Darkness. That was all that was around me at that moment. My mind was numb and my body was weightless. I was in a void, floating aimlessly with no end in sight. There was nothing, and everything. I was nowhere, and everywhere, all at once. There was something about this place that felt familiar to me, like I had been here many times before… Like I belonged here. That familiarity gave me comfort in this black abyss; allowed me to relax as I drifted.
As I was getting used to the emptiness of this limbo, I noticed a small light off in the distance. I would’ve just stayed in the comfort of oblivion, if it wasn’t for the fact that the light seemed to... attract me, like a flame to a moth. I angled myself so that my floating sent me towards it. As I got closer, I discerned that the light was blue and it was actually moving. A glowing fog seemed to be coming out of the back of the light as it swirled gracefully around the darkness. The light seemed to have a figure, like some sort of being was the one illuminating the area, but I couldn’t identify it.
The light got ever closer… and closer… until I could almost touch it. I reached out to grab it, but it darted away from my fingers just moments before I could touch it, turning tail and gliding away, leaving behind the blue fog in its wake. Before I could even think, the fog shrouded my face and obscured my sight. I expected to start coughing my lungs up, or at least make me panic, but I could breathe just fine. If anything, I could breathe even better than before, and it calmed my breathing to a crawl.
The fog lingered, but still parted to give me my vision back. But what I saw wasn’t the darkness of the abyss, but an actual scene, unfocused as it may have been. I could see myself running through what appeared to be a hedge maze, with what I could only guess to be a pony galloping beside me. Strangely, the blue unicorn wearing armour looked vaguely familiar, but in my calm, relaxed state, I didn’t have the brain capacity to even put a thought together.
The scene kept flashing away, showing different scenes of us running through the maze. A turn here, a straight away there, almost never ending flashes of running... Or maybe it seemed longer than it actually was. Finally, it showed a scene of us stopping and cautiously looking around a corner, almost like we were trying to sneak, before I quietly gestured for the pony to follow me.
We came to a dead end, where we found another pony that was scrabbling around, looking like they were looking for an exit. It was a sky blue pegasus stallion with an off-white mane and tail, both tied up in ponytails, with a crimson red streak along the side of the mane and going down the middle of the tail respectfully. My lackadaisical mind, along with the fact that the images were moving so fast and were becoming blurry, meant that I couldn’t get a good jist of who this pony was.
He feebly attempted to fly out of the maze, but turns out he had an injured right wing, so he just ended up faceplanting the floor. The pony shakily stood up and turned to us, his expression fearful but determined, and stood his ground, knowing that he was cornered. We stood in the pathway, squaring up to the stallion, looking like we were preparing to fend him off from escaping. However, before anything else could take happen, my vision was once again obscured by more fog.
The fog dissipated completely to reveal the black void again, a sea of darkness attempting to swallow me whole. There was no passage of time here, so it gave me time to think, even if my mind didn’t have the capacity to conjure up more than wonders and fantasies at the moment. Where am I? What is this place? What was with that light and fog? Was that another vision I just saw? What does it mean? Not much made sense, but it felt like, in this place, it didn’t need to.
As these musings passed through my mind, the light from before had reappeared in the distance… and it looked like it was getting larger, consuming the abyss in its wake... No, scratch that, it was actually getting closer, flying in my direction like it was attracted to me. It draw closer… and closer… heading straight towards me. I didn’t run. I didn’t hide. I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t worried. I was calm. I accepted the light, like a loving embrace.
I heard a faint, distance, but primal roar as I succumbed to the blue light.
Darren
Location: ???
Pain. That was the first thing I felt as I awoke and shot upright, panting and sweating my ass off. I groaned, feeling the constant aches and pains throughout my body. I tried to get comfortable on the soft surface I was sitting on and get control of my breathing. "The fuck!? The hell!? What's going on!?" My surroundings were quite dark, but I could see that I was in what looked like a prison cell with stone walls, floor, and ceiling.
In my panicked state, I tried my best to rack my brain to find the answers I sought. It took a full minute of searching before it smacked me in the face… once again. Ponies, Twilight Sparkle, sneaking into the castle, getting caught, fleeing and fighting a guard, pushing him out of the window and climbing down to save him… and the subsequent fall.
“...Ugh, I need to stop getting myself in these types of situations... It's going to be the death of me one of these days.” I cringed at the thought. Now I know what it feels like to die… Wait, shouldn’t I actually be dead. Last time I checked, no one alive should be able to survive a fall like that. What the hell is going on here? This world is so fucked.
I was lying on a thin bed that was far too small for me, attached to the wall by two thick chains. There was a white sheet over me that only just covered my whole body. There was a toilet and sink to my left and a heavy steel door with a barred window in the top for the guards to look through. I did sneak into the royal castle, but come on, I saved one of the guards from dying. I could hear the beep of a heart rate monitor next to me. At least these ponies had the decency to try and keep me alive.
On a table to my left, I could see what looked like a pile of clothes, but what surprised me was that the shirt on top of the pile had the same trowel and fork logo on it as the shirt I was currently wearing. I then noticed that I could feel the sheet against my skin.
By shifting around, I discovered that I could still move my arms, so I quickly flung the sheet off of me to check if my suspicions were correct. To my horror, they were. I was completely naked under the sheet, my hairy body exposed for all the world to see, meaning that whoever took care of me removed my clothes and repaired them. What I found surprising was that, apart from a few scars on my arms, legs, chest, and probably my back as well, I was completely fine. How was that even possible? I fell thousands of feet down a mountain onto sharp rocks. I should be DEAD right now.
Suddenly, the multiple locks on the door, and by multiple I mean an excessive amount, started unlocking, and it slowly inched open to reveal a small rose red furred, black maned unicorn wearing a nurse's uniform, a stethoscope, and glasses. I quickly covered myself back up with the sheet, trying to not blush.
She gasped when she noticed I was looking at her. “Oh, you startled me sir. Glad to see that you are awake. I'm Nurse Freeheart and I've been looking after you while you have been asleep,” the nurse told me as she trotted over to the side of my bed and lifted a clipboard that I hadn’t noticed before off of the end of the bed with her magic. I'll never get over the fact that magic exists in this world.
“How long was I out for?” I asked her, sitting myself up, making sure to keep myself covered.
"Three days. You took quite the fall, didn't you?" Nurse Freeheart replied, chuckling lightly.
"You could say that," I said with a small smile, trying to make light of the situation. "Speaking of which, how am I not... you know... dead?"
"From what I've heard, you shouldn't have survived that fall. You had a broken spine, fractured tibias and humeri, multiple cracked ribs and various deep cuts that definitely would've caused blood loss. Not to mention having first degree burns all over your body. You were just lucky that the Princess got to you when she did and healed you with her magic. She doesn't just do that for anypony, you know," she answered, glancing down at the clipboard.
Princess Luna saved my life? Why would she do that? Last time I checked, she was hell bent on capturing me. She was obviously successful, seeing as I was in a cell right now, but I creeped around the castle and woke her from her sleep for reasons that she doesn't know about yet. She could have easily left me for dead. Why didn’t she?
"We also found some trances of magic where you landed. Do you happen to know anything about this?" the nurse continued.
"...Yeah. I might have an idea," I answered vaguely. That caught me off guard. So that's what that weird warmth around me was. It must have been me subconsciously using my magic again. I really need to figure out how to control that.
Speaking of which,"Is that stallion ok?" I asked urgently, hoping that he wasn't hurt too badly from crashing through that window.
"You mean Rookie? He's fine, thanks to you. None of the cuts he had were fatal, even if some of them were quite deep, before the princess healed him that is. He's been through a lot worse though. But you saved his life. You should be happy!" she replied with a look of admiration. How could he have gone through worse. He almost died because of me! What could be worse than that? Also, why does everyone keep calling him Rookie? That’s all I hear him being called. Is that some kind of sick nickname?
"Yeah, well, the only reason he was in danger in the first place was because of me. All because I had to sneak into the castle to try and talk to the Princess. I'm such an idiot." I put my head in my hands in shame and groaned audibly.
"You snuck into the castle?! I was wondering why the Princess insisted on you being put in here. I would have liked it if you were in a hospital bed instead, but I can't really argue with the Princess of the night."
"It was probably the dumbest idea I've ever had. I ended up being corner in a room full of stained glass windows..." So I briefly recounted the events of that day, trying to stick to the most relevant information.
"Wow, you're so brave. I don't think I would be able to do something like that." She paused and gave me a long look up and down my body. "You seem like a good enough... creature. I'm sure you had your reasons for breaking into the castle." I gave her a look of confusion back. Why are these ponies so trusting? I literally BROKE into the ROYAL castle, FOUGHT one of the royal guards, and almost got him KILLED, and she pushed that aside because I seem like a good guy for saving him...! This world is so backwards.
"I'm not sure how the Princesses are going to interpret it though. They're probably getting mixed signals from me. I snuck into the castle, caused harm to one of the royal guards, broke a window that looked quite important, and almost killed a living being. But I also saved that being's life by putting myself in danger to do so. I haven't been here long and I'm already making enemies. I wouldn't be surprised if I get put away for life." Nurse Freeheart put her hoof on my shoulder reassuringly.
"The princesses can be quite reasonable. I'm sure you'll be fine." She gave me another small smile, which helped calm my nerves slightly.
I saw the clothes out of the corner of my eye and I had to ask. "By the way, did you repair my clothes?"
"Oh yes, I did. I was thinking that you wouldn't want your clothes to be ripped and burned to shreds, so I took the liberty of sewing them back together."
"Thank goodness you did. They are the only clothes I have at the moment, but you didn't have to do that you know. You don’t even know me."
"It's the least I could do for you after you saved Rookie's life. He's been going through a lot lately, and he can be quite reckless at times. I'm hoping this will be the wakeup call he needs to start looking after himself more."
Suddenly, the cell door opened once again. I glanced behind the nurse to see a royal guardpony standing there, stern look on her face. She had brown fur and purple eyes. Unlike the other guards I had seen, she was wearing gold trimmed grey armour with a sword in the stone symbol in the centre on her chest.
"Looks like it's time for you to see the princesses. Let me detach you for the heart rate monitor.” She quickly unhooked the tubes and wires from the machines around me before she turned and started to walk away. “I'll leave you be now. It was nice meeting you."
"Hey, Nurse Freeheart." I called out to her quickly. She looked at me and hummed in acknowledgement. "I just thought you should know, my name is Darren Walker."
"Well, I hope to see you soon Mr Walker." She gave me one more small smile.
"I would hope not." She gave me a confused look at that comment. I guess that sounded a little mean. "I'm not planning on getting hurt anytime soon."
She realised her mistake, giggling lightly. "Let's hope not. Goodbye, Mr Walker." With that, she left the room, hoofsteps slowly fading away, leaving me alone with the guard.
"Ok, creature, let's go. The princesses are waiting for our arrival," the guard ordered, her voice gravelly, intense eyes glaring daggers at me. I winced at her harsh words.
"Um, can you leave the room so I can get dressed please?" I asked, hoping that she wouldn‘t get angry at me.
She growled, shaking her head lightly. "...Ok, be quick! We can't keep the princesses waiting," she relented, slowly leaving the room. I hurriedly got out of the bed, feeling no pain whatsoever except for my aching bones, grabbed my newly stitched and apparently clean clothes, and slipped them on.
I noticed that everything was here except for my leather jacket. They must have confiscated it after I took it off before my fight with Rookie. I should ask for it back when I confront the Princesses, especially seeing as I keep my pruning knife in one of the inside pockets.
As I got dressed, I thought back to what I saw while I was unconscious. The dark void with the weird light that seemed to comfort me. The fog that seemed to reveal a vision to me. I thought for a moment that was the light you saw when you die, but the fact that I was still here, and the vision, proved otherwise. Nothing made any sense anymore. Ever since I saw that vision of Twilight bringing me here, everything became so crooked and warped, and I don’t know how I feel about it right now. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle that’s missing some pieces.
Once I was dressed, I left the cell to see the guard waiting patiently for me. "Done? Good, now move! We haven't got all day." She yelled, nudging me harshly in the direction of some stairs with his head, poking me in the back with her horn.
"Ok, ok, I'm going. Jeez," I said, quickly following the direction she was pushing me.
After going up an almost infinite number of stairs, I was back in the maze of hallways, except this time I was being escorted by a guard, about to be judged by the Princesses of this land that I don't belong in. I looked out of the window as we walked to see that the sun was high in the sky, maybe around Midday. Guards patrolled the corridors, giving me glances as we passed. Castle staff stalked around, doing their assorted jobs.
To say that I screwed up would be an understatement, and now I was about to pay the price for it. I didn't know what they would do with me, but I couldn't help but hang my head low as I took the walk of shame.
It's funny; just a few days ago I was waking up with my wife in my arms, my kids sleeping next door, just enjoying my life. Now I'm waking up in a world full of magical talking ponies and being prosecuted for crimes that I have committed in said world. I almost laughed out loud at the thought.
As we walked the halls, it looked like we passed Princess Luna's room, the very same room that I got caught in. It was very ornately decorated, painted dark blue and littered with star patterns. The handle in the middle of the door had a bright moon on it that split when the door was opened. How I didn't notice and realise the significance before was beyond me.
Suddenly, after turning another corner, my vision started to fog up again. I started to internally panic but I eventually calmed down when I realised that I was having another one of my visions...
The fog cleared to reveal I was in a grand hall, the ceiling a mile high. In front of me, two thrones sat on an elevated platform with intricate patterns around them, one was empty, the other sat Princess Luna, her majestic mane waving furiously in the non-existent wind, dark blue body sitting proudly. To my right, looking out one of the stained glass windows that looked like a sun high in the sky, stood another pony in the same sort of attire as Luna, but with white fur. That must be Princess Celestia.
I looked up at Princess Luna and she gave me a strained look. "About that..." She started. Princess Celestia turned around sharply and gave her sister a slight shake of her head and I could have sworn I saw her mouth "no" under her breath. "He needs to know, Tia."
She sighed, a resigned look on her face. "You're right. I shouldn't be hiding anything from you. Not something that would be this important to you. That incident I just mentioned, was the main reason why we locked the scroll away. It was because..." Suddenly, out of nowhere, a beam of what I could only assume was magic shot from my right and hit Celestia in the head and partially on the horn, knocking her back a few feet.
"PRINCESS!" I shouted, quickly rushing over to her lifeless form and checking for a pulse. She was still alive, but unconscious. I was pretty sure if we didn't get her to a hospital soon, she wouldn't be in good condition any time soon. I looked to where the beam came from, the main throne room door, and I saw a figure move away from the door like a blur. Before I could do anything, however, the fog started rolling back in, obscuring my vision of the scene.
"HEY! CREATURE!" a loud voice shouted out, nearly bursting my ear drums as I came back to reality. Looks like we had still been walking while I was having my vision, and now we were standing before a giant set of double doors, with two guards standing either side with eyes staring straight ahead.
"What...? Sorry, must have spaced out there for a second." I half lied.
She gave me another stern look. "Well, pay more attention! As I was saying, you are about to have an audience with the Princesses. You will give them your utmost respect and do as they say. Don't try anything, otherwise we will have no choice but to incapacitate you. Do I make myself perfectly clear!" She continued, her voice raising as she talked.
"Completely. You won't have any more problems from me." I answered, giving her the most serious look I could muster.
"Good. We shouldn’t have anything to worry about then," she finished before turning to the guards posted at the doors and giving them a quick nod, letting them know to open the doors, which they did at once with a salute.
What awaited me beyond those doors was the giant throne room, similar in style to the stained-glass hallway. On either side of the room, more stained-glass windows were present, but not as intricately designed as the others. A red carpet lined the floor, leading up to the two thrones from my vision, except with Princess Celestia sitting in it proudly, her blue, green, purple and pink mane flowing just like her sisters. Sitting on her right was Princess Luna, who was still glaring daggers at me, but not as intensely as before. A large circle stained glass window hung above the thrones. This room only seemed to make me even more nervous.
Several guards were standing in a line down the carpet and around the throne, looking as stern as the British royal guards do when patrolling Buckingham Palace. I wonder if they get the same grief from the general public as they do. They did however give me some strange looks, mostly neutral, but some of them angry, as I walked past, only serving to make me feel more nervous. Standing up near the throne, to my surprise, was the stallion I saved, Rookie. He wasn’t wearing his helmet, showing off his azure blue mane with alternating lighter blue streaks that hung down in front of his eyes. When he noticed me, he looked absolutely ecstatic to see that I was alive and well.
As we approached, Celestia regarded me with gentle eyes that somehow seemed to be searching my soul, almost like she was looking through all of my darkest secrets and working out what makes me tick. I couldn't help but rub the back of my neck from nervousness.
The guardpony who brought me here bowed low before the princesses, before addressing them. "Princess, I have brought you the creature that snuck into the castle."
"Thank you, Captain. You may return to your duties." Princess Celestia commanded politely. Captain? Why would she have the captain come and get me? Doesn't she have other more important jobs she could be doing? She bowed once more before turning around and marching out of the room, leaving me with the Princesses. "So, you’re the one my sister has been telling me so much about."
"Yep, that's me... The guy who always seems to have trouble follow him wherever he goes," I laughed anxiously, rubbing my neck so much that I felt it would start smoking. "My name is Darren Walker and I'm a human."
"I'm Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna, and we rule over this fair land," she introduced herself and her sister, even though I already know who they are, in a calming voice, making me relax a little. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, we would like to know why you broke into the castle and what you were planning on doing?"
"And what you were doing in my living quarters?!" Princess Luna added, a lot louder than Celestia, making me tense up once again.
"It was never my intention to sneak into the castle. I just wanted to talk to you. I felt like I had no choice." I started to explain. Luna looked at me with confusion evident on her face, while Celestia remained emotionless, listening to my explanation. "I needed to see you as soon as possible and I didn't know you had to make an 'appointment'. I couldn't wait and I didn't know what else to do, so I hid in a food delivery cart and snuck in."
“We should start checking the contents of the carts that enter the palace from now on,” Celestia muttered to herself.
"I only ended up in Princess Luna's room because I needed a place to hide and that was the closest room available. I didn't know I was entering your room while you were sleeping, it was just a coincidence," I continued. Luna still didn't seem to happy that her private bedroom was infiltrated, but she seemed to accept my answer.
Celestia nodded in understanding. "Ahh, I see. So you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." I nodded my head in agreeance. "That clears that up. Now, about the events that took place in the great hall. Rookie here told us that you got into a fight-"
I winced audibly. "Ok, I know what you're going to say, and I know it seems bad, but I wasn't actually planning on doing anything bad. My anger got the better of me, and before I knew what was happening, he was crashing through the window. And it ended with me 'dead' at the bottom of the mountain. I guess I got what I wanted, but in the worst way possible, and for that, I am sorry. Do whatever you wish with me. I deserve to be locked up for what happened to Rookie," I held my head low in guilt.
There was a long pause as everyone in the room digested what I just said. I could hear the guards whispering amongst themselves. Rookie gave me a sad smile. Princess Luna seemed to have calmed down significantly and Princess Celestia looked to be thinking.
"Now why would I do that?" she finally replied, shocking me. That seemed to surprise Luna too.
"Wait what? You're not going to arrest me? Even after I snuck into your castle and intentionally harmed and almost killed one of your royal guards?" I questioned, looking at her like she had gone insane.
"Of course not. You may have tried to harm one of my guards, but you made amends by saving his life, and I can't thank you enough for saving one of my little ponies." She smiled down at me brightly.
"Well, I can't just sit back and watch as someone gets hurt, especially if I'm the one that caused it. I had to do something and I would do it again in a heartbeat." I saw Rookie grin widely at that and I could swear I saw him start to tear up.
"But sister, shouldn't he be punished in SOME way for his actions?" Luna inquired.
"I actually agree," I admit, surprising Luna. "I shouldn't just get off scot-free for sneaking into the royal castle, especially seeing as one of those stained-glass windows was smashed. I'm guessing that window commemorated something important, right?"
"Yes, it was important. It was to commemorate The Elements of Harmony and the defeat of Nightmare Moon," Celestia answered. The Elements of Harmony? Nightmare Moon? What is she talking about? I'll have to ask later. Now's not the time for small talk. She sighed, looking between me and Luna. "If you both think that it is necessary, then you could do some community service."
"Sister, don't the work ponies need help renovating the royal garden," Luna suggested.
"That's perfect. I'm a landscape gardener back where I come from, so I know everything there is to know about that sort of thing."
"It's settled then. You can help with the work in the royal garden for the next few days until it is completed," Celestia declared. She got up from her throne and started to descend down the red carpet towards me, her pristine white fur reflecting the light of the sun off of her body. The guards seemed to be prepared just in case I attacked. "Now that leads me onto my next question. You just said 'back where I come from,' but where do you come from exactly, and how did you get here?"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You could say that I'm not from around here. I'm actually from another world," I answered, Celestia standing right in front of me now, small smile on her face. She was the same height as me and was actually quite intimidating up close. I couldn't help but step back a little as she approached.
"And you want to know how I got here. Well, you should ask your fourth princess. You know her as Twilight Sparkle?" I said, a smirk on my lips and a twinkle in my eye. Luna looks stunned by this news, but Celestia looked unfazed, expression unchanged.
"I figured as much, but I didn't expect Twilight to be responsible. It would explain why she left Canterlot so abruptly."
"But sister, didn't we lock that spell away for everypony’s safety? How could Twilight Sparkle possibly have found it?" Luna questioned, much to my confusion.
"Wait. What are you two talking about? Twilight did say something about a spell, but what exactly is this spell?" I asked. They hesitated for a second, glancing back at each other before addressing me.
"I don't see the harm in telling you," Celestia started, walking around me until she's standing on my right looking out of the window. "The spell in question was created by Starswirl the Bearded, a powerful unicorn and mine and my sister's personal teacher, over 1000 years ago. It allows the caster to transport themselves and others through dimensions. We locked it away so that it couldn't be used by evil beings that would use it for their own selfish reasons."
"Apparently you didn't hide it well enough, if Twilight was able to find it so easily," I said, more thoughts running through my mind. A thousand years ago?! Wait, are the princess's immortal? This land is in safe hands- uhh hooves, with all of the knowledge they must have.
"I guess you’re right. Sometimes Twilight can be too curious and smart for her own good," she agreed, shaking her head in exasperation, smile on her face nonetheless. "Anyway, after a certain incident, we were all sworn to never learn or use it again. Something could go wrong, and It would be way too dangerous in the wrong hooves. They could do terrible things to creatures in the many multitude of worlds out there."
"And that event was...?" I asked, waving my hand in a circle as a gesture for her to elaborate.
"It... isn't all that important," she replied with a hint of hesitation. Luna gave her a puzzled look, like she was asking ‘What are you doing?’
"O... k. Anyway, I need to get to Twilight so that she can send me home, seeing as she brought me here against my will!" I stated, my voice rising in anger, scrunching up my hands into fists. I quickly breathed out heavily to calm myself down. "I have a family that are probably really worried about me."
They both seemed surprised by my sudden anger. “That’s unlike her to do something so brash. What reason would she have to do such a thing?” Celestia asked.
Should I tell them? Can I really trust them with this kind of information? I’ve only just met them. They may be the rulers of this land, but that doesn’t mean that I can trust them as far as I can throw them.
“...That’s not important right now. All that matters is getting to her as soon as possible so that she can fix this mess she’s created.” I answered vaguely, Celestia giving me a pensive look, almost like she was trying to get an answer out of me just by looking at my eyes and body language.
Luna gave me a strained look. "About that..." She started. Princess Celestia turned her head sharply and gave her sister a slight shake of her head and I could have sworn I saw her mouth "no" under her breath. "He needs to know, Tia."
"Wait a minute..." I whisper to myself under my breath, getting a sense of déjà vu. Celestia started talking, but I already knew what she was going to say. I didn't even need to look around to know what was going on. There was absolutely no way I was going to let this happen, not on my watch.
"PRINCESS, LOOK OUT!" I instinctively sprinted toward Celestia and tackled her out of the way just at the beam fired, skimming my hair ever so slightly. We ended up in a heap on the throne room floor, with me on top of the solar diarch. She, and all of the other ponies around us, looked at me in utter shock. I had just saved one of the rulers of Equestria from what could be considered as an assassination attempt.
"Are you alright?" I asked, hoping to god that I didn't hurt her as I tackled her to the hard floor.
"I'm... fine," she said, shock still evident on her face. I gasped, quickly realising that the assailant was still here, and looked at the double doors to see a glowing horn hastily power down and slink away, then a dark figure swiftly galloping out of sight.
"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled, hurriedly lifting myself to my feet and sprinting towards the doors. I felt the same major headache overcome me again and I could have sworn I saw a tint of green flowing below me, but I paid it no mind. All that mattered was that this pony was captured and brought to justice.
I swung the doors up, almost breaking them off of their hinges, and made my way out into the maze of hallways. I could see that the two guards that were posted on either side of the doors were slumped down onto the floor. Luckily, they were still breathing, but unconscious. I surveyed the branching corridors, looking for any sign of the 'assassin,' until I suddenly saw a dark purple tail flick down the far corner straight ahead of me. I sped after them without hesitation, seeing the guards from the throne room gallop out behind me, but quickly being left behind.
Thanks to Luna healing me, I was back to full health, and quickly gaining on the criminal, who appeared to be wearing a brown tattered hooded clock. I could just about reach out and grab their tail, but before I could, they turned their head to me and fired a beam of magic at my feet, hitting the ground and missing me by mere inches. This made me stumble and lose a few feet of distance, but I was able to keep my balance and continue the chase.
This continued for a few more minutes, with me slowly catching up to the fleeing pony and them firing magical beams at me, which pushed me back. I even started to be able to dodge their attacks and kept my speed, but they always seemed to predict my every move and keep me at bay, swerving left and right at the right moments and taking corners when I least expected it.
We eventually made it down to the main hall, but unlike when the guards were chasing me, there was no one here, not a single pony. So, when you’re chasing someone who isn’t that big of a threat, there are guards absolutely everywhere, but when there is someone who is an actual threat to society, there’s no one around. Now, how is that fair? I descended down the stairs three at a time.
The criminal rushed through the hall, making a beeline for the front door, but before they even had a chance to open it, it burst open to reveal hundreds of guards on the other side, all armed with spears. The assailant skidded to a halt, turned on their hooves and galloped towards the door on their right, which unfortunately for them also swung opened to reveal more guards. They turned around once more and headed towards the left door, and what would you know, more guards there too. They were trapped on all sides. And I instantly take back my thoughts.
“We got you now, bitch! You’re trapped. There is nowhere for you to run, no way for you to escape.” I declared as I got to the bottom of the stairs, seeing the guards from the throne room trotting up behind me, most of them clearly out of breath from trying to keep up with us. I couldn’t see the culprit's face under the matted hood they had up, but I could just about see their blue muzzle. The strangest part about this was that they didn’t look defeated. They were actually smiling.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” The pony rebutted, calm feminine voice echoing around the room. “A storm is coming, and no pony is prepared for it.” Under the hood, I could see a faint blue light. I knew immediately what it could be.
There was no way she was getting away. I sped towards her, hoping to stop her before she could use a spell to get away. Unfortunately, she suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue light before I could grab her. I did, however, manage to grab her hood as she teleported away, meaning that it hadn’t teleported with her and I now held it in my hands.
So, here I was, standing in the middle of the main hall of a royal castle surrounded by guardponies, who were all after another pony who had just tried to assassinate one of the reigning pony diarchies who I had just saved. Let's just say that my day so far had been... interesting.
“We need to find her. Now! We’ll split up and search Canterlot. She was rushed, so she can’t have teleported far.” I ordered the guards, who gave me confused looks.
“Umm, you can’t order us around.” One of the guards from the throne room stated.
“Do you want to find her or not?!” I shouted, causing some of the guards to flinch back. I quickly got responses of ‘yes’ and ‘of course.’ “That’s what I thought.”
The ring of guards disbanded, forming groups varies sizes and heading out into Canterlot. I quickly saw a pony I would probably have ingrained into mind for the rest of my life. “Rookie!” He looked at me with green eyes full of surprise. “You’re with me.” I usually work alone, but we needed to find this pony, and two pairs of eyes are better than one. He looked even more shocked, if that was even possible, before being filled with sheer joy and bounding towards me like a dog after not seeing his master for years. I gave him a look of pure confusion. Why was he so happy to be with me?
“Yes sir. We’ll find this fiend if it’s the last thing we do.” He said enthusiastically, rushing out of the door at top speed.
“Hey, wait for me.” I called out, stumbling over my own feet trying to keep up with him. We needed to find this pony before she does anything else bad. This is not only for Equestria’s benefit, but mine as well.
I still need to atone for my mistakes.