„What?” Baffled I look at Discord with disbelief. Did I hear him right?

The godly being just stands up again and turns around; viewing the endless chaotic area. “You heard right. While I may not entirely at fault, it is still obvious to me that I hold a great deal of responsibility for what happened to you.” He sighs and his claw scratches the backside of his head. “There are things Robert that…”

“SHUT UP!”

Furious I interrupt him; the one who said he wants to be my friend. The same one that is responsible for me being in Equestria. All the things he said before; that he doesn’t know anything… they were all lies. Maybe everything he said up till now is a lie. If not for him, I would be with my family, enjoying their company and having fun with Rachel.

“Shut up, shut up and shut up!” All the frustration just bursts outside like a overextended balloon. Without any second thoughts I charge at Discord and start pounding his chest with all my might. Tears roll down my face and sobs escape my mouth between my cries of agony. “You stupid idiot. You liar. You idiot. Why why why?!”

The assault doesn’t seem to affect Discord much since he doesn’t make the slightest flinch. He just stands there looking down at me. Fists of a thirteen year old don’t have my desired impact what just increases my anger.

Thoughts rush through my mind; pictures of my family and my life. Memories of happy times appear and leave every few seconds. All of this wouldn´t be a problem if not for Discord. He even declined that he knew anything. Such a guy wants to be friends with me? What a joke!

My face gets swollen; I am about to run out of tears and my voice feels raspy. Currently I have my face buried in the chest of Discord who remained silent for the whole time. Not once he moved a muscle or tried to stop me, he just endured it.

Quietly I ask the strange ‘friend’ of mine. “…Discord?”

He even answers as silent as I. “Yes, Robert?”

“Why did you do this? Did I do something to deserve this?” Talking is painful and my throat is itching. Tightly I grab Discords brown coat and I have no intention of letting go. He owes me answers. But will he answer? I mean he even lied to the current rulers of Equestria.

Now I feel the claw and the paw of Discord on my shoulders and I look up at him with reddened eyes. His expression shows pain and regret; that is enough to calm my rollercoaster of emotions a little. “Uhm… no… I guess not… maybe. The thing is… how should I start? So many things are included and some things have to stay hidden at all cost.” Discord has problems to start this conversation right. Seem like he has some troubles of his own.

But I know exactly what I want to know the most. “Is there a way for me to return home and are you able to do that?” Maybe he is able to send me home and didn’t say that because of the same reason why he lied.

“I am very sorry Robert. That was no lie of mine. Even if I deceived you in regard of some other matters, this one is none of them.” That sealed the reopened hope again to get home by this way. All that remains is the option to do it myself. This is so frustrating; why does this have to happen? I just want to go home and play with Rachel and Joker, learn boring stuff in school and enjoy a good afternoon with my dad. Is that too much asked for?

Another time I hit Discord with my fist in the chest. “God damn it! How is that fair?” Once again my sobs return and my chest tightens up to the point where it hurts. “So… why? What can you tell me? I want to know as much as possible. YOU OWE IT TO ME!” I scream the last part at Discord and my throat is not happy about it; since my voice even cracks.

“I will do, so calm down now. This is a delicate topic and you have to swear me to never talk about this with anyone except me!” His eyes mirror his seriousness and are so unusual compared to the fun loving creature. “Do you understand me?”

A small nod is everything I can provide as answer since my voice is lost. Discord sits down on the grass and he signs me to do the same; which I do. After I take my seat we watch silently the scenery in front of us. Before I could even ask him again he starts to speak.

“You see, Robert, I am an old creature. It is so long that I forgot how old I am exactly. In this world were many occurrences that I observed, participated and remember to this very day. Happy an oh so great chaotic days and… also sad or disappointing things. Understand that I have knowledge on things that fell into oblivion, where they stay for good. Maybe some things would change the point of view of many. How they see this world and what the real origins are.” His voice trails off and he looks like that he is lost in his memories. A single cough from me is enough to bring him back. “Yes… sorry. Hopefully you understand this. Now for you, this coat and hat,” he flicks both things with his claw, “indeed belonged once to Starswirl. I recognized it the moment where I saw you for the first time. Color me surprised when I realized what exactly you were wearing. A strange little bipedal creature with the clothes of someone powerful I knew long ago. … Yes I knew Starswirl; better than many of these so called historians and researcher of Starswirl.”

A frown is shown on his expression and together with the voice is it easy to guess that he annyoed by that fact. All this ancient knowledge seems to be right in front of me… with all the clues that I need. Maybe if he gets a little bit more talkative he speaks of things that he doesn’t want to reveal to me?

“Starswirl and I were not exactly what I would call ‘friends’, but we knew each other really well. Our paths crossed countless times over the decades but there is one important one which is relevant for you.” Again he goes silent and I am getting impatient. This entire round about talking takes a toll on my nerves. Come to the point Discord, seriously!

“The last time I saw Starswirl was when he ‘visited’ me with an important task. He never asked anything of importance of me up till this day.” He chuckles slightly. “Ok maybe he asked me a few things… mostly the same thing. This time however it was something crazy.” A laugh escapes his throat, which I really want to squeeze right now. “The mighty Starswirl the Bearded asked me to send him to another world! He didn’t care about which world, just some other. Randomly! Can you believe this? Hahahahahahaha… hilarious!”

The only one who thinks this is funny is himself. I on the other side just look at Discord with disbelieve. But when he sent him to another world…
“Does this mean….”

“Yes, I accepted his request and did it. Seems like, he crashed in your world.” His toothy grin is not suitable for the situation, in my opinion. Starswirl himself asked to be gone; without anyone else knowing. Twilight told me that Starswirl just vanished one day and that up till now nobody discovered his remains. Because of that it seemed like he was swallowed by the earth.

All kind of thoughts are rampaging through my head. All the possible theories that just pop up in my mind makes me dizzy. But why? What is the reason for Starswirl to do this? Maybe he was just adventurous and wanted to see new worlds. But that wouldn’t explain why he didn’t tell anyone else. Is there more to it? “What happened to him after your transferred him to the other world?”

Discord shrugs and shakes his head. “Don´t know and didn’t bother. All I did was sending him off to a random world. Anything else that happened is uncertain.” Discord begins to claw the ground and creates random forms. “He could have landed in your world and died there. Or he survived the transportation and lived a happy life. I am not even sure that I sent him to your world. Maybe he landed in a different world and a being there helped him to go to the next one.”

The seemingly random forms create slowly a bigger picture. At this moment it is likely a unicorn between many circles with different signs in it. Lines connect the circles and they all end at the horn of the unicorn. “There is one thing I am sure of.” The last line he draws now with his claw leads from the horn to my feet. “He was at one point in your world. This outfit, with all his magic in it, is certain prove. It is that of Starswirl the bearded, the unicorn who traveled to a different world. Maybe he died in your world or just left behind most of his powers, but these are just speculations.”

He picks up the cape with his claw and holds it up a little bit; the soothing ringing of the bells echo over the open field. “Your clothes host an enormous power; power which you are not able to control at the moment.”

Now I start to laugh myself. “Yes that is true. My experiences with magic up till now were chaotic. That is….” I stop midsentence because of the grin on Discord´s face. Did I say something funny again?

“You don’t understand. The powers you unleashed up till now were just a fragment of what is inside it.” He shakes the cape again and his expression is very irritating for me. “This piece of cloth is slowly but surely filling you with power. Even now your magic power increases with no signs of stopping.”

It is so shocking that I splutter and cough hard. “What?” My body is being infiltrated by magic and up till now everything was just a small part of the power of the cape? Looks like it´s time to get rid of this as soon as possible.

Discord stops me in my motion to remove the cape. “Wait. Even if you take the clothes off, you would still get the magic from it. Between you and this outfit is something like a … connection.” This statement indeed stops me in my action. No escape? This is not good. “It is not visible to you but I can grasp the flow of power from the cloak to you. Hm… hard to explain.” He puts a claw on his chin and thinks for a few seconds in which I stand totally still. “Ah I got just the right idea. Take off the cape and lay it to your feet.”

Done as told, the cape and the hat are before me. Nothing feels different; maybe a little bit colder but that is obvious. “What now? It is the same as when I wear this.” Discord steps besides me and raises his claw to my temple. Scared I step back and eye the strange being in front of me. “What do you do?”

“Calm down. I want to show you what I see and then you understand what I say. When I touch your head I should be able to apply my vision to yours. Think of it as a pair of glasses.” Still not being fully satisfied with his answer I get back beside him. The claw comes closer to my head and I start to sweat; the thought to view the world like Discord is somehow scary. In slow motion the claw touches my temple… and my view explodes. Imagine that someone is pouring paint over your head and it flows down your head. Everything goes black but when I try to scream no sound is heard. All my other senses are normal. I still feel the ground on which I stand and smell and taste the strange air in this world.

My whole body is trembling like a leaf and only the touch of Discord´s claw on my head is my safety rope. Is there a color? Yes! Finally my vision starts to build itself up again. Colors and shapes appear first a little bit foggy but getting sharper by the second. The islands appear again, the ‘sky’ and my closer surroundings. Fascinating is what they look like now. Everything seems to be more bright and painted in stronger colors. The real surprise is what comes additional now.

All objects seem to have a visible aura around them; in different colors, shapes and intensity. All station objects have a steady aura of their own color around them. Moving objects leave a trail behind them that resembles something like waves. Still standing objects have an aura similar to a flame. Lastly the living things have an aura which pulsates like a heartbeat. “Wow. This is amazing.” In front of me is a chaotic never stopping explosion of colors. Strangely it feels right and isn´t making me giddy as you would guess. It feels right.

The sound of my own voice creates grey waves, that means even audible things have an aura. “Yes, this is how I see the world. Maybe a little bit irritating at first but all this creates a great chaotic view. Isn’t that right? Also your view could be a little bit different from my view, since you are a mortal human from another world.”

When I turn my head to face Discord I get surprised again. His aura is like a white flame that is as high as a tree. Looking at him is like looking into a small sun and it hurts a little after a while. “What is up with you?”

“Oh you mean me? I am … well, I will tell you this sometime else. Shortly said it is my essence. It is nothing to worry about. Wait a moment.” Seconds later the white flames gets rapidly smaller. “Better I guess? Now look at the outfit.”

My view switches from Discord to the cursed mage clothes, only to get confused. What I see is only the outline; everything else is like watching mercury in different color tones. Everything is in motion, like a river, not standing still for a second. The stars in the outfit are slightly visible but they are not multi toned silver. Instead they are pulsating in white light. Beautiful and incomprehensible, these are the two words that come to my mind.

“You see, the whole outfit is magic and these stars seem to host most of the power. Look there.” Discord points at a star at the top of the hat which is not shining anymore. This one seems like that the color was taken from it and just a plain yellow greyish color remains. “You already took the power of that star. And when you look at this one over there...” The next star he points at is slightly darker than the others and a single silver trail goes from the star to my right hand. I wave my hand and the trail follows my hand instantly. “At this very moment you absorb the power of this star. My theory is that your powers get stronger with each star you soak up.” There are a loooot of stars remaining.

“If my power increases with every star than this is scary. Just look at this! So many stars are there additionally to the ones on the cape … this make at least a hundred stars.” Sweat is running down my head and gets into my eyes. My breathing is increasing and my mind goes wild. “Even one and a half star is too much for me to control! We have to stop this, otherwise this will get dangerous. I could seriously hurt someone or me.”

Discord has an idea and waves his hand over the laying clothes and a milky layer attaches itself to the outfit. The silver trail from the star gets weaker from this moment on but still remains. “I can slow down the process but stopping it would be dangerous. Who knows what could happen. Imagine a geyser and you close the opening. Compare that to something like this. Maybe it blows up. And I presume that you want to evade something like that?”

That would indeed be scary. Walking around with uncontrollable power is one thing. Walking around with a ticking time bomb is something completely different. “Thanks, at least I get a little bit more time to learn this magic stuff. In every book I read magic was so… practical. The truth is somehow different.”

“You are welcome and yes, magic is something you should learn.” Discord smiles and pulls his hand off my head. With this my gaze changes and the all so different scenery is now back to normal. “So I hope you understand now what I meant. You are about to get your hands on a lot of power. But let me reassure you, Twilight Sparkle may be a so to say ‘egghead’ but she should be able to teach you good.”

If even Discord has such an opinion of Twilight than I can guess that I can call me lucky to get her as a teacher. “We have to hurry now and get back to the others. Are they not suspicious?”

Discord dismisses my concern while I put back on the outfit; if there is this kind of connection than putting it on or off makes no difference. “I am already prepared for this. If I am correct, what I normally am, then they should have all arrived at the dining hall just by now. We will appear and I make up a tiny lie. But before we go, a little reminder.” He stands up and faces me straight. “I can´t tell you what else happened. This is all I am able to tell you and even this bit has to stay between you and me.”

In his hands appears a black quadratic box with dark linings on it. “There are secrets that have to stay secret. If we act carelessly…” Slowly he opens the box and blood red smoke oozes from it and spreads in a fast pace to every corner of my view. All the islands catch on fire, the sky turns black, animals die and rot in mere seconds and a dark gruesome laughing is audible. “… than this world could be doomed faster as one could guess. A single careless word can set off an avalanche.” With the last word he closes the box and everything turns back normal. “Please understand this Robert.”

Appears that I held my breath and a few rapid breaths later I am able to speak again. “Yes. Absolutely clear Discord.” Was that real or just an illusion created by him? All his tricks and doings are fascinating and some are even scary if not horrifying. Just now I would have peed in my pants if it wasn’t for.

“Marvelous!” After just one clap of his hands everything vanishes around us and we both stand in a black area. “Let us get something to eat now. The chefs of Canterlot create some real delicacies. You will just love it. I swear that by my pride.” He is back to his old character with a goofy grin and an overpitched voice. “Before I forget,” he turns his back to me, “I am sorry for your situation. Not that I am completely responsible for what happened. Just so you know, I will help you to get home. This is my oath to you.”

The things we just talked about nag at my mind. Starswirl´s disappearance and the unknown reason for it, the outfit and the steady flow of magic into my body and lastly the untold things which Discord seems to know are all something to think about. So many new questions appeared but some got answered. “Yes, it is good to know, to have an ally like you and a meal seems like a great idea.” My appetite disappeared after my discussion with this knowledgeably creature beside me. I am not sure what I should think about Discord, but if he really wants to help me than it should be fine. He doesn’t give me the feeling of someone bad.

A white flash robs me my vision and my footing. With the probably manliest scream ever I fall and crash against something solid. Covering my head I tumble through different objects and sounds of breaking glass and wood are heard. Shouts come from around me, but between all the other sounds I can´t say who it´s from. A few seconds later it is over and I lie in fetal position on the ground while something is dripping on me. “Oh darn,” comes from Discord, who by the sound of it is next to me, “didn’t think about the extra weight. Hehehehehe … sorry my dear Celestia.” He is definitely not sorry.

“Oh you accursed scoundrel, that was on purpose! Just look at me, all this dirt on me!”
“Forget your appearance. He destroyed the cake! I DEMAND REPAYMENT!”
“Both of you quit it! Discord is fine but Robert was with him. Are you ok?”
“Are you serious? Robert, are you all right?”

Groggily I moan. My body hurts everywhere and slowly I open my eyes. What a mess! Discord probably teleported us right above the dining table and we crashed onto it, which broke by the force. Silverware lies everywhere, glasses and trays are broken and their content is spilled everywhere. I landed in something like a soup pot and broke together with it through the table. A wine bottle drips its content on my head, soaking my hair with alcohol. The stench will be hard to get out.

Standing on the table is Twilight with a worried look; noodles are on her head, giving her an edible toupee. One after another the heads of everyone else appear around the hole with similar appearances. Even Celestia, who has a big piece of a cake on her head, looked at me.

I am speechless. Here I am a lone human in a magic world in the presence of a fair share of celebrities and royalty, sitting in a soup pot. This is just too much and I start laughing. Ridiculus! What am I doing? Misfortune is my new second name. “HAHAHAHAH… yes I am fine.” Onerous I get onto my feet and watch the present starting to giggle and laugh or at least smile like Celestia.

Discord comes into view behind Celestia and takes a part of her cake topping with his claw and eats it. He gobbles it fast and licks the tip of each finger, Celestia didn’t notice that. “Looks like everyone is enjoying a little bit of chaos for once, huh?” The toothy grin on his face vanishes when everyone stops laughing and stare at him. “Uhm… ok ok. I bring everything in order just give me a second.” A snap of his finger later everything is back to normal. Everyone is back to a seat around the long table. The seat between Princes Celestia and Luna is mine, which I am not happy with. No one seems to pay much attention to Discords bending of reality except for me. Astonishing as his powers are, it won´t be unlikely that he will amaze me a lot more in the future.

The tableware and all the meals are neatly arranged and tons of food is prepared on expensive looking crockery. A wide range of soups, differently prepared vegetables, bread and a lot of other vegetarian meals are set in a precise order on the table. And as I thought meat is once again not part of the selection. How will they react when I tell them that I also need meat? Especially Fluttershy who seems to love all animals!

Two servants, ponies with greyish coat and an elegant black suit, are standing at a door which probably leads to the kitchen. The room is brightly lit by the sun from outside the many windows and the design of the room is similar to the throne room. Carpets, paintings and stained glass are all present.

Before I am able to inspect the room further Celestia raises her voice. “Please my dear friends. Enjoy the meal and have a good time.” Everyone thanks her and starts to amass their food on their plates. They all had some table manners except for Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. These two are best described as two moles digging holes. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna seem to not mind their lack of modesty, quite the opposite. Both of them smile and look with happy faces at their guests. Since my stomach still remains partly disobedient I just put some potato with what looks like curd on my plate. Out of decency´s sake you understand.

The consistency is perfect and the curd is creamy. Maybe some good food makes my stomach compliant. Just when the spoon full of potato is about to reach my mouth I get addressed by Princess Luna. “So Robert, what were you doing with Discord?”

My first royal bite in Equestria was nearly my last since I chocked myself with it. After some hefty coughs and a glass full of water I am once again able to breathe freely. “What was your question, your highness?”

“I asked you, what were you doing with Discord to crash on our dining table?” The princess of the night seems to have at least a vague hint. Her eyes and the way she asks is a secure clue; Discord on the other end of the table eyes me and shakes slightly his head. Pictures of the black box appear in my head and another big gulp builds itself in my throat.

“Nothing special. I was just curious how his teleportation works. Because the way he appears is different each time… and so was this. I am sorry for what happened.” Lying to royalty on your first meeting, good job Robert. Convinced is something Princess Luna is not at the moment, which is for sure. Her head comes closer to mine and is now inches away from my face.

The breath coming from her tastes like mint and is pretty cold. “Is that so?” Slightly she turns her head to a side and the assessing gaze makes me nervous. “But what were you doing all this time? I know for sure that teleportation doesn’t take this long. You were even later than us.”

Uh oh, this is not good. Think fast, make up something that satisfies her. “Uh… he needed some convincing since he didn’t want to agree.” Fearing that my voice cracks I take a sip out of my glass. Meanwhile the other ponies don’t seem to pay any attention to my conversation with Luna. Only Twilight throws a similar assessing glance in my direction. “All the time was needed to make him accept my request. Hehehehe … seems like he was right to not want to do it.” Nervously I laugh and become restless on my seat.

Finally Discord comes to my rescue since he appears behind us and lays his paw on my shoulder. “Oh yes, he really needed to persuade me to make me agree. I don’t accept just any request but he wouldn’t stop asking. So I gave in.” Luna still makes a frown and looks at the two of us, she does not believe us. Luckily she has no way to prove that… hopefully.

“I don´t trust you, be aware of that fact Discord.” The named just shrugs and goes back to his seat. Now I get her full attention again. “You on the other hand,” her voice gets lower, “don’t let yourself be taken in by his attitude. He is a master of trickery and won’t hesitate to do something wicked or betray you.”

Looks like the backstory of those two may be vast. All the aggression from Princess Luna makes me really want to know what exactly happened. “Thanks for your concern princess. I make sure to remember your advice.” Finally I am free of the royal attention and able to taste all the different meals.

Or so I thought but Princess Celestia is the next disturbance between me and my food. “Robert tell me, ‘what is your first impression of our kingdom?’” For once it is an easy question.

“It is fascinating, your highness. All these impressive things at every corner make me wonder if I am not asleep and all of this is just a dream.” I look at her now and her expression shows that she is pleased by my answer. “One of the best things is that I ended in the care of Twilight. All these books and her insight are just so interesting. Every single new thing tries to get into my brain and I have to be careful not to be overloaded.”

Two seats further a purple alicorn princess is blushing and she is intensely staring at her plate. Compliments seem to have this effect on her. Celestia seems to notice it too and she smirks by the look of her former student. “If you are eager to learn than you are right, Twilight Sparkle is indeed my absolute pride and she fulfilled all my expectations.” The praising of Celestia makes Twilight blush even harder and she covers herself with a wing, pretending to preen. Poor Twilight even her mentor appears to be someone who enjoys to tease her now and then. “I watched her from the beginning and can´t wait what else she may accomplish over the next years.”

As I watch Twilight in her awkward situation a thought comes to my mind and I state it. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna what will happen to me? A shortcut to get me home is not available and therefore won’t return home soon.” Please say what I hope you say.

The sister princesses exchange a glance and both look at me with a gentle smile. “You will stay in Equestria, in the care of the Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle. You will learn and train under her. The task of the both of you is that you are able to control your magic and find a way home.”

YES! Exactly that is what I hoped for.

Twilight perks up and faces me with a baffled expression. Why? It was pretty obvious that they would send me to her. She wants to say something but her voice is lost. Speaking without sound makes her look funny. Finally she regains her voice. “My very own student?” Looking up to Celestia in disbelieve is making me think that she doesn’t want me at her home.

A nod from Celestia confirms it. “Yes Twilight. I think it is the right time for you to take on a new task. Teaching someone, even if it sounds easy, is everything else than a light task. You have responsibility to make sure that he progresses smoothly. It will be a new experience and even if you teach someone, the one who learns something too is you.”

Celestia´s words slowly make Twilight change her expression from disbelieve to happiness. “That is…”

“…totally absolutely awesome!”

Rainbow butts in and she flies above the table, doing all kinds of different aerial maneuvers. Everyone else has the same opinion and shows more or less their acceptance. Pinkie Pie let some confetti appear out of thin air and throws them everywhere, she even wears a party hat. Where did she have it? Only one appears to dislike this decision and that is Spike. The little dragon sits silently on his chair and eyes me angrily with an expression that says ‘I am watching you closely’.

I just have to grin, even after just one day they are like close friends and it´s quite welcome. Twilight steps beside me and puts her hoof on my head. “So what do you say? Will you accept me as your mentor?” Her face is again hard to read and the stern look makes me gulp. “I will not lie to you. If you become my student it won´t be easy and you will most likely want to quit after a while.” Urgh now that is an encouraging statement for the start. Nonetheless this is my only chance left, for me to get home. Twilight hugs me tightly and it feels similar to a mother hugging her child. “But whenever you trip, I will be there to bring you back on your feet.” Speechless I look at her, yes that is more like the Twilight I know up till now. “So what is your answer?”

Does she really have to ask? A big smile appears on my face and my chest feels warm. I am a lucky devil to end up with them. “Absolutely yes!”

Twilight beams now with happiness and I get hugged again. All of my air is pressed out of my lungs and before I can state my need I get interrupted. All of her friends join our hug and I am in between a bunch of multi colored ponies. Together they all say, “Welcome to Equestria, Robert.”

As much as I like the feeling of friendly cuddly ponies with soft coats around me, I still need my air! A second later everyone pulls off because my groans make them realize my situation. Air, oh sweet air. Quickly I take some big breaths and my knees give away. All of this is a little bit much for me.

“Oh we are so sorry, dear. Suffocating you in between us.” Rarity´s concerned face is above me and she stand there looking down on me. The other ponies are feeling guilty too, creating a circle around me.

Death by friendship, that is new. On my grave stone reads then ‘he was not long with us, but our friendship built fast… maybe too fast’. “Hahahahahahahaah! It is ok, I am still fine.” This allays their worries and a blush appears on their faces. “Thank you for the welcome. I make sure to repay your kindness when I can.” They all decline it, saying that they want to help me. “You are all way to kind. But I don’t know how else I could survive here.”

Someone ruffles my hair and when I look at whom it is I see Discord standing behind me. “Now look at this. First student of the newest princess. Nice going.” He gives me a thumb up and out of his finger plops a smaller version of himself waving a flag. “Marvelous, this could be so much fun in the future.”

After all the commotion settles down a little we resume to the dinner at hand. It was funny. All of them were sincerely happy for me and talked about all the things they want to do with me. Returning home will take some time, but I won’t get bored the slightest with them around.

Time flew by and at one point the princess sisters excused themselves after a guard called them out. “Look at the clock, Luna we have to go now. It is time.” Both of them stand up and are about to leave.

“Where do you go, your highness?” Looks like something interesting is about to happen and I have a slight clue. Are they about to change the daytime?

Celestia turns her head and answers me. “It is the time of the day where we move the celestial bodies. The day is finished and now the night takes over.” I am probably easy to read because she smiles slyly and makes a move with her head, to follow her. “Would you like to join us?”

Sun and moon controlled by the wills of two magical beings, what else do I have to say? “With the greatest pleasure.” Quickly I slide off my chair and go over to them. “I am back shortly,” I call to the other present, who just grin knowingly.

The bigger built of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna makes it hard for me to keep up with them. For every one step they do, I have to do two or three. We come across different rooms and ponies, who look at me with suspicion. No wonder, no one ever saw a human and I am in the presence of the rulers. An unsettling feeling claws its way into me and I trip two times over my own feet because of that.

“Is everything all right with you? It may seem like that you are a little bit nervous.” Princess Luna´s face is in front of me with a questioning gaze. Her eyes are so mesmerizing; the title ‘Princess of the Night’ fits her perfectly. “We can slow down a little bit if you want to.”

“Sister we are in a hurry.” A yellow glow appears around me and I am lifted into the air. Tumbling through the air I make a low shriek when I land on Celestia´s back. “That will do, hold on to me.”

What is wrong with royalty here in Equestria. Who RIDES the rulers? There is a term that the king should serve the people, but I doubt that it is meant like that! Before I am able to complain Celestia makes a leap and rushes through the hallways, closely followed by Princess Luna. Scared I hold onto the neck of the white crazy alicorn princess. She is doing this on purpose; her now coming laughter makes it certain! Also her sister seems to enjoy the little joke on my cost. The flying mane of hers makes it sometimes difficult to see anything.

The unlikely group of us dashes through the castle, leaving dumbfounded servants and guards behind. I am able to calm down after the initial shock and somehow… enjoy this. Who can say that they get special treatment by princesses? “Hahahahahahaha this is awesome.” Wind tousles my hair and it feels similar to ride a normal horse back on earth.

“Hold on tight. We are increasing the speed.” Celestia is having her fun with me and who am I to deny her?

“Ok, will do.” My words are taken by the wind and I am not sure if she heard me.

“Here we go.” With these words her horn shines and her whole body glows yellowish. A second later we have at least doubled our speed. Everything is blurred and I have problems holding onto her neck. “Don’t fall off now. The fun just started.” In breathtaking speed we rush through the castle and we would normally have arrived at our destiny ages ago, considering this speed. Reason for this is probably the princess having fun. Then we stop rapidly which pushes me against Celestia, who isn´t shaken the slightest by it.

“That was fun, don’t you agree sister?” Expectantly the white alicorn looks to her black sister, who catches up just now. She seems to be a little bit out of breath but is also smiling.

Her answer comes in between two breaths. “You were always the faster one of us.” Her gaze is now on me and she grins. “Hope you enjoyed your ride. Our parents used to do this…”

“… enough Luna! We agreed to not talk about the past.” Rudely Celestia interrupts her. Both of them stare at each other and trouble´s seem to brew. “We have a task at hand and the citizens want to see it. Remember every time they see us work together improves your reputation.” Celestia´s voice is a lot different than before. This is not a talk between two equal sisters; it is more like a mother putting a child in place.

They continue to stare at each other for a few seconds more up till a “Yes, sister” comes from Luna. Strange, I thought equal rights prevail between them. Hopefully nothing bad happens. And what does Celestia mean with letting the past rest?

Noises get my attention and I see that we are standing in front of a doorway that leads to a balcony. It is above what looks like a big stone courtyard. Also the height in which we are in is scary. At least a 130 feet drop awaits those who fall off the balcony. And on this place are a lot of ponies watching the balcony. Luckily I can see them through the ivy-covered railings but they don’t see me. “Why is it, that there are so many watching? You raise the celestial bodies each day.”

Celestia and Luna pass me and move to the balcony. “Not too long ago a dark evil, namely Tirek, appeared. He wreaked havoc and everypony is still having problems working through their own nightmares. We want to scatter their fears by showing that we are still watching over them.” Luna´s tone is filled with regret and this is probably to the fact that they were NOT able to defend their citizens.

Both of them step onto the balcony and all the noises cease. Like someone flipped a switch. Respect is something they seem to get from the ponies, which is no wonder if you think about the time span in which they looked out for Equestria. My position is at the doorway, where I have a good view at the sky. The sun is still up and baths the world in an orange color. The yellow roofs reflect the sunbeams and the view is spectacular. A scenery as beautiful as this is hard to top. Maybe the changing daytime is even better.

As the two royal sisters stand on the balcony they look majestic and embody true leadership. First Celestia starts to speak to their citizens and her voice is not painfully loud, exactly the opposite. Even while talking a little bit louder than normal it is loud enough for everyone to be heard perfectly. “My dear ponies, another day comes to an end and we are about to settle for the night.”

As soon as her sentence ends Luna takes over. “The darker hour of the day is where you can find rest and forget about all the daily troubles.” Every time one sister ends, the other continues where the other left.

“Collect your strength for the next day, so that you can accomplish what you seek.”

“And don´t fear anything.”

“Because the two of us will keep watching.”

“It doesn´t matter if it is day or night.”

“So settle down and enjoy the night.” And with this Celestia concludes their speech. I have to say it is a little bit plain but what do I know. Before I am able to see my desired change of the daytime Celestia starts to talk again.

“We have one extra we want to announce today. It is nothing worrisome but I feel like you need to know.” Oh oh… I hope she won´t …
And I am right, once again I am engulfed by a yellowish aura and get dragged onto the balcony. “A guest arrived in Equestria, one that traveled a long distance and is now staying here for some time.” My body gets dragged to the balustrade and my attempts to hold onto something fail. “May I present you Robert, the first human in Equestria.” With these words I fly onto the railings and everypony has a good look at me. This feels like ‘The Lion King’ except that they not burst into cries of joy. All of them look at me with different expressions and I hear some OH’s and Ah´s. Shyly I wave at them, what the heck am I doing?

“And as a good host, that we all are, I ask you to be nice to Robert. He had some hardships along the way and doesn’t need any more problems.” Murmurs of agreement are audible just to the delight of Celestia.

All of this is so embarrassing and I just want to run away, which Celestia denies with her magic. “Princess Celestia, could you please be so kind and let me down?” What I just want was to see the power of the alicorns and not to be presented in front of everyone like a trophy.

“Of course.” Finally I am back to the ground. “I hope you don´t mind my little impulsively made decision. It seemed like the most reasonable solution to secure you a good start.” Well her intentions were good, the way of completing the task… not.

“Inform me please beforehand of such ‘impulsively made decisions’.” The princess of the sun seems to enjoy a good chuckle when she is not the one that has to pay for it. “But no I am not angry… just a bit overwhelmed.”

Luna pokes me with her muzzle from behind and I turn to her. “Please excuse my sister. Sometimes her humor gets the better of her.” The eyes of her are mesmerizing and the cyan color calms all of my ill feelings. “She rarely gets a good opportunity to be a little bit more… loose. But when she does be wary of her.”

“Luna!”

A blush on the cheeks of Celestia is all I need for a little revenge. Luna probably had this intention to prevent any bad blood that could have happened. “Oh, ok. Like I said, everything is fine. Don’t bother anymore.” The murmur on the plaza gets louder, the pony citizens are getting impatient… and I am probably also a big topic right now. “Can we please just continue? I really want to see it.”

Finally both of them let off of me and take their places, not without smirking at my desperate effort to change the topic. Standing side by side they silence the crowd. With spread wings and heads held high including their natural beauty makes them outshine any other. But behind their masks are two rulers that are more mischievous than one would guess. “Both of them should be handled with care. Don’t want to be some kind of toy in their little games.”

“Oh I guess you already are to a certain degree.”

Scared I turn around only to see no one. Did I just hear Discord´s voice? But no one is there. Am I getting crazy already? Discord stayed with the others behind to enjoy the dinner and I would describe Discord as someone who wouldn’t miss a good meal.

“Oh I need more popcorn. It is always nice to see the two of them doing their ‘thing’.”

The voice comes from the same direction and as I turn around quickly I see something out of the corner of my eye. There sitting on my shoulder, is Discord. To be precise it is a miniature version of him. “Discord, what are you doing here?”

Confusingly he just sits there and holds a popcorn pack in his claw. “Well why wouldn´t I enjoy a little bit of time together with my newest friend. And seeing those two perform their all so great task remembers me of the old times.” He sighs and the little guy gets a dreamy stare.

“You know them for a long time, don’t you?”

A tremble goes through Discords body and he answers, “Yes I do. Yes I really do.” After that he goes silent again and I guess that this isn´t the best moment to ask about their history.

In the meanwhile Celestia and Luna start to concentrate and their horns are glowing. That of Celestia in a gold yellowish color and Luna´s horn in a two toned dark blue color. Their manes are flowing around their heads and, except for Discords munching noises of popcorn, is no sound present. It feels like the world is holding its breath in awe for the rulers. The sun starts to move slowly to the horizon, bathing everything in orange and red colors. When the sun starts to reach the horizon the moon appears on the other side.

The event that I see right in front of me is fascinating. At one point I believed Twilight that Celestia and Luna have the power to move sun and moon, but not all my imagination is capable of picturing what I see now. The beautiful display of sun and moon, controlled by two … alicorns is so unreal. Slowly but surely it gets darker, the lanterns on the street activate one after another. The daily stress settles in, to make room for the nightlife.

Astonishingly Celestia and Luna doesn’t even break a sweat, instead they just stand there still concentrating. How much power do they wield? Maintaining day and night while leading a country seems like a great task for two individuals.

The moon reaches his highest position and stops there, stars appear one after another beside the moon. Seconds later we have a starry night and that just in less than five minutes. After a breather both mighty alicorns speak to their citizens again.

Celestia starts and closes her wings gracefully. “Dear citizens of Equestria, with this we conclude the day and let the night take over. Enjoy it and get a good rest.”

“Fear not and have no second thoughts. I make sure that this night is as beautiful as the ones that will follow. Wear the coat of the night, to calm soul and body. The stars are my eyes that will watch you and the gentle breeze of the night is my whisper that assures that you are safe.” Luna´s words are a little bit older fashioned but the lyric speech fits her perfectly. The ponies applaud on the plaza and you can feel their love for their rulers, who then turn around and walk up to me.

“Was this to your liking, Robert? We made sure to show you the beauty of day and night.” A hasty nod is all I am capable of and I remember Discord, who is not on my shoulder anymore. Where is he?

“Hehehe I see, you liked it. Let us get back to our other guests and enjoy a little bit more time together.” They walk passed me and I guess both of them are pleased with me being speechless, judging by their attitude. Celestia even turns around and wink at me before leaving the balcony.

“You should really look out for yourself, this could get hairy.”

Discord is once again on my shoulder, only this time in a detective outfit. A brown and black investigator cap is on his head and a matching coat is around his body. Is he trying to embody Sherlock Holmes? Wait how should he know him? “What do you mean? Both of them are so friendly and they even tried to give me a better start in Equestria.”

Little Discord shakes his head. “This is not what I meant. Look deeper.” A magnifying glass materializes in his claw and one of his eyes gets really big behind it. “Celestial’s attitude is suspicious.” Before I can even say anything he starts to talk again. “Don’t get me wrong, Celestia is a big sweet… boring… pony, but I never saw her act like this openly supportive and playful right from the start.“

“You think there is more to it?”

Bubbles come out of his nose, doesn’t he know that he should at least let them come out of a pipe. “Maybe, all I can say is that you should be careful around her. Judging by her attitude I guess that she assumes that I talked about some things that I don´t say to her.” Bot of his eyes are set on me and I feel a little bit driven into a corner. “Remember what you promised me, NOT a single word.”

“Yes I know, but that doesn’t mean that I have to stay away from her totally. Or does it?” Even with the commotion around her, I enjoy the company of her. But what if Discord is right and ulterior motives are the reason for her attitude towards me? On the other hand is her sister´s behavior normal?

The named ones are inside the room before the balcony and are about to get to the door. They turn around and look at me. “Do you come?” Celestial’s questioning face makes me realize that I have a little Discord on my shoulder. Hastily I look at my shoulder and see no one again!

“Uhm… yes. Sorry I spaced out there for a moment.” As I get moving they open the door and step outside. Where is Di- …

A low blow to my ears lets scares me and I hear Discord´s voice. “Just be careful with what you hear or say. Sometimes it is better to not question some things.” With this I can tell that his cheeky presence leaves me, god knows how I am able to know this, and by the time I catch up to Celestia and Luna I notice that both of them didn’t see a thing.

Why do my questions stack instead of getting solved? Discord is doing a fine job piling them up. What he told me about Celestia can be mirrored at him. Is his intention really to help me, or is there more to it?

For now I have to stay aware of all my surroundings. If Celestia, Luna and Discord play some kind of game and I am the piece of it than there is not much I can do. Why fighting the waves when you can ride it? In a careless moment I could learn a thing or two about what really is going on.

Staring thoughtfully at the two rulers gets me their attention. Luna tilts her head slightly and asks me, “is everything ok? Was our performance not good enough?”

“No, by far not. I am probably tired; so many new impressions took their toll on my body. When you live on a farm you go to bed early normally.” Making up this little lie leaves my mouth without pondering much. “Will we even be able to go back to Ponyville? In my world, trains don´t drive all the time.”

Celestia answers quickly with a smirk. “That will be no problem. You are free to stay the night here, what we expected and prepared some rooms for you beforehand.” So my first night is in a crystal tree and the second night in the palace… can´t wait to see where I sleep tomorrow.

“Great! I never slept in a castle!” Excitement rushes through my body. So many unique privileges and this exclusive treatment… is exactly what Discord told me about. My expression freezes and my sincere smile becomes a fake. “Yes, very great.” Luckily both of them haven´t notice my change of attitude. “I guess it is better for me to get a good sleep then.”

Luna is a little bit disappointed about my statement. “Oh, do you really have to go to bed now? My night is young and free to enjoy.” Her pleading eyes! Puppies are a joke against her. But… I must… resist. “Please?”
…
Ok, screw it.

“Maybe some more time together is ok. I can hold out a little bit more… probably.” Defeated I sigh and Luna makes a light cute squeal. “Oh yes you will lo…” Laughs from Celestia make her realize that she acts like a little child. “Oh ok uhm… yes it will be most pleasurable for you. Certainly you won’t regret it.”

I get the feeling that I had a glimpse of her true self; maybe staying with them some more is a good opportunity. Since my stay here in Equestria will be of a longer period I should also socialize some more with them. The sight of an embarrassed princess of the night is a funny sight and I and Celestia giggle on our way to the dining hall.

“Quit it you two. You are aware of the fact that I love the night and want other to see the beauty of it.” Her excuses doesn’t make it better; quite the contrary. As we continue our walk we poke Luna with all kinds of commentaries. How I am able to be so open to two rulers?

We arrive at the dining hall, but no one is there. A servant says that they relocated the festivities to the private chamber. It is an instruction that Luna and Celestia gave their servants. There we are welcomed by everyone else who seems to be in the middle of a bigger discussion. Ponies bring up a variation of drinks which everyone enjoys; except for Spike. The little dragon is sound asleep on a cushion in the corner of the room. Seeing him makes me now realize that I am truly tired and my lie that I told before is reality. Damn karma, I already assured Luna I would stay a little longer.

“I see, you are still enjoying yourself?” Celestia closes the door behind us and proceeds to her seat. “If I am not mistaken than we should have some apple cider prepared. Of course from Sweet Apple Acers.”

Applejacks chest is about to burst and you can tell how pleased she is by that statement. “Darn right, no one makes a better apple cider than us.”

Everypony agrees and they toast together, I got a glass with apple juice. Not that I complain, my father let me once have a sip of his liquor and it tasted awful. Mom was angry with him at first but after she realized that I didn´t like it and that this will keep me away from it for now she somewhat accepted it. He was still in for a lot of trouble; I heard them when I went to bed. Boy was he screwed!

Rainbow´s movements are a little bit sluggish. Is she drunk? We were just around half an hour away! Named pegasus is currently midair and flying above Applejack. “Who am I? Yes! I am Rainbow Dash and my glass *hick*… my glass is empty. Refill please!”

“You had more than enough now Rainbow! We are in the presence of royalty, show some manners.” Rarity uses her magic to make her sit down beside her by force. A glass jar full of water gets dragged over by her magic and she pours it inside Rainbow´s glass. “Here drink that for once. After that you will feel better.”

Rainbow seems to have other demands; she even pushes the glass away, knocking it nearly over. “Nah! I want some more … cider… now.” Her hoof which reaches for the bottle of cider is stopped by Rarity.

A stern expression makes Rainbow stop her uprising complains. This is an impressive display to shut her down like that. “Listen to my advice. If you drink water you can party more. But if you decide to stick with cider you will be knocked out before you know it. You wouldn´t like to miss the rest of the party, do you?”

It is so reasonable that even the drunk Rainbow gives in and empties the water filled glass. The other ponies just chuckle by the act. Applejack pats Rarity on the shoulder with a broad smile. “Quite impressive, I have to say. Didn´t know that you can handle her now, too. Did you practice?”

A flick of Rarity´s head swings her hair back and she makes a sly smile. “The best way to train to handle a wild animal is to know a wild animal and Opalescence makes a wonderful test subject for this purpose.”

Everyone burst into laughter, only Rainbow Dash and I am not laughing, since this seems to be more of a private joke that I am not aware of and Rainbow for obvious reasons. She gets a little bit flustered and tries to stand still on the ground; which proves unsuccessful. “I am still sober! See.” After a second of struggle she tumbles into a mountain of pillows where she comes to a hold.

“Oh we can see how sober you are.” A giggling Twilight makes her way over to her friend and digs her out of the soft avalanche. “Are you now convinced?”

A flustered pegasus is shown between the cushions with a bean red face. “Hehehe you may be right. I should take a little break now.” She points her hoof at me and makes a more or less straight face. “Don´t ever drink so much. You hear me! I am not a role model.”

I take my seat beside Fluttershy who protectively puts her wing around me. “Sorry for that. I have to excuse her, she can´t hold her liquor well… and … she loses it sometimes.” Cute, how they are concerned about my wellbeing. My parents drank too, you know. Not excessively but it could get out of hand sometimes. Both of them told us, to never drink before we aren´t old enough. Also all the ‘don´t drink and drive’-talk. These rules are there for a reason, so who am I to break them.

“No harm done. I know what happens when you have too much. Good thing she has friends like you to look out for her.” She nods in agreement and still not letting off her wing around me. It is not that I complain about the bodily contact… it just feels unnatural to be guarded by a pony.

Rarity joins us and takes the other seat beside me. “Did you enjoy it, when they changed day to night? It is just so exquisite to see it. We followed the display from the window.”

Looking at Discord, who takes a short glimpse at me, ensures that I won´t tell everything. “Absolutely! As confusing as I find the fact that the sun and moon are controlled by someone, I still found it very appealing. Never once in my life I saw suc…”

Poof

One second I am talking to Rarity and then she is gone. I blink a few times to understand what happened and see that she lies on the ground with a big pillow on her face. Fluttershy squeaks and holds a hoof to her mouth. “Are you all right?”

Oh the fashionista is alright; her mood is that I am uncertain of. Laughing comes from across the table and I see Rainbow rolling in between the cushions. “Hahahahaha gotcha!” Seems like payback from her for the lecture before.

A light blue aura appears around the cushion and lifts off, revealing the angered face of Rarity. Uh oh…

Surprisingly she stands up and regains her composure. After putting her hair in order she looks at us. “I am alright. Excuse me please but I guess there is someone who needs a little lesson.” The voice of her is as cold as ice and makes me shiver. Also Rainbow realizes what is about to happen and gulps hard.

“Hehe… uhm a little joke between friends, you know. No harm done.” It is easy to see, that this is not over. All excuses of the guilty one are revoked by Rarity. Flying besides Rarity´s head is the soft bullet. They would not… I mean we are in the freaking castle!

And how they dared! With an evil grin the cushion flings into Rainbow´s direction; knocking the pegasus back into the pillows. Good shot I have to admit. “A lady will always respond to someone who dares to make a mess out of her hair.”

Pinkie Pie bursts out at the top of the pile; one pillow in each hoof… how are they holding them again? “PILLOW FIIIIIGHT!”

With this she throws her first bullet at Applejack who is taken by surprise and spills her drink. Hilariously she spits it at Twilight´s face, who she was talking to at that moment. The sight of Twilight with dripping wet hair is fantastic. It gets even better when Discord grabs the hair from behind and wrings it out and catches the drink in a new glass. “Your drink, I think you got it into the wrong place.”

This is too much. I burst into laughter which gets stopped by the second cushion of Pinkie. “Ha, that serves you. Little human, come and get me.” Baffled I hold the cushion and eye Pinkie with faked anger. It is sooooo on! “Bring it.”

With confidence I throw the cushion back at the perpetrator. Pinkie bends like crazy and evades my shot. “Too easy! You have to try harder to get the king of the hill!” Her flexibility is impressive. With this she grabs another pillow and her next attack starts.

Quick-witted I duck and dodge it by a hair´s breadth. “Two can play that game Pinkie. What swallow throw was that? Even my grandma can do better.” Expecting a witty answer I look at the pink pony to see her making a shocked face with her maw slightly open. Huh? What is with that face … oh oh!

Slowly I take a peek behind me and I know what the reason for her expression is. Standing behind me is no one else than Princess Celestia with a pillow pierced by her horn. Feathers are flying around her head and make it impossible to see her face. Trying to find the right words I apologize, “I am sorry princess. Our behavior is…”

“Ha ha ha.”

Is she laughing? Yes, Princess Celestia is giggling like a little girl and she pulls the cushion of her horn, showing that she is grinning. “An assault against one of the princesses of Equestria? And this is just your second day.” Grasping the pillow she comes closer to me. “This must be punished and the court has already reached a conclusion.” Wait is she really going to… my face is hit by the pillow and I get feathers in my mouth. “Punishment right this instant.”

In disbelieve I look at the ruler; once again I feel dumb. These ponies are nothing like the humans in my world. Worrying all the times only shows me that I am in the wrong all the time. Should I just enjoy myself? Yes!

Coming to this conclusion lightens my heart and I hold the pillow with both hands. “Oh is that so?” A slow laughable growl comes from my throat. “This is not a single assault,” I punch the pillow from behind and a wave of feathers burst out of the hole, “it´s a declaration of war!”

It got really out of hand after this point. The contestants were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Discord and of course me. Even thought we did all this chaos neither Celestia nor Luna were bothered the slightest by it. The two of them sat together with Fluttershy and Twilight and were talking calmly with each other under a purple globe that protected them of any disturbing bullets. Spike lied beside Twilight on a cushion sound asleep.

I knew after a while that I am at a disadvantage. Every one of them had a special gift, except for me. Magic is the obvious one for Rarity and Discord. Lastly named pulled many weird tricks on us to hit his desired target. Like letting pillows appear above us and such. Rainbow Dash is hard to hit while flying, but her aim was horrible luckily. Applejack´s shots packed quite the punch and one hit of her felt like five normal ones. Maybe the craziest one of all was Pinkie Pie; just as Discord she used some crazy and confusing tactics. At one point she even pulled out a cannon out of nowhere, which she filled with cushions to fire at us.

Rainbow was the first to drop out because of being tipsy and lay down on a couch on the far end of the battlefield. I wanted to take a breather too and took a seat on the space between her back and front legs. It is enough room for me to fit.

“How can they have so much energy? I mean I am a kid. Things like this should be JUST MY THING?” I lean back and feel the wings of Rainbow behind me; relaxing as lying on clouds. “I hope you don’t mind, I need a moment before I can rejoin them.” A mumble comes from her as an answer and brings her wing in a more comfortable position. “Slowly I get the feeling that I am fortunate to make this experience. You know, me being here in your world and seeing all kinds of stuff.” This time her answer is reduced to a single grin. I should really rethink my opinion on all of this. This is the last thought that crosses my mind before the mellow feeling of feathers make me fall asleep with a happy feeling.

I wake up. Where am I? Taking my time I look around and recognize the same room as before. Darkness and silence relieved light and laughter of their duties it seems. But why am I still in this room, wouldn´t they wake me up and lead me to bedroom? A snort from behind makes me jump and it is Rainbow Dash, who is holding me in place with a wing. Ok, Twilight probably let me sleep here with Rainbow Dash. Probably because of my embarrassing confession last night; reasonable and not unwelcomed by me.

So… what did wake me up? Was it just on a hunch or Rainbow´s noises? The room is dark and silent, the windows are closed and the curtains are drawn. My body temperature is fine thanks to the soft wing on me. Well whatever, time to get some more rest, I need a lot of stamina in the next few days or weeks. Anxiety, which I felt at first, is more and more replaced by interest, even thought my homesickness will not cease that quickly. Nothing I can do for now. Snuggling against the warm body of Rainbow I try to get back to sleep.

“That would be rude, don´t you think?”

My eyes shoot open and my breathing stops. Someone is there and I don´t know who! The voice is deep and has a low echo. Fear takes over my body and it starts to shake. Is it Discord making another prank or is my mind playing games?

“Oooh I don´t think so. Reducing me to a fantasy is quite the insult.” A hint of annoyance creeps into the voice. “How about you take a look? Just to reinsure you, that you are not insane.”

Is it for real? This has to be some kind of nightmare! I have to wake up now, please.

But my body moves on its own, if out of curiosity or plain fright I can´t tell. Slowly I turn my head to face the one speaking to me. Sweat runs down my face and I am at a loss of any words. Something comes into sight and I would scream, but my muscles are all tensed up and making it impossible to open my mouth. There really is something or someone standing in this room. You know the moment when you think something is just plain black and couldn’t be darker? Now imagine that there is something darker than black.

The figure has the form of an earth pony standing on all fours and is slightly larger than an average pony. You can say that it is there but at the same time not. It is like when you say that a cloud looks like something; not grasping the true form. Just two outstanding things are more noticeable than the cloudy black pony. First of is its eyes. White glowing without any pupils and they are staring at me. The second thing is the mane which is longer than the whole body of the pony. Ghostly the mane swirls behind it and gives me a creepy vibe. I cannot tell what color the mane has but it is not black. Like water oozes black smoke from the body and covers the floor.
Right in front of me is what you can describe as a truly terrifying sight.

“See, wasn’t that hard.” It seems to be a male being. The reason why I got confused in the beginning is because of the voice. Instead of talking with one voice he has multiple voices talking slightly after the ‘main’ one. He takes a step closer and the smoke swirls around rapidly where he moves. “Aaah finally it returns. So long have I waited for this very moment.” Whenever he opens his mouth a white smoke comes out and drips into the dark one; getting swallowed instantly.

“W-who are you?” I ask the strange creature.

Ignoring my question he comes closer. “How I yearned for it and to finally be in reach.” Step by step he comes closer. My neck hair lines up and my breath increases while I watch every one of those steps.

Using all of my courage and fear I ask once again. “I asked you, who you are! Answer me!”

Finally he seems to notice me and for the first time he looks straight at me. I regret asking the question right this instant. “Oh, you insignificant creature. You know my name and don´t know it. But this is meaningless.” I blink once and instead of him being ten feet at least away he stands in front of me. “Since you´re of no importance.” He reaches out with his hoof and I feel heat on my chest.

“What do you me-....” The heat increases and transforms my words into a scream. Lightning charges travel between his hoof and my chest. The smell of burnt hair is in the air. The pain is great and tears roll down my cheeks while I scream every ounce of air out.

“Be quiet.” Unsympathetic he looks at my face for a second before his attention returns to my chest. “Don’t defile this moment of absolute joy.”

The blue electric discharges bend and crackle but the painful connection remains. Such temperature is unbearable and I see my skin literally melt in front of me. “Yes… yes… that´s it. Just a li-…”

A loud exploding sound happens above us. A hole in the ceiling opened rapidly and dark blue water flows down onto us. “Tch… seems like someone doesn’t read the signs.” With newfound power I grab the hoof of the shadowlike pony and try to pull it away. Miraculously I succeed and light engulfs my body and pushes the dark smoke and the one leaking it back.

He just grins evilly. “This is far from over. I will come back.” And with these last words my vision explodes. Like a mirror everything shatters and reveals the same room but this time different. Instead of a dark eerie room with a hostile creature I am in a dim lit room with a worried Rainbow Dash over me.

“Robert! Damn good you finally wake up!” She has both hoofs on my arms and was most likely shaking me. “Do you have any idea how long I tried to wake you up?”

“Wh-What? What happened? Where is … ouch.” My breath goes fast and I hold my forehead. It really was just a dream. “Sorry Rainbow, just a nightmare. Thanks for waking me up.”

She tilts her head slightly. “Really? Seemed like a scary one.”

“You don’t even know how scary.”

She lies down again on the couch and grasps me with her wing which makes me feel like a baby bird. “There is nothing to be afraid of when you are with me. If there is something I will defend you. Pinkie promise.” Her confident face puts me at ease and my breath normalizes.

“Ok, let us go back to sleep.” She grins and reaches out for the candle.

I want to make sure that everything was just a dream and reach for my shirt and pull it up. Truth being told I expected there to be some kind of marking and at the same time I know that this is just my fear. Sadly this seemed to be more than just a dream. There on my chest I get a glimpse of a black scar which fades away a mere second later. Before I am able to look further at it does Rainbow blow out the candle and envelops the room in darkness.

Author's Notes:

So there you are, at the end of the fourth chapter.
So... what was that? A dream? A vision? Something completely different? What will Robert do and what adventures are ahead?

What is your opinion?
I really want to know if you still like it or not.

Sorry that I took one week longer than my max. limit is (which is 4 weeks normally)
But hey this chapter is again bigger than the last one
Stay tuned for the next chapter.