The Head That Wears A Crown

She had been exhausted from the long conversation, and the strain the botched spell had caused on her had started to rear its ugly head. He had accommodated her in one of the guest quarters, where she now lay sleeping on the –for her at least – rather oversized bed.

She had talked for hours of her home, and of her friends and their adventures together. She had shared in immaculate detail how she had become the student of Equestria’s ruler, and her mission to learn of the ‘power of friendship’. He in turn had shared a few stories about the wonders of his universe, although he’d avoided any mention of Earth, or his own past. There was no need to tell her of such things. She’d already seemed disturbed my some of the darker tales. The concept of a war spanning an entire galaxy particularly seemed to horrify her. Nonetheless, if there was any truth to her own stories, her world had hardly been peaceful either lately. Her description of Equestria had invoked the vision of a tranquil utopia at first, yet it was not without enemies.

And after further studying the records he had on her reality, he feared that peace might soon leave that place entirely. He could be mistaken of course, but he’d lived long enough to be able to put two and two together. There’s no such thing as coincidence. He should probably investigate. That would be the right thing to do at least.

He held that thought for a moment. The right thing to do. Why? He held no obligation towards her or her world. Why should he care?

Because you can’t help but care.

His face contorted in a sneer in response to the little voice in the back of his head.

“And look where that has gotten me.”

He sighed, and started preparing the Nightingale for tomorrow’s jump. After finishing up on calibrating matrices and calculating coordinates, he returned to the living room area where he found Twilight lying on the couch, gazing through the window at the void.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

“Yes…I just can’t stop my mind from thinking about all this. It’s just so…” She fell silent.

He went to stand beside her. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Realizing just how insignificant you are, just how much more of existence there is beside everything you’ve encountered.” He smiled at her. “Trust me, it was the same for me when I was your age.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “You’re the first of your kind I’ve met so far, but you don’t really seem much older than my age to me.”

He let out a long, hearty laugh at that. “I get that a lot. Does wonders for the ego.” He walked over to the liquor cabinet – which had oddly enough been spared from Twilight’s rather violent way of entry - and poured out a glass of whiskey. “Tell me. Your mentor, Princess Celestia. How old does she look?”

She blushed furiously. “W-What?”

“Compared to regular ponies. In her twenties? Thirties? Older?”

She became increasingly flustered. “S-She’s the Princess! Debating stuff like that really isn’t appropriate!” Still,  she started frowning as she pondered the question.

“She looks…young…I suppose? I mean, older than me, but not as old as my mom. Aah! No no no, that came out all wrong…”

Then realization hit her like a brick and she looked over to see him carrying a gleeful grin on his face.

“Oh.”

“Oh.” He mimicked back at her.

“So, then…you’re immortal?”

He took a sip from his glass and leaned back against the couch.

“Truth be told, I’m not certain. If not, I definitely age at a much slower rate than the average human. I am but nearing the end of my third century, so it’ll be a while before I can confirm if I just age more slowly or not age at all anymore.”

“So you’re to other humans what the Princesses are to us ponies?”

Suddenly, a shadow fell across his features. His eyes glinted with annoyance, and a hint of anger.

“No. No, I don’t quite think that analogy carries through.”

She fell quiet, taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor. He finished the rest of his glass in one gulp then stood up to leave.

“You really should try to get some sleep. We’re leaving for Equis as soon as the reactors are fully charged, which should only take a couple more hours. Good night.”

“Good night…”

He returned to his sleeping quarters. It would probably be best if he tried to get some sleep as well. He let out a guilty sigh. He should probably apologize tomorrow for his curtness. He pondered just what he was getting himself into, then fell into uneasy slumber.

Cyrus woke up with the sound of his alarm clock after a troublesome night’s rest. Time to say goodbye to his little self-imposed exile. After a quick shower, he went over to the kitchen area to find Twilight staring at the inside of his fridge with a look of horror on her face. She turned around when she heard him come in.

“You’re… a carnivore?”

First eye-roll of the day. “Omnivore. And before you ask, no I don’t eat ponies or any other sapient life form. I didn’t expect this to disturb you to this degree. Aren’t the griffins of your world carnivores as well? Not to mention that pet owl of yours you’ve told me about?”

She visibly relaxed. “That’s true I suppose…but it’s considered a taboo to talk about it. Most ponies just act like nothing’s out of the ordinary and never mention it.”

“Hmph. Herbivores. You’re startled by anything.”

“Hey!”

He grinned. “You were looking for some breakfast I suppose? There’s still some muffins left over from yesterday, unless you’ve already had your fill of those?”

“I don’t mind. They were delicious!”

“Thank you. Two centuries worth of trying to perfect the recipe. It’d probably hurt my feelings if you didn’t like them.”

They sat down in the adjacent dining room, devouring what was left of the muffins in silence. Cyrus then spoke up.

“Look, I’m sorry if I was rather…blunt, when I left you last night.”

A look of concern passed over her face. “Don’t worry about it. I mean, it was something I said, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. But nevertheless, I should not have reacted in such an uncouth manner. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

She smiled. “Neither do you. You’ve been very hospitable, and I couldn’t get back home without your help.”

“Ah, yes, speaking of which. I’ve got a bit of spare time on my hands, and I was wondering whether you’d be agreeable to introducing me to your mentor? Equestria sounds like a wonderful place, and it’d be a shame to simply leave right after dropping you off.”

She grinned. “I’d love to! I think she’d very much like to meet you as well. I’d kind of like to see the look on her face when she hears about a reality where the world orbits the sun.” She giggled at the thought.

“Wonderful! In that case, I have some final preparations to make. Take your time to finish your breakfast, then meet me at the bridge in an hour.”

“Okay!”

When she joined him on the bridge, he’d exchanged his casual attire for a set of elaborately embroidered robes, the patterns of which seemed to shift and swirl around.

“Rarity would probably start drooling at the sight of those robes you’re wearing.” She giggled.

“Your dressmaker friend? At this old thing? It’s hardly much to look at, but it’s the closest thing to anything ‘ceremonial’ I’ve got in my wardrobe. I’m meeting royalty after all. A sorcerer needs to keep up appearances.”

She smiled at him. “It looks very impressive. Especially the enchantment, I haven’t seen anything quite like it. And anyway, you shouldn’t worry. Princess Celestia isn’t really all that concerned about formality.”

“To quote a human you’ve never heard about: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

She frowned at that. “I noticed you’re always wearing clothes. Do humans have some sort of taboo concerning nudity?”

He laughed. “Very observant. Yes, humans wear clothes most of the time, partly because we need them to survive in colder climates, due to our lack of fur and whatnot, and partly because of various cultural and societal norms. It has caused most of my kind to become rather prudish.”

She giggled. “Does that include you as well?”

Well I’ll be damned, she’s starting to sass back.

“Not really. But the sight of me naked would probably be enough to ruin you for stallionkind. I’m not that selfish.”

Her cheeks turned a magnificent shade of red. She then quickly rolled her eyes at him. “Urgh. Apparently colts will always be colts. Even if they’re not ponies to begin with.”

He laughed. “And it seems I’ve retained my universal ability to annoy females. Anyway, if you’re ready we can get this show on the road and get ourselves to good old Equestria.”

“You’ve finished preparing then? You’re sure you can get us there? It’s not too dangerous is it?”

“Let’s just say I’m way for confident about me and this ship’s capabilities than you should’ve been about that teleport spell of yours.”

She scowled at him. “No need to rub it in…”

He grinned. “Learn from your mistakes, little sorceress.” He brought up the ship’s interface. “Computer, are we ready to jump?”

“All systems nominal. Energy flow stable. Matrices aligned. Coordinates accepted. We are ready to jump, sir.”

He turned to Twilight. “Are you ready?”

She nodded nervously, and looked through the bridge windows at the swirling vortex of the rift.

“Good. Commence Jump. Keep your hands and hooves inside at all times.”

“Wha?”

“Commencing Jump. Three. Two. One. Ignition.”

The Nightingale suddenly lurched up and forward at an astounding speed. Unprepared for the slight tremor that accompanied it, Twilight fell over on the floor.

“Ow!”

Cyrus looked down and grinned at her. “Oops. I might have forgotten to mention these rides tend to get a little bumpy.”

“You mention this now?” She threw him an annoyed look. “You do this on purpose don’t you?”

“Maybe.” He helped her up. As she looked over at the window she saw they were now floating right above the vortex, edging closer and closer to the abyss in its center. The ship started shaking more violently.

“I-Is it always like this?”

Cyrus merely laughed. “I’ve always loved this part.”

And then the ship tipped over.