Twilight Sparkle gasped heavily as she jumped awake. Her mane was a complete mess and her eyes were dark from a lack of sleep. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the bottom of her tail as she stood up from the floor of the barracks. She looked at her cutie-mark; it was a sunny-side up egg, symbolizing her favorite food. She gave a sigh of relief. Whew, just a dream she thought to herself. She looked around at her surroundings.
The barracks was a square building made of tall brown branches and thin logs held together with hempen rope with two tall sentry towers on opposing corners. The ceiling was made of crisscrossed branches with large palm leaves covering the top. The west side had a row of large wicker targets with blue bull's eyes painted on them. Halfway across the room stood floor mounted longbows with tall racks holding quivers of arrows. On the other side stood five wooden ponies with large slash marks and cuts all across their bodies. There were six, but a visit from Viking Lord Celestia reduced the last one to a pile of splinters. Behind them stood a weapon rack holding several different swords, spears, maces, and war-axes.
Spike came down the spiral staircase of the northwest tower carrying a glass of milk. “Are you okay? I thought I heard you shout or something.”
Twilight, still only half-awake, grabbed the glass of milk with her two front hooves and drenched her mane, she threw the now empty glass on the floor and used her front legs to smooth her mane out. "It's nothing, just a dream." she replied.
Spike stood there for a second before asking "Wanna talk about it?"
"No." Twilight said, almost too bluntly. She was trying hard to forget about the dream. Spike made a simple shrug and made his way to the small stove in the corner.
Milk ran down her mane as she went to the weapons rack and grabbed a long sword. She snapped the circular brace to her hoof and began wailing on one of the wooden dummies. Get a hold of yourself, it was just a dream, just a really really weird dream. She remembered the blue sky and the green grass. It was all so bizarre to her. With one strong swing the sword became embedded in the forehead of the wooden pony and she couldn't get it out. She loosened the brace and slipped her hoof out and made her way to the window.
I'll just look outside and everything will be perfectly normal she thought to herself. She stared outside with a sigh of relief. The sky was a hot pink color with the dark gray-black clouds contrasting heavily against it. She then looked to the ground to see the grass in neon-orange plaid. Twilight thought to herself See? Everything's normal! Nothing to worry about. I just need to get my mind off things. Maybe I'll go and give Rarity a visit.
She made her way to the door and flopped her torso on the ground. She began to shake her plot in a circle and it started to glow in a magical aura. The doorknob was encased in the lavender aura as she continued. The knob turned several times before the door clicked and cracked open. Twilight bucked her hind legs against the ground making her flip over her head and slam in to the door and swung it open.
She landed right outside the door on her back. She dug her horn into the ground and flapped her wings sending her hovering upside-down and backwards towards Ponyville; the way a proper unicorn or alicorn travels. She used her horn as a rudder to control the direction she was flying as she made her way to the town.
She hovered through Ponyville at a leisurely pace, stopping occasionally to crane her neck backwards to see where she was going. The small amount of milk left in her mane was starting to dry out as her flight came to an end and she arrived at her destination: The Caramel Boutique. She slapped the door a few times with her tail.
After several minutes of waiting her wings started to ache from hovering. She quickly folded them while still elevated and fell to the ground. She rolled over and got back up on all fours and knocked on the door again, this time with her face. After a few seconds she finally got a response. “BY CELESTIA'S BEARD I'M COMING ALREADY!!!” she heard coming from the vanity store. Jeez what's gotten into her? Twilight wondered. After another few minutes she heard irregular hoofsteps coming towards the door.
The knob was encased in a light blue aura as it turned four times and finally the door opened. Rarity stood behind the door giving her rump the last few shakes before she stopped using her magic. She was wearing sunglasses and was entangled in several patches of brown and beige silks with various pastries stapled and glued in elegant patterns across the fabrics. She turned and limped to the door with her three free legs. She feigned a smile upon seeing her friend.
“Hello Twilight, what brings you here darling?” Rarity said, still distracted with her work.
“Oh dear, I wasn't interrupting anything important was I?”
“Of course not,” she lied. “I was just making this dress for the party the day after tomorrow. Do come in.”
They made their way to the couch, Twilight walking while Rarity was still literally engulfed with her work. Twilight pulled herself on to the red sofa while Rarity was trying feverishly to disentangle herself from her outfits in progress; during the fierce duel her sunglasses flew off.
After a couple of minutes Rarity finally broke free of her silk and dessert makeshift prison and tossed the unfinished vanity items in a heaping pile on the floor. She sat on the floor and glanced at Twilight with a look of small triumph on her face, her eyes black and sunken.
“Long night?” Twilight asked
She sighed. “Yeah, I had the most dreadful dream last night,” She replied making her way to the couch.
“Wanna talk about it?” Twilight said.
“Oh, it's kind of silly.”
“You can tell me, I had a weird dream myself last night.”
“Alright. I woke up and all of my clothes had gems on them. Then, I went outside and the sky was blue.”
Twilight's eyes widened. “Blue? Like, light-blue?”
“Right, a-a... Wait, how did you know?”
“And the grass, was it green?”
Rarity's jaw dropped. “Yes.”
“I-I think I had the same dream last night.”
“And your cutie-mark was different as well, wasn't it?” She said in a tone that was more a statement than a question.
“Yeah, it was some weird pink star thing, yours?”
“Diamonds. I put diamonds instead of pastries in my dresses. They were hideous, who puts gemstones in dresses?”
“I don't know.” Twilight pondered for a moment. “Why would we both have the same dream?”
“This is awfully coincidental. Maybe someone else can help you,.”
“Hmm, maybe I should talk to Zecora, she's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like this.”
“That's a good idea. I'd love to tag along,” She gestured to the pile of clothes on the ground, “but I still need to finish this outfit before the big party at Sugar-Cube Corner. I've only got two days you know.”
“Yeah, I'll let you get back to your work.”
“Thank you. And do be careful, Zecora's been very stressed lately. Writer's block she said.”
“Alright, goodbye” Twilight headed out of the boutique. She dug her horn into the ground and started making her way towards the forest. As she neared the edge of the town she passed the barracks. Spike was standing at the entrance with his arms cross and a look of major annoyance on his face. “Hey, Spike.” She said.
“Where have you been?” He said in a malicious tone. “I spent forty-five minutes making us breakfast. Then when I come to get you you're gone.”
Forty-five minutes? Sure is a long time just to cook some breakfast. She thought before saying “I was at Rarity's.”
He uncrossed his arms. “Is that supposed to be an excuse?”
She tilted her head down and blushed. Twilight was a little disappointed in herself. She had noticed him walking in to the stove, but was so distracted from her dream that she thought little of it. “No, I guess not.”
“C'mon. Let's eat. It's probably cold by now, but it should still be good.”
“What did you make?”
“Eggs.” He said in a still half-annoyed voice as he walked in. Twilight followed in mild shame.
On the round wooden table was a large pewter serving platter piled with dozens of sunny-side up eggs and two smaller porcelain plates on either side. Man, no wonder it took him so long, there's gotta be at least thirty eggs there. She thought. “Thanks for making these. I'm starving.”
“Yeah whatever.” He replied
That was kind of rude. Well, he did work hard, I guess I deserve it. She picked up four of the eggs with her magic and placed them on one of the plates before taking a bite. She winced a little bit. “It's kind of cold. Do you mind heating it back up?”
The look Spike gave her made her wince harder than the egg. “Never mind.” They continued the meal in silence. Twilight was too distracted with the thoughts of the dream to talk.
Eventually, Spike finally broke the ice. “When do you want me to send those letters to Princess Celestia?”
A look of shock appeared on her face. Princess? That's what she was called in my dream... No it must be a coincidence. “Don't you mean Viking Lord Celestia?”
“Yeah, that's what I said, didn't I?” He said with little interest.
“You said Princess.”
“Oh, well whatever.” He blew a little bit of fire at an egg, heating it up before taking a bite. “So, why were you at Rarity's?” He said as he chewed.
“Yes.” She said, too busy with her thoughts.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?” He asked with increasing frustration.
“I think I need to talk to Zecora.” She said as she got up off the chair. As she made her way to the door Spike called out to her.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Hey, I never got an answer to the Celestia letter question.”
“Whatever.”
“You alright?” Spike asked.
“No.” She she said as she slammed the door.
“What the hay was that all about.” He muttered to himself as he started stacking the dirty dishes.
Everything is fine. Everything is just perfectly fine. This is just a series of strange coincidences. She justified to herself as she hovered towards her destination. The Everbound Forest was something that ponies feared greatly. It went against all of the natural orders of Equestria. The clouds all stayed in one spot unless they were moved manually by pegasi and all of the plants and animals were unable to function properly without help.
Twilight made her way through the forest, trying not to make eye-contact with the strange ponies that kept the place in line. Most of them were solid gray with red eyes. They seldom spoke and only came in the town occasionally to get food. She finally arrived at a small wooden hut a ways in to the forest. It had a large neon sign over the door that read Zecora's Pad.
After knocking at the door with her tail, the doorknob turned a dozen times before the door violently swung open. Zecora was standing there with a frustrated look on her face, but she tried to shake off her anger and greet Twilight. “Oh what brings you here my purple friend,” She said with a rhythm, then she stopped a second to think before finishing with “did someone... for you...me... s-send?” She sighed with frustration.
“Wow, that was pretty weak.” Twilight said with pity.
“I know, I fear my I've got the writer's curse, I can't come up with one good verse.”
“I'm sorry to hear that, but I need your opinion on something”
Twilight explained her dream to Zecora and what happened with Rarity and Spike. Zecora pondered for a moment. That moment dragged on for a couple of minutes and whether or not it was her thinking about the situation or trying to think of a rhyme to reply nopony could say. “Two ponies with the same dream is a rare sight. Maybe I can... help with your p-plight.” She finished uncertainly before scowling.
“Wow, you got it bad don't you?”
She thought about replying, but instead gave Twilight a simple nod.
“I have some books that might help with writer's block if you want to borrow them.”
She gave another nod. Twilight made a mental note to get those books.
“Perhaps I can help you with this problem of yours, but first I'll um... uh..” She puzzled for a minute. “Oh to Tartarus with it. I shall meet you at your home tonight at eight and try to look in to these dreams you're having.”
“Thanks. Maybe I should write a letter to the Viking Lord too.”
“Very well, I shall see you again tonight.” Zecora walked back inside to a small desk and picked up a pencil with her mouth and started writing.
It was four o'clock when Twilight arrived back at the library. Spike was lying on small pile of hay taking a nap. She placed a hoof on his chest and gently shook him awake. “Spike, wake up. I need you to send a letter to Viking Lord Celestia for me.”
“Huh? O-okay.” He said, barely awake. He Stretched his arms out and made his way to a desk to grab a parchment scroll and quill. “Shoot.” He prompted.
“Dear Viking Lord Celestia,
“I've been having disturbing dreams lately and it seems Rarity has been having the same ones. I don't know what to do and I could really use your help. I wish for you to come here as soon as possible.
Your faithful barbarian, Twilight Sparkle.”
Spike rolled up the parchment and spit acid on it, causing it to dissolve into a green cloud. The green magic made its way out the window.
Several minutes later Spike cheeks puffed up and then he spat out another pile of acid on to the floor. The acid slowly spread across the floor and formed a perfect rectangle. The rectangle glowed yellow, then dimmed down, forming a piece of paper with a message on it. It had a strange green goo on the corner and the words looked hastily written. Twilight picked up the parchment with her hooves and started reading it aloud. Trying hard to imitate Celestia's thick viking accent.
“My faithful barbarian,
“YARR!!! I would love to help you with your problem, but alas I fear I'm tad preoccupied at the moment. I was sailing and I came across this massive squid. By the way I'm fighting a giant squid right now. I tell ya, she's gotta be at least fifty feet long. It's these kind of fight's I live for. Also don't get me started on weird dreams. Why just last night... Hold on some idiot is yelling at me to help him. I think he's getting strangled by a tentacle or something.”
There was a break in the letter.
“By mine own beard, that was fun. I just sliced that tentacle right off with one swing! Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to make it today lass, but I'll definitely be coming to your party day after tomorrow. See you then. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish slaying this foul beast before it eats another crew-member. YARR!!!
Viking Lord Celestia.”
Twilight's disappointment was clear on her face. Spike asked “What are you gonna do now?”
“I guess I'll just wait until the party.” She replied.
It was a eight forty-five when Zecora finally arrived at the library. She was carrying a burlap sack with her. “Sorry I'm late.” She said. Twilight stood there waiting for a reason, but it never came. Zecora put her head in to the sack and pulled out a small vial of plaid liquid. “This potion will make it so your body won't shut down while you sleep.”
Twilight took a step back. “That sounds a bit dangerous.”
“Don't worry, I will follow you. I need to see how these dreams effect you physically.”
“How will that help?”
Zecora thought for a moment. Hmm, I didn't think about that. I can't let her know that though. “You'll just have to trust me.” She said as she placed the vial in Twilight's hoof.
Skeptically she uncorked it with her teeth and drank it down. She gagged several times at the taste. Ugh, it tastes like plaid.
“Now we just have to wait for you to go to sleep. Then we shall see what happens.”
Spike laid out a towel on the floor for Twilight to sleep on and went upstairs to go to sleep himself. Twilight walked over to the towel and flopped down on it. Sleep did not come easy, so she laid there tossing and turning for several minutes before the potion finally took effect and sleep finally overtook her.
It was a bright sunny day in Ponyville. The golden sun was shining across the cyan sky. The wind blew ripples through the fresh green grass. All was well. Twilight made her way through the town walking on all fours occasionally bringing a hoof up to greet passersby. She went to the park to have lunch with Rarity. After exchanging pleasantries they started talking about the party at Sugar-Cube Corner the next day.
“I was thinking of pink topazes on the outfits.” Rarity said
“That sounds good. You know Princess Celestia is coming too.”
“That's wonderful. I can't wait for it.”
They continued bantering about the party until they finished their meal. They cleaned off their table and Twilight went home.
When she arrived at the library Spike was sitting on the floor with his back against a bookshelf reading a Power Ponies comic book. He looked up and saw Twilight. She started talking about her conversation with Rarity. “Yeah, Princess Celestia will be there and Rarity is making a new dress with topazes on it.
Spike stared at her with a perplexed look before walking up to her. He shook her shoulder while saying “Twilight, wake up. C'mon Twi, you need to wake up. You're talking nonsense.”
Twilight phased in and out of reality until finally she escaped from her dream. She blinked a few times before finally seeing that everything was normal again. She was back in the barracks with Spike standing next to the wooden training dummies. Zecora was standing to her side with a look of utter confusion on her face. Twilight looked back and forth between the two then said “You see what I mean?”
Zecora broke from her trance and gave a simple nod and started “Indeed this is a strange dream you're having.” She sat on the floor and put a hoof to her chin and pondered the situation.
“In my dream I went to some wooded area in Ponyville, did I go somewhere here?”
“You were walking on all fours to the Hall of the OCs, sat on a bench and started talking as if Rarity were there.” Zecora answered.
“I went to the park in my other dream too.” She sat down to tell the story. “I can't remember why, but It was really important. I think Sweetie-belle was there... I-I was helping her with... Something.”
“Maybe you should go there and see if you can figure anything out. I'm afraid I need to head home and try to get my groove back.”
“I understand. Thanks for your help Zecora.”
With a courteous nod Zecora made her way out of the barracks and went in the direction of The Everbound Forest. Not that I actually really did anything. Oh well, She thought as she left the structure. After she was gone Twilight looked at Spike. “Do you want to go with me to the Hall of the OCs?” She asked.
“Nah, I'm in the middle of this comic,” he replied as he walked over to the corner. He picked up a comic book titled Average Ponies, opened it up, and sat down with his back leaning against the wall.
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. “Alright, enjoy.” She turned and made her way past the archery range and walked out the door. She stabbed her horn into the ground and use her wings to flip over her head started towards the center of town.
She got close to the hall when she was stopped by an old earth pony. He had a light brown coat and a solid white mane and beard. He had a sign hung over his neck that read Armageddon and was standing next to a small gong that hung from a tripod of tied together sticks. “THE END IS COMING. WHEN IT IS FIXED, IT WILL ALL BE OVER,” he wailed as he slammed on the gong for attention. Some ponies stopped to gaze at the old stallion while others simply kept walking, some picking up their pace slightly. He pointed at Twilight “YOU MUST STOP YOUR FOOLISH PURSUITS!!!” Twilight sped up more and more until she finally galloped away.
She finally arrived at the Hall of the OCs. It was a tall dark red longhouse with a rounded roof. It had two tall purple tinted windows on either side of it's tall brown oaken door at the front and eight running down each side of the building. It had a brown steeple at the back end with the insignia of the OCs on the tip: a black silhouette of an alicorn with it's wings and horn disjointed and no cutie-mark.
As she approached the building she saw Rarity and Fleur Dis Lee walking out. “Hey, Rarity what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I had another dreadful dream last night. There was a park here in my dream so I thought I might investigate and I just so happened to run into Fleur Dis Lee while she was visiting. I'm guessing you're here for the same reason.”
Twilight nodded and looked at the door. It had a fleur-de-lis on it. Fleur Dis Lee's cutie-mark had the same. That's a lot of fleur-de-lises... fleur-de-lisi? She thought to herself. “Hey what's the plural for fleur-de-lis?”
“Well, that's easy.” Fleur Dis Lee started. Then her face suddenly went blank. “Huh...”
They all stood there for what seemed like minutes, but in reality was more like two hours wondering how to pronounce multiple fleur-de-lis.
“Well, I'm stumped.” Rarity finally said.
Twilight made a mental note to find out later. “Whatever, I need to go inside. I've got things I need to figure out,” she said as she entered the cathedral-like structure.
“I'll join you.” Rarity said, waving farewell to Fleur Dis Lee.
The Hall of the OCs was not a place ponies liked to visit. Many of the ponies in there were very stuck-up and rude.. The walls and ceiling were made of neon orange and brown tiles haphazardly placed in no particular pattern, while the floor consisted of tan wallpaper with the OCs insignia on it. The place smelled of spaghetti and pretentiousness.
They did their best to not make eye-contact with any of the ponies as they walked through. Many of the OCs were shocked to see an alicorn barbarian lord in their home. As they made their way to the place they sat in the dream they were stopped by a large alicorn. His coat was black and his mane and tail were bright red. “I have a dark past.” He started.
Twilight just rolled her eyes and scowled as she pushed him out of the way. He walked in the opposite direction with his head down and a frown of disappointment.
They were each was stopped several more times by similar looking black and red alicorns. Some a little too excited to share their dark past with the real ponies. They shoved their way through as they reached the back end of the hall. There stood a yellow velvet curtain that covered a small circular area of the floor.
Twilight went towards it and brought a hoof to the edge of the fabric. She slowly started opening it. She saw a strange glow when an OC in a police officer's outfit yanked her leg away. “Don't touch that ma'am, we're still trying to figure out what it is.”
“Excuse me, you're talking to Barbarian Lord Twilight Sparkle here.” She said.
“Be that as it may, I still can't let you touch it.”
Rarity walked up to him. “Oh come on. Can we please just take a quick peek?” She said in a calming tone.
“I'm afraid not ma'am.” He said, his stern face unyielding.
Twilight started to reach for the curtain again when, suddenly she heard somepony shout “HEY.” Twilight looked around to see the entire hall glaring at her. With a look of fear she slowly pulled her hoof away from the lemon colored velvet. The rest of the ponies slowly pulled there gaze from her, though the guard OC was still eyeballing her.
Twilight and Rarity made their way back across the hall when the former saw something strange: a lavender colored diamond dog OC with a cutie-mark drawn in crayon on his hip and a cardboard horn stapled to his navy blue paper mane. The cutie-mark was a magenta star burst with smaller white star bursts surrounding it. That's the cutie-mark I had in my dreams... How could he? I mean. She started walking away from her friend. “I'll catch up with you later Rarity.”
“Alright. Do be careful, I don't like this place.” She said loud enough to get some nasty looks. She flinched. “Heh, I should probably get going anyway.”
Twilight approached the dog. “Excuse me, but where did you get the idea for that mark?
“Oh, well aren't they supposed to be your special talent or something? I wanna be a unicorn so I thought mine would be magic.”
“No. Cutie-marks are supposed to be your favorite food.” She was both confused and worried. She looked around in a panic, but when her eyes tried to return to the dog, he was gone. Twilight just stopped and stared. “Did anyone see where that diamond dog OC went?”
“What diamond dog OC?” A random blue and green pegasus OC said. “I haven't seen one of them around here before.”
Twilight was dumbstruck. She hastily made her way out of the hall in confusion. C'mon Twilight. Get a hold of yourself. I'm sure everything is okay. I'm just going crazy, that's all. I'm simply losing my mind. She thought as she darted from the building. Not even bothering to flip over and hover unicorn style, she ran past where the crazy old pony was sitting.
The old pony grabbed Twilight by the chest, twisted her around, and screamed in her face. “YOU, DREAMER, YOU MUST STOP. IF YOU KEEP GOING ON YOU SHALL CAUSE UNTOLD DISTRUCTION!!!”
Twilight yanked herself away from the screaming madpony and started backpedaling away Dreamer? How could he? I mean. Does he even know what he's saying? He stomped towards her. That caught the attention of several passing equines. “WE'RE ALL DOOMED!” He turned to all the ponies staring at him, stood on his hind legs, and raised his forelegs in the air. “DO YOU HEAR THAT? YOU'RE ALL DOOMED. ALL OF YOU!!!”
Twilight ran as fast as she could. Not so much from the old man as from everything that had happened over the last two days. I need to go to the barracks and have Spike hit me over the head with a mace. Then, everything will be perfectly fine. She galloped all the way to the barracks, kicked open the door, and ran head first into Spike who was carrying a stack of book with a dagger on top. He threw all the items in the air as he fell to the ground. The dagger jammed into the floor next to him. “Whoa Twi, what gives?”
“Sorry, Spike. No time to explain.” She then hastily walked over to a weapons rack and picked a bald mace with a four foot handle from the holster and tossed it in Spike's arms. He stumbled catching it. “Uh, what's this for?” He asked.
“It doesn't matter.” She walked over to him and tilted her head sideways. “I just need you to hit me over the head with it. Not enough to give me a concussion, just enough to knock me out for a while.”
He gave her a perplexed stare. “Look, as much as I would love to do that, don't you think you might be acting a bit crazy?”
“That's just it.” She leaned up and made a stressful grin. “I've gone completely mad and I need you to set me straight.” She tilted her head back down and pointed to her temple. “C'mon, chop chop.”
He rolled his eyes and planted the hilt of the mace on the floor. “Twilight, you're acting really weird. Why don't you tell me what's wrong? Is it about those dreams?”
She sat down and nodded sadly. “Ever since I had that first dream weird things started happening. I've been seeing pieces of it everywhere. I don't know what's going on.”
“I don't think you should worry about it so much. Weird things happen all the time around you. Like, remember that god of harmony guy? What was his name? Accord?”
She nodded. “Maybe you're right. I should just go to bed, wake up, and go enjoy the party tomorrow. I'm sure Celestia will be happy to see me.”
“Oh yeah, she sent me a message today. She's gonna roast that giant sea-monster for the party.” Just then, the mace slipped from his hand and started tilt over. He tried to grab it, but ended up falling against it. His weight caused the business end of the mace to come crashing into Twilight's head, knocking her unconscious.
There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Twilight skipped through the bright green grass to Sugar-Cube Corner, where the long awaited party was beginning. She hastily trotted to the shop to see everyone there. After looking around and waving occasionally she finally spotted Princess Celestia. She was bantering with everyone about her walk through the mountains. Twilight casually approached.
“...and then I saw this little octopus in the river. It was black and pink. I've never seen anything like it before.” As soon as she saw Twilight her cheerful expression quickly turned to a stern gaze. “Ah, my faithful student.”
Twilight approached tilting her head in curiosity. “Princess Celestia. What's wrong? Is everything alright?”
“I'm afraid not.” Celestia stood up and walked towards her student, glaring at her. “Don't think I don't know what you've been up to the past few days.” She said in a accusing tone.
“What?”
“These dreams you're having.” She waved her horn and conjured up a cloud with the image of the park bench from her previous dream. “You've been following their lead letting them manipulate you. You've become their puppet.” She slammed against the cloud with her front hoof causing it evaporate. The Princess continued to walk at Twilight, staring daggers at her.
“I-I've just been trying to figure out why me and Rarity have been having them.” Twilight was backpedaling away from Celestia.
“I don't think you realize what you're doing. It has to stop. This is your one and only chance. Stop, or I will have to take measures in to my own hand.” The look Celestia gave her was enough.
“I'm sorry. I wont worry about my dreams anymore.”
“Promise me.” She said sharply.
“I promise.”
Celestia smiled. “Good. Now, let's enjoy the party.”
For a second, twilight thought she saw an antler coming from Celestia's head, but she didn't have much time to think about it before Spike appeared right next to her and started pushing on her shoulder. “Twi. Twi, are you alright?”
Reality became a haze and the haze became reality. Twilight woke up back in the barracks with a sharp pain on her head. She leaned up off the floor, rubbing the lump.
He signed. “Oh good. You're alright.”
She hissed at the pain. “No thanks to you.” She replied, annoyed.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” He looked down and blushed. “So, did you have another one of those weird dreams.”
She thought for a moment, then smiled. “I don't think I need to worry about those dreams anymore.”
“Good to hear. Hey, that party's in a couple of hours. You need to get ready.”
“You're right.” She replied. She walked across the barracks to the armory and donned a brown hardened leather tunic with long sleeves. Then put on a steel plate that covered her chest, stomach, and back and buckled on a belt with a sheathe on it. She plucked the mace off the floor, placed it in the belt, and slung it over her back. They made their way out the door and left for Sugar-Cube Corner.
The weight of the armor wore heavily on her wings as she flew upside-down towards the bakery. They stopped a few times in order for her to rest her joints. As they approached the building she saw the old homeless pony from yesterday. He smiled and gave her a friendly wave while messing with a few pieces of paper. She grinned nervously and waved back, keeping her pace, but the old pony started to follow.
When they arrived Mr. and Mrs. Cake greeted them at the door. “Hey guys. Come one in, the party is just starting.” Mr. Cake said.
“Who's your friend?” Mrs. Cake asked, pointing at the old stallion behind them.
The old pony spoke in a surprisingly dignified manner. “I'm just a traveler. The name's Carl. I heard Celestia was going to be at this party and I just had to come.
“Well, we're glad to have you.” Mr. Cake added.
Twilight and Spike looked at each other nervously. They walked in, looked around, and saw Rarity in her new gown. It was brown and beige and had floral patterns of doughnuts and various other pastries stapled into the fabric. Twilight walked over to the her. “Hey Rarity, I see you got the dress finished.”
“Hello Twilight. Yes, isn't it marvelous?”
“Yeah. Hey, have you been having any more weird dreams?”
“Yes, but I don't think I'll have to worrying anymore. Last night I had a dream that Celestia came to me and told me not to worry about it. I'm guessing you had the same one.”
“Yeah. I'm not going to worry about those dreams anymore.”
“Ugh, me neither. I've lost enough sleep over it.” They stood there with nothing to say for a few seconds. Rarity awkwardly looked around and said “Oh yeah, Viking Lord Celestia's here. She wanted to see you.”
“Okay, Thanks.” Spike stayed with Rarity as Twilight walked away. She made her way past everypony and approached Celestia while the old unicorn followed, keeping his distance. Her axe was leaning against the wall, it was a five foot long battle-axe, the shaft was gleaming white metal that ended in a small circle. The circle had seven pointed prongs extending from it giving the look of the sun, the blades were attached to the prongs and the edges were tempered gold. Celestia picked it up and started reenacting her trip for several other party goers.
“-and so I sent the letter as fast as I could,” she said with excitement “I flew thirty feet in the air then dive-bombed the beast with my axe and split that monster clean in half. Sure enough my swabbie came crawling out of the squids belly.”
“Was he okay?” A dark purple earth pony asked.
“More or less,” She laughed. “He's been in bed doing nothing but shaking and muttering to himself for the last two days, but I'm sure he'll shake it off soon.”
Twilight reached the Viking Lord. Celestia saw Twilight and gave a grin with a few missing teeth through her long beard. Her eyes were sunken in. “Ah, my favorite barbarian! Get over here lass an' lemme tell ya 'bout me trip.” There was a sudden flash and Celestia rubbed her eyes. “Gah, what in blazes? That's the fourth time today.” She reached out a hoof and took her apprentice under her foreleg. “She's the one that sent me that letter I was tellin' ya 'bout. Oh yeah.” She looked down at Twilight and asked: “Ya said you were having some troubles? Why don't you tell me what ails ya?”
Twilight looked up and gave a confident smile. “Actually it's all taken care of. You've got nothing to worry about.”
“Ah, that's me girl! Tough as nails. She has yet to disappoint me since I made her a princess.” After she said that she closed her mouth tightly and looked around.
They all looked at her confused. Twilight tried her best to shake it off. “You mean barbarian lord right?” She asked.
“Right. Silly me. I've been saying some weird things since I fought that blue and white squid. I might've swallowed some of it's blood. Might be it's messing with me head 're something.”
Blue and white? That's what the sky look like in my dream... Twilight thought, but she quickly dismissed it. Nope, not gonna worry about it anymore. She looked up and saw Celestia's dark tired eyes. “Did you not sleep well on your trip?”
“Yeah, I had some weird nightmares. Nothin' I wanna bore you with though.”
Suspicion arose in Twilight's mind. “Actually I'd love to hear it”
“Well, alright then.” Celestia leaned back and gained a calm tone. “The first one started two days ago. The sky was blue and the clouds white. The grass and leaves were green. I was a princess and my beard was gone. I was writing you a letter. After it was all written out I sent it, but the trail lingered in a long stream. I tried to touch it, but I was sucked in.” Twilight's jaw dropped and she started making panicked mutterings. Celestia brought a hoof to her face and knocked her senses straight. “Get a hold of yerself lass. It was just a dream.”
Twilight silenced herself and tried to regain her composure. “I had a similar dream. Blue skies, white clouds, and green grass...”
“Aye, that's a bit peculiar. 'Ave you been having them every night?”
“Yeah, last night you- er- the princess version of you came to me and convinced me not to worry about.”
Celestia stroked her beard. “Odd, I had a similar dream last night. I was lookin' in the mirror and talkin' to meself about it. Saying something about being a puppet 'r somethin'.”
“Rarity's been having the same ones.”
“Hmm...” Celestia tapped her chin, then brought her two front hooves up around her mouth. “EY, RARITY GET O'ER HERE LASS!” She shouted.
Rarity stuck her head out of the crowd as everypony turned their gaze toward the viking lord. Rarity casually made her way to the area where Celestia and Twilight were sitting. She locked hooves with Celestia and they rammed their heads together. “So Rarity, Twilight over here's been tellin' me about yer weird dreams aye?”
“Yes, but I haven't been worrying about it too much since last night. Princess Cel... Uh, you had made a very convincing argument about it.”
“I see.” Celestia pondered for a moment.
“Do you think we should worry about it?” Twilight put in.
Celestia stroked her beard with a ponderous frown and said “I've lived over a thousand years and I've had many strange dreams, but sometimes dreams are more than just dreams. If we're all having these dreams, then our minds must be telling us something. Twilight.” Celestia looked over to her apprentice “Do you remember the image that Mini-Me showed in the dream?”
“No, but nothing a quick memory charm wont fix.” Twilight got to an open spot on the floor, laid on her back, and doubled over so her rump was touching her forehead. Her hind-quarters started to attain a magical glow as the spell began to take effect. She started ciphering through her memories with rapidity. She saw the area of the dream Celestia was referring to: Princess Celestia pulling up a cloud with the image of the yellow curtain in the Hall of the OCs.
After Twilight got through the dream she kept going through the memories, trying to remember the mental notes she had made the past two days. She had remembered all she needed to, but as she started pulling away she caught a glimpse of the day before the first dream. She saw a flash of her, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle sitting in the park with some books.
Twilight quickly straightened her spine back out and laid on the floor in confusion. Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What happened lass? Did you see the dream again?”
“I saw something.” She shifted her eyes thoughtfully. “Something before the dream. It was just like the dream, but it wasn't the dream.” She got a stern look and stood up off the floor. “We need to go to the Hall of the OCs.” She said in a determined tone. “We need to see what's behind that curtain.”
“That's the spirit,” Celestia grinned.
“Last time I tried to look through it everyone seemed very tense about it, like they really didn't want me to see it.”
Celestia stood up. “Heh, I'd like ta see 'em stop me.” She grabbed her battle-axe and hoisted it over shoulder. “C'mon, we need to get to the bottom of this.” There was another bright flash. “BLAST IT!” She said rubbing her eyes, before looking over at Twilight who gave a nervous glance. “Something wrong, lass?”
“It's just, are you sure we should be messing with this?” She said nervously.
Celestia reached over laid a hoof over her apprentice's shoulder. “My dear barbarian, sometimes ya need ta just do things based on yer gut. If you over-think everything, well, then yer just gonna end up thinking over every single possibility, then you're mind'll just be a complete mess,” She looked up and tapped her chin. “Then I think you're head'll explode or something.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight looked up in confusion.
Celestia shook her head and planted her hoof back on the ground. “Look, that's not important. What I'm saying is, sometimes it's better to just live life as is instead of worrying about all the possibilities. D'ya understand?”
Twilight nodded and gave a smile. “I think so.”
“Good.” Celestia stood on her hind legs and pointed her hoof towards the door. “Now, let's go, er... open a curtain!” She went back on all fours. “Rarity, care to join us?”
She thought for a moment. “Sure why not.”
As they passed the table with all the food the old bearded pony following them touched Mrs. Cake's head and her eyes started glowing. She quickly dashed in front of them and gave them an awkward grin. “Leaving so soon?” She asked.
Celestia raised and eyebrow. “Uh, yeah. We've a very important er... quest to go on.”
“Can't you at least stay for a while longer,” she said with a begging smile.
“Nay, this is really important. Frankly, I don't even really know what this party be celebrating.”
“Why, it's celebrating you visiting our party of course.”
Celestia raised her eyebrow again. “Naturally. Sorry to disappoint ya lass, but I'm afraid we have to depart.”
“No, you can't. You can't leave,” she said, her voice growing more agitated.
“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can.” The trio walked past Mrs. Cake as her face grew angrier.
“I SAID NO!” She snatched the knife from the chunk of squid meat on the table with her teeth and lunged at Celestia. The viking lord quickly pulled her battle-axe off of her shoulder with her hoof and spun herself around to catch Mrs. Cake's blade with the shaft of her own. After the initial clash Celestia slammed Mrs. Cake across the cheek with the pommel of the axe. She hit the ground and laid there clenching the newly formed bruise on her face.
“Ya'd do well not ta try that again.” Celestia said with a stern look. She threw the axe back over her shoulder and picked the knife up off the ground with her magic. She handed the knife to Rarity. “Here lass, ya might well be needing this.”
They headed out the front door as the crowd gathered around Mrs. Cake. Celestia opened the door and used butt of her axe to break the handle off of the inside. As they stepped outside Rarity said “What was that for?”
“I don't want anypony following us. We need to get to the Hall of the OCs and get to the bottom of this.”
When they arrived at the hall Twilight opened the door. As they walked inside they were immediately met with the glares of dozens of OCs. They slowly made their way across with Celestia making threatening gestures whenever a pony would inch too close to her. A brown and black OC in an officer's uniform was standing next to the curtain. As they approached he put his hoof on the nightstick hanging from his belt.
Celestia shot a glare at the officer and stepped in front of the curtain. As she started to open it the officer gave a stern look. “Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't let you look in there.”
At first Celestia gave him a malicious look, but that quickly gave way to barreling laughter. “Ma'am is it?” She leaned in uncomfortably close to the guard. “Ya think yer in charge around here, eh?” She tilted her head to the side and started to whisper. “I got a little secret for ya, come closer.” He leaned his ear in. She deeply inhaled and shouted. “I'M YER BLOODY VIKING LORD!”
He stumbled backwards, grasping his ear and hissing in pain. He did his best to shake it off. “Be that as it may, I still can't let you look behind that curtain.”
“I'm seeing what's behind this curtain, just try and stop me.” As she reached for the velvet once more a nightstick came crashing down on her ankle. If it caused any pain Celestia did well to hide it. She slowly put her hoof back on the ground and turned towards the guard, her face completely blank. “Do ya really wanna play this game lad?”
He replied with a twirl of the baton around his hoof.
Celestia pulled the axe off of her shoulder and held it in her front hooves. She slapped the flat of the blade against her head and the guard charged her and swung his nightstick. She quickly sidestepped and thrashed him in the back with the hilt. He slammed against the ground and held his back in pain. “Let that be a warning to ya. Next time you'll be getting the pointy end.”
He took a deep breath and slowly got up off of the floor. He picked his billy club back up with his teeth and desperately slung it at Celestia. She simply stood there and let it bounce off the center of her chest. He pulled a small knife from his belt and made a desperate jump at her. Midway through his jump his head met with a mace. He fell to the ground and rolled around clenching his head before passing out.
Celestia looked over at Twilight to see her panting and holding her mace in a magical aura. She then looked down at the incapacitated guard and sighed. “C'mon, let's get this over with.” She once again reached for the curtain when Rarity suddenly backpedaled into her. “What's the problem lass?”
Rarity uttered some incoherent panics and pointed her knife at the crowd of angry OCs surrounding them.
Celestia looked up to see the crowd. “Twilight, how many do ya think there are?” She asked.
Twilight quickly shifted her eyes. “Roughly forty. Maybe fifty.”
“I've taught ya well.” She stood on her hind legs and leaned on her battle-axe. “Ya hanging in there Rarity?” She glanced down to see Rarity huddling up against the curtain with her front legs wrapped around the kitchen knife she had obtained earlier. Celestia rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Twilight and smirked. “Ya ready fer this?”
Twilight gave a malicious grin and spun her mace with her magic. “Oh, I was born ready.” They both clanked the ends of their weapons together and stepped towards the crowd while Rarity sat in the corner aimlessly waving the knife around with her eyes closed.
Celestia stood there and stared into the crowd. A black and neon green alicorn OC stomped his hoof and said “We're not letting you through.”
“Listen up boy, I have no idea what's going on, but I do know we need to get behind that curtain, and if ya think you can stop us, then you have another thing coming.” Celestia replied.
The two charged and jumped at each other. The alicorn OC's rump started to glow and a fireball whipped around his hip and went straight at Celestia's face. She blocked it with the flat of her blade and brought the axe down on the OC's forehead. The blade incinerated his body as his head split. When he hit the ground his body fell into a pile of ash. Celestia spread her wings and gently landed on the floor.
“CHARGE!!!” One pony shouted from the crowd. As soon as the order was given the entire hall pounced on the pair. Celestia's magic took control of the axe and she sent it spinning into the melee, reducing a dozen OCs to dust.
The ashes that stirred up clouded her vision and a black and red alicorn OC sneaked up behind her and broke a golf club over the side of her head. She hit the floor and rolled on her back. The attacker took the broken club and lifted the jagged end over Celestia and started to bring it down in a stabbing motion. Suddenly a dark iron mace came flying through the ashes hit his muzzle. He stumbled back dropping the makeshift weapon, spat out several teeth, and fell on the floor.
Twilight jumped over, picked her mace up with her magic, and grabbed the viking lord's hoof and lifted her back on all fours. “Thanks lass.” The OC started to stir, so Celestia poked him with the corner of her axe and he turned to ash.
Once more, a small crowd of OCs started to approach the two, when they heard Rarity screaming. They turned back to see a green and blue unicorn trying to stab at her with his horn. Celestia made a nod at Twilight to go and help her friend while she continued in to the fray. Twilight tried running towards Rarity, but was stopped by two OCs.
Meanwhile, Rarity was walking backwards, frantically dodging the unicorns attacks and making wild swings with her knife. When he made a stab at her head, she made a panic duck underneath. She saw the opportunity and uppercut his jaw. He stumbled back and as he tried to regain his stance Rarity charged forward and stabbed the knife into his chest and pulled it back out. He grasped his chest and began stumbling around. “Oh, woe is me. My life, to be cut short by this foolish fool.” He put the back of a hoof to his forehead. “Alas, though I could've been such a great unicorn, it was not meant to be, and so I shall lie here for my eternal rest.” He then made a fake choking noise and fell backwards and closed his eyes.
Rarity began jumping up and down clapping her hooves together and giggling. “Yay, I killed something!”
Her offender stuck his hooves in the air and opened his eyes back up. “Oh, what a cruel world. Full of such beauty and majesty and yet I die here not being able to see all of it. How has this come to pass? What kind of KKAHH-KK-AH” His tangent ended when Rarity jammed her knife in his throat.
“Will you PLEASE.” She rolled her eyes, pulled the knife back out, and turned to see Twilight fighting a male pink pegasus and a female blue earth pony.
Twilight swung her mace, but missed her target, causing the mace to crash through the floor. As she was trying to yank it from the ground, the earth pony tried to bash her in the head with a piece of debris. In the blink of an eye there was a blade jutting from the OC's forehead. Twilight looked back and saw Rarity rubbing the back of a hoof on her chest and blowing on it, smirking.
Twilight smiled. “Good job Rarity.”
“WAY TO GO LASS!!!” They heard from the crowd across the room. They nodded their heads at each other and made a run for the fight.
Celestia was completely surrounded. She flew up in the air and hovered there for a moment. “TWILIGHT, RARITY, STAND BACK!” They hastily complied and Celestia began spinning her axe with magic until it was glowing solid white. She grabbed the blinding axe with her front hooves spun it around and threw it at the ground with immense velocity.
The blade caved in the floor and created an ball of light as bright as the sun. The fireball engulfed the entire crowd of OCs and vaporized them into nothingness. Twilight and Rarity shielded their eyes from the light, but they could feel the heat radiating from the orb burning their hair.
The fireball dissipated until nothing but smoldering ash remained. Celestia made her way down to the small crater her attack formed and plucked her axe out of the center. She slowly walked towards her friends, panting heavily.
When she reached the two, she sat on the floor, looking back and forth between the duo. Her panting quickly gave way to the three sharing immense laughter. “THAT WAS THE GREATEST FIGHT I'VE HAD IN CENTERIES!” She grabbed Twilight by the shoulder and pulled her close. “Ya really know how ta have a good adventure lass. Whew.”
The building started to rumble and the lemon colored drapes started to shake. The door burst open and Carl came in wearing a red cloak. There was a bright flash of light, afterwards he put a small black box in his cloak. He pulled up a wooden staff and started to wave it above his head in a large circle while shouting “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” He slammed the base of his staff on the floor and the rumbling intensified. The floor began to split and a chasm opened.
A towering green dragon started crawling from the pit and pulled himself up. The old pony lifted his staff back up. “Xornu, slay these creatures, you must not let them open that curtain!” The dragon stood up and let out a loud roar that shattered every window in the hall. He brought a scaled hand down on Celestia. She caught it and tried to keep it from smashing her against the ground.
“Wait!” Twilight shouted. Xornu turned his attention to her. She smiled and merrily trotted closer. “This is a pretty epic setup here, two all powerful alicorns against a giant dragon. But, wouldn't it be so much more epic if we did it in space?”
The dragon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm.” He smiled and pointed at her. “I like the way you think.” His excitement escalated. “Oh, this is gonna be so cool.” He punched a hole in the ceiling, spread his wings and took off.
Celestia grinned. “You've always been the clever one my little barbarian. Now then.” She said, walking towards Carl.
The old unicorn threw his staff at Rarity, but it fell several inches short. He took the box out of his cloak and it produced another flash. “Gah, Would ya quit with that bloody whatever?” She rubbed her eyes once more and continued to him. “Anything you wanna say for yourself lad?” Celestia asked as she put her axe under his chin.
He frowned and sighed. “I just have one thing to say to Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stepped forward with mild curiosity. “I beg of you, you mustn't open the curtain, you could destroy us all.”
Twilight was confused by the statement. “What? What are you talking about.”
He gave her a desperate look and stepped back. “Please. I beg of you.”
“I have to. I just know it.” Twilight said as she walked back to the curtain.
“Is there anything I can do to sway you?”
“No. I have to figure this out.” She reached for the velvet and pulled it open. Her jaw dropped when she saw it. It was a flat assembly of symbols. It read “16÷0=∞”
“What in Tartarus is it?” Celestia asked.
“From my drea... memory. I was in the park, helping Sweetie Belle with her math homework and I was trying to use a spell to work out the equations. I accidentally put a zero instead of an eight.”
The old unicorn looked as confused as ever. “So, you accidentally created a faux universe with magic?”
“I guess so.” Twilight said.
“I was not paid enough for this...” He muttered to himself.
Rarity stepped forward. “Maybe if you fix it, everything will go back to normal. Whatever normal is.”
“I guess it's worth a try.” Twilight stepped closer. Carl stepped aside with a fearful look in his eye.
Celestia stepped up and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Are ya sure about this lass?”
Twilight thought for a moment and grinned. “Not in the slightest!” She used her magic and turned the sixteen into a zero. The infinity began to tick back through randomly scrambled numbers before it started counting down from nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Then, finally Zero.
The equation shrunk down infinitely and in nanoseconds, consumed the entire universe. For a fraction of an instant, they felt what it was like to be trapped in an space the size of an atom along with the entire cosmos; then, came light.
The world opened up all around them. The green grass, the blue sky, and all of the ponies walking on all fours in the park in the center of Ponyville. They picked themselves up off the ground, looked around, and started laughing.
Celestia felt her chin to see that the beard was gone. “We're back.” She sighed. “You did well, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight looked up and smiled. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”
Sweetie Belle, Spike, and a royal guard came running towards the three. “You're majesties, what happened? You've been gone for three days.” The guard said
Celestia opened her mouth and then immediately closed it again. For once she was at a loss for words. “It's complicated. Did anything happen while I was gone?”
The gray guard shook his head. “Princess Luna has everything under control.”
Celestia took a closer look at him. “Weren't you in the throne room when I disappeared?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah, you were sending a letter to Princess Twilight. The trail stopped and you touched it and got... sucked in or something.”
Celestia nodded. “I see.”
Sweetie Belle ran up and hugged Rarity. “I missed you so much.” She pulled away. “What happened? Twilight was using her magic spell and all of the sudden you all got sucked in. Along with some green smoke trail.” Celestia raised an eyebrow at that comment.
Rarity pulled her sister close. “It's alright, we're back now.”
Twilight heard a moaning sound and turned to see a red cloak on the ground. The old pony got up and rubbed his head. “What in Equestria happened?”
Sweetie Belle look over. “Hmm, I don't remember him getting sucked in.”
The unicorn looked over and saw Celestia and grinned. “You look better without your beard your majesty.” Celestia smiled and blushed while Spike, Sweetie Belle, and the guard looked at each other in confusion. The white maned stallion slowly walked off in laughter. He looked behind himself and went behind a row of trees. Celestia looked over in suspicion.
“Did you get them?” He heard from behind the wood.
He walked up and turned the corner to see Discord. “Yep,” he smiled, “got 'em right here.” He reached in to his cloak and pulled out the black box and dropped out several pictures of Celestia with a her beard and missing teeth.
Discord snatched them out of his hooves and dropped a large pile of bits at his feet “Thanks Carl.”
The unicorn picked up the pile of bits, and quickly counted through them. “Hey, there's only one hundred and fifty here. You said you'd give me two hundred.”
Discord scoffed. “I said I'd give you two hundred if you convinced them to stay. But, seeing as they are all here, you lose fifty.”
“Phooey, do you know what I went through to get those?”
“Hey, I gave you a freaking dragon and the power to control ponies' minds and you still couldn't convince them to stay.”
Carl growled, stuffed the bits in his cloak, and walked away.
The draconequus stared at the pictures and giggled. “Hello front page of the Equestrian Enquirer.” He said in a sing-song voice.
“Discord!” He heard the familiar disgruntled tone of Celestia.
He quickly put his hands behind his back. “Oh, hello your grace. What brings you here?”
Celestia gave a look of exasperation. “I would ask you the same thing.”
He faked an innocent look. “Oh, y'know, just... watching the birds.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Give them to me.”
“But...”
“Now!.”
He sighed. “Fine.” Then handed her three pictures.
“All of them.” Celestia demanded, her voice growing in intensity.
“Oh, fiddlesticks.” He threw three more pictures at her face.
“Now, you're coming with me to Canterlot. You've got a lot of explaining to do.” She started to walk away.
“Hey now, I wasn't the one who created that place. That was all your ''faithful student's'' doing. I was just trying to capitalize on the opportunity.”
She turned and faced him. “So it wasn't you who made that world?”
“Why, of course not.” He smiled innocently and made a halo appear over his head.
Her face turned angrier. “Yet you knew about it the whole time and instead of helping us, you hired some random pony to try and keep us there?”
The halo fell and shattered on his head. “Um.”
“Oh, you're in for it now mister. You're lucky I don't have you turned back to stone. You've got a lot to answer for when we get back to Canterlot.” She stomped off in fury.
When she was out of earshot he pulled a close up picture of Viking Lord Celestia out of his fur and smiled at it. “Tee hee, Worth it!”
