Chapter 5 – Reunion
"Ha! I totally called it! So, I managed to get arrested again, by disturbing the peace and insulting the royal guard. At least it was mostly my fault this time. I suppose I'll wait this out, some good will have to come out of being flung into a tree, wandering for a few days and getting thrown inside a dungeon. Well, I get a bed... of sorts, that's nice.
"I learned that Pinkie Pie can talk a LOT over the course of the whole day of travel. No clue where she bounced off to after we made it to Canterlot though. It's even weirder that she arbitrarily chose to follow me; surely somepony's going to notice this back in Ponyville.
"Oh dear, I just noticed something. Those weird gems back in seven-ninety-six were formed from the use of the Elements of Harmony long ago, they just took time to be discovered. With the Elements being used twice lately – Nightmare Moon and Discord – there's more harmonic gemstones than ever.
“I think enough happened today, I'm going to bed.”
“Princess Celestia!” A young stallion flagged down the alicorn as she made her way to the throne room. She paused.
“Shining Armor, what is it?” The princess turned her head toward the captain of the royal guard.
“You were busy last night, but I'm letting you know now that last night there was an intruder to the grounds,” Shining informed.
“What kind of intruder?” she inquired.
“I've never seen him or his kind before. He – I think it's a he – disturbed the peace and... insulted the guard.” The captain found it difficult to admit the last part.
Celestia looked quizzically. “We should speak with this creature. Come with me,” she requested. Shining Armor nodded and followed her to the dungeons.
The alicorn ruler and unicorn guard trekked through the castle to the dungeons, where the recently-arrested Fred Walsh had been held overnight. When they arrived at the appropriate cell, the human was calmly asleep on a bed of straw. The Princess looked upon him with an air of familiarity.
“Shining Armor, I believe I've met him before,” she whispered, “a long time ago.”
The prisoner cracked an eye open that went unnoticed.
“What is he?” Shining Armor asked.
“A human, as I recall. Did he say his name?”
“I think he said Fred Walsh of the planet Midgård,” He answered. “What happened when you two last met?”
Fred interrupted. “We Fought Potens Daemonium. That week was just messed up. Violent cultists, summonings and a demon invasion,” he explained in his half-awake state.
“How long ago was this?” The guard was confused.
“In the year 796, he fell into Equestria through a wormhole and helped defend this country from a cult. It's a difficult story,” Celestia attempted to explain as she unlocked the cell.
“By the way, travelling through that wormhole felt like walking naked directly into a tornado,” Fred inputted before he forgot the last conversation they had. He rubbed his ribs. “So, how have you been the last two hundred and six or so years, or in my case, two days?” He began as the three left the dungeon.
“Shortly after you departed to Midgård, we formed the Solar Task Force to counter future potential attacks,” Celestia recounted.
“Princess, is it such a wise idea to tell him about the STF?” Shining Armor objected.
“Minus the end bit, I was there most of the way, dude,” Fred reassured.
“Fred Walsh's assistance was vital to the formation of the guild,” the alicorn agreed. “What did you mean by two days?”
“I never made it home. For lack of a better word, I bounced. It launched me back to Equestria and into a tree, hence the injury.”
Celestia looked at his left torso, but couldn't see much through his shirt. “Do you need any medical help?”
“Might as well. It'll give me something to do while Midgård's scientists try and open a wormhole that will actually work,” the human responded. The three changed course to another point in the castle.
Fred Walsh sat on a bed while a unicorn examined his left torso, as he continued his conversation with Princess Celestia. Shining Armor had returned to his post as captain of the royal guard.
“What else happened after I left?” The human pressed for information on his last adventure.
“As I recall, little remained of the Cult of Potens Daemonium. The cultists served their varied times and the STF kept watch afterward,” Celestia responded.
“What about the harmonic gemstones?”
The princess paused in contemplation. “We've found various gems over the centuries. Oh dear,” she realised the same thing Fred had last night. “The Elements of Harmony have been used twice in the last few years.”
Fred finished off. “And since the elements create the harmonic gemstones, they're aplenty.”
The doctor took some bandages to wrap around the injury. “I'd advise against running while that heals.”
The bandaged human paused momentarily. “That sounds more serious than just a bruise.”
“Your wounds included internal bleeding and a broken rib,” the unicorn clarified.
Fred stood up. “I'll keep that in mind, then. No fighting any demons.”
Celestia began to exit the room. She motioned for him to follow.
“Well, it's after the year one thousand, so how did your sister fare?”
She smiled. “My days have been more blissful ever since Luna was returned to me.”
“How much work did that take?” As Fred recalled, the alicorn would've needed overwhelming amounts of preparation for Nightmare Moon's return, including the placement of Ponyville and arranging the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to all be present.
“All throughout the time between your departure and her corrupted form's arrival, planning was essential. It took many years to ensure Luna could come back safe.” Just thinking about it made her stance improve.
The man lagged behind slightly as he adjusted himself into the new bandages. At a four-way junction in the corridors, Celestia stopped, but not to wait. Her face displayed a look of surprise, which she quickly attempted to control.
“Twilight, nice to see you. What brings you to Canterlot?”
'Wait, what's Twilight doing here?' Fred leaned around the corner.
“Princess Celestia, there was this creature that passed through Ponyville and I think Pinkie Pie followed it,” the lavender unicorn explained.
He came out of hiding. “Hi, that was-” Twilight jumped at the sudden appearance of the creature she just mentioned. “That was me. Pinkie traveled along for some reason.”
“Where is she now?” She asked as she calmed herself.
“Non scire, when we made it all the way to Canterlot, she asked why I came here and then bounced o-”
“Hi again!” Pinkie reappeared even more strangely than the way she left.
“Right on cue.” Fred avoided screaming Latin phrases in shock this time, instead simply flinching his head back a few centimetres.
After a brief pause, Princess Celestia suggested, “Perhaps we should discuss recent events over breakfast.”