“Now, why did you want me to drop you off at the mall again, Tyler?” My mom asked as we pulled up into the parking lot of the local shopping mall.

“Just wanted to look around, is all.” I replied. Her curiosity over the situation was completely understandable, seeing as how I never go to the mall and this being the last day of school. Plus, I’m a serious stickler when it comes to routines and schedules. On any normal day I’d be sitting at home, engrossing myself in the simultaneous splendor and torment that is the online gaming community.

Though really, this all boils down to poor planning on my part. I mean, I love the woman, and all, but even I should have remembered how observant she is. C’mon, last day of school and I’d just written a massive two hour long math exam, which happened to be my weakest subject. How didn’t I see this coming? I actually find that fact a little funny, since my best subject is science and you really need a good understanding of math to be able to do a lot of the advanced sciences. But I guess that’s just the different ways our brains develop.

“Alright, you have ten minutes to look,” my mom said, turning the car off. “But make it a quick in and out, the train will be leaving in half an hour."

This day really was a big one for me. See, it not only marked the end of this year of high school, it marked the end of my entire high school career. Yep, I had passed grade twelve, with an average in the high eighties and low nineties. As such, my family decided to drive all the way up to Ottawa to visit my mom’s side of the family for a large celebration, as well as my grandmothers birthday, since we’d be missing it to celebrate with my dad’s side. And as if that wasn’t good enough, my parents had even gotten me a seat on a train so I could arrive a day earlier than them and my two sisters - of which I was relieved.

Actually, now that I thought about it, it’s actually kind of funny that my mom didn’t realize the true motivation for this detour. See, while our family had all pitched in to get my grandmother a gift, I felt that she deserved a little bit more. So I had spent the last month of school saving up all the money I could, and by now I had a few hundred dollars, and I had a nice little idea of what to get.

Quickly I got out of the car and made my way towards the mall. I opened the door, and the moment I took a step inside I felt myself being blast by what felt like a thousand sounds coming from all directions. I heard the footsteps people were making, I heard their muffled voices, and their fingers clacking against cell phones as they texted. Needless to say it didn’t take long for my heartbeat to quicken into my throat, and I absently ran my fingers through my messy brown hair.

Ever since I can recall I have had problems in crowded locations. All the noise and people moving, talking, giving off heat... It had a way of making me go on edge. How other people were able to stomach it was beyond me. But I was a guy on a mission to get a secret gift, and it’d take more than some crowded hallways to get the best of me. The things we do for the ones we love.

I walked onward through the noise, keeping myself sane by focusing on the ground in front of me and trying my best to filter out some of the sounds. It was a handy trick I had learned through the years. To put it simply the process is that I go through all the sounds around me and then choose some of them to block. It’s not a 100 percent elimination, but it does help to reduce the audio input, and a such my stress levels. This time I was marginally successful, reducing noise intake by at least twenty percent - specifically on people’s conversations. Not a significant drop, but a drop nonetheless. And, as luck would have it, I looked up to find myself at my destination; a small jewelry store located in an inconspicuous corner of the mall. And I must have been born under the lucky star or something, because the place didn’t seem to have many customers. For a brief second I felt bad for the people in the crowded retail stores, but those thoughts were brushed aside as I remembered the reason for this journey.

Before going in, I decided to just stand there for a second and allow my stress levels to recede. Once I’d felt it was gone - at least partially - I walked along the display cases. Inside of each were necklaces and earrings of silver and gold of every shape and size. Further along they became more intricate in their designs, and gemstones ranging from diamonds to onyx were fitted into them. Not that my grandmother would wear any of these, she hadn’t for years. But she did have a certain affinity towards jewelry. Something about the craftsmanship always captivated her. Sadly the prices on these pieces ranged anywhere from 600 to 1000 dollars.

Of course, there was always the fake jewelry, but I wouldn’t dare touch the stuff. Call me old fashioned, but I never liked the idea of using glass and plastic to replicate truborn metal and gemstone jewelry. It didn’t require nearly as much time, effort, and what you got in the end was just another cheap, dime a dozen knick knack. What makes jewelry so valuable is that each piece is authentic. Each piece is a work of art that is unique and tells its own story. If I’m spending the money on this gift, it’s going to be genuine.

“Excuse me,” A voice asked abruptly. I looked up from my browsing and saw a young, mid twenties looking woman staring at me from behind the counter. “Can I help you with something?”

“Maybe,” I replied. “I’m looking for something nice for my grandmother’s upcoming birthday.”

“Oh, well that’s sweet of you,” she replied with a daww tone of voice. You know, the one girls use when they see something cute. “What is she interested in?”

I shrugged. “Silver, especially if it’s got lots of design work. Do you have anything that can fall below 500 dollars?”

“Sure, but what are you thinking of getting?” she asked. “Necklace, bracelet, earring, pendant?”

“Necklace.” I replied. If I remembered correctly she had the other things in plenty.

The women nodded and gestured to several display cases in front of her. “These are all jewelry that’s been traded into us. Perhaps one of them will interest you?”

I gave her a quick nod of thanks and moved over to the cases. The necklaces inside were indeed beautiful, particularly this one with ten rubies encrusted into its sides. My grandmother used to have red hair in her youth, so it would have worked well with her. But at the price they were selling it for I’d have been better off buying equal amounts of fake jewelry. Ugh, even the thought of it makes me feel cheap.

Things didn’t seem to improve past these pieces, sadly, as everything else was either just too expensive or I was finding some tiny imperfection in the metal. What can I say, I’m, a perfectionist when it comes to gifts.

But then I saw it. Sitting in the back of the case was a plain silver necklace, one of those ones with the large collars that go around your neck. Not a choker, but thicker than most other necklaces. It was covered in a beautiful and perfectly cut scale shaped pattern, and on its front was a serpent with four wings spread out in opposite directions. This gave it an uncanny resemblance of a six pointed star.

Hmm, snakes aren’t her favorite animal, but still... I looked at the price tag. Yes, it was affordable.

“I think I’ll take this one.” I said, pointing to the serpent.

The receptionist pulled some keys from her pocket and unlocked the case. “Excellent choice, I’m sure she’s going to love it.”

I nodded in agreement and passed her the money, my eyes still looking at the necklace, even as she removed it for packaging. The more I did, the more I came to realize just how magnificent the crafting was. The scales alone seemed like they’d taken days to make. I have to beat myself to keep consistent with a school project, or even a personal one. So to imagine somebody slaving at this task where just one mistake would lead to destruction was mind boggling. He, or she, deserves a frigging award for this.

“Just need you to sign here,” the women said, handing me a pen and receipt. I quickly signed my name and she handed me a bag. “I hope your grandmother likes this.”

“Thanks.” I said before walking back the way I’d came.

I felt really good at that moment. You know that feeling of anticipation you get when planning a big surprise and you just can’t wait for the person to see it? Well, I was getting that all through my body. So much so that, I wasn’t even bothered by the mall and its noise. Instead, I found myself humming a little tune - Owl City, I believe - before I returned to the car. My mom looked up from the magazine she’d been reading in my absence and turned to me as I sat down.

“You’re back,” she said, though perhaps a little more surprised than she meant. I decided to make use of this window of opportunity.

“Does this mean I win a prize?” I asked, to which she shook her head. “Figures” I sighed, tucking the bag with the necklace in it under the seat. My mom looked at it for a moment with curiosity.

“So, what did you get?” she asked before I even had the chance to buckle in.

“It’s not for you to know,” I said with a smile that caused her to roll her eyes in annoyance.

“Why do you always do this?” she asked, a slight edge to her voice.

“Do what?” I asked, though in my head I knew where this was going.

“These guessing games. I know you think they’re funny but all they do is piss people off, like I am now.”

I inhaled slowly; once again I’d taken things a little too far and the joke - if there even was one - was gone and replaced by annoyance. “I’m sorry.”

My mom looked me in the eyes. “I know that you think it’s ok with family, and it is to an extent, but in the real world you’re going to get smacked.”

“So you think I’m just going to go up to random people and mess around with them?” I asked defensively. “I’m not that stupid. I do it with you guys because I know I can get away with it.” I finished with a silly smile, which got my mom smiling as well.

“Now, as for the item in question, I cannot say what it is because I want it to be a surprise for everybody. So please, bear with me, women!”

I said the last word in an overly exaggerated manner, which got a small chuckle from her. “Oh Tyler, what am I going to do with you?”

“Donations are always accepted.” I held my hand out a if I was accepting something. My mom rolled her eyes again and started up the car.

Princess Twilight channeled magic into her horn, illuminating the vast and haunting catacombs around her. Many of the pathways were broken or crumbling away to jagged pitfalls hundreds of hooves deep. In fact, some areas couldn’t be accessed by walking - you’d have to use magic or flight to reach them. The ceilings were a veil of wicked stalactites that looked as if they would fall at the slightest disturbance, and the walls were hollowed with dozens of tunnels leading to who knows where. And all around her, jetting from the walls and growing tall from the ground, were large, light blue and black crystals that seemed to make up more of the caverns then the actual rocks themselves.

The last time Twilight had been in these caverns was during the Changeling’s attack on her brother’s wedding. From what the queen had said - as well as her own speculations - there were sure to be many secrets hidden within them. With the attack on Canterlot, and her own studying of friendship in Ponyville, there hadn’t been an opportune moment for Twilight to investigate them. But with her new status of princess, this opportunity had arrived. Already in her mind the possibilities of finding how the Changelings broke in, a use for the mysterious crystals, and who knows how many other possibilities were forming in her mind. It was enough to emit a light giggle of anticipation from her.

“My word, would you look at the size of this place?” A voice spoke, bringing the Alicorn of Magic back from her thoughts. The voice happened to belong to a grey pegasys guard, though he wasn’t the typical royal guardsmen. From the catlike eyes and the leathery wings it was easy to tell he was a member of Princess Luna’s night guards.

“Yes, Shadow Sight, these caverns are impressive,” She replied, spreading her wings and flying towards a nearby ledge. Shadow Sight spread his own wings and followed after her.

“Princess, are you positive this is the best course of actions? If the Changelings found a way in, then who knows what else might be waiting for us.”

“I didn’t find anything dangerous down here before.” Twilight replied.

“That was close to a year ago, much can happen in that time.”

“That is true, but I’m confident we are more than capable of handling anything down here.”

The night guard opened his mouth to reply, but decided against it. Twilight smiled reassuringly before illuminating her horn further and continuing down the closest cavern. She appreciated his concern for her safety, but really, she wouldn’t have even come down here if she wasn’t sure she could handle herself.

As the delve deeper into the catacombs Twilight began to notice slight differences in the structure of the crystals. Compared to the ones that she had seen on her first visit, they were smaller and more fractured. Oddly, it was almost like they’d been broken off. Twilight inspected the crystals closer. Yes, definitely broken. But not recently.

“Princess, over here.” Shadow Sight called. Twilight looked up and spotted him further down the tunnel. However, when she looked beyond the Alicorn felt her jaw drop.

Directly beyond the night guard was a set of massive steel doors, thick with what looked like centuries of rust. A gaping hole lay in the center of them. All around it the metal was ripped and twisted into long, jagged ribbons that spread inwards. Twilight didn’t even need to inspect the door, even a child could tell that it had been blown open.

“Princess, perhaps we should go back and return with more guards?”

Twilight shook her head. “Whatever caused this left long ago.” She then spread her wings and flew through the door, her horn illuminating the pitch black interior. Though instantly she considered dimming it.

The room was vast, easily rivaling the main hall of Canterlot Castle in size. Crumpled on the ground were hundreds of large serpentine shaped skeletons, all sprawled in positions of death and agony. The bones themselves had been fossilized by time, giving them the typical black and rocky characteristics. Many of them weren’t even fully put together, with pieces of the spine scattered all around, along with ribs cracked and ground to powder. Their skulls were all agape in a simultaneous cry of panic. Twilight was standing in the middle of an ancient tomb.

She was at first appalled by this fact, but something about the skeletons caught her eye. At first glance they appeared as just massive snakes, yet the princess noticed two long vertebrae that projected from their sides. She peered closer and her eyes widened with amazement; wings! On some they ended in a single claw, much like a birds, and on others they had three long fingers, along the lines of a bat where wing membrane would most likely have connected them in life.

This is incredible, the violet Alicorn was having trouble confining her excitement to her head. A species of avian serpents, perfectly preserved after all this time. She heard a muffled gasp behind her and realized that Shadow Sight was inside as well. She turned to the night guard, who was looking around in both amazement and horror.

“... What do you think happened here?” He asked after a moment.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight said. She took a step toward the nearest skeleton and felt her hoof make contact with something hard. Looking down in curiosity she discovered a strange substance. It looked almost like amber, but was clear coloured instead of golden. Sweeping over the room, she spied more clusters of the substance, particularly around the skeletons. Curious, Twilight leaned in to inspect the piece in front of her. As she did, she noticed a slight tingling sensation beginning to surface in her horn. At first she tried to ignore it, but every step the princess took further into the metal tomb seemed intensified it.

Shadow Sight caught sight of her discomfort. “What is it, Princess?”

“I’m beginning to sense something down here.” she replied. “And whatever it is, there’s a magical property to it.”

I waited on the edge of the train station platform with my bags in hand. In total I had three, the one from the mall, a large leather bag that contained my cloths, and the bag which contained my computer and books - currently slung over my shoulder. Next to me was my mom, who was busy looking down both ends of the train tracks for the approaching iron horse.

“I see it,” she said, pointing down the tracks. Curiously I leaned over and stared in the direction of her finger. Sure enough a small speck of light appeared in the far horizon and was rapidly growing bigger. I smiled and took a step back as the train slowed down to a screeching halt before me. The doors along the sides all opened up to ascending staircases, from which the tired passengers exited with their luggage to be received by loved ones and be on their way. I always loved watching that; I’m not sure why, but there’s just something really warming about seeing friends and relatives greeting each other. Needless to say I found myself smiling.

“Now remember, when you get to your grandparents the first thing I want you to do is call me,” My mom said, snapping me away from the tranquil scenes around me. She then handed me the train ticket, which I took in between my middle and index finger. “You got it?”

“Yes, mom,” I replied, adding a lot of agony into the words just to mess with her. She rolled her eyes at me and let loose a soft chuckle. Eh, I’ll count that as a victory.

By now all the departures had, well, departed, and the people around me were beginning to board the train. I hoisted my bags up and followed after them, turning to my mom one last time before I left. “Bye mom.” I called at her.

“Bye, I’ll see you tomorrow.” she called back. “And don’t forget to help your grandparents around the house!”

What is it with mothers and constantly reminding us of things we already know to do? I thought to myself as I ascended the ladder into the train. Help your relatives, I do that. Help around the house, I do that. Help your sisters, I do that. Comb your hair, I purposely forget. Find a job, I’m working on it. Become more active in the community... Ok, maybe I do need some reminders here and there.

Once I was actually on the train I made my way down to the seating area, depositing my clothing bag in a storage section along the way. Using my ticket I found the way to my seat - number 12A, an aisle seat. Fine by me, I prefer aisle seats to the window anyway. It makes it easier to exit.

I settled into my seat and pulled out my laptop. While the train did have a wireless connection they didn’t allow you to use websites that involved downloading or video streaming. This meant things like Youtube and Blip were off limits. This sucked because I couldn’t listen to any music that I didn’t have downloaded - which was about everything. However, I still had access to all my games. So I decided to pass the time by playing Civilization V. It’s a pretty fun game where you found an empire and compete with other nations in order to end up the number one force in the game, be it by culture, science, peace or warfare. It even managed to get some educational facts in an age where the gaming industry is dominated by games like Call of Duty and Borderlands.

As I was halfway through getting the loading screen up I was approached by one of the attendants - a short women with a kind face. She held out her hand and I showed her my ticket, which she promptly checked off. After she left I heard the announcer speak to the passengers, first in english and then repeating in french.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for using VIA Rail Oshawa station. Our next stops will be at Cobourg, Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, and Fallowfield.

“Mesdames et Messieurs, nous remercions d'avoir utilisé VIA Rail Oshawa station. Nos prochains arrêts seront à Cobourg, Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, et Fallowfield.”

Fallowfield was my stop; it wasn’t more than a ten minute drive from where my grandparents lived. Unfortunately those stops were in order, so I had a ways away from finally reaching there. Oh well, at least my game was ready to go by this point. I leaned back in my chair and waited as the map finished generating and felt my foot push against something. Looking down I saw that it was the bag that contained the necklace. Using my leg I pulled the bag closer and brought it within arms reach. I didn’t want it possibly being damaged, after all, and since I had my computer on an extendable tray table this left my lap free. So I ended up resting the bag there just as the game began. What’s more, the train finally decided to leave the station.

Bones. That’s all that Princess Twilight and Shadow Sight came upon as they traversed deeper into what they now knew was some form of large, underground building. The serpent creatures were piled in great heaps, most of whom had wings ripped off or entire pieces of their spinal columns crushed to dust. The strange amber like substance was also present, but it became more and more scarce the deeper they traveled.

Despite the death, Twilight was growing more and more fascinated by their discovery. So far she wasn’t sure if the serpents had built this place themselves or if they had discovered it. If they had built it, then how? And, most of all, how did they die. Many of the skeletons were surrounded by rusted and chipped pieces of armour, so it was safe to assume that they were soldiers. However, the increasing magic levels currently required her immediate attention.

“This is looking more and more like a last stand,” Shadow Sight said while inspecting a rusted helmet. “The direction of collateral damage, plus the fact that there’s more dead further in than at the entrance suggests that they were cornered in here and falling back.”

“But why would they choose here?” Twilight pondered while carefully inspecting a set of large doors in front of her. As with the previous pair - as well as every other door they had run across - they had been blasted open. From the gaping hole an invisible blast of magical energies hit her like a tidal wave, and the princess took a step back from the sudden shock.

The night guard noticed and moved to her side. “Princess, are you alright?”

She nodded to him. “I think whatever is causing this magical disturbance is through this door.”

The princess flew through the opening and landed perfectly in the room beyond, her horn shining brighter than before. Inside she found only one serpent skeleton - which had died with its wings torn off - laying in the center of a room constructed entirely from metal. The walls were lined with odd devices that seemed to be a merger of crystal and metal, all of which were dead after all their inactivity. The princess only spent a moment looking at them, however, before something else caught her attention.

Past the skeleton was a large diamond shaped construction, much like an archway. It was twice her height, and made from an odd blue metal. Resting beside it were two large copper pillars, which also showed bits of the blue metal in their rounded tips. Twilight approached the construction cautiously. She didn’t need her horn to tell her that she’d found the magic source, at this distance she could feel it radiate from the metal.

And yet, it did more than this. It was almost like the device was calling to her. Like the magic was yearning to be released, but for some reason it couldn’t break free. Curiously the princess attempted to move some of the metal with a simple levitation spell. Yet, to her surprise, the magic vanished the moment it touched the blue substance. What’s more, she felt the force of magical energies amplify.

Twilight’s eyes widened in amazement. The metal! Whatever it was, it had somehow managed to contained raw magic. She stood there, eyes sparkling at this amazing discovery that lay in front of her before taking on a more thoughtful appearance. What purpose did the serpents have for this metal, and why use it in this construction?

“Princess,” Shadow Sight called, turning Twilight away from the metal construction. The night guard walked up to her, only briefly looking at the construction. “Is this what you were sensing?”

“Indeed it is, did you discover anything new?” Twilight asked, which prompted the night guard to shake his head. “That’s alright, I need you to go back to the surface anyway. Tell either Princess Celestia or Luna to bring now an excavation group.”

“You’re not coming with me?” he asked in confusion.

“I’m going to stay and inspect this device a little longer.” Twilight said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t think its creators will give me much trouble.”

Shadow Sight gave a quick nod and took his leave. Once he’d gone, the Alicorn turned her attention back to the strange construction, particularly the copper pillars by its side. Both were about as long as an average stallion laying on the ground with his legs stretched out. Curiously she approached the one closest to her, her horn feeling like it was going to burst from all the magical energies. She took a step back and instead opted to levitate the pillar to better inspect it.

The Princess began to gather the magical energies needed,but instantly stopped when she noticed what was happening. Both pillars were levitating in front of her,with faint glows coming from their poles. There was a series of loud clicks and then the poles divided into three triangular pieces that spread out like a windmill. Twilight was intrigued by this sudden activity, but that quickly gave way to shock as her horn involuntarily fired beams of magenta coloured magic into the open pillars. She cried in shock and tried to get her magic under control, but it was no use. The magic moved as if it possessed a mind of its own. The Alicorn was helpless as her immense magic reserves were drained in mere minutes by the strange devices. Finally she was released and collapsed to the ground, weakened, but still conscious.

With great effort Twilight got back to her hooves just as the pillars began to levitate away from her. She stumbled backwards as they took their places next to the arch. Once there, the pillars began rotating around it - first slowly, but quickly gaining speed. By the time Twilight was beginning to regain some feeling in her horn they were already an indistinguishable blur. A high pitch droning sound filled the cavern, causing the princess to cringe in pain. Not from the noise, but from her horn. It was throbbing and burning with pressure from all the unstable magic in the room.

A blinding light then flooded the room, causing Twilight to shield her face with her wings. when it dimmed the Alicorn was shocked to discover that the pillars had stopped rotating and were hovering next to the archway, only now there were beams of magic trailing from the poles to the very top of the arch. The blue metal was glowing fiercely, and to Twilight’s amazement something was forming in the middle of the archway. It was faint, almost like a thin layer of mist, but gradually it grew more defined. In less than five minutes the entire arch was filled with a swirling wall of pink, purple, and blue, all blending and separating into cosmic patterns.

Twilight stared transfixed into the otherworldly colours. She felt magical energies flowing forth from them and dispersing around the room. As they did, the colours seemed to change with a peculiar ebb and flow.

Her curiosity at breaking point, Twilight ventured approaching the archway again. Oddly enough, the Princess of Magic felt energized once more, and her horn had even stopped burning. That one was easy to answer; because the magic from the archways was now stable it no longer caused the reactions in her horn. She wasn’t quite sure about the new energy, unless...

Enticed by her new theory, Twilight quickly gathered as much magical energy into her horn as she could before firing it through the gaping hole she had used to enter. She felt her horn fizzle slightly from the extreme blast - and then stop instantaneously. She even felt her internal reserves fill up as she stood there, causing her to let out an excited laugh.

“This machine can replenish magic at an alarming rate!” she said to nopony in particular. Before she could think of any possibilites for this discovery, however, her eyes were pulled back to the colours. Amidst the three colours was an oddity - a small black dot, to be precise. It rapidly grew larger, and Twilight was able to make out a few more features about it, such as an approximate size and length. But this didn’t make any sense, if the machine was making magic how could this shape come to be?

“Unless that’s not its primary purpose,” The Princess said to herself. That would make some sense, since it required such tremendous magic levels to activate. Sudden dread spread across her face. “Oh no, what if this thing is a weapon? What if I’ve set in motion Equestria’s destruction? What if-”

The Princess was cut off by another burst of blinding light from the machine. As she shielded herself, something large was tossed at her at rapid speed. She stumbled over and was able to catch one final glimpse of the device as its colours finally dispersed and the copper pillars sealed up, before falling lifelessly to the ground.

The three hour trip seemed to fly by quickly. After loading my game I got to work building up my empire, which was Russia. It didn’t take too long for war to break out between my empire and the British. The map spawned us pretty close to each other, so naturally we were competing for land and resources until Queen Elizabeth decided to take my land by force. I’ll admit, those British longbows were pretty tricky for me to work around, but thanks to the special ability of my empire I was making twice as many soldiers as they were. Minor victories were won in skirmishes, but I was the one who struck the first major by taking York.

Two minutes and twenty turns later, the British army had Moscow surrounded.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. My nearest regiment of soldiers were too far away to be of any help, and I couldn’t move any others, lest Elizabeth decide to retake her cities. As much as I hated to admit it, suing for peace seemed the best, if not only option. I was heavily against the idea, however, so I decided instead to save the game and come back to it later with a more focused mind.

After logging off and packing up my computer, I realized I still had a lot of time on my hands. We’d only recently passed Brockville, which still left roughly thirty minutes before the train would arrive. So what better way to keep myself busy then to pull out one of my traveling books? I didn’t know any, so I reached into my bag. I felt my fingers brush against the hardcover spine of a book and pulled it out. It was Skybreaker, second book in the Airborn series by Kenneth Oppel.

I always found it a great shame that today’s young audiences would rather spend their times watching television or playing video games instead of reading. Books can be just as good, if not better than those things. They open your mind and take you to exotic and faraway places - all without ever leaving your seat. Especially if the book was fantasy, which this one was. Right now, I wasn’t in an Ottawa bound train, but aboard an airship, miles and miles into the sky. Looking out the side window, I saw the wind twist the massive clouds into cute little shapes in the endless sea of sky. Far in the distance I caught an image of the sun beginning to rise, and the scenery around me became warm and peaceful. And, to solidify the experience, unlike on TV there were no commercial breaks. So you can keep immersing until you put the book down. Really, how could anyone dislike this?

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at Fallowfield station in ten minutes.” The sudden voice snapped me out from the images in my head and back to reality, not a moment later repeating the message in French. “Mesdames et messieurs, nous arriverons à la gare de Fallowfield dans dix minutes."

I closed the book, a little reluctantly, and stored it in my bag. I guess I could have kept reading for a little bit more, but the moment felt ruined now. So I took to looking at the scenery. Right now we were still in some pretty barren areas with a few trees, but mostly just open grassland. Soon we’d be in urban lands before making our stop finally. And about time too, I don’t think I could take another moment on this train. They’re fun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the same as being in a car or on a plain. There’s only so much you can take before needing to stretch your legs.

Suddenly, I felt a strange feeling over my body. It was a warm feeling, but not a natural warm. It’s kind of hard to explain, the best I can come up with was the same warmth you feel when you sit on an air vent mixed with cool air blown from an air conditioner. Confused, I turned from the window and saw that the bag on my lap was glowing. Yeah, glowing, and not even a natural glow. It was more of a strange combination of colours - mostly pink, purple and blue from what I could see.

I tried to move the bag away; I tried to cry in fright; I tried to stand up; I tried to do something. But it was like I was strapped down in my seat. The only thing I could do was watch as the intensity of the glow increased. A few people seated nearby took notice as well.

“Hey, can you turn down the lights?” An elderly man called from the seat across from mine. I tried to reply, but the words were lost when a loud burst came from the bag and the colours came rushing towards me. In that moment, I was able to let out a single cry before I felt myself being violently yanked backwards into my seat.

Only, I didn’t feel myself impact with the seat. I didn't feel myself impact with anything. Instead I was suspended in a massive sea of pink, purple and blue that seemed to be expanding in every direction. It was a lot like one of those tie dye shirts hippies wear. All around me the colours moved like water, rippling across the world in a strangely rhythmic ebb and flow. If you overlooked the completely freaky circumstances, it was almost mesmerizing.

On the other hand, however, the colours were as bright as the freaking sun. Now, I don’t know if you've ever looked at the sun before, even indirectly, but it stings. It really freaking stings. So much so that you can go blind. Plus, your vision is being distorted by weird little patches of light that follow your eyes everywhere. Now imagine that amplified by a billion and coming at you from every angle imaginable to man, and I swear to God even a few that weren’t. Yeah, it was that bad, so I squeezed my eyes shut to keep myself from blindness.

I didn’t even get to enjoy my reprieve from the killer light for more than ten seconds before I felt a that yanking feeling again. Suddenly, I was pulled backwards, this time with even more force than the first time. A series of loud cracks filled the air, and I realized they were my own bones. But there was no pain, only numbness.

This can’t be happening. I reassured myself. I must have somehow blurred the boundaries of reality and fantasy. Yeah, that’s the reason for this. That must be the reason for this.

I was interrupted from my rightfully stressed situation by a new feeling coming over my body. This one was soft and pleasant, reminding me a lot like silk. Yes, hands of silk were tenderly covering every inch of my broken body, and even the parts that weren’t. I tried to struggle, but I couldn’t. It was like they’d sapped my strength with their touch. But I didn’t dwell on this thought for long, because instantly afterwards my arms began to tingle. They felt wrong, almost twisted even.

Now when I say twisted, I freaking mean twisted! Like I was feeling myself getting caught in a massive piece of machinery twisted. My eyes scrunched up as I felt skin and bone thrust this way and that. In some places I felt the skin ripp and in others it seemed to stretch and reform. Yet there was still no pain. But it didn’t matter, because I still felt struck to the core from the knowledge alone. Soon I even felt tears forming behind my eyelids.

Why? I whispered in my thoughts. Why was this happening... Why now?

I ask myself those same questions for what felt like an eternity. I wasn’t sure why, maybe it was for even the slightest piece of comfort. The tiniest way of escaping this nightmare. In my minds eye I saw the images of my mom, dad, and sisters appear. They were smiling, no doubt thinking of all the fun they were going to have in Ottawa. Specifics didn’t matter, I just needed to see them now. See those kind eyes and warm smiles. Memories, flesh, blood, it didn’t matter. I just had to see them. One last time.

Thankfully things didn’t turn out quite as bad as I’d envisioned, because I felt the twisting sensations lessen and the silk hands leave my skin. I let out a relieved sigh, until I realized that they’d also taken away my weightlessness. Next thing I knew I was falling forward rapidly, causing my heart to travel into my throat. Though I think the universe was done torturing me, because the drop only lasted a few seconds before I impacted with something. It felt soft, but also sturdy, though it couldn’t sustain me hitting into it and I felt myself impacting with something cold and hard. Pain was ricocheting across my entire body, and I welcomed it. It meant I wasn’t in that crazy psychedelic zone anymore!

Once the pain subsided I opened my eyes after what felt like an eternity of keeping them shut. Sure enough I wasn’t in that... place, but rather I was on my stomach in the middle of a large room of metal walls. It was mostly dark, but a faint purple light allowed me to get some glimpses of dead machinery and weird looking crystals situated on the walls.

But then I looked towards the center of the room and felt myself cry in fear. Laying just a few feet away was a massive snake like skeleton!

“What the heck?” I said, confused at the sound of my own voice. It didn’t sound the same as before. Don’t get me wrong, it still sounded close to me, but on a much higher pitch. Was I screaming without my own knowledge? Did I lose my voice?

“Ugh...” A voice said from behind me. Shocked and excited at hearing someone elses voice after what felt like so long I whipped my head in their direction. However, my vision was then blinded by a large mass of pink.

Instantly I was taken aback by the sudden rush of colour. Reflexes kicked in and I jerked my head back. This caused even more of the pink stuff to come up from below, and ended up getting some of it in my mouth. Instantly I gagged on the oily taste, and my eyes widened. I had just swallowed a mouthful of hair!

I spat the hair out of my mouth, and it ended up falling limp next to me. But not on the ground, oh no, it stopped a good few inches from that. Also, there was the hair that was still in my face. From the angle it looked like it was coming from... no. No way. Not going to believe it. No way am I believing that this long pink hair was my hair!

“Hello?” that voice from before asked. Instinctively I twitched my head towards it. But what I saw wasn’t a human, rather, it was a large lavender coloured horse with horns and wings! The former of which was even glowing! “Oh my, where did you come from?”

“AH!” I cried, startling the horse and making her flinch. I tried to use the moment to scramble to my legs, but they decided to use this moment to be difficult and refuse to help me out. So, like the jerks they’d decided to become, they dropped me onto the cold ground.

The horse gave a small gasp and came over to me. She stood over me, and it was now that I really got a sense as to how big she was. I mean, I’m average height, about five foot ten. This horse had to be at least twice that size.

She leaned her head down to look at me. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I... I can’t tell,” I replied, still staring at her with disbelief. “Just please, tell me this is all in my head.”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” the horse said. “But I think the important question is how did you get down here in the first place.”

I tried to form the words to tell her, but ended up blinking instead. But in that split second I noticed something in the lower corner of my eyes - which I silently thanked, since it meant I didn’t have to look at this pink hair. Carefully I aimed my eyes to their corners, even closing my left eye, until I discovered a small... thing? Yeah, that word worked to describe it. An odd, sky blue, and slightly rounded thing. And as funny as it sounds, I half expected the thing to grow legs and start tap dancing on my head. Hey, with everything else that’s happened today, nothing will surprise me.

Still, whatever this thing was, it was annoying to constantly look at. It’s like when you close one eye you can see your nose from the side, because that’s right where this thing was. I gave my nose a little wiggle to try and shake the thing, but it moved in the same directions. Wait, does that mean this thing is my nose? God, I hope not, but I’d better find this out. So, shakingly, I brought an arm up to my face.

And this is is the part where the blood drained from my face, because my arm was covered in sky blue fur! I didn’t even have any fingers, just a single hard edge. In the distance I heard a voice, probably from the horse thing.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to your hoof?”

Ok, it’s official. Either the universe has decided that today is the day to dick around with Tyler’s life, or this is a very long, very realistic dream. Please let it be the latter, I hoped. I knew it was a fools hope, I know, but I felt I needed to try anyways.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the horse thing grow more concerned. I don’t know why, but looking at her again made me feel less stressed. Maybe it was the eerie similarities between her and humans that I saw in her eyes and facial features, but I didn’t really care. All I knew is that I felt calmer. By no means was I calm - good God no. But I felt calm enough that I could think. And thinking allowed me to remember that I need to be calm. Stressing out will just block your thoughts, making it easy for you to overlook simple things and make rash decisions. And I couldn’t afford to do that - not now.

I swallowed hard; the off pitch to my voice was beginning to bother me. ”Can you tell me where I am?”

“You’re in a large series of catacombs located under Canterlot,” she said. It was so disturbing hearing the kind of voice you’d hear from any human girl. But if it kept my stress levels low, then I didn’t care.

“And where is Canterlot?”

The horse’s eyes widened with shock and disbelief. “How can you possibly not know where Canterlot is?”

“Because,” I swallowed hesitantly. “Because I don’t even know how I got here.”

The horse thing paused. By the look on her face I was expecting her to start playing twenty questions with me. Stuff like who are you, and where did you originally come from if not here. Simple, yet effective questions. But I didn’t want to answer questions. I wanted to ask them. How do I get home? How do I repress this memory forever? What was I now? And why pink hair?

However, neither option ended up happening. Instead, the horse turned away from me and looked at something in the back of the room. In the dim light given off by her horn I could make out that it was diamond shaped, whatever it was, and made of metal. Maybe it was some kind of artwork; I mean, she was looking at it with an enigmatic look.

“Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but do you think you can please help me?” I said after a moment.

The horse turned back to me. “Sorry, I was just wondering about something. Of course I’ll help you.” She then gave me a once over. “Can you stand?”

I gave a quick shrug and rose to my legs - which felt so alien without fingers, might I add. It’s a lot like trying to get up using only your palms, if they were as hard as your nails. But there were more alien feelings to experience, as my knees instantly gave out from under me, sending me right back to my good old friend, the metal floor.

“Ow,” I groaned while bringing a... foreleg, (I guess?) up to rub my lower jaw. “No.”

I moved my limbs to my side and readied to hoist myself up, only for a magenta aura to cover my body. My eyes widened as I felt myself being lifted off the ground and set perfectly on all fours. Instantly I felt them begin to buckle so I did my best to position them under me to support my weight. Of course, this lead to a few new discoveries, namely that my back legs were near identical proportions to my front and also equine. I felt my heartbeat quicken as the realization of just what I was hit me.

“Don't start this again,” a little voice said in the back of my mind. “C’mon, get help first and have the mental freakout later.”

The voice was right; I needed to set my priorities. The first of which had to be finding out where the hell this Canterlot place was. Through the dim light I was able to see a gaping hole in the farthest wall. It looked promising enough, so I moved a leg forward. My knees were shaking from the unfamiliarity of walking on all fours, but I was able to take a tender first step. Next thing I knew the cold floor was rushing to meet me again. However, I was saved from another impact by the same magenta light, though this time it lifted me perfectly in the air.

“Um, thanks.”

The unicorn gave a small smile. “It’s no trouble, my little pony.”

And just like that, it all came crashing down on me. All my attempts to keep the stress contained vanished with that sentence. So that’s what I am now; some sort of little blue pony with pink hair? My heart was a pounding drum that I could feel in the back of my throat - so hard that it was hurting my ribs. My breath shot from my nose, fast and abrupt. A pony? My little pony...

“Miss, you’re stressing yourself out,” the unicorn pony said.

Wait, miss? Why would she call me miss? Miss is a feminine term; things you use for girls! Was she making fun of me? Just because I’m a pony doesn’t make me a girl!

“Please, calm down. You’re going to hurt yourself!”

My muscles all twitched involuntarily. My skin felt like it was crawling. But what did that matter? What did it matter if I hurt myself? What did anything matter now? I was supposed to be in Ottawa right now, not in some crazy underground room with a winged unicorn pony with gender identification issues!

“Calm down,” it was that same voice from before, but it sounded different. Desperate. “Please calm down.”

I know! I screamed in thought. Another muscle twitch came over me. I know, alright? But this is too much, too much! So please shut up and let me figure things out!

That seemed to shut the voice up. Or maybe it didn’t, I could barely hear with my heart beating a million times a second. Another muscle twitch hit me; my breath had gone up to what felt like ten every second. My gums were tingling as if numb, and I felt something tap my forehead. It wasn’t hard, but I tensed up all the same.

And then, as if I’d have been splashed by cold water, it was done. My breathing returned to normal and my heart found its way back to my chest. It felt wonderful, like the weight of the world had been taken from my shoulders. For a few seconds I did nothing but breath slowly. When I felt as close to calm as I could I looked back to the unicorn.

“Thanks,” I said meekly. “I’m so sorry for that. I’ve kinda been through a lot of... changes lately.”

She eyed me for a moment, almost as if analyzing my every feature. “I understand,” she said finally, though her tone was as injurious as it was friendly. “Now, how about we continue this conversation in a friendlier location?”

Before I even had a chance to respond the unicorn began walking forward, pulling me along by the strange aura she had me in.

The trip to the surface seemed to go on forever. First we passed through the rest of the metal building, which was filled with fossilized snake skeletons, and then through a massive series of crystal catacombs. I didn’t speak at all during this time - I was still too busy trying to come to grips with my situation. So I decided to spend the time pondering it.

That earlier freakout probably didn’t help with first impressions, and the setting seems to point to me appearing in a research or testing room of some sort. I let out a sigh. Wonderful, so I looked like a spazz and I was in a potentially unauthorized zone. Chances of imprisonment now fifty to one.

On the plus side, I was able to make one discovery of interest. Something cool around my neck. I snuck a glance down when the unicorn stopped to find her bearing and saw the head of a silver snake striking from my neck.

The necklace? I thought in disbelief. There wasn’t any way it could have survived the trip - it had been in the center of the initial light. Yet here it was in perfect condition. Good, I thought to myself. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this thing played a part in my coming to this place. But besides that, it reminded me of home.

The unicorn finally stopped at the end of a cliff. Below us the ground seemed to descend for hundreds of feet through jagged rocks and spiraling black crystals. There was another cliff higher than ours, and I could see a glimmer of sunlight pour from it. All we lacked was a pathway to walk up there, but when your current escort has wings it really doesn’t matter. The unicorn simply spread her wings and flew up in no time. She didn’t land on the ledge, however, instead she flew towards a hole in the cave roof where the light was pouring in from.

I squinted my eyes shut from the extreme brightness, and from the memories of that psychedelic place. Frig, just thinking about that experience was making my bones hurt all over again - and I still haven’t even seen the full extent of the damages yet. Priority one, find a mirror, assess the damages, find a way to reverse them, and then find a way home.

Eventually I got the courage to open my eyes again, and I found myself in some form of garden. There were statues of ponies standing on their hind legs and wielding some form of musical instrument, or being surrounded by a massive stone scroll. We had just emerged from behind two of them, both facing away from us and looking at their hooves. There were hedge mazes everywhere - particularly one large one in the center - and a few sparsely planted trees.

I was about to try and ask about the location, but I caught the words in my throat when I noticed the large group of ponies walking across the garden. It’s kind of hard to explain how this looked without sounding like someone as high as a kite; there were ponies wearing golden armour and possessed either feathered wings or horns. One pony was wearing deep purple armour and looked like something from hell, with cat like eyes and leathery wings like a bat. Finally, at the head of the group, was a pony even larger than the unicorn holding me. Like her, this one also had wings and a horn, (I guess they’re special) and was dressed quite elegantly with a tiara, necklace, and even shoes of gold. Oh, and its mane and tail were multi coloured and blowing without any wind.

“Princess Celestia,” the purple unicorn said. That struck me as both rather odd whilst also leaving no dispute as to who is the dominant species here.

“Hello Twilight,” Celestia said, and there was no disputing she was royalty. Her voice held itself in a noble, yet also compassionate tone. “And who is this with you?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied. “I found her in the catacombs right after I made the discovery that Shadow Sight no doubt told you about.”

“He did,” Celestia continued, looking at the freakish guard.

Why does this pony keep using female specific pronouns on me? I thought to myself. I mean, do I look like a-. I didn’t continue that thought, because I remembered how odd my voice was sounding lately. But surely that didn’t mean...

“Shadow Sight can lead you to the discovery,” Twilight said. “I’ll be right there after I bring her inside.”

“Yes, she does seem like she’s been through a lot.” Celestia said.

God, I thought to myself. Now both of them were saying it.

Twilight led me away from the princess’s entourage and through the garden, which was part of a large white castle. I caught some glimpses of the archetype as we moved through the gate and main hallway. It was very well furnished, with a large red carpet laid along the floor. The walls were lilac in colour, and lots of medieval esk stain glass windows and tapestries on the walls. In a normal situation I would have loved to have spent more time observing the details of the castle, but right now I was busy in thought.

Ok, calm down, Tyler, it’s probably the stupid pink hair that’s fooling them. I only half believed that, considering the luck that had befallen me. Hell, on top of all this, I was probably ugly as sin to look at, and these ponies were just being polite and not bringing it up... Wow, I need to do something about this stress.

Twilight finally came to a stop in front of a pair of purple doors with golden trim. One of them was caught in the same magenta aura I was in, and the door opened by itself for us. I think it was pretty obvious by this point that there’s magic in this world, or I’ve been so affected by stress that my mind has been tricking me.

Beyond the open door was a basic room, of sorts. There was a small single bed, which Twilight set me down upon gently, causing the aura to vanish. I blinked suddenly - again reminded of my unpleasant trip here - and took in some of the other features of the room. There was a single window on the far left wall, a couple of chairs positioned around a coffee table, a rectangular desk, and thank God, a full body mirror beside it. Step one has been achieved.

“I need to see Princess Celestia, but I’ll be back soon,” Twilight said. “Just try not to move too much, ok?”

My reply was a simple nod, but it was all the acknowledgement she needed, and with a quick nod of her own the lavender unicorn left. I waited until the sound of her hoofsteps had vanished before rolling off the bed and onto the floor. My thrice damned hair also decided to take the time to fall back into my face. I blew it to the side and shakingly rose to my hooves. Mental note, add haircut into schedule.

The mirror was right in front of me, and I finally got to see myself. When I did, I felt myself give out a small gasp at the equine I saw in the mirror.

As I already knew my mane and tail were pink and messy. They naturally curled and jutted out in places, much like my old hair. My tail was about the same length as my body and was slightly more orderly than my mane. It was really hard to imagine that this was me, until I saw my eyes. They were the same eyes I had my entire life, blue and green mixed together perfectly. Right now the blue was primary, having been brought out by the blue of my coat. It was enough to almost make me cry. I’d lost so much, but at least I kept these.

Eventually I pried myself away from my eyes and continued my examination. Two things shot out at me as overly bizarre. One was a strange mark on both sides of my rump. It looked like a strange rainbow, split into three colours: green, blue, and purple. The other was myself overall. It pained me to admit it, but really did look feminine. My eyelashes were more prominent, and my body shape wasn’t as big as the guards and seemed more... I don’t know, just feminine.

“That’s because you are, genius.” My eyes widened, it was that same voice from the cave. “Why is he just beating around the bush right now, just check your reproductive tract already and be done with it.“

“Gee, maybe it’s because I need a moment to breath after my look on reality was just shattered and I was ripped away from my home and family!” I said defensively.

There was a long pause before the voice spoke again. “Did... did you just hear me?”

“Um, yes. Was I not supposed to?” I looked in the mirror and around the room, but found no source of the voice. “Where are you anyway, and why are you following me? Did you have something to do with me coming here and changing species?”

“So back in the cave, you heard me then, right? I wasn’t just imagining things?”

“Yes, I heard you,” I said, blowing my hair out of my eyes. Or would that be a mane now? “Ugh, look, if you know something about what’s happened please tell me. If not, then leave me alone, because I seriously don’t need this right now.”

The next phrase was a mixture of amazement and sadness. “Nobody has ever heard me before...”

I sighed in annoyance. “Yes, I can hear you. Now will you please tell me what the hell is going on?!”

“Right. I’m sorry. it’s just... it’s been so long since I’ve had an actual conversation. Nothing but sitting in darkness and silence for as long as I can remember.”

This time it was my turn to pause before speaking. “...Who are you?”

The voice trembled as it replied, its words full of fear and sadness. “I... well, once, long ago, my parents called me Ri-Bov-Dis. You can call me that too if you want, or something else if you like.”

“What kind of a name is that?” I’d studied history in my senior years of high school, and there were no segmented names like that in any European country.

“One of disgust and shame,” This Ri person said. “Why else was it given to me?”

Well this person had some parental issues, that’s for sure. But I didn’t have time for this, so I exhaled loudly. “OK, Ri-Bov-Dis, do you mind telling me where you are now?”

“Where am I?” Ri paused, and then let out a timid giggle, which gave me a good indicator of her gender. “Look in the mirror.”

I frowned and looked back at myself. Was there some kind of cliche riddle hidden here, like she’s actually my feminine side come forth from this transformation, or maybe even my conscience? Fun little theories that didn’t quite work with the information she’d told me already, but it helped me thing all the same. Besides, it’s not like there was anything new to see in the mirror - still just my new... female pony body.

“Well, I’m looking at myself in the mirror, so do you mind showing yourself now?”

She sighed. “I’m right here, just under your nose.”

Great, she’s speaking in riddles. “I really don’t have time or patience for this!”

“No, I mean, I really am right under your nose.”

Ok, it was obvious that I’m getting no more information from her, so why not humor her before I chew her out for this waste of time. I looked under my nose (muzzle?) and discovered nothing new - what a shock. The only thing I saw was the necklace... wait a second.

“I see you figured it out.”

I chuckled in disbelief. “Ok, the stress has finally gotten to me. Clearly I have flown over the Cuckoo's nest, someone slap me back to sanity.”

“And I thought you were supposed to be smart,” Ri said. “Tell me, when a scientist has exhausted all possible theories that coincide with their predetermined ideas about a problem, then logically they must accept things based on the evidence given.”

All I could do was stand there as my barriers broke for the second time today. I slumped to the ground in front of the mirror and watched as tears formed in my eyes and run down the equine’s face. I didn’t even know why I was crying, I already knew everything this Ri person was saying. The tears just started and wouldn’t stop. it was like I was crying one for every thing I’d lost. Tears for my family were first, one for each member, close and extended. My friends were next: Matthew, my best friend I’d known since we were two months old. My school friend Emily, who’d made an amazing drawing for my eighteenth birthday. I even shed some for each of the teachers who, just a few hours ago, I’d seen wish me luck as I wrote up my last exam and walked out for the first day of summer. Piece by piece I watched my life flow from my eyes and puddle on the floor.

“...Tyler,”

The voice pulled my eyes away from the tears and guided them to the silver necklace around my neck. There was no change in the metal, and nothing magical like a glow around the eyes, yet I could still tell that there was some presence about it.

“Tyler, I know this probably seems like the worst moment in the history of your existence, but don’t give into despair when you don’t know the entire situation.”

I don’t know weather it was Ri’s simple words of comfort, or that I had no more individuals to cry away, but the tears stopped flowing when she said the word despair. It’s a word I was all too familiar with, one that makes you feel hopeless and miserable - like I was feeling now. And the more I thought of that word, the more I remembered a passage from a book that my mom read to me once long ago. Despair is the enemy, do not let it consume you. As far as quotes that inspire you, this one was pretty simple and bland, but it had stuck with me all the same and helped me in the past. Would it be able to help now?

A warm ray of sunlight shone through the window, and for the first time since I’d arrived here I realized how late it was. I carefully walked over to the window and looked at the setting sun. “Tomorrow... tomorrow I’ll figure things out. There’s gotta be some way home, right?”

“Every destination has multiple pathways,” Ri said. “At least, that’s what my mom always said. But... she never said if it would be a good one or a bad one.”

“You know, for someone who seems to want to help me keep my mind from all this, you’re not doing the best to inspire confidence.”

“I know,” she said sadly. “Stupid Ri...”

“Hey, I never said that,” I said, making my way back to the bed. “Look... let’s just sleep and tackle this insane problem tomorrow with fresh minds.”

“Well... alright.”

“Good,” I said. Carefully I hoisted myself back onto the bed, which wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounded. Curse these equine back legs.

Once I finally did get back on the bed I simply lay there for who knows how long. Falling asleep was always an issue for me, but really, how would anyone expect to sleep after having their world views shattered like this? Again I looked at the setting sun, now almost completely gone. My grandparents would have told my parents that I never showed up. Would there be police involved? Investigations into all the train passengers? And what thoughts would run through all the heads of my family members? How long would they persist until finally deciding to give up and move on as best they can?

No, don’t think of those things. I told myself. There is a way out of this that you just haven’t found yet; don’t go stressing yourself over nothing.

My eyelids began to flutter and I felt the fatigue of sleep begin to come over me. So I lay my head back eagerly and welcomed its embrace.

Twilight Sparkle watched as the excavation groups of guards, geologists, and architects scattered over the metal tomb. Their tasks were simple: determine the age of the building by the metal and gather bone and amber specimens for study. The latter was proving the more difficult of the two, as most of the skeletons were so damaged that they cracked at the slightest movement. The amber like substance was also proving a challenge, as it refused to be chipped or cut by the tools available to the ponies.

Magic would speed things up. Twilight thought, but both she and Princess Celestia has insisted that no magic was to be used in the cavern. Instead, charged sunstones usually used to light mining shafts had been brought to provide light. Sure, it was cumbersome, but if just a simple levitation spell had activated the machine and brought that strange pony through, then who knows what another stray spell would cause. Perhaps a collapsing of the cavern, the destruction of Canterlot, or maybe a massive explosion of pure magical energies all over Equestria? With the amount of magic this thing could produce no possibility seemed impossible! What if these serpents were killed by this machine?

“This is... disturbing,” Princess Celestia said, bringing Twilight from her thoughts. The Alicorn of the Sun was scanning the room, her eyes becoming transfixed with the nearest heap of serpent skeletons.

“So, I take it you don’t know what these serpents were?” Twilight said, a little disheartened. She was sure her mentor would have been able to shed some light onto the identity of these creatures.

Celestia shook her head. “No, I have never seen anything of their likes,” She leaned closer to one of the skeletons - a bird winged serpent whose helmet had caved so deep into its skull that bits of the metal peeked through the other side. “How long do you suspect this place has remained undiscovered?”

“I can’t say for sure, Princess,” Twilight replied. “The bodies were flash fossilized without being covered or protected from the elements. And if you don’t know what these things are, then they’re obviously older than a thousand years, at least.”

“I suspect they were even older than the three tribes, or at least before they came to Equestria” Celestia said somberly. It was clear to Twilight that her mentor was affected by the sight before her, not that she could blame her. While at first the discovery was fascinating to the Alicorn of Magic, seeing it now was exposing her to the full situation before her. These creatures had obviously been sentient, and they had died - brutally from the evidence before them. And it had not just been soldiers down here, guards had found chambers filled with smaller skeletons - the longest only reached the length of an average sized dining table.

Children had died down here to, Twilight thought sadly, but she put those images aside and spoke to her mentor. “Princess, the machine.”

Celestia looked at her pupil and managed a smile. “Of course. Forgive me, Twilight.”

The two Alicorns walked through the tomb, and Twilight soon found herself once again in the room of the machine. As they neared, Twilight noticed that the tug of magic had all but left the room. There was still the unmistakable presence of magic, but it was smaller - much smaller, along the lines one would find in residue after a magical duel.

It’s drained, Twilight pondered this fact carefully. The machine had used its magic to bring the mare through, so did this mark its primary purpose? And if so, then what was on the other side? The pony had said that she had gone through several changes, and showed clear signs of instability if simple reassurances had resulted in near violent outbursts. But what would cause that, and how did she even come to discover the device in the first place? All these facts and possibilities swam around in Twilight’s head and put speed in her flight. I’ll need to ask her more when she’s more cooperative.

Two of the castle's head architects were already there; one - a grey pegasus - was examining the archway with a helmet consisting of many magnifying lenses positioned in front of one another. The other - a brown earth pony - was looking over the two pillars. Both turned their heads at the sound of the Alicorn’s wings as they flew through the opening and landed before them.

“Princesses,” The earth pony said, giving a quick bow.

“Hello Marble Measure, I trust you have some information for us?” said Celestia.

“Limited information, sadly, but yes, we have something.” said the pegasus, flipping back the magnifying lenses on his helmet. “This metal is completely foreign to Equestria, that much is certain.”

Twilight’s eyes widened with curiosity. “Really?”

The pegasus nodded. “I’ve never seen any metal mined by pony, griffon, zebra, or even minotaur that bears the physical characteristics of this. But there’s more, look at the surface of the metal under times sixty magnification.”

He removed his helmet and presented it to Twilight. The Alicorn of Magic slipped it over her head and walked towards the archway. Despite the fact that the helmet was customly made, she was able to keep it steadily around her horn so that she could look through the magnifying lenses well enough. As she flipped each lense down there was no visible change at first, but once she reached the sixty magnification she let out a soft gasp of surprise.

The entire surface of the metal was no longer a completely single surface, but millions of small blocks all compacted together. What really drew her attention, however, were the strange blue spherical objects in the center of every block. They seemed to give off a faint glow of some kind, and even sent occasional flares to one another. It would go that the sphere is one block would flash, and then all those around it would give off a similar flash - yet no other block would continue the chain.

Twilight removed the helmet and turned to her mentor. So strong was her curiosity and amazement that it practically shined off her face. “This metal is structured along the lines of a collection of cells - like a living organism!”

“Princess, while the metal has some unique properties to it, I don’t know if I would go that far,” The pegasus spoke.

“I’m not saying that the metal is alive, Geode,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Besides, looking at it will only get us so far. We’ll need some samples to test on.”

“That has already been taken care of, Princess,” Geode said. He bent behind the archway and held up a small container with several slivers of the blue metal inside. “This stuff is rather strong. I lost my best tools collecting those bits.”

“You will be compensated for your loss,” Celestia reassured. “Now, Marble, have you any news about these pillars?”

“Sadly no, they just seem to be made of basic copper - except for the ends, of course,” He turned one of the pillars over carefully.

“Stop,” Twilight said, causing the architect to freeze. Twilight leaned towards the pillar and discovered the source of her outburst; a small vertical crack about a third of the way towards the southern pole. “Where did this fracture come from?”

“I gathered a few samples of the copper. Thought maybe there might be a hidden secret.” Marble said matter of factly. “I guess I was a little too rough.”

Celestia smiled. “It is alright, I believe this to be sufficient work for today.”

“What?” Twilight spun to look at her mentor. “But Princess, we’ve only just begun!”

“Yes, but the hour grows late, and no doubt my sister has already brought about the night. I understand your excitement Twilight, but without rest none of us will understand anything about this device, or its makers.”

Twilight knew she was right, but she couldn’t leave, not now. She needed to figure these questions out, and to solve the mysteries of the metal. If such a substance could be utilized by ponies, just think of what could be accomplished. A new breed of self perpetuating magical generators that could power machines that before needed constant replenishing of magical charges. It would change the face of Equestria... but Princess Celestia was right. Without sleep they could overlook a crucial piece of information without even knowing it.

Celesita gave her orders to Geode and Marble Measure; they were to signal the rest of their team to return to the castle. Herself and Twilight were returning first, along with a small contingent of pegasus guards - as was standard for a royal escort. As they prepared to depart, the Alicorn of the Sun gave a final look around the main room, a growing look of unease appearing on her face.

“Is everything OK, Princess?” Twilight asked.

Her mentor nodded. “Yes Twilight, it is just that, after all this time, I am surprised that neither Luna nor myself ever discovered this place.”

“It was probably your royal duties that distracted you from it,” Twilight said. “I mean, I found this place on a curious expedition.”

“True, and at any rate it matters not,” Celestia said. “Come Twilight, let us retire.”

The two Alicorns made their way back to the surface. To Twilight, the trip seemed much shorter than when she had brought the mare not a few hours before - most likely because she spent the return trip deep in thought of eventual questions for this mystery mare. Curiously, Celestia hadn't asked about the pony at all during their excavation, not even in passing.

She probably placed this discovery as a higher priority, Twilight thought. Still, the thoughts lingered at the back of her mind, and by this point their entourage had reached the entrance to the surface. One by one they flew towards the opening in the ceiling and reappeared in the Castle Grounds.

Instantly Twilight was bombarded by a blast of magical energies - so strong that it physically shook her and nearly made the Alicorn stumble over. Groaning from the strain in her horn, she looked around for the source of the disturbance. Across the night sky was a flurry of lights, flickering and dancing in ribbons of blue, purple, and green. At first Twilight thought they were the auroras that appeared in the arctic hemisphere, but they were too far south for such an occurrence. What’s more, these lights didn’t spread out as much as the auroras were reported to. The lights were also closer to the earth, and it looked like one could fly up and touch them.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” Celestia asked. Looking at her, Twilight could see beads of sweat beginning to form on her brow though all around she was faring better.

“I don’t know, there’s just so much magic present...”

“Sister, Twilight Sparkle, I am glad you have returned,”

Twilight turned her eyes towards the voice and found a midnight blue Alicorn landing gracefully before herself and her mentor. This one, like Celestia, possessed a mane and tail that flew as if in constant wind - yet to look at them was to look at a piece of the night sky. And like them both, she showed visible signs of strain.

“Luna, what is going on?” Celestia asked.

“I am unsure,” The Alicorn of the Night spoke. “These auroras appeared the moment I began the night. As you have no doubt figured out by now, these are no natural occurrence, but a fabrication of magic.”

Oh no, Twilight tried to speak, but a throbbing pain from her horn cut her off and caused her to merely moan. The other Alicorns both looked at her with concern, but Twilight re-positioned herself and gave a nod of reassurance. I need to tell them.

“Princesses, I think,” Twilight paused, the pressure from her horn continued to hamper her. “I think this was caused from the device in the catacombs.”

“A device where?” Luna inquired.

“I’ll explain later,” Celestia said before turning back to Twilight. “Come, let us continue this conversation inside.”

The trio of Alicorns made their ways back to the palace, with Twilight falling slightly behind the sisters, who were side by side as they walked. No doubt Celestia is informing Luna of everything she missed, Twilight imagined. She turned her head towards the dancing lights and was filled with apprehension. The magic levels that flew from them were identical to the output the archway created when activated. Was this another part of the machine? Did its creators truly die of a massacre, or were they wiped out by their own invention? The same invention I reactivated.

The Alicorn of Magic didn't remember entering the palace, so wrapped in her thoughts as she was. It was only when her mentor called her by name did she snap back to reality in time to stop herself from colliding with a pair of dual lavender doors. After a moment of apology the Alicon of the Sun opened the doors, revealing a long hallway of stain glass windows depicting historical scenes when Equestria was saved from an impending threat. At the beginning it depicted such scenes as Princess Celestia and Luna’s defeat of the spirit of chaos, Discord, and the banishment of Luna when she became the wicked Nightmare Moon. As they walked along, however, the scenes chanced. Twilight saw the day she and her five friends had first used the Elements of Harmony to purify Nightmare Moon upon her return, and when Discord had freed himself to once again spread chaos across the land.

The sight caused Twilight to emit a sad smile. She missed her friends in Ponyville, having not seen them since the incident with her crown - the Element of Magic - being stolen. The Princess has requested that Twilight remain in Canterlot for a time to detail her time in the strange other world she had been forced to travel into to retrieve it. The report hadn't taken more than a fortnight to complete, but then her curiosity kicked in when she remembered the crystal catacombs. Surely she could sacrifice one afternoon without disrupting the meeting with her friends - or so she had thought. I hope they won't be mad at me.

Once again the voice of her mentor broke the lavender Alicorn from her thoughts. “Twilight, you may continue now.”

Twilight nodded slowly. Princess, do you remember that sky blue pony I was carrying this evening when you found me at the entrance?” Celestia nodded. “Well, she wasn't just in the catacombs for no reason, she actually came from the device when it activated.”

“There was a pony in the crystal catacombs?” Luna asked in shock.

“Yes, there was,” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “And I take it there is more to the story then that?”

“Yes, she seemed utterly confused of her surroundings and her own physiology. I was carrying her in my magic because she couldn’t walk. It was like I was watching a newborn struggling with her first steps. And that’s not all,” Twilight gestured to one of the windows, where the auroras were still visible through the stain glass. “Those light... If you look at them close enough, they look like her cutie mark.”

The princesses both looked at the lights and turned to each other. After a moment of silence, Celestia spoke. “In the morning we will ask this mare what she knows about the device. Until then, Luna and myself shall continue to observe these auroras and determine just what kind of threat they present. And Twilight...”

“ Yes Princess?” she replied, grimacing from another burst of pressure from her horn.

“Get some rest.”

Twilight wanted to protest that, being the Alicorn of magic, she should be assisting them with the magically based auroras, but the strain from her horn was causing her too much discomfort. So instead, she gave a stiff bow and departed to her chambers. It didn’t take long for her to reach the guest hallway, but she ended up stopping in front of the third set of doors. The same ones she’s escorted the mare into several hours ago. For a second Twilight was tempted to knock and see if she was still awake - maybe even fish for a few answers. But in the end she decided against it and found her own room.

Tomorrow, she told herself as she laid down onto the bed. Tomorrow we’ll get some answers.

They say that every night a person dreams, it’s just that most of the time your brain forgets the dream when you wake up. Supposedly the vivid dreams only last during the rapid eye movement of sleep, but even then people have been reported of remembering their dreams without going through a REM cycle. Whatever the case, it did cause me to wonder what I had dreamed of. Probably something having to do with the whole being a female pony and getting sucked away from my family. But then, why wouldn’t I have remembered that? Wouldn’t the dream be stronger because that’s what’s on my mind? Unless of course the entire theory was false and dreams were just random occurrences from increased brain activity. Hell, maybe they were really telepathic messages sent by aliens, by this point nothing was too far-fetched.

Now the sunlight that was currently shining through the window and into my face, that I knew was real. And it was preventing me from getting any more out of my restless sleep. So, groggily, I opened my eyes, and was pleased to discover that my mane wasn’t in my face from all my tossing and turning. The room hadn’t changed one bit since I first entered, and my better judgement wanted to assume that no one had entered while I was asleep. But given the situation I really couldn’t be certain of anything anymore.

“Nothing came into the room, you can stop being paranoid now.”

At first it felt like I was about to jump from my skin when I remembered what the voice was. “How do you know that? Can you see the outside world?”

“Well, no, not really,” Ri said. The notion that I had another being talking inside my head was freaky, to say the least. The best I could compare it to is some person talking and being unable to tune them out. But on the plus side her voice was helping me get out of this groggy state. And, hopefully, talking to someone else will help keep my stress levels down. “But is starting off your day paranoid that you were watched in your sleep really the proper course of action?”

“That doesn’t answer the question.” I retorted.

“Look, all you did was let your stress get the better of you, which is completely understandable,” Ri said. “I doubt these ponies are going to keep you under constant supervision on those ground alone.”

I chuckled amusingly. “Trust me, if you’d seen the place I ended up in, you wouldn’t be so quick to assume the best.” I groaned and rolled myself onto my side, careful not to disturb my mane as I did, and then maneuvered onto my stomach. I don’t know why, but I felt more comfortable having a conversation in a more maneuverable position - even if it was with a voice inside my head.

“And why do you say that? Did it look like some military installation, or perhaps a scientific laboratory of some kind?”

I was about to relay the catacombs to her, but I caught the words in my throat a second before. “Ok, before I say anything more, why don’t you answer some questions for once?”

“Um... like what?” Ri asked, a slight but noticeable timidness rising in her voice.

“Like how you knew my name?” I said. “And maybe, I don’t know, how you’re apparently inside a necklace and seem to know something about what’s happened to me?”

“Um... heh, well...” I swear, if Ri had eyes they’d be shifting around crazily from the nervousness in her voice. “Ok, you’re right, you deserve some answers, but... I can’t tell you those last two.”

“And why not?” I asked with a slight edge, brought on partially from her and partially from hearing this feminine voice every time I opened my mouth.

“Because they’re... they’re personal, ok?”

I felt my frustration growing as she finished that sentence. “So, you’re telling me that you know something about my being here, but you’re going to keep that information from me?”

“Look, it’s not like that-”

“Then tell me what it is!” I said through clenched teeth. “Because I’m probably going to get interrogated for something that was completely out of my control and I doubt these ponies are going to believe a word of what I say if I tell them that I’m not of their species!”

“Please...” This time her tone wasn’t nervous at all. It was sad - pleading even. “I want to help you get home. I want to tell you what I know. But I don’t... We don’t know each other very well. Would you play Twenty Questions with a total stranger and divulge your most personal past onto them? Even if you wanted to help them, you don’t know if half of what they say is real or not. You can’t be sure if they’re just hosting a mummer’s farce or speaking genuine - you just don’t know. ” She paused for a moment. “It hasn’t even been a day since we made contact. All I know is that I have a theory of how you’re here. A theory! And I don’t want to tell you something inconclusive that results in just more failure...”

This time it was my turn to go silent. Damn it, I did it again and pushed too far. Sure, my reasonings might be just, but she’s right. Just like mom was right...

In the real world you’re going to get smacked...

“Ri... I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said. “You have every right to be mad. And, if it makes you feel better, others in your situation would have handled things worse than this.”

I gave a small smirk. “I see your motivational speaking skills still need work.”

“How about you conquer your social problems and I’ll conquer mine?” Ri retorted, already devoid of some of her previous sadness. “Now, in answer to your first question as to how I know your name, I heard you say it in your thoughts.”

I slapped myself over the head. “Wow, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Ask a stupid question and receive a stupid answer?”

“Pretty much,” I said before tilting my head in confusion. “Say, why are you even so determined to help me? Like you said, we don’t even know each other.”

There was a long pause before she answered again. “You’re the first person to talk to me...”

I didn’t inquire anymore into the subject - there was no need. Growing up, I had a hard time keeping my stress levels under control, so I’d been forced into isolation on more than one occasion. Plus, while other kids tended to move beyond enjoying things like fantasy as they grew older, I didn’t. While every other kid my age was playing sports or making social groups, I was reading and immersing myself in the worlds of fantasy. Sometimes I’d even use the natural world to create my own stories, which everyone else considered a strange and deplorable act punishable by austrodization. Or maybe it was me talking to myself all the time. Whatever the case, it wasn’t until I’d gotten to High School that I had a friend who wasn’t Matthew, whom I’d known practically since birth and was willing to put up with my habits. But did Ri even have that before she ended up like this?

My ears were pressing against my head, which I assumed meant a state of depression. “Ri, one last question, and please be honest with me here. Do you think there is any chance of me getting home and being myself again?”

“I... yes, I think there is some method to reversing these effects on you and returning you to Earth. Finding them, however...” she sighed. “I’ll keep working on my theories. And I promise you, when I feel they are conclusive, I’ll share them with you.”

“Thanks,” I said before turning my attention to the floor. Judging by the positioning of the sun in the sky, I’d say it was time to get up. I mean, sooner or later I was going to have to answer the questions of these ponies - no matter how much I really didn’t want to. It’s kind of like what Ri said, I knew next to nothing about these creatures or their knowledge of humans. Hell, what if humans didn’t even exist here? Almost all the odds pointed to me getting shipped off to some mental asylum if I told and that was the way things were.

So, priority two: learn what I can about this world - preferably before meeting with the royals - then get home.

“Good plan,” Ri said in mock encouragement. “No, really, there’s no way that can go wrong.”

“Your confidence in me is well appreciated.” I said before twisting around and swinging my back legs off the bed. “Speaking of, are you some kind of scientist or something?”

“No,” she replied softly. “I wanted to be, but... those personal matters happened.”

“Oh...” My ears pressed even tighter to my head. “Sorry for bringing it up, then,” I looked down at the floor and finished swinging my back legs directly under me, which allowed me to manage an upright position of sitting. Oddly enough, the position didn’t feel as awkward or cumbersome as I originally thought. Instead it felt as natural as it did as a human. “Wow, these ponies are really flexible.”

“Yes, I’m rather curious as to what environmental factors would have sparked such an evolution.”

“You and me both,” I raised both my front legs up and pushed myself off the bed. My old friend the floor was rushing up to greet me, but this time I denied him an encounter by sticking my front legs out. So when I fell, I landed in the perfect quadrupedal walking position. Tyler: one. Floor: three.

The floor wasn’t through with me yet, however, because I almost instantly felt my knees begin to buckle. Not wanting to give this bastard another victory I quickly spread my legs further apart. While this helped to distribute my weight, I also made me feel something strange and new. It was a feeling of - I don’t know - exposure, primarily in the vicinity of my flank... Suddenly my eyes widened with realization, and I felt my tail instinctively press itself closer to my body.

OK, I may have already figured out yesterday that I was a female pony, but with all the other shit I had to put up with that bit of information seemed minor. Not this time, though; I was getting the full force of my alien anatomical changes.

“Um... yeah, you didn’t think you could keep avoiding this change forever, did you?” Ri asked. I could tell from her tone she was trying to be sympathetical.

“Ri, not now,” I said, my voice no more than a whisper. I know she wanted to help, but she didn’t understand. My new place in biology disheartened me, of course, as well as all the so called ‘perks’ that nature placed upon the females of any species. But there were personal reasons at play as well.

Just then I heard something knocking on the door. I spun my head towards the sound, which caused my thrice damned hair to become disturbed. And like the vengeful being it was, it flopped forward into my eyes again.

“Who is it?” I asked, snorting in annoyance and blowing my mane to the right side of my face.

“Oh, sorry to disturb you,” a feminine voice replied from the other side. “I was sent by Princess Celestia - she requests your presence at breakfast.”

Time to face the music. “I’ll be right out.” I called, then began the rigorous trip from the base of the bed to the door. Each step I took felt awkward, and getting the timing between by front and back legs was really tricky. Seriously, they just refused to move where I told them to. After a moment, thought, I think I got a pretty good little groove going. It was shaky as hell and made me look plastered off my ass (or would that be rump?), but at least I got to the door.

Now, the door itself presented another problem for me. For some reason, these ponies had invented their doors with handles on them, yet they lacked hands. I mean, I know the lavender pony used her telekinetic magic to open the door yesterday, but I didn’t have any apparent magical abilities on me - at least to my current knowledge. So I carefully sat down and inspected the problem.

Hmm, maybe if I press both my hooves against it and turn? I thought to myself, momentarily forgetting that my thoughts weren’t quite so private anymore.

“Judging by slickness of the metal and lack of any real traction on your hooves, I theorize you’d quickly lose your grip.” Ri replied. "But I have been wrong before, so why not try it?”

So basically you're saying "I think it won’t work, but try it anyways," I love it! I smiled, then brought both of my front hooves up on opposite sides of the metal door handle. Carefully I applied pressure and eased my hooves around, which - sure enough - caused the door handle to turn slightly. Yes, it was working!

Until my hooves got to such an angle that they ended up flying off the metal and hitting me in the face.

“OW!” I held my hoof tenderly over the spot where it had struck. “Frig, that stings.”

“Are you OK in there?” The pony from outside asked.

“Yeah, just fine,” I replied. OK, Ri, got any other ideas?

“At present, it would seem that gripping it in your teeth is the only viable option.”

I felt my face scrunch in a grimace. I mean, not only did that sound highly unsanitary, but it just didn’t seem to make sense for the subspecies of ponies that lacked horns to use their mouths for such simplistic tasks as opening a door. Did that mean that while I was stuck like this I was going to have to use my mouth for everything? No, that makes no logical sense... Still, even though I’d love to find an alternative, I’d been summoned by royalty. And I’d read enough history and fantasy books to know that it’s a bad idea to ignore such a summon. So, I swallowed my dignity and opened my mouth over the metal handle. The disgusting taste of metal filled my mouth, but I stuck through it and managed to turn the handle enough that I could open the door. And since these doors opened into the room, I was able to spit the vile device out without the pony beyond noticing.

Speaking of her I decided it was high time I got to see who my escort was, so I looked out from behind the door. She was a normal unicorn - so no wings on her - with warm yellow coat and carefully brushed blue mane. She also seemed to have a branding on her flank, which looked like a collection of flowers, and was wearing a sort of basic servants uniform, much like one would find on cleaning staff.

“Hi,” I said after a moment, noticing the odd look she was giving me. “So... the princess?”

“Yes, right this way,” the pony said, gesturing down the hall. I gave a meek nod and took my first ungainly steps out of the room. “Um... are you sure you’re ok?”

“As much as I can be,” I said, trying to sound as jokingly as possible. She gave an unconvinced nod and - slowly on account of my inexperienced walking - lead me down the large hallway.

Now that I wasn’t being restrained by that lavender princess’s magic, I got the chance to fully appreciate the architecture in this place. The stain glass windows in particular caught my attention. They only seemed to come in two colours, orange and blue. The orange ones seemed to depict things like the sun and clouds, while the blue was the moon and stars. So they’ve got a kinda day and night motif going on?

“Seems so, and I guess it makes some sense. The sun and moon are important to religion, and these ponies don’t seem that advanced technologically.”

Perhaps it refers to their leaders? I pitched in thought. I mean, Celestia had a sun on her flank, I think, and I’m pretty sure the lavender princess was named Twilight.

“Well, we’re sure to find out.” Ri said, and I noticed that the serving pony had brought me to another set of double doors. The scent of spices and warm food floated from under the door, and already I could feel my mouth begin to water. Wow, I had no idea that ponies could smell this well. I mean, my dad was a chef, so I was no stranger to powerful smells, but this was like amplifying everything he’d ever cooked with by at least twenty percent! The best equivalent I could compare it to was when I’d gotten a nose-full of some powerful barbecue sauce. But in that situation I’d been inches from the frying pan. This was giving the same results from several feet away!

The serving pony opened the doors, and I had to take a step back from the aromas that bombarded me. Oregano, paprika, garlic, lime, and peppers were all dancing around my nostrils, accompanied by the fainter smells of lavender and lemon. Beyond the doors was a well decorated dining room, in the center of which was a beautiful rectangular table carved from wood and covered in a white tablecloth. Ten chairs were positioned around it, but only three were in use. But I wasn’t paying attention to the occupants, no, in this high brought on by overpowering aromas, I only noticed the dishes before them; salads of lettuce, carrots, apple slices, and even a few flowers tossed in here and there. Even I - a previous omnivore who consumed a diet of eighty percent meat - couldn’t help but feel a gaping pit in my stomach as I stared at the platters.

“Ah, awake at last,” a regal voice said, breaking my hunger induced trance. I promptly turned my eyes skyward and saw Celestia smiling at me from the head of the table. On her left was the lavender princess, Twilight, and to her right was a midnight blue pony who also possessed horns, wings, and a flowing mane that looked like stars. She was wearing a small black tiara, and a necklace that displayed the crescent moon on the front. Ok, so I was wrong, this is the leader who’s based on the moon.

“Won’t you join us this morning?” Celestia asked, again breaking me away from my previous engagement. “There’s much to be discussed, and I’m sure you must be famished.”

Ah, so they’re going for this approach are they? I thought, but I replied to the princesses with a simple nod - which resulted in my mane once again tumbling into my face. Damn it!

Carefully I managed to walk towards the princesses and hoist myself onto a seat next to the midnight blue pony. Not a moment later a grey pony dressed as a waiter came up and placed a tray containing another of the desirable salads in front of me. A fresh batch of scents bombarded my nostrils, which forced my head to jerk back from the sheer force of it.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked.

“No.” I said after a moment. How do Ponies put up with these smells, anyways? Do they have demeanors of steel, or is it just because I’m new to this body that it’s having such an affect on me? “I’m just... hungrier than I expected.”

“Then please, help yourself,” Celestia said with a smile.

Something about that smile struck me the wrong way. Obviously they’re trying to make me feel safe and secure so that I’d be easier to pry for questions, but what if there was something I was missing? Why was Celestia so far the only one who was speaking, and why was she always insisting that I eat? Was there something in the salad? Suddenly my eyes widened and the answer was there in front of me. They’ve drugged the salad!

“I... I am amazed by what you are able to think of under the right circumstances,” Ri said. “While I’m all for being suspicious of these unknown creatures, this seems a tad - how does it go - over the top.”

Ri, don’t you think they would have thought I’d think of that?

“They might have, but judging from the rumbling of your stomach you’re going to have to make a choice soon,”

Damn it, she’s right. With this irresistibly smelling meal before me my stomach was clawing it’s way through my body like some ravenous beast. Sufficed to say it didn’t take long for me to give in. Drugs or not, and with absolute lack of cutlery, I went face first into the sea of leaves.

Oh God, it was like I was devouring the immortal giving Ambrosia of the Greek Olympians. All my concerns were forgotten and I gave into the explosion of flavor that was whipping its way through my mouth and tap dancing on my taste buds. It was so bizarre; back as a human I hated the taste of vegetables. They were so bitter and tasteless, but now, with pony taste buds, they were better than any of the meats my dad had cooked in his life! I don’t know how I didn’t spill any of the food in my haste, but when I finally finished off the meal and looked at the princesses again, you’d swear I’d committed some crime with how big their eyes were.

“Um... heh, sorry,” I said meekly.

“Wow, you really must have been hungry,” Twilight said, a bit groggily, I noticed. In fact, looking at all three princesses more closely, they each seemed to have a tired and groggy demeanor about them. But it was early morning, so I chocked it up to them just being tired.

“Yeah,” I swallowed an apple piece that was still in my teeth. “It was just so good!”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Celestia said. “Now, you are already familiar with myself and Twilight Sparkle, but this is my sister and co ruler, Princess Luna.” The midnight blue princess next to me bowed. “So, tell us, what is your name?”

My good mood was gone in an instant. Frig! I hadn’t thought of that! My name would obviously give me away if I told them it. OK, Tyler, think. The pony names you know are Twilight and Celestia, both of whom seem to have named themselves after the symbols on their flanks. Maybe you can work with that?

“You have one too?” Ri asked in confusion.

Yeah, some kind of three piece rainbow that almost looks like... Suddenly an idea was in my head. “Aurora Borealis!”

“Ah, the northern lights,” the midnight blue princess spoke even more regally than Celestia. “Tis a lovely name.”

“And uncreative, if you ask me,” Ri added.

Hey, I was put on the spot and I had to pick something. What would you have picked in my situation?

“Something other than northern lights, that’s for sure.”

I decided to ignore Ri before it looked like I was having a conversation with nobody and giving them another reason to lock me up.“Thank you, your highness... so, um, why did you want to see me, your majesties?”

Celestia looked at me directly. “It has to do with your rather sudden arrival.”

As if I really needed confirmation? “I don’t know how I got here, I’m sorry to say,” The princesses each looked at each other like they were silently communicating. Oh no, I’m not getting excluded from your little talks about me. “So, how did I?”

This time it was Twilight who spoke. “We’re not entirely sure, but yesterday I discovered an archway of unknown origin surrounded by serpentine skeletons-"

“Archway?” Ri asked in confusion.

"-One of my spells activated the archway, and it seemed to have teleport you to its location. Can you tell us where you were before that?”

I swallowed, debating my options before settling on the always popular tell them little but not all. “I was going to see my family to celebrate my academic achievements and grandmother’s birthday.”

“That’s all good, but where were you?” Twilight inquired.

Frig, there was no way I could answer that one without giving away myself. But wait, if they were talking about some sort of magic portal, then maybe they’d believe me after all? Ugh, but on the other hand (hoof?) they might not and I’d just get tossed into some crazy asylum for the rest of my life. And good God do those giant eyes of theirs stare into the soul or what?!

“Tyler, you’re stressing yourself out again,” Ri said suddenly. “Calm down before you have another attack or they’re going to lock you up for sure!”

Shut up Ri, you’re making it worse! I knew I shouldn't have said that to her, that I’d just made her feel even worse about herself, but I didn’t care at that moment. The princesses were waiting for me to reply and my heartbeat was speeding up again. No, not this time! Slowly, I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth.

“Um, are you OK, miss?” I cringed when Twilight said that.

“Yes, I just needed a moment to breath,” I said once my heartbeat had lessened. “Now, to answer your question... I was from a town called Whitby, and was on a train bound for the city of Ottawa when...” I paused. “When I was pulled here.”

“There are no cities that bear those names in Equestria,” Luna said inquiriously. “Are you saying you were not even in Equestria at the time of your abduction?”

“No, I wasn’t,” I said slowly. It was hard to determine if they were believing my story or just faking interest so that they could judge if I was lying or crazy. I’ve made my choice either way, might as well ride it out. “Please, I’m not lying to you, or anything. I’m even more confused then you are.”

Celestia smiled a warming smile. “We do not doubt your sincerity in this matter, and I for one applaud your bravery in admitting it.”

“Thank you, your highness,” I replied, still on guard but a little less than before. No, damn it, that’s bad if they’re the one’s lying!

“So I guess that means you have no information about the archway, then?” Twilight asked with a voice heavy in disappointment and underlined with frustration.

“You mean that metal thing you were looking at when you found me?” She nodded. “No, I don’t.”

The look that appeared in Twilight’s eyes was the same as a child who’d been denied their favorite treat. “Not even about the serpent bones?”

“Only that they looked like fossils,” I replied. Suddenly, a flicker of hope appeared in my mind. “Wait, you said that archway was the thing that brought me here in the first place. Can’t you just send me back through again?”

“That is out of the question,” Luna said suddenly. “Upon its activation the device released some form of magic into our skies. Celestial lights that mirror the northern auroras appeared last night. At the moment we are unaware of their effects, but the archway is not to be reactivated until we can be made sure it will cause no harm.”

And just as quickly as it appeared, the flicker was dead. I had a way home now, possibly even a way to get made human and male again, and there was no way I was going near it. No doubt there’ll be guards and scientists all over the entrance to those catacombs, and even then I couldn’t traverse some of those ledges without wings or grappling equipment.

“Please...” I felt tears threatening to creep into my eyes. “I just want to go home.”

“I know,” Celestia’s voice was sorrowful. “But there is too much at risk for us to reactivate this device.” she then gave a small smile. “But I promise you this, Aurora, if we discover that the device will bring no harm to Equestria, then we shall allow you to return home.”

The princess's words sedated the tears from creeping any further. So all I had to do was wait for them to examine this thing? No! The negatives that stem from this action far outweigh the positive. Like what if time didn’t move the same way here as it did back on Earth? What if a day here was three back home, or minutes even? What if they were normal time; whatever the case my family would be worrying themselves day after day until I was graced with the privilege to return to them. And even then, that privilege hinged on the delicate thread of the device they’re talking about not being a threat. If that’s the case, then I’ve been condemned to a slow death with the promise of life just within my reach, only to slip through my fingers - which I didn’t even have anymore!

Despair is the enemy, do not let it consume you.

The quote rung through my head and drowned all those negative feelings away. What the hell was I doing? Things are only hopeless when we accept them as such, and there still is a chance that the machine will prove harmless to these ponies and I can go home. And hey, I might even get to learn some more about their civilization and culture - I’m sure it’ll make for some great creative inspirations. It’s not a Lose Lose situation, it’s a Win Lose.

“Miss Aurora?” Twilight said suddenly. I swear, if I had a nickle for everytime these ponies were snapping me from my thoughts... “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I had before. “So I have to wait a little before going home, I can handle that.”

Twilight’s eyes seemed to be smiling. “Great, because I am rather curious as to what your homeland is like. Did your ancestors branch off from the three tribes and found a new land elsewhere, or were there just ponies across the seas like the Zebras?”

“Um, I guess you could say it’s a mixture of both,” I said. The notion of sharing everything with these ponies left a vile feeling in my mind on that off chance that things don’t work out. But then again, they seemingly trusted me this far, so if I replace everything human with pony they should be well sedated. “Forgive me if I’m not open to swapping history at the moment.”

“Oh, I understand,” Twilight said. “Speaking of which, if you’d like I can show you the Canterlot Archives later. It holds the largest collection of records, books, and scrolls detailing - well - everything!”

Celestia smiled. “And please, don’t think we’ll keep you confined to the palace while you’re here. You are more then welcome to wander through Canterlot, provided you inform one of us in advance.”

I nodded. “Sure, and... thank you so much for your hospitalities. I was honestly expecting things to go much worse.”

“Your uncertainties are understandable,” Luna smiled. “Though if you do go into the city, please refrain from informing the populace of the specifics of your being here.”

I made a small smile. “Trust me, princess, I had no intention to.” Alright, so far things are going good, but it might be good to keep the defenses up just in case of a mummer's farce. But even then the notion didn’t seem as powerful to me as it had waking up. These ponies, or at least the leaders, had this ability to install peace and trust that I almost never saw in people - except Matthew and Emily, of course.

I don’t know, what do you think Ri?

“Not now,” she said sharply, but quickly corrected herself. “Please, I’m busy...”

With what? I inquired.

“Thinking, mulling over what they said.”

Her words caused my eyes to widen. So, wait, do you know what this machine is?

“I don’t know yet, will you please give me some space to think?” She was beginning to sound mad.

Kind of hard to do since you’re around my neck, but fine. If she was anything like me then getting information from her was going to be harder than if I let her say it willingly. Instead, I set my focus back to the princesses, who seemed rightfully confused by my behavior.

“Sorry for that, I was kinda lost in thought for a moment.”

“It’s quite alright,” Celestia replied. As if on cue both she and Luna rose from their seats. “Now, my sister and I have royal duties to attend to, so we must be off.”

“Farewell, Aurora Borealis,” Luna said, before both she and her sisters walked out of the room, leaving only myself and Twilight, who seemed to be looking at me with some form of intense curiosity.

“Um, don’t you have something to do as well?” I asked, my mane deciding that now is a good time to flop into my face again.

“Yes, I’ll be going over some samples of the archway at nine thirty, which won’t be for a few more minutes,” she said. “So, I was wondering if there might be more you could tell me about your home?”

I blew my mane out of my face. “Um, can that question wait for later? I’m still taking everything in.”

“Oh, yeah, I understand,” Twilight said. “But don’t worry, I’m great when it comes to research and understanding magic in all its forms. You won’t need to wait long for an answer.”

But will it be the answer I want? I thought before smiling. “Thanks a lot Twilight... say, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she said eagerly.

“Princess Celestia said she and Luna are sisters, but not you. So, not trying to be mean or anything, but how are you a princess? Are you from another nation or something?”

Twilight smiled. “Nope, I’ve lived in Equestria my entire life. When I was born, though, I was just a unicorn, but Celestia took me under her wing and taught me as her personal student. It wasn’t until recently I became an Alicorn and a princess.”

“That’s actually rather fascinating,” I said in all honesty. “Where I’m from the title of princess is reserved only for someone who marries into a noble household or is the daughter of a king or queen.”

“Well, I guess we kind of use that here, but that’s more so for princes.” Twilight said. “My brother Shining Armor is a prince because he married my old foalsitter, Princess Cadence.”

Well, I guess I need no further confirmation as to which gender is the one in charge around here. I thought to myself. Actually it was refreshing to hear. Perhaps I could use it as a way to experience life in a world where females held more power, and then show the extreme feminists that their utopia of women would be nothing like their vision. Don’t get me wrong, I love women’s right and really despise guys who disagree with them, but the feminists who say that a world run by girls would be better than the one we have now are just crazy in my mind. I've seen my sisters go at each other enough times to know that there'd be just as much conflict in the world - possibly more.

Speaking of conflict, I guess this social structuring of the sexes meant there was one less problem with myself being female now. Maybe I’d have an easier time getting along with society or, depending on how long I stay, getting a job? Well if so then I didn’t care. I’d still rather be male any day. I’m a boy, damn it, the only boy...

“It seems you’ve got connections in high places.” I said, trying to take my mind away from the inevitable.

For some reason, my comment caused the lavender Alicorn to giggle. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” At that point she looked at a clock on the far wall and rose from her chair. “Well, I have work to do and a schedule to keep. Come, I’ll show you the Archives if you’d like.”

“Sure, and thanks,” I said, dropping back to my awkward quadrupedal stance. She opened the doors that I’d come through and I clumsily followed her back down the hallway.

Ok, so the first few hours weren’t as destructive as I imagined they’d be - except for the whole being stuck here longer than prefered. It’s funny, yesterday I was excited to head off on my summer vacation, and now I just wanted to go home. And for some reason the notion of just sitting around and waiting for the problem to fix itself wasn’t sitting well with me. In Airborn, did the crew give up when they crashed on the uncharted island? No, they repaired their ship and left on their own terms. There were adversities, sure, but they did it despite them.

But all they had to go up against in that book were tropical storms and pirates, not being in a foreign land, body, and gender without any clue as to how anything works. I smiled at those thoughts as Twilight lead me back into the castle grounds. While it’s true that on the surface these situations are their own individual classes, the method of tackling the problems were the same. And step one in whatever conflict resolution was to learn as much about the situation so that you can formulate a clear and decisive plan.

“Wow, you are kinda smart when you’re not spazzing out,”

Glad to see you’re back, Ri, I said in thought. You decipher anything from what we heard?

There was a small pause before she spoke again, slightly shaken. “A little, but still not enough to finalize my hypothesis.”

I let out a small sigh. Alright. Hopefully the library will have some information we can use. Speaking of, the lavender princess stopped in front of a large white building with a lavender door built oddly like a drawbridge and rimmed with gold that looked like an upside down horseshoe. In front of the building were two grey unicorn guards in silver armour, each with a short-spear kept upright by their sides with a hoof. Wait, these ponies can use spears?

After a quick word from Twilight, one of the guards turned to the door and opening it with his magic - which was grey, unlike Twilight’s magenta. So their magic is based off of their colouring?

“Perhaps, or perhaps personality. For example, these guards are stoic and dutiful, so their magic is grey. The princess, however, is clearly one who delights in learning, hence why her magic is more jubilant in colour.”

Just another thing to ponder over, I guess. I thought as Twilight and I walked through the door. The inside had an interesting feel compared to the castle proper; the floor was covered in a long grey rug, and they walls were a pale lavender that border lined grey. Several torches were set on the walls, though none were lit due to it being morning still. And finally, all the tapestries that hung from the walls were pink and purple. All in all, I liked it. It had a more authentic medieval theme to it then the bright and flashy palace.

“Alright, this here is the history wing,” Twilight said gesturing to a large pair of orangish-brown doors. “I’d help you get something specific but I really need to get to my work, so have fun and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

But will you be expecting something when you come back? I thought, though my reply was a nod of thanks as she magiced the door open, revealing shelves upon shelves of books. Was showing me the library an unspoken spade for spade agreement? You show me your history and I’ll be more inclined to tell you mine?

“Tyler, don’t you think you’re taking this paranoia a little too far?” Ri asked.

I want to trust them, Ri, I thought as Twilight, after one last goodbye, engulfed herself in a bright light from her horn and vanishing. But it’s like you said, I’m not playing Twenty Questions with some total stranger.

The room was an ocean of knowledge.

After Twilight departed to perform her experiments, I wasted no time and headed over to the nearest book shelf. Of course, there was the issue of getting one down so I could read, but luckily I was able to use the tips of my hoof to wiggle the closest one - labelled Equestrian History: Volume One - free. The book nearly ended up crushing my face as it came down, but I was able to move my head aside and catch it with my hooves. The size of the book was monstrous. Even Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace would have been dwarfed by this mammoth. Because of this, I decided it would be best to lay on the floor to read. Opening it, I was pleased to note that the text inside was no less impressive. If the sources could be believed, the information dated back over one thousand years ago, and explained the founding of Equestria.

Back then the three tribes of ponies - earth ponies (which it turns out I was), pegasi, and unicorns - had an uneasy truces with each other concerning food.growth and distribution. If this text was to be believed, pegasi apparently had the power to interact with clouds and actually control when and what form of precipitation they would release. And while I’d already seen unicorn magic first hand, apparently they could even move the sun and moon. Both they and the pegasi would use these abilities as bargaining chips with the earth ponies, who were the best at growing food out of all the tribes, into sharing their food stocks.

Things got interesting when the tribes had to migrate from their lands on account of a violent blizzard descended upon them. Each of them went their separate ways, intended on finding a new land for only their tribe, but they each ended up coming to the same fertile land - resulting in the ever classic “I was here first!” debate. After that there was something about an ice spirit and a Fire of Friendship, that resulted in the three tribes putting aside their differences and working together in harmony. All in all, it was a rather interesting legend that reminded me a lot of how humanity crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America some 16,500 years ago.

Some of the other myths the ponies had, however, were a little harder to put together. I found a few passages that mentioned the rise of princesses Celestia and Luna, but they were scarce and scattered through the text. In fact, if you weren’t looking for them it would probably be easy to skip clean over them. From what I could scrape together they defeated some sort of tyrannical being using this world’s version of the Holy Hand Grenade, then became solely responsible for the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

“That’s neat that these ponies think up myths for their leaders,” I said out loud. Back on Earth that habit had gotten me many a peculiar look, but I didn’t care. If nobody was willing to listen to me, then I’d talk to myself.

“What makes you so sure these are mere myths?” Ri inquired.

“Hold on a second,” I said in surprise. “Are you, the wannabe scientist, seriously considering that these ponies have the power to move celestial bodies as large as a star?”

“Well, their arcane abilities are impressive,” she said plainly. “Plus, until we know the exact limitations to those abilities, it would be premature to rule out any possibilities.”

“Telekinesis and teleporting is one thing, Ri, but moving celestial bodies is another.” I said. “Besides, if this is to be believed, then the princesses have been in power for close to two thousand years.”

“Well, we don’t know the lifespan of these ponies. Who knows, maybe they can live for over a thousand years.” Ri paused as if pondering something. “Or perhaps they are not the original Celestia and Luna, but their descendants.”

That made sense, since monarchs had a habit of passing down the same names through the generations. Hell, didn’t England have four king Georges, each one after the other? For confirmation on the pony monarchs I went back to the book, but didn’t really find too much else about Celestia or Luna. The ending was mainly dedicated to the founding of some major cities. Canterlot was listed first since it is the capital city, and was populated mainly by unicorns who used their magic to erect the city onto the mountainside. After Celestia and Luna came to power they had their palace built into the city. Supposedly this was done due to the location, as it gave the princesses optimal height for their bringings of day and night, and also so that they could observe the entirety of their country.

After that was the city of Cloudsdale, which seemed to be populated entirely by pegasi. A crude illustration made the city look like it was in the clouds... or rather made of clouds. Complete with rainbow waterfalls and styled after ancient Greek or Roman architecture. It was founded shortly after the initial settling in Equestria and focuses primarily on weather creation and distribution.

“I don’t know, Ri, do you really think these ponies can create weather?”

“Er... yeah, that does seem a stretch too far,” Glad to see she’s agreeing with me again. .Don’t get me wrong, if she had her own opinion, that’s fine. I wouldn't judge her for it. However, the problem with getting into a debate with someone in your head - one would assume - is that you can have a very hard time of getting them to shut up.

I turned my attention back to the book. Aside from those major cities, there were many smaller villages founded which over time grew into larger settlements. Interesting endeavors, but not quite the historical moments I was keen on researching.

I set the first volume to the side and managed to free the second book from its place on the shelf. To my luck, this one did have information on our royal sisters - dubbed The Mare in the Moon. Only, it lacked the sort of knowledge I was hoping for.

Apparently, after an unspecified period of time, Luna grew jealous of her sister because ponies loved her day yet payed the night no mind. They froliced and had fun when the sun was up and then slept through the night that Luna worked so hard to craft for them. So, one day she refused to lower the moon and declared an eternal night. In retaliation, Celestia wielded the magic artifacts from before against her own sister and banished her on the moon.

The tale was... shocking. Obviously I know nothing about either princess, but from the tiny glimpse I’d been given at breakfast neither of them seemed the type to go to these extremes. Just another reason to be weary of them. Also, the tale never truly mentioned either Luna or Celestia by name; they were simply addressed as The Princesses of the Sun and Moon. Luna was also referred to as Nightmare Moon by the end. A chilling name for a chilling tale. The exaggeration of Luna going to the moon sealed it, added an additional helping of somber.

“But she’s here now,” Ri pointed out. “So she’s obviously reformed.”

“It’s not that, Ri,” I replied softly. “Do you have any sibling?”

“Yes,” Her voice was a quivering whisper. “I had two brothers... once.”

“Could you ever see yourself banishing them for so long, even if it was the only option?”

“No.” Was her response. The same as mine. I may have bickered with my younger sisters a lot, and have wished ill on them in the past, but I’d never actually gone out and acted on those notions. The rest of the book detailed Celestia as the sole ruler of Equestria, and from the details it gave about the founding of additional settlements and technological developments, Luna was banished for a long time. It also made no note of Celestia aging, or having any children.

So, they just might have lived since their initial rise to power. The thought was an upsetting one. Over a thousand years of guilt for Celestia... and Luna by the looks of things.

I pretty much skimmed through the rest of the book; it was basic information regarding more settlements forming, the meeting of the kingdoms of Griffons and Minotaurs, and more technological and arcane advancements. Though, really, it all felt stale after that story. My eyelids were also beginning to grow heavy from all the reading, so I decided to close the book.

OK, on the one hand my little trip through the last few thousand years of Equestrian history has given me some basic knowledge of the area. It’s not much to work off of, but hopefully if I ever decided to check out the city or get asked a question by a pony, I won’t sound too much like a blithering idiot. On the other hand, there was nothing that can help me get home. I saw no text about the blue metal Twilight had mentioned, or anything about serpents. Though considering the fact that the princesses seemed to know nothing about them, I didn’t expect to figure out much.

One thing I did figure out, however, was that these ponies had a very interesting history. In many ways it paralleled human history, but in others it was as alien and bizarre as, well, the ponies themselves. I was sorely tempted to pick up the third volume, but my eyes were hurting, so instead I used the equine equivalent for wrists to rub them. How long have I been down here?

“Go over to that window,” Ri said.

“Why?” I asked curiously.

“Because I can read the sun.”

That came as a bit of a surprise. “Really? But I thought you couldn’t see the outside world.”

“Well, technically I said ‘No, not really.’ To me, whenever someone says that, they leave the answer open for alteration later on.”

“... Interesting way of looking at things.” I said, slowly rising to my hooves and heading over to the window. “So how do you see the outside world?”

“Not easily,” she said. “At best I can see basic shapes and figures, and the sun shows up clearly, but mostly it’s all shadows.”

I probably should have been more upset at her then I was. If she’d lied to me about seeing what’s around her, the she very well could have lied to me about everything. Though I doubted that last bit was true. She sounded too genuine... too grateful. You’re the first person to talk to me...

I looked out the window and at the Equestrian sun - which was eerily identical to Earth’s in every aspect. “Can you see the sun?”

“Kinda...” she said, obviously deep in concentration. “Yes, yes it’s... It’s around eleven now.”

Wow, time flies when you’re having fun. With the question of time answered I was about to turn from the window when something else caught my eye. There was a large collection of white buildings below us, though they lacked the golden terraces and roofs of the palace. Some made up for this by having decorative signs or coloured tarps over the doorways like you’d see in arabic villages. And there were ponies in the streets. Most of them were wearing some form of clothing or another - usually a fancy ensemble - and held their person (or whatever you’d call it for ponies) in a high esteem.

Typical aristocrats, I thought to myself, but another thought quickly drowned it out. All these ponies were wearing clothing, and everyone at the palace wore something at least. The princesses had their ornaments, the guards their armour, and the servants their uniforms. So why hadn’t I been offered an article of clothing since my arrival? Did this mean I’d been walking around naked? I felt my tail press close to my body at the notion. No, don’t think like that!

“Ri, have you ever been to a city before?” I said, eager for a topic change.

“Yes, I was born and raised in the same one.”

“Well, what do you make of this one?”

“From this distance it’s pretty much what was said in the book. A more in depth analysis could be conducted only if we ventured down there.”

If we ventured down there. The thought had been growing a little ever since I’d read those passages from the book, and the princesses did say I was free to explore so long as I told them. While reading all these books was an enjoyable way to learn about this strange land and its history, going out would be the best way to learn about the customs and culture. Of course, on the flipside, it’s a city - and a capital city at that - filled with aristocrats and high standards. Not a very fun collaboration. Eh, I’ll probably ask Twilight about it later.

Speaking of the lavender pony, I was beginning to grow curious as to what she was doing. If it was near lunchtime already, then how much longer was “later” anyways? I could have spent some more time reading, but my eyes felt heavy whenever I turned them back to the book.

Turned green, no doubt, I thought queerly. I always hated it when my eyes turned green; it only ever happened when I was mad or tired or sick. Blue was better, or so I was told by friend and family alike. Even to this day people would come up and compliment me for them. When I was younger it bothered me, because I believed they were making a mockery of it. But as I grew older, I found the compliments refreshing and... distinguishing. A family of brown eyes, but mine are blue. And the cruel universe was kind enough to let me keep them.

A weird sound like the mixture of chimes and bells then filled the room. Caught off guard I turned abruptly to the noise and got my legs tangled for my troubles (damn equine anatomy), before being painfully reunited with Old Man Floor.

“Aurora,” Twilight said through the ringing in my head. “Oh, I’m so sorry for startling you.”

Ow. I thought, but what I said was, “It’s fine.” Once the pain in my muzzle died down, I stood back up and looked the princess in the eyes. Violet eyes. I thought, almost like I’d never seen them before. Intelligent looking, though I knew that one already.

“I was actually wondering when you’d come back.” I said.

She gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I was a littled wrapped up in my experiments.”

“Did you find anything useful?” Anything to get me home?

“Not yet, sorry,” Twilight said.

Like I expected anything different. I thought.

“Give it some time, Tyler,” Ri said, “Good things come to those who wait.”

But how long is my family going to wait for their son and brother to come home?

Ri didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure if it’s because she didn’t hear me or because she didn’t want to answer. She never did explain how much of my thoughts she could hear.

“Come on, you must be hungry,” Twilight said, winning another nickel. I nodded back and walked with her through the archives. The guards outside gave a salute as we passed, but otherwise showed no sign of caring. I guess they’re used to her teleporting into places.

“So, did you enjoy the Archives?” she said once we’d exited back into the castle grounds.

“They were very informative,” I replied. “Thank you for showing me them.”

She smiled back at me. “You’re welcome, and I agree, it’s so interesting to take a moment and look back through history - even if it’s not your own.”

“That’s the best kind of history, in my opinion. There's always so much to be learned from another culture of civilization.”

I could see the excitement just blossoming all over Twilight’s face. “Well, I’m glad you found our nation’s past so enjoyable.”

I gave a smile to the princess but didn’t say anything more. Uncertainty still hung heavily in my mind whenever I heard that cheerful tone of hers, like there was something she wasn’t telling me just under its friendly surface. Still, even if I didn’t trust her didn’t mean I couldn’t be courteous.

“Tyler, it hasn’t even been one day, don’t get so judgemental.”

With me, Ri, that’s like telling a songbird not to sing so loud. When you’d grown up in a world where people didn’t understand the way your mind works it’s hard to not be suspicious of their actions. Still, the eyes are the window to the soul, and her’s aren’t harmful or deceptive.

By the time we returned to the dining room I could already feel my stomach forming a pit inside me. Not a deep one - only about a foot or so - but even one as shallow as that was nagging out at me. Fortunately not for long, as I was able to fill the pit with the wide variety of fruits the princess was kind enough to provide for me (she herself had settled for some kind of flower sandwich).

It was during this time I was able to make another groundbreaking discovery. I reached for a apple with both my hooves, and, somehow, when I grabbed it, the apple was able to stay in just a single hoof without falling out. I swear, my eyes went as big as the serving bowl! How was this possible, and why hadn’t I discovered it earlier? It would have made that disgusting tidbit with the door nonexistent!

“Um, is something wrong Aurora?” Twilight asked in puzzlement. I pried my eyes away from the apple in my hoof and saw her looking at me like I probably belonged in a mental asylum.

“No,” I said sheepishly. “Just, um, looking some things over.” She seemed to accept my poor excuse for an answer and went back to her sandwich. Just the sight of her eating caused my stomach to claw at my innards, so I finally took a bite out of the apple (and again gawked at the amazing new flavours I tasted).

“These equines never cease to amaze with their physical abilities.” Ri said enthusiastically.

Ten dollars says that they can shapeshift as well.

“I don’t have any use for money in my present state, but challenge accepted.”

I smiled and then turned back to Twilight. “So, not trying to be nosy or anything, but what will you do next?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin and swallowed her mouth-full of flowers and bread. “Well, I have a theory on how I might be able to extract the secret of the metal - which shouldn’t take too long for me to test. Just a quick trip to one of the shops in Canterlot to acquire the materials needed.”

“Oh, well good luck with the trip, or do you send guards and servants to get you things from the city?”

“No, I’m more than capable of retrieving my own equipment,” Twilight said, placing her sandwich onto her plate and then looking at me with her big lavender eyes. “Although, I was thinking of asking you about accompanying me.”

That caught me completely off guard and caused me to almost choke on the apple core. “Um, come again, princess?”

“I said that I was thinking of seeing if you’d like to accompany me through Canterlot.” she re-explained. “It’s not a very long trip, maybe ten minutes. tops.”

I set the core on my place and mulled over the options in my mind. The opportunity to see ponies in their mundane life seemed the only thing positive to gain from this venture, and even then it wasn’t something of great value. And though I will admit that this city is less lively than Toronto or Ottawa are back home, it’s still a city. The noise and large groups of people back home had never been kind to my stress levels.

“Tyler, do you mean to tell me you’re going to spend this entire time in the castle?” Ri said in a tone that reminded me eerily of my mother. She used to tell me the same thing about staying home all the time. Sure, I might have stayed too long inside on the computer, but I was at least productive... kinda...

“You know this is a bad idea, right?”

It’s not that Ri, it’s... well, I don’t do very good in large groups of people.

“Well, you’re not going to be there very long,” she countered. “I’m not trying to force anything on you, but staying in the castle until you can go home seems unhealthy.”

“... What exactly are you looking for?” I asked Twilight, though I mulled over what Ri had said.

“Just a Magus Crystal to help in determining the specific magical properties of this metal.” Twilight said. “And judging by your tone I’m guessing you don’t want to come along?”

“No,” I began, but stopped myself. “Er, well, I’ve only been in your land for one day now. I don’t really feel... secure here, you know?”

Twilight gave a small nod. “Yeah, I sort of experienced that feeling when I first arrived in Ponyville. But that’s why I thought this would be a good experience for you. Since we don’t know how long you’re staying for, it’d be best if you got out and experienced how we live here in Equestria.” She paused to take another bite of her sandwich. “I know from personal experience that my trip to Ponyville was extremely beneficial to me.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” I said.

Twilight frowned. “But you won’t concede?”

“Well, it’s not that I wouldn't love to see your country some more,” I said, not wanting to sound insensitive or ungrateful. “It’s just that I feel you’re trying to get something from me.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise, and I gave myself a mental slap. Stupid! Why would I say that? Now, if she was planning something, she’s going to deny it! Agh, I’m such an idiot!

“TYLER!”

Ri’s voice cut through me like a knife and shut me up. If I could have seen her face, I knew she’d be looking at me with anger and disappointment. “Never insult your intelligence in my presence. Never!”

Ri-

“Don’t interrupt me! You might think that things are hitting rock bottom, but they can get a lot worse. Just look at me...”

“Aurora, are you ok?”

I barely paid any mind to Twilight or her question. I knew that was bad, that it might lead to suspicions. I even felt my ears press close.. but I couldn’t take my focus off of Ri - this shy and obviously troubled girl - and her kindness to me, a total stranger... You’re the first person to talk to me...

“Aurora?”

That time Twilight broke through to me and I looked back to her. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment - what with being in a foreign country and processing a ton of foreign history.”

“Ah, ok,” she sighed. “And, about what you said earlier, I’m so sorry that I gave off that impression. I guess I’m just a little overly excited - and worried - by all these groundbreaking events. I do promise, though, I am not trying to trick you for information that you don’t want to share.”

Her eyes looked as sincere as ever when she said that. So, either she’s great at lying, I can’t tell people’s - or ponies’- emotional state from their eyes, or she’s telling the truth. Either way, I was beginning to feel like I’d gone full circle in my attitude for the situation. Well, might as well let the chips fall where they will.

“Thank you, Twilight.” I said. “As for your question earlier... yes, I think getting out of the castle might do me some good.”

That seemed to bring the spark back to Twilight’s face. “Great. We’ll head out just after lunch. And I promise it won’t be too long - a quick there and back again, you’ll see. Unless of course you want to stay longer.”

“I’ll decide that when we’re there,” I said, before another thought came up in my mind. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Have I... um, why haven’t I been offered any clothing?”

Twilight looked at me puzzlingly. “I wasn’t aware you wanted any, but I can easily produce something for you to wear, if you’d like.”

Now it was my turn to be puzzled. “But you’re wearing clothes, and so are all the other ponies in this city.”

Twilight giggled. “I’d hardly call my crown clothing, Aurora. As for the ponies of Canterlot, they only really wear their outfits due to their social class. In most parts of Equestria, ponies don’t normally wear any clothing outside of basic things like scarves in winter time.”

I didn’t really know how to process that. I mean, on the one hand I wasn’t technically “exposed” if other ponies go around without clothing. On the other, the fact that social classes were expressed through clothing was something I really didn’t want to have to deal with. That pretty much meant that the aristocrats were going to be like the Victorian Era, very uptight and uncaring for those “below” them.

Then again, I might be wrong. History has clearly shown that these ponies are not humans.

“So, do you want to wear something? I’m sure we have some formal wear you can borrow.”

I expected myself to say “yes” almost instantly, but, strangely, I didn’t. No that I really put the thought into it, I hadn’t felt the slightest bit uncomfortable about being without clothing. Except of course when - No! No! Not thinking about that!

“No, it’s good!” I blurted out, desperately wanting to take my mind away from my anatomy. “I mean, er, it’s not that big of a deal, I guess.”

Twilight looked at me oddly for a second. “Alright then, but if you change your mind the option is still there." She then finished the last bite of her sandwich. My stomach gave me a little nudge, so I munched on a pear.

Hey, Ri? I asked in my mind.

“Yes?” She replied softly, and with what sounded like a hint of apprehension. Almost like she expected something bad.

Thanks for that.

There was a pause before she spoke again. “You’re welcome,Tyler.”

So, it looks like we’re going to get that close up of the city after all, I said. You think there’s a chance of us finding something useful?

“It’s doubtful, but not without a slim possibility.”

I set the pear core down beside the apple. Well, like you said, it’s only been one day, and I definitely need something to distract me from this stress.

“Considering your species and gender have been altered, that seems a fairly difficult procedure.”

I felt my heartbeat increase when she said that. You really need to work on those motivational speaking skills. I mean, I thought you were supposed to be helping me?

“I am, but avoiding the problem - as is your current strategy - will accomplish nothing but cause the problem to increase.”

I know! I said maybe a bit too aggressively. When I heard Ri gasp in apprehension, I closed my eyes and breathed. I know Ri...

“Is everything OK, Aurora?” Twilight asked, obviously noticing the neon sign that might as well have been hanging from my head.

No, I thought, but my reply was a small nod. “I’m just a little apprehensive, here.”

“Eager to see Canterlot, huh?” she smiled and stood, the light from the windows reflecting off her golden crown in a way that, strangely, made her appear more regal looking. Perhaps it due to the purple star in the center. “Well, shall we get going?”

“Sure,” I said softly. Carefully I stood up from the table, Twilight watching with apprehension.

Suspecting I'll fall again, Twilight? I thought before dropping back to my still semi awkward quadrupedal stance. Once it was clear I didn't need assistance, Twilight relaxed a little and escorted me through the palace. It didn't take too long for us to reach the main gate - which, like the archives, also had a horseshoe shaped archway above the door. And there, beyond it, was the bustling streets of Canterlot.

Oh boy.

Compared to any major city on Earth, Canterlot was rather quiet and tame. Sure, there were lots of ponies around, but without a thousand cars zooming by or massive billboards flashing their lights to catch your eye, you actually had the ability to think and process everything around you.

Canterlot itself looked like a rather interesting city. The nobles were just as stuck up as I imagined them, but the architecture of the city was beautiful. The white marble buildings weren’t all shaped perfectly square, like something on Earth. Rather, they had a more rounded shape, and sometimes went off on rather strange tangents. It went surprisingly far in defining these ponies - even more than what I’d read in the book, to an extent. It’s like on Earth when you looked at the ancient Roman and Greek constructions, and then compared it to something from Africa or China. There are still houses, shops, or palaces, but each culture had a unique way of building them to fit their environments and lifestyles.

Of course, there were still the usual drawbacks to the city life. The main one I was feeling at the moment was one of being watched. Which, of course, I was. After all, Twilight is nobility, so it’s only natural her presence would turn some heads. And then they’d notice the pony beside her, with her mane in her eyes and walking like she’s only just learned. Needless to say, my new pony ears picked up many an unkind whisper.

I guess some things will never change, I thought, with amusement.

“You’re not bothered at all?” Ri asked, and from her tone she was thoroughly confused. “They’re most likely whispering unkind things about you, and you’re just shrugging it off?”

It’s the way life goes, Ri. Why should I care what they say about me when they don’t even have the decency to say it to my face?

“I envy you, sometimes.”

“Now, this here is the Maegus District,” Twilight droned, forcing my attention away from Ri. The lavender princess had been busy been explaining the names of every street, plaza, and living section we’d passed. In all honesty, I’d kinda toned her out when I’d set eyes on the architecture. “All the shops here sell items, books, and tools for the study of the arcane. Obviously magical study is the most common, but there’s also shops that sell alchemy ingredients, and even a few arcane abilities picked up from neighboring kingdoms.”

“Really?” I inquired. Magic was the most interesting subject of this world, so any chance to learn more about it was instant priority.

“Yep,” Twilight said. She then gestured with a hoof to a large spiral shaped building. ”Just over there is Scores of Scrolls. They have one of the best selection of scrolls and books from all over Equestria. And over there is Calamitous Cauldron. From the name, you can probably guess they specialize in alchemy ingredients and recipes.”

“Indeed,” I said, then paused a second to ponder. “Now, is this alchemy the classical type, or magical?”

Twilight turned to look at me, a hint of curiosity shining through her eyes. “What do you mean? Did your homeland also practice alchemy?”

“Yes, but not anymore,” I replied. “See, where I’m from, alchemy is more of a philosophical tradition, with dozens of different way of looking at it. To some, it’s about reaching enlightenment. To others, it revolved around the attempts to make the Philosopher's Stone - an item that was said to be able to transmute base metals into precious metals. It could even be used to brew an elixir of eternal life.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “Did any manage to make one?”

“No,” I said plainly. “The practice died off because of this.”

The spark seemed to die in Twilight’s eyes, and her ears dropped slightly. “Oh, that’s a shame.” A moment later she’d regained herself. “Still, Equestrian alchemy is much more than that. Here, we’re able to produce potions and tonics that can perform across a wide variety of tasks.”

Ah, I thought. So more like the fictional representation of alchemy.

“Isn’t that good?” Ri asked. “I mean, works of fiction can often make things unfathomably superior to their uses in reality.”

Of course it’s good; it gives me more of a feel as to just how this world works and operates.

“Ah, here we are.” Twilight said jubilantly. The building we were currently starring at looked plain on its exterior. Same white walls as everything else, no visible windows, and a small, rounded front door.

But, as the old says goes, never judge a book by its cover. Glass instruments lines the shelves, and crystals of all size, shape, and colour filled any vacant spots. A particularly large clear one was hanging from the ceiling, with jagged edges protruding out in all directions. From them came a thin fog that billowed down over the floor and covered up to my wrists. It wasn’t even a cold fog - as a fog should be - but a warm one; even relaxing to an extent.

Despite myself, I felt a smile creep across my face. These ponies will never cease to amaze.

“Impressive, isn’t is?” a soft, whispery voice spoke from my right. I turned towards it and spotted a green unicorn with a short, neatly cropped mane and tail standing behind the counter. They were rose coloured, same as his left eye. The right one was covered by some sort of magnifying helmet.

“I’d say so,” Twilight interjected. “I’ve never seen a CZ Precipitation Crystal of that size before.”

The pony turned to her. “Princess, what a pleasure it is to see you. How might I be of assistance?”

“I’m looking for a Maegus Crystal, preferably one with a high percentage of lead.”

The shopkeeper brought a hoof to his chin. “Yes, I should have one of those in stock, if you’ll excuse me.” He gave a stiff bow and trotted through a door behind his counter.

Once he’d left, Twilight turned towards me again. “I’m guessing they don’t have crystals like these where you’re from, Aurora?”

“No, crystals are able to form larger than this back home, but you don’t often see them in museums because transportation and excavation damages them.” I replied. “Also, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you use crystals for more than just decorations.”

Twilight nodded. “Crystals are actually an important aspect of magic. Many form of specialized spells and magical theories can only be accomplished with the use of Focus or Storage Crystals. Some can even be used to store magic over long periods of time, or you could copy a spell into the molecular structure of the crystal and have it permanently duplicate the spell.”

“I take it that’s what this fog maker is?”

“Yes, CZ Crystals are among the most cooperatable of crystals for you to imprint a spell onto. However, they’re also impeccably picky. Depending on the conditions the crystal grew under, and the specific compounds that make up the molecular bonds, it will only accept spells that follow its pattern. So, if you tried to put a light spell into this crystal, the magic would have slipped through the holes in the molecular chain.”

Inside my head I was mentally trying to hold my brain together. Ugh, it sounds like chemistry all over again.

“What? I was able to follow what she’s saying clear enough,” Ri said.

Chemistry was never my strongest branch of science. Biology, space, light and colours, I can understand those, but chemical reactions and molecular bonds... ugh, my head hurts.

The shopkeeper chose this opportunity to come back, which gave me an excuse to find something else to focus on. Hovering beside his head was a dark violet crystal in a light green aura - same as his horn. It was almost shaped like a sphere, but made out of dozens of pentagons pressed together on every angle. In the center I could make out some sort of flickering white fire.

“Is this one of sufficient quality, your majesty?” the shopkeeper asked, before levitating the crystal beside Twilight. She took it in her own magenta magic and rotated it in front of her, taking in every little detail she could find. Occasionally she’d let out a small humm, as one often does when curious.

“Yes, this one should work just fine,” Twilight twisted her muzzle to flip the strap of some sort of saddlebag on her back. She slipped the crystal inside and then lifted a hefty sack of money onto the merchant’s table. “There, I hope this’ll cover your losses. I know how difficult it is to find a crystal of this size.”

“No trouble at all, your majesty. I am simply happy to be of assistance.” The merchant smiled an honest and pleasing smile.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, you are contributing to an important scientific discovery,” Twilight dipped her head slightly, and left the store. I gave a quick smile to the guy and quickly followed suit.

Well, that went rather well, I said in thought.

“I’ll say; can you imagine all the possibilities one could accomplish with these crystals?” Ri said, and for the first time, she didn’t sound nervous or scared at all. Nothing but jubilation came from her voice. “If only I could get a decent look at one.”

Since they have to do with me getting home, I’m sure you’ll get your chance.

“I appreciate the words of encouragement, but please, don’t plant false hopes in me.”

I swallowed, not liking her tone what bit. What do you mean ‘false hopes?’

“Let’s see,” Ri scoffed. I could just tell this was going to end badly “Unless there’s some way to completely change my anatomical structure from silver to carbon based, it’s nothing but a fleeting dream. And even if that we’re to happen, I might not have my internal organs or skeletal structure. I’d be nothing but a carbon shell.”

Damn it, there I go again! Why did I have to go and say that? I must look like some sort of inconsiderate, simple minded jerk to her.

Ri, I-

“Don’t Tyler. Just let it drop, please...”

I obliged her wishes and instead tried to focus back to whatever Twilight was explaining now. It sounded like how these crystals worked; apparently there’s a specialized process where, when magic is used to replace some of the molecular bonds, the result are these Maegus Crystals. They had a lot of uses to them, but the most prominent one had to do with magical readings. These abilities ranged from just reading the level of magic in an object, to determining the individual makeup of spells.

It was interesting, but I felt myself drifting away from it. Even though all those things Ri had said were meant for her, it applied to me in a way. There was still the possibility that, even if this machine was proven safe for use, and I was allowed to go home, I would stay a pony. Still a girl.

Wouldn’t that be the perfect sight for my folks to see?

I could already imagine the scenario playing out. My mom would freak out to the point of tears - probably dropping her glasses. She was always letting her glasses slip down her face. Dad would be silent first, trying to stay strong and supportive. He was never good at containing his emotions. Sooner or later they’d get out.

And then there were my sisters. God, how would they take it? Seeing their big brother like this; their parents trying to contain their losses and support what was once their son. Would they break down with them? No, that wasn’t right for them. They’d show some emotion, sure, but I think they’d be more distant support. They’d be comforting from the background while my parents are in the foreground.

Or would their reaction be something else entirely? Would they like this, maybe? The opportunity to have a big sister whom they can tower over?

No, they’re not like that... are they? I never did spend much time with them when we all matured. Did they grow up into completely different people?

I cringed as my heartbeat picked up its tempo. Fifteen years I’d known Catherine, and Elizabeth for fourteen. But how much of them did I really know? They were always the outgoing ones; they joined all the social groups they could and had so many friends I could never recall them all. Catherine was even learning to play the flute. As for me, I just stayed with my handful of friends and read history and fantasy novels. If I wasn’t doing that, then I was immersed in the online world of gaming.

I wasted my chances with them...

“Aurora, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked concernedly. I turned to look at her, suddenly aware of the liquid forming in my eyes.

“Sorry Twilight,” I said, bringing a hoof to my eyes and clearing away the half formed tears. “I was just...”

Twilight stopped me with a look and gestured over to a group of circular tables covered by a blue umbrella. “Want to rest for a second?”

“Sure,” I sighed. We then walked over and took opposite seats at one of the many unoccupied ones. Twilight moved carefully into her seat so that her wings didn’t get in the way.

“Now, Aurora, what happened?” Twilight’s voice had an underlying layer of authority to it.

“It wasn’t,” I swallowed. For some reason my throat chose this time to become uncomfortably dry. “It wasn’t anything... just some unpleasant thoughts.”

“Thoughts of your home?” I gave a small nod, and Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry Aurora.”

“It’s not your fault...”

“It is in a way,” Twilight said. “If I hadn’t had activated that machine then you wouldn’t have been brought here in the first place.”

I sighed, furrowing my eyebrows at her. “No, please, don’t start playing the blaming game or we’ll be here until sundown. Whatever conclusion we might come to, it still happened, and placing the blame on one specific person is not going to get us any closer to fixing things.”

The Princess looked like she was going to speak, but I wasn’t done yet. “You had no knowledge of what would happen, or at least, that’s what you’ve told me. So, how about we instead continue to try and find the solution instead of singling out the cause?”

Twilight gave a small chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right.” Her eyes then wandered across the street. “Say, Aurora, I know you wanted to get back to the castle quickly, but I’m thinking of checking out that shop across the street there.” She gestured with a hoof towards a small building with a rather large display window. Inside of which I could see all sorts of antiques. Further back, it even looked like there might be some books.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Twilight asked, turning back to me.

“You’re the princess here, I’m more or less at your mercy.”

Twilight’s ears seemed to drop slightly. “Please, I don’t want you to think that my position as a princess makes it so that you can’t speak your mind against me.”

“Well, considering I’m a foreigner, yes, I am at your mercy,” I joked, or at least attempted. It failed, and the stress evolved to my skin itching.

“In answer to the question, no, I don’t mind. But... do you mind if I stay here while you look?” I used my left hoof to scratch my former right arm. “I won’t go anywhere, I promise. It’s just... I kinda need to think a few things over...”

At first it looked like Twilight was going to refuse, but she gave an understanding smile and nodded. “I won’t be more than ten minutes, tops.” She then proceeded to stand and made her way towards the antique shop.

“That went well,” Ri said, so suddenly I almost jumped from the chair.

“Please, don’t startle me like that,” I said as my heart left my throat.

“Sorry,” Ri said.“I just... I thought you handled that well considering your situation, is all.”

“Oh... well, thanks. And, I’m sorry for earlier.”

She let out a small sigh. “Don’t be, please, It was more my fault than yours. I shouldn’t have overreacted.”

“No, it was me,” I retorted. “I was inconsiderate of how much you’ve been through, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Tyler,” From her tone, Ri sounded genuinely appreciative. “Now, stop talking out loud and calm down before you draw attention to yourself.”

I felt my cheeks flush with blood as my eyes scanned the area. A couple was watching me from across the way, but they quickly lost interest and went to conversing amongst themselves. One mare with a broad green hat seemed to be observing me from across the street, but made no indication of moving. Another pony was sitting in the table beside mine, but their face was covered by a newspaper.

Good. I leaned back into my chair and sighed. I’m not in the mood for anymore excitement today.

“That seems impossible, given the circumstances,” Ri pointed out. “Also, how did you not notice that you were speaking for all to hear?”

It’s a habit I picked up on Earth, OK? When she didn’t respond, I sighed and let my muscles slump. I’m sorry, I’m just-

“Tyler,” she said, cutting me off. “I’m not mad. Tensions are high, and everyone is on the verge of an emotional blowout, so please, stop trying to place all this blame onto yourself.”

I make no promises.

My heart thumped painfully against my ribcage. I put a hoof over the spot to try and sooth the organ, but had little success.

“I’m surprised you haven’t suffered heart failures at this rate.” Ri said. “How ever did you calm yourself down in the past?”

Well, my most common method was to run my fingers through my hair, or squeeze a stress ball. Anything to keep my hands occupied.

“Considering you lack both appendages, I suggest a different strategy.”

I closed my eyes and took in slow breaths of air. At first it seemed like the breathing exercise would work, but my ears kept picking up the sounds of the ponies around me. Snippets of conversations flew into my head: The upcoming show for the Wonderbolts and how one stallion had gotten the best seats available. One mare was invited to the party of Fancypants, whoever the hell he was. Another was talking about some dress she bought in Ponyville.

Too much, I reached up with my hooves and covered my equine ears. Yet still the sounds found cracks in my defences. It didn’t make sense; why was I getting stressed now? I’d been out and about Toronto plenty of times. Sure, the noise and the crowds were bothersome, but I could tone it out. So why couldn’t I tone these out?

“Shh, Tyler, it’s OK.” Ri soothed. “Everything is just stacking up.”

Yeah, I replied. Yeah, that’s it. I just need to get back to the palace and calm down.

As I finished that sentence, a funny feeling began to creep up my neck. At first I thought it was part of the stress, but that wasn’t the case. This was a strange, skittish feeling, like I was being watched. My ears gave a few twitches under my hooves, and I freed them whilst also opening my eyes.

Both sensory organs gave little twitches as they moved around. The sound of approaching hooves surfaced on my left. I turned my head a little too quick, thanks to all this apprehension I was feeling, and saw the unicorn mare in the large hat approaching me. She was a pale blue - slightly darker than myself - and the outfit she was wearing was the same yellow as her mane.

“Hello?” I said, trying to make my voice sound as calm as possible. “Can I help you?”

“Forgive the intrusion,” she said. “I just happened to notice you seemed in a bit of distress.”

I cocked my head to the side, causing a few strands of hair to drift over my left eye. “It’s nothing really, but thanks for the concern.”

“Obviously it is not ‘nothing,’” The pony said, though in a much different tone. “If you had any senses about you, you would leave Princess Twilight’s services and allow a more capable candidate to take your place. Somepony who will not succumb to such emotional blemishes.”

“Wait, service?” I asked dumbfoundedly.

The pony cocked an eyebrow at me. “You are the Princess’s personal aid, aren’t you?”

“Do I look like an assistant, lady?” I snapped. I was already stressed and on edge, I really didn’t need to add blatant labeling onto the list of things that have gone wrong in the last five minutes!

“Far from it; though one would assume as much since you were conversing with the Princess. I also assumed that necklace you had was a badge of office. Shame it is so... bestial in appearance.”

I heard a soft whimper in the back of my mind, though not my own. Instinctively my hoof rose protectively over Ri’s necklace. I glared daggers at the mare, all reasons for caution and restraint leaving my head. These types of people could insult me all they wanted, I was used to it. But picking on my friends was going too far!

“Well, nobody asked for your opinion, lady! So why don’t you go before my oh so inferior choice in jewelry spreads to you!”

The mare’s irises shrank to green dots, and for a moment it looked like she was frozen in place. Sadly it didn’t last forever, and she soon regained her composure. “Why we allowed ones as unruly as you into Canterlot is beyond me!”

With that, the pony turned her nose to the air and stormed off.

“Good riddance,” I snorted, then leaned back into my chair, muscles twitching. “Honestly, who just comes up to someone to chastise them?”

“You’re talking out loud again,” Ri said frantically. “Please Tyler, you need to calm down.”

I know that, Ri, but it’s not so simple! Nothing is ever so simple!

“Tyler! Calm down now!”

The funny feeling crept up my neck again and instinctively I started looking around. A great many unicorns heads had turned in my direction. Some were looking at me apprehensively, whilst others seemed to be muttering unkind words between their colleagues.

Sufficed to say I’d had enough of these aristocrats for today, and shot them a message to ‘get lost’ with my eyes. With any luck they’d also changed to green. The look on the crowd’s faces seemed to suggest so, and they dispersed rather quickly.

All except for one mare, that is. She was a warm grey colour, and dressed in a brown suit and tie. Our eyes met, and the mare smiled approvingly, then vanished down the closest street.

What was that about?

Before I could calm down enough to think on it, I saw Twilight fast approaching from the antique store. Poking from her bag was the corner of a dark blue book.

“Hey Aurora, sorry I took so long,” Whatever her next thought was seemed to die once she got a good look at me. “Did something happen?”

I didn’t answer at first. Instead, I closed my eyes and focused on the noises all around me. The clopping of hooves on the tiled pathways, the conversations ringing all around me, a cart wheel rolling along the ground. Once I’d focused on them all, I began to tone them out. One by one I heard the sounds enter a deep tunnel, until they were far enough away that I could think clearly.

I opened my eyes and looked at Twilight, blowing some of my mane to the side in the process. “I’m sorry, I just needed a moment.”

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed. Not in anger or frustration, as was most common, but rather concern. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you on the way back, just can we please get going?” I paused to breathe, shifting out of the seat and into a standing position. “Please? I’d really just need to get away from this all.”

The inquirious look didn’t leave Twilight’s eyes, but she nodded to me and began walking back to the palace. I kept pace beside her. Between explaining my meeting with the aristocrats I tried to sneak a few peeks at whatever it was she’d picked up. That proved quite fruitless, as the shifting of her muscles prevented anything inside the saddlebag from staying still long enough for me to get a good look. There wasn’t really a reason I wanted to see it; whatever it was, it would obviously help in getting me home. But it was a way for me to focus on something else. Something that wasn’t the world around me.

“Sorry to hear your first time in Canterlot ended up like that,” Twilight said once I’d explained what was going on.

“It’s fine, I needed to get out,” I replied. “I just need to work on my stress levels, is all.”

Twilight smiled. “I understand. There have been a few times where I’ve gone to a few extremes myself.” she chuckled. “Though, in the future, you might not want to be so projecting. These high-class ponies love to gossip.”

“Oh joy, my own fanbase” I said with a smile of my own. “Better get started on planning a press conference and handing out donations.”

“I wouldn’t advise it,” Twilight said. After that we spent the rest of the trip in silence.

When we finally reached the palace, both the Princess and I were surprised to see a large group of ponies gathered in the main entrance hall. They were all lined up in front of a pair of large lilac doors, with two pure white pegasus guards standing in front of them.

Of course, one of the unicorns ended up spotting us. Pretty soon the line had dissolved, and we were being mobbed by a million questions a minute. All pertaining to some strange lightshow that happened above the city last night.

Oh, this is just what I need. My ears pressed themselves to my head, and tried to make myself inconspicuous. They were here to talk to Twilight, after all, not me.

“Please, settle down everypony,” Twilight said, though her tone wasn’t loud enough to make it over the ensemble of questions.

“Quiet!”

A pregnant silence suddenly befall the castle. Twilight looked at all the starstruck nobles and exhaled slowly. “Please, everypony, Princess Celestia, Luna, and myself, are doing the best we can to uncover the source of the mysterious lights. If you’ll all just be patient, we’ll be more than willing to share what we’ve learned.”

The unicorns looked between the Princess and each other. Coincidentally, they all decided to regain their composition at the exact same time.

And that is why she is royalty, I thought, whilst smiling an amused smile.

“You doubted her authority?” Ri asked.

No, but it’s good to witness it first hand. Physical confirmation, and all that jazz.

“Interesting word choices, but I think I got the message.”

By now all the nobles had calmed down enough for Twilight to explain she had some affairs to take care of. It was a good enough excuse, and pretty soon the two of us were back on our way through the lavender corridors.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

“Should I just go silent for a few hours?” Ri asked. “I mean, if you need to calm down-”

No, you can stay. I actually enjoy speaking with you.

“Thanks...”

Even though it was wrong, I couldn’t help but smile at Ri’s timidness. Maybe it’s because I saw a lot of how I used to be in her. Of course, I’d had years of horrible social courses to help with my shyness. Maybe, when this is over, I can help her in return?

It was then that I realized that the princess was staring at me, curiously.

“Um, can I help you with something, Princess?”

Twilight blinked hastily. “Sorry, Aurora, I was just thinking.”

“About what?” I asked. There was something rather odd in her tone of voice.

Twilight didn’t respond instantly. Her eyes had trailed away from my face and towards my neck. Or rather, the silver necklace. The expression she was giving was as if she was seeing it for the first time.

“Aurora, where did you get your necklace?” She said at last.

“Well...” I began, but caught myself before more could be said. There was no way I was going to tell her about Ri. Not when I could barely trust what she was saying right now. “It belonged to my grandmother, so it’s kind of special.”

“I understand, but do you think I might be able to borrow it for a time?”

“No!”

Ri’s voice came so quickly I ended up crying in alarm myself and falling backwards.

“Aurora! Are you alright?” I heard Twilight say. I didn’t acknowledge her, instead bringing a hoof up protectively around the necklace.

Ri, what happened? Her reply was the sound of hyperventilation. Ri, say something.

“No! No! Please Tyler, don’t let her take me! I don’t want to go back to the darkness! The Silence! Please!”

Ri, calm down!

“Aurora!”

I snapped back to the world around me and turned to Twilight. She was fretting, and looked ready to restrain me with her magic again. Hastily I rose my hooves in front of me.

“It’s OK, I’m alright.”

“No you are not,” Twilight said. “You just started spazzing out again. That is not OK.”

I tried to think of something to say; something that could calm her down enough for me to explain. But with Ri freaking out in my head, thoughts were turning up stillborn.

“I’m alright, Twilight, I just need to blow off some stress.”

Twilight eyed me. “This could be serious, Aurora. Maybe I should perform a scan to see if it’s affecting you in other major ways.”

I cringed; Ri was now muttering something too fast for me to understand. “I’m fine, really. I just need to go and relax for a little. So if you don’t mind...” I moved my leg, but the princess extended her wing to block my way.

“This is serious, Aurora. The magic of the machine could have affected you on a fundamental level. And unless I’m mistaken, you were wearing that necklace when you came through. It’s obviously linked in some way, so if you could just give it to me for examination-”

“NO!” Ri screamed.

Calm down, Ri. I thought as my skin began to itch and crawl. I can't think with you like this!

She didn’t go silent, but from the sounds of things she was trying to control her sudden hysteria. With the distractions inside my head significantly reduced, I focused on Twilight again.

“Twilight, please. I’ve had a long day, and I really need to calm down.” The princess opened her mouth, but mine was quicker. “I promise that I’ll comply with whatever you want tomorrow, but please, just let me unwind and get myself under control!”

My voice strained as I held back the desire to scream. Twilight sighed, and lowered her head so her horn touched my forehead. I felt a calmness flow through myself again. A calmness settled over every inch of my body until the stress had all but vanished.

I sighed and let my muscles relax. “Thank you, your majesty.”

“I’ll give you today to yourself,” Twilight said. “But tomorrow I’d like to perform those scans. We might find something from them that could help get you home.”

Home. The word echoed through my head. “Yes, I’ll comply. Now please, can I go?”

Twilight nodded and lowered her wing. I bowed my head and hastily made my way to my room. Twilight might have used too strong of a dosage on me, because I began to feel lethargic after the first step. By the time I reached the room, my eyelids were beginning to flutter.

I quickly closed the door and sat myself in front of the mirror. “OK, Ri, we’re alone. Now what the hell was that back there?”

“I’m sorry, Tyler,” she whispered. “But you don’t know what life has been like for me all these years...”

“Years?”

“That’s what it feels like.” Ri faltered for a moment. “When I’m not worn... when the necklace is left on its own... There is nothing. Try to imagine darkness... darkness without sound. Without space. Without life.” Ri’s voice cracked. “I see nothing. I hear nothing. I am... nothing.”

I was at a total lost of words. Probably for the best; if I was to say something now, chances are it would have just been made worse. So I looked at the necklaces reflection in the mirror and carefully stroked it. I wasn’t sure if Ri could see me this way, but it made me feel like I was comforting her in whatever small way I could.

“Thank you, Tyler.” she whispered.

“No problem, Ri,” I said, yawning. “I’m sorry I brought it up. I just... I don’t know, I want to help.”

“I know, Tyler,” She chuckled. “It’s funny, I thought I was the one trying to help you.”

“We’re both ineptly attempting to help the other and failing miserably.” I gave the best half smile I could. “Guess mom was wrong when she said I’d make a good psychologist.”

“Personally, I see you as one of those guides in museums that informs visitors about all the displays.”

“I’ve thought of that as well,” I said, blowing my mane out of my face. “But preferably I’ll be back in Whitby for my first job.”

“I hope so,” Ri said.

Hope, I thought to myself. What a funny word. Hope was the feeling that had led so many to better futures. The feeling that drove people forward when their lives were crumbling around them.

I’d had my fare share of dealings with hope in the past. It was a two faced coin; sometimes it would bring me to where I needed to go, but most often it built up to disappointment and despair.

Despair is the enemy...

I shook my head as another wave of fatigue came rolling over me. I shouldn’t be thinking like this right now. Twilight got her equipment, and with the exception of the market scene, nothing overtly bad happened today.

Slowly, I inched myself over to the bed and hoisted myself on top. I never felt the mattress beneath me. I was weightless, aimlessly drifting along.

“Night Ri,” I yawned and lay my head against the pillow. “Or afternoon... or whatever...”

“Tyler?” Ri called from the end of a deep tunnel. It was the last thing I heard from her before falling asleep.

And for the first time in Equestria, I dreamed.

Twilight watched Aurora Borealis awkwardly shuffle down the guest hallway. Once she’d vanished into her room, the lavender Alicorn let out a long sigh and turned down the adjacent pathway. By this point the fatigue spell she’d cast would have taken effect, and the skyblue mare would be fast asleep in a matter of minutes.

It was far from Twilight’s proudest moment. Just thinking of the act made the princess feel as if a bleak raincloud hung over her head. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust the mare to do anything on her own, but her spasms and panic attacks were beginning to become a problem. Pretty soon she’d end up hurting somepony - or worse, herself.

If she’d just let me cast my spells we could have avoided this all together, Twilight thought. Why must some ponies be so difficult?

It wasn’t like she couldn’t fault Aurora for her hesitation. After all, she’d been in a much similar situation just a few weeks ago. When Princess Celestia’s former pupil, Sunset Shimmer, had stole her crown - the Element of Magic - and she’d been forced to follow her to an alternate world. Not only did she have to learn how to act in a foreign world, but she’d been transformed into a new shape as well through the process. A strange and foreign creature; bipedal, arms and legs ending in five digits, and lacking in speed, strength, and basic senses compared to ponies.

The shock of the new world had been hard to accept at first, but she’d had a mission when she arrived. Overcoming her problems became a quick necessity. Aurora was different. She was here against her will; transported here quite suddenly, from what her story had told. At first Twilight had her doubts, but then Princess Luna told her that the archway wasn’t to be reactivated by any means. The look of loss that appeared in Aurora’s eyes was torment to the Alicorn of Magic. Like she was ruining somepony’s life.

The first day is always the hardest, Twilight assured herself when she came to a descending spiral staircase. All she needs is some time and space. And once we learn the machine’s secrets we’ll send her back home post-haste.

Yet no matter how hard she told herself this, the lavender Alicorn was constantly bombarded by questions of doubt. What if the machine was dangerous? What damage would re-activating it cause? What damage had been done already? Even though the light had vanished when Celestia raised the sun, Twilight still felt its presence. The magic was weaker, but still firmly anchored over the city.

So lost was she in her thought, that Twilight didn’t notice she’d reach the base of the stairwell. She nearly ended up tripping over the final step, but her wings instinctively flared and steadied her. It caused the former unicorn to chuckle to herself. She’d only had these wings for a few months, and the sensation felt a little strange.

Before her stood a pair of heavy iron doors. Inscribed all over them were glowing violet symbols; magic wards placed onto the door to contain anything dangerous inside. Twilight closed her eyes and allowed her arcane powers to gather in her horn until a magenta aura engulfed it. She pressed it in the central rune, spread out across both doors. It glowed a pale blue before both doors swung open without a sound.

Beyond the doors was a spacious room illuminated by charged sunstones. A large rectangular table sat at the far wall, covered with all manner of research notes, equipment, charts, and opened books. In the middle of all of this was an ordinary work satchel filled with samples taken from the tomb. An oak bookshelf rested against the left wall, with five books on magic theory and spells.

To the right of the worktable was a metal display mannequin, akin to what was found in museums or taxidermist. The skeleton of a winged serpent rested on it. The long finger bones were flared open, as if ready to take flight. It’s mouth opened wide, displaying hollow, curved fangs.

Twilight has spent the better part of the morning erecting the skeleton form the most well preserved specimen they could find. This gave it an awkward, misshapen appearance. Despite appearing like a snake, there were several slight differences in the skeletal structure. The ribs expanded further out than any snake, more than likely to give the lungs more room and aid in flight. The skull was rounded past the nostrils, suggesting a large cranial cavity. With the exception of the fangs, the teeth had evolved into proper canines for slicing meat. There were even proto molars located in the back of the jaw.

They’d been omnivorous, that’s for sure. No doubt the very reason for their advancement in brain size, Twilight thought to herself as she sat at her table. It’d be interesting to learn what caused such evolutionary changes; and from snakes of all creatures.

She reached into the satchel with her her hoof and pulled out a plastic container. Inside, shavings of the blue metal shimmered, already reacting to her magic. Again, she gathered it in her horn, where she focused it onto a levitation spell around the Maegus Crystal in her own saddle bag. This caused the metal to become alive with light - at least in comparison to the charged sunstones hanging from the walls. Still, it was enough to make the lavender Alicorn bring a hoof to cover her eyes.

“So, simply being in the presence of active magic will cause a reaction,” Twilight said to herself. She placed the Maegus Crystal next to the samples, simultaneously writing down her observations in an opened notebook. “Let’s see if we can find out why.”

As Twilight removed the lid of the contained, the white flame inside the Maegus Crystal seemed to be drawn to the metal.

Good, she thought to herself. There’d been a slight possibility that the metal might have a molecular makeup incompatible to the Maegus Crystal’s deciphering abilities.

Holding the crystal between her hooves, the Alicorn slowly lowered it on top of the metal. The white flame seemed to burst with life - like a real fire when fed a dry log. Beneath it, the blue metal was flaring. Quick as she could, Twilight tapped the Maegus Crystal with her horn and set it to project the makeup of the metal. As she pulled her horn away, the white flame set up a projection of the metal on a molecular level on the wall.

Twilight looked into the blue spheres inside of each molecule. Just as she suspected, they were objects akin to the organelles of a living cell. But they weren’t nuclei, as she’d been hypothesizing. Rather, they were two smaller organelles tightly packed together that more closely resembled lysosomes and vacuoles.

Could they be the reason for this metal’s magical abilities?

Eager to test this theory, Twilight reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small wrapped parcel she’d procured from the antique shop. Inside was a wooden tray bearing a small collection of rounded gemstones. There were nine in total, arranged in the pattern of pink, purple, and blue colouring. Unlike other stones, however, these ones seemed to ripple across their surface like water.

The shop owner had passed them off as a simple collectors item, Twilight had known what they were the moment she’d set eyes on them. Solidified magic.

In ages past, unicorns didn’t have the same understanding of their latent arcane abilities as they do now. It wasn’t uncommon for the average unicorn to spend up to a month recovering from a particularly straining spell. By solidifying magic, however, they had a means to quickly refill their reserves. It was common among soldiers, scholars, and magical theorists, until ponies had discovered much simpler techniques of replenishing a unicorn’s magic.

Twilight took a blue stone from its slot and held it in her hoof. One reason the practice has ceased was that the magic used in the process was the highly unpredictable Pure Magic. The process diluted it into the three colours, each dealing with a different aspect of magic. If she remembered correctly, blue magic dealt with form.

Hastily, she placed it under the Maegus Crystal so that it touched the blue metal. The samples flashed with light, causing the Alicorn to cry out and shield her eyes with her wings. Once her eyes had stopped stinging she peered out between her feathers.

The projections of the Maegus Crystal showed the vacuole-like objects emitting a series of flashes. It was identical to what she’d seen yesterday; first one would flash, and then the neighboring molecule would. But no others would continue the chain. Then the vacuoles would calm, and the lysosomes began to swell and glow. Only then did the vacuoles located in the molecules two spaces away begin the chain anew.

As she observed the patterns, Twilight could feel her horn beginning to tingle again. The tell tale sign that magic levels were rising.

“So I was right!” Twilight exclaimed happily, quickly jotting down everything she’d just learned. “These molecules do have the properties of a cell!”

Just like the ones found in a cell, these vacuoles seemed to be storing the magic from the gemstone. Then the lysosomes would process and double it - maybe even triple it. In just under a minute, every molecule in these samples had a swollen lysosome. And she noticed that not all the magic was being contained. The Maegus Crystal showed thin wisps of blue, pink, and purple slipping through the membrane to be dispersed in the air. But these small losses did nothing to hinder the supply these miniature factories were producing.

As Twilight jotted these notes down, new questions formed in her mind. While she now knew how the metal produced and contained such vast quantities of magic, she was still no closer to figuring out if the archway was safe for use. She’d have to find a way to cause the magic inside the metal to cast a spell, like in the catacombs. Then she could make some progress.

Sighing, Twilight jotted down some last observations before removing the Maegus Crystal. The projections vanished from existence - quick as a wink. The solidified magic had nearly been consumed by the metal. What was left was no bigger in diameter than a bit. Twilight placed it back in its slot before recovering the metal and storing it inside the sanchel.

Might as well get some water, I’m gonna be down here for a while. She mused to herself. Once all the equipment was placed back into its respective place, the Alicorn of Magic departed the lab, the metal runed doors closing behind her.

She spotted Princess Luna on her way to the kitchen. The midnight blue Alicorn was speaking in a hushed voice to her sister, who replied with stiffened nods. Both appeared distressed about something. Twilight quickened her pace, but Celestia was halfway down another hallway when she arrived.

“Is something the matter, Twilight?” Luna asked.

“No, everything is fine,” Twilight said. “Where is Celestia going?”

“To the council chambers,” Luna said with a heavy sigh. “It seems Sharp Script has called a meeting of all chief ministers and senators.“

That caught Twilight by surprise. “Wouldn’t she have to sent letters in advance to either yourself or Celestia?”

“Normally, that is the case. However, Sharp Script is claiming this a threat of national security, which gives her the right to bypass that section. Minister Gavelkind informed us just moments ago.” She shuffled in place. “Celestia will have them all calmed before drastic measures are taken. Hopefully before I raise the moon, even.” Her lips curved into a smile. “But enough of that, how fair your own studies?”

Twilight cleared her throat. “I’ve made some progress. I think I’ve a good understanding of how the metal is able to absorb and produce magic, but still nothing when it comes to the exact purpose of the archway, or its danger levels.”

“Even the smallest bit of progress is still progress.”

“I know, but we need more than a little,” Twilight stated. “You just said the council is meeting. What if others do the same? What if the lights come back tonight? What if the magic in the lights becomes unstable and threatening all of Canterlot? All of Equestria? Those are the kinds of questions I need answers to.”

Luna stepped towards her. “Calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle. If you keep your current mindset, you’ll leave yourself blind to the truth. Take solace in the fact that no damage has come from last nights excitement.”

She’s right, Twilight thought. She closed her eyes and inhaled a breath of air. Her hoof came to her chest and extended outward as she exhaled. Already she could feel her nerves calming.

“I’ll try, Princess,” she said, getting a smile from the lunar princess. “That reminds me, I never asked what you and Celestia found last night.”

“Little as well, I’m afraid,” Luna mused. “The lights were composed of Pure Magic, that much we determined.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. “Pure Magic? Are you certain?” Luna nodded, and Twilight felt her wings flare from anxiety. “We should set up some safeguards around the city.”

“We have already taken care of such matters,” Luna said. Before Twilight could respond, the lunar princess turned her head to the side, as if she was looking at something only she could see.

“I apologize, Twilight, but it seems something has arisen that requires my attention.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, Princess,” Twilight said with a cough. “Is it something serious?”

“Perhaps,” Luna said, staring down the guest hallway. “Somepony dreams in the
daylight.”

Twilight let out a dry sigh. “About that, I-”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Luna bowed to Twilight, and set off down the hallway. There was a strange look in her eye - a cross between intrigue and conscientiousness. Twilight wanted to say something, but her research demanded her immediate attention. So, reluctantly, she left the lunar princess and continued to the kitchen.

She carried the water back to the lab, sipping now and again and feeling the cool liquid slide down her gullet. It had a certain calming effect on her being. She set the glass down on her worktable and gave a slight cough to test her throat. Satisfied, she turned to her notes and began flipping through them.

It was as if she were looking at them in a new light. The machine wasn’t just making new magic, it was making Pure Magic. Vast quantities of unstable and unguided magic was being stored inside this metal, and even being released in trace amounts into the atmosphere. More than likely they were joining with the cloud currently over Canterlot. Right now the dosage was too small to be considered a threat to anything or anypony, but should the metal be given another massive dose...

“There’s got to be a way to drain all that excess magic without it getting into the atmosphere,” Twilight pondered aloud. She channeled magic into her horn, levitating a book over from the shelf. She flipped through the pages, looking for anything about diluting magic or how to deal with excess traces in the atmosphere.

She was unsuccessful. However, something else caught her eye on page thirty seven. A Post Mortem spell.

Twilight had heard of such a spell from her years at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. It was a powerful kind of magic. One that focused on the purple magic that lingered inside the bones of the dead. Since purple magic focused on the mind, it was possible to tap into it and relive the memories of the deceased beings.

She turned to look at the taxiturmed skeleton. I could see this machine when it was first activated. Surely the creators would have thought of a way to contain all this magic.

Except they’d been dead for over a thousand years. Another voice said. Post Mortem spells already carried their own risks; the memories imprinted onto the purple magic would rot over time. Without the proper failsafes, these decaying memories could corrupt the pony casting the spell. Who knows how much rot had set in over a thousand years after death.

I can’t rush into this, Twilight decided. She closed the book and set it aside on the table.

A flicker of movement caught in the corner of her eye. Quickly, the alicorn turned towards the door. A purple mist dotted with points of light had slipped through the cracks in the door and was traveling towards her. It gathered into a ball of light before her eyes, quickly transforming into a sealed scroll.

As it fell to the ground, Twilight caught it in her magic. She broke the seal and scanned her eyes across the page.

Dear Twilight

Just wanted to let you know that everything is going well in Ponyville. What’s better, the girls managed to get some time off thanks to the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. And, since it’s when we all met, they thought it’d be best to come and see you tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ll remember to lock up the library. See you around noon tomorrow.

Your number one assistant.

Spike.

A smile broke out across Twilight’s face. With all this excitement she’d completely forgotten about the Summer Sun Celebration, when Princess Celestia would raise the sun and pronounce the beginning of summertime.

Long ago, when she was just a filly, it was the first time Twilight beheld Princess Celestia in all her magnificence. The day she devoted her life to magical study.

And, a year ago, it was the day she came to Ponyville. When she met the five ponies who became her friends, and joined her as bearers of the Elements of Harmony to return Princess Luna to Equestria.

Was it really that long ago? She mused to herself. The thought was lost, however, when she read the note again.

“Oh my gosh! Tomorrow noon? That barely leaves me with any time!”

Without wasting any time, Twilight rolled up the scroll and set it inside her saddlebag and returning to her journals.

A sharp noise woke me from sleep.

Groggily, I opened my eyes and looked around. Through the morning haze, I noticed the room I was in wasn't the guest room of the Palace I’d gone to sleep. The walls were dull grey, and the window lacked long curtains, instead being covered by simple blinds. The size of the room was smaller as well - maybe only reaching a third of the guest room’s size. A small bookshelf rested in the right corner. Directly underneath it was a desk with a stack of paper, pencils, and a black laptop resting on it.

Now fully awake, I scanned my eyes around the room. The bed I was in was medium sized with matching blue and red striped covers and bedsheets. And not those monstrously thick covers of the palace beds, with their spade shaped bedposts three inches in length. This bed had no bedposts, and the covers were thin enough to let excess heat escape.

Hastily, I tossed the covers aside and looked at myself. Long tanned legs with black hair greeted me, each one ending in a five toed foot. On my command they each wiggled one after the other. Next, I thrusted my arms into my field of vision. Instead of hooves, a pair of hands were there to greet me.

And then I heard the crying.

It came in quick bursts of sobbing, broken apart by deep, nasally sniffles. Not wasting any time, I grabbed my door handle and flung it open with a quick twist of the wrist. Across the hallway, another door was open, revealing a room with navy blue coloured walls. From it came the source of the crying.

Silently, I walked into the room. Clothes had been tossed everywhere in a rage - like leaves in the autumn wind. Picture frames lay cracked against the walls they’d hung on, and books had been forced off their shelf into a pile of bent covers and exposed pages.

Laying facedown in the center of the bed, sobbing herself dry, was a girl of fifteen. My sister. Catherine.

“W-who’s there?” she choked out, not even bothering to lift her head. Her brown hair was a jumbled mess, sticking this way and that. Several strands littered her bed; the ones she’d pulled out.

“Just me,” I said in my true, masculine voice. But that wasn’t important; this was the most upset I’d ever seen Catherine. What had caused it?

She didn’t move to look at me, opting instead to keep crying into her mattress. Unsure of what to do, I moved beside her and sat on the bed.

Say something! My conscience screamed. At least, that’s what I thought it was. It certainly wasn’t Ri’s voice. Don’t just sit there. She’s hurting!

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Catherine, what happened?”

“He-” she started, choking back a sob, “He hurt me.”

The words seemed to echo around the room. From the walls, floors, and windows, it whispered its vile four letters.

My heartbeat quickened, and I felt something begin to surface inside me. It was anger. Hatred. Rage.

“Who hurt you?” I asked, fearing the worst.

Catherine looked up at me. Her brown eyes were rimmed raw from crying and crisscrossed with red veins. “S... Shannon..”

Emotions of wroth boiled inside of me like a hot spring. I felt my fingers clench into a fist. “What did he do to you?”

“He-he broke up with me,” Catherine choked out. “We had a fight after music class. He, he said it was my fault. A-and when I tried to hold him... to calm him down so we could talk... he hit me.”

I felt my heartbeat increase tenfold. That bastard; I knew he wasn’t anything but trouble from the first time Catherine brought him home. Always smiling; always so eager to help. I knew it was all an act.

To hell with what you know! The voice of my conscience screamed. Forget him for now. Your little sister is in pain!

My fingers relaxed as the voice continued on. You’re her older brother; act like one. Be there for her.

How? I thought back, staring at Catherine. She’d gone back to sobbing into her mattress again. Gingerly, I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a few awkward pats. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could think of.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “If there’s anything you need, just ask, OK?”

She shot her head up and looked me in the eyes. “What I need is a big brother to protect me!”

I flinched back from the venom in her words. “Catherine, I-”

“You did nothing,” she spat. “You always do nothing!”

The weight of her words hit me like a sack of bricks, but no response came from me. The voice from before was gone now, replaced by a gush of wind, followed by intense pressure on all sides of me. All this time, Catherine stared daggers at me.

“I need you. Elizabeth needs you. Mom and dad need you. And you abandoned us!”

What? I thought, but the wind stole my words when I tried to speak them. The pressure slammed into my back, forcing me off the mattress. The ground came rushing towards me, and I braced for impact.

I gasped lungfuls of air and rose from bed, causing a few strands of pink to fall in front of my eyes. Wanting to confirm my species before doing anything else, I raised my left arm. A sky blue hoof came to greet me.

“It was just a dream,” I said out loud in my feminine voice. I couldn’t help but grin dryly; it should have been obvious to me. Catherine’s breakup had happened close to a month ago.

So why wasn’t it? Was my desire for home really so great that it overpowered my basic senses? Or was this just the nature of dreams? Either way, I knew I was going to need a lot of therapy after this.

Sighing, I used the tip of my hoof to tuck my mane behind my left ear. The feeling of my hair against the ear itched slightly, but at least I could look around.

The scene before me was a field of grass and coniferous trees all growing in a neat and orderly fashion. On one side were two metal soccer goals, and on the other was a baseball diamond and sandlot. A cobblestone pathway snaked between them and the treeline. Following down it, I spied a red jungle gym in the middle of a large sand pit. The entire structure was built like a pirate ship. At the front of the jungle gym, two large pieces of plastic were angled so that they created a point, which served as the bow of the ship. A plastic figurehead looked out at the approaching pathway. Flanking the structure on both sides were swingsets. FInally, instead of a bed, I was resting on a wooden bench.

It can’t be, I thought, bewildered. My body slid off the bench and, slowly, I made my way down the pathway. Eventually I found myself standing in front of a bright red sign. On it where the words “Welcome to Hillary Park.”

“It is...” I said, smiling a confused smile. “It’s the park I played in when I was little.”

“I thought you’d enjoy this spot,” A voice said from behind me. Instinctively I curved my neck to look, but there was nothing.

“Ri?” I asked, half certain. It sounded like her voice, but more direct. Like she was right next to me instead of on the other side of a telephone.

“Yes,” she replied. “Isn’t this fantastic! I’ve never been able to directly enter the dreams of those who wear me. Of course, they usually take the necklace off when going to bed. But what does it matter; you’re here, and so am I!”

“Slow down, girl,” I said, turning my head in the direction of the voice. Again I came up with nothing.

“Sorry, I just never expected something like this to even be possible!”

“No, I mean, can you please stop moving? I’m starting to get dizzy over here.”

Ri went silent for a while, which I used to steady myself. By the time my head stopped spinning, she spoke again.

“Only if you promise me that you won’t freak out.”

“Freak out?” I asked. “Why would I-”

“Just promise me, Tyler,” she said. From her voice alone, she sounded on the verge of tears. “Please.”

I sighed and raised a hoof in the air. “I promise you Ri, I won’t freak out.”

Instantly my words were put to the test. A green nose poked out from the left side of the park sign, followed after by a glittering head dominated by two yellow, reptilian eyes. The head turned to me, and an elongated neck slinked its way into view, as thick as a tree trunk, and covered in interlocking scales. The rest of the body soon followed, just as thick as the neck, and displaying a bright orange underbelly. On either side were two sets of wings. The topmost were brown and feathered like an eagles. The bottom ones ended in three long fingers connected by dark brown wing membrane.

My heart leapt into my throat, beating madly. I was looking at a giant winged serpent!

The snake looked at me, smiling a timid smile. “H-hello Tyler.”

“Ri?” I shot out, causing the serpent to wince slightly.

“Now, Tyler, please, you promised not to freak out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” I exclaimed. “See, look at me. Perfectly calm and talking to a giant snake!”

“OK, first off, I’m not a snake,” Ri said. “Second, your muscles are giving involuntary twitches, and your breathing is coming through in erratic short bursts. Both of these are clear signs that you are under severe stress.”

If I still had fingers, they’d have been clenched into fists. “OK, so I am a little taken aback by this. But why shouldn’t I be? I mean, when were you going to tell me you were a giant winged snake?”

“When I knew I could trust you,” Ri said. “Like I told you before, I was not about to lay down and play Twenty Questions with a stranger. And neither were you, for that matter.” She grunted indignantly. “And will you please stop calling me a snake!?”

My heartbeat slowed down as I listened to her. Given the same situation, I wouldn’t have acted differently than she did. Plus, wasn’t I doing the same thing with Twilight and her Princesses? And what would I have done if Ri’d told me her species? More than likely, I’d have taken the necklace off - which, according to her, would have left her in some sort of complete isolation.

Closing my eyes, I forced myself to take in a breath of air. I let it out slowly, then took in another breath. A few cycles later, my heartbeat had dropped back to normal, and I looked back at Ri. Her eyes watched me nervously; her pupils having shifted into a rounder shape. Looking into them, I could see a great deal of intelligence and inquiry.

“OK, I’m good now,” I said, only half sure. “And I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s alright, Tyler, I don’t blame you,” Ri said, coiling her body together. Overall she looked close to forteen feet long from tail to nose tip. “Hey, since there’s no more secrets to keep, perhaps now we should have proper introductions.”

“Sure,” I said. “Though, why don’t you start us off? I think I still need a moment to process this.”

The corners of Ri’s mouth twitched slightly, but she nodded and extended all four of her wings. The leathery ones came around me on both sides, while the feathered ones touched wing tips under her chin, as if she were praying.
“Now announcing Student Ri-Bov-Dis. Four winged daughter of Lord Tal-Vo-Mak and Professor Hik-Esa-Vei. Younger sibling of twin brothers, Lords Ves-Ano-Kai and Ves-Ano-Kro. Member of the Imauikatl Coatla, or Sky Serpents, for a rough human translation.”

“Rough human translation?”

Ri nodded. “I’ve become quite versed in several languages from Earth, monsieur Tyler.”

“I think I’ll have to take your word for it due to time restraints.” I said.

“Oh, of course,” Ri folded her wings and bowed to me. At first I was puzzled, but then got the hint and pressed both my front-hooves together.

“Now announcing Tyler Rannon. Son of John and Mary-Ann Rannon. Elder sibling of sisters Catherine and Elizabeth Rannon. Member of Homo Sapiens, or humans.”

Ri giggled when I’d finished. I turned to look at her, causing some of my mane to tumble back in front of my face. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing,” she giggled. “It’s just that it wasn’t mandatory for you to introduce yourself in that fashion. You could have said it how you normally would have introduced yourself to a stranger.”

“Oh, now she tells me,” I said, rising back to my hooves.

“Hey, if it’s any consolation, you did pretty well for a first time greeting.”

“Um, thanks, I guess,” I said. Because, really, what else could I say to being complemented by something straight from Aztec mythology. Just another uncomfortable question that’ll have to be addressed.

But what kind of time bomb would I be setting off if I asked that? I thought, remembering back to our conversation this morning. Don’t I hate it when people pressure me?

Don't I deserve some kind of answer, I rationalized. From the corner of my eye I could see Ri looking at me with perplexed confusion and worry.

“I’m alright, Ri,” I said, blowing my mane out of my face. “I was just-”

Ri extended one of her leathery wing to pause me. “You don’t need to lie to me, Tyler. It’s clear as the sky above what you were going to ask, and the answer is yes. My species is the one that built the machine that brought you here.”

“So doesn’t that mean you can send me home?” I asked hopefully. “You know how it works, right?”

Ri’s eyes filled with tears. “No, I don’t. I don’t know anything about the machine other than its function.” She paused to draw in a breath. “It was my father’s personal project.”

A wave of emotions began to spread under the surface of my skin; anger being the primary one. “But you said you had a theory about how I got here. You said you could help me get home.”

“And I can!” Ri insisted. “I never lied to you, Tyler. When you first arrived, I didn’t get a look at the archway or the bodies. It wasn’t until the princess mentioned it that I was even sure where we were. Everything has changed so much...”

She’s right, I told myself, the anger already starting to fade. There hadn’t been a single mentioning of any winged serpents in the Canterlot Archives, so Ri’s people would have had to exist here before the ponies fled from their eternal winter. But how long ago would that have been?

“How much about yourself can you tell me?” I asked softly. “You said that there are no more secrets to keep. I won’t force you to tell me something you’re not comfortable with, but if there is going to be any trust between us, we both need to have a general understanding of the other.”

Ri blinked (an impossible action for a true snake) and the tears vanished from her eyes. “There’s not much else to tell, really. I was my father’s youngest, and the only four wing of my generation.”

Something about the way she addressed that final statement seemed offputting to me. “Is there a special requirements to being born with four wings?”

“That would depend on who you ask,” Ri said, her voice faltering ever so slightly. “Next question, please?”

I nodded, not wanting to make the situation worse. With a hoof I gestured to the vacant park around us. “Where exactly are we, and what did you mean when you said I’d like this place in particular?”

The grin that spread over Ri’s face was akin to a professor about to give an extensive lecture. Small interlocking fangs poked from behind her lips, broken only by two fleshy sheaths that more than likely held fangs filled with venom.

I braced myself for the lecture that was to come. To my surprise, Ri extended a leathery wing, almost as if gesturing for me to walk with her. I smiled, and headed down to the jungle gym alongside her. Something about seeing her happy brightened my spirit.

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the circumstances,” Ri said, looking over the jungle gym with passive interest. “But I have a theory. In the past, I have only been able to observe the world around me when worn by another individual, which is true of the current predicament. However, we are able to communicate with one another - something I was never able to accomplish with any previous human. How this came about is anyone’s guess; perhaps it’s because I am in my homeland, or perhaps it has to do with the magic that affected us both during transit.”

“That’s all interesting, but how does that relate to this?” I asked, gesturing around with my hooves.

“I’m getting to that, Tyler,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “Now, regardless of reasons, this connection allowed me to sense that you were dreaming, but left me unable to assist you in any ways.”

“Could you see into the dream?” I asked. Ri shook her head, and I gave a small sigh of relief.

“Now, without any further interruptions,” Ri continued. “During my attempts to help you, I stumbled upon a memory from when you were young. It seems that, through my prodding and meddling, the memory was able to transfer itself, and by extent my consciousness, into your dreamscape.”

There was a certain excitement in Ri’s voice. It was like a child who’d just finished their first puzzle and was looking to their parent for praise. Except I was in the role of the parent who saw that their kid had skipped a few steps, or left out some important pieces. Once I was sure she was done talking, I spoke.

“Ri, you are aware how scatterbrained that idea sounds, right?”

Her muscles relaxed a little. At first I thought I’d upset her, but then she nodded her head. “Of course it’s an incomplete theory, Tyler. I’m just trying to work with what I have.”

“I know, but answer me this,” I interjected. “How was it you could access one of my memories when you just admitted to not being able to access my dreams?”

Ri shrugged, and turned her head as if in thought. “How am I still alive after so long? How are you, a male human - now residing in the body of a female pony - in another world so unlike your own, and yet so similar? How are we even talking right now? It’s just one of the many wonders that life and magic have to offer us, don’t you think?”

I opened my mouth to retort, but no words would form. Given that I knew next to nothing about magic, I couldn’t really find a good way to play devil’s advocate.

“Alright, I can give you that,” I said. “But how have you managed to go this long without losing your mind? I know if I were in your situation, I’d be trying to claw my brain out by now.”

What little excitement was still in Ri’s body seemed to vanish. “There were times I wanted to do that.” She said, her tone barely above a whisper. “I guess what’s kept me... well, this sane was studying you humans. When my necklace was taken off, I’d go through all the new memories I’d have made from observing your cultures, and try to piece it all together.”

“And how long have you been doing that?” I asked.

Long enough to learn how to speak English flawlessly, The whisper in my head replied.

Ri pressed the tips of her wings together in thought. “I don’t know about specific date I came to Earth, but I was worn by a french woman when she immigrated to Quebec during the Napoleonic wars.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “The Napoleonic wars took place over two hundred years ago.”

Ri nodded, slow and somber. “That sounds about right.”

Now, any normal, rational human being probably would have freaked out at the prospect of having a centuries old alien living inside their head. But for some reason, I didn’t. Instead, I was silent as my mind tried to process the gravity of the situation. Eventually, I was able to form a response.

“You look great for your age.”

Ri flashed me a puzzled look, which soon gave way to a nervous smile. “Thanks, I think. So, is that the last of your questions?”

“Well, there’s one that’s been nagging at me,” I said. “How did your species build? No offence or anything, but snakes don’t have any-”

I was cut off by a familiar tingling sensation covering my body. Instantly my body was covered in a yellow aura and yanked into the air in front of Ri. Her eyes were covered in the same yellow aura. But right now all I could see were her reptilian pupils glaring at me.

“For the last time, Tyler, stop calling me a snake!”

“OK, OK! I’m sorry, Ri!”

Ri’s muscles relaxed and I felt myself lower back to the ground. The yellow glow vanished from around her eyes, followed quickly by the one around me. Once my senses returned I steadied my hooves and looked back to Ri. She had coiled her body and wrapped her wings around herself in a large cocoon of feathers and flesh. Only her head was visible, nestled onto her chin so her eyes could still see in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated softly, placing a hoof on her body. Without moving her head, her left eye turned to look at me. “I didn’t mean for it to slip out like that.”

“Just please don’t do it again,” Ri whispered. She looked away from me. “In my culture being called a snake is... derogatory.”

Derogatory. The word seemed to echo in the air around us. Maybe it’s because this was all taking place in my head, or maybe it was due to the weight of the word.

“I’m so sorry, Ri,” I said. “I didn’t know-”

“And now you do,” Her head wormed its way out of her wings, and she smiled encouragingly. “Also, I hope that answered the question of my species construction capabilities.”

“Yeah, it was pretty informative.” I said. “Were humans just unlucky or something not to get magic? Everyone else seems to have it.”

“Maybe,” Ri said, once again in her normal posture. “But I wouldn’t sell your species short. Give humanity some time and you might be able to come close to the wonders my species created.”

For some reason that got a small chuckle out of me. “If we don’t kill each other first, that is.”

Ri went silent and her eyes dropped to the ground. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words were sucked from my mouth. Around me the world began to shake and fade away into blackness.

“Tyler?” Ri called. Or at least, I thought it was Ri. It sounded far away and distant. When I turned to look at her, there was nothing but a shadowed outline.

An invisible wind pulled me backwards into the darkness. I caught sight of a blue shape passed in the corner of my eye before the landscape gave way to a series of bright lights shining through my bedroom window.

Bright light poured through the bedroom window, illuminating the entire room in a pale glow. It was bright enough to be sunlight, but the darkness around me indicated it was still nighttime.

The moon, most likely, I thought. Groaning, I rolled onto my stomach, taking extra care not to disturb my mane. “Ri, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m undamaged,” She replied, once again sounding like she was on the other end of a deep tunnel. “I must say, I was not expecting such an abrupt end to our conversation.”

“So all of that was real? I wasn’t dreaming it?” I asked.

“Of course it was real,” Ri said.

“Good, I just wanted to make sure we’re both having the same delusions.” I rubbed my eyes with my wrists and gazed out the window.

What I’d thought was moonlight turned out to be a collection of pink, purple, and blue ribbons, paled by the surrounding night, yet still bright enough to force my eyes to adjust. Curious, I slid onto my hooves (only buckling for half a minute before steadying myself) and scanned the night sky. Above the city, the ribbons gathered into a pattern of flickering lights that resembled the auroras found in the Arctic and Antarctic hemispheres.

“Ri, you’re seeing this, right?” I asked, drawing aside the curtains. “Because I think we just discovered those byproduct lights the Princess mentioned.”

“Yes, I see it,” Ri said. “Interesting. I don’t recall seeing any sign of these lights during the daylight. Could there be something in the moonlight that causes them to form as such, and then disperse in sunlight?”

“Maybe it’s got something to do with magic?” I pitched.

“That’s a strong possibility,” Ri said. “Regardless, I cannot make a steady hypothesis on these observations alone. We’d have to get closer to the source.”

“Which we can’t thanks to the princesses’ orders,” I continued, my eyes still fixated on the flickering lights.

The more I watched them, the less comparisons I drew between them and the auroras. Documentary videos I’d seen about the north pole had always shown the aurora’s spread out across the sky like water. These lights seemed fixated in their place in the sky. Even their movements weren’t natural. Instead of watching colours fan out in a vivid display, it was like I was watching a mass of writhing eels trapped in a net. Every twitch and ripple of movement looked like a creature struggling for freedom.

And yet, amidst the writhing lights, there was something familiar staring me in the face. I wracked my brain for the answer, and upon finding it, my muscles collectively locked up.

“Is something wrong, Tyler?” Ri asked fearfully.

“It’s nothing” I replied,shaking my head. I’d forgotten she could read my thoughts. “These light just remind me of the place I passed through on my way to Equestria. They had the same colours.”

Ri went silent; more than likely trying to piece together some kind of hypotenuse for how these two events were connected. I decided to let her think, and concentrated on my breathing. The steady rise and fall of my chest helped me regain control of my muscles. Once they’d relaxed, I turned my attention back to the lights. The pink, purple, and green streaks kept separate from one another as they danced across the sky. When their paths crossed, the colours showed no signs of blending. They twirled and twisted around one another in spiral patterns, but otherwise kept to themselves.

Just like my mark, I thought, turning to look at my right flank. Like all the ponies I’d seen, an odd mark was tattooed across it. Mine was a three sectioned rainbow that curved from the base of my flank. A purple streak was closest to my tail, followed by blue one in the middle, and finally, a green one closer to my leg.

That last colour puzzled me. There hadn’t been any green streaks in the psychedelic world, or in the lights above. So why did I have one and not a pink streak? Did it have some hidden meaning behind it?

A sharp knocking came from the bedroom door. By the time I turned my head, the door was open, and a grey stallion adorned in lavender armour was standing before me. “Aurora Borealis, your presence has been requested by Princess Luna.”

“What?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. “She’s awake?”

“Of course,” the guard said, extending a wing towards the doorway. To my surprise, it was leathery like a bat’s. “And she does not appreciate being kept needlessly waiting.”

A tired snort escaped from me. Great, I wonder what I did wrong now?

“Don’t start focusing on the negatives again,” Ri said. “What is there to suggest you did anything wrong?You’ve had no chances to in the one day you’ve been here.”

Except pissing off some noble-pony, I thought. The guard flashed me an irked look, so I blinked my eyes several times. “Sorry, I’m still waking up.”

“You’re awake enough to walk.” he said, furrowing his eyes.

That’s a debatable subject, I was half tempted to say, but I was in enough trouble as is. So, rather awkwardly, I hobbled my way towards the door. As I passed him, the guard sighed and pressed his body against me and helped support my weight.

The cold of his armour helped jolt me out of this lethargic state. Instantly I took notice of how ominous the castle was at night time. The rich colours were dulled by the darkness; every hallway seemed to stretch forever, and end in blackness. The only lights seemed to come from the windows, where the false auroras shone through, or from a unicorn guard projecting light from their horn as if it were a flashlight.

“How do you accomplish anything in this darkness?” I asked the guard. Thanks to me, the walk was going at a snail’s pace, and I needed something to distract me from whatever was coming.

“We’re trained to see better in low-light,” he replied, keeping his focus on the pathway ahead of us.

“Is it difficult training?” I asked. His reply was a blunt “No.”

Clearly he’s not one for socializing, I thought.

“It is not the job of the soldier to socialize. He is tasked with protecting the state, and all who dwell within.” Ri said, almost robotically. Before I could ask her about it, we approached a pair of double doors. Two grey unicorn guards were stationed outside them. When they saw us approaching, they used their magic to open both doors wide.

Beyond the doors was a vast hallway, desolate except for a long red rug stretched out along the floor. Stained glass windows flanked me on both sides. Some showed the images of landscapes and planets, while others had only abstract images only an art critique could decipher.

At the end of the hall was a simple golden throne erected on top of an elevated golden platform. From it, Princess Luna’s cyan eyes watched me.

The guard stopped in front of the throne and bowed. I decided to follow suit, awkwardly bending my knees until I was in a similar position. When I glanced upwards, the princess did not seem at all pleased with the courtesy. Her jaw was set at a neutral half-frown, and her eyes barely blinked. If it weren't for her star-like mane blowing in an invisible wind, I’d have mistook her for a statue.

“Thank you, Shadow Sight. You are dismissed” she said at last. The strange guard beside me rose to his hooves, and a moment later I heard the sound of his hoofsteps echoing away. It was followed by the double doors sliding shut.

“You may rise,” the princess said, though her tone hinted that this was not an offer.

Carefully, I rose back to my hooves. “The guard said you summoned me, your majesty?”

“I did,” Princess Luna replied. Her wings flared open, and the princess glided down to land beside me, never diverting her gaze. “In light of recent discoveries, there are some questions I would like to ask you.”

My heart was beginning to pound against my chest, but I forced myself to breath slowly. Don’t get stressed now. I swallowed a breath of air, and willed myself to be calm. I looked through my memory for anything pleasant to aid me. The search didn’t last long; soon I was remembering my first week of high school, when Emily gave me one of her beautiful illustrations for the first time.

Despite myself, the corners of my mouth twitched into a smile. “What did you want to ask me, princess?”

Those cyan eyes seemed to glance over me in a single fluid motion. “To begin with, I would like to know why you lied to myself and my fellow princesses, Tyler.”

The feeling of my heart skipping a beat was like being punched in the chest. “How did you-”

“I am the princess of the night,” Princess Luna said before I could finished. “My duties do not just pertain to holding court while my sister sleeps. Among them is the ability to see into the dreams of ponies.” Her eyes glanced over me again, briefly resting Ri’s necklace before locking eyes with me. “And humans as well, it seems.”

I heard Ri cursing in the back of my mind. “Stupid! Stupid! Of course the arcane abilities of these ponies would extend to astral projections! How could I have been so foolish!”

Ri, this really isn’t the moment for an emotional breakdown. If I weren’t in front of a pony who could decide my fate with a wave of her hoof, I’d have laughed at my own hypocrisy.

Princess Luna’s gaze hadn’t left me, though her lips had shifted into a frown. “Does your silence indicate surprise, or are you speaking with the serpent?”

“Princess, I can explain-”

“That does not answer the question.”

At some point I’d forgotten to breathe. Slowly, I took in a breath of air. “It’s a combination of both. She’s... scared, so I’m trying to calm her.”

The princess cocked an eyebrow. “You seem quick to confirm its existence now.”

She was right. Whereas I was quick to withhold information yesterday out of fear, here the words came jutting from my mouth, like water through a faucet. Ri was still muttering hushed curses at herself, so I doubt she could tell me why.

“There’s no point in making up some lie,” I said after a moment’s thought. “You know my name, and you probably have some way of checking to see if I’m telling a fib or not.”

Luna nodded. “Quite correct,” Her eyes once again fell on Ri’s necklace. “With that said, you still withheld this information from my fellow princesses and I.” Before I could explain myself, she silenced me with a glance. “Now is not the time. In a few hours Celestia will rouse to raise the sun, and Twilight Sparkle will be awake as well. We shall wait for both of them before hearing your explanation.”

A couple of hours to wait for judgement, seems fair. I thought. In hindsight, making a fake name and withholding information wasn’t the best choice I could have made, but at the time I was stressed, hungry, and still reeling from the shocks of a new world and body. Hell, I’m still not used to this quadrupedal motion. Or my new and improved senses.

Or my new sex.

Princess Luna’s lips were moving, but I didn’t hear the words. It wasn’t until the heavy dual doors opened that I was snapped back from that dreaded thought. Hoofsteps echoed through the room, and I could feel someone standing behind me.

“Shadow Sight will escort you back to your chambers and make sure you remain there until my fellow princesses have awoken,” the lunar princess said. “But before you leave, the necklace you are wearing must be relinquished to me.”

“NO!” Ri screamed, so loud and sudden that there wasn’t any way to prevent myself from flinching. If the princess had noticed, she didn’t show it.

Ri, shut up. I can’t think with you like this! In a repeat of yesterday, Ri proceeded to mutter hushed words to herself. I was only able to make a few out, mostly darkness and silver eyes.

“Why do I have to give it to you?”

“The serpent is privy to information about the archway that brought you here, and the magical light it created. I simply wish to question her about them.”

I paused, trying to pick my next words carefully. Why did this have to happen right after I got out of bed?

“Princess, I understand your concerns, but it would be a bad idea for me to just hand her over like that.”

“And why is that?” the princess asked, and her eyes furrowed into another message. Tell it true and tell it whole. I’ll know if you’re lying.

“She’s told me that she can only see the world when she’s being worn by someone. Removing her would place her in a state of suspended isolation and loneliness.”

The princess’ demeanor faltered. She looked concerned, and her eyes flickered for a moment, as if remembering something, before returning to her stoic state. “Have you confirmed this in any way?”

That one question sapped what confidence I had left in the situation. My ears flattened against my head, and in the back of my head, Ri let out a whimper of fear.

Ri, everything’s going to be OK, I said in thought.

“No it’s not!” she shouted back, her voice choking from crying. “Nothing I’m associated with is ever OK!”

If I’d had the time and patience, I’d have tried to talk some sense into Ri. But with the princess starring at me with a look that’d crack stone, I was forced to swallow and try to drown her out. Sadly, my techniques weren't as effective on silencing internal noises.

“Well?” Princess Luna said; her tone of voice had the slightest hint of annoyance.

“No,” I said, dejected. “I can only go by what she’s told me.”

The princess sighed. “Then I’m afraid there isn’t enough information present to justify your request to keep her at the moment.”

“NO!” Ri screamed, so loud that I almost screamed alongside her. It wasn’t full of normal fear; it was terror, so deeply rooted that my eyes were beginning to water from the thought of what caused it. “Tyler! Please don’t take me off! Don’t leave me alone again! PLEASE!”

Ri, shut up! My thoughts were harsher than intended, but given the situation I felt justified. Look, I’m sure there’s a way we can convince the princess that you’re not a threat to their nation, but to do that, we have to go along with their demands. I blinked a few tears from my eyes. This is not a permanent situation. Slowly, reluctantly, I rose a hoof behind my neck and prodded for the clasps to the necklace. I’ll get you back, I promise.

I never heard Ri’s final plea. There was a small click, followed by the necklace loosening itself around my neck. For the first time in two days, my head felt as clear and silent as a graveyard.

I brought my hoof underneath the necklace and cradled it in front of my face. The silver Sky Serpent’s wings were spread out like the points of a star. Her mouth was open, exposing her fangs like she was poised to strike.

That’s wrong, I thought. Ri isn’t this menacing.

I looked up at Princess Luna. “I’ll get her back after I explain everything, right?”

There was a pregnant pause before she replied with “We shall see.” Her horn illuminated with an indigo aura, and Ri’s necklace was lifted into the air beside her head. The bat winged guard then walked up beside me, and gestured off with a nod.

Go along with their demands, I told myself. Leaning against the guard, we made the long, tedious trip back to my room. Before the doors to the throne rooms had closed, I chanced a glance inside. Princess Luna had resumed her seat on the throne and was holding Ri’s necklace in her hoof.

My heartbeat began to pick up. No. You can’t afford to get stressed now.

“So, are you going to stand outside my door all morning?” I asked the guard, trying my best not to show any damning emotions.

“Those are the princess’ orders.” he replied.

“Of course,” I said, blowing away a loose strand of pink hair. “Just so you’re aware, I have a tendency to talk to myself. Especially before potentially life altering events.”

“So long as you don’t try to escape, I could care less about what you do.”

“Does that include attempted suicide?” He gave me a sour look. “Sorry, I’m trying to keep myself calm through conversation, and that usually leads to weird things being spoken.”

The guard didn’t reply, but I could feel his muscles moving us the slightest bit quicker through the hallways. Already my thoughts began going back to Ri. Would the princess keep her safe? She’d have to; Ri knew too much about what was going on, even if she hadn’t said much.

So why didn’t I believe it?

Just answer their damn questions and get this over with, I told myself. Ri will be alright.

That’s what I told myself during the remainder of the trip. Time seemed to just breeze by as I repeated the same words over and over in my head, until the two of us were standing before my room. The bat winged guard opened the door for me, and then stepped to the side. I gave him an appreciative nod, and clumsily walked inside. He then closed the door behind me.

Now that I stood alone in my room, I took in a gulp of air and re-composed myself. “Alright Tyler, time to think,” I muttered in a hushed voice. “This’ll be like an ordinary interview. Just answer the questions and keep it cool. Everything will turn out fine.”

Except you’ve never had an interview before, the voice of doubt reminded me. I pushed it away and turned to the full body mirror. The pony looking back at me was a wreck. Her mane and tail were messy and scattered every which way. Even her blue coat wasn’t as vivid as it had been yesterday, though maybe that was because of the lighting.

The first thing I need to do is make myself presentable, I reasoned. Looking past myself in the mirror, I spotted a single white door on the right side of the bed. Did this room come with it’s own bathroom?

Shaking with each step, I made my way towards the door. Sighing, I took the doorknob in my mouth — grimacing at the taste of metal on my tongue — and opened it with a quick flick of my head.

I’m not sure what I was expecting to see when I opened the door, but for some reason I felt disappointed. The room looked identical to any other bathroom I’d seen: a small sink with a mirror fixed above it, a series of cupboards around it, an above ground bathtub that could function as a shower, and a device I assumed was a toilet.

I took a moment to look at my reflection, blow a strand of pink from my face, and flashing a dry grin. As much as I hated to admit it, I actually looked cute as a pony. My eyes were wide and blue, which only made things better.

I wonder if I’ll die from adorableness if I’m made presentable? I pondered while making my way towards the shower. The idea had a slight appeal, as it would allow me to avoid possibly dying of stress in front of the princesses. But I reminded myself of where Ri currently stood, parted the shower curtains with a hoof, and used the other hoof to adjust the knobs. Once I had a steady stream of warm water, I stepped into the tub.

Showers had a habit of calming me down, and tonight’s was no exception. As the water poured down over my head, my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. I let it run down my neck and back; I felt it collect in my mane and tail, making them thick and heavy. And for the first time since I’d arrived in Equestria, I found myself feeling normal again. Under the water, it didn’t matter if I was a human or a pony. A boy or a girl. I was just Tyler Rannon.

Of course, the illusion was broken when I felt my tail press itself against my back legs. For the most part, I’d been good at avoiding contact with my new reproductive organs, but I couldn’t hold back a shivered as the long, water-logged hairs touched my new sex.

It both was and wasn’t a pleasurable feeling. In some respects it was the same as when I felt hair touch any other part of my body. But at the same time, it was an alien feeling; like this part of me didn’t belong — which it didn’t.

Grunting indignantly, I wrestled for control over my muscles. Once I’d stopped shivering, I reached back with a hoof and moved my tail away from my skin. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of two small mounds resting between my back legs.

You’re kidding me, I thought bitterly. On the one hand it shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, I was a female pony, so it’s natural I should have a pair of teats. But on the other hand, this was humiliating. Here I was, the eldest son — the only son — staring at a pair of the equine equivalent of breasts!

I decided to rush through the rest of my shower, not even bothering to put any conditioner into my mane. I quickly stepped out of the tub and got to drying my mane and tail with a pair of white towels, hoping it would distract me from coming so close to my new anatomy. My tail felt thick and heavy, and I had a hard time moving it. My mane was even worse; it clung to the back of my neck and drooped over my eyes and muzzle like a big pink weed.

Normally I allowed my hair time to air dry, but circumstances forced me to search through the cupboards for something to help. I hoisted my upper body onto the lip of the sink and opened a side cupboard. Inside were some cans of what I assumed were hair products. and a purple handled hairbrush. Without any hands to aid me, I was forced to grip the brush in my teeth. Luckily, the taste of wood helped wash away the last of the doorknob.

Brushing my tail was easy. With the handle in my teeth, all I had to do was flick my tail to the side and crane my neck over it. It was a tedious process that felt like it took hours to complete, but it worked. Most of the knots and tangles were out of my tail with little effort.

After that, I pondered over how to do my mane. “I can’t do it like I did the tail, unless I want a broken neck,” I said aloud. I placed the hairbrush on the bathroom counter and then looked up at the ceiling. “You know, universe, now would be a great time to give me back my hands.” When no response came, I shrugged. “No? You’re going to keep being a dick to me? OK, I’ll get through this on my own.”

I stared at the brush ponderously. If I had a horn I could just magic the brush to make me presentable. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to make the best with my hooves.

I would have snapped my fingers if I still had them. Yesterday I was able to hold an apple in my hooves without hindrance. Maybe the same mechanics could be applied to this situation.

With nothing to lose, I placed my hoof on the brush’ handle. I didn’t feel anything to indicate a connection. No tingling sensation flowed into my hoof, nor did I get the illusion of my fingers returning. Yet, when I pulled my hoof away, the brush followed as if caught on a magnet. It was just surreal enough to bring a smile to my face.

In about twenty strokes of the brush I’d gotten out as many knots from my mane as possible. Unfortunately, this left my hair straight and flat against the side of my head. It was a hairstyle only a scarecrow would be envious of. To remedy this, I used my hooves to play with and re-position the strands of pink hair.

My mane still looked messy when I was done, but it was more of a natural looking messy. Instead of hanging over my eyes in annoying strands, most of my mane was collected into a single curl that hung over my muzzle. With a gentle nudge of my hoof, the curl could be positioned over either eye. All in all, it was much better than the bed-head look I had when I woke up. At least I won’t face the jury looking like a complete tramp.

Smiling a dry smile, I turned from the mirror. Before I could step back into the bedchamber, I became aware of an all too familiar pressure in my pelvic region.

My eyes widened, and I cursed inside my head. Of all the times I had to pee, did it have to be now?

Grunting, I turn my back on the door and make my way over to the Equestrian toilet. For the most part it was built like a toilet on Earth, made of porcelain and shaped like a bowl. However, the bowl was more ovular shaped rather than circular, and there wasn’t a seat. Or at least, not one that could be raised. The lip of the bowl curved upwards around the side, creating a seat with a gap in the middle (more than likely for stallions to use).

Stop hesitating, I spat at myself. With a great deal of effort, I managed to get myself seated on the porcelain lips. My bladder wasted no time in emptying itself.

In that moment, all my emotional baggage broke free. I couldn’t help but cry; here I was — an eighteen year old human boy — sitting on a toilet in the body of a girl pony. I felt like I was in the middle of a dark room with a spotlight hanging over me, showing me off for the whole world to see. It was humiliating.

But most of all, it was alienating. Every choked sob was in that feminine voice I heard every time I opened my mouth. Every tear that slid down my cheek trickled over furr that shouldn’t be there, and a long muzzle that never existed. Even the simple action of urinating felt as alien to me as the reflection in the mirror. Or the absence between my legs. Nothing about me was me.

I finished my cry the same time I finished my piss. Sniffling, I slid off the toilet, using one hoof to flush while the other wiped the tears from my eyes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror again. Fortunately my mane hadn’t been ruined by my emotional breakdown, but my eyes had changed. They were no longer their brilliant blue colour, and were instead a dull, sad green.

I hated when they turned green. It only ever happened when I was feeling sad or angry, and the colour seemed to amplify the emotions.

With one last sniffle, I turned from the mirror and shuffled back into the bedroom. Outside the window I could see that the sun still hadn’t risen. This was good. It gave me more time to recover from my cry. To speed the process, I sat myself in front of the full body mirror and looked at the sky-blue pony.

“This sucks,” I stated, watching my reflection parrot the words. “So, what are you going to do, Tyler? Are you just going to cry while your friend is sitting alone in a necklace? How about your family waiting back home — will crying get you any closer to them?”

Or Emily? Some voice in the back of my mind pitched, but the words never came from my mouth. I kept my gaze locked onto the pony’s green eyes. “You’ve made it this far through life; through eighteen years of schooling and younger sisters. You can make it through this.” My eyes narrowed. “You will make it through this.”

I don’t know if there was a science behind it, but just telling myself I could do something made it seem all the more believable. The corners of my mouth twitched into a smile as I watched the colours of my eyes shift. It was small at first, but gradually they came to rest in a blue-green colour range.

The rest of my morning was spent in front of the mirror, reassuring myself I could get through what was going to come. Some questions will be asked, answered, and then Ri will be back with me. I was so wrapped up in preparing myself that I didn’t notice the time passing me by. When the bat winged guard came to bring me to the princesses, I nearly jumped out of my skin in fright.

The trip to the throne room didn’t seem nearly as long as the first time. Perhaps it was because of the sunlight revealing all the vibrant colours of the palace, or maybe it was because I was the teeniest bit more confident this time around. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t complaining.

This time I found Princess Celestia sitting on the throne, flanked by Luna standing on her right and Twilight Sparkle on her left. With all three standing side by side, you really got a sense of how different each was. Celestia rested on the throne like she was meant for it. She didn’t need to hold herself like most kings or queens would; one look at her told you she had all the authority behind that caring demeanor.

Princess Luna was still as poised and statuesque as she was a few hours ago, although this time there was a more analytical look in her cyan eyes. Was she trying to read my mind to see if I was fabricating a story to tell? In contrast to her was Twilight Sparkle. The most recent of the alicorns looked her part: her mane and tail were messy, and her eyes were sunken in and baggy. She looked like she hadn’t gotten an ounce of sleep. I couldn’t see Ri’s necklace anywhere.

With a nod from Luna, the guard left my side and exited the room. Once the double doors had closed behind him, Princess Celestia spoke. “Good morning, Aurora.”

I was a little taken back by her using my alias after Luna’s reveal, but I did my best not to show it. “Good morning, your majesty.”

“My sister tells me that you have some information to share with us.”

Only that I’m an alien, male, and have another alien inside a necklace. That sounds sane right? I said internally, but it came out as a simple. “Yes.”

All eyes turned towards me. My heartbeat began to pick up, but I forced myself to ignore it. “I haven’t been... entirely truthful with you on multiple accounts. My real name is Tyler Rannon, and I’m not even a pony. I am... I was a human; a bipedal species descended from apes.”

“We know about your kind,” Celestia said, her tone eerily consistent with when the conversation had begun.

Twilight Sparkle continued for her, “I was recently in your world, at a school called Canterlot High. Does that sound familiar to you?”

“No,” I replied. “But, how did you-”

Celestia rose a hoof, but I was already silenced by her lavender eyes. “One issue at a time, Tyler. Why did you withhold this information from us?”

“Because I was scared,” I answered. “I’d just been pulled from my home, my family, my species... even my gender.” Twilight Sparkle’s eye seemed to widen at that. “I didn’t know if I could trust a bunch of talking horses who can use magic.” My eyes looked at the floor. “Everything else I said was true. I don’t know anything about this machine that brought me here.”

It was Princess Luna who spoke next, “But you know someone who does, don’t you?”

“Yes. As you’re all aware I wore a silver necklace when you found me.”

“The one that belonged to your grandmother?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, but that was my one lie. There was someone... inside the necklace.” I could barely form the words. Luna already knew, so why was it so hard to spit them out? Why did it feel like I was betraying the only friend I had?

Because I have to betray her to save her.

I realized the princesses were waiting for me to continue. “Her name is Ri-Bov-Dis, and she’s a Sky Serpent.”

Twilight’s eyes seemed to sparkle with life. “Are you saying that she’s a living member of the species we found in the catacombs?”

I felt my skin begin to crawl. “Yes, but she doesn’t know anything about that machine.”

Celestia spoke next, “And how do you know this?”

“Because I’ve talked to her. She’s been inside that necklace for hundreds of years — maybe more. I can tell from her voice that she’s telling the truth.” I paused, trying to choose my next words carefully “She’s terrified, and if you probe her for information you’ll just make things worse. She’s not a threat to anyone.”

The princesses took their eyes off of me and looked at one another, conversing with nothing but blinks and the eternally flowing manes of Celestia and Luna. I kept silent, trying to steady the feeling of fire ants skittering beneath my skin.

They’ll believe me, I tried telling myself, but I knew it was a lie. I withheld information from them, and harboured an alien inside my head. Meanwhile, their city is covered with potentially dangerous magic. I was as good as convinced. All they had to do was say the words and I’d be spending the rest of my days in a cell.

Perhaps the princesses heard my thoughts, because they turned back to me at that moment. Princess Celestia spoke for them. “Thank you for telling us the truth, Tyler. I cannot begin imagine how difficult this must have been for you...”

My muscles locked up in anticipation. Here it comes.

“... While I understand your reasons for withholding this personal information, you still placed the safety of my subjects at risk by not telling us about your connections to the Sky Serpent. Therefore, I am hereby suspending your access to the city of Canterlot. You are to remain within the castle grounds until such a time as we deem you trustworthy again.”

For a moment I couldn’t respond; the princess’ words completely caught me off guard. When I finally could speak, all I could muster was a simple, “Is that it?”

“I beg your pardon?” Princess Celestia asked, feinting she’d heard nothing.

I took a moment to breath. “Why are you being so light on me?”

“Because you have only been in Equestria for less than two days time,” Luna answered. “Anyone in your situation would have acted similarly, so it seems improper to punish you for keeping your more... personal secrets to yourself.”

I was at a loss of words. I could have jeopardized the lives of their entire city, and they were letting me off with a house arrest sentence. I should be happy about this; I wasn’t going to be sent to a dungeon or execution block.

But there was still the issue about Ri that needed to be resolved. When I asked the princesses about it, Twilight Sparkle was the one who spoke, “I’m sorry, Auror-um, Tyler, but we can’t give her back to you. She’s the only known living member of her species, and our best chance of learning anything about the archway and the magic it released.”

“You can’t!” I blurted out. “I already told you she doesn’t know anything. And if she’s not being worn then she’s trapped in an isolated state!”

“Did she tell you this?” Princess Celestia asked, to which I nodded. “Then I’m afraid the answer is still no.”

I felt anger beginning to bubble underneath the stress. “Why?”

“Because we have no way of knowing if what she’s told you is true or not,” she continued. “And even if that’s what she said, you have shown us that you cannot be trusted to tell whole truths.” She looked over me, her horn illuminating in a golden aura. Behind me, the doors opened. “Now, please follow the guards back to your room. I’ll have one of the castle staff bring you some breakfast.”

I wanted to protest. I wanted to shout at them — to make them tell me where Ri was and give her back. But what good would that do? I’d just be cementing that I’m a crazy and untrustworthy bastard. Just like I told Ri earlier, I’ll have to go along with these demands to save her.

But what if they’re right? The voice of doubt asked. What if she has been lying to you this entire time?

I couldn’t wonder about that now; not after this heart-wrenching ordeal. So, with a final stiff bow to the princesses, I was supported back to my room by the bat-winged guard.

Hang in there Ri, I thought as the doors closed behind me. One way or another, I’ll get you back.

The royal dinning room was vacant of staff when Twilight entered. She breathed a sigh of relief; she wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone this morning. Her head was still spinning from Aurora’s confessions.

Not Aurora. Tyler Rannon, Twilight corrected herself. She took a seat at the table and rubbed her temples. Three hours of sleep wasn’t enough to begin a morning, making another reason she was thankful for the silence. It hadn’t been Twilight’s intention to stay up so late, but the time seemed to just slip through her hooves. A wasted effort. I didn’t even learn anything important.

That wasn’t entirely true. She’d learned the molecular makeup of the blue metal, and how it was able to generate Pure Magic. Interesting facts to know, but they did little in telling her how to disperse the cloud of magic above the city. And then there was the extra baggage from Tyler’s confession to sort through.

Thinking about Tyler made Twilight’s ears press against her head. She felt like the worst pony in the world for how she and the royal sisters were treating the transformed human. Yes, he’d withheld information from them, but not for selfish reasons. Twilight herself had kept her identity secret when she arrived in Canterlot High.

Of course, you only turned into a human in that situation, Twilight told herself. Tyler said his gender was changed as well. You weren’t turned into a male human, now were you?

This wasn’t a situation she could make a side by side comparison of. When she’d arrived at Canterlot High, her faithful assistant Spike had come with her. This meant she’d always had a friend nearby that she could confide in. Beyond that, Canterlot High hadn’t been entirely different than Equestria. There were alternate reality versions of the ponies she knew, and their personalities had been the same. That meant she’d had something to fall back on when needed. Tyler didn’t have those luxuries. And that’s just Tyler’s predicament. Who knows what the Sky Serpent is going through.

Twilight’s ear twitched at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. She turned her head towards the door as one of the castle maids entered. At least, she thought it was a maid. Her vision was slightly tilted due to her fatigue, and turning her head too quick had made things worse.

“Good morning, princess,” the pony’s voice was distinctly female.

Definitely a maid. “Good morning to you.”

“I wasn’t aware you were awake. Would you care for some breakfast?”

“Yes please. Nothing too big, but strong enough to wake a pony up in the morning. And could I please get a glass of orange juice as well?”

“Of course, princess. I’ll inform the cooks immediately.” The maid bowed to Twilight, then turned on her hooves and left the way she’d come. Twilight found the entire affair unsettling. Before her ascension, nopony would have daunted on her like they were now. It was one of the many additions to becoming Equestria’s newest princess.

But it also included ruling over ponies, and dictating what was best for them, and all of Equestria. That was something Twilight was never meant to do. She was the student; her days were spent in libraries, looking over dusty tomes. How can I be expected to rule a nation when I can’t even juggle the lives of two foreigners.

Thoughts about governing and ruling were washed from her mind, replaced instead with the image of Aurora staring up at her. Tyler. His name is Tyler Rannon.

She understood why the princesses had done what they did. This was the best lead they had in uncovering the portal’s secrets — they had to capitalize on it. But Tyler didn’t deserve this treatment... did he? He didn’t know about the rules of Equestria, just like Twilight didn’t know about the rules of Canterlot High when she’d first arrived in the human world.

That’s not why Celestia did what she did, Twilight reminded herself. It’s because of the Sky Serpent he’s under house arrest. Despite the reminder, she still found herself wondering if that truly justified the sentence?

The well being of a nation comes before two individuals. That is what Princess Celestia had said to her when they departed the throne room. That is one of the hardest challenges about being a leader you will ever face.

Eventually a unicorn servant arrived, carrying a tray of food in his magic. He set it in front of Twilight: two poached eggs seasoned with pepper and parsley, a bowl of hay, and her glass of orange juice.

The sight awoke her appetite. She thanked the server and sent him away, then levitated a fork in her magic and dug into the eggs. The food helped clear her mind of fatigue, but she still didn’t feel confident enough to speak before anypony. For that, she drank the orange juice.

The servant returned just as she finished her meal, and removed the tray post-haste. “How was it, your highness?”

“Just what I needed. Please give my compliments to the chef.”

The unicorn smiled, “That will brighten his day, for sure.”

That makes one pony, Twilight thought. She thanked the stallion one last time, then walked herself out of the dining room. The castle was fully awake by this time. Guards and servants moved about their daily routines; some bowed to Twilight when she passed them, while others muttered a polite “your highness.” Twilight gave them muttered thanks, but her mind was elsewhere.

If it had been one of your friends, would you have kept silent? No, of course not. Twilight would have spoken in defence of any of her friends, even against Princess Celestia and Luna — no matter how tired or disturbed she was. Maybe a princess should extend that mentality to those outside their individual circles.

“Princess Twilight,” a voice called from behind. Twilight turned from her thoughts and spotted a brown unicorn stallion approaching her. He looked to be in his late sixties, and was dressed in a simple grey suit and tie.

“Good morning, sir,” Twilight said. “Is there something you need?”

“Only answers,” said the stallion. “My name is Gavelkind, and I was wondering if you’d be attending the gathering of ministers alongside your fellow princesses.”

“There’s another meeting already?” Twilight asked. She remembered Luna mention something about the ministers gathering last night.

“You can blame Sharp Script for this, your highness. She has it in her head that the light floating above the city are some threat to national security, so she’s trying to get everypony riled up.”

“I wouldn’t call them a national threat.”

“Which is precisely what I told her. More than likely it’s a Summer Sun Celebration effect gone off early. I told her so myself last night, but there is no reasoning with that mare,” Gavelkind waved a hoof in disdainment. “Anyways, I spotted Celestia and Luna on their way to the Council Chamber, and I was hoping you’d be coming as well. All three local princesses explaining the truth of the situation would no doubt convince Sharp Script to hold her tongue.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be attending. There are other matters that need my attention at the moment.”

“I see,” Gavelkind said. From his tone, Twilight gathered he was disappointed. “Very well, Celestia and Luna will hopefully be enough.” He lowered his front legs and bowed. “Good luck with your work, princess.”

“Thank you, and good luck to you as well.”

Gavelkind rose and trotted off down the corridor. Twilight wasn’t far off after him. She quickened her pace through the castle, taking a few detours not to take her close to the main hallway. Most of the ponies who had come to question the princesses yesterday would be back, and Twilight didn’t feel like being mobbed again. She made good time ducking down side hallways and servant ways, eventually making it down the spiral staircase that lead to her lab. A quick spell from her horn unlocked the magically sealed doors, and she stepped inside.

Her office had remained undisturbed during her absence. Everything was in the position she’d left them in: books were sprawled out next to her notes and samples of the blue metal. Off in the upper left corner was her satchel, the contents of which were overflowing into what little free space was left on the table.

In the middle of this organized chaos was a pure silver necklace. On it, a Sky Serpent watched her enter with all four of its wings spread, and fangs poised to strike.

Twilight sat herself at the table and looked at the necklace. It had come as a shock when she’d woken to find Princess Luna hovering above her with the necklace levitating beside her. She’d had a solemn look upon her face, like a bad taste was lingering on her tongue. Twilight had meant to ask her what was wrong, but her fatigue was too strong.

Luna had seemed to take notice. She placed the necklace on the table and said, “Come Twilight, things are to be explained shortly.”

And she was right, thought Twilight. Following her had lead to Tyler’s confessions, and learning of the serpent. What was her name? Ri?

Twilight gathered magic in her horn, and levitated the necklace in front of her face. Then, tenderly, she affixed it around her neck.

Hello? Twilight said internally. Ri-Bov-Dis, are you here? Can you hear me?

No voice answered her. Twilight called out again, both in thought and out loud, but was met each time with silence. Yet, despite the silence, she could feel a presence in the back of her mind. It was small, but prominent, as if she were sensing a magic aura.

Perhaps there is another way, Twilight thought, levitating her satchel over. She kept the necklace on; Tyler had said Ri was trapped in isolation when she wasn’t worn. Using her magic, Twilight fished through the satchel and pulled out the samples of solidified magic, isolating one of the purple stones.

Purple magic dealt with the mind. It was Twilight’s theory that, if she could establish a link between the necklace and the Pure Magic, she could look into Ri-Bov-Dis’ mind. Of course, there was a slight probability that nothing would happen, or perhaps something dangerous. Pure Magic is an unpredictable substance.

A small amount should be safe, Twilight decided. She closed her eyes and focused on the purple magic within the stone. She could feel it writhing in her grasp; it felt like she was trying to restrain a viper. Twilight groaned under her breath. In her mind’s eye she could see an opening no bigger than the hole of a sewing needle. Slowly, carefully, Twilight threaded the slippery magic through the hole. Once she had enough, she willed the hole to close.

Only then did Twilight open her eyes and look at what she’d fished from the stone. Caught inside her magenta magic was a deep purple ribbon no thicker than a single strand of hair, yet matching Twilight’s body in length. The stone it had come from already looked smaller by at least one sixth the previous size.

This will have to do, Twilight decided. She straightened out the Pure Magic into one long thread. One end was brought to the silver serpent, the tip touching its forehead. The metal rippled like water, and the purple magic slipped inside. Then Twilight turned her attention to the free end and levitated it to her forehead.

For a moment, Twilight hesitated. Invading one’s memories was the utmost breaking of personal privacy, and was only allowed with the pony’s consent. If given enough time, an irresponsible pony could see every detail from the life they were looking into Nothing was secret. Nothing was private.

I have to do this, Twilight told herself. The Summer Sun Celebration was closing in, and now a council of ministers was gathering. She had to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Twilight steeled herself, and touched the purple magic to her skin.

The lab shattered around her. Bits of wall and ceiling came hurtling through the air before fading to a sea of dust that swirled around Twilight like a swarm of parasprites. The room itself had given way to a blackness.

As Twilight looked around, the dust began to settle. Individual particles began to link up, filling the blackness with colour and shapes. Soon Twilight was standing in a large, circular shaped room. The walls and floor were pristine white and glittering with a metallic shine. Cyan crystals were fixed onto the walls, providing light for the windowless room. A large one was fixed to the ceiling like a chandelier. Beneath it, the dust settled into the shape of a grey table, with two figures sitting on either ends.

They were large, easily exceeding twenty feet in length. Their feathered wings were folded, but Twilight estimated they were close to twenty feet when extended. One had scales shaped like cobblestones. The other’s were diamonds. Both had piercing yellow eyes.

Is this what they looked like in life? Twilight wondered.

The Sky Serpents sat before her like glittering statues. The one with cobblestone scales sat opposite of what Twilight assumed was the back wall. It was a plain purple colour, with an underbelly and feathers the colour of a dying fire. Around its neck hung a silver chain. Twilight approached the serpent for a better look, and saw that the chain was made of links forged into the shape of snakes wrapping around one another to bite their partner’s tail. It was expert craftsmanship for a species without hands. Sadly, it did little to enhance the dull colours of the one who wore it.

The second serpent was another matter entirely. Whereas the first had been plain to look at, this one was simply breathtaking. Its diamond scales were sky blue, and in the light of the wall crystals, they sparkled like sapphires. The ones on its underbelly were a blazing orange, and its wings were covered in golden feathers. But what really drew Twilight’s attention was the serpent’s head. Behind its eyes, the scales lifted up into a five pointed crest, reminiscent of a crown. The scales above the eyes were also unique; they were thicker, and gave the Sky Serpent an intimidating glare.

Twilight’s mouth tightened into a smile. “Amazing! I never expected such vivid colours from snakes... but which of them could be Ri?”

As she finished, the blue serpent opened its mouth. From it came a deep, authoritative voice, which Twilight assumed was masculine. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“It was no trouble at all,” the purple replied, also sounding male. “Though I am curious as to the nature of this summon. Is it something bad, perhaps? I do so hate having to be burdened with bad news.”

“No, nothing bad,” the blue reassured. “But it is important. I need a private audience with the Sovereign as soon as possible.”

The purple looked at him quizzingly, before tossing his head back and laughing — a strange mixture of pony-like chuckles and snake hisses.

The blue was not impressed. The muscles above his eyes furrowed, enhancing his glaring yellow eyes to the point that Twilight had to reassure herself that he wasn’t real. “Does that amuse you?”

“Very much” the purple said, recomposing himself. “Why, don’t you see the humor of it?” When the blue didn’t respond, he gave a disappointed sighed. “My Lord, you are asking of me something already within your power. As the senior member of the Lords of Logic, you should have no trouble approaching the Sovereign and requesting your meeting. If I recall, you were well acquainted with our previous one.”

“This Sovereign is not like his mother,” the blue said. Though his voice was calm, Twilight could hear the underlying disgust in it. “She at least had the wisdom to seek council with the Lords of Logic on matters she knew nothing about. If I go to this child myself, he will force me to wait in line behind lesser matters that he deems more relevant. No, I cannot wait that long. I need you to convince him to speak to me sooner.”

The purple pondered, and looked at the crystal hanging above. With a wingtip he was idly stroking his chain. “Yes, I could mention your work to his majesty. But, my Lord, one question still plagues me for an answer. The question of why I should agree to this proposal at all.”

“Are we truly playing a game of reasons now?”

“We are. What you ask of me would require a great deal of re-scheduling — a task I am not too fond of performing. Pre-planned meeting made months in advance will have to be pushed back, and letters will have to be sent to those who registered informing them of the changes. So, before I tell the Sovereign why he should heed from his mother’s example, what reason do you have for me that I should strain my tongue?”

Twilight knew the blue was getting annoyed, but he was very good at hiding it. His face remained as neutral and intimidating as ever. “Don’t play your court games with me, Var-Ek-Fa. You are the Sovereign’s Tongue; what could I give you that your rank and status could not already achieve?”

Var looked like he was about to reply, but something else caught the attention of the blue. His eyes locked onto something behind his companion. The pupils shrank into reptilian slits. Suddenly both eyes were encompassed in a shimmering yellow aura.

Twilight could scarcely pull her eyes away. They could use magic!

The sound of a door being yanked open echoed through the room. Twilight turned towards the noise, discovering that a rectangular section of wall had been opened. On the other side was a hallway extending to the left and right. Huddling in the middle of it was another Sky Serpent. This one was significantly smaller than the others, with green cobblestone scales. To Twilight’s intrigue, beneath its brown feathered wings, the serpent had another pair — leathered, like a bat’s.

That looks like the serpent on the necklace, Twilight thought. Does that make it Ri-Bov-Dis?

The blue was quick to answer her question. “Ri-Bov-Dis,” he called, showing the first emotion Twilight had seen from him. Anger. “What are you doing?”

Ri winced as if he’d physically struck her. “I-I’m sorry, father. I was just—”

“Go.”

Ri cringed and clasped her feathered wings around her face for protection. The leathered ones gave a quick flap, propelling her back into the hallway, where she slithered as fast as she could out of sight.

Twilight found herself rushing after her, though she didn’t have to travel far. The young serpent was only two paces from the door, tangled in a heep of her own coils. She was wiping tears from her eyes while trying to right herself.

She’s just a child, thought Twilight, though there was no way of knowing how long ago this memory took place.

“I apologize for that,” Twilight heard the blue say. Ri must have heard him as well; she seemed to be watching the open doorway with a combination of apprehension and curiosity. “Now, shall we get back to discussing your payment?”

“No need for that anymore,” Var explained.

Twilight walked two steps from Ri, just enough for her to look inside the room. The blue Sky Serpent was staring at Var quizzingly. “Why the sudden change of heart?” he asked.

“It’s as you said, my Lord. There is no item my rank couldn’t get me that I don’t already want or have. But how many citizens can boast of seeing an actual living four-wing in this age?”

“That information will never leave this room,” the blue hissed in a whisper that gave Twilight goosebumps.

“Of course, my Lord. I’ve no interest in sullying your reputation, or that of your sons.”

Twilight cast a glimpse back at Ri-Bov-Dis. Fresh tears were welling in her yellow eyes. She turned away from her father’s voice and looked down at her wings. She flexed the fingers of her bat wings, before a look of disgust spread across her face and she pulled them as close to her body as she could.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” Twilight said. Ri’s eye flicked in Twilight’s direction, and for a moment she thought the serpent had heard her. But the princes reminded herself that this was only a memory.

“When can I expect to see the Sovereign?” the blue serpent asked.

“I will suggest a meeting to him tomorrow,” said Var. “If he heeds my words, then your appointment will be instantaneous. If not, I will explain that things went awry and we can try again.”

“Make sure that it won’t come to that,” The blue extended his gold wings and pressed the tips together, as if in prayer. “Thank you for the audience, Var-Ek-Fa.”

Var mimicked his gesture with his own wings. “It was a pleasure, Lord Tal-Vo-Mak.”

As the two serpents bowed, their bodies began to flicker and fade. Shadows crept forth, covering every section of the room, turning the pristine walls dull grey, and eventually black. Then the shadows crawled out the doorway to smother Ri and the hallway.

Time’s up, Twilight thought sadly. She wished she had more time. There were so many questions left unanswered, and the ones that were answered raised further questions. But to stay any longer would mean pulling out more purple magic, and she didn’t want it’s dangerous side to surphace.

But one question had been answered. Even if what Tyler said about Ri was true — that she knew nothing about the machine — there were things to be learnt from her memories.

Which means I can’t give her back anytime soon, Twilight could feel the stormclouds gathering in her mind, weighing down on her for what she was forced to do. “The well being of a nation comes before two individuals...”

When the darkness cleared, Twilight was back in her laboratory. She brought a hoof to Ri’s necklace and gently touched the serpent.

Ri-Bov-Dis? Twilight thought. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m sorry for all of this. Believe me, I don’t want to keep you any longer than I need to. So please, if there’s anyway you can help me find what I need, try and show me.

Silence was her reply. Twilight found herself chuckling dryly. Nothing can ever be easy, now can it?

Twilight returned the solidified magic to her satchel, then walked out of the lab.

No! I cried internally as the princess’ consciousness disconnected from my own. Wait Princess Twilight! Please wait! Don’t leave me alone!

The memory of my father’s secret meeting was already beginning to fade. I saw my family home crumble and turn to simple particles on an invisible wind. My father seemed to age a million years before his sky-blue scales and golden wings fell into a pile of dust. His eyes lingered for a moment; two yellow flames in a sandstorm, but they too went out. In-between the cracks of the dust, Purple Magic oozed out like a swarm of rabid worms, gathering the particles in their coils and returning them to the archives of my memories.

Then the darkness returned.

There was no warning. No time to prepare. Where once there were the familiar hallways I traveled down as a child, now there was nothing but an all encompassing void.

No.

I could feel the darkness closing in on me like a trap. It was a prison without walls that stretched on forever. There was no light. No sounds except for my thoughts. If I looked down I did not see my green scales or my four wings. I saw only darkness.

Please no...

I whipped my head around aimlessly. The princess might still be wearing me. The connection could be reopened—I wouldn’t be alone in here. So what if I saw my father again, at least I could hear his voice and see his scales! I could taste the air and touch the world based on an old memory. That was paradise compared to my very identity being swallowed by this abyss.

Like an eel caught in a net I thrashed and spun in the crushing sea of nothing and found... nothing. No trace of the equine princess Twilight Sparkle. No trace of the human Tyler Rannon. Nothing but the darkness that had swallowed my body and now threatened to swallow my mind.

This can’t be, I folded my feathered wings over my head; at least I could feel (or at least remember) the touch of my feathers against my scales. In the past I kept my mind active by going over human culture again and again, replaying the scenarios of the day and studying the human customs. But my mind was a cosmic storm that refused to settle on any subject outside of the one I dreaded the most. Time.

When my last owner removed the necklace that the Pure Magic made of my body, more than two hundred years passed me by before Tyler Rannon put me on. What if it took another two hundred for someone else to find me? What if it took longer? Time had no meaning in the darkness. Days passed me by in milliseconds that felt like millennia. For all I knew, two years could have passed in the time it took to formulate these thoughts. Or two days. Or two seconds.

Not again. I squeezed my eyes closed; the darkness of my eyelids was a blessing compared to the prison that surrounded me. Tyler, where are you?

Was I wrong to have trusted him? My mother would have thought so. I could see her green scaled face behind my eyelids, chastising me for acting so juvenile. “Just because you can communicate with a foreign species doesn’t mean you can trust them on first glance, especially given what you know about humanity as a whole.” She would have told me. “Haven’t you been paying attention all these years?”

Those humans were from another time. Another country. Tyler is different.

“Don’t speak to me like I’m a fool, Ri-Bov-Dis. You might be a Four-wing, but we both know you aren’t so diminutive to believe an excuse like that.”

Her words were like a hammer, driving me further into the constricting darkness. Go away. You’re dead, like everyone else.

“As long as someone is there to remember the deceased, they are never truly dead.” My mother’s voice was cold and soft—a whisper of what she had been in life. “Philosophy aside, you are also my daughter. My genetic code lives through you, as does the code of our entire species. So long as you live, our entire race lives as well.” Disappointment seeped into her voice, and I could almost picture her face contorting in disgust. “You are our legacy.”

Every word felt like a needle piercing through my mind. Any legacy of mine was that of failure. A doomed species. As an Imauikatl Coatla—a Sky Serpent—I was just a stupid Four-winged who was never going to amount to anything above Student status if I was lucky. It was only because of my parents that I wasn’t out on the streets as a burden to society.

Now I was nothing but a soul trapped inside a prison of metal and darkness; a worm reliving and tormented by her memories while she waited in her own despair for the darkness to take all she had left.

“Despair is your enemy.”

Tyler! I shot my head free from my wings and opened my eyes. I was still in the darkness, but there, far off in the distance, was a speck of light no bigger than a grain of sand.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I flapped all four of my wings, propelling myself through the sea of nothing. Each stroke caused the grain of sand to grow in size. At three strokes it was the size of a cannonball. At ten it was a ballroom chandelier. At twenty it was a miniature star. The light from it was so bright that, if it were real, my retinas would have been fried instantaneously. But in here, the light felt warm. Yes, I could feel the heat on my green scales—which I could see for the first time in this endless night. They were dull green and cobblestone shaped, and my underbelly was orange. Pauper class. But I didn’t care. I could see them!

“Are they even real?” My mother’s voice once again entered my thoughts. “Or are they simply a construct based on memories of your living appearance, like everything you view?”

Shut up! The voices didn’t exist. The darkness didn’t exist. Only the light was real.

I don’t remember entering the light; there was an all encompassing warmth and suddenly everything was a typhoon of colours and shapes swirling around me. It got so intense that I was forced to shut my eyes to protect myself. The image of my mother crept back up on me, but I turned my mind’s eye away from her and began counting to pass the time. I’d had enough conversing with the ghosts from my past for five lifetimes.

When I’d counted to one hundred and thirty seven, I decided it was time to open my eyes again. When I did, I saw that I was no longer in the endless darkness, but a spacious slate coloured room broken up by four rows of wooden and metal desks (twenty eight desks in total). Each of the desks was occupied by an adolescent human—between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, if I was to guess—close to a third of which were females, curiously enough. There were never this many females in the human schools I’d seen before, but then again, two hundred years offers many possibilities in cultural advancements.

Their clothing was also strange to me. A woman's long dress and corset had been traded away for simple fabrics that covered their upper body and a variety of pants for their lower body. Some girls wore thin fabrics cut off at the knee that clung to their legs so tight you could see an explicit outline of the leg beneath. Others wore a thicker, baggy blue material that went down to their ankles. They looked like some form of men’s trousers, and many of the male students wore them as well. It was possible that these girls were too poor to afford clothing suited for their sex, judging by the variety of tears in their trowsers. One girl had her entire right knee exposed.

From a quick glance I judged that I’d materialized in the fifth row, standing beside a caucasian male with a shaved face and brown hair tossed about without any care to personal grooming. He was dressed in a simple blue shirt and those blue trousers, but the skin that wasn’t covered had a slight tan to it. He was leaned back in his chair, a book in hand with the image of a human female’s face surrounded by fur, and reflecting a crude airship in her goggles. The title read Skybreaker.

But what really drew my attention were his eyes. They were a sparkling blue colour—near identical to my father’s scales—with tints of green around the pupils.

“Tyler?”

There was no mistaking those eyes. When I saw Tyler for the first time looking at himself in a full body mirror, those uniquely coloured eyes stuck out the most to me. Thus, the facts pointed to me drifting into one of Tyler’s memories. It wasn't an uncommon action I'd partaken in over the years; sometimes the last thoughts or memories of the person wearing me would leak into my mind and the Purple Magic projected it as a three-dimensional plane I could enter and observe, but not interact with. It was always something I looked forward to, since watching the memories kept me out of the darkness... and yet here I found a different feeling developing in my stomach.

“Excuse me,” said a voice from behind Tyler. He looked up from his book and turned towards a toothpick of a human female with soft brown eyes hidden behind rounded glasses and a freckled face. “I dropped my pencil by your foot.” Without waiting for her to continue, Tyler closed the book, leaned over his desk, and retrieved the pencil for her. “Thanks a lot.”

“It’s nothing,” he replied. It was interesting how similar his male voice was to his current female one. It was deeper, but the tonal influxes were identical to the point where it sounded like he was performing a very convincing female character. “So what’re you working on?”

“It's just a doodle at the moment. Nothing major; sometimes I get ideas for sketches that just pop into my head and I have to draw them.”

“I know that feeling, but my examples surface in wanting to read a book or play a game at inappropriate times,” Tyler's eyes flicked across this girl’s face, as if observing her features. “Are you new here?”

“Yeah. My family just moved here on Sunday from Kitchener." she extended her free hand, which Tyler took in his own. "My name’s Emily.”

Emily? I thought to myself as Tyler extended his greetings in return, a slight twinkle in his eyes. Often I’d heard Tyler’s thoughts fixate on the name Emily. At times it almost sounded like he was infatuated with the person... and this was her? A small toothpick of a specimen with twig-like limbs, straw-coloured hair, and impaired vision? Even her mammary glands, which most male humans seemed infatuated with, were tiny to the point where her white shirt seemed to swallow them up into her chest. What about this particular specimen makes Tyler fixate on her so much?

The door to the classroom opened and the professor entered. After a few greetings he began to talk on about basic astrology and physics. Most of the students seemed uninterested in what he was saying—no doubt they were only enrolled in this class because it was a requirement. But Tyler was jotting down notes with enthusiasm.

He was an aspiring Star-Scholar? It was an intriguing thought; Tyler spending his days cartographing the night skies and observing distant stars and planets like my paternal grandsire. It would certainly take him away from the stresses of the world.

The memory brought a smile to my face. My grandsire was the one member of my family I had fond memories of. Sometimes when my parents were having important visitors over or my brothers were hosting household meetings to fund one of their numerous projects, I was whisked away to his observatory in the mountains south of the Equine’s capital city... they were ashamed to have me seen in any way that would detriment their status.

“Do not hate your mother or father for what they do,” my grandsire, Star Scollar Lor-Ves-Qua, said to me when I vocalized those thoughts one day. “It is our society you should blame. We’ve become too concerned with our present status and the genetic lines of our children that, in many ways, we’re below those hooved bipeds south of our borders in culture and society. Maybe we’re even less than the fire-breathers south of them.”

Humans were the same, I mused, looking around the room. Once, when I had first gazed at humanity some two hundred years ago, they seemed much like how we Sky Serpents were. Class based with the upper crust caring only for themselves, and the lower class aspiring to send their children along a path greater than those of their parents. Just like how a Pauper such as myself would never be seen with a Royal outside my family, no human chimney sweep would ever be seen sitting beside the daughter of a tobacco baron... and yet this classroom looked very muddled compared to those previous standards. Could we have changed like the humans if we were given another two hundred years time?

“Don’t dwell on the past, Ri-Bov-Dis.” My mother’s voice was ladened with disappointment. “You’ll get nothing done that way, and a lack of productivity kills the mind.”

“When will you go away?” I asked outloud.

“I already told you not to coddle me with foolish questions, especially ones you know the answers to.”

Before I could properly formulate my thoughts, the memory began to skip. One moment the teacher was beginning to explain the makeup of celestial bodies, and the next his class was busy writing out assignments while flipping through their textbooks for answers. It was a common habit among older memories; not every tidbit of information could be recorded, even with the aid of Purple Magic, so it was often sacrificed so the more important events could be sorted properly.

Another skip showed Tyler handing his assignment into the teacher and returning to his book, though it appeared that his mind was still on the toothpick-female doodling behind him. Occasionally he moved to turn his head in her direction, but always stopped and returned to his book. Yet another skip showed other students finishing their assignment only to start some new activity involving small rectangular devices from their pockets. There was some kind of brightly lit screen on the rectangles, and occasionally the students would tap the screen with their fingers, but sadly Tyler’s memory was unable to show me what the screens projected. Though it did make me question how much technological advancements had occurred since I had last gone into darkness.

The skips finally stopped when a loud ringing sounded through the room. Unanimously the students slipped their textbooks and writing materials into knapsacks and bags stashed underneath their desks and swarmed towards the door. Tyler, however, hung back with the toothpick-female Emily, who was packing up her pencils and stacks of blank paper.

“Hello again,” Tyler said, a little nervous. “So I was just wondering, how much of the school have you seen so far?”

“Not too much,” Emily replied, not bothering to make eye contact as she finished loading her supplies into her bag. “This was my first class of the day, after all.”

“Really? So, um, what class do you have next?”

“It’s an art class in the basement.”

“Great. My next class is close by, so I could show you the way if you’d like.”

Emily swung her backpack over her shoulder, adjusted her glasses, and finally looked at Tyler. “You don’t have to do that. I think I can find my way around.”

I could see Tyler’s muscles sag with disappointment. “Oh. Alright then... have fun with your next class.”

“Thanks. You have fun as well, and maybe we’ll catch up later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tyler smiled, the nervousness now gone from his voice as he turned from this toothpick-female and towards the door. In six quick strides he exited the classroom and entered a crowded hallway filled with adolescent humans coming and going from every direction. Voices echoed off the compacted walls, and the sound of marching feet was near deafening.

Unsurprisingly, this was when the memory began to fade.

“No!” I screamed, and the entire hallway rippled, as if my sound waves had turned the walls to clay. “No not yet! Not yet!”

The walls cracked and crumbled like ancient parchment. Lockers rusted and burst open, spilling Purple Magic onto the floor like a mass of writhing purple eels trying to devour everything in sight. And they did. One by one the magic separated itself into individual strands, which threaded themselves into the floors, walls, and even humans who passed them by. As they wove in and out of the memory, the shapes began to dissolve into simple particles. One thread of magic came over to me but never made contact. After all, I wasn’t a part of this memory.

“There has to be more.” I made my way through the crumbling memory. Already there were holes in the walls, and the all-encompassing darkness shone through. “There has to be more. Tyler, please tell me there is more! It can’t end here!”

“Be silent.” My mother’s voice sounded from behind me. Fear responses caused my head to whip towards the noise, where I saw a mass of Purple Magic oozing their way out of the cracks in the floor. One of them must have touched me by accident, for they were forming together into the shape of a Royal Sky Serpent with feathered wings. My mother, Scientist Hik-Esa-Vei.

“You are acting like an impudent child who's been denied her favorite toy.” My mother’s body rippled as her vibrant, triangular green scales came into being. Five points burst from the base of her skull, forming into a Royal crown. “Now be silent and this will all end soon.”

I knew those words. The Purple Magic was replaying one of the stronger memories I’d shared with my mother, and one I would prefer stayed buried. With a single flap from all four of my wings I scattered my mother’s construct and propelled myself through the fading school. She is dead. They are all dead. They can’t hurt me!

“As long as someone is there to remember the deceased, they are never truly dead.” Another coil of Purple Magic burst from the ground with the shape of my mother’s head. “Philosophy aside, you are also my daughter. My genetic code lives through you, as does the code of our entire species.”

“No!” I screamed, falling back and shielding myself with my wings. “Stop looking into my memories!”

The school had crumbled down to a few islands of stone in a sea of blackness. One by one they vanished, falling into the abyss without a sound. Even the Purple Magic, with no more memories to project and catalogue, began to recede to the dark corners of my prison. My mother’s face lingered for a moment, hollow eyes staring at me with disgust and disappointment. Her mouth opened to speak, but the strands of Pure Magic finally split and became one with the darkness.

There were no lights. No shapes. No sounds. I was weightless in the void, drifting like a leaf on the wind. Blind to the world around me. Helpless in my own thoughts. Weak...

... Alone.

It was two days after the princesses took Ri, and I was still stuck in my room.

I glanced up from the book I was reading and looked at my surroundings. The palace guest room was better than a prison cell, but only in terms of visual aesthetics. The walls were painted cotton-white, broken up by a couple of wooden tables and dressers.The bed was soft and positioned in front of a large vanity mirror so I could see what a mess my hair was in the morning. There was even an attached bathroom with running water and all manner of haircare products. If I looked out the window, I had a wonderful view of the castle grounds and the city of Canterlot. But a prison is still a prison, no matter how pretty it looks.

Things could have been much worse, I mused. I could be sitting in a dank little oubliette right now.

With a heavy sigh, I closed the book and took a few shaking steps towards the window. The sun was a fair distance from the horizon, partially blocked by clouds. No magic ribbons were dancing in the sky. A part of me hoped they wouldn’t come back—that this would be the day I’d finally be going home. The rational part of my brain shot that down. Tonight the ribbons would be back, and they’d be even bigger and closer to the ground.

When the apocalypse comes, at least I’ll have a front-row seat, I mused. If Ri were still here, she might have said something about how being pessimistic will just make the situation worse. She’d probably tell me I needed to think with a positive attitude, or else the answer would stay hidden.

But she wasn’t here... because I gave her away.

My thoughts instantly shifted to Ri. I could see her right in front of me, yellow eyes filled with tears; her green body coiled up; her brown feathered wings wrapped around herself like a cocoon. I could hear her voice echoing inside my head. No! Tyler! Please don’t take me off! Don’t leave me alone again! PLEASE!

The ghosts of my fingers clenched into fist; phantom nails tried to draw blood from my hooves. She’d begged me to keep her with me as if her life depended on it and I’d ignored her. For all I know it might have. Ri told me she lingered in darkness when she wasn’t worn.

Darkness without sound, I remembered her saying. Without space. Without life. I see nothing. I feel nothing. I am nothing.

“I did what I had to do,” I said out loud. I had to show the princesses I was sincere. If I’d resisted or fought back, who knows what trouble I’d have gotten us both into. The outcomes would have been the same; Ri would have still been taken, and I would have found myself in a worse prison... but still I thought about her.

“She trusted me,” I whispered, in that stupid feminine voice of mine. “She trusted me like she’s never trusted anyone... and I let her go.”

You’re the first person to talk to me.

I might have broken down crying right then and there (lord knows I wanted to), but a sharp knocking from the door forced my attention away from that memory. “Aurora,” called a older, female voice. “I’m here with your lunch.”

“One moment,” I called, taking a moment to breathe and clear my eyes before turning to look at the door. “Alright, you can come in.”

There was some fiddling with the doorknob before the door opened wide enough for a pale orange mare with kind green eyes to slip through. Balanced atop her deep-blue mane was a rounded silver tray.

“Good Morning, Quill. What have you got for me today?” I asked, eyeing the tray in playful curiosity, and hoping my real emotions weren’t showing through.

“I had the chefs mix you up a nice hay-casserole,” she said with a smile. “I think they might have tossed a few black beans and rice in there as well.”

“Sounds amazing.”

“For the trouble I went through to get it for you, it better be,” Cotton Quill looked down at the breakfast tray sitting on the nightstand, then cast me a frown. “You didn’t eat your peas.”

“Nope,” I said matter-of-factly. For as long as I could remember I loathed the taste of peas, and not even the enhanced taste buds of a pony had been able to change my mind.

Cotton Quill’s retort was a flat stare. “You know, somepony in your predicament should be more grateful about the food I bring you.”

“I’m grateful,” I said, bringing a hoof to my chest. “Have I not said a ‘good morning’ and a ‘thank you’ every time you have come?”

“Not when we first met.”

“That was a bad time,” I countered. Cotton Quill had been the servant Celestia sent to bring me breakfast two days ago. Given that I had just been placed under house arrest and lost an alien-snake I was still debating to call my friend, Quill’s first impressions of me had been limited to a few grunts and stiff nods.

“I’d had the second worst morning of my life,” I continued, “Don’t you think that entitles me to a few slip-ups in courtesy?”

“No,” Quill replied. “Besides, it’s not all that bad,” With a turn of her head and a quick flick of her nose she switched the lunch tray with the one from breakfast. “I’ve heard horror-stories from some of the older maids about what the princess would do to ponies who truly upset her. You are nowhere near that league.”

“Since I haven’t met one of those ponies, nor do I plan to, I’ll have to take your word for it,” I replied, though my thoughts again turned to me sitting in a dark, rat infested oubliette.

“I’ll be back for dinner,” Quill said. She turned towards the door, but stopped on her heels. “Oh, I nearly forgot,” She muttered before turning back to me. “Princess Celestia said that she’d be stopping by later today.”

Finally decided to grace me with her presence, has she? I thought. To Quill I asked, “What does later today mean?”

“It means whenever she has the time,” she replied.

I realized this was the most I was going to get out of her, so I nodded a thank you. She gave a friendly smile before slipping out the door and closing it behind her. Once she was gone, I sighed and flung myself onto the bed.

In the two days I’d been sitting in this room, the only visitor I’d had were Cotton Quill and the bat-winged guard Luna had named Shadow Sight. Neither of them had said anything about the princesses coming to visit. Or at least Quill hadn’t; Shadow Sight just stood outside the door and rarely spoke more than a few words to me at a time, which was fine for me. He was too much of a stone-faced grump for me to interact with anyways.

Even Twilight Sparkle seemed to have lost interest in me. Celestia and Luna I could give leeway to ignoring me; the books I’d read in the archives had described them as being the true monarchs of this kingdom, so they probably had bigger problems than a body swapped human. But Twilight was an intellectual—a scientist—yet she wasn’t coming to question me.

It made sense, I thought. Now that Twilight had Ri to work with, she didn’t need to talk with me anymore. I was just some tag along. A bug stuck to the windshield of a zooming car. Why settle for a bucket of water when you can tap the well?

Still, by the end of the first day I had grown curious to their disappearances. I brought the matter to Cotton Quill when she had served me dinner.

“The princesses are busy planning a press conference,” Quill had told me. “There are a lot of ponies looking for answers about those strange lights.”

That makes sense, I remember thinking. If ponies were anything like Earth horses, they’d be quick to panic. But that made me wonder why the princesses had waited as long as they had to inform the public. Was it because of my arrival? Was there something else going on that I wasn’t aware of?

I wasn’t able to get anymore answers out of Quill. After all, I was just a guest of the princesses (what a pretty word for hostage). Guests were never privy to the schedules of their hosts. So I was left alone in my white walled room, waiting.

Throughout the first day I practiced my walking skills. The floor and I became friends on a very personal level, but it was worth it to get a sense of balance. We had such intimate interactions that Shadow Sight opened the door at one point. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” I’d retorted while picking myself up. “I’m taking full advantage of the attempted suicide loophole.” He scowled at me and closed the door.

The rest of my time had been spent doing small oddities to amuse myself. I taught myself how to control my ears and tail, which hadn’t been as difficult as I thought. The tail muscles were much like those found in my fingers, allowing me to flick it like I would my old appendages. The ears were a little harder. At first I tried the finger technique again, but I barely made a twitch or a pivot. It took me until sundown to get a voluntary movement from my left ear. By that time I was more than ready for bed.

My first night without Ri had been plagued by nightmares. I dreamt I was human again, standing on a grand stage. There were between fifty and sixty rows of seats. Each one had a faceless person sitting in them, all facing me and waiting. One of them yelled “Sing,” and that got the rest of the crowd to chanting. Soon the entire theater was a mass of sound waves bouncing off walls and floors and ceilings without any way of escape. Each bounce seemed to make the noises louder and louder, until it forced me onto my knees, tears streaming down my face and hands clasped around my ears. The crowd didn’t care. They stomped their feet, clapped their hands, and chanted on. “Sing! Sing! Sing!”

When I finally managed to lift my head, I saw Ri sitting in the first row of seats. She was glaring at me, yellow eyes blazing like miniature suns. “Sing.” She’d commanded.

That was when I’d woken up to my second day without her, and the day of the princess’ press conference. I hadn’t even fully processed the dream when the wind carried the sounds of crowd murmur into my room. Looking out my window, I had been able to observe the entire affair without much hassle.

Both Celestia and Luna had been walking along the grounds, tailed by over twenty ponies with cameras around their necks and pads of paper tucked behind their ears. It was twilight, just before sunrise, and the magic lights were still dancing across the sky.

“They look bigger than yesterday,” I said. On the previous day the lights were as thin as ribbons, but on the day of the conference they looked like a mass of brightly coloured pythons fighting to see who would devour the others first.

Maybe they aren't bigger, I remembered thinking. Maybe they’re falling from the sky.

“We are doing everything we can to understand the situation,” I remembered Princess Celestia saying. “At the moment the lights seem to be harmless, but all Pegasi are advised to fly at least thirty feet from them as a precaution.”

The gathered crowd was talking the moment the princesses stopped. I heard a large menagerie of questions tossed about: What metal was used to build the archway? Who built it? How did the princesses plan to resolve this? Celestia gave pretty responses, but to me they all sounded like “I don’t know.”

Except for one question concerning something called the Summer Sun Celebration. It sounded like the name for a festival, since the pony’s question was if it would be canceled.

“As of this moment, no, we are not cancelling the celebration,” was Celestia’s reply. “However, we will be suspending all aerial activities above 600 meters. If the situation continues to progress as it is, we may have to call off the celebration in the case of national security.”

That last bit caught my attention, and got me thinking about what the princesses considered primary threats in a land where magic exists. When Cotton Quilt came with my breakfast, I asked her if I could request some books be brought to me. She came back at lunchtime with a bowl of greens, diced carrots, apple wedges, onions, and two books labeled A Visitor’s Guide to Equestria and Ponies: Biology, Physiology, and Psychology, the latter of which I had been reading when Quill came with my breakfast today.

I contemplated looking back into the book while waiting for Celestia. From the brief passages I’d been able to read, I was able to get a good sense of an Equestrian pony’s biology in comparison to a pony’s from Earth. There were the obvious differences, such as Equestrians being half the size of an average Earth pony (that is a pony residing on Earth and not the Earth Pony variant in Equestria), and the presence of wings and horns on the Unicorn, Pegasus, and Alicorn variants. But other differences, according to the book, were magical in nature.

I had just begun to read that section when Quill interrupted me for lunch. I contemplated going back to it, but knowing the princess was coming to see me left my thirst for alien knowledge sated for the time.

I might as well make myself look decent, I decided. Appearances mattered, especially when conducting diplomacy. Not that it did me any good last time, but a new day means a new dawn.

With that mentality I shakingly walked to the conjoined bathroom and fetched my hairbrush. A couple minutes of brushing had my stupid pink mane looking marginally better than a bed-head look while still coming across as casual and collective. If I had some brown dye and natural curls, it might’ve passed for my old hair if I let it grow out. After that I decided I’d let my casserole grow cold enough, so I made its consumption my second item on the pre-Celestia visit list.

Eating hay had been a strange experience to say the least. My human upbringings had drilled the idea of consuming hay as wrong, and for good reason. The stuff is dry and tasteless. But with the tastebuds of a pony, the flavor of hay was bumped up to acceptable. Not great, but not so horrid I had to retch it up. It was a lot like eating dry cereal, and the black beans and rice acted like fruit and milk to offset the blandness. Though maybe that was just a side effect of having a chef for a father.

I wonder how he would improve things. I pondered. John Rannon was described as the kind of man who could win over anyone through his cooking, and from what I’d seen, that was spot on. He had a way of catering to everyone’s taste buds if they took the time to tell him what they liked and disliked.

Thinking about my father’s cooking caused my mouth to water between bites. After four days without even the smell of meat, I felt tempted to shave my hair and tail for some of my father’s smoked pulled pork or maple glazed salmon... or even just to see him again.

Once I was done with breakfast, I sat on the bed and sprawled out on my back. Since I didn’t know when Celestia would be gracing me with her visit, I let my mind wander where it wanted. The topic for today seemed to be how ponies cook food without hands. Did they hold the pans and spatulas in their mouths or use their hooves? In-between thoughts, I hummed Owl City songs.

It was close to half an hour later when the princess knocked on my door, asking for invitation.

The sounds of her hooves on the wood of the door caused my blood to boil. Why bother knocking? I thought, snorting out my nose. I’m your prisoner; are you going to taunt me now by disillusioning me into thinking I have more freedoms?

“Come in,” I said, swallowing those thoughts. Now was not the time to let anger dictate actions.

The door opened for the second time today and Princess Celestia entered. I’d be lying if she didn’t make for an impressive specimen. With her snow-white body that easily dwarfed mine, her long horn, large wings, and ever-flowing mane, she certainly fit the rank of a ruler.

“Good morning, Tyler,” Celestia said, “How are you fairing?”

“I could be better,” I replied, overlooking the bitterness in my tone until it was too late. Damn it Tyler. Bite your tongue for ten minutes.

The princess looked at me, and I met her gaze with my own. I couldn’t see anything evil or negative in her lilac eyes, but there wasn’t anything overtly positive either. Of course, she could have been hiding her true intentions. Someone in her position would need to be able to mask their emotions.

Or maybe I’m not as good at reading people as I like to think.

“I understand your anger with me,” Celestia spoke softly.

“Do you now?” I asked.

“More than I think you suspect.”

Careful, Tyler, I told myself. Don’t say something that will damn you further.

“Then what has kept you away, Princess?” I asked after a moment’s thought.

“My responsibilities,” she replied. “My subjects are very quick to panic, and even quicker to assume the worst of a situation. It has taken much reassurance from myself, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle to convince them that we are controlling the situation.”

“But are you really?”

Her eyes looked tired when she replied. “I don’t know. My guards have set up the proper defences and magic counters around the city... but this is Pure Magic we are talking about. Unbound magic that is wilder than the wildest magical forces imaginable. Nothing about it can be certain... nor can the consequences of its actions,” She paused, taking in a breath. “But I have absolute faith in Twilight to solve this mystery before such dangers come to pass.

“In any case,” Celestia continued. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“No it’s not,” I agreed. “You are here to make sure I’m following your rules.”

Celestia’s eyebrows furrowed. I confused it as anger at first, but realized it was actually weariness. “I understand your frustration Tyler, but please wait and hear me out before passing any final judgements.”

“What is there for me to hear out? You think I’m a threat. You think Ri is a threat. And there isn’t anything I could say to change your mind.”

“No, Tyler. I do not think you are a threat.”

I knew it was stupid and damning, but I couldn’t hold back a dry laugh. “Then why am I stuck in this room like a criminal?”

“Because you withheld information from myself, my sister and co ruler, and my student,” Celestia’s tone was no longer weary. It was serious, and the look on her face matched it perfectly. “I believe you when you say you aren’t here to harm my subjects, and from what Twilight Sparkle has told me about Ri-Bov-Dis, she is innocent of malicious intent as well. But you still lied to us about your origins. You showed me that I couldn’t trust you. Now tell me, if our positions were reversed, would you give your trust back to a stranger so willingly?”

“No,” I replied, beating myself up internally. Stupid. I should have known lying about who I was would come back and bite me.

“Trust is something that has to be earned back, not given freely,” Celestia continued. “Which again brings us to why I have come to see you today.”

“I’m clearly bad at this guessing game, so you might as well tell me.”

“I came to extend to you the chance to regain my trust. Luna and I have talked it over, and we have agreed to give you back free-roam of the castle grounds.”

I looked at the princess, eyeing her curiously. “What made you suddenly come to that conclusion?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Do you object to it?”

“No, I’m just naturally curious about these things. It’s only been two days since you confined me to this room, so why let me out again?”

Celestia smiled; it wasn’t the smile a monarch uses when speaking to a subject, but instead the kind shared between two friends. “I already told you, no one here thinks of you as a threat or criminal.”

I felt a damning retort forming in my mind. Quickly I stamped down on it; the last thing I needed was to give the princess another reason to incriminate me. Besides, there were more important questions to inquire about. “What about Ri? You said yourself that she isn’t a threat, so is she allowed to go as well?”

Celestia nodded. “She will be returned to you. I was actually wondering if you might be able to convince her to share some of her knowledge with you. Twilight hasn’t been able to find a way to communicate with her, and any information on this archway she could share would be of great importance.”

“So you can fix this entire ordeal, right?” I asked.

“Of course,” Celestia replied, raising an eyebrow as if surprised by my question.

“I’m just making sure,” I said. “I can try to talk to her, but don’t expect anything. Ri told me she knows nothing about how the machine works.”

Celestia’s lilac eyes turned away from me. She looked at nothing for a long time, becoming lost in thought as only someone who has spent a great deal of time thinking can. It only lasted a moment before she looked at me again. “If that is indeed the case, then so be it.”

The inquirous part of me raised an eyebrow. “You’d let the issue drop, just like that?”

“What is the point to press for information that isn’t there? I have the lives of thousands of ponies to think of and protect. Time and resources cannot be wasted.”

“So the two of us are just resources for you to work with?” I asked.

A hint of annoyance flashed in Celestia’s eyes. “Not in the slightest. I want to help you get home Tyler, even if you think otherwise. I want to help Ri as well, if there is a way to free her consciousness from the necklace. But right now there is a more pressing issue at hoof. Once we have resolved it, I give you my word that I will devote all my resources to getting you home.”

“As you say, your majesty,” I replied. “When can I get Ri back?”

“I will talk to Twilight Sparkle and have her bring Ri to you.”

I nodded. “Thank you. I’ll wait here for her.”

“Very well then,” Celestia gave a polite bow of her head. “I’ll be sure to speak with you again soon.”

The princess left the room as gracefully as she entered, and I turned back to the window. By now clouds had drifted away, and there weren’t any pegasi flying at this time. In that moment, it was like I was looking at the sky from Earth.

I can’t imagine what it looks like to Ri, thought grimly. What would it be like to see the same sky you grew up under in another time and place?

I pushed those thoughts aside. Ri might be coming back to me, and I wanted her to see the sky. If I was trapped in some dark prison, I know the sight of a blue sky would be the most beautiful thing in the world. Maybe after seeing it, she’ll forgive me for letting her go.

An hour must have passed before Twilight Sparkle arrived. She came into my room wearing only her blue saddlebags with pink six-pointed star clasps. The absence of her crown created a noticeable change in Twilight’s appearance. She looked less like a figure of authority and more like an everyday citizen. I guess growing into a crown is never easy for those not born into it.

“Princess Celestia told me she spoke with you earlier,” Twilight said. Unlike Celestia, her movements had a lot of uncertainties hidden in them. Is she nervous to see me? I wondered.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.

“I’m as well as I can, given my current circumstances,” I replied.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come and see you sooner,” Twilight added.

“It’s not your fault. If I was given a goldmine of information to work with, I’d probably neglect the copper as well.”

Twilight’s expression shifted like she had been hurt. “It’s not like that at all. Yes, Ri has a lot of knowledge she could share with us, but that doesn’t mean everypony has stopped thinking about you.”

“Who said anything about everyone forgetting about me? I’m fairly sure I’ve gotten to the point where the maid won’t ever be able to forget about me, though I might need another three days to make a lasting impression on Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent outside the door.”

Twilight smiled. “That’s precisely why I didn’t visit you.”

“So I could make an impression on the castle staff?”

“No, not that. I was referring to your tone. After what happened, I figured it would be best to give you some time alone to calm down. I know that stress isn’t something you have an easy time handling.”

“That’s a mild way of putting it,” I said, frowning. I know I can be a handful when under pressure, but am I really that bad? “Where is Ri?”

“I have her here,” Twilight’s horn lit up with magic. She opened the clasp of her saddlebag and levitated Ri’s silver necklace into view. Instantly my eyes darted across the metal surface, looking for imperfection or damages. I couldn’t see any.

“Please pass her over,” I extended a hoof towards the princess. “I’m still getting used to walking on all fours.”

“I know what you mean,” Twilight moved Ri’s necklace towards my hoof and set it down. “Walking on two legs was awkward for me as well.”

“How did you get to my world anyways?” I asked, my eyes currently fixed on Ri’s necklace, turning it in my hoof. How the hell am I going to put this on?

“In the Crystal Empire there is a magic mirror that acts as a gateway between Equestria and your world. It transported me to a place called Canterlot High, and I turned into a human during the process.”

“And I’m going to guess that I can’t use this mirror myself?” I asked, looking at Twilight.

She shook her head. “I wish you could, but the portal only opens once every thirty moons.”

“You have thirty moons? Lucky. On Earth we only have one.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, not a celestial moon. In Equestria we use moon as a measurement of time over long periods.”

That is going to be fun to learn, I mused to myself. “And I’m going to assume that not even one has passed since you used it?” Twilight nodded, to which I shrugged my shoulders. “Of course it hasn’t. Though maybe that’s for the best; I don’t know a place called Canterlot High, so for all I know I’d be ending up in another country with no way to get home.”

“You don’t know if things will be that bad.”

“I’m just going by my past records.”

“I see,” Twilight turned to make for the door. “You probably want some time to talk with Ri, so I’ll just—”

“Wait,” I looked back at her. “Before you go, could you please help me with putting the necklace on?”

“Of course I can.” Twilight’s horn lit with magic once again. She lifted Ri off of my hoof and slid the clasps of the necklace around my neck. There was a small click as the two parts locked together and her magic faded from the necklace.

“Thanks.”

“It’s no trouble. Just keep practicing and you’ll be able to use your hooves like you could your hands.”

“Only without the benefits of opposable thumbs,” I turned to look at the window. “Can you please give us some privacy now?”

“Of course. I’ll see you later, Tyler.”

I heard the door close behind me, but I waited until the sound of Twilight's hoofsteps faded down the hallway. Ri, are you there?

No voice answered me. I waited for half a minute before calling again. Ri, are you there? It’s Tyler.

“... Tyler? Is it really you?” Her timid voice finally answered.

“Yes,” I said aloud, smiling wide. “Yes, it’s me Ri. You’re back with me.”

“Tyler... where were you?”

“I’m right here Ri. Everything is OK.”

“Where were you?” Ri’s voice was as sharp as a knife and filled with pain. “Why didn’t you stop them? Why did you give me up?!”

My mouth went dry and I fumbled to speak. “It wasn’t like that. I had to do what they asked or things were just going to get worse.”

“Things did get worse! Don’t you pretend to know how deep the thresholds of suffering can go. You know nothing about what I went through thanks to your decisions!”

I tried to speak—to say something in defence of what was done—but there wasn’t anything to say. She was right about everything.

“Ri,” I whispered, feeling new tears creep into my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“To hell with your apologies! Words are just leaves blowing along on the wind. It’s your actions that get set in stone, and you’ve chiseled yours into the mountainside for all to see!”

I stood there, my skin beginning to itch like a million ants were burrowing under it; my ears twitching madly; my lips struggling to form words to no avail. How could I hope to respond to that? She’d called me out. There wasn’t anything more to say.

Ri seemed to think the same thing. She was deathly silent after chastising me. Once again my mind was my own and no one else’s... and it made me feel more alone than I ever had before.

For the next hour, the only sound I heard was the echo of my own hoofsteps.

I paced back and forth across the room, trying my damndest to keep my emotions in check—but I might as well have been trying to barricade against a hurricane with nothing but popsicle sticks and glue. Ri’s words were still ringing through my head, and the worst part was that I couldn’t tell if it was just my mind replaying them, or if Ri herself was repeating them as a way to settle the score. Either option made my skin crawl and itch with a thousand ants biting in unison.

What was I supposed to do Ri? I thought, knowing that she could hear my thoughts even if she wouldn’t acknowledge me. Yes, I could have tried to put on a brave face and fought tooth and nail to keep you with me. And what do you think was going to happen if I did that? Do you think they’d have let me keep you then? You think I’d have ever been allowed to see you again once they ripped you off my neck with their freaking magic? I didn’t want to give you away!

She didn’t say anything. I didn’t expect her to, but the silence still caused my heart to pound against my ribcage. Why was I getting this stressed out? I was used to being ignored, and Ri had every right to be mad at me. So why did her silence make me feel so terrible?

“Damn it Ri,” I whispered out loud. “I’m sorry.”

I turned to look at my reflection in the full body mirror. The strange blue pony inside looked sad and miserable. Her mane was sprawled everywhere from worry, and her eyes looked close to tears. Occasionally the muscles in her ears and legs twitched like she was constantly being poked and prodded by invisible hands.

“We’re both the same,” I muttered, looking down at Ri’s necklace. Both of us were trapped in bodies that weren’t our own and forced to place our faith into others we barely knew. The difference was that I could move on my own, while Ri was trapped to fester in darkness and her own memories.

Move. I thought, looking at the door. That’s what I need to do. I need to get out of this blasted room. I need to move. I need to think.

I worked my way towards the door and slowly opened it, grimacing from the taste of the metal doorknob on my tongue. Shadow Sight was still standing outside—no surprise there—and turned to look at me. “What are you doing?” He asked with that neutral voice of his.

“Princess Celestia said I could go for a walk around the castle, so that’s what I intend to do.” I took a shaky step forward, only to be stopped by his extended wing.

“Just because you have been given free range does not mean you are allowed to go unsupervised.”

Yeah, I guess that was too much to hope for. I sighed and moved a couple loose strands of hair from my eyes. “Alright, fine. But I’m not waiting on you.”

I left a pause, hoping that Ri would give some kind of quip about my abysmal walking as a pony. But she didn’t. There was just silence in my head as Shadow Sight lead the way to the castle courtyard.

So now I go from worrying about her being tortured to worried that she’ll never talk to me again. I chucked under my breath so not to alert the guard. And where does that leave you now Tyler? No allies, no way home, and the princesses only trusts you enough to take supervised walks around the castle. Maybe this is finally the time you won’t bounce back. Maybe this is finally when you fall.

At this time of day, Canterlot Castle seemed a little more deserted than usual. There was hardly a servant out in the halls, and the guards on duty never moved, causing me to wonder if they were actually just life like statues. Traveling down the long corridors seemed like an endless track, and every time I looked to the end, it seemed further and further away. Even those wonderful paintings of the sun and moon seemed more dower and lifeless than the last time I saw them, but I was more than sure that was because of my mood. When you feel alone and lifeless, the world becomes just that.

Despair is the enemy. I tried to remind myself, just like I did every time I felt down on myself. Yet no matter how many times I repeated the words, they didn’t feel the same as before. The words didn’t feel like a powerful truth that could lift me from the darkness and reveal the path to victory. They just felt like empty words.

Words are just leaves blowing along on the wind. Ri had told me. It’s your actions that get set in stone, and you’ve chiseled yours into the mountainside for all to see!

I said I was sorry, I thought. What am I supposed to do to show it? Please tell me. Silence, and I felt my blood begin to boil. Give me some place to start, at least!

“Stop right there,” called a sharp, authoritative voice. The owner hadn’t yelled, but their tone was enough to fill the entire hallway. Turning towards the source, I saw a warm-grey unicorn mare stepping out of one of the doorways Shadow Sight and I had just passed. She was dressed in a brown suit that only covered the front half of her body, with a white undershirt and copper tie. Her hair was a lighter shade of grey with platinum highlight. On her head it was cut short and neatly brushed behind her ears, while on her tail it had been allowed to grow out more.

But the most striking feature on her where her eyes. They were a deep, oceanic blue and seemed to pierce straight through me like a needle through thread.

Beside me, Shadow Sight wasted no time bowing to the pony. “Minister Sharp Script.”

The grey mare waved a hoof dismissively, “Oh get off the ground son. Those pointed wings of yours will make for terrible feather dusters.” She turned her attention to me, and I swore I spotted a spark of intrigue in her eyes. “Now, where are you escorting this young lady to?”

“The castle grounds as per her request.”

“Excellent. I was heading out there myself. You are relieved of your duties for the time being.”

Shadow Sight finally broke himself out of whatever stupor he was in and stood at attention. “The princesses’ orders state—”

“Did the princesses’ orders tell you treat her like a little filly? She is a grown mare, for Celestia’s sake, not a ne’er-do-well who needs constant supervision,” The mare’s eyes seemed to cut through Shadow Sight like a knife through butter. “And even if she was, we both know for a fact that there are dozens of guards posted along the walls of the castle at this very moment. Finally, let us not overlook the fact that she has difficulty walking without it looking like she’s carrying a kingdom’s worth of luggage on her back. Even if she weren’t being watched, what precisely would she achieve in any quick timespan?” Her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. “Now, don’t you have other duties to attend to?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then go attend to them.”

All I could do was stand there with my mouth agape as Shadow Sight saluted with a wing and trotted off down the adjacent hallway. Once he was gone, the grey unicorn smiled at me. “Are you inviting an oxpecker for a meal? Come come, I’m much better company than any bird, and it’s such a lovely day for a walk.”

“How did you do that?” I asked, falling into step beside the mare. In the corner of my eye I saw her cutie mark: an blank open scroll with a red wax seal. “I’ve only ever seen him bend for the princesses.”

“In my experience, it’s always smart for somepony to bend for the one who signs off on their bits. But we’ll have more than enough time to talk about occupations.” She extended a hoof. “My name is Sharp Script. Minister of Defence in service to the nation of Equestria and her monarchs, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and our newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

I slowly rose my own hoof to touch hers. “Um, I’m Aurora Borealis. Recent high school graduate, reader of history and science, and player of strategy games.”

“Quite the rare assortment of hobbies for one so young. What kinds of games do you play?”

“I don’t know if you’d know them,” I scratched the back of my neck with a hoof. “I’m decent enough at chess, checkers, and stratego, but my favourite is backgammon.”

“Is that so? I knew there was something interesting about you, Miss Borealis. Ah, you don’t like being called miss, do you?”

“What?” I asked, caught off guard.

“You grimaced when I called you Miss. Do you dislike it?”

“Oh. Yeah, calling me Aurora is enough. Now what did you mean by you knew there was something interesting about me?”

“It’s nothing personal, if that’s what you are afraid of. As I said, I so rarely meet a young pony who has the time or patience for the classical games. Nowadays it seems every young colt and filly has their nose stuck in one of those video games.”

They have video games here? I mused over the thought, but tried to keep my intrigue hidden from the minister. “I think you were referring to something else though.”

She smiled, pleased with my answer. “Well, I did happened to be there for your little spout in the Maegus District the other day.”

“Oh,” I felt my ears press against the side of my head. “You saw that.”

“Indeed I did, and I wouldn’t trade it for all the bits in Equestria.” She said. At this point we reached the descending stairwell that lead to the palace courtyard. Sharp Script seemed to take her time walking each step, though I was positive it was just to compensate for my snail’s pace.

“First impressions are the most important part of displaying our character, after all,” she continued. “And ours was enough to tell me you are somepony who is not afraid to stand up for herself, even when in an unfavourable situation. Certainly more interesting than these flocks of peacocks flashing their feathers everywhere.”

I found myself chuckling as I stumbled after her. “Peacock is not the first word that comes to mind when I think about them.”

“But isn’t it true? They strut around with their colours on display, always trying to one-up the competition. You have one mare who goes out and buys a hat that’s too large for her stork-leg thin neck to support, and then another will buy one that’s twice the size just to show that she can. And on and on the cycle goes until our proud peacocks collapse under the weight of their own feathers.” She chuckled to herself. “Maybe once they’ve been muddied by the ground they’ll realize that it’s the plain, drab, and dreary peahen that truly decides everything.”

“I’m sure more than a few of them have fallen down, but that hasn’t changed their tone one bit.”

The courtyard was rather peaceful considering the hectic events taking place within the castle. Surrounded by lavender walls and broken up by dirt pathways, the grass and shrubbery were strangely alive and vibrant. There was even a quaint little pond tucked away in the shadow of a three pronged tower. We didn’t have the space all to ourselves; there were a few ponies wandering here and there. Most were dressed like palace servants, but one or two wore similar attire to the minister. She would smile at them as our paths crossed, and they would smile back before continuing on with their business.

Like Sharp Script said, there were dozens of guards stationed along the battlements. The vast majority of them were unicorns, who were currently using their magic to levitate a series of prism shaped crystals into key locations around the walls. Above them were several pegasus guards, using ropes and their hooves to transport and fix other such crystals on top of the towers.

“What are they doing?” I asked, pointing towards the pegasus guards.

“I’m sure you’re more than aware of the bothersome lights that have been hanging above our heads as of late?” Sharp Script replied. “According to the princesses, they are made of magic, and these crystals should act as a sort of barrier against them should they try to come within range of the city.”

“But you don’t think they will work, do you?”

“Oh, I have full confidence in our princesses and their solutions. However, it is always propitious to have a backup plan or two.”

“I can agree there,” I stopped walking and looked the minister in the eyes. “Now that we’ve broken the ice, how about you tell me the real reason for this pleasant company?”

“Do you prefer to walk alone?” Sharp Script asked.

“I don’t mind walking with others. It has allowed me to walk with enough two-faced liars and those with a hidden agenda to know when someone wants something from me.”

“Quite an astute skill to acquire, though I’m very sorry that you had to develop it in the first place.” Sharp Script smiled in a motherly fashion. “But you are correct. I was hoping that perhaps you could be our backup plan.”

I blew some loose strands of hair out of my face. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know anything about these lights.”

The minister chuckled, like she was watching a child pretending to be a master. “Oh come now, my dear, we both know that is a half-truth at the most and a bad lie at the least.”

“And what makes you so sure of that?” I asked, now feeling annoyed on top of my already shitty mood. “Have you been spying on me to learn my lying patterns?”

“In a sense, though not quite so bluntly. I’ve simply been listening in to the palace gossip and putting two and two together. You’re not as unknown among the palace as you might believe.”

So now I’m the center of palace gossip? I mused. Some things never change. “Alright, you have me there. But I’m afraid that magic escapes me, and like I’ve already told you, I don’t understand anymore about these lights than the next person. So please back off.”

Unfortunately, Sharp Script was disinclined to acquiesce to my request. “Yes, I heard you perfectly the first time. But just because you don’t know about the lights themselves doesn’t mean you might not have an understanding of their origins.”

My heart was pounding against my chest again as I cocked an eyebrow. “And why would the minister of defence want to know that?”

Sharp Script’s eyes seemed to peel me like an onion. I tried to keep a straight face, but my emotions betrayed me. What was she reading off of me now? Was it something personal that I couldn’t keep hidden? Or was it something pertaining to Ri? Was I unknowingly betraying her again?

“You don’t trust me?” She said at last, and my nerves breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why should I?” I retorted, taking a moment to breath. “From my perspective, you’re a sharp tongued politician who has a thing for bird allegories and a good ear for gossip. If I was to say anything to you, how do I know it won’t somehow come to bite me in the ass later?”

“Caution is a good virtue to possess, my dear. But if you always live your life scared of repercussions, then I’m sorry to say you won’t be living a very fulfilling one.” She smiled. “Ah, but you didn’t want an old mare’s criticism of your lifestyle. As the minister of defence, my job is to oversee the protection of Equestria and its citizens from any internal and external threats, which these lights more than fit into. But it isn’t enough that we should remove this immediate threat—we should make sure that such an occurrence can never overcome Equestria in the future. And to do that you can’t just pluck the feathers off the grouse. You must go for the throat or it will keep kicking and pecking at you.”

I shook my head, not caring that the ends of my mane flew every which-way. “And land myself in more trouble than I’m already in? No thanks. I’ve made enough mistakes over the last couple of days, and I’m not about to make another. Find your own answers.”

Sharp Script flash a bitter grin. “Very well then, I shall leave you to your walk.”

“Should I wait anywhere for another escort, or do I need to track one down myself?”

“Neither, unless you plan to go inside. You’ve seen the amount of guards around us. Even though they are hard at work, don’t think they aren’t watching us from the corner of their eyes. So, as I said earlier, you wouldn’t have the chance to act up if you wanted to, and we both know you don’t.” Sharp Script turned her head ever-so slightly towards a duo of ponies turning a corner. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. But should you ever change your mind, come and see me in my office. It’s in the south wing of the castle; one of the servants can point you in the right direction if you get lost. And even if you don’t change your mind, then perhaps we could play a friendly game of chess together.”

I never got a chance to respond. With a tip of her head and a slight nod, Sharp Script trotted through the courtyard to meet up with the duo. I waited until she began to make conversation before turning and making my way towards the pond and sat down on the water’s edge.

A quick look at my reflection revealed that the green was starting to creep back into my eyes, so I dipped my hooves into the water to calm my nerves. Sharp Script’s words had me thinking back to the archway that brought me here, resting underground in the Sky Serpent’s tomb. It was my only way home, and this minister of defence was talking about destroying it.

“But the princesses wouldn’t let her,” I asked my reflection. “would they?”

There were plenty of good reasons for them to give her the OK. That portal released the magic lights when I showed up, so it was possible they were linked together. Maybe destroying the portal would stop them and save their entire kingdom... and all it would cost is my only ticket home.

“... or would it,” I wondered, looking back at the three coloured streaks on my flank. The archway was my door into Equestria, but the road up to it was that multi-coloured world. Maybe that was the answer. After all, it was the magical hands of fates that turned me into a pony mare in the first place. If anything was going to change me back and get me home, it would be them.

"It's a shot in the dark," I muttered, looking back at my reflection. The blue had returned to my eyes and was busy drowning out the remaining green, which caused me to smile. "but what other option did I have? Sit here and wallow in misery while politicians play me like a pawn? Not again." I stood up, shaking the water off my hooves, and looked down at the reflection of Ri's necklace. "Ri, what do you think my chances are?"

She didn’t answer. I felt the muscles in my ears begin to twitch, but I closed my eyes and breathed. This wasn't the time to get stressed, and Ri still had reason to be angry with me. I needed to use this time more productively.

Taking a few steps away from the pond, I looked up at the ramparts and flagged down one of the pegasus guards watching me. “According to Princess Celestia, I need you to escort me inside,” I said when he landed. “And please, help me find Princess Twilight Sparkle. There’s something I need to talk to her about.”

It seemed five days as a pony still wasn’t enough time for me to learn how to walk properly. As the guard lead me down a spiraling staircase into the bowels of the castle, I found myself tripping over my hooves what felt like every second step. Thankfully the guard was there to caught me each time with a flare of his wings.

“Do you need me to carry you?” he offered after the ninth trip.

“If you do, I won’t get better,” I said, dusting off my foreleg. “How much further is it to the bottom?”

“At our current pace, two minutes.”

I put on my most convincing smile. “That’s barely a power walk. I can make it.”

The guard rolled his eyes as we resumed walking. If I were human still, my boast would have held some water. I was deceivingly fast for how bookish most of my interests were and could outpace most people at walking speed alone. But I guess power walking didn’t transition well to this new body of mine. Or maybe it was just my lack of practice. Glancing down at my legs, they did seem pretty long for my body, especially compared to the strong, stocky build of the guard.

I wonder if this body is still growing? I pondered. On Earth I was eighteen years and eight months old. How did that convert into pony years? Was I still four months shy of my nineteenth birthday, or younger? The princess probably has a spell to determine age. Maybe I can ask her if I have the time.

I stumbled off the final step and looked up from my thoughts. Before me were a pair of heavy iron doors inscribed with dozens of symbols glowing in violet light. Some of the symbols were similar to common ones found on Earth: I saw a star, a triple spiral, and something vaguely reminiscent of a tree. The rest had a few familiar extensions and base shapes, but there were also many alterations that threw me for a loop.

Ri, do you have an idea what these symbols mean? I asked inwardly. Once again I was met with silence. Another question for the princess, then.

Though I tried to sound confident in my thoughts, the constant silence made my mind wander. Ri was the only friend I had in this fantasy land and I’d made her go silent. What if she never spoke to me again because I thought when I should have acted?

I closed my eyes and took a few slow breaths to divert my thoughts from another breakdown. Instead, I turned my mind’s eye to my usual stress-killing thoughts. I saw my family and I gathered around the table to enjoy my father’s newest dish; I heard Catherine practice her flute in her room; I saw Elizabeth and mom laugh at a video; I saw my grandmother in her reading chair, dressed in the beautiful silver earrings of her youth; I saw Emily smiling at me the first time we met...

Keep your end goal in sight, Tyler, I told myself. One problem at a time. Talk to the princess now, patch things up with Ri, and then get home.

The guard gave me a quick glance to make sure I wasn’t about to trip over, then tapped his hoof against the iron doors. “Princess Twilight, you have a visitor.”

There was a muffled shuffling from behind the doors. I took a step back and, for some reason, my mind fantasized all manner of magical experiments going on inside the room. This made me realize that, in all this time, I’d never given much thought to what exactly those experiments were. Since Twilight was my best bet in getting home, I might have to educate myself on the method.

The doors open enough for princess Twilight Sparkle to poked her head out. “Tyler? What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.” I looked past Twilight to examine her workspace, but from this angle I only saw the wall. “Unless this is a bad time?”

“This is as good a time as any. Please, come in.” Twilight nodded to my escort, who stood off to the side before her horn lit up, and she closed the doors behind me.

Twilight’s lab was about as hectic as I imagined. It was a spacious room it by numerous orange stones fixed onto the walls. There was a work table covered in notes, journals, reference books, and a number of crystals. Some of them I recognized from when Twilight had taken me for a walk through Canterlot, but others were new.

To the right was the skeleton of a Sky Serpent, held upright like a museum display. Its wings, with finger bones similar to a bat’s, were spread out in display, and the skull’s jaw was opened to expose the fangs and, surprisingly, molars. As much as I wanted to look at the macabre sight, I turned away and focused on Twilight. Even though she wouldn’t talk to me, Ri saw the same things I did, and I wasn’t going to make her look at one of her dead.

Twilight moved towards me with a glint of concern in her eyes. “How are you holding up?”

“As well as I can,” I replied. “I just realized that, in all the excitement since my arrival, I never told you exactly how I came to Equestria.”

Twilight looked puzzled and worried by my statement. “Please don’t tell me you lied about finding Ri, because that would make your situation with the princesses worse.”

“No, I didn’t lie. There was just more to say,” I explained. “When I picked up Ri’s necklace, I didn’t instantly come to Equestria. I found myself in some vast space filled with those same three colours in the sky,” I glanced over at Twilight’s desk. “And those crystals,” I pointed a hoof at a collection of pink, purple, and blue crystals of varying sizes.

Twilight took a step towards me. “Are you saying you were surrounded by pure magic? What happened next?”

“They started to change me.”

“Was it the blue magic?”

“At that moment, I was more focused on the fact that my body was being played with like clay than the colour responsible.”

“Right, sorry,” Twilight said. “I just asked because it would help me confirm that pure magic did this to you.”

“I’ve heard that term get thrown around a lot since coming here,” I said, seizing my chance at education. “Can you please tell me a bit about pure magic and why it’s so special?”

A spark seemed to light itself in Twilight’s eyes that reminded me of my first meeting with Ri. “Of course I can tell you. To put it bluntly, pure magic is magic in its most raw form. We don’t know where it comes from, only that it exists in tangent with everything else in nature.”

“And I take it it’s different than what you ponies use?” I asked.

Twilight nodded. “Right. We ponies all have different levels of pure magic inside our bodies, but thanks to special focal points, we can turn it into “refined” or “active” magic. Earth ponies and pegasi have their focal points in their hooves, which allows them to manipulate the earth and weather respectfully. Unicorns have our focal points in our horns, which is what allows us to cast different spells.”

“So how come, if you all have focal points, only unicorns can do stuff like levitation?” I asked.

“Again, that has to do with our horns,” Twilight said, gesturing to hers. “The process of funneling magic through a unicorn’s horn allows our idea of the spell to be imprinted into the raw magic, and thus give it purpose.”

Giving purpose to the purposeless, I mused. There was something almost poetic about that.

Twilight lit up her horn and levitated three crystals from her desk: blue, purple, and pink. “These are the three colours pure magic can take,” Twilight explained. “Depending on the colour, each one interacts with the world in a different way. Don’t worry, they are completely harmless in this crystallized form.”

She moved the pink crystal towards me, and an obscenely bright light began to glow from it. The edges were a shade lighter than my mane and the center looked almost white. Just like in the psychedelic realm, my eyes began to sting from staring too long.

“First up is pink magic,” Twilight continued. “It is the key component in making refined magic, sort of like how iron is needed to make steel. You can find pink magic at locations that give off or generate energy, like active volcanoes or fault lines.”

“So pure magic can exist outside of a living thing?” I asked while rubbing my eyes of any remaining discomfort.

“Of course,” Twilight said. “You won’t find too much of it in the wild because of these requirements, which is good. Too much pink magic in one place can result in a magical explosion if hit with the right trigger.”

“And ponies have this stuff inside them?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes, but in healthy amounts, so there’s no chance of it getting set off if a stray spell hit you. This also means it probably had the smallest hoof in changing you.”

She retracted the pink crystal and moved the blue one forward. Its colour reminded me of the blue poison dart frog from South America; the edges of the crystal were deep blue, but as your eye traveled closer to the center, it steadily became the same colour as my coat. Just had to stamp your calling card all over my body, didn’t you? I thought bitterly.

“The biggest factor of your change would have come from the most abundant of the colours,” Twilight continued. “While pink magic affects energy, blue magic affects the physical form. Usually these interactions are tiny, like making a tree grow more fruit or a pony growing taller. Keep in mind that it isn’t the explicit reason why things grow, they also do that naturally. Blue magic just offers them a helping hoof.”

“I’d say this is a bit more than a “helping hoof,” I said, sweeping my foreleg over myself in emphasis.

A frown crept into Twilight’s chipper mood. “I know, and that’s why, despite these benefits, ponies try to avoid using pure magic whenever we can. When you get a large concentration of blue magic, the changes become more mutative.”

“How convenient that I should change into a pony in the middle of a pony civilization, and not some twisted hybrid of human and pony?”

“I think that has to do with the nature of traveling between worlds,” Twilight answered. “I was turned into a human when I went to Canterlot High. But when I returned to Equestria, I turned back into a pony. I think the random element in this case are your colouring and your transformation into a girl.”

Wonderful, I mused to myself. So not only did you paint your calling card on my body, you also took my dick because of the “random chaos of the universe?” Why couldn’t you have at least made me a unicorn so I could get something from this damned deal?

Twilight replaced the blue crystal with the purple one. Unlike the first two, its colour changed the more I looked at it. One moment it was bright lavender, but the next it was a deep, inky violet. The centre was an endless black that reminded me of Ri’s statement of darkness without sound, space, or life.

“The last colour is purple magic.” Twilight’s voice was like a rope pulling me from the abyss. “It’s less common than blue, but easy to find if you know where to look. Purple magic is attracted to the memories, thoughts, and emotions of intelligent beings. Once it’s found an abundant source of those things, its dedicates itself to cataloguing and organizing every memory and emotion it can find, even after the host has died.”

What a terrifying prospect, I thought. Your secrets could be on display for the world to see and you’d be powerless to prevent it, or the aftermath that would follow. “If purple magic is cognizant enough to do all this work, why is it considered wild?” I asked.

“Cognizant isn’t the right word for it,” Twilight answered. “Purple magic is listless. If it can't interact with any functioning memories, it goes dormant and waits until new memories come by for it to work on.”

“That sounds more like a parasite.”

“I guess you could consider it a magical parasite, but it doesn’t hurt the host at all.”

“How kind of it,” I said. “So are there ways to remove pure magic? Aside from pink, it really doesn’t seem that helpful.”

“Unfortunately, it’s because of pink magic that it’s hard to get rid of the other types,” Twilight replied. “See, the colours normally exist in a symbiotic cycle of perpetual motion. Blue and purple magic coil around the pink and released and absorb ambient magic to feed the pink and strengthen its hold on them. These crystals were created from rare individual pockets found in nature.”

“That sounds just like what’s going on above the city,” I said, recalling how the lights in the sky looked more like thrashing serpents than an aurora borealis.

“Exactly,” Twilight replied. “Once the colours get together like that, it’s pretty much impossible to separate them.”

Well, so much for getting to be a human in Equestria, I thought. “Well, thank you for the lesson, princess,” I said. “This certainly gave me a better understanding of the situation. But to bring it back to my original point, pure magic is the reason why I’m here, and I think the psychedelic world I passed through was also comprised of pure magic. Is it possible for us to make a portal of our own and use pure magic to send me home?”

Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know. In theory, sure, but we’d run the risk of a magical explosion if something went wrong.”

“I understand,” I said as calm as possible. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the answer, however viable the idea was. If my one big idea was being pushed to the backburner, what hope did that leave for any future attempts at getting home on my own? “I’m sorry to have bothered your research.”

Twilight stepped towards me, concern written across her face. “Please don’t think that the princesses or I are overlooking you and Ri.”

“You don’t need to explain it,” I said. “You need to look after your own people before you look after a couple of strangers. I get it.”

“Don’t talk down about yourself like that,” Twilight insisted. “Sure, we’re focused right now on making sure the city is safe, but I’m also looking into ways of getting you home and Ri out of that necklace. Believe me, that will be the next thing we focus on once this crisis is over. I promise you as your friend.”

So we’re friends now, are we? I mused. It was cynical of me; Twilight and the princesses had been kinder to me than they had any right to. I shouldn’t be thinking like this—I need to stay on their good side to get back home... but still, all this waiting around while my family was no doubt worried sick was eating away at me.

I smiled and prepared a response to Twilight, but something on the workbench caught my attention. It was a glassy stone roughly the size of my head that resembled melted candle wax.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the substance.

Twilight looked at the object and frowned. “I wish I knew. It was found inside the Sky Serpent’s tomb, especially where their skeletons were grouped together. The shell is made entirely of blue magic, but the interior is filled with high amounts of pink magic. Too much to be anything natural this far away from a faultline. There were even traces of purple as well, but in amounts so small that I nearly missed it at first. There’s also something else that seems to have bonded to the blue magic, and I’m still trying to figure out what it is.”

I moved around Twilight to get a better look at the substance. As I did, I heard a sound that made my skin icy cold. It was very faint, like a whisper of wind through a crack in a window, but it rose and fell like the tone in someone’s voice.

“What’s that sound?” I asked, my ears pivoting around to follow it. The tone was becoming more frantic, as if it were afraid.

Twilight looked at me, confused. “I don’t hear anything.”

“There’s definitely a sound coming from this thing,” I stepped backwards from the glass-like pile, and the whispers ceased. “Try moving closer.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’ve been studying it for days and I haven’t heard anything.” I noticed a curious twinkle in the princess’ eyes. The kind one gets when they’ve suddenly had an important thought.

“Talk to me princess. What’s going on in that royal head of yours?”

“I don’t know, but we can easily find out.” Twilight levitated a large violet crystal from her workbench. At first glance I thought it was circular, but a closer look showed that the surface was made of hundreds of small hexagons. Inside was a flickering white flame, which seemed to grow as it got closer to me.

“Isn’t that the crystal you bought when we went into Canterlot?”

Twilight nodded. “It’s a Maegus Crystal. We use them to perform magical readings. You see, I think you might have a higher level of pure magic in your body compared to the average earth pony, so I’m going to use this crystal to figure out just how much pure magic is inside of you.”

Well, this is what I get for wanting to know how Twilight conducted her experiments, I thought, nervously shifting weight between my hooves. “This won’t hurt, will it?”

“Of course not,” Twilight assured. “The crystal will only read the magic levels in your body and make a projection that I can interpret.”

“And what about Ri?”

Twilight paused. I saw her ears fold slightly against her head. Was she feeling regret over whatever she did to Ri? Did she even know what she’d unknowingly put Ri through?

“She’ll be fine too,” Twilight finally said. “If anything, the crystal will help us see how much pure magic is inside of her as well.”

She doesn’t know. I don’t know if I was reassuring myself or Ri, but the confirmation brought with it mixed emotions. It was a relief to hear that she was an obsessed and well meaning professor, but I still remembered the fear and anger in Ri’s voice from this morning.

You know nothing about what I went through thanks to your decisions!

I shook my head, hoping my discomfort didn’t show too badly. “So long as nobody is getting hurt, we’re good to go whenever you’re ready, princess.”

With a nod, Twilight pressed the Maegus Crystal against my left side. Its touch was icy cold, but fortunately I was a Canadian and had no trouble standing as still as possible despite its bite.

The white flame inside the crystal leaned towards me, as if trying to lick at my skin. When it threatened to touch the walls of the crystal, Twilight pulled the Maegus Crystal away and set it on the table. She then lowered her head and fired a burst of magic from her horn. The beam phased through the outer shell and struck the white flame.

It roared to life within the crystal like water poured on an alkaline fire and burst free of its prison. Once exposed to the air, the flames joined together to form a projection of an earth pony with a lump on its neck that represent Ri’s necklace. Its outline was white, but inside was a gathering of colours. Blue was the primary one, reaching from the pony’s nose to the tips of its hooves and the end of its tail. Interwoven among the blue were threads of pink darting around like fish in the ocean.

Purple magic dominated the pony’s cranium like a lake on a map. A few rivers trickled down to the necklace, which itself was an entire ocean of purple with only the faintest outline of blue, and no pink.

Of course, I thought as I looked at Ri’s hologram. Ri is just a mind trapped in silver, so of course the memory parasite would swarm around her. That’s probably why she’s still alive, so they can organize her memories to their heart’s content.

Too late did I realized what I was thinking and squeezed my eyes shut. Stupid! Stupid! I’m so sorry Ri.

There was no reply.

“Well, I was right,” Twilight brought forward a quill and parchment and began to sketch the image. “You have a lot more pure magic inside of you. Fortunately it’s only blue magic, which isn’t know for changing a subject twice, and the pink magic content seems average for an earth pony. The purple magic is the one that worries me the most. The way it links your mind to Ri’s is unlike anything I’ve ever seen purple magic do. Normally a unicorn has to direct it to link two minds together, but here, it looks like the purple magic has extended itself over the two of you.”

“Is that why I can talk to her in my mind?”

“Yes. The purple magic is acting like a current running between the both of you. When you take Ri’s necklace off, the current is broken,” Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin. “However, there could be other side effects from all this magic. I might need to run a few more tests on you in the future to make sure your body isn’t being affected in any negative way.”

“Besides making me into a girl pony, you mean,” I said, before something Twilight said caught my interest. “You said that purple magic can interact with memories even after the host is dead, right? Is it possible you could look into the mind of one of these dead Sky Serpents and figure out the specifics of how to operate the portal and contain its magic?”

Twilight frowned. “Purple magic can’t keep the memories from rotting away, only slow them down by categorizing them based on how important the subject found the memories in life. Since we don’t know how long the Sky Serpents have been dead for, there’s a good chance that what we’re looking for has already been rendered unusable.”

“Maybe there’s a higher chance than you think,” I pointed to the taxidermied Sky Serpent skeleton, still doing my best not to look directly at it. “Where did you find this particular skeleton?”

“In the same room as the portal.”

“This is a wild guess, but if this serpent died in the same room as a portal that can open doors through space and time, chances are it would be the top priority in his mind. Which means the purple magic could be keeping it alive for us to dig up.”

Twilight’s lavender eyes shifted nervously as she thought this over. “I suppose there isn’t anything wrong in trying. But I’ll be performing the spell alone. I need your mind here to act as my lifeline in case I get caught among the rotting memories.”

“Of course, your majesty,” I said. At this point, I wasn’t going to complain about being given the chance to help out. Plus, I felt that Ri would be off put if I forced her to look into the mind of one of her own dead.

Twilight walked over to the iron door and told the guards on the other side that she wasn’t to be disturbed. On her way back to the skeleton, her horn lit up as she levitated over books, an hourglass, and a purple magic crystal.

Her movements were like well oiled clockwork. As the book flipped itself in-front of her muzzle, the crystal unraveled into a long thread of purple that hovered between Twilight head and the skull. Finally, the hourglass floated to a rest beside me.

“If I don’t come back by the time the sand in this hourglass runs out, I need you to shake me as hard as you can and break my concentration,” Twilight instructed.

“Can do,” I replied. “Is there anything else you need?”

“Just make sure you don’t take me out too early. I don’t want to go through these decayed memories more than once if I don’t have to, so I’ll need as much time as I can.”

“You’ll get all the time you need and more.”

Twilight gave me an appreciative smile, then took a breath to steady her nerves. With a flicker of her horn, the hourglass flipped itself over, and the tips of the purple magic wove themselves between the serpent’s head and her own.