//------------------------------//
// Return to the Castle 
// Story: Misadventures of a Henchpony 
// by Big Saij 
//------------------------------//

"Thanks again for helping me move all these books to the Canterlot Library, Jungle. I tried asking around Ponyville for help and you were the first pony who wasn't busy!"

I gave a grunt in response as I lugged a massive stack of dusty tomes onto a wagon, where dozens of their kin were already stacked. "No... problem... I have nothing to do these days anyway..."

The labored panting made Twilight pause and look over at me in concern. "Are you alright? You know its fine to take a break, right?"

"Yeah," I responded, waving a hoof, "I know. Just uh, give me a minute or two to catch my breath."

So, this wasn't exactly how I was planning to spend my first few days in Ponyville. However, after said past days, I could comfortably say that being out in the Castle of the Two Sisters, in the middle of the Everfree Forest, helping move books with the Princess of Friendship was just another Tuesday for a Ponyvillian. The last few days were hectic.

Applejack had become a regular in my schedule, usually at the apple stall in the market whenever I was out for lunch or buying food. Her honest attitude and hard-working personality were refreshing, especially after almost all of the ponies I had known in my life weren't actually known for possessing those traits. She had introduced me to her little sister, Apple Bloom, who had starting asking about my cutie mark. I had explained that the map flanked by trees symbolized my love of exploration, and that I had gotten it out in Tenochtitlan. I also successfully dissuaded her and her friends from going out on their own adventure to the basin, which was fortunate for just about every pony potentially involved.

Rainbow Dash was proving a fair bit more difficult to deal with. Whenever we happened to cross paths she always starting talking about the Daring Do series and her latest adventure, which I was just able to sidestep with a few well-timed nods and grunts of agreement. It's clear that I need to find some way to get her off my tail, but such a solution hasn't shown itself yet.

Fluttershy, I haven't seen much of. She mostly either remained in her cottage near the Everfree or was with the others. Apparently somecreature named "Discord" lives with her, who is apparently a big deal around here. He called me "a wonderfully chaotic addition to the cast", which I wasn't sure to take as a compliment or an insult.

My relationship with Rarity is... different? Special? I'm not sure how to call it. We both seem to dislike and like each other at the same time. I can't stand her dignified, pseudo-noble attitude, and she can't stand my casual speech or attire. But she demanded that I let her make an actual piece of clothing for me, free of charge. I'm not one to turn down or not appreciate that level of generosity, and I have a feeling that she'll enjoy making a new tuxedo as well. The suit and tie she drew as a concept was a true work of art.

Finally, and most surprisingly of all, I hadn't seen much of Pinkie Pie since the party. There were glimpses of her here and there around Ponyville, but nothing she had done yet had directly affected me. It was offsetting and weird, and something told me that it wouldn't last, but I almost looked forward to her next antic.

Now, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Or rather, just Twilight, as she told me to call her. She had asked me to help her out transcribing and transferring books to Canterlot, or something like that. Apparently they were planning to renovate this old castle, but couldn't start until copies of all the ancient books were created and transferring to the royal library for safekeeping. Seemed like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me, but who was I to say anything about literature? It wasn't like I had read much of it.

And now you know why I'm in the middle of nowhere. After wiping some sweat off my forehead with a hoof, I grabbed the next stack of recently-copied books to carry over to the wagon, my legs shaking under the strain.

"Hey, Twilight!" I groaned; it seemed like help had arrived. "Sorry I'm late, there were a ton more clouds out today than usual!" Rainbow Dash flew down from the hole in the wall and hover over the ground, looking as smug as usual. "So, how can I help?"

Twilight looked up from her transcribing. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! Thanks for stopping by, I was just about to move on to the restricted section of the old library!"

"There's a restricted section too?!" I made my displeasure at this new fact very much known through a much more audible groan. Twilight rolled her eyes before her horn lit up, tilting one of the chairs at the nearby table backwards. Then, just like clockwork, two bookcases slid in opposite directions, revealing a passageway into another room filled with, you guessed it, more books. And a bed.

I immediately got into a defensive position, expecting something else to happen, like a dart trap or a Daring Do to appear. A few seconds passed, in which nothing happened. Okay... Twilight hadn't noticed and was too busy trotting inside the secret room, while Rainbow Dash was looking at me like I had grown a horn and a pair of wings. "Uh, is something wrong?" she asked.

A bit embarrassed, I got back into a normal standing position and gave a sheepish laugh. "Nah, it's nothing. I've seen much scarier in Tenochtitlan."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, putting on a slight grin, and I immediately knew I was in for trouble. "Oh really? Then why don't we do a little exploring?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You and me, going down and looking for the trapdoors and hidden hallways. Unless you're too scared..."

Oh boy. "Look, just because you were terrified when you and Applejack explored here doesn't mean you have to try and make me have the same experience." That was just a complete guess. I had no idea whether they had ever come here before, and my part with Applejack was just from picking up a slight rivalry between the two mares. It was a complete shot in the dark, and yet it seemed to be a bullseye. Rainbow Dash sputtered a bit, landing on the ground looking a little peeved.

"Fine!" she said with just a slight edge on it, walking a bit closer to me. "Then I guess we'll have to find something else to do."

This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. It didn't sound like she was asking me for an idea. "Like...?"

Rainbow continued to approach until she was almost muzzle-to-muzzle with me. "Tag!" she yelled, half-punching me before flying away so fast she became a blur. "Catch me if you can!"

My fuddled brain tried kicking into overdrive, the competitive side clashing with the voice of reason and laziness. The former eventually triumphed over the latter, as I began galloping down the hall I saw Rainbow fly through. Any thoughts about helping Twilight were pushed to the backseat as I rounded the corner, seeing the end of a multicolored mane disappear down a spiral staircase.

Well, that's just unfair. She gets to just fly down the open center while I have to take the stairs. I almost fell over and took a tumble halfway down, but caught myself just before my face hit the stone. As soon as I reached the bottom I poured on the speed again, ignored all the torch-wielding pony hooves on the walls. The halls began blending into each other, becoming less and less noticeable until I finally came to a stop in a large room.

The pipe organ was the centerpiece of it all, looming high above me as I walked in. Stone statues of pegasi holding the candles that illuminated the room flanked it, while purple curtains were hung all around from open windows. I heard a single snicker as my hoofsteps echoed throughout the chamber, inching closer and closer to the organ.

"Rainbow Dash?" I called out. "I know you're in here! Stop hiding and come out!" There was no response. I continued my cautious approach, keeping my breathing calm and collected until finally, I saw just the tip of a teal pegasi wing appear from behind one of the draperies. Allowing myself a small smirk, I hurried over to the cloth in question and flung it out of the way.

"Found y- OW!" I was interrupted by an open book being slammed into my face, and the sound of laughter fading away. I pulled the offending piece of literature off and was about to throw it aside when something caught my eye on the page.

It was a simple diagram, with few words which I appreciated. A sketch of two books, one emblazoned with a sun, the other with a crescent moon and the stars. When pulled back simultaneously, the entire bookcase would slide aside to reveal a passage, much like what the chair upstairs did.

Certainly an interesting mechanism, but not one that was prevalent or important at the moment. I filled it in my mental storage cabinet and placed the book closed on the seat of the pipe organ before once again giving chase after Rainbow.

Or rather, I was, until I met an unfortunate case of realizing that there were more stairs. Losing my balance, this time saving myself was not an option and I tumbled down the second spiral staircase, taking quite a beating. My eyes rolled around my head as I finally landed, vision blurring showing only the color of cyan.

Cyan. Quickly, I reached out with a hoof and grabbed onto whatever was in front of me. "Tag," I said, weakly smiling.

Purple irises swung around to meet my own, and for a split-second, everything changed. The crumbling grey walls became tan, the rainbow mane faded to various greys and blacks, and the cyan turned into a familiar beige. I reeled backwards, instinctively protecting my face with both hooves as I expected a buck in the face again.

But nothing came. Only the faint sound of a familiar voice. "Uh, hello? Are you there?" My hooves lowered, and the scene was gone. There was no Daring Do, only Rainbow Dash who was looking both concerned and confused at me.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." I got back up onto my four hooves, brushing myself off. "Just took a good beating from that fall and got a little confused. Don't worry about it."

"Riiiight."

All Rainbow got in response was a shrug from me. "We should really be getting back to Twilight," I said, sensing the impending awkwardness. "I'll, uh, see you back up there."

The mare nodded. "Yeah, sure." I began the trot back up the stairs. The last thing I heard, most likely only because she thought I was out of earshot, was something simple yet ominous at the same time. "There's something weird about him..."

Time was running out. I quickened my pace.





Twilight did not have a look on her face that I enjoyed by the time I got back to the library. "Where have you two been?!" she asked, annoyance clear. "Do you have any idea how long it took to transcribe and get these books sorted by myself onto the wagon?"

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Yeah, well, uh... Rainbow started it!"

Yep, she didn't buy it. After taking a deep breath, she grabbed my tail in her magic and dragged me towards her across the floor. "Well, since you're here now, you can help me bring these books back to the library in Ponyville! We won't be able to make the last train to Canterlot today, so I'll store them overnight for tomorrow."

At this point the groans I was making were legendary. If historians were there I was sure that they would mark it as one of the greatest in the history of Equestria itself. "Stupid princesses... making me pull the wagon..." I muttered as I freed myself and tried latching myself into the harness to start pulling before realizing that it wasn't there anymore. "Uh, Twilight? Where's the wagon?"

"Oh, I teleported it outside. We can't have the books falling out dragging it down the stairs!"

I blinked. That was oddly both efficient and sensible. "Why don't you just teleport the whole thing to Ponyville then?" I asked. "Or even better, Canterlot?"

From Twilight's look, somepony might have thought I was insane. "Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much magic it would take to teleport something that big all the way to Ponyville? I'm not even sure I could teleport myself!"

Taking a few steps backwards, I raised my hooves defensively. "Alright, I get it! Jeez, don't get so worked up. I'll get everything ready." I trotted out of the room at a pace slightly faster than normal and was just about to close the ancient doors behind me when something caught my ear.

"Twilight, we need to talk. It's about the new stallion."

Believe me, I'm not normally one to eavesdrop. Respecting people's privacy is very important, especially since I care about my own. But when I'm involved in it... I remained right by the door in the next room, listening in carefully.

"...Don't you think he looks kind of familiar?"

"What do you mean, Rainbow?"

"That's just it, I don't know! He keeps acting weird around me!"

A moment of silence. "I guess we could have seen him in Tenochtitlan?"

From the echo, it sounded like Rainbow Dash had stomped the floor with a hoof. "Maybe he's one of Caballeron's goons, sent here to get revenge!"

I rolled my eyes. That was such an incredibly un-Caballeron thing to do that I couldn't even imagine it. The only pony he cared about getting any sort of revenge on occasionally was Daring Do, for good reason. Still, the fact that I was formerly employed by the archeologist may not go over so well if they found out, hence why I had kept silent.

Oh, and Rainbow also forgot to call him Doctor Caballeron. He would have been fairly annoyed if he had heard.

"Don't you think that's a little crazy? I think we would have noticed by now if he was up to something."

"Fine. Just keep an eye on him, okay?"

The sound of hoofsteps approaching my little listening post, so I quickly and quietly sped off to the front entrance of the ruined castle, making myself look busy hooking myself up to pull the waiting wagon all the way back to Ponyville.

"Well, we're all good here," I told Twilight, not looking at either of the two mares out of fear of giving some sort of tell. "Ready to go?"

Rainbow Dash said something unintelligible from my distance and angle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod to Twilight before taking off, flying high into the sky and back to Ponyville. I shrugged; she was probably up to something, but at least the pegasus was out of my mane. "So," I began, letting the Princess take the lead while I took up the rear with the wagon, "Canterlot tomorrow? Don't suppose you'll need my help again?"

"Well, we'll be able to take the Canterlot Express most of the way, and Spike should be able to help this time, but I wouldn't mind a helping hoof. Are you sure you're not too busy though? It'll probably take the whole day."

"Like I said, nothing to do these days. Besides, visiting Canterlot has always been on my bucket list. Wouldn't mind going to finally see the city itself."

Twilight tilted her head slightly. "You've never been to Canterlot before? I can introduce you to Princess Celestia if you want-"

"Don't care, no thanks."

The alicorn looked like I had just slapped her. "What?! But she's the Princess! Why wouldn't you want to meet her?!"

I shrugged. "Why would I? Tenochtitlan isn't exactly a place she visits often, and if she does things for Equestria then they haven't helped me. She's my Princess, sure, just as much as you are, but I've no interest in seeing 'Her Highness'."

Sneaking a quick peek back at Twilight, I was not surprised to see her wearing an expression as if a horn was growing out of my skull. I guess she doesn't meet people who don't care for the diarchs often. But it was the truth; all my life it had been just me looking out for myself, and nopony else. There had been no help from faraway Canterlot. I held no ill intent or anger towards her, in fact, I still respected her somewhat from all the praise other ponies had said of her on my travels. But at the same time, I wasn't raring to go and see the ruler of all Equestria in person.

Alas, such an opinion put me firmly in the minority of Equestria's ponies.

A small bit of uncomfortable silence proceeded my breaking of said silence. "Thanks for offering, though." Didn't want to appear rude, after all. "Maybe you could give me a tour of the city after we've gotten these books sorted instead? I'm sure you've been there quite a few times."

And just like that, Twilight did her rapid switch from what I could only assume was silent thinking to fast excitement. "Been there? I've lived there almost my whole life! There are so many places to see, so many things to do, and I can show you all my favorite books! Oh, and we can stop by Pony Joe's for lunch too! We can even visit my old library, I'm sure there are some things I left behind that I can talk about..."

As Twilight continued to talk on and on, I relaxed back into the gentle rhythm of pulling the cart along.

Ponyville wasn't proving to be so bad, after all.