In the cool Canterlot night, townsfolk wandered around outside their homes, finishing up late night shopping or simply heading home for the day, ready to turn in after a long day’s work.
It was a relatively quiet night, except for the local inn, the Drifting Stallion, where laughter could be heard, and no, not owl laughter, but human laughter.
By a table by the window, Emerald Edge finished her bout of laughter before wiping at the corner of her mouth, where cider had leaked out from.
“And I am sure he had to pay up after that?” she asked happily, leaning back in her seat.
“No, he still insisted on leaving without paying.” Crystal Flare, one of the Canterlot guard and one of Emerald’s friends back in Equestria, said, slamming a fist on the table. “Some people, you know. They have no respect.”
“And you showed him, yes?” Spring Amber asked with a hiccup. “It is only right one pays up after drinking so much.”
“He did not. That is why he sits in the Canterlot jail this night.” Flare chugged another mugful of cider down his throat. “Aaaahhh…”
“You guards sure have interesting stories to tell as well.” Emerald looked to them and smiled.
“The life of a guard might not always have such events.” Across from her, the other Emerald Edge flicked a bone from her mouth back onto her plate. That was something different about them. The other Emerald was human, so she ate meat. “But we do have our fair share of oddities. But I am sure our tales cannot compare with what you get to experience out there, Lady Emerald Edge.”
“Oh, what I do is nothing special, Guard Emerald.”
That is what the former pegasus had taken to calling herself. It was still weird to this day to talk to herself, yes, but she could count her counterpart as a good friend. Sure, they never went out on quests together, but she could still consider these guards her friends. She owed it to them that she was even sitting here today, drinking as much cider as she wanted.
There was a jingle as the inn door swung open. After looking to see who it was, all the guards stood up to attention.
It was the Captain of the Guard, Jade Crystal. Emerald hadn’t got the chance to talk to this world’s Jade very much, but she knew enough to know she was the same as her Jade back home. Always a stickler for rules, keeping even her helmet on until she sat down at the table, but still very much one of Emerald’s friends today.
“Please, sit.” Jade shifted her chair closer to the table. “Lady Emerald Edge, it is an honor to have you with us tonight.”
“Likewise, captain.” The spymaster nodded as the other guards all returned to their seats. “How do you fare this night?”
Jade ran a hand through her bright yellow hair and grinned. “It is a fine night, if a bit cold. I caught Road Turn and Saunter Wind in a storeroom again.”
“Not again…” Spirit Flicker slapped a hand to her forehead. “I have told them many times, they need a quieter and less known spot.”
Jade flashed her a look.
“Oh, um, I mean, I normally tell them to wait till after duty, captain,” Spirit Flicker corrected. “Yes, I said that, captain.”
“Good to know, Flick.” Jade called one of the serving girls over and ordered, to Emerald’s irk, a plate of beef and assorted vegetables, and a mug of ale. “Lady Emerald, how was your quest today? I heard from the knights that you and Sir Ganeighn had investigated druid presence near Trottingham?”
Crystal Flare spat cider from his mouth. “Trottingham again? I must say, that town draws trouble to itself.”
“No, really, Flare?” Dash Spiral plucked a stray strand of his blonde hair from his nose. “It is something I did not know. The town has only had fifty or so bandit raids in the last year.”
“Funny.” Crystal Flare wasn’t amused.
“You two.” Other Emerald stopped them. “Let the lady knight speak.”
“Right. Sorry about that.” All eyes turned to the former pegasus, which still wasn’t something she was good with.
“Oh, um, it was nothing special, really.” Emerald smiled awkwardly. “We simply surveyed the problem, then we moved in and removed them. Druid attacks seem to be lessening. Perhaps they are finally running out.”
“The Fir Laimhe Liath is one of the bigger druid clans,” Jade said as she spotted her meal arriving. “I would think it would still be some time before they run low, my lady.”
She thanked the serving girl as she received her food, wasting no time in getting started.
“But… I would be glad to be rid of their magic…” Spring Amber stretched her legs out under the table and yawned. “I had been burned by their magic once. My left arm.” She rolled up her sleeve to show a darker patch of skin. “The mages did what they could, but it still left some scarring.”
“Such things they do to people…” Emerald clenched her fists. “Human sacrifices accomplish nothing. It does not make them any stronger.”
“Someone needs to explain that to them,” Jade said through a mouthful of beef that made Emerald’s stomach churn. The beef reminded her of Honeygold. She wondered how the little farmgirl was doing right now.
“Thankfully we have their leader, Duchan, in chains.” Spirit Flicker placed a fist on her palm. “Without him, they have been leaderless.”
“No, they have been far too organized to be without a leader.” Emerald shook her head. “Nimhe, another of his druids. I think she leads them in Duchan’s absence. Unfortunately, there have been no reports of her.”
“Do not fret, my lady. You are a talented Knight of the Round Table. I am sure you will stop the Fir Laimhe Liath one day.” Guard Emerald clapped a hand to her chest. “Tis a strange turn of events, indeed. Never would I thought I would talk to myself across the table.”
“You and I both, Guard Emerald,” the spymaster chuckled.
One point she had enjoyed in this world was once again meeting her group of friends back from the Crystal Empire. They had all given their lives just so she could come into this world to find artifacts to bring home to stop Sombra. In the end, Emerald had already found the artifacts, but return home she could not.
But she was past despair and defeat. She knew there would be a way to eventually return home. It was just a matter of finding the right pieces. Perhaps there was an artifact out there whose magic could force open the portal back to Equestria.
Hope.
Hope had gave her the strength to get to this world. Hope had given her the will to live on here and to continue her quest. Hope was what kept her standing tall now as she searched for a way home.
And the friends who had shared this hope and perished in the fight with Sombra, they were all here, sitting with her and laughing over mugs of cider and other alcoholic beverages. Plus, the other Emerald Edge was here too, which was a surprisingly fun experience.
“So, anymore good stories?” Emerald asked the guards. “Crystal Flare has said his piece. Does anyone else have anything to share?”
“Oh, I have plenty more if you would like to hear them, Lady Emerald.” The red haired guard leaned his elbows on the table and grinned.
“You had your turn, Flare.” Amber picked up her mug and emptied its contents. “It is my turn. Lady Emerald you have heard the tale of the Baba Yaga, I am sure? Tis a Kievan Horse tale parents teach their children. I had heard these tales from a traveler just yesterday.”
“Ki-Kievan Horse?” Emerald repeated, slightly confused. She’d never heard of this place before. “Where is this place?”
“Quite the journey east,” Amber continued. “It borders the people of the East, but they are more like us than the Easterners.”
“You sure have a lot of knowledge for a guard, Amber.” Jade stuffed a few peas into her mouth.
“Just stories I heard, captain. So yes, my lady, the Baba Yaga. They say they are witches, old women who prey on small children to feast upon.”
“Humans eating humans?” Emerald was appalled. That was absolutely disgusting. She made a face and stuck her tongue out. “Why, that is worse than the druid’s human sacrificing.”
“Well the Baba Yaga doesn’t exactly eat the children. They are the ones sent to take the children. For their demon masters.”
“Oh, come, Amber, surely you do not believe all this? There are no demons.” Dash Spiral was in the process of juggling his helmet. “At most, these old women must be witches or mages.”
“So what does this have to do with us?” Spirit Flicker licked at the corner of her mouth. “I thought we were going to tell stories of our work as guards? Not fairy tales.”
“That is because I saw something in my room last night!” Spring Amber protested, kicking at her friend from under the table.
“Ow!”
“I saw her. The Baba Yaga. She stood in the corner of my room, licking her lips.”
“What is a Kievan Horse legend doing all the way in Canterlot?” Jade Crystal raised an eyebrow. “We do not even have ties with Kievan Horse.”
“I don’t know, but I know what I saw last night. It was a Baba Yaga! Lady Emerald will believe me.”
“Uh… I don’t even think I believe that.” Guard Emerald looked to the spymaster for help. “It sounds much too far fetched. A Kievan Horse legend here?”
“I have to agree with… myself.” Emerald pointed to her counterpart. “This Kievan place, it is much too far away if it is near the East. Surely this Baba… Yoga would not come all this way just to stand in your room, yes?”
Spring Amber looked doubtful, but then shrugged and blinked a few times. “I suppose you are right, Lady Emerald. She didn’t do anything. She just stood in the corner of my room. When I woke up, she was gone.”
“A bad dream then.” Flare clapped his hands. “Simple as that. You thought you saw an old woman monster, but it was all in your mind.”
“Come on, I have a better story than that,” Dash Spiral volunteered. “Flicker and I arrested a woman yesterday for drunk and disorderly. She had filled up so much on ale that it looked like she could destroy a house if she rolled down the hill.”
“That story is nothing to talk about, Dash…” Spirit Flicker’s cheeks colored. “We have other stories to tell.”
“No, tis interesting enough. She did indeed fall down a slope as we led her to the prison. Flicker tripped on a loose stone and fell forward. I hit the ground with her, and the woman nearly flattened us, rolling down over us and all the way to the town’s central bridge.”
“Th-that is no story to tell, Dash.” Flicker covered her face with her hands. “It was a simple mishap.”
“Your sister had a good time when she saw us flat on the ground.” Dash Spiral leaned back with laughter.
“It was an accident…”
“So what happened to the woman?” Emerald’s curiosity was piqued. “Is she in prison now?”
“I let her go this morning.” Jade sipped from her mug. “I do hope she learned her lesson. Can’t have another guard getting rolled over, can we?”
Flicker looked surprised that Jade had made such a joking remark and her blush brightened.
“Come, Lady Emerald, while we all have tales worth sharing, none will compare to what you have experienced, whether here or in your world.” Crystal Flare nudged her in the shoulder. “Tell us more.”
Emerald rubbed her chin in contemplation. She’d already shared with them their heroic sacrifices against Sombra, Flare’s attempt to show off to a mare from town by flying somersaults, and even the power of the Crystal Heart. There wasn’t much more that could be better than those. Perhaps something from this world. “Have I told you lot about our journey to the forest near Manehampton and the Knights who, uh, well, at that point said Knee?”
“It was fun drinking and laughing with you tonight, Lady Emerald.” Guard Emerald Edge walked alongside her as they left the Drifting Stallion. “And it is an honor to get to drink with a Knight of the Round Table, even if you, uh, are me.”
Emerald chuckled, then turned to make sure Dash Spiral and Spirit Flicker were managing with dragging a drunken Crystal Flare away with them. “The honor is mine, Guard Emerald. It is nice to know how I am managing as a human in this world. You and I, we are not so different.”
“Just that your skills are in subterfuge and you are much better with the sword, my lady. I am only capable of the spear. Moderately so.”
“But you are good enough at your job, so that is all that matters, Guard Emerald.” The former pegasus put a hand on her counterpart’s shoulder as they strolled on. She spotted Jade Crystal ahead, already across the central bridge. She was a fast walker. “Funny, how you are all here. I wonder if this world has a Crystal Empire.”
“If there is one here, we have never heard of it. An empire made of crystal… That sounds almost as farfetched as Amber’s story about that Baba Yaga in her room.”
“Indeed.”
Emerald talked to herself all the way to the castle, where they said their goodbyes and went their own ways.
“Take care and goodnight, my lady,” Guard Emerald had said with a bow. “It is really such an honor to know my other self is accomplishing so much for Canterlot.”
Emerald was happy to know that she was helping others in her time here. She might’ve not been able to find a way home, but as long as she had to be here, she was going to do what she could to help Canterlot’s people. This kingdom was her home now, at least temporarily. She had made a vow as a Knight of the Round Table to protect the kingdom’s people and the king. She was not going to fail a second time.