I continued staring at the princess of the night, this time out of embarrassment. Soft Wing cleared his throat finally drawing the attention of everyone, including myself, away from my faux pas.

“Yes,” he began as three sets of eyes bore down on him, “Well, it is nice to see you again Princess Celestia and you, Princess Luna, for the first time.” He dipped his head at each princess in respect to which they each nodded back.

“Tis indeed a pleasure to finally meet the two my sister has been speaking of,” Luna said in her formal way. Her mentioning that she’d heard about us piqued my cocky curiosity.

“Oh, I see our reputation precedes us,” I tugged on my non-existent collar, “I hope you’ve only been telling stories that boost my public image, Celestia,” both giggled at my strange mannerisms.

“Unfortunately I can’t say I have, just that we seem to have one too many persons in our kingdom than should be accounted for. In fact that is why I’ve asked you two to dine with Luna and myself; to figure out why you’re here exactly.” As Celestia smirked, casting a sideways glance at Soft Wing.

He squirmed under her gaze, “Oh don’t worry princess!” Softie quickly said, “She’s practically harmless!” Apparently he thought what Celestia had said was code for something more sinister.

“Worry not, worry not,” Luna said between giggles, “We are merely curious about your means of arrival. You seem to be shrouded in much mystery, Eris.”

I loved being the center of attention and was all too eager to oblige them in their quest for information. These girls were smart, taking advantage altered mental state to get what information they wanted easily, but it seemed rather thinly veiled. Of course after I sobered up I’d realize that they were weaseling information out of me like I’d taken a truth serum but there had to be a deeper meaning. Otherwise would they really risk being this obvious their reconnaissance?

I figured there were two possibilities: One- they didn't see me as a threat or two- they saw me as a huge threat. The former gave reason for transparency but the latter gave reason for some kind of sinister plot. They’d have to have backup and could no doubt lock me up or kill me. There was never any death in the show but these were real life princesses who had a whole kingdom to protect.

Of course I wasn't a threat and had no intention of becoming one. I wanted to make that clear so I had no reason to fear any ulterior motives on their part. I mean, I SHOULD have feared them but drugs are great things. If anything I succeeded in being completely nonplussed by their power and acting like a vulnerable blabbermouth.

I told them about my departure from boyfriend, the icy roads, and the car crash in what can be summed up as one long breath. They didn’t ask how the car ran or who Mariah Carey was. They didn’t ask for clarification on any of the details I gave them. The princesses and Soft Wing sat in silence, save for the occasional “mhmm”, with looks of silent contemplation. Well, not so much Softie. He made quiet scoffing noises and rolled his eyes at most of what I said.

After I described the accident, with a happy grin I might add, I paused. Celestia must have thought it was because I didn’t want to remember any more pain or that my meds were wearing off because she spoke up for the first time since I began. “It’s alright, Eris,” she started softly, “You can tell us when you’re ready if –“

“No, I’m fine it’s just…” I interrupted her, “I just can’t remember what happened next. I mean, I was there and then I was here, but I’m not sure how.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. One second in was in my car, making a literal bloody mess, and then something straight out of a fairy tale was poking me awake. And then after that I was in a hospital. I have no clue how I got from point A to point B but I’m like 99% sure Softie here got me from point B to C,” I laughed and nudged Soft Wing with my elbow obnoxiously. He leaned away and grimaced.

Luna spoke up next, “Could you have used magic to transport yourself? Perhaps specifically someplace safe?”

I laughed again, “Hell no! I don’t have magic. It doesn’t even exist where I’m from. I wish I did, though! It would have made my life so much easier. Hey, how exactly does magic work, anyway? Is it midichlorians? I bet it’s midichlorians.”

“Your way of life sounds refreshingly simplistic,” Luna remarked as she gave an unrefined guffaw. “Magic is not so easily explained, young Eris. Students across the lands study this all-encompassing enigma to no end. I must say, however, I have never heard of these “midichlorians”. Pray tell, what role do they play in your world?”

I wasn’t sure if she was playing along like you do when a little kid tries to tell a story and you ask them questions even though you don’t care or it doesn’t make a lick of sense or if she thought I might have been serious. It was probably some combination of the two so I made sure to set her straight.

“Oh, I was kinda kidding about the midichlorians thing. They’re from this movie that has something similar to magic in it. Really it’s a crock of bullshit, even in the movie universe. Lazy writing,” I waved my hand dismissively.

“Ah, well it seems we are no closer to figuring out where you came from than when we started. Why don’t we have dinner and we can discuss what happens next another day.” Celestia flashed a radiant smile and I returned the gesture as servants began filing in carrying trays of food covered with metal lids. The servants presented the food in the middle of the table and we all took portions buffet-style.

While we dined on such delicacies as spinach salad, baked apples stuffed with some kind of fancy cheese, something called “choux puffs”, and other foods I’ve never seen before, casual conversation drifted around the table. Since the princesses were done interrogating me Soft Wing visibly relaxed and actually talked a bit about himself.
He’s apparently from some other, non-Equestrian land inhabited gryphons. Unsurprisingly this place is called the Gryphon Kingdom. He talked about what got him into the medical field which he and Luna instantly bonded over. As a child Soft Wing had apparently read about some ancient war in which there were hundreds upon hundreds of casualties. This made the tiny Soft Wing sad and determined to help people in that kind of situation. This was also a war that Luna fought in. They wound up talking for most of the meal about the justifications of war, how better leadership on the field and on the throne can minimize casualties, and how noble it apparently is of him to be a doctor for this reason.

I let the two of them talk without interruption partially because I had absolutely no clue what they discussing and because the food was absolutely delicious. I did glance at Celestia every now and then, however. Each time our gazes met and smiled politely but I noticed a trend. Not so much a trend as a constant. I don’t think Celestia stopped watching once the whole meal. It’s understandable but it’s also extremely unsettling, especially since we didn’t speak once after dinner began.

Author's Note

Spur of the moment writing right here.
I'm probably going to end the hiatus soon but not until my chapters are revised. I have a friend working on them so I'll start fixing them as soon as the weekend.
So yeah, author back from the retrospective dead at your service once again