The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

First published 17th of February, 2013

A stranger in Equestria, Mixer tries to to make the best of his new life.

A unicorn from a technologically advanced society of ponies is transported to a strange place when an experiment goes wrong.
This is a chronicle of his life in Equestria, and of the deeds that he accomplishes. From the first moments in Equestria to turning points in pony history follow Mixer as he deals with his new life, and changes the face of Equestria forever.
First try at fanfic, hope everyone enjoys it.
Feel free to give criticism, it is an ongoing work and much of the story later could be improved by suggestions on my writing.
*Any similarities to other fanfics are purely coincidences.

Thank you PAradoxSg

Arrival

Author's Notes:

There is a slight gap in the story due to editing and rewriting. After The talk there is a gap. As of now, the rewriting for those two chapters is on hold indefinitely, and while I would ask that readers refrain from reading past the gap, I know that it is unfair with so many chapters past it.

I remembered waking up, confused and alone, rain pattering against me. The last memory I had was of running an experiment in my lab, and then a sudden power surge. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a field, or perhaps a park of some kind. I got up, shaking the wetness from my coat; I hated the rain, especially when if felt so thick.

"Wait, that’s not rain, it’s...chocolate milk?" I said aloud. I sat down and looked around again, this time looking farther than my immediate surroundings. I was in a park, I could see a dirt path some ways off a few benches dotted here and there; there was a small village in the distance, perhaps I was in a frontier settlement? Then I looked up into the sky and saw the source of the strange precipitation: puffy pink clouds. This place was clearly not anywhere I was familiar with, let alone the impossible weather.

"And why are those buildings flying!?" I cried, seeing some of the buildings in the village begin to levitate, ignoring gravity like it were simply a nagging old mare. What kind of a place was this? Pink clouds, chocolate rain, flying buildings. There was no way that I was actually in such a place; I had to have been knocked unconscious by the surge. And now I was dreaming of a strange land with cotton candy clouds, yes, that’s it... Then why does this all seem to real? I needed to find somepony before I went insane, even if it was just a figment of my imagination. So I got up and started walking toward the levitating town, seeing no place that seemed remotely normal in this strange area and hoping to find some relief from this madness. After a few minutes of walking I could see something transpiring a ways off, six ponies and...

"What is that?" I whispered. It had the head of a pony but the rest of it looked like some mash up of other things; a dragon, a lion, and other strange parts forming an amalgamation of many animals, which formed one strange being. There was no way, not even in my wildest dreams that I could conjure up something that strange. It seemed that nothing in this land was normal, and it was in fact very real. I got closer to hear what was going on, and try to get some piece of information that might hold together my wearing sanity.

"Discord!" one of the ponies called, a lavender unicorn. "Stop this now!"

So that strange being was named Discord. A fitting name for something so disjointed, but not much to go on.

"But this is so much fun," the creature replied. "You can't tell me you don't like some of the changes I've made."

So it wasn't always like this here, all full of impossibilities; Discord was causing all these strange phenomena. I decided to stay clear until I can find out more about this place and what exactly I had stumbled onto.

I crept away from the confrontation and continued on towards the chaotic little town, though chaotic would be putting it mildly. The roads were soap, not dirt; there appeared to be some strange rabbit creatures on tall spindly legs running about, and then there were the ever-present pink clouds, which began to look more and more like cotton candy.

After a few moments of running around the town, avoiding panicking ponies and stampeding critters, something strange happened; day spontaneously gave way to a moonless night. Using magic for illumination to see where I was going, I was barely able to avoid hitting a lamp post. I continued on my way until I arrived at a large tree that appeared to be a library. Just the place of learning I need to gather more information, and more importantly, perhaps find out why I was in this impossible place.

Seeing no one around, I let myself in. The inside was not extravagantly detailed, like some libraries I had seen, but it was wall to wall books, at least up to the second story, if not higher in some places, though, there was no real distinction between floors. I called out to see if anypony was around, but I got no response. Shrugging, I quickly scanned the bottom few shelves of books for anything on Discord or on this land. Seeing nothing on Discord, I settled on a book I found on the history of “Equestria." Well now I knew what to call this crazy place, but things were only getting worse outside, so I couldn’t stay and indulge my curiosity, nor ease me.

The sun had replaced the moon once again, thought I had a feeling that it could change at any moment, which did nothing for my nerves. The creature Discord was now sitting on a throne amidst a scene of chaos; the ground itself was now a checkerboard pattern, and they were things that made my mind bend. The six ponies from before were nowhere to be seen. Against my better judgment, and what little sanity I had left. I decided to confront this Discord and see what information I could get, curiosity being something I could hold onto. Who knew, maybe I could help fix the whole impossibility situation. I warily approached Discord and he gave a great laugh.

“Ha ha ha, what do we have here? Some brave pony attempting to stop me? Ha!” I waited until his laughter died down, taking some time to get a good look at all his different features.. It took awhile, and thus I was able to study him a great deal.

“Stop you? Why stop something as interesting as this? Chocolate rain, nice; soap roads are faster than dirt. And floating buildings, cool,” I said, now essentially trying more than anything to avoid angering him.

“Hmm, now that’s a surprise. Somepony enjoying the chaos? That’s something you don’t see every day,” with a quick snap of his fingers, Discord changed day to night again. “Or every night,” Discord chuckled. With another snap of his fingers day returned and he began scrutinizing me.

“One problem I can see with all this,” I said, trying to comprehend the power he just displayed, and doing a rather poor job.

“Oh, and what would that be my little friend,” Discord appearing behind me and putting an arm around me and resting a taloned claw on my shoulder.

“There’s nopony around that likes what you’re doing.”

“Well it’s not my fault if they don’t enjoy chaos as much as me. So what are you going to do about it Mixer?”

“Wait how do you...”

“Know your name? I’m Discord, the embodiment of chaos. What don’t I know. Well,” Discord said, “take your best shot.” He waved his hand and painted a bullseye on his serpentine body. I hesitated; I had no doubt that this creature could withstand any attacks I put forth, and do far worse back to me.

“What’s wrong? Don’t have the nerve to try?” he asked in a mocking tone.

I wasn’t about to get caught in an obvious trap, so I took option C, “Well, I can’t see this ending well. So I don’t think I will.”

I quickly turned to leave but did not get more than two steps before I was stopped by Discord’s voice.

“That’s not how this game works. You see, when I say take your best shot, you take your best shot. That, or I’ll just have to punish you for not playing.”

Drat, now I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Well, it wouldn’t be my best shot if I wasn’t prepared, now would it,” I said, hoping my incredulous luck would hold. Discord gave a grunt.

“Well played. You have half an hour before I start causing more chaos.”

“Deal,” I replied, knowing that half an hour wasn’t enough to prepare any kind of potion potent enough to boost my magic, though I doubt I would be able to make something that powerful without a time constraint. Seeing no other option, I went off to hash something together. I had very little time and no ingredients, so I hurried to a nearby forest to see what herbs I could find. After a few minutes of looking I found something that had potential: poison joke.

"Well it's worth a try," I said to myself. Without proper tools I had to improvise. As a mortar and pestle, I had to settle for a nearby rock and another, flatter rock. Grand, I know, but beggars can’t be choosers. I carefully plucked some of the wonky blue flowers with my magic, careful not to get any of their transformative oils on me. After a few minutes of mashing the petals between my fabulous pair of rocks I had a slightly clumpy blue paste. Not exactly the consistency I would have liked, but I didn’t have proper tools or enough time to grind it more thoroughly, not if I was actually going to make something out of it. I proceeded to make a potion with my bluish paste that I would somehow trick Discord into drinking. Just how would I get him to drink a potion that would likely have bits of flower petals in it? I hadn’t quite gotten that far yet, I was lucky enough to have a plan at all. With little time left I finished mixing the potion, though it was kind of cloudy. I took my potion, put it in a bottle I found in somepony’s trash, and hoped that Discord wouldn’t notice the slight smell to it.

“Well, well, well, you’re back, and with a minute to spare,” Discord addressed me as I approached.

“Yes, I’m back, but not to fight,” I said, a little winded from the run.

“Oh?” Discord asked raising an eyebrow. “So that means I get to cause more chaos. Yay,” he said, rubbing his claw and paw together.

“You didn’t let me finish. I didn’t come to fight, true; I came here to make peace," I began, words springing forth of their own will. "After all, how could I stop you, the embodiment of chaos, in half an hours preparation? So, I brought you this,” I pulled out the Poison Joke potion, really hoping that he would buy my bluff. “This little beauty is better than chocolate rain. Just try it.” I said levitating the bottle his way, sweating more than a little.

“Better than... Well, you sure are full of surprises. First you say you enjoy the chaos, then you want to stop me, now you want to make peace! Ha ha, most ponies would call you crazy. I like that,” he said, taking the bottle in his claw and uncorking it. He drank the potion from the bottom up in one, bending my mind twice over. There was a pause, then Discord started to convulse and shift around as if in pain or discomfort. Suddenly he grew still, then burst out laughing flowers.

“Oh, that was a good try,” Discord said as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Poison joke! How did you know it was my favorite?”He snapped his fingers and the ground turned into an even more garish checkerboard pattern. “Go home Mixer; you can’t stop Discord.”

I was already running away before he could finish. At this point I trying to think of a way to stall for more time, and barring that, what life might be like as a shrub, as it was just as likely that Discord could turn me into one. As I reached the edge of Ponyville, thinking that a shrub would be a mild punishment, I heard Discord’s cries from the center of town.

“Nooooooooooooooo…” was the piercing protest. And all of a sudden, all things that had been chaotic returned to normal. I pinched myself to make sure I was not hallucinating, or perhaps that I was in fact dreaming, and that I would soon wake up from this crazy nightmare. After a few painful pinches, and one slap in the face, I determined that what I was experiencing was in fact real. Curious what could have stopped something as powerful as Discord, I debated whether that was something I would want to get tangled up with. Not wanting to have a repeat of my engagement with Discord, I carefully crept back to see what had happened. I came upon the six ponies I had seen earlier, standing before a statue of Discord in a rather awkward position, laying on the ground. Five of them wore ornate necklaces that matched their cutie marks, while the sixth, the purple unicorn from before now had a crown of sorts that matched her cutie mark.

I briefly wondered if they could be royalty, and took a deep breath to compose myself before stepping out into the open.

“What happened?” I asked as I approached.

One of them, a buttery yellow pegasus jumped slightly, but they all turned to face me.

“And just who are you?” asked a cyan pegasus. Much to my surprise she was sporting a prismatic mane, complete with each color of the rainbow. I wondered if such coloration was natural or not.

I made a small bow, hoping that if they weren’t royalty, they wouldn’t be offended by the gesture, and if they were, that they would be satisfied with it.

“My name is Mixer. But, you have me at a disadvantage Miss...?”

“You’re not from around here are ya?” an orange earth pony asked in an accent that was common among the more far flung settlements.

I hesitated, not knowing how much to hide, or how much to tell them.

“No, suffice to say that I’m not.”

A pink earth pony mare giggled, “Oh course he’s not from around here, otherwise we’d already be friends.” Her tone and demeanor were somewhat unsettling, seeing as how her hair looked like it had been styled by a candy machine, and she sounded like a foal on the tail end of a sugar rush.

“Allow me to introduce us,” the purple unicorn said, stepping ahead of the group. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy,” she said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

Rainbow Dash was the cyan pegasus, Pinkie Pie was, well, obviously the pink mare, Applejack was the orange earth pony, and Fluttershy was the pegasus that had jumped when I first arrived. Rarity was the only one who had yet to speak, and she was a unicorn with a pure white coat and a styled purple mane, no doubt the product of careful grooming.

I took another bow, “It is a pleasure to meet you your highness.”

Twilight seemed to blush a little and Rainbow Dash let out a snicker.

“Ah think ya got the wrong idea mister. That’s crown’s not fer royalty,” Applejack said.

“Pardon?” I said, confused.

“That’s her Element,” the orange mare explained.

“Element?”

“I’d love to stay and have some proper introductions, but shouldn’t we be getting back to the princess?” Rarity asked, her tone almost as elegant as her mane. If any of them seemed like royalty, it was her.

“It was nice meeting you Mixer, but we have to go,” Twilight said, getting back to her friends.

“Likewise Miss Sparkle. But, uh, is there anywhere around where I can stay? I don’t have any accommodations at the moment, and I could use some time and space to think.”

“I guess you could stay at the library, at least until we get back,” she said, turning to leave with her companions.

“Thank you for your gracious hospitality,” I called after them as they left, taking the statue of Discord with them.

--

After the six ponies left, I found the library, though this time with little difficulty. In broad daylight I could see that the library was built into a tree. What an odd place, but then again, I had seen far stranger in this land just a few hours prior.

I went inside, assuming that nopony was there, and was surprised to see a small reptilian creature picking up some books.

“Uh, who are you?” the creature asked me.

“Who, or what, are you?” I countered.

“My name’s Spike, and I’m a dragon. Why? haven’t you ever seen a baby dragon before?”

It took a few seconds to register the word “dragon”.

“Come again? Did you say, dragon?”

“Yeah. Are you alright?”

Finally giving up, I let out a sigh, “Aside from the multiple near-mental breakdowns today, I suppose so.”

“Okay... So, why are you here?” he asked.

“I was directed here by a Miss Twilight Sparkle. She told me I could stay here until she returned.”

“Oh. So you’re a friend of Twilight’s?”

“Well, I don’t think friend is the correct word. Acquaintances maybe. In any event, she told me I could stay here.”

Spike shrugged, “Alright.”

After an almost awkwardly long pause I asked, “Do you run this place? All by yourself?”

He gave a little chuckle, “No, Twilight runs the library. I’m her assistant.”

“Oh... I apologize if I might have left a mess, I came in here during the... chaotic, events earlier.”

He gave another shrug, “I didn’t even notice anything out of place.”

I watched for a few seconds as he placed a few more books in spots on the shelves. I couldn’t help but stare at what I assumed was the only living dragon specimen in existence. I had seen illustrations of dragons, and a few bones in museums, but there hadn’t been a living dragon in almost five centuries. I was so deep in thought that I almost didn’t register that he was talking to me.

“Hello? Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Oh, sorry... It’s just... Oh, how to I explain this. You’re the first, and only, living dragon in known existence.”

He looked at me like I had grown a second, and possibly a third horn.

“What are you talking about? Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or something? Or spend the last few years under a rock?”

Well, I couldn’t really fault him, with all the things I’d seen in my roughly three hours in “Equestia” I had seen so many things I had thought were impossible. What was one more.

“Well, I have absolutely no clue if I hit my head or not, I kind of just woke up in a park with chocolate milk raining on me. And as for living under a rock, I’d say the royal palace is about as far from a rock as a pony can get,” I replied.

Now it was his turn to look surprised. “You live in a palace? Does that mean you’re a prince or something?” he asked, his eyes lighting up somewhat.

“No, nothing so fanciful. I’m simply the royal chemist. I make most of the potions and other mixtures the palace needs.”

“A whatnow?” he asked, looking confused once again.

“A chemist. You know, mixing elements, compounds, the occasional bang. Stuff like that. Surely you have chemists here?”

He shook his head, “There’s a zebra who does something like that in the Everfree Forest, but she’s more of a witchdoctor than a... whatever-it-is.”

I let out a sigh. I appeared that the rather simplistic architecture was an indication of their technology. It had to be if they use such an archaic term as “witchdoctor”.

“Then, maybe I should read a few things, get brushed up on Equestria,” I said, looking for the book I had seen before.

“If you’re not from Equestria, then where are you from?” Spike asked, grabbing a couple of books.

“I’m... not sure I should say. Hay, I don’t even know if the name would mean anything to you.”

“What, is it some kind of secret?” he asked, giving me a curious look. “Are you some kind of secret agent or something?”

“First of all, no, I’m not a spy, I don’t have an eye for espionage, and even if I did, I have no way of contacting my homeland. Secondly, in the case that it might become sensitive information, I’d rather not say yet.”

“You mean you can’t get home?”

I hesitated. With all the insanity going on, I hadn’t really thought much about the fact that I was in fact, stranded in this land with no way of contacting the king, or anypony else. I mean, sure, I could do some short distance teleportation, a few meters or so, but I had a feeling that I was far beyond that.

“I don’t think so. I don’t even know where home is from here. I don’t even know exactly where here is.”

Spike seemed to ponder this for a moment, “Why don’t you just start looking over these books, I’m sure you’ll find what you want to know in there a lot better than I could tell you.”

And so, I did as the little dragon instructed and took the small stack of books and began to read them in a corner of the room.

--

It was a few hours later when Twilight finally arrived at the library. As it turned out, she and the other ponies that had been with here were given medals for bravery. Most likely for defeating Discord. Thankfully, it did give me some time to learn about Equestria, at least enough to have a working knowledge.

Twilight trotted upstairs with her medal, returning a few minutes later with a quill and a blank scroll.

“I hope you’ve been making yourself comfortable,” she said, sitting down at a desk against the wall.

“As much as I felt comfortable with, yes.”

She looked slightly confused, but returned to her what she was doing at the desk.

“Did Spike give you any trouble?”

Deciding not to give her the same confusion I gave poor Spike, I replied, “No, not at all.”

It was then that my stomach decided it was time to remind me of its existence, letting out a low grumble.

“Hungry?”

I gave a sheepish grin, “Well, to tell the truth, I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning. By this time, it was well into the afternoon.

“I’ll have spike make something for us. Then maybe we can talk a little. I understand you’re not from Equestria?”

I was a little taken aback, “H-how did you know?”

“Spike left me a note. He said I might want to talk to you, but I thought I would give you some time to settle in before bombarding you with questions.”

“That’s very kind of you Miss Sparkle. But it’s well within your right, given the generous hospitality you have shown me.”

“Nonsense. Spike!” she called, beckoning her assistant.

Spike soon scampered out of what I assumed was the kitchen wearing a pink apron. It was kind of comical, but I thought it rude, impolite, and in general unwise to laugh. Even if Spike was only a baby dragon, I had no doubt he still could breath fire, even if he seemed agreeable enough.

“Can you get us a couple daisy sandwiches please?”

“Sure thing Twilight,” he replied returning to the kitchen.

“Thank you again for your hospitality. It’s not often a pony would be so generous to a complete stranger.”

Twilight’s face grew slightly puzzled again, Why?”

“Well, in the city, you mostly have family to look after you, otherwise everypony is independent. Though everypony does tend to rely on other ponies, no matter how much they would like to say otherwise.”

“That sounds... difficult,” she said, clearly trying to find a word that wouldn’t sound insulting.

“It can be, but most ponies find somewhere to fit in. The whole city is kind of like a well oiled machine that way. Everypony has their place, whether they know it or not.”

“Interesting...” she said, scribbling down something on the scroll.

A few seconds later Spike returned with the sandwiches.

It took all my restraint to keep from grabbing one off the tray en route and making it disappear.

Twilight got up from the desk and sat by a small table that was set in the center of the library near a couch.

Spike set the plate down on the table and retreated back to the kitchen.

“Come on over,” Twilight said with a giggle. “By the way you’re eyeing those sandwiches you seem pretty hungry.”

I complied, walking over to the table and taking a seat, grabbing a sandwich with my magic en route and bringing it to my mouth as I sat down. It was in no way the same as a home-cooked three course banquet, but to me, it tasted like the best thing in the world. I’m sure a mildly soft rock would taste good at that point.

I hungrily devoured the sandwich without further ceremony.

“I think we’re going to need some more sandwiches,” Twilight mused.

“Sorry,” I apologized, “I usually don’t eat like a starving animal.”

“It’s quite alright. You should see Pinkie Pie eat cake.”

I ate the other sandwiches in a similar fashion, stopping only when there were no more.

“Feel better?” Twilight asked, watching as Spike brought her a sandwich of her own.

I nodded, wiping the crumbs from my mouth.

She took a bite of her sandwich then set it back down, taking up her scroll and quill in its place.

“So, I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a few questions...”

--

Twilight put me through a battery of questions, ranging from what my home was like, to what kind of foods we ate. It was the most extensive list of questions I could have been asked, and I answered most of them fully, only avoiding certain sensitive bits of information. It took a couple hours for her to finally exhaust her list, and by then the sun had gone down, casting the outside in shadow.

“I hate to sound rude, but I should be going; if there is any place to stay for the night, I should probably find it soon,” I said, standing up and stretching.

“But it’s dark outside. You can’t just go stumbling around in the dark.”

“I don’t have to worry much about the dark,” I said, my horn letting of a soft glow that illuminated a few feet in front of me.

“Could you even pay for someplace to stay?”

“No, I suppose not,” I confessed, “You don’t happen to have any, uh, bits was it?”

“I do, but you can stay here for the night, no need to go searching for someplace in the dark.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t. You’ve already been so kind to me already. I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality.”

“It’s not taking advantage of my hospitality. Really, it’s alright.”

“Very well. I meant no disrespect. I am truly grateful that you’ve been so kind.”

“Spike, can you get a spare pillow and blanket for our guest,” Twilight called to her assistant.

I watched as Spike ran upstairs to fetch the requested items.

“Where were you intending for me to stay?” I inquired.

Twilight rolled up her scroll and put it on the desk, “We don’t have another bed, but I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch. It shouldn’t be too bad with a pillow and blanket.”

“Thank you. I have fallen asleep in less comfortable positions. Working late nights leads to the occasional night asleep at the desk.”

Spike came down the stairs in short order carrying a bundled up blanket and a small pillow.

I took them from him and thanked him, setting up the couch to serve as a temporary bed.

Spike headed back up the stairs with a yawn and Twilight followed after him a minute later, carrying some things from her desk.

“If you need anything, feel free to help yourself. There fridge is well stocked and the bathroom is upstairs on the left,” she said, nearing the top of the stairs. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, and thank you once again,” I called up to her as she reached the second story and disappeared from view.

I laid down on the couch and pulled the blanket over me. If the surroundings were any indication, the nights could get cold, especially with no apparent heating system, though I can understand a lack of heat inside of a tree.

It took me several minutes to calm my mind enough to sleep, but I could not help but worry if I would be able to return home or if I would be stuck here.

Meetings and Meltdowns

I woke up slowly, the kind of slow creep towards consciousness. I yawned and rolled over, falling onto the floor.

“Huh?” I said out loud. I had almost forgotten the events of yesterday and was disoriented for a moment while I looked around the library.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” said the now familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle.

“What time is it? I asked, untangling myself from the blanket.

“The sun’s been up for over an hour. You slept in quite a lot,” she said,taking a sip from a cup that was floating next to her, surrounded in a purple aura.

After disentangling myself, I folded up the blanket and placed it on the couch with my magic.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, setting her cup down on the table.

“Yes, I slept fine. Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me, it was nothing really.”

“As you wish.”

I looked over as Spike came down the stairs, carrying a pair of saddlebags with Twilight’s cutie mark on them, clearly marking them as her’s.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked.

“Yes, and you are too.”

“What?” I asked, now curious.

She opened up one of the saddle bags and placed a few scrolls inside. “I thought I would give you a tour of Ponyville. I’m sure my friends would like to meet you. And then I was planning on bringing you to see Princess Celestia this evening. She sounded like she wanted to meet you.”

“You’re taking me to your Princess so soon? I would have thought there would be preparations to make for welcoming somepony from another country. That is to say, I wouldn’t expect such a warm welcome with the circumstances of my arrival.”

“Why not? From what you said, it’s not your choice to be here, but you tried to help out without even knowing us,” she said, putting a pair of books in the other saddle bag.

“True, but it was kind of a pitiful effort. I’m just kind of surprised of the lack of caution you ponies show.”

Twilight gave me a look that was partly puzzled and partly perturbed.

“I meant no insult, I just think that you’re very quick to trust me. Trust is not so easy to come by where I come from.”

“I guess that explains why you were showering me with thanks last night. That also explains why you seemed a little guarded when I was asking you all those questions,” she reasoned, putting on her saddlebags.

She went to the door and opened it, Spike following close at her heels. “You coming?”

“Will the library be alright unattended?”

“It’ll be fine silly, now let’s go, I have a few ponies I would like to introduce you to.”

I went through the door while she held it. It appeared she wanted to make sure I went outside.

A yellowish pony with an orange mane waved at Twilight as she passed.

“You ponies seem very friendly, though I suppose that is normal for small communities.”

“From your description, your home is even bigger than Manehatten,” Twilight said, closing the door.

“From what I saw of Manehatten in your books, yes.”

“Then Ponyville must seem like a really small place.”

“Yes. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get use to it that quickly though. I haven’t been outside of the city, so this is all kind of strange. Though, I suppose a small community does have its advantages.”

Twilight seemed to be satisfied with that answer and nodded before trotting off.

I followed her through the town, looking over the buildings and the residents as they wend about their business. Some ponies were peddling produce and other items from stalls in the market. Others were walking about, headed to destinations unknown. Others still were at an open air restaurant, enjoying late breakfasts, early lunches, or some combination thereof.

Twilight continued walking, pointing out specific shops and other buildings that she thought I should know about. It was at one of these buildings that we stopped: Carousel Boutique.

Twilight explained that this was where Rarity lived and worked as a tailor and dressmaker.

The building itself was almost three stories tall, two actual floors topped with a small spire. The first floor looked quite large and the outside of the building had pillars to help support the structure’s weight. The second story had a set of statues on it, giving show to the building’s name.

Twilight went up to the door and knocked.

A few moments later, Rarity appeared at the door wearing a pair of red glasses.

“Hello Twilight. I see you brought a guest.” She moved out of the doorway and beckoned with her hoof, “Do come in.”

We were ushered inside to a room full of ponnequins, some were bare while others were adorned with dresses at different stages of completion. In the center of the room was what appeared to be a platform for displaying or modeling dresses and off to one side was a red couch, along with a blind to change behind.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique. I apologize for the mess, I was trying to brainstorm for a new line of dresses,” the white mare said, closing the door behind us.

“Rarity, I’m showing Mixer around Ponyville, and I thought that I’d introduce him to everypony,” Twilight explained.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you darling. We didn’t get a chance to be properly introduced before,” she said, giving me a short bow.

“The pleasure is all mine,” I said, bowing in return. “Twilight has been very generous to me, allowing me to stay at the library last night.”

“You poor thing. Didn’t you have any place to stay?”

“I’m afraid not. Coming here was... spontaneous, and I wasn’t really prepared,” I replied, not wishing to take the time needed to give her the full explanation.

“Well, I’m glad that you could at least stay at Twilight’s. Do you know how long you’ll be staying here in Ponyville?"

“Uh, Rarity, Mixer’s kind of stuck here,” Twilight interjected.

“Stuck? You mean he can’t leave?” Rarity asked, sounding concerned.

“I’m afraid so. I cannot return home, at least for the time being,” I said.

“That’s awful! Simply dreadful. You can’t go home? I’m so sorry dear.”

I put up a hoof to hold back further words of sympathy. “It’s alright. For the time being I think I can manage, though I do hope to return as soon as I am able.”

“Well, if I can help in any way all you need to do is ask,” she offered.

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Well, we should be going if we want to see everypony today,” Twilight said, heading for the door.

“Very well. Goodbye Rarity, and good luck with your dresses.”

“Goodbye Mixer. Good luck to you as well,” she said as we walked out the door.

“She seemed very nice. She also seemed like she’s from a high class family,” I commented.

“Yes, Rarity does pride herself on being ladylike,” Twilight mused, walking in a new direction.

We continued until we came to what appeared to be a life sized gingerbread house, complete with icing and gumdrops.

“This is Sugarcube corner and this-”

The door flew open to a shower of streamers.

“Welcome to Ponyville!” came a cheer from the door.

“...Is where Pinkie lives..."

The mare in question appeared in the doorway with a slice of cake in hoof, which she proceeded to jam in my face. I have to admit, for force-fed cake, it tasted pretty good.

“Pinkie,” Twilight admonished.

“What? I throw everypony a welcome to Ponyville party,” Pinkie said.

After clearing the cake from my face I was able to speak in my own defense.

“Uh, hello...” I said, not knowing what to expect after getting cake shoved in my face.

“Hiya!” Pinkie said cheerfully, as if she hadn’t just covered me with streamers and cake.

“Pinkie, first of all, how do you know that Mixer is even staying in Ponyville?” Twilight asked.

“You mean he wasn’t doing some sciency stuff in a super cool lab, then was mysteriously teleported here when Discord was making everything all crazy and flip floppy?”

Both Twilight and myself were dumbfounded. I could have sworn my jaw actually hit the ground.

“How did you know that?” Twilight asked, regaining her composure first.

“Lucky guess,” the pink mare said happily.

“Does...Does she do this all the time?” I asked, still completely struck that a mere guess was so dead on.

Twilight gave a heavy sigh, “Not all the time, but yes.”

Pinkie just giggled and trotted around us.

Spike nudged me to snap me out of it. “Don’t think about it too hard.”

“Pinkie, I brought Mixer so I could properly introduce him to everypony,” Twilight explained.

“Everypony? Did he meet Cranky? Or Cheerilee? Oh! Did he meet-”

“Pinkie!”

“Oops, sorry.”

“I didn’t literally mean everypony, I just meant us six.”

“Oh, well in that case,” she stopped mid sentence and turned towards me, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Nice to meet you, again. In case you don’t remember my name it’s-”

“Of course I remember your name silly! It’s Mixer. I remember everypony’s name!” she said cheerfully.

“Apparently you also like to cut ponies off,” I muttered.

“Well Pinkie we should get going. So far he’s only met you and Rarity,” Twilight explained, trying to hurry us on our way.

“Okie-dokie-loki” Pinkie chimed, before trotting back inside.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief and we continued on our way.

Next we went toward the edge of town to a small cottage that looked like it was built entirely from plant matter, the roof looking as if it were the top of a tree.

“This is where Fluttershy lives. She takes care of all the critters in Ponyville.”

“One pony takes care of all the animals in town?”

“Yes. Fluttershy is incredibly good with animals,” Twilight replied, walking up to the door and knocking.

To my utter surprise a white rabbit answered the door.

“Who is it Angel bunny?” came a soft voice from inside.

“It’s me, Twilight, and a guest. Can we come in?” Twilight asked, poking her head in the door.

“Oh, of course, come in.”

The rabbit, Angel, hopped out of the doorway and Twilight and myself went inside.

The interior of the cottage was full of birdhouses and other animal related objects such as feed bags and food and water dishes.

Fluttershy herself was sitting a mouse in a ridiculously small wheelchair that seemed to be made for it.

She finished with her “patient” and looked up at the two of us.

“Hello. What brings you here?”

“Well Fluttershy, I was introducing Mixer here to everypony,” Twilight explained.

“Yes, we were not properly introduced last time we met,” I said.

“Well I’m happy to meet you, Mixer.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Twilight has been a gracious host, and everypony else has been friendly thus far, if a little strange.”

“Strange?” she questioned, looking at me quizzically.

“We just came to from Pinkie’s” Twilight explained.

“Ah,” she said, apparently understanding.

I took this time to take another look around. It was in this survey that I noticed that the rabbit was giving me a strange look. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed like he was either sizing me up, or giving me the stink eye.

“What are you staring at?” Fluttershy asked.

“Him,” I said bluntly, pointing at the strange rabbit.

“Oh. That’s just Angle bunny. Say hello Angel.”

The rabbit crossed its arms and stuck its nose in the air.

Now, normally I would only be minimally insulted if a pony did that, but a rabbit doing it was surprisingly rankling.

“He must be hungry,” Fluttershy said. “He gets grumpy when he’s hungry.

It was hard to believe that she was defending the insulting lagomorph, but I turned my gaze from him and back to my host.

“Sorry for the in and out Fluttershy, but we should get going,” Twilight said. Her timing seemed better than perfect on two occasions now.

We waved a goodbye to Fluttershy and left her cottage, taking a dirt road that ran parallel to town.

“Where are we going now?” I asked my guide.

“We’re going to Sweet Apple Acres. It’s an apple orchard run by the Apple family.”

“So I take it we’re going to see Applejack next.

“Mhm,” she answered picking up her pace just a bit.

As we trotted along, I wondered how things would go later, for when I was to meet with the princess. Up until just a day ago, I didn’t even know that there was any major civilization outside of the city. Sure there were frontier settlements trying to escape the pressure of the city, but nothing near an independent nation. In a manner of speaking, I was going to be the first diplomat in the entire country. No pressure.

In short order we arrived at the orchard and we came to a barnyard.

Now, mind you, I came from a big city, a sprawling metropolis of spires and skyscrapers. Being somewhat of a scholar, I knew something about smaller settlements, which was why Ponyville’s appearance wasn’t so shocking, but this orchard had a single red barn and a small farmhouse.

The well trodden earth of the barnyard told of generations of hooves that had trampled the soil into the well beaten paths that ran around the orchard. The air carried the smell of apples, a sweet smell that almost completely masked an indistinguishable under odor of something pungent.

All in all, yep, it was a farm alright.

We walked over to the barn where the door was left ajar, whether from carelessness, disrepair, or simple utility, I did not know. Inside the barn was dimmer than outside, but I could clearly make out a large stallion moving hay.

“Hey Big Mac, is Applejack home?” Twilight asked the veritable mountain of pony.

“Eeyup,” came the simple reply as he finished what he was doing.

“Mixer, this is Big Macintosh. He’s Applejack’s brother.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said as Big Mac walked up to us.

Now, I’ll admit, I’m slightly taller than most ponies but this mammoth was a full head taller, and possibly twice as wide at the shoulders, as I was. It was a little intimidating.

“Eeyup.”

I looked quizzically at him. “Is that all you say?”

“Nope.”

“Big Mac isn’t much of a talker,” Twilight explained.

“I see..”

“So, is Applejack out in the fields?”

“Eeyup.”

For his imposing stature, Big Mac seemed amiable enough, and he seemed friendly enough.

Twilight thanked the red giant and we made our way out of the barn and out to the orchard proper, walking among the trees filled with apples.

“I don’t see any workers out here. Are they all on break?” I asked, looking around at the bins of apples dotted here and there among the trees.

“Workers? The Apple family runs the orchard by themselves,” Twilight said, scanning for the orange farmer.

“It must be a big family to take care of so much land.”

“Oh, it is. The Apples have family all over Equestria, but Applejack and Big Mac are the only ones here that work the fields. Apple Bloom is still too young, and Granny Smith, well, she’s a little past her prime to be bucking apples.”

“You mean to tell me that two, TWO, ponies harvest all these apples by themselves?!”

“Mhm,” came the calm response.

My jaw dropped. I would have expected ten, maybe twenty unicorns at the very least to be able to farm such a plot of land; but, two ponies, and earth ponies at that, harvesting all the apple trees on an orchard that stretched for acres? To say that was a herculean task was an understatement, it was flat out impossible.

A dull thump shook me from my stupor as we came within sight of the farmer. She was rearing on her front legs by an apple tree.

“Hi Applejack!” Twilight called.

“Heya Twi,” she called back before giving the tree a mighty kick, sending every single apple tumbling down into a waiting pair of bins.

My jaw dropped again. The strength it would take to drop one apple from the tree was impressive, but all of them? I’d have to wager one kick from those legs could break a pony in half.

She appraised her work and, seeming to be satisfied, started towards us.

“So, Ah see y’all brought a guest with ya. I just wish ya would’ve told me, Ah could’ve prepared a proper welcome.”

“Sorry AJ, it was kind of a last minute thing. Besides, I’m trying to stick to a schedule so we can’t stay too long,” Twilight explained.

Applejack let out a little giggle, “You an’ yer schedules.” She then turned to me and extended a hoof, “Howdy there. If y’all didn’t hear, Mah name’s Applejack.”

I grabbed her hoof to shake it and was surprised by the vigor of her shake.

“Ah remember you. Weren’t you the one that showed up after Discord’s shenanigans?”

“Yes, that was indeed me. My name is Mixer, in case you didn’t remember. This is quite an orchard you’ve got here.”

“Mhm, best apples in Ponyville. All grown right here.”

She went over to a tree and gave it a kick. This one yielded more than just apples however, as a cyan bundle fell on top of the apple farmer.

“RD? What’re y’all doin’ in Mah apple trees?!”

The bundle turned out to be a pegasus, the same one from the day before. Rainbow Dash.

“I was just taking a break from the weather job, and I thought I’d take a quick nap.”

“I betcha you were eatin’ some apples too,” she snorted, pushing the pegasus off of her.

“Maybe one or two,” the cyan weather pony replied sheepishly.

It wasn’t completely unheard of for pegasi to be dispatched to alter the weather patterns in the city. After all, between artificial thermals from the buildings and the winds from out at sea the weather could be erratic. But there were hardly even any clouds in the sky, so why would a weather pony even be out?

“Well, this saves some time,” Twilight said.

“It does?” Applejack and Rainbow Dash replied in unison.

“Rainbow Dash, this is Mixer. Mixer, this is Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, speeding introductions along.

Unlike every other pony Twilight introduced me to, Rainbow seemed to size me up first.

“You’re the guy from yesterday right? The one who showed up after we stoned Discord?”

“Yes.”

“So what’s so special about you? You don’t look any different than any other stallion.”

It seemed that she had a bit of a barbed tongue.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight admonished, “He may not look like it, but he’s from another country.”

“Oh, so he’s not just a regular old pony.”

I don’t know what irked me more, the backhanded comment or the nonchalant attitude.

Twilight frowned slightly but continued, “Yes. In fact, I’m taking him to see Princess Celestia after this.”

“And you weren’t going to bring us?” Rainbow questioned.

“Sorry, but this is kind of official Rainbow.”

“I can be official,” she protested.

“No RD."

“Besides, you can pay me back by helpin’ me with the apples,” AJ said.

Rainbow Dash let out a groan, “Fine.”

This place sure had a strange diversity of ponies. From the hyper Pinkie Pie, to hard-working Applejack, all the way to Rainbow Dash.

“Well, we should get going,” Twilight said, directing me back toward the barnyard.

We left the two mares to their apple bucking and started our way back toward Ponyville proper.

“Hey, where’s Spike?” I asked, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t with us. In fact, I don’t think he had been with us since our visit with Pinkie Pie.

Twilight took a quick look around and then her face got worried. “Wasn’t he right behind us?”

“I remember him being with us back at Sugarcube Corner.”

“Wasn’t he at Fluttershy’s?”

“I don’t think so, though the rabbit was taking up a good portion of my attention.”

“Maybe he’s with Pinkie then.”

“Or maybe he forgot something at the library?” I suggested.

“Wait right here, I’ll go check,” she said, before disappearing in a flash of light.

I was familiar with teleportation magic, but even I could only go short distances, while the library was quite a distance away.

A minute or so passed before she reappeared with Spike riding atop her back.

“I found him eating cupcakes in the library,” Twilight said, giving the dragon a disapproving look.

“What, I got hungry... besides, I could barely keep up with you when you left Sugarcube Corner. It’s like you were trying to get away or something.”

“Well, now that that’s done with, shall we continue?” I asked.

Twilight’s face brightened back into a happier look and she nodded, “Yes. I’m sure the princess will be excited to meet you.”

The three of us continued to the train station and boarded the train. It wasn’t terribly modern, but it was a sign that there was at least some technology in this country.

The ride to Canterlot was short and uneventful, though it did give me a chance to think on what I would say to the princess.

If the ponies of Ponyville were anything to go by, I might expect a feast in my honor or some other such thing, these Equestrians seeming so hospitable. On the other hoof, it might be a tense meeting. I know how royal matters can quickly become concerns.

It all boiled down to the princess’ disposition on what I would say, and since that was the case, I decided to just wing it.

We arrived in a sizable city, nothing overly large, but it was definitely a city and not a town.

We got off the train and were greeted by a pair of pegasi in golden armor. Their coats were snow white and their eyes were a piercing blue. It was probably an illusion bound to the armor but it still seemed real enough. It was an impressive move for a society that, up until this point, had only shown signs of being peaceful and blissfully unaware of conflict.

“Right this way," said one of the guards, “The Princess is expecting you.”

“Of course. Come on Mixer,” Twilight said, nudging me forward.

One thing was for sure about the guards, they had an undeniable presence about them. Even though they keep a polite distance from us it was clear that it was a courtesy, not a standard.

We walked past many buildings on our way towards the castle. It was an interesting building to be sure. A bold architectural move to build on the side of a mountain, even having some parts cantilevered over the edge as they were. It gave the castle an almost fantastical property, like it defied gravity to sit as a symbol. A symbol of what though, I wasn’t yet sure.

I also noted the demographic of the city. It was primarily unicorns, unlike Ponyville, which had a fairly even mix of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. They also seemed to be dressed in fine clothes, indicating that it was a thing of status to live here, and that many of the residents were likely nobility.

We finally reached the castle doors, which were large double doors, easily three times the size of a pony. Possibly for admitting troops perhaps?

We stopped and two more of the clone-like pegasi opened the doors for us.

Aside from a small foyer, the doors led directly to a large throne room. The vaulted ceiling was impressive and was supported by white marble columns. On either side of the room were stained glass windows which, at a glance, seemed to show images of some kind. But that wasn’t the most impressive thing in the room. No, what was the most astounding was the figure sitting on a raised throne towards the back of the room was a mythic figure: and alicorn!

I could feel my heart skip a beat at the mere sight. All manner of study had gone into the stories of alicorns, but all scientific inquiry had led to the conclusion that they were merely symbolic of tribal cooperation. But this? This was a living, breathing alicorn. Her coat was pure white, an unbroken expanse of alabaster glory that seemed to let off its own glow. Her mane was even more astonishing. It was multi colored, but unlike Rainbow Dash, whose mane was prismatic, her mane was an auroric, literally flowing with green, blue, and pink. It seemed to be blown by an invisible wind, as was her tail that was similarly colored. Most impressive of all was her size, she was twice as tall, if not more, than I was. All I could do was stand in the doorway and stare, completely awestruck.

“Mixer? Are you okay?” Twilight said, prodding my in the side.

“She...sh-she’s...” was all I could muster. After all, I was in the presence of what amounted to a god.

Twilight gave me a strange look and then both of our attention was drawn by motion from the throne.

The alicorn had risen to her hooves and began to walk toward us.

Her face wore a warm smile as she neared us. It was something that I could have sworn had a power all on its own.

When she reached us I bowed as low as I could, almost flattening to the floor.

I would have said something, but what do you say to a god?

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight said happily.

I heard her move, but didn’t lift my head from the ground.

Then it hit me, “Princess?” I couldn’t help but look up.

She giggled. It was a heavenly sound. “Rise. You don’t need to bow, much less that far.”

I stood back up and saw that Twilight and Spike were standing beside the princess.

“I...I’m sorry. It’s just... you...” I felt like an utter idiot, stuttering in front of an alicorn. So much for first impressions.

Spike nudged her leg, “He’s a little goofy around new things.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, your majesty. This is... new, to say the very least.”

“From what my faithful student has told me, you were send to Equestria unexpectedly. And it couldn’t have been an a more inopportune time. I apologize for you having to deal with Discord.”

“There’s really no need to apologize. I-It’s not as if you brought me here.” Even though I was able to speak somewhat coherently, I still couldn’t help but stutter.

“Even so, I am sorry you had to deal with it. But where are my manners, we haven’t even been properly introduced. My name is Princess Celestia.”

I made another bow, “And my name is Mixer, your highness. It is an honor to meet you.”

“And it is a pleasure to meet you Mixer. But you don’t have to continue bowing now.”

“But-” I began to protest, but was silenced by her raised hoof.

“Don’t feel obligated to bow simply because you are from another country.”

“It’s not just that m’lady. You’re... well... you’re an alicorn.”

She let out a little giggle, “Does that mean then that my sister and I should bow to each other?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. There were not one, but two alicorns in Equestria.

“Uh, princess, I think you might want to take it easy on him,” Twilight suggested, apparently seeing all my cognitive function leaking out from my ears. At least that’s what it felt like.

“Hmm?” she seemed to only now be realizing that I hadn’t yet closed my mouth and my eyes were some mix between glazed and pained. “Are you alright?”

“T-t-two...” was all I managed before my poor mind couldn’t take it anymore and shutdown.

“Oh dear...”

Setting down Roots

I awoke to find myself in a very soft bed, the kind of bed where you could almost feel yourself sinking into, like a giant cloud that was eventually going to swallow you up in its soft fluffyness.

Then it all came rushing back: the train ride, the walk through Canterlot, and the meeting with the alicorn princess.

Perhaps it was the time unconscious, but my mind was finally able to process the information I had been given before. This country, Equestria was ruled by not one, but two alicorn sisters, one of which I met. Or at least I assumed they shared leadership, otherwise that would lead to one power struggle I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near.

Well, that did explain one thing, no nation would be stupid enough to start a war with Equestria, not with two alicorns at its head.

I’m sure that just those two alone could level New Pegisopolis, though, by Celestia’s demeanor, I doubted that I had to worry about that. At least I hoped I didn’t.

I reluctantly got out of the bed and stretched. Judging by the light, it was late afternoon, early evening.

I let out a sigh and went to the door, hoping that I could find my way around the castle by myself instead of waiting for somepony to fetch me. But as soon as I opened the door, I saw that on either side of me were two guards, which, up until a few hours ago, would have made me jump, but at that point, I think you could have told me that the sky was purple and I would have just shrugged and said, “Okay.”

“You’re awake,” the one to my right said calmly. “The Princess wishes to see you.”

“Very well, lead the way.”

And so, the guards detached from their posts and led me through the halls of the castle. I have to admit, it was pretty impressive architecturally, completely different from most of the designs I was familiar with.

But, I was unable to appreciate it for long, because we arrived at the throne room shortly, entering from a side entrance.

“Greetings Mixer, I hope you’re feeling better,” came Celestia’s greeting.

“I am, thank you. Though it’s still completely astonishing. Forgive me if I offend you, but where I come from, alicorns have been relegated to myth and fantasy.”

“No offense taken. I can understand what a shock it must be to see myths come to life.”
“I also apologize for earlier, I shouldn’t have passed out simply from information.”

“It’s perfectly alright, Mixer. But, now that you are awake, I think it is time that we talked”

She got up from her throne and beckoned me to follow her as she walked towards a doorway towards the back of the room.

I followed her through the door and into a hallway filled with stained glass windows, some of which depicted scenes, while others were oddly blank, showing only the vein like pattern separating the colors.

“Are these windows significant?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound too stupid for asking the obvious.

“Yes, they depict important points in Equestria’s history.”

That made sense, since close to the end of the hall were a couple of windows depicting Discord. It appeared that my arrival wasn’t his first appearance.

We reached the end of the hallway and went through another doorway, this one leading to a winding staircase that led up to floors above.

“If you don’t mind my asking, where are we going?”

“We’re going to wait for my sister to return.”

“She’s away?”

“Yes. You’ll see soon enough.”

I shrugged and followed her up the stairs.

As we walked up the seemingly endless spiral of stairs, I noticed that the light was fading, indicating that the sun was setting.

“So, where is Twilight?” I asked, trying to break the silence with something other than steady hoofsteps.

“Twilight and Spike have gone back to Ponyville. Don’t worry, you will be returning to Ponyville tomorrow as well.”

“I’m not to stay at the castle?”

“I think that you would be more comfortable in Ponyville. Besides, I hear that somepony wants to see you again.”

“And who would that be?”

I couldn’t tell, but I could have sworn she smiled as she said, “Oh, I think you’ll find out.”

For all her straightforwardness, Celestia could be rather cryptic at times.

Without any other points of conversation to spark up, we traveled the rest of the way up the tower in silence, and by the time we reached the top, the sun had almost completely disappeared beyond the horizon.

The room we finally came to was circular, with a doorway leading to a balcony with a telescope on it. It was spacious enough, though fairly bare of furniture, with only a few cushions for sitting on near the walls. The telescope was another out of place piece of technology, but it appeared that the advancement of Equestria’s technology was somewhat fragmented.

Celestia’s horn glowed with a golden aura as she set two cushions near the center of the room, giving a clear view out of the balcony doorway.

I stayed standing until she motioned for me to take a seat.

Now, the pillows were sized for an alicorn, so I could easily lay upon it, but I decided instead to sit, for the sake of being polite.

For minutes we simply sat there, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon and the sky turn slowly from a dull red to the deep blue of twilight.

“Isn’t the sunset a beautiful sight,” Celestia said, catching me off guard.

“Y-yes, I suppose it is. I must confess, this is the first I have watched in some time.”

“That’s a shame.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, when is your sister arriving?”

“She should be here shortly.”

And as if on cue, a form landed on the balcony before us, before folding its wings and walking into the room, now lit by magical torches. I didn’t notice them before, so they must have a magical timer. Clever.

As the form stepped into the light, it revealed an alicorn whose coat was deep blue, like the night sky, with a more navy colored mane that twinkled like the stars. It was blown about just as her sister’s was, as if by some unseen wind.

“Greetings sister, I take it everything went well?” Celestia asked the newcomer.

“Yes sister, We had no problems raising the moon, as always. But who is this? He doth not look like one of our subjects.”

Her archaic dialogue seemed strange, but I was not about to point it out. Aside from being impolite, that would have probably been offensive.

“Luna, I would like you to meet Mixer. He’s not from Equestria.”

“Wait, did you say ‘raising the moon’?” I asked, the words finally catching up with me.

“Yes. Surely thou knew where We were?”

“But the... that... no...” my words were having trouble again. It seems that science had some competition. Some rather stiff competition.

Princess Luna looked at me like I was growing a second horn, something that would probably have surprised me less.

“Where exactly are thou from, to not know of the royal sisters and their duty of raising the sun and moon?”

“What,” I said flatly. No matter how ludicrous it sounded, I was not about to lay down and accept that two magical beings, even if they were alicorns, moved celestial bodies on a whim.

This time, even Celestia gave me a weird look.

“The planet moves around the sun, and the moon orbits the planet. That’s just...just how it works. It’s been scientifically proven for centuries.”

Luna and Celestia exchanged a glance before Celestia spoke, “Are you referring to astronomical principles?”

At this point my jaw dropped, “You mean you study astronomy?”

“Of course, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to manage the sun and moon without causing natural disasters or a gravitational imbalance with the orbital cycles.”

I just decided to stop while I was still cognizant, “Okay, so I guess you do move the sun and moon...”

“You are very strange,” Luna said, grabbing a cushion for herself and sitting across from Celestia and myself.

“Well, in my defence, about ninety percent of what I thought I knew has been turned on its head in the past day or so.”

“So, in other words, everything you know is wrong?” Celestia asked.

“You could say that.”

“Hast thou been living under a rock?”

I sighed heavily, “I seem to be finding that I may as well have been.”

“It is okay, We have only recently returned. That is why We speak as we do,” Luna said.

“Returned from what?” I asked.

“Oh, that is right. Thou art new to Equestria.”

“We can save that story for another time,” Celestia interjected, “For now, I wanted to talk about your homeland.”

“Well, I hope you are comfortable, because there is much to discuss...”

--

One long night and several explanations later, the princesses seemed to be satisfied with my answers

“So, you’re country doesn’t have that much magic in it.”

“No, and from what you have said, and the implications of such, it is entirely possible that is why we have no dragons, or other magical creatures that Equestria has.”

“And thou art very kind for answering all of our questions. We shall let you rest before your return to ponyville.”

“Yes,” I began, but my words were cut of, or perhaps punctuated, by a long yawn.

Celestia yawned herself, looking a little tired.

“The room you were in before is still open to you,” she said, standing up and stretching, placing her pillow back by the wall with her magic.

“Thank you Princesses,” I said with a bow, “You have been very kind to me, and I thank you.”

“Thou art welcome. I hope that you will find a way back home soon. But thou art welcome in Equestria regardless.”

“Thank you,” I said, standing and moving my own pillow back to the wall.

Luna got up as well and replaced her cushion by the wall.

On the way back down, I was flanked on either side by alicorns. It was strange really. Once or twice I felt one of their manes brush against my fur, and contrary to how they looked, they felt like a regular mane, if a little light. Their fur as well, was odd, they each has different coat properties.
Celestia’s coat was soft, almost like air every time I accidentally brushed against her. Luna on the other hoof had a coat that felt thinner, like it was in two layers, and the top layer was only a few wisps of fur.

It was enough to keep my mind occupied enough to stay awake down the flight of stairs. Perhaps that’s why they did flank me down the stairs, to ensure I didn’t fall asleep on my hooves. That would have probably been quite unpleasant, if not downright painful.

Eventually though, we made it to the bottom of the stairs and the sisters let one of the guards take over in escorting me to my room.

At that point my mind was numb from being tired, and I fell asleep almost as soon as I laid in the bed.

--

I awoke early the next morning. Odd, considering how late I was up.

I rubbed my eyes and got up, stretching and letting out a long yawn. I had no way of knowing how long I was actually asleep, but it didn’t feel like much.

I looked out the window of the room and saw the sun was just above the horizon, meaning that it was probably an hour or so since the sun came up and most ponies would have started their day. Now, I say most ponies because I have a tendency to work late nights, sometimes through the entire night, and sleep in well past sunrise. This is also why it was early for me to be waking up.

I went out of the room and sure enough, there were two guards on either side of my door.

I bid them good morning and proceeded to the throne room by myself, feeling confident enough that I could take a couple corners without getting lost.

When I reached the throne room, Celestia was sitting upon the throne, looking as if she had been awake for hours, which was very well possible since she raised the sun. Raising the sun, now that was a concept that would take some time to get used to.

“Good morning Mixer, did you sleep well?” she asked.

I stifled a yawn before replying, “Yes, I slept fine.”

She gave me a small, yet still warm, smile, “Are you hungry?”

I could feel my stomach rumble in reply, “Come to think of it, yes, yes I am.”

She waved her hoof and a guard detached himself from his post at the wall and came to stand in front of her, “Please take our guest to the dining hall.”

“Yes Princess,” the guard replied with a salute. He turned to me, “Right this way,” and began leading the way to the dining hall.

While we walked, I had a brief amount of time to appreciate how hungry I actually was, not having eaten since almost a day prior. How I hadn’t felt hungry until Celestia brought it up, I’ll never know.

In short order, we arrived at a spacious hall with a long rectangular table and a vaulted ceiling. Arches and the like seemed to be quite a favorite architectural option in Equestria, at least with their masonry.

Almost as soon as we arrived, a well dressed stallion entered the room.

“Have a seat sir, and we will bring you out something right away,” he said in a professional tone that spoke of experience with serving guests.

I chose a seat close to the middle of the table with my back to a window, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the sun in my eyes, and instead I could see the rest of the room as it was light by sunlight.

While I was waiting for my breakfast, my mind began to wander as to what exactly I would do to try and get home.

From looking at maps of Equestria at Twilight’s library I could tell that it wasn’t on the far side of the badlands, since it had a record of land from one shore to the other. That was also supported by the time difference between when I arrived, and what time it was when I was in my lab. That might be why I woke up so early. I also considered that Equestria could be to the far north or south, but that was ruled out by the temperate climate, which wasn’t too far off from almost sub tropical climate of New Pegisopolis. In the end, it seemed that I was definitely on a different continent, and that I would have to cross the ocean if I wanted to get back home; but, that might not be possible with Equestria’s technology, since it’s geography would almost eliminate a need for large sea-faring vessels.

As I was beginning to think on alternate modes of transportation, the same stallion appeared with a plate of pancakes and a bottle of syrup.

This struck me as a little odd, but not unheard of cuisine, since there wasn’t many syrup supplies in New Pegisopolis, it was mainly a rare treat for lots of ponies. Perhaps Equestria didn’t have such sugar restrictive climate.

I looked at the fluffy golden circles and got a whiff of blueberries. If I didn’t have so much self control, I might have just started tearing into them without any form of utensils, but I took the time to pour a generous layer of syrup on the three pancakes and cut them into bite sized pieces, which seemed to make me hungrier as I got them ready to eat.

One wonderful thing about magic is that you rarely, if ever, need to use a fork or a spoon, which is why I picked up a piece of golden deliciousness with my magic and popped it into my mouth. Between the rich taste of the syrup and the fabulous flavor of the blueberries, I almost shed a tear at the culinary mastery that went into these perfect pastries. And then I immediately proceeded to make them disappear.

In a couple of minutes, all that was left of the pancakes were a couple smears of syrup, and some small crumbs. I let out a contented sigh and leaned back in my chair, savoring the aftertaste of blueberries and syrup, and enjoying the warm sunlight on my back.

As I was enjoying the moment of contentedness, Princess Luna walked in, and I sat back up.

“Good morning Princess.”

“Good morning Mixer, We trust that thou slept well? Didst thou enjoy thine morning repast?”

“Yes, I slept just fine, and breakfast was excellent.”

“Wonderful. Art thou ready to return to Ponyville?”

“If you don’t have anything else you wish of me, then yes.”
She nodded, “Very well. Thou art to go to the train station and travel back to Ponyville where Twilight Sparkle will be waiting. Upon your return, she is to show you to your new place of residence.”

“Oh, you’ve arranged for someplace for me to stay?”

“Verily. We think that it will be to your liking.”

I got out of my chair and bowed, “Thank you very much for your generosity.”

“It is no trouble. Oh! Didst the kitchens make pancakes this morning? Never before have We had such delightful delicacies.”

Her break of formality kind of threw me, but what gave me more of a surprise was when the server brought out three plates of pancakes, each piled high, with fluffy goodness.

“Indeed, they are very good.”

“Good? They’re MARVELOUS!” she said, the last part of her sentence resonating around the room and ringing in my ears. “Oh, We are sorry, sister has been trying to help our control of the royal canterlot voice. She says that it can be... jarring to our subjects.”

I gave my head a quick shake, “No no, it’s alright, just unexpected.”

“Well, thou should be on thine way, lest ye miss the train.”

“Goodbye Princess Luna,” I said with a bow. I could have sworn that as I was leaving the room, I heard her begin to unceremoniously chow down on the pancakes.

I retraced my steps through the castle back to the throne room, where Celestia was still resting upon her throne. It almost seemed like she never left that seat aside from when she escorted me to my meeting with her and Luna.

“Ah, Mixer. Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

“Yes, it was fantastic. And Luna said something about housing for me in Ponyville?”

“Ah yes, we have arranged for a place for you to stay in Ponyville. Twilight will show you where it is. It has basic amenities, but if there is anything you need, you need only ask, and I shall see to it that you get what you need. Of course, this courtesy is only until you are settled in and are able to provide the necessary funds.”

I was speechless. I was being given not only a house, but anything that I needed to begin a new life in Equestria.

“Th-thank you Princess,” I said with a bow.

She smiled, “You’re very welcome Mixer. I hope to see you again some time in the coming months.”

“I would be honored to return to Canterlot.”

“Well, the next train to Ponyville leaves in a few minutes, you don’t want to miss it.”

“Goodbye Princess Celestia, and thank you for your generosity and hospitality,” I said with one last bow.

Then she did something that made my jaw drop, she gave me a slight bow, “I wish you the best of luck luck Mixer.”

With that, I left the castle and began making my way to the train station. As I walked, I noticed that I outpaced almost everypony on the street, who were all ambling along as if they didn’t have anywhere in particular to be. And odd thing for a city, even one as small as this, but I guess that when everything is centralized, there isn’t much need to hurry. I however had to cross a considerable amount of ground to get to the train station.

When I arrived at the train station, I went to the ticket booth and was greeted by a young looking mare with a peachy coat and and orange mane, “Hello sir, how may I help you?”

“Yes, I was told that I should take the train to Ponyville.”

“Ah, you must be the v.i.p. that they mentioned this morning. Here you go,” she said, sliding a ticket over the counter. “Enjoy your ride sir.”

I thanked her and got on to the train just as the conductor was calling, “All aboard!”

I took a seat in one of the cars farther back and looked out the window as the train got underway. It would more than likely be the last time I rode the train for a while, at least for free.

Not long after the train got moving, the conductor came through the cars checking for tickets. I showed him mine, and he looked it over. After a moment, he seemed satisfied and gave it back to me, moving on to the next passenger.

The ride to Ponyville gave me time to consider what I could need that the princesses hadn’t provided for me. For starters, there would be some basic chemistry equipment, and materials, though I didn’t know if it was even possible to get most of the chemicals I was accustomed to working with. I might even have to produce my own chemicals as I needed them. Aside from those, then I wouldn’t really require much, maybe some extra lab space, but that’s it. I could live out of a single room if I had to, which I had on more than one occasion.

Then I thought about what I would do to get myself going. The obvious choice would be to start out making potions, but Twilight had hinted at a zebra that already made quite a variety of potions. The second immediate option would be to make some basic things, soaps and cleaners, maybe some bonding agents, things that didn’t require a great deal of chemical wizardry. Then things started to taper down to either finding a job working for somepony else, or trying to make use of my side hobby of music. I wasn’t the best musician ever, but I was alright, and even mediocre musicians could make a living if they got lucky. But that was a last resort, I would much rather be doing my own work.

My wandering thoughts had a very nice effect of eating up time, and soon I found that the train had arrived in Ponyville and ponies were starting to get off. I joined the crowd and found Twilight and Spike waiting for me on the platform.

“Mixer!” Twilight called, trotting up to me. “So, how was it?”

“It was definitely an experience.”

“You must be ready to see your new home.”

“Yeah, I want to see what all the fuss is about.”

“Well then, let’s get going,” Spike said.

Twilight and Spike proceeded to lead me through town and out toward the outskirts of Ponyville. I wondered if it was a precaution for the chemistry.

We eventually came to a large tree, much like the one the Library was inside, and I noticed a few windows adorned it’s trunk.

“Well, it sure is... different.”

“It was kind of short notice, but it’s got everything you need, two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen...” Twilight began, rattling off the different features of the literal treehouse. It sounded like a fully furnished house, albeit, with less floor space.

After a minute or so of listing off every single detail, Spike was yawning, and I found myself tuning her out.

“Twilight, why don’t we just go inside, then I can see for myself.”

“Oh, right,” she said with a slight blush.

“About time,” Spike mumbled.

I walked over to the door and opened it. The inside of the house was dimly lit, with only a few spots illuminated by the sunlight streaming in the half shuttered windows.

“It’s a little dark, don’t you think?”

“That’s because you haven’t turned on the lights silly,” Twilight giggled, pushing past me and turning on a few magical light sources with her magic.

Once the place was well lit, I could see more clearly the layout of my new house. The entrance was a simple door, though there was a coat stand next to the door. Immediately inside was a kind of foyer, a smaller room from which I could see into what looked like an eat-in kitchen, and a living room on the other side.

“Well, are you going to look around?” Twilight asked.

I decided to check the kitchen first, thinking that it would be the smaller of the two rooms. It turned out to be medium sized, with a small circular table that appeared to be fused to the floor in the center of the room. No doubt some form of magic. Off to one side was a sink and faucet and a counter on either side and a small window above it. Farther down the wall was a small stove and a fridge.

“It looks pretty nice for a last minute thing.”

“This is nothing,” Twilight said, “You haven’t even seen the rest of the house.”

Hearing this got me interested, so I followed her into the living room, and was surprised that it followed the curve of the tree almost all the way around, only stopping at the wall that separated it and the kitchen. There was a large window with a curtain drawn across it that looked like a manticore could easily pass through it if it were open. Towards the center of the room was a large couch, but aside from that the room was bare of furniture, save for a tall clock in the corner.

“Well, there sure is a lot of room here.”

“Come see the upstairs,” Twilight said, ascending the spiraling stairs that hugged the core of the tree.

As I followed her up, I saw Spike go and flop down on the couch, “You two go ahead, I’ll just check out this couch.”

The upstairs wasn’t much to speak of, just a small circular room with three doors, separating the room into thirds.

“These two are bedrooms,” Twilight said, pushing one of the doors open revealing a small bedroom. “The other one is the bathroom”

“Well, this is a pretty bare bones place. It’s got all the essentials, but it’s nice and roomy.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Now, Princess Celestia mentioned asking for things I needed.”

“Of course. What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Well, I’ll need the basics for starters, test tubes, bunsen burners, beakers, stuff like that. And I might need some materials to build a shed outside to run experiments in, or maybe just make an addition to the house.”

“Oh, don’t worry about a lab, there’s a basement for that.”

“Really?”

“Yes, the entrance is outside though.”

“Then let’s go check it out,” I suggested and began trotting down the stairs.

When we got outside there was indeed a cellar style door by the trunk of the tree that led down into a small circular room.

“Well, it’s not what I’d call five star, but it’s got enough space for what I need, at least until I can start getting the bits to make a better lab.”

“See, isn’t it great?”

“Indeed, this house is perfect, and a better gift than I thought I was getting.”

“Well, we better go back inside and get Spike. I bet he’s fallen asleep by now.”

So, we proceeded to gather Twilight’s assistant, who turned out to be dozing just as she had suspected.

“Does he always sleep this much?” I asked.

“Sometimes he just likes to take a nap.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s hurting anything.”

“True, but we should let you get settled in,” she said, picking the sleeping Spike up off the couch with magic, and laying him across her back.

“You could stay if you want, I owe you a lot after all.”

“It’s alright, you can get settled in and take some time to compile a list of things you need and come see me tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a fine idea.”

I escorted Twilight and her sleeping passenger to the door and said goodbye.

It was odd, really. I was in a house in another country that was mine. It was more than I had in New Pegisopolis, and I’d been living there my whole life.

I walked back through the house and found some paper and a quill. A quill, another technological shortcoming of Equestria.

I took the paper and quill and sat down on the couch to begin my list.

Canterlot Wedding: Part 1

It had been three months since my arrival in Equestria. Three very long months. At first the business of settling into my new house and getting on my hooves financially was enough to keep me occupied, but as it dragged on into my second month, and I was starting to do some good. if light, business, I began to think of home. By the time month three hit, I was starting to become depressed, despite occasional visits from Twilight and her friends. Even a visit to Canterlot was not enough to lift my spirits for very long.

One of those days in the third month I was not feeling up to work and Twilight had come over to check up on me.

“Mixer, I‘m a little worried about you. I’ve heard that you’ve been coming up late for business and my friends say that you’ve been kind of down when they come to visit,” she said, taking a seat on the couch.

I didn’t want to worry her too much so I tried to convince her I was alright, “It’s nothing to worry about Twilight, just a little homesick is all. I’m sure it’ll pass in a few days,” taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

“But it’s already been a week and Pinkie said you didn’t let her in the other day when she came to visit.”

“Well that’s Pinkie, she can be a little grating on me at times.”

“That’s not really an excuse to not let her in.”

I gave a sigh, “It’s alright Twilight, really. I appreciate your concern, but there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“I don’t know... How about I come check on you tomorrow to see if you’re feeling better?”

“That sounds just fine Twilight.”

She got up from the couch and made her way to the door, “Alright, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Bye Twilight,” I waved from the couch.

She lingered for a moment with the door open, taking one last searching look at me before closing the door and leaving.

When I was sure she was gone, I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want Twilight fretting over me so much. It was almost embarrassing.

I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes for a nap, hoping that maybe I would feel better afterwards. Sadly, I was mistaken and my mood was little improved, and most of the day had been wasted.

Feeling even more dejected, I went up to my room and went through some of my things, tidying up to keep myself busy. It wasn’t long, however, before I began to grow bored with the endeavor and stopped. It was frustrating not even having the ambition to finish simple tasks, but that just made me feel worse.

Since I was bored and had skipped lunch with my nap, I decided to make myself something to eat. Thankfully, the need for food outweighed anything else, and I was able to make a good enough dinner, just a couple of daisy sandwiches, but it was something in my stomach.

Even though I had taken a nap earlier, I felt tired, and so I trudged up the stairs to my room and laid down on the bed. It was pretty comfortable, nothing like the beds in the castle in Canterlot, but it was nice and soft, and big enough that I had room to toss and turn without falling out of bed.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, it only seemed like a few seconds before I woke up again to the morning sun.

I let out a groan, knowing that Twilight would be coming to check on me today, and knowing that she wouldn’t leave until she was sure I was better, or until I agreed to let her take me to a doctor or something. Being that I didn’t think she needed to make such a fuss about it, and hoping that her finding me not at home would dissuade her from pressing the issue, I went outside and took a walk by the Everfree.

The Everfree Forest was something of an anomaly. All the ponies in Ponyville feared it, mostly because of it having independant weather systems and dangerous creatures. I found it less frightening and more intriguing, but there is a fine line between curiosity and foolhardiness, so I usually kept my distance. Today though, I was able to take a good look at it while I was walking.

The trees on the very edge looked very similar to those in Ponyville, if a little overgrown and unkempt. Beyond the fringes though, I could see that the forest quickly darkened, and the plant life on the ground grew wild and unruly. A pony with the right skills could find many exotic flora in the Everfree, which is why I’m sure Zecora established her hut there, close to as many of the most hard to reach plants as possible.

After about half an hour, I had walked almost the edge of the Everfree and Ponyville when I heard somepony’s calls on the wind. It was faint, but I could barely make out somepony calling my name. It appeared that Twilight was going looking for me, and had more than likely recruited her friends to help her.

Were I in a better mood, then maybe I would have come to their calls and explained things, but at the time, I was in no disposition to explain myself, so I decided that I would find someplace to wait them out. To that end, I decided to find a tree near Fluttershy’s cottage that I could climb without too much trouble and wait for Fluttershy to return home, signaling that they were done trying to find me, and I could walk back home.

Much to my delight, I was able to make it without being bothered and found a nice low branch on a tree that was wide enough for me to lay on. Much to my dismay, however, Twilight seemed determined to fine me, and when it was well past noon, there was still no sign of Fluttershy’s return, and I began to doze in the warm sun.

I must have fallen asleep, because I was woken by Fluttershy’s voice.

“What is it Angel bunny?”

I cursed inwardly, I had forgotten about the rabbit. I had only seen Angel once or twice before, and from the first time I saw him, I knew, it was hate at first sight. And the feeling was mutual.

I watched with baited breath as the small white demon tried to tell Fluttershy where I was, and after a minute or so, she looked up in my direction to see me staring down at her.

“Mixer? What are you doing up there?” she asked as she fluttered up to my height, hovering in the air.

If it were anypony but Fluttershy, I would have felt wine telling them a lie or half truth, but it made me feel guilty thinking about lying to Fluttershy, so I settled for looking away and saying nothing. The pinnacle of maturity, I know.

“Twilight’s been worried sick about you. We’ve been looking all day for you,” she said, her voice gentle, but laced with concern.

“I... wanted to be alone,” I said lamely.

“Then why didn’t you just say something? I’m sure Twilight would have left you alone if you just asked.”

“Well, I thought she’d press the matter and insist I see a doctor or something. I know she’s concerned, but I don’t need her fretting over me like that,” I said, sitting up on the branch. It actually felt good to tell somepony about my troubles, and Fluttershy was easy to talk to.

“Why didn’t you tell her yourself?”

I let out a sigh, “Because, I didn’t think she’d listen, so I avoided her instead of arguing.”

Fluttershy, perched carefully upon the branch, now that there was more room. “Why don’t you come down from the tree and go talk to Twilight? I’m sure that if you tell her what’s on your mind she’ll listen.”

“I’m sorry to say this Fluttershy, but I don’t think she will. And at besides, she’ll be mad at me for making her worry so much.”

“All the more reason to talk to her now,” Fluttershy said with a kind smile.

Her patience with me was touching. I’d never really known anypony who would put up with so much and still be so kind. I actually shed a tear.

“Why are you crying?” She asked, her voice edged with concern again.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, “Well, I’ve never had anypony to talk to before, not like this. And you’ve put up with me, even though I’m difficult.”

“That’s what friends are for,” she said, giving me a short hug. “Now, how about I help you down from this tree and we go talk to Twilight?”

I nodded, “Alright.”

So, Fluttershy helped me get down from the tree, which was thankfully easy, and we made our way to the Library. As you could expect, Twilight gave me a tongue lashing, but Fluttershy helped keep it to a minimum, and before long I was trotting happily out of the library with Fluttershy.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I’m not sure if I would have been able to do that without your help.”

She smiled at me, “No trouble at all, I’m just glad everypony’s happy.”

I gave her a hug, “And I am, so Twilight doesn’t have to worry about me anymore, and I can get back to work.” I thought I saw a tinge of blush grace her cheeks for a moment, but it must have been a trick of the light in the setting sun.

“Goodbye, Mixer.”

“Bye Fluttershy,” I called as I waved. I didn’t know what it was, but Fluttershy had made me feel happy again. As time went on though, I found out why. I found that I had started to fall in love with her. Unfortunately, I had a busy schedule most of the time, and couldn’t find time to properly express my feelings for her.

Two months later, it seemed I had missed my chance when I had gotten an offer to take my business to Canterlot.

I was stunned to get the offer, but apparently, good word of my work had reached Canterlot, and somepony wanted me to move in. I was hesitant, but I needed the bits if I was going to look into finding a way home, so I accepted. Within a week of moving to Canterlot, I had an actual store set up, and was making good business with the high society.

I sent a few letters back to Ponyville, after all, I did still have good friends there. I didn’t get much back however, and soon, I was getting too many orders to have time to write letters. I was a little sad, but my work kept me going, even though so far, my attempts at finding a way back to New Pegisopolis were coming up empty.

--

I was just getting ready to close my shop after a solid twenty four hours of attending to customers. Apparently, there were whispers of a wedding, and everypony wanted extra coat care products. I’d started that side project shortly after getting to Canterlot, but I ended up being almost exclusively devoted to making beauty supplies for the local salons and private buyers alike. I’d even had Prince Blueblood come to my store once after some debacle with his normal store. Apparently, they had given him some bad hoof cream or something. I didn’t pay much attention to the details, as it was more whining that anything. In the end though, he paid a good sum, and went away slightly less whiny.

As I was about to lock up shop, there was a knock at the door, so I went to see who it was. I found a mailpony holding a letter.

“I have a letter for a mister Mixer,” he said.

“I’m Mixer,” I replied, taking the envelope.

He tipped his hat to me and went on his way.

I finished locking up the store and opened the envelope on my way back to my apartment. Houses were at a premium in Canterlot, so I decided it was more prudent to pay a monthly rent then spend all my bits on a house that would be empty most of the day.

As I pulled out the contents, I noticed that it was an invitation, more of a notice really, to the wedding of Shining Armor and a Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I was not familiar with this “Princess Cadenza” but I had heard of Shining Armor, and a wedding of that stature would no doubt be a grand spectacle. I was not accustomed to weddings, and decided not to attend the vows, but arrive for the reception. If anypony was curious as to why I didn’t show up, then I could just say that I was busy. I looked back at the notice and saw the date and time of the wedding, in a mere two days.

And for the first day, I was inundated with work again. Last minute orders and ponies buying what I had left in stock mostly, but it was enough to keep my busy.

On the second day, I closed the shop, and most other places were doing the same. It seemed that everypony was going to spend all day preparing for the wedding the next day. I even decided to take some spare bits I saved up and get a tuxedo for the occasion. I even took the time to get my mane somewhat styled. I usually didn’t care what my mane looked like, but I hadn’t exactly been keeping up on my personal grooming with work running me ragged, and I knew it was in poor taste to look disheveled in front of royalty.

The next morning, all of Canterlot was bustling with activity. Ponies dressed in finery of all varieties were bustling about, trying to fit in visits to one place or another before the wedding. What was odd though, was the fact that there was a magical barrier around the city. When they put it up, the guards had come around saying that it was a precaution, and everypony took it at that, but it made me wonder why they had it up only now, and not all the time. Maybe it was hard to keep up, so they only used it for occasions when a lot of important ponies are gathered in one place.

When it was almost noon, I began ambling my way towards the castle. The vows were going to be done soon, or so the schedule said, and the reception was going to start at 1, so I was trying to arrive around 12:30. Then I heard it, almost imperceptible at first, but then everypony heard it. There was a great cracking sound as the barrier over the city gave way and swarms of black bug-like creatures descended on the city.

They were horrific, insectoid ponies, at least they looked somewhat like ponies. They had a greyish green or black exoskeleton, with veined green wings, like a bee almost. They made a sound like bees when they flew too, a loud buzzing noise that permeated the air. They also had horns, and some were cloaked in green magic as they came hurtling down like meteors into the city. The most disturbing thing about them was their pupil-less eyes, just a wall of cloudy blue-grey.

They weren’t individually strong, as the guards and even ponies who were brave enough to fight, like myself, were able to dispatch a few, but for every one that somepony could take down, there were five more waiting to fill its place. They had too great of numbers to fight, and just as they were about to overcome me and do Celestia knows what with me, there was a pulse of pinkish energy emanating from the Castle. The blast seemed only to affect the insect like creatures, who I later found out were called changelings, and blasted them away like hay in a hurricane.

Ponies flocked to the castle to find out what had happened. I was among them, especially wanting to know what in Tartarus had just happened.
As the ponies arrived at the castle, it had appeared that the wedding had been interrupted, and that there would be an explanation after the wedding, which went off without a hitch. The reception was a great party held in the castle garden. It was almost like the Grand Galloping Gala that I had hear about. The music was provided by a DJ named Vinyl Scratch from Ponyville, that is, with a little help from Pinkie Pie. By the end of the night, I had worn myself out dancing and partying and gladly fell asleep in my apartment.

Best. Day. Ever!