Across the Ages

Chapter 2

Much to his disappointment, Tommy did not get to ride with the two strange looking, but beautiful princesses. Instead, he was riding in the second chariot with all the guards. It had taken him a minute or two to get over the fact that this chariot was not only flying, but being pulled through the air by a pair of these human/horse hybrids with wings. Now that he was over the initial shock, he was faced with another one; this world was alive. Very alive.

The world, when he left, was on its last leg. He was beginning to hope that he would never wake from this dream. Though, if this was all a dream, illusion, delusion, trick of the mind, what have you, it was the most real one yet. It was as if he could actually feel the wind, smell the fresh air, he could certainly feel the guards’ grips. He thought he heard somewhere that, in a dream, you weren’t supposed to be able to do any of that. That, and he had never once dreamed up such creatures as these before. They all looked so close to human, yet still animalistic. He had seen such things on the web before, maybe that’s where his mind pulled these… ponies, they had called themselves, from.

Besides, there is no way he’d be allowed anywhere near a place like this huge palace they were heading for, let alone inside it. It was beautiful beyond words. In fact, the whole city was beautiful. It just wasn’t fair.

The chariots touched down behind the palace walls. They all walked along a path through some garden filled with chittering animals. At the end of the path was a large hall with tall columns and windows. Inside, the hall seemed to be designed with only elegance in mind, white marble and red carpet were everywhere. It was just one more thing that proved that this world was a dream.

“Princess Celestia! Luna!” A purple woman in a pleaded skirt and sweater vest came running up to the group. She probably thought the sweater and skirt hid her assets, but Tommy had been without a woman for so long that his imagination etched out every single curve she had. She ignored the guards, maids, and Tommy to go straight to the two princesses and enveloped them both in a tight hug.

“It is good to see you, Twilight.” The hug was released and Tommy could see that this Twilight girl was only a little taller than the maids. She also had the same extras as the taller princesses. “Did you finish with those files?”

Twilight had been rearranging all the palace’s files, including the daily court minutes, for the past few months. Some would consider it a punishment fit for a war criminal, but Twilight had volunteered. Insisted on being allowed to do it. Celestia was all too happy to let her do it too.

“No, not yet. There’s still a few centuries left to go. I keep getting distracted with reading them.”

Celestia laughed and patted Twilight on the shoulder. “Oh, Twilight. I’m so happy to know that making you a princess didn’t change who you are.”

“Speaking of change, who is this?” Twilight asked, pointing toward Tommy. “He looks like he needs some medical attention, by the way.”

“I’m Tommy Fareday and don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m always this handsome.”

“O-kay. Well if you’re not injured, then why are you so different?”

“Because I’m not a horse-person. I, am a human being,” Tommy stated with a flourish and theatrical hand waving.

“Wait, so you’re a non-equine, sapient species? That is fascinating. You have to let me study you!”

Tommy’s first thought was very obvious. ‘Only if I can study you.’ What he said though was, “I suppose I can spare some of my fantasy to answer some questions.”

“Fantasy?”

“Twilight, Tommy here seems to be under the impression that he is experiencing some form of delusion brought on by mental stress,” Celestia clarified. “Did you happen to bring Spike along with you? I’m sure Tommy would get a kick out of seeing your number one assistant.”

As if on cue, a stack of folders, binders, books, and scrolls with blue jean covered legs came running into the hall. These legs, however, did not end in hooves like everyone else he’s met today. No, these legs ended in broad, clawed, purple feet.

“Ah, here he is now. Spike!” Twilight called.

“Yeah, Twilight?” Spike responded right before he walked right into a guard, spilling his stack everywhere and dropping him on his rump. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it, Spike.” The guards of the palace had all been around to watch the young guy grow since he was hatched and were used to him and his sporadic bouts of clumsy.

Tommy, on the other hand, had never seen anything like this strange creature before him. The legs were shorter than they should have been for any biped that came up to his waist. There were green spikes sticking out of the top of his clearly reptilian head that ran down his back, through his shirt and down his tail which ended in a spade. The most unnerving things were all those fangs and claws.

Cooly and collectively Tommy remarked on the newcomer with a, “What the fuck is that!?”

“This, language, is Spike. He’s a dragon and my number one assistant,” Twilight told him as the little guy in question hid behind her. “I hatched him from an egg a few years ago and he’s been helping me every day since. I’m very lucky to have him.” The drake smiled up at Twilight lovingly.

“Whoa, a dragon? My imagination is having fun with this one. Next there’s going to be a griffon in a chef’s hat and a mustache.”

As if on cue, “Ah, Princess, I am zo ‘appy to find ‘ou ‘ere. I ‘ave finished your ordair ‘nd ‘ave delivered it to thee kitchens.” That has got to be the most forced French accent ever.

“Thank you, Gustave, I look forward to enjoying it later. Now, Twilight, I’m afraid that you’ll have to wait to investigate into the mystery that is Tommy Fareday. For now, I would like to have him seen by our physician, psychiatrist, chef, and, quite possibly, our jailor.

“Jailor, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“What she’s referring to is the fact that, up until a few hours ago, I was locked away in a prison cell. She’s just being pragmatic and I appreciate that. Though I have to reiterate that it was debtor’s prison and this is all unnecessary.” ‘It’s my fantasy, so why is there so much clothing here?’

“Be that as it may, I would still like to take those steps.”

“And I have no plans to get in your way. I’m just enjoying the ride right now. Guard, take me to see the doc,” Tommy said as he turned and started heading for a random door.

“He’s an… interesting individual,” Luna said as she watched him walk toward the restroom with a guard close behind.

“Agreed. The question remains, though,” Celestia turned to her sister, “what should we do with him?”

“Princess,” one of the remaining guards spoke up, “I recommend keeping him in the dungeon. At least until we can get a better read on him.”

“So you think we should lock up a new creature on the very first day?” Celestia looked at the guard with a cocked eyebrow. “Do you not think that will make us look cruel?”

“I was not suggesting we keep him in there indefinitely. I merely meant that we should house him there instead of the normal guest quarters. That would allow us to limit his movement and to better protect the staff and, ultimately, the citizenry.

“I see. Very well, see to it. Just try to make it as comfortable as you can for him. He already seems to have suffered enough of a shock as it is.”

“Of course, your highness.” The guard bowed and left to follow Celestia’s orders.

“Do you really think it’s necessary to lock him up, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“I certainly hope I’m overreacting, Twilight, but anypony who thinks they are in a fantasy, thinks there are no consequences for their actions. Somepony like that can be extremely dangerous.”

“True enough,” Luna added. “While Tommy may completely benign, it is better to be safe than regretful.”

The other two princesses nodded in agreement.

*****

It had taken a few hours, but Tommy had been thoroughly poked, prodded, measured, weighed, questioned, examined, and even fed. Now, he was being led to his accommodations, AKA the dungeon.

He was being led down the stone halls by a female guard named Turn Key. The hallway wasn’t particularly long, but it was clearly a dungeon with all the iron bars and the thick wooden doors. However, it was a very nice dungeon. The stones were white and the wood was highly polished cherry. The cells were also fairly large and very clean with large bunks and fresh linens. It was possibly the nicest detainment facility Tommy had ever even heard of.

“…and the princess simply thought it would be prudent to keep you here overnight until we knew more about you and could determine whether you were safe or not,” Turn Key said as she opened one the of the wooden doors and unlocked the cell within.

“Makes sense.” As Tommy looked around his cell, an idea popped into his head that was simply too good to not try. “Besides, it’s kind of sexy.”

“Wh-what?”

“Oh, come on. I’m sure you’ve thought of it.” Turn Key simply stared blankly at him in confusion. “Really? I mean, I saw that look you gave the guy at the front desk, so I just assumed… Anyway, night after long night, you work here. You get no recognition, no respect, no one even says thank you. Despite that, you still give up your time and social life and, worse yet, your love life. Every night you come in and walk these corridors and no one pays any attention to you… except for him,” Tommy pointed to the empty cell. “He listens to what you have to say. Slowly, over time, you two build a rapport. You’re not friends, but he listens to you. It isn’t long before you start to realize that not only is this guy a good listener, but he’s also easy on the eyes. Every now and then, you just happen to catch him washing or you drop your keys outside his cell and bend over to pick them up.” Tommy was sure that he had Turn Key’s attention, and judging, by the darting eyes, he was close to his goal. She only needed a little push. “Then, one day, you walk in on him exercising in his cell. His bare, muscular chest glistens in the torchlight and his smell wafts in the air.” Speaking of smell, Tommy hadn’t been able to spend much time around women, so he burned every detail about every one of them he could into his brain. Also, the fact that her knees were grinding together was a dead giveaway. He lowered his voice another half an octave. “You know you shouldn’t. He’s your prisoner and you’re his guard. It’s forbidden. But you just can’t stop yourself. Slowly, you unclasp your armor and slide it to the floor as he comes up to the bars and reaches down to the waistband of his pants and-”

Tommy wasn’t able to finish his thought. Turn Key had spun on her hooves and disappeared up the hallway. A few seconds later, Turn Key came back the other way, dragging the other guard behind her. Tommy chuckled to himself, then he let himself out of his unlocked room and headed back up the stairs and through the gate that never got locked. Just as he was turning the corner, he could just hear the sound of a slamming iron gate and armor hitting the hard stone floor.

“Heh, that’s my cue,” Tommy said as he started a light jog back up the hallway toward the palace.

Tommy was starting to have fun. Getting that guard so turned on that she nearly raped the other guard was so easy that it was like the thing was scripted. Now, he was ducking around corners and hiding in closets to avoid being spotted. He even managed to sneak a cupcake out of the kitchen, despite the thing being secured in lockbox (lock picking was a skill he learned in prison and this one beyond antiquated). In fact, Tommy was having so much fun, he decided to up the ante by climbing along the outside of the building, using the lattice, vines, and stonework as handholds.

While he was going from one balcony to the next, he got to see some interesting sights. At one, he saw some maids simply cleaning. At another one, there was a sky blue girl playing tea party with some dolls. The next room also had maids in it, though they were also cleaning, it was pretty obvious that they were the ones that made the mess. He almost got caught when one balcony turned out to be attached to an occupied office.

Finally, Tommy came to a large, empty bedroom. It was dark, but there was enough light to see everything by, thanks to what looked like a few gas lamps turned down low. The rug was an orange gradient, starting at gold in the center and turning to a red-orange around the rim. The bed was huge and had a similar color scheme as the rug. The walls were a pale pink while the floors were a shiny white marble. Even the art on the walls were beautiful, scenes of fields of flowers and mountain ranges. But, the most important thing about the room, no one else was in it.

Tommy climbed onto the balcony and walked through the open doors. Casually, Tommy walked over to the bed and felt the sheets. He couldn’t help but think the mattress was so soft, there had to be a cloud or something inside. Tommy kicked his shoes off and then took off the rest of his clothes, leaving his underwear in place, and put them under the bed. Afterward, he slid inside the sheets and snuggled in for a good night sleep.

Just before he slipped off to dreamland, the door opened. There was a muffled conversation from outside the doorway, one of the voices was familiar. Worse, he recognized that white face. Tommy carefully brought the covers up as high as he could without completely hiding his eyes.

He watched as Celestia walked across the room. Her mane and tail stopped flowing on the non-wind and turned pink and floppy. Her horn lit up and her dress unzipped itself and floated over her head and dropped into a hamper in the corner, thus giving Tommy a view that he tried very hard to burn into his long-term memory. She then stepped into a closet, shortly after, her bra and panties floated out and into said hamper. Celestia walked out of the closet in a fluffy, pink robe. She then went into her washroom and closed the door behind her. Tommy, seeing his chance, started to climb out of the massive bed. It was too late, though. He had only just made it back in before the door opened.

Celestia went straight to the bed and went around to the side opposite Tommy. She then took her robe off and draped it over the chair at her vanity next to the bed. Tommy barely managed not to whimper at the sight of her silk panties and night gown, the color of which was a shade of blue that matched her sister’s fur. As she sunk into the mattress, Celestia let out a long, tired sigh and closed her eyes.

'Perfect,' Tommy thought, 'now I just have to wait for her to fall asleep and I can sneak back out the window.'

Once again, he didn’t get the chance. Celestia rolled onto her side, which placed her right up against him, pressing her large breasts against his arm. As Tommy’s face was starting to glow brighter and brighter about the chest flesh, (warm, squishy, and plump chest flesh) she made it worse by wrapping an arm around his chest and a leg around his waist. Then, when she rested her head on his shoulder, he knew he couldn’t last long. It had been a while since he had been this close to a woman, prisons aren’t co-ed after all.

Tommy was on the verge overheating when, “You know, it’s been many centuries since anypony has tried to warm my bed, even longer since they had tried to do so without my permission. I commend you on your achievement and as a reward, I shall grant you ten seconds before teleporting you to the deepest, darkest, dankest cell I have and then I will have a conversation with my guards regarding your freedom of movement. Okay, ready? Ten, nine, eight…”