Not having fingers was definitely something he was going to have to get used to. Noah realized that as he took a drink, holding a wooden mug in between his hooves. Holding the cup had definitely been difficult, but not as difficult getting his clothes on. Took him a whole thirty minutes to figure that out properly. “So let me get this straight…” Noah started as he lowered the cup. “You recently underwent some kind of magic induced disaster that almost destroyed your nation.”

“Yes.”

You two and six others summoned me from my world in order to hopefully deal with it.”

“Yes.”

“I’m in another world, one mostly populated by ponies and other talking species.”

“Yes.” Noah took another drink as he glanced to the side for a moment.

“And you summoned me, at random, without the knowledge that I might be in the middle of something very important.

“… yes.”

“And I was in the hospital for how long?”

“Three days.”

“… ok.”

“What?”

“Ok?”

“Ok.” Noah muttered as he took another drink. “I’ll see if I can find the one responsible.” The teen turned stallion stated as the two sisters looked at one another.

“You~re taking this surprisingly well.”

“Mh.” Noah shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong I’m absolutely livid.” The two jumped slightly as he hissed slightly. “But~ when you have magic and you can’t reign in your emotions… things tend to happen against your will.” Celestia simply nodded her head at the stallion’s words, finding an obvious truth in them. Wild emotions tended to send magic spiraling out of control after all. “So understand, I’m just keeping my temper in check.”

“Thank you.”

“That said… what. The. fuck.”

“P - pardon?”

“Forgive my language but my world had effectively become a shitshow yes, but it was my world. It’s where my family resides. And they’ve been worried sick about me since I haven’t been home in a while - but now, now I’m pretty much certain that they think I’m dead considering Vivian’s connection likely doesn’t cover the distance of fucking worlds.” The teen hissed out as he took a moment to breathe and drink. “But it’s likely to late isn’t it? I know summoning magic, it takes a lot of mana and it’s usually one way so~” Noah made a gesture with his hooves one the mares couldn’t quite get before shrugging. “I try my hands at fixing your world, you try yours at sending me home...sound fair?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.” The two sisters breathed as Noah sighed in annoyance. He would have rubbed his temples but… he didn’t have any fingers at the moment.

“Let’s change the subject… might help me get this over with.” Noah muttered as he rolled his shoulders. “A nation-wide magic assault would require a tremendous amount of mana to draw upon. Way more than your everyday person would be able to draw upon.”

“Yes we’ve thought of that.” Luna admitted as she straightened up a bit. “It’s as you said, no mere mortal could draw upon the magic needed to do such a thing save perhaps another alicorn… but such a thing would be possible if many like minded individuals united their magic.”

“That said however it would still require a vast number of individuals to do such, and we don’t know of any enemies that would be willing to join together enough to do such a thing.”

“What about the small ones; the kind you usually overlook?”

“Such as?”

“I don’t know... you got Doomsday cults here?” That made Luna grow uncomfortable for a moment, only for her sister to reach for her hoof. “You used to be part of one weren’t you?”

“No! No…” Luna muttered as Noah turned to Celestia and gave her a look. The return look he got showed that this was a highly uncomfortable subject.

“We have had our run ins with such cults in the past, but I assure you my sister has never had a hoof in their creation or their actions.” The mare stated as Noah slowly nodded his head. “Regardless the last time I dealt with them was a long time ago, nearly 700 years prior.”

“Doesn’t mean that they are gone however.” Luna muttered as she sighed to herself. “Many likely still exist in this day and age, cloaking themselves in the shadows and hiding beyond our sight.”

“Yes well…”

“So anyway!” Feeling the conversation between the two mares growing uncomfortable Noah interrupted before taking another drink. “This body feels weird.” Noah muttered as he messed with the hooves for a moment. “Let’s say there’s a doomsday cult doing all this. Let’s say they have been hiding for~ those 700 years and are finally moving into the light. If that’s the case… they’ll probably go back to hiding for a while.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well we already established that it would require a tremendous amount of mana to do something that could affect a nation. What they had to use in order to do this~”

“Yes, they would need time to recover from such a spell.” Celestia caught on as she saw Noah nod. “Regardless their numbers they would not be able to cast a new spell for quite some time.”

“So that gives us some time before they try anything new. Meanwhile someone looks into old cults and doomsdays prophecies and tries to find anything that tells us who we’re up against."

“I shall handle that.” Luna volunteered as she looked at the stallion. “Such information is likely back within the Canterlot archives, We shall fly there in order to discover what we can.”

“Awesome… meanwhile I’ll do what I can, searching around on foot I guess.” Noah muttered as he sighed in annoyance, that tail of his sliding along the floor as it moved with his emotions. “One more thing I want you to understand something about me, about what I am.”

“And what might that be?”

“I’m a…” He started before shaking his head. “You know what let me rephrase that - why am I a unicorn?” He asked as he raised a hoof and looked it over for a moment. “I’m not one normally. In fact I’d never even been close to transforming into one back home.” ‘Not that I ever tried.’ “So yeah, why am I a unicorn and not how I usually look?” The two went silent as they looked at Noah.

“I am afraid we can’t answer that.” Celestia admitted. “Truth we wouldn’t have been aware that you were not originally a unicorn if you hadn’t brought it up?”

“You mean this wasn’t intended?” He asked as he looked himself over again.

“No, when we performed the summoning, we didn’t “set” it to transform your base species.” Celestia admitted as she seemed to think to herself. ‘When Starswirl and I crossed dimensions before we never changed species… yes my anatomy changed slightly but to do a full species change... why?’ Glanced at the stallion she raised a hoof to her lips in thought. ‘Perhaps… it was a feature he had introduced after I stopped coming with him on his adventures?’ Noah moved his tail as he glanced at it for a moment. ‘Or… perhaps it was an accident? I’m not certain.’ Either case she’d have to look into that spell they rigged together. Maybe the answer would reside within that or Starswirl’s other spells.

“Hm~.” Noah stopped staring at his tail and returned to his drink for a moment before standing up. Walking over to his bag and blade he frowned lightly as he fumbled with the weapon for a moment. Holding the blade would certainly take some getting used to in this body, that was a given. ‘Maybe if I use the shadow hand…’ He thought for a moment as he lifted the sheathed blade and put it on his back. Took a couple tries but he succeeded. ‘Definitely need to take some time adjusting to this body…’

“That is quite an interesting blade you carry.” Luna stated as she approached the stallion. “I have not seen a blade like that in quite some time, last I recall beings like Minotaurus carried blades as large as that one, though there’s were notably much thicker.” The mare noted as she looked at it. “May I?”

“Hm? Sure.” Her magic wrapped around the weapon as Noah watched her examine the blade for a moment.

“It’s quite well made… balanced as well.” She noted as she ran a good along the flat of the weapon. “But not iron, what material is this?”

“It’s just made of everyday steel.”

“You’ll have to forgive her, my sister has been… away for a good thousand years.” Celestia admitted as she approached the duo. “She’s behind on our current metal work.”

“Well that sucks.” Noah noted as Luna returned the weapon to it’s sheathe on the stallion’s back. “Where have you been?”

“The moon.” Noah gave her a look, one that showed he didn’t fully believe her or get whatever joke she was trying to make.

“Ri~ght. So… where do you want me to start looking?” Noah asked the pair as he fastened his backpack in place.

“Looking?”

“You want me to deal with your problem right? Where do you want me to start looking?”

“Well~”

“We aren’t exactly sure ourselves.” Celestia was honest he’d give her that. “But members of our guard are looking into a few places as we speak.”

“Until then why don’t we take a chance to get you accommodated to your new surroundings, We certainly do have a few ponies that are curious about the new stallion in town.”

“Sure, gives me a chance to -” The door to the princesses abode was forced open as an armored stallion rushed forward. “Nice armor, bit flashy though.”

“News from northern Equestria! Uh... Your Highnesses.”

“Yes?” Celestia began as she looked at one of her guardsponies as they removed their helmet.

“I am simply to tell you that it has returned.” Both Celestia and Luna gasped as Noah raised an eyebrow.

“It?”

When they shook out of their stubber Celestia once again gave her sister her full attention before receiving a nod of her head. Returning her gaze to the guard not a moment later she frowned slightly. “Find Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The stallion ran off as Noah sat down and crossed his hooves.

“Trouble?”

“Not yet.” Luna muttered as she turned to the stallion. “But there might be. The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The Crystal Empire?”

“The Crystal Empire was once a neighboring land that resided within the Frozen North. One of our allies in fact, formerly ruled by Princess Amore; the Crystal Princess.”

“You said formerly.”

“Yes, well, we’re afraid to say that she was overthrown a long time ago by…” Luna looked at her sister, this time with a look that Noah caught on to pretty easily. He’d had it a few times himself; the look that said the next words said might be like stepping on a landmine. Celestia gave her sister a look in return though, a soft sad smile crossing her lips before she picked up where her sister left off.

“Sombra. King Sombra as he took to calling himself after he overthrew Princess Amore some thousand years ago. A unicorn stallion with a heart as black as night and skilled in dark magic. He is one of the four greatest threats that Equestria has ever been forced to face.”

“That so… but you said that was a thousand years ago, shouldn’t he be dead?” He looked between the two as they shook their head.

“We’re afraid Sombra is very much alive. Our last confrontation ended when my sister and I banished him to the ice of the arctic north, however that was not before he laid a curse upon the Crystal Empire and it’s ponies; causing it to vanish into thin air.” Luna explained as Noah made a noise. “And now it appears to be back.”

“And you believe that Sombra’s returned with it?”

“That is a possibility yes, but not all we are concerned by.” Celestia drew Noah’s attention as she spoke now. “The Crystal Empire houses a powerful magic, when filled with hope and love, those feelings are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold…”

“I think I get the idea.” Noah muttered as he tilted his head. “Maleficium, I get how that works. It’s corrosive - it corrupts. If your saying the empire can spread ‘light’ across your entire nation, then the same must be said about ‘darkness’ as well.”

“Yes. Exactly. Be it Sombra’s darkness, or… whomever is responsible for our current predicament as well.”

“Hm…” The doors to the princesses residence opened up as two figures ran. The first; a white stallion. The second a pink mare of the same breed as the two princesses.

“Your highnesses.”

“Auntie - you called us?” Noah stepped back as he looked at the scene before him.

“Yes, it appears the Crystal Empire has returned from it’s banishment.”

“The Crystal Empire?” The pink mare, questioned as she developed a thoughtful look. “I remember you giving me a few lessons back during my studies.”

“The guard had a few lessons on it as well, but they weren’t able to cover much about it, for some reason.”

“That’s because there wasn’t much to teach on the subject.” Celestia basically told Cadence and Shining Armor the same thing she and her sister had told Noah, so he tuned out most of it. Instead he flexed his hooves a few times, trying to grow used to the feeling of having them instead of fingers.

‘Wow, I’m already beginning to miss my fingers…’ The teen thought after a moment before turning to look back at the scene. “Princesses.” Drawing the fours attention he returned to standing as he looked at the royals. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to go to the North and see the Crystal Empire.”

“Noah?”

“Are you certain?”

“I’d like to get an idea of where I am and what I’m dealing with.” He shrugged. “ Besides, you brought me here to solve an issue, I can’t do that if I’m just staying in one place.” Also it would give him enough time to try seeing where he stood in a fight in case things went south. This body was still foreign to him, so it would do him good to try adjusting to anything beyond the physical changes. What better way than to figure that out except through a trial by fire?

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, but nodded moments later in unison. “Alright, you can join my niece and Shining Armor.” Something sparked behind Celestia’s eyes as she turned to the pair. “Where have my manners run off to? Cadence, Shining Armor, this is Noah Astray Bellerosé. Noah; this is my niece Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her husband Prince Shining Armor.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Shining Armor held out his hoof to the transformed teen as Noah took it, shook it like he would a hand and retracted his limb.

“Likewise.” Noah stated before looking between the couple before resting his eyes on Princess Cadence as she smiled at him. “Nice to meet you too, Mi Amore Cadenza…” Kind of a mouthful, that name.

“Cadence is fine.”

“Noah will do.” He lowered his head for a moment before raising it back up.

“Noah, you’ll be joining Cadence and Shining Armor on their journey up north.”

“That’s fine. I’m new to the area but I’ll try not to slow you both down.” Turning his head to the two other princesses Noah rolled his shoulders and made a noise. “So how are we getting there? If we’re walking then that might take forever.”

“Yes well; regrettably our field reports say that the trains will take some more time before they are running again, there’s simply to much debris covering the tracks.”

“What about the airships?”

“That may be the best choice Luna; however the pilot may not be able to take them the entire way.” Celesta muttered as she turned her head towards the trio. “The winds of the Frozen North are fierce when they come. They can freeze an airship - let alone a pony within a matter or moments if you aren’t careful. And this time of year begin to grow in strength.”

“You’ll need to prepare for the worst.”

***

“Damn I never thought I’d be so happy to return to work.” The mare cheered as she all but skipped down the roads of a destroyed Canterlot. She honestly didn’t mind the wreckage, Canterlot looked better trashed in her opinion but that's besides the point. Coming to a stop the mare stretched for a moment as she turned her attention towards the sky. “Now the question is, who do I study next?” The mare muttered as she levitated a stone to her side and started chucking it repeatedly into the air. “I already studied Luna, all that’s left are pretty in peak and little miss sunshine.” Carving something onto the both sides of the stone she made a noise before tossing it one final time. “Why don’t you tell me who I should go after?”

“You… are quite an oddity.” Glancing to the side the mare focused her attention on one that had slipped by her guard.

“Well what do you know. What are you doing here, True Queen?”

“Am I not allowed to tread upon my own lands?”

“I never said that. You can go wherever you want.” The mare shrugged as she watched the stone land, one of it’s carved sides sticking up as she grinned.

“Happy about the selection I take it?”

“Oh you have no idea.” The mare stated as she returned her attention to her counterpart. “Still that aside what can I do for you. I thought I wouldn’t be seeing you again after I woke you up.”

“‘Seeing’ me is a blessing in and of itself. But since you awoke me I have been watching you quite a bit.”

“Stalker much.”

“Please, do not compare me to those types of beings.” The True Queen states, her words sounding more like silk than anything as she approaches the mare, walking around her a moment as if in thought. “I watch because I must, I look to you because I am curious. You are not like the others I have seen in this era.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your eyes, the way you move, the way you talk… I find a story in them.” She muttered before smiling. “One I respect and yet…” She simply smirked in return as her counterpart stepped back. “You are not right.” She muttered as she narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Just a mercenary.”

Author's Note