Sam's POV
"At some point my suspension of disbelief is just going to flip me the bird and leave, if stuff like this keeps happening." I said as I stared in near disbelief at the, who I assumed to be, the princesses while at the same time trying to nudge Areta off the bed and trying to get out of the bed myself to show some respect to the near all-powerful rulers. That is until I realized that pony society doesn't have medical gowns suited for my needs. So I opted to stay under the sheet.
The blue one just cocked an eyebrow at me in a questioning look. After a few seconds she dropped it to reveal, much to my surprise, a slight glare.
"I beg your pardon?" Celestia asked, confused by statement.
"Nothing your majesty. I would get up and bow to you except that this sheet is the only thing keeping myself from the world if you get my meaning." I stated. I felt completely awkward and, once I noticed it, surprised that they just popped in. Equestria seemed to be really lax on a lot of things.
"I am afraid not Sam."
"How do I explain this?" I thought for a few moments until I thought of what I wanted to say "In my society you don't go around showing your personal baby maker to the rest of the world."
Realization dawned on her and I gotta give her credit she didn't blush like most would. Though that wasn't the case for her sister.
"Well Hmhmm I understand. My name is Celestia and this here is my sister Luna."
"Hello Celestia, Luna." I said as more of a formality than anything else. Celestia returned my greeting with a nod and smile while Luna scowled slightly and not much else.
"Is there something troubling you princess?" I directed towards Luna.
Luna said something to her sister who whispered back, they kept this up for a few more minutes before Luna teleported away with a pop.
I raised my brow in a questioning way much the same way Celestia did earlier.
"Luna is... troubled by your appearance. You bear an uncanny resemblance to one adversary that we could not defeat on our own or with the elements. It does not help that you seem to hold bands of power as well." She said trying to cover for her sister.
"From what I have heard the elements are supposed to be all-powerful right? How could you not defeat an enemy with them?" I asked, legitimately curious.
"No doubt having a dryad by your side you know the tale of the band's history?"
"I do."
"Well there is more to it. At one point my sister and I tried to stop the evil one but we failed. The bands are the ultimate tool and his were just too powerful for the elements. We also could not stop him with our regular magic. Luna has feared that someone like him would return someday with the same abilities. It just so happens that, physically, you two are near identical."
"That troubles me." I told her, realizing what the implications of me arriving in this world truly were.
If bands could get so powerful enough as a tool that they supercede the elements I could be in hot water if I wasn't careful about the way I handled this. Especially if another wearer were to appear who could get stronger than I could with a skewed morality or some sort of complex.
"I know of at least one thing that differs us from each other princess." I said.
"And what pray tell, is that?" She said, interested to hear my response.
"I won't become obsessed with power. I will protect and defend where needed. I will live in Ponyville, get a job, and eventually a house. I may not ever have a family again but I can have friends. I will prove my worth to you and princess Luna in due time. For now I would like to discuss any matters you had concerning me." I stated with fierce determination. If I had payed a little more attention I would have seen Celestia dart her eyes to Areta who was blushing when I talked about family.
Celestia's face remained neutral. "I can see you are determined but actions speak louder than words and only time will tell what kind of wearer you are. Applejack has told me about the living arrangements you have made with her. I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain as well." She glared at me as she said that last part.
"I wouldn't think otherwise princess." Holding up my hands for emphasise
She continued "Good. Once a month you will report to Canterlot with the element bearers and we will have a discussion about your time here. That is all I have to discuss with you. There was more but it seems that it has already been taken care. I bid you farewell Sam." With that her horn glowed and she vanished from sight.
I let out a slight breath, afraid of how the ruler would deal with me. Honestly, I thought that she would do a lot more and ask more than one question, especially ones that actually pertained to my being here. I decided to put it aside for now and focus on my new task: getting to the farm.
"Areta could you hand me my clothes?" I asked her, gesturing to the garments on the chair in the corner.
She got up with a nod and handed them to me. She then left the room to give me privacy. I put on the clothes that I could see had been recently washed and repaired. Good thing too since they were starting to smell and I was pretty sure that the wolves did a number on them. I donned my, now fitted, undergarments, green T-shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and beach sandals. I would need to get new clothes made by someone in town if I didn't want to walk around the apple house naked while my clothes were being washed as well as thank the pony who repaired and fitted them for me. That was until I realized that they would have had to have taken my measurements while I was unconscious which did not please me.
Once I was done, I left the room and starting wandering around the hospital. I eventually found a nurse who pointed out that I could have easily called for an escort and that the stairs were at the end of the hallway I was in, it would be an understatement that I was embarrassed by my own unrestfulness and stupidity.
I walked down the stairs and went to check out. I had to sign my self out and when I was done with that found Areta and Applejack talking to each other. When they saw me approach they quickly put an end to their conversation with Areta looking away and Applejack giving me a wierd look. I gave her a questioning one of my own but she chose to ignore it which in turn prompted me to drop it for the time being.
"So girls shall we head out? I am dying to finally sleep in a comfortable bed of my own free will." I told them. Applejack nodded her head and rose along with Areta. "Follow me. It's a few minutes walk. Is that alright?" She asked in more of a questioning tone then a concerned one. Maybe these people weren't as naïve as I originally thought.
"It's fine by me. Right now I feel like I could do a marathon." Nope.
"Alright then."
We then spent the next few minutes and the entire walk to the farm, completely silent until we arrived.
"Well here it is. I will go in and let the family know you are here. You already met Big mac but you still have to meet my sister and granny." She followed this up with walking into the house. Areta and I just waited for a few minutes as she rounded up her family.
Eventually they filed out and stood facing us. First was who I assumed was the granny and next to her was Big mac, followed by Applejack, and lastly by a really small one with a bow in her hair.
"Sam, Areta, this here is Granny smith and Applebloom. You already know Big mac." She said as she pointed to her family members.
"Hello, like Applejack said my name is Sam and this here is my close friend Areta. We will be staying with you for the time being until I am on my feet. It is nice to meet you all." I bowed slightly. Have to give the little one and the grandmother credit, they didn't bat an eyelash at me. This town's total number of daily craps given must be incredibly low and shared between them all. So far not many of these ponies seem to care all that much by two mysterious creatures, who I assumed they have never seen anything like before, roaming around their town with basic free rein.
They greeted me in turn.
Applejack saw my slightly baffled look and decided to answer my thoughts "They already know what happened Sam."
"That explains some things." I told her.
The family dispersed and Applejack led Areta and I upstairs to our rooms. That is until I realized that we would have only one room between the two of us and in that one room was only one bed. Granted it was big enough for someone of my height and was wide enough to comfortably hold the both of us. I admit that I liked sleeping with someone I do need my privacy. I guess I had to just hold out till I could afford a two bedroom anything.
"At the risk of sounding ungrateful, why is there only one bed?" I said voicing the least ungrateful question in my head at the moment.
"That is the only bed that could fit ya." She said with a combination of a scowl and a knowing face which looked absolutely ridiculous.
"I didn't mean to sound ungrateful but it's just... nevermind it will do, I shouldn't complain." I said trying to diffused the growing tension. Applejack let it go for now or at least I hoped she did.
"It is getting late Sam, we should turn in for the night." Areta said. I realized that the sun was setting. I wasn't all that tired but I could force myself asleep. I assumed that Areta wouldn't go to bed alone and she looked fairly tired.
"You're right. Lets turn in." Applejack left and closed the door on her way out. I decided to take off my shirt knowing I would be more comfortable without it.
This didn't seem to sit well with Areta though "Why are you taking off your clothing?!" she all but yelled at me. I just stood there in shock at her sudden outburst. I eventually regained my composure enough to respond to her.
"I was just getting comfortable is all. If it bothers you so much I would be happy to put it back on." I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
She eventually replied but not before studying my exposed torso "The process of a man taking his shirt off in front of a dryad sends very... sensual signals." She said with a blush.
It took my a moment to realize what she meant and my eyebrows shot up, almost comically, in shock at this revelation. I quickly donned my shirt while apologizing to her. To be honest she didn't seem all that mad about it after getting over her initial shock. She almost seemed like she didn't want me to put my shirt back on, though I chalked that up to me just looking to deeply into things and shrugged it off. We layed down in the bed only instead of together we were apart with our backs to each other. I got lucky twice, I wasn't going to go for three. I was about to fall asleep until something hit me.
"Areta?"
"Yeah?"
"You said that dryads are all female, what did you mean by male? Not to mention how do you even discern yourself as female if dryads only have one gender and how do you know about males in general?" I assumed that the reason she had breasts would also be answered.
These questions seemed to shock her and it took her a few minutes for her to respond.
"Well you see...um... dryads and the band-wearers species used to be very... close."
Realization dawned on me by what she meant after a few moments of pondering her word choice. But I had to make sure.
"What do you mean by close?"
"My sisters, who were alive while they roamed Equestria, told me that we used to... seduce males for better and stronger children for both species, most of this we did without them noticing." I could all but hear her blush while she spoke.
"That's... interesting." I stated not knowing what else I could say. She didn't speak either probably due to her just wanting to end this conversation and go to sleep much like I did now regretting having all the answers to my questions.
Eventually we both fell asleep.
A/N: I am starting to come up with ideas for other stories that I want to write but don't know if it would be the best thing for me to start something else while doing this. If you guys do want me to try my hand with another story just PM me and I will give it more thought. Today's story has more of a solemn origin to it. I started writing it down thursday but didn't finish it until today during lunch at school. The only reason I could though was because we were on lockdown. Apparently there had been a shooting across the street at a pick'n'save involving some of my classmates. We were in the cafeteria for about an hour and a half until they sent us home around 11:30. I kept myself occupied by quickly finishing up the story while my friends played with my Uno cards I kept in my backpack for downtime in class. Enough with the origin I have other things to discuss. Ohh scandalous dryads, which is how they kind of were in greek mythology. I am going to have to plan out my timeline for the next few chapters accordingly since I don't remember how long applebuck season lasts and I need to time the arrival of newest character and another event that I have in mind which can't happen during applebuck season since it would be extremely detrimental to both. I want to do more action soon and have a scene that I want that will quell this urge. It doesn't help though that I have been obsessed with 'I need a hero', mostly the version from shrek 2 which I like more to be honest. I also have heard it enough times that I can play it in my head so that isn't helping me either. See ya on the flip side.