Chapter Ten: Bargaining for my Life.

“No.” A firm voice spoke to me.

“No?” I asked.

“Absolutely not. You must not think much of me, if you assumed I would to agree to that.” Celestia looks at me from her chair, before standing up and boring down on me.

“...Are you really sure about that?~” I tilt my head with a grin. “How much knowledge of necromancy do you have? In any form?”

“Enough to not need any more. I will not allow you to use any of your magic.”

“But, pr-” I break into a harsh cough, holding a fist to my mouth and an open palm to Celestia, “What? Even if the knowledge might save millions of lives and aid you in the long-run? Be reasonable, your highness. That storm is not something you can figure out with your magic.” She looks somewhere behind me, before turning back to me with a calm expression.

“Are you implying that the storm is made of souls?” I give a short hum.

“I’m not implying anything, your highness. But the fact that I have this much progress in identifying the origin and purpose of that storm with nothing more than a glance, means: I just might be your Ponies ticket to a more peaceful life. All I ask: is that you let me get a closer look at it and after I tell you the results of my investigation, you do not make even an attempt in trying to subdue or ‘get me out of the picture’.” The glowy alicorn looks me over.

“You are not very tactful… Vadon, was it?”

“I apologize if I seem hostile.” I give a mocking bow, “But that is only because I’ve recently had hostile actions taken against me.” Multiple ones, in fact.

After blinking as if she had zero fucks to give, Celestia looked up at me and spoke in an even, but interested tone, “And what do you have to offer exactly?”

“Well: I can make you a sandwich, maybe toast. I can also con-, cre-, hmm.” I look down in deep thought.

“Form?”

“Yeah! I can form a partnership of sorts with you. I research stuff and give you the results.” Not all of them, but only those that I consider you not being able to use against me.

“Stuff?” She sounds serious, but I think she’s amused… just a bit.

“Pff. Don’t tell me this world is known in and out. You’ve had necromancers as enemies in the past for reasons your own. Why not get one as an ally?” I extend my hand. She looks down on it.

“I thought you said: you weren’t a necromancer?” Her eyes move back to mine.

“I’m not. But I do know necromancy and more magic is always useful, plus… what do any of us have to gain by becoming enemies? We’ll only gain loss.” My attempt at being somber and moody works and she stays silent for a few moment, probably sending a mental signal for some kind of airstrike on my position.

“I see… reason in your words. And surprisingly no deceit in your eyes. And no fear.”

“I thought I told you that already, no? Besides: I don’t lie, don’t like doing it and hate those that do.” -lie to me, but I hate everyone anyway. “Also, what did I say about getting in my head?~”

The Queen of Equestria, the land of ponies, menacingly stands up, looking down at me like a judgemental person. Her slowly swirling vortexes remind me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it at the moment. After the blazing depths have probed enough of me, they seem to ease back their intensity slightly.

“I propose we continue this in more pleasant accommodations. Would you be willing to come with me to the palace?” Like I have much of a choice.

“No, I absolutely refuse, because you don’t have tea and crumpets!” I could almost see her jaw stiffen at my first word, but relax by the end and sport an untelling expression on her face.

“We actually do.”

“Oh. In that case: lead the way then.” They have crumpets? She takes a breath and is about disperse her shield bubble, before I beat her with a question, “Who is that, by the way?” She turns to look over where my eyes wandered for the second time and after a second of silence, turns back to me.

“That is one of my students - Twilight Sparkle. She is quite talented and her genius has been noted by others multiple times. I ask for you to not speak with her, because I have zero doubt that she will want to ask you questions on our way.”

“Right… pff~ I’m not some kind of ancient evil spirit or mastermind that is going to corrupt her.”

She says nothing as the runes around her horn dissipate and the matrix falls apart together with the shield, getting rid of the slightly white tint everything outside of the egg had.

The Queen doesn’t seem to have anything else to add, so she simply turns and motions me, which I take as a sign to follow. As we pass the ring of the remaining guards, I look to her student. A unicorn mare, putting away a notebook or a clipboard in a bag hanging from her shoulder. She is dressed in what looks like a sweater and a that type of skirt skirt that looks like it had been cut by scissors. Her face has a calm smile on her face as her eyes glow brighter than her brothers, who is standing right next to her, looking at me, arms crossed a serious expression on his face. Twilights smile is on the opposite contrast of her eyes, as she stares at me with a slight head-tilt. She looks like a tsundere. Or is it yandere?

In any case, Celestia approaches her, so I follow the tall alicorn as Twilight fixes her straight hair with a small movement of her hand and switches her attention to her mentor.

“Twilight Sparkle. May I know why you had not left with your brother?” The unicorn flinches, before bowing.

“Forgive me, Queen Celestia, but I wished to stay and record as much about the creature’s physical appearance as possible. Maybe even ask it some questions.” Her head lifts for a fraction of a second as her purple eyes glance at me, before bowing down again.

“I see.” I shuffle a little on my feet, stealing a look at Shining Armor, who feels a bit uncomfortable himself if that little hoof shuffle is anything to go by, “...I will allow you to accompany us to the castle, but you will keep at least three hoofs away from him and you won’t attempt to make any sort of conversation with him. Am I understood?” Celestia can be pretty scary, like a teacher who won’t take any more of your bullshit but tries to be lenient.

“Yes, your highness.” Twilight unbends and looks at Celestia with a smile, before blinking her gaze to me, “You have a little something on your face.” She says, tapping her nose.

I reach to my nose ridge with an index finger and release a quiet hiss, grimacing slightly. I pull away and look down to see the tip of my finger being slightly wider, bigger, fatter, what have you, than the rest of it and I feel something wet flow down my nose for a bit. Welp. My nose is utterly fucked. How am I able to breathe though? Shouldn’t blood be filling everything in there? I take a look around the street and find a tourist shop, that’s selling shirts and various accessories.

As I walk over to it, nobody around says a word. I notice trios of unicorn guards standing around… things. They appear to be some kind of battery, having a rough cylindrical shape with open sides, revealing the biggest crystal I have seen in my life placed inside a ring in the middle of the structure, locked into place from both ends. Of course it looks all fancy and stuff, having bits and pieces twisting and turning into symmetrical shapes over the crystal. Some crystals are ‘greyed out’ for a lack of a better word, but some have a purple and blue shimmering glow to them.

I look through as set of glasses hanging from those metal stands and pick what should be black tanned glasses. I look at the price tag, which also has a description. Black Tanned Glasses made by ‘These Guys’. Yup. Tearing off the tag and leaving a few bits on the nearby table, I put on the glasses, the ridges of which also cover the wounds on the side of my head. The world stays the same.

Returning to the trio magic users, I look up at Celestia, “How do I look?”

“Less creepy.” Is Shining’s smartass response, before Celestia can even open her mouth.

I slowly turn to him and lower my glasses, looking at him over them. He stares right back at me, seemingly no longer affected by my fiery gaze, but I can see that little jaw shift.

Fixing the glasses back on, I look up at Celestia again, “It’s very considerate of you.” What a tactic reply and she’s correct. It’s very considerate of me~

“Your majesty, may we accompany you?” Adagios’ voice asks and I turn to face her. Orange, red, eyes like a boiling storm. A dark purple and light-blue figures stand by her sides.

Celestia turns to look at me with a raised eyebrow. I shrug in response and she turns back to the sisters, “You may, if you wish. However I will be discussing something alone with Vadon.” I nod.

“Right, well: lead the way.”

Her majesty spares me a last look before walking off and I try to catch up with her. Thankfully: she is trying to elegant, showing off her glowy tail and hair, which allows me to take up my normal pace. Which I have found some to be unable to match. Twi and Shi walk behind us as I can hear the big brother, if he is her brother, whisper something to Twilight harshly as she whispers back.

“So, Celestia-” I thought the guards travelling beside each one of us in lines would impale me right then and there, “-what kind of tea is it?” I look up to the side and find the tall Alicorns muzzle facing me with wider eyes than usual.

“It is cherry flavoured.” She replies with the same calm tone, some would consider it warm, but I see it as cold.

I grimace and groan in distaste, “Maybe we could try something else?” Celestia looks forward again as we keep moving.

“There is a new type of tea, that has arrived today. My sister has tried it already and says it is to her tastes.”

“Something new is always nice.”

“I would have to partially disagree with that.”

“You have a dark mind, Celestia.”

“I have a realistic mind.” That actually made me stop, look at her, grin and then keep walking with a genuine smile on my face.

The road suddenly goes up and through a large drop gate built in between tall smooth marble walls. If this was a fortress, then why aren’t there any archer holes? I note to myself that little detail, but the inevitable answer is probably magic. We keep going straight uphill, passing a bunch of manor-like buildings, before twisting on a rounded turn and continue even higher. There are very few ponies that are outside, most of them nobility and there is a really muscular marmalade coloured earth pony pulling a half-open cab across the street, with a fancily dressed unicorn inside. He was really tugging at it too. I turn to Celestia.

“Is- is that, like, legal?”

“It is. If the driver pony is being paid fairly. I suppose I can see how that might seem odd to you, but don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal.” ...ok.

We carry on in silence as we climb higher and higher, before enter another gate, but this one is smaller and has guards on each side. On of them is green, while the other is blue, both look ahead of themselves. Like a clockwork mechanism, they both stand at attention smack the bottom of their spears at the ground. Is that like a sign of being ready for battle, or something?

“Your majesty.” Celestia ignores both of them as she passes them.

They go back to their ‘relaxed’ state. Although I can see one glance at me for a fraction of a second. I look over to Celestia and see a little evil smile on her muzzle. We pass a bunch of buildings that remind me of barracks or something belonging in a military. Forges, closed training grounds, five massive towers splotted in various places, of which I cannot see the bottom and a garden that represents a hedge maze right next to the palace.

Oh, and the palace. I can’t see the colour of the material, but I can see a few wisps flowing through the walls themselves. It’s probably enchanted or something, as it reminds me of Shining Armors Sword, making me wonder what kind of effect it gives. I can, however also, discern the absolutely ridiculous amount of attention that went into the making of it’s outer walls. Ridges, pieces that seemed to be jutting in an jutting out, all forming spirals or either shapes, that eventually turned into either lines or circles of various sizes. And that’s just the outer walls! Another pair of guards pull open the main gate to the palace and we step inside.

The carpet, probably red, occupies most of the floor on which you can step on. There are flower vases on pedestals and flowery vines hanging down columns on the sides of every corridor we walk down. Everything has been paid attention to, even probably the very air itself, but what the hell do I know? Didn’t exactly get much of a view through the forms of the accompanying guard and those that stood still by the columns. The ceiling was pretty nice though.

We arrive at a familiar room, which seems to have been made super tall for no apparent reason. There is a set of stairs ahead of us, branching off in two directions and two giant blue and yellow windows right in the middle. The carpet on the main floor also leads to two other doorways on opposite sides of the room. We stop right in the middle of the room, above a golden star, and I once again get enraptured by the far away ceiling.

“Captain Armour. Take your guards and return to your prior activities, I will call on you if something is necessary. I shall be in my room.”

“Yes, your majesty.” I hear guards walking away.

“Twilight, I would like to ask you to return to the observatory, I believe you would like to share this information, but I will ask you to not tell anything to anyone about Vadon, until I say so.”

“Of course, Queen Celestia.” Twilight probably bows, before I hear her hoofsteps getting distant.

“As for you three. You may visit Sunset if you wish, I believe she is in the observatory.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Adagio speaks again, before the leave as well.

A moment of silence passes, before Celestia speaks up again, “Shall we?” I hum in response.

That was apparently the wrong answer as my eyes widened and I felt like multiple hammers struck me like an anvil from all directions. Lights dance around in my eyes as I stumble, turn to look at Celestia and fall backwards on a couch, my head flops on the seats spine, eyes opened, body stuck in an odd unmoving position.

A moment of silence passes.

“Vadon?”

I say nothing as I keep staring off into space.

“Vadon, are you alright?”

No response from me once more, not even breathing.

I hear the queen whisper to herself, “Did I kill him?”

I hear hoofsteps approaching, making my neck snap upwards, which causes Celestia to nearly jump, “No, but that would have been more preferable. The hell was that?” I ask holding the back of my head.

“That was a teleportation spell, have you not experienced such a thing before?” I stare into space.

“Once.”

“Oh, well I have to apologize for the suddenness, I hope you can forgive me.” She sits on the couch opposite of me, a short table separates us.

“Nothing to forgive, really. So far the only thing I am annoyed about is the apparent lack of tea and crumpets.” She looks at me, her smile a straight line, before picking up a little bell and ringing it, “Magic?”

“Magic.”

We wait for a few seconds, before another jingle comes from the bell, however she didn’t move her hand, “Kibitz? Would you go to the kitchen and ask chef Glutton-” She pronounced it like a french name... “-to bake some crumpets just like my sister prefers them.”

“Yes, your majesty. Anything else?” An old, elegant male voice comes out of the bell.

“Bring some of that new tea for two, would you? The one that my sister likes so much.”

“It will be done.”

“Thank you, Kibitz.”

“My pleasure.” I notice a faint blue glow from within the bell disappear, as Celestia puts it back on the table.

We sit in silence for a couple of minutes as I look around the lavish room. The arch to the balcony has open drapes, moving in waves with the wind, with simple designs sewn into them. Bookcases line one of the walls, containing tomes and scrolls, most of which look pretty old. Between the shelves is a large bed. And I mean LARGE. Easily could fit three grown men on it. Although, considering the size of the room, it’s actually fits and leaves some space. The tips of my shoes touch the ground as I sit head-level with Celestia. There seems to be a door, probably to the queens clothes collection. Symbols ignite around Celestia’s horn and something happens, whatever it is, she seems satisfied with it as the magic fades.

“You did not use my title when addressing me.” I blink, prompting her to continue as I ease back into the couch, “You stopped using my title instantly after I dropped the shield and everyone could hear us.”

“Right, Celestia, I don’t much care about titles. It’s not because of a lack of respect or anything like that, but because you are not my ruler and therefore: not a necessity to say your title. If I do, it’ll probably be in sarcasm.” She stares at me for a few moments.

“Sarcasm?”

“You don’t know what sarcasm is? I can make you a little sign, that has ‘sarcasm’ written on it and everytime I use it, I can hold it up.” She actually smiles.

“Yes, thank you, that would be very kind of you.” My own smile grows.

“Want me to add some glitter on it?” She shakes her head.

“No, but make it out of gold.” My smile turns awkward and I look off into space.

“I’m not sure I can afford that, princess.”

“...Wait, princess?” My head looks directly at her, as my eyes roam around her, searching for a response.

“I just can’t call you queen. You look too young to be that.” I actually don’t know if she does. She smirks.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Brain, staahp!

“The couches are already here, so I won’t have to go far.” She stares at me for a few seconds, before tilting her head.

“What?” I open my mouth to reply, when the door to her chambers opens and I turn left to look who it is.

A light blue unicorn steps into the room, carrying a platter with dishes and dressed in a fancy looking suit with a chain connected to his tuxedos’ collar, leading into his front pocket and something that reminded me of a scarf, covering his chest and lower neck underneath the tux. The pony was also wearing templeless glasses on his… nose, which seemed to go well with his brushy mustache and ponytail. He looks at both of us.

“Your majesty, I have brought tea and desert for you and your guest, as per your request.”

“Thank you, Kibitz. You may leave them on the table. That will be all.” The butler bows, still holding the plates in one hand, and does just that.

Not saying a word, Kibitz bows again and leaves the room, the platter under his arm. I pick up my plate of three crumpets and break a buttery piece off with a fork. I hear Kibitz outside, say ‘oh dear’ and Celestia’s ear twitches in the direction of the door.

“Va-” Celestia doesn’t finish her sentence as your typical guard rushes inside the room.

“Your Majesty, I come with a report on our investigation of the Dazzlings’ residence.” The guard says, saluting. Celestia slowly turns to me. I put the piece of the crumpet in my mouth and chew, looking at her. “Uh- Have I come at a bad-?”

“No, you may continue.” Celestia says, looking to the uncomfortable looking stallion.

“Right, er-. We have searched the whole house and nothing illegal has been found in any of the rooms.” Celestia nods, “However: we cannot enter the basement.” I take another piece inside my mouth, but don’t chew at first, as an invisible gleeful smile slowly spreads on my face.

“The basement? Please explain.” I look off into a spot on the carpet.

“There appear to be some strange runes on the door. The mages tried deciphering it, but failed to come up with anything. They tried opening it with various known spells, but the lock wouldn’t budge. We tried both physical and magical means.” My chest and shoulders begin to spazm.

“I see. I know there are troubles with magic, but have you tried scrying it?” Celestia asks in an odd tone.

“We have. Both attempts resulted in failure.” I’m sure I have a grin on my face.

“What about breaking the door down?”

“Physical means, your majesty. Either the door is made out of a very resilient metal, or there is some kind of enchantment on it.” I begin chuckling.

“...You find something amusing in this situation.” My chuckling increases and becomes something close to a laugh as my body spasms even more and I raise my head, pumping my fist.

“Yes~” I chuckle more, ”It works!” I begin to laugh in absolute glee as I set the plate on the table.

Celestia does not look amused when I turn to her, “What works?”

“Heh, heh~ I wrote those runes, it’s a passive construct. Don’t you know the basic rule of physics? ‘F’ equals ‘m,E’.” Or was it 'E' equals 'MC' squared? The guard and queen share a look. As long as they use anything smaller than a basement, they won’t be able to brute force their way in. Or dynamite.

“And what does that mean?” Celestia asks me.

“That means, princess. That the more force you apply to it, the more force it uses to push you back. Basically, negates any force you apply to it. And the reason you cannot unlock the door with magic, is because only ‘I’ can open it.” At the moment. I take off my glasses.

“What are you hiding in there.” Celestia narrows her eyes. The guard actually gulps.

“My stuff.” Her eyes narrow further.

“And that is?~...”

“Let’s see… a weapon which I have no idea what it does, a tool that I do know what it does and... a suit of armour.”

“That’s it?”

“Everything you’d care about. Other than that, nothing much. A set of changeable clothes… a bed. A couple of other tools, which I used to make the thing that did this.” I stick a finger in my socket, making it feel colder. I pull out. “Ooh, that’s weird...” I finally notice the guard trying to look away, so I put on my glasses back on.

“Is the armor also magical?” Celestia asks.

“It has some magical properties, yes. Most of which I don’t know.” The alicorn stays quiet for a moment.

“You will go there and open the door for us so that we may study these objects.”

“Are you mad?” The guard’s eyes widen, “You want me to what? Study? You don’t even know anything about necromancy, how the hell are you going to study it?!”

“We have mages and scholars with more knowledge than you. I am sure they can manage.” I don’t say anything, mulling over her tone which shows that I don’t have much room for argument.

“Fine, but under two conditions.”

“How-” The guard starts.

“Name them.” He looks at Celestia, before shutting up.

“The first is that I can take three items from it-”

“What are the items?”

“‘Thorn’, the helmet and a book.” She lightly tilts her head curiously.

“And the second?”

“You do not bring Sunset or the Sirens into this. In any way.” She just looks at me.

“Very well.” Celestia finally speaks with a nod.

“One last thing.” An eyebrow gets raised, “Don’t you dare get my items lost or broken. If I find out that something like that happened to them, I will not be happy. Am I understood?” She stares at me in silence, before opening her mouth.

“Of course.” I visibly relax and speak tiredly.

“And please… be careful.” The two ponies blink as if surprised at my now tired form.

“Guard, return to the investigating group and call them back for a recorded report.”

“Yes, your majesty.” The guard salutes and marches out of the room, leaving only my slack form, Celestia’s thoughtful face and a relaxing breeze.

“You spoke the truth. Which is why I wish to know more about you. However… I cannot let you stay in the city.”

“What, why?”

“A report came to me today. Supposedly: a pony had their family butchered and eaten alive, while they themselves have been mindontrolled by a weird creature, but then freed. The pony also claimed to have died, but been brought back with a slight side effect of sudden death.” ...RuuuUUUU-!

I purse my lips and smile. I open my mouth a couple of times, but close it with a clack as my teeth connect, “...Well: the mind control and the um… the feast… so to speak, wasn’t me.” I reach into my jacket and pull out a picture… before putting it back inside, “Not fitting while at a table, but trust me: I would not have done that. Ever.”

“I see. And as for the rest?” I chuckle nervously.

“Um, well~... kinda was me. Yes.” Her eyes start narrowing again.” But! I had a good reason at the time. Or at least a, uh… logical course of action.” No one says anything.

“Explain.” A please would have been nice.

“So, um. The pony, I believe hasn’t told the whole story or he was misinterpreted. Basically:-” The doors to the room slam open.

“SISTER!” Holy shit!

In the doorway stood another alicorn. This: a dark blue one with black parts. Blue tail and mane, also moving in the aetherical wind. She was dressed in a different kind of dress. While Celestia’s attire reminded me of a sundress, hers was more close to a coat. Covered shoulders and revealed front of the legs. Her dress had many designs that seemed to have a starry theme going on. It’s not as much as what was sewn onto the dress, as much as what parts of the dress were made of. This Alicorn was around half a head shorter than Celestia, but surprisingly more regal looking. The wings reaching from behind her were made of feathers halfway down, up until they got a leathery membrane like that of a bat. Her eyes were a calm cosmic blue and black. She also had a little tiara on her head.

“Luna, what are you doing here?”

“Sister, that creature is innocent, sir Rusty has approached me and explained everything… After I listened to miss Dazzle.”

“What makes you say he’s innocent?”

“It has done nothing wrong in our eyes, despite breaking a few serious laws.” ...go Luna?

“Luna. I will need an explanation. Now.”

“No time sister! I fear I need the creature come with me this instant. I wish to ask him some questions!” Luna proclaimed.

“Luna-!” Luna doesn’t wait for her sister to finish talking and grabs me by the arm and lurches me off the couch. I instinctively try to grab my plate off the table, but miss.

“You will have to trust me, sister! I promise to tell everything later.” I turn my head back to look at the wide eyed Celestia and give a little wave, as Luna practically drags me out of the room.

The two stationed guards outside the room seem to be seasoned veterans, but I bet even they are shocked under their stone facade. The grey windows to our right probably have the sun shining through them and look really pretty with the imagery on them, but what the hell do I know, when I’m getting dragged past a corner.

A night guard, unicorn mare with light-grey eyes is standing in the next corridor. How do I know it’s a night guard? Them curves~... Also slitted eyes, that helps. Her armour is a bit different from the ones I have seen, having a couple more details and a massive insignia of spark in a sort of bubble with a few lightnings reaching from the spark. The mare raises an eyebrow, but says nothing as ‘we approach’.

“Your highness, I see you have brought… him with you.”

“Indeed I have.” Luna finally lets go of my arm allowing me to grab the spot and shake the hand, “I apologize for the suddenness.”

“Don’t worry the only thing I’m not happy about is having not finished the crumpets… and tried the tea.” I look up at her with a smile, “But it is nice to finally meet you, princess.”

“I believe I can say the same, Vadon. It is really nice to meet you officially.” She smiles.

“Yes, well… you must have dragged me right out of Celestia’s bed-chamber for a reason right?” She nods.

“Yes, I have. Shall we walk and talk?” I agree with her suggestion and we start walking down another corridor, this one the same as almost every other I’ve been to, however this one is not empty and has a few maids cleaning nearby tables and vases, or simply walking by, “You have not used my sisters title. Do you not respect her?”

“Respect her? No, Luna. I do not respect her. But I don’t disrespect her either. Just don’t see much of a point in titles. Occupation name? Sure, but that’s not mandatory to use.” The princess hums as I walk by her right side, while her guard silently walks on the other.

“I see.”

“Yeah, no, you’re definitely sisters.” Luna looks down at me in confusion, before laughing and politely closing her mouth with her hand. “Oh dear, that seems to have rubbed off on me. I suppose I will have to just… see it through.”

“Funny.” She humphs.

“You could at least show more enthusiasm with my jokes.”

“Sorry, princess, not in the mood for jokes.”

“Ah, yes. I have heard you’ve been attacked. Are you alright?” She asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Not really. So um… who’s the guard?” I say, leaning to the side.

“Oh, forgive me.” She stops and puts a hand on the mares armoured shoulder and motioning to her with another, “Allow me to introduce one of my captains of the Lunar Guard - Platinum Spark.”

“Hello, Vadon.” I stare at Platinum before slowly moving my head upward.

“Serenade?” I ask, looking at Luna.

She smiles sheepishly off to the side and chuckles very awkwardly, “Serenade is not here today.” She then puts on the same smiling face again. I nod.

“Gotcha.” We start moving again, “Nice to see you again, Platinum.”

“Same here, Vadon.” She replies.

“Thank you for your understanding, but yes. I like the moonlight.” I sigh.

“I want you to tell me how though later.”

“Of course.” We take another turn and walk deep down, “I used an illusion spell I know, it allows the caster to cast an illusion upon themselves or someone else, making them appear as someone else.” Hmm, seems very taxing. “Let us not speak of this again in public. Now, do you mind telling me why you are not alright?” I stop and turn.

Not saying a word I lower my glasses, but close my eyes. I hear them both gasp and open my eyes, making them prolong their gasps and Luna nearly choke as she begins coughing. Like a princess.

“So it is true. You are a necromancer.” She looks down at me, though there’s a notable lack of hostility.

“No, but I do know necromancy.” I say, raising my finger.

“Then what about sir Rusty?” Luna counters.

“About that… I suppose I technically am one, aren’t I? Despite not having used any direct spells.”

“Correct and I am glad you are not against us."

“I don’t think Celestia really believes that unfortunately."

“It is understandable, considering her past experiences with the mages of death. But I have learned it is foolish to stay in the past, you must live in the present and look to the future!”

“Very motivating speech princess, but I’m not the one that needs it.”

“You say you do not care much for titles, and yet…”

“Well… let’s just say it’s a bit like sarcasm.”

“I believe we will get along just nicely.” I chuckle.

“I hope so!” We grin at each other before we start walking again and I put on my glasses, “So, Luna. What is it that you wish to ask me?”

“I suppose my first question will be: where have you come from?” Ah.

“I will answer that when Sunset and the girls are present.”

“Understandable, a long tale?” I hum in response, “Well, in that case: what about what you are?”

“Oh, that’s easy. No idea.” I receive a questioning ‘what’ in response, “Except that biologically I am a human. Doubt you ever heard of one.” My companions slack behind for a bit before catching up, “A mammal, omnivore, magic less…” I grunt and rub my eyes under the glasses, before looking down at my hand.

I finally notice that my hand has cyan nerves within it, glowing and pulsing. Huh, I got the default, have I? Luna breaks me out of my musings.

“Are you alright?”

“Kinda odd seeing your own soul, y’know?”

“Ah, I have never experienced such a thing before. What is it like?”

“Well imagine everything being colourless, except for root like structures within living things of different ‘colours’. I can’t see shadows as everything else is not so much as grey as much as just… colourless.”

“Sounds dready.” Platinum remarks.

“Not really… maybe a bit, but there are pluses. For one: it doesn’t strain my eyes so I don’t have to blink. But I do so sometimes out of reflex.” Luna hums.

“Interesting.”

“More like creepy, your highness.” Platinum remarks.

I look up at Luna, "Speaking of interesting, while most peoples eyes are just bright lights, your ones are literally space and stars." She blinks and I nod. "At least I can beat anyone in a staring contest, amiright?” I say with a grin, Platinum opens her mouth.

“I don’t think anypony would-”

“Oh look, we’re here.” Luna says, making me turn to a big door open halfway with lunar designs and decorative constellations embedded on its dark bark with silver.

“And here is?...” I look out the many windows to our right, trying to catch a glimpse of what is outside.

“My observatory. Sunset and the others should be in there.” Someone walks through the door, making me tilt my head ninety degrees.

“O-Oh, woah!... U-Um hello, your highness. Hello, uh- I presume: you are Vadon?” Says a nerdy looking and sounding unicorn, wearing a sweater and glasses. But the good kind of nerdy.

“You presume correctly and who would you be?” He rubs his goatee out of reflex.

“I-I am Sunburst. A scholar under Queen Celestia’s wing.”

“Sunburst, it is good to see you. Is Sunset in there?” Luna asks with a smile.

“Y-yes, your highness. She is catching up with her friends and um- Rusty.”

“I see, thank you.” He bows, “You don’t have to bow to me, Sunburst. But thank you for it anyway. Why don’t you join us for a bit? I am sure Vadon would be willing to answer some of our questions.” She looks down at me with those blue eyes.

Sunset exits the door, “Hey, Sunburst, have you-” And with taking only a second for her to widen her eyes, runs up to me and hugs me around the torso. Hard.

“Shrunshet!” Her hold on me doesn’t lessen so I awkwardly purse my lips and pat her on the back, hugging the unicorn in return. Her horn is poking me, but not too badly.

“The FUCK is wrong with you!?” She looks up at me with fire in her cyan, crimson eyes.

“Sunset, language please.”

“Sorry, Luna.” Of course the commotion brings out the Dazzlings and Rusty out of the room, making them peek out.

“Hey, what’s the commotion al-!” Aria blinks at me, “Oh hey, Vadon. We haven’t told her much, thinking that you would want to do it.” I smile. You fucking sons of bitches!

“Sunset, mind letting go of me? I’ll need a lot of air for the upcoming QnA session.” She reluctantly lets go and takes a few steps back, looking me over.

“What’s with the shades?” I pull them off. Sunset and The Nerd gasp.

“Wha-wha-what the tartarus happened to you!?” Sunset exclaims trying to get close to me again, but I extend a hand.

“Right. First question: what the hell happened to me? I got attacked without any provocation. The guard apparently thought it’d be cool if they decide to get my head as a bounty for their ruler.” She stammers for a bit.

“I- But what about?...”

“Second question, second answer: necromancy. Pretty cool, huh?”

“He branded runes inside his eyes.” Aria says causing an obvious reaction from four ponies.

“She did not have to know that!”

“Yo-you what?” Sunset… let’s be reasonable here.

“Heh… uh… any other questions?”

“Vadon-!”

“If people can cut my eyeballs in half, then so can I fucking stab myself with a rune at high temperature to see again!” Sunset takes a step back and Sunburst shuffles.

“Should I leave?” He grimaces, probably seeing a sign from Luna to stay.

“Sunset, listen… I did what I could in the situation. Now: it wasn’t the best choice, but wasn’t the best situation either, now was it?”

“I have to agree with him on that one. He did what he could, even tried to not hurt captain Armor too badly.” Adagio says.

“Wait, captain Armor? As in: Twilight’s brother?” Sunburst looks at her incredulously, then at me.

“Twilight has a brother?!” Sunset turns to him in shock.

“Ok, people. Shocking revelations, big deal. We are all finally here and I am willing to ask questions.... Answer questions.” Rusty leans against the big door, with arms folded, but looks away each time my eyes glance at him.

“I wish to go first.” Adagio takes a step forward.

“Feel free.” Luna says, making the Siren nod and look at me.

“Where did you come from?”

“Ah, the question all want to know the answer on.” I look at everyone separately, “Are you sure you can handle the truth?”

“Just spill it out already.” Adagio says a little impatiently. Although her tone is patient.

“...I am not from this world.” Disbelieving, questioning and incredulous stares, all accounted for.

“What?” Sunset, Aria, Adagio, Sun- basically everyone says almost at the same time. The sisters are, again, in perfect sync.

“How do I put this. I never lied to any of you. Remember how I told you I was teleported to Equestria? How I got some of my stuff from a merchant? It’s all true, except I didn’t say that I was transported to this world after I bought the items from the merchant. The guy probably wanted to transport me to another world himself, but… didn’t do it in time. Someone beat him to it, made all my things magical, put knowledge of necromancy into the book and BAM! Dropped me off in the middle of the street in the cold pouring rain.”

“Why does this make so much sense so far?” Adagio asks noone in particular.

“Prob’ because it’s all true? I mean: I come from a world entirely populated with humans, no unicorns or Sirens or pegasi or anything like that living in my previous world. Not openly at least, hell if I know, maybe they’re somewhere underground and some people found them by falling down a hole.”

“So… you’re an alien.” Sunburst asks.

“That about sums it up, yeah.”

“B-but you know about magic.” Sunset notes.

“Yeeees. But that’s only because of fantasy novels and other such things. Humans have no magic, they go down the path of science, although they always try to divide the two and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because magic for them is a miracle and they live in a world where those are rare. Plus never seen it, so they can only guess as to what it is. Anyways: I come from another world. Boom. Sleep on it.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Aria says, looking... well: normal for the situation. Hand to head and all that.

“So why are you here?” Luna asks.

“Vacation.”

I turn around to look at the princess with the wings and Platinum rears back for some reason, “Careful.”

“What?” I ask.

“You nearly hit me with your hand.”

“I have?” I look at it as I begin feeling drunk and unstable on my feet, as I take a step backwards. I snap my fingers and point at the two of them, “I’ve made a deal with the prin-que- Celly. ‘Member: I am a necromancer, I will come back and possess your asses.”

“Sorry, what?” Luna asks, looking at me strangely.

“...” I look down into the floor and purse my lips.

“...?”

“Night.” I begin falling backwards and everything goes black.

“-unable to-”

“What-?” Confused?

“Are you sure he isn’t an agent of-” Same voice?

“-lutely-... -estia, you cannot-!” Loud! Who?!

“-rest, that’s all.” New, old?

“...Get some-” Estia, that you?

“-e could be a-...-us all. He’s a new-”

“Yes, which is exactly what we-” Luna?

“Shh, let’s go...” Luna, you so nice.

Hello again, memories, how are you? The void me glistens and lights up with what I’ve feel and think. Perhaps a little tweak is required? I seem the most stable during the age of sixteen and maybe that’s the best choice, considering the situation I’m in… yeah… a mix of now and a base of sixteen, sounds perfect.

This world… it’s so different. Too different, I’m not even sure if Luna has been banished or if the Helements of Armony are a thing… Twilight appears to be mildly insane, Celestia is a queen, everyone walks on two legs… what next? And that’s not everything, is it?!.. Maybe… I should delete my memories of the show? Give me a richer experience?.. Can I even do that?.. I could simply repress it far enough… then I would still be able to remember everything if I wanted to… There is calm in the void. I just won’t think about it. The show, all the fan fictions, everything. Maybe about a few, that I’d like to take advice from. Maybe.

What about my-... oh. Well that’s interesting. Health readings show stable… heartbeat - slow. I seem to have been taken care of? How strange. Also, what the hell were those three talking about? Well obviously me, but… I guess I just have to wake up and find out, don’t I?

I slowly open my eyes, yet still darkness greets me. Huh. What, why-? Oh right. I concentrate on the feeling of pushing out into my eye socket, my face twitching and grimacing with every attempt, before I find the way and vision greets me again. Gotta ignite them. Feeling slowly returns to my body as I shuffle around on some kind of bed. I take a deep breath to et my blood rushing and an odd smell enters my nose. Or rather lack of one.

I slowly lift myself up on the hospital bed and look around, my head still swimming a bit. I get to edge of the bed and step onto the cold floor, grimacing lightly from the change in temperature. I appear to be in some kind of medical ward, probably still in the castle, if the clouds outside the open window are that low.

Instead of my usual clothes, I am dressed in a gown for probably obvious reasons. The ward looks like your typical ward, a cold-ass tiled floor, some beds against a wall, all of which are empty with kempt covers except for the one I crawled out of, a few desks with medicine and medical stuff on them. Truly a room of horror. I find my clothes on a nearby chair. The glasses and the dagger lie on the folded clothes as well, surprisingly. The dagger… with the black hilt.

I walk up to the thing to inspect it close. I pull out the blade out of the sheath, revealing more pure blackness. I hear hooves stop on the floor and a gasp, which breaks me out of my contemplations. A pony in a nurse’s outfit stands frozen by the open door.

“Hello.” I say to the awkwardly staring unicorn mare.

“G-good morning. Y-you’re finally awake?”

“It appears so. And you would be?~” I ask, placing down the dagger and picking up my socks.

“I-I am Care Taker. I’m a castle nurse.” Really?!

“How long was I asleep for?”

“A-around sixteen hours.” My eyebrows rise.

“So it’s about~...”

“It is eight in the morning.” The nurse confirms with a nod.

“So how come I’m not dead from starvation?”

“T-that would be because I have fed you with mushed food while you were unconscious. You really should begin eating properly, if what miss Shimmer told me is true.” Yeah, yeah. I start pulling off the gown. “Wh-what are you doing!?... You’re naked!” She covers her eyes with both hands.

“I’m changing, I thought that was obvious? Besides: haven’t you already seen me naked?”

“B- th- you were unconscious!” So? Some nurse you are. “At least turn around!” I roll my eyes.

“Fine.” I drop my gown on the nearby desk and turn around.

“You don’t have a cutie mark.”

“And you are staring at my ass.” She stammers for a moment before falling quiet, “Hm. Maybe I should stretch a bit first.”

“Please don’t... Oh my goodness.” I start stretching, my hips and tailbone releasing a couple cracks.

I do a few stretches, the room submerged in complete silence, except for the occasional pleasant pop of joints. I make sure to get my whole torso twisting and moving for a solid two or three minutes.

“Ahhh~” I breathe shakily standing back up with a small smile, “So good.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?” The nurse finally speaks.

“The first time it might, but not after that. It feels really good actually, almost euphoric.” I put on my pants and turn around, “So what do you think?”

“You are incredibly flexible.”

“Don’t let anyone take that out of context.” I say with a grin.

“I do not think that will be a problem.” The really shy nurse notes, making me ‘heh’.

“Anything I should know about?” I ask while putting on my shirt and jeans.

“We have run a few tests on you while you were unconscious. To get the basic information.” She adds at my questioning gaze, “Queen Celestia also helped heal your face.”

“Oh, has she now.” I throw my jacket on, buttoning it.

“Yes, Princess Luna has convinced her majesty to do it.” I strap on the dagger, throw on the amulet and grab my glasses, before walking up to the nurse, “We have also taken some samples from you.” I slowly look down at her.

“Samples.” Care nervously bites her lip.

“Y-yes. Some tissue, a bit of blood and other secretions.” I keep looking at her, “We needed it for her majesty to heal you!”

“I see.”

“Queen Celestia also wished for me to notify her when you wake.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do that myself.” “But-” “Where is she now?” The nurse looks around.

“She should be in the dining hall, having breakfast. But-!”

“But don’t you worry your little head about it.” I tussle her hair, glad to see someone shorter than me even if by a bit, “Thank you for looking after me.” I walk to the door, “Take care, Care Taker!” I step out into the corridor and look at the two guards, making their stone masks fall apart nearly then and there, “You wouldn’t happen to know where the dining hall of her majesty is?”

“We do, sir. Would you like us to lead you there?” One of them asks.

“That would be very nice, thank you.”

They lead me through a few similar corridors with even more maids, that do lose their shit over at my sight. Of course one of the guards asks me if there is any possible way I could cover my eyes, to which I reply by putting my glasses in my front pocket and saying:

“No.”

They drop any other conversation after that. Since everything in the caste seem to be fit for its rulers (which makes sense) the massive doors don’t appear as big. Oh, who am I kidding, they are still very fucking huge. The guards stationed there greet me with silence until I approach them.

“Business?” They ask.

“Breakfast.”

I push open the double doors with surprising ease, probably because I’m sup- Oh wait, no, the guards are helping. Within the huge room is a long table plasted right in the middle with at least twenty chairs around it. One of them has Celestia on it, calmly sitting with her arms folded on the table. A long set of decorative windows is to my left. Really, it’s just a glass wall at that point.

“Ah, good morning.”

“Good morning?” I ask, stepping inside. “What do you mean by good morning? Do you wish me a good morning, or is it simply a good morning whether I like it or not? Or, perhaps, you feel good on this particular morning, or that this is a morning to be good on?” Thanks magical helm powers.

“I… I suppose everything.” I simply walk over to the chair on the opposite of her, which happens to be the closest to the entrance, and take a seat.

“Well hello, Celestia. How are you doing today?” I ask, assimilating a pose.

“I am quite well, thank you. And you?”

“Terrific.” A few minutes of silence pass.

“Luna will be joining us shortly, as well as a few others.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Some service ponies walk inside and set down platters with various silverware and food straight away. It is crumpets and tea for both of us.

“You won’t touch the food?”

“I’ll wait for the others.”

“The tea will get cold.” I don’t reply, “I have a few questions, mainly: what brought you here?”

“The thought of having a discussion with you early in the morning.” She chuckles.

“I meant to this world. To Equestria. To Terra.” I notice that it’s only the two of us within the room.

“Well… I actually have no idea. I was just grabbed and literally thrown through the space of spaces at close to light speed.” She tilts her head curiously.

“No idea at all?”

“Probably some kind of powerful being or something. Might have been an accident for all I know.” She hums and takes a sip of her tea.

Shining Armor phases out of inexistence through a side door, bowing, “Good morning, your highness.”

“Good morning? What do you mean by-” And she goes off to play the same trick I did on her, leaving him greatly confused. His answer made me laugh.

“What’s the right answer?” Celestia seemed to find that very amusing as well as she chuckles, “Oh… well I suppose it’s no longer a good morning, is it?”

“Why ever not, captain?” Luna asks walking up from behind him.

“Because, your highness, my morning was much better before I have seen… Vadon.” I raise an eyebrow, “Nothing personal.” Now that made me look at him like he’s an idiot.

“Nothing personal? Nothing personal?”

“Vadon…” Celestia says in a warning tone, as Luna takes a seat beside her.

“Captain.” I say with the most poisonous smile I can manage, my tone calm, but words fast, “Why don’t you take a seat, so we can talk? Catch up on things.” He stays on the same spot.

“You may take a seat, captain.” He sits closer to me, but keeps his distance.

“Nothing personal you say?..” I tap my temples, “Then what about this? Thank you for fixing my face by the way.” I say, glancing between the two rulers, earning a ‘you’re welcome’ from Celestia.

“I… I am sorry for that. But I was under orders-”

“Oh, so if you’re under orders, all is fine and forgiven, is it?~” A grin flashes across my face for less than a second, “So if you were ordered to kill every living thing in the radius of infinity, then all is fine, because you were under orders? They are still your actions. And you are not under mind-control.”

“What was I supposed to do! I couldn’t have-”

“You could have not aimed at my eyes! You could have literally cut off anything lower than that and I might have been slightly annoyed with you, but noooo~ You had to go for the eyes.”

“I could have, but… I...”

“Captain?” Luna asks, warily.

“I panicked, alright?!” He throws his arms in the air, “I got scared, I panicked, you scared me!” He breathes heavily, before slow taking deep breaths, “Your sudden change in movement terrified me... you suddenly became… savage."

I stay quiet for a moment, before chuckling, "Savage, I like that. I fits." He simply nods, talking to me with steeled look.

"I have never sparred with anypony that moves anything like that. It was as if every part of you moved... separately.”

“Probably because I’m not a pony?”

“Yeah. And combined with those eyes, I thought you would have killed me.”

“Oh, I would have, but I’d bring you back.”

“Y-yes. I have been… informed about the incident of Rusty. It is very unfortunate what has happened to him. I think I actually remember him once being in my platoon... I met him, he's a good colt.” I sigh, thinking over this.

“I understand why you did it… I still hate you though.”

“I apologized, what else do you want me to-”

“I want you to give me my eyes back.” I stare aimlessly into my ‘empty’ teacup. Not like that’d ever happen. “I can't see colour. I can’t even see my reflection. I can’t even see the tea!” I raise the cup in the air. Luna perks up at that.

“I can actually help with that.” I look up at her from my plate. “I can try to find the spell for healing your wounds, but I need time. We have already preserved your eyes, so I will know what to regenerate.”

“I’m not sure I’d be able to afford that.”

“Nonsense. This is much as my fault as my sister’s. If I had told her about you earlier, this could have been avoided. But… I wished to give her a little surprise.” I look at Luna, my mouth - a flat line.

“I’d appreciate that, thank you.” I take a sip of my tea and my eyes instantly widen from the taste and smell, “Mmm! This is earl grey!”

“Earl grey?” Celestia asks.

“This tea’s name, we have this one back in my world.”

“I see. I still prefer the neighponese cherry however.” Neihgpo-... What? Next a capital of Singapone?

“To each their own.” I take a big sip, “Captain, I am curious. How come I didn’t bleed from the wounds?” Celestia opens her mouth to say something, but Shining interupts her, not being able to see her.

“Ah, that would be because of the enchantment on my sword. The sword you cut clean through.” I chuckle.

“Ah, yes. I suppose we’re equal then.” Like hell we are.

“We have taken a look at your dagger. We couldn’t recognize any of the runes, it’s as if it is some kind of new type of magic.” I look at the solar, probably diarch, with raised eyebrows.

“It’s… necromancy. It basically stores a soul.”

“Necromancy with runes is unheard of, which is why I took a particular interest in you, Vadon.” Luna says, making me flash a nervous smile.

“I see. And what is this dagger made of? It must be something strong and durable.”

“It’s probably some kind of metal.” I furrow my brows, ”I think. No wait, it feels like metal to the touch, but doesn’t make the same noise during collision…” She nods.

“That is what concerns us. That dagger is made of dragon bone.” My eyes widen. Ohhh, yeah!~ My armour does look draconic. Huh, didn’t realize that until now. “It is probably either a tooth or a claw.” I nod.

“But that is not what concerns us.” Luna says, “We have never seen such bones, except for once. A very long time ago, there was a dragon, blacker than darkness itself. We have met this dragon… I say met, we have only observed it from far distance. Death followed it wherever its wings took it. So our question is, how did you come into possession of such an item?”

“...When I was transported here, I told you that all my items gained magical quality. I personally think they're entirely new items that look similar to what I had before. So wherever it came from, I don’t think it was obtained from that dragon. However: anything’s possible.” I take a bite of my crumpet as the other three at the table exchange a look.

“And you are not worried about this?” Luna asks me.

“Well… not really. But what is there to be worried about? That this dragon comes after me, searching for his little teeth and scales?”

“Scales?” Celestia asks almost alarmed.

“Or rather chitin. The armour. I believe it is also made from a dragon.” They just sit there in stunned silence as I chew more of the delicious breakfast.

“I-” The doors behind me groan as I hear hooves across the marble floor.

I look behind my chairs’ back, “Ah, hello girls and guy, how’s it going?”

“Morning, Vadon! Good morning your majesties.” The three Sirens and Rusty follow suit after Sunset, as they approach the table.

“You wished to see us?” Celestia, being nearly done with her breakfast, quickly and elegantly finishes her last pieces and sets down her silverware, before responding.

“Yes. After much discussion with my sister last night and our recent talk with Vadon, we have come to a decision.” She cleans her mouth with a napkin, “I believe it would be best that Vadon leaves the city.” Sunset didn’t seem to particularly agree with that.

“What!? Your highness!-” Luna raises a hand, shutting up the Unicorn.

“It has also been decided, that Vadon will report to my sister on any findings he makes in this new magic and what applications to it he finds.” Luna decides to take up the stage.

“Indeed. Vadon, you will be sent to a nearby rural town. You will not be sent alone, as I have prepared a guard of mine, who will report to me every week on all your major actions and interactions with the residents of said town. We would allow you to stay here, however we do not trust you entirely.” By ‘we’ you mean Celestia, right?

“So instead you are sending me to some kind of town who knows where to study things for you and get stalked every moment of my life.”

“It is not like that at all.” Celestia replies.

“You will be compensated for your efforts of course. And there is more to it than that.” Luna says, trying to keep up the image of Celestia in my eyes. Too bad, she’s failing, “I also wish to discuss something before your departure.”

“Alright, no problem. So, Celestia, should we head out now?” Of course Shining looks at me incredulously, but to his immense surprise, Celestia answers me in a non-frustrated manner.

“Yes, that would be best. I will allow you to spend half an hour with your friends. After that you will have to leave the residence.”

“Sounds good to me.” We both stand up from our chairs.

“Captain, will you accompany us?” He stands up and salutes, putting on his helmet that was buckled at his side.

“With pleasure, your majesty.”

We exit the dining hall and walk down a lot of corridors and stairs, before finally reaching the familiar tall room. All the while, Celestia talks with either Sunset on how she is doing lately, or with the one known as Rusty the dumb Fucker about his past couple of days, before finally switching onto the sisters. Rusty the dumb Fucker eventually approaches me and we walk in silence on the streets.

“I am sorry.” I crack the joints in my arms, looking forward the whole time.

“I want to talk to you about something later.” He nods.

“Alright.”

We leave it at that, but Shining sends suspicious stares at me.

“Rusty, do you know what this means?” I show him a gesture, hiding it from Armor’s sight.

“N-no. I have never seen that, what does it mean?” Perfect.

I show the same gesture to Shining for a few good solid seconds, before dropping my hand, as we begin walking down the familiar ramp to our house. Our house. Heh… funny. Sunset opens the door for us and welcomes us inside. I take off my glasses and lead Celestia and her little pony to the basement, opening the door with the mark of my soul. Or DNA, whichever. Shining looks impressed, so does Celestia, her face falls slightly when she notices my armour.

“So!” I clap my hands, “This is the infamous armor.” I walk to pick up the helmet, “As per our agreement, I will take the three items and you may keep the rest.” The helmet looks pure black, but I can see all of the runes glowing softly on it. Or more accurately: in it.

“May I see the book first?” I raise an eyebrow and stand aside, making a ‘here you go’ gesture.

She walks over to my table and I realize how uncomfortable she must be, bending her back all the time, so her horn doesn’t scrape against the ceiling. Though it seems, she doesn’t have to do it much as the room is plenty tall for her.

She looks at the book, her face turns to another a cold mask, but I can see the very slightest hint of disdain. She goes to touch it, but the captain intervenes.

“Your majesty, are you certain this is a good idea? We do not know if this might be a trap.”

“I believe that if Vadon wished to kill me, he would have done so already.” The captain flinches at the word ‘kill’ but nods anyway.

“She’s right, but I’m just too lazy for that.” I say leaning against the metal slab, a fist under my cheek.

The diarch under question steals a glance towards me, before finally touching the book and running her fingers across it. I could see her wings shiver, before she picks up the book and tries to open it. She fails. She furrows her brow and doubles her efforts, before trying to use her magic on it as a symbols dance across the invisible formless bubble around the book in seemingly no particular order. She fails again.

“Allow me.” I reach a hand and she gives me the book, but not before glancing between it and my palm.

The book instantly ignites at the contact with me and she let’s go, taking a step back, sending some of my schematics on the wall flying as Shining pulls out a brand new sword, though this one without a glow. I grin.

“This,” I open the book, “is what allowed me to do a-ll this!” I spread my arms, motioning to all the runes, “Also this.” I put the book down and pick the second one up, “You can have this one.”

“Runic Magic and its Uses by Clover the Clever?” Celestia raises one mighty brow at the title of the book in her hand.

“Yup. But you can’t really have that, because that’s Sunsets.”

“I see.” She puts the book down and looks around the room, before she spots one of my tools, “And this is?”

“My welding torch. It melts metal together by using high temperature. I can give you the designs if you wish.” It doesn’t use flames, but instead high temperature at the contact, there are, however, a few tricks to it.

“Please do. If it is ever used, I will pay you accordingly to its requirement.”

“Have you never had anything like this before?” I ask in genuine bewilderment.

“We had no need for such objects. It appears you have made a substitute for a non-unicorn to make a few jobs that much easier.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how well that’s going to work on armour or swords, but you can give it a try.” Her neck snaps toward me.

“I do not-”

“Oh, please. First and foremost: you are a ruler of a nation, that has just discovered someone capable of doing all this.. on their own… and you feel behind the times.” She says nothing, so I continue, “You see me as a threat, first and foremost. Your sister sees me as an ally. I can tell that you are not sure which I am.” She keeps listening to me, “Celestia… I come from a world, where an entire nation could be destroyed in less than a second.” Her eyes widen at that, “So please understand… I won’t share all my knowledge with you. I don’t wish you that kind of harm.” Even though I don’t know how most of it works, but I can still make a substitute eventually.

“That is fair.”

“Of course, I can share the pretty and harmless things with you and the tools to make them.” She stays silent.

“I will… think about that.” She looks back over to the table, “That is Thorn, correct? You may keep the tool and take the second dagger with you.” Oh, honey. Thorn isn’t the tool, the dagger is! “We have scanned it and see absolutely no use for it.” Really now? Alright.

“Learn to read between the lines, princess.”

“What do you mean?” She asks, only to receive no reply.

I separate ‘her’ stuff from my stuff on the table and she teleports everything to nowhere.

“How come you put almost zero effort in doing that?”

“Hm. I suppose it’s because I am quite literally imbued with magic.” She winks at me with that solar eye.

“Please don’t do that, you don’t realize how creepy you already look to me. Cool, but creepy.”

“Oh?” She chuckles.

“Your eyes literally remind me of a swirling magma inside a volcano.” Shining looks between me and her, probably because she looks nothing like that at all.

“So how do you see-”

“Ask Luna.”

She finally leaves me alone in the basement with all the schematics, saying that I have the mind of a madman, because she can’t make any sense of them. What? She expected me to keep only the working designs?

Sunset comes down first, for a soppy goodbye with a hug, as I remind her that we might see each other again and that this is not a death sentence… Is it? She punches me in the arm for that, grumbling that I joke just like Luna. I laugh a bit, telling her to send Rusty first.

“What’s up?”

“Rusty, I have a favour of you to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Could you… I dunno, start training again? I kicked your ass that night.” Slowly does it.

“What? I thought you were going to be angry at me!”

“Oh yeah.” I nick him in the shoulder, “Why the fuck did you tell them that?”

“So I came in for a normal debriefing. And… well they brought me to none other than her majesty herself once I told them I was brainwashed. She cast a truth spell on me and through a couple of questions managed to pull out of me that I had died and found out about you.” Pathetic… I managed to withstand such a spell!… Unless it was a proper truth spell. Now that’s a scary thought, wonder how it’d work?

“So.. you couldn’t lie?” He shakes his head.

“No, I did it when she was checking if it was working or not and it told her I was lying. She requested I told only the truth from that point.” ...Fuck my life. Waitaminute. Is that what she cast on me in her room!?

“Right, gotcha. Well that’s all I wanted to say to you, send the trio in.”

“Wha- really?”

“...Good luck, man. Stay near trouble.” He flaps his mouth a couple of times, before agreeing with a sigh that that is a good advice and leaves the room.

“Hey, Vadon.” I give little wave, before putting the hand back in my pocket, “Why do we have to say goodbye to you in our basement?” Aria asks.

“Close the door.” When I hear the click, I instantly rush under my bed and pull out the two giant metal tetradecagons. Or a fourteen sided ring, for those who haven’t finished school.

“What are those?” Adagio asks as I carry them across the floor to the middle.

I grab my toolkit and begin inscribing runes like mad, “Adagio, you see that little complicated looking rune at the top right corner of the door? One of the five?”

“Uhhh… Yeah?”

“Cut your finger and press the wound against it. Not the middle one.”

“What, why!?”

“It’ll give you access to the basement, now don’t interrupt me I’m working here.” She tries to grab the dagger off the table, “No, don’t use that! Make a papercut or something, Jesus Fucking Christ.” I shake my head and concentrate back on the final piece of this whole room. The whole point of it.

I finish the first ring in about seven minutes and get to work on the second one. The girls already have left all their marks on the door. I tell them to use the separate runes, because otherwise their DNA would mix and the door wouldn’t work for them. Finally finishing my rings I sigh in content and pour blue dust over them, making the runes glow, before dimming and then begin welding one ‘circle’ onto the floor. With some help, I pull the bed over the one on the floor and, again, with some help I start to melt it into the ceiling while Aria and Adagio hold it for me from the other side.

“Whew.” I collapse on the bed, “Let’s get this back in the corner.”

One clean up later, I begin tearing off all the papers off the wall. I grab a cardboard box to put all of my stuff inside, that I would be bringing with me and hide all of my ‘evil’ stuff under the spare clothes. Sonata gives me her shampoo as a gift. I do not decline.

“Adagio, I have a request for you.” Aria and Sonata left to the top, probably to chat with Sunset.

“What is it?”

“I need you, in exactly a week, to put an apple, a cloth, something metal and a living fish in that circle.”

“...I’m going to have to ask why...”

“Jus-just do it. Trust me. You’ll understand later.”

“I mean alright. I will do that. But… I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Yeah, well… how do you think I feel about this whole situation?” Nothing but tiredness and annoyance actually. But at the same time relief.

“Yeah.”

We stand in silence for a moment, before I give her a hug.

“Whoa, what’s up with you?”

“I’m gonna miss your hair.” She chuckles. I let go and look at her, “Remember: exactly a week. See ya!”

I grab my box and head upstairs. Everyone is waiting for me and Celestia is drinking some tea, while sitting in a chair, with Shining by her side.

“What is that?” She asks curiously.

“All the stuff I’m bringing with me. My money, my clothes, what? You thought I was a hobo with a single set of clothes?”

“What’s a ‘hobo’?” Ohhh. I hand her the spread out design to the welder.

“Lucky you. Welp, goodbye everyone. Stay safe. And Celestia… don’t focus on me too much. Make sure to get the real monster as well, ey?” I step out of the house as everyone waves to me and says their goodbyes.

On the street outside is Luna with a pegasus chariot. Near her are also a bat pony in armour and a unicorn in armour. The bat girl looks like a double edged sword. She looks cute, but she’s in the guard after all… Not that that says much. Behind her are two generic looking Lunar Guard motherfuckers.

“Hello again, Vadon. Excited to leave?”

“Oh yeah, definitely, totally, absolutely.” The bat whispers something to Platinum that sounds like ‘he looks cool’. But was probably meant as an insult, hell if I know.

“I am glad, that you are!” Careful now, Luna~ That was almost royal canterlot there. “On a more serious note, I have a proposal for you.”

“Really? I thought it worked the other way.” She smirks and looks down at me. Dammit, she expected it.

“In Equestria: both ways are allowed. But that is not what I am proposing. What do you think about becoming my student?” I stare at her. I stare at her good.

“And what the fuck would I do? I got no magic, princess. I can’t magic! What am I gonna do?”

“Ah, but I can teach you many other things.”

“Not interested in politics, sorry.” She laughs softly.

“That is not what I meant. I could teach you strategy, Vadon. I can see where you lack in magic, you have in potential. I can see it in your soul.” I raise a brow, “You are a warrior by nature. You are not afraid of violence, yet try to avoid death when unnecessary.”

“What a way to call me lazy.”

“I know what you are trying to do, but think about it.”

“...How would you even teach me? I’ll be literally kilometers away from you.”

“Kilometers is a measurement of distance, I presume? That won’t be a problem. If you allow me into your mind, I can teach you while you dream.”

“Princess… I didn’t lie when I said I couldn’t dream. I literally cannot.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“I do, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright. Then I have a second plan. Platinum and her lieutenant, Silver Shade will teach you combat instead.”

“...I mean, I am not complaining, but why would I need that exactly?”

“Because: the world is a dangerous place. And I will offer you opportunities to go out into it.” Sounds interesting~

“I assume, payment is a thing?” I obviously ask.

“It is.” The princess replies with a small smile.

“Fair enough, I accept.”

“Splendid! Now, I wish you a safe ride. I suggest getting along with the Ponies there. Last time I’ve been there, they were… a bit skittish. But they warm up to you.”

“Beautiful.”

“Indeed. Well I will not hold you off for any longer, may we see each other again!” I smirk and nod before getting in the carriage, "Oh, I do have one more question." I raise a brow as she walks closer, "Yesterday, before passing out, I believe I remember you saying you were going to..." I nod, having to slightly look up at her.

"Possess your asses." She gives a nod herself.

"What exactly did you expect us to do?" The Alicorn tilts her head a bit, her spacey eyes roaming around me for a second.

"...Anything that would result in me having to posses your asses." I state and a short silence falls over us.

"We do not see any profit in doing so. Especially if it results in thou 'possessing our asses'." She makes something between a laugh and a chuckle. Was that the royal we, or...? "May the fortune be favorable with you, Vadon." She says with a smile.

I nod and smile back, "Same for you, Luna." She nods and walks off to her guards, talking to them about something.

I set the box between my feet and take a seat on one of the side benches. Platinum and the bat get inside as well, closing the doors and sitting opposite of me.

“Hi, I’m Shade! A guard under princess Luna.”

“I’m Vadon. A prisoner and torture bag under you.” They exchange looks, but Shade giggles.

“Yeah, I can see him getting along with the princess.” I notice the Solar Pegasus guard who is our pilot flickers his ears towards us a little before straightening out again. Naughty, naughty.

I see Celestia exiting the house and share one last look with me as our pegasus takes off, following our ride for a bit with her eyes, before walking off with her big entourage, probably back to the castle with my stuff. I turn back to those in the carriage with me and try to find any differences in the armours of Shade and Platinum, but lose interest after a while, simply chalking it up to ‘captains have cooler armour’.

As for physical appearance, not much can be described about a Thestral. Pointy fangs, the small tips of which show from the upper lip at times and poke at the lower one. Another detail I notice about them now that I am taking a good look at one is when Shade takes off her pointy gauntlet. Thestrals, unlike ponies, have nails, which I am surprised I hadn't noticed until now. Although they are more like claws on a dog's or cat's paw, but smaller and wider. ...Luna had more human-like nails actually, I wonder if she paints them?

"I'm going to try to take a nap." Take a little stroll through my conscious subconsciousness.

Platinum lifts a brow at me as wind starts to blow slightly in my ears, "Like this!?" I give a nod and cut everything out, closing my eyes under the glasses.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Platinum Spark

My eyes are locked on the strange thin figure of Vadon, as I take a better look at his suddenly calm visage. He always looks so hectic when he walk or talks, or does anything really now that I think about it. His pale complextion suddenly looks so peaceful. I do a double take as my lieutenant pokes him of all things right in his chest. She even slipped her tongue out to the side and scrunched her muzzle for Luna's sake.

"...Leutenant, what are you doing?" I look at her, incredulous.

She gives me this innocent look as if it should be obvious, "I'm checking if he actually went to sleep, of course." She giggles a little and leans back into our seat, "It seems he is." Lietenant turns her head to me, staring right into my eyes with a pout, "And that's another time I have to remind you to call me Shade. We agreed, didn't we, captain?" I simply sigh with a roll of my eyes.

"...Yes, Shade. He does seem asleep." I give Vadon another glance and blink in confusion and worry as I narrowed my eyes a little to make sure that what I was seeing was what I was seeing.

It's not every day you get to see a being from another world cry in the middle of the sky. And yet there it is. A single tear slowly flowing down from behind one of the glasses. I reach a hand for my lieutenant and she notices what I had and by this point: another tear is falling. I get even more confused as I see Vadon's lips twitching up into the faintest of smiles.

I turn to my captain again as she opens her mouth silently and rears her head back and brings it forward with a nod. I tilt my head in confusion and he smiles at me, though her smile is different from her usual bright self. It holds her kindness, but there is a lack of the foolish playfulness.

"I believe. He might be dreaming." I look at her in confusion.

"But... that cannot be, unless what was told by him was a lie?" She turns to him thoughtfully, her amber eyes flickering up and down slowly before focusing on me as she lifts her ash blue finger to her lips, signifying I was a little too loud.

"Perhaps he is simply remembering. His world for example? Or the friends he left behind in Canterlot?" I glance back at him, wondering myself as more tears slowly flow, flying off at a point and drying his face in cold as we fly through the mostly clear skies.

"...So, lieu-Shade. What do we know about Ponyville again?" The pony I addressed gives me a bright grin and parts her lips, taking a short breath.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vadon

I move my cold lips around, scrunching my face slightly as I come out of memory lane and yawn, opening my eyes and looking at all three guard. The bat smiles cheerfully and asks if I slept well, in response to which I hum in a way that tells her it could have been better. I notice an odd look from Platinum Spark, but ignore it with a shrug, asking how they have been. Just talking about our destination and the living arrangements there, apparently. Which is Ponyville, unsurprisingly for some reason.

Seeing as we only made it about half way, I turn on some music in my head and enjoy a bit of everything, letting my thoughts drift to places such as: 'what the fuck now?'. We fly for about another half an hour, before finally descending to the ground.

Finally, going to get some much awaited sleep. Going to relax and lay back, enjoy my time here.

The ride lowers itself to hover above the green grass of a field right next to town. We smoothly land on a simple dirt path as I see the massive forest to our right - the dark foreboding Everfree, which doesn’t really look all that scary I tell you. Just a bunch of deformed weeping willows. I take a deep breath, the fresh air burning my nose. I’ve been on nature before, but this is nothing like it. No pollution at all. Kinda hurts actually. I open my eyes with a smile and look to our destination.

My hand clenches so hard, it nearly bends the side bars of our chariot. Fuck my life and everything in it. From over here I can see Ponyville.

With a red misty dome over it.

Author's Note

{This Chapter has been edited in a way that adds more scenes. Please enjoy the read}
Wohoo!

Apologies for any mistakes, been editing late at night. Apparenty: the functions [italics] and [bold] do not translate from google docs to fimfiction by simply marking them as such.

In any case: progress! If you have any questions and feel like there are plotholes, then I shall dash these thoughts away with my logic *undecipherable*.

I fixed a few of the earlier chapters, mainly the spacing problem. I know, I made them too big.

I don't have much to say honestly. G'night.

Order or Chaos, out.