A Stranger Among Them
Chapter 2: A Rough Start
Chapter 2 officially opens here. I received some nice critique from friends and bronies and other readers alike. Overall, I got the same complaint from a few ponies: Chapter 1 was a little rushed. Well, Chapter 2 will be significantly slower. To explain, Tenebrae attacked blitzkrieg-style because he wanted no foreign influence but his own shaping No-Name's feelings about the world, the better to twist him to his will. Well, EPIC FAIL, and Tenebrae will be taking his sweet time from here on out.
This chapter will bear witness to the introduction of Luna. Everypony, I warn you. There will be CANTERLOCK and use of majestic plural, at least at first. As of the Season 2 finale, Luna does seem to have improved greatly, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard, and they will be back for No-Name to have to help get rid of. Now, Luna's not going to be too bitchy here, despite the chapter name. Neither is No-Name, but since he's sarcastic and rather snarky, Luna's going to get offended pretty easily, even though she has a rather prankish nature, as seen at the end of Luna Eclipsed (Trolluna, anypony?).
Also, my little sister from a different mister (and missus too, get your mind out of the gutter) has been kind enough to start drawing me a cover picture for this story, which I will (probably) use to help upload it to EqD.
Legal disclaimer was last chapter. Deal with it.
Now then, it looks like it's time…
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( •_•)⌐■-■
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…to get on with the show.
YEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Canterlot was a lot different than what I expected, to say the least.
From what Twilight Sparkle told me, as well as the others, it was a royal city, with gold, silver, jewels, et cetera. Well, it did have gold, silver, jewels, and all that. But I expected it to be something of a city of gold.
Not a place with twisting towers, purple gold and white décor, and towers everyfreakingwhere.
As Princess Celestia and I flew over the city proper toward a large palace/castle structure higher up on the mountain on which Canterlot was built, she was explaining to me the history of the city, things I generally didn't care about, and how a famed author named J. R. R. Coltien based his city Minas Tirith in the Lord of the Rings on it.
I watched the daily life unfold below me as I flew past the city. Ponies everywhere were going about normal lives, oblivious to the fact that an embodiment of darkness had made a threat against their country.
I didn't notice that I had stopped to observe, but the Princess advanced a little farther along before she did. She stopped, turned, and flew back to me. She cast an inquisitive glance my way when I looked up.
"What troubles you, No-Name?" she asked, concern evident. How nice to have ponies who actually care about me! Even though we only met three days ago.
"It's nothing," I said evasively. I didn't really want to go into it. I really felt uncomfortable with the idea of letting a princess play psychiatrist with me when we had only met three days ago.
"You know, you seem like you were made for the element of Honesty, because that was a pretty blatant and obvious lie," she said in a stern, but still kind voice.
"It's them, okay? Down there. Going about their daily lives, not a care in the world! Free! Free to make their own choices, do what they want, and they're happy! But not me. Instead, some demi-god of darkness drags me into this world, I have no memories, and as far as I can tell, from watching some of Rainbow Dash's movies, it looks like I'm the damn Chosen One. Why didn't I get a say in my destiny?"
The Princess was quiet for a long moment, watching me carefully.
"It seems I have figured out why your cutie mark is a flame," she finally said.
"Oh? Do tell," I said, genuinely interested. Anything to help me find out more about who I was.
"It seems that you, like a flame, are not meant to be restrained. You are one of the ponies who desire above all else the desire to choose your future. I suppose that is why you became a Pegasus rather than a unicorn, like he obviously thought."
"Yeah? Why's that?" I asked, feeling disappointed. I thought it was going to be something I hadn't already pieced together.
She nodded at my back. I turned and saw only my wings.
"To many an Earth Pony and unicorn, wings symbolize the ability to go freely wherever you want. The ability to choose where you want to go, and what you want to do. But they cannot, because they are trapped on the ground. They rarely, if ever, are granted the chance to soar above the clouds," she said, continuing. "When they finally are able to find what makes them truly happy, it was their decision to make. Fret not, my little nameless friend. Like everypony else here, you have a say in your destiny, and one day, the choice you make will grant you the freedom you seek."
I tried to keep it together, but the next thing I knew, I was laughing my head off. I even flipped upside-down because of how I was feeling.
"W-what? Why are you laughing?" asked Celestia, sounding very confused and slightly offended.
"Just- just… well, YOU. That whole thing! Never knew you were that deep, Princess. I mean, I knew you had to have it in you, but I never thought I could draw it out that quickly." I managed to recover and flipped myself back over, after which, I started to fly myself toward the palace we were heading towards, as fast as possible. I looked back at the Princess as I flew. She looked very surprised, but smiled and flew after me.
We landed on a balcony of sorts, where five ponies were there to greet us. Four were white, with stony expressions of focus, and who all wore golden armor. The fifth was taller than they, but shorter than the both of us. His armor was much finer than theirs, with slots in the back of his torso piece for his wings. His coat was grey, his eyes the brightest shade of blue possible, and an expression of focus much like his four companions was currently directed at the Princess.
"Greetings Princess," he said in a somewhat deep and gravelly voice, as he lowered his head. He sounded rather aged.
"Good morning, Captain. How was everything while I was gone?" asked the Princess casually, apparently deciding that saying she was attacked by a dickish demi-god would give this old geezer a heart attack and kill him.
"The castle's been on high alert since the news came back of that pony who attacked you and your consorts. I've never seen the Nightmares that tight since their inception. Knowing Prince Shining Armor, he would have called us off, but thankfully, he's been rather cooperative about it. Probably just to protect Princess Cadenza, though," the elder pony said, still bowed in respect. When he mentioned Shining Armor, he seemed rather disapproving about him.
"I understand. No-Name, this is Captain Squall. He serves as the head of the Solar Guard, my unit of Royal Guardsponies. Princess Luna has her own guard unit as well, but she currently hasn't elected somepony to lead them. She figures it's better if they all work together rather than have to follow somepony's orders."
Captain Squall looked up at me, inspected me quickly, then nodded at me. I nodded back.
"Where is he from?" asked the Captain.
"I don't know, and neither does he, though he's connected to that pony who attacked me. Which is why I brought him here. With the combined might of Princess Luna, Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, the Royal Guards, and myself, should Tenebrae show himself again, he will be hard-pressed to survive."
I wish I shared the Princess' optimistic view of the situation. Based on the way Tenebrae had just up and shrugged off the combined attack of three ponies, one of them being an alicorn, I don't think Tenebrae will be much affected by three of them, along with this Prince Shining Armor.
"You may return to your post, Captain. I need no guard to watch me while I lead our guest to his room."
Squall bowed his head again, turned around, and began to walk back into the palace. Celestia and I followed him down a spiral staircase into an open hall.
The walls inside this castle were much less decorated than the outside of the castle, or even the city proper. Rather than gold and gems, the walls were made of plain stone. Several banners hung off the walls, some depicting suns, others depicting moons.
Squall and the four guards went to the left, toward what I suspected was the mane complex of the castle. Celestia and I, however, went the opposite direction. She led me toward a much wider staircase that led up into a different wing of the castle. There were several different rooms up here. Most of them were simple bedrooms, although they looked very grand compared to the simple rooms in Ponyville. I saw a kitchen, dining room, living room, even a game room.
Watching me look everywhere, Celestia explained, "This is the living wing of the castle. Most of the time, the guests live up here. Mine and Luna's rooms are in a different wing, so currently, you'll be the only one living in this wing. I'll have one of my servants, one who specializes in cooking, fix you something, unless you find it in yourself to do it on your own. If you need anything, let any of the castle workers or myself know. When you meet Luna, I'm sure she would be more than happy to oblige as well. However, I now have to go attend to my duties. Pick any room you see, and you are welcome to explore anywhere in Canterlot Castle, or the town. I will speak with Luna on when we will begin teaching you to use your Pegasus magic. Enjoy your stay, my nameless friend."
She turned and left, heading back the way we had come. I watched her go before I looked around for a room to stay in. All of them were literally exactly the same, just a few hooves apart from each other, so I walked into one right next to the kitchen. The bed was a four-poster bed, with violet curtains. A window opposite the bed looked out over Canterlot. A red rug was laid out over the polished white tile floor, and a very large bookcase dominated the far wall. A little in front of that was a table with writing utensils and the like. A thought hit me. Would I have to use my mouth to write? Above me, a crystal chandelier dangled and lit the room brightly.
I liked the room, overall. First thing's first, I decided to read. Nothing else to do, really, except explore, but I had already decided to explore the city later. For now, I felt like enjoying my room.
A book caught my eye, closer to the ground. Logic puzzles. Goody. I love puzzles.
Naturally, I pulled it out and put it on the table, looking through it. Within moments, I was buried within it. I enjoyed the puzzles Twilight Sparkle had posed me in an attempt to kill time that second day. We spent a few hours just giving riddles to each other, getting more and more complex, and harder and harder. I managed to pull a real nice one moments after I had solved one that had taken me nearly half-an-hour. Here's how mine went: You are the ruler of a medieval empire and you are about to have a celebration tomorrow. The celebration is the most important party you have ever hosted. You've got 1000 bottles of wine you were planning to open for the celebration, but you find out that one of them is poisoned. The poison exhibits no symptoms until death. Death occurs within ten to twenty hours after consuming even the minutest amount of poison. You have over a thousand slaves at your disposal and just under 24 hours to determine which single bottle is poisoned. You have a handful of prisoners about to be executed, and it would mar your celebration to have anypony else killed. What is the smallest number of prisoners you must have to drink from the bottles to be absolutely sure to find the poisoned bottle within 24 hours?
Upon looking through the book, I found that these logic puzzles weren't riddles; they had to do with numbers. Hmm… interesting. I looked up the instructions to one I was currently on, with a 9x9 grid of boxes, each 3x3 had a bolder outline around it, and there were several numbers within the box already, one per box. Apparently, I had to find a way to make a numerical sequence from 1 to 9, using each number once in each column, row, and 3x3. Sounds fun.
Knowing the Princess probably wouldn't like the idea of me marking in the books themselves, I copied the grid and numbers onto a blank sheet of parchment (and that alone took me nearly fifteen minutes, due to the fact that the mouth, as expected, does not make a good writing conduit, but I have nothing better to write with).
For some reason, this puzzle seemed easier than I expected. Within a few minutes, I had solved it, and started drawing out a new one. That one didn't last long either. I lost track of the time around my third or fourth puzzle. The pile of sheets of parchment had soon been reduced a sizable amount. When I finally felt the effects of hunger, I stopped and looked out the window.
A golden sunset dazzled the sky, with the light reflecting off of the clouds very brightly. I was very much surprised. I didn't think I had solved that many. I looked down at my parchment. It was easy to tell my writing with my mouth had improved greatly. While the lines on the first puzzles were crooked, the boxes misshapen, and the numbers malformed, the much later ones had gotten neater and neater. By the time I had gone to compare the first one and the last, it was like an entirely different pony had written it down.
Well, feeling satisfied that I had successfully wasted an entire day doing nothing productive, I started making my way over to the kitchens to see what there was I could make.
As expected, and all the more disappointing because of it, no meat was to be found. I mean, I know they're equestrians and all, but no meat at all? Not even ham or such? And that's not to mention I hate veggies. I figured it might have been just Ponyville, but nope, Canterlot too seemed to share the vegetarian sentiment. Grumbling under my breath, I went over to the store cupboards, looking for anything to use.
The cabinets contained plates and the like, the drawers contained silverware, and the pots and pans hung from wooden pegs on the walls. Two doors were at the back of the room, one was made of regular wood, but one was made of metal. Inside the regular wooden one was a normal pantry, with various foods everywhere, which I started taking note of, to see if I could make anything. The metal door was what separated the really cold refrigerator (and a large one, at that) from the warm kitchen.
Well, it seemed my fears were laid to rest. There were some meat products in here. Mostly dairy-related, like eggs, but I spotted some packages of bacon, lamb, and beef on the far wall of the refrigerator. Seems not all ponies are vegetarians, after all. Feeling delighted at the fact that I might get to eat normal food (for me, anyway), I started taking out some of those packages of beef patties, as well as some cheese and bacon, intent on making myself a good old-fashioned hamburger. Good thing I somehow had the knowledge of how to use a grill.
And that is really what bugs me. Knowledge has to be some form of memory, I mean, you had to learn it sometime, but for some reason, I knew a lot of stuff, but I still don't know where I learned it from, or exactly how it is I know it. I noticed that when Twilight and I were telling riddles. I noticed that I knew a lot of the stuff, and yet I had absolutely no idea how I knew it, and it gave me a monster headache to think about it. The first one I'd had since before Tenebrae appeared, and the only one since also.
Within moments, it was heated, and I had two patties sizzling in a manner most appetizing on it. The bacon was sizzling next to it also. I was hungry, and I was going to let no one ruin this meal for me.
"HELLO CITIZEN!" came a voice from right behind me. I yelped and literally flew up and hit the ceiling in utter shock from the loudness and proximity of the voice to my left ear. I had also sent the package of cheese flying across the room, where it hit a few pots and pans hanging on the wall, causing them all to fall off with loud clangs, which I'm pretty sure may have woken up the entire castle.
As I rubbed my head, where a sizeable lump had already started to rise, I looked up at my new "friend." She, for her voice was unmistakably female, was as tall as me, with a long flowing mane of blue, topped with a black three-pointed tiara, and a darker blue body. She wore a navy-blue chestpiece embossed with a crescent moon and the area around her cutie mark, also a crescent moon, was navy-colored as well, with several circles of the same material a little down her flank. She was an alicorn like Celestia, but this one looked quite a bit younger than her. She appeared very surprised at what had just transpired right before her eyes, staring down at me with a look of some disdain.
"DIDST WE FRIGHTEN-"she started, but she stopped, grinned apologetically, and lowered her voice a hell of a lot. "We're sorry. Didst we frighten thee?"
I looked over her shoulder to see who the other pony with her was, but saw no one. Confused, I stared back up at her and asked, "What do you mean by 'we?'"
She blinked.
"It is tradition to use the Royal We when addressing our subjects, is it not?" she asked, sounding slightly impatient.
That explained it. I realized she had been using Majestic Plural. I realized this must be Princess Luna. I could see what Celestia meant when she said Luna had trouble adjusting. Who talks like that normally?
Well, apparently her.
"Oh! I see now," I said when that realization dawned on me. "Well, your older sister doesn't use it anymore, and I'm not quite certain I'm one of your subjects, to be honest."
She cocked her head at me suspiciously.
"How didst thou know that mine sister was Tia?"
I stood up, checked the still-sizzling meat on the grill until satisfied it was almost done, and returned my gaze to the Princess.
"Well, considering you have a total of three moons on you, you're an alicorn, and your sister told me you had quite a bit of trouble adjusting to normal culture after a thousand-year imprisonment on the moon, it makes sense to think that you're Princess Luna."
Luna nodded her head.
"Indeed I am. Thou looks different from anypony I've ever seen. I've never seen one with a black coat before, nor one with as bright red a mane as thine. What didst thou say thy name was?" she asked, interested.
"I didn't. I don't remember my name, Princess. I don't remember anything about who I am. All I have to go by is what knowledge I have, which I must have gotten from somewhere, and what little of my personality I know about myself. Your sister and my friends down in Ponyville referred to me by No-Name while I was there the last few days, though. I suppose it'll have to do."
She looked slightly alarmed by this.
"Thou meanst that thou was the pony this Tenebrae attacked Tia and her friends for the sake of getting? Thou art the one not from our world? I must say, that explains why I have seen nopony who looks like thou. It seems to us- I mean, me-, that this Tenebrae wanted thee to be an outsider among the common ponies- a stranger among them, if thou wilt- so that even if he failed in turning thee to his side, thou wouldst likely not be accepted by our race due to thou being so… different. Clearly he dost not understand our race very well, for it seems we have welcomed thee with open arms."
I'm not gonna lie. This archaic speech is really starting to screw with me.
"Apparently not," I agreed.
Luna sniffed, apparently wondering why the room suddenly smelled so good. The bacon was almost done, and the patties were ready. I got out a plate and used a spatula to scoop the patties onto it, before doing the same for the bacon.
"I have never seen one who cooks their food with meat before. We do not find it barbaric, but we still prefer vegetables. Tell me, No-Name, what is it thou art making?" she asked, genuinely curious.
I smiled as I grabbed a bun from the pantry.
"This, my dear Princess, is something called a hamburger. I've been craving one of these ever since I got here. Do you happen to know if there's any ketchup in the refrigerator?"
Luna blinked again.
"No-Name, I have been sealed away in the moon for nigh on a millennium. I am not familiar with the culinary confections of the here and now. Pray tell, what is this… catch-up?"
Well, that makes things rather blunt. I completely forgot about that.
"Oh. I'm sorry, you wouldn't know, my mistake. It's just a sauce topping made from tomatoes. It's red, thick, and very tangy if it's made right. Personally, I love to put it on my hamburgers."
Luna blinked again. Now, I was starting to get rather irritated. I shuffled again.
"So, did you want something, Princess? If I'm not mistaken, this isn't just for idle chatter."
The princess rolled her eyes in a thoughtful way before answering, "Nay, it wasn't. However, the purpose of me being here was merely to meet thou, No-Name, before I took on my duties tonight, though I must admit, I didst not expect anypony to be in the kitchens this late. I expected thee to be in thine room. According to my dear sister, thou hast been sitting in there all day, working on number games. Art thou reclusive on purpose?"
I half-laughed, half-coughed.
"No, not on purpose. I just had my mind made up to spend the day here at the castle. I figured I'd have plenty of time to explore the town itself tomorrow, after learning how to make lightning strike ponies."
I was only joking (when am I not, aside from when a demi-god of darkness is threatening your friends?), but the Princess did not seem to be in the mood for amusement. Her eyebrows shot upward into her mane so fast they would have put Rainbow Dash to shame. Her mouth fell open in astonishment. But that was quickly replaced by a look of anger.
"Thou wouldst learn the noble and most sacred art of Pegasus magic, merely for the purpose of AMUSEMENT!"
Uh-oh, she was shouting again. This is not good.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Geez, princess, I was only joking!" I shouted, cowering, and trying to put an apologetic look on my face. But, as it turns out, I couldn't help but crack a smile. First instinct told me I was dead; second instinct told me to clamp my teeth firmly on my tongue, so I did, and I stopped smiling. However, that did not stop the princess from noticing the grin.
"AND THOU ART NOT EVEN SORRY! TRULY THOU ART UNWORTHY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS MOST SACRED AND NECESSARY ART!"
I raised a defensive hoof, attempting to stop her for a moment.
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to grin there, I just… well, that's just what I do when in the middle of a serious confrontation. Shoulda been there when Celestia was asking me what I knew about Tenebrae, which was nothing at all. I swear, she looked ready to send me to the moon."
Luna's expression went completely blank. It took me a moment to get what I had just said. When I did, I felt ready to slam my face onto the currently-hot grill.
Great going, No-Name. You totally offended the Princess of the Night, who the Princess of the Day sent for you to make friends with, and to teach how to better fit in.
Open mouth, insert hoof.
"How dare thee?" she asked after a while. Her voice was deathly quiet. "Didst thou have any idea what my sister did to me a millennium ago, when Nightmare Moon was in control of me? Did it even cross thy mind that she didn't want to? But nay. Instead, thou makest sport of it. And to think I came up here, intending to befriend thee."
She promptly turned and marched out of the room, her tail whipping me in the face on the way around. I didn't do anything to avoid it. I totally deserved that. I did, however, attempt to make things right.
"Luna! Wait!" I called.
I ran after her, and caught her just as she was starting to walk down the stairs. Her head was high, and it looked like she was doing her best to ignore me, though it was very clear I had really hurt her.
I sighed. "Listen, Luna, I'm really sorry. I promise I wasn't making fun of what happened all that time ago. That's just me, alright? You're completely the opposite of me. You're always serious, and you never really joke about things. I, on the other hoof, like to joke and not be serious about stuff that I should be serious about."
"And thou likest to speak without thinking," she said sharply, clearly still angry over my outburst.
"Yeah, that too. Seriously, can you forgive me for that? I'm not saying I won't do it again, because something's telling me I will, but I'm asking your pardon this time around."
Luna stopped as we reached the mane hall, where hours earlier, Squall had parted from Celestia and me.
She was content to just look straight ahead, determinedly avoiding eye contact with me, while she thought this through. A few minutes passed. I think she was trying to milk the situation for as much as it was worth. I tried to sit still, but my usual itch was overpowering, and I fidgeted every few seconds. This seemed to irritate her.
"Canst thou not sit still for more than five seconds?" she finally asked, sounding exasperated and amused.
"No," I answered bluntly. "The itch to move came with the package you see before you."
She let out a small scoff and smiled. Relief broke over me when I saw it, because, while I knew she was probably still angry, it meant progress.
"Thou remindest me of a dancer. Always moving, never content to sit in one place. Well, such is the nature of their talent, I suppose. I accept thine apology, No-Name. Please make sure it is the only apology I have to accept from thee in the future."
I half-smiled.
"No promises, but I'll do my best, Princess. You have my word on that one."
She seemed satisfied.
"That will work. Wouldst thou likest me to showeth thee around the castle? From what I understand, Tia only showed thee the wing of the castle thou art residing in, and even then, not so much of it."
Well, I suppose if it'll help me get back in the Princess' good books, why not?
"Sure. Where first?" I asked.
She got a little grin, and gestured toward the door Squall had gone through.
"I'll start with the Grand Hall. After thee, No-Name."
Well, as it turns out, she had taken another opportunity to get back at me. Not three seconds later, I felt her hoof collide with the back of my head.
"Ow! Hay! What gives!" I asked, rubbing gently at the throbbing spot on my head, which, coincidentally, was the same spot I had smashed against the ceiling some five or so minutes earlier.
Luna gave me a faux-innocent look.
"What? You deserve it," she said in one of those sweetly devilish voices. Well, apparently she had some sense of fun. I suppose it's better than nothing. However, now there's two of us parasprites on the loose. Is the world even big enough for the both of us?
For the next hour or so, she led me around the castle, lecturing me about how old it was, about how her's and Celestia's rooms were on opposite ends of the castle, about how in the early days of the Equestrian Monarchy, several attempts to destabilize the kingdom were made by outside forces, for example a Draconequus named Discord, but all were stopped by her, her sister, and the Elements of Harmony.
And despite the fact that I hadn't been interested in Celestia's history lessons before, I found myself listening to Luna. About the same history I had done my best to ignore earlier. Good lord, me, what is wrong with you?
We were in the throne room now, where four Royal Guardsponies stood. They looked completely different from the ones I saw accompanying Squall earlier. Instead of a bright white coat with golden armor, these ponies looked positively… well, dark. They had dark grey coats, with blue armor (the same shade as Luna's hair). Their wings were bat-like, akin to Tenebrae's, and where the Royal Guards had a plume of blue atop their helmets, theirs were also bat-like. Their expressions bore the same focus their counterparts had, but what made them truly fearsome were their eyes. They were golden, with cat-like slits for pupils. Their eyes bore down on me when they saw me with the Princess.
"These are the Nightmares. Loyal and fearless, I created them as a small army when I was still Nightmare Moon, originally calling them the Lunar Guard. When Twilight Sparkle and her friends returned me to normal with the Elements of Harmony, most of them vanished, but the twelve that remain had immensely strong willpower, and did not vanish, continuing to serve me in the night."
Suddenly I realized something. And me being me, I just had to point it out.
"Your voice! I've just realized, you've started talking normally." To be frank, she had been talking normally (well, normally for me) ever since she clopped me upside the head. I just hadn't noticed, but in hindsight, it was rather obvious.
Luna blinked in surprise and hastily tried to change back, appearing flustered and somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh, have I? I had not noticed. Clearly you are- I mean, thou art- sorely mistaken. I wouldst never speak in-"
But I cut her off, smirking at her.
"Oh, face it Princess. You're learning to lighten up."
That made her even more flustered.
"'Tis a lie! I have not lightened up! You are- thou art- clearly hearing things, nameless one! Never would I abandon the dialect of my ancestors! It is tradition-"
I just shook my head and laughed, and when I did, it seemed she gave up the façade.
"Oh, fine. I give up. Whatever it is about you, that insult you paid me back in the kitchens did make me see that I was being rather… stiff. Not to mention, Tia told me I was supposed to be learning how to make friends from you. To be honest, I find that rather harsh, but, well, it seems she thought you would be an excellent teacher. My only question is, what took you so long to notice?"
I laughed again.
"Believe it or not, Princess, but I've actually been interested in your history lessons. Too interested to care, really."
Luna smiled as she flew up to her throne, which was made of silver, and stood at equal height to the throne next to her, made of gold.
"Well, the time has come for me to take on my duties for the night. We'll have time to socialize tomorrow, when I teach you how to strike ponies with lightning."
I hoof-pumped.
"YES!" I crowed.
"In the meantime, weren't you making a hamburger in the kitchens, which you have now left sitting there for a little over an hour?" she asked, with a nice little smirk on her face.
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.
"BUCK YOU, LUNA!" I shouted behind me as I took off back toward the kitchens.
She chuckled.
"Sleep well, No-Name," she called as I left the throne room.
-X-
Well, my hamburger was a total loss. It had already gone cold by the time I had gotten back, the cheese was now slightly melted from sitting out for too long, and- well, you get the picture. So I woke up as hungry as a starved wolf. And I craved meat.
Staggering into the kitchens, where I had taken the time to clean up my mess as diligently as I could, I managed to find a few more breakfast-type meats, like sausages, and get them going. I was in the middle of making myself an omelet when a pony walked into the room.
He (or she) had a tan coat, with equally brown eyes, and a thin moustache. He wore a chef's hat and an apron as he walked in, and his cutie mark was a spatula. He was a Unicorn, and I thought that was awesome, because I figured that, because of their magic, Unicorns would make the best chefs.
"Oh! You're avake. Preencess Ceylehsteea sent me to make sure you vere up and at 'em. Eef not, she sez, vake heem up and zen make heem breakfast, provided he vants some."
I got his accent easily enough. I thought it was rather cool, for a chef pony to have an accent like zat- I mean, that. Damn those addictively cool accents!
"So, vat are you making? I can help weeth eet," he asked, looking over my concoction, and, if I'm not mistaken, looking quite impressed and eager. Instantly, my self-confidence in my cooking ability shot up. Thank goodness for innate talent, I suppose.
"It's called an omelet. It's made from eggs scrambled together, and cooked on a pan until it's all nice like that, you see? You can add things like bacon, ham, tomatoes, jalapeños, and all that to season it a little. I'm not a fan of vegetables, so I stayed away from them."
This chef seemed a little disappointed by my choice.
"Ah, but sir, vegetables make ze best seasoning for all kinds of theengs! For example, onions are a common ingreediant in mehny deeshes, but von hardly noticez them. Hmm… Zis 'omelet' looks promising. And qvite appetizing. Allow me?" he asked, giving me an inquisitive glance. I nodded, and he took off a little bit of the corner of my omelet, which was about ten seconds away from being set onto a plate and eaten (immediately, this time, to avoid what happened last night), and popped it into his mouth. A few chews later, he swallowed.
"Ah, eet eez vehry excellent a deesh, however, eet eez no mahsterpiece. I suppose, eef you vere to show me how thees eez made, I could make thees a true vork of art."
His response didn't disappoint me, in fact just the opposite, but I had to say, "Another time," because I was eager to get on with learning how to strike ponies with lightning.
"Oh vell. I vill hold you to zat promise. My name eez Chef Cordon Bleu. Vot, may I ask, eez yours?"
Cordon Bleu? Nice name. Totally not named for a food product, or for that matter, a Pony Cooking School, whose cookbooks I had seen when I was looking for the proper recipe for a breakfast burrito, which, disappointingly enough, did not seem to exist.
"Well, I don't remember it. Everypony around here calls me No-Name, Nameless One, or some variation thereof," I explained. I resisted the urge to yawn, because I had gotten up really early (mornings are proof that there is a Devil, and that he hates me). Cordon Bleu, however, seemed to have drained all of my energy, for he was already bustling about the room, getting ingredients and the like together. He explained that, since I had already made myself breakfast, he was going to make Luna some also, though I doubted Luna would be having omelets this morning.
As I finished and started cleaning the dishes (a task that I had become familiar with last night), I felt somepony tap me on the shoulder. When I turned, it was one of the Nightmares. He bore that same expression of focus, but it seemed more relaxed, as if he weren't on duty anymore.
"Excuse me No-Name," WOW his voice was not what I expected! I thought it would be deep, but it was soft and collected. It sounded a bit like Tenebrae, but much less pompous and big-headed. "…but Princess Luna says that today, she would like to meet with you out on the balcony behind her room as soon as possible."
I nodded.
"Thank you…" I trailed off, hoping to give him the hint that I was asking him his name, which he was smart enough to figure out.
"You're welcome. I'm Imbrium, by the way."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Imbrium. Now, exactly where is the Princess' room at?"
It wasn't hard to find, to be honest. In fact, it was only about a five-minute walk to her room. But I had to go to her balcony, so I went back to the landing area Celestia and I had arrived at, and I flew around.
Luna appeared busy in her room when I landed, so I knocked at the door that led in. She looked up, nodded, and motioned with one of her hooves to come in. I opened the door and cantered in rather cautiously.
"So, No-Name, how was your evening? I hope the two large lumps on your head didn't cause you too much discomfort," she added with a smirk.
I decided to take a leaf out of her book, and I just blinked, staring at her with irritation.
"Well, hopefully this will make you feel better, my little Pegasus-" she started, but I cut her off.
"Hay! I resent that! I'm as tall as you!"
She stopped, glared at me for a moment, then continued.
"Now then, obviously you've gotten the hang of flying, else you wouldn't be here to begin with."
I shrugged my wings.
"Wasn't too hard. Only took about a day, really."
She continued on, unperturbed.
"In any case, you'll find that the magic Pegasi use is a lot tougher than the magic unicorns use. While their brand of magic is focused on seeing what they're going to do beforehoof, and through that forethought it will come about, Pegasus magic requires quite a bit more action. For example, the lesson I will teach you today: the movement of clouds."
Her horn glowed and a blackboard appeared, chalk hovering in front of it, poised to write.
"Cloud movement is a basic first lesson because basically, all weather magic revolves around the use of clouds."
Luna drew a very large and puffy cloud on the blackboard.
"Moving clouds requires gentleness more than it does force. See, clouds are made of droplets of water, and Pegasi have a unique ability to push this entire collection of droplets as a whole. Anypony can do it, but the simple fact that Pegasi can fly makes it all too simple for them. All they have to do it place let their wings do the pushing. The slight amount of wind the flapping of the wings gives, coupled with the gentle pushing of one's hooves allows the clouds to be sent moving. It takes time to make them move fast, but it comes with practice. The trick is to be forceful, but to have soft hooves at the same time."
She motioned to me to follow her, and she led me out onto the balcony, where she took flight. I followed, and she led me to a small group of clouds high above Canterlot.
"The young Pegasus Rainbow Dash was kind enough to move these over here at my sister's request for you to practice on. Naturally, she wanted to be the one to teach you how to strike ponies with lightning, but I had to put my hoof down. This ability is essential to being able to cause rain or lightning."
I chuckled at the mention of Rainbow Dash, but my bruise from our first meeting hadn't gone away just yet. I was starting to think that Equestria was going to be absolutely brutal to me while I stayed here.
"Now, a little knowledge of science comes into play here. You see, everything, great or small, is made of particles called atoms. In their most basic sense, they are made of a balance of positive and negative charges, and most Pegasi can feel it when they get close enough, with varying degrees of sensitivity."
Oh great. A science lesson. And I thought this was going to be fun.
"Basically, a Pegasus can sense different electromagnetic fields when it gets close enough to them, and the range one can sense typically broadens with age. At your age, I would say you'd be able to sense maybe ten hooves away."
I still didn't understand exactly what I was supposed to be sensing though.
"Sorry Princess, but exactly what am I supposed to be, well, sensing?"
Luna apparently didn't appreciate being interrupted. She glared at me and blinked. That was really starting to bug me. Well, I can easily get her back, so I shuffled a little bit.
"To be honest, the feeling isn't really describable. You just have to sense a difference in the air around you. Here. Fly up to this cloud," she said, indicating a relatively small one right next to her.
I did as she asked, but nothing felt that- wait a minute…
It was like that feeling you get when somepony's holding a pencil tip just millimeters above your skin. That… I don't know how to describe it. I shivered from the feeling. And Luna noticed.
"Ah, you do feel it. Excellent. That is the feeling you should be sensing when you are near a cloud. At first, you'll only be able to sense clouds, but over time, you'll be able to separate electromagnetic fields belonging to plants, the earth, or even other ponies."
She sounded somewhat impressed that I had been able to sense it so quickly. But her remark about being able to differentiate other magnetic fields made me somewhat confused.
"But, if I can sense the fields they give off, what stops me from sensing it all at once?"
Luna smiled.
"Quite simply, the quantity. On the ground, you'll literally sense everything around you, and due to the fact that your sense isn't developed enough to see farther than a few hooves, it'll just shut down until the mental assault lessens, such as you coming up here to the clouds. If you pay attention, you may even be able to sense the next cloud over, and possibly even me."
As soon as she said that, I was able to tell apart two distinct feelings. One was the cloud right in front of me, and it was by far the strongest, and the second was to my left, at my 10:00 position, and it was slightly weaker, but it was there. There was another faint feeling from behind me, which I knew was Luna.
"Now that you have sensed the electromagnetic field surrounding the clouds, it's time to attempt to move it. Gently move your hooves within range of the field."
I did as she said. I kept pushing slowly, but before I knew it, my hooves were now right inside the cloud itself.
"Too hard. Your first time, you want to go almost millimeters at a time. At that pace, you'll be able to find that field with your hooves. Simply by moving your hooves inside it, you will cause the cloud to move slowly. It takes time, but you'll learn, but now, let's try again."
-X-
It was dull, trying to get a cloud to move, and I tried diligently to make it move so much as an inch. However, I got nowhere. Luna, on the other hoof, told me that rarely do any Pegasi sense the clouds on their first day. I figured it had to be because my body was a lot larger than just a filly's, and my mind was more developed. But I hadn't the time to grow stronger in that regard.
By the time we had finished, my wings did not want me to fly anymore. Luna gave me the typical fitness speech, how the more you fly, the stronger and more enduring you'll get, and that I should just grin and bear it and not be such a baby. It was nearly noon when I finished, and Luna was ready to sleep. However, I was going to explore the town. I hadn't gotten the chance to do that yesterday, because I was wasting time with Su Doku puzzles.
After cleaning up in the Guest Wing Bathroom, I decided to canter out to the town. It was a nice day, and I didn't feel like flying after the brutal length of time I was forced to stay in the air. I was half-way to the town when somepony shouted "No-Name!" in a female voice.
I looked around and saw a grey Pegasus flying toward me, waving something at me frantically. She had a pale gold mane, yellow eyes that stared in different directions, and a brown mailbag slung over her shoulder. She got closer, and I saw that the thing she was waving was a letter, though from whom I couldn't tell.
Suddenly, the wind kicked up and blew the letter out of her hoof, which led her to chase it… into a tree. I shut my eyes when she crashed and fell out, but she acted like it was an everyday occurrence, getting up and shaking it off like it was nothing. She picked up the letter from the ground, blew all the dirt and such off of it, then held it out at me, grinning broadly.
"Are you okay, miss?" I asked, to which she nodded.
"I just don't know what went wrong. But these accidents happen a lot," she said, before realizing she had actually pulled out the wrong letter, and replaced it with the right one, which she offered to me.
I took it and saw that the letter was from Rainbow Dash, who was wondering if I knew when the next time I would be in Ponyville was. She clearly still wanted to try to show me a few things, but everypony else said hello as well (Pinkie Pie reminded me about giving her a shout when I felt like partying).
"Thanks," I said to the mailmare, who saluted, smiling widely.
"No problem at all, mister!" she said. "Is No-Name your real name?" she asked.
I nodded. I remembered her. She was flying around Ponyville all three days I was there, delivering the mail. But why was she out here?
"Oh. My name's Derpy Hooves. Well, my real name's Ditzy Doo Hooves, but everypony calls me Derpy."
I smiled back at her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Derpy. Why, might I ask, did you come all the way out to Canterlot to deliver a letter to me?"
She smiled somewhat mischievously.
"I'm not supposed to be doing this, but when Rainbow Dash asked me to give this to you, I knew it made the perfect excuse. See, one of my friends said he was going to meet me out here, by the Canterlot Observatory with something he called a TARDIS that he wanted to show me, but I don't know what a TARDIS is. Do you know what a TARDIS is?"
I shook my head.
"Oh. Well, whatever it is, I hope it has muffins!" she said enthusiastically, taking off again. "See you around, No-Name!"
She waved at me as she flew off, running into a couple of the Wonderbolts as they flew by.
I cantered into town, looking at all the buildings, searching for somewhere to eat lunch. However, before I could really decide, a shadow flew over me. I looked up to see none other than Princess Celestia herself flying down toward me.
"Ah, there you are No-Name. Luna said your lessons went well today."
Around us, the other ponies were bowing to the Princess, who simply waved a hoof, as if to say "Go on with your daily lives, nothing to see here."
"Well, I can't really compare to other Pegasi. I've never actually seen them learn before."
"In any case, I came looking for you for another reason. You're out here to explore and grab a bite to eat, correct?" she asked.
I nodded.
"Well, for one, I thought you could use a bit of company. Two, you don't exactly have bits right now, but we'll work on that later. For now, pick any restaurant you want, my treat."
I didn't know they had a system of economy here. I should have guessed, though. It doesn't make sense for the ponies not to work for bits. However, I was still concerned with finding somewhere to eat. Celestia tapped my shoulder.
"If you're looking for somewhere that serves meat, I suggest Mike's Deli. They have the most delicious pastrami around, probably even better than the pastrami Cordon Bleu makes. Speaking of which, he tells me he thinks you need time off tomorrow to show him how to make that omelet you made today."
I laughed. My omelet wasn't that good.
"A whole day off, just to show him how to make something? It's just a pancake of scrambled eggs, rolled up with some meats and spices inside. What more does he need to know?"
Celestia looked at the sky thoughtfully.
"It IS Cordon Bleu. Knowing him, he's got an idea. He probably wants to watch you do it first, then attempt it himself, with you watching to make sure he does it right. That's how he does things."
My stomach growled, returning my attention to the task at hoof.
"Back to the topic of lunch, yeah, this deli place sounds good."
The Deli was actually really good. I did follow Celestia's recommendation and try their pastrami, which I gotta say, I'll be sure to get some more of if I can find myself a way to make bits. What surprised me most was that, for a restaurant in a city made of gold and gems, it was surprisingly cheap. Only 12 bits for a sandwich, when according to Celestia, typically restaurants cost in the neighborhood of 50-75 for just a meal.
Celestia, however, wanted to talk about me and Luna. It wasn't a bad thing, though. She says that, for one day, I've already had an effect on her.
"Oh? I asked, surprised at this.
"She told me what happened between you two last night. While you do not get all the credit for teaching her how to not talk like she did, considering Twilight Sparkle on Nightmare Night, you do deserve some credit. I knew you two would hit it off, considering when Luna's not trying to sound formal, she's actually quite playful."
I remembered the hamburger incident from last night. Conveniently, the spot where I received two smacks to the head throbbed.
"Yeah, I noticed."
Princess Celestia chuckled.
"By the way, Princess, what am I supposed to do when I'm not learning how to use Pegasus magic? I mean, there's not much I can do here. I'll exhaust all the Su Doku puzzles in that book if I keep up what I'm doing."
Celestia blinked. Apparently, the tendency to blink when asked a question they weren't expecting, or didn't appreciate, ran in the family.
"Was that not clear? You have the freedom to go anywhere, so long as you are back in time for your lessons the following day. I told you we would be putting a few spells on you to monitor you, and that we did before we left Ponyville. You could probably even fly to Manehattan and back and still be back in time to get a good night's sleep."
I didn't know exactly where Manehattan was, but based on how it was close enough to fly there and back and have enough time for sleep, it couldn't be that far off.
By the end of lunch, Celestia was needed back in Canterlot Castle, which left me able to explore the rest of the town. There were quite a few interesting places to see. A massive library, which undoubtedly would have had me occupied for hours if I had gone in to read, a cathedral, a system of gem mines underground, which was accessible through a small hut outside the town a few yards, and my personal favorite, the Canterlot Clocktower. I only really liked it because it seemed so… well, it just seemed awesome. I don't know why, but it felt familiar, in a way.
Overall, the rest of the day passed shortly, almost like yesterday. Though this time I wasn't doing number puzzles or the like. However, I did feel like taking a trip to the library, just to see how many books there would be.
Colt, if I had known what I was getting into, I probably would not have done this.
There must have been tens of thousands of books here! Hundreds of thousands, even! There were literally enough books to fill up every building in Ponyville, and then some! Why on Equestria would Twilight Sparkle have left this place willingly!
Naturally, I felt compelled to read, so I looked for a book that caught my fancy, then walked over to a cushion on the floor and started reading.
It felt like hours that I was there, and it probably was. I just sat there, taking it all in, and I wasn't disturbed until I heard the Clocktower strike. I counted the bells, and they stopped on two.
Holy crap! Two in the morning! I was going to be losing sleep tonight, and as I discovered the morning after my first encounter with Tenebrae, no sleep makes me a very bitchy pony.
I noticed it was nearly pitch-black out. The sky was cloudy, and it was blocking the moon. Were it not for the artificial light created by the magic lamps set up around the streets of Canterlot, I would have been unable to see. I set off for the castle, flying fast, so as to get as much sleep as possible.
Unfortunately, Canterlot Castle had no such artificial light sources outside of the castle, and that, coupled with the fact that I have a black coat, made me nearly invisible. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to be unseeable, but I doubt the Nightmares would appreciate it. They'd likely think I was somepony sent to attack the Princesses.
I landed quietly on that balcony I usually landed on, then tried to sneak in quietly, so as to not disturb anypony. Good thing the guards weren't nearby.
"Stop right there!" came a shout, followed by the clatter of hooves running in my direction.
Oh, buck you, No-Name and your big mouth.
Four Nightmares surrounded me, glaring at me suspiciously. It was then that I noticed they all had different little badges on their armor. Probably identifying marks that let others tell them apart from each other. The one who had spoken earlier had what looked like a snowflake on his chest.
"Now then, stranger, who are you, and what business do you have in Canterlot Castle at this late hour?" the same one who had spoken earlier said. His voice was rather loud, and it was deeper than Imbrium's had been, but overall, it was much less warm and pleasant.
"Well, I'm sure Luna told me-"
Bam!
Pain erupted in my jaw, right where Rainbow Dash had smashed me. It was official. I now can think of one pony I absolutely hate.
"You will address her as Princess Luna!" shouted the damn head of these guards as he glared down at me. It looked like he was enjoying this a little too much.
"Frigoris, was that a good idea?" asked one of the others, this one female. She had a calm voice, despire the fact that they had apparently arrested a would-be assassin in their eyes.
"Are you second-guessing me, Tranquillitatis?"
"No, Frigoris, but I'm pretty sure the Princess needs to be the one to interrogate him. She did command to see all the ones we arrested."
Frigoris rolled his eyes.
"Alright, fine. Let's take him to see the Princess."
I didn't feel like getting punched again, so I complied, but let it be known that my lack of sleep was starting to affect me. And not in a good way.
"So, Frigoris, was it?" I asked, making sure to get his name right.
"You will address me as Nightmare Frigoris, and by no other title," he said promptly.
"Yeah, Frigoris, why exactly are you guys patrolling the corridors at night? I thought the Nightmares guarded Lu- I mean, Princess Luna."
"She told us to make sure no one tried to attack one of the guests. She says it is of the utmost importance that if anypony were to attempt to attack him, she would interrogate him."
I face-hoofed.
"You dumbass! That's me! I'm the guest!"
"I don't believe that for a second. The guest confined himself to his room yesterday, and we think he may have done so today."
"Damn it, Frigoris! Don't you think that this guest might have gone off to town to explore, and gotten carried away at the library!"
We had reached the throne room, where Luna was currently sitting, bored from doing nothing. At the sight of us, her interest perked up.
"Nightmare Frigoris, what is the meaning of this?" she asked.
Thank Celestia for Luna. She was going to save my ass.
"Your highness, we found this mysterious pony attempting to enter the Guest Wing past curfew. We think he may have been sent here to attack your guest."
Tranquillitatis chose this moment to snark at Frigoris, which probably made everything worse for me.
"Well, Frigoris thought so. The rest of us just went along with it."
Luna rolled her eyes.
"Frigoris, in case you haven't noticed, this pony you've arrested is none other than the guest I asked you to guard. Tia told me he was staying out in town to explore, but I didn't think he'd be back this late. You may go, Frigoris."
Frigoris bowed.
"As you wish, Princess."
As he went, I felt compelled to take some payback, and I took a leaf out of Luna's book to do so.
Bam! Clopped him right to the back of the head.
He snarled at me on the way out, but I just smirked and nodded at him, somewhat tauntingly.
As soon as they were gone, Luna face-hoofed.
"I'm sorry about him. Frigoris has always been rather eager to dish out the punishment. It's a good thing you didn't catch him with Crisium. You probably wouldn't have been brought to me, and instead would have had to spend the night in the dungeons."
I rolled my eyes.
"No worries, Luna. He can't be too much worse than Tenebrae."
Luna nodded.
"No, I suppose not. I should have stopped him sooner though. I saw you coming from afar, but I didn't take the time to go let them know you were him. I figure I was counting too much on Cognitum to let him know, but, well, Cognitum has never really been the type to second-guess anypony."
"How'd you see me?" I asked, genuinely curious.
She motioned at my mane.
"That mane is so bright, it was like a flare, letting me know exactly wherest thou- excuse me, I still slip into that sometimes- where you were. I suppose it probably won't help when you're trying to sneak around, like you were tonight. And that, coupled with the fact that you can't sit still for more than three-"
She suddenly cut off, looking at me as though she was seeing me in a new light.
"Umm, Luna?" I asked, looking at her in confusion.
Luna blinked rapidly for a few moments, then looked down at the ground thoughtfully.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
She laughed a little.
"I'm fine. The question is, are you alright, Flare Dancer?"
"Well, I'm- Wait. Who's Flare Dancer?"
Luna stuck her tongue out at me, smirking.
"I figured you'd be able to recognize a name when you heard it, particularly if it's your name."
"What are you talking abo-"
It was then that my tired state finally grasped what she had done. I had been given a name. And, for whatever reason, it fit.
"Ah, finally, the thick-headed stallion who can't move clouds finally understands that I've given him a name."
Luna smiled at me when it hit me. All I did was shrug my wings. It was better than No-Name.
"So, do you like it?" she asked curiously. Goodness, she really did want to know if I wanted to use that name.
I laughed.
"Luna, I love it."
Luna nodded, and motioned with her hoof for me to leave.
"Sleep well tonight, Flare Dancer. We have more cloud-moving to do tomorrow."
Chapter 2 took me a little over a week and a half to write. I'm working on putting it all on Google Docs for a few Easter eggs that I can't include on here.
The Nightmares were named all to be one huge astronomical joke, but I'm not explaining it here. I'm gonna have Flare Dancer call attention to it later.
Also, starting with the next chapter, I will be including preview lines in the chapter beforehand (which will be taken entirely out of context so you can't guess anything about next chapter). But, of course, that means I have to find a way to incorporate them into the next chapter, so I guess the joke's on both of us.
Preview for Chapter 3: Harvest Festival
"Rainbow Dash always dresses in style!" (Sorry, I had to. It was too good to pass up)
"I remember everything!"
"Now sit thine five-bit ass down before I maketh change!"
"You totally took that line from Rainbow Dash."
"I love you, Luna."
"I can make this party 20% cooler in ten seconds flat!"
"You just HAD to say that, didn't you Pinkie?"
"Well well well, it's been a while. Did you miss me, Flare Dancer?"
"Tenebrae!"
So, thanks to the five reviewers I got last chapter. Now, if it's not too much to ask, can I get a few more reviews?
