Jean gazed in no small amount of fascination at the walls of this literal tree-house. All of them seem to be bookshelves.

He wasn't sure if these ponies understood how amusing the image was. It was just so utterly preposterous, a tree-house-library.

Even with its apparent ridiculous nature, Jean had to admit it was spacious. Several lounge chairs and a couch were spread around the main floor, clearly meant for laying back and enjoying one of the library's many tomes.

He would have been tempted to do just that were it not for the suspicious gaze of six ponies upon him. Five of the ponies he had fought with were present, along with the introduced Princess.

The walk across town, after retrieving his belongings from the ground, had been surprisingly short. He had expected to be directed toward the local garrison or maybe even the prison. Not that he would have accepted the latter.

Instead Jean was led to this tree-house-library titled 'Golden Oaks.' As the rest of the party slowly trickled in, apparently they were being treated for their mild injuries, the silence became more and more awkward.

Jean didn't let himself be affected by it, instead he walked about and examined the room they were in. Going over the titles that filled the walls. His company seemed unappreciative of his blasé approach to the current situation.

The only exception to this was Princess Luna, she instead watched him with a neutral expression.

Jean eventually fully faced the gathered ponies, allowing himself to take in their appearances one more time before speaking,

"Is thither not one more of thee?"

He watched an expression of confusion sweep over the faces of all but two of the ponies. The Princess and the purple unicorn.

The orange pony speaks up, an unfamiliar drawl coloring her speech,

"A'hm sorry?"

The Purple Unicorn swiftly responded to her compatriot,

"He asked if there were six of us, Applejack."

This seems to allay the confusion of the group, all but the original two now have some kind of frown.

The purple unicorn spoke,

"Pinkie Pie was seriously injured in the fight. She, er, launched herself through a wall."

Jean looked over the battle in his head again. Eventually the image of the cannon firing, followed by the wall behind him collapsing, came to mind. He allowed himself to feel a bit of sympathy for the pink pony, it must not have been pleasant.

He did note that all ponies, barring the Princess and the Purple Unicorn, seemed confused at his speech patterns. Purple's response only reinforced that he would have to speak in the dialogue of the peasantry to be understood.

Jean decided that he had delayed pleasantries, no matter how out of place they seemed, for long enough. He must retain a certain bearing, after all,

"I am known as Sir Ritter, Knight of the Divine Record, and Servant of Gerana. I thank you for inviting me into your home, even after our unpleasant introduction."

He gave a small bow toward the main group, ensuring that it was clear it was not directed at the Princess. Such a meager bend bordered on impolite, even when speaking to the untitled. To a Royal? It would be a grave insult.

Jean noticed the Princess minutely raise a brow, she likely caught that small slight against the others in the room. No one else seemed to catch it, although the orange pony seemed a bit ill-at-ease, as if she could tell something was off with his bearing.

What ended up surprising him was the white unicorn. She smiled at him, eyes seeming to dance with excitement. She stood and returned the bow, a tad exaggerated for his low rank. She seemed to fancy herself a noblewoman. He supposed this wasn't too off, many people dream of attaining a higher status than what they begin life with,

"My name is Rarity, I am sure once we put all of this unpleasantness behind us we will get along just fine. Although, I admit I find your armor a tad garish."

She held out a hoof when she finished her introduction. What did she want?

It hit Jean when this 'Rarity' seemed to shift a bit, her hoof hanging out in front of her. She wanted him to kiss her hoof, or perhaps grasp it since his helmet was on. Neither was acceptable. To lower himself in such a way would stain his honor.

So instead Jean straightened and allowed some aloofness to enter his posture as he spoke,

"I am no servant of yours."

This caused the unicorn to lower her hoof suddenly, looking to be at some strange mix of offended and confused. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the purple unicorn. She spoke hastily, as if quickly covering her friends blunder could make it better,

"Rarity, he is a Knight. Kissing or grasping a hoof that is offered in such a way would be akin to swearing fealty. Although, it's an old practice. I believe it died out even before the banishment of the Nightmare . . ."

She suddenly seemed uncomfortable, glancing at the Princess nervously. She gathered herself and continued after a few moments,

"I am Twilight Sparkle, Heir of the Sparkle Clan, and Personal Student to Princess Celestia."

Jean allowed himself a moment to mull over those titles. Heir to a Clan? He was unfamiliar with the term, but linking together her last name and the Clan's name made him believe it was some kind of Noble House. The second, a personal student to a Princess? He noticed her shifting, waiting for a response,

"I am unfamiliar with both names, but it is a pleasure none-the-less Twilight Sparkle."

That statement caused most of the group to do a double take, only the Princess seemed unaffected. She simply watched the interactions. It unnerved Jean somewhat.

Twilight Sparkle shot a glance at the group when they began to mutter, causing them to return to silence. Clearly she is the ringleader. They began to introduce themselves one by one.

The orange pony introduced herself as "Applejack."

The teal pegasi reluctantly spat out "Rainbow Dash."

Finally the yellow pegasi. Jean was most unimpressed by her, she near-cowered behind her companions. She spoke so softly that Twilight Sparkle had to resort to introducing her as "Fluttershy." A fitting name.

When introductions were finished, and Twilight Sparkle looked ready to launch into another question, the Princess spoke. Her voice carried authority, it was almost refreshing to hear such a strong speaker after enduring the group in front of him,

"Now 'Sir Ritter,' why don't you introduce yourself properly? I do not believe that is your true name."

The ponies in front of him stared at him in some surprise, except for Applejack. She seemed to nod to herself, as one would when a hunch was correct.

Jean took a moment to compose his response,

"You are correct. Sir Ritter is a alias used by my order."

He hoped the meager amount of information would appease her, but he doubted it.

Jean's hunch was proven correct when the Princess narrowed here eyes a tad, speaking once again,

"Would you deny me the use of your true name, then?"

He knew he would have to explain this. He did give the Princess some credit however, it had been many years since someone had seen through his name. Much longer since he had explained it,

"I cannot give you my true name, Princess. I am under a oath of anonymity. My order used the name 'Sir Ritter' on all of our quests, so that no single member gains notoriety or fame. Only the whole benefits."

The ponies took several moments to let this sink is, eventually Twilight Sparkle spoke,

"Doesn't telling us this defeat the purpose, then?"

Jean shook his head, responding,

"No. It was well known when my order was still at large. In any event, I do not tell lies. To do so would besmirch both my Order, and I."

Rainbow Dash seemed to inflate with some kind of pride, pointing a hood accusingly at him she called out,

"But you did lie! You told us your name was Sir Ritter!"

The Princess responded before Jean had a chance to,

"Actually, he did not. He merely told us he was 'known as' Sir Ritter. It is a clever way to gaurentee humility. I assume revealing your face would also break this oath?"

Jean merely nodded, never before so glad for his Order's oath. He doubted these ponies would react well to a undead walking among them.

The Princess watched him for a few moments, allowing silence to hang over the room. Eventually she queried,

"Tell me where it is you come from, Sir Ritter. I have not seen one quite like you before."

It was almost impossible to not notice the sudden eager look on Twilight Sparkle's face. She seemed to resist doing something, he did not know what though.

Jean refocused on the Princess, speaking,

"I, personally, hail from Gussnir. The Order was based out of Alderweg Keep."

Upon seeing the confused looks of the surrounding ponies, Jean added,

"In the Kingdom of Berghof."

This did not seem to allay their confusion. The Princess spoke after a few moments, seeming to comb her memory,

"I admit I am unfamiliar with all three names, but it has been many years since I was completely familiar with the nations of the world. Do you recognize those names, Twilight Sparkle?"

Jean was surprised by that statement. Firstly, the Kingdom of Berghof was a well-known entity and a trade capital. It was basically impossible to not hear of it in some form. For a Princess to not know?

Twilight Sparkle spoke after seeming to search her own memory,

"I'm afraid I don't know any of those places, Princess."

A thought struck Jean, he was quick to voice it,

"Ah, perhaps you simply know them by different names? If you showed me a map, I could point it out for you."

Berghof was a trade center, and was normally mapped with its common name for simplicity, but it was quite possible their language was different enough for that to be inconvenient. Perhaps they had a different alphabet? He was glad that they had kept themselves to common for this conversation, though.

His statement seemed to make Twilight Sparkle perk up,

"Oh, of course! One moment, I have a map right over here . . ."

Then she began frantically tearing her library apart.

Jean was honestly confused, she had seemed so sure of its location, then began to panic when it wasn't there. He could see the poor girls scarlet face from across the room.

He did have to resist drawing his blade when her horn lit up, though.

Then she began calling out a name,

"Spike! Spiiiike!"

From upstairs came the sound of someone falling out of bed, then the pattering of small feet rushing around. Perhaps this 'Spike' was a servant of hers. If so, he would have to re-assess her status.

Then came the small lizard-boy. A lizard named Spike.

Jean allowed himself to stare at the obviously bleary Spike, he didn't seem to notice anyone except Twilight Sparkle.

Eventually Spike spoke, his voice had the qualities of a child,

"What is it, Twilight?"

He seemed completely at-ease with her quickly divulging several cabinets of their contents, as if it was a common occurrence.

Twilight Sparkle replied quickly, almost frantically,

"Where are the maps? They aren't where I left them!"

Spike blinked, staring at her in some confusion. When he spoke his tone held a cautious edge,

"Yes they are . . . You were using them at your desk to write that stor-"

He was interrupted when she bolted past him, rushing up the stairs and through a door.

There was nothing but the sound of frantic hoof-steps for a few seconds before Twilight Sparkle re-emerged. In the grasp of her magic were several rolled up maps.

When she got back to the ground floor she seemed to notice the groups amused stares, even the Princess was containing a grin. Jean simply felt a tad worried. This pony had the cosmic mysteries of magic at her command?

Against all logic, her cheeks seemed to glow with embarrassment. Actually glow.

All he could do is grow slightly more unnerved as she held the maps forward in her magical grip for him to take. Jean cautiously reached out and grasped them, feeling her magic release them.

Spike finally seemed to notice the group, his eyes going wide. The lizard's eyes focused on Rarity first, then the Princess, and finally Jean. He stammered out a few words before rushing through a side door.

The Princess spoke up, more than a little bit of humor in her voice,

"I see that you have not changed, Twilight Sparkle."

The purple unicorn responded by sitting on her cushion and trying to be as small as possible.

Jean eventually unrolled the largest map, setting the rest on a nearby table, and looking it over. He was momentarily stunned.

There was simply so much filled out, so much land. A brief glance showed him the scale of this. The title just reinforced this.

'Equis - World Map,' it said, almost mockingly. His eyes searched desperately over it, looking for any hint of a familiar landmass.

Nothing. The map showed none of the continents he knew.

He set that down, perhaps a bit too roughly if the grumble of dissent from behind him was a indicator, and opened the next. Then the next. Until all six of the maps were open. None of them offered any familiarity. Not a single piece of land or name.

All of it was in common, at least. Much like the books of the library.

Jean turned to the group, not quite sure what this was. When he did speak, some of his confusion must leaked into his tone,

"If this is a jest, it is a poor one."

That seemed to confuse the group, Twilight Sparkle looked particularly offended. She spoke with no small amount of annoyance in her voice,

"Those are the latest maps I have available, I would never joke about a situation like this."

Jean's gut told him she wasn't lying. He could feel it in his bones, something he had ignored until now. This place felt different. The colors too vibrant, the sounds too clear.

When he spoke next, he inclined his head briefly toward Twilight Sparkle,

"I apologize. But I recognize nowhere on that map, and I have traveled over much of the world in my long life."

This seemed to allay the purple unicorn's annoyance, allowing her to settle down.

The Princess spoke next, a touch of sympathy in her tone,

"Perhaps if you tell us how you got here we can figure this out. It is odd how you ended up so deep in Equestria, let alone the Everfree, without knowing it."

Jean nodded and began recounting his most recent travels,

"I traveled to the lumber town of Fellmoor on the rumor that a Necromancer-"

There were a few gasps at that, and the Princess' face grew grim,

" was nearby, one that I have been hunting for quite some time. When I arrived the townsfolk imparted that a golden robed man had indeed come through, and that there had been two attacks after he had passed. With their direction I followed his trail into Fellmoor Wood. I noticed something was off several hours into my journey, the area was unfamiliar to me. It was odd because I had traveled that road before. Shortly after I was ambushed by some sort of wooden wolves, and my mount was killed. After that I managed to make my way here."

The gathered ponies seemed to absorb this information, and when the Princess was about to speak the lizard returned. In his arms was a platter with cups and a teapot.

Spike seemed nervous when he spoke next,

"I- I made tea for everyone, I remembered the flavor you liked Princess."

The gathered ponies all said their thanks, although Rarity's thanks made the lizard blush.

When it came Jean's turn to be served, he accepted it and offered a compliment,

"Thank you, it smells wonderful."

He honestly hoped it did, small little half-truths like that helped allay suspicion. Truthfully, he couldn't smell anything. The ponies gathered all seemed confused at that, sniffing the air. They eventually seemed to decide it was nothing. All except for the Princess.

Her gaze lingered on him for several moments after the others had moved on, then she daintily sipped her cup.

Jean reached into his pack, noticing the group tense slightly, and withdrew his carefully crafted funnel. With practiced ease he popped the thin end through his visor and poured the cup of tea down the other end.

Truthfully, he forgot tea was supposed to be hot.

Spike spoke a few seconds too late,

"Careful, its . . . hot . . ."

Jean showed no outward reaction to the heat, of course. The tea simply poured into a bag on the inside of his skull. The steam rose out of his visor, however.

The group regarded him strangely. He decided silence was the best option.

Eventually the group finished their drinks, some awkward small talk came up between the ponies.

Then they began to trickle out, making their excuses.

First went Applejack, then Fluttershy, followed by Rarity, and finally a glaring Rainbow Dash.

This left Jean, Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess alone.

They say in silence for a few minutes, going over the days events in their minds. Then the Princess spoke,

"Forgive me for intruding Twilight Sparkle, but the moon will be rising soon. Would you mind if I used your guest room, perhaps you could also put up Sir Ritter?"

The librarian was sift to reply, nodding frantically,

"Of course! You're always welcome in my home, and you can stay as well Sir Ritter. Although, I don't have another bed for you . . ."

Jean shakes his head, raising a hand,

"It is fine. I am used to life on the road, I will use my bedroll."

This seemed to satisfy the Princess, but Twilight Sparkle looked a tad uncomfortable. After a few more minutes the Princess retired, followed by Twilight Sparkle.

While rather abrupt, she did leave a candle burning for him.

It was rather odd that as soon as the Princess went upstairs, the sun seemed to abruptly set. Jean passed it off as coincidence.

After laying his bedroll out he relaxed, and prepared to sit still all night in wait for the morning.

What he didn't expect was to, quite suddenly, be pulled into unconsciousness.

Princess Luna shut the door to Twilight's guest room behind her. She trotted toward the modest bed, knowing she wouldn't be doing too much actual sleeping tonight.

In her head echoed the voice of her sister,

"That gathering was certainly interesting. Do you want to go through with our plan? He seems sincere."

Luna considered that, some may consider invading a pony's dreams a breach of privacy, especially when done with the intent to interrogate. The Princess of the Night held no such qualms. Before her banishment she had kept Equestria safe with her methods, no matter how unscrupulous they seemed to the commoner.

In her mind she replies firmly,

"I am sure. You had best retire, Celly. I will begin my spell soon."

Luna received feelings of reluctant consent from her sister, then the familiar link shut.

She wasn't unused to dealing with her sister's hesitance in these matters. Celestia had always seen the best in everypony, and sometimes that could blind her.

Why, Luna has already shut down several secret noble cabals that had grown in power in her absence. It is fortunate that several hadn't gone through with their plans. Truly, some of their ideas were just preposterous. A Parliament? Utterly foalish.

She let her thoughts wander a few minutes, to days long passed that 'Sir Ritter' reminded her so much of. A familiar world that simply did not exist anymore. He was refreshing, in a way.

After about half an hour, Luna relaxed onto the bed and shut her eyes.

The room was briefly filled with a soft blue flash.

Luna came-to in a familiar wreathing, psychedelic azure ocean of dreams, thoughts, and emotions. To any other pony navigation, or even complex thought, would be near impossible. Luckily for her, the Guardian of Dreams was no normal pony.

It was a simple task to find her sister's mind, and should have been similar for the creature resting downstairs. However, no matter how she searched he could not be found.

After a few minutes, which were truly only seconds real-time, she decided he wasn't asleep. Truly it is fortunate that every mind is connected to this place, even when awake.

Casting her mind to the borders of this realm and the physical, she found his presence. It was odd, she noted, that his connection seemed faded and unused.

Grasping at his string, she flooded it with her magic. In a split second it widened and he entered a dream-state.

Wonderful.

It was foal's play to enter his dream with her sister.

Normally, when the disordered realm of the dream-world was forced into a semblance of order when Luna manifested herself, one would form as their own picture of themselves. This told much of the pony, but could be circumnavigated by being familiar with the flow of this realm.

Needless to say, both Celestia and Luna materialized as their physical forms.

Luna had a brief flash of memory, remembering when she first taught her sister how to manipulate the Dream Realm. It had seemed her cake obsession caused self-image issues.

As always, when one entered somepony's dream, the world began to slowly piece together around them. Almost as if a fog was lifting.

Slowly around them a keep was forming. Although clearly not designed for their large, equine forms there was little to worry about. At-Will incorporealism had many benefits.

As the details of the dream began to fill out, something became very clear.

This keep was under attack.

From the sky, dark bolts of magic and fire rained. Soldiers yelling echoed all around them. It was curious when a group of half-armored knights stormed through their forms.

The two princesses took a moment to absorb the destruction happening around them. It was another few moments before Luna spotted their target, clad in the same plate he wore when they spoke.

Standing on the other side of the rapidly materializing courtyard, he was barking out orders,

"Rembrandt! The gate is near collapse! Scrounge some men from the infirmary, rally the damn Initiates if you must, but do not let them breach our defenses!"

A man whose armor was less embellished than Sir Ritter's saluted with a fist against his chest, calling out as he jogged away,

"Yes, Grandmaster!"

Sir Ritter seemed to take a moment to glance around, the location they were at becoming more apparent to the pony sisters.

They were before a large cathedral of sorts. Cast from stone, it was obviously meant to be a fortified location. They stood outside the open gates, revealing pews filled with wounded. From their vantage point it was obvious that this keep was located on the side of a hill, it provided a view to the less elevated walls and small town that surrounded the church.

Outside the walls lay a heavy fog. Luna was familiar with this. His mind simply wasn't focused enough on the view to form it coherently.

Celestia glanced around. She appeared slightly uncomfortable when another stretcher bearing a soldier passed through them to enter the church.

A terrible explosion filled the air, arcs of green light spread out from the gatehouse as it seemed to crumble in on itself. Cries of pain and fear echoed out, overshadowed by the dark calls of unfamiliar monsters.

Sir Ritter gazed downward, his posture stiff and controlled. Eventually he pointed toward one of his lightly armored brethren rushing out of the church and called,

"You there, boy! Inform Rembrandt and Fusilier they are to retreat to the Cathedral!"

The boy seemed terrified out of his mind, far too young to be exposed to war, but the strong voice of Sir Ritter seemed to break through to him. He nodded and ran off.

The clash of steel and sword continued to sound from the city before.

A few knights began to trickle into the square, all their arms and armor were of similar make to Sir Ritter. They were all likely part of his Order.

When the wounded stopped coming up the path leading to this square, Sir Ritter turned and called out to inside the cathedral,

"Close the gates! We will hold them here. May Gerana be with you all!"

There were returned calls from inside, and a few other soldiers stumbled out to weakly stand with those gathered outside, then the cathedral gates slowly shut.

The faces of the Pony Sisters were grim. These people were clearly under attack from a large force, a force that could pierce their defenses at their strongest. This meager collection would not hold.

Every face seemed aware of it. No one opposed the wounded who stepped out with a sword in hand to die in battle, rather than in bed when this enemy broke through. There were hunched shoulders, straight backs, tears, grim faces, and bright eyes alike.

In the middle of it all, though, stood Sir Ritter. Similar to a beacon in a storm, he was resolute and seemed unfazed at the hopelessness of the situation. Those near him seemed to take from that, gathering themselves for a final defense.

No words were spoken between the soldiers, for what was there to say?

When the enemy came, they came swiftly. Luna could recognize the creations of necromancy, she was positive her sister did as well. Shambling corpses and skeletons made up the majority of the incoming attackers, intermixed were several resurrected knights.

The final fight started soon after, a hopeless battle.

The wounded were the first to fall under the vicious claws of the shambling corpses of former friends.

The young initiates fell to the makeshift blades of their ancestor's skeletons.

One by one the knight's fell to the prowess of their former brethren.

Finally, alone stood Sir Ritter. His shield had been lost some time ago, his helmet roughly knocked off to reveal an aging face. Far older than any of his now dead companions. His blade danced in the pale light of midday.

But no one can stand alone forever.

He was clearly aged, and the fight took its toll without a second thought. His swings slowly began to become less graceful, desperation and anger fueling his body in place of the energy it once had.

The first serious blow to strike him was the last, coming from the familiar armored form of a resurrected Rembrandt.

Sir Ritter was soon finished, falling to the ground and joining his brethren in death.

Celestia may have mistaken this for a nightmare, it was easy to, but Luna knew better. There were differences, most subtle. They were all easily seen by the Night Princess, however.

This was a memory, and Sir Ritter obviously stood before them today. She began to gain a sinking feeling in her chest.

As his body fell, so did the dream. It was dark for a few seconds, Luna held a hoof to her sister to hold any questions.

After a few moments the dream was filled with a crimson light, the world piecing together out of the darkness. It was different, though. Everything was muted, little better than grayscale. Sounds were muffled, there was no smell to anything.

Around them the cooling remains of the keep and town sat. The only corpse that remained was that of Sir Ritter. His body had been strung up inside the cathedral, over the altar to a unfamiliar god. His helmet had been caved in and sat before him, his sword and shield cast at his feet.

Something became immediately apparent, his body had no flesh left on it. Only clean bone remained.

After a few moments of nothing, Sir Ritter began to stir. He weakly struggled against his bonds, groaning almost pitifully. Soon enough he stopped, raising his head and looking around.

While he looked at the area, one could practically feel the fear from him. The confusion, shock at what has happened. How his senses had changed, remembering his death.

It took another minute of weak movements to get his right hand free, and the ropes that bound him immediately crumbled to dust.

With a harsh crumple, he hit the ground. For a few moments there was nothing except for the weak movement of metal and the clanking of bones.

Then he rose, using the altar to lever himself he struggled to his feet.

Even now that he lacked skin on his face, one could see the determination. The unwillingness to lay down and die.

Sir Ritter began the slow process of gathering his personal items, stumbling across the floor. Every movement brought a clank from his bones impacting his armor.

Eventually he reached his shield, the reflective back making him pause.

Luna could feel the emotions. The confusion, shock, and fear. To look into a mirror and see not yourself, but a monster, was a process she knew all too well.

Sir Ritter gazed at himself for several minutes before weakly stumbling to the altar and falling against it.

As he began to pray, his voice exactly as it had been in the library, the world around them began to crumble as the dream died.

Luna directed her magic to bend the dreamscape instead, forcing it into the shape of the Hall of Heroes in her and her sisters' old castle.

It was time to meet Sir Ritter.

Jean gasped as his vision came into focus, an unfamiliar stone ceiling looming above his prone form.

Immediately apparent was his lack of a helmet, where had it gone?

Then the memory of his dream hit, causing him to grimace. It had been many years since he thought of that day.

As he began to wonder how he had fallen asleep, an unfamiliar voice called out to him,

"Sir Ritter, perhaps you should get off of the floor."

This shocked him into action, rolling onto his belly he managed to climb to his feet.

When he turned around he was met with Princess Luna and another pony of a slightly larger build, about the same height.

Jean allowed himself to jump to a few conclusions. His weapons were missing, along with his helmet, and he was in an unfamiliar place. It was clear that they had figured out his secret and taken him in the night. He would have to fight his way out -

His thoughts were interrupted by Princess Luna speaking firmly,

"We are friends here, Sir Ritter. I do not blame you for your condition, not after I witnessed your dream. Dreams do not lie."

Jean saw the sympathy on her and her sister's face. There was a start contrast, though. The white one, probably the 'Princess Celestia' that had been mentioned, had a look of pity. To the contrary, Princess Luna's gaze was filled with understanding.

He decided to cling to a familiar question,

"Where am I then, why did you take me from the library?"

Princess Luna answered once again, a bit of amusement in her voice,

"You and I are still in the library, my sister is in Canterlot. We are in your dreams, Sir Ritter. This is how we witnessed your memory."

Jean considered that statement. In his mind? He had heard of stranger magic, he himself was an example of that. It wasn't out of the realm of belief for them to be inside his head.

Eventually he responded,

"This is Princess Celestia, then? Twilight Sparkle's mentor? Where is the King and Queen, shouldn't they be doing this?"

Princess Celestia chuckled a bit at that, responding with the most clear and bright voice he had ever heard,

"I am indeed Princess Celestia. There is no King and Queen in Equestria, my sister and I rule together as Diarchs."

Again, Jean supposed that wasn't the weirdest thing that could happen. He recalled encountering a cave run by children, who exiled people when they turned 20. A rather odd experience, that had been.

Celestia continued,

"As things are, Sir Ritter, I am afraid the places you spoke of are unfamiliar to me. As is the cathedral we saw. I will assign a scribe to go through several tomes and see if there are references to them, even my memory can fail sometimes."

Princess Luna shook her head at this, speaking with a hint of exasperation,

"We both know that is not true, Celestia."

She refocused on Jean,

"Neither of us have any inkling of the areas you spoke of, so I would not raise your hopes."

Jean's thoughts were racing. He had heard of planar travel, but it was whispered rumors or the ramblings of a wizard. He had always considered it to be some grandiose spell, could it be more simple? Then again, the town he awoke in didn't look like some elemental plane.

Princess Luna seemed aware that he was in deep thought, but interrupted anyway,

"I will admit, I am curious what your name is. Now that we know your secret, it should be of little consequence to tell us?"

A little bit of the internal princess seemed to shine through, he could see a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes that looked insatiable.

Jean did suppose that the rulers of this place deserved to know, he tried to tell himself he wasn't eager to just say his name,

"It is Jean. Sir Jean-Baptiste de Bittencourt."

The words rolled off his tongue, they felt good. He was sure some of his eagerness crept into his tone, but he could not help it. He was sure he would have forgotten it, were it not for the long, desperate nights of doing nothing but repeating it to himself.

Princess Luna went to speak, but the world around them began to fade and shift to gray.

Jean felt shocked as he looked around,

"What's going on?"

Princess Celestia spoke up before her sister got the chance,

"It seems that you are stirring, Jean."

He nodded, that made sense.

The last sight before his vision faded to black was looks of contemplation upon the Royal Sisters faces.

Far away, in a dark castle, a golden robed man cursed at the ragged lab he had managed to put together. How was a supposed to devise a way to conquer this place if he couldn't even make these pony corpses reanimate.

It was odd, they seemed naturally resistant to necromancy. Much more than human corpses. Reminded him a bit of dwarfs, if he was honest.

He thoughts wandered back to his old life, in Eastfen. A good place, beautiful until he had burnt it to the ground with his first ghoul. Still held that rustic ruins feel, though.

Then one of his cauldrons began to boil over, looking exceptionally volatile in its puke-green state.

Frantically he waved arms, calling out,

"Ilkorts! Ilkorts! The cauldron, get the cauldron!"

Of course, his inept minions were far too slow to stop it's inevitable explosion.

So hard to find good help these days.

Author's Note

600 words shorter than the last and almost late.
To be fair, I rewrote this several times and was still quite unsatisfied with the product.

Tell me your thoughts, fears, dreams, and ambitions (Or perhaps just a kind word or two) in the comments.

Until next time.