Streets of Canterlot City, Equestria #2651915

Alexis cocked an eyebrow, glancing down at himself as Celestia had gotten him a pale goldenrod vest with scarlet edging with a dark goldenrod interior over a dark gray plain v-neck shirt. “I assume you had tailors make this, hai?” he said thoughtfully as he glanced at the golden bronze baggy Arabian style pants and darker copper sandals.

Celestia only smirked, her eyebrow rising slightly though she was quiet, not giving any sign either way.

He rolled his eyes, sighing softly. “Of course, you’d be a lovable troll, eh?” he sighed. He felt the vest tighten slightly before he blinked, seeing his wings flaring out behind him a few times in a nearby mirror, lifting him a few inches off the floor before settling his feet on the floor as they settled snugly against his shoulders.

He was mildly surprised to see her guiding him towards a nearby balcony before he noticed how low the Sun was. “I can never decide which I like more, a good sunrise and sunset…. or the night sky. Both have their own unique beauty,” he said softly.

He noticed Celestia looking away for a few moments before she took a deep breath, her horn igniting in a warm golden glow before the Sun slowly set before he blinked as the Moon slowly rose, assuming that it was like on Earth. He wasn’t sure why that came to mind, though clearly, it was different here.

“Are… you able to use magic? Are humans able to?” her voice was soft, almost hesitant.

“To my knowledge, humans are able to influence energy… but like what you did, projecting actual energy that can manipulate their surroundings? Not to my knowledge. Though since arriving here… It appears I can, to some extent, though I know next to nothing of it in its use if that’s what you’re asking,” Alexis replied.

She hummed thoughtfully. “I think you and I should spend a night on the town,” she commented with a small smile. “And you can show me some of this music you know,” she said with a small smirk.

Alexis shrugged. He heard a squeal of surprise before something a light shade of purple, specifically mulberry, shot past him before skidding to a stop. It was a much smaller Unicorn pony, with a dark blue and magenta streaked mane and tail and deep amethyst eyes as she stared up at Celestia. “I’m going to be a strong unicorn one day, don’t you think?” she said in a slightly squeaky, excited voice.

“I’m sure you will, little one. I must admit, I was rather surprised to see she got away from you, Cadence,” Celestia commented.

The younger mare, whom he noted with mild surprise was also an Alicorn, had streaks of pale goldenrod, moderate rose and violet in her mane with light purple eyes as she was breathing hard. “Sorry. She got away from me,” she said wryly, grimacing as she sighed softly. He was amused by her surprised look before she tilted her head, staring at him.

He inhaled softly, feeling an odd tingling itch over his wings, unaware that the tingling was because a very thin layer of metal was sheathing his wings and feathers, though he did notice Celestia looking up with a mildly surprised look on her face. He glanced over his shoulders, noticing the feathers seemed much more reflective suddenly.

He blinked, seeing the filly staring up at him when he turned his head back, her gaze inquisitive and surprisingly cunning. “How did you do that? Can anypony like you do that?” she started asking before he crouched, touching her lips before she paused, looking down at his fingers.

“It’s a trick I can do, though I don’t think anyone else can do it. And to my knowledge, there aren’t any others like me,” he said softly. “Though I do know of another trick I can do you might like, though we can’t do it here,” he murmured, seeing her eyes light up with interest and excitement.

“Cady, can we see his trick? I really, really want to see it,” the filly said with excitement.

Cadence giggled, cocking her head with a small smile. “If he doesn’t mind us tagging along, I don’t see why not, though we do have to get back to the house, remember, Twilight?” she said with a small smile.

Alexis got the feeling that Twilight kept Cadence’s life very interesting and exciting. “I don’t see why not. We can get a meal on the way, check out this recording studio Princess Celestia mentioned, then escort you two home. I suspect you’ll be quite surprised,” he said with a small indulgent smile.

“Do humans get Cutie Marks? What're those funny marks on your arms? They look like dragons,” Twilight said rapidly, almost running her words together from excitement.

“To my knowledge? No, and these are birthmarks I’ve had for as long as I can remember, and they are Dragons… specifically Chinese dragons that denote, traditionally, good luck, benevolence, much like Celestia, and strength,” he remarked with mild amusement. He usually kept his birthmarks hidden, as the dragons glittered in the moonlight, the silvery purple one on his right arm coiled around his forearm with its amber eyes and the reddish gold one with its bright emerald eyes coiled around his left forearm.

He exhaled softly, looking out over the balcony. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea if I’d even be able to fly. I do know that, for humans, it’s impossible for unaided flight especially with wings like these,” he said wryly, his wings flexing with the slightest musical ringing tone like a windchime. “But clearly, here…. it is not like on Earth. Therefore, it is entirely possible that what I know of flight could be entirely different,” he said quietly.

“You don’t have flight?” Cadence said curiously.

“We do. Let me put it this way, we went from hang glider style planes to supersonic planes in the space of forty-two years… the fastest plane known can go nine times the speed of sound,” Alexis said in a deadpan tone.

He saw the eyes of the trio of ponies widen in surprise and, he thought, awe, though he couldn’t be certain. He shrugged nonchalantly before he turned away, looking out at the night sky, his eyes drifting half closed as he stepped onto the balcony a few feet from Celestia.

Celestia drew in a sharp breath as he bent his legs, her eyes narrowing. Her eyes and magical senses noticed the air swirling around his feet, the air seemingly eagerly responding to his desires. She was mildly startled when he shoved off suddenly, shooting high into the sky before his wings flared out, shoving him higher before he hovered in the air, his wings beating steadily. She smirked as Cadence gasped, surprised before Twilight whooped in joy and sounding quite impressed.

Alexis felt his wings flapping steadily, though he had the strong sense the very wind itself was speaking to him, almost guiding him. His eyes widened slightly as both Celestia and Cadence took flight as well, the small mulberry filly on Cadence’s back. He half turned, feeling himself drifting in the breeze before he blinked, looking over the city below.

Celestia laughed as she saw his awestruck face. “Enjoying the view?” she teased.

“Damn. It almost makes me wonder what the view from the top of the mountain is. Though…. I do notice the village to the southeast, if the moon rises in the east, aye?” Alexis sighed, cocking his head at the distant village.

“It does, which I assume it does for your… home… as well?” Celestia said carefully.

“Aye. Only two known planets in our star system move retrograde, that is, west to east. One is the closest planet, the other is much more distant,” Alexis said quietly. Ever since ‘Harpuia’ had merged with him, he could not only feel her presence, but also remember a bit more of his previous life to waking here in ‘Equestria’, as he’d recalled some of the guards calling it.

He shrugged at her unsure look, though she smiled faintly as she tilted her head towards a tall five-story building that was rounded on the top couple of stories. “Starlight Hoof Records is right there,” she said warmly.

Alexis nodded slightly before he dove towards the ground before touching down roughly half a block from the record building. He half turned as he saw Cadence and Twilight, accompanied by Princess Celestia, touched down several yards away. He did notice that there were few wandering ponies around that didn’t really seem to notice them, which was just as well, in his own opinion.

He noticed more than a few restaurants, most small shops, though several that he noticed looked like both meal and dessert shops. Those, he mused, would be decent. He didn’t miss how Celestia glanced at a particular doughnut shop with what he almost thought was a longing look.

“So, you are a musician? Were you any good?” Twilight said excitedly.

Alexis shrugged in reply. “If you mean a paid musician? No, though I would like to think I’m decent. Never tried writing a song, though,” he said wryly, half turning to face them.

“Though here…. the songs I know would be utterly new to everyone, I’m sure,” he thought aloud. A small smirk crossed his face at the thought, as he was fairly certain that was a talent he could put to good use.

“What sort of songs were you thinking of doing? Huh, huh, huh?” the little filly said, bouncing with every ‘huh’ she said excitedly on her hooves.

“That would spoil the surprise, Twily,” Alexis teased, tapping her nose.

Twilight pouted, puffing her cheeks out. “I’m fourteen, you know, and that’s the nickname my brother uses,” she mumbled.

“Oh? Hmmm, never had any siblings myself, that I can remember, anyway,” Alexis teased as he turned away. “I do have at least four in mind. All have very… very… different sounds to them, I can say that much,” he said wryly, tilting his head as he looked over his shoulder at the young filly.

“I’m sure I can speak for all three of us that you have very much piqued our interest, yes?” Celestia said with amusement. Cadence and Twilight both nodded, the latter bouncing on her hooves a bit as if she couldn’t resist the urge to move and do something.

Celestia led the way into the recording building, not that surprised that very few ponies were awake although one, in particular, was a particular older filly, he guessed probably three or four years older than Twilight; she had the Cutie Mark of a bridged pair of eighth notes. Her mane was deep shades of cerulean and sapphire blue with some ultramarine tones. Her tail was roughly half again as long as Twilight’s.

He didn’t recognize the young mare, though he suspected Twilight did as she bounded up to the mare and hugged her suddenly. His eyebrow rose slightly, a small smirk crossing his face. Cadence chuckled, while Celestia hummed softly, sounding amused.

“So, whazzup? Never thought you'd be interested in mingling with common musicians, Princess, even if my DJ career is kinda floundering,” the young mare said bluntly.

“What style of music you go for?” Alexis said with mild interest.

“Dubstep. Gotta have music somepony can dance to,” the mare replied matter of factly.

Alexis hummed. “Never really listened to dubstep myself, frankly. But I do recall music that'll probably blow your mind,” he said wryly with a challenging note near the end, making the mare snort.

“I'll believe that when I hear it. Name's Vinyl, by the way,” she said with a smirk.

He smirked slightly as the young mare whom he guessed to be around two or three years, five at most, older than Twilight, led them towards a series of recording rooms.

“Which one were you going to start with?” Twilight gushed excitedly.

“Hmmm, I think I know a good one,” Alexis said with a smirk.

He cocked an eyebrow as the door swung open on a pale cyan aura before he glanced at the young mare who still hadn't removed her deep amethyst glasses.

He blinked as in swirls of emerald and ruby lights, a slightly tanned if shaggy blond haired guy with dark green eyes smirked as the pale deep emerald haired young woman with dark rose eyes simply stood at military attention.

Alexis noticed that the blond guy wore deep red clothing with pale golden accents, whilst the young woman wore deep green, almost a forest green, with dark gray accents.

“Zero… Harpuia?” he said cautiously, to which the guy smirked wider, shrugging nonchalantly, as the woman nodded slightly. “Well, that does confirm if you’re a guy, Zero,” he deadpanned, smirking as Zero rolled his eyes.

“Idiot. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were X,” Zero muttered.

“Nope, though I can assure you, I hope to gain your respect… you and the others… just as he did,” Alexis said dryly.

Harpuia tilted her head. “We will see,” she murmured in a soft, lyrical monotone.

“What song were you thinking of starting with?” Vinyl’s voice said with a smirk, noticing the light flickered red as she spoke.

Alexis smirked slightly. “Something a bit slower before I go for the heavier sounds,” he commented with an amused edge to his voice.

He inhaled deeply, noticing out of the corner of his eye Zero going for a bass guitar, while Harpuia settled herself behind the drums. He took a soft exhalation as he picked up a nearby acoustic guitar before letting his fingers glide over the strings.

He grinned slightly at Celestia’s jaw-dropping in surprise as Twilight’s eyes widened at the same time Vinyl grinned while Cadence glanced at Celestia, appearing highly amused. “How about something with a bit more…. bite to it?” he quipped, smirking.

“When you think it’s time to give up… watch for The Light,” Alexis quipped, smirking. He could tell Cadence and Twilight were having fun, while Celestia was interested, and Vinyl was fairly bouncing on her hooves with a huge grin.

He saw Celestia grin at that one, bobbing her head steadily as she seemed to like that song. Vinyl was grinning broadly, as if they were recording the music. “I really don’t care if you’re recording this, Vinyl,” he deadpanned, shrugging nonchalantly.

He shrugged as he cleared his throat. “You gotta have more than that, dude!! Come on!!” Vinyl cheered.

“Oh, I have plenty more. But certain little fillies do need sleep,” Alexis chuckled, cocking his head as Twilight was bouncing on her hooves and humming softly, though he could tell she was tired from how she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

“Let’s get something in our guts, then get them home, eh, Princess?” he quipped, noticing out of the corner of his eye Zero vanishing in a gust of crimson-tinted air as Harpuia did the same in an emerald-tinted gust of air, though he felt a tingle between his shoulder blades when she vanished.

“Get something in our guts?” Cadence giggled. Alexis shrugged nonchalantly.

“You know, feed our faces, fill our bellies, stuff our maws, or whatever other expressions you prefer,” Alexis quipped.

Twilight let out a sleepy giggle before Alexis lifted her in his arms, amusing both of the older mares before he tickled her, making her laugh far louder, making Vinyl snicker.

“I got a feeling if you do get a Cutie Mark, it’ll be music related. I haven’t seen talent like that in… ever,” Vinyl remarked. “Maybe we can come up with something together,” she said with a chuckle.

“Only one way to find out, ya ken?” Alexis snickered.

“Ya ken? What does that mean?” Twilight’s curious, somewhat sleepy voice said.

“It’s an Irish quip that means ‘ya know’, essentially, though I can’t remember if it’s a verbal tic or something. Could be, for all I know,” he said wryly.

“It’s kinda cute, though if you think that makes me attracted to you,” Cadence remarked.

“I won’t say you aren’t attractive, but I prefer to know someone before I think of being attracted to them… physically or otherwise. Admittedly, I could see you as a close friend,” Alexis remarked as they walked through Canterlot’s streets after exiting the recording studio.

He let his gaze slide along the buildings, though he was still carrying Twilight, who wasn’t all that heavy, he noticed, though he didn’t really care to think how heavy she was. She was, however, more than light enough he could carry her for an extended period with ease.

He hummed softly, lost in thought as he let Celestia lead the way, though he cocked an eyebrow as she turned towards a small restaurant across from the doughnut parlor he’d noticed earlier.

“You seem distracted. Need me to take Twilight if she’s getting too heavy?” Cadence remarked with amusement.

“Just lost in thought as there’s one song in particular I was thinking of, but the opening of it is remarkably challenging. Never could quite master the opening of it, though the rest of it is fairly easy compared to it,” Alexis replied with a soft sigh.

“Is it one we’ve heard?” Celestia said softly, pausing.

“No. I doubt it, though I wouldn’t be too shocked if there were similar versions of music I’m familiar with here,” he quipped.

“Oh? Why?” Celestia said with amusement.

“Because if there’s one thing that’s true… it’s that music can portray emotions that are otherwise difficult to show sometimes. If one is truly talented, music can show a side of themselves that can even surprise them. Me… to my knowledge, I’m not that talented… at least that I can remember,” Alexis sighed, glancing up at the moon, noticing the odd discoloration, but assuming it was merely how the craters shaped themselves into an equine head.

"Who is this sibling Celestia mentioned? Somehow, I get the sense something she regrets is connected to the answer," he thought.

Author's Notes: