Cliffhanger

A jolt unsanctimoniously roused me from my dreamless sleep. Upon opening my eyes, I was assaulted by the colors of the Equestrian world from the view of a window in a chariot. Yup. Still reality. I hadn’t been conscious all that long and I was still expecting to wake up as human. Yet there I sat, in a chariot in front of Canterlot castle, with a tired-looking gryphon glaring at me.

“Heh, you look like shit, Softie,” I said, stretching my arms above my head, but not so hard that I strained my injured midsection.

He inhaled sharply and was about to respond but the cabin’s door opening interrupted him. We both turned to see a guard poke his head in, “If you’re both ready, we’ll escort you to the princesses; they’re waiting.” It was pretty unnerving, the way he was so stoic and professional. I guess that was how most all military men are, though I can’t say I speak from experience.

So at the guard’s words, we exited the carriage and were led into the castle. We had apparently landed on a specialized pad for just such arrivals and I couldn’t see much of the castle or Canterlot itself. Hopefully I’d get to see it later, I thought as the guard led us through some over-sized doors and into the castle interior. We entered a long corridor which was clearly meant to dazzle those visiting.

A plush red carpet ran the length of the hall which contrasted starkly with the matt gray stones that comprised the walls and floor. Lining said walls were ornate tapestries, some obviously worn and old while others were gleaming and new, but all were clearly priceless.

I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. I was more limping alongside Softy and bumping into him occasionally as he followed the guards. He kept his left wing slightly unfolded to help keep me balanced but it did not help in the least.

At the end of the hallway were obviously old and worn doors that had maintained their majesty through the years. They were quite small an unassuming, but like everything else in this world, they garnered my attention like nothing else. They were old and weathered and obviously older than the castle itself, like most of the artifacts through the rest of the hall.

The guards opened the doors and the room that lay beyond was much less geared towards inspiring awe and more towards function. The function was waiting. The room we entered was a mundane, boring, sterile, waiting room for the princesses. I hated waiting, with a fiery passion.

Upon entering I sighed loudly causing Softie to glance back at me. Seeing nothing wrong other than a disgruntled draconequus, he focused his gaze back on the guards.

“One moment please; we’ll let the princesses know you’ve arrived,” one of the guards then walked up to a second set of doors, flanked by two guards wielding spears. The door guards opened and closed the doors for him. These doors were much larger and more ornate. Clearly the throne room lay beyond them. Carved in each door was the cutie mark of the princesses, a sun and the moon, only more stylistic.

So many doors! There was yet another set of unassuming doors. They were clearly for general admittance to waiting for the pleasure of an audience with the princesses.

I guessed it was an off day because along with the various lounges and plush chairs against the walls, about thirty of those poles that form lines. Maybe they cleared today just for us. I felt so honored.

It was an awkward few minutes before the guard returned. The door guards stoically and impassively stared ahead of themselves while the pegasus guard left to watch Softie and myself awkwardly shifted weight from hoof to hoof. I could care less about the awkwardness of the situation, but I’d just recently realized how tired I was.

Should I really have left the hospital so soon? I was now wishing I had not. My head was beginning to throb and pound, my left leg had gone numb upon exiting the chariot while the other felt like jelly, the neckbrace I wore was itchy, and to top it all off, I began to realize how important this meeting was. The powerful god-like diarches of a powerful country had personally asked for myself and Softie to appear before them. They had waited since I appeared here to see me. There were so many ways I could fuck this meeting up.

The ROYALS! My mind broke. Looking back, I think it’s pretty safe assume it was whatever I had been sedated with wearing off. The realization of the implications of meeting with the princesses hit me like a ton of bricks regardless of the reason. The fact that I was beginning to feel pain again did not help in the slightest, either.

What if they just unanimously decide that Draconequui don’t belong in Equestria and banish me or turned me to stone or something? What if they know I’m not from Equestria and decided to banish me or turn me to stone? What if I somehow screw this meeting up and they somehow decide to banish me or turn me to stone? What if Molestia is canon? THE SHOW NEVER TAUGHT ME HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION!

Softie noticed my existential crisis and nudged me with the wing I was leaning on. I looked down to see him looking at me questioningly. He looked tired and worried with dark circles beginning to form under his eyes. I was about to answer when the door opened and the guard who’d left to announce our arrival appeared in the doorway once again.

“The princesses are ready to see you.”

Soft Wing thanked them and nudged me forward. I swear I could hear Requiem for a Dream Playing. The world seemed to slow as we neared the doors. Whatever would happen beyond those doors could be the end of me. I wouldn’t even get an “I visited Equestria and all I got was this T-shirt” shirt.

We stepped through the doors and they shut, sealing me and Softie in the throne room with my possible executioners. I could see them at the end of the long red carpet that led to the two stone thrones upon which the royals sat; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in all their glory. It was bright and cheery in the room (really it was more like another corridor) with the colorful stained glass windows all along the walls. All of the light and colors contrasted starkly with the dark thoughts I was having as I stood there frozen like stone just inside the room.

Time sped up again as a voice rang like a bell through the room, “Welcome, Eris.”

Author's Note

Just like I said in the last chapter, we meet the princesses in this chapter! Also, spoiled by the chapter name, I DID A CLIFFHANGER! I think this deserves a writers achievement trophy! That cliffhanger is partially why this is so short by the way. I WAS going to make this around 2,000 words as that's a pretty good length, but I'm lazy and this made for a great cliffhanger so... this happened.

OH! Shout-out to user Kill Joy for making me a wicked cover art! I'm not going to put it up yet because there's a char. in it I haven't even mentioned yet so you guys'll have to wait a few chapters to see it. but yeah, you all should check 'em out and some props http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Kill+Joy. Also thanks to all you lovely readers who, after this appeared as featured, offered to make me a coverart.

So as usual, tell me what you guys think and point out any stupid shit I pulled whilst writing and not pre-reading por favor! (especially anything funky that happened in 'translating' this or whatever; I've already caught some weird things that showed up when I copy/pasted this over. Quirky site sometimes :P)

Holy batshitfucks batman! I didn't cuss NEARLY as much as I usually do in this chapter! Maybe because I'm oddly calm for once in my life and not sleep-deprived or hopped up on sugar... hmm...