Author's Note

I have got to apologize. I have struggled with the last couple of chapters. Partly due to my own issues with the direction the story was heading, partly because I had so much going on at home.

Losing my job really hit me hard. Coupled with familial issues, and that shapes up for a pretty pissy day. Week, month whatever. But it means I let you guys down and I feel like absolute dogshit about that. I am sorry.

Hopefully I can get a schedule back down and I can begin regularly posting on Fridays again starting this week.

I may make a blog post with a more detailed explanation on why my life is utter shit now. But I am just happy to be able to give you guys the chapters I promised. Even if its a few days late.

Thanks for reading.

Peace.

Homecoming

The library was a bit of a mess, but Daisy supposed that was what happens when you let a bunch of foals in without supervision. She considered hiring another matron, considering that the last few years found an excess of foals without homes. Some coming in as far as Stalliongrad, it may be a good idea to have more eyes.

That thought brought her to a pause, book in hand not yet pushed into it’s spot on the shelf. No news. No word on where a certain unicorn colt could be. She had left inquiries with the royal guard, even sent letters to the Princess herself. Her nor the guard had ever gotten back to her. Daisy’s grip on the encyclopedia tightened briefly. Where was he? Was he okay? Was he getting enough to eat?

Shaking her head she continued to clean up the mess the newest residents of the orphanage had made. The drawings always put a smile on her face. They were so happy and bright. Always oozing with the hope for their future. Then, a frown. Orion had never drawn anything other than the plans for that, pen she believed he called it. Remarkable idea. One sure to bring in lots of bits for him when he becomes older. But never has he ever drawn anything for the joy of it. For the need to express himself.

He never seeks comfort from other ponies. Never desires companionship unless it's forced on him. It always made her pause that he was so unlike a pony. Even griffons sought out others, but he could stay in the library for hours, even days without ever coming out. That thought made her think of another pony.

Twilight Sparkle. It was still stunning that the Princess’s own protege had shown up on her doorstep. Never in her imaginations would she ever thought of actually getting to meet her. But there she was one day many years ago, asking after a reclusive colt. She would spend hours with Orion just reading and comparing notes. Often getting into shouting matches with him only to grumble later about him being somehow right. It touched her that he had found a friend.

Miss Sparkle had become something of a common sight at the orphanage. So much so that Mr White had funneled more money into the aging establishment, improving life for the orphans, and providing needed repairs that always seemed to be put off till the next year. Maybe she should request a second matron after all, while he was in a giving mood.

The Princess’s personal student hadn’t been by since Daisy had told her about his unannounced trip. She did hope he was having fun. Due to that, if she hesitated, the owner may not be so giving now that it had been a couple of months since Twilight’s last visit.

Speaking of visits, at least once a week a guard captain by the name of Errant Strikes would visit to see if he had returned. He hadn’t, but they had formed a friendship nevertheless. Often her visit would be an hour or so, of which they would talk over the latest gossip with tea and some biscuits. Those visits would often make her miss the times spent with Sapphire.

The legal trouble had finally calmed down, the CFP having fun out of things to throw at her. That had been a battle that had lasted far too long. Over the years they had sent so many missives, often with the name of Velvet Backwater placed boldly on the cover. There had been so many that Daisy would often burn them, never even bothering to read them. The last one had shown up just after Orion had taken off for Griffonia. That one burned too.

Sapphire was actually enjoying a bit of fame from all this. The CFP had rubbed many in Equestria with their barbarous tactics, but considering they are a branch of the Church of Sol. Not much could be done to curb the organization's power and reach. Still, her friend had thrived, her own orphanage having gotten several large donations that had immediately gone into the health and improvement of her own little resident’s lives. So good news for everypony it seemed.

Picking the last of the discarded papers, Daisy noticed something off. One of the floorboards was slightly raised up, the nails having gone missing. Not much of a hazard with the wood being weighed down as it was by a rather large bookcase. Before she could investigate further the sound of the front door being opened and cursing could be heard as something large and heavy thumped into the foyer floor.

Her thoughts on the mysterious floorboard having been all but blown out from her mind she left the library and a smile had finally graced her lips.

There, still struggling and cussing enough to fit in with the Manehattan Dock workers, was Orion. He was saying something particularly vile about the bag's mother. She shook her head. It was good to have him finally home. Now to catch his attention.

In her quiet grace she called out his name.

“Useless sack of shit! You wait till now to break on me you fucking jackass strap. I swear your mother was soiled lobster netting covered in six months of rotted fish shit. I swear when I empty your carcass out I will bu-”

“Orion. I believe that is quite enough of that nonsense. Don’t you?” The quiet soft motherly tone held no bite in it, but it did cause him to grin. It had been months since he had heard that voice. Turning around he teleported the bag the rest of the way into the room. Considering his struggle he should have just levitated it from the beginning, but he was so used to being magically exhausted from the field, that he had gotten used to using his physical body for normal labor.

He swept her off the floor hugging her. “Hey Mom!What did I miss?!”

Her normally calm demeanor was tossed aside as she laughed. He had missed that sound. “Orion! Put me down this instant young stallion!” There was no anger, amusement plain in her tone. He set her down and she adjusted her skirts, smiling as she looked him down head to hoof. “Did you get bigger again? What were they feeding you up there?”
He grinned, teeth flashing. “I had my veggies, but I had so much fish and pork. Holy shit Mrs Evergarden I haven’t eaten that much in forever.”

She did flinch a little. Knowing his diet was one thing, but hearing how he indulged himself must have been something different. Still she never judged. Just politely looked away whenever he had something of the meat variety in the evenings.

“Well I’m glad to see that you have been eating well. So tell me? What have you been up to.” Her horn glowed the soft forest green, the same color as her eyes as his bags were whisked away to his room to be unpacked later.

“I still can’t get over the fact that our Screaming was, is, royalty.” She shook her head. “Still it's wonderful to hear she is doing so well. I will have to write to her sometime soon. Still, to meet yet another ruler, Orion, you are quickly becoming a notable character to the ruling class.”

He barely covered a flinch from that, he had stayed away from the sensitive subjects, such as his assistance in jump starting the economy of a foreign nation. And the unfortunate departure he had with Screaming Rush. She didn’t even show up when he got on the train to head home. Having traveled separately with just her guards, She had chosen to stay with her Uncle on the march back to Griffonstone.

That had hurt. But it was not unexpected. Gilda had told him she was still crying almost every night. The glares he had received from her private guards had not been dulled a wit even after it was explained to them why. If anything they seemed to want to drag him to somewhere quiet and seek their own retribution.

It never came to that, but he was sorely lacking in company. Gilda however, had often come to him just to chat, knowing he was likely feeling in the dumps about everything. She kept a smile on his face.

At the train station he had spoken quietly with Bloodbeak. They both agreed that contact at the moment would be ill advised. So he wished the King well and hugged his wife. Boarding the train his heart fell. Screaming had not been there to see him leave. He understood.

The train ride home was filled with excited talk of a massive shipment of preserved fish having arrived in several towns across the nation. Rumor was that their King had shelled out thousands of bits to make sure his people survived the winter. The fact that it was preserved fish had many griffons on the train speculating on how he had managed to do it.

Orion had smiled and sat back to read.

Coming home no ponies had recognized him. No guards were there to greet him with shackles. So he had marched home with two large satchels filled with trinkets. Many to be used to cover up the fact that he was not where he was said to be.

He wondered how long it would take before Celestia sent some guards to retrieve him. By now she should know.

Still Mrs Evergarden gushed over every little item he had given her. Many just books about local customs, but he also had been given a few pieces of art. Most trinkets however came from Neighbon. From those he had gifted her several pieces of jewelry, rare shells in earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Even a hooflet as they were called, a small chain of silver with shells accompanying it.

They talked into the night, him spinning way more lies than he wanted to. But lies he had memorized for the last four days. So much so that he almost believed them himself.

The next morning found him with tea and half eaten toast as a familiar figure came strutting into the dinning hall.

“Morning Captain! Here to retrieve my ass?” He grinned biting into the buttered toast.

Errant Strikes could only shake her head. “Even in as much trouble as you are, you can still sit there and make jokes like an idiot.” She laughed. “Yes, I am here to escort you to the Princess. You are lucky. No shackles.”

He laughed after washing the rest of his meal down with the last vestiges of his tea. “Yeah, to be honest I expected there to be someone at the station yesterday. Shackles in hand. More surprised to not have any nocturnal visits last night. What was up with that?”

Pulling off her helmet, shaking her mane back and forth a little. “That is because we had no idea you had even returned. The report came this morning that you had arrived yesterday evening.”

“Oh shit, someone is losing their job.” He felt bad. But they had dropped the ball not him.

“Already lost the job. Poor Feather Touch, she was nearly tossed out with her things this morning.” Ouch. That did suck. “You done eating? Because it is time to go.”

“Yeah let me grab some stuff I had brought back with me. I hope to mollify our dear Princess with gifts so she doesn’t hang me outside the castle walls by my cannons.” He scooped up the bag he had prepared in advance and sat behind him. “Oh this is for you.” He tossed her a small wooden box. Cracking it open she smiled at him.

“Swords for earrings? Wait? This is in the shape of my rank. You had custom earrings of my rank made?” She smirked at him.
“Well to be honest, those were cheap as hell and easy to do. I figured they could be worn in uniform and not be out of regs.” He shouldered the rather heavy bag. “Shall we go?”

Her nails clacked rhythmically on the thrones armrest. It had been two hours since she had sent her captain out to bring him to her. She held the letter of failure that Shining Armor had sent her the week before. It had already taken near the entire summer before he was sighted. And where was he found? At the orphanage.

Orion Falls had, seemingly, avoided the First lieutenant for nearly two months by pure chance and happenstance. She didn’t buy it. Somehow this colt had purposely led them all on a merry little chase across Griffonia. Each week that went by made her grind her teeth in frustration.

She should have reacted sooner, but she was still in shock that he just boldly left as he did. No word, no message. By the time she had calmed down to rationally think it had been three days. Then she chose to employ Shining Armor. Her reasoning at the time was twofold. First it would test his leadership skills. To see if he could coordinate his troops effectively in the field. Secondly, seeing as how this was Twilight’s brother, it would be good for Orion to build a comfortable rapport with the stallion.

If he got along with the brother, he would get along with the family. If he got along with the family that was a roadblock removed from her plans.

None of that had happened. Instead, it took nearly two weeks for Shining to arrive in Canterlot due to the Applelosian train line having broken down. A breakdown that was still under investigation, but the more information she received the more it looked like sabotage. There were suspicions being laid by the investigation team that it was the tribes.

After that, his arrival in Griffonstone was met with a king that was distracted by the continued failings of his own economy. That started the chase. One which ended in Neighbon. Or at least it should have. The morning Shining Armor went to pick up Orion. It was discovered that he had left early in the morning by teleportation. By the time he got to the destination of the spell, the colt was long gone.

Now, suddenly a week later and just before school was set to begin, here the wayward pony is once again. In her borders, in her city. And no pony knew it before this morning.

In truth she should have given up after the initial reports of sightings with no actual sign of him. But at that point it had become a matter of pride and refusal to allow one colt to destroy carefully laid plans. Plans that had been thoroughly destroyed.

Now she waited patiently for her Captain of the guard to bring Orion to the throne room. A private audience, but there were a few nobles in attendance. That was fine. As everything she wanted to say would only really have meaning between the two of them.

“Your Highness.” The voice of her secretary had caught her attention. “He is here.”

She smiled. Much of Celestia’s anger had been spent. At this point she just wanted to know why he had up and left without so much as a request to go and visit. She would have likely let him, with supervision of course.

“Send him in if you would Raven.” She was calm, she was in control. No longer would she allow her emotions to get the best of her. A failing that had been weighing heavy on her these past few months.

“By your will.” The clack of hooves on marble echoed in the larger chamber as her secretary walked swiftly to the large double doors and disappeared. Seconds later both her and the international colt of mystery appeared. He was carrying a rather large bag, She was curious as to what was in it. But not as curious to derail her thoughts on the young pony.

“Did he get bigger?”

Stopping at the end of the red carpet. He set down the bag and bowed as Raven continued on and stopped to stand by the dais. His bow was as shallow as it always was. But he looked in good health. His outfit had her left brow raised.

Instead of the usual Canterlonian garb, he wore baggy tan cotton pants, and a sand colored cotton shirt with various colors in the stitching. It was rather fetching. Was he wearing jewelry? Indeed he was. It was made of seashells and cord. But the necklace was well crafted. The beads in his mane were new as well. She shook her head. Time to get started.

“Orion. Good morning to you.” She spoke calm and evenly.

“Hey Princess, and a good morning to you. First let me say how grateful I am that you are not meeting me in that friggin’ stateroom again.” Looking around he grinned at the few nobles who had decided to attend the court this morning. “I see this is going to be a show. But before you crucify me can I unload-” he checked the bag at his feet, “about half this bag? It was really heavy and I don’t think the guards would appreciate lugging it about if you toss me into jail today.”

That earned a few quiet chuckles from the nobles. That was a surprise.

“You have brought me gifts?” She was a bit surprised at that. But it did explain the satchel.

“Well, yeah.” He gave her a look that said ‘duh’. A word she only learned of thanks to him. He continued, “ya don’t go on vacation without bringing souvenirs back with you for those who couldn’t go. Considering your position in government, you’d be the least likely to get away. Thus I hath gifts for her ladyship.” That last bit had him muzzle in the air, and voice sounding like old Canterlot blood.

She chuckled. Still the same. “Yes that is true, okay out with your gifts Orion.” She was eager to see what he had. Her frustrations abated at the moment.

“Okay well first I got ya two different teas” He handed off to Raven four different bronze boxes, each with a unique scene of the ocean on them in carved reliefs. They were beautiful. Celestia took one into own magic, forgoing a magical scan for dangers, she did trust him after all. Inside were dried tea leaves that were ground up and a floral smell hit her nose pleasantly. She smiled.

“This smells good. What is it?”

He looked at the box she held in her hand and squinted. “There is a seventy-five percent chance that is Black Tea. Floral smell?” She nodded. “Then yep, that is Black Tea. Its main job is to wake you up and give you focus throughout the day, I bought you three of those because you would likely get the most use out of them.” Her smile increased. He had thought of a practical gift to get her. One she could make full use of. If it worked as he advertised she would have Raven order for more.

“That is a very thoughtful and practical gift my little pony, thank you.” He grimaced, and she chuckled. He hated when she called him that.

“You’re welcome, Princess. But we are not done yet. Oh the fourth box is Lavender tea, came from a place called Prance. Figured you could use that to relax.” He dug into the bag, while she blinked. Lavender tea was rather expensive, and Prance was known to charge a large amount for their exported teas.

“ Excuse me. But did you say Prance? That is some rather expensive tea, even with your stipend that would be costly.”

“Oh? Well I suspected the ‘merchants’ who sold me those teas were likely pirates. Or at least the fence of pirates. So the deal was good for all four boxes. Ah here we are.” He smiled as he pulled out a stone that seemed to be bonded to a wooden plaque. “This here is from Oberjoch. The mountain top of Iseler. Beautiful view, if I had the equipment I would have brought a picture, instead I got you a paper weight.”

She snorted trying to not laugh too loudly. He had delivered that in his usual humor that came fast and caught her off guard. She had been distracted by the fact that he purchased from pirates. That pirates were operating within Griffonia’s borders. A worry for later.

“I see thank you. I can use this to decorate my desk with.” It was a rather pretty stone, blue with speckles of gold and silver. It would look nice.

“Well there is one more item. More of a set actually, although certain pieces can be worn separately. Though thinking about it now, you may want to wear the outfit itself privately, or maybe with a lover.” He waggled his eyebrows, a cheshire grin adorning his face. This caused several of the nobles to whisper amongst each other. Her burning blush would only make the obvious rumors now being created true. “Not that the ladies of Neighbon seemed to mind walking about it them all the time. I heard a rumor that they go topless once they are away from shore, not sure as to the truth of those.”

This was a mistake. She should have met him in her private stateroom after all. It was clear to her that no matter the audience, he was going to be himself. She had thought he would be more behaved in front of the nobles at the very least. That was her mistake.

The bundle with two small wooden boxes sitting on top were quickly ushered away by Raven. Though she appreciated the effort, the likelihood of the whispers she could faintly hear would persist for sometime.

Clearing her throat helped focus her thoughts, her old anger being propped up by his shenanigans. In public no less! She trained her eyes onto him, a frown creasing her features.

“I will make this brief as I’m sure you already know why you are here. But I will ask anyways. Why did you leave Canterlot, leave Equestria itself, without asking for permission? You are a minor and a ward of the state. My state. Your actions could have put you in jeopardy.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “That’s easy Princess. If I asked, and if I got permission, I would have likely had a babysitter. That would have seriously hurt any fun I could have had. Too much concern for my safety and all that crap. If I would have asked and been rejected, I would have had someone watching to make sure I didn’t leave. I would have been bored to tears. The way I see it, the only option was to literally slip away with no one knowing what the hell I was doing.”

She blinked, he was swearing again. But more than that, he had known what she would have done had asked. This had been fully thought out. She was not going to let this slide.

“And what would you have done if somepony had kidnapped you? Taken advantage of you? We might never have found you. What would have happened then?” She was getting angry, not out of hate but out of concern. He was one of her own after all.

“Well the likelihood of them dying by being burned alive would have reached a much higher percentage had they tried.” He raised his hand simply and ignited a flame that burned four feet into the air, the color of his magic being prominent. “I am sure you know of ‘Coram Deprehendere’.” He was right, she did know that spell. Detect Presence. Or Life. It was a spell designed to track living bodies around them. It ranged anywhere from fifteen to one hundred feet around the one casting the spell. Did he really come up with an efficient way of casting it without exhausting himself?

Looking to the magic he was now projecting, she could see two spells. The simple fire pillar spell, and the detect life spell. There was something odd, the spell had been altered, heavily. Taking a closer look she gasped. It was a purely passive spell. Designed on the same frame as the usually more mana draining spell, instead however, it relied on the ambient magic that leaked off anypony around them. Feeding on that magic to power the spell itself, while also keeping track of those around him. “Incredible.”

She wanted to demand how he had thought up the spell, but chose to bite her tongue. No need to have the nobles asking questions of him best left alone. Still, once again he had come up with a unique solution to a problem that often stumped more experienced unicorns. She tested the spell herself, almost immediately she detected several life sources. He grinned at her again.

“I see.” Was all she could say. In truth, she would have felt terrible for anypony who had attempted to take him. The likelihood that the average thug, or even pirate, could have harmed him was slim. But he was still just a foal. A colt which was more to the point. The struggle to keep the population alive depended on him and those like him. She would have to reign him in.

Before she could speak to that subject he spoke up on his own.

“Besides. Apparently Screaming is royalty. You likely knew that already. So I had guards. Boring as hell guards. That still managed to restrict a lot of what I wanted to do.” He pouted.

It was true. She did know about Grace Screaming Rush’s noble status. Had known for years. She had been content to keep that a secret but Bloodbeak had somehow found out about the little griffon inside her capital city. It was no matter. Truly she didn’t know why she had kept quiet on the knowledge that she was there.

“Be that as it may have been, it might have not been. Orion. From now on, till your eighteenth birthday, you may not leave the city unless requested of me personally. Your name has been issued to both gates, and the guard has also been notified of your status.” She nodded with satisfaction, but she wasn’t yet done. “Furthermore, should you be lucky enough to get my permission. A guard will be assigned to make sure you don’t pull another disappearing act. I don’t need to worry about you again. I have lost sleep over this entire event. Though I am glad to hear that you did have guards while you were away.” She smiled to herself. A job well done and a colt in hand.

Said colt during her verdict had crossed his arms and continued to pout petulantly. “Well fine, see if I ever get you a gift again. No more tea for you if you’re gonna be crabby about it.”

The room had gone quiet, not that what he had said actually bothered her. She knew he was just venting a little. No the nobles were all staring in anger at him. Jet Set stepped forward and pushing his newly acquired glasses up on his muzzle a bit, she idly wondered if he believed anyone would take the brash young noble pony seriously. He didn’t need them.

“Young stallion, I have sat idly by long enough while you insulted our Princess. The gall to speak to her as if you are equal to her! You will apologize or you will face the consequences!” He stared down his nose at Orion.

At that moment she remembered that like a few of the younger noble ponies in Canterlot, he was a Dedicated to the Church of Sol. The church had been making ground with the rich elites of the country. The nobles being one such group of elites. She didn’t like it, what had seemed an innocent fad had become something of a movement. She had no idea how the religion even got started, but they state their charter began some six hundred years ago. She wondered how he would respond to the threat,

He blinked at Jet for a couple of seconds. “Ooookay.” He paused, then smiled. There was something sinister in that seemingly innocent display. “What rank in the royal guard do you hold?”

It was the noble pony’s turn to blink. “None. I don’t dirty my hands with the work of grunts.” That got some subtle movements of the guards. Celestia watched on passively. Curious as to what the colt was thinking.

“So you hold no rank… I assume you do have some control on how the guard is distributed then. How they deploy and what orders they operate on, yes?” The smile had not changed, but the eyes held, something.

“No, I don’t bother myself with their logistics either.” Jet Set was beginning to get annoyed with him now. “What does it matter, apologize, Now.”

“So you hold absolutely no authority in the guard.” Orion spread his hands apart. “Then how in all that is good and beautiful, do you plan to make me? There is no law that states one cannot speak to the Princess in a comfortable manner. What consequences do you believe you can levy against me?”

The stallion’s mouth worked, but no words came forth. Indeed many of the nobles but a few that had smiles of their own, were staring in shock.

“Let me help you before you hurt what few brain cells you were born with. You cannot do anything to me in the legal sense. If you attempt to, the lady sitting on that throne may come down on you in an unpleasant way. I myself will take every last bit you own through the legal system. In case you were wondering, there is legal precedent. Lucky Petal vs Snowy Night. In that case The noble mare Night attempted to use her station to force one Lucky Petal from her stall for her own needs. The resulting lawsuit crippled Mrs Night and her husband. The family has been in decline since.” He paused, and the malicious grin he gave seemed to drop the temperature in the throne room by a couple of degrees. “This happened eighty years ago. So more than enough time for this to have weight in court. So, wanna play that game? I could use the cash after all.”

Oh that clever colt, he had planned for this. He had counted on this eventuality. Even better, she had given him a platform to inform a good portion of the nobles about the odds of success in tangling with him. She could not contain the small smile that graced her lips. He was a young stallion after her own heart after all. She could not help admiring the way he had boxed him into the trap.

Jet Set continued to gape at him, trying and failing to find the words to defend his position.

She decided to cut this short. “While I do wish that Orion would speak to me with a less cavalier approach, I do appreciate his honesty, and even his humor. While I do not let him get away too much, he does have the leeway to speak his mind. Even if he is only throwing a tantrum.” She grinned at the last.

“Well, I believe that will be all. Mr Falls, please forward any requests to me through my secretary, and please be in touch. I do wish to hear all about your trip to Griffonia.” He just made a distasteful face as he marched out of the room, bag in hand.

Orion fairly stomped his way through the halls of the palace. It was nearly the absolute worst thing that could have happened. He was practically on house arrest. This sucked.

He was alone, he had been called to the castle so many times he nearly knew every nook and cranny in the public floors, and some in the private floors as well. He was so angry that he failed to hear or notice and purple unicorn shouting his name as she raced up to him. He did notice when she bowled him over in a fierce hug.

“Twilight get the fuck off me!” He was mad, and he didn’t want to take it out on her but she was making that difficult. It was like she had four arms instead of two. Every time he thought he had squirmed free she had somehow grabbed on tighter.

“No! Why did you leave?!” He idly wondered if she had been working out this summer.

“I left to go on vacation, plus an old friend really wanted to see me so I killed two birds with one stone. Why does it matter? I left a note saying what I was doing.” He had given up, attempting to cool his own rising anger. She was only concerned, he didn’t need to take it out on her.

“Because I wanted to hang out with you this summer!” He blinked. Seriously?

“Well you didn’t make an appointment. Didn’t file with my secretary. Nothing. How the hell was I supposed to know?”

“Wait, what secretary?” The moment she was caught off guard he simply teleported out of her grip. He stood back defensively. She frowned and picked herself up off the floor. “Oh another distraction.” She pouted. He wanted to laugh because her cheeks puffed out like some weird horse anime character. It was adorable.

“Yep. One day you will learn. Till then, here.” He thrust the satchel in her hands. “Gifts from another country.” She really was cute when her eyes lit up like that. He watched as she tore into the bag pulling out a couple of boxes of teas, a fancy quill set, seashell jewelry, and books on history from the various places he had ‘visited’.

“Orion….thank you so much. You didn’t have to do this!” As expected she clutched the books to her chest while levitating the rest behind her.

“Yeah, I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” Digging into a side pouch he pulled out an incense dish. “This has lilac and several other smells I barely understand. Supposed to be good for focus in studies from what I was told. Might just put you to sleep. I’d advise experimenting with it.”

The dish was bronze, much like the boxes he had given to Celestia and her. The relief was of waves battering against a primitive lighthouse. It was rather calming to look at.

“Thank you. I...I didn’t get you anything this summer…”She hung her head in shame.

“Well yeah, you didn’t go on vacation did you?” Her head shook back and forth. “Then you weren’t obligated to buy me shit. When you do go somewhere think of me. I’m sure you will find something.”

She smiled, then her expression brightened. “Oh my little brother is here in the castle today! Would you like to meet him?”

No, no he would not like to meet him. He wanted to go back and pass out, he was still exhausted from all the work he had done in Avery. But he would be a bad friend if he said no.

“Bad friend? Where the hell did that thought come from?” He darkly chuckled. He didn’t want to get attached to anyone. But somehow, he had made friends with the people of this world. He supposed it was only natural considering he was trapped on an alien planet with no way of returning. And considering where he came from, he wasn’t too sure he wanted to go back.

“Sure. Lead me to this little bro you got.”

She squealed with joy, grabbed his arm and bolted down the hall dragging him and the items he had gotten for her.

“Your little brother is a dragon.” He stared down on the small green and purple lizard that barely came up to his hips. The ‘dragon’ was not what he was expecting when someone tossed about the descriptive name. Instead, he looked like a cousin of the bearded dragon, the kind human’s kept as pets.

Well, that was inaccurate. He actually looked more like a Barney, the purple fucking dinosaur. But in his case he wasn’t dominated by a potbelly and a dopey looking face. He had a twin pair of spike trails going from the top of his head to his tail. The fins on the side of his head looked to direct sound to his ears better. Both spikes and fins were green as was his underbelly, or he assumed so. Considering while shoeless, he was wearing a rather adorable sailor outfit in the shade of blue. Honestly the outfit did not fit the little dude.

“Uh huh! I hatched him during my entrance exam. He has been with me ever since.” That was a pet, this poor kid was a fucking pet. She just dressed it up as her little brother.

“You gave him the name Spike I assume?” Another nod. “Not very imaginative at that age were you.” She pouted again. He grinned.

As they were bantering back and forth, the little dragon’s face was growing darker and darker.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about me like I’m a piece of furniture!” Orion blinked. He could talk. That was a surprise, though considering this world it shouldn’t surprise him at all. Taking in the kid’s expression and stance, he realized the mistake he had made.

He was treating him as less. He had hated it when others had done it to him when he was a child, this little guy’s perspective was likely the same as his was back then.

“Hey, I’m sorry kiddo. I hated it when others did it to me, I should know better. My name is Orion. It’s nice to meet you my dude.” He held out his fist. Spike stared at it a minute, looked at his clawed hand and balled it into a little fist and punched his with it.

“I’m Spike! It’s cool to meet you too!” Thus began the most intense questioning he had ever experienced. The kid’s mouth had no off button, and he desperately was looking for the manual override. It took nearly an hour and half for the kid to run out of steam.

They bounced from topic to topic, Twilight chiming in when Orion was drawing a blank. The thing that struck him the hardest was how smart this dragon was. The questions poured over details about comics and books alike. Considering his own-, sister, it should have not been a surprise.

Getting home after sunset was not in the plans. After the question and answer hour, Twilight and Spike had dragged him across the city visiting various shops, mostly catering to books. It was cute if he was honest, they both shared an intense love of books. Of knowledge. The kid was smart as hell.

Walking into the foyer of the orphanage he quietly closed the door, hung up his satchel, and trudged his way up the two flights of stairs and almost decided to drag his ass into his room. He had been too tired to even bother with a teleport. He chalked up his exhaustion to the jet lag, and not quite near warp speeds of which the not-so-siblings moved once they got into the city. His legs hurt.

Crawling into bed he prepared for the inevitable nightmares that had plagued him for over half a year.

Fog swirled and danced with denser fog. The silhouette of broken trees and what looked to be tower tops greeted Orion’s eyes. Looking about only caused his head to spin. Looking up he realized he had changed location. The sight was somewhat similar but under his hooves was stone instead of the field he had woken up in. Something was wrong, there was no magic signature. Yet, it almost seemed that the entire area was saturated in a magic field. It was both there and not.

He pinched himself, and to his sudden realization it didn’t hurt. That was concerning.

“Where the fuck am I?”

“Thou art a most curious colt.” He heard it in his ears and his head. “Long hath it been since one drifteth so close to my realm.” He spun around and the surge caused him to stumble, stone was still under his hooves but now he was inside. Where he had no fucking clue and the female voice he kept hearing had a bit of a demonic bite to it.

“Okay I must be dreaming, who are you?” He slowly turned about, no longer wanting to change locations or make himself sick with the blurs in his vision. The fog was everywhere. It seemed to deaden even his hoof steps.

“Verily you art a clever one. A dream truly this be, but we would like to know what stallion dreams in terror so retched. Thou hath attracted our attention, we wish to know thee.” There, he heard steps coming from his left carefully turning he was greeted by something that chilled him to his bones.

In front of him was a spot that was darker then the fog and shadows around him. Two cat like teal eyes greeted him. The position of those eyes had, the whatever the hell it was, at a much taller stature then his own.
Those eyes chilled him to his very soul.

“My grandma, what big eyes you have.” He wanted to hit himself. The first thing he says is an insult, what was it genetic?!

The eyes narrowed. “Thou mocketh us? Doth thou not knoweth who we are?”

Well, in for a penny in for a pound. “Yeah, I don’t know of anyone who speaks like they have a mouth full of cock, and talks like they are a teenager trying their hardest to be edgy. That fad died out in the nineties.

Oh, he felt that. He was sent across the room to sprawl at the base of a pillar. Gasping for breath he stayed down, hoping to stay hidden in the fog from his would be murderer.

“THOU DARES TO INSULT US!?” The boom of that fucking voice hurt as much as whatever hit him. “YOU SHALT GROVEL AT OUR HOOVES! WE SHALT MAKE THEE CRAWL ON THINE STOMACH WITH THE WORMS!”

What he should have done was apologize. Instead. “Jesus Christ lady do you have a fucking volume control?! It’s not my fault you sound like a cock goblin high on acid!”

Silence pervaded the fog, the room, his own head. It was like everything that could make a noise was silenced. Then a low sound. That could not be laughter. It was. What kind of LSD was he spiked with.

“Colt, though certainly hath stones. To speaketh that way to us.”

“Yeah some would say I have a problem with shutting up in stressful situations. You go on and on about this ‘we’ crap, but I am assuming there is only one of you. Who the hell are you? Wait, I’m sorry, I meant, ‘Who art thou?’ Better?”

“Thou mocketh us, but verily thou are correct in thy query.” The voice seemed to gain in weight if that was somehow possible. “ We be Nightmare Moon, and thou art the first in an age to find thyself in our realm, the realm of dreams. Come, thou shalt answer our questions to satisfaction.”

Nightmare Moon, he remembered that name, only because that was all Twilight would talk about that afternoon. She had found an old book, she said it was filled with prophecies and nonsense. Was this dream an influence of what he had talked about with her from earlier?

No. Something screamed at him that he was in major trouble. He needed to wake up. Now.

He sensed more than saw something reach for him and dove out of the way to another pillar. A dark chuckle permeated the air. “Now now, tis useless to resist. Giveth not a waste of our time, for we do not hath full control of this space. Time tis short for us.” The world trembled. “NO! Tis too soon for thou to awaken!”

Even as the voice spoke already it sounded like it was fading, but it felt like something had hooked into his stomach and was pulling him away. Away and awake. Violently.

Sitting bolt upright, he barely contained his scream of fear. He was awash with sweat foam, his head hurt like it had been bounced off the ground, and there was pain in his midsection. Like he had been suckerpunched in the gut.

His magic ignited, crushing the alarm clock that had pulled him out of his night terror.

“What, in the fuck, was that?”

He had later discovered that his midsection had a large bruise swelling underneath his fur. No amount of healing spells seemed to affect it a wit. It took nearly a week for him to sit properly.

Since that night he had not dreamt of any Nightmare Moon or that place again. But he had wasted no time in researching and then creating a small neck worn device that protected his mind. A risk he knew but whatever the hell that was hurt him. Physically from a dream realm of all things.

Turns out good ol’ Bearded Star knew something of the dream realm. A real place in which dream walkers could invade another’s mind. That terrified him. The fact that dreamwalkers were even more rare then enchanters meant very little. There was a dreamwalker named Nightmare Moon attempting to hack into his thoughts.

‘Dreams and The Protections One Will Need.’ A book he had picked up merely because of the author, had much to say on the subject. Later Orion reflected that Bearded Star had his hands in nearly every branch of magic theorem and study. It was odd to hear, and read of anyone having that many interests and having the time and expertise to indulge.

What he had learned was that there was once a Princess Luna a thousand years distant. Not much was known of her other than the fact that she was one of the very few accomplished dream walkers that had existed throughout history. No one knew what had happened to her. One day she was there, and the next not. Though he suspected there was a hidden war there somewhere. It may have cost her her own life.

The other known dreamwalker of the time, was Nightmare Moon. A creature of great evil that Celestia herself banished to the moon. Supposedly for all eternity. But judging by the fact that he had appeared in his dream, that was not to be the case. That bothered him deeply, just how had the two made a connection over what should be over two-hundred thousand miles. He could not figure it out. And Bearded Star had no answers to that he could find.

No matter, Orion had found the spell to protect one’s own dreams. Anything else would require him to find a more knowledgeable source of dream magic.

He ended up making three necklaces. Each with the same enchantment. He was taking no chances. There was no actual name for the spell. So he dubbed it ‘Dreamcatcher’. He was getting tired of the latin names anyway. Maybe he would rename other spells he had altered for his uses.

That night laying in bed he had fretted whether or not they would work. He had to take a sleeping aid in order to fully shut his mind down.

It had worked. Or so he hoped. But what he did know is that he did not have any dreams at all. The spell's purpose was to force the sleeper into a deep sleep every single time. Thus no dreams, nor even his nightmares plagued him. He slept like a baby.

Tomorrow was the start of the new school year. He was looking forward to what he might learn now that he didn’t have to acquire his knowledge through means of theft.

The blue and green marble of the world spun lazily before her. As it always had done. At this distance she could see no real details. She knew nothing of the events of the past, almost thousand years now. It was boring. Life was boring for her.

The spell's curse kept her from needing food, water, or real rest while she waited out the centuries. But it was not as if madness would take root in her mind, she was not ‘alone’. Every now and then, if she didn’t seek the other out, she would feel a surge of resistance, as if somepony was attempting to wrestle control from her. Impossible at this point. But it was mild amusement when the attempts were made, as they broke up the monotony of her life.

Though something new had happened just a few hours, no, it was days now. She had made a connection with something, somepony.

What she experienced was a cascade of emotions, fear, self loathing, anger, and resentment. The resentment was so strong that she suspected that might have been one pulled her to them. To him. There was more, but the images she saw made no sense, creatures without fur. What looked to be a courtroom. These things did not exist on Equis. Or she had been gone longer than she believed. Though she did entertain the idea, that her and her sister had not quite explored the entire world.

The thought of that word. Sister. It still infuriated her. But not so bad that she would lash out and make even more craters in the lunar surface. No, instead she daydreamed about ways to torture the mare.

She shook her head, she might be more addle brained then she believed. She thought about the colt again. There had been no contact since that night. Something that hadn’t bothered her, not really. She could always feel dreamers in the realm, if not ever able to interact. No. The one she sought now, was gone. He had to dream sometime but it had been a week since his dreams never returned. She wondered what had gone wrong.

“What doth thou think little, Woona?” She mocked the presence that was always in her mind. “Diddest the colt find a path away from us?” Only whimpers of pain and fear greeted her. She smiled, it was just as well. Nightmare Moon was content with her own thoughts as she designed painful apparatuses to inflict on the one who once controlled her body. The screams in her head allowed for a small smile to grace her lips.

The school year started as any other before it. A short greeting by the teachers and then right into the lesson plan. The students had changed, many being from outside Canterlot and coming in with the new year. Few, like Fancy Breeze and Orion had remained in their studies. Though he suspected the filly had an ulterior motive. Another colt had joined the class just before school let out for the last year.

Fancy Pants was a rather pleasant person to be around. The normal air of snobbery that usually wafted around a noble didn’t seem to infect him. Though little interaction had ever happened to occur between him and Fancy, he could appreciate the pleasant attitude and humble nature that he displayed. He was quickly becoming the center of attention in the class, his charm and class easily pushing Orion to the back of the attention line.

Which was fan-fucking-tastic for him. It meant no more leering looks from the mares. Which meant the bully’s attentions were not pulled to him, though many thought it likely suicide to engage him in anything more than a passing glare. It was all dandy to him.

About a month in came something that he never expected. Physical Evaluation.

“So, this is normal? How come we didn’t have it done last year? Or the year before that?” Fancy shook his head at him. “Screw you too, guy.” Out loud he spoke again. “Why suddenly start this up now? It's not like we don’t have doctors for this kind of thing.”

“This is for the schools own records my good stallion.” The posh uppercrust voice, while not obnoxious the way he spoke, still made him want to poke him in the throat. “Doctors do not share with the school details of a students health. I will be honest I do agree with you. A simple request of forms would be all that is required and we can get back to our studies. But both establishments tend to be at odds for one reason or another. Thus we are forced to make due with the inconveniences that it brings.”

He sighed again, having to strip down into his boxers was not something he was happy about, his clothes were in a locker in the gym. What made this worse was that the Principal, Violet Quill had not exempted herself from the colt’s examination. She stood at the curtained off places at the head of the line and helped guide the male students to each makeshift examination room.

He didn’t like her despite the reset in their relationship. Anytime she had looked at him since starting high school, she seemed to be judging him. Her look, while never malicious, always made his skin crawl. It was no different now.

With the lower male student population, it meant that the examinations were going to be quick. Though not quick enough in Orion’s opinion.

“Yeah, well this is still garbage and I should have the option to elect myself out.” He was complaining, but he knew there was no way he was going to get out of it.

“Orion Falls? You are next.” Miss Quill’s voice spoke out, catching his attention and making him drag hooves as he went to the indicated examination booth. He gave her the side eye seeing her look at him appraisingly. That was disturbing, he quickly shuffled his ass into the booth.

“I am Ed Horse.” It took everything in him not to bust out laughing, he might have broken something. “I will be doing your physical examination. While I am a Physician Assistant, I am not too far away from getting my Doctorate. You’re in good hands I promise.”

“So you will soon be a Dr Horse huh?” Try as he could he couldn’t hide the mirth in his voice. “Can I call you Mr Ed in the meantime?” A snicker of laughter escaped before he could stop it.

The stallion gave him an odd look. His carmel colored muzzle scrunched up in confusion. “I don’t see why not.,” he said slowly. Shrugging he pulled out a chart and a stethoscope. “Now, Mr Falls is it? I would like you to steady your breath and breathe deeply on my say so.”

That was a tall order to fill considering he was still trying not to laugh, after five minutes they got on with the examination, which was pretty routine up until he was asked to remove his boxers. His weird horse dick and balls being seen was not what bothered him, it was Horse’s expression when he looked at Orion’s hips.

“Excuse me? But where is your cutie mark?”

“The fuck is a cutie mark?”

He could not see what the big deal was.

After the examination, a disturbed not-doctor Ed Horse immediately spoke to an actual Doctor. Which then prompted him to be pulled back into the examination booth for another look-see.

It went quickly downhill from there.

Now he sat in the Principal’s Office, with Celestia on one side, Captain Strikes on the other and the principal herself sitting behind her desk.

“Okay, I still don’t see what the big deal is? Why does it matter that I don’t have a fucking butt tattoo on my ass?”

Celestia, who had not spoken to him since she arrived, turned slowly to him with an unsure look on her face. “Orion, a cutie mark is a very important part of a pony’s life, without one they don’t understand their purpose, what they are meant to do. It affects not only their standing in society, but their job opportunities as well.” She paused and thought for a second. “Imagine if you will, you attempt to get a job with a blacksmith, but with no mark indicating what you might be good at, not only would it be difficult to place you but you may be looked over if another were to apply for the same job and have theirs.”

“Ooookay? I guess that would be a problem. But it’s not like there is a job posting for ‘Professional Traveler’. I am not planning on staying in the city after I graduate. Hell I am likely to bounce around from country to country to see what is out there.”

“But would it not be better to have a secure future?” Miss Quill chimed in. The look of panic was not because he had no mark he suspected.

“The future is not secure. A building could collapse on me, I could get hit by a carriage. Any number of weird and improbable things might happen that ends my life. I am more concerned with living that life, than having a mark that defines me. If anything I am more free than any of you.”

The collection of bizarre looks had him laughing. “My future is one I decide for myself. Not some random ass tattoo that would restrict what I can and can’t do in life. Griffons don’t have them. Minotaurs either. They seem to thrive just fine without them. The only thing I have to worry about is a certain someone screeching in the gymnasium about my lack of a mark.” He cocked an eyebrow at his principal.

She had the grace to blush and look ashamed.

“So this does not bother you in the slightest that others will judge you as less.” Celestia took over again. The look of concern was actually touching, he hadn’t seen it on her face lately, it was nice to know she had a heart somewhere buried under all that politician.

“No. Princess, I have already been judged as less since it's been known I am an orphan. What is one more issue that I could give a rats ass about?”