A Story of Freytara

Equestria loomed in the distance. The sway of the ship and the parting of the clouds before the flying ship Praetor was a unique experience for me. The view from up here was also spectacular. Green hills and white-capped mountains stretched before me and my crew, many of whom looked on with wide eyes and agape mouths. It occurred to me that these people might not even have seen Equestria before.

Oh, they were in for a treat, I think.

Seeing how the Captain of the Praetor, Pearlbiter, was working over the relatively inexperienced crew, I had thought to put some bits aside for a little feast the crew would be able to have. This is in addition to their pay, of course. I just wanted to show them my appreciation for all the help they have done. I looked back to their amazed features and I wondered if the face they were wearing would be the same as when I show them a long table full of hot food.

Canterlot sat in the distance. Those ivory peaks, topped with blue tiles and golden banners. Then, there was Ponyville. The thatched roofs and the assorted gardens and hills. The most prominent feature, of course, was the crystal castle, shaped like a tree. The light was captured in the crystalline structure and released in sparkles that released off the branch-ends, almost like leaves of light.

The landscape stretched before us, green, and rolling. If I had seen a rendition of this landscape and someone told me it was a real representation of Equestria, I would have thought them lying. Yet this... I could not deny what I was seeing. I would have to see if Freytara’s landscapes were anything like this continent’s. Moreover, there was still so much to learn about this new world that I found myself in.

I looked at the castle for a while, from my spot at the fore of the ship, leaning on the smooth, round, wooden railing. The straight, pointed, plain brass prow jutted out from the front of the ship. I kept looking at the crystal castle and leaned my head back.

“Pearlbiter?”

The cream-brunette pegasus, with blue and white leggings and withers uniform, took a break from yelling herself hoarse (heh) and walked over. She adjusted the black tricorn on her head. She smiled, and asked, “What is it that you needed, my liege?”

The crew hustled and bustled as they made ready for the descent. The noise of work sounded all around us. Ropes strained, feet slapped and clicked on deck, and grunts and groans were loosed as backs worked.

I pointed a finger down, at the violet crystal castle below. “What’s the story behind that?”

Pearl followed my gaze and saw the castle. “Oh,” she remarked, “Princess Twilight got it from a box, so the story goes.”

I met Pearl’s eyes, and she held her gaze steadfastly. I scratched the back of my head. “If you’re sure,” I said.

Pearlbiter laughed. “You can just ask yourself when you get there. Anything else?”

I rubbed my eyes. “I’m still not quite caught up to current events. Something else I should know?”

A flock of birds flew under our ship. I couldn’t tell what they were. They weren’t close enough to see what color they were.

“I don’t think so, my Liege. I’m sure those insufferable Equestrians could tell you anything else you’d like to know what happened to them recently.”

I turned to Pearlbiter. “You know,” I stated. “I’ve never understood that.”

Pearlbiter blinked.

“I’ve noticed that Freytarans, even Freytaran ponies, are not fans of the Equestrians.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, that. It’s a long history.”

Now it was my turn to blink. “If you say so,” I mused, as I turned back to the railing and my observing of the Equestrian countryside. Pearl leaned up and stood, with her eyes scanning the horizon.

I sighed, turned to Pearl, and said, "If we want our nation to have good relations with the Equestrians, then we have to lose this grudge."

Snapping back to me, Pearl, with stern eyes, replied, "But—"

I then interrupted her with a finger to her face, and said, "No buts. Whatever past Freytara has with the Equestrians, we must not allow it to compromise the future we can build together."

Pearlbiter looked at me crossly, with an angry expression most would call cute... just not to her face. She turned away when she barked out more orders. I’ve learned to ignore them. What they meant was that we were about to land. I looked at the looming landscape.

My breath hitched. My hands gripped the wood. My vision swam, as sensation crept through my body. I could even see dark forms dance across my vision, as anyone looking into my eyes would surely see those same shapes dancing across the top of my eyes. My jaws opened and shut as if biting, and the hot ghostly taste...

A large hand found itself on my right shoulder. Looking to my left, I saw Bullheart, the Minotaur. The wind danced across my face, though the cool sensation was distant, as was the warm sensation of the sun. It was a cloudless sky.

“You alright?” asked the big guy.

I let go of the railing. My hands shook. I gulped and tucked my arms.

“Sir.”

I took a shaky breath in. “I’ll... I’ll be fine.”

“I hope the Equestrians can help you.”

I finally met Bullheart’s yellow eyes. “Me, too. If not, it won’t matter how fine I am.”

We looked at Ponyville.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends stood in front of the Friendship Castle, with the Freytaran airship, Praetor, slowly floating into position. While there were no proper airports in Ponyville (Twilight made a note to see if she could/should rectify that), any piece of an open field will do in a pinch for the landing of the foreign craft. It was perhaps not as flashy as a Royal Equestrian Airship, but as far as a home-grown flagship goes in a new nation goes, the workmanship was sturdy, and the almost supremely utilitarian craft moving with weight and speed rarely found in Royal airships.

After a long wait, what was once a blurry blip on the horizon became a ship, with the balloon-mast creaking, and the balloon itself taught with hot air. Finally, the keel of the ship brushed against the ground, and a crew of pegasi ponies flew off the deck of the ship in order to lay down the stakes. The long gangplank made it’s way off the edge of the ship and onto the ground, where Twilight and her friends walked in order to greet those disembarking.

“Not bad,” commented Rainbow Dash. “They know how to make ships.”

Looking over the lines of the ship and the construction thereof, Twilight Sparkle nodded her head. While the hull wasn’t lined with an iron shell, like the newest generation of Equestrian airships, it still looked very sturdy, indeed.

Finally, burly minotaurs, ponies, and diamond dogs came off the gangplank carrying parts of a wooden frame, to better secure the ship to the ground in a stable position. The balloon started to deflate, wrinkles rippling down its side as the hot air keeping it up was ventilated.

Suddenly, one creature coming off the ship, weaving between the crew, addressed the Equestrians.

“Princess Sparkle,” said the Sovereign, with a toothy grin. “We really must stop meeting like this.”

Despite herself, Twilight’s eyes widened. The Sovereign of Freytara had certainly changed his dress.

Now wearing a dark long coat with a bright vest beneath, the dark-colored boots stomped down the gangplank, with only really his hands and his shaven face visible. A quick image flashed through Twilight's mind of the last time she met Sovereign, with a radically more monstrous face and a great deal shrunken compared to now. Now... he looked... normal, at the very least.

Twilight smiled. Perhaps the stories she heard of an unstoppable demonic infection were just that. Goodness knows that ever since Princess Celestia tasked her with finding a cure for the Sovereign's condition, it struck Twilight that this was the one thing that Celestia had asked of her in a long time.

There was still so much to know...

"Twilight?"

Blinking, she shook her head and brought herself back to the present, where the Sovereign had knelt down to meet the eyes of the ponies. With a smile, Ty said, "It's... good to see you all again."

Flying up to Ty, an irate Rainbow Dash challenged, "Well, you still owe me for headbutting my belly."

Blinking, Ty raised himself up and rubbed his forehead. With an aside glance at Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle said, "Well, I really wanted to ask you about—"

"How does lunch sound?" asked Ty suddenly. "My treat."

Everyone then looked at Rainbow Dash. With a serious look in her eye, she crossed her forelimbs while hovering midair. Suddenly, she brightened up and replied, "Sure, if you're payin'!"

Shaking her head, Twilight acquiesced to social customs and conceded, "Sure, it doesn't seem like we are in too big of a rush."

With that, they left the bustling of the crew of the Praetor and walked into Ponyville.

Setting the soda bottle down, I rubbed my belly. I let off a noise, then conceded, "I'll have to get a few of these back in Freytara. I think they'll make a big hit."

The light was warm. The cafe was earthly-colored, and the decorations brightly-lit. Banners for some summer festival were strung up between buildings. The food was hot. The drinks were chilled. I could even comfortably sit in this chair with five other ponies around me in this outdoor cafe.

So why was my throat still itching?

Suddenly, I saw Fluttershy in my immediate periphery, who asked, "Um, sorry to change the subject, but... how are you feeling?"

Fidgeting with the bottle, I said, "Better, but not all the way. This thing... it makes me more hungry than I should be, and for... like, people. It's also making my throat constantly itch."

This caused the other ponies at the table, who were previously listening, to look at each other. Then smirk.

Applejack leaned over the table, hoof under her chin, and asked, eyelids lowered, "Yer throat's itchin', sugarcube? I don't think that's because of your little varmints."

"Then what's—" I pondered before my eyes widen and I freeze, my hand rubbing at my neck. No. Impossible.

"No. Impossible." I muttered.

I was nudged, and I turned to see Rarity's patient smile, and she mused, "I'm sure you have a lovely singing voice, darling."

More smiles around. Not so much mischief this time. What is their game?

"No, no, I need this explained," exasperatedly said I, while aggressively tapping an index finger to the table.

Pinkie Pie reared up onto the table, forehooves thumping on wood. She then looked up thoughtfully and explained, "Well, you can't exactly explain it, you just have to do it yourself!"

The other ponies at the table reared up and planted their hooves on the table as well. I turned to Twilight. Surely, that nerdy horse has something to say about this. She, too, had her hooves up.

"Twilight," I pleaded. "Surely you must know how all of this works."

Bobbing her head from side to side, Twilight relayed, "Well, I do. It can wait, though!"

Then, they lightly stamped on the table, creating a slow rhythm. "Wait," I asked. "What would I even sing about?"

"Well," probed Twilight. "What are you thinking about?"

The stomping continued, intensifying my throat itch. Well, hypothesis confirmed. Now what? Maybe I can just sing something from my homeworld?

I put my hands through my hair, and said, "All right, girls. Now where am I to go, me ponies, now where am I to go?”

Well, no, I wasn’t just talking. But... this feeling...

After the Sovereign sang his first lyrics in this world, he heaved. He choked, and he sputtered. Twilight was the first to reach Ty’s side, with words like “Are you okay?” and “Can you hear me?” Others went to Ty’s side, with questions to him and themselves like “Is this the demons?” or “I don’t think humans are allergic to singing, are they?”

To that, Pinkie simply said, “I doubt it!”

Then, they all backed away as Ty vomited black, sizzling goop.

Immediately, the crowd of ponies that were there to witness or even participate in a spontaneous song backed away as the man’s once-healthy skin seemed to struggle against itself, with black veins popping beneath his skin, which itself turned into a color of ghastly white. After a period, the goop that had been chucked onto the table and the grassy floor of the outdoor cafe had disintegrated under the gaze of the sun, and the visual symptoms began to recede, leaving Ty still pale, sweaty, and breathing heavily.

Panting, Ty turned to Twilight with tired eyes. “Twilight”, he gasped. “Write that down.”