Smoke and Mirrors

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Chapter 1

70 B.N.M. (Before Nightmare Moon)

On the east side of a forested valley a series of tents and lines of three thousand white pony soldiers in golden armor, consisting of about equal numbers between three races, unicorn, pegasi, and seemingly normal ponies. Two ponies stood out over the others in the back of the army, a white pegasus with an electric blue mane in silver armor, and a midnight blue hybrid of unicorn and pegasus with black and silver armor.

On the west side of the valley, a large group of griffins and minotaurs were defending a fort made largely of stone and wood, dressed in leather and iron armor. The minotaurs were armed with war axes and swords, while the griffins were armed with bows and spears. In the valley between the two armies, fire was burning the forests to the ground, large quantities of smoke being blown back and forth by the griffin and pegasi’s wings in an effort to keep it away from their armies.

Suddenly the smoke started swirling into a cyclone that grew ever smaller, closing in until it only covered a small area on the west side of the river. The smoke compressed into a doorway, which promptly opened, with a bipedal form being thrown through the door and landing on the soft needles of pine trees that layered the banks of the river. He coughed twice before the smoke floated towards him, settling on his back and flowing softly down his arms and legs.

Both the pony and griffin leaders saw this take place and immediately dispatched scouting parties to find out what this creature that appeared out of the smoke was, and if possible, bring it to their main base for questioning. The griffin and minotaur generals argued for a minute about who would be sent to collect the creature, with the griffin general winning the argument to send a group of griffins to collect him due to them being unaffected by terrain. The ponies sent pegasi for much the same reason, though they were also the designated scouts.

The man stood up, looked around, and simply said, “Where the FUCK am I?” in a dumbstruck voice. He then clutched at his head, bending over in pain, as how to use his new abilities flooded through his mind. After a few seconds, four names for his newly acquired abilities floated through his mind, two being actively controlled, and two being instinctive.

The two actively controlled abilities were typhokinesis, or the manipulation and conjuration of smoke, and fictional material manipulation, which allowed him to bring his imagination into reality. The instinctively used abilities were functional immortality through rapid healing and agelessness, and absolute magic immunity. No magic would ever work on him directly, and all parts of him had the same effect, dripping his blood onto something would cause it to be immune to magical manipulation until the blood was completely removed.

He shook his head to clear it, and took a look around, noticing a small group of griffins flying towards him, as at the same time on the other side of the river a group of pegasi were doing the same. The griffins reached him nearly a minute before the pegasi did, as the fort they were dispatched from was significantly closer than the pony army was. A griffin that was wearing what seemed to be full iron armor stepped to the front of the group, saying “Good evening, I have been tasked with recovering you and bringing you back to our fort in order to get answers as to how you appeared in the center of a battlefield. Also, if I may ask, what is your name?”

As he was saying this, the griffin looked up and down the creature, noting that it was wearing what appeared to be formal wear, though not like anything he’d seen in the griffin lands before. It was reminiscent of the formal wear the pony nobles wore, although of significantly better quality. He was also wearing leather shoes, which did not seem like something someone who lived with ponies would wear, and had a gold watch on his left wrist. He was largely furless, with pale skin and long black hair that came down to his shoulders. His left eye was a pale, piercing blue, while his right eye was a dark grey.

“My name is Egil Davinson, and I’ll fly with you back to your fort to provide your answers, though you may find them lacking.” Egil responded with a curt nod. He then focused on the feeling of the smoke surrounding him, forming it into a pair of wings on his back. He gave them an experimental flap, at which the griffins took off with him following behind. After a couple of minutes of flying they touched down at the outside edge of the fort, where a heavily scarred minotaur and a griffin wearing a heavily decorated uniform were waiting.

“Good evening to you, my odd friend. I am Duke Silverbeak the Third, and this minotaur to my side is Chief Stone Wall of the Iron Tribe. If you would follow us to the war room, we can inform you of the situation you’re in.” The Stone Wall nodded once before turning and walking through the fort to a tent just outside the keep. Egil followed them into the tent, which contained a large wooden table with maps on it.

Duke Silverbeak took a seat at the head of the table and gestured for Egil to sit at the foot of the table with his back to the entrance flaps. “The situation you currently find yourself in is most odd, as you bear a passing resemblance to the minotaurs, yet you clearly are not one, and you are also clearly not a pony, and from what we can tell from looking at you, you aren’t involved with the ponies in any way. However, you showed up from a smoky portal nearly in the center of an active war zone, so we wish to ask you who you are, where you came from, and what powers you have.” Silverbeak stated, with a stern look on his beaked face.

Egil nodded, “Well, my name is Egil Davinson, and I came from Los Angeles, California, in the United States, and as far as I know, I was knocked unconscious and given four injections, as shown by the four needle marks on my arm. When I woke up, I was down by the river flowing through this valley, and as far as I can tell I am now immortal and can manipulate and conjure smoke. I also seem to be immune to all forms of magic, but other than that I don’t have anything else.” He paused, taking a breath, “So, why is this war going on?” he finished.

“The ponies decided to invade our lands here to try and push us off this continent, and we had previously come to an agreement with the minotaur clans in the area that we would come to each other’s aid if we were invaded by the ponies in the north or south. The army on the other side of the valley is led by one of the Princesses of the ponies, who supposedly raises the moon in the night. They preach love and harmony, but only for their races. Their army is three thousand strong, and they’re attacking here because I am the griffin king’s younger brother.” Silverbeak said, with a sad undertone to his voice.

Stone Wall spoke for the first time after this, saying, “Stone Wall believes that, at the current rate, our forces will lose this battle and this fort will be captured. The pony army is currently four thousand strong, while we only have a thousand troops here, and we cannot get reinforcements as our brothers to the north are fighting the Crystal Empire. They can get reinforcements at any time, but it is looking like they won’t need them. If you are immortal and immune to magic as you say, then you would be a great help to our cause.”

Egil thought over his options for a few seconds, before saying, “I’ll go over to the ponies and see what their side of the story is, and afterwards I’ll decide whether or not I’ll get involved, and on whose side I’ll be on.” Silverbeak nodded sadly, then got up and walked over to the tent flap and opening it.

Egil walked through to get outside, pausing as Silverbeak said, “I hope you’ll stay safe, my friend. If I’m still around after this war is over, you’ll have a place to stay with me, though I may give you a job or two.” He smiled and waved as Egil took off towards the pony outpost, before turning to Stone Wall. “Hopefully he decides to fight alongside us, as it would be a major pain to fight two immortals. Have you planted the poisons in their drinking water, Mandible?” In a flash of green fire a bug-like equine was standing where Stone Wall had once been.

“Yes, and we have infiltrated the chain of command, we’ll now know their every plan as they’re making it, and be able to counter them accordingly.” Mandible said smugly, seemingly prideful of her brood’s effectiveness. Silverbeak also smirked, believing that he had this battle well in hand, and that his losses shouldn’t be too bad.

“I wonder why Strong Wall wasn’t a minotaur, even though it seemed that everyone thought he was one? I mean, it looked more like a female equine bug than anything remotely resembling a minotaur.” Egil thought aloud, about halfway across the valley and nearing the river he appeared by. He checked his pockets, finding them suspiciously empty even though he had them before he was knocked unconscious. “God dammit, that was a $900 dollar phone and a few hundred in cash!” he shouted, shaking his head.

He reached the outskirts of the camp, forming a white flag out of smoke as he stumbled to a landing. A group consisting of nine soldiers, three of each race, approached him cautiously, with their spears leveled at him. Surprisingly, unlike the griffins and the female bug-pony, these ponies only reached to his lower chest, where the griffin and the bug-pony reached his shoulder. He wasn’t tall per se, but he also wasn’t very short at 6’1”.

A unicorn with embellished armor stepped to the front of the group, sternly saying, “State your name and purpose here, or you shall be brought before Her Majesty Princess Luna in chains.”

Egil shrugged, “I’m Egil Davinson, and I wish to speak with the Princess about something.” he said simply. The griffins were much more kind than these ponies, though that was likely because they had an ulterior motive. These ponies didn’t seem to like or dislike him, so there was less of a chance that they had ulterior motives for getting him on their side. There was also the issue of the bug-pony impersonating a male minotaur, when it was clearly female.

While he was thinking on what the griffin’s ulterior motives may be, the three unicorns in the group were discussing what they should do with him. The one who first spoke said, “He may be an assassin sent by the griffins, there’s no telling what damage he could do to our efforts.”

The unicorn to his left, who was wearing very similar, but slightly less embellished armor, responded, “He came under a white flag, so he’s not here for violent purposes. I say we take him to the Princess, but keep him under guard. Any abilities he may have are an unknown, so we should put a magic suppressing ring on him, then take him to Princess Luna.”

The unicorn to the right of the first one to speak pitched in, “We should probably pat him down for weapons, make sure he isn’t armed before we allow him to speak to the Princess.” The other two nodded, and he walked off to get a magic suppressing ring.

The two that remained behind stepped forward, and the one who had initially spoken stepped further forward. “If you wish to speak with Her Majesty, you will have to allow yourself to be searched for weapons, and you will be required to wear a magic suppressing ring while in her presence.”

Egil nodded, and the second unicorn charged a spell on his horn, casting it at him. It sank through the first layer of his clothes, but stopped as soon as it touched the layer that was touching his skin. “He’s clean, no weapons on him, and no enchanted items either.” the unicorn said stepping back.

Right then, the unicorn that had left returned, with a gray ring floating in his magical aura. With a flick, the ring sailed through the air, and Egil caught it in one hand, easily slipping it onto his left middle finger. The two unicorns who had stayed the full time nodded at this, and the highest ranking one said, “Follow us, we’ll lead you to the Princess. Keep your eyes forward and don’t touch anything, or move out of formation. If you do, it’ll be taken as hostile action, and we’ll be forced to act accordingly.”

Egil nodded, and the unicorns took point, with Egil following behind. The pegasi flanked him on either side, and the normal ponies followed directly behind him. They led him through the camp, and each group of ponies that they came across glared at Egil suspiciously. After about a minute of walking, they reached a midnight blue tent with a silver crescent moon over a black backdrop on the flap, and the highest ranking unicorn opened it and walked in. Egil moved to follow him, but the second unicorn stopped him with a hoof.

After about two minutes of waiting, a regal, female voice called out, “We will now see this ‘Egil Davinson’” Egil walked in and beheld a midnight blue pony in black and silver armor that was at least a good foot and a half taller than the rest of the ponies, not including her horn. While her height was impressive, putting her at his chest, shoulders with her horn included, the most odd thing about her was that she had both wings and a horn, Egil noted. Where the rest of these ponies had either nothing or one of the two, she had both.

“Good evening, I take it that you are the Princess Luna that I’ve been told of?” Egil answered smoothly, after surreptitiously taking in her appearance. She looked him over with much less concern, looking on his form curiously.

“What manner of creature might thou be? We must confess, we have never encountered anything like you before, save for the great apes in the forests to the south.” Luna said, still looking over his form. Egil moved over to one of the cushions on the carpeted floor next to the table she was sitting at, taking a seat across from her. Now that he was sitting, they were about the same height, with her horn making her a few inches taller.

“I am a human, and from what I can tell, I am the only one of my kind here. You may have been informed, but I’m the creature that came through the doorway in the smoke. If I might inquire, why are you attacking the griffins? They made out that you were simply attacking them because you wanted your race to have the only nation on this continent, but seeing how the supposed leader of the minotaurs is some kind of bug pony everyone seems to think is a minotaur, I’m not liable to trust them at the moment. Luna listened on in mounting surprise as Egil went on, from the revelation that he was the creature from the smoke, to the mention of bug-like equines, which could only be changelings.

“The reason that we are attacking the griffins is to push them off the continent, yes, however, it seems that they have failed to inform you that their main kingdom is across the sea, and that they have been attacking pony run trading caravans our kingdom to the south and the Crystal Empire to the north, who are our close allies. If the changelings, the bug ponies thou saw, are fighting alongside the griffins, this is most worrying.” Luna said, sounding somewhat frantic at the end of her tirade, when speaking of the changelings. She got up and left the tent, heading straight for a pegasus in gilded armor.

He glanced at Egil for a second, before turning to Luna, saying, “Your Majesty, has something come up?”

Luna nodded briefly, moving forward and whispering into his ear. He nodded once, saying, “I’ll take him on a tour of the fort and have him point out any that he sees.” He walked over to Egil, gesturing for him to lean down so that he could reach his ear. Egil complied, and the pegasus whispered in his ear, “I am Commander Hurricane the third, and I need you to follow me and point out any bug-ponies that you see as I show you around the base. For the record, they’re called changelings.” Egil nodded once, and then the commander led him on a tour through the fort.

After passing by a few tents, he noticed one entering what seemed to be the mess hall, and pointed it out to Hurricane. He nodded and seemed to memorize the changelings face, then moved on, with Egil still tailing behind. After touring through the entire encampment, Egil pointed out a total of two hundred changelings, the majority of which were in low to mid ranking officer positions, with only forty being in general foot soldier positions.

Hurricane let him wander about as he took care of the changelings, so he went back to the Princess’s tent. He knocked on the support pole to the left of the flap, and Luna immediately called out, “Enter!” He stepped inside and she seemed to be surprised that he was already back. It had only taken an hour for him to point out all of the changelings in the camp. “So, how many of those vile bugs were in our camp?”

Egil thought for a second before responding. “There were roughly two hundred changelings, mostly taking places as low to mid ranked officers, with about a fifth of them being general soldiers. In key positions, they only had ten, most of which were in the weapons and food distribution areas. They likely sabotaged supplies, so I’d keep an eye out for that if I were you.”

Luna nodded, and seemed to be about to say something when Egil continued, “As I’m sure you have questions for me, Princess, and the opposite is most definitely true, how about we ask each other one question each, and the other has to answer it honestly, unless it makes them uncomfortable. If they pass, the asker asks a different question, and they alternate after a question is asked.” Luna nodded, and so they began to acquaint themselves with each other.

Author's Note

In this universe, illusions are powerful magic suggestions, rather than physical or light representations, therefor they don't work on Egil, who is immune to magic. The next chapter will be the backstory as to how he got there, during Egil and Luna's game of twenty questions. If you dislike, let me know why, and I'll see about fixing it. Personally, I think this is my best fic yet, or at least the best paced anyway. If you're questioning Egil's lack of apparent care when it comes to being in a different world, it hasn't sunk in yet.

Chapter 2

“So, how did thou get into the middle of a battlefield, Egil?” Luna started, asking the first question.

“Well, I had just finished a stage performance, and was heading backstage when…”

Egil was heading backstage, and passed the bar on the way there. “Yo, Egil, some lady bought you a drink! I think she’s waiting for you backstage.” Egil nodded in thanks to the bartender, taking the glass of what seemed to be brandy, downing it in a single gulp.

He placed it back down on the bar, saying with a grin, “I’m gonna get lucky!” The bartender grinned, and Egil continued backstage, heading to his dressing room. This had been his second show after making it big with last month. He opened the door, noticing a lack of anybody. He stumbled, grabbing at his desk for support, before slumping into his chair unconscious. A woman dressed in a tasteful black cocktail dress slipped out of the shadows behind the door, and walked over to his unconscious body. She pulled out a briefcase that had been stashed under his desk, popping it open.

“Hmm, what order to inject them in…” She muttered in a soft voice while looking over four vials, clearly labeled with what seemed to be the names of powers. She plucked out the one labeled ‘Typhokinesis’ first, sticking one of four syringes into it, drawing out all of the clear fluid from the vial. She poked it into his left arm, and depressed the plunger, emptying its contents into his bloodstream. She then repeated the process with the one labeled ‘Fictional Material Manipulation/Conjuration’, injecting it just above the first spot. With the next two vials, which were labeled ‘Regenerative Durability’ and ‘Magic Immunity’ she injected them into his right arm just below the elbow.

This whole process took roughly eight minutes, and at this point, Egil was stirring slightly. She rolled the sleeves of his suit jacket back down over his forearms, before lightly slapping his face. He groaned, and she took a glowing silver device out of the bottom of the briefcase, outlining his door with it. He stood up in a stupor, opened his door, and walked through it, not noticing that the floor outside was significantly lower than inside. He fell out the door, landing on his face in soft pine needles…

“So, thou tookest a drink that was bought for thou at a bar, and it had a narcotic in it?” Luna asked. Egil nodded, and Luna looked angry.

“My turn. So, what is a Princess like yourself doing out here in a place like this? As far as I know, shouldn’t a princess be back at the castle looking pretty while the king does most political work?” Egil asked out of ignorance.

Luna scoffed. “Equestria is a diarchy, run by me and my sister. She deals with the political side of ruling, and I deal with the military side of it.” Egil nodded, pondering the differences in cultures.

“So, what abilities dost thou possess, Egil?” Luna asked, snapping him out of his ponderings.

“Typhokinesis, regenerative durability, magic immunity, and fictional material manipulation.” He replied quickly. Luna didn’t seem to recognize the last ability, but definitely recognized magic immunity. Her horn lit up, and she focused on him, but it didn’t seem to do anything. She turned and focused on a cushion to the left of him, and it was suddenly floating.

“Most odd, though you most likely have some form of magic if you’re alive.” She cast a different spell, which caused a number to appear over her head. It read somewhere in the forty thousand range, while Egil’s read zero. “We suppose that since you are from another world, you would not fit Equus’ standards for life.” She continued in a slightly disbelieving tone.

“So, what abilities do you possess, Luna?” Egil asked, in a near identical manner to which she had asked him. She listed off four main abilities, namely shadow magic, lunar magic, immortality, and dream manipulation.

“So, will thee ally thyself with us, or the griffins?” Luna asked, ending a lull in the conversation that had lasted for nearly a minute.

“That depends, if I’m required to use lethal force or not.” Luna shook her head, and Egil grinned. “Great! So, if I told you that I have a method to take their fort with minimal casualties on both sides, would you be willing to hear me out?”

“What might this method be?” She asked curiously.

“It’s simple really. All I have to do is fill up their camp with smoke while they’re all asleep at night, and it’ll slowly suffocate them. After about two minutes, they should all be unconscious, barring any scouts that may have been outside the fort.” Luna smiled and nodded, a pulse of magic exiting her horn. Five minutes later, a group of officers showed up, and Luna promptly explained Egil’s plan to them. An hour before dawn, he would be escorted to a heavily forested area very close to fort by Luna’s personal guard, who were dressed in darkened steel armor, and had bat-like features, when compared to the normal pegasi. They would run interference with any scouts and sentries that may have been in the area, while he conjured up the smoke to blanket the fort in.

The guards dispersed, and Egil and Luna went back inside her tent. Luna told him of the changelings, and why she held such a distaste for them. Upon learning that they ate positive emotions, and left their victims as emotionless husks, he had to agree with her assessment. He began messing around by manifesting various trinkets, which each had a special effect. He made a blue and silver amulet shaped like an alicorn with her wings outstretched, with a blue jewel as the centerpiece. It would enhance the magical abilities of anyone who used it, but would deactivate if it was used to harm anyone.

He also made a series of golden rings, along with a stand for them, that would give an area the desired climate, with the area being one hundred square miles. They became consecutively smaller the higher on the stand you got, and the top three were used to set the climate. Luna was taking a nap while he was making these, and he continued on. He made an idol that looked like a golden flame coming out of the top of a taloned leg, with a red stone as the focus. It would inspire pride in any who looked upon it, but only if they were of the same race as the owner.

He made a crystal mirror that would open a path to a different dimension that was almost exactly like his old world, with doppelgangers for everyone in this world on the other side. He smiled softly at the thought of spending a lot of his time there, then made it have time pass faster on this side than the other side. As an afterthought, he had it set the current generation across the mirror as the same as whoever went through last. He left all of these in Luna’s tent as gifts, along with a note that read,

Luna,

Consider these as gifts. Feel free to turn them down, but only do so after you have me explain what they do. The mirror is a little passion project of mine, so I would recommend not messing with it for the time being. It leads to an alternate dimension, so it would be best to avoid touching it for the moment.

Egil

Two hours before dawn, he was still sitting up waiting, when a bat pony soldier poked his head in through the flap. Egil stood up, stretching, then walked out the flap. There were a total of twelve, and the one that had looked into the tent whispered, “We will be leaving in ten minutes, that way we have plenty of time before we are slated to begin. Are you ready?” Egil nodded once, then focused on the smoke still hidden beneath his clothing. He carefully manipulated it around his body so that he became nigh invisible, with the smoke redirecting light around his body. The only parts of him that were clearly visible were his eyes.

Five minutes after he finished making his cover, the same guard motioned that they were ready. He reformed his smoke wings, and they quickly took off, heading towards the river, and the fort on the other side of it. Once they passed over the river, a hail of arrows came up, hitting several of the bat ponies in the wings and sides, sending them crashing through the pine boughs below. As soon as they hit the ground, nearly twenty griffins moved out of cover, with just as many changelings backing them up.

The leader of their little band of misfits, a slightly scarred pony, made some gestures silently. The rest of the group moved quickly and efficiently, while Egil was wondering what the hell was going on. He decided to just drop into the thick of things, making several smoky tendrils that lashed out and sliced limbs off of various targets, both griffins and changelings being dealt with quickly. One of the griffins got an arrow off, which easily penetrated his thin clothes, and he could feel it pierce his heart. He screamed in pain and ripped it out instinctively, while the medic of their group ran over, pressing his hooves over the nonexistent blood flow. He pulled his hooves away and examined the wound, which, other than the cloth being torn, he would’ve said had never happened. The arrow, still in Egil’s hand, was dripping a small amount of blood onto the ground.

He noticed that it was dripping onto some luminescent moss that was native to the area, and was rather well known for its magical lighting properties. He watched in awe as the blood dripped off the arrow onto the moss, causing whatever patch it hit to go dark. This entire series of events only took a few seconds, and in that time, Egil had managed to reform the smoke tendrils and was now back to flaying apart the changelings and griffins, with a look of pure rage on his face. Within the minute, the changelings and the griffins lay dead or dying, and the rest of the group went to the medic for treatment.

About half of their relatively small group could no longer fly due to injuries, so Egil manifested glass bottles filled with a liquid, that, when ingested, would heal all flesh wounds in a matter of minutes. Each of the guards took one, groaning in pain as their flesh knitted itself back together. A pony, who had been in the worst shape out of the group, with a gash that ran from the side of his neck to his flank, and ran to the bone, took to biting a stick that had been lying near him in order to keep from screaming. After a minute had passed, all their wounds were healed, without even a scar to show.

After the ponies finished putting their equipment back on, they took to the air again, this time flying at a much slower pace, and lower to the trees. They reached the copse of trees that they were to use as their staging area just before they were slated to begin. While the ponies caught their breath, Egil began conjuring up a mixture of smoke and knockout gas. The knockout gas was tied to the smoke, so that he could manipulate both. The leader of their group nodded at him, and he pushed the smoke towards the fort, making sure to keep it low to the ground.

After about ten minutes, he began pushing it up over the walls, after surrounding the entire fort. The knockout gas was very potent, but he left it in place for six minutes to catch anyone who may have been holding their breath. After six minutes had passed, he nodded to the leader, who motioned towards the medic, wh then pulled a glowing blue crystal from one of his saddle bags and tossed it to the captain.

The captain briefly spoke into the crystal, before turning to the group. “Alright, her majesty requested that we make sure that the camp is truly all unconscious, and use any rope we find to tie up and gag the highest ranking people here.” The group responded with a collective, “Yes, sir!” and Egil conjured up a few coils of rope, each of them being a hundred feet long. The rope had the special property that it couldn’t be broken, and that any knot tied with it could only be untied by someone the person who tied it trusted.

The rest of the squad split up into six groups of twos, with Egil accompanying the captain and his second in command to look for Silverbeak. They made a beeline for the keep in the back of the fort, and came across several unconscious griffins and changelings, before making their way into the keep. They found Silverbeak’s bedroom, and they opened the door, finding Silverbeak and the changeling queen unconscious in his bed.

The second in command pulled a ring out of his saddlebag and slipped it over her jagged horn, and bound her wings with some of the rope from the coil that Egil was carrying over his shoulder. The captain did the same with Duke Silverbeak, and after tying him up, they left the room. The captain led them out to the courtyard, where the rest of the squads had tied up nearly one hundred and fifty officers and unique changelings, who seemed to be leaders of some sort.

The captain then pulled out a flashing red crystal, and smashed it on the ground, causing it to send a flashing bright red flare into the dawn sky. There was the loud noise of horns ringing through the valley, and a flash of of gold moving towards towards the fort from the other side of the valley. Small groups of griffins and changelings began taking to the air between the fort and the incoming pony army, and the captain ordered everyone to take up defensive positions as the small groups began joining together, eventually forming a small sea of black and brown heading towards the fort.

Author's Note

Chapter Two done, a few days before I thought it would be. Slightly shorter than Chapter One, but only because Chapter One had more to cover.

Chapter 3

Egil just sat down at the sight of the griffins and changelings converging and heading towards the fort, conjuring up a scroll and pen. “Hey, captain, if you want to survive this, get over here!” he shouted to the captain, who had been ordering troops to hide away the various enemy officers. The captain wandered over to Egil as he continued giving orders to his troops. When he got to Egil, a scroll and an odd writing utensil were put into his hooves. He took the scroll and read it, though it looked like it was written in a different language that he didn’t know. For some reason, even though he didn’t understand the language, the meaning of the words were clear. It read as follows:

The person who signs this contract will, on completion of signature after reading the terms and conditions, receive the same type of immortality as the author of this contract, that being regenerative durability, otherwise known as rapid healing. You will be heal from any wound completely within five seconds of receiving it, and any narcotics that are taken in will be metabolised out of your system rapidly. This contract will last as long as the author, Egil Davinson, is accompanying this military excursion. On the completion of this military excursion, the immortality will be dispelled, and the conditions for receiving this immortality will be placing your trust in the author. The effect of agreeing to this document will also extend to any who are under the signatory’s direct command.

Egil Davinson

He quickly read through the full document, looking over it for any fine print. After finding none, he quickly signed the document, which burst into flames after he had finished signing ‘Captain Swift Moon’ The ashes divided up into twelve equal portions, the first floating into his nostrils and settling in his lungs. This process repeated for each of the ponies under his command, who were each members of Luna’s personal escort. He pulled out a small blade from a holster under his left wing, drawing it across his left foreleg to test if the effect had taken hold. As fast as he cut, it was healed, but he still felt a sting of pain from the cut. “Thank you, Egil.”

Egil nodded and sat down. “Captain, I’m going to try something that will probably be very loud, so I would recommend you get inside or cover your ears with these. And if you could spread the word, that would be great.” Thirteen noise cancelling headphones popped into existence in front of him, and he put one set on. He then stacked the rest onto Swift Moon’s back. Swift Moon nodded, taking the rest and distributing them to his troops.

At this point, Egil had summoned another item, an odd piece of metal with what appeared to be handles on the back with triggers from griffin crossbows on it. He summoned a chair and sat down in it, grabbing the handles on what he assumed to be a weapon of some sort. He pulled the left trigger, causing the large cylindrical portion to begin rotating, and shouted over the whir of moving parts, “Put your headphones on if you don’t want to go deaf!” Swift Moon nodded, slipping his ‘headphones’ on, with his squad following suit.

At this point, the griffins and changelings that had been out of the fort when Egil had executed his plan had all converged, and were only about five hundred yards away. Swift Moon and his squad watched in awe as Egil depressed the right trigger, causing the weapon to spit flames out of the rotating chambers. They could feel the vibrations caused by the weapon, and they could see the pebbles on the cobbled road Egil had set it up on bouncing rapidly around him. They looked to the approaching griffins and changelings, which were rapidly dropping out of the air. In the minute that Egil had been firing his weapon, their numbers were reduced to half of what they originally had, and still dropping rapidly.

The griffins were rapidly approaching the forty yard mark, though they were only at a third of the numbers that they had before fleeing the march of the Equestrian forces across the valley. There were now only twenty or so griffins, and thirty changelings left in the air, only two minutes after Egil had started using his weapon. He let go of the triggers on the weapon, and it flashed out of existence, then pulled out a long sword. It looked Eastern in make, with a red hilt and black writing across the silver blade. The first griffin to come into contact with the blade was only nicked on the leg, but writing identical to that on the blade spread rapidly across his body, and a second later he was dead.

A second griffin, this time an officer, stepped forward to fight Egil, pulling out a sword of his own, a falchion, and easily matching Egil move for move. It was rather clear that Egil didn’t really know what he was doing with a sword when it came to fighting someone else that actually knew how to use one, but he was able to land a scratch on the officer’s cheek, killing him with the curse. At this point, the ponies had engaged the remaining griffins, easily cutting down two each, with the exception of the medic, who didn’t kill anyone, and two of the lower ranked members, who only got one each.

Egil dropped his sword, which phased out of existence before it hit the ground, and an odd weapon materialized in front of him. It was similar to the first one that he had used, in that the business end seemed to be a hollow cylinder, but this one looked much more like a crossbow, at least the stock and trigger mechanism. The main feature about it was the large cylinder drum underneath the weapon, just in front of the trigger. At this point, Swift Moon and his men had taken off their headphones, and the changelings were rapidly bearing down on them.

Egil turned the end of the weapon towards the changelings and held down the trigger, each shot spewing flames about three feet from the barrel, and wherever he shot, a small explosion would take place. The cacophonous noise had the guards covering their ears in pain, and the changelings were dealt with before they could even get within fifty feet of the defending ponies. As soon as he saw that there were no enemies remaining, Egil leaned against a building, vomiting profusely at the putrid smell of the griffin corpses voiding their bowels. The street ran heavy with blood, but due to the contract that Swift Moon had signed, none of the ponies were injured, though their equipment was in pretty poor shape, as it was nicked, scratched, and caked in blood and viscera.

Egil spent the next twenty minutes vomiting, and, as soon as it stopped, summoned a piece of cloth to wipe his face clean. Swift Moon wandered over to him as soon as he saw that he was done vomiting, concern written clearly on his face. “You alright?” he asked, and Egil just nodded, walking over to a nearby open door, which led to a planning room of some sort, and sat with his back against the wall, head between his knees. “How much longer will the griffins here be unconscious?” he continued, and Egil looked up from his knees.

“Till I say they can wake up,” He croaked out, then summoned a bottle of water, taking a mouthful and swishing it around in his mouth to wash out the taste of bile. “I wove a sleeping gas into the smoke that I used to knock them out, they won’t be waking up until I give them the… antidote? No, the countermeasure.” he said, elaborating on his previous statement. He put his head back between his knees, and Swift Moon went back to commanding his soldiers. As soon as Swift Moon left, tears started streaming down his face as he fought to keep another round of vomit down.

He silently sobbed for the next twenty minutes, his only company being his thoughts. He cried over never seeing his family again, he cried over his killing of sentient creatures, and lastly, he cried over the realization that death wasn’t even an option. After he got the misery out of his system, he made a bottle that contained a shimmering blue liquid. After having an internal debate with himself, he downed all the liquid in the bottle, and his sadness and guilt faded away. He was angry at himself for taking the coward’s way out, but he felt that it was necessary for him to continue to function.

Since his clothing was torn and bloodstained, he made another set of clothing, which consisted of a pair of dark blue jeans, black leather hiking boots with comfortable socks, a plain black t-shirt, and a dark green hoodie with a silver dragon embroidered onto the back, which was shuffling a deck of cards between its talons. Over his heart was a silver spades symbol, which occasionally flashed a silvery green in the lighting. He dropped his old clothing on the floor, and the only thing he kept from it was a deck of cards that he always carried in his breast pocket on stage. He put the deck in his left pocket, and materialized a match, throwing the suit in the fireplace and lighting it up.

With that, the only thing left from his old life was his deck of cards and his appearance. As an afterthought, he made a silver ring that would change his form into that of any race that he desired to be, and would fully change him, down to his very DNA. It would also change with his form, fitting the most convenient location on the altered body. He quickly swapped through changeling, minotaur, griffin, and pony, noticing that the color scheme stayed largely the same through each, namely a dark green coat, a black mane/hair/feathers that faded to silver at the ends.

He lingered on the pony form, which was a very large earth pony with a fan of cards as the destiny mark. When he looked at the wall, he noticed that while he was a good deal shorter than he was as a human, he was still nearly as tall as Luna, if he remembered correctly. He willed his form back to his human self, along with his clothing, and left the room that he had been sitting in for the past hour. The road outside was significantly cleaner, though the smell was still present, and there were soldiers in gold armor walking the street. As soon as he stepped outside, a thestral flew down from the rooftop, landing in front of him.

“Sir, Princess Luna has requested your presence, if you would follow me, I will lead you to her.” he said, looking over Egil.

Egil nodded, then looked over the pony in front of him. Unlike the typical soldiers, who were all roughly the same two color schemes, the bat ponies he had seen were all what he assumed were their natural colors. This one was a very dark shade of gray with a dark red mane. His destiny mark was hidden beneath his armor, but a sliver of something reddish-orange was just visible in a gap.

“So, what is your name?” Egil wondered aloud, and the guard snapped his attention to him.

“My name is Blood Moon, and I’m a corporal in Princess Luna’s personal guard detail.” he said, almost immediately after Egil’s question.

“Ah,” Egil continued, “I noticed that so far the few ponies and members of other races that I have caught the names of have names that match a physical trait or their destiny mark. Why is that?”

At this, Blood Moon launched into an explanation on the naming conventions of the entire world, and how it revolved around physical traits and for the ponies and hippogriffs, their destiny marks. It was really quite interesting how the ponies managed to name their children after something that didn’t exist until years after their birth, and how they had an accuracy of nearly one hundred percent, with the exceptions being nobles. The nobles apparently had the same compulsion to name their child after their destiny marks, but apparently chose names like ‘Nobilis Flamma’. At this Egil laughed, and the ponies around him looked at him in concern.

“So, why’d you laugh at the name of the noble?” Blood Moon asked curiously.

“Okay, so the thing is, I thought it was only the Princesses who were named in Latin, so when you told me that the nobles were also naming themselves in Latin, it was hilarious.” Egil said, still slightly chuckling. Blood Moon looked at him questioningly, before noticing that they were outside the keep. He opened the door dramatically, bowing with a flourish.

Egil walked in, and Luna looked up from the maps that she had strewn about in front of her. “Good afternoon Egil, if I may ask, how do you feel about waking up Duke Silverbeak and the changeling Queen that was with him?” Luna asked, gesturing to the griffin and changeling in question. Egil made a strong smelling liquid under their noses, and they immediately shot awake.

Silverbeak’s eyes immediately locked onto Egil, and he shouted, “YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP US!” Luna looked at Egil accusingly, and Egil shrugged.

“I never agreed to help you, though I might have if you had told me about the changelings. One of the first things I told you was that I have magic immunity, so you introduced me to a magic shapeshifter.” Egil said calmly, then continued, “Also, I told you I was going to get the ponies’ side of the story before throwing my lot in with either side. They told me that you had been instigating border tensions for ten YEARS before they decided to oust you. I know it’s the truth, because I’ve been wearing a necklace that lets me see through lies since I got here. I just had it hidden beneath my shirt.”

At this Silverbeak looked crestfallen, and the changeling to his side spoke up, “Now that you have captured us, what do you plan on doing with us?”

Luna looked at the changeling in surprise, before giving what she had said some thought. After seemingly coming up with nothing, she looked to Egil questioningly. He sighed, then said, “Personally, I’d use Silverbeak as a bargaining chip to end the war and have all of the griffin noble families and any griffins who wouldn’t want to be under pony rule return to their kingdom across the ocean, and for the changelings, I could just provide you with an item that feeds you all as long as you don’t try to feed off of or attack ponies or other sentient races again. If you were willing to sign a contract that would have you working under the Equestrian Crown, you could become spies with an infinite amount of food.”

Luna looked like she was thinking over what he said, while the changeling was actually looking hopeful. Just before Luna seemed about to speak, the queen said, “I, Queen Mandible of the Ruby Hive accept this proposal, if the Equestrian Crown would do the same, it would be beneficial to both our races.”

Luna sighed almost unnoticeably, then said aloud, “The Equestrian Crown accepts Egil’s proposal, and will have a treaty drafted to be signed by myself, my sister, and Queen Mandible of the Ruby Hive. As for Duke Silverbeak, I also find this proposal acceptable, and as this was the last large military outpost belonging to the griffins on this continent, an ambassador will be sent to Griffonia to negotiate the peace.” At this she turned and left gesturing to Egil to follow. “So,” she continued, “Was thou really wearing a lie detecting necklace?” she asked.

Egil grinned and shook his head. “Nope, just bluffing, though I knew he was lying, just not how much or about what. I can read people pretty easily.” Luna shook her head in amusement, and she walked into what used to be Silverbeak’s personal quarters.

She sat at the wooden desk, and pulled out a scroll and inkpot, pulling out one of her feathers to use as a quill. She started writing, and Egil sat against the wall, just waiting for her to finish. She cast a spell on it, and it flew out the nearby window.

Egil stood up, and stretched, cracking his back with several pops, and Luna turned to him, and smiled. “So, tell me about the items that you left in our tent last night,” she said with a soft smile and a curious tone to her voice. Egil proceeded to explain their effects. She seemed most interested in the statue and the amulet, but she didn’t seem very interested in the rings or mirror. They talked for a bit, then Egil went outside to relax for a bit. He pulled out his deck of cards, and began shuffling, at which a few of the soldiers came to watch. Eventually some of Luna’s personal squad came around, and he explained the rules of seven card stud to them.

They seemed down to play, so he got a loaner of fifty bits from them, and they began playing. By the end of the night, he had won two hundred bits from them, after paying back the bits he had borrowed. As it turned out, ponies in general were terrible liars, as they were unable to bluff their way out of anything, where he was bluffing almost constantly. You would think they’d have figured it out by the third time, but they never did, so their bits were his.

Apparently, he also got a tent now, so he laid down and thought about his first full day there. In the last twenty-four hours, he had killed around one hundred and twenty people, got four abilities that shouldn’t even work, physically speaking, captured an enemy fort, and helped broker the peace between two races that had always been at odds with each other. It had been a weird twenty four hours.

Author's Note

Hey, I'm on a roll with this, three chapters in four days.

Chapter 4

Egil woke up to a guard shaking him and looked up, seeing Blood Moon. He swatted him away, thinking that he was still dreaming, prompting Blood Moon to shake him again, more violently. “Come on man, five more minutes.” Egil mumbled, rolling over away from Blood.

“Sorry, can’t do that. The princess has requested your presence for the signing of the charter that you proposed. Since you were the one to propose it, she wants you to see it.” Blood Moon responded professionally, wrapping his front hooves around Egil’s arm and pulling him off of the decidedly too small cot.

Egil grunted as he hit the floor, standing up and stretching, cracking his back, neck, and other joints. He brushed the small amount of dirt that had gotten on his hoodie off, and followed Blood Moon out of the tent, who continued to lead him to the keep, which now had banners of the two sisters on it. In the large room in the center of the fort, presumably where Silverbeak took most guests, Luna and Mandible were waiting on him, along with another alicorn next to Luna, this one slightly taller than Luna and white, with a flowing mane similar in appearance to the aurora borealis. Egil bowed slightly, before taking a seat at the much too low table.

“So this is the ‘Egil’ that you spoke of, sister,” she said, looking him up and down. Egil summoned a cup of steaming coffee and sipped from it, and the two ponies in the room sniffed at the air, a hungry look on their faces.

He noticed the look on their faces, so he summoned another two mugs, made to the way he liked it, which was with quite a bit of cream and sugar. “As you may have guessed, this is our sister, Celestia,” Luna told him, then sighed in contentment as she took a sip of her coffee. Celestia, however, seemed to dislike the taste, and set it down on the table with a slightly disgusted frown on her face.

“It is not to my liking, sister,” she told Luna, and seemed annoyed when Luna didn't acknowledge her. Luna downed the rest of her mug, which poofed out of existence, and took Celestia’s nearly full one, taking a sip from it. She looked slightly annoyed at this, but didn’t say anything, so Luna went ahead and took another sip, a content smile crossing her face.

“What is this beverage called?” Luna inquired curiously of Egil, gesturing with a hoof towards the remaining mug.

“Coffee, and the beans used to make it are grown in humid southern regions.” Luna nodded at his response, and Celestia sighed impatiently, clearly wanting to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible.

“Can we just finish this already? I agree that we need an intelligence network, but I don’t trust these BUGS to uphold their end of the bargain,” Celestia griped. Egil raised an eyebrow at her, curious about her phrasing, and Mandible’s face adopted a distinctly annoyed look.

Celestia levitated a scroll in front of her using her golden magical aura, plucking a feather from her wing and dipping it into a nearby ink pot, signing the document with a flourish. Luna followed suit, and Egil offered Mandible a pen, seeing as she didn’t have feathers to use as a quill. She signed the document as well, and Celestia disappeared in a flash of golden light, along with the treaty.

“Princess, I believe everyone here will agree with me on this, but your sister is a CUNT. Why is she the one that handles diplomacy, if she acts like that?” Egil asked Luna after Celestia left, raising an eyebrow in emphasis at the now-vacated seat.

Mandible nodded in agreement to the first part of his statement, and Luna responded, “Sister is in charge of diplomacy and general politics because she said so. As you’ve seen, she just makes things worse, but nooo, ‘I’m the eldest, so what I say, goes!’ she says. We wish Starswirl would help us keep her in line, but he’s often too busy going around with the Pillars and saving Equestria, while Tia tries her damnedest to keep us in war.” She frowned at her slip up, but that didn’t make her statement any less valid.

“Anyway, if you’re going to have an intelligence network, I’ll assume that you’ll be our handler, Luna?” Mandible asked, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Luna nodded in response, and Mandible buzzed her insectoid wings impatiently. “I’ll begin setting up our network, then. Would you like me to set up agents in the capitol to keep an eye on the noble’s dealings?” she asked, to which Luna again nodded. Just before she took off, Egil tossed her a heart shaped crystal statuette, and she caught it in her magic. She flew out the window, heading off somewhere, with the statuette in tow. It was a six inch high pink heart, with the base of it merging with a flat disk, so that it could be placed on a smooth surface.

“Would thou like to accompany us back to Unity?” Luna asked after the room was cleared, hope clearly written on her face.

Egil shrugged, thinking for a moment, before saying, “Sure, why not? What could go wrong?”

They traveled for three days through forests, plains, and mountain passes, and during most of the trip, Egil hung around Luna’s personal guard, teaching them some card games to pass the time when they were off-duty. When they reached the city, Egil noted that almost all of the faces looking out on them from the open windows lining the street ranged from distaste to outright hate, especially when they saw him. Egil followed Luna and her guard to the castle, which was on a rather large hill in the center of the original city, at least from what he could tell of the architecture. They made their way through the castle, entering the throne room, which was one large hallway from the front of the castle, and all of them, including Luna, bowed to Celestia.

“I wish to speak with you in private, sister.” Celestia’s authoritative voice rang out, and Egil noted that she was glaring at him as she said it. Luna accompanied her out of the room, slowly trotting, and Egil decided to stick with Swift Moon and his squad. They ended up in the barracks, where Egil introduced poker to a larger portion of the guards who took to it rather well, though the ponies still had horrible poker faces.

[Celestia and Luna’s Location]

“Why would you bring that THING back to Canterlot with you?” Celestia hissed at Luna.

“And why would we not? He has proven that he has no intention of subverting us, and we both know this city is still UNITY, not Canterlot.” Luna hissed back. “We’re tired of you pushing your pony supremacy on us, it needs to stop. If we weren’t unified, the wendigos would still be around!”

“If you want your PET to remain in Canterlot, he will have to take a pony form. And the unity between PONIES is enough to keep them at bay!” Celestia said heatedly. Luna shrugged dismissively and walked out in the middle of Celestia trying to say something more, and headed off to find Egil.

[Night Guard Barracks]

Egil slapped down his three hidden cards, revealing a full house of jacks and queens. “Read ‘em and weep!” he shouted as he pulled all the bits on the table to him, and weep some of the guard did indeed.

“How do you keep winning this shit?” one of the guards asked, this one having a few bits left.

Egil grinned, chuckling, “You see, my friend, you ponies have very terrible poker faces. Also, never ask a magician to reveal his secrets.” The guards looked slightly downtrodden at this, and upon hearing the door to the barracks open, they bowed.

Egil turned and saw Luna, bowing slightly. “Rise,” she said, almost immediately after entering the room. She looked pointedly at Egil. “Our sister” she spat, “has taken it upon herself to only allow you to stay in Unity if you are a pony. We believe it would be best if thou changed into one, just to keep the day guard off your back.”

The guards in the room collectively said, “Really?” upon this, and Egil shrugged.

“If your sister is going to be a dick about it, so will I. Alicorns are considered to have a divine right to rule, yes?” Luna looked at him questioningly, then grinned in realization. In a puff of smoke stood an alicorn standing at around shoulder height of Egil’s normal height. It was dark green, with the silver dragon holding a full house of kings and aces being the destiny mark. “So, how long do you think it will take for Princess Celestia to demand that I change back?”

The other ponies in the room instinctively bowed, and Egil frowned, “You guys know that you don’t have to bow, right? Technically, unless Celestia decides to have a coronation, I’m not royalty.” he then turned to Luna, “So, you want to go out and have an inspection of the capitol? I deliberately made this bracelet,” he tapped it with one hoof for emphasis, “give me an innate knowledge in how to use a body perfectly.”

They left the barracks and made their way to the throne room, parading through the entrance hall, entering the throne room theatrically. Celestia was sitting on her throne on the right side of the room. She looked up from the scroll she was reading from and her eyes narrowed on seeing Egil’s alicorn form, along with Luna. “Well, dear sister of ours,” Luna said sarcastically, “As you have requested, Egil has taken the form of a pony. However, as he is an alicorn it seems only right that he become a prince, just like the rest of us.”

Celestia frowned, “You will take a non alicorn form or you will be banished from Equestria.” she coldly informed him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did the pwecious widdle pwincess not get her way? Oh, is she going to cry? Shut the fuck up Celestia, you literally can’t do shit to me.” Egil responded sarcastically.

Celestia’s face was twisted in anger, “I will banish you to the sun, you IMBECILE!” she shouted stomping her gold clad hoof against the floor for emphasis. The ground near her hoof cracked slightly at the impact, and it began feeling warmer in the room. There were ponies milling into the room, and staying just outside the throne room doors, listening in on what the ruckus was about.

Egil just grinned in response, sarcasm on his tongue, “Please do, that way I don’t have to blow up the sun from here. Oh, that’s right, I CAN FUCKING DO THAT!” he shouted right back.

Celestia looked taken aback at his claim, and then sneered, “Oh really, then why don’t you do that right now?”

All of the ponies in the room and just outside the door looked taken aback, and Egil’s grin continued to stretch wider, “Why my dear, it’s almost like you want all life on the planet to perish? And to say as such right in front of your subjects, for shame!” Egil turned to leave, and a golden light filled the room. He noticed that the rest of the ponies in the room were now staring at him, and he looked behind him, noticing that the stone around him was scorched, “Oh my, Celestia, attacking an innocent in front of your subjects, who has the same authority as you, and while his back was turned? For shame, for shame!” he said sarcastically, before sauntering out of the throne room, leaving Celestia blubbering like a child.

He turned to one of the two guards posted outside the throne room, “Might not want to let anyone in there for the time being, I don’t think she can handle someone simply brushing off one of her strongest attacks.” The guard nodded, and seemed rather surprised, and Egil shifted back into his normal form as he walked down the hall, whistling and shuffling a deck of cards as he made his way through the castle halls.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, wasn't sure where I wanted to take this one. I eventually changed some things, namely Egil staying as an alicorn to troll Celestia and being crowned a prince. It just didn't feel right when I looked over it, so I rewrote the second half of the chapter. Leave some feedback, though about Celestia being OOC, this is a thousand plus years before canon, which is a long ass time to mellow out.

Chapter 5

“Did you hear? Princess Celestia dared a creature to destroy her sun!” a soft pink pegasus in a maid outfit whispered heatedly to another maid nearby. She brushed her gray mane out of her eyes with a hoof, then moved away from the other maid at the clip-clop of approaching hooves. A grey guard with a white mane in golden armor, signature of the Solar Guard, came around the corner nodding to the both of them as the maid who’d spoken began polishing a bust of Celestia, while the maid she’d spoken used her magic to dust off the top of the door to a guest room. The guard turned the corner, and they approached each other again as soon as the sound of his hooves retreated.

“Why would she dare a creature to destroy her sun, Sunrise?” the second mare, a turquoise unicorn with a forest green mane responded with a troubled look on her face.

“He said he was able to do so, and she dared him to do it. Considering he was an alicorn, and she blasted him in the back with her ‘Solar Flare’, and he didn’t even NOTICE, I believe he may not have been bluffing,” Sunrise responded. “She used that in her battle with the demogorgon, and severely wounded it!”

“An alicorn? I thought the Princesses were the only alicorns?” the second mare asked curiously, a pondering look crossing her face.

Nodding in thought, Sunrise replied quietly, “They are, Water Lily. He wasn’t actually an alicorn, he turned into something else. It was bipedal like the minotaurs and some of the races that live in the Northern Wastes. Though he was wearing a lot of clothing, now that I think about it. Maybe he’s rich? From what I saw, they easily surpassed the quality of one of our best tailors.”

“Were they a servant’s clothing?” Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, they were unlike anything that I’ve seen before.” Sunrise replied, eyes unfocused as she stared at the bust she had been polishing.

“So, what were you two talking about?” Egil said from next to them. The two mares jumped away from each other, their faces having been inches apart.

“Uhh, nothing?” Sunrise responded hesitantly.

“Cool. Do you know where I could find a room? I got here the other day with Luna, was never really told where I was supposed to stay.” Egil said.

“If you arrived with Luna, you’re likely in her wing of the castle. Would you like me to take you there?” Lily asked. Egil nodded, smiling gently at her.

“Thanks. What are your names, by the way?” he asked curiously, with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, I’m Sunrise, and this is Water Lily.” Sunrise said, smiling at him. Water Lily gestured for him to follow with a hoof, then waved to Sunrise as they left. She guided him through the castle, and entered the entrance hall. They went through the door opposite, and the castle became noticeably more night themed, with darker themes and moon motifs on the banners hanging from the ceiling. A batpony guard who was on patrol nodded politely to Egil and Water Lily, and they continued past him.

They entered a guest room that seemed more like a suite than a room, with three doors leading into different rooms. The one opposite the entrance clearly opened to a large bath, the one on the right opened to a closet, and the one on the left opened to a bedroom. There was an antiquated couch against the wall to the right of the door to the bedroom, and a painting of Celestia and Luna in a Victorian era pose. There was a writing desk below the painting, though there was a conspicuous lack of windows.

Water Lily waved to him and left after lighting an oil lamp on the desk. Now alone, he made his way to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, unsurprised to find it a feather bed, given the average technological and societal level he’d seen thus far. The blankets were a thick dark blue wool, and the pillows were also feather stuffed. He lay there for a few minutes just thinking, before falling into a deep sleep.

He dreamt of his normal life before being sent to Equestria, then snapped into focus when he saw Luna standing there in front of him. “Well, shit. How’d you get in here?” he asked curiously, looking her up and down. Luna, meanwhile, was too busy admiring the cars and city, though when he spoke, her head snapped towards him.

“Tis a dream, though it seems most odd…” Luna responded, looking at one of the cars that were driving past. It froze as her attention settled on it, and she made her way around it, examining the vehicle.

“That doesn’t answer the question, you know.” Egil responded, popping the hood of the car, revealing a blurry image of an engine. He closed it again after a moment’s examination revealed nothing useful, turning back to Luna.

She winked at him once, blinking out of existence, to which he raised an eyebrow. He blinked, sitting up in his bed, fully awake, just as a knock came from the door. “Sir, Princess Luna has requested your presence,” the familiar voice of Swift Moon called, muffled as it was through the door.

“Of course,” he called back, rubbing his eyes by force of habit. He stood up and brushed off his jeans and hoodie, then just used his abilities to unwrinkle them.

“Sir?” Swift Moon’s voice again came from the door, sounding slightly worried.

“So, what’s up?” asked Egil as he pulled the door open. Swift had his hoof raised, presumably to knock a third time, and quickly put it down.

He nodded to Egil respectfully, before answering, “I believe the princess has requested your presence regarding the incident two days ago.”

Egil raised an eyebrow at that. “Two days?”

“Yes sir. The princess informed us to leave you be until today, as she felt you needed your rest.” Swift calmly informed him.

At this, Egil looked at him for a second before clarifying, “I’ve been asleep for two days?” At Swift’s nod, he continued, “Huh. I think that may be the longest I’ve slept since my first show.” Swift took this in stride and led him to Luna’s quarters, which were only around the corner of the hall. The two guards posted outside were obviously expecting them, given how they immediately opened the door inward, revealing a scene of a unicorn stallion with a dark grey coat and glacial blue mane, and a unicorn mare with an oddly shaped horn, who was a light pink with a cascade of solid black that made up her mane and tail.

Between the two was a young colt, who had what was presumably his father’s coat, and his mother’s horn and mane. He was sleeping quietly, as the parents were seemingly speaking with Luna, but looked up upon Egil’s entrance.

“Egil, we need to speak about thou’s place in the capital,” Luna said with finality, a sympathetic look in her eyes.

Author's Note

HAHA! I'm back, with a new chapter and writer's block taken out behind the barn and shot! Hopefully it'll stay dead this time, or alternatively my motivation comes back more frequently. My apologies for taking so long with this chapter, but hey, that's how it be.

Chapter 6

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