('Thoughts written like this' "Sending messages written like this")

“Discord!" Celestia yells as she stands from throne and teleports. She ends up outside a vault in the castle. Ever since Discord escaped the first time, Celestia has had him kept in a separate vault, away from any chaotic or disharmonious energy that may come near him. As she moves to the vault, Luna appears next to her.

“Sister!” Luna exclaims to Celestia. “Is Discord…?”

“We shall soon see.” Celestia aims her horn at the lock and applies her magic to it, unlocking it. The large, metal door creaks as it slowly opens, revealing its sole resident: Discord, still incased in his stone prison.

“Thank goodness he is not free.” Celestia sighs with relief.

Luna looks at the statue with scrutiny before turning back to her sister. “But if it’s not Discord, then what was that surge of magic? And what is this evil feeling in the air?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. I’ll inform captain Shining Armor to have his troops keep a lookout for anything out of the ordinary. For now, we must stay calm. No need to cause anypony to panic over nothing.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“What the shit is that supposed to mean?!” Dante yells at Aselith while drawing his blade and parrying a charging wolf. “And what the shit are these thing?!”

“Too many questions. You’re smart; you’ll figure it all out. I’ll be seeing you around.” Aselith turns and changes his form to that of a semi-glowing ball of light and zips away, swerving around the trees.

“Get back here!” Dante takes off after Aselith, flying through the air as fast as his magic will let him.

“Dante! Wait!” Iatril calls after him, only to be returned with silence.

Dante is zigzagging through the trees, barely able to see where his prey has gone, let alone catch up with him. As he passes tree after tree, he notices something: the trees are becoming less and less ominous. They begin looking more and more like any other tree one would expect to find in a forest, though he was moving far too fast to properly identify them. After a few minutes of nigh aimless flight, Dante emerges from the forest to see a small village before him. He lands on the ground to take measure of his surroundings.

‘I can’t believe this!’ he thinks to himself. ‘We had him! We actually had him! The second I’m about to end all of this, he goes and escapes because of that stupid wizard! I’m going to tear that worm apart!’

He focuses his magic on his thoughts and sends a message to Iatril. “Aselith is gone. Escaped through the forest. Probably jumped into the plane of shadows. Unable to track. How’s your situation?”

He moves to a nearby rock and sits on it, crossing his legs. “Wooden wolves subdued. No serious injury. Wizard is dead. Killed by wolves. Remains thoroughly obliterated from pre-cast spell. Location?”

‘Great. The one person we might’ve been able to get information from is gone with no intact corpse. As much as I hate Aselith, I have to give credit where credit is due. He knows how to cover his tracks.’ He takes a moment to look around for any signs or notable landmarks to give a hint to their location. When he sees one, he can barely hold back a laugh. Some distance between himself and the village is a sign with the words “Welcome to Ponyville” written on it. 'Surely the townsfolk or local governor could have thought of a better name.' Then again, Dante is no creative genius when it comes to naming things. His familiar’s name is Raven for goodness’ sake. He didn’t even bother giving it any name besides what animal it is. ‘Oh yeah, where is my familiar?’ He focuses again and sends another message.

“Name of nearby village is ‘Ponyville’. Never heard of village before. No discernible landmarks besides mountains. They appear to have a city atop them.”

“Not familiar with the name or landmark. I’ll move to you. Your location?”

“Straight from where I left the wolves. Due…north? Is my familiar there with you?”

“‘Sigh’ yes, your familiar is here. Meet you soon.”

With that, Dante relaxed and really began taking in his surroundings. To his right, some distance away, stood a house that looked like it was built into or around a tree, resembling a mushroom in appearance. The house itself was covered in a moss like roof with yellow walls and several glass windows on the sides. ‘Someone is either really creative or really eccentric to put expensive glass in a forest home.’ A tree in front of the house had several little boxes hanging on the branches, almost resembling small houses. ‘I take that back, they’re just crazy. Who would take the time to build small houses for…what? Birds? Squirrels? Or…wait. Maybe it’s some sort of ritualistic thing. Maybe those are for the ashes of dead family members. Either way, whoever lives there is probably not right in the head. I mean, Iatril has taken care of animals before, but mostly just nursing them back to health or training them. Sometimes she keeps a few around to live with, but the animals only stay for few months at a time. Those little box-homes look like they are built to last. An admirable thing to put such conviction into your work, if not a little off-putting.’

He turns his attention to the village before him, noting the architecture and layout from his vantage point. He can see that the homes are built of a healthy looking wood and the roofs made from packed straw. The walls of the buildings have several darker planks of wood that would appear to separate the floors of the buildings and reinforce the integrity of the walls. ‘So, there is a village of aristocrats living in the middle of nowhere. Okay. I can handle that.’ What he sees next is not so easy to accept. Around one of the buildings trots a teal colored horse. ‘Um…what?’ The horse has a similar colored mane and tail, both with a strip of white running through them. It also appears to have a teal colored horn and a brand on its flank. At first, the brand looks to be a horseshoe, but after a moment Dante sees that it is actually a lyre. ‘Oookay. So…there is a teal unicorn with a lyre branded on its flank. Okay, I can still handle this.’ Around the same building corner trots another horse, this one cream colored with a long pink and dark blue mane and tail that curls at the ends. On the flank of this horse are three strange, striped symbols, all light blue in color. ‘I, uh…I’m not sure…what?’ What’s more, these two horses appear to be talking with each other. ‘…’

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Iatril walks to the edge of the forest with Flurry and Raven, only to be stopped by Dante, who is standing in the middle of their path, waving his hands around like a mad man.

“Iatril! Horses! Colored! Talking!”

The wolf, the elf, and the raven all exchange looks. “Dante,” Iatril says in a calming voice, “what are you talking about?”

“In the village! Talking, multicolored horses!”

Iatril gives him a look before walking around him to observe the village. Exiting the forest, she looks to the village to see what Dante could be so worked up about. Immediately, she sees several of these horses walking around.

“Dante, those are ponies, not horses.”

“Yeah, and every square is a rectangle, but not the other way around. Who cares! The point is, I’ve never seen creatures like them before!”

“So? What’s the big deal? I haven’t either, and you don’t see me walking around and screaming my head off about it.”

“I know of every creature in existence! Every magical beast, every form of outsider. Hell, even every animal and plant!”

“So you missed a species. It’s not that bad. That’s what learning is for. Now you can learn about a whole new species. You should be happy.”

“No, this isn’t right. I know this isn’t right. I just can’t explain why.”

Iatril puts her hand on his shoulder. “Look, it’ll be alright. We can worry about this later. First thing’s first: have you contacted the army?”

Dante calms himself before speaking. “No, not yet. I’ll get right on that.”

He takes a moment to concentrate on the lieutenant he spoke with last time. ‘Maybe talking to that human will help calm me down a little. Hearing of another’s impending doom can really take your mind off of the little problems in life.’

After a moment of concentration, he sends out the message. “Lieutenant, Aselith has escaped. We will gather what intelligence we can. Unknown location. Status update.”

The simple things in life have always had a way of calming Dante. A walk around town, studying a new spell, assassinating a high priest, the simple things. Hearing about the deaths of hundreds of humans at the wretched hands of ghouls and zombies should really brighten his day.

After half a minute with no answer, Dante sends the message again. ‘Odd. He should have responded immediately. Ooh, maybe he died too!’ After another thirty-some seconds, there is still no reply.

“Hey, Iatril, I think the lieutenant is dead too. I’ll try someone else.” And with that, he began trying to contact every officer whose name he bothered to learn. After every attempt, he was met with silence. “Uh, scratch that. I think everyone is dead.”

“Really?”

“Maybe. Or at least the officers. I’m going to contact the king and let him know.” ‘And tell him his army was worthless and he should feel terrible for ordering them all to their deaths. Heh.’

“King Obadiah, I can’t reach your army through my spell. Assume all dead. Aselith as escaped. Unknown location. Will pursue. Respond.” Dante waits for a response, looking back to the village to see even more ponies walking around. ‘Unbelievable.’

Dante gives the king a full minute before sending the same message again, hoping for a response. Another minute passes and then…nothing. No response.

“Iatril…I can’t contact the king either.”

Iatril looks on with concern. “How is that? Did Aselith hit you with a spell or something to stop you?”

“There is no spell, at least none that can be seen by either of us. Something like this shouldn’t be able to happen unless they are specifically trying to block spells on their side. The only other way to prevent a Sending spell from reaching its destination is if we were on two separate planes, and even then it’s unlikely to interfere. Something else must be blocking me, something about this place. I can try divining the answer after we rest and change spells.”

“Alright. Until then, we can learn about this new race. We can go into town and--”

“No.” Dante turns back to the forest and starts walking into it.

“No? Why not? Didn’t you just have a problem with not knowing what they are?”

“Several reasons. First off, we have no idea how these creatures will react to us. They could be friendly or hostile with unknown beings. Second—”

“Hostile? Dante, have you taken a close look at them? I’ve never seen a group of creatures so happy together. They are literally walking around with smiles on their faces. I doubt they could be that hostile.”

“I can name at least three creatures that look friendly or appealing and, once you lower your defenses, have no problem attacking and killing you.”

“Name them.”

“Succubi, Nymphs and Merfolk.”

“Merfolk are tricksters, not killers. And have you ever seen a Nymph try to seduce and kill someone?”

“Yes, twice. Both times me.”

“But why would a Nymph try to kill you? Nymphs are generally good creature who…oh.”

“Don’t like demons, and I have enough demonic energy coursing through me to be confused as one, easily. This brings me to reason number two: if they are such good creatures, my presence would do nothing less than incur their wrath, should they have any.”

“Okay, so you stay in the forest and I’ll go investigate them.”

“Which brings us back to my first point of how they will react.”

“Dante, it will be fine. Look, if you are so concerned about this, and I can feel that you are, I’ll just take on their form. Both of us can freely shift forms for the next few hours. I’ll take on the form of a pony and go into town. AND, before you mention it, I’ll leave Flurry here. I won’t bring a large, magical wolf into a town of ponies.”

Dante looks around for a second, as if looking for an argument to prevent her from going. “Okay, fine. But take Raven. I am actually curious about them and I’m in tune enough with Raven to actually see and hear through him. Which type are you going to go as anyways? Normal, unicorn, or pegasus?”

“Well, I was…pegasus?”

“Yeah, there’s one flying over the town now. See?” He points over the windmill where a cyan pegasus is flying towards the center of town, moving lower as it does so.

“Oh wow.” She has a look on her face of utter enjoyment.

‘Wow.’ Dante thinks. ‘150 years old and she still acts like a child. She probably doesn’t even really care that it’s a new race. She just wants to get a closer look, just like a child would. Well, a child who can command the forces of nature itself and break a solid rock in half with a punch. Whatever, I still get to learn from this, so it doesn’t matter her reasons. Besides, she isn’t the same child I met all those years ago anymore. She knows what she’s doing.’

“Ahem. So, which type?”

“Pegasus.”

“Figures.”

She takes a moment to prepare herself for this new form. While she has taken on the form of a horse before, she has never taken the form of a majestic pegasus, especially not one so small. Her body begins shrinking and shaping itself. Her arms and legs are replaced with hooves, her clothes merging with her body, exposing her now light green coat of fur. A pair of light green, feathered wings sprouts from either side of her. Her hair is freed from its bindings and hangs behind her head, still as golden as ever, with a tail the same brilliant color stretching out of her flank. Her blue eyes grew wider to match that of the ponies in town. Around her neck clung the jade jewelry, more firmly clasped to her than before. At the end of her transformation, she looked indistinguishable from the other ponies. Well, mostly.

“How do I look?” She asks in a voice higher than her own.

“Like a strangely colored pony.”

“Good. I’ll head into town and see what I can find out.” She turns to leave.

“Uh, I think you’re forgetting something.”

She turns back around to face the human. “What am I missing? I’m the same size, I have the wings, and my coat is colorful. What could I possibly be forgetting?”

“The brand.”

“The what?”

Dante walks over to the pony-shaped elf and points to a group of ponies. “All these ponies seem to have some sort of brand on their flanks. I saw one with a lyre, another with an unbound scroll, and a big one with a green apple.”

“Hmmm. Oh, I know!” In an instant, a pair of spikey, green leaves with red berries appears on either side of her flank. “Holly! How’s that?”

“You are an artist in your own right.”

She sticks her tongue out at him and starts trotting off. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Until then, try to cheer up. I can really feel your animosity right now.”

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun with the ponies.” He looks over at the raven perched on the back of the wolf. “Go, Raven.” At once, the bird flies off and lands on the back of Iatril as she trots over to the village. “So, Flurry. What should we do while we wait?”

The wolf simply turns and walks into the forest. “Fine, don’t talk to me. You never have anything good to talk about anyways.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

To say that Iatril was excited wouldn’t begin to describe how she felt. All around her were these wondrous and beautiful creatures. Every one of them she passed had greeted her with a smile on their face, and she returned nothing less.

Near the center of town she found a market. She saw many ponies selling their wares to others. In one part there’s an orange pony with three apples on her flank, a blonde mane, and form of hat on her head selling apples and some interesting pastry items. In another there’s an off-white coated pony with two shades of red in her mane selling flowers. She was so enthralled with all the ponies around her she didn’t even notice the pony in her way until she ran right into her. Both Iatril and her obstacle fell to the ground in a daze, the raven barely keeping his footing on Iatril’s back.

“Owe. Sorry about that, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Iatril says to the curled up pony before her. “Are you alright?”

The curled up mare peaks her face up from behind her long, pink mane. “Y-yes.” She says barely above a whisper. “Sorry.” She says even more quietly.

“Oh no, it’s my fault. Here, let me help you.” She walks over to the yellow pony and helps her onto her hooves. At this point, she can see that this pony is a pegasus as well. “Again, I apologize. I’m new here and got so taken in by everything that I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Oh, that’s alright.” The timid pegasus said with a bit more confidence.

“What’s your name?” Iatril asks yellow pony before her.

“Um…I’m Fluttershy.”

“I’m Iatril.”

“That’s an interesting name.” Fluttershy says before hiding behind her mane again.

“Thanks. If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me a little about Ponyville?”

“Oh, uh…certainly. If you want, I can introduce you to my friends so you have ponies you know here. That is, if that’s alright with you.”

“That sounds nice, thank you.”

The pair walk over to the apple stand where the orange pony was selling her wares.

“Well howdy, Fluttershy.” The pony greets with a strange accent. “Who’s yer friend?”

“This is Iatril. I just met her here and offered to introduce her to you and the others.”

“Well that’s mighty kind of ya, Fluttershy.” She turns to face Iatril. “Mah name’s Applejack.” She says, holding out her hoof Iatril.

“Hello Applejack. It’s nice to meet you.” Iatril replies, moving her hoof to meet Applejack’s, only to have it furiously shook, leaving it a little shaky when she set it back on the ground.

“Is that there raven yer pet?” She points a hoof at the raven perched on Iatril’s back.

‘Oh. I’d completely forgotten about him.’ She thought.

“Yes. He was…given to me by my friend. His name is Raven.”

Applejack looks at Iatril with skepticism. “Raven, huh?”

“Y-yeah. My friend named him. He isn’t very creative.” Raven pecks Iatril in the back of the head, earning an annoyed look from her.

“I heard that.” Said the voice of Dante in her mind.

“I could tell.” Iatril replied in kind.

“So,” Applejack continues, “what brings y’all to Ponyville?”

“Well, my friend and I are searching for someone and got lost, so I came into town to ask around while he stayed behind."

Fluttershy perks up after hearing this. “Oh, I didn’t know you had a friend with you. Is he around here?"

“Yeah, he’s waiting in the forest right outside of town.”

“T-The forest? Y-You mean t-the Everfree Forest?” Fluttershy was starting to breathe faster and more deeply.

“Maybe? It’s the forest that’s near the little cottage at the edge of town. Why?”

Fluttershy quickly falls over, rigid, after hearing this.

“What in tarnation is yer friend doing in there?!” Applejack speaks up, almost upset.

“Well, we got here through the forest. What’s so bad about it?”

Fluttershy curls up in a ball, shivering, before speaking up. “T-there are scary monsters that live there. There’s manticores, and timber wolves, and even a dragon!”

“Timber wolves? You mean the wooden creatures? They weren’t a problem for us. I may not look it, but I’m pretty good in a fight.”

“But what about yer friend? Is he gonna be alright alone?”

“Oh, he’ll be just fine. He’s quite the magician, I’m sure he can handle himself…”

‘Oh wait! Do they have magic? I mean, there are unicorns here, but I don’t know if they have magic powers or not! This could be bad.’

“Oh. Yer friend’s a unicorn then. Still though, he shouldn’t be waiting around in the forest. It’s dangerous.”

“She’s right. I mean, a manticore might show up and I’d have to snuff the life force out of it. Oh woe is me.”

“Be silent!”

“He’ll be fine. He’s done some pretty dangerous things before. This is normal for him.”

“Oh great,” Applejack says, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “just what we need: another thrill seeker. We should introduce him to Rainbow Dash. I bet they’d get along well.”

“Who’s that?”

“Only the greatest flyer in all of Equestria!” Said an almost raspy voice. A cyan pegasus landed right behind Iatril and Fluttershy, eliciting a squeak from the yellow pegasus. “Sorry Flutters.”

“Rainbow! Shouldn’t you be working the weather right now?” Applejack stared menacingly at the cyan pegasus.

“Oh, lighten up Applejack. I can take care of that in ten seconds flat! Besides, I overheard something about some ponies living in the Everfree Forest, so I had to come down and find out about that!”

“Oh, we aren’t living there, just passing through.” Iatril says.

“But he’s there right now, isn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“So he’s in the forest, just waiting around for something to come after him?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

“I would, since it’s actually true.”

“I told you to shush!”

“Huh. Maybe I should head over there and see what he’s like and—”

“NO!” Iatril shouts, earning three sets of eyes on her, one of which is partly hidden behind a long, pink mane. “I mean…he isn’t very sociable. He likes to keep to himself, mostly.”

“Heh, his loss. He doesn’t know what he’s missing. Plenty of ponies would love the chance to meet me.” Rainbow boasts, puffing out her chest while doing so.

“Sure Dash, whatever ya say.” Replied Applejack, voice full of sarcasm again.

There was silence between them for half a minute before Fluttershy spoke up. “Well, I guess we should head out so I can show you more of Ponyville. Um, if you’d like to, that is.”

“That would be great, Fluttershy.” Iatril says quickly, happy to have an excuse to end the awkward situation. “It was nice meeting you two. We’ll have to meet again sometime.” And with that, the two pegasi left the apple stall.

“Okay, what’s with that look AJ? I know something’s up.” Rainbow Dash said to her friend once the pair of pegasi were out of hearing.

“I don’t know, Dash. Somethin’ just ain’t right about what she said.”

“You think she made it all up?”

“No, but she definitely weren’t honest about it. Maybe you should take a look around the Everfree Forest.”

Rainbow is almost taken aback by this. “You actually want me to go into the forest?”

“Only if you’re fine with it, and only around the edge. I just don’t feel right about her.”

“Hmmm, yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll take care of the weather and then head over there.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

‘Well,’ thought Dante, ‘I’m bored listening in on her conversations. Guess I’ll scry around for a while and see what I can pick up.’

Dante pulls out a long, thin needle from his belt and draws a circle with it in the air. A moment later, a small hole appears where he drew the circle. He reaches his hand in and pulls out a crystal ball the size of a human skull. After that, the hole promptly disappears. The ball itself appears foggy on the inside of it. The fog is a purple, swirling pattern that almost seems to react to his touch.

The mage holds the crystal ball in his hands and focuses his magic into it.

“Show me Aselith.” He says in a strong, stern voice.

No image flows into ball, but a pressure is felt by the mage.

“I figured you wouldn’t go around without some form of protection about you. That’s fine.” The mage pulls out the needle again, tracing another circle in the air. The portal opens again and he reaches in, pulling out a small lens connected to a thin metal shaft about a foot long. He walks over to the forest’s edge and looks through the lens, towards the city on the mountains. Through the lens, he can see the streets of the city, full with all types and colors of ponies walking around. He even spots a few who seem to be wearing some sort of shirt over their front half.

‘Well…that’s just silly’

The mage walks back into the forest and sets the lens down, holding up the crystal ball again.

“Show me…that pony” He says to the ball.

After about a minute of bizarre patterns forming in the sphere, it finally shows the pony in mind. The unicorn is wearing what looks to be fine clothing, coving his front half from around his neck to his front hooves, down halfway his stomach. Part of the clothing on top of his back stretch over either side of his flank. On said flank appear three golden crowns, each with about three points on them. His mane and tail are silky and a nice indigo color, and on one of his eyes rests a monocle.

“Now then, let’s see where you lead me."

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Over two hours have passed since the two pegasi started their walk around Ponyville. Fluttershy was showing Iatril around everywhere she could think of. Several times they stopped to talk about different animals they’ve seen or taken care of, and that would either keep them in one spot or lead them in a circle around a few streets. Several times, Iatril earned herself a peck from the raven on her back whenever he thought she may be saying too much, and every time the raven earned a glare from Iatril. Eventually, they ran into an over excited pink pony with a darker pink mane and three colored ovals on her flank. She didn’t stay long; just long enough to look at Iatril, gasp, and run off in a cloud of smoke. Fluttershy had to explain that ‘Pinkie Pie was just being Pinkie Pie’ and she should probably expect a welcome party later on. Iatril had to decline, saying she would need to leave for the forest before too long.

Their tour of the village ended in the early evening, just outside the large, hollowed out tree that Fluttershy said was the library and home to her friend, Twilight Sparkle.

“Thank you very much for showing me around, Fluttershy.” Iatril said, bowing as she said so.

“Oh, it was my pleasure. Are you going to be staying in town for a while?”

“Well, maybe. I hope so. It was so nice to slow down and meet some new peop–ponies. I haven’t done that in a long time.”

“I hope you do too.” Fluttershy looks around for a bit before continuing. “Um, if you want, so you don’t have to stay in the Everfree Forest, you could stay at my house for the night. And your friend can come too.”

“That’s very kind of you, Fluttershy, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to impose on you.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. I have plenty of room.”

Iatril looks at her caringly. “That’s sweet of you, but I still can’t. My friend is expecting me back in the forest soon, and he has the magic to keep us safe during the night. He would insist that we do so as well, anyways, and he can be very persistent.”

“Oh, okay…” She looks away slightly.

Iatril looks at her and quickly speaks up. “But, maybe I can stay over tomorrow. I don’t think my friend would mind too much about it.” She braces herself for another peck from the raven, maybe even a full on assault, but nothing comes. When she looks at the raven, it’s just looking off at the sky, not seeming to care at all.

“That would be nice.” Fluttershy says, snapping Iatril back to attention.

“Well, until tomorrow then. Goodbye, Fluttershy.” Iatril gives Fluttershy a quick hug and trots in the direction of the forest.

“B-bye” Fluttershy manages to squeak out.

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

At the edge of the forest, Iatril looks around for any sign of motion. She sees none.

“Dante! You here?” She calls out, to no avail.

She walks into the forest and looks around the spot Dante and Flurry were last seen, only to find a dead manticore lying on the forest floor, about as pale as a ghost. ‘Wow, he really did run into a manticore.’ Then, she notices a small movement on one of the trees. When she gets closer to it, she finds it to be an eyeball with spider legs coming out of it.

“Oh, hello there.” She says to the organ. “So, where is Dante hiding at?” She asks, waving a hoof forward to move it along. The eye crawls down the tree and begins moving across the forest floor, walking over any leafy or wooden obstacle in its way, with Iatril close behind it. The eye leads them to a large rock standing tall over Iatril. Once they arrive, a horizontal white line appears a few inches off the rock. The line quickly opens like a mouth, about the size of a doorway. From the white light steps Dante with his left eye missing.

“Took you long enough. I thought you’d never get back.” He says, picking up the spider-like eye and sticking it into his socket, aligning it with his other eye.

“I was on a tour with Fluttershy, remember? Of course it was going to take a while. I learned much from her.”

“I learned much too. For starters, Aselith is still smart enough to shield himself from my sight. More importantly, I was able to scry in the city on the mountain while you were in town. But first, let’s retire to the mansion.” And with that, he turns back into the doorway, leaving Iatril to follow after. As soon as she enters, the portal closes and vanishes from sight.

“So, why did you need to set up the mansion so early anyways?” Iatril asks, resuming her own form.

“The cyan pegasus came by looking for me, so I had to make myself scarce, as well as Flurry. I set an eye out to keep watch for her if she came down and when she left, and for when you got back. She did end up finding the dead manticore though. Needless to say, her reaction was priceless.”

Several glowing forms came around them, carrying several platters of food, ranging from the freshest meat to the ripest fruit. They each took some food and sat down at a table in another chamber. The rooms, as always, were full of decorative pieces and furnished quite extravagantly.

Iatril starts out, “So listen, Dante, I have something to ask you.”

“No.” Dante replies, not even looking up from his food.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”

“You were going to ask me to either change form and meet them or make it so you could stay as a pony longer, neither of which are going to happen.”

“Why? I understand why you don’t want to meet them, but why can’t I stay a pony and live there for a while?”

He looks up with a raised eyebrow. “Live there, you say?”

Iatril looks to her side. “You know what I mean.”

He sets his food down and looks her dead on. “Yeah, I do. I’ll prepare the spell in the morning.”

Iatril turns back with shocked happiness on her face. “Really? But, you just said—”

“I lied. Really now, I lie all the time. While I won’t change my form to really interact with them, there’s no reason to stop you from doing so. Besides, if I didn’t, you might just use your spells to keep yourself looking like a pony most of the day anyway. This way, you can prepare other spells you might need, and I don’t have to listen to you complain about it. Besides, I have no idea where Aselith is hiding. It will take a long time to find him again. Also,” his face shows a devious grin, “I heard what you said to her at the end.”

Her cheeks turned beet red at hearing this. “I-I didn’t mean anything! She was being nice, and I didn’t want to turn her down! Besides, we aren’t even the same race, and we’re both female! How would that even work?”

“Hah! Same race? I have seen plenty of bastard offspring between races. Come now. Half-orcs? Half-elves? Sorcerers? Think about that for a second: a dragon and a human or elf or something. The race card is pointless, and you know it. Anyway, I know how you feel. Even through this pocket dimension, I could feel what you felt. You like her, regardless of gender.”

“Yeah, well…I do.”

“Go for it.”

This took Iatril for a loop. “Excuse me?”

“Go for it. Gods know we aren’t going to be together like we used to be. Go try it out; see if you two can make it work. If you can, good for you. If not, there’s always more fish in the sea. Don’t avoid doing something if you think it will make you happy. You know I don’t.”

“Wow…thanks, Dante.”

“Please, I couldn’t stop you if I tried. Now, let’s compare our new knowledge.”

END CHAPTER

Author's Note

So yeah, 2nd chapter out. Hopefully soon after the first, if not right away (not completely familiar with the speed of chapter publishing). So yeah, stuffs happening with Fluttershy. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Nah, you know it's not a romance story, at least not chiefly.
Well, it's 4 am and I'm not really thinking straight anymore, so I'll send this out and hope for the best. Next chapter should be out in a week or less.