The Voyage
I awoke the following morning in my private quarters, or at least private for the most part. What I awoke to was a humming Celestia as she opened the curtains to let the sunlight flood its way in. said light was now assaulting my eyelids. Grumbling, I got up.
“Morning Spirit.” greeted Celestia. “I must congratulate you on completing your training with Shining, but you’ve been away from work long enough.”
“Goody,” I replied, getting out of bed. “Not that I don’t want to spend some time with you, but I don’t think either of us are looking forward to day court.” I stated, casting the spell to put on my suit.
“True, and good thing that that’s not what we’re doing today.” she would have caught my interest, but there was a pressing matter making itself known.
*grumble*
Celestia giggled. I said: “I believe I have enough time to visit the cafe before I have to start working.” then I paused, remembering something. Shit! “ Actually, nevermind. Let's just get started on today's activities, my Mistress.” I don’t have any bit’s, so no food for now.
“Why the sudden change of mind?” I can see where this is going, and I’m not liking it.
“I’m fine, let’s just get to work.” Celestia saw right through me, shooting me an expectant look. There is no fooling you is there? “Fine, I forgot that I haven’t earned any bit’s yet, so food isn’t an option for me at the moment.” Celestia rolled her eye at me, smiling now. “What?”
“Silly, we’ve been over this before. We'll get something for you before we leave.” I shot her a curious glance.
“Excuse me, my Mistress,” I began, meeting her at my door. “Did you just say ‘leave’?”
“Yes, we’re going to the Griffin Empire for an important meeting.” this time I was the one that let out a hum.
“Interesting. When do we leave?” she seemed to like the fact that I’m looking forward to this. This trip will definitely do me some good.
“When you are pack, come see me.”
“Yes, my mistress.” Celestia blushed.
“Till then.” she left. She used the door this time, what a surprise.
I went over to my closet and got my saddlebags out. Thanks again, Rarity. With the bags in my magic, I went over to my desk and collected my spell tomes. I’ll more than likely have time to practice some magic. As I was gathering my tomes, I found the still unidentified book I found in the library. It still had the letter in it too. I packed that too. I still need to check that out. I went over to my nightstand next to the bed to put on my pendant. Probably going to need this.
With that, I had everything I needed. It was difficult and I almost gave up, but I managed to put on the saddlebags without messing up my suit. Alright, better be on my way. Best not keep my mistress waiting.
I found Celestia in her room talking to Luna. “...and be sure not to let the nobles get to you.”
“We won’t. We best be off now.” I don’t think Luna noticed me as she passed me on her way out. She must be sleepy, considering her regular hours. I progressed into the room to where Celestia was on the balcony.
“Let me guess, asking Luna to take over during our absence?” she nodded.
“Indeed. Are you packed and ready?”
“As far as I can tell.” after practically analyzing me, she shook her head.
“I think you’re forgetting something.” Alright, she successfully confused me.
“What have I forgotten? I packed spellbooks, got my pendant, what else do I need?” she chuckled at my antics of searching my bags as I rattled off what I packed.
“You’re like a little colt getting ready for their first day of school.” I put everything back into my bags and returned my attention to her.
“Enough teasing already.” I deadpan.
“Alright, you forgot something to eat, along with your weapons too.”
“My weapons? What will I need them for? I thought I was going as your butler.”
“You are, but Griffins are as aggressive as they are proud and it’s easy to offend them, especially the ones have any sort of authority.” Understandable.
“Anything else?”
“That’s all, and don't worry about retrieving your weapons. I’ve sent Shining to retrieve them. Let's just hope we won’t need them. For now, let’s go to that cafe you fancy so much.”
“Sounds good to me.” We accompanied each other out.
Celestia and I entered the Silent Tea Cafe, but not without becoming the center of attention of course. That is, Celestia, being the center of attention. To most, I’m still nopony important. The only difference this time around is that I’m the princesses butler, not that it matters to me.
Upon entering the Cafe, I was greeted by the one pony that wouldn’t deny all interaction or association with me. “Spirit!” called Silent taste. “I’ll get you your usual order.”
“Actually, I have company with me, so double that order please.” Celestia was already at the usual table, so I went to join her.
Silent came out with our order as soon as I took my seat. “Here you go.” looking over to Celestia, she added, “Good morning, Princess.”
“Holly shit that was fast.” I exclaimed. Silent didn’t respond though, she just went back to the kitchen.
“How about we just focus on eating? We don’t have much time before we have to leave.” Celestia recommended, sinking her maw into the muffin she held in her magic.
“That reminds me, what’s the meeting going to be for anyway?” I slipped on some tea. This tea will never get old or dull. Celestia finished her muffin before answering.
“That’ll be a surprise.” Damn it, she’s playing hard to get again.
“Fine, be that way.” due to the lack of topics, we finished breakfast in silence.
Nothing interesting happened between the time at the cafe and the time we got to the bots. Sure there was an extremely long train ride, but the only thing to happen in that time was me studying more spells. I did attempt to prank Celestia with an illusion of Luna, but she saw right through it which was boring. “Nice work on the illusion though.” she commented at the time.
The boats were massive, and they looked like old English time ship like it was made by humans. The only difference is that it was filled with ponies. They were already on board when we arrived. Three squads of solar guards on the ship that Celestia and I are to take.
As we got on the boat, I asked Celestia: “Will you need anything of me? If not, I was going to go practice some spells.” she smirked at me before answering.
“No, I don’t have any work for you while we’re on the boat, but I would like to help teach you something that should help you in the long run.” curiosity got the better of me, knowing that she wanted me to ask. I took the bait.
“What would that be?” Celestia didn’t answer.
Instead, she left me, saying: “I have to talk to the guards for a bit. See you soon.” She’s playing hard to get. Irritating, not even telling me where the room is first.
A familiar looking messenger pony approached me. “Sir, how do you do?” Wait a moment.
“Swift Hoof, right? Long time no see.”
“It sure has, Sir.”
“I asked you to drop the ‘Sir’ last time.”
“Sorry, part of the job, Sir.” I sighed, levitating the pendant from under my suit and showing it to him.
“Maybe this will help convince you otherwise?” that surprised him
“Trust of the crown? You sure came a long way. As you wish, Spirit.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyway, I’ll show you to your room, Sir.” he shot me a smirk. Asshole, now he’s trying to mess with me. I’ll get you later.
“Lead on, horse.” I commanded as he took lead. I’ve heard some noble mares call each other a horse before in the middle of day court. That was some funny shit. Apparently, it’s the same thing as a whore. They were both embarrassed as hell when Celestia called them out.
Swift Hoof left me in the room after saying that Celestia would be here soon. The room was pretty spacious for a boat cabin. It also had many accommodations such as a dresser, mirror, and a bad that was only a little bigger than Celestia’s. Wait a minute, don’t tell me- My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.
“Sorry for making you wait. You understand how it is.” Celestia said as she came in, closing the door behind her. She was hiding it, but she was being a little nervous about something. Hiding something.
“You’re right, I do. By the way, is this your room?” she nodded and I saw some relief come over her. She was probably wondering how to tell me that only she would be provided a room. Thought she would know better than to be nervous about that. “Why meet in your room anyway, want to discuss something in private?” then I saw her get nervous again. Fuck, don’t tell me…. She still replied in her usual manner though.
“Spirit, I thought you would have figured it out by now,” Fuck me. “But we’re sharing the room.” that wouldn’t be so awkward if I hadn’t noticed that there was only one bed. Alas, I thought of a solution.
“If that’s what you were hesitant to tell me, don’t worry. I’ll sleep on the floor.” unfortunately, Celestia doesn’t surrender so easily, even on the small things like this.
“No, you won’t. That will not be acceptable. I made sure that the bed would be big enough for both of us.” I felt my cheeks heat up. No no no no no no!
“S-sorry, I d-don’t think I can do that.” not even my greatest effort couldn’t prevent me from stuttering. “I don’t think we’re close enough for that.” I was trying to make any excuse I could to avoid sharing a bed, but Celestia noticed and trolled the hell out of me.
“What just went through your head? Better not be something bad.” She was getting closer.
“Nothing. It’s just that I’ve never really shared a bed before and I don’t think I’m ready to do so. That wasn’t a lie, but not exactly the true or even the main reason. Though I’m not so sure myself why I’m reacting this way. The feeling I’m getting from it is new, different, alien even.
“That’s not true, you once did with Twilight.” she pointed out as she got even close.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure whether or not to count that one when I more blacked out than I did fall asleep.” I countered. At this point, Celestia was so close that all she had to do was lower her head and we would be touching noses. I had no clue how to get out of this without being rude.
“Here, think of it this way. You are my butler, therefore you have to do as you are ordered. So, you are now under orders to sleep in this bed during the journey.” Dick move! Though she’s right. Swallowing my non-existent pride, I voiced my compliance.
“Yes, my Mistress.” she draped a wing over me.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Now, about what I mentioned earlier.” Oh, I forgot.
“Right, what did you want to teach me?” my mood now lifted for the chance to get my mind off of what just happened.
“I believe that it will be important for you to learn how to regulate magical consumption.”
“Really, why?” we popped a spot on the bedside as we continued the conversation.
“Yes. normally this isn’t needed because most unicorns only know basic magic spells like levitation. Those spells don’t take much magic.”
“But the magic I’m learning takes that much more?”
“Significantly.”
“I see what you’re getting at now,” I continued. “But there’s something else, isn’t there?” she smiled, looking impressed.
“There is. Because common unicorns only know spells that only take a minuscule amount of magic, they don’t have to learn to control how much magic they use. That’s why most don’t know how to.” Makes sense. Why teach it when it wouldn't ever be necessary? “Though, when learned, allows one to cast to their full potential.” I looked back at her.
“So, why me?” If I passed out from attempting one fire spell and a few teleports, I probably don’t have much.
“Because the spell you were attempting before the coma was one of the complex fire spells that book had to offer, and you didn’t go unconscious after just one attempt, but after several attempts and quite a few teleports without break.” Wait, one of the most complex? That makes a little more sense.
“Alright, I get it.” With the training, I should be able to master most spells through just teaching myself.
“Good, are you ready to begin?” I nodded in response.
The rest of the night was dedicated to training. I won’t go into detail. I will say that it got pretty intense pretty quickly, and she was only testing me. The only breaks I had were when somepony had to come to report something to Celestia, and that only happened a few times and didn’t last any longer than a minute each. When we finished, it was near time to get to sleep.
“I imagine you’re ready to get some rest.” Celestia said, taking lead for conversation.
“Yeah, just about. I just need to go somewhere real quick.” I moaned.
“Where are you going? You know-”
“That I have to sleep in here on the bed, I remember,” I interrupted. “I just view it more appropriate to….regurgitate overboard rather than in the room.” I had a faint spill getting over to the door.
“Oh, sorry for stopping you. You better hurry.” I heard her say as I left the room.
One painful, disgusting puck later, I found myself sitting on the edge of the boat. Never been in the middle of a large body of water before, of course, I was bound to get a little seasick.
Hearing some hoof stops approaching, I said: “Don’t worry Celestia, really, I’ll be there soon.” but to my surprise, it wasn’t Celestia.
“Alright, I’ll tell her after I give you a checkup to be safe.” I looked over my shoulder to see nurse Red Heart holding a white bag in her maw with a red cross on it. Wait, how was she speaking so clearly?
“Okay, but afterward I’m staying here for a bit longer.” I said, turning the rest of my body to face her. She wasted no time getting the checkup out of the way. Before I knew it, she already stuck a thermometer in my maw and had a stethoscope on my chest, her head bobbing. After her head bobbed for the sixth time she put the stethoscope away, took the thermometer out of my maw and read it.
You were just seasick.” I shot her a look that screamed ‘are you serious?’.
“To be honest, I could have told you that before the checkup.” but she ignored my comment.
“I’ll tell the Princess that you’re fine.” and she left.
I turned back around to face the sea, but that wasn’t what I was looking at. Staring at the night sky, I got lost in thought. I lost track of time, but it must have been longer than I had thought. I got jump scared by a creeping Celestia from behind. Turning to face her, I yelled: “The hell? Trying to trigger the reaction I had with Spike when I woke up in Ponyville for the first time?” though I knew that she could do just about anything before I could get to her. She ignored my question.
“Why are you still here?” I hesitated before answering, then looked back up at the sky.
“Just thought this would make a good memory.” I mumbled softly, but it seemed that she didn’t hear me.
“What was that?”
I sighed. “A long time ago, I was thinking.” I began, not looking away from the night sky for even a second longer. “I woke up here, in this world, in your world, a world I don’t belong in, without any memories. I thought that if I wanted something to fight for, I better get it sooner than later.” I paused. “ And what’s more valuable to a person..er…..pony, than their memories? My experiences have been rough. That’s all I’ll admit on that matter, but the sights of this world have been nothing short of amazing. It might sound pitiful, but so far, that’s all I have to fight for.” I didn’t notice that Celestia had walked up beside me as I was talking until I was startled by her wing draping over me. We made eye contact for a moment before I turned my gaze downward.
“I think that for one in your position, that’s a very wise decision.” there was a small silence.
“Tia, despite everything I’ve been through and all I’ve done, I still can’t figure out why you ponies are always so friendly and accepting. So tell me, why is that?” Celestia took her turn to sigh as her smile faltered, disappearing. Her face displayed a variety of expressions, none of which were good. I saw remorse, despair, and regret. I also saw pain and loss.
“Spirit, you have entered Equestria during a time of peace, though it hasn’t always been that way. It’s taken a lot of war to get to where we are now. More than half of those wars weren’t even between lands, but between the races of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Those were sad times, and all I can do about it now is be glad that it’s over.” I could see Celestia tearing up and decided to her stop there.
“Come, let's head to bed,” I proposed. “It never does well to dwell on such thoughts for long.” she smiled at my idea.
“Yes, I agree. Let’s turn in for the night.”
The following morning, I woke up to Celestia returning to the room. Probably just raised the sun. “Morning Tia.” I moaned, getting out of bed. Now that I think about it, it’s rare for me to fall asleep in my own bed and wake up, still by myself, the next morning. Wonder when, or if, it will ever happen again. I didn’t place any hope in it, not at this rate.
“Good morning, Spirit. Sleep well?” she asked, standing at the far end of the bed. Well, seeing at it is that I didn’t have any solid dreams, and considering that if I did there would be a chance that it could have gone bad, I’d have to say…..
“It was sleep that I can't complain about.”
“Oh,” the way she said that was a warning. “Did you dream of something….private?” Fucking troll.
“Nope, in fact, I didn’t dream at all.”
“And you find that a good thing?”
“Hey, it’s better than anything bad.” Or any visions demanding me to go put myself in danger.
“Fair point, I guess.”
“Anyway, what’s on today's schedule?”
“Today, more training.” Fuck! I sighed.
“Let’s get this over with.”
That’s what we did. Nothing but train for the next week. First, we did some practice on control. When Celestia thought I was ready to proceed, she’d teach me a spell or two to master as a test of my progress. The process repeated a few times. I can’t complain about the spells she taught me either. Ice spear, literally a spear made completely of ice that’s sent flying at the target.she also taught me how to heal bruises and minor cuts too. The final spell was the Fire Dragon. That was damn near impossible in terms of difficulty but was worth it and I felt like it might one day save my life. In the process of learning it, I burned myself at least six times, which Read Heart was NOT happy about by the way. In the end, though, I was satisfied with my new skill level and abilities.
With that said, I was filled with mirth when I was done with training. Not just for the skills I earned, but also that I finished by the time land was in sight.
“We’ll be there soon.” Celestia told me as we stood on the side of the boat, looking ahead at the land of the Griffins. “Be sure to have your weapons on by the time we dock.”
“Yes, my Mistress.”
By the time we docked, I had on my suit, weapons, and saddlebags. Celestia was insistent up to the point where she ordered me to let her brush my mane and tail. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought she was trying to be my mother. Maybe she was a mother at one point. I made a note to ask later. Order or not, I was going to say no until I saw how giddy she looked at the idea. I couldn’t say no to that. She has done so much for me since I awoke in Equestria. Fed me, clothed me, got me training, gave me citizenship and even a job. How am I supposed to deny her anything after all that? So I let her.
Now, I was finally getting off the boat and onto some solid land. Looking around, I couldn’t see any establishment. Must be further inland. Instead, I took in a rather breathtaking sight of a mountain range, small as it was though for being on an island. Celestia cam up to join me, so I started the conversation.
“Hopefully, everything hasn’t fallen apart on Lulu’s end.” I chuckled at my own joke, but so did Celestia.
“Luna’s not THAT reckless, give it another month and a half.” though I appreciated her contribution, it was time to be serious.
“How much time will it take to set up camp?” I asked, scanning the surrounding area.
“We’re not. It won’t be necessary, seeing that we won’t be here long.”
“Alright, so when do we head out?” my tone turning questionable.
“In a while.”
“In the meantime, I think I’ll find a nice tree to nap under until it’s time to go.” she nodded in approval.
“Go ahead, you deserve it. Just don’t mess up your mane and tail.” some of the guards that heard that started giggling, which pissed me off.
Growling, I barked: “Anypony that finds it funny might either find themselves burned or teleported to the middle of the ocean for a nice dunk in salt water.” that got them all to shut up. I wondered in a random direction to find a nice, relaxing tree.
It only took me a few minutes to find one. This will do. I don’t know why, but I always found comforting doing this. Under the tree, I curled up the way a dog would and got comfortable. I must have been more tired than I thought. I only meant to rest, but instead, I fell flat asleep.
I found myself in the dreamscape, standing on the exact same stained glass platform I was on when I meet Harmony. Great, what now? I couldn’t force myself awake, so I was stuck here till someone wakes me up. What to do now? How about….. I tapped a hoof on the ground and up came a familiar statue.
“Hello Discord, how are you faring?” the statue began to gain color as it cracked and moved. As the process ended, Discord, now in the flesh, stretched and let out a long and exaggerated yawn along with popping a few bones.
“You know,” he began. “Usually, no one likes visiting their enemies casually like they were normal acquaintances. I like that about you.” I flashed a devilish grin.
“Well, we aren’t opponents yet. So I don’t see why not. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“Glad someone else sees it that way. I don’t think our Tia knows how much of a tease it is putting me in the gardens and not receive any visits.” he looked around at the platform. “I see that you’ve meet Harmony.” I nodded.
“Yeah, she was no fun, but at least she was straight to the point. Though the only useful info I got was that she brought me here. The rest of what she said is like a puzzle. You know her?” I decided to lay on my back in mid-air. What could I say? Wouldn’t anyone take advantage of the abilities granted in a dreamscape?
“Our paths have crossed a few times,” he snapped his favorite chair into the dream. “How’s the trip to GriffonStone?”
“GriffonStone?”
“Tia hasn’t told you yet? She will soon. It’s the only city of the Griffon Empire left.”
“Interesting. As for your question, we just arrived on the island.” Discords expression spiced up with a bit of excitement.
“Ooo, so it’s going to happen soon.” Wait, what? I was going to ask but was by what sounded like Celestia’s voice. “Well, sounds like it’s time for you to wake up.” he finished, snapping his claw.
My eyes fluttered open to see Celestia standing over me, curiosity written on her face clear enough to read it on the other side of the land mass. “What is it?” I muttered, getting on my hoofs.
“You were muttering in sleep.” Oh shit. I had to play this cool. Knowing that normal dreams leave you with no memory of them, I had to play dumb.
“Really? Has your mother ever told you it’s rude to eavesdrop?” I teased.
“I couldn’t understand what you were saying, but it was adorable.” I felt my cheeks heat up. What the fuck.
“How about you drop the subject?” she giggled at me.
“Very well, it’s time for us to go anyway. It’s this way.” she took the lead, going in the direction of a forest. Looking around, I noticed that she didn’t bring any of the guards.
“You aren’t bringing any guards?” I asked, following behind her.
“I thought you alone would be sufficient.”
“That’s a lot of faith to place in one individual what makes you so confident about this decision?” we were entering the forest at this point.
“I know what you’re capable of and that you wouldn’t let me down.” That was kinda cheesy. Celestia stopped in front of me, causing me to bump into her.
“What was that for?”
“Sorry. Also, did you think we were walking the whole way?” she asked, her horn lighting up.
“Actually, I was kinda under that impression.” I responded, followed by a blinding flash from her horn.
Even after we materialized, I was still blinded from the flash for a few moments. “Tia, remind me to wear some sunglasses next time you do that.”
“Sorry, again.” after my eyes recovered, I looked around. I spotted a lone settlement the size of a small town.
“Where are we?”
“This is GriffonStone. Unfortunately, it’s the last city of the Griffon Empire.” she took the lead and I followed. “I still believe it’s important to keep a peaceful relationship with them though. That being said,” she stopped, but this time I avoided crashing into her. “ I didn’t bring you here to attend the meeting with me.”
“Alright…..then why did you bring me here?” I gave her my best deadpan look, unsure of what expression would be safe right now.
“I brought you here because I thought it might be just what you needed. Never know, you might even make a good friend. From what I’ve read in Twilights reports when you were with her, you need one.”
“I’ll go as far as enjoying the scenery.”
“Good enough. This is where we part ways. I’ll find you when I’m done.” she didn’t wait for my response, leaving me at the entrance of town.
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More please
9563210
you're going to say that after every chapter aren't you?
9563364
Yes indeed i don't any word to say
I honesty think this was a good chapter, a huge step up from the last one on the writing and world building at least. It was nice to see them travel a bit to the Griffin Kingdom, I wonder what got them in such a state of decline?