//------------------------------// // 28-Let's Go Home // Story: A Changeling Queen Under the Griffon's Crown // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// Chapter 28 Faust stared at him. Fire was burning in her eyes. “A day is coming,” she said, “when all will be fed, and disease will be washed away. A day is coming where there will be no hatred to endure, no wars to fight, no orphans, no prisoners, and no slaves. A day is coming when I will remake the world into perfection.” She glared at him, and took a step forward until she loomed over him. “And when that day comes, I will make sure you get every moment of justice that you deserve.” Alan shot upright in bed, sweat pouring down his brow as he left the dream behind. His eyes quickly scanned the room. Large ceiling, black stone walls, and gold-trimmed mahogany furniture met his eyes as he stared into the darkness of the room. The borrowed bed was soft beneath him, and called him back to sleep. Before long, Alan’s breathing calmed, and he sighed. “I really hope she wasn’t talking to me when she said that,” he muttered. The covers rustled next to him, drawing his gaze to his sleeping wife. He smirked when he saw her mouth wide open, before smacking together. “Eagle has my sammich…” she muttered, sleeptalking. Alan shook his head, before laying back down, and kissing her cheek. She smiled, before giggling in her sleep. “Hm...Spruce…” Alan blinked. He then spent the next twenty minutes trying to decided if Spruce was an amorous pony or an amusing tree. He really hoped it was a tree. <<<|Ω|>>> Julius sat on his throne rubbing his temples as he and his blood brother listened to the new report. Within minutes of the announcement, the changelings had all but disappeared. Neither hide nor hair of them could be seen, and the traitors, lacking a way to redeem themselves, panicked. It wasn’t surprising, considering the penalty for treason was death. “We have reports, Your Highness,” the soldier said, “of numerous building being locked down by the traitors, before attacking anyone that gets too close.” Julius sighed. This had not gone according to plan. He had hoped that his edict would help drive the changelings out of the Empire, as well as allow some of the griffons to earn their redemption. Instead, it drove the changelings into hiding, and turned the traitors into cornered animals. He knew many of the changelings would have hidden away while they were escaping, he had been counting on it. But for all of them to simply disappear overnight? Taking back the throne was proving to be the easy part of ruling. At the very least, Spike’s discovery of the ancient treasure hoard was going to help refill the treasury. Sighing again, Julius turned to the Pendragon, who sat on the floor next to the Obsidian Throne. “What do you think, Alan?” he asked. Alan echoed his sigh before saying, “I believe that the best thing to do would be to offer amnesty. Or, at the very least, give them a trial.” Julius smirked. “If only I had the three lifetimes necessary to try them all.” He chuckled. “I doubt even the city courts have the time, and of course they will appeal to the King.” There was silence for a moment, as the King and the Prince sat in thought. The guard shifted in front of them nervously. “I-if I may,” a new voice said, and all heads turned to see Thunderlane poking his head in. “Approach the throne and speak,” Julius said, exasperated at the ceremony. Thunderlane nodded and approached the two, speaking as he came halfway up the room. “I...I read a lot of fiction that deals with ancient Equestrian cultures, and I distinctly remember an old Pegasusian practice.” Julius shifted on his throne. “Go on.” “In ancient Venkey, the Pegasi had set up a few dozen ‘Cities of Refuge,’ where those who had accidentally killed another could take refuge by presenting their case to the gatekeeper. If they were deemed worthy to be let in they were safe, if they were not, they could be freely hunted down by the avenging family. If they left the city, they could be hunted, however as long as they stayed in the city, they were fine.” “So you’re suggesting that we set up these cities?” Julius asked. “Or something similar,” Thunderlane answered. “I understand that we don’t necessarily have the time to build a city, but its a thought.” Julius nodded. “It...I believe I can work with this,” he said. “Thank you, I will see what I can do.” Thunderlane nodded before giving a small bow and walking out of the room. Julius nodded before turning to face the Pendragon. “Alan, my brother, I am afraid I must retire for a bit to think about this for a while. Give me a few hours, and I will ask for you counsel. For now, go see to your wife, she may need you.” Alan shook his head. “She’s only a couple of months along, she will be fine.” Julius smiled before giving him a nudge. “Then you best go and get into a habit, eh?” Alan shook his head, and gave the King a smile. “I suppose it is my fate,” he said before turning to head back to the large doorway. “And so the brave stallion walks to his doom!” Julius laughed. “Your turn will come, Julius!” Alan called back. “You’ll need an heir, after all!” Laughing, Alan saw himself out, before he began his descent back to the Noble Guest rooms. The keep was so much easier to navigate when you weren’t invading, and a friendly guard stood at every corner. Only a week had passed since Julius had retaken the throne, and things have gone well. The surrounding cities were quick to pledge their allegiance by sending a few regiments, and the outlying cities were quick to begin their revolt against the Iron Crown. The dark hallways were now lit up with torches, and the keep now seemed to glow a friendly light as it returned to the rule its original owner. As Alan walked down the hallways, and quickly found the hallway where Julius had set them up. Rainbow Dash sat at a table with Thunderlane, Spike, Trixie, and three guards, all playing poker in the middle of the hall. “I’ll see your four Guineas, and I’ll raise you five,” she said with a smirk. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will pass!” Alan shook his head. “Hey Spike, seen Twi?” he asked. “She’s with Rarity,” Spike answered before adjusting his cards. “Pass. Twilight finally cornered her so she could get a look at those Ioun stones. She’s been having her mad scientist fun ever since you and Julius went up to the throne room.” “Complete with mad cackling?” Alan asked. Spike looked over at him with a smirk. “You mean ‘light giggling?’ Yeah.” Alan nodded. “Thanks, Spike.” “Hey, tell her I want my marefriend back, will ya?” the dragon asked. “Will do,” he said, before making his way to his room. Pushing open the door, he found Rarity backed up against the wall, Twilight staring at her with wide, science-hungry eyes. “Oh thank heavens!” Rarity yelled, before leaping over her fellow unicorn. “I think I hear Spike calling me, I must away!" she said, rushing out the door. “But…” Twilight whined as she watched her test subject leave. “But...but research…” Alan grabbed her by the withers. “You’ll get another chance, Twilight,” he said, “and no amount of research is worth creeping out your friends.” Twilight looked at him. “I feel like I should argue that…” Alan chuckled, before he scooped up his wife and carried her to the bed. She laughed as Alan set her down, and gave her a gentle kiss. “My dear, it seems to me that you need a break from research.” “What?” she asked, sounding scandalized. “A break from research? And I thought you were an intellectual.” Alan laughed, before kissing her again, before his eyes caught sight of five points of scarred tissue poking through the fur on her chest and back. Five, small points where five claws of corrosive magic had dug into her flesh. He went silent for a second, before he brought his hoof up to trace the wounds. “I’m...I’m sorry, Twilight…” She hugged him tightly, the only comfort she could offer. <<<|Ω|>>> “Oh, Soary!” Pinkie called, bouncing down the hallway. “Where are you?” “Over here, Pinkie!” The wonderbolt cried, waving as he sat on a bench in the hallway. “Whatcha doing?” she asked, bouncing closer. “Thinking,” the pegasus replied, before turning back to face the tall, narrow window just across from him. She giggled, “Careful, Soary. You know what Daddy says about thinking.” “It’s a dangerous pastime, yes, yes, I know.” “So whatcha thinking about?” Pinkie asked, sitting next to him. Soarin smirked. “Well, I was just thinking about life stuff.” “What kind of life stuff?” “You know, basic stuff. Where my life is going, what I’ll do in the future,” he paused and smirked as he gave her a sideways glance. “Who I’ll spend it with.” She giggled. “Picked anypony in particular?” she asked in a sing-song-y voice. Soarin smiled. “Well, there is one mare who has caught my eye.” “Is there?” Pinkie asked, feigning curiosity. “Yup! She’s great, beautiful, a little bit too energetic for my health, but I’ll live.” Pinkie smiled. “I’m sure you can.” “Of course, the big question is, would she be interested in staying with me forever?” Pinkie blinked, and stared at him as the pegasus reached behind himself. “It’s not what I had planned to get you, but I can’t exactly run to the Canterlot Jewelry store…” he said as he pulled out a gold bracelet, decorated with brilliant blue sapphires and pink tourmalines. “So I hope this will make up for it.” Pinkie went silent, staring at the bracelet in his hoof. A long second passed. “Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Sorain said, “Would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?” Pinkie kept staring down at the bracelet, before she looked up at Soarin, her eyes wide, and shocked. And then she jumped him, catching him in a hug as she screamed. “Yes!” <<<|Ω|>>> “Wow…” Alan muttered to himself as the two lay together in bed, waiting for sleep to take them. “What?” Twilight asked. “It just kinda hit me that I’m going to be a dad in seven months.” “Nine,” Twilight corrected. “Remember, eleven month gestation period for ponies.” “Right. Nine. I’m tired, alright?” “Actually, there is a possibility that it’s closer to eight and half months, now.” “That...kinda makes the whole thing a little bit scarier…” Alan said. She smiled, before nuzzling him. “Hey, we have each other, and we have our friends. Besides, you always said you were good with kids.” Alan nodded to himself. “I hope that stays true.” Twilight yawned. “Well, if nothing else, we can hire a maid to help.” Alan nodded. “If…” she yawned again, “if there’s anything you taught me, Alan, its that you can’t worry about everything at once, so...worry about it tomorrow…” Alan glanced over at his wife. “You are really tired tonight, aren’t you?” A snore was the only answer. <<<|Ω|>>> One month had passed since their arrival on Imperial shores, and the ponies all stood before the gate of the Onyx Keep, waiting for Sunny Sentinel and Twinkle Drop to pilot the Victory to them. “Thank you for your help, brother,” Julius said. “I will be sure to let the populace know who their ally was in this dark time.” Alan nodded. “Thank you, Julius. Hopefully we’ll be able to reestablish friendly relations in the future.” The king nodded, before turning to Thunderlane. “And, thanks to you, the Cities of Refuge have been settled, and they will be finished shortly.” He gave a smirk. “It certainly helps that their workforce is growing daily.” Thunderlane smiled. “A pleasure, your Majesty.” Julius then turned to Spike. “And thank you for rediscovering our treasury. You’ll certainly lessen taxes on the populace.” The dragon nodded. “At least it will be doing something,” he said, “instead of sitting in a cave and gathering dust.” The griffon smiled. “And thank you all for your sacrifices. I will not forget this, and I will make it my mission to make sure that this goes down in history.” The ponies smiled. “Yes,” Trixie said, sounding rather annoyed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie appreciates the thanks, but now she wishes to return home.” Twilight elbowed her hard. “Hey!” Julius smiled, and laughed. “I suppose my Keep is tiring, Miss Lulamoon. Especially when you have been away for so long. However, I will give you all a lasting invitation to come again, and perhaps one day, I can truly repay you all for what you have done for us. Thank you.” Alan shook his head. “It’s the least I can do for my family.” Julius nodded. “Yes...family comes first, doesn’t it?” There was silence for a second, before a nautical bell rang above them, catching their attention. The Victory sailed into view, lowering down to the ground as it was expertly piloted by Sunny. And it was quite obvious that Sunny was at the controls, because Twinkle was standing on the bow, howling all the way. “HEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOO GRYPHUS! Comin to you live from the Victory, this is Twinkle Drop with the news! This just in: We’re awesome! Whoo!” Alan smiled, before the Thestral leapt into the air, and dove down in front of the gathered ponies. “Sir!” She said, saluting, “It’s good to see you’re all alive, sir.” “And I am glad to confirm it,” Alan said with a smirk. “Permission to speak freely, sir?” she asked before continuing anyway. “Don’t leave a mare when she’s been entrusted with your life, it really wears us down.” Alan chuckled. “I’ll try and not make a habit of it.” The Victory came to a halt, a few hooves off the ground, before the gangplank came down. “Sir!” Sunny called. “We have arrived exactly one month after your departure. No sooner, no later, Sir!” “You certainly could have come sooner,” Trixie huffed as she walked up the gangplank. “Oh, trust me, Trix, if I couldn’t win that argument, then you have no chance,” Twinkle said, draping her hoof across the showmare’s back as they walked up the plank. Julius laughed. “Have a safe trip, my friends. May the Winged Creator go with you.” Alan smiled, waving to his blood brother. “And may she bless your line for generations. Live long, and live well, Julius.” “And the same to you!” The king said as the Victory was loaded and slowly began to rise. <<<|Ω|>>> The trip back across the sea was long and uneventful. No pirates, no storms, nothing dangerous at all. So, Alan saw fit to turn the deck into a dancefloor. Music was blaring almost all day and almost all night, and, after a lot of begging, got Trixie to start up a light show. As the sun set on the fourth day after leaving the Empire’s shores, the twilight sky was met with the sight of a dozen or so ponies taking the stage. Twilight and Alan took center stage as they danced to Owl City serenading them with nonsensical lyrics about an Alligator Sky, while Spike and Rarity, Pinkie and Soarin, and Sunny and Twinkle danced around them. Off to the side sat the others, drinking and eating the remainder of their supplies as they watched the dancers. One couple in particular had been staring at the dancefloor, awkwardly trying to not make eye contact. There were no more distractions, no more orders to give, no where to go, just this elephant that sat in the middle of the living room, quietly sipping tea. Applejack and Silver stood side by side, taking interest in the opposite ends of the ship. They had not really spoken about anything important since the end of the attack, while at the same time sticking close to one another. Silver sighed, before down a bottle of cider. “Buck it. AJ,” he said turning to her, “you...you want to get dinner or something?” “Ah...ah guess we could.” “Good, let’s dance.” “Wait, what?” she managed to ask before being yanked to the dance floor. “Wait! Ah didn’t sign up for this!” <<<|Ω|>>> “Do I have to, Twilight?” Alan asked. “Yes, Alan,” she replied with a sigh. “Look, I know you’re not necessarily comfortable with using knowledge given to you from an evil voice in your head, but if we can get you to nail down this fire spell, then we have some hope! We can finally teach you something basic, like, oh, I don’t know, telekinesis!” Alan sighed, before pulling his magic through his horn, much in the same way that...that thing had shown him, and focused on the space above the sea. He stood, forelegs hanging over the railing, while Twilight stood just behind him. With a grunt and a groan, Alan focused his magick along his horn, and was rewarded with a spark and a flame out over the ocean. Which lasted for a whole two seconds before sputtering out. “Come on, Alan! You have to keep feeding it! It’s important that you know how to feed different spells.” Alan sighed. Truly, using Dark Magic had the worst consequences. <<<|Ω|>>> It was Fall when the Victory pulled into air docks of Canterlot, November, to be exact. The leaves had changed to their red colors and the Canterlot Gardens were almost glowing golds, reds, and oranges. “All ashore that going ashore!” Alan cried, as the docking ropes came flying onto the ship. “Wait…” Dash mumbled, blinking as she shifted from where she lay on a makeshift hammock under the envelop, “who’s going ashore?” “Well,” Alan began, shutting the engines off, “you all can. I have to go debrief with Celestia, and Sunny, Twinkle, Shining and Trixie are all getting off here, so you guys have some time to kill.” “Consider it killed,” Dash replied, rolling over. Thunderlane sighed, and rolled his eyes. “You’ve got a couple of books aboard, don’t you?” he asked. “A couple,” Alan answered. Thunderlane nodded. “I’ll watch the troublemaker.” Alan chuckled. “Sir,” Twinkle said, as she stepped up next to the Pendragon, “Thanks for the leave, sir. It was nice to stretch my wings for a bit.” Alan nodded. “Yeah, well it was nice to have you two on board. I might just ask for your help again.” She gave a lazy salute. “It would be our pleasure, sir.” “Hey, Al, you coming or what?” Shining asked from gangplank. “Yeah, yeah, hold your horses.” Shining blinked. “What?” “Nevermind,” he said, following his brother-in-law. The second the Pendragon stepped down on the docks, however, the two white-coated unicorns were approached by two spear-toting guards. “Sir!” one of them said, as they saluted. “I know, I know, Celestia wants to see me,” Alan said. “Yes, sir, but that’s not why were here,” the guard answered. “We are here to escort Captain Shining Armor to the hospital.” Shining blinked. The guards stood still. Alan looked back and forth between the two. There was silence. And then Shining mumbled “It’s the nineteenth…” Another beat. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Shining screamed. “I’m coming Honey!” he yelled, bolting for the Canterlot hospital as fast as his hooves could carry him. “Sir,” the guards said, excusing themselves before turning and following the Captain. “What was that about?” Twilight asked from the deck. Alan blinked. “I think we’re about to become an Aunt and Uncle.” <<<|Ω|>>> It was late afternoon when Alan and his friends arrived back in Ponyville. The old oak that was Golden Oaks Library welcomed the Victory with open branches. As the ship came down to the ground, Alan was pleased to see a small welcoming committee approaching. “Foals, incoming!”” he said, as he flipped the engines off. “Rarity, Rarity, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle yelled, running up front. “Rarity, Rarity! I got my Cutie Mark!” Rarity blinked. “What?” “I got my Cutie Mark!” she repeated, before sticking her flank in the air. “See!?” “Oh, Sweetie!” she cried, before grabbing her sister in a hug. “Oh, I’m so proud of you!” “Applejack! Big Mac!” Applebloom cried, grabbing her siblings with tears in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re back.” “Hey, Sis,” Applejack said, “we’re glad to be back too.” “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried, as she ran to give her hero a hug. “Hey, Squirt!” “Thunderlane!” a small grey pegasus cried. “Rumble!” Alan watched as all the foals came rushing to their siblings, happy to see them after so long. And that’s when a young spotted colt walked up to him. “Hey, Mr. Goldenhoof,” he said quietly. Alan looked down at the growing colt. “Hey, Pip.” “I’m glad to see you’re okay,” Pipsqueak said, looking up at the Pendragon. “I’m glad to be okay,” he said with a smirk, as he helped Twilight down the plank. “Um...Mr. Goldenhoof?” Pip asked. “Yes?” “I...Mom and Dad keep saying that you have helped our family a lot, and...well...is...is it okay if I start calling you...Uncle?” Alan blinked, before he brought a hoof around the colt’s withers. “Of course you can, Pip,” he said. “After all, our foal could use an older cousin to show him the ropes.” ------------------ “Where is it Miner?! Where is it?! You promised us a baby, Miner!” Foal will be born next chapter, I swear! Just, put the chainsaw down, Pinkie! “Promise?” Pinkie Promise! With the flying and cupcake and the eye, and everything! … … … “Okay~! Lalaladida~!” … “That mare scares me…” At least she's not living in your head. So...yeah...anyways...um...I had a note...Ah! Here it is! Okay, so, when I ended the Faust scene last chapter, I had originally said that she had a few hundred punishments to take, and then, after re-reading that, I realized a very important thing. That’s almost insultingly low. So, if you haven’t read the last chapter in the last few days, there has been a change to make that slightly more realistic. Namely, a few trillion punishments to take. Thought I’d give you that little update, and I hope you guys are enjoying the story. “Be sure to comment! Fave if you haven’t, and we’ll see you next time!” Bye!