//------------------------------//
// 11: A Brand New Day 
// Story: A Mercenary's Ending 
// by morbiusgreen 
//------------------------------//

“Thank you for these, sergeant,” Princess Celestia said, holding up the reports that they’d made on the two incidents that had taken place in Maretime Bay. She’d been given copies which she planned on reading when she got back to the place where she’d be staying for the night. 

“Ain’t no problem, yer ‘ighness,” the sergeant said in his thick Manehattan accent. “I ain’t never seen or ‘eard anything like it. That mare might ‘ave been a foal abuser, but nopony enacts justice without my say so ‘round ‘ea.”

Celestia nodded. She’d seen the tree that had once been one of her ponies. She knew of Spoiled Milk by reputation. She’d actually never met the mare, but judging by that reputation, there was no way she’d like her. “I’ll be sending some investigators and some of our more prominent mages here to help,” she said.

The sergeant winced a bit, but at the same time looked grateful. Celestia knew that small town guards didn’t like their territory being encroached upon, but she also was now more aware that the town needed more guards as the current ones were made only of volunteers who appeared overworked. “Much appreciated,” the sergeant said.

“Anything else you can think of to tell me?” Celestia asked.

The sergeant thought about it, then shook his head. “Nothin’ I can think of,” he said.

“Then I’ll take my leave,” Celestia said. “If you think of anything, come see me. I’m going to be in town for another day or two and I’m staying at the lighthouse.”

“With Purple Book Horse, eh?” The sergeant snorted a bit under his breath before returning to his version of a professional frown. “Understood, yer ‘ighness.”

Celestia didn’t react to that nickname for Twilight, or to anything else the sergeant said. “See you later, sergeant.” With that, she walked out, flanked by two guards, both of which were pegasi. 

When she reached the outdoors, she spread her wings. She would normally bring her carriage with her, but she wanted to actually fly and get some exercise in. Years of living like a princess had made her soft, physically as well as in other areas of her life. Without a word, she spread her wings and flew up into the air, followed close by four pegasi guards, the other two having positioned themselves just outside the guardhouse doors when they’d arrived. The wind felt good in Celestia’s face, and she enjoyed the salty breeze wafting in from the ocean to the west. A part of her wished that she could have come here for a long overdue vacation with her sister. The two of them loved swimming, and the summer sun was nice and warm. However, business came before pleasure, so she turned to the northeast towards a ledge where she spotted a group of ponies in tents striking camp. She knew from her information that this was where the recently dislodged Apple family was now setting up their new farm.

As she flew, her mind wandered, which it tended to do whenever she flew on her own. The information that the masked creature she now knew to be named Revan was terrifying, to say the least. It was also incredibly upsetting to know that humans had once visited their world and had been instrumental in aiding ancient ponies, at least according to what Twilight had said when repeating an earlier conversation that she’d apparently had with Sunset. She had no idea why, but Revan felt in a way familiar to her. It was nearly on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t figure out why.

Slow down, Celestia, she thought to herself as she reeled her thoughts in, let’s look at the facts. She proceeded to do so, then imagined Revan in her mind’s eye. Bipedal, masked, wearing nothing to indicate what species he was, voice being modulated by some sort of magical means-

She stopped, eyes wide. Magic…there had been absolutely no magic that had emanated from Revan aside from that mask. Not only that, she realized further, but he had five digits on his claws-no, his hands. She tried to figure out why she hadn’t realized it before, but got nothing.

“Your Highness? Is everything alright?” One of the guards had flown close to her and was speaking with a worried tone in his voice.

Startled from her sudden realization, she nodded. “Ah, I’m alright,” she said. Instinct told her to send a couple of guards after the mercenary and his team, but she shook her head. He wasn’t a citizen of her nation, just like Jason wasn’t due to her gross negligence until she granted it to him posthumously, so it was not her place to go after the only other human who had apparently slipped through her detection for who knows how long.

She hung her head in shame. She hated herself for what had happened to the now deceased human and had tried to make up for it after his death not only by her punishing those responsible, but by placing Jason to rest in the Royal Mausoleum in the highest of honors. She would visit his grave on the anniversary of his death and even other times to speak to the statue of the poor human. It never helped her overwhelming sense of guilt. Still, that first part of her wanted to go and provide Revan and his companions with a life that was better than Jason ever had and that Revan apparently was living. Thornfall, which was where the only mercenary guild branch on the continent existed to her knowledge, was a crime infested town full of a hodgepodge of different races. It was rife with crime and only the strongest could live there.

A stray thought passed through her mind. Thornfall was located in the Badlands, and one of the towns in Equestria that was close to that area was Dodge City. She remembered the report on how the citizens had thrown a ‘monster’ out in a rather atypically cruel way. Her heart sank when she considered the possibility that the monster the report spoke of could have been the only other human on Equus, at least as far as she knew. Had her ponies learned nothing? And now that this mysterious Queen Majesty had made her presence known and could apparently cast magic from afar, would she strike somewhere else? Would she strike Dodge City?

Her meandering came to a halt as she automatically landed on the grassy field where the Apple family were now staying, only to be greeted by the biggest and strongest stallion she’d ever seen. “Hi!” the stallion greeted with a wide friendly grin. 

“Um, hello there,” Celestia said dumbly before recovering herself. “What’s your name?”

“Mango’s name is Mango!” the burly stallion replied.

As her guards landed on either side of her, Celestia nodded. “Nice to meet you, Mango. Are you a member of the Apple family?”

“Mango not part of family,” he said, “but Mango is helping Apple family after bad pony friends made Mango attack Apple family.” His ears flattened and a look of guilt seemed to wash over him.

Celestia could sense that there was a bigger story here, but she also could sense that this Mango, while he might be a bit simpler, was a good pony at heart. “Don’t look so down, my little pony,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I’m sure whatever you did in the past can be forgiven.”

“Mango hopes so,” the big pony said with a bit of despondency before he brightened. “What does pretty tall pony need? Mango go get smaller pretty orange pony?”

Celestia smiled more warmly now, a hint of red in her cheeks at Mango’s compliment. “Well, yes please,” she said, figuring that this Mango was referring to Applejack.

Mango nodded and rushed off, his massive hooves thundering across the grassy plain towards a hole being dug in the ground. Celestia waited patiently until Mango stopped and spoke to somepony in the hole and pointed in her direction. Instantly, an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail appeared and rushed over towards Celestia. When she stopped, the earth pony was out of breath. “Yer…hah…Highness…” she said, “We wasn’t…expectin’…company…”

“I’m in town on other business,” the alabaster alicorn said, “and when I heard that your family had moved here, I decided to come and visit.”

Applejack nodded and opened a flask hanging by a strap over her shoulder. She gulped down water then took in another couple deep breaths. “Well, uh, ah’d offer ya somethin’, but we ain’t got much else after the attack.”

Celestia’s ears perked up. “What attack?”

Applejack then launched into an explanation of her and her family’s trip from Ponyville to Maretime Bay. Celestia wasn’t surprised to know that they’d hired the mercenary group that had left earlier that day, but it was worrying to hear about another group of mercenaries that had been hired to attack the Apple family. She also heard Applejack’s side of the story in regards to her sister’s foalnapping by Spoiled Milk and her accomplices.

“That is quite a harrowing experience,” Celestia said. “How are Big Mac and young Apple Bloom holding up?”

“Big Mac should be right as rain soon,” Applejack said, “but Apple Bloom? She ain’t been sayin’ much since she came back yesterday.”

Celestia frowned in concern. “May I speak with her?” she asked.

Applejack shrugged. “You can try, ah guess, but she ain’t talked to Granny or me or anypony else here since comin’ back.” With that, she turned and led Celestia and her guards to the cluster of tents. When they reached a bigger one, Applejack pointed. “She’s restin’ in there,” she said. “Please be gentle. She ain’t eaten much.”

Celestia nodded, thanked Applejack for her help, then ordered her guards to stay outside. As the four pegasi stationed themselves around the tent, Celestia poked her head inside and looked around. The tent was apparently being used as a living area, with cots lined up on either side of the tent flap entrance and personal belongings sitting next to each cot. The only one not neatly made held a red and yellow figure who was turned away from the tent flap.

Celestia stepped in and gently approached. As she did so, the figure stirred. “I told ya, Granny, I ain’t that hungry right now,” a tired sounding voice said as the owner of said voice pulled the blanket further up.

Celestia was about to reply before stopping. She raised her horn and a small lollipop that she’d brought for herself appeared floating above the young filly. “Not even for a sour apple lollipop?” 

Apple Bloom shot out of the cot and looked towards Celestia. “P-Princess?!” she exclaimed in surprise.

Celestia lowered the light green lollipop down on the covers and sat down next to the cot. “Hello, my little one,” she said softly, noting how haggard the filly’s appearance was and trying not to wince with worry. “How are you doing today?”

Apple Bloom slowly pulled the covers off of her and sat up, the look of shock never leaving her face. “I-I-what are you doin’ here?” was all that she could ask.

Celestia continued to smile, although inwardly her worry for the young filly grew. Being foalnapped must have affected her deeply, especially if she saw what happened to Spoiled Milk. She knew she had to go about this delicately. “I came by to check up on you and a few other ponies yesterday,” she said honestly. “I heard that you got hurt.”

Apple Bloom looked down at her body, then back up at Celestia. “I didn’t get hurt,” she said with some confusion.

“Not outside, but inside,” Celestia said, pointing to the spot where a pony’s heart was on her own barrel. 

“Oh…OH,” Apple Bloom said with recognition in her tone. “You mean with Diamond’s mom?” Surprised that Apple Bloom was willing to talk about it already, Celestia plunged ahead and nodded. “I told Granny and AJ that I’m fine,” she added with a hint of frustration. “I’m just tired from the trip, is all.”

Celestia inwardly frowned. Apple Bloom was apparently in semi-denial about the entire ordeal. She hated doing this to a filly, but she had to help her through her trauma. “Sweetie,” the princess said softly, “I’m sure you’re tired from the trip, but you got into some trouble that could have hurt you.”

“I knew AJ would come save me,” Apple Bloom said with confidence.

“I’m sure she would have,” Celestia agreed. 

“And she did come help save me!” Apple Bloom announced.

“Yes, she did,” Celestia agreed again before she decided to change the subject. “My little pony, I’ve heard that you haven’t really been speaking to the rest of your family lately.”

“Like I said, I’m just tired from the trip,” Apple Bloom defended.

“But not tired enough to spend a night with your friends?” Celestia asked.

That caught Apple Bloom off guard a bit, and Celestia could see that she was scrambling to come up with a defense to that question. “W-Well, they’re my friends,” she said, “and I haven’t seen ‘em in years.”

Celestia knew that she’d pushed a bit too far, so she backed up. “Of course, that makes sense,” she said. “Well, I hope that you catch up on your rest. Enjoy the lollipop.”

“Thank you kindly, Princess.” Apple Bloom gave her a smile, then opened up the lollipop and began sucking on it. Her eyes widened. “Sour apple?”

Celestia smiled back and nodded. “It’s one of my favorite flavors. Do you like it?”

Apple Bloom didn’t respond right away. She continued sucking on it, then tears began streaming down her cheeks. Her bottom lip began to quiver and she dropped the lollipop. Celestia grabbed it in her magic and set it down so it wouldn’t get dirty. Walking up, she lowered herself and wrapped the young filly in her wings as she hugged the young teenage earth pony. Apple Bloom began to sob, her body trembling as she buried her snout into Celestia’s barrel.

Applejack came rushing in a few moments later and saw what was going on. She tentatively approached. “Apple Bloom?” she asked with a hesitant tone.

“Be at ease, Applejack,” Celestia said as she gently passed the crying filly over to the older mare, “she’s just beginning the process of healing.”

Applejack and Apple Bloom clung to each other, the younger one crying more openly while the older one only shed a couple of tears while remaining stoic. As Celestia left the tent to leave the siblings in peace, she saw Granny Smith sitting in an old rocking chair nearby. The chair was on a hastily built small patio sitting on the grass. Celestia remembered the first time over a hundred years ago when she’d met the young Granny Smith. Walking over, she sat next to the elder earth pony. The two sat in silence, watching as a few ponies in the distance were working to dig up a part of the plot of land for a new house.

Granny didn’t seem to notice her presence at all until she finally spoke up. “So, what brings yah by our new home?”

Celestia didn’t move, instead watched as the burly Mango kicked down a tree in the nearby woods with surprising ease. “Well, I wanted to personally investigate a couple of incidents that happened here,” she said.

“Mmhmm,” was all that the elder mare said. The two didn’t say anything for a bit longer before Granny added, “Ah know that’s a load of hooey.”

Celestia was stunned by this. It was extremely rare for anypony to talk back to her like that. Not even her advisors spoke to her like that. “What makes you say that?” she asked.

“Ah may be a young’un compared tah yah, but ah ain’t a fool, now,” Granny said. “Ah kin tell when somepony’s lyin’ through their teeth.”

Celestia smirked a bit, then giggled. “Heh, well, I did come to investigate, but I came for another reason, too,” she said.

“Ah’m guessin’ it has tah do with Sunset?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes,” she said with confusion. “How did you know?”

“Ah remember a time when that mare came down tah Ponyville with ya durin’ one Summer Sun Celebration,” Granny said. “Yah called her yer ‘Shinin’ Star’. She loved playin’ with Big Mac on the farm. Ah think that Big Mac actually had a bit of a crush on her back then, but he must have fergotten her. And she fergot us, too.”

Celestia thought back. She remembered that time. It was when Sunset was about five or so. She did remember how excited Sunset was to go exploring an actual farm. She and Big Mac, who’d been maybe about six or seven at the time as she recalled, had become close friends rather fast, so much so that Sunset was crying when they had to go back to Canterlot. Sunset eventually forgot about that trip, however, and Celestia foolishly never really told her about it. Now she wish that she had. “That was my fault,” Celestia admitted. “I should have told Sunset about it. It may have helped in the end.”

“What in tarnation happened tah that filly?” Granny asked. “She was so…”

“She’s angry at me,” Celestia said. “I wronged her years ago, and she left Canterlot one night after a terrible fight we had. I’ve wanted to make things right with her for years, but she left Equestria and I could never find her until now.”

The two sat in silence for a bit, a slight breeze flowing through their manes as they watched the few ponies continue to work on digging up the sight of the new house. Once more, Granny spoke. “And yah didn’t tell her ‘bout that visit why?”

Celestia once more flinched at the words. Granny’s tone wasn’t accusatory or angry, simply emanating a detached curiosity. That hurt a lot more than she expected. “There’s really no excuse for me not telling her,” she said.

“Darn tootin’ there ain’t,” Granny said. “Ah remember mah son and daughter-in-law tellin’ Big Mac about the, and ah quote, ‘…cute fiery unicorn filly yah played with all over the farm’. He don’t remember it none, of course, but he knew ‘bout Sunset. He just never said nothin’ since she was actin’ like that.”

Celestia nodded and bowed her head in shame. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear the distant sound of a teleportation spell. However, she heard the distinctive shout of a mare. Looking up, she saw a group of creatures standing on the edge of the new property line. One of them, a faded pink mare with straight mane and tail, galloped towards the tent. Celestia recognized her as the former Element of Laughter. She looked a lot leaner than she had before. Looking back to the others, she saw a gray earth pony mare who was speaking to…the abyssinian mercenary from the day before?

She stood up in confusion. Why had he returned? she wondered to herself. No, why had they returned? She noted that Revan and Sunset were standing nearby, although the latter had her hood down and looked tired. Celestia could tell just by looking that Sunset had just expended a lot of magic. Worried for her former student, she stood and rushed over. “Sunset?? Are you alright??”

Sunset froze and looked up at Celestia in shock. Shock which quickly was replaced with a frown. “What are you doing up here?” she asked.

“Investigating what happened here in detail,” Celestia explained.

Sunset didn’t respond right away, but simply nodded after a few moments. “I see,” she said.

Celestia thought back to the brief conversation she had with Granny, and decided that she had to tell Sunset about it. “Sunset, could I speak with you in private for a bit?” she asked. “I want to tell you something.”

Sunset looked a bit hesitant, but finally slowly nodded. The two walked away from the other group to find a place where they could talk without being overheard. All the while, she felt the blue eyes of Revan on her. This, she knew, was going to be extremely painful.





Sunset couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She couldn’t even process it. She’d visited the Apple family farm when she was barely five years old?? She’d gotten close with the red stallion for a day and then had been upset when she had to leave? That wasn’t the worst part, though. Celestia hadn’t even told her about it, much less taken her back! She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, because in all honesty it shouldn’t have, but it did.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying very hard not to let her anger resurface, but it was next to impossible. If Celestia had hidden this part of her foalhood from her, what else had she hidden?

“And…you kept this from me, why?” she asked through clenched teeth.

Celestia, to her credit, didn’t flinch. Instead, she lowered her head. “I don’t have any excuse for that,” she said, her voice even containing a hint of a tremble, which caused Sunset to feel a sense of satisfaction.

Still, she had to be the bigger mare and not act the way she had been acting, which Revan had called her out on yesterday as being foalish, or childish in his terms. Sunset exhaled. “I didn’t ask for an excuse, I asked for an explanation,” she said.

Celestia’s ears went back and she slowly raised her head. “Truthfully…I believe it was partially because I semi-forgot about it and perhaps because I thought you’d forgotten.”

That stung despite Sunset trying hard not to let it. Closing her eyes again, she tried to think back to her earliest memories as a young foal. The sight of the farm had not elicited any sort of memories from her when she’d seen it a few days ago, but now she really concentrated.

Flashes. A bright freshly painted red barn. A cute red colt. An orange toddler filly. Celestia talking with two adult ponies Sunset didn’t know, one of which was wearing a brown southern hat, whatever they were called. Her and the red colt running through the massive apple trees. Tasting the best apple she’d ever had after the red colt kicked it off the tree with nothing but his brute strength.

She opened her eyes in shock. There was nothing to be heard save for the trees rustling in the wind and the digging ponies. She turned sharply towards where the red stallion who’d been injured was sitting and recovering. Narrowing her eyes, she picked up familiar features she hadn’t noticed before. The shade of red. The hay brown color of his mane and tail. Even the yolk that he wasn’t wearing but was sitting next to him she remembered having seen in her memories, but not on the colt.

“You remember, don’t you?” Celestia asked hesitantly.

“What do you think?” Sunset snapped before she could stop herself. She turned back sharply to look at Celestia. “I’m pretty sure that stallion over there was my first foalhood crush. And you promised that we’d go back down to visit that next year.” She was glaring at Celestia now, and in her hurt, a tear fell from her eye.

Celestia’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward. “Sunset, I’m so sorry-”

“Yeah, sorry now,” Sunset said through gritted teeth as she stepped away from Celestia. “I just…” she stopped and turned away. “I need to be alone.” So saying, she turned and walked swiftly away, not wanting anypony to see her crying. 

She nearly ran towards the edge of the forest, teeth clenched so hard she was tasting blood. At one point, she thought she saw the red stallion watching her. When she reached the edge of the treeline, she went a few steps into the forest before collapsing into a pile of moss, shouting angrily into it as the tears finally began to flow. She hit the ground hard with everything she had, screaming into the moss so the sound wouldn’t carry. In those moments, all the anger, the self-loathing, the shame, the hurt, everything came flooding to the surface. It was overwhelming.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been screaming and crying, but a part of her was aware of someone enveloping her in a firm, welcoming hug. She was too focused on her emotions to register it. The moss was replaced by a warm body covered in clothes. She clung to the figure without a second thought, unaware that she was doing it in the moment.

When she finally did register what she was doing and what was being done to her, she quickly pushed away from whoever was holding her. To her complete shock, she found herself looking into the glowing blue mask eyes of Revan. He was kneeling in the underbrush, his arms slowly falling to his side. She stared at him in shock, unable to speak. Her mouth opened and closed several times, trying to think of something to say, but her brain was locked.

It was Revan who spoke, the glowing blue part of his mask where a mouth would be brightening with each syllable. “Feeling better?”

She wiped her eyes, sniffing in the snot that had escaped her nostrils. Revan reached into a pocket and gave her a black hoofkerchief. She took it without a word, blowing her nose before giving it back to him. He took it, folded it, and placed it back in the same pocket. “I-I don’t know,” she said honestly, the memory of everything still a bit jumbled. The most confusing memory was that Revan, the apparently stoic leader of their band of mercenaries, had actually held her. She couldn’t fully process what he had done or even why. 

“Do you need more time?” he asked.

Sunset sniffed again, then shook her head as she wiped the remainder of her tears with her hoof. “No, I should…should be okay to leave,” she said.

“Very well,” Revan said as he stood to his full height. “Let’s move.”





Marble watched from a distance as the strange masked figure known as Revan came walking out of the treeline followed by a slowly plodding Sunset. Marble’s empathic senses were in overdrive as she saw the latter’s emotional state to be one of sorrow, shock, and thankfully somewhat diminished rage. She knew right away that she and Sunset were very similar in one regard: they were both empaths.

Marble wasn’t a fool. She knew she was different from her siblings from a very young age. She always seemed to have a sense of how others were feeling. When she first started going to the school in Rock Ridge, she hadn’t been as reclusive as she was now. She wanted to make a couple of friends, but at the time she had no idea how to properly utilize her unique gifts. She got herself picked on and teased by other foals very quickly. It had traumatized her so much that her parents had pulled her out of school so she could be homeschooled. She’d never quite recovered from the cruelness of young foals, but in recent years she’d begun working on herself more.

She decided to approach her, taking a deep breath and walking over before her brain could stop her. She felt some strands of her mane beginning to fluff up slightly. The first one to spot her approaching was the masked creature named Revan. He was the only one she couldn’t get a read on, although she thought he’d seemed a bit more caring in the way he walked after Sunset. He cocked his head slightly, but said nothing. Sunset, however, did notice her. Her face twisted into a scowl, but a scowl of embarrassment more than anything else. “What?” she asked, clearly feeling the embarrassment.

Marble could tell she’d been crying due to the tearstains on her face. She looked at Revan. “Excuse me…may I speak to Miss Sunset?”

Revan looked back at Sunset, then back at her. “I’ll leave you two along.” So saying, he walked away back towards where Tobias stood.

The two ponies stood near each other, neither of them saying anything. Marble was working on how to begin the conversation when Sunset spoke. “What do you want?”

Marble’s mane deflated slightly, but pressed onward, her heart beating heavily. “Well, since…you won’t be around…for long…I wanted to see how you were doing…”

Sunset looked at her incredulously, then opened her mouth sharply. However, she looked past Marble, then seemed to think better of what she was initially going to say. “Well, what’s there to say?” she asked. “I’ve been through tartarus these past few days, and I just learned that my teacher was-” She stopped and put her hoof to her muzzle before looking at Marble in shock. “You’re…”

Marble sat down on her haunches and nodded slowly before brushing her mane behind her ears so both of her eyes were visible. “I’m like you.”

Sunset’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and a hint of fear crept into her expression before she backed away. “Stay away,” she said, stumbling back and falling onto her own haunches.

Marble didn’t move, instead continued looking at Sunset with a placid expression. “Sunset…I’m not…your enemy…” she said, “and you know…I can’t lie…to you…just like you can’t…lie to me…”

Sunset slowly began to calm down, but she still didn’t move from where she was. She didn’t say anything for a while. Finally, she looked down, avoiding the gaze of her fellow empath. “I…I don’t want to talk about what’s wrong,” she finally said.

“Take…your time…” Marble said. “It doesn’t…have to be…me…” She stood up and stretched, her mane beginning to fluff up again. “We just met, so I don’t expect you to talk to me,” she said, “but you should already know what holding things in does to us.”

Sunset nodded with a bitter edge. “We lash out…or we become reclusive.” Finally looking up, she said, “Which one are you?”

Marble gave a small smile. “Take a guess.”

Sunset looked at Marble, then smirked. “Introvert.”

Marble nodded. “I’ve been starting to work on that,” she said.

“So you wanted to talk to me to…what, say that I should work on my own issues?” Sunset asked. 

“I only wanted to see how you were doing,” Marble said. “It’s not my place to tell you what to do.”

Sunset made a scoffing noise, but didn’t refute her words. “Well, as much as I have found this brief conversation interesting, to say the least, I really need to go. We’re on a deadline to get out of Equestria.”

Marble nodded and watched as Sunset stood and trotted away. She would probably never see her fellow empath again, but she did hope the best for her.





“Revan, may I speak with you privately before you leave?”

Revan, who had been standing next to Tobias while Sunset was speaking to a mare Celestia didn’t recognize, looked up at the alicorn princess. “It needs to be quick,” he said. “We’re leaving as soon as possible.”

“I promise it won’t be long,” Celestia said.

Revan turned and looked at Tobias, who nodded at him with a smile. Revan then turned back and gestured towards another section of the forest surrounding the new sight of the Apple family home. Celestia fully intended for this to be a brief conversation. Had she had more time, she would have made it a longer one, but she saw how terrified Revan was despite not having seen his face through the mask.

Once they were in the thick foliage of the trees and away from sight, Celestia put up a powerful magical barrier that could protect them not only from being heard, but could protect them from scrying spells of any kind. She then looked at Revan with a saddened expression. “Revan, I am so sorry for what happened to you.”

Revan didn’t reply right away, and when he did, he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Dodge City.”

Celestia might not have been able to see Revan’s expression, but the way his body stiffened told her everything she needed to know. He straightened up and crossed his arms. “What are you planning, princess?” There was a bitter edge to his tone.

Celestia shook her head. “Revan, I already failed one human. I don’t intend on failing another. I have no authority over you and can’t force you to stay where I can try and protect you. That would be something I won’t ever do to a sapient being who’s done nothing wrong.” She gave him a sad smile. “I just want to let you know that if you ever need help, I will be there to offer aid in any way I can.” She raised her horn and a small candle appeared in midair. She lowered it towards him. “Write a message and burn it with the flames of this candle, and it will come straight to me if you ever need help.”

Revan looked at the candle, then back at Celestia. Slowly, he reached out and took the candle in his grasp. When he touched it, Celestia felt a very slight drain on her magic, as if the masked human in front of her was made of some kind of anti-magical substance. As he slipped it into the pocket of his black coat, he inclined his head. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And I won’t tell anyp-anybody-that you’re a human,” she added, guessing that was why he wore the mask. He nodded silently and was about to turn away when she stepped forward. “Before you go, I have a request.”

He looked over his shoulder back at her. “What is it?” he asked.

“You can refuse if you want,” she prefaced, “but could I see your real face?” He froze, slowly turning to look back at her with his arms still crossed. “Don’t worry, the shield I put up is blocking anyone from looking in at us from outside, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

Revan didn’t speak for a while, and the passing silence only increased the tension around them. Finally, he shook his head. “Perhaps…another time.”

She was disappointed, but nodded in understanding. “Of course,” she said as she finally lowered the shield around them. “Sorry for taking up your time. Thank you for all you’ve done to help us.”

“You’re wel-”

“Behind the mask is where you hide
“the truth of your descent.
“But what of you will now betide
“when from your face it’s rent?”

Suddenly, a bright purple glow surrounded the mask around Revan’s face. He reached up to try and stop it, but he was lifted up into the air by the mask. Celestia tried to use her own magic to pull Revan away, but the moment her magic touched the foreign magic, she was flung back, hitting a tree. Dazed and confused from the impact, she tried to stand to help, but the impact on her head was still messing with her senses. She heard what sounded like hissing, then the sound of a body hitting the ground.

She shook her head clear of all the dizziness and rushed over to where she’d heard the sound. Revan lay there, only now he was maskless. He was slowly getting up, groaning as he did so. She saw his feature for the first time, and she was shocked to see that, like Jason, he too was scarred. His hair was long and sweaty, he had a bit of stubble coming in, but his eye were what stood out. They were a bright blue, and when he looked around, they were full of fear. He looked up at Celestia. “Help…”

“A welcome guest you’ll be in my home,
“so don’t you worry or fret.
“For too long, you have been made to roam
“and with me, you won’t be beset.”

A blast of magic came from a sliver of light and hit Celestia, once more sending her flying back. She watched helplessly as Revan was pulled back, being encased in purple magic, and vanished into the sliver of light, vanishing in another flash.





Gregory was lying on a large stone floor and staring up at a domed ceiling where a chandelier apparently hung. A bright light at his feet was quickly vanishing, but before he could get up and do anything about it, the light vanished.

He swiftly got to his feet and looked around, grabbing the pistols at his sides and undoing the safeties on both of them. His heart was racing. He knew about Majesty from the MLP book from the 80s, and what he learned about her in this world, which wasn’t much, didn’t fill him with confidence that she was good. 

He was standing in what looked like an empty throne room, with the space behind said throne shrouded in darkness. It was also warm. He looked around, doing his best to keep his wits about him. He didn’t let panic set in, focused on taking in all of his surroundings, and did his best to keep a cool head. 

“Greetings, Gregory,” a feminine voice said in a soothing tone. Gregory tried to find where it was coming from, but he couldn’t determine its origin. He remained silent, keeping his senses alert. “Please forgive me for frightening you,” the voice said, “that was not my intention.” Gregory remained silent, still unable to determine where in this throne room the owner of the voice was. “Oh dear, I didn’t mean to scare you so badly,” the voice said once more. “I think perhaps some rest will do you some good. Perhaps when you are awake, we can have a calm conversation. After what you’ve been through in this world, you deserve a peaceful sleep.”

Gregory heard the hissing of air coming from all around him, and he began to feel extremely sleepy. He tightened his grip on his two pistols as best as he could, but he felt the floor coming up towards him as his legs gave out beneath him. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.