After a couple stomach-churning seconds of falling in bright green light, the world popped back into view and started spinning. Stephen’s head went light just before his legs went limp and he collapsed onto a stone floor. “Goodness, I’m sorry.” Earnest’s voice came into his ears. “Was that too sudden?”
Stephen closed his eyes so the world would stop spinning. In order to ensure that his stomach stayed in place, he clutched it and curled into a fetal position. “I don’t feel good,” he groaned. Two iron horseshoes pressed against his back and rolled him onto his stomach. One hoof pressed his head down with surprising gentleness while another repeatedly stroked from the middle of his back up to his neck.
“Relax, take deep breaths through the nose and allow me to help,” Earnest instructed. “Neither of us will be happy if you get sick here.” After realizing that Stephen would not resist, Earnest removed his hoof from Stephen’s head and continued rubbing his back.
Stephen ignored the torrent of questions swirling through his mind in favor of following Earnest’s advice and waiting for his stomach to settle. About a minute later, Stephen felt the blood return to his head, his heart rate slow and the queasy sensations recede. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself inside what looked to be a stone cathedral. The arched ceiling was about thirty feet high, slate gray and supported by a wooden frame. Seven concrete pillars, each baring unlit torches, were spaced about ten feet apart across two of the walls. The walls were comprised of perfectly shaped brownish-gray bricks that looked like lakeside bluffs. Each brick was about as long as Stephen and half his height. Three doors separated different rooms from the main chamber, where Stephen was laying currently. The wall to Stephen’s left had five tall windows that were elevated a few feet from the floor and spaced in between the pillars. The wall on Stephen’s right was littered with drawings, notes, schematics, cluttered desks and tome filled bookshelves.
At the opposite end of the building stood three large statues, each of which looked familiar to Stephen. But his mind, in its exhausted and dizzied state, went blank as he tried to place them in his memory.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” said Earnest. “Have you recovered?”
Stephen turned his attention back to Earnest and got to his feet. “What’s going on?” he almost shouted. “Where are we? Why did you bring me here?” Stephen stole a second glance at the artifacts behind Earnest. He felt the gears of his mind turn back into place and he recognized the statues from Twilight’s book. On the left, atop a marble pedestal and inside a crystal triangle, sat a crystal eye with a dark purple orb as its pupil – the Eye of Coeus. The marble pedestal in the middle held a statue of a stone pegasus stallion about to be crushed under the weight of a large blue sphere – the Globe of Atlas. On the right, a third marble pedestal bore a stone right triangle and a stone pony using his head to push a large orange crystal ball up the hypotenuse – the Stone of Sisyphus. The statues were lined up on what looked to be the building’s fourth wall that had been lowered to the ground using a gear and pulley system with heavy chains. Thus granting a view of the sparkling blue ocean that lay beyond the cliff where this building had been perched.
Stephen’s eyes narrowed on Earnest and he inhaled deeply. Earnest reached out with a foreleg to signal Stephen to settle down. “Please be calm and I’ll explain everything.”
Stephen pointed at Earnest. “This is your doing!” he shouted.
“Indeed, but if I may have a moment…”
“You sent that freaky unicorn to steal all those artifacts!” Stephen interrupted.
“In a manner of speaking but…”
“Why the heck didn’t you tell me when we met in Ponyville?”
“Please understand that…”
Stephen angrily paced the floor in short laps. “I’ve been all over Equestria while waiting to figure out who cast this stupid spell on me and you could have said something a week ago!”
“The timing just wasn’t…”
“To think of all the terrible things I could have avoided!” Stephen punctuated his roar by glaring at Earnest as hard as he could.
Earnest’s expression had grown cold. “Are you quite finished?”
“I don’t know!” Stephen threw his front legs in the air and came back down on all fours. With that, Earnest took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His horn glowed for a moment before his whole body turned a bright white. A green aura engulfed his body and when it subsided, Earnest had become slightly taller, more muscular and his horn gained about three inches with a curve. A large black gemstone had appeared in the cleavage of his vest. Then he opened his eyes, revealing two slit pupas and glowing green irises. Stephen felt his eyes go wide as he muttered, “You’re the thief.”
Stephen’s revelation suddenly brought several facts to light. Such as that this was a unicorn who could not only lift a piece of Stonehenge with his mind, but could also break the magic of other powerful unicorns and probably knew pony karate. This was the same pony that single-handedly defeated platoons of soldiers without so much as being seen. This was the same pony that not forty-eight hours ago, gave Applejack a concussion for standing in his way and was moments away from doing the same or worse to Stephen but stopped for reasons still unknown. This was the same pony that Stephen was currently facing alone, in a stone prison at the very center of who-knows-where, with the only opportunity for escape being off a cliff and into the ocean. All of the anger Stephen felt moments ago melted away into petrified fear. “What do you want with me?” he stuttered out.
Earnest stroked his chin for a moment before looking to Stephen as sincerely as one could with those eyes. “I suppose you could say I’m just looking for a friend.”
Stephen felt an eye twitch and he shook his head. “I don’t believe you. Pinkie Pie suggested that last week and I didn’t believe it then either.” He motioned to the row of artifacts in the back of the room. “You don’t need to go through all this to make a friend.” His voice involuntarily rose again. “Shoot, the first time we met, you were making friends with Pinkie just fine! Why did you need to disrupt my entire life to ‘make a friend’?”
“I assure you, nopony else can help me with what I need. Please walk with me and I’ll tell you everything.” Earnest walked past Stephen. When Stephen turned around, Earnest motioned towards the large double doors at the front of the building. Reluctantly, Stephen stepped forward and followed Earnest.
Stephen was led outside to the same sunny day that he had been experiencing in Canterlot. The front yard of the building was nothing but a large vegetable garden with a stone path running down the middle and leading towards a gate in the center of a cobblestone wall that surrounded the building. Stephen could hear the distant crashing of ocean waves and the occasional gully cry. About halfway towards the gate, Earnest resumed talking. “Back when I was a strapping chestnut colored colt, I was accepted into the first class of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns at the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. That was a little more than three hundred years ago now.”
“Three hundred years! How is that possible?”
“In good time, Stephen.” Earnest’s horn lit up and a crank started turning gears, which opened the heavy gates, revealing a vast scape of tropical islands and steep cliffs. Earnest did not leave much time to admire the scenery and continued walking. “Through determination and with the help of my sister, I cleared the Princess’ curriculum in half the time as my peers and became the first to master my magical talents involving engineering and architecture.”
“You have a sister?” Stephen asked.
“In a way, yes. I don’t know if this is still the case but one of the entrance exams we received was to hatch a dragon egg.”
“Actually, I think that’s still true.”
“Really?”
Stephen nodded. “Celestia’s current student has a baby dragon living with her.”
“Good for her then. Conjuring enough power to hatch a dragon egg is no small task. But from there I adopted the baby dragon as my sister and named her Evalrog.” There was a moment of silence as they started walking down a hill towards a beach at the bottom. “Anyway, in order to ensure my talent reached its full potential, Celestia took me under her wing as her first apprentice.” Earnest stopped, turned towards the edge of the cliff and gazed out towards the ocean. “I was honored beyond all words. But this honor only grew as time went on and we became more than student and teacher. We confided in each other. The trust we gained for each other helped her push me to my full potential as much as it helped me push myself. I simply had to get better and prove myself worthy of her time.” Earnest’s expression lit up as if he’d just remembered something important before he turned to Stephen. “Tell me, have you ever heard the story of Nightmare Moon?”
“Actually, I heard all about it just a couple of days ago.”
“Good then,” Earnest looked back to the ocean as breeze rolled in from it. After breathing in the fresh ocean air and letting it flow through his mane, he continued. “When Celestia confided in me, I learned even in all that time, she had not fully recovered from the regret that inevitably comes with having to battle one’s estranged sister. I also learned that the Everfree forest was encroaching on the castle, bringing its numerous dangers with it. Then I started seeing the castle in a different light. Reminders of those in the royal family who were gone and their time spent together were everywhere. Wild monsters were threatening the livelihood of the castle’s residents with increasing frequency.”
“So what did you do?” Stephen asked, raising his eyebrow when the corner of Earnest’s mouth rose into a small smile and quickly fell.
“The time came for me to repay Celestia for everything she had done for me and prove to her that I was worthy not just as an apprentice, but also as her close friend. With these things in mind, I gave her the only thing a supposed master of architecture and engineering could give.” With that, Earnest turned and started walking back towards his house.
“What was that?” Stephen asked as he followed.
Earnest gave a proud smirk. “I built her a fortress unlike any other that Equestria had seen in aspects of size, placement, design, tactics, function and aesthetics. But above all, it was a place where the beloved princess could have a fresh start as monarch of Equestria. It was a place where her loyalest subjects could live with her in peace and prosperity. I realize now that it wasn’t the best I could do, but Canterlot has held up surprisingly well.”
Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Canterlot?” Earnest nodded in response. “You built that as a gift to the princess?”
“There is not one brick on that mountain that is out of place from my design.”
“How?” Stephen asked skeptically.
Earnest stopped walking when he reached the gate. “Evalrog has always been a great source of strength for me. At first, she merely kept me organized and ensured that I was always prepared. Then, as time went on, she started to grow and her physical strength rivaled that of my magic. We became the most efficient team on any construction site. But there was a price.
“Ironically, a mature dragon is not nearly as civil as a baby. Eventually, their nature takes over. It started with small tools or bricks going missing. I figured she was merely trying to build something herself. Then it turned into such greed and thievery that servants and citizens alike were complaining. When I tried to confront Evalrog about her hoarding, she grew to her full size and started acting like it.” Earnest closed his eyes and the tone in his voice dropped even lower than it was naturally. “There is no way to stop a fully-grown rampaging dragon. She was going to bring down the whole city. The Royal Guard neutralized the threat.” Earnest’s head lowered and his ears went flat. “I learned Celestia’s pain that day.”
Stephen’s took a big gulp and choked out, “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. You had nothing to do with it.” Earnest perked up slightly. “Besides, in her last moments, Evalrog apologized, wished that I finish our projects and gave me her greatest gift.”
“What was that?”
Earnest placed a hoof on the black gemstone in his chest. “I discovered that when a dragon dies, their heart becomes the most precious gemstone in the world. I combined this with the fact that gemstones can be used to supplement magical energy and theorized that a pony could gain a dragon’s powers if they used a heart stone. But I feared that if others knew this, the consequences would be dire. After years of secretive research and training, I fused with Evalrog’s heart and gained her longevity.” Earnest raised his head back upright and gave a chuckle. Looking into Stephen with his snake-like eyes, he continued, “As you can see, this brought about some other, more apparent transformations.”
“So what happened next?” Stephen asked.
“With the prospect of serving by Celestia’s side and being there for her forever, I designed her a palace that would make Canterlot look like this ramshackle hut in which I live.”
“Why would you want to do that? Canterlot is amazing!”
Earnest rolled his eyes. “Canterlot is alright. It’s the best in Equestria. But it is still far from perfect - hence my fixing the ceilings on the museums I visited - and therefore not worthy of the princesses.” Earnest lowered his eyes and clenched his teeth as he walked back through the gate. “But the princess declined my proposal, believing it to be harmful to the country.”
“You didn’t agree, did you?”
“I tried to reason with her that it would be worthwhile once the whole kingdom was safe where the dangers of the wilderness and alien invaders couldn’t reach the peaceful populace of Equestria. Or that only perfection was worthy of a princess like herself. Instead, she rejected me as her student and said I may return when I understood what’s truly important.”
“So you’ve been living in exile ever since?”
Earnest stopped walking halfway to the building and turned to face Stephen. “It’s the only thing Celestia has ever been wrong on. What’s important is making all of Equestria safe. As its only leader that has ever been willing and able to do so, she deserves only the best in return.” Earnest sighed deeply. “I don’t know what the princess believes could be more important than that. But she will realize I am right when she sees her perfect palace.” Turning around again, he continued walking. “I lived in the wilderness, surviving off the land and defending myself against many of the creatures I seek to protect my fellow Equestrians from. Of necessity, I learned a variety of survival skills and combative magic. All the while, I searched for the resources needed to build my design. When I found what was here, at the Galloping Ghost islands, I built my home using rocks from the cliffs, planted my garden and my plan came together.”
“How so?” Stephen asked.
“I would have to find a way to import the resources I need from around the world.” Earnest directed Stephen inside the building and to his drawing board. Sketches, schematics and floor plans of both the inside and outside of his masterpiece covered the wall. Three desks were cluttered with quills, notes, open books, rough sketches and various measuring tools. Earnest directed Stephen’s attention to the largest of the schematics; a poster that was nearly twenty feet long and ten feet high. “I call it, Rhelm of Spirits – Pandemonium!” Then Earnest pointed to a long glass case that hung next to the painting. Various rocks and materials were placed in its shelves and labeled with the same symbols that were scattered around different areas of the blueprints. “This is Pandemonium’s legend,” said Earnest. “It shows everything I’ll need to build it. I keep a notebook listing where in Equestria everything can be found.”
Stephen’s eyes skimmed over the drawings. It was certainly a magnificent design. The palace featured canals, a wide moat, high rising walls that were topped with what appeared to be gold, held up by elaborately designed pillars and decorated with statues depicting various beasts of legend. Most of the palace would be constructed with the same type of rocks used for Earnest’s house. One drawing depicted the palace from afar and showed how it would be nestled in between the faces of several mountains. Then Stephen’s eyes wandered to the scale and widened as his head calculated the size of the palace. “Earnest!” he gasped, double-taking to make sure he was reading the scale correctly. “This thing’s area is a hundred square miles and two miles tall! You can’t build this!”
“I feared the same thing for the longest time. Since Celestia won’t grant me what I need, I had to wait until I found another way. Allow me to show you the fruits of my research.” Earnest led Stephen to the back of the room, where the statues stood on the open wall and overlooked ocean and islands beyond. “These three statues have been uncovered by archeologists, one at a time, over the last seventy years. Historians deciphered their powers and purposes from their names. Individually, they grant strength to any spell, hold it forever and bring knowledge of anything in existence. Together, they hold the seals to that gate.”
Stephen lowered his eyes to the beach but he never found what Earnest was pointing at. Instead, he shrieked and ran back inside, only to be grabbed by Earnest’s magic and placed back where he was. Stephen’s legs quaked as his eyes were instantly drawn back to what appeared to be a giant, black, three-headed dog that rested on the sands below, chained to an exceptionally large doghouse. “What is that thing!?” Stephen shouted.
“Cerberus is no concern of ours. Look into the ocean, where I’m pointing.”
Stephen looked again. Just below the surface of the water, he could make out set of gigantic black double-doors, which seemed to have a frame made of mammoth bones. The top was adorned with what appeared to be the skull of a giant bull with one exceptionally long fang. The top of its head bore antlers, one of a deer and the other of a gazel. “That gate is going to help you?”
“Indeed. I realized if the legends of these artifacts were true, they would be my only chance to prove myself to Celestia. When combined, they can be used to break the seal of the gate’s key and open the gate.” Earnest’s horn glowed and one of the pockets on his vest opened. A large, yet ordinary looking golden key floated from his vest and hovered in front of Stephen’s face. He followed its path around his head and to a short stone monolith at the edge of the cliff, which seemed to have a keyhole carved into it. The green aura around the key faded and it dropped to the base of the monolith. “According to legend; only a willing earth pony of sound mind can turn the key. That, my friend, is where I was hoping you would come in.” Earnest started walking back into the building. Stephen followed close behind.
“Finally, we get to the part that explains why I’m here, right?”
“Indeed,” said Earnest as he turned inside and walked to his bookshelf. After examining it for a moment, he levitated a thin green book with a tattered cover from the shelf. “This is the journal of Hugo the Dreamer; a Unicorn Tribe philosopher who was heartbroken when his true love, Princess Platinum, ventured into the wilderness with Clover the Clever to find a new land for the unicorns.” Clearing a spot with his foreleg, Earnest opened the book’s wrinkled brown pages and set it on the desk. “His journal speaks of needing to stay behind to care for his sick mother. Since he couldn’t be with Platinum, he conceptualized the Spirit Traveller spell. After consulting Starswirl the Bearded, three levels of the spell were written.
“The first level brings the target’s spirit to the caster when they sleep. But there was a limit to how far the spell could reach and Hugo could only hold it for a few hours before needing to replenish his magic. The second level could bring the target’s spirit to the caster in the form of an apparition at any time as long as the target was willing and in range. Starswirl had to cast this spell himself and could only hold it for a few hours. The third level was deemed by Starswirl to be impossible for unicorns to perform. That is what brings your spirit to Equestria with a complete earth pony body.”
“With the help of those statues, right?” Stephen asked.
“Precisely,”
“One of my friends figured it out earlier this week. Those artifacts are the only things strong enough to overcome the spell’s limitations such as distance, strength, finding your target…” Stephen glowered at Earnest as he continued, “…and bypassing the need for the target’s consent.”
Earnest nodded enthusiastically. “To a degree, yes. But it turned out that I could only bypass your consent if you weren’t conscious. So the spell was only able to take hold when you fell asleep.”
The only thing that stopped Stephen from losing his temper was his conscience reminding him of how strong Earnest was and that losing his temper might provoke a demonstration of said strength. After a few deep breaths, Stephen clenched his teeth and asked, “Earth ponies are not exactly rare in Equestria. Why did you need me?”
“Because nopony here in Equestria would be willing to turn that key. If they were, they’d probably be insane. Either of these circumstances would violate the enchantments that were placed on the gate key. I needed someone from a world that shared my love of advancement so they would be able to understand my plan to honor my beloved princess and make all of her subjects safe under one roof. Your world has everything I’ve ever wanted to see. Giant palaces, cities that touch the sky, high speed trains, flying machines and…”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Stephen interrupted when his ire finally exceeded his desire to be polite.
“Come again?”
Stephen tried desperately to not snap at the potentially dangerous unicorn. “With all due respect, Earnest; do you know what being awake for two weeks straight does to someone?”
“You’ve been awake since I cast the spell?”
“Yes!” Stephen unintentionally shouted.
Earnest rubbed his chin. “I see,” another notebook and a dipped quill floated up to his head. The quill started scribbling on the notebook’s pages while he spoke. “Perhaps a spirit body can’t sleep since your mind is still conscious in its dream state when the spell takes hold. I’ll have to make note of this.”
“I can barely hold a train of thought because of you!”
“But your spirit body and original body are connected, so if one body doesn’t rest than the other won’t be rested either.”
Stephen’s leaking dam burst. With eyes clenched shut and his head lowered to the ground, he started pacing again. “The woman I had hoped to spend the rest of my life with left me because of you!”
Earnest set down the quill and notebook. “Please understand that you’re an experiment. Since nopony has ever cast the spell’s third level, there were factors I couldn’t know about.”
Stephen wasn’t listening. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a job that pays well enough to live off of where I’m from? I have to go through that all over again because of you!” A hard cover book slapping the side of his head interrupted Stephen’s rant and sent him to the floor.
“Pull yourself together,” Earnest commanded. “I can’t use you if you go daft on me.” Earnest offered a foreleg and helped Stephen to his feet. “I had no way of knowing how the spell would affect your body. I also had no way of knowing of the space-time factors that came with trying to bring your physical spirit body to me. So I miscalculated the distance and spent days searching for you in the Everfree forest before meeting you in Ponyville. If you want your ordeal to end, I shall reverse the spell once I’m done with you.”
Stephen sighed and got to his feet. Silently, he walked over to the monolith with Earnest following close behind. Stephen examined the key for a moment as it lay at the base of the monolith. Then he turned to look back at Earnest. “You said I have to want to open the gate in order to turn that key, right?” Smiling, Earnest gave him an encouraging nod and Stephen turned back to the key. All he had to do was grab it and he’d be on his way to solving all of his problems.
Stephen slowly reached down and gripped the key in his mouth. It felt similar to holding a nine-volt battery on his tongue, but he toughed it out with the promise of going home in his mind. After gazing at the monolith one more time, he tossed the key back to Earnest, who caught it in his mouth. “I don’t think you have any use for me anyway.” Earnest looked to Stephen questioningly. “Your little miscalculation ruined my life and I’ve been told that whatever you wanted could put Equestria in danger. Then you bring me here and show me that your goal is being guarded by whatever that thing is down there. Seriously, what’s going to stop it from tearing us apart for trying to open the gate?”
Earnest perked up. “Ah yes, Cerberus! Thank you for reminding me of that. One moment please.”
Earnest seemingly blinked out of existence in a flash of green sparks. Stephen looked around in confusion before three dogs started barking loud enough hurt Stephen’s ears. Pinning his ears back, he looked down to the beach below. The three-headed monster was barking and howling at Earnest, who had appeared just outside the reach of the monster’s leash. On either side of Earnest, there was a rubber ball and a cannon. Both items were at least twice the unicorn’s size. Earnest seemed to be bouncing back and forth playfully as Cerberus barked at him.
Suddenly, the large rubber ball floated into the cannon. Then Cerberus’ leash broke off the giant doghouse and Stephen barely heard Earnest shout, “Go get the ball!” a split second before the sound of cannon report shook the building and sent the ball clear over the horizon. Stephen watched speechlessly as Cerberus gave chase across the island and into the water. With a flash, Earnest teleported back to Stephen’s side. “As I said; he is no concern of ours,” Earnest boasted before playfully nudging Stephen with an elbow. “The last time I did that, it was four days before somepony brought him back.” Earnest cleared his throat and resumed his normal demeanor. “Now that we’re free of his potential meddling, are you certain I can’t convince you to turn this key?”
“Not happening,” Stephen said flatly.
Earnest attempted a pleading expression. “You’d be working for the greater good of all Equestria.”
“What could you possibly need beyond a gate like this anyway?”
Earnest rolled his eyes with a sigh. “If you must know, that is the gate to Tartarus; a prison for ancient monsters.”
Stephen’s eyes widened. “I thought you needed something to build your palace!”
“Precisely,” said Earnest. “It would take an army of ponies at least two hundred years to build Pandemonium. I will offer the prisoners of Tartarus freedom in exchange for honoring Celestia with my perfect fortress. With their combined strength and powers, clearing the Everfree forest and construction of the palace will be done in a fraction of the time.”
“What makes you think these things weren’t locked up in the ocean for a reason? What if they can’t be reasoned with or controlled? I thought you wanted to protect Equestria, not unleash an army of monsters to pave it over.”
“If they won’t cooperate than I will return them to Tartarus and try something else,” Earnest said irritably.
“Even if they cooperate, what do you think they’ll do once they’ve built your palace and they’re free? What’s to stop them from turning their wrath right back onto you?”
Earnest deadpanned at Stephen. “They’ll have an awful time dealing with Pandemonium’s perfect defenses, including a mile-wide lava moat.”
Stephen double-checked to make sure he didn’t mishear what was just said. “A lava moat? What?” he shook his head in disbelief. “Is that what the moat on the schematics was? Lava? How are you even going to get lava!?”
“Volcanis, one of the prisoners.”
“A lava moat is not going to stop the monster that built the lava moat!”
“You’re assuming that’s the only defense I have,” Earnest said irritably.
“Even on the off chance that Pandemonium is perfect and impregnable, what about the other countries? There are other countries in this world, right? What if these monsters go there and wreak havoc?”
Earnest’s voice started to rise. “Then that is their concern. My concern is the citizens of Equestria and nothing else.”
“Did you ever think that Princess Celestia, who you love so much, didn’t want Pandemonium for the reasons I’ve just mentioned? What if she tries to stop you?”
Earnest huffed at Stephen and scraped the floor with a front hoof. “Celestia will forgive me and take me back when she and my fellow Eqeustrians see what I have created for her.”
“Then there’s your fellow Equestrians,” Stephen continued. “Did you ever think that they wouldn’t want to uproot themselves to move to your palace? What if they ever wanted to leave?”
“Why would they want to leave?”
“Gosh, I don’t know!” Stephen said sarcastically. “Sometimes people get wander hungry. I have friends like that back home. Despite all the differences, Equestrian ponies don’t seem to act much differently than people where I’m from.” Stephen stopped and caught his breath. “Look; your designs are cool, but sometimes these things can go too far and what you want is simply too big. You’d have to level these islands for the bricks alone! I don’t see how it’s possible and ponies here seem to like their lives the way they are. So I won’t help you destroy an entire country for the chance to build one city.
“Be happy with what you’ve already made. Maybe Celestia will want to be friends with you again. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? It seems to mean a lot more to you than it really should, if I’m to be totally honest. As for me, I’d appreciate it if you’d just send me home.”
The key dropped to the floor and there was a long, uncomfortable silence between the two. The ambient noises of the beach below and the ocean beyond filled Stephen’s ears as he waited for Earnest’s response. All the while, he prayed that he wouldn’t react rashly to being denied.
With clenched teeth, Earnest walked over to the nearest wall, turned and bucked it. Metal on stone rang out in his house as he shouted, “Curse these constant delays!” Stephen’s eyes frantically searched the room for either an escape that wasn’t off the cliff or something to defend himself with. Before he could find anything, Earnest came back down on all fours and with his head hung low, trotted back to Stephen. Stephen’s teeth chattered with fear until Earnest glumly said. “Very well.” The unicorn’s body glowed white and a green aura engulfed him. When it disappeared, he appeared as a normal unicorn stallion. “I shall return you to Canterlot and find someone else.”
Stephen almost couldn’t believe that for the first time in two weeks, something looked like it would go his way. “Really?” he asked before internally chiding himself for trying his luck with such questions.
“I cannot force you to turn the key. So there is nothing left to be done.” Earnest placed a front leg over Stephen’s shoulder. “Close your eyes.” Stephen obeyed and with a spark, he felt the familiar falling sensation take him.