The three of us all stood in the courtyard; Celestia, me, and this man named Jack.
"Well let's get the introductions out of the way. Jack, this is Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis, this man is Jack-of-All-Trades, the person I chose to watch over you during your sentence."
I felt uneasy around him but I decided to be polite
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Jack."
"The pleasure is all mine, my dear. Do you mind if I call you Chrissi?"
"Only if you don't mind me calling you Jackie."
He burst out laughing at my remark. After that display of his earlier I was still a bit wary of him but he seemed like a nice enough person. After all he was taking the joke pretty well.
"Jack, be serious now. This girl nearly managed to kill me after all. It's true that she's lost a large amount of power since then, but she is still a threat. While I am willing to give her and her people a second chance I won't rest easy until I'm sure she can be trusted. You have no history with her and you've always been a good judge of character. You're also the only one I could trust to handle her. So, I leave her to you."
"You can on count me Tia."
"I knew I could. Well, I hate to cut our reunion short but I have to go attend to something."
"Tell Luna and Cadenza I said hello."
"Of course. Be seeing you Jack."
With that Celestia left us.
"Well let's get going then."
"To where?"
"To my place of course. That reminds me: Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes."
My exile hadn't exactly left me with much to pack anyways.
"Right then. Follow me please."
He led me over to a plain stone wall, pulled out what looked like a piece of chalk and began to draw something on the wall.
"What are you doing?"
"Making a door."
Just as he said he drew a simple looking door. Then he started writing strange markings on it, mumbling to himself in some strange tongue while he did so.
"That should do it. Now then, care to see a trick?"
"Trick?"
"Of course. There's a trick to everything."
"Alright then, let's see your trick."
"Good. Now to be honest, anyone can do this. There are many different ways of making a door and this is only one of them. The trick that most people don't get is getting the door to open. With a 'normal' door you turn the knob and that allows it to be opened. That's common logic. But when people see a door like this they think that there's no way to open it."
"Of course. It's just a drawing."
"You're only half right. It's a drawing AND a door. Just because you don't know how to open the door doesn't make it any less real."
"So how do you open it then?"
"That's the beauty of it: The door opens itself."
It's official; this man is out of his mind.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
Great. Is he a mind reader now too?
"No, but I've gotten pretty good at reading people over the years, so I'm about as close as you can get."
Right... Wait, what?
"Well I'll prove it to you then. Knock on the door and it'll open."
"There's no way it's that easy."
"Humor me."
"Fine."
"Just make sure you knock three times"
I went up and knocked on the wall. Once. Twice. Three times.
Nothing happened.
"See? Nothing."
I looked back but Jack wasn't standing there anymore. Then I heard a noise, like a heavy door grinding against it's hinges. I turned.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
Jack was standing there motioning towards the newly opened door; a large slab of stone wall that was swung open, leaving behind a doorway filled with an abyss of light.
"How did you-"
"You're the one who opened the door, not me. Now then, I believe it's proper manners to let the lady go through the door first."
If for nothing else than the fear of what he would do if I refused I walked towards the door. Jack stood there, holding the door open, gesturing me to go inside.
He still had that smile on his face. That smile had never left his face.
No. It was even wider than before. Like he was laughing to himself about a something. It was unsettling.
I stepped into the light and felt nothing. Was it safe? 'Great time to be thinking of that now, isn't it Chrissi?'
I continued in. I was completely inside the light-filled doorway now. I looked back and saw the courtyard. Jack was still standing there. As I turned and went farther in, something broke the silence, making me freeze up in terror. I heard Jack come inside, with the sound of heavy boots accompanying each step. After the first few steps I heard the 'creak' of the door again. When it closed the sound echoed, as if through a great, empty hall.
Jack spoke again.
"'Come into my Parlor' said the Spider to the Fly."
The last thing I heard was Jack laughing to himself. Then darkness.