This time both Starlight and Spike came out of the portal onto a cobblestone street. They wasted no time in looking around to figure out where they were again. And though it was later in the day, with the sun starting to creep down past the horizon, it was even easier to tell where the portal had dropped them off this time. The most recognizable city in the world was hard to mistake for anywhere else.
“Canterlot...” Starlight murmured as she looked around.
“We could’ve been brought here for twenty different reasons, sheesh,” Spike scratched his head.
“I know. I think this might already take us a little longer to figure out and… uh… is something off about the city to you?” Starlight asked.
Spike raised an eyebrow but before he opened his mouth he noticed she was right. As someone born and raised in Canterlot he figured it out too. It was quiet. And empty. No one was around and traveling the streets, no noise came from any of the buildings around them. For a busy city like Canterlot, capitol of Equestria, that just never happened. Or never should happen at least.
“Okay, this is already weird. There’s definitely something wrong going on here,” Spike said.
“Let’s just… hm,” Starlight paused, thinking. “If we go to the castle we could talk to the Princesses but… if there are still normal versions of us who are fixtures in this world that could cause problems. I think we should just walk around the city for a bit to try and figure this out on our own.”
Spike nodded and shrugged. “Alright, whatever you say.”
It was clear at least that Canterlot certainly wasn’t abandoned, even if no ponies were out on the street. For one the castle was visible from where they were and it was well lit as dusk approached. Both Starlight and Spike could see lights in its many windows. The buildings around them also certainly looked clean and lived in, the streets weren’t dusty, and every now and then they saw the silhouette of a pony in the window of one of the buildings. So definitely not abandoned, they hadn’t stumbled on the apocalypse just yet, ponies for some reason just weren’t out on the street.
“This is kind of creepy. Even more than if no one was around,” Spike said.
“I know what you mean. I’m tempted to just go up to the next door and knock, see if anyone will even answer,” Starlight said.
However that line of action was interrupted when something came floating down from above them.
Two pegasi royal guards came down from the sky and landed on the street right in front of them with big smiles on their faces.
“Well hey there, fellow citizens!” The lead guard said. “Don’t you know it’s past curfew? You should really be home right now!”
“Curfew?” Starlight scrunched up her nose.
“This early?” Spike looked up at the nearly lowered sun.
“That’s right! So what say you both head home before either one of you gets written up!” The guard said—still smiling. Though in his and his comrade’s eyes there was a decided lack of friendliness. And as he stood there looking at them, his head tilted to the side and his smile somewhat faded as he realized something. “Hey wait… aren’t you the former student and dragon assistant of Princess Twilight?”
The other guard lost his smile briefly and coughed.
“Er, former Princess Twilight,” the first guard corrected.
Starlight frowned and Spike also looked quite worried.
“Wait. Former student? Former Princess?” Starlight questioned.
The guards were now equally confused and their smiles faded for a moment before they caught themselves and put them back even wider on their faces.
“Yep! But just cause you’re different from the average citizen don’t expect us to treat you any different. After all, no one should be treated differently just because they’re different,” the guard proudly nodded to himself as if he had just successfully recited a speech or correctly remembered his line from a play. Which he might very much have done.
“Yeah...” Starlight reached over and grabbed Spike, her horn sparking as she cast her teleportation spell. The two of them vanished in a burst of magic—leaving two flustered and confused guards behind.
“Well there’s definitely something really weird going on here,” Starlight said after she and Spike reappeared in an alley a few streets over.
“Tell me about it. The curfew, the smiling, that speech, and apparently something has happened to the Twilight of this world. And probably the you and me too,” Spike said.
“They recognized us but were confused to see us, not just because we’re breaking this “curfew” either,” Starlight agreed. “Something definitely happened to Equestria. I’m guessing Twilight isn’t the only one who isn’t a Princess any longer. What I’m confused about is how anything I did lead to this. What did I do in Canterlot that could lead to the Princesses being overthrown or even just stepping down?”
“I dunno, but we better figure it out quickly,” Spike shrugged.
Together they looked up past the tops of the buildings at the quickly darkening sky, making sure they weren’t being watched by any guards. It didn’t seem like they had anything to worry about. Not yet at least. No alarm had been sounded and they didn’t see any figures shooting through the sky or hear any hooves rampaging over the stone streets. The curfew kept things quiet enough where they could hear a pin drop.
“We should sneak around some more to figure out what’s going on,” Starlight said.
Spike raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“What?” Starlight frowned.
“Nothing, nothing,” he raised his hands in supplication. “Just surprised your first plan wasn’t to barge into the castle and start demanding answers, throwing guards around left and right.”
“I wouldn’t do that. At first,” Starlight said. “If we’re solving these problems we should be solving them in the right way. Otherwise we might just cause more chaos when we should be getting rid of it. So we’re going to do things the Twilight Sparkle way and use friendship until we have no other option. So let’s hurry up because we still should be fixing these problems as fast as we can and it’s probably going to take longer to fix them the right way.”
“I mean, I can’t disagree with you there,” Spike said. “So do we just try and sneak by on our hooves and feet? It should be dark really soon anyways.”
“We still know Canterlot well, I think if we keep our eyes open the guards wont be a problem,” Starlight said. “Worst comes to worst and we can just hide somewhere until morning once the curfew is over.”
“Morning might be even tougher to get around though... depending on how things actually are here.
Starlight nodded. “Yeah, either way we have work to do. Let’s go.”
“Do you want to see if we can find any other ponies who might be willing to talk?” Spike asked.
Starlight stopped for a moment before leaving the alley. “Mmm... maybe. I don’t think we have to worry about who we run into in this world. But ponies might not be willing to talk to us anyways.”
In a few minutes the both of them silently snuck around the dark streets of Canterlot as the sun went down and it finally became evening. Crawling along the walls of the buildings or using side streets as much they could to stay out of sight of any potential guards in the air. Canterlot was a big city and parts of it could be nearly labyrinthine, especially at night, but that actually just made it easier for them to avoid any others and travel stealthily through the city they knew so well. Eventually they made it to a more residential area of the city where numerous fancy houses stood on one side of the street. Though Starlight didn’t expect much, she figured they should at least give knocking a try or two.
It didn’t amount to much. The few times they knocked and got any response at all it was just a “Go away”, “It’s past curfew we can’t talk”, “Leave us alone”, “We’re not breaking the rules”, at best.
After that last one they got a hastily added “This is what we would say to anyone, because we’d never treat anyone differently for any reason”.
Starlight and Spike both had to raise a confused eyebrow at that. They couldn’t tell if ponies were being friendly or unfriendly right now. The way they were acting didn’t seem like it would come from the typical sort of oppression. And even the guards were still the same ponies as before. The more they learned the less they figured out.
They left the residential area and started to make their way through the heart of the city in a roundabout way towards the castle. It looked like they’d have to go there soon enough but they still wanted to learn more first.
Passing by on the street in front of the larger buildings of Canterlot, some lights from above caught their attention and they looked up at the face of the building. A huge banner was hung from the top of it while a few small lights kept it lit up even in the dead of night. Starlight and Spike both felt their jaws slowly drop open and their eyes widen as they looked at it—and the positively weird thing drawn on it.
There were two figures on the banner, hoof in arm, almost hugging, and smiling out at anyone who walked by and looked at it. The bottom of the banner also had a number of faceless ponies of all tribes, drawn only with smiles, while the top showed a bright and sunny sky. Both of the centerpieces of the banner were familiar figures to Starlight and Spike—one quite well known and the other not so much but still easily recognizable. The fact that they were together like this and smiling happily was the weird part. Back in their world it was almost certain that the two not only had never met but probably had never even heard of one another.
Spike, used to so many strange things by now, slowly lifted a single claw and pointed at the banner. “Why is there a huge banner of Tempest Shadow and Iron Will hugging here?”
“I have no idea,” Starlight honestly answered.
“Did we uh… did we ever meet those two when we were stuck in time?” Spike asked.
“We definitely didn’t run into Tempest. I’m not even sure what we could’ve done that would result in this. It’s insane,” Starlight said.
Spike looked at her. “What about Iron Will?”
“I did meet him at Canterlot when we were staying with Celestia. I don’t think you were with me for that. He was here pushing a new book or something, I gave him some business advice and that was it,” Starlight shrugged. “I-I genuinely have no idea what’s going on anymore.”
“So what do we do to figure this out?” Spike shrugged in turn.
Starlight frowned up at the banner and turned her attention to Canterlot Castle in the distance. “I think now it’s time for us to go the castle and start demanding answers. But peacefully.”
“I somehow get the feeling that none of this is going to end well,” Spike gulped.
“Probably. But we’re still going to do the best we can to handle this the right way,” Starlight said and reached out a hoof to Spike. “Come on—we’re taking the direct approach.”
Spike grabbed her hoof. “Whatever you say...”
As soon as they were connected, Starlight’s horn lit up once more as she prepared for a long range teleport. She knew the layout of the castle well and exactly where she wanted to go. This would likely get them in trouble at first, but they needed to get into the castle and she wanted to avoid a fight to do that. Once inside she’d talk her way out somehow. And hopefully convince whoever she could to let her see Tempest Shadow, Iron Will, or whoever might have actually been in charge here.
In a burst of static magic the two of them flashed away to the castle.
An instant later they reappeared in a corridor inside of Canterlot Castle. Close to the throne room but still away from anywhere guards should be actively guarding. Unless they were unlucky enough to appear right as a patrol was going by. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and all that happened was Spike grabbing his belly as soon as the teleportation was finished.
“Ugh... I think all this teleportation and going through interdimensional portals is making me sick.”
Starlight smirked and patted him on the back. “You’ll be fine.”
“I guess... so where to from here?” Spike asked.
“We go right to the throne room and ask if we can talk to who’s in charge,” Starlight shrugged.
“That’s not nearly as good of an idea as I thought you had...” Spike sighed.
"It’s the best idea that doesn’t involve me blasting the doors down,” Starlight said.
“I guess that’s true,” Spike admitted. “Sadly.”
“The only reason I didn’t take us right into the throne room is that would’ve caused a huge panic and there’s no way we could talk it down. This way at least I bet I can still get us in without too much trouble,” Starlight said.
“That’s if whoever is in charge even lets anyone come see them,” Spike said.
“Well maybe if they don’t we’ll have to make ourselves too important to ignore,” Starlight smiled.
“I don’t like that smile on your face...”
The two of them calmly walked through the quiet castle towards the nearby throne room as if it was just an ordinary day, as if they were back in their world and getting ready to visit Celestia or Luna. If they looked like they belonged it was far more likely that the guards would think they belonged. However, it didn’t seem to matter too much. Even for evening the castle was much quieter than it was supposed to be. They didn’t come across any guards until they were walking right down the hallway towards the throne room.
Starlight kept a happy smile on her face to appear normal, especially for what goes as normal around here apparently, and walked right up to the two guards who flanked either side of the door. They were smiling their big eerie smiles too, with their eyes watching her the whole time.
“Hello!” Starlight said, waving at them. “Is um... whoever’s in charge available to see right now?”
Spike rolled his eyes.
“The First Citizen is always available to meet with her fellow citizens! She’s happy to answer any questions and deal with any problems that might be occurring in Equestria!” The guard on the right said. “Uh, although there aren’t really problems anymore. Because everyone treats everyone kindly and no one would get bullied or mistreated anywhere!”
“That’s right,” the other guard nodded.
“Okay... so I can walk on in?” Starlight asked.
“Of course!” The guard on the right nodded. Suddenly his smile dropped and he did a double-take. “Wait—isn’t it past curfew?”
“Uhhhh...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.
“And hey, aren’t you two...” the guard on the left narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. “You two should be imprisoned in Tartarus right now, shouldn’t you?”
Spike and Starlight shared an uneasy grimace. The short dragon chuckled uneasily and shrugged.
“Um, we got let out?”
“Oh, okay then,” the left guard nodded. Then frowned. “Wait, no, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah this doesn’t seem right,” the right guard said.
“Well then take us in to see the First Citizen so she can set things right herself,” Starlight shrugged.
The two guards looked at each other.
“I mean...” the right guard started.
“I don’t think it matters that much, does it? If they broke out she’ll just send them back,” the left guard said.
“Weirder things have happened lately anyways...” the right guard scratched his head and shrugged. “Alright, I give up, have a nice meeting with the First Citizen.”
“Thank you,” Starlight smiled and whispered down to Spike as the guards opened up the doors. “And we didn’t have to get violent or have me use any brainwashing spells at all. That’s what I call progress!”
“It might go bad right now though. Tempest was pretty dangerous before Twilight changed her, she has to be this “First Citizen”, we need to be careful going in there. Especially since the guards don’t seem worried about her,” Spike whispered back.
“If we can just get her talking instead of immediately fighting, we should be good,” Starlight said.
The doors were opened completely and the guards allowed Starlight and Spike to walk in without anymore fanfare. As soon as they were past the threshold the smiling guards let the doors close again and Starlight and Spike stood there, at the entrance to the throne room, and were baffled by what they saw. This was not the throne room they were familiar with. A lot of renovations had been made.
First off there were numerous searchlights and electrical lights all across the pillars and ceiling, illuminating the room more than it ever had been. And the stained glass windows that used to show great and important events in Equestria’s history had been replaced by paintings of Iron Will making various body-building poses. Most notably of all however was at the very back of the throne room where the throne itself used to be.
It was gone.
That whole area had been leveled and replaced by a large desk where books and papers overflowed from it like a library had dumped its entire contents everywhere. Behind the desk was a large banner hanging from the ceiling showing a grinning Tempest Shadow holding a staff. A familiar staff that again both Starlight and Spike recognized as being the weapon of the Storm King in their world—the Staff of Sacanas. At the top of the banner a phrase had been printed in large lettering: TO THE BETTERMENT OF PONIES EVERYWHERE
Besides the one long desk there was a second smaller desk off to the side that was also surrounded by towers of books. Though Starlight could tell they were all copies of the same book. That desk had one big, velvety red chair behind it.
And several overflowing bags of bits behind it.
And a big golden statue of Iron Will behind those.
Starlight and Spike weren’t surprised to see who was sitting where.
On the red velvety chair was Iron Will, looking like he was in the middle of autographing every single book on and around his desk. When he noticed someone had come into the throne room he looked up at the two of them. Immediately his brow furrowed in thought when his eyes landed on Starlight. Behind the larger desk was Tempest Shadow, directly beneath her banner, with a straight line of view to them as they walked into the throne room. She was smiling.
At them. And not in a friendly way.
“Uh, hi,” Starlight waved to her.
“Well, well, well,” Tempest said as she stood up from her simple chair. “If it isn’t Starlight Glimmer and Spike. Escaped from Tartarus? Did the guards let you in themselves? It doesn’t matter, I don’t know why you would’ve come back here but it’s a big mistake on your part. Did you think you could talk things out with me? Try and change my mind again? It’s pointless. And it’ll be back to Tartarus with you in just a moment.”
Sparks started to shoot from her horn while Starlight pushed Spike behind her and lit hers up as well-
“Wait! Hold on!” Iron Will shouted and stood up from his chair.
All eyes turned to him as he stared at Starlight and rubbed his chin.
“What is it?” Tempest raised an eyebrow.
“This is Starlight Glimmer?” Iron Will held out a hand towards her.
“Yes. Why?” Tempest asked.
“I know her.”