Chapter 20 - Ponywatching (Edited by JBL 06.30.2017)
“UGH!”
Spike awoke from the noise just as a crumpled sheet of paper bounced off his head into the pile of other crumpled notes. Somewhere in that pile, Spike was certain that the trash bin was located.
Rubbing his eyes, Spike looked towards the origin of the sound. Twilight paced in a circle, levitating several documents before her eyes, reading each thoroughly, all while a quill that continued to scribble on a sheet of parchment.
“Twilight, what are you doing?” Spike asked with a yawn and looked at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s… five in the morning.” He hadn’t gotten much sleep. Twilight had collected a copy of all of the information the expedition had gathered and sent it to Celestia in the middle of the night. It had been a massive delivery by dragonfire.
“Twilight?” Spike asked again to no avail. The alicorn continued to pace, mumbling to herself. Spike grabbed a paper ball and tossed it at Twilight’s head, bouncing off her horn.
“What? Who?” Twilight finally managed to tear her attention away from the documents before her and looked around until she saw Spike. “Good morning, Spike. Did I wake you?”
Extracting himself from his bed, Spike looked around the room. There was a mess everywhere he turned. Documents were stacked high on the desk and coffee cups littered every available flat surface. An abacus weighed down a massive pile of papers filled with mathematical figures while a blackboard containing magical equations stood near the desk. Twilight had gone so far as to start sticking papers on the walls where the equations continued.
“Kind of,” the little dragon replied as he took in the apocalyptic landscape of the room. “What about you? Have you slept at all?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” Twilight’s frazzled mane and twitchy eye told Spike everything he needed to know. “I slept for an hour, maybe two, then I woke up because I had an idea. Look!” Twilight trotted over to the blackboard, picked up a tiny bit of chalk, and pointed at one of the equations.
“I had the idea that maybe we could use some of the information we’ve gathered to open a portal to Earth so that Magnus can go home and we can visit Earth. It should be theoretically possible if we use Gemini’s third thaumatic law of residual magic. The magic residue readings acquired by a fine-tuned Crystalline Thaumatic Detection device, or C.T.D. device for short, would definitely give us a lot of information regarding Earth’s magic. It could extend so far as to allow us to teleport to Earth if the distance between our universe and Magnus’ is short enough.”
“Well, that sounds good, for him at least.” Spike frowned at the disaster zone around them, silently hoping that someone other than him would clean it. He did notice Twilight's stricken look, one he knew meant that there was something she couldn’t understand.
“But I guess there’s a problem, right?”
Sighing heavily, Twilight plopped down on her rump, floated her papers over to the desk, and picked up a roll of paper which she displayed to the baby dragon. The list revealed line after line of readings the baby dragon couldn’t make heads or tails of.
“One of the teams brought three C.T.D. devices. They used them all in tandem so that they could locate and triangulate unnatural forms of magic. These lines,” Twilight pointed out the squiggly lines, “all belong to natural magic found in Equestria. The one on the right came from the ley lines.” Spike noticed the line, not comprehending anything wrong with it.
“I can’t understand this.” Spike passed the sheet back to Twilight.
“Sorry, Spike, but I’m just so frustrated.” Rolling up the paper, Twilight set the parchment back in its original place. “All those readings, even the ley lines, are normal—the signals from them are just a bit stronger. There isn’t a single unnatural signal found by the machines, and it just doesn’t make any sense!”
“How so?”
“Gemini’s third thaumatic law states that all magic, even very weak magic, will leave a faint residue behind. No matter how strong the spell or how much magic was put into it, the residue will fade in two weeks. If Magnus’ home world had gathered enough magic to produce a portal and sustain it for long enough, it would leave residue in these two places. Still, no residual magic was registered at all.” Shaking her head, Twilight sighed again. “It just doesn’t make sense. Without at least a very faint signal to analyse or even basic magical motes, there’s nothing we can do. It’s true what Princess Celestia said: Magnus will never return home.”
‘Oh’ wasn’t a word that would suffice in this situation, not according to Spike. He had hoped that the alien could find his way home and that Twilight would be the right pony for the job.
“But… what about the princesses? Can’t they do something? I mean, they’ve been around for a long time, right?”
“I thought the same,” Twilight replied. “But Princess Celestia seemed so sure when we talked about it, so sure that nothing could be done. I… I didn’t think much of it at first, but now… she was right all along.”
Although Spike had never met Magnus before, he somehow felt for the poor alien stranded in Equestria. Spike himself had never found out where he himself came from or who his family was. The small drake had never tried anyway. It didn’t matter to him since he had a family already; Twilight and Shining were his sister and brother respectively, and Twilight Velvet and Night Light were his parents.
This alien, Magnus, could have family back where he came from. Now he would never see them again. To the young dragon, it was a heart-breaking situation.
“So… what now?” Spike asked after a long pause.
“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, depressed by the harsh truth presented before her. “We’ll reach Canterlot later today. The wind will be to our backs, so we’ll get there in record time.” Chuckling lightly to herself, Twilight forced a smile. “It’s strange, isn’t it? Earlier, I couldn’t wait to get back to Canterlot so that I could talk to Magnus, but now I want to delay it so that I don’t have to destroy his hope. I just… I failed.” She sniffled, her head hung low.
Standing up, Twilight wandered over to the bed and slumped on top the sheets. Exhaling deeply, she closed her eyes for a second before opening them, seeing Spike stare at her.
“So… should I tidy up the room?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I can do it later. Why don’t you go have breakfast? I think I need some rest.”
“Okay.” Spike walked to the door, grabbed the handle, and turned around. “Should I bring something for you?”
“No, I’m not hungry.”
“Suit yourself,” Spike replied as he opened the door and left.
Twilight stayed still, listening to Spike’s footsteps as he wandered down the hall until they faded away.
A lone tear made its way down her cheek. The mare had done what she could, but couldn’t figure out a way to send Magnus home. Just a simple thing was needed, a small universal magic signal, but it didn’t exist. It wasn’t there. It was gone. Had it even existed in the first place? Twilight didn’t know.
As the reality of her failure churned in her mind, Twilight felt the lack of proper rest creep up on her.
***
“...Hmm…?” I sat up in the incredibly soft bed, rubbing my eyes slowly and yawning. Looking around the room, I was sure that I heard something just as I woke up. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told me that it was half past eight in the morning.
“It’s too early," I grumbled to myself.
There was someone knocking on the door to the bedroom. Judging by the sharp knock, it was a pony. “Come in.” I yawned again as I stood up and began to dress myself. The door swung open, revealing a pegasus mare in a maid’s outfit. Her coat was near golden while her tail and mane was yellow with several darker stripes running through them. Both her tail and mane were quite long, the latter braided and swept to the side of her neck. In front of her, she pushed a small cart with covered plates and two pitchers.
After coming to a halt, the mare stepped next to cart and bowed. “G-Good morning, Mr Powell,” she said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “I b-brought you breakfast.”
“Oh, thank you very much.” I dragged the breakfast cart over and sat down on the bed. Removing the lids, I was greeted by the sight and odour of toast, fried eggs, fruit salad, milk, and water.
As I began digging in, I noticed the mare staring at me. Honestly, that had gotten old. What caught my attention was that she was nearly trembling. It looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.
“What’s your name, miss?” I asked between mouthfuls.
“Golden Summer, Mr P-Powell,” she replied, her voice cracking at the end.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Summer.” I smiled, but avoided showing teeth. “Are you afraid?”
She hesitated for a few moments, but eventually nodded meekly. “Y-Yes, yes I am.”
“Why?”
“It’s b-because… it’s said that y-you eat meat.”
Ah, the carnivore thing. I knew that my injudicious comment a few days ago would come back and bite me in the ass. She probably thought I was about to have her for dessert.
“Well, that’s wrong. I’m an omnivore, and I certainly don’t eat ponies. It would be some kind of weird cannibalism, right?”
“I-I guess so,” Golden replied quickly, seemingly not quite confident. “But I heard that you wanted to e-eat a-a-a cow!”
“I did say that, but things work a bit differently where I’m from. Cows aren’t sapient back home. Sorry to say so, but cows on Earth are animals.”
“Earth?” She cocked an eyebrow, seemingly confused. “If I may ask, Mr Powell—”
“Just Magnus, Miss Summer.”
“Oh, um, okay then… Magnus.” For the first time since Golden entered the room, she flashed a faint smile. “Where are you actually from? Princess Celestia said that you are from another world; is it true?”
“It’s true.” I filled a glass with milk and drained half of it in one go. “I’m from a planet called Earth. To you ponies, I guess I would be an alien. Our worlds are quite similar, actually, but humans like me are the only sapient species there.”
Golden sat down on her rump, staring at me in amazement. “Wooow… It’s unbelievable. This is like a science fiction story.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, my thoughts exactly on this world.”
After a few minutes, I finished breakfast while Golden Summer sat gaping at me in awe. As expected, she asked a few things about humans, not quite understanding the differences between Earth and Equus. It seemed she still couldn’t comprehend that humanity was the only sapient species. When I mentioned how many humans there were, it threw her for an even bigger loop. The population of Equestria was only in the few millions compared to the over seven billion humans of Earth.
I noticed a bundle of clothes on the lower shelf of the cart. “Are those for me?” I asked, pointing to the bundle.
Golden snapped out of her reverie and quickly composed herself. “What? Oh, yes, those are yours. Creative Stitch himself dropped by earlier with them. He also said that the rest of the clothes would be ready in a few days or so.”
“Great.” I picked up the garment on top and held it up. It was a simple black t-shirt that seemed to be made of cotton. Soft and smelling fresh from the washer, it even had the tag at the neck complete with washing instructions. Sadly, the symbols were different from my own Earth-made clothes. I checked out several of the other clothes made for me. There were several more t-shirts and boxers in various colours as well two pair of pants made of a material that resembled denim, the differences being that the cloth was softer and lighter. One was a black pair of pants cut short below the knees and with loops for a belt. A belt had also been constructed out of some type of sturdy and dense cloth with a shining steel belt buckle. It was small and discreet, not like those large Texas ones with bull horns and whatnot.
I hated those things.
I had never had much of an interest in fashion, quite the contrary, but now I really wanted to try on these threads. I excused myself, went to bathroom, and grabbed some clothing along the way. Brushing my teeth and showering, I began to dress myself, quickly realizing that they fitted quite well. I had room to move and they did not restrict me in any way. True enough, with a pair of shorter pants, my legs didn’t feel as warm as I expected, what with all the fur on my legs.
After inspecting myself in the mirror, I dumped my old clothes in a laundry bin and walked out. To my surprise, Golden Summer had made the bed and tidied the room while I was showering. Currently, she was fluttering about with a feather duster in her mouth. What amazed me was the deft control she displayed when hovering around the chandelier and other objects hanging from the ceiling and walls.
One thing I had wondered about was why breakfast had been delivered in bed. I had almost expected one of the princesses to greet me as I woke up, seeing as it had almost become something of a ritual over the past few days.
“Miss Summer, do you know where the princesses are?”
Golden Summer was putting the finishing touches on the living room, specifically on the chandelier. Her wings fluttered gently as she hovered around it with her duster. “Princsesh Cheleshtia ish attending court right now,” she mumbled, the duster in her mouth impeding her speech. The pegasus landed and tucked away the duster at the bottom of the cart. The rest of the clothes were already gone, so I assumed she had placed them in the dresser. “I believe Princess Luna is resting as she usually does at this time of day. I’m sure one of them will come see you when they have time to spare.”
It seemed being a princess around here didn’t just involve sitting on a throne. I wondered if they had prime ministers and other political figures here. Well, if she was busy, maybe I could pay the doctors a visit.
Summer pushed the cart out of the room, and I followed her into the hallway. Two guards stood next to the door, while further down the hallways, I spotted guards patrolling and maids wandering the corridors.
“Miss Summer, thank you for the food and for bringing me my clothes,” I said before she had the chance to leave, giving her a sincere smile. I was happy to receive a smile back.
“It’s no problem, Mr Powell. After all, this is my job,” Golden Summer replied as she looked over her withers. “If I may say so, those clothes look good on you.”
She continued on her way, leaving me with a smile on my lips. What I was most happy about was that the mare’s fear seemed to be gone, or at least temporarily forgotten. It seemed that some kindness went a long way around here. One down, hundreds more to go.
“So,” I turned to the guards who had been watching me the whole time, “can you guys show me the way to the infirmary, specifically the offices?”
***
After a short walk, we reached the infirmary ward and the guards showed me the way to Doctor Silver Heart’s office. I knocked and heard a familiar voice reply, “Come in.” I stepped inside and saw Silver Heart sitting behind a desk. When the doctor saw me, he smiled and stood up. “Magnus, it’s good to see you.” He walked to me and held out his hoof to shake, which I did. He gestured to a small chair, but it was a bit too small for me, so I opted to sit on the floor.
“I came to see you this morning, but I found out that Mgangah already released you last night.” Silver Heart sat down on his chair, resting his forelegs on the desk while looking me over. “Looks like his treatment worked wonders. Those zebras and their potions.” He chuckled lightly.
“I’ll admit that I had my doubts. It just sounded too good to be true.” I exhaled in relief. “This, how I feel, it’s amazing. A miracle is what it is.”
“I know my way around regular medicine and a fair share of antidotes, but I’m not a miracle worker. Your own body worked with you to heal you. The potion merely sped up the process.”
“Well, it still felt like a miracle. By the way, isn’t Doctor Mgangah here?”
“No, he left this morning to return to his job in Manehattan. Mgangah is one of the top doctors at Manehattan General in their toxicology department, you know.”
I felt a stab of disappointment prick me. “Darn, I wanted to at least say goodbye to him before he left.”
Silver Heart chuckled wryly. “I met him a few times during medical school, and I can safely tell you that he isn’t one for long goodbyes. It’s just how he is. He simply does his job and leaves for the next one.”
I had to admit that Silver Heart was right. Mgangah was a doctor and that meant he would have a lot of responsibilities riding on his shoulders. Still, not much I can do about it now.
“Now then,” Silver Heart leaned back in his chair, “is there anything else I can help you with today?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, there is one thing.” The doctor’s ears swivelled towards me. “I am a medical impossibility; I shouldn’t exist. Humans can’t create viable offspring with creatures of another species. It’s just not possible.”
“I beg to differ. After all, you are sitting right here,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but…” I sighed. How could I explain this in a way he could understand? “Let’s just say that some people have tried it with animals, if you get my drift?”
Silver Heart tilted his head to the side in confusion before his eyes suddenly widened. “I… I think I understand.”
“Yeah, well, biologists have figured out that it is medically impossible for humans to breed with other creatures. It has something to do with the sperm and egg cells not being compatible. Different breeds of animals in the same family can create offspring, but sometimes complications can occur. Humans and ponies aren’t even close to being in the same family tree.”
Silver Heart nodded slowly. “I see. You’re afraid that you might have certain undiagnosed health problems due to being a hybrid?”
“Yeah, it would be a strange coincidence if I were completely healthy. I doubt the only change to me is my appearance. There’s gotta be some internal changes, too.”
“Well, we can try to find out. If you agree, I can make arrangements for a full physical to see what secrets your body holds.” He jotted something down on a notepad. “The areas of interest, as far as I can see, will be how your human and pony tissue interact with each other. There’s also the question of how your internal organs functions in case there is internal hybridization.”
“That's great, Doc. How soon can you make me an appointment?” It was clear to me that he had thought about this for a while.
He flipped a few pages on his notebook until he came to what looked like a calendar filled with notes scribbled on it. “Hmm, it looks like I don't have time for at least ten days. Shall we say in two weeks? It would give me some time to arrange a full array of tests. We want to be thorough, right?”
Truthfully, I would rather have this over with a soon as possible; who knew what Twilight discovered regarding the portal? Maybe I would have to hurry to get back to the portal, or maybe the ponies would find a way to recreate the portal. I might not even be here in two weeks’ time. Still, I didn’t want to come across as arrogant or ungrateful.
“Two weeks sounds fine. I don’t know what the princesses have in mind, though.”
“I’m sure we can work something out. Your health takes precedence. I’ll notify you on the date and place as soon as I get it scheduled.” Levitating a quill, Silver Heart scribbled down a note on the calendar. Taking that as my cue to leave, I stood and headed for the door.
“Great. I guess you have work to do now, so I’ll get out of your hair.”
“A doctor's duty never ends. Goodbye, Magnus,” I heard him say before I closed the door.
Now standing in the hallway, I wondered what next to do. I could always wander around the castle or take a stroll through the garden. I definitely wasn’t going to the throne room. There would probably be ponies in there speaking with Celestia, and my presence there could end up causing both of us headaches.
My curiosity about Canterlot from last night returned. I didn’t plan to run through the gates and into the city, scaring the entire city into a panic-fuelled riot. No, I wanted to see Canterlot, but from a safe distance.
“Hey, guys,” I asked the guards, garnering their attention. “Where is the… uh, what was the name…? Oh yeah, the Astronomy Tower?”
Twenty minutes later…
“Jesus… Christ…” I wheezed.
I believed myself to be in decent shape, what with all the camping I had done ever since childhood. Frequently going through forests and rough terrain wasn’t a workout in itself, though if done often enough, it became almost like training. The spiral staircase we had been climbing for the last ten minutes had kicked my ass. My legs even felt like they were significantly weighing me down. All that pony keratin and bones must be extremely dense, or maybe the gravity of this world was slightly stronger than Earth’s. It didn’t feel any different, though.
“Are… we there… yet?” I asked, gasping for air. I really needed to work on my stamina. Had the days spent in bed weakened me that badly, or had the potion contributed? Whatever the case, I’d need to hit the gym when I returned home.
“Five more rounds and we reach the top,” the guard in front of me stated as he effortlessly trotted up the stairs, maintaining the same pace he had when we first started. I could only imagine the training these guys had to go through to be this tough. They guarded two princesses, after all.
“Five… more… rounds…” I repeated numbly to myself
“You may have size on your side, but it doesn’t seem to help you much,” the guard behind me quipped.
“Fuck… you…” I huffed.
By the time we reached the top, my legs felt like jelly. A large oak door with constellations adorning it marked our goal. The guard opened the door and held it open for me. It was soon obvious that this room was heavily dedicated to stargazing. Star charts were hung on the walls along with informative charts that depicted different lunar phases and constellations. Shelves upon shelves held books, tomes, and scrolls. A table stood in the middle of the room, covered with scrolls, paper, ink, and quills. To the side stood several telescopes of varying sizes, with a solar system model to their right. Curiously, there were only three planetary bodies attached to it: a golden orb, which I assumed was the sun, a silver ball that had to be the moon, and in the centre stood a green and blue ball which represented Equus itself. Not knowing where Equestria was, I couldn’t point it out on the globe. Strangely enough, less than half of the planet seemed to be mapped.
At the end of the room was a door that led outside. The guard opened the door and walked out while I followed. A blast of air struck me, reminding me that I was high above ground. Stepping out onto the balcony, I nearly shat myself. The railing around the balcony reached below my waist, reminding me that it was built with ponies in mind. One wrong step would most likely end up with me plummeting to my death.
I made sure to stay away from the edge, keeping to the wall, and discovered that the balcony went all around the tower. I could see for miles in all directions, but what first caught my eye was the castle itself.
The castle was enormous with its towers of varying heights. The roofs seemed to be capped with gold, making the sunlight bounce off them. Further investigation revealed the imposing castle walls that surrounded the main structure, the many watchtowers, and just how much land the castle occupied. A huge garden stretched halfway around the castle, and in the distance I saw what looked like a hedge maze. On the other side where the garden ended, I saw what resembled barracks and training grounds, though most of the buildings I saw were ones I couldn’t guess the purpose of.
Finally managing to tear my eyes away from the castle, I shifted my gaze towards Canterlot itself. The theme of Canterlot Castle was reflected upon the city. Most of the buildings were painted white, with some of the larger ones—official and public buildings I guessed—possessing gold or brass roofs. In one part of the city, I noticed the houses and roofs had different colours. Since the houses were smaller, I believed them to be residential housing.
From my dizzying vantage point, I noted that the city was divided into different zones. Aside from the residential area, I spotted a large market by the many carts, stands, vendors, and all the ponies gathered there. A shopping street was also easily identified by the ponies entering and leaving what had to be stores. There was an upper class district that had the requisite mansions and sprawling gardens. There was even an entertainment section that possessed an abundance of cafes, outdoor restaurants, bright neon signs, bars, clubs, and so on. There were also numerous parks dotting the city.
By this point, I had expected to see vehicles moving around, though I was soon disappointed. Not a single car, truck, or any type of motorized vehicle was in sight. I saw ponies hauling carts around, though, so I guess that was how they moved hefty loads. It boggled my mind that this city was built without heavy machinery.
Then again, the pyramids in Egypt had also been constructed without cranes and bulldozers.
With my curiosity piqued, I decided to use the telescope near the balcony to garner a closer view of the city. Adjusting it, I stooped down and peered through the telescope onto the streets far below. The first thing I became aware of was the sheer diversity of the ponies. Because I had stayed in the castle for so long, it felt as though all the guards looked the same. To see normal everyday ponies walk around was different. No two ponies had the same colour scheme, not the old ponies, young ponies, or—
“Hnng!” I clutched my chest and lurched forward. The two guards immediately rushed forward, one of them attempting to support me with one of his hooves on my chest.
“Mister Powell! Are you okay?!” he exclaimed. “Do you need a doctor?”
“I’m okay.” I waved him off. “Why did no one tell me that pony children look so adorable? They look like tiny, adorable plushies!”
Judging by the looks on their faces, it seemed as if they were unsure whether they should call Princess Celestia or Equestria's version of Chris Hansen.
***
I didn’t know how much time I spent observing the city from my elevated position, but I guessed at least a couple of hours. Each time I moved the telescope, I found something new and interesting. To my surprise, what I could see of pony society and the city wasn’t that different from home. There were stores, cafes, and public areas and numerous parks where ponies of all ages gathered.
What also caught my attention were the other species in the city. I spotted some type of canine wandering the street, all by itself. The creature, which the guards told me was a diamond dog, resembled an anthropomorphic german shepherd wearing a black vest and a collar studded with brightly-coloured stones. And those arms! Christ!
Moments later, I saw what could only be a griffon, seeing as its front half was that of an eagle and the bottom was that of a lion. I expected it to have a more ferocious demeanour. Instead, it wandered to the market and bought some apples while chatting with some ponies.
Finally, I spotted a pair of minotaurs. I thought Max was bulky, but compared to those two, he was a twig. They had an enormous upper body balanced on two toothpicks called legs. They must have skipped leg day. A lot. I did laugh when I noticed the two bull men’s clothes: bowties and nothing else. As a matter of fact, few ponies wore clothes at all, but those who did also had an air of importance to them, what with how they walked around with their muzzles in the air.
After drinking in all that I could of the city, I began to scan the horizon for other objects of interest. Spotting something sparkling in the distance, I aimed the telescope towards it, zoomed in, and saw a castle that glittered in the sunlight. That had to be Twilight’s castle. The entire structure looked like it was constructed entirely out of crystal and seemed to somehow be in the shape of a tree.
Deciding not to spend too much time staring at the crystalline monstrosity in case it rendered permanent damage to my eyes, I began observing the small town around the castle. Ponyville was its name, if I remembered correctly. It was a more rural setting than that of Canterlot, with its houses and market scaled down. Two interesting landmarks caught my attention: a tower-like building and a strange house that seemed to have been entirely constructed out of baked goods.
While watching the town, I noticed a pony that had a strange way of getting around. The poofy-maned pink pony wasn’t walking; instead, she was… jumping? Bouncing? Pronking? Yes, pronking her way around town, looking rather cheery as she did quite a passable imitation of a bouncing ball heading down the street.
Suddenly, her jumping ceased. There was nothing wrong with that, except that she stopped mid-air and slowly fell to the ground. Slowly! Turning away from the eyepiece, I knocked onto the main tube, listening for anything rattling inside. It sounded okay, so I looked into the eyepiece again. The pink pony was still there, sitting on her rump and studying her right foreleg while one of her ears flopped about wildly. Then she began looking around as if checking for someone. While her head swivelled around on her neck at an alarming angle, her eyes seemed to lock onto me for a second or two before she sped away at a phenomenal haste. She returned mere seconds later with a large banner which she unfurled and held over her head. Focusing on the banner, I saw that there was something written on it.
Hi!
I turned away from the telescope and sat down, exhaling slowly and rubbing my eyes. From this distance, Ponyville was at least twenty kilometres away from here. There was no way in hell she could have seen me; it was simply not possible. It must have been something else. I got up on my knees and peeped into the eyepiece again.
I’m Pinkie Pie! Who are you?
I sat down again and sighed, shaking my head. “I should visit Silver Heart again.”
“So this is where you’ve been spending your time.” I glanced over my shoulder. Celestia stood there with her usual smile.
“Good morning. Yeah, I’ve been watching ponies, dogs, bulls, and Big Bird.”
With a light laugh, Celestia sat down next to me. “It’s good to see that you’re familiarizing yourself with the many races of our world. As Equestria’s capital, Canterlot is home not just to my little ponies.”
“Like Equestria is home to weird ponies?”
“What do you mean?” I pointed to the telescope. Celestia peeped into the eyepiece, and immediately her smile grew wider. “Hello, Pinkie,” she said with a giggle. “Thank you, it is a wonderful day. How has your day been?”
‘What the hell? Was she actually speaking to that pony?’ I thought to myself, wondering how the two was managing to carry on a conversation at twenty kilometres apart.
“Who?” Celestia asked, still peering through the telescope, probably at that pink fur ball. “Oh, his name is Magnus.”
“Oh give it a rest!” I stood up and crossed my arms defiantly over my chest. Celestia merely moved over and nodded towards the telescope. I knelt down and looked. Sure enough, the pink pony was still there with her banner.
Hi Magnus!
Slowly, I moved away from the telescope and leaned against the tower wall. “I’m too normal for this shit… excuse my language. How does she do it? Does that poofy mane hide a unicorn horn? Is her cutie mark a brain with an antenna?”
Celestia laughed lightly at my befuddled reaction. “Her name is Pinkie Pie, and I’m certain you will meet her one day. Explaining how she manages to do the things she does, well, not even I can explain that. Perhaps you should choose to do what Twilight did; accept that there are things that cannot be explained by scientific means.”
“Oh, so I should just accept something like that and go about my day?” I asked in disbelief.
“If you wish to remain sane? Yes.”
I was pretty sure that that boat had already sailed if that was the norm around here. If that pink pony could see me from here, it would only be a matter of time before word spread about my presence here.
"So now what? She knows I'm here." I sat down, wondering how long it would take before a horde of journalists arrived.
"Don't worry." Celestia wrapped her wing around my shoulders. "Although Pinkie Pie can act a bit strange, I doubt she knows you are a human. Somehow she knows names, but I’ve never seen her instinctively know what race or species somepony is." Hearing her say that allayed some of my fears. I would rather stay a secret for as long as possible, preferably until I was home on Earth.
Celestia stood up, ruffling her wings slightly. “I have an hour to spare for lunch before I must resume my duties. Would you care to join me?”
Shaking my head, I still attempted to find a reasonable explanation for that pony’s reaction, but this world was somewhat short on reason and logic. “Yeah, sure.”
We began our journey down the stairs. I almost fell a few times because my mind was elsewhere, namely on that pink fur ball. I knew that I had to try to accept pony society and its oddities for now, but I had a nagging sensation in the back of my head that whispered that she was an oddity even amongst her own.
BOOM! Update on Discord Day! How's that for an update, eh?
The story continues. Magnus meets a maid, receives new clothes, gets an appointment with the doctor, sees Canterlot for the first time and observes other species in their natural habitat. Also, Pinkie messes with his mind before she even meets him. Isn't it fun?
As usual, a big thank you to all my readers and to those who found me worthy to follow. You guys and gals are great 
PS.: JBL still edits my story, and doing a dang good job at it too. 
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MY GENDER IS NEITHER A GUY OR A GAL! I'm an attack helicopter, you should do your best to remember that!
6986135 Attack helicopter! Gotcha! What type, by the way? I kinda have a preference towards Mil Mi-24's, they're kinda... big, and curvy in all the right places...
I laughed way too hard at the Pinkie Pie part. I did expect her to notice him watching her, but you sir made it so much more awesome than just that
Also Magnus, you've seen ponies with feathered wings, griffons and minotaurs. Try not to think too much about the genetics. (I got a headache when I did.)
6987910
No problem. Cup of Coffee should just trot Silverquill and his parents out in front of Magnus.
Then he'll either have no questions any more, or he'll have so many that he'd make Twilight look like a slacker
6987910 Explanations are great, in that they answer questions, which is why I want to explain as much as I can without making it look like I'm teaching at a university. I probably won't go as much into explaining various pony types, griffons and minotaurs, since we all have some headcanon in how they came to be. I will just let them be their own species and leave it at that. Magnus, on the other hand, is who the story revolves around, and things will be explained to the best of my abilities.
6988255
Okay, I'm confused; who's Silverquill?
6989846 He's one of several folks who do critiques of the show on youtube and DeviantArt (and he's got an account with stories here, too).
His character's a hippogriff. Naturally, his parents would be a griffon and a pony, so he'd be perfect to present to Magnus about the "dangers of hybrids" in Equestria
6990039 Ah, that clears things up.
It's weird trying to "lol" with half your mouth numb from getting a filling at the dentist's.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/5/10/621949__safe_meme_wat_1000+hours+in+ms+paint_chris+hansen_nbc.png
gotta admit, I laughed... a lot.
and the bit with Pinkie made me think this...
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/253/879/f1a.gif
I'll admit that while I saw this coming, this still made my day.
Ok that bit with pinky pie was very funny and clever points to u man
9194303
Pinkie, I've discovered, is the most difficult one to write, as I have to balance a fine line between 'Pinkie' and 'too much'.
Thank you
9195120
You're not alone. Of every character Pinkie has been universally described as one of the hardest to write. It's difficult to keep Pinkie's personality without falling into "lolrandom" territory that is oh so loathed.
Should that be "half past eight"? "Half nine" is not a time in English.
11422484
Hey, good catch, and you're absolutely correct. Half nine, half ten, etc, is how it's said in my native language. Strange how this one got through with such a strange way of telling time. Anyway, fixed!