Vinyl knocked on the door of the castle. The door magically opened, and the young alicorn approached the two. “Hello, Vinyl. And you must be Tom. Welcome. I am Princess Twilight. Your friends stayed here for the night, so they’re already here.”
Vinyl made a bow to the princess. “Good morning, Princess”. Tom merely nodded his head. Vinyl noticed this, and gave a slight nudge to Tom.
Tom ignored it, speaking to the princess. “There is a matter that needs to be discussed. It is of the most importance.”
Twilight looked up at Tom. “Newtolm already told us about Korthak, but he didn’t know much. He said you might know more about this ‘demon’.” She lead the way up the stairs. “We’ve already sent out word to my mentor, Princess Celestia. Hopefully, She will be here shortly.”
Vinyl looked at Twilight. “Uh...should I be here, then? I’ll go if I’m in the way.”
“You can stay.” Tom said abruptly.
Twilight looked up at Tom. “Um, not that I don’t mind company, but this is something that would cause other ponies to loose peace of mind. I would rather...”
“You’re going to have to tell the citizens anyways, so I don’t see your point. Besides, she is my guide. I would rather her to be close.” Tom walked on. Twilight and Vinyl looked at each other. Vinyl shrugged, giving a nervous smile.
Tom noticed Juno in one of the side halls, sound asleep. He walked over to his sleeping comrade.
“Oh, you should probably let him sleep.” Twilight spoke as soon as she noticed Tom wondered off from the main hall.
Ignoring her, Tom nudged Juno with his foot.
“...mmrrrrmm five more minutes, Dan....” Juno waved sleepily. Who was Dan? No one was named Dan in the guild.
Before Tom could really shake his sleeping comrade, Twilight levitated him away. “He’s had a confusing night last night. It would be better if he isn’t disturbed right now.”
“Put me down.” Tom looked at Twilight, arms crossed. “This matter needs all present to the discussion. And that includes Juno.”
“N’ver mind, I’m up.” Juno sat up. “Just getting used to...this place.”
“Oh, good morning. Did you have a good sleep? Sorry about not having beds your size.” Twilight spoke to the waking person.
“It’s alright. I had a good sleep...Princess.” Juno was still getting used to the fact that they were ponies. Well, he did make a friend out of the one he tore his shirt for.
“Morning, boss.” He looked at his guild leader.
Tom nodded. “We’re going to discuss about the demon. Since I heard the name of that beast before we got sent here, I have some things to explain.”
“Kay, let me just get dressed.” Juno got up. “I’ll meet ya in the dining hall.”
---
“So how do you do that with your fire breath?” Newtolm asked Spike. The two were sitting together in the dinning room, enjoying some breakfast together. Spike was munching on the gems he had from last night. Newtolm was still getting used to the diet of his new form. The closest thing to a normal meal for him were some leafy greens and some oats.
“What, how I sent that letter to Princess Celestia from last night?” Spike munched on a rather large gem. “...I’ve always been able to do that. I know not all dragons can do that, but I really don’t know how to explain why my fire breath can do that.”
Finishing off the large gem, Spike gulped it down. “So, what about you? You said you were half dragon, but you probably had a fire breath, right?”
“Well, my draconic heritage is of the silver dragons. Our Breath weapons is not actually fire, but more rather ice.” Newtolm chuckled as he munched on a leaf.
“Wait, you breath is cold? Not hot?”
“That is correct, Spike.” Newtolm gulped down his own food. “In my original form, I am immune to the cold, and I can breath out a cone-shaped blast of cold. Though, I must admit, I have never met a purple dragon before. Nor have I met a dragon that...well...eats his treasure.”
“What?” Spike looked at Newtolm questionably as he tossed a small gem into his mouth.
“Well, the dragons of my world normally...keep the treasure horde. They do not...eat the treasure.”
“...But these gems are so delicious. How could you not eat them?”
Newtolm shook his head. “Well, in my world, they are not. Some dragons do eat certain gems, but not us silvers.”
Twilight, Tom, and Vinyl opened the doors to enter the room. The two got up from their seats. “Hey, Twilight.” Spike called out.
“Your majesty.” Newtolm bowed at Twilight. Then he looked at Tom. “And I see you have calmed down. You did not cause Princess Twilight any trouble, did you?”
Tom looked away. “I am not a child, Newtolm.”
“And I see that Ms. Scratch has joined us.” Newtolm bowed with a warm smile. “He was not any trouble at your home, was he?”
“Nah, Tom here was ‘aight.” Vinyl chuckled. “Apparently he seemed interested in my roommate’s music this morning.”
“Really? Well, that is new.” Newtolm looked over at Tom, who was ignoring them. He then looked back to Twilight. “My lady, would the others be back from their morning meal soon?”
“They’ll be back soon. Applejack said she would bring over some apples and pies from her farm, so if you’re still hungry, she’ll have a feast over here soon.” Twilight smiled back.
Tom took out the small black dot from earlier. “I could use some food right now.” He walked up to a wall and placed the dot onto the wall.
Twilight and Spike were surprised to see a hole open up in their wall. “What the...!?!”
“…Tom, please refrain from using your portable hole in front of others. It can give quite a shock to those not used to seeing strange things.” Newtolm shook his head.
“Says the one who stays a foot off the ground at all times.” Tom said as he took out his dried rations. “...Only enough for five more days. I should save some of them for later.”
“So that’s what it is. You never really explained what this...hole thing is when you pulled it out last time. But if you had food, why did you want to get foo...” Vinyl looked into the hole. “Whoa! That’s a lot of stuff!”
Twilight fluttered over the two, peering inside as well. “You have amazing things from your world. Is there any chance I could take a look? I would like to know more about your world’s magic.”
Tom closed the hole and took a bite out of a piece of his ration. “There are more important matters to discuss. If there are others that need to be a part of this meeting, then call upon them now.”
“Tom, the most important guest to come here is flying from another castle. From what Princess Twilight has told me, it will take Princess Celestia till noon for her to reach here, if she was to fly at full speed.” Newtolm was floating level with Tom, munching on his breakfast. “The least we could do for her majesty is to show off some magic.”
“Very well, you want to show off magic? Then let me start by getting that stupid hat off.” Tom rolled up his sleeves. There was the beginnings of chanting, and his voice became powerful as it resonated. With waves of his hands, he focused the divine energy into one point.
Twilight hastily took out a quill and paper, and began jotting down what she was witnessing.
With a commanding word, he thrusted the power towards Newtolm, aimed right at the hat.
Surprisingly, nothing happened apart from a puff of smoke and some electric discharge. The room was silent.
“Uh...Tom? Was that supposed to happen?” Vinyl broke the silence.
Tom, looking at his now pony comrade, was in disbelief. Is this really the limit on his power? First the pompous horse from yesterday, and now this. Even with the power to level armies, was he really this...powerless?
Tom gritted his teeth, grabbed the hat, and yanked at it with all his might.
“Eehyaaaaa! Tom, stop!” Newtolm yelled as he was pulled along with his hat, still attached together. His breakfast getting flung across the room. Since he was floating more than a foot above the ground, his weight was not much of a factor to Tom.
Juno and Tia had just walked into the room. The two watched as Newtolm was getting flung around. Juno moved in to stop Tom. “Oi! Tom!” Before Juno could reach him, Twilight used her magic to separate the two.
As the magic had enveloped Newtolm, the hat had an effect mixed with the divine energy from earlier. With a blast of energy, the whole room was filled with smoke, almost knocking everyone out.
Spike was blasted on the other side of his chair. All he could hear was coughing. “Is everypony alright?”
He waited for the smoke to settle before venturing to see if the others were alright.