//------------------------------// // Reunion, and Off Once More // Story: Living in Equestria // by Blazewing //------------------------------// “They-they did it?” I spluttered, unable to believe it. “They saved the Empire? That’s wonderful!” It was as though my heart was as light as a balloon! I felt giddy, joyful, like Scrooge when he had his second chance at life! They’d done it! I felt like I could hug everyone there, but I settled on Eagle Eye, who was nearest. She looked a little embarrassed, but grinned and patted me on the back all the same, before gently prying me off. The others were in high spirits too. Sure Shot and Rock Solid exchanged a high-five. Brutus sent a jet of smoke into the air from his mouth, like a geyser. Apollo and Rolling Stone started some kind of victory ballad, the griffin’s cultured voice a surprisingly fitting accompaniment to the buffalo’s rumbling tones. Only the princesses, Ironmane, and Cornelius remained still, but all with big smiles on their face. At last, Ironmane called everyone to order, and we fell silent. “Yes, yes, there is much to celebrate about,” he said, “but let us not get carried away. We have business to attend to. Now that the Empire has returned, it is important that we reopen contact with it, and reestablish ties between it and the rest of Equestria. We have much ground to make up, after 1,000 years.” “So, what does this mean for us?” I asked. “Once Twilight and her friends have returned,” said Princess Celestia, “we will set out to visit the Empire. Not all at once, of course. In pairs or threes, I believe, to give them time to prepare. Luna, Ironmane, and I shall arrive first. Then, I think, you and Cornelius, David, right afterwards.” I looked at the old donkey, who gave me an encouraging smile. “Followed, a few weeks or so later, by Rock Solid and Brutus-” “I think I’ll fly,” said Brutus. “I doubt the trains have a car big enough for a dragon my size. Besides,” he added, ironically, “wouldn’t that be a lovely ride, sitting with skittish ponies worried I might eat them?” “I can easily tell them I’m your tamer,” said Rock Solid, the corners of his mouth twitching. “That’ll put their minds at ease.” Brutus chuckled, and Celestia continued, “Then Rolling Stone and Apollo-” “Capital!” said Apollo, while Rolling Stone nodded his approval. “Leaving Eagle Eye with Sure Shot.” “Fine by moi,” said Sure Shot, twitching his fedora. “Sounds good to me,” said Eagle Eye. “Now all that’s left is to await the return of Twilight Sparkle and friends,” said Luna. “I estimate a day or two, at the least. It should not take them too long.” (Good, because waiting for them has been torture enough already…) “Very well, then,” said Ironmane. “You are all dismissed.” The other council members dispersed, and I followed, still in a daze. First the return of Trixie, now this! If I knew my pinkest friend at all, chances were something as exciting as this was a great reason to throw a party! *** I was anxious and excited all of the next day. Any moment now, I’d hear news that the girls and Spike had arrived, and I wanted to be the first to see them. Of course, it was difficult to concentrate on my speech that way. Technically, it was done, but I still had to send it to the princesses for proofreading, and I wanted to be sure it was presentable before that. As the afternoon wore on, there came a knock at my door. “Come in,” I said. Minister Ironmane entered, and I sat up, at attention. “At ease, David,” he said. “There’s something I require your assistance for.” “Anything, Minister.” “As I have my own speech to prepare, could you accompany me to the library to copy out some notes for me?” “Er, sure.” “Good. Follow me, then.” The two of us left the suite together. Now, if this had been back when I’d still mistrusted Ironmane, and him me, I might have thought differently about this request. However, I felt that we were long past such petty misconceptions. Anything to keep me busy was welcome. That’s when I saw her. As we were heading through one of the castle’s many corridors, I nearly bumped into Twilight! My heart leaped in my chest at the sight of her, and I very nearly grabbed her up in a hug, but stopped at her expression. She looked glum, dejected. “Twilight?” She looked up, and a small smile appeared for the briefest of moments. “Oh! Hello, Dave, Minister.” Her voice was not at all its usual genial self. Even Ironmane looked faintly troubled. “Is everything all right, Miss Sparkle?” he asked. “Of course,” said Twilight. “Please excuse me. I need to speak with Princess Celestia.” She started off on her way again, the two of us watching her go. “Twi!” I called. “Why don’t we meet up later? Dinner, maybe? I have some things to take care of!” “Sure, that sounds great,” came Twilight’s hollow reply. Her tone unnerved me. What on Earth could have gone wrong? Unfortunately, there was no time to question it, so all we could do was move on. Hopefully she’d be in better spirits when we met up again. *** There were certain volumes in the library nopony could check out. As it turned out, Ironmane wanted to copy down information from such books, and needed me to write what he needed out. It was tedious work, and he was a bit stricter about penmanship (despite most Equestrians writing by mouth anyway) and thoroughness than Twilight, but the good news was that it kept my mind focused away from Twilight and the dour look on her face. Had something happened? Was the return of the Empire marred with, dare I say it, tragedy? No, I couldn’t think like that. I had to keep focused. At last, as it was drawing near sunset, Ironmane looked at the library’s wall clock and said, “I believe that will do, David. Thank you for your time. You may go meet up with Twilight and her friends. As it is so late, we shall set out for the Empire first thing tomorrow.” “Much obliged, Minister.” Politely as I could, I got up and left the library, but as soon as I was out of earshot, I broke into a run. Hopefully, they were still nearby. I hadn’t really thought about where we could meet, when I really should have. Hindsight was such a pain sometimes. However, no sooner did I reach the castle courtyard then I stumbled upon a wonderful sight: the seven of them together, celebrating over something. Twilight was looking much happier now, which warmed my heart. They were here. “Girls! Spike!” My voice came out much stronger than when I tried to call out to them when they left. At the sound of it, the seven of them looked up, and upon seeing me, their faces lit up anew. In a twinkling, my arms were full of pudgy pink pony as Pinkie launched herself at me, her forelegs wrapping around me. The force of it sent me onto my rear, allowing the others to crowd around me and add themselves into what soon became a group hug.Their collective bodies provided an immense comfort from the cold air, as they all crowded me, nuzzling and hugging me. As Spike was much smaller, he hugged me around the leg. “You’re all right,” I gasped, Pinkie nestled deep against me. “You’re all right.” “So are you,” replied Pinkie, in a similar gasp. “So are you.” “But I was never- You know what, never mind.” “‘Course we’re all right,” said Rainbow. “You didn’t think we’d screw up, did you?” “No, no!” I said, hurriedly. “I was just...you know...you all leaving so quickly, and off on such a dangerous mission…” “It’s all right, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “Only natural to feel worried.” “Heaven knows what it must have been like for you, darling,” said Rarity. “We’ve really missed you, Dave,” said Fluttershy. “I’ve missed you all too,” I said. “But enough about me. I wanna hear what happened! It must have been epic!” “It was!” said Pinkie, letting go of me at last, as the others backed away again. “I wish you could’ve been there to see it, Davie!” “Well, we all saw the after-effects of whatever it was that went on,” I said. “Those lights shone all the way out here! How did you do it? Did you use that Crystal Heart thing? I read about it when I was doing research for the council.” I looked at Twilight, who looked pleased at my having done that kind of research. In her mind, I could see her tallying another point under the heading, ‘Usefulness of Books’. “All in good time, Dave,” she said. “Let’s go find someplace to eat, first. We can talk there.” “Good idea.” I got up, and the eight of us left the courtyard toward the main thoroughfare of Canterlot. I felt like I was home again already. *** “Spike?! You jumped out of a castle window with the Crystal Heart?” We had put together two tables at an outdoor cafe, and the girls had regaled me with their escapades. Pinkie and Rainbow, naturally, spiced it up with onomatopoeia, and Pinkie went off on tangents about flugelhorns and jousting and crystal sheep. Thankfully, the others were there to fill in the gaps, and when they got to the end, I was flabbergasted, a slice of pizza half-raised to my mouth. “No need to act so surprised,” said Spike, shining his knuckles on his chest scales. “I’m just a heroic dragon at heart.” Twilight rolled her eyes smilingly. “Of course you are, buddy,” I said, grinning. “And did your brother really throw Cadence at him when he was falling?” I added to Twilight. “Like a javelin,” said Applejack, looking like she was trying not to laugh. “We saw it.” “Quite the display of strength, I must say,” said Rarity, “though I wouldn’t fancy having it happen to me.” “Well, that’s one way of getting things done, I guess,” I said, taking a bite. “Still, to think Celestia told you that you were supposed to do it all on your own, when it was really some lesson about self-sacrifice. I can’t decide if that’s clever or messed up.” Twilight looked slightly irritated, most likely at the very idea of calling anything Her Highness did ‘messed up’, but she relaxed again. “I’m just glad it’s over,” she said. “If I had to go through something like that again…” “So, what’s on your agenda, big guy?” Rainbow asked. “More egghead-y stuff?” “Pretty much,” I said. “I’ve still got work to do for the council. We’re actually going to head out to the Empire tomorrow.” “Wonderful!” said Twilight. “Imagine how much of a difference it’ll make to open up liaisons between the Empire and humankind!” “And now you’ll get to see the Empire too!” said Fluttershy, before saying, hurriedly, “N-Not that I think you haven’t been away from home long enough already!” “It’s all right, Fluttershy,” I said. “I’m actually pretty eager to see it for myself, though I can’t wait to be able to go back to Ponyville, either. Speaking of which, Pinkie?” Pinkie looked up from a slice of pizza she’d been digging into. “Yeah-huh?” “It might take a little more time for me to find a free day for us to do whatever you want. I don’t know how long this stuff for the Empire could take.” “It’s all right, Davie,” said Pinkie, a smile on her sauce-splattered face. “It gives me even more time to plan, and it’ll be super-fun!” I smiled back at her. This was what I’d missed most of all: Pinkie’s company. Heck, the company of all of my friends. Don’t get me wrong, the council members were pleasant in their ways, but I’d been sorely lacking in real contact with my Ponyville friends. “Man, what a crazy week,” said Rainbow. “Can’t wait to get home and chillax again. Eh, no offense, Dave,” she added, catching my eye. “I just hope all of my animal friends are doing all right,” fretted Fluttershy. “I always leave them a little extra food before going out, just in case I’m out longer than expected, but I’m wondering if it was enough this time. I wasn’t planning on being gone a whole week. I hope the sitter I hired is still seeing them.” “I’m sure they’re perfectly fine, darling,” said Rarity, reassuringly. “But I’ll bet there’s dust in my poor boutique by this point! Ugh!” The others rolled their eyes at this, including me. When we noticed, we all broke into a laugh. When dinner was over and paid for, we were able to exchange actual goodbyes this time, compounded by an extra hug from Pinkie, who used the moment to check if I had stuffed any garlic knots in the pockets of my pants for some reason. I really hope Lyra and Bon Bon don’t find out about this, but come on, diets still allow cheat days, right? “I’ll see you all at home,” I said. “Safe travels, darling!” said Rarity. “See ya when ya get back, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “We’ll be waiting!” said Pinkie. However, as they were turning to leave, Twilight stopped and turned to me, letting the others move on ahead. “Oh! Dave! I almost forgot!” “Hmm?” “Did you ever get to talk with Princess Celestia?” “About what?” “The humans, of course! Isn’t that why you wanted to come to Canterlot in the first place?” A sudden wave of nervousness passed through me. If Princess Celestia had wanted to spare the feelings of her subjects by keeping the truth of that last meeting from them, how would her personal protege take it? Twilight had already proven how seriously she took even the simplest things, like the mere prospect of a test. How would she react to knowing a human had treated her teacher like a common cart horse? Finally, I said, with my fingers crossed behind my back,“There wasn’t really much to say. They just had a disagreement, and went their separate ways.” , which was as big of an oversimplification as I could think of. Twilight looked faintly disappointed, but it passed after a moment or two. “Oh well,” she said. “I guess some mysteries don’t have to have complex answers. At least you had the courage to ask, Dave. That’s what matters.” “Er, yeah,” I said. I watched the girls off, and as they left, I could have sworn Rarity started singing, the others joining in not too long afterwards. Though I couldn’t distinguish the words, the sound of their voices in musical harmony warmed my heart. With a twinge of regret at seeing them leave again, I turned and headed back toward the castle. Heading back to my room, I picked up my speech and flipped through it again. It seemed as good as it was ever gonna be, so it was now or never. “Guard!” The door opened, and a unicorn guard stood in the doorway, saluting. “You called, Councilstallion David?” “Yes. Could you deliver this to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna? It’s my speech, and I’d like it to be proofread.” I held out my speech, and he took it in his magic. “Of course, sir.” “Thank you.” With that, he departed. Hopefully, there weren’t any glaring mistakes that had missed my notice. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened to me. Still, this was what proofreading was for. I went to get ready for bed, feeling satisfied. *** I had another odd dream that night. Twilight was trapped in a steel-barred cage, while the enormous form of a shadowy Bon Bon loomed over her, laughing malevolently. Then, the wall burst open, and Spike came flying in on the back of a pink jumbo jet. Spike, however, looked older and taller, and had a very ‘heroic’ air about him. In one claw, he was holding a diamond shaped like a carrot, light pouring from its many facets. As each ray of light hit Bon Bon, it burnt a hole in her, until she looked more like Swiss cheese than anything. At last, with another burst of light from the crystal carrot, she was gone, the cage burst open, and Twilight, now carrying a pizza box, was free. She beamed up at Spike, who stood tall and proud above a multitude of ponies chanting his name, while Pinkie trumpeted on a flugelhorn. Well, why not? A part of me had the feeling Spike deserved a little glory now and then, being the close friend and helper of Celestia’s student. From there, my dreams were a bit more normal, and a lot more peaceful than they had been in days. *** I was up early the next morning, so early that the sun was just barely rising. Unfortunately, by the time I was ready to go, bringing my saddlebag with me, Celestia, Luna, and Ironmane had already gone, so I didn’t get to see the princess of the sun actually do her stuff. I headed down to the train station to meet with the other councilmembers, who were already assembled and waiting to see Cornelius and me off, bundled up against the cold. Yet again, Brutus, the only one not bundled up, looked too big to be allowed. I wondered how it would look for other ponies to see a dragon flying alongside a train. “Does anypony know how long the train ride’s supposed to last?” I asked. “Several hours,” said Cornelius. “You could catch up on your sleep if you want. It’s what I plan to do,” he added, with a wheezy chuckle. “Heh, not a bad idea,” I said. “I could use a bit more rest, after spending so much time working on my speech. I wanted to make sure it’s perfect, before the princesses reviewed it.” “Don’t we all?” asked Brutus. “I have to make it clear to my people that the crystals of the Empire are not for eating. It’s tempting, believe me, but even I know not to eat infrastructure.” At that moment, there was a sharp whistle, and a train started pulling into the station. “That’s us, David,” said Cornelius. “By putting space between visits, it gives them time to receive us at the Empire without overwhelming them.” “That’s smart, I suppose,” I said, then turned to the others, grinning. “I'll see you guys later. It's been great, however hectic this last week has been.” They nodded their acknowledgement, friendly smiles on their faces, and Cornelius and I stepped onto the mercifully warm train. As soon as we found seats for ourselves, the old donkey settled back and started snoring. He was out like a light even before the train started moving. Well, when in Rome… I lay back myself, closed my eyes, and started to doze off. Hopefully, somepony would come along to wake us up when we finally arrived. I felt like I was out for barely a minute before a sharp voice snapped me back to consciousness. “Aha! I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed yourself!” I looked up, bleary-eyed. A pegasus stallion was stomping towards me, looking extremely miffed. He had a handsome but haughty face, a light-gray coat and a neatly-combed black mane and tail. His cutie mark was a little hard to make out, like a silver dome or something. Come to think of it, it looked kind of like aluminum foil, but maybe that was just me. “Can I help you, sir?” I asked, politely, while stifling a yawn. “Don’t give me that false humility!” snapped the pegasus. “I know what you are!” “What I am?” I asked, perplexed by his attitude. “Well, I’m a human, yeah.” “I would not be joking if I were you,” said the pegasus, coldly. “I knew there was something about you ever since you invaded Cloudsdale-” “Invaded?” I asked, stung. “Now, wait a second-” “-but I never thought it would come to this. You, sir, sit on a throne of lies!” What the heck was this guy talking about?! “It’s all explained on this!” He was brandishing a piece of paper in his wing, waving it so close to my face that he was in danger of giving me a paper cut on my upper lip. Close to, I could see that it was a sheet of notebook paper, with writing on both sides, the edge slightly torn. What in the world did that have to do with me?... “I don’t understand,” I said, staring at the paper. “Oh, I think you do,” said the pegasus, coldly. He transferred the paper to his hoof and started reading, “To whom it may concern…”