Stranger Things Have Happened

by Mulldragon

A Divine Dinner

As I followed Shining Armor out the door I went back to thinking over my situation. Celestia seemed to be showing a lot of caution with her sister. First off it seems this Luna had to ‘insist upon it’ in order to have this meeting with me. Second she has no problem being in the same room as me with my enchantments on but asks me to leave them behind to meet Luna. Finally, sending a not only three guards but one of them being captain just to escort me to dinner? No, I don’t think that is the full extent of their assignment. As we continued walking I took note of the guard’s positions. The captain was in front of me leading the way while the pegasi were on either side and slightly behind me. The guards behind me were obviously meant to keep an eye on me from behind and leap into action should I try anything while the Captain remains just outside of my reach so, were I not a mage, I would be unable to harm him without at least a moment’s notice for the guards behind me. I was willing to bet that was all they would need.

“So, I assume you three gentlemen will be staying through the dinner?” I asked with a small grin. Judging from the way the guards paused for a moment as I asked, no more than a fraction of a second but enough for a trained eye to see, I had guessed right.

Shining Armor spoke from in front of me without turning his head “And what makes you think that?”

“Well, for one the fact that three guards is a little much to escort anyone other than royalty Especially when one of them happens to be the captain.”

“We could just be worried that you are going to try to escape along the way.”

“Well, there’s also the fact that she seems to be taking great caution with her sister.”

“How so?” He actually cast a glance back at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly when he said this.

“Oh, where to start?” I asked with a dry laugh “First, she makes me leave behind all of my magic items when she knows exactly what each one does. I mean, sure the staff and robe might be best to leave but my gloves? my spell components? The gloves only resist heat and the components won’t do me much good when the magic of this effectively cuts me off from the power that supports all of my others.” I said with an increasing amount of agitation until all three guards stopped to glare at me. When I calmed down I continued “Second, there is the fact that her letter said that her sister had to insist she met me, implying that she didn’t want her meeting me in the first place and only does so reluctantly.” I sighed to myself as my first reason came back to mind with another reasoning behind it. “I also have a theory that makes me think all of this caution should be unnecessary for Celestia but I don’t know much about her sister. All in all this adds up to scream one of two things at me. Either this caution is unnecessary and Celestia is just an overprotective sister, or something has recently happened that makes these extra security measures warranted.”

Shining cast another questioning glance at me “What theory would this be now?”

“That is something you will have to wait and hear at the dinner.” I said with a mischievous grin.

“I never actually said we were going to be staying in there with you. What makes you so certain we are?”

As he asked this I we rounded a corner down a short hall that ended at a large double-door flanked by two unicorn guards. As we approached they recognized their captain and the doors began to glow along with their horns. As we got close and the doors began to swing open I finally answered Shining’s question

“You said could”

And while the guards stopped in confusion at my vague statement I continued on through the still opening door...

… and immediately stopped as I took in my surroundings. I had walked through the room came into view and the word ‘massive’ came to mind. This room was huge, obviously meant to hold large gatherings of ponies but both it and, now that I thought about it, the hallways seemed to be clear of all but guards. Speaking of guards, they were the second thing I noticed. There were a LOT of guards. the entire wall was lined with guards fully armored and carrying spears while pegasi guards sat perched on wall platforms ringing the room at a space of possibly thirty or so feet apart, each holding what appeared to be crossbows modified to be used by hoof. All in all this added up to approximately 70-80 guards all armed and looking ready for a fight.

My first thought was of a trap and I immediately reached out for the ley lines. Then I noticed that the guards on the ground held their spears vertically rather than at the ready and while the crossbows were loaded they weren't trained on me. Well, most of them weren’t, some ponies were suspicious of the new strange being and, despite the stoicism of the others, were obviously ready to shoot me down without a moment’s hesitation. However, these ponies were few and far between so i was able to settle down a little and release my hold on the energy I was preparing myself to throw at them.

Now that my initial reaction was out of the way I took a moment to really observe the room. It was indeed large, some kind of feast hall of some sort perhaps? This assumption was supported by the two long feast style tables in the center of the room. The walls held, aside from guards, various wall hangings and paintings while there were a few scattered decorative pillars along the wall as well. There were various stained glass windows depicting scenes of ponies eating, playing, and generally being merry. The room was well lit by a couple of chandeliers radiating light from above, obviously from an enchantment as there were no candles visible. One of the two tables sat empty while the other had various plant based foods lining about an eigth of it’s length. still easily a feast to the eyes of most. And at the head of this table sat two ponies. One of the ponies was Celestia looking just the same as she had before, right down to the flowing mane and tail and looking at me with an unreadable expression. The other pony I assumed to be the one I had come to speak with, Luna.

She was quite different from Celestia. For starters she was midnight blue as opposed to Celestia’s alabaster white. Second was the fact, while Celestia’s mane never seemed to sit still and had a variety of bright colors, Luna’s looked to be a normal, mostly straight mane colored powder blue. Third Luna seemed to be much smaller than Celestia. Finally, Luna was staring at me suspiciously. Both of them however, had wings and a horn and they both had a look about them that they were used to being listened to and that there was a very good reason about it. All of this combined with the possibility that my theory was correct and I was quite intimidated.

Despite this though, I never lost my composure. I walked out into the room from the doorway with my gaze straight pointed straight at the princesses and an even and leisurely pace. As I approached the table I heard the sound of some ponies walking into the room, likely the three that brought me here, and the large doors closing behind them. When I was only a few paces from the table I decided showing these ponies a bit of extra respect might not be a bad idea and I swept an elegant bow.

“Good evening princesses. I am Yetagain, currently displaced necromancer and adventurer from the world of Eberron.” I straightened from my bow and looked up at them, noticing that Luna’s expression had become slightly sullen when I mentioned necromancy. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at my sudden politeness, “My, you’ve had quite the change in attitude.”

I gave her a deadpan stare “Well excuse me for thinking that a more official meeting in front of a small army of guards ready to shoot me down calls for a little more ceremony than being interrogated naked in a doorless room.” as if to emphasize my point, but more likely because they didn’t like my tone, a few of the guards raised their crossbows and took aim.

“That wasn’t an interrogation. That was a polite conversation.”

I grinned and pointed at her for a moment “Ah, but a smart interrogator knows when to use force and when to coax out the information with kindness.”

“... Point.” she lifted a glass of what I assumed was wine in her magic and took a drink then gestured to a chair on her side of the table, noticeably a good distance from Luna. “Please, have a seat and help yourself to some food.”

I took the offered seat and looked at the food spread out in front of me. It was quite the variety of choices and I was sure every last one of them was of fine quality. There was only one problem. Every last one of them was made with some kind of flower or grass product. Turning my attention away from the food I looked up at Luna to see why she had been so quiet and saw that she was still staring at me but her glare seemed to hold a bit of... curiosity. After a few seconds of this she spoke...

“ART THOU NOT GOING TO PARTAKE IN THE MEAL?” … in the most ear shattering, mountain moving voice I had ever heard, sending a few of the lighter dishes blowing across the room.

I ducked my head and threw my hands over my ears and I was just barely able to hear Celestia speak over that and the ringing “Lulu, there is no need for the royal Canterlot voice.”

Luna ducked her head a little sheepishly at her sister’s words “We apologize human, We have been... away for a thousand years. It is difficult to rid ourselves of old ways.”

I raised an eyebrow at this but chose to leave that alone for now. Knowing her past wouldn’t help me much if any. “It is quite alright. Old habits die hard. And please, call me Yeta. And as for your question, humans can’t eat most kinds of flowers.” I looked around the room, seeing the guards entirely unfazed by Luna’s outburst and finally asked the question that had been on my mind for a while now. “So, what’s with the... extra protection?”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak but Luna beat her to it. “Our sister appears to believe We cannot defend ourselves in Our current state.” She said this with an annoyed glance at the white princess.

“Now Lulu, it’s not that I don’t think you can handle yourself it’s just that I don’t want to take any chances so soon after getting you back.” She said while putting a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.

“We know sister. We just believe that this,” She gestured to the squad of protectors. “ is a little excessive.”

Celestia looked around the room as if just noticing exactly how many guards she had stationed here and then it was her turn to look sheepish “Perhaps this is a little... over the top.”

I gave a dismissive wave of my hand and tried to redirect the conversation towards a more useful topic. “It’s fine, no reason to dismiss them after they've already been stationed and I can’t honestly say I wouldn't do the same in your situation.” I leaned forward and steepled my fingers in front of me on the table “Now, if you would be so kind as to answer a few questions I may be able to find a quick way out of your hair and back to my home.” I raised an eyebrow at them “Unless, you happen to know a way to travel.”

Celestia was about to say something before she was, again, interrupted by Luna.

“THOU DOTH NOT KNOW’ST A WAY HOME?!”

I had to rub my ears again as she slipped back into her “old ways” but managed to hear Celestia’s next words

“If you don’t know a way to travel between worlds then how did you get here?” She asked, seemingly unfazed by the sudden increase in volume from the pony by her side.

“I know a method of travel, just not an easy or quick one.” I looked at them and was surprised to find that they were wearing confused expressions “I thought you read my mind, how do you not already know all of this?”

Celestia spoke this time, still seeming confused by this conversation “We were only able to find certain things about your adventures and various exploits, the rest we assumed to be behind those mental barriers you’ve set up.”

“Hmm, that’s odd I didn’t originally shield that much of my memory. I suppose the enchantment is just developing over time. I’d wager that in another few centuries my entire mind may be shielded beyond access. Quite interesting indeed.” I shook myself for a moment to refocus my mind on the matter at hand “Anyway, if you didn’t find it in your reading then I suppose I have to explain myself. I spent about thirty years developing a ritual to travel outside of my universe and managed to figure it out but required a weak point in the world’s barriers. I eventually managed to find this in a point where my world had collided with another, that’s a story for another time, and stepped through. However, I did not take into account the difficulty of traversing the Aether and was swept away from my world. Long story short I got lost and some strange pulse of energy polychromatic energy pulled me into this world.” At the mention of the energy the princesses cast a knowing look at eachother but I ignored this in favor of continuing my tale.

“Everything from that point on you know but while I was in the Aether I lost my bag containing my ritual components. This normally wouldn’t cause me any problems as I usually just carry the more common materials but the materials for the traveling were exceptionally rare and took me a few years to pull together. And on top of all of that, the ritual requires a good deal of power to perform, power that I seem unable to access at this time.” At this point I leaned back in my chair and took a sip from a wine glass that I had absentmindedly picked up throughout the conversation “In short, i know a way to leave your world but it requires materials that would take me years to gather, if they exist in this world, and power beyond me. And even if I can gather these things and get the power, I still need a weak point in the barrier and a way to navigate that great flowing void of energy known as the Aether.”

When I was finished the sisters looked at each other again and I contented myself with draining the last of the wine in my glass. While alcohol was unable to physically affect me, the ritual of sipping some wine has become something of a habit in times of stress for me and can sometimes help me take my mind off of my problems. While I was doing this Celestia leaned in to whisper something I couldn't hear to Luna. When she was finished Luna shook her head and told her “Even if that is correct, We can not let him leave yet.”

I leveled a cold stare at Luna as she said this “So, you intend to keep me from returning home? Well, you already know that you won’t be the first to try to confine me and you can see how well they did.”

Luna turned her and equally cold gaze at me “Art thou threatening us, necromancer?”

I leaned forward and laid one hand over the other on the table. I looked right at Luna with a smile that I know never reached my eyes “Oh heavens, no! I would never think of threatening hosts as hospitable as you have been.” I dropped all pretense of smiling and returned to a steely glare “I am merely giving you fair warning that if you threaten me then even your...” I took a quick glance around the room, thoroughly reassessing the situation in my mind “... 56 guards, 30 archers, and the pegasus hiding above me in the rafters may prove to be insufficient.”

A gasp echoed throughout the ranks of, to this point, stoic guards as I said the previously mentioned pegasus dropped down next to me with a look of utter shock on his face. Even the princesses seemed surprised at what I had said.

The pegasus was colored a slightly darker blue than Luna and wore what looked to be a lighter version of the armor the guards were wearing made out of a leather like material and not quite so lustrous appearance, perfect for stealth, and his mane was a lighter blue, still much darker than Luna’s mane, with one part of it having a silvery color. His tail was of a similar color with the silver at the end. He appeared to be wearing horseshoes with what looked like retractable claws on his forehooves and normal horseshoes on his rear hooves, or at I couldn't see any claws on them.

After a few seconds of stunned silence this pony all but shouted in my ear. “How in Celestia’s name did you know I was there!? I haven't been spotted while hiding since basic training, yet you just sit here and casually mention that you knew exactly where I was!” Using Celestia’s name like that, yet more proof for my theory and almost nothing to disprove it.

“It is quite simple.” I said as I reached for the ley lines and sent a tiny, precision aimed burst of force energy into each of his clawed horseshoes, activating the mechanism to retract the claws. I continued over his heightened shock “You are not the first assassin I have dealt with and you won’t be the last.” I kept a perfectly level expression throughout this statement and seemed on the outside to be calm and confident of the situation. On the inside however, I was terrified. Not only was there a ridiculous number of guards ready to leap into action at any moment but also I doubted I could do much more channeling after that little stunt with his claws. On top of this there was the fact that, if my theory was true, I was in the presence of two entities that could easily destroy me on a whim.

The pegasus’s next words were shouted as well but in a more challenging tone “Oh, I may not be the first but I can make sure I am the last!” With that his claws came out again and he got ready to take a step toward me when Celestia’s voice halted him.

“Lieutenant Nightshade Dust, restrain yourself!”

Dust immediately retracted his claws, turned towards Celestia, and went into a deep bow “My apologies your majesty. I let my shock and anger control me.”

“See that is doesn't happen again.” With that said she turned back to me. “As for you. Threats, even suggested ones, made against us won’t be taken kindly.”

“That is understood Princess, I was simply informing your sister that I feel the same way about being threatened.”

“We were not suggesting that we wish to contain you within our world, only that we are going to be restraining you to the castle until we are sure we can trust you.” Seeing that I was about to protest, Celestia continued “You can help speed that process along by answering our questions as we are answering yours.” She then turned to Luna and her expression softened “Sister, I know you just came back from a bad experience, but that doesn't mean that you should be so suspicious of Yetagain for his use of dark magic.”

“Fine” Luna and I both said in unison, though Luna spoke much more reluctantly.

“I propose that I explain parts of my past to you and you tell me about this incident you keep referring to.” At this Luna’s gaze fell and she closed her eyes as if remembering something painful. From what I had heard so far, she probably was. “And after that you can keep me in this castle for as long as you like so long as it doesn’t prevent me from getting home.”

The sisters looked at each other for a moment before nodding. “We can agree to this, so long as you continue to answer questions we may have throughout your stay and we will answer yours.” Celestia looked around the room before continuing “Though, let us discuss this somewhere a little more... private.” With that she and Luna stood up and Celestia turned two ponies on turn, calling their names as she did so “Shining Armor, Nightshade Dust, come with us please. And Captain Armor, select another guard to bring as well.”

The mentioned ponies snapped a salute before moving over to the princesses sides. Armor called out to another pony as he walked by “Lieutenant Brightblade, front and center.” A unicorn stepped out of the line of ponies at the wall and snapped a salute in front of Shining Armor. The unicorn looked no different from the other guards aside from the fact that he carried a greatsword rather than a spear.

I stood up and fell in line behind the five ponies as they began to walk towards a door on the back wall, opposite from the one I came in at. As we walked Celestia dismissed the rest of the guards in the room.

As we walked I turned toward Nightshade “So, an assassin with a rank huh? never thought i’d see the day.”

He kept his gaze directly ahead of him as he answered “Why are you so sure i’m an assassin and not just a stealth operative?”

“As I said, you aren't the first assassin I've dealt with.” I gave him a mischievous grin despite the fact that he wasn't looking at me “And there’s also the fact that you all but confirmed it in your little outburst.”

Shining Armor saw that Nightshade was starting to get a little aggravated already and stepped in before I sent him into another outburst. “His rank is just for show, he really only answers to me, the princesses, and his brother.”

I raised an eyebrow at this “Wow, your rather forthcoming with your information.”

“If I didn’t answer you then you would ask the princesses anyways so this just saves time.”

“I suppose that’s true.” I turned back to Nightshade “So, who is your brother to have as much authority as the captain of the guard and the princesses?”

“My brother, Sterling Dust, is kinda like the princess’s advisor, assistant, and spokespony. He advises the princesses and deals with minor incidents or events that the princesses can’t attend.”

“Then why isn’t he here? This seems like the kind of situation where an advisor would be called in.”

“He is out dealing with an issue in Manehatten.”

I would have commented on the name of the town but it was at this time that we arrived at our destination. We stood in front of an intricately designed door with gold and silver inlays at the end of a long hallway that lead to the feast hall we came from with a couple of simple wooden doors along the hall.

Princess Celestia’s horn glowed and the door opened revealing a room much smaller than the previous one though still quite large. It contained a few wall hangings similar to those in the feast hall and had a couple of simple windows to let in sunlight. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room with a few candles in it that seemingly lit on their own as we walked to brighten the room. Beneath the chandelier was a moderately sized wooden table polished to a shine with two chairs placed next to it. All in all the room was about as simple as you could get when dealing with royalty and contained little extravagance. I assumed this to be the personal dining chambers of the princesses.

Celestia’s horn glowed again and four more chairs appeared around the table. We all took a seat and the princesses prompted me to begin my tale.

I told them about my past, back when I was alive. I was born to a family of famous adventurers and followers of the Silver Flame, a deity that strongly opposes demons and opposes undead almost as strongly. I was born with an inherent knack for the arcane that my family took notice of and I began schooling to become a mage. During this training I developed my skills in all schools of magic but in secret I was fascinated with necromancy and had an especially strong talent for it. I hid this talent for years for fear of persecution but all things must end and my charade was no different.

One day I was put in a situation where my family was in danger and my other magics just weren’t strong enough to save them. I used my necromancy to save my family and was promptly disowned, shunned, and eventually hunted by others who couldn’t see past the type of magic I used. Despite this, my family never came after me, they seemed too torn between seeing me as their kin and seeing me as a monster.

Where most others would have been terrified of this persecution I was infuriated and motivated. I explained how and why I devoted my life to my goal and how this drove me to become a lich. I also explained how I had spent the last approximate six hundred years adventuring, sometimes alone and sometimes with a group, and solving problems for people and that I had even saved the worlds, both Eberron and the Forgotten Realms, multiple times, though that was never achieved alone. Finally, I told them about the realization of the existence of multiple worlds, my adventures in the Forgotten Realms in a little more detail, and my time researching, preparing, and performing the ritual that got me here. I even explained what a lich’s phylactery is and what I had done with mine in the hopes that it would help earn their trust.

In turn, the princesses began to explain the incident of Nightmare Moon. How Luna was always and still is a user of shadow magic just as Celestia uses light, though her weakened state meant that the ley lines did not bend around her as they did Celestia. But one thousand years ago she was overwhelmed with jealousy and embraced more shadow than she could handle. Now, dark magic is not inherently evil but like all things, moderation is required. Whether it was dark magic, light magic, or even an elemental magic, embracing more than you can handle can make you lose control. Magic has a mind of it’s own, it will normally remain neutral and let you do as you please but there are rare occasions where it will hinder or help you. This is how you get the unbelievable legends of a single mage turning back a massive army in a moment of desperation. However, in situations like Luna’s the magic will take control and use you for it’s own purposes.

The story went on through Nightmare Moon’s attempted takeover, her following banishment, and her eventual redemption through something called “The Elements of Harmony”.

Now, it was no small surprise to find that the day Luna was purged of the dark magic’s influence coincided perfectly with my arrival. In fact, I was found by them mere moments afterwards and taken to the castle here in their capitol city known as Canterlot.

“Those elements being reactivated after so much time is probably what pulled me into this world. if they can bring me in then they may be able to get me out. I already have a lead to follow, at this rate I may not be trapped here for so long after all!”

“We already came to the same assumption but we will not be letting you go to meet them so soon. While this conversation showed us you have a history of good, we like to judge pon... people for ourselves.”

“So you will be taking my suggestion of a... probationary period here within the castle before letting me leave?”

The two sisters looked at each other again, they seemed to be doing that a lot perhaps some kind of communication? They nodded and turned towards me again “That seems like a good plan. You will remain here in Canterlot under the supervision of Lieutenants Nightshade and Brightblade here for three weeks. After this time we will decide whether or not to let you meet the bearers of the Elements. Is this reasonable to you?”

I nodded my assent immediately “Yes, that is a fine amount of time, it will allow me to recover my power a little and test my limits in this world.”

“Good, then I believe that is enough questions for one night. The lieutenants will show you back to the room you awoke in and then escort you to one of the guest rooms in the castle, you will find one of those more comfortable I believe” With that said the princesses began to stand back up

“Actually, I have one more question I would like to ask tonight.” The sisters tilted their heads curiously but sat down nonetheless and gave me their undivided attention as they had throughout the meeting so far.

“When I said before that I had never heard of the ley lines changing in the presence of an entity that wasn't entirely true. I have seen it only twice before. Both times, I was meeting a divine being.”

Celestia and Luna took on a barely noticeable look of shock but it was not missed by me, it just added to the list of proof for my theory. “Now, I have been thinking about this since I met you Celestia and I have come to a theory that just keeps being more and more believable by the moment. So many things have led me to believe that it is true but now I ask directly of you and your sister...” I leaned forward and put my elbows on the table, intertwining my fingers in front of my face and placing my thumbs under my chin.

“... Are you deities? Am I in the presence of the goddesses of sun and moon?”

Author's Note:

This was intended to be done Wednesday but I have been getting distracted so it got delayed. Hope you enjoyed and I will likely get at least one more chapter out over the next week. Sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed and sorry about the horrible way to end the chapter but I was typing it on G-docs and there were issues with my internet. The only offline thing I can type on is notepad and that caused some weird formatting issues last time. Anyways, the mane 6 tag is on this story and it shall soon be warranted. goodbye until then.

Comments

[Runa]

that's all I have to say.

[SwimmingDalek98]

A rather blunt question... I like it! Now, then... I think-

Dalek pet: We demand MORE of this story! MORE! MORE! MORE MORE-

DEACTIVATE! My apologies Well, anyways, please make more.

[Mulldragon]

2279821>>2280256
... I'm still in shock that people are actually enjoying this. But hey, to each his own and so long as at least one person enjoys it Yeta will continue to tell his tale.