A Royal Discharge Worthy Of A King

Written by Israel Yabuki

Edited and co-written by NineTailBeastBall

Every year, there comes a time when the people who have passed away, either in battle or a sickness are honored and remembered and their loved ones make time to visit their relatives’ graves, sharing stories about the many accomplishments or hardships they went through. However, for you, the case is far worse than anyone could imagine.

As a child, you always dreamed of joining the navy. Every day, you studied hard in school and got yourself in tip top, physical shape. The only family you had back then was your father and when he heard you wanted to join the navy, he supported you. Immediately after you finished high school at age 18, you registered yourself to join the navy.

Not surprisingly, you career started off pretty rough, but even so, you never gave up and kept moving forward. What’s more is that even though you lived a hard life as a navy seal, you still managed to become a devoted husband and father. It was one of the best things to ever happen to you when you took time off of work just to see your daughter being born.

When you told the news to your father, he was immensely proud of how well you’ve grown and finally got to see his own granddaughter. Sadly, your grandfather couldn’t stick around to watch her grow up after she turned 4. By then, he lost his life from his 6 year long battle with terminal cancer. At his funeral, your family and fellow soldiers paid their respects to your deceased father.

Unfortunately, years later after your father passed away, your career soon led to many traumatic experiences. You still had the scars and burn marks decorating your chest to prove what you’ve gone through while at sea for the past fifteen years. However as painful as it was to obtain those scars, they were easy to get over, unlike the scars you’ve obtained from a far worse pain.

Both your wife and daughter were supportive of your career even though you weren’t around much. Through video chats and holiday visits, they continued to support you... until that dreadful night when you lost everything. Your family, your social standing and your job.

It happened on a rainy night while you were out at sea with your fellow subordinates. On that very same night, your wife and daughter got into a terrible car accident on the highway. Witnesses say there was a reckless driver who put on their brakes too quickly, causing your wife to panic and swerve uncontrollably. It wasn’t long before the car rolled and crashed into a nearby tree.

The paramedics of course were called, but by the time they had arrived, it was too late. Your wife and daughter had died instantly when they crashed. The only good thing that came out of it was that the police arrested the man who was responsible for the accident and that your family didn’t have to suffer the immense pain after the collision.

Another funeral was held shortly after their deaths. Your fellow soldiers gave you the support by saluting to you and your beloved family. They prayed that you would make it out alright and hoped you would find peace.

You were already messed up from the harsh battles at sea but the death of your family pushed you off the deep end. You couldn’t help blaming yourself, thinking that if you were in the car with them, they would still be alive. Unstable and erratic, the navy officials saw no other choice but to discharge you from the force. Of course, things didn’t get much better after your dismissal.

It’s been six years since that tragedy and you preferred to stay away from others. You especially didn’t seek help from a therapist, as it angered you that they believe they know anything about your reality. The closest thing you had to therapy was your occasional visits to the city aquarium. It was the same aquarium you often took your daughter to since it was her favorite place to visit.

At the moment, you were staring at the many fish that circled around their tank. Watching the sharks that swam alongside other fish, you wondered if they too have forgotten what they once lived for. Have they been brainwashed to ignore the prey swarming around them? You can still remember when your daughter thought something similar to that, so she asked one of the workers why the sharks didn’t attack the fishes. But they said they fed the sharks beforehand so they wouldn’t see anything too disturbing.

You honestly didn’t believe there was any good in forcing yourself to come to a place which reminded you of your former career. You could practically feel the ache of your scars as you watched the fish swimming about. Deciding you’ve stayed long enough, you got off the bench to take your leave.

Even though you were dismissed from the navy, you have been compensated with enough money for a retirement. Still, when one lives alone, wealth counts for naught. With a sigh, you exited the aquarium without even bothering to look back. Once outside, you walked to your car and got inside, closing the door and starting the engine. You pulled out of the parking lot and drove away.

You remembered how you had visited the reckless driver who was responsible for killing your family. Even though he was ashamed and you’ve forgiven him, you still didn’t drop charges as he still needed to be punished for his mistake. You didn’t return the prison any more after that one visit.

As you drove on home, you heard the sounds of blood-curdling screams coming from this shopping center. The first thing which got your attention was a man who wore a ski mask had a revolver pointed at the parents, yelling at them to get out of the van.

With a scowl, you pulled up a little distance away from the perpetrator so he wouldn’t notice you. After parking your car, you got out and used every blind spot you could find to advance quietly and swiftly.

The man kept ranting and shouting for the kids to be quiet, pointing a gun at the two helpless little children. Your blood started to boil, but you kept your anger in control. Once you were close enough, you grabbed the man’s gun and threw a few punches to his stomach and face. You tackled him to the ground and pulverized him with your hardest and most effective punches, knocking him out.

However, as the man was knocked unconscious, the trigger was pulled and hit you in the chest, making you shout extremely loud. You clutched your chest and collapsed on the ground. The kids screamed in fear.

“Get in the car, kids! Hurry! And look away, now!” said the mother, but the damage was done. The kids had witnessed a murder with their own two eyes. Your only regret was having them see this with their own eyes.

The father laid you down on your back, trying to keep pressure on your bullet wound. “Hey, stay with me! Don’t you dare die on us! Come stay with us!” he panicked.

“Don’t waste your breath...” you muttered as you stared coughed violently, wheezing weakly. With your last bit of strength, you saluted the family with a smile. It was the first smile you’ve had in quite some time.

“For the land... of the free... and the home... of the... brave…” With those last dying words, you slowly close your eyes.

‘Is this it for me? Is it time for this torn up man to join you in the next world?’ you thought with whatever moments of consciousness you had left. The void of darkness had soon swallowed you up and carried you off into the afterlife. It’s there that you felt your body drift freely through the endless void.

Though you were unconscious and completely unaware of where you were, you could hear the sound of waves crashing against the shore. As soothing as it felt, something didn’t seem right with this. Soon, you were then able to regain complete control of your body.

‘W-Wha...? How... How did I end up on the beach?’ you asked as you came back to your senses. Your eyes caught the sight of a beautiful ocean washing up on a white, sandy beach. The sun was high up in the air and the weather was pretty breezy. But you had no time to sit down and shoot the breeze.

“This doesn’t make sense, how is it that I ended up on a beach when I was still in the city?” you asked yourself. But then, this idea popped in your head. “Perhaps... this is heaven. If that’s so, then maybe I can finally see my family again.”

You inhaled the refreshing breeze and exhaled, laying back down on the warm sand. With all the haunting memories in your days in the navy, it’s been so long since you felt this peaceful, ever since the day you witnessed your daughter’s birth.

You closed your eyes, hoping to find the chance to go back to sleep and wake up to see your wife and daughter again. Unfortunately you didn’t get the chance to doze off, as unfamiliar voices began to ring into your head.

“Hey, you there! Are you alright?” asked an older female voice.

“I can’t believe it! Another human? I’m surprised it washed up onto our kingdom. Should we check to see if he’s okay, mom? Should we? Should we?” asked another female voice. This one was was clearly an excitable one.

“I’ll handle this myself, you just stay back where it’s safe, young lady,” replied the older voice. You felt your body being shook gently. “Hey, you alright there, human?” she asked you.

You quickly stirred and woke up, looking up to find some anthro creature you’ve never seen before and jumped to your feet, backing away. She had a beak for a mouth and her eyes were a beautiful magenta color, which matched the color of her hair, though it was also violet colored at the tip. She wore a crystal blue dress that made her look like she had high authority. Her body was mostly made of light pink feathers.

“K-Keep away from me!” you snarled. The creatures before you were taken aback as you yelled at the,

“Oh dear, this isn’t good. Skystar honey, head back into the castle and bring a few guards down here in case things get difficult and don’t let me catch you sneaking out this time, okay?” she said, looking over her shoulder.

“Yes mother!” the one who was apparently named Skystar did as she was told and flew away. With her daughter taken care of, the older woman looked at you with a calm smile.

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, maybe now we can just sit down and talk,” the woman said, casually approaching you. The more the tried to approach you, the more you backed away. The glare on your face intensified as she came closer.

“Don’t you DARE come near me!” you snarled.

“Honey, do you even know who you’re talking to?” she asked with a smile. Rather than be offended by your disrespect, she seemed amused.

“No, I do not! What do you want from me and how did I get here?!” you asked, still glowering at the creature before you.

“I’ll gladly tell you if you would just calm down, I can’t explain anything to you if you’re on edge most of the time,” she reasoned. She then cupped your chin and you could feel yourself calm down from her surprisingly soft claws.

“W-Who are you...?” That was the first question that came to mind.

The woman smiled at you, reminding you all too well of the way your wife used to smile. “Oh where are my manners? I am Queen Novo, the marvelous leader of the hippogriffs residing here on Mount Aris!” she said proudly. You grew annoyed, as it was clear she had an ego.

“Are you sure you’re not jerking my chain here? Whether you like it or not, that sounds like something a child would come up with,” you replied. This time Novo became offended.

“Now you listen here...” she began but before she could say more, you caught the sound of flapping. Looking up you saw more of Novo’s kind, these ones, however, were wearing armor. You also took notice that they wore some kind of necklace which matched that of their queen’s.

“We heard of the situation from Princess Skystar your majesty,” one of the guards said with a bow. “What should we do with this... human?” he asked.

“I haven’t decided yet, he doesn’t seem to trust me,” she sighed and began to circle around you, as if you were beneath her. The entire time you looked at her with annoyance in your eyes.

“Now that I think about it, I want you and the other guards to take him up to the castle. Perhaps an hour or two in the dungeon will help calm his nerves. I don’t tolerate those who disrespect me in such a manner that he did! If he ever gets hungry, send him a plate of food on the double. I don’t want him to starve to death. Am I making myself clear?” she asked.

“So now I’m being thrown into a dungeon simply for speaking my mind?” you asked unimpressed. The guards growled at this disrespect for their leader and grabbed your arms.

“You’re lucky I’m merciful, otherwise you’d be locked in the dungeon for days, maybe even months. If you keep up this sass of yours, you’d best pray that this sunny won’t be the last. Now guards, take him away!” she demanded.

“Yes, your majesty!” they exclaimed in unison, saluting her. The guards apprehended you and walked you up to this big castle. Left and right you saw more of these majestic creatures who apparently were known as the hippogriffs.

After about ten minutes of walking, you and the guards had finally arrived at Novo’s castle, located on the top of Mount Aris. Fortunately for you even though, you were discharged from the navy you still kept yourself in shape. Of course, there wasn’t much time to look around as the guards wouldn’t let you stop walking.

As Novo had ordered, you were brought into the castle dungeons. The guards pushed you inside and slammed the cell door shut. “Please forgive us, but this is the queen’s order. If you get hungry, we’ll order the chefs to bring a plate of food to you. But for now, just sit there and don’t try anything funny,” one of the guards said.

You wiped off your clothes of any dust and sighed. With nothing to do, you just spent an entire hour working out by doing some push-ups. Not too long after you finished, you were greeted by Queen Novo’s daughter who looked at you with excitement. She wore a beautiful bright pink, sleeveless pink princess dress with a beautiful red necklace. Her body was cream yellow and had baby blue eyes and hair.

“Hi there, Mr. Human! I’m Princess Skystar. It’s so nice to meet you! Like really really nice!” she said, getting all giddy. You didn’t completely trust Skystar yet, so you still kept cautious of her.

By this point, it was obvious that you haven’t passed on into Heaven.

“Uhh, right... I’m flattered,” you said, trying not to sound rude.

“But I gotta ask, what did you say to make my mom so mad? If you were a little bit nicer to her, you probably wouldn’t have gotten thrown in the dungeon in the first place. She was planning on having a nice, comfy room all set up for you,” Skystar said.

“I highly doubt sitting down and talking things over with that woman will solve anything if she can’t learn to control her temper,” you sassed before you laid onto your bed. It actually felt better than you had expected.

“True, my mother can be a little harsh, but it’s only because she’s just trying to look out for her me and her entire kingdom. I’m not supposed to tell you, but if I could tell you, I’d say that years ago, in order to get our magic, we the hippogriffs were attacked by an army led by the tyrannical Storm King.” Hearing this, your interest has peaked and you looked at Princess Skystar as she continued rambling.

“In order to protect Mount Aris’ power, my mother used had all of transformed into seaponies so we could hide underwater. Somewhere where the Storm King and his army could never find us,” she said spinning around with joy. “But I so did not tell you that,” she finished.

“Why aren’t you under the sea anymore?” you asked, getting out of the bed.

“Well, you see...”

“PRINCESS SKYSTAR!” You frowned, as both you and Skystar knew who the voice belonged to. The young hippogriff froze in fear when she heard her mother come down the steps.

“H-H-Hi mom,” Skystar replied, stuttering in fear.

“I thought I told you to stay away from the human until I’m done speaking to him! How many times do I have to tell you this? Go up to your room NOW!”

Skystar hung her head but did as Novo had told her. Once she was out of sight, Novo squeezed the bridge between her eyes and turned to look at you.

“I made a little conversation with your daughter before you interrupted. Tell me, is she always this excitable?” you asked as you sat back down onto your bed. You remembered how your own daughter was always full of energy and ready for adventure. Novo decided to ignore the question.

“What am I going to do with that young lady? She never makes it easy on me, no matter what I tell her. But, back on the subject at hand, have you finally learned to calm that attitude of yours or are you still feeling a bit sassy?” Queen Novo asked.

“I’ve got a whole act, but I think it’s best that I don’t try your patience anymore,” you replied, trying not to anger her. Novo gave you a look, but nodded.

“Guards!” she called out and two armored hippogriffs rushed down the stairs.

“Yes, my queen?” one of them asked with a bow of his head.

“Please unlock the human, it seems he has learned his lesson and calmed down,” she ordered. You frowned how Novo was still talking all high and mighty, but you kept quiet.

“Yes, your highness! Right away!” Obeying Novo’s order, one of the guards stuck a key into your cell door. They cautiously watched you as you slowly stepped out of the cell.

You placed your hands behind your back, waiting for them to cuff you. Though to your surprise they did no such thing.

“Do you actually trust me to go around without any shackles?” you asked Queen Novo.

“If you’ve learned your lesson, then you’re not a prisoner. I’m taking you to your new resting quarters inside my castle. Though, I have to ask, do you like seafood?” Queen Novo asked.

“Sure, in fact, you could say I’ve spent most of my career eating lots of seafood. Why do you ask, is that what you mostly eat?” you asked.

“Not just meat, we also eat vegetables here, too,” one of the guards explained as they led you up the steps.

“Umm... listen, Novo-”

“That’s Queen Novo to you!” one of the guards yelled. However the hippogriff monarch sent her soldier a harsh glare, causing him to back off.

“As I was saying before I was just rudely interrupted,” you began. “I’ve had some time to think in the dungeon and I suppose I was a little out of line. I’m just feeling a bit uneasy, being brought into this strange, new world and all. But still, I want to know something,” you said.

“And what might that be, honey?” Novo asked.

“That daughter of yours, Skystar was it? Is she always that excited to see new things? I don’t personally know her that well, but I can tell that she’s a good kid. Before you interrupted us, she was explaining something that happened here years ago. I believe she mentioned an army led by someone called the “Storm King” or something,” you explained.

Novo sighed and gestured for you to follow her. With an eyebrow raised, you obeyed her and followed her into up to the top floor of the castle. Queen Novo and her bodyguards lead you down the hall and approached the biggest door. This was either the master bedroom or possibly the throne room.

“It’s not often that I bring up this story, but yes, years ago, our kingdom was destroyed by the Storm King. His goal was to take our magic and use it for his own personal gain and take over all of Equestria. He and his former commander, Tempest Shadow, were practically unstoppable, but then… a miracle happened,” Queen Novo explained.

“A miracle, huh? Care to explain?” you asked.

“It was thanks to these group of girls that my kingdom and all of Equestria was saved. Although, thanks to my daughter’s help that they stood a fighting chance. After the celebration, I ended up grounding Skystar. I know she had good intentions, but I still worry for her safety and the rest of my kingdom. That’s why I hid my kingdom in an isolated island. I can’t allow my subjects or my daughter to get hurt,” Novo explained.

You grew silent after she explained this. She knows what it’s like to live in isolation. What it’s like to hide away from the public eye, but she mostly does it to protect her kingdom... to protect her own daughter, too. It’s the same as you were when you isolated yourself from the public to protect them from your unstable behavior.

Novo reaches into her dress and pulled out a pocket watch. “Well due to that little anecdote, mama here is 5 minutes late for her daily massage,” she said as she got up from her throne and allowed her nearby maids to lead her away. You of course still had questions but the queen didn’t give you a chance.

“So that’s why she’s always behaving like this. But something doesn’t seem right. It feels like she’s hiding something deep inside of her,” you said to yourself, quietly. But then, with one last look at the throne, you noticed that there were 2 chairs.

‘Wait a second. If she’s the queen, then where’s her king? Did something happen to him?’ you thought as you observed the thrones. The hippogriff guards of course kept a close watch on you as you kept looking at the throne rooms. But then, you turned to the guards, wondering if they might have the answers.

“Excuse me,” you said, calmly.

“Yes, what is it?” one of the guards asked.

“I’ve noticed how Queen Novo is running the kingdom, but I’m curious… did something happen to the king? I’ve noticed that the king isn’t around,” you said.

The guard seemed to be debating whether or not he should answer the question. After waiting a few moments, it became clear to you that you weren’t going to get your answer so you made your way out of throne room.

“Alright, I understand. You’re probably not at liberty to speak on behalf of the king by order of Queen Novo, am I right?” you asked perceptively.

You could see the guard was starting to sweat a little bit before he gave a slow nod. Though disappointed that he wouldn’t answer your question, you decided to let it go and continued on your way.

As you exited the throne room, the guards lead you down the hall and stopped in front of one of the other doors. They opened it and lead you inside. The room had a bed big enough to fit you and had a nightstand and a view of the ocean. It seemed like this was the place you were going to sleep in.

You had a slight fear of the ocean due to the horrors you had endured as a navy seal. Though, watching the sparkling waves brought a little bit of relief into your heart, so that was one thing you loved about the sea. You took in a deep breath as you watched the sea from your bed.

‘Diana, my wife… Abby… my sweet little girl… I haven’t been doing so well as of late, but somehow, I feel like my life can really change for the better. I hope you two are doing alright, I love you both so much,’ you thought to yourself.

You continued to watch the waves sparkle for a few hours until the sun began to set over the horizon. The water appeared to change into an orange color. Watching the many colors decorating both the sky and the sea, you suddenly grew tired. Without even covering yourself in the blankets, you slowly laid down on the bed you were sitting on, deciding to put everything behind you with a good night sleep.

Author's Note

Behold, everyone. For my editor and I have finally created a Queen Novo story. If you spot any errors, I welcome the constructive critisism so I can improve it and always, thank you for your patience and support and remember to stay tuned and keep bronying on