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A Princess' Steed

Chapter Two

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Chris Silverhoof

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"How can you not know how you came to be here?"

When Celestia walked into the small chamber, usually used for interrogating ponies suspected of misconduct, whether menial or otherwise, the guard had his snout forced up into the grey pony's face. The strange pony trembled and snorted, nostrils quivering, and struggled to pull away, yet he already had his rump pressed to the stone wall, a lamp flickering contently above his head. The flame danced, casting odd shadows over the walls and Celestia absently sent a fresh flame to the other lamps, illuminating the chamber to a more amenable glow.

"That's quite enough!" Twilight stepped between them, forcing the guard back. "He's scared - can't you see that?"

The pony - who'd only been able to say his name was Kevin - quivered and ducked his head away, his long neck allowing him to at least gain some space from the interfering guard. Fixing him with a glare that would have sent a lesser pony fleeing with their haunches tucked beneath them, Twilight advanced a single step. It was enough. The guard swallowed and conceded space, head respectfully bowed.

"He's a threat to Equestria," he muttered, though he did not dare look up. "We must have him talk - it's the only way to find out his plan."

"I agree, that is quite enough," Celestia added, though she had no real need to; Twilight had it well in hoof already. "He is no threat to us and there certainly is no plan."

Twilight started, whipping her head around.

"Celestia, how can you be so sure? What do you know? Have you found out anything?"

The alicorn shook her head. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"I cannot say... Consider it a feeling."

"A feeling?" Twilight would have rolled her eyes if not for the company around them. "We cannot possibly dismiss this pony simply on a feeling. And how in Equestria are we going to get him back where he belongs? Where do you even belong?"

She addressed the last bit to Kevin himself, who swallowed and lowered his head forlornly nearly all the way down to the ground.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice hoarse yet growing in strength as he spoke. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, but..."

He trailed off, ears back. Eager to keep him talking, Twilight stepped up to his shoulder and lifted a hoof, pressing gently into his flank behind the elbow at the top of his foreleg.

"No one blames you, Kevin. Trust me, I know you didn't mean to come here. It was a spell, things just went a little...awry. But we're going to get you home, I promise."

Kevin lifted his head, tail flicking seemingly without his direction, as, when it struck the wall in a smattering of hair, he jumped and stared as if something had just bitten his rump. Celestia stifled a most unbecoming giggle, one hoof over her lips.

"Back home? Magic? I'm sure I'm going to wake up and this will all be a dream..." Kevin gulped and stared. "I left everyone behind."

"What kind of ponies are in your world, Kevin?" Twilight asked. "What do they do? What do they look like? Or do they all look like you do?"

Kevin tilted his head, ears twitching.

"There are horses where I come from," he began hesitantly, fumbling with his words as he struggled with his new mouth and muzzle. "But they don't talk. There's people in my world. Uh... I mean human beings."

Twilight stared, tipping onto her front hooves.

"People?Humans? So it's all like Sunset Shimmer's world, where she lives now?"

Kevin blinked and dipped his head back down, although he had hardly raised it any distance at all.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who that is," he mumbled. "Is that another one of you?"

Twilight sighed.

"I guess you could say so. So, you're a human... Just like Flash."

Kevin stared at her blankly and the mare sighed.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter. All that's important is getting you back where you came from. If I knew how to do that, you wouldn't be standing here right now, so..."

Casting Celestia a hopeful look, Twilight shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. To her dismay, however, the alicorn sighed and dipped her head down to her level.

"Twilight, this magic is beyond me too. In the running of Equestria and protection of my ponies, there is little time for research into this. It's never even something we would ever have considered looking into before the problem happened either."

She regarded her former student seriously.

"This one will be down to you to rectify, but we know that the portal can be opened and it can therefore be closed again. This gives us a far more positive note to go forward from than any other conundrum of this scale we have been presented with so far."

Twilight cast Kevin a sympathetic look and mouthed an apology as the grey pony swung his head back and forth between them, parting his lips as if he wanted to say something. But whatever he had had to say died on his lips as he lost his balance again, hooves skittering. Kevin squealed and Celestia caught him with her magic before he had the chance to topple to the floor, forelock falling over his eyes. Her gaze dropped to his hooves as she set him gently back upright.

Hm... I've never seen a pony with such defined hooves before, she thought, tipping her head to better survey their shape. As much as he does look like one of us, the differences are there too.

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When the princess lifted her muzzle once more, she started to find the grey pony's head not all that far from hers. Sometimes it was easy to forget how tall he was. Somewhere between Luna's and Cadence's height, he was the only male who had come close to looking her in the eye on a physical level for a long time.

She shook herself, mane and tail shimmering. It wasn't the time to get lost in her thoughts. Twilight's lips twisted as she considered their situation.

"Well, if there's nothing to be done right now, I can get to work on a spell that puts him back where he belongs, I'm sure. Maybe Wilda will even have some ideas on how to proceed."

Her eyes lit up at the prospect of all the late nights of studying that surely lay ahead, cosied up with a study buddy in front of one of the roaring fireplaces in the library. Twilight barely restrained a squeal, hooves clip-clopping over the stone as if she wished to leap up and clap them together with sheer glee. Celestia grimaced at the mention of Wilda, but made no comment aloud.

Perhaps I should be the one spending time with Wilda, not Twilight...

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There was no time to pursue the thought further as Twilight bounded into action, unrolling a scroll of parchment before her, which she'd summoned from nowhere in the blink of an eye.

"Spike! Take a... Oh, never mind." Twilight laughed at herself, making a quill pop into existence beside the gently levitating parchment. "I'll have to find him later when he's had his claws done. Boy, will he be sorry he missed all this fun!"

"Kevin, you'll have to tell me all about yourself - leave no detail out," she said, opening the door with her magic. "There may be some time before I can open the portal again so that you can go home, but I will do everything I can to make this happen sooner rather than later."

Kevin bobbed his head uncertainly; it seemed like the only correct response to a small talking pony who acted like she had everything sorted and a plan in place already. He swallowed, a visible lump travelling down the length of his much longer throat.

"In the meantime, you must make yourself useful. No pony in Equestria can just sit around and lounge all day. We all have a job to do based on our cutie mark."

She glanced pointedly at Kevin's blank hindquarters and pursed her lips.

"Your kind of pony may not have a special talent that ties you to your destiny, so that may allow us a teensy bit more flexibility in deciding just what should take up your time while you're here in Equestria. Of course, I'm sure you'll want a tour too. I can find somepony to accompany you if you decide that you'd like to go further afield when not working."

She paused, guilt flashing across her muzzle.

"Not that I meant to bring you here and put you straight to work," she added hastily, cheeks turning pink. "It's the way of it here. We all have our jobs to do and it'll mean you'll fit in for your time with us. And I'm sure it'll help keep your mind off things. We don't want you to be put out in the slightest here, but I'm sure other ponies will be curious about who you are and why you're here too."

Ushering him from the room, Twilight Sparkle smiled genuinely, quill poised to take notes. Celestia would have been more amused at her old student's antics if she had not been as curious as she. For once, however, she was thankful that she had Twilight there to take charge of the situation while she brooded over darker thoughts. Once again, the mare was showing herself to be a leader in all sense of the word, taking charge of her mistake with a cool, calm head and a smile on her muzzle. It only stood out in stark contrast to how Wilda conducted herself around other ponies and whilst alone with Celestia.

There's something not quite right about that alicorn...

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Shaking off the feeling of unease the best she could, Celestia watched Twilight lead Kevin from the chamber, flanked by the guards yet already chattering non-stop about all the things Equestria had to offer. Although she asked him several times what he'd like to do to entertain himself and keep himself busy while she worked on a spell to send him back, she did not allow him enough time to reply as they walked away and the pony helplessly followed, ears flopping as he listened.

Celestia let the last guard follow Twilight before closing the door and leaving her alone in the stone-walled room with her thoughts. The lamplight flickered merrily, the chamber a cheerfully warmer place than the one she'd entered. Lost in her own thoughts, she rested a hind leg, the tip of her hoof balancing on the stone. Her tail flicked, a glittering wave running through it from the dock of her tail right back up by her rump as a small smile pulled at her lips.

There's really something about those long legs that is quite_attractive..._