Sure enough, there were a few dozen ponies of various colors, sizes, and tribes lined up outside. Though they were far more preparations made than I anticipated there would be. Trenches had been dug, and minor fortifications erected in the form of short wooden walls and mounds of earthen cover. Two rows of crossbows pointed at me, earth ponies wielding shields interspersed throughout the line while unicorns hung further back with several rows of pegasi ready to take flight. The only movement came from the far end, where Shining whateverhisnamewas was pacing back and forth, flashing me angry glares every once and a while.

At the front stood Luna, unafraid at first glance, until our eyes met and the midnight blue alicorn flinched slightly. I couldn't blame her, but it was still a little disappointing to know that Twilight had more courage than the elder alicorn.

We had only taken a few steps outside the door before I noticed a few of the crossbow ponies get a little too twitchy for my liking and I stopped, gesturing with my nose toward them. Noticing my attention, Twilight stood in front of me, calming the ponies and making them lower their weapons.

The silence that stretched over the area was broken at that moment and Luna trotted up to us, clearly wanting to speak with me, or perhaps simply wanting to begin the interrogation right then and there. Regardless of what her intention was, Shining dude guy hobbled up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Hold on a second princess.” Commanded the guard captain, who took a step forward and looked up at me with hate in his eyes, and though I could tell he wanted to say something he turned his attention to Twilight. “Are you sure you want to do this? At least let me send a few guards with you just in case.”

Twilight shook her head. “Luna and I can handle it, and besides, she has already called the night guard to start setting up near the library.”

The guard captain stared into her eyes for several long seconds, and though I was sure Twilight would break down and give in to his demands given the intensity of his stare, she surprised me by not doing that at all.

“Alright.” He admitted before turning back to me. “This is not over yet, gnoll.”

“Aww that's adorable, you're like a tiny angry footstool,” I remarked, making kissy faces at him.

Though I knew he couldn't understand me, he seemed smart enough to catch on to the fact that I was talking down to him and snorted before turning away. “I’ll be in Ponyville for as long as that thing is, don't hesitate to ask for assistance.” He added before disappearing into the ranks of his guards.

“Hey, you should probably apologize to Fluttershy! She put a lot of effort into her landscaping you know!” I yelled after him, making a few of his guards perk up and for Luna to snort in such a way that I couldn't help but think she was holding back a laugh, something that made me raise an eyebrow at.

Filing that bit of information away for now, Twilight took point and guided us through the small gap in their defenses and towards the town and thus the library. All around us guards looked at me, some with barely contained fear, others with anger, and a small few with nothing more than simple curiosity. The fact that there were some who were neither angry nor scared was nice, as it gave me hope that I might be able to get out of this one with my head still resting on my neck, but the fact that their commander was not one of them dashed most of said hope.

Breaking through the back line of guards and entering the outskirts of Ponyville I noticed that there were a small group of ponies waiting for us, two of whom were guards while the rest were not. I instantly recognized the familiar dark grey and purple of the night guards, their bat wings marking them as thestrals. They seemed to look at Luna before passing judgment on me, and noticing that she was relaxed, relaxed as well, easing their hooves away from the scimitars belted at their sides.

The ponies behind them were a different story, and I could tell that the rest of the elements of harmony were arrayed in a loose formation behind the armed and armored ponies. Applejack was at the forefront, her critical gaze lingering over my form as her jaw clenched tight, muscles bulging as if conflict roared in her mind. Rainbow Dash was only slightly behind her, appearing to be the only member of the group whom was actually ready to fight, an urge that diminished only somewhat when she saw the manacles I was bound by.

The fact that she seemed ready to still attack me despite that little fact was rather annoying as I had hoped she would be more honorable than to attack someone in handcuffs, but in the end, I couldn't really blame her. Fluttershy was behind her, and was flanked by Rarity and Pinkie Pie, both of whom seemed more scared than anything, and were putting on a brave faces in order to help out their friend. Though even then Pinkie’s expression wasn't exactly so cut and dry as she looked oddly conflicted when our eyes met.

“Your majesty, the guard is assembling as we speak. We expect the encampment will be fully operational within the hour.” The guard on the left reported, snapping a quick salute that saw his hoof pressed against his chest.

The other guard nodded, the mare gesturing back to town. “The materials have been secured, and commander Night Crawler was hoping to meet with you when you had the time.”

Luna took a step forward, her back straightening as she put on a more regal face for her guards. “Good work you two. Tell Night Crawler I will speak to him before nightfall, but first I need to get some questions answered.”

“And by questions you mean beating the snot out of that overgrown hyena right?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking a step forward and glaring up at me.

“You're like a foot tall? What would you even do? Kick me in the shins?” I asked, looking down at the mare with a wide smirk.

Though she, like most, didn't understand me, she did seem to understand the expression I was making and glared even harder at me.

“Don't look down on me just because your tall, have big teeth, and claws an over five-foot height advantage and-” Rainbow Dash began, only to get shut down by Twilight who sighed and took a step forward, placing a hoof on the mare’s shoulder.

“Would you really want me to beat someone up after they surrendered and are now in manacles?” She deadpanned.

The prismatic pegasus glared for all of two seconds before sighing. “I guess not, but she still deserves some kind of payback for hurting Fluttershy!”

“Though I can appreciate that I certainly inconvenienced her I did not intentionally harm her,” I remarked offhandedly, knowing my words were worthless to them.

“What is wrong with her voice?” Rarity asked, her ears splayed back and a grimace on her face. “Don't tell me she caught something in the Everfree?”

“Well at least someone knows my gender without being told,” I mutter.

“I think that's just the language there Rares.” Applejack remarked, wincing slightly. “Sounds mighty unpleasant I gotta say.”

“And your language sounds like two horses' tongue wrestling over a sugar cube,” I replied with huff.

Luna suddenly placed a hoof over her mouth, holding back a laugh that nearly spilled out through her limb.

“Are you alright princess?” Pinkie Pie asked cautiously, taking a step closer and keeping one eye on me.

“I’m fine.” Luna coughed. “I’m fine, just something stuck in my throat I’m afraid.”

“Oookay,” Pinkie muttered, taking a step back.

“Now as wonderful as it was to see you all here, we must be getting to the library, we have an interrogation to begin, and I think Fluttershy needs to be somewhere a little less… busy,” Twilight replied, nodding to Fluttershy, who breathed a sigh of relief and nodded back.

“Thank you Twilight.” Whispered the quiet mare.

“Good thinkin' Twi, hows about we all go back to the farm and I treat ya to a good home-cooked meal?” Applejack announced.

The rest of the mares all nodded their agreement, though Rainbow Dash lingered a moment in order to flash me another glare and do that I’m watching you thing by pointing at her eyes before pointing at me. Though without any fingers it looked about as awkward as you would think it would look. I did the grownup thing and blew a raspberry at her, which made her stumble a second as if she had expected me to do something far different than that.

I laughed my barking hyena-like laugh as Twilight, Luna, and I continued to walk toward the library, leaving a confused Rainbow Dash in the dust. Once away from the five other mares, I looked around and found that almost everyone was inside, with only a few ponies brave enough to peek outside their windows, and most who did quickly duck back in once my gaze passed over them. Every other street or so I noticed a guard or two lingering on the streets, most pretending to not look at me while a few stared intently.

Noticing a pattern, I put the guards out of my mind and walked a little closer to Luna, making the alicorn’s ear twitch and the mare glance over at me. “You can understand me can't you?” I asked in a low tone, though I knew Twilight could hear my comment as well.

Though her face betrayed no emotion I noticed her heart beat a little faster and her ear twitch in the way a pony’s does when they listen to someone. Still, despite the obvious tells she did not confirm my suspicions outwardly. “You're trying to hide the fact that you can, aren't you?” I pressed.

For a bit, I thought she was going to keep trying to hide it but the second she noticed Twilight look away, she nodded quickly. Knowing that she didn't want to speak of it right now, I decided to leave that thought for the moment, keeping it at the back of my mind until we were alone.

Rounding another bend I noticed that the library was looming ahead of us, a hastily constructed camp surrounding the hollowed-out, yet still-living tree. Guards scurried this way and that, some flew, others walked, some were carrying gear, and others were empty-hooved and in the midst of a patrol. Tents almost completely encircled the structure and I began to wonder if this was a reaction to my little demand or if Luna had always planned to have her guards dig in around Twilight’s little library.

Either way, I noticed that there was even a small perimeter fence that right now was little more than a few scattered posts and what I imagined past as police tape in Equestria stretched between them. Still, it served its purpose by the looks of it as there were no gawkers or anyone that lingered near the edge of the new camp despite the fact that there was a public building at the center of it.

“The basement is being fitted to better contain our prisoner and will be used as an interrogation room for now,” Twilight offered, trotting confidently through the maze of guards and tents.

Luna followed behind her at a more sedate pace, seemingly less at home amongst the lunar guard as she was their solar counterparts. Though she nodded and exchanged brief pleasantries with a few of them, I could tell it was forced, though if it was the alicorn being either unsure of herself or untrusting of her guards I wasn't quite sure. “That will work fine until we come up with a more permanent solution,” Luna replied.

I contained my urge to growl, biting down the unpleasant remark I could feel already coming.

Instead of letting the fact that I might never return to my new home, or see my little tribe again, I decided to distract myself by eying up the lunar guards with the excuse being that I might need to fight them later on. The first thing that was obvious to me was just how better disciplined they were than the solar guards, and idle chatter was more or less non-existent as we trotted through the encampment. Orders were carried out in near silence and only one pony stopped and stared at the three of us as we made our way into the library.

They almost all had scimitars belted to their hips, and I noticed that like most pony-made weaponry was outfitted with an enchantment that would likely keep it in their grip as they swung it. Once more I thanked whatever god or goddess was listening, as I didn't know what I would do if I didn't at least have opposable thumbs, as the rest of my physiological changes, though drastic, weren't quite as bad as not being able to wipe my own ass.

Walking into the library, I found that although the books were still on the walls, it wasn't likely that this space was actually being used as a public library after all. There was no check-in counter, no sign of patrons, or any books lying about, something made all the more glaring when I noticed that some of the guard’s supplies had been tucked inside, including a rack of armor that dominated one corner of the library.

I made a note to tease Twilight on that later and kept searching for something that might aid me if I ever needed to escape while fidgeting with the manacles around my wrists. Though I felt like I could probably best the lock with only a claw, I decided to keep the bindings on, as I didn't want them to know that I could remove said binding at a moment's notice. Thank goodness I took a few levels in rogue. I thought to myself. And that I took the time to figure out how to use my claws as lock picks.

Memories of several long uneventful nights picking away at a lock with nothing but my finger flashed through my mind and I couldn't help but sigh, remembering the easier, and in my opinion, better times. What did the DM say back then? Adventure will find you? I’d say adventure has already found me plenty of times. I smirked as the pair led me to the back of the library, nearly missing the tiny green eyes of a certain dragon peeking out from the second floor of the library.

Something I ignored as I continued to follow the two mares, who were now trotting down the stairs and into Twilight’s basement. Looking down I was able to tell that some minor work had been done on the room, as several enchantments glittered at the edge of my vision while everything that had been in the room had been shoved against the walls in order to make room for a large table. The table itself seemed fairly normal as far as interrogation tables go, though that's not like I had much experience with such a thing outside of movies.

The two ponies sat down on one side of the table before Twilight used her magic to pull a chair out for me across from them. “Please, sit. Would you like some water or something before we begin?” Twilight asked.

I glanced down, only now realizing that they had somehow managed to find a gnoll-sized chair on short notice. I nodded and plunked down in the seat, resting my bound hands on the table. “Water would be lovely, thank you,” I replied.

Twilight turned to Luna and received a nod in return. “Water, thank you,” translated the alicorn.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” Twilight announced before standing up and breaking wing, heading up to the top of the stairs and closing the heavy door behind her.

“So, are you going to explain to me why you are so scared of ponies knowing you can speak abyssal?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow at the pony.

Luna sighed and ran a hoof through her mane. “I didn't know what the language was until you mentioned it but I remember it from my… past.”

“Ahh, that explains a lot,” I remarked idly.

“What do you mean by that?” Luna inquired, leaning closer.

I shrugged. “It's the language of demons.”

Luna frowned, her shoulders sagging. “I suppose that would explain a lot wouldn't it.”

A few seconds of awkward silence later and Twilight returned with a large pitcher of water and three cups, which she placed just outside of my reach on the right side of the table. Lifting my cuffed hands I shook them in front of the mares. “Would you mind getting me out of these things now? Mind magic is incredibly unpleasant and I don't believe it's entirely ethical to use it on prisoners.”

“Oh, hold on a minute, allow me to cast the translation spell so we can make this a little easier on everyone.” Twilight interrupted, her horn lighting up briefly. “There, you can take off the necklace now.”

“Is it working?” I asked, looking at Twilight.

The mare nodded. “It's not quite perfect, but I can understand you now, which is better than what I could say a minute ago.”

Regretfully, I lifted the necklace from around my neck and placed it on the table. “Be careful with that, it was a gift from a friend.”

“It will remain safe, I can promise you that much,” Luna replied.

Nodding, I turned back to Twilight and cleared my throat. “Now then, are you going to take these things off? Because it seems quite unethical to use mind magic on an already restrained individual.”

“Well actually, gnolls are classified as demons and are thus not granted the status of individuals under the Equestrian charter of rights and freedoms.” Twilight began, only to be cut off by a glare from Luna.

“By the stars Twilight, she's a rational creature capable of complex thought and emotion, have some mercy.” Luna barked, glaring at the mare.

“But Celestia said-”

I snorted irritably, cutting off the alicorn before she could continue. “I don't wish to end up at the mercy of someone under your mentor’s command or who uses her so-called logic. No offence.”

Luna nodded while Twilight merely appeared shocked. “I understand. She does have a certain knack for mind magic that is disconcerting to most decent ponies.”

“Something that should not be used on anyone who is already restrained, wouldn't you agree?” I added, leaning a little closer. “If it would make you feel better I’ll trade these cuffs for a normal pair.”

Twilight shook her head. “That won't be necessary, I’m sure between the two of us we can restrain you should the need arise,” Twilight announced, turning to Luna and looking up at her expectantly.

The darker alicorn nodded confidently. “I have already informed my guard to begin making preparations for a more secure facility to be constructed.”

“Right.” Twilight took a deep breath before leaning in, lighting her horn, and undoing the manacles around my wrists.

Though my skin was tough from a year spent on the edge of civilization, fending for myself, the manacles were a little small and made the entire time I wore them an unpleasant experience, even for me. Rubbing the now raw flesh, I turned and looked down at Luna expectantly. “So, where should I begin?” I asked.

“I admit I have many questions about not only yourself but gnolls in general, as I have no doubt Twilight does as well.” Luna began, nodding to Twilight who despite holding back most of her curiosity with a forced, neutral expression. She still let a little bit of that hidden excitement emerge though and her eyes sparkled as she tried to wait patiently.

“Well I’m afraid to disappoint you, but I’m not originally a gnoll at all, nor am I from your world for that matter,” I announced, to a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

“That is... Unfortunate.” Luna replied, her brow tight as she stared intently into my orange orbs. “I would ask that you elaborate on those two points, if you may, and don't be afraid to ramble, I believe we are both quite interested in whatever you may wish to say.”

“I’m not entirely certain what exactly to say, to be honest,” I admitted. “I am not sure what I was before this, but I was… something less hairy and shorter I believe, like a hairless ape of some kind.”

“Are you saying you don't know what exactly your original species was?” Twilight asked, leaning closer and scratching down some notes on a paper she got from… somewhere.

“My working theory is that my old brain and my new one weren't equal in depth, size, or perhaps complexity and some memories didn't translate over, while others did.” I lifted my hand. “Like, for example, I knew this was a hand, these are claws and that dirt didn't taste good but I didn't know what my old name was, what I was, or where I was from for that matter.”

“Strange,” Twilight murmured.

“Indeed. I have to say your story is rather far-fetched, you must admit that much.” Luna offered.

I nodded. “I have no reason to lie, as it's not like it would help my case in the slightest but if it makes you feel any better I wouldn't mind submitting to whatever form of lie detection you ponies have. Back home we used a complicated series of electrical signals to detect if someone was lying but I’m pretty sure that wasn't even allowed as evidence in court now that I think about it. It's a bit of a grey spot in my memory,” I shrugged and looked over to the two alicorns who both seemed off in their own little world, their minds a million miles away.

“If you consent to it, we could place a truth circle on the room, but if we do that I’d like to start using the recording crystal earlier than expected, so as to have a record of both your consent and whatever you have to say after that,” Twilight exclaimed before turning to Luna. “What do you think?”

“I think that is a great idea, provided the prisoner is informed of what exactly a truth circle does, as I don't think she knows,” Luna replied, gesturing to me.

I raised an eyebrow. “It doesn't have a chance of turning me into a toad or something, does it? Because getting transformed once was quite enough for me, thank you very much.”

Twilight chuckled and shook her head. “No, nothing so grandiose, it just makes lying impossible, and sometimes gives both light headaches and in rare cases, uncontrollable flatulence.”

“Oh that's rich, and here we are locked in a basement together,” I pointed out.

“Yes, well, that is quite rare, and it is more likely that you will just get a migraine after a while.” Twilight explained, the blush slowly bleeding from her face. “To that end, we will only use it for one hour before having a short cooldown period.”

“Good thinking,” Luna remarked her horn lighting and bringing over a small wooden box from one of the other piles of boxes that lined the walls. From it, she produced a small pink crystal roughly six inches long and shaped like a prism. “I will leave the casting to you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded, took the crystal, and placed it in the center of the table before lighting her horn and activating it, after which she enacted another, secondary spell that took far longer to cast. When complete, I felt a wave of what I could only describe as unpleasantness wash over me originating from Twilight. It wasn't like pins and needles, nor a pressure, but some mix of both, and yet somehow worse and different at the same time.

Thankfully it passed quickly and judging from the expressions of my interrogators, they had felt it as well. “The sky is gre-blue,” I said, a wide smirk crossing my face. “The meaning of life is chocolate.” I cursed under my breath. “Damn, I was hoping it would work on universal imperatives.”

Twilight giggled. “I did the same thing when I learned the spell, and unfortunately found out that I could not simply figure out the winning lottery numbers in such a manner.”

Luna rolled her eyes and huffed silently to herself. “Children.”

I leaned a little closer to the alicorn and smirked playfully at her. “Don't tell me you never did anything like that when you were younger.”

“I… may have,” Luna muttered, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. “But that was long ago.”

Twilight coughed into a hoof and gestured to the now floating pink crystal that levitated a foot off the table. “If you wouldn't mind stating your name, as well as the fact that you consent to the interview and the truth spell, I would appreciate it.”

I sat back in my chair and cleared my throat. “My name is Fareeah and I consented to both the interview and the casting of the truth spell,” I turned to the alicorns. “Like that?”

Luna nodded. “That should be good enough.”

“Now then, if you wouldn't mind picking up as far back as you can remember and going from there, that would be wonderful.” Twilight explained. “Luna and I have all the time in the world.”

“And me? I don't think I have all the time in the world,” I frowned and tapped my chin. “I don't even know how long gnolls live for that matter.”

“Neither do we, I'm afraid. Gnolls supposedly died out millennia ago, either that or fled to the far corners of the earth.” Twilight replied.

“Regardless, you have the prospect of serving life in prison, so I’d say you have the luxury of time as well,” Luna replied with a small smirk of her own.

“Well, then where to begin?” I drummed my clawed fingers on the table idly. “Oh I used to be male, so I got to find out just how awful this whole period thing sucks. Though gnolls seem to only have one every three months, so that's nice.”

Luna seemed nonplussed by my statement, though Twilight seemed a little sympathetic. “That's one thing I do not miss.” She exclaimed.

“No way, alicorns don't get…” My jaw hung open and I shook my head. “I am so envious.”

The elder alicorn rolled her eyes. “Yes well, back to the topic at hoof. How far back can you remember then and would you mind starting your story from there?”

“That sounds like as good an idea as any I suppose.” I leaned forward. “So, to start, I came from a planet called…” I opened my mouth to speak, only to find that no words came out. “Huh, I could have sworn I remembered that one, but now that I think about it, I can't seem to remember the name. Terra? That sounds right, but not… really.”

“Interesting,” Twilight remarked.

Luna seemed far less amused with my bout of amnesia and tapped the table, bringing my attention back down to earth. “Regardless, perhaps we should go straight to your arrival here on Equestria then, rather than waste time with things you may or may not remember.”

I nodded and poured myself a cup of water. “Well, it's your lucky day then, as it seems as though I gained an eidetic memory after having come here.”

“An eye what?” Luna muttered, turning to Twilight.

“A photographic, or near-perfect memory, they would have simply called it a perfect memory back in ancient Equestria,” Twilight explained.

“Huh,” Luna frowned. “Continue.”

“Anyway. It all began in the Everfree forest a year ago, a year and a day to be exact now that I think about it,” I began, pretending not to notice the quick, nervous look the alicorns gave one another.

I smiled faintly, my mind going back to that day and conjuring an image of the night sky. “It was a nice night, the moon was full, the sky was clear, and-”

Author's Note

This is part of the 12 days of christmas, head over here to keep track of all the cool stuff coming down the pipes. If you want to ensure I can afford to keep doing stuff like this, consider backing me over on Subscribestar or Patreon.