Chapter 2

About us

Alex's POV

We teleported to a strange castle. It was crystal and shaped like a tree. Puck left to go tuck Talia into bed. The rest of us, some more technicolor ponies were dragged here, were to a meeting room. Puck came back after 7 minutes.

"Now, that we're all here, fire away." Puck smiled.

"What in tarnation are ya?" The orange pony asked.

"I'm what you call hobgoblin, a sprite-" He started to explain.

"A being made of pure magic. Now-" A zipper closed the purple pony's mouth.

"Now, Twilight, you haven't introduced yourselves to these strangers. Best not to be rude." The dragonesque being said.

She nodded and the zipper was gone. "Right, sorry. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Harmony Element of Magic."

"Spike, Twilight's assistant." The little baby dragon got out some paper and quill.

"Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's student." A light pink unicorn smiled a tiny bit.

"Applejack, Element of Honesty." The orange pony said in a Southern accent.

"Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty." The rainbow maned Pegasus puffed her chest out.

"Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter!" The pink pony smiled.

"Rarity, Element of Generosity." The white unicorn said elegantly.

"Fluttershy, Element of Kindness." The yellow Pegasus said so softly I almost didn't hear it.

"I am Discord, lord of chaos and disharmony. And you better remember to tell the kiddo upstairs." Discord floated around me. His red and yellow eyes stared into mine as he pressed something into my hands.

"I will." I said, not breaking eye contact with him even though I wanted to so badly.

"Good." He smiled and went back to his seat. I looked and it was a business card with his title and face on it.

The taller white queen cleared her throat. "I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria along with my sister, Princess Luna, who will be here soon."

Suddenly, a blue pony with stars in her mane appeared. She regarded us with a quizzical look and sat near her sister.

"I'm Alexander Xanatos, call me Alex. That's my teacher, Puck. And my little sister, Talia's asleep upstairs." I gestured.

"Ok, now, are there any questions?" Puck smiled lazily, but I knew he wanted to check on Talia again.

"Well, Alexander, darling, I do have one… Are all of your kind so muscular?" Rarity asked.

"I'm the expection." I smiled.

"You're not fully human, are you, Alexan- Alex?" Starlight asked.

"What gave that away?" I asked, amused.

"Well, now that one of you isn't injured, I could focus and feel the magic coming off of you. You have less magic than Puck's, well he is made of magic, but it is much more potent. Talia's also like you, isn't she?" She tilted her head slightly in a curious fashion. It was too damn cute.

"She is… but she isn't." I frowned.

They looked at me then Puck.

"Talia's not your average Halfling. While Alex was born to another Halfling, she was not. When she was born, she had two human parents. But she was premature and almost died… Until I saved her life while teaching Alex how to heal. However, she was a lot closer to death than I would have liked and I had to bind her soul to her body and mind." Puck paused as the ponies and princesses gasped. Even Discord looked shocked.

"This came with consequences. Two actually. The first was that my magic altered her DNA, the stuff that makes her her, and the second is that her life became tied to her magic. Because there was no one to teach her, her magic got weaker and more and more of it was being dedicated to keeping her alive, but it's gotten better now that I'm teaching her." He finished.

"What do you mean there was no one to teach her?" Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"I forgot about her. I had to focus on Alex." He frowned. He regretted that.

"Wait, you said your magic altered her DNA. How did it change her?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It overwrote her paternal DNA and now..." Puck turned back into Owen. "Puck and I, Owen Burnett, are her fathers. She is mostly Puck's, but she has some of my DNA in her." He adjusted his glasses.

"That's impossible! You're saying she has more than 100% genetic material." Twilight exclaimed.

"I don't know how it works, but I'd rather not look a miracle in the mouth. Especially one like this." Owen said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on my daughter."

"Let me know when she wakes up." I told him.

"Yes, Alexander." Owen nodded at me and left.

"He gets worried when this happens." I explained.

"It's happened before?" Spike looked up from writing.

"Unfortunately." I grimaced.

"What was that?" Twilight asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Puck turning into Owen, what was that?" She clarified.

"Oh, that. It's his punishment for not going back to Avalon, where all the Fae live most of the time, when I was born. He can only be Puck when protecting or teaching us. He still could have been Puck right now, but I think he wanted to the reveal as dramatic as possible." I said.

"And dramatic it was." Discord smiled.

"Why… does your magic have more sway than the Puck's? Are you higher up than him?" Luna asked.

"Yes, the prince of Avalon, grandson of the queen. Talia became princess when my father adopted her. After we figured out she had magic and use it." My lip twitched up slightly. That was a hectic day.

"Me, me, me!" Pinkie waved her hoof in the air like a kid.

"No one's stopping you." I smiled.

"Do humans eat cake?" She asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows, surprised.

"She's planning a "Welcome to Ponyville" party for you." Twilight explained.

"Yeah, we eat cake. We also eat meat as well as vegetables and fruit." I told them.

"Omin-, omni- Twilight, how do you spell omnivore?" Spike asked.

"O-m-n-i-v-o-r-e." She recited.

"When is this party?" I asked.

"Normally, it'd be after this Q&A, but Talia's hurt and she should be at the party sooo… When she's better." Pinkie thought.

"Oh, she should be fine after a day's rest. Overexerting herself is the problem now." I touched my finger to my lip.

"Oh, we know a lot about that." Twilight looked teasingly at Applejack.

"Ah learned my lesson, Twi!" She huffed.

"I think I covered everything you needed to know." I thought.

"Thank you for your patience, Alexander. I'm sure you would like to rest soon." Celestia told me.

"We'll tell you about Equestria in the morning." Twilight chirped.

"Thanks." I stifled a yawn.

"Go back your homes, little ponies. You can see them tomorrow." Luna told them.

They slowly left. Discord gave me a decidedly satisfied nod and teleported away. Luna came up to me.

"Let us know if Discord gives you any trouble." She said.

"We're tricksters. We can handle him." I smiled.

"Very well, but statement still stands. We will help you get home anyway we can, young prince." She had a serious look on her face.

"Thank you." I bowed.

"Come, Luna. We must return to the castle." Celestia told her.

"Coming, Sister." She called as she went to her.

"Let us know if you need anything." Twilight came up to me.

"I will." I nodded.

"Do you nee-" She started.

"I can find where Puck and Talia are. Good night." I waved as I found them.

I opened the purple door and saw Puck cast something on the window.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"It went good. Pinkie is planning us a Welcome to Ponyville party after Talia feels better." I said, kneeling and kissing Talia's forehead. "I'm sorry, Tai. We should have listened to you."

"You're going to sleep in the room one down from Talia's." Owen's voice told me. Puck frowned and shook him back.

"Got it." I said.

"I warded her room so nothing bad can get in. I've warded yours too." He turned to face me.

I nodded and stuck my hand in my pocket, pulling out the card Discord gave me. Puck took it and checked it. Deciding it was safe, he put it on the dresser.

"What do you think about him?" I asked.

"He's not 100% good, but I think he respects us enough not to harm Talia." He said after a bit. Then he smiled. "I think Rarity was looking you over."

"Ew, Puck, that's gross." I blanched.

"I'm just saying what I saw." He shrugged.

"I don't care how long we're here; I'm not fucking a pony." I growled.

"At least, Talia has someone waiting for her back home." Puck looked at his daughter.

"She's lucky. Guys haven't been trying to get into her pants since forever because she's rich." I sighed.

"How dare you put that image in my head." Puck frowned at me.

"It's true." I told him.

"Alex, it's not your fault those losers couldn't handle your lifestyle." He said.

"At least, we weeded out the racist ones pretty quick." I shrugged.

Talia made a small sleepy noise as she cuddled her fox.

"Give her one last kiss then we'll leave her to sleep." I told him.

Puck walked over to Talia and brushed her hair and kissed her cheek, "Sleep well, little trickster."

Then he turned back into Owen. He gently petted her black wavy hair, following its soft curves. I was kinda envious of her hair. It was so soft and shiny. I could never get my hair like that and she just did it and she wasn't even at her full power.

Owen kissed her forehead, "Good night, Sweetheart. We love you."

We turned out the lights and went to bed.

Alex's POV End