Skylight quickened her pace down one of the many winding corridors of the castle and towards the guard barracks located on the castle grounds. It was times like this that she regretted not knowing how to use teleportation spells, though those thoughts could wait. Her main priority at the moment was hopefully stopping a mistake either the thestral or one of her more provocative subordinates would make. Turning down one last hallway and hurrying down a set of steps, the guard was soon at the entrance to the barracks used to house the royal guard responsible for patrols and security of the castle. Unfortunately, she was unable to locate her target at a first glance, prompting the mare to grit her teeth in annoyance.
“Damn it, where could he be?” Skylight muttered to herself as she tried to hunt down anypony that may have seen them. Luckily, a pair of guards readying themselves for patrol took notice of the officer scanning the room, before giving respectful salutes to their senior.
“Good morning major,” one of the guards stated as Skylight made her way towards the two.
“Morning corporal. I apologize for sounding rushed, but have you seen a male thestral here?” Skylight questioned both guards. Almost instantly both mare’s nodded their heads with flushed cheeks.
“Yes major. He arrived in the guard barracks about twenty minutes ago with sergeant Streamline before heading into the mess hall. There were also several guards with him,” the mare responded. Skylight let out a sigh of relief before nodding her head towards the guard.
“Thank you for the information corporal,” Skylight said before offering a salute and heading off towards the mess hall. She was rather relieved to know that the stallion hadn’t been given a private tour of the barracks by any of the promiscuous mares in the guard. Still, she knew it was going to be a very interesting scene when she got to mess hall, which was later confirmed when she finally ended up at her destination. Sitting at one of the long tables, sergeant Streamline and several other ranking members of the guard were all hovering around the table, no doubt bothering the stallion. Surprisingly though, he didn’t seem to mind that much as Skylight caught view of him talking to a multitude of mares with a small smile gracing his lips from time to time. Though the smile soon faded as he took notice of Skylight making her way over towards the table.
“I see you are making some new friends,” Skylight teased in a friendly manner. The thestral offered a small nod of his, but nothing more. The situation soon turned awkward for everypony before Skylight cleared her throat and took a seat.
“So Devin, how are you liking your food?” the mare questioned as she took a glance at his nearly empty plate.
“It’s fine I guess,” he responded neutrally, only intensifying the awkwardness of the situation.
“Well that’s good. If you are finished here, is there anywhere you want to go around the castle?” Skylight questioned. Looking over to his left, Skylight noticed Devin make a quick glance at his escort before she nodded her head.
“Yes actually. Sergeant Streamline is going to show me around the barracks. I assume that means you are going to be tagging along as well?” The question was laced with a condescending attitude as Skylight let out a small sigh and nod of her head. Without another word between the two, the three of them rose from the table before beginning the thestral’s tour of the barracks.
Hours had passed as the time of the day soon reached evening, if the descending sun and rising moon was anything to go by. Devin for the most part, occupied himself with his new escort as they toured the barracks on site as well as most of the castle. Skylight had been with them most of the time, silently following the two like an awkward third wheel during a date, but departed an hour before the sun was lowered.
“And here we are, back at the main dining hall,” Streamline said with a smile. Devin offered a smile of his own as he took a seat in one of the many chairs around the decorate table.
“Wow. This place is freaking massive. I can’t believe you actually know the layout of it,” Devin stated with awe. During the tour, the thestral’s attitude had lightened up to the point where he was actually enjoying himself, especially in the last hour without Skylight breathing down his neck. It was during that time he asked Streamline a few simple questions, which she happily answered, giving the former human a much needed insight into exactly where he fell in this new world. However, the two equines enjoyed a small break and moment of silence before a magical scroll poofed into existence in front of the mare, while simultaneously scaring the hell out of the stallion.
“Holy shit, where the fuck did that come from?” Devin yelled in surprise, eliciting a giggle from his guide before she opened the letter and read it.
“It seems it came from her royal majesty, princess Luna. She wants to meet with you in her private quarters,” Streamline said nonchalantly. Devin however, grew a sour mood at the mention of the princess before morphing into one of slight concern.
“Hey Streamline. She wouldn’t be calling me there, to you know…” Devin paused, before lifting his hands up and doing the universal gesture for sex. Streamline’s cheeks quickly grew a faint hint of red against her light blue coat. Her yellow tail began to wag from side to side with a few twitches of her wings before she quickly regained her composure from the question.
“N-No Devin. I do not think she would be calling you there for that. I assume she wishes to discuss some things with you.” Devin let out a sigh of relief from the mare’s response.
“That’s great. Honestly, I do not wish to be forced into a situation like that, or even worse,” he added before growing a small frown. The gender ratio was one of the few tidbits of information the thestral was able to obtain from Streamline, which honestly shocked him. Never in his wildest dreams would he ever dream that the ratio of males to females could be so skewed. At the same time though, it did shed a little light into his current situation and as to one of the possibilities of why he was brought to this world. And he was certain that the all mighty princess of the moon would be able to tell him more about it.
“Alright Streamline, lead the way. The sooner I get through with this, the better.” With a single nod from the mare, both equines were soon on their way to the princess’s chambers.
About ten minutes had passed before the two equines arrived in front of a moon emblemed door. The walk was made in relative silence before the two equines turned towards one another.
“Well, I guess I will be seeing you around?” Devin questioned. Streamline held a small smile with a nod of her head before responding.
“Yeah, you will. Let me know when you can go into the city. I would love to give you a tour,” the mare said with an added hint of playful seductiveness. Devin’s cheeks soon grew a soft tint of red, though he responded with a smile of his own.
“Please, it’s going to take more than that to get into my pants. You are going to have to wine and dine me sweetie if you ever hope to have a chance,” he responded, causing Streamline to let out a chuckle.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Now in you go, the princess can be rather impatient at times.” Before Devin could respond, the mare opened the door before shoving the thestral inside with another laugh.
“Good luck buddy!” He heard the mare call out before closing the door behind him. After righting himself, the thestral took a quick look around the room. It was mostly like the room he was staying in, with overly decorative furnishing and paintings, though the bed and room itself was much larger. The added Alicorn sipping tea on her balcony was also a difference.
“Ah, sir Devin, a pleasure to finally meet you. Please, have a seat. There is much for us to discuss,” Luna stated casually. Devin to his credit, continued to stare at the mare with skepticism in his eyes. He was still pissed that this was the mare responsible for holding him in the castle against his will, as well as denying any sort of information to him. But he knew that if he was to have any hope of getting information out of the mare, he would have to play along. So with a scowl on his face, the thestral made his way across the room before taking a seat opposite the princess.
“Would you like something to drink? Tea, or perhaps coffee?” Devin offered nothing but silence before the mare set down her own cup with a sigh.
“I see you are still upset about your situation. I apologize for my caution, but rest assured that I did everything for a reason. Aside from that, I would also like to help make amends by answering any questions you may have,” Luna added before locking eyes with her guest.
“Oh, so now you want to answer my questions? Alright then, tell me this princess. Why am I here?” A moment of silence fell between the two before Luna gave her response.
“I believe you already know the answer to that question from your earlier conversations with the Sergeant, though I will still answer it. The reason I brought here was to help populate our race, granted I never imagined your compatibility rating would be so high.”
“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Devin countered with a small growl. Luna took this time to take another sip of her tea before answering the question.
“From the samples we took of your new body, we have concluded that you are in fact able to produce offspring. However, your chance of birthing a colt is exponentially higher than anything we have encountered in the last two hundred years, making you the most valuable asset for our nation,” Luna added before taking the last sip of her tea. Silence soon formed between the parties once again as the thestral calmed himself before giving the mare an icy glare.
“I have just one more question for you then. Is there anyway to return home?”
“No,” Luna quickly responded, facing the stallion’s question with brutal honesty than sweet lies. A low growl erupted from the other side of the table after Luna’s answer, though was quelled after a few moments.
“I’m done,” Devin softly replied as he stared down at the table in front of him. He knew it would be a futile battle to argue with the princess over the events she could no longer change. Though that didn’t stop him from using this time to better position himself for the future. Besides, he figured he wouldn’t be able to return home, let alone his human body after the first week of being in Equestria. It was a fact he was almost sure of, but it still hurt to know he was right.
“I’m sorry, but I do not understand what you mean?” Luna replied, caught off-guard from what she was expecting to be a pissed off thestral.
“I’m done with you princess. I’m done with your meddling and your rules. I may be stuck here, but I will live out my life the way I want. You owe me that much for taking away what you did,” the thestral firmly replied.
“That seems fair, though is that all that you want from me?”
“No. I want a stipend every month that I am here along with the freedom to live outside of the castle without anyone watching over me like I am some child.”
“I am sorry, but I cannot allow that sir Devin. You are too valuable an asset to be left unattended, though it also wouldn’t be right to keep you here in the castle. I will permit you to live in the city with the sole condition that you will have at least one guard with you at all times, as well as living in a place from a selection of my choosings. Is that a fair compromise?” The thestral offered another low growl before standing from his seat at the table. Turning towards the door, Devin made his way across the room before stopping briefly in front of the wooden slab.
“And one last thing princess,” Devin added before his tone grew even colder. “Don’t ever show your face to me again.” And with those final words, the thestral was off.