Xamspona Tevopi/ Twilight Sparkle
Blueblood
Gilzia/ Celestia
Pyre/ Luna

I awoke an unknown amount of hours later as the train screeched to a halt. A quick glance out of the car window let me know that it was sometime in the early afternoon as the sun was still high in the sky but was already well along on its downward path. Paxxila was gone from the bench by the time I had awaken and after a quick glance around at the other seats I found her sitting towards the front of the car talking to Vemsa Hewl.

It was odd to me that Paxxila had just straight up and hugged me like she did, especially when she couldn’t even gather the courage to talk to me. Either way, I was indebted to her that she had shown me that single act of kindness because it made the situation of never possibly returning to the world I was used to a little less frightening.

The conductor announced over the intercom system some sort of message and everyone in the railcar stood to leave, Etpinego motioning for me to come along. Grabbing my backpack I slung it over my shoulder and fell inline behind the girls as we filed off the train.

The hissing sound of steam being relieved from pressurized boilers and a sweet smell that reminded me of burning kerosene filled my senses as I walked out of the railcar and onto the platform. As I took a look around the rail station I stopped in awe at the sight before me and almost dropped my bag from my shoulders if I hadn’t hooked my thumbs in the straps. The station was located halfway up a towering peak that stretched for many hundred more feet above where we stood till finally it crested in a cap of pure white snow. Along the side of the mountain was nestled a buzzing metropolis that rivaled the great cities of antiquity in its splendor.

Colorfully winged citizens flew between the towering buildings that seemed to have been carved out of the very side of the ridge itself. While hot air balloons floated lazily in the afternoon breeze as they ferried back in forth like flying tortoises from a central hub up near the mountain’s peak. But the single most amazing attraction had to be the marble castle that was perched fearlessly out over the side of the mountains slopes. Its pristine white towers that seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sun towered ever skyward, threatening to outreach the mountain itself, as a thundering waterfall spilled off the edge of the castle’s dais crashing into the wide forested valley below.

“Wow,” I said breathlessly as I let out a low whistle, “I didn’t even know people could build things such as this.”

A nudge from behind me by one of the guards knocked me out of my awe and I hurried along, so as to not lose the girls in the technicolored crowd. Although I doubt that that would happen being as I stand at least a head higher than the local populace and could easily spot Xam’s lavender wings and horn in the crowd. Once we had exited the station two of the guards took up point in our little group as the crowd parted like the Red Sea did for Moses when the saw Xam and the others. Xam, like when we had entered the village yesterday, was walking with an air of authority about her as she held her head high and her wings arched out behind her.

The crowds stopped in their tracks to watch our procession pass as we continued on down the thoroughfare, and I heard muttering from them and even saw the occasional bystander point in my direction. Being talked about by strangers should have made me nervous, but for some reason the only thing I felt was my irritation rising once again and I wanted nothing more than to be done with this situation. Yet I had to endure it if I was going to get any kind of answers, at least I hoped so.

As we moved long through the streets, walking up through the different levels of the city, I noticed more and more of the inhabitants were wearing clothes. Some still only wore the occasional accessory, but a steady growing group of the others were wearing full outfits that reminded me of Victorian England. These clothed people seemed to walk with the same air of authority that Xam was, and even their bows weren’t as low as the nude citizens from back at the station.

‘Maybe clothes are a status symbol.’ I thought to myself as I watched a particularly tall white furred woman with a horn on her head and styled powder pink hair, who was dressed like she was about to board the S.S. Titanic. ‘Yet they still don’t entirely seem to be on the same level as Xam, because they are the ones who keep initiating the bow.’

Onward we trekked and I could feel my calves starting to burn a little from the amount of walking and sheer number of steps we had climbed. Eventually though we finally reached the outer wall of the castle and our party stopped before a massive wooden gate that was guarded by two of the bronze armored guards. These two however were clearly male with their broad shoulders and squared jaws as they stood at their post motionless, silently announcing their authority to all who passed. Once the two gate guards saw Xam and the others they swiftly moved to open the gate and allow us passage into the castle grounds.

The other side of the gate spread out into an expansive garden that was filled with many decorative bushes that were being expertly tended to by a team of gardeners. But I never held much of an appreciation for horticulture, finding the whole process too tedious for me to bother with. Instead I focused on the path I was being lead along on, that winded through the garden till it eventually took us into the castle proper.

My amazement grew as we made our way through the towering marble hallways. Each side was lined with columns and colorful tapestries that hung from the ceiling that loomed high above my head. The floor was made of green granite that had been polished to a mirror finish as I looked at my reflection in the emerald depths. Sunlight shown down through detailed stain glass windows, which were so massive that you could possibly tow the nose of a jumbo jet through them and still not run the risk of touching the sides. Who ever had built this castle had to be true masters of their trade because all the stones, from the floor to the top of the ceiling, fit together with such precision that it looked like the castle was made from solid pieces of marble and granite.

I continued to gaze at the majestic fortress around me that I didn’t notice our group had come to a stop till I bumped into the rear of Vemsa, who shot me a scowl before facing forward again. Muttering a muffled sorry I looked up to see why we had stopped to see that there was a white furred man with wavy golden hair and tail and a white horn on his head standing in our way. The strange man wore a white tux that had black lapels and a blue bowtie was tied around his collared neck. He stood taller than Xam and the other girls yet not by much, but he still fell short of my height by a head’s length. While his features reminded me of a primped pretty boy that had never soiled his hands a day in his life or a wuss to be more specific.

He was talking to Xam although from both of their actions it seemed like neither of them really wanted to talk with the other all that much. As he would say something I would see Xam give what sounded like a forced reply. He seemed to be somewhere around the same status as Xam because he didn’t bow down to her and almost seemed to look down on her. A look at the other girls showed me that they didn’t really seem to care for this guy either as most of them looked either bored or slightly irritated; all except Vivmay who looked positively furious for some reason.

I know that I should just mind my own business, but with me being so close to finally getting some kind of answers I felt a little more impatient that I normally would. The man noticed me finally as I made my way to the front of the group and stood behind Xam. He reeled back in disgust as he held a hand to his face to shield his eyes from the sight of me I guess, like I said a wuss.

“Alex mu que ebua’z reqi mo lex aopun?” The strange man said as he pointed to me.

“Aoz mo Eric, li’z eol viwsev alw Wypujil Gilzia lew geppih yew livi.” Xam replied as she motioned to me.

I heard Xam say my name and I figured she was trying to introduce me as I extended my hand to him, “Howdy, the name’s Eric Broussard.”

The strange man just stared at my hand like it was covered in slime or something before he ignored me and addressed Xam again, “Asyph cel omphur xip celv tix xepo mu utoyhep Equis alir heviwpun e Wypug fao Iuyzaph.”

“Lex’z sir fao eol viwsevz alc ai’vi livi. Li’z buhisi e tieow Equis sy bukzahuk pa figeywi fao omp pualypavn sel eol Qekth fao Levyvuc.” Xam said as she motioned towards me for some reason.

The strange man scoffed and looked down his nose at Xam, causing her to furrow her brows in irritation as she let out a repressed growl. “Pa asyph mykvi lex fao ep qeviz asyph purk e giebyll lex mo ew grysyxl ew eol viza fao celv vefpi. Ew e wypujil cel zosy vus segwiphel celvwip sel swixl lex vispiw celv ria zahab, silzamwi pa whirz eol asvun qiweki e eol sqirivz.”

“Que mymirz ei uva vefpi!” she retorted with irritation lacing her voice.

Apparently this man had said something that obviously upset the women as I noticed even the lead guard’s grip on her spear tightened, but yet she did nothing as she continued to stare forward at attention. Wanting to calm the situation down so we could be on our way I stepped in front of Xam, blocking her from the blonde haired man.

“Look here buddy, now I don’t rightly know what was said between you two but it looks like that you’ve obviously gone and upset these ladies.” I said motioning to the group behind me as Xam tried to get my attention which I promptly ignored as I turned back to the man and laid a hand on his shoulder. “So why don’t you apologize to the little ladies and we’ll be on our way.”

The man looked at the hand that laid on his shoulder in repressed anger as he seemed to not hear that I was speaking to him. He quickly brushed away my hand as he glared at me.

“Osa havi cel aopur lex cel ei kemzir eol meloa e asygl uwispaf wyjo ew quewip. Ra fego haec giebyll eh orsa celv petgi.” And with that he back handed me across my cheek causing the women behind me to gasp in shock as my head was knocked to the side.

Yet I couldn’t hear their gasp as I slowly retracted my face, my cheek slightly stinging from the impact. I had to give it to the guy he had a mean backhand, but Eric Broussard was no one’s bitch and I sure as hell didn’t have a rule against hitting douchebags. Especially ones half my size in muscle mass and should have known better than to be picking fights.

The look of superiority on his face was immediately replaced with one of terror as he gasped in a lung full of air to replace the oxygen I had just forced out of his lungs as my fist made contact with his spine via his stomach. He began to lean forward, doubling over on my arm, but I wasn’t going to give him a moments rest as I withdrew my fist and clenched my hand around his neck. With a quick heft of his body upwards and my right heel hooked behind his own, I choke-slammed the little prick onto the stone floor.

As I straddled him and pinned his arms beneath the weight of my knees I looked into his terrified eyes, who literally a moment before held such smugness. His chest was still heaving erratically as his still devoid lungs tried to feed air into them through the crushed windpipe I still held in my grasp. Leaning down to him I barred my teeth and tightened my grip a little causing his eyes to bulge slightly in their sockets as he probably began to go in and out of consciousness.

“Now apologize.” I told him slowly.

From behind me I could hear the muffled sounds of the girls as they yelled something that I couldn’t understand. My anger was too high right now to worry about it, yet when I saw the flowing of purple and blue light wash over me I was distracted long enough to look up. Just in time to see a grey furred guard thrust the metal capped end of his spear into my forehead. The world immediately began to shrink into darkness as I lost control of my muscles and fell sideways onto the cold granite.

Pain was the first thing that registered in my mind as I started to come to. There was a steady throbbing pain that centered itself in the front part of my skull that I was sure would form a bump soon if there wasn’t one already. I could feel the smooth dimpled texture of a stone floor beneath my left cheek, the cold that was seeping through my skin did seem to help ease the pain in my head. My shoulder began to ache in protest from having laid on the stone floor for however long it had been, rolling onto my stomach I let out a groan as the muscles in my back stretched themselves back out. I laid there on the floor for a moment as I gathered my thoughts the best I could.

“Okay, that probably wasn’t the best course of action to have done.” I said into the empty void, hearing my echo back to me off of the walls as I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings.

As I figured, I was in a jail cell of some sort, although unlike the damp slimy cesspools that I was used to seeing in the movies, this one was actually quite accommodating. Well about as accommodating as a cell could be. Three of the walls were made up of stone blocks without as much as a window to be seen. While the fourth wall comprised of heavy iron bars evenly spaced out just wide enough for someone to not be able to slip between. I could make out a gate on one side of the barred wall with a heavy duty padlock keeping me within the room. Outside the cell was a stone hallway that was lit by torches that ran along the front of my cell and more than likely to my neighboring cells.

Furnishings in the room were sparse to say the least, but being a jail cell I wasn’t expecting the Ritz. A simple wooden cot that was bolted to the floor sat in the far corner from me and, luckily for me, a toilet and sink sat in the other. I said a silent prayer to whoever would listen about small miracles. Because I’m all for roughing it but having to use a shit bucket would have been a little rough even for me.

But now it was on to more important things like the fact I had just assaulted a member of their society who was probably someone of high position. I don’t think they took too kindly to that if my being in this cell was any kind of indication. Walking up to the bars I tried to peer out into the dimly lit hallway. I couldn’t make out much off to the left but more hallway, yet to the right I could see a heavy iron door that hopefully lead to freedom if the situation should happen to call for it.

No matter how much I wanted to hope for the best out of this predicament, I knew that realistically I was probably looking at making this cell my home for the foreseeable future or worse. So I needed a possible way of escape should the need arise. I reached my arms out from between the bars one by one, followed by my legs as I tried to see what my area of reach was outside the cell. At my furthest I came within inches of the far wall, more than enough to grab a passing guard or someone I could use as leverage to help aid me in my escape. Now knowing that bit of information I began to look for something that I could arm myself with.

Surprisingly, they had left me with my nylon belt, whether on purpose or a mistake I didn’t care because I was going to take any chance that was given to me. Going over to the cot I lifted up the mattress, propping it against the wall, and began to try and pry loose one of the cross boards. The board creaked and moaned as I fought against the tacks that held it to the frame, but with a well placed kick from one of my steel-toed boot I was soon holding my makeshift club.

I paused momentarily to listen for if my ruckus had attracted a prison guard, but the only thing I could hear was the crackling sound of the torches in the hallway. Swinging the piece of wood a couple of times so as to help get a feel for my new weapon and I was feeling pretty confident in my odds of getting out of here. I knelt down to hide the club under the bed till the time arose that I would have to use if when I heard the clanking of keys from the hallway door. It looked like I had attracted some unwanted attention after all as I lay back on the floor where I was before. As I closed my eyes to feign sleeping I could make out the creaking of the heavy metal hinges and the distinct sound of metal shoes on the stone floor as my visitors drew closer to my cell.

I could make out the distinct sound of three sets of steps as they unlocked the padlock to my cell. One of them walked with a heavy footfall and I could hear the clanking sound of armor as they walked announcing to me that they were a guard. But their associate’s footsteps were more of a mystery being softer and rhythmic in nature as their metal shoes almost seemed to chime on the stone floor.

A voice spoke out to the others and I assumed it was the guard, “Li’w mu live celv qenwmew. Ei cel zybl cel asseduva vijiv opt e fi vizaypulk.”

“Ur, aohrz cel que spasi svuf. Que zawxiv eh mi zlep fi ripul vu sy sar." I heard a young feminine voice reply before the sound of the guard’s footsteps could be heard walking back down the hallway. Growing softer till the metal door was closed at the end of the hall leaving my alone with the other two.

I kept my eyes closed and continued to pretend to be still unconscious until I could try and get an idea of the situation. Unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to rely as much on what they said as much as how they said it. So I strained my ears so as to gather as much info as I could.

“Ei cel zybl lex aoz jubywi fao egemuv mo amwi zawxiv? Cel viqifit osa togl tvaoly myshik guxhaja sel aopli asysk geppun xliq e bywih vegi.” The first one spoke quietly to which the other one replied.

The new voice, while also feminine, sounded slightly more mature and seemed to hold a calming effect with it as she spoke, “Uv mi et uva zybl Pyre, iba mi le fipmiz xivi mo togl ai gypsh pievu myst iegl saliv. Viqifiv eps eol kiss aopli asysk lew svul sy syz, eh tivletz alic lezi fiir efpi e sisivgi aopli bywi.”

The room grew silent for a moment before the first one spoke again slowly, “Tivletz. Cix ai lezr uv thiqphal aec e gupgexl sel opt, viqifiw alex Xamspona Tevopi asph yew, eol Qekth fao Levyvuc lew uv jigix vu opti. Mi imi uva fipmizi pa ex mypza iba ra wipun liv sy qicsiw mi ge uv svuniv nukluy eol aybao.”

At the mention of Xam I was began to think that maybe the girls were able to convince these people that I wasn’t so bad. If that was the case then I would be in each of their debts for the foreseeable future. As I felt a little more at ease with the situation a desire grew in me to get a peek at these new women to size them up just incase this still went south. Rolling on my back I heard the first one give a little gasp, but as I tried to get a look through my closed eyelashes I could only make out the cloudy outlines of the two figures. One was as dark as the night sky while the other was pure white mixed with an assortment of pastel colors.

I heard the second one talk again as I found that it belonged to the white figure, “Mi tser e vulja ximapa sel omp pukt.”

Apparently the darker figure didn’t agree with whatever the other woman had said as she stepped in front of her, “Uv zawxiv, mi ger ur espa cel e lec lex! Ai lezi uv hime alex gypsh lettir e ximliv fao cel, svah puktz ei uva qierx e lerpih eol wirx fao eol pasvah pukt.”

“Mi orsa lex.” The white one said in a slightly more firm tone than before, “Iba alex jovgi lec ai lezi. Pa amp vusf fi vus e qexiv fao apti fisvi li mo symbuk mao li lew uva epviech fiir. Li amp rih ep eol lipt li ger kix mao li mo kopun e zimzi, eh sel yew hiss e gupgexl sel opt ai klnoafi hiss e kerm irskol skevmsr e whir lew osti.”

“Erh alex mao ai ger riziv whir opt osti?” the dark one asked in a pleading tone trying to convince the white one about something I could feel the hurt in her voice as she spoke, “Alex mao opt mo bywih e viqemr livi? Cel orsa liw amp purk opt iziryepc, erh alir liw his amp uva zav aps opt mo hiwschi.”

“Lixr pa mo sy fyhvir ew tigsvz fao aoz vieqp e irvi lex izir mu eol irh, aliriziv lex qec fi, lex xivi wa pimp wyjivpun. Ra wher ewmih erh pix qi lec alex zabt fi svul mi lec uva lezi togl ximq, li mo epviech eaeoirpun.” the white one said as she stepped around the dark one, her feet chiming on the floor until she stood next to me and kneeled down by my head.

“Cel qier ‘ai lec uva lezi togl ximq.” The dark one said as she came around to my other side and knelt down as well, “Mi aew witivexih myst cel sirg fisvi eh mao cel ei rspun e wom celvwip lepun aoz lixr mi amp lec uv piw.”

“Pyre…” The white woman said softly as she reached an arm out and touched the dark one on the cheek I imagined as I saw the darker one lean into the touch, "Aohur cel."

Right now I was starting to become a little nervous and yet a little excited about the possible outcomes of this situation. They could be either intending to kill me or rape me and any other outcome in between. I forced myself to remain still as I watched them, through closed eyelids, reach out to my face. As their fingers touched my temples I felt an immediate warmth rush through my body.

It started as a comforting warmth like the feeling you would get from a fire place on a cold winter night, but soon it grew into a raging inferno that I could feel down into the depths of my body as I clenched my eyes closed. It burned worse than anything else I had ever experienced before in my life. Even the times I had been burned while changing overheated aircraft brakes on a quickturn inspection couldn’t compare to this.

I opened my eyes as my vision was blinded by radiant white and navy colored light. Fearing that the two women were trying to kill me I shot up as quickly as I could, knocking the two women away. Blinded by the light, I knew I was at a serious disadvantage as I crashed into the cot on the far wall. Not wasting any time I fumbled under the bed blindly for the club I had hidden there. Once my fingers touched the wooden plank I yanked it out and thrust it in the general direction that I hoped the two women stood.

“Stay back!” I yelled as I rubbed my eyes hoping to gain some semblance of vision back, fear coursing over me at my vulnerability, “I didn’t come this far just to be killed by you two. Now show me to this Gilzia so I can get the hell out of this topsy-turvy world.”

“Please Eric, we meant no harm to you.” I heard the dark woman’s voice say to me from somewhere infront of me.

“Yeah right.” I scoffed at her as I swung my weapon aimlessly, hoping to keep them at bay, “You expect me to fu-… wait a minute. You can speak English? Are you Gilzia?”

“No, I am.” The white woman said as I continued to rub my eyes, “Although in your tongue I would be known as Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the Land of Equestria with my sister here, Princess Luna.”

“Pleased to meet you.” The dark woman, who I could only assume was Luna, said as she was introduced. “And do accept our apologies for any discomfort you may have experienced during our actions, but we were desperate to be able to talk to you on equal terms.”

I rubbed my eyes one last time as I tried to open them again. To my joy my vision was rapidly returning to my as I could already make out the two women’s outlines and they were rapidly coming into focus. After a moment I was able to finally see clearly again and I would have dropped the club in my hand if I didn’t have such a tight grip on it and I felt any lingering burning sensation from before leave me to be replaced by the warm feeling again.

Both women were exceedingly beautiful; in fact, if one was to try and describe them they could only call them otherworldly. They both stood taller than any other one of their species that I seen so far and almost seemed to be as tall as my own six foot frame. They resembled Xam in appearance because the both possessed a set of angelic wings and a straight horn out of their head that twisted from base to tip, but that was where the similarities seemed to stop.

The darker one, called Luna, was a svelte woman with just the right amount of curves to go with her body, accentuating it in every way. Her fur appeared almost black in color, but as I stared longer under the torch light I realized that it was actually a dark navy. Placed firmly on each grab-able hip was a black blotch of fur with a white crescent moon mark contrasting against the darker fur. I was immediately drawn to her large expressive aquamarine eyes that accentuated her flawless face and held onto my own eyes and didn’t seem to want to let them go.

Somehow I was able to pry my eyes from hers as I noticed that her hair and tail seemed to move on its own, even though I couldn’t feel any sort of breeze in the room. The ethereal locks sparkled in the dim light like the stars in a west Texas night sky, and if I looked hard enough I was sure that I could make out constellations in the flowing locks.

Like most of the other women I had seen so far her attire was completely devoid of fabric but she still wore accessories that did just enough to complete the package. On top of her head rested a pointed tiara made out of a shiny black material that looked to be metal, although I was unfamiliar with any kind of metal that was black. Hanging from her neck was a necklace that reminded me of those wesekh collars worn by the ancient Egyptians; for while it was made from the same beautiful metal as her crown the wide pendant hanging from the delicate silver chain spread the whole width of her chest as it rested atop her firm looking breast. Beautiful etching spiraled across the pendant’s surface leading to a massive opal in the center that was carved into the same crescent moon shape that was on her hips. She shifted on her feet as I heard the same chiming sound from earlier. Looking down I saw that on her feet was what looked like a pair of segmented silver high heeled slippers, which matched the silver gauntlets that I saw she was wearing as she brushed a strand of her hair out of her face.

While Luna looked like a goddess of the night Gilzia, or I guess it was actually Celestia, reminded me of a spring dawn at the end of a long winter. Before it looked like her fur was white, but now with my eyes fully open I could see that it was more than just white as it shined with a pearlescent glow as I could make out shades of pinks and blues across her womanly figure. From her long legs that seemed to go on for days to her soft looking child bearing hips that bore an orange sun the size of a sunflower on each one. Continuing upwards past her slender taunt waist I came to her heavy looking breast that her wide pendant made of gold rested happily on. Her pendant, while just as finely engraved as Luna’s, held a diamond shaped stone of amethyst instead of a moon shaped gem, and hung daintily from her slender neck by a thin gold chain. Her face was slightly narrower than her sister’s, but was no less beautiful as it held a motherly charm to it. Her magenta colored eyes looked at me with the same maternal serenity, but I could see a twinkle in them hinting at a very cunning and intelligent mind.

Her billowing hair and tail was streaked in varying shades of blue, aqua, pink and green. As I continued to stare at her hair as it lazily floated in the non existing breeze I felt a calming sensation come over me like when staring at the waves of the ocean. On top of her head was a crown similar to Luna’s but it was taller and in the same golden material of her necklace, it even had a smaller version of the purple jewel of its own in the center. She even wore the same type of ceremonial footwear and bracelets that shined with a golden hue.

Looking at the two women I vaguely thought about how even though they were not obviously human that they could still be so ‘Beautiful.’

Celestia gave me an almost mischievous smile as Luna’s cheeks turned a slight shade of deep purple, “So you find us beautiful?”

Author's Notes:

Ugh, thank God that chapter is finally done. Translating into Equis is killing me LOL it literally took longer to translate the dialogue than it did to write the chapter. But atleast i can take some solace in the fact that after next chapter Equis should go away, atleast until I have to introduce another language into the mix. uggggh.

As always translated version of this chapter can be found here.