Canterlot.

As of at least ten years ago, it was predominantly a unicorn city where high magic and noble blood reigned supreme. After Luna went crazy and wrecked the castle, though, Canterlot became the prime candidate for becoming Equestria's new capital. Based on the fact they'd hauled me up here and locked me in this dingy little cell, I had to assume that decision was finalized while I was away. Looking through the bars on my window, I could make out the pearl-white towers that made up most of the city and the occasional pegasus guard fluttering through the copious clouds that had covered his mountain for almost as long as the city had stood.

Luna once told me the unicorns conjured the constant fog and cloud cover to discourage the other tribes from approaching the mountaintop. Such a decidedly unfriendly act went against most of her and her sister's values, but with so many problems and villains popping up seemingly every week, they never really had time to do anything about it.

So, I guess forcing Celestia to move here and finally address their isolationist attitudes directly is a silver lining for what happened. Not that that's worth anything to me, especially now.

A deep, booming clank filled the corridor leading up to my cell's bars and snapped my attention away from the window toward the sound of approaching hooves. As I turned to see who was coming, I jostled the lengthy chains binding my wrists to the wall which caused my visitor to hesitate based on the sudden silence. After a moment more, they resumed their approach and I sharply sighed when she finally stepped into my sight. Even after all these years, there was no mistaking her. Certainly, no other pony had a pink mane and tail that flowed the way hers did.

Slowly and deliberately, without any guards accompanying her, Celestia turned and sat just before the bars of my cell before fixing me with a distant, even expression, her eyes tracing me up and down where I sat. I probably wasn't what she was expecting to find: my hair'd grown down to my shoulders and I hadn't shaved in ages, along with the fact all my time out-of-doors had weathered my skin to a rough and leathery brown shade. Additionally, my clothes for this occasion were mostly patches by now, and poorly done ones at that. I never did get the hang of sewing. I stared back at her momentarily before adjusting my torn-up coat, again rattling the chains upon my wrists, and bowed my head slightly.

"Afternoon, Princess," I greeted at which her ear swiveled and she furrowed her brow.

"It's actually eleven sixteen in the morning," she quipped, glancing off to the side. After a brief pause, she fixed me with a critical, sideways stare. "You've certainly been busy, James." I winced at her tone but shrugged with a meager smirk.

"You said I should find a way to keep myself occupied and away from my desk," I offered, which caused her to lean her head back with an exasperated huff.

"Piracy and murder weren't what I meant," she groused, staring up at the ceiling with her brows knit. I frowned and rolled my head side-to-side for a moment.

"Maybe. But the sea between here and Griffinstone is about as far from my desk as I could get, don't you think?" I offered again, with a more confident smile. Her eyes darted down and locked with mine. After a brief stare off she faced me fully with a weary frown.

"Why?" She murmured.

"Why what?" I asked, causing her wings to bristle as she grunted.

"You know what," she retorted with a hint of anger in her voice. She pointed a hoof at me as she spoke. "You've spent ten years at sea, harassing innocent sailors, depriving them of their belongings, denying honest vessels passage-" I interrupted her and began counting off on my fingers with my head tilted back in thought.

"Denying griffins logistic support, hunting down Sombra's followers, corralling unruly pirates, sinking King Grover's flagship and ending the war," I paused and pursed my lips before glancing back at her. "Sending you his crown as a gift. How's it fit, by the way?" She clenched her eyes and turned away slightly.

"James, this is serious," she huffed, looking off to the side. When she spoke again it was in a near-whisper. "You may see some valor in your actions but nothing you have done was sanctioned." My eyebrows shot up and my confidence waned.

"Not yet," I nearly whispered back at her. She blinked and turned to face me again, furrowing her brow at the severe expression I wore. "You can pardon me." My suggestion didn't elicit the response I'd hoped for. Instead, she regarded me with raw bewilderment.

"That's why I let your navy arrest me," I explained, gesturing in the general direction I thought was East. "I could have stayed out there for the rest of my life. We had a good thing going." She grunted again and turned her head away.

"If that's true, I suppose we can add 'why come back' to the list of my questions, then," she grumbled. I considered her for a moment, now utterly certain all my confidence was shot. As a result, my gaze slowly fell to the floor between my outstretched legs.

"Because even after everything, it-" I sat with my mouth open for a few seconds, struggling with myself before I finally managed to say it, even if it came out in a whisper. "It's not home."

"Is that what this has all been about?" She all but gasped, drawing my attention back up to her. To my surprise, she now wore an aghast, heartbroken look of shock. "Your way of getting back at me because we couldn't undo what Discord did?"

"What? No!" I cried, throwing my hands up and waving them. Celestia stood up and shook her head.

"Then, please! Explain it to me," she cried back, leaning through the bars to fix me with a misty-eyed frown. "Because from where I'm standing I'm scared I may have repeated the same mistake that cost me my sister." My jaw hung open as her words settled, violently dragging my heart down with them. For a short time, the cell was silent and the only movement to be seen was the faint trickle of dust filling the stream of light between us coming through my window. Eventually, her expression to a soft scowl, and I was able to catch my breath.

Having done so, I sighed hard and nodded. "Nothing that's happened here was your fault," I began before grimacing and shrugging slightly. "Well, okay, some of it kind of was, but not in the way you're thinking." I grunted and combed my fingers through my hair before locking them together atop my scalp, fixing my eyes to the ceiling.

"You remember the last time we spoke? When you sent me away?" I asked, glancing down to see her flinch hard before nodding, a gesture I mirrored before staring at the ceiling again. "That's- Well, that's where it started."

Ten Years Prior

Author's Note