Well. I was on a dragon. I didn't really like that fact but I was. Going to a place called 'Clairmont'. I couldn't help but think to myself though... this shrine. Dashie wouldn't be happy without knowing that I was okay and thinking about her still. Maybe I could use it just to let her know that I'm still with her. Maybe I could use it to see her grow into an old mare and live out her life.

We were picking up speed. And by that I mean we were going very fast. I felt  the wind pounding so hard against my face that it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. But the beauty from Equilibria was overriding my discomfort.

From what I can tell, the time here works the same as on Equestria and Earth. There is a day that comes to a close, which is only logical to think that there is a night too. But anyway, it was getting quite late. The sun was about a quarter the way behind the horizon and it would be nightfall soon. I certainly hope we got to Clairmont soon. Its bad enough riding on this dragon. But doing it in the night, I would not want to be here.

We continued to soar threw the orange sky, when I could see it. Right in the centre of all the beauty was a huge mountain, attached to the side of the mountain was Clairmont. It actually looked a lot like Canterlot, accept it was much bigger and instead of being high up near the top of the mountain, it was down further near the ground. It was connected to the ground by a long flight of stares, and along the sides of the huge castle stuck out landing pads, most likely for dragons to land as I could see quite a few more flying towards Clairmont. As my parents and I neared the giant castle city I noticed that there was something off about it. I could see some of the citizens. They were very small but I could still kind of see them. They didn't look very human. Come to think of it... none of this made a lot of sense. If I'm dead, and I'm now in paradise... than I must be in heaven or something. But if I am in heaven, than why is it linked to Equestria, a land of ponies, in some kind of balance? Why is there dragons, an animal that can only be found in Equestria, and not Earth? Why is there a shrine connecting to Equestria? Why is there a king and queen? I thought heaven was supposed to be kept by god and his son.

I was just so confused and had so many questions. It was all so frustrating. But it took me a few seconds to notice that in my frustration, I had ranted about all of that out loud in front of my parents. My mom looked at me and sighed as the dragon slowed to a stop and landed not-so-very gently on the landing platform. We all got off and she began to talk.

"Honey, you are not in heaven. It is a complicated process that brought us here. We are... well you could probably call it pony heaven." We continued to walk down the stares off the platform into the city. What she said was true. There were ponies everywhere. "You see, the reason we are here is because of destiny. When me and your father had our car accident, we were surprised beyond belief when we ended up being carried off threw a portal and were showed the same gate you went threw earlier... accept we were shown around by a couple of pegasi ponies. It took a while... but we knew all about Equestria long before you got there."

Then my dad cut in "Exactly, we found out about the shrine shortly after we got to Equilibria too. But it was useless to us since we wanted to talk to you, but the shrine doesn't link to Earth. And that's why we started contacting you in your dreams and such when we found out you had somehow made it to Equestria."

Then my mom again "It was a series of events that triggered our coming here. We came here because you were destined to. And you were destined to come here because of your daughter."

I loved the way they referred to Dashie as my daughter. It made me feel like I really did a good job as a father. My parents are human and they even understand me and Dashie's love for each other. Even though she is a pony and I'm a human. It's nice to know that understand. But wait..... If this is where Equestrian ponies go when they pass, than that means that Dashie will be hear in roughly 20 years. Which means we can have another life together.

My frustration immediately went away after that. I still had some questions, but I was satisfied.

"So, uh.. mom? Where are we heading to?"

"hmm?" She said back to me.

"Well, we did come all the way out here to Clairmont. What are we going to do here?" The streets were littered with ponies.

"We are going to go to the throne room to meet the king and queen. They always greet newcomers to Equilibria, and answer any questions they might have. They might even let you visit the shrine."

Now I was interested. If I got a visit to the shrine, I could give Dashie a sign that I am still with her.

We continued down threw the streets until we approached a large building at the very back of the castle near the face of the mountain. This must have been the palace. We entered and continued down a series of hallways until we hit a line. This must have been all the newcomers like myself. Ponies that just got here.

"So...uhh... a king and queen. They aren't gonna try to intimidate me with their power or anything, right?" I had to say it.

"Don't be ridiculous you loon. A matter of fact, me and your mother are quite close to the king and queen. We became friends a long time ago." Classic dad, always so blunt.

That made me feel better. I was friends with Princess Celestia back in Equestria. I guess I've just gotten used to not having to worry about disrespecting royalty by trying to act like you are friends or something. I don't know, maybe this is reminding me too much of medieval kings and queens. I mean a princess, sure. But in the land of ponies I'm not so used to kings and queens.

---------------

Some time passed, and finally we were almost there. Only a few ponies left to go. We were standing right next to the entrance when I could hear both the king and queens voices. They sounded calm, loving, and godly. I was actually looking forward to meeting them. Finally it was my turn. Me and my parents were showed in by a royal guardsman. As soon as we walked in the room the king and queen smiled gracefully. They were, of coarse, alicorns. And the queen looked a tiny bit like princess Celestia as well. She was cobalt coloured with a purple and olive main and tail that curved and swerved in the air as it sparkled with magic. She wore a thick golden necklace with a jewel in the centre, and had a crown made of gold and coated in jewels. She was also wearing golden hoof guards

And than there was the king. He too was an alicorn, his coat was dark grey, almost black, and he wore golden armour fitted for an alicorn of his size. He had no head dress, but beside his thrown was a golden helmet. His main and tail weren't feminine and elegant like the queens, it was stationary. It was spiky and combed backward much like Dr.Whooves back in Ponyville.

"Greetings king Poradese, and oh my, queen Serenity, you look lovely this evening." My mother said in a cheerful voice. "My son Brian recently passed and he is new here. Me and my husband collected him at one of the gateway portals."

"Hello there, son!" King Poradese said in a happy voice. "Greetings, darling. We haven't had another human here in Equilibria in roughly 40 years." Queen Serenity said.

"Well, I'm certainly glad to be hear." I said cheerfully. "I've only been here for about an hour and I've herd so much about you." I plastered a smile.

"Its always nice to meet the son of old friends, lad. So, do you have any questions, concerns?" Poradese asked.

"Yes, actually, I was hoping you could tell me what the whole deal with Equilibria being linked with Equestria is all about. And why we'd be in danger if somepony overused the shrine."

"No problem son. Its pretty simple. Equestria and Equilibria exist in a state of balanced Equilibrium. Both lands consist of energy which connect and interact with each other. Now these energies are opposing energies. If one didn't exist, the other would loose balance and slowly and violently destroy itself because there would not be another force to contain that energy as sort of a counter wait. It is the exact same on the other side. Equilibria and Equestria need one other to balance their energy. They need to keep each other from getting out of control If the balance became unbalanced than both realms would parish violently, and everypony would suffer. Now we can use the shrine a lot for minor things like simply monitoring Equestria, but doing things like actually making physical appearances leaves residual energy traces in Equestria from Equilibria. These residual energy traces if large enough can cluster together and begin to fracture and attack Equestria from the inside. This would weaken Equestria's energy field and the energy would no longer be strong enough to counter Equilibria's energy. Equilibria's energy would override and destroy Equestria. Eventually, since Equestria would not be there to contain Equilibria's energy, it would overcharge and eventually rip apart this land as well.

Does that answer your question, lad?"

"Yes, yes it does, thank you. I have one more question though." I said, satisfied.

"Shoot."

"Well, would it be possible to use this shrine of yours to let my daughter know that I'm still here?"

"Yes. Yes it would be possible depending on what you intend to do."

I explained to him the whole deal with me and Dashie and what I intended to do. He understood, and gave me a scroll to show to the guards guarding the shrine to let them know I'm clean. He told me that it was late, and I should get a good nights sleep until morning so I could go to the shrine. We said our goodbyes and left.

"Hey, mom. Where am I going to live anyway?"

End of Chapter 2