I lifted my head up from my hooves, and it turned out that the train ride was going to be longer than I had expected. Princess Celestia was sitting off to the side, reading a book, with a small smile on her face. I read the cover for a second and it read 'Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore'. It looked like an interesting read, but the cover kind of looked like an Idiana Jones movie. I've never personally watched any of those movies, but it was safe to assume that the book was an action book. I sighed and opened up my backpack, which was sitting underneath my chair… How did it get there?
Well, I had basically nothing to do. Even if my phone was working, I had no way of checking anything on it. I was in the middle of another universe, in the middle of nowhere on a train. If my phone could somehow pull a signal even with all of that, then it was more technologically advanced than I gave it credit for. I began to rummage through my bag in hopes that I might have kept a book in it or something. A small smile formed across my face as my hoof made contact with what felt like a book cover! Something to do other than sleep(like my dreams were pleasant to begin with. Kept on dreaming about going home). My hoof latched onto the book and to my surprise, it wasn't some textbook I forgot to give back to a teacher.
While it was only one book, it was a life saver for me, as it would keep my mind off of… more saddening topics. On the other hand, it was a book I have read before, but it's been awhile since I've read 'Where the Red Fern Grows'. I flipped open the book and was about to begin reading, until a white fluff ball took up my peripheral vision. "So, what are you reading, Ray?" It was none other than Princess Celestia herself. Why would she get interested in what I was reading? Sure, it might not have been a book she's read before, so I guess there was that.
"Some book from my world. Used to love reading this throughout middle school. It might be… for people younger than I am. If I remember, a third grader should be able to read this just fine even if some say it's not recommended. There's some… less than stellar moments that would make a kid cry, but I love the book for those moments. There ain't anything worse than an author who bullshits their way into keeping- that would probably spoil the book actually," I chuckled. "So, what were you reading?"
"I had a copy of a Daring Do book. Sure, it's written with foals in mind, but it's still a pleasant read. Every book is based on a true experience that the author's been through… with some exaggeration here or there in order to make the story more captivating," Celestia said. Oh great, she ignored my slip of the tongue. "Though I have read the Daring Do series quite a bit in my spare time, while I await for Miss Do to release a new book. So I figured if you have a book I haven't even heard of, I could read along with you," she suggested.
"Aren't you like… a thousand year-old politician? You could probably read this book in an hour," I asked.
"Well, I do sometimes read a little too quickly, but I am mostly a skimmer. You learn to skim quite a bit when your council adds lots of fluff into their legal documents. A lot of unnecessary words to make what the writer is trying to convey… more complicated than it actually is. I'm not that fast at reading when I'm trying to read a book though, I'd like to enjoy the stories that most authors try to tell. Who knows? You might be faster than I am at reading."
"Alrighty then," I say as I begin to read through the first chapter. As it turned out, I was reading a little quickly for Celestia's liking, as she held my hoof down with her magic when I tried to run a page. Maybe I was faster at reading, or the princess really did mean it that she liked to take her time while reading. We kept on reading however, and the hours began to fly by, and before we knew it, we were at the part where things get depressing in the book. I even heard Princess Celestia give a whimper when Old Dan, one of the characters, took their last breath. I closed the book after reading the last page(with Celestia's permission to close the book) and looked up at the princess.
She had long since laid a wing over my back while we read, which felt soothing, and we were now sharing the chair. Even if it was a little cramped on the chair for my liking. We were just huddled up together, reading a book. Princess Celestia was tearing up a little, before letting a small smile take form on her face. "That was… a pleasant read. Is there anything like a sequel? The book does leave a lot of loose ends that a sequel could fulfill."
"There was a movie based on this book, and they gave it a sequel. The movie kinda sucked, and the sequel was worse. Books like this leave a bunch of loose ends for a reason, but I think a sequel would be pretty unfitting for it. It's about an old man recalling his younger days, hunting raccoons with his dogs, and having adventures. I watched a movie once, where it was an old lady telling a story about how a dog saved a town from dying of disease. They then gave it a couple sequels which didn't fit in at all with the original movie," I set the book to the side.
"I suppose that is correct. The worst thing an author can do is try and force a story to continue even after the story has reached a sound conclusion," Princess Celestia agreed. "I do wish there was a sequel to this book, but if it did, then I'd think I'd be disappointed. Mostly because I doubt you'd have a library of your world's books in your backpack," she stretched, hoofs going over her head, and wings fanned out. "Reading for that long does take a lot out of you, doesn't it?" It was then that I noticed that my legs were kinda stiff, so I hopped out of my chair and stretched like a dog.
"Now approaching Canterlot Station, please remain seated while the train comes to a stop!" As it turned out, that stop was now, as I fell flat on my face. I groaned as I began to pick myself up. I really hoped that this was some kind of horrible, very realistic dream that I can wake up from any moment now… if I can't, then I'm definitely dead, and this is what the afterlife is like:
Full of colorful ponies that can talk, make art, and are essentially just people.
Princess Celestia quickly checked if I was okay before deciding to get this whole thing over with. "Ray, do you recall what I did to you at the Crystal Empire? Right before we headed out to the train station?" She asked. I paused and brought my hoof up to my chin. The thought never really flew past my head, since I was zoned out during the whole walk to the Crystal Train Station. I shook my head. "Well, as it stands, we cannot allow your existence to be public. Not only would that drive my little ponies into panic, but you would also attract the attention of Queen Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings."
"And I assume I really don't wanna meet the Queen of my current race?" I asked.
"Well, Queen Chrysalis is… well, I've only really encountered her once. She was rather… blunt with her views on ponies and her motives. She wanted to take over my country and use my citizens as food sources for her Changelings," Princess Celestia sighed. "I'm pretty sure if she knew of your existence, she would try to do something… heinous acts towards you. I don't imagine you'd like to see what happens if you met the Queen."
"Yeah, I think I'd rather not meet that lady. Chances are she'll make me do something and then promptly bite my head off," I grabbed my backpack(after putting my book back in it) with my teeth, and hauled it over my back. "So, what do we do about all of this?" I gestured towards myself, and dropped my backpack when trying to speak… I want my hands back. I want to be able to stand on two legs; to be the bipedal creature I was supposed to be from the day I was born, to the day I died.
"Well, I did use a cloaking spell on you, since I doubt that you know how to shapeshift yet. Actually, I don't know if you ever will… nopony's ever really needed to shapeshift aside from Changelings. As such, most ponies, myself included, can't teach you," Princess Celestia sighed. "Well, that doesn't matter. I have plenty of magic to keep whatever illusion I conjure up to conceal you. It won't be too much trouble."
"You know, sister, I do have some knowledge on shapeshifting… albeit, my abilities are quite limited. I can only really change my appearance into Nightmare Moon, and even then, I doubt I could hold the form for a while," Princess Luna said. I jumped at my other guardian's sudden appearance… where the hell did she come from, and how did she hear our whole conversation?
"I believe I could teach Ray the very basics of transformation magic, but that would require him knowing how to summon magic to begin with. Tell me Ray, have you ever had to use magic before?" Luna asked.
"Well, I never needed to use majoc, like I had any to begin with. In my world, people just have hands… and then we use technology and inventions to fill in the gaps. So say I need to get somewhere fast, but there's an ocean in the way, I can get on an airplane and fly over it. And half a day later, I'm across the ocean, in another continent," I pulled my phone out of my backpack. "Heck, I probably couldn't do basic math if this thing didn't have a calculator in it."
"What's 27 multiplied by 2?" Princess Celestia suddenly shot out of left field.
"54?" I asked, somewhat uncertain if I even got the answer right.
"Well, you can at least do basic multiplication. I'd say it's safe to say you could get by without your world's technology. Especially once we started training you on magic and flight. For now however," Princess Celestia paused and shot some yellow beam from her horn. It was aimed directly at me. I blinked a couple times as Luna conjured a mirror out of thin air. "We will just use illusionary spells to hide your identity."
I stared into the mirror for a couple moments and my eyes widened. Instead of my Changeling face, a colt's face stared back at me. I was looking at a young(my probably my age) unicorn colt. I almost looked like a little version of Princess Celestia, with fur, same eyes, and even a similar 'Cutie Mark' which had a silver sun instead of the yellow sun on the princess's flank. I almost thought I was changed into a pony until I placed a paw on my chest. Instead of a soft, pleasant feeling, I got a cold, still pleasant, feeling of my shell.
"If anybody asks you, you are my younger nephew, brother on Princess Cadence's side. Do not worry, the lineage of most of the royal bloodline isn't exactly common knowledge amongst my subjects. And my little ponies would be more excited to hear that I have another family member, and it would technically be true; you're now my adoptive son." I blinked a couple of times in realization. "And try to hide the fact that you were once human, that information can not be known by the general public." I nodded at that last part.
We stepped out of the train, so I did my best to remain calm. "So, I'm now your son," I asked.
"Well, not by blood, obviously, but yes, you are my son. You're also Luna's son as well, she also signed those adoption forms. And before you ask, no, I am not married to my sister, that would be plain wrong," Celestia said.
Luna began feigning an offendedexpresdion. "But what of all those times you kissed me on the forehead when we were foals? Or when you nuzzle me whenever we greet each other? I thought we had something special, sister," Luna pouted.
"Well, we do. You're my favorite sister, and I do love you. I hate to break your heart, Lulu, but it's not you, it's me."
I just blinked a couple times. These were Equestria's rulers. Two rulers with other wordly power… were joking about how they couldn't be romantically involved with each other… well, at least they weren't actually going to do… it. As Celestia said, it'd messed up, and I wouldn't even know how that would work. Or how horribly inbred the poor offspring of such a thing would be. On the bright side, most ponies mainly just gaved a glance at us as we left the train station. Luckily, my mind drifted elsewhere as I began to take in the sights of the city we were in.
Canterlot(oddly, it shared a name with my highschool, go figure) was… grand to say the least. The city would build on the side of a mansion, probably held up by some seriously strong support beams- wait, it was probably magic. I highly doubt that some wood would be able hold a city as big as this on the side of a mountain. Every house and building were basically the same:
White, main body, yellow(or gold) in the window and door frames.
The main attraction was probably the massive castle I could see even from the train station. Occasionally ponies would lower their head in acknowledgement towards Princess Celestia and Luna, a couple guards would walk by too. Who woulda guessed that the capital city, that hosted the leaders' castle, would be semi-well guard on just some random day of the week. Well, hopefully none of those guards would chop my head off as soon as Celestia's illusion spell fades. I want to at least learn what this world has to offer before I go say 'hi god!'
We eventually made it to the castle gates, after passing through a marketplace with(what I assumed) was a bunch of goods that were conveniently priced. That's until you realize how Luna commented on how stupid it was that a corn cob was selling for 30 bits. Great, another thing for me to learn: currency! Well, I'll learn more about that stuff if I can manage to find and hold down a job. I'd say I'm somewhat smart and mediocre at everything else at best, but I could probably hold down a fast food job… surely there was fast food restaurants here too, right? Anyhow, we walked through the gates, and was shortly met by a unicorn mare.
The unicorn in question had a tan coat, adorned with a bow tie, and had a cutie mark that resembled a clipboard and pen. Her main was a rich, dark brown that was incredibly well groomed. It was a bit on the short side, however, but she looked like a professional. At least I thought that's what she looked like, I have no clue if these ponies even have a fashion standard, but I could assume that they didn't. After all, aside from bow ties, horse shoes, crowns, necklaces, armor,red military coats, and some minor makeup(I noticed that Celestia had very light eyeshadow, Luna too). Ponies seemed to just wander around naked.
Well, Changelings too, I'm assuming. Nobody gawked at me and my apparent lack of clothing when they first saw me
"Ah, Ms. Board, I assume everything has been running smoothly in mine and Lula's absence?" Celestia asked.
"Of course, your majesty. If your country's government couldn't run on its own, without your help, I'd be concerned about your council," Ms. Board said with a chuckle. "And I assume this unicorn is actually the Changeling that you were going to see? The one captured in the Crystal Empire?" I look down at myself, raising a hoof to my face. Instead of the white, furry hoof I had in he illusion, was my black, hole covered, right leg, Well, so much for my illusion. "So why isn't it tied up? Are you going to waterboard it?" Ms. Board asked in a joking tone.
"Man, can I at least be referred to as something that isn't an 'it?' At least say 'them' if telling Changeling genders apart is hard to do," I said. A bit of my accent slowly began to etch its way into my voice as I continued my tirade. "Like feckin' hell, lass, I'm a living thing like ye, ain't I? I'm just…" I sighed, and began to try and hide my Irish accent. It just comes out when I start feeling a bit… mad. "Sorry about that, I've been building a lot of fun memories these last few days. I wake up in some foreign land, get tossed in a dungeon, for no reason I might add, and I'm just a bit on edge right now."
All three mares blinked before Princess Celestia whispered something to Ms. Board. "Okay…"
"Sting Ray, just call me Ray."
"Ray, I suppose I'm responsible for you now. I'm Ms. Board, or Clip W. Board if you want to forego honorifics. I'm the royal secretary for you and Princess Celestia… and sorry about offending you earlier, that… wasn't my intention."
"Yeah yeah, pretend like you don't hate Changelings," I said. "I already hate what I am as is," I muttered under my breath. Luckily for me, nobody noticed my moment of self loathing. I wish I was human that everyone hated, not a pesky bug horse that nobody liked. At least then I'd know how to use my body beyond just being able to walk and sprint. I can't even really spin around, jump(without falling on my face), or even use the horn or wings that I have. I hate Changelings. I began to stuff that into the back of my mind as we walked. I already have enough problems as is, I don't need to be a thing to add to my already growing list of problems.
"So you, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, Bringer of Light, decided to adopt that thing?" Ms. Clip Board asked.
"Well, it's only fourteen, it can't even change forms, use magic, or grow wings. It would be pretty helpful to have around; we can finally start making some leeway on Changeling research now that we have a live subject, who's quite willing, to study. We can get a study on adolescent Changelings and adult Changelings all in one go once Mr. Ray grows up. Plus, Ray seems pretty harmless, what's the worst he could do?" Princess Celestia asked. Did they not think I'm walking just behind them?
"Well, he could be acting, and Changelings can change what they look like. For all we know, that's a fully capable adult that's playing you for a fool with some hypnosis spell," Ms. Board said. Iet out a snort. Maybe I could learn how to use these fangs… it'll keep a certain secretary in line if I do. No, murder isn't something I should even try doing. I apparently have two of the strongest beings in the world as my guardians, and they could very easily step on me to kill me. Plus both of said god-like horse both seem pretty nice, I'd hate to make them disappointed in me. Why the fuck do I care about what they think?
"You'll get used to this sort of thing eventually," I turned my head to Princess Luna with a quizzical expression. "Many ponies were, and still are, scared of what I was during my banishment to the moon. I was a Nightmare, a bringer of death, pain, and suffering. Some ponies can't see me for anything other than the Nightmare, or Nightmare Moon as I was dubbed by the general populace. Many ponies won't give you a chance to see you as anything other than a Changeling, even if you don't think of yourself as such." Luna then started walking practically side by side with me, and draped a wing over my back. "And while it does hurt to be treated with such prejudice, just remember to hold your head up high and don't let your emotions consume you. I had to learn that lesson the hard way."
"I… how did you even stand being on the moon, alone, for so long?" I asked.
"Well, it was mostly my body, with the Nightmare as its host, on the moon. I was dormant during that time, while the Nightmare planned and schemed after its banishment. I did still suffer after my return. My language, my beliefs, everything I knew was so out of date, that my head was spinning after just a day of my return. You're a bit like me, even if you don't think it's as severe as what I have been through. You're in a a world that's…" she paused and whispered. "A literal alien world," She began to speak normally. "And you have no clue as to how it works. Worry not, I've been taught how things work, even if I do sometimes fall back to my old, outdated ways on occasion. So I can teach you."
"My only question for that is… why are you and Celestia so concerned about me? It's been what? A day? Yet you guys are trying to help me out, and even adopted me. It just feels a little sudden, y'know?"
"Ray, you are a child in the mind. You could be an adult Changeling and that wouldn't change what me and Celly are doing for you. You're a child with a rather… unique condition. We doubt you'd have anywhere to go without being assaulted by potential adopters, so our solution was to take care of you ourselves. I do hope that we can somehow find a way to send you home, the thing that brought you here is a bit… unstable right now. But if we cannot find a way to send you home in a timely manner, then we'll make sure you have a home. It wouldn't be right to just send a child off into the world with no preparation or anything to fall back on."
Luna then dragged me away from Celestia and Board(I don't even care, I'm just going to use her last name. Fuck that stupid horse), after letting her older sister know, of course. And dragged me off to another wing of the castle, which had a darker feeling about it. the red carpet we walked on was the same, but the bricks were dark blue, and the windows were much dimmer. "Your room will be in my wing, the Lunar Wing. Most of the castle's business happens in the Solar Wing, Celly's part of the castle, so you won't be bothered by anypony. Sadly the dining hall is in the Solar Wing, but I can come and retrieve you before I head off for breakfast or dinner, so you'll at least have me to bring you along.
"And both wings have their own kitchens, even if mine is a little understocked since I'm usually the only one in the Lunar Kitchen. So you can grab a snack or make your own food if need be, and everything in there is free for you to take… just don't take anything out of the marked cabinet, what's in it is mine, and mine alone." On cue, we walked into the Lunar Kitchen, which wasn't much different from just a regular kitchen with dim lighting, and I quickly found the marked cabinet. I took a peak and tilted my head. "Yes, what I keep in my personal cabinet might be a bit jarring."
"You have 'moonpies' and corn flakes, that sounds pretty sacred to me," I closed the cabinet. "I won't touch anything in there, especially the cornflakes. Where I'm from, cornflakes are like the second coming of Jesus," I said in as serious of a tone as I could pull.
"Who is this… Jesus you speak of?"
"Just some guy that supposedly existed. People worship him and whatnot. I personally don't believe in it, but people make it out like Jesus is going to come back from the dead a second time and bring about the end of 'ze world' I said waving my hand-hooves in a way to add a bit of flare to what I was saying. Salvation comes to everybody who worships him, and everybody else burns alive for the rest of time! Woohoo!" I chuckled. "But seriously, I won't touch anything in that cabinet, I hated it when my brother went into my stash of Skittles and ate half the damn jar.
"He got a cavity for his troubles, so he learnt his lesson."
Luna then led me out of the kitchen and back to the hall, and stopped before a huge double door. "This is my room," Princess Luna then gesture towards a smaller set of doors that happened to be halfway between where we were standing, and Luna's room. "That room right there will be yours. If you wish for more furniture or anything in your room, then just ask and I will make it happen," the doors opened as we approached and I walked inside. It was a quaint little room, it had a coffee table with a couple of cushions next to it, and a fireplace. I could maybe make do with a miniature library, since I doubted the existence of television in Equestria, but that can come later.
"Well, make yourself comfortable, I believe Princess Celestia has sent out a message to six mares that you will be meeting in a few hours at dinner. If you need anything, just knock on my room's doors. I will go catch up on some sleep before our guests arrive," Luna then walked out and promptly trotted down the hall towards her room. Without anything to do, I walked over to the bed, and flopped down in it.
I was out like a light.
I'm just gonna answer a question real quickly. No, this isn't meant to be a role play, but feel free to read it as such. I was more or less trying to write an Iseki, which is basically a fancy term for 'stuck in another world'