I could not honestly say if I was happy or not to see the other Equestrian Princess descend upon my castle, especially since she came with not only the Elements of Harmony in a fancy golden chest but also a platoon of guards. The guards seemed mainly concerned with evacuating as many ponies from the castle as safely as possible, leaving only a handful including the Bearers. Princess Luna had calmed considerably upon her sister's arrival but still insisted on her guards watching over D, who was softly snoring, and Machina, who was doing her best to keep track of everything. I was being looked after by the Bearers, as well as most of the council.
Applejack kept giving Pio odd looks, Pinkie Pie and Zaephir were engaged in a rhyme off, Rainbow Dash and Red were discussing Red's extended family, Thomas was doing his best to avoid Rarity as she did her best to convince him he'd look dashing in a new suit, Twilight and Reggie were still discussing the constitution, and all of them were circled around me to either protect or restrain.
Lord Harold was surrounded by six guards in flashy golden armor, a strange ring around his horn and several layers of cuffs connecting his hooves. Nearby, Fluttershy and a red Night Guard were trying to glare both me and Harold to death, every now and then looking back at the dead ursa with extreme sadness.
At last Princess Celestia approached us. It was interesting to see the level of respect she commanded from even those who were not part of her domain. Though no creature within the castle had any call to do anything she asked, each responded to any polite request with prompt and friendly service. The only ones who seemed to avoid both her and her guards were the band.
"Well," Celestia said softly, breaking up the various conversations going on around me. "It seems we have much to discuss."
"Such as?" I was somewhat resigned to whatever dungeon they planned to throw me into. There was little hope for someone who had willingly attempted to release the Nightmare on the world.
"To begin, I think we are going to pull repair funds for damages done to your castle from Lord Bright Harold's personal funds."
That got my attention.
"Then I believe we should move you to Canterlot," She continued, and my heart sank waiting for her to tell me what dungeon I'd be in. "For professional care."
"Professional care? Is that a euphemism for torture?" I was honestly at a loss.
"Of course not!" Celestia said with a shocked expression. "I want Canterlot's top medical specialist to try to help you," the princess said, her voice carrying tones of concern and compassion.
"No offense your majesty but I'll heal up just fine. I don't think you have many doctors in Canterlot experienced enough with my physiology to heal me."
"While I am concerned about your physical health Sarah, it is your mental state that concerns me more."
I blinked. Did she just call me crazy?
"Maybe you could see the same therapist I did!" Twilight chimed in. "He did me a world of good after I brainwashed all of Ponyville because an assignment was late."
Yup, they called me crazy.
"You all think I'm nuts?" I asked, somewhat taken aback. "Me?" I looked at Pinkie Pie to emphasize the point.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with seeing a doctor when you need to." Pinkie said. "Even a, brrrr, dentist." The thought of someone scraping at her teeth obviously frightened her.
"What evidence do you have that I am at all crazy?"
"Ya mean aside from sidin' with a creature like Nightmare?" Applejack asked.
"She's not so bad once you get to know her."
"Or coming up with a positively ridiculous plan to use the Elements of Harmony to banish yourself back home?" Rarity added.
"It had sort of worked for Nightmare Moon." I countered weakly. The clarity spell was still buzzing in the back of my head, and some of the plans I'd felt certain of before started to look poorly conceived.
"I am afraid that we are in part to blame for some of her actions." Machina said, her voice carrying clearly in the early morning.
"Please explain." Princess Celestia asked patiently.
"In addition to physical augmentation, D and I offer a constant background mental augmentation. D heightens the senses, and allows for quicker responses, while I provide more mental focus for dedicated problem solving."
"Those don't sound bad." Twilight pointed out.
"They are not," Machina answered. "If you are aware of them. Sarah recently brought a... miscommunication to our attention. She believed us to be weaker creatures instead of bound ones. As such, she was unaware of our modifications to her psyche. Constant heightened senses and reaction times can lead to a sense of paranoia, and the focus I provided along with several past experiences creates a self reliance that can become self destructive. In short, Sarah would be convinced she could solve any problem on her own and suspicious of help offered by others."
"That certainly goes a long way towards explaining her initial time in Ponyville." Twilight said.
"But it does not explain her actions after banishment." Red pointed out.
"Really?" I asked, "You are going to side with them?"
"Sarah I can understand being suspicious of creatures in power." Red said. "My entire clan is here because of the reactions of other, stronger clans to one thing my parents did long ago. But you seem obsessed with backing the underdog and sheltering anyone with a sob story."
"Honestly I'm surprised you let jerks like Black Talon stay more than a week." Reggie said. "Anyone can tell he's a thug with a band of thugs from a mile off. You seem to have a knack for attracting and accepting rogues, revolutionaries and criminals."
"The words she speaks you know are true." Zaephir said before eyeing Pio. "Though you have reformed one or two."
"Right, so I'm a terrible judge of character-"
"Um, honestly I think your relatively good experience with Nightmare biased you towards accepting the outcasts and wanting to offer them another chance." Fluttershy said quietly. "It's really quite noble, if you think about it. You saw how one creature was being misunderstood and persecuted like you were and you've expanded your protection to any who might be misunderstood or need a second chance."
"OK, so I'm just a sucker for hard luck cases." I continued. "But that doesn't mean I'm crazy."
Celestia looked down sadly at me before pulling out a scroll and unfurling it with her magic. "I have notes here that when offered assistance in the form of research material from my student Twilight Sparkle you refused biased on her reaction to your last attempt to quote borrow books end-quote. This is despite the fact that such reactions by my student were explained and reprimanded in your own trial less than a month prior. Did you really believe that Twilight would willingly give ponies books to bring to you just so she would have a reason to track you down and hurt you?"
I paused as I thought about that. It had been so long ago when Lyra and Bon Bon had first ventured out to my castle. Why had I refused their help like that? It had seemed so reasonable then but now....
"Then there was the trouble Lord Harold heaped upon you." Celestia continued. That brought my attention back to the here and now. "I suspected something might be wrong when an envoy from the Kingdom of Dreams appeared in my court but you had not responded to any of the letters I sent. At first I feared you were trying to spurn me out of spite, but a reliable source informed me that you had never gotten any such letters."
"A source? Who, Lance? Star?"
"They shall remain nameless, except to say that they had no reason to hide or distort the truth. After all, I was giving them access to the Canterlot Library for their xeno-biology and xeno-archaeology research. Once the absence of letters had been confirmed I began to discretely poke into the pony we had selected to handle your affairs in Canterlot: Lord Bright Harold."
"How did you manage to pick someone like THAT to watch over me?"
"That was partially my decision." Princess Luna said, stepping forward. "Lord Harold had hereditary claim to the castle and some sections of the Everfree from centuries ago when his family agreed with my sister to accept ownership in exchange for land on which Canterlot was constructed. His line was originally charged with the upkeep of the castle but as the Everfree grew this proved more and more difficult. Eventually travel to and from the castle was declared too dangerous and it was left to crumble from neglect. Squatting in the castle gave you a claim of ownership that my sister and I validated at the end of your trial."
"So you gave control over my access to the outside world to the one pony I stole a castle from? How does that make any sense?"
"We- I believed that he would assist in repairs in order to uphold his family's ancient vow to maintain the castle as a historical site." Princess Luna said, bowing her head in apology. "We did not foresee his assaults upon you to reclaim the land, nor the depths to which he would sink to attain his goal. It seems my sister knows more about it than I do."
"If we had been alerted to his activities sooner, tonight's events might not have happened." Princess Celestia said. "As we said, we only got the first hint something was wrong when your envoy arrived in a friendly fashion but you still hadn't responded to my letters."
"OK, that can't be right." Lance said, having finally been freed from his anti-magic armor. "I know that Steel, Star and I each turned in a report that had Harold's initial assault described in detail."
"We received... edited versions of that report." Princess Luna said. "As I mentioned, Lord Bright Harold had been put in charge of everything regarding repairs to the castle and relations with Sarah. He looked over the reports and 'sanitized' them before I or my sister ever laid eyes on one."
"That still does not excuse your actions Sarah." Princess Luna pointed out. "When you had your creatures bound to you, you chose a lone path and charged forward with utter abandon. You asked for help from no creature save Nightmare and you pursued your mad plan to its near catastrophic conclusion. That is understood and even forgivable as you were under other influences, but once you were here you had no influence but Nightmare."
"Are you saying that Nightmare made me crazy?"
"We had actually hopped this was the case." Princess Luna said. "When we first came to you, in the midst of your mad plan, you impressed us with the care you took not to harm any of the Bearers as they came to fight you. You had two other spirits under control, so I did not fear the addition of Nightmare to your burden. Once freed however, it became apparent how little control you had on your original spirits. Once I learned that Nightmare was loose within your mind, I feared that your actions were the result of her machinations. Sadly, this has proven untrue."
"It has?! When? How?" I didn't remember undergoing any psych test.
"The clarity spell!" Twilight said, excited that she had figured it out. "If your actions were Nightmare influenced then your mannerisms should have changed. Instead, they became more pronounced. You charged Harold, Princess Luna, even an Ursa Major head on, never once asking for aid. Even with friends and companions around you, even with D and Machina close by you still chose to sacrifice yourself rather than beg assistance."
"Self sacrifice can be a true and noble gesture," Princess Celestia said, "And many lives have been saved by the brave sacrifices of the right creature at the right time. But you seem determined to throw yourself into mortal peril so that your end might have a noble twist to it. I can only think that something terrible has happened to you long ago, and those scars have never fully healed."
"There are a lot of options for that 'something terrible'." I admitted.
"So, will you agree to come with us and get help?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Yes."
"Honestly," Princess Luna huffed. "If you are alright with all of this why didn't you agree to the request from our envoy weeks ago?"
"The envoy that told me I was going to be imprisoned in Canterlot, had to kick everyone out, give up ownership of the castle, and explain how I had beaten D into submission."
Princess Luna looked started before glaring at where the unconscious Lord Harold lay, surrounded by guards. "That was most certainly NOT the list of requests I sent for the envoy to read to you."
"What about D and Machina?"
Princess Celestia hung her head slightly. "Originally I had hoped to ask them to help your recovery while offering their knowledge and experience to our researchers." Twilight seemed almost giddy at the thought of studding extra dimensional beings. "However, with the new power they have demonstrated they will have to be detained. Such a weapon cannot be allowed to run loose. Even keeping it in Canterlot can create trouble internationally."
"If it helps your Majesty," Machina said, "I do not think D and I could fire the soul shard rifle again." She looked down at D and seemed to smile. D was snoring softly, his arm still intertwined with her. "The weapon requires two things to fire, the first being a massive amount of energy. D provided the majority of the energy used in that last shot, power he only had from months draining monsters in the Everfree Forest. D would have to drain Twilight Sparkle of power two or three times for another shot, and even then it would be life threatening for him." Machina shifted to be a little more comfortable. "He had been storing that power since we first landed months ago."
"What was the other thing ya'll needed?" Applejack asked, walking over closer to Machina, ignoring the thestrals who guarded her.
"We require permission." Machina said flatly.
"Sarah!" Fluttershy scolded, her anger finally finding someone she could be mad at for the bear's death. "How could you? I know the bear was attacking you, but it was under magical influence."
"Sarah did not provide permission." Machina said, pointing to Rainbow Dash. "She did."
"ME?!" the prismatic pegasus cried in shock. "I don't remember telling you to fire your massive scary awesome death beams of doom at anyone!!"
Machina nodded. "We came and told you we could help and you said-" Machina's voice changed to an exact mimic of Rainbow Dash. "If Luna's shield falls and the bear crosses the wall, you two brave warriors stop it cold, alright?"
"What? But, you, I, that, I SAID THAT TO A PAIR OF KIDS!"
"Yes, that was us." Machina said. "We were in costume. It is Nightmare Night after all."
"Regardless, for the safety of everyone we will have to bind you-" Princess Luna began.
"That's hardly fair," I interrupted, walking over and waving a hand at Rainbow Dash. "I seem to recall a certain pegasus who can create a rainbow shock-wave with much less effort than D and Machina. That could easily knock gryphons out of the sky if used wrong, but I don't see the gryphons trying to ground her permanently."
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash pipped up, "My speed may be awesome, but I'd never use it as a weapon."
"Really?" I countered. "You've never used your speed in a destructive fashion?"
"No way!" Dash proclaimed.
"Um, Dash," Applejack said, looking awkward and rubbing one hoof on a foreleg. "Remember that time Twilight was tryin' to finish a friendship report and you were helpin' me take down the barn?"
"Okay, once." Dash said with a sigh, "But for good reason and I'd never do it again."
"Fine, then I think D and Machina can agree to similar terms." I said, turning to the princesses. "D's nature means you could even write it into a contract and he would be physically incapable of breaking it."
D lunged upright, going from blissful slumber to snarling rage in a split second. His form shifted into something more predatory, more wolf like, and he slowly began to pull away from Machina. He pressed against the inside of the circle.
"D!" I called out. "What?"
"CODE ALPHA SEVEN!" Machina called out, her own form pulling free of the now conscious D and reforming a worrying number of blades. "CODE ALPHA SEVEN! DIMENSIONAL BREACH IMMINENT!"
"ARCO?" I asked, startled. "They are finally coming?!"
D lifted his canine nose into the air and took long sniffs, turning left and right as if trying to scent the breach. Machina's head swung back and forth as well. "It is near, possibly within the castle."
Twilight spun around, trying to spot this new traveler from beyond the stars. Rainbow Dash shot skyward, hoping for a birds eye view. Fluttershy dove under a table.
"How long until they get here?" Twilight asked.
"If we are lucky the conversion pod will take roughly one week to acclimate the jumper to your world." Machina said, turning slowly to scan the area.
"What happens if we're unlucky?" Applejack asked.
"Pod does a quick conversion in a minute and spits out a jumper for a quick look around." D said.
"Or the pod explodes." I added.
The guards looked worriedly at the princesses. After a moment Princess Celestia gave a short nod. A guard scratched out the circles with a spear tip, freeing D and Machina.
D took off, the few creatures still in the castle falling back from him in a half panic. Machina followed with me trailing behind. After everything that had happened tonight my body hurt and every step brought agony and exaustion. Still I managed to keep up enough to see them round the corner into a smaller courtyard and come to a halt. D began sniffing the ground, carefully combing the area for information while Machina began scanning.
"Well?" I asked after a few ragged breaths.
"Definite breach." D muttered, sniffing around. "Damn fast too, they must have been in and out in just a few seconds."
"Probe?" I asked, sitting down against a wall. Princess Luna came into the room, followed shortly by her older sister.
"The breach is too large for a probe." Machina said, looking concerned. "It is most likely a larger conversion pod, at least a Orion Class."
"That would have been big enough to take all of us home." I said. "Why didn't it stay long enough to pick us up?"
"Hey!" a new voice caught my attention and I turned. Sweetie Belle walked in, balancing a tray of snacks on her back. Behind her Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were doing their best to carry five glasses of punch. "Where did Lyra and Bon Bon go?"
"A jumper took them?" Princess Celestia asked. "You are certain?"
"Please bear in mind I am running on very little power at this point." Machina said, her form now one of a robotic earth pony. "But the disturbance I can detect is on par with an Orion Class pod. They are built with additional chambers around the outside to transport jumpers in training or bring diplomats back to the home world."
"And apparently kidnapping." Rainbow Dash chimed in.
"There isn't any way to prove that." I countered, "Knowing how enthralled Lyra was with humans, it's likely she would have gone willingly. Bon Bon might have followed her."
"Do you really believe they would embark on such a dangerous adventure so suddenly?" Princess Luna asked.
"Ah find that hard to believe." Applejack said. "Given the speed yer friends came and left."
"Hey, no friend of ARCO's is a friend of mine!" D said with a bit of a grump. He'd taken on the death deer form and would keep rubbing a hoof over his eye sockets sleepily. Firing the soul shard rifle had obviously taken a lot out of him.
"I would point out that Lyra and Bon Bon did, not too long ago, brave a deadly forest to reach the castle prison of an alien creature tied to the Nightmare." I said. "But I'm beginning to suspect somepony may have nudged them into that." I glanced at the princesses who remained unnervingly stoic. "Besides, I have to concede the point on time constraints. The pod couldn't have been here more than a few minutes, too little time to convince a pair of ponies to jump in and see where things go. The question that remains is why they would want to take them?"
"Probably something ghastly." Rarity said.
"Oh, I hope not. I hope they are alright." Fluttershy added.
"Maybe it's a surprise party!" Pinkie Pie grinned hopefully.
"Girls!" Twilight yelled, "Calm down."
"Right," D added. "The pod is usually used for diplomacy. Chances are they just want to talk to them, maybe gather information."
"There is not much that commoners could tell." Princess Luna said, Twilight wincing at the 'commoners' remark. "They do not know the strength of our army nor the extent of our power."
"They know other things." Machina remarked. "Simple things. Sometimes those are all that is needed to wage a successful attack. One does not need to know the measure of every stone in a wall to bring it down."
"There is a more worrying concept." D added. "Lyra and Bonnie would need anchors. If they brought those back here, it would give whatever jumper accompanied them a massive power boost."
"How massive?" Twilight asked.
Machina paused, considering and calculating. "The power levels become dangerous after three days." She said. "If the jumper could create a soul shard rifle, a task few can accomplish, they would be able to fire it once by draining both anchors completely. The power would double every day after that."
"Could there be another reason?" I asked, almost begged. "Something a little less malevolent?"
My companions were silent for a moment.
"Reference points!" D said. "They might use them as living samples of the world to form a stable jump."
"We are still uncertain of what caused your pod to explode when it did." Machina said, nodding. "Because it did not do so on landing but shortly afterwards, it might have been a phase calibration error. Two samples could be used to measure and correct this error."
"Still, would have thought they'd send a probe or something before this." D said. "It seems fishy."
"Hey I put my faith in ARCO!" I said.
"We, sadly, can not afford to do so." Princess Luna said sadly. "A great pony once said to hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
"To that end," Princess Celestia said, "I would appreciate it if you, Twilight Sparkle, and your friends learn as much as you can about ARCO in whatever time we have. You will act as our ambassadors if they are friendly and our military advisers if they are not."
"We shall do our best to assist you." Machina said, D nodding in affirmation.
"Which screws me over." I huffed, sitting down on a short stone wall.
"What?" Twilight asked. "Sarah, just because-"
I pointed to my head. "Truth spell, remember? The Element's of Harmony are already going to play host to two alien creatures, and they will be able to tell you a lot more about the jumpers and methods faster than I would. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need to subtly prepare and arrange their guards and probably call in extra forces from allies. No one has time to look after me."
"Um," Fluttershy started, "you are more than welcome to-"
"And the Nightmare is still bound within me, waiting for the truth spell to weaken so it can be free again."
Fluttershy eeped and hid behind Rainbow Dash.
I looked at the princesses. "I know that old shield fell, but what about the ancient wards? Is any part of the castle still safe?"
Princess Luna looked around critically. "The inner courtyards and ballrooms, as well as the royal chambers, should be safe. Still, I would recommend the canid tunnels for added protection."
"Right," I said, picking myself up. "Try and visit sometime, okay?"
"We can't just let her leave, can we?" Rarity asked.
"Much as Ah hate to admit it, she has a point." Applejack said. "That varmint Harold's done a right number on her reputation. With Nightmare as active as she was tonight, ain't no way we could keep her."
"Sarah," D said. "I promise, whatever happens, if we can get you home we will."
I looked back and nodded. "I'll be in the royal chambers if you need me. I doubt my presence in the canid tunnels will do anything but antagonize the refugees at this point." I stalked off, wondering if I'd hear anything from anyone before ARCO returned.
I felt awful. My chest and arm hurt, my head was swimming, and the damn truth spell was spinning through my skull. I was lying in bed trying to sleep but my brain wouldn't shut up, and I couldn't even lie to myself. I tossed and turned on the bedding, fighting for rest, listening to the wind outside the heavy curtains. Day had come as the princesses left, a parting gift of Celestia to aid the cleanup. Sunlight peeked through holes in the curtains, and the sound of creatures moving outside mixed with birdsong and the buzzing of flies attracted to the Ursa's carcass.
THOOM!
I sat bolt upright in bed, blinking my eyes to clear them of the vision in front of me. A conversion pod, Orion class, had just landed in my bedroom! The doors swung open and the jumper stepped out.
"FRANK?!" I cried in disbelief.
"Sarah come on!" He called. "It won't hold here long!"
I leapt into his arms, closing my eyes and letting the pod close around us.
My love had come for me.
I was going home.