Raj rapped his knuckles on the door and leaned against the frame. After a few seconds it swung open and a wash of heat flowed out at him. Fluttershy looked up at him with bagged eyes and said, “Oh, hi Raj. I wasn't expecting you to be up yet.”
“Hey 'Shy, I didn't either.” He ducked down and into the cottage and closed the door behind him. He held up a sizable basket to the pegasus and said. “Care package, pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, high energy stuff. Courtesy of Spike, figured you, Rarity, and RD might need some aid since you all live alone. Little guy's been cooking since he came to.”
“Well that's very nice of you both.” She took the handle in her mouth and carried it over to her roaring hearth. “I'll share mine with Rainbow when she wakes up.”
“Rainbow Dash is here?” His question was answered by a terrifically loud snore that tore its way from the upstairs of the cottage. “Holy crap does that girl have some lungs on her.”
“Yeah, she's always slept like that.” Fluttershy said wistfully, “She wasn't really up to flying to her cloud house, so she decided to stay here. She's been out like that since we got back.”
“What're you still doing up then?
“I haven't been able to sleep at all. I've just been half dozing in between hot baths.” She covered a hard yawn and wavered a bit.
“That sucks Fluttershy. I'm sorry.” Raj apologized.
She shrugged. “It's not so bad, I'm all caught up on everything I missed while we were out, I'm just loose on the details of exactly what I did.” She gave him a weak smile and moved slowly to the sitting area.
Raj followed her and lowered himself onto the couch. He leaned into a hand and asked, “Your animals weren't too neglected, were they?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. Most of my friends are hibernating through the winter, so it's most just Angel and me, and he can feed himself just fine.” The shell of a nut flew from the corner of the room and got stuck in her mane. “Though he doesn't really like to.”
“I bet.” He glared at the rabbit nestled in a small bed.
“Did the potion hit you really hard?” Fluttershy asked him.
“Well, now I don't think so. But yeah I'm still pretty bad. The walk over just about wiped me out.” He stretched out an arm and a small chorus of pops sounded from it. “Still real stiff, muscles feel like worn out jelly.”
“So have you have any time to think about it yet?” she asked.
“Think about what?” he asked back.
“The trip. Into your memories.” She picked up the notebook Twilight had given her. “I filled this out as best I could, but I wasn't really very coherent when I did it.” she flipped some of the pages open and studied her nonsense ramblings. “But that must have been a lot harder for you.”
“You have no idea,” He looked down at his hands, shaking slightly. “The last time, the last time I spoke to my son I... I yelled at him. Seeing that again was so-” he stopped when Fluttershy's warm head nuzzled against his side. He looked down at her for a second and leaned back on the couch, letting the little pegasus nuzzle up next to him.
She looked up at him and looked away anxiously. “You, you looked like you were getting worked up so I thought that, I would.” A touch of purple darkened her cheeks. “I'll just, go back to my chair.”
Raj pulled her into a hug. “Don't worry Fluttershy. It's sweet. Anyway, I'm still cold and you ponies always feel feverish to me.”
“Really? Because you always feel cold to me.”
“Well, I am from space.”
“You know, from your perspective, we're from space.”
“Touche.”
Fluttershy giggled as she laid a foreleg across his midsection in a loose hug. “So is that all that's bothering you?”
“Yeah... no.” He admitted after a second.
She sat up. “Well, go ahead Raj. You know you can tell me anything. I won't judge.”
Raj was quiet for a moment and then steepled his hands as he started talking. “It's something I've been thinking about, for a while now. I dismissed it a few times, but this trip is changing my mind on it.” He sighed and drummed his fingers on his thigh for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “There are a bunch of things that sort of... lined up to let me survive here.”
“Like what?”
“Like the the keys. After watching myself look for them, I have no idea where those things were. I looked around in the bedroom before we moved on, they weren't with my wife's things or on the hook. I even looked in the bathroom, they weren't there.”
“What's so important about that?” Fluttershy asked.
“I would have used Mari's car that night if I had found her keys, and if I had done that I think I would have died.” Fluttershy gasped and shrunk back. “Her car is a lot older and smaller than mine. I don't know if it would have handled the crash as well as mine. And I had my emergency stuff in my trunk, like some water, food, knife, and tape. Her car doesn't have that. Without those things, I don't know how well I would have done in the Everfree.” He paused for a moment, staring forward. “I think something may have moved those keys. Put them somewhere knowing that I would need the safety of my bigger car and the supplies in my trunk. I think something was watching me, waiting for a chance to... take me here, but knew I would need to fend for myself.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don't think I was brought here by accident, or by mistake. I think I was... picked. Like, something wanted to bring me here. I don't know what though.”
Fluttershy let out a huff and flapped a wing absently. “So, you're suggesting that something was strong enough to super-teleport you here and set your life up on earth to help you here?” She shivered, “That's a scary idea.”
“And super unlikely, that's why I haven't told anyone, but seeing my home like that, I don't know, it messed with my head. I don't know what to do with this information.”
“Well, I know that when I have a big decision to make, I like to take all the time I need until I'm sure of it. There's nothing worse than feeling like you made the wrong decision.
Raj nodded. “Yeah, I'll wait until I'm feeling better at least. This whole thing has me thrown for a loop, I shouldn't be doing anything drastic for a while. Twilight's gonna have her hooves full trying to explain the weird glowing thing we saw in my memory, I don't need this idea tainting her work. You know how she gets.”
Fluttershy nodded with a smile. A faint groan came from overhead and they looked up to see a wild-haired Rainbow Dash stagger out of the upstairs bedroom. She slurred, “I smell pancakes. I demand pancakes. Where are the pancakes?” She looked down at the pair huddled together on the couch and cocked an eyebrow. “What're you two doing?”
“Nothing!” - “Whatever we want 'cause we're adults.” Both Fluttershy and Raj said at the same time.
RD scrutinized them for a second and shrugged. “Whatever. I'mma eat that whole basket.”
* * *
“And then she did. In like, thirty seconds.”
“Cool story Raj. But if Rainbow ate all of it, then why didn't you bring the actual basket back?” Spike asked him.
“I just told you. Rainbow ate it. Chick was hungry.”
Spike gave him a withering look and then returned to his notebook. “Well, my visit with Rarity went just fine. We shared a meal, a pleasant conversation, and then I came home.”
“Really? Cause I got back more than an hour before you did. Rarity wasn't too tired for all that?”
The little dragon glanced back and forth furtively. “Well, I mean, she was kind of... she was pretty tired yeah. Tired.”
“Riiigght.” Raj drawled out skeptically. “So how long did you stare at her while she was asleep?”
“N-not that long. Just... just a little bit.” The dragon shyly admitted with a slight blush. A thump came from the loft and Spike shot up, “Oh hey look, Twilight's awake. Let's all focus on that.”
“Uggh.” Twilight groaned as she staggered down the steps. “What year is it?”
“Same one.” Raj answered. “Come eat. It helps.”
She did just that. The unicorn was halfway through her third helping grilled hay-cakes when Spike let out a terrific belch. Raj was about the congratulate the little dragon when a folded piece of stationary splatted against his face. He peeled it off and examined the front of the elegantly filigreed card.
Twilight swallowed a dense plug of food and coughed before saying. “Correspondence with the Princess! It's been a while since she contacted me out of the blue like this.”
“I'll never get over how metal sending messages via dragonfire is.” He flipped the card around and scanned the front. “This thing is addressed to me.”
“Oh, is it from Luna?” Spike asked.
“Nope, says Celestia right here. Give me a second.” He opened the fold and struggled through the ornate script for a few seconds. “It's a summons. I'm supposed to go to Canterlot. Today.”
“Oh wow! Princess Celestia must have something important for you. What an honor!” Twilight exclaimed with a slight wince and a clutch at her head.
“More like what a pain in the ass. I'm still feeling that potion, I don't need a nine hour train ride making it worse.” Raj griped. “What do you think the penalty would be if I told her I'd come out tomorrow?”
Twilight sputtered, spraying a mouthful of oatmeal across the table. “You'd WHAT!” She shouted, the strain of it immediately knocking her back in her chair. She let out a groan but continued. “You cannot just dictate Princess Celestia's schedule like that. She's a busy pony, the busiest pony! If she's summoning you to the castle then it's for something very important and very immediate, you can't just decide when you will respond.”
Raj shied back and looked at Spike who just shrugged at him. “Alright Twilight, chill. I'll go to Canterlot. I'll just, I don't know, sleep on the train or something.”
She sat back, relief washing her features “Yes, of course. Good. Right after you read these three books on court etiquette so you don't embarrass yourself.” She focused for a moment and yelped when a burst of sparks launched from her ruined horn. She glowered upward at the offending nub and cursed bleakly to herselff.
* * *
Rajrishi did indeed find the books to be very useful during his trip. They made an excellent headrest as he slept the whole ride.
He pulled into the same train station as when he'd come to the naval ball and staggered out onto the platform. His disorientation seemed more like the result of sleep fog than any potion-induced distress, so he considered that something of a win.
A pair of armored stallions stood on the platform, one of them holding a sign that read “Rajarashe.” knowing full well that was by far not the worst misspelling of his name he'd run across, he approached. “Soldiers.”
“Captain.” The guardspony gave a crisp salute. “Is there a reason you're armed?”
Raj looked down at the axes on his hip, the bow slung over a shoulder, and the giant hammer he was leaning against. “I was told to come in full uniform. Weapons are part of the uniform.”
The soldiers seemed to accept this and led him to a carriage. He stepped into it and the guards got into their harnesses. Raj ignored the awkward feeling of being dragged through the city by two dudes he was just speaking to and slumped down into his seat.
Canterlot castle was visible from every part of the city and most of the nearby countryside. Up close, it was no less impressive. Patterned stone spiraling up great towers, capped with swirling spire that gleamed in the meager light. He stared up at for a few moments before following his guides inside.
They led him down the great hall, the walls marked with brilliant, stained windows showing scenes of one valiant task or another. He knew a few from the history books Twilight had forced on him, others because he knew the ponies depicted. The rest were just pretty.
As they approached a pair of double doors at least three times his height, one of the guards reached a hoof for his weapons. “None may be armed in the presence of the Princess.”
“I'm armed in front of Princess Luna all the time.” he said back.
“Not here you're not.” the Royal Guard shot back sternly.
“Fair enough.” He unclipped his ax belt and pulled Crescent off his back. Gate Maker he just set upright on the ground and laughed silently to himself when a pair of guards struggled to drag the giant thing off.
The doors swung open and he started down the long, red carpet that led to an enormous, velvet chair. Sitting upon it was a giant, white horse.
She wasn't giant, Raj realized as he moved forward. She was big, but not enormous. It was a trick of the room, something like an optical illusion to make any pony on the throne seem larger. Neat trick.
He reached the base of the throne and the guards flanking him gave a crisp salute along with him. He stood at attention and said sharply. “Majesty.”
“Captain.” She greeted back in a quiet, matronly voice. “Leave us.” For a second, Raj thought he was being kicked out right away. Then the attending guards bowed and filed out. After they had left, she said, “At ease Captain.”
Raj relaxed, opening his stance and tucking his arms behind his back. “Thank you Princess.”
“You are welcome.” She scrutinized him for a moment and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “My sister has said many things about you Captain.”
“All lies, I assure you Princess.” He said back.
Celestia laughed politely, “I would hope not Captain Rajrishi. She paints a flattering portrait. Brave, capable, and compliant. It is in the interest of that compliance that I brought you here today.”
Raj suppressed a surge of unease at the odd wording and said back. “I'm all ears Princess.”
“Twilight Sparkle has been helping you, correct? With finding the means by which you arrived on Equus?”
“That is correct. We've been working together for months.” He said back cautiously. “We've been making a lot of progress.”
“So I have heard. She writes frequently on your collaboration. The work is fascinating, which makes this all the more difficult.” She took a quick breath and looked down at him levelly. “Captain, I need you to tell Twilight to stop her research into your transportation and arrival to Equestria. Immediately.”
Raj went frozenly still, staring up at Celestia who was equally solid, the only movement in the room coming from her eternally waving mane. After a minute of staring he stammered, “W-what?”
“The research and work she is doing into your predicament. I need you to tell her to cease it.” she reiterated.
“I, I heard that. But why?” Raj asked, still dumbstruck.
She raised a hoof, as if giving a lecture. “In the brief months you have been working together, my apprentice has been nearly eaten by a Naga, partially turned into a frog, nearly started a war with a foreign nation, and had her horn chopped off and nearly killed by a Rakshasa. This task is entirely too dangerous for her, not to mention the disruption your work is inflicting on her planned studies. If I am to repair the damage done by this diversion, I will need your cooperation.” She lowered her hoof down with a attention-getting thud, “That is why.”
Raj glared and spat, all respect gone. “Tell her yourself. You're her damn teacher.”
She shook her head. “That is not an option I'm afraid. If I did that, Twilight would resent me, to the detriment of her studies. If Twilight is to develop along the path I have laid for her, it is important that she does not hold any contempt for me. You will have to convince her to stop this research and you will need to avoid implicating me when you do so.”
He stared up at her, uncomprehending. His hands worked into fists and he seethed to himself for a minute before screaming, “That's bullshit!”
Celestia waited until the echoes of the profanity faded from the chamber before continuing. “I understand that you are angry. What I need is unfair, but it is necessary. I am not intending to order you to cease searching for a way home. I am prepared to allocate a full team of Canterlot University's finest researchers to take over for Twilight. I'm certain that-”
“None of them are Twilight Sparkle!” He shouted in the middle of her sentence. The glare she shot him was harsh enough he almost physically felt it, but pressed on regardless. “I don't care how many of your researchers you put on this, any and all of them aren't as good as Twilight. It would take them years just to reach the point we're at now, much less advance on it.”
“Ignoring the insult to my academic class, you can't deny the danger your quest has placed her in.”
Raj opened his hands and counted along his fingers, “You had her fight Nightmare Moon, who as far as I can tell is the Equestrian devil. Then you had her go up against a full grown dragon, a literal guardian of hell, an army of changelings, an incredibly powerful wizard, and a monster that managed to re-write the laws of reality. Nothing that has happened with me is any more dangerous than what you have made her do.”
Celestia put a hoof to her chest. “My requests were for the positive benefit of my student and all of Equestria.”
“And mine weren't?” He spat. “In my time with Twilight, we've removed a violent monster that was threatening the town, secured a stockpile of medicine for a horrific disease while removing another dangerous monster, found the truth of a part of ancient history, removed an exigent threat to your entire country, found something that will advance Equestria's knowledge of magic for centuries, and forged a friendship with a previously unknown alien race!” He screamed at her, breathing hard. “If all that isn't positive development, then I don't think you know what that means.”
“You have no idea what your presence here has cost her.” She growled, actual venom in her voice as she descended a few steps. “What she was poised to become, no more than a single breath away from it. Then you came into her life and ruined it all. If you have any affection for her whatsoever, you will remove yourself from her and allow her to fulfill her destiny.”
“I didn't come here by choice, Celestia. Something brought me here. If you want to get hot and bothered with someone, do it with them.”
“You have no idea how I wish I could.” She whispered, the words thick with contempt. “Regardless, this does not matter. Captain Rajrishi Singh Oberoi, I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, First Daughter of the Faustmare, hereby order you to do as I have explained. This is a direct order from your Princess and ruler.”
“Is that so?” He asked back, hands on his hips. “No.”
She descended a few more steps. “That was a direct order. Failure to fulfill it is treason, the minimum sentence for such a crime is permanent exile.”
“It would be, if ignoring your order was a crime. You don't have any authority over me Celestia. Luna does.” Celestia looked at him sharply, for the first time the whole meeting actually looking surprised. “You're Co-Diarchs, you have veto power over each other, except in regards to your sworn, individual subjects, them you have exclusive authority over. I'm one of Luna's sworn subjects, her only one as far as I can tell, which means you aren't in my chain of command. At all. If you wanted to order me to do this dumbass task, then you'd need her to do it. And I'm guessing by the fact that she isn't here, you know you wouldn't be able to convince her to do that.”
Celestia didn't say anything, but her slightly wilting posture was answer enough. Raj sneered, “I live in a library and work as the town's constable half the time, you think I wouldn't pick up a law book at some point?”
She looked down, Raj thought in contrition at first, then he became aware of a slight buzz in the air, like the hum of a transformer. He shook his head in confusion, trying to shake the curious sensation. The feeling gradually rose, picking up energy until his gums started to ache and let out a short cry of pain. He looked around and saw everything start to blur out of focus, the pressure she was exuding feeling like a physical force on his eyes, distorting everything in the room. He took a step back in surprise and winced, futilely raising a hand to shield himself. He tried to say something but the words died in his non-cooperative jaw.
Celestia slowly continued her way down from the throne, the power of her presence like a steadily strengthening hammer on his back until he was driven to his knees. “Rajrishi.” When she spoke, her voice was as clear as a bell, like there was no other sound in the whole world. “I must inform you, so that you may decide in an informed context, that I am not the sort of pony to be trifled with. Mine is a terrible wrath, though slow to stoke.”
Raj tried to respond but it came out as a garble. Celestia let him finish sputtering and continued. “I have many avenues of power at my disposal, methods you simply cannot predict, both overt and covert. And I am willing to bring all of it to bear to secure the proper future for Twilight Sparkle. There is, quite literally, nothing I will not do for her. Nothing.”
She loomed over his squirming and pained form for a few seconds before she reached down and lifted his prostrate form up with a hoof, speaking directly into his pain-wracked face. “So, one last time. Will you do as I ask?”
Raj forced a single eye open, the insane power radiating off of her making even that exhausting. What he saw couldn't be real. Mane twisting like snakes, eyes literally burning with inner fires, and white coat blazing like the heart of a star. It was terrible and beautiful in equal measure.
And to that formless monster, Rajrishi slowly, laboriously, forced out. “Go... fuck... yourself.”
In a single instant, the power retreated. The world warped back to sense and Raj realized he could breath again. He sucked in a chest of sweet air and rolled over onto his back, looking up at the ceiling with eyes pinked by burst blood vessels. Slowly, he forced himself to his feet and looked at Celestia squarely.
The Princess was unchanged, though looked somewhat disappointed in him. She said sharply, “You may go Captain. And, I'm afraid I must declare that this conversation to be a Need-to-Know security item, privy only to myself and you. I may not have authority over you but I can still dictate intelligence policy. Violating that would be treason, regardless of your sworn citizen status.”
Raj stared at her, panting and hunched. He wanted to say something smart back, but thought better of it and left the throne room at a sprint. He didn't look back.