Equestria: Awakening

Chapters

Emblemian Prologue: The Fall of Grima
Equestrian Prologue: Long Nights and Longer Days
Chapter 1: First Encounter
Chapter 2: Fire
Chapter 3: Introductions
Chapter 4: What Makes a House...
Chapter 5: ...A Home
Chapter 7: Shattered Dreams
Chapter 8: No More Lost Children
Chapter 9: Preparation
Chapter 10: Dear Naga...
Chapter 11: The Return of Grima
Chapter 12: A Healed Spirit
Chapter 13: Millennium
Chapter 14: Shaken Ties
Chapter 15: Verbal Minefield
Chapter 16: Building Bonds
Chapter 17: Trust
Chapter 18: Finding Fluttershy
Chapter 19: A Shepherd?
Chapter 6: Perfect Mirrors
Chapter 20: Messengers

Emblemian Prologue: The Fall of Grima

The End, or Just the Beginning...

“…NNGH…AAAAUGHHH…”

Grima stumbled and fell to his knees. The dragon, separate from its human host, showed signs of weakness; its wings were slowing, but it remained in the air.

‘These humans…How are they…Why am I LOSING!?’ The dragon mentally shouted its frustration.

This lapse of strength did not go unnoticed by Chrom. The prince, Falchion in hand, finished off one of the deluded worshippers barring his way. He charged toward the avatar of Ylisse’s destruction. His soldiers fended off the other followers of Grima, who seemingly teleported onto the dragon’s back in endless numbers. But there was an opening, a crack in their defenses, straight to the human that was Grima. This could be the only window of opportunity Chrom had if he didn’t want to lose any of his soldiers.

“Now, Robin! This is our chance! I’m going to finish it!”

This was it. This was Chrom’s chance to end it all: the suffering, the pain, and the destruction that the future supposedly held. It could all be avoided. Using the Falchion, a holy blade empowered by Naga, he could slay the dragon and finally bring peace to Ylisse. He could save everyone.

Robin had similar thoughts. He shoved Chrom out of the way.

Chrom stumbled, “…Robin?! Wait, what-“

Grima looked up in his stupor. He saw himself, the foolish man who chose friendship over godhood… The man who now stood over his stunned figure with a hand raised, ready to strike. Grima roared in anger, but also in fear, “…WHAT…WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Robin closed his eyes, and breathed out. He focused his magic into his raised hand, and prepared to end it all. He spoke, “For once, I’m glad you and I are the same. Now I can give my life to protect those I care for…” He knew what must be done. Grima knew what he intended to do.

“…YOU WOULD…NOT DARE!” He was flabbergasted. ‘Humans are weak – this man is weak; he wouldn’t have the strength to sacrifice himself... These bonds, this friendship, they are NOOOTHING! So why would he – I… do something, like THIS!?’

Robin opened his eyes and sharpened his glare. “I would and I will. The evils you would visit on this world are unthinkable… In some way, I-we share the blame. It’s only right we meet our end together!” He poured more magic into the growing ball of energy he commanded. Its essence was darkness: the same essence that Grima was composed of. This energy was the only thing that could destroy Grima for good. Robin refused to save himself in place of the lives of others: in place of those who would be forced to fight the dark dragon. He would save everyone, and all those in the future!

Grima realized this. “…NOOOOOOO!” The dragon roared at the injustice of it all. ‘I AM A GOD; THIS CANNOT HAPPEN TO ME! A GOD CANNOT BE SLAIN!’

Robin shouted, understanding exactly what Grima was thinking at that very moment.

‘BUT A GOD YOU ARE NOT!’

He launched the darkness at the one and only target it should ever have: Grima himself.

It made contact and shattered the last of the dragon’s power. Grima stumbled back, stunned at how this could have possibly happened. The dragon roared and weakened; its human counterpart began to fade… both human counterparts. Robin was enveloped in the same darkness that signaled Grima’s end. He felt his senses begin to fade; surely, this was the end… But he still felt it: a glimmer of strength, with which he would share words with the closest friend he had made during his time on Ylisse, Chrom.

Chrom ran to Robin’s fading form, and cried out to him, “Robin! No!” For once, Chrom didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he COULD do. ‘Is this it? After everything… Gods, Robin! Why did you have to defeat Grima yourself!?' His thoughts raged, but he refused to share harsh parting words with his best friend and greatest ally.

Robin weakly smiled. “Thank you, Chrom. For…everything…” Robin closed his eyes. He felt his strength draining… “Tell the others… my last thoughts were of them…” He whispered his last words with a tone that summarized their friendship. “May we meet again, in a better life…” He used the last of his strength to wave to Chrom as he faded into darkness.

Chrom cried out, “Robin! No!” His voice resounded with the frustration and pain of losing a friend... a best friend. “Ah gods, NO!” There was a flash... and Robin was no more.

The weakened dragon began its descent; its body fell towards the coastline. Naga sensed the fall of the dragon, and, with a flash, teleported Chrom and his friends to another location that would overlook its corpse. Chrom looked at the fallen dragon, and gazed upon it with an air of regret. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to the soldiers that had fought alongside him. He spoke with a noticeably softened, but nonetheless commanding tone.

“The war is ended, my friends. Never again will the fell dragon trouble our world. I owe you all far more than words can ever repay… Especially Robin, who gave himself to save us all. To save all the worlds to come.”

Lissa, Chrom's sister and an able healer, teared up at the news.

“P-poor Robin… *sniff* After everything he did for us…”

Chrom made his tone firm. “Don’t cry, Lissa. We’ll see him again. I’m sure of it. Remember what Naga said? That Robin would survive if our ties were strong enough. This isn’t over. I believe Robin is out there… somewhere… And I’ll find him. If it takes me the rest of my days, I’ll find him…” He stared back out at the sunset. 'Robin, I know you're out there, and we WILL meet again, some day...'

The rest of the soldiers proclaimed their faith in both Robin and the friendships they shared with him. They all agreed that they would meet him again; surely, there was no way that Robin could fall when lent strength from all of his own friends. Chrom turned back to his soldiers and continued speaking in the tone of a successful leader.

"Robin has secured for us all the most precious gift: a future. Now it falls upon our shoulders to protect what was given. I vow to give my all to healing the damage this war has wrought upon the realm. When Robin returns, I want him to see what his sacrifice bought."

Chrom turned back to the sunset, and spoke in a softer tone that all his friends could hear.

"Robin…if you can hear me… You will always have a place here with us. Remember that. Always.”

~~~

'So dark…

A sea of black…

Ah… I c-can’t see…

I can’t hear…

I feel… nothing…'

.....

'Wait… I feel something… grass?...

I hear something... someone... familiar?...'

A familiar voice echoed in my ears, “…We have to do SOMETHING.”

'I'm regaining my senses... can I... open my eyes?

This situation... it seems... familiar...'

My brain was pounding, I felt disoriented, and it was a struggle just to breath, but I opened my eyes... and up to then, everything pointed to me being in a field, one not dissimilar to where I first met Chrom. I inwardly sighed in nostalgia. 'History has a weird way of repeating itself.' The sun would normally have blinded me at the flat angle I was lying on the ground, but two shadows blocked its rays. The contrast in light stopped me from seeing them clearly, but I felt I knew who these two were. I sat up slightly so I could see them.

.....

I am greeted by two faces that are definitely unfamiliar. They stared back at me.

Equestrian Prologue: Long Nights and Longer Days

Twilight Sparkle woke up with a gasp. Her ragged breathing was the only noise in her bedroom. She looked down; Spike was already up, he wasn't in his bed. She slowed her breathing, and looked out the window; Celestia's sun was already rising into the sky. It was morning. Strangely enough, the rising sun did nothing but contrast with the pit dropping into Twilight's stomach. She had had a very... foreboding dream last night.

~~~

"Alright class! Now, what did we learn about teleportation yesterday?" Twilight stood at the head of a classroom. Though she wore a complacent smile on her face, her hoof tapping on her desk betrayed her eagerness. Due to her studies of equine psychology, she knew that this was a dream: it was always one of her wishes to be a successful teacher at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Instructing alongside her own mentor was truly a dream come true, or rather a dream staying a dream in this case. Nevertheless, she took these dreams - gifts from Princess Luna no doubt - and enjoyed them to their fullest, even if just for a short while. Currently, she was giving a lecture on teleportation to a class of rising students, many of whom were Twilight's age or even older, she noted. One mare raised her right hoof to answer.

"That teleportation consists of manipulating the ley lines of the aether to allow your own body's natural ley lines to seamlessly meld into the aether. Before casting the spell, a clear destination must be made in a specific location relative to both the aether and physical world, or else the passage through the ley lines won't be completed correctly, possibly causing the spell to fail completely or transport the user to a completely random location. A successful teleportation will consist of the user designating a destination, melding their own ley lines into the aether's, and traveling through the aether to the corresponding physical location of the destination, where they will reappear in a burst of light as the ley lines of both their body and the aether correctly rearrange themselves."

Twilight stopped tapping her hoof halfway through the explanation, and was slightly stunned. The students hardly ever answered the questions that well; it gave Twilight more fun in lecturing each point again. "Um, that's... completely correct, Miss..."

The student who answered the question previously sat in the nondescript mist that obscures most of our dreams. However, Twilight focused her attention on her, and the mist began to clear. Twilight was even more confused by who she saw in her lecture's audience.

"Princess Luna?..."

The princess smiled. "It's good to see you again, Twilight."

Twilight's face scrunched up in concentration. "But... why are you attending my lecture? Oh Celestia, am I really that arrogant!? That I subconsciously think I'm smarter than one of the princesses so it's being manifested in my drea-"

Luna cut her off before Twilight could continue rambling. "Calm yourself, Twilight. This isn't part of your dream. This is a personal visit."

Twilight flushed a little. "But... this is sorta personal. Meeting me in my dreams?..."

Luna smiled. "Oh come now, dear Twilight. Did you forget who hoof-picks most of these dreams for you?"

Twilight blushed even more at this. "Oh, sorry Princess - I forgot who I was talking to for a second. I'm so sorry! It's just that the dreamscape is somewhat clouding my reasoning; dreams tend to skew the inhibitions of those who are experiencing them, as based on Starswirl the Bearded's studies and experimentation using the Mind Delve spell on unconscious test subjects - who were all consenting of course - and discovering tha-"

Luna cut her off again, but used a friendly tone. "WELL. It seems the dreamscape hasn't dulled your keen eye for detail, apparently. There isn't any wonder why my sister chose you as her apprentice."

Before Twilight could speak again and no doubt begin another rant, Luna continued. "But pleasantries aside, Twilight Sparkle, I appear here on important business." Twilight's face cleared and she nodded in understanding; Luna nodded in return. Her expression grew stern.

"Normally, my sister - your mentor - would call you to meet us personally to Canterlot for such a momentous event, but time is of the essence. During the afternoon yesterday, as Celestia was lowering the sun and I was preparing to raise the moon, there was a powerful fluctuation in the ley lines surrounding Ponyville. Needless to say, the amount of power generated by the fluctuation was large enough to be subconsciously noticed by both me and my sister. I inquired whether you had recently messaged her about any significant experiments you might be performing. Based on her rather humorous response, I can only assume you have not. However, this raises the question..."

Twilight finished the sentence. "What caused those fluctuations?..."

Luna nodded. "Precisely. My sister and I both request that you investigate immediately. Being one of the closest to the ripple, you should have a relatively simple time of locating the source of the aetheral disturbance. We apologize if this conflicts with any plans you might have had prior with your friends, but I feel you understand the significance of this situation."

Twilight flashed a determined grin. "Don't worry, Princess! I'll do my best!"

Luna smiled, somewhat relieved. "Many thanks, Twilight Sparkle. Do not hesitate to contact us should you discover anything."

With another exchange of nods, Luna left Twilight to enjoy the rest of her dream. The Alicorn of the Night seemed to blend seamlessly into the background, and phase through it, leaving an empty seat in the lecture hall Twilight suddenly found herself in again. Twilight focused her attention back to her class.

"So... does anypony else know what we discussed last class about teleportation?"

Not a hoof was raised. Twilight smiled. 'This is going to be fun.'

~~~

Now awake, Twilight was feeling a touch less confident than she was in her dream. She let out a huff. 'Dreamscapes remove your inhibitions; you were all too right, Starswirl...'

Now that she thought about it, the idea of something important enough to prompt a personal visit from Princess Luna in the middle of the night SURELY must hold extremely grave importance. She got nervous already, just stirring in her thoughts. 'Oh no, could it be?... Maybe Discord has cousins! No, it wouldn't make sense for an embodiment of Chaos to have physical relatives. Wait, maybe - that's it! Chrysalis has cousins! The ripple was caused by rival swarms attempting to drain the emotion out of Ponyville en masse using a new method of draining! Wait, the apparent violence of the ripple means that the spell probably failed, so that means I still have a chance to stop them!... No, that's silly. Changelings can only feed on emotions transferred directly to them, so... - urgh! Well, I'm not going to figure it out lying here in bed. Princess Luna said that time is of the essence! I should probably start by running a full aetheral scan of the ley lines in and around Ponyville...'

Twilight mulled over a few direct solutions in her head, before something else occurred to her.

"I'm going to have to cancel all the day's plans I made with Applejack," she groaned. 'Ugh, I'm sure she'll understand, but I hate having to cancel plans with my friends. Besides, the fate of Equestria is at stake!... Or it could be.' She rolled her eyes. 'It probably is.'

Twilight pulled herself out of bed and telekinetically grabbed a brush. She brushed her mane and made her bed at the same time. After making sure both she and her room were presentable, she headed downstairs and turned to the kitchen for some breakfast. Spike was eating some cereal which was obviously made from gems. The tiny dragon noticed Twilight enter, and called to her. "Morning, Twilight. Sleep well?"

Twilight hurriedly grabbed a muffin from the pantry and began to munch down on it while explaining the situation as best she could with her mouth full. "Well *nom nom* Princess 'una *chew* 'ast night *swallow* something about a ripple in the ley lines around Ponyville *chomp* pro'ably im'ortant-"

Spike just stared at her while she was talking before deciding to cut her off. "Uh, Twilight? Why don't you finish the muffin before you start explaining whatever happened in the middle of the night."

Twilight nodded and tried her best to shove the rest of the muffin into her mouth and swallow it. It got caught in her throat and she started coughing on it.

"Whoa, Twilight!" Spike rushed over to her seat and slapped her solidly on the back. He heard her swallow it. "Geez! When I said 'finish the muffin', I still meant for you to chew it."

Twilight sighed. "Thanks, Spike, and sorry, I'm sorta in a rush." She got up from her chair. "It was an important message from Princess Luna. I'll tell you the details when I get back, but I need to get to Applejack's to cancel our day together." She sighed again. "Friendship is important, but duty calls."

Spike nodded, a worried expression on his face. "Sure; just don't let it get to you, okay Twilight? Take it easy out there."

Twilight spoke in a kind, but determined tone, "Oh, don't worry, Spike. I'll be back faster than Pinkie can eat a cupcake." She made her way out the door.

"At least Pinkie can swallow her food," Spike chuckled.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. "Bye, Spike." She closed the door behind her, and made her way through town.

~~~

The walk through Ponyville was uneventful to say the least. It was still fairly early in the morning, so many of Ponyville's more... rambunctious inhabitants, such as Rainbow Dash, weren't awake yet. It was one of those days on the weekend when most ponies were off from work, and Twilight would be hard pressed to find a day off when Rainbow Dash woke up early. However, certain shopkeepers and restaurant workers were already up and about to set up shop, no doubt preparing for the number of customers generated by such a day off. Twilight knew she would find Applejack either in the marketplace, setting up the apple stand, or still at home on the farm. The marketplace was closer than the Acres, so she made her way there first. She frowned inwardly when she saw not Applejack behind the incomplete stand, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom saw Twilight in her peripheral vision and waved to her.

"Howdy there, Twilight! Might Ah interest you in some apples this fine mornin'?" The little filly flashed an adorable smile. The other two crusaders caught on quickly and joined in the smiles.

Twilight didn't want to get caught up. "Oh, I'm sorry girls, but I'm sorta in a hurry, and I just had breakfast." She threw on a nervous smile. "But I promise I'll come back later, as soon as I make some progress in my work, okay?"

Applebloom threw on an overly suspicious facade. "Allllright, but Ah'm gonna hold you to yer word, ya hear?"

Twilight nodded and loosened up. "It's a deal." Her expression noticeably became more serious. Twilight sighed to herself. 'The sooner I clear my schedule with Applejack, the sooner I can begin my investigation unimpeded.' "But Applebloom, your sister should be back at the farm right now, right?"

Applebloom dropped the mock suspicion. "Well, yea. She mentioned somethin' about spendin' the day with you, so Ah asked to run the cart today to free her time up. She should still be back at the farm; she probably jus' woke up, 'cause she's been workin' so hard lately. There's been a lot more apples than expected this season - Ah helped harvest them, too!" At this, she proudly motioned to the several baskets of apples and apple-based products surrounding the cart: much more than usual.

Twilight glanced at the excessive amount of apples all concentrated in one area, before turning and rushing away. She called over her shoulder, "Thanks, Applebloom! Good job on the harvest, and good luck with sales!"

Applebloom waved and called back with a smile, "Have a fun day with mah sister! Tell 'er she has nothin' to worry about, lettin' us run the stand for a day!" She stopped waving once Twilight was out of earshot, and dropped her smile. She turned to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "That Twilight's a few apples short of a harvest sometimes, don't ya think?"

"Yeah..."

"Unequivocally!"

Both Scootaloo and and Applebloom stared at Sweetie Belle.

Applebloom shook her head. "That's a mite harsh, even fer a dicshunary."

Sweetie Belle lowered her face and flushed a little. "Sorry..."

Scootaloo just looked baffled. "Err, what does 'unequivocally' mean?"

~~~

Twilight trotted the rest of the way to Sweet Apple Acres. She sighed to herself again. 'The sooner I talk with Applejack, the sooner I can start my research.' She slowed down at the outer gate. 'It really is a beautiful day... But responsibilities come first, whether they be to my friends or to the Princesses.' She spotted Applejack leaving her house. Applejack had already noticed her. The farmpony was disquieted by how Twilight was rushing towards her.

Applejack called out to her as she approached. "Well hey there, sugarcube! Ah know yer excited to get our day started, but we have the whole day. No need to rush, now."

Once the two were within comfortable speaking distance, Twilight started explaining the situation. "Well, that's just it, Applejack. I sorta have to cancel our day together."

Applejack frowned. "Huh? What fer?"

"I was contacted by Princess Luna last night; apparently, there was a massive magical disturbance somewhere in or around Ponyville yesterday afternoon. It was powerful enough for the Princesses to notice it all the way from Canterlot! Princess Luna personally entrusted me with the task of researching it; if it's really as powerful as she let it on to be, this could result in disaster for Ponyvi- AGH!!!"

"W-Wuh!? Twilight, what's wrong!?"

"GHAHH!" Twilight clutched her forehead around her horn in pain. She shut her eyes. 'By... Celestia... what, what IS that!?' She had been hit by the greatest presence of... pure darkness, that she had ever felt. It was comparable to what she had felt when fighting against Nightmare Moon. She felt the darkness surround her, as if it threatened to consume everything; it overpowered her senses, mimicking a roar so loud it coalesced into a dull incomprehensible ringing that blocked out everything she could feel, and eventually... nothing. Just as quickly as she felt it, it was gone. Twilight breathed for a few seconds, making sure whatever caused it wasn't just trying to deceive her into letting her guard down. 'What could've caused such a monstrous...wait a second, the aetheral ripple!' Twilight's eyes shot open in realization. 'B-but if it felt that close, it'd might as well be in this very farm: in Sweet Apple Acres!' Twilight refocused her attention to Applejack, who was still right in front of her, apparently ready to carry the unicorn off and bolt to a hospital should she collapse.

Once Applejack saw Twilight come to, she spoke in a VERY worried tone. "Twilight, what the hay is wrong!? You just sorta started clutchin' yer horn, as if ya were in pain or somethin'! You spaced out fer a good 10 seconds... Should Ah go fetch Nurse Redheart? Is this a side effect of all yer magical 'ecksperimuntashun?' Gosh darn it, Twilight! We keep tellin' ya tah be careful with yerself!"

Twilight lowered her hooves and shook her head, wincing a little at the motion. "No- no, Applejack... That wasn't me, or my fault, per se." She sighed. "Looks like we might be spending the day together, after all."

Applejack still looked worried. "Whattaya mean?"

"I think I just found the source of the disturbance..."

Confusion mixed with Applejack's worried face. "What? Where?"

Twilight swallowed. "Right at Sweet Apple Acres."

Applejack's eyes widened in alarm. "Huh!? I didn't notice anythin' while Ah was workin' on the farm yesturday, an' Ah know this farm like the back of mah hoof! ...Or is it one of those magical thing-a-mah-jiggers that only unicorns can sense or sumthin'?"

Twilight pressed her hoof to her chin and thought. "...No, such a thing would surely have a physical manifestation. A purely magical thing or being wouldn't remain in nearly the same place overnight. Princess Luna said that whatever happened, happened late in the afternoon: she was already preparing to raise the moon. That means the ripple occurred within minutes of sundown. Due to your work schedule, your family very well could all have been back in the house by then. Nopony else is noticing the residual magical feedback - what caused my headache - because unicorns and alicorns are the only ponies directly attuned to pure magic. No other ponies, unicorns or otherwise, is as attuned to Dark magic as the Princesses or I, so we are the only ponies to actually feel it." Twilight frowned. "But I only felt the source within its direct vicinity, as the Princesses have much more experience with magic of all kinds than I do, so they were able to sense its time of arrival all the way from Canterlot."

Applejack nodded. "Ah understand... Ah think. The strongest unicorns feel it from farthest away... but what was that you said about 'Dark magic'?"

'I think Dark magic might just be something I need to keep a secret from Applejack, at least for now...' Twilight shook her head again. "It doesn't matter; you got the gist of it. But the magic the source is emitting is... unstable. It'd be too dangerous for me to try to find it using magic, based on what just happened. But from what I felt, the thing that came through the magical disturbance really is somewhere on your farm, Applejack." Twilight sighed. "I'd hate to put you in harm's way, Applejack, but I'll need your help to find this thing on hoof, as quickly as possible."

Applejack smiled, a determined glint in her eye. "Now, now, Twi. Ah don't wanna hear any o' that! Ah'm yer friend, and it would be downright terrible of me to not stay by yer side when the goin' gets tough." Applejack started counting with her front right hoof, each tap a numeral. "Together, we've faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and even that weird feller King Sombra. Slap a dunce's cap on mah head and call me dumb if Ah don't help ya now, b'cause that's what friends are for!" She stomped her right hoof on the ground for emphasis.

Twilight giggled a bit at the reference to school, and smiled herself. Applejack's determination was infectious. "Thanks, Applejack. You're one of the most dependable ponies I know: one out of five to be exact. Now, let's get started! First, we're going to need an efficient plan..."

~~~

The two spent five to ten minutes thinking of a sensible way to approach the situation. After Applejack outlined the layout of the farm, Twilight partitioned the surface area of the fields into sizeable areas that would be split between Applejack and her to search. However, based on Twilight's estimations, it would take well into the night to complete the sweep: Sweet Apple Acres was a large place, and searching it thoroughly would take time.

Applejack suggested, "Hey Twi, why don't we get some of the other girls ta help?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "Rarity and Pinkie Pie would probably be busy running their businesses: it is a popular day of the week for shopping after all. I don't think Fluttershy would be very efficient, searching for a scary magical thing all alone. What about Rainbow Dash?"

Applejack chuckled, "Nah, I don't trust her to multitask with somethin' like this. From what yer tellin' me, what we're lookin' fer could be purty small, or even partly buried. She wouldn' be able to see somethin' that small from high up, and the idea of Dash flyin' at high speeds close to the ground doesn't sound like the best of ideas in fields filled with apple trees."

Twilight groaned, "On second thought, let's try asking Rarity and Pinkie. The safety of Ponyville is more important than a day of profits."

Applejack responded, "Well, let's slow down here a second. We don't even know if this thang is dangerous or not. All we know is that it shot off a bunch of magic that overloaded yer horn, but that doesn't exactly sound like its fault in this case. Twilight, the last time ya got the town riled up on high-alert, we just ended up disaster-proofin' the town fer nuthin'. Ah'm sorry to take the wind outta yer sails, but Ah think we should figur' out how to deal with this once we figur' out what exactly we're dealin' with."

Twilight sighed, "Yeah Applejack, you're right." The cowpony wasn't as educated concerning the workings of unicorn magic, but she was far from stupid, and perhaps even more reasonable than Twilight when it came down to it. "I normally wouldn't want to disturb the others for something like this, but I'd prefer to find the cause of the disturbance much sooner rather than later, just in case it really is dangerous."

Applejack nodded. "Ah hear yah, Twilight; we can ask mah brother to help, though. With Applebloom and 'er friends runnin' the cart, there wasn't much work ta be done on a day off. He knows this farm as well as Ah do, and Ah'm sure he can spare some time for us. He's probably plowin' the fields: the stallion's always tryin' ta get ahead on his share o' work. He shouldn' be too far from here..." Applejack blocked out the mid-morning sun from her view with her hoof and scanned the fields, shortly locating the big red farmer. Big Macintosh was standing next to the plow, but he was standing still, staring at something just outside of the two mares' views. Something was off, but Applejack didn't notice.

Applejack pointed at him with a hoof. "Look, there he is! Let's catch up tah him. You should let me explain the situation; Mac never had a mind fer fancy unicorn magic talk."

Twilight nodded, and the two girls trotted over to him. Applejack was in the lead, and called out to Mac once he was in earshot. "Hey Mac, we might have a bit of a situation on our farm-"

"Stay back, Sis!" Big Mac's harsh, defensive tone caught Applejack completely off guard. She quickly noticed how tense Mac looked, and nearly stumbled as she obeyed the order. Once Twilight caught up, she stopped next to Applejack. "Applejack, Mac, what's the matter?"

Big Mac shot them a heavy glance and stared back at what held his attention beforehand. The girls couldn't distinguish what it was from moderately far away. After a few moments of silence, Mac nodded at the two mares and motioned for them to approach slowly. As they did so, they gaped at what was lying on the ground before them as it came into focus.

Both Applejack and Big Mac looked at Twilight, hoping for an explanation, but in vain.

Twilight gulped. "I think we've found what we've been looking for."

Applejack blinked. "Twilight, what is that thing and what is it doin' on our farm!?"

Big Mac shushed both of them. "Ah think we should keep it down. Whutever it is, it looks unconschus..."

Mac's brotherly instincts kicked in. "You two stay here; Ah'll shut the gate and put up a sign sayin' to keep out, so nopony else can get in, OR get hurt. This thing maght be dangerous." He turned and started trotting towards the farm's entrance. "Keep an ey' on it, but be careful. Ah'm sure at least one of ya has an explanashun fer this, and Ah wanna hear it." At this, he galloped to the barn, no doubt to pick up one of the farm's old KEEP OUT signs stored in the back and put it on the gate.

After he left, Twilight glanced at the prone figure on the ground, and stared back at Applejack. "At least he seems to think that this thing could be dangerous. I should probably throw up a magical barrier around it, just to be safe. It could be aggressive-"

Applejack cut in hastily, "No, Twilight. Remember what happened earlier? That thing might as well 've split yer head open with whatever magic it shot inta the air. Ah don't think it's a good idea t' use actual magic around it, fer yer own sake."

Twilight sighed, “…We have to do SOMETHING.”

Applejack opened her mouth to answer, but stopped. 'Did that thang just?...'

Twilight noticed as well. 'Dear Celestia...'

The creature had awoken and was staring at them.

They stared back at it.

Chapter 1: First Encounter

I opened my eyes... to see two very unfamiliar faces. I stared at them. ...They stared back.

...

.....

A silence descended between us. My mind was hyperactive yet numb at the same time. The countless questions that raced in my mind were silenced by the moments of confusion and shock between me and these.... things. First things first. 'What are these animals?' My mind scrambled in that direction, but made almost as little progress.

'Are they wild? No; if they were, they would have ran the second I made the abrupt motion of sitting up. Are they tamed?' In a millisecond's time, I glanced over them. That was all it took: a tactician must be able to take all his circumstances in at a moment's notice. I immediately noticed symbols toward their rears, but I couldn't make them out clearly from this distance. 'Signs of branding - of ownership? Different symbols... different owners? Why would they be tamed to begin with?'

Something clicked. '...They look like horses, somewhat - one of them has a horn! Perhaps, perhaps they're a type of foreign mount: some hybrid of horse and pegasi? It would explain the horn, and the odd colors, but where would they come from? Maybe one of the northern or southern continents Chrom and I didn't explor-' My mind ran a thousand miles in five seconds to hit a brick wall.

"CHROM! Gods, where are you!?" I shouted. I hastily stood up and simultaneously began to thoroughly scan my surroundings. My mind swiftly took count of what I saw in order: 'Grass, fields, shocked and scared horse-pegasi things (understandable), trees - apple trees, barn, house (possible inhabitants?), gate (to a town?), angry and threatening horse-pegasi things - wait what?' I averted my sight from my surroundings to specifically the hybrids. My mind ran into another brick wall; I gulped. 'I'm standing on somebody's farm - no, trespassing on somebody's farm. The two animals are probably owned by the farm's owner(s), and based on the lowered fighting stance and expressions pointed at me, they are most likely trained to defend against trespassers, and I currently am one. Great...' I lowered my own stance and prepared to brace myself for the charge of two horses.

The hybrid with a horn - a shade of purple, probably resulting from a cross between a horse and Dark Pegasus - began to move it's mouth. What happened next pretty much made my mind break.

"St- stand down and surrender, or I will have to use force to subdue you if necessary," it said.

I blinked. 'Who said that?...' I instinctively looked around, expecting to find its owner somewhere I didn't notice before, but I saw nothing. 'Is she behind me?' I glanced over my shoulder. 'Nothing.' I slowly drew my gaze back in front of me. My brain could not process that this horse thing had spoken. The purple creature leveled its horn at me.

"I w-won't ask again!" The quivering female voice again sounded from its mouth. My mind would not, and could not comprehend that this thing could speak, so it settled on a distant, although not completely unrelated conclusion. 'She sounds kind of like Lissa...'

After a moment, the other hybrid (which didn't have a horn and was orange, confusing me to no end) turned to the purple one and opened its mouth. Another voice echoed from it, saying, "Twi, Ah've never seen anythang like this thing befur. There's a good chance that it doesn' understand us." This voice sounded oddly like a female version of Donnel.

Besides those two thoughts, my mind was in turmoil; nothing I knew about horses or pegasi was adding up anymore. Every idea was more ludicrous than the last, until one last rational conclusion appeared like a ray of sunlight from Naga and comforted me (thank the gods I took the time to talk to Panne more). 'These are Taguel! Panne mentioned races other than her own! Since the Shepherds never traveled to the northern or southern continents, there may very well be Taguel settlements we don't know about! These Taguel probably turn into horses, pegasi, or hybrids created through cross-breeding. ...Did the orange one just say she's never seen a human before? Gods, I knew Taguel were secluded, but leaving their coming-of-age generation completely uneducated about mankind?... It seems pretty ignorant. Either way, I'll have to be careful unless I want yet another international incident on Chrom's hands. It's now or never...'

I began to speak up. "Hello? Excuse me; sorry, I don't mean to trespass on your land, but I'm quite lost. Where am I, exactly?"

The two Taguel loosened up a bit, but went completely slackjawed in the process.

"Did it just politely ask why it's on mah farm?"

"Did it just apologize for trespassing?"

I was still confused, but apparently it was up to me to explain a situation we all didn't understand, starting with my gender. "Again, I'm sorry for trespassing." I raised my hands up to shoulder level, palms facing them, to show I meant no harm. "But I am what's known as a human. And I am male; I would... prefer to be referred to as such, thank you." 'Be as diplomatic as possible; I can remember most of what Panne told me about Taguel society, but I don't know how hers could differ from these Taguels'.'

Seeing that they wouldn't respond immediately, I put my hands down and continued speaking. "Based on your voices, I can only assume that both of you are female." I went out on a limb to make myself appear less ignorant, maybe get on their good side. "And based on your appearances, I can only guess that I'm looking at two of the three races that live here." I mentally noted the three supposed races I concluded earlier: 'There are horse Taguel, pegasi Taguel, and hybrid Taguel (probably)... I wonder, is there any societal discord between the races? I'll figure that out soon enough; there's a horse and a hybrid - two separate races - right in front of me.'

The two Taguel looked me over again; I immediately stood up straighter. I figured that as long as I was here, I should make a good impression as they don't seem familiar with humans. I must have looked pretty foreign in my signature garb: black clothing and robes, the inside lined with purple, the outside laced with gold. For protection, I wore a chestplate and greaves that extended up to my thighs, the joints intricately forged to allow completely unimpeded movement. Pauldrons were carefully attached to the robe, which had two layers: the upper layer was blue; it extended from below my chest up to a cylindrical shape that covered my neck. The layer beneath was black with stripes of purple running down its outside; this layer ran beneath the blue layer and almost as high, but continued downward almost to my feet. The robes' sleeves were adjusted to reach centimeters beyond my wrists when my arms were held at my sides. The entire set was forged and tailored by Ylissean blacksmiths and Plegian artisans, respectively: the blue layer, armor, and other intricate designs were added on Chrom's orders to formally represent my position as Ylisse's Royal Tactician and, in his words, "the best damn strategist he's ever seen". The fact that the original robes were tailored specifically by Plegia's best for me was somewhat disturbing, due to my origins, but nevertheless, the outfit was comfortable and functional. It felt somewhat metaphoric: that Chrom's ragtag royal army, the Shepherds, grew enough to unite the known world with my help, so I get to wear this outfit that was created by some of the world's best craftsmen. It held no political significance in this land as it did in my own, but its regal flair was quite enough to indicate at least some significance of my social position.

This clearly had an effect on the direction our conversation took, but we still had to start out slow. Fortunately, the air seemed much less hostile at this point.

The purple Taguel started to talk. "Well, that would be correct. Oh Celestia, I already have so many questions right now-"

"Well, let's start off simple," the orange one cut in, "what's yer name?"

I smiled and loosened up a bit; despite my extensive knowledge of warfare among other things, I've always preferred honest and simple conversation.

"Robin. My name's Robin."

She nodded. "The name's Applejack. This 'ere is Twilight Sparkle. She's one of mah friends and the personal protegee of the Princess." She put an almost imperceptible emphasis on "princess" and flashed me an expectant look. I got the message. 'Right. Don't mess with the private student of a foreign dignitary.' I responded with an equally imperceptible nod; she picked it up just as easily.

"I understand, Applejack." I noticed Twilight. "...Miss Sparkle, would you like to ask something?"

By this point, the purple Taguel looked like she was about to burst with too many questions.

Chapter 2: Fire

The figurative dam on Twilight's verbal river burst open with a flurry of questions.

"Where are you from and how did you get here? You're surprisingly polite and well-informed for never having been here before - this and the outfit you're wearing make me think that you're an ambassador or something similar, are you? Are there others like you from where you came from - OH! Are there others like us from where you came from? That would explain why you know so much about us. Is there a unified governmental body that you follow, and if so what is its general structure: monarchical, diarchical, democratic - oh please don't tell me it's a dictatorship because if it was that would be just AWFU-"

"TWILIGHT." Applejack cut in, apparently somewhat annoyed.

"Oh... sorry." Twilight's cheeks turned a shade lighter than her fur.

'Is she... blushing?' I just stared.

"If ya'll excuse us, Ah need to talk to Twilight here fer a minute," Applejack said.

I simply nodded. Applejack smiled

"It'll jus' be a secund."

The two Taguel walked off a little bit, their backs to me. Having little else to do, I re-examined my surroundings. The field - actually, farm was it? The farm I was on was truly a peaceful sight: a clear testament to the Taguel's connection with nature. Besides the house, barn, and gate, the only things around in sight were the clear skies, flowing grasses, and lush green trees that held some of the best looking apples I've ever seen. Most of the trees were devoid of apples, though. The cool breeze that swayed the grass and trees made me conclude that the harvesting season was nearly over.

I began thinking, 'Applejack, was it? And it just so happens I ran into her on what looks to be an apple farm.' The pieces began to fit together. 'It can't be a coincidence. Perhaps these Taguel name their children after their talents. It certainly would explain something concerning how odd the names are.' I suddenly remembered the marks on their thighs. I turned to them; their backs were still facing me, and I could easily make out the marks from this distance. 'The one on Applejack looks like a bunch of apples. That makes sense. What about the other one... Twilight Sparkle, was it? Hers looks like.. stars? That makes zero sense unless she's an astronomer, but I don't think Taguel have the technology for that kind of specialization. Hmm, I can ask about it later, but I'll have to pose it inconspicuously; she might take offense from it. But right now, I need to focus on some way of getting back to Chrom... Wait a minute, what was that Applejack said about a Princess? Twilight's her student right? Maybe I can ask her for an audience with the Princess; she might be able to provide some form of transportation. I'll just need a little... oh no. I frantically started patting around my pockets. 'I... I don't have any money with me! Good gods, how am I going to pay for anything!? I sighed. 'Well, at least I'm not completely helpless in the wild. I can just remember my early days as a Shepherd, eating bear meat and living off nature.'

I chuckled. "Frederick never did manage to stomach that bear meat, even with my help..." Something else occurred to me. "Gods, I don't even have a Fire Tome with me... How am I going to hunt, or even start a fire?" I thought back to the simple spell: it was for beginners, but was fairly effective, and had many uses outside of combat. I remembered when I almost started that forest fire by using it to light a campfire too close to a bunch of trees.

"...Wait, do they even have magic tomes here? I might not even be able to cast magic until I make it back to Ylisse, or Valm at least." I cursed under my breath and looked at my right palm, which I held open. "Gods, just a simple Fire Tome would be enough right now." I reminisced to my early days of learning magic, imagining the spell's familiar sensation of heat and energy. I frowned at the situation.

'If only I could just...'

A surge of flames burst from my hand and singed my eyebrows off, narrowly searing my face.

"GAHH WHAT IN THE HELLS-!?" I shouted.

The two Taguel turned toward the outburst with confusion.

Twilight was the first to react. "Robin? What is-?"

"Get out of the way!" I yelled. I charged forward.

Twilight took a step back. "W-why? What's wro-?"

"MOVE!" I kept running at Twilight.

Applejack took a defensive stance. "What in tarnation-!?"

Applejack's eyes met the air; she had noticed it. Twilight was a bit slower on the uptake. She looked up...

To see a fireball hurtling at her face.

'Move!!' I shouted in my mind, half at myself and half at Twilight. But it was too late for any other alternative.

I shoved Twilight out of the way as the fireball impacted my back.

"AAGHH!!"

...

I staggered and fell to one knee.

...

Both knees.

...

Pain.

...

"Robin!!"

...

Darkness.

Chapter 3: Introductions

Darkness.

...

"He almos' burned a hole in Twi's face!"

...

'Wait, voices?...' They sounded distant.

I perked up as I comprehended what was said. 'Are they talking... about me?' I kept listening.

"Applejack, calm down. The point is that he didn't. In fact, he made it in time just to save me, and got hurt himself!"

'Is that... Twilight?'

"Twi, the point is that he's dangerous!""

'That sounds like... Applejack..'

"If he hurts 'imself on accident, what's sayin' he won't hurt anypony else? We couldn' just leave 'im there, but Ah-"

"That's enough out of both of ya'll," a third voice cut in.

'Who's that?... Another Taguel?" The voice sounded deep and masculine.

"Even if he's dangerous, Ah'm not turnin' him away just b'cause of an accident. From what you girls are tellin' me, he took rusponsability fer his actions by savin' Miss Twilight."

'Who is that? He sounds like he's defending me... Gods know what happens to someone convicted of assault around here.' I opened my eyes and looked up to see a wooden roof; it looked like I was in the barn I saw from outside before. The smells and sounds of animals besides the Taguel confirmed my suspicions. It felt like I was lying on a pile of hay. I tried to sit up. 'I've been sleeping a bit too much lately for my liking.'

Twilight looked at me and gasped. "Applejack, Big Mac, he's awake!"

I heard her and kept trying to sit up. "Ghah!"

...before gasping and falling back down, 'Gods, it feels like my back is still on fire!

Twilight stood next to the pile of hay I was lying on. "Robin, try not to move; you got burned pretty badly. What happened back there?"

I was lifting my head to look at her, but I sighed and dropped my head to rest back on the hay.

"I... don't know. Tell me, do you know anything about magic and spells?"

Twilight giggled and nodded. "Of course I do; I'm a unicorn, remember?"

I turned my head, still resting on the hay, and stared at her. "You're a...? Actually, nevermind. What happened was, I was thinking of a certain spell that conjures a fireball, and it sort of went haywire. It launched into the air, and arced down at you. I called to you to move out of the way, but there wasn't enough time, so I had to push you so the fireball wouldn't hit you."

Twilight frowned. "But it hurt you, instead..."

I smiled. "Yeah... Well, accidents happen."

Twilight pondered. "Well, it's clear that you know how to use magic as well. But one question: why were you using a fireball spell?"

It was my turn to ponder. "The thing is, I was just thinking about it. I didn't mean to actually use it. Normally, I'd also need a tome in order to cast it, so I have no idea how it actually happened."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "But... you don't need a spellbook to cast a spell you already know."

I didn't know how to respond to this. 'But, but that's never how it works! You need a spellbook that's not completely in tatters in order to cast a spell! Yet, I just did. Gods, none of this makes any sense! What kind of place could alter the very laws of magic itself!? Unless... Dear Naga, why in the hells did I not figure it out earlier?'

Twilight noted the expression of mental frustration on my face. So did Applejack.

"Now listen 'ere pardner, if yer tryin' to cast another of yer magic spell doohickies, you can jus' forget about it while yer in my family's barn."

The red Taguel placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder, motioning her to calm down.

'...What?' "Oh - no no no, I'm not trying to cast another spell, but I think I've just figured out how I got here." I closed my eyes for a second before continuing. "You see, back in my 'world', per se, there exists a gate of sorts: we call it the Outrealm Gate. When you go through the gate, you are sent to other 'dimensions', so to speak. Normally, they are places much like the one I come from, but they might exist outside of time and space itself, never being an actual part of reality, or my reality, that is. What I'm trying to say is that..."

"This Outrealm Gate caused you to enter our world... But we found you unconscious out on the farm; is that consistent with any of your other journeys through the gate? You also have no other recollection of how you specifically got here in the first place," Twilight interjected.

I thought for a moment. "Well, the gate always transports us to a different place, and I've seen plenty of things before that I've thought of as impossible. Who knows? Maybe the memory loss is just a side effect, or perhaps your big red friend over there gave me a good kick to the head," I joked.

The Taguel gave a deep chuckle. "Nope," he answered. "The name's Big Macintosh, by the way."

I noticed the apple slice tattooed towards his rear.

I smiled. 'At least they're friendly, and their names and tattooes make sense to me now.' "I'm Robin; I'm sure your... friends(?) told you what happened."

Applejack joined in. "Well, we know eachother's names now, but Ah think we've yet ta be properly acwuainted."

She did a little curtsy with four legs. I almost chuckled a little.

"As ya know, Ah'm Applejack. Mah brother Big Macintosh" - she motioned at the red Taguel - "and I run this here farm, Sweet Apple Acres! We provide the best tastin' apples this side o' Equestria. Oh, and by the way, Big Mac doesn't talk much. Heh, I probably just covered everythang he was gunna say."

Big Mac had a faint smile. "Eeyup." The two siblings... nuzzled? I grinned at the display of affection. So did Twilight, who proceeded to speak next.

"And as you also know, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm the protegee of Princess Celestia, one of the diarchs of Equestria, but I normally don't mention it much. Applejack's one of my best friends, though Big Macintosh here is a nice stallion, too. He's the one who bandaged you up."

I just noticed that I wasn't wearing my robe; I still had my pants on, but the robe and shirt were gone, replaced with bandages with extra padding around my back.

"What about you?" Twilight asked.

"I'm Robin of Ylisse. I'm the army tactician of the Shepherd's, Ylisse's royal army, and the personal friend of Chrom, the crowned Exalt. I suppose he would be akin to a prince or king in familiar terminology."

Applejack and Big Mac raised their eyebrows at this, while Twilight smiled. "A magically gifted intellectual who's close friends with the crown?" She giggled. "I believe we've found something in common already, Robin. I hope we can become good friends while you're here," She added.

I smiled. "Likewise."

I thought to myself, 'This is significantly less violent than my other trips to the Outrealms. Diplomacy normally doesn't work so well.'

Applejack looked out the barn door. "Uh, Twi? It's gettin' rather late. What should we do about Robin? Normally, I'd invite him to stay in the guest room, but it's not ready after that little incident we had with Trixie. A barn's not the most comfortable place ta sleep, and Ah suppose the library's a bit too far fer him ta move in his current state." She eyed the bandages wrapped around my torso.

I spoke up. "Actually, I may have a solution for that." With some effort and minor pains, I lifted my right hand and held the palm above my chest.

'If an offensive spell could work without a tome...' A green, radiant light shone from my palm and bathed my body in a comforting glow. '...then maybe a healing spell will work without a staff!' I sighed as I felt my wounds heal. The Taguel just stared in wonder. After a moment, the light stopped glowing. 'Now I'm glad I took the time to train up in using staves, at least to the point of using Mend.' I sat up and started unraveling the bandages.

Big Mac's eyes widened and he motioned as if to stop me, until he noticed that my burns were completely healed. Both he and Applejack gaped.

Twilight voiced their thoughts. "Wow... You're just full of surprises!" She exclaimed with glee. Suddenly, my robes - previousiy lying motionless in the corner - began flying at my face, covered in a ghostly purple glow.

"aaAH!" I squealed; then I noticed the robes stopped flying at me a few inches away. I stared at the robes, and then at Twilight. Besides her excited grin being replaced by a look of confusion, I noticed another change: her horn was glowing in the same bright color. Applejack looked like she was holding back giggles; Big Mac was smiling.

'Magic.... right.' I grabbed the robes, at which point the glow faded and gravity resumed its control over them. I looked at Twilight again. "Hah, you're certainly full of surprises as well! I knew you could use magic, but there's no magic like that where I come from."

Twilight laughed. "I thought I'd give you your robes back, but you look like you've seen a ghost, ha!"

She calmed down. "Although, I do mean to ask. Even though you got burned, your cloak was pretty much unharmed. I've hardly ever seen enchantments of this quality before, and some of them are unrecognizable! Do you think I could study it when we get back to the library? You can keep your shirt, though."

After I slipped on my shirt, breastplate, and cloak, I stood up. "Sure, it's the least I could do if you're letting me stay at your home. Since I have no idea where we are, please, lead the way." I bowed with one arm crossing my chest.

Twilight turned to face the barn door and said giddily, "I think we're going to have a great time with you around, Robin." She started half walking, half bouncing to the exit.

I smiled and followed. "I should hope so; thank you, Twilight."

Chapter 4: What Makes a House...

Twilight and I were arguing outside of the town's view, in the direction toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"No, absolutely not!"

"Come on, Robin! This is the easiest way."

"I refuse to do such a thing!"

"Look, you don't even need to do anything; just stand still for a moment and... you might need to get on all four limbs for this to work."

"There's no way I'm consenting to this."

"Ugh, why do you have to be so difficult!?"

Twilight and I were arguing over how to enter the town. She knew how xenophobic Ponyville's residents could be sometimes, and she believed their reactions to me would be less than favorable.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but I'm not letting you change me into a horse, unicorn, or anything else."

She figured that a transformation spell or even a simple illusion would help. Who knew how the town would react to me? The answer was Twilight, apparently.

"But it would be so much easier dealing with the town than in your current state! Mass hysteria isn't too uncommon around here... and first of all, we're ponies, not horses."

'A racial distinction?' "Well, I'm sorry. But you just proved my point. Just as you distinguish yourself as a pony, I wish to remain as part of my own race: human. Besides, it wouldn't be nice to hide from everybody the fact that a being from another dimension is walking around. If this society is as peaceful as you claim it to be, we should be fine."

Twilight flushed at how I dissected her argument. She huffed, "Fine. I suppose you're right, but at least stick to the language inflections around here. We don't say 'everybody' or 'everyone' most of the time; we stick to 'everypony'. It's just more comfortable for all the ponies living around here."

"Agreed." That makes sense, somewhat. It also makes sense concerning the town's rather uncreative name... Gods, do only ponies live around here? I suppose they're not even Taguel, either, or they would have at least figured me to be one of them, except in human form.' "Well, shall we at least begin moving towards your home before dusk falls, so we're not left standing here in the dark?"

Twilight sighed. "Okay, let's go. Just... try not to get seen, okay? I had enough trouble covering up that time when a surprisingly friendly changeling wandered into Ponyville after their failed invasion."

I raised an eyebrow at this but raised no questions or objections. We shortly entered the outer gate of Ponyville and -

'OH GODS WHAT IS THAT!?'

A sentient pink furball came out of nowhere and had violently attached itself to my face.

"AHHH GODS! TWILIGHT, GET IT OFF ME!!"

I tried swatting the mound of fur off my head, but it held fast. It started to emit noises at a terrifying rate.

"HI-I'M-PINKIE-PIE-IT'S-SO-NICE-TO-MEET-YOU-WHATEVER-YOU-ARE-HEY-ARE-YOU-FRIENDS-WITH-TWILIGHT-?"

Twilight, after having her share of giggles, used her magic to pry the thing off me. After catching my breath and regaining some amount of composure, I finally got a good look at it.

'It's... another pony. Of damn course it is.'

"Twilight... who and or what is this?"

After Twilight stopped laughing at my discomfort, she started to explain. "Pinkie Pie, meet Robin. Robin, this is Pinkie Pie. She's one of my best friends along with Applejack, and one of this town's more... colorful residents."

I noted the pony's monstrous shades of pink. 'Colorful is an understatement. Olivia and Cherche would be the only ones capable of appreciating some-pony like this.' I thought, rolling my eyes. Yet I almost started laughing myself when the thought of introducing Pinkie Pie to Tharja popped into my mind.

While I was mucking around in my thoughts, Pinkie Pie had somehow creeped directly in front of me after I blinked. I stared at her after the sudden appearance.

"Please... don't do that."

She just stared... and smiled. A knowing smile, at that. As if she knew something I didn't.

'What is wrong with everypony living here?' I thought.

She perked up and started talking at a rather excited pace. "Oh, nothing's really wrong with us, Robin; everypony here is super-fantastical and interesting! I really hope we can become the bestest of friends - OH! If we're gonna be friends you need a nickname!! How does Robbie sound? I think it sounds GREAT! Do you think it sounds great?!"

'...Did she just?' I shook my head. "I... uh, sure, great. Call me Robbie, whatever. But if you'll excuse us - *I motioned at Twilight* - we were just on our way to Twilight's residence, and we would gladly prefer if you didn't bring my presence here to the attention of the town's citizens."

Twilight was watching the whole thing unfold and decided to step in. She sounded a bit resigned. "There's nothing we can do now, Robin. Let's just get to the library and see how things play out from there."

"Ooookay... So, if you'll excuse us Miss-" Pinkie was gone. I stared at where she just was - inches from my face in one direction, I might add - before just looking at Twilight for any clarification.

Twilight sighed. "It'll all make sense once we get to my house. Although, I'd highly recommend that you let me change you into a pony, at least for the next few hours."

I raised my eyebrow. 'Again?' I knew Twilight must have had her reasons for her to bring it up again, especially after I so adamantly declined. "Is there anything you want to tell me about before we get there?"

Twilight turned and yawned. "Well, it was worth a shot. Just be ready for a long night."

My eyebrow stayed raised for a moment, but I continued walking without a word.

'Naga help me, lest I not survive till morn.'

Chapter 5: ...A Home

"Wow... this is your home?"

"Yes; rather cozy, don't you think?"

"I'm more impressed by the fact that it's... well, inside a tree."

We had finally arrived at Twilight's house, or treehouse, rather. After the encounter with Pinkie Pie, the rest of the trip through Ponyville to the library was extremely uneventful. Either everypony here went to bed directly at sundown, or something was wrong. I couldn't help but have a premonition that something unfortunate was about to happen to myself. Twilight seemed completely indifferent to the lack of other ponies during the journey, however. The one time I attempted to inquire about it, she only repeated that it would all make sense (Pinkie included) when we got to her home.

'But now that we're here... where are all of them? I still don't have any answers. Wait, this building is rather sizeable - and it's inside a living tree, for Naga's sake. But still, I have a bad feeling in my gut about this... There could very well be an ambush or something; these ponies might not see me as anything more than a monster. Surely Twilight's on my side, but-' I glanced at her, unsure '-she seems to already know what's going to happen.'

My heart started pounding as we walked up to the door. I gulped. 'The lights are off, and I can't see anything inside... The dimensions of the building could very well allow at least a dozen soldiers to effectively position themselves around the entrance. I'm not normally the distrusting type, but good gods I'm in a land I have never even heard of, full of creatures that aren't human but can speak, and Twilight herself is a unicorn: a species she claims can use magic. I already have a bad taste in my mouth about the cloak thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if a larger number of them could hold somebody down...' My thoughts raced and my senses were on overdrive as she slowly opened the door. I thought I saw a small grin grow on her face.

The grin opened, and a foreboding message left it as we delved into the darkness.

"Don't worry Robin, it will all be over soon."

My heart stopped.

"...Twilight, if you dare-"

An earsplitting noise and a blinding explosion cut me off. I felt some amount of debris fall over my head and clothing.

'That sounded like the impact of a damn siege weapon! Think Robin, defend yourself!"

I tried looking around, but the debris from the explosion got caught in my eyes and I was forced to keep them shut. I gritted my teeth.

'I'm playing this by ear; I need a weapon, something, anything! ...Wait, I can use magic. Fire worked before, it can work now!'

I felt the familiar sensation of warmth and power reach my hands, but I contained it; I waited until my hearing cleared enough for me to visualize my surroundings. I could not believe what I was hearing: it felt like at least dozens of ponies were in this one library! I gritted my teeth, and prepared to unleash a blaze in all directions in front of me. I felt betrayed and hurt by Twilight's false hospitality; the anger only fed the flames of my spell. I was about to send forth the blazing inferno when a familiar voice stopped me.

"OOOH GOODIE! You brought your own pyrotechnics! Yayy! That means I don't have to use all my spare fireworks!"

'...What?'

I let my arms fall, and the pent up magic dissipated with it. I noticed I hadn't been attacked yet. After my hands were no longer on fire, I rubbed the debris out of my eyes. 'Well, at least I can see now - wait, is this... glitter?' My hands and clothes were covered in tiny puffs of the sparkling flakes. I looked at the floor around me and noticed it was covered in confetti and streamers. I finally looked up.

The library was apparently filled with at least half the town's population. Every single one of them looked absolutely terrified except Twilight, who was covering her face with a hoof and shaking her head, and Pinkie Pie, who was hopping up and down at the prospect of me being able to conjure fire. She was standing next to what looked like a miniature, colorfully decorated cannon. I looked up and saw a banner that said:

WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA, ROBIN!

Signed, Pinkie Pie + Ponyville

'Gods damn it...'

Chapter 7: Shattered Dreams

'Hnnnngh, my head....'

It was some party last night. After I gave my short speech, my memory devolved into a blur.

'I shortly remember meeting Twilight's friends (and that... uncomfortably placed image of my troops in my mind), but something happened after that. Something, ugh, I can't remember. What was it...? Oh, OH.'

'...Pinkie Pie.' I sighed.

Pinkie Pie brought out this concoction once the younger members of the crowd went home. It was this odd combination of partially dissolved gelatinous candy and a very high-proof alcoholic beverage.

'Leave it to Pinkie to create something to knock you on your ass after two shots,' I mused. 'And of course, it had to be candy-themed. Nothing else could be more fitting for her profession, appearance and demeanor.'

I remembered tasting the mixture - 'quite sweet, but pleasant to the senses overall' - and then... nothing.

'Great. Gods, where am I, first of all? And... why is my shirt off?!'

I felt my bare chest in the dark room I was in. Once my vision adjusted (and my pounding headache subsided a little), I noticed my shirt, lumped up in the corner. I got up, grabbed it and-

'EUUUUGHHHH... It smells like gumdrops and vomit!' I wrinkled my nose and looked around.

I was standing barefoot in what looked like a guest room. I looked back at my violated article of clothing, and began to piece together what happened. I forced thoughts through the haze of what Sully amiably refers to as 'weekend weakness'.

'Okay... let's see. What would rationally have happened after I got heavily intoxicated? ...Oh, duh.'

The state of my shirt gave one occurrence away in an instant.

'So, I definitely had more than my fill of drink. They don't have anything that strong back at Ylisse, though. It's all regulated. ...I'll have to ask Pinkie later whether that stuff she makes is even legal.'

I racked my brain.

'Well, this is Twilight's home, and she seems to be a gracious enough hostess. Once it became apparent I was done for the night- I wrinkled my nose at my shirt again -she probably took it off for me (surely at the length of her magic instead of by hand) and put me in a guest room to sleep off the alcohol.'

I shook my head and chuckled a bit. I looked at the bed I was lumped in beforehand.

'My soldiers would have a field day with me if they figured out I couldn't hold my liquor. I'm not normally this weak-gutted either; these ponies must be able to handle some strong stuff.'

I pondered the thought of allowing Nowi to get drunk the next time we hold a celebration.

'She's definitely old enough, but I'm not exactly sure how her body would react. Huh, let's just be sure to keep her Dragon Stone out of reach during such events.'

I brought my mind back to my current situation, but found there wasn't much else to think about.

'I guess there's nothing much else to do but sleep until morning. I can talk to Twilight about getting into contact with this Princess Celestia then. And... it's been a while since I've slept in an actual bed. I guess I should just appreciate the res-'

I froze as I was crawling back into the bed. I noticed that the other half of the bed was already taken, occupied by a certain female equine.

I was in bed with Twilight.

"GAAHAAAAAHHHH!"

Chapter 8: No More Lost Children

Silence and headaches. A fairly expected morning. Oh, and cereal.

'Well... this is awkward- and gods dammit, I've never been this hung over before.'

Last night, after I abruptly shouted at the top of my lungs spotting a certain 'somepony' in the same bed I had slept in, that same 'somepony' immediately jolted awake, flailed about on the bed, and fell onto the floor with a sounding thud and accompanying yelp. After Twilight had risen from the floor and gotten a good bearing of her surroundings and situation, she briefly flashed a bright white light and vanished. I could only guess it was some sort of teleportation spell. I felt it would be very useful in many a tactical situation, but that was completely irrelevant. Either Twilight Sparkle knew something about what happened last night that I didn't, or she was just as clueless as I was. However, tired and discombobulated, I lumbered back into bed without question and assumed Miss Sparkle did the same in another room.

Now, I was sitting in the kitchen Twilight pulled me back into at the start of the party, eating a mixture of some oats and milk I deemed to not be poisonous to the human digestive system. I wasn't exactly sure if I was welcome to helping myself to breakfast, but I assumed that Twilight would offer me something to eat anyway, so I selected the plainest and least expensive looking food I could find: oats and milk. Either way, I'm pretty sure we mutually wished to infinitely delay our next conversation, fearing what dark truths about last night may arise. That next conversation approached far too quickly for the taste of my pounding skull, as I heard shuffling footsteps as Twilight descended from her bedroom on the upper floor. I heard a third pair of limbs and assumed it belonged to Spike, who spoke, sounding well-rested and energetic.

"Wow, that was some party, Twilight! Whew, I think we should get Pinkie to throw these 'Welcome to our World' parties more often."

I leaned a bit towards the doorframe of the kitchen and kept listening. Twilight groaned.

"I know it was fun, Spike, but do you think you could keep it down, just for a little bit? I'm not feeling too well..."

I pretty much felt the look of curiosity on Spike's face.

"Twilight, I know I went to bed earlier than you, but what in Equestria happened after I fell asleep? I know Pinkie's crazier parties are tiring, but you just look-"

"Please Spike, just stop talking for a couple hours at least... Your voice is pounding in my head, ugh."

I inwardly smiled a little bit. 'Looks like she can't handle her drinks too well, either.'

I resumed eating my cereal, pretending I didn't hear them. Twilight came into sight first with Spike in tow. She looked like she has definitely had better days. With her eyes cast down, she didn't notice me until she took a few steps into the kitchen. When she looked up and saw me, it appeared as if the gears in her head instantly hit overdrive, waking her body up. She started blushing immediately.

I just awkwardly smiled and waved at her meekly. 'Oh Robin, ever the politician.'

Twilight's eyes darted around the kitchen as if looking for something to focus on, which happened to be Spike. The mare had an idea, and I caught on quickly enough.

She turned to the little green lizard and blurted, "Spike, can you get me a book from my bed? I think I left one there, and I'd hate for its pages to get wrinkled-- or something."

The assistant looked at her face, noted the blush, and followed her panicked gaze, which happened to be focused on me.

Spike's claws shot up to cover his mouth. "OOOOHHH!! Twilight's got a colt-friend! Twilight's got a colt-friend!" He hopped up and down and pointed between her and me. Twilight looked as if she was going to have a heart attack.

'Oh fucking Naga.'

I spoke up. "Spike, I think Twilight just asked you to fetch a book for her. You're her number-one assistant, right? Maybe you should go search for it. For. A. While." I winked.

Spike put his claws on his hips and got a sly expression. "Oh- okay, Robin. I'll go find this 'book'" - he made air quotation marks - "and make sure to take a loooooong while." He chuckled before leaving the room. After he did, making exaggerated footsteps up the stairs, the unicorn turned towards me.

"I-- I-- Oh dear Celestia, what happened last night!?" 'Well, Twilight's awake now.'

I sighed. "I was hoping to ask you the same thing. The last thing I want to do is piss off Lucina."

She looked momentarily confused. "Who's Lucina?"

I sighed again and looked down at the bowl of cereal in front of me, which was slowly getting soggy. "She's the woman I'm engaged to."

Twilight looked as if she was about to explode. "Oh no, oh no, oh no - no, no-no-no! Robin, I don't know about your culture, but mine is strictly monogamous, proclaimed by the Princess herself! It's been that way for thousands of years; if she finds out I had relations with somepony I'm not married to - and even worse, somepony who's already engaged; this can't be happening...!"

I thought a little bit in silence, and smirked. "She doesn't have to find out."

The look on Twilight's face was priceless. Her blush brightened even more and the dumbfounded expression with it was hilarious.

I burst out laughing.

"Robin, why? Why are you laughing?! How could you even find this amusing?!" Twilight's words grew frantic, though her embarrassed blush didn't fade.

I managed to calm myself down. "Because there's nothing to worry about! I know you're hung-over, but come on. Think Twilight, think! We woke up in the same bed in the guest room. You teleported out, probably before you noticed what I actually looked like."

Twilight looked down at the ground and stuttered, "Y-you... you were naked."

I raised an eyebrow and kept smiling. "Did you forget that humans wear more clothes than just a shirt? I wear pants, too."

She looked up. The gears in her head finally began to click. "Wait... before I left, you were... so you mean-"

"I still had my pants on, belt and buttons fastened, and you can probably guess where my... parts are."

She flushed again. "Oh... r-right." She looked stunned, her face blank. She turned away, and said slowly, "Well... I g-guess I should find Spike, then."

I hardly stopped myself from chuckling like an idiot some more.

"He should be done 'finding that book', by now," I said.

She nodded. Her hooves lumbered out of the kitchen. I was afraid she was going to stumble up the stairs, but I heard no crash, and turned back to my cereal. I wanted to laugh some more until I noticed what my meal had transformed into. It looked as if it had turned into mush. I wrinkled my nose, but sighed, and chokingly drank it as if it were gruel.

Chapter 9: Preparation

After that morning encounter, Twilight told me she wrote to the Princess, as she had found the supposed source of an 'ethereal ripple' she was worried about: me. Apparently, the magic that brought me here interfered with her own natural magical abilities, causing a great headache, not dissimilar to the one caused by our shared hangover. However, seeing how the letter was sent via magical flames (breathed by Spike, interestingly enough), I didn't know how much time I would have to prepare before meeting Celestia. Twilight said she didn't want to reveal too much through the letter, as she thought it fitting for me to introduce myself through a political perspective. Though, Twilight assured me she mentioned how friendly I was and how I acted responsibly for my actions, but I couldn't shake a growing feeling of dread that this Celestia - or her sister and co-ruler, Luna - would not like me much. Something felt... odd about the whole ordeal: it felt like I was missing something, something that would be obvious to a seasoned tactician. Putting my premonitions aside, I did my best to prepare for the meeting - after all, I was still a foreigner and not a legal citizen of the country. I could claim diplomatic immunity if worse came to worst, but I wasn't informed at all about the legal practices in Equestria. I figured I'd spend the day studying law and proper etiquette when addressing Equestrian royalty.

'And what better place to do that than a library?' I mused.

I sat on a couch in the living room wearing my pants and an undershirt. After Twilight sent the note to Celestia through Spike, she motioned for me to sit at a desk she had cleared for me (also made of natural, unpolished wood: I wouldn't have noticed it was separate from the tree if she hadn't moved it). She also said several times that Celestia is the kindest pony she knows, and that I had nothing to worry about, but I knew first-hand that most of the time, these two-faced politicians just can't be trusted.

'I'm looking at you, dad.' I thought grimly.

While mucking about in my thoughts, Twilight was endlessly listing off a number of books it would be appropriate for me to be familiar with, and placing them on the desk. After my mind came back to reality, my head reeled back as I struggled to see the top of the mountain of paper. I sighed.

"I hate politics."

"You've said that several times, Robin. Look, these formalities are just to fall back on. If the Princesses see you struggling to keep up appearances, I'm sure they'll just be honest with you. They may be alicorns and rulers, but they're normal ponies on the inside, just like the rest of us."

"They certainly don't look like it", I mumbled; I studied an image of Celestia and Luna compared to other ponies. They were several times larger and had manes that flowed endlessly. They also wore signature regalia that reminded me slightly of the holy weapons passed down through generations in my own world: they had that same timeless feel of hidden magic, waiting to surface. I chuckled a bit to myself. 'If I made my troops run through that dungeon one more time, Chrom assured me the desperate Deadlords would detain them just to have someone to talk to.'

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Judging ponies based on their appearances is a bad habit. Although the size of the Princesses is impressive, remember you're acting as a diplomat. It wouldn't look well for you to show fear to the rulers of a country you wish to make peace with."

I sighed again. "Well, you're right. Never judge a book by its cover, I always say. However, looking at these books - " I motioned to the mountain in front of me " - I can't help but judge them by their sheer size."

Twilight grinned. "It'll give me a good amount of time to run out and do some errands, like getting your shirt washed." She lifted a bag by the door with her magic. It smelled slightly foul. "It wouldn't do well for you to meet the Princesses in a shirt covered in vomit." She snickered, "And who knew the big, strong military commander couldn't hold his liquor?"

I countered, "Well, I'd look best in my regal cloak as well, but you're holding that in your lab until you're done studying it." I grinned at her exaggerated scowl. "And I know you need your equipment to test it completely, so you're gonna have to finish your errands to do it. So, I'd think it be best if we both got to it, mmk?"

She smiled and said, "Alright, alright. Be back in a few hours. Hopefully Rarity knows how to get out deep green stains," she grumbled as she walked out the door.

I looked back at the pile of books in front of me and frowned. 'Okayyy... which one should I start with? Appeasing Alicorns or Making Peace with Ponies? I frowned at the latter book, which looked like a self-help book concerning relationships with your friends. 'Appeasing Alicorns it is, then.' My brow wrinkled in thought as something occurred to me. 'Hey, where's Spike?'

"Spiiiiike?" I called out. I looked around until I heard a snicker from upstairs. My eyes went up and met another pair of green ones peeking over the edge of the staircase. We stared at each other. Spike raised his head from his hiding spot to reveal a mischievous smile.

"You two are so in love with each other!" he blurted out before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

I rolled my eyes and turned forward again. I quickly flipped through the thick book and grumbled.

"Ugh... No pictures."

~~~

"Robin, I'm back!" Twilight called as she entered the door, closing it behind her.

"Welcome back, the Most Illustrious and Powerful, Lady Twilight of Ponyville," I answered just slightly sarcastically. Just slightly.

She giggled at this. "I take it you've made it through Appropriate Titles for Alicorns' Apprentices?"

I almost screamed. "Did they really have to write a whole book about it!? I mean seriously, I could have reverently referred to you alone with at least fifty different titles, and those I only learned from around fifteen pages of reading! And that doesn't even account for all the other titles provided that you're also a, what was it, bearer of an Element of Harmony?" I grew more honest and serious in my questioning. "Did... did you really do all that? It seems you've saved more lives than all the ponies in this town a hundred times over." I rubbed my chin. "And the power of these Elements... it seems too good to be true. I myself was probably saved through the relationships I've developed with my friends, but converting all that strength into pure, divine magic - that purifies or disables rather than harms... It, it seems like a fairy tale." My eyes clouded in thought. "It definitely would have saved a lot of lives that day, even if all my men survived..."

Her eyes grew empathetic and contemplative. Twilight thought in silence for a moment, before pulling up a chair. She sat down next to me and frowned in concern. "Robin... I want you to tell me exactly what happened before you came here. Please."

I looked at her, my mind clearing but my eyes still foggy.

She pressed on. "I know you shared most of what you were willing to at the party and before that, in the barn, but.. but I know that wasn't the whole story. You supposedly came here through a portal you've used before, but you wound up in a place you didn't intend to go, you were knocked out, and we found you nowhere near anypony else who looked like you. I know that it might be painful to remember, but it might help me find a way to get you back."

After a moment of silence, I sat back, and looked up with a dreamy expression.

"*Sigh*, It... it feels like a lifetime ago - a hundred lifetimes ago, but it was probably only two or three days most before you found me. It's a long story, but it ended with me sacrificing myself to save my friends, and to save everyone who would live in generations to come. Sometimes I wondered if my sacrifice was necessary; it feels like I abandoned my friends, who were more than willing to bear the burden with me, but their plan wasn't permanent. It would work for a thousand or so years, but.. but he would come back, wreaking havoc on the world. I couldn't allow that to happen, but I didn't want to desert my friends either. I made my choice, but I fear whether it was the right one." I felt despair. "I can only hope to come back home... If I do, I'll apologize to them - personally, to every single one of them, and only pray that they'll forgive me for leaving them."

I almost started crying. "Oh gods... the look on Chrom's face... I've never seen him that hurt before..." I buried my face in my hands. "He thought I was going to die -- I thought I was going to die! And I... I didn't even apologize before I left. I didn't apologize for all the pain I'd have caused. They all must be mourning me at a funeral right now for all I know... And all I said to them was... was.."

I drew my hands down to my lap and breathed in.

"May we meet again, in a better life."

I buried my face again.

"What a better life, when I'm lost and all my friends hate me..."

My clouded eyes looked up to meet Twilight's. ...Twilight's eyes told me everything: she had to make similar difficult decisions, times when she would bear her friends' burdens, or have faith in them to bear hers. She understood just how powerful friendship could be, maybe even more than I did. We held a momentary silence, but Twilight replied with a question. "...Robin, who was he? The one who... who you sacrificed yourself to defeat? Who could possibly push you this far, even with your friends behind you!?"

I gazed at her, sadness and guilt in my eyes. An explanation would take too long.

"He was... he was.." I gulped. "me-"

"Twiiiliiight?!"

I snapped out of my dream-like state, and Twilight was visually annoyed.

She grunted, "What is it, Spike?!" The dragon had called from a room upstairs.

After a short while, he audibly let out a small burp and replied, "Princess Celestia replied already!"

Chapter 10: Dear Naga...

Twilight's mouth hung open. I would have guessed she was comatose if not for the occasional twitch indicating some thought.

'What was in that letter?'

Spike had come down with Princess Celestia's reply. Twilight had hastily ripped it open and began to read. Her expression grew more and more stiffened the further she read, but it wasn't the stiffness of a statue. It was the fullness of a strongly sealed boiling pot, seconds before it exploded. Before the inevitable explosion, I reached over and picked up the letter she had dropped. I wasn't sure if it was within my rights to read the personal correspondence between a royal and her protégé, but if it made Twilight react like this (no matter how over-reactive she appears to be), it had to be important. As I began reading, I almost mimicked her shock.

~~~

Dear Twilight,

I congratulate you on your prompt discovery on the source of the disturbance. However, I must admit I did not reveal all I knew to you beforehand. For this, you have my sincerest apologies, as it pains me to hold any secrets from you, my faithful student. I was aware of the nature of the source from the start, and expected you to find him quickly. I need to see the human immediately in person. To fulfill this, I have dispatched a small chariot manned by two royal guards. They shall escort you to Canterlot.

Do not worry Twilight, you are not being tested (so please, do not attempt to bring several scrolls or writing implements), but I repeat, it is important you depart with the guards in all due haste after their arrival. Due to the time constraints and the transportation in place, I sadly tell you that you cannot bring your friends. And please, do not feel pressured to over-prepare the human before we meet. It wouldn't be right for me to ask that of you or him on such short notice. Regardless, I expect that you shall arrive within two hours, approximately when I lower the sun and when Luna awakes to raise the moon. Again, I apologize for withholding information from you, but it is important I speak with the human.

Your mentor and Princess,

Celestia

~~~

Spike was the first one to break the silence, as both Twilight and I were still flabbergasted.

"Whoa, does the letter have a spell that finally makes Twilight stop talking?"

The bad attempt at a joke snapped both me and Twilight out of it.

I started shouting. "She knew! SHE KNEW I'D COME HERE!"

"Calm down, Robin! I'm sure she has her reasons! I'm one of the closest ponies to her, and she didn't even tell me beforehand," Twilight whimpered, ears flattened. She looked genuinely hurt and confused.

My righteous justice deflated, seeing Twilight like this. I continued onto a different train of thought. "Ugh, well... If she knows about me or how I got here, maybe she knows how to get me back." My mood was dark, a bittersweet mix of diminishing hatred, fresh guilt, and fleeting hope.

However, Twilight grew extremely optimistic in response to my idea.

"You - you're right! Don't you see? Celestia probably already figured out a way for you to get back home!"

My hope sparked, but skepticism is important when it comes to distant hopes. "Yes... perhaps you're right. We'll find out when we meet her in person."

Twilight nearly jumped at this and ran quickly through her wooden abode to where I presume her laboratory was. She called back, "I have to get you your cloak before the experiment is finished!"

I nodded for a moment then stopped. I looked at the patch of wooden floor in front of me, as if I were discerning a secret. 'Why would she need to get it before the experiment is done?'

I looked up and received my answer in the form of a half-pink robe that resembled my previously regal purple and gold one.

"Twilight... what is this?"

The unicorn behind the cloak was panting. "Well, *huff*, Robin... well you see--"

"WHY IS IT PINK!?" I blurted out in despair.

She recoiled. "The magi-chemical mix used to analyze objects normally takes a full day to react properly. Before it finishes, it sorta stains the object pink... for a while." She grinned sheepishly.

My eyes stared at the half-pink half-purple monstrosity of fashion in shocked silence. I grabbed it from Twilight's magic and just gaped at it.

"How long...?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long is 'a while'?" I demanded

If it was possible, the pony looked even meeker.

"A little over two hours." I could've sworn I heard a *squee* of sorts when she half-heartedly grinned and blushed in embarrassment. My hand met my face. Hard.

I looked at the robe again. 'At least... at least it's dyed cleanly down the middle. Maybe I can just claim it was some odd fad in my kingdom that I didn't agree with.'

Twilight added, "Well, it progressively fades, so most of the pink should be gone by the time you start talking to the Princesses. Just hide the left side of your body until then, okay?"

"Ugh, okay."

"Oh!" Twilight brightened. "And apparently, Rarity is adept at removing vomit stains, so your shirt is as clean as a whistle!" As she said this, she lifted my shirt out of the bag she carried out earlier. I thanked her for getting it cleaned, and put it on. I donned the half-pink stained cloak over the shirt and noted that besides the color, it felt exactly the same. The enchantments were still intact, lending me some sense of security.

Twilight spoke up again, "And also, Rarity was really impressed by the skill of human fashion artists, so she mapped the design of your shirt to pony proportions to be used as formal wear. She asked me to tell you in case you'd care."

One of my eyebrows raised at this. "Well, I suppose that's one way to leave a good mark on this world after I leave." I chuckled a little bit. "It seems everywhere I go, a part of there comes with me. First, the cloak and undergarments from Plegia, then the outer armored parts from Ylisse, and now, I got a makeover from Equestria that made the robe half-pink. It's like I'm a living collage. At least, until the pink wears off, but I don't think I'll forget the day I spent in Equestria with my robe stained pink." I suddenly raised my head and perked my ears. 'It sounds like... two heavy cavalry, one light war machine, thirty meters west.' My instincts pointed to the right. My eyes followed to meet the front door. Before Twilight could ask what I was doing, there was a knock. I narrowed my eyes.

"They're here."

"Who's here?"

"The two guardsponies and the chariot. It's almost been an hour since we've received the letter." I thought, 'It must take about an hour to travel from or to Canterlot via chariot, then. Huh, I imagined the capital would be farther away.'

I asked Twilight about it as we made our way to the door, "How far away is Canterlot? If it's an hour away, it can only be a few miles at most. Not to mention I can see it from the window of your treehouse"

She tilted her head and paused for a moment. "Canterlot is... roughly 50 miles away."

"What?! But I thought we were travelling via chariot." 'And if it's 50 miles away, it is MUCH larger than I thought!'

We reached the door and the reason became clear as Twilight opened it.

"Well, a magical chariot driven by two royal guard pegasi is much faster than one on the ground..."

I blanched. "Of course... of course..."

We made our way to the elaborately decorated chariot. Twilight cantered up to the two 'guardsponies' who would fly us. They exchanged a few words and the guards nodded. As she walked back to join me in the carriage, one of the guards looked back at me and stared. '...Hello?' Not knowing how to greet someone about to fly me somewhere ('Sumia was always better at that sort of thing...'), I simply nodded with a solemn expression, similar to how I'd motion to my soldiers to execute planned formations in battle. To my surprise, he nodded back with a look of dedication not dissimilar to the faces of my soldiers before they fought.

Before anything else could happen, Twilight planted herself next to me and called out, "Alright gentlecolts, let's get moving!"

To my surprise, we almost instantly lurched forward and took off, violating any laws of physics or balance I previously held dear.

~~~

"Oh geez -- Robin, are you okay?"

Twilight leaned down to see my green face, attached to my hunched over, quivering figure.

"I never was one for.. *urk*... flying."

"But I thought you said you rode pegasi at high speeds into battle?"

"Good gods -- by high speeds I didn't mean 70 miles an hour! Your pegasi are ridiculously stronger and faster than any I've seen." I almost gagged again. "And I'm sure your race's magic has something to do with how blatantly we disobeyed the laws of physics." I shook my head at how the chariot was perfectly straight the entire time, even though all support came from two pairs of wings towards the front.

'At least we made it in one piece, and if this castle is the capitol, thank the gods it's impossible to miss.'

With that in mind, I looked around the outside of the castle. With my motion sickness forgotten, I marveled at the beauty of the castle and the surrounding city, its seamless, nature-embraced construction accentuated by the time of day: sunset.

'It's... beautiful.' Knowing some amount of architecture, I simply marveled at how the castle seemed to capture and disperse the fading sunlight, flooding the surrounding mountainside in a cascade of orange phosphorescence. 'It reminds me of the place we met Naga... Mount Prism, I believe it was called.' I looked around again at the diffusing shades of gold blanketing us as we walked to the front doors of the castle. 'I wouldn't be surprised if this mountain were named the same. And there's some irony in meeting Celestia and Luna, Princesses of the Sun and Moon, on a fairy-tale-like mountain, almost exactly like the one where Chrom and I met Naga. I feel like this meeting is fated somehow... but it feels like there's something I don't understand. It's like I'm still missing something.' I hated the feeling of forgetting something that could be important. It normally resulted in risking the life of a soldier. 'And if this castle is anything to go by, the productivity and wealth of this nation must be ridiculous.' Something figuratively slammed into the back of my head. 'Does this place even have war? Or even a noticeable crime rate? Nothing in the books I've read about politics ever mentioned anything about wartime diplomacy. The only thing of any sort of conflict I noticed is about how Princess Luna was corrupted by Nightmare Moon and imprisoned for a thousand years... Muriel would have a field day with the implications of all this.'

My attention was drawn back towards the castle doors when two guards stopped us. Twilight, who had been silent to allow me to appreciate Canterlot and the palace in all its glory, now wore a puzzled look. Her look was met by the stern glares of two guards and the sunlight glinting off their armor and crossing spears.

"Ummm, excuse me? I received a letter from Princess Celestia. She wanted to see me and this human" -*she motioned a hoof towards me*- "as soon as possible, soo, heh, I think we should just be making our way to the throne room right about now-"

"I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle." One of the guards interrupted. "But we were told by the Princesses that Robin shall meet them alone."

Twilight goggled at this with her mouth agape, and I, panicking, looked to her for support.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, what?" Twilight was still confused.

I thought of an explanation to stop her from melting down. "Well, if I'm acting as a formal diplomat, it wouldn't do well if you, a citizen of this country who barely knows me, would try to frequently provide input that may be emotionally influenced."

Twilight still looked confused and started panicking a bit as well. "B-but, Celestia asked to see us together on the letter! Oh no, she didn't, did she?!"

I tried to calm her down. "Please, don't worry, Twilight. Although it's not my forte, I've learned how to control my tongue in the presence of people -- ponies, I mean, of power. It comes with the job. And I feel minorly prepared from the books you gave me. Besides, Princess Celestia sounded reasonable enough: she told us not to strain ourselves over appearances."

"But... oh, okay, fine. You should be okay, I've known her since I was a foal. Just, try not to say anything stupid, okay?"

I nodded and gave a confident smile. "Okay." 'I am not confident at all right now.'

I slowly turned back around to face the guards, who opened the great doors, and motioned for me to follow closely by. I waved at Twilight through the closing doors behind me; my last sight of her was her sad but hopeful face and her half-hearted wave back. I walked inside the palace.

~~~

Twilight stared at the sealed doors in front of her. She was left alone with the two guards who had flown Robin and her in the chariot. She slowly turned around, saw the two just idling about, and walked towards them. Surely she could make some idle chitchat while waiting for Robin to finish his talk with the Princesses. She gulped again at the thought of Robin's fate being invested in his knowledge of a world he didn't know, but before she knew it, she was standing in front of the guards. They awkwardly looked at each other, and then at her again. Twilight blinked, quickly composed herself, and opened her mouth to say something simple like a comment on the weather. She lifted her head a bit and took a breath, but as it was about to leave her mouth, it suddenly got caught in her throat.

'No...'

Her pupils contracted as a thought thrust itself into the forefront of her mind, blocking all other impulses out.

'That guard called him Robin...'

She turned her head towards the palace again, mouth still open.

'...I never told the Princesses his name.'

~~~

I continued walking through the castle. The guards had not led me far, but the anxiety I had built up made every step seem to consume an eternity. The anxiety was not simply from the fact that I was being led by armed guards to a duo of powerful rulers I knew nothing about, not to mention how they apparently knew a good amount of information on me. No, the premonition I was feeling was caused by the missing piece: the idea that I had forgotten something. This impulse surprisingly was not fading away over time, but it was actually getting stronger the closer we made our way to the throne room. I clenched my eyes shut.

'Why... why?! What is it that I could've forgotten? What haven't I figured out? What am I missing?!'

I almost wanted to slam my palms against my forehead to help jog the memory if I wasn't convinced the guards might take that as a sign of hostility.

'Okay. Deep breaths... Think, Robin, think! Recall everything that happened after this morning.' I saw a mental image of Twilight, telling me she had sent a letter to Celestia stating she had found me. 'That letter... wait, what did Twilight say she wrote in it?' I thought harder, and was rewarded with snippets of Twilight's words.

"I didn't want to reveal too much through the letter. It would look better for you to introduce yourself."

I grit my teeth and kept thinking.

"But I did mention how you've acted kindly and responsibly, and that you're a human. I tried describing how you look so the ponies and guards at Canterlot wouldn't freak out too much. Though, I didn't mention your name."

My eyes shot open.

"Since you're probably going to meet the Princesses soon, I figured you'd be able to tell them about yourself personally."

'And... the guard... he said that --'

"We were told by the Princesses that Robin shall meet them alone."

" - Robin shall meet them alone - "

" - Robin - "

" - alone."

I stiffened immediately.

My mind reached the conclusion I had not found before. The idea that my premonitions foreshadowed. My reaction was fear, confusion... rejection.

'It... it doesn't make any sense.'

I noticed the grand doors to the throne room only a few dozen paces ahead.

'They're not even the same species. Dragons are enemies of ponies!'

We reached the doors. I unconsciously nodded at the guards who pushed the doors open.

I stepped inside. My eyes were held straight forward. I refused to believe it. My mind refused to take the final plunge into the conclusion that was irrefutably thrust in front of me.

I shakily took a step. Two. Three. I could take no more.

I looked forward. I beheld Celestia...

...And everything clicked.

I fell to my knees.

Celestia rose from her throne.

She began to transform.

Her figure was bathed in a divine, blue-green glow. She rose onto two limbs; her figure slimmed and grew taller. Her hair burned white, then faded to green, and her regalia melted from metal into cloth; both unfurled in the same nonexistent, ethereal breeze, flowing around her. Her eyes closed, and her eyelids flashed; upon opening them, her irises were no longer purple, but a shade of gold resembling her unearthly light. She was now standing tall on the wide throne, emitting a warm green and blue glow, almost floating off the ground on some hidden wind. Her regalia was replaced by a dress that flowed down to her ankles, seemingly made from starlight, flowing like a woven nebula. The light surrounding her transformation dimmed, and she began to descend from the throne.

She stepped down, and moved towards me. She seemed to float rather than walk.

She approached me, and spoke with a voice that echoed throughout eternity. There was no mistake.

"Rise, Robin. Do not bow, for I am no god. I am no creator."

I tried to stand, and rose onto one leg. I could rise no more.

All I could do was say her name, the name that had been gently pressing against the back of my mind until it finally made its way through, the name of a deity that had helped me once before, the name of the deity that would help me once more.

"Naga..."

Chapter 11: The Return of Grima

"...But, how? Why, why are you... Nothing here makes sense! Are you not the real Naga? Some shapeshifting being? Gahh...! What's going on here?!" I vented. 'There's no reason why she should be here. If anything, I'm in an alternate universe populated by ponies, but that doesn't explain Naga! I know I'm not imagining this but... Good gods, am I going crazy?'

Naga calmly read my face like a book. "No, Robin. I am truly here. I am as real as you in this reality. However, this place is much more familiar to you than you may realize."

I weakly got on both feet and stood. "What... what do you mean?"

Naga continued. "Did you not recognize the mountain Canterlot is built upon? It is the place you first met me, when Chrom performed the Awakening ritual."

My brain began working again. "Mount Prism... You still reside here, but this castle, the ponies, nothing else adds up. This mountain is remarkably similar to Mount Prism, but the similarities end there. There are no people, no humans, only ponies. The kingdoms of Ylisse are replaced by the ponies, griffons, and diamond dogs."

"..Tell me, Robin. You have seen a map of all of Equestria before meeting me, correct?"

I nodded.

"What is the shape of the continent of Ylisse, and how does it compare to Equestria?"

I thought a little, and began, "Well, the continents look rather similar, but there are differences around the..." I paused, and blinked. "The ocean to the East does not extend as deeply into..." I paused again. I compared my mental images of both continents before looking back at Naga.

"They're... they're.."

"They are the same exact shape, yes." She nodded, her ethereally flowing hair seeming to maintain its own inertia.

"But... why?"

Naga sighed; for the first time, I read her expression as sadness, which caused my heart to plummet into a sea of worry.

"Robin, you successfully defeated Grima, and you survived, due in no small part to the bonds you shared with your soldiers. You did not die..."

She paused. My heart hammered in my chest.

"...but neither did Grima."

My blood ran cold. "Wh..what? But, but you said that the only force that could kill Grima was himself! Because of my fellblood connection with him and my future self's bond, you said I could stop him. Not for a thousand years, but for eternity!" I was nearly fuming. "What was my sacrifice for if Grima will come back!? Nothing good has come from my choice, I should've let Chrom just deal the finishing blow!"

Naga calmly replied. "No, Robin. Your victory over Grima has made all the difference in the world."

I was still indignant. "But how? The point was to defeat Grima forever instead of a thousand years. If he comes back, what I did was useless. And I still abandoned my friends for it..."

Naga paused. This was the first time I've seen her deep in thought. It frightened and silenced me. It looked as if she were contemplating with all the weight of one about to pass judgment on the last existing human. She finally spoke. "Perhaps... perhaps I should allow him to tell you in person."

I grew confused. Very confused. And what happened next would haunt my conscious thoughts and unconscious dreams for years to come.

Naga called out; strangely, her voice shifted to a different tone altogether when she did so. It was slightly deeper, and seemed to echo less with power and age, but it was no less commanding. I assumed this was the voice she used when under the façade of Princess Celestia. However, this didn't hold my attention as much as what she said.

"Please enter now, Princess Luna."

My eyes shrunk. 'The other Princess! ...But what does she have to do with this?'

I snapped my eyes back to the front doors of the throne room. With a slight creak, the doors opened as the two guards outside pushed them. Luna, the other Princess, with rule over the Night, had entered. She wore similar regalia to the image of Princess Celestia, and her hair seemed to flow in the same invisible wind. Yet her hair was dark, as if it were a void glistening with dispersed stars: a localized galaxy. However, I instantly noticed that the guards who opened the door did so without actually looking inside the room. I quickly surmised, 'With the truth of Celestia being a dragon deity, I have no doubt Naga wants to keep this a secret.'

But I still had no idea as to how another Princess would factor into this. 'Considering alicorns are a race (and de facto royalty at that), maybe Luna is a natural alicorn who ruled alongside Naga, who was just disguised as one to prevent social and political controversy.' As she approached us, I couldn't help but feel she still knew more about the situation than I did. Upon seeing me and Naga (or rather, Celestia in human form), she merely raised an eyebrow. She spoke in a similar commanding tone as 'Celestia' did.

"Is it time, sister?"

At this, Naga nodded. "Yes, it is time, brother."

Once my brain processed that, I did a massive physical and mental double-take. 'BROTHER?'

My thoughts were cut short as Princess Luna's form was enveloped in a purple light. It resonated with darkness and energy all too familiar to me. My mind progressed from confusion, to realization, and utter horror as the transformation developed before me. 'Luna', covered in darkness, stood on two limbs and shifted form to that of a human. Her hair shortened and fell from its ethereal flight, losing its constellation-like shine, taking on a solid shade of white. Her snout shortened, her skin turning light. Her dark coat seemed to split and mold into a cloak of black and purple, bearing a hood which fell to her shoulders. Her eyes glowed white; the shine cut off when she closed them. When she opened them again, they had changed color from their deep blue to a very familiar shade of brown: the same shade of brown I had seen every time I looked into a mirror. The transformation was complete, and the dark power surrounding 'Luna' faded, but only slightly. The floating shadows that remained resonated in my thoughts as an ancient energy which bore only misery and destruction. I looked at the being before me, and saw myself. Horror and confusion racked my body, yet all I held in my blazing heart was righteous fury and indignation. I clenched my fists as I stared at the monster before me, the cause of all this, and the cause of countless of my countrymen's deaths.

I grit my teeth and roared. "GRIMA!!!"

Chapter 12: A Healed Spirit

I shouted. "How dare you return after all the pain you've caused?! All the death and destruction you've spread? They're all things that cannot be undone!" I clenched my jaw, seething with rage. "You may have been me at one time in your life, but you've forsaken all we held dear! I'll give you two words - you hear me? TWO WORDS - to explain why you're here, or Naga help me I will rip your heart from your chest, all-powerful dragon or not!!"

Grima breathed in, and...-"...I'm sorry."

Everything seemed to freeze. There was not a noise in the room for what seemed like an eternity.

Utter, deafening silence.

...

.....

"...w-what?"

Grima wordlessly gazed at me, his eyes seeming to repeat what he just said. I turned to Naga, the only sound in the entire grand hall being the ruffling of my turning cloak. I stared at Naga with a blank expression. Naga only met my gaze and nodded. After a moment, she slowly turned her head back to Grima. I followed her sight and looked at him again. I wanted to challenge his claim: an idea so foreign to my mind, so irrational that it could not be comprehended. Yet, looking into his eyes - my eyes, all I saw was something I've never seen there before.

'Emotion... sorrow... remorse.'

Once my mind recovered from shock, it did not process this information well. My mind lurched and my gut followed suit. 'Nothing makes sense.' I simultaneously felt the urge to fall on my knees, pound my fists on the cold, stone floor, weep, laugh, and shout in rage, all at the same time. Just as the rest of my body was about to comply with my ravaged thoughts, I felt an almost imperceptible touch on my shoulder: a hand, belonging to Naga, and it gave me strength.

I faced Naga as a child seeking guidance from a parent. She nodded to me again, and that was all the assurance I needed. 'You may claim that you are not a god, but my people and I have more faith in you than anything else,' I thought. I nodded back, my confidence in the very existence of this world returning. I stood straight, firmed my posture, and looked to Grima again.

Grima noticed my determined look. In response, he closed his eyes for a moment in thought. He breathed deeply, and began to explain.

"Eons ago, there were many more dragons besides the two that stand before you today, yet we were not physical creatures. We were divine beings. However, we chose to become involved in the physical realm, some for charitable reasons, others for more sinister purposes. We assumed physical forms: what humans normally perceive a dragon to be. However, cut off from our divinity, we began to weaken. And as time passed, it became increasingly apparent that we could not maintain our grand physical bodies. It would put too much of a strain on our remaining divine power and our minds. Some dragons accepted this fate, and reverted to a human form, sealing their unstable power into Dragonstones. Manaketes maintain an amount of dragon blood in their heritage, allowing them to both live for extremely long amounts of time, and transform using Dragonstones, such as Nowi, Tiki, and Nah, all of whom I assume you are acquainted with."

I nodded, grimly noting the fact that Grima was almost responsible for the deaths of all three of them.

"However, there were other dragons who refused to seal their power. The strain on their minds grew over time. Eventually, it drove them all mad. They had to be sealed away, for as their madness grew, their physical strength they sacrificed their minds for did not diminish. They would be the cause of untold destruction."

At this, Naga seemed to reply, "Yes, that is correct. There are different tribes of dragons, and I am the leader of the Divine Dragons. Sealing those who grew corrupted with their power was required for humanity's survival."

I quickly cut in to ask about something. "Wait... So are there quite a number of dragons like Grima?" I felt myself grew afraid and enraged at the same time. "Incredibly powerful beings who are bent on destroying humanity?"

Both Grima and Naga shook their heads.

"Yes and no, Robin. They only act this way not out of a hatred of humanity, but because they were driven mad. They cannot even be blamed for that, as they simply wished to retain their identities."

My argument with Twilight about changing me into a pony before I entered Ponyville sprung to mind.

"And Naga is the most powerful of the dragons. The fact that I can match her in the right circumstances is one reason I was powerful enough to break through the seal. The other reason is the Grimleal: my followers who were so deluded as to sacrifice themselves to summon me, a mad dragon, in order to end their own world." Grima shook his head in disappointment. "They bred generations upon generations of heirs, but only one every thousand years would be worthy enough and obtain the rare hereditary Brand. Those who had it were said to hold the 'Heart of Grima'." He shook his head again. "What it really meant was that the heir would be suitable enough to peform the Awakening ritual to free me, and I would assume that heir as a physical human manifestation." Grima raised his right hand, bearing the purple Brand: six eyes in an elaborate pattern. "You were to be this heir, Robin."

I subconsciously drew my own right hand out and stared at it. The mark was still there. I stared at it in contemplation.

"Wait... so what you're saying is, since you took on the 'alternate future' version of myself, you were... you were given a human form..." My mind boggled at the implications. "But -- but you still maintained your dragon form, even if you used my future self's body as a host."

Grima smiled sadly. "And that would still be the case, Robin, if it weren't for you."

I felt like taking a step back, but doing so would push me into Naga, so I stood still.

"What... do you mean?"

"He means that, whenever I imbued the Falchion with my power to seal him away for 1000 years, doing so would reseal the dragon counterpart's mind and body, but kill the human host."

Grima continued. "However, since you dealt the killing blow, the physical form of the dragon was destroyed..." He paused, as if waiting for me to answer.

I swallowed, but finished the sentence. "...But the human host lived, with the dragon's consciousness."

Grima nodded. "Exactly. Your potential to be my host gave you the power to permanently affect me. The suitable, Branded heir is the only one capable of doing so, but normally, the only heir existing at one time is the one being controlled, and he cannot harm himself. And furthermore, because of the ties you've created with your friends, you survived the ordeal, and through you, I did as well."

Against all expectations, Grima closed his eyes and... bowed to me.

"Your bonds of friendship allowed your sacrifice not only to save Ylisse, but save me. That is something no other hero I have fought has done, and for that, you have my sincerest gratitude." Then, something happened. Something so unexpected that it nearly made all the previous revelations pale in comparison. After Grima rose, his shadows faded. His voice lost its powerful echo and dark undertone; for a moment, just a moment, I saw someone else within Grima's face: the person who the face originally belonged to.

'Grima' looked up at me, and spoke in a human tone, one that seemed to have laid dormant for several centuries. He whispered, so quietly that Naga possibly didn't even hear him. But I heard him, and every word he said in that moment felt like a ray of warmth. He said to me, "And I would like to thank you as well, for having the strength where I had failed... Thank you, *chuckle*, Robin..."

Then, he was gone. And all that stood before me was his body, occupied by a once feral spirit, now healed.

Chapter 13: Millennium

'I finally understand... at least a few things. I know that Naga has not deserted me. She even became a true, benevolent ruler. Grima is a dragon: a similar divine being, who was driven mad because he wanted to retain his identity. But having a human form, my human form, allowed him to become sane again. And because of the ties I hold with my friends, he and I, linked till death, both survived. Even my future self survived, his mind cleared of the dark rage and power that had consumed Grima as well. I'm just glad he held on long enough to see that he wouldn't destroy everything -- not again. Yet... With my own faith in myself restored, I took a few steps forward, turned around, and questioned Naga.

"Where are my people?" I demanded. "Where is.. where is my family?!" I pleaded.

Naga's face grew sorrowful; she only sighed in response.

"Where are they?!!"

"Sister," Grima cut in, "perhaps... I should explain. You've been through enough."

"No," Naga responded, "I was the one who forced this. I shall explain it to him."

Grima nodded. "Very well."

My eyes ran back to Naga, my breath taut. Naga paused for a moment to look at me, breathed softly, and began to speak. "Robin, you must understand that your sacrifice was the best possible choice you could have made. What happened after then was not your fault; there was nothing you could do-"

"Naga, please." I looked into her eyes. "Just... tell me what happened."

She looked into my eyes in contemplation. Her gentle gaze felt paradoxically piercing, but I held it.

"...Robin, when you fought against Grima, Chrom struck him with the Exalted Falchion, did he not?"

I nodded.

"Then it is as I suspected. For my seal to take effect over Grima for a thousand years, the Falchion does not have to deal the final blow, it merely has to strike Grima. This action leaves a Mark of sorts, and this Mark only activated when Grima was defeated, for that is when he became temporarily his weakest."

'...What?...'

"The reason I did not suppose this before is because all previous champions have struck the final blow with Falchion. This made me believe that doing so was a requirement to perform the seal, but apparently, that is not the case."

"But how do you know?" I demanded. "What proof do you ha - have?" I gulped down a ball of anxiety.

Naga blinked. "Because, Robin, though you dealt the final blow, Grima was still sealed. And you were sealed with him, for a thousand years."

At these implications, I felt like shouting in indignation, about how the world wasn't fair, about how I was a failure, but I held my tongue in the presence of Naga. Sensing my constraint, she continued.

"But do not worry, for I can send you back: to the time after your victory. I can reunite you with Chrom, Lucina, and your daughter, Morgan. I shall use the same spell my other self used to send Lucina back to the past. There shall be no damage, Grima will be freed from his curse of madness, and all shall be as it should be."

I couldn't believe it. "You... you can fix it all, just like that? There has to be something you're not telling me - gods forbid I ever doubt your abilities, but things hardly work out this easily."

Naga smiled. "Always the sharp one; you surely would get along well with Twilight and her friends."

I snapped to attention at this. 'Twilight and her friends--what do they have to do with this? And the Elements of Harmony-' "The Elements of Harmony!! What... what are they?"

Naga's grin widened. "And I was hoping you'd notice them as well. You see, after Grima and I assumed the roles of Princesses Celestia and Luna--to guide the world to create its own leaders, rather than lead it ourselves--we felt that holding that much power would be dangerous for an absolute diarchy. Therefore, we did two things. One, we ethereally bonded the Fire Emblem and its gems to those who, combined, had the greatest potential to uphold peace and use the Emblem only for good. These individuals, we refer to as the Bearers. The gems were renamed the personal qualities most valuable to creating harmony: the Elements of Harmony. Two, we sealed most of our power into certain individuals who we felt would grow into the most capable rulers for this land. Those who are earth ponies, pegasi, or unicorns, who are sealed with our power, shall become alicorns when the time is right. Princess Cadence has already become an alicorn."

'Princess Cadence... ruler of the Crystal Empire, married to Shining Armor: chapter 12, page 304, Appeasing Alicorns.' I remembered with mild distaste. "So, how specifically do these gifted persons connect to preparing the spell to send me back?"

Grima spoke up. "Because we sealed most of our power into these ponies, we do not currently have the magic to send you back a complete thousand years: to your own time. To perform the spell, these ponies must be gathered here, so we may tap their latent power, invested by us."

I huffed. "So that's the catch..." My mind was still swimming from the amount of information I had ingested. 'I've been gone for a thousand years, Grima is healed, he rules with Naga over Equestria - or future Ylisse, I guess - the Emblem and its five gems were sealed to the spirits of Twilight and her friends (the Bearers), the Princesses sealed their power into several other prospective leaders, and to have enough power to perform the spell to send me back, we need to gather all of them. What a doozie..'

Naga noticed I was deep in thought, and waved her hand. "I believe that is enough for today. We have spoken for two hours: I am sure Twilight is extremely anxious to hear what we have said to you. We shall remain in close correspondence via her assistant drake, Spike. I suggest you spend the next few days building bonds with the ponies of Ponyville, for I feel you truly understand how important these ties can be. However, know this: you must not tell Twilight the truth behind the Princesses. It is for the best that she, or her friends, does not know. Now go, Robin. Prepare, for I must ask your aid again."

I was still thinking heavily, but I kneeled and bowed my head. "I shall do as you advise. Thank you, Naga... and Grima." It felt odd, and I quickly noticed I was not only bowing to Naga, but Grima as well. 'What a strange feeling...'

They both nodded, and, simultaneously, Naga flashed brightly, and Grima burst into darkness. They both reformed into their facades of Celestia and Luna. I stood as their horns glowed, each opening one door to the throne room in similar glows. I gave one last 'thank you' before making my way out, still contemplating the connotations of what I've just learned. The doors closed quietly behind me.

I was left to stew in my thoughts as I silently exited the castle, but as I reached the grand doors at its front, with two guards on either side of it, something faintly occurred to me. I turned around and looked back in the direction of the throne room. 'The two guards who let me into the throne room... After I left, they were gone.'

~~~

Celestia and Luna looked at the doors to the throne room, where Robin had just exited. After a moment of listening to his footsteps fade down the castle hallways, Luna turned to Celestia.

"Sister, you did not tell him."

Celestia looked concerned, and responded, "Perhaps... it is for the best, that he does not learn the truth."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "You know that nothing would shake his faith in you, not even what you did. He's an exemplar of the old world's values, and trusts you wholeheartedly."

Celestia looked almost sorrowful. "That's precisely the problem. His unwavering faith would force him to blame himself for what I have done. He would assume my burden for no good reason."

"The destruction of mankind is a very heavy weight to bear." Luna grimly nodded. "It is impressive enough that Robin prevented their extinction once. Those thousand years ago, he actually managed to defeat me when I was feral, and with himself as the host. It truly shows how these bonds of friendship hath made him physically stronger than any of us. And a thousand years later, he returns to undo the consequences of our mistakes. He is more important than he gives himself credit for..." -Luna eyed Celestia's stiff figure- "...and more important than we let on to him. Sister, it truly would have made more sense if you just told him the part your hand played in mankind's fate over the last thousand years. He repaired the damage I had caused in my moment of weakness; surely, he will succeed in undoing the mistakes you have made."

Celestia had been listening wordlessly, but choked up at this. She appeared on the verge of tears. Her voice quivered with shame.

"But when I made my mistakes, I wasn't feral."

Chapter 14: Shaken Ties

I was walking down the front steps of the castle, my greaves clapping against the fine stone. It was nearly night time, and I could see the moon peeking over the horizon, bathing Canterlot - No, Mount Prism - in a much softer, humble glow. Several lamps lining the streets were already lit, and smaller contained flames were visible inside homes, leaking out the windows in a serene fluorescence. Some of the light fell upon my cloak, revealing no trace of the previous pink stain of Twilight's experiments. With melancholy, I noted the irony in both the disappearance of the stain, and the dispelling of Equestria and Ylisse being different places.

I absently noted the repetitive patter of my footsteps while I mucked about in my thoughts. There's just too much to take in all at once... Ugh, maybe I can begin sorting out my head after a good night's sleep at Twilight's tree home-- oh gods, Twilight. My eyes widened; my irises inversely contracted. Didn't Naga say we were talking for a whole two hours? Oh geez, where is Twilight? And... what am I going to say to her? That her motherly mentor is actually a several thousand year old deity who metes out justice in small amounts as an absolute overseer for as long as anyone can remember? I pondered that phrase in my head. Actually, Celestia is pretty much the exact same thing, albeit more direct in a leadership role. Maybe I can fudge the truth a little bi-

"Robiiiiiin!!!"

Oh gods...

My suspicions concerning the origin of the voice were confirmed when a very disheveled individual virtually charged towards me. I feared that she would crash into me, but she stopped within casual talking distance (a bit closer than comfortable, actually). Her hair's all messed up and she's practically shaking... Huh, she told me to have faith in the kindness of the princesses but seems to have trouble doing so herself. I was about to start talking to assuage her concerns, but my first few words were flooded by her tsunami of inquiries.

"Oh Celestia - Robin, are you okay - what did the Princesses tell you - did they banish you from Ponyville - or did they find a way to send you back home - are you allowed to keep staying at my home - did they give you a test - did you fail - are they sending you back to magic kindergarten!?" Twilight paused her flow of ideas to breath; before she could resume, I interrupted.

"Twilight, I'm fine!" I voiced rather forcefully. Before she could respond, I placed my index finger mere inches from her face in a shushing motion. "Please, just let me explain." She was still shaking, but closed her mouth and nodded.

I waited a moment to see if she would remain silent. When she did so, I dropped my raised arm and sighed. I quickly ran through my memory and decided what would be safe to tell her. "Okay, it turns out that the Princesses and I are old acquaintances. We didn't recognize each other at first, but we figured everything out."

Twilight nearly exploded. I didn't try to stop her.

"WHAAT? You know the Princesses?! But when -- where -- how did you meet each other?!" To me, it appeared that Twilight was running a thousand different calculations and theoretical situations out in her head, trying to figure out where someone like me would fit into Equestrian history. She suddenly stopped shaking. "Wait..." Twilight lowered her eyes slowly, but her focused pupils betrayed her uttermost focus and attention. Something had connected in her head. She shortly looked back up as if seeing me for the first time. "...Robin, how old are you?"

I bit my lip. Oh geez... Uhh, think, Robin! Well, as long as it doesn't expose Naga and Grima, I'm sure whatever I say is fine...

"I'm... a thousand and twenty-two years old," I blanched.

I mentally fell flat on my face.Good job, genius.

I expected Twilight's mind to shatter, but to my surprise, she stopped panicking and straightened herself out immediately. Even her hair seemed to fix itself instantaneously. "That... makes sense."

It was my turn to be dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, what?"

Twilight nodded, some determination returning to her composure. "It's the one explanation that make sense with what you've told me. Nothing added up before, but with your age, you could have very well met the Princesses before Equestria was dominantly settled by ponies. Albeit you would have been relatively very young, but the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns were still warring tribes at that point. Does that mean your race was dominant before Equestria was settled?..." Twilight delved into a well of thought. "Equestrian history becomes only speculative past a thousand years ago: before Princess Celestia banished Princess Luna. We only have folklore and children's tales about it. We knew that there must be some undocumented species of creatures that existed then, but I'd never have imagined that a race as intelligent and magically gifted as yours would have existed that long ago, alongside ponies. What confuses me the most, then, is why humans besides you have not survived until now..."

I muttered under my breath, "Well, you have your Princesses to thank for that..."

Twilight snapped to attention because of my voice. Luckily, she didn't seem to have heard my comment, but she looked at me in a different way, probably due to the conclusions she drew from my age.

"You... you're ancient -- you're almost as old as the Princesses themselves!" Twilight grew excited.

Oh Twilight, if only you knew the truth...

"You've been around for over a thousand years! There's so much we can learn from you, you're a living witness to the development of Equestria-"

"No, Twilight."

Twilight stopped. She looked to see a very bitter and resentful thousand-twenty-two-year-old human. She quickly realized she was simply treating me as a primary historical resource, rather than a sentient being.

Rather than the friend I've been: the one she came to know...

"Robin... I - I'm sorry, but it's just-"

"Please, just... stop. We can talk about it when we get back to your home. The Princesses said that I should stay in Ponyville until they prepare my way back. I'll explain what I can but," I sighed, "it's getting late." I looked up to see the sun descending below the horizon. "We should get back to Ponyville."

Twilight bore a melancholy, regretful expression. "...You're right. Okay, Robin. Let's go home." She punctuated with a sad smile that I wished above all else in the world to return, but I just couldn't. Her smile faded, replaced with guilt. We began walking back to the chariot that brought us here, which was now drawn by two bat-winged Pegasi. Their sharp yellow eyes pierced the darkening veil of night like an assassin's discerning knife. No doubt they have night vision with those kinds of eyes, but how in the hells did they evolve like that?

While I stared at the unique ponies, still sorting about my mind, Twilight thought, 'Oh Celestia, how thoughtless can I be?! Robin is... he's a friend, first and foremost. He's acted kindly and responsibly since he's arrived. Just because my preconceived notion of who he was doesn't match with reality, I have no reason to treat him differently. He's a human, not a history book. Still, something's bugging me about his age. How come there's no documentation of humans, considering he's survived until now? And besides...'

I finished Twilight's thought.

...where have all the other humans gone?

Chapter 15: Verbal Minefield

The ride back to Ponyville was silent for two reasons. One, I said that we should discuss what was said only when we actually got back to the library, so trying to do so any earlier would just be awkward for Twilight. She's a considerate pony, so she'll give me some space when I ask for it. Also, it luckily gave me some time to think over the answers I can actually give her without compromising the Princesses' identities. Two, my gut still hadn't adjusted to the speed at which the pegasi flew at, so I spent a good quarter of the hour-long trip gagging: much too often to even try to uphold a conversation. However, after an hour of awkward silence filled with nothing but the sound of my guts attempting to leave my body, we finally arrived at Ponyville, directly in front of the library. The bat-like ponies who drew the chariot seemed to land and take off much more silently than their golden-clad white-feathered counterparts. It makes sense for a night guard to be stealthier and more acute sense-wise than a day guard. The day guards are physically stronger and have more endurance, based on the appearances of the two pairs of guards I've seen so far.

However, my thoughts concerning the nature of the different kinds of pegasi abruptly came to an end as the image of Twilight opening her tree-home's door directly in front of me finally made its way to my brain. I internally sighed. Here we go.... Twilight opened the door and motioned for me to follow inside, her face betraying mixed emotions. I just hope we're still friends after all this is cleared up. I walked inside, and Twilight shut the door quietly.

Inside the library, I was greeted by the sight of Spike hastily storing a thin book under a couch cushion. I raised an eyebrow as he quickly turned back around to face me and Twilight with a nervous smile, wringing his hands behind his back. "Hi Twilight, hi Robin! You were gone much longer than I expected. Ahahahah..."

I rolled my eyes. You could at least put some effort into hiding something, Spike. The failure of Spike's spectacular performance was apparently lost on Twilight, who turned around with an apologetic look on her face. "Oh, Spike! Oh Celestia - I'm so sorry, I thought we'd only be gone for an hour tops. Tell you what: tomorrow, you can have the day off. I'll give you some bits so you can spend the day in Ponyville with plenty of things to do. Maybe you can stop by Rarity's place to say hi."

I nearly slapped my face. Good gods, every single creature in this town is a terrible liar.

Spike's prior look of fear gave way to one of relief and excitement. "Wow Twilight, thanks!" He was smiling widely.

Such is the mind of one who is distracted by love, I mused to myself. She's blatantly just trying to get rid of him for the entire day tomorrow to give us some privacy. I almost saw hearts visibly spring out of Spike's eyes at the mention of Rarity, but I guessed I was just imagining things.

Twilight nodded. "Now, you should go to bed, so you can get up nice and early to get the most out of your day tomorrow."

Spike nodded back. "That's a good idea." He yawned, "And I'm pretty tired already, so I'll go to bed right now, I guess..."

Twilight smiled. "Okay, you do that." She turned around to lock the front door for the night.

As soon as she had turned around, Spike's claw shot under the couch cushion where he had hidden the book. He grabbed it and rushed up the stairs, clutching it against his chest, mostly out of view. However, I caught the title of the book before he managed to conceal it completely.

I thought, Why would Spike hide a book called Dragon Anatomy: With Illustrations? Oh, -- waittaminit... Spike... I fixed a knowing gaze on him at the top of the stairs. He noticed my expression, and briefly turned around and shot me a glance that gave me mixed messages: either, "We're both guys, you know what this is about," or, "Please don't tell Twilight or else she'll kill me." I nodded to show I agreed with both of the messages, to which relief again spread across Spike's face before he retreated into the bedroom. There was an audible click as the door shut.

Twilight turned back around and quietly asked, "Is he gone?"

I nodded.

She raised an eyebrow. "And did he take that book on dragon anatomy with him, again?"

I smiled and nodded again.

She sighed as a grin spread across her face. "Ugh, I've told him time and time again that all the new books about dragons are family friendly, but he can't help but dig through every single one trying to find who-knows-what." She pouted artificially. "You'd think he would realize by now that I'd know if any single book in this library was missing, borrowed, or out of place. Still, boys will be boys, and he's growing up pretty fast -- for a dragon, that is. Hopefully he'll learn more about himself and his species, albeit not specifically what he's probably looking for..." Twilight almost blushed at this. I just smiled and laughed a bit to go along with it. But we both knew that we'd have to cut to the chase eventually. From Twilight's actions, we had nearly all of tomorrow to discuss what we should do, but I figured we were going to at least discuss what happened a thousand years ago tonight. And I'm sure Twilight's just itching to hear about what's not in her history books.

I sighed and figured we should get it over with. I'll make stuff up as we go along; there's no avoiding it. "...Okay, I'll tell you what happened a thousand years ago."

Twilight visibly brightened, but she still held some amount of hesitation out of consideration, which I appreciated. "Are you sure, Robin? If it's a touchy subject, I don't want to push you to tell me anything you don't want me to know..." She frowned in thought.

I breathed. "No, it's okay. You deserve to know; friends are there to listen to your problems. And besides, these lands belong more to ponies than humans at this point, anyway. So... where to begin? I think I'll start with human society-"

Twilight jumped up haphazardly "OH! Wait! I need to take notes~" A scroll and pencil popped into thin air with a lavender burst. I presume she wrote down the date and a title of sorts, before pulling up a seat and plopping herself down on it with an excited grin. "Please, continue!"

I sat and leaned back into the couch. This'll be a long night...

~~~

I just finished explaining the system of government used by Ylisse (which I claimed was a dominant kingdom akin to Equestria), when we inevitably arrived back at the virtual minefield of Ylisse's religion and deities. Twilight managed to steer the conversation here through my explanation of the Exalt being a holy leader, divinely ordained by a hereditary Brand. I explained the system of churches and ecclesiastical courts that veined the kingdom, which I did to stall for time to come up with a cover for who exactly the Church was founded in honor for. Think, Robin... Well, Naga and Grima DID say that I only had to hide the fact they were dragons, maybe I can just 'institute' Celestia and Luna into the idea of our Religion...

Twilight marked a section in the third scroll of the night, most probably a title called "Humanity's Religion" or something. She sat patiently, not seeming to be diminished whatsoever from how late at night it probably was. I looked out the window to see a beautiful night sky, illuminated by the moon among a myriad of constellations. Said moon seemed to be in the second half of it's arc, meaning that it was well past midnight. ...If the flow of time hadn't changed in the last thousand years, I thought. Twilight's honest smile and straight posture betrayed her seemingly limitless energy as she spoke up to keep egging my exhausted mind along. "You were about to get to your country's religion, right? You have no idea how much the information we've gathered will enhance what Equestria knows of history! Let's continue; the night is still young, and I still have five more candles in the drawer." I groggily eyed three puddles of wax on the table between us: all that remained of the candles we had completely used up in one night. Didn't Twilight say that each candle lasts three hours?

"Alright..." I breathed in, and hoped that my ability to lie had improved in the thousand years I floated in the ether. "You are aware that I am acquainted with your princesses, Celestia and Luna, yes?"

Twilight nodded.

"The Princesses weren't known as the princesses in our time, not to humankind. However, we did know that they were attempting to unite the three tribes of warring ponies. They invited us into the peace agreement, but for some reason, humans and ponies didn't seem to be able to coexist at all. The idea of long-term unity was out of the question, so we split off. However, the Princesses kept in contact with us."

Twilight asked, "Wait, but if you know what ponies look like, how come you were so surprised to see me and Applejack when we found you? You acted as if we weren't sentient; when we started speaking, you almost fell over."

I sighed. "I'll get to that, I want to finish discussing religion while it's still on my mind."

Twilight frowned, but agreed. "...Okay."

I closed my eyes and thought hard. "Like I said, the Princesses kept in contact with us. We assumed them to just be pure-blooded monarchs, as the tribes treated them. However, we slowly learned that they were responsible for raising the sun and moon. We also heard many tales of their kindness and good deeds. We knew that there would be no way for our two peoples to coexist, but we felt the Princesses required some amount of recognition in our culture. Therefore, for their combined power and virtue, we worshiped them as goddesses. Our churches were founded in their name. We knew very well that they weren't true deities, but they might as well have been with all they were capable of."

I sat forward and folded my hands to pause for a second for more ideas.

"They shortly discovered our rather undue devotion to them, and they appreciated it. They knew that ponies and humans would not be able to live together, but they wished to help us; they recognized our goodness as a species through our actions -- or at least, the actions of men who weren't bandits or marauders. Therefore, they used magic somehow to discover our purest bloodline: the one holding the noblest qualities, most suited to leadership. If they themselves could not lead us successfully, they designated the royal bloodline capable of doing so, with the Brand: a hereditary mark, passed down from generation to generation."

Twilight wrinkled her eyebrows. "But why didn't you recognize the Princesses immediately? You've described how intertwined religion is with your culture, so I think you'd recognize your own "deities", so to speak. And..." she eyed the mark on my hand "...is that the Brand?"

I kept talking. "With my Brand, I was designated Commander of the Royal Army," I lied. "There were two brands: the Celestial Brand, and the Lunar Brand." Gods, this sounds like the artifacts of Magvelian lore. "This is the Lunar Brand, given by Princess Luna. It designates the bloodline with the greatest strategic and military ability. Chrom, the crowned Exalt, had the Celestial Brand, given by Celestia. It designates the bloodline with the best political and ecclesiastical leaders. Therefore, the Celestial bloodline would lead, and the Lunar bloodline would command. Such is the way of our people." I should be a story-teller with how quickly I'm making up this poppycock...

Before Twilight could ask anything more, I grimaced. "And a thousand years ago was when it all began to fall apart." Here we go, Robin. Bring it home. Twilight leaned forward in anticipation. "It all began with the fall of Princess Luna. From your books in this library, you seem acquainted enough with the tyranny of Nightmare Moon. However, they do not clearly give a time frame to her rule. After she was corrupted from jealousy and hatred, she attempted to bring about eternal night. She was well on her way to doing so, if Princess Celestia had not intervened. However, while their conflict raged, the powers of Nightmare Moon and Luna combined were more than a match for Celestia. Because of this difference in strength, it was nighttime for the entire duration of their conflict."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Wait, but how long was their battle?"

I placed my elbows on my knees, and leaned my chin on folded hands. "They fought for nearly five years."

Twilight gaped at the implications of this.

"Humanity did not bode well in five years of perpetual night. The ponies worked together to preserve what food they had, and gathered as much as they could before the lack of sunlight caused all the plants and grass to wither. With their powerful magics, they managed to scrape by, losing a relatively small percentage of their population: at least, compared to mankind."

Twilight seemingly began to conclude why I was sensitive on the subject.

I continued, hoping she was buying all of what I was saying. "We did not have control over the elements as your earth ponies do, the incredible powers of your unicorns, nor the speed of your pegasi. There was no realistic way for us to gather enough food to survive for five whole years in darkness. And with Chrom and I leading humanity, we did not wish to detract from the ponies' already dwindling food supply, lest we cause their extinction as well."

Twilight visibly winced at the word "extinction", which signaled to me that she was believing everything.

"However, we did not want to silently starve to death in our beds. Chrom and I banded the strongest of mankind together. The bravest warriors, most adept mages, and skilled archers in our ranks formed a small, elite group, led by me. After nearly five years of darkness causing near starvation, we knew an end was probably nowhere in sight. Our people were down to their last few weeks of food, while many had already starved. The troops took what we could, hoping we could end the conflict quickly enough to restore the sun and grow more. We ventured towards the battle between the two princesses. If Celestia could not defeat Nightmare Moon on her own, we were determined to tip the scales. And Celestia was willing to accept any hope she could get."

Twilight was captivated by my story. She asked, "But why didn't any of the early ponies help Princess Celestia? If they were as powerful as you say, wouldn't they have been more useful allies?"

I explained, "Though the tribal ponies were occasionally violent towards each other before the Princesses united them, they hardly knew anything of tactics and organized warfare. However, mankind was naturally violent, and we nearly perfected our efficiency in battle. We developed machines, technology, and tactics specifically for warfare. Specifically for killing. Fighting such a dire battle was not within the nature of the ponies. This difference in psychology was one of the reasons why we could not coexist peacefully. Humans always worked for advantages over one another, whereas ponies worked for each other's betterment. This made us stronger as a people over time, but war was the consequence. However, with our abilities, we felt we could help." I added in the dark undertones of mankind as violent to dissuade Twilight from inquiring any further; from her suddenly withdrawn expression, I experienced a small, sharp pang of guilt, but felt I was successful.

"And we did help. Assisting an exhausted Celestia against a similarly exhausted Nightmare Moon, our small elite group managed to hold Nightmare Moon in check." I recalled what I remembered of Equestrian history. Luna was banished to the moon, correct? Maybe I can shape this into my explanation... "We pushed her to her limit, and demanded her to concede. We did not want to kill her; we knew that Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna were different beings, but we realized they could not be separated. We wanted with all our hearts to spare the kind being that was Luna, but Nightmare Moon refused to surrender. Humans tired extremely quickly compared to alicorns, so we were not able to uphold a battle against such a powerful opponent, even pushed to its limits, for too long. Princess Celestia, Chrom, and I all realized this. I felt I knew what I had to do."

I suddenly remembered the feeling of standing over Grima, arm raised, ready to strike. I channeled these emotions into my next words.

"Chrom and the other troops held Nightmare Moon's attention. I waited for an opening, knowing that with the Lunar Brand, I would be the only one capable of finding a flaw in her defense. I did. I managed to sneak behind her as she blocked a combined blast of fire from my magicians and Celestia. I raised my blade to her neck, knowing that Luna herself wouldn't want such a shallow shell of existence like this. I felt like I was about to free her from a prison of her own corruption. I didn't care how Princess Celestia would punish me, all I had in my mind was the survival of both ponies and humankind. I felt as if I were sacrificing myself for the world, and I selfishly took this burden as if it were mine alone to bear." I almost got caught up in my own story and sniffled a bit. It seemed to have an effect on Twilight as well.

"I couldn't have been more wrong. With the assistance of some of my magicians during the battle, Celestia had prepared a sealing spell: one that could send Nightmare Moon to the moon itself for a thousand years. Standing behind Nightmare Moon, I couldn't have realized that the fire spell being used by Celestia and my magicians was actually that very sealing spell. And with all my great tactical genius," I said with heavy, emotionally-charged sarcasm, "neither did I realize that the only thing protecting me from that very same sealing spell was the shield that Nightmare Moon was using to protect herself." I pretended to sob; once the sob came out, it didn't sound nearly as fake as I thought it would. "As soon as my blade cut slightly into her side, the unexpected pain broke her focus. Her shield shattered, and the spell impacted both of us. The spell was designed to specifically send Nightmare Moon to the moon; I was not considered part of the target in its weaving. Therefore, while she was sent to the moon, I was left to float in nothingness."

Twilight gasped. "Like a failed teleportation spell... A powerful enough spell can affect things it's not intended to, and without a specific location, the mere force of it dislocated you into the ether with no end in sight."

I nodded, tears in my eyes. "But I'm assuming that, once the original spell wore off after a thousand years, the magical force holding me in the ether dissipated, allowing me to re-materialize: on Applejack's farm." No honest leader should be this good at lying to innocent people... "I didn't tell you all I knew at first about Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon because I didn't know what to think! The battle feels as if it were just days ago; I wanted to talk with the Princesses to learn what has changed, but apparently a thousand years have passed. After all they told me, I'd hoped that I at least broke through Nightmare Moon's defenses in time for the next year's growing season. Hopefully, then, I'd be able to call myself a hero. But the next season was nearly a year away, and my people had only weeks left of food after everything the troops had taken to travel and sustain themselves."

I almost started crying, fearing that the rest of humanity and my old friends might have actually fallen to such a fate. Gods, I don't even know what happened to all of them! "But... with ponies not even having any idea of what a human is... I can only assume that the very, very worst has befallen... my.. friends." The truth of my last statement shook me to the core. The gravity of the situation finally sank in. Even though Naga stated she could send me back in time, the instance I was trapped in made me feel like a tortured prisoner. The pain of this realization racked my body, and made me truly begin to sob. "...they're all dead. My soldiers... my friends... my family -- Chrom, my best friend, Lucina, my wife, Morgan, my daughter...! They're all dead!!"

Chapter 16: Building Bonds

*Munch* *munch* *munch*. Gods, I feel terrible... Gods, I have been swearing to the gods much more often than usual. *munch* *munch* As if this couldn't get any more awkward.

*Swallow*

...

I sighed. Just last night I had told the story of my origins to Twilight Sparkle. It was an odd experience, lying so deeply about my own life. It felt strange: not because of any sense of lingering guilt, but because it felt as if only half of what I told her was absolute crap, when all of it was. This feeling of emotional vulnerability could also have stemmed from my complete breakdown towards the end, when I realized that, at least in this time, everyone and everything I knew and loved was dead and gone.

I drew my hands to my face and rubbed my darkly-circled eyes once more. I'll never get used to thinking that they're all dead, I thought. At least Naga was sure about being able to send me back, but what caused all this? I stared at the female creature I was sitting opposite from at the table. Twilight was wordlessly chewing through a bowl of cereal of her own, her expression downcast with emotional baggage and the darkened eye bags reminiscent of our prior late night exchange. They're all kind enough, and they act just like people. They might as well be permanently transformed Taguel for all I know. But what happened in the last thousand years to replace mankind with sentient ponies? I mused the question over in my mind as I resumed chewing the bland oat cereal before me. My explanation may have been enough for Twilight herself, but I'm sure she'll begin to see the holes in its reasoning as soon as she feels I've emotionally calmed down. Then, she'll have questions. I gulped, half to swallow a mouthful of cereal, and half to send down a wave of anxiety that made its way up. When that time comes, I just hope I'll have my own answers... Answers that will preferably come sooner rather than later, from these two "Princesses". I blinked. Oh Gods, I didn't even tell Twilight about how they'd be able to send me back, did I? I ran yesterday's events through my mind and almost slapped myself in the face. Good job, Robin. You can tell a mountain of lies but forget the one truth that is safe to tell her.

I grabbed my empty bowl of cereal and emptied its dregs into a trash bin. I strolled over to the kitchen basin to wash it out. I raised an eyebrow at what appeared to be a spout and two handles. My expression grew puzzled as turning one of the handles caused water to rush from the faucet. Running water in private homes? That would make showering so much easier! Ugh, it would be too costly, tedious, and impractical to develop with engineering, though... I'm attributing this to magic.

I mentally slapped myself in the face to bring my mind back to the present. Robin, you have a friend here who is confused and concerned for your well-being because of a web of lies you wove around your life. The least you could do is try to rebuild some trust and happiness into the relationship. My lungs slowly filled themselves with air as I thought over what to say. Friendship is powerful, never forget that.

"...Twilight?"

She immediately perked up and looked at me in expectation, but her face still held wrinkles of concern. I watched her carefully over my shoulder as I washed my cereal bowl out. After she said nothing, I placed my clean bowl on the counter beside the sink and turned around. I sighed, and continued speaking.

"Look, I know I haven't been completely honest to you about everything. Geez, even I am still mulling over the reality of everything that's happened to bring me here. But what's happened in the past will stay in the past. My old life is gone, but now, I have a new life. It's here, in Ponyville; and I need to focus on what's important in life: building ties of trust and friendship. I'm sorry if my deceit hurt you in any way, but I hope we can put any conflict behind us and still be friends, okay?" It wasn't my most convincing speech, but it was honest, and I hoped Twilight saw that.

To my surprise, she wordlessly got down from her seat, walked over to me, rose on her rear legs and hugged me deeply. I was extremely confused and my body went rigid in reaction.

Twilight spoke from over my right shoulder, voice laden with empathy. "It was never a question of whether we were still friends, Robin." She backed up a bit and held me at arm's length; we stared into each other's eyes. "If you have a new life in Ponyville, I -- we, all of my friends and I, will be there for you, in good times and bad." She leaned forward and hugged me again. "And nothing the universe throws at us can change that," she finished solemnly.

After a moment, I raised my arms as if to hug her back; I hesitated for a second, but finally placed my arms around her in a warm embrace. It felt as if the world were right again.

I never lost my family: they're right here with me -- in front of me, in my arms...

My mind cleared itself except for one thought:

Everything is going to be alright...

However, this wave of comfort failed to wash away the pang of guilt and sorrow I felt in my moment of hesitation.

What am I going to do... when I have to leave?

Chapter 17: Trust

With Spike having a day off in town, Twilight and I were left to our own devices. After how well we reconciled our emotions, I didn't want to toss up the aspect of me eventually leaving, once Celestia found all the ponies necessary for my journey home. I figured I'd tell her the next time the princesses contacted us...

...giving me time to build up enough trust between us before shattering it again. Great, just great. I huffed, but figured I should just enjoy the time I still had with this interesting people- ponydom, poneple? Whatever. Once we cleaned up after breakfast, we basically were at a lack of things to do. Twilight felt she should cross-reference the information I've given her with all of the library's books on ancient history. I offered my aid.

"Do you want any help with that, Twilight? I'm not too educated concerning Equestrian history, but I know what to look for, well, since I supplied the information."

Twilight smiled at the offer.

"Thanks, Robin, but - not to brag, I know this library inside and out. I feel I'd be able to search more quickly on my own."

I was going to insist until I watched her simultaneously pull out five books with her magic and sift through them. Even then, she still managed to speak fluently.

"Besides, I think you need to inform the others about, uh, your past."

She threw me another sympathetic look as she placed two of the books back on their shelves. I quickly looked down to break her gaze, feeling a bit guilty, and attempted to cover the blatant display by looking at the door.

I responded, "Yes, I should probably get to know them better, as well. Hmm, I guess I'll stroll around town and see which of them I run into."

Twilight nodded her approval.

"Just remember that today's a working day, so chances are that Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack will be busy for a while, and the kids will be in school until three. You might run into Rainbow Dash, because she normally finishes work early. Also, keep an eye out for Fluttershy. She's normally out and about during the day, per her occupation, but she's not the most... noticeable pony."

She smiled affectionately, talking about her friends. I grinned at the feelings she showed, and felt warmed by such honest emotion.

It reminds me of my own friends...

I shook my head and made my way to the door.

"Thanks for the advice, Twilight, and for everything else."

She giggled contentedly at this. My hand was on the doorknob when she called to me again.

"Oh, and Robin?"

The knob was already halfway turned, but I stopped and turned my head in compliance.

"Yes, Twilight?"

What she said next made my breath catch in my throat.

She said, "Just remember that it doesn't matter who you were or who you're supposed to be. We love you for who you are, and that will never change. Just be honest with us, and we'll understand. Always. Okay?"

After a moment of silence, I shakily opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn't speak. I merely nodded my head, abruptly turned back around, and forced myself through the door. I firmly closed the door behind me before Twilight could say anything else. Immediately, I started walking, hoping she didn't notice the single tear that formed in the corner of my eye.

Once the tear started rolling down my cheek, I wiped it with my hand. The fine material in my glove didn't absorb it immediately, so I was greeted with a miniscule reflection of my face. I gazed upon myself, and thought deeply...

...Why? Why are you doing this, Robin? What do you hope to accomplish through lying to all your friends?

~~~

TIME TO HAVE A VOTE!

The author suddenly appeared through the Outrealm Portal from the vast lands of wallet-draining DLC and announced, "Hi guys! I'm getting back into the swing of things after a Thanksgiving family vacation, and I considered what I had to be thankful for. On this website specifically, I'm both very thankful to the authors who contribute to this thriving community, and to you guys: my followers and favorites, who give this story life. Therefore, I'm giving you guys a part in the story, so to speak, as I feel Fire Emblem is all about choice and player guidance."

"So, you get to choose what Robin will do next! Oh, and these options will all be action or comedy oriented, because I feel this story has been dark and heavy for far too long."

Hang with Rainbow Dash [Available]
Help Fluttershy with wildlife [Available]
Get to know the kids with Spike and the CMC [Available]

"Also, options 4 through 6 will only be unlocked after Robin does one of options 1 through 3 to kill some time. Rares, Pinks, and Jack still have got some work to do 'till they're free for the day, but I'll include them here anyway to pique your interest."

Get fabulous with Rarity [Not Available]
Pinkie... [Not Available]
Hoedown with the Apple Family [Not Available]

The author started walking back through the fourth-wall-shattering portal and said, "I'm excited to see which one you guys pick. Just remember, using the magic of writing, I can modify time itself! In other words, picking one option won't lock Robin out of the others, but the options you pick first will have effects on what happens in the later ones, just to keep it slightly realistic. I'll tally the few votes I get in a couple days, and get crackin' on the next chapter when I do. See ya then! PEACE." He then vanished completely through the portal, which slowly sizzled and withered before disappearing with a pop.

~~~

Whoa, Robin... What was that?

I pondered a bit to myself. I had a pressing feeling in my gut that an extremely simple solution to returning home had just vanished into thin air.

But surely, such a magic miracle portal couldn't exist. Not in this world, at least.

I shrugged it off as an incorrect premonition and wondered what I was going to do with the time I had left that day.

I suppose I have a few options. Let's see...

Chapter 18: Finding Fluttershy

I shrugged to myself and looked skyward. The sun was just reaching its highest point, meaning the time was around noon. I figured I still had time to do a couple things during the day.

But first, I think I'll talk to... Fluttershy, was it?

The yellow Pegasus was so shy during the party that I barely got to know her. She seemed to shrink back and hide behind her bright, pink hair. I scratched my head and pondered the similarities she had to Olivia. From what I knew about her, all she needed was the ability to dance and she would virtually blur out my memories of Olivia herself.

The prospects of this worried me. But thinking realistically, there was no reason for me not to familiarize myself with these ponies. Friends are important, after all. I recalled what Twilight said to me about where Fluttershy lives.

Her house is next to the... Everfree Forest, right? That should be right on the edge of town.

I looked around to get my bearings, but I wasn't educated concerning Ponyville's layout. I stood outside of the library... which was definitely located towards the center of town, right? It would just make sense with Twilight's political influence in mind.

Scratching my chin, it occurred to me that I should just ask for directions, when suddenly a deluge of water flooded the space around me. I instinctively closed my eyes and coughed and sputtered for a bit as I was soaked. As I cleared my senses of fluids, a rambunctious laugh echoed from directly above me. I held a hand at my forehead to act as a visor so I could identify my aqueous assailant.

I sighed. "Rainbow Dash?"

The pegasus, situated on an individual, rather dark-looking cloud, kept laughing for a moment before pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. After she calmed down, she responded by shooting me a lopsided grin. I crossed my arms over my chest and held an expectant look.

She waved it away and said, "Oh, lighten up, Robin! This is just my way of introducing new ponies to Ponyville. Pinkie throws parties, but I throw pranks! Ahah, and I think I did a pretty good job of it, too. You should've seen the look on your face, it was priceless," she giggled.

I certainly wasn't expecting it... But I don't think she expects this, either, I thought mischievously. I dropped the serious face and put on a fake smile.

"Alright, Rainbow Dash, I admit it, you got me pretty good there."

Dash smiled and reveled in the flattery. "Hey, thanks Robin, most new ponies around here don't appreciate a good prank even if it hit them in the face... or splashed in their face, rather."

I nodded in exaggerated agreement. "Yeah, you certainly are a master of -- OH LOOK, WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE?" I pointed violently towards a random point in the sky to her right.

She completely fell for it.

"Huh, what is it?"

While she scanned the horizon, I charged up an extremely weak version of a Thunder spell in my other hand.

I stifled my own laughter. "I-It's right over there, don't you see it?"

"I don't see anything, are you sure- waitaminute~"

But she realized her folly too late. With a snap of my fingers I sent a small but visible spark into the cloud she was sitting on. The cloud absorbed the charge and sent a tiny shock through her body. It didn't do much, besides stunning her for a second and making all her rainbow-colored hair stand completely on end. In the moment it took Dash to realize what had happened, I had already burst out laughing at her absurd appearance.

"Hahahah! Oh my gods! Hey Dash, look, a good prank! I'm sure you can appreciate it, being the queen of pranks and all that."

Dash looked up and felt her hair. After surveying the damage, she simply rolled her eyes and huffed. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty good."

I calmed down. "Ah, oh Gods, if only I could get a picture of you like that." ...Or can I?

Dash laughed nervously. "Well, you wouldn't want to do that, right? That wouldn't be too good for my prankin' rep around here, you know? At least you don't have a camera."

A playful grin spread across my face. "Who said I needed a camera?"

The bewildered expression under the hilarious fan of hair meant she didn't catch on in time.

I snapped my fingers again before she could recover, and a small rectangle of yellow light appeared in front of me. Within seconds, the scene before my eyes was redrawn on the object, with Rainbow Dash's stunned expression and new hairdo smack dab in the middle of it. I grinned at the image before me.

"Thanks for inventing that Snapshot tome, Anna..."

"...Robin? ROBIN? WHAT IS THAT? WHAT'S THAT PICTURE?"

I dramatically turned the magically woven cloth to face Rainbow, revealing an identical mirror image of herself in all her ridiculous glory. I immediately burst out laughing at her horrified expression. Lucky for her, I wasn't actually that mean.

"Wait, don't start despairing yet, Rainbow Dash. This picture can be yours as long as you do me a little favor."

"Anything ANYTHING- Just PLEASE don't show that to anypony!"

I sighed and my expression dropped. "Just show me where Fluttershy lives."

Rainbow went slack-jawed and fell silent for a moment. "...That's it? You're not asking me for money, for manual labor, some way to privately meet the Wonderbolts, to go on a date, anything?"

I grew alarmed at this. "Who would go so far as to blackmail you into a relationship?"

She scoffed, "Eh, you'd be surprised what some ponies expect to get away with for me. Anyways, if all you wanna know is where Fluttershy lives," she pulled off a small part of the cloud she was on, "she's just over there. I'd take you there myself, but I'm sorta on duty at the moment." She had tossed the cloud southeast, and it glided for a bit over the roofs of Ponyville before coming to a stop, hovering over a cottage on a hill at the edge of town.

I noted the direction the puff of cloud traveled and nodded. "Thanks, I'd better let you get back to work. Oh, and I believe this is yours." I grinned for a bit again as I blew the piece of cloth at Rainbow Dash with a small Wind spell. She frantically grabbed at it and clutched it as if it were an endangered child.

I started walking off in the direction opposite to her course, chuckling to myself as I overheard the noises of Dash trying to tear the piece of cloth into shreds. It would all be in vain, as a Snapshot tome's picture can only be broken by the caster.

A lesson I learned the hard way, recalling the Shepherd's visit to the Outrealm hot springs. But based on her behavior, I suspect Dash will guard that thing with her life, so no worries. Besides, her friends and I would just laugh it off if anypony ever finds it. I hope she realizes that a funny picture of yourself does little to actually hurt your reputation. Either way, onward to Fluttershy's!

I noticed the squelching noises my soaked clothes were making as I walked.

"Hopefully, she'll have a towel..."

Chapter 19: A Shepherd?

As I made my way to Fluttershy's abode, a problem occurred to me.

"...What am I actually going to say to her?" I asked myself.

I vaguely noticed some ponies from Pinkie's party as I walked along. They smiled and waved to me, giving me little hello's here and there. However, most of them quickly noticed I wasn't responding, as I simply walked by, silent. I was deep in thought, muttering to myself.

"It made the most sense when I chose to visit Fluttershy first, to tell her about my 'real history', so to speak, but how will she react?... She seems to be the most pacifistic out of all of Twilight's friends. How will she react to knowing I've been lying about my age and my entire identity? I don't exactly have the most peaceful fictional past thought up..."

I dragged my hands down my face in exasperation. As I reached the far corners of Ponyville, there were many less receiving ears around. I took the liberty of ranting out loud to myself.

"Ugh, this whole situation is convoluted -- this whole society is convoluted. These ponies are ruled by dragons, for Naga's sake! And they don't even know it; hells, they don't even know what a real dragon is! What they call dragons are simply pale imitations: overgrown wyverns, if anything."

I shook my head.

"Never mind, I need to get back on track. Naturally, I require some segue into actually telling her the 'truth'. Alright, maybe this'll work... Twilight said she was an animal caretaker, right? I can offer some help for the day, mention some of my old comrades, and while she's curious about my past, I can start explaining my age, what happened, et cetera. An easy transition will make the revelation a bit less harsh, I'd assume." I nodded to myself. "A solid enough plan. Maybe my previous experiences with the Shepherds' own animals will help me."

I sighed as I reminisced about helping Cherche find a mate for her wyvern. Those were some crazy times... I hope I never have to do something like that again.

Before I realized it, I was already climbing up the slope to Fluttershy's doorstep. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a moment, I heard a squeak from inside, followed by a quiet, but kind voice.

"Who... Um, yes? Who is it?"

I sighed inaudibly. I called back, "Fluttershy? It's me, Robin."

I heard a rushed, rather quiet "Oh!" from some area behind the door. There was a flutter of wings, and suddenly the gateway was opened, allowing me to meet the Pegasus behind it.

I looked down to see her smiling meekly up at me. "Hi Robin, it's good to see you, again." She seemed to grow even more bashful after saying this, blushing visibly on the small part of her face I actually could see.

...Who are you supposed to be? Olivia? I thought sarcastically.

Hiding my cynical thoughts, I presented myself with a polite smile and greeting. "Hello Fluttershy. I just thought I'd swing by today. I seem to be at a loss of things to do at the moment, and was wondering if there were any issues I could assist you with."

Fluttershy's eyes widened at this. "Oh... well there was something I was going to do today, but I'd rather not trouble you with-"

I cut her off, my face and voice stern. "Fluttershy, please. Anything at all, from feeding your animals to preening your own feathers, I would be willing to help you with." After I said that last comment, I feared I may have stepped on some proverbial toes.

Fluttershy blushed furiously, a red as deep as Olivia did when her dress tore on a rock in the middle of a dance. I fell into silent shock for a moment as Fluttershy mortifyingly mumbled something about an intimate ritual between pegasi.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But please, even if you don't have anything specific in mind, just tell me what you were planning for today. I'm sure I could assist somehow." I pleaded.

Fluttershy looked down. "...Well, there was something. I was hoping to take one of my animal friends back into the Everfree Forest, and make sure he got to his home safely, but it's dangerous and I wouldn't want to bother you with something that-"

I already stopped listening. "Fluttershy, wait. You were planning to go into the forest? Alone? The forest full of deadly creatures?"

She slowly nodded. "I already made the trip once alone. You see, the poor little guy was getting harassed by a mean mongoose. He's a snake, so the mongoose is his natural predator. The bully scratched him up quite a bit, and I heard him cry out for help."

I shook my head. "You didn't know what was attacking him; it could've hurt you as well."

She stomped a hoof. "I'd never leave a poor, defenseless animal in need. Their needs come before mine, especially since I was close by and able to help."

I rubbed my chin. The speech would be more impressive if she didn't have the vocal cords of a mouse.

I sighed. "Well, I had nothing else planned in advance for today. If I don't come along as protection, at least let me come as company, all right?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I... suppose that would be alright."

"Great! So, where is this little guy?"

A thunderous rumbling shook the cottage.

Fluttershy smiled and turned. "Oh, I think that's him right now!" She stepped to the left to give me a better view of her guest.

I backed away from the door as a massive boa constrictor peeked its head out: a head which was roughly the same size as my own, and which I highly suspected would be able to expand wide enough to engulf me, should it be provoked. I nearly broke and ran for my life until I noticed something.

"...Is that a bandage over its eye?"

The pegasus gently rubbed the scaly head of the great beast and coo'd to him. "There there, Robin's here to help us find your home again." She turned back to me and whispered. "It was that mean ol' mongoose who did this to him. But don't mention it; he's a bit embarrassed about it."

My eyes didn't leave the monster capable of swallowing a cow. With a bandage over one eye. Being pet by a pegasus a good fifth of its size.

This is going to be a long day...

Chapter 6: Perfect Mirrors

The party quickly became awkward, to say the least. After Twilight calmed every-pony down about the whole fiery fiasco, she pulled me aside.

I was led through a curtain to a separate room that looked like a kitchen, although there were certain metallic contraptions that made no sense to me. The view of my culinary surroundings was interrupted by the look of an annoyed - and quite powerful - magic user, based on the passive field of energy she was radiating off.

"Robin, what is with all the fire!? Look, I understand that you have good intentions, but you need to demonstrate that you can restrain yourself! So far, you've almost incinerated me or my friends twice!"

My eyebrow twitched. "Twlight... I take full responsiblity for my actions-"

"As you should."

I twitched again. "-but show me a little empathy here! You say you have trouble trusting me to restrain myself, yet I have trouble believing that the next time I go to sleep, I won't wake up with a dagger in my back!"

"Robin..."

"I'm in a completely unfamiliar world! Full of people - no, ponies - I don't know! Forgive me if I'm not exactly trusting of everyone I see. I've had my fair share of grand betrayals in my own time, even though they were extremely obvious beforehand, but I just don't know who to trust here. I hope you can understand that the next time I'm led blindly into what very well may be an ambush of sorts. My world isn't perfectly hospitable at every corner, and I can't be expected to hope any different from your world."

"Robin, I'm sorry."

I turned to Twilight. Her eyes were wide and apologetic. I felt terrible immediately.

"I can't expect you to adjust in the course of a day. Celestia, I can't expect you to adjust at all. Like you said, this isn't your world..." Twilight brightened. "...but at least try to have some fun while you're here."

She smiled and looked back at the party. "The citizens of this town have a lot to offer: I've learned that the hard way, just as you might be learning now. All I ask is that you give them a chance, and I'll make sure they give you one. Okay?"

I breathed deeply. "Okay."

She paused before turning back to the party. "I won't force you to party like Pinkie Pie, Celestia knows nopony else can, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you let yourself. Pinkie's parties just have that effect on ponies. Let's find out if they have the same effect on people." She winked. "Spend some time here thinking of what to say to the partygoers. You are the guest of honor, after all, and I'm sure they all want to hear something from you, even after that little misunderstanding."

I nodded. "I understand. Thanks, Twilight."

She nodded over her shoulder before walking out of the room back to the party. I overheard her telling the crowd that I would shortly be giving a brief speech, to which they lightly cheered.

I sighed, and smiled inwardly. 'Dear Naga, this pony... She holds faith in the goodness of others, and brings out the best in them. Not to mention she doesn't seem afraid of arguing with me if I step out of line. If it weren't for the purple fur, I'd think she was Lucina. Oh well... Idle contemplation aside, what in the seven hells am I going to say in a speech to a town of ponies!? 'Sorry for almost incinerating you?' Good gods. Okay, Robin. Just think...'

~~~

Moments later, Twilight looked over to see me emerge from the room she left me in. She smiled and turned to the other party-goers.

"Alright, everypony! Gather 'round, Robin just wants to share a few words with us before the party continues!"

At this point, Pinkie Pie signaled a white pony with spiky duo-chrome blue hair to turn off the pounding music. The pony did this by removing a needle on a lever from a sizeable device I did not recognize in the slightest. I shook my head and attempted to ignore it. I turned to the crowd and looked around I was wondering where to give my speech from when Pinkie cleared an area towards a wall. She pulled a soap box out of nowhere, placed it on the ground, and nodded enthusiastically at me to take my place on it. I just stared at her, but decided not to think much of it. Nevertheless, I thanked her for her aid.

"Thanks, Henry. I guess..." I blanched at what I just said.

Pinkie replied before I could catch myself. "Don't mention it. Nyeheheheh!" She winked after the eerily familiar cackle.

I blinked. 'Naga damn this pony, lest she breed.'

Keeping Pinkie in my peripheral vision, I mounted the soap box. After she made no sudden movements, I turned to the crowd.

'There must be at least half a hundred ponies in here...' I thought, and I sighed. 'Well, let's get this over with.' I cleared my throat and began to speak.

"Greetings, citizens of Ponyville!" I raised my arms for emphasis, the reply to which was polite applause.

"As Pinkie has probably told you, I am Robin. I'm not sure how much she told you about me, but allow me to explain further. I'm sure very few to none of you has seen something like me before. I am what is known as a 'human'." I made air quotation marks with my fingers, before almost slapping my own face when I realized ponies don't have fingers. I played the motion off as a demonstration.

"And... I have four limbs, just like a pony, but I am bipedal, and have five digits on each limb." I waggled my fingers in front of me.

"And also, like some ponies - unicorns, rather - I can use magic. I'm sure many if not all of you have already seen my magic, but it isn't dangerous. Some of it is quite helpful." I focused as if I were using a Mend staff again, and let the magic diffuse into the air around me. It resulted in a warm, green glow that elicited some ooh's and ahh's. I smiled.

"And now that you know enough about what a human is, I'll tell you about who I am. Like I said before, I am Robin. My official title is 'Royal Tactician of the Ylissean Army'. Ylisse is the country - and continent - that I hail from. Before you start freaking out, no, I am not here to invade your country."

I put my hands at my sides. "To tell you the truth, I don't know how I got here, or how I'm supposed to get home. I don't know if I'm even on the same world as my own. But one thing is clear enough."

I smiled again. "The ponies living here are hospitable and helpful. You accepted me with open arms and even threw this party in honor of me. For that, I am grateful. And I hope as long as I'm here, we can grow together as friends and allies. Here's to the start of a new day and a hundred new friendships!"

A cheer bubbled from the enthusiastic crowd. I stepped down from the soap box, which Pinkie Pie impossibly stored out of sight on her person. I walked back to join the party, when Twilight stopped me.

She was smiling. "Well, you're definitely better at public speaking than I am. I'm glad you decided to give this town a chance."

I glanced around. I caught some eyes, whose faces smiled back. "From what I've seen, this town has been kind to me in every way. It's the least I could do. Well, I'm off to mingle and party then, I guess."

Twilight responded before I walked off, "Before you do, I'd like you to meet my friends."

I smiled. "Sure, why not?"

~~~

We shortly gathered four of Twilight's five friends. We were just about to give up finding Pinkie again when she somehow fell out of the back of my shirt. I flushed confusedly and looked at both Pinkie and Twilight for an explanation. The former acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The latter assured me to just go with it:

"Don't worry; she can seem a little invasive at times, but she'd never do anything to actually hurt her friends."

'That doesn't say much for my sense of security,' I mused.

After the six of them gathered together, they stood back in a horizontal line to introduce themselves one by one. They went from my left to my right. I knew the first three. They named themselves rather enthusiastically anyway for formality's sake.

"Twilight Sparkle, student of friendship!"

"Applejack, farmer an' cowpony!"

"Pinkie Pie, baker and full-time partier!!!"

"Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria!"

"Rarity, faaabulous fashion designer!"

The last pony was half hidden from view behind Rarity. I leaned a bit to the right to perhaps see them better. Rarity noticed; she turned around, "Oh calm now, dear. He's polite and a man of position, at that. I'm sure he wouldn't hurt a fly."

The pony slowly edged her way to the right to make herself slightly more visible.

"I'm... I'm Fluttershy..."

I raised an eyebrow. I looked at Twilight to my left questioningly. She simply shrugged with one forearm and said, "She's a little shy. Also, she's an animal caretaker. She lives closest to the forest next to the town."

My eyebrow stayed raised. 'Well, the name certainly is fitting. I bet she's a pegasus, as well.' The nervous flutter of a wing at her side confirmed my suspicions. 'These ponies don't exactly have the most creative of names...'

I looked at all of them together for a second, and my mind flashed for just a moment to my troops, six in particular, standing side-by-side. The image played out like this, left to right:

--Lucina-Donnel-Henry-Sully-Maribelle-and Olivia--

I shook my head to clear it. 'I'm not looking at my troops... I'm looking at six ponies. We don't even know each other that well, why did my mind flash like that?...' I then noticed they were all looking at me expectantly. I completed the cycle.

"Robin, army tactician and.... friend."

Chapter 20: Messengers

"...We need to get back to the Queen, now." A faint whisper hissed in a dark alleyway, just outside of Canterlot's upper circle. It came from a Royal Guard, a nondescript white unicorn in uniform, supposedly off-duty.

"Obviously, but we need to get out of here first, not to mention how we'll get these two back into their posts," a second Royal Guard responded. This one was a brown earth pony who looked suspiciously just as nondescript. "But getting these two back unnoticed will be nearly impossible in the middle of the day, all thanks to you." The guard shot a withering glare at the first.

The first pony's eyes met the ground, and he snorted. "Well, it wasn't exactly easy to get them out in the first place."

After saying this, his gaze panned around to what looked like two vagrants, huddled dejectedly in a corner. They were covered in rags, faces obscured.

"I have to give you some credit, though. You did manage to drain them enough to keep them unconscious through the entire night, and most of the day."

The unicorn felt a surge of pride as his form seemed to melt into a shell of phosphorescent green. "I try my best." The shell effused into vaporous flames, which flashed brightly but dissipated quickly. A changeling was left standing in the unicorn's place.

The earth pony wrinkled his snout. "You need to work on containing that light." The second guard's armor glowed mutedly, and shifted fluidly into chitinous plates. "I understand the Queen picked you for your unusual magical capabilities, but it still confuses me why a conspicuous spy would be chosen for such an important mission."

"Because she values power and loyalty, and I have both." The younger changeling replied.

The older changeling, slightly larger in stature, slumped with false fatigue. "Her Highness also cares--just a little, about not having her children caught in the middle of Canterlot's Mane Square!"

"Hey, you can't blame me for that! I'm still learning how to maintain multiple spells at a time."

The larger changeling's hoof met his face, which let out an exaggerated sigh. "...Well, at least you were clever enough to blind all the onlookers with your 'flashy' attitude."

The younger one looked ambivalent. "I don't know whether to slap you or thank you."

The former earth pony huffed. "You can forgo slapping me, and you can thank me by coming up with a plan to get these two back into their beds in the barracks."

Saying this, he nudged the two slumped figures in the alleyway. They fell sideways, hooded rags falling away to reveal two very similar looking guards: a stout brown earth pony and slight white unicorn, both unconscious and looking rather pale.

The smaller changeling rubbed his chin. "We could give invisibility another try."

His elder simply balked. "And risk being caught in the middle of the square again? I'm sure you improve quickly, you damned little prodigy, but I'm not trusting this entire mission's success on your unstable powers."

"Well what should we do, then?" he grumbled.

It was the elder's time to ponder. "You can hold one spell reliably enough, and in case you've forgotten, I'm not useless. In fact, I can almost match you in terms of simple telekinesis..." He narrowed his eyes at a murky puddle on the alleyway floor, to watch a stray drop from a gutter splash into the muck. He looked at a garbage bag to his right, and noticed they were standing behind the local tavern. He smiled. "I have an idea."

~~~

"Where are those two?" Shining Armor grumbled to himself. "I swear, if I find them hung over from drinking late at night again..." He was making his way to the doors of the barracks, looking for two troublemakers of guards. The unicorn and earth pony were more often than not tardy and disrespectful, and the captain had reached his wits end trying to discipline them.

He brought the matter to Princess Celestia's attention last week, who patiently suggested to Shining, "Show them that you have a little faith, and I'm sure they'll shape up."

The captain simply replied, "But with all due respect, Your Highness, I have no faith left in them."

To which, Celestia responded more firmly, "Just give them a little responsibility. It will help them learn their importance in keeping this city safe. As a matter of fact... I'm expecting a royal visit later this week. The two could personally guard my doors during that visit." She smiled mischievously.

Shining Armor smirked at this. He was very well aware that the Princess was perfectly capable of defending herself against anyone and anything that her own Royal Guard could handle. The two posts outside her throne room were purely ceremonial; they looked important, but served nearly no purpose other than to impress foreign dignitaries. "That's... actually a great idea. Thank you, Princess. They'd feel very important, but leave nothing to risk."

Celestia nodded in her sage-like way. "You may inform them of their--ahem, 'promotion', at once." She masterfully concealed her mirth. Shining Armor had gratuitously bowed and left. After the meeting with Robin, Celestia informed Shining of his two guards' stellar behavior on duty. Shining proudly wished to award them that night off, but couldn't find them directly after the meeting. He assumed they simply caught wind of their reward and wasted no time making their way to town.

Now, the day after they held that post, Shining Armor was questioning whether this was the best decision, when he was nearly thrown off his hooves by a cacophonic thud and crash, which shook the dirt grounds outside the Canterlot Barracks. A cloud of dust from the earthy training grounds obscured his senses; he coughed a couple times and waved a foreleg in front of his face. "...What in Tartarus?"

As his view cleared, he saw the two guards he posted outside the throne room last evening, crumpled on the ground and completely out of it, though they seemed to be coming to after the impact. He rushed over to make sure they were unharmed. "Men, men?! What happened? Are you oka--"

Shining Armor abruptly stopped as the sound of broken glass mingled with the two guards' groans. He looked down below his left fore hoof, to find a bundle of rags, concealing what sounded to be a delicate package. He raised an eyebrow and looked his soldiers up and down; excluding their pale complexions, they both looked unharmed. He suspiciously unraveled the clumped up bag of rags to find assorted empty bottles of alcohol, mostly broken. His face met his hoof. Hard.

"What am I going to do with you two?!..."

~~~

Magically concealed midair far above the barracks, the changelings grinned at the captain chewing out their two poor scapegoats.

"Well, that was fun." The younger changeling looked on as the two real guards vainly tried to convince their captain of being 'assaulted by mirror images of themselves', interspersed with drunk-sounding gibberish. He worriedly looked at his senior, who was floating next to him. "Actually, we should leave disguised as those two, before the rumor of more changelings possibly gets around."

His larger friend chuckled. "Good idea, but don't worry: no simple hang-over can compare to the disorientation of being over-drained. I learned that the hard way one long night in the hive. Those two are gonna be rather incomprehensible for a while, which we can spend making our way out of here. C'mon boy, we have a message to deliver."

The normally boisterous changeling adopted a serious expression, which was hidden by the cloaking spell he had cast over both of them. "Yes... the human has returned."

Author's Note

A change of pace and two more characters to both lighten and deepen the story.