(Celestia)

“What do you mean you don’t know what he is?” I asked the doctor in front of me. The, now known to be a stallion, had been stabilized and the poison that had been used had been removed. He was lucky to be alive at the moment, if he had gotten there a few minutes later he’d have been dead.

The doctor fidgeted under my gaze. I could tell he was nervous but I didn’t have the patience to deal with that at the moment.

“We have biological and medical knowledge on most of the races on Equis, the only ones we don’t have are the dragons and caribou.” I continued. The doctor shook his head.

“I’m sorry your majesty, but there is no record of his species in our archives. I’ve double-checked myself, and the nurses have triple checked, we couldn’t find a single shred of info.” He explained. I still had my doubts about that. How could a completely unknown race just pop into existence? The doctor must’ve sensed my disbelief because he motioned toward the patient’s door.

“See for yourself princess, you know more than me so you might be able to give us some insight.” He said. I didn’t respond and walked to the open door. I doubted I could give much insight, I was never very good with healing magic or medical know-how.

I stood in the doorway and looked at the stallion on the bed. I blinked a few times to make sure what I was seeing was what I was seeing. There on the bed lay a being I had never seen and given my few millennia of years lived, that was saying something.

He had no fur what so ever on his body that I could see, revealing his skin to the world. He was well tanned and had a small amount of mane on his head roughly shoulder length that was currant red in color.

His face was what drew my attention the most. It was completely devoid of a muzzle like mine. I’d almost call it flat but that seemed a bit harsh. He had a small pair of eyes above an equally small nose. His ears were on the sides of his head rather than higher up like a pony’s, giving him a somewhat monkey-ish look.

“What’s his current condition?” I turned and asked the doctor who was still standing in the doorway. He sighed,

“He’s stable for the moment. The poison that coated one of the three arrows was attacking his magical core at an alarming rate. Whoever created that made it specifically for magical beings, which is a terrifying thought.” The doctor said and I agreed completely with him. All ponies used magic, to one degree or another so a poison that specifically targets a beings' magical core… I suppressed a shudder of fear that threatened to surface.

“Whoever was attacking him might follow and try to follow to make sure he’s dead. I’ll need to know who is coming and when.” I thought. I hated everything about what I was going to do. What I needed to do. It was no different from raping someone's mind, no matter how one justifies it.

“Doctor if you would please bring me everything you’ve discovered about him, in writing please, I’ll want to go over this with my sister at a later date,” I ask the doctor who bows and makes his way out of the room. That should keep him occupied long enough for me to get what I need.

I shut the door behind him. Manipulating my subjects still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth but after a few thousand years, I’ve gotten very good at it. I lock the door and draw the curtains, I don’t want anyone to see me do this.

The staff here would be horrified. They are sworn to do no harm, which includes mental harm as well. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, steadying my nerves and calming my mind. Mind walking requires a clear and calm mind to do correctly.

“I’m sorry about this,” I whisper to him as I walk over to his bedside and place my hand on his forehead. I close my mind and concentrate. My sense seem to dull and fade for a moment but when I open my eyes they all return and I gaze into the most recent memory of mystery being.

I see two of them, one is the one lying in the hospital bed here and the other appears to be an elderly being. They are speaking to each other in a language I don’t know, but I can tell they care for each other very much with how they are smiling.

I see the younger of the two reach out his hand and say a word in another language and see something white fly across the room and into his open hand. It’s an impressive display of fine-tune telekinesis if the speed is anything to go by.

The older one starts talking again and the younger male's face goes red and continues to go even redder as the older one keeps talking. I stifle a small giggle, I may not understand what they’re saying but I can recognize someone getting teased a mile away.

The older one walks around a rather large and complex runic circle. I blink, How did I miss that on the floor. I study it intensely. The runes are different but from the structure, it looks to be some type of long-range teleport array. It reminded me of the one Starswirl was trying to make work .. before…

It clicked. I know what they were trying to do and it made my heartache for both of them just like it did when my wonderful friend and teacher tried the same thing. They don’t understand that there are walls around the universes for a reason.

I hear the two begin to chant and watch with somber fascination as they start to write with pure magic in the air, walking the circle’s edge and chanting at the same time. While it was a foolish endeavor, what they were trying to do, I had to commend them both for mastery of their craft.

They were nearly done when all Tartarus broke loose. I saw something fly through the air and strike the older one in the back before he slumped to the ground. I saw the hilt of a dagger sticking out of his back and I felt my stomach lurch. It took all my will not to be sick.

The young Stallion yells something and starts across the circle. He stops near the other side and I follow his gaze. There in the shadows of the far wall is another being, clad in red and black armor.

“This must have been an assassination attempt.” I realize. The attacker tries to do so again but I find my hands flying to my ears as a roar tries to break my eardrums. I stare, numb in shock as the younger stallion blasts a beam of pure power from his mouth while he screams in rage.

The assassin didn’t last long to my relief. I don’t condone the killing of others but I don’t want enemies to suffer. The ground shakes and I see the devastation outside from the hole in the wall he created.

I try to swallow the lump in my throat. This stallion, whoever he is, is incredibly powerful. I watch as he stumbles slightly and see one of the three arrows, that were removed, sticking out of his shoulder.

I follow the trajectory and find a second assassin. The stallion turned to face the new threat but they were already about to fire again. Then the circle erupted into a dome of swirling colors, just like the one Twilight had said appeared in Ponyville. The floor shook violently and I almost fell. The stallion did and the fall saved his life.

I watched as he tried to heal the old one to no avail. He was weeping as the next arrow hit him in the back. He screamed in pain and twisted around placing himself between the assassin and the dead body of his friend. I saw the arrow fly and heard something I thought I’d never hear again as long as I lived.

“FUS ROH DAH!” The stallion said, sending a cone of power from his mouth as he shouted. My eyes widened when the words registered in my head.

“That’s Ancient Draconic, how does he know the lost Dragon language!?” I was stunned and quite terrified at the same time. I’d fought the ancient dragons, along with my father and mother and we had barely had gotten a victory in that war. The dragons of old were a deadly foe to face in battle and their voice could shatter mountains.

I saw the arrow strike his stomach and I see the assassin slam into the wall and slump to the ground unmoving. I quickly turn my gaze back to the stallion and see him being pulled toward the circle.

I notice two strands of red and blue magic grabbing his legs and pulling him closer with him fighting all the way. He screams something and I hear a door slam open before the vision goes black.

I blink and look around, there is nothing around me but inky blackness. I’ve seen what I wanted to see and try to break off the mental contact. I close my eyes and concentrate when I open them again I’m still in the black expanse.

I’m starting to get worried and I keep trying to break away from his mind and return to my own.

” You thought you could look at my memories without consequence?” I hear a foreign, male voice in my head say, making snap my eyes open and I stare into the two-deep green, rage-filled eyes of the mystery stallion’s face. They were slited, like a dragons' and seemed to burn bright with power.

He was dressed in a flowing deep green robe and hood with blue accents, earth brown calf-high boots and held a white spear in his right hand. Bluish-white vein-like lines pulsed brightly on his skin that I could see and it only seemed to increase the force of his glare.

I felt myself start to shake slightly. I’ve stood up to many powerful foes in my time as a princess of Equestria, banished the Demon possessed Unicorn Sombra, stopped a magic sucking, conquering centaur Tirek, and sealed the chaos bringer, Discord himself into stone.

I sadly realized here and now, when I’m faced with a powerful, angry being, that I was able to do all that because I had friends and family with me at the time. I had others to help me when things got rough, but now, that I’m here, with no one to back me up, no one to lean on… I’m uncertain if I can win.

“Who are you!?” The stallion yells and flicks his hand towards me. I feel myself fly through the air and slam hard onto a flat surface knocking the air out of my lungs. I try to move but I feel some things swiftly wrap around my wrist, legs, waist, and neck pulling tight and immobilizing me.

I try to use my magic but he appears in front of me and grabs my horns making me flinch hard and I bite my lip, making it bleed to keep from screaming in pain. He tightens his grips on my horn and I hear a pitiful whimper escape my mouth and I can feel tears spilling out of my eyes.

“Who. Are. You?” He asks me again, slowly, enunciating each word. His voice is so calm and even, but his eyes are blazing infernos of anger.

“C-celest-tia.” I fought through the pain and I managed to answer his question. I felt his grip on my horn loosen a tiny bit, it was only a small amount but the wave of relief that flooded me was nearly physical.

The rage in his eyes seemed to dim a bit, being replaced by a stony expression that I could not read.

“Why did you invade my mind? What did you see?” He demanded. At first, I thought about lying but I squashed that idea in a heartbeat. This being had me completely at his mercy, my life was in his hands and I don’t feel like dying anytime soon.

“Trying to learn…” I managed to croak out. His grip on my horn was still hard and I was fighting through the pain.

“Learn what?” He asked his eyes hardening along with his grip. I gasped in pain and I let out another whimper.

“Please… not an enemy.” I pleaded with him. I was fighting the pain but it was starting to overwhelm my mind. His eyes stayed flinty but I felt his grip lessen again making me gasp in relief.

“How are you not an enemy? You invaded my mind and I find you rummaging around in my thoughts and memories like a skulking skever rooting through the garbage.” He said. He had every right to be angry, I was the one at fault here, I just hope he’d stop squeezing long enough for me to apologize.

“Trying to see who you were.” I say between breaths. He squeezes my horn again making me cry out in pain this time then he just, lets go. I gasp and panting heavily, my head feeling light from the sudden lack of pain. He’s still standing in front of me with his hard gaze. I think I saw some sparks of lightning dart over his freehand but I’m not sure.

“Start talking.” He says. There’s no compromise in his voice. I realize he’s giving me a chance to explain and I’m not going to waste it. I take a few deep breaths to clear my head and slow my pounding heart before I speak.

“You were found injured, multiple arrow wounds in the town of Ponyville in the nation of Equestria. You were rushed to our nearest medical facility to be healed.” I said watching him carefully. His body language shifted slightly, becoming less aggressive. I started to feel slightly hopeful.

“We treated your wounds and were able to negate the poison that was killing you.” I added, hoping to get on his good side and calm him down. It worked somewhat, he was still defense and looked ready to pounce at the slightest threat, but he was obviously mulling my words over.

“Why are you in my head?.” He asks. I bite my lip in nervousness, wincing in pain slightly as I taste blood from early. I decide the complete truth would be best.

“I was trying to find out who and what you are as well as why you’re here. We’ve never seen one of your kind in all our history and the poison your we’re attacked with made us worry others would follow you, violently.” I say. I see him nod his head slightly.

“The feeling mutual, I’ve never met a talking horse that walks on two legs, has a horn and wings and wears a dress.” He says. I feel offended that he calls me a horse but I let it go as he probably doesn’t know what that means. Doesn’t mean I’m going to let him call me that again though.

“Our race is called ponies.” I correct him. He blinks at me with a confused look on his face.

“What’s the difference?” He asks. I give him a slight glare and he chuckles slightly. At least he seems to be embarrassed. Suddenly I feel my restraints disappear and I fall onto my rump on the ground of his mindscape. I hiss slightly in discomfort from my tail being pinched but ignore it as I quickly get to my hooves and give him a sour look.

“That’s for sticking your nose in places you shouldn’t be.” He reprimanded me. I’d have been shocked at his lack of manners if he wasn’t justified.

I grew nervous as his face turned stony.

“And this is to make sure you stay out.” He said and I felt my heart drop. He roared so loudly that I felt like I was being tossed around by hurricane winds. I saw an image of a massive dragon appear behind him, roaring in unison. I feel the link between our minds shatter and I’m thrown back into my body with great force.

The force translated into reality and I found myself flung back into the hospital's wall. Not too hard but enough to make me stumble as I gain my feet again. I’m panting as my heart races. I stare at his still unconscious body lying on the bed for a few moments before I unlock the door and with quick strides leave the room.

My mind is racing with what I’d seen and learned, which I was sad and glad to say wasn’t much. I had a feeling if I had dug deeper I’d have never made it out whole. He was powerful and had complete control over his mindscape,

I felt a massive, dull throbbing ache in my horn as I swiftly made my way out of the hospital, ignoring the doctor calling out to me that he had got all that I asked for. I had bigger things to worry about. He was able to transfer mental actions into the real world, something only my mother had ever accomplished and that was after 4 days of meditation.

I walked through a pair of doors and entered the hospital lobby, finding Twilight and the rest of the elements of harmony present. Twilight’s head jerked toward me and her face went from happy to worried too quickly for my taste.

She’s extremely smart, so much so it’s hard to keep her from seeing past my regal mask sometimes. Luckily I can dangle a new book in front of her and she’ll instantly forget. But this time I can't hide this from her… not all of it at least. I see her eyes dart over my body and her worried look increases tenfold.

“Princess Celestia? What’s wrong? Why do your wrists and legs look like you’ve been in shackles?” I look at my wrists and see they have raw red lines where they restraints he had used on me had been.

I ignored her question and looked over all the mares present.

“I need all of you girls on the next train to Canterlot. We have much to discuss.” I said and teleported away before Twilight could ask any more questions. It was a bit cruel to leave them like that but I needed to work some things out before they got here.

I teleported back to my room and making my way to the bathroom I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I wasn’t happy with what I saw. I looked like I had been crying for hours with how messed up the fur on my cheeks was. My eyes were red and I could see a tiny crack on my horn. I looked as shaken as I felt.

I channeled my magic and hissed as I felt the crack in my horn fuse closed and the skin on my wrists and legs regrow the fur that had been rubbed off. I cleaned myself up and walked back out and made my way to the balcony. I stared hard in the direction of Ponyville, for the first time in a long while, my mind was uncertain of the future and that scared me. I had disturbed a sleeping dragon, and I was hoping it wouldn’t burn my home when it woke up.

Author's Note

Well master, it seems that Celestia, as the ponies say, Buck up.

(Overlord) Indeed she did. Heh Even I know not to enter another mind, especially when I have no idea what their abilities are.

As wise as ever sire.

(Jester) Master of the Mindscape! ( Jester yelled as he rides around on a bucking sheep. Overlord pinches the bridge of his nose before sending a fireball at Jester rearend)

(Jester) AAAAHH! MY CLOTHS ARE ON FIRE! MY UNDERWEAR'S ON FIRE!! I'M ON FIRE!! (Jester screams while running around the room bouncing on his bum trying to put out the flames. Overlord reaches down and rips off a piece of the cooked sheep, munching on it as he watches Jester running around)

Dinner and a show! Oh, clever as always master. I wonder what will happen when Brom and Celestia meet face to face in the real world? we'll have to wait and see what the next chapter brings. And don't forget. Evil, always finds a way. (Evil cackle)