Prologue

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Celestia looked down at the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle. Today was her first day as the Princess personal student, and while it wouldn’t start for another few hours, Celestia was very much looking forward to having a student again. It had been... it had been three hundred years since she last taught somepony personally. She hadn't realised it had been so long.

But she wasn’t here to watch a filly sleep. No, she was here because she had a problem, and the source of that problem was also here.

Twilight had been given the standard psychological entrance exam; an impossible task. And then she went ahead and did it. And then she kept on going and did even more impossible things. Not content with simply hatching a dragon egg, she had proceeded to summon something.

And that ‘something’ was the source of her problem.

It was glaring at her from the bed opposite Twilight’s. They had both been quarantined when she had realised what had happened. Twilight had accepted that, probably just happy she wasn’t being punished. But it hadn’t been as docile. It had fought against the guards trying to restrain it, injuring one badly enough to require treatment and gave another a black eye. She knew that was only because they hadn’t expected something so small or thin to attack armoured guards. But it was still a problem. It had attacked guards. It was obviously violent. But that was understandable. It had been ripped from its home only to find itself in a collapsing tower. It had even saved Twilight and the hatchling.

She turned from Twilight and went over to it’s bed. She lifted the clipboard hanging from the end and raised it to eye level. No doctor had known what it was, but a few working together had managed to cobble together a hopefully decent assessment. As limited as their knowledge of it was, anything was useful. What they knew so far was that it is bipedal, likely of ape or monkey descent, and omnivorous. It was male, and was apparently young. There was a note saying it had panicked when they checked that. The notes also went on to say that it seemed to need clothing for warmth. It was also intelligent. At least, it had seemed to be speaking. It had apparently assigned names to the doctors checking it over. When it saw Twilight was down here as well, it seemed curious about her, and when she got up and walked about it had smiled. Or bared its teeth.

A few more, shorter notes, detailing the injuries it had when admitted. Some burns, some bruises and two broken bones. One of them was an old break that had never quite healed right. A few old scars. It was also noted that it had been filthy and stank. It had insisted on cleaning itself, and seemed to know to avoid getting bandages wet. While it seemed happier to be clean, it had insisted on keeping the rags it had been wearing when it had arrived. There were a few more notes, but those seemed to mention things of little import. It couldn’t sit still for long, it was a little jumpy, it had watched everything going on around it. All understandable, given the situation.

In fact, the only thing not understandable, was it.

She could still sweep this under the rug. Have a few of the more trusted guards disappear it, tell everyone it must have been a temporary summon, and never mention it again.

She placed the clipboard back where it belonged and looked at the thing in front of her. It looked back up at her. It glared at her. It had been almost a thousand years - nine hundred and eighty eight, to be precise - since somepony, or even something, had glared at her. And this, this colt, for want of a better word, had just arrived, had to know she was important from the way everypony bowed when she walked in the room. And he glared at her.

It had been so very, very long since she had been seen as anything less than a goddess, as an ideal to be aspired to, but never reached. And this young thing glared up at her with it’s small, dark eyes, as if daring her to do it.

No, she would not do that. It had been ripped from it’s home. She would not take it’s life from it as well.

She would also have to stop referring to him as ‘it’.

But what to do with it, with him? She usually gave her students an assistant of some kind, to help with the increased workload of both their normal studies and the extra ones she assigned. And, of course, to make sure they actually spoke to somepony other than her. She was going to assign the dragon hatchling, but it would be years before it was old enough to help. Yes, this would be better.

She would have to figure out what to do about the dragon. Perhaps giver her two assistants? Or raise it in the castle? It would need thinking about. She turned her attention back to the thing in the bed.

His face was inches from hers.

Only a very long life kept her from flinching. How had he managed to sneak up on her? He should have been tied down! Then she saw the straps. They had been done up, he must have slipped out of them.

He was standing on the bed, looking her dead in the eye. One of his arms moved slowly, reaching up to the side of her head. He stopped near her ethereal mane, the colours shimmering, as if blowing in a breeze that wasn’t there. Gently, very gently, he stroked her mane, his small hand barely touching her. After a single stroke, his hand dropped back to it’s side.

“You’re real, aren’t you.”

Celestia was too stunned to respond. Only twice in her life had she ever been as surprised as she was right now. It hadn’t sounded like a question, but the fact that he had spoken at all made that irrelevant. And she had understood it, but the doctors hadn’t. Eventually, he blinked, the first time she had seen him do so, and looked away. He turned and walked across the bed. When he reached the top, he lay down, curled up into a ball and began to quietly cry.

Celestia left him to his tears. As the door closed behind her, she heard the clip-clop of little hooves on marble. A minute or so after they stopped, and so did the tears.

A year later

Princess Celestia looked over her desk at Prof. Sharp Quill, teacher at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. On the desk were two sets of report cards, one with the name ‘Twilight Sparkle’ written in Sharp Quill’s neat hornwriting’.

Twilight’s report card was, quite honestly, perfect. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect attitude, perfect behaviour. She had already started correcting the curriculum, something the professors had raised a hue and cry about at first, but stopped when Twilight begun apologizing profusely and crying.

The other report card was... not as good. The name on it was ‘Michael’. His less than stellar grades were excusable, considering his circumstances. The fact he had passed at all was amazing. And his attendance was as perfect as it could be. His teachers had described him as quiet, willing to listen and happy to learn. But. There had been a problem, early in the year, with bullies.

Apparently, some of the foals of the richer families had thought he was a pet of Twilight’s, and offered to buy him. The situation had ended with a pair of the foals requiring a visit to Canterlot General Hospital, where they received a total of twenty three stitches and a cast. According to one teaching assistant who had seen the start of it, the foals had started pressuring Twilight into selling her ‘pet’, when Michael snapped.

To her credit, Twilight was horrified by the display. Celestia was horrified by the display. By the doctor’s estimates, Michael was at roughly the same stage in his life as colts Twilight’s age, and with his word that his species lived to around eighty or one hundred years, he was the same age as Twilight. The idea a child could do something so violent, and then act like nothing had happened shocked the Princess like little else could.

It hadn’t ended there, of course. The families of the injured foals had begun trying to get Michael imprisoned, or banished, or banished and then imprisoned in the place he had been banished to. She honestly had no idea where the last one had come from. The foals themselves, while reluctant to confront Michael, had instead taken to spreading rumours about Twilight and him.

The fact that Twilight had gone through her first heat shortly after the rumour began, and had been seen chasing Michael through the castle halls, hadn’t helped. The poor boy had barely managed to outrun her, and when he finally got away he had vanished for two weeks, coming back filthy, bruised and with an escort of guards. How he had managed to stay hidden was a mystery, considering that he was a head taller than most ponies, and looked like a thin, almost hairless Diamond Dog. There had been rumours of something that looked like him being seen around Little Griffonia, but nothing had ever come of it.

Celestia looked up from the report cards when Sharp Quill cleared her throat.

“Are you pleased, Your Majesty?” the professor asked.

“Of course. Twilight’s is nothing short of amazing, and Michael’s is, well, understandable. What classes would you recommend they take next year?”

“Well, Your Highness, Twilight could probably take them all, if she wanted to. So, it boils down to what she wants to do. I would recommend that she take less courses, and focus on them. The practical magic and magical theory courses, along with history and astronomy. Something to get her outside the classroom would be wonderful, but I doubt she would go for it,” she said, tapping her chin with a hoof. “Not that I mean anything by that, Princess,” she added, realising what she had said.

“It is fine, Sharp Quill. Truth be told, I agree with you,” Celestia confided. “Twilight spends far too much time indoors. But we can discuss that later. What of Michael?”

Sharp Quill tapped the relevant report card. “I don’t think his future is in academia, Your Highness. He is intelligent, and he can work hard, but I truly think he only does it for Twilight.”

Celestia frowned slightly, thinking quickly. “The Guard, perhaps?”

“I do not think that is wise,” Sharp Quill said. She spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Michael... does not like you. I don’t think he would do well in your Guard.”

That would be troublesome. The Royal Guard were her strongest supporters, some of them being just shy of fanatical. “I could have him assigned to guard Twilight. If I make it known that will be his post, then the Captain will make sure he is treated the same as any other recruit. As much as possible, at least.”

“That makes sense, Your Highness. I don’t think they would be happy separated either. So, with that in mind, magical theory would be a good idea, along with history. And perhaps physics, with practical applications in the later years. Does that sound good to you, Princess?”

“It does, yes. It matches well with what the Guard Captains throughout the years have asked for in recruits,” Celestia said, thoughtfully.

“Of course, there is still the chance he won’t go for it,” Sharp Quill pointed out.

“I don’t think there is much chance of that.”

Four years later

“Form up!”

Celestia watched the newest recruits train from her balcony. Her faithful student was next to her, looking between the railings, her eyes flicking between two figures below.

One was a white unicorn with a mane that was three shades of blue. His cutie mark was a blue shield with a purple star in the centre, and he watched the new recruits with sharp eyes, ready to spot even the smallest mistake.

The other was not a pony. He stood on two legs, head and shoulders above his fellow recruits, but despite this he was still thinner of limb and chest. He had pale skin, and his only hair was atop his head, a mess of dark brown.

For the fifth time in twice as many minutes, Twilight asked her, “Are you sure he’ll be okay?”

Celestia smiled at her students concern. “Yes, Twilight, I am sure. The most dangerous thing to happen in the first few months of training is sparring, and few of the recruits, if any, will know how to fight. Indeed, your friend may be the safest one down there; he knows how to fight ponies, they do not know how to fight him.”

Twilight let out a sigh. “I’d be happier if he wasn’t doing any fighting at all.”

The Princess and her student watched as the Captain of the Guard led the recruits through group exercises. There was the usual amount of stumbling and tripping over hooves as they learned what each command meant. Surprisingly, Michael took to this like a duck to water. Though, being bipedal, the various turns and maneuvers were somewhat easier for him than they were for quadrupeds like the ponies and griffons that made up the Guard.

“Odds are that he won’t see any actual combat, Twilight. The last few decades have been remarkably peaceful. Quite possibly, the worst thing he will have to deal with will be annoyed nobles.”

“Thats not too bad, I suppose,” the purple unicorn said. “I just wish he didn’t have to fight at all.”

“I know, Twilight, and I understand. But this is his choice, so we have to support him.”

“I know, Princess, and I will. But I barely see him now, and after training he’ll be sent away.”

Celestia nodded, but said nothing. She lifted a wing and pulled Twilight into a hug. This next part would not be difficult. Twilight would not want a guard, to be sure, but Celestia was sure she wouldn’t mind if it was him.

“Is there something you would like me to do about that, Twilight?” Celestia asked her.

The little unicorn’s head shot up. “You could have him posted in Canterlot. I could see him everyday then.”

“Like you see your brother everyday?” Twilight’s chagrined look told Celestia she was close. She had, at most, four years before everything had to be in place. It would make doing what she had to much easier if Twilight had a Guard nearby when she faced Her.

Celestia pushed that train of thought from her mind. Time enough for that later. The other five were in place, in a town on the forest’s edge. No, focus. She looked down to see Twilight, deep in thought. Not an uncommon sight, to be sure, but it was usually directed at a book, not the sky.

“He could guard me,” she said, quietly, at last.

“And why would you need guarding? You are my student, yes, but if you have ever been in need of a guard, I have yet to hear of it.” She felt a touch of guilt as Twilight’s face dropped, but squashed it ruthlessly.

“I, I could help you organise things?” Twilight half said, half asked. “I mean, I’m very good at organising, and I only two or three years left in my studies before I graduate. Maybe after that, I can help you.”

Celestia allowed herself a small smile. Perfect. “I would like that very much, Twilight. For now, you keep your focus on your studies. I’m sure your brother will not object to you having a guard, at least. Especially not him.”

Of course, Shining Armour already knew she was planning on having Michael guard Twilight. While he would be trained with Earth Ponies, he would have medical training beyond what most Guards received, as well as one or two other additional courses. The official line would be that his hands made such things more sanitary, or just made it possible, but the truth was the Guard Captain wanted the one guarding his sister to be as proficient as possible.

Four years later

Princess Celestia looked up from her desk when the door to her study opened.

“You wanted to see me, Princess?” her faithful student asked. It was odd, but looking at her right now, Celestia could only just see the little filly she had taken on as her student. Oh, there were hints of her here and there, in the baby fat on the cheeks, in the curiosity in the eyes, but for the most part Twilight Sparkle had grown up.

“I did, Twilight. As you know, in two days the Summer Sun Celebration is being held in Ponyville, a small town near the foot of Mount Canterlot. However, the pony I had going to make a final check has taken ill. I was hoping you would be willing to go in her stead.”

“I’d be honoured, Princess. I’ll pack and leave right away!”

Celestia turned and looked out the window. The sky was perfectly clear, the moon and stars shining with a gentle light. She turned back to Twilight. “It can wait until morning, I think. Everypony will be asleep now, so you would not be able to check on the preparations. Though you probably should pack now.”

Twilight blushed at that, before bidding her a goodnight and leaving. The sight that warmed Celestia’s heart. Yes, her little student was all grown up. She just hoped it would be enough.

Chapter 1

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Twilight hopped out of the sky carriage just behind me, stopping to give the pegasi pulling it a quick ‘thank you.’ After a nod, the pair took off back to Canterlot.

“Where’s our first stop?” Twilight asked, looking around. Ponyville wasn't big, being a rural village supported mostly by farming. Twilight took the time to look around while I looked through the check-list the Princess had given us. I had opened my mouth to answer when a bright pink pony stopped to look at us.

This struck me as a little odd. I could understand me being stared at. Didn't like it, but understood it. Twilight, though, I didn't get. I got even more confused when, after Twilight tried to say ‘hi’ to the mare, she let out a huge gasp, jumped her own height straight up, and took off without another word.

Twilight and I shared a look. “Okaay. Moving on. Where’s our first stop?”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” I said quietly. I always spoke quietly in public. Talking loudly brought attention, which I got more than enough of. That used to annoy her, but she was used to it now. It made hearing me a challenge sometimes, at least in Canterlot. “Its that way,” I said, pointing, and quickly fell in beside the purple unicorn as she started walking.

A lot of ponies were looking our way now. Most of them had likely never seen a Royal Guard before, especially not one on two legs. I did look a little bit intimidating, I guess. And I didn't have the golden plate armour the rest of the Guard had. Instead, I have what's called ‘chain armour’, made of tightly linked steel rings, burnished and oiled until they shone. I had a set of padding under and over it though, which took care of the whole ‘metal on skin’ problem.

Of course, if my shape and armour weren't enough, I was armed on top of that. They could probably see the hilt over my right shoulder. Twilight had asked my not to bring my sword, saying it made her nervous, but I had refused, citing the nearness of the Everfree as proof I needed it. She had reluctantly agreed.

We walked in silence, unconsciously taking a route that avoided the centre of the town, where most of the residents would be this time of the day. When we were a few minutes outside of the village, we passed the first row of apple trees. Twilight said it should be a short walk after that, but the rows of trees just kept going. We had been walking alongside the orchard for almost half an hour when I stopped her, before walking over to the fence and waving at her.

Curious, Twilight joined me and looked over the fence, which was just short enough for her to see over. Don’t know why. All she could see were apple trees. Lots and lots of apple trees.

Twilight let out a squeak of surprise when I lifted her up and over the fence, before placing her gently on the ground. She turned around and glared at me.

“Give me some warning next time, okay?”

I nodded, climbed over, and waved her forward. She let out a sigh and started walking. I was close behind her. There was a dusty path between the rows of trees, leading away from the fence. After a few minutes walking, I could see the top of a red barn or farm house over the treetops. But before we could reach it,we met a large red Earth Pony stallion with an apple cutie mark, who was staring intently at a tree.

Somewhat nervous, Twilight introduced herself. “Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I've been sent here by the Princess to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Can I ask who you are?”

The stallion looked over at her, his eyes flicking to me for less than a second. “Names Big Mac. You’ll be wantin’ Applejack. Gimmie a sec.” And with that, he turned back his attention back to the tree. He studied it for a second, before turning his back on it.

With a dull thud, one of the stallion’s back hooves hit the tree, and the apples dropped from the branches into baskets on the ground, not one landing outside them. Big Mac then lifted the baskets into a cart on the other side of the tree before hitching himself onto it. When he was sure it wouldn't come loose, he turned to face a stunned pair.

“C’mon. I’ll introduce ya.”

I recovered quickly. Big Mac was pulling the cart along the right hoof side of the path. I took the middle, leaving Twilight to take the left.

The three of us spoke little as they walked. Twilight tried to ask Big Mac about preparations, but his answer was always the same. ‘Talk to AJ.’ Eventually, we lapsed into silence, and a surprisingly comfortable one. A quiet caused by people who don’t feel the need to talk, rather than one caused by those who can’t think of something to say.

When we reached the farm, Twilight was panting, and her coat had a slight sheen from the sweat. She glanced at us, and saw we weren't even breathing hard, despite the extra weight we had. She shook her head, and, not for the first time, I made a mental note to try and get her to exercise more.

Big Mac pulled the cart into a barn and left it their, keeping the yoke around his neck. When he came out, he pointed at a tan Earth Pony mare with a trio of red apples as a cutie mark. “That's AJ,” he said to them. “Hey, AJ! There's a Miss Sparkle here ta see ya about food fer the celebration.”

The mare in question turned when she heard her name, and trotted over. “Howdy, y’all. Names Applejack, but you can call me AJ,” she said, extending a hoof.

“Hello, AJ. I'm Twilight Sparkle,” she said, quickly shaking hooves. “The Princess sent me to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. The Apple family is in charge of catering, correct?”

“That we are,” Applejack said, voice full of pride. “You care to sample some?”

“I guess, if it doesn't take too long,” Twilight said.

Applejack just smiled, before looking over Twilight’s shoulder at me, her smile faltering slightly. “He won’t hurt anypony, will he?” she asked Twilight.

“Only if they try to hurt me or Twilight first,” I said.

Applejack gaped slightly, and Big Mac showed a brief look of surprise.

“You, you kin talk?” she asked, confused.

“No. You’re just imagining this,” I replied, doing my best to keep my face perfectly straight.

Applejack snorted and stomped a hoof. “Hey now, no need ta get snarky.”

“Oh really? What’s my name?”

Applejack opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut. “What is yer name then?”

“Michael,” I said, extending a hand. At Applejack’s confused face, I said, “Shake it.”

A quick hand/hoof shake later, and Applejack led us behind the house where a table had been set up. With a cry of ‘Soups on, everypony!” she began introducing her family. The names went by in a blur, all apple related. I could remember some; Caramel Apple, Apple Fritter, Applebloom, Granny Smith, one or two others.

Most of the ponies avoided looking at me, as usual. There was just something about me they didn't like. It hadn't been as big a problem when I was younger. The only ones that didn't ignore me were Granny Smith, who simply treated me like she would anyone else, for which I was thankful, Big Mac, who kept an eye on me, and Applebloom, who stared at me. When she was sure nopony would stop her, the little filly walked over to me and tapped my leg. I looked down to see what it was, and saw a pair of big orange eyes.

“Hey mister, what're you?”

I looked down at foal. “If you mean what species am I, I'm a human. If you mean what do I do, I'm a Guard.”

“What's a human?” Applebloom asked.

“I am.” A small smile pulled at my mouth when Applebloom frowned. Damn, she was cute.

“Well, where do you come from? I've never heard of humans before.”

“Personally, I'm fae a city called Glasgow, in a country called Scotland,” I replied, slipping into my old accent for a bit. “But I really couldnae tell you how to get there from here.”

“Oh, okay,” the yellow filly said. A seconds pause. “So, you’re a Guard? Have you met the Princess?”

Instead of answering, I walked over to a tree near the table Twilight was eating at. Sitting at the base, I checked to make sure the unicorn didn't need my help. She seemed to be happily eating far too much pie. Though if it tasted as good as it smelled, I couldn't blame her. Applebloom followed me over.

“So, have ya? Have ya met the Princess? Have ya fought criminals? Were they thieves? What were they stealin’?”

“Yes, I've met the Princess. No, I haven’t fought any criminals, thieves or otherwise.” I leaned back against the tree, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. Judging by the amount of food on the table, we were going to be here for a while. “All I’ve done after basic is guarding Twilight over there.” I nodded towards the table as I spoke, making Applebloom turn to look.

Applebloom tilted her head to the side. “Her? Why’re ya guardin’ her?”

“Well, she’s the Princess student, but really, I do it because she’s my friend.”

“Ya must really like her, to become a Guard just to guard her,” she reasoned, before letting out an adorable yawn.

In place of an answer, I picked Applebloom up and placed the filly in my lap. She tried to complain, but instead let out another, larger yawn.

“Long day, huh?” I asked her. She nodded silently, laying down. She mumbled something I couldn’t hear, and then she was asleep. A glance at the table showed me barely a dent had been made in the pile of food there, so I used a trick Twilight’s brother had taught me. It let me zone out slightly, enough to make standing guard for hours bearable, but not enough for me to be completely oblivious.

When I zoned in, the sun had moved a bit towards its peak. It was around an hour later. The table only held empty containers now, and around it was a circle of ponies with full stomachs. As l looked around, Applebloom stirred. She looked up at me for a second, before settling back down.

“Ah, up you get, Applebloom,”I said, lifting the filly.

“Aw, but I don’ wanna!” she complained.

“Well, I have to get up, so you do to. Now come on, lets see if there any food left here.” I managed to find some fruit - apples, funnily enough - and moved around the table to where Twilight was sitting. She had a small smile on her face, and was leaning back in her seat.

I placed Applebloom on the table, and leaned down to Twilight. “Wake up, Twilight. We've got work to do.”

The unicorn let out a sigh, and rolled out of her seat. She said her goodbyes to everyone. I only nodded at each of them. When every member of the rather large gathering had been wished a nice day, Twilight and I set off back to Ponyville, the former lagging behind every now and then due to overeating.

We were just on the outskirts of town when I saw something speeding towards them. Towards Twilight. Before Twilight even knew it was coming, I had slammed into it, sending both of us into a puddle of mud. Twilight watched as I held the shape down for a second, before springing back to stand in front of her.

It was a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a cloud shooting rainbow coloured lightning for her cutie mark. I looked at the muddy mare and said to Twilight, “I think this is Rainbow Dash, the pegasus in charge of the weather.” Twilight nodded, and walked around me.

“Sorry about that, he can be a little over protective,” she said. When she got no answer, she took another step forward. “Are you okay?”

“That. Was. AWESOME!” The cyan mare shot into the air. Completely ignoring Twilight, she flew over to me, hovering high enough to look me in the eye. “Where’d you learn to do that? Who taught you? How’d you move so fast?”

“Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I taught myself. Practice. Are you Rainbow Dash?”

“What? Yeah, I'm the Dash. Why, ya heard of me?” she asked, her voice making it obvious what she thought the answer would be.

“No. But she,” I said, pointing to Twilight, “needs to talk to you.”

“Cool. Hey, what’s your name?”

“I'm Michael. That's Twilight Sparkle. She’s in charge of preparations for the ceremony. Go talk to her.”

“Alright, geez, I'm going. But you and me, we’re having a rematch later.” The pegasus flew lazily over to Twilight, stopping about a bodylength away from her. “So, you’re in charge of things? Hows that working out for ya?”

“You’re in charge of clearing the skies?” Twilight asked, ignoring the question.

“Yeah. What of it?”

In response, Twilight looked up at the sky. The cloud filled sky. Then back down at Rainbow Dash. And back up at the sky. And, finally, once more back down at Rainbow Dash.

“Oh. That. I’ll take care of that after my training.” The blue mare flew up to a cloud, landing on it on her back.

“Training? Training for what?” Twilight asked.

“Only the Wonderbolts!”

“THE Wonderbolts?” A nod from Rainbow Dash. “Fastest flight team in Equestria?” Another nod. “Going to perform at the ceremony tonight?” Another nod. “You think the Wonderbolts will take a pegasus that can’t even clear the skies, and keep them clear for one measly day?”

“Please. I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat. Watch.”

And then she was off. And true enough, ten seconds later, she was back. And there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She had even managed to get herself clean while flying through clouds. “Like I said. Ten. Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’.”

Twilight was gaping, and I could tell she didn't care. There wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles around. And there had been a fair number only seconds before. Rainbow Dash smiled as she looked from Twilight’s stunned face to me. I gave her a slight nod.

“You two are alright. We should hang later. See ya around!”

They both watched Rainbow Dash leave. After a second, I pulled out the check-list and made a mark next to ‘weather’. “Next is decorations. Over there.” I pointed at a tall building, one with colourful pennants waving from the roof.

They entered, and saw the decorations seemed to be more or less finished. “This should be quick,” Twilight said, mostly to herself. “Hello? Is anypony here?”

A white unicorn walked out from behind a curtain. “Yes, who isaaAAAH!” What she was going to say turned into a scream when she saw me. Twilight was shocked. Nopony else had ever reacted like that. Nopony else had screamed.

“Look at you! You’re covered in mud. We simply must get you clean right away. Come along now.” With that, she walked away, the curls of her deep purple mane bobbing as she moved. I looked down and behind me, and saw I had been tracking mud. I had forgotten I had tackled Rainbow Dash into a mud puddle after the pegasus had cleared the skies.

I looked down at Twilight, who nodded, and the pair followed the white unicorn, only a second or two behind. There, they found a dressing room, complete with a washbasin and a place to hang clothes. I took off my coat and trousers, mail showing for the first time that day. Secretly, I was glad it was warm. I couldn't wear my armour in the winter, the cold would kill me. I gave Twilight another look, and they levitated from my hands, floating over to the washbasin. Soon, the mud had been washed off, and a quick drying spell later, I was putting my clothes back on.

Of course, the white unicorn, who introduced herself as Rarity, insisted on making Twilight something, and when she learned they were from Canterlot she turned the charm on full blast. While they was busy, I set about cleaning the mud of my armour and sword.

When she realised Twilight wasn't a social pony, she turned to look at the rooms other occupant, only to realise we hadn't been introduced.

“I say, you haven’t told me your name,” she said, her tone accusatory.

“You never asked, and one should never make presumptions for a lady,” I replied,keeping my tone neutral, not looking up from cleaning my sword and armour.

“That is true. But I feel I know you from somewhere, even though I know we haven’t met... “ She trailed off, before turning back to Twilight. “You are Twilight Sparkle, correct? The Princess’ personal student?” Twilight nodded twice, and Rarity turned back to me. “That would make you... Mishael?”

“Close. Michael. Surprised you've heard of me.”

“Well, I try to keep up with the going ons of Canterlot,” Rarity replied, flipping her mane. “How long have you lived there?”

“Nine years.”

“And where did you live before that? Assuming, of course, that you aren't nine years old.”

The last part was probably supposed to be a joke, I thought. “Far away. Not sure where in relation to Equestria.” I lifted my sword closer to eye level, to get a better look at the edge. It wasn't much to look at, to me at least. Probably different for a pony. It was longer than most ponies were tall, double-edged, and I could use it with one hand just as well as with two. It had a groove in the centre on each side, which confused pretty much everyone, but really just made the thing lighter. As it was, I was thankful for all the heavy lifting I had done during basic.

He looked up to see Rarity giving me a confused look. “If you don’t know how to get from here to there, how did you get here?”

“Magic.” Rarity gave a silent ‘Ahhh,’ as understanding dawned.

“If I may ask, who...?” she trailed off when she saw Twilight looking down at her hooves.

“Not your fault Twilight,” I said, putting my sword away.

“I know how you feel, but-” she began.

“Not. Your Fault,” I interrupted. Standing up, I turned to Rarity. “Decorations. How are they coming along?”

“What? Oh, swimmingly. They’ll be gorgeous.” The white mare licked her lips and looked between the two of us. Twilight still looked like a foal caught taking sweets, though I doubt she could tell how I was feeling. And not because Guard training involves learning how to keep your emotions from showing. “I hope I didn't open up any old wounds between the two of you?”

“We’ll be fine.” Without looking, I reached over and gently flicked Twilight’s ear. This earned me a slightly dizzy glare, which I ignored. “Come on, Twilight. One more stop then we can check out the library we’ll be staying in.”

That cheered her up a little, and we managed to get going with only one last ‘farewell’ from Rarity. A quick look at the map, and we were off. Towards the Everfree, to be sure, but if someone was living out there it couldn't be that bad.

We found her, a pink maned yellow pegasus mare with a butterfly cutie mark. She was conducting a bird based orchestra. Twilight had been about to interrupt the song, but I stopped her. I waited until the song had stopped before clearing my throat.

That proved to be a mistake. She flew at me like I had insulted her honour, stopping less than an inch from my face.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

“I'm fine,” I replied, just as softly. “Twilight here needs to speak to you about the Summer Sun Celebration.”

The unicorn nodded. “I just need to know how preparations are coming along. Though I must say, it sounded lovely.”

I doubt the pegasus heard her. She was hovering in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes. There was something about those eyes, that made them seem deep, like pools of water you wanted to fall into.

With an effort of will, I threw off whatever mental magic she was doing and got my mind back under my control. This surprised her, though I think she hadn't realised what she had been doing.

“Sorry,” she said, again softly. “I'm Fluttershy. What’s your name?”

“I'm Michael. My friend is Twilight Sparkle. She is here to check on preparations for tonight’s celebration. How are they coming along?”

“Oh, its coming all just fine. It’s nice, listening to birds sing.”

“That's good to hear. We should get going.” With that, Twilight and I started to walk away. We were soon joined by Fluttershy, however. Had she thought ‘we’ meant her and I? Had she even noticed Twilight?

“S-so, Michael,” Fluttershy began, glancing up at me before hiding under her mane. “C-could you tell m-me about yourself? If you don’t mind, that is. I ask, because I've n-never heard of an animal like you. Not that I think you’re an animal! Though you do have canines and incisors, which means you can eat m-meat.”

She trailed off after that, her barely audible voice becoming even quieter. “It’s fine, Fluttershy. I don’t mind.” And so, I spent the rest of the walk to the library talking to Fluttershy. It was an odd experience. She was very easy to talk to, for some reason. I ended up telling her a fair bit about myself. Nothing from Before, though. And nothing violent, either.

Eventually we reached Books and Branches, the library Twilight and I would be staying in. I stopped the two mares just outside it. “There are people inside,” I said, still in my Fluttershy voice. I stepped forward, out from between Twilight and Fluttershy. Fluttershy went ahead and introduced herself, which answered that question.

I gently placed an ear against the door. I could hear giggling through it. With a sigh, I knocked on the door. “I know you’re in there,” I said, talking louder than I normally do. There were various sounds of disappointment from behind the door, followed shortly by it slamming open. In the doorway stood the pink mare from this morning, the gasping one.

“How?” she, well, she begged me.

I looked down at her for a second before answering. “Curtains moved, but there isn't a breeze. I could hear hooves moving on wooden floors, and also someone giggling. The food smells nice as well.”

She looked up at me, then let out a sigh. “You’re good. But I'm better. I will surprise you. One day.” Then, with a breath that could in no way fit inside her lungs, she perked up. “Anyway, hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville!”

Twilight and I were ushered inside, with Fluttershy following behind. Introductions were done lightning quick. I was starting to think she did have the whole town in here. Though I'm pretty sure I was introduced to the same pony multiple times under different names. That could just be because Pinkie Pie kept spinning me around.

Eventually, I managed to escape by standing against a wall and looking annoyed. Twilight had no such luck. After a bit, she was swarmed by the four mares we had met to deal with preparations and Pinkie Pie, though it was hard to imagine them swarming anything. Well, except Pinkie Pie. Considering the things I had seen her do already (eating pretty much anything with hot sauce was the least of her tricks) I could imagine her swarming. And loudly at that.

A few minutes later, Twilight got a mouth full of hot sauce and retired for the night. I checked up on her to make sure she was okay before heading back out to keep an eye on the guests. I doubted they would do anything, it being a public building and all, but Twilight asked me to.

I spent the duration of the party answering questions. ‘What/who was I?’, ‘what did I do?’, ‘why was I here?’, ‘who was Twilight?’, ‘what did she do?’, ‘why was she here?’, and ‘was she okay?’ were the main ones. It may not sound like much, but I must have repeated the answers to each of those at least thirty times each. Then there was the follow up questions of ‘have you met the Princess?’, ‘can I see your sword?’, and ‘what’s the Guard like?’ Those were asked less often, around ten of each.

I was pretty happy when it was time to move to the Summer Sun Celebration. The attention would be off me, at least. Of course, Twilight and I had our usual pre-meeting-with-Celestia argument. She wanted me to go unarmed. I did not.

Now, I'm not going to lie. When it comes to Twilight, I have a tendency to do what she wants me to. And I don’t know if its because she hates the idea of anyone bringing weapons near Celestia, or if she’s just used to getting her own way as far as I'm concerned, but this argument, despite being short, usually ends in us not speaking for a while.

I stood in the back of the hall, so as not to block anyone’s view of their precious Princess. The Mayor gave a speech, a fanfare was played, the curtain was lifted and Celestia...

Celestia was gone.

Fuck.

The other Guardsmen were as surprised as I was, so it was recent and unplanned. Not good. The Mayor was trying to calm the crowd as nerves began to build. Nerves became panic when a dark mist appeared where Celestia should have been.

An alicorn appeared, forming from the mist. It was maybe a fraction of an inch taller than Celestia was, and height and species were all the two had in common.

The alicorn on stage was black coated, with black wings. It had an ethereal mane as well, but this ones was stars to Celestia shifting sunrise mane. Its cutie mark was a crescent moon surrounded by dark purple.

She, I'm assuming she, as it looks like Celestia and sounds female, started going on about how she had been imprisoned. I stopped paying attention. Twilight would remember what she said. I had to get us out of here. The door was to my right, and there were more guards to the left, three pegasi, though they seemed too surprised to do anything. I started trying to sneak around the edge, behind the other guards, hoping my dark blue jacket would help me blend in with the shadows on the walls.

Somehow, I managed it. The ponies had began crowding in the centre, taking solace in numbers. I couldn't kill her. The Guard had a strict ‘lethal force is a last resort’ policy. Plus, she might know what happened to Celestia. Twilight would be miserable if Celestia died. I spotted a stool near the black alicorn, to her right. A plan formed. My plans tend to come in one of two kinds. Either just crazy enough to work, or too crazy to not work. I hoped this was one of the former. I got hurt less with those ones. I just needed a distraction.

Twilight locked eyes with me a split second, giving me an almost imperceptible nod. Then she stepped forward.

“I know who you are! You’re the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!” Twilight now had ‘Nightmare Moon’s’ full and undivided attention. I was not okay with that. I walked forward as quietly as I could. When I was a few steps from the stool, I broke into a run. Step up onto the stool with my right foot, push off hard, get left leg over... success! I landed on her back, leaning forward and snaking an arm under her neck, the other gripping her horn.

Fun fact about unicorn horns. They aren't very hard. Its why you never see unicorns stabbing something with them. They break easy. Alicorn horn felt similar to unicorn horn, though this one was longer and felt oddly oily.

Nightmare Moon reared and bucked like a pony possessed, doing her best to get me off her back. I held on for dear life and prayed Twilight would know what to do next.

“What have you done with Celestia?” Twilight asked. A good start, I felt.

“Banished her to the sun, as she banished me to the moon,” was Nightmare Moon’s reply.

And then the flaw in my plan became apparent. She turned back into the mist, leaving me to drop five feet or so onto my face. Then there was the sound of hooves upon wood, and Nightmare Moon reformed from the mist next to me. Opening my eyes, I could see her hooves a few inches from my face. I rolled over to see her leaning over me, a creepily huge smile on her face. A glow surrounded me, holding me down.

“Yes, you will do fine. Your efforts, while futile, show daring and nerve. I am willing to offer you a high rank in my new Guard. You may name your price.” She gave me what I think was meant to be a sultry look. Oh hell no. “Meet me in the old capitol before the sun was due to set.”

And then she did the mist thing again, and left.

Well. Fuck.

Chapter 2

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The panic started immediately. The pegasi Guards had vanished when Nightmare Moon did, and the Mayor seemed unwilling to take charge of the situation. I got to my feet and looked at the crowd. Twilight, along with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy, were trying to force their way to the stage, but the crowd was too busy panicking. I took a deep breath.

“SHUT! UP!”

The crowd slowly fell silent. All of them looked at me. I was suddenly struck by a thousand nervous thoughts. If you’ve ever had stage fright, you’ll know the sort of thought I mean. The sort that you shouldn’t have to worry about, know you shouldn’t but do anyway. I became really aware of where my hands were, for instance. I froze for a moment, but pushed them aside and tried to remember the evacuation procedure.

“Okay. Pinkie Pie, do a head count. See if anyone is missing. Rainbow Dash, you and Applejack find anyone who isn’t here, and bring them here. Foals have highest priority, then pregnant mares, then fillies and colts, then the injured or elderly, then everyone else. Got it?” Three slightly stunned nods.

“Good. Get started. Rarity, Flutters-” I began, but was interrupted by the Mayor.

“And what gives you the right to order everypony around?” she asked. When she put emphasis on the ‘pony’ part of ‘everypony’ I wanted to punch her. “As Mayor, overseeing evacuation of the town is my responsibility.”

Instead of punching her, I nodded, grateful. “Okay, you do it. I’ve got you started. I’ll be around if you need me.” I wouldn’t. I dropped from the stage and walked over to Twilight. I could hear the Mayor taking charge behind me. Not reluctant, just in shock. I guess if my nigh-immortal ruler-deity vanished, I’d be surprised too.

When I was next to Twilight, I waved her to follow me and went for the door.

“What’s the plan?” I asked her.

“What did Nightmare Moon say to you?”

“Gave me a job offer. High rank in her Royal Guard. I get to name my terms. To meet her in the old capitol before the sun was meant to set. I’m guessing that gives us what, twelve hours?”

“Sixteen,” a soft voice said. I stopped in the act of opening the door. That wasn't Twilight. I turned to find Fluttershy and Rarity behind me. It was probably Fluttershy who spoke.

“Fourteen then. That way we won’t be late,” Twilight said. Typical. “You two stay and help with the evacuation. If we’re still around after that, we’ll be in the library, researching. You’re welcome to help with that, after the evacuation is done.”

The two of them nodded, and trotted or floated over to the Mayor. I walked outside and looked up. The moon was high in the sky, but it was missing the pattern of craters it had had.

“I told you that pattern wasn't natural.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, voice full of disbelief. “Is now really the time for this?”

I shivered as a cold wind blew around us. “That depends. How long can we survive without the sun to warm the planet?”

“I don’t know. The planets already begun to cool down. As the air gets colder it’ll drop rapidly, and the higher the air the faster it will cool, creating high speed winds. The rapid cooling and high wind speeds will work together to remove food sources. Being in a valley as we are, we should be able to last longer than those in, say, Canterlot, but I can’t give an estimate.”

Its when she says things like that, that make me feel less of an idiot when I think or Twilight as the brains of the operation. Not because of how much of it I understood, but because it reminds me of just how smart she is.

We quickly reached the library, glad to be indoors again. “You look for anything to do with Nightmare Moon. I’ll try and pinpoint the old capitol.”

We worked silently. I quickly ran out of books on Nightmare Moon - most of them were storybooks for foals Twilight had made me read to learn about Equestria way back when. A lot of them mentioned ‘The Six Elements of Harmony.’ I asked Twilight to keep an eye out for that as she flipped through history books. She grunted after I spoke, so I assumed she heard me.

After a couple hours of quick research, the picture I had of Nightmare Moon looked like this. Thousand years ago, Equestria had two princess. Celestia, and the other one. Other One gets mad ponies sleep at night, goes crazy, changes her name to Nightmare Moon. She and Celestia fight, Celestia kicks her ass to the moon with the Elements of Harmony at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Now, Nightmare Moon came back, and because Celestia didn't have the Elements, she ended up getting banished, and now the night would last forever.

In summary; Nightmare Moon bad, Celestia good.

Then again, she did banish her to the moon for a thousand years. death would have been kinder.

There was a knock at the door. I stretched as I stood to answer it. Still had a good ten to twelve hours before I had to be somewhere. I had opened the door maybe an inch when it slammed the rest of the way, and a light blue blur slammed into my chest, screaming, “What did you do with the Princess!”

I cracked open my eyes, and saw Rainbow Dash on top of me. Then I realised I was on the floor. Standing behind her were Applejack, who looked angry, Pinkie Pie, whose smile had started to drop, Rarity, who looked vaguely disappointed, and Fluttershy, who looked scared.

I looked at how Rainbow Dash was standing. She had her fore-hooves on my chest and her back hooves on my legs.

“This is not a very good pin,” I told her, placing my hand on her sides, just beneath her wings and pushing her up as hard as I could. Pegasi being lighter than a unicorn of the same size meant that she was thrown off of me.

I scrambled to my feet, keeping my back to Twilight as I did. Rainbow Dash caught herself in mid air, a few flaps of her wings slowing her down. She didn't fly back at me, like I thought she would. Instead, Applejack stepped forward.

“What did Nightmare Moon say to ya? When ye were on the stage with ‘er, I mean.”

“Offered me a job. I'm guessing evacuation is done?” Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodded. Rainbow Dash was busy glaring at me, and Fluttershy seemed to be trying to hide behind herself. “Right, sit-rep time. Nightmare Moon is stopping the sun coming up. We need the Elements of Harmony, whatever they are, to stop her. Both Nightmare Moon, and the Elements, seem to be in the ruins of the old capitol. Twilight’s looking for a location. How’s that coming, Twilight?” I called over to the purple unicorn.

“I know were it is, I think,” she called back, eyes still glued to her book.

“And where is it?”

She closed the book with a sigh. “The Everfree forest.”

I nodded. The five ponies in front of me gasped. Except Fluttershy, who squealed. That was probably the loudest sound she’d made since I met her. “You ready to go?” I asked Twilight.

“Give me, say, an hour to double check the direction, pack some supplies and see if there's anything else we need to know about.”

“You can’t honestly be going into the Everfree at night, can you?” Rarity asked, sounding scandalised.

“They don’t have much choice, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie said, sounding completely unlike the crazy mare I remembered from the surprise party. “Besides, they’ll have us along with them!” Wait, nope, there she was.

Then again, anything between Twilight and danger was good by me. Might not be in her plan though. Best to let her decide then.

“Twilight, these five want to come with us. You okay with that?” I called out. She was currently in the kitchen, packing food.

“They’ll need to bring their own food,” was all she said. Probably part of the plan.

“Okay, you’re in. One condition; do as you’re told.” There were a few sounds of complaint, and a snort from Rainbow Dash. “Twilight will be the one telling you what to do, not me.” That stopped them complaining. Damn xenophobic ponies.

“Why should we listen to her?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How do we know you aren't working with Nightmare Moon, huh? What if you’re both traitors?”

“You don’t have to come Rainbow Dash,” I said, shrugging. “If you don’t trust us, then stay behind.” I turned my back on them when Twilight shouted me from the kitchen, and I went to help. She had put some food and other ‘useful items’, as she called it, in a set of saddlebags, which she was wearing, but had a few things she wanted me to carry. Didn't say what they were, just that they might come in handy. They looked to be first aid supplies, and some books.

We left the kitchen to see the end of a whispered argument. The five, wait, four, Pinkie Pie was gone, of them turned to face Twilight and I, falling silent when we entered the room.

“We’re coming. All five of us. Pinkie’s gone to get food,” Applejack said.

“I'm back!” The door flew open as the mare in question bounced inside, a bulging pair of saddlebags on. “Just in time, too. Are we ready to go?” They looked at Twilight. I looked at Twilight. She tilted her head to the right, like she always does when thinking quickly, then nodded. We set off, Twilight in the lead.

We reached the forest’s edge quickly, and with a fair bit of chit-chat between the ponies. Apparently, despite each of them having lived in town for a number of years, they didn't really know each other that well. Twilight got involved as well, which brought the ponies onto the subject of me, beginning with where I came from and how I got here.

Twilight always got really nervous when that came up. Understandable. She had ripped me from my home in a magical fit, stranding me in Equestria at the tender age of ten with no way home. She still told them the truth, of course, which got her a few surprised looks, and me a few sympathetic ones.

Of course, there was a question that usually followed that revelation. Rainbow Dash was the one to ask it here. “Why do you stay with her if she did that to you?”

I chimed in at this point, the first time I’d spoken since leaving the library. “She didn't mean to. She was a filly. She couldn't help herself. Besides, when I first got here she was the only one that would spend any time with me. We only got closer after school started.”

“So, wait, you two've been together since you were what, nine and ten?” Rainbow Dash asked. When Twilight confirmed that, she went on to say, “Man, that first heat must have been hard on you both.”

Everyone who wasn't me, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie blushed, though I couldn't really tell with the last one.

“Rainbow! You can’t just talk about... about that in public!” Rarity said, shocked.

“Yeah, Rainbow, that sort of thing ain't for out and about,” Applejack agreed.

“C’mon, guys, we’re in the Everfree Forest! I doubt anypony is about to hear us. So,” she turned to look at Twilight, “what happened? You said you live in Canterlot, right? In the castle? Did you chase him around the castle?”

Twilight blushed even deeper. How did they do that with fur? I made a mental note to ask when we got back to Canterlot.

Seeing Rainbow Dash’s eager, and everyone else’s curious faces, Twilight sighed in defeat. “Yes, I chased him around the castle, okay? He was the only boy I knew, and I wasn't expecting, you know, it. He ended up leaving the castle and just vanishing. The Princess was so worried he’d get hurt, but the Guards couldn't find him anywhere. He showed up, two weeks later, filthy and covered in cuts and bruises.” She looked up at me, eyes curious. “You know, you never did tell me what you did those two weeks.”

“I doubt you’d like what you heard,” I told her.

“Still, we have time to waste. We’re a good three hours from the castle still.”

We were walking along the edge of the forest first. Seemed easier than walking through the forest. It was getting colder, and I could hear timberwolves howling from between the trees. The glanced at the ponies around me. They were cold and scared, not that any of them apart from Fluttershy would admit it.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But only once, no interruptions, and Celestia never finds out about it.”

I collected my thoughts for a moment, before starting.

“I had only been in Equestria for a week or so at this point, and I still didn't believe it was real. I mean, colourful talking ponies was not something I was prepared for. I hadn't slept in a few days, so after Twilight chased me out the castle, I collapsed behind a shop. A bakers, as it turned out when I was stepped on before sunrise the next morning. I’d been out for a whole day.”

I could still remember the smell of that bakers. They used a different kind of flour than the others in Canterlot, and and it smelled so much better. I smiled a little at the memory.

“Anyway, when the baker stepped on me, I screamed, so she screamed, and we did that for a few minutes until we ran out of air. Then we tried to introduced ourselves. She was surprised I could speak, not that we could understand each other, but we laughed for a few minutes and she got ever her nervousness. What followed was probably the oddest game of charades. When she learned I was staying at the castle, she put two and two together and realised I was the ‘runaway creature’ the Guards were looking for. See, Celestia hadn't told anyone about me yet. She was going to get the Guards and turn me in - there was a decent sized reward, and I was skinny, pale and generally looked wild. I didn't want to go back yet, not knowing what the hell had happened or would happen. So, I waited until her back was turned, and hit her over the head with the lid of a trash can. She went out like a light. I opened the store door, took some food and money, and left.”

There was a series of gasps at that. Equestria has a ridiculously low crime rate. I was probably the only thief that month, if not that half of the year. Add assault, and things got serious. Still, the muffins were good.

“I spent the next week on the move, avoiding Guards as best I could. I wound up in the part of Canterlot a lot of foreign immigrants end up in. It had the least amount of Guards, so I thought I’d be safe there.” Man, had I been wrong. “I must have fallen asleep in the wrong alleyway, because next thing I know there are a pair of griffons standing in front of me. I knew the drill by then, though. I hand over everything but the clothes on my back. But that wasn't enough for them. They want me to follow them, probably thought they could sell me to a zoo or something. Or maybe to the Guards, as a bunch of posters with my face on them were being put up all over Canterlot. The reward was much larger this time, too. Three thousand bits, I think, maybe four.”

Jaws dropped there. That was a fair bit of money. A two bedroom house in Canterlot was around six thousand bits, and thats one not far from the castle. A dozen apples was generally one or two, depending on quality, location and season.

“I still didn't like the sound of going back, so I argued quick harshly. Got a few lucky hits in, broke one of the griffons wings, and cracked the others beak. Course, I broke my hand and got a few more bruises and cuts. Not my best idea. Spent the second week running from angry griffons. Though I'm happy to say I made enough money off them to pay back the bakery. Still, ended up bleeding out in the middle of one of Canterlot’s busier streets one day before the Guard found me. They took me to the hospital, but as soon as I could walk again I was out the window. Ran pretty much straight into a group of griffons. Guards poured out the hospital seconds later and, well, it took Celestia years to repair relations with Griffonia.”

There was silence as Twilight shook her head at me. I hope she wasn't too disappointed with me. I mean, I paid the baker back and then some, and the thing with the griffons was only sort of my fault.

A few minutes more walking and Twilight stopped to check the map she had. She stared at it for a few seconds, then floated it over to me. While I looked at it, she turned to the other ponies.

“We’re going deeper into the Everfree now,” she said. “Have any of you been in there before?”

There was a squeak of what was probably confirmation from Fluttershy. At least, that's what Twilight and I took it as. Twilight looked at the other five ponies thoughtfully, then nodded.

“We’re heading in. Be careful, girls. Fluttershy, I’ll need you to let somepony know if you see anything dangerous.”

Entering the forest was surprisingly calming. I felt a sudden lack of pressure that had been there so long I’d learned to ignore it. Clouds moved without being made to. Animals looked after themselves. Twilight and the rest of the ponies seemed frightened by it, though Rainbow Dash put on a brave face. For me, it felt right. Like I imagine coming home after a long time away would feel.

The ponies walked in a rough circle with Fluttershy in the middle. Probably herd instinct, making them protect the weakest member. I was on the outside of the circle, looking around constantly.

The forest grew darker as we walked deeper, the trees becoming older, taller and thicker, the roots and branches more twisted and gnarled. A quiet fell on the seven of us, and the ponies moved closer together.

We had been in the forest for half an hour, maybe an hour, when I saw the first pair of yellow eyes watching us. Just behind them, I saw what looked like a large, wooden wolf. Timberwolves. Great. I glanced to the other side without moving my head, and saw another set. Of course, for the two I saw there were probably half a dozen I didn't see. Timberwolves are smarter than most people give them credit for, and if they don’t want to be seen, they won’t be.

I moved over to Twilight and tapped her on the back of the head. She turned to look at me, keeping one eye on the path in front of her. An advantage of a much larger field of view, I guess.

“Timberwolves following us,” I murmured. Whispering carries very well. “Don’t know how many. Don’t know how long. Want me to take care of them?”

She shook her head and barely managed to stop herself falling over. “Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about them,” she whispered.

“Worry about what?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight had never believed me about the whispers thing.

“Michael says there are timberwolves behind us,” Twilight explained, to much shock and worry. “He wants to fall behind and... ‘take care of them’.” Ponies were not violent by nature. Their ‘fight or flight’ response was heavily weighted towards flight.

“‘Take care of them’?” Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t think this is the time to be looking for pets, dude.”

The conversation was stopped by a roar. A manticore was running at us. At least, it was running in our direction. It wasn't looking at us though. It was a younger one, if I remembered my ‘Dangerous Fauna’ class, with some growing to be done in the wings and tail still. Though it was pretty thin as well, not starving, but not far from it either, and its yellow fur was duller than it should be.

When the ponies saw it, they screamed, which got its attention. Then it started charging at them. I sprinted past them, drawing my sword as I ran. The beast saw me between it and food, and focused on me. It skidded to a halt and swiped at me with a paw the size of my chest. I dived under the swipe and rolled, ending in a crouch. Angling my sword upwards, I pushed off with both my legs and stabbed the thing in the chest. I got lucky and got it between the ribs.

Not lucky enough to kill it. The manticore roared in pain and reared up on its back legs. Its scorpion tail darted at me, and I didn't get out of the way in time. It didn't pierce the armour, but the force of the blow sent me into a nearby tree hard enough to dent it and probably bruised one of my rips.

I barely dodged the follow up swing. I rolled under it again, but it was ready for me now. It sent its tail at me again. I ripped my sword out of it and barely parried the strike, knocking it into the ground to my right.

Darting backwards, I moved in front of the statue-still ponies, bloody sword raised in a fencing position. Not the best thing for a manticore, but it put my sword between my and that damned tail.

I must have hit something vital, either with the stab or when I pulled the sword out, because the fight was rapidly leaving the manticore. It stood, swaying, for another moment, before its legs gave out one by one and it collapsed. It twitched for a while, mostly the tail or wings, and then it was still.

When I was sure it wasn't going to move any more, I walked over and cleaned my sword on its fur before sheathing it. Manticore blood was a bit corrosive, so I had to get it off as soon as possible.

Still no sound from the ponies. I wanted to get gone before the timberwolves hit us from behind. I turned, and found myself nose to nose with a tearful, angry Fluttershy.

“Why?” she asked, in a voice like I’d killed her pet bunny in front of her.

“It was a threat,” I said. “Now lets get going before the timberwolves get bored of waiting.”

I started walking, but when I didn't hear hooves behind me I stopped and let out a sigh. Looking behind me, I saw them staring at me, Fluttershy still crying, the rest looking disgusted, ill or both.

“Twilight, we doing this or what?”

She just looked ill, thankfully. “Just, just give us a minute, okay?”

“Probably be better to get away from it,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, that seems good. Come on girls, lets get away from it.”

We started walking again, albeit at a much slower pace. The path had also started growing patchy, though the distance between parts of the path was growing larger all the time. We got maybe fifteen minutes walk away from the manticore before the ponies stopped. Rarity was the first to vomit, but the rest followed. Apart from Pinkie Pie, oddly enough. She seemed fine, even managed to crack a few jokes.

I hope the timberwolves were happy with manticore, because if they came after us now there's no way I could fight them off.

Water was getting passed around. I managed to get it before too many vomiting mouths had been around it, but I went for pouring it in from a distance anyway. No need to take risks. After everyone had had a drink, they seemed to calm down. Which obviously meant it was time to shout at me. Fluttershy was first.

“You didn't have to kill him!” she said, pointing back the way we came with a hoof.

“It was the best option,” I said, pressing at my side as I spoke. Yeah, definitely bruised a rib. Don’t think it was cracked or broken, at least. My answer seemed to confuse her, though I will admit I’ve never been good at reading pony’s emotions. Twilight, yeah, I can usually get what she’s thinking, and one or two others. When they’re like Pinkie Pie I can tell as well, and the big emotions, happiness and the like, are easy. But subtle things, especially things that rely on movements of tails, wings or ears, I don’t see. I just don’t look for them.

“How can killing be the best option?” she asked, back to her quiet voice now.

“Got it and the timberwolves out of the way.” Armour seemed fine, if a little bent. Need to get it fixed when I was in Canterlot.

“But I could have gotten it to let us go,” Fluttershy said, almost pleadingly. Tone was easier than facial expressions, though the two weren't entirely separate.

“Would have been nice to know that before I killed it.” Sword seemed fine too. Couldn't see any corrosion on it, though I’d need to check it later to know for sure. Better safe than sorry, and there wasn't much light to see by right now.

Fluttershy didn't seem to have a response to that. I put my sword away and looked around. Only Twilight met my eyes, and she didn't seem happy with me. The others glanced at me when they thought I wasn't looking. They were scared of me. Twilight was scared of me. Dammit.

I gave the ponies a few more minutes rest, and then we set out again. They were silent for a while, and couldn't seem to decide between staying as far away from me as possible and staying as close as possible. Twilight was to come near me. She came over to me, nudging my hip with the side of her head and gave me a smile when I looked down. I smiled back and ruffled her mane. We would be okay.

“How do you do that?”

Rainbow Dash had hovered over to me. I gave her a confused look, and when she didn't get it I asked, “Do what?”

“You just killed a manticore and made it look easy, then you treat Twilight like your little sister or something. It, it just seems like you should be shaken up, y’know? But you act like you do it everyday.”

“Maybe a pony should be shaken, but I'm not a pony,” I said. She ignores me

“And were did you learn to fight like that? You, I swear, its like you unfolded or something. I mean, you're not that big, and you took that hit like it was nothing!” She’s off in her own little world now, jabbering on about alien armies or something.

“Rainbow’s right,” Applejack said. “I swear, when you were fightin’ the manticore, it was like you grew bigger. Like, like Winona when she hears the timberwolves a-howling.” Winona was her farm-dog, I think. “I ain’t gonna lie, I was more scared ah you than I was of the manticore then.”

When Applejack compared me to her dog - a comparison I didn't mind - Fluttershy’s head snapped up and towards me. She flew at me at fast enough to make me flinch and asked, no, ordered me to show her my teeth. She was a vet or something, I think. Something animal related. She had mentioned a bear, so she would know what sharp teeth meant. I gave her a dentists smile.

By some freak stroke of luck, the teeth either side of my canines are tilted back slightly, making the canines more pronounced. Fluttershy just looked at them and nodded. “You eat meat, don’t you?”

More gasps from the ponies with us. They do that a lot. I gave them a reassuring smile, thought better of it and stopped. Actually, only Rarity gasped. Twilight knew, Applejack has a dog, Pinkie Pie has an alligator and I don’t think Rainbow Dash heard. They all seemed a bit more on edge, though.

“He doesn't eat ponies,” Twilight said. “I mean, would he be a Royal Guard if he ate ponies?”

That calmed them down quite a bit. They must of a good image of the Guards in Ponyville. It wasn't that far from Canterlot, but given the size of the town I doubt they saw them that often. Probably had a fairly romanticised view of them.

Twilight and the other ponies talked a bit more. I checked around us, and didn't see any timberwolves. Spotted a few things, though I only recognised one, a cockatrice. Heading away from us, thankfully.

The ponies were walking in a much tighter clump, though Pinkie Pie started bouncing, literally bouncing, after a while. Twilight and her were the only two that would come within a foot of me. We were walking through a particularly dark part of the wood that had the ponies trembling when Pinkie Pie started singing a song about giggling. It was catchy, sure, but I didn't really get why she sang it. Made Twilight feel better though, so I didn't mind. It helped the others as well.

We met an incredibly flamboyant purple sea serpent (river serpent?). Apparently, because he was missing part of his moustache, we couldn't cross the river. Rarity gave him part of her tail, which he loved, and he gave us a lift over. Pretty nice of her, if she puts half as much work into her looks as I think she does.

An incident with some falling rocks and collapsing ground ended with me pulling Twilight up while the pegasi rescued the earth ponies and Rarity. We stuck to safer ground after that. Applejack was pretty good at telling what part of the path was safe and what wasn't. Took a bit to convince Rarity and Twilight that was something earth ponies could do, but eventually they believed her.

We were getting pretty close, and could actually see the castle not far away, when we came to a ravine. And, because whoever is in charge of this world wants a good story, the bridge was an old, rickety wooden thing that had collapsed. Twilight sent Rainbow across to tie it up, ignoring my plan of teleporting everyone but the pegasi the ten feet or so.

A fog blew in just after Rainbow Dash left. After waiting far too long, the bridge was back up and we crossed to find Rainbow waiting on the other side.

“What took you so long?” Twilight asked her.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” the pegasus replied. “I’d never leave you hangin’. So, how we doin’ this?” After she said that, Twilight got this weird look on her face, the one she gets when a light bulb goes off in her head.

“First, we find the elements,” Twilight said. “They will look like five orbs, but I don’t know where they’ll be. Somewhere important, most likely.” I nodded, and followed her when she started walking. The others came with as well.

The castle was a mess. It was a crumbling ruin, with deep shadows and dank corners.

And the Elements of Harmony were right in the freaking entrance.

Seriously. These things were some sort of super-weapon, and they were sitting just inside the front gate. Which was made of wood, had a huge hole in it and was hanging off its hinges. Talk about lack of security.

The ponies started cheering, when Twilight realised one was missing. Apparently, magic, the sixth element, only showed up when the rest were together or something.

Then the weird misty shape Nightmare Moon took showed up and started monologuing. She focused on the ponies, thankfully, allowing me to blind side her. Which is harder than it looks with horses.

I kicked her in the back of her back left leg and knocked the back right out from under her with a swing of my sword. She landed on her arse with a surprised gasp. I sliced one of her wings while she stood up, getting clipped by the return kick. In the same place the manticore hit me as well. When I picked myself up, she was facing me, and she was pissed. There were five piles of dust at her feet, and she sounded smug. She had destroyed the Elements, and soon would rule the world. She gave me one last job offer as well. I glanced at the wing I’d cut. It had already healed.

“Alright. I'm in,” I told her. She seemed shocked by that. Probably expected me to refuse and try to keep fighting. “One condition. Twilight lives and you never order me to hurt her. She’s the purple one.”

“Ah. Very well. Your friend shall be spared. And the others? Any plans for them?” she asked.

I shrugged. “They’re no threat. They obviously can’t use the Elements now, so killing them would be a waste of time. The forest will probably take care of them for us. Plus, knowing they failed will hurt worse than dying would.” I cleaned her blood off my sword using the side of my trousers as I spoke. Nightmare Moon turned back to the ponies and informed them of their fate. They gave me shocked and angry looks, Twilight most of all. I winked at her and smiled. C’mon Twilight, get it.

I hope she got it, and was playing along, because if not I was in trouble later. She gave me this look I'm pretty sure could make stone cry. She looked betrayed and hurt. She looked like she was about to cry.

I'm not going to lie. It hurt. It really hurt. While I can’t honestly say I've never made Twilight cry, I can honestly say that nothing makes me feel worse.

Nightmare Moon laughed and teleported us away. I sat down and looked over my sword a bit while I waited, trying to keep the worry off my face. We were in the throne room, I think, at the end opposite from the door. It was dark and dank and smelled funny. Nightmare Moon talked to herself, telling herself to shut up, that it would work. I hoped she wasn't too crazy. Nothing more dangerous than a powerful crazy person. The shards of the elements had been brought along. A few seconds later Twilight showed up in a flash of light purple light. I could hear the other five down below, shouting and running. I think Nightmare Moon was about to order me to hurt Twilight, then remembered our deal. Too early to make me break that yet.

They stared at each other. Twilight snorted and pawed at the ground with a hoof. And then she lowered her head and started powering up a spell. Her horn glowed, the light the same colour as her teleport flash.

I hit Nightmare Moon in the side while she was focused on Twilight. Slammed into her with a flying tackle. I’m not a big guy, but I've got a fair bit of muscle on me, and I'm in armour. She fell on her side, and I landed on her. And because I’m an idiot, I had my sword between us. I kneed her in the ribs and stood, only to have my weapon torn from my hands with a rush of dark blue light. I stomped on the alicorn’s wing to try and keep her down. From the sounds she made it must have hurt like hell.

After a handful of blows, I turned to look for my sword. I wasn't going to break any of her bones, not if her wings had survived that. Bloody alicorn durability. And I was promptly tossed across the room for my stupidity.

Look, I'm not trained to fight alicorns, and in the heat of battle its easy to forget the same thing that could take a small house being dropped on it could also drop a small house on you.

I hit the wall, and then the floor, with a pair of cracks, which were thankfully the stone, and not me. On the other hand, I’d hit the stone hard enough to crack it. I'm going to be covered in bruises in the morning.

One stroke of luck went my way, though. I had been thrown in the same direction as my sword.

“Why are the good ones always taken,” Nightmare Moon lamented. I think she was talking about soldiers. I hoped she was. I am not, nor will I ever be, into ponies. “I even gave you a second chance! Though, if you were the type of... whatever you are, to switch sides when a better offer came your way, I doubt you are the type that would make a good lieutenant.”

She was walking my way. Either that, or Twilight had more than doubled in size in the last minute. Man, the things you think of when full or adrenaline and pain. I could probably reach my sword from where I lay. Just had to let her get close enough.

I moved when I could see her hooves. A roll to the side, grab the hilt and swing as I stand up.

Only to hit a magic shield. Today is just not my day. I wasn't expecting the recoil, and barely managed to not drop the weapon, but my fingers went a bit fuzzy. My hand was trapped in a dark blue glow before I could start another swing, not that I stopped trying.

Nightmare Moon was smiling at me. She had a mouth full of canines, for some reason. She looked really smug with having stopped my sword arm. So I smashed my forehead into her nose.

Pony Fact: Pony noses are both soft and sensitive.

She screamed like a little filly and her magic slipped. It was like her nose exploded, the amount of blood that poured out. My arm was suddenly moving, catching me slightly off guard. I scored a hit along her withers, and got a hoof to the chest in return. Her punch was like a full grown earth pony stallion slamming into me, compacted into a circle two inches across. In other words, it hurt.

I was sent reeling back. Nightmare Moon followed, sending a few more punches my way. I dodged or parried most of them, but a few struck home. She was damn fast. If she had more practice fighting bipedal animals I’d probably have died in the first minute. But I was lucky, and she didn't.

Eventually, my luck ran out, and she got me with a two-hoofer to the floating ribs. I hit the wall behind me hard enough to collapse it, though thankfully there wasn't much wall left. Not that it mattered, once I started coughing red.

Nightmare Moon stood over me. She was monologuing again, or maybe laughing. I couldn't tell over the ringing in my ears. She lifted a hoof above my head and said something loudly and smugly.

Then a rainbow hit her from behind.

It hit me as well. I was blinded by it, the colours washing together to make a bright white light. I closed my eyes, but it didn't make much difference.

It didn't hurt, oddly enough. It didn't feel good, but it didn't hurt. It made me feel calm. At peace. Docile. Not things I'm used to feeling. I didn't particularly enjoy them. And then the light was gone. I was both saddened and relieved by its absence.

I managed to get myself out of the rubble without hacking up a lung. I only coughed up a little blood, actually. Whatever the rainbow was, it must have healed me. I still hurt like hell, but I probably wasn't going to die any time soon. Nightmare Moon was gone, though her armour was still there. Twilight was swaying slightly were she stood, but was otherwise okay. Didn't have a scratch on her that I could see. Probably had a few ones you can’t though. I could feel sunlight on the back of my neck. It made the hairs there stand up.

No, wait, that was the eyes, staring at me from under the discarded armour. They weren't Nightmare Moon’s eyes. She had cat-eyes, these eyes belonged to a normal pony. They were also much too small to be Nightmare Moon’s.

I staggered over the few steps between me and the armour, picking up my sword as I walked, and moved it out of the way. Under it was an alicorn filly. She had a darker purple coat than Twilight, with a pale violet mane. Her cutie mark was like Nightmare Moon’s, but on her the crescent moon was surrounded by black, not purple.

We looked at each other for a while, her staring up at me with wide eyes. I don’t know what I looked like, but it can’t have been good, because she flinched when I knelt down in front of her.

“So. You’re the other Princess?” I asked her. She nodded at me, very slowly. I sheathed my sword and helped her to her hooves. “I'm Michael. We need to talk to Twilight.”

The filly stared at the ground. “I am Princess Luna,” she muttered.

I walked over to Twilight, and heard Luna following behind me. She was talking to Celestia. Where had she came from? I grabbed Twilight by the back of the neck and pulled her away. She complained, but I’d deal with that in a bit. I looked Celestia in the eye and said, “What were my first words in Equestria? Untranslated.”

She was shocked at first, then had a flash of anger before moving to acceptance. She brought her head to my ear and whispered, in English, ‘You’re real, aren't you?’

I let out the breath I hadn't realised I was holding. Even if it hadn't been Celestia, it still gave off the same feeling of warmth the white alicorn did. I don’t think I could have taken her. I settled for my usual glare before stepping back to let Twilight stand next to her mentor.

I think she was about to tell me off for suspecting it wasn't Celestia when the alicorn hugged her, cutting her off. I gave the five other ponies a quick check over. They seemed okay. Probably going to have nightmares, but nothing I could do about that. Celestia and Twilight spoke, but they did it while hugging and crying, so I didn't really get any of it, and then they spoke to Luna, who was apparently hiding behind me. Wasn't she scared of me a second ago?

The little filly was nervous, which made Celestia talk down to her instead of just talk to her, which even I know is a mistake. So I picked Luna up and brought her up to eye level with her sister by sitting her on my shoulders. Being back to her normal height made Luna more confidant, so she and her sister were able to have a proper conversation. Which ended in tears, albeit happy ones.

----

If you want a record of what was actually said that night, don’t check a history book, because Celestia edits history books. If I'm still around when you read this, come to me and I’ll get you a copy of Twilight’s notes. If I'm not, they’re in the archives, in the cooking section, under ‘Medieval Minotaur Vegetarian recipes’. Look for something by ‘Gandalf the Grey’.

----

Anyway, Celestia and Luna had been reunited. By now, I was pretty sure Luna wasn't a threat, and if she was Celestia could take care of her. I gave Twilight a smile, which she returned slowly, and collapsed. I was out before I hit the ground.

Chapter 3

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I woke up in my usual room in the Canterlot castle hospital. My armour was off, and I had bandages on my chest and head, though a quick check showed no broken ribs. I would need to thank the smiths. Need to stop by there to pick it up again anyway.

Ignoring the twinges of pain, I sat up and reached leaned down to the foot of my bed, picking up my chart. I was admitted two days ago, but the Princesses. Plural. Guess Luna’s back in charge already. The little alicorn reminded me of Twilight. She used to hide behind me as well.

I read through the chart. I had broken one rib and bruised a few others, but the broken one had been magicked better. Those, along with a minor concussion and a punctured lung, the latter of which had been fixed with magic, made up the worst of my injuries. A nurse came in as I put the chart back. Nurse Tenderhoof was always assigned to me when I came by, which was quite often. I donated blood every other week, so they always had enough on hand. They could magic some up if they wanted to, but the magic stuff dissipated after a while.

Tenderhoof smiled at me when she entered. She was always happy to see me, and happier to see me leave.

“Good to see you’re awake Michael,” she said. She was soft spoken without being quiet, if that makes sense. She was a pale grey unicorn with a sky blue mane and a bandaged hoof as a cutie mark. I smiled back at her. “You really should stop ending up in hospital, you know. You gave us all quite a fright. Twilight was almost beside herself.”

“I’ve had worse, and I heal quickly,” I said. “Besides, what would you do all day if I never came by? And where’s Twilight?”

“I think I’d manage somehow. Twilight’s with the Princess, I think. Sorry, Princesses. That’ll take some getting used to. So, what was it this time?” she asked me. “Come on, spill.” She always like hearing about what I did to end up in this bed. As she spoke, she put an IV drip on the stand next to the bed, passing the needle my way. I slipped it in first go.

I nodded, asking “How much have you heard already?”, not knowing what I should tell her. Celestia and Luna probably wouldn’t want it known the latter had tried to take the former's place two days ago.

“Not much. No one has. All I was told was that two days ago, you helped Twilight and some other mares rescue Princess Luna from the Mare in the Moon.”

I could work with that. I spun a tale about the Mare in the Moon taking Celestia’s place at the Summer Sun Celebration, of the group coming together and the trip to the ruins, of the Mare in the Moon holding the young Princess hostage, having taken her with her when she was banished a thousand years ago. I spoke of the fight, and how Twilight and the rest didn’t use the Elements, but were the Elements. Twilight had said something to that effect last night, before the rainbow hit me, and I felt it was a nice touch. I named no names other than Twilight, though. I’m not an idiot. Most of the time.

I spoke of being hit by the Elements as well, and how they banished the Mare in the Moon but spared Luna, of how I spoke with Luna and of the first meeting between the sisters in a thousand years.

Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at putting a good spin on the stories I told Tenderhoof. She had just started when I was brought here. She gave me food and talked as she worked, even though I didn’t understand. She was a friend.

“Theres a visitor waiting to see you, by the way,” she said as she checked my bandages. “Princess Luna. She refused to come in without somepony asking you if you wanted to see her.”

“Send her in when you’re done.”

She just nodded, and a few minutes later said I would be good for another few hours before I had to change bandages, but to avoid moving as much as possible for the next few days. I nodded, knowing the drill, and we said goodbye. Luna came in a few seconds after Tenderhoof left. Must have been waiting right outside.

Luna was bigger than she had been the night before. Not by much, barely enough to notice, but it was there. Her mane, while lacking her sister’s ethereal quality, seemed much wavier than it had, and she stood taller, with a longer horn and wider wings. Less than an inch taller, less than that longer and wider, but it was there.

She studied me as I looked at her. She hadn’t known what I was last night, but had probably been informed. She seemed fascinated by me. Yeah, she was a lot like Twilight.

“You’ve grown,” I said to her.

“INDEED, WE HATH GROWN SINCE LAST WE MET,” she said loudly, walking towards the bed as she spoke. It wasn't quite shouting, merely speaking loudly enough to make me lean back.

I looked at her for a moment. Either she thought I was hard of hearing, that was how she spoke a thousand years ago, or she was making a very odd joke. All things considered, it was probably the second one.

“I take it the past few days haven’t been going well for you,” I said. I mean, if they had, she wouldn’t be here. The look she gave the floor was all the answer I needed. “Want some advice? Stop shouting, and learn how to talk.”

“BUT THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE IS THE TRADITIONAL MEANS FOR ROYALTY TO INTERACT WITH PEASANTRY! AND OUR METHOD OF SPEECH IS THE PROPER ONE, NOT THE-”

I cut her off my holding her muzzle closed with a hand. Given she came up to around my knee, the hardest part leaning down to reach her.

“Speak quietly or not at all,” I told her. “Learning how to talk can come when you don’t make people’s ears bleed. Understood?” I made her nod. “Good. I’m going to let go now. Say something without shouting.” I let her go and looked over her. Ears flat against head, tail low, legs locked, eyes wide. She was scared. Good. Fear is the best teacher, better even than pain. No one knows how to hurt us like ourselves.

Luna swallowed and wet her lips before trying to speak. “Is, is this better?” she asked. At first it seemed too quiet, but I realised that it was only when compared to how she had spoken first. I nodded.

“Thats good for when you’re with a few people. In large groups, you’ll need to raise it a little to be heard. But the Royal Whatever is not to be used, got it?”

“The Royal Canterlot Voice,” she corrected, “and yes.” I looked down at her. “No. Pray tell, what should We have?”

“Understanding.” She gave me a confused look, her head tilted to one side. “In that context, ‘it’ is comprehension. If you have ‘it’, you understand. In that case, you understand the Royal Canterlot Voice is not to be used.”

“Ah, in that case, We do ‘got it’.” She frowned. “That doth not sound like proper Equestrian.”

“It ain’t. Equestrian is my second language. I still slip into the patterns of my first when I talk.”

“Ah. Got it.” She beamed up at me. “Aha! That sounded much better, did it not?”

“Next lesson,” I said, shifting a bit to the side and waving her up. She jumped onto the bed with a small flutter of her little wings. She lay down, tucking her legs under her. “Next lesson. Drop the royal ‘We’. You’re one pony, Luna.”

I spent the next few hours teaching her modern Equestrian. A half hour or so into it, her horn briefly lit up as the sun fell and the moon rose. That seemed to take a lot out of her, so we broke so she could go get something to eat, but were right back to it afterwards.

Luna nodded off a few hours before sunrise, and I was out not long after.

I woke up before Luna did. The alicorn filly was curled up next to me. Going by the position of the moon outside the window, the sun was going to rise in about half an hour. I shook Luna awake and let her know. I had a quick wash, taking care not to get my fresh bandages wet - how they got them on without waking me I would never know - and ate the breakfast Tenderhoof brought. She seemed surprised to see Luna still there, asking when she had arrived.

“She never left,” I told her between mouthfuls. It was a salad, sadly. Heavy on the beans and such, like most of the food I eat. Got to get protein somehow, and Celestia refuses to get me meat. Though, honestly, I am sick of beans, and nuts too, for that matter.

“She spent the night?” Tenderhoof asked, smiling slightly.

“Yeah. I helped her with her Equestrian, she raised the moon, we got something to eat and she passed out. I nodded off a bit after that.” The smile that grew on her face made me instantly uneasy.

“So, the Princess, that you helped rescue, spent the night in your room?” she asked me.

Not this again. I went through a similar thing with Twilight, when she was twelve and I was thirteen. Of course, she knew all this. I had explained it to her when I ended up in here after some bullies called Twilight some rather horrible names, many of which involved the work ‘bucker’.

I ignored her taunts, instead focussing on Luna’s blushing. Which reminded me, I wanted to ask something. “How do ponies blush?”

I got a complicated answer that amounted to ‘we aren’t actually sure, so it’s probably magic’. I nodded, and finished breakfast as Tenderhoof checked me over again. One more night before I could check out, apparently. When Tenderhoof left to check on her other patients - a few spoiled noble children wanting a day off school, from what she said - I turned to Luna.

“So, why’d you visit yesterday?”

“We, eh, I wanted to see thee, ah, you,” she said, nervously.

“Why yesterday? Why not wait until I was out?”

She let out a huff before starting to rant. “We were bored! Our sister will not let Us resume Our duties except the raising and lowering of Our Orb, and We had naught else to consume Our time! Nopony would explain why Our speech made the common pony run in fear! Nopony would converse with Us! But thee! Thou thought to check Our sister was herself before dropping thine guard around her! Thou called her by her name! Thou would speak with Us, We were certain!”

She was panting by the end, having said it all in one breath. Quite impressive, given her size. On that topic, I gave her a closer look. She was a slight bigger already. She had grown during the night. I only noticed because I was looking for it.

She looked like she expected me to say something. The silence seemed to be weighing down on her. I took pity on her.

“Fair enough. List your mistakes during that rant,” I said. She was a good student, and teaching her would kill time. She went through her mistakes, not entirely happy about making so many, and the lessons continued. We talked, and I made her correct herself when she was wrong.

I wasn’t gentle about it. I wasn’t kind. I laughed at her more than once. I probably insulted her more in that one lesson that she had been in her entire life before Nightmare Moon. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed it.

Twilight didn’t visit that morning. It worried me a bit, but she was important. She would have things to do.

She didn’t visit that afternoon. But she was probably just really busy figuring out the Elements or something.

She didn’t visit that evening. Luna had left just after sunset, wanting to show her sister how much better her ‘Modern Equestrian’ had become after just a day and a half of lessons. Apart from Tenderhoof coming to check on me every four hours and twenty eight minutes, I’d had no visitors since Luna left. I couldn’t sleep.

She didn’t visit that morning, when I was discharged. I dressed quickly, feeling odd outside my armour, and made my way to the throne room. I wasn’t exactly an uncommon sight in the castle, but I still got a few odd looks. Most of the Royal Guard wasn’t exactly fond of me, so that was probably why. Something to do with me mentioning when Celestia should have done something differently. I got on well with servants though. They seemed to feel I was alright, and I got a few ‘hellos’ as I walked.

I slipped into the throne room through a servants entrance. It blended seamlessly into the wall from inside the throne room, so if someone hadn’t been looking I’d appear from nowhere. This particular one was also behind the throne. Thrones, now, actually. Well, I say thrones. It’s just pillows. Celetia had a real plush looking one in reds and golds, while Luna had a smaller one in blues and silvers. I liked hers better.

I walked over to Celestia and asked her where Twilight was. From the way she jumped you’d think I’d threatened her with a knife. When she saw it was me, she relaxed, at least externally. I don’t think she ever actually relaxes.

“Twilight is in Ponyville, with her friends. The other Elements of Harmony,” she explained. Ah, makes sense. Fighting an ancient evil has to bring you closer together. “She has decided to move there.”

“Okay. I’ll pack up and move out there this afternoon,” I said, turning away.

“No, you will not. You will be staying in Canterlot.”

I stopped moving after the first word.

A few years ago, Celestia and I had come to an agreement, of sorts. We never actually said anything to one another, but we both knew what was going on. I would keep Twilight safe. Celestia would keep Twilight happy. It worked pretty well. We both spent a fair bit of time with Twilight, which meant I got someone who didn’t flinch when I smiled, and Celestia got to treat someone like a daughter. We got what we wanted, Twilight got what she wanted, everyone was happy.

“And who will be guarding Twilight, if not me?” I asked her. My tone was probably harsher than it should have been, because I saw the Guards tense up.

“Twilight is the most powerful unicorn I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t need a Guard,” Celestia replied, waving a hoof.

“She doesn’t have it in her to kill something, and she’ll be living near the Everfree,” I pointed out. My voice rose slightly. The Guards got tenser.

“How do you know she doesn’t?” Celestia asked me, infuriatingly calm.

“Ponies don’t like hurting things, let alone killing them. Don’t deny it, you know its true.”

“Oh, and you do?” she asked. She was leading me along, I could tell she was. But she was smarter than me. If I tried to shift the conversation, it would end up with me admitting to plotting a coup against her or something.

“You’re right. I don’t. But I’ll do it without blinking if I have to. I don’t hate them like ponies do. It won’t weigh on my mind, or keep me up at night. Besides, better I do it than Twilight does.”

“The fact remains Twilight could teleport away. She does not need a guard. Besides, I have another task for you.”

“What about the other Elements?” I asked her.

“Nopony knows who they are,” Celestia said. “Aren’t you going to ask about this ‘other task’?”

“No. It’s teaching Luna how to speak and act in modern Equestria.” I would never forget the shocked look on her face. It would make me smile whenever I thought of it. I love being underestimated. The little Princess was giggling at her sister’s face. I guess even she hadn’t seen her shocked that often. “You’re reasoning is that I’d be the best teacher, as I’d mention things ponies wouldn’t think to.”

She recovered quickly. “Yes, that is correct. In addition, I’m assigning you to the Night Guard. You will be serving directly alongside Shining Armour as Captain, reporting directly to Luna and myself. You can begin interviews for your subordinates next week.”

I wasn’t being given a choice. These were orders. So all I could do was nod and say, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Take the next few days off, Captain. Dismissed.”

I turned and walked the length of the throne room to the huge double doors at the far end. Working alone as I did, I had, had given me a great deal of autonomy. It was going to be a while before I was used to following protocol. Twilight was going- no, think abiut something else.

Then again, as Captain, I’d have some say over protocol for the Night Guard. And Celestia had said Luna and herself, meaning Luna first. I will admit I’ve never gotten on well with Celestia. Its rather childish, the reason. We both want to be Twilight’s favourite person. Favourite pony, in Celestia’s case. Celestia had a head start, being Princess and all, but I spent more time with her when we were younger, putting me at a close second. Now, I was out of the way, just like she had convinced Twilight’s parents to not visit as often, and then not at all.

I’m not saying she made Twilight’s parents stop visiting so she could replace them. You might infer that, and I might not deny it, but I will never say thats why she did it. She just wasn’t upset with them when they stopped coming. And her brother rarely had time to visit either, despite living in the same building. This might just be paranoia talking. And Celestia always put Twilight first. Well, within reason. She treated Twilight like her own daughter.

I checked a clock as I walked through the castle, and did some mental arithmetic. Next train to Ponyville wasn’t for a while. I could go to the smithy and still have some time to kill.

So, I stopped by the smithy and picked up my armour and sword, putting them on. A captain’s badge had been added to the shoulders, a golden olive branch above a shield with Equestria’s flag on it. While I was there, I got some practice with a crossbow they had been making. They actually let me keep one. It was their more recent attempt, and pretty good. Not a lot of kick to it, and it lined up almost perfectly. I thanked them, paid, and left.

I made it to the train station in time to get a good seat on the train to Ponyville. It left ten minutes after I sat down, and I zoned out for most of the four hour train ride.

When the train pulled into Ponyville, it was fairly empty in my carriage. I got off the train and headed to the centre of town. I stopped the first pony I recognised. It was the Mayor, and she didn’t look happy to see me. Then she saw the badges on my shoulder, and turned on an obviously fake smile. I asked her where Twilight was, and she pointed me towards the library. A quick thanks, and I was off.

I got more than a few stares walking through town, but I ignored them. The whispers were harder though. Loud enough for me to hear one word in a handful, and enough hushed conversation going on to make sure I heard a lot of words. Most were of the ‘what is he?’ variety, but some weren’t. I guess some of the ponies remembered me from two days ago. Hardly surprising.

I got to the library within five minutes of getting off the train, despite it being across the town. I hesitated, and then knocked. Twilight answered quickly, gasping when she saw me.

“Michael!” she said, hugging me around my waist. “I was so worried! You were so hurt when we left the ruins.”

Not worried enough to visit, I thought but didn’t say. I didn’t say anything, just picked her up and returned the hug.

When I put her back down, she waved me inside. The five mares from a few days ago were there as well. They looked at me with mixed emotions. Fluttershy was worried, or scared. Pinkie Pie was happy. Applejack was wary. Rarity was nervous. Rainbow Dash was frowning at me, which could mean a few things. Either she was angry or she was confused.

“How are you, Michael? When did you get out the hospital?” Twilight asked me, concerned.

“I’m fine. Got out this morning. Worst thing was a punctured lung, but that was magicked better. Other than that, only one broken rib, one cracked and two bruised, a minor concussion and a mess of bruises. I’ll be good in a week or so.” They were all staring at me, silent. It was getting on my nerves.

“I wanted to visit you, but the Princess said it was best to let you sleep,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“Its fine, Twilight. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“‘Glad she’s okay?’” Rainbow Dash said, incredulous. At least she stopped frowning at me. “You get the stuffing kicked out of you by an evil alicorn, and you’re worried about her? Dude. What the hay?”

“I’m a Guard, Rainbow Dash. It’s what I do.”

That calmed her down, I think. She seemed to flare up at the oddest things. “Oh, no need to call me ‘Rainbow Dash’. Just ‘Rainbow’ is fine. Anypony who can get beat like you and worry about their friends is good in my book.”

“Anyone, not anypony,” I corrected. “And thanks, I guess.”

She looked confused, so Twilight explained why I insisted on using ‘one’ in place of ‘pony’, even when talking to ponies. It took longer than it should. Meanwhile, the others seemed to have gotten over their fear of me. Rarity came and looked over my armour.

“What are these marks, on the shoulders?” she asked.

“Symbols of rank,” I said, taking a sandwich from Pinkie Pie. Where she got them from, I’m not sure, but there were suddenly a couple plates of sandwiches sitting on the table.

“Oh, yes, you’re a Guard. But I don’t remember you having these yesterday. What rank are you?” she asked.

“Captain. Got promoted this morning.” I checked to make sure no flowers or hay were lurking in my sandwich before eating it.

“You’re a Captain?” Twilight and Rarity said simultaneously.

I nodded and looked down at the sandwich. It was pretty good. I finished it and had another. Twilight had a different reaction to hearing about my rather large promotion than the others did. She was happy for me, don’t get me wrong. But she knew what it meant. I wouldn’t be coming to Ponyville with her. I gave her a small smile, and got one in return.

“You CAN smile!” Pinkie Pie said, pointing a hoof at me. She seemed genuinely surprised by that. I just nodded, and she turned back to her conversation with Applejack. Although, I’m pretty sure she glanced at me when she thought I wasn’t looking.

I spent the rest of the day and a fair portion of the night like that. I didn’t do much talking, happy just to sit back and listen. I’ve never been much of a talker. Eventually, the others went home, leaving me and Twilight alone in the library.

“So. This is it, huh?” she said when the others were gone.

“I’ll visit when I can,” I told her. “It’s not much of a train ride between here and Canterlot. And I’ve got the next few days off, too.”

“The Princess finally got you to take a day of, huh?" she asked, giggling a little. "Still. I thought you’d be coming here with me.” She kicked at the floor with a hoof, leaving a small scratch in the wood. “Now you’ll be too busy to spend time with me, just like Shiney.”

“I’ll always have time for you, Twilight,” I told her.

She let out a sigh. “Thats what Shiney said as well. I barely see him anymore.”

Well, you never tried to visit him, is what I didn’t say, mostly because it was my fault she didn't. Her brother and I do not get along. “If it gets to that point, I’ll resign as Captain and transfer out here.”

Her head jerked upwards, her face torn between happiness and anger. “No. I can’t let you do that. Not for me, not for anypony, anyone.”

“You also can’t stop me,” I pointed out. “I’ve got pretty much all my pay saved. And all my leave. And we both know you wouldn’t object to me staying here.”

“Just, just don’t do it right away, okay? You’ll be busier the first few months than you will be after that. Give it time to settle down. Please?” She started giving me puppy-dog eyes there. She does that quite often to me, despite never having needed to.

“Okay. I’ll give it six months. Half a year. And if, after that, we go more than say, two weeks without seeing each other more than in passing...” I left the sentence hanging. She would take that as a challenge, if I knew her half as well as I thought I did. And I knew her as well as I knew myself. Maybe better.

I was right. Her eyes narrowed. “Deal!” she said, holding a hoof out to me. We shook on it, and then I hugged her. She was soft and warm and hugged me back. “I’ll tell your brother to visit more often when I see him next. And he’ll do it if I have to drag him here.”

“Thanks,” she said, with a laugh. “Try not to hurt him too much.”

“No promises.”

Nothing much happened in the few days I spent in Ponyville. I got a letter from Luna, telling me what would be expected of me as her Captain. On the last day, a Twilight got a letter from Celestia with a pair of tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala in it. She offered to take me, but I’d probably be there for work anyway. She started fretting about which of her other friends to take, so I wrote a quick letter asking for more tickets and had her send it to Celestia, claiming it was a thank you letter. A few minutes later and she had five more tickets, enough for all her friends. Problem solved.

I spent my last night in Ponyville, having swapped my (almost non existent) sleep schedule around, reading quietly with Twilight. It was wonderful. We criticised the books, pointing out any mistakes or continuity errors, and drank tea. Twilight nodded off a bit before dawn, having been up all day before, and now all night with me. I put her to bed and left, catching the first train to Canterlot.

I arrived with the sun, my train pulling in just as the first rays of light flowed over the horizon. It was an express train, thankfully, so it only took two and a half hours. I got to the castle as the guard changed, and made my way to Luna’s tower.

She had grown even more while I was away. She was still a fair bit smaller than Twilight, but she was obviously not a foal anymore. She had different proportions though. Slimmer in the legs and chest, with a longer face and horn.

She smiled when I entered. “Good morn, Michael. Have you eaten yet?” I shook my head. “Very well. Accompany me to the dining hall, so we might eat.”

The trip to the dining hall is a long one, unless you know the shortcuts. I do. We made it in ten minutes.

I don’t think Luna was expected so early, because the servants scrambled to set a place for her.

“I must say, Michael, that you know the castle very well,” Luna said. She had some sort of salad with flowers in it. Roses, mostly, though a few others. I didn’t eat, just having some tea.

I shrugged. “Spend most of a decade in one building and you learn it pretty well.”

“Have you given any thought as to who you want below you in the Night Guard?” she asked between mouthfuls.

I finished my tea before speaking. “One or two people I want to talk to. We’ll want a mix of vets and recruits. But before I do anything though, I need to know; what will we be doing?”

“Guarding me, of course,” Luna said.

Squashing a yawn, I said, “You don’t need a guard any more than your sister, or Twilight does. The Day Guard handle all the Guarding needs already, we don’t need two sets of Guards in Equestria. So, what will we be doing?”

“We will talk about your duties later, Captain. After breakfast.” She sounded annoyed, or possibly angry and trying to hide it. The rest of the meal went by in silence. I managed a couple more cups of tea before Luna finished. She really packed the stuff away, going through three or four servings. Maybe more, I had to blink a few times, so I might have missed them with how fast she put them away. Makes senses, given how fast she's growing..

We got back to her tower ten minutes later. She slammed the door closed behind us.

“You should not question Us in public like that!” she said. Angry, then. “When We tell you something is so, you accept it as such until we are alone!”

“Yeah, not going to happen.” Probably shouldn’t have said it like that, it just seemed to make her madder. “Look, Luna, listen. I’m not going to blindly follow orders. I didn't do it for your sister, I'm not going to do it for you. I’m going to question your decisions until you prove I don’t have to. I’ll do it in private where I can,” I said, mostly out of self preservation. If looks could kill, the one she was giving me would kill me so hard I’d die four years ago. “But if you order me to do something immediately, and I don’t like the sound of it, I’m not going to do it just because you told me to.”

“Very well,” she said, through gritted teeth. “I will endeavor to prove myself to you.” God, I could feel the venom in her voice.

“So, what will the Night Guard be doing?” I asked her. She had to visibly work to calm herself down before answering.

“Technically, you will be protecting me. You are correct, however, about the Day Guard being sufficient to protect Equestria. Historically, my sister has handled domestic affairs, while I have dealt with other countries. The Night Guard protects me on diplomatic escursions, and also provides protection for settlers. They have also been used as a... strategic intelligence gathering outfit, both domestically and abroad.”

“So, spying.” It wasn't a question, really, but she nodded.

“Spying, and any... covert operation Equestria requires. Over the past millenium, the number of ponies employed in such a role has dropped. In truth, there is only one creature in that line of work, two now you are a member of the Night Guard.” She paused, a hoof tapping her chin. “You may know of him. He works in the Library. His name is Spike.”

Chapter 4

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Half an hour later, I found Spike shelving books in the Royal Library. Spike is a dragon, a baby one. Standin upright, the top of his head comes to maybe the middle of my ribs. His scales are a dark forest green on his stomach and the crests on his back, and a purple so dark it might be black everywhere else. They aren’t shiny, like you think they’d be. They’re not quite dull, either. They just don’t seem to reflect a lot of light.

He walked along the shelves quietly, the only sound the squeaking wheels of the cart he was pushing. He had hands, like me, but with one less finger. I could see the tips of claws peeking out of the ends.

He turned as I walked over to him, my armour’s slight rattling sounding out of place in the silence of the library. He smiled at me with a face full of canines. “Hiya, Michael. Not seen you in a while.”

I grunted. “Been busy. You got a bit? We need to talk.”

“Sure, I guess. Let me just put these books away.” I waited until he was finished. It took around fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. He seemed to know where every book was meant to go.

Spike had been hatched by Twilight during the same accident that brought me to Equestria. Given both of those things were supposed to be impossible, Celestia was probably left with a bit of a problem. Considering when she came to look at me my first night here I’m pretty sure she was considering having me killed, I think the problem was mostly me. Spike, it was decided, would be raised in the palace, as a ward, while Twilight taught me how to read, speak and generally function.

I had spent a fair bit of time with Spike at first. I taught him how to walk on two legs, how to use his claws. When he was about five or so, Celestia sent him off to a private school. At least, thats what she said at the time. Not technically a lie, just the way she likes it.

We moved to a more secluded section of the library, not that any of it was really ever busy. It was a corner between ‘Cooking’ and ‘Cookery’, a pair of surprisingly large sections I don’t really know the difference between.

When I was sure we were alone, I turned to face Spike. “I know. Luna told me.”

“Know what? What did Luna tell you?” he asked. Spike is a very good liar. Not perfect, but very good. Much better than any pony I’ve ever seen, thats for sure. But he looks you in the eyes too much when he lies. His claws extend a bit. His tail swishes.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Spike.”

He stared me dead in the eyes now, no emotion on his face that I could see. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.” I saw him tense a bit, and stand up straighter as well. His tail scraped against the wooden floor and he leaned towards me. He was getting ready to move. Now, that may not mean much, but remember, Spike is a dragon. And dragon’s are top of the food chain here for a reason.

And then he laughed. “Oh man, the look on your face,” he said, wiping at one of his eyes. “The Princess sent me a message saying to expect you dude. So, you’re Captain of the Night Guard. What’s that got to do with me?”

“You work for me now, in the Night Guard. You get your orders from Luna and myself. Not Celestia. Understood?”

He nodded once, and started walking away.

“I’m not finished.” He stopped, and looked back at me. “Tomorrow, you’re going down to Ponyville. You’ll be guarding Twilight Sparkle. Anyone asks, you’re her assistant, sent down to help her settle in and to learn about Equestria or something.” Another nod, and then he turned a corner and was gone.

I waited a couple minutes, then left.

The next couple months were uneventful. I interviewed some of the Day Guard interested in transferring, probably hoping for officer ranks. Spoke to some recruits as well. By the start of winter, the Night Guard had grown from two to one hundred and ninety four. In addition to myself and Spike, we had forty eight unicorns, fifty pegasi, fourteen griffons and eighty earth ponies. Still less than a tenth of the Day Guard, but considering how most ponies felt about the Night Guards appearance, it was alright. Also a decent representation of Equestrian population. 2:3:5 ratio of unicorns, pegasi/griffons and earth ponies.

The ponies in the Night Guard got some changes to their armour’s enchantments. Instead of being grey or white, they turned dark, with bat wings on the fliers and cat eyes on everyone. Luna offered me the changes, but I declined. Magic can be finicky, and I wasn’t letting it anywhere near my eyes. She was not happy with that.

Not having the Day Guards numbers meant we had smaller practice drills. In the Day Guard, the instructors went on and on about how its important to fight properly and fairly. Which always seemed stupid, to me. If you have to fight, you fight to win, not to make everyone feel good. I had the griffons learn how to use crossbows, and they got pretty good with them. Got pretty good with it too.

The first thing I did as Captain, other than get recruits I mean, was to get on the good side of Canterlot’s nightlife. I talked to club owners, bar owners, anywhere people spend time after the sun goes down. I managed to strike a deal with most of them. In return for being told of any illegal business going down inside the club, we wouldn’t shut the place down. Oh, and we would check in every hour or half hour, depending on the size of the place. Regular guard presence really cut down on the number of incidents taking place. It was a while before we had the numbers to live up to it, but that gave them a chance to clean up their act, so they didn’t complain.

It was a few weeks after I spoke with Spike that I next saw Twilight. This was also the Night Guards first mission, and Princess Luna’s first bit of official business since her return.

A dragon had decided to take a nap in Equestria. It must have some serious lung problems, because it’s blowing smoke all over the country. This wouldn’t be a problem, except dragons can hibernate for centuries. Its part of how they can live for so long, I think.

So, someone had to go and wake it up. Originally, Celestia was going to send Twilight and her friends. I don’t know why. She managed to get Shining Armour to agree to that. I don’t know how. Frankly, I was beginning to doubt Shining Armour’s ability as Captain. He would be better off on the training ground. He blindly follows orders, and refuses to see the bigger picture. The only thing he has going for him is that ridiculously strong shield of his.

So, when I found Celestia was going to send Twilight and the other Elements, I objected. Vehemently. Luna agreed with me, thankfully. Which led to Celestia telling us to go with them. She refused to let us take care of it without them, and even went so far as to tell us to let them try first. My plan of killing it and taking its horde was shot down without a thought.

We arrived in Ponyville a few hours before moonrise. I had my chain armour, my sword and crossbow and a few other things that I was hoping I wouldn't have to use. The chariot landed outside Twilight’s library. Spike was there to meet us; Twilight was off rounding up the other Elements. He have me a quick report on how Twilight had been.

“She still isn’t used to living alone. Sometimes she’ll say your name and turn around before she realises you aren’t there. Happens less now than it did. She reads a lot, and writes a lot of notes. Pretty wierd how much she needs everything to be just so. Still, she seems happy. No problems to report.” The young dragon looked around after that. The two of us were in the kitchen, packing some food for the journey. Seeing noone else, Spike leaned towards me and continued.

“I just want to say thanks for the transfer, sir. Even with her… issues, Twilight’s still better than my old boss was. And I don’t miss the other work I did for her, either.”

His ‘old boss’ was probably Celestia, not whoever he reported to in the library. “Don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t. Celestia was not happy I transferred you, and neither was Luna. Best to not bring it up.” I gave one more look around the kitchen, and then down at the supplies Spike and I had collected. I figured we had enough for Twilight.

“Anything I should know about the townsfolk?”

Spike mentioned a few things, nothing serious. A couple stallions who came by seemingly just to talk to Twilight, which she was completely oblivious of. A jealous mare. A few other small town folk that didn’t like her because she was from Canterlot, or a unicorn, or both. Nothing serious about the last one, just a little grudge. I told Spike to keep an eye on them anyway.

We entered the main lobby to see Luna browsing the shelves. I told Spike to send me a report every two weeks and walked over to the Princess. The building had been checked before Luna set hoof off the chariot, which she complained about, but I ignored her. I probably should stop feeding my paranoia like that, but it keeps me warm at night.

Anyway, Luna had brought eleven Guards with her. Two (earth ponies) were outside the front door. Me and two others (one unicorn, one earth pony) were in the library proper. One (unicorn) was on the balcony. One (pegasus) was hovering above the tree. Three (two pegasi, one earth pony) were outside with the chariot. I stood silently as Luna looked through the titles. Spike tidied up a little before wandering around. I heard him checking on the Guards.

Luna had grown quite a bit, though it had slowed down after the first week or so. She was now around Twilight’s height, perhaps a little bigger. She was built differently though, with longer and slimmer legs, a slimmer barrel, that sort of thing. We browsed the shelves while we waited. She kept bumping into me, though, nudging me along.

Every now and then, she’d open her mouth as if to talk, but always closed it without saying anything. Happened about ten times in five minutes. Was she worried about slipping into her old speech habits? This was her first time out of the castle since her return. And her first time meeting Twilight since then as well. Being nervous was understandable.

I made a quick check on the Guards, and was back in the main lobby just before Twilight. She blinked over to me (blinking being a form of short range teleportation) and tackle-hugged me. She must have really missed me, because I actually rocked backwards slightly. I quickly wrapped my arms around her middle and, because it always made her smile, spun in a circle.

“I missed you, Michael,” was all she said before we let each other go. I just smiled and ruffled her mane. She pretended to hate it, but I knew she didn’t.

Luna cleared her throat behind me. Twilight looked at her, eyes wide. “Princess Luna! I’m sorry, but when I saw Michael I sort of forgot you were coming as well. Apologies, your Majesty.” Twilight bowed as she spoke, kneeling low enough to touch her horn against the floor.

Luna looked at Twilight for a moment. After glancing at me, she said, “There is no need to apologise, Twilight Sparkle. And please, call Us” - I coughed lightly there - “me, call me Luna.”

Twilight seemed surprised by that. “Okay, Pr-, eh, Luna. And please, call me Twilight.”

Luna nodded. “Very well, Twilight. Pray tell, when can we expect the rest of your group?”

At that moment, the door slammed open and Rainbow Dash shot in, followed by the others, albeit at a much more relaxed pace.

I swear whatever God or gods there are in this universe or dimension are treating it like a story.

Now that everyone was here, Luna told them the whole story. To summarise: There is a dragon nearby. We don’t want him there. Lets make him leave.

There’s more to it than that - she spoke for a good ten to fifteen minutes on international politics and how having a dragon in one countries borders changed the delicate balance, which made me wonder how much of an effect Spike had. I paid some attention, but midway through I heard someone call my name from behind. Given my back was to a shelf of books, this was impossible. I shrugged it off as me hearing things.

After Luna’s political speech - that seemed to put everyone but Twilight, me and Rarity to sleep - we left. I had the pegasi fly up and circle around us, and gave each unicorn two earth ponies to watch over them, one for offense and one for defense. It’s a tactic I’ve found works well. The strengths of the three races have their strengths and weakness.

Earth ponies are physically stronger than pegasi or unicorns. I don’t know how different they are, biologically speaking, but I know that an earth pony of the same size can have twice as much mass when compared to a unicorn, and almost three times as much as a pegasus. Earth ponies can shake off hits that would cripple or kill a pony of another race.

Pegasi are, physically, the most fragile of the three races. They’re also the lightest, and the fastest. Again, I’m not sure on the precise biological differences that make that so. They also (generally) have better eyesight.

Unicorns are weaker than earth ponies and slower than pegasi. They can, however, attack from a distance, which is invaluable. Anyone with any common sense would realise that the best formation would be with unicorns behind earth ponies, with pegasi at the flanks. Earth ponies protect unicorns, pegasi distract enemies to protect earth ponies, unicorns watch out for pegasi.

We walked in silence, with nothing interesting to be seen or heard, for the better part of two hours. This placed us at the base of the mountain the dragon had taken for it’s home. If the mountain had been level, it would have been another two hours of walking before we reached the dragon’s lair. Instead, we had a three or four hour hike ahead of us.

“Why couldn’t we have flown?” Rarity asked, not for the first time.

“Not enough pegasi to pull this many people,” I said, also not for the first time. Rarity huffed at my answer, and went back to complaining about the dirt, also not for the first time. The cycle repeated itself every ten minutes or so.

The drudgery was starting to get to everyone. The guards had kept their stoic facades on, but I could tell even they were feeling it. As for me, well, Twilight was walking next to me. I was fine.

It took us four and a half hours to reach the dragon’s cave. We took a break around halfway, and I put together a quick lunch, but still. Four and a half hours of walking, climbing over landslides when we couldn’t go around, and dragon snoring louder and louder. Four and a half hours if wondering if the next snore would bring rocks down on us or not. Everyones nerves were a bit frayed.

At the top, we had another rest and finalised our plan. My plan of ‘kill it and take its horde’ was once again shot down without consideration. Eventually, it was decided that Twilight would try and convince it to leave, then Fluttershy, and the other Elements could try if they wanted, and then Luna. If they all failed to get it to leave peacefully, then I had to try. If I couldn’t get it to leave peacefully, it died.

I had the pegasi clear the smoke, and then Twilight got ready to go inside. Without a guard.

“A guard would be seen as a sign of weakness, Captain,” Luna explained. “It would only make an attack more likely.” She seemed a bit nervous. It was then I realised my crossbow was loaded. I didn’t remember loading it. I unloaded it and put it up.

Twilight looked up from her notes. “I’ll be fine, Michael. Really. I’ll teleport out at the first sign of trouble.” It didn’t make me feel better, but I could tell I wasn’t changing their minds. I just nodded and settled down to wait.

After the longest two minutes (and eighteen seconds) of my life, the dragon roared. A second later, Twilight came out. She was frazzled, but unhurt. She walked over to where the rest of us were waiting. She stumbled, once, but I was there before she fell. I helped her over to the camp we had set up.

“That,” she began. She swallowed and took a deep breath. “That is a very grumpy dragon.”

I handed her a flask of water, and after a quick drink she told us the little she had learned about the dragon. Lexavarone, what the dragon had called himself, was around sixteen hundred years old, and had been living in this cave since he was a whelp. He was not willing to move.

With Fluttershy now refusing to go in, the others took there turn. Pinkie Pie did something, I don't know what, but it involved baloons and confetti. Rarity almost had it, but tried to steal from it's hoard, the idiot. Rainbow Dash tried to attack the thing, and was thrown from the cave. That left Luna. I don’t know what her plan was any more than I knew what Pinkie Pie's was, but she seemed confident. She ordered the guard to wait outside, and went in.

She lasted a minute and a half, longer than anyone else. Another roar, and she was thrown backwards from the cave. One of the unicorn guards managed to slow her down enough to let her get her wings out. With a few quick flaps, she was at the camp with the rest of us.

“That… that wyrm!” Was the only coherent thing we got out of her. Leaving her to mutter to herself, I turned to the other guards.

“You know the drill. If it sounds like I’m not coming back out, get everyone else gone.” I got a round of ‘yes sir’s, and turned to look at the dragon’s cave. “Keep an eye on Twilight,” I said, quietly. I glanced over at the pony in question as I spoke. Not a twitch. “She might be trouble if I don’t come out.”

“Good luck, sir.” I turned to face whoever had spoken. One of the guards. Night Wind, Lieutenant, from a town near Cloudsdale. She was naturally a dark colour, so she didn’t need any enchantments to blend in, though she had opted to keep her own wings. She looked like she honestly expected me to fight the dragon and win.

I looked over at Luna, who had thankfully calmed down. She caught my eye and flicked her wing towards the cave. I nodded, and walked inside.

The first thing to hit you about a dragon’s lair is the heat. Directly outside the cave, it felt like a too-warm summers day. Nothing to worry about, but enough to be uncomfortable. I was regretting bringing metal armour, but Equestria didn’t have leather, so it was that or nothing.

I made a mental note to ask Twilight about heat repelling enchantments as I got farther in. Pretty soon the heat was oppressive. I could feel it sapping my strength and clouding my mind.

And then I was standing in a field in the late Autumn. Not literally, but that’s what it felt like. The fierce heat was gone, replaced by a gentle coolness. I looked around the cavern. It was large, taking up most of the mountains peak. Canterlot’s tallest tower could probably fit in here, though without much room to spare.

The cavern was either natural, or carved out by something which doesn’t care about how it looks. The walls and ceiling were rough, and could see what looked like claw marks along the walls. The floor was perfectly level, though. Right up to the small mountain of treasure that was the dragon’s horde.

There didn’t seem to be any organisation to the horde, just piles and piles of treasure. Gold, silver, gems, weapons, and trinkets all mixed in together. I’m surprised Twilight didn’t offer to organise it for him.

The dragon seemed asleep on his horde. His head was facing the entrance, and it dwarfed me. His head was bigger than I was. He snorted, and then growled.

“Not another p…” he began. I felt his voice more than I heard it. It was a deep sound, like an earthquake. He lifted that giant head of his and it snaked towards me. He looked at me with a massive yellow eye. “You are not a pony.” I nodded, thinking quickly. Twilight had described him, but she was never very good at judging size. His head was right in front of me. Dragon’s eyes were one of the few unprotected points on their body. Would a single crossbow bolt through the eye be enough? I doubted it. But I wouldn’t have time to reload.

His eye narrowed. Dragons could not read minds, but they were predators. Predators recognise other predators.

“You are not a minotaur, though you look similar. What are you, little mortal?”

“Not from around here.”

“Not from...?” The eye widened slightly. “Ah, you are a Traveller. What brings you to Equus?”

“An accident.” A difference between Equestrian - the language the dragon and I were speaking - and English is that the Equestrian version of capital letters are pronounced differently than the lowercase versions. So, there is a difference between ‘traveller’ and ‘Traveller’. “Can you elaborate on ‘Traveller’?”

“And what would you give me in return, little mortal? The balance must be maintained. Nothing begets nothing.” He was smiling now. Grinning, really. I could see rows of razor sharp teeth, each about the size of my forearm. They gleamed in the low light of the cave, casting a rainbow of shimmers on the cavern walls. They were coated in gemstones, diamonds, rubies, all that sort of thing.

I thought about it, but I really didn’t have anything I wanted to offer him. I shook my head.

“You feel you have nothing to offer?” he asked. He started making an odd sound after that. It took me longer than it should have to realise it was laughter. A small chuckle, for him. Personally, I was worried about another landslide. “You couldn’t be more wrong. I am sure there is much one like you could do for one like myself.”

An inkling of a plan formed. “There is. And much I could do that noone, no thing, else could do the same. I am the only one of my kind here, after all.” I put no small amount of pride into my voice as I spoke.

It seemed to work. He was interested now, whereas before he just seemed curious. “And what are you, little moral? From where to you hail?”

Gotcha. “And what would you give me in return for those answers? Nothing will come of nothing.”

The huge eye narrowed, the pupil shrank. “Throw my own words back at me, do you? Very well. What do you wish, little mortal?”

“Wish? I wish a great many things.” I couldn’t keep my emotions from spilling over into my voice. It came out colder than I intended. “The question is, what do I wish, that you can give?”

“You already have my attention, mortal. Speak quickly, or be gone with you.” But I could tell that he was paying more attention now. I started to pace, and that great eye followed my every step.

“Speak quickly I shall. You wish to know about my kind. I am the only one that can answer your questions. I am sure there are others that can answer mine.” He growled, and I raised my hands, pacifyingly. “Perhaps not as well as you, but there will be others. And I am, as you say, mortal. I will die one day, and my answers with me. With that in mind, I propose a trade. You may ask me three questions about my people. In return, I will ask you to explain what you mean by ‘Traveller’, and that you leave your cave for your long sleep.”

“WHAT! You think that an equal trade?” he roared. “Foolishness. If you will not be reasonable, be gone.”

“Allow me to explain.” Feeling bold, I walked over to the nearest pile of the horde and picked up a coin. The temperature rose a few degrees. I looked over it like I hadn’t noticed, and dropped it back in place. The temperature fell again, but slower. “Where did you get your hoard?”

“I took it from towns razed and warriors slain,” the dragon said, with no small amount of pride.

“And those towns and warriors. They were in or from Equestria, yes?”

“Where else?” he asked. “Only I, Lexavarone, could settle in Equestria, the richest of nations.”

“And if Equestria were to die, where would you get more treasure for your horde? Mine it yourself?” He seemed offended at the idea. “Please, such tasks are beneath you. No. If Equestria dies then your horde will not grow.”

“And what, pray tell, does this have to do with me moving?”

I pointed to the smoke pooling at the roof of the cavern. “The smoke will block out the sun in a matter of days. Dragons sleep for centuries. Equestria can’t go that long without the sun.”

“You speak truly?” I nodded.

“Very well.” The dragon sat, watching the smoke above him flow out of the cave. “I agree to the proposed trade. We will trade questions. Let it be sealed.” I huge limb shot out from under a pile of priceless treasure, stopping an arms length away from me. I reached out and shook it. “You first, mortal. What are you?”

“My kind are called humans. Or people. One person, many people.”

“What form of creature are you?” he asked. From somewhere behind him, a stack of metal tablets floated out. He hit them with a spurt of flame and wrote in the molten metal.

“We are mammals, like ponies, but we aren’t herbivores. I think the term is omnivore. We can eat almost anything. A fair number of plants, meat, insects, the whole gamut.” As I spoke, I showed him my teeth, the sharp canines and flat molars.”

“What is it that your kind does better than others? The ponies have magic, and the sky runs in the veins of griffons. Minotaurs are master smiths, and Diamond Dogs control the earth. Dragons have the fire at the heart of the planet. What do you ‘humans’ have?”

I had to think. Not of what the answer might be, but how to explain it. “A difficult question. You see, in the world I am from, humans are the only intelligent species. So, the one thing that humans do better than any I have seen here? We learn.” I could tell from the look on his face he wasn’t pleased with that answer, so I went on.

“We have no wings, but we can fly. We make weapons that can level mountains, and build cities that make Canterlot seem a hovel. We have no magic, but we can tell you how stars are born and die. And this is what they had before I was brought here a decade ago. Who knows what they have now?”

“What ‘they’ have now?” Lexavarone asked. “You no longer count yourself among them?”

“Thats a fourth question,” I evaded. But I did, I realised. I mean, while I’m pretty sure all I said is true, humans need more than a couple hours sleep a night. They can’t stay in full armour all day either. Equestria changed me. I might be close, but I’m not really human anymore. It didn’t hurt as much as you might think. There had been one human in Equestria. Now there was none.

Or I could go the other way. I was human, whatever I was. I mean, if I suddenly sprouted wings or started to photosynthesize, no one else would be able to say humans didn’t start to do that at a certain age. As far as everything here was concerned, I was a human, so a human was whatever I was.

But I could think about this more when I wasn’t in a dragon’s cave.

He was staring down at me, waiting. “You know my question. What did you mean by ‘Traveller’?”

The dragons low chuckles shook the room. “You wish to know what I meant by ‘Traveller’?” I nodded, and almost immediately regretted it. The dragon brought a huge talon over to me and, which a sound like an ocean of silk being pulled over a mountain of iron, he extended a single claw and pressed the tip to my forehead.

Have you ever zoned out and had your eyes go slightly out of focus? What happened next was like that, but for all my senses. Things floated at the edge of my vision. Low whispers invaded my ears. My skin crawled as non existent things crawled over me. I could smell freshly cooked food. I tasted meat and something sweet. All of this, and more, was added on top of what I was already seeing and hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. It was the scariest thing I have ever went through.

I had the sudden sensation of being one person in a crowd. I tried to focus on the things I thought I saw, and the world lurched. I saw a crowd, screaming and chanting- no, singing. We were singing. I was covered in mud and dirt and snow and happier than I’d ever been. I looked around me, as saw hundreds, maybe thousands of people. Humans. I felt odd, and realised I was exhausted. A happy exhaustion, brought by doing something you enjoy until you can’t do it anymore, and then not stopping. Things floated at the edge of my vision. I focused on them, and the world twisted and spun.

I was back in the cave. Lexavarone was staring at me, a smug look on his face.

“What did you do?” I asked. My voice sounded odd. There was an echo of sorts to it, as if someone was copying what I said, but was just slightly out of sync. Things still floated at the corner of my eye, shapes and symbols that always seemed to be on the edge of sight. I started to focus on them again, and felt a slight lurch. I stopped trying to look at them and tried to calm myself down.

“I merely showed you what I meant by Traveller, little mortal. It is not my fault of you do not understand.”

God dammit, I should have known something like this would happen. When a mortal makes a deal with a mythical being, it often ends up with the mortal being screwed over. Just look at Celtic mythology and the Sidhe.

Wait, what? How the fuck do I know that?

“What did you do to me?” I asked. I didn’t try and keep the anger from my voice.

“Another question? And what will you give me in return, little mortal?” The dragon seemed to be enjoying himself now.

I wasn’t going to give him anything. Not after that. I would have to ask Twilight or Luna. Hopefully one of them would know. I didn’t want to go to Celestia.

“Our business will conclude when I leave this cave,” I said, turning to leave.

“Farewell, little one. This was most… enlightening.” There was the always odd feeling of power being gathered behind me and, with a flash of light and a smell like an aftermath of a lightning strike, Lexavarone and his horde vanished.

When I stumbled out of the cave, the moon was rising. The others had left, a while ago judging by the campfire. No way I was going to try the mountain path at night, so I started it up again, and spent the night staring into the flame, thinking.

The dragon was gone, which was good, but I didn’t know where, which was not. I would have to look into his using magic as well. Never heard of a non pony using magic before.

So, to stop stalling, what the fuck did he do to me? I can still feel and hear the crowd, but its different now, quieter, more subdued. I find myself singing along with them.

“Oh, can it be, the voices callin’ me, they got lost, and out of time.”

Soon, I was listening to the music as I stared into the fire. I really cannot describe how good it felt to hear English again. Even after a decade here, Equestrian was just so wrong to my ears. Figuring it out could wait. For now I just wanted to listen.

Chapter 5

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It wasn’t long before I was in a sort of trance, staring into the flames. I must have nodded off, because next I know the moon is going down. I walked down the mountain in the first light of the sun, and made pretty good time without all the landslides and ponies slowing me down.

I was in Ponyville two, two and a half hours after moonset. I walked straight to Twilight’s library and knocked on the door. I prayed to whatever gods there are that she hadn’t pulled an allnighter, and knew it was foolish. Even omnipotence can only go so far.

She opened the door with a glare and a growled, “What?” I remembered teaching her to growl like that. It was still pretty high pitched to me, but for a pony it was damn good. I smiled as she went from anger to surprise to happiness at around ninety nine percent of the speed of light. I stumbled then, feeling a little dizzy, because I don’t know the speed of light, but there it was, in the back of my head. Three hundred million metres per second. I filed that away under ‘more information for Twilight and Luna’ and returned the hug I was now getting.

Twilight let me go, and I’m pretty sure she was about to shout at me for worrying her, but she didn’t get the chance. A dark purple blur sped over her head and hit me in the chest. I fell away from the impact and rolled when I hit the ground. I was kneeling, crossbow drawn and loaded, before the thing that hit me had stopped tumbling.

It was Luna. The little alicorn had just tackled me. And she had been going fast enough that, even after she hit me, she rolled a good ten feet. I unloaded my crossbow and put it up before going over and helping her to her hooves. She didn’t say anything as we walked into the library.

What I saw when I entered the library was enough to make me nervous. Twilight and the other Elements were all looking at me. And they were smiling. Not big, happy grins, but little smiles that said ‘I know something you don’t know’. Rarity even winked at me.

Luna was doing a passable imitation of Fluttershy, staring down at her hooves and trying to ignore the world. I considered asking what was wrong, but I really didn’t care, so I decided just to give my report.

“The dragon’s gone,” I said. Luna looked up at me, and the others all flinched, when I spoke. The weird echoey thing was still there. “He teleported somewhere, don’t know where. He took his hoard with him.”

Twilight took a step towards me. “Michael, what happened to your voice?”

I let out a weary sigh. Even that came out odd. “I don’t know, Twi. I really don’t.” I sat down, leaning against a bookshelf. I could still hear something. I could still see things. It was like two images, one on top of the other, with one being semi-transparent, if that makes any sense. I could see Twilight and the rest, but I could also see something else, but only just. There was still music.

Twilight nuzzled against me, and ran my fingers through her mane. I had called her ‘Twi’, which I rarely did. I hadn’t even noticed at the time. It was piano music, I noticed. I found my fingers moving, and I was pretty sure if you put me in front of a piano I could play it. Another thing the dragon gave me.

Luna was still staring at me. The others had gone into a sort of huddle. “Where are the rest of the guards?” I asked her.

She frowned. I don’t know if it was because of the weird voice or if she wanted me to use her title. Probably both.

“They went back to Canterlot,” Twilight answered. She had lain down next to me, legs tucked under her, head leaning on my knee. “Luna wanted to wait here, to see if you would come back later. She went into the cave while you were talking to the dragon, and found it empty.”

Huh. I guess when I felt that lurching feeling, I left the cave. Or maybe it was something the dragon did to make sure we weren’t disturbed. Twilight and Luna both levitated some parchment and quills over, and got ready to take notes. I’d been around both of them enough to know how they got when they found something interesting.

“Tell us everything, Michael,” Luna ordered. She didn’t order often, she didn’t really have to, so when she did I knew I didn’t have a chance of getting out of it. Which meant I really would be telling her everything, every thought and sensation. But, really, I wasn’t going to complain. I was as worried about what had been done to me as she was.

I told them about the deal, about my question, what Lexavarone did to answer it. Twilight wanted to know what Lexavarone had asked, but Luna managed to keep her on topic. It was a pretty short explanation, even with all the questions they asked I couldn’t answer. They were too used to thinking about magic as a unicorn-only thing, and kept asking about horn movements and hoof positions. Which a dragon has neither of.

All told, with the repeated questioning to wring every last detail from me, it took maybe an hour. Afterwards, Luna was looking over the notes she and Twilight had taken, Twilight having handed her notes over when she realised just how out of her depths she was. Twilights cool like that.

Luna flicked through the sheets of parchment, muttering to herself. Mostly, it consisted of her going, “yes, yes, and if that, with that, could cause the same effect as Pale Horn’s Existential Flow, but what about…” and then technobabble.

When she finally put down her notes, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “I have absolutely no idea what the dragon did to you.”

I want to say I was surprised, but I wasn’t. She had sounded more and more desperate as time went on, searching for a link that just wasn’t there. I wasn’t too bothered by it. The music was okay, and the rest I could deal with. Though I could feel a ‘but’ coming soon.

“However,” Luna began. Close enough. “There is almost definitely a mental component to it.”

Twilight, and the others now that they had finished their hour long huddle, were confused by that. Given the rule was technically not in place any more, it wasn’t that surprising, even for Twilight.

“When Luna was first in power, there was a rule that any guards that underwent any mental tampering were forced to take a leave of absence for, I think, two months?” I got a nod from Luna, and continued. “Yeah, two months. They’re told to spend time with close family and friends to see if they’ve changed.”

“Seeing a therapist is also recommended,” Luna added. “Now, Captain, give me your sword.”

I snorted. I doubt a pony therapist could do me any good. “Swords not Guard issue; neither is the armour. I own both personally.” She wasn’t happy with that, but didn’t argue. Good. She can have my sword when she pries it from my cold, dead hands. Not an impossibility, considering her lifespan.

“Very well.” Yup, definitely not happy. “I, Princess Luna, Lady of the Night and Warden of the Moon, do hereby grant thee, Captain Michael, reprieve from duty for two lunar cycles. Report to me, personally, in Canterlot after that, Captain.”

I nodded. “Make Quick Cut the acting Captain, not Night Wind or Ironshod,” I said, thinking. “He’s smarter and they know it, they’ll be happy to listen to him. Let him name his acting Lieutenant, he’ll know those under him better than either of us.” What else was there? Pay and reviews were done recently, so he won’t have to worry about that. Drills could go on as planned. Nothing big was going down in the next couple months, at least not for the Night Guard. It was business as usual, for us.

“Are you quite done telling me how to do my job?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, that seems to be everything. Wait, actually. One more thing.” I grabbed a piece of parchment from the bottom of the stack of notes and tore a strip from the bottom. Using Twilight’s quill, I wrote a quick note. Folding it twice, a drip of wax from a candle and my thumb served as a seal. “Give this to Shining Armour.”

Luna was stuck between being indignant at being used as a messenger, and curious at what I was sending Twilight’s brother of all ponies, so I managed to get her to take the letter without complaint. I thanked her for taking it, which got a small smile.

“Two months, Michael,” was all she said before a deep blue light blinded me. When my vision cleared, she was gone. I stared at where Luna had been for a while, thinking. Luna was definitely going to tell her sister about what happened to me, and while there was technically nothing she could do, being the sole ruler for a millenium gives you a lot of leverage. I wouldn’t put it past Celestia to use it to get me demoted. I don’t know that I’d mind that, really, if I thought I would be assigned to guard Twilight again, but the Princesses opinion on that has been made very clear.

Of course, she wouldn’t have me removed from the guard completely. I’m not the most popular person, but I did get a five percent drop in crime rate in three months. I would just have to hope thats enough. I don’t know what I’d do outside the guard. Makes me glad Twilight didn’t call my bluff back when she moved here.

“So, Michael, were will you be staying?”

I jerked around to see Twilight’s friends looking at me. Rarity had spoken, her accent was almost as distinctive as Applejack’s. Twilight and I both answered at the same time.

“Here.” She looked at me, giggled and winked. I smiled back. We hadn’t done this in years.

“Hey, whats so funny?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Again, we answered at the same time. “Nothing.” Twilight was giggling harder now, and I could feel laughter deep in my chest, waiting to burst out.

Rainbow Dash was giggling as well. I guess with my voice it sounded like three people are talking instead of two, which probably added to it. Applejack was grinning, and if Fluttershy came out from behind her mane I’m pretty sure she’d have a smile as well.

“C’mon guys, tell me the joke!” Pinkie Pie was getting desperate, it seemed.

“What joke?” we asked. Rainbow Dash joined in, which was too much for Twilight. She broke down in giggles, which set Rainbow Dash off, which led to a chain reaction and soon everypony was laughing. I cracked a smile, which seemed to amaze Pinkie Pie. I don’t know why. I mean, I don’t go that long between smiles.

“Now, Michael, really,” Rarity said, when she had recovered from her bout of laughter, “where will you be staying?” Twilight was talking to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Applejack left, probably to get back to work if Twilight’s letters had described her accurately.

I frowned. “Here,” I said, waving around the inside of the library. “Why?”

“Where are you going to sleep? There are only two bedrooms in here that I’m aware of, and Twilight and Spike make use of those.”

“I need an hour or two of sleep a day,” I said. She tilted her head to one side and gave me a blank look. “I sleep during the day, Rarity. And I can crash just about anywhere.”

“What’s that about crashing?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering over.

“Rarity here was just wondering about sleeping arrangements,” I explained.

“Oh really? What’s got ya so curious, Rares?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You wanting him to stay with you?”

“What? No, I was merely curious. Nothing more.” Of course, she ruined her denial by blushing. It wasn’t much, but when you’re as white as she is even that stands out. Rainbow Dash saw the blush, and was on that like a shot. I don’t think Rarity managed a full sentence in five minutes with all the stammering she did.

Course, I was busy cursing xenophilliac ponies. They’re more annoying than the downright hostile ones. The hostile ones usually only try something once, maybe twice if they aren’t very smart. On the other hand, ponies like Rarity generally have a hard time taking no for an answer. They seem to think if they persevere enough, I’ll break down and confess undying love or something ridiculous. Though I did actually see that happen once, in a Canterlot marketplace, so they might not be that stupid. Either way, it was attention I didn’t want.

“What about clothing?” Rarity asked. Rainbow Dash was leaving, Pinkie Pie going with her. I heard her mention a party, followed closely by my name. I did not like the sound of that.

“What about it?” I asked, not really paying attention. Twilight and Fluttershy were talking softly about something, I think I heard the word mammal mentioned. It was just us four now.

“What about- I mean, what will you be wearing? You can hardly wear your armour for two months,” Rarity said, like she was talking to a foal. “Oh, you should let me design some things for you!” She acted like the idea had only just occurred to her. “I already have some ideas that I think will turn out simply fabulous!”

“Pass.” The matter closed, I turned to browse the bookshelves. It had been a month or two since I’d read anything other than reports. Surprisingly, not needing to sleep does not give you a great deal of free time when you work the night shift and the guy on the day shift is only semi-competent.

“I was thinking red, and perhaps gold,” Rarity continued, her mouth working faster than her ears, “with some, wait, ‘pass’? What do you mean, ‘pass’?”

Without looking away from the shelves, I said, “I’ve asked to have some of my stuff sent from Canterlot. So, either I can have clothes I like, made by someone who knows what they’re doing, or I can take what you make for me. Not a hard choice.” She didn’t say anything, but I heard the door open and close.

I’m pretty sure Twilight mentioned she had a copy of Celestial Mechanics here. I needed to reread that, because I kept forgetting how the sun works. “Hey, Spike.”

“Yeah, boss?” came a voice from upstairs. “What d’ya need?”

“Celestial Mechanics. Twilight mentioned having a copy.”

“Facing away from the door, on your right. Below the window, third shelf up from the floor, fourth book from the left. ‘bout as thick as my claw is wide, same colour as your hair.” Spike might be ten, but there is a reason Celestia chose him, and it’s not the fact he’s damn near invulnerable. I found the book exactly where he said and pretty much as he described. I settled down against a wall to read. Instead, I remembered why I’d never managed to get through this book before. It was incredibly, amazingly dense with magical jargon. I readied myself for a slog, but changed my mind. I would do better tonight, with less distractions. I closed the book and tilted my head back, thinking.

Shining Armour should be here tomorrow, and hopefully he’d bring what I asked him to. While he was here, I could fill him in on all the little things he’d need to know about while I wasn’t there that Quick Cut just didn’t have clearance to handle. Nothing exciting, sadly. Just budget stuff, but it needed done. But it would force him to visit his sister and give her the news early.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Twilight managed to convince Pinkie that throwing me a party would be a bad idea. I read the first couple chapters of Celestial Mechanics and ran some errands with Spike. The townsfolk seemed to be used to him, though I got a few odd looks. Not as many as the other times I’d been through here though. Even got the odd wave, not that I recognised the pony doing the waving. Spike was nice enough to help me put a name to a face.

The next morning, I woke to the sound of someone screaming my name. I rolled off the couch and had the crossbow drawn before I realised it was Pinkie Pie.

“Michael, come quick, Zecora’s here! You have to make her leave!”

It takes me a few seconds to go from asleep to awake, because when you sleep as little as I do every second counts, so it took me a little bit to actually understand what she was saying. Even then, all I could manage to say was, “What?”

“Zecora! Look, just come to Sugarcube Corner, I’ll explain there. Bring Twilight!” Then she threw a smoke bomb and left through the window. I think she forgot that I was tall enough to see over the smoke cloud. Or maybe she just hadn’t made any to deal with me.

A glance at the sky told me it was around an hour after dawn. Twilight fell asleep at her desk a few hours after moonrise, which meant she had had eight hours sleep. I went upstairs to wake her and Spike.

I shook Twilight’s shoulder. “Wake up, Pinkie Pie wants to talk to you.” She murmured a little bit and blinked drowsily.

“Wha’ times it?” she asked, rubbed at her eyes with the side of her hoof.

“‘Bout an hour after dawn. Pinkie Pie said to meet her at Sugarcube Corner. Something about a ‘Zecora’. What’s the plan?”

She blinked a few more times as her brain sped up to its usual levels. “We’ll go meet Pinkie. Is Spike up?”

“Not yet.” I went to Spike’s room, opened the door and stood just outside it. “Spike! Get up.” He grumbled, but was out of bed. “Don’t get lax,” I warned him. “You’re still on duty here.” That got me a dirty look, but I let it go. Nothing I could do without alerting Twilight.

The three of us were just outside Sugarcube Corner when Pinkie Pie somehow managed to pull all of us inside. By herself. I took a deep breath and ignored her most recent violation of physics.

As soon as we were inside the shop - the dark, full to bursting shop - Pinkie Pie started on about how Zecora was evil. I stopped listening when she started singing. Twilight asked just what Zecora had done that was evil, and got the expected answer of ‘be different’. Twilight just looked from the assembled ponies, to Spike and I, back to the ponies, back to us. They started looking suitably sheepish. Except Pinkie Pie. She was sure Zecora was ‘an evil enchantress’.

I looked at Twilight and mouthed ‘I got this’. She nodded, and I left. I saw a filly follow me out the sweet shop, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to let her come along. If she was evil, she wasn’t a unicorn, so I could probably keep her safe. And if she wasn’t, showing she wouldn’t hurt the little ones would make the so-called grown ups less afraid of her.

I stopped out of sword range of Zecora. She was the same size as a pony, and fur peaking between the hem of her cloak and her hooves was stripped black and white. A zebra. Don’t get many of those in Equestria. “Miss Zecora, I presume?”

“I am the one of which you speak,” she confirmed. “Though, I ask, why is it I you seek?”

“Just wondering if I can help. And so this filly.” I heard a gasp from behind me, and turned to see her looking out from a hedge.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked. She was a pale yellowish earth pony with a light red mane. She was wearing a red bow that was about the size of her head. Had I seen her somewhere before?

I ignored the fillies question. “Come here and introduce yourself,” I told her. She walked up to the zebra and put out a forehoof.

“Hi! My name’s Apple Bloom!”

Apple Bloom gave Zecora a gigawatt smile - a wave of dizziness washed over me as I suddenly knew what a gigawatt, and a whole lot of other stuff, was. It was weird as hell. One second, I’m wondering what a gigawatt is, and then I know its a thousand megawatts. Which is a thousand kilowatts, which is a thousand watts. It stopped there, thankfully, as I stumbled from just knowing those few things. Anymore and I probably would have fallen over.

When I recovered, Zecora and Apple Bloom were looking at me with what I think was worry.

“You alright, mister?” Apple Bloom asked me.

I nodded. “Anything you need help with?” I asked Zecora.

Turns out Zecora was just trying to buy some food. She lived in the Everfree, and could grow some on her own, but she hadn’t been there long, so things hadn’t had a chance to grow yet, and only an idiot would forage in the forest. I showed her around the market and left the appropriate number of bits for what she took, based on what I paid.

Zecora never once asked what I was. Who I was yes, but never what. That, combined with her sarcastic sense of humour, meant I actually enjoyed showing her around. Apple Bloom was helpful, given I’d spent a total of maybe eight hours outside the library while in Ponyville. I’d run a couple errands, but not enough to remember where every store was, and Zecora needed some pretty odd stuff, so we went to most of them.

We talked a bit about her home country of Zhevrahan. Over an ocean and a fair bit to the south, it was oddly like the continent zebra’s come from Back There. Or maybe not; the planets were of a similar size, after all. Though I will say Zhevrahan sounded nicer. She also spoke a bit about herself. An alchemist, she came to the Everfree to research the properties of the plants there. Apple Bloom spoke for a good fifteen minutes nonstop about Ponyville, which meant I could keep quiet, for the most part. Zecora seemed to get that I didn’t want to talk about it.

Last stop on the list was Sugarcube Corner. Zecora wanted to be introduced to the townsponies and try and put this behind them. She wanted to do it first, but I figured do it last so that, if she gets run out of town, then at least she has the stuff she needs. If I have to, I’ll buy her stuff and take it to her.

I went in first. Out the corner of my eye, I saw something leet at m, moving fast. I jerked back, out the way and the thing went past me. It landed with an ‘oof!’ as the air was forced from it’s lungs. I hit the light switch near the doors as I started to draw my sword.

When the lights came on, I saw Pinkie Pie laying atop a small pile of multi coloured ponies, hooves pressed against her side. The ponies inside were split between looking at Pinkie Pie, looking at me and looking at Zecora. I let go of my sword’s hilt, and it dropped back into the sheath.

I walked over to help Pinkie Pie to her hooves, but Rainbow Dash blurred past me and helped her, giving me a dark look as she did. Pinkie Pie just focussed on limping along. They stood off to one side, with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack was giving me a look of what I’m pretty sure was pure rage. I didn’t get why until I saw her cutie mark. Apples. Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom was Applejack’s little sister. Thats where I remember her from, the visit Twilight and I paid to her farm before the whole Elements thing.

I waved Zecora forward and faced the assembled ponies. I think everyone was here, though how Pinkie Pie managed to fit the whole town in one building I’ll never know.

“This is Zecora, a traveller from Zhevrahan. She is not an evil enchantress, she will not put you in trances.” That got a guilty look from Pinkie Pie. “She seeks only to study plants wherever she can. As an Equestrian citizen, she is to be treated with the same amount of respect you would treat your fellow ponies. Is that understood?” It was a rhetorical question, but I still got a few nods. Most of the ponies were looking between her and I, and seemed to find they prefered dealing with her to dealing with me. Damn xenophobic ponies. I stepped back and lost the crowd’s attention. “Any problems, come find me. If it’s after I’m back in Canterlot, Spike can contact me.” I pointed out the young dragon. He stuck out like a sore thumb among the brightly coloured ponies.

“I must thank you, for helping these ponies, to my presence, adjust,” the zebra replied, bowing her head. “If I can ever return the favour, let me know you must.”

I shrugged, though I’m not going to turn down the offer of a favour. “We oddities have to look out for each other.” A few ponies seemed interested in talking to her now. Then again, its likely they were just went along with Pinkie Pie because it was easier than stopping her. I said goodbye and left her to fend for herself. She would be fine. The ponies wouldn’t hurt her.

I went over to Twilight. She would be interested in Zecora’s studies. Well, I tried to. My way was blocked by Applejack, who started shouting at me.

“Why in the hay did ya let my lil’ sis go with ya to talk to Zecora?” Applejack hissed at me.

“Your sister was never in any danger,” I explained. “Besides, since when was keeping track of her my job?”

“You’re a Guard, ain’t ya? Y’all’re s’posed to look after ponies.”

“I did look after her. Never let her out of my sight.” That seemed to calm her down a bit. “But I didn’t let her come with me. She was outside when I started talking to Zecora.”

“Oh, was she now?” With that, Applejack went off, and if she hadn’t been a pony I’d have said she had murder in her eyes. I turned to Rainbow Dash, who was looking impatient.

“Dude, how’d you dodge Pinkie like that?” Maybe it was less impatient, and more impressed. “I mean, you armour has to wear as much as I do, and you’re so big!” She paused for a bit, and then blushed, the colour standing out a lot in her light blue fur.

I let her be embarrassed for a bit before shrugging. “I’m nowhere near as strong as most ponies in the Guard, so I need to be faster than they are. You seen Twilight?”

“Yeah, she was talking to Rarity about something.” That did not bode well for me. “But, dude, we have to spar some time. There’s a dogo in Ponyville. How’s tomorrow at noon for you?”

Having literally nothing to do, I agreed to go. I’d need to find out where it was though. Twilight could tell me. I scanned the crowd, looking for either Twilight or Rarity, and hoping that if I saw Rarity then Twilight was still near her. There weren’t many ponies with Twilight’s colouring though, so it didn’t take me long to spot her. I walked through the crowd towards her, a path opening up for me.

Twilight was talking to Pinkie Pie. Or rather, Pinkie Pie was getting told off by Twilight. I only managed to catch the end of it, which was Twilight having Pinkie Pie promise not to do something again.

When Pinkie Pie saw me, she gave me a smile and then pretty much ran away. I told Twilight what I learned about Zecora, and then excused myself from what had pretty much just become a party.

Shining Armour arrived a few hours later. The party was still going on, so I was alone in the library.

“Michael,” Shining Armour said as he entered. “Where’s Twily?”

“At a party.”

Shining Armour gave me a disbelieving look. “Yeah, right. Where is she?”

“Sugarcube Corner. It’s the building that looks like a gingerbread house,” I explained. “You bring the stuff I asked for?”

“Yeah, it’s in the carriage outside.” He turned and left. I followed him outside and went to the carriage, while he went off to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight would enjoy seeing her brother. I only wish I could see the look in his face when he walks in.

I nodded to the Day Guards that were pulling the carriage. “You guys might want to get out of those harnesses. Shining Armour won’t be back for an hour or so.” The looked at each other, and had one of those silent debates all good guards can have. I took all the bags from the carriage and went back to the library. The pegasi followed me.

The bags were mostly clothes. Generally dark colours, most blues, greens and browns. They all looked more or less the same. They weren’t kevlar - dizziness and blurred vision as the definition of ‘kevlar’ forced it’s way into my skull. They seemed to be getting shorter, the waves.

The clothes weren’t kevlar, but they were warm and sturdy enough I wouldn’t have to worry about anything ripping. For a pony, the amount of clothing I had would be ridiculous, and I could tell the pegasi thought that. I moved to another room and changed out my armour. I felt far too light without it. I felt exposed.

I packed the armour away as best I could and went back to the library proper. The guards were browsing the shelves, but snapped to attention the moment I walked in. They seemed surprised to see me. It took me a while to figure out why. They’d never seen me out of my armour before, and all the metal and padding made me look bigger. I’m on of those guys that’s just naturally scrawny. Wiry, I think is the word. I guess they were surprised I had been the best fighter in the Day Guard despite most of them weighing maybe twice as much as I did.

I settled down against a wall to read, and soon the guards were reading with me. The moon rose. A couple hours passed and Shining Armour came back, collected the guards, and left. Twilight and Spike were back a few minutes later, but they were both exhausted and went straight to bed. I managed to snatch an hour of sleep, but I could tell I wasn’t getting any more. I picked a few more books of the shelves and settled in for a long, lonely night.

Chapter 6

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By the time the sun came up I was bored out of my skull. I’d been sitting for around an hour just waiting for the damn thing to come over the horizon. I had another shower, my third that day already, and went for my fourth walk. This time, I decided to see if Zecora was awake. She’d told me roughly where she lived before the thing in Sugarcube Corner, so all I had to do was find it. Easy, right?

It took me around two hours to find Zecora’s… hut. No, there has to be a better word for it. It’s carved, or cut, from a tree like Twilight’s library, but Zecora’s is much darker, both in wood colour and general feeling. Books and Branches feels welcoming, homey, even before Twilight stayed there. Zecora’s home was more foreboding, like a sign that just says ‘BEWARE’ without telling you what to be wary of. It looked out of place to me. It was obviously constructed, though it was made to look as natural as possible. It worked a little, but I never felt as at home around Zecora’s home as I did in the rest of the Everfree. Seeing clouds move without pegasi intervention is something I’d given up on. Makes me wonder why no one told me it was here.

Zecora was awake by the time I got there. I helped her with some chores, and she told me some more about her home country. I found it easier to understand her rhymes the more we spoke, though I think she will always have some trouble if I talk at a reasonable (to me) pace. Pretty much every pony does. Pinkie Pie might be able to handle it, if what Twilight has said of her is true.

After an hour or so of talking to Zecora, I left her to her research. She gave me a warning to not take my time in the woods. She gave it in rhyme, but that was the gist of it. I waved goodbye and walked through the Everfree towards Ponyville. I like the name. ‘Everfree’. Rolls off the tongue.

Back in Ponyville, there were still very few ponies awake, so I busied myself tidying the library. It took a few hours, but soon everything was dusted, polished, waxed or otherwise made shiny. My armour and sword got the same treatment, as did the crossbow. Gear taken care of, I took the crossbow, a handful of training bolts, which are really just pointed sticks the same length as normal bolts, and went to the edge of the Everfree. I picked a target, and spent the time until noon practicing. When the sun was just shy of it’s peak, I took the bolts and crossbow back to the library. Spike and Twilight still weren’t up. A quick mental calculation told me Spike was due for a day off around now, so I let him have it. I left a note saying where I was going, and went to the dogo.

I’d found the place on my second walk that day, a single story building set near the edge of Ponyville. A new addition, it had that freshly painted look. The windows gleamed, the pastel walls were clean, and hover outside was a rainbow maned pegasus. She saw me coming, and waved before shooting over to me.

“Hey, Michael. I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”

“Lost track of time,” I explained, pushing open the dogo door. “So, how do you want to do this?”

“Standard rules?” Rainbow Dash replied, shrugging in mid air as she followed me inside.

Standard rules were basically above the belt and below the waist only. At least, thats how they applied for me. Also, nothing at the eyes, or horn for unicorns. Win condition was a forfeit or ten second pin.

“Okay. Best of three?”

She nodded, and I looked around the place. It was one big room, with a couple sparring areas in the middle. Around the edge were various weights I couldn’t use, because they’re made for ponies, and punching bags, which I could, after adjusting the height. The place was empty except for us.

I went to one of the sparring mats and stood at the far end. The sparring area was rectangular, with a circle in the centre split by a horizontal line. Think a football field, but without the goal lines at either end, and smaller. Rainbow Dash took her place at the other side. She did a pony bow, and I did a normal one. And then she was at me like a rocket, flying at head height.

I stepped to the side at the last minute. Rainbow Dash flashed by me, stopped, and kicked out at me with a hind leg. I hit it away and punched her at the base of the wing, trying to time to as the wing was coming down. My timing was off, but it was close enough for her to lose her rhythm. Wings suddenly out of sync, she rolled, dropping down to waist level. A knee to the floating ribs. Her breath left her in a gasp. An elbow to other side. She hit the mat with a thud. I sat down, pinning her wings and back legs under me, keeping her on her side. I did a quick count under my breath, barely moving as she struggled.

“Ten. One nil to me,” I said, standing up and helping her to her hooves. She was not happy.

“What the hay? You’re even faster than yesterday!”

“Not wearing armour today,” I pointed out.

“Oh. Right.” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Still, I shouldn’t have lost that quickly. Makes me glad nopony was around to watch.”

“I’ve sparred with pegasi in the Guard, Rainbow Dash. You’ve never fought me. I had an advantage.”

“Yeah, you did. Besides, that was a practice one. It didn’t count.” She waved a hoof, as if that settled the matter. I let her have it. I didn’t come here because I wanted to beat Rainbow Dash, though that would help with the boredom.

“Want some advice?” I asked. She looked like she was about to refuse, loudly, but looked around the empty room.

“Yeah, lets hear it,” she said, looking down at the floor.

“You’re not as strong as Applejack, so don’t try and fight like her. Use your speed,” I said, moving back to the starting position. “You lost because you stopped moving.”

She nodded, and we bowed to each other.

We moved at the same time. Rainbow Dash flew at me as a blue blur. I dove forward, rolling under her. The moment I got my feet under me, I turned, arms moving up. I barely blocked a blue hoof aiming for my chest. The block spun made her turn slightly in the air, making the follow-up easy to dodge. I jabbed her in the wither, turning her more. She slapped me with a wing, gaining distance and getting her first hit on me.

She dropped to the floor and leapt up at me. I took the hit, rolling with it, twisted as we fell. Rainbow Dash did the same, so we spun around once and ended up on the floor holding each other. I introduced her nose to my forehead, to a surprising amount of blood. The red stood out against her sky blue coat.

She cried out at the pain, a high pitched squeal she would no doubt deny making. I punched her in the ribs while she was distracted, and rolled her onto her back, blocking her wings. I pinned her with a knee on her chest and got a hoof to the face. That pushed me off her, and I had to fall onto my back to avoid getting two back hooves to the chest. Grabbing her back legs, I pulled them to the side and kicked out at her hips.

Scrambling away, I got to my feet just as she did. Her face was splash of red against blue, and she looked pissed. I don’t my face was much better. I could feel the warm blood. I grinned at her, daring her to come at me. With a scream like a banshee - dizziness, over in a flash. I stumbled, but only for a second. Too long. Rainbow Dash hit me with a hoof to each shoulder. I was flat on my back, Rainbow Dash standing over me. She was still terrible at pinning. She was standing with a hoof on each shoulder and two on my thighs, just above the knees. I bent my arms at the elbow and grabbed her forelegs just above the hooves and pulled them away from each other. She landed on my chest, and we both lost our breath. At the same time, I twisted at the waist. She let out another squeal as I rolled over.

Panicking, she flapped her wings so fast they started to blur and lifted herself off me. I grabbed a foreleg and used it to pull her back down. I tried to. She ended up lifting me to my feet. It was like a tug of war with her leg as the rope. When she started lifting me off the ground completely, I let go. She went flying, and hit the ceiling. She started falling, but managed to get her wings out in time to avoid hitting the ground. She hovered in the air above the dogo mat for just long enough for me to punch her.

It was a solid right hook, straight to the ear. She dropped to the ground, blinking rapidly, leaning on her forelegs. I kicked them out from under her and her chin slammed against the mat. Rainbow Dash tried to get back to her hooves, but her legs kept slipping out from under her. I think I may have hit her too hard. Eventually, she tapped out, her right forehoof tapping rapidly on the mat three times.

I helped her stand, and started walking her to the hospital. It was a short walk, only a few minutes. I didn’t think that was a coincidence. A white earth pony mare with a pale pink mane was behind the front desk. She looked up as we entered, and flinched slightly when she saw me. But when she saw Rainbow Dash, she moved quickly around the desk.

“Follow me, I’ll show you to a room.” Her voice was soft, quiet. Not down at Fluttershy’s level, and it lacked the fear Fluttershy had as well.

“I’m Nurse Redheart,” she said, as we walked down the hallway. Her cutie mark was a red plus symbol. “What can you tell me about Miss Dash’s condition, Mister…?”

“Michael. She took a few blows to the head, and couple to the ribs,” I told her. “We were sparring, and I think it got a bit out of hand.”

Nurse Redheart made a vague sound of disapproval. “Not the first time she’s been in here for that. She’s usually complaining more, though. In here.” She led the way into a vacant room, and I picked Rainbow Dash up and put her on the bed before moving out of the way. I leaned against a wall as the Nurse checked Rainbow Dash over. The whole process took around twenty minutes, and by the end Rainbow Dash was asleep in the bed, and I was walking beside Nurse Redheart on the way to the front desk.

“So, you’re Twilight Sparkle’s mysterious friend Michael,” Nurse Redheart said just after we left the room Rainbow Dash was in.

“Mysterious?”

“Well, I’ve never seen you before now, but Twilight’s been talking quite a lot about you. When she moved here, she came and gave me some of the basics on you, in case you, and I quote, ‘did something lovably stupid and ended up hurt again’.”

“Sounds like Twilight.”

“I guess you’d know, wouldn’t you.” We reached the front desk, and after Nurse Redheart told me I wouldn’t need to fill out any paperwork for Rainbow Dash, as they kept hers on hand at the front desk, I made to leave. “She cares about you, you know.”

I turned to look at her.

“Twilight,” she clarified. “She cares about you. A lot.”

“I know.”

“And?” she asked. She sounded hopeful? Excited? Something like that.

“I care about her. A lot.”

Nurse Redheart nodded at that, and then smiled. “Well, thank you for bringing Rainbow Dash along. I’m sure you have things to do, so don’t let me keep you. Tell Twilight I said hi.”

I nodded, and then left, making my way back to the library. It was maybe two hours after noon now, and Twilight and Spike were awake. Twilight asked where I had been, so I filled her in on what I’d been up to since dawn. She was worried about Rainbow Dash, and was angry with me for hurting her, but she clammed up when I mentioned Nurse Redheart. Weird, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t want to talk about it.

I spent a few hours helping Twilight with spellwork. It mostly consisted of me getting spell components or books for her. The rest of that night was much the same as the one before. Pinkie threw another party - where the hell does she get the money? - which I decided not to attend. Visited Rainbow Dash for a couple hours instead. She was basically okay, and was getting out sometime tomorrow evening. Really, she was just there for observation.

It was all small talk at first, though I brought some books I thought she’d not hate. A Wonderbolts history, which she seemed to know from heart, a few about aerodynamics, which she seemed to get into when I pointed out they could help improve her speed, and a few pulp fiction novels. After a bit though, she started on about her and, by extension, Fluttershy’s foalhoods, about growing up in Cloudsdale. It sounded like quite the sight. I’ve seen surprisingly little of Equestria despite having been here a decade.

I left the hospital a bit after moonrise. The rest of that night passed much like the one before. Mainly, boredom and reading. I bumped into Pinkie Pie on a few of my walks, and she was surprisingly sane. She just nodded at me each time. No theatrics, no over exuberance. I sort of remember her saying her talent was making other ponies smile; could her normal persona be a mask she wears to help do that?

The next couple weeks were pretty much that same day over and over again. Without the whole putting Rainbow Dash in hospital thing, though. When she got discharged, we spent a few days just training together, non-contact. She didn’t like that, but I wasn’t taking chances. After that, we started sparring again. She got better as time went on, but I still won seven tenths of the time. Spike joined us every now and then, when he had time. When Rainbow Dash was there, he just watched us spar, but when it was him and I, we practiced together. It was pretty even between us. I won maybe three fifths of the matches. And that was with me in armour some of the times.

Towards the end of the second week, I started talking to Pinkie Pie on my late night walks. She was curious about why I was always awake. She, and a lot of other ponies, according to her, weren’t aware I didn’t really sleep. Turns out, in order to throw parties at night and be awake in time to start baking before Sugarcube Corner opened in the morning, she slept late afternoon to early evening. This left her with a lot of free time during the night - even she can’t throw a party every day.

As for the money thing, turns out her family owns some of the largest gem mines in Equestria. She just called it rock farming when she moved here because she didn’t want ponies to treat her differently, and now she had used that too long to do anything else. I found her much easier to be around in these conversation, which I’m sure she picked up on. I think she was just glad she could make me a bit happier. Introverted ponies are few and far between, so it’s rare she has to deal with one. Even Twilight wasn’t an introvert. She wanted friends, she just wanted Celestia’s love more. Besides, she had me. That had to count for something.

It was at the start of the third week things got interesting.

A travelling performer styling herself as, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixe!’ came to Ponyville, bragging about being the greatest and how she could do anything anypony in Ponyville could do, better than they could do it. She showed up Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack before she started talking about how she killed an Ursa Major. The only reason I didn’t burst out laughing when I heard her say that was because I was sure I had misheard. But, nope, she was claiming to have killed an Ursa Major. A fifty foot tall, god-knows-how-many ton monster that was the next best thing to invincible. Only full grown dragons tangled with Ursa Majors, and even then only if they had to. Insurance companies classed them as forces of nature, like volcanoes or tsunamis

When she started describing how she did I, I did laugh. Loudly. I couldn’t help myself. She was claiming to have used lightning and fire against it. Ursa Majors were too large to be bother about any magic a single pony could summon.

When I had calmed down, she asked me what I had found so funny.

“That you’re claiming to have killed an Ursa Major,” I told her. “It, it’s just not possible. Really, it’s not. You’d be better off claiming to have killed the moon.”

“Bah, what would something like you know about magic?” she scoffed. “What are you, anyway?”

“I’m me. And really, you couldn’t have chosen something more believable to lie about?” I asked. She ignored me. I shrugged, and walked off. The trouble didn’t start until later that night. A pair of colts, hearing Trixie’s boasts and her deriders claims, felt the best way to prove Trixie was telling the truth was to have her reproduce on of her claims in Ponyville. So they went and got what they thought was an Ursa Major. I don’t know why. I think they might have a severe case of stupidity.

Thankfully, they didn’t manage to get an Ursa Major. No, they only managed to get an Ursa Minor, the child of an Ursa Major. So, instead of a fifty foot plus tall, extremely magic resistant monster big enough to cause extinctions by sitting down, we only had a fifteen foot tall, fairly magic resistant monster.

Again, those colts a fucking stupid. So, they brought the thing to Ponyville. As in, straight to the centre of the village. Where everyone was.

It came in roaring, pissed as all hell and looking to break something. It was semi-transparent, dark blue, and it’s nose was about the size of a pony. When I heard it’s first roar, my head snapped towards it.

“Spike, go get my weapons,” I ordered. Bless him, the little dragon saluted and sprinted off towards the library. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack, you’re on evacuation. Foals, colts and fillies are priority. Get to Sweet Apple Acres or on a train, I don’t care, just get them out of here. Twilight, think of a plan. Rainbow Dash, you’re with me.”

They gave me blank looks. “Move!” I shouted. “You’ve got your orders, so go!” The Ursa roared again, and that jolted them into movement. Spike came back with my sword and crossbow, as well as a couple small daggers he used. I took the lot.

“Hey!” he said as I pushed them behind my belt.

“You’re not fighting,” I told him. “No complaints. Stay with Twilight. And let Luna know, she might know something that can help. He grumbled, but when I handed him a scrap of parchment I had in my pocket, he pulled a quill from somewhere.

“Twilight, got a plan yet?” She was still standing there, frozen. “Thats a no. Spike, take her to the library, Look for books on the Ursas. Find me when she has a plan.” He nodded, and led Twilight away. That left me and Rainbow Dash.

“So, what’re we doing?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking over at the Ursa Minor. It was almost to the market place, which was thankfully rapidly emptying.

I looked at her, and grinned. “We’re the distraction.” I finished putting on my sword and crossbow, and loaded a bolt. “C’mon, we got ass to kick.”

I could feel my heart pumping faster as I walked, my blood pounding in anticipation. I don’t think ponies felt that sort of thing. Sure, they got adrenaline, and they had thrill junkies, but I don’t think they got a thrill thinking about a fight to come.

I stopped just outside crossbow range, knelt down on one knee and took aim. When it came in range, about 50 yards, waited for it to roar, and fired. The bolt took it on the inside of the mouth, which was not the same semi-transparent flesh as it’s skin was.

The beast roared in pain, and looked around before spotting me. That gave me an extra few seconds to reload before it started charging me. It ran slowly at first, but slowly picked up speed. I managed to get a second shot off before it reached me, this one taking it in the chest, where it hung, looking like I had shot the night sky.

After the second shot, I dropped the crossbow and drew my sword. I looked at Rainbow Dash, nodded towards the charging Ursa, and ran towards it.

About ten yards from me, the thing leapt. I changed direction slightly, running to the creature’s left side.

Rainbow Dash hit the creature going around two thirds the speed of sound. Square in the side, the creature was knocked of course. It landed hard and slid about five foot, a huge furrow forming.

I was behind the thing now. Sword in hand, I ran for it, and swing two handed at the back of it’s left knee. It roared, more in annoyance than pain I think. It tried to stand up, when Rainbow Dash swooped in and and knocked its paw out from under it. It’s chin smashed into the ground, and when it roared next it spat pale blue blood.

I swung twice more at it’s knee, and managed to get through it’s hide. It roared and kicked at me with that same leg. I left the ground and went flying backwards. My right shoulder clipped a tree, sending me spinning. It also hurt like hell. Thankfully, it didn’t dislocate. That would have been bad.

It was back on it’s feet, and trying to swat Rainbow Dash out of the air. The pegasus was flying circles around the thing, but I could tell she was tiring. She was a sprinter, not a marathon runner.

“Rainbow Dash!” I shouted, waving her over. She didn’t stop to look at me, just shot over. Good. She was learning. She landed next to me, panting heavily, not all of it from exhaustion. “Go find Twilight, see if she has a plan. I can hold him here for a bit.”

She looked over at the Ursa, who was running at us. Not as quickly as before, with one leg limping and one paw sore. “You sure?” she asked. I nodded, and she turned and flew off towards Books and Branches.

I turned to face the Ursa Major, no longer suppressing the smile on my face. The Ursa roared and lept. When it landed, it went to snap me up. I darted under its chin and grabbed the bolt lodged in it’s chest. I twisted and pulled. A lump of flesh and fur came off with the arrow, dripping blue blood. I breathed deeply, taking in the smell. I thrust my sword at the same spot, but hit bone a few inches in. The Ursa put it’s head back and roared. This one was different than the others. I felt that one more than heard it, a deep sound that made my lungs vibrate in my chest. I ran away from the thing, moving to the right between the front and back legs. I slashed at the front leg as I ran, but only managed to get a trickle of blood.

I moved too late. It got me with the back of a massive paw. Not a solid hit, thankfully, or I’d be paste, but it sent tumbling a few feet away. I heard wood breaking, and felt pain in my back and side. When I rolled onto my knees, I saw my crossbow was shattered, as were all the bolts. Well, except the one that was currently sticking out my side. That looked sore. I couldn’t really feel it. Had I suddenly become invincible? Wait, no, thats stupid. I must have hit my head.

I felt something tugging at me, and wind roared past. Looking down, I saw a pair of blue legs hooked under my arms. Looking up, I saw they were attached to Rainbow Dash. She started to slow down, and dropped me near Twilight.

Twilight glanced at me, and did a double take. “You’re bleeding!” she shouted, pointing a hoof. I looked down. There was a fair bit of blood soaked into my jacket. Looking back, I saw the Ursa was heading towards us.

“Rainbow Dash, mind distracting it for a bit?” I asked.

“No sir!” the pegasus replied, saluting and lying off.

Turning back to Twilight, I noticed she was wearing saddlebags. “Got any water in there?” She handed me a flask. I drank some and set it aside for now. I took my jacket and shirt off, cutting out the section held on by the bolt. “How the hell did I manage this?” I muttered as I worked. It was through my side, for crying out loud. It was damn near impossible. I shook my head, pushed the thought aside, and snapped of the end of the bolt sticking out my back. Quick as I could, I dropped that part of the bolt, grabbed the end sticking out my front and pulled it out. I let out a pained gasp, but that was it. Twilight was worried enough as it was. I cleaned the wounds out with the rest of the water before cutting up my shirt and using it as bandages. It would do for now.

When I was happy with the knot holding it on, I turned to Twilight. “The plan?” I asked.

She blinked a few times and shook her head. “Right. Yes, the plan. The plan that I have. Twilight’s plan. The plan made up by me, Twilight. That plan?” I nodded. Now was not the time to get mad at her, as much as I wanted to. She was under a lot of pressure, and wasn’t used to life or death situations. “Right, the plan. I have a spell, a sleep spell, it should work on the Ursa Minor.”

I was about to reply when I heard the sound of falling rubble. I turned to see a house had collapsed, with the Ursa heading towards it and Rainbow Dash nowhere in sight. It must have gotten a hit in. I reached for my sword, to find the scabbard empty. Fuck. I looked around, and spotted a glimmer of silver over near the remains of my crossbow. On the other side of the Ursa.

“Anything you need me to do for the plan?” I asked Twilight.

Twilight swallowed before speaking. “The spell, the sleep spell, it uh, it takes a while to cast. I need it to be in the same place for maybe thirty seconds?” I looked at her, and she cringed away from me. Like she expected me to shout at her or something. Christ, what did my face look like right now? Twilight knows I’d never hurt her.

I looked back to the Ursa, thinking. Still, for half a minute. Make that forty five seconds, to be safe. On its back, then. I drew the daggers I had taken from Spike, and started towards the Ursa. It was digging around for Rainbow Dash, who was currently making a wide loop behind the thing, heading for Twilight. She looked beat up, with a big scratch down one leg, and one of her wings was bending a way it shouldn’t. There goes plan A. And plans B and C as well. That left plan D. I didn’t really like plan D.

“Rainbow Dash, you got one more flight in you?” I asked as she landed near me. She winced as she touched down, and looked at her wing.

“I dunno. What do you need?”

“I need you to throw me at it,” I told her. The look she gave me told me just what she thought of that.

“Dude, you want me to what? Are you crazy?”

“Most likely,” I admitted. “But thats not important. Will you do it?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s suicide.”

The Ursa roared. Rubble fell. It was swatting buildings aside like they were made of glue and popsicle sticks. “You have a better plan?” She bit her lip. “Exactly,” I said. “Look, Rainbow Dash. We don’t have time to waste thinking up a better plan. I get it on its back, Twilight puts it to sleep, it gets taken care of.” She looked at Twilight, who nodded. Her ears were flicking around like crazy, but her voice was steady as she said, “Thats the plan.”

“Why can’t you just throw something at it, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Ursas are resistant to magic,” Twilight explained. “I’ll need everything I have just to have a chance of this working. I could lift it, because I could use magic to hold it in place, but to get anything past it’s hide I’ll need a lot of power.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the monster larger than most buildings in Ponyville, then back to Twilight and let out a whistle. “You can lift that?”

Twilight blushed. I rolled my eyes. “C’mon, times wasting and we aren’t getting less tired. You ready to go, Rainbow Dash?”

The blue mare sighed. “Yeah, fine, but if you die don’t expect me not to say ‘I told you so.’ Stand here, arms out, and I’ll loop around for speed and come pick you up.”

I nodded, and she took off. Slowly at first, with a bit of shaking, but she quickly picked up speed. Far too soon, we were rocketing between buildings, towards the Ursa. Rainbow Dash was screaming, I don’t know if it was in fear or pain. “Aim for a leg!” I shouted over the wind. I don’t know if she heard me, because she let me go.

I soared under the beasts head. I barely managed to curl into a ball before I slammed into the side of it’s leg at slightly under the speed of light. There was a sickening crack, and my arm felt like someone had poured molten metal where the bone was meant to be.

I kept going past the Ursa and hit the side of a building. I guess it was a good thing the Ursa had taken most of my momentum, otherwise that might have hurt. Or maybe it did hurt, but just didn’t register over the other pain. Like being unable to hear someone whispering because someone else is screaming in your face. With a loudspeaker. And a megaphone.

I pushed my way to my knees and made the mistake of leaning on my left arm. Nope. Not only did it hurt like fuck, but it slipped out from under my and I slammed my chin into the cobblestones, biting my tongue. I spat a glob of blood and phlegm onto the street before slowly, slowly stumbling to me feet.

The Ursa was having some trouble standing as well. It couldn’t move its back left or front right leg. The back left, because I’d cut the tendon. Only a bit, I think, but it must have snapped since then, and the front right, because it just got hit by ten stone and seven pounds of me going at about fifty miles an hour. Though that probably hurt me more than the Ursa.

I leaned against a wall for a bit, just being in pain. When I felt I could move, I pulled out one of the daggers and walked towards the Ursas back right leg. With all the strength I could muster (i.e., not a lot) I started cutting up the back of its leg. Muscle, tendon, anything I could think of that would make it harder for it to stand and move. It roared louder and louder as I worked.

It clipped my shoulder, the uninjured one thankfully, with a kick, but by that point I had cut the leg up pretty badly, so it only made me want to scream in pain a little bit. When I heard hooves on stone, I left the dagger sticking out the back of its knee and turned towards the sound.

Twilight was a-galloping towards horn, horn glowing like a beacon. “Howdy, Twi!” I slurred. I noticed Rainbow Dash behind her. “Howdy Rainbow Dash!”

“Michael! Oh Celestia, you’re bleeding. Oh no, oh no, oh no.” Her horn went out, and then flared up again. A wave of light washed over me. It felt like I’d walked under a sheet of water, cool and refreshing. For about half a second. Then it wore off, and now I wasn’t delirious, the pain came back. I grit my teeth and waved Twilight away when she came over, worried. I pointed at the Ursa, and she nodded and trotted towards it, horn growing steadily brighter. She reached out with a hoof and touched it on the nose.

It slammed its head into Twilight, sending her tumbling. She didn’t make a sound. Rainbow Dash ran to her. Time seemed to slow. It hurt Twilight. It had to die.

The Ursa rolled onto it’s side as it tried to stand, its injured legs unable to take it’s massive bulk. I walked over to it. I drew the second dagger and slammed it into the underside of it’s jaw and sliced down, towards it’s throat. I stopped short of the windpipe. Taking the dagger, I slowly, carefully, carved into the cartilage that made up its windpipe. It took some time. I was moving the knife up and down more than side to side, taking it off piece by piece in order to get through. When I got to the other side, I was splattered with blood and the thing had stopped roaring, not even able to breath. I slit the blood vessels on either side of its throat, not sure which one would kill it quicker. More blood splashed against me, a wave of blue.

Something came over me then. I’m not proud of it. A veil of red appeared over my eyes and suddenly it just being dead wasn’t enough. I started stabbing the thing, slicing it up skin and muscle, cartilage and tendons. More blood poured out, a tide of red. I heard a sound behind me a whirled around, dripping blood. It was Rainbow Dash. She had been a good hunting partner, but this was still my territory. She should know that. Maybe she didn’t. A thought came to me. Show her her place. I took a step forward. She made a sound, licked her lips and made it again. I lifted the dagger and took another step. More hoofsteps. I turned to face the source, another pony I’d have to put in their place.

It was Twilight. She looked at me. She was scared. The thought came again. Show her her place. No, I’d never hurt Twilight. I dropped the dagger and took a step back. The pain came flooding back, and the last thing I saw before everything faded to black was Twilight looking at me with fear in her eyes.

Chapter 7

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Darkness. Cold. A light in the distance. Movement, I was moving, drifting. The light was growing larger, brighter. Other lights appeared. Farther away, dimmer, smaller. The first light was moving, shimmering. Sound came from beyond. .

“...wake up, please...”

There was something important about the sound, the voice. But my thoughts were slow, sluggish, unwilling to move.

“Please, wake up, Michael…”

A presence. Something was here. It felt old, large, like a tree, towering, weathering all storms. The presence noticed me. I felt it, like a brief but strong wind. In a voice like some long forgotten god, it spoke.

“I SEE YOU, TRAVELLERS. HOW FARES THE HEARTLAND.”

Traveller, I had been called that before. The voice from beyond the light stopped. The sound of weeping came from beyond it now.

“ARE YOU LOST, LITTLE ONES? PERHAPS YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE LEFT SO YOUNG.”

Leave. I didn’t want to leave. I had to go back, for… for something. Something important. Special. Precious. I tried to speak, to make any noise, but couldn’t. But I managed something else. It wasn’t speaking, but it was better than nothing. It was weak, a shadow of a whisper compared to the voice of the presence.

“... don’t want to leave.”

It still had that strange echo to it, like someone was copying me as I spoke.

“YOU COME FROM THE HEARTLAND?” the presence asked. I felt shocked, suddenly, but it was wrong, off. I wasn’t shocked, the presence was, and it’s shock passed from it to me. It stretched out, became a grove, then a forest. It surrounded me, enveloped me.

“YOU DO!” The excitement in the voice shook me. Then confusion and surprise came over the voice. “THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST TIME INBETWEEN. YOU HAVE TRAVELLED FAR FOR THOSE SO SMALL. HOW IS IT YOU HAVE LOST YOUR WAY?”

Speaking, for lack of a better word, was easier now. “Didn’t want to leave. Need to go back.”

“GOING BACK IS SIMPLE, LITTLE ONES. GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT.”

The light. The sound of crying still came from beyond. The sound of it hurt me, made me want to do something, anything, to make them not cry anymore. I tried to move towards it, but it was like I was made from lead. The presence shifted, and a path opened, leading towards the light. I moved, fast. The light grew brighter as I got nearer. I passed through the light, and was blinded by it.

Darkness. Cold. No light in the distance. A burning, in my chest. A voice, next to me, saying “Wake up, please.” My chest felt like it was on fire. I breathed deeply, and felt something lift off my chest. I opened my eyes, and saw Twilight laying next to me, staring at me. Her eyes were full of tears, and her face was wet. Some of it was red, some blue. I laid a hand on her back and used it to help me sit up. Moving sent flashes of pain throughout my body. I hurt everywhere, though my arm and side hurt the worst.

Twilight hugged me. I clenched my jaw to stop myself from screaming and hugged her back with my working arm. She let me go, fresh tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

“Oh, Michael, I thought, I was so worried, I, I,” she managed to say, before crying again and hitting me with another hug. I sucked in a pained breath and she let me go and started babbling again. I ran my fingers through her mane and shushed her until she calmed down. It took a few minutes, but I didn’t mind. I was pretty sure I was in shock, so I didn’t hurt too much. I made sure she was okay before trying to stand. Twilight helped me to my feet - she had to use magic to do it - and I looked around.

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” I asked.

“She went to bring the others back, now the Ursa is…” she said, trailing off at the end as she looked over to the corpse not five feet from us. Thats going to be a bitch to move.

“Sword?” I asked, looking at my injured arm. Twilight didn’t know any healing spells, so I was going to have to do something about it. I’d need to fix that, get her some medical training. And combat training, but healing spells would be more useful. And it’d keep her away from any fighting for the most part.

Twilight levitated my sword from somewhere, and planted it point down in the dirt next to me. I smiled and nodded at her, before looking back at my arm. It hung limply. I could move it, if I really tried, but it hurt. A lot. Dislocated, I think. Lifting my sword with my good hand, I put it up. “Can you teleport us to the hospital?” I asked Twilight. She nodded, and then light was everywhere.

When it was gone, we were standing in the hospital’s reception. My ears rang from the boom of displaced air. I looked behind the front desk for a map or something, but came up blank. Twilight didn’t really know her way around here either. I needed anesthetic of some sort, clean bandages, antiseptic, probably a needle and thread, though a fire and some iron would do in a pinch. I searched the patient rooms, and managed to find most of what I needed. The only pain killer I could find was a fairly weak one, made from willow bark I think. I asked Twilight if she could go look for something stronger, and to keep an eye out for returning ponies.

I took a handful of the pain killers, and waited for them to kick in. It took about five minutes. I was still in a fair amount of pain, but it was more manageable. Taking a bit of clean bandage, I wadded it up and bit down on it. I took a few deep breaths to brace myself for what was going to happen next. Using my good arm, I lifted my injured arm up and forced the joint back into the socket. I couldn’t stop myself from screaming, which is why the bandages. Also stopped me from chewing on my tongue some more. The pain went from torturous to a bearable agony after a few minutes.

I used those few minutes to think about what had happened after I had collapsed. It was pretty likely to just be a hallucination, but there was always the chance it might not be. I had been called ‘Traveller’ by the presence. No, ‘Travellers’. Plural. That bore some investigation. So did the words ‘Heartland’ and ‘Inbetween’. The Heartland seemed to be Equestria, or Equus, but what was the ‘Inbetween’? And what was it inbetween? And what had it meant, that was not my first time there? Maybe what Lexavarone had done? Or… Twilight. I’ll have to tell Twilight. Luna? Can’t hurt. She seems to be on my side. Celestia? Only if Luna thinks I should.

I sat up, tried to move my arm. It still hurt, but not as much. I’d need to get it looked at properly, but it’d do for now. I took care of my other injured, starting with the one on my side. When they were all cleaned, and bandaged if needed, I was starting to hear hoofsteps outside the hospital. I got shakily to my feet and went outside. The Ursa’s corpse wasn’t far from the hospital, and a lot of ponies were staring at it. Fluttershy was one of them. They all turned to face me when I got out the hospital. I hoped, for her sake, that Fluttershy didn’t get pissed about the Ursa. I wasn’t in the mood for her shit right now.

She flew over to me, and looked about to start, but something in the way I looked at her stopped her. Or it could be the fact I was still covered in a fair amount of blood. I went to the Library, where I found Twilight, along with Spike and some other ponies. I mumbled some greetings as I made my way to the shower. After, when I was clean and feeling much, much better, I put my armour on. Not all of it, I left off the smaller parts. They were too much of a pain to put on most of the time. I didn’t even need most of them, but they were bigger in pony armour sets, so I had them. I lifted a knife from my set, and made a mental note to get Spike his back. And I’d need a new crossbow as well.

When fully armed and armoured, I went back into the main section of the library. Twilight and Spike were talking to the Mayor, and some other officials. They looked to me when I entered.

“Are you okay, Michael?” Twilight asked. The amount of concern in her voice made me decide against just claiming to be fine. It would just make her worry more at this point.

“I’ve been worse. Probably need to go see Fluttershy, unless you feel up to teleporting me to Canterlot.” She shook her head. It wasn’t that Canterlot was far away, at least not to Twilight, but that the elevation changed a lot in the mountain city. You needed good aim to not become part of a wall. We saw that happen, once. Twilight was inconsolable for days. Almost refused to learn to teleport because of it. She still preferred to avoid it where possible, for anything more than short distances, at which point its easier just to walk.

“Why not go see a doctor, Captain?” the Mayor asked.

“Because doctors here treat ponies, and only ponies. I am not a pony. I’d be better off with a vet,” I explained as I walked to the door. I gave Twilight a smile I didn’t feel as I passed her. It seemed to make her feel better.

Outside, most ponies were still staring at the Ursa’s corpse. I saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack talking. Well, Rainbow Dash was talking, Applejack was listening. I walked over to them. Pinkie Pie joined me somewhere along the way.

“You seen Fluttershy?” I asked her.

She bounced along for a few seconds, a serious expression on her face. “Nope, not since we got back. But, given what happened here, she’s probably in her cottage, crying.”

I grunted in response, but was otherwise silent. When we got closer, Pinkie Pie greeted the two mares, who gave ‘hellos’ back.

“Hey, Applejack, how much for that cart of yours?” I asked the farmpony.

“Ya don’t need t’ pay me if ya wanna borrow the cart, sugarcube. Just bring it back quick, s’all I ask. What’re ya wantin’ it for, anyhow?”

“Need to move that,” I said, waving in the Ursa’s direction. “I don’t think you’ll want the cart back after that.”

She looked at the body, and nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d be able to sell apples that’d been in the same cart as that.” She gave me a price, and I gave her money. I could pick the cart up whenever. “I’ll need to borrow your brother as well.”

She pointed me towards him. We talked, and he agreed to help me bring the cart down, load the body in it, and take it to the Everfree. Three quarters of an hour later, and we were well on the way to the Everfree Forest. Macintosh was doing most of the pulling. I did help, but he was honestly strong enough he didn’t need it. We were both quiet until we got out of Ponyville. It was Big Mac that broke the silence.

“So, you and Miss Twilight. You’ve been friends for a long time?” He had the same drawl as Applejack, but his accent wasn’t as pronounced.

“Ten years, give or take,” I replied.

He nodded, then frowned. “AJ said you’ve only been in Equestria for about that long. And that you’re about the same age as her.” He looked at me, and I waved him on. “She also said it was Miss Twilight that brought you here.” I nodded, waiting for the accusation that always came next. “She must be pretty special if you stuck by her after that.” I blinked, and almost stumbled over a tree root, barely stepping over it.

“Here’ll do, Macintosh,” I said. We were maybe ten minutes walk in the forest for someone not pulling a cart, or just ten minutes walk for Macintosh, cart or no. He unhitched himself, and nodded at me.

“Tell Miss Twilight hello from me,” he said, before leaving. I grunted, staring at the Ursa’s corpse. When Macintosh’s hoofsteps faded away, I drew a dagger and started thinking. Skinning. Leather. A dozen different variations on each.

There had to be some sort of reason for gaining the knowledge I did. As far as I could tell, it was all information I’d tried to find out at one point and couldn’t. But goddamn it, the one time I tried to get something I could use, it decided to hide - hide, tanned animal skin, tanning, skinning. A flurry of information, and not a single second of dizziness. Just a brief surge of adrenaline, fear and anticipation.

I lifted the dagger, grinning, and set to work. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but there was a lot of bear to practice on. When I stopped an hour or two later - I couldn’t see the moon through the trees - I had a decent amount of Ursa hide. Now came the hard part, tanning it. I would need tanin. Zecora should know where to get that. Hell, I could probably get a some from her.

I gathered my soon-to-be armour, and started to leave. But I stopped, and looked back at the mess I’d made of the Ursa. It had looked like it was made of stars. What would it taste like? So, I put down my armour, started a small fire and cut a bit off. I let it roast a good long while, longer than it probably needed, and ate a bite.

It was glorious. It was the greatest thing I have ever eaten. I don’t know if it was just Ursa that tasted so good, or meat in general, but god damn. I was on my third serving when Fluttershy found me. She was startled at first, and went pale really fast, but she didn’t faint or run off screaming like I’d thought she would when I first saw her. I did have my teeth in a particularly juicy mouthful, but she seemed, not okay with it, but able to put up with it.

I swallowed the bite I’d just taken and nodded at her. “Fluttershy.”

“H-hello, M-michael,” she replied. Her soft voice seemed to suit the forest. “I hope I’m n-not interrupting.”

“No, not at all, just having a bite to eat,” I said, taking one. “What brings you out here?”

“T-twilight and Rainbow Dash s-said you were l-looking for me and Big Mac said you were… Could you please not eat it while I’m talking to you?” she asked, looking close to tears. “I mean, I don’t mind that you eat m-meat, but I’d prefer if you didn’t while we were t-talking.”

“Oh. Sorry. Just don’t want to let it get cold,” I said, finishing it off. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“You cook your meat?” She seemed genuinely interested. I guess she liked animals, and I was an animal she didn’t know about.

“Yeah. Couldn’t explain how it came around, over than it tastes better,” I said, shrugging. Moving my shoulder was a bad idea. I let out a little gasp.

“Is your shoulder sour?” Fluttershy asked, floating over. She was hovering, but she moved her wings about a tenth the speed Rainbow Dash moved hers, making it seem like she floated. I don’t even know how many laws of physics that violated.

“Yeah. It dislocated when Rainbow Dash threw me at the Ursa. I popped it back in, but I guess that some damage was already done. Mind giving me a once over?” I asked her. “To see if I missed anything?”

I lifted off the armour, and took of the clothes I wore under it. Fluttershy gasped when she saw the scars. A bit of an overreaction, if you ask me. Sure, I had a fair number. I mean, even magic can only do so much, and it was a few years before I was willing to be in the same room with someone who wasn’t Twilight and was doing magic. Most of them were old, barely raised ridges of pale white that had been carved into me by some idiot who thought they could hurt Twilight. Some of them I had from Before. Others were more recent, thought here, more recent meant I’d gotten it more than two years ago. The new wound in my side would probably end up a scar, though.

Fluttershy gave me a once over, checking all my injuries old or new. She told me to do some exercises, showed me how to do them, and told me to let her know if it got really sore during them. Said she’d visit in about ten weeks, see how I was doing. I mentioned I’d be back in Canterlot, and she said she’d just have to come visit me there. Quietly, of course, and with a small smile. I gave her a quick smile back, that grew as an idea struck me.

“Fluttershy, you help all sorts of animals, right?” I asked her, standing up.

“I do,” she replied, a little confused. I think I was getting better at reading ponies, because I actually noticed her ears moving without reminding myself to check.

“You need meat for the carnivores?” I asked, gesturing towards the remains of the Ursa.

She looked at the thing, head tilted to one side, then slowly nodded. “That would be nice.”

So we struck a deal, I’d get the remains back to her cottage and help her store them away, and in return she’d keep some for me. I spent a while cutting out bones and the like and putting them to one side, then getting everything on the cart. Fluttershy pointed me in the direction of her place, and off we went.

It took two thirds of an hour to get there, spent in silence unless Fluttershy spotted a rare animal she wanted me to see. That happened twice, though I don’t think either of them looked all that remarkable.

Fluttershy’s cottage was, to use her word for it, ‘nice’. It reminded me of a hobbit hole, of sorts. For a second, I thought that was more information brought by whatever that damnable dragon had done to me, but I couldn’t tell. I didn’t remember having seen or read anything about hobbits, but there was none of the dizziness that I used to get, or the emotions I seem to get now.

She pointed me to a shed, where she stored the food for the animals. It had a fair sized ice box that she used for meat. Apparently, some of the smarter carnivores brought her things to put inside it on occasion, though they never brought anything intelligent, I guess out of respect for Fluttershy.

It was late at night by the time I was done. So late it was basically tomorrow. Fluttershy had nodded off while I was still moving the bones. I lifted her into her house. I cleaned the blood off me first, though. A little rabbit woke up when I entered, gave me a look that tried to say ‘I could kick your ass if I wanted, it’d just be too much hassle’ and bounced off. I put Fluttershy on her couch and left.

Twilight and Spike were asleep when I got back to Ponyville. Probably wouldn’t be up until almost noon. Everything would be starting later tomorrow, I suspected. I went through the library, dropped the leather in the basement. Heading to the balcony, I climbed up onto the branches, going up and out until I had a clear view of the sky.

I’d tell Twilight in the morning, and have Spike send a letter after. I should probably check if Luna replied to the one about the Ursa, see what she said about it. I decided against it. If it had been important, Spike would have told me earlier. I laid back against the tree trunk, thinking. I hadn’t been able to do the shifting thing again, but there had been sounds playing in my head almost constantly. Sometimes it was voices, sometimes it wasn’t. At night, it was usually music. I was thankful for that; it made the nights in Ponyville easier. I closed my eyes and listened.

Lie on my back, clouds are making way for me
I’m coming home, sweet, home
I see your star, you left it burning for me

“Are you okay?”

I looked down, saw Twilight and Pinkie Pie. I rolled off the branch, landed with a spray of dust. I was surprised to see Twilight awake, she had been asleep when I got back - a glance skywards. Huh. The sun was coming up. It had been an hour or so. It felt like minutes.

“Michael,” Pinkie Pie began, “are you happy?”

What? “Of course I am, Pinkie Pie. What made you think I wasn’t?”

“That song you were singing. It was so sad, and you looked so sad while you were singing, and singings supposed to make you happy, so when you didn’t look happy I thought that, maybe, you weren’t.” All that was said at roughly twice the speed of sound, so it took me a second to sort out the order the words came in in my head. I glanced at Twilight, who was looking at me quietly, chewing on her bottom lip. She was worried about something.

“I’m fine, Pinkie Pie. Really. I didn’t even realise I was singing.”

She nodded, but slowly, like she didn’t believe me.

“Michael,” Twilight said. I turned to look at her, and she was giving me her puppy dog eyes. “Could you sing it again?”

I did, of course. It was Twilight asking, what else was I supposed to do? I sat down, leaning against the tree and sang her the whole song. It felt oddly familiar, but different at the same time, like the time I came back from the hospital to find Twilight had painted everything various shades of orange.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie sat down as I sang, and by the end of it they were both misty eyed. I didn’t get why, as it only sounded a bit sad, while the words were hopeful, until I realised it was in English, not Equestrian. They only had the sound to go from. And songs are much more important to ponies than I remember them being Back There.

With that in mind, I ran my fingers through Twilight’s mane before giving her a short, one-armed hug. Pinkie Pie looked vaguely expectant. “It’s not as sad as it sounds, Twilight.”

She gave a sad little sniff. “You understand the words?” she asked. She was moving from sad to curious, and a curious Twilight was a happy Twilight.

I nodded. “It’s in English, the language I spoke when I arrived here.”

“Could you teach me how to speak it?” she asked, sitting up straighter.

“Doubt it,” I said, scratching my chin. I needed to shave. Do that later. “I’m only here for another month, and I guess we could start, but it would take longer than that. English doesn’t seem to follow many rules, if any, so I’d need to be there pretty much all the time.”

“We could do it by letter,” Twilight pointed out. I shook my head.

“Your pronunciation will suffer. Letters change their sound based on other letters, and sometimes just because.”

Twilight stomped a hoof. “Then I’ll just have to come to Canterlot to learn, won’t I?”

I smiled. “That works for me. Let me know a day or two in advance.”

She grinned back. “Can we start now?”

“In the morning. You need to sleep.” She tried to deny being tired, but ruined it by yawning. God, she hadn’t done that after her first few months as Celestia’s student. She decided she was, in fact, tired, and went to bed. I told her we’d start around noon, and bade her goodnight. That left me and Pinkie Pie. She tried to get a conversation going, but we were both pretty distracted. She left a bit before dawn. I went back up into the branches of the library and spent the night there. I managed a couple hours sleep, waking up with the sun already its own width over the horizon.

I climbed down and walked through the library, heading into Ponyville. I needed to stretch my legs. My walk took my into the Everfree, heading towards Zecora’s. I still needed some fix up the leather, and she might know where I could get some tannin. She didn’t, but she did remind me a spell probably existed that would do the same thing. Somehow, I often forgot about magic. Not as much as Twilight did, as odd as that may be, but too often.

I checked Twilight’s spell books, but couldn’t find anything that looked promising. The problem was not knowing what exactly I was looking for. I really just knew the end result, not the process.

Well, not entirely true. I knew the process, somehow. The skin was cured, to prevent it rotting, then cleaned of salt. Then, everything but skin is removed. Then the hide is treated so it can be worked. This would probably be easier in Canterlot, now that I think about it. I’d have more merchants, and less prying eyes, at least prying eyes whose opinion I cared about. Hell, I could probably pay some griffons to do it for me. That would be much easier. I had a month left in Ponyville, though, and didn’t know if the leather would keep that long. I’d need some salt, to dry it out and stop it rotting.

Salt is too easy to get in Equestria. For the amount of trouble it brings me, salt should be regulated, but nope, only slightly harder to get than chocolate. You need to be sixteen to buy it, the same age you need to be to join the Guard, but it causes so much trouble. The fact its fairly expensive might make it better, or worse, depending on your opinion. Better, because its harder to get, worse, because you know they’re only doing that because they know they have a captive audience, so to speak.

Anyway, I went to the one bar in Ponyville - a bar in Equestria being a place that sells salt and salt heavy food and drink, not alcohol. Not knowing how much I’d need, I got a barrel big enough to fit the Ursa hide in and then some, and had it filled halfway with salt. The bartender looked at me like I was crazy when I said how much I wanted, but he gave me it. Said it was the least he could do for the ‘thing’ that saved Ponyville.

Back at the library, I packed the hide in the barrel, separating the layers with salt. That done, I nailed it shut, not wanting anyone to open it and find an approximate shit-ton of salt. I’d check on it every week or so.

Later that day, when Twilight woke up, I told her what I’d seen after fighting the Ursa. She was skeptical, but felt we should tell Celestia just in case. I managed to talk her into not doing that, saying we could tell Luna who, as Princess of the Night, would know more about dreams. Luna could tell Celestia if it was important for her to know. I told her about the barrel, but not what was in it. Twilight was not a fan of salt. She’d seen what it could do to ponies. Canterlot was not as clean as the upper classes wished it was.

Rainbow Dash and Spike came to me around noon, asking to spar and train with me, respectively. I set Spike up with some exercises that I thought would help him out, but he wouldn’t get much bigger if he didn’t start eating meat. Me and Rainbow Dash sparred for a bit before she told me to stop going easy on her.

“We’re not actually trying to hurt each other,” I told her. “Of course I’m going easy on you.”

“Look, just one fight with you going full out, okay? Thats all I ask. I just want to know how good I am.”

I refused, but she wouldn’t let up. She started promising all manner of favours, things she would get me, show me or do for me, if only I would do this for her. I refused. She didn’t stop. Her voice was starting to get on my nerves. I told her that if she wasn’t interested in sparring right now, I had things to do, and turned to leave. She hit me from behind.

I landed hard, had the wind knocked out of me. When I got to me feet, she flew at me again. I barely sidestepped, turning as she flew past me. She flashed past me, turned on a bit and got a fist to the face. I grabbed the back of her head, stepped forward, punched her in the ribs once, twice. She stopped flapping her wings, her body focussing on breathing. Grabbing a handful of fur, I pulled, bringing her down until I could get a hand on her back to force her to the ground. She hit with a gasp, legs and wings spread out. I placed a foot on her wing, not hard, but with enough pressure for her to know it was there. She went from groggy to scared in an instant, her head snapping upwards, eyes locked on mine.

“You lose.”

After a second, I took my foot off and walked away. I spent the next few hours with Zecora. I think I’ve mentioned before she was an alchemist. She was eager to have a student, someone to pass all the knowledge she had gained and to help her in the Everfree, and I could really use something to do, so I asked her to teach me, and she agreed. I went at it with a vigor I’d learned from Twilight, which seemed to surprise the zebra. But she got over it quickly, and soon enough we had covered the basics and were well into more advanced techniques.

Before I left that afternoon to let her work on some delicate compounds without my taking up space, I mentioned that Twilight would be happy to learn as well, after I’d left. Zecora said she’d think about it.

Later, as I was helping Twilight with her most recent experiment in the library, something to with some incredibly advanced magic I didn’t really understand, I told her Zecora might be willing to teach her alchemy. She got excited, and almost dropped the thing she had been studying. I told her not to bother Zecora, and to let her think about it.

Fluttershy visited in the evening, to check my shoulder and talk to Twilight about something. She told me to continue with the exercises, and that it already seemed better before I was kindly and politely kicked from the room.

That became my routine for the week. I trained with Spike in the morning, learned from Zecora in the afternoon and helped Twilight in the evening. But the night’s were getting longer and longer, with ponies going to sleep earlier because of it.

Luna visited towards the end of the week. To check up on me, supposedly. Just because I like her more than Celestia doesn’t mean I trust her. She arrived in a flash of deep blue light and a sound like time dying.

“How is he?” she asked Twilight. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush. I liked that about her. Celestia always took her time getting to the point.

Twilight glanced at me, which made Luna tut. “Leave us,” she said to me. Twilight gave me a little smile, so I got up and left. If it made it easier for her, I didn’t mind.

I wandered around for an hour, figuring that’d be enough time for them to chat. Around the ten minute mark I was mugged by a trio of fillies. It was Applejack’s little sister Apple Bloom and her two friends, Sweetie Somethingorother and Scootaloo. Belle. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They wanted to know how I got my cutie mark. Damn near had a fit when I told them I didn’t have one. They then decided I was a ‘Cutie Mark Crusader’, whatever that is, and ran off, talking about capes.

I managed to finish my walk without further incident, apart from one of the mares that sells flowers in the central square seeing me and screaming. They’re names are Lily, Rose and Daisy, though I don’t know which is which. Anyway, one of them always does that. They don’t seem malicious, and I doubt they enjoy it, I honestly think they’re just that cowardly. I helped her up from where she had collapsed in the dirt. Daisy, I think it was. She thanked me, and promised, again, to try and not panic everytime she sees me. I smiled without thinking, and she flinched slightly. I doubt she noticed doing it. For her, it was just a reaction to seeing a meat-eaters teeth.

By the time I got back to the library, Twilight and Luna had finished talking about me, and had moved on to other, more interesting topics. When I entered, they were talking about Silver Song’s Sequential Susurrus, some sort of magical technique I think. Closing the door behind me, I looked at Luna.

“Well?”

“Have you noticed any changes in yourself?” Luna asked.

I thought about it for a few minutes. “I’m happier. Not a lot, but it’s there. I also don’t get angry as easily.”

“Thats a good thing, right?” Twilight asked. Then she saw me shaking my head and Luna frowning. Ears twitching slightly, she asked, “How could you being happier and less angry not be good?”

“There are a few reasons, Twilight Sparkle. First and foremost is the possibility that his brightened mood is not the only change, merely the only one we have noticed. Indeed, it could be the one we are meant to notice,” Luna said, her frown deepening. “In which case, there are most likely other changes as well. Second, if it makes him happier, but has another, minor effect, it is possible he would object to it’s removal.”

Those were some good points, and I could see Twilight understood where Luna was coming from, but she had missed the most important one. These were not my emotions I was feeling. They’re forced on me. I don’t think Twilight would understand that, or even see why it mattered. Luna understood, of course. She’d been on this side before.

Luna scanned me with her magic, and again found nothing that shouldn’t be there, based on the bi-annual check ups I get. While she did that, I did some thinking. Twilight might have a point. Could I really complain about it, if all I got from it were benefits? Wasn’t being happier worth the small downside? I squashed those thoughts the moment they appeared. Using magic to change someones mind was one of the worst crimes a unicorn could commit in Equestria. I’ve seen the aftermath of it. Poor bastard needed help eating afterwards. I couldn’t trust those thoughts, not if someone had been messing around inside my head. It was a frightening moment when I realised I couldn’t trust myself anymore.

Chapter 8

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Before she left, I filled Luna in on what I thought I’d seen and heard while unconscious. She ‘hmmed’, frowned, and told me she’d look into it.

“The use of Heartland to describe Equestria is something that hasn’t been done since before I was born, so I doubt any records survived except what resides inside my sister’s mind,” she said. “I would need to inform her as to what has happened to have any hopes of finding useful information.”

I sighed. “Then tell her. Tell her whatever you think she needs to know.”

Luna nodded. “Very well. I must depart; my presence is required at the castle. I will contact you by dragonfire should I find anything before your return.” To Twilight, she said, “I hope to continue our discussion another time, Twilight.

Twilight started to bow, but caught herself. “Of course, Luna. My door is always open for you.”

Luna smiled, and then vanished with a brief light and a small popping sound. Twilight looked impressed, so I guess teleporting quietly and without a big flash is hard. Probably extremely so, if she finds it impressive. There was another, even smaller flash of light, and a bag appeared where Luna had been standing. It fell to the ground with sound of metal sliding over metal. I went over and picked it up. Inside was a note and a crapload of bits.

Captain Michael

This bag contains part of the backpay for the position of Captain of the Night Guard. The position was never abolished, merely unheld during Princess Luna’s absence. For the remainder owed to you, see enclosed card. To collect, please visit Head Treasurer Bean Counter.

Your servant,
Pencil Pusher

Digging around in the bag, I found the card. On it was a number. A fairly large number. I was in two minds about this. One one hand, it was about time I started getting the backpay. On the other, what the hell was I supposed to do with more money? My expenses were basically zero, living in the castle. Sure, I could buy a house, but I wouldn’t use it. I’m on duty twenty hours a day, and when I sleep I usually do it leaning against a wall. I eat in my office or in the mess hall, and the castle library has every book written in the past two and a half thousand years. I only spend money on Twilight and maintaining my kit.

And this is going to be on top of my regular pay as well. Working twenty hours a day gets you serious overtime.

“What is it?” Twilight asked from behind me.

“Backpay. You have your eye on any books?” I asked.

“One or two,” she said, “why?”

“I’m going to buy them for you. Where d’you keep your list here?” Twilight has a list of books she wants to buy. Well, list is an understatement. It sorted by genre, then by author, with date of publication and priced. Twilight likes being organised.

She floated the list to me, and I looked over it. It was a good four pages long, each page as long as my arm and as wide as my head. Her writing was small and neat enough to look typeset. There was probably a good few hundred books there. I handed the list back. Really I just let it go and she caught it with magic, putting it back behind a shelf where she got it from.

“So, what book are you getting me?” she asked, eyes wide, smile wider. Sometimes, I don’t feel I should be indulging her book addiction, but when she looks this happy I can’t help myself.

I smiled at her and shook my head. I never told her. Mostly because I think she loved the anticipation more. She went to bed that night trying to trick me into telling her what book I was getting. She always did, though this time it was easier to not tell her.

When I was sure she was soundly asleep, I took out her list and made a copy of it. That took me most of the night. My writing is nowhere near as nice as Twilights, so I have to take a bit of time if I want to be able to read it later, never mind someone else. Reports take me hours. At times, I don’t know how people do everything they have to, and still have time to sleep.

After I copied out the list, I busied myself by translating some Equestrian literature to English. Not the most exciting thing, but it help me remember the language. I’ve had to make up a fair amount of words over the years, for things Equestria has that home doesn’t. I keep a notebook with all the words in it, adding to it as I make more. I’ve been meaning to make a full English - Equestrian dictionary, but I’d end up making up most of the English half of it. I managed a couple of foals books, which I’d need to start Twilight off with. I’d need to see what she could pronounce and what she couldn’t, anyway.

My second, and last, month in Ponyville was boring, with one burst of excitement that didn’t last. It came a few days after Luna’s visit, when Fluttershy brought some Parasprites in from the Everfree. How she didn’t recognise them, I don’t know. Even more surprising was that Pinkie Pie did. I kept the Parasprites under wraps while she found the instruments. Celestia arrived, and later Twilight told me her visit went swimmingly. I wouldn’t know, I was in the Everfree getting some lessons off of Zecora.

Winter came, and went. When you can control the weather, winter doesn’t last that long, only two weeks. Nothing exciting happened during winter or the following wrap up. I avoided Rarity, had a couple late night chats with PinkiePie, nothing interesting. And then I was hugging Twilight goodbye as I got on the train to Canterlot. A six hour long train journey later and I was back in Canterlot. When I got to the castle, I reported to Luna, who gave me another check up. Again, she found nothing, and happily let me return to active duty. After the scan, she gave me a rundown of what had happened while I was away. Crime had went down a fair bit, though no one could find out why, some foreign delegations were due to arrive soon, and her sister was not happy with me. Only the first was important.

Later, as I was eating and going over reports from my time off, I was treated to the various reasons the guards had concocted to explain the drop in activity. They ranged from all the criminal’s mothers having given them a good talking to, all the way to all the criminals getting together to plan a heist on the crown jewels. My favourite, though, was that when they heard I had taken a holiday, they all decided to take one as well.

The first week I was back in Canterlot, I spent most of my free time tracking down all the books on Twilight’s list and buying them. Her birthday was in a few months, and I was planning on sending them to her then. I sent her a few early, so she didn’t think I’d forgotten about her.

Most of my time on duty was spent interviewing potential recruits, dealing with the few nobles who still thought they could boss me around and doing some more translations of Equestrian books. The first real exciting thing to happen after I got back was a visit from some high ranking minotaurs. It was their head of state, a few of his direct subordinates and a whole lot of assistants of various kinds. It was on my third week back that King Steel Fury came to Equestria to rehash various trade agreements, as well as hopefully strengthening ties between West Plains and Equestria.

Thats the line he was feeding us, anyway. Luna wanted to know why he was really here, and she wanted to know yesterday. Spike arrived shortly after Luna gave me those orders. It made sense; ponies and griffons can’t be sneaky, and I’m too well known to go around asking questions. But, for all his rarity, no one really knows who Spike is. It also helps no one really wants to question a dragon, even a small one. He found me in the mess hall, looking over some reports.

“What do you need me to do?” Spike asked, sitting across the table from me.

“Keep an eye on things in that part of the castle,” I said, not looking up. If we were being watched, it would look like I was telling him I was busy. I didn’t think we were though. Important visitors are all housed in the same part of the castle, ostensibly to make protecting them easier, probably to make it easier to keep track of them. I pay some of the servants that work there to send me a message if someone leaves. “See if you can overhear anything. If you find anything, tell me or Quick Cut.”

Spike nodded and left. I don’t know how, but he managed to vanish into the crowd in a few seconds. I guess its a skill he has.

That was really all I could do for that problem for now. A few weeks passed, the minotaurs left and it seemed like they had been honest. God, how stupid I feel looking back. But hindsight is perfect, I guess.

Canterlot was quiet. Crime picked up a bit, but stopped below the level it had been before. The time let the Guards play catch up on the current cases, which took a lot of criminals off the street, if only temporarily for some, and put the fear of us into some of the rest. The Night Guard dealt with that, for the most part. Most crimes do take place at night.

Honestly, I’d forgotten how boring Canterlot was, most of the time. It was more exciting than Ponyville - my shoulder twinged slightly, as if in protest. Maybe not more exciting, but the excitement was steadier and less lethal. Ponyville had Twilight, though, so it won.

I finally managed to track down some griffons who worked with leather in Canterlot, and after paying what was probably an extortionate fee, I handed over the Ursa hide. It would take a while to treat, and then I’d need it fitted. Thankfully, the Ursa had been a fairly big one, as Minors go, so there was a lot to work with. It’d be trial and error, for the most part. Not many chances to work with Ursa hide.

One of the letters Twilight sent me mentioned she’d be at the Best Young Flyer competition in Cloudsdale. Celestia managed to talk her sister into going with her, so I wrote back saying I’d be there.

Luna was not the most social of ponies. She was a lot like Twilight, actually. The Best Young Flyer competition would be her first time leaving Canterlot since her visit to Ponyville to check up on me. She was unusually quiet the flight there. I let her be. If it was something she wanted help with, she’d let me know.

I walked in front of Luna on the way to the Cloudeseum.

Look, it was the best translation I could think of, alright?

So, the Cloudeseum. Big, oval building, made of clouds. Open to the sky, it can seat around fifteen thousand, with space for another eight thousand pegasi above on clouds. I learned that, and a lot of other facts about Cloudsdale I didn’t care about, from Rainbow Dash, of all people. I bumped into her after I’d escorted Luna and Celestia to the Royal Box before leaving to check around the perimeter.

Rainbow Dash had been showing Twilight and the others around Cloudsdale, and were just now on their way to the Cloudeseum. I escorted them inside, Rainbow Dash to where the competitors waited, Twilight and the others to their seat.

I made my way back only to be told to leave again.

“Take a few hours for yourself, Captain,” Luna ordered. “It has been many weeks since last you rested.”

Not wanting to argue, I nodded and went back to Twilight. I stole a seat next to them - it was an unbooked one - and sat down, feeling every moment like I was going to fall through the clouds. Twilight assured me it wouldn’t happen. Fluttershy took the opportunity to check on my shoulder. By now, it had stopped hurting except for the odd twinge, which seemed to surprise Fluttershy. I guess she hadn’t believed me when I said I heal fast.

It has to tell you something about me that I only noticed Rarity was missing when her turn was announced. When the hell did she get wings? They were gaudy things as well, looking like sunlight on oil. Ponies seemed to love them.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came out. Rainbow Dash did some tricks I guess were impressive, Rarity copied Icarus and flew too close to the sun. She fell, and started flailing. She must have knocked her rescuers unconscious or something, because soon they were falling as well.

Rainbow Dash noticed, and dived down, going so fast she blurred. When she was close, there was an explosion of light and sound. I dropped to the ground on instinct, dragging Twilight down with me. I knocked a couple chairs over before I realised we weren’t under attack. I helped Twilight up, apologised and fixed the chairs.

Twilight and I had a small debate about how fast Rainbow Dash had been going when she broke the sound barrier. It was a pointless debate as we didn’t know how much the pegasus weighed, but fun nonetheless. I was of the opinion that to break it as spectacularly as she had, she had to have been going more than a little over it, which would also account for her sudden acceleration after the barrier shattered.

Twilight, however, maintained that Rainbow Dash had be barely above it.

“If she was going as fast as you say, then the friction from the air would have burned her wings!”

“Pegasi coat their wings in magic to make them more aerodynamic,” I pointed it. “If she had enough, it could both reduce the heat and protect her from it. And Rainbow Dash has a crazy amount of magic compared to most pegasi. Hell, she has more magic than most unicorns can hold.”

“Any magical barrier thick enough to protect her from the heat would make too un-aerodynamic to fly. Besides,” Twilight replied, flipping a hoof, “travelling at the speeds you propose would do an incredible amount of damage to a pony’s body.”

“But if the magic was formed into a cone, like the shape the barrier took for some reason,” I countered, making a cone shape with my hands. I don’t know why, we both knew what a cone looked like. “That would protect her from the heat while still keeping her aerodynamic, and protect her from high speed winds.”

Twilight started to say something but stopped, a thoughtful look on her face. After a few seconds, she said, “I’ll do the math tonight, but that sounds like it might work.It would need to be a narrow cone though.”

I smiled, surprised. I usually lost debates with Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was getting her award from Luna and Celestia. She seemed to be in a state of shock that only got worse as time went on. When the Wonderbolts spoke to her she damn near went catatonic.

I hugged Twilight goodbye as she returned to Ponyville and I to Canterlot.

Starting a month or so after the Best Young Flyers competition, the only topic of discussion in Canterlot was the Grand Galloping Gala. Who would be going, who wasn’t, who was wearing what (or who). I didn’t see the appeal, really. I’ve been to four of the things, and they are the single most boring day of the year.

Which is why I was happier than I usually was when Twilights letter arrived each week. But one particular one, a month and a bit before the Gala, was a little different than the others. Ten minutes after getting the letter I was knocking on Shining Armour’s office door. He opened it, looking annoyed.

“What.”

“Diamond Dogs have been spotted near Ponyville,” I said, handing him the letter. “Get some troops together. We leave in ten minutes.”

The letter glowed a pale pink as he took it and read it. “Give me fifteen and I can double the number of troops I can bring.”

I shook my head. “No time. Dogs might move soon. Might already be gone.” If they weren’t I wasn’t planning on going inside. I just needed help stopping anything from leaving. If they were, a lot of troops would make following them harder to sell to Celestia. “I have a plan anyway. I’ll explain when we get there. Nine minutes, chariot platform. Quick Cut will meet you there.” As I left to round up a few more troops. I found them and told them to get their kit together before meeting Shining Armour at the chariot platform.

I grabbed my kit and went there a little early, to pick up Spike. The little dragon was surprisingly eager to come along.

“Dude, no offense, but Twilight is crazy.”

He wasn’t wrong. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to break one of his arms when he said it, but he wasn’t wrong. Twilight had a fair amount of issues, mostly stemming from her basically being adopted by Celestia when she was younger, some from her lack of socialisation while younger (partly my fault) and some because thats how she is. I resisted the urge to hit him and caught him up.

“You know about the Diamond Dogs outside Ponyville, right?”

“Yeah dude, they’ve been there for months.”

I stopped walking and looked down at him. I took a few seconds to control myself and asked, in a very quiet voice, “Why the hell haven’t you reported them?”

He obviously wasn’t entirely stupid, as he started backpedaling, both verbally and literally. “Well, when I say months, I really mean weeks. Like three, or maybe two.”

I started walking again, letting the magic drop. He knew he had messed up. “Anyway, Diamond Dogs. We’re going to get rid of them if they’re here. If they’ve left, we’ve got to find them, to make sure they don’t just set up camp somewhere else.”

“That makes sense,” Spike said, “but it doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“If the dogs are gone, you’re going to help us follow them.” We were at the field outside Ponyville now. I use the word ‘field’ loosely. The ground was as barren as a loveless marriage, not even moss growing on the stones. The dirt was hard despite the recent rains, and there were a few holes dotted around the place. Shining Armour was standing where grass stopped growing, with around twenty Day Guards and eight Night Guards. Considering the time, noon, that was a lot of Night Guards. In total, there were seven unicorns, eight pegasi, fourteen earth ponies, Spike, and myself.

I got a round of salutes as I got close, along with a small nod from Shining Armour. “You said you had a plan, Michael. Lets here it.”

“The plan is simple. Unicorns send fire down the tunnels, pegasi and earth ponies stop any Dog that tries to leave.” I looked at our troops, then out at the field, and did some quick arithmetic. “Three groups of ten, I think. Three unicorns, two pegasi, five earth ponies in group one. Two unicorns, three pegasi, five earth ponies in group two. Two unicorns, three pegasi, four earth ponies and me in group three. Shining Armour, you go in the two, three, five group. Any questions?”

One of the Day Guard pegasi put their hoof up.

“Yes, Corporal Cloud Cutter?”

Corporal Cloud Cutter cleared his throat before asking, “Why is Spike here?”

“If the Dogs have left, I want to try and follow them to make sure they don’t start taking slaves elsewhere. Any more questions?” There were none, so me and Shining Armour split them into groups. I ended up with most of the Night Guards, and three Day Guards, none of whom I knew.

First order of business was to block most of the holes. It wouldn’t stop any Diamond Dogs for more than a second or two, but in a fight you take every advantage you can get. I had the earth ponies do that, so unicorns could save their strength for fire.

I had them leave holes that were far enough from each other that we wouldn’t get in each others way in a fight, but close enough that if they tried to gang up on one group the others could help. Pegasi were to keep an eye on the farther parts of the field, earth ponies to focus on protecting unicorns.

The fact that no Dogs had popped up while we were plugging holes made me think they had already left, so I had Spike take a trip around the edge of the field to see if he could pick up a scent. Plus it would keep him out from underfoot. Or underhoof. When he was at the edge and everyone else was in position, I loaded my crossbow with a bolt from a set I had commissioned and told the unicorns to start.

We got a reaction pretty much immediately. A dog popped up behind one of the unicorns in my group. I shot it in the back of the head. The heavy bolt punched through it’s skull in a spray of blood and bone. It collapsed forwards, towards the unicorn. A gust of wind from the side knocked it to the side enough for it to clip the unicorn instead of crushing her. I retrieved my bolt, reloaded it and waited.

The other groups were having some fun of their own. Each had a pair of Dogs fighting them. Each of their dogs was smaller than the one I had killed, so I guess thats why we only got one.

I didn’t have to wait long. A few more Dogs erupted from the earth, throwing rocks and clouds of dirt in every direction. The shouts of surprise from the ponies were quickly drowned out by the roar of the Dogs, thought that wasn’t the loudest thing about them. By god, those things stank. It was like a combination of sweat, wet dog and a sort of generic, unplaceable bad smell. I was half worried my sword would corrode if I tried to hit any of them with it.

I shop another with the crossbow, this time in the chest. The heavy bolt crunched through the dogs chest. Dropped the crossbow, I drew my sword and stabbed the same one in the stomach, kicking her legs out from under it as I pulled my sword out. Turning around, I stabbed a Dog that was focussing on an earth pony, going in through his side and up to his chest. The Dog let out a high pitched yelp and hit me with an oversized paw. I ducked my head, took the blow on my shoulder. The pony finished the Dog with a well aimed kick to the guts. It had stopped breathing before it hit the ground.

Two other dogs had attacked my group, but the ponies had dealt with them. Only one pony had been hurt by the Dogs, the earth pony I had helped. The others had, at most, a scratch or two from the Dog’s entrance.

The next wave came as I was taking the bolt out of the Dog I had shot. It was smarter than I had expected the Dog’s to be, waiting for us to relax, but not long enough for us to be on Guard.

There were more this time as well, but the plan must have been working. Half of the Dog’s stood and fought while the other half scattered. The reason I had time to notice this was because a Dog came up under my feet, sending me about ten feet into the air. I grabbed one of my legs and slammed me into the ground. I kicked his knee with my free leg. There was a crack, a pop, and a scream from the dog. He let me go, and I started to get to my feet only to have to throw myself to the side to avoid an axe swing. I wasn’t fast enough though, and it clipped my side. Didn’t get through the mail, but I’d have a hell of a bruise.

I managed to roll a bit away from my attacker, a big brute of a Dog around twice my height and three times my weight counting armour. That gave me enough time to pull out a weapon only to realise I didn’t have my sword. I spotted it, behind the big Dog, and reached for my backup, a dagger around four inches long. It’d have to do. He swung from the side, a wide, wild swing that probably could have cut rock. I dodged backwards and moved in as his swing went past. I sliced at him with the dagger.

He was faster than he looked. He knocked my arm away then hit me with the flat of the axe, knocking me down again. He stood over me, axe raised for another swing. Then his arm fell to his side, the axe slipping from his paw. He looked at me with the oddest expression, like someone had told him a funny joke about his mother and he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or not, and then collapsed in the dirt. Behind him was an earth pony holding a bloody spear in her mouth.

“Thanks, Ironshod,” I said, standing. She gave me a smile around the spear and went to help move the fallen Dog’s. While I was checking my injuries and helping to look over the injured ponies, of which there were a couple series ones now, Shining Armour had the unicorns stop firing. He wanted us to go inside and rescue any slaves. They were probably already dead, either killed by the fire or by Diamond Dog’s out of revenge, but I wasn’t going to mention that. I pretended to agree with him, and set about taking over.

“You’ll need to stay out here,” I told him. “The wounded will need protected, and you have the best shields. Plus, this way we won’t both be killed if the Dogs cause a cave in.” He couldn’t argue with that. Well, he could, but he couldn’t win, so he reluctantly agreed. I left him a third of the troops, the group he had been in, and took my group and the other one below.

The tunnels were dark, smelly and surprisingly spacious. Though Diamond Dogs stood half again as tall as ponies, and were probably twice as wide as well, so the extra space made sense. The unicorns with use lit their horns, casting shifting, multicoloured lights down the town. The tunnel was a smooth oval, too smooth to be natural, but it also seemed too smooth to be crafted by hand. It sloped gradually downwards, blackened by ash and soot. It was like stepping into an oven, with how warm it was. I don’t think the ponies would last long in this heat.

It wasn’t long before we spotted the first bodies. Charred and melting, they lay on the floor of the tunnel, burned as they tried to run. The smell of burning hair was thick, almost palpable. Some of the guards, the newer recruits I think, started retching and heaving at the smell. Some of the veterans didn’t seem to happy to be there either.

Moving past the corpses, the tunnel sloped down more, taking us increasingly deeper with each step. The smell didn’t let up. It only got worse. The heat got less as we walked though, which was good. We came across bodies every few feet. Two here, a half dozen there, that sort of thing. Only some were charred now. As we went deeper, more and more had suffocated, the air underground stolen by the flames. Before long, we came to a cavern, the ceiling of the cave disappearing upwards beyond what the unicorns could illuminate.

It was here we found the survivors.

They must have seen our light as we came down the tunnel, because they tried to ambush us. They managed it as well, because hoofsteps on stone made a lot of sound. The moment I stepped out of the tunnel I was struck on the back of the head. I fell forward and landed hard, head first. My head seemed to ring as the world spun first one way, then another. After some time had passed, the ringing left and the music returned, followed closely by the sounds of fighting.

Something in my head shouted at me to moved, and I rolled to the side just in time to avoid an axe aimed at my head. I leapt to my feet, drawing my sword as I rose, and swung wildly. The Dog leapt back and I followed, moving inside his swing. A short, quick thrust to the gut, a twist or two and I could leave him for dead. I kicked him in the throat for good measure anyway.

The rest of the Dogs, being tired and scared, were quickly cut down by the ponies and I, most of whom were merely tired. Those we didn’t kill ran. I was tempted to follow them to clean up, but if I got any slaves out then Celestia would be more likely to let me take some troops and clear them out of Equestria. We searched the cavern as well as we could, and found none. We found a few tunnels branching off in various directions. Leaving a trio of ponies, one of each race, in the cavern with orders to leave if they didn’t here back from us in two hours to watch the couple wounded we had, I led the remainder deeper into the tunnels. We walked for an hour or so, jumping at every sound in the darkness. We knew there were still Dogs out there, and they would be in a vengeful rage, or else backed into a corner, neither of which was something I wanted to fight. Not without an advantage of my own, at least.

I had the unicorns start rotating their lights to conserve energy. Should have done it earlier, but I just hadn’t though of it. Had them use a red light as well. I vaguely remembered something about that not hurting eyes as much. I figured we could use it to see, then when we found Dogs flare a different coloured light to blind them.

Walking down the tunnels I was almost constantly on edge. I kept my sword out and my crossbow, loaded with one of those heavy bolts, easily within reach. I walked slowly and listened as hard as I could.

I still didn’t hear the second ambush.

It came just as the tunnel started to widen. The first blow practically sent me flying this time. I definitely left the ground. I managed to roll sideways when I landed, meaning it only hurt a lot. I finished rolling in a crouch, holding my crossbow. Taking a couple seconds to stop wobbling and aim, I shot a Dog in the chest, the bolt hitting him square, but it was too far to do much damage. The crossbow wasn’t strong enough to long the heavy bolts very far.

After I fired, I dropped the crossbow and shouted “Flare!”, turning my head and shielding my eyes with my hand. Even then I still saw a bright white light. Dogs and ponies screamed. I looked back to the cavern. I could see the light was red again, but that was all. It took a second or three for my eyes to start working right, and as soon as they did I got to work. I cut down the pair of Diamond Dogs closest to me before moving to clear those nearest to the ponies. I put down a half dozen more, slitting throats and moving on, before they managed to get any sort of resistance together.

From the sheer number of them I could tell this wouldn’t be easy. But I saw a flash of bright fur behind them, and knew why. They were protecting their slaves, their ‘property’. We stood in two groups for a moment, looking at each other, neither side willing to make the first move and start the melee. Then a dog behind the front line roared something in a guttural language, all deep r’s and long vowels, and the moment was gone. The Dogs charged, roaring and frothing.

I managed to reload and fire my crossbow as they ran, taking a Dog in the eyes. I couldn’t fight the urge to smile at what was probably my best shot so far. So I was grinning when I stepped back, away from the Dog’s charge and into the tunnels.

The cramped tunnels gave us an advantage over the Dogs. I could stand with a pony either side of me, and the unicorns could fire over the ponies heads, whereas the Dogs could only face us two at a time. I managed to reload again, but didn’t have time to fire. I dropped the crossbow into the bolt quiver and had to hope it wouldn’t go off.

It was maybe twelve dead Dogs into the fight when I realised I made a mistake. Diamond Dogs, you see, are very, very good at digging. So when they popped out the tunnel behind us, I shouldn’t have been surprised. We were quickly squashed between the two groups, like a bug under a falling hammer. We made them bleed for every inch, and I think one of the unicorns managed to teleport away, but those that weren’t killed then were captured. They had to kill some more before the ponies stopped resisting, but I didn’t think they cared. They were too happy to have some more slaves. I was bound and blindfolded before being half dragged, half carried somewhere.

Chapter 9

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Diamond Dogs might not be as stupid as they seem. For example, they do not treat slaves as badly as you might think they do. We weren’t treated well, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t think we were ever treated evilly. Don’t misunderstand me, though. It was more out of good business sense than any sort of compassion. Dead slaves can’t work.

We were enslaved for three weeks before I realised help wasn’t coming. We had lost a few more ponies by then, leaving only twelve of the guards still alive. That gave us a total of thirty two slaves capable of fighting. I just needed some sort of push to get them going. Get them willing to fight the hundred plus Diamond Dogs. While underground. In the dark. With no weapons. While tired and hungry.

Easy, right?

I didn’t spend those three weeks idle. I spent a lot of it working. I did more than my fair share of the work each day, letting the other rest up for when we made our escape. Slave labour is pretty menial, leaving lots of time for thinking. But I kept hitting a snag in my plans. Namely, the lack of weapons.

The mining gear is kept in a hut that’s guarded by a trio of Diamond Dogs at all times. It’s an easy job, probably highly sought after. I say the hut, because that what it looks like from the outside, made of solid stone slabs that are all falling against each other, so none of them actually fall. I’ve only seen the inside once, and only for a few minutes. Its more comfortable than most pony homes. I could see the mining gear, mostly pickaxes, with a few shovels and a couple hammers, sitting in a corner. The guards were passed out drunk; it was the wee hours of the morning, and everyone else was asleep.

Around my third day I started getting visits from Dogs. They wanted to know what I was. At first, I ignored them, but pretty soon they were pissing me off, so starting the second week whenever they came near me I stopped what I was doing and stared at them. The guards didn’t complain, because I still got more than enough work done, and I guess because it was funny seeing the civilian Dogs scared of me.

I was sitting in the slave camp one day, trying to get the dirt and rocks out from under my ridiculously long nails, when a trio of Diamond Dogs decided to pay me a visit. Diamond Dogs had been coming to see me almost every day now. I had added a big, toothy grin when I stared at them. They usually left after a minute or so. I don’t know how I scared them, considering the size difference.

When I heard the sound of steps on stone, I looked up. I didn’t recognise the Dog in front of me - they all looked the same to me - but he was wearing armour and carried weapons. It’s armour was metal plates riveted onto a thick cloth. It only covered his chest and his arms, leaving his head, neck, legs and feet unprotected. It’s weapon were a pair of axes, made of steel or iron, and looked well cared for.

I didn’t need all the weapons at once. If I could get one or two, I could use them to get the rest. The problem was getting started. I looked down at my nails and had an idea. Though I didn’t know if this was crazy enough to work, too crazy to not work, or just crazy.

The armed and armoured Dog came over to me and said, in broken Equestrian, “What you be?”

I opened my mouth, as if to answer, but started coughing horribly. It must have sounded like I was hacking up a lung. I tried to speak again, but again I coughed. I grimaced, and spoke quietly. Despite their much better hearing, I was quiet enough he couldn’t hear me over the general background noise. I waved at him to come closer, and he reluctantly did.

One of the things you get from mining is upper body strength. Pickaxes are heavy, and rocks are hard. Another is aim. You don’t want to hit the wrong thing and crack something valuable, or damage the pick.

As I said, Diamond Dogs aren’t completely stupid. When he crouched down to hear me speak, he would be ready for a punch. So I didn’t punch him. My hand shot out to grab him. He brought an arm up to protect his face and reached towards me. My fingers sank to the first knuckle into his neck. Making a fist, I pulled, tearing his throat open and splattering my face with warm blood. I shoved the Dog backwards, and his two buddies just stared at me in shock.

I flung a handful of cartilage at the Dog on the right before snatching up an axe a rushing at the one on the left. I hated the weapon as soon as my hand closed around it. The balance was wrong, the handle was too big for me to grip properly, and it didn’t have a guard to protect my fingers. I ducked the Dogs wild swipe and swung clumsily at its leg. The axe bit into its knee, and the Dog went down howling, taking the axe with it. The other Dog recovered from a handful of throat to the face and hit me with a wild swing. It sent me staggering backwards and onto my arse. I kicked one if its legs, then kicked it in the face when it fell.

Going back to the Dog I’d axed, I pulled the axe out of its knee, twisting as I yanked it loose. It howled again, and I heard hoofsteps behind me. I put the Dogs down quickly and turned to face the pony coming.

It was one of the ponies that had been here before I got captured. Didn’t remember his name. He stopped when he saw the dead Dogs and started babbling.

“You’ve killed us. We’re dead. You’ve killed us.”

More ponies had come over now, drawn by the howling and the babbling. I recognised one of the unicorns from the guard, and tossed him the other axe. His horn glowed, and the axe came to a sudden stop next to his head. I pointed at the hut were they kept the mining gear, and he nodded. I pointed to a couple other ponies I recognised, a pair of earth ponies, and they nodded as well. I pointed back towards the hut, making a wide arc as I did. They seemed to get the message, because they moved out, moving not directly towards the hut, but still in it’s general direction. The Dogs there had definitely heard the commotion, and would be on their way now. I gave my new axe a few practice swings, trying to get used to the feel of it.

I was not a fan of axes. Nor a fan of swords either, really. The crossbow, now that was a useful weapon. Honestly, if the thing I was killing never saw me, then that was fine by me. Some ponies, and a lot of gryphons, go on about fighting honourably. But what use do the dead have for honour? They can keep their honour, and I’ll keep my life.

The pony who had came along first was still babbling, now asking why I had doomed them all. It was simple, really, though I don’t think he actually wanted to hear my reasons. There was no way to convince the other slaves to revolt, not a chance in hell. So I forced them to. Sure, some would die, but with luck it wouldn’t be me. Backed into a corner, the slaves would fight like hell, and all of them would fight. The rest of the slaves arrived just as the Diamond Dogs did.

It was a pair, both lightly armed and armoured. They saw me, covered in blood and standing over dead Dogs, and charged. They were wearing a thick cloth armour that replaced leather in a world were damn near everything was intelligent. It wasn’t as strong as leather, but it was better than nothing, which is what I had.

When the Dogs were maybe fifteen yards away, I slowly raised my arm and aimed. When they were ten yards away, I whipped my arm down and through the axe. It hit the left Dog in the face hilt first, breaking his nose with a lovely crunching sound, slowing him down and letting me deal with them one at a time.

The second Dog was on me before I could congratulate myself with actually hitting something. He had a club, really just a heavy stick, and it whistled as it passed over my head. I slide forward and spat in the Dogs face. He flinched backwards, dropping his guard. I punched him in the throat and took him to the ground. I smashed the back of his head against the ground and I kept smashing until I heard it crack and it stopped thudding and started squishing. Picking up his club, I only just got it the the way of the other Dogs blow. The impact went up my arm and damn near made me drop the club. I parried his next swing and then thrust the club at him as hard as I could, hitting him between the legs. I felt something burst. The Dogs eyes rolled up into his head, and he fell into a heap on the ground. He was still for a moment, but then started vomiting. I swung at his skull like I was playing golf, and his skull shattered in a spray of white, red and pink.

I went and picked up the axe before passing the club to the last unicorn guard. He looked at it for a second before shuddering and taking it. Well, thats what you get for not helping me. The three I’d sent to the hut arrived back, and brought a double handful of improvised weapons. It was mostly pickaxes, but there was a pair of short daggers and a spear. I took those, as I was the only one with hands. A bullshit reason, because a unicorn could use it, probably better than I could. I just really wanted the spear. I took the armoured Dog’s belt and, after cutting it down to size, used it to hold the axe and the daggers. When I was sure it wouldn’t fall of or annoy me too much, I started hefting the spear, getting used to the weight. It was a bit under half again my height in length, and the shaft was a dark wood I didn’t recognise, because it was dark wood, and I was in a dark cave. Note to self: see if there is a spell that lets you see better in the dark. The head was iron or steel, with a wavy pattern set into it, and a crossguard where it met the wood. It looked like someone had taken a sword and put it on the end of a stick. It felt perfect in my hands, like it had been made for me. I spun it around in a few flashy moves that would get me killed in a real fight, the few things I remembered from training with the spear as a new recruit. It moved easily, and I found myself grinning.

Time to kill some Dogs.

The Dogs town was between the slave tents and the exit. Being sneaky wasn’t an option, not if I wanted to take ponies with me. Which I had to; Twilight would be upset if I didn’t. Which left a mad dash for the exit. I’d need a distraction. I looked at the bodies we already had, and the plan slid into place.

I looked around the cave. It was wide, maybe three quarters of a mile at the widest, but not very high. I had the unicorns and some earth ponies help me drag the bodies as far from the slaves tents as they could. When we got to the other side of the cave, where the mines were, I sent all but one unicorn back for anything flammable they could find, and while waiting on them I explained the plan to the him. We were going to build a fire here, as big as we could, big enough to start a panic. While the Dogs were distracted trying to salvage what they could from the mine, we were going to go into the town, set anything flammable in there on fire, and get out. If we used the bodies, then the smell of burning fur would probably draw more Dogs than would normally go. Plus, we didn’t have much else to burn.

It wouldn’t be without bloodshed, as not every Dog would go fight the fires, but he didn’t seem to mind. He actually smiled.

I spent the time waiting on the other ponies to come back moving the bodies around into a circle, and getting told the unicorns life story. His name was Bright Spark, and he had wanted to become a scholar like Starswirl the Bearded, but Guarding paid better. Which said something about how well scholaring paid. He joined the Guards a year or so after me, and used to be scared to death of me. He still was scared of me, but now it was because of what he’d seen me do, and not because I looked different. An improvement, I guess.

After that, we lapsed into silence until the ponies I’d sent collecting came back. And they’d outdone themselves. In addition to the cloth and wood I’d been expecting, they had brought back a keg of alcohol. I don’t know where they got it, and I really didn’t care. We piled the cloth and wood over the dogs. I made a small puddle of it on the side nearest the slave camp, and told Bright Spark to give us a headstart, then throw a spark at that. As soon as he loosed the spark, he was to get away from it as quickly as he could. He nodded, failing to hide a grin. I had the other unicorn carry the keg, and then we made our way back

I was maybe halfway there when I felt a sudden heat behind me. Grinning, I looked over my shoulder, and saw Bright Spark galloping towards us, lit from behind by a bonfire that looked much larger than it was because of how dark it had been before. It bathed the cave in a blazing orange glow, throwing harsh shadows and harsher light. I only glanced back, not wanting to be blinded. It wasn’t hard to get the ponies on the move again, and I pushed them to a light run, the sort of pace I could keep up for days without getting tired. Crossing the cavern took me maybe ten minutes at that pace, and the ponies didn’t have a problem keeping up. At first, anyway. I cool down a lot better than ponies, and the heat from the fire behind us, while not much, didn’t help.

Back at the camp, I told them to rest as I got the others organised. I passed out what weapons we had, doing my best to keep ponies from wandering over to stare at the fire as I led them to the town, and had someone stuff a booze soaked rag into the hole of the keg. I had to squash a groan when we started moving. I knew ponies couldn’t be sneaky, but fucking hell, it’s like they were going out of their way to make as much noise as possible. We didn’t even get halfway before the Dogs heard us coming. They started pelting us with rocks, arrows, I’m pretty sure I saw a ball at one point, but the rocks were the only problem; they couldn’t shoot to save their lives and the ball seemed to be a toy. I don’t think anyone died to a rock on the way their, but a couple pegasi were grounded, and, as I was leading the ‘charge’, I got hit a couple times as well.

When we got close to the wall I had a unicorn light the rag and launch the keg behind the of Dogs. He refused. I told him again, and again he refused.

“Look, I get your trying to be true to your morals, but listen to what I’m bloody saying. Launch the keg behind the Dogs! Not at them, behind them! I don’t want to set them on fire, just distract them.”

Not entirely true. I would be A-OK with have them set on fire. I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I wouldn’t complain. The unicorn nodded and his horn flashed. The keg soared over the Dogs and shattered against a building behind them. The flaming rag ignited the alcohol in a flash. Some of the Dogs were on the edge and got splashed, which made those next to them panic.

The town didn’t have a wall, but it was basically a labyrinth, which made keeping momentum hard. I would only be a little surprised if it was designed that way. When the stones started getting aimed instead of lobbed, about ten yards away, I broke into a sprint. The Dogs were instantly on the defensive. They had the old, the young, the otherwise unable to protect. The ponies were backed into a corner, and even a normal peaceful species gets violent there. I am not normally peaceful.

The spear is an amazing weapon. It can slash and pierce, bludgeon and trip. You can fight more than one thing at a time with it, and do it well. I flowed through the Dogs like burning oil over ants. I never stopped moving, kept my spear spinning. The first Dog to get in my way didn’t even have time to raise his weapon before I swept his legs out from under him and sliced his belly open. The second fared no better, losing an ear and a finger before I slipped a thrust past her club. The blade slide into her neck, and I swept it sideways, tearing open the artery or vein in her neck in a spray of deep red.

After those two, I spent most of my time herding ponies, stopping them from chasing after any Dogs and pointing them towards the exit. Fighting our way through the town was long and brutal; we paid with blood and sweat for every step. The unicorns died first, followed by any pegasi to stupid to stay on the ground. Earth ponies fared best, but it was less because of their size and strength, and more because they seemed to know when Dogs would pop up from below, and would get in place to give the Dogs a two hoof hello.

We were actually doing fairly well, getting around halfway with only a couple casualties. Then they started throwing water at us. Only the few of us at the front even got wet. I wiped my face clean and froze. It wasn’t water. It was oil.

Over the sound of battle, over the shouts and curses and final words, I heard flint and tinder spark. To my right, a pony whose name I didn’t know went up in flames. His screams caused a momentary halt in fighting as everyone flinched. They were raw and ragged things, those screams. They stopped quickly as the flames stole the air from his lungs even as it burned them from the inside out. And the smell. The burning fur was terrible, but under it, masked but still there, was the smell of cooking meat. And it smelled so good. I want to blame that on being half starved, but I don’t think I can. His scream outlived him as echoes in the cave.

He went down, still on fire and still alive, screaming without sound. When I next had a moment, I put him out of his misery. I like to think he was grateful, but he probably just hurt. The Dogs never tried to light anyone else on fire. I didn’t have to finish any Dogs off after that. The ponies put them down when they could, and left them for dead when they couldn’t.

The Dogs seemed a bit disheartened after that. They were less ferocious, less willing. Or maybe they were just tired. The ponies certainly were. I could probably go for a few more hours without slowing down.

I don’t know exactly when, but some time after we reached the tunnel I started singing. We were down to fifteen, including me, by this point. The ponies were tired, and so were the Dogs at the front. But there were many more of them than there were of us. But my singing did something. Ponies walked taller, swung truer, moved faster.

I’ll admit, I was not feeling my best anymore. I’d been at the back, in the thick of it, and had been injured enough that I probably shouldn’t be standing, magic be damned. But singing made me feel better. Maybe it was hearing English for what may very well be the last time, or maybe everyone just loves a good song. I don’t know.

It seemed to be the last straw for the Dogs, which I understood. They had killed more than three quarter of us, set one on fire, and came out of the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and here was me, singing at them.

“The moon is out looking for trouble,”

I opened a dog from side to side across the stomach and kicked her backwards onto the Dogs behind.

“The moon wants a scrap or a cuddle,”

The tunnel began to thin. I was the last one in line. Thankfully, the tunnel was too cramped for a Dog to pop up behind me. On the other hand, I also couldn’t swing my spear properly anymore. I had to go on the defensive. I am not very good at defensive. The Dogs were also having trouble swinging, being much larger than I was, so I guess the small tunnel was a good thing.

“The moon is face down in a puddle,”

I managed to trip the Dog in front of my without also tripping myself, which put some distance between me and the Dogs. I stepped back, and felt warmth on my skin. I thrust at a Dog, feinted left, right and then stabbed straight forward, slicing open his thigh and nicking his calf. He went down on top of the other, blocking the tunnel .

“And everyone’s here!”

I turned and sprinted out the cave. The land was as dead and empty as I remembered. Not like much could have changed in a few weeks. The ponies had collapsed, grins on their faces, all eight of them. I don’t get why they were so happy. We weren’t safe yet.

Then I heard one say, “Oh, Celestia, how I’ve missed your sun!”

That didn’t make sense to me. Eyes unused to the sun were blinded by it, skin unused to its warmth was burned. The sun could kill as easily as it gave life. I guess you just had to get used to it.

“Don’t rest yet,” I warned. “Sure, we’re out, but we aren’t safe. Ponyville isn’t far. We can get there in half an hour.” That got me a lot of mutinous looks. “Think of it. Good food, clean water, warm beds.” Still looking murderous. “Six mares for every stallion.” That got them standing up. Not the food. Not the water. Not the soft, clean beds. The mares. I will never understand ponies.

We heard the Dogs in the tunnel growling. The mares got them up, the Dogs got them moving.

We made good time. From the Diamond Dog mine to Ponyville in twenty six minutes. And when we arrived, the residents started screaming. I was crouched, spear in front of me, facing the way we had came before I had actually registered the screams. I scanned the way we had came, didn’t see any Dogs. Then I looked at us, and sighed, realising I had missed something out. It had been easy to ignore in the caves, where we couldn’t see it, but we were all covered in blood. Most of it was probably our own.

I was too tired to deal with this. Not physically tired, at least not much. Mentally tired. I couldn’t put up with this shit right now. So, ignoring the screaming ponies, I pointed the survivors to the spa, said to tell them I’d cover and walked towards the library. I looked up to the sky to try and guess the time. It was early morning, an hour or so after sunrise. Twilight would be up, even without the screams to wake her.

The door opened before I could knock. Twilight looked up at me, fearfully at first, but then with a flash of recognition, and then shock.

“Michael?” she asked, incredulous. I heard voices from inside the library, but they could wait.

“Hiya, Twi’,” I said, smiling. “How’ve you been?”

She stared at me for a few seconds more, then smiled. Soon she was grinning, and then she started dancing.

I don’t have the words, not in English or in Equestrian, to properly describe the way Twilight dances. If I were to try, I could use words like enthusiastic, uncoordinated, carefree, spontaneous and dangerous, and while it is each of those things, even together they fail to capture the essence of the matter, the Twilight-ness of it. She was dancing around me in a circle, like she did as a foal when she got full marks on a test.

I reached down to stop her and help her insatiable curiosity when some instinct in me screamed at me to move. I felt a flash of adrenaline as I spun to my left, reversing my hold on the spear. A blue blur sped past, and I brought the spear down hard. I hit a wing, and heard the delicate bones crack. The pony let out a high pitched scream as it plowed into the ground.

Hoofsteps, coming from behind. I kept spinning, swept my spear low. The pony fell to the ground. I raised my spear-

“Wait!”

I blinked. Applejack was laying on her side, staring up at me with wide eyes. I looked over to the first one. It was Rainbow Dash. Planting my spear point first into the ground, I pinched the bridge of my nose with one hand and hauled Applejack to her hooves with the other. I could feel a headache coming on, and this had probably caused it. As soon as she was standing, Applejack started talking to Twilight, whispering to her as they trotted over to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash was curled up in a bright blue ball, laying on her side with her injured wing spread out flat. I crouched down next to her. Her wing was definitely broken, but it didn’t seem a bad brake. She could probably be moved without having to worry much about making it worse.

“Twilight, mind going and getting Nurse Redheart?”

Applejack’s head snapped away from Rainbow Dash. “Wait, no, I’ll go. You stay here, Twi, and, eh -” her eyes flicked over to me “-stop Dash from movin’.” The farm pony didn’t wait for a response, trotting towards Ponyville before she had even finished speaking. As soon as she had turned a corner, I heard her start galloping.

Rainbow Dash let out a few whimpers I checked her over. Aside from the wing, she had some scrapes and bruises from landing badly. Pretty good, considering how fast she was probably going. Twilight wasn’t willing to try healing spells without more practice, so we got some ice to put on the break, to help keep swelling down. And that was pretty much everything I learned first aid about how to treat pegasi wings. The only other thing was being reminded not to do anything else. Pegasi wings are incredibly complicated. Aside from all the little fiddly bones and joints and blood vessels, there are also the, ah, mana vessels, I think they’re called, that help the flow of magic throughout the wings and enable flight and cloud manipulation.

When I was sure Rainbow Dash would be stable, I took a quick shower. I didn’t want anyone else attacking me. I also cleaned my spear, checking it for nicks or scratches as well. Feeling clean for the first time in weeks, I went back outside. Applejack was back, and had Nurse Redheart with her. They were standing over Rainbow Dash, making concerned noises. I hung back for now.

I wondered were Spike was. I hadn’t seen him in the library, and he would have came out when he heard Rainbow Dash screaming if he had been there. I hadn’t seem him in Ponyville either, but Ponyville isn’t the smallest town in Equestria, so I may have just missed him.

Nurse Redheart seemed to be finished looking over Rainbow Dash, and was trying to figure out the best way to move her. I went over and gently lifted her, the same way you hold a baby. She didn’t make a sound as I picked her up. Turning to Nurse Redheart, who was glaring at me, I said, “Lead the way.”

The trip to Ponyville hospital was quiet. The ponies either didn’t make the connection between the blood-soaked monster and myself, or they did, and were happy the blood-soaked monster wasn’t going to hurt them. Even though he was carrying a world-saving celebrity towards the hospital.

Ponies are weird.

At the hospital, I was directed towards a room by Nurse Redheart. After lowering Rainbow Dash onto the bed, I took my leave. Twilight and Applejack came with me, after getting assurances from Nurse Redheart that Rainbow Dash would be fine.

Back outside the hospital, I asked Twilight where Spike was.

“He’s at Fluttershy’s, helping her with some work. He should still be there. Why?”

“Need to get a letter to Luna. Oh, and I’ll need those bits I left in your library.” Her horn lit up, there was a flash of lavender light. A bag of bits the side of my two fists was on the grass in front of us. I picked it up, trying to judge it’s worth by the weight of it. It should be enough. Ignoring Applejack’s shocked look, I let Twilight lead us back to Ponyville. I stopped by the spa to pay my tab - I paid for Twilight to go as well - then headed over to Fluttershy’s. Applejack left as soon as there were other ponies around, but Twilight stuck with me.

Finding Fluttershy was pretty easy. I just went were the giant flock of birds was. They scattered as soon as I got close. She was outside her cottage, feeding the zoo she keeps. How she affords it, I don’t know, but she gets by somehow. When the birds fled, the two of them looked up and did a double take upon seeing me.

“Michael!” They both shouted that at the same time. I was surprised to hear Fluttershy shout, and even more surprised when she flew over to me and tackle-hugged me. If she hadn’t been a pegasi I probably would have fallen on my ass, the speed she was going when she hit me.

Twilight cleared her throat, and Fluttershy let go of me so quickly she dropped to the ground. She landed with a tiny ‘oof’ and a huge blush. She flashed an apologetic smile at Twilight before mumbling something about animals and disappearing.

I decide to ignore all of that, and looked at Spike to see him glaring at me hard enough to cut steel. He stopped as soon as I looked at him, and said, “Captain. Good to see you alive. Celestia said you were dead.”

Celestia said I was dead? That explains why Twilight hasn’t let me out of her sight since I got back. “Need you to let Luna know I’m not, Spike.” Twilight cleared her throat again. “And Celestia as well.” I didn’t have to see Twilight to know she would be smiling. I could feel it, like the wind in my hair. Twilight got some parchment and a quill from somewhere, though were she kept them I don’t know, and Spike sent off the letter.

A reply came back almost immediately. It was two words long.

Canterlot. Now.

Chapter 10

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Twilight and I were on the train to Canterlot later that day, just the two of us in the carriage. There had been a few other ponies in there, but when I got on, carrying a spear that probably still smelled of blood to them, they quickly choose to see what the other carriages were like.

Twilight sat with her head in my lap, something she hadn't done in years, not since she’d turned sixteen. We sat like that in silence for a while, and I was happy to relax. Twilight got more and more agitated as time went on and we got closer to Canterlot. She kept glancing up at me as well, as if to make sure I hadn’t gone anywhere.

We were about half an hour from Canterlot, and still the only two people in the carriage, when Twilight broke the silence.

“I knew you weren’t dead.”

I smiled at that. “Of course I wasn’t. I never leave without saying goodbye to you.”

She smiled at that, and I swear for a split second the world got brighter. But then she was frowning. “I don’t know how Princess Celestia could just say you were dead. She didn’t even try to find you!”

“Exact words, Twilight.”

To say Twilight has a good memory would be like saying the stars are kind of far away. Twilight’s ability to memorise things is astounding. She remembers things as easily as she breathes. But, that makes remembering a specific conversation difficult. Twilight explained it as trying to concentrate on something in a crowd where everyone is trying to get your attention. It’s why she can come across as scatterbrained.

Twilight steadied her breathing and half closed her eyes.

After a few minutes thought, Twilight opened her eyes again. “The Princess said… ‘Michael is most assuredly dead, Twilight.”

I smiled. Her ‘Princess Celestia’ voice is spot on. “She wasn’t wrong. If the Dogs had been any sort of smart, they wouldn’t have kept me alive.” That got me a hoof to the kidney and a glare. “I’m just saying, Twi’.” She didn’t stop glaring at me. “Look, I’m not dead, and thats all that matters.” She sighed dejectedly and stopped glaring, setting her head back down on my lap. I let out a sigh of my own. After a quick double check to make sure it was just the two of us, I scratched her behind the ears. She leaned into it for a second, then jerked her head away.

“Keep your hands away from me,” she scolded, standing up to look me in the eyes. She was actually a little taller than me, standing on the seat. If you count the horn. She looked around the carriage, saw it was empty and lay back down. “Okay, go.” We pulled into Canterlot a few seconds later. “Dammit,” she said, stamping a hoof.

I grabbed my spear and we disembarked. Off the train, we went to a quiet corner of the train station, where Twilight teleported us to just outside Canterlot Castle. The guards jumped when we appeared, but relaxed when they saw who it was. Then they saw who it was.

“Sir!” one of them, a Day Guard I didn’t recognise, said. “We were told you were dead.”

“Let us by. Celestia wants to see me.” They flinched when I spoke. I didn’t spend a lot of time around the lower ranks of the Day Guard, so while they had probably heard of my voice, they obviously hadn’t heard it. They let us in without another word. I made a note to tell Shining Armour that everyone gets checked, no exceptions. I would do it, but he gets pissy when I tell his men how to do their job.

I took a servants path to the throne room. It was quicker and there were less people. Twilight and I entered the throne room to see Celestia and Shining Armour looking over some maps, with the rest of the guards in the room standing along the wall. I motioned for Twilight to wait where she was and walked towards the pair. I was three feet from Celestia and still none of the guards said anything. I struck the marble floor with my spear. The pair jumped and whirled to face me, horns aglow. I looked down at Shining Armour. “Your men should have announced I was present the second I set foot in the castle. The guards at the gate should have sent word.” I looked to Celestia. “What?”

Celestia sighed, and for a moment looked her age, all several thousand years. “So you enjoy making my life difficult, Michael?”

I, perhaps wisely, said nothing.

“You’re unauthorised, unprovoked, unethical and incredibly illegal assault on the Diamond Dog mines has put me in a position I do not like being in. The Alpha is here, demanding reparations for this and, if he knew you were still alive he would demand your head. So tell me, why should I not give it to him?”

“Not unprovoked,” I said. Celestia flinched slightly, as did Shining Armour. Did she not know? I had assumed Twilight had told her. I turned to look at Twilight, waved her over. She looked shocked. I guess she hadn’t heard Celestia threaten to execute someone before. “The Dogs had kidnapped Generosity as well as numerous other ponies, and were using them as slave labour.”

Celestia blinked.

“I see. You have proof?”

I nodded. “Some of the ponies used as slaves are most likely still in Ponyville. Generosity is there as well.”

She paused for a moment before continuing. “That changes things.” Turning to a nearby servant, she said, “Feather Duster, send word to the Alpha. I will be unable to meet with him today as something has come up which requires my full attention.” I turned to leave. “No. Stay. I have not finished speaking with you. Twilight, would you kindly return to Ponyville and ask your friend and the ponies who arrived with Michael to come to Canterlot? I need to speak to them.”

Twilight nodded. Her horn flashed, and then she disappeared in a burst of purple light.

“Captain Armour, you are dismissed. Go about your duties. We can continue this later.”

Shining Armour saluted and left, leaving Celestia, me and the various servants, which were soon dismissed as well.

When we were alone, Celestia lay down on her throne-pillow and let out a massive yawn. “What I am about to tell you does not leave this room. Understood?”

I nodded, my curiosity growing.

“The Alpha does not want reparations. He wants an excuse for war. You being alive will be the excuse he takes. It would not be hard for him to convince the other Alphas to join him. If they do, the treaties they have with the griffons will mean they will wage war against us as well. We cannot fight both the griffons to the northeast and the Dogs to the southwest, not at the same time.” Her horn lit up, and the map she had been looking over with Shining Armour lifted from the table, floating over to land on the marble floor in front of her. Celestia looked at me, and nodded to the map. I went over and looked at it.

It showed a part of the world, Equestria in the centre and the neighbouring countries. To the north was snow and ice, south was arid plains. The Wary Mountain range split Equestria from Valgryph to the east, but that wasn’t a problem for griffons. That the Everfree forest, covering a good quarter of Equestria, ran right up to the foothills was. The Dogs hailed from the south, in a series of canyons, carved by time and wind and rain into the earth that protected them from the fierce sun of the badlands. All that was between the Dogs and Equestria were a few understaffed guard outposts.

“I do not want war. I have done my utmost to promote peace for millennia. But if it comes, Equestria will be the victor. And you are going to help ensure that. I am placing you in charge of preparations.” Celestia turned back to the map. “If this situation is anything like the others I have encountered over the years, we have perhaps four months to prepare before the first strike. Six at the outside. Ready your troops. I hope I am wrong, but I rarely am.”

I nodded again. Shining Armour, and some of his subordinates, would question her decision, but we both knew Shining Armour lacked the conviction required to win a war. He was too much the fairy tale prince, wanting to save everyone, to get everyone back home.

“Is there anything you wish to add?” There wasn’t, so I said nothing. “Very well. My sister wishes to see you. Pay her a visit before resuming your duties.”

I wonder if Celestia even notices ordering everyone about anymore.

I took a roundabout route to Luna’s tower, to avoid going near the diplomat’s wing. Up three floors, down two, and then all the way up the astronomy tower, which Luna had claimed. It was ‘the best place to work the night sky from’, she claimed. The fact it put her as far from most everyone else in the castle as possible while still being in the castle was something no one brought up. I doubt Luna had ever been a social pony.

The top of the astronomy tower was dark, even during the day. Luna kept the windows covered, and had enchanted the ceiling to show the night sky. It was an awe inspiring skyscape. An uncountable number of stars, like a scattered handful of salt on a black tabletop, mixed haphazardly with the distant galaxies. Behind all this were the swirling nebulae, turning that black of space to a mix of colours.

I’ve always had a fondness for the night sky, though it annoys me that ponies feel the need to give someone credit for it.

Luna was not expecting me. The guards at the door to her quarters had, after a moment of surprise and confirming I was who I said I was, let me in without announcing me. I would reprimand them later.

Luna was in her bedroom, standing at a dresser of some sort. Her horn was glowing, and she was levitating various items to eye level for inspection, dismissing them all. She had grown again. She was now somewhere between Big Macintosh and Celestia in height, though she was still closer to Big Macintosh than her sister. The door closed quietly behind me, but I saw her ear twitch so I knew she heard me. She carried on with her inspection.

“No. No. No. Stars, no. Why do I even have that?” It seemed to be bottles of some sort, but the room was too dark for me to make out what they might be. “Oh, this is hopeless. How can I guess what he would like? I should just ask…,” she shook her head vigorously. “No, she might take that the wrong way. Celestia? No, absolutely not. A guess might be my best bet.”

I was rather annoyed by this point. Celestia had said Luna wanted to so me, though I probably should have asked why. I cleared my throat.

“Has Michael arrived?” Luna asked, turning around. When she saw me, her magic slipped and the bottle she had been holding fell to the ground, shattering and splashing liquid on the stone floor. The smell of fresh cut grass and roses washed through the room. “Michael!” She flew towards me, slowing a few feet away but not landing. “I am glad to see you yet live.” The smile on her face made that a bit obvious. “How was your time in the mines? That is a request, not an order; you do not have to speak of it if you do not wish to.”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind. The worst thing was the lack of light. I dislike not being able to see. Other than that, I can’t complain.”

She gave me one of those looks Twilight and Celestia give me a lot, that seem to cover everything from disbelief to boredom. “You were held prisoner and slave underground for three weeks, held your own slave revolt to escape and your one complaint is the lack of light to see by? I, I do not know what to say to that.”

“I wasn’t happy about any of that, but it isn’t the worst thing to have happened to me.”

I could tell she was desperate to know, but I doubt she would enjoy hearing that I felt being brought to Equestria was the worst thing to happen to me. I mean, I love Twilight like a sister, and I’ve definitely done well here, but the path not taken always seems the better.

Some days, rarer now than when I was young, when something reminds me of home, I wonder what my life would have been like had Twilight not brought me here. I had been young, with only a child’s vague plans for the future, and I know so very little about my home that I couldn’t even try and work out what I would have done based on how I am now. Becoming the Guard-Captain for a magical pony princess was most probably not what would have happened.

I pulled myself out of my head and back to the world around me when I realised Luna was speaking.

“... which leads me to wonder, to you enjoy being Captain of the Night Guard?”

“Honestly, not really.” Her face fell, ears hanging low. “But it’s a job, and someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” I did enjoy the way it let me post a handful of guards in Ponyville who, on paper, were to protect the town from anything out of the Everfree, but I think by now their actual purpose is obvious. And yeah, it’s an abuse of power. Tell it to someone who cares.

“What would you do if not a member of the guard? Would you seek a way home?” Luna asked. There was a quiet pleading in her voice, as if she both had to know and feared the answer.

“No. Only disappointment lies that way. Your sister and Twilight spent years looking for a way to send me back, and failed. I doubt there is anything on this planet with the power to send me back.”

It always surprised me when people assumed I wanted to go back. Twilight understood me on this, and I think Celestia may have as well. I wouldn’t mind having not been brought here, but if I’m here then I’m here to stay. Pretty soon, I’m going to have been in Equestria longer than not. There is nothing for me to go back to, anyway. I remember very little of my old life. A name or two, what might be a city. Besides, I don’t think I could leave Twilight like that.

Luna seemed surprised by my answer, but happily so. Flapping her wings gently, she lifted a foot or so into the air, floating in my direction. She circled lazily around me once, and was smiling when she came back round in front of me.

Landing with a gentle patter of hooves on carpet, she took a step forward. The top of her horn came to just above my chin, and she looked up at me with her big blue eyes. She licked her lips, leaned forward slightly, and then turned away, eyes to the floor. Stepping back, she asked, “What do you think of m-, my sister?”

I replied slowly, choosing my words carefully. “Celestia is a benevolent tyrant.”

Her head whipped towards me so fast she probably got whiplash. “What.”

“She actually cares about Equestria, and does her best to keep every thing in it healthy and happy.”

Luna frowned at me. “I agree with ‘benevolent’. It is ‘tyrant’ I take offense to.”

I shifted slightly, taking my weight from my right foot and moving to a more balanced stance. “Your sister has absolute power in Equestria. That makes her a tyrant.”

Her frown deeped. She stomped a hoof, cracking the stone floor. “My sister and I share power as diarches of Equestria.”

“No, you don’t. Your sister makes all the decisions, decides all the laws, judges all crimes. You’re a figurehead, Luna. Maybe you truly shared power, once, but not now. Celestia is too used to ruling alone. She gives orders without thinking or caring about just who she is giving that order to.”

I wasn’t going to budge, and I think she saw that, because she changed tactic.

“And is there something wrong with that?” she asked. “As you said, she is benevolent. She cares for her subjects. And they love her.” Her voice broke towards the end, and she had to take a second before continuing. “They love her. If given a choice, they would choose her.”

“I know. Why do you think I haven’t done anything about it yet?”

She looked at me, the expression on her face the one she had one learning modern Equestrian, calculating, analytical.

“And what of me?” Luna asked, placing a hoof on her chest. “Am I a tyrant as well?”

“If you had any power, you would be. You’re used to getting your way.” The glare she gave me made the sun seem cold. I probably should have phrased that in a way that didn’t make her sound like a spoiled brat. “As it stands, I don’t actually know what you do. The Night Guard pretty much just guards Canterlot at night, and Celestia gives me more orders than you do.”

“Celestia gives you orders?” she asked, her voice like ice. “You are mine.”

There we go with ponies laying claim to things they can’t own. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pushing down the urge to tell her just why she couldn’t own the moon. It wasn’t a very good argument, basically just ‘it’s the fucking moon!’ repeated ad nauseum.

Something pressed against my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Luna looking me in the eyes. It was her forehooves on my shoulders. She was standing on her back legs, using her wings for balance.

“You are mine, Michael. Do not forget that.”

Two things happened after she said that.

First, a voice, one that was not mine, spoke in my mind. It said, Please tell me she isn’t-

It didn’t finish, because the second thing interrupted it.

Second, Luna kissed me.

It only lasted a second. Because that was all the time it took for my left forearm to smash into her windpipe. She broke away with a gasp, eyes full of shock and pain. Dropping my spear, I punched her three times, in the short ribs, the wing, and then nose. She fell to the floor too stunned and winded to make any noise.

I picked up my spear and hesitated only a second before leaving. I didn’t want to do something I’d regret. I stalked away from Luna’s quarters, literally shaking with rage. I had been walking for five minutes before I realised I was headed towards the throne room. Telling Celestia about it was probably a good idea. Or maybe it wasn’t, I was too pissed to care. I wanted to hurt something, to break something, but an argument with Celestia would do just as well. Assuming she didn’t just blast me for hitting her little sister.

Thinking about Luna just made me angrier. Were did she fucking get off, kissing me out of the blue? She was a fucking horse! And, even worse, she probably did it to increase her claim on me or some pony bullshit like that. I tightened my hold on my spear. Dear God, if that was the case I may just commit regicide.

Dude, I would not blame you. That was totally out of line.

I stopped. Look around. The corridor was empty.

Holy shit, did you hear me?

Hallway still empty.

You did! Fucking finally! Dude, I’ve been here for, I don’t know, months or something. Time is different for us.

There was a voice in my head. It was not my voice. It seemed to be speaking English.

Well what else would I speak? No, don’t answer that, it was a stupid question.

So now, on top over everything, I was crazy. Well wasn’t everything just sunshine and bloody roses today.

Dude, you ain’t crazy. Well, I’m not a symptom of any mental illness you might have. You know those dizzy spells you got a while back? The ones that came with information? That was me, passing stuff to you. I had the same thing. Started when I was at a Black Keys concert. I knew something was up when I beat seven shades of shit outta some guy that tried to mug me when I left.

Well, the voice in my head didn’t think I was crazy. Good to know. But I could deal with this later. I had to tell Celestia what happened before Luna found me. I started walking towards the throne room, wondering what the hell I was going to say. My anger had died down to embers, faded but not gone. As I walked and wondered, I started to regret what I had done. Not hitting Luna, no, but not doing something lasting.

Look, mate, while I agree she shouldn’t have done that, I think you’re takin’ things a bit far there.

Okay, so now the voice in my head was telling me what to do. I decided it best to ignore it for now. What’s the first thing you remember seeing from inside my head?

Right, first thing first. I am not a voice in your head, got it? I have a life outside your mind. I’ve got a job, a flat, I’m at uni, the whole shebang. I’m no more in your head than you’re in mine.

Just answer the damn question. If thoughts could be said to have tone, that one would have been growled.

Just remember what I said. Anyway, first thing I saw was a big fucking dragon in a cave. After that, it was just a sort of after image. I could still hear things though, and every now and then I’d get dizzy and be more kickass.

Lexavarone. I swear, next time we met I was walking away with dragonhide. But swearing vengeance was all I could do right now. I still had to go and see Celestia, and I wasn’t going to hunt him down. I had better stuff to do.

Stay quiet in the throne room. I don’t know that she can’t read my mind.

What? Unicorns can read minds?

Maybe. I worried about it when I arrived here, and Celestia told me she wouldn’t do that.

So, what, you think she was lying?

No. She said she would not. Not that she could not or that others wouldn’t. Better safe than sorry.

So, what, you’ve been controlling your thoughts around unicorns for a little over a decade because of one word.

Two.

That isn’t much better! You are a special kind of crazy, y’know?

I live in a world of magical talking ponies. I have had zero human contact for most of my life. I should be crazier.

He had nothing to say to that.

Celestia’s throne was not the way I left it. Inside were two dozen Diamond Dogs. Half a dozen were wearing heavy armour, and carrying monstrous weapons of all kinds. A dozen had light armour and smaller weapons. They were the guard. Five had no armour, just clothes, and were probably assistants or what not. The last one was wearing light armour, gilded and painted in a dark blue enamel.

They turned when I entered. I had not been trying to sneak in.

Dude, you kicked the door open so hard I think you snapped the handle off.

There was a single moment of stillness as the Dogs saw me, recognised me, did a double take. Then, the leader pointed a stubby paw at me and growled, “Get him!”

The guards bloomed into action, spreading out even as they moved towards me. The lightly armoured ones reached me first, but the room wasn’t big enough for that to make much of a difference. I was unarmoured, almost unclothed, and had only a few weapons.

It was a good thing Celestia wouldn’t let me get slaughtered in her throne room.

…

Right?

The first Diamond Dogs were seconds away from reaching me. I spared a glance towards Celestia. She didn’t look surprised, or upset, only curious.

And then the fighting started. Two Dogs were trying to flank me. The one on the right swung at me. I shoulder barged the one to my left, taking him by surprise. We landed heavily, and I smashed the heel of my hand into his nose. I heard it crack, felt blood spurting against my hand, and then he tossed me to the side. I landed badly and rolled. When I stopped moved I felt cold metal against my back. And then something hit me hard enough to lift me off the ground. I heard more bones break, mine this time, and something lit a fire in my side. I staggered to my feet, breathing shallowly. I got the axe in hand in time to knock away the first swing from one of the light armoured ones. I followed that with a left handed punch to the side. It was like punching a sack of sand, and did as much damage. All it did was put him off balance a little. I followed that up with a kick to the side of his knee, and a knee to the groin, finishing with an axe blow to the face, cleaving his skull in two.

That made the Dogs pause. I don’t think they had been expecting me to try and kill them. I used that pause to scramble for my spear. As soon as my fingers closed around the haft, I picked it up, spinning it to block a sword strike from heavily armoured Diamond Dog. Somehow, the wood held. I don’t think anyone was expecting that. I moved in close to the Dog and shoved the blade of my spear up under his helmet, twisting as I pulled it loose. He fell, forcing the Dogs to go around him to get to me, giving me a moment to think.

I couldn’t win like this, picking them off one by one. Eventually, they’d back me into a corner or just surround me. I needed an out. There were three ways in and out of the throne room. The main doors were to heavy for me to myself. The servants door behind Celestia was a possibility, but was the farthest away. There was a servants entrance set halfway up the room, on the other side, which was rarely used. It might even be locked; it should be, but I should not be getting attacked by Diamond Dogs in Canterlot Castle.

Where the hell were the other Guards?

One of the armoured Dogs swing at me overarm, his weapon a mace the size of my chest. I tried to slip inside his reach, and was met by his fist. I staggered backwards, pain bursting through my ribs. Breathing was getting harder and harder. The Dog swung again, from the side. I moved away from it, and he struck the castle wall, chipping the stones. Another Dog was waiting for me, with a wicked looking half-moon axe. He swung at me, his axe moving faster than anything that big had the right to. I danced around it and him, stopping only to kick him behind the knee before sprinting for the door.

Something in the back of my mind screamed at me, and I dove to the ground in time to see that giant mace fly over my head. Okay, that was just unfair. That thing probably weighed more than I did, and he fucking threw it! I got to my feet, biting back a gasp as my ribs and side protested that decision. My hand was considering joining them, but was still on the fence. I heard footsteps behind me, and whirled around, putting everything I could into one thrust of the spear. I got lucky. The Dog was lightly armoured. I think it was that thick cloth the Dogs in the mine had. They wouldn’t wear leather to come meet Celestia.

I quickly pulled out my spear and stabbed again, and again. The Dog died noisily, dropping his sword. It was a stomach wound. He would be a long time dying. I picked up his sword and threw it in the general direction of the Dogs, not waiting to see if it hit anything. The sound of metal on stone a couple seconds later told me it hadn’t. I reached the door and tried the handle. It was locked.

Goddammit. I turned back to the Dogs. The few faces I could see were grinning now. They had me trapped, a semicircle of them surrounding me. I gripped my spear tighter. If I was going down, I was taking as many of those bastards with me as I could. Fucking Celestia.

The main doors opened.

“Princess, I’m back, and I brought those ponies you asked for!”

Twilight. And she brought the ponies from the mine. Some of the Dogs turned to see what was happening. I stabbed one in the side, pushed him to the ground and leapt over him. Turning back to the Dogs, I parried an axe before slamming the haft of the spear into the Dogs head, stunning him. Planting my foot on his stomach, I kicked him backwards into the other Dogs. I couldn’t let the Dogs get near Twilight. Sure, Celestia would probably protect her, but I wasn’t feeling very trusting right now.

I ignored the pain, from my ribs, my side and my hands, ignored the fact I had barely slept for a month, which was a lot even for me. They were not getting near Twilight.

I don’t know if it was the adrenaline, will power or a combination, but the pain seemed to fade, to diminish. I stepped on the Dog I’d killed and used the extra height leap at one of the Dogs fighting - I blinked, surprised. He was fighting one of the ponies from the mine, a grey and green earth pony. I leapt at him, pulled him off balance, and the earth pony gave two swift kicks to the knee caps, followed by a massive blow from both hind legs to the chest. The last kick dented the armour, probably broke most his ribs and punctured both his lungs. Looking around, I saw the guards had finally arrived, and the unicorns were making quick work of the Dogs. I looked around, searching for Twilight. She was near the door, with a pair of Night Guards standing in front of her. I nodded my thanks to them and finished off the Dogs that were only injured and not dead. I don’t think anyone but Celestia saw that. She gave me a disapproving look. I didn’t know if I should laugh or scream at her.

Half the Diamond Dogs had died. Only the leader, the assistants and a half dozen guards were left. They were split between spluttering in rage and nearly pissing themselves in fear. Celestia turned her disapproving look on them.

“Why did you set your Guards on my Captain?” she asked, her voice soft, conversational. The sort of voice you wanted to reply to.

“He murdered scores of my subjects and cost us thousands because of the lost mine, your Highness! We had every right to apprehend him!”

“No. You did not.” Celestia rose from her cussion-throne and stepped down from the dais it was on. “Those subjects of yours were known slavers. They had taken dozens of my subjects as slaves, as well as citizens of Valgryph. Including, might I add, the crown princess of Valgryph and one of the Elements of Harmony.”

Shining Armour snuck in then. I checked my mental schedule - he had been checking the wall patrols today. Couldn’t get farther from the castle. Considering his talent was shields and not teleportation, he was probably exhausted from travelling that far. When he saw, he walked over and said, “I can handle things here. You go get cleaned up. And see a doctor, that doesn’t look good.” He pointed at my side. There was a fairly large slice, going from the side of my rib cage to near my spine. I had a few other wounds I hadn’t felt myself get as well. I nodded, walked over to the highest ranked Night Guard there. I told him to do as Shining Armour said if the orders were good, else do what he felt he should. He smiled, saluted, and told me he’d keep an eye on Twilight for me.

I left the throne room quietly, and made my way towards the hospital wing. I was a few hallways away when the pain came flooding back like a tidal wave, washing away everything else. I recovered a few seconds later, to find myself sitting on the floor with my back against a wall. I forced myself to my feet and, with one hand against the wall for support, I shuffled my way to the hospital wing.

Tenderhoof was on desk duty. When I walked in, she looked up and her jaw dropped, her face going pale. Paler. Whatever. I staggered to the desk, leaning a hand against it.

“Hi. Li’l help?” And then my hand, wet with blood, slipped and I smashed my face of the desk.

Dude, you are in to state to be walking or talking, right? Just let the medi-ponies do their shit and go the fuck to sleep.

Sleep seemed like a good idea.

Chapter 11

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That night I dreamt for the first time in over a decade.

In the dream, I was sitting on a wooden raft, floating on an endless sea of the deepest green I have ever seen. The raft rose and fell gently, lifted by small waves. It was calming, peaceful. A welcome change.

The raft itself showed signs of use. The wood that made it bore scars and and the rope holding it together was frayed, but I knew, the same way I knew the sun would rise, fall and rise again, that the rope would hold. For now, at least.

The raft was a few different colours. The majority of it was purple, a few different shades. Some was the pale almost-pink of Twilight’s magic, some the deeper but still light of her coat. Some was almost black of Spike’s scales, though that didn’t make up much. There were some additions to the sides of the raft, two of them, one sky blue, the other light pink. The rope that bound the wood together was white, though it was not without blemishes. The rope also made a loop around my ankle, tying me to the raft. The rope, while soft to the touch, would bend only a little before it could pass as steel. It did not want to come off, though I really didn’t try that hard.

I lay down on the raft, watching as night gave way to day. The stars were fiercely bright, as if trying not to be outshone by the rising sun. But they were washed away by the first rays of an uncaring sun.

The sound of wing beats came to me over the gentle splash of the waves. I sat back up and turned. Luna hovered above the sea, the spray from waves passing through her.

She landed on my raft. The sea grew still.

Luna looked around her, taking in what little there was to see of the sea.

“Your dreams are odd,” she said. “This one is mostly empty ocean, nary a landmass to be found, but I do not think you have ever been near any body of water larger than a lake.”

A dream? She thought this was a dream. I looked at her calmly. Had she gone insane again? I hoped not. Something must have shown in my face, because Luna’s horn glowed briefly. A feeling like glass shattering in slow motion, and the dream haze fell away.

I looked around the dream, seeing it for what it was. The water froze, a circle of ice expanding away from us.

“What do you think?” Luna asked, waving with a wing to the frozen expanse like a child showing their parents a drawing they made.

The pale green ice ran all the way to the horizon in every direction, fading into the blue of the sky.

“Of the dream?” I asked. Though, if this was a dream, she might be part of it. I let out a sigh. I hate this sort of thing. Philosophy was never my strong point. Give me a tangible goal, something I can see and know when I’ve reached and I’ll be happy.

Luna nodded. “Of the dream, yes. My sister informed me that you do not dream when thou- you sleep, so I took the liberty of crafting one for you.”

I looked out over the frozen landscape, watching as snow began to fall in the distance. It was probably impressive, given I’d never heard of anything like that.

The fact Celestia knew I didn’t dream was troubling, but it at least confirmed she had some way of knowing my thoughts. Is it still paranoia if your right?

“Of course, the substance of the dream, the location, contents and characters, are provided by your sleeping mind.” She looked around the dream, in all directions. I did the same. It was empty in every direction. “Your mind is perhaps the strangest I have ever visited.”

“Why?”

“Why the dream? My sister has informed me of why you reacted so badly to my, ah, taking the initiative. This is an apology, of sorts, for both that and what is to come. It is also partly professional curiosity. Every living thing dreams, though perhaps not in a form we might recognise, and I find it curious that you do not.”

I nodded, slowly, watching snow pile up over ice. After a few moments of silence, Luna spoke again.

“My sister will be wanting to see you when you wake. Pleasant dreams, Michael.” She vanished with none of the light or sound you usually get with teleportation. I suppose, if this were a dream she could have just woken up.

I spent some time just looking out over the slowly melting water.

Dude, we need to talk.

It was… huh, he never told me his name.

You never asked.

Well?

Cameron. My name’s Cameron. I’m studying Chemistry at uni, I’m twenty one, and I make amazing pancakes. Not that, y’know, you asked. I guess you just didn’t want to know about the guy that's in your head. I heard a dripping sound behind me, and turned to see someone standing on the raft, soaking wet.

Cameron? I thought at him. He was about a head taller than me, though skinnier, with less muscle. His dark hair was cut short, and his dark eyes had darker bags under them. He was looking out over the water.

Who else would I be? he thought back.

Suddenly dry, he sat down, as far from me as he could be without leaving the raft, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms holding them tight.

Even asleep I could feel the headache starting. I turned back to look out over the now unfrozen water. What’d you want to talk about?

Maybe about how you killed those dogs? I looked back at him. He was shaking his head slowly. You don’t do something like that and walk away unchanged.

I’m fine.

Yeah, but you’re fucked in the head. I’m not. I’ve never seen something die before, never mind something that could fucking talk. I need to talk about it. His voice was pained. Turning his head, he looked at me for the first time. And you’re all I’ve got.

Yeah, no. Not happening. You’ll just have to find someone else.

And tell them what? That the guy I can see in my head killed some anthropomorphic dogs, and now I’m having nightmares about seeing them die? He laughed darkly, a bit of an accent creeping back into his voice. Oh aye, that’ll go down smooth.

Deal with it. It isn’t that hard.

Yeah, if, like you, you’re completely morally bankrupt. Some people are, y’know, not heartless bastards.

You say that like I care what you think.

You know what, fine. I doubt talking to you would do any good. I need someone that is actually capable of feeling empathy.

Good. Now that that is settled, we do actually have something to talk about.

He looked at me, surprised. We do?

You mentioned passing me information. How?

I’ll be fucked if I know. If I know something, sometimes you’ll know it as well. Same thing vice versa.

Damn. There goes that idea.

I could just tell you what you want to know.

I blinked. That would work too.

Cameron looked around the dream. I kinda thought there’d be people here. People you knew back home, or at least a humanised version of Twilight.

Twilight’s a pony, and I wouldn’t have her any other way. Besides, Luna made the dream, not me.

The way I understood it was, Luna gave you somewhere to dream, but you still made everything in it up. And let me tell you, your dream is kinda boring.

I snorted. What should I be dreaming about, then? Going to a magical kingdom and meeting unicorns and dragons?

He nodded, conceding the point.

The edges of the dream turned fuzzy, like there was a fog forming there. The fog slowly thickened and made its way closer.

I think I’m waking up.

Cameron nodded. I’d like to say it was nice finally seeing you, but it really wasn't. You’re all sorts of ugly.

Bastard got the last word.

The dream filled with fog, turning grey and dreary. I heard Twilight talking to someone as everything faded to black.

“...never been asleep this long, are you sure he’s okay?”

I could hear hoofsteps not far from where I was laying.

“Twilight,” Nurse Tenderhoof replied. There was a pause, and when she continued it was in a voice barely above a whisper. “Twilight, you know better than I do how little he sleeps. It’s probably just that catching up with him.”

As nice as eavesdropping was, Twilight was worried, Celestia wanted to see me, and I was starving. I opened my eyes and pushed myself up to sit against the wall. Twilight was next to me so fast I’m pretty sure she teleported, followed at a less physics breaking pace by Tenderhoof. Those two I was expecting. I was not expecting to see Twilight’s friends.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were just behind Twilight and Tenderhoof, with Fluttershy behind them. Rarity and Applejack were at the back. I returned the hug Twilight was giving me. When she let me go, her horn glowed briefly, and my spear floated up from behind me. I took hold of it, and she let it go.

“Thanks,” I said, checking it over.

“Hey, your voice is back to normal!” Twilight said, pointing a hoof at my throat.

“Is it?” It was. Weird. Only one thing I could think of could have caused that change. “Pass me some clothes?”

Her horn lit up, and clothes floated from various drawers. One of the perks of having your own hospital room. As I sorted through the, making sure everything was there, Twilight and Tenderhoof herded everyone outside for me to get dressed. They were back inside a few minutes later, as I finished tying my bootlaces. That done, I stood and stretched, bones popping. I needed to see Celestia about something, and get some food. A quick look out the window put the time at either a few hours after dawn or a few before dusk. Either way, Celestia would be getting something to eat.

“Twilight, do you know where Celestia is? She wants to see me about something.”

“The Princess is most likely having breakfast just now,” Twilight said. She frowned a little. “How did you know she wanted to see you? You just woke up.”

“Luna told me.” She gave me one of those looks. “She can visit dreams. Coming?” I was waiting next to the door.

“Sure! Lets go, girls!” The five of them came with us. I said bye to Tenderhoof, and went to see Celestia. She was in a small dining room, one that was off the beaten path. Luna was there. I guess this was dinner for her. They both looks up when we walked in.

“Ah, Michael, good to see you up,” Celestia said, smiling warmly. “And Twilight, and the Elements of Harmony.” She seemed surprised to see them. “I was not aware you were in the castle. But still, come, join my sister and I for breakfast.”

Twilight and the rest moved to sit down and, after a look to Celestia, helped themselves to food. I gave the food a once over. It was standard pony food, though obviously better quality than most ponies got. Some hay, flowers, oats, fresh fruit, cheese, bread, eggs. A simple breakfast for the ruler of a third of the world. I took a seat next to Twilight, but didn’t touch the food. Twilight started poking me in the ribs after a minute or two, so I took a couple apples, ate one and juggled the rest. I could do three easily enough, four if I put some effort in, and five if I pushed it and was having a good day.

“Ahem.” I placed each apple on the table as it came back down and turned to face Celestia. “If you’re done playing with the food? We need to talk about what happened yesterday.”

“The Dogs or Luna?” I asked.

“Both. But the Dogs first, I think. It is more complex. Girls, would you please leave us? Crown business.” That got a few gasps, from Rarity and Twilight. The Elements of Harmony were considered Crown Business, so Celestia was saying they were of a similar importance. Probably just wanted them to leave, but didn’t want them possibly being insulted. I gave Twilight a small smile as she left, looking worried. She was the only one that knew what had happened with the Dogs.

Turning back to Celestia and Luna, both with unreadable expressions, I waited for one of them to speak.

With a sigh, Celestia said, “The Dogs have declared war.”

Luna let her head droop. I nodded. I was expecting as much.

“The entire purpose of the delegation they sent was to find a reason for war that would force the griffons to join them. And you gave them one.” She gave me a look that was probably supposed to make me feel upset about that. It didn’t work. “The Diamond Dogs are already on the move, and the griffons are in a state of near war almost constantly, so they will not be far behind either.”

“How long until their armies reach Equestria, sister?” Luna asked.

“The griffons, perhaps a month, perhaps two. It depends on the weather, how much they want to go to war, and how rebellious the lesser nobles are feeling. The Dogs, two weeks to a month. They were readying their army before they even sent their ambassador, and the terrain they have to cross is not so difficult when compared to what the griffons face.” That was an understatement. The Dogs had a fair bit if desert, aye, but that isn’t much when you can tunnel under it, and probably already have. The griffons, on top of being farther away, had a mountain range and the Everfree to deal with. And the Everfree was bigger than Valgryph, and probably deadlier.

I leaned back in my chair. “What will the Night Guard be doing? We don’t have the numbers to fight completely independently of the Day Guard.” There was maybe three hundred Night Guards by this point. Enough that I no longer knew them all on sight. The Day Guard was around four thousand, counting reserves but not non-combatants like clerks and supply officers. They’d had quite a boost in numbers recently. So had the Night Guard, but not quite on the same scale.

“The Day Guard will be marching south, to stop the Dogs. But they will need time, both to get there and to stop them. We cannot fight a war on both fronts, and hopefully we will not have to. If we can defeat the Dogs quickly enough, the griffons will not be obligated to assist them.” I was starting to see were this was going, and it was going to end up with me in the Everfree forest, fighting griffons.

Celestia and her sister shared a look, and Luna took over. “My sister and I can send perhaps two hundred of the Night Guard, with supplies for a month, two days hard trot into Valgryph.” I wanted to let out an impressed whistle there, but I managed not to. Not because of the number of ponies, though that was nothing to sneeze at. Have you seen how much food a pony can eat in a day? It’s a lot. Now times that by a couple hundred for the number of ponies, and then by twenty-one for the number of days, add in armour, weapons, tents, medical supplies, water, candles and everything else we need, and you get enough supplies to, well, kit a small army. And they were teleporting it several hundred miles. I guess thats why they’re in charge.

Celestia continued. “Now, onto other matters. As much as I understand why you did it, Michael, the fact remains that you struck royalty. Legally, you are classed as a magical construct of Twilight’s.” Oh fuck. “You are aware of the laws relating to them, I take it?”

I tried to give her one of those looks she always gives me. I don’t think it worked. So, I said, “I am.” The laws are fairly complicated, worded to give those with the gold to hire lawyers or the luck to have rich friends the ability to get away with anything that isn’t to despicable, but boils down to two key points. A magical construct is the summoner’s responsibility. If the summoner order’s the construct to break the law, they’re treated as if they had done it themselves, else as if they did it accidentally, which has led to some odd things, like ponies accidentally plotting treason.

“And, of course, you know the punishment for striking royalty.” Anything from a dozen years in jail to execution, depending on what you actually did. Though it had been decades, if not centuries, since someone had actually hurt any of the Princesses. “Luna has graciously offered to not press any charges, on two conditions. The first is you tell her why. The second is a favour, to be named later.”

I frowned, my mind chugging along. If it had just been the first, it would have been easy; I would do that for free. The second, I was wary of. It was too open ended. I mean, I was going to take the deal. But some limitations on that would be welcome.

“And if the favour she wants is something I’m not willing to do?”

A small chiming sound stopped either of them answering. The two sisters looked at each other, and Luna rose to leave. “I will take care of it, sister. You and Michael still have much to discuss.” She left, hooves tapping lightly against the floor.

When the door closed behind her, Celestia’s head fell slightly and she let out a weary sigh. “I will try and make sure she doesn’t ask anything of you that you would not wish to do, but I can make no promises. I have been pushing Luna to take on more of her old responsibilities, and to make her stop this foalishness would undermine all progress I have made there. I also cannot completely protect Twilight should you refuse.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not going to, ain’t it?”

A small weight, one barely noticeable among all the others, seemed to lift from Celestia. “Good. One less thing to worry about. Now,” she said, her horn glowing. The dishes on the table were all moved gently to one side and several maps, scrolls, and other documents appeared in a weak golden flash before being caught by Celestia’s magic and set down carefully. “Can you give me a basic list of what you will need in Valgryph? Apart from the necessities such as food, water and the like.”

We spent some time going through that. It was pretty standard stuff, really. Weapons, armour, medical supplies, that sort of thing. I wanted to swap some of my earth ponies for the Day Guards unicorn and pegasi, and I also wanted to leave the handful of griffons we have with the Day Guard as well. I didn’t want them running into someone they knew. Spike would be coming as well, as a way to stay in contact with Celestia. Plus, he might be useful.

Eventually, it got to the point where I couldn’t think of anything else I would need no matter what I was planning on doing. I asked Celestia to send a few servants to get my Lieutenants so we could start planning properly. I spent the time it took them to get here looking over maps and thinking.

Night Wind arrived first, beating the others by a couple minutes. I don’t think Celestia was expecting the knock on the window, but it didn’t surprise her much. I let Night Wind in, closing the window behind her. She landed with a light tap, bowed to Celestia and saluted me.

“What do you need, sir?”

“At ease. I’ll tell you when the other two get here; I don’t want to say this three times. Just look over the maps on the table for now.”

She walked over to the table and a few of the maps slid over to her, wrapped in a weak golden glow. She gave them a quick look. “Sir, these are maps of Valgryph.”

“I’m aware of that, Lieutenant.”

“Why am I looking over maps of Valgryph? And why do we have… are these troop movements? Supply estimates? I didn’t even know we had these!”

“As I said, I’ll explain when the other two get here. This is not something I want to say more than once.”

“Very well, sir.” She shot a glance at Celestia, the worry on her face badly hidden. Now that I thought of it, Night Wind probably had the least interaction with Celestia of any of the Night Guard. She had been based in Cloudsdale until she joined the Night Guard, and she was rarely awake during the day. At night, she usually had the widest ranging patrol routes, or was inside doing paperwork. I don’t think she’d said two words to Celestia. And now tradition dictated she speak to Celestia through me, a higher ranking officer, instead of directly.

Quick Cut and Ironshod arrived together. They were speaking quietly when they entered, but quickly stopped to bow to their princess. She waved, and they got back to their hooves before joining me and Night Wind at the table with the maps.

“Sir,” they both said, saluting.

“At ease.” I waved a hand over the maps. “Quick Cut, Night Wind, Ironshod, we go to war with Valgryph in as little as a month.” They didn’t gasp, or shout. Quick Cut blinked. Night Wind had a moment of clarity. Ironshod grinned. “And by we, I mean the Night Guard.”

“Sir, we don’t have the pony-power to fight the griffons,” Quick Cut said. “We’ll get slaughtered if we meet them in the field.”

“My sister and I do not require that you defeat the griffon army, my little ponies,” Celestia said. “You are strong, yes, but you have you’re limits. You must merely delay them while the Day Guard is fighting the Diamond Dogs.”

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I hate it when Celestia calls them ‘her little ponies’. She does that, and then complains when they worship the ground she walks on.

They bowed their heads to Celestia, and then turned back to me.

“I assume you have a plan, sir?” Quick Cut asked me.

“I have the outline of one. You three will help me flesh it out.” I pulled over a map of Valgryph, a traders map. It showed all cities, all towns, probably all villages, most of the large farms, not that Valgryph had many, and a few isolated homes. I leaned over it and started talking.

It took a few hours, but eventually we had a plan that was had a fair chance of working and didn’t end with us all dead. Sadly, it was not Ironshod’s plan of ‘use Spike to get some big-ass sorry Princess dragons and have ‘em burn the whole place down’. Still, no plan survives past the first arrow, so I went to see a zebra about some plants.

I wont tell you how many times I had to say that that was not a euphemism.

Celestia teleported Twilight, myself and the other Elements back to Ponyville. Well, a mile or so outside the village. I asked Twilight to have Spike meet me at the train station in an hour or so, said my goodbyes and headed into the forest while the others headed home.

A nice walk later, I was talking shop with Zecora. I wanted things that would work when burned or mixed with water. I didn’t want anything too dangerous that could be burned, in case the wind changed, but I was willing to chance it with the dissolving stuff. Anyone that managed to accidentally poison themselves deserved the pain they got.

While I was there, I had one more crack at recruiting her.

“These things would be a lot safer with you handling them, and you would be able to keep a better eye on them as well,” I said to the zebra as she wrapped up various foliage for me to take with me. Not a lot of any one plant, but a lot of variety. “Not to mention another medic is always useful, especially a non-unicorn one. You could do a lot of good there.”

Yes, I was emotionally blackmailing her. I had tried everything else, and another medic would be incredibly helpful. Celestia should have let me conscript her.

“If you tell me why you need these plants, your cause it may advance.”

“Can’t tell you unless you sign up. I’ll make you a second Lieutenant, outside the chain of command,” I offered. “You wont be able to give orders outside of medical situations, but you’ll only have to take them from me. Plus, the pay is good.” It wasn’t really. Beat the nothing she was earning now though. She wasn’t taking it. “A reserve Lieutenant, only called up when needed. You get half pay when not called up.” I technically couldn’t do that, but Celestia or Luna would probably go along with it. And if they didn’t, I’d pay her out of pocket. A skilled medic is worth their weight in gold.

“And what far away lands are you off to see, that you are so desperate to recruit me?” Zecora asked, wrapping up one last bundle for me. “You cannot tell me where, that I understand, but I do not need the name of the land. But if I know the direction you are travelling, your destination I may begin unraveling.” She frowned slightly as she said the last rhyme.

“Not happy with that one?” I asked. She shook her head. I packed away the plants she had wrapped up. I hadn’t recognised a few of them, but Twilight would. I made it take longer than it should, to give me time to think. On one hand, Celestia and Luna had ordered me not to let anypony know about what was happening. On the other, Zecora was not technically a pony.

And technically correct is the best kind of correct, chimed in my head.

What? Look, bit busy here.

Just tell her dude. Celestia was a-okay with letting those Dogs beat your ass, so fuck her.

Not exactly sound logic there, but he did have a point. “Northeast. Beyond the Everfree.” I looked at her, and she nodded. “If you’re coming, come to Canterlot before noon tomorrow.” Hefting the bag I’d placed the herbs in carefully, I said “Either way, thanks for the help.”

She paid me no mind, instead gathering supplies to clean the space she had been using. Going by what she was using to do it, she had given me some pretty dangerous herbs.

I headed back to Ponyville. I considered stopping to see Twilight, but I saw a train on its way to the station, and the next one wasn’t for a couple hours. Celestia wanted me back as soon as possible.

The trip back was uneventful. Once again, Spike and I had the carriage to ourselves, except the little foal that kept popping it’s head in every few minutes until it’s mother told it not to annoy us. I think it was a filly, but I wasn’t sure.

We got off at Canterlot and headed straight for the castle. As far as Twilight knew, I needed Spike for his organisational skills. While that was true, it wasn’t the whole truth. He would be a great help in making sure we had what we needed and nothing and noone got left behind. But it was time for Spike to get back to work. He spent most of his time helping the supply officers sort and count supplies, and the little that was left was either spent sleeping or training.

Zecora arrived an hour before noon the day after. I gave her her uniform and introduced her before leaving her with the Green Seed, the quartermaster that dealt with everything that wasn’t food or made of metal. And Spike, to translate.

The next two weeks went surprisingly smoothly. The only problem was the griffons; they didn’t like being left behind. They cornered me as I was signing a mass of requisition forms at lunch.

“Why are we being levt behind?” one of them, Wing Leader Markus, asked, pounding the table with a balled up claw. His accent hadn’t completely faded even after half a decade in Equestria. “We are just as good, iv not better than pegasi. We are more suited vor combat. So why? Do you not trust us?” The others, maybe a quarter dozen in total, were nodding along as he spoke, but kept quiet. He must be the spokesman. Griffon. Whatever.

“You’re staying because I ordered you to,” I answered, not looking up until I’d finished signing the page I was on. Putting down the quill - I really needed to work out how pens had worked so I can invent the damn things - I leaned back in the chair. “And I ordered you to because I want eyes and ears down that way.” I think of the best things when I lie. Which I was. They didn’t want to hear the actual reason. They wanted to show everyone how much they wanted to fight with the Night Guard. “You’ll be given the important missions by the Day Guard, so you’ll get the best information. Give it to Luna, and she’ll get it to me. Now, if you’re quite done? Most of them seemed mollified, if not happy with that. Must be hard to stay angry when you’re being complimented. Markus looked like he knew that wasn’t the whole story, but he must have felt it was good enough, because he left.

Apart from that, the next few weeks were a blur of paperwork, training and more paperwork. I think a forest passed through my office, never mind what I got handed in hallways. By the time it came to leave, it was almost a welcome reprieve from the flood of paper.

We sent Spike first, to make sure the staging ground was empty. We had checked it an hour ago, but it never hurt to make sure. After five minutes, he sent back a green flag. A glow surrounded both Celestia and Luna’s horns. The brightness steadily grew until it was like the sun had been brought down to earth and trapped in the room. There was a moment of silence like crystal, a sudden feeling of falling from a great height, and I was laying on the ground with grass tickling my cheek. We were in Valgryph. It was time to go to war.

Chapter 12

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I pushed myself to my feet, swaying slightly. I leaned against a tree for balance. Wait, that wasn’t right. I looked to my left and saw the tree. I looked around. Trees everywhere. We were in a forest. We were not meant to be in a forest. What if someone got teleported into a tree?

Thats when the screaming started.

I walked towards the sound. I managed a few paces before tripping over something. My spear. I picked it up and used it as a walking stick. Hobbling towards the screams, I passed dozens of ponies. Grabbing the first officer I saw, I told him to round everyone up here, marking ‘here’ by carving an ‘X’ in a tree. He mumbled something I took as a ‘yes’ and started helping other ponies to their hooves. I left him to it.

I found the source of the screams a few minutes later. An earth pony, with brown and green fur and a grey mane, was leaning with one hoof pressed against a tree, screaming. I walked closer and took another look. His leg met the tree just below his knee and melded into it. I broke a branch off the tree and his screams got higher.

“Bite down on this,” I told him, putting the stick in front of his muzzle. The stick was about as thick as my wrist. He looked at it, eyes wild, and ripped it from my hand. Planting my spear in the ground, I drew the hand axe I’d gotten from the mines. One hand on the tree, I lined the axe up. It took a few blows to sever the bone. I tried to get it as close to the tree as possible.

The pony, a corporal I think, just collapsed when he came loose. Unable to help myself, I took a quick glance at the part still stuck on the tree. The middle of the bone was made of wood. I shuddered, looked away. I heard retching, but the only people around were me and the corporal, who was whimpering. I cut the sleeves from my shirt and used them to tie it to the stump. They turned red too quickly for my liking.

He had stopped screaming by now, and had spit out the branch. Now how the hell was I supposed to get him moving?

“I’m guessing you can’t walk?” I asked.

“My back legs are fine, sir, and so is my front left. I should be able to manage a slow walk on three.”

I frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that should, corporal.” I looked at him, and had an idea. “Here, give me your front legs, I’ll hold you up by them, and walk forward, you just move your back ones.” I helped him to his hooves, and then moved so I was in front of him and facing the same way. Holding his forelegs at waist height, I took a pair of slow steps forward. He matched me at about the same pace, and soon we were moving, not quickly, but steadily. I did my best to keep the injured leg elevated, but I could only do so much.

We got back to the tree I’d marked after a little wandering and had Zecora and one of the unicorn medics look at his legs. I still couldn’t place who this pony was. We didn’t have any ponies of his colours in the Night Guard, and we hadn’t gotten any earth ponies from the Day Guard. I’d need to talk to Celestia about dog tags. I should have done it before we left, but there just wasn’t time.

I found my lieutenants, apart from Zecora, huddled under the tree around a map. I looked over Ironshod’s shoulder. “How far off target are we?”

Quick Cut looked up. “We don’t know, sir. None of us know the area or any landmarks.”

“Send a pegasi above the trees, tell them to have a look.” Night Wind nodded and moved to give the order. “Ironshod, you missing anyone?”

Ironshod glanced down at a piece of parchment next to the map. “Missing a Corporal Redsmith, sir. He was an armoursmith, signed up for the night shift a few weeks ago. Does some good work, too. Made me this.” He tapped a hoof against the steel breastplate he was wearing.

“Redsmith? I’m guessing he’s red, then.”

“Aye, sir. Rust red coat, flame red mane and tail.”

“Well, he’s green and grey now.”

“What?”

“Theres a reason we were supposed to get teleported to the far side of the forest from the first target, Lieutenant. Accidents happen.” I looked down at the map without seeing it. “Can we manage without him?”

“Most likely sir, but it never hurts to have an extra four hooves around. Permission to ask why, sir?”

“Only three hooves now,” I explained. There was a flash of confusion on Ironshod’s face before understanding dawned.

“I see, sir. Will I see about getting him sent back?”

“I think thats best. Have Spike send a message.”

Ironshod looked at me expectantly. When I only looked back at him, he said, “Redsmith’s leg, sir, where is it?”

“Still inside the tree he was attached to.”

Ironshod shuddered. “I don’t think I’ll be teleporting again anytime soon.”

“Then you’ll be walking through the Everfree Forest,” I reminded him.

He tapped his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. After a few moments, he said, “I think I’ll take my chances. I’ve been in the Everfree, it isn’t as bad as ponies make it out to be.”

A pegasus broke through the canopy and landed beside us. She took a second to catch her breath before saluting. “Sir. Lance Corporal Cloud Cover, reporting. Were close to the halfway point between the target and where we were supposed to end up. Maybe half a mile east, three quarters of a mile north. I did a quick check, though, and it seems a lot of our supplies ended up back there.”

“Thank you, Lance Corporal. Anything else you want to add?”

“No, sir.”

I nodded. Right now, no news was definitely good news. “Report back to Lieutenant Night Wind. Fill her in, and then take a break.”

I looked back down at the map. A day and a half, maybe two days to get to those supplies, another two to get them back. Say four and a half just to get them and get back here. Another day to get in position. Five days to do what should have taken three. Already one casualty, and friendly fire at that.

“Ironshod, do you know how much of our supplies we have with us?”

“Err, about a third, maybe?” He scratched the back of his neck, nervous. “Quick Cut would have a better idea; he does things like that. Good with numbers, he is. Mind if I ask why?”

“I’m thinking of sending a group of ponies back to get those supplies while a small group goes on ahead to scout out the target. I’m thinking mostly earth ponies with some pegasi scouts.”

Ironshod joined me in looking over the map. “I don’t want to take them all. Say I take seventy, leaving you a little under thirty. We’ll need a few unicorns, if only to lighten the load. Maybe one for every twelve earth ponies? No, make it one to ten. Add in a dozen pegasi, and we should be good.”

I nodded. “Talk to Night Wind and Quick Cut. I want one of you three with the group.”

“It’s fine. I’ll do it, sir.”

“Then get a detailed list from Quick Cut about what supplies should be there. Ask him to assign unicorns. Theres some delicate stuff in those supplies, so be careful. I’ll go and look for Night Wind.” Ironshod saluted, then turned and left. I put away the map and parchment and went in a different direction, scanning the skies. If Ironshod saw Night Wind first, he would send her my way.

I bumped into Quick Cut while looking for Night Wind. He hadn’t seen her, so I’d have to keep looking. I gave him an update and pointed him in the direction Ironshod went.

Finding Night Wind proved harder than I thought it would be. I found her curled up in a tree, holding on to her tail like a teddy-bear. I heard someone go ‘aww’ when I saw her, and it took me a second to realise it was Cameron. I really need to figure out how he sees what I see.

I had to shout to wake her up. She let out a girly squeal and fell out the tree. She managed to get her wings out before she hit the ground, but I think she still hurt herself a little.

“Yes, sir?” she said, not a hint of embarrassment on her face.

I told her pretty much the same thing I told Quick Cut; we’re sending some ponies back to get the supplies, pick out some ponies to go with. There were more details, but that was the jist of it.

Though, I did also say, “Ironshod is leading, so you’re pegasi will probably be left to sort themselves out. Make sure to pick someone who can lead.”

“Eh, sir? Why not just send unicorns to teleport the stuff?”

“Couple reasons. We’re still in the forest, so some of it will end up in trees. We don’t have a lot of unicorns, and I want to keep them rested. Quick Cut’s loath to lend out the seven or so going with this group.”

“Okay, sir. I’ll go pick out some pegasi…” she trailed off into a yawn. “Need to work out a far scout rotation anyway.”

“Make sure to get some sleep soon. You’re useless to me exhausted.”

She flashed me a quick smile. The canines Luna gave the Night Guard still looked odd to me. “With pleasure, sir.” She shook her wings slightly, in a way that would probably ruffle feathers if she still had them. I started walking to where I thought Zecora was, and Night Wind fell in beside me. She had a couple questions about the plan I did my best to answer, but honestly, a lot of it depended on how quickly we could get our supplies and get in position. There was a fairly short opening for us as griffons answered the call to arms and the ones deemed unfit arrived back.

I found Zecora looking fairly uncomfortable in her armour, talking to a unicorn medic I think was named Bloody Bandages. Sergeant Bloody was not native to Canterlot. I think he came from out west, near Appaloosa. He was trying his best to understand Zecora, but it didn’t seem to be going well. Nearby, Redsmith was laying down, doing his best to not look at his stump.

“Lieutenant, Sergeant. What seems to be the problem?”

They both turned to face me. Bloody spoke first. “The problem, sir, is that this mare refuses to speak in anything but rhymes!”

“This argument is not about the way I rhyme when I talk; he is upset I do not roll over when he squawks.”

“That didn’t even rhyme!” Bloody shouted, pointing a hoof at Zecora.

“Maybe in Equestria it did not, but that is the language in which the rhyme was thought.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.“Both of you shut up. You arguing is giving me a headache. How’s Redsmith?”

“Our armourer is stable, though his wound is like one from a fable. His bones seem to be made from wood and I fear this will do him no good.” Bloody nodded his assent.

“Zecora, do you have to rhyme?” She gave me an odd look. “Are you physically capable of not rhyming?” She nodded. “Right, if someones about to die, no rhymes unless they’ll help. Otherwise, rhyme all you want. Though would it kill you to pick a new meter?” She shrugged. I looked over at Redsmith. “He able to be teleported?”

Zecora just shrugged again. “We aren’t sure,” Bloody said. “Physically, he’ll probably be fine, but he doesn’t want to get teleported again. Doesn’t want to lose another leg.”

I looked over at Redsmith, then leaned in close to Bloody and whispered, “If he won’t go willingly, give him something to calm him down.”

Bloody looked down at his hooves, frowning. “I think I have something that would work.”

I nodded. “Alright, get to it.” Bloody nodded, gave a sharp salute, then left. Zecora managed a fair imitation, considering, but couldn’t completely hide her glare. I think she might be mad at me. It could wait. With a sigh, I set about taking care of all the little things needed to keep even a small army running. Supplies were distributed, disputes settled and, most importantly, food served.

Ironshod’s group left a little after dawn the next morning. The seventy left with me was mostly pegasi and unicorns with a smattering of earth ponies. Thankfully, we had counted on being able to graze for the most part, so we hadn’t brought much food.

I was waiting on everything getting packed away so we could move when I got a pleasant surprise. I had had to make do with a smattering of armour that could be made to fit me in the short time I had in Canterlot, so when Spike presented me with the leather armour I had commissioned, I almost forgot to ask why he had it. Turns out, he was the one that bought it from the griffons after I was declared dead.

The hide was thick, but surprisingly light, and it felt like cotton, for all it restricted my movement. I had no idea what the griffons had done to it, but I’ll be damned if it hadn’t been worth every bit. It was a dark brown, with the odd place where the Ursa’s stars shone through. It had metal reinforcements in it, along the front and back of the chest. And, while each part was great, the best part were the boots. They fit like a dream, and were the most comfortable things I’ve ever worn, including nothing. And best of all, there was a steel cap at the toes. I knew where I was getting all my boots after this.

After changing into my armour, to break it in faster, I got back to work. We’d lost two ponies, so far. Redsmith, and a pegasus that had flown into a tree, breaking a leg and a wing. They were both back in Equestria now, in a border town I don’t think has a name, awaiting pick-up by pegasi to take them back to Canterlot.

The trip through the forest took two days. Two boring, nerve wracking days. Everyone was on the look out for griffons, and by the end most ponies were jumping every time they heard wings flap. Even some of the pegasi.

We got first sight of the target with the sun high in the sky. It was a hunting town, main exports being meat, leather and bones. When full, it could house maybe a thousand griffons, but only reached that during hunting season. The rest of time, a skeleton crew of a few hundred lived there, protecting the stockpile of supplies, though few would be trained fighters. There was supposedly enough meat there to feed the entirety of Valgrpyh for a few days if needed. Looking at the size of the place, there was no way that was true.

Before you go thinking ill of the griffons for leaving something so vital so badly protected, remember this is in central Valgryph. The capitol is closer than the border, and doesn’t have mountains in the way either.

We spent the rest of that day, and all of the next studying the target. The patrols were good, with some overlap and almost nowhere to hide on the approach.

When Ironshod and his group arrived with the supplies, I sent Spike in as the sun went down. He had a surprise, courtesy of Zecora and Cameron. While he was gone, I looked over the supplies Ironshod had brought back with Quick Cut, to make sure everything was there. It was, even the magically chilled containers I’d been able to talk Celestia into providing. She had wanted to know what they were for; I told her she didn’t. She did not find that as reassuring as she should have. Cameron grumbled when I looked over the containers, but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t entirely innocent where they were concerned.

When Spike returned to camp a few hours later, I could just make out the glow of the fire through the trees. I gave Ironshod and his group a couple more hours to rest, then sent him and Quick Cut south to hit a few towns that way, while Night Wind and I kept going north east. Spike gave his report as we circled around the still burning town.

“I managed to get most of the supplies lit up before I had to leave. There was more than I expected though. They couldn’t fit all of it inside, they had so much. There was meat, fruit, leather, lots of cloth, some other stuff, some metal that I melted, more metal I didn’t. Lots of stuff.” He stopped, interrupted by a cough. “Man, I don’t know what it was Zec- eh, Lieutenant Zecora gave me, but it made the griffons cough whenever they breathed it, and a couple of the smaller ones just fainted.” Another coughing fit. “I don’t feel so good.”

“Go see Zecora. Tell her you breathed in the stuff she gave you.” I don’t think the stuff was too deadly, but he was fairly small. He nodded and barely remembered to salute before walking off.

Spike, and some of the unicorns I’d sent in, had managed to steal some reports. Thankfully, Night Wind could read Avian, because I couldn’t. They warned of bandits attacking smaller towns, one group in the north, the other to the south. It also said that the army would be sending some troops to help in the defense of towns in the bandits path. I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

The next town on the list was the biggest one so far. Holding around a thousand griffons, it was a little short of being a city by this world’s standards. It had maybe two hundred trained guards in it, though normal griffons are just as capable of tearing out your entrails.

I wasn’t sending in a few troops to start fires and cause some disarray. Not this time. I had pegasi whip up what winds they could, and with the moon full and high above we tore down the walls around the place. They fell to a single barrage of kinetic spells, stone shattering, splinters flying everywhere. The dust hadn’t settled when we charged in. I speared the first griffon I saw through the wing, which only seemed to piss her off. She clawed at me, but it was surprised and slow. I leaned back, twisted my spear and pushed. I felt the delicate bones of her wings break, and she let out a high pitched screech. I pulled out when she hit the ground and stepped over her. She let out a couple pathetic chirps I ignored.

The ponies had split into two groups, each heading a different direction. The winds should stop all but the most suicidal griffons from taking to the air, and on the ground griffons were only a little faster than ponies. They certainly weren’t stronger than earth ponies. I could tell when they started running into trouble and the unicorns had to bring out the big guns, because it was when I started smelling roast chicken. After that, the town fell quickly, most choosing to flee rather than face the flames.

We had lost maybe fifty troops total, which was blessedly low. Thank whoever for unicorns and Zecora. After that town, we linked up with Quick Cut and Ironshod’s group. They had fared a bit better than use, loosing only twenty troops to our twenty three. Unicorns are a hell of a force multiplier.

We were camped in a forest a few days march from where we met up. I was giving the troops a well deserved break. We’d covered several hundred miles and burned down a dozen or so towns, and I could tell most ponies weren’t taking it well. Ponies, being a generally non violent species, did not cope well with seeing their friends die beside them, though some did cope better than others.

Of course, Cameron made sure I was aware that most humans don’t cope much better, and that I was the exception, not the rule. He doesn’t think highly of me.

It had taken us only a week to stop the griffon army and its advance on Equestria. With that problem solved, I moved on to the next one; what to do about the army between us and Equestria. It was, to be fair, a large problem. I met with me four Lieutenants on the second camped down. We did have a plan, but it might need changed. Word from Luna and the griffons I’d loaned to Shining Armour was that the fight against the Diamond Dogs was going not very well. What that had hoped would be a series of quick, if bloody, conflicts in our forts and then the Dog’s tunnels had instead turned into a war of attrition, with each day seeing barely a dozen injuries and even less dead. For a war involving maybe eight to ten thousand people, that was very very low, especially with magic taken into account.

I was the last to arrive to the meeting. We were meeting in the forest, on the opposite side of the camp from the tent we had set up for having meetings and nothing else. I think my paranoia may be rubbing off on them; only Ironshod though it was a bit much.

As I crossed the sound barrier Quick Cut had set up, I heard Ironshod ask, “Just to be clear, we absolutely can’t fight them head on?”

Night Wind answered. “Scouts report them outnumbering us around twenty-two to one, now. And thats just the standing army they have. From what Markus and Jon have told me, the griffon equivalent of basic training is around twelve weeks”

“And that means what, exactly?” Ironshod asked.

“It means we can expect to be outnumbered even more in, what, four or five weeks? Assuming they stagger recruit intakes like we do.”

Ironshod frowned. Before he could reply, Quick Cut sighed. “Not like it’ll matter. We can’t fight our way out now, so direct conflict is off the table. What does that leave?”

Night Wind and Ironshod answered at the same time. “Stealth.” “Indirect combat?”

Quick Cut nodded. “We need to be smarter than them. Anything to reduce the advantage numbers gives is good, and anything we can do to split their forces is better.” He looked at me and Zecora, then focussed on Zecora. “How many injured do we have?”

“Our injured comrades number five and twenty, and to me that seems plenty.” That was directed to me. I’d commented on how good we were doing to her, and she disagreed.

“We need terrain that can split forces, reduces the advantage of numbers, and it’s easy to sneak about in, right?” I asked, ignoring Zecora’s glare. Quick Cut nodded.

“If it were any other species, a forest would do, but I don’t think theres a forest in Valgryph that you can’t fly in.”

“But there is one in Equestria. And it’s right next to Valgryph. The Everfree.” Quick Cut seemed about to dismiss it, but paused.

“One problem with that, though,” Night Wind said. “What’s to stop them just flying over us? We don’t have the wing power to stop them.”

“So we need something they want,” Ironshod said.

“Valgryph has a crown princess,” Quick Cut said. “The few reports we’ve got from the last town say she’s holed up in a small town near the capitol under heavy guard, but not which one.”

“My ears must be failing me in my old age, for it sounds like you mean to put this bird in a cage.” We ignored her.

“Night Wind, go get a map or two,” I ordered. She saluted and was gone, leaving behind a faint silver cloud. She was back minutes later. She dropped a map on the ground in front of us before taking her place.

“Quick Cut, what do the reports say about where this princess is?” And so the meeting went. Zecora left after a few minutes, citing the need to tend her patients. Using the reports and common sense, we managed to narrow it down to two towns. Both were small, near the capitol, fairly popular with nobility and had been reported as needing extra supplies recently.

We were working on narrowing it down to one when when Ironshod looked up from the map and said, “Does this seem a bit easy to anypony else?” We all looked at him. He shifted slightly, nervous. “I mean, the king, or whatever, could have sent his daughter anywhere, right? So why not send her somewhere harder to get to? Hay, why send her some place you can find on a map? We passed dozens of cabins and even more caves just to get here.”

“For one, as a Princess, she’ll have certain standards for comfort and food you usually only get near big cities,” Quick Cut explained. “And keeping her close to the capitol means if it does fall, and the king escapes, they can meet up quickly or, if we get spotted near the town, she can be taken quickly to the capitol and from there to somewhere else.”

Ironshod nodded. Night Wind wasn’t as convinced. “But what about his last point? Why send her somewhere we can find on a map?”

“So someone else can find her if need be?” Quick Cut half said, half asked. When he saw no one was buying it, he sighed. “Yeah, that was pretty weak. It’s the only thing that makes sense though. I mean, the reports say-”

“Reports can be faked, Quick Cut,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but troop movements can’t! And pegasi have reported seeing far more griffons than normal flying that way. Why send guards there if not to protect the Princess?”

“As a trap. I mean, it’s not like they need all their soldiers together to beat us.”

Ironshod tapped a hoof against his chin. “Do we have to capture the Princess? Can’t we just find a griffon filly and say it’s her?”

Quick Cut answered before I could. “That can be plan B.”

The meeting lasted a few minutes more before we had to break to take care of other business. I stopped Quick Cut from taking down the sound barrier after the other two had left. “How are you with mind reading?”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Sir, any and all mental magic is illegal except under the direst of circumstances.” It had the sound of a practiced line to it.

“Things are damn dire, I’d say. Now answer the question, Lieutenant.”

“I am… reasonably competent with them. Why? What are you planning?”

“We capture someone high ranking, you read his mind and find out where the Princess is. Plus, you know, anything else that might be useful. The only reason I haven’t already asked is because I wasn’t sure if you could do it. Or if you’d be willing to.”

“Not unwilling, as such, sir. It’s just, it’s not a pleasant experience.” He shuddered, making me think there was more to it than that.

Curious, I asked, “How so?”

“It hurts, sir. It really, really hurts.” He seemed reluctant to say more, so I let it drop. He dropped the barrier and left. I spent a little more time looking over the map and the few reports we had. I noticed something that could become important later, but was next to useless for now. I filed it away, picked up the couple maps still here and got back to work.

We didn’t get a chance to take any prisoners for another week or so. By that time, the griffon army had more or less slowed down as their leaders wondered what they were meant to do. On one hand, they had a group of hostile foreign agents inside their borders. On the other, we were almost certainly from Equestria, and we were stuck inside their borders with no chance of hiding. It had more or less been forced to leave some troops here to deal with us while the rest head to Equestria when we, well, lucked across the prisoner. I don’t know his exact rank, because he refused to tell us and neither Quick Cut or Night Wind knew the word, but he had been out doing an inspection or on patrol and got his stupid arse captured.

Before the pegasi telling me we had a prisoner had stopped speaking, I had grabbed Quick Cut and told the messenger to take me to him. Or, as it turned out to be, her. As soon as she saw me enter the tent, she started screeching and chirping at me. Ignoring her, I looked at Quick Cut. “Do it.” He glanced around the tent, at all the ponies there. “Everyone out,” I ordered. When the tent flapped dropped behind the last one to leave, Quick Cut put up a sound bubble.

“The Princesses won’t be happy about this,” he said.

“Let me worry about Celestia and Luna. I’ll take any trouble for this.”

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. “Thanks, sir.” He took a few cautious steps over to the trapped griffon. Stopping close enough to touch, he took a pair of quick, deep breaths and, eyes tight closed, he gently, gingerly touched his horn to the griffons forehead. There was a small flash. Both Quick Cut and the griffon went instantly still, muscles straining against nothing. Quick Cut was tensing so much he was starting to shake. His nose started bleeding.

And then it was over. Quick Cut’s horn stopped glowing, and he staggered away from the griffon and collapsed. His nose was still bleeding, though not heavily, and when he finally opened his eyes they were bloodshot and he squinted at me.

I crouched down by his side and offered him my canteen. “How you feeling?” I asked, nervous.

He took it shakily - in his hooves, not with magic - and gulped it down. He didn’t look dehydrated, just confused. It took him a few seconds to speak. He kept letting out high pitched noises. Eventually, he managed it. F- fine, sir. Just getting used to being a pony again.”

Huh. “So, what, you saw through her eyes?”

He nodded shakily. “And heard through her ears, tasted with her tongue, smelled with her nose, flew with her wings. For a while I was her. Thankfully it isn’t both ways.”

I tilted my head towards the griffon, who was curled up a little birdy ball. “Then whats her problem?”

“Like I said, for a while I was her. If I was her, and she wasn’t me, what was she?” His voice was steadier, and his nose had stopped bleeding. He slowly got to his hooves. He passed my canteen back to me, with magic.

“Alright, feeling better?” When he nodded, I stood back up. “Good. What’d you find in there?”

“Give me a few minutes.” I left him a long, and he sat still and did nothing for maybe ten minutes. “Okay, she might know where the Princess is.”

“Might?”

“She gets moved around. She should be on her way to Valcorve, which is a few days north of the capitol. By air, that is.”

“North of the capitol. As in, on the other side of it.”

“Thats what I said, sir.”

I sighed. Great. “Well, at least we know where shes going to be. Lets get moving.”

“Uh, she’ll only be there for two weeks.”

Oh it just gets better. God this headache was killing me. “Then we’d best leave now? Go get the troops packed up.” He glanced at the griffon. I waved him out. “Go on, I’ll take care of her.”

It took us three days to get around the capitol, staying far away from it. We had lost some more ponies to griffon patrols recently, which were getting both more common and more violent. I thought they had been jumpy at first, but this was ridiculous. We needed to get out of this country.

The griffon Princess was staying in a cabin, probably used for hunting. Scouts reported around twenty other griffons there, an assortment of guards and servants. I had the unicorns wait until she was outside before teleporting in. One grabbed her and immediately teleported back. The rest opened fire. It was a massacre; twenty confused griffons against ten unicorns with the element of surprise.

I was a little surprised when I first saw the griffon Princess. I was expecting her to be full grown, for some reason, but she came up to around mid thigh on me. I should probably learn her name. I found Quick Cut as we headed for the border. As far as the griffon army should be aware, we were still down south of the capitol, heading farther east. It started to raining, heavily, when we were maybe halfway there, which slowed us right down. Which, of course, is when Celestia contacted me via Spike and told me she needs more time to take care of the dogs. Just another week or two, she said. The griffon’s, not slowed down as much by the rain, were more or less on top of us. The only thing slowing them down was the wind the pegasi managed to whip up. Eventually, the rain got so bad we had to hole up in a cave or risk being drowned by it. I don’t think morale had ever been lower, Honestly, I think only a lack of places to go was stopping people from deserting.

The griffon Princess had been surprisingly docile, for the most part. No escape attempts, hadn’t attacked anyone. Didn’t even seem scared. Her name was Alvor, or something like that. Night Wind said it didn’t translate exactly, but that that was close enough.

The rain let up after a few days in the cave, which was good; we had been close to eating the land around the cave bare. It didn’t last. It started snowing maybe a few hours after the rain stopped. You know, I was so used to seasons being controlled I forgot to find out when winter started in Valgryph. Stupid mistake. It wasn’t coming down as fast as the rain had, but it slowed us down just as much. And now we had griffon scouts swooping us. and then I found out the bad news.

Night Wind must have drawn the short straw, because she delivered it to me. She landed a little in front of me and shook the snow from her feathers. “Bad news, sir.”

I snorted, my breath steaming the air in front of me. “What news isn’t as of late?”

“Griffon army’s seen us, sir. They’re around a days flight from us.”

God dammit. “How far are we from the Everfree?”

“Two days. Three, if the snow keeps piling up.”

“I’m guessing you can’t do anything about it?”

She shook her head. “Untamed weather is difficult to touch, nevermind move.”

“How long ‘till we reach the mountains? And the pass we’re travelling through?”

“We should hit the mountains today,” Night Wind said, happy to give some good news. “As for the pass, maybe noon tomorrow? Hard to tell. Probably around the same time the griffons reach us.” She looked around, but no one nearby was paying us any attention, too busy focusing on not falling in the snow. She stepped closer and whispered, “Sir, what’re we going to do? Any way I look at it, we’re bucked, but you and Quick have a plan, right?”

“Right.” We did not. “Just focus on slowing down the griffons if you can. We need some more time to make it work.”

The grin she gave me almost made me feel bad for lying to her. “You got it, sir!” She took to the air, moving faster than she had been any time recently. False hope’s better than no hope, I guess.

As Night Wind said, we reached the mountains that same day. We had lost more ponies in the march. Some to the cold, more to the griffons. They were picking us off one at a time.

I looked over the supply list I had been given, and saw something halfway through. Ten chilled metal canisters, two hooves by ten hooves, contents unknown. I’d almost forgotten about them. I’d need some wind to make use of them, but thats what pegasi were for. Need the griffons to be close as well, both to us and each other. I went looking for Quick Cut. We had a plan. It took some explaining, but Quick Cut got my plan fairly quickly, and made it better even faster. We pushed the ponies to go faster, and I had Spike melt the snow where he could. He was hating this weather with a passion. Kept setting himself on fire, which scared everyone the first time he did it. Once ponies got used to it, though, he was probably the most popular person in Valgryph, considering he could make himself warm enough to boil water on his scales if he wanted.

Despite everything I could do to make us move faster, we still reached the path through the mountains at noon. The snow was less deep here, though the wind was just as biting. Before we’d even settled down, I had the pegasi push the winds back towards the griffons. According to Night Wind, we had maybe twelve hours before the griffons reached us, even with the wind. I had Spike make some fires, to heat the troops. The earth ponies were stockpiling rocks for the unicorns to throw. The sun was halfway under the horizon when a messenger dropped in front of me.

“Griffons are almost here, sir.” he panted. The way the winds were howling, flying must not be easy. I nodded to a spot near the fire.

“Get yourself warmed up. Quick Cut, any last observations?” The unicorn looked up from the book he had been reading. I have no idea where he got it. Must have been in his saddlebags.

“Not really, sir. This is probably the best we could do. The pass is fairly narrow, so the griffons will need to bunch up to get at us. The winds will blow the gas towards them, though I wish you would tell me what it does.” He looked at me hopefully.

I shook my head. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

He sighed. “I thought as much. Well, the snow and rain will probably dissolve some of the gas, and the cold will make it less effective, but we can’t do anything about those. I’ve dispelled the enchantments keeping them cold, so all we need to do is put heat spells on them and we’re good to go. Nothing left to do but wait.”

“Waitings the worst part,” the messenger pegasus said, getting a few nods from the other ponies around the fire. I think he was one of the Day Guard ones.

The griffons hit us just after sunset. I don’t think they were expecting any resistance, because the first volley of rocks took them by surprise. After a few more barrages, the unicorns aimed for the flanks, pushing the griffons to the centre. A few of the faster ones got close, but pegasi forced them to the ground where earth ponies could take care of them. A few unicorns stepped away and lined up the canisters as I told them to before putting the heat spells on them. For a final touch, I had Spike breath fire over them, just a few seconds each, to get them started. When they snow around them and melted down to stone, I had the unicorns open them.

The gas boiled out of the canisters, a pale yellow cloud. It was caught by the wind and blown towards the griffons. They slowed down, no doubt wary of some trap. The barrage of rocks continued, forcing the griffons back. And then the cloud reached them. They had been flying for hours. I could see them, huffing and puffing. They screamed when they breathed it in. It burned their throats, their eyes, their mouths. Some fell from the sky, too pained to keep aloft. They unicorns redoubled their efforts, sending boulders flying towards the griffon. The wind pushed the cloud over the griffons as the ones farther pack tried to push those in front forward, eager to see combat. The cloud flowed over them, burning them as well. It took ten minutes for the gas to stop the griffon attack. Fifteen for the leaders to call a retreat. They had been expecting an easy target, not for the air to turn against them. The snow turned back to rain as I led the hundred or so ponies left into the Everfree.

Chapter 13

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The screaming followed us as we beat a hasty retreat over the mountains. It echoed from the peaks, trailing after us, fading only when we reached the Everfree forest. The change in atmosphere was palpable. Ponies moved closer together, eyes wide, nostrils flared. They looked ready to bolt at any second.

The only way this could feel more like home for me is if Twilight was here. Even the air smelled different than the rest of Equestria, different even than Valgryph. It smelled cleaner, even though there was very little pollution in either country. I turned on my troops.

“Night Wind, send out scouts. Find somewhere to set camp that isn’t far from here. Ironshod, you’re going foraging. Zecora, give him a list of things to look out for, good and bad.” I’d kill to have Fluttershy here right now. “She knows this forest, though maybe not this side of it.” They jumped to it, happy to have something to do. “Who’s in charge of the wounded?” Bloody Bandages hobbled forward.

“It was Sergeant-Major Clean Cut, but a griffon got him a week or so back,” he explained, his voice the flat, bored tone of those tired to feel. “I’m the highest ranking medic we have left. Apart from Zecora, I mean.”

“Check over the wounded, have someone check supplies. We might be able to get some more now that we aren’t too far from Canterlot.” We would, if Celestia hadn’t gone bonkers since I last saw her. “Have someone look at your leg. By someone I mean not you.” He limped off, giving his own orders. “I want a supply count as soon as possible,” I said, not to anyone in particular. The ponies whose job that was would know.

Next I found Quick Cut, with the griffon Princess. He looked up when I cleared my throat and walked over to me. “Sir,” he said, saluting. “How long do you think we bought today?”

I glanced up to the mountains, were the skies were empty. “I don’t know. Maybe a week or two? They’ll be cautious as well, scared we’ll do it again.”

“Can we, sir? And, if you don’t mind my asking, what the hay was that?”

“Chlorine gas, Lieutenant. It burns the eyes and the lungs within seconds. With the wind blowing it towards them, and the concentration of it, some of the front lines probably went blind. If they aren’t dead of lung failure, at least.” He was looking at me like I told him I eat foals. “I was originally going to try and get mustard gas, but that takes too long to start work and is denser than air. So is chlorine, but it works fast enough that I was likely to get some use from it before they flew away.”

He took a deep breath before speaking, with obvious distaste. “How many do you think it killed?”

I shrugged. “Not many. There’ll be a lot of injured though. Breathing problems, damaged eyes. I don’t think it would get to skin through feathers, but if it did thats more injuries. They probably don’t know how to treat it, so they’ll be injured for a while, and then they’ll get better. Or die, one of the two.”

Quick Cut didn’t reply for a while, instead watching the sky slowly turn dark. “Storm coming soon,” he noted. There was, a huge build up of angry grey clouds farther up the Everfree and heading this way. “Going to be a bad one.”

“We’ll get wet, but we’ll survive. How long do you think until it gets here? The winds could be useful.”

Quick Cut shrugged. “Better off asking Night Wind, sir. She knows more about weather than I do.”

We both watched the clouds for a time. It was nice, having a moment of peace after today. But it didn’t last. It was only a few minutes later that I started receiving reports, about supplies and wounded and the area and a dozen other things I had to know.

I read through the reports and gave a few orders, then handed most of the reports to Quick Cut, who read them and gave more orders. While he was doing that, I took a visit to the griffon Princess.

Her feathers were dark brown and pale silver, and her fur was rust red. When I walked in, she looked up at me with big yellow eyes, too tired to be properly scared. She was shackled to a tree, to stop her from flying away, but apart from that she was unbound. When I came near she started to inch away, only stopping when she backed into a tree. I stopped about five foot away, well out of reach, and sat on the ground.

She looked at me for a while, slowly inching closer.

“Hello,” I said. She sprang back in fright, taking to the air for a few moments. When she didn’t do anything else, I said, “Can you tell me your name?”

She chirped something at me, in Avian, though she might as well as not bothered for all I understood.

“We’re aren’t going to hurt you. We just needed the other griffons to follow us and you were the best way to do that.” I don’t think she understood a word I was saying, but talking seemed to calm her down.

I sat and talked at her for a few more minutes before I had to leave. I’d need to have Night Wind or someone talk to her, make sure she isn’t hurt or starving or something. I did plan on giving her back eventually.

I helped out with the wounded for a while, using what Zecora taught me, but stopped when Night Wind dropped from the sky next to me.

She looked at me and said, “You look like crap, sir.”

“Who doesn’t. What’d you see?”

“We’ve got clearings and caves aplenty around here. Where would you rather set up?”

“Personally, a cave. Easier to defend, can’t get hit by flying griffons. How would ponies deal with being in a cave?”

She shrugged. “Ask Ironshod. He used to be a miner, few years back.”

“Noted. What can you tell me about the storm?”

She looked up at it. “It’ll be fierce. I’ll probably have to ground all my scouts when it hits. No way I’m letting anyone fly in that. It’ll hit us in a little over three days. Probably take just as long to pass over us. Can’t do anything about it, I’m afraid. Too big, too much momentum. It’d be like trying to stop the sun. Want me to go find Ironshod for you?”

I shook my head. “Go get some sleep. We can’t move the wounded for a while anyway, and I doubt the griffons will do anything before that storm hits.”

“I’ll get some sleep if you do, sir. When was the last time you slept, anyway?”

It took me a while to remember. “Before we hit that town with all the brothels, I think. Why?”

“Sir, that was almost a month ago.”

“That can’t be right.” I tried to do some quick math, but the numbers were slippery things, hard to grasp.

“It is right, sir.” She paused for a moment, then grinned. “You’re useless to us tired,” she said, throwing my own words back at me. Her grin changed slightly. “I could keep you company, if you like.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” I told her. She hung her head. “But I will take your advice. I do need some sleep.”

She went back to the first grin. “You know, you’re the first stallion who hasn’t gotten all flustered when I said that? See you in the morning.”

“Night, lieutenant.” She giggled and shook her head as she walked away. “Oh, in the morning, go talk to the Princess, the griffon one.” She said she would and kept walking and I went looking for a place to sleep.

Of course, there were some things I had to do before I could sleep. There always was. I think the Night Guard has just gotten so used to me not sleeping they get worried when I do. I took care of them as quickly as I could, found a place I could lie down, and closed my eyes.

The dream started right away. Luna appeared before me, standing on nothing. Relief flooded her face when she saw me, and she started floating towards me. When she stopped moving, she paused a moment, before opening her mouth, but before she could say anything she cracked, shattering into a thousand thousand pieces, all of which were blown away by a sudden, fierce wind, swirling every which way around me.

I stood, too stunned to to anything, when I felt a presence. It knew something had arrived, they same way I know someone is behind me even if they say nothing. A pressure on my skin, hair standing upright, a sudden urge to move, quickly, before they did something to me.

The nothingness chuckled, deep and dark.

“YOU ARE HARD TO FIND, LITTLE ONES,” the presence declared. “YOU DO NOT COME INBETWEEN AS OFTEN AS YOU SHOULD.”

I’ll admit, I was not doing my best here. Partly due to the shock of seeing Luna turn to dust, partly due to the force of the presences ‘voice’. It was like standing atop a mountain amid gale force winds. I managed to croak out a stunned, “what?” which was so quiet after the thunder and fury of the presence that I wasn’t sure I actually said it.

The presence shifted, perhaps noticing the discomfort it caused me, though I doubted that. I felt it change slightly. It was liking going from a huge crowd to a quiet library.

“SO TELL ME, LITTLE ONES, DID YOU LIKE MY STORM?”

“Your storm?” another voice asked.

“AND SO THE OTHER MAKES ITSELF KNOWN AT LAST!” The presence cackled madly. “FINALLY! HOW FARES THE HEARTLAND?”

I turned to my left to see only more nothingness. Was I the only one with an actual body here? As if in response, something slowly formed from the darkness. Standing slightly shorter than me, with pale skin and dark hair, floating in nothingness, was Cameron. That explained the plural, but left me with so many questions. Actually, I only had one question. What the fuck?

The presence was still laughing uproariously. I got the feeling it was at my expense.

Eventually, not that I had any idea how much time had passed here, it calmed down, stopped laughing, and I felt the weight of its attention fall on me.

“I ask again, your storm?” Cameron’s voice came from my other side this time, but even as he spoke the presence kept his attention on me. I could feel it, a force as implacable as gravity.

“WHO ELSE COULD CREATE ONE SO PERFECT, HMM? WHO ELSE HAS MY FLAIR?”

“The storm’s not reached us yet.”

The other paused. “IT HASN’T REACHED YOU? REALLY?” I nodded. “OH. MY TIMING APPEARS TO BE A LITTLE OFF. AH WELL. I’VE NEVER GOTTEN ON WELL WITH TIME. SHE WAS ALWAYS MUCH TO ORDERLY FOR ME. EVERY SECOND HAS TO FOLLOW THE LAST JUST SO. BLEH.”

I glanced at Cameron, who seemed unsurprised by what was going on. He was sitting, cross legged, looking roughly were I assumed the other presence had condensed itself.

“STILL, I’M SURE IT WILL BE OF GREAT HELP TO YOU, LITTLE HUMAN,” the presence continued. “I HOPE YOU DO NOT PLAN ON SQUANDERING IT IN SOME DREARY CAVE.”

That had been my plan exactly, more or less. Ride out the storm in the cave and try to work out a way to not get slaughtered by a couple thousand pissed off griffons.

But think of the possibilities.

I’d pushed the griffons back. Right now, they were on the defensive. Having some unicorns pop in to unleash some hell did sound appealing. And I don’t think griffons had the same resistance to electric shock pegasi have, so sending some over with storm clouds could be a good idea. If I hit them hard and fast, I could buy more than a few days.

“I’m sure he appreciates any help you can give him,” Cameron replied. “I certainly would.”

“AH, BUT WHAT HELP WOULD ONE SUCH AS YOU NEED?”

“Oh, this and that. Nothing too difficult. I’m sure you could manage.”

He can make storms, I’m pretty sure he can help you with any problems you have.

It took me a few seconds to realise I hadn’t said that, and a few more to realise my fucking mouth was gone. My confusion was starting to get replaced with anger, but a smaller, smarter part of me was telling to me to be afraid, be very afraid, that something important was happening here that I should not be witness to.

The presence was radiating thoughtfulness. “I’LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO. BUT FOR NOW, I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE.”

And just like that, I was waking up

I woke to a gentle rain, the pitter-patter of the drops on leaves filling the forest with soft sound. I slapped my hand to my mouth and almost shouted with joy when I felt my lips. I may have giggled slightly. Once I was sure my mouth was actually there, I pushed myself to my feet, stretched and twisted. I felt my back crack more than I heard it, the pops starting at the base of my spine and moving up. I let out a content sigh when they reached the top. Grabbing my spear, I gave myself a sniff and figured I’d be good for another day or two. That done, I went looking for Spike. I walked out from between two trees near the centre of our camp and he ran into me. When he picked himself up from the ground, he handed me a half-dozen or so letters. “From Princess Luna,” he explained, before walking off, rubbing his throat. Convenient.

“Spike, stay there. Might need to send something back.” He sighed, but did as ordered. I read through the letters quickly. The first two were reports on the southern front. It was going better than it had been, our forces slowly but surely pushing the Diamond Dogs back. They just needed an extra week or two. Maybe a month. That pushed the total time to what, three and a half months? We’d been here for a little over a month already, and we’d already lost a third of our troops. We wouldn’t last that long. One was signed ‘Luna’, not ‘Princess Luna’, and I had Spike burn it before I was halfway through. One was from actually from Shining Armour, asking for advice about something. I’d show Quick Cut later, he’d be able to answer it better than I would. The last was from Twilight. It was six pages long, filled with her small, tight writing. Folding it over, I slipped it under my belt. I didn’t have time to read it properly right now.

I used the letters Luna sent to give my reply, which basically said extra time wasn’t happening. She wouldn’t be happy with that, but I’d could deal with that. I mean, she can’t really be mad at me if I’m dead, so if shes pissed then I’m alive. I had Spike send that off then went looking for Quick Cut. “How long was I asleep?” I asked Spike as we walked.

He shrugged. “Few hours, maybe? It’s not like I was keeping track. Been a few hours since I last saw you though. You must have been exhausted to sleep that long.” My answer was a jawbreaker of a yawn.

We found Quick Cut fairly quickly, though at some point during my wandering I lost Spike. I gave Quick Cut Shining Armour’s letter and told him to look over it and reply soon via Spike. I took care of some paperwork - even here, I can’t escape it - and sat down to read Twilight’s letter. It took me an hour and a half to read it properly. I had to use the back of her letters to reply, because we were short on parchment due to the rain. I had Spike send it off, then got to work.

It took a while, but I talked Quick Cut into thinking about hitting back. With his help, we brought Night Wind around Quickly, and Ironshod agreed before we even got two words out. We spent the rest of the day planning. We were going to attack the before the storm hit, to give us time to move before when they can’t follow. It was a good plan. Good, but not perfect. It involved some really delicate timing, and the idea that teleportation doesn’t break conservation of momentum, but that a skilled enough unicorn can redirect that momentum. Plus a few surprises me and Spike were going to deliver from Zecora.

Oh, and some really big rocks.

Me and Spike went over the mountains with only the moon and a splatter of stars visible above us, the rest being hidden by the storm that had boiled up after that weird-as-fuck dream. Shit, I forgot to mention that in my letter to Luna. It would have to wait.

We slowly made our way to the griffon camp by sound, the high pitched noises they made bouncing through the still night air working like beacons, pointing our way. There were only a few still awake, barely any sentries. They’d gotten lax, not expecting us to hit back. Just inside the camp, we went our separate ways. Spike went after supplies, taking Zecora’s little gift with him, I went after griffons.

Sneaking up on sleeping griffons is surprisingly easy. I guess when your eyes are as good as theirs, hearing and smell suffer. Oh well. Made my job easier. I spent a half hour or so slitting throats and dodging patrols that came too close. Man they had a really shitty sense of smell if they couldn’t smell the blood on me. Slitting throats is messy. Had a couple close calls, one griffon actually getting a few hits in before he realised he should be dead. Nothing serious. By the time I was to meet back up with Spike, I’d killed around fifteen of them, most of them officers. Spike had spiked the supplies - medical, food and water - with a little something special. A blood thinner for bandages, laxative in the food, little things like that, though those were by far the most benign.

We met up in what was roughly the centre of the camp, and after I put something on the little cut the griffon had given me, Spike sent up the last surprise Zecora had given him; a flare. Even looking away, eyes closed, I still saw the flash as the flare lifted off. A couple minutes later, a unicorn was planted next to us and we teleported to where a bit of rock jutted up out of the mountains, making an almost level platform. From here, we watched as unicorns rained rocks the size of my head on the griffons. Just a drizzle, enough to make them need those supplies and need them now.

Now, I was expecting the rocks to hit fairly hard. That was sort of the point, after all. What I was not expecting was them to hit with a sound like thunder, throwing up chunks of dirt and grass and chips of stone like a bomb had gone off. The flashes of teleportation lit the sky like lightening, making it look like the storm had decided to use rocks instead of rain.

We took our time getting back to camp. It had moved while I was out, into a couple caves. Much better than being out in the open. The storm was a short distance away, and it looked overripe, swollen and full to bursting. It rumbled away and above, like the grumblings of an angry giant.

I found Quick Cut in the larger of the two caves we occupied, and he filled me in on the little that had happened while I was away. His nose twitched when I came near, and he turned to face me. “How did it go, sir?”

“Fine, no problems. Little rain though,” I said. A medic came over and started stitching me up. “Lance Corporal Clean Cut, right?” He nodded without saying anything, focussing on the stitches. I looked from him to Quick Cut. “You two related?”

“Brothers, sir,” Quick Cut replied, handing over a few reports. It was mostly good news. Griffons were confused, had tossed a lot more supplies than Spike had time or materials to get to, and were generally overreacting. The bad news was, they were really pissed now. That storm couldn’t come soon enough. They were pretty short reports; seems the griffons had started being really aggressive when it comes to scouts. We’d lost a couple in the past hour or so.

A unicorn I didn’t recognise, one of the new Day Guard recruits, came trotting over and handed something to Quick Cut, who glanced at it and handed it to me, his face taking on a perfectly neutral mask. It was a letter, marked with both Celestia and Luna’s seals. Opening it, it turned out to be two letters. The one from Celestia was a repeat of the one from Luna saying they needed more time, though I don’t think she knew Luna had sent her own. I gave her the same reply. The one from Luna was very short.

Find space and reply. I shall come.

“Sir?” one of the three unicorns said. I looked up, and all three were staring at me, though Quick Cut quickly looked away. I glanced a Clean Cut, who patted the stitches. “All done here, sir. Just try not to break them any time soon. We’re getting lower on thread than we’d like.” I dismissed him, and he left, taking the messenger unicorn with him.

“Anything I should know, sir?” Quick Cut asked.

“Luna’s coming for a visit. Pass me the supply report, I’ll send get her to bring some with her.” He floated it over to me. I gave it a quick look. “Anything not on here you’d like some of?”

He looked from me off into the middle distance. “We don’t need food or water, yet,” he said, speaking mostly to himself. “Armour is good, though only because we’ve been looting the dead. Spike is taking care of mail. Some of that gas we used would be good. Or something with a kick to it. Ironshod mentioned something they used to mine through bedrock…”

“Remember what it was called?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Just that he said it was a black power.”

“I’ll ask him about it later. I’ll ask Luna to speak to Twilight; she can probably make some of it.”

It’s gunpowder.

“What?” After so long silent I was surprised to hear from him again. I waved away Quick Cut’s confused look and thought, what?

The black powder, it’s called gunpowder here. My here, I mean. Or blasting powder, when it’s used to mine, I guess. I can tell you how to make it. You need sulphur, charcoal and potassium nitrate. The last might be called saltpeter. You get it from bat shit. Used in guns and explosives.

And why the sudden urge to help?

You might be a dick, but that doesn’t mean I want you to die, and lets face it, you need all the help you can get here. Maybe I was growing on him. Plus, I don’t want to find out what happens to me when you die. Knowing my luck, it’d be nothing good.

I think I’ll pass on making it myself, though I don’t mind the lesson. I’ll just put blasting powder down. Anything else you can think of that would help would be good, though. I sort of remember about guns, though I don’t see the value of them if I’m the only one on my side that can sue them.

I’ll explain if you answer questions about Equestria.

I thought about it for the five or so seconds it took me to find Spike.

Deal.

He gave me instructions on how to make it. It was ridiculously easy. I checked my list again, and added a ball bearings at Cameron’s suggestion. I added a few other miscellaneous items to the list before I had Spike send it off. I was standing in a clearing in the forest when he did, and he sprinted away as soon as the letter went up in smoke.

I don’t know why. It took an hour or so for Luna to get here. With a sound like a punch to the face and no light whatsoever, Luna appeared before me. A few bags and boxes dropped to the ground at her sides, but I didn’t get a chance to pay much attention to them. Luna stomped towards me, eyes glowing in the predawn light. Stopping inches from my face, she growled, “How did you do that?”

I took two steps back before answering. “Do what?”

“I don’t know!” Something off to the side flashed, and I saw a rock rise the size of both my fists, held in a dark blue aura, and watched as it was crushed, the shards floating, whirling in an unseen wind. “One moment, I was in your dream, to deliver a message, and then I shattered, my mind ejected from the dreamscape, tumbling through the aether. Something did that to me. Me!” Another rock rose and crumbled, this one the size of my head. She took a step towards me. “I am Princess of the Night and all that happens under my stars is mine!” Two more, larger than the first. Another step. “So tell me, how did you, with your lack of magic, remove me from your dream?” She was leaning towards me now, her eyes open wide and large enough to drown in.

I took another two steps back, paused, looked at the rock dust held up by her will, and took a third. I tried to take a fourth, but I was back up against a tree, and I doubt Luna would be happy with me walking away from her right now. “It’s simple. I didn’t. I have no idea what happened. You just shattered.”

She frowned at me. Her horn flashed. “Repeat that.”

“I have no idea what happened.” There was a pause in which nothing happened. Finally, Luna let out a sigh. Her frown relaxed a touch, her expression moving from angry to confused.

“Perhaps you did not mean to… no, intent is important. Subconsciously, perhaps? No.” She blinked, twice. “You once mentioned being visited by a being while unconscious. Has that happened since?”

“Just last night,” I said.

Back to angry. “And why did you not mention this?”

I shrugged. “You never gave me a chance.”

“You will tell me of this visit now,” she ordered.

I glanced up at the clouds overhead. They were a pale grey, darkening as the centre of the storm moved neared. She followed my gaze and saw the clouds. I realised she - and the supplies - were bone dry, even as the rain plastered by hair to my head and soaked me to the bone. Her horn flashed and I felt a split second of searing heat pass over my skin, drying me in a flash. I lifted a hand to my eyes and watched as rain bounced off something a hair’s thickness above it.

“Not much to tell,” I answered without looking away from my hand. I wonder how it worked? “Something, I’m pretty sure the same thing as last time, talked to me while I slept.” I waved a hand vaguely skywords. “It took credit for the storm.”

She looked at the storm that stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions, thunder rumbling off towards the centre of the mass of clouds. “Not many entities could create a storm as large as that. The volume of water alone is enormous.” She looked away from the storm and back at me, her face blank. “Did it say anything else?”

“Not to waste the storm.”

She frowned, tilting her head to one side. “Waste?”

“The griffons are on the defensive just now. We hit them with something when they thought they had us, and we hit them again a while ago, so they’re caught between pissing themselves and just being pissed,” I explained.

“Why do they not simply fly over you?” she asked.

“Kidnapped their Princess.” At her shocked look, I added, “Do you not read my reports?”

“I have not, no. With Celestia away, I have been overseeing all of Equestria.” She preened slightly at that, as if expecting praise. When none came, she continued. “I did not think you would do something as foalish as kidnap their Princess.”

“Well, if I had my way, I would’ve just assassinated the king, but Celestia shot that down, so I needed something else to buy you the time you need. I needed to make them focus on us instead of flying over, so I took something they wanted.”

“Celestia has mentioned the time she spent over twelve years getting a decent King on the Valgryphan throne,” Luna mused. “But that is not the point. Where is Princess Alvor?”

“First thing first; whats medical supplies?” She pointed to a couple boxes that were far too small for my liking. They were big, don’t get me wrong. They weren’t skimping on things. I’d just rather have more than I needed. She lifted the rest with magic. I still forgot about that sometimes. I started walking towards the camp. “How are the ponies we’ve managed to send back doing?”

“Fine, I assume. I have not heard about them since their arrival, so I presume they are still alive.”

“Find out for me, and let me know.”

“Very well. And Twilight is also fine, though the few times I have seen her she has been dispirited, due to both my sisters and your absence, I believe.”

“Well, tell her I’ll be back before Hearths Warming. That should cheer her up.” For some reason, Cameron started laughing at that. Luna nodded, and we walked in silence. I dropped half of the medical supplies in the medic’s tent, and gave the rest, along with all the other supplies, to the quartermaster to deal with I told him to send some of them to wherever the couple smiths we had had set up shop.

“Tell me, why did you want blasting powder, of all things? And ball bearings?”

“Can’t say, trade secret.” I don’t know why Cameron didn’t want me telling the Princesses, as it would mean waiting on Twilight or, after this thing was over, making them myself, but I wasn’t going to complain. And with ‘trade secret’ being an actual thing I couldn’t be ordered to divulge, it was the best way to keep it secret.

“Very well. Princess Alvor?”

“This way.” I led her to where the griffon Princess was staying. She wasn’t enjoying being in a cave, but it meant we could take the shackle off, as long as a unicorn and pegasus were sticking around to guard her. Probably didn’t need both, but better safe than sorry.

We three guards waited outside while Luna spoke to Alvor. I asked them what she’d been like, and they answered like I thought they would. She was quiet, more than a little scared, and no trouble at all.

Luna came out after a few minutes, looking troubled. I fell in beside her as she walked away.

As we walked, she quietly said, “Princess Alvor is physically fine. The prolonged imprisonment is not good for her, however.”

“Anything I need to worry about?”

She shook her head. “No, but there will be repercussions for this. Valgryph will not idly let their Princess be taken captive.”

I waved the thought away. “I’ll burn those bridges when I get to them.”

She didn’t look happy about that, but didn’t say anything about it. “I believe my business is concluded here.” She looked at me expectantly. “Is there anything else you think I should be made aware of?”

“Considering you’ve not read my reports, yeah, probably.” I may have been a little annoyed about that. Those things were bloody long. Though that may be why she didn’t read them. “I doubt we can give Shining Armour the time he needs with the Diamond Dogs, so he needs to pick up the pace. We’ll need another supply drop in a couple weeks, if we survive that long.”

She seemed shocked at the last part. “Is the situation truly so dire?”

“Theres about four thousand pissed off carnivores on the other side of this here mountain. I can get you a couple weeks, maybe a month at most, but after that, no promises.”

“I may be able to assist, if you can think of a way,” Luna offered.

Hell yes, I could think of a way. I could think of a lot of ways. And only two- no, three, only three had her just raining death on a ludicrous number of griffons. “We just hit the griffons, so nothing will be happening soon. Already have things planned for the next few days. You can join the big push at the end. I’ll talk to my lieutenants, and get back to you in a few days, but we’ll probably need you within a week. Ten days, tops.”

“I would need advance notice, to schedule around,” Luna pointed out.

“I’ll see what I can do. No promises on how much though. I’ll need to see what comes up.”

She nodded, and disappeared without another word, with the faintest of flashes and noticeably less noise.

I strangled a sigh and went back to work. The next week was going to be busy.

Chapter 14

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The next morning was a noisy one. The thundering of the rain mixed with actual thunder and the screaming wind, all on top of ponies shouting to be heard. A little bit after noon the day after Luna’s visit is when we got to work, the storm dying down enough to not end everyone flying. The storm would keep the griffons grounded, and they were probably hating the decision to camp in an open field at the foot of a mountain. If they weren’t, they would be soon.

I had had a busy night before, after pegasi reported the storm was about to get a lot worse. Moving supplies, moving wounded, moving some things the smiths made over to the other side of the mountain. Really, just generally moving anything that would get ruined by the water flowing down the caves. Thankfully, we got most of the important things, bandages and the like, out of the way in time. Other stuff had to deal with a little water.

I started off the first day small. With the griffons grounded, we had the upperhand by far when it came to speed, even over the short distances unicorns could teleport. So, I set some unicorns to annoying the griffons. I wanted them angry. Stealing supplies, teleporting griffons around camp so they got lost, anything was game. I told them to mess with the griffons until it stopped being funny or they were found, and neither looked likely to happen soon. They managed to keep it up until around midnight, using Spike as a scout when it got too dark to see even with magic, using an old scale of his an anchor, one of them called it. It let them know where he was or something. I filed that away, and wondered why noone had thought to mention that little bit of incredibly useful information before. When I asked Quick Cut about it, he seemed surprised someone in camp did.

“It’s an incredibly efficient way of moving energy over long distances, but only through the anchor,” he explained. “Which limits its uses to healing and killing. And since you need to be able to see what your doing to heal somepony, its damn near useless for it. It was never exactly made illegal, as far as I know. Just hidden.”

“Does it work in reverse? Can you send energy from a big part of something to the little part?”

“I guess. Why?”

I told him my idea, and he nodded, his grin far too predatory for a herbivore. “I’ll take care of that, sir. In fact, I know just the place.”

The next day the storm got worse. Fierce and cold winds grounded any pegasi without a death wish. Over the howl of the wind and the drumming of the rain, thunder boomed and lightning flashed, shaking the air and setting it buzzing with energy.

Around what was hopefully a couple hours before sunset - no one was exactly sure what time it was, with the clouds hiding the sky - we went over the mountain, all hundred and twenty of us that were fit for combat. The griffons would be grounded while the storm lasted, which gave us a huge advantage. How? Unicorns. If griffons have any magic, I haven’t seen it.

The wind howled behind us, urging us down the mountain. We crept slowly close to the griffon camp. I gave the signal, and series of explosions rocked the air, a burst of light and sound to rival the storm. The griffons spotted us not long after, but on foot they weren’t very fast runners. When the two sides met, we were on the defensive almost instantly. We did our best to keep ranks together, but it was tricky, in the mud and the rain. Pretty soon, the griffons were amassed in front of us, the combined weight of them pushing us up the mountain. It was damn near perfect.

I turned to Quick Cut next to me and nodded at him. Saying anything would be pointless; I doubt he could hear me over the wind. His horn flashed, twice short and once long, and he and the half dozen other unicorns teleported a dozen waterproof packages the size of my two fists together into the main body of the griffon troops.

The teleportation ignited the gunpowder, scorching the ones nearest and sending hundreds of tiny, hot ball bearings flying. I couldn’t hear the sound over the wind and thunder, but I could see the flashes, too low to be lightning, the flames they caused, quickly put out by the rain.

We kept pulling back up the mountain, the griffons that had seen the packages arrive a little less keen to chase us. I had them send the next wave, closer to the front. I saw a pegasus go down a split second after the flash, as well as dozens of griffons.

We pulled back more. The griffons followed us into the pass. A sudden explosion, louder than thunder and brighter than lightning tore apart the upper reaches of the mountain. A steady rumble sounded, louder and deeper with every passing second. A cloud of dust and stone roared down the mountain, straight for the griffons. Some tried to take to the air, and were shot down by unicorns when the storm didn’t get them fast enough. The mud and rocks slammed into the side of the griffon army, burying dozens if not hundreds of the bastards. Cameron grumbled in the back of my head.

It was your idea, I reminded him.

‘Rocks fall, everyone dies,’ was a joke, not a suggestion.

I looked at the dying griffons. Yeah, a joke. Hilarious.

You’re the one that was smiling.

Was I? I was. Huh. A job well done is worth smiling about.

You’re an asshole, you know that.

So you’ve said. And yet here you are, talking to me. I’m sure you have better things to do than entertain me.

Don’t give me that bullshit. What am I supposed to do, pretend magic doesn’t exist? Pretend that there isn’t a planet of magical talking ponies out there somewhere? Aren’t you even the tiniest bit curious about what else there might be?

Not in the slightest. I’ve had my fill of travelling.

Well I haven’t, and for now you’re the best I can do. Which isn’t saying much.

I stood and watched as the griffons that had avoided the mud where mopped up by the earth ponies. There had to be a good two hundred or so dead griffons down there, and we’d only been chased by a small part of the army. It wasn’t enough. They wouldn’t stay here forever, and when it came down to numbers, we lost, simple as that.

It was a weary but happy group that made its way back to camp. We’d only lost a dozen or so ponies today. I heard a lot of reasons why that was. The Element of Surprise. The storm. The new explosives. Luck. The last was the most common, and probably the most accurate. We couldn’t keep this up for long, but if Celestia needed time, then time is what she’d get.

Of course, with Luna’s willing to help, we had other options than trying to wait them out. Just had to soften them up a bit first.

After the mudslide trap we backed off again, leaving a handful of unicorns and some earth ponies behind to keep the griffons entertained. On top of some food, they had a couple small telescopes and barrel full of smaller packages. Those ones were a little smaller than the palm of my hand, just big enough to let off a flash and a bang. Should be enough to keep the griffons busy for most of the night.

I was the medic on night shift that night, watching over the fourteen wounded we still had with a pegasus named Pitterpatter. Nothing happened other than us changing bandages and giving painkillers. We talked a bit, once he stopped saluting every time I turned around, but nothing important or overly interesting, just a way to pass time.

I was relieved around dawn, and for a brief time I could see the sun, in that small space between tree and cloud. The storm had died down during the night, it’s anger spent, but it picked up as the sun climbed over the horizon, winds growing stronger, their whistling turning to howls.The rain picked up, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and the storm raged again.

One of the unicorns I’d left on the other side came over, letting me know they were almost out of explosives and the rest would be back before noon. He looked exhausted, so I sent him off to sleep and went to find Spike. I had him send a scrap of parchment to Luna, telling her to come tomorrow at midnight and to bring supplies.
It was a scrap because thats all that I could find. We were seriously low on parchment. Plenty of ink, but no parchment. It was like someone was eating it or something.

I found Ironshod and Night Wind eating breakfast and working out the smaller details of today’s plan. I sat down across from them, listening as they hashed out details, occasionally chiming in when I had relevant information they didn’t. Quick Cut joined us around noon, just as we were finishing up.

The griffons wouldn’t be falling for any false retreats again any time soon, and would be unwilling to let a small part of the force break off and chase us, which meant we needed bait. Which we just so happened to have, in the form of Princess Alvor.

The griffons had the day off today, but they would spend a fair bit of it jumping at shadows, if I knew anything about the birds. They would start to calm down tomorrow, and then things would get interesting.

The griffons getting a day off meant we also got the day off, which had some ponies nearly worshipping the ground I walked on. I hadn’t realised how tired they were getting. I would need to keep a better eye on that. Which means I was going to have Ironshod remind me to keep an eye on that.

Some work still had to be done, of course. Medics still treated the wounded, smiths and Zecora made more explosives, my newest lieutenant adding her own twist to some of them. But even those jobs only take so long, and it wasn’t long before everyone started singing.

Now, I have nothing against singing. I do it myself. But when they start singing a catchy little jig during the worst storm I’ve ever seen, it gets a little hard to concentrate, and you need to concentrate when handling the stuff I was using. More than some were poisonous to the touch.

So, when Luna suddenly teleported in front of me, I was more than a little annoyed. She tried to say something, but I couldn’t hear her over the music and the storm. Only able to do anything about one of those, I motioned for Luna to stay put and left the cavern I was working in. The ponies were singing and dancing in the largest cave we used, and when I walked in the music died down and the ponies quickly stopped singing.

“Luna’s here,” I announced. They starting forming up. “There’ll be time for that later. Quick Cut, Night Wind, Ironshod and Zecora,” I said, pointing to each one in turn. “You four, with me. Rest of you, go back to whatever you were doing, but be quieter. The four lieutenants quickly made their way over to me and I led them back to the small side cavern I had been using. They were giving me slightly awed looks for some reason, but they didn’t say anything, and I had other worries.

Luna was looking over the items I had been working on, poking at one of them with a hoof. Her ears twitched as the five of us came closer, but she didn’t look around. Quick Cut’s horn flashed, and the sound of the storm and singing died down. I called her name. Her hoof jerked back like she’d been shocked and she turned around, her face full of wide eyed innocence. She just looked at us for a few seconds. It was weird as hell. Eventually, she flicked a wing at the various items on the low stone shelf and said, “What are these for, if I may ask.”

“Some things I’m putting together with Zecora’s help,” I replied, walking over to my workstation. “If I can get them to work, they’ll all release a gas of some sort.” I tapped one, a thin metal shell with a few piles of leaves and powders next to it. “Tear gas.” Another, with just powders next to it. “Chlorine.” A third. “No gas for this one, actually. It lets off a bright flash and a loud noise. Can’t get it to work, don’t have the things I need here.”

“And the rest?” she asked, looking at the half a dozen other things in various stages of assembly.

“This and that. Side projects, for the most part.” I started packing them away. “You do realise you’re early, right?”

“Of course,” she said, sounding more than a little insulted. “I would need time to learn my part in this plan of yours.”

“We know. We had planned for that. Night Wind, how early is the Princess?” As a pegasus, she went outside the caves more often than the other three, and had the best sense of time on top.

“An hour or so after sunset, sir.”

I nodded. “Five hours ahead. Any reason we can’t move everything else up?”

“The troops will need some sleep, sir,” Ironshod said. “The first part really only needs you and Spike, maybe a unicorn or two to speed it up, so if they get bunked down soon they’ll get maybe seven hours total if we move everything up three hours.”

“Okay. Go give the order. Quick Cut, Night Wind, Zecora, we’re going to bring the Princess up to speed.”

Quick Cut did most of the talking, as he knew the plan better than the rest of us. We chimed in occasionally, with a comment or small change. It took roughly half an hour for her to be brought up to date. When we had finished, she nodded thoughtfully for a moment. “‘Tis a good plan, I find. But, what is my part in this?”

My lieutenants looked to me. “That depends on a few things. First, Luna, did you bring the supplies I asked for?”

“Indeed I did. My sister’s student was most reluctant to tell me what they you asked her to provide, but they are present also. I left them with at the mouth of the cave before I teleported to you.” She tilted her head to the side and said, as if reading from a list, “There are four large barrels of the blasting powder, five magically chilled canisters, the contents of which I was not informed of, some various medical supplies, along with some miscellaneous herbs, some rare and some not. It is, all told, a strange assortment of supplies. But how does that change my part in the plan?”

“It doesn’t, not really. I just wanted to check. Now, I’m working on the assumption that you can’t just teleport the griffons into two pieces, right?”

She made a face I’m pretty sure was disgust. “That is correct. The magic simply won’t allow it. I can touch the outside of a creature with magic, but not the inside. Something in the skin seems to prevent it.” She frowned, looking at Quick Cut. “Did your lieutenant not tell you as much?”

“He did, but I was wondering if alicorns were different.” I leaned back against the wall. “Okay, that was plan four. How big of a shield can you make, and keep it airtight?”

“Physical magic is my sister’s specialty. I could perhaps cover two thirds of Canterlot in such a shield, and keep it there for a month if I my sister could take over raising the moon for me and nothing was exerting any force on the shield.”

I started to reply, but stopped. “Night Wind,” I said, turning to her. She was already holding a map out for me, a faint smile on her face. I took the map with a quiet ‘thanks’, and unrolled it, placing it on my workbench. Placing a finger on a field on the other side of the mountains, one marked with a few circles within circles, I said to Luna, “This is where the griffons are. The circles are roughly how much space their camps take up. How much of this could you cover with an airtight shield that won’t shatter when someone touches it?”

“Perhaps two thirds, depending on how much reinforcement the shield needs,” she replied. “Assuming you meant the smallest circle.” I nodded.

“Could other unicorns help strengthen the shield?” She shook her head. “Okay, say half the camp, to be safe. Put the officers and what not in there, that leaves the lower ranks, which make up the bulk. Say just over half their forces, which is how many, Quick Cut?”

“Half of their forces would be around one thousand eight hundred troops, sir.”

“Make it two thousand, to be safe. Use the gas, hit the rest, mop up survivors. Just need to keep two thousand griffons busy for, what, five minutes? No, make it ten. Gas needs time to expand and work.” I said, mostly to myself. “They don’t need to die, just be close enough they can’t fight. Shouldn’t take too long. Griffons last time started screaming after five minutes, and that was with wind and a lower concentration, so we should be good.”

“Michael,” Luna said, her voice quiet. “What did I bring you?”

“Chlorine gas.” I glanced up at her, and could tell from the look on her face she had no idea what that was. Well, if she didn’t ask I was going to offer.

Thankfully, she didn’t. Instead, she just looked to my lieutenants. “You three may go. I require a few words with your Captain.” They nodded, bowed, and left. When Quick Cut took down his shield that blocked sound, Luna put up one of her own. “I have read over your reports,” she said.

I kept quiet, waiting for her to get to the point.

She let out a long sigh, her head hanging. “I was a patron of the arts, before. I sponsored playwrights and musicians by the score, commission hundreds of works of art, many of which are still loved today, and here I am, soon to do battle once more. The last conflict I took part in was six hundred and twenty four years before…” She paused, searching for the right word. After a few seconds, she simply repeated, “Before,” and left it at that. “It lasted three days and was concluded with no dead and three injured. The guard is mostly ceremonial these days, a fact which I feel Celestia forgot when she worked out her plan for the Gem Hounds. My sister and I, however, have experienced a great deal of combat, a fair portion of which is large scale warfare. But what we learned of it, we paid for in blood and sweat and tears. So how, Michael, have you learned to wage war?”

“Isn’t it just common sense? Don’t be where they think you are, doing what they think you’re doing, or after what they think you’re after.” I could tell from the look on her face that that answer wasn’t good enough for her.

“Common sense? Perhaps. Tho- You are a predatory species, if I am not mistaken. However, that would, at best, put you on a level playing field against the griffons, many of whom have been trained in warfare. Yet you seem to be, what is the phrase? Coming out ahead. What reason do you give for this?”

I shrugged. “We have magic on our side.”

She looked at me as if asking if I thought she was stupid. “Even so, you were outnumbered twenty two to one at one point. As powerful and versatile as magic is, even it cannot overcome such a great disparity in numbers.”

“Valgryph has a lot of forests, which made hiding from patrols easy.”

She took a step towards me. “Is that all? And all these new devices you are suddenly creating? What prompted them? Has there been a voice, whispering in your ear, giving you instructions, helping you succeed?”

Don’t do it, man. I don’t want to know what she could do to me.

I thought about what to do. For around two seconds. “There has been a voice,” I confirmed. Luna’s eyes widened at first, before narrowing sharply. “But it doesn’t tell me what to do.”

Man, you suck. Who knows what she’s going to do to me now?

“You will explain.” I almost flinched at her voice. She spoke in the same tone of absolute authority that you think would be reserved for phrases like ‘Let There Be Light.’ I was surprised to hear it from Luna. Her height, I realised, had made me think of her the same way I thought of Twilight. Well, not Twilight. But fairly close. Someone who needed protecting, but could be counted on to give a helping hand on occasion. It was easy to forget she had ruled alongside Celestia for centuries before she was sent to the moon.

I decided to take my time before answering, and actually think before I opened my mouth. “You remember that thing with the dragon, a while back? My voice went weird.”

“I do,” she said, nodding. “It was truly unsettling. Like somepony trying to talk over you, a second too late and full of a horrible buzzing. But how is this related?”

“For a while I was getting little snippets of information from somewhere. Eventually, this connection, evolved into a mental link, of some sort. We can talk to each other, in a way. It was a little after you gave me that first dream that it happened for the first time. Thats also when my voice went back to normal.” I paused there, and waited for Luna to say something. She didn’t. We stood there for a few long minutes, looking at each other. And then I blinked, and when I opened my eyes Luna was right in front of me, tip of her horn touching me between the eyes. I felt something hit me, like I’d just been slapped with a giant pillow, but with less force, and something trickled into my mind. It felt wrong, like there were maggots under my skin, wriggling around, like I was drowning in a pool of rotten milk. I could feel her, moving around inside my mind, like a splinter, an ant, a thief.

And then it was gone, leaving me with the urge to throw up, the need to have a bath and knowing I would never feel completely clean again.

Never. Again. I nodded slightly. Never again.

“There is most definitely something connected to your consciousness, Michael. Why did you not bring this to our attention?”

I lowered my head onto my hands, rubbing the spot Luna’s horn had touched with the heel of my hand. “Needed to make sure I wasn’t just crazy.”

“We could have done that, Michael.” She took on a vaguely smug tone. “Indeed, we just did.”

“I don’t like things looking inside my head. Especially those who don’t ask permission.” I glanced at her as I spoke. At least she had the decency to look a little ashamed by that. “But I guess it’s good to know, even if I hate the method.” And there was her smile. “Find out anything else?”

“The presence in your mind is more like yours than a ponies, or even a griffons. Other than that, no. What has this presence asked you to do?”

“Explain some things, like how the seasons work and the relative value of bits to the currency it uses. Not to tell you about it.” I paused at Cameron grumbled. “Not to call him an ‘it’, and also use his name. Cameron says hi, by the way.”

She mouthed something for a few moments, then shook her head and sighed. “I am not even going to attempt to pronounce that. Your name is difficult enough.” Ponies have trouble with my name. Twilight, Celestia, Luna and, surprisingly, Applejack are the only ponies that seem able to pronounce it. Pinkie Pie butchers it completely. Most of the ponies in the Night Guard do their best when they use it at all. Griffons are fine with it, as is Spike.

If the ponies have trouble saying your name, why didn’t you pick a different one? Cameron thought at me.

What makes you think I didn’t?

Luna hadn’t stopped talking, only pausing for a moment. “So, this other, in your mind. He talks to you?” I nodded. “What does he say?”

“When he isn’t asking questions, he’s usually answering mine or busy with his own life.”

“His own life? Is he not a presence within your skull?”

“I thought so, at first, but he said otherwise. We think we’ve just got a connection, linking the two of us. Think bridge, not house.”

Luna balanced her head on her hoof. I looked at how her foreleg was bent, and had no idea how she found it comfortable. Just looking at it made me need to move. She was silent for a long while, and when she spoke her voice was slow, measured, like she was carefully considering each word. “Normally, I would rip any foreign presence from your mind and force you to take a leave of absence.” I did not like the sound of ‘rip’. “However, if the presence has been there as long as you claim, then that would be extremely dangerous. In addition, I trust my sister’s judgement, who in turn trusts your’s. If you have not deemed it threatening enough to bring to the attention of either myself or my sister by now, then it may be benign. Not that we can afford to take you from your post.”

I leaned back against a wall. “That’s the verdict? I have something in my head and all’s well?”

“Hardly. We will talk more on this matter in Canterlot. But we have business to be about. I have kept you from your lieutenants long enough.”

I made to leave, but she stopped me near the hole in the wall that served as a door. Luna looked me straight in the eyes and growled. “Never keep something like that from me again. That is an order. Understood?”

I nodded. “Yes, Luna.” She flicked her ears and tail, made a face I couldn’t read.

“Very well. Let us prepare for the morrow.”

I grabbed the bag with my experiments in it, the supplies Luna brought and we left my workshop, making our way to the main cave. The tunnel and caves were large enough for me to stand straight with some room to spare, and worn smooth by years of wind and rain. The floor, not completely even, made for some difficult footing in the dark, but thankfully there was just enough light to see. It took me a moment to realise it was coming from Luna’s mane, an ethereal silver light, ghostly and pale.It wasn’t a lot of light, but it was there.

Most of the ponies serving under me should have been asleep, leaving only those on watch awake. There would be four in or near the cave, two pegasi, an earth pony and a unicorn. I led Luna past them, getting a glance from one pegasus and twitchy ears from the rest. Having several hours to kill, Luna filled me in on the war with Diamond Dogs and I put away the supplies, noting anything that looked low. Not that I’d need to worry about it, if even half of the plan went as I’d hoped. I woke a few ponies and set them to work, creating more explosives and preparing somethings.

From what Luna told me, the war with the Diamond Dogs was not going well. Not badly, but not well either. The two sides seemed to have reached a stalemate, neither able to move against the other without opening themselves to attack. The way Luna spoke gave me the feeling I’d be heading south soon, one way or another.

A few hours after Luna’s arrival, I took Spike, Luna and Quick Cut out over the mountains. I tried to talk Luna out of coming, saying it was stupid to take so many people of high rank. She basically ignored me. Thankfully, the storm had started dying down. It wasn’t strong enough to knock me off my feet anymore. Still enough to make things miserable.

We hid some surprises around the griffon camp, burying them under a bit of mud. It took us around an hour to hide as many as I wanted, and we got back to our camp with enough time to clean our armour and get some sleep. I went back to helping the smiths mix up some explosives.

A couple hours after Luna raised the moon, we went over the mountains. When Luna found out I planned to use the griffon’s princess as bait she ordered me to leave her behind, meaning I had to leave behind a couple pegasi to guard her. I probably should have left unicorns, but I needed all the ones I had. It also meant changing the plan I had, but she hadn’t been a very important part. Her being here would make things easier, but we didn’t need her.

We stopped maybe twenty minutes walk from the griffon camp. We were slightly above it, making it easy to see on the open plain, the campfires standing out like stars in the night sky. I nodded to Quick Cut, who passed the order along. Light flashed in the centre of the griffon camp, waking some of the griffons. Squawks of surprise turned to fear as the dozen canisters that had just been teleported into the camp flashed again and lost the enchantments holding the gas inside. Luna’s horn glowed a deep blue and a shield grew over the centre, splitting the officers from the enlisted. And also trapping the gas in. The colour of the shield and the gas together made it almost impossible to see what was going on inside it, but the glow of the shield, along with the moon and the stars, made seeing the activity in the rest of the camp easy.

I doubted we had gotten every officer in the army. Some would have been outside their tents, on the enlisted side of the shield. Given how fast they got organised, I’d probably missed quite a few. Or they had standing orders for if we showed up.

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I gave another order to Quick Cut and a few seconds later the ground under the griffons erupted. Teleporting, while not as power-intensive as you might think, is incredibly complicated to do. It’s much easier to, say, send a small spark out to a bit of your hair thats sitting in the middle of a pile of gunpowder and ball bearings just under the opposing army. We only planted them under the part of the army that was nearest were we would be standing. It was a rather good place to fight a much larger force. We had a mountain to our left and behind us, and while in front and to the right where open fields, they were sloped slightly, and pitted with rocks and other surprises.

As the griffons in the centre of the camp died and the others charged, the unicorns rained rocks down on them. Earth ponies and pegasi did their best to keep them supplied with rocks, but as the griffons neared they took their places in front of the unicorns. As they charged up the hill, still outnumbering us around fifteen to one, the charges hidden there were detonated. Few griffons were killed outright by these ones. Most instead were left bleeding heavily or crippled from the ball bearings. When the griffons were a hundred or so feet away, the unicorns switched to precision attacks, aiming at individual griffons. It took maybe five minutes for the first wave of griffons to reach us, tired and wounded from running uphill and into a unicorn barrage. The earth ponies made quick work of them.

But they just kept coming. The second wave would be more tired, but less wounded. And there was more of them. As they neared the front line of earth ponies, I stepped down from the rock I had stood on and made my way over. It was time to get to work.

Chapter 15

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The earth ponies made a space for me at the front, giving me a wide enough space to swing my spear. I got in position just in time to catch a leaping griffon in the chest. The base of my spear sank deep into the mud, and I barely kept a grip on the rain-slick haft. I kicked the griffon off the blade and stabbed him through the throat before turning and cracking the griffon fighting the pony to my left over the head and tripping the one to my right. It was all I had time to do before another griffon was on me. This one was smarter and kept low to the ground, trying to get inside my reach. I blocked a swipe and gave one of my own, trying to force the bird back. It just ducked under and tackled me, which didn't do much. I kneed it in the face, sending it reeling, and swept it’s legs out from under and stabbing it between the eyes. I tried to pull my spear free, only to find it stuck on something. Shit.

That was all I had time to think before a third griffon was on top of me, literally on top of me, and pushing me down into the mud. I got an arm under its chin, keeping the razor sharp beak from me. It’s claws raked my armour, scratching but not ripping the tough hide. I dropped my spear and punched the griffon where I thought it’s kidneys would be. It let out a squawk, and then another when I brought my knee up between it’s legs. The griffon rolled off me, and I slipped a knife from my belt and slit open her stomach before pushing her downhill.

I made to put the knife away only to realise I kicked it downhill with the griffon, putting me at my spear, another knife and an axe. I pull my spear from the griffon’s skull and feel it hit something. I turn to see a griffon staggering back. One of the earth ponies finished it off.

I heard a scream, and turned to see the earth pony on my left go down, throat torn out, the griffon responsible already fighting another pony, who dodged the griffons wild swipe and cracked it’s beak with a swift one-two to the face. I moved over to try and fill the gap and stop any other griffons getting through.

The rest of the fighting was like that, short and brutal and unforgiving. The blood mixed with the mud and the rain, soaking me in a mix of the three that made me glad my sense of smell was terrible compared to ponies. The whole thing stunk, the smell of death and shit mixing with burning fur and feathers from griffons hit by explosives or whatever else the unicorns were raining down on them. I don’t want to imagine how bad it must have been for the ponies.

The griffons just kept coming. For every griffon I killed, two more took it’s place. Its one thing to know your badly outnumbered, quite another to see it. And as the fighting went on, we got more and more tired, took more and more injuries, while the griffons were, comparatively, fresh. The only rest we had was when they paused to group up and when they had to dodge a corpse sliding downhill. When that happened, I took a moment to take a look at the ponies around me. They were tired, the bone deep weariness of the exhausted who know they’re going to get to rest, one way or another.

I lost track of time pretty quickly, so when Luna’s shield dropped I was taken by surprise. The cloud of yellow gas was blown away quickly, heading south. A shield grew in front of our line, separating us from the griffons. I finished off the griffon in front of me and headed back up the hill. The unicorns looked exhausted as well. More than one had collapsed. Luna looked fine. She nodded at me when she spotted me. “Captain.”

I nodded back. “Luna. Good idea with the shield,” I said, waving a hand over my shoulder. It was a bubble around us, and had an added effect of stopping the wind. “Any idea how many of them are left?”

Quick Cut answered, his voice thick with weariness. “A little over a thousand, I think.”

I nodded to him, then turned back to Luna. “How’re you feeling?”

She glanced at me. “I am fine. Why?”

“Feel like killing some griffons?”

She tapped a hoof against her chin. “I think I can make space in my schedule.”

“Good. Here’s what you’re going to do.” I hopped up onto the rock she was standing on. “You’re going to teleport the two of us to one of the griffon’s flanks. We pop out there, kill some griffons, then as soon as they start rounding on us, we move. Don’t focus on any one griffon. Let me keep the ones close away from you; you just focus on killing as many as possible.”

She nodded, a small smile on her face. “That sounds acceptable.”

“Well, I’m glad you approve. Really, it means so much to me. We’ll start over there, just behind where they meet our line.” Her horn started to glow. “Whenever you’re ready.” There was a flash of darkness, and I was somewhere else.

I didn’t wait for my sight to return before swinging. My spear bit into something and I shoved forward, twisted and pulled back. I caught a leaping griffon in the wing with a thrust and slammed it into the ground before spinning and cracking another over the head. We had surprised them, appearing suddenly and attacking. I put another two down as they tried to sneak up on Luna before I started getting pushed back to her side. I leaned against her and shouted, “Move!”

Another flash, another jump, another griffon taken by surprise. And then something was on my back, pushing me into the mud. I rolled over and tried to push the griffon’s face away from me. Bad idea. I felt a sudden sharp pressure on one of the fingers of my left hand, followed by a snapping, cracking feeling, and then pain, so much pain. I let out a scream from the pain and just pummeled the griffon. I don’t remember rolling over or getting to my feet, but I must have, because next thing I remember was stomping on the griffon’s skull. And then I glanced at my left hand which suddenly remembered it should hurt.

One of my fingers was gone, just gone, down to the lowest knuckle. There was the tiniest bit of a stump, but it wasn't even level. A griffon came from nowhere to swipe at me, and I swung without thinking, breaking its foreleg with my spear before cracking it’s skull and taking out it’s throat. Each swing of the spear brought more pain, and I was forcing back tears by the time I put the griffon down. I kept trying to bend that finger, I could feel it bend. I managed to spear a griffon one handed and get Luna’s attention at the same time. She glanced at my hand and next thing I know its burning, like it was one fire, and I lift it to see the stump now had a burn over it. She fucking cauterized it. It would have to do; not like I was going to find the finger in this.

She must have done something else, because the pain slowly faded, my whole left hand going slightly numb. She touched her horn to my forehead. A flash, and I was somewhere else.

I cut down a pair of griffons from behind, kicked another away, and took a moment to look around. Luna was laying waste to the griffons, whatever spells she was using leaving patches of fire even with the rain. I saw one griffon just wither away, watched as it grew old and rotted. I dodged a swipe only to back into another griffon that shoved me forward. I bounced between the two griffons for a few seconds before I managed to grab onto one by the shoulders and throw it at the other. I glanced around and saw we were surrounded. I slapped my hand against Luna’s side. “Jump!”

Flash. I surprised a trio of griffons by falling on one from a few feet up, felt it’s bones crack and shatter under me. The two left didn’t even move, too stunned to do anything before I took care of them. Another threw itself at me - what is it with griffons and jumping? - and was speared by a bolt of lightning from Luna. I ducked under her next spell, a ball of liquid fire, and broke the beak of a griffon sneaking up behind her before breaking it’s wings, but not before it managed to break a pair of my fingers.

Flash. I crouched down and came up swinging, completely missing everything. Still managed to put down a few griffons before they turned from the earth ponies they were fighting. I tripped one just as a pony swung at it and it went down minus a face, killed another with an axe in the back, which I barely managed to take out and plant in the chest of another griffon.

Flash. The axe still had a chunk of griffon on it. I slapped the first griffon I saw with the flat of the blade, then dropped the axe and hit it again with my spear. One of these griffon’s had a sword; they seemed to be frowned upon or something. We traded a few blows before Luna set it on fire.

Flash. My spear took a griffon in the chest, broke another’s leg and a slit open a third’s stomach.

Flash. Jab with my spear, killing one. An explosion was Luna contribution. Kick in the chest staggered another. A griffon turned and slashed out at it without realising, turning it’s chest to ribbons.

Flash. Another griffon down. I followed, a griffon sent flying by one of Luna’s spells landing on me. Another spell must have hit it, because it froze solid and then thawed. It’s eyes bled, though thankfully it didn't scream. Luna helped me to my feet, and then shoved me back. A spear, my spear, flew through the space I’d been standing in a second before. Luna caught it in her deep blue glow and sent it flying back.

Flash. My spear was next to me, sticking out of a griffon. I pulled it out and spun around. I hit a griffon in the neck, collapsing it’s windpipe. I left it choking.

Flash. Thrust spear. Dodge. Swipe. Flash. Attack. Dodge. Flash. Flash. Flash.

I don’t know how many jumps it was before the griffons started learning, focusing on us as soon as we appeared. On one of the jumps, I don’t remember which, they jumped me as a group, with two holding me down. I managed to get the ones holding me down to let go, but not before another got a swipe at my face. I managed to turn away from it, so it only tore open my cheek and ripped off part of my ear. I slammed a handful of mud into it’s face, screaming in pain and fear all the while, which just made it hurt more. I slammed the griffon that hurt me face first into another one, then turned to see another readying to attack me. I screamed at it, and it turned and ran. I found my spear in the mud just in time for Luna to take one look at me and teleport us back to where we had made our stand.

The rain had started letting up, the wind dying down. I stumbled as I reappeared among the ponies. I heard Luna giving orders. “Your captain needs a medic. Send for one.”

“Zecora,” I said. Fuck, talking hurt. “Get Zecora.”

Luna glanced at me as the pony she had been talking to scurried off to find the zebra. “By the moon, Michael, how are you talking? The side of your face looks like ribbons!”

“The cold numbs it, I think.” I started trying to get all the mud out of my face. I don’t think I did very well, but my hands were mostly dead by this point. I hadn't even noticed the cold, out there. Where was Zecora? “How many did you get, Luna?” I glanced at her, and noticed how tired she looked.

“Over the twenty or so ‘jumps’, as you called them, I slew several hundred griffons personally. You took another four or five dozen.”

I nodded, which stung. Zecora finally got here, with Sergeant Bloody Bandages close behind. They took a look at me face and swore. At least I think Zecora may have sworn. It sorted of rhymed, I think. I’m pretty sure I told her not to rhyme.

Dude, you’re getting delirious. Just, try not to fall over, alright?

Alright, don’t fall over. I can do that. I can do that. I can- wait, nope, fell over. Wait again, I’m being lifted. Luna’s levitating me. Theres a burning pain in my cheek and the world grew clearer, like a fog lifting. I blinked a few times and glanced to the sky. It was noticeably lighter, though that was probably more to do with the storm finally passing than the time. The moon was full and the stars bright, shining merrily down on a blood stained field. I pushed myself to a sitting position. “Report!”

Quick Cut was first. “The griffons are more or less gone, sir. After you and the Princess took the field, one or two other unicorns emulated you, causing havoc among the enemy.” He sounded much more rested than he had only shortly before. “A large portion of those that remained kept a shield up while earth ponies gathered ammunition for the one or two that continued launching them. With the wind dying down, pegasi took to the skies before the griffons did, causing a great deal of trouble. Spike vanished around the same time you and Princess Luna left. He returned an hour or so ago, having seemingly looted everything of value from the griffon camp that wasn’t nailed down, and some things that were. He also took the nails. Anyway, the the griffons broke. I estimate they suffered around eighty percent casualties before they fled. We suffered a slightly lower percentage.”

“How many survivors?”

“Around forty? Thats including wounded, so while accurate now, it may not be later.”

“The Princess?”

“Princess Luna is currently assisting with the wounded, and will be teleporting us over the Everfree in the morning. Princess Alvor is still under guard.”

I nodded and pushed myself to my feet. My staff levitated over to me, held by Quick Cut’s green magic. Leaning on it as little as possible, I walked around our small camp, checking on everyone, before stopping by to help with the wounded.

The sun rose slowly that morning. I yawned along with everyone else as we watched it rise, stopping only when I felt pain in my cheek. Running my fingers over it, I felt the stitches holding the side of my face together. There was something off about it though. I glanced at my left hand and saw my missing finger. It was the fourth finger I was missing. What had it been called? Not important. It itched, though. My ear was ragged, the lower half torn off. They must have magicked it closed as best they could.

I hurt pretty much all over, though it was hard to tell the pain from exhaustion, the latter all the worse for its rarity. On top of my finger and the side of my head, I had a line of gashes along one hip where a griffon had gotten a lucky hit in as I tried to dodge, a swollen ankle from tripping over a corpse, dozens of cuts and scrapes and I don’t even know how many bruises, the largest of which felt like it covered a fair portion of my back.

As for casualties, Night Wind was the highest ranking one, and one of the few pegasi to die. Most of the unicorns were alive as well, most of the dead being earth ponies. We gathered what dead we could and sent them off there, though we had to make up most of the military burial procedures. Luna made a speech, I said a few words, everyone else just looked solemn. We burned the griffons.

We were moving out at noon, giving me twelve hours to get ready. I made a list of the dead, and noted any next of kin. I promoted where promotions where needed, merged squads, and generally herded the ponies into some semblance of an organised military force. Most of them were working without thinking, responding to orders as I gave them because it was me giving them, and they were used to doing as I said.

We divided the loot Spike acquired. It wouldn't have been much to two hundred, but to forty three, it was around half a years pay for everyone. I gave up my share. Luna also took nothing. The general had had some fancy armour, all gold edges and silver inlays. Useless for actual fighting though. Waste of metal. Also one of the few griffons with armour. They had mobilised quickly, probably trying to get to Equestria quickly and hoping that the ponies would roll ever between them and the Dogs.

I finished with a few hours to spare, so I joined the ponies on guard duty while the rest slept. I told one to find a spot and get some sleep before taking her place. Nothing much happened other than me sharing some rabbit with Spike.

It took Luna a while to teleport the lot of us across the Everfree, even though we were less than half the size and had less than had the stuff. Last night must have tired her more than she let on. After a few long minutes of watching her horn slowly grow brighter and brighter, there was a flash and a sound like gunpowder going off. I panicked for a moment before I remembered I’d used what was left to help burn the griffons.

We had a long walk to Canterlot ahead of us, but I wasn't going to rush. Sure, I wanted to see Twilight again, but the ponies with me deserved some time to relax. We set off at a slow march that would get us there in two or three weeks, if we were where Luna said we should be. I didn't trust her aim. Or Celestia’s for that matter.

We passed a few small towns here and there, along with the odd farm, but it was mostly open land until we reached central Equestria, where towns popped up like weeds after rain, growing closer and closer together until they became cities. No one in any town or city we passed through seemed to know where we had been, so they were surprised by the grim faces of the ponies, probably deciding the Night Guard was just weird. The fact we all had fangs and the pegasi had bat wings didn't help. Neither did myself or Spike.

We reached Canterlot in a week and a half, quicker than I’d thought. As soon as the city could be seen over the horizon, everyone started pushing harder and harder, eager to be home. The city was quiet, lacking the usual hustle and bustle of trade and tourism always present inside the marble walls. Also lacking was the guard presence. It was usually kept to a minimum during the day - after all, we couldn’t let anyone know there was crime in the capitol - but now there was none.

I debated taking the rest of the Night Guard up to the castle with me, but I just sent them all home. I got a round of salutes and a few tired smiles as they left. Quick Cut and Ironshod stayed behind. I hadn’t replaced Night Wind yet. Didn’t have enough pegasi to make it worthwhile.

The walk to the castle was quiet, and the castle itself quieter. Here, Quick Cut and Ironshod left me, heading to my office. I eventually found a servant, who pointed me towards the Princesses. They were in an out of the way sitting room. When the three of us entered, they looked up from the table they were sitting around, one covered in maps and parchment. They glanced up when I shut the door behind me.

“You are early, Michael,” Celestia said, then looked back down at the maps. Luna caught my eye and nodded to her side before doing the same.

I went to the spot Luna nodded to and leaned on the table. The maps were of where Equestria met Diamond Dog land. The various tribes were only rarely unified with each other, though they were slowly forming into a smaller number of larger tribes. I was almost certain Celestia was behind that.

Luna leaned over to me. “How many of those who went with you survived?”

“Thirty nine. Dozen unicorns, dozen pegasi, thirteen earth ponies, myself and Spike. How goes the war?”

Celestia answered that with a small sigh. “Not well. The Hounds are a hardier foe than they have been before. Advances in smelting and forging have given them better weaponry, which I should have anticipated. The last war before this was so long ago.” She trailed off towards the end, frowning slightly as something caught her eye. She was still frowning when she asked, “How long until you are well enough to go south?”

I glanced at Luna. After a moment of shock she almost hid, she nodded. “I could leave now.” Celestia glanced up at me, surprised. “I would rather not, though. I haven’t slept in a few weeks, and there are some things that need done here that I should do.”

“Very well. The next supply shipment leaves in eight days. Be ready by then.” That seemed to be all I warranted from Celestia, as she turned back to the reports and maps in front of her. I looked to Luna.

“Dismissed, Captain, Go and rest; you have earned it.”

I wanted to ask about the favour Luna wanted from me, but if they weren't going to mention it I wasn't. It’s not like either of them would have forgotten about it.

First order of business was not one I was looking forward to, but not one I could put off. So, many hours later, I was standing outside a smallish Canterlot home. I double-checked the address and knocked.

A child’s shout of, “I’ll get it!” came from behind the door, which opened a few seconds later to reveal a pale purple and white pegasus filly. She looked at me and froze still.

A few seconds later, another voice, from farther inside the house, said, “Who’s at the door?” A head appeared around a corner, followed by the rest of a pegasus stallion. He shared the filly’s colouring, if a few shades lighter. “Can I help you?” he asked, moving forward between me and the filly.

“I’m Captain Michael, of the Night Guard.” He relaxed slightly, and the little filly blinked and looked up at me, her little wings buzzing.

“Do you work with Mommy? Is she coming back? Where is she?”

Its like she was trying to make this harder. I hated this, but I know I’ve got the easier job. I just have to tell him, He has to explain it to the filly. They have to deal with it. “Are you Morning Breeze?” I asked.

“I am,” he said. “Why?”

Is there somewhere we could talk?” I asked the stallion. I flicked my eyes towards the filly and added, “Privately?”

He caught that, and sent the filly upstairs to play before ushering me inside the house. It wasn’t large, as Canterlot houses go, but I only had to duck a little, but had a homey feeling to it. Toys littered the floor, along with a few sheets of parchment and crayons. He offered me a seat, which I declined.

“So, you’re Night Wind’s boss?” he asked. “What brings you here?” He was nervous, worried. He must have seen something in my face, or else he’s just heard word around Canterlot.

I sighed. The hard part. There was no easy way to do this, so I went with blunt. “I’m sorry to inform you that Lieutenant Night Wind was killed in action three weeks ago.”

I watched to all too familiar reaction. He frowned for a moment, as if he didn’t understand what I’d said, then all the colour and life seemed to drain from his face. He managed a small, “What?”, heavy with confusion and disbelief. “No, she, she can’t be. She can’t!”

I let him go through the motions. They never get easier to watch, whatever species is going through them. I used to wonder why no one wanted this job. After all, they had it easy, the family getting the news had it hard. But it’s not easy, just easier. And those three letters can mean a world of difference.

I let him get through the first spike of grief in peace, but that's all. “Sir, there are a few things we need to discuss before I can leave you to your grief.”

“What?” he half said, half shouted. “What else could you possibly have to say to me?”

“Your wife left some things in the castle, in case she didn't come back.” I handed him a thick envelope and continued. “There’s also the matter of money.” I handed him another envelope.

“Whats this, a bill?” Then he actually looked at it, and saw it was his wife’s last paycheck. He started to apologise, but I waved it away.

“One last thing, though I will understand if you don’t want to hear. If you want, I’ll leave now.” He frowned, but didn't say anything. “I… know what you’re going through, a little, and I’ve got some advice.”

“Oh, do you now?” he asked, voice full of disbelief.

I glanced up. “Your daughter is what, seven or eight?” I asked.

“Seven,” he said slowly. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I was a little younger than her. My advice is to just tell her. Don’t try and sugarcoat it, or make it easier for her to deal with. You can’t.” I sighed, and looked down at him. “If you ever need anything, ask any guard to send a message to me. I’ll do what I can.” I squashed another sigh. “For what little it’s worth, I’m sorry.” With that, I left.

Thankfully, that was the last one. Ironshod and Quick Cut , along with an officer from the Day Guard still in Canterlot, had understood why we had to do this, even if they hadn't really wanted to. They’d been glad when I’d offered to take all the ones with children. Though, I can honestly say those weren't the worst ones. The worst were the ones who just didn't care. Thankfully, there are none of those here. The Captain of the Night Guard being arrested for murder would not be good.

Twilight came by a few days later. She was a sight for sore eyes if there ever was one. She surprised me while I was sitting at a table in the mess hall, filling out some paperwork. My vision went lavender, the world smelled of parchment and ink, and from behind me I heard her say, “Guess who?”

“Twilight?” I turned to see her smiling face, and I wrapped her up in a bear hug before she could say anything else. I let her go, and saw her other friends looking at us with varying expressions. Rarity looked like she knew something I didn’t, her smile smug. Pinkie Pie had her usual grin, though I think I've only seen her once or twice without out. Rainbow Dash looked surprised. Applejack and Fluttershy just had small smiles, the edges of their mouths curling upwards a touch.

Twilight noticed first. I was standing with my other side to the rest. She glanced up at me and gasped. “Michael, your ear! Your hand! What happened?”

“Griffon got the better of me for a moment. It’s nothing bad. More annoying than anything.”

“Whoa, I thought we were fighting Diamond Dogs, not griffons?” Rainbow Dash said. She was hovering around eye level for me, putting her a little above the heads of the other ponies. I turned to look at her, and they all winced slightly. “Oh yeah, that griffon got you good. Nice scars though.”

“We aren't fighting the griffons any more. They sent someone to negotiate their surrender a few days ago. Think that's were Celestia and Luna are now.”

“Wait, the griffons surrendered? What happened?”

I glanced at Rainbow Dash, then down at Twilight. I really didn't want her to hear that. She wouldn't like her part in it, even if it was only making things for me. “You didn't come here to listen to me talk about work. I’m sure there are things you want to do.”

Twilight shrugged. “Not really.” I’d expected that, but it still made me happy to know she was here to see me.

I wasn't expecting Rainbow Dash’s answer, though. “Well, there's a Wonderbolt’s show this afternoon, but until then I’ll be hanging with you.” The others were less surprising. Rarity was here because it was Canterlot. Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy were here because the other three were.

There was nothing to pressing for me to do. With most of the guards down south, and the few Night Guards in Canterlot taking some well earned time off, I’d been doing some tinkering and little else. It’s amazing what you can get done when you don’t sleep, but with Cameron helping it was basically cheating. I don’t know how everyone else finds enough hours in the day though.

The ponies seemed to have made a plan before coming to Canterlot. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy left to look around Canterlot, with plans to meet the other two for lunch. They had barely arrived, and then they were gone, leaving me with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked over the paperwork in front of me. “Is this what you do all day?” The distaste was obvious in her voice.

“There isn't that much paperwork, no. This is the rest of the weeks.” She gave the small stack of papers a glance, then frowned.

“There's only two more days in this week.” I nodded. “So, what do you do when you’re not filling out forms?”

I shrugged. “Train new recruits, drills, test new equipment, plan flight plans around Canterlot. Been quiet, with most of the guards down south. Been doing a lot of tinkering, lately.” Cameron had been incredibly helpful there, finding all sorts of schematics and formulas for me. I glanced at Twilight, who’d been quiet, even for her. “Want to see my lab?”

She gave me a small smile. “Sure. I’d like that.” After a seconds pause, Rainbow Dash shrugged and nodded as well.

I grabbed the paperwork and led them on the twenty minute or so walk to my lab. I didn't make much of any one thing there, so it was pretty messy. As I opened the door and pushed inside, a crossbow I’d had made fired a bolt into the wall next to the door. I grabbed the bolt and opened the door wide enough for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to come in and look around. It was a fairly large room that was still dusty from recent disuse. I’d talked a few servants into helping me get some tables set up, with each wall being lined with tables with another set down the middle, like the head of a fork.

Okay, pretty messy may have been an understatement. The place was littered with half-finished builds and discarded experiments, but there was a sort of order to it. I had alloys on one set of tables to my right, explosive chemicals on another closer to the back. At the back and center were the larger ones, like the ballista I was taking apart. I had a modified steam engine from a train I’d been turning into an electric generator on the left, and I was working on a better casing for grenades in the center.

As Twilight took a look around, Rainbow Dash made a beeline for the ballista. I took a moment to make sure nothing was loaded or dangerous before letting either of them go near it, though. While they looked over their first choice, I had a look around. I hadn't left the crossbow loaded. I certainly hadn't pointed it at the door. And how could I have rigged it to go off when the door opened from the outside? I took a deep breath and smelled lavender and rain, parchment and thunder. And, faint, behind those scents, was the smell of mold and mildew. The room, while only recently in use, did not have any mold in it. Not in Canterlot Castle

At first I was pissed off. I mean, that could have hit Twilight. But, when I took a look at the door frame, the bolt was aimed at chest height for me, so it had been meant for either one of the princess or myself. Considering I’d been the only one of the three in here in who knows how long, it was probably me. Under a layer of rage - it still could have hit Twilight - I felt oddly vindicated. All the things I've been doing to make myself harder to assassinate must have been working, or at the very least didn't seem to be a waste.

I snapped out of my head when I heard Twilight start to speak. “... this thing for?”

I grabbed a few things before answering. “It’s a generator. Watch.” I put down a glass bulb and connected it to the generator with some copper cables. “Mind heating the water up for me?” Twilight’s horn flashed, and soon it was bubbling merrily away. It took a few minutes to get going, which I spent answering a few questions. When I felt it was hot enough, I covered the windows.

The light bulb didn't give off much light, but it would last hours. The girls were not impressed.

“Is that all?” Rainbow Dash asked? “I was expecting something more. I dunno, cool. Like the big crossbow you've got over there.” Twilight was looking at the bulb like there was something wrong about it.

“It’s mostly just a proof of concept, really. I wanted to see if it could be done. I’m glad it does, platinum is too expensive to buy in bulk.”

“Metal can’t hold magic,” Twilight said, still looking at the bulb like it had insulted her. I just nodded. Her frown deepened. “There's no magic in the glass I can sense. How does it work?”

I gave her a quick run down of: steam moves a thing, which moves a magnet, which makes really weak lightning, which travels down the wire to the bulb, heating the metal and making it glow. When she asked me how that all worked, I had the shrug. She gave the generator another look. “Why’d you build it?”

“Like I said, proof of concept. Next step is to scale it up a bit, and start working on some other uses.”

She tapped it with a hoof, then flashed a quick smile at me. “Let me know if you make anything interesting. What else do you have here?”

I gave them a ten second tour. It isn't a very big room, and it feels smaller with all the clutter and scrapped projects. The alloys were Twilight’s favourite part, especially when I told her I was mostly looking to make stronger armour. Rainbow Dash favoured the ballista, though she wasn't too happy that I was trying to make one strong enough to take down a dragon. The crossbow didn't get much of a look from either, though it was easily the thing I was most proud of in the room. It had some of the best steel made in Canterlot, with a sort of wood-grain pattern too it. With a few enhancements to reduce weight, it weighed the same as a wooden one of the same size, though it still kicked like metal. It was also a bit harder to load, but more than made up for it with how fast the bolts flew. All it needed was some work on the sights. Though I’m glad I’d put that off, considering.

Noon came all too soon. Twilight invited me to have lunch with the rest of them, but I declined. She had new friends now, and I’d be in the way. It was tempting, I’ll admit, but I scared Fluttershy, didn't get along with Rarity and didn't know Applejack. They would have more fun without me. But I was happy she had new pony friends. Really, I was.

Chapter 16

View Online

The day before I was due to leave Canterlot for the south, Luna requested I meet with her. Of course, a request from royalty is basically an order when they feel like being polite. It was a little after sunset when she sent for me, and I was led to one of the castles many, many sitting rooms. She glanced up when I entered, then dismissed the servant that had led me.

“I assume you know why you are here, correct?” Luna asked.

“Either the favour I promised you before the griffon thing, or it’s about my passenger,” I said, tapping my head towards the end. “Or both.”

Luna nodded. “But we shall start with the most important. Tell me of your… passenger.”

I told her everything I could remember about Cameron, which honestly wasn’t much. We didn’t talk about ourselves. We mostly talk about things we care about.

So, a few minutes later, I’d told Luna everything I knew about the voice in my head. Of course, she had questions. A lot of questions. She wanted detailed lists of everything I’d told him, of everything he told me, when he seemed to pop up, when he didn’t, if he’s ever been anything but a voice.

I had just answered that last one when the voice in question spoke up.

Dude, what? How the hell could we have seen each other?

I blinked, and opened my mouth to answer before remembering who I was talking to. It was a dream. You appeared in the dream, we talked, I woke and you left.

You must have imagined that, because it didn’t happen.

Luna was giving me a concerned look. “He denies ever having seen me,” I explained. “Though it happened twice.”

Nope. Never happened.

Maybe you just don’t remember?

I could almost feel the sigh he made there. Alright, what do I look like?

Dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin.

Wow. First person you see in over a decade, and that’s all you remember? I mean, it’s wrong, but still. I was expecting more details.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Alright then. “I seem to have been mistaken about having seen him.”

Luna looked at me, frowned, and then suddenly smiled. Her smile would have looked less out of place in water and full of sharp teeth. “Hold still. Do not move.” She walked over to me and touched the tip of her horn between my eyes, giving me a much better look of how sharp it was than I liked. “Converse with each other.”

Cameron spoke first. About anything in particular?

Luna hmm’d. “Continue.”

I cut of a sigh before it could start. So, what do you look like?

Blonde, green eyes, fairly skinny. I wouldn’t say I’m pale, but I’m not tan either. Around five foot seven tall. Why?

I did my best to mentally shrug. Just curious. We needed something to talk about.

I got back a much better mental shrug. Fair ‘nough. Hey, what was that you were telling me about cloud houses?

I filled him in on the little I knew about cloud as a building material, being unable to touch it and all. He was surprisingly unsurprised you could get metal doors and the like in cloud homes, though just how strong the clouds used were still made is head hurt.

It’s cloud! Condensed water! How can you build out of water vapour and dust!

All I could say was ‘magic’, which was about as helpful as a blunt arrow, so I let him rant, though I wish he wouldn’t do it in my head. Then again, him stopping would probably mess up whatever Luna was doing, and judging by her frown and her mumbling, its fairly complicated. A few phrases I caught I remembered hearing Twilight mutter about.

After far, far too many minutes, Luna went wide eyed and took a step back. “That is genius!” she cried, pointing a hoof at me. She gave me a creepily happy smile and continued, “There is a second presence in thy mind, within and under the band of energy that connects thee to thy fellow. ‘Tis kept hidden by the presence of the first, and would be impossible to notice if not for the small delay between the two filling with power. It is also fiendishly complex; I could not discern the reasoning behind the weave of energy. We would find it difficult to place a working of such complexity of a mind as foreign as thine.” She was bouncing in place by the end, like a foal with a new toy. I gave her a flat look, and she caught herself mid-bounce and let out a cough.

“And that tells us what, exactly?”
She seemed to deflate slightly. “We, I mean, I am not sure. It would take time to discern the purpose of the second weave, and longer still to learn how it interacts with the first. But now we are aware of it, we can take steps to ensure you are not fooled so again.”

Her horn lit with a gentle, wavering light and I seemed to fall into it, and fall and fall and fall… right back into myself. I seemed to crash back into my mind, confused and worried and hungry. I was blinking rapidly and trying to remember where I was. I glanced outside and saw it was the middle of the night, if not moving towards tomorrow.

Luna was looking at me with her head to one side, like a bird inspecting a new colour of insect and wondering if it’s safe to eat. “That was not the result I was hoping for,” she muttered.

“What wasn’t?” I said. My voice was hoarse, and I suddenly realised my throat was sore, like I’d been screaming.

“It was supposed to change the second, smaller weave in your mind, making it harder for you to be deceived by increasing the difference between the two and helping your mind discern between them. Instead, it seemed to meld them, which resulted in, well, you are aware of the result.”

I shook my head. “No, I am not. Now tell me what happened.” I took a seat and massaged at my throat. As the adrenaline rush wore off, my body suddenly remember it was in pain and decided to tell me about it.

“You may have screamed in pain, before jumping from the window.” I looked around the room. The only windows were set high in the walls, well above my head. “We are in a different room. The other one is full of glass. I managed to heal you, mostly. The throat and the general pain, I can do nothing about, other than this.”

Her horn flashed quickly, and the pain faded. It was still there, and I could sort of feel it, but it was much easier to ignore now.

Aren’t you the lucky one.

You don’t sound that good, I thought. I wonder if I could think smugly. I probably could.

Yeah, well, when Princess Goth over there started playing around with you skull, I felt it. Tell her not to do that again, by the way. It hurt me and you don’t have the sanity to spare.

I leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. “Diamond Dogs?”

Luna cleared her throat. “Gem Hounds. Of the six main clans, only Diamond, Ruby and Malachite have declared war on Equestria. The other three seem content to stay out for now, no doubt waiting for one side to gain an advantage. As for the branch clans, the only ones of any consequence are offshoots of Diamond - Yellow, Red and Brown. Only the last is likely to waver. It is the largest, and if it declared independence it would be the fifth largest clan, as the numbers stand now.”

She talked for a few more hours on Diamond Dogs. Gem Hounds. Whatever. Most of it was stuff I probably would never need, like that Dogs of a given clan can sense their clan gem very well, but clanless Dogs can sense all gems faintly. Some of it was more useful, like that the Yellow and Red Diamond clans are both jealous of Brown Diamond, which in turn hates the original Diamond clan. And then there was things like the rough size of various clans, what lands they claim, what powers the Alpha has, what the Beta can do, and a lot of over stuff. I’m pretty sure that, if it weren’t for all the cram sessions I’d helped Twilight with over the years, I’d have remembered maybe one word out of a hundred, pretty as it was, I managed to recite back the important parts to Luna. Only took me half an hour as well. Luna really likes the sound of her own voice.

Eventually, she was happy that I remembered and understood what she had told me. I stood up, wincing slightly. The pain had faded slightly, but the spell masking it was gone, and I was a little stiff from sitting still for too long. Cameron gave a bit of help, supplying bits I’d forgotten. He seems to actually enjoy this sort of stuff, giving me questions to ask.

Glancing outside the window, I check where the sun is. I’ve either got a couple hours before I need to leave, or I’m really late. Either way, time to go. Luna stops me before I can leave. “One more thing, Michael.”

Michael, huh? She’s being using your rank exclusively up ‘till now.

Ignoring the voice in my head, I turn to face Luna. She didn’t say anything right away.

“You did not want to be my captain, at first.” She paused, like I was supposed to deny it or something, but when I didn’t, she continued, “Now that you have had a chance to test yourself in your position, how do you feel about it?”

I shrugged. “Someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” I don’t think that was the answer she was looking for, but eh.

“I apologise for my sister forcing the position on you. She was worried I would shut myself away after my return, and tried to force some interaction on me. I had expected this, to some degree, but I expected her to start small and limit herself to ponies, but my sister is not one to do things by halves.” She glanced away and muttered, “At least that is still the same.” She gives a short, sad sigh before looking back at me. “We are not so old a millennium apart will not make us near strangers. Little remains of the Celestia I knew. You know my sister well, do you not? After a little short of a decade spent by her side, surely you must. How is she?”

I frowned, thinking it through. Surely she had to know Celestia better than me. But if it helps her, it helps her. Not like it costs me anything. I take a few minutes, going through what I know of Celestia, what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen over the years. “She’s sad. The cold, quiet sadness you get when you’re alone for a very long time and don’t expect that to change.”

Luna nods. “As I expected. But she is not as lonesome as she would have been had I returned a decade earlier, I think. She always enjoyed raising her students, seeing them grow, gloating when they succeed, crying when they fail.” There was a silence, while Luna stood, lost in memories, and I just stood. I was about to leave her to her thoughts when she spoke again. “She does care for you. My sister, I mean. She has always preferred to take fillies as students, but recently she has been considering a colt, the first in many years. You have had some small part in that, I think.” Finally, she glanced out the window and saw the time. “You must depart soon, and I must lower the moon to make way for the sun.” She stood, and stared imperiously at me. “Dismissed, Captain.”

I saluted and left, glad to be out of there.

A few hours later, I teleported south with a shipment of supplies. It was mostly food and bandages, but with some other stuff as well. The first pieces of armour made from the new alloy I’d discovered with Cameron’s help were still a while away, but I did talk Luna into letting me take some things with me. Just had to agree not to let anyone else know how to make them, which I was never going to do anyway. Well, not while I was alive anyway. In my will I left Twilight, among other things, a notebook with everything I had tried or was planning on trying to make in it. Not like they can do anything to me if I’m dead.

The trip south was much more pleasant than the one east. No one ended up inside a tree, for one thing. That lack of trees, and other people, probably had more to do with that though. The carefully marked off arrival area may have also contributed.

Shining Armour was waiting for me when I arrived. I was sitting atop a crate marked with various symbols that meant anyone stupid enough to open it deserved what happened to them. Dropping down, I made sure I had all my personal items with me, and left the arrival area. A small shield rippled as I walked through it, and the heat of the desert hit me like two hooves to the chest. Really should have had my stuff enchanted while I was in Canterlot.

“Captain,” Shining Armour said, nodding at me as I crossed the barrier. I nodded back, looking around. We were in what had, until recently, been an abandoned fort on Equestria’s southern border. They were re-fortifying the walls and doing other repair work just now, patching the dark grey stone and laying down new paving.

Shining Armour mumbled under his breath as he looked at me. “How many weapons did you bring?” he asked.

“On me, or with me?”

He glanced down at the crates behind me, then back at me. “Both.”

On me I had my work of art that doubled as a crossbow, two dozen bolts, my spear, the hand-axe, a few daggers in strategic locations and a butter knife I’d packed away in a hurry. In the crates behind me I had a dozen other, lesser crossbows, a few thousand training bolts - basically sharpened sticks weighted to fly like real bolts over short distances, assorted weapons to suit almost any unicorn, pegasus, earth pony or griffon and a few things that weren't strictly weapons, but could be used in a pinch. And some surprises, courtesy of Cameron and something he called ‘the internet’, a sort of giant library.

When I told him, leaving out the last part, he nodded. “Sounds good. Bit higher than I was expecting, to be honest. Those crossbows for your griffons?”

“Depends on how many are good with them. Might have some left for the unicorns.”

Shining Armour smiled a little at that. I nodded towards a tent and we started walking. “I think we unicorns can do without your toys.”

I snorted. “Maybe you can, but you’re damn near a magic talent when it comes to strength. These aren’t for you. I was thinking some of the new recruits could use teamwork drills, and the bows work well for that. Less destructive than magic, and you put a mark on the bolt for each recruit you can see who hit where.”

“Not a bad idea. Bring it up at the next meeting. When are the rest of the Night Guard getting here?”

“They’re already here.”

“What?”

I stopped and looked down at him. He stopped a second later. “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

I glanced up at the sun and muttered, “What the hell, Celestia?” Looking back at Shining Armour, I decided not to beat around the bush, not that there was a chance of it happening anyway. “We lost a good seventy, seventy five percent to the griffons. What’s left is staying in Canterlot for a few months rest. More, if I can get them it.”

Shining Armour sighed and muttered a something I didn’t understand. It was something to do with a pole of some sort, Celestia and a donkey, and a certain way of combining the three. Stupid Equestrian and its stupid way of combining sounds to make words, and then words to make sentences. It’s like they were trying to make it hard to become fluent.

When he stopped muttering, Shining Armour looked back at the gear that had traveled with me. “That explains the extra supplies.”

“How bad is it?”

“It’s actually not as bad as I’m making seem. It’s just, the troops have been down here for months, away from their families. I was hoping to set up a rotation now that you’d finished up in Valgryph.” He looked back at me. “Nice work there, by the way. Princess Luna told me about it. I’m not quite sure how you managed to make it work, or even what your plan really was, but it worked. Mostly.”

I nodded. “Mostly.”

We had reached the tent now, and I followed him inside. It was noticeably cooler under the fabric ceiling, much cooler than it should have been. Shining Armour let out a quiet, content sigh. “Y’know, I don’t think we’d be doing half as well if we didn’t have a couple unicorns with a talent for fire and ice. We’d be too busy trying to not melt. This is not armour weather.”

“How does a fire talent help?”

He shrugged. “Both deal with heat. Just moving it in opposite directions.” He lay down on the floor of the tent, looking up at me. “You had some plans for drills, right.”

“Some. Don’t really know how unicorn or pegasi drills work. Why?”

He sighed. “Because for the past few weeks drills are basically all we’ve done. The Dogs are dug in - literally - somewhere to the south, we think, and we’re having some trouble finding them. They seem to be happy to wait us out. Some new drills would be good. Everyp- everyone is getting bored and on edge.”

“I’ll get some plans to you later. Anything I need to know?”

“Standard set up, mostly. Had to mix it up a little with the Night Guard here too. You’re troops are on the east side, making a circle around your tent. There should be a copy of the schedule in there, along with recent reports.” A few of the Day Guard entered. I nodded to Shining Armour and left.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in my tent with Markus, who was giving me his impression of things in camp.

“Very little combat,” the griffin said, pacing in front of me and flexing his wings. “Mostly just drills, drills and more drills. There has been maybe two instances of contact in the past week and a half. We barely even see the Dogs anymore; they have fled underground, too cowardly to face us.”

I stared at him for a few minutes before asking, “Which accent is fake?”

He glanced at me and gave a squawk. “Vhat, you though that ve griffons talked like this? Please. I was born in Equestria. But no pony expects griffons to talk normally, so I don’t.”

“Fair enough. Most ponies didn’t expect me to talk at all, at first. A few even offered to buy me.”

“I bet they regretted that.”

I didn’t say anything, but I couldn’t stop a small smile. They sure had.

“But we’re getting off topic. Captain Armour seems content to dig in and fortify our position.”

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “And you disagree?”

He looked at the way I was sitting and tilted his head to one side. “Diamond Dogs dig very well. It would not be hard for them to weaken our foundations.”

I nodded. “I’ll bring it up. Now, about your promotion.” He blinked, surprised. “You're in charge of the Night Guards fliers. Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

He let out a few short, sharp chirps that I think might have been laughter, then saluted, talon against chest. “I won’t let you down, sir.”

I waved that away. “Good. Go spread the word. Anyone gives you trouble, tell them to take it up with me. I want you to go over the flight paths you were given by the Day Guard, make whatever improvements you think you should. Have the rest of the griffons meet me in the training yard in twenty minutes.”

Markus walked over to the entrance, but stopped there. Looking back over his shoulder, he said, “It’s good to have you back, sir. Maybe we’ll actually finish this now.”

With that, he left the tent. I just tried not to sigh too loudly and went back to the reports. Some were from the Day Guard, about Diamond Dog sightings. Others were from the Night Guard, to bring me up to speed on what’s been going on, and the last few were from Luna, which was odd given I saw her last night. Looking through the last group, they were basically the same as what she told me that night as well. Did she think I was stupid or something? I mean, I’m not Twilight smart, but thats like saying the moon is small because it’s not the same size as the sun. It’s just not a fair comparison. I went from not knowing the language to graduating from the best school in the country in six and a half years. Thats damn impressive, even with the amount of extra help I had.

I kept a hold of it, though. It’d be useful to show my officers. Now I thought about it, thats probably why she sent it.

Nineteen minutes later, I was in the courtyard with the griffons and around eighteen crossbows. As soon as everyone was settled down, I started talking.

“Alright, here is what’s going to happen. You’re going to learn to shoot these crossbows, and you’re going to do it well. You will take care of your crossbow. You will make sure the string is not worn. You will keep the mechanism clean of dirt and well oiled. After a battle, you will take care of the wounded, then your crossbow, then yourself. Am I understood?” A chorus of ‘yessirs’. “Any questions?”

One talon went up.

“Yes, Corporal Aquilinus?”

“Why, sir?”

“Because it will help keep you alive. Because it will make you better soldiers. And because I bloody said so. Understood?”

Another chorus of ‘yessirs’, and not very enthusiastic ones.

I started pacing in front of them. “The crossbow is a simple weapon. Pull back the string, load a bolt, aim, fire. Sounds simple, right?” I got one nod, from a new recruit, I think. The rest knew not to answer that. I pointed at the one that nodded. “Alright, if it’s so simple, lets have a little test. You and I, first one to get a bolt in the dummy’s head wins. I’ll let you take three shots to my one. Deal?”

The griffon had gone wide eyed at being singled out, and started to slowly shake his head. I gave him a good impression of a drill sergeant’s stare. I used to be on the other side of those, and when the griffon froze, saluted and came forward I knew why. Much quicker than just ordering him down here.

I let the griffon, Corporal Veraleam, load his crossbow and aim. He wasn’t stupid; he took his time, lined it up fairly well. The bolt only missed by a foot or so. He frowned, reloaded and aimed again. Did better with his second shot, only missing by half a foot in the other direction. His third shot almost hit the target, hitting the ground in front of the post the dummy was tied to. I put a hand out for his bow. I quickly reloaded without even looking down, dropped to one knee, and fired. The bolt took the dummy between the buttons where its eyes should be.

“That,” I said, handing the Corporal his crossbow back, “would be a very dead Diamond Dog, yes?” I got a chorus of ‘yessirs’, fairly enthusiastic ones this time. I looked at the griffon next to me. “Go get your bolts back, Corporal.” He ran down range to collect them. While he was doing that, I walked through the ranks, showing them the correct way to hold a crossbow. For them, it was a little different than the way I held it, but not much. Only took me an hour or so to get everyone sorted. After that I started them with basic aiming drills, doing a bit of corrective maintenance on any crossbow that was actually aiming badly.

I had to go after another hour, leaving some to do more practice while the rest went to get ready for patrols and scouting. I had a meeting with Shining Armour and his lieutenants at sundown which, looking at the sky, was about five minutes away. I made it with seconds to spare. I was also the first one there. So much for military punctuality.

When they all showed up, it took a few more minutes for us to actually start. There were traditions that had to be observed first. Boring, time wasting traditions. Though I guess when they aren’t yours, all traditions can seem like that. Finally, we got down to business. Shining Armour started by bringing me up to speed on things I already knew.

“We’ve been holding out here, trying to pinpoint where out in the Badlands the Dogs are based. We’ve not been having much luck, they hide their tracks well. Only three minor skirmishes in the past week and a half, no casualties, a couple minor injuries. I’m assuming you’ll be taking over night-time patrols?” I nodded. “You’re griffons should have copies of the patrol routes for you to look over and make changes to.”

“How are you tracking the Dogs?” I asked.

“A combination of searching for actual tracks and magical tracking. Normally we’d use heat, but that doesn’t work as well out here. We’ve tried pinpointing sound from underground, but it’s no use. Smell doesn’t work either, too much wind.”

“What about water? Is there a spell to find that?”

“Probably, but I don’t know it myself, and I doubt anyone under me does. Why? They aren’t very powerful spells, you’d need to be pretty close.”

One of his lieutenants spoke up. I knew him, but I just could not remember his name, not for love nor money. Oddly enough it was the earth pony and not the unicorn. “No, no, he might be onto something, sir. If there are as many Dogs out there as we think there are, they’ll need a lot of water near by. And with as little as there is in this Suncursed place, I doubt we’ll be getting any false positives.” The unicorn frowned and glanced at the pegasus. I didn’t recognise either of them.

You know, I’m not actually sure why Shining Armour insisted on bringing his lieutenants with him to the meeting. It could have been done easier with just the two of us.

Shining Armour started speaking again, nodding as he did. “Okay, it’s worth a shot. I’ll ask the Princess to send someone down here that knows those spells, or at least some spell books. Maybe we’ll find some other water sources nearby as well. I don’t like having just the one, even if pegasi can keep it topped off.” He glanced down at the minutes, then back up at me. “Hows the crossbow training going?”

I shrugged. He knew what that meant, thankfully. “Give me two weeks or so, and I’ll have them hitting their target more often than not. But to get them good, I’ll need a couple months. Got a couple leftover bows for unicorns to practice with, if you want them.”

He nodded. “Some of the new recruits could use the target practice as well, plus more training never hurts anypony.”

We spent some more time talking about possible tactics we could use against the Dogs, but it was mostly a moot point until we actually found them. After that, we went split duties, separated what the Night Guard would be doing from the Day Guard so there was no unnecessary duplication of effort. It didn’t take that long, really. We would do repairs on our side of camp at night, and everything was pretty much the same. Inventory checks, patrols, sentries, equipment repairs and drills. Shining Armour quickly penned the letter to Celestia asking about the water-seeker for me to give to Spike, and the three lieutenants excused themselves. Only the earth pony one actually contributed, the other two didn’t make a sound. And I still can’t remember his name, it’s going to bug me all night now.

Shining Armour started to leave, but stopped. “Did you make plans for the drills yet?”

“I did, but I had one of my unicorns look over them. He said I basically recreated the drills you already use, only slightly worse. I can take another go at it, if you want, but I don’t know if anything will come of it.”

He sighed. “Not gonna lie, I’m getting sick of doing those drills myself. I’ll see if I can come up with something myself.” He was frowning as he said it, but brightened suddenly before asking, “Spike can get us mail, right? When can we expect it?”

“He can, yeah. Around midnight is when we used to get it, so you’ll have it in the morning.”

He nodded, a smile on his face as he left the tent. I got started on paperwork. One upside to having both of us here is he seems to enjoy the stuff. Definitely Twilight’s brother.

To Guard Equestria

by BleepBloop2

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16