A Mercenary's Ending

The ruins of Dream Castle looked exactly as they had in the vision the six mares had seen in Crystalia. A pink castle ruin with purple turrets. Nature had nearly reclaimed most of it, but there were still portions of it that were visible. In its prime, Twilight Sparkle had no doubt that this ruin had been even more magnificent than even the modern day Canterlot. It was massive, she realized, and could potentially house many hundreds of ponies.

She also saw the ruins of another massive structure covered in foliage nearby. It was a large structure on a nearby hill that seemed out of place. It had a somewhat more modern look to it despite the antiquity of it. It also had a strange magical signature coming from it. It looked more like a mansion than a castle.

The walls surrounding both castle and mansion had long degraded, but the beauty of the valley before them could not be understated. To the six ponies, it felt almost nostalgic, like coming back to their foalhood home after not being there for a lifetime. There was a large waterfall nearby, the spray of which cast a beautiful double rainbow around the small lake and river that it was a part of.

Unlike the vision, however, the group of Celestia’s Solar Guards and Luna’s Lunar Guards camped at the entrance to what had once been a massive drawbridge were new. Twilight pulled on the ripcord of their balloon to make them descend. Nopony spoke as they drank in the view of the ancient ruin.

Not until Pinkie spoke just as they landed. “This…is beautiful…” she whispered, the faintest hint of a smile on her face.

“Ah have tah agree, sugarcube,” Applejack whispered back.

Twilight could immediately understand why the two earth ponies would be whispering. This place had a certain aura about it that seemed to make it a revered location. As she was opening the basket’s door so that everypony could disembark, a group of Solar Guards approached. The one in the lead was a pegasus lieutenant judging by the color of the plumes on his helmet. He spoke the moment he was in speaking distance. “We were told to expect you and your companions, Miss Sparkle,” the stallion said in a slightly Trottingham accent. “I’m Lieutenant Sundance Spirit.”

Twilight nodded at the lieutenant. “Thank you, lieutenant,” she said. “When did you and your soldiers arrive?”

“The Solar Guards arrived a day ago,” Sundance explained, “but the Lunar Guards arrived a half day before we did. We’ve been searching for the human that you six reported as being here, but so far all we’ve found is nothing. It doesn’t look like anypony’s been living in this place for centuries.”

Twilight pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I’m guessing you haven’t searched everywhere yet?” she asked.

“Correct, Miss Sparkle,” the lieutenant said. “We can’t even detect the lack of magic that’s typical of a human, if Jason Wright’s own lack of signature is any indication.”

Twilight’s ears pinned back at the mention of her greatest failure, but she nodded again. “Could Majesty have him hidden in some secret chamber somewhere?” she asked. “And what about that old mansion up on that hill?”

“We’re still searching,” Sundance explained, “but so far we can’t detect any hidden entrances or any magic here.”

Twilight stroked her chin. That would make their search for that strange heart-shaped locket harder. She looked at the stallion, raising her horn and making a small projection from her memories. The gold chain and red heart-shaped locket appeared in midair. “Have any of your soldiers seen anything like this in there?” she asked.

Lieutenant Sundance leaned forward, examining the floating representation of a locket carefully. “No, Miss Sparkle,” he said with a shake of his head, “at least, none of my soldiers have. The castle does have some artifacts remaining, but most of what’s been left behind are…” he trailed off, clearly a bit uncomfortable at the topic.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, not sure she wanted to know but now knowing she had to know.

The stallion sighed. “There are bones in the castle,” he explained. “Pony bones.”

That made Twilight feel sick to her stomach. The small gasp from her former friends told her she wasn’t the only one. “I-I see,” she said, her voice trembling.

“There was a great battle here long ago,” one of the other guards, a unicorn stallion, said. “The ambient magic left behind is a mixture of pony and magic I’ve never felt before.” He shuddered and looked at the ground.

“Is this artifact significant to the human?” the lieutenant asked, pointing at the still projected locket.

“His name is Revan,” Twilight replied somewhat defensively before she calmed herself and nodded. “And yes, we think so. We’re here to help.”

The lieutenant looked at her thoughtfully. “You still possess the magic of an alicorn, correct?” When Twilight nodded, a small smile formed on his face. “We’ve found a few doors we cannot open, not even with our strongest unicorns casting their best spells to open them.”

Twilight perked up and stood taller. She knew she wasn’t a princess anymore, but she felt a small surge of that princessly authority return for a brief moment as she said, “Lead the way and I’ll have a look at them.”

The first set of doors needed to be opened by putting a horn through a hole several feet above the ground, which she did with ease. Upon the door rumbling open, they found a number of broken artifacts, along with desiccated corpses of ponies, most huddled in corners protecting-

The sight of foal bones and the smell of death from the ancient room did make Twilight and several of her former friends lose their breakfast in the halls outside before they could even go in. Applejack and Rainbow were green, Rarity had fainted, and Fluttershy was a bubbling mess who was being comforted by a silent Pinkie Pie.

That wasn’t the only thing they saw, however. Five massive horned bipedal corpses lay near the middle of the room, surrounding one armored bipedal corpse. A human corpse which looked like he or she had been stabbed multiple times. The human corpse was wearing armor and held a sword covered in rust in its hand.

Twilight, despite the rising nausea, was immediately aware that these human corpses did not possess the same magical nullifying signature unlike Jason’s or Revan’s. Their bodies might have been unrecognizable now, but their armor was still intact, showing ancient markings on their breastplates. Markings that had the distinctive cutie mark of Majesty on it complimented by an open palmed human hand.

“What do yah suppose that means, Twi?” Applejack whispered as the Solar and Lunar Guards continued their search for anything useful in the room while simultaneously gathering the remains of the ponies and humans in the room to be buried respectfully later.

“I…” she was speechless. Humans had been here, and from what it looked like, they had been protecting the ponies from whatever the horned creature had been. Despite the gruesome nature of the scene, it looked like death had been instantaneous, so she took some solace in that they didn’t suffer long. “I don’t know…”

“Miss Sparkle, could you come help open another door?” one of the Lunar Guards called out from the entrance.

“Y-Yeah,” she said as she turned away, holding back fresh tears. Tears not just for the dead here, but tears of shame and guilt over her actions back in Ponyville once more.

The next two doors didn’t have any corpses in them thankfully, but neither did they have anything else that either group were looking for. Had this been any other situation, Twilight may have been overjoyed by the archaeological discovery of the ages, but while she did suggest that the guards be careful, that wasn’t her main concern.

The third chamber opened to a set of large stairs that led down. Upon Twilight entering the stairwell, scones on the wall lit up with a dim yellow glow, flickering like flames. The staircase led down to another set of double doors which she opened.

It was a mausoleum. There were stone platform that resembled coffins, each with ancient writing on them. Twilight guessed it had their names and possibly dates of life in whatever calendar they used. However, one raised platform stood out as it was lifted on a small dais and had white light being poured onto it from a hole leading towards a mirror that let sunlight in. Everypony approached, and to their surprise, the writing on stone slab covering the body had not only ancient writing, but modern Equish.

HERE LIES PRINCESS MIMIC, DAUGHTER OF QUEEN MAJESTY

BELOVED PRINCESS, DAUGHTER, AND FRIEND

SHE WAS A SHINING LIGHT IN OUR DARKEST HOURS AND FOUGHT TO PROTECT OUR ALLIANCE AND HER SUBJECTS

SHE WILL BE MISSED DEARLY

The six ponies lowered their heads, and Applejack even removed her Stetson in solidarity. None of them knew this Princess Mimic, but even if she was the daughter of their current enemy, nopony dared disrespect her final resting place.

After they had paid their respects, they left. Twilight closed the door behind them after making sure there were no other hidden doors inside. The six continued their search, spending the next seven hours exploring the massive castle interior. They found nothing but a ruined castle and the signs of destruction and death everywhere. They found other human corpses with more of the strange horned bipedal creatures surrounding them. Clearly these humans were defending ponies, because in a few of these places were pony bodies.

Twilight was emotionally drained after this, and all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and not move for the next few days and cry. She felt herself nearly tearing up a few times. Pinkie and Fluttershy were not so lucky, and even Rarity was somber, even calling the human corpses they found gallant and noble for their sacrifice.

They were just about to leave and set up a camp for the night when a chiropteran guard came flying towards them. “Miss Sparkle,” he said, “we found a hidden doorway that needs alicorn magic to open. Would you mind helping us open it?”

Exhausted and not really wanting to see any more death and evidence of her folly, she nevertheless nodded. “Take me there,” she said softly.

As the six were led down a set of stairs into the bowels of the ruin, Rainbow spoke up for the first time in a while. “Does…does anyone else find it strange that…that nopony in Equestria knows about this battle here? I mean…” she trailed off, clearly trying to think of the right words.

“One pony probably knows,” Pinkie said softly, “and she’s out there punishing bad ponies.”

That made everyone pause to think. If this was a part of their ancient past, and if Majesty was once a part of said past, she would more than likely know about this place and what happened here. Twilight looked back at her former friends. “I don’t know how this place was forgotten,” she admitted, “but I will be reporting this to the princesses. We’re not archaeologists and we’re not qualified to study this place. Hopefully, we can learn more about what happened here and learn from it.”

Everypony nodded in silent agreement, even Rarity, who hadn’t been looking up at what had once been a magnificent castle to admire its former glory like she had at the Castle of the Two Sisters years ago. A few minutes later, they reached the bottom of the stairs where they were led to an empty chamber where a number of Lunar Guards stood. A number of rocks had been pulled away from a door which had obviously been covered by the ceiling above caving in, and they saw the hole for an alicorn horn in the wall.

When Twilight opened it and lit up her horn to illuminate the interior, she expected there to be more bodies, but instead, there was another beam of light that shone down from holes in the ceiling that landed perfectly on a stone pedestal in the center of the room. Surrounding the beam of light and the pedestal were three statues. Three statues of humans. All three statues stood in a circle, their hands clasped, eyes closed as they had their heads raised to the heavens. One of them was male, which meant that the other two were likely female.

The light from the hole in the ceiling illuminated the two objects sitting on the pedestal. Twilight’s heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the first object. It was a pristine red locket with a golden chain. Just like the one the image of Discord showed, there was a small chip in it just where it had appeared in the projection.

The other object confused her. It was a strange looking metallic cylindrical object that seemed to emit an otherworldly energy or aura. She approached the two and picked the locket up first. It didn’t look like anything special, and she could feel no great magic from it. She couldn’t open it, so she simply slipped it into her pack. The metal cylindrical object was heavier than it looked, but she slipped it into her pack.

Before she left, she looked at the names inscribed on the plaques below the foot of the statues. Each one bore a name that, like Princess Mimic’s tomb, was in unreadable ancient Ponish and modern Equish. The modern Equish ones told their names. Megan Williams. Daniel Williams. Molly Williams.

Nopony spoke as the six walked slowly back up to their now deflated balloon. The sun was setting in the west, so they couldn’t return to Equestria until the next morning. After a somber silent meal and as they were lying in their tents for the night, Applejack sat up in her sleeping bag and, turning to Twilight’s tent, spoke up. “Whatcha reckon we do now, Twi?”

Twilight didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Mostly because she had no idea what to do next. Discord said that they needed to get these two items to Revan, but how could they do that if they didn’t know where he was? She inhaled and exhaled deeply before responding. Finally, she responded with the only answer she had at that moment. “I…have no idea.”

It was that sobering thought that filled all of their minds as they fell into fitful, restless slumber.

Sunset pulled a white cloak around her as it whipped in the northern winds. Even in the summertime, the northern lands beyond the borders of the Crystal Empire were always covered in snow and ice. She considered herself lucky that the skies were clear that day as they trudged through the snow.

Ahead of her, Tobias forged ahead, driven with purpose to find his friend. Sunset had a hard time keeping up with him and would have used her magic to teleport over to him were it not for the fact that Majesty might sense it and locate them. He was wrapped up in thick white furs himself. Both had gotten them in the Crystal Empire as a way to hide themselves just in case they found where Majesty was hiding and she had some sort of lookout.

At one point, Tobias stopped and sat on an ancient tree stump which had probably fallen hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. She joined him shortly after, seeing that he was eating some dried animal meat sticks. She sat on the fallen log next to the stump and pulled out some flatbread to eat while at the same time sipping on her canteen. Normally, she would take along an enchanted thermos full of hot soup along, but as that used up magic, they couldn’t take that risk. So, it was dried meat products for Tobias and flatbread for both of them.

They both did have a thermos full of soup that had been developed by, of all ponies, Sunset’s younger brother Sunburst. It was currently a one time use object. It used chemical reactions to heat up the contents of the inside instead of magic. They were saving that for a snowy day or for a return trip.

“Do you know how big this land is?” Sunset finally asked after she was halfway through her bread.

Tobias looked at her, and she saw weariness in his eyes. She could sense how emotionally drained he was, but above it all, she could see the fear and worry for his friend dripping off of him. “I…don’t care how big this place is,” he said. “I’m finding my friend.”

“Hey, I never said you shouldn’t,” Sunset said, “but this land is big. It may have been inhabited by some race centuries ago, but any sign of civilization was erased long ago.”

“We will find Gregory,” he said with determination.

Sunset had learned the name of their human companion on their first day. She nodded. “We’ll do our best,” she promised.

After that, they ate in silence for about ten more minutes, then stood and continued walking further north. As night began to fall, Sunset randomly looked up at the sky, expecting to see a vast array of stars. What she didn’t expect to see were various ribbons of green and purple light moving slowly across the sky. She paused as the sun finally set beneath the horizon and the colors of the ribbons of light became the best source of light around.

Tobias looked up briefly, then continued onward. “Come on, let’s not let this light go to waste,” he said.

She tore her view away from the unusual sight and rushed after him. “Tobias, come on, we need to rest. We’re both exhausted, cold, and hungry. We need to get some sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” Tobias lied.

“Yes you are,” Sunset chided him. “I’ve seen you almost fall over. If you didn’t have that staff you would have fallen. If we’re both too tired, we’re probably going to miss something, and even those pretty lights aren’t bright enough to see anything.”

Tobias growled angrily, then stomped his foot into the snow, hissing in rage. “Damn you,” he seethed as he took off his pack and dug into it, bringing out a shovel and slamming it into the thick snow. “Damn you,” he repeated as he began to dig out a place where he could lie down without the wind chilling him.

She dug out her own shovel and, without magic, dug deep using only her hooves. She finished her ditch only five minutes after Tobias did, then pulled out her sleeping bag which had been given to her by Empress Cadance. They were both made for cold snowy nights like this, and the moment she snuggled in with some more of the flatbread, she felt nice and warm. She had to adjust a bit but after a while she had a perfect little hole.

She pulled the sleeping bag’s hood over her head and looked up at the night sky. She had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life during the night. She did love a good starry night sky, but this was something altogether new to her. A part of her couldn’t wait to figure out just what these strange but mesmerizing lights were.

A constant shuffling in the hole next to her distracted her, so she decided then and there that Tobias needed to talk. She turned her head to face him despite them both being in snow ditches. “Hey, Tobias? You awake?”

There wasn’t a response right away, but after a few seconds she heard him grunting a “Mmm yes,” in response.

“We should talk,” she said in a serious tone.

“What about?” He sounded grumpy.

She took a moment to inhale and collect her thoughts. She then replied, “I understand that you and Gregory have a solid friendship, and that’s great, but I think you’re letting your emotions get in the way of some of the facts of this mission.”

“What, like how big these northern wastes are and how we’re unlikely to find that spot that we saw in that vision?” Tobias sounded bitter. “Don’t you dare remind me. And don’t you fucking dare tell me to give up!”

“I wouldn’t be out here if I thought we should give up,” Sunset replied, “but I’m saying that we should seriously face the facts that we might not be able to find wherever Majesty took Gregory. For all we know, this could be another false trail.”

“Yes, I know,” he muttered, “but what else can we do?”

“Majesty is extremely powerful,” Sunset said, “and most likely even more so than the Equestrian princesses combined, so we can’t fight her head on. We need to be smarter than her. That’s why I’ve not used any magic to mask our presence or any magic at all. She has some means to see anywhere in the world, but she can’t be omnipresent. She will not likely be searching in this place even if she led us here.”

“You’re a wellspring of confidence,” he muttered.

“I’m being realistic,” she said. “I truly hope that we find Gregory out here. Even if Majesty has been treating him like a king or something, a gilded cage is still a cage, but we should keep in mind that we might never find him here.”

“Again, I already know that,” Tobias growled, suddenly appearing over her pit, his eyes glowing a very brief yellow glow with red irises glow that vanished. “What’s your damned point?”

“We can’t search the entire wastes, and we haven’t even reached the Winterwall yet.”

“We’re about a day out,” he said, “so there’s still hope.”

“I agree, but what if we find something else there instead of that domed area?”

“Then we walk up and down the northern edge of the Winterwall,” he said.

“That will take days, if not weeks,” Sunset reminded him, “and we can’t go on for too long without food when we run out. There might be meat out here for you to eat, but I can’t eat anything like that or I’ll get seriously sick and slow you down. It will also drain my magic temporarily until any meat is out of my system.”

“We have enough food for two weeks including the trip back,” Tobias insisted as he returned to his sleeping area. “We can last that long.”

“And if we find nothing?” Sunset asked.

There was silence, and then a heavy sigh. “We return to the Crystal Empire to resupply.”

“We may need to ask for help in searching,” Sunset said. “I know you said we shouldn’t, but we may not have much of a choice.”

There was another pregnant pause, then Tobias replied, “If we have no other choice, then yes.”

Sunset nodded, then said, “Okay, then it’s settled.” She pulled the hood of her sleeping bag over her eyes. “Sleep well.”

Several hours later, she woke up with a start. The bright shimmering ribbons and curtains of light in the sky were still there, having only shifted positions from when she’d fallen asleep. She lay still, knowing that she didn’t wake for no reason. She slept well anywhere, but if something was wrong, she almost always fell asleep. She quietly pulled her ears out of her sleeping bag and swiveled them, trying to listen for anything.

For five minutes of intense listening, all she heard was the wind passing by overhead. Like most winds, it increased and decreased in intensity. Just when she was about to pull her cold ears back into her sleeping bag, she heard it. A slight crunch in the snow nearby. It sounded like a hoof stepping into the snow, but there was another noise she heard. A hissing noise.

Slowly, she crawled out of her sleeping bag, all the while hearing the sound of crunching in snow and hissing grow louder. She crouched on all fours, waiting for the noise to pop up again. When it did, she launched herself up out of the snow and aimed her horn at the source of the sound. To her surprise, Tobias had launched himself up from his pit and had drawn both of his rapiers, aiming them directly at the source of the noise.

In the light of the northern sky lights, she saw a quadruped creature with slightly glowing vivid opal eyes similar to those of a pony. They widened in alarm as the creature stepped back and raised their two front hooves. “Please don’t hurt me,” the creature said in a pleading, male voice.

“Who are you, changeling?” Tobias asked. In the light, Sunset now saw that this was a changeling drone, although his eye color was slightly different than others she had seen.

“Th-Thorax,” the changeling replied weakly. Sunset noticed a look of surprise appear on Tobias’ face. “I-I wasn’t going to hurt you, I promise!”

“Then what were you going to do?” Sunset asked, her horn still lowered and ready to fire off a blast of magic if the changeling made any sudden moves.

“I-I felt a lot of l-love here, and I hav-haven’t eaten in s-s-so long,” Thorax said with a trembling tone. His eyelids narrowed and he hissed, but then backed away quickly, then to Sunset’s surprise, buried his face into the snow and screamed before coming back up. “S-Sorry! I c-can’t help-p it…”

Tobias looked over at Sunset, and she looked back at him. There was something unusual about this changeling. Not only were his eyes a different color, but he was apologizing. He also looked weak from hunger. Tobias reached into his pit and pulled out a small meat stick. “Can you eat normal food?” he asked.

Thorax looked at it, then back at Tobias. “I-I can, but it-it’s more l-like a snack,” he said.

“Then take this,” Tobias said, holding the stick out.

Thorax raised a horn, and a brilliant green glow came from it. He took the stick and ate it quickly. “D-Do you have w-water?” he asked hopefully. Tobias gave him a sip from his canteen. “Th-thank you,” he said. “S-Snow doesn’t h-help t-too much.”

“Agreed,” Tobias said.

“Wh-Why haven’t you s-started a fire?” Thorax asked, looking around.

“We don’t want to be seen,” Tobias said, quickly pulling out a blanket to give to Thorax, who accepted it gratefully. “What are you doing out here?”

Thorax wrapped the blanket around himself gratefully and seemed to immediately relax. Sunset noted that the blanket he had was one that Tobias had been using in his sleeping bag. “I…was part of the invasion of Canterlot years ago,” he said after a few false starts, “and when we were flung away by that blast of love, I was separated from the others and flung here. I tried living in the Crystal Empire, but that was almost impossible. I go in to eat any ambient love I can find occasionally, but I live mostly in a cave system nearby.”

That caught Sunset’s attention. “A cave system? Where is it?”

“Back that way,” Thorax said, pointing to a small mountain range.

“Shit, you flew out that far because you sensed love?” Tobias asked incredulously. “You must be very sensitive to sensing emotions. The changelings I’ve met weren’t that keen.”

Thorax looked confused. “You’ve met other changelings besides me? I thought our Queen’s hive was the only one left.”

“I live in Thornfall,” Tobias explained.

Thorax’s eyes widened in understanding and he nodded. “I see.” He looked back at his cave, then back at the two of them. “Would you two like to come back to the cave with me? It’s a bit warmer there.”

Sunset looked at Tobias, who gave her a questioning look. She knew what he wanted to know, and to her surprise, this Thorax seemed genuine. She nodded, and Tobias relaxed a bit before turning to Thorax. “It will take us some time to pack up, so it might be better if we wait until morning,” he said. “Your offer is very generous, though.”

“I can carry you,” Thorax offered, then before either of them could object, he turned to the side, and in a flash of green flame, transformed into a massive dragon with dark bluish scales. He looked down, then lowered himself so that they could climb onto his back.

It took Sunset and Tobias a few minutes to pack up everything, and ten minutes after they left, they found themselves in a large but warmer cave. The two immediately set up their sleeping bags again. Tobias shared a few more bits of food with Thorax and let him keep the blanket for the night after seeing that he slept in a pile of what looked like discarded rags. Tobias even started a small fire near them which helped warm them all.

After the two were set up again and curled up in their sleeping bags, Thorax curled up in the blanket nearby, then looked over at them. “What are you two doing out here, and why do you not want to be seen?”

Sunset spoke this time. “That’s our business for now,” she said, “but we need to be stealthy to accomplish our mission.”

“Maybe you can be of some help,” Tobias added. “We’re looking for something beyond the Winterwall. Ever made it as far north as the Winterwall?”

“Once or twice,” Thorax replied.

“Recently?” Tobias asked, and to Sunset’s confusion, not only had the abyssinian slipped into what sounded like a Trottingham accent, but she could sense some amusement.

“No, not recently,” Thorax said, “why?”

“We’re looking for a group of dome shaped hills,” Tobias said. “Have you seen any?”

Thorax didn’t respond right away, but when he did, Sunset saw hope soaring in Tobias’ expression. “Yes, I saw a group of hills shaped like domes. I stay away from them.”

“Why’s that?” Sunset asked.

“Because,” Thorax replied with a shudder of fear, “those cave systems are haunted.”

“You’re saying that because Majesty teleported all of my things here, she’s going to be bedridden for the next four days?” Gregory asked to confirm, looking up at the large and ancient dragon who lay behind the throne room in the main hall of the lair where he was being held. Beside him, Dengal stood, remaining close. That brought him some comfort since the unusual goblin was a welcome presence that helped keep him in check.

Spyke nodded. “Your belongings were very difficult to move, so she used more magic than she would have had to otherwise,” he explained in a patient tone.

“I see,” Gregory said. He had hoped to speak with her more about the papers he and Dengal had read earlier, but it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. He decided to try another tactic. He held up the papers for Spyke to see. “Since we’ve got nothing better to do, we’d like to learn more about this war against demons. What happened to Majesty after she was captured? Why haven’t the demons struck again after so long? A lot of things don’t add up with the information in these papers.”

“I can answer the second of your questions,” Spyke said. “The demons are all gone. Extinct. I won’t tell you how, because it’s not my place. My queen can tell you.”

The way Spyke said that made Gregory pause in alarm. He didn’t want to think about the possibilities as to what Majesty might have done to the demons who killed her human husband and slaughtered humans, elves, gnomes, and pony soldiers in the last battle. A creature blinded by grief, anger and hatred might do some unspeakable things, but he knew he had to know. Still, he couldn’t ask now. “Then I’ll ask her about it,” he said, “but I still need more information. Is there any place with more history like this?”

Spyke nodded. “Queen Majesty said that you could read anything in the library.” He then looked at Dengal and frowned. “The goblin female, on the other claw-”

“She comes with me,” Gregory said, “that’s non-negotiable.”

Spyke looked a bit shocked by the interruption, and for a few moments there was silence. He then began to shrink into a smaller form. Straightening, he looked at Gregory. “Very well,” he said. “Follow me.”

Gregory followed Spyke as the ancient dragon led them down a set of ancient stairs. Dengal stayed close beside him, reaching down and grabbing his hand with her claws. He gratefully squeezed back, smiling a bit because it felt nice to hold a five fingered appendage again. Neither of them spoke as they found themselves standing in a short hallway in front of an iron door. Spyke pulled it open and breathed out a small breath of fire which lit a torch. He grabbed it and turned to the two. “Wait here.” With that, he turned and flew into the darkness.

As Spyke flew around and began lighting torches on distant walls, Dengal leaned in. “What are you planning on doing?” she asked in a very quiet whisper. “With that Majesty down, shouldn’t we try and escape from here?”

“That’s part of what I’m doing,” Gregory replied in a whisper of his own. Since she had pointed ears, he could barely speak and he knew she’d hear her. “Part of a good escape plan is having good information. We now know where the library is, so that’s a plus, but we also could learn something more down here that Majesty might not want us to know.”

“Then why would she or Spyke let us down here?” Dengal asked.

“Because she might think that any information we find down here will be purely academic,” Gregory explained, “but it could still help us in ways even she can’t think of. She’s a smart pony, but she isn’t omniscient. There may be something she missed, and that means something we can capitalize on.”

Dengal nodded. “Got it.” She frowned then. “I never liked academic reading…”

“Act like your life depends on what you learn,” Gregory replied, “because it does,”

The two of them went silent, standing next to each other as they held each others’ hand/claw. Two or so minutes later, Spyke had lit all of the torches, illuminating a surprisingly large room with about a dozen shelves of books and some wall shelves that held artifacts behind glass. When he returned, he looked at them. “Don’t leave the library without someone escorting you,” he said. “I will have your escort come to watch and help you after I leave. Don’t touch the cases because they are able to stun you.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Gregory agreed.

As soon as Spyke left, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Gregory looked around, wondering where to start. Dengal’s attention was captured immediately by one of the artifacts in the glass cases, and she migrated towards it. “What on Erda…?” she muttered.

“What is it?” Gregory asked, following her.

She reached the glass case and pointed in, being careful not to touch the glass. “That pair of swords there…the designs on the scabbard are ones I’ve never seen before.”

Gregory joined her and looked at them curiously. There were strange letters carved into the scabbards. The swords themselves looked brand new, as did the scabbards. He couldn’t read the letters or even identify them. “Neither have I,” he said. He touched her arm. “Come on, let’s get to studying.”

She pulled her eyes away from the display, only to point at something else that Gregory had somehow missed. “Gregory! Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at an object in the corner of the room.

Gregory looked, and his eyes widened. He was seeing a display of armor, specifically human-styled armor. It had a medieval look to it, but what he noticed right away was that there were carvings on the breastplate. Carvings that matched the writing on the scabbards of the swords they had just been observing. He turned back to the swords. “Human swords…” he muttered.

“Those swords aren’t like any I’ve seen before either,” she said.

“They look like any normal sword to me,” Gregory said.

Dengal shook her head. “No, the blades are…patterned. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Gregory walked back to the swords, which were halfway out of their scabbards. His eyebrows shot up in recognition. “I have. Back in my world, this was known as Damascus steel.”

“Damascus steel…” She muttered the phrase a few times, rolling the words around in her mouth. “I see. I wonder if I can recreate it…?”

“Another time,” Gregory said. “We have work to do.”

He and Dengal spent several hours in the library reading anything they could get their hands or claws on, and after that time Dengal found something that gave them more insight into Majesty: her husband’s old journal.

Journal of King Chethan, the last King of Lantea

Entry 156:

I never thought that I would be married to Queen Majesty of all creatures. But as I lie next to her in our marriage bed after our wedding, I see her sleeping peacefully. She looks so happy right now. Relaxed and calm. I hope she’s having good dreams. After three days of celebration, she deserves the rest.

Still, while this marriage might have been one to solidify our alliance, I’m glad that I married her. She is one of my closest friends, and it was because of her ponies that the otherworld humans rescued me from remaining as Scorpan. She is an amazing mare, and I’m fortunate to have her as my wife.

I just stroked her mane, and it feels so soft. There’s also a floral scent to it. I saw her smile when I touched her. She must be having a good dream. I wonder if it’s about Dream Valley. Her valley is so beautiful that part of me is tempted to live here without a care in the world like her pony subjects have. Although, I guess they’re my subjects now, just like humans are hers now. Sadly, tomorrow is when we head back home for six months. I hope she will be okay during that time.

Got to go. She woke up and has a look in her eyes-

I’m sore. Going to sleep now.

Entry 167:

Majesty and I have returned to Dream Valley. Our bedroom is ready and I unpacked a few hours ago. I’m alone, as my wife is off dealing with some disputes regarding her ponies. She told me she’d handle it.

My stepdaughter Mimic is beside me. She is a lovely young mare who takes after her mother and will most likely turn heads someday. Whoever she ends up with will be a very lucky stallion. I am just sorry I could never meet her sire. Maj tells me he was a marvelous stallion, strong and an amazing father. I only hope I can be half the father to Mimic that he was.

I would do anything to protect my new family.

I feel my eyelids becoming heavy. I will sleep now.

Entry 204:

Maj and I had to go try and help settle a dispute between the elves and the dragons. The Dragon Lord claimed that the elves had encroached on their territory, and the elves claimed that the dragons had burned down a section of the Sylvan Realm. Prince Phylius joined us to help figure out what had happened.

We couldn’t reach any conclusions initially, because it appeared as if both sides were telling the truth, but Majesty used her vast wellspring of magic and, along with the help of her student Twilight, determined that both events had been fabricated. Humans do not have pony magic, so I always love seeing my beloved wife use her magic. It’s a privilege I never take for granted. They are truly a blessed race in our world.

Despite Majesty being so powerful and even with Twilight’s help, they couldn’t find who was behind it. Tensions were high until Prince Phylius and I both stepped forward and calmed both sides. I won’t recall the speeches here because they’re recorded in the Annals of the Kings and Queens of Ponyland somewhere.

Maj was proud of me, and I of her. She is sleeping next to me now in our camp before we return to Dream Castle. I know that look in her eyes, and I look forward to going home.

Entry 321:

Maj and I are back in Lantea. I think she’s gotten used to living in Thyule finally. She goes out many times a month during our stays here and interacts with her new human subjects, getting to know how they think and their own thoughts. She always comes back home with new ideas that she believes would help bring our two races closer together. She is always thinking towards the future, and it warms my heart to hear her talk about the future of our lands.

But something has been bothering me lately. For the past few days, I’ve been feeling odd. Not sick, it’s more like there’s some nagging feeling inside me that there’s something wrong. But that just doesn’t make sense. Lantea and Ponyland are safe. So is the Sylvan Realm and the distant Dragon Lands are even at tentative peace with us. The grundles new underground kingdom is flourishing and creating many marvelous things.

So why am I feeling like something’s wrong? Or no, that’s not quite right. It feels like something is coming.

Entry 482:

This can’t be a coincidence.

Seven years to the day since Megan the Fair and her siblings left our world for the final time, the Blackened Mountains to the east of Lantea began rumbling even more. Eagle rider scouts flew back and reported that there is smoke rising from several of the peaks of that range.

The feeling I’ve felt for a while came back in full force when the scouts gave their reports. Even Maj shuddered in fear. Were I not her husband, I wouldn’t have noticed it. I have sent Eagle rider messengers to the Sylvan Realm to get their help in patrolling the mountains.

I sincerely hope that this is only a natural phenomenon.

Entry 498:

Demons.

Demons of a kind I haven’t seen before have begun to emerge from the mountains and have launched raids on our borders. Already, we have received reports of several farmer families perishing to these raiding parties. Maj and I have ordered our impromptu army of men, elves, and ponies to begin mobilizing. I don’t know what they want, but I will not be caught unprepared again!

Entry 524:

The Hades Gates to Tartarus have been opened. Cerberi have poured forth and many other monstrous demons have begun their assault on our border towns. Hundreds have perished already. They are strong, but I will not let them take our lands from us!

Entry 591:

We have held the demon army at the Lybeal Stronghold for the past few weeks. They outnumber us five to one, but we are holding them off as best as we can. The gnome weapons and armor have arrived for all of us and we have been putting them to good use. We have called to the dragons for aid, but they have not come. Another group of demons have attacked them too, it seems. Their Dragon Lord has been slain.

Scouts report that more waves of the enemy have poured from the Hades Gates. It’s as if all of Tartarus is being unleashed. What I don’t understand is why. Why attack now?

Entry 645:

My stepdaughter is dead.

I can barely write this as I-

I failed to protect my daughter. I can’t face Maj now.

I will make them pay!

Entry 671:

Something has happened to the flutter ponies. All of them have disappeared, and even those in our alliance army are gone. One moment they were there, and the next thing they were gone. Nobody knows what happened. Many have reported that the flutter ponies they were speaking to or observing simply fell down, screamed, and then vanished.

Entry 687:

The enemy has struck us with a disease that no doubt their foul witches and warlocks crafted for us. Any affected become as hoards of the undead, attacking and slaughtering former friends and allies without mercy. I have had to slay many who I once called friends.

I still refuse to give up. Until we are all gone, there is hope, and I must cling to that hope or go insane.

Entry 714:

It is with a heavy heart that I have ordered the civilian populations of Lantea and Ponyland to flee their homes. The onslaught of demons has been unrelenting. We can barely hold them back. It’s a miracle we are still around and that I’m still alive. If only I had died with my men earlier…

No, that is unbecoming of a King of Lantea. Of a King of Man. I will fight until I can fight no more. We will safeguard the ponies, humans, elves, gnomes, grundles, booshwoolies, and every other race that we can. We have lost our homeland. Even Thyule will eventually fall to the hordes of the enemy.

No more.

Entry 715:

This will be my last entry, and I will hide it in the ancient catacombs beneath our city. I have sent Maj away to be free to restart pony civilization to the west. The plague has not touched them, it seems, so I do not want to expose them just in case.

The hordes of demons have surrounded Thyule. They will attack at dawn. I will launch our surprise at the same time. I only regret being so far from the mare that I love so dearly, but that regret is quelled knowing that she is safe with her dear ponies.

Maj, if you somehow find this, know this: please do not mourn overlong for me. Keep watch over your dear ponies and make sure you and yours prosper in peace and harmony. I love you all.