We made our way through the courtyard, guards going about their patrols and duties, maids cleaning leaves that fell from nearby trees, and a few other nobles passing by making their way into the castle. I looked back to Fizzlepop and Valkyrie. They were looking in all directions, in front, to the sides and even above, as if searching for something. Raising an eyebrow in concern, I paused to turn around fully, crossing my arms.
"Are you two alright?" I asked skeptically. The two gave each other confused glances, and looked back at me.
"We're fine." They said unanimously. They looked at each other again, this time with slight irritation.
I let my arms slump down to my sides. "It just seems that, well.." I began, thinking about how I should put this. "..That you're both on edge I guess." This drew a surprised looked out of Valkyrie, but she just saluted, a look of determination in her eye.
"Sir, we are-"
"Zale." I corrected her, cutting her off. Valkyrie cleared her throat and tried again.
"Zale, we are just on alert and being vigilant for any threats that may bring harm or discomfort to you." She stated matter of factly. I rolled my eyes, but conceited the point. I nodded in understanding, turning back around and continuing down the path.
As soon as we made it out of the courtyard and into the open street across the bridge, I saw a very peculiar stallion approaching us. He was a unicorn, wearing a black tuxedo over his white coat, a monocle on his left eye and a neatly combed blue hair and mustache. Fizzlepop and Valkyrie not missing a beat, step in front of me to halt his approach. The stallion chuckled, waving a hoof dismissively.
"Hello there Mr. Chase." He greeted, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "I must say, I never would have believed what Celestia said if I didn't see you for myself." My eye twitched when he called me Mr.Chase, but I didn't comment on it. Instead, I stepped around my two companions, putting on a friendly smile.
"To be honest, I wouldn't have believed it either. She seems to be quite the trickster sometimes." I noted. This actually got a chuckle out of the stallion, a glint of mirth in his eye.
"Oh goodness, where are my manners?" He chastised himself. "My name is Fancy Pants." He held out a hoof. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." I took Fancy's hoof in hand, and gave it a firm shake. He returned it respectfully, nodding in approval.
"Pleasure's all mine." I replied happily. This guy isn't so bad, so far at least. He definitely was polite, I'll give him that. "And feel free to call me Isaiah, or Zale if you prefer." He retracted his hoof, placing it back on the ground. "Is there anything I can help you with? My friends and I were just on our way to take a stroll through the city." Fancy Pants pondered for a moment, looking up at me.
"Well if you're interested, perhaps you'd like accompany me to brunch with my fiance, Fleur de lis." I brought my hand up to my chin, stroking my hairs. "I can show you around the city and the finest establishments we come across along the way." Fancy Pants offered with a smile.
Well, it wasn't such a bad idea actually. Fancy Pants seemed trust worthy for a noble, but I can't be too careless. Besides.. I have these two with me. I thought, looking back to my friends. Everything should be fine as long as they were with him. Turning back to Fancy Pants, I gave him my response.
"Sure, that would be nice actually. I haven't gotten the chance to see the city yet." I stated with a smile. Fancy Pants returned the smile, turning around to face the cobblestone road in front of us.
"Shall we be off then?" I nodded, following behind him along with Fizzlepop and Valkyrie.
As we walked down the road nearing the main parts of Canterlot, more and more ponies started to notice us. Not many acknowledged me though, I got some interested looks, but no one actually approached me other than Fancy. The road we were on was made of a pristine white cobble, glimmering in Celestia's glorious sun. The buildings we passed complimented the road and the rays of light with a heavenly glow, illuminating even the darkest of corners.
"This is where most of the nobles and people of very high stature live, myself included of course." Fancy Pants said as we rounded the corner. "Perhaps you too could think about settling down here once all is said and done." I hummed in thought, thinking about it. Since I was brand new to the area, and didn't know pretty much anypony here, I didn't really feel comfortable yet.
I blinked at what I had just thought. any"pony".. god I'm becoming one of them. I groaned inwardly, ignoring the concerned looks from my companions. "I'll think about it." I said simply, continuing to follow close behind Fancy.
Most of these buildings were homes to the nobles, seeing that most ponies here were in some sort of snazzy attire, something engraved in silver and gold mailboxes, and their lawns are near identical to each other; Small and simplistic. We rounded a corner that went a little further downhill, past the homes and into what appeared to be a shopping district.
We were further a long the path, passing by other ponies that were going about their day. I noticed that there were griffins among the crowds as well, some were even shop keepers at the various stand. I could see that we were coming up to a very decorative street.
"Here we have Restaurant Row, the only street in all of Canterlot that has the finest establishments in fine dining, bars and other services." Fancy Pants stated, slowing down his pace. "Which means that we are arriving to our destination." I looked around, awestruck at the scenery. This place was amazingly architectural, fine detail on every restaurant.
Hanging about said restaurants were signs above some of them, depicting either one , two or three horseshoes. However, we didn't stop at the ones with those signs. We kept along the road, made a turn into an alley and came across a building that didn't even look like it belonged in Canterlot. The building itself was wedge between two other white buildings, and It had a very traditional Arabic style look to it. The front wall being orange with decals of yellow lines and flowers, a window on each side that's blacked out so you can't see the inside.
"What's this place?" I asked curiously. I eyed the sign with mild fascination. It was an elephant, holding a spoon with it's trunk.
"This, is our destination," Fancy Pants said with a smirk. "The Tasty Treat." He presented it with a raised hoof, a cocky grin on his face. "Fleur should be inside already," he said, opening the entrance. "So lets go take our seats." We followed him inside, the door closing behind us with a click. I had to admit, something smelled good.
~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~
As we entered the Tasty Treat, I was hit with an aroma of overwhelming scents and flavors. Fizzlepop and Valkyrie followed in behind me, their eyes closed and nose tilted towards the air, taking in the scents as well. Looking around, I saw that the place was relatively full of ponies, all seated at nearby tables enjoying their meals and conversing with one another.
At least they were, until they noticed me walking by, following Fancy Pants towards a table near the right corner of the room. The room went from a lively environment to a near silent one, murmurs replacing the conversations that were in the atmosphere. I felt the eyes bore into the back of my skull as we all sat down at a table with a white unicorn with a pink mane and tail seated, looking right at me. My companions sat on either side of me, Fancy Pants and the one I assumed to be Fleur on the other end.
She leaned towards Fancy Pants, still staring at me with a blank look. "Honey.. Is this..?" She asked, trailing off. He nudged her side, grabbing her attention. Fancy nodded, chuckling a little. Her face lit up with a giddy smile, and her attention was back on me. "Wow, so you're Zale.." She said in admiration. I nodded, chuckling sheepishly.
"Yep, that's me." I said in confirmation. "It's nice to meet you miss..?" Her eyes went wide for a moment, and she cleared her throat.
"My name is Fleur de lis, but you can just call me Lily." She stated with a smile, bowing her head slightly. I returned the gesture happily, gesturing a hand towards my friends.
"These are my friends, as well as my personal guards, Tempest Shadow and Valkyrie Skyline." I used Fizzlepop's other alias on instinct, assuming she'd rather be known as 'Tempest' when it comes to new faces. They both bowed their heads in greeting as well.
After a moment, the room went back to being lively and optimistic, ponies returning to their conversations, although I still got looks from time to time. A unicorn with a brilliant orange coat, a dark fuchsia mane and tail approached our table, a notepad and pencil in their magic. "Hello!" She greeted, bowing. "My name is Saffron Masala, and I will be your waitress for today!" I waved in acknowledgement.
"Are you ready to order?" I resisted the urge to facepalm, as I had completely forgotten to even open the menu in front of me. Taking the menu in hand, I opened it to peek inside at it's contents.
I froze, staring at the menu with utter shock and disbelief. Fizzlepop seemed to notice my sudden tensing up, and gave me a concerned look. "Are you alright Isaiah?" She asked, nudging me with a hoof. Slowly, I leaned in towards her ear, the menu covering out faces.
"Not to be rude or anything but," I began in a low whisper, pointing at one of the items on the menu. "I'm surprised they actually serve meat here." Fizzlepop looked at what I was pointing at, and her eyes lit up with understanding. She shrugged, eyeing me with curiosity.
"Are you.. not comfortable around meat?" She asked in a low voice, peeking out above the menu at the others.
"No, it's not that. I thought it would be the opposite really." I said, frowning a bit. I put the menu down, feeling a bit less awkward.
"Well, griffons do eat here too, as well as dragons sometimes." She explained, smirking. I was about to say something else, but she did something I honestly did not expect. She booped me on the nose, and I stared at the tip of her hoof cross eyed. And I sneezed.
This got a laugh out of her and I narrowed my eyes at her, my cheeks burning slightly. "Har har." I said flatly, but I couldn't help but chuckle a little myself. "Well, I guess I got a taste of my own medicine." I relented, sighing. I looked over at The others.
They stared, Valkyrie looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in her seat, Saffron just looked confused. Lily stifled a giggle, and Fancy was smirking in amusement at the display. This time, it was Fizzlepop's turn to blush, coughing into her hoof. Lily smiling, gave her a knowing look.
"My my, aren't you two just adorable~" She teased, swirling a hoof on the table. I cleared my throat, not commenting on that. Instead, I looked over at Saffron, trying to change the subject.
"I'll just have lamb zobrian, and apple cider to drink." I stated simply. Saffron, not phased in the slightest, wrote it down. "You two want anything?" I asked, looking between Fizzlepop and Valkyrie.
"I'll have what he's having." Valkyrie said, pointing a hoof in my direction. At first I was about to ask 'are you sure', but then I saw her fangs glisten in the yellow light, reminding me she's not the same breed of pony. "Strawberry smoothie though."
"Daffodil curry please, and do you happen to have the berry blast in stock?" Fizzlepop asked the waitress. Saffron nodded, smiling. "One of those then." I smirked knowingly at Fizzlepop, resisting the urge to tease her and making a berry related pun, only barely.
"Alright, I have everypony's orders. I'll be back with your drinks and then your meals afterwards!" Saffron beamed, turning and heading towards the doorway to what I assumed led to the kitchen.
"well then," Fancy pants chimed after a moment of silence. "Lets go to know one another shall we?" And with that, we were deep in conversation.
~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~
I've told Fancy and Lily about my stay here and what happened during my time in Ponyvillie, minus the ursa major part. I mentioned that I did get hurt and had medical attention so they didn't worry about it too much. The afternoon went off without a hitch, the food was amazing. Unfortunately Fancy and Lily had business somewhere and had to leave early, so Lily gave me her address and I decided to pay her a visit sometime. That left me, Fizzlepop and Valkyrie at the table.
"Hey Fizzy," I said, grabbing Fizzlepop's attention. She raised an eyebrow, a bewildered look on her face.
"Fizzy?" She echoed, looking me up and down like I was crazy.
"Yes." I said simply. I smirked, putting a hand over my chest and puffing it out. "I know, you can thank my skills of efficiency for that one." I quipped, closing my eyes. "It's only one syllable, and it's cute. Has a nice ring to it, don't ya think..?" I trailed off, my eyes losing a little bit of focus. I brought my hand to my head, using my arm as leverage against the table. "Efficiency.." I echoed, as if the word had some sort of ghost haunting it.
~ ~ ~ ~ > > flashback < < ~ ~ ~ ~
"Hey Isaiah, why don't you go out more often? It's a beautiful day today." I looked up from my computer screen, staring at the woman with no amount of amusement on my face.
"That's nice and all Nana, but I prefer the rain." I replied, taking a quick glance back at the screen. "Besides, I don't have a reason to." Nana looked at me in bewilderment, unbelieving at what she heard. She walked over to the table I was sitting at, and leaned against the wall.
"There's always a reason, it's so nice today, fresh air is always good, exercise and you could be meeting people." I looked up and cocked an eyebrow up.
"So?" I asked inquisitively. "I could do that any day. I meet people online and I step outside every now and then if I do want some air; usually when it rains." I added, looking back at the screen in front of me. "I take midnight strolls too. Not often, but at least once a week or so. Also I'm not a 'people' person. There is no reason for me to go outside."
Nana looked irritated at this point. "That's being lazy. Ain't nothing gonna come out of that computer of yours that's going to help you." She stated, crossing her arms.
"No," I began, looking up, irritation on my face now as well. "It's called being efficient." I countered, never taking my eyes off of her. "If there is no obligatory reason I should go outside unless there's some sort of emergency or my chores get in the way, I have no reason to be outside. Call it being lazy if you want, but I call it efficiency." This time Instead of going back at the computer, I got up and walked out of the room. "I'm going to take a nap." I lied through my teeth, I just wanted to be alone for a while.
I wish I could just..
~ ~ ~ ~ > > present < < ~ ~ ~ ~
I gasped desperately for air, almost going into a coughing fit.
"Zale!?" I heard a voice beside me call. I looked over to see a pony in dark blue armor above me, with a panicked expression on her face. "What's wrong? Stay with me!" My mind was starting to get things in order again, and I realized that was Valkyrie who was above me, and I was on the floor.
Groaning in discomfort, I lifted myself up into a seating position, hand on my head, "I'm okay now.. I'm okay." I said, trying to calm my nerves. To be honest, I only said that to make myself believe it rather than for her sake. Fizzlepop came into view, a wet rag in her hooves. "I just.. I'll tell you what happened later." I decided, taking the warm rag from the mulberry hoof. "Thanks Fizzy." She smiled at that, nodding.
"Do you want to head back to the castle now for some rest? You seem.. shaken." Valkyrie observed. That's exactly how I was feeling. I'm not sure how she saw it, I thought I was hiding it well. Maybe she knows me more than I know her at this point. I nodded, standing up and putting the rag against my forehead.
"That would be nice, yeah." I answered. I began to walk towards the exit doors when a thought came to mind. I turned around and pulled out my bit pouch, some ponies were looking at me with concern, others just gave me a glance, and went back to whatever it is they were doing. Saffron waved, catching my attention.
"Fancy already paid for the meals, don't worry." She said reassuringly, smiling. I nodded in thanks, and made my way to the doors and left the building. The alley was significantly darker, looking up I saw that the sky was turning purple, indicating that sunset wasn't too far off. Pulling out my phone, I looked at the time. 6:56 PM. I must have been out for a while, at least an hour or so.
I remember the way we came from what Fancy showed me, and the walk back to the castle didn't take very long. There were no guards this time, but I thought nothing of it. i opened the door with no trouble at all, stepping inside the castle. The hall was empty, and a serene silence filled the area. I walked down the hall, and up the stairwell, my friends tailing behind me. I figured I'd better get used to them being around, so I always looked back to see them there.
"Hey, girls?" I asked, grabbing their attention. "Mind if I ask you a question?" Fizzlepop cocked an eyebrow up but nodded.
"Sure, what is it?" Valkyrie asked, curious as well. We rounded the corner at this point, the throne room being just down the hall.
I thought about how I should asked this, trying not to make it sound too obvious. "Um.. do you think that I can find happiness here? In Equestria?" Both of their eyes widened in surprise, obviously not expecting such a question.
"Well Zale, I guess that would be up to you." Valkyrie answered honestly. "As for what I think, I think your happiness is closer than you think it is.." She said, looking away. I cocked my head to the side, unsure of what she meant. When she didn't continue, I shrugged it off, appreciative of her answer.
"What about you Fizzy?" I asked, looking at the mare in question. "What do you think?"
Fizzlepop hummed in thought, a hoof tapping on her chin. "Well.." she began, looking up at me. "I'll have to agree with Valkyrie when she said it's up to you. But I think that you can find happiness here, or maybe it'll even find you." She added with a smile. I responded with a 'hm', but otherwise didn't say anything as I kept walking.
"..Why do you ask?"
There it is. Sighing, I brought my hand to my head, a grimace on my face. "Well, back at the restaurant when I fainted.. I had something shown to me. A memory, of my past." I heard Fizzlepop gasp from behind me.
"Really? What was it?" She asked, sounding very interested.
"I'll tell you once we get all of our friends together, I'd rather tell you all at once, rather than having to repeat it." I explained, approaching the throne room doors. "But It's only-"
I was cut off, as I heard shouting coming from the throne room. "Starlight!? Luna, where are you!?" It was Twilight's voice. I looked back towards Fizzlepop and Valkyrie, raising an eyebrow. They shrugged, concerned looks on their faces.
I opened the door, and froze at what I saw. The throne room was in shambles, the carpet leading up to the throne were burnt and scorched, shards of glass littering the sides of the room from the now broken windows on either side of the room.
And there, lying lifeless on the floor leading up the the stairs, was Celestia, and the rest of my friends. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow dash and Spike, all looking worse for wear. I looked on in horror, before running to them and dropping to my knees. I held Pinkie close, leaning into her chest and putting my ear against it. A heartbeat. They were still alive, just unconscious. I looked around again, noticing someone was missing.
"T-Twilight.. what happened!?" I asked, fear ridden in my words. Twilight trotted closer to me, dropping on her haunches as well, casting a spell which emitted a green light above the group.
"I-I don't know. I was asleep, a-and I heard the window break and shouting and when I came to see what was going on, I saw something take both Starlight and Luna and jump through the window, and this is what I saw!" My eyes widened in alarm, I looked around frantically. It was evident that something came through the window, and left through the other side.
My gut fell into the pits of my stomach, a dreading feeling looming over me. I looked back, and Fizzlepop was frozen, and didn't dare to look away. She had tears falling down her cheeks, clearly shaken by the scene. Valkyrie was standing next to the princess, checking over her carefully for injuries.
A scent came to my nostrils, and bile began to rise in my throat. Looking around the room, I saw a pile of what I thought to be wood at first glance, but the golden gleams of celestial guards helmets could be seen. There, on the far side of the room, were charred corpses of unicorn and pegasi guards. The smell of burning hair and flesh was infecting the air around it, and I nearly fell over at the sight. Oh god no.. I thought, standing up on shaking legs.
Starlight and Princess Luna were gone.