Ryan was walking into town, towards the library. He had been under scrutiny the day before about his past, but hopefully today, the questions would be primarily about technology. Odds were, if Rainbow Dash showed up, he would go into planes and jets and other flying contraptions. Twilight would no doubt want to hear more about computers. He would likely tell her about communications equipment, like smartphones.

It was about half past six while he walked through the town. The previous night, he had mostly just laid in the dirt and stared at the sky, mesmerized by the one star. It took his mind off of everything that had been happening, made him feel like the world wasn’t real. The star turned his past into a wisp of smoke, one that he could clear away with a wave of his hand. But the trouble was, the source of that smoke was an inextinguishable fire beneath him, so the smoke just kept on coming back and choking him.

He found himself at the library by seven. Inside, he could hear Twilight moving about. “I thought she had Spike do stuff in the morning.” She was probably just doing it herself because she wanted to prepare for Ryan without waking Spike. He knocked on the door. Inside, something crashed, and there was a big clamor. The door swung open, barely missing Ryan’s nose. He cocked an eyebrow at Twilight in the doorway.

“Hey!” she said, out of breath. “I wasn’t expecting you so early.”

Ryan shrugged. “I’m an early riser.” Twilight swallowed and moved aside.

“Please, come in.” He walked inside, and Twilight shut the door behind him.

He looked around. It looked like she had been setting up some sitting areas in the library itself, but looking in the kitchen, he saw what she was really doing. There was a big table with numerous spots around it for ponies to sit. “You having a party?” he asked, pointing at the kitchen. Twilight smiled suspiciously.

“Promise you won’t be upset?” Ryan halted all movement. Whenever someone said that, they knew that the person wouldn’t be very happy.

“... Okay. What?” Twilight walked around, inspecting the shelves.

“My family will be visiting tomorrow, including those I’m related to due to my brother’s marriage. I told them about you, and they want to meet you.” Ryan turned around. In his mind, he was ablaze. But outside, he kept a cool demeanor. He calmed the raging seas in his head.

“It’s fine.” he lied. “What did you tell them?” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

“I told them about how you’re new here and you’re really interesting. I didn’t go into detail, since it was kind of short notice.” Ryan silently breathed hi sown sigh of relief. He didn’t want to have to deal with the spread of information about him.

“Alright. I guess I can do it.”

Twilight stood on her hind hooves and clopped her front hooves together. “Eeee! Oh, thank you!” Her smile was massive and excited; it actually made Ryan forgive her a little bit. He went and sat down in a chair in the corner.

After that, Twilight didn’t bother him for a while; she was too busy getting things ready for the next day. Ryan just watched as she did so. “Crazy girl.” he thought. She didn’t have to get up early the previous day to prepare. Of course, he didn’t know anything about her family or how she was raised. This could, in fact, be necessary. “I wonder who this family will be? What will they be like?” He just sat there, wondering.

About an hour and a half after Twilight broke the news, Spike came down, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Morning, trooper.” Ryan greeted, not looking up. Spike yelped. “Harkness!” he shouted. “I wasn’t expecting you. Twilight said you wouldn’t likely be here ‘til later.” Ryan shrugged.

“Well, clearly, she was incorrect.” Spike chuckled and came all the way down the stairs.

“Yeah, well, she’s usually right, so I’ll let it pass this time.”

Ryan scratched his knee. “You’re all heart.” Spike sat down next to him, joining in his observation of Twilight’s craziness.

“She’s like my big sister. So yeah.” Ryan felt a little twitch in his cheek. He decided to remember that for later.

They sat in relative silence until about half past ten. Then, Spike’s stomach growled, like a cat that’s very annoyed about being poked that’s about to lash out. “You getting hungry?” Ryan asked, hoping it would prompt Spike to leave him. Spike nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s go get some lunch.” He stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Sighing over his inability to risk being rude, Ryan got up and followed. While they moved, Twilight shot around the room, checking everything for the umpteenth time.

“She always like this?” Ryan asked. Spike waved a dismissive hand.

“Only when the Princess is coming.” Ryan blinked. Then he blinked again.

“Princess?” he asked, all of a sudden very nervous.

“Yeah. Her brother married Princess Cadance, who is the niece of Princess Celestia. Her parents, brother, and the princesses will all be here. Unfortunately, Princess Luna couldn’t make it.”

Ryan paused again, this time, not moving. So Luna did live here. He would definitely have to think over a visit. “Well then.” he said. He started moving again, catching up to Spike.

“You two better not ruin my setup in there!” Twilight shouted.

“We won’t!” Spike shouted back.

“Speak for yourself.” Ryan said, loud enough for Twilight to hear. She suddenly burst into the kitchen, just behind Ryan.

“Harkness!” she yelled.

Ryan turned around. “Yes?”

She looked up at his face. “...hmph.” She turned back around and walked off. Spike, meanwhile, was already at the counter.

“What was that?” he asked.

Ryan shrugged. “You know, I’m not sure. I say and do things that SHOULD get me slapped, yet no one ever does. I’m just not a slappable guy.” Spike snorted.

“If only every guy was as lucky as you.” Ryan nodded.

“Yeah, right. If only.”

Spike was pulling bread from the pantry. “So what’ll you have?” he asked. Ryan leaned on the counter next to the baby dragon.

“Gimme a PB and J.” Simple, yet edible. Spike obliged and made him the sandwich. “Good stuff.” Ryan said, taking a bite.

“Thanks. The stuff is made fresh every day.”

They exited the kitchen with their food and sat back down in their spots. Not a minute after they sat, there were several knocks on the door. “I got it!” Spike shouted, running to the door. Inwardly, Ryan groaned when he saw who was there. “Oh, hey Rainbow! And Pinkie, and Fluttershy... and Rarity!” He really seemed to lose his footing on Rarity. Ryan took a note of that.

“Hello Spike.” Rarity replied. “Is Harkness around?” Spike pointed behind him, right at Ryan.

“He’s in here.” The mares all thanked him and filed in. Behind them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stumbled in in a little pony ball.

“What..?” Ryan said to himself as he watched the girls get up. They were wearing a bunch of little capes. He shook his head; he didn’t care enough to ask.

“Hello, Harkness.” Rarity started. Ryan nodded back, but didn’t speak.

The mares all sat around him, cornering him against the wall as if to prevent his escape. Twilight walked in and saw her friends surrounding the newcomer. “Oh! Hey girls! What brings you here?” Her urgency suddenly died.

“We’re here to hear about his crazy technology!” Scootaloo answered. Twilight looked to Ryan.

“Oh! Well, I think I’ll join you.” Twilight ran up the stairs for a moment, then came back with a notepad and quill with ink. Ryan scanned the audience before him. There were certainly quite a few ponies here.

“Well, it’s hardly a complete crowd without Applejack, wouldn’t you say?” Ryan was trying to stall. Applebloom stood up.

“She’ll be here in a minute, she just had to close up the stand.” Ryan cursed in his head.

Rainbow was quickly growing impatient. “Well, come on! Let’s hear it!” she demanded. Ryan cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Hear what? Technology isn’t exactly a specific field. Where should I begin?” Suddenly, every mare and filly except Fluttershy was shouting and asking for something different. He couldn’t even tell who was saying what.

“One at a time, please.” he requested. They all went quiet. He pointed all the way to the left, at little Sweetie Belle. “What do you want to hear?” he asked. She pondered it for a moment.

“Music!” she announced. Ryan nodded, and looked to the next one in line, Applebloom.

“Farm gear.” He went in order from there; Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and then to Spike.

“Flying stuff!”

“What she said!”

“Fashion and transportation.”

“Computers!”

“Umm, medicine? If that’s okay?”

“Cooking!”

“Entertainment.” He decided to address them in order.

“For music, we have these things called MP3’s. You jack a pair of earbuds in them and then put the tiny speakers in your ears. The tiny speakers take data from the MP3 and play a song of your choosing. There’s also electronic music, like Dubstep and eighties synthesized. Those are popular for big events.”

There was a knock at the door, and Applejack waltzed in and took a seat next to her sister. “He’s gonna tell us about farm gear.” Applejack nodded, sweating hard in her spot. Ryan cleared his throat.

“For farm gear, we use combustion engines to power large machines that do the work for us, like ploughing and seeding. There’s also weather machines that tell us when the weather may be bad for crops.” He kept going into what little he knew about farm equipment for a while.

Eventually, he finished. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were elated. “Finally! Let’s hear about flying stuff!” Rainbow said. Ryan looked at them.

“Sure.” They both leaned in close to hear. “We have a bunch of things for flying. The first of them was the airplane. Also using a combustion engine, the first planes would spin a rotor fast enough that it’s angled blades would carry it forward and into the air. Now, though, we have jet engines. These work by burning fuel and shooting the exhaust out the back with massive force. The plane is propelled forward incredibly fast.” Rainbow was vibrating in her seat.

“How fast?”

Ryan looked at her and smiled. “Well, the fastest plane that comes to mind for me is the F-22 Raptor. It could go up to Mach Three.” Rainbow stopped vibrating and looked forward, mouth agape. Looking around, Ryan saw that the others were also looking quite shocked. “Some unmanned aircraft have gone up to seven THOUSAND miles an hour.” If a cricket were there, it too, had been silenced. Rainow sat back.

“Whoa.”

Ryan nodded. “Whoa indeed.”

She stood up. “Why would a plane need to be that fast?” she asked. Ryan couldn’t answer that, and even if he could, he probably wouldn’t.

“No idea. Experiments?” She stepped forward.

“Have you ever flown in one of those fast ones before?” she asked. Ryan shook his head.

“Those are single seat fighter aircraft, so no. I fly in commercial aircraft, usually Boeing. They can get to around six hundred miles per hour.” Rainbow shook her head.

“That’s crazy.” she said. Ryan shrugged.

“That’s human ingenuity.”

He continued when Rainbow sat back down. “For transportation, we use planes, boats, and cars. All use some form of engine, but different kinds use different fuels. Navy ships use Nuclear power a lot to power aircraft carriers and destroyers.” Instantly, he regretted saying that.

“What?” Rarity said. “Destroyers? Fighter Aircraft?” She looked suspicious. Ryan had to be fast in his thoughts.

“Military technology. Easily the most advanced of all. A lot isn’t even known to the public, for obvious reasons.” Rarity looked unsatisfied, but compared to Applejack, she couldn’t care less.

“Can y’all be honest with us? Are you a military boy?” Ryan thought hard about it. He had planned on joining the SEALs, but he certainly couldn’t now.

“No.” he replied. “I’m not.” He continued, though Applejack wasn’t convinced. “We transport things on massive ships, sometimes referred to as ‘cities on the water’. Other times, we use massive planes, like the C5 Galaxy. Some of these planes can go up to Eight Thousand miles without having to refuel.”

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “That’s quite impressive.” Ryan nodded.

“Like I said, military tech is the most advanced.”

He quickly moved onto the computers. “Well, I already explained this to my best knowledge, but that was just one type. There are also systems that do other things. Some are for art, others are for making music, some are for entertainment, and there are thousands of others. I can’t possibly go into all of them. But the entertainment are some of the most popular. Using them, you can project images onto a screen. Using a controller, you can make the things in the image do what you command them to, whether it be flying a virtual plane or having a character run down a virtual hill. It’s like movies, but you control what happens. To an extent.” Spike was wide-eyed.

“Wow.” he said. “That’s cool.” Ryan smiled a little bit; he had the same reaction to the Nintendo 64 when he first got it.

“Yeah.” He kept on. “Other computers do math for you, while some are just for communicating. Using computers, you can talk to a person on the other side of the planet.” Twilight’s eyes went wide this time.

“It’s the ultimate tool of sharing collected knowledge...” she said.

Ryan nodded again. “Eeyup.”

“Our medicine is pretty astonishing. We can treat cancer, albeit not always successfully, we can cure diseases, and we have amazing injury healing practices.” Fluttershy seemed to lose some of her shyness and had a gleam in her eye.

“What kinds of injury healing processes do you have?” she asked.

“Well, we can cut someone open and fix them like that. Or, we can use tiny cameras and bots to deal with a problem. The most popular, though, is straight up meds. Using certain chemical formulas, we can make pills that speed up healing or reduce pain.” Fluttershy looked excited.

“What else?” she asked. The others looked repulsed by how Ryan had worded surgery.

“Well, we can make mechanical limbs for people who lost theirs. Those are really close to being ready for issuing. Someone is even close to making a bio-electric eye. It’s pretty astonishing.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It certainly is.”

After going a little more into medicine, he finally turned to Pinkie Pie. “Well, we don’t exactly have super advanced cooking stuff. Mostly, thanks to knowledge sharing, we just have good recipes. Sorry.” Pinkie wasn’t disappointed though.

“That’s awesome! You can share your recipes with people around the WORLD!? That’s amazing!!” She jumped up and ran around, much to Ryan’s disinterest. “Calm down.” Ryan said, grabbing her as she ran by and holding her up like a cat. She giggled.

“That tickles!” He set her down.

“I bet you enjoy that, don’t you?” he said. Pinkie Pie nodded.

“It’s fun!” Ryan shook his head and sat back down.

They talked a little bit from then on, mostly about the ponies and their adventures. The ponies’ brains couldn’t handle much more tech talk anyhow. Eventually, they got to the Elements of Harmony. “The what?” Ryan asked. They all blinked.

“Oh, right, you’re not from here.” Twilight reminded herself. “Well, the Elements of Harmony are represented and only usable by us. They are extremely powerful magical objects that are used to keep the land balanced and peaceful.” Ryan whistled.

“Wow. I wish my world had something like that.” The girls smiled at him, but their eyes were clearly sorry for him.

“Yes, it did sound like your world could use something like that.” Ryan nodded slowly, thoughtfully. It really could.

The talking brought them to late in the evening, almost to the darkened sky. “Whoa! Ah guess we’d better get goin’.” Applejack said. Her sister whined. “Now, now. Ah’m sure that y’all can talk to Harkness another time.” She looked to Ryan.

“Sure, I suppose. Next time I’m free.” Applejack smiled half-heartedly and took her sister away.

“I suppose we should go too. Sweetie Belle has school tomorrow.” Without waiting for a complaint, Rarity picked up her sister in her magic and left.

“Yeah, I should get going too. Later!” Rainbow sped off.

“Wait for me, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo yelled, getting on her scooter and speeding away.

Pinkie Pie was the next to leave. “Later!” she said. Suddenly, she disappeared.

“What the..?” Ryan looked around; no sign of her. He looked to Twilight and Fluttershy.

“It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.” they both said. Ryan scratched his head.

“I guess that physics don’t apply here.” he said to himself. Twilight heard that comment, but let it go. Fluttershy walked up to Ryan and touched his hand.

“I should go to. And remember; if you’re ever hurt, I’ll be able to help you.” She turned around and left, looking back at Ryan as she walked away. While he was questioning her demeanor, Twilight walked over.

“She’s still worried about you.” she explained. “I’m sure it will pass.”

Ryan stuck his hands in his pockets. “I guess.”

Ryan walked over to his spot from earlier and sat back down. “Well, that was an... interesting day. For you girls, I mean.” Twilight trotted over and sat before him, trailed by Spike, who Ryan had forgotten about. No need to tell him that.

“It certainly was. Maybe it will be as interesting for my family tomorrow.” Ryan nodded thoughtfully.

“What should I be expecting, questions or otherwise?” Twilight looked up at the ceiling in ponderance.

“Well, my brother is a captain of the Royal Guard. He’ll be interested in your personal history, since you are unknown to him.” Ryan breathed in deep and let it out slow. “As for the others... they’ll just want to learn a little about you. My brother, though, will practically want to interrogate you.” Ryan looked at her.

“Wow, it must be a nightmare for you to get a boyfriend.” Twilight blushed a little, and Spike chuckled.

“No. I’m not looking for one anyhow.”

Ryan put his hands up. “Alright.”

His goal was achieved; she wasn’t about to let it go. “What does that mean?” she asked. He looked at Spike; he got the cue.

“Nothing.” he said, getting up. Twilight pushed him back down with her magic.

“No, it means something. Now tell me.” She looked mad.

“I didn’t consent to this!” Ryan shouted. Twilight turned deep red, but kept him down.

“Tell me!” She lifted him up into the air. Meanwhile, Spike was in hysterics behind her. He, too, found himself in the air. “Tell me!” Ryan flailed about in the air; there was no escape.

“My bubble has been violated!” Twilight dropped both males to the ground. Spike just kept laughing.

“He’s laughing! You must mean something!” She held Ryan down with a hoof.

“So, you’re the kind who prefers to be dominant?” Ryan asked. Twilight tried to open her mouth to respond, but no words came. By now, she was totally flushed. “I’m more of a ‘go with the flow’ kind of guy myself. How about you, Spike?” Twilight’s eyes went wide and her head whipped around to look at Spike.

“Well-” She cut him off.

“Enough of this conversation!” she said. She clearly was not interested in hearing what was essentially her little brother’s fantsasies.

Ryan looked at Spike, who was out of it, he was laughing so hard. He looked at Twilight; she had figured out what was happening. “You just did all of that to embarrass me, didn’t you?” Ryan nodded, with a small smile; he hadn’t particularly enjoyed it, but it was kind of fun. Mostly, it was about getting the ponies to like him enough to respect his privacy. His methods were unorthodox, sure, but they might work.

“Yes.” His answer was short and to the point. Twilight shook her head.

“Please just don’t do it tomorrow.” Ryan sat up, knocking Twilight back.

“No promises.”

*********************************************************************************

Luna walked back to her chambers after raising the moon in a neutral mood. She wasn’t happy, but she was on her way to getting over Ryan’s death. It wasn’t easy, and it was entirely possible for her to backtrack, but she was on the road to recovery. She only wished that Ryan was somehow alive; that way, she could apologize and try to make things right for him.

She entered her chambers, where Starstep was waiting for her. He had set up a chess table while she was gone. “Good evening, Starstep.” she greeted. He nodded.

“Hello. I was thinking that we might play a round of chess.” She had figured that out, and rolled her eyes as she walked forward. She sat down at the small table.

“Why not?” She took the white side, so she went first. “I could use something to distract myself.” Her guard nodded.

“I know what you mean.” he replied. After Luna made her move, he went. “Sometimes, I just like to lose myself in the game.”

They played for over an hour, silently trying to outdo and outlast the other. Eventually, at the climax of the game, Starstep took Luna’s King. “Agh!” she cried out in mild frustration. It had been a good game. Starstep snickered across from her.

“I win.” he said, earning a glare from his princess. “It was a good game.” Luna nodded and looked down at the board. Starstep’s pieces were much more abundant than hers.

“You have certainly dominated me.” she said. She stood up and walked over to her fireplace and took a seat. “Quite a show of talent.” Starstep joined her.

“Thank you.” He sat.

The two sat in relative silence for a time, simply content to be there. Starstep periodically looked over at Luna; her face had a worn appearance. “You look exhausted.” he commented, hoping to get something out of her. “Is everything alright?” Luna looked down for a moment, contemplating. She shook her head, her long, ethereal mane gently wafting about.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Starstep frowned sadly, his brow lowering in sympathy. “I can’t get it out of my head.” Luna explained. “It’s like he’s still here somehow, not letting me forget. I know he wouldn’t do such a thing to me, but still. I feel like, maybe, I’m holding him here against his will.” She sniffed loudly. “I don’t know what to do. I keep having nightmares...”

Starstep got up and sat next to her, wrapping a foreleg around her and pulling her close. “Shh.” he said. “Come now... you must know how to move on. You need to move past it. If you don’t, you can never be happy. And neither can I.” He hugged her tightly. She leaned into him. “Remember, you’ll always have me and Princess Celestia, and any of your subjects. We’re all here to help you.” Luna sniveled, and a tear came from her eye onto Starstep’s chest. He held her close.

Eventually, she stood taller and looked away, out the window. “I wish I could have said goodbye to him. At least have extended that courtesy to him.” Starstep nodded, understanding perfectly.

“Come on,” he said. “You should sleep.” Luna nodded, and the two walked back over to the bed and slept.

*********************************************************************************

Ryan looked around at all the preparations that were made. Everything was spotless, reorganized, and in perfect order. Twilight had way overdone it.

He looked at the clock; it was about half past ten in the morning. The ponies that he was about to be questioned by would be there in about half an hour. Ryan ran through how he was going to dodge certain questions one more time. “Past; stick to my days in America. Martial Arts; my favorite activity. Dreams; navy career, no elaboration on it.” He went through the rest of it as fast as he could. He wasn’t even sure if he would need any of these, but he wasn’t about to take chances. He looked down at his leg; the scars from the land mine were mostly hidden by dirt. He had his sleeves down, even though it was really hot, so those were fine. The scarf and beret were on the coat rack by the door, so hopefully they would go unnoticed. Lastly, he had his vest on under his jacket, so nothing would seem particularly out of place besides him being a human. “Good to go.” he thought doubtfully.

Twilight was frantically running around, with a flustered Spike trying to keep up. Ryan just watched as they sprinted about, checking everything AGAIN. Whoever this princess was, she must be really into having places made perfect for her.

“Seems like a real diva of a ruler.” Ryan thought. He was silently loathing having to meet such a being.

“Harkness, would you mind helping me?” Twilight asked. Ryan looked up. She had brought a little round table out with a bunch of sitting pillows and set it in the study area. “Would you go and get the tea and biscuits and dinnerware?” Ryan nodded and walked into the kitchen. There was a much larger table in there, but it wasn’t nearly as made up as the one in the library.

“Must not be using this.” Ryan concluded quickly. He looked around for the dinnerware and food. There was an obvious pantry, but the only dinnerware was what looked like fine china. He shrugged and grabbed it. “China coming out, watch where you’re going.” he announced as he exited the kitchen. Twilight must have run upstairs, because she was missing. Ryan shrugged again and put everything on the table, then went back for the food.

When he came back out with the food, Twilight had returned from her excursion to the upstairs area. She had a long list; it went all the way up the stairs; and she was checking things off. “I didn’t think those even existed...” Ryan thought as he looked at the list. Twilight checked off one last thing and sighed contently.

“There. Everything’s taken care of.” Ryan walked over to the table and set the food down.

“Well, not EVERYTHING.” he said. Twilight looked at him, then shook her head, smirking.

“Oh, Harkness. I know your game.” Ryan shrugged. She had forgotten something for him to sit on, but that wasn’t important.

He looked back at the clock. It was only five ‘til. “What the heck?” he thought. That didn’t really take that long, did it?

“Oh, wow! We just made it! They should start arriving any minute.” Ryan took in a deep breath and let it out nice and slow. This was going to be the ultimate moment of truth; if the leader felt one way or another about him, it would seal his fate in what would likely not be good regardless of how it was sealed.

“Here we begin.” he said quietly to himself. He walked over to a shelf and pulled out a book to pretend to read. No reason to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room when someone entered.

Sure enough, at around nine after eleven, there was a series of knocks on the door. “Here they are!” Twilight announced. She looked at Ryan with a mock scowl. “Behave yourself.” she ordered half seriously. Ryan put his hands in the air, then put them back down.

“When do I ever not?” he replied. Twilight didn’t hear and went and opened the door.

“Twilight!” a male voice sang out.

“Dad!” Ryan peeked up from the book; a blue stallion was putting Twilight in a massive bear hug. A very light purple mare followed soon after.

“Ooh, little Twilight! I’ve been waiting to see you! How are you?” Small talk ensued at the door. After a few minutes, Twilight invited what was likely her parents to come in.

“Please, make yourselves at home.” Ryan looked at the ponies; they hadn’t even noticed Ryan yet. They may have thought he was a decoration, he was so still. Ryan shifted in his spot, ready but not ready.

“So, where is this stallion you mentioned?” her father asked. Twilight looked, then pointed at Ryan.

“Yo.”

Both ponies turned around and yelped at the sudden noise from what they hadn’t thought to be alive. Ryan took a hand off the book and gave them a small wave. The ponies were wide-eyed and agape of mouth.

“What- what- huh?” the male one said. Ryan cocked an eyebrow. It must have intimidated them a bit.

“Mom, dad, this is Harkness.” Ryan snorted, drawing strange looks. “He’s the new... stallion. He’s a human.” Ryan shut the book and stepped away from the wall, extending a hand. He was tentative, but had to appear not so.

“Hi.” The stallion put his hoof in Ryan’s hand and shook.

“Hello... I’m, uhh, Nightlight.” The mare walked up and extended a hoof. Ryan released Nightlight and took it.

“I’m Twilight Velvet.” Ryan nodded.

“Good to make your acquaintance.” He released Twilight Velvet’s hoof and stepped back a bit.

The two parties took in each other’s sights for a moment. The ponies were clearly Twilight Sparkle’s parents; there were too many similarities. The ponies, though, could determine nothing from Ryan’s physical appearance. They had never even heard of a human before. He had five fingers and body that looked like it was probably mostly hairless. He looked bulky under whatever clothes he was wearing.

“You’re... not what we were expecting.” Nightlight said sheepishly. Ryan shrugged again; by the end of his stay, his shoulders would be massive.

“I would imagine not.” Twilight Sparkle walked forward, sensing the awkwardness.

“Well, I’m glad to see that you got here in peace. Why don’t we catch up while we wait for the others?” Ryan nodded to that; he didn’t want to say anything more than once. If he screwed up his story, he would be in serious trouble.

Ryan picked up the book again and actually started reading it while the family of ponies before him talked happily, occasionally looking his way. Nightlight seemed especially interested in him. “I wonder what he’s thinking?” Ryan met his Nightlight’s gaze and nodded. Nightlight smiled a bit and nodded back. Whatever Ryan just did for him, it was clearly good.

About fifteen minutes after Twilight Sparkle’s parents arrived, a carriage could be heard outside. Several ponies neighed and kicked at the ground, causing a massive ruckus. Ryan swallowed hard. “Sounds like a royal carriage.” This would be the toughest unwanted social moment of all.

Knock knock knock. Ryan kept the book in hand, his hands growing sweaty and trembling. He had no idea why he was so nervous; was it that he was meeting the leader of another nation who could do whatever she felt like to him? No, probably not. Maybe it was just the implications that this would mean for him in public from this moment on. Twilight answered the door. When she bowed, Ryan knew that he was about to jump into the fray.

“Here we go.” he whispered. Twilight backed up after bowing followed by a large white horse with wings and a horn. Her mane was multihued and she had a cutie mark of the sun. This was Luna’s sister.

“I’m glad to have come, Twilight.” Twilight’s parents bowed to the large being coming through the doorway.

The large white alicorn looked around and spotted Ryan quickly. “Oh.” she said, raising her eyebrows and opening her eyes a bit wider. “I wasn’t aware that he wasn’t a stallion.” Twilight smiled sheepishly, almost nervously.

“I might have forgotten to mention that.” Ryan walked forward to meet this princess. Her appearance immediately shot down his preconceived notion of her.

“Hello.” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Harkness.” He could feel a bead of sweat on his forehead. The princess smiled and put her hoof in his sweaty hand.

“Greetings. I’m Princess Celestia.” She put her hoof back on the ground. “And you have no need to be nervous.” Something about her tone made Ryan relax a bit. Just a bit.

She looked to the table. “I see Twilight has set up a nice table for us.” Her smile was incredibly disarming. When Ryan realized this, he put his guard up and decided to keep it up.

“Yes, Princess. Would you like to sit down?” Twilight Sparkle asked. Celestia nodded.

“I’m sure we would all love to sit while we wait for Shining Armor and Cadance.” Celestia started walking toward the table, followed by Twilight’s parents, Twilight, and then Ryan.

They all sat the the relatively small round table. Spike ran to the kitchen. “So, Harkness.” Princess Celestia began. “What is your species exactly?” Ryan sat down on the wooden floor, leaving the remaining two pillows for the final guests.

“We’re called humans.” he answered simply. He crossed his legs under the table, bumping it and vibrating everything.

“Ah. And might I ask where you are from?” Ryan leaned on the table in an effort to look more comfortable. Whether it worked or not, he could not say.

“I’m from a country called the United States of America. But most people just call it either America or the US.” Princess Celestia nodded.

“Interesting.”

She studied the human for a moment. She was curious as to why the human looked to strangely bulky and misshapen, and why he averted his gaze when she tried to look at his eyes.

“Well, as I’m sure you already know, this is Equestria. My sister Luna and I rule together. She moves the moon, and I move the sun. It’s too bad she couldn’t come here to meet you.”

Ryan’s mind raced as soon as she finished the statement. He did know her, and he could very easily tell them all that. But, what kinds of questions might follow? Would he be able to answer them safely? Or, more importantly, would they tell Luna about him? “It’s an unnecessary risk.” he concluded. Maybe some other time.

“Interesting. I always just thought that the sun and moon moved on their own.” Celestia smiled again, clearly trying to disarm Ryan. Though he was having no part of it.

“Nope. Me and my sister.” She went on. “Equestria is a large nation, with many races and species living in it. You’ve already encountered the different ponies, but we also have Zebras, Griffons, Dragons, and others.” Ryan widened his eyes in surprise.

“Wow. We only have one sentient race back home; us. We pretty much own whatever place we live in because of that.” Celestia nodded, intrigued by the information. The other ponies were listening intently.

“Interesting.” Celestia replied.

Spike came back, and as he did, there were more knocks on the door. He quickly set up everything at the table and went to answer the door. “Shining! Cadance! Great, you’ve arrived! Everyone else is at the table.” Ryan looked to the door and saw, first, a white stallion with a blue mane and a large chest walk in. He wore a casual uniform, definitely a guard. Behind him came his presumed wife, a pink mare like Celestia with wings and a horn who had a three-colored mane. Shining had a shield for his cutie mark and Cadance had a heart.

“Great to be here Spike.” Shining replied. Cadance smiled. Spotting the group at the table, they walked over.

“Hey every... one...” Shining’s and Cadance’s shared words slowed to a stop when they looked at Ryan sitting at the table. “Is that, uhh, Harkness?” Cadance asked. Ryan slid back and stood and walked over.

“Indeed I am.” He extended a hand to the princess. She took it and shook.

“Umm, hello.” She was clearly shocked to see this creature. Her husband was looking at him with his head cocked to the side. “It’s good to meet you.” Ryan extended his hand to Shining Armor, who took it firmly. They locked eyes.

“Likewise.” Shining replied. There was a hint of malicious suspicion in his voice. A warrior can always recognize another warrior from a mile away.

They all sat around the table, the ponies all interested in Ryan. “So, Harkness.” Nightlight started. “What, uhh, kinds of things do you like to do?” Ryan clasped his hands together on the table before him.

“Well, I like to SCUBA dive and I practice Karate.” Nightlight’s and Shinging’s ears perked at the word Karate.

“Interesting.” Shining muttered. Why was everything interesting to them? Ryan kept an eye in his direction; he had no idea what to expect from this guy.

The mares, though, were more interested in the SCUBA diving. “Wow, SCUBA diving? Most ponies only dream of that, the sport is so expensive! What’s it like?” Twilight Velvet asked. Ryan was about to answer when more questions flew at him. “How deep have you gone?” Twilight Sparkle asked. Ryan waited just a moment, then answered.

“Well, the deepest I’ve ever gone was about one hundred and sixteen feet down. It was dark and cold, but really cool. I’ve seen sharks, manta rays, skates, exotic fish, sea lions, and various crustaceans.” The mares eyes lit up, except for Celestia’s. She looked impressed, though.

“So, what kinds of certifications do you have?” Shining asked out of nowhere. He was apparently more interested in Ryan’s skill set than anything else. Ryan answered honestly to this question.

“Advanced open water, Nitrox, Dry suit, and Rescue Diver.” The last one raised Shining’s eyebrows. His father was looking very impressed.

“So, do you rescue people when they’re under the water?” he asked. Ryan gave a small chuckle; it was only slightly genuine.

“No, never had to. I’m still a student, so I don’t have a job in this field yet.” Nor would he, any more.

Twilight Sparkle looked like she was going to explode. “So you’re still a student.” she said. “What do you study?” Ryan shrugged.

“In public school, we study a bunch of stuff. We do math, science, history, foreign language, literature, grammar, health, technology, finances, and tons of other stuff. It’s a lot, but we manage.”

Twilight leaned back a bit. “Very nice.” Of course, he hadn’t told them that he was from a fairly privileged town; most don’t have so many options.

“So, if I may ask, what is Equestria like?” Ryan asked. He was trying to get the topic off of him. It worked; the conversation went to the inner workings of Equestria for about two hours. Spike had joined them and sat next to Ryan, claiming that they were already “brothers from other mothers”. Ryan didn’t want to come off as an asshole, so he went with it. But, the whole time, Shining was scrutinizing him, trying to discern something about him. He was trying to puzzle something together about the human before him, Ryan could tell. Locking eyes with him had not gone over well.

Another thing Ryan noticed during the conversation was Shining’s wife, Cadance. At one point, she had looked straight at him, intensely. Her horn had a very light blue aura around it, barely visible. She seemed to be focusing hard on something. When Ryan saw that she noticed him looking at her, he cocked an eyebrow. Quickly and ashamedly, she released the aura and looked to whoever was talking.

“So, that’s how we saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon.” Thankfully, Ryan had developed a way to pay attention to multiple things at once. Give one hundred percent to something for one moment, then quickly switch to something else the next. If you change rapidly enough, you catch just enough of each to fill in the blanks, and you can effectively have two, or if you’re good, three conversations at once. It’s not easy.

“Very cool. I can’t say that I’m much of a hero back home.” So very true.

Shining had evidently been waiting long enough. “So, that’s our homeland. But, back to you.” he said. Ryan turned to face him. “You say you do Karate.” Ryan nodded.

“For over thirteen years.” Shining nodded. The boy had been raised knowing how to fight.

“Are you a warrior?” The room went silent for a moment, all eyes focusing on Ryan. Even Celestia looked at him, anxious for a response.

“Yes, in a way, I suppose. I wasn’t a soldier, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Shining leaned forward.

“But I can see it in your eyes. You’ve seen combat.” Everypony’s eyes went a little wider, except for Nightlight’s. Celestia seemed a bit surprised herself.

“... Yes.”

Twilight’s mouth fell a little bit. He had not planned on her finding this out. Her brother had just single-handedly shredded his plan to keep his past hidden. “It wasn’t pleasant, and I would rather not talk about it.” Ryan looked down and took a sip of tea as he said it. The table was completely silent.

“That’s fine.” Celestia broke the silence. Ryan looked back up; Shining was getting a scolding look from his wife, who looked back at Ryan with sad eyes.

“Alright.” Shining said. “Sorry to bring it up.”

Ryan shook his head. “You had no way of knowing.” With his acceptance of the apology, a collective breath was let out at the table.

Small talk started breaking out at the table. Mostly, it was between Twilight and her family. They talked about a Crystal Empire, which apparently Shining Armor and Cadance ruled over together. Twilight talked about her experiments. Her parents talked about parent things, and trolled their kids with innuendos a couple of times.

While they spoke, and Celestia was looking at them, Ryan slipped away and into the kitchen with his dinnerware. He looked around; no dishwasher. He walked over to the sink and started cleaning. “Trying to take my job?” Spike asked mockingly from behind. Ryan wasn’t startled.

“Of course. My current jobs aren’t paying me enough to get what I want soon enough, so I’ll be taking yours.” Spike laughed.

“Well, I hope you’re ready to be abused by Twilight.” Ryan looked at Spike and cocked an eyebrow.

“I’m sure she would LOVE to.” Spike got it in a moment of awkwardly putting the pieces together.

“Eww!” Ryan shook his head and got back to washing. “Nasty, dude, she’s like my sister!”

Ryan nodded. “Exactly.”

Ryan finished washing. “Alright, back into the fray.” Ryan said. He walked out of the kitchen. Celestia noticed him and stood. The others were busy being extremely into whatever conversation they were having, laughing and slapping the table, and didn’t notice.

“Hello, Harkness.” Celestia greeted. Spike bowed, but Ryan stood tall.

“Hello.”

Celestia looked back to her family and extended family. “I’ve been hoping to talk to you one on one. Do you think that we might?” She smiled at him again, trying to get him to relax. No such thing would occur.

“Sure.” Ryan patted Spike on the back to go to the table, and walked into the kitchen, followed by the princess.

“Soooo... what’s on your mind?” he asked, curious as to why the leader of a nation was taking interest in him. She sat at the table in the kitchen.

“I was just hoping to get to know you a little more. When Twilight sent me a letter inviting me here, I thought she had met a very special somepony.” It took Ryan a moment to process that.

“No, I can assure you, she has no such interest in me.”

Celestia nodded. “She told me in her letter. But no more of that.” She gestured for Ryan to sit at the table with her. He did so. “I’ve noticed that you seem to be rather tense.” she said, her face looking more concerned now. “Are you alright?” Ryan shrugged.

“Well, having a hole blown through my chest cavity couldn’t have helped. But to answer, yes, right now, I am alright.” Celestia must not have been satisfied with the answer.

“I think you noticed that I’ve been trying to make you feel safer and trying to get you to relax.” Ryan nodded. “So why aren’t you?” Ryan took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“The last stranger that I met did some bad things to me and my friends. I’m sorry if I’m a bit apprehensive.”

Celestia looked at him, even more concerned. “Who is this stranger, if I may ask? I don’t want you to feel threatened.” Ryan chuckled.

“Would you arrest him if you found him?” he asked. Celestia nodded. “I’m sorry, but you can’t. He’s dead.” Celestia blinked twice, then shook her head.

“I’m sorry?” she asked. Ryan repeated himself. “How did he die?” she asked. Ryan shook his head.

“Like I told Shining Armor, that’s not something I want to talk about.”

Celestia moved over and sat next to Ryan. Her disarming presence proved too much, and he allowed her to move. “I understand.” she said. Ryan had a feeling that she really did. Though not fully. “Are your friends alright?” she asked. Ryan shrugged.

“As far as I know, one is still alive.” Celestia’s brow lowered sadly. She put a wing around Ryan.

“I’m sorry.” Ryan used his hand to take her wing off.

“Yeah, well. I was sorry too. That didn’t help.” He stood up and moved away, leaning against the counter. “They’re gone, and they aren’t coming back.” He had no idea why he was telling her any of this; then he realized that he was TELLING her these things. “I’m not going to say more.”

There was a short silence. Then, Celestia stood up and moved a little closer to Ryan. “Is Harkness your name?” she asked. Ryan looked up at the wall.

“... No.” Behind him, she nodded.

“Why wouldn’t you tell us your name?” Ryan turned around to face the princess.

“Because I’m trying to leave it behind. Now, please, let’s not talk about that.”

She nodded. “Okay. But remember, if you need help, you have friends here now who will give it to you.” Ryan nodded. He knew that they would try their damndest, but they wouldn’t get anywhere.

Celestia changed the subject. “So how are you liking Equestria so far?” she asked.

“Good enough. It’s better then my world, I think. In some ways.” Celestia smiled.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” She looked back into the room, where the others were laughing away. “It’s good to have things and ponies you care about.” Ryan thought that over. He concluded that it was, in fact, good. “Did you have any family back home?” Ryan thought back on his home and smiled, despite himself.

“Yeah. They were great. We did all sorts of fun stuff together.” His smile faltered. “I miss them.” He had been selfish in pursuing Narendra. His family was never going to see him again, and he wouldn’t see them either. Celestia sat in front of him.

“I know how you feel. I have seen many friends leave me in my many years alive.” She stood. “But we cannot let the things we lose dominate our lives; we have to focus on what we have. Otherwise, we have nothing.” Ryan looked up at her; she was nice. “Let’s rejoin the others.” Ryan nodded, and they went back into the study area.

While they returned to the table, the other ponies noticed that they had been gone. “Where were you?” Cadance asked, curious.

“We were just talking one on one.” She looked around, making sure Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle noticed that she was looking at their parents, and smiled. “He’s a fine young stallion.” That one sentence was enough to turn Twilight’s face red, raise one of Ryan’s eyebrows, stop the parents’ movements, and freeze Shining Armor in place. Cadance giggled.

“Twilight, can we talk?” Twilight Velvet said. Still red and glaring at Ryan, not her teacher, Twilight went with her parents into the kitchen.

When they were gone, Celestia and Cadance shared a laugh, all while Shining Armor and Ryan stood there, confused. Then, they got it.

“Not funny...” Shining Armor muttered to himself. He looked at Ryan. “You better not have any ideas.” his glare said. Ryan responded with a look of his own.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

Shining Armor relaxed his gaze, then turned to his wife. “Nice.” he said. Ryan had a feeling that he was about to become the center of a very strange conversation.

“Oh, come on, honey. You of all ponies should enjoy messing with your little sister.” Celestia smiled a trollish little smile. Shining Armor sighed. “It’s just because he can’t stand the idea of some stallion whisking his little sister away to romance and wonder.” Cadance commented.

Ryan suddenly got it all. “Run! Run! Run!” his brain shouted. But he just sat there. “No. I just... I mean, I don’t...” He was caught.

Ryan tried to shrink away, but Shining walked over and poked his chest. He thought that he was about to be assaulted. “You know what I’m saying, right?” he asked. Ryan blinked. Not expected, but not bad.

“I don’t have a little sister, but I can understand why you feel this way. It makes sense to me.” Shining grinned wide and put his foreleg around Ryan.

“See? He gets it.” Celestia and Cadance just looked at each other.

“Stallions.” they concluded simultaneously.

“Psh.” Shining looked at Ryan. “Mares.” Ryan agreed.

Soon, a flustered looking Twilight Sparkle walked out with relieved looking parents. “Now that that is settled, I say we send the stallions away.” Cadance suggested. Ryan, Shining Armor, and Nightlight all looked at her with stunned expressions.

“What?” they all asked.

Spike came down. “What?” he asked. He was tossed by magic over to Ryan, who caught him with some difficulty.

“Yeah. Mares night!” Twilight Velvet shouted. Twilight Sparkle smiled wide, excited to have a girls’ night, it seemed. The stallions, dragon, and man looked to Celestia.

“You heard her.” she said, still trollishly smiling. Before they could respond, the combined magic of the mares sent them out the front door.

The stallions all stood up and dusted themselves off. “Well, that happened.” Ryan stated. They all looked at each other. “What now?” he asked.

Nightlight looked off in the distance. “I say we hit a bar.” Shining Armor agreed, as did Ryan.

“Hey!” Spike yelled. he wore a mean looking scowl. “I’m not old enough.” Ryan thought for a moment.

“We’ll drop you at Rarity’s.” His scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of childish excitement.

“Let’s go!” he shouted. The stallions walked off to find a good bar.

In the library, the mares were telling stories about their respective stallions or stallions of the past. “And when Nightlight proposed, he knelt down to ask, but when he did, he slipped and fell right on his face!” They all laughed. Once they were calmed down, they all looked at the door.

“Alright. So, what do you ladies think of Harkness?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“He seems nice.” Celestia confirmed. “He’s had his share of troubles, but I think he is good deep down. Though I’m not sure about how happy he is.”

Twilight Sparkle looked at her teacher. “I don’t think he is either.” They turned to Cadance, who was silent. “What do you think?”

She looked around, sadly recalling what her spell had told of him. “He’s definitely not happy. At all.” She paused. The other mares didn’t speak. “I used my magic to see if Celestia’s suspicions were correct about you and him.” Twilight blushed. “But the thing is... there was no love in him.”

The reactions varied. Celestia nodded knowingly, like she had already determined that. Twilight Velvet looked horrified at the prospect, and her daughter looked disbelieving. “Whatever he’s experienced, it took away whatever love he had. When I searched, the only things I found were anger, and hate, sadness, loss... the list goes on. I don’t think he was being truthful with us half the time he spoke, and probably for good reasons.” Twilight Sparkle looked at her step-sister displeasingly, but when she saw the genuine sadness in her eyes, she shared the feeling.

“How? How could anything do that to someone?”

Cadance shook her head. “I can partly answer that.” Celestia said suddenly. “I spoke to him privately in the kitchen. His experiences were quite bad. I got no detail, but he said that as far as he knows, ONE of his friends is still ALIVE.” The other mares let out a collective gasp. “Taken by a very bad being.” She didn’t mention how that being was dead.

The conversation had lost all of its giddiness. “I wish I knew how to help him.” Twilight Sparkle said. Cadance turned her head in her direction.

“You did, actually. There was one thing that I found in him that might be a sign of that.” Twilight’s head shot to her step-sister. “He has some level of hope. For what, I’m not sure, but I know it’s there because of you. I don’t think he’s even aware of it; but it’s there. All you can do now is try to make that hope grow into more.”

Twilight nodded determinedly. “Than that’s what I’ll do.”

And they left the topic at that and had a fun night of gossip while the stallions were out just drinking.