//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: After Breakfast 
// Story: Sword and Sorcery 
// by CCC 
//------------------------------//

“My goodness.” said Fluttershy. “You do have quite an appetite, don't you?”

“I...haven't had a good meal in a while.” admitted Krager.

“Oh, you poor creature. Well, you just eat as much as you want, okay?”

There was a knock at the door.

“Oh!” said Fluttershy. “That'll be Twilight. She said she'd be coming round this morning. We were going to try to explore your world for a bit.”

Krager almost spat out a mouthful of banana. “Explore... my world?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. It looks like there are going to be lots of little animals there, and some of them might need my help. We were kind of hoping that you might be willing to show us around a bit – I mean, if that's alright with you. You don't have to help us if you don't want to.”

Krager considered his options. “Are you by any chance planning to invade Elenia?”

Fluttershy gasped in horror. “Oh, no! We would never do anything like that!” she insisted.

Pity. thought Krager, keeping his thoughts off his face.

There was another, more insistent knock on the door.


* * *


“This is it?” asked Krager, looking over the portal. “One just... walks through this archway?”

“That's it.” confirmed Twilight. Her, Spike, and the other Element-bearers were standing around the gateway with Krager, preparing for their expedition into a new world.

“And it comes out...” continued Krager

“Near the city of Cinnamon.” piped up Spike, from his position sitting on Twilight's back.

“Cimmura, Spike.” corrected Twilight.

“Cinnamon's easier to remember.” grumbled Spike.

“And much tastier!” added Pinkie. “Well, I imagine it's tastier, anyway. Use properly, cinnamon can be very tasty! But you have to use just the right amount. If you use too much, then it's not nearly as good. But I've never tasted anything called 'cimmura' before. I don't even know if there is a spice called 'cimmura'! But I don't imagine that a city would taste very good at all. I bet it would taste of brick and wood, and those really don't taste nice! Wood actually tastes a little bit less horrible, but you can get splinters in your tongue if you try to lick it, so trust me, it's really not a good idea. Splinters in your tongue are not nice. Not. Nice.”

“Okaaaaay.” said Twilight, when it began to appear that Pinkie had wound down for a bit.

“Are you alright?” asked Fluttershy, quietly. “You're looking very pale all of a sudden...”

“Ooooh! Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee!” interrupted Pinkie, hopping up and down and jiggling her foreleg.

“I can't go.” said Krager, backing slowly away. “I can't go anywhere near Cimmura.”

“And why not, darling?” asked Rarity.

“Because Sparhawk lives there.” said Krager, continuing to back away from the portal. “And if he finds me, he's going to kill me. And probably anyone associated with me.”

“Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee!” added Pinkie. Already, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were looking in all directions, trying to spot the 'something scary' that Pinkie's knee was predicting.

“I think I'm beginning to figure out why Discord picked this human.” muttered Twilight.

And the clouds that filled the archway swirled, as somepony came through from the other world. The visitor appeared to be a tall, shaggy roan stallion, almost the size of Princess Celestia herself. His nose was particularly long, and his eyes were angry, vicious eyes. He wore bridle and bit, and a thick saddle, upon which was seated a big creature.

Though the same general shape as Krager, this second human sported several differences in his appearance. To start with, he was either made of metal or – more likely – encased in a suit of black steel. He carried a wicked-looking spiked mace, and had a sword at his belt. In his hand, he carried a lance; little more than a long, wooden pole with a steel point affixed to the end, with a long flag attached.

Krager paled even further. “Sparhawk!” he said.

“Krager.” said the second human, his helmet facing his old foe. “Is this where you've been hiding all these years?”

He lowered his lance, pointing it straight at the other human.

With a sharp crack of displaced air, Twilight opened her wings to their fullest extent. “Hold it right there!” she shouted.