Djinn of Equestria

Chapters

1: Destination: Equestria
2: A Singing Djinn
3: Progress Made
4: Reunion
5: Golden Afternoon
Prologue: A Stage Set

1: Destination: Equestria

June 18, 1463 of the Common Age

For the deer, there were only four different types of magical and arcane study: Enchantment, Potion Brewing, Clairvoyance and Spellcasting. Each magical discipline came with its own set of rules and methods of study.

Enchantment was the most common among any deer who showed an aptitude for magical abilities. It involved the pouring of one’s inner aether into a previously carved magic circle. With the right words and intent behind said words, these circles could enable the caster to create enhanced objects such as weapons, cookware, modes of transportation and more. Despite less than half of the current deer population having been blessed with the right amount of aether pools within their souls, almost every deer who possessed magic was capable of this.

Potion Brewing, unlike Enchantment, needed no magic to cast. Instead, it required a vast knowledge of herbs and plants not only from local sources, but from around the world. Even deer who had an aether pool too small to cast magic were capable of becoming a master of potions, provided they dedicated their lives to the craft as it was one of the more diverse of the arcane arts. Despite anydeer being able to do it, if a potions master had a semblance of control over their inner aether flow, they could use this to enhance the effects of the potions they brewed.

Clairvoyance was the second most rare magical ability among the deer. Only those with a deep and vast reserve of aether within their pools allowed for such a skill to manifest. There were two types of Clairvoyants, the first and more common being those of the First Level. They required an enhancing gem in order to push their inner eye through the Weave of Accord to see far into the world. A Clairvoyant of the Second Level, on the other hand, needed no artifice to cast their spell, but could do it by pushing themselves into the Weave and seeing sights half a world away at best.

The last arcane art was spellcasting. Nodeer had managed to master that discipline in years, and it had become more or less academic. Most deer who could cast magic could move things with their magic or make it flow into something like a magic circle, but that was it. Despite nodeer being able to use this anymore, it was still regarded as a basic for magical academia and was taught to those young fawns who wished to learn about magic. There were legends among the populace that there were spellcasters in the Golden Age such as Faenia the Fair or Vasimon the Veritable, but so much of their history had been lost during the Age of Ruin that it was hard to be sure if they were real or myths. In truth, most of the magic taught in this vein came from the studies done on the unicorn ponies, since they were the true spellcasters of the world.

The Hall of Unitas’ third floor had four similarly sized classrooms, each one built specifically to study the four deer arcane arts. When anydeer came up the stairs and walked through the double doors that led to the hallways, they would see two doors on each side of the hallway, evenly spaced out.

In the first classroom on the right, the focus was Enchantment. Personal desks sat in a circle around the room, focusing on the center where a basic blank magic circle had been carved into the stone floor. There, the teacher would use chalk to inscribe the ancient runes on the circle in order to teach their lessons and would also teach the history of this art.

The door immediately next to the Enchantment class led to the Potions class. This room had no windows to preserve many of the ingredients from direct sunlight exposure, and had long tables with chairs on either side along with many different potion mixing apparatuses sitting in the center. At the front of the classroom sat a large desk and behind that a chalkboard where the teacher would write down the basic instructions for creating the many different potions that had been learned over the centuries.

The door opposite this one led to the Clairvoyance classroom. In this room, studies done on the art were mostly academic since a First Level Clairvoyant was rare and a Second Level having not been seen in hundreds of years. Much like the Enchantment class, the desks were in a circle facing the center where a small amber stone, a weaker mirror of the Third Eye, sat. The teacher would not only display the Clairvoyance magic but would teach about the history behind it.

The door immediately next to the Clairvoyance classroom was the Spellcasting class. Much like the Potions classroom, the tables faced the front of the classroom. As with the Clairvoyance class, Spellcasting was academic, only this one was completely so as nodeer in centuries had come close to possessing the amount of aether within required to cast spells. The lessons involved the study of ancient deer spells and modern day unicorn pony ones.

At the end of the hallway, however, was a fifth door, or rather, a set of blue double doors which led to the main hall where assemblies and graduations would be taking place. It was here that Acolyte Opheda, now a doe of twenty-one, stood along with her fellow classmates. The room was the largest in the temple, and normally sunlight shone in through the four great stain glass windows at the front near where a podium stood. The ceiling seemed to rise up further than seemed possible, but Opheda knew that this was due to an ancient enchantment which allowed for the room to be much larger within than without. The wall sconces were lit up with bright orange firestone light which gave the room a particularly eerie vibe as the inner flames within the stones allowed for the shadows they cast to leap and dance around like some deer of shadows.

At the front of the room the High Priestess stood, her milky white eyes looking out over the crowd. Opheda assumed this was just for effect, seeing as how she had been blind ever since she’d known her, and probably for many years besides. High Priestess Santhea was the only deer known to have mastered three of the four magical disciplines, Enchantment, Potions and Clairvoyance, and was known as being the wisest out of all the Priestesses. Not even Maerise came close to her magical talent, and she knew Enchantment and Potions.

Opheda’s eyes were on the High Priestess as she spoke. “As I gaze out upon the many students I sense here today, I can feel the excitement and nervousness within each and every one of you. I have heard about all that you here have accomplished, and I am very proud to see those within this room shedding their Acolyte titles for that of a Magus. You pushed yourselves to your limits since coming here, and with the bestowment of the blessings of the Priests within these hallowed halls, you shall begin new training as a Magus.”

She stepped back and the second highest Priest, an older buck named Tharos, who had black fur and white stripes going down his sides that reminded Opheda of a reverse zebra, stepped forward. “When I call your name, please step forward and receive your certification,” he said. Using his magic, he opened up a long scroll. “Acolyte Agassa.”

Opheda listened with rapt attention as Acolyte after Acolyte was brought forward and received a scroll with a red seal on it. The Acolytes would break the seal with their magic and finally prove once and for all that they were ready for the next level of magical study. The seal was enchanted with a spell that every aspiring Magus had to be able to break in order to graduate. Opheda had to admit that she was nervous. She’d been practicing nonstop on breaking a seal of similar strength, or at least she hoped she had been. None of the Priestesses would actually tell them what the enchantment was, or else it wouldn’t be a final test of magical ability.

Finally, it was Opheda’s turn. She stood and walked down the center aisle, passed the stares of her peers, and briskly made her way to the stage. Tharos looked at her with a stern countenance, then lifted a scroll towards her. She took it in her own magical grasp, and immediately could feel the strength of the magic binding the certification was not to be trifled with. She concentrated hard on the small runes which bound the paper shut. The miniscule magic circle on the seal began to glow her signature magic color, a bright sapphire blue, as did her antlers. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the runes themselves, slowly translating them into modern deerish.

And suddenly she saw a face in her mind’s eye. A strange face, flat, with dark green eyes, a small nose, and long hair which blew in the wind behind him. She instantly recognized the face as belonging to the same being she’d seen in a dream over a year ago. A face she’d all but forgotten as just the machinations of a hyperactive dreamstate she’d fallen into. The face moved away to show the same bipedal being she’d seen, only he was reaching out to her with his hand. Despite the expression on his face lacking any sort of emotion, one brief plea escaped his lips. “Help me.”

In the next moment, she was hovering over the world and looking down at the ruins of a large castle. Zooming out farther, she saw a red line moving from the ruins towards the Temple of True Accord. She knew the continent the ruins belonged to. It was Equestria, home of the ponies.

She gasped and her lapse in concentration caused her to pour too much of her magic into the scroll. As had happened many times previously with her, the world around her exploded and she was flung back against the wall. All she knew was pain as she fell, landing hard on the stone floor below. Her ears were ringing with, so she could barely make out the tones of concern from some of the Priests, but she could better hear the laughter coming from her peers.

No…I won’t let it end here, she thought angrily as she tried her best to stand back up, but a hoof on her back stopped her. She looked up and saw the concerned eyes of her matron looking down on her. Her matron said something, but it was indistinct. She shook her head to clear it, and more of her hearing began to come back.

“…okay? Opheda, are you hurt?” Maerise was saying as the younger doe concentrated on her words.

“Nnng…I’m fine,” Opheda said. In truth, she’d felt much worse in her earlier experiments when she would be flung against the wall of her room before she decided to try and slow down like her matron had suggested. She stood up and looked at Tharos. “I’m ready to try again.”

To her dismay, Priest Tharos only shook his head. “Acolyte Opheda, you lost concentration at the pivotal moment. If you had maintained it, you would have broken the seal. You have failed this test and will remain an Acolyte for another year.”

Opheda’s heart sank, but it turned to anger when she heard the mocking smirks of her peers. “No, I can do it! I know what went wrong! I was so close! Please! Give me another chance!” She turned to the High Priestess. “High Priestess, please! I beg of you!”

The blind doe, who was facing forward into nothing, simply shook her head. “My child, Tharos is correct. You have failed this test. You must repeat your studies and aim to work on your concentration.”

Angry, heartbroken and shocked, she shouted, “Buckshit! This is complete and utter buckshit! You’d give somedeer like Livalia a chance but not me!? FUCK YOU!”

Before anydeer could say anything, she ran out of the hall, slamming the doors behind her with her magic. Had she been paying more attention, she might have heard a loud snapping sound and seen a small sliver of a crack form in the door.

Maerise stood outside Opheda’s door later that evening. She’d tried to chase after her charge, but Santhea insisted that she give the Acolyte a day or so to calm down before talking to her. However, Maerise was too worried to give it so much time. She did her best to wait, but by the time dinner rolled around, she couldn’t bear to wait, so she grabbed a spare bowl of potato and carrot stew, one of Opheda’s favorites, and walked to her room. Knocking, the older doe said, “Opheda? Are you awake?” Silence. “I know you’re probably not hungry, but I brought you some food.” More silence. Maerise knocked again. “Opheda, I know you’re angry and hurt, but give me a chance to talk to the High Priestess. I might be able to get you a chance. It’s not unheard of, you know?” More silence.

Maerise was growing worried now. She knew Opheda wasn’t a really heavy sleeper, but this was ringing alarm bells in her mind. She fiddled with the door, only to find it unlocked. She gently pushed it open, looking around the room.

Only to find it empty.

In shock, the older doe dropped the soup, letting its still steaming contents spill out onto the floor as she rushed inside. She hoped that Opheda was just in the bath trying to cool down, but the bathroom was empty as well. And to top it off, her personal belongings were completely gone. The bed was neatly made, the curtains were drawn, the desk was properly organized, and the floor swept. It looked as though the room had been prepared for somedeer new to move in.

The only thing that looked out of place was an envelope laying on the bed. Maerise saw that it was addressed to her, so she hastily opened it.

Dear Matron Maerise,

Please forgive me, but I have to leave this place. I thought long and hard about what I want out of life, and being constantly belittled and picked on for having less magic than anydeer else is not what I want. Even the teachers have mocked me. Don’t try and deny it. You know I’m right. Nodeer takes my claims seriously, not even you. Remember that vision I had a year ago? The one you insisted was a dream? I saw the same figure. I saw the Djinn during the ceremony! That’s what made me lose concentration! I couldn’t help myself!

I tried doing things your way. I tried following the rules, but that got me nowhere. So, I’m doing everydeer there a favor by leaving. Now you won’t have to worry about a magical surge or explosion in my room.

I’m heading far away, farther away than anydeer has ever traveled in centuries. Good luck in your endeavors. That is what you always say, right?

Your ex-charge and former Acolyte,

Opheda

Maerise’s heart sank at the accusatory words. She hadn’t known things had been this bad for Opheda. If she had known, Maerise would have taken steps to make sure the poor doe was properly taught. She folded the paper and rushed upstairs to the Meditation Den. She only knocked a few times before opening the door in a hurry. As was normal for her, Santhea was sitting on her pedestal, both hooves on the Third Eye. Before Santhea could get anything out, Maerise blurted out, “She’s gone! She ran away!”

Santhea slowly removed her hooves from the Third Eye, and her amber eyes returned to their normal milky white. “Whoa, slow down, Maerise. Take a deep breath.”

“No time! No time! Opheda ran away!” Maerise shook the piece of paper in her magical grasp. “She wrote me a note!”

Santhea’s demeanor changed and became more serious. “Read it to me.”

As Maerise read the letter once more with a tremble in her voice, Santhea’s expression changed to become one the younger Priestess had never seen before: rage. When the letter was finished, Santhea grit her teeth. “So…poor Opheda was hurt by those who were meant to be her teachers and peers simply because her magic was less.”

“I take full responsibility for this lapse,” Maerise said. “I should have paid more attention to her.”

“Do not put the blame on yourself,” Santhea said. “There are others in this Temple who are at fault. I will address the entire Temple myself to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

“But what about Opheda?” Maerise asked worriedly. “We can’t just leave her like this!”

“And we won’t,” Santhea said. “A search party will be sent after her. Unfortunately, we can’t spare many to-”

“I’ll go!” Maerise volunteered immediately. “I’m still the most junior of all Priests here.”

Santhea smiled. “I was hoping you would, but I would not order this of you. You know her best. You would know just where she might go. I would say to go now, but it is too late in the day. Pack up what you can, and when the sun rises again in the morning, you can head out.”

Maerise nodded, and rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her with a bang. She had to fix this, she just had to!

Santhea listened until her old charge’s hoofsteps were out of range before she straightened up. Reaching up with her magic, she rang a small bell. Unseen even by her, a shadowy figure formed on the wall behind her, materializing into the shape of a shadow. Her own shadow. Its eyes were the only thing that didn’t cast a shadow, the crimson glow bathing the Meditation Den in its light. Santhea shivered when she felt the cold icy stare on her, waiting for instructions. “Evasia…I have a new task for you…”

June 19, 1463 of the Common Age

The Mors Ruins, despite having been sacked more than a millennia prior, still stood tall and proud, having been carved out of an extinct volcano using ancient magic that was much more prominent in the Golden Age. The vast city that had once surrounded the ruins had long since turned to dust, as had the corpses that had littered the streets, but the palace itself, once majestic in its splendor, had withstood the test of time.

At least, the structure itself had. Its once brilliant white stone exterior had been charred by the massive fires that had spread through every corner of the massive structure. Over time, many of its proud towers had fallen to the ravages of time and weather. The Great Hall had been smashed to pieces by blast after blast of magic during the attack on the palace itself. The drawbridge had since rotted away, leaving no way into the ruins save for a stack of stones that had once been a massive tower, and even that was too unstable to attempt a crossing into the ruins proper.

Many of the parapet walks were destroyed by the siege catapults, leaving the walls to each level open. The moat had since dried up, leaving the hidden spikes beneath the water exposed, along with the skeletons and remains of many various explorers who had since attempted to reach the ruins themselves. The ramparts themselves had all but been smashed apart, leaving nothing but rubble.

The keep, however, was still more or less intact. Its black cover wasn’t attributed to the fire, but rather to the enchanted obsidian covering the stone construction which had provided a last refuge during the final days of the attack on the palace itself. The interior was, more or less, intact. There were ruins of cots that lay out in rows, old silver and gold candlesticks lying or standing on stone tables positioned around the walls alongside ancient gold and silver plates, bowls and other pieces of silverware. In the center of the room there stood a raised stone platform. Sitting on top of said platform, a massive spherical piece of amber colored gem sat, illuminated by the small sliver of light that shone in through the only patch of the roof that had actually been damaged through the window.

As the sun moved further up into the heavens, the stream of light moved closer to the crystal sphere. It moved closer until finally the first part of the beam struck the crystal, illuminating large specks of dust and pollen trapped within it.

The stone door which separated the keep from the outside suddenly began to move. More light flowed into the ancient keep as an unusual creature entered the ancient structure. The deer-like creature had lime green legs and rump which transitioned seamlessly to a lemon-yellow coat of fur, then golden yellow, then burnt orange the further up her body it went. Her nose was a milky white as were her eyelids. Her ears mimicked autumn leaves, but the illusion was broken the moment she would swivel them. Her antlers spread majestically above her head much like those of a buck. At the tips of her antlers a few of the leftover autumn leaves were stuck. Her eyes were lime green just like her fur near the bottom of her body. Her short tale was reminiscent of a green leaf.

The tall and majestic being strode into the keep, the pale green aura that surrounded her antlers vanishing after she closed the stone doors behind her. She made her way past the ruined cots, directing her steps towards the amber colored sphere at the center of the room. When she stopped in front of it, she put a hoof on the surface. She took a deep breath, and her eyes began to change color to match that of the amber gemstone.

The gemstone began to darken, then a scene began to form inside it. In her mind’s eyes, the being noted the appearance of a majestic palace built into the side of a mountainside with a massive circular city to the east of said palace. The palace’ tall parapets, walls and towers had been, much like the Mors Ruins, carved from the mountain itself through the use of magic, but magic foreign to her kind. The entirety of the city had once been a side of the mountain before it had been blasted away by a powerful magic akin to that belonging to a deity.

No, two deities, the deerlike being thought to herself. One as bright as the day and one as black as the inky canopy of night itself.

Now, all remnants of said magical blast had been cleaned away and had been replaced by a sprawling cityscape populated by over a hundred thousand individuals. The wall which surrounded the entire city had been, like the palace itself, built out of the stones of the mountain on which it lay. Unlike the rest of the mountain, the sprawling metropolis was green with vegetation and each section of the city was separated by large rivers which spilled over to the ground below in majestic waterfalls to a large lake below.

Currently, the city was abuzz with excitement as hundreds of small multicolored dots below hurried and scurried along the many streets. It was two days until the Summer Solstice, an event this innocent species celebrated as a national holiday, albeit with a different name. The view began to move towards the western palace, more specifically towards a smaller tower to the northern section of the palace itself. Phasing through the wall, the view approached a young-looking purple unicorn sitting at a desk reading about something.

The being moved closer, examining the unicorn and what she was reading. Coincidentally, the latter was reading about ancient deer civilizations and simultaneously writing notes using her magic onto a nearby piece of paper. “…only similarities in magic between ponies and deer is the ability to move things around with magic…” she was muttering as the notes reflected the same thing. “Spike! Where’s that book about the eastern continents?”

“Come on, Twilight, we’re on a break now,” a young sounding voice, presumably Spike, came from a place below the desk at which the unicorn sat. “The Summer Sun Celebration’s a couple days away, and Moondancer’s birthday party’s happening tomorrow. Just relax like me.”

“I am relaxing, Spike,” the unicorn, presumably Twilight, replied as she got out of her desk and headed to a large bookshelf on the opposite wall. “Never mind, I’ll look for it myself.”

The scene shifted to focus on the other occupant in the room, a small dragon with green spikes and purple scales. He was sitting in a small bed reading something of his own, a book with images and words encased in white circles. She orders this dragon around like he’s her personal servant? And here I thought slavery was illegal in Equestria, the deerlike being thought.

“Huh…what’s this?” Twilight’s voice said, sounding confused. The deerlike being moved the scene back up and refocused on Twilight. She was holding a brown book with a golden unicorn head painted onto the cover. “Spike? Did you go to the library earlier?”

“Nope. Haven’t moved from this spot,” Spike replied.

Twilight frowned, then looked back at the book. “Huh…”

The deerlike being could sense a powerful magic lingering around the book, a magic that was swiftly dissipating. She immediately knew that the book hadn’t been in the room moments before. It had been teleported in by some powerful magic and presumably placed in such a place where anydeer could see it.

“Spike, I’m going out for a bit!” Twilight said, putting a saddlebag on herself and placing the book inside one of the pouches.

“Uh huh, okay,” Spike replied in a distracted tone.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight rushed out, completely unaware that she was being followed through the aether by the deerlike being half a world away. Twilight ran through the palace gardens until she reached a spot near a pond beneath a small tree. She sat down and opened the book. As she read an ancient thousand year old story, the deerlike being read along, somewhat intrigued by these Elements of Harmony.

Why are you showing me this, Great Seed, the being asked the stone, despite knowing it wasn’t sapient enough to actually respond. Anytime she’d visited this stone in the past, it had shown here exactly where to go. Mostly it had been farms where she’d granted a healthier harvest to starving communities. But this was unlike anything she’d ever seen before.

Just then, the image went dark again, and reappeared in the ruins of an ancient castle. However, to her surprise, it was nighttime here. She wondered if she was seeing something on the other side of the planet, but the hallway she appeared in had suits of ancient armor in the shape of ponies on either side.

That, and the dust particles in the air were frozen.

Her eyes went wide with realization as she knew more or less what she was experiencing. A Djinn’s Prison. At said realization, the view shifted to show a creature unlike any she’d ever seen sitting on a bed. There was a book hovering in front of him which was encased in a dark green and black magic. He read the floating book while he ate a pink, brown and white colored cake. The creature was a bipedal apelike creature, only without the fur. Instead, he had pale skin, at least that which showed. He (she somehow knew this Djinn was male) wore clothes unlike anything she’d ever seen and his hair flowed in the air like it was being blown on, but she knew what a Djinn’s Prison was like where time froze. And if this Djinn had enough power flowing through him to cause his hair to flow, he was obviously one of the more powerful ones.

But why…why show me this? she asked again.

By sheer happenstance, this Djinn was reading the same book as the one Twilight had been reading. After finishing the cake, he tossed the plate and fork away, causing it to vanish into the same color of mist that encased the book. He grabbed the book then and continued reading it without the use of his powers. He read aloud instead of silently like most would.

“Yeah…Elements of Harmony…like they could free me,” he muttered as he put the book down and closed his eyes, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled deeply, causing a couple nearby dust particles to move before returning to their place in the air.

Again, why this? she wondered. Unless…

A stray thought came to her mind, one that filled her with dread. She slowly zoomed out the view and saw that this Djinn had been imprisoned within an ancient ruin much like the one she was in currently. When she passed the barrier of the prison, daylight flooded the ruin and she saw that it was located near a vast ravine which separated it from a forest. Beyond said forest was a small town, and north of that was the same palace she had recently seen. This can’t be a coincidence, she thought.

The gem went dark at that, and she pulled her hoof away when the gem cleared to reveal its dormant state once more. Fearing that her thought might be correct, she ran out of the keep towards a larger building, one that hadn’t escaped the siege. Most of it was exposed to the elements, the hot sun beating down on it but a small portion was still somewhat protected from the ravages of nature. A large hole in the side of the wall which had once been a hidden enchanted door stood in plain sight, a set of stairs past it leading down into a curving stairway.

The deerlike being lit up her antlers, illuminating the ever-darkening path down towards what once had been a secret library where the secrets of the Cervina Kingdom had once been stored. The stone pathway was dark, cold, and stank of animal droppings and rust from the long fallen away torch sconces that had been built into the walls to light the way.

Finally, she reached the bottom where another hole in the wall existed where a large door once stood. She walked in, looking around at the large domed room in which she found herself. The ancient scrolls and tomes that lined the shelves on the walls had, thanks to the ancient magic protection runes engraved in the walls, been remarkably preserved despite the sounds of dripping water and the stalactites and stalagmites forming on the ceiling and floor below. The lettering on the walls directly over each section of shelving was written in the Old Cervinae tongue, which no deer in the modern era knew anymore.

None, that is, except the unusually colored deer who roamed the library. She walked around, looking for two subjects in particular: Saddle Arabia and the Melody Gems. When she reached the section that she assumed held information on the latter, she pulled scroll after scroll from the shelves, looking them over, but found next to nothing save for a mention of an ancient cult who worshipped the stones as deities trapped in said gems.

It was when she found a long-forgotten tome in the next section called The Saddle Arabian Affairs, written by an ancient deer who had spent twenty years in the then brand new nation of Saddle Arabia, where she found an answer. And it wasn’t an answer she liked. The more she read, the more her worries increased and the more she knew what she’d need to do.

Carrying the book out using her magic, she returned to one of the smaller and more secluded bedrooms she’d found in the former palace, one that had a solid roof and her bedding which she’d laid out on the stone floor. She began to gather everything in the room that she could. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she had a feeling she’d never be coming back to the place she’d called home for many years. Finally, her saddlebags were all packed. By the time they were, however, it was too late to even consider walking out, so she simply made a small meal, then tucked in for the night.

In the morning, she was off for Equestria.

June 19, 1463 C.A./1000 A.N.M.

Celestia sat on her throne, listening once again to a petition from one of the noblestallions below her. The throne room in Canterlot was illuminated by the light of her sun, which shone brightly through the stained-glass windows depicting famous Equestrian historical events over the past two thousand years of her reign. The smile plastered on her face was one she’d spent said years practicing ever since she and her long lost sister assumed the throne of Equestria.

The stallion before her throne, a green furred older noble named Duke Herdinand, was one of the more tolerable of the Canterlot nobility. He wasn’t as pompous as other nobles, and actually had some decent ideas to bring to the table. When he wasn’t using his wealth to get his balding patch or graying purple mane treated in an attempt to stave off aging, that is.

“…with the oncoming summer,” he was saying, “I believe having some public fountains around the commerce districts would benefit everypony involved. Not only would the young foals have a place to play and cool off during the inevitable heat waves, but it would mean that the shops and carts would receive more business from the parents or guardians who are watching over the children. And during the other months they can be used as a public meeting place for families and lovers.”

Most ideas were good, anyway. Duke had been trying for the past five years to get a public water fountain system put up, stating the same excuses and reasons for said fountains. Every day, right before the Summer Sun Celebration, he would bring the petition to the table. It wasn’t that Celestia thought that it was a bad idea, but she felt it was a bit redundant considering the fact that she controlled the sun and its motion across the sky, and the Cloudsdale pegasi controlled the flow of air and the weather, so there was no need for fountains. Celestia felt that it was just a needless beautification project that would make Duke look good for the people.

When Duke had finished with his explanation, Celestia smiled warmly down at him. “Duke Herdinand, you bring this up every year, and every year I give the same reply. There have been no major heatwaves in Equestria for many years. Our weather is controlled, remember?”

Duke nodded. “Yes, your highness. I know that, but I still believe that it would be good for business and for pleasure. That’s why, this year, I added something new to the proposal.”

Celestia picked up the paper with his proposal written on it. She had given it a cursory glance, something she rarely did but since Duke had never changed any of the proposals over the years, she hadn’t read it over completely. Looking over it more closely, she noted a new line at the end of the proposal. “Even if you were to bankroll half of the project,” she said, “this would cost the crown plenty of bits.”

Duke nodded. “It would be worth it, I promise,” he said. “And we don’t have to do it in all of the places I’ve mentioned. Why not give it a trial run? I’ll bankroll the construction of at least one fountain site in one of the busier parts of Canterlot.”

Celestia knew that he was using this more as an excuse to use it as a tax write off, but even she could see the appeal in having fountains in a public place that weren’t just there to make the city look beautiful. She was just about to reply when she saw a light pink mist surrounded by green flames approaching her. She knew just who was sending her a letter, and held up a hoof as a scroll appeared in front of her. “One moment, please,” she said as she opened the letter.

My dearest teacher,

My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that something really bad is about to happen. For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon and she’s about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night. Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true.

I await your quick response.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

Celestia’s smile froze. The time indeed had come for her student to face the challenge of becoming one of the Elements of Harmony. She did indeed have complete faith in her trusted student, but she’d held the young unicorn close to her for far too long. It was time for her to make her way out into the world and make some close friends. She remembered the group of five fillies she’d seen in the town over the years, and just how close each of them had grown. It had amazed her just how the five seemed to emulate five of the six Tenets of Harmony. And she’d made sure that each of them had a pivotal role in the Celebration so that Twilight would have to meet them.

Retrieving a blank scroll and a quill, she began to write back.

My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight,

You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books.

My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony’s life than studying. So, I’m sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year’s location, Ponyville. And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends.

I have attached the Official Overseer’s Checklist for the Summer Sun Celebration. I know you won’t disappoint me.

Princess Celestia

She sealed the scroll, then raised her horn. A green dragon flame came out of it and engulfed the scroll, sending it back to Spike. She turned back to Duke. “My most sincere apologies. I had to reply to my student.”

Duke waved his hoof. “Not at all, your Highness. I understand. Is it okay if I continue?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course.”

June 21, 1463 of the Common Age

Celestia stood in the old ruins of her old home. It was nearly time for the 1000th raising of the first summer sun of the year, but she felt a strong urge to return to the site of her greatest failure. The site of the place where she had to use the Elements of Harmony against her own sister, her own fur and blood. She could feel the magic that held her sister to the moon waning as the night reached its conclusion, and she knew her sister’s return was imminent.

She allowed herself one small tear before she straightened herself, getting ready for the upcoming battle between her and Nightmare Moon. She knew it was a losing battle for her since she no longer bore the Elements. The last time she’d used them, it was by force, and as a result she had no longer been worthy to wield the ones she had used. She felt it was an acceptable loss, and had made it her mission to find the true wielders of the Elements in the hopes that they could free her sister of the wickedness that had buried their claws so deeply into her heart.

Looking through the broken wall in the throne room, she remembered the last time she’d seen her sister in her true form had been in this very room. The throne room from where she and Luna had once ruled the kingdom. Together.

“I was a fool to miss the signs, dear sister,” Celestia said, “but I will not allow the corruption in you to corrupt my little ponies. No…our little ponies.”

“Thou art correct in only one thing, dear sister,” a menacing voice echoed through the old ruin. Celestia tried to located the source of the voice, but Luna had always been a master at deceit and misdirection. Not even Celestia could match that even after a thousand years. “You are a fool!”

A blast of sapphire colored magic burst out of nowhere, striking the alabaster alicorn in the head. Celestia was flung back and impacted the wall behind her. It collapsed, but fortunately not on top of her. Celestia quickly got to her hooves and looked around. “Luna, please listen to me!” Celestia said, raising a magic shield around herself just as another magical blast was fired at her from behind, “You don’t have to do this! You’re right, I was a fool! But I can make things right! Just let me help!”

A dark swirling mist appeared over the raised dais, forming into a form Celestia had never hoped to see again. Nightmare Moon stood there, in all her infernal glory. “Muahahahaha!” Nightmare Moon laughed triumphantly. “Help? Now why would I want help? I like who I am now! No longer under your hoof, no longer the weaker sister who needs to be pushed down! I. Am. EVERYTHING!”

Another burst of magic from her horn shattered Celestia’s shield, and she was caught in the powerful dark beam of aether that emanated from Nightmare Moon’s horn. Celestia struggled against the bonds that held her, but without the Elements of Harmony to aid her, Nightmare Moon was too powerful. “Please…I beg you…”

Nightmare Moon grinned wickedly. “I like you begging. Do it again.”

With no one around to put on airs for, Celestia bowed her head as best she could. “Please…I’m begging you…don’t do this. The consequences alone could be-”

“TO TARTARUS WITH THE CONSEQUENCES!” Nightmare Moon shouted in her own version of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “I have lived in your illustrious shadow for far too long! It’s time for me to shine, so to speak!”

Suddenly she paused, and looked around the room. There was a look of confusion in her eyes, and then her grin returned. Turning back to Celestia, she smirked. “So that was your plan, then.”

Genuinely confused now, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “My…plan?”

“There is a trace of magic here that I have never felt before,” Nightmare Moon said. “A potent binding magic. And a potent source of magic within it. Trapped.”

Celestia’s eyes widened briefly at that. Damian Price! Nightmare Moon could sense Damian Price! “I don’t know…what you think I was planning…but-”

“You think I am a fool once again, dearest sister,” Nightmare Moon said mockingly. “This prison you constructed to imprison me is old! I can sense it!”

“Luna, please-!”

“I! AM! NOT! LUNA!” Nightmare Moon boomed before tightening her grip on Celestia’s body. Vanishing in a teleportation spell, she appeared in front of Celestia. “Have fun in your new eternal prison! And worry not! I shall take care of our precious ponies. FOREVER!”

“LUUUNAAA!!!”

And suddenly, she was lying on the floor, dead silence surrounding her. She groaned in pain as she looked around the throne room. She noticed a few differences this time around. The moon was all wrong, there were two stallion guards standing at attention at the doors, but those weren’t what caught her eye the most.

She saw herself standing on the dais, horn down and casting a spell. She started to approach, getting a better look at her echo, when a familiar voice called out, “Now this is unexpected. I never expected to see you again, Princess Celestia.”

The alabaster alicorn turned in the general direction of the voice, and saw the human turned Djinn standing in between the frozen guards. His expression was somewhat emotionless, but one eyebrow had shot up. The bipedal being lifted off the ground, hovering over towards the Princess, and landed a few steps away from her. “No offense, but you look like shit.” Celestia winced at the Djinn’s language, but simply nodded. “Allow me.” He waved his hand, the dark green and black mist formed around it, then flew towards her. Immediately, the pain went away and she was able to stand straighter. “How did you get here?”

“My si…Nightmare Moon discovered this place and threw me in here,” Celestia explained, looking back towards her echo.

“Ah…so tonight is the night of Luna’s return,” Damian said. “I’m surprised she found this place, but not that she would banish you in here.”

Celestia turned towards him, approaching him slowly. “And just why are you not surprised about that?”

He didn’t flinch as she approached, just replied, “Because it’s easier to get in here than it is to get out. Throwing someone into prison is a lot easier than getting them out. This still isn’t good, though. The world can’t afford to lose you.”

Celestia stood proudly in front of him, spreading her wings. “I’m confident that my faithful student will figure out what she needs to become the Element of Magic,” she said.

“And if she doesn’t, your sister picked the perfect prison to place you in,” Damian said bluntly. “Your magic doesn’t work here, meaning you will age like a normal pony and eventually die if you aren’t released. You can’t wish yourself out, and even saying ‘I have no wish’ will do nothing for you.”

Celestia frowned. “How do you know Nightmare Moon is my sister? Nopony today knows about it, and I made sure any records of that fight were expunged.”

“If you aren’t broken out of this prison using the Elements, then I’ll tell you,” Damian said. “But first, there’s someplace you should see in this shadowy prison of mine. Follow me.” And with that, he slowly hovered away towards the open throne room doors.

Celestia hesitated. Sure, she’d wanted to free this trapped soul, but the way he was acting was very contradictory. The last time she’d met him, he was asking her not to make a wish and seemed to be showing concern, but now he seemed lacking in emotion. She had to remind herself that, unlike Luna who had been trapped in a perpetual dream, this Djinn was trapped in a perpetual nightmare, one he couldn’t even escape. She was surprised he hadn’t completely lost his mind already, but from what Twilight had discovered about the curse of the Djinn, they were kept sane by the magic that held them in place.

She followed Damian as he headed down a set of stairs. They reached a hallway which walked directly towards a very familiar room. The door was open, and Celestia walked in, looking directly at the stone tree which held the Elements of Harmony. She walked up to them, circling the tree and touching them with her hoof. Even in this shadowy reflection of the real world, she could feel the lingering power of the Elements within.

However, she noticed a lack of a presence beside her. Turning, she saw Damian leaning against the wall watching her with an appraising eye. She held out her hoof. “Why don’t you come join me?” she asked.

Damian shook his head. “For a thousand years, I’ve tried to approach that replica of the Tree of Harmony, but I can’t. It repels me like we’re two magnets with the same charge.”

Celestia frowned. Even in this prison, the echoes of the Elements were repelling him? She tried to use her magic to lift the nearest element off of its perch, but when nothing happened she facehooved. She had to resort to lift them off physically with her hooves, setting them on the ground in a circle around her. As she sat in the middle of them Damian asked, “What are you doing, Princess Celestia?”

“Trying to communicate with the Elements,” she said, facing him.

Damian shrugged, then leaned against the wall and sat down, leaning his head back and putting his hood over his head. “I’d say wake me when you find something, but I have not slept in a thousand years. Good luck, Princess.”

Despite Twilight’s report divulging that little tidbit of information in her report, it still shocked and horrified the Princess that such a fate could befall an innocent victim. She closed her eyes and begun to concentrate…

Time Unknown, Date Unknown

In a world where time had no meaning, the passage of personal time had finally meant little to nothing to the ancient human turned Djinn. However, Celestia’s meditation had somehow stretched out, and he wondered to himself if her student had actually failed in gathering the Elements of Harmony as she had been meant to. As Celestia continued to meditate, he summoned the book he’d been reading, King Sombra and the Amulet, a dramatic retelling of how Sombra created the deadly artifact before he was defeated in his battle with the diarchs of Equestria. The author had taken many liberties when it came to the actual events, and he even acknowledged this in his forward. Even so, the story was one Damian Price thoroughly enjoyed, since the author was able to describe the scene around him with perfect clarity. He was so good that Damian had made a television out of nothing and had displayed the entire book out in television form.

As he read, he had to constantly remind himself to keep silent, since he was now in the presence of another. He’d had so many years to have the habit of reading aloud set in stone, but now old manners had started to resurface and he could only read silently. He still moved his lips to the words, but made absolutely no noise as his unexpected fellow prisoner sat in complete silence. A part of him felt like he should leave her alone, but the majority of his soul screamed out that if he left, she wouldn’t be there when he came back to check on her.

Guess I’ve been lonelier than I thought, he pondered as he quietly turned the page. He was internally screaming and wanting to have a conversation with Celestia about anything. Hell, I’ll talk with her about the importance of paper clips, for Christ’s sake! But he kept his mouth closed as he kept on reading.

Time marched on, or whatever passed for time in this endless prison. Damian was so engrossed in the book, imagining the final battle scene between Sombra and his former friend Radiant Hope when he heard something unusual. He looked towards the alien sound and saw one of the spherical rocks beginning to glow orange.

He put down the book, which immediately flew away back to its resting place, standing and watching this new event with eager curiosity. Another stone began to glow seconds later, this time pink. The next was blue, then the fourth purple, and the final one red. The orbs began to circle around the still meditating Celestia, who finally stood, eyes still closed. She began to float up and out of the room. The pressure against Damian’s chest vanished, and he watched as she began hovering back towards the throne room.

With the elements no longer repelling him, he flew off after her, keeping a respectful distance as he watched her approach the throne room once again. She landed on the dais and sat in her old throne, and Damian landed near Luna’s throne, as it was the closest he could get to her without feeling overwhelmingly repelled. He took a seat and watched Celestia, tilting his head in curiosity as the orbs circled her faster and faster. From above, an orb of pure energy began to form, the energy matching the lost sixth element’s own color, a deeper shade of pink. The orb morphed and shimmered until it became a six-sided star of the same color. Damian felt the repelling energy suddenly vanish with the appearance of the sixth element, or whatever this copy of it was.

That was when he heard what sounded like the shattering of glass from below. He turned slowly, and felt the first surprise he’d felt in many, many years. Even Celestia’s unusual imprisonment with him hadn’t surprised him since he’d known for years that Djinn prisons were easier to place prisoners into than they were to take someone out. But this, the shattering of reality itself around him? This was something not even he’d known about.

More cracks appeared, suspended in midair. From beside him, the shadow Elements spun faster and faster, glowing more brightly with each passing minute. Damian touched his glasses and they darkened so that he could see the events without being blinded. Celestia was starting to rise from her seat once more.

Suddenly, the cracks shattered, and a massive wall of rainbow light shot out of a hole in reality directly towards Celestia. The shadow Elements were engulfed in the light, doubling in brightness as she made her way towards the open doorway. Beyond, Damian saw seven other Ponies, six very familiar ones and a slightly taller alicorn who had a look of extreme relief upon seeing Celestia. As Celestia passed the threshold of the cracks, the shadow Elements vanished in a large plume of multicolored smoke, flying into the air and directly back towards their original resting place.

Celestia landed, then finally opened her eyes. Looking around, she smiled warmly at all the ponies there. Her horn glowed and beyond the barrier, Damian saw sunlight for the very first time in a thousand years, its warm golden glow pouring in through the broken windows and roof. Despite his glasses being tinted, he still had to shield his eyes from the brightness. Then, once Celestia had finished raising the sun, she turned towards Damian and held out a hoof. “Damian Price, are you coming?”

Damian walked up to the threshold, tilting his head in curiosity as he reached passed the cracks. Intense pain ran up his arm and he recoiled. Once more, he tried to put his hand through, but the pain only doubled. He stumbled back, clutching his throbbing arm and hissing in pain. Celestia’s smile began to fade as Damian shook his head. “You are free, Princess Celestia. That’s what matters now. Like I told you long ago, let my story be forgotten. Barricade this castle. I am nothing but a danger to anyone who comes here.”

Celestia’s expression fell, but just as quickly a determined look appeared in her eyes. She turned to the new wielders of the Elements. “Listen to me, everypony. This is the mythical Djinn of the Everfree. He has been trapped in his own prison just as long as my sister was trapped on the moon.”

The orange mare was the first to speak. She looked suspiciously at Damian and said, “Ah thought that was just an old mare’s tale.”

Damian shrugged. “I’d rather I wasn’t even that, Applejack.”

“And just how do ya know mah name, stranger?” she asked.

“Pretty soon, that won’t matter, now will it?” Damian asked, pointing to the cracks in reality, which were very slowly repairing themselves.

Celestia quickly turned to the purple unicorn. “Twilight, remember when I asked you to research Djinn? It was because I met this one. I don’t have much time to explain. But the Melody Gems you found? They’re another name for the Elements of Harmony. You can use them to free him.”

Now that was news to Damian. The only way he knew of to free a Djinn was if another wished for the freedom of a Djinn, and he’d kept that secret to himself so no one else could suffer the same fate. Twilight looked at Damian with a mixture of fear and curiosity. “But…his power-”

“I’ll explain more after he’s freed,” Celestia quickly interrupted her. There was a hint of desperation in her tone. “Please, Twilight. The barrier between his prison and our world is closing again.”

Twilight looked between Celestia and Damian. Damian still wasn’t sure about this. Something told him that this wouldn’t work, but there was a small sliver of hope coursing through him now. Twilight turned to her new friends and nodded. “Come on, girls.”

The cracks continued to reform, and Damian watched as the Element Bearers began to glow once again. The five mares behind Twilight began to lift up into the air, surrounded by a glowing white light. Twilight kept her gaze on the open barrier between worlds.

To Damian’s surprise and dismay, the cracks began to form even faster with each passing second. He saw a look of fear pass over Celestia’s face, and she rushed forward, trying to kick at the pieces of shattered reality. However, she simply vanished, reappearing moments later and trying to hold down one of the broken pieces that had yet to reform. “Twilight! Hurry! There’s not much-!”

But it was too late. The rest of the shattered pieces reformed, leaving Damian once more in darkness and silence. He stood there, stunned by what he’d just witnessed. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the stone steps leading up to the thrones. He reached up and made his glasses normal once again. He was once more facing two standing frozen guards, with an equally frozen Celestia casting a spell in perpetuity. The only reminder that she had, indeed, visited him.

He took a deep breath, sighing as he slowly stood and let the dust that had accumulated on him fell away back to its normal spot. He closed his eyes and tried his best to purge the lingering hope away. Not even Deus Ex Friendship Lasers would save him from his fate, and it was best if he accepted it.

Suddenly, he felt himself enveloped in warmth. Opening his eyes, he immediately had to cover them as he was engulfed in a familiar warm rainbow glow. He found himself restricted in his movements as he was lifted into the air. The light from the rainbow began to blur together, finally forming a blinding white light. He closed his eyes and tried to cover them with his hands, but even with his eyes closed, the light pierced his vision. That, and he was unable to move his arms how he wanted to, making him feel helpless for the first time in centuries.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on a stone-cold floor, staring up at the very familiar throne room ceiling. Only now, it was brightly lit.

And the view was half blocked by a smiling alabaster alicorn. She held out her hoof to him. “Welcome to the real world, Damian Price.”

June 21, 1463 of the Common Age

A beige Saddle Arabian unicorn sat in the woods near territory that had once belonged to a race called the Kirin. It was evening after the unusually long morning, and she had started a fire and was actually roasting a chicken she’d stolen from a nearby farm. The smell of roasting meat filled the air and caused her to salivate as she used her magic to turn the deceased animal on a spit. Unlike the weak and pathetic ponies of Equestria, their Saddle Arabian superiors could ingest meat, but apparently that knowledge had been suppressed ever since she’d been…away.

While she continued to rotate the chicken, she opened her saddlebag, looking triumphantly at what she’d managed to retrieve over the course of the year since she returned. A multifaceted dark red gem, courtesy of a once powerful amulet, a slender white glowing gem from a pathetically weak (and now dead) king’s former staff and a multicolored sphere from an ancient idol. She’d traveled to the Kirin’s territory to find an artifact known as the Fire of Peace, but had been greeted by desolation and ruin within the once verdant landscape that had housed the once proud race.

She’d found a small patch of forest within the rubble where she now sat, looking over her newly acquired treasures. She put them away, then pulled out a book, reading over what she needed next. Her dark green eyes narrowed as she grinned. “Enjoy your freedom while you can, my dearest. I’ll be coming for you soon…”

Author's Note

Just to give you a better idea as to what the strange multicolored deer doe looks like:

Image posted on DeviantArt by BellBell123

Canterlot image created by Plainoasis on DeviantArt

2: A Singing Djinn

June 20, 1463 of the Common Age

Opheda swore once more as another blackberry plant dug into her, getting brambles stuck in her short fur and her saddlebags. It was early evening, now, and her legs and hooves were extremely sore from the past two days of walking and running towards the land of Griffonstone where she hoped to get passage on one of the Trans-Celestial Sea clipper ships to a city called Baltimare. She’d only managed to pack a few of her clothes and a few bits of food she’d had saved in her room for snacks. Those bits of food were already almost gone, and she’d resorted to looking for food on the pathway towards the path the Guto River dug through the mountains.

Beside her, said river flowed peacefully towards the ocean, its water being the source of her hydration the past two days and nights. Due to the lack of plants on her side of the river, she’d been growing hungrier and hungrier, trying to ration what little food she had, but it was growing harder to find any kind of berries or even grass. Blackberries were everywhere on the path, but they weren’t ripe yet and wouldn’t be for another couple months yet.

A splash from the river caught her attention, and she looked over just in time to see a fish tail diving into the water. Despite everything, her mouth began to salivate at the thought of a fish. Deer could sometimes eat meat in a pinch, but Opheda still felt partially nauseated at the thought of eating another living creature, even if they were just fish. It wasn’t particularly sanitary, either.

Looking up at the sun, she saw it was just about to dip behind the mountains, meaning that the temperature was just about to drop very quickly. She lifted her horns up and pulled her large brown cloak and hood out from her bag. She stopped as she rearranged her cloak to cover both her and her saddlebags, which by now were feeling too light. She pulled out her map and opened it up, looking at it in the last light of the sun before it vanished. She looked around her, then back at the map. If her observations were correct, she would be just a bit more than halfway to the pass which would lead her directly to the port at Griffonstone. That is, if the map she had was still accurate. The deerfolk had not had many dealings with outsiders since their Golden Age, so the map she stole from the Temple of True Accord could very well be completely out of date.

She quickly put the map away, then shivered as a sudden cold breeze from the direction of the mountains overwhelmed her. She pulled her cloak closer to her body just as her stomach began to growl. She waited until the breeze passed before she opened her bag and searched through it for some small morsel to eat. To her relief, she pulled out a small bag of nuts she’d packed, which she opened and began slowly chewing, savoring the slight saltiness, stopping occasionally to quench her thirst in the ice cold river.

As the sun continued its downward march towards the horizon, the moon behind her began taking its place in the heavens, the large dark shape of the unicorn still very visible on its surface. The sky above her began to turn all colors of the sunset, yellow, orange, red, purple and dark blue on the eastern horizon. Opheda found the temperature dropping at such a considerable pace that she almost considered setting up a camp for the night. However, being as stubborn as she was, she forced herself to press onward.

When the sun finally had descended past the horizon and the blazing summer constellations came out, however, she knew she had to find a small spot where she could curl up, start a fire, eat some small dinner and sleep for the night. She’d had plenty of experience in that area, especially since the area around her village was so safe that her mother would allow her to have solo camping trips as long as she stayed within walking distance of the village. The wind began to pick up and she lit up her horns, creating a dim glow around her which she used to attempt to find a secluded spot on the small cliff nearby which would provide her with some protection from the wind.

To her relief, she found a small entrance to a cave near the path. The interior was large enough for at least three deer to sleep comfortably, and it looked as if it had seen previous habitation from travelers if the long cold remains of a fire pit were any indication.

After placing her belongings down in a corner of the cave that was out of sight of the road, she gathered up as many dry sticks, leaves and branches as she could, carrying them back to her home for the night. She did this at least three times until she had a good pile of them stacked neatly near the entrance of her temporary cave. After carefully assembling her fire, she set it ablaze, and soon the cavern was alight with the warm ruddy glow of her campfire.

As she ate a bit more of her nuts and some berries she’d plucked along the road earlier, her mind began to wander. She stared into the fire, carefully chewing her pitiful dinner as she thought back to the Temple, back to her life as an Acolyte. It had been her dream to become, at the very least, one of the Priestesses in the Temple. She had worked so hard to be accepted into said Temple, and when she’d been accepted it had been the happiest day of her life.

A day which now had been for naught since she had failed and been denied her chance to move to the second stage of her training. Angry and bitter tears fell down her cheeks as she thought back to the last words she’d said to the Priestesses…

“No, I can do it! I know what went wrong! I was so close! Please! Give me another chance! High Priestess, please! I beg of you!”

“My child, Tharos is correct. You have failed this test. You must repeat your studies and aim to work on your concentration.”

“Buckshit! This is complete and utter buckshit! You’d give somedeer like Livalia a chance but not me!? FUCK YOU!”

Her heart had shattered that day. It wasn’t her fault she’d lost concentration! Nodeer believed her when she said she could see things that no other creature could reasonably see! Just a dream, they said. Just your mind playing tricks on you, they said.

She shook her head, wiping her tears away. No, she thought, I wasn’t just seeing things! I know what I saw. I know what that bipedal creature asked for: it wanted help!

She raised her hoof angrily and brought it down on the ground, causing a large explosion of dust to rise from the impact point. “Fuck them all!” she snarled, more tears pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks. She hit the ground a few more times, but each time was weaker than the last as her anger slowly ebbed away. “Fuck them all…fuck them…fuck…”

And then she sat up, looking down at the ground, which had begun to blur thanks to her tears. She openly wept. Wept for the loss of her dream. Wept for the loss of her Matron, Maerise. Wept for the loss of everything. “I hate this…I hate this so much!” She buried her head in her hooves, sniffling as she continued to weep.

“Now this is a sight I never thought I’d see,” a deep and rich female voice said from the entrance of the cave. Quickly on alert, Opheda looked up sharply at the source of the voice, only to gasp at what she saw.

To say that the creature before her was a deer was putting it mildly. Opheda had never seen such a deer in her life. Four lime green legs and flank which faded into yellow, orange and red the further up her body the fur went. Her lime green eyes looked directly at Opheda with concern and worry, much like Maerise had once looked at her whenever she had gotten into a magical mishap. Her horns were large and spoke of many years of growth and experience, but that wasn’t the most interesting part about her. There were what appeared to be leaves hanging from her horns, almost like they were tree branches. Her ears and tail also each had a leaf-like shape.

Opheda stood, glaring mistrustfully at the intruder to her cave. She lit up her horn and a nearby rock began to levitate. “Get out,” she snarled.

The strange deer stopped, raised one hoof, and gave Opheda a disarming smile. “Calm down there, young doe. I’m not here to raise any trouble. I’m just passing through and when I saw your campfire, well, I was about to ask if I could share its warmth and glow with you.”

Opheda hesitated. She’d never heard about or read anything about such a strange looking creature before, and for all she knew it could very well be a trap. She stiffened and moved the stone backwards to throw it. “And how do I know you’re not going to rob me or murder me in my sleep, huh?”

The unusual doe frowned a bit. “Are you not an Acolyte of Unitas? Have they not taught about me before?”

Opheda kept her focus on the intruder, but she thought back to the brief history lessons she’d been taught before entering into the magic classes she’d been qualified to take. Most of it had been on the Golden Age of the deer and on some of the major historical events that took place during that era. She tried to remember anything that might have indicated the existence of a strange doe that resembled a forest during autumn, but she came up empty. “Nothing that I can recall,” Opheda said with a glare.

The doe sighed and shook her head. “A shame. Back before the time you deer know as the Era of Strife, I was known by many names. The ponies knew and still know me as The Great Seedling. Dragons know me as The Giver. The deer, however, know me by my true name: Verbana.”

Opheda’s eyes widened at a sudden memory that filled her memory. She was once more back in her room, sitting at her desk and reading along with her former Matron in a deer book of myths that sprang up during the Golden Age. One was of an immortal doe who had suddenly appeared in a little hamlet on the edge of the deer’s former territory near a large cavern. She was said to have unusual abilities which granted her the power to bless the land around her to produce vast quantities of crops, which was a blessing to said hamlet since they were in dire straits.

For years, the strange doe, who called herself Verbana, blessed the land around the small farming hamlet with year round crops which would miraculously grow up in a fraction of the time it would take normally. This led to the small hamlet growing into a village as farmers from nearby communities immigrated there. Soon, it became a town, then a bustling farming city.

However, the farmers began abusing Verbana’s power and all but demanded she make the farming ground more fertile. It got so bad that one day Verbana disappeared, never to be heard from again. Despite this, the ground around the town, which had named itself Vervain, remained remarkably fertile for years, but without Verbana there to maintain it, the soil eventually returned to the state it had once been in, causing the downfall and abandonment of Vervain.

Maerise had said that this was an old fawn’s tale that was meant to teach a lesson: never take anything for granted, especially if what you take for granted is another individual who is helping you, because if you do that blessing you take for granted is likely to vanish. Opheda had read a bit more about the myth of Verbana, but didn’t find too much about her save for a few passages that described a belief that the life bringing doe was based off of some real deer.

“You can’t be Verbana,” Opheda said, coming back to reality. “She’s just an old fawn’s tale.”

The doe claiming to be Verbana simply sighed and slowly sat down in front of the fire. “I suppose after eighteen hundred years, my existence would be relegated to a fawn’s tale,” she said with a sigh. As she said that, a small green orb began forming on one of her horns. Opheda watched in awe as the orb grew larger, turning from green to red. Opheda watched in complete and utter astonishment as the apple grew. Verbana’s other free horn glowed a luck forest green, her magic surrounding the now red orb and plucking it from her horn. The apple this Verbana grew looked ten times better than any other type of apple she’d seen, and her village had a small grove of them which were tended to by their best apple farmers. Verbana took a bite of said apple and sighed. “It makes sense, I guess. Memories of those of you who are mortal are finite, after all.”

“Whu…I don’t…I just…how?!” Opheda asked, completely stunned by what she just witnessed.

Verbana continued eating the apple, but split it in half with her magic and hovered the untouched half to the younger doe. “Here you go, little doe,” she said, “you look completely famished.”

Opheda briefly hesitated. This Verbana could easily have poisoned this apple, but when she took into account the fact that she herself had taken a bite, it put the young doe at her ease. She took it in her magic and took a small bite. Maybe it was due to how bland her food had been for the past couple of days, or maybe it was something to do with just how the apple formed, but the flavor exploded in her mouth. It wasn’t sickeningly sweet, but it was definitely sweeter than every other apple she’d ever tasted. She dropped the rock and began eagerly devouring the fruit, its juices flowing down her cheeks as she scarfed every last bit of it down. Even the seeds had a sweetness to them that she hadn’t tasted in any other apple seeds she’d had before.

To her surprise, when she finished, she was completely full, her hunger satiated completely. When she looked back at Verbana, the strangely colored doe was staring back at her with a warm and tender smile. “I take it you enjoyed my apple?” she asked.

Opheda nodded. “I’ve never seen or heard of magic that could do that before! How’d you do it?”

Verbana closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She exhaled slowly, and replied, “Back where I’m from originally, this kind of magic was pretty common practice.” She opened her eyes and Opheda could see a look of sorrow passing over her face. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I can teach anydeer, or even anyone, how to perform such magic.”

“Oh…” Opheda’s ears flattened in disappointment. “I see…”

Verbana perked up a bit, smiling once more at the former Acolyte. “Don’t look so distraught, my young doe. We all have our gifts. I have mine, and I’m sure you have yours. So there’s no need to be upset.”

Opheda’s ears perked up a bit at her words of encouragement. “Thank you…and my name is Opheda, by the way.”

Verbana smiled warmly. “Well then, Miss Opheda, I hope it’s alright if I stay the night before we part ways tomorrow.”

Opheda felt a bit of suspicion rising in her, but something about this Verbana projected that she could indeed be trusted. Opheda relaxed slightly, but wasn’t foolish enough to lower her guard completely. “I…suppose that’s alright,” she said hesitantly. “Where are you going, anyway?”

“Griffonstone,” she explained. “There’s a train there that I need to take to my final destination.”

“I’m going there too, actually,” Opheda said without realizing it. Despite that, she still continued. “There’s hopefully a ship there I can take to cross the Celestial Sea.”

Verbana looked at Opheda curiously. “You’re heading to Equestria? How come?”

Not wanting to share her real intentions, Opheda shrugged. “I got some time off from school and wanted a change of pace,” she said. It wasn’t quite a total lie, but it was all she was willing to share. Curiosity, however, got the better of her and she asked, “Where are you going?”

Verbana smiled. “I’m actually heading there myself. There’s something there I’m looking for over there.”

“Do you have any particular destination in mind?” Opheda asked.

“Well…there was this one place up north that I’d visited once, long…long ago,” Verbana said. “It was one of the greatest empires of its time, but it’s since vanished off the face of Equus. If I’m lucky, I might just find something among the ruins there.”

Opheda’s eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. “Wow…that’s just…that’s impressive,” she said. “Um…best of luck to you then, Miss Verbana.”

Verbana chuckled and waved her hoof. “Drop the miss, please. Just call me Verbana.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Opheda said.

“Good. And what about you?” Verbana asked. “Any particular destination in mind?”

She’d been actually thinking long and hard about that ever since she’d run from the Temple. The maps she’d seen of Equestria were presumably completely outdated, and there was no way to tell just how much had changed since the most recent was made. She did, however, know the name of at least one famous city that was still standing and might be a good place to start her search. “Well, probably Canterlot.”

Verbana nodded, still smiling. “The royal capital city, eh? A good choice for a visit. I would be careful, however. Ponies can be a bit skittish when it comes to other species like you and me.”

“I think I’ll be alright,” Opheda said, somewhat confident in her own magical defenses, “but thanks for the advice. And to answer your earlier question, I mean, you can stay, as long as we can travel together tomorrow.”

Verbana beamed widely. “Of course! I would love to have a traveling companion, even if it is for a brief while!”

Opheda chuckled. “Then it’s settled.” With that, she yawned and stretched. “I hope you don’t mind if I turn in early tonight. I’m completely wiped out.”

Verbana shook her head. “Go ahead. I’ll keep the fire going until you’re asleep.”

Opheda nodded gratefully, grabbed her sleeping materials, set her bedding down and snuggled up close to the warmth of the fire as sleep slowly overtook her…

June 21, 1463 of the Common Age

It was just before dawn, but even so, Maerise slept poorly as she had the last couple of nights. She’d tossed and turned, the guilt of what she’d done, or failed to do for her own charge coming back over and over again to bite her in the rear. She would constantly dream about the last time she’d seen Opheda and couldn’t forget the look of pain and betrayal on the young doe’s face. And she couldn’t forget the last words she’d said.

Fuck you.

Those words had shattered Maerise’s heart. She’d been in charge of taking care of Opheda, and she’d failed even that. She hadn’t taken Opheda’s claims seriously, especially when it was something as outlandish as the claim of her being able to see faraway lands without the Third Eye. Nodeer had that pure connection to Accord, not for many many generations.

Even so, she should have at least tried to take Opheda a bit more seriously. She’d not exactly had an easy time in the Temple. Her studies were all over the place, her magic was barely enough to pass any of her classes.

Almost like…

She quickly sat up, eyes wide in alarm. “Almost like there was some other magic holding her back,” she gasped.

Immediately, a lesson she’d learned many years ago came back. The story of Arseleon the Seer.

Arseleon had been an aspiring mage during the height of the Golden Age. He’d grown up in a small town (which had since been renamed in his honor) and dreamed of becoming a mage. He went to the Royal Magic Academy, but his magical training had gone poorly since he was unable to concentrate on learning the lessons the right way, instead looking ahead and practicing magic way ahead of his levels. This caused him to get into many different magical accidents until finally, when one resulted in the permanent injury of a fellow classmate, he was drummed right out of the Academy.

He would wander the country for years afterwards, continuing his practices of magic until one day he was resting underneath a tree when he saw his very first vision of a mugging in a nearby town. Confused and concerned, he rushed to the nearby town only to discover the victim had been unconscious ever since the brutal attack. When Arseleon insisted he knew who the attacker was, the town guards grew suspicious of him, especially when his description of the attacker matched one of the wealthier nobles in said town. He was promptly arrested and tortured until they could wring a confession out of them, which they were unable to do.

However, they released him when it was discovered that the very same noble had mugged another deer, only this time the deer he mugged was a powerful mage who mangled his body up pretty severely. Not only that, but when the first victim finally woke up and described the perpetrator, it matched the description of the noble.

Arseleon was given plenty of restitution money by the noble’s own father and even given a house in the city, which was where he lived until the day of his death. Word of his newfound ability spread throughout the land and he was visited many times and paid hefty sums to locate missing fawns, property and more. His one rule, however, was that he would never use his powers for spying on other countries, and this was one rule he never broke.

Maerise stared at the moon for a bit, recollecting the story over and over in her mind. Opheda’s own troubles with magic sounded eerily similar to Arseleon’s own. To be able to control Clairvoyance took the majority of anydeer’s magic, leaving them weak in many other areas of their magical control. She slowly lay back down, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried once more to sleep.

She was so distraught she didn’t see two very distinct things happening around her.

Right around the moon, four stars moved directly towards it, and when they crashed into the orb, not only did the image of the unicorn in the moon vanish entirely, but four brand new craters formed.

That, and the piercing ice blue eyes of the spirit known as Evasia, watching over the sleeping form of the Priestess…

Deep within the Everfree Forest, on the shores of a small pond, a zebra shamaness meditated, standing on one hind hoof with the other extended at an angle parallel to the ground. Her forehooves were touching in a meditative state. Her eyes were closed as she listened to the sounds of nature around her. Pure, untamed nature, just as it was meant to be. The wind, untouched by pegasi, flew through the trees. Birds in nearby trees sang their songs to one another, calling for a mate, defending their homes or just idly chatting. The canopy above was so thick that the sunlight of the early morning still had yet to breach it.

Despite the lateness of the rising sun that first day of summer, the shamaness was a mare of habit. She would rise before the dawn for her daily run around her set path in the forest, then she would stop for an hour of deep meditation just before the sun rose. Only today, the sun was late in rising, so she meditated longer.

The eastern sky was glowing now, and the shamaness deepened her meditation, as she was wont to do near the end of her meditation sessions. It helped to clear her mind, and on occasion gave her special insights into the world around her. Thanks to years of training, the shamaness had become more attune to the ways of the forest, sometimes being able to sense what was happening on the far side.

This was how she was thrown out of her meditation. Jumping in alarm, she fell onto her back as her senses collided with a powerful magic completely unknown to her. She’d sense the different magic of many different ponies in her ten years within the forest. The disciplined multitalented power of a unicorn’s magic, the robust magic of an earth pony, the feathery wisps of pegasus magic, and the somewhat dark magic wielded by the elusive and rarer eutherians, more commonly known by the derogatory term bat pony.

In all her years, she had never come across a magic as powerful and as strange as the one she felt on the pathway. It was even more powerful than the magic of the ponies around it combined. She couldn’t even begin to describe it. It had the power to rewrite reality as the owner saw fit, but in a strange way, it felt restrained by something.

Getting to her hooves, the shamaness turned towards her house, fear growing within her. As she ran silently through the forest, she detected two unicorns, two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two of a type she’d never encountered before, but which had elements of all three main pony races blended within them. The magic of the interloper lingered behind, as if stalking the group of ponies. However, as she grew closer, she realized that the interloper was too close to not be seen, so she had to alter her hypothesis. Perhaps a prisoner of some sort? Or perhaps the interloper was just lagging behind them?

The shamaness had to know. If this interloper was a danger to the ponies, she would use all the tricks in her arsenal to stop him.

She took a right turn, heading back to her tree cottage. There were plenty of potions that could temporarily paralyze anyone with high levels of magic. The shamaness only hoped that hers would work on whatever that creature was…

There was silence around the former throne room as Celestia, her recently returned sister Luna, and the brand-new Bearers of the Elements watched the Djinn. Celestia herself had just welcomed him to the real world, but even then nopony dared to say a word. However, they did each have their own thoughts.

Celestia waited patiently for the human-turned-Djinn to make a move. She also began to wonder why she was so invested in his safety. Could it be perhaps that since he is so similar to my sister in terms of his suffering that I am so eager to help him? True, his story had tugged heavily on her heartstrings, and she had made a vow to save him, but why had she felt so strongly about it? She shook said thoughts away. No, he is a creature in desperate need of help. There must be a way to break him free permanently and not temporarily. But how? If the Elements can only do a temporary job, what kind of magic would be needed to free him?

Luna, having recently returned to the world of Equus, simply stared in confusion at the strange clothed long-haired bipedal creature in front of her. Even before she was banished, she knew next to nothing about the mystical creatures known as the Djinn. They were said to be as powerful as Discord himself and that they granted wishes, but that was all she knew. However, more importantly, she was tired. Mentally and physically. Being trapped in the moon meant that she’d been constantly asleep for those thousand years. However, if what her sister said was true, then this being had been imprisoned in whatever he had come out of for an equal number of years. She wondered why her sister was so insistent on his rescue and decided that it would be a good first subject for later conversation.

As for the Bearers, they all had their own differing thoughts on the creature before them.

Twilight, not knowing much about the Djinn, was herself excited. There was a new creature who could be studied, and somepony with new types of powers! She couldn’t help but be ecstatic. His mane was even moving like her mentor, so she immediately concluded he must be overflowing with power. And if Princess Celestia wanted to save him, then he probably meant no harm to anypony. When she looked at the Djinn more closely, however, a shudder went through her entire body. There was a look in his eyes that seemed to match that on Princess Luna’s face: a blank expression. No emotion whatsoever. She was never too good at reading ponies, but she could see he wasn’t well. She’d read a few books that described a medical condition known today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and even in the alien’s face, she could see, if briefly, a sign of it. He’s been trapped in here for as long as Princess Luna was trapped on the moon…oh Celestia… In that moment, she started to pity the poor creature.

The same couldn’t be said for one of the newly crowned Bearers, specifically a pegasus mare by the names of Rainbow Dash, the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Despite having grown up in the pegasus metropolis of Cloudsdale, she had been living in Ponyville long enough to be protective of its citizens. She’d been there when the news about Notebook became known to the entire town. Despite the apparent hush up attempt, she’d heard enough. She’d even overheard the official report on the gruesome details about the way Notebook had died. Now, seeing the creature responsible for the horrific death of the, admittedly, odd pony, she subconsciously made a promise to keep a very close eye on this creature if he managed to stay in Ponyville.

Applejack, the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, was similarly a bit suspicious of the creature in front of them. Being a Ponyville native, she’d actually met Notebook a number of times. She’d always had her muzzle in a book and was one of the previous tenants of the Golden Oak’s Library before the current librarian, or rather, the ex-librarian. Applejack had been tending to her family’s apple cart when Notebook had come running through the town, yelling giddily about having met the Djinn of the Everfree in pony. The farm mare had been told these stories by her parents before they passed away, but when she grew up, she put away foalish things. She just dismissed the story outright. However, when Notebook had died in one of the most gruesome ways possible, Applejack knew something had to be up. She still hadn’t believed that she’d met this Djinn, at least, not up until the present. She looked closely at the weird looking creature, specifically its, or his, face. She couldn’t really tell just from looking, but there was something in his features that told her this being wasn’t quite the same mean spirited and cruel Djinn as the stories made him out to be. Otherwise, why would the Princess of all ponies stick up for him? She would keep an eye on him, of course, just to be on the safe side. She had her family and friends to protect, after all.

Rarity, the Bearer of the Element of Generosity, was more interested in the clothes of the Djinn in front of her than anything else, especially at first. She’d heard the rumors about the Djinn of the Everfree since she was a filly and always dismissed them. Upon seeing that this creature was indeed a real being, all she could focus on were the unusual garments he wore. If the rumors were true and this creature had indeed been trapped wherever he’d been for almost a thousand years, then the clothes he wore were presumably the only ones he had. She began trying her best to think of what kind of suits and clothes she could design for him, but when she finally looked in the face of said Djinn, she almost recoiled. There was absolutely nothing in his expression. It was a complete and total blank. Life hasn’t been generous to you at all, has it, she thought briefly.

Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of the Element of Laughter, wasn’t laughing at all. Not because of what happened to Notebook, since she’d made her peace with the death months ago. No, she was focused solely on the brand-new potential friend in front of her. And a magical wishing Djinn, no less! She could do so much with him! They could plan the biggest bash in all of Equestria! Why, with his help, they could spread laughter all around the world! Everypony needed to laugh, after all! However, when she looked closer at him, she saw no smile on his face. Not even a frown to indicate that he was sad. There was almost nothing there. Just a deep blankness. He must not have smiled in so long, Pinkie thought, putting on a thoughtful face. Welp! New mission, Pinkie Pie! Time to make a thousand year old magical Djinn smile!

Fluttershy, the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, while normally a reticent pony, was looking into the eyes of this ancient creature. She loved all types of animals, but she also knew better than to assume that this Djinn was like her animals back at her cottage. This Djinn might have resembled the drawings of apes she had seen in one of her copies of Equus Geographic in their foreign specials, but he was clearly as intelligent as a pony. Despite her initial fear of the Djinn, something inside her screamed that he just needed somepony to talk to. If he’d been stuck in that horrible looking place for a thousand years, surely he just needed a friend, right?

To the surprise of everyone there, she took a step forward. That brief movement was enough to cause the Djinn to lock eyes with her. Fluttershy stopped, fear gripping her as she saw his blank expression slowly morph into confusion. Rainbow Dash, seeing this, tensed up, wings unfurled and ready to attack the Djinn, but when Celestia put a wing out to stop her, the prismatic pegasus pushed her wings back.

Fluttershy kept her eyes on the strange being before her. He was somewhat sitting up on his elbows now, just keeping his eyes on the yellow pegasus. Half a minute passed, with nobody moving a muscle. Finally, Fluttershy bolstered up what little courage she had and took another step forward. Then, when the Djinn made no move, another step was taken, and another, and another, until she was within a foreleg’s distance of him. She stopped and slowly sat down on her haunches.

To those ponies who knew Fluttershy well enough, seeing her this bold was a massive shock to them. They had no idea she could be this brave, especially when she was so quiet and introverted. Rainbow Dash was antsy, not trusting the strange new creature still, but she could feel Applejack’s hoof standing on her rainbow tail to keep her from doing anything stupid. Applejack felt similarly to Rainbow, but as she was the oldest of the group, she was keeping her thoughts to herself and trying her best not to jump to any quick conclusions despite her experience telling her that this Djinn was dangerous.

Rarity was a bit nervous now. Despite her own thoughts about the Djinn, seeing her spa buddy and friend approaching somecreature so apparently dangerous wasn’t something that exactly gave her the most comfort. She was extremely tense, waiting for the pin to drop. Pinkie Pie, who knew how shy Fluttershy was more than most other ponies, could only smile wider and mentally encourage the butter colored pegasus to extend the olive branch to the Djinn.

Twilight Sparkle, not knowing just how shy the new Bearer of the Element of Kindness was, just watched with more curiosity than anything else. Celestia and Luna, both having more experience in life, inwardly tensed. Even Celestia was unsure how Damian would react to the unusually emboldened reticent.

Feeling strangely emboldened, Fluttershy slowly extended her hoof towards the Djinn. She didn’t say anything, just gave him a very small and, hopefully, reassuring smile, one she used whenever dealing with a nervous or scared animal. She kept on holding it out even as the Djinn looked down at it, his confusion only growing before he slowly looked back up to her. Fluttershy let her smile get a bit wider before finally opening her mouth. “Um, hello…My name is…Fluttershy. What’s your name?”

Silence reigned for a few seconds as the Djinn’s eyes widened slightly with surprise and possibly recognition, although how he could know her, not even Celestia could say. Looking back at the extended hoof, then back at Fluttershy, the Djinn finally moved once more. Leaning on his left elbow, he slowly extended his right arm towards the hoof, extending the digits that the magazine she read had called fingers. Even now, she could see the extreme similarities between this being and an ape. However, she knew he wasn’t an ape. He was just very similar. She held her ground as he took the hoof in the palm of his hand, then closed his fingers over her hoof. His hand, as she knew it to be called, was warm to the touch, if a little bit dirty. Dirt never bothered the animal loving pegasus since she had to deal with it every day when tending to her animal friends, so this wasn’t anything unusual.

The Djinn bowed his head slowly in greeting, before opening his mouth. Time slowed down a bit as Fluttershy took a good long look at his teeth. The first thing that stuck out to her were the four sharp incisors, two on the top and two on the bottom. At first, her heart began beating heavily when she assumed he was carnivorous, but when she looked closer, she saw flatter teeth meant for chewing plants. She slightly relaxed when her brain immediately identified him as an omnivore.

Finally, the Djinn spoke. “My name is Damian Price. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fluttershy.”

Despite having heard his voice before when he was telling the Princess to leave him be, hearing it this close almost automatically put her at her ease. She was surprised just how smooth and calming his voice was. He still didn’t smile, but unless she was mistaken, he did look a little less depressed than he had before. Almost like his emotions were at least temporarily lighter. Fluttershy continued smiling at him as she replied, “It’s my pleasure too, Mr. Price. And you can call me Fluttershy. No need to use Miss.”

He slowly sat up and released her hoof. A part of her was a bit reluctant to let his hand go, but she still put her hoof down. He cleared his throat a bit, then faced Fluttershy. “You can call me Damian, then,” he said. Slowly, he turned back to the rest of the ponies in the room. “I know all of you have questions for me, and I especially know that you have more questions than can fit in an encyclopedia, Twilight Sparkle,” he said while giving said purple unicorn a brief glance, “but before I answer any questions, there’s one thing I would very much like to do.”

Celestia stepped forward, looking down at Damian. “And what would that be, Damian?” she asked warmly, giving him her normal, radiant and caring smile.

Damian slowly stood, then stretched his arms high to the sky, then he bent down and touched the tips of his shoes. The ponies watched these series of motions with confusion, but made no moves against him. When he finally stood back up, he looked at Celestia. “Just this.” And with that, he was surrounded by the unusual green mist that was apparently the source of his magic. He began slowly rising off of the ground, a slight look of surprise appearing on his face. “Hmm…”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t able to take it anymore. She shot forward and grabbed the Djinn by his collar. “What are you planning on doing,” she snarled.

However, to her surprise, he just gave her a bemused expression and tilted his head. “Just like in the fanfictions,” he muttered, throwing the pegasus off guard. However, before she could say anything, he continued, looking at a wisp of magic surrounding his hand. “I can use my powers for personal use still, but is it only within the confines of the old castle?” He had a somewhat inquisitive tone in his voice now, one that Celestia recognized as being similar to the type Twilight would have whenever she was thinking to herself.

A golden glow surrounded Rainbow Dash, pulling her away from Damian. Celestia’s horn was glowing, and she did not look too happy with the pegasus. However, Damian’s mind was elsewhere at the moment as he began hovering towards the open door. He held up his hand once more, and a burst of magical mist flowed from it up into the sky.

And music began to play all around them.

The ponies tilted their heads, all of them surprised by the sound that echoed through the air. A piano began to play, echoing through not only the entire room, but the forest as well. The strange melody sounded like it came from every direction. However, when they saw the Djinn landing in front of the open door and look out at the ruins, they all followed him. Celestia was the first to come up next to him, looking down at him. She saw his eyes were wide as he took in the early morning sunlight which poured over the forest and ruins before them. As the piano continued to play, he walked around the ruin, looking not only at the fallen pieces of stone, but at the forest itself.

Celestia remembered just how dark it had truly been for him in his prison, so she wasn’t surprised that he was drinking in the sight around him. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and regular, and his magic surrounded him constantly as the piano stopped.

He then started to sing, and his voice echoed throughout the ruins.

“We will sing together,
"and the mountains will hear our call…
"And we will raise our voices!
"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria…”

The music crescendoed, and Damian quickly flew up into the sky, a dark green mist forming around his neck and moving down, solidifying into a thin black cloak which blew in the wind. Curious as to what he was doing, Celestia flew up after him, keeping up with him as an entire orchestra began to play from every which way. She could hear deep drums, string instruments and horns playing. She couldn’t find the source, however, but when Damian began singing, her focus was back on him.

“We will dance through the country,
“and the night and the day will be one.
“Side by side, we will unite
“as one mind, as one soul, the name of Equestria.”

He looked down at Luna, who was staring up with the rest of the Element Bearers. He pointed towards her, then at Celestia when he sang the next verse and referenced them.

“Oh, Luna's night full of bright stars
“with the moon shining down on the land.
“Celestia's summer skies,
“to guide us, to lead us, in ruling Equestria.”

As the music swelled, he looked up to the sky, then shot off with an incredible burst of speed. Celestia chased after him, worried that he might try something foolish. He stopped as he reached cloud level, hovering there briefly. Just as Celestia reached him, however, he shot downwards, heading directly towards the ground in front of the castle. As he dove and Celestia quickly followed, he began to sing the final verse.

“We will live in joyous laughter
“with the love and the trust that we share.
“And the world will know the good times.
“Glory and honor, the Land of Equestria!”

The orchestra vanished, only to be replaced with a piano solo. At the very same moment, a massive explosion of rainbow color shot out from where he was in what Celestia could only describe as the mythical sonic rainboom. A bright rainbow streak engulfed his hair and left a large streak in the sky as he began slowing his descent towards the others. The piano solo began to fade away as the melody quickly became only an echo in the ruins around them. As the sonic rainboom swept across the sky, the entire group stared at the Djinn who landed softly in front of them, his temporary cloak vanishing into a dark green mist. The rainbow color that surrounded his hair slowly faded to its normal light brown color, and as that happened, the long streak of rainbow vanished, dissolving into the wind. He looked at each mare in turn, finally finishing with a glance at Rainbow Dash, who was now staring at him in complete and utter shock. His gaze, however, did not linger as he stepped aside. “I believe we have a place to go. Lead on.”

Celestia, somewhat exhausted from chasing Damian up and down, walked beside her sister as the two walked behind the Bearers of the Elements who were talking quietly among themselves, sometimes occasionally looking back at either the Princesses or Damian, the latter of whom was walking a few hoofsteps behind the Princesses. For the most part, Celestia noticed that it was Fluttershy who was watching the human, a look of concern on her face. She smiled proudly at them all, not only for saving her sister, but for being able to break Damian out of his horrid prison. She put one wing around her weakened sister, who had been reduced to the size of a normal pony thanks to being separated from her curse. It would take months, but her magic would return her to her former size and strength. For the time being, however, she needed rest and recuperation in Canterlot.

As did the Djinn lingering behind them. She looked back and saw that he was hovering off the ground once again, looking at the trees around with some slight curiosity in the perpetually blank face he had. Damian reached out and took a large branch in his strange magic. He tore it off and stared at it curiously, looking at the moss on one end and plucking a few leaves off of it, looking at them as though examining something he’d never seen before. He even took a small bite out of the moss then a few of the leaves before dropping it to the ground and making his way to another tree to repeat the process.

And Celestia realized he probably hadn’t seen anything like this before. His first impression of her world had been absolutely horrible, the stuff of nightmares, and she would devote herself to not only reacclimating Luna to the world, but helping Damian in adjusting to his new home in Canterlot.

And yet, he had sung in such a peaceful and serene voice. And his magic could create music from thin air and amplify his voice to be heard everywhere. And he had the ability to create a sonic rainboom. There was clearly a lot to this creature. More than met the eye, even when the eye showed clearly so much power in such a divided and broken creature as this human turned Djinn.

Clearing her throat, she called out, “Damian, would you like to join me and my sister?”

Damian looked over slowly, then dropped another branch on the ground, swallowed what was in his mouth and flew towards the two. He landed on Celestia’s left, looking ahead at the scenery. She could tell he was drinking in every detail. Holding up his hand, she saw him summoning a glass of brown liquid, which looked suspiciously like chocolate milk. He drank it slowly, then tossed the glass aside when it was empty. The glass shattered then dissolved into his signature magic.

Luna, on the other hoof, looked over at Damian with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. “Pray tell, sister, what manner of creature be this? We cannot believe it is a Djinn, not if the old portraits are to be believed.”

“Oh, I forgot you started out talking fancy,” Damian said, turning to observe Luna carefully. “Huh…without the Helm of Shadows, you actually look quite lovely,” he added. “I wonder how you’ll look after you regain your powers and your mane and tail does what my hair and your sister’s mane and tail does?”

Luna frowned at Damian’s behavior, turning back to Celestia. “Doth this creature have no manners?”

“He’s been locked away for as long as you were, my sister,” Celestia tried to explain.

That caught Luna’s attention, and she looked back at Damian with renewed interest. “Truly? Our sister doth not jest?”

“About a month after you were banished, I was summoned and imprisoned in the Djinn’s Prison,” he said nonchalantly, “So yeah. Not quite a thousand years.”

Luna studied Damian closely, despite being still smaller than the biped. “We had not thought to meet such a creature, but we did expect thy kind to be more…monstrous in appearance.”

“Lulu!” Celestia said harshly, “that was rude!”

“Nah, from what I know about Djinn from your old library, she’s right,” Damian said dismissively. “They’ve got some pretty frightening depictions. Look.” He held up his hand and suddenly a book flew into his hand. He opened it up and displayed a black and white ink drawn image of a monstrous looking bipedal creature with claws for feet, a face blank of any features, a dark hood and cloak over said face, and impossibly long claws and bat wings behind its back. “Pretty terrifying, isn’t it?” And with that, he tossed the book aside, causing it to fall onto the dusty road with a loud crash.

Immediately, Celestia heard Twilight freeze ahead of them, then she turned back and galloped over to the discarded book. She picked it up reverently, brushing it off before she whirled on Damian. “What was that for?!” she shouted at the Djinn.

Damian’s eyebrow was raised briefly, before he had a look of slight realization. “Right…I’m out of prison now. It won’t go back like it did before. Duh. You’d think I’d remember that, but I guess old habits are gonna die hard. For the brief time I’m free, that is.”

Silence filled the forest as the mares around him took the time to think about that brief caveat of his freedom. When using the Elements of Harmony to free a Djinn, it was only temporary, after all. Finally, Celestia broke the silence and asked, “How long do you have?”

Damian pulled out a gold coated pocket watch and looked at it. “Huh…it’s working finally.” He pulled up his sleeve and looked down at it. Celestia saw black writing on his right wrist, some of which seemed to be changing with each second. “I’ve only got about four years of freedom, it seems,” he said as he rolled his sleeves back down.

Celestia’s heart fell at that. She’d heard the maximum had been five years, but apparently this Djinn wasn’t that lucky. “Four years…I see,” she said somberly.

Damian shrugged. “I wasn’t even expecting that much, but come on. Those girls just got the Elements. You think I knew how to summon stuff at the snap of my fingers when I came here?” He snapped and a strange box appeared in his hand. It was white with green dots on it, and a stylized logo which read Krispy Kreme Doughnuts on it.

Immediately, the pink mare, ironically named Pinkie Pie, was right in front of Damian, looking at the box and drooling. “Oooh! What’s that?!” she asked eagerly, sniffing at the box, “Smells deeeelish!” Damian shrugged and opened the box, revealing a dozen simple glazed donuts. He took one and bit into it, then lowered the box down to Pinkie’s level. The pink pony took one immediately, shoving it in her mouth. Her eyes widened and she shuddered. “Mmmm…”

Damian held out the box, letting it float in the middle of the crowd. “Have some,” he said, flying back up to the trees, leaving the box of donuts hovering on a cloud of his dark green magic.

Celestia, curious, took one of the donuts with her magic and brought it towards her, but Twilight jumped up. “Princess, no! What if it’s poisoned?”

“Ah have ta agree with Twilight on this one,” the farmer mare, Applejack, said, looking at the box suspiciously, then back up at the now distant Damian.

“Nah, they’re not poisoned,” Pinkie said. “I’d know. Truuust me.” Celestia saw her shudder, as if she was remembering something. She jumped up and grabbed another donut, stuffing it in her mouth. “So tasty and fresh…”

Celestia simply chuckled before she took a small bite. She was surprised at how evenly the glaze was spread across the pastry and how fluffy the donut itself was. She resisted the urge to follow Pinkie’s example and stuff her face, but she did eat it a bit faster than she normally would. She dabbed at her face with a hoofkerchief and smiled. “They’re quite delectable,” she said. “Freshly made, too.”

The cyan pegasus, one Rainbow Dash, slowly approached the floating box. “Well…if you say so, Princess…I’ll trust you.” She took one of the donuts, looking suspiciously at it before taking a bite. Her eyes widened and she smiled before devouring it in three massive bites. “These…are…awesome!” she exclaimed.

Eventually the others, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and her faithful student Twilight Sparkle took one. Even Luna, with some prodding from her sister, took one as well. Soon, they were talking about the taste in their own various ways. Twilight was wondering what this Krispy Kreme place was, theorizing that it was some place in a bigger city like Manehatten or Vanhoover. Pinkie was talking to herself, wondering how she could replicate them. Rarity, who enjoyed the taste, wondered just how many calories the donut was and worried about working it off. Rainbow Dash had taken as many as she could, stuffing her face before Applejack said something about her developing a new addiction to these donuts just like her addiction to apple cider. Applejack said they were pretty tasty, but she still preferred the donuts from Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy just had a happy smile on her face as she daintily ate, and Luna praised the craftsstallionship of the donuts themselves.

Once the donuts were completely gone, the box vanished in a small puff of Damian’s magic, dissipating quickly like smoke, which floated back up towards Damian and slipped carefully back into his body. Celestia watched this carefully, wondering just what the magical significance of this was.

Damian looked down at just the same moment and locked eyes with the ruler of Equestria. He gave her a polite enough nod before slowly moving downwards towards the ground, landing a few trots away from everypony else. He shoved his hands into the pockets of the hoodie he wore and continued looking around the forest.

Celestia slowed her pace and let Damian catch up to her. He seemed so entranced by the world around him despite not quite showing it with a smile that he hardly noticed when the alabaster alicorn put one wing around him comfortingly. Once he seemed to catch on to what had just happened, he slowly looked up at the princess, an eyebrow raised curiously. “Your Highness? Is something wrong?” he asked inquisitively.

She shook her head, radiating warmth directly towards him through her wing. Warmth that he, presumably, had not felt in a thousand years from anypony. “Nothing is wrong, my young Djinn.”

To her surprise and relief, he snorted. “I guess when compared to you, even I would be young,” he said, but he didn’t seem to retreat from her. Instead, he moved slightly closer to her, taking a deep breath and exhaling. He held up his hand, and that same type of bottle from before appeared in the dark green mist. He popped the bottle open and took a drink, then, to her further surprise, offered it to Celestia. “Want a sip?”

When she caught the bottle in her magic, she half expected it to be full of an incredible amount of magic. However, all she felt in her telekinetic grip was a bottle. A simple glass bottle with a strange red and white logo that read COCA-COLA MEXICO. She lifted it to her lips and took a small sip. Flavor unlike anything she’d ever tasted exploded in her mouth. She quickly downed the rest of it without a second thought before remembering just what Damian had said. Just a sip. Extremely embarrassed at her lapse, she slowly lowered the now empty bottle. “Damian, forgive me, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s alright, your Highness,” he said calmly as he held up his hand and took the glass. The interior was suddenly filled with the fizzy beverage once more, and he took a large swig. “I got this.”

She smiled a bit despite herself, pulling the human (she wanted to think of him as that instead of a Djinn) closer to her. “Damian, I will do everything in my power to help you. I promised myself that a year ago, and I won’t give up.”

Damian nodded, and leaned against Celestia, suddenly looking very tired. “It’s a lost cause,” he said with a small shrug, “but I won’t stop you.”

The two continued walking onward…towards Ponyville, and towards their own destinies…

June 22, 1463 of the Common Age

Cerberus’ Claw was a rare sight in the desert regions of Saddle Arabia. The myths about its formation dated back to even before the widely accepted Common Age calendar. It was said that before the desert overcame the land which would eventually become known as Saddle Arabia, an earth pony farmer had been tending to his crops in his fields one late summer afternoon when he found a large crack in a hill on his property. Mere minutes later, the earth below had opened up and massive streams of lava began shooting up into the sky, causing the farmer and his family to flee as his home and crops were completely destroyed.

The ashcloud from this eruption was so thick it blanketed the skies of a few nearby cities for weeks. It was believed that this volcano was part of the reason why the desert which now encompassed the country was formed, since plants died due to the massive clouds of ash which kept spewing from the increasingly growing volcano.

The eruption lasted for twenty years until finally ending, leaving a massive towering mountain in its wake. It would take at least a hundred years before anypony would dare set foot on the Saddle Arabian landscape, establishing trading companies such as Marecca, which were founded near one of the larger lava flows where precious gems and minerals were mined from the rare volcanic activity.

Cerberus’ Claw was also chosen as the site for a prison for the most dangerous of Saddle Arabian criminals due to the existence of what was known colloquialy as The Pit, a massive vertical shaft which moved downwards from the large volcanic crater at the summit. According to the first ponies to explore it, it led down to a vast labyrinth of empty lava tubes which dug so deep into the bowels of the volcano and even further that it was next to impossible for anypony to escape from, especially since any form of magic somehow was nullified within The Pit and its tunnels. Criminals of the highest order were forcibly lowered in and the entrance sealed with layer after layer of spells to keep the prisoners from making their way out into the world.

The use of The Pit as a prison for dangerous criminals had, however, since been phased out of use with the advent of more sensible and ponane means of criminal punishment. The sealed entrance to The Pit had remained sealed, but the magical barriers placed on the entrance slowly faded over time. The last seal had broken over fifty years prior, but even so it would take a great effort for anypony who might have still lived in The Pit to lift the physical seal since it had been buried by decades of rock slides from the sides of the volcanic crater.

Had anypony tried to visit The Pit, they would have found the interior a much livelier place than even they would have imagined.

Deep beneath the surface of Equus, right where the magma chamber had once been, lay the underground city of Thanatos. Unlike most cities, the houses and many other buildings had been carved deep into the sides of the former magma chamber, each connected by bridges made of magically enhanced sinews and bones of the deceased, a custom that had gone back centuries. Almost every building in the city had been carved out of the chamber walls.

Having been built mostly by hoof within a former volcano, the buildings had been carefully constructed so that they would be able to withstand even the most destructive of any earthquake that struck. As the chamber was too far away from the magical drainage of the volcano itself, the few unicorns who lived there were able to provide them with artificial light by pouring their magic into the ceiling, which glistened with all kinds of gemstones. Earth ponies tilled the volcanic ground and managed, with the help of unicorns, to grow some semblance of crops while the pegasi utilized the small amount of water vapor in the air to create rainfall. Air from the outside came in through small fissures which led to the surface, but despite that, the air in Thanatos was perpetually somewhat stuffy.

There was, however, one building standing tall above the ground. The crops that the denizens of Thanatos had planted surrounded this tall crystalline spire. Near the top, a massive spherical stone lay, but what nopony knew was that this stone was hollow.

And it was where a specific unicorn mare stood in front of what could only be described as an altar. There were twelve stands facing the large carving of an ancient magic circle on her stone wall. Three of the stands were filled with the gemstones from the Alicorn Amulet, the long and slender crystal taken from the Staff of Sacanas after the beige mare brutally ended the pathetic Storm King’s life, and the multicolored sphere from the Griffon’s Idol of Boreas. Each was glowing very dimly with their own inner light. Nine stands remained empty, each with their own unique shape which would perfectly fit the gems to which they belonged.

The mare looked up at the magic circle and grinned when the first three inner circles began to fill with a bright green liquid aether, illuminating her own green eyes and filling the empty room with its glow.

“Three down, nine to go,” was all she said as her horn lit up with its magic. A brief flash later, all that remained of her presence was the hoofprints she had left in the dust.

Author's Note

There we go! Sorry for the long wait! Enjoy!

3: Progress Made

Author's Note

It's back! I suddenly had an urge of inspiration for this story so I decided to capitalize on it before I lost it again. Enjoy!

3: Progress Made

June 21, 1463 of the Common Age

Griffonstone was unlike how Opheda had heard it was like in her studies. During her study of history beyond the borders of the deer’s old kingdom, she had read stories about the rich land that belonged to the griffons across the mountains.

She’d read the brief history that had been in her book. In it, the griffons were described as having been a race full of pride, united under the crown thanks to some idol created by melting golden dust blown over the mountains by the northern winds into the shape of a goblet with a wing curled around the center, where a spherical gem that long predated the era of even the deer had been placed. They united under the banner and had spread their influence over the land of their continent that existed on the western side of the mountains known to the griffons as the Hyperborean Range.

Despite being a young doe and strange multicolored doe pair, nogriffon seemed to give them a second thought. Opheda wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or insulted by this observation, but she kept her mouth shut. Her words had gotten her into enough trouble as it was, anyway. All she was hoping for was to find a ship on its way to Equestria, but when they’d reached the docks at the bottom of the mountain several hours before, they’d found them all rotted away. They both had no idea how to get into Equestria, so they decided to go to the city and try and find a way to get there.

However, what she saw here was nothing like the drawings she’d seen in the books. Griffonstone was anything but glorious. In fact, it looked like a ruin, and smelled even worse. Opheda pulled out a hoofkerchief and tied it around her muzzle, trying to block out the stench. Beside her, Verbana just looked out at the ancient city with a look of great sadness. “The last time I was here, this city was a thriving metropolis. Now…it’s fallen so far.”

“When were you here last?” Opheda asked as they approached the gates, a golden arch with a mini arch near the top and red wings spread out from the gates themselves.

“Long ago, very long ago,” Verbana said.

“Was it anything like the stories?” Opheda asked.

“No,” Verbana replied, much to Opheda’s disappointment. Disappointment which vanished when Verbana continued, “it was much better.”

Opheda listened in rapture as Verbana described, in great detail, the once proud nation of Griffonstone and the empire which it controlled. Griffons lived quite well during those days. Everygriffon had a comfortable life and earned more than a living wage for the time. The various cities around the empire were more like pieces of art than construction. The power of the Idol of Boreas seemed to permeate the entire empire during the height of its power. Griffons were known as fearsome warriors and clever businesscreatures. Their emperors were strong and powerful and their economy was unparalleled at the time. To Opheda, it sounded like it rivaled or perhaps even surpassed what she had heard about Equestria.

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Verbana said, “because I’ve not been to Equestria since before its founding. Still, it’s possible.”

Opheda nodded, then continued looking around at the crowds of griffons wandering around, almost aimlessly. “So…what do we do? I can’t cross the ocean now, and the only other way I know of would be to cross a small bridge north of here.”

“That may be where we need to go,” Verbana said, “but first I need to find out something.”

“Like what?”

Verbana sighed. “There was once a powerful artifact here, an Idol that the griffons once held in high regard. I had heard it was lost over the Abyssmal Abyss, but when we passed it earlier, I couldn’t sense it at all. I also saw signs of recent activity on one side of the cliff. Someone either found it or tried to.”

The two deer walked around, their slender frames taller than the burlier griffons around them. They looked for anygriffon who might be willing to help them with some information, but anygriffon who they asked always asked for money in return. Opheda found this repulsive, but Verbana could only sigh and nod in understanding. She explained that griffons had a natural affinity for greed, but had suppressed that need during their height. Now, it seemed as if their fall had allowed that greed to resurface.

Finally, they found a griffon who might be more willing to help them. A dark gray-cobalt blue griffon hen who was busily delivering letters all around spotted them, landed, and greeted them warmly, introducing herself as Gabriella, but then immediately asked to be called Gabby. Opheda was taken aback by how friendly this griffon was, but Verbana seemed to welcome this change. “Miss Gabby, thank you for your warm greeting,” she said kindly.

“No problem,” Gabby said with a smile of her own, “but what brings two deer here? Last I heard, the deer were all the way east of us over the Hyperborean Range.”

“We’ve come to try and find a way into Equestria,” Verbana said, “do you know of a way there from here?”

“Oh sure,” Gabby said immediately. She turned and pointed to the northewest. “It’s down near the base of the mountain, but there’s a train station there that’ll take you across to Equestria. The first town you’ll come to is Rainbow Falls south of the Yaket Range.”

“Is that near Mt. Everhoof?” Verbana asked.

“I think so?” Gabby looked a bit unsure before a look of certainty appeared on her face. “No, it is. Whenever I’ve delivered mail there, I’ve seen it in the distance. It’s pretty far away, though.”

“Understood,” Verbana said.

“Anything else I can do for you?” she asked.

Verbana nodded. “Could you show me where your farmlands are?”

As Gabby led the two down to some of the lower levels of Griffonstone, Opheda looked up at the older, taller deer. “What are you thinking?” she asked. There wasn’t any accusation in her tone, merely curiosity.

“Look around, young doe,” Verbana said. “Tell me what you see.”

Opheda did so, taking in everything around her before turning back to her traveling companion. “Lots of dirty griffons, a bunch of hay, ruined houses, a town in ruin.”

“Look harder,” Verbana instructed her.

Opheda frowned. She felt like she was back at the Temple of True Accord now, but something in Verbana’s voice gave her pause. Verbana’s tone seemed more interested in Opheda learning than just shoving lessons down her throat. So, she did so, trying to find what Verbana was seeing that she couldn’t. She tried her best to see something she’d missed, but she turned back after a few minutes, shaking her head. “I don’t see it.”

“Then let me tell you what I see,” Verbana said. “This is a starving nation. The griffons here are constantly going hungry, unable to fully fill their stomachs with even the most necessary of food.” She turned to Gabby. “Isn’t that right, Miss Gabby?”

Gabby sighed and nodded sadly. “Yeah…we can barely feed ourselves. Especially now that the crop fields are starting to die.”

“When did that start?” Opheda asked in alarm.

“About a year ago,” Gabby said.

“Did anything unusual happen a year ago?” Verbana asked.

“Nothing that I can think of,” Gabby admitted, “but the years here blend together a lot, so I may have missed something.”

Opheda looked up at Verbana. “You think something happened last year that caused their fields to die?”

“I won’t know until I get there,” Verbana said.

With that, the three continued going on in silence. Opheda took another look around, and finally saw what Verbana must have seen. She saw how gaunt a few of the griffons were, even seeing a griffon mother feeding her kittens some meat but barely taking any for herself. It was the first sign of selflessness she’d seen in this city. She continued observing everything, trying to see things that she’d either ignored or hadn’t seen. She wished she could do something for them, but there was nothing she was able to do at the moment.

They left the city and made their way to a vast swath of land near the Abyss. Opheda was horrified by what she was seeing. Crops were nothing more than black husks that blew away in the wind. The ground was a dark gray instead of a healthy dark brown. Rocks were strewn everywhere and the few griffons in the fields had a hopeless look in each of their eyes. Opheda looked up to Verbana, and saw that the unusual deer had a tear falling down her cheek. “It’s worse than I thought…” she said. She turned to Opheda. “Stay here, young one.”

Before Opheda could object, Verbana turned and began galloping away, but not in a way normal for any deer. It was like with one bound, she sailed through the air, bounding like a jackalope, but with grace and dexterity that she’d only read about. She and Gabby watched in awe as the ancient deer made her way to the edge of the farmland, then crossed over the old rotten fence towards the edge of the Abysmal Abyss. She looked down at it and Opheda could see that the winds were blowing the leaves off of Verbana’s horns, but said leaves were simply growing back.

“Is she magical?” Gabby asked, startling Opheda.

“Huh?” Opheda looked back at Gabby, then quickly nodded. “She’s a special deer, and very powerful too.”

After a while, Verbana came back, her leaves having been blown off and regrown several times. She had a frown on her face as she said, “It’s just as I feared. The Idol is no longer in its former resting place.”

“Idol? You meant the Idol of Boreas??” Gabby’s eyes were wide at this news.

“It would seem so,” Verbana said. “If it fell down into that ravine, its power would have been enough to keep this farmland fertile, but if it was taken or destroyed, then its power and influence over these fields would be diminished.” She raised her head and her horns glowed their signature green magic. A small empty portion of the field began to glow a dim green before she lowered her head, the magic disappearing. “There is no magic flowing here, but there are traces of magic that used to exist here.”

“Can you do something?” Opheda asked, looking up at Verbana.

The deer looked down at Opheda with a sad smile. “I can,” she said, “but the magic I can give them will only last for a hooffull of years before it wears off.” She turned back to the fields. “Still, I can’t just ignore a civilization on the verge of collapse. I only hope that a more permanent solution can be found before it’s too late.” Once more, she raised her horns and they began to glow.

Opheda could feel the immense amount of magic radiating off of the multicolored doe as she and Gabby stepped back. The entire field of dying crops began glowing, alarming the griffons there who launched themselves into the air, staring at the ground with fear and confusion. As they watched, they saw the stones and rocks in the fields begin lifting off of the ground before being flung into the abyss. The gray soil began to transform into perfectly healthy brown. The dead plants receded into the soil only to be replaced with the quickly growing and healthy looking crops. Many different crops began to grow, not just what had been growing there before. A large grove of different types of trees grew, such as apples, oranges, even coconut trees grew. Corn stalks, wheat fields, strawberry patches and many other staples also grew in the vast fields surrounding Griffonstone. The rows of crops also increased to accommodate for more food than had been grown before.

By the time Verbana was complete, the fields were all ready for harvest, the fruits all ready to be picked and the grains ready to be harvested. There was silence in the air before the griffons who were hovering over the once barren fields emitted screeches of joy before descending towards the fields, both eating and harvesting the fields as fast as they could. Opheda could see the joy in their eyes as a couple of these griffons flew back to the town, only to return with more willing fieldhands who began to harvest.

However, it appeared as if Verbana wasn’t done. She walked over to the Abysmal Abyss and looked down it again. As Opheda watched, she saw that the edges of the abyss which faced the sea were beginning to move. The ground began to close up with large rocks and boulders from below appearing and blocking the exit where the river below that had carved the Abyss ran through. The impromptu dam took time to complete, but when it was done, the winds from the Abyss now blew up out of the massive canyon instead of through it. From below came the sound of rushing water. Opheda and Gabby, both unable to wait to see what was happening, ran up and looked down, only to see that the now dammed Abyss was filling with water more quickly than Opheda had anticipated.

Clean water was rising up from the canyon below, swallowing up the dangerous crevice in the earth until in about ten minutes the water level reached the new shores of a large lake. The excess water began to pour over the side where the dam had formed, creating a brand new waterfall which restarted the river below. The massive torrents of water fell down, the roaring audible everywhere. The griffons who saw this came running over, dipping their heads into the new crystal clear lake and drinking large gulps of water.

Opheda looked at the brand new waterfall, and in the sunlight saw a rainbow being formed by the mists. It was truly a remarkable sight. Gabby, eyes as wide as saucers, turned to Verbana. “You’re really her…” she said, “the Harvest Bringer…”

Verbana put her hoof to her lips, making a shushing sound before lowering it. “All of your fields should be able to give you one harvest a month for the next five years, maybe six. The new lake will hold for a very long time. You can use it to water your fields. If things don’t change in five years, I will try and come back and replenish the magic. I wish I could do more.”

Gabby spread her wings, launching herself at the old doe and hugging her tightly, tears falling down her cheeks. “You don’t know just how much this means to us!” Gabby exclaimed happily. She broke the hug. “Twenty four harvests of this size will keep us all well fed, and maybe I can convince Grandpa Gruff to store some for the future.”

“A wise precaution,” Verbana said. “Hopefully this will be enough to tide you over before a permanent solution is found.”

Gabby thanked her again, then turned and flew down to help in the harvest. Opheda saw the young griffon sneaking some fruits to eat while helping. Opheda then turned to Verbana, a newfound respect for this once mythical doe being formed within her. She realized she had more respect for this doe than she ever had for anydeer else back at the Temple. Even her former Matron. Verbana didn’t look back, instead looked over at the newly regrown fields with a look of serenity in her dark green eyes.

After a while, Verbana turned and looked back at Opheda. “Come along,” she said, “it’s time for us to depart. We have what we came here for.”

Opheda nodded, but as they turned, they heard flapping from behind them. “Hold on!” Gabby called out as she landed in front of them, panting a bit. Her beak was stained with some juice from the orange she held in her claw. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a brown bag tied by an old rope. She passed it over to the two. “You’ll both need this if you’re gonna be in Equestria. Train tickets cost money, after all.”

Verbana gently took the bag and both deer could hear the jingling of coins from inside. The older doe looked at Gabby. “You’re too kind, but we can’t accept-”

“Please, I insist,” Gabby interrupted her, a pleading look in her eyes. “It’s the least anygriffon here can do for you after what you’ve done.”

Verbana looked at the sack, then back up at Gabby. She slowly nodded, then looked at Opheda. “Place this in your saddlebag,” she instructed.

Opheda took the bag with her magic and placed it inside said saddlebag before she too turned to Gabby. “Thank you very much,” she said.

Gabby smiled, then nodded before taking a bite out of her peeled orange before jumping back into the air, heading back to the new fields. Verbana smiled at this as she said, “That Gabby is a griffon among griffons. I wouldn’t be surprised if she rises to greatness among her kind.” She looked back to Opheda. “Come, Opheda. We should go.”

As the two made their way back down the mountain to the train station, Opheda took one last look at the city. In an instant, she saw not what it looked like in the present, but what it had been. The city was gleaming with life. There was no sign of decay, no rot of any kind. The griffons she saw were well fed and had a look of pride on each of their faces. There were smiles everywhere. Griffon kittens were playing around the clean stone street, food was being sold in markets, and the entire city seemed more alive than what it was now.

She was brought out of her reverie by a hoof on her back. Opheda turned to see Verbana looking at her with a concerned look. “Young one? Are you okay?”

Opheda looked back at Griffonstone, only to see its current decaying state. She blinked a couple times, then turned back to Verbana. “Yeah,” she said with a nod. “I was just taking one last look at the city, imagining what it must have been like in its prime.”

Verbana smiled a bit, then gently led Opheda away. “Maybe someday, they can rebuild what they’ve made here.”

“I hope so…” Opheda said as they continued their journey.

Ponyville was in the midst of a massive celebration. Princess Celestia had not only returned to raise the sun once more, but the legendary Nightmare Moon had been vanquished and Princess Luna, the long lost little sister of the solar monarch, had been saved from corruption by the new Elements of Harmony. The mood around the entire town was one of joy and merriment. Everyone was enjoying themselves and having a magnificent time.

Everyone except for a certain Djinn. He stood far to the side of the party, watching it with his normal expressionless face through a pair of sunglasses he’d created for himself. After being in the dark for so long, being out in the day was hard. As he watched, he reflected on the last part of the first episode of the show. It had only shown a little bit, but the truth of the matter was that this party had been going on for hours. He was sitting on a bench he’d created with his Djinn abilities, watching as the ponies of Ponyville ate, drank, danced, and generally had a merry time. Nobody seemed to pay him any mind, and that was by his choice. He’d made himself something that could be easily overlooked by the average magical creature.

All, that is, except for two alicorn princesses. One of which was walking over towards him. Celestia took a seat on the bench next to him, holding two mugs of cider in her magic as she observed a few ponies gathering around her temporarily diminished little sister. He didn’t say anything, only keeping his thoughts to himself as he continued observing the party in the main town square. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something being pressed into his hand. Looking down, he saw that the princess had slipped one of the mugs into his hand. He wrapped his fingers through the handle, looking at the frothy and opaque liquid before looking up at Celestia with a raised eyebrow. She looked at him, her purple eyes full of warmth and mirth. “The Apple family makes the best cider this side of the Maressissippi,” she said in an odd southern accent before slipping back to her normal cadence. “I imagine you would want something new to enjoy other than whatever you could create only from memory.”’

Damian looked down at the contents of the mug once more. A part of him had always wondered just why the ponies of this town went crazy for this stuff in the show, and he never imagined he’d have the opportunity to find out. So, he slowly brought it to his lips and drank.

Immediately he understood the hype. The sweetness of the drink mixed with the slight froth made the drink go down incredibly smoothly. He sampled the second swig, swishing it around in his mouth as he got a feel for the taste before letting it go down. There were no bits of apple in there like he’d expected for some reason. It wasn’t overbearingly sweet, either, and he thought he detected a hint of cinnamon, but that may have been his imagination.

He held out his hand, and a small ball of the liquid moved out of the mug, surrounded by his dark green misty aura. He examined it with curiosity, reaching out with a finger and running said finger through the floating orb of cider before he placed it back in the mug. As he drank, Celestia spoke. “From what I hear, ponies of this town have to line up for miles just to get a mug of this cider. I always order a couple of barrels myself. I save one and drink the other. I have barrels from over a hundred and fifty years ago, when the Apple family came and settled here. I have over one hundred and fifty barrels there, all aged and all quite delicious even now.”

Damian was intrigued by the number she gave, but he nodded and continued drinking the cider until it was gone. He placed the mug on the bench in between the two before leaning back. “How was it?” Celestia asked as she took another sip of her cider.

“I can see why the hype exists,” Damian replied, still just observing the town celebration. “I’ve had apple juice and apple cider on my old world, and they’re good, but those drinks pale in comparison to that cider.” He grabbed the mug and the interior was full once more with cider. He drank it, then nodded. “Yes, it’s very delectable.”

“My sister seems to be enjoying it,” Celestia said, gesturing over to where Luna was busily gulping down a mug while a few ponies were chanting at her to chug. “The Apple’s do make an alcoholic version, but that’s more for the taverns.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Damian said. “I tend not to drink alcohol, but I might make an exception to try it.”

“I normally abstain from alcohol myself,” Celestia said with a slight giggle. “If I become too intoxicated it can affect my ability to raise the sun and moon.”

“You mean your ability to rotate the planet,” Damian said.

Celestia shot Damian a surprised look. “How did you guess that?” she asked.

“Someone once visited me in my prison during a partial lunar eclipse,” Damian said. “The shadow on the moon was circular. On my old world, we’ve advanced in our understanding of how the universe works. Our planet revolves around its sun, while the moon revolves around our planet. I just took a shot in the dark.”

Celestia slowly nodded, turning back to the crowd. “Well, you’re right,” she admitted quietly, “we do move the world, not the sun and moon. We’ve had to ever since Discord’s rule caused some sort of magical disruption that made the world stop moving.”

“Makes sense,” Damian said. “I won’t tell a soul if you’re keeping it a secret.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said gratefully before lapsing into silence once again. The two continued watching the party before she asked, “What kind of magic are you using? Nopony seems to be able to notice you, not even Pinkie.”

“It’s perception filter magic,” Damian explained. “It misdirects the senses of anyone around me. I’m just a part of the background to everyone right now, only perceived as something inconspicuous.” He turned to her. “It’s a light bit of magic, nothing more. Nobody will be permanently harmed by it.”

Celestia frowned. “Damian,” she said gently, scooting closer to him, “I know things must be hard for you right now, and I can understand why. Being alone and unable to sleep can’t have been healthy for you.” She put a wing around him gently, pulling him close. To her relief, he didn’t object and let her hold her, even leaning against her. “We have four years to find a solution to your predicament,” she said, “and I promise that I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re permanently freed from that prison.”

He didn’t say anything for a bit, simply looking out at the crowd and sipping at the cider. Finally, he said, “As you like, Princess.”

As she tightened her grip on him, the two heard a commotion from the southwest. Celestia released Damian and stood, looking towards the source of the commotion. The party had been disrupted and a group of ponies were fleeing from something. Damian stood as well, watching with the mug still in his hand. The only ones who didn’t see to be running were Twilight, Spike, and Princess Luna. The streets were emptying rather fast as a hooded pony ran forward, a brown jar of something in its muzzle. They ran past Twilight, Spike and Luna, running towards Damian.

Celestia recognized the stripes on the part of the figure she could see and realized quickly that this was no pony. She hadn’t seen a zebra in a long time, but the way this one was barreling down at Damian, he was clearly a threat in this zebra’s eyes. Not wanting him injured, she raised her horn and caught the zebra in their tracks, lifting them off the ground with ease before removing the hood. This revealed a zebra mare with a mohawk and deep blue eyes. As she held the zebra mare in place, she approached. “Who are you,” she began, “and why were you charging my guest like he is an enemy.”

The zebra looked in surprise at Celestia, then back at Damian with fire in her eyes. She dropped the jar in her mouth and it fell, but not before being caught by Luna in her own magic. “Your highnesses, I beg you pardon, the potion I carried was only to stun.” She pointed at Damian. “The power of this creature is monstrous, and I feared that it might be dangerous. I feared for the ponies of this place, and I wished to only protect them, your Grace.”

The ponies who had fled from this zebra poked their heads out upon hearing this. There was fear in their eyes and mistrust, but some of the younger ones, especially three young fillies, came out of their hiding place and approached Princess Celestia. The yellow earth pony with a red mane looked at the zebra and asked, “Yer name’s Zecora, right?”

The mare looked at the earth pony and nodded. “Zecora is my name, my little foal, and brewing potions is my goal.”

“Princess, put Zecora down,” Damian said as he reached out to pick the potion bottle up with his magic. “She was only acting in defense of this town. Although how she got past my perception filter is a bit interesting.”

“She was threatening your life,” Celestia said with a worried tone.

Damian opened the jar and looked at its contents. He gently poured a drop onto his finger, then put the cork back in, turning back to Celestia. “This potion would have only made me sticky,” he said. “Put Miss Zecora down, please.”

She looked back at Zecora, and with a slight warning glare, said, “If I put you down, will you promise not to harm my guest here?”

Zecora’s face was one of shock, but when she was spoken to, she looked back at the princess. “It would appear I have no choice,” she said, “so I will hear and obey your voice.”

When she was placed down, Damian walked over to the zebra mare and held out the jar to her. Everypony in town noted how Zecora recoiled a bit at this, but Damian didn’t seem too perturbed by this. Instead, he simply placed the jar on the ground in front of her and backed away, making sure to keep his hands visible. The mare looked at the jar, then back at Damian. Slowly, she touched it with her hoof, quickly pulling away. When she opened the jar and looked inside, a look of shame passed over her face as she looked up. “It would appear that I need to make amends. I made an assumption and tried to cause your end.”

Damian waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You had every right to be worried. The magic I possess is powerful, but it’s never magic I wanted.”

“He’s a Djinn who was cursed to grant wishes to anycreature who asks,” Celestia explained, “but each wish always comes with a very poor consequence. He has been imprisoned for the last thousand years without the ability to leave or sleep. The Elements of Harmony freed him, but he has only four years before he is sent back. I won’t let that happen.” She stood tall beside Damian, who hadn’t moved and was simply sipping his mug again. “I will make sure a way is found to free him permanently from his prison.”

Zecora’s ears flattened at this. “To hear of this is indeed tragic. Who would curse you with such magic?”

“That is something we intend to find out, miss Zecora,” Celestia said, stepping forward. “Am I correct in assuming that you’re a shaman from Farasi?”

“Farasi is the land from which I came,” Zecora replied, “but to my ancestors I’ve brought much shame.” She turned to Damian again. “If you are open to my aid, I can help you on this crusade. While a unicorn with magic I am not, I may have some knowledge I’ve self-taught.”

“We’ll take any help we can get,” Celestia said with a grateful smile, happy that this incident hadn’t done any harm to Damian or anypony else. “I take it from the brambles on your cloak you live in the Everfree?”

“The forest is where I make my home,” Zecora said, “for to me, it is the perfect biome.”

“Well, then it would be rude of me to ask you to come live in Canterlot with me and Damian,” Celestia said.

“Hold up, I’m living in Canterlot?” Damian asked, looking up with some slight confusion at the princess.

“I’d prefer it if you did,” Celestia said, “but if you don’t want to, you can stay here in Ponyville.”

He looked around the town, then back at the massive distant spires of Canterlot. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter to me too much,” he said. “I can teleport back and forth with ease if I wanted. Canterlot sounds good to me.”

Celestia smiled at this, then looked down at Twilight. “Twilight, I know I just announced you to study the magic of friendship, and while I still wish that for you, I want you to engage in a secondary mission, to work in finding a means of permanently freeing young Damian Price from his bondage. I will have other ponies doing the same, but every little bit helps.”

Twilight nodded, then turned to Zecora. “Would you be willing to help me, Miss Zecora?”

“To free someone imprisoned is a no brainer,” Zecora replied. “I will gladly offer my services for sure.”

As the other ponies came out to talk amongst themselves, the party resumed. Zecora was invited to join, and many of the ponies were apologizing to her. As for Damian, he retreated back to his bench, the perception filter back up as he watched once more. Only now, he was joined by Celestia AND Luna this time, both sitting on either side of him as they offered him solidarity and companionship. Nobody spoke, that is until Damian dropped his mug and slumped against Celestia, eyes closed. At first, the princesses feared something had happened, but when the saw him breathing normally, the two relaxed.

Damian, for the first time in nearly one thousand years of imprisonment, had fallen asleep.

When Maerise entered the city of Griffonstone late that night, she found the city in a celebratory mood. There was great feasting and happiness among the griffons despite their city looking to be in shambles. She was tired, hungry, and frustrated. Her search for Opheda had somehow led her here, although she was unsure why. She wandered through the city, trying to ask if anygriffon there had seen a deer, but the griffons were too caught up in their celebration to care or respond. Many were even drunk and there was a lot of dancing in the streets. She was unable to find anygriffon able or willing to help.

She continued wandering the streets before she was stopped by a young griffon hen who called herself Gabby. “I didn’t think I’d see another deer again since those two deer came and helped us.”

When Maerise heard this, alarm bells went off in her mind. “Two deer? Did one of them have brown fur with a small white patch on the forehead and some small horns?”

“Yeah, how’d you guess?” Gabby asked.

“Was her name Opheda?” Maerise asked.

“I think so,” she replied.

“Do you know where she went?” Maerise asked in an almost desperate tone.

“Um, yes, but is she in trouble?” Gabby asked, now seeming a bit wary of the older doe.

Maerise took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She knew that she wouldn’t get anywhere if she was this frantic. After a few moments, she apologized. “I’m her matron,” she explained, “and she left our order after we…shared some terse words. I wanted to find her to apologize.” While that was partially true, she didn’t want to reveal the full extent of her reasoning.

“Well…last I heard, she and Harvest Bringer were going to Equestria,” Gabby said.

Maerise’s heart dropped. She thought back to those dreams that Opheda had. Something about a Djinn in some ancient ruins in Equestria. If Opheda was as single minded in this new endeavor as she was in her research, she might be very hard to convince to come back. She was so distraught that it took a while for her to register what Gabby had said. When she did, her heart nearly stopped. She turned and looked at Gabby. “Harvest Bringer? Who’s that? Sounds like a pony name.”

“Well, unless this pony is green, yellow, orange and has two antlers with leaves and apples on them and leaf shaped ears, then maybe,” Gabby said.

Maerise looked confused. She’d never known about any deer by that description. She decided to pry more. “Did she do anything to harm the other doe?”

Gabby immediately shook her head. “No way! Harvest Bringer saved us from starvation for a couple of years!”

Without being prompted, Gabby told Maerise about what had transpired earlier that day. Maerise listened in utter shock at what she was hearing. A deer with that kind of magic was unlike anything she’d heard of in all of her time at the Temple. Gabby even brought Maerise to the vast fields that had all been harvested and would be harvested again in a month. The older doe was flabbergasted by this news. Whoever Opheda was traveling with was extremely powerful and magnanimous. Or was pretending to be.

When Maerise said she had to go follow them, Gabby dropped a bombshell. “The train won’t be running until tomorrow morning,” she said. “You might want to stay here until tomorrow.”

Maerise bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to stop moving, but the odds were that the two had probably stopped in this Rainbow Falls town for the night. She nodded. “I don’t have money for an inn, though.”

Gabby shook her head. “You can stay with me for the night! Come on!”

“Are you sure?” Maerise asked.

“It’s the least I can do!” Gabby exclaimed happily. “Besides, our inns are a mess. You don’t wanna stay in one.”

As Maerise let herself be led away, her thoughts drifted back to Opheda. She just hoped that whoever this Harvest Bringer was that she wasn’t a threat to the former Acolyte.

Santhea watched through the Third Eye at what Evasia was seeing. The shadow creature at her command was slipping through alleys within the ancient city of Griffonstone, trailing Maerise and a griffon hen who was leading her down the streets. The blind doe frowned at what she’d just heard. Apparently, Opheda had come into contact with a deer of immense power. She’d seen the fields of newly grown crops. She was unable to detect the magic from her view using the Third Eye’s, but it was clear that this Harvest Bringer was a powerful enchanter. For a doe to possess magic on par with the most powerful of their Order was concerning. However, there was something about the way that this Gabby griffon described this doe that brought up a memory for her.

Slowly, used her magic to ring a bell on the wall. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Priest Tharos. “You called for me?” he asked.

“Go to the Archives and bring me the sphere of ancient knowledge,” she ordered.

“At once,” Tharos said as he departed.

While she was waiting, she continued watching the scene before her through the Third Eye. The griffons of this dilapidated city were in a celebratory mood, something she could understand. Having apparently been without much food, she could only imagine their joy at having a sudden surplus of both food AND water. In the moonlight, the waterfall she’d seen through Evasia’s sight was a magnificent sight to behold. Its beauty couldn’t be understated, but to have been made in only a short timespan was worrying. She continued to try and remember why that description of this Harvest was so familiar to her, but she still was drawing a blank.

As Evasia watched Gabby and Maerise walk into a small hut, Tharos returned with a small crystal orb in his magic. “The sphere as you requested, High Priestess,” he said, placing it on the table in front of her.

“Thank you. You may go.” As Tharos left, Santhea gave instructions to Evasia to keep an eye on the two and report if anything unusual happens before cutting the link. As her vision went dark again, she reached over and touched the crystal orb, feeling the aether trapped within become active once more. She stared out into the room with her unseeing eyes as a voice in her head began speaking.

The voice of the first High Priestess of their order began to speak. Santhea listened to High Priestess Myril talk about the various legends she knew of from her time as a young fawn. She spoke about them as if they were all real, but when she began talking about a certain ancient legend, Santhea stopped and listened more closely about Verbana, the legendary doe who was said to be able to make lands fertile beyond their natural abilities. The narration included a depiction of said legendary doe, and the image that appeared in her mind matched the description that Gabby had given.

Removing her hoof from the orb, she sat in her chair and thought. If the young Opheda was with this legend, things could be dangerous. Opheda had to be brought back to the Order at all costs, and if this Verbana was real and protecting her, she needed to be prepared.

Opheda was a wild element. One which needed to be tamed.

June 23, 1463 of the Common Age

Canterlot, the capital city of the Kingdom of Equestria, was one of the greatest wonders of the modern era. Built on the side of the solitary mountain known as the Maretterhorn, it had been built over the span of twenty years after the banishment of Nightmare Moon due to the destruction of the Castle of the Two Sisters and the surrounding city of Evertide. Now, it was the center of the Equestrian political system, a huge center of commerce, and the home of many of the Equestrian nobility.

The city streets were always full of the richer Ponies in the kingdom, each so self-absorbed they hardly noticed anything other than their own needs. The streets were also impeccably clean of refuse, even the back alleys of the commercial sections.

This included one street where a small shop existed that was so far off of the beaten path that it was hardly ever visited. The street was near the high cliff that led up to the Mareterhorn’s summit. At the very end of the street, a solitary wooden door had been placed directly into the cliff wall. Above the door were painted the faded words Quill’s Curious Curios.

It was here that a solitary unicorn was heading in the early morning hours of the morning. She was a light purple mare with a darker purple mane and tail with a light aquamarine stripe through both. She had a dark purple star and a wisp of dark aquamarine swirl coming off of the star for a cutie mark. The pony had heard about the hidden shop through word of mouth in her search. She looked back and forth, her dark blue eyes searching for the road towards the cliff.

Unfortunately, for her, there were over a dozen roads heading down towards the shop that she’d heard about. According to her research in the only library she could get access to, the one in Ponyville, it was a shop that was owned by an eccentric eutherian stallion who believed he was an alicorn, or who at least pretended to be. The shop was also said to move from location to location, but that if anypony really desired to go see it, then they would be able to find certain guaranteed locations. One of them being this exact place.

The unicorn’s desire to find this curio shop was higher than it have ever been. If it really did exist, then it would likely have something she could use in her future endeavors. She looked around, making sure nopony was following her before she quickly made her way down the street described in the book. It was more of an alley than a street, but it still was a street. Two whitewashed buildings rose up on either side and at the end of said street there was nothing but a white wall of a third building that intersected the two others. Her tail drooped when she saw this. She knew this was a tall chance, but she was growing desperate for something to aid her in her quest for unity and equality among ponies.

Before she turned away to leave, however, the air around the end of the alley seemed to morph and shift. She watched in awe as a small black structure formed. It was a shop, that much was clear, but the way it was built reminded her of an older building. It had a strange look to it, but as she approached, she saw a sign above the door which read QUILL’S CURIOUS CURIOS.

As she stepped in, she saw that the interior was dimly lit with candles and a couple of lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The place had a unique smell to it, like incense and scented candles. There were tables of many different types of various objects ranging from swords to jewelry to vials of glowing liquids to large cloaks that radiated magic. Being such a gifted magical pony, this unicorn knew that there had to be something here that she could use.

“Welcome to my shop,” a deep voice said from behind her, causing the pony to jump and whirl around, only to find herself face to face with a dark gray eutherian with light blue mane, tail, and goatee. His red eyes glowed in the dim light as he looked at the unicorn, and he was wearing a dark brown hooded cloak. “What can old Quill Heart find for you today?”

The unicorn looked at the horn on his head. She couldn’t feel any sort of magic flowing from it, but the craftsstallionship of this false horn was impeccable, indistinguishable from the real thing. She cleared her throat. “I’m looking for something to help me remove cutie marks from a pony.”

The eutherian raised an eyebrow as he slowly walked by her, not looking away. “That is quite the dangerous ability you seek, young mare,” she said, “and could land you in quite the predicament if you’re caught. Are you sure you want this?”

The unicorn frowned. “I thought this was a shop for unique artifacts,” she said with a scowl, “Isn’t it a shopkeeper’s job to just find what the customer wants and not question it?”

“I wouldn’t be a good shopkeeper if I didn’t assure my merchandise was being used for anything untoward,” Quill said.

The unicorn sighed. “It’s for…an experiment of sorts,” she said.

Quill looked at her with those unnerving slitted batlike eyes before he turned and slowly walked over to a back table, his cloak moving slightly thanks to his wings being underneath them. He picked up an object that resembled a small necklace with a glowing teardrop shaped white gem on it. It was held inside a transparent bag of sorts and he held it up for her to see. “This is the White Teardrop,” he said as he walked over to the counter and placed it down before walking behind said counter and facing her. “It will not only enhance your magic, but it has an ability that can store any magical ability inside it. I will warn you, though, if you store a magical ability inside it can never be retrieved.”

The unicorn was having none of it, however. She simply walked up to the counter, lifted a bag of bits out of her saddlebags, and placed it on said counter. “How much?”

“Ah ah ah, before that, there comes the waiver,” the eutherian said as he brought out a piece of parchment, a quill pen, and an ink bottle. He slid the parchment over. “Read it carefully.”

“Summarize it for me,” the unicorn said with a huff. She was in no mood to read what looked like a long page.

Quill looked at her, then said, “In a nutshell, it says that my shop can’t be held responsible for anything that happens because of that artifact. It also says there are no refunds. All sales are final.”

“Sure, that’s fine with me,” she said as she took the paper and signed it hastily before looking back at Quill. “Now how much?”

“One hundred bits.”

The unicorn’s jaw dropped. “Surely you can’t be serious,” she said dumbfounded.

“I am,” Quill said, “and don’t call me Shirley. One hundred bits. No bartering in my shop.”

Her teeth clenched together as she scowled before taking out the appropriate number of coins. She slammed them down on the counter, sending a lot of them around the room. She swiped the artifact with her magic and placed it in her saddlebags. “Highway robber,” she scowled as she stormed out of the shop.

Quill watched her go, a grin forming on his muzzle as he nodded. “Oh, she’ll be back,” he said with a chuckle, “they always come back.” He picked up the paper, the name STARLIGHT GLIMMER still fresh. He set it aside and let the ink dry before putting it away.

As he waited, he felt a strong shift. The store was about to move again, so he held onto the counter. This shift was incredibly strong this time, and a number of objects in his shop fell. He too fell onto the floor before things started to simmer down. When he stood up, he saw that the shaded windows were now dark. No sunlight came through. He adjusted his cloak and walked towards the door, curious as to what he might see when he opened it. He looked around in awe at what he was seeing.

He was in an underground cavern of some sort. A massive chamber with unusual structures built into the walls of this massive cavern. They were connected by bridged and ladders all across the walls. His shop was now located on the ground near what looked like farmland. He saw tall equine forms tending to the land. He immediately identified them as Saddle Arabians. He saw Saddle Arabian earth ponies and unicorns while Saddle Arabian pegasi roamed the skies, gathering what looked like clouds.

The light came from a ceiling made entirely of gemstones, although that wasn’t the only crystalline structure he saw. There was a massive crystal spire with a flat stone at the top, sitting perfectly on the top of the spire.

“Thanatos…” he said in awe as he slowly closed the door before walking quickly over to a bookshelf. He pulled one book off and placed it on a nearby table. He opened it and began searching through it. Finally, he came upon a page that had a description of Thanatos, how it was once used as a prison for Saddle Arabians.

He put the book away, walked back to the counter, and sat down on a bench behind it. He closed his eyes. Normally whenever he came to a new place, he had an inkling about what was needed. It usually came to him within the first five minutes of arrival, so he waited. And waited.

Two minutes passed. Then three. Four. Five. By the time seven minutes rolled around without so much as an inkling, Quill knew something was wrong. Still, he was patient. He could afford to be. He was an alicorn, after all. He reached up and touched the horn on his forehead, adjusting it before closing his eyes and waiting.

Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. Twenty five. At thirty minutes, Quill gave up and stood. He decided that instead of waiting, he’d go downstairs to the restricted area where the most dangerous artifacts were kept and check on them. It was high time he did that anyway. He did so near the end of every month and it was nearly time to do it. He grabbed a pen and clipboard, heading down to the section where all of his most dangerous artifacts were. The torches in the room sprang to life as he entered, illuminating large locked chests scattered across the basement floor. He brought out a large keyring full of different keys.

He checked on each artifact within, making sure that they were all accounted for. However, when he reached one particularly large chest, he paused. Something about it felt different. Fearing for the worst, he unlocked it, looking inside. The gem that was inside was still there, thankfully, but unlike the previous times he’d seen it, Quill noted that it was now glowing. This worried him greatly. The three colored wing shaped crystal was an incredibly powerful artifact and it had not glowed like this ever since it had been in Quill’s possession.

He quickly locked it back up before taking the key off of the ring and placing it in his cloak pocket. He would hide the key until he felt it safe to reattach the key to it rightful place. He just hoped that whoever the store had been sent here to assist wouldn’t be after the Unity Crystal.

June 24, 1463 of the Common Age

The ice cold landscape around the bundled up Saddle Arabian mare seemed to go on for miles and miles. The land was covered in ice and snow, but a massive circular area in the center of a vast tundra stood out like a sore hoof.

The beige unicorn mare lifted her horn. Her dark green magic enveloped her in warmth. She absolutely hated the cold. Having been born and raised in the hot desert sun of her homeland, this icy wasteland was a complete mystery to her. How could anypony even consider living in a place like this.

Of course, if the stories here were true, then there was a means by which the former occupants had managed to live in such a hostile environment. She raised her horn and cast a powerful magical detection spell once again. Just as before, she was unable to sense anything. It frustrated her to no end. There had once been a powerful civilization here, and with said civilization was an artifact that she needed. However, upon her return, she’d learned that the once powerful empire had fallen to the hooves of some power hungry maniac who had enslaved the citizens and forced them to fight in his wars. In a single night, the entire empire vanished in a blaze of light.

Still, the artifact she sought wasn’t one that could easily be destroyed. She knew that the artifact she wanted was too strong to be simply decimated. With a sigh, she decided that her best bet would be to enter the circular area. It seemed to be about the right size of their former capital city. She trudged through the thick snowdrifts and kept her sand goggles over her eyes. They were most effective against the icy winds of the north.

When she stepped onto the surface of the circular enclosure, she felt a dark presence almost immediately. However, she didn’t fear it, but instead cast a magic detection spell once again. This time, she could detect a faint magic signature, or rather two. They seemed out of normal phase with the rest of the world. Completely out of her reach. She scowled angrily. There was always something.

As she turned to leave, she heard a dark voice calling into her mind. “It’s been some time since anypony has come traveling so far,” the voice said in a menacing tone. The unicorn paused, turning back and looking at the flat tundra. Scanning the circular enclosure around her, she saw nothing. As she turned back, the voice called again, “I know what it is you seek, and you cannot have it. It belongs to me.”

The unicorn, growing weary of such prattle, rolled her eyes behind her goggles and turned back once more. “That isn’t up to you,” she said to what she knew now was an umbrum. “You are unable to return yet, and I’m more powerful than you could ever hope to be.”

The voice of the umbrum hissed in anger before saying, “You will regret those words, fool. I will not let some upstart take what is rightfully mine! I have lived for much longer than you could ever have hoped.”

“I highly doubt that,” the unicorn mare snarled back.

“You will perish here, just like every other fool who dares take a step into my domain!”

The unicorn felt something then against her horn. She began feeling a light tingling that seemed to grow in intensity with each passing second. She simply sighed, casting a spell that threw the possession spell away. The old power that tried to desecrate her mine was flung back. She stood tall and proud, facing down her invisible enemy. “You would dare to enter my mind?” she said. “Clearly, the broodmare before you taught you nothing of manners. Then again, she was a whorse.”

“I will make you suffer for that!” the umbrum growled.

“I believe the modern day phrase I’m looking for is ‘Bring it on’,” the mare said back with a grin underneath her cowl. Her horn began to glow a deep green and she chuckled.

“Die, peasant!” the umbrum roared.

The unicorn felt the same tingling on her horn again, only it was much more intense. She scoffed at this pathetic attempt to enter her body and flung the disembodied soul away. She heard the voice cry out in fury before she fired a dark green blast of powerful magic at the ground. The voice screamed out, and for the briefest of moments a translucent outline of a dark gray unicorn stallion shorter than her appeared, his face contorted in pain and rage.

“My my,” she said in a teasing tone, “now I know why you had that menacing voice. Guess smaller ponies need to feel big.”

“Raaah!” the umbrum’s voice bellowed out. He was completely lost to his rage, and the unicorn knew she had him.

Without missing a beat, the unicorn created a Lastday Cage, a powerful spell she’d developed long ago to trap and slowly destroy anything unlucky enough to be imprisoned within. The light blue cage rattled and thrashed about as the spirit of the stallion struggled. “I believe it’s my turn to say ‘Die, peasant’, but you shouldn’t flatter yourself. Peasants are so much better than you will ever hope to be.”

“This cannot hold me forever!” the umbrum shouted in fury.

“No, it won’t need to hold you forever,” the mare said, approaching the cage and kneeling to look inside at the emptiness. “It just needs to hold you long enough to kill you.”

“You’re lying!”

“By now you should already be feeling the effects,” the mare said as she began casually walking around the cage which was now shrinking in around the umbrum. “Your magic and your essence should be feeling a bit weaker than before.”

“…What have you done to me, wretch!?” the umbrum demanded to know.

“What does it matter?” the mare asked nonchalantly. “You’ll be dead in moment anyway, so what would the point of me telling you what I did to you? You won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Release me! NOW!” the umbrum shouted, although the mare could now hear a hint of fear creeping into his voice.

“No,” was the mare’s simple reply. She stepped back as the cage continued shrinking around the umbrum. His cries of rage quickly became pleas for his life, all of which she ignored. As the Lastday Cage formed around the invisible umbrum’s body, it began to squeeze until suddenly there was a snapping sound. A sudden splash of thick black liquid came from the cage, spreading everywhere and staining the snow. The liquid hissed and bubbled when it touched the snow, but that slowly subsided as the storm around her began to cover up any evidence of the death of the umbrum’s mind. His body was alive, but what made the former tyrant him was gone.

Still, she had to leave this place empty hooved. She was unable to retrieve the artifact she hoped to grab. No matter. Once she had what she wanted, she could find the artifact and bring it back. She raised her horn, and in a blink of white light she vanished, leaving nothing behind of her visit save for a few hoofprints in the snow and the remnants of the ectoplasm that had once been the umbrum, which were quickly being erased by the snowstorm.

4: Reunion

June 22, 1463 of the Common Age

Opheda was taken aback by just how beautiful Equestria was. She and Verbana had taken a train from Griffonstone to the nearest station to Mt. Everhoof, which was a small mountain town called Rainbow Falls. They’d arrived just after the sun set, and while the ponies who did live there were initially wary of them, they changed their minds once Verbana aided them in a small crop problem. Apparently, the two deer had arrived during some kind of festival the coincided with the first day of summer. Something called the Summer Sun Celebration.

The two deer were escorted to a lovely inn where they were both fed and given a place to sleep for the night free of charge. Since it wasn’t too late, Opheda and Verbana had time to explore the town. The clouds that were made of what looked like liquid rainbows glowed in the night with their multicolored hues, casting a warm light over the town. The celebration here lasted a week according to the town’s mayor. It was a paradisaical city, full of life. Opheda felt jealous of what the ponies had. They lived in a fertile and beautiful land. It was something she hadn’t even expected despite knowing a bit about Equestria from her studies as an Acolyte.

Opheda and Verbana were walking through the town, looking around at all of the festival preparations. There were stalls where one could use a thin and easily breakable paper racket to catch goldfish to take home as pets. There was a game called katanuki which was where rectangular candy molds were given to participants so that they could remove the shapes in said molds without breaking anything while having to use only a toothpick. There was a game called water balloon yo-yo where one had to use a stick to carefully pull said balloon out by a string with a loop around the end.

There were many other games there, along with amazing food, ponies performing to music, a bonfire where ponies danced around, and much more. Opheda could practically feel the excitement radiating off of the ponies in town, and found it infectious. She and Verbana tried out several local foods with the bits Gabby had given them, but made sure not to go overboard. They enjoyed the performances by the ponies, which mostly were reenactments of Nightmare Moon’s defeat at the hooves of Celestia a thousand years ago.

The only downside, which wasn’t too bad, were the foals. They were everywhere, many wearing masks of some kind and always asking the two of them what they were with foal-like curiosity. Verbana always took these questions in stride while Opheda grew tired of it quickly. Still, she knew that they were just foals so she couldn’t be too mad at them.

At one point late in the night, Verbana and Opheda were sitting at a table drinking a local alcoholic drink called saké while simultaneously drinking water. Verbana had explained that alcohol was dehydrating, and that to avoid a hangover one should drink an equivalent amount of water. They were looking out at the festival, Verbana with bemusement and Opheda with a thoughtful look. Her old town had some celebrations, but to her eyes, the town here, despite being so far north, had a wealth and prosperity that she could only ever imagine.

Verbana must have noticed her look because she asked, “Something on your mind, young one?”

Opheda, having not anticipated a question as she was so deep in her thoughts, jumped a bit. “Ah, nothing important,” she said once she recovered.

“Every thought has its own importance,” Verbana said, “even if it seems not to be so to another. Even the most unusual thoughts.”

Opheda looked at Verbana. She couldn’t make sense of this strange and powerful deer-like creature. She was an enigma, but still she didn’t feel the same kind of animosity that she felt from others back at the Order. She sighed and took another sip of her saké, looking back at the crowd. “I don’t think the ponies know just how good they have things here,” she admitted.

“How so?” Verbana asked with an inquisitive tone.

“Have you seen the state of our old land recently?” Opheda asked. “We used to be a prosperous nation during our golden age. Now, after the Age of Strife, we’re scattered, some of us living as nomads while others live in poor villages. These ponies live in a paradise compared to where we live now. It seems to me that they should be able to share some of that wealth.”

Verbana looked thoughtful at this, nodding as she listened. When Opheda had finished her speech, she replied, “It might interest you to know that this kingdom wasn’t always like this.”

“I know the history of Equestria,” Opheda replied as she sipped on her water next.

“Not all of it,” Verbana replied.

“The three tribes united together after the windigos nearly brought about their own destruction,” Opheda said.

“Do you know that the creation of the Accord Flames precisely coincide with the emergence of the World’ Eye?” Verbana asked.

Opheda raised an eyebrow. “No, that I didn’t know.”

“Did you know that each side was in the middle of a three-way bloody battle in the icy land they called home when it happened?”

Opheda’s eyes shot wide open in astonishment. “Battle…?”

“The battle didn’t just end because the windigos were sealed away,” Verbana explained. “It took the combined efforts of Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy to convince their leaders to stop the war. Not only that, but with the founding of Equestria came the first multispecies herds. Clover formed a herd with Smart and Pansy, and Commander Hurricane started one with Chancellor Puddinghead and Princess Platinum. Back then, marriages were more of a political move than they are today, and this formation of a herd solidified Equestria.”

“How do you know all this?” Opheda asked.

“I was there for the weddings as an honored guest,” Verbana said, “and I was also there when the Equestria Carta was signed. I blessed the land to bring forth bountiful harvests for the first ten years to get them started before leaving.”

Opheda stared at her with her jaw almost on the table. This deer was older than the princesses of Equestria?! She found this hard to believe for a bit, but when she remembered her origin story, she quickly reconciled herself. “I had no idea…”

“Many deer have forgotten the specifics, I’m sure,” Verbana said with an understanding nod.

“Can you tell me more?” Opheda asked.

“Another time, perhaps, but yes,” Verbana said as she sipped on her drink. “Right now, my mind is elsewhere.”

“Where?” Opheda asked.

Verbana turned towards the east, looking towards a tall snow-covered peak illuminated by the nearly full moon. “I want to be sure that certain things remain buried and forgotten.”

Opheda looked over in the same direction, curious as to what she was hoping to find. “So…what time are you going to leave tomorrow?” she asked.

“As soon as I can,” Verbana said. “The mayor told me that there’s no train that stops near that mountain, so I’ll need to walk there.”

Opheda was about to reply when her vision suddenly went dark.

When her vision returned, she was no longer in Rainbow Falls. Instead, she was in front of the entrance of a dark cave on top of a mountain. The cave entrance was surrounded by a glowing gold magical shield. She passed through it suddenly and was inside the cave. She moved through the cave for several seconds only to come into a vast cavern with six stones placed in a circle. The stones were engraved with glowing runes she couldn’t identify, but what was in the center of the stones was what caught her attention.

A large and ancient looking evergreen colored bell hovered above a circular stone platform, encased in a dim glowing spherical shield identical in color to the one surrounding the cavern’s entrance. The bell had several cracks on its surface and looked like it might fall apart. However, she could feel an incredible amount of magic coming from it even in this state, magic that seemed to surpass her own or possibly even Verbana’s.

As she watched, she heard hoofsteps coming from behind her. She turned and saw a hooded pony unicorn, but one who was much taller than any pony she’d seen. The pony, their face hidden in the darkness under their hood, raised their horn, which glowed a dark green. The runic stones around the bell shattered, and the bell fell to the platform with a clatter. The unicorn walked up and picked the bell up in their magic. Opheda could see the unicorn smirk beneath the hood as they placed a chain around the bell, hanging it around their neck before leaving.

Her vision shifted again, and this time she was floating in a large bedroom, one more ornate than anything she’d ever imagined. It was empty, but that changed quickly when the door opened. A pair of unicorns in armor came in, both using their magic to carry a figure in. Behind them, the now too familiar form of Princess Celestia walked behind them along with a shorter alicorn mare of several blue hues. Both had looks of concern on their faces as the armored ponies placed the figure in the bed before covering said figure in a blanket. As the guards stepped back, Princess Celestia and the other alicorn stepped forward, the former adjusting said figure in the bed.

“Will this creature be alright, dear sister?” the shorter alicorn asked. “We are as of yet unable to cast the dreamwalking spell to see into the minds of anypony.”

“He hasn’t slept in nearly one thousand years, Luna,” Princess Celestia replied, reaching up and placing a hoof on the head of the figure gently, running it through the figure’s long hair which seemed to move in a similar fashion to the royal monarch. “It would appear as if his temporary release from the Djinn’s Prison has given him that ability back. I suspect he will sleep for a while.”

The alicorn referred to as Luna walked up to the figure, and when Opheda watched this, she caught a glimpse of the figure’s face for the first time. She gasped as it was the same bipedal creature who had begged for her help in the vision before. Unlike before, however, this creature, the Djinn she’d seen a year ago as well, looked a bit more peaceful as he slept.

“We are quite astonished he hath not gone on a rampage,” Luna said, “for to be without sleep for such a long time would be detrimental to anypony’s health.”

“He is no pony,” Princess Celestia said.

“Anycreature, then,” Luna added. “A Djinn is no exception.”

“I agree,” Princess Celestia replied, “but the magic binding him to his magical curse has forced him to remain sane.”

“He hath been tormented? This is unlike anything we hath read about Djinns,” Luna replied in alarm.

“Indeed not, sister,” Princess Celestia said. “It would appear there is much more to know about these creatures than old pony tales would say.”

“When we hath recovered, we shall delve deep into these matters,” Luna said, giving the sleeping Djinn a look of pity and empathy. “We were lucky to sleep in our…imprisonment. His torment is far beyond our own.”

Princess Celestia stepped back and put a wing around Luna. “I would appreciate the help in his recovery,” she said. “I may not be able to help as much as you can. You can relate to him a bit more.”

Luna looked down at the Djinn, then slowly nodded. “We shall do what we can, sister.”

The world around Opheda began to swirl and darken once more…

“…eda? Young Opheda?”

Opheda jumped, a bit startled by Verbana shaking her. The young doe looked at the older deer, then blinked. “Ah, sorry,” she said, picking up a hoofkerchief with her magic and wiping her face, “I was just…ah, lost in thought.” She was about to tell Verbana what she’d seen, but then remembered how Maerise and Santhea had reacted. She wasn’t too sure that she could trust anyone in the moment, so she dismissed it.

Verbana looked at her with some curiosity. “Thinking about what?” the older doe asked.

Thinking quickly, Opheda said, “Ah, the journey ahead for me. Just…wondering what waits for me in Canterlot.”

Verbana looked closely at Opheda for a moment, looking like she was thinking about something. The younger doe felt a bit uncomfortable, but when Verbana sat back and smiled slightly at her, Opheda wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Tell you what, young doe,” Verbana said, “why don’t you stick with me for the present? When I have confirmed what I need to confirm on the mountain, I will travel with you to Canterlot. I have not been to that city since it used to be a small town of miners. I am curious to see how far it has grown.”

Opheda wasn’t sure what to think about this at first. For one, she was scared of going alone to find out why she was seeing this Djinn creature in her dreams and now daydreams. On the other hoof, she didn’t know this Verbana very well and her kind actions aside, she wasn’t too sure what her intentions were. Her trust in elders had been shaken as of late, but she also was terrified of going alone. “I…I don’t want to go up the mountain,” she said worriedly.

“Then perhaps you should stay in the town until I return,” Verbana said.

Opheda thought about this for a bit. She didn’t mind being alone, but she also wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone. She might not know much about Verbana, but she didn’t quite want to be alone at the moment. Verbana had been everything that Opheda hoped Maerise would be. “I…I don’t know…”

Verbana smiled kindly at her. “It’s your decision, young doe,” she said, “but I will let you know that I must head to Mt. Everhoof. Time for me is of the essence. Nevertheless, I promise that I will not leave until after you wake tomorrow and I also promise that after my business on the mountain is complete, the two of us will travel to Canterlot together.”

Opheda nodded, taking another sip of her drink. It would appear that she would have a lot to think about tonight…

June 23, 1463 of the Common Age

Maerise was on the first train to Rainbow Falls the very next morning. Having never been on one before, she found herself in awe at the technological marvel she sat in. She wondered if she could bring the idea back to her kind, but with the amount of metal and steam necessary for this sort of technology she doubted that it would be easy.

She was more worried about the former Acolyte. The kind griffon who had let her stay the night in her house was very informative, telling Maerise that the younger doe seemed to be in good health when she saw her, and that had been a massive relief to the older Priestess. Still, she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Her inaction and lack of oversight into Opheda’s training had led to her being ostracized by her peers and even her teachers.

She promised herself that when she and Opheda returned to the Temple of True Accord, she would beg the High Priestess to make an exception for Opheda to take her test once more. She knew Opheda was ready, but it was those daydreams of hers that had caused her to slip.

As she sat in the booth, she thought back to the times that Opheda had told her about her dreams and visions. Maerise had passed them off as simple dreams, but the fact that the one she’d had during her final test while awake gave her pause. She thought back to her studies of Clairvoyance. She wasn’t sure why she was thinking about this, but if her student had one of those gifts, she had to know.

She knew that the High Priestess had the ability, although she used the Eye to do so. On the other hoof, nodeer had ever shown to be a Clairvoyant of the Second Level for many years. She concentrated on her studies of Arseleon once more. When she’d thought about it that one night a couple days ago, she had gone to sleep firmly considering the possibility that Opheda could have a similar ability. However, she forgot about it the moment she woke up, something unusual for her. Normally, the first thoughts in her mind were a continuation of the last thoughts before she went to sleep.

She concentrated on the stories of the ancient buck once again. The more she thought, the more the memories of the night where she’d initially thought about it returned. She’d never had a lapse in memory like that before, and it concerned her. Why was she unable to remember until just now?

Since she had a few hours until she reached Rainbow Falls, she concentrated on the problem at hoof. Was it truly possible? Maerise couldn’t just dismiss the possibility, but if that were the case, wouldn’t the High Priestess have sensed it the moment Opheda was brought into the Temple?

She held her head in her hooves, a headache beginning to form. She drank from her canteen which she’d refilled from Griffonstone’s brand new reservoir, finding the water to be pure and cold. She drank heartily, but it seemed as if the more she thought about Arseleon and the possible correlation between him and Opheda, the worse her headache got. She gritted her teeth and pushed through, trying harder to concentrate, but it was growing harder.

“Are you alright, miss?”

Maerise jumped at the sudden voice, turning to see a dark mauve pony wearing some sort of blue uniform and blue hat. The earth pony stallion had a look of concern on his face. She took another drink from her canteen and nodded, the headache slowly receding as she focused her attention on the pony. “Sorry, yes, I’m alright,” she replied with a nod, “I was just fighting off a headache.”

The pony looked concerned and asked, “I know we have a doctor on board. Want me to get them for you?”

Maerise was about to say yes, but then stopped. The headache had completely vanished now. She felt that bothering a doctor at the moment would just be rude, so she looked at the stallion. “Thank you, but I’m fine now.”

“Well, if you’re sure, then alright,” the stallion said. “If you need any assistance, let me or any of the other staff know and we’ll call that doctor.”

She nodded slowly. “Thanks,” she said as she smiled gratefully at the stallion, who nodded back and then turned to walk away, checking on other passengers. She wanted to think about…whatever she’d been thinking about, but she was tired, and with a few more hours to go, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The noise of the station jolted her awake and she looked around. A voice had just said something from the air, and as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes, she heard the voice again. “Welcome to Rainbow Falls. Anypony who wishes to disembark must do so within the next ten minutes before we get underway. Next stop is Galloping Junction.”

Maerise got herself together and looked out of the window. She was stunned by the beauty and color she saw. The falling rainbows were certainly something she had never seen before. The only rainbows she knew happened after a rainstorm or rain shower. The rainbows here were more vibrant and solid than the ones she knew of from back home.

Not to mention the ponies themselves. They were many different hues of color and she saw, for the first time in person, cutie marks. Honest to Accord cutie marks! Despite the urgency of her quest, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She’d always hoped to travel to Equestria at some point to study pony magic, but her duties as a Priestess in the Temple kept her from traveling abroad.

She was just sad she had to travel to Equestria under such dire circumstances.

As she looked around, she saw something that made her heart soar. Walking through the town was the object of her quest. Opheda was walking next to the most colorful and majestic doe Maerise had ever seen. Without missing a beat, she grabbed her belongings and ran out of the window itself, galloping over to where the two deer were walking. With a cry of relief, she called out “Opheda!”

The deer turned and before she could get anything out, Maerise tackled the younger doe in a hug. “Oof!” was all that she got out before she felt her former matron hugging her. “M-Matron Maerise?!”

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Maerise exclaimed over and over again, her emotions finally boiling over. She began sobbing as she held the younger and very confused doe, apologizing over and over again. “I should have stood up for you! I failed you as a teacher and a matron! I’m so sorry!”

“Young doe, who is this stranger?” a soft feminine voice asked from above the two.

Maerise heard Opheda reply, “She’s…my former Matron from the Temple of True Accord.”

Maerise felt magic surrounding her and separating her carefully from the younger doe. She was placed down in front of the colorful deer she’d seen earlier. The doe’s legs and barrel were a bright green, the upper part of her body was a bright yellow and her neck and head were an autumn orange. Her eyes reminded Maerise of the trees during autumn. Her ears and tail looked like leaves and there were leaves and a few types of fruits hanging from her antlers, which themselves looked like tree branches. The doe looked at Maerise with a stern countenance. “So,” she said, “you’re the one who failed my current traveling companion here.”

Maerise felt her ears and tail droop. She looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. “Yes,” she admitted, “I’m the one who failed her. I failed her so much…”

“And now you’re here to, what? Bring her back?”

Maerise looked up slowly towards the ancient looking eyes of this doe. She took a breath, then said, “I was hoping so, yes,” Maerise said before turning to Opheda. “My dear, I promise things will be better than before. I’ll teach you myself if you want! I can even ask the High Priestess-”

“Fuck the High Priestess,” Opheda spat in rage, “she’s the one who dismissed me without giving me a second chance! And you sat there and did nothing!”

“I can get you another chance!” Maerise exclaimed.

“Fuck another chance!” Opheda shouted. “Fuck the Order! Fuck the Temple! It’s buckshit anyway!”

Maerise felt her headache return, and she pleaded once more. “Please, the High Priestess wants-”

“Enough,” the voice of the older multicolored doe interrupted the Priestess. She took a spot between Opheda and Maerise. “You are in no position to tell this young doe to do anything.”

Maerise winced as the headache only increased. “I can help more-!”

“I said ENOUGH!” the older doe said. She didn’t yell, but her voice seemed to reverberate in Maerise’s head.

“I’m not going back,” Opheda snapped.

Maerise tried to stand. She had to bring Opheda back, she just had to! She looked pleadingly at the young doe. “Please…I know we made a mistake, but we can protect-”

“Does the word ‘NO’ mean anything to you?” the older doe asked.

“I can make sure things are okay-”

“Why are you pushing this?” Opheda asked. “You’ve never been this insistent before.”

Maerise paused. Why was she pushing this? She tried thinking of a reason why. She was definitely afraid for her former student and wanted to ensure her safety. She knew the Temple was safe with all of its enchantments and magic. She knew that the High Priestess cared about all of the deer in the Temple and believed that she could help Opheda with the dreams or visions-

When she thought of the word visions the headache returned in full force and she winced. No, they weren’t visions, she told herself. Or did she? She held her head in her hooves, sitting on her haunches and wincing as the pain returned. She heard someone calling out to her, not in anger now but in concern.

Just dreams, she thought, and the headache subsided. However, she suddenly found herself encased in magic. Looking up at the deer who was holding her, she saw that the older doe wasn’t looking so much at her as through her. Her horns glowed a bright orange and she felt the magic coursing through her. She closed her eyes and began hearing a whining noise in her ear, and the sound of the town around her along with the voice of the two other deer began to fade away. The noise became a piercing shriek that she fought for as long as she could before she heard a loud exhaling of breath. Instantly, the noise and pain vanished and she opened her eyes, only to see a black mist with cold blue eyes for the briefest of instants before it vanished. With that, she was released and gently placed on the ground.

Opheda’s face came into view, a worried look on her face. Behind her, the stalwart face of the older doe appeared. Sounds came back to her and she heard Opheda asking if she was alright.

Maerise slowly sat up, trying to come to terms with what had just happened to her. She had never felt anything so painful before, but now that it was gone, she felt more clear-headed than she’d felt in the past couple of days. For those days she’d been focused on bringing Opheda back, and while she still hoped to convince the young doe, her thought felt clearer about the matter. Opheda was an adult, and if she couldn’t convince the young doe to return, then she’d respect that decision.

“I feel a lot better,” Maerise admitted.

“I should say you should,” the older doe said, “the spell you were under was quite malicious.”

“Spell?” Maerise asked.

“Correct,” the older doe said, “a spell I haven’t seen in an age. It was a Noctis.”

“What’s that?” Opheda asked.

“They’re a subspecies of an Umbrum,” the older doe explained. “They are not intelligent like us, but they can be trained or enslaved to a master to do their bidding over great distances. This one seemed to have infected you. They can influence the thoughts of others to become singular minded or can force them not to think about something.”

“Me? But why would anyone infect me?” Maerise asked, wondering just what kind of monster would infect her with something so devious. She couldn’t think of anydeer or anyone who would be cruel enough to do such a thing. The doe was unsure what to make of what she’d just encountered. She had never heard of a spell or a creature that had the effect it did on her. Deciding to try something, she focused her thoughts on Arseleon and Opheda, and to her relief the headache didn’t return. But her relief gave way to confusion. Why would anyone want her to not think about that? Unless…

She turned to Opheda, eyes widening in realization. Whoever had placed this spell on her knew, or at least suspected, that Opheda was similar in a way to Arseleon. She was still a bit dizzy from whatever the older doe had done, so her thoughts were all a jumble. However, if the older doe had indeed healed her and gotten rid of this Noctis creature, she suspected that some sleep would help clear her mind.

She stared at Opheda, feeling like a fool for ignoring her own desires. Slowly standing, she said, “If you won’t return to the Temple, then I can’t make you,” she said, “but perhaps I can do the next best thing and join you on whatever journey you’re on.”

Opheda looked startled by this, but she simply smiled a bit, turning to the other doe. “Would you be okay with her coming along with us?”

The doe looked at Maerise with an appraising glance. Maerise waited for this doe to finish whatever she was looking for. When she sighed, Maerise was afraid she’d be denied, but instead she said, “We’re heading to Mt. Everhoof and then to Canterlot. Are you willing to scale a mountain?”

Maerise’s eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. She wanted to make sure her former student was safe, after all. “Of course!”

The older doe nodded, then extended a hoof. “My name is Verbana.”

Maerise’s eyes widened. She’d heard the name in her earlier studies as an Acolyte herself and had read a few stories about an ancient deer who had magic beyond anything anydeer had. She thought back to her readings, and an image from an old tome popped into her head. The colors on the page were nearly identical to this Verbana in front of her. She wasn’t sure if this deer was the same individual or a descendent, but the fact that she’d helped Maerise be freed told her that the Verbana in front of her was a powerful Magus in her own right.

Maerise reached her hoof up and touched Verbana’s. “I’m Maerise,” she said as means of introduction. “Thank you for looking after Opheda. I’ve been so worried about her.”

Verbana nodded, and a hint of a smile formed on her muzzle. “Your former student is a remarkable doe,” she said, “but we can discuss this at a later date. We were about to leave for Mt. Everhoof. Come, we will talk on the way.”

Sanathea frowned as she felt the presence of Evasia suddenly returning to her side. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the black shadow with ice blue eyes appearing in front of her. She had been in the middle of looking south towards a warring faction of two deer clans, trying to decide which of the Magi to send to hopefully quell this battle and bring peace and order back to their area of their former lands when Evasia returned.

The blind High Priestess reached out and summoned the creature to her, accessing its memories with her Clairvoyance. She watched as the shadowy creature’s hold on Maerise was broken by a doe of many colors, a doe that Sanathea could only acknowledge fully was the somehow returned Verbana. The spell Verbana had cast would not allow Evasia to keep a close eye on the Priestess Maerise anymore, so she had to take some other measures. So, she summoned her most trusted deer in the Order.

Priest Tharos walked in after being summoned. Sanathea could hear him kneeling before her. “High Priestess, what can I do for you?”

“Young Tharos,” she said, “I have a task for you.”

“I am yours to command, High Priestess,” the buck said.

Sanathea nodded in approval. “There is a certain former Acolyte we must bring back to the Temple immediately…”

June 24, 1463 of the Common Age

When he next opened his eyes, Damian found that he was no longer leaning against Princess Celestia. He was, instead, lying on a very soft and comfortable bed. He instantly sat up, looking around the room he now found himself in. The bed he was in was a canopy bed with the curtains drawn. With his Djinn magic, he pulled the curtains back only to realize that it was nighttime already. He swung his legs over the side and looked around, taking stock of himself. He was wearing the same clothes that he had always worn, but they felt a bit different.

It quickly came to him. They’d been washed. That meant he’d been seen naked. He felt his boxers as well and noted that they’d been washed to. He looked around, then saw his shoes near the closed door along with his socks. He reached up and snapped. Instantly, the socks and shoes were on his feet and he stood. The socks had been washed, and it appeared as if the shoes he wore had been cleaned. There was some magic running through them that made them feel brand new.

He reached up and a dim light appeared above his head, illuminating the room just enough that his light sensitive eyes could see better. He was in a bedroom, that much was certain. His bed was on one side of the room with a nightstand on either side. Each had a lamp on both and some drawers on each. The ceiling slanted upward in a cone shape with a chandelier hanging from the center. There was a balcony to the left of his bed and a door to the right. On the opposite side of his bed was a fireplace, currently dark and cold, with a pair of comfortable chairs sitting in front of it. There was a second closed door to the right and an open door to the right which apparently led to a bathroom of sorts.

Next to the balcony door was a large ornate desk and chair, one clearly made for ponies. With a snap, the desk grew to fit him. On the other side of the balcony door was a large dresser, or bureau as it had been called in the books he’d read.

Damian took this all in within a few seconds, memorizing the entire layout of the room before he walked out to the starry night, looking up at the heavens. He knew the stars well, especially since he’d seen them move during his imprisonment. With little movement on his part, he began to lift off of the ground, moving up as a black cloak formed behind him.

As he flew into the air, a distant calming electronic hum began, followed by calming piano music. Said music surrounding the entire city with its otherworldly beauty, and with it came a light enchantment that granted restful and peaceful sleep to those who were asleep who heard it. To those awake, it granted them a sense of serenity and, if they would be trying to fall asleep soon, it would grant them the same serenity in slumber.

He flew up into a cloud, passing through it and sitting down on it comfortably. He looked down at the city below and its surrounding landscape. The Maretterhorn was a massively tall peak, that much was obvious. He’d even been able to see it from the tallest spires in his prison. He saw it turn from a small settlement to a magnificent palace with each visitor he received.

As the music began to fade, he lay on the cloud, comparing the experience of being on a real cloud with being on a Djinn fabrication. He noted that it was much more comfortable than his attempts in his prison. The height also allowed for it to be much colder. He stared up at the stars, having not seen twinkling stars in nearly a millennium. The stars he knew were always static. The moon was up and waning now, and he guessed that he’d been asleep for longer than just a few hours.

Sleep…the concept of him actually having slept was foreign to him. After nearly a thousand years without it, he hadn’t been expecting it. Could it be the effect of being free of his prison and in the real world? He didn’t feel tired at the moment, but the fact that he’d slept was interesting.

He looked up and saw a bright blue star in the night sky. He focused on it, narrowing his eyes as the view of the star began to get bigger in his magic sight. It grew, becoming a blue-green orb with three smaller ones near it. He zoomed in further, spotting a massive forest of green mushroom-shaped trees. There were large reptilian-esque creatures lounging on the branches as the tree along with some passing insects that looked like aerial jellyfish. He watched as some of the lounging creatures opened their mouths only for a long tongue to lash out, grabbing at the passing airbound jellyfish, snapping them in their teeth. This was the first time he’d been able to observe the life on the fourth planet of Equus’ star system while in motion.

“I figured you were behind that lovely music,” a serene voice said from behind where he lay. The view of the alien forest zoomed out and he found himself lying back on the cloud above Canterlot. Looking up, Damian saw the upside-down face of Princess Celestia looking down at him. She was wearing no regal regalia, and her mane looked a bit disheveled. Still, she had a warm smile on her face as she walked up and lay down beside him, her forelegs hidden beneath her in what he remembered some bronies called a ponyloaf. She looked up at the night sky, then gave a wistful smile. “The small enchantment was a nice touch. It even affected me, and the music woke me up.”

“Everyone deserves a pleasant night’s sleep,” he replied.

“How true.”

“Sorry to have woken you, though,” he said apologetically, “that wasn’t my intention.”

“No need to apologize, my young Djinn,” she said gently, “all is forgiven.”

Damian looked back up at the stars. Opening his eyes wider, the sky began to brighten until he saw things as if he was seeing them using an astrophotography lens. He saw the planetary nebula in all its rainbow glory in the north, the soft pink glow of a nebula known as the Teapot and Teacup in the south, although his astrophotographic vision revealed more to the nebula than just its typical appearance. To the east, he saw a bright globular cluster which in his current state shone brightly like the images he’d seen from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. The illumination of the galaxy was unlike anything he’d seen before on Earth.

If he had to guess, Equus and its star system was higher above the galactic plain than the Sol System was. This had the effect of better revealing the spiral of this galaxy much more so than any image humans had taken of the Milky Way. Still, despite this, the galactic coordinates of this world weren’t too high above the galactic plain as the sky was still ablaze with nearby and faraway stars and interstellar phenomenon. Even though he knew he wouldn’t be here for long, he was curious to see the constellations and other phenomenon during the winter months.

“Do your eyes normally glow at night?” Princess Celestia asked him.

Damian blinked, and slowly returned his eyes to normal. “I was looking at the night sky as if I was seeing them through the lens of a long photographic exposure,” he explained.

Celestia looked down at him with a raised eyebrow full of curiosity. “Long photographic exposure?” she asked.

“You have cameras here, right?” he asked.

“We do,” she said.

“Do you know how they work?” he asked again.

She closed her eyes, apparently thinking. “I’m not too familiar with the specifics, I’ll admit,” she said, “but I believe that light enters a lens and hits a piece of film in the back, capturing a moment in time.”

“More or less true,” Damian agreed. “Human technology has advanced beyond that, although analog photography still exists. One thing that digital photography can do is to not just capture a single snapshot, but that lets in light for an elongated period of time.”

“Would that not make the image brighter and more blurred?” the princess asked.

“Well, yes, if not placed on a tripod,” he explained. “Here, let me show you what I saw.” He reached up his hand and snapped.

Instantly, Celestia’s eyes began to glow. She looked up at the sky and her eyes went wide. Her wings popped up in an instant and her jaw dropped. “My goodness…” she said in an awestruck tone. “If my sister saw this…”

“I’m sure I can show her sometime,” he said as he snapped and her eyes slowly lost their glow. “I’ve also managed to see close up to some of the other planets in this solar system. When they were visible, that is. You have a beautiful star system here.”

Celestia looked down at him with a look of awe. “You truly do have some unique and powerful abilities,” she said.

“‘Magic is a powerful tool, but that is all it is: a tool. It can be useful in our society, but without the right mind behind said power, it can either be a boon or a destructive force on the world’,” Damian quoted. “Clover Dale, otherwise known as Clover the Clever.”

“You read his works?” Celestia asked.

“I read everything in the library,” he explained. “Everything I could find. Hundreds of times.”

He saw her ears droop at that. “Right, you were unable to sleep,” she said.

“My favorite book in there is this one.” He snapped and a book appeared. The Misadventures of Vertigo the Pegasus hovered between the two of them on a dark green cloud of magic. “I’ve read it a total of 62,983 times.”

Celestia chuckled. “I’ve read that book a hooffull of times myself,” she said. “Did you know that the author wrote two sequels to that book?”

Damian looked at her. “No, I didn’t,” he said. “Did it happen after the events with Nightmare Moon?”

She nodded. “In my opinion, those sequels are good, but they aren’t as good as the original. Still, I can have somepony bring you those books if you’re interested.”

“I am interested,” he said, “so please.”

“Consider it done,” she said.

The two resumed looking up at the starry night. The silence between them was comfortable, and the clouds beneath them moved softly. After a few minutes, Celestia turned to him. “Did you have a good sleep? You’ve been asleep for more than two days.”

Damian nodded. It explained now why his clothes had been removed. “I slept very well,” he said. “It’s been so long since I felt exhaustion so I didn’t recognize it before I fell asleep on you. I apologize for that, by the way.”

Celestia tittered slightly. “No need,” she said, “although you’ll be interested to know that Miss Pinkie Pie has shown interest in throwing you a party.”

In a flash, a very colorful envelope appeared in front of Damian, who caught it and looked at it. The words You’re Invited, Dami! were written in glittery ink on the front. He created a letter opener with his magic, held the envelope away from him, and cut the top open. Sure enough, an explosion of confetti erupted out of the open letter, falling down through the clouds. Damian waved a hand, and the confetti gathered up in a paper ball which he took and placed in his pocket before reading.

Hello, Dami!

You’re invited to your Welcome to Ponyville and Equestria Party! Yay!

When? June 26 starting at noon! Where? Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville! What to bring? Just yourself and whoever you want to bring as a guest or three! The more the merrier!

See you there!

From your new friend Pinkie Pie

Damian read it over and over again. He knew that this would be a dream come true for many, if not every, brony and pegasister back on Earth. To have a party given to them by Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s premiere party pony would be one of the best things to ever happen to them, but for him, he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it. He knew he only had four years with them, so he was sure he’d see Discord’s return, the return of the Crystal Empire, the invasion of Canterlot by the changelings, Twilight reach alicornhood, and many other events from earlier in the show, but there were only four years he had to work with, and there was no way he could be freed from his prison permanently.

Still, he knew it’d be rude to blow an invite from anyone off. He wasn’t planning on living in Ponyville anyways, so there was little chance for him to interfere in events that were destined to play out. He might have been powerful, but he wasn’t omniscient. He could make things worse, for all he knew.

He held up the invite, turning to Celestia. “Well, are you and your sister free on noon on the 26th?”

“Free for what?” another feminine voice asked from behind the two.

Damian looked up behind him once more and saw the still diminutive alicorn mare walking up behind the two. He and Celestia both stood and faced her, although she was looking at Celestia with some curiosity in those deep blue eyes of hers. “What hath we missed?”

Celestia spoke first. “Damian here was just invited to a party in Ponyville and he was inviting us to come along.”

Luna’s ears drooped a bit. “Thy offer is most generous, good stallion,” she said to Damian with a polite nod, “but we…are unsure if we would be welcomed. Ponies still fear us.”

“I’ll be there too, Lulu,” Celestia said.

Luna frowned. “We do not wish to be held within thy shadow again,” she said a bit sharply before her voice caught and she lowered her head. “We beg forgiveness,” she said in a solemn tone, “we did not mean-”

“No, you’re right,” Celestia said, walking over, leaning down, and nuzzling Luna affectionately, “I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. You’re my sister, Lu, and I want to keep you safe. Maybe socializing right now is too early.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “We wish to learn more about this new era before we go forth and greet our subjects,” she said. She then looked at Damian briefly before continuing. “But enough of that. What else hath transpired up here?”

Celestia’s smile returned, and this time it was one of excitement. “Damian here showed me a view of the night that I’ve never seen before.”

“Truly?” Luna’s eyes shifted to Damian. “A view of our night we hath never seen before?”

Before Luna could say anything, Damian nodded and snapped his fingers. However, instead of affecting her eyes, it affected an area around them in the shape of a dome. The three faced the sky again as it brightened once more. With a swift wave of his hand, music began playing once more. A single horn began, then a glockenspiel joined in after a couple seconds. With some strings beginning to play some seconds later, the two princesses stared at each corner of the sky, drinking in every detail that they could.

Damian held back, watching the two sisters observe the majesty of interstellar space as he saw it. While they were distracted, he gave a soft wave of his fingers in Luna’s direction. Magic swirled around her, encapsulating the unsuspecting mare. She grew taller, her fur and mane began to darken, and magic began flowing through said mane and tail as she finally reached her show counterpart’s height, and then surpassed it. She soon became as tall as Celestia, majestic in her form. Her magic had been completely restored.

Celestia was the first to notice as the song that they heard began to end, the choir that sang fading out with the strings. Her eyes widened. “Luna! You’re taller!”

Luna, brought out of her reverie, looked down at herself. She lifted a hoof and her eyes widened. “We…we feel complete again…” she said in awe. She turned to Celestia. “We were told by the Royal Healer that it would take months until our full magic would return.”

Celestia nodded, then turned to Damian. “You…?”

Damian didn’t say anything, simply nodded. Luna turned to face him with an astonished look on her face. “Thou wouldst do this for us? Prithee, tell us why.”

Damian simply shrugged. “Because I felt like it,” he said, “and besides, I only have less than four years before I’m imprisoned again. Being able to use my abilities without those damned horrible consequences being forced on someone is…refreshing.”

Celestia moved quickly before Damian could say anything more. She flung her forelegs around him, holding him close. Damian was a bit caught off guard by this, but slowly wrapped his own arms around Celestia. She felt warm and comforting to him, “Thank you,” the solar monarch said.

Damian felt a surge of slight emotion coming up from him, and his grip on Celestia tightened for the briefest of moments before he relaxed said grip. “You’re welcome,” was all he said.

After the two broke apart, it was Luna’s turn to approach. Her dark blue mane shimmered with the inner light of the stars above. She didn’t hug Damian, but she did stand tall and proud. “We thank thee, Djinn Damian Price,” she said in a regal voice, “and for thy deed, we shall grant thee a boon of thy choice to be redeemed at any time.”

Damian inclined his head politely. “Thank you for the offer, your Highness, but there is no need-”

“Nay!” Luna exclaimed, stomping on the cloud below her with finality. “Our word is final! We will hear none of this from thee! We owe thee a debt, and honor and tradition dictate that we honor said debt!”

Damian raised his hands in defeat. He didn’t want to make her more upset, so he decided that the best course of action was to just accept it. “Then, in that case, I graciously accept your offer, your Highness. I will have to get back to you on that one, though.”

“‘Get back to us’?”

“He means he will give you his request after he’s thought about it,” Celestia explained.

“The modern vernacular is most confusing to us,” Luna admitted with a frustrated frown. When she looked back at the stars, however, her smile returned. “Still, we had never guessed that our night could be more beautiful.”

“Just wait until you start learning more about how your solar system works,” Damian said. “Still, I am surprised you still say you control the sun and moon when you really control the planet’s rotation.”

Celestia nodded. “We both have been very careful with our wording,” she said, “but the misconception is being addressed by some modern ponies, like Gallop Leo.”

“Still, your powers are incredible,” Damian said. “To be able to move almost six septillion kilograms of mass with the ease you do is no small feat.”

“Pray tell, what is a kilogram?” Luna asked.

“Pardon, I guess you’d be familiar with thirteen septillion pounds of mass,” Damian corrected.

Celestia nodded. “We still use the Equish System. But where did you get that number?”

Damian pointed at his head. “I have a perfect recollection of my life, and one of my memories was of looking up the mass of my planet. I was simply under the assumption that this planet is similar in mass to my own.”

“For a Djinn, you have a very unique mind,” Celestia smiled.

He shrugged. “I had nearly a thousand years to read everything in that old library,” he said, “and not only that, but I read books and other pieces of literature that I had read from my Earth memories hundreds of times.”

Celestia’s smile faltered a bit, but then she walked over, putting a wing over Damian’s shoulder. “There is an entire library in the palace and in Canterlot that is available for you to read,” she said.

He gave her a very soft smile and a nod. “I look forward to reading as much as I can.” He looked down at the ground below, then back at the cloud. “This cloud’s about to break apart,” he said, “so perhaps we should head back to the castle.”

Celestia and Luna both nodded, then the former raised her head. Her horn glowed brightly, and in a flash, they were all in a large open hallway inside the castle. Damian took note of how different the teleportation spell felt from his own. As his black cloak vanished in dark green mist which returned to his body, Luna spoke, catching his attention. He turned to her as she said, “Sir Damian, we thank thee for thy gift of a new sight of our night. Do not let it slip thy mind that we hath gifted thee a boon.”

“I won’t forget,” Damian promised.

Luna nodded, then put a hoof to her mouth, yawning. “I beg thy pardon, but the night hath not yet ended. We must retire to our new abode until the morning. Even with our body being back to more than our full strength, we still require time to acclimate. Sleep well, dear sister. And Sir Damian, we hope that thy time with us is pleasant.”

“Good night, Lulu,” Celestia said.

“Thank you, your Highness, and sleep well,” Damian said.

As Luna teleported away, Celestia turned back to Damian. “It’s almost midnight right now,” she said. “Are you planning on going back to sleep?”

“I’m no longer tired,” he said, “so I was considering taking you up on your offer of being allowed to read the library.”

Celestia smiled, then teleported the two of them into a darkened room with the only light coming from a hint of moonlight entering from a nearby window. Celestia illuminated her horn and lamps began to light up around them, revealing a massive library with at least six different levels of bookshelves. The bottom level had reading chairs and tables, some with books still sitting there. The walls had lamp sconces on them which glowed a warm white glow similar to a candle. There was an unlit fireplace in one corner of the room along with a large couch for reading. There were several large arched windows with curtains drawn.

Damian began floating around. He could almost feel the knowledge around this room. Books began flying gently off of the shelves and surrounded him, opening up as they were encased in his dark green misty magic. He looked at glimpses of the pages, intrigued by the new books he saw. He placed the books back on the shelves before continuing to float around the room.

While he could probably absorb the knowledge with his Djinn powers, there was something to be said for the slow method of reading. This library was thrice as big as the one in the old castle he’d spent nearly a millennium in, and he knew that there was so many more books here. The size of the library here reminded him vaguely of the library from Beauty and the Beast, although he doubted that the library there was even as big as this one. He doubted that there was even a library that matched this size and scale on Earth. He looked back down at Celestia. “I think I’ll enjoy being here,” he said, enjoying the actual echo of a voice around the library.

“Good,” she replied. “I’ll let the librarians know that you will be here.”

“I’ll try not to get in anyone’s way,” he said as he sat in the corner couch near the fireplace. “Sleep well, your Highness,” he said.

“Enjoy your time here,” she replied as she gave him a wave then teleported out.

“I will,” he said as he reached out and summoned a book to his hand. He looked down and smiled slightly. “The Misadventures of Vertigo the Pegasus Part 2: The Search For Balance, huh?” He summoned some warm tea to the table beside the couch, then opened the first page just as a distant clock in Canterlot struck twelve.

June 25, 1463 of the Common Age

With a flash of magic, the beige Saddle Arabian unicorn mare appeared on the ground floor of Thanatos. She’d appeared in the middle of a small field of corn being grown by the farmers. She scanned the area, looking for the source of the magic she’d felt upon her return from the former area that was the capital of the Crystal Empire. The farmers around her gave her no notice as they continued tending to their crops while she walked through the corn stalks. Above them, the crystal ceiling was slowly beginning to brighten as morning came on the outside. There were several small clouds being pushed into position by pegasi to prepare for a light morning rain over the crops. The crystal spire in the center of Thanatos stood tall and proud, looming over everyone in the underground city.

The mare didn’t acknowledge any of this. Instead, she strode with purpose towards a small building near one edge of the city, one that hadn’t been there when she’d last been in the city. To her eyes, it looked like some sort of shop, and this was only confirmed when she spotted a sign in Equestrian labeled QUILL’S CURIOUS CURIOS. The magic surrounding the shop was of a type she had never felt before, and it intrigued her.

When she stepped inside the shop, she heard the ringing of a bell. She looked around and saw just how dim the place really was. It wasn’t dim enough for her, though. She’d grown up in darkness and her dark green eyes had always adjusted to darkness much more than the light. She quickly realized that this shop was full of many different types of items, each of which were imbued with magic of different sorts.

“Well, well, well,” a male voice said from nearby, “it’s been many moons since I had a Saddle Arabian in my shop.” The mare turned to see a blue eutherian pony standing behind the counter, right where he hadn’t been moments before. This pony, she noticed, had a horn, but she felt nothing coming from it. “Welcome to Quill’s Curious Curios. I’m Quill Heart, the proprietor. Is there anything I can help you find today?”

The mare looked at him with a raised eyebrow before she turned away and continued looking around. This place was swarming with different magics, but she’d come here because she felt something. Something extremely powerful. She raised her horn, its dark green glow surrounding her horn like a mist as she felt out with her magic to find the source of this feeling of power. Closing her eyes, she spread out her sixth sense, her sense of magic, which spread out from her like a bubble. It passed through every object in this shop, then through the eutherian with the false horn, then towards a very well hidden door. Her magic passed through it and she could sense a staircase. Her magic reached down to a number of chests.

She locked onto one, and her eyes shot open. Turning towards the eutherian, she gave him a glare, then walked up to the location of the invisible door. Quill was immediately by her side, a worried look on his face as the mare pointed towards the invisible door. “Open it,” she ordered in a stern voice.

“Ah-m-miss,” he stammered a bit, “what’s down there isn’t to be-”

She whirled around and raised her horn, encasing him in magic. The eutherian’s eyes went wide, then blank as the spell seeped into his brain. Once he was under her control, she said, “Now then, open the door.”

He nodded and replied, “Yes, mistress,” before reaching out and touching something on the wall. Twisting his hoof, a small circular part of the wall turned before a door appeared out of nowhere.

“You will stay here until I return,” she commanded.

“As you command, mistress,” he said.

The mare walked downstairs into the darkness, her hoofsteps echoing in the stairwell. When she reached the bottom, several torches sprang to life, revealing a large basement room. In rows on the floor in front of her were several locked chests of varying sizes. Each one, she could determine, held one or more varying artifacts of immense magical power. She raised her horn again and scanned the room with her magic. She was quite surprised when she felt the calling she’d felt earlier coming from one of the smaller chests.

Walking up to it, she noted that it was locked up very securely. She frowned and looked back up at the stairwell. Sending a telepathic order up to him, she was satisfied when she heard the distant clopping of hooves walking away, then return a minute later, steadily approaching the bottom level. The eutherian approached, a key of rings in his hoof. “Here are the keys, mistress,” he said.

She pointed to the chest, then looked back at the pony under her command. “Open it,” she ordered.

He seemed to hesitate a bit, but upon seeing this, the mare increased her hold on his mind. He stiffened, then nodded. “As you command, mistress.” With that, he found the appropriate key and opened the chest, lifting it.

The mare looked inside and her eyes went wide. Sitting in the center of the chest, surrounded by red cushions, was a three colored crystal. In the center was a circular clear crystal which itself was embedded in an emerald-colored crystal in the shape of two wings. The dark blue crystal on the top pointed up like the point of a star. The crystal was also glowing brightly, shining a white, emerald and blue glow around the room.

“Well, now this is interesting,” she said as she lifted the crystal up with her magic, looking at it with a grin. “I didn’t expect to find this crystal here, of all places.” She turned back to Quill. “You will lock this chest, go upstairs, and go to sleep. When you next wake, you will remember nothing of our encounter. Is that understood?”

“Yes, mistress,” the eutherian said before he began locking up the now empty chest. She watched him finish the job then turn away and head up towards the main level.

She raised her horn and with a flash she was standing in front of the same display which held the three crystals and gems she’d already collected. Finding the appropriate spot, she placed the multicolored crystal in its place. Stepping back, she grinned. “Four down, eight to go. I will claim you as my own, my dear, just you wait.”

Quill woke with a start and quickly sat up. He looked around his bedroom, a bit dazed and confused. He had a strange dream, but the contents of it were gone now. He wondered what time it was, and upon looking at his watch he noted that he had slept long past his alarm. That was unusual for him, but he simply sighed and reset the alarm for the following night before getting up. It was later than normal, and he needed to be ready for the day.

Changing into his normal cloak, he shuffled down to make himself some coffee. As he reached his kitchen, however, he began feeling the subtle shift of his shop. That was odd, he thought to himself. He hadn’t even had a single customer and the shop was going to teleport again before he was even approached?

The light from his window shifted, becoming brighter again. He walked away from his kettle and over to the front door. Opening it, he saw that he was now in a quaint looking country town with Canterlot to the north. He saw ponies walking down the streets of this town, not even giving his shop a glance.

Closing the door, he sat down on a nearby chair and tried to think. He’d only been in Thanatos for a couple days at most, and during that time nopony had come to visit. Not only that, but he hadn’t gotten an inkling as to why he was in the city in the first place. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the whistling of the kettle on the boil for a while.

After making his coffee and sipping it, he went to the counter. Just like before, he had no idea why he had been summoned to this small town, but he’d rather be in this place than Thanatos. He continued thinking hard, trying to figure out not only why he was in this new town but also why he’d been taken to Thanatos. This was highly unusual, and it worried him slightly. He knew his enchanted shop well, having lived in it for a few decades, and this new change was even more confusing for him.

Feeling slightly hungry, and not knowing when he’d be in a nice town like this again, he decided to think more about it later as now would be as good a time as any to go shopping for some food. Places like this always had good food at cheaper prices. So, he grabbed his saddlebags and the key ring from where it always hung on the hook next to his shop door, locked it up, and strode out into the bright sunlight.

5: Golden Afternoon

June 24, 1463 of the Common Age

Opheda sat next to Maerise as the two waited just outside of a cave for Verbana to come out. It had taken them less time than they thought possible to reach the peak of Mt. Everhoof. They’d had to sneak past a single older pony stallion who was guarding the pathway up, but Verbana was a powerful deer. She had cloaked them in a spell that kept them invisible, something Opheda never knew was possible for a deer. Maerise had even looked surprised, and when Opheda asked, she explained that magic of that sort was something she never knew deer could do, either.

Verbana had led them up an ancient road that only she knew about, which cut time off of their journey. Regardless of that, they still had taken more than a day to reach the summit. Now, the former matron and student were waiting for Verbana. The barrier surrounding the cave had been no match for the ancient mythical doe. Opheda had not said anything, and Maerise didn’t press her, something the former was grateful for.

Opheda shivered a bit, and before she could pull the blanket around her, another wrapped around her body. She looked over to see Maerise’s horn glowing slightly. She’d given the younger doe her own blanket. Silence reigned between the two of them as Opheda nodded gratefully to her former Matron as she wrapped the blanket around her. She couldn’t believe it. Maerise had imbued the blanket with a minor heat enchantment, something that Opheda had not managed to figure out how to do yet.

Looking over, she saw Maerise looking over the view of the northern portion of the continent before them. Opheda did as well, taking in the vast snow-covered regions along with the dense forests that were also covered in snow and ice. This was a wild land, it seemed. Nocreature seemed to live here willingly as the weather here wasn’t controlled by the pegasi. Despite it being the beginning of summer, the snow at the top of this mountain was fresh and very deep. The sky was currently clear, but the wind blew around them with a fierce and icy chill. Fortunately, the entrance to the cave was mostly protected so the winds were not an issue, but the cold still was.

“I’m so sorry,” Maerise said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Opheda looked over at the older doe. She wasn’t expecting this from the Priestess. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

Maerise, who was looking at the ground now, closed her eyes. A tear fell, falling to the snow and melting some of it on impact. “For…for not being more supportive. For not being there when you needed me…for not stopping the bullying and abuse…” More tears began to fall and fell down onto the snow. “I-I failed you as a Priestess and Matron…”

Opheda steadied herself and tried not to let her anger get the better of her. She agreed that Maerise was at least partly at fault, but upon some self-reflection the night before and during the journey up the side of the mountain, she realized, or had started to realize, that she’d had a slight lack of trust in Maerise. Perhaps if there’d been that trust, she could have approached the Priestess and informed her of her issues. Still, she also knew trust went both ways, and she came right back around to shifting more blame onto Maerise.

Opheda knew Maerise was a good doe deep down. She may have been flawed, but the tenets of Accord said that nodeer was perfect. There were always flaws to uncover and to work through. Opheda was no exception. She was reckless, unwilling to listen, and too eager to please, among other things. Her realization of these issues was met initially with denial, which quickly turned to self loathing and anger. She knew it would be easier to direct the anger outward, but it wouldn’t be the truth, and the truth was one of the tenets of Accord. Truth outwards and inwards, and the latter was more important in this situation.

She turned back to Maerise. “We both failed each other and ourselves,” she said slowly, “so, I’m sorry too.” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I should have been more patient with my studies.”

“You were a driven and devoted student,” Maerise replied, “and I was pleased to be your Matron. I still failed you as a teacher.”

Opheda was glad to hear that, and she wanted more than anything to be able to have some kind of relationship with Maerise, but she also knew that there’d be no going back to how things were. She was done with the Order. “I still won’t be going back, but if you want, maybe we could…I dunno…explore the world here together? Maybe starting with Equestria?”

Maerise was silent for a bit, and Opheda could tell that she was thinking long and hard. Then, her expression hardened with anger. “If Lady Verbana is right about that spell being a Noctis, then I don’t think I’ll be returning to the Temple anytime soon. Somedeer put that on me. I’m not sure if it’s anydeer at the Temple, but the only deerfolk I know of in Equestria are of a splinter group who supposedly live in a large forest down south near Canterlot.”

“Who would cast that kind of spell on you?” Opheda asked. She didn’t know anything about Noctis, but Verbana had compared it to an Umbrum, and she did know a thing or two about them. One of the most famous Umbrum she knew about was an ancient unicorn king named Sombra who had once dominated this northern territory of Equestria, but he had disappeared centuries ago. Umbrum were extremely dangerous creatures and were always strongly connected to dark magic.

“That…is something I don’t know,” Maerise replied. “I don’t know anydeer who would do anything like that, or who would have the capacity to control that sort of creature.”

“Can you tell me more about it?” Opheda asked. “What is a Noctis?”

Maerise told her. According to what the older former matron knew, a Noctis was a shadowy creature who could be tamed through special magic to obey the orders of its master. It was made of dark magic as far as she knew, but was subservient to whoever was its master. It was capable of great speed, flight, invisibility, and was unable to be detected. In certain situations, if the magic binding it was strong enough, a Noctis could take on the form of anycreature like a changeling. It was intelligent despite not being able to talk. The more Opheda learned, the more horrified she felt. Who in their right minds would send something like that after Maerise? When she was finished, Opheda felt sick. Maerise must have noticed because she brought out a small water pouch and offered it to the younger doe. She took it and swallowed a few gulps of water. “Better?” her former Matron asked.

Opheda nodded before asking, “Who in their right mind would send a Noctis after you?”

“I know of nodeer who has a Noctis,” Maerise admitted, “but at least your friend Miss Verbana was able to deal with it.”

“Hmm…” Opheda was about to say something, but there was a sound from the cavern entrance. Both turned to see Verbana walking effortlessly through the magical spell that kept the cave from being accessed. Verbana’s troubled expression was answer enough, but Opheda had to ask anyway. “The bell isn’t there?” she asked.

“Your vision seems to have been correct,” Verbana said somberly. “I spotted recent hoofprints around the bell’s former location.” She took a deep breath, then raised her head and her horns began to glow.

“What are you doing?” Opheda asked.

“While I was in there, I felt a massive surge of magic from down south,” she said, “so I am trying to-ah, I think I found it.” Verbana opened her eyes. “We’re heading south.”

“Where?” Maerise asked as they began following Verbana.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Verbana said, “but wherever it is, it’s possible it in or near Canterlot.”

June 25, 1463 of the Common Age

When Pinkie Pie woke the very next morning at six AM sharp, she already had a warm smile on her face. She pronked out of bed, quickly making it before practically sailing over to a large chalkboard. In big, bold letters at the top were written the words DAMI’S PARTY! where she had written ideas for the newest pony-or Djinn-in Equestria. She stroked her chin with her hoof, a thoughtful expression on her face as she wondered just what a Djinn would like at a party. She prided herself on knowing just what a pony would like at a party, but while her Welcome to Ponyville parties were all similar as a way to test the waters with newcomers, she wanted Dami’s party to be extra special, especially to make up for all the sadness he’d endured.

She wanted his smile to reach his eyes, not just stay stuck on his lips only. He hadn’t laughed in nearly a thousand years, at least according to what Twilight said and from what her Pinkie Sense was telling her. Being locked away for no reason simply was too cruel!

She thought back to the pony Notebook Study who had claimed to have met the Djinn of the Everfree over a year ago. She was happy for the pony, but when she’d heard about Notebook’s death and how unexpectedly gruesome it had been, she’d been unable to get up for a couple days. Her mane and tail had gone flat and her normally vibrant pink color scheme had been muted. It had taken a few more days, and some encouragement from her friends and the Cakes, to come to peace with Notebook’s death. She knew ponies died, but to have one’s head go kablooey was possibly the worst way to go.

She shook away such horrible thoughts and focused more on the present. She looked at the party board once more. They’d had a welcome party for Zecora the day before after things had been straightened out between the once mysterious zebra and the other ponies. It had also led to Pinkie witnessing Twilight’s very first Friendship Lesson to Princess Celestia.

While Pinkie had fun baking some Farasian sweets specifically for the party, she knew next to nothing about Dami. She did remember the donuts he’d shared with them, so that was the first thing she wrote down on the board: Try to recreate donuts from that Krispy Kreme place! Mmmm!

She then stared at the board, wondering what else to do for the saddy waddy Djinny. While staring, a stray thought passed through her head. Normally, she’d dismiss it because she had a certain pride about her on the subject, but in this case, she let the thought build in her mind. She looked at the massive but still empty board in front of her. Sure, she could go for some of the standards for her parties, but she wanted this one to be super-duper extra special!

She looked at the clock. It was only 6:05. She made a whining sound. She'd learned the hard way not to wake her closest friends up in the morning super early, but she at least knew Applejack would be up by now. Still, she wanted to have them all gathered as soon as possible. Since she’d taken the day off to focus on planning for the party, she went back to bed, set an alarm for nine and promptly went back to sleep.

At exactly 9:30 AM, her bedroom was full of six adult mares and one young baby dragon. Five of the mares and the dragon were seated on bean bags in front of the still practically empty chalkboard. Pinkie was pacing in front of it while the others were just watching her. After a few paces, a certain prismatic pegasus lost patience. “Okay, Pinkie, what’s this all about? Why’d you wake us up so early in the morning?”

“Sugarcube, what’s got you more worked up than a group of chickens at feedin’ time?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie paused, then reached up her hoof, slamming it onto the chalkboard. “It’s Dami’s party!” she exclaimed. “I need your help on it!”

“Um, who’s Dami?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Dami! You know, Damian?” Pinkie clarified.

“You mean that Djinn guy you guys brought back after defeating Nightmare Moon?” Spike asked while chewing thoughtfully on an amethyst.

Pinkie pointed at Spike and nodded. “That’s the one!”

“Why do you need our help, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Because I want his Welcome to Equestria party to be splendiforous!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I want it to be the biggest party bash that ever bashed!”

“And…how can we help here?” Twilight asked. “Nopony here knows Damian all that much other than that he’s a Djinn.”

“Well, you’re the egghead here, Twilight,” Rainbow said with a yawn, “so you’ll know more about those creatures than anypony here.”

Twilight shot a glance over to Rainbow. “What did you call me? Egghead? That’s a new one…”

Before Rainbow could reply, Pinkie was right in Twilight’s face. “What can you tell us about Djinn??”

Twilight gently but firmly pushed Pinkie away. “Well, lucky for you I’m as much an expert on the subject as anypony is, but there isn’t much to tell. They’re from Saddle Arabian legends. They have magic that can grant the wishes of anypony, but they’re also described as cruel and capricious, always twisting the wishes around to have negative consequences.”

“Like Notebook…” Applejack said with her ears pinned down.

Twilight looked at Applejack, a look of solidarity on her face. “I did hear about that incident last year,” she said softly.

“But if a Djinn is so dangerous, why did the Princess take him in?” Fluttershy pointed out.

“All I know is that some time last year, Princess Celestia asked me to look into Djinn and how to free them from their prisons,” Twilight said.

“Prisons? Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

Twilight inhaled. “From the available information I’ve learned, I surmise that Djinn are brought here from somewhere else by a summoner, but they’re placed in a Djinn’s Prison where they are unable to escape or even sleep. If anycreature who has a deep desire wanders near a Djinn’s Prison, they can enter said prison and make a wish. Princess Celestia told me about a conversation she had with Damian a year ago.” She relayed it to the others, who listened in horrified silence.

Fluttershy was the first to speak after the basics of the conversation between the Princess and Damian were explained to them. She had tears brimming her eyes as she muttered, “That poor Djinn…”

“What kind of sick and twisted freak would summon somepony like that?!” Rainbow, now fully awake and completely angry, asked with gritted teeth.

“Rainbow! Language!” Twilight, who was now covering a confused Spike’s ear, hissed.

Rainbow slowly hovered back down to her bean bag. “What monster would do that…?”

“Now I understand,” Pinkie said softly, catching the attention of everypony else there. “Now I understand why Dami looked so blank. So blah.”

“Life hasn’t been too kind to him,” Twilight said.

“Ah’d call that the biggest understatement of the century, Twi,” Applejack said.

“Did anypony see that newspaper clipping from a couple days ago?” Rarity asked. “The one where he was leaning against Princess Celestia.”

This seemed to catch Twilight’s interest as her ears perked up. “I must have missed that,” she admitted.

Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a newspaper, tossing it over to Twilight who caught it in her magic. She looked at the image of Damian leaning against the Princess. To everypony there, he looked a bit more at peace than the blank expression he normally wore. His mouth was slightly open and the enchanted image, which repeated every ten seconds like most newspaper images, showed that he was breathing in and out with the regularity of sleep. Celestia looked at the cameras, said something briefly, then looked down at Damian with the kindly smile she was known for before putting more of her wing around him before the image repeated back.

“Wow, I didn’t think the Princess would do something like that,” Spike said as the image repeated again.

“I imagine after not having slept for nearly a thousand years, he’d be very tired,” Twilight said.

“So, what can we do here, Pinkie?” Applejack asked. “This party of yers is comin’ up and yeh haven’t gotten any ideas up there except that donut one. Yer the party pony.”

“Just throw out ideas!” Pinkie said, sounding a little bit desperate now. Part of her mane came undone.

Spike saw this and inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Never thought I’d see somepony else Twilighting,” he muttered.

“Ignoring that,” Twilight grumbled before she looked at Pinkie. “Now I admit, I’m new here, so I don’t know much about how your parties work, but wouldn’t a normal party work?”

“But once everypony knows he’s the Djinn they might not like him!” Pinkie said.

“Now I see the issue,” Twilight said. “Pinkie, I don’t know you that well, but you told me that you’re friends with everypony in town, right?”

“Almost everypony, but close enough,” Pinkie said, eyes glued to Twilight in hope.

“I just had a thought,” Twilight said. “I once knew a pony who was obsessed with the mythical human race. Damian is a human who was turned into a Djinn. Why don’t we-?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” Pinkie gasped. “Lyra would know how to help! Be right back!” With that, she took a step towards the window, opened it, and leaped out, galloping down the side of the wall, landing, and rushing off towards Bon Bon’s and Lyra’s home, a sweets shop run by the former. In an instant, she was inside and leaning against the counter to a clearly startled Bon Bon. “Bonnie! Where’s Ly-Ly!? I need her help!”

“U-Um, she’s upstairs in her room,” Bon Bon said, “but I don’t think-”

“It’s about the Djinn!” Pinkie said. “The human!”

In a flash, Lyra was standing beside Pinkie, golden eyes wide and her smile wide. “That Djinn really is a human?!” she gasped.

Unfazed by Lyra’s sudden arrival, Pinkie nodded. “Come with me!”

Several moments later, Pinkie was back in her room with a dazed Lyra standing next to her. Twilight’s eyes were wide in astonishment, but Pinkie had no time. “Twilight! Tell her what you just told us about Dami!”

“Twilight? You’re here, too?” Lyra asked.

Twilight looked at Lyra, ears drooping. “Oh dear…I missed Moondancer’s birthday…”

“We can deal with that later,” Pinkie exclaimed, filing away the inevitable scolding she would give her new friend about missing a birthday party. “Twilight, tell us what the princess told you!”

Another explanation later, Lyra was staring blankly at Twilight. “A thousand years of torment…” she said with a hitch in her voice. “I…” she turned to Pinkie, a determined look in her eyes. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

Pinkie’s heart soared. Dami may be a Djinn, but he was originally a human! A party to celebrate his human self and not the Djinn part was perfect! “Okay, talk to me, Ly-Ly!” she said, walking over to the board. “Lay it on me!”

“Well,” Lyra began, “I know that humans are omnivores…”

When Celestia and Luna both went to visit the library to visit Damian later that day, they found him hovering in the air sitting on a floating carpet that looked familiar to the solar monarch. Slowly floating around him were several books, just flying around him like they were in orbit. Curious as to what he was reading, Celestia slowly flew up only to see that he was looking at a book titled The Canter Berry Tales. It was a set of tales written by the famous author Ginger Saucer, and the alicorn noted that Damian seemed to have a special interest in that book.

When she slowly lowered herself onto the flying carpet, she was surprised to find that it could easily support her weight. Damian looked up from his book then over at her. He inclined his head. “Your Highness,” he greeted her politely enough.

“I see you found one of the most famous books by Saucer,” Celestia noted as she looked to see which tale he was reading. “Ah, you’re already at The Mage’s Tale. My personal favorite of those is The Tale of Minnow Reed, but that comes later.”

Damian turned the book back to the table of contents and looked through it before nodding and turning back to the page he was on. “There’s actually a book from my world with a similar premise and a nearly identical name,” he said as he snapped. A large book appeared between them with the title The Canterbury Tales written on it. Celestia noted that the author’s name was Geoffrey Chaucer. “Feel free to take it,” Damian added as he closed the book he was reading and then waved his hand.

As he did so, a couple things happened at once. The books that had been orbiting him began to fly gently back to their spots while at the same time the flying carpet lowered itself to the ground where Luna was waiting. Celestia picked the book up with her magic and looked at it before looking back at Damian. “Did you summon this book from your old world?”

He shook his head. “I touched that book once back in my world, so I can summon a perfect copy of it,” he replied. “Like I said, you can keep it. In fact, do you have an empty room where I can create some more human literature for you to keep?”

Celestia thought about this. Most rooms in the castle were all used for something, but then she noticed that there was a large section of shelves nearby that had no books on it. That’s odd, she thought as she turned to the librarian on duty today. “Why is that section empty?” she asked.

The librarian, a younger unicorn stallion with a dark black mane, green eyes, and a brown coat, bowed apologetically. “Apologies, your Highness,” he said, “but the books that were there are being repaired. They were coming apart and needed some repair work done on them.”

“‘Tis quite a sight indeed,” Luna said, thankfully in a quiet voice. Even a thousand years ago, being quiet in a library was an unspoken rule.

Damian raised his hand and snapped. Instantly, a number of books appeared on the shelves, not filling the shelf up entirely, but there was enough there to fill up at least half. They were all arranged by series if they were in a series, title if they were a singular book, and genre, with a majority being science fiction and fantasy, while others were historical, religious, children’s stories, school workbooks and more. Celestia walked forward and examined them with some curiosity. She almost laughed when she saw that the label for this section had been covered with a piece of paper that read HUMAN LITERATURE (TEMPORARY LOCATION). She knew her faithful student would be all over these books if she knew they now existed.

She spotted the same book that she now held in her wing, The Canterbury Tales, sitting in the fantasy section. Other books caught her eye, such as The Phantom Tollbooth in the children’s section, the Lord of the Rings series by an author named J. R. R. Tolkien in the fantasy section, the Hyperion series by an author named Dan Simmons in the science fiction section, and many more. She turned back to Damian, who stood by the side with his normal emotionless expression on his face. “You’d give these all to us?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Sure, why not? It’s not like I’ll be here for too long.”

Celestia inwardly frowned. If there was one thing she didn’t like about this Damian, it was his attitude towards his imprisonment. She felt like he’d given up on ever being truly rescued from the tartarus he’d been through. Not that she could entirely blame him, of course. If he was right and got his hopes up, it would only hurt him more, so she suspected that he was not getting his hopes up so he wouldn’t be crushed if nothing could be done.

Clearing her throat softly, she said, “Damian, my sister and I are going to be going out to Canterlot to see the festivities. Would you care to join us?”

“Festivities? Isn’t the Summer Sun Celebration over?” he asked.

Celestia shook her head. “It’s a festival that lasts for a few days in many cities,” she explained as she walked over and put a wing on his back, gently leading him out. “There’s eating, drinking, dances, songs, and plays.”

He looked a bit intrigued by this, so as they left the library, he said, “Sure, I guess it could be fun. I wonder if they have elephant ears.”

“Sir Damian, our ponies doth not consume the flesh of others,” Luna said with a frown.

Damian shook his head then snapped his fingers. A massive platter of light brown pastries appeared in front of all three of them. Each one looked like they were covered in cinnamon sugar. Celestia took one of them in her magical grasp and sniffed it. She was surprised by how delicious it smelled, so she took a bite. The outside of this strange flat pastry was crisp while the inside was fluffy and hot. The cinnamon sugar gave the dough a sweet flavor. She ate it quickly despite already having eaten breakfast with Luna earlier. There was always room for dessert, after all. Looking over to Luna, she saw that her sister was just as eagerly devouring hers.

She turned back to Damian, who was holding his own pastry and eating it while watching them. He held his up. “This is an elephant ear,” he said. “On my old world, at least in my country, it’s something you’d find at a county fair. It’s basically deep-fried dough coated in cinnamon sugar.” He snapped and a few pieces of paper appeared in his hand which he held out. “Here’s a few different recipes for you to try.”

Celestia looked the recipes over and was surprised by how simple each one was. Each recipe even had images for reference. She smiled and looked up at him. “Thank you, Damian.” She teleported the recipes to her room, making a mental note to give them to her royal bakers later to see if they could replicate it.

“This concoction is indeed quite delectable, Sir Damian,” Luna said as she licked her lips. To Celestia’s amusement there were still some flecks of cinnamon sugar on her muzzle.

“It’s definitely one of my favorite carnival foods,” he said as he snapped and a very elaborate dark blue hoofkerchief with Luna’s cutie mark sewn onto it appeared in front of her. At the same time, a cream colored hoofkerchief appeared in front of Celestia, this one with her own cutie mark sewn onto it. “Here you are.”

As the princesses wiped their muzzles clean, Celestia asked, “Damian, if there are consequences for any magic you use on others, why hasn’t there been one so far when you’ve used your magic since we freed you? Or do you know?”

“If I use my powers because I want to and not because someone asked, there aren’t any consequences,” Damian explained as he floated up, the carpet appearing beneath him again. He sat cross-legged on it as they continued towards the castle entrance. “I used my magic because I wanted to. If someone were to ask me for something, then there’d be consequences. For example, if you were to ask for another plate of elephant ears, there’d be some kind of consequence.”

Celestia looked at the platter before her, but in her mind, she was thinking. “And I assume that if you tried to free yourself from whatever curse is laid on you now, it wouldn’t work?”

He shook his head. “I may have powers similar to Discord, but there are even things I can’t do, and that’s definitely one of them,” he explained as he lay down on his stomach on the flying carpet.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Celestia saw Luna narrow her eyes at Damian. “How hath the knowledge of Discord come to thee, Sir Damian?”

“I read about him in some of the books at the old castle,” he explained. “He definitely has powers like me, although he’s a menace with them.”

“Thou hast no idea,” Luna snorted.

“I have a pretty good idea from what I learned from those books,” Damian said as he put on a pair of dark sunglasses as they were approaching the front doors to the castle. He grabbed another elephant ear and chewed thoughtfully on the still steaming fried dough. “He’s not evil, per se, just pure chaos, and that negatively affects the people around it. A little chaos is fine, but too much is detrimental.”

“I agree,” Celestia said. She was finding that a conversation with this human turned Djinn was quite enjoyable. He didn’t really treat her like nobility, instead treating her like just any other pony. It was quite refreshing for her. “There are times when even I find too much order to be stifling.”

“Perchance, is that why thy old room in our old abode would be filled with refuse at times?” Luna asked.

Celestia giggled. “As the foals today would say, I could be a bit of a slob.”

“That’s not something you see every day,” Damian commented as the guards at the door opened the gates to the outside.

As the three walked out of the castle, now being escorted by a contingent of guards, a new face flew over from above. Celestia turned and smiled widely as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, otherwise known as Princess Cadance, the Princess of Love, landed right in front of the group. She was out of breath and panting, but gave the solar monarch a pout. “You didn’t wait for me,” she said with a huff.

Celestia’s smile grew. “I told you I was picking up a special guest before we would be leaving. It’s not my fault you’re late.”

Before Cadance could reply, a set of hooves galloping out from the castle doors. Celestia turned again only to see a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane rushing out. He wasn’t as winded thanks to his training, but he was certainly breathing heavily. “Princess, you shouldn’t have run off like that,” he said as he looked at Cadance, clearly oblivious to Celestia and Luna’s presence.

Cadance giggled, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Hey, it’s not my fault that you’re so slow,” she said in a teasing manner.

Celestia looked at the member of the guard. She knew who he was, as she made a point to know the names of everypony who worked in the palace. He was Lieutenant Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle’s older brother. He had been assigned to be the head of Cadance’s security detail some six months ago. Celestia had done it as a means to see how he acted in a leadership role as the current captain of her Royal Guard was reaching retirement age and she saw potential in him and a hoofull of other ponies in the guard. Not only that, but she could see how the lieutenant looked at Cadance and as the ultimate means to troll the two she’d placed them in close proximity to each other. Clearly, the stick up his rump hadn’t yet come out.

Shining simply gave Cadance a disapproving look. “I’m in charge of your security. Princess,” he said matter-of-factly, “so it’s my duty to make sure you’re kept safe.”

“Shiny, I’m fine,” Cadance said.

“Wow, who knew Twilight’s brother had such a big stick up his rump?” Celestia heard Damian whisper to her.

She giggled, but nodded. “Shining Armor is a good pony, but he can be uptight,” she whispered back as she took another elephant ear from the still floating platter and chewed on it while watching the scene unfold before her. She didn’t forget that he somehow knew about this stallion’s relationship to Twilight, but decided to ask later.

Cadance then turned to look at Celestia before she then turned to Damian. Her eyes widened a bit, then she took a few steps closer. “Is that…a magic carpet from Saddle Arabia?” she asked, looking up at Damian.

He looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow before shaking his head. “No, this is just a recreation of a carpet from the old castle in the Everfree that I placed a flying enchantment on.”

Now Celestia knew where she’d seen that carpet. It was definitely one from her old castle. Cadance looked around it, examining it and nodding in approval. “Looks like a comfy way to travel.”

He shrugged. “With all the power I have, I’ve had to find ways to entertain myself. Flying on a magic carpet like Aladdin was one of the first things I did with my powers. Ironic, considering that I’m a Djinn.”

Cadance’s eyes went wide. “So…you’re the fabled Djinn of the Everfree mom and dad told me about,” she said in awe.

He inclined his head. “That would be me, ma’am,” he said.

“Hmm…you don’t have a snakelike appearance,” Cadance said. “Mom always told me you looked like a snake.”

“A snake, huh? I can do that.” Damian snapped and his head was replaced by that of a dark green cobra. His skin was replaced with snake scales and a rattlesnake tail came out from behind him. “How’ssss thissss?” Damian asked with a hiss, the rattlesnake tail from behind him rattling. “Doesssss thisssss better ssssuit your exsssspectationssss?”

Cadance looked a bit nervous now, shuddering at the figure. Luna, on the other hand, simply snorted and turned away, trying desperately to hold back her laughter. Celestia watched the interaction with curiosity. That was, until Shining Armor stepped in front of Cadance, erecting a dark pink shield between the two. “Don’t you come any closer, monster!” he snarled.

The now snakelike Damian snapped again, and his form returned to the one that Celestia was used to. “That was weird,” he said, rubbing his head a bit. “I’ve tried becoming a snake before, and their eyesight is so strange. Then again, being a pony is even stranger.” With another snap, he vanished, only to be replaced by an alicorn pony stallion lounging on the carpet. He had a bright blue coat, black mane and tail, and a golden Saddle Arabian lamp for a cutie mark. “How’s this?”

Celestia now joined Luna in her giggling. She couldn’t help it. This Damian individual was incredibly powerful, but unlike Discord, he seemed to be benign. And not only that, but he was entertaining, even if he most likely didn’t mean to be. “You look quite nice as a pony-human hybrid,” Celestia said between giggled.

“Still, having the eyesight of a pony is just strange,” he said as he looked around. “I can see much more than I can as a human.”

Cadance spoke up next. “Well, I’ve never seen a cutie mark like that before,” she said. “What is it?”

“It’s a Saddle Arabian lamp,” Damian explained as he lifted his horn. The same dark green mist surrounded it and created a golden lamp which he floated down to the shield in front of her. “You lift the lid, fill it with olive oil, then bring a flame to a wick that’s been stuck into the end and light it. When the oil is gone, the lamp is extinguished. You can have this one if you want. I enchanted it to emit a lavender scent while it’s burning.”

Cadance stepped forward, putting a hoof on Shining Armor’s back. “Relax, Shiny,” she said, “he’s not a bad pony.” She then took the lamp and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

“I’m not a pony at all, but thank you,” he said as in a flash he returned to his natural state before turning to Celestia. “Now then, I believe you were going to show me the festivities?”

Celestia smiled and nodded, turning towards the front gates of the walls surrounding the castle. “Follow me, everypony-I mean, everycreature.”

As the gates opened, Damian looked out at the city streets. His head began bobbing as he began to hum then sing something softly. Celestia listened and heard the following stanza.

“The streets are paved with gold, better show them what you've got.
“Mares here never get old, in a town called Canterlot.
“But best do what you're told, you've got a rep to keep.
“Gotta bluff or else you'll fold 'cause the uptown never sleeps.”

“So, say please and thank you, it's so nice to see you.
“Back in line scream at you now.”

“Spare me your pleasantries,
“they don't mean shit to me, don't mean shit to me.
“You've got something to say, well spit it out,
“but watch your tongue, I'm not just anyone. No no no.”

Celestia couldn’t help herself. She began to laugh again. Damian stopped singing and turned to her as did Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor. She knew precisely what he was singing about. Canterlot was a place of opulence and she did know that there were older mares who seemed to remain youthful. She looked up at him and smiled. “That’s quite a song you sang, there. Do you enjoy music?”

“A lot,” he nodded. “I spent time actually writing and creating music of my own to help pass the time in my prison. I also learned how to play a large number of instruments.”

Celestia nodded. “Is that so? You have a lovely singing voice.”

He inclined his head. “Thank you. It took a thousand years to master.”

“And it certainly paid off,” Cadance said, interjecting herself into the conversation. “I heard what you sang just now, and I think you’re incredibly talented.”

“Truly, thy voice rivals those of our ancient minstrels from before our banishment,” Luna added.

“Thank you.” He looked at the floating plate of elephant ears, then back at Cadance and Shining Armor. “You guys can have some of these snacks too, if you like.”

Cadance’s eyes brightened and she took one, taking a bite. Her eyes widened as she chewed on the simple dish, smiling. “My, these are delicious!” she exclaimed as the group walked into the streets of Canterlot.

“Princess, you shouldn’t have taken a bite of Djinn food,” Shining Armor said with worry, giving Damian a suspicious look.

“Lieutenant, if he had wanted to poison anypony, my sister and I, along with your sister and her new friends, would have been dead already,” Celestia said with an admonishing look. “He created some food from his homeland yesterday.”

Shining Armor frowned at this, but simply nodded and continued walking next to Cadance. As the newest Equestrian Princess encouraged Shining to try some of the food, Celestia moved next to the floating Djinn. She ran her feathers along the carpet he was sitting on as it floated next to her. “Comfortable?” she asked.

He looked back down at her and nodded. “Very. It’s one of the nicest carpets. In fact, here.” He snapped his fingers and four more carpets appeared, three in front of the princesses and one in front of Shining Armor, each looking like carpets Celestia knew from her old castle. Each were floating in the air, and Celestia recognized the one in front of her as the one from her old room. “They’ll listen to your thoughts,” he said to the three princesses.

Cadance giggled and flew up to the one in front of her, a simple carpet with a pink and red striped heart sewn into the fabric. “Oh wow, this is comfortable,” she said as she looked up. The moment she did so, the carpet moved up quickly. “Whoa!”

“Princess!” Lieutenant Armor gasped in worry as he jumped onto his, a gray and black shield decorated carpet. His carpet shot after her. “Please slow down!”

“Wheee!” Cadance laughed as she clung to the front, doing flips with her carpet. “Whoa! Why am I not falling off?” she asked as she paused, hanging upside down. Her mane and tail weren’t falling down like Celestia would have expected.

“All Saddle Arabian magic carpets are like that,” Damian explained as he moved his own carpet up to hover upside down next to Cadance’s. “It’d be kinda stupid to have this kind of carpet and not have some sort of localized gravity spell added on. As long as you’re touching it, you can pretty much have all the fun you want.”

Shining Armor quickly joined the two, horn aimed at the Djinn. “I have my eye on you,” he said warningly.

Celestia sighed, and without thinking about it, leaped onto her own carpet, flying up next to the lieutenant. “Lieutenant, you need to calm down,” she said.

He scowled, but nodded. “Yes, your Highness,” he said. He then seemed to finally realized what he was standing on because he immediately moved to lie down, eyes wide for a moment before his training kicked in. “So…how do I maneuver this again?” he asked.

“It responds to your thoughts,” Damian explained again as he reoriented himself to be facing the normal way. Cadance did the same.

“Okay,” the unicorn nodded as he got a concentrated look on his face. He began lowering until he was close enough to the ground that he could leap off. “This could be very useful,” Celestia’s enhanced alicorn hearing heard him mutter.

Celestia chuckled, then looked up to watch as Luna and Cadance flew around in their new carpets. Sure, they didn’t need them because of their wings, but this was certainly a lot more fun and less work on their wings. She moved closer to Damian. “Thank you for these,” she said gratefully. “It certainly seems to be helping my sister already.”

“Of course,” he replied with a nod, “but shouldn’t we be going to explore the festivities?”

“Quite right,” Celestia said, then she looked up at the still flying Luna and Cadance. “Lulu! Cadance! Let’s get moving!”

A few minutes later, the group were moving, or rather flying on their magic carpets, through the crowded Canterlot marketplace. Even Shining Armor had gotten back on his magic carpet and was flying alongside his charge.

The crowd marveled at the magic carpets, only to gawk at the strange creature among the three royals. Celestia was a bit bothered by how the ponies feared Damian, but the Djinn didn’t seem too bothered by it. However, during their trip through the crowd he seemed to spot something and sped ahead. Celestia urged her new carpet forward to follow the human, and when she saw him dismount in front of a piano, she smiled a bit. The ponies backed away as he approached, looking nervous. Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor soon joined them. Celestia watched as Damian’s clothes began to morph until he wore what looked like a suit that a noble might wear at an opera, including a coattail on the jacket. He was also wearing a powdered white wig on his head as well. The crowd shushed as he sat on the bench, brushing his coattails aside. Celestia lowered her carpet to the ground and sat comfortably on it, as did Luna and Cadance, while Shining jumped off of the carpet and watched, ever on guard.

“Sister, pray tell, what is that instrument that Sir Damian is looking at?” Luna asked. “Is it a new type of harpsichord, perchance?”

“It’s called a piano,” Celestia explained, “and it was invented about eight hundred years ago.”

“Truly? We wonder how it sounds.”

“Looks like you’re about to find out,” Celestia said.

Damian looked at the piano, running his gloved fingers around it, then testing it before nodding in approval. He waved his hand, and in an instant the piano morphed into an exquisite looking grand piano instead of the simple one that it had once been. He closed his eyes and put his hands on the keys. Looking around at the more curious ponies, he said, “While I know you’re celebrating the Summer Sun Celebration, I think considering the unusual nature of this year’s festival, this might be an appropriate piece to play. This is a work by one of my world’s greatest composers Ludwig van Beethoven. It’s called…” and here he looked directly at Luna, “Moonlight Sonata, and it’s dedicated to the long lost Princess Luna.”

That caught the fully restored alicorn’s attention and her ears perked up. Celestia was just as intrigued. She was about to hear human music for the first time.

The music began, and instantly Celestia was enraptured by it. She instantly felt like she was sitting underneath a fully moonlit sky, but without the loneliness she had felt for the past thousand years. She felt her sister leaning against her and could also feel the joy radiating off of her younger sister. Celestia leaned in against Luna as well as Damian played. She suspected he had played the harpsichord or the organ that was in the old castle as a means to entertain himself. It had certainly paid off. Either that, or he had played the piano in his life before imprisonment. Nevertheless, she was lost in the moment, letting the piano piece take her to far off places, all lit in bright moonlight. When they reached the third and faster portion of the sonata, she saw herself simply galloping with her sister through a windswept grassy plain with the moon high above, laughing and prancing like fillies.

When he finished with a flourish, the number of ponies who had gathered around had increased. They were all in awe before they began to stomp the ground in thunderous applause. Cadance stomped hard, smiling widely at the performance. Celestia and Luna were a bit more demure, despite the fact that Celestia really wanted to cheer for him louder than the others. Damian stood, looking a little out of breath, but stood and bowed. However, he stood back up when the ponies began clamoring for another song. He held up a finger and nodded. “If you like, I can play one more.” This earned him some more cheers as he sat back down. When the crowd was done, he cleared his throat. “This is a song composed by another famous composer from my world named Franz Liszt. It’s simply titled Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I hope you enjoy.”

Just like the Moonlight Sonata, this rhapsody began slow but not as much as the previous song. At one point during the song, however, a brown mouse, a dark gray queen cat, and light gray rabbit came up to apparently listen to the music. They actually jumped onto the piano bench and sat there, the cat stretching out onto Damian’s lap despite the motion the human made while playing. The rabbit sat on the bench next to Damian, snuffling the air while the mouse sat on the edge of the piano watching with a curious expression. Even when the music began getting intense, none of the three animals left. The cat even began lazily grooming himself.

As the music became more intense, Celestia focused on Damian’s face. The normally neutral expression on his face was replaced with an intense expression as he focused on the piano playing itself. She hadn’t seen a look like that on his face before, and she wondered if bringing a piano to his room would make him happy. She made a note to gift him with the best grand piano she could find for him at a later date.

When he finished, there was silence before the applause came back. Even the three random animals seemed to appreciate it. The rabbit thumped his back legs, the cat reached up and began licking Damian’s face, and the mouse jumped onto his head, looking down at the human. He slowly turned around, picking up the rabbit and cat before bowing again, this time apparently trying to make sure not to drop the mouse on his head. “Thank you, everyone,” he said with what sounded like satisfaction in his normally neutral tone. “That is all I can do for now. I don’t want to distract from the rest of your festivities. Please enjoy the rest of your day.”

Celestia watched as the human was swarmed by ponies who were thanking him for a marvelous experience. He thanked them graciously while still holding onto the three animals who had suddenly become very attached to him. When he returned and as the clothes he wore melted away to reveal his normal attire, the cat meowed at him. He turned to the cat, raising an eyebrow. “You sure you weren’t bothered by the way I moved?” Another meow then a lick. “If you say so.” The rabbit then made a few chittering sounds. He turned to said rabbit. “Thank you.” The mouse then squeaked a few things and Damian looked up. “Thanks for not falling into that temptation.”

Celestia stood along with her sister and Cadance as Damian approached. “I see you’ve made a few new companions,” Celestia said with a smile. “Also, thank you for sharing your music with us. Those two songs were…amazing.”

“Wouldst thou have the sheet music for either of them?” Luna asked hopefully. “We have some experience with the harpsichord and if it is anything like this piano, we would be pleased to learn them. Particularly that first piece.”

Damian snapped and a few books appeared in front of her. All three alicorns picked up one book and opened them, looking at the sheet music in them. “All of these books are in the library I just created,” Damian said.

Luna seemed to find what she was looking for because she was intently reading over the notes of Moonlight Sonata. Celestia smiled. She knew what to get Luna for her first gift now, a grand piano all her own. She’d also need some earplugs for herself because she doubted Luna would not play. Her sister loved playing on the harpsichord and the organ in their old castle. It was a good outlet for her. Belatedly she realized she should have noticed something was wrong when Luna began playing music more and more often in the last days.

She came out of her brief reverie when she heard Damian saying, “You do? I mean, I’m currently living with them right now, so you’d have to get permission.” Celestia turned back to see that Damian’s ocean blue eyes were focused on her. “The mouse and the rabbit say they have families, but apparently this stray cat says she’s…chosen me to take care of her? I guess the cat distribution system exists in this world, too.”

Celestia chuckled and nodded. “I can provide you with a larger room to accommodate your new companion.”

The queen cat mewed softly. Damian listened, then nodded. “She appreciates that,” he said.

“How is it that you can understand those creatures?” Luna asked as Damian got back onto his carpet, his new pet cat joining him.

“Djinn can understand animals,” he said as he waved goodbye to the mouse and rabbit, both of whom headed away, the mouse riding on the rabbit’s back.

“Did they tell you their names?” Celestia asked.

“No,” Damian said, “but now I have to name this one here.” He reached down to the cat who was by now just lounging and giving herself a bath. “Already acting like she owns this carpet, huh?” He stroked her back, which didn’t even seem to bother her. “A spoiled princess, aren’t you?” The cat turned back, meowed with what sounded like a regal tone, then went back to grooming herself. “Okay then, Princess it is.”

“I take offense to that,” Celestia said, but she couldn’t quite hide the smile from her face.

The newly named Princess turned and faced Celestia. From where she was sitting, the cat was slightly higher in the air than Celestia’s head was. The look on Princess’ face was almost haughty amusement. She then made a sound that sounded like “Prrrmew,” before going back to grooming herself.

“She says you can all bow now, peasants,” Damian translated.

Cadance snorted, Luna laughed and Celestia’s face turned red, but not from anger, but from barely restrained laughter. “I see,” Celestia said. She climbed onto her own carpet, having gotten quite fond of how it felt underneath her. “Then, why don’t we all show Princess here the festival? I’m sure we can find her something.”

Several hours later, the sun was about an hour away from setting. The group was returning to the castle. Cadance and Shining Armor were both talking about the various stalls and entertainments they had experienced during the day. While Damian’s expression hadn’t really wavered aside from when he was playing that rhapsody, Celestia thought that he’d had a good time. He’d sampled every food item he could, even transforming into his human-like pony form when needed to try a hayburger.

As they were walking up to the castle, Luna turned to Damian. “Sir Damian, we realize that thy time in our world hath been torturous, but we wish to know if there is anything about the world that is enjoyable to thee.”

Damian took on a thoughtful look. “I think, for me, one thing I like here would have to be the flowers.”

Celestia was a bit surprised by this, and took the opportunity to ask, “The flowers? Why them specifically?”

He shrugged. “When I first arrived, I found a greenhouse and garden full of different types of flowers, berries, fruit trees etc. near the south wing.” Celestia saw a hint of a smile passing over his face before he continued. “It was a bit of color in the drab gray around me, and they were plants that I hadn’t seen before.”

Celestia nodded in remembrance. She’d thought that the greenhouse and garden had been destroyed, but she’d never really looked after moving the capital from the castle to Canterlot. The plants in the greenhouse and garden were all of types that were sadly now extinct. She came back to the present. “Would you like to see the caste garden?”

Damian looked back at her, then nodded. “I would.”

Several minutes later, they were all walking among the castle’s private garden. The air was cooler and smelled fresh thanks to the many scents of the flowers. Damian had gotten off of his flying carpet and was now walking around, looking at each and every flower he came across. Princess was asleep on the carpet which followed close behind Damian. Celestia watched this with a smile on her face. His normal expression was emotionless, but seeing him being so enthralled by the flowers seemed to lift his spirits. Even if he had only briefly smiled, it was warming to see him like this.

“Tis a beautiful garden, sister,” Luna said from beside her, “and we believe that thy protegee’s brother and his paramour are also enjoying themselves.” She turned back to watch Cadance standing close to Shining Armor as they admired some rose bushes.

Celestia snickered at that. “They aren’t dating, Lu,” she said.

“Perhaps not at the present,” Luna said, “but we foresee a future for those two.”

“So do I,” Celestia said warmly, watching Cadance as she and Shining walked along a path full of rose bushes.

“This is a very peaceful place,” Damian said, suddenly beside Celestia which startled her slightly.

She nodded down at him. “The Canterlot Castle Garden is one of the most beautiful sights in the city,” she said.

Damian nodded. “I look forward to exploring the city further,” he said.

“I could assign somepony to lead you through the city-” Celestia said.

“I could do it, auntie,” Cadance said as she and Shining rejoined them.

“Princess, you shouldn’t,” Shining said with a worried tone. “What if that creature-?”

“Lieutenant Armor,” Celestia began sternly, “I will not have you speaking in such a way about my personal guest. I understand your caution, but he has not in any way made himself a threat to me, my sister, or the kingdom.”

Shining’s ears splayed back onto his head, and he nodded. “Yes, your Highness…”

Celestia turned back to Damian, who hadn’t moved from his spot next to her. “I’m sorry for Lieutenant Armor here.”

“No need to apologize,” Damian said with a wave of his hand. “He’s doing what he needs to do to protect those he serves. I’d be suspicious of me too. Especially when the amount of magic and power I possess rivals or perhaps surpasses Discord’s own.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I see,” she said. “Still, I’d prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Damian gave her a respectful bow. “Thank you,” he said.

Her smile returned. “So, what else do you think about the garden?”

“It’s definitely a place I can really enjoy,” Damian said. “A perfect place to read, take a walk, or listen to the flowers sing.”

Celestia looked confused. “The flowers sing?”

Damian nodded, and put his hands together. When he brought them apart, a straight stick with a rose on the end formed. “Indeed. Watch this.” He snapped, and a part of the garden that was part of a recent expansion and that had not yet had anything planted there began to shimmer. To Celestia’s astonishment, a perfect replica of the garden from her and Luna’s old home suddenly appeared. He walked up to a large part of the new addition to the garden and brought the stick up. From nowhere, a harp strummed. “Alright, sound your A, Lily.”

Out of nowhere, a random bigger lily flower moved. A face appeared inside and it began to actually sing. “Laaaaaa!”

Another group of flowers, some pansies, also began to sing. “Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi!”

A daisy then began singing as well by going, “La, la, la, la, la, la, la!”

An iris began to warble an arpeggio. Then a chrysanthemum sang a set of base notes. When Damian brought the stick, which he was apparently using as a conductor’s baton, down, the flowers in the new part of the garden all began humming in an extremely beautiful harmony. Celestia took note that aside from the chrysanthemums, all the flowers had female voices. Then, the singing began.

“Little bread-and-butterflies kiss the tulips,
“and the sun is like a toy balloon. (Ooooh!)
“There are get-up-in-the-morning glories
“in the golden afternoon! (Ooooh Ooooh!)”

“There are dizzy daffodils on the hillside;
“strings of violets are all in tune.
“Tiger lilies love the dandy lions
“in the golden afternoon
“(the golden afternoon).”

“There are dog and caterpillars and the copper centipede
“where the lazy daisies love the very peaceful life
“they lead…”

“You can learn a lot of things from the flowers,
“for especially in the month of June
“there's a wealth of happiness and romance
“all in the golden afternoon.”

There was a brief musical interlude, and Celestia watched as many of the flowers actually seemed to become part of the orchestra.

“All in the golden afternoon
“the golden afternoon!”

“You can learn a lot of things from the flowers,
“for especially in the month of June
“there's a wealth of happiness and romance
“all in the golden afternoon!
“Aaah aaaaah! Aaaaah!”

With the sound of a cymbal crashing, the song was over, and the flowers all seemed to go back to how they were before, any faces they had now gone. The new part of the garden was exactly like Celestia remembered their old one. The extinct flowers that she remembered were now all back. Celestia wandered through the garden, dumbstruck by the gift Damian had unknowingly given back to her. She looked around and saw Luna was already looking at the old part of the garden that she had tended to. Moonflowers, night phloxes, gardenias, and more were all right where Luna had planted them.

Celestia turned back to Damian, who was simply walking among the flowers, gently caressing them and sniffing their fragrances. Acting on impulse, Celestia picked up the human and brought him close to her, wrapping him in a tight embrace. “Thank you…” she said, tears forming in her eyes as she held him.

Luna was instantly by their side as well, joining in the hug. “We thank thee, Sir Damian,” she said. “We feared that many of the flowers were gone…”

Damian didn’t move for a bit. Then, to Celestia’s delight, he wrapped his arms around her and Luna. “You’re welcome,” he replied in a soft tone.

Celestia looked up at him, and froze in astonishment. Because for the first time since they had met, Damian was smiling.

Prologue: A Stage Set

Author's Note

There have been some location name changes I've made to this story from the previous one. To keep the story consistent, I've changed the names of the locations in the prequel to this one.

Prologue: A Stage Set

June 1, 1462 of the Common Age

The snow-capped double peaked mountain known to those of the valley floor simply as the Antlers was a majestic sight to behold. Located at World Uppermost, the snow-covered mountain loomed high over the southern landscape below, a vast landscape of endless grasslands and tundras which seemed to spread on for eternity. The Antlers was also the source of all the water in the valley floor below, its winter runoff having long since eroded away at the now petrified stump of the Deep Tree, which had once been the tallest tree in the world, reaching past the clouds themselves. Legends said that the Evertree itself had been so tall that it, too, could be covered in snow near the top but not near the bottom.

The eroded cave led to an interior cavity within the tree and pooled around the massive Pool of Dreams, a glowing body of water which illuminated the cavern in a cool blue glow. Here, a magic lost to time purified the water, which overflowed and had eroded its way towards the south, forming the Everfalls. There, the falls fell towards the First Lake, which, according to some deer myths, was the very first body of water to have formed on this continent.

From that lake, the mighty Azure River flowed through the land, giving life bringing water to the deer who lived in the small villages below, or providing for those stubborn tribes who continued wandering the landscape. The river split over five hundred trotlengths downstream. One flow, the eastern Azure, headed towards the eastern ocean, but the western headed towards the Mors Ruins, a relic of the deer’s old past Golden Age before the Time of Ruin befell them all those hundreds of years past. It was a cursed place, a dangerous ruin full of dark magic and deadly traps and pitfalls still left in place from when it was sacked all those years past. The Ruins themselves were still visible to the south, blackened and charred by the fires that had destroyed the castle so long ago.

However, one relic of the past Golden Age remained in the once proud northern land of the deer. On top of the former Deep Tree stump sat a temple, a temple covered in green foliage. It was known as the Temple of True Accord. Its curved rooftops underneath the vines were carved with ancient enchantment symbols that had been carved over fifteen hundred years ago, protecting the interior and keeping it and the denizens warm inside. It was the main headquarters for the Order of Unitas, an ancient order of deer enchanters and mages whose existence predated even the Era of Strife before the Golden Age.

The interior of the temple had four floors, the first being the living quarters for each of the members of the Order of Unitas, including their Acolytes, Priests and the High Priestess. The second level was a library containing many ancient books, many of which were the only remaining copies that had been saved from the Mors Ruins. The third level had rooms that were repurposed for classroom sessions for the Acolytes to learn all there was to learn about the deer’s special talent for enchantment.

But it was the fourth level that only the most senior rankings of the Ten Priests and the High Priestess could visit: the Meditation Den. Here, it was said that the Unitas hierarchy kept an eye on the world around them using their power over the mystical Third Eye, a large piece of amber said to contain pollen from the Deep Tree before its untimely destruction. Using the Third Eye, they were even able to sense magical disturbances as far west as the Kingdom of Equestria, half a world away.

It was in the Temple of True Accord’s first floor, however, where Acolyte Opheda sat at her desk, staring at one of her many failed attempts at enchanting. Her room was small but functioned perfectly for the purposes of her station. There was a small single person bed, covered by a thick quilt, one of the only few possessions she was allowed to bring with her. Across from that was a desk, and to the right was a small closet where her meager possessions sat on the shelves. Next to it sat a bookshelf filled with all of the knowledge she was currently allowed to possess.

At the foot of her bed was another door which led into a private bathroom, something that all rooms in the Temple had. It included a tub, a toilet, and a sink. All the water for the facility was taken from other runoff streams that flowed down the sides of the Antlers.

Between the bed and desk was a large window looking west. The floor was solid oak, built from the old remains of some of the recovered branches of the Deep Tree. The ceiling too was made of the same wood. The walls themselves were a pale cream color, and bare of any type of decoration despite the signs of previous occupants having said décor in the form of old rusted nails and hooks and outlines where there may have been portraits.

Opheda had no such luxuries. She was new to Unitas, the society of peacekeepers among her kind. She was young, barely a doe of twenty, and one of the few does lucky enough to have grown a set of antlers. Her fur was a deep chocolate brown with a small white stripe on her forehead, and her antlers, while smaller than other does lucky enough to enter the order, were still just barely powerful enough for her to qualify to become an Acolyte.

She concentrated her magic onto the small piece of paper with the enchantment circle on it, trying to make a nearby crystal gain the ability to absorb sunlight and store it until needed. The Temple of True Accord relied heavily on firestone crystals or wall sconces, which worked, but the light Opheda wanted was a cooler one. One which didn’t quite hurt her eyes as badly as torches or firestones did. Her antlers glowed with their signature aquamarine color, and while she could very well use the light spell to illuminate her room at night, she was still only able to hold it for five or so minutes before a headache stopped her.

Hence, her attempt at creating a stone which stored sunlight and turned it into a glowing silver star which could help her read and study at night. Opheda was nothing if not studious, perhaps too much so. She concentrated all her gathered aether towards the enchantment, trying to recreate its intricate lines of engravings and ancient writing into a magic circle between her antlers. The harder she tried, however, the more her head continued to hurt. With a final push, she forced any remaining aether she felt she could spare into her antlers.

And the world exploded into a jumble of colors around her.

She was thrown back against the wall, slamming into it with enough speed to cause a small crack to form right where the majority of her weight hit. She grunted as she slid down said wall. Fortunately, she landed on her bed, more dazed and confused than in pain. The world was ringing around her and any other sounds were muffled.

Somedeer popped into view before her, an older cow with a concerned expression on her face. The dazed Acolyte shook her head in response to whatever the other deer was saying, then pointed to her ear and said, or thought she said, “Can’t hear!”

The older deer, who Opheda recognized as Maerise, one of the more junior Priestesses, frowned, then shook her head. Lifting her horns, they glowed their signature amber, and Opheda could suddenly hear again. Maerise looked down at her young charge. “Can you hear me now?” she asked sternly.

Opheda’s heart dropped at the tone in the Priestess’ voice. “Yes, matron,” she said softly.

Maerise looked back at the desk, which had, by now, cracked down the middle. Pieces of paper and books were scattered everywhere, and there was a shattered piece of quartz sitting in the epicenter of the burn marks of the magical explosion. “What in Accord’s sake were you trying to do, Acolyte?” Maerise asked, looking between the quartz and Opheda with a stern tone.

“Ah…I was…trying out a new enchantment,” Opheda said nervously, rubbing her hooves together.

“In what? Excavation?” Maerise asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No no!” Opheda said quickly. “I just…I wanted something other than a candle or a firestone.”

Maerise looked back down at the floor, then used her magic to pick up a half-burned piece of paper, the remnants of her attempted enchantment. She looked over what remained, examining it carefully, then placed it beside Opheda. “Your runes were sloppy,” she said, “and the ancient Deeric had incorrect grammar. How many times must I tell you not to practice more advanced enchantments until your lessons are complete? You could have been seriously injured, or worse.”

What made Maerise’s words that much more potent to the young Acolyte wasn’t what she said, but how she said them. Disappointed, like a mother with an unruly doe. Opheda frowned, but knew better than to argue with her personal matron. Maerise was the main reason she’d been allowed to become an Acolyte in the first place, seeing as they’d both come from the same village to the southeast of the Temple. “It won’t happen again, matron,” she promised, but inwardly she flinched when she heard how she sounded. Like a doe after being reproached.

“Ophy,” Maerise said tenderly, dropping into her more motherly tone, “you keep saying that but you just keep on trying more advanced enchantments. Now please tell me…is everything alright?”

Opheda nodded. “Everything’s fine, matron,” she said, giving a small smile.

“Don’t lie to me, young lady,” Maerise said. “You’ve only been here six months and already you’ve gotten into at least thirteen enchantment related accidents. I know you love to learn, but there is a reason why we teach at the speed we do. Your antlers are just not ready yet.”

Opheda wanted to contradict her matron. She wanted to scream that Maerise was full of shit, but she kept her mouth closed. She knew she was more than ready, but she felt like the other Priests and her teachers weren’t giving her a chance. But all she could do was nod her head in false agreement. “I understand, matron.”

Maerise looked deep into Opheda’s eyes for a few seconds before she sighed and looked around the room. “You have a lot to clean up, young lady. I suggest you get to it quickly. Sunset is only a few hours away.”

Opheda looked out of her bedroom window at the snowcapped peaks of the Morose Range. The light of the sun was beginning to head towards the mountain range itself. It would only be one more hour before the sun was hidden behind the mountains and she would need to light a candle or bring out one of the firestones. She nodded. “Yeah…I probably should,” she said, her ears flattening.

“Just keep in mind that I can’t keep overlooking this kind of behavior,” Maerise said. “You’re a gifted Acolyte despite your shorter antlers, but you need to stick to the rules if you want to become a Priestess someday.”

“Yes, matron,” Opheda replied automatically as she began to use her magic to pick up her now cracked desk and set it back where it belonged.

“Promise me, Ophy,” Maerise said, more urgently this time and pleadingly.

“I promise,” Opheda said, trying to muster as much sincerity into the lie as she could.

Maerise, thankfully, bought it. “Here, let me at least do this.” She turned to the desk and her antlers glowed. A large magic circle appeared on the desk and the crack through the center began to slowly vanish, leaving a flawless looking desk once again.

“Thank you,” Opheda said.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you later at dinner, right?” Maerise asked.

“Um, maybe,” Opheda said uncertainly. “I might not be finished cleaning up before then.”

“I’ll have the chef set aside a portion for you just in case,” Maerise said. “And if I don’t see you at dinner, please go to bed at a decent time. I don’t need you falling asleep in class again.”

“Yes, matron,” Opheda said automatically. Sighing and shaking her head, her matron left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Opheda once more alone with the mess she’d made. Once she was sure Maerise was out of hearing, Opheda’s face scrunched up and, in a mocking tone, said, “‘You need to stick to the rules if you want to become a Priestess someday’. Pah!” She scoffed. “The rules are buckshit.”

She continued muttering angrily to herself as she used her magic to reorganize the desk and the papers that had scattered everywhere. Some had even made their way into her open closet on the topmost shelf. It took her about an hour, but soon there was some semblance of order to the stacks of study notes and former practice enchantment circles she’d made days or even weeks before.

Next, she went to her bathroom, grabbed a bucket, filled it with water from the sink, then grabbed a small sponge, a towel and a bar of soap and began cleaning the walls. Halfway through cleaning, she had to light a few of the firestone sconces around the room to illuminate the room. By the time she was finished, or rather by the time she managed to clean every scorch mark she could see in the ruddy glow of the firestones, the sun had vanished and the mountains outside were illuminated by the glow of the moon.

Famished after all that work, she made her way down the hall and into the common area of the first floor. The common area was separated into three distinct rooms. One was a large sitting area with couches, small tables, and large bookshelves full of all kinds of ancient books that had been enchanted to resist the ravages of time. The second room was the common dining area, where Acolytes, Priests and the High Priestess all ate their meals. The third room was where the kitchen was located.

Opheda entered the dining area to discover it was empty. Looking up at the clock, she saw it was just past nine in the evening, and the tables had long since been cleaned. Opheda made her way to the kitchen where she saw two of the kitchen staff, older Priests of Accord, busily cleaning pots and pans in the massive sink. One of them, an older buck named Athatos, saw her enter. “Late to dinner again,” he sighed, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Lost track of time,” Opheda admitted.

“Stew’s over there,” he said, pointing towards a corner with his left hoof before returning to the task of rinsing one of the larger pots out.

Opheda turned and saw a wooden bowl and a plate underneath just sitting on a corner table. She grabbed it with her magic, then slipped back into the dining area, set the stew down at the nearest table, sat, then began to eat. By now, the stew, which was carrot and potato stew, was cold, but she still ate ravenously. Using magic did tend to increase a deer’s appetite, and she had spent a few hours busily cleaning her room.

When she finished and cleaned up her place, she decided to go for a walk. Outside, the gibbous moon shone down on the land far below, the shape of the mare in the moon clearly visible on the moon’s righthoof side. The roar of the falls could be heard in the distance beyond the walls built around the edge of the stump. The stars shone brilliantly in the cool night air. A slight breeze blew through the grass which had grown from the imported soil, sending shivers down Opheda’s back. She regretted not grabbing a cloak of some kind, but was too stubborn to go on back, so instead she walked towards the center of the grassy area in front of the temple, lay on her back and looked up at the summer constellations.

Staring at the stars was something she would do as a fawn back in Apophne’s Pass, a deer village of only a hundred or so deer. It was located about fifty or sixty trotlengths up the Azure River. The town was small for a deer village, but it was one of the oldest around. It was said that after the sacking of the Mors Ruins, one of the defending generals led a small number of deer from the abandoned city up the river until they reached the sight of the future town. Her mother even claimed that their own family could trace their lineage back to Apophne’s bloodline. Then again, other nearby larger towns had similar claims of the famous deer general. Apophne had distinguished herself by being one of the only doe generals in the Deer King’s army, having been said to have bested all but one of the other generals in hoof-to-hoof combat and in magical prowess.

Opheda visually traced the summer constellations. She saw the Teapot and Teacup in the southern portion of the sky, with the small wisp of skycloud moving between the spout and the cup. To the east, the Gathering of Ancestors had just begun to rise, the large bright cluster of stars twinkling in the early nighttime air. To the west, she could see part of the Lost Crown, the three different colored stars making up the diadems blazing brightly despite the waxing moon lighting up the heavens with its silvery glow. Then there was the World’s Eye, a skycloud in the shape of an eye directly to the north. All stars in the heavens rotated around it, the bright blue star at the center acting as the iris. Its appearance over 1400 years ago marked the beginning of the common era, which almost all the world followed. It was an extreme coincidence that the skycloud had appeared on the very first of the year for the entire world. And ever since that day, the Eye had expanded, its gaze lingering on the world below.

The breeze picked up in intensity for a moment. Opheda hugged herself as best she could as another shiver ran down her back. She continued to lie there, staring at the stars as she let her mind wander. It was in moments like these where she had many of her own epiphanies about her enchantments. Then again, it was also moments like these where she could lose track of time and fall asleep.

This was one of the latter times.

Opheda was standing in a massive ruin. Of that she was absolutely certain. Looking around quickly, she saw it must have been a majestic throne room in its day, although why a throne room needed two thrones instead of one was a mystery to her. The moon above shone down through a hole in the ceiling. For a brief moment, she was afraid she was in the Mors Ruins, but quickly dismissed that as untrue since the Deer King only had one throne.

That, and the room was currently occupied by four beings who were clearly not deer.

Three of them were ponies. There were two who looked like guards standing at the entrence to the throne room, clearly frozen. The last one, however, was moving around and waving her hooves in front of the frozen guards. She was an alabaster pony with wings and a horn and was a head taller than the frozen pony guards. Like most of her kind, she had a mark on her flank. Hers was that of a sun. She had on silvery horseshoes and a golden crown on her head.

She was so engrossed in investigating the frozen guards that only Opheda saw the fourth figure materialize in a dark green mist on the dais behind her. This figure was bipedal in nature, with a long mane of hair which seemed to mirror the alabaster pony’s own mane in that it flowed in a breeze that Opheda couldn’t feel. It wore strange looking clothes, such as a pair of blue pants, a light red shirt and a black shirt with a hood over it. The latter was opened like a cloak to display strange lettering on the light red shirt. His skin was a pale pink, and his dark blue eyes were covered by a pair of thin glasses.

The bipedal being spoke. “They’re not dead, so there’s no need to worry about that. Although I was wondering when you’d be gracing my prison, Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria.”

Opheda looked back at the pony mare. She knew the name of Celestia from her studies. She was the Tamer of the Sun, able to raise the sun and moon with her incredible powers. She had more power in one hoof than even the most powerful deer enchanters. Opheda could practically feel the power flowing from the pony now that she knew.

Opheda watched as Celestia turned quickly to face this bipedal creature. Opheda saw the ancient princess spread her wings, then asked, “Who are you? What are you? What have you done to my guards?”

What followed was a conversation that confused Opheda. She had only heard of a Djinn in one lesson about foreign magic from Saddle Arabia. They were said to be beings of nigh omnipotence who had been enslaved to do the bidding of anydeer who made a wish of them. However, the wish would always backfire on the one who made the wish, sometimes in horrifying ways. They were malevolent and spiteful spirits. But the conversation between this Djinn and the pony princess seemed to indicate that this specific Djinn was less malevolent and more cursed to live out his days granting wishes without any say in the matter. She’d never even heard of a human, or whatever he claimed to be. She’d never even thought that a Djinn would plead for anydeer not to make a wish.

When the pony princess said, “I have no wish,” she froze in place, but the Djinn did not.

He placed the bottle he’d conjured down on one of the thrones, walked right up to the frozen form, and reached out towards her cheek. Opheda watched with curiosity as he stopped, then pulled away. There was an immense sorrow there, but one that seemed to indicate he’d cried too much and had no tears left. “Oh Celestia…you look better in person, I must say. I just hope nobody else comes by ever again. Please keep them away.”

As he began walking up the stairs towards the throne room, the world around her swirled and she was swallowed by an all-encompassing darkness…

Opheda bolted upright, gasping for breath. The air around her was colder than it had been when she fell asleep, and the sky was now an inky black instead of the deep blue it had been before, but she was drenched in sweat and panting, taking in deep gulps of air to try and calm her racing heartbeat. She could practically hear the loud thumping in her ears as she shakily stood and shook the grass and sweat off of her body.

“It happened again…” she said in fear. The dream she had was too real to be just a fiction her mind cooked up. She’d only ever had dreams, or visions, like this twice in her life, and each time she’d discovered that the events she’d witnessed had actually happened. The first time was when she’d seen a festival in one of the largest deer towns. A week later, a traveler from said town came and told of the festival with such shockingly similar details that Opheda had a hard time writing it off as a coincidence.

The second time had been when she’d actually been instrumental in saving a younger fawn’s life who had wandered off towards the woods near her village. When nodeer had believed her, she decided to go off on her own towards the small ravine where the poor fawn had fallen. It was also where she’d first manifested her talent for magic when she’d lifted the fawn out with her magic and brought him back to the town.

And now, there was this dream. If what she said was true, then somedeer had to know. She turned back to the temple and galloped towards the entrance. She rushed toward her matron’s room and began hammering at the door, panting. “Matron Maerise! Matron Maerise!” she called over and over again.

The older doe finally opened the door, looking tired and irritated at having been woken up. When she saw Opheda, her irritation turned into anger. “Opheda, what in Accord’s name are you doing here? It’s almost midnight. Did you blow something up again? Wait, what are you doing?!”

Opheda pushed Maerise into her room and shut the door behind her, wide eyed with fear. Whirling on her matron, she exclaimed, “Something terrible has happened! And no, I didn’t make anything explode!”

Maerise’s anger turned to confusion. “Okay, slow down. Just sit down for a bit.” She pointed to the bed. “You look like you need some water. I’ll be right back.”

As Maerise went to her own bathroom to grab some water from the tap, Opheda quickly sat on the bed and looked around the room. Maerise’s own room was larger than Opheda’s, with three bookcases against the wall. Other than that, it could easily have been the mirror image of her own, save for a couple of portraits on the wall. One was of a handsome buck wearing gold armor from the Golden Age. The second was of the Deep Tree itself, a vast tree of golden leaves. The latter probably was depicting the Deep Tree during autumn, where its leaves only changed colors but never fell.

Maerise came back, levitating a large glass of water over to Opheda. “Drink this, then tell me, calmly, what’s wrong,” she said in an authoritative tone.

Opheda took the glass with her own magic and, in one gulp, swallowed the entire thing. She put the glass down on an endtable next to Maerise’s bed, then took a few deep breaths. “Matron…I just had a vision.”

To her credit, Maerise didn’t just outright dismiss her, but instead walked over and sat next to her young charge. “Go on.”

In as much detail as she could remember, Opheda told her everything she’d seen after falling asleep outside. She even described the old ruin she’d seen in said vision. Maerise listened patiently to the frantic young doe. When she finished, Maerise put a tender hoof on Opheda’s back. “Opheda, my dear, are you sure you didn’t just dream this entire thing? Remember, the lesson where I mentioned the Djinn was also the same one where I mentioned Princess Celestia.”

Opheda shook her head. “This isn’t the first time this has happened,” she said frantically. “I’ve had visions like this twice before!” Without waiting to be told, she recounted the past two visions. “But this last vision feels different! It was like the Weave of Accord was being torn in two! Two beings of power like that and meeting?? We have to do something!”

Maerise put her hoof around the young Acolyte’s shoulder. “Opheda, dear, this just sounds like some kind of fever dream. You are warm, after all. Nodeer has had the ability of raw farsight without the use of the Third Eye since General Apophne herself. That art was lost hundreds of years ago.”

Opheda deflated a bit. She knew she was right, but Maerise was just casually dismissing it as a dream. “I didn’t say I have farsight! I know the difference between a dream and the visions I’ve had! This was a vision, I’m telling you!”

“Dear, you don’t have the necessary amount of magic to have visions, farsight, or anything like that,” Maerise said, then quickly added, “not yet, anyway. And besides, Apophne had to train her tail off just to be able to see five hundred trotlengths away.” She rubbed Opheda’s head gently. “I’m pretty sure it was just a very vivid dream.”

Opheda frowned. “It wasn’t! I know it wasn’t! Why won’t you believe me?!” Tears threatened to flow from her eyes.

“Sweetie-” Maerise tried to reassure the young doe, but Opheda pushed her away.

“No! Don’t you ‘Sweetie’ me! We’re in danger! I just know it! And you’re telling me it’s just a dream! IT’S NOT!” Before her matron could say anything, Opheda rushed out of her room, slamming the door behind her. She galloped down the hall, slammed and locked her own door, and jumped into her own bed.

And only then, did she allow the tears to fall.

Maerise sat on the bed, listening to the retreating hoof-falls of the Acolyte. She flinched as she heard the distant slam of the younger doe’s door. That could have gone better, she thought as she stood and grabbed the white robes that befitted her station as a Priestess of True Accord. She put them on, then left her room, heading for the stairs.

She walked up the northern flight of stairs, towards the Meditation Den. Soon, she was in front of a large set of double doors, which she opened with her magic. She was in a large domed room decorated with paintings which depicted the ancient past of their corner of Equus. In the center of the room was the Third Eye, the amber stone glowing with current use. Maerise lowered her eyes in respect as she entered. The doors closed behind her of their own accord. There was silence for a few moments before an old voice said, “Approach, Priestess Maerise.” The voice belonged to the High Priestess of Accord herself, Santhea. She was over two hundred years old, or so she claimed. Nodeer knew exactly just how old the blind white furred doe was.

Maerise approached as ordered, head lowered as it was considered bad form to look upon the eyes of the blind High Priestess without expressly being given permission. She walked around the raised platform which held the stone and the cushions where other Priests would sit whenever they meditated on the Weave of Accord. When she was in front of the raised cushions where the High Priestess sat, Santhea spoke again. “Look up at me.”

She was surprised to hear this, but obeyed. And was shocked to see Santhea’s eyes matching the color of the Third Eye. She was so shocked that she was temporarily unable to speak. That was, until Santhea’s laughter echoed through the Den. “I’ve been told it’s a disturbing sight, but that it the price you pay when you have stared into the Weave as often as I have. But I can sense that there is something that troubles you. Tell me your worries, for they grow with each passing moment.”

Maerise sighed, then took a deep breath. “My young charge came to me just a few minutes ago and told me about a dream she had.”

Santhea raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why is this of such concern to you that you would come to me?”

Maerise frowned. “She…she believes it was more than a dream. She thinks it was a vision she had.”

“I see. And what was this dream about?” As Maerise repeated the events of the dream, Santhea’s expression seemed to darken slightly. When Maerise was finished, Santhea was full on frowning. “I see…and what did you tell her afterwards?”

“That it was just a dream,” Maerise said. “High Priestess, she can barely keep up in her enchantment classes. There’s no way she can possess the skills of raw farsight. She’s only barely made it to adulthood.”

“And why bring this to my attention?” Santhea asked coolly.

Maerise’s lip twitched. “I…I suppose I was plagued with some doubt, my matron,” she said. “There was a portion of me that thought, ‘What if she is indeed telling the truth?’”

Santhea smiled warmly down at Maerise. “You were correct to tell her the truth,” she said. “Indeed, the Weave of Accord would not have it any other way. Honesty is one of the highest of priorities. I know about your young Opheda and her desires to be more than she is. She pushes herself to be better, but she is impulsive. Impatient. She needs a guiding hoof to tame that temper of hers, too.”

Maerise cocked a small half smile. “Forgive me, matron. I was impulsive, too.”

“Think nothing of it,” Santhea said. “You were concerned for your young charge and wanted to make her feel better with some good news. Unfortunately, you are correct. It was a dream. But perhaps you could let her take a few days off from her studies? Give her a week to go home and visit her family. Let her cool off and reflect on what you’ve said.”

Maerise’s smile became a full one. “Yeah…I think she’d like that. Thank you, matron. I’m sorry for disturbing you at this late hour.”

“Oh do not fret, my dear. I was already awake,” Santhea said with a wave of her hoof and a small smile of her own. “Now, go back to bed. You have a class in the morning, do you not?”

Maerise chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I do. Thank you once again for listening to me.”

Maerise bowed and backed out of the room, the doors opening as she approached. She felt relieved. She hated to see Opheda looking so distraught. She decided to talk to her young charge in the morning. She returned to her room, removed her robes, and climbed back into bed. She fell asleep mere minutes later.

Right after the doors to the Meditation Den closed, Santhea’s smile instantly faded. She looked back down directly at the Third Eye. The Deep Tree pollen trapped within it began to glow, and the interior turned into a hidden mist. It darkened, then a scene began to form within it. Santhea might have been blind to the normal world, but she was still able to see the world within the Third Eye. The scene cleared, showing a ruined castle from above half a world away. The scene shifted as she commanded her sight to move closer.

Passing through solid rock, she soon found herself in an ancient and ruined throne room. The moon above shone down into the old ruins. She looked around the room carefully, looking through every nook and cranny of the room.

That’s when she saw the recent hoofprints.

Unlike normal hoofprints, these radiated power on par with that of a deity. Not even her own power could come close to it. Recalling the details of the young Acolyte’s dream, she turned the view towards the throne…

Only to scream in pain as the view turned to a swirling dark green mist of pure power. Had she not quickly pulled her sight out of the throne room, it was likely that she could have died.

Santhea took a few moments to recover herself, panting heavily and rubbing her head with her hooves. “That power…” she gasped out after a while, the pain in her temples receding. She sat back up and pulled her sight back. “…it can’t be one of those cursed, wicked creatures.”

For the first time in a long while, Santhrea felt true fear. The Djinn were evil beings who caused nothing but pain and destruction. If this power was truly that of a Djinn, then she needed to keep a closer eye on the ruin.

The ruin located in Equestria.

June 3, 1462 of the Common Age

“Pretty mare, buy a pot! No finer pot in brass or silver!”

“Sugar dates! Sugar dates and figs! Sugar dates and pistachios!”

“Would the mare like a necklace? A pretty necklace for a pretty mare.”

Marecca. The center of Saddle Arabian commerce and the location of the Sultanate. Located east of the Dragon Lands at the edge of the Sands of Time, the desert nation capital was bustling underneath the scorching near summer sun. It was a circular city, with the Royal Palace sitting directly at the center of everything and tall stone towers and wall surrounding the city, protecting it from the sandstorms that blew in frequently. Its towers loomed even over the nearby living district for the rich and nobles.

It was only around eight in the morning, but Marecca’s bazar was already bustling with business. Carts full of products had already been set up on either side of the Commerce District’s many small side streets, and customers were already busy haggling with vendors over the prices of products.

“Fresh flowers! We pluck ‘em, you buy em! Only seventeen reinyal a bundle!”

“Thirty reinyal for a lamp?! That’s ridiculous!”

Among the crowd of Saddle Arabian unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies, an unassuming hooded and cloaked Saddle Arabian unicorn mare walked down one of the busier side streets. The hood hid her features and the brown saddlebag she wore hid her cutie mark, but she wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd anyway. She had a beige coat, a white mane tied down in box braids, and a tail hanging loosely behind her. Her dark green eyes looked through the crowds and vendors. She was searching for a specific pony.

After a few minutes of searching, and looking over the, to put it bluntly, offensive excuse for goods that were for sale, she found the cart she’d been told to look for. Only her informant had been mistaken about it being a cart.

It was a full-blown store.

She stared at the sign above the entrance with a frown. In big, bold Saddle Arabic, the words Abdul’s Curios were emblazoned in well painted Arabic cursive. As she entered, the allowed the cool air to wash over her and she removed her hood, letting her mane loose. After she finished, she looked around the store and was witness to, yet again, more evidence of the decadence of the city. Barrels full of fruits and oats of different kinds filled the interior as did a number of gems, which were marketed as freshly dug up from the outer reaches of the desert. This Abdul even had a wall full of clothes, sandals, scimitars, smaller blades and armor which was marketed as being ‘Fit for the Sultan himself’.

The proprietor himself, a portly earth pony Saddle Arabian with dark blue fur, a brown mustache and goatee, a brown tail and a mane hidden underneath a white turban, was busy with two other customers, two pegasi who were looking at his selection of jewelry at the front counter. Judging from the bits the unicorn mare overheard, the young couple were apparently looking for some engagement earrings. The stallion behind the counter, presumably Abdul, was trying to get the two to buy more than they wanted. Typical, the unicorn thought as she browsed the store’s wares.

After about ten or so minutes, two very satisfied pegasi customers walked out not only with earrings, but with a pair of matching necklaces as well. It wasn’t long before Abdul was in front of her, giving her the same shit eating grin that was typical of his ilk. “Hello there! Welcome to Abdul’s Curios! Is there anything I can help you find today?”

The unicorn looked at Abdul more closely. At first glance, the larger pony didn’t look like he brokered information, but she’d learned the hard way many years ago that looks could be deceiving. “I was told by a very reliable source that you’re the pony to go to for information on certain topics. He told me to tell you ‘The Sands of Time must part and bare the teeth of the sand dragon’.”

Abdul’s eyes widened a bit, then he grinned. “I see Samir’s brought me a new customer. I’ll have to get him some mint tea later. Now then, I take it he informed you of my prices?”

The unicorn lifted a large money purse full of reinyal and floated them over to the counter. She released it and it landed with a heavy thud and the jingling of coins. She used her magic to open it, revealing a treasure trove of gold coins. Abdul’s eyes practically shone as he saw the amount of gold pieces within. The unicorn saw the stallion smirk as she closed the purse and brought it back over to her. “You don’t get the money until I get the information, is that understood?”

“Ah, see that’s where you’re mistaken, my pretty little mare,” Abdul said. “I operate with a strict upfront payment policy. You pay before I say anything.”

She growled in frustration, but sighed and put the purse back down. “All this is yours if you give me the honest truth to what I’m about to ask, got it?”

He looked over the money once more, then turned back to her. “I believe we can do business, miss…?”

“My name is immaterial,” she said with a glare. “All I need is information from you.”

“Ah, an anonymous client,” he said. “I can appreciate that. Now, how can I help you? What can I get you?”

“I need information on a certain artifact.”

“Information I have, but it all depends on what kind of artifact you seek.” Abdul grinned, and the unicorn could tell that this wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped. “I know the tales and supposed locations of many different relics from all over the world. The rarer the artifact, the more the price I ask.”

“I was told you had information in regards to the location of a very important relic. One those weak and soulless griffons have.”

Abdul’s greedy grin grew wider. “Ah yes, I know the one you’re talking about. Well, that one is definitely one of the rarer artifacts. I know a few tales about it, but do you have ten thousand, five hundred reinyal?”

The unicorn glared at Abdul. “You would charge such an exuberant amount for information on an idol from a foreign land?”

Abdul put his hoof over his chest. “You wound me, my dear. That idol is extremely dangerous if placed in the wrong hooves, claws or any appendages belonging to anypony nefarious. It is my duty to protect the world, after all.”

The unicorn scoffed. She hardly believed he was that altruistic, and instead was in it for the coin. “The money is all in there,” she smoothly lied.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Abdul said, swiftly lifting the bag of reinyal off the counter before the unicorn could say or do anything. He held it aloft, moving it up and down as if testing its weight before he tossed it back down. “You’re not a very good liar, miss. There’s only about seven thousand in the bag. Now I could tell you about the location of the Memory Stone from Equestria for that price and a number of other more common relics that other ponies have asked about, but you’re going to have to come back with the right amount of money for information on that relic.”

For the first time since she arrived in this decadent city and age, she smiled. And kept on smiling as her horn began glowing. The magic seeping from it began to invade Abdul’s brain through his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Before he knew it, the dark red mist filled his entire being. His eyes glazed over and he stood there, completely still. She took the purse back with her magic, sliding it back into her saddlebag. “I was hoping for your willing cooperation, which is more than what you deserve in the presence of a superior being like myself. But you just had to make things difficult, didn’t you? Ah well, your complete and utter obedience to me will suffice for the time being.”

“Yes…mistress…” he said in a blank tone.

“Very good,” she grinned. “Now…that pathetic stallion…Samir, was it? Well, whatever his name was, he told me you had information on the Idol of Boreas. You will give me the information willingly, is that understood?”

“Yes mistress,” he said.

“Very good, little colt. Now, I need to know where it is.”

He nodded, then in the same monotone voice he’d been using ever since she’d cast the mind breaking spell, he relayed the tale of the idol and how Arimaspi stole it during the reign of King Guto, the last king of Griffonstone. Ever since, the kingdom had fallen into disrepair. When he reached that part, she raised a hoof. “I don’t care about that kingdom’s fate. What happened to this Arimaspi?”

“He fell into the Abyssmal Abyss with the treasure,” Abdul said. “Nopony knows where the idol is. He could have survived and limped back to his territory in southern Equestria, or he could have perished, impaled on the sharp rocks below.”

The unicorn mare frowned. This was not the news she wanted to hear today, but it was a place to start. She grabbed a nearby map from its display case and put it in her saddlebag. Putting her hood back up, she grinned. “You will remember nothing about my visit, but you will respond to my summons whenever I so desire. Is that understood?” And with that, she cast another spell, one she’d learned many years ago from the changelings. A spell which established a telepathic link of control between her and those which she cast the spell on.

The stallion’s eyes flashed green, then went back to their normal brown. “Yes, mistress.”

She backed out, then released her hold on his mind. At least for the moment. She turned and made herself lost in the crowd. “Griffonstone next, then,” she muttered to herself darkly, grinning as she did so.

June 20, 1462 of the Common Age/Year 999 After Nightmare Moon

The sun shone through the massive wall sized window overlooking the great city of Canterlot below the palace of Princess Celestia. The room it shone into was a two storied suite, the top level filled with an entire shelf of books, a massive hourglass which kept the time by magically rotating each hour on the hour, and a desk where its occupant, a small purple unicorn, would do the majority of her studying. The lower level consisted of her bed, the bed of her baby dragon assistant, and a set of blue double doors which led to a balcony overlooking the city below.

Currently, said unicorn was sitting at her desk, looking over one of the older books she’d been allowed access to from Canterlot Library’s forbidden section, one of the few she had found about Saddle Arabia. Ever since her mentor had given her the assignment to learn all about the Djinn as possible, she’d thrown herself deep into her research. She’d gone to the library itself and researched everything she could find on the eastern pony nation, but most of it hadn’t been too relevant to her assignment.

That didn’t mean anything to Twilight Sparkle, personal protegee to the ruler of all Equestria. Any knowledge learned was knowledge well earned, as far as she was concerned. However, she still didn’t lose sight of the assignment she’d been given.

She’d learned all she could from the normal library over the course of three days. When she found nothing, she had Spike, her dragon assistant, send the princess a letter saying that she had not yet found an answer in any book about Saddle Arabia, mythical beasts, or anything she felt could give any relevant information. She was surprised with the quick response from her mentor, as it arrived only a minute later. In it, Celestia told her and Spike to meet her at the Canterlot Library. There, she’d shown Twilight the motherload of all treasure troves for her: the Restricted Section of the library, full of books…all unread. There was an old-styled cataloguing apparatus that had fallen into disrepair over the course of years of lack of use. Celestia had to calm the purple unicorn down after the latter began panting heavily at the thought of being able to sift through the unseen knowledge.

The one rule that Celestia had given her was that she was only allowed to take ten books at a time, and only when she was there. Twilight had agreed, then grabbed the first ten books she could find about Saddle Arabia and mythical beasts.

Twilight had spent the next few days looking over everything in the books from cover to cover, not leaving one word unread. Spike had tried to help, but a lot of the wording of the older books was too antiquated for his poor mind to properly grasp, so Twilight let him go spend time with Moondancer and others that she’d known in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. With him out of her mane, her studies could go on in peace and quiet.

Days turned into a week, and she found nothing. She requested some more books from the restricted section and Celestia had been more than willing to accommodate her.

It was among thee next ten books where she found a possible answer to her assignment. In an extremely old book, one that couldn’t even be trusted in her own magic, she found a story regarding the myth of the freeing of a Djinn. In it, two Saddle Arabian merchants found an ancient monastery belonging to a cult of sand dragon worshippers. The two sought shelter from a massive sandstorm that was fast approaching, but as time passed the sandstorm only grew worse and worse. Their food rations began to diminish as days passed, and finally their desire to escape grew into a powerful wish. One which summoned the Djinn chained to the cult.

Once the Djinn was summoned, they both appeared in the Djinn’s World, the colloquial name of the timeless dimension where all Djinn were chained. The first traveler, Amir, wished to be back home, but the second, his brother Alastair, did the unexpected and asked the Djinn what he would wish for. Appearing surprised by the question, the Djinn said that he would wish for his freedom. Before Amir could say anything, Alastair spoke that very wish aloud.

And with that, the trap was set. As it turned out, in order to permanently free a Djinn, one only had to wish for it. However, this Djinn had been summoned thanks to the magic of the newer spell, the one which allowed for the Djinn to twist the wish. And the wish was definitely twisted. Both were.

Amir was indeed transported back to his small hometown, but he immediately lost his sight. As for Alastair, the Djinn had, before granting the wishes, revealed that in order to free a Djinn, another had to take his place and assume all his powers. Amir spent the rest of his life and wealth sending expedition after expedition back into that same desert to try and find the lost monastery, but as time went on, his ranting and raving began to be largely ignored as the words of a crazy old blind man lost in the grief of losing his brother. He died miserable and without answers.

Not one to be deterred, she continued researching, and it was on June 20th when she found another answer.

“What are the Melody Gems?” she wondered as she read over an old pony’s tale by the same name. As she kept reading, she learned that they were six gems which espoused the Saddle Arabian ideas of the Melody of the World, which seemed to be viewed in much the same way as Harmony was in Equestria. The location of the gems had been lost to time, but according to the old tale, the Melody Gems could theoretically be used to free a Djinn, but that solution would only ever be a temporary fix, since it would only allow up to five years of freedom for said Djinn. After the time elapsed, the Djinn would be forced back into his timeless prison, and the Gems would no longer work to be able to free the mythical creature.

Despite Twilight not believing it was worth mentioning, she decided at the last minute to include it as an afterthought to her finished report to the Princess. Little did she know this late inclusion would change the fate of a single individual…

July 8, 1462 of the Common Age

The hallways of the old Castle of the Two Sisters, or at least the copy in which the former human turned immortal Djinn was imprisoned, was silent. No sound could be heard anywhere, not the breath of wind, the calling of a night bird, or even the settling of the castle on its ancient foundations.

The only noises that could be heard throughout Damian Price’s prison were those made by Damian himself as he floated through the dark and dismal hallways for the millionth time. He hummed an old tune from his old life, the one he now could remember with perfect clarity. Due to the past thousand years living in perpetual darkness, his eyes had slowly begun to adjust to see better in the dark. If anyone were to see his eyes, they would reflect light much like those of an Abyssian.

With each note he hit, soundwaves reverberated through the castle and disturbed the perpetually floating dust particle before it faded away, the dust moving back to its proper place.

In a way, it reminded Damian of the last Peter Capaldi episode of Doctor Who, where the snow froze in place and would move back to its proper place in time after being displaced.

The Djinn floated down one of the hallways that led to the only room he was physically unable to enter: one which he saw a large stone pedestal with five spherical stones, each bearing a different geometric shape. He knew precisely what they were, of course. He didn’t need the knowledge of the ages which had been slowly filtering into his mind ever since he’d arrived in Equestria all those hundreds of years ago to know what they were.

He’d seen them before, after all.

He reached the double doors which housed the Elements of Harmony in their current state, and already he could feel himself being pushed back, as if by some kind of invisible hand was against him. Over the years, he’d built up enough stamina to be able to make three steps into the room without getting a massive headache, but that was the apparent limit of his abilities. Pushing the doors open, he took one, then two, then three steps in before stopping and staring at the brand new view of the elements.

“At least it wasn’t raining this time around,” he muttered to himself, shuddering at one time between wishes where he’d been stuck in a frozen rainstorm, constantly getting wet and drying off immediately afterwards as he walked or floated through the raindrops frozen in time. He stood and walked around the room, taking in the entirety of the stone tree in front of him. Above, the gibbous moon hung frozen in the night sky. He took a mental note that the planetary nebula in the northern sky had grown once again in comparison to the last time he’d seen it.

He noted as well that there were a few new cracks in the foundation below him, and he saw a family of frozen mice running up the stone tree which housed the Elements. He chuckled at the sight. Even if they were simply echoes of reality, it was still nice to see a new face.

He held up his hand, and a bottle of Coca Cola, the Mexican variety, appeared in his hand in a cloud of his signature Djinn magic. He twisted the cap off, hearing the hiss of escaping carbonation. Tossing the cap aside, which vanished in his dark green misty magic, he drank the entire bottle in one go before tossing it aside. It shattered on the ground nearby, and the shards vanished into dark green and black mist as well.

There weren’t many positives about his imprisonment as Equestria’s boogeyman, but the fact that he could summon any food he had memory of was definitely one of them. As he left the room which housed the elements, he summoned a piece of his tenth birthday cake, the one he thoroughly had enjoyed as it had been a Neapolitan ice cream cake. He dug in ravenously, just as he had on that day 1028 years ago back on Earth. Once he finished, he was back in his room, and tossed aside the paper place and white plastic fork, both of which vanished into that same dark green and black mist.

His room, of course, was one of the Royal Sister’s old bedrooms, since it was hermetically sealed up with some kind of magic. There was hardly any dust in the room, and the books here only looked like they’d aged a few years. He lay on the bed, grabbing one of his all-time favorite stories in this personal library: The Misadventures of Vertigo the Pegasus. A ball of mist appeared over his finger and materialized into a floating lightbulb, which he used to read the first chapter for the 62,923rd time. He could practically recite the entire book by now, but he took the time to read the words aloud.

It staved off the boredom and alleviated the fact that he was physically unable to sleep in this timeless dungeon of his.

Time passed. He wasn’t quite sure how much time, since any sense he had of time seemed to be lost whenever he read a book aloud. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being lost in a book, even if he’d read everything in the castle, including the diary of the two sisters, another one of his personal favorites.

Damian finally made it the halfway mark in the book when he decided to stop. He put the book down on the bed beside him and got up just as the book floated back to its spot on the bookshelf. He got up, floated out through the sealed door, and continued moving up and up towards the top of his prison, which happened to be an invisible dome only a few meters away from the tallest tower, or the tallest former tower since it had collapsed 542 years ago or somewhere thereabouts. He looked up at the vast canopy of stars above him, looking for familiar constellations above. He saw the Tea Set above him, and that was enough to tell him it was sometime in the summer now. He wondered if the Summer Sun Celebration had happened already or if it had yet to come.

Was it the time of Nightmare Moon’s return yet? Or was that a few more years down the line. The only timepiece he had was a pocket watch modeled after the Doctor’s fob from the third season, and that had immediately stopped working the moment he came to Equestria.

He waved his hand, and immediately the air around him was filled with the sound of nature. A sound he’d heard on one of those ambiance videos on YouTube all those years ago. It was one he’d listened to every night for the past couple of years to help him sleep. Now he simply used it to bring some semblance of life abck into the world around him. A way to cope.

As he lay in the air and listened to the fake sounds of nature, a slow sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes. He knew sleep wouldn’t catch him but he still did rest whenever he could and let his thoughts wander for the millionth time. He thought back to the time when he’d spent a few days or weeks memorizing an entire Equestrian play and performed it for himself in the throne room. He remembered the time when he’d used his powers to create the largest Big Mac burger he could within the confines of his prison, and then eating as much of it as he could before he dismissed it with a wave. He remembered when he used his magic to create a representation of his home’s solar system, complete with a bright yellow sun and floating planets.

Then his thoughts turned to his interaction with Celestia. For the short time she’d been in his world, he had someone to talk to, not someone who just wanted a wish granted. He knew what her wish would have been, of course. She wanted her sister back. However, he also knew that if he granted that wish, she would regress to foalhood and forget everything, leaving Luna to fend for herself.

For the briefest of instants, however, she saw concern for his wellbeing in her eyes. A concern he hadn’t seen in any of those who found him ever. And he wondered for another brief instant, just a briefest of briefest of moments, if there was another way to be freed from the eternal hell he’d been suffering through instead of being wished free only to have the one who wished it take their place.

“Yeah…right.” He scoffed, opened his eyes, dismissed the sound around him altogether, then headed back down to his room. Those books wouldn’t read themselves, after all.