12: In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen
When Gregory opened his eyes, he first felt comfort unlike anything he’d experienced in the two years since he'd entered Erda. Not even his bed in Thornfall could compare, although that was actually more of a cot than anything else. The next thing he noticed was the pleasant scents around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was resting comfortably in an actual bed, with soft pillows and an actual mattress.
Groaning, he sat up, trying to remember just what had happened to him beforehand. A lot of it was a blur. Rubbing his eyes, he looked down first at himself. His normal clothes were no longer on his person. Instead, he was wearing a light gray long sleeved shirt along with a pair of thin, brown pants. Hastily looking around the room, he noticed that his clothes were neatly folded on a nearby cushioned chair, as were his boots. All of them looked like they’d been cleaned quite well.
Pulling aside the blankets, he slowly stood, feeling a bit unsteady and a bit tired still. He held onto one of the bedposts as he surveyed the room. It was a rather extravagant room, if he was honest. The dark blue carpet was soft and comfortable, there was a nice fire in the fireplace across from his bed, there were bright white candles lit on the end tables on either side of his bed alongside the candelabra on the mantle. There was a window to the left of the bed which had a pair of floral-patterned shades. No light came through said window, though.
As he moved out from his bead unsteadily, making his way towards the chair where his clothes were, more light came from above. Looking up, he saw a chandelier with glowing crystals as the lights. He saw more of the room’s details as the light continued to brighten. There was a walk-in closet where a few clothes hung, all looking like they were made for humans. He saw an opened door which looked like it led to a bathroom. There was a closed door on the right of the bed, which Gregory reasoned was the entrance to this room. Next to the door, sitting on a small pedestal, was a pair of ornate looking shoes that looked like they had been made for humans again.
When he finally reached the chair that held his clothes, he gingerly picked them up and examined them. They had indeed been cleaned, judging from the lack of dirt or stains on them. There were even stains that had been on some of the clothes for months that had been cleaned and removed. They all also smelled fresh, like flowers. He began to get undressed, noticing that he was currently wearing no undergarments underneath the pants he wore.
As he slowly got changed, memories of what had happened began to resurface. The return to Maretime Bay, him comforting Sunset, his brief conversation with Celestia, then his teleportation to wherever this was by Majesty.
When he remembered this, his blood ran cold and adrenaline shot through him. Queen Majesty…she’d kidnapped him and drugged him for God knew what reason. Silently, he cursed his foolish, idiotic decision to take the Pie sisters’ job offer. He had gone against his better judgment and just gone back into the den of lions.
Although, he thought as he put the now soft black long-sleeved shirt back over his head, I suppose it was only a matter of time before what little luck I had ran out. As he continued thinking, he patted down his pockets, remembering the candle that Celestia had given to him mere moments before his abduction. To his dismay, the only thing in his pockets was nothing. To his further dismay, his weapons, the two pistols and his knives, had also been confiscated. The only things he had in his pockets was a white scarf he carried around with him and a pair of sunglasses. He collapsed into the now empty chair, facing down onto the dark blue carpet before him.
As he tried to restart his brain, which was still somewhat fogged up by whatever drug had knocked him out (if the hissing sound he heard was any indication), there was a gentle knock at the door. Instinctively, he went for the holster at his belt, only to remember that he had no holster or gun. He let out a quiet sigh and stood. Majesty had him, so he mused that he was practically powerless to do anything about it at the moment. Best to play it safe and gather intel. He brushed himself and called out in a shaky voice, “Who is it?”
From behind the door, he heard the muffled voice of a younger woman. “Are you decent, sir?” she asked with some degree of hesitation.
“Yes,” Gregory replied.
“May I come in, then?”
Seeing as how he had no other choice, he nodded before realizing dumbly that whoever was behind the door couldn’t see him. “Sure.”
The door opened and a dark green pony mare appeared. At first glance, she looked like an unusual earth pony dressed in a pony version of a maid uniform, but as she entered, Gregory noticed that this pony had wings. Only, these weren’t pegasi wings. Instead, these had a bit more of an insectoid appearance to them. Like a dark green pair of butterfly wings. Is she half changeling? Gregory thought as the maid came in, carrying a tray with what looked like some sort of steaming porridge in a bowl and a glass of water next to it. There was also a juicy red apple there as well as a smaller bowl of a white substance.
No, those aren’t changeling wings, Gregory noted. He’d seen a couple changelings in Thornfall, and their wings weren’t anything like that. He watched her carefully as the clearly nervous mare put the tray down on a nearby desk. Turning, she did what could only be considered a curtsy towards him. “Compliments of our queen,” she said, gesturing towards the tray.
Gregory hesitantly approached, looking at the tray of food suspiciously. The white substance in the small bowl could possibly have been sugar, because the bowl looked like an old styled sugar bowl. The porridge looked and smelled an awful lot like oatmeal, and the apple certainly looked tempting. The water was crystal clear, and there were even a couple of ice cubes in it.
Turning to the strange butterfly pony, he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “What is all this?” he asked, not sure whether they would try to put something in his food or not. He doubted it was poison, however, because if this Queen Majesty wanted him dead, she could easily have done so earlier. That didn’t rule out the possibility of a drug that could make him more pliable to interrogation, however.
“O-Oatmeal, an apple, and ice water, sir,” the pony said a bit nervously and with some confusion.
Gregory looked back at the meal, not wanting to eat or even touch anything. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious, but he was hungry, meaning he’d been out for at least a few hours. “I’m not hungry,” he lied as he stepped away from it.
“Her-Her majesty insists that you eat something,” the pony said with some worry. Probably self-worry, he thought.
“I’m not hungry,” he repeated stubbornly. His mind was racing, however. He knew he could only go a handful of days without water, and his canteen had been part of his belongings that had been confiscated from him.
“I-If the food i-isn’t to your liking, I c-can ask our cook t-to make something else,” she stammered.
“I’m not hungry,” he said once more, crossing his arms and giving her a look of disdain to emphasize his point.
“Understood, sir,” she said as she quickly picked up the tray and retreated. “I’ll let her majesty know,” she added before quickly opening the door and stepping through.
Gregory peeked through the door and for the briefest of moments he saw two larger ponies of a similar species to the maid standing on either side of said door. The door quickly shut, however, and he heard the distinctive sound of hooves quickly moving away.
Gregory ran a hand over his face, then decided to do some exploring. He first went to the bathroom, seeing that it had what looked like an iron tub, a toilet that looked like a Japanese squat toilet, and a sink. He tried the faucet, and to his delight and confusion, water came out of it. Clean water. He grabbed a small glass and filled it up, looking at it with curiosity and suspicion. He had no idea if even this water was tampered with, but while he could survive for a while without food, water was a necessity.
Putting the glass down on one side of the faucet, he walked over to a smaller window in the bathroom, pulling the curtains open. It was pitch black outside, and his eyes had to adjust to the darkness as he cupped his hands against the window, blocking the light from the bathroom’s own chandelier.
A few minutes later, he began seeing the outlines of an abandoned looking city with an arched rock ceiling high above. This led him to conclude that, wherever he was, he was underground. Most of the buildings were dark, but there were a handful near his window that were dimly lit with fires. He even thought he saw smoke stacks coming out from chimneys.
How the hell do they ventilate? he thought, wondering if that could be a means for him to escape. He quickly dismissed that idea, however, since the likely places for ventilation for carbon monoxide, if ponies even knew about that, would be high above in the rock ceiling.
Slowly, he backed away from the window and looked back at the room, his eyes once more adjusting to the light. His mind began to wander, wondering now what Majesty wanted with him. All he knew about her was from the My Little Pony UK comics from the 80s along with a few brief stories about her he’d learned from his mercenary travels. He had no idea what her voice sounded like but he didn’t know of any other pony who cast rhyming spells like that. Or who punished those she deemed as wrongdoers with such ironic punishments.
He was scared. Probably more scared than he had been in his life. He at least knew that Celestia and Luna were halfway decent ponies, if the candle the former had given him was any indication. He swallowed bile as he slowly walked into the other main room and collapsed into the chair again.
While sitting in the chair, he looked at the room in more detail now, noting how clean it was. The room even had a pleasant enough smell, some sort of floral scent. Gregory wasn’t sure, mostly because the only smell he knew was the dust from Thornfall. Most of the time, his face was covered in the weirdly futuristic mask he wore. The one that Tobias had found and given to him years ago. The one that filtered out nasty smells, enhanced his vision, modulated his voice to hide his identity, and more.
He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, which he hadn’t cut in the entire time since he’d gotten to Erda. It had become overgrown now, although he did his best to maintain it and wash it whenever he could with his dwindling supply of Earth shampoo and conditioner. Most of the time, however, he just ran some precious water through it to get the sweat, dirt and grime out of it.
Now, however, it felt like someone had washed it because its normal smell was gone, replaced with what might have been some sort of fruit scent. His skin was also clean, and his mouth also felt fresh. He shuddered, holding himself as it slowly dawned on him that he must have been washed while he was out. The very thought of someone seeing him naked filled him with revulsion. So much so that he had to get up quickly and run to the bathroom again, puking up what little remained in his stomach into the sink.
As he was rinsing his mouth out with water, making sure not to let any go down his throat, there was a solid knocking at the door. A male voice called in, “You’ve been summoned.”
Gregory spat out the remaining water in his mouth, then reached into his pocket for his white scarf. He almost wrapped it around his mouth and nose, but Majesty already knew what he looked like and was likely watching him at the moment. Instead, he tied the scarf around his neck like a necktie, put on his boots, realized with delight that the steel tips were still in them, and walked up to the door. “I’m here and ready,” he said with resignation as he put his hood over his head.
The two guards who were outside his door were larger and muscular ponies of the same race as the mare who had attempted to bring him food. Both had darker fur tones, but there was color there. He didn’t say anything more to them, and neither of them made conversation with him.
The halls they walked through were ornate and well-lit with torches on either side and candelabras above. There were ancient murals on the walls, most of which depicted ponies of the three tribes interacting with what looked like sea ponies and another type of pony which could fly but which had different types of wings from either the pegasi or whichever type of pony the guards and maid had been.
A part of him wanted to know what this meant, but he pushed those thoughts down. He had to focus more on the inevitable encounter with Majesty and on a way of getting out of this castle and back to the surface. He did his best to memorize the layout of the route to wherever he was going, but the ornate hallways all looked similar, the only discrepancy being the differences in either murals, tapestries, or the patterns on the walls.
The guards, as he assumed they were, led him to a set of golden double doors which opened as they approached. The guards stopped and took station on either side of the door. Left with no other choice, Gregory stepped through and the doors closed behind him, leaving him alone in the massive room.
The room he was in was obviously a throne room, judging from the raised dais and the empty chair on it, but there was no Majesty to be seen. He looked around, keeping his eyes peeled. The room was rather ornate, with statues of ponies on either side, paintings of noble looking ponies of every race, and even what he thought were stained glass windows lining the walls, each depicting some event. In a way, it reminded him of what Canterlot’s throne room looked like in the show, albeit older.
With nothing really to do, he wandered around each wall, looking at the pieces of ancient art. He didn’t know what the events being depicted were, but he guessed they had some sort of significance to pony history, or even prehistory. There were depictions of pony warriors, most being pegasi, coronations of unicorns for the most part, battles, forging of alliances, and more.
One painting, however, stood out to him as he approached it several minutes after entering the room. The painting stood out because the image on the screen was of a character he knew well from the show. Chrysalis. She had a look of sheer terror plastered on her face, her hooves pressed against the painting like she was actually on the other side of it, trying to get out. Her mouth was open, and he even saw what looked like tear stains on her chitin coated cheeks. In the background, Gregory saw a massive foot that was raised, as if to stomp down on her. A human foot.
As he stared at the painting for a few minutes, he noticed something odd about it. Not only was it the most realistic portrait he’d seen, but now Chrysalis’ eyes seemed to have shifted. Her wings had moved as well, and it appeared as if she was starting to look down at Gregory. He could even see a glimmer in her eyes: one of perhaps hope?
“She makes a magnificent art piece, does she not?” a gentle sounding feminine voice said seemingly from everywhere.
Gregory froze for a brief moment before forcing himself to relax. He couldn’t be too stiff. It would restrict his movements. He simply put his hands in his pockets so the tremble in them wouldn’t show. Taking on a look of detachment, he shrugged. “If you like moving portraits, you might as well watch Harry Potter,” he said.
There was a melodious giggling that came from the walls, and then the voice said, “I take it that is something only a human from your world and time would know about.”
The statue was then illuminated a bit more slightly from behind. Gregory turned and saw a mirror directly in front of the throne. There were swirling clouds forming on its surface. Stepping away from the painting of Chrysalis, but not before giving her a helpless gaze, he looked at the swirling mirror. Its frame was of solid gold, and the mirror itself was oval shaped, not like the more rectangular shape he knew of from a page in the British MLP comics. He stepped out onto the middle of the throne room floor, watching the swirling blue clouds on the enchanted mirror.
“Come closer,” the voice said, “it does not bite, and neither do I.”
Gregory almost replied with a snarky remark about her using her maybe not biting, but instead using her rhyming spells and magic to give ironic punishments to those she considered enemies or wrongdoers, but held his tongue. He slowly began approaching the mirror, which began to clear, and the image on the mirror showed a magnificent light pink castle with blue turrets. It was situated in the middle of a seemingly endless valley surrounded by picturesque snowcapped mountains. The castle was enormous and quite pristine, with flags on the turrets blowing in a static wind. There were many towers and a wall surrounding said castle.
As he stepped up the last step and looked through the mirror, he noted that the image beyond of said castle was altering itself to become more like a three-dimensional projection. Almost as if he was looking through a window instead of a mirror. He stepped from side to side slowly and saw the image beyond shift as such. He looked more closely at the massive castle before him. It had a large drawbridge despite there not being a moat there. There was also a large waterfall near the castle, and the mist from it cast a permanent rainbow over the castle. Were he not in danger, Gregory could appreciate its beauty and splendor.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” the voice said, only now it sounded like it came from behind him. Slowly, Gregory turned, and saw a tall, slender, and an actually sad looking pony walking up the stairs. Judging from the cutie mark of several stars, her mane and fur color, and the long, sharpened horn, this had to be the former Queen Majesty. Only, instead of being a unicorn like she was in the British comics, she had a pair of wings. Alicorn wings. Not only that, but her mane and tail were flowing in the very same way that Celestia’s had. She, like most ponies, didn’t wear much. There were four golden horseshoes on her hooves, a golden peytral around her neck and a gold tiara on her head which itself was studded with diamonds that seemed to glow with the light of stars.
He stepped aside so she could stand on the landing as well. He knew he had to play nice here. She wasn’t known as the most magical of ponies in the comics for nothing. When she joined him on the landing, he noted that she was a head taller than Celestia, and despite her youthful appearance, he got the sense that she was ancient. Which made sense if she was the same Majesty from the comics.
Turning back to the mirror, he nodded silently in agreement he looked back at what he now suspected was the real Dream Castle.She smiled. “It was my home and the home of many of my dear ponies for so long.” With a wave of her horn, the image on the screen began to move. The waterfall began to roar to life with an actual audible sound, a nearby river flowed serenely, clouds began to move, flags on the turrets began to fly in the wind, and more.
Before he could register what was happening, the mirror had lifted off of the ground and passed over both of them. Now he could actually feel the breeze on his face, and his loathes rustled in the wind. He could feel the sun and he had to remove his hood, letting his hair down. Looking back, he saw that the mirror was still there. He looked at her questioningly, and she gave him an amused smile. “This is one of my memories, my dear Gregory. Don’t be alarmed. We haven’t traveled through time and space.”
That didn’t make him feel any better, but he didn’t say anything as a new sound caught his attention. The sound of voices from the nearby river. Turning, he saw a group of ponies laughing and playing in the water. When Majesty turned to walk towards them, Gregory saw no choice but to follow her, so he walked up beside her, feeling the grassy terrain beneath his boots brushing over his legs.
When they reached the river where there was a cliff, he heard voices. “Look out, Twilight, here I goooo!”
Looking up, Gregory saw an earth pony jumping from the cliff to the other side, nearly missing another pony on the shores.
“Now it’s my turn!” the voice of a younger pony shouted. Looking up again, Gregory saw a pony without a cutie mark jumping over the falls, closing her eyes and beginning to fall. Out of nowhere, a pegasus flew and caught the filly before said filly could hit the shore. “Awww, I could’a made it,” the filly said.
Realizing what he was seeing, Gregory looked up and almost mouthed the words that Twilight was saying as she closed her eyes. “I wish…I wish…I wish…” The sound of magic being cast could be heard, her horn lit up, and she vanished in a flash of light, appearing on the shore behind a blue earth pony with pink mane and yellow ribbons.
“I’m going for the double inside out loop!” a voice called out from their right.
“But it’s dangerous, Firefly!” another voice called out.
“Danger is my life, Medley!” the apparition of Firefly called out.
As Firefly flew around rather recklessly, so much so that Gregory guessed that Rainbow Dash would be proud, Medley, now joined by Twilight and the smaller earth pony filly, watched in horror as Firefly came barreling down at them. “Firefly, look out!” Medley shouted as the brash pegasus barreled through them, heading towards an apple orchard where an earth pony was bucking apples.
When she saw Firefly flying fast towards her, the earth pony, who Gregory knew had to be Applejack, tried to rush out of the way, only to be caught in the collision, spreading squashed apples everywhere, their juices dripping all over both ponies. Everyone began laughing innocently at the ridiculous sight of Firefly with a basket on her head. “Applesauce, anyone?” Applejack asked with a wry smile.
That was when the canon he knew was shattered. “My dear ponies, whatever did you do to yourselves?” a familiar amused voice said from behind them.
Everyone, including Gregory and Majesty, turned to see who it was. A younger Majesty, with no wings and no flowing mane, stepped forward, her presence practically radiating regality. Everyone bowed to her, and the younger Majesty looked down on them with what Gregory guessed was a genuine smile. “Raise your heads, my dears,” she said before raising her horn and twirling it. Firefly, who by now had the basket removed thanks to help from Medley, along with Applejack, were now both clean of apple juices. The smashed apples were restored to their former state and placed back into the basket. She put a hoof to her mouth and tittered in amusement. “Firefly, are you being reckless again?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
Firefly looked sheepish and nodded. “Yes, your majesty,” she said.
The younger Majesty now giggled, then walked up and put a hoof on Firefly’s back. “Be more careful next time, alright?” she said warmly before stepping back and turning to Twilight, who was now sitting next to the gray filly who’s name Gregory couldn’t remember. “Twilight, I saw your teleporting spell just now. That is quite impressive,” she said to the bright pink unicorn.
Twilight smiled proudly and gave the younger Majesty a grateful smile. “Thank you, your majesty!”
Majesty then looked down at the young gray earth pony filly. “And you, Ember, you’re a brave filly for trying to jump, but you could have been hurt. Make sure you’re extra careful, alright?”
Ember slowly nodded, looking chastened. “Y-Yes, your majesty,” she said, sounding like a scolded child.
The younger Majesty chuckled. “No need to be afraid, my dear filly,” she said kindly, “I only wish for you to remain safe, but I won’t discourage you from having fun. Remember, dear one, in Ponyland, you are under my protection.”
Ember looked up, smiling a bit. “Thank you, your majesty,” she said, the tremor having gone out of her voice.
Majesty chuckled, then turned to the other gathered ponies. “I have an announcement to make. I will be leaving Dream Castle for a week to travel to Flutter Valley. There appears to be some sort of dispute over there that I would like to help settle.” Gregory noted that this didn’t seem to bother the ponies, although some had a look that Gregory read as ‘Not again’.
The alicorn Majesty raised her horn, and the scene shifted. The sun moved in its arc, and it was now early evening. Ponies were still frolicking, and Ember was lying next to Twilight on the shores. “This is a memory I recovered from young Twilight,” the older Majesty explained.
Ember watched as a yellow butterfly flew past her, then said, “Twilight, will I ever fly like Firefly or Medley?”
Twilight chuckled. “No, Ember. Not all little ponies can fly.”
“Will I jump far like Bow Tie or disappear like you can?” Ember asked, nuzzling up to Twilight.
“Ember, you’ll grow up to be your own special little pony,” Twilight said as she nuzzled Ember back.
Clouds suddenly appeared. Gregory and the alicorn Majesty watched as Dream Valley was raided and two ponies were captured by Scorpan and the stratadons. Gregory looked over to Majesty, and saw that she was shedding angry tears. Looking over to Gregory, he saw what appeared to be true sorrow. “I was not there for my dear ponies,” she said.
The scene shifted again, and now they were standing in a dark and dismal looking hallway. Scorpan was walking down the corridor with a bright pink dragon with green spines talking to him. Gregory simply watched as a darker version of the events of Rescue at Midnight Castle played out before him. Some major differences did pop out, such as Megan not being a pre-teen, but a twenty-year-old college student living at home to save living expenses. Majesty switched between memories, playing the story out like it was some sort of play.
The event at the end, however, was interrupted by the arrival of Queen Majesty. Scorpan had just been turned back into a human prince, something that further surprised Gregory. Majesty had greeted the prince as an old friend, warmly embracing him before she turned a sharp gaze at Tirac, who had actually survived his brush with the Rainbow of Light. She strode up, eyes full of rage. “You have dared to harm my dear ponies,” she said darkly, “and you even took a filly! For that, you shall be severely punished!” Raising her horn, it began to glow.
“As once thee
turned our ponies to brutes,
“so shall thee be transformed.
“For trying our ponies lives to uproot
“as a snake, thou shalt be scorned.”
The centaur screamed in rage as magic surrounded him. Soon, Tirac had been changed into a harmless but angry looking green garden snake. Megan walked up and picked the snake up by the tail. It tried to bite her, but since it was nothing but a harmless garden snake, its bites did nothing. The young adult held it up. “Looks like he won’t be flying anywhere anytime soon,” she said with a smirk as she dropped the now snake Tirac. The ponies around, along with the human prince and young baby dragon Spyke, all laughed at that as Tirac slithered away.
The scene faded, and suddenly they were standing just in front of the mirror. Majesty turned away, gazing at a certain statue that Gregory had somehow missed. Walking up, she put a hoof on the pedestal. Gregory looked closer and saw that it was a stone statue of three humans, one of which was clearly Megan. The carver had given her a heart shaped necklace, clearly the Rainbow of Light. As he joined her, she spoke. “You humans are remarkable creatures. My dear ponies and I owe yours for our very existence, but how do we repay you? With a knife in the back!”
She whirled on him, a look of anger on her face which slowly disappeared only to be replaced with contrition. “For that, I cannot apologize enough. The current ponies here have fallen far because of their so-called growth. They achieved harmony, yes, but the inward hostility was only redirected outwards.” She began pacing back and forth, clearly upset. “Equestria may have treaties with other nations, but only because thanks to Discord’s ancient meddling with the natural order of things, two alicorns had to be uplifted to move the world, and in their hubris they became rulers of Equestria.”
Gregory didn’t respond. He knew better than to interrupt someone as powerful as her. She took a deep breath and sighed, her mane and tail movements slowing down to their natural flow. “I must give her credit,” she continued, “Celestia had managed to keep her little ponies safe for a long time. But she has become complacent and unwilling to look past hers and her own ponies failures. Luna is no better, although to her credit, she is not as far removed as Celestia.”
Majesty stood up straighter and faced him once more. “I, however, am neither of those fools. They treat their subjects like foals, afraid of hurting their feelings. Daniel Williams once told me a human saying: spare the rod, spoil the child. Celestia and Luna have not disciplined their ponies enough. In fact, there is a place I am aware of that has escaped punishment for their crimes.” Raising her horn again, a purple swirling vortex appeared in front of her. Turning to Gregory, she motioned him to come forward. “I am unable to teleport you by normal means, so we must use this.”
Gregory walked forward and looked at the vortex warily, but he couldn’t see any reason for Majesty to want him dead after going to the trouble of bringing him to wherever here was. Jason could be harmed by lightning, and if she wanted him dead, she could have killed him with a deadly bolt of lightning. Taking a silent breath, he grabbed his hood and was about to put it over his head when Majesty said “No, leave your hood off. Where we are going, you won’t need to hide your face.” Gregory didn’t argue, instead dropping his hands to his side. She gestured for him to go through first, so he steeled himself and did just that.
The passage was instantaneous, and he went from being in a darkened throne chamber to a bright sunlit day just outside of a small town. A pony town. A very familiar looking pony town. Dodge City, he thought with fear. Not fear of the ponies in town, although there was some there, but more so it was fear for them.
“I knew you would recognize it,” Majesty said, walking out of the portal to stand beside him. “Come, follow me.”
Left with no choice, Gregory walked beside her as they both entered the town. It was just as he remembered it, a frontier town with plenty of structures that reminded him of the American West. Just as before, ponies were walking down the streets, talking to each other and generally enjoying the warm summer day. Gregory felt himself growing warm already. His mysterious high-tech mask that Majesty had torn off of him had kept him cool despite being layered, and he was missing it already, but he pushed those useless thoughts aside. Best to focus on what I can control, he thought, which at the moment wasn’t much.
They were just starting to enter the town when a pony stallion wearing a Stetson looked over and spotted the newcomers. His eyes widened in fear and he gasped. This caught the attention of a couple of mares nearby and they both looked up, eyes widening as well. The two walked through the main street of town, earning looks of terror from the ponies, who by now were going quiet.
When they reached the middle of town, Majesty suddenly stopped and looked up. Gregory followed her gaze, only to see four chiropterans pulling a magnificent dark blue chariot. Sitting in it was none other than Princess Luna herself. Majesty stood tall and proud as Luna landed in the square, quickly dismounting and facing Majesty. “Hello, there,” Majesty said, giving Luna a disapproving look.
Luna paused when she saw Majesty, but her eyes widened when she saw Gregory. “What in Equestria…?” She then turned to Majesty. “Who are you? What do you wish of this town?”
Majesty’s eyes narrowed. “To do what you and your failure of a sister cannot: punish the guilty for their crimes.”
“We shall not allow thee to harm our little ponies,” Luna said with gritted teeth, raising her horn threateningly.
“They were my dear ponies before you or your sister were even a twinkle in your parents’ eyes,” Majesty retorted, bringing up her own horn. “Your time and that of your sister will come, but not yet.” From her horn, a massive purple shield began to form, moving outwards and passing over other ponies. However, it hit Luna and her entourage, sending them flying out of the town. Ignoring Luna now, Majesty turned and faced the crowd of petrified ponies who were watching. “I take it everybody here remembers this human.” She gestured to Gregory. “The one you all cruelly chased out of town into a desert to die when all he wanted to do was to befriend you. Does that sound familiar to you ponies?”
The ponies looked to each other, terror plastered on their faces. As they did this, Luna was blasting at the purple shield with her magic. “Whoever you are, don’t take justice into your hooves!” she shouted.
Majesty looked up at Luna, her gaze now cold and steely. “I have seen your so-called justice, Luna,” she said darkly, “and it is quite clear to me that you need a refresher. I want to protect my ponies too, but they have rejected everything that made us a truly harmonious race.” She looked down at the townsponies. “This harmony you claim exists is a false imitation of the one during my reign. And I intend to show you what happens to ponies who abuse other species, especially a human to whom we owe our very existence!”
As Majesty was raising her horn, the various ponies in town began to panic and tried to escape the barrier, but it didn’t work. Some even bucked at the shield, which only served to injure them. Once they realized they couldn’t escape, they began begging for mercy and apologizing to Gregory over and over.
For Gregory, this was too much. He dared to act, reaching over and putting a hand on Majesty’s shoulder. “Don’t do this, please,” he said, finally daring to speak.
She paused what she was doing, looking back at him, and giving him a warm smile. “I knew you could speak,” she said, “and I won’t stop. How else will they learn?”
Gregory was suddenly surrounded by a bright purple shield. He watched helplessly as Majesty resumed raising her horn. As Luna tried to break through the shield, Gregory could only watch in horror as Majesty began to chant.
“You ponies have all lost your sight,
“your hearts have turned as dark as night,
“so now I will open your eyes.”
“You think you can hide your inner disdain,
“but now it’s time that you became
“the monster that you so despise.”
Gregory had to shield his eyes from the bright light that surrounded the town but soon had to cover his ears from the mixture of the intense sound of magic being cast along with the screams of terror that he knew would haunt his dreams for years. He fell to his knees, eyes tightly shut and hands covering his ears as the noise and light increased until it suddenly all stopped. Slowly, he opened his eyes and removed his hands from his ears before shakily standing and looking around. The shield around him was gone now, and the town was covered in mist. The shield around the town was also gone, as he heard the flapping of wings landing nearby and Luna’s voice calling out, “What hast you done??”
Gregory turned to begin to run, but Majesty appeared beside him, giving him a look of worry, although said look only sent shivers down Gregory’s spine. “I do apologize for the noise and light,” she said as she turned and gazed into the mist with a look of disgust on her face, “but this took much more magic than usual. Here, let me clear the mist.”
As she waved her horn, the mist cleared, revealing the town once more. Along with many collapsed forms lying on the ground. Some were starting to come to and sitting up, looking around in confusion. However, instead of ponies, Gregory saw that every single pony in town had been transformed into stratadons.
Luna was looking around in horror at the scene before her. She turned slowly to face Majesty, her eyes becoming slitted and her canines sharpening. “Release them from this curse!” she demanded as the first transformed pony began crying out in alarm and fear which only sounded like monstrous roaring.
“A curse?” Majesty repeated as she cast the portal spell again. “These ponies nearly caused the death of Gregory here. I merely turned their inner ugliness inside out so that everybody could see it. This is a blessing more than a curse. Knowing you, nothing of substance would have been done to punish their crimes. No, you would have pushed them aside as the embarrassment that they are, just like your oh-so kind sister pushed Ponyville aside. You and your sister had years to make ‘your little ponies’ understand, but little has changed. But things will change. The shadows will fall before the dawn of the age of majesty.” With that, the portal fast approached her and Gregory, passing through them, but not before Gregory gave Luna a plaintive look and mouthed one word to her. He had seen her expression begin to change before she vanished, along with the rest of the town.
Luna watched them go, still in shock at what had just happened. She had come to Dodge City to discover what had happened in town, but had instead met an alicorn she didn’t know along with a human who was apparently captive of said alicorn. Now, she and her entourage of four chiropterans were surrounded by ponies who had been changed to some unusual race of creatures she’d never seen before. Creatures who were now in distress.
Turning to her entourage, she pointed to the fastest chiropteran. “Fly back to Canterlot with all haste and bring reinforcements from the Lunar Guard,” she ordered. “As for the rest of you, with me. We must calm these ponies.”
As the chiropterans followed orders, Luna’s mind went back to the human she’d just seen. She was no expert on human emotional expressions, but if she had to guess, the look on his face was a mix of fear, sorrow, and grim determination. He had given her a solitary glance as the mystery alicorn had moved the portal through them. One word.
“Help.”
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Ironic that Majesty did the very thing Tirac did to others via his Rainbow Of Darkness.
Turning those into stratadons.
Why turn the ponies into dinosaurs?
11912489
Humans are the reason those ponies weren't born as stratodons in the first place. In her mind, I think Majesty is simply revoking that blessing as punishment. That, and with all the trauma involved it's probably genuinely the ugliest form she can think of.
Get fucketh'd, Dodge Junction.
11912579
I almost made her turn the ponies into magicless humans in a similar style to Equestria Girls, but then I decided on those other monsters because Majesty has a high opinion of humans thanks to the Williams siblings.
11912582
Speaking of Equestria Girls
What do you think about it?
11912583
It's a fun little side story. The shorts are pretty cool.
11912585
I like the concept
But really despised Spike being a dog and the whole "dragons are dogs because they aren't ponies" bs.
Its a whole can of worms they knocked open and did damage to Spike even in fanworks.
11912589
I don't especially like that either, especially since the three diamond dogs got to be humans. Albeit dirty human teens who Rarity manipulated into carrying her grand piano through the school.
11912591
That right there added salt to Spike's wounds.
He gets labled as a lower pet but apparently Diamond DOGS are humans instead of D O G S?
By that logic, Winona can't be a dog in EQG here.
In fact the thing with Winona in general put even more bullets into the logic's skull regarding Spike having to be a dog.
11912600
Goes to show that Hasbro is more interested in merchandising than storytelling. If they bothered to compromise a balance of the story and it's merchandise, we'd have the characters getting the development they needed while encouraging the customers to do the same.
11912614
Its so frustrating that many crossover fics with EQG leaves Spike out due to he HAS to be a dog apparently and can't get to transform into human at least.
I mean no offense to authors, but its not a damn taboo to let Spike be human if him being a dog prevents him from being included with the Rainbooms' fun/powers.
Gregory has to be VERY careful with what he does. He's weaponless, underequipped, and ANY of the natives can pummel him into paste without thinking.
The weed of hatred bears bitter fruit. Prejudice does not pay... Her Majesty knows!
Gotta say, I'm really loving Majesty as a character. Seems a bit of a Ra's al Ghul type of character who is willing to take extremist Old Testament style measures for the sake of what she believes to be the greater good. Not really sure how she can be countered aside from the anti-scrying spell trick and Gregory's anti magic properties, and even with all of that she still has the upper hand. Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.
11912644
Nice Shadow reference.
This is a very entertaining and nostalgic take on previous-generation content. Very notably nostalgic for Majesty.
The fact that it references material that aired so long ago IRL really strengthens the "living legend" feel of Majesty and her memories of the Williams, the previous-gen Mane Six(Five?), and the "bygone age" ambiance of her castle, complete with previous-gen pony races (flutterponies, I think).
Majesty feels like a sympathetic, understandable, but tragic character. I absolutely get what she's going for and why she's going for it, and it makes perfect sense.
It's just so sad that it's built on trying to recapture the "magic" of a time that has passed and is gone.
I think she's missing the point of the Williams' adventures and sacrifices, seemingly venerating the very idea of humans in general and her lost kingdom of pony-human cooperation specifically.
Her very castle is a monument to the past but hidden in the ruins of the past, still not restored after all this time.
I can't help but feel that her denial of the realities of the present and refusal to look forwards to a different future will prove significant, perhaps even inviting her downfall like so many well-intentioned villains/anti-villains before her.
Good stuff, author.
Also, what the heck, what are you doing there, Chryssie?
Should be interesting to learn just what motivates Majesty underneath her immediate “why, I’m only here to set things straight!” facade and where she even came from now all of a sudden. I mean, if she’d been around to pay attention to Equestria even just a few years ago, Jason would presumably still be alive in this timeline and she’d have started to deliver her lectures that much sooner...so what the foxtrot happened there, I wonder?
Also,
11912822
Doing what she can to chill out after her punishment back in chapter 6, I imagine. I do hope there’s eventually a way to get her back; not only would I consider this kind of punishment too harsh for even Canon!Chrysalis (of course, that kind of seems to be Majesty’s trademark at least right now...), but if she’s closer to some of the more sympathetic Endingverse depictions in particular, she may actually be quite redeemable and Queen M just didn’t bother to even look at that option (which, again, rather seems to fit her MO -- I can’t help but wonder how fond her ponies really were of her even back in the day if she was anywhere close to her current self back then).
Not gonna lie, I actually got shivers when I read this. This part captured the same sense of horror and fear I felt when I was a kid and played Luigi's Mansion for the first time. When I got to the scene of Luigi stumbling across Mario trapped in the painting banging against the frame from the inside and screaming to get out. I'm curious about the human foot part though. Is another person trapped in the painting with her or did Majesty trap Chrysalis inside there with that being part of the painting.
I'm glad Majesty is teaching those ponies a lesson. Totally agree with her logic. Too bad Gregory isn't more on board with it.
Gregory could go visit different towns in Equestria to see what kind of reception he gets. Majesty could watch from her mirror, and punish them if they were being xenophobic to him.
I think Celestia and Luna has their heart in the right place, but they have been far too lax in their approach to fix things. How can you be sure your ponies aren't being a bunch of xenophobes unless you test them? Hopefully Majesty will set them straight.
As you sow, so shall you reap. The question is, was it justice or just draconian?
I have a feeling Majesty plans on keeping our protagonist in a very nice Gilded Cage, in the best case scenario… but for some reason I’m getting much worst vibes from how she’s written here. Considering I was already correct about her parenting with the belt or rather the “rod” in this case. Just gonna say, I love what the author has done with this classic character, I’m curious what her plans are, cause I feel that turning a town into monsters is barely a warmup….
11913755
I agree, even if Queen Majesty might seem like a "antagonist".
The ponies in Dodge Junction STILL had it coming. Just like with Spoiled Milk by trying to kill freaking children like CMC and her own daughter!!!
And I do agree with Majesty's standpoint that both Celestia and Luna are being too soft by not fixing this xenophobic problem for years by this point.
I don't know why the hell Gregory is just so "forgiving" to the xenophobic/racist jerks that ALMOST KILLED him all of a sudden!?
Makes sense if a PART of him is kind of glad to see them all suffer, at least. At least that's realistic, and for being human. Instead of the over cliche "I easily forgive you all, despite you all trying to kill me" all of a sudden.
11912582
I think turning them to humans would've been a good way to both punish them and force them to integrate humans at the same time if you're going for ironic punishment. They get transformed into the "monsters" they thought he was and at the same time Equestria would have to actually integrate a bunch of humans.
Turning them into beasts who can't communicate will probably only give Equestria more reason to view her and her lackey human as a monster, and this time for good reason. Sure, the alicorns know that he isn't a lackey, but everyone else is just going to know the rogue duo who did this to these poor foals' parents.
11918136
11918700
I agree. That way, it'll give the story the interesting challenge of a darker gray versus white.