Twilight and Applejack lead the group around Ponyville, showing them most of the important locations and introducing them to several ponies.
Nenio seemed particularly interested in the train station, especially the train itself. Arueshalae decided to buy Ember some new clothes from the Carousel Boutique once the owner returned, since the shop had a “closed” sign on the door by the time they arrived. Though Ember insisted it wasn’t necessary. And Woljif took a particular interest in the Sugar Cube Corner bakery, though he was unable to purchase anything at the time since they had yet to exchange their Mendevian currency for Equestrian currency. However, Twilight did purchase some doughnuts for the group as they passed the bakery, which made the Tiefling quite happy as he devoured his pastry while they walked.
The tour lasted for a couple hours before Twilight and Applejack finally led the group to a very large tree with a door and windows in it. “And this is Golden Oaks library, where me and my assistant Spike live. Why don’t you all come on in?” She said as she walked up to the door and opened it for them.
The group filed into the library and immediately noted how dark it was inside. Once they were all inside some lights in the roof turned on as if someone had flipped a switch, revealing an interior that was bigger than the outside would lead one to believe which was currently full of ponies. Strange decorations filled the library, including a banner that had “Welcome to Ponyville!” painted on it in big bold letters.
““““Surprise!”””” The crowd shouted.
“Welcome to Ponyville!” Exclaimed a pink Earth Pony. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I made this party for all of you! Were you surprised? Were you, were you, huh?!” Pinkie Pie demanded excitedly.
“Uh… Yeah… Very surprised… What is all this?” Lann asked, uncomfortably.
“A Welcome to Ponyville Party! I throw one for everypony who’s new to Ponyville! So when I saw Twilight and Applejack introduce you all, I just had to throw one for all of you!” Pinkie Pie explained. “I hope you don’t mind me using the library for this, Twilight.”
“No, it’s perfectly fine. In fact, I fully expected this.” Twilight said, smiling at the pink pony.
“Thank you very much, Pinkie Pie! We really appreciate it. So I suppose this is that ‘surprise’ Applejack mentioned earlier, right?” Arueshalae asked.
Pinkie gasped and stared at Applejack. “Applejack! You didn’t ruin my surprise did you?!”
“Nope. Don’t you worry. I just said I wouldn’t ruin the surprise, I never told them it was a surprise party.” Applejack told her.
Pinkie gave her a suspicious glare for a moment before immediately brightening up and smiling at her. “Okay! Anyway, I’m sooo glad to meet you all! We’re going to be the bestest friends!”
Areelu Vorlesh sighed and shook her head. “Miss Twilight. You said this was a library correct? Would you mind if I sat down and read while the others enjoy this… ‘party’?”
“Oh, sure! Go right ahead. Are there any books you’re looking for in particular?” Twilight asked.
“A history book, preferably. I would like to acquaint myself with this land as much as possible.” Areelu stated.
“Okay. Follow me and I can help you pick out a couple books. The rest of you, enjoy yourselves.” Twilight said before leading Areelu deeper into the library, and Nenio followed after them.
The rest of the group spread out randomly across the library.
Ember and Woljif immediately went to the food tables and got slices of cake. Arueshalae stayed and talked to Pinkie Pie. Lann talked to a few ponies who came up to him but otherwise kept to himself. Mors just stood off to the side and watched silently. Most ponies were too intimidated to approach him.
“How detailed would you like your history books? There are a few lengthy ones I could recommend that go into a lot of detail and a few shorter ones that just cover the broad strokes. Which would you prefer?” Twilight asked.
“Something in the middle preferably. But failing that, the broad strokes shall do.” Areelu stated.
“Something in the middle, eh…? Ah! I think I know just the book!” Twilight said before leading Areelu and Nenio to a bookshelf and telekinetically levitating out a specific book. “Here you go! This isn’t as long as some history books I have but it’s not too short either. It covers most of the major events in the past thousand years since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna started ruling Equestria. Well, it’s a bit outdated, but it’s a start.”
“It will do. Thank you.” Areelu said before taking the book out of the air and heading off to read.
“And what about you, Nenio? What would you like to read?” Twilight asked.
“Do you have any books on science? Magic works too. Either or. I’m very interested to see the differences in science and magic between our two worlds!” Nenio requested.
“Oh, sure! That’s easy. I strongly recommend reading books by Star Swirl the Bearded! He was the greatest wizard in Equestrian history and his contributions to magic can not be understated! He was a true genius!” Twilight said.
“Is that so? In that case, I would love to read any books of his that might be in your possession. I can also recommend several books on magic of my own, should you have any interest in reading them. However, I would need them back eventually.” Nenio requested.
“Of course. And I would love to read any books you might recommend. Though starting with one will probably be for the best right now.” Twilight said.
Nenio nodded and reached into her personal small bag of holding. Pulling out a book she held it out to Twilight. “If you’re planning on reading one at a time, I strongly recommend starting with this. It covers a wide range of topics from the basics to some highly advanced magical theory and equations.”
A lavender aura suddenly appeared around the book and it levitated out of Nenio’s hand towards Twilight. “Thank you! I’ll start reading it tonight and have it back to you in a few days. Now I would recommend reading this. It’s by far one of Star Swirl’s best works.” Twilight said before levitating a book off another shelf towards Nenio.
Nenio took the book and examined the cover. “Thank you, girl. I will return this as soon as I am finished with it.” She then walked off, already starting to read the book.
Twilight then sighed and went to go find Spike, who was in the middle of talking to Woljif.
“So you’re this world’s version of a dragon, huh? Where are your wings, little guy?” Woljif asked.
“Yeah, I’m a dragon. And I don’t have wings. They haven’t grown in yet. Why?” Spike explained.
“Haven’t grown in yet? You mean you don’t hatch with them? Man you got ripped off there, little buddy. I almost feel sorry for you. Jharsy here is a dragon where I’m from and this little guy hatched already having his wings. He’s only a few months old by the way.” Woljif told Spike, scratching under the chin of the tiny metallic gray dragon sitting on his shoulder.
“What?! He was born with his wings?! No fair!” Spike pouted.
“Yeah… Well, look on the bright side, little guy, you’re a lot bigger than he is right now. Plus, he can’t even talk or use his breath weapon just yet. And that’s despite him being centuries old already.” Woljif said with a smirk.
“What? Centuries old? I thought you said he only just hatched a few months ago?” Spike asked, confused.
“He did. But he’s apparently some sort of special dragon demigod or something like that, which is why his scales are always changing color.” Woljif told him.
As Woljif said this, Jharsygax’s scales turned from metallic gray to pure white.
Woljif smiled and motioned towards the little dragon on his shoulder with his thumb. “See? Anyway, because of that, he was able to choose to stay inside his egg and not hatch for centuries until the Commander came along. That’s why his name is so long and nigh unpronounceable. Where we’re from, dragons’ names get longer the older they are. Not sure exactly how long it takes for it to get longer off the top of my head, you’d have to ask Nenio or the Commander. Point is, you're technically a lot younger than him but you’re also a lot bigger. That should make up for the wings, huh?”
“Eh… I’d rather have wings… Color changing scales would be nice too.” Spike said somewhat bitterly.
Woljif chuckled before kneeling down and patting Spike on the head. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Your wings will grow in eventually and it’ll be great, I’m sure. And even dragons from our world can’t change the color of their scales, it’s just this little guy. So don’t let it bother you too much.”
Spike sighed morosely. “I guess… Thanks, Woljif.”
“Sure. Anyway, I think your big sis there wants a word with you.” Woljif said, standing back up.
Spike turned around and looked at Twilight. “Oh, hey! What’s up, Twilight?”
“I need your help with something. Would you mind coming with me for a bit?” Twilight asked.
“Sure.” Spike shrugged.
Twilight led Spike upstairs where she set down the book Nenio let her borrow, and summoned a paper, quill, and inkwell which she used to start writing a letter to Princess Celestia.
“I need to let the Princess know about our new friends. So I’m going to need you to send her this letter.” Twilight explained as she wrote.
“Hm? So soon? Can’t it wait until after the party?” Spike asked.
“I’m afraid not. Sorry, Spike, but it’s urgent she gets this letter as soon as possible.” Twilight told him.
“Does this have something to do with the meteor you saw last night? I know you, Applejack, and Fluttershy went into the forest to investigate it, then you brought these guys back. Do they have something to do with it?” Spike asked.
“Yes. They didn’t just have something to do with it. They were the meteor I saw, Spike. They’re, for all intents and purposes, aliens. Unfortunately, that’s all I can tell you right now, but trust me when I say, this letter is critically important.” Twilight explained.
“Alright I guess.”
The two of them stood there silently for a few moments longer before Twilight finally finished the letter and rolled it up before levitating it over to Spike who took it and seemed to incinerate it with his green flame breath. The smoke then drifted off at high speeds towards Canterlot where it rematerialized in front of Princess Celestia, who was currently sitting on her throne.
Princess Celestia smiled upon seeing the note. She always loved receiving letters from Twilight. Unrolling it she started reading it immediately.
‘Dear Princess Celestia,
There is a matter in Ponyville that requires your urgent attention.
Last night I saw what at the time I thought was a meteorite crash into the Everfree Forest. However I noticed some oddities with the meteor so I took some of my friends and went to investigate. However, what we found was not actually a meteor at all. It was a group of as yet unknown intelligent creatures. We made contact with these creatures and their names are: Commander Mors, Areelu Vorlesh, Arueshalae, Ember, Lann, Woljif Jefto, and what is apparently a “demigod” baby dragon named Jharsygax (with a much longer last name I am uncertain how to spell).
This normally wouldn’t be a problem as they were not immediately hostile and seemed friendly, even offering to share some of their leftover breakfast with us (which was some sort of stew containing the meat of a manticore that attacked them the previous night). However, there are a few things I found concerning, to say the least.
First and foremost, the leader, Commander Mors, is a Lich. A Lich being a form of skeletal undead creature. And he can apparently use necromancy.’
Celestia did a double take upon reading that line and her concern sky rocketed.
‘I realize that may sound outlandish and even fictional but I promise you, it is true. Fluttershy, Applejack, Zecora, and I all saw it first hand. He is legitimately a walking skeleton, and he raised the skeleton of the manticore they killed the previous night as an undead. He does have the ability to use magic and is currently under an illusion to make himself look alive. However, considering the meat in the stew came from the manticore they killed and we found them while they were not expecting us, I do believe he is legitimately undead and a necromancer rather than it just being another illusion. This, however, was the least concerning thing I found as despite being undead he did not seem immediately hostile or evil despite having several opportunities to attack us if he was. And all of his other companions seemed to be alive… Well… Sort of.
Two of them are apparently something called ‘demons’ which they claim are creatures from ‘the Abyss’ which is apparently some sort of extradimensional afterlife for evil creatures or something to that effect? It’s strange. Normally I would dismiss notions of there being any sort of afterlife at all but after seeing the results of necromancy in person, I find it significantly more difficult to deny the possibility. Regardless, these demons claim to be reformed, if I remember correctly. One of them, Arueshalae, I sort of believe since she seems extremely kind. Whereas the other, Areelu Vorlesh, I do not. Especially since one of them, Lann I believe, outright said Areelu was evil while Ember claimed she was redeemed or at least could be.
Regardless, what truly concerned me were some of the things they mentioned. Mors was apparently the commander of something called the Fifth Crusade, which was a war of some kind. They mentioned something called ‘The World Wound’ which was apparently opened by Areelu Vorlesh, so I can only guess it was a portal of some kind and they were at war with demons.
Mors said he became a lich and learned necromancy because he was against insurmountable odds in this crusade and he was desperate. I have no way of knowing if this is true.
Lann said his people were corrupted by a demon after they were tricked into eating somepony while they were starving to death, and that all of his people were subsequently enslaved by said demon except for him.
Also, just so you’re aware, they are all armed. I convinced them to store their main weapons away but most of them are now carrying short swords or daggers instead. For ‘self defense’ or so they claim.
Now, all of this can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but Applejack and I both agree that we find it all highly concerning. They don’t seem hostile yet and show no signs of becoming hostile any time soon, but if you aren’t too busy I would like to request that you come to Ponyville so you can meet them for yourself. I’m worried but everything is just far too vague for me to make any real judgment call on this, so I would like your help if possible.
Just so you know where to find us if you decide to come, Pinkie Pie is currently throwing a Welcome to Ponyville Party for them in the Library. So they will all be busy here for a couple hours.
Forever and always, your student, Twilight Sparkle.’
Princess Celestia immediately rolled up the letter and teleported it to her room before rushing to go get Luna. After waking Luna up and giving her a brief rundown of the situation, Celestia left her in charge of Canterlot for the moment while she rushed to Ponyville.
Meanwhile Pinkie Pie was introducing Arueshalae to those of her friends that she had yet to meet.
“Arueshalae, this is Rarity! Rarity, this is Arueshalae!” Pinkie chirped happily.
“A pleasure to meet you, darling. I must say, your clothes are absolutely fascinating… You simply must let me make a dress for you sometime. Oh, I know the perfect gems to compliment your wings and tail!” Rarity said excitedly.
“Hello! Actually, you own the Carousel Boutique, right? I’m not sure if Mendevian currency translates to Equestrian currency, but when I eventually have money that I am able to trade with I was actually thinking of asking you to make a dress for my friend Ember! She lived on the street for most of her life, so her clothes aren’t in the best condition, you see.” Arueshalae said.
“Oh really? Could you take me to this friend of yours? I would love to meet her.” Rarity said with a smile.
“Of course! She’s right over here.” Arueshalae said before leading Rarity over to Ember. “Ember, this is Rarity, the owner of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity, this is my friend Ember.”
“Hello!” Ember said with a friendly smile, waving at Rarity.
Rarity’s eyes were immediately drawn to Ember’s burns and the missing fingers on her hand. “Oh, you poor dear! What happened to you?!” She asked in genuine concern, walking over to Ember and looking her over to make sure she was otherwise okay.
“What do you mean?” Ember asked, tilting her head curiously.
“Your paw, darling! You’re missing claws! And your skin! You look like you were burned!” Rarity exclaimed.
“My hand and fingers, you mean? And that’s because I was burned. It was a long time ago. My daddy took me to Mendev since he was going to join the Crusades. But some of the Crusaders got scared for some reason so they tied me and my daddy to these wooden poles on top of these big piles of wood and lit the wood under us on fire. My daddy died, but some kind Crusader leapt into the fire and saved me! I was living alone in Kenabris ever since, at least until the Commander and his friends found me after Deskari attacked the city! I’ve been traveling with them ever since!” Ember explained.
Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail deflated, and tears started welling up in her eyes. Bolting forwards, she wrapped Ember in a tight hug. “You poor thing! How could those meanies do that to you?! I’m so sorry that happened to you!” Pinkie cried sympathetically.
“Oh, no. They weren’t mean at all. The Crusaders were all good, kind people. They were just scared of us for some reason. And sometimes fear makes people do things they shouldn’t. That’s all.” Ember responded, leaning down and returning the embrace.
Rarity shook her head, sympathetic tears welling up in her eyes as well. “I’m not sure I can accept that, darling. Fear is no excuse to burn somepony at the stake! Even worse, despite how tall you are, you sound like a filly. How long ago was this?”
“Oh, a very long time ago… A little less than a hundred years, I think? I was really small at the time. I think I was ten when it happened?” Ember said.
“A ten year old. They burned a ten year old! How dare they?! There is absolutely no excuse for such a thing!” Rarity growled. “Just imagining somepony doing such an awful thing to Sweetie Belle… No. Absolutely not! How can you possibly forgive them? In your position, I don’t think I would be able to ever forgive them knowing they murdered my father, maimed me, and left me a homeless orphan for no other reason than simple fear.”
“I forgive them, because I know that deep down they really were good people and they thought they were doing the right thing, even if they were wrong. And not forgiving them wouldn’t fix me or bring my daddy back. So why hold a grudge? Everyone deserves a second chance.” Ember stated.
Rarity looked at her speechlessly for a moment before shaking her head. “My word… I think you would give Fluttershy a very serious run for her money in terms of kindness… Ehem… Well I did not mean to be rude by dwelling on this… Your clothes! Yes, I remember. Arueshalae mentioned you needed a new dress. And looking at you I can see she was absolutely correct! I mean no offense, but your clothes are threadbare, covered in tears and holes, and ugh… that color… No it absolutely does not suit you at all! This is officially a fashion emergency! I must insist you come with me to the Carousel Boutique immediately so I can make a new dress for you post haste!”
“But our money probably isn’t viable here in Equestria. We can’t pay for it just yet.” Arueshalae said uncertainly.
“Nonsense, darling! For this dress I will not request any payment! Of course, for any further dresses I’m afraid I will have to, as I am running a business, but I can easily afford to give you a single dress to replace your current clothes free of charge just this once! Now come! I will not abide you staying in those rags any longer than you must!” Rarity said before walking around behind Ember and practically pushing her towards the door.
“It’s fine, really! You don’t have to make anything for me. I’m okay with wearing this.” Ember told her.
“Absolutely not. I won’t stand for it, darling. Besides, I want to do this for you. It’s perfectly fine, I promise.” Rarity responded as she continued to lead Ember towards the door.
“Well, if you’re sure… Thank you for your generosity. Arueshalae, can you please tell Mors where I’m going?” Ember requested.
“Of course! You two have fun!” Arueshalae called after them. She then approached Mors, who was still standing off to the side by himself. He was currently staring upstairs for some reason. “Commander?”
Mors turned his gaze towards her. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to let you know that Ember went with Rarity, the owner of the Carousel Boutique, to have a new dress made. After seeing her clothes and hearing her past, Rarity offered to make a single dress for her for free.” Arueshalae told him.
“Thank you for informing me. That’s fine. I’ve been meaning to have her acquire new clothes anyway, but every time I paid her for her work or gave her money specifically to have new clothes made back in Drezen, she gave it all to the homeless instead. Then we returned to Drezen from Nocticula’s realm in the Abyss and, well… The opportunity had already passed, as you know. It’s good that it’s finally getting done. At least we were fortunate enough to find her a proper set of boots that fit her before heading into the Abyss.” Mors stated in his emotionless monotone.
“Yeah… She’s a bit too nice for her own good sometimes, I think… But since the war is over, we can make sure her life’s a lot better now, right? No more fighting, no more killing, no more demons, no more Deskari or Baphomet… Just a nice peaceful world full of very friendly and colorful ponies!” Arueshalae told him with a smile.
“Peace…” The lich said as if tasting the word. “Hm…”
Arueshalae gave him a concerned look.
“You look concerned, Arueshalae. Don’t be. I have no plans of disrupting the peace as of this moment. So just relax and enjoy yourself. You have all more than earned this respite after such a long and hard fought campaign. You remember your dream, yes? Well this is a chance to experience it in reality first hand. Some of our friends may not be here with us, yes, but do not let that deter you. Go on and seize this opportunity.” Mors said, gesturing for her to rejoin the party.
She tried to smile at him, but she was still worried. “You’re right. Sorry, I guess I’m worrying too much.” She then walked off back towards Pinkie Pie who had mostly recovered from Ember’s story. The Commander wouldn’t start another war, would he? No… He wouldn’t! Right…? No… He had no reason to want to go to war with the ponies. She fully believed that he became a lich to save the world from the Abyss. There was no such threat here. These ponies all seemed so nice. And he said the reason he was considering taking over Mendev after the war was because the queen was incompetent and he would be a better leader. She doubted the leader of the ponies had the same problem.
She took a deep breath and tried to relax. He was her friend. Even if his emotions were suppressed by whatever that monster Zacharias had done to him, her friend was still in there somewhere, she just knew it. She had to have some faith in him just as he had faith in her when he found her in that cell in Drezen and when he helped her overcome her nature and redeem herself. He wouldn’t start a war, and even if he did it wouldn’t be without a very good reason. The comparisons to the Whispering Tyrant that seemed to keep coming up just had her spooked. That was all.
Smiling at Pinkie she said, “So, how are you feeling after meeting Ember? I saw you got pretty upset after hearing her story.”
“I’m still sad… How could they do something so awful to someone so nice as her? Especially when she was so young when it happened?” Pinkie asked.
Arueshalae patted Pinkie on the head. “I’m afraid I can’t go into much detail, but the circumstances where we were from were not good to say the least. We were at war with… Some very evil creatures. A lot of people were forced to do a lot of very cruel things to protect everyone else. They were facing a threat that could and would corrupt even children and turn them into weapons, and had zero qualms with doing so…” Arueshalae looked away in shame knowing all the terrible things she had done to more than a few children herself before she was found by Desna. It made her feel sick to her stomach remembering it all.
“But… But… Why would they use foals like that?” Pinkie asked.
Arueshalae was silent for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you any more sad than you already were… This is supposed to be a fun party and I’m just making things worse…”
“No, it’s not your fault! I’m the one who asked! Don’t be sad! Oh, I know how to cheer you up! There’s still one of my friends I haven’t introduced you to yet! Follow me!” Pinkie said, perking up the moment she saw Arueshalae becoming distressed as well.
Arueshalae followed Pinkie over to a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. “Dashie! This is my new friend Arueshalae! Arueshalae, this is my friend Rainbow Dash!”
“Oh, hey. Nice to meet you.” Rainbow said, casually.
“It’s nice to meet you too! I like your mane, it’s very pretty.” Arueshalae complimented.
Rainbow smiled at that. “Thanks! I like your wings. They sort of remind me of a Thestrals’ wings but bigger and a bit spikier. So you nocturnal like them, or…?”
“Me? Oh, no. I sleep at night like all of my friends. Well, technically I don’t have to sleep at all since I’m a succubus, but I enjoy dreaming whenever I get the chance so yes, I almost always sleep at night.” Arueshalae explained.
“Wait, so you don’t need to sleep at all? Like at all, at all?” Rainbow asked, surprised by this.
“Nope! Neither does the Commander or Lady Areelu. In fact, before I started serving Desna I was incapable of sleeping at all. It was only after a lot of hard work that I earned the right to be blessed with dreams by Lady Desna.” Arueshalae explained.
“Huh… That sucks. I love naps! I have no idea what I’d do if I wasn’t able to sleep.” Rainbow commented.
“You do? Maybe we can show each other our dreams some time!” Arueshalae said excitedly.
Rainbow Dash gave her a confused look. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Arueshalae blinked, not understanding the question. Then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Right… Sometimes I forget mortals don’t really do that, normally. At least not unless they’ve been blessed by Desna too… I have the ability to bring other people into my dreams if they’re willing to visit them with me, and I can enter other people’s dreams too. It’s fine if you don’t want to do either. I just thought it might be fun…”
“Really? Sounds sort of like what Princess Luna does. Huh… Thought she was the only one who could do that sort of thing. Anyway, no offense, but I sort of just met you. Maybe if we were actually friends and got to know each other a bit, maybe, but right now? Yeah, no. Definitely not. That said… You got wings, so you can fly right? How fast can you go?” Rainbow asked.
“Um… About twice as fast as I can run, I think? Maybe a little faster if I really pushed myself? I don’t know, I never really paid attention.” Arushalae answered.
“Hmph… Then I’m probably faster. Still, wanna have a race some time?” Rainbow offered.
Arueshalae smiled happily. “Yes! That sounds like fun! I never had a chance to try participating in a race before!”
“You haven’t?” Rainbow Dash asked, curiously.
Arueshalae shook her head. “Unfortunately not. I’ve only ever even seen a race once before, as far as I can remember. It was during a tournament Commander Mors held in Drezen to raise the morale of the Crusaders and there were a bunch of other games being held that day too.”
“Man, you don’t know what you’re missing then! Well don’t you worry, I know a few ponies who would probably be more your speed. I just gotta see if they’re up for it or not, but I’ll try to set up something fun for your first ever race, don’t you worry, uh… Sorry, what was your name again?” Rainbow asked.
“My name is Arueshalae, and please do! Ooh, I can’t wait! Hm… I wonder if my friends would be willing to watch.”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Twilight went to open it. As the door swung open a large pony stepped inside, immediately drawing the eyes of all the guests. All of the ponies immediately bowed to this larger pony while the Commander and his group remained standing. Though they could all sense it. It was similar to the feeling they had standing in the presences of Deskari and Baphomet, though less overtly malevolent. A demigod.
This demigod had pure white fur, a rainbow colored mane and tail that seemed to be made of pure energy instead of hair and flowed on an intangible wind, and a mark resembling the sun on her flanks. She wore a crown, some jewelry, and golden shoes over her hooves.
“Princess Celestia! Welcome. I didn’t expect you to come so soon.” Twilight said, bowing to the demigod who was apparently known as “Princess Celestia”.
“You may rise, everypony.” Celestia addressed all the bowing guests. She then looked at Twilight and smiled. “I came as soon as I could after receiving your letter, Twilight. I’m quite eager to meet these new creatures you told me about. Would you mind introducing me?”
“Of course! Um… Should I call off the party and send everypony home?” Twilight asked.
Celestia looked around for a moment. “Well… I’m sure your friend worked hard setting all this up. It would be a shame to end it so early on my account. So, no. I would prefer a casual setting for this meeting than an official one anyway. Though I will be taking a slice of cake for myself, if you don’t mind.”
Pinkie Pie almost seemed to materialize next to Celestia holding a plate with a large slice of cake and a spoon for her. “One slice of cake coming right up, your highness!”
The plate was enveloped by a golden aura and levitated away from Pinkie towards Celestia. “Why, thank you, Pinkie. Now, Twilight, would you mind introducing me to these creatures you mentioned?”
“Of course! I… Oh. It seems like they’ve already gathered together. Right this way.” Twilight said before leading Celestia to where Mors and the others had congregated to meet with her.
Mors was already standing in front and stepped forwards to greet the demigod. “Good day, your highness. Princess Celestia, if I heard correctly?”
“Indeed. And you must be Commander Mors. Twilight mentioned you in her letter.” Celestia said, smiling at the disguised lich.
She was very good at hiding it, clearly having had extensive practice, but Mors was perceptive enough that he could immediately tell the smile was fake. He shifted the illusion covering him to match the false smile the princess was giving him.
“Did she now? I can imagine what she might have said…” He glanced at Twilight and his gaze lingered on her moment before he looked back at Celestia. “Well, Princess, allow me to introduce you to my companions.”
He then introduced each of his companions one by one, giving their name and race but little else. “I would introduce you to Ember as well, but I’m afraid a tailor by the name of Rarity took Ember to her shop to make a new dress for her. Which, admittedly, Ember was in desperate need of.”
“A pity. You must introduce me later. I would love to meet her too. As it stands, it is a pleasure to meet you all. Why not go rejoin the party? I’ll come speak with each of you individually in a few moments but for now, I would like to speak with the Commander here.” Celestia said in a polite tone.
Everyone dispersed but Woljif and Lann both stuck relatively nearby, likely hoping to eavesdrop on them. Areelu Vorlesh not only stayed but walked closer to stand next to the Commander.
If Celestia cared she didn’t let herself show it. “So… Commander, I heard you practice some rather dark forms of magic.”
“Mm… I’m sure you heard more than that. Such as what I am… So I will be honest. Yes. I do practice ‘dark forms of magic’. I’m not sure if she mentioned this, but my kingdom was in a terrible war. Learning such arts was my only choice to win said war, which Mendev had been on the losing end of for almost a century. It was quite brutal, but my tactics were necessary to truly put an end to the bloodshed.” Mors stated.
“Surely there must have been another way? Unleashing such horror just doesn’t seem worth it to me.” Celestia responded in an unreadable neutral tone.
“Forgive me, your highness, but I do not believe you have any authority to speak on matters of military tactics considering your kingdom apparently hasn’t waged an actual war in over a thousand years.” Areelu stated, adjusting the book under her arm.
Mors put a hand on Areelu’s shoulder and shook his head. “It’s fine, mother. Perhaps there might have been. The gods only know for certain. But I am not a god.” Not yet at least, he didn’t add. “So I’m not omniscient. I can only work with the information I have, and the information I have states that Queen Galfrey had been waging the war for over ninety years before I came along. Do you believe there might have been something she hadn’t tried after almost a century of constant war? Because if there was, I am not so much of a military genius that I could see it, myself. So as far as I am aware my magic was the only thing we hadn’t tried and the only thing that could have possibly worked. Unless you have another strategy that could have potentially defeated a near infinite horde of extraplanar monstrosities?”
“Diplomacy, perhaps?” Celestia suggested.
Areelu scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking almost offended by the suggestion. “A fool’s errand. Deskari, the Lord of Locusts, their main leader, sought only to devour all life on Golarion. He could not be negotiated with. Any diplomats would have been devoured alive by his swarm on the spot. And Baphomet, Deskari’s ally, would have them skinned alive and send their corpses back on pikes, if he was feeling particularly generous. Otherwise he would have kept them and tortured them for however long he saw fit before killing them, if he ever killed them at all and didn’t make them ageless just so they could suffer his torments eternally.”
Celestia visibly balked at that, her facade cracking a bit as Areelu described what each demon lord would do to their victims. “S-surely you must be exaggerating…”
Mors shook his head. “No. She isn’t. I’ve seen the horrors they inflicted on their victims first hand and if anything, she is understating it for the sake of anyone who may happen to be eavesdropping. Many of my soldiers refused meat entirely for quite some time after seeing what our enemies did to their victims. One particularly unfortunate victim was put in a healing pool and was boiled alive for three days. The pool would constantly heal his injuries, keeping him alive even as his flesh was bubbled, split, and peeled away as it was being boiled off. And that was not the worst torture they committed, though admittedly it is quite high on the list.”
Celestia winced and looked around, but no one but Woljif and Lann seemed to be listening. Even Twilight had walked off when the rest of Mors’ party had. Looking back at Mors she said, “I… I see… And I take it you never committed such atrocities, correct?”
“Of course I didn’t. There would be no point. They were demons. If it were an interrogation they would only lie so it would end, and torture for no reason is just a gross waste of time, effort, and resources. I will admit, I committed atrocities of my own, if you count my magic as an atrocity, but I never did anything so needlessly cruel or malevolent. Everything I did was with one singular goal in mind, protecting the many at the cost of as few as reasonably possible and ending the war. Both of which I accomplished.” Mors stated.
He then waved a hand dismissively. “Enough about that, for now. It is a depressing topic and this is not the time or place for it. I assume this isn’t the last we will speak, considering what Miss Sparkle likely said in her letter, so we can continue this later. I actually have a fairly important matter I would like to discuss with you.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at him. “And that is?”
“Money, of course. I have quite a bit of gold, but it is all Mendevian currency. Would it be possible to exchange it for this land’s currency? And if so, where would I go to deal with such a thing? If we are going to be staying in this land for any length of time, we will need currency to get by and if I can exchange what currency we have for this land’s currency that would save us a lot of trouble.”
Celestia actually relaxed a bit hearing that. “Oh. Haha! For some reason I hadn’t even thought of that. Yes, I can help you with that easily enough. In fact, this is perfect. Like you said, this is not the best time or place for this conversation but I would like to continue so this gives me an excuse to bring you back to Canterlot. We can talk about your past and what your plans for the future are in more detail there.”
“Wonderful. As for my plans for the future, I simply plan to purchase some land, build my home, and settle down after a long and hard fought war as any veteran might. At least for now. In the future I have some ideas, but nothing concrete just yet. Honestly, your highness, I’ve only just arrived last night and know nothing about this land I find myself in. You can’t expect me to have planned out all of the next few millennia already. I’m immortal. I can afford to take a bit of time to consider my options.” He tried his best to play off the last couple sentences as a joke as a social ploy to get her to let her guard down a bit. However, with his emotions suppressed he found it difficult to speak in any way other than his emotionless deadpan resulting in a less than stellar delivery of said joke.
Fortunately Celestia seemed to pick up on his intentions despite his rather lackluster delivery and chuckled a bit. Though she didn’t seem any less on guard than before. “Yes, I suppose that’s true. Immortals like us tend to have the luxury of time in our day to day lives. Regardless, I suppose if we will be continuing this conversation later, I should go meet your friends. Enjoy the rest of the party. We’ll talk more, soon.”
Mors nodded once. “Have a pleasant day, your highness.”