Celestia proceeded to explain to Arden that the mare he referred to in his letter was actually a student in her academy and she was in Canterlot at the time he sent her the letter. Therefore whoever he was interacting with him that day was using a disguise.

"That is why I came here." The princess finished her explanation.

"This is a bit...unsettling, to say the least." The stallion said while he sat down to process what she had just said. So basically he could have been interacting with a murderer that now knew he was human. This was a problem, he started to think about how he could get around those disguises. There had to be a way to see through them. He forced himself to remember what the mare looked like, anything that was off. 'COME ON! THINK!'

"You seem troubled," Celestia said, only now he noticed that her voice sounded like when she was with Twilight...she seemed more at ease. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes..." he answered with his gaze focused on space. His was focusing on the memories from when the mare appeared in the morning. Then he focused on the memory from when he was closest to her, after begging her to keep his secret. Closing his eyes he forgot about the deity standing there with her gaze focused on him and tried to reimagine the scene as if he was outside of his body. Inside his mind, he saw the mare kneeling down to look him straight in the eyes, the scene was stuck in time and he started to examine it. Using all the details he caught from her during the brief encounters with her he rebuilds her entire body in that scene. Part of his duty as a doctor was to examine his patients, so ever since he started to study Arden developed a habit to pay close attention to another person's appearance and body details as to see anything that could lead to a diagnosis or at least gives him a clue about where he should start investigating.

'Her body didn't have anything odd, her neck was normal, nothing out of ordinary in her horn. Her mane was normal as well, her forearms were ok, nothing odd on her hands. Time to check the face...' Arden thought to himself after taking her head off the body in order to inspect her face. 'Her muzzle didn't have anything, her lips and nostrils didn't have any clues either...how about the eyes?' Focusing on the eyes Arden tried to remember all of the different times he saw them. Suddenly he remembered seeing something off about them. 'Wait...in a split second I remember...a faint green glow appearing over her eyes...they looked...familiar...'

"GOT IT!" Arden exclaimed opening his eyes once again and jumping off the couch. Looking around he saw that Celestia actually took a seat by his side and was looking at him with her head tilted and her eyebrow raised. "I think I found something to identify the stalker when they are in disguise!"

"That was fast." The princess stated while keeping her gaze on him. The fact she kept her eyes locked in his was starting to get him slightly flustered.

"O-okay, I think I saw a faint glow come out of the impersonator's eyes while transformed. If I am correct, that should repeat itself when they are disguised." Arden started. "Also...I want to know something about this Lyra."

"Do you now?" The princess' tone sounded...bitter, Arden thought it was best to specify.

"Is she obsessed with humans o something of the sort?" The princess' gaze softened and she took a few moments to respond.

"She is writing a thesis on how there are multiple realities where our species do not exist and humans are the dominant species. But it isn't an obsession." The princess spoke with her voice going back to her usual tone. "She is enthusiastic about new information but she believes it would be best to keep humans to their realm and our species to ours. Since most of the data, she analyzed so far from myths and legends points to humans having problems with other intelligent species."

"Strange...the impersonator acted as if she was downright insane about humans," Arden explained. "They even went so far as to make her look like she would toss herself at a human's arms as soon as she found one." Celestia frowned at that. "N-not that she actually tossed herself at me! She acted as if she was hitting on me." The frown deepened. "Listen, am I reading you wrong or you seem jealous? Because I tend to read other's feelings towards me wrong." The stallion shot before covering his mouth, 'SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! I just asked that! I! AM! FUCKED!' then he started to sweat a lot before getting on his knees and saying. "I-I'm sorry! I-I j-just...have a lot happening at once and now I-I'm sort of stressed so please ignore what I just said!" The princess' expression didn't help him since she didn't show any reaction.

"N-no. It's alright." She said after shaking her head and blinking a few times. "I'm just worried about the pony who plays a part in my plan..." The princess said while averting her eyes for a moment. 'Thank whoever is watching over me for having me meet so many beings with a decent amount of kindness in their hearts to ignore some of my fuck ups!' The blue one thought to himself as he let out a sigh of relief, but in the back of his mind, he also thought: 'I don't buy what she just said.'

"Right! So..." Arden started as he got back on his hooves. "Am I right to assume you have another reason other than the letter to be here?" The princess agreed with a nod. "In that case, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"First a message from Princess Candance regarding your talent: Try to remember what you were thinking when you first manifested your talent." Arden just blinked at that

'That's it? What was I thinking? I...I wanted to understand what going on. No...that's not it...I wanted to understand what made them act that way towards me. That's it, I wanted to understand them.' Arden thought to himself, the princess must have noticed he was lost in his thoughts because she coughed a little to bring him back.

"Figured something out?" The stallion just gave her a gesture that meant 'I think so?' a smile quickly formed on her face but it disappeared just as quickly. "Secondly, I want you to meet your teacher in swordplay, and her partner. Walkyrie Heart and Mind Walker. I've stationed them in Ponyville so they can teach you while performing their duties. They will move by tomorrow around 5:00 PM." Celestia said pointing to the kitchen where two ponies were sitting and watching the entire scene unfold. Meanwhile, in Arden's mind 'I just made a fool of myself in front of complete strangers...awesomeeeee.'

There was a mare yellow pegasus wearing some sort of battle dress that looked like it was made of gold while the other was a dark grey stallion wearing some garments that made him look like an acolyte from one of the RPG's Arden used to play. Complete with a belt with a book attached to his hip and a bunch of vials of colorful liquids. Arden raised his hand and waved at them awkwardly.

"Hi..." He finally managed to say.

"Do you want us to give you and the princess some privacy?" The mare spoke with a mischievous smile, the comment made Arden scratch the back of his head.

"I-I just interpreted her reactions the wrong way there. So there is no need."

"Just teasing you." The mare said getting up and heading towards the blue one accompanied by her partner. "Thanks for helping us out." She said bowing to Arden who reacted by tilting his head and letting out a 'huh?'

"The harmonious heart you triggered while you were being captive made us realize that we were wasting our time together by ignoring what we felt." The stallion explained while also bowing to Arden.

"No problem...just stop with the bow thing, please?" Arden said pulling them both up. "A handshake or a hug is enough." The answer to the last statement was a hug from both of them.

"Very well," The warrior said breaking the gesture. "The princess tells me that you have no experience fighting. Is that correct?" Arden nodded positively. "In that case, starting tomorrow, every day around this hour we will come by to teach you swordplay. He will heal your injuries after each session." Arden gulped at 'injuries' which made the mare and her partner giggle. "No worries I won't kill the princess' stallion of interest."

Arden looked at the princess that was glaring at the warrior and the wizard. They noticed death glare and made themselves scarce by having the wizard teleport them away. Once they were gone it was just him and the princess, silence filled the room for a while before she just gave him a hug and also left.

(11:00 PM)

Arden stood in front of the bathroom's mirror staring at his reflection, his heart practically ready to jump out of his chest. He was afraid to take off the necklace, 'FUCK IT!' He thought to himself before slapping his own face. Then he reached for the necklace's lock and took it off, headache followed as soon as he took it off which made him wince and look at the ground. Then he thought to himself: 'I want to understand them.'

As soon as he finished the line, the headache ceased and the world was red once again. The stallion tried to look at his hands, expecting to see nothing he was caught by surprise since he could see himself normally. Looking back at his image he saw a creature made out of a black fog with white forearms. 'I look like...Deemo...I'm just missing the little bowtie...' The blue one thought to himself while staring at the reflection, that was until it started to move on its own.

"Hello there partner. Good to see you're checking up on me. I'm doing good no worries. You, however, seem to be in quite the pickle." The image said making Arden let out a whistle, the voice was odd. It was shifting its pitch frantically, to the point he couldn't make out if the voice was male or female. "Well friend, I'm here if you ever need to talk just come by a mirror an I'll listen. There is only so much one can bear on his own. I'll help you just like you tried to help others." The voice, even if unsettling, did not bear any sort of threat to it nor it seemed to be trying to lure him. It just sounded like a being who liked to talk.

"Thanks. Listen...I am really sorry here but..." Arden said fidgeting.

"Aimée Sila." The voice said. "It means 'friendly bond'. You should remember that much. You did give me that name after all." Arden raised an eyebrow at that.

"That's...the name of the...but..." He knew that name, he researched it. He wrote it down, he used it in a story. A story he never got around finishing. "But...the name belonged to..."

"We can talk later, you should sleep partner. Your job starts early tomorrow. And please handle it with care? This talent of yours and that blade. I'm guessing your gonna need both of them in the future." Arden nodded and closed his eyes. Once he repeated the procedure from before the world returned to normal, however before the final seconds passed he heard once more. "Keep the collar on, even though you figured out how to trigger it. It's your heart that governs the ability. If your heart desires to understand, it will trigger the change regardless of what your head says."

Once he had finished his change he put the necklace back in its rightful place. Then he heard "Who-whoo" Looking out his window he saw a black owl with yellow eyes staring straight at him. The peculiar thing was that the bird's eyes dilated as soon as it noticed the stallion staring at it and it flew away. "No way...don't tell me that impersonator can change into animals!" Arden muttered to himself.

In a cottage by the edge of the Everfree forest, a yellow pegasus received one of her friends back from the little errand she sent him off to do. The pegasus heard the tale the bird brought with him and once he had finished she gave him some treats as thanks and sent him on his way.

"Oh dear! T-that could be a problem...a-a possessed one h-hiding in plain sight." The Pegasus said to herself while trembling at the thought of him attacking the townsfolk or her. "I-I need to t-tell Rarity." Stuttering wasn't something that happened to her very often, but when she found herself scared forming words became a little difficult. After building up her courage she went off in the night to alert the seamstress.

In Canerlot's royal palace. The princess accompanied her student's late night studies session.

'Did those two have to shove into his face that piece of information? I am interested in his talent and how he is doing. He is a visitor from another world! And top of that he has potential to become very strong! Not to mention I am interested in how he is adapting...and interested in his future...I wonder how he will turn out...'

"Princess?" The lavender mare asked making her wake up. "Is everything okay? You've been aloof ever since you sent that stallion to Ponyville." The princess giggled at her student. 'Perceptive as always aren't you Twilight?'

"I am fine my dear. Just have a lot on my mind."

"Princess?"

"Yes?"

"Have you sent him any of my questions?" The princess bit her lip before answering that.

"I was waiting until Friday to sent them."

"Oh..okay then." The lavender unicorn said before returning to her books.

(The following day).

After another failed attempt to cook pancakes, which turned out salty and less burnt than the previous attempt, Arden found himself by the gat to the Apple family's farm. Arden placed his sword into the enchanted pocket, as well as the rest of his gear. Something about that bird in the previous night made him slightly uneasy. In fact, as he made his way to the farm he noticed that some of the critters living around town...had their eyes on him. Or at least that's how he felt, since everytime he would turn his head towards the little ones they would either run away or appear to be looking at the ground or the opposite direction. It was 5:57 AM.

'This day seems off...' The stallion thought to himself as he passed the gates, he was wearing the clothes rarity made him the previous day. Once inside he was greeted by a familiar female voice.

"Howdy Mr. Sila." The country pony greeted him by offering her hand for a handshake that he accepted. "Early rise, early finish?"

"Something like that." He answered paying close attention to the mare's eyes, trying to see if there was any trace of the glow in hers. He would need to keep on the lookout for that since he did not know how vast the number of disguises his stalker had. "So what will we be doing today boss?"

"Ah've already started to buck the threes for us to harvest them apples. You'll be getting them off the ground, put them in a bucket and take them to the barn where mah brother will select the ones for sale and the ones for our products." The mare explained cleaning a bit of sweat from her forehead. "After that, we'll be heading into town to sell them with our cart. You'll be pulling it with that magic of yours." Arden stared at her blankly after the last phrase. "What?"

"Nothing!" The stallion said shaking his head. "Let's begin!" The mare gave him a weird look before noticing he was still locked onto her eyes.

"Found something you like here partner?" She said teasing.

"Wha-?! No, no! I-I mean..." Arden said trying to fix another one of his stumbles. However, as soon as he noticed the mare muffling her laugh he tried to recompose himself. "*sigh* Let's just do the work shall we?" He said pulling up his sleeves.

He did his job just as instructed, while he was doing it though he noticed that Applejack had a dog. And this dog was following him around with like a guard would escort a prisoner during his sunbathe. 'What is going on here? I don't like this.' After a few rounds going back and forth, he noticed that the mare's brother would follow him to the barn's door every single time he came by to drop the apples. The guy was a giant both in height and in muscle mass, the sort of guy you would not want to piss off when you first laid eyes on the fellow.

'Seomething is really off...I better keep doing my job and pretend I'm not noticing. Otherwise, they might become even wearier.' He thought to himself as he finished another round. As he got out of the barn he was greeted by Applejack.

"Time for the sale?" Arden asked sweeping the sweat off his head. The sun was scorching him, the mare gave him a glass of water she was carrying with one of her hands. She had another one half-full on the other hand. Arden accepted it.

"You betcha! Ah, 'll be going on ahead to pick a place to park the cart." She said taking the glass from him and walking away. "See ya there. Good job so far."

"Thanks..." Arden said while placing the buckets on the ground by the barn's entrance. Then the unicorn went to the cart that was parked at the entrance. 'Since I have no magic for this task...time to put m back into it.' The stallion thought to himself as he positioned himself in front of the thing and started to pull the mobile store.

The cart was heavy but nothing he couldn't handle with a bit of effort. Once in town he noticed all of the ponies giving him confused looks, they were probably expecting him to be pulling the thing with magic. 'Too bad so sad for me. More spotlight for this guy who wants to keep a low profile.' Arden thought as he navigated through the village. He saw the cow-girl waving at him in the distance, she had a dumbfounded expression after she saw him pulling the cart without his magic.

Once the cart was placed at the spot selected by his boss, Arden put on an apron Applejack handed to him. This time his task was to place the number of apples requested by each client on a bag while the mare would handle the payment. Simple enough right? As Arden worked on his task he noticed something peculiar, there were no guards around. According to what he saw there were two guards stationed in town, small town and peaceful...no need for extra measures. But those guards were nowhere to be seen. Another thing he noticed was: 'Why is everypony looking at me with the back of their eyes?'

"You're alright there partner?" The mare spoke making the stallion drop an apple he had on his hand. He got the apple back and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright then. If you say so."

'Something is fishy here...and I don't like it.' Arden thought to himself as he continued with his task. Then he heard a considerable amount of ponies heading towards him. Rarity was leading them accompanied by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. 'Oh, I don't like this one bit.' But little did he know what was about to unfold. His uneasiness should have been heard.

'Ooooh, I bet I can use this to get him away from this place!' The queen thought to herself as she mingled in the crow with a new disguise. 'Then I can do my thing when he is all alone.'

'I can't believe I let a possessed work in my shop! Let alone ask Aj to give him a job! She is at risk and I am the one to blame. But I will remedy this!'

'I wonder if I should have left the guards there until Valkyrie and Mind arrived? The guards were made aware of his talent while the populace was not. He probably would not be trusted if they knew what he could do. Who wants others peeking around the feelings they try to keep hidden?'