Estarossa POV
It only took me a few minutes to find the castle again and just as long to find a good place to land. It took me a minute or so to find the room the elements were stored in and I found the remains of Nightmare's armor. I looked around first trying to find anything out of place and after finding nothing I walked over to the armor and summoned all the Rebellion blades to test something. The armor never reacted to anything I did to it, I wasn't expecting anything, but I was still disappointed that nothing remained of Nightmare. I actually wanted to see if Nyx could exist or maybe another good Nightmare, but I'll take what I can get. I grabbed the armor and took flight back to Ponyville with about 40 minutes to spare. When I made it back I saw everyone was still in the library having a pleasant conversation. Time to ruin it.
"I FOUND NOTHING!" I shouted making them jump and then glare at me
"You could have just said you're back, and why do you have Nightmare Moon's armor?" Twilight asked
"This armor is likely worth a lot, even in pieces. It's historical value and the quality still looking new and well made even after 1,000 years despite it being broken, and let's not forget it survived the elements once adding to that value. Museums and collectors will be offering quite a lot for the real thing even in it's current state."
"So you looted the castle?" Applejack asked, sounding like she's accusing me of being a thief
"No, that would imply I took something that was originally in a ruined castle which because of the 'ruined' part, that means everything is up for grabs. Unless the princess says otherwise, nothing in that castle has an owner."
"In any case, we should be departing for Canterlot now that you're back." Celestia said
The princesses and I left the library and made our way for the town hall, when the chariot came into view the guards immediately got ready for lift of and saluted the princesses. When they noticed me though I got a good laugh.
"HALT CREATURE!" one shouted
"I surrender, don't hurt me." I got on my knees and they dropped their weapons. They tried using magic only for the spells to not work or in one case somehow set himself on fire. The princesses stepped in after one hurt himself and explained I was a guest and helped stop Nightmare Moon. They tried picking up their weapons, but only 2 of them were able to. I apologized, but they looked at me wondering why I was doing so. The 2 that were available hooked themselves up to the chariot and we stepped inside.
"Mhmhmhmmmmahahahaaha, oh my god I haven't laughed like that in a while. So how long is the flight going to be?"
"About an hour, now after your trip I have 3 more questions for you." Celestia said
"Ask away, first put up a sound proof spell since I already know at least one of those questions."
"As you wish." her horn lit up and the chariot did so as well " Now, how did you go to and from the castle so fast, why did you want to examine Nightmare's armor, and what did you mean by 'being in a world of fiction'?"
"In order, power levels play a big role in determining speed, and the other 2 sort of share the same answer. Multiverse theory, my world watches yours starting from Nightmare's return an-"
"You mean to say your kind watches us? How is that possible?" Luna interrupted
"Imagine a book getting a visualization using pictures and people speaking when the characters do. It was the same thing with the series of the character I became."
"You said it was starting from Nightmare's return, does this mean you have knowledge of the future?" Celestia asked
"Yes and no, I only watched each episode up to date once, the only things I feel I can safely say are Twilight's ascension, the gala, the Empire's return, a wedding, and something about 2 prisoners." I'm not going to tell them about Discord and Tirek "All in no particular order. However, my unwilling arrival and inevitable involvement could have changed anything. With that said, I'm going to apologize in advance for if I screw anything up." they looked at me unsure of how to take this, Celestia especially, she was the one to break the silence though
"And Nightmare's armor?"
"I wanted to see if she was alive. I've already implied there are other Equestrias, any number of which could have been created or written about while they already existed. From gender swaps or other physical changes to something as dark as Equestria being enslaved or destroyed whether it is justified or not. I wan-"
"How could that be justified?" Celestia nearly shouted slamming her hoof down
"Ponies being the 'Master race' or the 'Perfect beings' and mindlessly slaughtering or enslaving other races, you or your sister fucking up badly and making an enemy out of the wrong guy after inflicting every kind of pain on them for years, or your subjects doing so for no other reason than not being a pony. There are 6 alternate Equestrias I can think of that your enemy is more than justified, in those a person either leaves to come here willingly or is taken from their homes sometimes by you and enslaved, wrongfully imprisoned out of paranoia, experimented on, tortured, even raped and killed. Luna usually doesn't learn of these crimes you and your subjects commit until after this person breaks free and kills several ponies in their mentally and emotionally unstable states in self defense and you make them out as the villain. In one I can think of a human walks into Ponyville, immediately gets labeled as a monster, attacked and driven out of town by the element bearers and the rest of the town, finds a place to rest in your old castle, and gets a visit from Luna in his dreams and demands answers. He claims to be innocent and tells the truth, but Luna calls him a liar and casts a spell on him so he will have nightmares for the rest of his life. Rejected, labeled a monster, and tortured for being born different, it's no wonder he waged war against Equestria: the land of hypocrits and xenophobes who see the world in black and white." they looked at me horrified, but I couldn't tell who looked more so
"To think there are Equestrias that have fallen so far, and you watched these happen?" Luna asked
"Watched? No. Read? Yes. As for Nightmare's armor, she sometimes survives. She could be a shadow, taken to another world which is my world more often than not, she could be another sibling of yours, or in a few cases a little filly. More often than not she finds genuine happiness in the form of a lover, maybe a second chance at life sometimes without her memories, or if she isn't saved or redeemed she is purged. I wanted to see if she was still alive, to give her a fair chance at living her own life, preferably free of the negativity that created her, or destroy her if necessary. Call her evil if you want, but just remember she was as the world intended in every way."
"So the real reason you went back was to save her? You didn't care about the armor at all did you?" she asked
"Basically. I'm the Commandment of Love now so I may as well try to live up to it as comfortably as I can. If becoming your enemy meant she would be able to live her own life I would have done it, maybe she would have become a hero eventually. But what's done is done so there's no point in dwelling on it, just move on." they shared thoughtful looks before turning back to me
"You truly have no ill intentions, you truly want to help Equestria?" Celestia asked
"I have no reason to want anything bad to happen to anyone here except maybe Blueblood if he's a prick in this Equestria, but yes, I do want to help Equestria. What other reasons do I need than Luna being best princess and almost always having a good reason to shout praise the sun?" Luna began to blush after hearing best princess, time to have more fun
"Oh my god she's blushing! She's so adorable I want to give her all the hugs." her blushing intensified and Celestia shocked me
"OW. Okay I deserved that, I'm sorry for making you so uncomfortable Luna. But in all seriousness you are my favorite pony and in most cases impossible to hate even a little. I'd like to be your friend if you'd let me." she looked ready to cry hearing this, probably would have jumped on me had we not been in the chariot, Celestia's gaze becoming more gentle by the second
"I would like that. I would like that very much Estarossa."
I probably would have fainted if I were still human