"So yeah, that's pretty much what happened."
Celestia nodded and took a sip of her tea. "I see. And you have not punched our counterparts in the face this time?"
I shook my head. "Nope. She, ah, wanted to punch me again after I made her listen to that music, but she understood that it was for the greater good." I hope. "She'd rather listen to that than be brainwashed."
"As would we all." Celestia put her teacup back on her saucer and poured herself another cup. I quickly reheated my own tea with a spell. Never really being much of a tea drinker myself, I hadn't gone through five cups during the story like my marefriend.
"So..." Celestia put the teapot back down on the serving tray and gracefully lifted her cup for another sip of hot tea. "There is the matter of what is to be done now."
"Yeah, I guess so." I tried for another sip of the tea, but gave up on finishing the half empty cup. I set it down back on the table. "So it turned out that Sunset was working at a call center. That way she didn't have to risk running into someone from her school. She couldn't stand working at a fast food joint in case someone came up to the fearsome Sunset Shimmer flipping burgers and frying fries. She has a little apartment about ten minutes away from the school. She walks to school every day so no one has to see the junker car she has."
"I... see."
I grimaced when I didn't miss the pain in Celestia's eyes. I know she still cared for Sunset, and knowing that she went from a private tower in the castle to a run-down apartment where she probably lived paycheck-to-paycheck would hurt for sure. At least she wasn't starving to death or anything.
"I've set her and the Sirens up in my house there for the time being. Sonata told me that they would just mind control the staff of a hotel or something whenever they needed a place to stay, but that obviously isn't an option now. My house is pretty well stocked, so they shouldn't have any problems. That and, ah, I transferred a million dollars to Sunset's account. That should be more than enough to stay on her feet rather comfortably. She's not the type to just spend it all on caviar and diamonds either. She knows what it's for."
"Good. And what of the Sirens themselves?"
I shrugged. "Well, that's a big unknown for the time being. Obviously it's going to be a rough transition between powerful, immortal emotion eater to a simple mortal teenage girl with no powers." I give Celestia a wry grin. "It's going to be odd for them to start aging after two thousand years, but they'll get used to it. They have to."
"Indeed." Celestia drained her cup and stood up, prompting me to do the same. "So, you are leaving to finalize preparations for the Sirens' stay on that planet?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I still have one or two things left to do before I feel confident letting Sunset handle them. We kind of need to set some ground rules for the Sirens." Since I wasn't sure what to do with them, they were still enrolled at Canterlot High, which that world's Celestia didn't appreciate until I made a rather large donation to the school that smoothed things over a bit.
"It'll be alright, though. Sunset has that book. She can let us know if anything goes wrong over there, and we do have unlimited access to the portal now."
"Excellent. When will you leave?"
I smirked at the question. "No time like the present, right? I'm only going to be gone for a day at most. I should be back by dinner time."
"See that you are. I'd like to have dinner with you, if that is alright with you." Celestia gave me a sultry smile and ran her wing down my back, stopping in a rather interesting place. "Afterward we could... celebrate your success in the other world."
I grinned and gave Celestia a little plot tap. "I will be rather hungry later."
"Excellent. I shall see you then."
* * * *
I pulled up to my house about an hour later and parked on my driveway next to Sunset's car. Seriously, I got the feeling that if I sneezed next to it I'd total the thing. She'd have to spend some of her new funds on a better car. I'd make sure of that.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside to see Sunset, Aria and Sonata sitting at the kitchen countertop. Sonata and Aria had empty plates in front of them, while Sunset was working on a sandwich. They all stopped whatever conversation they were having and looked up at me.
"Hey, Antares," Sunset said, setting her sandwich down on her plate. "How is everything?"
"I should be asking you that. No problems on your end?"
"Not really!" Sonata said happily. "I'm full! Like, I'm actually full! I don't want to eat any more food right now." Sonata stared down at her plate with wide eyes, as though doing so would reveal some great mystery. "I had three apples, two sandwiches, two sodas, six fruit rollups and a giant slice of cake and then the hunger pain went away!" She frowned and looked back at Sunset. "Is it going to come back?"
Sunset chuckled and picked her sandwich back up. "Yeah, but that's why you keep eating real food."
"Weird," Sonata whispered. "Even after we fed off of you two, there was still that hunger. I mean, it was better than normal, but still kind of uncomfortable. I haven't felt full like this in..." Sonata began counting on her fingers and mouthing numbers. "Ever!"
"It is kind of weird," Aria admitted, pushing her plate away. "Though I guess we can still feed off of other things, though." Aria smiled contentedly and leaned back in her chair. "This will not be the last time I have fried chicken, I promise you that."
Sonata shrugged. "Eh, maybe next time. Eating the flesh of other animals seems a bit weird."
"Blasphemy," I said in amusement, pulling a chair up and sitting opposite the three of them. "You should try it. Even if you don't like it at first, you could get used to it."
"I did," Sunset chimed in. "Once I had a bacon cheeseburger for the first time I knew I could never be a vegetarian again."
"See, there you go." My smile faded, and I leaned against the counter. "But let's put that aside for now. I'm here on business, unfortunately. If you could call Adagio over, that'd be great."
Instantly the smiles Aria and Sonata had evaporated. They exchanged a sad look. That wasn't good.
"Where is she?"
"Dunno," Aria mumbled. "Not like we can track her anymore, you know? We just kind of woke up this morning and she was gone. We wanted to go out after her, but, ah..." She shot an uneasy glance Sunset's way. Sunset glowered and crossed her arms.
"My Celestia damned car won't start."
"This is my surprised face," I deadpanned. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, I'll look around town once we're done here. I'd rather have her back here, if for no other reason than I'm not sure how well she'd do out there alone."
"Maybe she just went for a walk," Sonata suggested.
"For five hours?" Aria said disbelievingly.
"Okay, so it's a long walk."
"Whatever the case, we'll find her. Until then..." I opened up my saddlebag and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "These are the basic rules you have to follow while you're on parole. It's pretty standard stuff. You have to attend school, you have to stay in town, you can't come back to Equestria, stuff like that. Sunset will be keeping in contact with us about your progress. In return you get room and board, plus whatever else you may need to make your transition smoother." I pulled out a pair of pens and slid them and the papers over to Aria and Sonata. "So if you could just read and sign--"
Sonata happily pulled the papers over to her and signed the last page without reading a single word before giving them back to me. "Okay! There you go!"
"Um..." I flipped to the last page to get a look at her signature. "Don't you want to read these first?"
"Eh."
"Um... okay." I put the papers back in my bag, while Aria rolled her eyes as she read the pages. After a few minutes she signed them too. "Alright, ladies, that's it on our end. If you need anything, anything at all, just let us know."
"A hot tub?" Sonata said hopefully.
"I..." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Have you seen the bathtub upstairs?"
"Yeah, of course, but it just looks like a hot tub. It isn't actually a hot tub."
"I'm leaving Sunset in charge of the finances." I gave Sunset a pointed look. "Just don't go crazy. It's gotta last you a little while."
"Don't worry. Since I'm not paying six times the rent of my old apartment on one month's mortgage for this place, I can't see us spending a lot."
"Except for maybe--"
"We'll see, Sonata."
"At any rate, I have to get back to my world. You have your way to contact us. Don't lose it. I'll go around town to see if I can't find Adagio. Maybe file a missing person report. You guys are legally only, what, sixteen? Seventeen? Not quite adults yet. The cops will pick her up and send her back. Let me know when they do."
"I'm eighteen in this world," Sunset pointed out. She grimaced and crossed her arms. "Which is so much better than being twenty five like I actually am."
"You'll get back there."
"Yeah, when I'm in my thirties."
"Anyway..." I gave the three of them a little two-fingered salute. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again sometime."
"I'm sure Principal Celestia will be thrilled."
* * * *
I brushed a strand of hair out of my face before pinning another picture to the large corkboard in front of me. I tied a red string around the thumbtack, then stepped back to look at the larger picture.
The larger picture.
If only I could figure that out.
I huffed and picked up a stack of notes from the table beside me for another look at them. Maybe I could see the pattern if I just...
Just what? Re-read them for the millionth time? The only thing I knew for certain was that something odd was going on at that school. Something I couldn't quite explain. Several energy pulses had come from there, but I couldn't figure out what kind of energy it was. If I could discover what it was, I could write up a report and get into Everton for sure! Whatever it was, it seemed to have something to do with those three Canadians, if my interviews with students there were any indication. They'd just show up out of nowhere.
Yeah, literally nowhere. There's no such place as Canada.
A story that didn't hold up to any scrutiny, appearing out of nowhere, and unknown energies showing up whenever they did made me rather suspicious. I put my notes down and picked up Spike, scratching him behind the ears the way he likes.
"I tell you, Spike, something's going on with them, and I'm going to find out what!"
Spike responded by yawning.
* * * *
Boy, if what Celestia and I did last night was a football game, we'd have both been flagged for excessive celebration.
Or something. Look, I know that's a stupid analogy, but I was tired and stressed. I got the feeling that it was one of the last truly stress-free nights we'd have together in a long time.
I landed on the balcony of my room and opened the large double doors so I could walk in. The sun had just risen and I already wanted nothing more than to just crawl back into bed and hide under the covers for a week.
But nope, I'm a princess of Equestria. I can't do that. Blegh.
I was just about to go into my bathroom for a shower when I heard a knock on my door. Sigh. Guess that shower would have to wait. I slipped on my regalia and put on my best "alicorn-y" smile before opening the door.
"Ah, good morning, Tulip. How are you?"
"Very good, Your Majesty," Tulip replied, bowing low. "I have your schedule for the day, and a few items for you to look over."
"Good, good," I said, lighting up my horn and taking the thick manila folder she had floating next to her. "I will be down for breakfast in half an hour."
"Very good, Princess Antares. Is there anything special you'd like them to make?"
"Bacon. Lots of bacon."
Did I mention how awesome it was that my chefs had figured out how to make imitation meat? Because that was really awesome.
"Extra bacon it is."
"Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me..."
"Of course, Princess Antares," Tulip said, bowing again. "I will see you at court."
I closed the door to my room and made my way back to my bathroom. I idly flipped the folder open and took a quick glance at the mountain of paperwork inside. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the top paper. It was a report from one of my armor dealers. It said it was done. I just needed to come in for one last fitting to make sure. I slid the photo attached to the paper out of the paperclip and stared at it. Somehow looking at my armor made everything seem a bit more real.
We were going to war.
The End?
I'm guessing there MIGHT be an epilouge, but then again, said epilogue is an entire story.
7572258 Well we have two more TD v EQG stories after this one.
You better not misrepresent Cinch as some one-dimensional "a bitch about everyting because she just is" character that some people think she is! I'm watching you
....Punch Finch in the face......a lot....
given that she almost destroyed both worlds....
Huzzah!
I'm a bit confused... Is this an AU to the Prince? Antares is a princess in this story...
If there's one character I approve wholeheartedly of TD punching in the face, it's Cinch.
7572344
Yeah! Same thing here... When the war was declared Antares was already male again... Unless this takes place just right before he got the idea to finish the spell...
Will the Friendship Games arc take place during the war or after?
7572385 That's what I'm guessing.
I wonder if the Equestria Games will take place after Princess Anteres becomes Prince Anteres, and when Celestia becomes preggers. And if going through the portal as an alicorn mare turns TD in a guy, then what will going through as an alicorn stallion do?
I will say I was not quiet sure how this was all going to play out but dang I love it.
7572344
7572385 This takes place just before the start of the war. TD v EQG III will take place after the war.
7572402 After.
7572345
Yes!
7572456 cool, ty!
Ikr?
Next time on Equestria Girls! Watch and be amazed as a high school girl somehow manages to detect an unknown energy source never before seen in the world and proceeds to build a device using supplies found in a high school that successfully captures said energy!
7572914 Yeah, well...
7572914 Not like EqG made and sense to begin with.
Anyone else go "Oh Fuck" when the twilight section rolled through? I had completely forgotten about that while reading this story.
7572914
7573377
Doods, have you seen anime? It's a thing. That exists.
A ton of them have similar logic puzzles. Like: Character One punches Character Two, and sends Character Two flying several feet and smashing through three trees. Character Two survives. How?
7574122 Anime logic should not apply to western animation. You speak blasphemy.
7574212
Did you know anime is actually a borrowed word?
It means "animation".
7574261 Japanese for animation. The meaning we have here in the good ol' west singles it out as strictly japanese animation. Western animation is simply that: Western animation.
7572403 More then likely still a guy but he'll be pretty smug about it
Here we go again. Another chapter ended. And once again, leaving the human world and coming back to Equestria reminds me of the disappointing story this spinoff is spawned from, yet this one just has so much more to it. Seeing a spin on the EQG films, and crossing it over with an original character leaves opportunities for creativity that takes more imagination and skill than one where you can do whatever and say "It's magic!" Here the risk of entering another universe could cause rifts, and a wrong move or the right recklessness could destroy both universes, a threat more real to the big "A" than a self contained world where s/he owns and/or controls it all.
"What's the point in being a ruler without anyone to rule?" Considering you would have fought tooth and nail to avoid it at one point.... I have a better question: What point is there in having a drink when it can never have any effect on your body at all? Or eating the same foods year after year, century after century. What task could not become impossibly boring on an infinite timescale? Even in the early years, a drink does nothing.
Also another thing: Overpopulation is inevitable when indestructible beings are fertile, and nothing can keep their numbers in check. The ones vulnerable to injury and illness would eventually, inevitably get crowded out with all these unkillable beings multiplying like rabbits. Will they know when to stop? Will they want to stop? I kind of like the way Faust and Larson told it: Extraordinarily long lived, but not immortal. They would say they started off as fillies, and had been that way longer than most ponies had been alive, which would imply slow aging, much like trees and cacti. They've probably taken good injuries and illness in their time, but few severe enough to be hospitalized. Things with short lifespans tend to look at the long lived like immortals, whether they are or aren't. And if it's true they don't age, that surely doesn't mean they could not be injured by assaults. Why would ponies be so protective of them if they were invulnerable to harm? Do what you will, fanfics are fanfics, but in the show, we have never seen anything to imply their bulletproof nature. There is, however evidence of good reflexes, where Tia has made a powerful energy shield to defend herself from attack.
Also, those ponies who got themselves killed defending an immortal were stupid. They could not possibly know what the readers know, and therefore, it would be logical not to endanger their lives when the one they are trying to defend to their knowledge could not be hurt. To say nothing of the fact they caused her far more pain that could have been postponed. S/he would not encourage them to die trying to defend her when s/he can defend herself. S/he'd want them safe. S/he furthermore denounced religion, and thought it superfluous. This scenario shows religion to be a dangerous brainwashing trap that makes willing followers forget their wisdom and self preservation. No pony needs religion to have values. Also, in the canon story, didn't TD Powell chew out AJ, RD, and Rare for being exceedingly defensive of Celestia knowing damn well she could not be hurt that way? And didn't he make them feel ashamed of themselves for it?
More to EQG, it's somewhat off putting to see the main character of the EQG films swept to the sidelines and reduced to support.
Also, the first person narratives are best when only Mr Powell or "A" is telling it. When character perspectives switch without any indication whatever, it can be confusing. This is especially true when the passage is in the past tense, and the extra character only appears once and never again, yet even more so when said character is there for no purpose but exposition, and is hastily killed off before he can even get his thoughts and feels on paper. Does a general who was assassinated immediately after finding out about Celestia's pregnancy ring a bell? I think Midnight Sparkle is her world's Nightmare Moon. Speaking of which, I think the best way to keep it going, and not make the outcome even more predictable is to reveal Nightmare Moon still exists. The idea that she is dormant, but present allows there to be real tension when there otherwise is none. Her and Chrissie, who is still at large in both stories. These two can wreak havoc unknown and untold. I also thought that those who are spiritually tied to the entire populace of sentient life could somehow find a way break that bond. Then the presence of sapient life would not keep them bound to "earthly" world until extinction happened. I bet it would be a huge relief to no longer be an embodiment of all intelligent life anymore. (I think Dagi is dead.)
7582292 If I took a shot every time you mentioned (relevant or not) that you hate The Prince, I'd have died of alcohol poisoning a long time ago. I read through your whole comment and didn't really see anything that was at all relevant to the chapter I just wrote. One or two sentences at best. Keep your comments on this story about the story.
Oh boy, let the friendship games begin! This will be fun, especially if TD gets in a snarkoff with Sour Sweet. I wonder how he will react to SciTwi. That should be interesting too.
I can imagine Legends of Everfree could be due to an invitation from the Humane 6 as a kind of vacation for him, which it will turn out not to be much to his displeasure.
Why is he still a pony? If he is still a pony, then its gonna get boring
7610641 Still a pony?
7611168
7611519 You know, if you only speak JonTron, I'm not going to figure out what you're saying half the time.
I'm rather curious how Midnight Sparkle will come to be, as the only Equestrian Magic there is to absorb is the portal. The mane 5 here don't "pony up".
7611984 that's all I have to say
7572456
I do not see TD even thinking of kid-gloves when he deals with TD vs EG Friendship Games. Fresh from the war and a thousand yard stare...
7573377
Yep
IRS: “hippity hoppity this we’ll make this our property”
10502173
I would imagine that he paid all relevant taxes.
Still don’t know how Aria isn’t more resentful in this. Sonatas too dumb to really get hit by what losing her immortality means but Aria should be beyond pissed and planning to kill everyone TD likes for paypack against him, not having a good time eating in his presence. Losing immortality like that isn’t something I think someone like her or really anyone could just look past. Their natural life span is potentially infinite so being immortal is normal for them. That’s like if someone made it so you had 5 weeks left to live and you weren’t seething with rage and enjoying KFC instead.
oh boy, SciTwi...
I mean, a certain pair of foals (the same ones that gave the excuse to start this war) are not exactly herbivores. Makes me wonder if Antares...
11080308
I can't say I completely disagree, but I'm not sure she would be resentful to a murderous extreme. For one thing, she did technically relinquish her immortality willingly (even if under duress, she didn't resist as much as she could have). I could see someone like her growing tired of the routine, with a possible plan to give up her immortality someday if she couldn't get back to equestria, and thus only being resentful for being FORCED to give it up then and there, rather than on her terms.