze on me, sizing me up. "Yup, you'll do just fine I think. Such potential, such chaos! I truly do look forward to see what you bring about in your wake, I dare say!" A snap of a finger, and five flying placards appeared mid air, all displaying nines. "I've always looked up to humans, you all are a fun lot. I might not be able to breach the barrier myself, but I can always meddle a bit every so often. Why, I remember when I messed with those poor people who were interpreting that old Mayan Calendar. I had them convinced that because the Mayans ran out of space on their silly rock, your world was going to end! Such delectable, tasty, sweet chaos!" He paused, pulling his hand from behind his back. "Cotton candy?" Discord held in his grasp a fair style cone of cotton candy.
I tentatively reached for it, holding it in my hand. "Thanks... Anyone ever tell you that you come off as crazy?" I went to take a bite of the candy in my grasp, the heavy taste of... snozberries? Reaching my taste buds. It also began fizzing and popping, just like Pop Rocks.
Discord cracked up laughing again, only serving to solidify my opinion that he belonged locked up in a padded room somewhere. "Why, thank you! Chaos is always rather crazy, it's what makes it so unpredictable!" He came up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, the claws of the talon thumping against my shoulder. "You know, I really would love to stick around longer, but it's time for me to make like a banana and split! We should do this again sometime!"
Discord walked over to a random section of my dreamscape and simply walked through it, disappearing from sight. I was left holding the cotton candy as I simply started at the spot he had occupied just moments before, rather confused. Unsure of what action to take, I simply took another bite of candy.
The rest of my dreams were rather peaceful, the grip of sleep keeping me in its grasp. I had this lovely dream of flying through the air, something that I dreamed of on numerous occasions even before coming to this magical land. Eventually, my dreams made their way back to my daughter Angela, everything turning dreary and dark around me. I could see her in front of me, yet every time I reached out for her, I grasped at empty air.
She still stood there, looking at me with pleading, sad teary eyes, as if begging for me to hold her. No matter how many times I tried, however, I just couldn't reach her, even as the shadows began to close in around us. They eventually began licking at her feet as I was forced to simply stand there and watch, having resigned myself to the fact that no matter what I tried, it didn't work.
I immediately awoke, lunging up into a sitting position, a hoof rising to my chest as I caught a glimpse of a dark blue wave of, something, in the corner of my eye. Wait a second... I slowly lifted my hoof, no, my hand, into the center of my vision.
"Yes!" I hollered aloud, jumping the rest of the way from the bed to stand on the floor just as the door to my room was flung wide open with a pink aura, quickly followed by a familiar looking purple alicorn, panic evident on her face. Oh shit.
A pulse of foreign magic made itself known across Equestria, triggering an ancient ward long since forgotten underneath a long ago abandoned castle. Deep in the confines of the catacombs, a series of self contained spells activated, calling back an entity long since thought gone. Conscious thoughts began forming as it slowly pieced itself together.
Sounds... Thoughts... Self... Identity!
A purpose. The barrier was breached. My purpose will be fulfilled. I must go to them.
A misty shadow rose from the center of a magical circle, violently swirling about. It writhed and squirmed, contained by the magic, as the soul slowly began piecing itself together. As it calmed, a vague shape began to form, standing on two legs, proud and tall. The last of the mist settled down, leaving a transparent older man in its wake. He heard the call, and it was now time to answer it. Another had finally found their way here, and it was time to act.
It's only a matter of time, now. I must stabilize, first. The spirit sat down in the center of the circle and crossed his legs, then slowly closed his eyes, turning his thoughts inwards. The silence of the catacombs returned once more.
NOTE - Those of you returning, if you have not done so yet, please go back and take a look at the 'new' ending to Chapter 3, the scene where he wakes up. One detail, a very important one, was changed.
I quickly raced to throw a hand in front of my groin as the other reached for the now small sheet that was crumpled at my feet. I paused, however, noticing that I was fully clothed in what I had been wearing the night of my untimely departure from Earth.
I was disrupted from my musing by what should have taken my attention in the first place. Head lowered and horn aglow with a pink aura, Twilight looked ready to fuck my world up. "What are you? How did you get in here, and where is Arthur?"
I very carefully raised my hands in a non-threatening gesture, making sure to move very slowly. "Uh, hey Princess Twilight... It's me, Arthur."
Upon hearing my voice, confusion became readily apparent on her face as she raised her head to look me in the eyes. Her horn remained aglow, but hopefully not for much longer. "But, you were a pony yesterday... Is this what humans look like?" She let her magic die out and walked over to me as I lowered my hands. Crisis averted.
It was almost comical, how she began to methodically examine me from head to foot it seemed. However, a rumble from my stomach, and a rather loud one at that, broke her focus, just in time to keep me from beginning to laugh at her antics.
"Ah, yes. I originally came here to get you for breakfast, but then I felt a strong magical wave emanate from your room. I suppose it could possibly be from you turning back to a... human, but that's uncertain." Out came a quill and parchment from seemingly nowhere as she began to jot some words down. "Further study required to confirm whether or not magical pulse came from the human, as well as his manner of switching between being a pony and human."
I politely coughed, attempting to get her attention. I could tell that if I were to be in her company, there would no doubt be an endless slew of questions. It wasn't too big of a concern to me, however I would like to at least have some food first.
"Ah, sorry." She said rather sheepishly, a slight hint of pink crossing her cheeks. "I find it really easy to slip into what my friends have called my 'researcher mode' when it comes to new things. Consider that you're basically an undocumented species, and, well..." She trailed off, the answer very much obvious to myself.
"Well, I wouldn't mind answering some questions, but first..." My stomach rumbled once more, making sure its displeasure was well known to both of us present. "I think something wants some food." I ended with a smile, trying to be as friendly as possible. Remember, gotta stay on their good sides... Very important!
Twilight raised a hoof to her chin as she pursed her lips in thought. "Well, originally I was going to take you to a dining room, but now... Although the guards have a slight idea of where you're from, they don't know what you look like as a human, only as a pony. For now, I'll go get us some food and bring it back here." She nodded her head, seemingly satisfied with her course of action. "Now, while I'm gone, there's a bathroom right through that door if you want to freshen up some. Anything specific for food?"
I caught a quick whiff of myself, somewhat embarrassed that I hadn't even noticed how much I smelled. Usually I went with a shower every day once I got home, but I had never gotten around to it before I found myself here, so it'd been a bit longer than I liked since my last one. "Well, I can eat most anything, but if you could get some fruit and toast, that'd make for a nice breakfast. Also, think I could maybe get some more clothes sometime soon?"
Twilight walked towards the door, still wide open from when she'd rushed in. "Okay, I'll be back with breakfast in a bit. As far as the clothes, I have a friend who will probably jump at a chance to make clothes for you. But, we can discuss that later." With that said, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I tossed the sheet back onto the bed and made my way into the bathroom. Just like the room I was in, no luxury seemed to be spared when it came to the construction of this room. White marble tiles made up the flooring, and granite countertops lined one of the walls. A shower and bathtub combo were nested in the back of the room, although it was more the size of a hottub than bath. A toilet was set in an alcove next to that, although my focus was now on the massive mirror on the opposite wall of the counters and sink.
I carefully examined my reflection in the mirror, wanting to ensure that nothing else was ready to surprise me. A different world in which I could somehow turn into a pony was plenty, didn't need to spontaneously sprout wings or have my hair and eyes change color on me, afterall. I was still rather white, not quite at the point of pasty, but somewhat close due to the amount of time I spent indoors. Vivid blue eyes looked into themselves as my somewhat unkempt mess of brown hair spilled down to my eyebrows. I still seemed to be the same height as well, and skinny too. All in all, it looked like everything was where it belonged. I let out a slight sigh.
I went to the shower and messed with the knobs a bit, it only took a few moments to figure out the water system, as it was rather simple. I removed my Pink Floyd t-shirt that had the well known triangle and rainbow on it, I set it down on the counter. A pair of loose fitting blue jeans and some boxer-briefs joined it soon after. Unfortunently, I wasn't wearing socks or shoes when I got zapped to Equestria, so those items were sadly absent.
I quickly showered, enjoying the clean feeling it brought with it. For a whole nother world, it had a lot of similarities. I quickly dried myself off as I heard the door to the main room open and close, then quickly took a whiff of my clothes before shrugging and throwing them on. Not like I have much of a choice, they're my only set...
Twilight had moved a desk out from against the wall to sit next to the bed, a platter of food resting on it, as well as a rather large stack of blank parchment. "Ah, hi Arthur! I went ahead and picked up some other things, mostly to see if you can eat them or not. I have to document as much as I can, afterall!"
I just groaned a bit and made my way to the bedside of the table and sat down on the bed. The rug beneath my feet felt simply divine, for lack of a better word. I picked up an apple and slowly bit into it, the sweetness taking me somewhat by surprise. "Oh, now this is an amazing apple!"
Twilight simply giggled, a small piece of some fruit floating from the tray to her mouth. "It's grown by one of my friends. Even though she started a new orchard, the quality is still just as high." She pulled a single piece of parchment from the stack and brought a quill tip to rest on it as she continued eating. "So, first and foremost, I'd like to try and determine exactly how you shifted back to being a human. It seems that you enjoy being back in your natural form, however for now, once you're deemed capable of leaving the castle, we'll need you to go as a pony to avoid inciting mass panic in the citizens. So, mind describing anything you think is relevant?"
I carefully thought about it as I continued to savor the juicy sweet apple. A dream distinctly came to mind. "Well," I paused, taking another bite of my apple, "I had a dream last night that might've helped. I was looking at two figures, one my human self, and the other looked like me as a pony. For some reason they were staring at each other, not even blinking." I savored the sweet aftertaste of the fruit, still captivated by it.
"Mmhmm, do continue." Twilight appeared to be writing everything I said down.
"Well, from there, the dream shifted a bit. Showed my pony self walking through a crowd somewhere in a town, and then saving someone from some falling debris. Then, it shifted again, this time it felt like I was flying through the sky." I let out a small sigh as I recalled that. That was one of those things I'd never really managed to outgrow, a desire to be able to one day soar in the sky. "And then, it portrayed a hospital, and a child being born. After that, I thought of my little girl back home, Angela..." I trailed off, thinking. If the days were the same, then it'd be tomorrow when I picked her up...
Twilight immediately perked up at my statement, a slight look of pity and sadness mingled together in the smile she gave me. "You have a daughter back home then?"
I smiled as I pulled up some of my memories. “Yeah, she's a real angel. Somewhat ironic too, we had picked out her name months before she was born, and Angela never gave us a single issue at all..." I trailed off, reminescing.
Twilight made me focus back on the current conversation with her next question. "So, this means that you are mated, right?" I gave her a very puzzled expression, which she returned in kind. "Oh, uh... joined together in some manner?"
Clarity struck as I understood what she meant by 'mated.' "Oh, marriage. No, we're not." I replied with a shake of my head.
She looked at me with an eyebrow arched, looking at me critically. "Is it common practice for a male to impregnate a woman and then leave them?" I inwardly groaned, trying to decide how to best explain it. The situation was... complicated. Yes, that was the first word that came to mind.
"Well, not quite. Usually, a child comes after the couple in question has been married. However, with Angela, she was somewhat of a surprise when Ashley, my girlfriend at the time, and I were testing the waters by living together. We were beyond thrilled once we got over our shock, but the living together thing... didn't really work out."
I took a pause, noticing that damned quill still furiously scribbling away, even though Twilight wasn't even looking at the parchment. "We still love each other, but we knew that living together would only spell disaster in the end. So, since we still live in the same city, every other week one of us has Angela stay over. That way, we can both still raise her and be a part of her life."
Twilight gave me a few moments, as if she were expecting me to divulge more info. I might be willing to part with some of my background, but no way was I simply going to just give her my life story. Finally, she noticed I had no intentions of speaking more on the matter and spoke up. "That does sound... complicated. Here, once a ponies mate and have a foal, forming either a couple or herd, they stick together. Only three point two percent of the time does such a union fail due to causes other than death." She took a quick glance at her notes. "Before we get back to your dream, what is the percent of the failed... marriages? In your culture."
I took a sip of water to buy myself a moment to think. Truthfully, I had no idea what the failure rate of marriage was. I distinctly recalled several of my childhood friends who had parents divorce while I knew them, or were already split. "Uh, I'm not really sure. I guess it also depends on what country you look at, but where I lived at... maybe one in every four or five? Kinda pulling this out of thin air here."
She looked mortified as that quill kept going with its constant motion. "That's somewhat disturbing to be honest." She took a quick breath and her wings ruffled themselves. Signs of something? Shame I had no idea what their body language meant, and hopefully I'd be back home before I could figure it out. "Anyhoof, back to the original point. After you dreamt of your daughter, what happened?"
"Not too much that I can really recall. The pony lost, and that's the last thing I can recall from my dreams." There was also the Final Fantasy Fanfare music, but it's not like she'd understand the reference... A shame, that. Probably every good reference I have, I won't be able to use. Damn.
Her quill exaggerated what I was guessing to be a period as it drew away and the numerous pages unfolded out in front of her eyes, arranging themselves into some sort of pattern, which she stared at intently. I quietly sat there watching her, my breakfast finished, water all that remained. "Hmm, I think I see..." She began writing on another piece of parchment. It was almost comical watching her work, as there was a massive mess, all controlled by her magic.
As she continued to puzzle over her papers and write, my mind drifted some. Magic. Not only did it exist, but apparently I had some, and the ability to use it. A lot of it too, from what it sounded like. I wonder if I would keep it when I finally got back home? I suppose only time will hold the answer to that question.
"Okay." The word caught my attention as the papers around Twilight settled back down. "It has been proven that dreams are impacted directly by the subconscious mind. The best possibility for your turning back into a human is that, while dreaming, your subconscious asserted itself in the dream. This brought forth your thoughts and self image as a human to the forefront of your mind, and you subconsciously accessed and used your magic to turn back."
I pondered over her words for a minute. "Huh... that actually makes sense. Basically, my self identity influenced my 'form,' so to speak, as I have no conscious control over the magic?"
"That's the best possibility I've deduced from the information provided. I believe Luna will be able to further clarify that matter once she finishes gathering Starswirl– excuse me, Merlin's texts. Plus, I'm certain that she should have some useful knowledge for you, even if she is... hesitant to divulge it." Twilight organized the papers in front of her, a wide, manic grin crossing her face.
"Now, on to the fun part! Tell me about humans..."
