Sand on the Doorstep

A moment of silence passed as they walked down the long corridors leading to the throne room. Finally, the guard to Walter(now Revenant Flare)'s right turned his head to the sorcerer and said "I must admit, sir, I only joined the royal guard a few years back. I'm afraid I was little more than an orchard-tender during the time that you served as advisor here. I've only really heard stories and rumors about you and I just have to know... how much of what they say about you is true?"

The first guard, clearly a veteran of more than 30 years on the royal guard, turned on him faster than Revenant would have thought possible. "You fool, you don't just bring up something like that, much less ask a public figure like this how much of the rumors about him are true. Whats in that head of yours?"

"Gentlecolts, please! Theres no need for that, though I'm flattered that you would think of me as a 'public figure'. No, no, let me assure you any rumors that you've heard are probably fairly close to the truth. My methods were always a bit unconventional, but the results always spoke for themselves.."

The older guard was still looking distastefully at his younger associate. "You're addressing the pony who single-hoofedly kept this kingdom from starving to death during the Unthawing Summer twenty years back. If it hadn't been for his quick thinking we all would have been stuck trying to live off of frozen apples and cabbage for the better part of a year. And then he goes off for fifteen whole years to spread his service to the outer reaches of Equstria, only to return here to be questioned about his personal life by a rancher-turned-house-guard like you? You bring shame upon yourself in droves, boy."

The young guard was turning a bright red as he stumbled for the right words. "I didn't... I only meant... Well, I-I-I was just curious. What with the rumors of the affair and all. I never believed it, but you have to understand how much talk there was going around at one point."

Revenant let himself break out into a long, convincing laugh. "Oh those rumors! Well then I take it back, thosemost definitely were not true. Mind you, I was very close with the Princess, but we were friends at best. If anything, she used to see me as a sort of teacher. I was someone she could turn to for help or advice when her sister simply wasn't an option. Honestly the thought never even crossed my mind until the whispers began to spread." He was beginning to feel quite proud of himself over just how intricate of a background his spell had provided for him in the minds of all who it affected.

"There, ya see? You went and made a fool of yourself in front of the chancellor here for nothing. Now straighten up, we're here." The two guards formed back up beside the wizard as they approached the main door to the throne room. Two guards stood on either side of the door, both pegasi, one of pure white wearing golden armor, the other dark blue with black armor and leathery bat-like wings in place of the feathered ones that most winged horses had. They looked at the guards, then at the wizard, and then stared straight ahead and stamped their front hooves on the stone floor. The doors began to swing open and the three entered into the royal court as the sound of murmuring crowd washed over them.

Of those attending that day's assembly, most were regulars of these sort of court gatherings. A few council members, a congregation of upper and lower nobilities, and an assortment of common ponies who merely wished to see their leaders in person. A few had come hoping to present themselves before the Princesses in order to pledge themselves as guards or knights, to beg pardon for some past act, or to lay their own requests before the Royal Sisters. Most of these onlookers were unaware of who or what it was that entering the room until it was too late; by the time the doors opened they were already deeply submerged in Walter's spell. And as it washed over the room, the vast majority of the court suddenly remembered that the actual reason they were there was to welcome back the Princesses' old advisor.

Word must had spread quickly through the city, for hundreds had crammed into the throne room to witness the return of this pony they seemed to remember only through stories and rumors. Most thought of him as some sort of wizard or sage, many believing him to be one of the most notable of the Princesses' aids. A few, sprinkled in among the masses for good measure, remembered only the negative aspects of his character: the rumors of his arcane research, his mistrustful mannerisms, his crimson eyes. A few bad memories were just the sort of thing needed to cement a sense plausibility for his story.

So here they all stood, watching the hooded unicorn and his escorts make their way toward the thrones. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies were all in attendance, each one eager to have their curiosity about the identity of this prodigal advisor satisfied. The spell's affect progressed down the length of the throne room, delving into the minds of everything in the wizard's path. Finally, as he came to stand before them, the charm finally reached the Princesses. There was little indication that anything had happened at first. Princess Celestia remained perfectly still, looking down at Walter and the two guards from atop her throne. She showed no signs of being enthralled nor any indication of even noticing the three ponies standing before her. Finally, after this had gone on for a full minute she blinked several times, refocused her vision on Walter, and inclined her head. "Chancellor Revenant. Welcome home my old friend."

The spell had clearly worked on her, something that Walter would normally have found both satisfying and thoroughly amusing, but instead his attention was whole dedicated to Princess Luna. While Celestia had merely gone into a brief trance as the spell worked its way past her defenses, Luna was reacting to it in a much different way. A pale blue mist was forming around her as she began to jerk back and forth on her high seat. The spasms worsened as she desperately tried to fend off the assault upon her mind, resisting the spell that was boring its way into her memories with everything she had. It had far from what Walter had expected. He knew the sisters would be strong, far stronger than anyone else present in court, but he had put everything he knew into creating the enchantment. By all rights it should have been impossible to resist, but still the younger of the two sisters fought on, her struggle invisible to all those who had already fallen under the spell.

Ten minutes of silence passed but Luna refused to give in. The mist was surrounding her, forming a translucent orb around her. Her horn began to glow and her wings beat the air involuntarily as she put every last ounce of strength into her attempt to reclaim her mind. But every ward and every barrier that she threw up to defend herself was quickly demolished by the shear strength of the sorcerer's own magics. Their battle raged on, the wizard standing motionless and expressionless as his pre-calculated spell did its job and Luna, eyes clenched shut and muscles straining as she tapped into her very last reserves of strength, both mental and physical. The rest of the room stood motionless, held in a trance by Walter's enchantment.

Finally, with one last cry of defiance, Luna burst forth from her throne, rushing headlong at the wizard with her horn lowered to be even with his eyes. Walter, taken aback by the fact that she could even move under the extensive mental strain that their dual should have been putting on her, took several hasty steps backwards. He attempted to shield himself, only to find that his mass-enchantment on the minds of all of Canterlot was preventing him from casting anything else.

...Time seemed to slow...

Luna was nearly upon him when it finally happened. Another few seconds and he would have been impaled on her horn, completely helpless as his spell broke. Another few seconds and it all would have been over, but those few seconds never came. Luna froze a foot away from where Walter had been standing, her eyes widening as far as they could. She began to cry out once more, screaming as the spell finally took hold of her. She stood still as stone, mouth open as she screamed, eyes watering as her mind was finally overtaken. As her cry died out her mouth remained agape as her eyes filled with tears. And then, in the time it would take you blink, it was done.

"Chancellor Revenant! You have returned to us at last!"

Walter forced himself to stand up straight. The spell had reached its limit, infecting the minds of every citizen of Canterlot, so he would no longer be able to rely upon it to disguise his actions from this point on. As such, he made a point of regaining his composure as quickly as possible. "I have, my Princesses." He went genuflected before Luna, humbling himself before those he would be claiming to serve from here on out. He looked up at her and saw that her open-mouthed expression of horror had turned to a genuine-looking smile, though the tears that had been streaming from her eyes moments before were still very much present. With any luck, they'll all just dismiss those as tears of joy... Poor little Luna must have really missed her old friend and mentor after all...

And that had been that. Luna had embraced him and then returned to her place on the throne next to her sister's. The two princesses had spoken for a bit on how pleased they were to have their most skilled advisor back and asked him questions about his journey. Afterwards, when the public appearances had come to a close, Walter was brought to his small two-room suite in the tower above the throne room and was instructed to make himself at home.

And so it was that the demon wizard of Mid-World was able infiltrate one of the purest-seeming kingdoms in existence under the pretense of being a force of goodness and order. And it is from this point that we must now return to our old friend Roland, as he should be arriving at that very same castle we were just in, any moment now.