Chapter 3
Twilight took a step back as her spell ended, a look of relief on her face. “He’s the real Frederic,” she declared, having confirmed his identity with magic.
“Thank you, Twi,” he said with a wide smile.
“I just can’t believe you’re alive!” Lance exclaimed for the tenth time as he stood among the only ones who stuck around. Most of the others had left while waiting for Twilight, as they had little investment in this reunion.
“How are you alive?” Scamp asked as she continued to look him over.
“I’m sorry, but we haven’t met,” Frederic said as he held a hoof out to her. “I’m-”
“Prince Frederic, long time friend of Lance and the others. You died fighting the Watcher, or so we thought,” she interrupted as she shook his hoof. “Scamp.”
“It’s good to meet you then,” he chuckled. “To answer your question, he didn’t kill me or the others, just teleported us to a different location.”
“Peter and the others are alive?!” Lance exclaimed.
A pained look over took Frederic’s face. “I’m sorry, Lance… they died in that dimension with the strange creatures I just escaped from.”
“How did you escape?” Scamp pressed.
“Years of work,” Frederic said proudly. “I’m an inventor after all, so I spent all my time trying to build a way to get home. And I just recently finished it, but I was attacked as I tried to leave. As you all saw.”
“We’re just happy you’re back,” Lance said as he hugged the other stallion again.
“As am I!” Frederic laughed. “I’ve missed so much, so I need a refresher on what’s happened.”
“Oh, I got you there!” Lance said as he pulled out three books. “We’ve published our adventures in these books.”
“Oh, nifty!” Frederic said with a smile as he levitated the books to himself. “I’ll give these a read through later then.” He put them away in a pocket dimension as he turned to everyone else. “Now, I’m sorry but I would like to see my family now.”
At this everyone cringed, averting their eyes.
“What?” he asked.
“Sit down,” Scamp said firmly, causing him to slowly lower his flank to the floor.
“Why?”
“Frederic,” she began bluntly, letting out a sigh. “Luna and most of our friends were killed by your son, Star Chaser.”
A wave of emotions washed over Frederic’s face as he sat there, finally settling on confusion. “My son would never do that.”
“He did,” Scamp said firmly. “And much worse as well.”
“Scamp maybe we shouldn’t tell-” Lance began, but she held up a hoof.
“He needs to hear this now rather than later,” she countered, keeping her eye on Frederic.
The stallion sat there in stunned silence as tears began to run down his face. “But I just got back… I wanted to see them…”
“I’m sorry,” Lance said as he and Twilight hugged him. He pulled them into himself and began to cry loudly into them.
A few others left at this, also becoming emotional, leaving only the Beltosh’s, Greenfields, and the still unconscious Annabel.
The trio continued their embrace, letting the larger stallion cry out his sorrow.
As this happened, the doors blew open as a mare rushed in, dropping writing supplies and books as she went. “Is it true?! THE Frederic is back?!”
“Babel, wait up!” Roxxy yelled as she rushed in after the excited mare.
The pair came to a stop a few feet away from the emotional scene, both looking a bit surprised.
“Oh!” Babel exclaimed as everyone looked at them with looks of confusion. “Did you just tell him his family is dead?”
“Babel!” Roxxy yelped as she pulled her back.
“What?” she asked with a look of surprise on her face.
“Remember what we talked about?” Roxxy said quietly. “You need to not approach sensitive topics with that much energy.”
“Ah! Yeah yeah! My bad guys!” she laughed as she dropped all of her supplies and fell on her flank. “Give me a minute to get ready!”
“Ready for what?” Frederic asked as he wiped his face, releasing Lance and Twilight.
“I’m out,” Shayla announced as she spun on her heels and left the room abruptly.
“What’s about to happen?” he asked again, looking around at everyone.
“I’m sorry, pal,” Lance whispered as he backed away. “That one is kind of… our biggest fan?”
“We have fans?”
“Oh you’ve missed a lot…”
“SO!” Babel suddenly yelled out, scooting across the ground on her flank to sit before Frederic. “Why did you bring Luna’s wedding dress to Pleasant Fields?”
“... What?” he asked, blinking rapidly in surprise.
“It’s one of the biggest questions my fellow Dreamers ask all the time on the fan website!” She answered, holding up her notebook. “So? The answer?”
“Huh…” he rubbed the back of his neck, seeming to be at a loss. “It was so long ago-”
“Yes, but it’s important lore. Think HARD please!”
Frederic looked at those around him, getting a few looks of sympathy in return. “Eh…”
“Tell her, Freddy,” Lance snickered.
“Oh fine, just don’t post this anywhere, off the record, alright?” he said, getting a smile from Babel. “I liked to wear the dress, okay?”
“Noted!” she said as she wrote that down.
“Hey I said off the record!”
“Mhm! And I didn’t agree!” she said with a happy smile. “Next question! I’ve read Lance’s old notes, he mentioned your mother. What happened with that?”
“My mother?” Frederic asked, glancing at Lance.
“Oh, yeah, I may have put one of our private conversations in my notes… that she got her hooves on,” Lance said sheepishly.
“Of course,” he said with a sigh before regarding the small mare before him. “There’s not much to tell. She appeared in Equestria and we banished her to some pocket dimension.”
“Was she straight evil?”
“Eh… yes?” Frederic muttered.
“Babel, let’s change that topic,” Lance said, knowing this was a sore topic for his friend.
A frown appeared on her face as she adjusted her glasses. “But this is a very important line of questions. The Frederic mom theory’s are-”
“Babel,” Roxxy said from behind her, causing her to sigh loudly.
“Fine, next question,” she groaned, chewing on her pencil as she thought to herself. “Ah yes! I read a line in Lance’s notes about Pleasant Fields, and an off hand comment you made that didn’t make it into the actual book!”
“Oh shit,” Lance snickered, trying to hide his smile.
“Lance, you didn’t write that down!” Frederic growled.
“Did you in fact say,” Babel began, checking her notes. “I’m a bit miffed that he chose you over me. Am I not good looking as well?” she quoted, looking up at him expectantly.
“Why’d you record that comment, Lance? I was drunk when I made it!”
“It was funny,” Lance countered with a laugh.
“So you DID say it,” Babel mumbled as she made some notes. “The shippers will love that one.”
“We have SHIPPERS?!” he exclaimed, causing the others to laugh again.
“That is a large portion of the fandom actually,” she answered. “What are your thoughts on-”
“Babs, can you hold back on any more questions till after he’s settled in?” Roxxy asked, patting her back.
“But we need to know all this! The fans on the new website are already asking for more lore updates!” she whined, slapping her hoof against her notebook. But Roxxy’s raised eyebrow got her to let out a loud exasperated sigh. “Can I ask ONE more?”
“Yes,” Roxxy said as she took a step back.
“Awesomesauce,” she said as she looked Frederic right in the eyes. “Hard hitting question, one that’s bugged me for YEARS!”
“Go for it,” he said, a bit nervous.
“Anarchy, aka Annabel, turned out to be the one behind EVERYTHING the early Bronies dealt with, especially all the sexual junk. And then it was recently revealed she actually has a butt load of trauma that caused all that. My question is: did you know?”
“About?” he asked, looking very uncomfortable.
“Any of it.”
He shook his head slowly, “no… I did not know any of the stuff she was up to. Especially that she was behind all the… sexual stuff.”
“But how?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve gone over EVERYTHING. You two were very close on Earth, from when you two were kids. If I’m correct, you met her when you were twelve and she was seven, correct?”
“... yes?” he answered, his discomfort increasing visibility. “Family friends, it’s not weird.”
“I didn’t say it was,” Babel chuckled, then became serious again. “With everything I know, you were there for the Lakeside Stalker incident, yet you NEVER brought it up during your time in Equestria. That information would have saved Annabel all those years ago. So why did you keep that to yourself?”
This question actually caused everyone to look at Frederic, which caused him to start sweating.
“I…” he stuttered. With a deep breath, he composed himself. “It wasn’t my place. She made me promise to never tell anyone.”
“Yes, while that could be true, why didn’t you break that promise to save her from banishment?” Then her eyes went wide, “wait, if you knew of the Lakeside Stalker incident, why didn’t you put two and two together when all the sexual things were happening? Like the Heats?”
“That’s a good question,” Lance muttered, looking at his friend with a frown.
Frederic looked between Babel and Lance, a tear rolling down his face. “I… didn’t want to tell you all this… because despite everything, I still care about Annabel. But… she used mind magic on me to keep me in line.”
This caused a few glances to be cast back at the still unconscious mare.
“So, let me get this straight,” Babel mumbled, making a few notes. “Annabel used her chaos magic to force you to comply, and it even persisted well after she was banished?”
“That’s the gist of it,” Frederic replied, looking a bit shameful. “It faded away after a little while, but by that point, I couldn’t bring myself to talk about her. It… hurt too much.”
“I understand that, Fred,” Lance said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “I think that’s enough, Babel.”
Babel frowned, but stood up, still making notes. “I still have a lot of questions about you and Annabel, but I GUESS I can wait till later to ask them.”
“I’ll await you then,” Frederic said with a bow. “But I do have one question.”
“Sure, ask it!” Babel exclaimed, excited as she held up her notebook again.
“How did you learn all this?” he asked with a smile.
“Oh, I spoke with Annabel a few times and she told me,” she answered as she smiled up at him. “I have a book filled with questions if you want to-”
“Babel,” Roxxy interjected, causing the excitable mare to deflate.
“I plan to talk with you more later, young lady,” Frederic said, giving her a nod.
“Perfect then!” Babel said as she began to gather up all her supplies.
As she and Roxxy left, Frederic turned to the others. “No one has mentioned my daughter. Is she…?”
“Nova is alive,” Lance confirmed, causing him to let out a sigh of relief.
“Where is she right now?”
“The Palace, she’s been very busy lately,” Lance answered. “Do you want to go see her?”
“Of course,” Frederic answered with a smile. “Alone, of course. I’ve missed her deeply over these past few years.”
Scamp raised an eyebrow at him, seeming to sense something as he spoke, causing him to feel a bit nervous.
“Uh… Scamp? Are you okay?” he asked directly.
“I am, why do you ask?” she said, her eyebrow raising even more.
“Sorry, I guess I’ve just been out of social interactions for too long,” he said with a forced laugh.
“Hm,” she said with a nod.
With that he walked past everyone and knelt next to Annabel. “I’m going to bring her with me, I need to apologize for… everything I guess.”
“She’s going to be excited to see you,” Lance chuckled. “I mean, seeing you caused her to pass out, so at least she seems to have missed you just as much.”
“Childhood friends,” Frederic said with a smile as he put a hoof on her. “I’ll be seeing you guys soon, after my family reunion.”
“Good luck, Freddy,” Lance said with a nod. “Just don’t overwhelm Nova. She’s been having a rough time due to…”
“I know how to approach my daughter,” Frederic assured him with a wink. He gave them a salute as his horn flashed, causing both him and Annabel to disappear.