A Mercenary's Ending

Princess Celestia sat in the breakfast nook of the castle looking down at her midday meal of vegetable soup tiredly. The past few days since coming back from Maretime Bay had been nothing short of exhausting for her. Equestrian newspapers had caught wind of the stories about an ancient alicorn causing havoc at Dodge City and Maretime Bay, the latter gaining more precedent as most everypony in town had been changed into a human. She had to make several statements to the common pony to quell their fears, because ponies tended to panic at trouble.

She stirred her cooling soup, not really feeling hungry at the moment. Majesty hadn’t done anything since her actions at Maretime Bay, at least as far as she knew. For all her experience dealing with threats to Equestria in the past, Majesty wasn’t one she could fight head on due to her massive power and ability to seemingly see everywhere. Not to mention that she had been receiving disturbing reports of ponies either declaring their agreement with Majesty before disappearing or quietly agreeing with some of what she did and forming groups who demanded some great change to Equestria. Most, if not all, of the nonpony residents of Equestria were also calling for change since they had been quietly oppressed by ponies, specifically those of higher social standing like the nobility.

The worst part for Celestia was that she couldn’t blame many of these ponies for agreeing with Majesty’s motives. She acknowledged that she’d grown lax in her rule, and that now led to the current situation growing quickly out of control. There were peaceful protests happening in smaller towns but as this movement spread, it would inevitably lead to more chaos worthy of Discord. She blamed herself for it, and wanted to make changes like they wanted, but at the moment her focus was trying to save Equestria from Majesty and her judgements, or attacks.

She was just about to force herself to take a spoonful of soup to keep up her strength when a pegasus came flying in through a window rather fast. He looked exhausted and was panting heavily, sweat pouring from his mane. Celestia looked at the pegasus in alarm, recognizing the uniform on him as belonging to a courier. “Soldier, is everything okay?” she asked, putting her spoon down and quickly pouring the courier a tall glass of water.

He drank greedily, then gasped and reached into his pack to pull out a letter. “Apologies for interrupting your meal, your Highness,” he said when he regained his breath, “but Princess Luna bade me return to you with a message.”

Celestia quickly took the scroll, broke the seal, and opened the letter. As she read its contents, her eyes went wide. “That’s impossible…” she whispered as she looked at the messenger. “Can you confirm this?”

It was standard practice for couriers to have been eyewitnesses to certain events reported by letter. It was no different in this case. The courier nodded. “I witnessed it with my own eyes, your Highness. I’m sorry that I couldn’t come any sooner, but Princess Luna ordered all pegasi and chiropterans to scour the Badlands to confirm everything.”

“And…all of it?” Celestia asked.

“We saw forests, grasslands, a large lake, almost a small sea…it’s fertile, your Highness,” the courier said. “There’s not a hint of a desert there anymore.”

“And…Thornfall?” Celestia asked, with some more hesitation this time. “What happened to it? Did you see what my sister wrote about?”

“Yes, your Highness,” the courier acknowledged. “Princess Luna spoke to several survivors of whatever Majesty did here. Most of the town’s population were criminals, including several ponies who have been on the run from the law. Some were changed into animals, others had what they’d done to others done unto them, and much more. She said she listed everything in the letter.” The courier looked sick at the memory of whatever he’d seen before taking another gulp of water. “Your Highness…I’ve never seen so much chaos.”

Celestia sat back heavily in her chair, the scroll falling to the ground. Majesty had struck again, only this time she had hit Thornfall. Just as the courier had said, Luna had meticulously gathered as much information as she could. There were survivors that Majesty had seemingly rewarded by taking a note from the actions of Robin Hood and his Merry Stallions from Trottingham legend. Now she wondered, belatedly, if there was some truth about that hooded stallion. “Thank you for bringing me this information. Go ahead and rest before you return to my sister. I’ll have a letter for you by that time.”

The courier gave a silent but grateful nod before he walked tiredly out of the room, leaving Celestia alone once more. She looked down at the letter once more, then down at her light lunch. She’d completely lost her appetite now. She put the scroll down and put her head in her hooves, shuddering as she sighed. She didn’t know what to do anymore.

Several hours later, after hearing more ponies in her Day Court which she honestly was only half listening to, she was granted a brief reprieve by a message from the ponies scouring the Restricted Archives in Canterlot’s library, asking her to come and look at something that they’d found that could be helpful. The alabaster alicorn had cut short the rest of her day and rushed over to the archives, where she was met by one of the main researchers, an earth pony stallion named Abstract Thinking. He preferred to go by Trac, and was one of the best researchers in Canterlot due to his unique way of thinking. “Mr. Trac,” she began, “you found something?”

The stallion was in his early twenties, with dark red fur, dark mauve mane and tail, and light blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of large black rimmed glasses. He pushed the glasses up with his hoof. “Come with me, please,” he said in a surprisingly deep voice that belied his appearance. He turned and walked with Celestia falling into step beside him. “We found ancient stone tablets that date from the very beginning of the Age of Disharmony. We’re having some difficulty reading them, but we’re making slow progress.”

“What have you found so far?” Celestia asked.

“We know the author of these stone tablets, or a rough guess,” he began. “The author used an archaic form of Old Polish that we’ve never really seen before. Their name is something like Evenfall, or Dusk, or-”

“Twilight,” Celestia interrupted him.

Abstract nodded. “Correct,” he said. “They were apparently a mare, judging by the female use of the archaic version of ‘I’.”

“What else have you learned?” Celestia asked.

“Nothing much so far,” Abstract admitted. “We’re hesitant to use a translation matrix on the stones because they’re so ancient the spell might make them crumble and we could lose something in translation.”

That made Celestia pause and think. She knew only of a few ponies who could cast a translation matrix spell. She was one of them, but she wasn’t sure that her skill matched that of another. Unfortunately, that pony had suffered greatly due to the actions of her daughter two years ago and had not spoken to Celestia since. Still, Celestia knew they might need Twilight Velvet’s help. “There may be somepony who can help,” she said. “Show me the tablet.”

Several minutes later, Celestia was looking at a large and ancient looking tablet made out of what was most likely clay. She saw that it was heavily worn, likely by some kind of erosion. They looked like it had been broken from a larger structure, because parts of the writing at the top and bottom were cut off. It was also too thick to be a normal tablet.

When she asked, Abstract said that it was likely that this tablet was actually part of a larger structure, perhaps a monument, as according to the brief notes about it, the tablet had been discovered in the middle of a field of what was now a sunken plateau where there had once been a land bridge connecting the continent of Equestria to the continent directly east of them. One of the plateaus that had been sunk during a great battle between ponies before the founding of Equestria.

She took in the faded lettering on the stone, noting that the other three sides had a few marks on them. Abstract noted that the notes said the side with writing on it was found buried slightly in the dirt, meaning that the other side of whatever monument this had belonged to most likely had been exposed to rain and the other elements for many years, eroding the other sides.

She could read only a few words, one of them being the name of the author, as it was on the very bottom of the tablet itself. Abstract was right, the author had a name like Twilight, but that was the only name she saw. The other words she could somewhat recognize were words like ‘I’ or simple verbs. Her Old Ponish language skills had grown rusty over her tenure as Princess of Equestria, and she decided that she needed to brush up on them in her spare time.

“Is there anything you can tell me about the contents?” Celestia asked, turning back to Abstract.

He shook his head, then looked at the other researchers who also didn’t look hopeful. “Like I said,” he began, “this is a form of Old Ponish that I don’t know. It’s archaic, and there are markings on some of the letters that none of us can make sense of.”

Celestia nodded in understanding. “I can see that now,” she said as she lowered her horn to better illuminate the writing. “Can you tell how old it is?”

“That we can do,” Abstract said. “Judging from the decay of magic from the writing, we’ve estimated this tablet to be between two to two and a half thousand years old. Perhaps older. Our oldest test shows that the stone could have been touched by magic over three thousand years ago.”

Celestia nearly stumbled back in shock. She and Luna, both having been born in the old alicorn city of Skyros, were both around eleven hundred years old or so, having been born during the initial stages of Equestria. She even had the original flag for the nation hanging near her bed. If this stone was from the time of Majesty, then it was definitely as old as Abstract was saying. “Can you narrow the age down?” Celestia asked.

“Not without cracking the stone open and looking inside,” Abstract admitted with a frown. “There’s more magic inside this stone than outside. We think this stone was formed to be part of a monument, although to what, we don’t know.”

Celestia nodded, then she heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching from the door. Turning, she saw two guards escorting a familiar older pony mare in. Said mare looked quite different than the last time Celestia had seen her. She was once like Celestia, a thrill-seeker, only she had the freedom to actually do those stunts. Now, however, that love of life had disappeared. She had more wrinkles on her face now than before, worry lines and a despondent look that reached to her entire body language. Celestia doubted that her husband had been any better. “You summoned me, your Highness?” She sounded slightly bitter.

“I did,” Celestia said, skipping any pleasantries as she stepped aside. “Can you cast a translation matrix spell on this stone tablet?”

Twilight Velvet walked up to the stone and looked at it with a discerning eye. After a few minutes, she nodded. “I think I can,” she said as she raised a horn. A double moderate purple and brilliant cerise warbling glow of magic surrounded the stone. Celestia knew that Twilight Velvet was an anomaly in the unicorn community, possessing duel magical glows that swiftly switched between colors. Above the stone, a magical rendition of the stone appeared, but instead of words forming like normal translation matrix spells, an image formed. The image of an elderly unicorn mare with a pink coat of fur, a white mane with a purple streak through it, and purple eyes. On her tail, there was a blue ribbon attached to it. She had a cutie mark of seven purple stars on her flanks. There was a small crown on her head, more of a circlet than anything. The eyes had a weary look to them, and a sadness embedded there. However, when she spoke, there was a strength to her voice.

“If you are seeing this, then I have failed in my mission to keep the past from repeating itself. My name is Twilight, and I am the last unicorn, or pony rather, who remembers the Tartarus War.

“Ponykind once lived in harmony and friendship with the other races and kingdoms surrounding Ponyland. The Sylvan Realm of the Elves, the gnome kingdom of Thurim, the Grundle Mountain Realm, the ancient Dragon Lands, and even most importantly, the human kingdom of Lantea.

“I have raised this monument in order that the history of these kingdoms who sacrificed themselves for our survival remain known to us. I have tried to record as much of the history as I can within the crystals within this monument, but if those fail to be maintained by future generations, then I have to record the highlights here.

“Ponyland was once a prosperous and peaceful nation ruled by Queen Majesty, our protector and greatest monarch. She protected us from invading forces who would have seen us destroyed. We were protected in the last years by not only her, but by the Williams siblings from the world of Earth, Megan, Daniel, and Molly. We had to say goodbye to them in our last days before the wars began.

After the Hades Gates began showing signs of opening again and letting the demons out, Queen Majesty and Prince Chethan of Lantea were married, the humans, elves, gnomes, booshwoolies, and grundles began to assemble an army to keep an eye on the volcanic activity of the Blackened Mountains. For years, nothing happened, until the Hades Gates opened and the demons of Tartarus came forward. Some ponies did join in the fighting, and their names, those who died and those who survived, are carved onto this stone pillar to be remembered for all time.

“I have constructed this monument because I have failed my Queen. The unicorn tribe elected me to be the new Queen of the ponies, but the other two tribes have rejected my rule and have gone their own way, creating nations of their own. I tried to restore the harmony among us, but I am not like Queen Majesty, and I will not force ponies to follow me.

“I have since noticed that there has been a change among many ponies. There is anger and bitterness growing among them, starting with the older generation who, like me, still remember Ponyland. They have grown to have a deep-seated distrust of other races, something I have tried and failed to prevent. Even my own three daughters have this hatred despite my stories. It doesn’t help that the demon sickness affected a group of pegasi and turned them into the now sadly hated chiropterans, and I also suspect that the sickness has affected many others in subtler ways.

“To any watching this, please know that I am sorry for everything. I failed to protect my queen when she was taken by the demon horde. I failed to maintain harmony and peace between our now three tribes. I failed to see the signs of dissension before it was too late. This failure is my bane, which is why I am naming this monument Twilight’s Bane. I…I have lost so much, but I will make sure that the future generations will not endure the losses I have gone through.

“I hope that one day, ponies will recover from this and once more create a nation of harmony and peace while maintaining good relationships with other races. My biggest regret is that so many other races were wiped out to protect us. We should have done more…I only hope this message, this monument, and my final breath will open up the eyes of future generations. Farewell. I go to join those who I have lost.”

The image of this ancient pony queen paused, then stood stalwart. She raised a horn, which began to glow. Not only that, but her body also began glowing until it vanished, leaving only the image of a patch of grass with four hoofmarks in them. The image itself then vanished, only to be replaced with a small message in glowing white that read: I, Queen Twilight, hereby list the names of all ponies who fought to defend not only their fellow pony, but their fellow equal creatures.

The white letters continued to appear, listing name after name of ponies who apparently fought in some ancient war before the pony Dark Ages. Everypony in the room stared in utter shock at the names that appeared. Even after the white letters stopped forming, they were in shock. Finally, however, they heard somepony collapsing. Everypony turned as one to see Twilight Velvet on her knees, looking with tears in her eyes at the names hovering in the air. “Are you alright?” Celestia asked with concern.

Twilight Velvet looked slowly back at the princess. “I…I don’t know…” she said through tears. “Something…something feels strange inside me…” And with that, she went limp, still breathing, but clearly unconscious.

Celestia acted quickly, turning to the guards in the room, and ordered, “Get her to the castle medical wing immediately!”

As the guards quickly but carefully took Twilight Velvet away, she ordered some more guards to inform her husband about this incident as well, then when they were gone, she turned back to the stone. The names were still hovering there, and some of the team members were writing down the names while another one, who Celestia knew was a unicorn mare named Eidetic Memory, was furiously writing down what the image of Queen Twilight had said. Abstract was still staring at the names before he turned back to the princess. “Your Highness, what should we do?”

Celestia frowned in consideration. “We will not hide this from the public, but we also need more information on what this Queen Twilight mentioned. Keep on searching here, but also gather a group you trust to search the ruins of the old unicorn city back east.”

“Your Highness, that’s barely within our borders,” Abstract reminded her, “and not to mention that it’s on the borders of bugbear territory.”

“I will have Solar and Lunar guards accompany you,” Celestia promised. “Have you found anything else here?”

Abstract shook his head. “Nothing that seems to relate to this Majesty alicorn,” he said.

“Expand your search based off of the new information here,” Celestia said.

“I finished writing down the speech,” Eidetic said, holding up a scroll with her magic.

“It will be done, your Highness,” Abstract said.

Tobias followed the rogue changeling through the cold stone caverns through the mountains, his coat wrapped tightly around him as the light of the torch in his claw barely illuminated the walls around the three. Not that his eyes needed that much light, of course. Sunset stayed close behind, a glowing torch in her own grasp. Their new guide, Thorax, had changed into an abyssinian himself with a dark blue color scheme. He too held a torch.

The caverns they were passing through had definitely not seen the sun probably ever and were wide while also feeling ancient. They looked completely natural, but Tobias thought he saw some signs that they had been carved ages ago. Not that it mattered to him. All that mattered was that Thorax had promised that these tunnels led to the Winterwall and beyond.

The group hadn’t been saying anything since they began their journey early the previous morning. Their guide, by virtue of being a changeling, was still weak from lack of true nourishment, and despite Tobias knowing what he knew from him and Gregory watching the My Little Pony show, he doubted that Thorax sharing love would work since he was alone. Much to his consternation, they had to rest more often than he would have liked during the past couple of days. There had been times when Tobias had even carried Thorax and let him feed slightly on his love for Gregory. It wasn’t romantic love, of course, but to a changeling, that hardly mattered. Love was the most nutritious of all emotions.

Ahead of them, Thorax stumbled over a small rock, putting his claw onto the wall to steady himself. Tobias was by his side instantly, a feeling of dread coming over him. “You need rest,” he stated.

Thorax shook his head, standing back up. “I’m okay,” he said weakly. “I can go on.”

“Change into something small,” Tobias ordered, pointing to the breast pocket on his coat, “I’ll carry you for a while.”

Thorax looked pained, clearly feeling guilty, but nodded in agreement, changing into a small creature Thorax said was called a breezie. His voice was much higher pitched than it normally was, but he could still speak. He flew into Tobias’ coat pocket once the abyssinian had grabbed the second torch. “Keep going straight until you come to a split in the caves,” Thorax said in his tired sounding higher pitched squeaky voice, “and take the cavern with an X above it.”

“Wish I could do that,” Sunset muttered as Tobias picked up the pace.

“Well, we can’t,” Tobias chided her as the two continued down the pathway.

A half hour passed, and Tobias noticed that Thorax had fallen asleep, curled up still in a breezie form inside his breast pocket. They hadn’t yet found the split in the cave system yet, so he figured that Thorax had earned a little rest. He brought forth some of the love he bore for his best friend along with the older love for his home country Panthera for the sleeping changeling to feed on and regain strength from. He felt Thorax stir in his pocket and a small pink mist emanated from Tobias, heading into the pocket. Thorax sighed in contentment.

“That’ll never cease to look weird to me,” Sunset said with a dry chuckle.

“There’s a lot that’s weird to me,” Tobias retorted, sounding angrier than he meant to.

Sunset sighed. “Tobias, there’s something that’s been bothering me. How does Gregory know more about Majesty and early ony history than I do? Did you two find something on your jobs since he came from Earth?”

Tobias had shared a few things about Gregory that he felt his friend would forgive him for revealing. In his defense, he had been tired and had hoped that by telling an increasingly inquisitive Sunset something, it would shut her up. “Not quite,” he deflected.

She seemed to immediately pick up on the deflection. “Where, then?”

“Now’s not the time,” Tobias retorted.

“We’ve got nothing to do but walk,” Sunset replied with a surprisingly patient tone.

“I’ve already revealed too much as it is,” Tobias snapped back, “and I’ve sworn to keep my lips sealed on the matter.”

Sunset didn’t say anything for a while. Then she asked, “What’s Panthera like?”

That question caught Tobias off guard because it was completely unexpected. “It’s…well, it’s home,” he began. “It’s a kingdom about the same size as Equestria. There’s a number of different climates there. Up north, there’s the Minosian Forests, then below that the Kern Wetlands. To the west we have the Zelia Plains. To the east across the Fane Mountains there’s the Valisa Desert where the mighty sandworms live. The southern part is where most of our population lives and it’s the largest part. The Xylier River splits off from the Fane Mountains where it originates and keeps the vast majority of the south well watered.”

Sunset nodded. “I knew all that already,” she said. “I studied a geography map of your continent when I was Celestia’s student. What I was asking is your personal experience on it.”

Tobias thought back. His memories about his home continent were fragmented. His nostalgia for his homeland was real, and he thought back harder. He remembered bits and pieces of his younger self walking through cities full of his kind. He remembered the smells of roasting meat and other delectable staples of his culture as they assaulted his younger nostrils. “It’s been so long,” he said, “and my memory of it is fading. When this is over, I’m taking Gregory there and away from all of this. There’s an adventurers guild association there and I plan on joining. I think Gregory would like the upgrade in job security.”

Sunset didn’t say anything for a while. “I had heard about that guild,” she said. “What’s the difference between being an adventurer and a mercenary? There doesn’t seem to be any significant difference that I can see.”

“Adventurers get a wider variety of jobs,” Tobias explained. “You can get a job collecting ingredients for potions, looking for lost pets, helping a short staffed store, or going to kill monsters that are threatening other smaller towns. They may be odd jobs, but there are more jobs there than in Thornfall.”

“Do you think they’ll accept two former mercenaries?” Sunset asked.

“I’m sure that won’t be too big of an issue,” Tobias said, although part of him was worried that their reputation as mercenaries would be discovered. Even in Panthera, mercenaries didn’t have a very good reputation. Still, life in Panthera was loads better than in Thornfall. He wondered just why on Erda he’d even left his home. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made to him why he would leave his homeland.

“What about me?” Sunset asked. “Would they accept a pony?”

Tobias looked back, a bit surprised. He had assumed that Sunset had visited his continent. Of course, that was a stupid assumption because his continent was located west of Equestria across the ocean which the Equestrians called the Luna Ocean but which the Abyssinians called the Ametrine Ocean. “I don’t remember ever seeing a pony there,” he admitted, “but I think they’d accept you. Especially in the guild. A magic wielding pony would be a valuable member and highly sought after.”

She snorted at that. “That’s not surprising.”

“Are you asking to come with us?” Tobias asked.

She shrugged. “I’ve visited all over Equestria, Mt. Aris, Gryphonia, the Dragon Lands, and even visited with the kirin’s hidden grove. That was quite the trip,” she added with a chuckle. “Abyssinia sounds like a really interesting place to visit. Especially from what I’ve read.”

Tobias nodded. “You’d have to give up some of your technological advantages.”

“I’m very used to that,” Sunset said.

“Still, it’s a big decision.”

“I know.”

The two went silent for a bit until they reached the cavern that Thorax had described. And unlike the rest of the caves, this looked completely artificial.

Thorax flew out of Tobias’ pocket and transformed back into his normal form. There was a fearful expression on his face as he approached the stone doorway with a large X burned into it with what Tobias assumed was magic. “It can’t be…” he said in alarm.

Tobias’ claw went instantly to one of his rapiers. “What is it?” he asked.

“I smell…my former queen from this doorway,” he muttered.

“Chrysalis?” Tobias asked. “What’s she doing here?” From his own My Little Pony knowledge, a lot of which he could probably throw out of the window, Chrysalis had likely been going around in the shadows looking for revenge.

“I don’t know,” Thorax replied. “The smell is faint, and it smells like…she was afraid.”

“You think Majesty found her and captured her?” Sunset asked.

“If she deemed Chrysalis a threat to Equestria, I’m sure she did,” Tobias replied.

“Shit,” Sunset swore. “What do we do now?”

“This changes nothing,” Tobias said. “Actually, this could help us more. Gregory is likely in the same place where Chrysalis is. We follow the smell.”

Thorax looked uncertain, but nodded. “Follow me,” he said. He then turned and trotted down the path with what looked like renewed purpose.

Hold on, Gregory, Tobias thought. We’re coming.

It had been three and a half days since Majesty had come back from her trip to Thornfall. She was still recovering from what Gregory now understood was her effort to transport all of his belongings to the underground city. He’d even visited her quarters, much to Spyke’s frustration. It wasn’t out of concern, but more so he wanted to confirm what had been told to him.

Aside from that, eating, sleeping, and doing exercises with Dengal to keep himself fit, the two read as much as they could in the library. The knowledge that the prince who had once been Scorpan had married Majesty was new information, but most else of what he learned was pretty much accurate, although the rule of the seven princesses with their seven wands took place even before Majesty was born. Most of what they learned was stuff that Gregory had known from the G1 show. To even his surprise, he found a lot of official documents related to Ponyland’s politics, which were a lot simpler than he expected, mostly because Ponyland was a verdant valley that provided for them plenty of fruits and vegetables. The ponies lived either in cottages in Dream Valley or in Dream Castle and seemed to live a more innocent and simplistic lifestyle.

It seemed that the royal family dealt with the more serious tasks of keeping Ponyland safe. Flutter Valley was its own nation it seemed, and the seaponies, unlike the hippogriffs, were a separate species who lived in southern ocean of the continent. And speaking of the continent, Gregory had found an ancient map of the lands where ponies, humans, elves, gnomes and other races lived. It was hand drawn by a mapmaker named Eirian. The map was well drawn and showed locations of cities, towns, roads, kingdom borders, forests, landmarks, and more. In truth, it reminded Gregory of the map of Middle Earth, albeit with more detail. It confused him at first that he could read it, but Spyke informed him that the map itself was a replica drawn by one of the lithess. There were other copies, he was told, and Spyke said he could keep that copy, so he did.

However, the information he learned, while intriguing, didn’t help him get any more information on Majesty’s own reasons for her actions against Equestria. On the surface, it just seemed like she had some sort of misguided sense of justice, but Gregory couldn’t help but feel that there was something more to it, especially after he learned that Chethan had lured a large force of the demon’s army into a trap, then detonated what was called the Elysium Flames that wiped Lantea’s capital city off of the map, leaving not even a trace of the city behind. He knew he was missing something, but he couldn’t find anything.

It was the beginning of another day. Gregory was lying in his new massive bed, staring up at the canopy above him. He was tired despite getting a solid eight hours according to his winding pocketwatch. The bed was four times as big as a traditional king sized bed, giving him and Dengal, who insisted on staying with him, plenty of space to sleep. She was just drying after taking a morning shower. When she came out, she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed on his side. “Gregory, you don’t look too good,” she said.

He nodded. “I’m so fucking lost right now,” he admitted. “Something about Majesty’s methods just strike me as odd the more I learn. If she really wanted to fix things, she could take the natives of Sanctuary and move somewhere, like the Undiscovered West. She could create a new kingdom there and instill her tenets of harmony and peace or whatever she wants. No, I am missing something.”

“Are you sure she isn’t telling the truth?” Dengal asked. “Are you sure she isn’t just hoping to reform her ‘dear ponies’?” She rolled her eyes at the term, since it was so close to how Celestia used the term my little ponies when she referred to her subjects. She reached down and placed her claw in his hand. “I still can’t believe that in your world, you view ours as some form of children’s entertainment.”

Gregory nodded. Since Majesty was unconscious, he had booted up his laptop and shown her the first two episodes of Friendship is Magic. He didn’t know when he would get another chance, so he had to be careful. “I know.”

There was a knock at the door, and he heard Starfall calling out, “Mr. Gregory? Miss Dengal? Breakfast is here.”

Gregory nodded as he sat up. “Come in,” he said.

Starfall quickly entered, wheeling a tray with various dishes on it. One was a large plate of delectable smelling bacon and sausage. Another was a salad, while yet another was scrambled eggs. There were a few pieces of toast as well. There were two large pitchers, one with orange juice and the other full of ice water. There were two empty glasses on the tray as well. The nox pony mare had gotten more used to Gregory and was less nervous, but was still somewhat wary of Dengal the newcomer. Still, she was professional, and Gregory had to admire that about her. He liked the mare, and hoped that, whatever happened, she would be safe. “Are you two planning on looking in the library again?”

“Unless we think of something else,” Gregory replied.

“How has your time in the library been?” Starfall asked.

“A learning experience,” Gregory replied truthfully, but didn’t elaborate. She was still a servant of Majesty, after all, and would probably report whatever useful information was said here back to the alicorn when she inevitably woke up.

“Glad to hear it,” Starfall said with a gentle smile.

“It’s almost been four days since Majesty collapsed,” Dengal said, “is she showing signs of waking up?”

Starfall looked a bit more nervously at the odd goblin girl. “Not yet,” she said, “but the doctors say she’s slowly getting her magic back and should be back soon.”

Gregory nodded. If circumstances had been different, he would have taken Dengal and a few of his belongings and run to escape, but that was fruitless and he knew it. He didn’t know where to go, and didn’t have any way to explore the city-

Holy shit, he thought to himself.

He stood quickly from the bed, almost too quickly because Starfall jumped back in alarm. “M-Mr. Gregory?” she asked.

Realizing his mistake, he quickly covered by doing a few jumping jacks. “Sorry, just needed to get the blood flowing,” he lied smoothly before stopping and stretching his legs. The bed he was in was extremely comfortable. Almost too comfortable, if he was honest with himself. “Oh, by the way, could you ask Spyke if he could swing by? I wanted to ask him something.”

“Oh, of course,” Starfall nodded. “I’ll go right away.” With that, she turned and rushed out of the room to fulfill Gregory’s request.

When the door was closed and the two began putting breakfast on their plates, Dengal leaned over and whispered. “What are you going to ask Spyke about?”

Gregory grinned. “Oh, nothing too special,” he said, “we’re just going to get a long overdue tour of this ancient city.”