Canterlot
“Hey, Numbers, wake up!” I mumbled at the sound of Riches voice and willed myself to roll over, only to fall off the bed and collapse in a heap of limbs and sheets. I heard her giggle as I groaned, sleepy and oddly comfortable in my new position. “C’mon, get up! We’re almost there!” she said as she nudged me.
“Alright, alright. I’m up.” I tossed my legs around until the sheet made an opening and crawled out. With a huff, I stood and threw the blanket back on the bed. I headed over to the table and pulled the coin purse out of my pouch that was laying upon it. “Alright, looks like we got enough for a small breakfast when we reach town,” I said as I counted out the coins within and placed the bag back in.
I managed to slip the shoulder pouch on and tighten the strap slightly. Riches rolled her eyes and reached over to pull it tight enough that it wouldn’t move. “You are a unicorn. How hard could it be to just use your magic?” she asked as she stepped away.
“I have no idea. I’m still getting the hang of grabbing things and running, let alone fighting and using magic.” The train conductor announced our arrival approaching in five minutes.
“I saw a book about basic magic. It said you just have to will it to happen.”
“Alright, now I know you’re just making it up.” I looked at the candle sitting on the table. “There’s no way I can just... want this candle to float, let’s say.”
“Not ‘want,’ but ‘will.’”
“U-huh...” I stared at the half-melted candle and saw it move up in my mind, but nothing happened. “I don’t get it. Maybe I need to read the book myself.”
“Probably. You’ve never used magic before so it might be different for beginners.”
“Well, whatever. I’ll figure something out later.” The train began to slow down as the conductor announced our arrival. “First, we eat.” Riches nodded in agreement as we walked to one of the train’s exits and waited for our stop.
There were many restaurants in Canterlot, and I knew most of them, but there was a specific place I wanted to go as we stepped off the train. With no time to waste, as we really wanted to eat, I set off down one of Canterlot’s main thoroughfares.
“This place is huge,” Riches said in awe as she looked around. “How do you know where you’re going?”
“Used to live here. Now come on, doughnuts await!” I picked up the pace into a trot, but she had no trouble keeping up. We turned a corner and found what I was headed for, Donut Joe’s.
Stepping inside, a bell rang above the door and Joe came out of the back to greet us. There were ponies sitting at tables and the bar, but it wasn’t crowded for being morning. As we took our seats at the back, I let Riches look at all the doughnuts and decide.
“What’ll you have?” Joe called as he refilled a stallion’s mug further down the bar.
“Sweet black tea and a couple eclairs,” I answered when I looked over.
“And the little miss?”
“Sprinkle frosted glazed doughnuts. Two of them and a black coffee.”
“Coming right up.”
“Wanting of sugar there, Riches?” I asked as I turned to her.
“That’s what the black coffee is for.” I just smiled and shook my head. When I looked back over to where Joe was, I froze.
Sitting, just a few seats down, was Stone. There’s no way I could have confused him with anyone else, as he was the only large grey stallion that wore the Guard’s armor and didn’t have a helmet to hide his red hair. I watched, unmoving, as he laughed with a few squadmates. There he is... alive.
“Here ya go, you two.”
“Thank you!”
He’s right there, completely fine. I didn’t kill him. He doesn’t even know I exist now. I can’t involve myself with him. I might get him hurt again. He might die again. I don-
“Dex!” I snapped out of my trance and turned around to face Riches. “What’s wrong? You look pale.”
“I... I...” I shook my head vigorously. “Nothing, let’s eat.”
“Was that-”
“I said it was nothing,” I snapped and shakingly picked up my tea. The warm liquid soothed some of my nerves going down, but it wasn’t enough.
“Well, now. Are you alright, boy?” Oh dear god, no.
Without turning, I said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Stone sat down in the next seat over out of the corner of my eye. “I heard your filly across the room and now I see you shaking. What’s the matter?” he said in his old stoic voice, so I knew he was being serious about this. I couldn’t just brush him off now. I stayed silent, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to tell the truth either. “Are you in trouble with the law, boy? Is that it?”
“No, he’s not. He’s just nervous,” Riches said as I saw her lean over onto my side. So now I had a filly backing me up and my best friend trying to get the truth on either side of me.
“Nervous? Why we’re just guards. What does have to be nervous for?”
“He gets nervous around authority. If you go back to your table, he’ll be fine.”
“Alright, just one last question then, since it seems you two are from out of town. Have you seen any suspicious activity where you came from?”
“No,” Riches said almost immediately as she pushed off me back to her seat. I mumbled the same and he thanked us before walking off.
I quickly drank the rest of my tea and asked for a refill, using body language since I was still struck mute from the encounter. As Joe refilled my glass, I felt Riches staring at me. When I twisted my head to look at her, she frowned.
“He really is, isn’t he? Why are you so nervous around him, but met me so easily?”
“He...” I looked back down at my plate of untouched eclairs and tried again. “Stone died last time. All because of my mistakes.”
“Were they your mistakes, or were they circumstances outside of your control?”
I stared at the pastries for a long time before finally picking one up and taking a bite. As much as I know that is true, it still comes back to me. All I had to do was not make that oath with Celestia and I never would have left Canterlot and made those Shades.
“You’re trying to rationalize your guilt, aren’t you? Well, stop it. Life is just one circumstance after the other. Even if you changed something, it still could have happened. And don’t say ‘could’ is better than ‘will,’ because that’s just useless want.”
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should try again and ignore what could happen. Besides, I’m not human anymore so everything won’t play out the same this time. I glanced towards the table the guards were at as I took another bite of the pastry. He’s alive and I can talk to him again. Hell, I could even apologize to him. He won’t know what it means, but I’m sure I’ll feel better about it all.
I took a swig of my tea and looked back at Riches. “You know, you are too smart for your own good,” I said with a hint of a smile.
“You know you couldn’t do without me... dad.” I gagged on air for a few moments as she said that.
“D-dad?” I wheezed and reached for my tea.
“‘Your filly,’ he said. I’m just going along with it.”
I settled down after a few gulps of the warm liquid and motioned for a refill. “I think you’re a little too old, and I’m a little too young, to be your dad.”
“Oh, I know. Anything to get your mind off it, though.”
“You are really too smart for your own good.”
“U-huh. Why don’t we pretend for a day? See if anyone thinks otherwise?”
“Ya know what? Why not?” I finished my eclairs and my tea before standing up. “Let me pay and do something first. Finish up.” I set down a few bits to cover our meal and headed over to the guards.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said to Stone as I reached him. “Could we talk for a moment?” He looked up at me, pardoned himself from his men, and walked with me to an empty part of the room.
“Whaddya need, boy?”
I shuffled a bit before speaking. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? Earlier? You’re fine, boy. Nothing to be sorry for. You just get nervous around the Guard; a lot of ponies do, actually.”
“Not that... Something else. I’m sorry for...” I groaned and brought a hoof up to my muzzle. “Look, this will sound crazy, but I’m sorry for essentially getting you killed, in another timeline.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, boy.”
“I know, I know. Just, it’s more for me than you, but I just want to apologize because I feel like I should, even if you don’t understand why.”
He turned serious and said, “This isn’t some ruse to get out of trouble, is it?”
“No, no! I- Look, it’s really complicated and I’m really not in trouble. I just wanted to say I was sorry.” I sighed slowly and started back towards Riches. “I didn’t mean to waste your time,” I said over my shoulder.
“Now hold on there, boy.” Stopping and looking behind me, I saw Stone stare into my eyes for a moment. He eventually loosened up and said, “Well, whatever you might have done, I forgive you.”
I was surprised at how those three words made me feel so much better. I smiled and brought up a hoof. “I’m Dex.”
“Stone,” he said and bumped his own hoof against mine. “If you’re ever in the area, stop by the guard’s training grounds. We’ll talk.”
“I will, and thank you.” He nodded and headed back to his table as I sighed in relief. Riches trotted over and jumped up on my back before laying down with her head on top of my own.
“How’d it go, dad?”
I looked up at her with my eyes. “You’re sitting on me...”
“Yes I am, now answer the question.”
“Fine. It went fine,” I responded as I nodded to Joe and left the building.
“Now we just need to meet your last friend, right?” Riches said as we headed down the street towards the castle.
“I don’t really want to meet her so soon. Sure, you needed some goading and I had to get over my guilt with stone, but Panacea is different in a whole other way.”
“Why do all your friends need to be so complicated to meet?”
“Because... I...” The rest of my sentence was drowned out in my mumbling.
“What was that?”
“I... Pa...”
“One more time?”
“I think I love Panacea.”
We were silent after my bold declaration, turning another corner and wandering aimlessly once more. A park opened up as we rounded another bend and I saw children playing in the grass while their parents talked. A street vendor yelled out his products being on sale and the sun shone down on us as I walked through the open land. We reached the other side when Riches spoke up.
“What did she think of you?”
“She reciprocated, sorta.”
“What do you mean, ‘sorta’?”
“We agreed there may be feelings there, but we stayed friends until we could know for sure.”
“You idiot!” she said as she knocked a hoof on my head. “That means she likes you, not may like you!”
“I know, she proved it when I saw her...” I paused before I said something I shouldn’t and continued with a different train of thought. “But I wasn’t sure about my own feelings. I don’t even know now.”
“Numbers,” she said as she tilted her head over me to look me in the eyes, “I’m a girl too. Do you or don’t you? Right now.”
The only thing I could see was Riches’ face, so I had to stop, which helped since now I had to think. Do I or don’t I, you ask? Well, everything is golden if I do now, huh? Can I see myself with her, always? Do I-
“Stop thinking and just feel! Do you or don’t you?” It felt like I was being backed into a wall.
“You are a pushy little filly aren’t you?” I asked to try stalling her longer.
“Just do it!”
“Yes!” I said suddenly.
It was quiet again, but there were no birds, no kids playing, no adults talking. Riches had disappeared from above my head. It was just me and the wind on a quiet earthen plain. I saw light swirling in the air around me and in front of me, Harmony floated.
“So you finally listened to your heart.”
“I’ve listened to it before,” I said, confused.
“You listened to what the mind thought the heart wanted. Now you can follow your emotions as they should be.”
“Why are you here, Harmony?” I looked around for a moment. “Better yet, why am I here?”
“To congratulate you. Love is a powerful emotion and as long as you listen to your heart, you won’t be so unstable. The heart stabilizes the mind, just as the body supports the two.”
“Any advice for me?”
“As long as you balance the mind and the heart, you will have no more trouble with us. Goodbye, Dex.”
Reality warped back into place and I felt Riches shuffle on top of me. “So you love her,” she stated and I assumed that was my cue to keep walking. Back on the cobblestone streets, I trotted along with her on my head. It was actually not that bad.
“I think I’ll go talk to Celestia,” I said as we got back on the main thoroughfare towards the castle.
“Oh no you don’t. Meet your girlfriend first.”
“Riches, she doesn’t even remember me, so she can’t be my girlfriend. Besides, she’s probably busy at the hospital right now.”
“And the princess isn’t?”
“Of course she is, but she’ll make time for me; she always has.”
“Numbers, you aren’t a knight anymore, remember?”
“Aw hell... I forgot. It’s just, I’m so used to having free reign over the castle. Well, how does one normally gain an audience with the princess then?”
“Through registering, probably.”
“Oh wait, I got an idea.”
“No. No ideas. Go talk to Panacea,” Riches said as she turned my head towards the hospital. She was lucky it was on the same street.
“Fine, but if she’s busy, we’re going to talk to Celestia first.” With the deal struck, I marched ourselves over to the hospital’s large doors and entered.
“Panacea, your boyfriend is here!”
“Honestly, hun. You know we aren’t like that.”
“Sir?”
“Huh?” I managed as I shook myself out of a daze. Whatever I had just heard must’ve just been my imagination, as the receptionist was looking at me oddly.
“I asked you what services you required.”
“Ah, yes. I’m here to see Panacea. Is she in?”
“One moment, she’s in with a patient,” she said as she smiled. “Just have a seat and she’ll be right out.” I heard the receptionist page further down the hall as I took a seat against the wall. Somehow, Riches was keeping her balance.
“What’s the plan, Numbers?” she asked quietly while looking down the corridor.
“No idea. Maybe just say hello?”
“Yeah, that’s a great idea. ‘Oh, hello. I just wanted to say that while you were working.’ I don’t think that will go over so well.”
“Well, you think of something. Last time, I was gravely injured when we met.”
“Just do what you did last time.”
“She’s at work. I told you she’d be too busy to talk.” I glanced down the hallway to see Pan step out of a room and froze. She trotted towards the front desk and, after a brief nod towards our direction by the receptionist, turned to us.
Upon seeing me and Riches, she paused for a moment before walking up to us. “Hello, I hear you wanted to see me?” she said in that calm manner that was so fun to toy with. I mumbled incoherently before Riches came to my aid once again.
“Hi, I’m Riches and this is Dex. He’s here to talk to you, but he’s being silly right now.” She then proceeded to wap me on the head with a hoof again.
Pan looked stunned for a moment. “Dex?” She paused and took a closer look at me. “I feel like I know you from somewhere... And that name is so familiar for some reason.”
Could it be that she remembers something? No, no. It’s not possible. Time was reset. But what if it’s true? Maybe I can work with this? I lifted a hoof nervously and said, “The feeling is mutual, believe me.”
She knocked her own hoof against mine. “I’m Panacea, the head nurse here at Canterlot Medical.”
“Hey, how about we go for lunch?” asked Riches from atop my head.
“That sounds wonderful, Riches. It will give me a chance to talk without worrying about work. Just let me punch out real quick.”
I watched Pan walk off towards the break room where ponies clock in and out of work. “That was too easy.”
“Every mare likes a good meal.”
“No, not that. She feels something about me, like the universe wasn’t entirely reset.”
“Of course not. If it was, you wouldn’t exist at all. Look at the loose ends and find the truth behind the veil.”
So her remembering me is a loose end from my judgment?
“She doesn’t remember you, her emotions feel you.”
Why are you helping me so much? I thought this was a punishment?
“I am watching you, helping is just a side effect.”
So you’ll be watching over me forever?
“Not forever, just until you find your center.”
Well, that’s nice to know.
“Oh, here she comes. Have fun~”
I got the feeling Harmony was getting enjoyment out of my situation. Then again, I did choose her option, so maybe she wanted to play with me. In either case, I was now stuck trying to figure out why everything seemed to fall into place and how I was going to deal with Panacea.
She returned a few moments later and we agreed to go to a local cafe. All the while, Riches never left my head. As we placed our orders, she hopped off and took a seat of her own. Panacea looked between the two of us and opened conversation.
“Does your daughter normally ride on your head a lot?” Riches and I turned to each other for a few moments before she started giggling as I smirked in return. Pan nervously glanced between the two of us. “What? What did I say?”
“She’s not my daughter. She’s a friend of mine who thought it would be fun to see how long it would take someone to think otherwise.”
“And you went along with it,” Pan responded blankly. I smiled weakly in response and she continued. “Why don’t we discuss why we feel so odd towards each other?”
I sat back and contemplated the best way to explain things, before Riches rolled her eyes and took the initiative. “He remembers you from before the world reset and you feel something for him because love is stronger than time.” Pan stared wide-eyed at the filly as I turned toward Riches with a glare. “What?” she asked as she saw me. “Like you would have said anything.”
“I was trying to come up with something that didn’t sound so crazy,” I hissed.
“If it’s the truth, it doesn’t matter how crazy it sounds.”
“Is it true?” Pan interjected. “Did we know each other before?”
I sighed and asked if she wanted the whole story. Upon her request, I began relaying everything I told Riches back in Slade. The food came and we ate, the filly and I taking turns telling the story when one of us took a bite. As we concluded both the story and the meal, Pan’s visage changed from curiosity to indignant.
“Are you two scam artists?” she asked. The shocked looks on Riches’ face must have rivaled my own as the nurse looked between us.
“What?” I turned to Riches. “See? I told you it’s too crazy to believe.”
“It’s not too crazy to believe, it’s too practiced to believe. I can see it if you told her your story, but I can’t see her relaying so much of it so easily.”
“She’s smarter than she looks,” I said, which earned me a glare from the filly. “I have to deal with her insight all the time.”
“So after telling her your story once, she memorized it well enough to pick up where you stop?” At my nod, she relented. “It’s true then?” Another nod from me and she sighed.
“I better get back to work,” the nurse said as she got up.
“Wha- but- I- Wait!” I fumbled through my words, trying to slow her down.
“Bye, Panacea!” Riches said as the nurse started back towards the hospital. Then, the filly turned to me. “I can see why you like her.”
“Yeah, she’s... Pan,” I said slowly as I watched her go. Dejected, I dropped the bits for lunch on the table and stood up. “Come on, I should talk to the princess.” Riches caught up beside me as I stepped back onto the main street from the outdoor cafe and I could see her peering up at me out of the corner of my eye.
“Give her some time, Numbers. She’ll come around.” I barely nodded my head at her words. “So what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” I asked, confused at the sudden topic change.
“You had an idea earlier about getting in to see the princess.”
“Hmm, you’ll see.”
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oh this is gonna be good
Ah, Riches, you smart little filly you. So cuuuuute!
And on another note; AHA! I knew it! Harmony was stacking the deck in Dex's favor!
Hm, I wonder if ChAoS won't show up later, to cause a bit of mayhem, as payback for destroying his champion maybe?
1029392
Discord is back. The universe was reset, so he's just stone again. What payback could there be? I mean, 'it never happened' and such... Harmony isn't stacking the deck in his favor, she's just watching him... I mean, ponies can be nice! Maybe that pony really did just want to help him out? ... ... ... ...You're not buying it, are you?
Also, you REALLY want something bad to happen to Dex, don't you? What did he ever do to you?!
1029465
Hehe, yeah, it does sound like im out for Dex's blood, isn't it?
But, actually, it's just that I like it when a well written protagonist has to overcome obstacles in his life, and further develop his character through that.
And yeah, I know, Discord was reset aswell. But, since Harmony is already meddling in things, why wouldn't the other Titans? Especially since it seems that Dex has become their latest entertainment, atleast that is what I seem to be getting, when I read Harmonies replies to Dex.
And on another note, I am pretty sure I know how Dex is going to get an audience with the princess *cough* Stone *cough*. Oh sorry, I think I got something stuck in my throat there
But, as always, can't wait to read what will continue to happen in the life of Dex!
1029567
Well too bad, this is the ending. Everything goes right in the ending.
Except when it doesn't...
1029583
Gah! No, N64Fan, be silent of your omni knowledge! Do not tell me the meaning of life, the universe and everything!
1029602
TOO BAD, I TELL YOU ANYWAY!
FORTY TWO
1029611
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*gasp* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
another excilent chapter, my good man
I thought I remember reading earlier that there was a punishment for Dex telling others about the 'universal reset' and all?
1029602 and the question is what is six times seven