>As you slowly regain conciousness, you're aware of a soft breeze blowing over you and an early-morning sunbeam bathing you in pleasant warmth
>You hesitantly open your eyes, squinting in the sunlight
>You are Celestia
>And you kind of really don't feel good today
>You're slightly nauseous, and there's an ache in your temples that almost hurts enough to distract you from where you are
>You rise on unsteady legs
Urgh....
>You've overexerted yourself with magic before, but it's never felt like this
>You look around and find your sister happily snoozing in the grass beside you
>It's actually kind of cute, but you need to get home
Luna.  Wake up.
>You say, tersely
>She closes her eyes tighter, and turns away from you
>She doesn't like mornings
>But, you're too irritated to care much
>You kick her sharply in the flank
>She jerks awake, startled
>'OW!  What in the hay was that for?!'
>You never remembered her voice being that grating
We need to get going;  Father is probably wondering where we are:
>You say through gritted teeth
>Every action and sound is amplified by this damnable headache
>Luna rises to her feet and shakes the grass off of her
>'Very well, Sister.  Proceed.'
>You wince
>Fucking noises
>Your horn begins to glow, and one brilliant flash of golden light later, you're back in the Equestrian throne room
>As your vision clears, you notice the Royal day guards at their posts beside the throne, but the throne empty
>It's probably too early for Father to be up
Luna
>She perks to attention
I think I overexerted myself yesterday, because I'm feeling terrible today.
Tell Father I'll talk with him later, but right now I'm going to my room to rest.
I'd appreciate not being disturbed.
>Luna looks at you, concerned
>'O-okay.  Go get some rest and feel better, Sister.'
>You put on a pained expression, nod quickly, and begin walking away
>As you leave, you hear Luna ask one of the guards about any news that happened in your absence
>He says something about capturing a minor discordant that was terrorizing a village near here
>You'll have to investigate that later
>Right now, you're only concerned with resting
>You enter your room, and hit the bed with an uncerimonious thud
>You curl into a tight ball, willing yourself not to vomit as your head aches and spins
>After what feels like hours, you fall mercifully unconcious
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
*Several hours prior......*
>You are Anon
>A couple hours ago you woke up in the middle of a forest
>Not a weird forest, just a forest like back on Earth
>A quick inventory of your pockets revealed:
>Your cellphone;  at half battery, with the clock reading 1:37 pm
>Your wallet;  leather, containing not much more than a few bills, a debit card, and an I.D.
>Your Swiss Army knife;  never go anywhere without it
>And looking at your current situation, that's probably a really good thing
>Lastly, your mp3 player;  Full of all the best music and fresh off the charger
>Knowing the basics of outdoor survival, you know you need water before anything else
>Also, civilization tends to form around water, so finding a river or a lake is probably the best chance you have to be found
>Braving the limbs of a tall pine tree, you climb to get a sense of which direction you should go
>In the distance, you see a ribbon of emptiness in the dense cover of trees
>It's either a river or a road;  both good signs
>After shimmying down the tree and orienting yourself, you head off in that direction
>The going is relatively easy;  The forest seems to be first-growth
>However, it still takes you a few hours to reach the river
>The forest was cool and slightly humid, but the exertion you put out still left you parched
>You emerge from the forest, and running along the river is a small dirt road, beaten flat by countless hooves
>You cross it, and make your way down the bank to the river
>After drinking your fill, you climb back up, and examine the road
>The most recent set of hoofprints seems to be heading downstream
>However, the size of the hoofprints concerns you a bit
>Judging from the size, it looks like whatever made these is about four feet tall
>They look like horse tracks, and there are no human tracks in sight
>Whoever's riding this must be the size of a hobbit
>As you walk down the trail, you absentmindedly check the time
>1:37 pm
>Okay
>....
>Wait
>You check again
>Sure enough, it reads 1:37 pm
>Meaning that entire trip took less than a minute
>You pull out your mp3
>It seems to be working fine
>Bizzare
>You pocket your gadgets, and continue walking
>After about 20 minutes, you hear something like laughter coming from the trail ahead
>You pick up your pace;  If there are people there, you don't want to miss them
>As you get closer, you hear conversation
Hello?
>You shout, because you still can't see anyone
Hey, I'm lost, and could use some help!
>You continue walking, and round a corner to see two small horses
>At least, you think they're horses
>They kinda look like goats, too
>One's mint green, and the other is a pale purple color
>What the fuck?
>Their owners must be around here somewhere, but you can't hear them anymore
>Both of the horse-things are eyeing you nervously
>You crouch down, and extend your hand so they can smell it
>They don't move
>In fact, they don't take their eyes off you
>You stand back up
It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you....
>You say, in the most soothing voice you can
>You're not really good at that whole 'nurturing' thing, but you can try
>You walk forward tentatively with your hand outstretched, so as to pet them
>Apparantly, they're not having any of this
>They take off down the trail
>Well, fuck
>Whoever owns these horses is going to be pissed
>Maybe you can catch them and bring them back?
>You start running after them
>They're sticking to the trail, so you don't have to track them
>And, your 6 foot gait is giving you a distinct advantage to catching up with them
>However, after chasing them for maybe ten minutes, whenever you get close enough to catch them, they get a sudden burst of speed
>You're exhausting rapidly, and you're extremely frustrated with these horses
>You can kind of tell they're starting to tire as well, but they just won't let you catch them
>After a few more minutes, a village begins to come into view ahead of you
>You slow your pace;  whoever owns these horses isn't THAT far from home, and you can maybe get some help corralling them
>As the horses enter into town, you can hear someone shout:
>'HELP!  THERE'S A MONSTER TRYING TO CATCH AND EAT US!'
>That makes some sense
>Maybe the horses could smell the danger coming, and that's why they were so spooked?
>Seems legit
>And it looks like you arrived just in time to help
>Maybe
>Depends on how big this monster is
>Okay, fine;  you're going to hide like a bitch in this village
>You enter the town, and see the two horses hiding behind a large, white unicorn
>Wait, unicorn?
>It's dressed in golden plate mail, and is eyeing you with malice
>From behind the unicorn, the green horse points at you with a hoof
>'There he is, officer!  It's that monster that tried to eat us!'
>Woah, wait, what?
>Did that horse just FUCKING TALK?!?
>You backpedal slightly at this new revelation, and start to explain yourself
Woah, hold on here, I didn't-
>The unicorn's horn starts to glow, and you feel a sharp pain in your neck
>From the source of the pain, a warm numbness spreads throughout your body
>Within seconds, you collapse
>Unconciousness takes you soon after
------------------------------------------
 
>You awake at a later time, on a pile of straw
>You groggily open your eyes to an empty stone room with a heavy wooden door
>The lack of windows prevents you from telling time by the sunlight
>You check your pockets
>It seems they didn't take anything
>Strange
>You pull out your phone and check the time
>1:38 pm
>God damn it, phone, you're useless
>You examine the room
>Pile of straw in a corner
>Hole in the ground in another corner
>Slot in the door for a tray
>Small, barred opening in the top of the door
>.....
>Seems like you're in jail
>Fucking sweet
Hey!  Anybody out there?
>...
>Silence
>Not seeing an obvious way out, you shrug, pull out your mp3, plug your earbuds in, and attempt to relax
>No point in worrying, right?
--------------------------------------
 
>You are Luna
>Upon returning home, Celestia immediately retired to her room
>You're concerned, but you're sure she'll be okay for a little while
>You trust her to know if she needs help or not
>Right now what has your attention is the news of a minor discordant being held in the castle prison
>There must be something special about this one;  normally minor discordants are left alone to do whatever
>You ask the guard what happened
>He says this discordant was actively hunting ponies
>Which isn't entirely unheard of;  occasionally large predatory beasts will pop through
>However, they're usually relocated to unpopulated areas quickly
>The reason this one was spared is because apparantly it tried to mimic language in such a way to lull its prey into a false sense of security
>Upon hearing this, you cock an eyebrow
A significant amount of intelligence would have to be required to pull something like that off
>One of the guards nods, and shifts uncomfortably
>'Well, if you'll pardon my speculation, I think the real reason it was captured is because they think it might be sentient.'
>Now you're intrigued
>If this guard is right, it will be the first time a sentient being from another plane has visited Equestria
>And you may have just thrown it in a dungeon...
Guard, what cell is it in?
>The guard answers, and you begin to make your way down to the prisons
>As you walk, you try and rationalize the situation before you
>As much as you find the possibility of an intelligent being from another universe fascinating, you need to keep an objective eye on this
>It really could be a clever mimic
>And this being could very well be incredibly dangerous
>You continue walking, steeling yourself for this encounter
>But as you get closer, you begin to hear.... something
>It sounds like singing
>But it's unlike any singing you've ever heard before
>And it's coming from the discordants cell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6e9HuSlINM
>Equestrian music is, by and large, very happy
>It's not entirely uncommon for an entire town to burst into joyous song for no reason other than somepony smiled a certain way
>But this....
>You're frozen in place, enraptured in this song
>This song tells a story
>A DEEP, MEANINGFUL story
>A story of love, which you're accustomed to
>But also of loss, searing and painful
>You listen to the words wafting from the prison cell, and your eyes water
>The voice itself cracks and breaks occasionally from some disuse, but the tone, melody and lyrics combine in such a way so as to produce a medly of raw, heartbreaking beauty
>'All the love gone bad, turned my world to black...'
>'Tattooed all I see...'
>'All that I am...'
>'All that I'll beeeee~~~...'
>Wide-eyed, you fall sideways into the stone wall and let the words wash over you
>You've never had something as simple as a song touch you in such an emotional way before
>It seems he's not done yet
>You're sure it's a 'he', not an 'it'
>'I know someday you'll have a beautiful life...'
>'I know you'll be a sun...'
>'In somebody else's sky, but why.. why...'
>'Why... can't it be....'
>'Oh, can't it be~ mine?'
>You clench your eyes tightly as you begin to sob, occasional tears etching dark streaks in the fur of your face
>Any questions about this creature's sentience is washed from your mind
>That level of emotion just isn't seen in animals
>But that doesn't mean he's not dangerous
>You take a few deep breaths to settle yourself
>Meanwhile, the discordant seems to be winding down his song
>'Doodoodoo-doo-doodoo-doooo...'
>Regaining a sembalance of your composure, you knock softly on the door
>The discordant continues singing, either not noticing or ignoring you
>You knock louder
>'Huh?  What?'
>'Is someone there?'
>You exhale quickly in anticipation
Yes. Hello.
>You didn't think this far ahead
>What do you ask him?
>Luckily for you, he takes the initiative
>'Hello, yourself.  If I might ask, why am I in a prison cell?'
>He seems to be polite
>And he knows where he is
>So he's intelligent
From what I understand, you were trying to catch ponies to eat them
>A slight pause from behind the door
>'Oh.  Well, as I was trying to explain to the.... unicorn that knocked me out, I wasn't trying to eat them.'
So what were you trying to do by chasing them back home?
>He goes on to explain that he woke up in a forest, and was looking for signs of civilization
>Apparantly, on his world, ponies (or goats, or horses, or horse-goats; He seemed to refer to ponies by any of these names) are beasts of burden
>As such, he thought he was going to get into trouble for scaring someone's livestock off, and tried to catch them to bring them back
>He claimed to not know ponies were intelligent, or capable of speech
So, once you found out ponies were intelligent, why didn't you explain yourself?
>'I tried, but this fucking.... unicorn.... knocked me out before I could.'
>He pauses slightly
>'That was a unicorn, wasn't it?  I'm not just tripping on something, right?'
>You explain the four breeds of ponies to him
>'Oh, okay.  And, are they supposed to be all different colors?  I've never seen a green horse before today.'
Your species is all a uniform color?
>'Well, no, but.....'
>He's silent for a second
>'Good point, I suppose.'
>'What's your name, anyway?'
>You debate what to tell him
>Your full title might intimidate him
>And, despite everything you've heard about strange beings being dangerous, you can't help but like this creature
You can call me Luna
>'Luna, huh?  Well, my name's Anonymous, but you can call me Anon.'
>'I'd shake your hand and introduce myself formally, but, you know...  The whole imprisonment thing.'
>He chuckles
>You giggle
>Despite being mistreated, he doesn't seem openly bitter about it
>And with that, your mind is made up
Well, it was nice meeting you, Anon, but right now I need to go have a discussion with a few ponies.'
>1'Well, if you need me, you know where to find me.'
>He laughs
>'But seriously, if you could tell someone that this was a huge misunderstanding and to let me out, I'd appreciate it.  The prospect of sleeping on hay and shitting in a hole don't seem very appealing to me.'
>You cringe slightly;  That doesn't sound fun
I'll see what I can do
>With that, you run up the stairs, winding through the halls and into your father's bedroom
>He's awake, but only just, and is sitting at his personal table enjoying a bit of breakfast
>He sees you, and smiles
>'Good morning, daughter!  I was beginning to worry about you and Celestia when you didn't send any word.'
>You laugh nervously
Yeah, about that....
>You then tell him about what happened yesterday, with Sombra, the Crystal Empire, and the army of ponies
>He looks at you, concerned
>You then go on to tell him about your and Celestia's actions, resulting in the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, but the salvation of Equestria
>After a brief silence, he says:
>'Well, I'm not pleased with the manner in which you went about it....'
>You look at the ground, slightly ashamed
>'.... I am grateful you dispatched that problem before it got out of hoof.'
>You look back up, and he's smiling
>'And I'm also glad you're both okay.'
>He may be the king, but he's also your father
>And he tends to worry more than he should
>Which, in all honesty, makes this kind of a long shot....
Father, the reason why I sought you out this morning is actually in regards to the Minor Discordant in the prison
>He puts on an exasperated look rather quickly
>'Ah yes, that.  I'm not sure what to do with it.'
It's a 'he', Father
>He looks at you, concerned
>'How do you know that?'
>You go on to explain to him that once you arrived back at the castle today, you heard of the Discordant
>You investigated it yourself, and after much thought you've concluded that he's sentient, intelligent, and confused as to where he is
>You ask as to what's going to become of him
>'Oh, well, I figured we would just ship him off to parts unknown, like we do with the other dangerous Discordants.'
But he's not dangerous, Father!
>You don't know that for certain, but you're willing to take a chance on it
>There's just something about him.....
>You don't know what it is, but you want to know more about him
>But your Father is still skeptical
>'You're SURE he's not dangerous?  How can you know for certain?'
>That's a good point
Well, he seemed really level-headed for someone that was just imprisoned
Even if he is dangerous, I don't think he's a threat to us
>He looks like he's considering it
And besides, Celestia and I are your two best warriors
If anything happens, we'll be here to handle him
>He appears to be deep in thought
>After what seems like forever, he finally says:
>'Go tell the guards to let the Discordant out.  He may stay in the castle, so we can learn his culture and more about him.'
>'However, it's up to you to keep an eye on him;  You will be blamed for any trouble he gets in.'
>So he's making Anon your pet
>Well, it's better than nothing
>You nod quickly, and exit the room
>As soon as you're out of his line of sight, you begin beaming like mad
>You quickly trot to the jailer's office, smiling wide the entire way
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
>You are Anon
>Still in your prison cell
>You slept for a bit, listened to music for a bit...
>Honestly, fucking nothing has happened to you for the past...
>You check your phone
>1:39 pm
>.....Full minute
>Well, not ENTIRELY nothing
>You had a pleasant chat with a mysterious voice from the other side of your cell door
>She said her name was Luna
>And then she ran off
>You begin pacing in your cell
>You've been in here for a while, and you're starting to go a little stir-crazy
>While thinking about that conversation
>Who is she, and why does she care?
>You're assuming she's a horse, but...
>Your thoughts are interrupted by your cell door opening
>In walks a purple... alicorn, you think
>Whatever the one with wings and a horn is
>It looks feminine, though
>She's wearing a small tiara, and what appears to be ornamental armor
>She turns to you, and smiles
>'Hello, Anonymous.  I'm here to let you out.'
>That seemed out of the blue
O-okay?  Thank you!
>A thought hits you
Uhm... Did Luna send you?
>She chuckles
>'You could say that.'
>'My name is Princess Tsuki De'Lune, Second Child to the Throne of Andromidae, Noble Heir to the Title of Master Warcraft
>She closes her eyes, and beams at you
>'And I'll take that handshake now'
>She looks puzzled
>'As soon as you tell me what a handshake is.'