Luna sat perched on the throne, her posture perfect. At her side was Quick Script, looking even more nervous than usual. They had both dressed for the occasion, Luna wearing her favorite sapphire tiara and marble white regalia—which brought her sister to mind, but she supposed this was appropriate given the current situation—while the young earth pony scribe wore an elegant emerald-green dress that wouldn’t be out of place at the Grand Galloping Gala.
The Night Princess was filled with an eager nervousness, for the imminent meeting with the human Aron could very well become a historic one, one that may impact generations to come. In truth, their nation would need at least a couple more alicorns to keep up with the governing needs of their rapidly growing population; the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire certainly hadn’t helped in that regard. While coercing the filly-to-be to stay would be unacceptable, it was surely in her mandate to act in the interest of Equestria. Plus—although she tried her best to push the thought aside—she admittedly would love to have a niece to spoil.
At last, the heavy doors to the hall opened and a purple pegasus guard trotted in. She was a lean, athletic mare with a short-cut black mane. Despite Luna’s best efforts, she had refused every incentive offered to transfer to the Night Guard—a shame, since her sharp wit, color scheme and crafty poker game would have made her a perfect fit.
“Good afternoon, Star Chart. I take it Trusty has returned with our guest? Hopefully, I may presume your second report brings similarly auspicious tidings as the first?”
The guard made a point to getting as close as etiquette allowed before finally speaking. “I am afraid not, Princess. It appears your visitor provoked a fight with a minotaur client in a local eatery. Neither party was injured and property damage was minimal, since Trusty Stead immediately called our escort into the restaurant.
“Explain,” Luna said. Her wings then jutted outward, a sort of dramatic display she hadn’t quite fallen out of.
“We aren’t entirely sure. According to Trusty, he at first appeared docile and timid—like a scared foal, truthfully. This makes an altercation over something as trivial as an accidental collision all the stranger.”
Luna looked down and away. She could only blame herself for this. The fact that Chart had strongly disagreed with their present course of action only served to compound her shame.
“I understand and accept full responsibility for this blunder. Nevertheless, we should stay the course. We owe him an explanation in any case; though our discussion may not be as smooth as expected.”
Luna glanced around furtively, suddenly bashful, before continuing.
“I won’t order you as your princess, but for the sake of her health I beseech thee as thy friend to refrain indefinitely from informing my sister of this matter,” Luna said, stress causing her to slip into classical parlance.
“Inform me of what?”
The Princess of the Night froze, and the earth pony at her side bowed deeply. Celestia casually strode into the throne room, devoid of any regalia. Her mane and tail had started to regain some of their luster, though their flow of colors remained slow.
“T—Tia, how was Marezona? Did it speed thy recovery.”
“It was rather pleasant actually,” Celestia said, nonchalant. “I think a warmer climate did me well. The lack of bridge-related inquiries was refreshing, so I believe I did well choosing it over Bridleton.”
“Then thou art feeling better?”
“Indeed. My magical dexterity is returning bit-by-bit, but the harmonic core will take a bit longer to heal. In some ways it’s been a much-needed vacation: I can interact with my lesser-visited subjects while I take in the magic of the land.”
“W—what brings you home so soon?” Luna asked, half-listening as she tried her hardest to think of a way out of this one.
“Twilight’s report is due today,” Celestia said with an amused smile. “I was wondering if you would like to join me after you stop procrastinating and explain to me exactly why you didn’t notify me that the boy had awakened.”
Luna blushed. Such a gambit may have worked when Celestia was a much more distractible filly, but she was in a sorry state indeed having to rely on it now . Barring a random musical number roping in all the ponies in the castle, it seemed nothing could keep her out of trouble this time.
“Well, you see… there is a good reason behind it… I—”
“This covers most of it,” Chart said, handing her report to the elder princess.
Luna aimed her best look of indignation at Chart, who countered with an expression that said, “this is for your own good.”
Celestia broke the seal and skimmed through the detailed account in seconds. If Luna had to hazard a guess, Twilight Sparkle’s voracious appetite for books likely owed a lot to her sister’s speed-reading techniques.
“I see. So his name is Aron…” Celestia mused.
Luna took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. She had to present her case. While she had made a mistake, there was no reason to come off like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.
“I can see you took some precautions, but shouldn’t you have gotten a better read of his temperament first? Some soldiers are so only by circumstance and hate violence as much as our little ponies; others, however, glorify conflict for its own sake,” Celestia said.
“My actions were largely colored by what I have observed in the human’s dreams. Like the others, he sometimes appeared in them in his Equestrian form. I even spoke to her as such, and she mostly behaved like a normal filly,” Luna replied.
“But that doesn’t always mean who they are has changed. Besides those that arise from physical differences or those made naturally through experience, In fact, I’m no longer convinced Equestria’s assimilation efforts enforce any changes on the psyche at all.”
“I understand. Though we haven’t yet reacquainted ourselves with the science of these things, I understand this well. However, I also spoke to him in dreamscapes untouched by the Land’s harmony. He was hardly foalish then, but still seemed naturally calm. We suppose that which had impressed us the most was his want of any disdain for his people’s enemies. Enmity powerfully contorts dreams. Though even when engaging the bear creatures in memories of battle, I could only feel loyalty towards his comrades.”
Sensing a storm brewing, Star Chart crept to the main door and silently closed it.
“I can forgive your lapse in judgment. What I can’t forgive so easily is that you lied to me, Luna.” The words themselves seemed to sizzle. Most wouldn’t see more than placidity, a testament to their ruler’s unshakable poise, yet Luna knew better—her sister was furious.
“Y—you would have pulled him straight in here and handed down his fate like a decree. Is that what we want his first impression of our kingdom to be? A prison within a loathsome hourglass, counting down on his state of being?”
“It is what he deserves! Honesty is never easy when it truly matters. It doesn’t matter how he sees us; that’s his decision to make. Since I brought him here, I must accept whatever judgment he may cast upon me, much as I did unto him.”
Luna took a step back. “That’s exactly why, Sister. You would have downplayed the selflessness of your act and pushed him out the door with your guilt. This one could become an alicorn princess. If young Aron makes that choice, think how much good she could do. As our population expands we will need more rulers to match. Don’t we... want him to stay?”
It had sounded better in Luna’s head, but now that she had misstepped, she could only brace herself.
“WHERE ARE YOUR PRIORITIES, SISTER?!! FOR OUR OWN GAIN WE THROW A DISPLACED BEING HEADLONG INTO A WORLD HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT! WITHOUT A CLUE OF WHY HE’S HERE!.”
The throne room itself seemed to rock from the Royal Canterlot Voice. Stunned, Luna watched Chart comb her now-disheveled mane back into conformity. Even she looked rattled by the rare show of anger.
“T—thou art correct… we have acted rashly to-day… even if we were going to inform him now, there’s no excuse.”
Celestia took a deep breath. “Why, Luna? Why didn’t you want to involve me? I can understand not wanting me to rush back in my current state, but this sort of single-minded pursuit isn’t like you.”
Luna swallowed then let her gaze hit the ground. “It was for you…”
“Luna... whatever do you mean?”
“B—because if it weren’t for me you—your foal would still be—”
Luna broke into sobs, and, through misty eyes, saw her sister’s expression shift. A moment later, she felt a warm wing envelop her.
“Oh, Luna. Have you been carrying that around all this time? I don’t blame you; you couldn’t have known…”
Embracing each other fully, tears stained both of their faces. The conflict itself seemed to melt away as the sisters embraced in understanding. Luna’s guilt still stung, but it started to ease. In this moment her world was solely in the moment.
“Umm. Do you want me to take note of the hugging and crying?” the scribe asked meekly.
“Quick! When did you get here?” Celestia asked, suddenly embarrassed.
“Truthfully, I had forgotten she was here,” Luna said meekly.
“Sorry,” Quick squeaked, almost reflexively.
Star closed the distance between her and the scribe and put a hoof over the other mare’s withers. “Happened to me just last week. I take it as a sign you’re doing your job right.”
Three pairs of oversized eyes locked onto me. The small, purple one on the left, Twilight, seemed anxious, but simultaneously eager. Starry-maned Luna had a look of calm sympathy. However the tallest of the three, Celestia, showed the most emotion by far. I could almost feel the profound somberness of her constant apologies against my skin. She scooped up the fat kettle in front of me with a golden aura and stopped pouring only when my untouched tea threatened to overflow.
I wanted to be angry. After all, an enormous, looming risk had been thrust on me. Celestia’s sincerity just came through so strongly, though. I might well have been more upset, but her sister had done very well in clarifying how small the risk actually was.
After two minutes silence, she finally spoke: “I know this is a lot to take in. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”
I just felt numb, like a battery of contrary thoughts and passions had collided, annihilating one another. Blood rushed to my head and throbbed with each quick beat of my heart.
“I don’t know,” I said, truthfully. “I—this is a lot to take in.”
She closed her eyes and nodded her pristine, white muzzle. “I understand. In the meantime, I can give you free rein of this wing of the castle. I feel bad limiting you so, but I cannot stress how symbolically important alicorns are. If those with evil intentions learned of what you have the potential to become, I fear you could be kidnapped, hunted, or worse…”
I idly gazed straight down at my teacup, momentarily distracted by the unusual shade of blue of its contents. “It’s fine. I think laying low would be a good idea. I’m sure your culture is wonderful and works for you, but I feel… out of place here.”
“Thank you for hearing us out,” Luna said.
Following another awkward pause, I noticed a half-folded white wing gesturing gently towards the door. I had expected it to be “princesses first,” but perhaps they were saving me the trouble of having to maneuver around three large ponies in such a tiny room.
I stood up, nodded weakly, and opened one of the double-doors that together took up half of the front wall. A familiar guard nodded as I exited, and I slowed my gait. Strangely he didn’t follow. Instead he immediately prostrated himself as soon as the first royal hoof stepped outside the door.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. I’m so sorry, after Scenic Route got sick I wanted to show you that I could step up—that I could do anything. I’m a failure as a guard!” the pony whined.
The sisters exchanged a brief glance.
“No, Trusty,” Luna said. “There were many factors. Thou needst not whither the blame.”
Tears were now growing in his eyes. “But… I took him to the restaurant meant for young foals and—I really messed up! I thought Aron was a 'human' foal. I didn’t understand what you were telling me, but I didn’t want you to think I was stupid!”
“Be at ease, my little pony. Lots of guards have similar worries when they start out. Just know that you don’t have to be perfect; after all, we make no claim of perfection ourselves.”
Tears streaming from both eyes, an overgrown smile sprouted on his face. “Thank you, princesses.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Sappy, melodic music filled the air. I looked around, expecting another spontaneous song, but fortunately, no other ponies were around.
“I learned that I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. If I’m unsure of something, it won’t make me look dumb to ask for clarification. What’s really dumb is letting it cause a problem that could have been prevented."
Celestia smiled politely, while Luna seemed a bit unsure.
“A valuable lesson indeed,” the elder alicorn said.
He wiped both his eyes, hemming and hawing a bit before finally whispering, “I need to unpack my suitcase” and scurrying off.
With him gone, I let my confusion show through. “What was that? And where was that music coming from?”
“What music?” asked Celestia.
“Indeed. I don’t know what music you speak of, but I can answer your first query: It seems sometime within the past thousand years our subjects have developed the custom of voicing to us moral epiphanies. Come to think of it, I don’t understand why either…. Tia, do you know from whence this custom originates?”
“I’m… not sure,” “Tia” said, blushing.
“Umm, Luna, Celestia, if you don’t mind…” the forgotten third princess said.
Realizing their large frames were obstructing the doorway, the alicorn sisters awkwardly shuffled to the side to let her through.
“Do you wish for me to show you to thy chamber?” Luna asked.
“No, I think I know the way. I may just lie down for a while.”
“Perfectly understandable,” Celestia said. “I’ll have food brought to your room later. Any particular likes or dislikes? We could even scavenge up some meat if you wish.”
“Food is food,” I said. “As long as it’s not hay or grass. I’ll eat it.”
I looked between the three princesses and tried to come up with a good note to end our meeting on. Words failing me, I simply gave a quick bow and walked away. This corner of the castle was by far the least decadent, populated by only a few servants from what I’d seen. It was immaculately clean with wide halls, a common area, and low-key wallpaper that provided a nice reprieve from the full-palette assault of bright colors the rest of the world was proving to be.
I wondered why an apparent prey animal would develop such eye-grabbing colors, but this thought was interrupted as I found myself tripping over a suddenly materializing purple pony princess.
“I’m sorry,” she said, offering me a hoof up. I refused it, somehow perturbed that I hadn’t shaken her balance in the slightest.
Shaking off the feeling of defeat, I dusted myself off, stood up and asked, “How did you do that?”
“Oh, I teleported. Not many unicorns can do it, so I get a lot of questions about it. It can be hard to avoid appearing at inopportune moments, though. Sorry about that.”
“Teleporting?” On any other day, that might have come as a surprise. Having had my fill of surprises, remembering her status, I did a half-bow and turned to continue on my way.
“Actually, I was hoping to talk with you.”
“What do you need?”I said turning to regard the mare more closely. She was the youngest of the three, and it shone through in her complexion. Whereas the other alicorns had an unshakable aura, hers was more insecure, perhaps somewhat childish. Throughout our meeting I had gotten the impression that she was waiting impatiently for the end.
“Well,” she said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions about where you come from. I’m sure you’ll have a fascinating perspective. Of course, I can understand if you don’t want to talk to me after what we just told you.” Her ears drooped a bit.
“No, I think I’m still in shock about what might happen, but I don’t hold it against you. What do you want to know?”
The pony happily flicked out her wings and her entire being instantly perked up. I briefly stared, transfixed by the perfectly arranged purple feathers. She took a deep breath.
“Does the weather control itself? What about the sun and the moon? What other species are there? What’s magic like on your world? You said something about a ship to move you through space to get you back home—how does that work? Do you have a high school? A Battle of the Bands? What about upbeat musical numbers? How many friends do you have? What is friendship like where you come from?”
At the apparent end of her barrage of inquiries, she let a long piece of parchment unfold and scanned it.
“And then we can move onto architecture, and after that, move on to section 1B.” She flashed me an excited, hungry smile.
I had to strain myself to recall half of her onslaught of inquiries, but nevertheless, there was something strangely likable about this pony that made me want to help her.
“I don’t know what half of those things are, so I’ll start with what I do know: I think you were referring to weather satellites by asking that first question. No, we don’t have them; of course, they were very advanced, so very few ever had them. It would be nice, though, since we’re mostly desert. I don’t know what you mean about the sun. It and our three moons orbit normally; that’s just gravity. Other than our enemy that I mentioned before, we’re its only inhabitants. I actually don’t know how spaceships work; the technology has been lost. It’s about universal on nearby planets, but we—what are you doing?”
The scratching of her quill came to an abrupt stop. “Taking notes. Go on.”
I opened my mouth to continue, but I was suddenly distracted by the pink glow emanating from her horn. It seemed to demand my attention and somehow had a soothing air to it, as if it was touching all my senses in a way I couldn’t describe.
“What is that light you are using to hold the pen and paper?”
“What do you mean? You said you can use some magic. It’s just levitation.”
“Is it something uncommon, like the teleporting?”
“No, most unicorns can do it. Didn’t you see them carrying things with their magic?”
I thought back and nodded. “Yes, I saw things floating around, but there was none of that light.”
She put a forehoof to her chin. “Hmm. I don’t know why that would be. Everypony can usually tell when a unicorn is using magic. Do you have another method of levitating things?”
Instinctively, I thought to conceal knowledge of my capabilities to better safeguard myself and our operation. However as the pony looked at me with enthralled eyes, I reasoned that any attempt to bluff would quickly fail.
“Actually, we aren’t very proficient at magic at all. While our enemy is, we have to rely on a focus and an amplifier crystal. Even then, all I can create is a magic arrow. It’s only good at close range, since I can’t sense it at all. Most males can’t; I assume that’s the case here as well.”
“No!” Twilight sharply responded. “That’s been continuously debunked by every major study in the last hundred years. Occasionally something that looks like a slight trend will emerge, but it’s never statistically significant. Honestly, I wish that stereotype would go away.”
“Sorry if I offended you,” I hastily said with a bow.
“No, you’re fine,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath. “Bad science is a pet peeve of mine, even more so when it’s used to justify mares’ majority privilege. But I can’t expect it to be the same for humans—that is what you call yourselves, right? I’m sorry. I just assumed…”
“You’re fine. We mostly call ourselves Rhods to distinguish us from the rest of humanity beyond our planet. There are a few that don’t like the word for certain reasons, but it’s not a common sentiment.”
Princess Twilight soaked in every word, enthralled. But then, a sudden frown spread across her face and she nervously rubbed her hooves on the carpet.
“I probably should have brought this up sooner. I never was going to keep it from you, but, well…”
She levitated shards of a familiar golden crystal. A stub remained attached to the armband, while the biggest piece was only the size of my thumb.
“Apparently this broke when Princess Celestia brought you here. We’ve had several artificers try to fix it, and then I tried too, but nopony had any luck. I’m sorry.”
For a moment I wanted to berate these ponies for their carelessness, but before I could even weave a single word, the cause was clear to me.
“Oh, you’re upset, aren’t you?”
I shook my head; then it occurred to me to wonder if such a cue was universal.
“If you ponies are that skilled at magic, it comes as no surprise that you would overload it. We on the other hand, are dependent such amplifier crystals; without them, it would take hours to gather enough power to do anything with.”
“Focus crystal? Is this what you mean?” Twilight asked, levitating an intact emerald crystal mounted to a leather wrist strap. “I was just coming to give it back to you. I had tried to study it in hopes of fixing the other one, but I don’t understand it at all. It looks like a mana crystal, but any energy I put into it rapidly decayed. Is it even designed for storage?”
“It’s the opposite: it’s intended as a compact generator. It gathers ambient magic for the amplifier to use immediately. After pocket fusion was invented by the manufacturers, these quickly became obsolete as a power source.”
“I guess I can see why, but the functional mechanism fascinates me. Tiny interconnected pieces of metal with a plastic surface—it’s like no magic crystal I’ve ever seen.” Her eyes shone with passion as she lovingly gazed into the focus crystal. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to study it some more. Please?”
She gave an adorable pleading look, and I almost found myself agreeing before common sense kicked in. Here I was, weakened and without my geomancy. Even half a weapon was better than nothing. Strapping the focus crystal on, I felt a little safer as an anxiety I hadn’t even noticed was numbed.
“It probably won’t do me any good, but I’d prefer to keep it. I’m so used to it. Feels weird not wearing it.”
Twilight let only the slightest of disappointment come through in her voice: “I understand: it’s all you have of your home after all.”
“If you want you can keep studying the amplifier. As it is, it’s no longer any use to me.”
“Thank you!” she said. “Comparative technology can teach us all types of things!”
“What is that? I can’t see,” came a somewhat raspy voice from the side.
I turned on a dime and dropped into a fighting stance.
“Shh, Scootaloo, they’ll hear us. I really don’t want Twilight to catch us.”
“Well, maybe ya’ll should’ve thought of that before sneakin’ out.”
Locating the source of the voices, I stutter stepped towards a tall chair with a green chair skirt draped over it. With one swift motion I flipped the skirt up and jumped three paces back as I looked under the chair. From my angle, I could see three balls of orange, white and yellow fur.
“He’s found us,” came a high-pitched whisper.
“Don’t move. Maybe he can’t see us if we don’t move.”
“Didn’t Fluttershy tell us that was for giant salamanders?”
“Well, it might work.”
“It won’t work fer nothin’ if you two don’t hush up!”
“Talking cats?” I asked, perplexed, turning to Twilight.
The princess put a hoof to her muzzle to stifle the tiniest of laughs.
“We’re not cats; we’re ponies,” said the raspy voice as a tiny orange and purple unicorn popped out from under the chair.”
“That’s silly cats can’t talk,” said a yellow and red pegasus as she joined her friend.
“Aren’t griffons technically part cat?” said a white and mauve earth pony, rounding out the trio.
“I think they’re s’posed to be half-lion.”
“Whatever,” the unicorn said.
As if reacting to an unseen cue, they fell into some sort of formation.
“I’m Scootaloo.”
“I’m Applebloom.”
“And I’m Sweetie Belle.”
“And we’re… THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” They said in unison.
It was now obvious that they were ponies, as they clearly had hooves. Still, I wasn’t sure what surprised me more, that young ponies were so small or that their apparent fear had completely evaporated in moments.
“Girls, I told you to stay put!’ Twilight scolded. “How did you get in here?”
“The door was unlocked…” Scootaloo hazarded.
“That’s not what I mean. You three shouldn’t be wandering around the castle on your own.”
“I told you we couldn’t get cutie marks as castle-ants,” Scootaloo said.
“It’s castellans,” Sweetie corrected.
“Whatever. House-sitting sounds lame anyway, even if it’s for a princess.”
“You were the one who wanted ta sneak out the most!” Applebloom said.
“Details,” Scootaloo quipped.
“Is this one of them hyoo-mans you mentioned,Twilight?” Applebloom asked.
“I didn’t expect them to be so big,” Scootaloo said, circling me.
“What’s your cutie mark like,” the light-colored earth pony asked with wide eyes.
“Didn’t Twilight say her friends in the other world had their cutie marks on their clothes?” the pegasus said, starting to inspecting me. “But Ah don’t see anything.” The other three promptly joined her and they began circling me like a trio of fluffy sharks.
“Are these your kids, Princess Twilight?” I asked, looking to the alicorn for assistance.
“We’re not goats either! We’re ponies!” Scootaloo said.
She blushed profusely. “No… they wanted to see the castle, so I brought them along to help with my research—”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders test subjects YAY!!” The three cheered.
Twilight then looked at me pleadingly. “I swear I didn’t do this to them. It was a—well, a friend.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, out of the loop.
“Oh! Right, you’ve never met them before! Well, Sweetie Belle’s usually a unicorn, Scootaloo a pegasus and Applebloom an earth pony. A draconequus named Discord used his chaos magic to mix things up.”
I raised my brow. “You said he’s a friend of yours?”
“Well sort of. He meant well this time—I think. He usually does mean well—except when he reversed the personalities of my best friends. And when he ruined my day with Cadance. And when he betrayed us and nearly led to the doom of all of Equestria... Come to think of it, why are we friends again?”
I could only shrug my shoulders. The change of topic combined with the fast pace of the three mini-ponies made me feel rather out-of-place. Thankfully, the awkward silence soon gave way to the rattling of metal and fast-approaching hoof-steps. The girls exchanged a look and suddenly shot back under the chair just in time for an armored tan stallion to come around.
“Excuse me,” he said, “have you seen you seen three school-aged fillies around here. They told me there was free ice cream down the hall and darted off when I went to check.”
Twilight seemed simultaneously occupied by indecision and stifled laughter. I however, immediately pointed under the chair.
“Hey!” Sweetie Belle squeaked as the three of them took off down the corridor I had come from, the guard taking after them.
“I’d love to keep talking about your world’s magic, but I probably should go after them. Let’s pick this up later.”
“I don’t mind,” I said.
She nodded and took off into a reserved run, as if trying to rush while still retaining something of a regal poise.
“Heya, Twilight. I heard there’s ice cream!” said an unnaturally perky voice from around the corner.
“Pinkie, not now!”
Finally alone, I looked around almost in disbelief. I was briefly at peace, until I remembered the looming possibility of transformation hanging over me. As I returned towards my room I ran my hand across the bony nub on my forehead. I wanted to believe it was just a bruise—perhaps some local reaction caused it to swell up in a strange way. However, in light of what I had just learned, could it be a horn? I shook my head. It didn’t seem likely, as neither the alicorns’ nor Scootaloo’s horn looked anything like this strange bump.
Lost in thought, I had missed a turn, so I gathered my thoughts and mentally re-checked the route. Worry still returned fairly quickly. Even if it may be something innocuous, it seemed prudent that I check with someone just in case. Logically, it made sense, but I still had my pride as a soldier. Liu had even broken my nose during a particularly heated sparring session, and still I refused to give in. It was a testament to my character that I had refused treatment, where others would cry “medic!”
“Excuse us,” a cool voice said from behind me.
I carefully combed my bangs over my forehead, hiding the aberration before turning around.
I turned to see the Princess of the Night, now sporting heraldry to match her title.
“We—I wanted to apologize.” The black and blue diarch bowed her head to me.
This caught me off guard. “Did you do me any wrong?”
She picked her head up and leveled repentant eyes at me. “Well, it was I who arranged for your ill-conceived tour of the city. My reasoning was that it might put your mind at ease before we burdened you with such impactful news. However, I acknowledge that failing to brief you beforehand may have led to more stress.” Her posture wilted again. “And perhaps without such stress, your regretful encounter with Mr. Iron Will may have been avoided.”
That… was not exactly what I expected. I dug deep and attempted to respond to her diplomacy in kind. “I can appreciate the spirit if not all of the content. While your food was some of the freshest I’ve ever eaten, a warning about the musical greetings of your shopkeepers would have been appreciated. As for my engagement with the minotaur,” I stood more firm and rigid to show my resolve. “I accept its full consequences and hope it did not offend you. Nevertheless, while the ordeal was avoidable, I do not regret my actions.”
Luna looked genuinely curious. “Why not, pray tell?”
I paused to think for a moment. How to explain something so fundamental?
“Well I guess the old scripture sums it up best: ‘When struck, turn not the other cheek.’ Though much of The Book has been forgotten, that line, above all others, endures. We’ve been subjugated by other species before, so we’ve vowed to always stand our ground.”
“I see…” she said, apparently at a loss for words. “Oh, I am sorry. I had not stopped to consider that all of this must have taken a toll on you. Let me not delay you any longer. She nodded, flared her wide wings, opened a window with her magic and took off towards another corner of the castle.
That’s our philosophy, I thought. Though I may not always agree with it, I refuse to be the link in the chain that gives way.
I was nearly back to my room, and I greatly looked forward to being left alone with my thoughts.
Thus, almost predictably, I came to find the second alicorn sister sitting outside my door. Unlike her sister, she had not replaced her regalia following our meeting. Looking tired, she stood up and regarded me gently.
“Hello again, Aron. I know it must have been difficult to escape Twilight’s curiosity and you probably want to rest, but there is one more thing I forgot to mention, and I didn’t want to give you the impression that we were keeping it from you.”
I nodded for her to continue.
“Among the risks of your presence here, this one should in theory be the most minor. In Equestria, there a manifest concept of destiny working in the background. Though, not all-controlling, it has influence over a variety of things large and small: it can be something as simple as bringing two ponies together in love or friendship, or something as grand as a chosen pony averting disaster. Though rare, the latter case has been a great cause of concern for us. In dozens of cases of bringing other beings to Equestria, it has only happened once; however, once was enough for us to never want to repeat it. In short, if you are designated as a central figure in a certain development, the forces of harmony themselves may strive to keep you here.”
“Does that mean I may not be able to leave?!” I asked, utterly failing to contain my chagrin.
She raised her hoof to quiet me before almost apologetically lowering it.
“Fortunately, we have since found a solution. Once a pony who was burdened with the constant nagging of destiny. Everywhere he went, no matter what he did, he was constantly fulfilling an unspoken prophecy of some sort or another. He carried this burden for many years until it started to drive him insane; he was no longer sure of his sense of free will in anything. That is when he turned to us. It took months of work by our best mages, but we ultimately developed a spell to cut him off from destiny entirely. It is the same spell we have used to insure you against the possibility I just outlined.”
I was a little bit annoyed by them casting magic on me without consent, but I couldn’t fault their logic.
“So what do I need to do?”
“Nothing at all,” Celestia said with a smile. “I have enchanted the clothes I prepared for you so that they will continually renew the protection we placed upon you. As long as you don’t go without clothes for multiple days straight, there should be no issue.”
I gave a silent sigh of relief. “I appreciate you telling me, but it seems like a non-issue.”
The princess shook her head. “Unfortunately, no spell is perfect. Though magic is built on so-called laws, sometimes it can behave in ways unexpected. But fortunately, the pony I mentioned lived the remainder of his life deaf to the call of destiny. The odds are overwhelmingly in your favor, but I felt obligated to disclose every possibility to you.”
“Thank you. It’s not a situation I want to be in, but I respect your proactive response.”
She looked down guiltily. “You shouldn’t thank me—not yet, anyway.”
I let the silence hang for a few seconds; silence in the presence of royalty should have made me uncomfortable, but there was something serene in the air as I took in the image of the majestic, white mare.
The atmosphere unsettled me so I opted to break the silence: “Any idea when you can send me back?”
“I don’t know. It will take me some time to recover my strength. Unfortunately, since I had to use volition magic to bring you here, only I can send you back. If I could do anything to expedite the process, I would, but it’s magic of the sort you don’t want to take chances with.”
“Okay. I get it, and… thanks.”
She smiled. “And thank you for your understanding of this matter. All things considered you’ve taken the possibility of becoming an alicorn foal very well.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “As long as I get out soon enough, it won’t matter what I might have become. Besides, you alicorns are pretty impressive, so becoming a younger version of you isn’t the worst prospect when weighed against the alternative of life as a plant or a dog.”
She laughed. “Still, I would have expected you to be a bit unsettled that you would be a filly instead of a colt.”
Filly? There was that word again. Though I was amazed by my ability to mostly comprehend their language, this word was outside of my vocabulary. By context, I had inferred that filly and foal meant roughly the same thing, referring to an immature pony, but by her reaction I wondered if I was missing something.
‘Princess Celestia?”
“Hmm?”
“I have to confess that although you and the others have used the word ‘filly’ a couple of times today, I’m not entirely sure what it means.”
Celestia froze. In a flash her expression turned from surprise, fear and then to embarrassment.
“Well, how to say it—“
“Let us go!” Applebloom whined as the tan unicorn guard from before carried her and her friends by in a blue cloud of magic.
Celestia took in a deep breath and nervously gestured at the trio of young ponies—the trio of female young ponies.
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?”