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Capri rose out of her bed and asked the orange bird perched on her windowsill, “Calvin, is that you?”
She walked up to Calvin and grabbed the little tube tied to his talon with her fingers. She opened the tiny canister and a long and large scroll slid out. After she got over her initial amazement at such a trick, she opened the scroll and read it.
Her heart dropped and her eyes shrunk as she uttered, “Oh, no…”
Suddenly, the door slammed open, scaring Calvin away. The startled draconequus turned to see a furious Neighsay at her doorway.
He demanded, “What have you done with Princess Juniper Montage?!”
Capri retorted in offense of the idea, “What have I done?! Why do you presume it was me?!”
“Who else has the powers of chaos and can leave a trail cold?!”
She scoffed, “I did nothing of the sort! You want proof?!” She practically shoved the paper into Neighsay’s face. “Here! Read for yourself!”
The advisor levitated the message and read it. He grunted in anger and crumpled the paper before he growled, “This is highly unacceptable!”
Capri crossed her arms and said, “Yeah. Juniper’s gone too far this time.”
“I’m not talking about Juniper! I’m talking about those fiends! How dare they arrest the princess of Applewood on the mere suspicion of trespassing! They must be stopped!”
Before he could leave the room, Capri conjured up a small brick wall in the hallway, causing Neighsay to bump his muzzle into it.
“Whoa there, Horse-ay.”
He turned to her with a deadpanned expression on his face and he said, “That is a poor pun and you know it.”
She shrugged, “I couldn’t help myself. But…” she cleared her throat to be more serious, “…you can’t just charge into Thicket and demand that they release Juniper. It will only make matters worse. Besides, Skyla and Blackthorn are already there. I’m sure they’ll diffuse the situation and straighten things out somehow.”
Neighsay told her in an unconvinced tone, “I trust the Crystal Princess, but it’s Captain Blackthorn I have less faith in. He is a deer, and being in his home environment, he’ll most certainly side with his own kind in the matter. Sooner or later, he will turn against us.”
Capri steeled her convictions, “I’ve known Blackthorn longer than you have and I know he’ll want peace between ponies and deer over siding with just one race.”
Neighsay humphed, “Hmph! I sincerely hope so.”
Suddenly, Autumn appeared with saddlebags on her back and singsonged, “Who’s ready to go to El Dortroto?”
All was silent for a few moments until Virtue came up to her and whispered, “Uh, Autumn? I don’t think now’s the right time to ask.”
Neighsay only begrudgingly agreed to stay in Ponyville and wait until more news from Thicket came. Capri was going to stay at the Castle of Friendship to keep him out of trouble, but she would send Capper, Autumn Blaze, and Virtue to the rock formation in the jungle, the landmark closest to El Dortroto.
Capri asked the travel party, “Are we all set, ladies and gentle-cat?”
Autumn chirped, “Ready as I’ll ever be!”
Virtue asked, “Capper, where are your bags?”
Capper said smoothly, “Oh, I’m not coming.”
The girls cried, “What?!”
Autumn told him, “But you promised you’d help bring peace to the Kirin and Rainbow-Eyes.”
“Yeah. I never promised that. But I did promise to help you find a third party to resolve the crisis, and look. We found it. Our problems are solved.”
Virtue asked suspiciously, “Then why aren’t you coming back to El Dortroto with us?”
“You see, I have a goal, too: go beyond El Dortroto, land me a sweet gig, and live a life of luxury.”
Autumn asked in rising anger, “So you used me?!”
“Well, yeah. No, wait.” After he thought about it for a few seconds, he responded, “Oh, yeah. Yeah. I did use you.”
Autumn shouted in fury, “HOW COULD YOU?!”
At that moment, her eyes became white, her eyelashes burst into flame, red wisps danced frantically around her horn, and a small fire began to burn from the back of her mane. Everyone was startled to see Autumn like this.
Capper backed away from Autumn as he chuckled nervously, “Now, now! Let’s not be hasty about this!” He then fell into an armchair and continued, “This isn’t anything to get upset over, is it?”
Autumn threatened, “Oh, that’s not upset! This is upset!”
Suddenly, a wall of fire shot up around her before it disappeared to reveal her in her Nirik form. Virtue and Capri huddled close to each other to avoid getting burned.
Capper yelped, “YAAH! Okay! Okay! I’ll help you! I’ll help you! I’ll come back to the jungle with you! Just turn your burner off! Please!”
In an instant, Autumn reverted back to her Kirin form and smiled, “Okay!”
As she hummed and walked away from Capper, the other three exchanged disturbed looks that practically screamed “What just happened here?”
“I wish you had told me about this last night,” Skyla said to Blackthorn in her guest room.
Blackthorn responded, “It wouldn’t have concerned you. Well, it kind of does since you are a…”
Skyla finished as she raised an irritated eyebrow, “Pony?”
He stuttered, “Uh, don’t take it the wrong way, Skyla! They know you two come from different kingdoms, but King Aspen wants to speak with you just to be sure there isn’t a conspiracy going on.”
Skyla sighed, “You’re right. Juniper’s mistake has left us on shaky ground. If I am to salvage the king’s trust, I must prove that the ponies have no ill will towards him. What Juniper did was foolish, I grant you, but she certainly must’ve meant well.”
Blackthorn suggested, “Unless Neighsay advised her to march right up to the gates of Thicket and order the guards to take her to the king.”
“Well, in any case, it seriously backfired on her. I’m just glad you sent word to Capri when you did.”
“Agreed. So while you speak with Aspen, I’ll go interrogate Juniper about what happened that night. I’m sure she’ll respond better to me than to the other guards.”
“Good luck,” Skyla said before she kissed his cheek.
“You, too,” Blackthorn returned the kiss on her cheek.
It was almost torturous not to kiss each other on the lips, but their sense of duty helped them get by. In the past, Blackthorn had explained to Skyla that a relationship between a pony and a deer was strictly forbidden in Thicket. Therefore, the couple had to hide their engagement until all was at peace with Aspen and the deer.
As Skyla was escorted to the king’s throne room, Blackthorn made his way to the dungeons to speak with Juniper. After he descended the last step of the underground spiral staircase, he saw that the dungeons hadn’t changed even in the last 60 years or so. Save for a few lanterns, the prison cells were grim with their woody bars of root and their floors and walls of dirt. In fact, the halls of the dungeons were, too, made of hard soil. It was quite dreary down here, Blackthorn would confess. He then walked up to a particular cell holding a light-colored – if not dirty – mare and tapped on one of the root bars.
Juniper turned to see her visitor and lit up with joy. “Blackthorn!”
The captain said with a little humor, “Glad to see you’ve cooled down from your temper tantrum.”
The princess replied indignantly, “It wasn’t a temper tantrum. I was trying to get in to see the king. Didn’t work out so well.”
He explained firmly, “Because you were screaming at the top of your lungs and resisting arrest.” Blackthorn continued more calmly, “Now, I must ask you a question. You need to answer it as thoroughly and specifically as you can. Why did you come to Thicket last night?”
She answered, “I sneaked off to the Everfree Forest because I wanted to join the peace talks. I got lost in the forest for a little while before I saw the really tall golden gates. I walked up to the guards and I told them, ‘I am Princess Juniper Montage of Applewood, and I demand to see your king.’”
The deer facehoofed in disgust, “Ugh! ‘Demand’?”
Juniper nodded in agitation, “Yes. I said ‘demand’.”
After he put his hoof down, he said, “You should’ve said ‘request’. ‘I request an audience with the king.’”
“Request, demand. Is there really a difference?”
He slit his eyes as he said more sternly, “There is. ‘Request’ is like saying, ‘I would like to see the king if it’s all right with him.’ ‘Demand’ is ‘I want to see the king and I want to see him now!’”
Juniper defended, “But Neighsay told me to say ‘demand’!”
“Oh? And have you seen how Neighsay behaves around non-ponies?”
“Well, he seems to like them.”
He corrected her, “No. You seem to like them. You haven’t been paying attention.”
“I have been paying attention!”
“To Neighsay!”
Juniper groaned in anger, “ARRRGGH! Why does everyone expect me to be as unfair and crotchety as he is?! I want to be me! I want to be Princess Juniper Montage, not Princess Neighsay! Why do I need to listen to everything he says?! It’s just one boring lesson after another! I don’t need lessons! I’m more than ready to become queen! Why can’t anyone see that?!”
Blackthorn told her in a calm but disappointed tone, “You think you’re very grown-up, but you have a great deal to learn.”
As Blackthorn walked away from the cell, Juniper said, “So do you.”
He stopped in his tracks. Even though he knew Juniper intended it as an empty retort, she was right. The ideas he had grown up embracing were now in conflict with the discoveries he had made during those years of exile. He was back home now, but he was no longer the same deer he had been when he left. He had saved countless lives and then terrorized them unwillingly under the command of Gladmane. When Skyla helped him and his comrades become free again, he was very grateful for the angel who entered his life.
And finally, living in the Crystal Empire for a few years gave him a new perspective on the ponies and their lives. He learned that though the ponies had flaws of their own, they still lived in harmony. This caused him to wonder if the deer had flaws just like the ponies did. Before he could dwell on these thoughts further, he set them aside and ascended the staircase.
He walked across the city and into the headquarters of the royal guard. When he entered his room, memories of his life in Thicket came rushing back. Nothing had changed since he and the guards were practically exiled, and yet, nothing felt the same anymore.
He began to sing, “Long ago, we were outcasts…someplace where we stood alone…So new and so alien…We could not go back home…I thought they all would fear us…and how could I have known? I was wrong, oh so wrong…
“Then I thought I found it…A dream that I could share…I thought I was so lucky…it almost wasn't fair…I thought I knew my purpose…I thought that I knew where I belong…But I was wrong…
“Everything I ever thought I knew…Where I've been, where I'm going…Will all I grew up learning turn out to be untrue? Could've guessed…Should've known…Now I do…
“Everything I've yearned for, everything I planned…All my sweetest memories were castles made of sand…Now that it's all crumbling, help me understand…If none of it was really me, then who am I supposed to be?
“And everything I ever thought I knew…Every hope, every feeling…Love and trust and happiness…They're done, they're gone, they're through…And what's left, me alone, once again…Should've known…Now I do…
“I guess my life meant nothing…I guess it was a sham…I guess I'm someone else now…I wonder who I am…”