A Mercenary's Ending

Cadance looked carefully at the two beings before her. One she didn’t know, but the other she remembered from her time as a filly back in Canterlot. Sunset Shimmer stood before her next to an abyssinian mercenary. The two had managed to bypass all of the hardest security that had been set up not just by her husband but by other crystal ponies under his command. What she knew of abyssinians was very little, but what she remembered of Sunset was enough to make her develop an instant dislike for the mare. And she hardly ever disliked anypony.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Cadance said with a frown.

“Nice to see you haven’t changed, Cad,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Still have that stick so far up your behind you taste oak?”

The abyssinian beside her, named Tobias, swatted her in the side with a not so gentle tail flick before he turned back to Cadance. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time. Some time ago, Prince Spike received some visitors in the form of his former companions and us.” He gestured to himself and Sunset. “We were hoping to locate a certain individual. A human who’s been kidnapped by an ancient alicorn.”

Cadance raised both eyebrows in alarm, as did Shining and Spike who were sitting on either side of her. Flurry was in Spike’s lap, one of her favorite places to be. She leaned back. “Go on,” she said, her attention focused more on Tobias.

Tobias nodded. “He cast a spell that was supposed to help us locate our human companion, and it seemed to work. But something about this feels wrong to me.”

“What feels wrong?” Cadance asked.

Tobias sighed. “That’s just it. I’m not sure, but I know that whenever I’ve ignored this bad feeling before, it always turns out to be true that something bad happened. I need to make sure. And besides, the spell apparently lead us to an ancient home of the pony who kidnapped my friend. That is far too obvious for someone as intelligent as Majesty.”

“Not only that,” Sunset said, “but I performed a deep magical scan on Spike, and-”

“You did WHAT!?” Shining bellowed, standing up and glaring down at Sunset.

“Dad, I gave permission,” Spike said, leaning over.

Cadance turned to face Spike. “Spike, do you know how invasive-?”

“Twilight Sparkle told me about them a while ago,” Spike interrupted. “If something happened to affect the spell I helped cast, I’d like to know.”

Cadance reached out a wing to separate Shining from the two guests before her throne. “What did you find?”

“Nothing,” Sunset said, “and that’s the thing. There was a sign that the spell was cast perfectly through Spike’s body. But it’s too perfect.”

Cadance frowned. She wasn’t as much of an expert on magic as Twilight or Sunset, as she was born a pegasus. Still she had a basic knowledge of how spellcasting worked and what Sunset said brought up a memory from one of her times foalsitting Twilight. “Explain,” she said.

Sunset nodded. “In short, every single sapient creature on Erda has magic inside them. Scratch that, every creature has magic. Ponies are the only race that we know of who have the most control over the magic of Erda. Every time a unicorn casts a spell on something, it leaves traces of said magic onto whatever the spell was cast on which has a harmless half life of about three days. There are definitely traces of magic inside of Spike, but for some reason, the rate of decay is very slightly off. Off by about five or ten minutes.”

Cadance’s eyes widened, as did Shining’s. She knew that Sunset was a magical prodigy like Twilight was, but being able to detect a magic half life decay being off by that little was almost unheard of. Even Twilight never had that ability, even when she was an alicorn. “So, you’re saying what, that the spell was cast later than you think it was cast?”

“Most definitely,” Sunset said. “Tobias and I distinctly remember looking at the clock on the wall in the room where the spell was cast. When I cast the deep scan on Spike, the magic decay was off. Not only that, but there was no sign of any varied resonance. The spell was ‘cast’, as it were, by the former elements. There should be six signatures, and while there are, they have slightly less corruption in their decay.”

Cadance knew about that much. When magic inside something decayed, it was also slightly corrupted. This didn’t harm the object or creature in any way, and would normally be expelled after one or two trips to the washroom, but the rate of corruption was always the same. “How much is your definition of slightly less corruption?”

“Slightly less than 0.1 percent,” Sunset replied.

It was Spike’s turn to be confused. “But…isn’t that within acceptable limits?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, the acceptable limit is 0.01 percent in either direction. Trust me, I’ve been studying magic a lot since I left Canterlot. Magic might not seem like it has rules, but these are definitely non-negotiable.”

Cadance was floored. She knew that no normal pony could detect that sort of variance in corruption. “What does this mean?” she asked cautiously.

“The magic in Spike’s body was most likely cast sometime after the actual event,” Sunset said. “And there’s something else that’s puzzling.”

“What is it?” Cadance didn’t like where else this was going.

“We asked Spike what he had been doing for the past seven days, and the evidence in the magical scan of his body’s physical stare supports his claims up until a couple days ago. He said he had undergone a rigorous training session, but his body shows that while he did have that, it he amount of sweat he produced and the amount of muscle developed was only about…a quarter of what should be expected from the training session he endured. And the amount of food in his digestive system suggests a more liquid diet than what he described as having eaten in the ast couple days.”

Cadance was no longer floored. She was flabbergasted. Where had Sunset learned about these sort of things? “Is there anything else?”

Sunset didn’t respond. Instead, she lifted up a small clear bag and floated it over to Cadance, who caught it in her magic. “Look at that.”

Cadance looked at the bag. It looked empty, but it was Flurry who spotted it first. “Small rock, mom.”

Cadance looked closer, then spotted it. A small piece of rock in one corner of the bag. Frowning, she looked back at Sunset. “What does this have to do with your deep scan?”

“Tobias found that rock nestled in one of Spike’s spines,” Sunset explained. “That rock is not from around here. Well no, that’s not quite accurate. It was from around here before Crystalia returned.”

“I’m not quite getting it,” Cadance said.

Sunset sighed. “Short story. The Crystal Plains were where I came first after I left Canterlot. I spent a while here before Crystalia returned. I learned about the magical properties of the rocks here. You know how trees have rings around them for each year they age? That rock is older than anything around the palace.”

“Couldn’t he have gotten it when he left the city limits, though?” Shining asked.

“Good question,” Sunset said, “but no. That rock came from deep underground. Underground and far north from here.”

“In the Crystal Mountains?” Spike asked with trepidation.

Sunset shook her head. “Beyond that. Far beyond the Frozen North. Just beyond the Winterwall.”

Cadance’s eyes shot open wide. The Winterwall was a vast sheet of ice that seemed to have formed into what to many looked like a wall beyond the mountain chain of which Mt. Everhoof was a part. Beyond the Crystal Mountains and even the Yaket Range were the Winterlands, a harsh environment of ice and snow covering land that hadn’t seen the sun in thousands of years. Beyond the Winterwall were more mountains, only these were covered in glaciers that grew yearly. “You went to the Winterlands?” Cadance asked.

“Briefly,” Sunset said, “and I found some actual pieces of rock that were nearly identical to this one. If you can’t trust me, that’s fine. I actually hoped to find someone else here who could help with finding the information, and he’s a good source of information.”

Cadance leaned forward. “And who’s that?” she asked.

Sunset chuckled. “You’d know him as your royal crystaller, but I know him differently. My younger brother, Sunburst.”

Starlight Glimmer was leaning against her coltfriend Sunburst as the two read one of the newer books that the latter had brought from the library. Of course, by new, that meant the book was extremely old, having been lost to time for a thousand years. Still, the spell cast upon Crystalia had preserved the ancient book so that it only looked maybe a few years old. It was a book about one of the various lost cities of the Empire itself, Quartzus. Crystalia was all that remained of the Crystal Empire, although there were modern day efforts to reclaim their lost borders now that the Empire had severed all ties with Equestria. Many crystal pony explorers who had fled from their towns and cities long ago thanks to Sombra were going to the locations of their old towns in the mountains and seeing if anything there could be restored. So far, only a couple locations seemed reasonable enough, and that included Quartzus.

She snuggled closer to Sunburst and nuzzled his barrel, catching him off guard as he looked down at her. “S-Starlight?” he asked nervously.

Starlight giggled, then leaned up and gave his cheek an affectionate lick. “This is nice,” she whispered, nuzzling his cheek.

Sunburst was frozen in nervousness which only made Starlight giggle more. It had taken time for her to finally get through to her dense friend, but when she did, she upped her teasing of him, finding it extremely adorable. Of course, she knew the more she teased him, the better that their nights would be. She never knew Sunburst was that repressed. “Ah, yes it is,” he said, finally regaining some composure as he gave her a smile that sent her over the moon.

“More so because our other herd member is gone entertaining foals for the day,” Starlight chuckled. She was fine with Trixie, a pony she’d met before her journey from Equestria to the Crystal Empire and had instantly bonded in friendship over, and loved being friends and herdmates with her, but she could be a hoofful at times, so getting her out of the house to have Sunburst to herself from time to time was nice. She was really surprised that Sunburst and Trixie had gotten along pretty much right away, too. She guessed it had to do with how their spellcasting abilities upon their first meeting was a bit lacking.

“Trixie can be a bit much at times,” Sunburst admitted, “but I love you both. I never thought I’d be so lucky to have even one marefriend, let alone be in a herd.”

Starlight reached across and booped her coltfriend on the nose admonishingly. Sunburst had his faults, to be sure, and one of them was him being too harsh on himself. “None of that,” she said. “Trixie and I don’t like it when you talk bad about yourself. You’re more than worthy of love. Besides, there are several…advantages…to being in a herd with two sexy mares,” she added whilst giving her nervous colfriend a ‘come hither’ look while leaning in closer.

Sunburst, now a little bit more experienced, still fell onto his back as Starlight pushed him down, locking lips with him as the two melted into the embrace of the other. She pressed herself against him, heart racing in anticipation as she felt one of his hooves reaching down to her-

KNOCK KNOCK-KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK!

And just like that, the moment was ruined. The two broke apart from the kiss, sharing a look of disappointment, although Sunburst’s was mixed with curiosity. “That’s…definitely not Trixie,” he said as Starlight climbed off of him.

“You think?!” Starlight said with a huff. Noticing the look of confusion and nervousness on Sunburst’s face, she softened. “I’m sorry, Sunburst. I haven’t had time with you alone in a long time.”

Sunburst stood and put a reassuring hoof around her neck. “I know, I feel the same. I promise I’ll make more time for you, but there’s something very familiar about that knock that tells me not to ignore it.”

It was Starlight’s turn now to be curious. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“I don’t really remember, but I think I might if I answer the door,” he said apologetically. “Together, actually.”

Starlight smiled, then walked over and leaned against him briefly. “Together.”

The two headed to the door, where Sunburst straightened, then opened it. And when Starlight saw the look of utter shock on her coltfriend’s face, she knew something was off, because the pony standing at the door looked remarkably similar to Sunburst. The mare was older than either of them, that was clear, but the resemblance between the two was uncanny. A few seconds later, Starlight remembered her, and her jaw dropped too. “Sunset Shimmer…?”

Sunset looked between the two, then raised an eyebrow with a wry grin. “Well, well, well, I always knew the two of you would end up together,” she said with a chuckle. “Hello, little brother, and you too, Starlight.”

Sunburst quickly recovered, then looked down at Sunset with a frown. He might have been the younger one, but he was now taller than Sunset and used that to his advantage. “What do you want, big sister?” he asked.

Sunset backed off, a false look of hurt on her face. “What, can’t a long-lost sister come back to see her family?”

“Not after what the princess said you did,” Sunburst retorted.

Sunset’s expression darkened. “Whatever Sunbutt told you is most likely a lie. She cast me out without so much as hearing an explanation as to why I was in the restricted section. But I didn’t come here to rehash old wounds. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to see you again, but you’re smarter than me in some areas.”

That admission caught Starlight off guard. From what little she remembered of Sunset, she was rather prideful in her abilities as a unicorn. Of course, that was when she and Sunburst were barely five or so and Sunset was about seven or eight. It caught Sunburst off guard as well. “Um…what?” he asked.

Sunset sighed. “Look, you probably remember me as a brash know-it-all, and I do know a lot, but I don’t know much about this place. This location.” She raised her horn and lifted up a clear bag with her magic. “Inside this bag is a small rock and I need your help determining the location. I’ve narrowed it down to somewhere beyond the Winterwall, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

“And why do you need my help with that?” Sunburst asked with trepidation.

That was when Princess Cadance stepped forward from where she and a few others had been standing behind Sunset. It wasn’t that they were hidden, but it was just that Sunburst and Starlight had been so focused on the impossibility of Sunset Shimmer being there that they just hadn’t noticed the others. “It has to do with something that happened here a day ago,” she explained. “Twilight and her former friends came by to ask Prince Spike for help, but there are some inconsistencies with the story Prince Spike gave along with Sunset and her companion who was there before.”

A black abyssinian male stepped forward, looking at Sunburst. “If Sunset Shimmer is right, and you can help, I’m begging for it. A friend of mine is in danger. A human friend of mine,” he clarified.

Starlight’s jaw dropped in utter shock. The only human she knew about was dead and she didn’t even know about his existence until much later. She’d actually missed him a couple times when he’d come into town. She had been studying magic in the castle library when he’d come and hadn’t even noticed that Jason had been chased out rather brutally both times. “Another human…?” she muttered.

Sunburst took the bag in his magic and looked at it. He then looked back at Sunset after a while. “You determined where this tiny piece of rock was from so precisely?” he asked.

Sunset nodded. “Yes, but not precisely enough. Can you help us?”

Sunburst looked at Starlight, almost as if asking permission. Starlight simply shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try. You’ve got the brains, and I can use what spells you have.”

Sunset looked at her curiously. “Really? You?”

A bit taken aback by what sounded like an accusation, Starlight whirled on Sunset. “Hey, you’re talking to a mare who’s taken away an entire village’s worth of cutie marks, traveled through time to change history just to get back at Twilight and her friends, and who helped reconstitute the Crystal Heart. I’m good at magic, thank you.” She displayed her cutie mark for Sunset to see.

Sunset seemed flabbergasted by this, whistling. “Wow…for real?” She sounded genuinely impressed. “Not bad, sister. Not bad.”

“You don’t get to call me sister,” Starlight reminded Sunset.

“Fine, fine,” Sunset said before turning to Sunburst. “Can you help us?”

Sunburst slowly nodded, then stepped aside. “Come on in, everyone,” he said. “This might take a little while.” He then turned to Starlight. “Could you search in section T?”

“On it, sweetie,” she said, giving a salute before rushing over to said section.

It didn’t take as long as Starlight thought, because about ten minutes later Sunburst shouted out in triumph as he brought out a book. Everyone gathered around the main table as he placed it down. “Detection magic according to Magus Pathfinder,” he said as he opened the book to begin searching. Quickly, he determined where the spell was, then slid the book over to Starlight. “Right here,” he pointed to a section, “even at my current level, I can’t cast it without seriously hurting myself.”

Starlight read quickly over the spell, and to her dismay realized that she could barely do it alone. So, she looked over at Sunset. Swallowing the bile in her throat, she said, “I’ll need your help for this.”

Sunset quickly walked over, then her eyes widened when she read the spell. “I couldn’t even do that…but yes. Together, we can do it.” She looked over at Starlight and nodded. “On your signal.”

“Stand back, everyone,” Sunburst said. “They need space.”

As everyone else in the room backed away, Sunset and Starlight stood on opposite sides of the table. Starlight took the piece of rubble out of the bag and placed it on the table. She then looked at Sunset, and with a nod, the two began chanting in Old Ponish. The spell immediately began to take effect, draining Starlight of her magic. The same looked like it could be said of Sunset, but the two continued concentrating. Their magic blended around the small pebble which began rising into the air. It began glowing as the two continued chanting the same phrases over and over. The magic continued to grow and Starlight felt the drain on her system increase. The sound of the magic became deafening, but she continued to concentrate.

Closing her eyes at the appropriate time, the last of the magic that left her body entered her eyes which opened. Only now she saw not the inside of their home, but a vast landscape of ice and snow covered mountains. And a massive structure that looked like a naturally formed dome. There were several around it, but her eyes were focused solely on that one. There wasn’t anything distinguishing it from the other domes, but she couldn’t look away.

The spell ended, and she began to collapse, only to be caught in the comforting and warm magic of her coltfriend, who lifted her to the nearby couch. She lay there, breathing in deeply while Sunburst put a cold damp towel over her horn to help cool it. Eventually, she was strong enough to sit up, only to see Sunset was next to her, looking at the small pebble contemplatively. When Starlight sat up, Sunset looked over at her. “Do you remember what you saw too?” she asked.

Starlight nodded, then projected the image her brief vision had displayed. Everyone in the room gathered around, looking at the static image. Sunset cast a similar spell, and the image became much clearer. Quickly, the abyssinian pointed at the image. “There. See that black patch? That’s not on the other domes.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes at the image, then nodded. “Could be some sort of entrance,” she said, “but Majesty wouldn’t make things that obvious.”

“Sunburst, are there any historical records of habitation up that far?” Empress Cadance asked.

“I haven’t read through the geology books in the main library yet, so I don’t know,” Sunburst said. “I mean, it’s possible that if there was habitation up beyond the Winterwall that they might have something like the Crystal Heart to keep the snow and ice away.”

“I was up there somehow?” Prince Spike, who had been silent the whole time, asked as he approached the image being projected.

“Unless you can think of another way that a rock from that area arrived here,” Sunset replied.

“The winds come from up north,” the Empress said, “so it’s possible that it came from that.”

“Yes,” Sunset conceded, “but it’s less likely that a piece of rock just so happened to get lodged into the prince’s spines. Not to mention the other evidence. And yes, I know it’s circumstantial, but I don’t think Tobias here will want to leave any stone unturned, so to speak.”

The abyssinian stepped forward. “Sunset and I can go searching,” he explained. “If Majesty is holding my friend in that dome, I want to find him and save him.”

The Empress nodded. “I could send a detachment of Crystal Guards-”

“No,” Tobias said. “Majesty will more than likely suspect that. Besides, she hasn’t acted against Sunset or me yet. Either she doesn’t know we’re here or she does know and doesn’t consider us a threat. Sunset has been casting a constant dampening spell around the two of us, so it could be the former.”

“Let’s assume it’s the latter,” Sunset said.

“So why go?” Empress Cadance asked.

Starlight saw Tobias stiffen. “He’s. My. Friend. He’s one of the only ones I have. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want any harm coming to him. Even if Majesty is treating him like a king, it’s still a gilded cage.”

The Empress nodded. “I see your point, but I don’t feel right with just you two going-”

“Nobody else can go,” Sunset interrupted. “I can barely keep this stealth field going and had to drop it to cast that spell. Either way, Tobias and I are members of Shadow Dawn, and even if I’m a new member, Tobias has told me that nobody in this group is left behind.” She looked at Sunburst. “Little brother-no, Sunburst…” She took a deep breath, then walked over and wrapped him up in a hug, surprising Starlight and clearly startling Sunburst. “Thank you for your help,” she said, breaking the hug. “I promise I’ll come back and see you when this is all over. And I’d like to see Mom and Dad, too.”

Sunburst stiffened at that. “Dad…Dad’s gone, Sunset,” he said.

Sunset’s eyes began to water. “I…fuck…” she muttered, looking down and wiping her eyes. “Is Mom okay…?”

“Yes,” he said. “She’s keeping busy…”

After a bit of an awkward silence, she straightened. “When I come back and when this is over, I want to see her again. And you.” She then turned to Starlight. “And you too. I know there’s a lot we need to talk about.”

“No kidding,” Sunburst said through slightly clenched teeth.

Sunset sighed. “I’ll see you later, I promise.”

Minutes later, Sunburst and Starlight were alone, both collapsed onto the couch, the former out of emotional exhaustion and the latter slight magical exhaustion. She snuggled up as best as she could to her stallion. He snuggled back. “That…was exhausting,” Sunburst said.

“I know,” she said.

He pulled her closer to him protectively. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Princess Celestia said she had left without warning, but clearly there’s something more that she’s not told me or Mom or there’s something Sunset isn’t telling.”

“When whatever they’re doing is over, we’ll talk with them, I promise,” Starlight said.

Just then, the door burst open and Trixie walked in, wearing her normal magical attire. “The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie has returned!” she announced before bringing in some large bags from what looked like the grocery store. “And she comes bearing food!” When she noticed the two sitting on the couch, her attitude changed to some concern. “Hey, what gives? You two look like you’ve gone three rounds with a Bugbear.”

Starlight chuckled weakly. “That’s one way of putting it,” she said.

“We just had a run in with a pony neither of us have seen in years,” Sunburst said.

Trixie was instantly by their side. She had her own faults, but her caring about those she cared about was not one of them. “Will you guys be okay?” she asked.

“After some rest, sure,” Starlight said.

“Well…why don’t I make us something simple for lunch?” Trixie asked. “I can make us some hay and lettuce on rye with mayo and mustard.”

Starlight and Sunburst both chuckled. Trixie wasn’t the best cook out there, but she did make really good sandwiches. “That sounds perfect. Thanks Trix,” Sunburst said.

Trixie walked over and planted a deep but loving kiss on Sunburst’s lips, before walking over and hugging her herdmate. “You two rest.”

As Trixie began making the sandwiches, Starlight snuggled closer to her coltfriend. The warmth of his body against hers along with the steadiness of his breathing caused her to fall asleep.

Dengal the goblin blacksmith swore at yet another failure. The assortment of metal and wood parts sat in front of her, taunting her for her consistent failings at replicating the object Revan had called a pistol. He’d very reluctantly let her borrow one of his magic nullifying weapons, and while she knew she couldn’t replicate the metal’s unique properties, she was so sure that she could replicate the weapon’s other properties. After all, it was an advanced form of crossbow. Right?

Turns out, she had much more to learn. She had taken detailed notes on how she had taken the pistol apart and how she put it back together because she wanted to prove to Revan that she could be trusted. Still, that and some of the outlines that Revan had provided of other models of pistols from his original home had only frustrated her more.

Dengal was an outcast from goblin tribes because of her appearance being far from the standard of beauty of goblins. Like all goblins, she had gray skin, a rarity in the world as most other species had fur, feathers, or scales. Her hair, something nearly unheard of in a goblin, was straight and jet black although currently it was tied behind her back in what she learned was called a ponytail. Her eyes were a pale red and her ears were pointed. She had some muscles like other goblins, but unlike other females, hers didn’t seem to be displayed as much. She was a little more on the slender side. Her nose wasn’t turned up like other goblins, instead being a little bit more…human, at least if that photograph of Jason Wright in the newspaper was any indication. Like most other goblins, though, she had red tattoos on her arms indicating her accomplishments, which in her case had to do with her blacksmithing abilities. She also had a nose ring, something that her people did often when they became of age. She wore a pair of sturdy boots, black pants, a long-sleeved dark crimson shirt, a pair of leather brown gloves and a black leather apron around her front section to protect herself from the sparks.

Dengal used to let her unusual appearance get to her, but lately that hadn’t been the case as she’d started to, as Revan would say, not give a fuck. She didn’t care that other goblins saw her as ugly. She was a damned good blacksmith, and she took pride in her work. She loved taking older swords and knives and making them better than new. Crafting arrowheads for bows and arrows along with crossbows was challenging, but she relished in the work. Now, though, she longed for the simplicity of those crafts.

“What the fuck am I missing?” she muttered, slipping into using a word that Revan had used often enough. “I was so sure…” She went back to her notes and looked them over once more. She’d created the metal shells and the gunpowder to specifications. She’d been trying to replicate an older model of pistol that Revan had shown her called a flintlock pistol. It wasn’t as advanced as Revan’s own weapons, but it was the only version of a pistol that he felt comfortable showing her. She didn’t want to argue, and took it as one of her biggest challenges.

The door to the smithy opened and another goblin walked in. This one was heavier and older than Dengal. “Dengal, are you still working on this foolish endeavor?” the mercenary guild’s master asked as he leaned against the door.

“It’s not a foolish endeavor,” Dengal seethed angrily. “I’m making progress.”

The guild master made a coughing noise and hocked a nasty mouthful of phlegm on the floor, something that made Dengal angrier. “I’m probably going to have to start docking your pay for working with our equipment and in the smithy,” he said. He made his voice sound reluctant, but Dengal wasn’t a fool. She knew he was relishing this.

Still, she wasn’t about to give up without a fight. “I call bullshit on that one,” she retorted. “I’m working on my own time with my own materials and my own tools. ANd you know I keep this place better kept than your previous moronic blacksmith.” The guild master scowled at this jab at the former blacksmith, who had been his cousin. Nepotism at its finest, she thought.

“Don’t get smart with me, Dengal,” he growled. “You’re lucky I took you in after your clan kicked you out.”

“How long are you gonna lie and hold that over my head when it was you who bribed the chieftain to kick me out?” Dengal replied.

The guild master looked at Dengal with wide eyes. “How on Erda-?”

“I may be ugly by goblin standards, but I’m not an idiot,” she retorted with a scowl. “Did you seriously think you’d get into my pants by saving me?”

The guild master’s eyes darkened. “Had I known how you looked, I wouldn’t have bothered,” he replied as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. “Then again,” he added with an evil smile forming on his face, “perhaps I can get my money’s worth finally.”

Bengal didn’t move, only took in her surroundings. She had her hammer which she could use if he tried anything stupid. However, despite him being rather rotund, he was massively strong and quick. Everyone in Thornfall had to be to survive. It was one reason she’d fallen for the masked Revan. He was clearly outmatched by almost everycreature in this city, but he didn’t let that stop him. “Try it, I dare you,” she said, showing her sharpened teeth.

He took a few steps forward, cracking his neck. At this distance, she could smell the scent of his rotten breath and it almost made her gag. She knew it was a smell all goblins loved, but she hated it immediately. He was about to reach out to grab her neck when a disembodied voice spoke.

“You seek to harm a friend of my guest.
“Now that I can’t permit.
“As once this one you did detest
“so now you’ll be treated like shit.”

The guild master stumbled back in alarm as a bright light surrounded him. He looked at his claws which were now morphing into something else. Hooves, Dengal noted. Cloven hooves. The hooves of a real pig.

She watched in stunned silence as the guild master’s screams turned into the squealing of a full blown pig. He ran around the smithy in a panic, stumbling over his own new hooves as he tried to look for an exit.

The door then burst open, revealing a tall pure white pony with a flowing mane of sky blue along with light purple eyes. She had a large horn and a pair of majestic wings which were spread. Her cutie mark consisted of seven glittering blue flowers. An alicorn, Dengal realized. She then watched in part awe and fear as the pony stepped aside to let the new pig run out, its squeals vanishing as it fled. The pony gave an amused chuckle then turned to Dengal. “Forgive me for startling you,” she said in the same voice as the one from before.

“Um, it’s alright,” she said, still reeling from what had just happened. “Thanks for that,” she added when she recovered her wits.

The pony, who Dengal now saw was an alicorn, chuckled with mirth as she stepped inside. “Injustice is something I cannot stand,” she replied as she looked around the room. She nodded in approval. “Quite the clean smithy you have here, Miss Dengal.”

“I-I do like things clean,” she said, a bit thrown off guard by how this alicorn knew her name. “Did you…want me to make something for you?”

“Oh no, but thank you for the kind offer,” the alicorn said. “I simply stopped by to see that justice was taken against those who harmed a guest of mine.”

“Oh, well, that’s good?” Dengal watched as the pony stopped to face her. “Can I do anything else then for you?”

The pony smiled. “I have come to understand that you’re a friend of my guest. You know him as Revan.”

She was immediately on guard. Grabbing her nearest weapon, an ax, she held it up. “What have you done to my friend?” she asked with a snarl.

The pony merely chuckled melodically. “Never fear, young Dengal. He is quite safe with me. Safer than he was in this town or within Equestria.”

“Prove it,” Dengal snapped, baring her sharp teeth in a menacing manner.

“Of course,” the pony said as she raised her horn. “Say hello to him for me, would you?”

With a flash, Dengal’s smith vanished from around her. Her ax was no longer in her claws. She was standing in a massive dimly lit room. The brightest source of light came from a large mirror which looked to be displaying something. Sitting in a chair staring at the mirror. The figure turned when Dengal appeared.

Dengal locked eyes with the creature. She knew just what it was, seeing as the entire world now knew what a human looked like. She wasn’t sure what to say, until the figure stood. Dengal immediately recognized the clothes. Her jaw dropped. “Revan…”

The human nodded. “Yes,” he said.

She didn’t hesitate. Running up to him, she flung her arms around him. Normally she wouldn’t act so vulnerable, but at that moment she didn’t care. The being she cared about deeply was safe, at least physically. She felt Revan stiffen a bit, but that quickly vanished as he hugged her back tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” Dengal said. She suddenly became aware that she was dirty and sweaty. Pushing away, she looked down in embarrassment.

“Dengal? What is it?” Revan sounded genuinely worried about her.

“I’m all sweaty,” she said, “and I know other creatures find us goblins to smell bad-”

He chuckled and waved his hand. “You smell like a fresh spring day after a rain,” he explained. “It’s a lovely smell.”

Dengal felt her gray cheeks growing warm before she focused more on the moment. She walked up to him, looking him all over. “You’re really alright? That pony didn’t hurt you in any way?”

Revan shook his head. Dengal couldn’t help but admire how handsome his real face was. She’d always had strange tastes when it came to males, and she didn’t care. “Majesty’s been treating me very well,” he said, “you know, for a prisoner.”

Dengal’s eyes shot open wider. “You’re a prisoner!?” She seethed now as she looked around. “When I see that pony again-”

“Don’t do anything rash, Dengal,” Revan said quickly, walking up to put his two hands on her shoulders. “Majesty is an extremely powerful alicorn. She turned an entire village of ponies into humans and another smaller town into animals long extinct. She can see pretty much everything, too. See?”

He turned her to face the mirror, which Dengal now saw showed an image of Thornfall. The image was following the alicorn mare from before as she strode through town without a care. Dengal felt Revan tense up. That told Dengal enough to know that her human friend was at the very least apprehensive of this pony. She looked up at him. “Revan, who is she?”

Revan took a breath. “An ancient queen who once ruled over ponykind over a thousand years ago,” he explained.

“Why are you worried about her?” she asked.

Revan sighed. “She’s taking the law into her own hands-or should I say hooves. Not only that, but she does have me trapped here away from Tobias.”

Dengal winced. Tobias was one of the few guild members who she could get along with well. He never treated her and her ‘deformities’ badly. She had even been born, like Revan, with ten talons on her claws instead of eight, five on each claw. “I’m sure Tobias is working hard to find you,” she said reassuringly.

Revan gave her a small smile before looking back at what Majesty was doing in Thornfall. The two watched as she seemed to punish the more corrupt gangs in the city by giving them ironic punishments according to their most heinous crimes. However, she did actually seem to reward the few good creatures in that city. Dengal saw her giving a poor refugee family a large number of money from the corrupt gangs before giving them a house. She also gave a number of good hearted adults and all of the orphans a place to stay.

What she did next, though, shocked Dengal. She flew over to the edge of the city where the desert of the Badlands were. She lifted both her forelegs into the air, rearing like a pony would do if they were scared. Her two front hooves began to glow a light beautiful green. Dengal saw Revan tensing a bit, and as Majesty planted her hooves on the ground, a wave of green magic spread over the desert. At first, nothing happened. Finally, though, the view on the mirror zoomed out, revealing green that was beginning to grow out of the desert sands.

Minutes passed and the two watched as the entirety of the Badlands were turned from a lifeless desert into a lush verdant valley full of grasslands, forests, and other plants. Majesty didn’t stop there, though. She flew to the western area of the Badlands and used her magic to create a large depresssion in the earth before she flew around to some higher rocks and mountains in the east. There, she stared up at a large cliff. A small stream was trickling out of it, but not even enough to make a small pool. She struck twice at the rocks which shattered, unleashing a massive torrent of water out of the new cliffside hole. The water ran down and began flowing into what was obviously once a riverbed, It would take time for the river to reach the new depression, but judging from what she’d seen, the depression had another outer riverbank that would lead out to the borders.

“Guess you can’t call that the Badlands after this,” Revan muttered.

Dengal couldn’t help it. She giggled at his attempt at humor. She then looked up at him. “Revan…are you really going to be okay?”

“I’m doing alright so far,” he said, “but as for if I’ll ever be okay?” He turned to her. “With this world’s history on humans in modern times, what do you think?”

She grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. Now that he wasn’t wearing gloves, she felt his skin for the first time. It was warm and a little coarse, but her hands were worse. It made her feel briefly self-conscious. “Revan,” she began, “I didn’t want to have to…admit this until the time is right, but…I don’t care if you’re a human or not. You’re a good guy. And I love you.”

Revan looked down, and for the briefest of moments, Dengal wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Revan inhaled, then looked at her. “Gregory.”

She looked confused. “What?”

“That’s my real name. Gregory.”

Dengal felt her heart swell. This might not be what she’d hoped he would say, but the fact that he was sharing his real name with her felt like a huge leap forward. “Gregory…Gregory…” she repeated it a few times to get the feel for the word. “I like that name.”

Gregory gave her a small smile. “Thank you. I’ve also known about your feeling for me, and before you say anything, I never acted on them because-”

She put her index talon to his lips, effectively silencing him. “I don’t care why you didn’t,” she said. “I’m just grateful I could tell you.” She leaned in and laid her head on his chest. “I’m willing to wait until you make a decision regardless, but I know that I’ll have to wait.”

Gregory didn’t move for a few moments. Then, he hugged her back. “Right now, you and Tobias are the closet friends I have in the world. I’m so glad to see you again, don’t get me wrong, but I want to see him again, and I want to get out of here. When I do, I’m probably leaving the mercenary business for good.”

“With Thornfall how it is now, I’m probably going to leave too,” Dengal said. “And I’ll come with you and Tobias.”

He gave her a larger smile. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else to deal with polishing and sharpening my knives,” he said.

“We’ll get out of here, I promise,” she said, putting her claws over his hand in a reassuring gesture. “And when this all blows over, I am going to use the money I have saved up and treat you to a feast. I don’t want to hear a no. You deserve it.”

Gregory gave her a wry grin. “Did you just ask me out on a date, you sly goblin you?”

Her gray cheeks went a bit red, but then she straightened and looked at him. “Yes and no. When this is over and you and Tobias are safe, I want to treat you to some good food and some good company. And not just you alone, although I do want that. I want there to be a time where you, me, and Tobias spend time enjoying a meal together. He’s a good guy, and I know how dearly you cherish that friendship.”

He nodded with a grateful smile. “Let’s just get out of this situation first,” he said as he put his hands in his pockets. His smile faded and he sighed. “I’m glad you’re here, because I don’t know a way out.”

At that moment, the mirror warped and Majesty stepped out. She looked utterly exhausted as she stumbled forward. Acting on instinct, Gregory and Dengal reached out to grab her, supporting her before they both realized what they had done. However, it was too late to do anything about it as Majesty stepped forward and gave the two an appreciative nod. “Thank you.” She then turned to Dengal. “Young goblin, you are more than free to go back if you wish.”

Dengal felt her inner goblin rage form. How dare this pony abduct the human that she loved?? She was about to tell Majesty just where she could shove her words but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Dengal felt the warmth of his skin on hers for the first time, and she briefly froze. She took a couple of breaths before coming to a decision. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “You’ve left me nowhere to go to anyway.” She gestured to Thornfall as it was being displayed on the mirror, showing it to be in chaos.

Majesty raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” she asked, sounding a little surprised.

Dengal remembered what Gregory had said about Majesty, but in that moment she didn’t care. “Someone needs to be here for him,” she replied.

Majesty’s smile returned, only this time it was a knowing one. “Then you are free to stay as my guest too.” She then turned to Gregory. “I have procured a special surprise for you. It’s in your new guest quarters.”

“My new quarters?” he repeated, sounding confused.

“I couldn’t fit everything in your old room,” she explained. “I will have Starfall and your guards escort you and your friend here to your new room.”

Dengal watched as Majesty stomped her hoof on the ground. Three ponies of a kind she didn’t know came rushing to her. The alicorn gave her orders, and soon Dengal was being escorted along with Gregory down the halls. Dengal noted that this place, wherever it was, had to be ancient based on the architecture. She saw a few ancient weapons on the walls which piqued her interest briefly, but then she focused more on the task at claw. She looked over at Gregory and saw that he was stiff and alert. He was alert a bit before, but now it was as if his senses were on overdrive. She reached down and put her claws in his hand, intermingling hers with his fingers. He looked down at her and gave her a silent thanks.

When they came to a set of double doors, the strange winged pony named Starfall opened it, revealing a massive room. But that was not what caught the attention of the human and goblin pair. Because sitting in the middle of the enormous bedroom stood all of Gregory’s personal objects from Thornfall.