> Finding My Place
>  by Firestar463
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing that I remember is water.

I opened my eyes and saw water. All around me, in every direction, nothing but water. I had no idea how long I’d been submerged, but it had clearly been too long. My lungs were already burning. I needed air. I was drowning. And I was tumbling head over heels. I managed to stop my spinning, but couldn’t tell which way was up. I had no choice but to pick a direction and pray it was the right one. I flailed and started swimming straight in front of me.

My hand bumped a rough rock wall barely a few seconds later. I clutched at it and scrambled to drag myself upwards. I didn’t have long. My legs and arms were lead weights, dragging me down. My body felt like it weighed a ton. I opened my mouth…

And gasped as my head finally broke the surface.

I pulled myself over to the other side of the pool I had awoken in and simply lay there, half-in and half-out of the water, coughing and spluttering. Finally, I managed to get my breathing under control. I dragged myself completely out of the pool and collapsed face-down on the hard stone floor

I don’t remember how long I just lay there in the darkness. It could have been only a few seconds, or a few minutes, or an hour or more. I remember that my clothes were still wet when I finally pushed myself back to my feet. I nearly fell over again as I registered an unexpected weight on my back, and only barely stopped myself from toppling back into the pool by grabbing onto a small nook in the stone wall. Somehow, my bag had stayed attached to my back during that whole ordeal.

It was pitch black. I shrugged my bag off and unzipped it, rummaging through it for a moment before pulling out what I was looking for - A flashlight, which I quickly clicked on. Thank god I’d chosen to buy that waterproof bag. Everything inside was still perfectly dry, even after my near-drowning

Speaking of… how exactly had I ended up almost drowning?


---


“C’mon Chris!” A voice in front of me called out. “You’re not getting tired already, are you?”

“Me?” I laughed and wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead. “Not a chance, Carlos. Just pacing myself is all.”

“You call it pacing, I call it putzing,” another voice called out from even further ahead. Carlos and I turned our heads just as Evan poked his out from the treeline above us. He shot us both a mocking grin. “You’re just as bad as he is, Carlos.”

“Can it. I’m the one hauling the grill.”

“And I’m the one hauling the tents. You're running out of excuses, and we’re running out of daylight. At this rate it’s gonna be dark by the time we get to the campsite.”

Carlos and I both sighed and pushed onwards as Evan ducked back into the treeline. We knew he was right, but even though I wasn’t going to admit it, I was getting tired. Still, it was taking us longer to get to our campsite in the middle of the valley than we had expected. The weather certainly hadn't helped. It had rained all of last week, and half the ground on the mountainside had been turned to mud. I was just thankful that the campsite was in a rocky section of the mountains. Wouldn’t be much mud there.

I pulled myself up a rocky ledge and stopped to help Carlos up. He nodded his thanks, and we both set off after Evan. I slowed down and pulled the map of the area out of my pocket. It was crumpled and a bit damp from sweat, but still legible. We’d only just barely made it to the top of the trail that led down into the valley. That trail twisted and turned on itself all over the place. I groaned internally. We still had a good ways to go before we reached the campsite.

We’d agreed that weekend that we needed some time away from everything. Midterms had just finished, and fall break was in session, so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and go for a bit of hike, like we used to do as teens with our parents. Carlos had picked out a nice spot to camp out for a few days in the mountains. So off we went, ready to enjoy a weekend away from school and studies and work and all that crap.

I could tell we had reached the other side of the mountain. The ground was starting to slope downwards, sometimes pretty steeply. The mud didn’t help us as we tried to keep our footing on the steep inclines, and more than once I saw Carlos or Evan take a tumble for a few yards before stopping themselves against a tree.

“A bit dangerous going down like this, don’t you think?” I called out as Evan pulled himself up from his latest fall.

“Ah, quit your whining,” he yelled back. “It ain’t really hiking till you’ve got some dirt on ya.”

“If you say sooOH SHIT!” I felt the ground beneath me giving out under my weight. Evan and Carlos were both shouting at me to grab hold of something. Trouble is, there wasn’t anything around.

I finally managed to grab onto a root of a small tree and stop my fall just as my legs went over the edge of a cliff. I risked a glance behind me. There was a large pool of crystal-clear water underneath me. Well, not crystal-clear anymore, considering all the dirt and mud I had shoved off the edge of the cliff during my fall.

“Hold on Chris, I’m coming!” I heard Carlos yell out. He slowly started making his way down the landslide path as I kicked and scrabbled at the cliff wall with my feet to try and find some hold. I remember hearing a loud cracking sound. I guess the root broke, or the tree was uprooted by my weight. The last thing I remember is screaming as I fell down the cliff. I hit the water…


---


“Damnit all to hell.” That’s all I could think to say as I rubbed my temples. Sure, I was lucky to be alive, and I was thankful for that fact. But looking around, I could tell that this was far from the same pool that I had fallen into. For starters, the pool I had fallen into had been… Well, outside. This one wasn’t. I seemed to be in a cave system of some kind. “Must've been some kind of current that sucked me in here…” I murmured.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the now-soaked map, tossing it aside. It wouldn’t be much use to me inside a cave. I instead reached in for my cell phone, but my fingers found only fabric. Fortunately a quick rummage through my bag found it. Probably a good thing it wasn’t in my pocket. I pressed a button, and thank god it turned on. It survived the fall. Seems luck wasn’t completely against me today.

Only one problem - no signal. Not surprising, considering I was in a cave. I growled and shoved my phone back in my pocket.

So, I was stuck in a cave system, with only one known way out. That way being back through the pool I had almost drowned in, against a current that could quite possibly be too strong for me to fight against. Brilliant. On the plus side, I had a bag loaded with survival gear. I aimed my flashlight at the bag and opened it again before pulling out a new set of dry clothes. Yeah, I was still half-soaked, but I managed to get most of the water off before donning my new set. I threw my wet clothes into a spare zipper pocket

I then aimed my flashlight at the bag again and drew the final item I was looking for - my knife. 4.5 inches long, straight-edge, 440A-grade stainless steel. Same stuff that surgeons use in their tools. Clip-point design, sharp enough to split a hair. Perfect for skinning a deer. Or potentially defending myself against anything else that might call this cave home. I clipped the sheathe onto my belt and gripped the knife in my right hand, with my flashlight in my left, shouldered my bag again, and set off.

I couldn’t tell you how long I wandered through those caves. The path sloped up and down, got narrower and wider. Sometimes I had to stoop down to fit under a narrow gap. I kept checking my phone, hoping I could get some kind of signal. But no, I wasn’t going to be that lucky.

I checked my phone again, this time to see what time it was. 10:30. Perfect. So assuming I ever found my way out of this god-forsaken labyrinth, I was going to be emerging in the wilderness, god knows where, in the middle of the night, when all the nocturnal predators like to hunt. Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic.

“Carlos and Evan are gonna kill me when I find them,” I muttered. Well, either that or they were going to hug me to death. I could never tell with those two. Hell, Carlos had suggested we wait until another time to do this trip, when the mud wasn’t so bad. But no, Evan had told him to not be such a whimp. Like usual. Always had to be the tough guy, Evan did. Even back in grade school he’d been the one doing the stupid shit to get attention. Seemed to work, if his long list of girlfriends was any indication. He went to college to become a mechanical engineer. Wanted to build the world’s best cannon and shoot himself out of it to impress the ladies, Carlos and I always joked. Never around him, of course, just in case he got any ideas...

Carlos wasn’t too different from me, if you overlooked the fact that his family was from Argentina. A bit more reserved, certainly not the daredevil that Evan was. Never really talked much with anyone besides us. He always seemed most at home around kids. So it came as no surprise to Evan and me that Carlos decided to go to college to become a Spanish teacher. He was already fluent in the language - a native speaker, in fact - so he already had half the work done.

As for me, I went to become an accountant. Yeah yeah, I know, sounds boring. And it can be. But a lot of it is putting pieces of information together. Like a puzzle. A lot less math than you’d think. And it helps that math and puzzles are two things that I’ve been good at ever since I was little.  Accounting just seemed to click with me.

Of course, that would only help me if I managed to survive this mess.

It had to have been an hour, at the very least. My legs were burning again, my back was aching from lugging all this gear around. I’d considered several times just leaving it all behind. But no, I knew that would be a horrifically bad idea, to leave all my survival gear behind when I could potentially be lost in these caves for days.

At some point I stopped for a break. it was in a large, circular area. I quickly scanned the walls with my flashlight. There were only two entrances - the one I’d come in through, and the one that I’d be leaving through. There were a few large protrusions from the wall that formed a couple of small alcoves, and I chose one to settle myself into. I placed the flashlight so that it pointed straight upwards at the roof of the cave, illuminating all the stalactites - or were they stalagmites? I could never remember which was which - that dotted the ceiling.

I sighed and rummaged through my pack, eventually producing a granola bar and a bottle of water. I took my time with my tiny meal, taking the opportunity to relax and rest my body. I checked my phone again. Midnight. So it’d already been almost two hours since I woke up in the pool. Carlos and Evan would be losing their minds right about now.

Well, I wasn’t going to alleviate their worry just sitting around here. I stowed my water bottle back in my bag and turned back towards my flashlight to pick it up. Just as my hand touched it, I froze. Something flickered in the corner of my vision. I whipped my head towards the movement. My eyes went wide. There, down the tunnel I was preparing to go down, was another light source! And it was getting closer!

I opened my mouth, and for a brief instant I was ready to call out for help. But I quickly snapped it shut. Surely there hadn’t been enough time to get a search and rescue team out here to find me. There was no place to land a helicopter, and the paths were too treacherous to allow such quick response. Which meant that the person using that light source wasn’t looking for me.

Which meant I didn’t know whether I wanted them to find me or not.

I quickly shut off my flashlight and stowed it in my bag.  I quietly moved my bag into the corner of the alcove I had eaten in, and pressed my back against the wall of the alcove. The light source was getting closer by the second - I could see it growing brighter on the wall opposite me. Soon, I could hear muffled voices. And then, distant footsteps. The voices began to become comprehensible.

“ -Tia, we don’t have time. We have to get out of here, now!” A voice commanded. It sounded older, definitely feminine, and carrying unshakable authority.

“But our home -” A second voice spoke up. Also feminine, though certainly younger. This one lacked the same authority as the first. It was smoother, almost silk-like.

“Is our home no longer, Tia.” A third voice, also feminine. This one was darker, rougher than the second, and seemed to indicate a similar age to the second. “Father stayed behind to protect us. We can’t let his sacrifice be in vain.”

“We can’t just let them get away with this!” The second voice was clearly angry now. I couldn’t help but peek my head around outside the alcove. Surely they were in the room by now, if the light was anything to judge by. But no, they must’ve had one of those super-powerful flashlights, because they were still in the tunnel. I ducked back around the corner as the second voice continued. “Those Minotaurs just sacked our home! We’ve got to take it back!”

“Wait…. Minotaurs?!” I found myself confused as the first voice spoke back up, and I didn’t pay attention to it. Minotaur… like, the half-bull half-man creatures from Greek myth? That’s what these people were running from? No, couldn’t be. Minotaurs only existed in myths and video games. Had to be a group of people called the Minotaurs. A gang or something. Not much better, but still… Just as good a reason to avoid these people, if a gang was after them

“Hush!” The first voice suddenly hissed. My heart leaped into my throat. “There could be an ambush ahead. Stay behind me, and keep quiet.” The footsteps now indicated that the first person had just entered the room, followed shortly by the other two. I didn’t dare to move, barely dared to blink or breathe. The footsteps stopped.

“Alright, I think we’re clear for now,”

My own sigh of relief was masked by two others. Judging by the sounds coming from the main cave, the trio had just sat down. I crouched down lower to the ground and eventually found myself on all fours. I quietly moved a fist-sized stone out of the way and carefully poked my head around the corner to get a look at the trio.

What I saw nearly caused me to yell.

The trio were all females. That much was absolutely certain, given their body shapes. Their bodies were also vaguely in the shape of a Human - head, torso, two arms, two legs… presumably five fingers. Everything else about them, however, was distinctly un-human. Rather than skin, they had different colors of fur covering their bodies - the larger one and one of the smaller ones appeared to have dark-purple fur, while the other one was a pure white. The white one had long, bubble-gum pink hair, the other small one had lighter blue hair, and the larger one had hair that looked to shimmer and ripple, and looked like the night sky, complete with twinkling stars. Despite my shock, I found myself grinning. “L’oreal. Because I’m worth it,” I thought to myself.

I also noticed that each of these… creatures… seemed to have a tail that matched their hair. Rather than feet, they appeared to have… hooves? Their faces weren’t entirely flat, and they instead had a small snout. Most noticeably, they each also had a large horn the same color as their fur jutting from their hair. I also noticed that their flashlight was not a flashlight at all, but instead a large ball of… energy? A pure white sphere of light that simply hovered in the air between them. I pulled myself back around the corner and pushed myself up to lean against the wall.

These weren’t humans. Of that, there was no doubt. They seemed to have the skills of language and, judging by their conversation earlier, architecture, indicating at the very least near-human levels of intelligence. Strangely enough, they also seemed to speak English, though I only noted that later. At the time, I was a little busy trying not to freak out.

Aliens. That’s the first thing that came through my mind. These were aliens, and they were running from another group of aliens chasing them across some intergalactic gang-attack. I gulped. Would they be friendly? Or would they attack me on sight? I had no idea. And I wasn’t about to go finding out. No, all I had to do was wait for them to move on, then slip past them into the tunnel, try not to run into these Minotaurs that they had mentioned, and make my way out. And never mention this to anyone. Because who the hell would believe me?

“Alright Tia, Lulu.” There was the first voice - presumably the taller one. “We’ve rested long enough. We have to keep moving before they find us.”

“Too late.”

I blinked. That wasn’t…

A shrill scream pierced the air like a shotgun. There was scrambling and the clack of something hard against stone. The scream was suddenly cut short, and devolved into timid whimpering. “You should have known you three would never get far,” the new voice spoke up. This one was deep and clearly masculine. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn it was Liam Neeson. “But I didn’t think you’d make it this easy.”

“Let her go, Minotaur,” the older voice commanded. She still hadn’t lost her air of authority.

But the creature they called a Minotaur merely laughed. “You’re in no position to be giving me orders here. The way I see it, you’re the ones listening to me.”

I gulped and, for the second time, poked my head around the corner. Sure enough, my eyes were met with a massive mountain of a creature. It looked just like the pictures of the minotaurs from the myth books - humanoid in shape, but with fur covering it’s legs, hooves instead of feet, a bull-like snout complete with a nose ring, and a large pair of horns jutting from its head. A six-and-a-half foot mountain of muscle, half-man and half bull. He was stooped over slightly, and had the smaller, white-furred creature pinned against his chest with his left arm, while his right arm holding something against her throat - likely a knife of some kind.

By this time I was shaking as I pulled myself around the corner again. The Minotaur had caught up with those three. It had one hostage. And I was caught in the middle of it all. “Chris, you damned idiot, you’ve gone and gotten yourself in deep shit this time!” I screamed at myself mentally. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to stay hidden until the coast was clear.

But even so… I found myself growing angry. I had no idea what the deal was between these guys, but this Minotaur fellow struck me as the bad guy. The way he talked, the way he held himself and seemed so damn sure of himself… Despite my instincts to hide, I felt myself tensing up, as if preparing to fight. Maybe I could help these…. whatever you call them. After all, I still had my knife. And if they had fled into these caves… maybe they’d be able to find a way out.

My foot brushed against something hard, and I had to stop myself from jumping. I glanced down at what I had touched. It was the rock from earlier. I carefully leaned down and picked it up in my right hand. It was a good sized rock - solid and sturdy, yet light enough to pick up with one hand, with a sharp point on one surface. Maybe I wouldn’t need to bloody my knife after all…

Quietly - ever so quietly, I crept around the corner. The shadow of the minotaur concealed me from the light cast by the still-glowing sphere of white light. The Minotaur seemed to be in a battle of wills with the the larger mystery creature. I slowly crept my way up behind the Minotaur.

About halfway there, the smaller dark-furred creature glanced my direction. Her eyes went wide, as did mine. I quickly brought a finger to my mouth in a hushing gesture, and held the rock up for her to see. Her eyes remained wide, but she seemed to get the idea, for she broke eye contact with me.

“Alright ladies. Enough dawdling. You’ve caused us quite enough trouble today, so if you’d be so kind as to follow me…” the Minotaur sneered. I took a deep breath. It was now or never. I stood up to my full height and brought the rock directly at the Minotaur’s head

*BAM*

The minotaur’s head jerked to the left as the rock made contact. I could see a small trail of blood spurt out of his head as I quickly pulled the rock back and smashed it against his skull again. This time, the knife fell from his hands, and he collapsed sideways on the floor. I dropped to one knee and slammed the rock into his head one last time for good measure.

The instant the knife fell away, the white-furred creature rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the larger creature. As I stood back up, I hastily took a step backwards and let the bloodied rock fall away from my hands and held them up. I’d done my part. Hopefully they’d get the idea that I wasn’t going to hurt them.

The larger creature never broke eye contact with me as I stood there. The white-furred one was sobbing. Understandable, considering what had just happened. The third one simply stood there, glancing between myself and the other two.

Finally, the large one took a deep breath. “I thank you for your aid… stranger.” The emphasis on the final word wasn’t lost on me. “Now, state your name… and what you are.”

“I’m… I’m Chris. Chris Powell,” I managed to stammer. “I’m a Human.”

“Human…” The larger creature cocked her head. “I’ve never heard of such a creature before.”

I gulped. “And… and I’ve never seen a creature like you all before,” I replied. “Or this one,” I added with a gesture towards the Minotaur. A pool of blood had begun to form underneath his head. “Who are you… and what are you.”

There was a brief moment of silence. “We are Ponies,” the larger crea… Pony, declared. “I am Serenity, Queen of the Royal Kingdom of Equestria. And these are my daughters. Celestia -” she gestured towards the white-furred one. “- and Luna.” The dark-furred one.

Queen? So that would make these two princesses… For a brief moment, I felt the urge to bow down. But then again, why should I? True, they might have been royalty back wherever they came from, but here on Earth… I began to feel myself calm down as the threat of violence seemed to pass. “You’re certainly a long way from this… Equestria place,” I commented.

Serenity cocked her head again. “No… no, we’re in Equestria right now,” she replied.

Now it was my turn to be confused. “No… You’re on Earth. The United States of America. Kentucky.”

“I would know if I was not in my own Kingdom,” Serenity bristled.

I found myself holding up my hands defensively. “Woah woah, calm down!” I exclaimed.  “Sheesh…” If she wanted to believe she was still in this Equestria place, so be it. She’d be in for a surprise when we found the surface. Assuming we made it that far. “So… you all are… Ponies?” “Nothing like the Ponies I’ve seen…” I thought to myself, though I could see vague similarities - the snout in particular. I gestured towards the creature whose skull I had just bashed in. “And… a Minotaur?”

Serenity raised an eyebrow. “If you did not know what we were, then how -”

“He looks the spitting image of the Minotaur of Greek Myth,” I interrupted. “Plus, I overheard you three talking. I’ve been hiding in that alcove over there ever since I first saw you approaching.” I gestured towards the nook where my stuff was still resting.

“Yes. Speaking of, we must continue.” Serenity stated. “That was surely not the only Minotaur to be tracking us.”

I paused for a moment. “Do, uh… would you mind if I tagged along?” I asked. She shot a suspicious glare at me. “I mean, I’ve been lost for hours in this place!” I quickly explained. “And I have no idea where I’m going, and I certainly don’t want to run into any of those Minotaurs on my own, and -”

“Mother, you’re scaring him.” Celestia spoke up for the first time since the Minotaur had arrived. She appeared to have calmed down. Though her cheeks were still damp, her eyes and lips betrayed no emotion as she looked me up and down She walked over to me and stared me dead in the eyes. I jumped slightly as her horn lit up with a brilliant golden energy. She held eye contact well past the point where I had begun to feel uncomfortable. But I dared not break eye contact.

Finally, Celestia’s horn stopped glowing, and she stepped back towards Serenity and Luna. “I can sense no dishonesty in his words,” She announced. “And he did just save us...”

Serenity glanced back and forth between Celestia and me. I could see the hesitation in her eyes, feel the uncertainty in her posture. But at last, she closed her eyes and sighed. “Very well, Chris Powell. You may travel with us.”

“For now.”
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed like a good idea when I first suggested it. But let me tell you, wandering through a dark underground cave with three aliens? Pretty unnerving, surprisingly enough. Who’d have thought it?

The silence was deafening as we wove our way through the tunnels. I couldn’t tell whether we were retracing my path or not. I was hopelessly lost, and Celestia and Luna didn’t seem any better. Celestia kept turning her head behind us, and I could tell she wanted to go back. But every time she did, either Luna or Serenity would grab her hand and tug her along down the path.

Serenity, on the other hand, seemed completely confident, if a bit tense. Not that I could blame her. Being kicked out of your own kingdom, watching your daughter being held hostage, and travelling with an unknown creature was sure to have that effect on anyone. But she continued to move through the tunnels with full confidence, as if she knew exactly where she was going. I knew it was just an illusion, an act put up to keep her daughters from panicking. But man, she was a good actor, to keep it going for so long.

We came to another circular room in the tunnels, though this one was considerably smaller than the first one and lacked the alcoves to hide in. Serenity held up a hand, and her horn glowed with a glowing aura, just as Celestia’s had done when she approached me. While Celestia’s had been a pale golden color, however, Serenity’s aura was a rich, dark violet. A moment later, the aura died down. “All clear,” she said quietly. Even her hushed voice was loud enough to be heard easily in the echo-y tunnels. “Let’s stop for a moment.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I fell backwards onto my rear, and shook the straps of my bag off of my back. I pulled out my bottle of water and took several long, deep gulps. I lowered the bottle and glanced around the area at the other three. They looked back at me. None of them seemed to have any kind of refreshment.

After a moment of awkward silence, I pulled out a second bottle of water and extended it out towards Luna, the closest one to me. “Need a drink?” I asked.

Before Luna could even react, Serenity was there. She took the bottle from my hand and glanced back and forth between it and me. “What is it?” she demanded.

I blinked. “Uh… water?”

The brilliant light given off by their glowing white ball thingy gave a clear view of Serenity raising her eyebrow. She reached for the top of the bottle and unscrewed it. She brought the open bottle to her nose and took a sniff. Slowly, she brought the bottle to her mouth and took a small sip.

I couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s not poison,” I huffed. “Honestly, why would I have saved you from that Minotaur if I was just going to poison you?”

Serenity swallowed and nodded. She didn’t meet my eyes as she passed the bottle to Luna, who began to drink her fill. “I apologize, Chris,” she murmured. “You must forgive me if I’m a bit on edge right now.”

“I get it,” I sighed as Luna passed the bottle to her sister. “Getting chased by those Minotaur guys would spook me too.”

I waited as Celestia drank deeply from the bottle. Serenity took the bottle when she was finished and drained the last of it. She handed the empty bottle back to me, and I shoved it into my bag in the same pocket as my wet clothes. “So, since we’re resting for a bit -” I began.

“ - You wish to know what exactly is going on,” Celestia finished. I nodded.

Serenity took a deep breath. “It is a long story, but I suppose I can give you a short version,” she began. “Firstly, you must understand a bit about us Ponies. There are three different types of Ponies that comprise our kingdom. Unicorns, who have horns; Pegasi, who have wings; and Earth Ponies, who have neither. Pegasi are capable of flight, Earth Ponies have greater physical strength and connections to the earth, and Unicorns are capable of magic.”

Serenity was cut off as I snorted. “Does something amuse you?” she asked.

“Oh please,” I scoffed. “Magic? Really? Don’t give me any of that nonsense.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Magic doesn’t exist.”

“But it does,” Luna retorted. She pointed to the large hovering orb of light. “How would you explain that without magic?”

“Some kind of fancy technology you all have?” I shrugged. “Trust me, we Humans have tried for the longest time to find some kind of magic. The best we’ve come up with are cheap parlor tricks and sleights-of-hand.”

“Then perhaps a demonstration of real magic is in order?” Celestia suggested. I could see the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips as her horn lit up with that same golden aura as before. There was a pause for an instant. Then, suddenly, I began to feel something. You know that pins-and-needles feeling you get when your foot falls asleep, and then you suddenly stand up? It was like that, though not quite as uncomfortable. The feeling started in my arms and legs, but quickly raced to my spine. Then, that same golden aura that surrounded Celestia’s horn enveloped me.

“What the -” Was all I managed to get out before I felt a sense of weightlessness come over me. I had no time to yell out as I was hoisted into the air. My arms and legs flailed uselessly in the air as I floated slowly around the room. “Hey, what the hell is going on?!” I shouted as panic began to grip me. All I got in response was a few giggles from Luna, and even a grin from Serenity.

Suddenly, the golden aura surrounding Celestia’s horn faded, as did the aura surrounding me. I promptly fell a short distance down to the ground, in the same spot I had started in. I took my time in sitting back up, mostly to try to calm my breathing and slow my heart rate. “Don’t you EVER do that again,” I growled, more out of the last traces of fear than anything.

Celestia didn’t appear fazed. “Do you still not believe in magic?” she asked calmly. Only a faint twinkle in her eyes betrayed her own amusement at my discomfort.

“If it means that I don’t float around the room again, I’ll say I do,” I grudgingly conceded. Truth be told, I was still skeptical. But honestly, there was no other explanation that I could think of. Unless I’d sat down in some kind of fine net. I surreptitiously checked the ground beneath me. No net. “So… magic,” I muttered. “Apparently you Unicorns can harness it.”

“Correct,” Serenity nodded. “Now, Equestria has never been friendly with the Minotaur Kingdom. We don’t see eye-to-eye on many subjects. Particularly on our borders. There have been skirmishes in the past, but nothing like this. The Minotaur Kingdom has never dared to engage in open war against us, largely due to this magic that we have. Minotaurs are an almost-entirely non-magical race, and Unicorn magic is potent enough to easily counter their favored tactic of brute strength. This kind of power serves as a deterrent against aggression.”

“That all changed recently. The Minotaurs have a new king. Adamant Will is his name. Young, brash, headstrong. And he’s grown up with a deep dislike for Equestria, no doubt spoon-fed to him by his late father. We were a bit surprised when he declared war on Equestria, but we were not concerned. Not until the first rumors began spreading, claiming that the magic that our Unicorns used had no effect on his armies.”

“Adamant Will and his army just sacked our capital, the Royal City of Everfree. And as they said, our Unicorn magic couldn’t touch him.” Serenity’s eyes were suddenly clouded over. “My husband… King Solaris. He stayed behind. He bought us some time to get away. But he can’t have held out for long. Not with our magic being nullified like that.”

“Shit…” I murmured. “Well… do you know what was stopping your magic?” I asked. All I received were three shaking heads. “Might be a good place to start when you get back to this… Equestria place.”

This earned me another strange look from Serenity. “You still believe we are in these… United States?” she asked, to which I nodded. This in turn merely earned me a sigh and a shake of her head. “We will see who is correct when we emerge from these caves.”

“Speaking of which,” Luna interjected, “we should probably get going. No telling when the rest of the Minotaurs will catch up with us.” 

I glanced around the room towards the other two. Celestia was already on her feet - hooves? - and Serenity was rising. I let out a sigh. That rest hadn’t been nearly long enough. I could still feel where the weight of my pack had bit into my shoulders. Still, Luna was right. Those Minotaurs could be anywhere. Besides which, my newfound travelling companions were already ready to go. So I rose as well, shouldered my pack, and fell into step behind them.

I found myself at the back of the pack as we made our way through the twisting tunnels. Serenity was at the front, holding that ball of light over her right hand in front of her. She seemed as confident as ever in her lead, turning this way and that through the labyrinth. The light from her ball of energy might have been of use to her up front, but back where I was, all it did was cast dark shadows all around me. More than once, I drew my knife at what I believed to be an oncoming attack, but turned out to be nothing more than the shadows dancing through the caves.

Was I a little jumpy? Yes. But can you blame me? Not only was I travelling with aliens, but I was travelling with magical aliens. Magical aliens who were on the run from other, magic-immune aliens who looked strong enough to break my spine with a flick of their wrists. And I’d already taken down one of those Minotaurs, but only with the element of surprise on my side.

“Shouldn’t have done that.” A little voice whispered to me in the back of my head. “You got involved in their war. Those Minotaurs will be after you now.”

“What else could I do?” I muttered aloud, my voice only barely masked by the clack of my companions’ hooves on the hard stone floor. “They needed my help. I couldn’t just let them get taken...”

“You picked the wrong side.”

“... Shut up.”

“Hm?”

I jumped and stopped mid-stride, barely avoiding bumping directly into Luna’s snout. She and the others were now stopped at a dead-end, and they were all looking at me inquisitively.

“Uh… nothing,” I said quickly. I forced my eyes to remain on Luna as I took a half-step back. “Just thinking.”

“Well do your thinking more quietly,” Serenity muttered as she turned back to the stone wall in front of her. I watched, confused, as she leaned in towards the wall. Even in the poor lighting and deep shadows cast by the orb of energy, I could see that she was squinting. She hunched over and looked at another spot on the wall, around waist-height.

Finally, she stood back up and passed the orb to Celestia. While Celestia held the orb high above her head, Serenity turned once more to the wall. Her horn lit up with that same, rich violet energy from before. She reached out with one finger and began to trace a design upon the wall. Almost immediately, my eyes went wide. Where Serenity’s finger had traced on the rock wall, she left behind a trail of faint white light. She continued this tracing for a minute or more, drawing a series of symbols I couldn’t identify. 

As she lifted her finger from the stone wall for the last time, the symbols pulsed brightly once, then faded. Once again, the only reprieve from the dark was the orb of light that Celestia now held. For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Suddenly, the floor beneath me began to vibrate ever so slightly. Bits of dirt and dust fell away from the wall and the ceiling. And then, before my eyes, the wall in front of us began to slowly sink into the floor, revealing a narrow passage on the other side.. Serenity quickly stepped through the hidden door, with Celestia, Luna, and myself quickly following behind. I glanced back behind me just in time to see the wall sliding back into place. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, still having trouble believing what I had just seen. It was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. With aliens.

The passage now began to rise upwards sharply, with the passage bending in on itself in a very tight, very steep upward spiral. I quickly found myself on all fours, using my hands to assist me in my ascent. Serenity and Celestia were completely hidden from my view behind the walls of the spiral, and I could only catch fleeting glimpses of Luna’s tail as I followed. With Celestia so far out of view, the light from the orb she held was very faint now, plunging me into near-absolute darkness. Only the orb’s very faint reflections off of the wall around the corner allowed me to see. I quickly found myself thankful that I wasn’t claustrophobic, or else this passage would have been a living nightmare. I considered reaching for my flashlight, but decided against it. My hands were busy enough helping me climb the steep spiral as it was. There was no way I’d be able to hold a flashlight and keep up with the Ponies in front of me.

We climbed for what must have been several minutes before we finally came to a stop. I could just barely make out the back of Luna’s head around the spiral as I found a small spot to sit right next to her tail. My reprieve didn’t last long, however. Almost as soon as I had sat down, I heard the sound of stone scraping against grass. I heard shuffling from somewhere above me, and a few seconds later Luna began to move once more. I groaned internally, but forced myself back onto all fours as I once again moved up the spiral.

It was only a couple of more rotations up the spiral before I found the source of the brief delay. We’d emerged from the caves into the open world, and as I pulled myself out of the hole, I noticed a large rock that had been slid to the side. As soon as I was out, Serenity shoved the rock back over the hole. The rock sank slightly into the ground, covering the entrance to the tunnel perfectly. Only the slightly flattened grass next to the stone betrayed the tunnel’s presence.

It was the dead of night. The moon was almost directly overhead - a full moon this evening, bright and full, shining through the leaves of the trees overhead. We were standing on the side of a mountain, not too far from the summit. I quickly checked my phone. Almost 3 in the morning. I’d spent over half the evening in those tunnels. It was nice to finally be out in the open, where the air was fresh and the only color surrounding me wasn’t dull grey and brown.

Still, something felt… off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but in the pit of my stomach I felt it. A feeling of oddness, as if something didn’t make sense. I shrugged the feeling off and pulled my phone out again. Still no signal. Not terribly surprising, considering how deep in the mountains I must have been by this point, but disappointing nonetheless. Without a signal of some kind, I couldn’t figure out where I was.

But I could still figure out where to go from here. I knew I was somewhere in Greenup county… or at least, somewhere near Greenup county. I was almost certain I hadn’t crossed the river into Ohio or West Virginia. Which meant if I just kept heading east, eventually I’d find my way to the river. I knew a highway ran alongside the river for the entire length of the county, so all I’d have to do is follow the road until I reached civilization. I unlocked my phone and pulled up the compass app. The needle spun wildly for a brief moment before the needle finally settled towards the north, indicating that east was on the other side of the mountain. I just needed to head that direction and I’d reach the river.

As for the Ponies…

I glanced back towards the trio, who were now huddled close to each other and speaking in hushed whispers. I knew they couldn’t come with me. If anyone else so much as spotted them, the government would be swooping in on them within minutes. And I wasn’t going to be caught up in the middle of that. For a brief moment, I considered turning and leaving them to their own devices. After all, we were out of the caves now. I could go on my own from here.

But no, I quickly realized how unwise that would be. It was the middle of the night in October. The deer mating season was nearly over, but the younger bucks would certainly still be out and about marking their territory and searching for mates. I certainly didn’t want to encounter one on my own with just a knife. Besides which, the coyotes would be on the prowl as well, and while I might be able to scare off a lone coyote, they were known to occasionally band together to hunt larger or stronger prey. If a group of coyotes decided to try and take me down… No, traveling in a group would be much safer.

My thoughts were interrupted as I registered movement to my left. I turned my head towards the movement to see the trio of Ponies moving in my direction. “We are heading east, Chris Powell,” Serenity declared. “There is a small outpost that I pray has not yet been discovered.” This nearly made me snort again. Honestly, she still thought we were in this Equestria place. She was in for a bad surprise soon enough. “You may join us if you wish, or you may leave. Whatever your choice, we beg that you do not betray our location to the Minotaurs. Should we be captured, our Kingdom would be doomed.”

“I’m headed east as well,” I replied. This earned me a raised eyebrow from Serenity, so I continued. “The Ohio River is that way,” I explained. “I can follow that to a town and figure out how to get back home there.”

“Ohio River…?” Serenity questioned as she cocked her head to one side. “Truly, you still believe we are in these United States?”

“Unless you can prove otherwise,” I retorted.

Celestia and Luna shared a concerned glance, but neither of them spoke. Instead, Serenity merely shook her head for what felt like the thousandth time. “I fear your bubble of self-deceit shall soon be shattered,” she muttered. “But no matter. It seems we are headed in the same direction, though for different reasons. We shall soon see whose reality is correct.”

“Just keep an eye open,” I replied as we began to ascend the gentle slope of the mountain. “The deer are almost done with their rut, but they’ll still be a few out and about, and there’s almost certainly going to be Coyotes stalking them.”

The Ponies did not respond, leaving me to follow behind them in silence. We soon reached the summit of the mountain and began to descend down the other side. I kept my right hand near my knife sheathed on my belt as often as I could when I wasn’t busy climbing or pushing my way through tree branches. Coyotes and aggressive young bucks weren’t the only threat I was wary of. Under the cover of darkness, a Minotaur would have a much easier time sneaking up on us.

But nothing attacked us. Nothing disturbed the stillness of the moonlit mountainside except us, the four wanderers traveling east. Not even the owls and the nocturnal insects that would normally swooping overhead or chirping in the thickets could be seen or heard. My attention began to drift as the time passed and no threat made itself known. And still, the gnawing feeling in the pit of my gut continued to eat at me. And not just the pangs of hunger. Something was off. I could feel it. And try as I might, I couldn’t shake it.

How? That one question kept running through my mind as I trekked after the Ponies. How had Serenity done that? How had she opened that secret passage? Or even better, how had she known that passage was there in the first place? I could chalk the opening of the passage up to that… magic… that those three could use. But if they were stranded here on Earth, surely Serenity shouldn’t have known those caves. Even if there was a hidden passage there, she shouldn’t have known about it. A small alarm bell rang in the back of my head as I looked down beneath my feet.

The dirt beneath my boots… the alarm bell became louder as I paused halfway up the next slope. I stooped down and reached between the grass beneath me and picked a small pinch of the dirt up between my fingers. It was dry, dust-like, and scattered easily into a fine cloud as I released it, as though it hadn’t seen rain in a week or more. And yet it had been raining for almost a week before I came here…

And the leaves… they were green. I could see them in the moonlight. The full, rich, vibrant green of summer. It was the middle of October. Surely they should at least be showing some signs of yellowing by now, some indication that autumn had well and truly arrived. Another alarm bell went off, much louder this time. Something was definitely wrong here…

“Chris?”

I blinked and looked up. Ahead in the distance, I could see Luna’s head poking over the ridge of the slope, staring back at me. I hesitated for a brief moment before raising my hand in acknowledgement. She brought her own arm backwards in a gesture that was clearly telling me to hurry up. A suggestion which I quickly took. I stood back up and quickly made my way up the slope to catch up with the rest of the group.

We must’ve traveled for hours. Over hills and mountains, through valleys, up winding trails and down steep slopes. There were no breaks, no pauses for rest and nourishment, much to my stomach’s vocal displeasure. Not that I didn’t agree with my travelling companions. Stopping to rest in the middle of these mountains would be a very poor decision indeed, what with the Minotaurs that were undoubtedly attempting to trail us.

Soon, I began to see a faint glow on the eastern horizon. The sun was coming up. I quickly checked the time on my phone. 6:55 AM. Twilight. The sun would be up soon.

Almost another hour passed before the edge of the sun finally poked over the horizon. By now, the eastern horizon was a brilliant mixture of yellows, oranges and reds. A few stray clouds appeared as dark grey blurs against the sunrise, but as I glanced behind me to the west, I could see only a few more stray clouds. Nothing that promised rain, at any rate.

As we reached the next hilltop, I took advantage of the new light to observe my surroundings. All around us was forest and hills, in every direction. The only break in the scenery was a large… something… off in the distance to the north-east. Something rising from behind the horizon and jutting into the sky, towering above the mountains in front of it. But other than that… whatever it was… there was only the same expanse of brilliant green and wood brown for miles around. I found myself frowning. Surely by now, even in the remote mountains of Eastern Kentucky, we should have come across some kind of civilization by now. If not the highway or the river, we should have passed a house, a cabin, hell, even a dirt road. But no. Nothing. Nor could I see any signs of Human activity from my vantage point atop the hill.

“We are almost there,” Serenity called out as we began to make our descent. “Chris Powell, you must remain close. The guards will not harm you if you accompany us, but should you be discovered without us, I cannot guarantee your safety.”

“Guards,” I scoffed, though not loudly enough for anyone other than myself to hear. Unless more of them had arrived on Earth than I thought, and they’d set up a secret camp in the remote hills of Appalachia, then Serenity was about to be in for a surprise when she only found more wilderness. Honestly, like there was actually going to be a secret camp ahead. What a crock of sh-

“Your majesty! Thank goodness you escaped!”

I froze. Uh-uh. No. Nope. No way. No fu-

“And the princesses too! And… and what is that thing?”

I shook my head and looked towards the voice for the first time. There, staring directly at me, was another. Another Pony, clearly male, with storm-grey fur. This one didn’t have a horn jutting from his head like Serenity and the princesses did, but instead sported a pair of feathery wings the same color as his fur from his back. In his hands was a long, sharp, dangerous-looking spear. And it was pointed right at me.

“Chris Powell. He calls himself a Human. We found him in the caves as we fled the city.”

“Are there more like him?”

“Not that we are aware of.”

“Friend or foe?”

“He is not our enemy. He killed a Minotaur that managed to sneak up on us in the caves. Were it not for him, we would be Adamant Will’s captives.”

There was a brief pause. “Alright, come on then,” he ordered, his eyes never leaving me. “And close that mouth. You look like a damned fool…”

I quickly shut my mouth, which I hadn’t realized had fallen open, and began to follow with shaky legs. The guard pushed his way through a thick bush, with Serenity, Celestia, and Luna following behind him. I hesitated for a brief second as I stood before the bush. I could hear voices on the other side. No way. No way was there on the other side what I thought there was.

I pushed my way through.

Tents. Lots of them. And more of these Pony creatures than I could count. Some with horns. Some with wings. Some with neither. Nearly all of them, I registered in the back of my mind, had a weapon of some kind. A spear, a dagger, a bow and quiver, a sword and shield…

“Chris Powell,” Serenity’s voice broke through the haze. My head jerked in the direction of her voice. She was standing at the entrance to a large tent, staring at me expectantly. Without conscious thought, I began to move towards her. I felt, more than saw, a flash from behind me, but When I looked over my shoulder I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

I finally stopped next to Serenity. My mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. It was a few moments before I finally found my voice again. I pointed with a shaky finger all around me. “W-what… what i-is this place?” I managed to stammer. "Where the hell am I?!"

“Welcome, Chris Powell, to Outpost Marshal. And to Equestria.”

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So yeah. Apparently that crazy Pony was right. I wasn’t on Earth at all. Instead, I was in Equestria. Magical alien land.

I took the news pretty well.

“Is he alright? What did you do?!”

“Nothing! All I did was welcome him to the camp and he fell over!”

Okay… as well as one would expect.

I slowly opened my eyes to a most peculiar sight indeed. Or perhaps not so peculiar, considering where I now found myself. Three Unicorn heads were staring down at me with varying degrees of concern on their faces. I groaned and rubbed my temples as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

“Are you well, Chris Powell?” I heard Serenity ask.

“Just… Just Chris is fine,” I half-mumbled, my mouth uncomfortably dry. “And I’ll be honest, I’ve been better.”

“I understand this must be a shock for you.”

“No shit,” I retorted as I looked up at Serenity. I saw her gesture with her hand, and suddenly felt two more sets of hands under my arms, helping me to my feet. I glanced over my shoulder and identified my helpers as Celestia and Luna.

“It has been a long evening for us all. Get some rest, Chris Pow… Chris.” As I looked back up towards her, I saw something in her eyes. Pity, perhaps? At the very least, a trace of sadness and sympathy. But just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by a mask of neutrality. “Luna, please take Chris to one of the unoccupied tents and help him settle himself. Celestia, make sure the Ponies in charge are informed of our new guest. We will talk again later, when we have had some time to rest and recover.”

With that, Serenity turned and pushed her way out of the large tent. Celestia brushed past me and followed a brief second later, leaving me alone with Luna. She said nothing, but instead simply watched as I stooped down to retrieve my pack, which had fallen off when I’d fallen down. As soon as I had the straps firmly over my shoulders, she nudged me and moved towards the tent’s exit as well.

As I pushed the flap out of the way, I took the opportunity to look around the camp once again. There were tents stretching away as far as I could see, with Ponies of every shape, size, and color moving between them. All around the outer edge of the camp, stretching off into the distance, was what appeared to be a large hedge wall. A pair of heavily-armored Ponies stood guard next to the edge at regular intervals.

I felt something tugging at my arm, and looked over to see Luna pulling at me. She said nothing, but instead walked away deeper into the camp. I took one backwards glance at the hedge wall, where I had entered the camp from. For a brief moment, I considered simply strolling past the guards and out of the camp, leaving this entire crazy situation behind me. But no, just as when I had just emerged from the caves, the rational part of my mind quickly informed me of how bad a decision that would be, especially considering my newfound circumstances. Namely, not knowing where the hell I was or how to get anywhere else. And so, almost reluctantly, I set off after Luna, deeper into the camp.

A lot of heads turned my way as I followed the princess through the camp. I got some fleeting glances of the expressions upon their faces. Surprise, I saw quite often, as well as disbelief and even wonder. Several expressed suspicion, and one or two even outright hostility. But the overwhelming majority simply stared at me with shameless curiosity.

It was a few uncomfortable minutes before Luna finally stopped. She gestured towards a small tent on her left, right next to the perimeter hedge wall. I had to stoop down in order to fit under the canvas and get inside. It was about as basic of a tent as you could find, barely a step up from a sheet draped over a set of sticks. Inside was a small pole holding the tent up, as well as a rolled up sleeping bag.

I felt something pressing against my back, and so I clambered forward a couple of steps to the back wall of the tent. Turning around, I saw Luna poking her head into the tiny tent. “My apologies for the cramped quarters,” she began, “but there’s a lot of Ponies and not a lot of space here.”

I let out a small grunt as I sat down, followed by a sigh of relief as I finally let my heavy pack fall from my shoulders and onto the ground. “That’s not on the top of my list of concerns right now,” I tried to joke.

It didn’t seem to work, if Luna’s expression was anything to judge by. “Just… just try to get some rest,” she sighed, not meeting my eyes. “I’m sure mother will want to introduce you to the rest of the camp’s command staff soon enough.” With that, Luna pulled her head out of the tent, allowing the flap to fall down and cut me off from the rest of the camp.

I kicked off my boots and unclipped my knife from my belt before unrolling the sleeping bag and laying it out across the tent. The bag was large enough for me to fit in comfortably, with room to spare - maybe it had been designed for one of those Pegasus Ponies - but I was barely able to lay down in it without my toes sticking out from under the tent flap. I wiggled a bit to try and adjust myself, and though the pole in the middle made it more difficult, I finally managed to get the bag so that I was lying diagonally across the tent, with the tips of my toes brushing the tent canvas through the bag. 

With my sleeping arrangements taken care of, I was tempted to just pass out then and there. But no, there were a couple of other things I needed to take care of first. I slipped back out of the sleeping bag, reached into my pack and pulled out another granola bar and a bottle of water. The water I drank quickly, but the bar I was more conservative with. After all, I didn’t know what these Ponies ate. For all I knew, I might have to live off of my own rations for a while. I saved half of the bar and tucked it into a side pocket for later.

With that taken care of, I opened the zipper pocket containing the clothes I had fallen into the lake with. Sure enough, they were still soaking wet. I pulled them out, along with the empty water bottle from earlier in the caves. From the other pocket, I withdrew a small towel. Not large enough to hold all of my clothes, but with the sunlight beginning to shine through the thin canvas tent, it was worth at least starting. I decided to start with my shirt, and laid it out on top of the blanket, which I had placed in a spot where the sun was shining through the canvas. Hopefully it would at least begin to dry out. The rest of my clothes, I stored back in in pack.

Finally, I slipped back into the sleeping bag and pulled my phone out to check the time. 9:25. My eyes glance to the upper right hand corner to check the battery remaining. 82%. I groaned internally. I had a portable battery to charge it from, but that would only delay the inevitable. Unless I found a way home soon, my phone was eventually going to die. True, it wasn’t like I could make a call or surf the internet, but still… it had a few useful features, like the compass, or even just music or photos to remind me of home. I’d have to be very careful to conserve my battery. I pulled up the options and made a few quick changes to reduce battery consumption - turning brightness down; turning off all of the wireless connection attempts like cellular connection, bluetooth, wifi, and GPS; disabling attempts at automatic app updates; and so on. Not like any of those features would be helpful here. Again, I knew I was only delaying the inevitable, but any small delay would be nice.

Nothing else of immediate importance came to mind, and so I let my head hit the padded top of the sleeping bag. Almost instantly, the exhaustion of the evening came crashing down on me, and it was impossible to keep my eyes open. Within seconds, I was fast asleep.


---


It was still day when I awoke, if the light outside was anything to judge by. For a few moments, I was content to just lay there. It was cool outside, while the sleeping bag was nice and warm. But no, despite my best attempts, my mind refused to drift back off to sleep. Reluctantly, I pulled my way out of the bag and stood up as much as I could, semi-hunched over in the tiny tent.

My head turned towards the shirt i had left out to dry, and I knelt down next to it. It was still damp, but not quite as wet as when I had set it out. It would still be a few hours before it was dry enough for me to swap it out with something else. My hand reached for my knife, which I secured to my belt. The last thing I grabbed was my phone. On instinct, I clicked the button to pull up the lock screen. The clock read 2:37 PM. There were no new messages, phone calls, tweets, nothing like that. Not surprising. I wouldn’t be getting any of those for a while.

That’s when it really hit me. I was stranded in an alien world, with no other Humans, and I had no idea how to get back home. Or even if I could get back home. I’d known this for a few hours, of course, but seeing my phone unusually barren just really drove it home. There were no tears, no crying, nothing like that. Just a few moments of stunned silence as I tried to comprehend how badly I was probably screwed.

Finally, I jerked myself back to full consciousness. “Knew going hiking was a bad idea,” I muttered. No doubt Evan and Carlos had reported me missing, and teams would be searching those mountains for a few days. Maybe a week or two. I just prayed that no one else was like me and fell into that pool. 

The pool…

My eyes went wide as a sudden thought crossed my mind. I’d fallen into the pool in the middle of the mountains on Earth, and woken up in a pool in the middle of cave systems here on this alien world. What if the process worked in reverse? All I’d need to do is make my way back through the caves, find the pool, and jump back through, and I’d pop back out on Earth!

Which left me with only the small problem of navigating that labyrinthine cave system again. 

Alone. With Minotaurs skulking about.

Yeah. Not a good idea right now.

I was drawn from my musings by a rustling sound to my left. I turned my head to see a white head poke its way through the tent flap. “Good, you’re up,” Celestia remarked. She pulled her head back out, and I saw her shadow straight up through the canvas. “Mother wishes for you to come with me. Your arrival has, unsurprisingly, shaken things up around here.

I rubbed the last traces of sleep from my eyes and let out a large yawn. Truth be told, it wasn’t as much sleep as I’d liked, especially considering the exhausting night before. But I knew it’d have to do. I tucked my phone back into my pocket and pushed my way out of the tent. Celestia was waiting outside, looking a lot less ragged than the last time I’d seen her. Her hair (mane?) had been brushed free of tangles, she had changed out of her torn dress into what I could only assume was camouflaged combat clothing, and the dirt and grime had been washed from her face

As soon as I stood up, Celestia turned and strode away, deeper into the camp, with me following closely behind. Considering the time of day, it was surprisingly calm in the camp. There was not nearly as many of these Ponies running around as there had been that morning, and the chaos seemed to have died down. The expressions on the Ponies’ faces as they looked at me had changed somewhat too - word must have spread of my arrival, I figured. There was far less shock, and much more curiosity.

Still, it was another uncomfortable few minutes of Ponies staring at me before we finally reached our destination. Celestia stopped outside of a large tent - far larger than any other that I had seen in the camp so far, looking to easily accommodate at least 25 people or more. She walked up to the tent and held open the flap, gesturing for me to go in. After a brief moment’s hesitation, I did so.

If anything, the tent looked even bigger on the inside than the outside, and was clearly a command headquarters of some sort.. Small tables and chairs lined the outer walls of the tent, with a couple of Ponies hunched over them. The center of the tent was occupied by a large, ovular table with what appeared to be a map upon it. A group of a half-dozen Ponies were gathered around the far end of the table, including Luna and Serenity - both freshened up, as Celestia was, and dressed in the same attire..

Almost immediately, every head in the tent swivelled towards me. Almost all of them quickly turned back towards what they were doing before I entered - Almost all. Serenity met my eyes, and she waved me over to them. I sensed, more than saw, Celestia step into the tent behind me, and as I stepped around the table, I heard the soft rustle of the tent flap closing shut. She followed me around the table towards the group congregated at the far end.

Luna and Serenity were both there, of course. They, however, were the only familiar faces. Three of the other four Ponies were male, if their stature was anything to judge by, while the last was female. All four were wearing what appeared to be military uniforms.The female was closest to me, a Pegasus with pink fur and an unkempt blue mane that fell to rest just above her shoulders. The next was a tan Earth Pony with a slightly-unkempt chocolate-brown mane, though he lacked any other distinguishing features. The last two were both unicorns - one navy-blue, the other a dark grey, both with dual-shade black-and-blue buzz-cuts.

It was apparent that they were trying to wrap up their discussion - no doubt due to my arrival. They leaned in closer and spoke more quickly as I approached, and quickly silenced themselves as I finally reached them. “Chris,” Serenity greeted me with a nod. “I trust you are feeling more rested?”

“I wouldn’t say no to more, but yeah, I’m better,” I replied. 

“Good.” She turned and stepped so that she no longer obstructed my view of the other four Ponies. “These are the officers that managed to make it out of Everfree, and commanders of this camp. Captain Firefly,” - she gestured to the pegasus -  “captains Thunderbolt and Wild Strike” - the grey and blue unicorns, respectively - “and Doctor Caligari” - the brown one. 

I extended my hand towards each one in turn as their names were listed. Colonel Firefly’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she gripped it tightly, and the two captains both hesitated. Doctor Caligari, however, gripped my hand tightly and shook it wildly. “Ah, Chris Powell,” he beamed. His voice was accented - had he been Human, I would have placed it as British. “Yes, Queen Serenity was just telling us of your little encounter down in the caverns beneath Everfree. Nasty spot of business, that.”

“Right…” was all I could say as I glanced between the group gathered around the end of the table. “So… what exactly is going on?”

“Queen Serenity told you of the Minotaur attack, correct?” Captain Thunderbolt asked. Another easily identifiable voice. He sounded spot on like a stereotypical drill sergeant from the movies - at least, what I assumed they would sound like when they weren’t screaming. I nodded in response. “Then you have, no doubt, guessed what our end objective is” His gaze shifted over towards Captain Firefly. “Take back what’s ours. And make them pay.”

“I told you, Thunderbolt, it’s not going to be that easy,” Firefly retorted. Definitely a female voice, with a great deal of authority behind it. It was clear she was used to being in charge. “Swiftbreeze has managed to stay undercover in the city, but most of the rest of the Flight Wing is captured or dead. And they have King Solaris captive. If we try anything while they have him, they’ll kill him too.”

“So a direct assault is out of the question.” I had to double take to make sure it wasn’t Thunderbolt that had spoken. No, that had been the other captain, Wild Strike. They sounded almost exactly the same. Maybe they were related or something? “Perhaps we should try something… a bit more subtle than what you’re used to.”

“Your Pegasi teams are done for, Firefly. You said it yourself, all dead or captured.” Thunderbolt continued. “But at least half a dozen of our Unicorn agents remain in Everfree. With their magic, freeing King Solaris should be easy.”

“It would be easy,” Doctor Caliagri interjected. “Except that the Minotaurs have somehow found a way to nullify Unicorn magic. Any magical attempt to rescue the king would result in failure.”

“And even if they DID manage to free the king, what then?” Firefly demanded. “This camp is the only notable resistance left. We can hardly march on the city while they still nullify our only tactical advantage, certainly not when outnumbered as badly as we are. Your Unicorns may have evaded capture by cowering in the shadows, but they’ve no better chance than the Pegasi.”

Thunderbolt and Wild Strike exchanged a quick glance before glaring at Firefly. Call it crazy, but I was starting to think that they and Firefly didn’t exactly get along. A thought that became even stronger as Firefly returned the glare. There was a brief moment of silence as the Unicorns and the Pegasus stared each other down from across the table.

A silence that was only broken when Serenity, in a rather loud fashion, cleared her throat. “Gentlecolts, Firefly, this is hardly the time or place for your petty quarrels. Only by working together can we hope to undo what was done yesterday.”

“Of course, your highness.” Wild Strike bowed his head slightly, though his eyes remained locked on Firefly. “You’re right, of course. There are a number of matters which we must deal with. Quickly.”

“The first being,” Thunderbolt continued, “what to do with this… thing.” His gaze shifted towards me, with the rest of the room following suit a moment later.

“Our limited resources are already dwindling,” Thunderbolt continued. “We can barely sustain this small camp. Adding another creature to this burden will only make things more difficult. Unless, of course, it is capable of providing back in some way.”

“A fair point,” Firefly nodded. “So, Chris Powell. What say you? Can you fight?”

Fight? Against those mountains of fur and muscle? Head on? I wasn’t exactly in bad shape, but I doubt any sane Human would willingly go one-on-one with those monsters. I quickly shook my head. “No.”

Firefly’s eyes narrowed. “Can you repair armor or weapons, or forge them?”

Again, I shook my head. “No.”

“Tend to the sick and wounded?”

“I… I’ve no experience in that field.”

“What CAN you do that’s of any use, then?”

I could feel a bead of sweat roll down the back of my neck. It was clear that if I didn’t help them in some way, I’d be gone. Kicked out of the camp, out into the forest where Minotaurs and  god-knows-what-else were waiting for me. Or else they’d simply kill me here and now, and not risk the camp’s location being revealed if I were to be captured by the Minotaurs. I couldn’t make weapons. I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t heal. So what COULD I do?

Well… I could do that. Worth a shot, anyway.

“I… I can cook.”

Silence.

“Cook.” That was Wild Strike that had said that.

I nodded. “Cook,” I repeated.

Another brief silence. “What exactly can you cook?”

Bingo.

“A lot of things,” I replied. “You mentioned you had limited supplies. What would I have to work with?”

“Very little,” Serenity interjected. “I don’t know what your kind eats, but we Ponies typically only eat plants. We are, however, able to survive off of meat for a time, with fish being the easiest for us to stomach. Fish is rarely eaten outside of our coastal regions by civilians, and so we use it as a fairly cheap and effective ration. We’ve managed to secure a decent amount of these rations during the escape, and more can be gathered from the nearby lakes, but anything else will be very scarce.”

“Fish, huh?” I muttered. “How do you keep those for rations? Fish goes bad in like… 2 days tops, unless you keep it cold.”

“We magically seal the fish in crates so the contents do not spoil,” Thunderbolt replied. “That way, they are fresh when opened for cooking. So, can you work with fish?”

I instantly began to think of ways to prepare a fish with limited supplies. A fish fry wouldn’t work - if anything was to be in short supply, it would be cooking oil. Sauteing might work, but again, the lack of supplies would be a problem - some oil or butter would be necessary to avoid the fish sticking to the pan. Baking would require some form of convection oven, which was unlikely to have been carried away in an evacuation. Besides which, most of the baked fish recipes I knew called for aluminum foil - another resource problem, assuming that they had even developed foil. And poaching or boiling wouldn’t work - it would develop no flavor, leaving it unpalatable. If I was trying to earn my place in the camp, I’d have to make sure the food could at least be eaten.

So the safest option would be grilling. All it would require was some kind of metal grill and a fire, the wood for which was almost certainly already being gathered. Given a big enough grill, a good amount of fish could be prepared at once. Perhaps enough to keep an entire camp sated. Grilling brings out some of the best flavors, and if done right also looks more visually appealing than many other forms of cooking. True, I’d need a bit of oil or butter to keep the fish from sticking to the grill, but not nearly as much as for a fish fry or sauteing.

I looked back up and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I can cook fish,” I finally said. “Among other things.”

Wild Strike and Thunderbolt exchanged a quick glance, but said nothing. There was a brief moment of silence before Serenity finally spoke up. “Very well, Chris. You shall earn your keep by cooking. I hope that you can produce what you have promised.”

“Me too,” Was all I could think. I knew how to cook fish, of course. Growing up in Kentucky, with a family born and raised in the south, fish was a staple in our diets. But I’d never actually done it on my own before. The most I’d done was bring the fish out for someone else to fry, or pull the fish off the grill while my uncle took a beer break. I’d have to hope that I’d learned enough through simple observation to be able to produce something edible.

On the outside, however, I forced myself to maintain a calm facade. “No problem,” I nodded. “Just point me towards the kitchen and I’ll get started.”

“This is either one of my best ideas… or my worst. Time to fish or cut bait.”
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So… this is what we have to work with?” I asked as I scanned the small clearing in the camp that the Ponies had designated as the kitchen. My head turned towards my companions - a pair of Earth Ponies, one an orange male and the other a pale pink female. Orchard and Blossom, I think they’d called themselves.

“Yup,” Orchard replied, a noticeable drawl to his voice. “Ain’t much, but we gotta make do.”

It certainly wasn’t much. Sure, there were a dozen crates of fish over on the left side of the clearing, and more were being gathered from the lakes, but aside from that there were only a seven other crates to occupy the open space, all unopened. True, they were decent-sized crates, but still… only seven. That left the rest of the clearing barren. A good amount of room to work with, but as expected, not a lot of stuff to work with.

Well, I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up to cook. Time to see what else this place had to offer.

“Alright. Do either of you know how to cook a fish?” Both shook their heads in response. “Alright, well you’re about to learn how. Blossom, take that crowbar over there,” I pointed towards the crooked piece of metal lying near the crates of fish, “and go pry open those crates over there,” I continued, pointing now towards the unopened crates on the other side of the clearing. “Let’s see what else we have to work with. Orchard, if you can find us a couple of shovels, I’d like for us to get a fire pit dug out. Blossom, come help us once you finish with the crates.”

The two Ponies nodded and set off in opposite directions - Blossom towards the crowbar, and Orchard off towards the far end of the clearing, where a number of shovels could be seen. He grabbed three of them and made his way back just as Blossom managed to pry the top off of the first crate. She stood on the tips of her hooves and peered inside before sticking her hand inside the crate, pulling it back out and withdrawing a round, red object. “Apples!” She called out, with the same southern accent as Orchard.

“Apples,” I repeated. Sure, apples and fish weren’t two flavors that exactly sprang to mind as compliments, but at this point, I wasn’t going to be turning it down. “Alright. Get the other ones open and let’s see what else we have.”

At that moment, Orchard tapped my hand with the handle of one of the shovels. “Here,” he said, handing the shovel over. “How big should this pit be?”

“Well, we’re going to be grilling the fish,” I explained. I shoved my shovel into the dirt at the spot where I was planning for the pit to go, closer to one end of the clearing than the other but equidistant in the other direction. “So first we need to know how big the grill that we’re going to be using is. Otherwise, we’ll either dig it too big and have to fill some of it back in, or too small and have to expand the pit.”

The sound of wood being pried loose echoed through the clearing, followed by a loud clatter as the lid of the second crate was removed and tossed aside. There was a brief silence. “Tools!” Blossom called out. She pulled on the top of the crate and carefully tipped it over, revealing the contents. “A couple of grill grates, to start,” she continued as she pulled the pieces of metal out of the box. “And a few bottles of vegetable oil.”

“Convenient timing,” I chuckled as I strode over to the crate. The two grates that had been pulled out were decent sized, each able to hold about a dozen fish fillets, and while a couple more would have been nice, it was a good place to start. The one downside to that was that now we only had a half-dozen crates of non-fish food, at most. “Alright, so we’ll want a pit big enough to fit these two grills over. So nothing too massive.”

“Got it.” Orchard took one of the grill grates in his hand and eyed it up and down for a moment. “Tell ya what. I reckon I can get this pit dug myself in a couple of minutes. You take one of them shovels and help Blossom open the rest of them crates.”

I raised an eyebrow. True, the pit wasn’t going to be massive, but it was still going to be a decent size - larger than your typical campfire pit, by a decent amount, and dug into the ground. I’d guessed that it would have taken the two of us 10 or 15 minutes at least to dig it out. But Orchard sounded certain, so I merely shrugged. “Alright then, if you’re up for it

“I am.”

“Alright, go for it.” 

I watched as Orchard strolled over to where I had planted my shovel and pulled it out of the ground. He tossed it in my direction before shoving his own shovel into the ground, and I snatched it out of the air. I then turned my attention towards the four remaining crates. Blossom was already moving away from her third crate and on to the forth as I headed in her direction. “Plates, knives, and forks,” she said, pointing back at the crate she had just opened. I nodded and moved down to the end of the line to begin working on the last crate.

It wasn’t too difficult to pry the lid open. It had been nailed shut, but with only one nail in each corner. By wedging the blade of the shovel under the edge and pulling down on the handle I was easily able to pop the nails free of the crate and send the lid crashing to the ground below. I peered inside to see a number of glass containers, each corked and filled with a white liquid. I pulled out one of the jars and popped the cork open. I wafted my hand over the jar, bringing the scent up to my nose. Just as I had suspected. “Milk!” I called out.

“Bread!” Blossom replied a moment later.

Milk and bread. Well now I could vary things up one day and do some kind of breadcrumb coating on the fish. Things were beginning to get a little more interesting. “Alright, last two,” I muttered as I jammed the blade of my shovel under the lid of the next crate

The second one was a little harder to pop off - maybe they’d used better nails or something. At any rate, by the time I managed to get mine open, Blossom was already standing next to me, having opened hers. “More bread,” she said as she watched me struggle with the crate.

I only grunted in response as I gave another harsh tug on the shovel. I was rewarded for my latest effort with the sound of wood being torn loose, and the lid all but flew off of the crate. Not expecting the sudden opening, I fell forwards, barely avoiding hitting my head on the shovel as it flipped around me and landed on my back.

Almost immediately, I felt the shovel being moved from my back by Blossom. “You alright there?” She asked.

“I’m fine,” I nodded, pushing myself back into a sitting position. I took a deep breath, noting the new scent that filled the air. It was different than what I had been expecting, yet somehow familiar. “What’s in there?” I asked.

Blossom poked her head over the side of the crate. Almost immediately, I saw her snout wrinkled up in disgust. “Just some weeds,” She snorted. “Dunno why they’re storin’ that stuff away.”

I picked myself up off of the ground and peered over the side of the crate as well. The new aroma was even stronger now that I was staring at the source - a number of thick, green, veiny leaves. I closed my eyes for a moment, wracking my brain to try and identify the smell.

It only took a moment. My eyes snapped open, and I grinned. “Basil!” I exclaimed. True, it wasn’t going to be adding anything much to any meal in the way of nutrition, but a little garnish might help the Ponies stomach the fish that they were so unaccustomed to. It didn’t hurt that it was an herb my family used all the time. A little bit of home flavor added to the meal.

“That’s it,” Blossom nodded. “Might as well dump it out and -”

“Are you crazy?” I interrupted. “Throw it out? This stuff’s great!”

Now it was Blossom’s turn to look confused. “You’re tellin’ me that your kind actually eats this stuff?” She asked. “Even when the flavor’s that strong?”

It took me a moment before I realized what she meant. Being herbivores (for the most part), a lot of their diet had to consist of salad and such. A salad of mostly basil… “Oh! On its own, no, we don’t really eat Basil alone. But in small quantities, it’s a great herb to add on top of a meal. A garnish.”

Blossom raised her eyebrow once more. “You sure are a strange creature…” She sighed. “Alright, we’ll keep the basil if you’re thinkin’ of usin’ it.”

“I am,” I nodded. “So, that’s all the crates open. One of tools, one of tableware, one of basil, one of milk, one of apples, two of bread, and a dozen of fish.” All in all, it was a bit better of a variety than I had been expecting, though not as high a quantity as I would have liked. “Well, it’ll do,” I finally sighed. “Let’s see how Orchard’s coming on with the pit.”

Blossom and I made our way around to the other side of the line of crates. My eyes shot wide open at the sight before me. Already, a large, shallow hole in the ground had been dug, and as I watched, Orchard hurled another large scoop from the center out towards the outer edge. The pit was almost perfectly rectangular, about five feet long and seven wide, with the outer edges being shallower than the center, which was about two feet deep. A large pile of dirt next to the pit was testament to the speed at which Orchard was digging.

“Good lord…” I muttered under my breath. Seems that I had underestimated the increased Earth Pony strength that Serenity had mentioned. “Alright Orchard, that should be good!” I called out. I got a thumbs up in response, and a moment later the red Pony was dragging himself out of the pit.

“Find anythin’ else good in the crates? He asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Bread and milk,” I replied. “And a bunch of basil. Blossom tells me you all think it’s too strong to eat -” I got a nod of confirmation in response, “- but I’ve used small quantities in a number of recipes back home. Just so long as we’re not serving it as a salad, I think it should be useful.”

“If you say so.” Orchard dropped the now-dirty shovel to the ground and strode over towards the crates. A moment later, he was returning with the two grill grates tucked under his arm. “I’ll get these situated over the pit. Blossom, see if you can’t find us a hammer and some stakes. Preferably metal,” he added quickly. “Wooden stakes’ll catch fire too quick.”

“And I’ll go check out what kind of fish we’re working with,” I finished.

Orchard and Blossom were already walking away towards their respective tasks, so I turned away and headed towards the opposite side of the clearing. The dozen crates stood waiting all in a row, each one as big as the ones Blossom and I had been working on. Even from here, I could smell the distinct odor of raw fish. Not too strong, not entirely unpleasant, but certainly noticeable. Each crate, I noted as I drew near, had already been opened.

The first two I peered into were filled with fillets of some kind of white fish. Cod or whitefish, perhaps. I wasn’t really an expert on fish, so I wasn’t sure what the differences were, and without Google to help me, I’d have to just wing it. Next up were two crates of fish fillets with orange-pink flesh with curved white lines of fat spaced throughout the flesh - easily recognizable as salmon. 

The fifth and sixth crates crate were a little harder to identify. In these crates, the fish still had silver-grey scales on them, though the heads tails and fins had been removed. I groaned internally as I realized the extra work that would have to be put into scaling and gutting these two crates. I picked up one of the fish, shivering a little at the cold, unfamiliar texture. I reached down to my belt and drew my knife, cutting a small section of the scales off of the fish. The flesh underneath was a very similar color to the salmon, but I noted that the lines of fat were far smaller on this fish than on the salmon. I finally settled on calling it trout, sheathed my knife once more, and moved on.

The next two crates were far easier. Both contained fillets of fish with deep red flesh, almost rose red. Almost instantly, I recognized it as tuna. A perfect fish for working with. Unfortunately, unless we were close to the sea (And judging by Serenity’s mentioning of fishing from lakes and not a beach, we weren’t), the supplies of tuna would dwindle and eventually run out. Same with the white fish fillets in the first two crates, assuming I’d correctly identified them as cod or whitefish.

Opening up the last four crates, I found that they weren’t new types, at least as far as I could tell - two more of salmon, two more of tuna. So I had a decent selection of fish to work with, though half of the supply was more than likely nonrenewable in the short term. Salmon and trout, though, I knew were freshwater fish, at least partially, and so were more likely to be found in the nearby lakes and rivers.

I saw Blossom returning out of the corner of my eye, a small box clutched in her hands. She set it down next to the pit, where Orchard was making a few small adjustments in the ground with his shovel. She reached into the box and pulled out a pair of hammers, as well as a dozen metal stakes, and began to hammer one of them into the ground to anchor the first grill down. Those two seemed to have everything handled over there, so I made my way back over towards the other side of the clearing, towards the crate with the tools in it.

The crate was still laying on its side, so I carefully began to rummage through the contents. The grill grates had already been removed, and I withdrew the half dozen bottles of vegetable oil that were lying on their sides. Thankfully, none had leaked, so I set them back upright on the ground next to the crate. I next pulled out a set of knives of all different lengths and thicknesses. Most I could identify their uses for, thanks to that one summer job I had gotten the year before selling kitchen knives. There was a butcher’s knife, a paring knife, a longer and bigger knife intended for chopping vegetables, a couple of serrated blades that could prove useful for cutting through the fish, and even a boning knife. None of the blades, I noted, were as sharp or well-maintained as the one I had clipped at my belt.

Setting the knives aside as well, I pulled a few more tools out of the crate. There were two pairs of long, metal tongs, as well as a metal spatula with a long handle and a brush for spreading a marinade or oil over something. I also pulled out two jars filled with a black powder and white crystals, respectively. I assumed, given that they were with some cooking supplies, that they were jars of salt and pepper, an assumption that I quickly verified. There were also a number of white cloths tucked amongst the rest of the supplies. Finally, I pulled out a set of a half-dozen wooden cutting boards of various sizes.

I heard the sound of grass being stepped on just before a voice from behind me spoke up. “Find anythin' else in there?” Blossom asked.

“Salt, pepper, knives, cutting boards… a few things that could be useful,” I replied. “We should be able to make this work, for a while at least.”

“Orchard’s off tryin' to find a few tables for us to use.”

“Gotcha. So what should we do here?”

“I dunno. You tell me.”

I took another look around the clearing. The grills were in place over the pit, and both were held firmly to the ground with metal stakes. The fish had been identified, so I knew what we were working with on that end. Same with the other crates. Tables to prepare the food on were being fetched by Orchard. “I guess we should get some wood for the grill,” I finally suggested. It was the only thing left that I could think of that we’d need to do before we actually began preparing the fish.

“Wood will be coming in later,” Blossom shook her head. “They’re stil cutting it up into logs on the other side of camp. It should be here by the time we need it.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone to quickly check the time. 5:11 PM. “Well if we want to have anything ready by the time people start showing up for dinner, we’ll need to have that wood soon,” I warned.

“It’ll be here.”

“Alright.” I still wasn’t fully convinced, but I forced myself to trust that the wood would be there on time. “In that case, I don’t think there’s much left for us to do besides actually prepare the fish and cook it.” I took another look around the clearing, planning out the rest of the space that we had to work with. As I had planned beforehand, the fire pit was closer towards one end of the rectangular clearing than the other, and situated almost perfectly between the crates of fish and the crates of other food. There was an area between the fire pit and the shorter edge of the rectangle that was still open, a space I planned to use for preparing the food. That left roughly ⅔ of the clearing open for the Ponies to wait in line or sit down and eat. 

It wasn’t long before Orchard returned, along with a half-dozen other Earth Ponies, hauling a number of rectangular tables. While each of the other tables had two Ponies moving them, Orchard seemed to have no trouble moving his on his own. I directed the movers on where to place the tables, and a few moments later our work area was set up. Three of the tables were set up behind the grill, while the longest one was set up beside it. That would be the table where the cooked fish would go, along with stacks of plates and utensils.

“Thanks for the help,” I said to the other movers as they set the last of the tables down. Several of them seemed to not hear me, or at least not acknowledge me, but I got a couple of nods in my direction as the movers headed back into the sea of tents.

“Alright,” I sighed as I looked back and forth between Orchard and Blossom. “So... I think we’re just about ready to get started.” I paused for a moment as I considered which fish to start out with. It was only a moment before I settled on the salmon. “How many Ponies are we going to be feeding?”

“There’s a hundred and fifty, maybe two hundred in the camp?” Orchard shrugged. “It ain’t exactly a big city.”

“Well at least we won’t be  burning through the food too fast,” I murmured. “Alright, let’s get one of those crates of fish over here.” I led the two Ponies over towards one of the crates filled with salmon, and together we moved it closer to the tables where we’d be working at. We set it down a little bit off to the side, but close enough where we’d have easy access. We next grabbed a few of the items from the two supply crates - the set of knives, a few cutting boards, the tongs and spatula, the salt and pepper, the vegetable oil, and a few forks and plates. Finally, I set out a few plates on the long table next to the grill for us to set the fish on, and stacked the rest up on one end for the Ponies to use, along with the rest of the knives and forks.

“Now you’re sure you can cook these things?” Orchard asked as I made my way over to the work area.

“Fish is a staple in the human diet, at least around where I’m from,” I replied. “I’ve helped to prepare more than one fish. This here is salmon, one of the more common fish that Humans eat. We’ve also got trout, some kind of white fish that I can’t quite put a name to, and tuna to work with, but we’ll worry about those for another day. Now, I’m guessing a single fillet is good for one serving for a Pony, correct?” I received a pair of nods in return. “Good. And it looks like the fish has already been boned. That'll mean a lot less work for us. What we really need now is the wood for that fire. That grill will need to be screaming hot before we can even think about actually cooking. Until then, I don’t think there’s really much else that we can do.”

“I saw them loading some logs up into carts while I was fetchin’ the tables,” Orchard said as he nodded in the general direction he had come from. “Might be headed our way.”

“Well while we’re waitin’, let’s take a bit of a break,” Blossom suggested. “I’m guessin’ we ain’t gonna get much rest once we actually get to cookin’.” It was a fair suggestion, so I flopped down onto the ground. Orchard and Blossom sat as well, side by side and facing me.

“Now, we’ve not had much of a chance to talk,” Orchard began. “But we’ve heard a few rumors flyin’ ‘round the camp about you. They’re sayin’ you saved the princesses and the queen from a Minotaur.”

It was clearly a question. “I did, yeah,” I nodded. “The three of them stumbled into the same cave I’d gotten lost in. The Minotaur got the jump on them while they were resting, and I got a chance to sneak up behind it.”

Blossom and Orchard exchanged a quick glance. “And they’re sayin’...” Blossom began. “Well… they’re sayin’ you ain’t from Gaia.”

“Gaia?”

“The planet,” Orchard explained. “Our world. They’re sayin’ you’re an alien.”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yeah… Yeah I think I am…” I said slowly. I mean, sure, this place seemed close enough to Earth in terms of climate and such, but there was no way, NO WAY that we’d have missed Minotaurs and humanoid-horse creatures running about. Being on a different planet seemed like the only logical explanation.

“So how’d you get here?” Blososm asked.

“Well... I was out hiking with my buddies, Evan and Carlos,” I began. “And I it was really muddy, so I lost my footing and fell off of cliff into a lake. And I woke up in some pool in the caves where I found Queen Serenity and the princesses.”

“What’s your world like?”

“Same kind of look and feel as this one,” I shrugged. “I’ll be honest, when the Queen and the princesses and I popped out of the caves, it was so similar to home I thought I was still on Earth.”

“Earth?”

“My homeworld.”

“So your people named your world after one of the elements?” Orchard raised an eyebrow. “That’s… a bit odd.”

I shrugged again. True, it was a little odd, maybe even a little arrogant if you thought about it too hard, but I’d never had the want, need, or opportunity to think about it too hard before. Still, while I was here, maybe it would be a good idea to refer to Earth as something other than Earth. “Call it Terra, then,” I finally said, drawing upon the old Latin name for the planet. At least that would cause less confusion when talking to Ponies about my homeworld.

And so it continued. Orchard and Blossom continued to ask me questions about myself, about Earth - or Terra, as I had to keep reminding myself to call it - and about Humanity in general. In return I asked numerous questions about Ponies and this planet Gaia that they lived on. Turns out, the Ponies were even more like Earthen (Terran?) horses than I’d believed. Their diets, for example, were nearly identical, including a shared toxic reaction to tomatoes. I learned that this camp, Outpost Marshall, was only a few miles north-west of the capital city of Everfree, and was kept concealed by numerous magical wards on the hedge-wall that surrounded the camp - anyone trying to enter while the wards were still up would apparently simply wind up on the other side of the hedge and forget why they’d tried to climb into the bush in the first place.

“One last question,” I said as I saw an Earth Pony walk into the clearing with a cart of logs towing behind him. “On the way here, I saw this big… something to the north-east. It was behind the mountains, but clearly taller than them.”

Orchard looked confused as we rose to our feet. Blossom did for a moment as well before she raised an eyebrow. “You mean Canterlot Mountain?” She asked.

“I dunno,” I shrugged. “That’s why I’m asking.”

“It probably was,” Blossom nodded. “The tallest mountain in all of Equestria. I don’t think anypony’s actually made it to the top. They say that Dragons make their homes in the caves near the summit.”

I froze. “Did.. did you say… Dragons?”

Blossom raised her eyebrow again. “Yes. Dragons.”

“As in… big… fire-breathing… flying lizards?”

“Yes…”

“Oh hell no,” I laughed uneasily. “Oh HELL no.”

“What?” Orchard seemed unfazed by my nervous laughter, though Blossom had taken a small step backwards. “Don’t you all have Dragons on Terra?”

“Yeah, but only in stories!” I exclaimed. “In myths and legends! But they’re not real!

“Well, they are on Gaia,” Orchard shrugged. “Don’t worry about it too much. They tend to keep to themselves. So long as nopony goes near them…”

“...and they don’t decide that our camp has enough gold and treasure to be worth pillaging…” I added darkly.

There was a brief silence. “True,” Orchard chuckled. “But I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that. Besides, the wards should hold even against a Dragon. Chances are, they don’t even know that we’re here. And again, so long as we don’t make one angry, they won’t bother us.”

“I’m not entirely convinced of our safety here,” I deadpanned.

“Good,” Orchard replied matter-of-factly. “You shouldn’t be. We’re at war, remember? We’re never really safe.”

“Not to interrupt, but I think we’d better get started,” Blossom interrupted. “Our wood is here, and it looks like a few Ponies are already getting hungry.” Sure enough, I looked over to see that a large piled of wood had been deposited next to the pit, and that two or three Ponies had wandered into the clearing and were now chatting amongst themselves.

“Right. So you two go ahead and start piling wood into the pit, and I’ll get it lit.” I watched for a moment as Blossom and Orchard slid some of the wood underneath the grates through an opening Orchard had dug into the side earlier, and waited until they had a decent layer of logs spread out. “Alright, that’ll do,” I called out as they slid the last of the logs into place. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of items that I had fetched from my bag before coming to the clearing - a matchbook and a small spiral notepad.

“What are you doing?” Blossom asked as I tore a dozen or so pages from the spiral notepad.

“Starting a fire,” I replied. I crumpled the torn sheets into individual balls and squeezed them through the spaces in the grill so that they were spread out fairly evenly throughout the layer of logs.

“I’ll get the flint and steel,” Orchard called out.

I quickly held out a hand to stop him. “No need,” I chuckled. “Humans have developed technology to move us beyond that. This,” - I held out the matchbook for him to see - “Will start a fire much faster than your flint and steel.” To prove my point, I drew a match and struck it against the side of the cover. The match instantly burst into flame, and Orchard’s eyes shot wide open. I couldn’t help but grin as I lowered the match and dropped it through the grill, where it caught the paper on fire. I repeat the process with each of the other pieces of paper, and by the time I’d finished the last one, the flames from the first match had caught the surrounding logs on fire. It wouldn’t be long before we had a roaring fire going.

“That’s amazing!” Orchard exclaimed. “What are those little sticks that strike up a fire so quickly?!”

“Matches,” I explained. “We’ve also developed technology that allows us to produce a continuous flame using only a spark and a small amount of flammable gas, able to be struck up with a single hand. Shame that Evan had our lighter, or I’d show you.”

Blossom simply shook her head. “Only Unicorns have been able to create flames without a flint and steel, by using their magic.”

“Well, there’s a famous quote on Terra,” I laughed. “Can’t tell you who said it off the top of my head, but whatever. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I’m sure a lot of the stuff that we have on Terra would sound nothing short of magical to you all.”

“Such as?”

I shook my head. “Later. Right now, we’ve got hungry mouths to feed, and more coming by the minute.” Sure enough, another group of three Ponies wandered into the clearing as I finished speaking, bringing the number of waiting Ponies up to half a dozen.

I motioned for Blossom and Orchard to join me at one of the preparation tables. “Alright, so while we’re waiting for the grill to heat up, we need to start getting some of the fish ready,” I began. I picked up a bottle of vegetable oil and handed them each one, taking a third one for myself. I also pulled one of the salmon fillets onto the plate in front of me. “Grab yourself a brush. We don’t want the fish to stick to the grill, so we’re going to put a thin layer of oil over the fillet to prevent that. Not too much, though,” I warned. “Too much will create a greasy fish, something we don’t want. About this much.” I poured a small amount of the vegetable oil onto the fish and carefully spread it out over the fillet. It wouldn’t be as good as actually oiling the grill itself, but in my mind, applying oil to a hot grill is just asking for trouble.

I watched carefully as Blossom and Orchard repeated my motions. “Just a little bit less on the next one,” I said to Orchard as I noticed a small amount drip off of the fish and onto the plate. He nodded to indicate that he’d heard me. “Alright, so now that your first one is oiled up, put it on the cutting board off to the side and start on another. The grill isn’t hot enough yet to put them on. Speaking of…” I turned my head to check on the fire. 

Sure enough, the logs were burning nicely now, with a plume of smoke rising  and blowing eastward with the wind. In the back of my mind, I found myself praying that the wards concealing the camp would also hide the smoke, but I forced myself not to worry about it. The flames were rising high, but not high enough to actually touch the metal. Just as well. I wouldn’t have to worry about the fish catching fire.

I turned my attention back to the Ponies working the fish. Both had finished their second ones and were working on the third. I noted that Orchard had used a bit less oil this time, as I had asked. I joined the two in oiling up the fish, placing them in a row down the cutting board.

I checked the grill again once I’d finished my seventh fish. By now, a dozen more Ponies had come into the clearing. Many of them were talking amongst themselves, though I saw a number of them stealing glances at me across the grill. I chose to ignore their stares and instead turned my attention back to the fire. The fire was roaring strongly at this point, crackling and popping nicely. By now, I was sure that the grill had to be hot enough.

“Alright, that’s good for now,” I called over my shoulder. Blossom set her eighth fish onto the cutting board, while Orchard set his seventh aside. “The grill should be hot enough. Now, here’s where things really get fun. Bring those fish over here.

I waited until all three cutting boards of fish were over by the fire. “Alright, so you take these,” - I held up the long-handled tongs - “And just put the fish on the grill. Oiled side down,” I added as I picked one of the fish up. I carefully set it down on the grill, and was rewarded with a loud hiss as the oil instantly began to sizzle. I picked up the second fish and began to lay the rest out as I talked. “Now, the trick with grilling fish is that it’s not ready until you can get it off easily.” My uncle had told me that once, several years ago. I prayed he was right. “If you have to scrape and try hard to get it off of the grill, it’s not ready. Once it is ready, flip it over, give it another minute or two, and then it’s ready to serve.”

Both Orchard and Blossom looked uncertain, apprehensive even. It became quickly apparent that I’d be the one that would have to watch the fish. “Alright, I’ll watch the grill,” I sighed as I set down the last fish, making for an even two dozen on the grill. “You two just oil up some more fish. Not too many!” I added quickly as they turned to leave. “Once you have another twenty-four, bring them over!”

With Orchard and Blossom gone, I was left alone. Alone with the sound of fire crackling and the smell of fish cooking. It almost felt as though I were back on Earth. Back on Earth, at the campsite with Evan and Carlos. I could almost hear them now. Evan would be complaining that we hadn’t brought the stuff to make fish tacos, and Carlos would be stuffing his face with the first fish while I was watching the grill. As usual. And then Evan would start doing something stupid, and I’d be the one trying to stop him from getting himself killed. And there would be Carlos, yelling at me that the fish were about to burn. I could almost hear him now. “Chris? Chris?!”

“Chris!”

I jolted upright as my name pierced through the haze that surrounded me. Carlos and Evan were gone. The campfire was a roaring inferno. The half-dozen fish had quadrupled in number. Earth was gone. I was back on Gaia.

“Are you feeling well, Chris?”

My head jerked towards the voice that had said my name. There was Serenity, standing only a couple of feet away and looking down at me as I sat on the ground. “Yeah. Yeah I’m alright,” I replied, nodding my head. “Just… just spaced out for a minute there.”

“It seems that you and your fellow chefs have managed to make do with what we have,” Serenity continued.

I nodded again. “It’s not gonna be anything amazing, but it should fill a few bellies up.”

“We can ask for nothing more.” Serenity glanced across the grill and over the clearing. “It seems most of the camp has agreed that it’s time for dinner. How close are you all to being ready?”

“It won’t be long before the first few are ready,” I replied. Sure enough, as I checked the fish with the spatula, the first one popped off of the grill quite easily. The underside of the fish now bore dark grill marks where it had been touching the metal. I quickly flipped the fish over and began to check the other fish, flipping them as well. By the time I’d finished, Serenity was long gone. For the best, anyway. By that point, it was time for the first fish to come off the grill.

I took a quick moment to inspect my handywork. The salmon was no longer a raw, pink fillet, but instead was now a nice orange-yellow color, with the grill marks now covering both sides. I gingerly touched it with one of the forks, and noted that it was still moist and juicy, and just beginning to flake. “Perfect,” I grinned. Honestly, I had been hoping and praying up to that point that everything would fall together, and it seemed like, for now, it had. I set the fish aside on the largest plate that we had found, which we would be serving the fish from, and began to remove the rest of the fish.

I had just set the large plate onto the serving table and returned when Blossom and Orchard walked over, bearing three cutting boards with eight oiled fish each. They said nothing, merely handing me the fish and walking back to the tables. I said nothing either, instead focusing on putting the fish back onto the grill.

And so it continued throughout the rest of the late afternoon. For what must have been over an hour, we simply exchanged the cutting boards back and forth, moving fish about, grilling them, setting them out, and watching as hungry Ponies came and grabbed their share. Every now and then, I’d have to pause and wet one of the cloths, attach it to the long prongs and scrape the grill off to prevent the fish from sticking to the leftover residue from previous batches. And once or twice, I added a few logs to the fire to keep it burning. Other than that, it was just moving fish around. Hot, sweaty work, but not exactly difficult.

After a while, the flow of Ponies began to subside, and as I checked over the grill, I noted through the smoke that most of the Ponies were no longer standing in line, but were sat down in the grass eating, or else walking away into the camp. “Alright, I think that’s it!” I called over to Blossom and Orchard. I watched as they finished the last couple of fish they were working on and brought them over to me. I added the last batch to the grill, waited for it to finish cooking, and added the last of the evening's meal to the serving plate. I then grabbed three plates, three forks, and three knives, filled each plate with a fish, and brought the food over to Orchard and Blossom.

The three of us sat down in the grass and began to eat our meal. I quickly found that there was no need for a knife - the fork cut through the flesh easily enough. It had a nice smokey flavor to it, as was to be expected from cooking over what essentially was a giant campfire. The fish was just beginning to flake, and was still moist and flavorful. Nothing too fancy, but it was certainly edible.

My companions seemed to agree, judging by how quickly they finished their plates.

“I’ve only had fish a couple of times before,” Blossom commented as she set her empty plate aside. “When I was vistin’ family near the coast. This is easily the best fish I’ve ever had.”

“Not bad,” Orchard added. “Not bad at all.”

“Glad to hear it,” I sighed. “Now, we just have to clean all this crap up…”

“No, we don’t,” Blossom smiled. “Queen Serenity told us that another team would be takin’ care of the cleanup. We just have to prepare the food and make sure it’s out on time.”

“Sweet,” I grinned. “And now that we’ve got everything set up how we need it, it should be a lot faster from now on,” I sighed. “Maybe we could use some of that basil tomorrow…”

“Maybe…” Orchard didn’t sound too thrilled with the prospect of using the basil. Still, I was determined to at least try my best to change their opinions on the herb. I was certain that, in the right quantity, they’d find it added a lot to a meal. “So what do we do now?”

“Well, Queen Serenity wanted me to tell you that she wants to speak with you in the commander’s tent once we’re done here,” Blossom replied, nodding towards me. “And unless I’m mistaken, we are.”

“Alright. Well, it was nice working with you two,” I half-grunted as I stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow. A little bit before sunrise sound about right?” Blossom and Orchard nodded in response. “Alright. Well I’ll see you then.”

“Good night, Chris,” Orchard called out as I walked away, and I glanced over shoulder to see Blossom waving. I smiled a little as I turned my head to face forward again. Those were good Ponies. Simple folk, but good people. I knew that not everyone in the camp would be as quick to warm up to me as they had been, but it was still nice to see that not everyone would look at me with suspicion or distrust.

So, my first day as an army chef was done. And now, the Queen wanted to see me. I quickened my pace as I made my way towards the edge of camp, where I knew the commander’s tent. Queen Serenity was waiting on me.

Best not keep her waiting too long.



> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though the hedge wall and the trees beyond it kept the sun from view, I could tell that it was just beginning to set as I approached the large tent near the edge that made up the command center. The western edge of the sky that I could see was streaked with lines of ruby red, and the eastern horizon was turning a dark shade of purple, with the stars already beginning to show. And it wasn’t just the sky that told me night was fast approaching. Now that I was away from the roaring fire that I had been cooking on, the chill of the evening hit me hard. I found chills racing up my spine, and my breath was already beginning to turn to fog in front of me. It didn’t help that a cold autumn breeze was rolling through the camp.

And so it was that I gladly stepped into the large tent. Though the air was still chilly, and steam still formed as I breathed out, the wind at least would not bite as much in here. Still, I was looking forward to being back in my tent. I knew I had some warmer clothes to change into there. Not to mention the sleeping bag.

There was only one other figure in the command center when I entered. Serenity was already seated at the far end of the large table, with a single other chair beside her. She smiled as I walked in and motioned for me to take a seat beside her.

“Hello again, Chris,” she greeted me. “Thank you for helping to prepare dinner tonight. Though unusual to most of our palates, tonight’s fish was mild enough for us to stomach easily enough.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I smiled. “So I take it that I passed the test?”

“You did indeed. You’ll be working with Blossom and Orchard from now on until we’ve managed to retake Everfree.” Even in the growing darkness, I could see her expression fall. “Assuming, of course, that you decide to stay.”

I paused for a moment. “What do you mean?

Serenity seemed not to hear me. “No doubt you’re wondering why I’ve asked you to come here.”

“...I’m a bit curious, yeah…”

“We’ve been receiving information throughout the day about our current situation,” Serenity began. “I think it only fair that we let you know exactly the predicament we face. I understand that this is not your war. And… I won’t blame you if you decide you cannot help us.”

“You already know that the Minotaurs have taken our capital city, Everfree. The city is now under their complete control. Anypony with any connection to the crown is being rounded up and hauled off to the dungeons. Including my husband, King Solaris. The rest of our citizens are being repressed and kept under tight control. I fear greatly for their safety if we cannot retake Everfree quickly.”

“But it does not end there. Already, the Minotaur war machine marches on. Numerous other cities have already surrendered after hearing of the fall of Everfree. Half of Equestria is now under Minotaur rule, whether by force or by surrender. The other half, I fear, will soon follow. Our camp is now deep in enemy territory. We must be very, very careful not to draw their attention.”

“So the kingdom is gone then,” I summarized. “Is there no place that could have held out? No city with some tactical advantage that could repel an invasion?”

“Only one,” Serenity sighed. “Cloudsdale, the floating city of the Pegasi. But it is of no use to us. We cannot flee there, for only Pegasi may walk on the clouds they use for their city. They'll be holding up in there for as long as they can... Other than that, the only city that could have held out is not even a city in Equestria. The Crystal Empire, Equestria’s greatest ally, lies several weeks travel by hoof to the north. I doubt even the Minotaur Empire could stretch its supply lines long enough to even reach the city. But nor do they have the forces and resources needed to push out and help us retake Equestria. Unfortunately, our only hope at this point is internal resistance.”

“Or to break their block on your magic,” I added. “Have any of your reports identified a possible source of the protection?”

“Something I was just coming to. We have reason to believe that Adamant Will has found an ancient talisman of some kind. An artifact that predates Equestria, and perhaps the Minotaur Empire itself. It is likely that this talisman is what is protecting his forces. This was sent to us by one of our scouts.” Serenity slid a paper across the table to me. It was a hastily-drawn sketch - an upside-down triangle with a diamond in the center, a Unicorn head jutting from the top, and two angelic wings jutting from the base of the Unicorn’s neck.

“Alright. So snatch that thing away from Adamant Will and your Unicorns have their magic back,” I smirked. “Easy Peasy.”

“It’s not quite as ‘easy peasy’ as that,” Serenity frowned. “We’ve already tried that. Adamant Will is wearing that talisman on a string around his neck, and is always heavily guarded whenever moving throughout the city. Two Unicorns were killed attempting that exact feat you just described. Besides which, an observer described to our scout that the talisman refused to move, even when our Unicorns attempted to remove it. We believe it will only be removed if the wearer removes it voluntarily.”

“Oh…” I murmured. “Guess… I should have figured you’d have tried that already, huh?”

“Unless we can somehow convince him to remove the amulet - a near impossibility at this point,” Serenity continued, “ - then I fear that our only option may be to kill him. And with Everfree essentially on lockdown, and our remaining forces far too small to even think of attempting a direct assault…” 

She shrugged helplessly. “You now know our situation, Chris. I will be the first to admit that it is dire. It is likely that Equestria has seen her final days. We will continue to resist the Minotaurs as we can, but as I said… this is not your war. The Minotaurs do not know that you have aided us. If you wish, you may leave now and never return. I will not blame you.” Serenity fell silent as she leaned backwards in her chair. She refused to meet my eyes, instead choosing to focus on a set of papers on the table in front of her.

I leaned back in my chair as well, arms folded and eyes closed. Serenity had spoken the truth. Besides the one Minotaur in the caves, which was now dead, no other Minotaur had spotted me. Unless they’d seen me wandering in the darkness through the wilderness as we fled towards the camp, in which case it would have been difficult to identify me as anything other than another Pony. I could just leave now, and try to find my way back home on my own. I ignored the small protest in the back of my mind as I opened my eyes again. “So… you’re saying I could just… go,” I repeated. “Leave the camp and not come back. That’s it, full stop, no strings attached, nothing?”

“Well, we could not risk you divulging our camp’s location to the Minotaur, whether by choice or under coercion,” Serenity admitted. “If you were to choose to leave, we would have to purge the memory of this place from your mind.”

“Wait, what?!” I yelped. “No. Uh uh. Not happening. No way am I letting you all screw around with my head. Not a chance in hell.”

“Then we cannot let you leave.”

I shot Serenity a glare, though I doubt she noticed - she still refused to meet my eyes. “Then I guess I’m staying.”

“You do realize the consequences of such a choice, correct?” She demanded. Suddenly, her eyes locked onto mine, and I found I could not look away. “If you elect to remain in this camp, you will ally yourself with Equestria. If the Minotaurs find out that you’re here, they will treat you as an enemy. We can offer you no guarantee of your safety or survival.”

”Well the way I look at it, I’ve got two choices,” I shot back. “I take my chances in here, or I take my chances out there. Now, I know what’s in here. I know what you all - we - are up against. I know what I can do here. I don’t have a damn clue what happens if I leave. Could be better. Could be a hell of a lot worse. And if I stay in here, I don’t have you lot poking through my brain. So I’m taking what’s behind door number one.”

I refused to break eye contact as Serenity stared me down. Truth be told, I was probably going to stay even if one of the conditions of my departure hadn’t been a memory wipe. That merely sealed the deal. It didn’t necessarily mean I was happy with it - while I sympathised with Serenity and her plight, my prime concern was getting back home. Still, I had spoken the truth. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

Finally, it was Serenity who blinked first. “Very well, Chris,” She said slowly. “If this is your choice, so be it. Your duties shall remain as we have discussed earlier.”

“Fine by me.”

“And… there is… one other condition.”

Oh joy. “What?”

“If we are attacked, I must insist that you know how to defend yourself properly. I will not have a soul in this camp who cannot fight.”

I blinked. “Say what now?”

“Combat, Mister Powell.” Serenity peered across the table at me. “This is a war camp, after all. Staying here puts you directly in the path of combat. As I said, we cannot promise your safety or survival. You must rely on yourself for these things. You have already told us that you cannot fight. And so you shall be trained to do so.”

“I’m not planning on fighting anytime soon.”

“Neither was I,” Serenity countered. “And yet, here we are. It is not an option, Chris. If you are going to stay with us, you will have to learn to defend yourself for when - not if, but when - a battle comes.”

I grumbled angrily under my breath. I knew she was right. Not knowing how to properly fight while staying in a rebellion camp was nothing short of suicidal. Even if I wasn’t planning on cracking any more skulls than I already had… “Fine,” I muttered.

“Excellent. Your training begins in five minutes.”

“Wait, what?”’

“The sooner you start, the sooner you shall learn.”

“God damnit all…” I swore under my breath. “Alright, alright. So who’s going to be training me?”

“Luna has agreed to teach you. You will find her back in the dining area clearing.”

“At least it’s a familiar face…” I muttered under my breath. “Anything else?”

“No, that is all I can think of for now.”

“Good. Then I guess I’d better go get this over with.” Without waiting for a reply, I stood and turned my back to her, making my way around the large table and out of the command center.

Was I upset? A little bit. Who was I upset at? Mostly myself. I’d hoped I’d be able to get through this whole ordeal without having to fight. In retrospect, it was kind of an empty hope. Living in a rebellion camp, in the middle of a war zone? There was no way I’d be able to get away without fighting. Yes, I knew how to shoot a gun, but I didn’t have one on me - I’d been hauling our hunting rifles, but I guess I lost them during my fall. Plus, based on Orchard’s reaction to the matchbox, I doubted that Ponies had even discovered firearms. It was very likely that their form of fighting revolved around magic and more medieval combat.

It didn’t take me but a few minutes to make my way from the command center back to the fire pit. By now, dusk was well and truly upon us. The moon and stars shone brightly overhead, with the western horizon being illuminated by brilliant hues of red and orange. I quickly pulled out my phone to check the time again. 7:20. I tucked my phone back into my pocket and glanced around the large clearing. A number of bright, glowing balls of energy were hovering in the air above and around the clearing, similar to the one used by Serenity in the caves, though not quite as bright. Off to my left, I could see a group of a half-dozen Ponies working near the fire pit, scrubbing and cleaning away. And directly in front of me, standing all alone in the center of the large area, was Luna.

“Chris,” She nodded as I stopped a few paces away from her.

“Princess.”

“So you’ve decided to stay with us, I take it?”

“I’ll take my chances with the threats I know rather than the threats I don’t.”

“And mother has told you that I’ll be teaching you to fight?”

“She did, yeah.”

“Excellent.”  Luna’s horn lit up with a dark violet aura, and she closed her eyes. An instant later, A large chest popped into existence beside her, falling to the ground with a heavy thud. “Now then. We’ll be meeting here every evening, half an hour after dinner,” she continued as she opened her eyes. “Obviously, we don’t have the time to go as in-depth as we’d like, considering our circumstances. But I can at least teach you enough over the coming days and weeks so that, when the time for battle does come, you will be more than a meat shield for our forces.”

“Looking forward to it,” I muttered under my breath.

If Luna heard me, she didn’t let it show. Instead, she knelt down next to the chest and flung the lid open. A number of weapons floated out, surrounded by Luna’s magical aura. Just as I had suspected, they were all the kinds of weapons you’d expect to see in a stereotypical medieval setting - a large sword, a mace, a battleaxe, a bow, a crossbow, a smaller sword and shield, a spear, a pair of daggers…

“You’ll learn how to use each of these weapons, along with others,” Luna explained. For tonight, I shall let you select your preferred weapon to begin with, and we shall branch out from there.”

I glanced back and forth between the weapons floating between me and luna. To be honest, I only had a basic idea of how each of the weapons would handle differently - A battle axe and sword would both cut, for example, but the battle axe had a bit more power behind it due to being more top-heavy. Other than that, I was pretty clueless. All I knew was that, if a battle was going to happen, I didn’t want to be anywhere near those Minotaurs. Even if I had a shield, I had no doubt that they could just smash right through it. Tentatively, I reached out and plucked the bow from the air.

“A ranger, hm?” Luna murmured as the other weapons floated towards her and back into the chest. “An interesting choice.”

“I’ve shot a few arrows before,” I explained quickly. “Might as well start with something familiar…”

Luna’s horn died down as the chest was closed, but almost instantly lit up again. Another object popped into existence at the far end of the clearing - this time, a large effigy made of straw. Directly behind it, a large wooden wall appeared as well. Finally, next to Luna, a third object appeared - a quiver full of arrows, which floated over to me. I tugged it out of the air and slung it over my shoulder.

“Alright Chris. Let’s see how good your aim is.” Luna strode over towards the effigy, drawing a line in the dirt with her foot about two dozen yards from the target. “Stand behind the line, and shoot.”

I walked over and stood behind the line, staring down the clearing towards the dummy. I’d shot a bow and arrow a few times in my life, though the last time had been at summer camp over a decade ago. The wooden bow in my hand felt very unusual. Heavier than I had been expecting. And the string… I strummed it once, feeling the tension behind it. I took a deep breath and reached over my shoulder, drawing an arrow. I ran over what I could remember in my head as I notched the arrow, with one of the feathers sticking up vertically. Slowly, I drew the string back. It was even more tense than I had imagined, and it took considerable effort to draw the string back. I looked down the firing range once more, aimed for the chest of the dummy, and released the string.

An instantly later, the arrow went whistling through the air. I could tell it wasn’t a great shot - The arrow began to rotate slightly as it flew the short distance down towards the target. Still, at this relatively short distance, it wasn’t a huge problem. The arrow struck the dummy in the knee, with the feathers pointing upwards at an angle towards the sky.

“Not… terrible,” Luna murmured. “But we definitely need to work on your form. Draw the bow again.” I notched another arrow and drew the string back. Luna was there in an instant, pushing and pulling at various points on my legs, torso, and arms. After what felt like ages, she finally stepped back. “Let it fly.”

I let loose the string again. Once again, I heard the whistling of the arrow as it screamed down the range. This time, it didn’t seem to tilt as much, and it struck at a much shallower angle in the dummy’s pelvis. It was an improvement.

Luna seemed to think so as well. “Better,” she nodded. “Again.


---


The moon was already high in the sky by the time Luna called an end to our training. I gladly dropped the bow and fell backwards onto my rear. The dummy was peppered with holes from top to bottom, and a few of the arrows still stuck out of it and the wall behind it. Luna had increased my shooting distance to nearly a hundred yards towards the end, and my aim had only gotten worse as the distance increased. It didn’t help that my right index and middle fingers were now rubbed red from pulling on the string for hours.

“You’ve improved today,” Luna commented as I pushed myself upright again, massaging my sore fingers. “But you still have a ways to go. Same time, back here tomorrow.” With that, she turned and walked away towards the command center. I stooped down grab the ow and slung it over my shoulder, along with my quiver, and set off towards my tent.

It only took me a few minutes to reach my new dwelling. The bow and quiver were deposited on the ground as I stooped down to fit under the small canopy. A quick check told me that the shirt I had been wearing when I fell into the pool was now mostly dry, and so i tossed it off to the side and laid my pants out to dry. With nothing else pressing coming to mind, I curled up in my sleeping bag and prepared to drift off to sleep.

My first day in this crazy world was done. It was still hard to believe that it had only been 24 hours since I’d woken up in that pool. And now I was stuck on one side of an extraterrestrial war. It hadn't been an easy day, to say the least. I stank of sweat and raw fish, with a hint of wood smoke to go with it. I was tired, I was sore, I was scared, my head hurt, my fingers hurt worse… All in all, not how I’d planned to spend today when I’d left to go hiking.

Well… Looks like I’d be staying here for a while. Better get used to it.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, that’s it!” I heard Blossom’s voice pierce through the heat and smoke that surrounded me. “Nopony’s left. We’re done until dinner.”

I let out a great sigh and stood up from the kneeling position I’d been stuck in for what felt like hours. My knees popped and groaned in displeasure  as I rose to my full height, and my shoulders soon followed as I rolled my arms around in their sockets. I took a few steps backwards from the grill, clearing my vision from the smoke that poured from the fire and allowing the cool morning air to rush across my face.

Eventually, I turned my head towards my partners. They were already sat down at the table, eating their own portions - no doubt they were as tired of standing up preparing fish as I was of kneeling next to the fire. I took my time in walking towards the table, trying to shake some of the stiffness from my legs. I grabbed my own plate and sat down next to Orchard, who scooted over slightly to give us both more room.

“Well?” I asked. “What do you think?”

“I think you smell like a campfire,” Orchard chuckled as he stuck another fork-full of fish in his mouth.

I couldn’t help but grin. I don’t know if it was just these two, or if all Ponies were naturally this way, but Orchard and Blossom become very friendly with me, very quickly. Literally overnight. It had already gotten to the point of light ribbing, as if we’d known each other for years. 

I elbowed him lightly. “Not what I meant, and you know it,” I retorted. “I added some of that basil after the fish was done grilling. How’d it turn out?

“Not bad,” Orchard mumbled past his mouthful of fish. He took a moment to swallow before continuing. “I can see what you mean about this stuff. Still not my favorite, but -”

“Great,” Blossom interrupted. “A lot better than when I used it in a salad. I never knew this stuff could be used like this.”

“Well someone did,” I chuckled as I cut myself my first bite. I could see small bits of the diced green leaf on the fish, where it had been placed after grilling. “Or else they wouldn’t have crated it up.”

The rest of our meal passed in silence, aside from the clatter of forks against plates. All too soon, however, the fish was gone. Honestly, I could have done with another. But as with many things, I reminded myself, I’d have to deal with it. I was stuck in a war camp, after all. Food wasn’t exactly abundant. I’d have to get used to being hungry.

“So what now?” I asked as I set my fork down. “You said we only do two meals a day, right? So what should we do between now and dinner?”

“I dunno about you,” Orchard admitted. “But the captains told us that Blossom and I are goin’ out on a fishin’ expedition this afternoon. Tryin’ to keep our stock of fish high.”

“Sounds like it could be fun… assuming the Minotaurs don’t find you,” I added. “Mind if I join?”

Blossom shook her head. “I wouldn’t mind, but the captains would. You can probably guess, but this ain’t exactly gonna be a casual trip to the lake and back. If I hear correctly, you ain’t ready to defend yourself, so they’d never approve of you headin’ out just yet.”

“But maybe that’s somethin' you can do until it’s time to make dinner,” Orchard added. “Princess Luna mentioned archery practice last night. Maybe you could try and work on that some. Get a head start on training for your next session with the Princess.

“Or try and meet some of the other Ponies in the camp?” Blossom suggested. “I’m sure most of them are more than a little curious about you. Who you are, where you’re from, why you’re here, all that. I’m hopin’ it doesn’t come to it anytime soon, but you might wind up on the battlefield alongside some of those mares and stallions. Try and introduce yourself, maybe make a friend or two.”

I nodded slowly. Both were pretty good suggestions, though I admit that I was more interested in the archery practice than socializing. I’d never been great with initiating conversation with strangers, and that was when the strangers were members of my own species. Besides which… I didn’t exactly know how well I’d be received by the rest of the camp. Sure, Orchard and Blossom had softened up to me pretty quickly, but I could still feel the stares coming across the fire pit as I was grilling the fish earlier. It might be best just to keep to myself while I was here.

“Alright. Is there a spot where I could shoot a few arrows?” I asked. “Preferably out of the way.”

Orchard nodded almost immediately. “There’s a whole bunch of wooden crates and stuff to the northwest, right up against the hedge wall.” I blinked. “That way,” he added after a moment’s pause, pointing behind me and to my right. “There’d almost certainly be a few empty barrels you could stack up and take a few shots at.”

“Alright, thanks.” I turned in the direction Orchard had indicated and began walking away. “Good luck on your fishing trip,” I called over my shoulder. “And be careful!” I added just before I left the clearing and stepped into the sea of tents.

Perhaps maze of tents would be more accurate. The camp seemed even more cramped and cluttered and full of tents than I had remembered. Or maybe the darkness last night and earlier this morning had hidden it. Or perhaps it was all the Ponies running this way and that, some carrying boxes or weapons, some carrying nothing. Either way, moving through the camp was a struggle, and I may have trodden on more than one tail while squeezing through a chokepoint.

And speaking of the Ponies…

Good lord, there were so MANY of them. I’d noticed it before, I’d even noted it before, but it still boggled my mind. Ponies of all different sizes and colors, Pegasi, Unicorns, Earth Ponies, Male and Female - stallions and mares, I guess. All armed. And all looking at me as I passed. Most of their faces reflected a sort of cautious curiosity. There were still a few looks of more open suspicion, and one outright glared at me as I walked past him. Still, a few others seemed more openly curious, and at least once I thought I saw one approaching me before being cut off by the crowd. When I looked back to find the Pony in question, she was gone.

It took a while, but I did eventually make my way through the crowds to find the crates. It seemed that this section of the camp had been turned into a makeshift warehouse. Boxes were stacked up high, easily 20 feet at points. The stacks of crates and barrels were arranged to form a sort of rectangular room, roughly the size of a football field, with two strips of boxes running lengthwise down the area to divide the area into three lanes. Near one of the openings in the wall that marked the entrances to the storage area, a number of empty boxes and barrels had been piled up.

There didn’t seem to be nearly as many Ponies in here as there were in the rest of the camp - only one, in fact, a grey-furred Unicorn stallion. He seemed exhausted, if the state of his jet black mane and the bags under his eyes were anything to judge by. He was curled up on a small cot in one of the corners of the storage area, and he seemed to be fast asleep. I tried not to disturb him as I moved a trio of barrels from the entrance to the other end of the storage area.

Soon enough, I had the three barrels stacked on top of one another, forming a tower about as tall as a Minotaur. I stepped backwards so that I was about halfway down one of the lanes, 50 yards or so from the barrel - right about where I had started having real accuracy issues the night before. I drew my bow from my quiver and pulled an arrow out as well, reviewing in my head what Princess Luna had taught me the night before. I moved my feet to the proper position and notched the arrow. I drew the string back so that I was looking down the shaft of the arrow, aiming for a knothole in the center barrel. I took a deep breath, held it, and released the arrow.

A high-pitched whistle filled the air as the arrow surged away from me. It soared down the lane, arcing very slightly and pulling to the right. It didn’t hit the knothole as I’d intended, but instead pierced the top barrel near the right side.

“How long have you been shooting for?”

I jumped slightly as a deep voice spoke from behind me. I whipped around to find myself face to face with the grey stallion from before. “O-Oh!” I stammered. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you....”

“You didn’t,” the stallion interrupted. “I was never asleep. Now, how long have you been training with a bow and arrow?”

“J-just last night,” I admitted. “Queen Serenity thinks I need to know how to fight… and I guess she’s right. So Princess Luna’s agreed to help train me.”

“You must be the new creature in camp everypony’s making a big fuss about, huh?” The stallion asked. I nodded. “Thought so. If last night was your first time, then that’s not a terrible shot right there. Still need some work though. Draw another arrow.”

I wanted to ask more questions, but he left no room for arguments in his voice. So I drew another arrow and notched it. “Now, draw it back, but don’t let it fly,” the stallion ordered. I complied, drawing the string so that I was once again looking down the shaft of the arrow. I could hear him moving around behind me, and for a few moments there was silence. He tapped my knee to straighten it out, and adjusted my arms a bit, while I kept the string tightly drawn. My arm was beginning to burn, as were my fingers holding the string back.

Finally, he stepped away. “Aim and fire.”

I quickly aimed for the same knothole from before and let the strong loose. As with the night before, I could instantly feel the difference. The arrow flew straighter, faster, with less of an arc. It impacted into the barrel just a few inches above the knothole I had been aiming for.

“Better,” The stallion nodded. “Better. It’ll take a while for that to become muscle memory, but once it does, you’ll be fine. Now, draw another arrow”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. As I drew my next arrow, I took a quick moment to look the stallion up and down. There didn’t seem to be anything too standout about him. Long pitch-black mane, medium-grey fur, light-green eyes. The most distinguishing features were the long sideburns that ran down his face, and the single medal pinned to his camo clothing.

I nodded towards the medal. “I’m guessing you did something important to get that?” I asked as I turned around and notched another arrow.

“I’m a captain,” he stallion replied. “Draw it back.”

I drew the string back for a third time. “A captain?” I asked as he walked around into my vision.. “In the army?” He nodded. “So… why didn’t I see you when Queen Serenity introduced me to the commanders?”

“Oh… not in the Equestrian army,” the stallion replied quickly as he pushed against my elbow again. “I’m captain of the guard for Queen Amethyst, Queen of the Crystal Empire. Fire.”

I let the arrow fly. This time, it hit just to the left of the knothole.“The Crystal Empire?” I asked. “Isn’t that supposed to be a long way from here? What brings you down here, during these times no less?”

“Let’s increase the distance,” the stallion suggested. “Eighty yards.” he two of us turned and began walking the short distance down the lane. “To answer your question, Queen Amethyst was planning on meeting with Queen Serenity,” the stallion explained. “I’m sure that you’ve been told that our nations are close allies. Queen Amethyst wished to discuss what was to be done about the Minotaur threat once they declared war on Equestria. I was sent to make sure there were no threats to the queen before she arrived. Needless to say, none of us really understood how big a threat the Minotaurs were… or are. I was in Everfree when the attack began, and was forced to flee here. And seeing as Minotaurs now control nearly all the land between here and the Crystal Empire, it would seem that I am stuck here for the moment.”

“That makes two of us,” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t sure if he heard me or not, but he gave no indication that he had, instead gesturing with his hand for me to draw another arrow. So I did. For what felt like the next hour, I fired arrow after arrow down the lane, with the stallion instructing me every step of the way. I even ran out of arrows at one point, at which point his horn lit up and another 3 dozen arrows popped into existence.

Just as I was about to draw the string back one more time, he waved his hand. “Enough,” he said. “We want to make sure you have some arrows for tonight. You’ve improved today. Perhaps the Princess will be impressed later tonight.”

“Thanks.” For a moment, there was silence between us. “So… if you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing back here?” I asked.

“Trying to catch up on sleep. Unsuccessfully, I might add,” he frowned. “You said it yourself earlier. I’m a long way from home. I don’t have a tent for myself yet, just a cot I managed to snag. I figured I’d find a place out of the way to try and rest while waiting for a -”

He stallion’s words were cut short as his horn lit up with a grey aura once more. Apparently not by his will, however, for he seemed just as surprised as me. A swirl of green mist flew from his horn and coalesced in on itself. Finally, a scroll bearing a wax seal popped into existence from the mist. “Ah, a reply from Queen Amethyst,” The stallion smiled. “Hopefully she will have some advice as to how to proceed.” turned and began to walk away, popping the seal off of the scroll and unfurling it.

I held up a hand and took a few steps after him. “Wait,” He called out. He turned his head to look of his shoulder at me. “Sorry. I just never got your name.”

The stallion nodded and turned his head once more. “My name is Sombra.” He called out as he turned his attention to the scroll once more. “Captain Sombra.”

> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so it continued. Every day seemed to bring the same thing. I’d wake up early, before dawn, and meet with Blossom and Orchard next to the fire pit. We’d get the grill going, prepare the fish for the morning meal, and cook for a couple of hours until everyone in the camp had gotten their share. At this point, Blossom and Orchard invariably had some other task to do - going to catch more fish, collect wood, repair armor, and Blossom was even once sent to spy on a Minotaur war band that had set up camp not far from the outpost.

As for me, in between my two cooking shifts, I was essentially left to my own devices until it was time to cook dinner. Every day, right about the point where the sun was beginning to pass out of view behind the tall hedge walls, I would find myself walking back to the fire pit. Blossom and Orchard were usually there already, sometimes with the fire already started, sometimes not. Either way, I’d spend the next couple of hours once again hunched over the fire, moving and cooking fish to feed the hungry army.

I’d then only have a brief time to eat my own meal and rest before Luna would arrive. Our training sessions were coming along nicely, and it had only taken a week and a half for her to be satisfied with my ability to shoot a bow and arrow. At this point, we’d moved on to a sword and board, the standard weapons of the Equestrian infantry. I had to admit, maneuvering with such a bulky shield was more difficult than I’d expected, and progress with this set of weapons was much slower than with the bow. Still, progress was made every night, and eventually she would call off our session for the evening. At this point, I would return to my tent and fall asleep, resting and recovering for the next day.

It was a very set-in-stone routine. In fact, the only variance in my daily activities came during the time between my two shifts cooking fish. So long as I didn’t cause any trouble - an act I was certain to avoid - I was left alone, free to do as I wished. After a few days, even the other Ponies in the camp had stopped staring, only sparing me a passing glance as I wandered through the camp.

The day after my first encounter with Captain Sombra, I hadn’t returned. I’d felt bad about disturbing his rest, and was intent not to do so again. Instead, I’d found myself wandering around the camp. Ponies were still staring at me at this point, and their gazes quickly became uncomfortable, to the point that I’d quickly found myself hunkered back in my tent. I’d spent the rest of the afternoon listening to some music on my phone, soft enough that only I could hear it. When it was time to go back to cook dinner, I’d made sure to turn my phone off to conserve what battery remained.

The day after, however, I found myself itching to shoot my bow again. So I once again found myself in the storage area. Sombra was nowhere to be seen when I showed up, so I’d set up the trio of empty barrels again. I have no idea how long he’d been watching, but eventually I looked up to see him perched on top of one of the walls that divided the area into three lanes. He’d noted that I was improving, and even helped me out again. And so it was every time that I showed up in that area to practice. I’d start shooting, keeping an eye and ear open for when Sombra would appear. Still, I could never catch his arrival. Somehow, he always managed to show up without me noticing. It was a little unnerving, to say the least, but Sombra had proven to actually be very helpful and patient, and so I welcomed his aid.

On the days where I didn’t show up to practice, I’d usually find myself wandering through the camp looking for odd jobs to do. And boy, were there plenty of them. One day, I ended up helping a team of Earth Ponies hauling crates from the storage area to the smithy. Another day, I found myself opening crates of what appeared (and felt) to be raw wool and cotton, moving it over to a group of unicorns who were using their magic to weave it into cloth.

And one day, almost two weeks after I’d arrived in this crazy world, I’d found myself saving lives.

“More bandages!” a shrill voice pierced through the chaos surrounding me. I gave no acknowledgement that I’d heard the demand, instead saving precious seconds by simply grabbing an armful of rolls of bandages for a nearby crate and sprinting in the general direction of the voice. I quickly spotted the Pony who’d called for them - an off-white unicorn mare, waving urgently at me. I skidded to a halt next to her, allowing her to take several rolls of them before sprinting off towards another call for aid.

Honestly, I had no idea what had happened. I’d been preparing to go practice my archery in the storage area when I’d felt something grab my arm and drag me in the opposite direction I was headed. It had taken me a few seconds to identify my new forced companion as Celestia, who’d insisted that there was little time to explain - only that every available hand was needed urgently.

She hadn’t been kidding.

A section of the camp, near the southern wall of the camp, had been walled off with makeshift barricades of crates and random bits of wood. We’d forced our way through the barricade to find that the area within had been transformed into a makeshift hospital, with sturdy tents having been erected in a far more organized and efficient manner than the rest of the camp. Ponies were running this way and that between the tents, some bearing supplies, others stretchers. 

I could instantly tell something terrible had happened. I could hear the groans of the injured all around me. When I’d turned to ask Celestia what was going on, I’d found she was already gone, running into the chaos without me. I had no idea what was happening, or what to do.

So I’d started answering the calls for help.

“Need a set of hands, anypony!” I heard another voice call out as another unicorn in a nurse’s uniform took the last set of bandages I’d managed to grab. I quickly spotted the source of the voice - another unicorn, this one mint-green, dressed up in a surgeon’s gown - and ran towards him. He spotted me heading in his direction, and seemed to hesitate for a moment before slipping back into the tent he was standing next to. I dodged around a pair of Pegasi bearing another stretcher and slid into the tent a few seconds after him.

Inside the tent, the surgeon was standing next to a wooden table. On top of the table was a stretcher, and inside of the the stretcher was a Pony - a pale blue Pegasus stallion. I could instantly tell that he was in bad shape. He seemed to have no strength left, judging by how he barely even glanced at me as I walked in. His body was covered in numerous cuts, all long and deep, with a few still oozing blood, and a single arrow was lodged in his right shoulder.

“I’ll use my magic to keep him sedated,” the doctor explained quickly. “Check and see if the arrow is lodged in a bone. If not, push it through out the other side. It's better than pulling it out," He added, noticing my look of confusion. "Pulling it out might hook the head on the muscle and do even more damage on the way out, or break the head off entirely and leave it stuck in his shoulder. Once it's out, cover both holes with this,” he continued, tossing me a rag. I caught the rag, feeling a slight dampness to it. A few seconds later, the unmistakable odor of alcohol hit me. I looked up to see the doctor’s horn lit up with a pale green aura - an aura which quickly enveloped the Pegasus on the stretcher. “Go,” he commanded.

I stepped up to the stretcher and took the arrow shaft firmly in my left hand, with my right braced against the Pegasus’s shoulder. I could instantly tell just how deeply the arrow was buried into the shoulder. I gave it a gentle twist to see if the arrow had hit bone, and found that it twisted with relatively little resistance - a good indication that it had not hit bone. I took a deep breath and gave the arrow a sharp push. The arrow easily slid through, and I couldn't help but shudder as I felt it poke out through the other side of his shoulder. I grabbed the shaft from the other end and finished pulling the arrow out. As soon as the shaft had been pulled clear, both the entry and exit wounds quickly began oozing more blood. I dropped the arrow to the ground and grabbed the rag that had been tossed to me, covering the wounds and pressing hard in an attempt to stop the flow of blood.

It was only for a few seconds, though. The doctor quickly stepped around to the other side of the table and nudged me. “Thank you,” he said. “Go. I can handle him from here.” I nodded and stooped down to grab the arrow, jabbing it point-side down into the ground next to the tent flap as I exited. At least that way, there was less of a chance of someone stepping on it… though with their hooves, I wasn’t sure whether that was a real risk or not.

And so it continued for the rest of the day. I was running this way and that, delivering bandages, running stretchers, helping doctors with whatever they needed to treat the numerous injured. And yet it wasn’t enough. Numerous times throughout the day, as I ran to and fro, I would spot a stretcher being hauled away with a Pony covered in a white sheet, moved out of the hospital area and out of sight.

Slowly, the panic and chaos in the makeshift hospital began to die down. Fewer Ponies were running around, the calls for help were more sparse, and I found that at long last I was able to catch my breath and take wind of the situation. It was obvious that a battle had taken place, and a pretty big one if the number of injured Ponies was any indication. I found myself leaning against a pole holding an open-air tent up, with a pair of those light-giving energy orbs floating just outside. My breathing was heavy, my body drenched in sweat from head to foot, and...

Wait… energy orbs?

I blinked and poked my head outside, looking upward. Sure enough the sun was long gone, and the moon was beginning its slow arc across the sky. I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had gone down, that the natural sunlight illuminating the camp had been replaced by the harsher glow of the numerous energy orbs that served as torches for these Ponies. I’d been too busy running all over the medical area, doing what I could to help out.

Of course, that would mean that I’d not been at the fire pit to help cook dinner.

As if on cue, I felt a soft, furry hand rest upon my shoulder. I turned my head to see the mint-green unicorn from before. It looked as though he’d been just as busy as I had been, if his frazzled mane and the blood stains on his surgeon’s gown were anything to judge by. “Thanks for your help today,” he said with a sad smile. “Go on. There’s not much else that you can do here.”

I couldn’t do much else other than nod and walk away. I was too tired from all my running around to reply. I stumbled a little trying to get past the wooden barricades that still marked off the makeshift hospital, ducked past the pair of guards that stood watch next to the barricade, and began to weave my way through the tents towards the fire pit, away from the pained groans of the injured and dying.

The fire was already out by the time I got there, with only a small plume of smoke rising from the pit to indicate that it had been recently lit. Even the crew that would normally clean up after us was gone, having completed their task before I’d arrived. In fact, there were only two shapes that could be made out against the glow of the light orbs.

Orchard spotted me at the same time that I saw him, and he nudged blossom to get her attention before pointing at me. She turned her head to look and began waving her arms over her head, trying to get my attention. I shook some of the weariness from my limbs and made my way over to them.

“Thank the founders you’re alright!” Blossom exclaimed as I approached. “We heard that somethin’ big happened today. Lots of injured Ponies. When you didn’t show up for dinner, we feared the worst.”

“I’m alright,” I reassured them. “Princess Celestia found me in the middle of the camp and dragged me off to help. Said they needed every available hand they could get, and she wasn’t kidding. You’re right, there were a lot of Ponies hurt. Looked like a battle of some kind.”

“How so?”

“Just the way they were injured,” I explained. “Arrows, clean cuts. Blood everywhere.” Blossom blanched a little at this, but I pretended not to notice. “And a bunch of them were wearing armor. But what about you two?” I asked. “What are you doing here still? I’d have figured you’d be off to bed by now.

“Waitin’ for you, honestly,” Orchard spoke up. “Princess Luna only left a couple of minutes. Told us that when you showed up, you were needed in the command tent.”

Princess Luna had already been and gone? It must have been later than I thought. Instinctively, my hand went towards my pocket to check my phone, but I quickly reminded myself that I had it shut off to preserve what little battery remained. “What for?” I asked as I turned my attention back to the two in front of me.

Orchard shrugged. “She didn’t say,” he replied. “Only that they needed you there. I’d imagine it’s important, though.”

“I’m sure,” I sighed, a sense of dread welling up inside of me. If Princess Luna wanted me at the command center, there was no doubt that Queen Serenity and the other commanders would be there as well. And if they all wanted to meet with me… I wasn’t sure what they wanted, but I was sure that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Right… well thanks for letting me know,” I finally said. “And sorry I wasn’t here to help tonight. I got caught up and lost track of time.”

Blossom shook her head. “No problem,” She smiled. “We’re just relieved that you’re alright. I’m sure they needed you more over there than we did here.”

“It wasn’t too bad to do with just us two,” Orchard agreed.

“Well that’s good, at least.” I turned my back towards the pair and began to walk away. “Good night Orchard, Blossom,” I called over my shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning!” With that, I walked out of the clearing and off towards the command center.

It was only a couple of moments before the large tent came into view. Unlike the last couple of times I had been there, almost two weeks before, there were nearly a dozen guards stationed outside the entrance, each heavily armored and armed with spears and shields. It was certainly an intimidating sight, and I felt myself hesitate as I approached. None of them seemed bothered by my presence though. I was unhindered in my approach, and they made no move to stop me as I pulled the tent flap open and stepped inside.

The inside of the tent was emptier than I had been expecting. No Ponies sat at the tables next to the walls now. In fact, there were only five Ponies in the tent, all huddled together and speaking in hushed whispers. There were the princesses, of course, as well as Queen Serenity. They were joined by a pink pegasus mare - Captain Firefly, I reminded myself - and the brown Earth Pony stallion, Doctor Caligari. Notably absent, however, were the two Unicorn captains from my first visit here - Thunderbolt and Wild Strike

None of them seemed to have noticed my entrance. At the very least, their conversation did not stop as I made my way over towards them. Luna was speaking now, and I could catch snippets of what she was saying as I approached. “Dangerous… not ready…”

“We have no choice,” Serenity interrupted as she finally looked in my direction. She stood up to her full height as the other Ponies present turned towards me. I took the last few steps around the table and stopped a few paces away from them. 

For a long moment, there was silence between us. I didn’t know how much they thought I’d overheard. It admittedly hadn’t been much, though what I had heard did little to reassure me about this visit. I glanced over towards Luna, and a small warning bell went off in the back of my mind. I could see her tail twitching behind her - a small tell that I’d picked up on very quickly while living here amongst the Ponies. It was a sign of apprehension. Nervousness.

Fear.

Finally, Serenity cleared her throat. “Chris,” she said, her voice piercing the silence like an arrow through paper.”

“Queen Serenity,” I inclined my head slightly.

“I understand that you were present at the medical sector today.”

“I was. What happened?”

“Something we knew would come, and yet had hoped it would not. A team was out gathering fish from the lakes when they were ambushed by Minotaurs. It is as we feared. They know we are still in the Everfree Forest, and are trying to hunt us down.”

I nodded. A battle, just as I had figured. “How bad is it?” I asked.

“Seven dead,” Caligari replied. “With at least three more soon to join them. And dozens more injured or crippled.”

“So… where are the other two?” I asked. “The Unicorn captains. Thunderbolt and Wild Strike?”

Again, it was Doctor Caligari that replied. “Captain Wild Strike was out with the gathering group when they were ambushed, and was injured in the fight. His brother is with him in the medical sector now.”

There was another stretch of silence before Serenity cleared her throat again. “We’ve known ever since we arrived here that this was a war we cannot fight for long,” she began. “Today’s massacre is a grim reminder of that fact. We are deprived of our resources, our army… even our magic is useless. Even with our enchantments concealing the camp from those we would wish to keep out, it’s only a matter of time before they find us and either break the enchantments or else lay siege to the camp and starve us out. Time is our enemy now. We must put an end to this war as quickly as we can. Do you agree?”

“...Yes,” I nodded after a brief hesitation. What she had said was indeed true, not to mention that the end of the war would also mean that we could go hunting for that underground lake that could take me back home. But something about the way she had said it… the warning bells in the back of mind started ringing even louder.

“The only way that we can end this war quickly is to get back our tactical advantage - magic. If we can use our magic against the Minotaurs, the war will quickly swing in our favor. But with Adamant Will still protecting his forces with that talisman, we have no hope. Our only chance at victory is to remove that talisman from him. By any means necessary.”

“Of course, a frontal assault is out of the question, for obvious reasons. Attempts by our agents still within the city to remove the talisman or assassinate Adamant Will have all met with failure, and rather quickly as well. He knows we want that talisman. He knows we want him dead. He’s not appearing anywhere without a full squadron of elite guards, all on full alert to protect him from anypony who would wish him harm. And so an inside job by a Pony is out of the question as well.”

“But there is one last resource we have available. One even Adamant Will is unaware of. One which could bring this war to a quick and decisive end.”

“You.”

Silence. I could hear the rustle of the autumn wind outside, so absolute was the silence in the tent. No one spoke as I tried to process what Serenity had just said.

Then it hit me. And I laughed.

Not just a quick laugh, either. I’m talking doubled over, struggling to breathe, tears flowing from my eyes kind of laugh. I could barely see the gathered commanders exchanging nervous glances back and forth, but I didn’t care. I was too busy laughing.

It was several minutes before my laughter died down. I managed to stand up straight as I let out one final chuckle, and wiped the tears from my eyes. I looked back at Serenity, whose expression had not changed through the entire fit. “You had me worried for a second there,” I grinned. “That’s… that was a good one.”

“I fail to see the humor in my words, Chris,” She replied calmly.

“Because it was a joke!” I laughed again for a moment, while Serenity’s expression still did not change.  “You’re joking! You’ve GOT to be joking!” Still no change. I found my own grin becoming strained. Pained, even. “You’re… you’re not serious. You ca… You can’t! You CAN’T be serious!”

“Deadly serious, Mr. Powell.”

Silence.

…

…

…”What?”

“Adamant Will will not trust any of our Ponies,” Serenity began. “But we require an inside job to bring him down. That requires using an agent that is not a Pony. That would eliminate anypony except for you. You are a unique creature on Gaia. Adamant Will does not know you are here, nor that you have been working with us. No Minotaur does. That means that you can earn their trust far more easily than any Pony could. We have been discussing this for several days, and have agreed. Your assignment is to infiltrate Everfree, locate Adamant Will, gain his trust, and use that trust to get close to him and remove the talisman… by any means necessary.”

“Wha… bu… I ca… guh…” My mouth didn’t seem to want to cooperate, didn’t feel capable of expressing just how I couldn’t do this. My hands, likewise, were gesturing this way and that, trying to get some form of meaning across. Trying, and failing miserably.

It took several minutes for me to re-gather my composure. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, let it out, and opened my eyes to look directly at Serenity.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Instantly, the commanders surrounding her tensed up. I didn’t care. “I’ve been here for not even two weeks,” I began, my voice deadly calm. “I’ve done what part I can in your little war effort. I’ve even done some combat training. But not enough for this. I cannot - CANNOT - fight one of those things. Not even one of the grunts. They’d tear me in half!” My eyes narrowed dangerously. “And now you’re sending me to kill their leader. The biggest, baddest motherfucker of them all.”

“Chris, please. Listen.” Serenity took a few steps forward to look me directly in the eyes. “I understand that, for your kind, you are barely a full-grown stallion. And I know what I ask of you. Under any other circumstances, I would not do this. It pains me to ask this of you. But my kingdom is dying. Should we fail - should Adamant Will succeed and defeat the small resistance we have - then my people will spend the rest of eternity as slaves.”

“I wish I did not have to ask this of you. I truly do. But you are our last hope. If you cannot do this… We may as well surrender to the Minotaurs now.”

I opened my mouth for a rebuttal, but quickly found the words stolen away from me. Serenity’s ears were folded against the top of her head - a gesture that I had already known from Earthen (“Terran,” I quickly corrected myself) horses, and which I had soon found out had the same meaning here amongst the Gaian Ponies.

Fear.

Serenity was afraid. Terrified, in fact, if the barely-controlled thrashing of her tail behind her was any indication. I noticed the bags under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in days. And most of all were her eyes themselves. They seemed to want to look anywhere else except for at me, but she would still occasionally glance up at me.

And in those eyes, during those few seconds when she would look at me, all I could see was desperation.

I couldn’t help it. Despite my misgivings, despite the rational part of my mind screaming at me that I should not care, that I should look after myself first, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Everything she had ever known and loved was crashing down her. It was to the point that she was having to ask, no, beg a stranger - an alien, no less - for help.

What she had said… As much as I didn’t like it, I knew she was right. In order for Equestria to survive, in order for me to have a shot at getting home, the talisman had to be removed from the equation. In order to that, someone had to get close to Adamant Will. And a Pony couldn’t do that. I was the only one around who had even a modicum of a chance of getting close to him.

Did I like it? No. Not one bit. But difficult as it was to do so, once I removed my own emotions and misgivings and fear, I began to understand just why Serenity was so desperate. Why she had asked me to do what no Pony could do.

No Pony.

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. I took my time in releasing it, slowly, trying to shove my fear aside. It didn’t help much, but it would have to do. I opened my eyes and looked directly at Serenity, who now had her eyes, filled with desperation, locked on me. I opened my mouth, only able to say four words.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was going to be a long night.

After I’d agreed to go along with Serenity’s plan, I’d been given a brief rundown of what was going to happen. I’d be bringing all of my stuff with me, and set out in just a few hours. It wouldn’t be a long trek - I’d probably be seeing the walls of the city by dawn. That gave me a bit of time to get my things together and rest before setting out on my journey towards Everfree.

It was easy enough to pack up. Nearly all of my belongings were still in my backpack, with only a few essentials scattered around my tent. It took maybe a minute to be packed and ready to leave. And so I’d crawled into my sleeping bag - “Should I bring that too?” I wondered. “Probably not…” - and closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep.

But funnily enough, after being told that you’re going what is essentially a suicide mission, sleep doesn’t come easily.

I tossed and turned in my bag, trying to find a comfortable spot. Most nights I had no trouble drifting off. But tonight, I just couldn’t seem to find that sweet spot. My leg needed stretching. My ear started itching. A rock I had never noticed before was now an irritant like no other. A normally comfortable position suddenly made my arm fall asleep.

And there it was again. That little nagging voice in the back of my head.

“They’re sending you to your doom. You know it. And so do they.”

“What else can I do?” I muttered dejectedly. I felt like a damn fool, arguing with myself like that, but I also wanted to silence this internal voice of dissent. I knew this was what had to be done. “It’s either this, or wait until the Minotaurs find us and kill us.”

“What else can you do? You know what else you can do.”

“...”

“You just don’t want to consider it.”

“... Shut up,” I growled, rolling over. “That’s not even an option.”

“As I said.”

“And I said shut up,” I snarled, a little louder this time. Why this little voice seemed to pop up only when bad things were happening, I had no idea, but I couldn’t stand the smugness with which it spoke. If it had been an actual person -

“Chris?”

I blinked and turned my head towards the entrance to my tent. “Hello?”

“It’s me. Luna.” Sure enough, just outside the tent, I could see a small shadow cast by the figure and the energy orbs onto the canvas. “Can I come in?”

I paused for a second. Luna’s arrival seemed to have silenced that irritating voice, though I had a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that I hadn’t heard the last of it. “Sure,” I finally replied, pulling myself halfway out of the sleeping bag and pushing myself into a sitting position

The flap of the tent was pulled open, and a moment later Luna was hunched over inside my tent., with one of those energy orbs hovering above her to give off some light. I had to admit, with two people in there, it was more than a little cramped. I wiggled a bit to try to giver her some more room, but found myself restricted by the pole in the center holding the tent up. Finally, we managed to make enough room, and she fell backwards to sit on the canvas floor.

There was a long stretch of awkward silence between us before Luna finally spoke up. “I hope you are feeling well…”

“Sure,” I replied dryly. “Absolutely fantastic. Never better.”

Luna let out a sigh and looked down towards her lap. Instantly, I felt like a jackass for how I’d responded to her. “I apologize, Chris,” She said quietly. “I tried to tell mother that you were not ready yet, but -”

“Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “I don’t think I’d ever be really ready. Not in time, anyway. I might not like it, but your mother is right. This is the only shot we have at ending this war before it’s too late.”

“I wish there was more we could do to aid you.” Luna’s horn began to glow as she continued. “But I’m afraid you will have to make the journey to Everfree by yourself, so as not to be seen by the Minotaurs in the company of Ponies. This is a road you must now walk alone. All I can do is provide to you a few tools that I pray will be of use to you.”

The glow surrounding Luna’s horn faded slightly, then pulsed brightly twice before fading entirely. On the second pulse, a trio of items popped into existence in her lap. She set one of them aside before holding the other two out to me

The first item I took from her was a leather quiver. It was very simple, very plain, with only a single engraving upon it - a small rune on the back, which would be pressed up against my back when the quiver was strapped to me. A few dozen arrows were already resting inside. As I took the quiver from Luna, I could feel that something was different about it. “This quiver was crafted by the Griffons of Griffonstone. Few creatures in this world can match their leatherworking capabilities. This quiver should survive all but the most traumatic of damages. In addition, it has been enchanted by myself and my sister. Should the quiver run dry of arrows, it will begin to produce arrows of magic for you to draw upon. While these arrows will be useless against Minotaurs protected by Adamant Will’s talisman, in the future it will provide a nearly limitless amount of arrows.”

I then turned my attention to the second item that Luna had given to me - a shortbow, painted entirely black. As with the quiver, a small rune had been carved into the wood - this time on the handle, so that it would be covered by my hand when holding the bow. As I took it, as with the quiver, I felt something was different about this bow. I gave the string a small tug back, and found that it gave relatively little resistance. I relaxed my draw on the bow and looked up as Luna began talking again. “This bow was crafted here in this very camp,” she began. “Simple, crafted for pure utility, but it will serve you well. In addition, as with your quiver, we have placed a small enchantment on this bow. You will find that it is far easier to draw back than a normal bow of similar size, and yet the arrow will fly just as quickly, and with the same power, as normal.”

I placed the quiver and bow in my lap as Luna handed me the third item - a small leather pouch, designed to be tied onto a belt by a set of leather straps. As I took the pouch, I raised an eyebrow - the pouch was so light that I thought it was empty. Undoing, the drawstring, however, I felt my jaw drop as I peered inside. The pouch was far, FAR larger on the inside than it appeared - I had to stick my entire arm in, up to the shoulder, to touch the bottom. Nor was the pouch empty - far from it, in fact. Inside the pouch were a large number of what appeared to be scrolls, each one rolled up and sealed with a red wax stamp. As I pulled a couple of the scrolls out, I noticed that many of the stamps had different runes inscribed upon them.

“As you have already found,” Luna began, “This pouch has been given enchantments as well. The inside is far larger than its outer appearance might lead you to believe, and you will find that no matter what you add to this pouch, it will never grow any heavier. Currently contained within are a number of scrolls. Each scroll has been imbued with a single cast of a particular spell. The symbol inscribed upon the wax stamp will indicate the spell that will be unleashed when activated. To use one, simply press upon the stamp, and the spell will be directed by your willpower, with the scroll disintegrating upon use.”

By this point, I had already removed a half dozen scrolls from the pouch, and it seemed that there were a number more still within. “So… How do I tell what each of these spells do?” I asked. “I mean, the symbols showing that these two scrolls do the same thing are great, but… how do I tell what they actually do?”

“With this.” Luna flicked her wrist, and a small sheet of paper appeared in her hands. “I would recommend memorizing this paper tonight, Chris,” she said as she handed the paper over. “In a desperate situation, I doubt you would wish to spend time consulting this paper to figure out which scroll to use.”

With that, Luna pushed herself to her hooves, still having to duck down to avoid bumping her head on the top of the tent. “You will set out from here in only a few hours,” she continued. “The idea is for you to arrive at Everfree just after dawn, so as to conceal your approach but not make it seem as though this was your intention. Once within the city, we will be very limited in our ability to contact you. I can only hope that these items will serve you well in your endeavours.”

For a moment, I was silent. I turned the bow over and over again in my hands, bounced the pouch up and down in one hand, gripped the quiver tightly. It was a few moments before I could speak again. “Thanks, Luna,” I finally said. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will.” She paused for a moment, staring down at me, one hand on the tent flap. Suddenly,.the hand let go of the flap, and she extended it down towards me. “Friends?”

I couldn’t help but smile. I reached up with my right hand and gripped hers firmly, giving it a quick shake. “Friends.” I watched as Luna returned the smile, and then turned to pull the tent flap open and step out into the night air. She closed the flap behind her, taking the energy orb with her and leaving me alone in the darkness once more.

I reached over to my bag and unzipped it. It was only a few seconds before I pulled my flashlight out and clicked it on. I aimed the light at the ceiling so as to give the tent the best illumination possible, and began pulling all of the scrolls out of the pouch. All in all, there seemed to be thirteen of them once the pouch had been emptied. I began sorting the scrolls into different piles, sorting them by the symbol upon the wax seal. Once the scrolls had been sorted,  I then turned my attention towards the paper that Luna had given to me.

Above the series of six symbols was a small note from Luna. quickly scanning over it, I realized it was an outline of several things that I already knew, including that Adamant Will’s talisman would protect the Minotaurs from nearly all spells. However, two of these spells had been selected because they, for whatever reason, seemed to bypass this protection, unleashing their full effects even on those affected by the talisman, while the other four had been selected for the utility they could bring to me. Having finished reading the note, my eyes slid down the page towards the first symbol

The first symbol scrawled at the top was what appeared to be half of the taijitu symbol that represented the principles of Yin and Yang. This symbol was that of the Yang - the left half that was mostly white but with the single black dot. I quickly found the pile of three scrolls that had this symbol inscribed upon them. According to the paper, this symbol indicated that these scrolls were infused with a spell that would release a blinding flash of light, while at the same time shielding the user from its glare. This was one of the two spells that could pierce through Adamant Will’s protection. I carefully picked these three scrolls up and carefully deposited them back into the pouch.

The second symbol was the other half of the taijitu symbol - Yin, the black swirl with the white dot. Again, there were three of these scrolls, and I moved them closer to me as I read what they would do. These scrolls, when used, would allow the user to meld into the shadows, only being revealed if exposed to direct sun or moonlight. Only six scrolls in, and I was already beginning to see just how useful many of these scrolls could be. I carefully stored these scrolls away as well, and moved on to the next symbol.

The third symbol was much simpler, and I already had an idea of what it would do before reading the description, simply by the picture - a sturdy-looking shield. Sure enough, the two scrolls imbued with this symbol, when activated, would allow the user to, with a thought, create a shield that would protect the user from all but the most deadly of attacks. As with the previous two groups of scrolls, I stowed these two away and turned my attention to the remaining five scrolls.

The fourth symbol was that of a feather. Two of the scrolls remaining had matching symbols upon their seals. According to the paper, these two scrolls would allow the user to slow their descent if falling from a great height. I shuddered a little as I imagined a scenario where this might be helpful, and made sure that these two were safely stowed away near the top of the pouch as I looked at the final three scrolls.

Two of these scrolls had a different symbol from the final one, and so I set the odd one to the side for the moment. I reached for one of the remaining two and took a closer look at the symbol upon it. It appeared to be an outline of a dragon, and looking back towards the paper, I found that this scroll had a rather interesting effect. When used, it would make the user appear far more powerful and intimidating than they otherwise would, and that the effects would persist indefinitely on any who were within eyesight of the caster. Perhaps more interestingly, it seemed that this was the second spell that could pierce through the talisman’s protection. How Luna had figured this out, I had no idea, though I had a feeling that it was at least partially practical experience against one of the protected Minotaurs. Already, I could imagine that such a spell would be useful when introducing myself to Adamant Will. I carefully stored this scroll and its partner away and turned my attention towards the final scroll

This scroll had a picture of what appeared to be a black canvas, with a single candle standing out against the darkness. Consulting Luna’s paper, I found this symbol near the bottom of the page. Luna’s description of the scroll read:

“The spell upon this scroll is by far the most potent of any contained within, and took myself, Celestia, and mother three days to prepare. When all seems lost, when darkness threatens to consume you, you will find the light within.”

“Use it well.”

“Find the light withi… what?” I murmured, scratching my head. It had to be a metaphor for something, of that I was certain. But a metaphor for what, exactly? I puzzled for a moment before letting out a sigh and stowing the final scroll away. It wasn’t going to become any clearer just sitting here. Guess I’d find out when I used the scroll… when darkness threatened to consume me, whatever that meant.

Looking around once more, I double checked that everything was ready for me to leave in a few hours, including my new gifts from Luna. Satisfied that everything was in order, I curled back up in my sleeping bag. Thankfully, Luna’s visit seemed to have calmed my nerves, because this time it was only a few moments before I was fast asleep.


---


I awoke to the sudden sound of rustling canvas. I barely had time to open my eyes before I felt something hard grasped firmly over my mouth. Instantly, I was wide awake as adrenaline pumped through my body, and my hands were scrambling for my belt to grab the knife sheathed there. But the intruder seemed to have anticipated this, for his legs fell on top of my arms, pinning me to the ground.

“Silence,” A voice hissed. A voice that seemed oddly… familiar. 

As if on cue, a ball of energy popped into existence near the top of the tent, and my assailant was revealed to me. It was a dark grey Unicorn stallion, his dual-shade black and blue mane cut extremely short. Instantly, I was able to identify him.

“Captain Thund-”

“Hush!” Thunderbolt snarled, clenching his hand tighter over my mouth. “You will shut up, and you will listen to me!” All I could do was nod my head up and down. I had a brief moment to take in his appearance. His eyes were wide, frenzied, and bloodshot. Dark bags hung under his eyes, and his cheeks sported twin dark, wet patches. His camouflage shirt was splattered here and there with what looked suspiciously like blood.

“I know what you’re doing,” Thunderbolt growled. “I know your plan. I know you’re going to Everfree under the Queen’s orders, to assassinate Adamant Will. Right?” 

Silence.

“WELL?!”

I quickly nodded my head up and down. “Good,” Thunderbolt hissed. “I’ve got some orders of my own for you, Human. When you get there - When you’re ready to strike - make him suffer. I want him to scream. I want to hear his anguished cries from here. Make that bastard beg for the sweet, sweet release of death. And deny him that release until his own agony stops his black heart. I want him to suffer as he made my brother suffer before…”

Thunderbolt’s words were cut off by a choked sob. I could feel his grip on my mouth loosening, so I gently moved his hand off of my face. He didn’t seem to care. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, some falling free to land on my bag, but most flowing down to further wet his cheeks. It didn’t take a genius to guess what had happened.

“He will die,” I muttered as I pushed myself into a sitting position. “I’m so sorry…”

“Chris!”

Instantly, Thunderbolt’s sobs were silenced. His ears perked up as Luna’s voice called from what could have only been a few tents down the row.. “Chris!” It’s time!”

A second later, Thunderbolt’s hand was once again covering my mouth, this time in order to turn my head to look him in the eye. “Remember what I said,” he hissed. “That son of a bitch has shown no mercy, and deserves none in return. Give. No. Quarter.” With that, Thunderbolt’s horn lit up once more. A quick flash later, and he and the energy orb were gone.

“Chris?” Luna’s voice was now directly outside of my tent. “Are you awake?”

“Y-yeah. I’m up,” I replied. My heart was still hammering away in my chest, my forehead lined with sweat, but I was slowly beginning to calm down. I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag and grabbed all of my belongings, dragging them with me out of the tent.

Luna was standing alone outside of my tent, a ball of energy hovering above her outstretched right hand. A quick glance towards the sky told me that it was still night time, though the moon’s position close to the edge of the horizon indicated that dawn was approaching. I shouldered my backpack and spent a moment fiddling with the quiver before I managed to get it hooked around my back as well, laying somewhat awkwardly on top of the bag. I tied the pouch of scrolls to my belt and grabbed my new bow in my right hand. “Alright. I’m all set.”

Without a word, Luna turned and walked away. I took a quick glance behind me towards the tent that had been my home for the past two weeks before setting off after her. The hedge wall was directly to my left, so close that, were it not for the single row of tents pressed against it, I could touch it. It didn’t seem like anyone else was up yet besides the occasional patrolling guard, and I could hardly blame them - this was earlier than even I would rise to begin cooking breakfast.

We wandered down the row for a few minutes before another orb of light came into view. This one was held over the outstretched hand of Serenity, standing next to Celestia. Luna and I stopped a half dozen paces away from them. “I hope you are well rested Chris,” Serenity said as we stopped. “You will need all your strength in the coming days.”

“Don’t I know it,” I muttered.

“Everfree lies directly to our east,” Serenity continued. Her free hand flipped something towards me, and I instinctively reached out to catch it. It was a small wooden box, and as I opened it, I realized that it was a small compass. “If you continue in that direction at a reasonable pace, you should arrive there a bit after dawn. Once you are inside, you will be on your own. Remember, the fate of an entire kingdom rests on your shoulders.”

“No pressure or anything, huh?” I chuckled nervously. I received no response from Serenity - merely a nod towards the hedge wall. “Alright, alright. I’m out of here.”

“Good luck, Chris,” Luna called out as I put one hand on the hedge wall. “Good luck… and be safe.”

“I will,” I replied. “Take care of yourself.” With that, I took a deep breath and pushed forward on the wall. It offered little resistance, allowing me an easy passage through the hedge and out the other side.

As soon as I pushed through, I expected some kind of attack. Some kind of assault from a hidden Minotaur, waiting to ambush the next poor soul to try to leave. But no Minotaur made his presence known. I took a few steps forward. No attack. I reached over my shoulder and drew an arrow, notching it and preparing to defend myself. Still no attack. Finally, I took the final few steps and moved past the first tree, heading towards the east, away from the safety of the camp and deeper into the Everfree Forest.

To say I was scared would be a criminal understatement. I was absolutely terrified. On my own, in a forest at night, wandering around in darkness so absolute that I could not see my hand in front of my face. I barely made it a few minutes before I could stand it no longer. I sheathed my arrow and reached into my backpack for my flashlight. The instant it clicked on, the darkness faded away, and with it a good portion of my fear. At least now I’d be able to see if my death was approaching.

And so, with my bow in my left hand and my flashlight in my right, I crept through the forest. I was unimpeded in my approach, by either minotaur or nocturnal predator. It seemed as though the entire forest was silent. Watching. Waiting with baited breath as I moved forward.

It must have been an hour or more, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. I could already see dawn approaching, the horizon turning a deep blood red. It was still dark enough that I needed my flashlight, but I could at least see my hand on top of my nose now if I turned the flashlight off. It might have just been my imagination, but it seemed like the forest was becoming thinner as I approached. Trees were a bit more spread out, undergrowth was trampled down or had been cleared entirely…

And then, suddenly I emerged.

The trees had been cut back entirely here, opening up a wide plain in front of me. Off in the distance, I could make out houses, with shapes moving around between them. Roads, and farms… And a gigantic stone wall behind them all. Everfree. The capital of Equestria. Under hostile rule by the invading Minotaurs.

Well, I wasn’t getting any younger.

“Show time.”
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought that I’d be afraid, walking down that path towards my likely death. But no, I wasn’t afraid. Not really. Nervous would be a better way to describe how I felt. Not quite fear, but similar.

Before I’d arrived, before I’d actually laid eyes on the stone walls that surrounded Everfree, my mission had seemed… distant, almost. Off in the future. But now, the fact that I was really about to plunge headfirst into this suicide mission really hit me. Standing there at the edge of the forest, I could feel my knees shaking underneath me, the sweat dripping down the back of my neck despite the cool autumn breeze, the horrible butterflies feeling in the pit of my stomach, like that time I’d forgotten my science fair project at home. For a long moment, my nerves nearly failed me, and I had half a mind to simply turn and walk away back into the forest

But, no, that wasn’t an option anymore. Any chance I’d had of abandoning this mission had disappeared as soon as I had stepped foot outside of the camp. I sincerely doubted I would be welcomed back if I didn’t have a very good reason. And nervousness is hardly a good reason.

So I forced myself to calm down. I wasn’t exactly wandering in there unprepared. I had a pouch full of scrolls that would help me if it came to blows, though I sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. I had weapons, meager though they were - a bow with a few dozen arrows and a hunting knife were hardly the best companions going toe to toe with these things. But my best weapon was that of anonymity. The Minotaur had  no idea who I was, who I was working for, or what I was (And more importantly, wasn’t) capable of. In their eyes, I would be a wild card. just had to make it look like I was playing into their hand.

And so, with that thought in mind, I took my first steps towards the city walls.

The journey across the open land between the forest and the walls was rather uneventful. My first obstacle was fairly simple - a large ravine that cut across the landscape. It only took a few seconds for me to notice a large, white stone bridge that crossed the gap, and I made my way towards it. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be a busy day, for the bridge was deserted as I crossed. Still, I’d rather not be spotted until I was ready, and so I quickly veered off of the main road into the city and angled myself directly towards the city walls.

My next set of obstacles were a pair of farmhouses stood between me and my destination, and near the first one to my right, I could see a number of shapes moving. As I drew closer, I was able to identify them as Ponies - Earth Ponies, more specifically. I swung wide around the building so as not to draw attention, but it didn’t seem to work. One of the Ponies, a large stallion, looked up towards me and locked eyes. He said nothing, but I didn’t miss the fact that he placed himself between me and his family as I walked a hundred yards away from them past their house.

Moving past the second house, I was met with much the same reaction - suspicion and fear were evident in the residents’ eyes as I passed. Not that I could blame them - nothing on this planet, save for the Ponies in the resistance camp, knew of my existence, knew who I was or what I was or why I was here. And for now, I was content to keep it that way.

Making my way past the farmhouses, I began to muse over my potential methods of entry into the city. With the resistance still hiding out, I seriously doubted that the Minotaurs would be allowing free travel in and out of the city. Combined with the fact that I tended to stand out in a crowd of Ponies, and there was no hope of me using crowds to blend in and move into the city without attracting attention. I wasn’t feeling confident enough in my rock-climbing abilities to attempt to scale the walls. I could attempt to find a hidden passage in - a sewer exit of some kind - but again, the aforementioned problems with blending in would become a problem.

And so, I was left with one option - present myself to the guards, and try to talk my way in. Was it a good plan? No, not particularly. But, as I turned and began to make my way towards the gates, seemed to be my only feasible option, given the circumstances. So long as I didn’t present myself as a threat to them, I would hopefully not be in much danger.

Hopefully.

As I drew closer to the gate of the city, I couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was. The sun was up by now, and with this city being the capital of the Kingdom, I had expected to hear at least some hustle and bustle from beyond the walls. But there was none. No sound, nothing to tell me that what lay beyond the walls was anything more than a ghost town.

In fact, it was only when I actually approached the gates that I saw any signs of life from the city. The gate was closed, and on the other side I could see Ponies moving through the streets. But aside from the sound of hooves on cobblestone, I couldn’t hear anything. There was no talking, no signs of trade or business, nothing. Ponies moved with their heads ducked down, walking quickly this way and that, as if trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Of course, that was to be expected with the Minotaurs watching over them.

There had to be half a dozen standing with the backs to me on the other side of the gate, each one heavily armored and wielding a weapon of some sort. Anytime a Pony would take a step too close to the gate, one of the Minotaurs would snarl until they stepped back away. It was clear that the Minotaurs weren’t about to let any of the Ponies leave the city.

They weren’t all inside the gates, either. A pair of Minotaurs stood shoulder to shoulder on my side of the gate, both as heavily armored as their companions inside the city. The one on the right was holding a sword and shield, while the one on the left wielded a wicked-looking spear with a hooked blade at the end. They looked tough. Dangerous. Menacing.

And they were both staring directly at me.

I had to force myself to continue at an even pace as the two Minotaurs stared me down. I reached behind my back and stowed my bow away in my quiver, so as to not give the Minotaurs a reason to think of me as a hostile. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to turn and walk away, but I knew I was in too deep now. Turning away at this point would show weakness to the Minotaurs, which would likely work against my attempts to earn the trust of their king. Besides which, it would also give them the opportunity to attack me, if they so chose.

So I forced myself to keep walking forward until I was a dozen or so paces away from the Minotaurs - A respectable distance, but not too far away. My expression remained neutral, as did the guards. We stared each other down, none of us willing to break eye contact.

It was the one on the right that spoke first. “You walk upon the territory of the Kingdom of Minos, stranger,” he stated loudly, his voice deep and bold. “State your name and purpose.”

“My name is Chris,” I replied. It was a miracle that my voice did not waiver. “And I am here to speak to your King. I bear news for his ears only.”

The Minotaur who had spoken first stared me down. For a brief moment, I thought he was going to deny me. Suddenly, he turned his head and began muttering to his companion. The second Minotaur did not speak, but instead nodded and shook his head in reply.

Finally, both Minotaurs turned their full attention back to me. “We’ve not seen a creature like you before in our lands. Where are you from?”

“I come from far, far away. I can say no more without speaking to your King.”

There was another brief pause as the two Minotaurs began conversing again. Or, at least, the one began speaking quietly while the second remained silent, replying with nods and shakes of his head and the occasional hand gesture. This pause was much longer than the first, stretching on for several minutes as I stood and waited to see what would happen next.

Finally, the two Minotaurs turned back to me. “Hand over your weapons,” The first Minotaur ordered. “We will not let you into our King’s presence armed.

Slowly, I slid my quiver off of my back and grasped it in one hand. I was loathe to simply hand my weapons over, particularly my gifts from Luna. However, it sounded like they were preparing to take me to see Adamant Will, so reluctantly I tossed them the bow and quiver. I unhooked my sheathed knife from my belt and tossed that their way as well before stepping forward towards them. The first Minotaur snatched both of them out of the air as I tossed them his way.

But the first Minotaur held out a hand to stop me from walking past him. “And your bag,” he added. “We must search its contents.”

“Fine,” I sighed, allowing the bag to slip off of my back and fall onto the ground with a soft thud. “I’ve nothing to hide.”

The second Minotaur stepped past me and retrieved my fallen bag. I heard the sound of the zipper being opened, and for a few minutes I could hear him rummaging through my bag. Thankfully, he didn’t seem particularly interested in my pouch full of scrolls - It seemed that he thought it too small to contain anything of any danger, for he didn’t check its contents.
Finally, I heard the zipper closing again, and the Minotaur stepped back around in front of me. My bag was shoved back into my hands, and the guard tapped his companion twice on the shoulder.

“Alright,” The first Minotaur began, handing my weapons to his companion. “Thunderhoof will take you to the palace guards. Tell them that Greystripe let you past. And if they ask, the clearance code is ‘Dawn over the Mountain’. Stay with Thunderhoof until you get there. And don’t even think of slipping away.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Open the gate!” The first guard called. Almost instantly, the demeanour of the guards on the other side of the gate became even more aggressive. They took a step forward and brandished their weapons menacingly, and the crowds walking past on the other side quickly shifted even further away as the gate lurched upwards.

The second Minotaur - Thunderhoof I assumed - quickly stepped past the gate, and I followed after him. Not a second after I had stepped past the metal bars did the gate fall back down, once again sealing the city. Only this time, I was sealed inside as well.

Thunderhoof wasted no time. His large frame made it easy for him to clear a path through the crowds of Ponies, and all I had to do was stay reasonably close behind him in order to not get lost in the crowd. Not that I thought that would be a problem - most of the Ponies seemed deathly afraid to get anywhere near me. Even as I passed, I could feel their gazes as they stared after me. I couldn’t really blame them - after all, unlike the Ponies at the resistance camp, they hadn’t had a couple of weeks to get used to me or the assurances of their Queen that I was a friend - but it was still more than a little annoying.

Inside the walls, I could now get a close-up view of the city. The architecture and general layout was very similar to that what you’d see in a movie set in 1800’s-era London. Two-to-three story buildings, all squashed together with no yard to speak of, mostly brick and stone, cobblestone streets. The one difference was that there was no sidewalk to speak of. Which, when I thought about it, made sense, since there were no horse-drawn carriages and carts to be mindful of. It was all pedestrian traffic and Pony-pulled carts. All in all, on the surface, it seemed very similar to how I would have expected a large pre-industrialization city to look like.

But beneath the surface, I could tell something was wrong. No one was talking. The Ponies walking past didn’t look up. They only showed any expression at all when a Minotaur or I passed too close, and that expression was always fear. Otherwise, they moved quickly with their heads bent and their gazes lowered. There was an underlying tension, an undercurrent of discontent and fear. Not surprising, given the current state of the city.

Thunderhoof seemed to pay it no mind, if he noticed it at all. He moved just as quickly as the Ponies, but with his head held high and proud. Occasionally, he would glance over his shoulders to make sure I was still following, but as the minutes passed, these checks became less and less frequent.

It had to have been nearly half an hour of walking and pushing through the crowds before Thunderhoof stopped dead in his tracks as he turned a corner. He said nothing, but instead pointed around the corner he had just turned. I turned as well to see what he was pointing at.

There, not too far ahead of us in the distance, a large castle rose from the ground. Like the buildings surrounding us, this building was made of stone and brick, but each stone comprising this castle was white as fresh snow. A number of towers of varying sizes rose from the main building itself, which was surrounded, along with a large lawn, by a brick-and-metal fence. The entire compound seemed to be built upon the side of a hill, with the other side completely hidden from view by the fence. The street we had turned down lead directly to a large metal gate, which was guarded by no less than a dozen Minotaurs, each one even more heavily armored and armed than the ones guarding the gates to the city.

A pat on the back drew my attention back to my immediate surrounding. I looked up towards Thunderhoof to see him staring down at me. He said nothing, but simply gave a short nod and continued down the street towards the gate.

As Thunderhoof and I cleared the crowds filing past the castle, the guards turned their gazes towards us. I could instantly see the shift in their demeanour - their grips on their weapons tightened, their posture became more rigid, their eyes narrowed ever so slightly. I had no doubt that they would have stopped me dead in my tracks if Thunderhoof hadn’t been escorting me.

We stopped just a few steps away from the row of guards as one of them opened their mouths. “What have you brought to us, Thunderhoof? He asked. “An intruder?”

Thunderhoof shook his head, and made a few quick gestures with his hands, but not once did a word escape his mouth. I caught a few of the gestures - a point towards me, back towards the gate we had entered from, his hand drawing away from his mouth - but some of the motions were too quick for me to catch.

The guard, however, seemed to understand, for he turned his gaze fully to me. “What business do you have here?” he demanded.

I forced my voice and my gaze to remain steady as I returned the guard’s stare. “I come from a land far, far away,” I announced. “I bring news for your King.”

“Who was the guard that permitted you entry?”

“Greystripe.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed even further. “And the clearance code?”

“Dawn over the Mountain.”

The guard snorted once, but seemed satisfied. “Well if Greystripe let you in… he must not think you capable of causing too much trouble,” he huffed. “Alright Thunderhoof, take it to King Adamant Will, and don’t let it out of your sight. Let’s see if this news is worth his time.”

I felt a powerful hand on my left shoulder give me a small push, and I took a few steps forward. The guards stepped to the side, and one stepped out of line. A keyring was produced, and a moment later the gate swung wide open. I stepped forward, followed closely by Thunderhoof, and the gate swung closed and locked behind us, sealing me in.

I could feel the path slowly becoming steeper as we ascended up the hill. The path itself was made of white cobblestone, save for a  wooden bridge that lead across a small stream. Even this bridge was heavily guarded, though the guards made no move to stop Thunderhoof and I as we walked past. Ahead, at the end of the long, winding path, was the castle. The current residency of King Adamant Will. It only took a few more minutes to reach the grand wooden doors that lead into the building. Thunderhoof didn’t hesitate in throwing the doors open with a single swipe of his arm, and I was quick to step into the entrance hall behind him.

Let me tell you right now. The movies that you see with castles in them, where they show the main entrance hall? Looks epic, yeah? Grandiose? It pales in comparison to seeing it live. The entrance hall was massive - easily as long as a football field, and that was a lowball estimation. The floor was a white speckled marble, and a rich maroon carpet stretched the entire length of the entrance hall. It also split off to lead towards each of the half dozen side passages that branched off of the main hall on each side. Marble busts flanked each side-passage, showing the head of different Ponies. The hall ended in a staircase that lead to a landing and split off in opposite directions, with a balcony running behind them. A large tapestry hung over the staircase - A silhouette of a bull’s head, complete with glowing white eyes, and a pair of spears crossed beneath it

Somehow, I didn’t think that that had been approved of by Serenity.

Thunderhoof gave me only a few seconds to look around while he closed the door behind us. Afterwards, He strolled past me at his usual brisk pace, forcing me to jog after him to keep up. He made his way to the stairs at the end of the hall, ascended them, and took the staircase to the right, with me directly behind him.

We twisted and turned our way through the castle. At first, I tried to keep track of our route - second left, first right, up a flight of stairs, first left, third right - but it quickly became too much for me to remember. What’s more, I could have sworn we were going in circles - I know I saw the same painting at least three times. Eventually though, we made it to our destination.

As we rounded the final corner, I took a good look around. It was another hall, though not nearly as large or grandiose as the entrance hall. At the other end there was another set of double doors ahead of us, flanked by a trio of guards on each side. The only other items of interest, besides a pair of windows flanked by a pair of paintings each, was a few wooden chairs pushed up against the walls. Thunderhoof gestured towards one of the seats on the right wall, close to the door, and I took a seat as he walked up to the guards.

There was some gesturing, and a few short words. One of the guards stepped into the throne room, and emerged a few short moments later. “A few moments,” I overhead him. “The King’s dealing with one of the prisoners.” That seemed to satisfy Thunderhoof, for he walked over and sat down heavily in the chair next to me - so heavily, in fact, that I thought for a moment that it might break. Thankfully, it seemed to hold. A long, somewhat awkward silence stretched out. I kept looking around the hall - at the paintings, out the windows, at the guards, over at Thunderhoof - but none of them seemed keen on making any conversation.

Well, I was supposed to be staying here for a bit. Might as well get to know a few of them.

“So… how you doing?” I asked, directing my words towards Thunderhoof. I got no response. “Uh… enjoy your job?” I asked. Again, no response. Not even a glance my direction. Meanwhile, I could tell the guards nearby were amused at my attempts at conversation, if their smirks were anything to judge by. “Not much of a talker, eh?” I muttered.

That earned me a bemused look from Thunderhoof, followed by a few snickers from the guards. “Good luck tryin’a talk t’ tha’ feller o’er there,” One of them chuckled in a thick Scottish-like accent. “Ol’ Thunderhoof’s a mute. Lost ‘is tongue a few years back, ain’t been able t’ say a word since.” On cue, Thunderhoof opened his mouth, revealing a set of pearly-white teeth… but no tongue.

It took all of my willpower not to recoil, but it must’ve shown on my face. Thunderhoof let out an amused snort, while the other guards started cracking up. “Ah, if only I had a coin fer e’ry time Tha’s happened,” The Scottish guard laughed. “Get’s ‘em e’ry time.”

As the guards continued to laugh, I became acutely aware of how close I was to Adamant. Will. I’m not sure why it was then that I decided to become so aware - maybe it was me trying to take my mind off of the guards laughing at my discomfort. Either way, I realized that there was only one door between me and the King of the Minotaurs. I checked to make sure the guards were still distracted by their laughter, and quickly undid the tie on my pouch. I reached in to grab one of the intimidate scrolls and stowed it away in my pocket, tying the bag back up as their laughter died down.

And not a moment too soon. The doors behind them swung open, causing the center two guards to step to the side to avoid being hit. Another armored guard stood on the other side. Almost instantly, his eyes locked on me, and a scowl crossed his face. I couldn’t help but gulp as he pointed in my direction.

“You there. Stranger. The King will see you now. No funny business.”

“Sure,” I managed to say as I rose to my feet. Thunderhoof gave me a solid pat on the back as I stepped away from him, past the guards, and into the large room beyond. The doors instantly slammed closed, and the door was barred shut, locking me inside.

“Show time.”
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I stepped into the room, despite my fear and focus on the task at hand, I couldn’t help but look around. The throne room had clearly been built to display the power and wealth of Equestria. A large vaulted ceiling, easily two stories high, rose above me, with two rows of half a dozen marble pillars supporting it. The floor was marble that had been polished to a lustrous shine, though the middle third of the floor couldn’t be seen beneath a thick, red velvet carpet. Busts of numerous Pony heads lined the walls of the room, some resting on pedestals and others sitting in small alcoves in the wall. Along the walls also hung banners displaying the same minotaur head and crossed spears that I had seen in the entrance hall.

At the far end of the hall, a pair of large windows reached from nearly the ground to the top of the ceiling, flanking a grand staircase that rose up a half dozen steps towards a single throne. The throne itself was clearly larger than the design of the room had accounted for, for it only barely fit onto the platform upon which it stood. It was seemingly built of gold and padded with violet velvet cushions, with numerous gemstones embedded above the headrest and in the arms.

And upon the throne sat Adamant Will.

He was by far the largest Minotaur I had ever seen. It became instantly clear why the throne was too large for the platform on which it stood, for even this large chair only barely fit the mountain of muscle and fur that sat upon it. As I made my way along the velvet carpet that led to the throne, Adamant Will rose to his full height - easily eight and a half feet, probably more. He wore only a set of plain chaps and a thick leather cord around his waist, with a sword sheathed at his side. His chest was completely bare save for a number of scars that criss-crossed it, leaving his dark-grey fur exposed. The only other thing that could be seen on his person was a small amulet clasped around his neck.

The talisman.

I couldn’t help but stare at it as I approached. The cold greys and fiery reds, the spread wings and ruby-red eyes that I could have sworn were glowing… This had to be the amulet in question. The talisman that was protecting the Minotaurs. The item I had come to seize. It was right there, only half a room away.

But no. Not yet. Soon. But not now.

I saw Adamant Will’s eyes narrow as I stopped a half dozen paces away from the stairs. “What’s this now?” He demanded. Despite the tension in the room, I nearly grinned. His voice was almost identical to James Earl Jones, and for a brief moment I couldn’t help but imagine a very tall Darth Vader standing at the top of the stairs. Just as quickly, however, I shoved that image from my mind. I had a job to do.

“Your highness,” I replied, bowing deeply and extending my left hand out to my sight, palm-up. My other hand slid into my pocket for a brief moment - just long enough to grab the scroll I had stowed there and place my thumb upon the wax stamp. Almost instantly, I felt a mild flash of heat against my hand, and the scroll disintegrated into ashes within my pocket. An instantly later, I felt a second, even smaller flash of heat race across my entire body, followed by a slight pins-and-needles feeling as the spell took effect.

As I rose from my bow, I glanced back up towards Adamant Will. His posture had not changed, but something about his expression had. Rather than the disdain I had seen before, now he looked at me with far greater interest. I let out a small breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. The scroll seemed to have had the desired effect.

“My name is Chris Powell,” I announced. “I come from a land far away, from the Kingdom of America, a land inhabited by my people - Humans.” Adamant Will raised an eyebrow as I continued. “I doubt you have heard of America, or of my people. Very few here have.”

“I am told you demanded to be brought before me,” Adamant Will growled. “State your business, or leave.”

Now for the tricky bit. I took a deep breath as I chose my words carefully. “Through an unforeseen accident, I have found myself lost in your kingdom. For weeks, I have wandered the woods and mountains, visited the towns, spoken with friend and foe alike. I have seen and heard a great many things, your highness. News of your conquest of Equestria. Rumors of a resistance by those who refuse to accept your victory. Tales of the strength and glory of Minos. Though our kingdoms have not met in living memory, the strength of the Minotaurs is the thing of legend amongst my people.”

“Getting to the point, I admit that I am… in a bit of a bind. I only have a single lead on a method to return home, and this method lies deep underground in a labyrinthine cavern system that runs under Everfree and much of the surrounding area. It would be nigh impossible for me alone to explore and find this passage. As King of these lands, I have come to you to seek your aid in mapping these caverns and rediscovering the passage to my home.

“Obviously, I don’t expect that you would invest resources into such a task without recompense, especially with the resistance. I admit, I have little of physical value on me to offer in return. I  do, however, have a great deal of knowledge that seems to remain undiscovered here. Knowledge that I believe you may be interested in.”

Adamant Will’s eyebrow raised ever so slightly. “Go on.”

“Imagine a device, very akin to the bows that are utilized now. However, this device has far greater range and far more destructive power. Different versions of this device can fire different sized projectiles, from smaller than an arrowhead to larger than my own head. The larger devices that fire larger projectiles can penetrate castle walls, while the smaller devices are able to be easily wielded by a single man - or Minotaur, in your case - and can fire the projectile at supersonic speeds. Depending on how large or advanced the device is, it may take a minute to reload a single shot, or it may fire hundreds of rounds in the span of a minute or less. Use of this device requires no knowledge of magic, and indeed very little knowledge of how the device works - simply point and pull a trigger. Versatile and customizable for any number of different situations and locations, this device has become the standard weapon of our armies in America.”

As I finished my description, I felt a change in the atmosphere of the room. In my peripherals, I could see that a number of the guards had tensed up, and a couple were openly staring at me. It was pretty obvious why. Guns, as I had described them, must have sounded like a weapon unlike any other, harnessing powers that must have seemed magical to them and yet requiring no magic at all. It was no wonder why they were interested. Such technology could easily put down the resistance and ensure Minotaur domination over all of Gaia.

Even Adamant Will seemed intrigued, though he refrained from staring openly. Instead, he began to slowly descend down the stairs from the throne room, each step echoing around the room with a muffled clop as his hooves landed upon the red velvet carpet. He stopped only a pace away from me, and I noted that my assessment of his height had been, if anything, an underestimation - my eyes came only up to the bottom of his chest. I had to look up to meet his gaze as he stared down at me. I had to remind myself that the effects of the spell were still upon me - to him, I must have looked far stronger than I actually was.

“And you would give us the knowledge of such a weapon?”

“This, and more. And upon my return, my people would certainly be willing and able to exchange more knowledge and goods. My only desire in return for this knowledge is for these caves to be mapped, and the passage to America found once more.”

One of Adamant Will’s massive hands reached up to scratch his chin for a brief moment. He let out a loud snort and closed his eyes. “Very well,” He finally replied. “We found an entrance, here in the castle, into what I assume are these caverns that you speak of. I was going to have them mapped out anyway. This just gives us another reason to do it.”

I let out a short breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, but it was cut short as Adamant Will opened his eyes and looked back down at me. “As for you. You’ll be staying here in the castle while you teach us how to make this weapon. What sort of materials will you need?”

“A blacksmith, to start,” I began. “And plenty of metal to work with. Steel, if possible. We’ll also need a carpenter with a supply of wood and… an alchemist? Someone who is versed in mixing elements into new compounds. Oh, and a secure area to work in.”

Adamant Will nodded slowly. “We can supply all of that,” he replied. His lips curled upwards for the first time that I had seen - a smile not entirely friendly, nor entirely unpleasant. “The blacksmith will meet with you tomorrow. I’d suggest you rest for the rest of the day and tonight. Until then, I believe our business is done here. Longhorn!”

The guard directly to my right snapped to attention. “Sir?”

“Escort our guest to one of the guest chambers in the south wing. 5th floor should do. And ensure the door remains guarded at all times.” Adamant Wil’s eyes shifted towards me for a brief second before returning to the guard. “We wouldn’t want any of the resistance to get to him, would we?”

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. You’re dismissed.” With that, Adamant Will turned and walked back towards the stairs leading to his throne room. He gestured with his left hand, and the guard directly to me left moved towards a door leading towards a downward spiral staircase.

I felt a firm hand pat me on the back. “Alright you, let’s go,” Longhorn muttered, though even his muted words echoed around the large throne room. I cast one final glance over my shoulder as we walked down the velvet rug towards the throne room. My eyes met Adamant Will’s for a brief moment, and I had to suppress a shiver. There was a hunger in those eyes. An unnatural hunger for… something. I could hazard a guess at a number of things, but what exactly? I was unsure.

As Long horn led me out of the throne room and back through the castle, my mind kept coming back to a few points. That encounter with Adamant Will had been… easy. Too easy. It wasn’t hard to see how desperate he was to quash the resistance by Serenity and the princesses, and it was even easier to see how a weapon like a gun would aid in this, but even so, it should not have been that easy to get in. Did Adamant Will know? Did he know I’d been working with the Ponies? But if so, why wouldn’t he have ordered me killed on the spot? Was he so desperate that he was willing to humor me until one of the guns had been built? I had no way of knowing. Not now. I had to push that thought aside for now, but I made a mental note to watch out for any signs of betrayal.

Quite ironic, worrying about being stabbed in the back when the very reason I was here was to do the same to him.

I knew I was now on an even tighter schedule than before. I only had a couple of weeks, maybe even only a few days depending on how fast the Minotaurs worked, before we had at the very least a cannon of some kind. With the few bits and bobs of knowledge I had picked up from talking to Evan about his engineering classes, it wouldn’t be too big of a leap to move on to muskets and later rifles. Once they had even the most primitive of firearms, the resistance would be completely out-matched in weaponry. I’d have to make my move before then.

But that brought me back to the first point - what if Adamant Will already suspected? If so, surely he’d try to anticipate any move I made against him. My fists clenched up in frustration. There was so little I knew, so much that I needed to know. So much to do, so little time.

Longhorn, who had remained quiet throughout our entire trip through the castle, came to an abrupt stop. “Here you are,” he said gesturing with his right hand to a wooden door. “Your accommodations during your stay here in Everfree.” He took a step closer and turned the knob, pushing the door open. He stepped inside, and I followed closely after.

The room beyond was quite large - larger than my living room back home had been. Along the wall to my left was a set of open double doors that led to a walk-in closet - empty, obviously. Behind me were a number of shelves, as well as a long line of bookcases that extended all along the wall to my right and completely filled with books of various sizes. The only break in the wall of bookshelves was a small door leading to a room beyond - perhaps a bathroom of some kind. A king-sized four-poster bed sat dead center against the far wall, with two large windows flanking it opening up a view across the entire city.

“Rest up,” Longhorn suggested as he stepped backwards towards the door. “The King wants these devices as soon as possible. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day for you.” With that, the door was closed behind me, and I heard the distinctive sound of the door being locked behind him.

I wasted no time in relieving myself of myself of my bag - I let it fall to the carpeted floor with a thump, sighing and rolling my shoulders as the weight fell away. The straps had bitten into my shoulders, and I was happy to give them a break. My shoes were the next things to go, and I fell backwards onto the bed. The sheets were linen, I noted in the back of my mind, and the bed extremely comfortable. After my restless night the evening before and the journey to Everfree, I could have fallen asleep then and there.

But no. I forced myself to sit back up on the bed. I couldn’t fall asleep. Not yet. I had to formulate a plan.

But of course, to make a plan I needed information. And so, I knew the first couple of days here in Everfree had to be dedicated to discovering as much as possible about the castle - patrols, guard shifts, passcodes - as well as Adamant Will himself - daily routines, habits, security - before I could even try to think of a plan. I’d also need a contingency plan in case things went wrong. I had my pouch of scrolls, sure, but those would only allow me to accomplish so much. I sighed as I let my head hang. I didn’t even have my weapons anymore.

At that moment, I heard a click as the door unlocked, and an instant later the door swung inwards. Another Minotaur strolled in, carrying a small covered tray and something rolled up in a thin canvas sheet. “Food, and tools from the king,” he explained as he set the items down on one of the bedside tables. A moment later, he was gone, and the door closed and locked behind him,

I turned my attention first to the food. It was a simple meal - bread, cheese, and what seemed to be (surprisingly) salted pork, with a glass of water to go with it. I consumed it quickly relieved at the break from my nearly all-fish diet that I’d been living on for the past two weeks. I then turned my attention to the rolled canvas, unrolling each item one at a time.

The first item in the roll was a sheet of paper with a short message inscribed on it. “Our enemies are many, and they will stop at nothing to stop us. I return these to you that you may defend yourself. Use them wisely. - AW.” I grinned as I set the sheet aside. “Tools indeed, I murmured, unrolling the rest of the canvas.

Sure enough, there were three other items in the canvas roll - my knife and sheath, and the bow and quiver that Luna had given me. The quiver even still had arrows in it. I gripped the bow and drew the string back, feeling the familiar tension building throughout the weapon. It seemed undamaged, and so I relaxed the string  and set the bow aside. The arrows, too, seemed fit for use, and my knife, though perhaps in need of polishing, was workable as well. I set the weapons aside on the bedside table on top of the tray and leaned back, falling backwards to lay on the bed once more.

It couldn’t have even been noon yet. I would have loved to check, but my phone had run out of battery days ago. I still had the backup charger, but until such time that I absolutely needed it, I wasn’t going to waste it on checking the time. I let out a yawn as I reviewed my course of action over the next few days. For the Ponies, I’d be doing as much recon and intelligence-gathering as I could, trying to find any security weaknesses that I could exploit and preparing for my move. For the Minotaurs, I’d be assisting them in the creation of a gun - more specifically, a cannon at first. Hopefully, I’d have a solid plan for taking out Adamant Will before the cannon was finished.

And  yet, there was still that voice in my head. “You’re in.” it said. “It’s simple now. You scratch their back, they scratch yours. Help the Minotaurs, and get back home. You owe those Ponies nothing.”

“Shut up,” I muttered for what felt like the hundredth time, yawning as I spoke. And yet, the voice continued as my eyes slowly closed and I drifted off to sleep. 

> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was night when I next awoke. I opened my eyes to find a thIn, nearly non-existent beam of moonlight shining in through the windows and directly over my face. I rolled over and tried to return to sleep, but soon determined that that would not be happening. My throat was dry, and my bladder needed some relief, and so I hesitantly sat up to rub my eyes. I reached over and grabbed the remnants of my drink from earlier, quickly finishing it off and setting the empty glass to the side again. It was only a moment later that my feet hit the floor and I made my way over to the door at the side of the room. 

As I had expected, it led into a small bathroom - simple, but functional. With no running water that I knew of, bathrooms in Equestria seemed to simply make use of chamber pots with a seat and a bowl of water for washing. I took care of my business and washed my hands before returning to the bedroom.

As I closed the bathroom door behind me, I felt a rush of cold air was over me, sending shivers down my spine. The window on the far side of the bed was wide open, and a strong breeze blowing through, bringing the chill of the autumn night into the room. I shivered once more and made my way over to the window, pushing it shut and latching it. Hopefully that would stop it from opening again. With that thought in mind, I turned to return to my bed.

Except it was already occupied.

My eyes shot wide open as I saw a dark silhouette sat upon my bed, almost exactly where I had been sleeping not five minutes before. Roughly humanoid in shape, the silhouette was nearly entirely obscured by the shadows it hid in, save for the two pinpricks of white that were its eyes and the thin strip of moonlight that revealed a strip of dark grey fur. Towards the top of its head, I could see a single horn jutting out right between its eyes.

It took a great deal of willpower not to scream, but the silhouette must have sensed my fear, for it grinned a toothy grin. “Nice of you to notice me, Chris,” it murmured in a deep, bassy voice.

Now it took all of my willpower not to yell at the intruder. Instead, all I did was shoot it an angry glare. “Damnit, Sombra!” I growled. “A simple hello is a lot better way of showing up unannounced rather than trying to make me piss myself!”

If anything, Sombra’s grin only grew wider. “Ah, but where would the fun in that be?” he retorted, pushing himself to his hooves and walking towards me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Shh, shh! Keep your voice down!” Sombra hissed, his expression instantly changing to one of worry. His eyes glanced towards the bedroom door. “You’ve got guards outside your room, and if they hear us we’re both dead.”

I too glanced towards the door. For a moment, we both fell silent as we listened, waiting for any indication that we’d been heard. Nothing happened. No sound of movement, no click of the door unlocking, no rattling of the knob, nothing.

Finally, Sombra and I both looked back towards each other. “So what are you doing here?” I whispered. “I thought you were back in the forest with the others. And a better question, how the hell did you even get here?”

“It’s what I’m good at,” Sombra explained. “Moving in the darkness and manipulating shadows. It’s my special talent. That’s how I got here. As for why I’m here, I’m bringing you a status update, as well as checking in. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you’d manage to convince Adamant Will to let you in. How’d you do it? Wait,” he interrupted before I could reply. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter how you did it. All that matters is that you’re in, and that gives us options. Opportunities.”

“I’ll be honest, the situation in camp is even more dire than when you left. Another fishing group was ambushed yesterday, and ten more are dead, with at least five to join them soon. The Minotaurs are catching on to us, and they’re honing in on our camp. We can’t send any more fishing groups out while they’re roaming the forest - our numbers are too few as it is. We’ve cut rations to one meal a day, but even that won’t last us long. I’d guess we have at most two weeks.”

“So we’ve got to end this before then,” I murmured.

“Bingo. We’ll do what we can to help, but at this point you’ll be mostly on your own. We’ve only got two infiltrators left in the city besides myself, and the three of us will be busy gathering intel for our strike. I’ll pop by every night if I can to keep you up to date. Find out what you can, and let us know anything that might be even remotely of interest.”

Sombra turned and flung the window open, allowing the cold autumn air to come rushing into the room once more. A second later, he was perched upon the windowsill, looking out over the city. Suddenly, he spun around on the spot and locked eyes with me again. “And for the love of Faust, Chris, please don’t do anything stupid,” he added. “You’re our last hope. If you fail, we’re done for.” With that, he spread both arms wide open and fell backwards, tumbling away from the windowsill. I rushed over to the window and looked out down towards the ground, only to find that he was already gone.

I stood there at that open window for a while. I don’t know exactly how long, but I do remember that most of the warmth from the room had disappeared by the time I backed away and shut the window. The spot where I had been lying asleep was cold as well as I laid back down, and while my mind was tired and my eyes heavy, it was far harder to fall back asleep than it had been earlier. Still, I did eventually succeed, and sleep took me again.


---


It was still dark when I awoke to the sound of knocking at my door. I cracked one eye open to glare at the offending noise, but made no verbal protest. Instead, I sat up and stretched, letting out a large yawn. My feet hit the floor a moment later as another round of knocks echoed through the room, and I made my way towards the door. I gave a couple of knocks on the door in response. “I’m up. Give me five minutes,” I called out through the door. I received no response, but I knew that I had spoken loud enough to be heard, and so I made my way towards the bathroom.

True to my word, it was only a couple of minutes before I was done in the bathroom. I rummaged through my belongings and made sure I had a few items with me. I grabbed my pouch of scrolls, my knife, and my now-dead phone and backup battery, as well as a pen. I elected to leave my bow and quiver behind - bringing them would do nothing but raise questions, and they would get in my way while I worked. With my stuff all stowed about on my person, I walked back to the door and gave it a couple of quick knocks.

A second later, I heard the lock click, and I stepped backwards as the door swung open. On the other side were three Minotaurs - two standing on either side of the door with their backs to the wall, and another between them facing me. I gave a short nod as I recognized the one facing me. “Thunderhoof.”

Thunderhoof returned the nod and stepped backwards, gesturing with one hand. I stepped past the threshold and past the two guards into the hallway. The guard to the left of the door turned and shut the door behind me, locking it with a key he produced from a chain around his neck.

I felt a firm pat on my back, and took a few steps forward to move past the guard before stepping to the side. Thunderhoof moved past me and continued on, gesturing with his hand for me to follow. I gave a quick glance over my shoulder back at my door and the two Minotaurs guarding it before setting off after him down the corridor.

Just as with my treks through the castle the day before, I noticed the lack of… well, anything going on in the castle. There were no Ponies to be seen, and only an occasional patrol of guards. I tried to take note of various landmarks - staircases, standout paintings, and the like - but in the back of my mind I knew that I’d never remember them on my own. I’d have to come up with a way of tracking my route.

We stopped only once on our journey, briefly, for a quick breakfast. Thunderhoof gestured towards a chair pushed up against a wall to my right, and I sat down in it, right next a painting of three Ponies sitting in a triangle around a circular table. Seconds later, a door just down the hall burst open, and the first Pony that I’d seen that day scurried out - a Unicorn Mare. I noted the ring locked around her horn, as well as the cap on top of her horn that was attached to the ring, as she approached and handed me a covered plate. As soon as I had taken it, she retreated back through the doors and slammed them shut behind her. The plate contained a simply breakfast - eggs, toast, and orange juice - but it was enough to get me going. I ate quickly and stood up, placing the empty plate on the chair behind me. I gave a quick nod to Thunderhoof, and we set off again.

It was only another minute or two of walking before we stopped again, this time beside a set of double doors. Thunderhoof gave a series of knocks on the door, and I heard the sound of wood scraping against wood before the doors were flung inwards. Waiting on the other side was another Minotaur - this one only a bit taller than me, with most of his attire covered by a black apron. He gestured inside, and I followed Thunderhoof through the doors as they were shut and barred behind us.

The room we had stepped into was large - a bit larger than a basketball court, by my estimation. The floor was made up of a black and white tileset arranged in a seemingly random way, drawing lines of black tile of various thickness across the floor. The walls themselves had been painted white, with no other decorations to speak of. At the far end of the room, I could see what appeared to be a forge, along with an anvil and other supplies a blacksmith would use. Much of the rest of the room was taken up by long rows of tables, laid out in lines leading from the door to the forge.

The Minotaur who had let us in looked over his shoulder as he led us between two of these rows of tables. “So yer the Human, hm?” he mused. His voice was neither deep nor high, neither loud nor soft but certainly powerful, with a slight accent - Somewhere between scottish and Irish. “I hope ye got enough sleep last night. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. Dust!”

The Minotaur’s voice echoed through the room as he called out. A moment later, another shape rose from behind one of the workbenches near the forge - Another Minotaur. This one was considerably smaller than the other, maybe even smaller than me - it was hard to tell from this distance. The Minotaur, whose name I assumed was Dust, raised one hand in the air to acknowledge our presence, and approached us as we cleared the tables and moved into the forge area

“I told ye not t’ mess with me equipment,” The first Minotaur sighed. “Whatever. Maybe now ye’ll get something t’ do. Chris, this is Dusthorn, our alchemist. Dusthorn, Chris. And I’m Steelskin, the royal smith. Ye’ll be working with us t’ make this contraption o’ yers. Oh, and as fer ye,” Steelskin added, glancing over my shoulder towards Thunderhoof, “I suppose ye’ll be needing to stick around?” It seemed that Thunderhoof nodded, for Steelskin sighed. “Alright. Jus’... find a chair at one o’ the tables and try t’ keep yerself occupied. Maybe bring a book or something in the future. I’m guessing ye’ll be sitting there fer a while.”

I heard the sound of retreating hoofsteps as Thunderhoof walked away, leaving me with the other two Minotaurs. “Alright,” Steelskin continued as I heard the sound of a wooden chair against tile from behind me. “So. This contrption o’ yers. The King says it’s some kinda… bow? But not a bow… Is it one o’ them fancy crossbows the Griffons got?”

“No, it’s not a crossbow,” I shook my head. “It’s far more powerful than that. Guns, they’re called where I’m from. Using them is pretty basic, and even a novice can pick it up after a few minutes, but making them is going to be… a bit more complicated. I know the basics of how they work, but some of the specifics might be trial and error.”

“Whatever gets us what the King wants,” Dusthorn spoke up for the first time. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor as I instantly recognized Morgan Freeman’s voice coming from this Minotaur. I barely composed myself in time to hear his next words. “So, where do we begin?”

I shook my head to regain my composure. “Well first, I need to know a few things.” I replied. “Firstly, how much do you all know about the laws of physics? Do you have an understanding of the three basic fundamental laws of motion?”

“The uh… the what now?” 

“That would be a no…” I murmured. “Alright, brief lesson time. Where I come from, a famous man named Issac Newton discovered the three fundamental laws of motion that essentially started our understanding of the laws of physics, which govern motion and energy. We’ll need to know these in order to understand how these guns work.”

“First law - an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object…”

“... In motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force,” Steelskin interrupted. “We know those, though not by the name you called them. We know them as the Principles of Force.”

“Oh… well then,” I chuckled. “Well that will save us a bit of time. So the next thing we need to do is understand how these guns actually work. Do you have anything to write on?” Steelskin nodded and ducked down behind one of his worktables, emerging a moment later with a sheet of parchment. “Perfect,” I nodded as I took the parchment from him. “Let’s move over here for a minute,” I added as I moved towards one of the rows of tables. I drew up a seat and sat down, placing the parchment in front of me.

“Alright, so the idea behind guns, and all of these ballistic weapons in general, is the use of a controlled explosion to propel a projectile at high speeds towards the target. The easiest one to create that would actually be of any use…” I pulled out my pen, clicked it, and began drawing a crude sketch on the parchment, “... is a cannon. It’s essentially a much larger gun for a large projectile, used to attack enemy ships at sea or during a siege to either break siege equipment or attack the castle walls. You can think of it as a smaller, more powerful version of a siege engine.”

“So firstly, you have the cannon itself, as well as the cannonball that it fires.” I pointed towards the rough sketch of a cannon I had drawn, as well as a cannonball next to it and a stick figure labelled “Chris” for size reference.” That’s what you and I are going to be working on,” I nodded to Steelskin. 

“You also need the power of the explosion that is used to fire the weapon. That’s going to be on you, Dusthorn. And don’t worry,” I added as his mouth opened to protest. “I know the ingredients for the most basic of explosive powders that we used for our first guns. It’s not the best, and has since been replaced, but if you all don't have guns or cannons yet then I doubt you have the equipment to produce nitroglycerin or TNT.”

“The explosive we’ll be using is known as gunpowder, and has three ingredient powders that need to be mixed together.” I tore a small strip of parchment off of the sheet and began to write, speaking as I did so. “We’ll need sulfur, some charcoal, and saltpeter. The mixture of these three ingredients is what we used centuries ago as gunpowder for our early cannons and guns. If you can gather these materials, we’ll start working on the actual cannon itself. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Alright.” I took a moment to look around the table at the other two Minotaurs. Both of them were looking at me eagerly. I myself couldn’t help but feel less enthusiastic about our work. I knew some of the absolute basics of guns and cannons, but anything more and I was lost. I found myself reflecting back on my days in the resistance camp - days that felt like an age ago, though it hadn’t even been three days since I’d left - and my time cooking. I’d been half-winging it then. Hopefully my ability to think and work on the fly would carry me through this task as well.

“So... we know what we’re doing,” I forced a grin as I clasped my hands together. “Let’s get to work.”
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every inch of my body was sore as I trudged through the castle from the workroom back to my bedroom. Longhorn hadn’t been lying the night before - it had been a long, LONG day. Glancing out of one of the many windows, I could see that the sun had already set behind the horizon, with only the faintest tinges of dark reds and violets revealing that it had set only recently. So it was official - I’d worked from dawn to dusk on this project for the Minotaurs.

They’d made some progress as well - not enough to get a cannon fully functioning, but enough to where They’d still consider the project feasible. I’d still been working with the idea of delaying their progress as much as possible without ousting myself, and so I had made a few… omissions when detailing the construction of the cannon and other equipment.

Unfortunately, some of those omissions had contributed to my soreness. I could still feel the spot of the bridge of my nose where I’d smashed it against the floor when Dusthorn had proportioned the first batch of gunpowder incorrectly and accidentally ignited too much of the sulfur at once. The mixture hadn't exploded, but instead had burned relatively slowly, creating a  bright blue flame and a cloud of smoke. I remember hearing about how toxic smoke from burning sulfur was, and in my haste to retreat I'd tripped over a chair and slammed my nose into the ground. Thankfully, they'd been able to get a Unicorn in the room in time to prevent the smoke from spreading, and I didn't think I'd actually inhaled any, but that didn't help reduce the pain in my nose.

But that didn’t mean that every act of omission had cause me harm. One had actually proved quite successful in delaying their efforts. Our last test of the evening had been using an extremely crude cannon barrel - little more than a one-ended tube. By that time, Dusthorn had gotten the mixture mostly right, and we had a pretty close imitation of gunpowder. However, as I suspected, Steelskin had made the initial cast-iron barrel too thin and too weak to handle the blast, and it split open during the test. It was a relatively small setback - it wouldn’t take more than a few hours to recreate a new, thicker barrel - but the fact that it was at the end of the night, just before the forge was shut down, added to the delay just that little bit more. And even better, this particular failure hadn’t injured me!

No, the rest of my soreness and tiredness came from the work that I’d done. Most of it had been the simple stuff - lifting the ores and bars for Steelskin to use, as well as pumping the bellows of the furnace - and answering questions about proportions, weight, measurements, and so on. It was the bellows that had really worn me out - I’d spent a good chunk of my time that day pumping those up and down to keep the forge hot, and my arms and back were incredibly sore from the exertion. And it had been nearly non-stop all day too, with only two brief pauses for lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, I had no reason to believe that tomorrow would be any easier.

I stumbled slightly as I tripped over a rug I had failed to notice. Before I could fall over, however I felt a firm hand grasp my shoulder, holding me upright. I looked over and nodded my thanks to Thunderhoof, who nodded in reply. He’d been there nearly all day, only leaving after an hour for a few brief minutes before returning with a book. He still had that book tucked under his other arm, and he’d gotten through quite a bit of it today if the mark sticking out of the pages was an indication.

The walk from the workshop to my room didn’t seem to take nearly as long as the trip this morning had, Maybe it was to do with my tiredness, or maybe we took a shorter route - I noticed far fewer turns this time around. I made sure to take a few mental notes on our route - a picture of a sunset between two windows; three statues depicting a Pegasus archer, a Unicorn mage, and an Earth Pony warrior; the two gilded sets of armor that flanked the door to the workshop, as well as the windows just on the other side of the hall that showed how high up we were

The faint glow at the edge of the horizon had completely faded by the time we made it back to my room. The guards glanced over as we approached, and the one to the left of the door produced a key from a chain around his neck. The door was quickly unlocked, and I stepped through. I glanced over my shoulder as the door was shut behind me, and while it was only brief, I could see Thunderhoof giving me a thumbs-up as the door clicked closed. I could hear another, fainter click as the door was locked behind me.

The room was completely dark, save for the thin beams of light coming in through the window from the moon. Even that light was very faint - it had been a new moon on the eve of my approach to Everfree, so the waxing crescent was little more than a sliver against the night sky. I considered lighting the candle on my bedside table with one of my matches, but in the end decided against it - The moonlight was enough to see by, though only barely, and I needed to make these matches last until I was able to get back home.

Instead, I fumbled around in the dark and changed out of my dirty clothes - I made a note to myself to ask the Minotaurs about getting them washed - and into a fresh set. I wouldn’t be able to have a bath in the darkness, but I’d managed without a bath for longer than one day when I was in the resistance camp. I’d just have to make sure to have one the next night. No other tasks of immediate importance came to mind, and so I climbed into the bed and quickly fell asleep.


---


I awoke with a start as a loud creak echoed through my room. My eyes jumped open, and my head immediately swiveled towards the source of the sound - the window. I could see it partially ajar, even though I knew I hadn’t opened it earlier. For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then, I watched as the window opened outward even further, letting out a softer, but long and drawn out creak. As soon as it was fully open, I watched as a black shape pulled itself from the windowsill outside and hopped lightly down onto the floor.

By now, my heart was racing. I sat up in my bed and kept my eyes locked on the black shape, which was now concealed in the corner, hidden by the shadows. “Sombra?” I hissed, loud enough for the shape to hear but not for the guards outside to notice. “Is that you?”

“Damn that window,” I heard the figure swear as it stepped back out of shadows. As it stepped into the dim moonlight, the darkness that concealed it seemed to peel away like a black fog, revealing the grey Unicorn underneath. “I thought I’d be able to sneak in without you noticing,”

I shook my head and rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes. “I’m a light sleeper,” I scoffed as I pushed myself out of the bed and onto my feet. “So, what’s the word?”

“No real news from camp.” Sombra’s eyes fell away from mine. “We lost two more today from their injuries, and Queen Amethyst is still unable to send troops to support Equestria. I doubt that she’ll risk such an engagement until the Minotaurs’ protection from magic has been removed. Speaking of which, how goes the effort? Any information you can pass on?”

“A little bit,” I nodded. “There are still Ponies here in the royal palace, though it seems their mostly servants and cooks. I didn’t see many patrols during what time I spent walking through the halls, but I’m sure there are plenty of guards waiting in reserve if anything happens. But there’s something else too that I think you all need to know about.”

“What’s that?’

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay. I was only able to gain entrance to the castle by promising the Minotaur king something in return. I don’t have wealth, or any real power to speak of. All I have is knowledge. And so I promised to help him and his forces develop a weapon that my people have used for centuries. A high-speed ballistics weapon, similar to a crossbow that I understand the Gryphons have developed, but far more powerful and far more deadly. The vast majority of my day today was spent helping their smith and alchemist produce a crude prototype, as well as a mixture of powders that, when ignited, create enough explosive force to propel the projectile.”

I could see Sombra’s eyes going wide as I continued my explanation. “I’m doing what I can to slow their progress, but with the idea now in their minds, it’s only a matter of time before they create a working model, with or without my help. A lot of my time is going to be devoted towards “helping” them. And if they develop this weapon and make it even remotely as effective as the guns back home, it’s game over for the resistance. If you’ve got any ideas on how we can slow them down even further, now would be the time to voice them.”

Sombra let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Damn the luck…” he hissed. He slowly opened his eyes and glance up at me. “I hope you realize the magnitude of what you’ve done. Even if we manage to defeat Adamant Will, any Minotaur who knows of this device will surely be working towards finishing it.”

“So that gives us a couple of more targets to eliminate,” I nodded. “Namely the blacksmith, Steelskin; and the Alchemist, Dusthorn. I know. It’s not ideal. But I had very, very little to work with. This was the quickest and most surefire way for me to get closer to Adamant Will.”

Sombra let out another sigh. “Alright. Alright. So, this… powder. You mentioned it had to be ignited for the device to work?”

“Yes. Once ignited, the powder explodes. This explosive force is what propels the bullet at high speeds towards that target.”

“So… what if it was wet? Could it still be ignited.”

“... No,” I replied, a small grin creeping onto my face. “No… no it couldn’t. At least while it was wet. And since it’s a combination of finely-ground powders, it would probably take a while to dry out as well.”

“Perfect,” Sombra nodded. “Then that’s our objective tonight.”

I blinked. “Wait, what? Our? Tonight? Dude, I’m exhausted!”

“Yes. Tonight. The longer we wait, the closer they are to developing this weapon. This weapon that you showed them, I might add. So we’re working together to stop it. Understood?”

I hissed softly under my breath. A midnight excursion to commit an act of sabotage was not what I had in mind for tonight. “And how do you plan on getting out of here, hm? The door’s locked from the outside, and guarded.”

In response, Sombra jerked his thumb towards the still-open window. “Princess Luna gave you a slow-fall scroll, correct?” He asked. “We’ll use that to get out, and I’ll lift you back in once we’re done.”

I gulped slightly as I pictured myself leaping out of the fifth-story window with nothing but their magic stopping me from plummeting to my death. “Well… Well what if the guards check on me?” I asked. “I won’t be in here. And then it’ll be pretty obvious in the morning who was out last night pouring water on the gunpowder.”

“Easy.”  Sombra’s horn lit up with a dark-grey aura, and a small pop filled the room. I turned towards the source of the sound to see a figure lying in my bed, where I had been lying just moments ago - an almost exact copy of me, from the clothes right down to the streak of soot on my left cheek from the day’s work. The sheets were pulled up over the copy, but as I tried to touch it, my hand passed right through it as if it weren’t even there.

“That’ll make them think you’re still in here, even if they come check on you.”

“And if they try to touch it?”

“They’d have tried that last night if they were going to do it at all,” Sombra replied. His lips curved upwards in a smirk. “And if you’re as light a sleeper as you claim, you would have noticed. Now, can we get going? Or are you gonna continue to try and worm your way out of this?”

“Hey now, excuse me if leaping out of the window and committing sabotage on my second night in this place doesn’t excite me, especially after busting my ass all day!” I hissed.

“Suck it up,” Sombra shot back. “We’re talking the fate of an entire kingdom here. If you’re serious about keeping them from developing this weapon, then get the lead out of your pants and get moving!”

“Alright alright, fine,” I threw up my hands in defeat. “Fine, let’s go.”

“Knew you’d be reasonable,” Sombra flashed me a quick grin. I merely grumbled under my breath as I snatched my knife, bow and quiver from my bedside table and strapped them into place, as well as grabbing my scroll pouch and tying it to my belt. I looked back up at Sombra, who merely gestured to the window. “After you.”

“Gee, thanks,” I snorted as I opened up the pouch and fished around inside. After pulling out a few scrolls, I finally retrieved one with the feather symbol upon it, and held it firmly in my hand as I clambered up onto the windowsill. I looked down and gulped again as I saw just how high of a drop it was. If the spell didn’t work, my fall would only be broken by a row of bushes at ground level.

Still, the spell to make me appear more powerful seemed to have worked against Adamant Will. Hopefully this one would now.

“Get on with it,” Sombra hissed behind me. I lifted my middle finger at him, and while I knew he didn’t know the exact meaning behind the gesture, the intent behind it was clear enough. I took a deep breath and place my thumb over the wax scroll. I felt the same mild flash of heat against my palm as the scroll disintegrated, and very quickly the same pins-and-needles feeling raced across my body. I closed my eyes…

And jumped.

For a brief couple of seconds, I didn’t dare to open my eyes. I braced myself for the leg-shattering, bone-breaking impact that my instincts told me was coming any second. But nothing happened. I cracked one eye open and glanced towards the ground. True, the ground was rising to meet me, but not nearly fast enough to be dangerous. My knees barely bent as I touched down lightly on the ground, right next to the bushes. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the pins-and-needles feeling faded away. It had worked.

A few seconds later, Sombra landed on the ground next to me, considerably faster than I had landed but still slowed by magic. Almost instantly, he grabbed my shoulder and dragged me into the shadow of a nearby tree. “You should have seen the look on your face,” Sombra hissed with barely-controlled laughter. He tensed his body up and tucked his arms in close to his body, scrunching his face up in a clear mockery of my fear. “Priceless.”

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up, hairball,” I muttered. “Let’s just get this over with. I’d like to get at least a little sleep tonight before I get back to work tomorrow.”

“As you wish,” Sombra replied, still chuckling. “Alright, back to business. You’ve got those scrolls to conceal you in the shadows, right?”

“Yeah, but they fade away if I step into the moonlight.”

“Then I’d suggest not doing that,” he smirked. His horn lit up with that same grey aura, and the shadows surrounding us began to race up his legs, cloaking them in darkness. Soon, they had enveloped him entirely, rendering him invisible. “Alright, your turn.”

I opened up the scroll pouch once more and fumbled around inside. Eventually, I managed to find one with the Yin symbol, and stowed the rest away in my pouch. Again my thumb pressed against the stamp, and again the scroll disintegrated into ash. This time, however, there was no pins-and-needles feeling. Instead, I felt a wave of cold wash over me, starting from my legs and racing up my spine. Looking down, I could see the shadows following the same effect as I had seen on Sombra. Soon, they had covered me completely.

“Good, good,” Sombra whispered. I glanced over towards his voice and blinked. Where before I had been unable to see him, I could now see a black silhouette of his shape, surrounded by a white outline. “Are you ready, Chris?”

“I can see you,” I said bluntly.

“Yes, those who walk in the shadows can see others who walk in the shadows,” Sombra nodded. “But we’ll be safe in the cover of darkness - the Minotaurs have very few magical adepts in their ranks, and fewer still who can walk in the shadows as we can. And I guarantee those few are among Adamant Will’s elite personal guard. Now, we’ll still have to be careful. I know they’ve scheduled a rain shower for Everfree tomorrow, and that means the night-shift will be moving clouds around that we can use for cover, but -”

“Wait wait, scheduled a rain shower?” I asked. “What do… wait… you mean Luna was serious about you all controlling the weather?” I remembered her mentioning this to me at one point during our archery sessions, but she’d said it so flippantly and off-handedly that I’d assumed she was just joking.

“Yes, of course, how else would it work?” Sombra hissed. I could see him glancing in either direction. “Look, now is neither the place nor the time for this talk. Ask about it after we’ve saved Equestria, alright?”

“Alright,” I sighed. At this point I’d given up on trying to argue the impossibility of most of the things Ponies claimed they were able to do - most of the time I ended up being wrong, anyway. “But you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Okay. Now with the Pegasi moving the clouds, we’ll have brief opportunities to move from cover to cover, but there will also be more Minotaurs out and about keeping an eye on them,” Sombra explained. “Hopefully that won’t be too big of an issue though. One of our stallions on the inside has been leaving a window unlocked on the west side of the palace for us to get back in through. Once inside, we’ll make our way to where this gunpowder is, wet it, see what else we can do, and then clear out before we’re caught.” Even though his eyes were not visible on his silhouette, I could feel him looking right at me. “You do know where the powder is being stored, right?”

“Uh… Well, if I see the place I’ll know it,” I admitted. “Third floor. It felt like it was on the west side of the castle. I know it was on one of the exterior walls, because right across from the door were a set of windows looking out.”

“Well, it’s a start,” Sombra sighed. “Hopefuly it’ll be good enough. Any questions?”

“Yeah, actually. How are we going to get the water to dump on the powder?”

“Simple. Magic.”

“Oh right…”

“Anything else?” I remained silent. “Alright good. Let’s wait for the next cloud to be pushed in front of the moon and we’ll head to that tree over there,” Sombra explained as he pointed down the path towards another tree.

For a brief moment, we remained still and silent. Looking up at the night sky, sure enough, I could see the dark shapes of clouds silhouetted against the brilliant glow of the stars in the night sky. These clouds were moving this way and that, at random speeds and in random directions, with other, smaller shapes moving between them. So it seemed that Sombra and Luna were telling the truth… Pegasi actually did control the weather here.

The light shining over the grounds dimmed slightly, and Sombra nudged me. “Now’s our chance. Move!” he hissed. The two of us took off over the grass towards the tree, and as I looked up, i saw that one of the clouds had indeed been pushed to block out the moon. It didn’t last long, though. Seconds after we had reached the safety of the tree’s shadow, the cloud was moved again, and the slight glow of the moon covered the grounds once more.

For several tense minutes this process repeated itself. We’d wait for a cloud to be moved, and then rush for the next shadow. Looking around, I could see numerous Minotaur guards patrolling the paths all around the palace grounds. I gulped as I imagined what would happen if I happened to be caught out in the open when the moon was uncovered, and what would happen when I was revealed…

It didn’t happen though. Soon, we had made our way to the corner of the palace, and kept along in a thin strip of shadow that the palace produced along its west wing. This leg of the journey took far less time without us stopping to wait for the moon to be hidden. It was only a couple of brief moments before Sombra came to a stop. “Here,” he hissed softly, making his way towards one of the windows. He reached out and grabbed it, and slowly pulled it open. Thankfully, it seemed that this window was better-oiled than the one in my  bedroom, for it made no noise as it opened. We both scrambled inside and closed the window behind us.

Looking around, I found that we’d climbed into one of the palace’s many hallways. Numerous large windows ran up and down the hallway, but the way the moon was shining meant that none of the direct moonlight entered through them. Fortunately, it seemed that the hallway was deserted - no patrols had noticed our entrance.

“Alright, we’re in,” Sombra murmured. “Any idea how to get to the gunpowder from here?”

“Uh…” I glanced around the hallway, looking for any indication of which way to go. It was rather unimpressive, at least compared to the rest of the castle. In fact, the only features besides the large windows and the red velvet rug that stood out to me were the set of wooden double doors halfway down the hall, the chair next to them, and the painting next to the chair.

The painting…

I gestured with one hand to Sombra and moved down towards the painting. Sure enough, it was the same painting I remember from breakfast this morning - the three Ponies, one of each race, sitting around a table. “This is the door to the kitchens” I muttered. I closed my eyes, attempting to retrace my steps from this morning. “So I think… this way.”

I could hear my own breath as we crept down the hallway, back towards the south end of the castle. Sure enough, at the end of the hallway was a gentle spiral staircase leading upwards. Two rotations took us up one floor, and two more took us to the third floor, where I was certain the workshop was. Now we just needed to take the third left, and then the second left and the second right, and we’d be there. I motioned for Sombra to follow me as I crept down the hallway. I rounded the corner…

And nearly bumped straight into the chest of a Minotaur.

I barely suppressed a yelp, reducing instead to a quickly-stifled intake of breath. I threw out one arm to catch Sombra and quickly stepped backwards, plastering my back against the wall. I felt myself tense up as the Minotaur closest to me stiffened and came to a stop. “You hear that?” he muttered to his companion, moving one hand to the sword sheathed at his side.

The second Minotaur froze as well. I could hear my own heart hammering away in my chest as he cupped one hand to his ear. For a few agonizing moment, everything was silent. I didn’t dare to move, barely dared to breathe, lest my position be revealed.

Finally, the second guard lowered his hand and shook his head. “Nothing,” he replied. “The extra hours are getting to you. You’re hearing things. Quit your jumping. Nothing’s getting in here with all the patrols out on the grounds tonight.”

The first guard had to stifle a yawn as the second finished. “True,” he muttered as he and his companion continued on their patrol. “I’ll be glad when this shift’s over and I can finally get some sleep.”

I watched as the two Minotaurs continued down the hallway, but didn’t dare to move until they had turned a corner. I peeled myself off the wall and bent over, breathing heavily. “That was too close,” I heard Sombra mutter from my right, and I nodded in agreement. “Alright. Let’s get moving before we bump into another patrol.”

It was only another minute or so before we turned the final corner. Sure enough, there in front of me was the wooden double doors, flanked by two suits of gilded armor…

And two more Minotaurs.

“Damn,” I hissed softly, ducking back around the corner. “Two guards,” I muttered as Sombra drew up beside me. “Right in front of the workshop door. And they’re not moving.” 

“Right. We’ll have to dispatch them,” he replied softly. I glanced over to see his arm reaching down towards his side. An instant later, I saw the glint of cold steel as he drew a dagger from its sheathe.

“Wait, what?” I hissed. “C’mon, we can get away with a lot tonight, but that is gonna draw attention.”

“Not if we do it together. You’ve got a knife right?” I nodded and drew my own knife, but Sombra seemed to already know the answer - he didn’t look, but instead glanced around the corner, and quickly pulled his head back. “You take the one closer to us, I’ll take the one further away. Get behind them, and when I give the signal, put your hand over their mouth and hold it shut as you shove the knife into their neck. Aim for the front half, that’ll cut the flow of blood to the brain. Three seconds, and they’ll be dead. Do it right, and their death cries will be muffled so no one else will hear. It’ll be bloody, but magic can clean that up pretty quickly. Drag the bodies into the workshop.”

“Uh… alright…” I muttered. I tried to sound confident, but I knew that I had failed miserably. Already my knees were shaking, and I could feel my stomach doing flips. Yeah, I’d killed a Minotaur before, in the caverns underneath Everfree, but this felt… different. That Minotaur had been clearly threatening three Ponies who were running for their lives. These two… they were just guards, man! Minotaur guards, yes, enemy guards, but still… They were just doing what they were paid to do, and because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time they were going to die…

Sombra must have sensed my hesitancy, for he placed one hand on my shoulder. “If we’re going to get in there and back out without raising the alarm, we have to get rid of them,” he muttered. “Distracting them will raise suspicion, and they might be back by the time we’re ready to leave. This is the only sure way. Two lives, or the freedom of an entire species. Your choice.”

I gulped again, feeling my stomach do another flip. “Okay…” I nodded. “Okay. Let’s… let’s get this over with.” I let Sombra move past me and fell in behind him as we rounded the corner.

Slowly, silently, we crept down the hallway. Each footstep was precise, every thought turned towards making my steps as quiet as possible as they touched the velvet carpet. Each passing second felt like an eternity, and I felt my heart leap each time one of the guards so much as twitched. Carefully, ever so carefully, I eased my way between the guard closest to me and the door behind him. To my right, I could see Sombra moving into position as well.

Time slowed to a crawl as Sombra turned his head towards me.  His was held tightly at the ready in his right hand. He held out one hand towards me. Three fingers were extended. He put one down. Two fingers were up.

One.

We struck.

It was fast, and yet at the same time agonizingly slow. My left hand reached out and clamped itself over the Minotaur’s snout, holding his powerful jaws shut. Just beside me, I sensed more than saw that Sombra was doing the same. An instant later, both of our knives bit to the handle into our targets’ throats, each one piercing out the other side. I could feel the guard struggling underneath my grasp, trying to scream despite his severed windpipe. Though my knife remained buried deep in his throat, I could feel blood gushing out of the wound over my hand, past my wrist down onto the floor. His struggles became weaker, his knees collapsed, the horrible hissing sound from his attempts to scream faded away. His body went limp. He was dead.

Three seconds.

“Inside, quick!” Sombra hissed, breaking me out of my stupor. His left hand reached out grabbed the knob, turning it and flinging it open. Just as quickly, he was dragging his victim inside, leaving a trail of blood droplets behind. I hesitated for only a moment before following behind, depositing the second dead guard on top of the first. Sombra poked his head back out of the door, and his horn lit up for a brief moment. The blood that had been spilled onto the ground flew up and gathered into a floating ball, which vanished with a soft pop. With that, Sombra ducked back into the workshop and shut the door closed behind him.

The entire process, from the time we struck to the time the door closed, took less than thirty seconds.

“Well done,” I heard Sombra praised me. I barely acknowledge it. My knees were shaking violently, as were my hands. I vaguely remember the knife clattering to the floor as it fell from my grasp. Nausea welled up within me, and I very nearly threw up right then and there.

Sombra must have sensed my distress, for he knelt down next to me. “Easy there,” he muttered. “Deep breaths. Deep breaths.” I gulped and nodded, taking a few deep gasps for air. “That’s it. More, more. You’re alright.”

Honestly, I was almost as shocked at my own horror as I was at what I had done. After all, that wasn’t my first kill. It’s just that the first one… again, it had been different. There had been a clear threat, a clear “Him-or-them” choice to be made quickly. And it had been with a rock, not a knife. More brutal and in-the moment, not brutally efficient and calculated. This one had been so much more personal. I’d felt that guard die underneath me, felt as he desperately tried to gulp air down his ruined throat, felt as his life slipped away...

It was several minutes before I had regained any semblance of composure. “Fucking shit…” I swore, fighting as another wave of nausea washed over me. “That… that was horrible…”

“I’d be lying if I said killing got any easier…” Sombra muttered. “Especially one like that. But you have to realize that their deaths serve a higher purpose - saving Equestria. That’s the only way most of us deal with it.”

I shook my head as I shakily pushed myself upright - I couldn’t remember when I’d fallen to my knees. “Just… Just p-please, never again,” I stammered. “So… so what are we going to do with the… with the b-bodies?”

“I’ll teleport them back to the camp and they’ll be burned.”

“Seriously?” I hissed angrily. “It’s not enough we kill them, but we burn their bodies?”

“What in tartarus are we going to do otherwise?” Sombra snapped back. “Bury them outside? With Minotaurs roaming the forest and swarming all over the palace grounds like locust? Leave them here to rot overnight and be found tomorrow? Burn them in the forge and alert the whole damn castle that we’re in here? This is war! We have to be efficient and mindful of what we do and the repercussions they can have. Even if we don’t like it! Now stand back.”

Much as my conscious screamed at me that there had to be something else that could  be done, deep down I knew Sombra was right. We couldn’t deal with the bodies here without alerting the palace to our efforts, and leaving them alone here would be far too incriminating of a clue - especially if someone decided to test one of the cuts against my knife. So i took a few hesitant steps backwards as Sombra pulled a scroll from his pocket. He pressed the seal with his thumb, and a surge of midnight-blue energy raced up his arms and towards his horn. He pointed with one finger, and a bolt of blue lightning raced out of his horn, surrounding the two corpses with a blue energy field.

And with a soft pop, they were gone.

As soon as the corpses were gone, Sombras horn lit up once more, this time with his own grey aura. The blood that had pooled where the bodies had been lying flew upwards and formed into a floating sphere, joined by blood from my knife, hands, arms, and shirt. Sombra's attire and weapon, likewise, was purged of the red liquid. As soon as the last drops had flown into the sphere, it too vanished with the third soft pop of the evening.

“Alright. Now that that… unpleasantness is done…” Sombra began, turning his back to me, “I’m guessing this is the room where you were working today?”

I nodded, clearing my throat in an attempt to rid it of the lump that had formed there. “Y-yeah,” I replied. “The powder is over in those barrels,” I pointed towards a set of three barrels, where I had seen Dusthorn storing his raw mixtures of the ingredients.

Sombra nodded and strolled over towards the trio of barrels. As he approached each one, his horn lit up, and a globe of water formed to hover in the air beside him. He pulled the lid off of each barrel in turn and allowed the water orb to drip into the barrel, soaking the powder. He repeated this process with multiple orbs of water for each barrel, and each time he was finished he sealed the barrels tightly.

It was only a few minutes before Sombra strolled back towards me. “Done,” he nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

“That’s it?” I asked. “Like… you’re not gonna sabotage anything else?”

“If I do too much damage, we risk them calling off the project entirely,” Sombra explained. “And if that happens, what reason have they to keep you around? No, we’ll keep our sabotage light for now, enough to set them back, perhaps just enough for them to play off as an accident. We don’t want them getting suspicious of you, after all.”

“Point taken,” I conceded. “Alright… let’s go.”

The journey away from the workshop was far less eventful than the journey to the workshop had been. We encountered no patrols, no guards, no resistance of any kind. The Pegasi outside were still moving clouds around, so we were able to make our way back to my window with no more difficulty than before. True to his word, Sombra helped lift me back up to my window, which I was then able to open and scramble into. He did not follow me up, but I didn’t blame him - we’d already messed around enough that night. I’m sure he was just as eager to get to sleep as I was. I made sure to expose myself to direct moonlight to rid myself of the effects of the shadow-walking spell before crawling into bed. As I took my place on the bed, the image that had been holding my place faded away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Sleep did not come easily. The kill kept replaying in my head, over and over again, each revisitation more sickening than the last. I swore that I could still feel the stickiness of his blood on my fingers, even though multiple examinations with my flashlight proved otherwise. Eventually, I did fall asleep, but even this slumber was fitful, plagued by nightmares of flashing steel and red rivers. But this only further solidified one fact in my mind.

This war had to end. Quickly, before I had to take another life like that. Otherwise, I was going to lose my damn mind.

> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Unacceptable!”

I maintained my best poker face as Dusthorn paced back and forth in front of me. Every now and then, he would stop and pull the lid off of one of the barrels, and then immediately slam it back shut. The source of his anger was clearly visible on the table in front of me - a chunk of what looked like black styrofoam. The gunpowder that he had produced the day before, now soaked in water and hardened to a cake-like consistency.

I was maintaining a healthy distance between me and the raging Minotaur, and I wasn’t the only one. Steelskin was standing right beside me, looking on with concern. Not far away, a group of a half-dozen guards had gathered as well. Dusthorn had demanded that Thunderhoof fetch them, but now that they were all there, none of them seemed to know what to do.

“How in Tartarus did this happen?!” Dusthorn snarled for what felt like the hundredth time. “All three barrels are soaked! SOAKED!”

To my right, I saw Steelskin shift slightly. “Perhaps there was a leak last night…”

“And yet you see no leak now!” Dusthorn interrupted. “It’s raining outside now, but there’s no water dripping into these barrels! Besides, they were sealed tightly! Someone, or something, poured water into these barrels!”

“Preposterous,” One of the gathered guards scoffed. “There were so many of us out on the grounds last night, not even a mouse could have snuck by without us noticing.”

Dusthorn’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Then that means it was someone… or somePONY… already inside,” he hissed. “And if you had so many guards outside last night, how come you couldn’t spare a couple to guard the door, hm?!”

“Wha…” the guard stammered for a brief moment, blinking. “But… we had two guards assigned to this room last night,” He finally finished. I felt my heart skip a beat as he continued. “You’re telling me they weren’t here?”

“Nay, they weren’t,” Steelskin shook his head.

“By the ancestors,” another guard shook his head, muttering just loudly enough for me to hear. “If Stonehoof slept through his shift again and let this happen…”

“I expect a full investigation!” Dusthorn spat angrily. He turned his back to the guards as he continued his pacing back and forth. “I want to know who did this, and how they did it, and what happened to those two idiots that were supposed to keep this room locked down!”

“Dust, calm down.” Steelskin took a step forward, trying to soothe his colleague. “It’s just a couple o’ barrels. It’s bad, yeah, but surely it can’t be that hard to make some more…”

“You have no idea, Steelskin,” Dusthorn retorted. He picked up the chunk of black cake powder and tore a bit off. “You see this? This stuff is ruined! It’ll take days of drying to fix, and it might not even work! And that was the last of the sulfur we have left in this entire bloody city! It’ll be at least a week before more can be brought from Minos, and that’s assuming there’s any left there, either! And if not, they’ll have to gather some from the Black Mountains, and that will take even longer!” Unable to contain his rage anymore, Dusthorn slammed the rest of the caked powder onto the table and slammed one fist into it. I stiffened as a sharp crack pierced the room, and while the table didn’t break under the force of the blow, the powder didn’t fare nearly as well. I could see that the entire chunk of cake that Dusthorn had been brandishing had been pulverized.

Silence. No one dared to speak as Dusthorn slowly removed his fist from the table. His eyes were closed, but they slowly opened to look down at the table. His breathing became calmer, and his expression changed from one of rage to curiosity. I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he knelt down next to the table, directing his gaze towards the powder he had just pounded. 

The first guard to speak up cleared his throat. “We’ll… uh, we’ll begin a thorough investigation,” he announced. “We’ll make sure whoever did this is caught.”

“Hm? Oh, yes yes,” Dusthorn muttered, not bothering to look in the direction of the guards. “Go on, go search around or talk to Ponies or what have you. Just get out of my sight.” He took a small bit of the crushed substance between his fingers and rubbed them together, allowing the smashed cake-powder to fall away again.

“Perhaps… perhaps I can make some use of this after all…”


---


Did you know that gunpowder wasn’t really gunpowder until it had been wetted into cake and pulverized back down? Before that day, neither did I.

Needless to say, our sabotage the night before seemed to have backfired. Once a small portion of the cake had been ground down by a pestle and mortar and dried in the sun, the resulting powder was far finer than it had been before. A quick test with a new, thicker firing tube confirmed my fears - that Sombra and I had actually furthered the development of the gun more than I would have been able to with my own knowledge alone.

The rest of that day, and a good portion of the next week, was spent grinding down the rest of the cake in the barrels. It was a long, slow, tedious process, taking small chunks of the cake and slowly grinding it down by hand with a pestle and mortar. It wasn’t too physically exerting, but the constant, repeated motions certainly left my hand, wrist, and elbow sore after a while. Not to mention the constant running of powder outside to dry in the sun, and back inside to be used by Steelskin,

Speaking of Steelskin, he too was busy, and kept me just as busy. After the successful test with a thicker tube and the newly-ground gunpowder, he continued to develop tubes of various lengths, as well as different methods of igniting the gunpowder to produce the explosion. It was only two days before he had created a device large enough to fire a twenty-four pound shot - a true cannon. This initial cannon was fired via the ignition a thin strand of rope infused with small granules of the gunpowder, which created an extremely crude (and very slow-burning) fuse. From then on, he began experimenting with smaller shots and tubes, as well as a trigger to strike a piece of flint against a piece of steel - a flintlock weapon. And of course, I was still helping him by pumping bellows, hauling metal, and answering questions over whether something had been developed by Humans and been successful. Combined with the pulverizing of the caked powder, and every night I ended up going to be more tired than I had been the night before. The fact that my dreams were still haunted by the memory of me killing the guard certainly didn’t help in that regard.

Of course, Sombra’s nightly visits didn’t help the matter either.

Every night, I would wake to the sound of the window creaking open. And every night, I would watch as Sombra, under the guise of darkness, would jump into my room. And every night, he would bring the same news from the resistance camp- more deaths, more hunger, more misery, and more desperation. I had few things to offer in condolence - I neglected to mention how our sabotage had backfired - but still tried to help as best I could. I’d finally managed to map the route between my room and the workshop, as well as to numerous other points throughout the castle - not the least of which being the throne room. I’d also taken note of as many patrol routes and lookouts on the grounds as I could, and even stayed up one evening to determine the time at which the guard changed outside my room. It was small, but hopefully it would help in some way.

But we both knew time was quickly running out. I could see the bags under his eyes more and more noticeably every time he visited. The Minotaurs had tracked the resistance and now knew the general area where their camp was located, and as such all traffic in and out had been halted entirely. Sombra, with his skills at manipulating and hiding in the shadows, was the only one able to slip in and out of the camp unnoticed, and their only communication with the outside world. He looked thinner every time he visited as well, and he admitted that part of his duties while exchanging news with me now included scavenging as much food - any food - that he could. I left as much food every evening as I could, but we shared the unspoken understanding that it simply wasn’t enough.

The investigation into our midnight sabotage seemed to have faltered and died alongside Dusthorn’s rage. Security was increased, both inside and outside the palace, and the two guards remained undiscovered - missing and presumed dead, I heard - but my participation remained unknown. One unforeseen side-effect, though, was an increased interest in the project by Adamant Will. Once or twice a day he would send a guard by for a status report, and once - four days after the sabotage - he showed up personally to see our progress. He seemed satisfied, if the grins I saw when he thought we weren’t looking were anything to judge by.

In fact, he seemed so pleased that he invited me to dinner.

It was a week after Sombra and I had gone on our midnight excursion. The day had been proceeding as normal - I was mashing up another bowl full of powder with Dusthorn, while Steelskin was hammering away at his anvil. I could tell he was producing the narrowest tube that he’d created yet - narrow enough to be used in a fully-portable gun, about the size of a rifle. He’d been working on this particular tube for a couple of hours, and I was secretly thankful - that was a couple of hours in which I wasn’t hopping up and running to pump the bellows or fetch more iron or fuel for the forge.

“That next batch should be ready to come back in soon,” I heard Dusthorn mutter from my right - a phrase I’d heard him say many, many times over the past few days, and a couple of times already today. I knew exactly what that meant - another trip for me and Thunderhoof, along with a mound of gunpowder, downstairs to the garden, where we’d been leaving the gunpowder to dry, and then another trip with the dried powder from the last batch back upstairs for Steelskin to use in his testing. Thunderhoof had quickly picked up on his role of helping me carry the powder, and I glanced in his direction to make sure he’d heard Dusthorn.

Instead, I found that he was nowhere near me. Instead, he was standing next to the double doors leading out of the room, gesturing with his hands towards another Minotaur. I’d been picking up on a few of his hand signals - they were different from the ones used on Earth (Terra, I reminded myself again), and didn’t seem to be a true sign language as I understood - but it was still difficult to understand him from a distance. The other Minotaur, however, seemed to understand, for he gave a short nod. Both Minotaurs glanced briefly in my direction before the newcomer began speaking, too softly for me to hear. Longhorn nodded and gave another quick series of hand gestures. The newcomer saluted briefly - an action mirrored by Longhorn - before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Almost Immediately, Longhorn was hunched over the far end of our table, scribbling furiously onto a sheet of paper. I kept stealing glances down in his direction as I kept mashing down the chunks of gunpowder cake into a finer dust. As I dumped my current mortar full of powder onto the tray we were using to hold it, I glanced back down and noticed that Thunderhoof was headed this way.

And not a moment too soon. “Alright,” I heard Dusthorn sigh from my right again. “Chris, go take this tray downstairs and bring the last batch back… up… yes, Thunderhoof?” I heard Dusthorn ask as Thunderhoof walked past me to stand directly next to him. Thunderhoof said nothing, but instead handed the sheet of paper to Dusthorn. The alchemist’s eyes quickly flashed back and forth across the paper, and I could see a frown forming on his face as he looked back up. “Seriously? Right now?” Longhorn nodded, merely adding to Dusthorn’s scowl. “And how am I going to get all that powder moved around?”

“Maybe ye can go and move it yerself, hm?” I heard Steelskin call from across the room. All heads turned in his direction as he continued, speaking between each swing of his hammer. “He’s just a wee lad, mate. Ye’ve been running him and his bodyguard ragged all week, sending them up and down and all around messing with that powder o’ yers.”

“As if you haven’t been making use of him yourself,” Dusthorn shot back.

“Aye, I have,” Steelskin nodded, not looking up from the tube he was hammering away at. “He’s been doing stuff that needs a second set o’ hands, stuff I can’t  do alone. Ye’ve just been using them to do stuff ye can’t be bothered with. So I say it again - Whatever that Royal Guard came here for, it’s probably more important than having Chris here running around being your errand calf.”

Dusthorn snorted, but offered no rebuttal - not that he could make a satisfactory rebuttal, anyway. “Fine,” he finally sighed. He glanced back down at the pile of powder that he now had to take outside and flicked his wrist away. “Go on, go do… whatever it is you need to do.”

Thunderhoof gave my shoulder a light pat, and I stood up from the chair I’d been sitting in for the past few hours. I stretched, grunting as my arm popped loudly, and followed Thunderhoof as he led me down the table and out the doors. A moment later, we were walking down the hall back towards my room.

“So… what’s going on?” I asked. Thunderhoof made a few signals with his hands, including miming the act of eating and drawing a circle above his head. “Eating… the king… Dinner with the king?” I asked, to which Thunderhoof nodded. “Oh boy…”

Thunderhoof let out a small snort and patted my shoulder. “I’m just wondering why,” I replied to his unspoken question. “I mean, I think we’ve been making good progress… and if he wanted us to do better, why ask me…” I found myself cut off as Thunderhoof shook his head back and forth. “Not that?” another shake of his head. “Then what?” 

To that, Thunderhoof merely shrugged. He made a few gestures with his hands, the meaning of which were lost on me. He must have noticed my confusion, for he hesitated for a moment before miming the act of writing, and then pointing at me. “Writing about me?” Longhorn balanced his hand in the air in a clear sign of “kind of” before jerking his thumb over his shoulder and making the same writing motion. “History? Like my past?” Longhorn nodded again. “Maybe, but why pull me away from the project just for that?” Another shrug from Thunderhoof, after which we both fell into silence.

It wasn’t until we reached my room that either of us spoke again. As the door was pushed in, Thunderhorn tapped me on the shoulder. I turned my head towards him to see that he was pointing into the room. More specifically, he was pointing at the door on the far side of the room, leading into the bathroom. Sure enough, his next gesture was him miming scrubbing his arms. “Yeah, like I’m gonna show up to meet the king smelling like a hot forge,” I chuckled, earning me one of Thunderhoof’s rare grins, albeit a very small one. “But what about clothes? I can’t exactly show up to dinner in… this…” to make my point, I spread my arms apart before pointing at the various soot stains across my shirt and pants.

Thunderhoof shook his head in agreement and rubbed his chin. After a moment he nodded and pointed at himself. “You’ll take care of it?” I asked, to which he nodded again. “Alright. I’ll trust that you’ll be able to find something that will at least vaguely fit me. You all are a lot bigger than me, after all.” Thunderhoof gave me a firm pat on the back and flashed me a thumbs-up. “Alright. How long do I have to get ready?” There it was again, that same balancing-hand motion from before. “A little while, but not too long. Got it. I’ll try and make this quick then.” Another thumbs-up, and Thunderhoof turned his back towards me. A moment later, the door was shut behind me, leaving me alone in my room.

I wandered into the bathroom to find the normally-dark room was already prepared for me. A half-dozen lamps had been lit and hung from the hall, flooding the room with light. The tub in the corner had been filled with water, and I could see the steam rising from it. I wasted no time in disrobing and hopping into the water, sighing as I sank into the bath. I could feel the heat relaxing the muscles in my back and my arm. It was very soothing, and I was half-tempted to doze off in the water.

But my mind wasn’t about to let me rest so easily. As soon as I had begun to relax, my mind drifted once again towards the potential reasons that Adamant Will had called me to dinner. It had been nearly a week since Sombra and I had been on our midnight excursion. Had I been found out? Had they figured out who had been responsible for the disappearance of those two guards and the attempted sabotage of the gunpowder? Or maybe they’d found out that I was an agent for Equestria.

Or maybe it was both of those things, or neither. I honestly didn’t know, and the more I thought about it, the more potential reasons popped up. I’d barely spoken to the king since I’d arrived - maybe he just wanted to speak? But why pull me away from the project he was so desperate to finish just for conversation? And if I had been found out, why take me to dinner rather than just kill me outright? Around and around in my head these thoughts spun, with no clear answer available.

Well, worrying wasn’t going to give me an answer. Besides, I’d already been soaking in the tub for too long. Time to get ready. After all, the only way I’d really find out Adamant Will’s motives for this dinner was to actually show up.

I reached for the soap that had been left for me and began to scrub myself down. It was a good while before I was satisfied that I was clean enough to be presentable to the king, at which point I hopped out of the tub. A quick towel-dry later, and I was walking out of the bathroom with the towel around my waist.

True to his word, it seemed that Thunderhoof had managed to come through for me. A set of what appeared to be formalwear had been laid across the bed. It seemed simple enough - similar to a tuxedo back home in essence, but the jacket and shirt were highly decorated in regal maroons, blues, and yellows. In addition, amongst the usual pieces I expected was a maroon cloth with gold trim, which was attached to what looked suspiciously like a leather shoulderpad. As I threw the clothes on, I kept an eye on that particular piece, and sure enough, when I tried to put it on, it clasped into place perfectly, with the cape flowing down my right side to cover my right arm. I also noted that Thunderhoof had indeed been good to his word - while not a perfect fit, the clothes were close enough of a match to my size that I wouldn’t look ridiculous.

I had just finished adjusting the tie around my neck when I heard three sharp raps at the door. “Coming!” I called out as I slipped into a pair of black leather shoes that had been left for me as well. I strolled over to the door and pulled it open. Sure enough, Thunderhoof was waiting for me on the other side, standing between the two guards that were flanking the door. “So, do I look presentable enough?” I asked. Thunderhoof eyed me up and down for a moment before nodding. He pressed his index finger and thumb close together, then spread his arms away from his sides a bit. “Yeah, it’s a little big, but it’s honestly a better fit than I expected.” That seemed to satisfy Thunderhoof, for he nodded again and made a gesture to follow him before turning and walking away.

The two of us wandered through the hallways for a while. Occasionally, I was able to glance down a corridor and catch a glimpse of a window. Based on the color of the horizon, it had to be sunset - the vibrant reds and oranges were clear indicators of that. On the way, as I always did whenever travelling through the castle, I tried to keep track of our route. But, as always happened during my first trek to a new place in the castle, I quickly lost track of the turns.

Based on the number of flights of stairs we had gone down, I was pretty certain we were on the ground floor by the time we finally stopped. To my left was a large, wooden double door, flanked by three armed guards on each side. The one closest to the door to my right glanced in my direction and raised an eyebrow. “You’re the Human, hm?” he muttered. “Alright, in you go. The King’s waiting on you.”

I glanced back towards Thunderhoof who nodded. I felt him give me a solid pat on the back, and he flashed me a quick thumbs up. I nodded and turned to see that the large door in front of me had been pushed open. I hesitated for a moment before taking a few steps forward, into the room beyond.

As I had expected, it was a large dining hall. Clearly situated towards the center of the castle, both walls were nevertheless lined with large windows that stretched upwards to the ceiling, revealing twin courtyards on either side. A number of Minotaurs and Ponies stood at attention along the walls as well - waiters or guards, I assumed. The ceiling itself was high above us - easily stretching two or three stories high - and painted in shades of sky-blue with white clouds. A large, crystalline chandelier dangled from the ceiling, hovering a dozen feet off of the ground. Ornate marble pillars rose from the ground to the ceiling in each corner, creating a feel very similar to that of ancient roman architecture.

The center of the room was taken up by a long banquet table. The table itself seemed to be wooden, though it was difficult to tell underneath the white tablecloth that was draped over it and fell to the floor. Numerous lidded silver platters lay upon the table, as well as three lit candelabras. Half a dozen chairs lined each side of the table, with one more at either end. 

And the one at the far end was already occupied.

Adamant Will was already looking directly at me as my eyes met his. He was dressed far more formally than the first time I had met him - The style and color scheme of his attire was very similar to mine, albeit far more elaborate. Against the vibrant colors of his shirt and jacket, the cold grey of the amulet would have seemed almost out of place were it not for the glowing red eyes.

“Chris Powell,” Adamant Will purred, his voice silky smooth. “Come, have a seat. I would dine with you, and speak.”

“We have much to discuss, you and I.”

> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dozen or so guards and Pony servants remained at attention as I moved past them, down the long banquet table towards my seat, at the end of the table next to the King. Adamant Will’s eyes never left me as I pulled out my chair and took my seat. I did my best to appear calm and relaxed.

Beneath the surface, however, I could feel my stomach tying itself up in knots. All of my doubts and fears from before were coming back in full force. Why did Adamant Will want to have dinner with me? Why now? What did he know? What didn’t he know? Did he suspect something? Did he want something? What was this all about?

Did I smell bacon?

As if knowing my thoughts, I saw the corners of Adamant Will’s lips curve upwards ever so slightly. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers loudly. The Ponies that had been lined up along the wall stepped forward and reached over the table, removing the lids from the numerous silver trays.

As I glanced over the feast that had been laid out, I felt my stomach growl. It looked almost like a thanksgiving dinner back home… if dinner had been made to serve fifty people. Ears of corn, piles of broccoli, bowls of sliced carrots, mounds of rolls, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs… and the meat! There was indeed a plate of bacon, as my nose had informed me, but that wasn’t all. I saw a spiral-cut ham, fish, some kind of steak, either a chicken or turkey (I couldn’t tell which) and even a plate of crab legs, complete with butter dipping sauce.

As the Pony servants stepped backwards with the lids, I saw Adamant Will make a quick gesture with one of his hands. “Guards, servers. Leave us,” he commanded. “I would speak with our guest alone.” Almost before he had finished speaking, the Minotaurs and Ponies had begun moving towards the exit at the far end of the room. A minute later, and the door was closed behind them, leaving me alone with Adamant Will.

The King began to load his plate with food, and I quickly followed suit. I only grabbed a small piece of fish (I’d had enough of that during my time at the camp to last a lifetime), but loaded my plate with the vegetables - I’d never have thought I’d miss vegetables, but damn if those carrots didn’t look good! I also grabbed a few strips of bacon, a few eggs, and a steak.

As we gathered our food in silence, I had a few moments to gather my thoughts. Adamant Will was gathering from the same plates as I, so it was very unlikely the food was poisoned. We were also alone. I had my knife, sheathed at my side as always - I’d been told to keep it on me at all times in case of an attempted attack. Could this be my chance to strike? I quickly dismissed the thought. A head-on attack at Adamant Will would be suicide, and with the table between us my element of surprise would be lost before I could land a blow. Plus, even if I did manage to bring him down, escaping with my life would be an entirely different story. But most of all, I couldn’t bring myself to make another kill. I nearly shuddered as week-old memories of me killing the guard were dragged back to the surface.

We ate in silence for a short time. I noted that all of the food had been cooked excellently - the steak was perhaps a bit more well done than I would have liked, but I chalked that up to a difference in pallets - and there was certainly plenty of it. The carrots and broccoli were a refreshing change of pace from my meat-and-bread diet that I’d been living off of every since I came to this world, and even the eggs, though not as good as mom’s, were pretty good.

As I took another bite of ham, I heard Adamant Will speak up. “I hope everything is to your liking.”

I nodded as I finished swallowing. “It’s all excellent,” I replied. “Thank you.”

“Glad to hear it.” There was another brief silence as Adamant Will took a gulp from his glass of water. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked you to come here.”

“I’m a little curious, yes.”

“The first order of business is my own personal curiosity.” Another pause as Adamant Will took a large bite from his steak. “You’ve been living and working with us for a week now, and yet we still know very little about you and your people. Your kingdom. I have… a number of questions.”

“I’ll do my best to answer them.”

“I’m curious about your homeland,” the king began. “This… America. What is it like? Describe it to me.”

I slowly finished my bite as I tried to come up with the proper words. “America… is as diverse a place as you are likely to ever find,” I finally replied. “It is a Kingdom divided into many different states, separate and yet unified. Trying to describe it is… nearly impossible. Our diversity, I suppose, is what defines us. If you were to ask any ten Humans what America is like, you would receive twelve different answers because two of us would change our minds before you finished asking the rest.”

“Well let’s be a little more specific.” Adamant Will placed his fork down and folded his hands underneath his chin. “Tell me about the people. What are they like?”

““People from all walks of life call America home,” I explained. “We all share common memories and experiences, of course, but we also all have different experiences. You cannot pin down American culture, really. We borrow from all walks of life and blend it into a giant melting pot. Our differences are what make us unique. We are defined by diversity.”

Though he was trying to hide it, I could tell Adamant Will was already beginning to lose patience. His brow had furrowed ever so slightly, and his slight smile had dipped. “And the climate?” He asked. “Is it just as diverse?”

“So he’s trying to figure out how to get there,” I mused silently. By narrowing down the climate, he was hoping to figure out how far north or south America was from the kingdoms he knew of. That was the first thing that popped into my mind, anyway.

Shame he’d never find it on Gaia.

“Absolutely,” I nodded. “From the frozen arctic of northern Alaska to the scorching deserts of Arizona, from the Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming to the plains of Kansas and Oklahoma. Again, diversity is what America is defined by.”

“It must be a large Kingdom, then…” Adamant Will mused. “To be so diverse, to be defined by your differences…” He fell silent, instead choosing to cut and eat another bite of his steak. I took advantage of the lull as well to have another bite and a few more sips of water. I stole as many glances in his direction as I could, and noted at one point that he was shaking his head.

Finally, Adamant Will sighed and looked back towards me. “America… it is not a kingdom on Gaia, is it?” he asked bluntly.

Had I had a bite of food in my mouth at the time, I likely would have started choking. As it was, I nearly dropped the glass of water that I had been about to drink from. “What… what would make you say that?” I asked, trying to regain my composition.

But he’d figured it out, and he knew it. The small smirk on his lips made that plainly clear. “Besides the fact that you nearly jumped out of your seat when I said that?” he asked. “Because the kingdoms of Gaia have documented the vast majority of our world’s surface. The few areas that have not been mapped out accurately are far too small to host the variety of climates that you have described. This means that either you are lying to me about your kingdom, or else it is not on Gaia. You and your people seem to have a solid civilization going, if your manner of speech and knowledge technologies we have yet to discover are anything to judge by, which makes me doubt that you are lying about the existence of your kingdom. I find it highly unlikely that such a civilization could have developed without any of the other races of Gaia noticing you. So that leads me to only one logical conclusion - that you are not from Gaia.”

Well, I guess I should have figured that I’d get found out eventually. There was no point in trying to cover it up anymore, so I simply sighed and nodded. “You’re correct,” I replied.

“So you are from another world…” Adamant Will rubbed his chin, his eyes never leaving me. “I can understand you wanting to keep such information hidden, but I must ask that you refrain from doing so in the future if we’re going to continue working together. So, moving on...”

“Wait… so, you’re cool with this?” I interrupted. “Like, you’re fine with the fact that I’m an alien?”

This merely earned me a shrug from Adamant Will. “I had my suspicions already,” he replied. “You’ve merely confirmed them. Your service to Minos has been fruitful, regardless of your origins, and I assure you that you will be rewarded for your efforts. I only have a two questions for you for now.”

“Go ahead.”

“You say that you travelled far to arrive here,” Adamant Will began. “Tell me, how exactly did you end up arriving here on Gaia? And how long ago?”

“I… don’t exactly know how I got here,” I admitted. “I was hiking with a few friends of mine through the mountains back home. It was muddy and slippery, and I ended up falling off of a cliff into a pool. I blacked out, and when I woke up I was in a pool underground, in the caverns beneath Everfree and the forest. I’m not sure how it worked, but that’s what happened. That would have been… what, three or four weeks ago now? It’s hard to say really. The days before I came to Everfree kind of… blur together, out there in the wilderness.”

“I see…” Adamant Will rubbed his chin before shrugging. "Very well. I would love to hear more about your world and your people - I’ve no doubt that what you’ve said so far has barely scratched the surface - but I’m afraid we’ll have to put that on hold for a bit. We have a matter of business to discuss.” Adamant Will reached for his water and took a few long gulps. “The resistance. My trackers have been busy searching the forest for them, and I believe we’ve finally discovered their hideout. I have no doubt that eliminating them will be simple enough as is, but such a stage would also be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate our new weapon. Tell me, how far along are you all to completing the guns?”

“We are… close,” I hesitated for a brief moment. “We have a good reserve of gunpowder ready, so that’s no issue. Steelskin was working on the latest gun design when I left to prepare for dinner - if it holds up to the explosive pressure, I believe this design will be sufficiently ready for use as a prototype on the battlefield.”

I made sure my expression and tone remained even and calm as I spoke, but it was a considerable effort to not show my panic. Sombra had said that the Minotaurs were closing in, but I hadn’t thought that they’d actually been able to narrow it down that much. If they were already preparing for an attack…

“Good. Good…” Adamant Will nodded with a smile, his voice cutting into my thoughts. “I’ll let Steelskin know that I want a half dozen ready by tomorrow night. More, if possible.”

“I’m… not sure it will be possible,” I said slowly. “Each gun has to be tested to make sure it doesn’t malfunction or misfire or burst or -”

“I will send more workers to help tomorrow, don’t you worry about that,” Adamant Will interrupted. “All I need you and Steelskin to do tomorrow is to produce the guns. We’ll have the others take care of the testing. My army marches tomorrow night, and I want those guns ready for them. Understood?”

“...Understood.”

“Good.”

The next few minutes passed in silence, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I barely even tasted the food anymore as I ate. I had to warn Sombra about the upcoming attack. The Ponies had to get out of that camp by any means necessary, before the full might of Adamant Will’s army could encircle the camp and fully starve them out. Tonight might be the last chance for them to escape.

I finished eating a few minutes before Adamant Will did, but it wasn’t long before he too set his knife and fork down for the final time. “An excellent meal,” he said, to no one in particular. “Now, Chris,” he continued, looking at me. “There is another reason i have asked you to come here tonight.”

“Oh?” A small warning bell in the back of my head began to go off.

“Indeed.” He glanced down towards my plate, which had been empty of anything save for bones for a while, and pushed himself to his hooves. “If you’re finished, there is something I would like to show you.”

I rose to follow Adamant Will, and the two of us walked down the length of the table towards the door and stepped through. Two guards were waiting on the other side, and they fell into step between me and the king as we continued down the hall. Though they remained silent, I caught them glancing in my direction every now and then, especially when turning a corner. Whenever I caught them, there would always be an expression of barely-masked apprehension on their faces. There was also a new tension in their movements, a heightened level of stiffness and tightened grips on their weapons as they glanced at me. It would seem that the guards were prone to eavesdropping, and were decidedly less comfortable about my origins than their king.

As usual, I did my best to keep track of the route we were taking. It might have just been me, but our route through the castle seemed far less meandering than previous trips - it was only four turns down long hallways before we reached a spiral staircase and began to descend. I knew that we had started on the ground floor, so we were descending below ground. What our final destination was, I couldn’t say for certain, but I had a few ideas.

None of them were pleasant.

Sure enough, we emerged from the spiral staircase into a dark, underground tunnel. The only light down here came from a series of flickering torches that burned in their wall-mounted holders every few dozen feet. The tunnel seemed to have been carved directly from the stone, if the walls and floor were anything to judge by. There were no distinguishing features nearby, but I could see a few tunnels branching off from the main corridor further down the hall. A nearby barrel held a number of unlit torches, and both guards took a torch each, lighting them from one of the wall-mounted torches before we set off down the tunnel.

As the guards took turns glancing in my direction, I discreetly loosened the tie around my pouch full of scrolls, and even managed to stow a flashbang scroll in my pocket as we turned a corner. The two possible destinations I could see us going to were either a dungeon cell or some form of torture chamber, or both. I was determined to be ready in the event of some kind of betrayal.

But nothing happened. Though there were plenty of guards standing watch, none of them joined us as we walked through the subterranean corridors. It was indeed a dungeon - those alcoves sectioned off by iron bars and a gate made that instantly clear. I noted with curiosity, however, the distinct lack of prisoners. This seemed all the more unusual given the recent takeover and suppression of any resistance. Indeed, the dungeon seemed almost unused. It was well-maintained - no smell of filth or pools of water that seem to pop up so often in the dungeons you’d see in a movie. The only sound besides our feet and hooves and the occasional clink of armor as a guard snapped to attention was the crackle of the flames from the torches. 

We wandered through the dungeons for a few moments before finally coming to stop next to an iron door. The cell on the other side was completely obstructed from view. The only way to see inside - a small viewport high up on the door - was covered by a sliding metal plate, and firmly locked into place. Security outside this room was far higher than the rest of the dungeon - no less than half a dozen guards stood in the immediate vicinity, with easily a dozen more in sight. Adamant Will nodded towards the two closest to the door, and they saluted before moving away down the corridor. Instinctively, my hand moved closer to my pocket and the flashbang scroll contained within.

“We’ve arrived,” Adamant Will announced, producing a key held on a chain around his neck. “Guards, unlock the door. I will speak with the prisoner.” I felt myself relaxing a bit as one of the guards took the key and unlocked the door. If there was a prisoner already inside, then it was unlikely that this was intended to be my cell. On the other hand, who was the prisoner? And why was I being brought here? These questions buzzed through my mind as Adamant Will ducked under the door and I stepped through, with the two guards following behind us and closing the door.

The cell beyond was more spacious than the outside had led me to believe. A chamber pot lay in the far left corner, with single bed with simple sheets was pushed into the far right corner being the only other piece of furniture in the cell. 

And upon that bed was a lone figure. A pony. A unicorn, I noticed, with his horn capped by a dull metal tip and encircled by a ring attached to the tip by three thin metal bars. This pony was shirtless, revealing his torso - dirty white fur, with a form that indicated he had been in good shape before his imprisonment. He was thin - not emaciated, by any means, but he certainly had not eaten well in some time. His hair was fiery red, and shimmered in a manner very similar to Serenity’s. His eyes were a striking lightning blue, and despite his obvious weakness they still burned with such anger that even the guards seemed hesitant to approach him. The only other distinguishing feature was a tattoo on his upper right arm - a fiery sun rising from behind a black landscape.

King Solaris.

There was no doubt in my mind who this was. I’d heard he’d been captured during the conquest of Everfree, but It hadn’t occurred to me that he was still being kept prisoner. Though he had remained lying down on the bed when the door had opened, he rose to sit as the guards stepped through. His fiery glare shifted between the four of us, lingering on me for the longest. “Found a new monster to play with, Addy?” he spat. “Where’d you dig this one up?”

“He came to us,” Adamant Will replied evenly. “Even an outsider can see that your rule is over. Chris Powell, I present to you Solaris, fallen king of the former Kingdom of Equestria. And Solaris, I present to you the agent of your kingdom’s final fall.”

“You have not broken me,” Solaris hissed. “Do you believe your latest pet will break my kingdom?”

“Perhaps he will not by force of strength,” Adamant Will began. I could hear the smirk playing on his lips. “But by strength of mind he shall. With the new knowledge and technology he has brought us, Minos will rule over not only Equestria, but all of Gaia.”

Solaris’ scowl did not falter. “You’ve claimed the same the last six times you decided to grace me with your presence,” he shot back. “And yet the resistance continues. And it will continue forever, until you and your kind are kicked out of Equestria like the dogs you are.”

“Bold words from a prisoner. Perhaps it is true. Perhaps you cannot be broken.” Adamant Will raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The guard closest to the door gave two sharp raps in quick succession, and the door was pushed open once more. “But not all of your former subjects are as strong as you, Solaris.”

Two more guards marched through the door, dragging another Pony behind them. This Pony, another Unicorn, was in considerably worse shape than Solaris. If anything, he was even thinner, and his light-orange coat was coated with dirt and mud and what looked suspiciously like blood. His clothes were tattered and torn, and his right eye was circled with a large, black bruise. The two guards released their grips on the unicorn, and he collapsed to the ground at Adamant Will’s feet.

Solaris moved to rise from the bed, but the two guards that had originally joined us drew their swords and pointed them at the fallen king, keeping him back on the bed. Adamant Will, meanwhile, knelt down next to the new prisoner, who was struggling to push himself onto all fours. “Now,” Adamant Will began, his voice deadly quiet. “Tell us all what you told my guards when they found you.”

The prisoner hesitated, his eyes flicking between Adamant Will and Solaris, with the occasional glance in my direction. It seemed Adamant Will wasn’t in the mood for playing games, for his brow furrowed and his lips drew upwards in a snarl. “Well?!” he demanded.

“I… The… The resistance is done for…” The Unicorn squeaked out, his voice barely a whisper. “They’re… we’re dying. No food… water…”

“And we told you that you will get food and water,” Adamant Will replied, his voice suddenly much softer. He placed both hands on the Unicorn’s shoulders, and the Unicorn flinched backwards from the contact. Adamant Will seemed undeterred. “I am a merciful king to those who submit. All you need to do is tell us where the resistance camp is, and give us the means to get in.”

“DON’T TELL HIM ANYTHING!” Solaris roared. He tried to spring from his bed, but his obvious weakness made him slow. One of the guards slugged him hard in the chest, and Solaris was sent tumbling back onto the bed and into the corner.

I watched all of this unfold before me with a mixture of shock and horror. I had backed myself into the corner unoccupied by either the bed, the chamber pot, or the door, trying to take wind of the situation. I forced myself to calm down as much as I could and took a deep breath. So… on one hand, this Pony was about to reveal to Adamant Will the camp’s exact location, and how to break through. If Adamant Will gained that knowledge, all of my efforts would have been for naught - Equestria would fall, and my mission would have failed. There had to be something I could do.

On the other hand… I was alone. My only allies present were a half-starved, magic-less Unicorn who was currently recovering from having the wind knocked out of him, and an even more starved, magic-less Unicorn on the verge of mental collapse - and neither of them saw me as a friend. I had my spells, yes. But using them would only get me so far. As with my situation in the dining hall, even if I DID manage to kill Adamant Will in here, his guards would simply kill me in retaliation, and likely Solaris as well. Even if I managed to escape them, There had to be at least six dozen guards down in these dungeons. And none of them were going to let me just stroll out of here without Adamant Will escorting me.

Despite the spells, despite my knife, despite my close proximity to a distracted Adamant Will… I couldn’t kill him. I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready. If I tried anything, I was going to die. And the actual act... Memories of the guard's death at my hands flowed back, unbidden. My hands began to tremble. I backed myself deeper into the corner. I was a coward. A bloody coward.

So all I could do was watch as the Unicorn finally looked up at Adamant Will. “I… will show you how to get there,” he finally conceded.

“And how to enter?” Adamant Will asked, ignoring the hacking protests coming from behind him from Solaris.

“A… spellscroll.” The Unicorn’s gaze fell to the floor. “To break the wards. I will make one.”

“There you go.” Adamant Will smiled and patted the Unicorn on the shoulder. “Tonight, you will feast as you have not feasted in a long, long time. Guards, take him back to his cell and provide him with whatever food and drink he desires. But only after he provides us with the map and the scroll,” he added. "Provide him whatever materials he requires to produce these items.”

“So you see Solaris,” Adamant Will grinned as the two guards picked up the Unicorn and dragged him out of the cell, “Your resistance is over. Your own subjects have abandoned you.” Adamant Will turned towards Solaris and folded his hands behind his back. “The kingdom of Equestria is gone. There is only Minos”

“So long as Ponies have the will to fight, they will fight you,” Solaris spat.

“Then perhaps we had best find a way to break that will.” Adamant Will turned and moved towards the door. “We’re done here. Guards, I want the shift down here doubled tonight and tomorrow night. The last thing we want is for some would-be rescue team trying to free their king.” With that Adamant Will knocked twice on the door and pulled the door open. The guards gestured for me to follow suit and I shakily made my way past them and out the door. I watched as they trained their weapons towards Solaris and did not sheathe them until the cell door was closed and securely locked once more.

I paid no mind to the guards that watched me was I moved past them. Instead, I walked over to the far wall and leaned against it for support. My mind was reeling. Adamant Will was going to learn where the camp was. He was going to obtain the means to break the wards and enter. And he as going to have the prototype guns to demonstrate and test against the Ponies within.

The guns that I had helped to develop...

“Consider this the first part of your reward for your aid, Chris,” Adamant Will’s words broke me out of my stupor. I looked up to see him staring at me, a small smile playing across his face. “You will bear witness to the final dissolution of Equestria, and the destruction of the resistance. And your name will be remembered by my people as one of the factors that set in motion a chain of events that would lead to our conquest of all of Gaia.”

“Now, I’d suggest you head to your room and get some rest. You’ve got a busy day ahead of you tomorrow.”

> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sleep did not come easily that night

There had been no conversation on the way back to my room. Thunderhoof was absent - where he had gone off to, I didn’t know - and the guard that escorted me was no more vocal. Not that I was complaining. I didn’t feel like talking anyway.

It was like someone had punched me in the gut, and every time I replayed the events in the cell was another blow. The situation in the resistance camp was so bad, so desperate, that Ponies were fleeing and willing to betray their king for even a chance of escape. Adamant Will would soon have not only a map to the resistance camp, but a spell to break through its defences - possibly within the night. Thanks to my help, he would have a set of prototype guns to test and demonstrate during his assault on the camp.

The only redeeming thought in my mind was that it might not be too late. Sombra had shown up every night without fail, as he said he would. I had a chance to warn him. It might risk me getting revealed as a traitor to the Minotaurs, especially given how few members of Adamant Will’s circle seemed to know about the assault, but it was something. Something I could do to help. And so I sat on my bed that evening. Unable to sleep. Watching. Waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

At some point I plugged my phone into the battery charger and began to recharge it. I had a feeling that, one way or another, both my phone and charging battery running out of power would become irrelevant within a couple of days, and there was the chance that my phone could become useful. So I sat on the bed with my phone next to me and allowed the battery to charge as I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I checked my phone. The time, according to the digital clock on the lock screen, was 2:27 AM. I couldn’t say exactly how long it had been since I’d come back from the dungeons, but it had certainly been hours. I pushed myself to my feet and strolled over to the window. It was a clear, cloudless night. The moon - barely more than a half-moon - was unobstructed, and more than halfway through its arc across the night sky. 

And yet Sombra still had not arrived.

I frowned and glanced towards the darkest corner of my room, as if expecting Sombra to emerge from the shadows. But nothing happened. Of course nothing happened, I hissed internally. The door hadn’t opened, nor had the window. My frown deepened, and I walked back towards the bed, shivering slightly along the way. The nights had already proven to be cooler than what i was used to back on Terra, and this one was even colder than normal

So it was that I finally crawled under the covers of the bed in an effort to stay warm. I kept my eyes trained on the window. Watching for any trace of movement. Looking for any hint of Sombra’s arrival. Waiting for him to reveal himself to me.

Waiting…

And waiting…


---


“Oi!”

I jolted back to full alertness as I felt something impact with my right shoulder - not enough to knock me over, but certainly enough to snap my eyes back open. “Wussat?” I half-slurred, looking around.

“C’mon lad, yer not fallin’ asleep on me again, are ye?” I heard a familiar voice ask from behind me. Sure enough, I spun around and came face to face with Steelskin’s large form towering over me. He was staring down at me with a strange frown upon his face - half concerned, half annoyed.

“Sorry,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes in yet another futile attempt to wake up. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Ye look like ye didn’t sleep at all.”

His words were pretty much right on the mark. Despite the exhaustion that eventually descended upon me, despite the warm embrace of the sheets, despite the knowledge that today was going to be a day of hard work, I didn’t sleep. I was up all night, waiting. Waiting for Sombra to appear, waiting to give him the news and the warning, waiting to hear some sort of confirmation that the camp would be abandoned before Asdamant Will and his army marched upon it.

But it never happened.

Sombra didn’t show up. For the first time in over a week, the grey-furred Unicorn had not appeared. I recalled swearing violently as I saw the first traces of the sunrise peaking over the horizon, and Sombra still hadn’t shown up. The one night where he had to show up, the one where I needed to deliver the most important bit of information yet....

And he hadn’t arrived.

Of course, I couldn’t tell Steelskin all that. I couldn’t tell him why I had laid awake all night, resisting the urge to drift off to sleep. So I merely shook my head. “Not really, no.”

His hand reached out to pat my shoulder. “I get it,” he soothed. “I’m just as excited as you are to see this bloody war finally come to an end. I’ll admit I had trouble sleepin’ last night too, I was so excited. But we still gotta get those guns ready before sunset. So, ye with me lad?”

I shook my head to clear it, but just as quickly bobbed it up and down. “Yeah, let’s… let’s do this… thing.”

Steelskin raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. “Good enough,” he said as he turned his back and strolled back over towards the anvil, where the barrel for our third gun of the day lay half-complete. “Now, give those bellows a few good pumps and let’s get this thing done!”

The rest of the day passed in a blur. I don’t remember too many specifics about what happened. I remember pumping bellows, of course. And I remember more Minotaurs. Plenty of them. There were two or three additional Minotaurs working in the forge with Steelskin and I, all of them hammering away at anvils. I also remember the occasional crack and boom as the latest gun was put to the test, firing practice rounds at a thick wooden wall that had been brought into the room. By the end of the day, I had stopped even looking up as the sound of gunfire pierced through the room.

I remember thinking about sabotage. I don’t know how I would have pulled it off - maybe by pumping the bellows slower so the furnace wouldn’t remain as hot- but the thought ran through my mind multiple times that day. But even in my sleep-deprived state, I knew it would be a bad idea. If the guns weren’t all ready by that evening, it would only anger Adamant Will, and the assault would likely commence even without their new weapons. Besides which, there were far more Minotaurs in the room today, most of whom didn’t know me and were clearly wary of me. Trying any sort of subterfuge with them watching me was risky at best.

Steelskin wasn’t at the forge himself. Instead, he had taken a seat at one of the tables, surrounded by bits of metal and wood and powder and bags. Since my job was a simple, repetitive motion, I was able to watch him assemble the guns out of the variety of pieces he had laid out in front of him. He was also measuring gunpowder and rolling it up into small paper tubes, along with a shot.

And so I spent my day pumping away at the bellows, taking the occasional break for water and rest. With all the iron flowing through the forge that day, the furnace needed to be kept hot. Even when I was resting my arms, another Minotaur would simply come along and pump the bellows again. 

The beginnings of the mass-production of guns on Gaia had begun. And I’d set it in motion.

I was in the middle of pumping the bellows when I felt a firm hand come to rest upon my shoulder. “That’ll do, lad,” I heard Steelskin say from behind me. “Let the forge cool. We’re done here.”

I let go of my grip on the bellows and stepped back, rolling my arms around in their sockets. The repetitive motion had certainly gotten to my arms that day - my shoulder and wrists were aching, as was my head. “They’re all done?” I half-yawned.

“Aye. We did it. All built, all tested, and all ready to be used.” I heard the doors at the far end of the hall being thrown open, and Steelskin and I both turned our heads towards the noise. “And not a moment too soon, it would seem,” Steelskin added as Adamant Will strolled through the door, flanked by a dozen Minotaurs. The two of us walked towards the end of the table and waited for him as the group moved towards us.

“Steelskin. Chris,” Adamant Will nodded in each of our directions as we inclined our heads. “Are we ready?”

“Yes, your highness.” Steelskin reached over and picked up one of the guns. It was a solid construction - all metal, save for a polished wooden stock - Walnut, Steelskin had told me. The iron barrel and powder-tray had been polished to a brilliant shine, as had the lock and striking steel-head. “Twelve guns, using a… flintlock design?” I nodded in confirmation. “Aye, Flintlock. All ready to be used.”

“These bulls are going to be wielding these weapons.” Adamant Will gestured towards the Minotaurs behind him. “Chris, explain to them how to use this weapon.”

“Alright, it’s pretty simple.” I took the gun from Adamant Will, noting the feel in my arms. It had certainly been designed with a Minotaur in mind, for it was larger than any gun I had held back home, but I would still be able to demonstrate pretty well. “First, you cock the lock back,” I began, demonstrating by pulling the flint-tipped lock back and locking it into place. “Next, take one of these cartridges,” I continued, picking up one of the rolls of shot and powder. “Tear it open, and put a small amount of the powder in the pan. Load the rest in through the muzzle - that’s the open end of the barrel.” I demonstrated this step as well, pouring a bit of the black powder into the tray and the rest into the gun itself. “Stand back,” I warned as I moved towards the wooden wall. “Next, simply take aim, and pull the trigger. It’ll create a bunch of sparks that will ignite the powder and set of a small explosion, firing the shot at your… target…”

I paused as the gears in my head began to turn. I had a gun in my hands. Fully loaded. The element of surprise. Adamant Will was right there! This was likely my last chance to stop the destruction of the resistance. It would be simple. All I had to do was turn, aim, and pull the trigger. I’d probably even have the chance to grab a scroll and get out of there before the Minotaurs would be able to react.

My grip tightened.

“But are you willing to take that step?”

I froze. That voice…

“Are you willing to risk it all? To throw away everything you have here?”

It was back.

“You’re in. Let Adamant Will live, and your passage home will be secured. Kill him… and needlessly risk that chance.”

“I don’t… It’s now or never…” I whispered, so quietly that even I barely heard it.

“Then never,” The voice hissed back. “You would risk everything by betraying Adamant Will. You can only lose by doing it.”

I felt my hands begin to shake. I wanted to turn and shoot him. Even the spilling of blood - a thought which still revolted me after the killing of the guard - would not have deterred me. It was impersonal - a bullet from a range, rather than a knife in my hands. It would secure the freedom of Equestria. It would bring about the end of the war. It would overthrow a tyrant.

And it would risk everything I had done to ensure my return home.

“Chris?”

I blinked. “Sorry…” I muttered. “Just… lost in the moment. It’s been a while… quite a while since I’ve used one of these…” My grip tightened again, and a raised the gun to eye level to look down the barrel. Even so, I closed my eyes in preparation for what was to come.

Now or never.

I pulled the trigger. Boom!

There was a collective gasp. I opened my eyes.

The gun had blasted a hole straight through the chunk of wood.

I let out a breath i hadn’t realized I’d been holding and lowered the gun, smoke still drifting from its barrel. “So you… you can see the power this thing has,” I continued, fighting against the lump that had formed in my throat. “Be careful when firing. You saw the sparks that came out of both the barrel and from the right side of the gun. Try not… try not to hit your allies when firing. And be careful… be careful about any embers that might still be smoldering in the gun when reloading. It can ignite the powder before you’re ready…”

I turned and handed the gun back towards Adamant Will. He handed the weapon towards the Minotaur closest to him and gestured towards the other guns. The remaining Minotaurs stepped forward towards the table, each claiming one for themselves, as well as a pouch each of the rolls of powder.

Meanwhile, I had stepped backwards and leaned against the wooden board. My knees were giving way, and I slid down the board to a sitting position. I heard Adamant Will speaking, but his words were lost on me.

I’d failed. Serenity, Celestia, Luna, Blossom, Orchard, Sombra… they’d all been relying on me. I’d had my chances to kill Adamant Will, to take the talisman, to remove the magical protection surrounding his forces.. I’d had plenty of opportunities. And yet I hadn’t been able to do it. I couldn’t bring myself to kill again. My entire body started shaking. More than ever before, I saw what I really was.

A coward.

“Lad?”

I felt two firm hands rest on my shoulder and give me a gentle shake. I looked up to see Steelskin knelt down in front of me, looking directly at me. Concern was clearly visible on his face. “Ye feelin’ alright?”

I opened my mouth to speak. But no words escaped past the lump that had formed in my throat. Instead, I nodded slowly, trying to deny what he clearly saw.

It didn’t work. “Ye look like ye’ve seen a ghost. Yer pale as one, too. C’mon.” He placed one hand under my arm and helped me shakily rise to my feet. “Yer highness.” Steelskin turned his head towards Adamant Will, who was still watching the bulls getting acquainted with their new weapons. “Chris ain’t feelin’ well. Lad’s worked himself half to death today, and said he didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

“I see,” Adamant Will replied, his gaze not moving from his troops. “Help him up to his room then. Hopefully after a good night’s rest, he’ll be feeling well enough tomorrow to revel with us in our victory.”

As Steelskin helped me towards the end of the room, I glanced over my shoulder back towards the group of Minotaurs crowded around the table. The troops with the guns were handling them with increasing confidence, talking amongst each other loudly. But Adamant Will stood apart from them. He was silent, simply watching his troops get acquainted with their new weapons. It could have just been my mind playing games on me, but it seemed as though the amulet gleamed brightly, and his eyes glowed red for the briefest of moments.

And in those eyes, I saw hunger. A hunger that I knew, then and there, that would not be satiated by merely conquering Equestria.

> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried to fall asleep quickly. I really did. I knew I needed it. There were bags under my eyes, my arms ached with weariness. Even my head ached from my exhaustion. But even after a warm bath, even after a hot meal, even after climbing beneath the blankets to stave off the chill of the autumn evening, sleep would not come.

“Failure.”

This was not the voice from before. Not the one I had grown accustomed to. That voice had won. That voice had fallen silent. This was my own voice. My own words. My own thoughts, my own fears, my own doubts. 

My own failing.

I had failed. My mission was done for. The army had marched from Everfree over an hour ago. Adamant Will was now out of my reach. And by the time he got back, the resistance would have already fallen.

“Coward.”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t had the opportunity to kill him. I certainly had. We’d been alone together in the dining hall. We’d been accompanied by only a scant few guards in the jail cell. I’d had a working gun, loaded and ready to fire, in my hands… And not taken the opportunity.

All because of fear. Fear, and my own doubts. Doubts on whether I could bring myself to kill again, even for the greater good. Doubts on whether the resistance could win, even though killing Adamant Will would surely swing the odds in their favor...

“Traitor.”

Was I? Had I betrayed the resistance? I felt my blood run cold as I lay there in bed, underneath the sheets, and found that I couldn’t easily say no. I’d come to Everfree, offered knowledge of guns to the Minotaurs, told them how it worked, helped them craft their new weapons… And the only thing I’d done to hinder them was an attempt to sabotage the gunpowder that I’d shown them how to make. A sabotage attempt that had actually ended up helping the development of the guns. Everything I had done in Everfree had been to the benefit of the Minotaurs, when I’d come here to do exactly the opposite.

I tore my mind away from this line of thought, choosing instead to check the time again. 1:45 AM. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I reached for the glass on my bedside table, only to find that it was already empty. Another groan left me. I really didn’t want to get out of the warmth of my bed. But my mouth had suddenly gone incredibly dry. And so, reluctantly, I pushed the covers back, grabbed the glass, and made my way to the bathroom.

Using the flashlight on my phone, I quickly found the sink, the water inside untouched and unused. I dipped my glass in and filled it up, bringing the water to my lips and drinking greedily. My dry mouth now dealt with, I refilled the glass and made my way back into my room. I placed the glass back on the bedside table, and sat back down on the bed.

But before I could lay down and draw the covers back over myself, I saw something. Just a twitch. A small flash of movement. There it was again, in the corner of the room, near the window. I watched as the shadows twitched and twinged. The movement slowly became more pronounced, and I was able to discern a shape amongst the darkness. For a brief moment, my heart jumped. Sombra had shown up! Surely together we’d be able to figure something out. Something. Anything.

But just as quickly my heart skipped a beat. My eyes went wide, My body was frozen. “You’re…. You’re not Sombra…” I hissed quietly. This creature, this… thing… was no Pony. A draconic head turned towards the sound of my voice, revealing twin feral, yellow eyes, glowing against the darkness like a beacon. “What the hell are you?”

I couldn’t see the rest of the creature’s body, but I knew it had now turned to face me completely. Its feral gaze was fixated on me alone. Unblinking, unyielding. I found myself drawing back as the head inched forward. It made its way into the moonlight, revealing a few more features - Two horns, long pointy ears, a row of spines racing down its long, serpent-like neck - but the shadows refused to reveal its form. Darkness still clung to it in the moonlight, like a black shroud as its long neck reached further from the corner. A single, taloned claw fell forward, falling into the moonlight, but that too was shrouded by darkness.

By now I had fully retreated to the other side of my bed. My heart was racing, my eyes locked on this… thing. What was it? A dragon? A snake? Some kind of demon or monster, yet unknown to me? I found myself frozen in place as the creature’s advance stopped, its head still extended into the moonlight.

It grinned. Not a happy smile - the hunger in this thing’s eyes never changed. This grin was full of malice, of the promise of pain and death. Twin rows of razor-sharp teeth flashed, pearl-white against the shadows.

“I am you, Christopher Powell,” The creature hissed. My eyes widened as I recognized my own voice coming from the beast’s lips. Its grin only grew wider. “And you are me.”

It lunged.


---


“SHIT!”

I rolled backwards off of the bed and landed hard on my back. I barely even felt it. I scrambled for my knife, normally clipped at my side, only to find it wasn’t there. Of course not. I’d taken it off to sleep. With no time left, I raised one arm over my head in a vain attempt to fight off the coming assault.

It never came.

What came instead was the sound of distressed metal, a loud crunching sound, and the metallic ring of swords being drawn. As the seconds passed, and the only sound was that of heavy hooves on polished marble, I opened one eye.

The monster was gone. The darkness was gone. Sunlight was pouring through the windows, illuminating the room. The only other creatures in my room were two Minotaurs, swords drawn, snarls etched on their faces. I watched as one of them finally spotted me on the ground and ran over. “What happened?” he demanded.

“I…. I don’t know,” I replied With the threat of death by monster gone, I shakily pushed myself back to my feet, rubbing the sore spot on my back that now painfully indicated where I had fallen. I glanced back towards the corner where the beast had been lurking, now bathed in sunlight. The corner was completely empty. “I… was it… just a dream?

“Bloody hell,” the other guard snorted. “Well, get back on the bed while we have a look around.” I quickly complied, scrambling back off of the marbled floor as the guards poked and prodded around the room. Inside and behind the wardrobe, under the bed, behind every piece of furniture, even inside the bathroom and behind the bathtub.

It was a quick search. Only a few minutes later, one of the Minotaurs walked out of the bathroom, shaking his head. “Nothing,” he grumbled

“For the love of…” I heard the other Minotaur mutter under his breath. There was a brief moment of silence as the two Minotaurs and I looked back and forth at each other. “Whatever,” The second Minotaur finally sighed. “Just… just go ahead and get cleaned up. We just received word that Adamant Will and our armies are on their way back.” His face broke into a small grin. “We’ll want to welcome our champions back home.”

I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak past the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. I watched as the two Minotaurs walked out of the room and closed the door back behind them before letting out a great sigh. All my doubts, my fears, my self-loathing… all of it came rushing back to me. For a brief moment, I just sat there on the bed, unable to bring myself to move.

That is, until I heard the far-off sound of trumpets.

My ears perked up as the sharp, brassy-tones pierced into my room. I let out another sigh. The horns of victory. The sounds of the returning army. They were back. They’d won. And I’d failed.

There was nothing to be done now. Slowly, I pushed myself off of the bed and made my way into the bathroom. By the sunlight streaming in through my bedroom windows, I could see my reflection in the mirror. Despite my bath the night before, I looked completely disheveled, I reached for the comb on the side of the sink and wetted it, running it through my hair a couple of times in an attempt to make it lie flat, with only partial success. I splashed some cold water on my face and dried it off. Another glance in the mirror showed some improvement - enough to where I wouldn’t look a complete mess, at any rate. I made my way back into my room, clipped my knife and bag of scrolls to my belt again - more out of force of habit than anything - and walked over to the door, giving it three sharp raps.

Almost immediately, the door was flung open. The two guards from before were there, of course, standing watch outside my room. Just past them, leaning against the wall opposite my door, was Thunderhoof. His eyes snapped open as the door opened, and I flashed me a grin. I returned it half-heartedly as I stepped through the door and shut it behind me. Thunderhoof pushed himself off of the wall and gave me a couple of quick pats on the back before setting off down the hall, with me following right behind.

Our trip through the castle was swift and silent. No detours, no walking in circles, no retracing our steps. No talking, no laughing or joking. It was the most direct journey through the halls that I’d had yet, with silence matched only by my first trip. I noted with only mild interest that the number of guards patrolling the corridors was higher than usual.

Not that patrols or intelligence mattered anymore.

We didn’t even stop outside of the throne room, instead moving past the half-dozen guards standing watch and walking into the throne room. We weren’t the only ones waiting inside. At least two-dozen other Minotaurs were standing around, talking and laughing amongst each other. Most were wearing colorful, elegantly-designed clothing that indicated a high social status. However, I dully noted that a few were wearing the uniforms of military commanders, including badges and medals.

I received several glances in my direction as I entered the throne room, and even a few nods of acknowledgement. I could only guess that word of my contribution towards the development of the Minotaurs’ new weapons had spread among the elites of Minotaur society. None, however, seemed interested enough to speak to me. I was happy to keep it that was. I made my way towards one of the corners and sat down in a chair propped up against the wall, keeping my distance from the other Minotaurs.

Thunderhoof, however, wasn’t about to let me have my time alone. He followed me into the corner and sat down heavily next to me. I could see him smiling next to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. He punched me lightly on the shoulder. Still I gave no response. His smile slowly faded, and he put one hand on my shoulder, turning me towards him. His raised eyebrow was all the question that he needed.

But of course, I couldn’t tell him everything rolling through my mind. “Just… just tired,” I answered, half-truthfully. “It’s been a long couple of weeks.”

I could tell Longhorn wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer, but he didn’t press any further. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, leaving me alone to grapple with the same doubts and fears and self-anger that I’d been dealing with since the day before.

Mercifully, I wasn’t left alone along.

The sound of trumpets rang out, and I jumped back to full awareness with a start. Next to me, it seemed that Thunderhoof had been caught just as off-guard by the sudden noise as I had been, as he nearly leaped from his seat. The sound of conversation died down almost instantly as the doors to the throne room were flung wide open. “Welcome home, our king and returning champions!” A deep voice boomed. Thunderhoof and I both made our way over towards the mass of Minotaurs now gathered near the pillars as the procession began to file into the throne room.

The first to walk in was Adamant Will himself. He was decked out in a full set of plate armor from neck to hoof, with only his head remaining unarmored. One of the guns I had helped to create was slung behind his back. Twin battleaxes were clipped at his waist, and both axe-heads were coated in what appeared to be blood. The crimson liquid was also splattered here and there across Adamant Will’s armor, but the king himself appeared unharmed.

Behind him came a procession of a dozen warriors clad in plate, and an equal number archers clad in leather and mail. It seemed that each one had had their armor specifically made for them, for no two sets of armor were alike. Likewise, their weapons were all different from each other. I could only guess that these were a few of the champions that had accompanied Adamant Will - the best of the best. Behind them strolled two Minotaurs covered in long, flowing robes, with staves strapped to their backs. Most likely, these were among the very few mages that the Minotaurs had in their ranks.

The next figures to walk into the room were not Minotaurs, but Ponies. Three of them. My eyes went wide, and my heart sank as I recognized their figures. Celestia. Luna. Serenity. Their wrists were bound by ropes, and they were bound to each other by a set of iron chains clasped to their ankles. Each one had one of the same rings that I had seen before attached around their horns, with caps placed over top of the horn as well. Their camo-clothes were torn and ragged, their fur dirty and matted with blood. I noted with no small amount of horror how thin each one had become - little more than skin and bones. Serenity in particular seemed to be in bad shape, with blood matting the entire right side of her head. Her eyes were ringed by dark circles and sunk into her face. Still, all three marched evenly through the doors behind the Minotaur mages, their heads held high and defiant against the chorus of boos and jeers that greeted them.

Behind them were ten of the twelve Minotaurs that had been given a gun to use. Their weapons were at the ready, pointed squarely at the backs of the Pony royalty that walked in front of them. The jeering died down as they marched into the room, and I could see a few of the Minotaurs - particularly those in military uniform - leaning in closer to get a better look at the weapons.

The procession came to a sudden halt at the base of the steps. Adamant Will took his time in ascending them, each step falling slowly. He turned at the top of the stairs, and his eyes locked with Serenity’s. I could see him smirk as he slowly sat down upon the throne that rested at the top of the stairs.

“Bulls and Cows!” He declared, his voice resonating throughout the room. “Today… we are victorious!” A chorus of cheers and roars rang out from the crowd, with Thunderhoof joining in. I turned my body more fully towards Adamant Will so that Thunderhoof would not see that my silence. It was several long minutes before the noise died down enough that Adamant Will could be heard again. “The resistance camp is overrun! We count nearly a hundred rebels dead, the rest scattered to the winds! And The last of the ‘royal family’ has been brought to justice. Bring them forward!”

There was some jostling from the crowd, and the three mares were shoved to the front of the crowd and onto their knees. From here, I had a clear view of the three mares… and they had a clear view of me, if they would only turn their heads. I quickly shifted my position so that I would be obstructed more from view as Adamant Will continued. 

“You three should have known you couldn’t hold out for long,” he chuckled. He rose once more from the throne and walked back down the stairs towards the three captives.“You should have surrendered when you had the chance.”

“We never surrender,” Serenity hissed viciously. “Equestria and her citizens will resist you to their last breath!” She raised her head and spat towards Adamant Will, the projectile landing squarely at his hooves. The guard behind her instantly kicked her from behind, sending her sprawling to the ground. Cheers and laughter rang out from the gathered crowd as she slowly pushed herself back upright. 

Adamant Will, meanwhile, seemed merely amused. “To their last breath, hm?” he murmured. He rubbed his chin in contemplation. “Tell me, Serenity… did you not wonder how we gained entrance to your camp, hm?” There was a brief moment of silence as Adamant Will’s grin grew slowly wider. The eyes of the unicorn head on the talsiman still clasped around his neck began to glow, a ruby red glow that contrasted greatly against the cold steel grey. “Guards! Bring forth the other captive!”

A rustle of movement from behind me and to the right caught my eye. The crowd quickly parted as two guards walked forward, dragging a lone figure between them. The deposited him on his knees a dozen feet or so away away from Serenity. As the light fell upon him, I recognized the figure as the Unicorn from the dungeons. He didn’t look any better than he had in the dungeons - if anything, he looked even weaker than before.

“Your own people turn against you, Serenity,” Adamant Will smirked. “This one fled your camp. Fled the hunger you forced upon them. Fled to us. And gave us the map and the spell we needed to enter.”

I could see Serenity stiffen as her eyes locked with the Unicorn captive. Tears flowed freely from the Unicorn’s eyes, and he turned his head so as not to look at his queen. “I’m sorry…” he choked out. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry,” Adamant Will soothed, walking forward towards the Unicorn. The glow coming from the eyes of the talisman grew brighter. “You were promised mercy. Come now, come forward”

The Unicorn tried, and failed, several times to rise to his hooves. After the fourth attempt, Adamant Will made a small motion with his hand, and the two guards picked the Unicorn up by his armpits and dragged him forward. He was held upright in front of Adamant Will, whose smile only grew wider. The glow from the talisman continued to grow brighter, and I could have sworn that Adamant Will’s eyes began to glow red as well.

“And now, for your reward.”

In one quick motion, Adamant Will whipped the gun off of his back and into his arms. He snapped it up to attention. The muzzle was aimed at the Unicorn in front of him. The Unicorn gave out a startled gasp.

Click.

Boom!

I flinched backwards in horror as blood splattered from the the back of the Unicorn’s head. Bit of bone and blood sprayed outwards, some landing upon Serenity and the Princesses. The two guards that had held the Unicorn in place released his body, and the corpse fell towards the ground with a sickening squelch.

The crowd roared its approval.

“My reward to you,” Adamant Will snarled. All pretense of kindness was gone from his voice. Only disgust remained. “You are granted the mercy of a swift death. More than a traitor like you deserves.”

“MONSTER!” I heard Luna scream. “You BEAST! You will BURN in Tartarus!”

And just as suddenly, the glow from both Adamant Will’s eyes and the amulet faded. His face was no longer contorted in a snarl, but had instead returned to its previous contemptuous smirk. “You first,” he chuckled darkly. 

His gaze shifted a few inches over towards Serenity, who appeared frozen in place. “To the last breath, hm?” he murmured. “Then let me take your last breath from you. You and your family will hang at dawn tomorrow, for the entire city to see. And then, none will question the might of Minos. None will question the strength of Adamant Will. Take them to the dungeons!”

Half a dozen guards stepped forward and grabbed the princesses and Serenity, dragging them out of the throne room. A chorus of cheers and applause rang out from the crowd, interrupted only by the sound of Luna’s struggling. “You will pay for this!” she yelled. “Do you hear me! I’ll kill you! I’LL KILL YOU -” Her words were cut by a shriek off as one of the guards punched her hard in the jaw, to the sound of another round of cheers and jeers.”

And then, the throne room doors closed behind them. And they were gone.

My hands were shaking. My knees trembling. “No.” I hissed to myself. “This.. this isn’t right. This isn’t how it ends. This CAN’T be how it ends… “

“A day of great victory for Minos,” Adamant Will declared, piercing into my thoughts. He carefully stepped over the corpse at his hooves and the pool of blood that had formed around it. “Bulls and Cows, go home to your families. Feast. Rejoice. Celebrate. Tomorrow, we complete our first step towards dominion over all over Gaia.”

“And as for you, Chris.” My eyes snapped upwards as the crowd began to disperse into their own, smaller groups. I tried to hide my panic as Adamant Will’s eyes locked with my own, and he moved towards me. “Have you not seen blood spilled before?” He asked as he stopped in front of me. “You appear… shaken…”

“N… not like that, your highness,” I stammered. “I have never… never fought on a battlefield before. I’ve only… only ever shot… game. Hunting. Not fighting.”

“I see…” Adamant Will murmured. “Perhaps…. No.” He shook his head. “No matter. While we may have been able to defeat the resistance without your aid, the guns you helped us to create certainly saved the lives of a few of my Bulls. They will be instrumental in our future conquests.”

“I’m… glad they’re being put to good use.”

“Still shaken…” He murmured. “And pale as a ghost, too. Hm… do you require more rest? I know we have pushed you hard these past few days.”

“Y-yes, please…”

Adamant Will nodded. “Very well. Thunderhoof, escort Chris back to his room. I will have a banquet delivered to you later in the day, that you may at least enjoy a portion of our revelry. Hopefully you will be feeling better tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t want you to miss our grand finale.”

> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, at least I hadn’t lied about one thing - I did need sleep.

After more than a week of restless nights and grueling days spent toiling over a hot forge, I was worn out. Thunderhorn had escorted me back to my room, with a series of hand gestures promising to bring me some food soon. I didn’t care about the food too much - I wasn’t all that hungry, anyway. Instead, I threw myself onto the bed and buried myself under the blankets, losing myself in sleep.

At least it was a good way to take my mind off of what had happened. Of what I’d allowed to happen.

But even this rest would not go undisturbed. It couldn’t have been more than an hour before the first disturbance. A beam of sunlight entered my room through the windows at just the right angle to land directly over my eyes. I drew the covers over my head to shield myself, but the damage was already done. I’d been drawn from my sleep, and it was nearly half an hour before I could return to my slumber.

The second interruption came a couple of hours later. A sharp knock at the door informed me that I had a visitor, while the sound of creaking hinges informed me that they weren’t going to wait for my permission before entering. I heard a few clinking sounds, and I grumbled and buried myself deeper in the covers. Whoever was in my room needed to leave. I wasn’t in the mood for guests. 

It was only after I heard the door close, as well as the faint sound of fading hoofsteps, that I untangled myself from my sheets. Whoever had paid me a visit had left a tray on an empty bookshelf next to the door, filled with all sorts of food and drink. The tantalizing aroma of bacon filled the room, and I felt my stomach grumble. Despite my desire to remain holed up in the fortress that I had constructed out of sheets and blankets, I slowly left my shelter to fetch some food.

In amongst all the food and water (as well as what looked to be two large goblets of wine) was a small card. I raised an eyebrow as the bit of paper caught my eye, and I reached out to grab it. It was a simple card - little more than two short phrases and a signature - but it was enough.

        Enjoy this sample of our banquet. You have earned your share.
                -Adamant Will

Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore. 

Instead, I merely reached for the two glasses of wine and drank them both. The tart liquid made me purse up my lips as the goblets were drained dry. It was a dry wine, not nearly as sweet as I would have liked, but it would have to do. It had to have been at least four normal-sized glasses from back home, and while it wouldn’t be as effective as a few shots of bourbon, I was hopeful that the wine might at least help take the edge off. With that thought in mind, I took the glass of water and retreated back to the safety of my bed.

But it seemed that the world had conspired against me to prevent me from sleeping. I slowly felt the buzz from the wine kick in, and my hope that it would help me relax a bit was realized. But even as I tried to sleep, it quickly became apparent that I wasn’t the only one that had indulged. Throughout the rest of the day, it seemed that everyone in the castle wanted to walk past my door. Loudly. While laughing. Loudly. I even heard a few bumps against the wall, where I could only assume some drunk Minotaur had fallen to the ground - a theory that was only bolstered by the raucous laughter that followed each fall.

Three hours later, and my buzz was already beginning to fade. By now I’d given up getting any more rest before nighttime fell. I’d forced myself to eat some of the food brought to me - even cold, the bacon was good - and had curled myself up under the covers with my phone. Music played out from the speakers, loud enough for me to hear but too soft to pierce the walls of the room. I went through my favorites - Brantley Gilbert, The Weekend, Florida Georgia Line, a little Drake, Jason Aldean, Maroon Five… 

It was enough to keep me occupied. For now, anyway.

I heard something slam nearby, and cold breeze blew through the room, even piercing into the warm blanket fortress that I’d made. I poked my head out from under the blankets to see that the window had been flung open, allowing the cold wind to enter the room. I raised an eyebrow as I noticed how dark it was outside. A quick check of my phone told me that it was almost 7:00 PM - I’d successfully spent nearly all day huddled under my blankets.

The breeze blew across my face again, colder this time. I snorted in annoyance and hopped out of the bed, walking over towards the window and slamming it shut. I made sure that the window was properly latched this time before turning to return to the warmth of my bed.

Except it was already occupied.

I froze. A dark shape  had appeared on my bed. It wasn’t Sombra, of that I was certain - it was far too large to be a Pony. Shadows clung to the shape, revealing only the most basic details of its form - a snake-like head, serpentine body, a single claw laid out upon the covers.

The beast from my dreams.

“Well done,” The creature hissed, dark amusement dripping from its voice. My voice. The head rose from where it was resting on the bed and stretched out a bit. The shadows still clung to the beast like a shroud, dripping away from its head and floating away like smoke. “Well done indeed.”

“W-w-what?” Was all I could stammer out.

The beast began uncoiling its body. A second appendage became available - a thick claw or a thin paw, I couldn’t tell which - and landed upon the floorboards next to the bed, along with the taloned claw. “You survived,” The creature replied. “Against all odds, you - weak, magic-less, powerless you - survived. And all you had to do was sell out those who had placed all their faith in you.”

“I… I didn’t sell them out!” I protested. “I never -”

“You never what?” the beast asked. The room, already pitch-black, seemed to grow darker still, to the point where the feature of the room began to fade from sight. And yet the beast remained fully visible, silhouetted against the darkness in a way that defied both logic and explanation. The only light came from the beast’s eyes - a golden, feral glow that provided neither comfort nor illumination. “You never told Adamant Will where they were? You didn’t have to. What else did you not do, hm?” A brief pause. The beast grinned - a small, pearl-white strip of jagged teeth that stood out like a beacon against the darkness. “You never did what you promised. You never attacked Adamant Will. You never made a move to get the talisman. You never even tried.”

“I did…”

“Instead, you threw yourself at the Minotaurs’ hooves.” The beast took a step forward. I took a step back. “For the mere promise of a chance to go home, you gave them knowledge. You gave them technology.” My back hit the wall behind me. “You gave them ways to kill creatures that they would have never developed on their own. The ruins of not just Equestria, but all of Gaia will rest at your feet.”

By now, the room had faded completely. I felt the wall behind me give way, and I tumbled backwards to the ground. I scrambled backwards away from the beast, but it was approaching too fast. Feral yellow eyes locked onto mine. Claws reached forward, trying to grab at my flailing legs.

“You’re not real!” I yelled. “This is j-just a dream!”

“Not real?!” The beast cackled. Its talons finally met my right leg, and I hissed as I felt one of the claws scratch my lower leg and draw blood. The beast drew itself to its full height, and I found myself dangling upside-down only a foot or so from its face. “This is no dream.…” The beast laughed. “This is a nightmare. A nightmare from which you will never wake.”

The beast flashed another grin. Twin rows of razor-sharp fangs flashed against the darkness. I felt myself being drawn closer. I closed my eyes and let loose a bloodcurdling scream.

And then, I fell.

I heard a hiss of pain drawn from the beast as it released my leg, and I fell down to the ground. I dared to open one eye, but quickly shut it as a flash of brilliant white light pulsed around me. The flash even pierced through my eyelids. When the pulse did not repeat itself, I cracked the other eye open.

The beast had retreated. Darkness still clung to it, but it was no longer an impenetrable wall. I could make out a few colors past the shroud - whites, browns, a red here and there, all illuminated by a brilliant glow coming from behind me.

“The Nightmare will not take this one. Not today.” I heard a voice echo from behind me. A powerful, familiar, female voice. The beast responded with a hiss, defiant but defeated. Its form sank into the ground, transforming into a pitch-black blob as it slithered away from the light and out of sight.

“Christopher Powell. Are you alright?” I heard the voice ask. I nodded shakily as I opened my other eye. I glanced down towards my leg where the beast had grabbed me. Blood oozed from the wound, and it certainly stung, but it appeared neither long nor deep. I slowly pushed myself back to my feet and turned to face my savior.

Not half a dozen feet away was Serenity.

I blinked as I processed what i was seeing. This was not the Serenity from earlier this morning. Her fur and mane were not matted with dirt, her dress was white as new-fallen snow, and she was no longer emaciated. She appeared perfectly healthy. Strong, even. She radiated a gentle light - no longer pure white, but instead a subdued dark-purple hue. That hue seemed to penetrate everything around us. As I spun to look around, I saw that the black void that i had found myself trapped in, I saw that everything from the horizon to the sky to the floor below me had become tinted with this gentle color. The same shade as the morning, just before the sunrise.

I finally drew my gaze away from my surroundings and turned to fully face Serenity. “Where… where are we?” I asked.

“We are within your dreams, Christoper,” She replied simply. “Yes, you are asleep,” she continued, and I shut my mouth as she answered the question i had been about to ask. “We must be quick. Maintaining a dream-link, even across such a small physical distance between us, is taxing. I do not have long.”

“But… how are you doing this?” I asked. “What about the ring on your horn?”

“Dreamwalking is a special form of magic. It cannot be blocked simply by locking the horn of a  Unicorn,” Serenity explained. “Any other questions can  be answered later. You must listen carefully. This is not the way you wish things to be, correct?” Serenity asked. I shook my head in response. “Then listen well. The time for subtlety is over, Christopher. I know not what you have done here in Everfree, but it has failed.” Serenity’s image flickered slightly. “You have gotten close to Adamant Will, but not removed his protection over his armies. You have one chance left to succeed. When you come to the execution tomorrow, you must kill Adamant Will. If you do not, then we will die.”

“But how can I get close to him?” I asked. “I mean… if I draw a weapon, then his guards…”

“Do your spells not work?” Serenity interrupted. "Use them to your advantage." Her image flickered again, worse this time, like a static distortion on a TV screen. “We are out of time,” she called out past the distortion. “Please, Chris! You have to stop Adamant Will! Use the sp-”

And like that, she was gone.


---


I awoke with a start.

My heart was racing, my breath was quick and ragged, I was drenched from head to foot in sweat. My phone was still playing music, but I couldn’t listen to it right now. I was buried under my blankets, and the heat was sweltering. I groped at the sheets and finally pulled myself out from under them, gasping at the sudden rush of cold air that washed over me.

The room was still dark, but it was clear that it wouldn’t be for long. The horizon outside was no longer the pitch-black of deep night, but instead slowly turning to purple. The sunrise was coming soon.

I was slowly beginning to calm down from the terror of my dreams. My breathing was under control, the rush of cold air had done wonders to cool me down, and my heartrate had slowed to a reasonable pace. I threw the covered off of me and completely hopped out of the bed. I winced slightly as I felt a mild pain shoot down the inside of my lower right leg, almost as though I had been cut. I glanced down towards the pain, looking for the source. I found nothing, but the ache refused to fade.

I shook my head to clear it and turned my attention towards the noise still coming from the depths of the blanket igloo I had constructed the night before. After rummaging around for a few minutes, I finally found the source and pulled it out. My phone was still playing music from when I’d fallen asleep the night before. It was an older song, one I’d not played in several years - Remember the Name, by Fort Minor. I quickly clicked the song off and checked the battery. 35% left. Not terrible.

Not that it would matter today.

It only took me a few minutes to get ready. I splashed water over my hair to rid it of the sweat, and quickly towel-dried it. I threw on the set of formal clothes that I had been given, choosing them over my normal wear for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Minotaurs, and more formal wear would make more sense for such an occasion. Secondly, since the formal wear was too big and a bit baggy on me, I was able to conceal my quiver and bow on my back beneath my dress shirt. There was a small lump on the back, and the leather wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world to have rubbing against my skin, but I’d have to put up with it. I also attached my knife to my belt, making sure the knife was loose in the sheath so that it would be easy to draw.

The final reason for formal wear was also practical. The pants had deeper pockets than my jeans, which allowed me to stuff a number of scrolls into my pockets. I took full advantage of this, pulling a flashbang and concealment scroll, as well as a shielding scroll and the final intimidation scroll. All of these fit easily into my pockets, with room to spare for my phone.

As I reached for the final intimidation spell, I drew another scroll out. It wasn’t the one I was looking for, but it gave me pause nonetheless. It was the mystery scroll - the one that I had no idea what it would do. I closed my eyes, the words the Luna had used to describe the spell flashing before me.

“The spell upon this scroll is by far the most potent of any contained within, and took myself, Celestia, and mother three days to prepare. When all seems lost, when darkness threatens to consume you, you will find the light within. Use it well.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I set it aside and fished out the final intimidation scroll. My pouch was tied around my belt next to my knife. Finally, I grabbed the mystery scroll and stuck it up my sleeve. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it was hidden from view and easily accessible. As an added benefit, since the cuffs could be tightened around my wrists, there was little risk of the scroll falling out. If things became desperate, I could just loosen the cuff with a flick of my wrist, and the scroll would be in my hand in less than a second.

I finished not a moment too soon. By now, the purple on the horizon had developed into a blood-red hue, tinged at the very bottom by orange. As I had finished tightening my cuffs, a sharp knock came at the door. “Coming!” I called out. My heart started beating faster. A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck as I made my way to the door and flung it open.

Sure enough, Longhorn was there, waiting. Like me, he had dressed up in formal wear, but underneath the dress clothes I could see a set of chainmail armor. He greeted me with a warm smile, a smile which I attempted to return as I closed the door behind me. “Mornin’” I greeted. He replied with a nod towards me, a point towards my head head, and a tilt of his own head. “I’m feeling a bit better, yeah,” I lied. Longhorn nodded and gave me a pat on the back as he walked past me down the hall. I fell into step right behind, following him towards the execution.

Towards the end, one way or the other.

> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was shocking how calm everything was

The sun was beginning to peak over the eastern horizon, though it was partially concealed behind the castle. The sky was a mixture of oranges and reds, with the few isolated clouds being bathed in a blood red hue. We’d all gathered on what seemed to be the back lawn of the castle. Me, as well as what must have been every Minotaur in the castle. They were all standing around, talking between each other. There was a light-heartedness in the air - not festive, but calm and collected. Occasionally, one of the Minotaurs would glance in my direction, and once or twice a Minotaur approached me to ask me a few questions. I answered as quickly as I could while scanning the crowd, looking for familiar faces.

Thunderhoof was there, of course - he’d led me down, and stayed by my side with every step I took. I saw Steelskin, talking to a large group of Minotaurs with a grin on his face: from what I could tell, he was talking about the construction of the guns, and enjoying every minute of it. There was Dusthorn, standing off on his own with a goblet in his hand, observing the gathering from a respectable distance. There were dozens more that I’d seen around the castle as guards but never gotten the names of, and more still that I’d never seen before in my life.

And yet, the one Minotaur I was desperately searching for was notably absent.

As the third Minotaur walked away from my brief replies to their questions, I felt something nudge me. I glanced over as Thunderhoof stared down at me, an unusual expression upon his face. I couldn’t quite place the emotion behind it. Concern, maybe? Or was it amusement? I found my musing cut off as he made a series of hand gestures. “I’m alright,” I replied, taking a guess at what he was asking. “Just… ready for this to be over. I’m ready to go home.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

The doors leading back into the castle were flung open, and the gathered crowd almost instantly fell silent. My head whipped towards the door as a single Minotaur stepped forward from inside the castle. Not Adamant Will, I noted with no small amount of frustration. Instead, it seemed to simply be a herald. “Bulls and Cows!” he announced. “The time has come! King Adamant Will and the prisoners await us on the front steps!”

Almost before the herald had finished speaking, the crowd began surging forward towards the castle. All pretense of calmness was out the window. I had to hold back from the crowd to avoid being trampled as the herd of Minotaurs stormed the door, all jockeying to get through the door first to claim the best views of the execution. As the last of the group began piling through the door, Thunderhoof and I took our place at the back of the crowd and followed the group.

It wasn’t a long trip, Only a handful of turns later, and we found ourselves in the entrance hall. Just as with the first time that I’d entered the palace, I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer scale. Longer than a football field, a ceiling at least three stories high, marbled floors and pure-white pillars, red velvet carpets leading to and up the staircase… it was a clear display of the wealth and power that Equestria had apparently had.

And the twin banners of Minos that hung above the stairs showed how far it had fallen.

Pushing through the front doors of the castle, I had an opportunity to view Everfree as I hadn’t had before. From the top of the hill that the castle was situated upon, it was an incredible sight to behold. Rows upon rows buildings, street upon cobblestone street. I could even see the stone walls that surrounded  the city, barely rising upon in the distance from in front of the buildings that stood in front of them. Of course, this was all in the distance. Between the castle and the rest of the city lay a vast field of grass, trees, and shrubbery.

And what looked like every Pony in the city.

They were all standing there in a massive herd on the palace lawn. All staring up at the group that was taking its place in front of the castle. There was no talking. Not even the rustle of hushed whispers. Dead silence, broken only by the sound of a child crying somewhere out in the crowd. Not even the sound of birds broke the silence.

Between the Minotaurs and the Ponies, a large structure had been erected, seemingly overnight. A wooden platform,with a wooden beam held horizontal over the platform by two wooden supports. Four nooses of rope dangled down from the beam, only a few inches above the heads of four Unicorns. Solaris. Serenity. Luna and Celestia. They had their horns locked up by rings, and their arms were bound behind their backs.

And only a dozen feet away, standing at the top of the stairs that rose up to the platform, was Adamant Will.

“Are we all gathered?” I heard him ask one of the guards near the bottom of the stairs. So absolute was the silence that I could hear him even from this distance, on the other side of the throng of Minotaurs. He was not alone on top of the platform - the two Minotaurs in robes were up there as well. His Minotaur mages. The guard Adamant Will was talking to must have nodded, for Adamant Will stepped away from the stairs, towards the center of the platform.

“Solaris,” Adamant Will began, his lips curled upwards. “You and your family stand here today…”

The rest of Adamant Will’s speech was lost on me. I wasn’t interested in what he had to say. Instead, I gazed out into the crowd of Ponies that had been gathered to witness the execution. I felt my heart skip a beat as I saw a few Ponies staring back. Ponies that I recognized. Firefly. Caligari. Blossom. Sombra. They were all near the front of the crowd.

They’d survived.

And they were staring right at me.

My pulse quickened as I realized that silence had fallen again. Adamant Will had placed four stools in front of the royal family, and was now standing next to a lever - a lever for a trapdoor to drop the Ponies to their death, no doubt. Of course he’d want to pull the lever himself. The Ponies slowly stepped up onto the stools, and their heads were forced down to fit the ropes around their necks. “Be brave, Luna,” I heard Serenity whisper.

My fingers would not stay still. They wriggled back and forth. I had to make my move now. I took a step forward, but felt a firm hand fall upon my shoulder. I looked upwards to see that it was Longhorn. His eyes were not upon the platform, as everyone else’s were. Instead, they were locked on me. His expression was mixed - anticipation, nervousness, and a hint of warning. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what was happening.

He knew.

He knew what I was planning. He knew I wanted to save Serenity and the others. I began to panic as more questions popped into my head. Did Adamant Will know? How could he not? Longhorn surely would have told him of his suspicions! And with Longhorn holding me in place, ready to stop me… And once Adamant Will was done with Serenity and the others...

“And now…” I heard Adamant Will’s silence pierce through the silence like a gunshot. “You die.”

There was no time left. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

My left hand flicked. The scroll that had been stowed there flashed into my hands. My thumb found the seal. I pressed down hard. The scroll dissolved into ash.

And suddenly, everything was clear.

I could see Longhorn's face taking on an expression of shock, anger even…. But far slower than would be considered normal. I was easily able to slide out from under his grasp. I glanced over my shoulder. Adamant Will was reaching for the lever… but in slow motion. Bullet-Time, even. The world had slowed around me, almost to the point of screeching to a stop.

And then, there was the burning in my chest. A warmth unlike anything I’d felt before. As if someone had lit a fire on top of me. Burning, yet not painful. Energy flowed through me. Energy, and resolve.

No one could stop me. I was free.

It seemed as though light itself was on my side. I saw a path through the crowd of Minotaurs, and it seemed as though the world beyond that path faded away into the background. The route was clear as day, with everything else taking on a more subdued tone. I knew what I had to do. I knew what my only option at this point was.

So I ran.

I was Forrest Gump as I took off at a sprint away from Longhorn. I slid between the Minotaurs with ease. It was like pushing through a crowd of statues. I zigged and zagged through the crowd, using my hands as often as my feet. It didn’t take long to make my way to the front of the crowd. 

My eyes locked on to the two mages that stood at attention behind royal family, next to the edge of the platform closest to me. I felt the warmth in my chest fade slightly as images of the guard I had killed flowed through my mind. The feeling of stickiness, of his red blood on my hands. For a brief moment, I slowed down. Almost stopped.

But just as quickly, the fire returned, and my eyes narrowed. No. No more fear. No more doubt, no more regrets. Too many innocents had already died by my inaction. I reached behind me and drew my bow, as well as two arrows. I slid to a stop and drew my bow back, aiming the first arrow at the mage nearest me. I released, and the arrow surged forward - in bullet-time, yes, but on target to pierce his heart. I took another step closer to the stairs and took aim again, this time at the second mage. Once again, my arrow flew true, and I knew that the two mages’ fates had been sealed.

My bow slid back into my quiver as I rushed towards the stairs. By now, I could feel time beginning to warp back to normal. The power of the spell, and its time-diluting effects, was almost expended. I powered up the stairs, three steps at a time. I spun on the ball of my foot at the top and surged towards Adamant Will, my knife flying unconsciously into my hands. I saw his eyes glowing red, and they lit up with shock. My body slammed into his. We both fell to the wooden platform with a mighty thump. My knife-hand flew backwards.

And the knife came down upon his throat.

Red blood splattered upwards as time returned to normal. There was a shocked gasp from both sides of the platform. The sticky liquid flowed over my hands, and nausea welled up within me once more. In front of me, I heard two howls of pain as the arrows I had fired before found their mark. The two mages both tried to maintain their balance, but they both fell backwards off of the platform towards the Minotaurs. Their lifeless corpses landed with a pair of echoing thuds.

“Traitor...” Adamant Will gurgled out. His head inched forward, and he looked upwards at me. The red glow had faded from his eyes, but hatred still burned like a flame. “You… could have had... everything...”

“I could have,” I agreed, fighting back against the urge to be sick. “But at what cost?”

There was no reply. His head fell backwards, and his final breath left his body. Adamant Will, King of the Minotaurs, Conqueror of Equestria, was dead.

Three seconds.

There was a stunned silence as my knife was ripped from Adamant Will’s throat. I flicked my wrist, and the blade severed the cord that had held the amulet around his neck. I pushed myself to my feet and stood at my full height, holding the amulet aloft. I felt all eyes - Minotaur and Pony - upon me.

“Adamant Will is dead!” I yelled, brandishing the amulet for all to see. “Equestria is free!”

Almost before I had finished speaking, four arrows whistled out of the crowd of Ponies - arrows fired from bows summoned by Unicorns, no doubt. The arrows flew true, and each one severed a rope that had been wrapped around the royal family’s necks.

And all hell broke loose.

Minotaurs and Ponies surged forward. I saw Unicorn horns light up, and all manner of weapons flashed into existence. Bows, swords, knifes, hammers, axes… whether teleported from some other location or conjured out of thin air, I didn’t know. All I knew was that, in return, the Minotaurs drew their own weapons and charged.

A trio of the Minotaurs attempted to clamber up the stairs towards me, but I was ready. As the first one reached the top of the stairs, I already had an arrow notched and drawn back in my bow. It flew forward, and the howl of pain told me I had hit my mark. The Minotaur stumbled backwards off of the platform to the ground below.

The second Minotaur was faster. I knew before he reached the top that I wouldn’t have time to draw another arrow before he got to me. Instead, my hand slithered into my pocket, and my thumb brushed one of the scrolls that I had stored there. As the scroll dissolved into ash, the Minotaur drew back his hammer and rose upwards towards my chin.

Rather than knocking my head off, however, the blow merely lifted me off of my feet. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. By some miracle of fortune, I’d activated the protection scroll. The blow was still strong enough to lift me skywards, however, and I flew several feet into the air. Out of instinct, my arm hand grasped for the beam that had held the nooses, and I somehow managed to scramble to the top. I took a knee and drew two more arrows, launching each one at the Minotaur that had taken a swing at me. The first one bit deep into the Minotaur’s shoulder - a bit off-target, but still enough to draw a roar of pain. The second one would have been even further off-target, had the Minotaur not turned and lowered his head. Instead, the head of the arrow went straight through the Minotaur’s eye. I flinched away as the Minotaur screamed and dropped to the ground.

The third and final Minotaur was already there, leaping over his fallen companion. His eyes were not aimed upwards at me, however, but instead on the far side of the platform. I glanced towards his target and saw the royal family, huddled together. Though free, they were still weak, and their magic still suppressed by the rings locked around their horns.

The burning fire in my chest roared to life once more, and I leaped down to land in front of the Minotaur. My hand snaked into my pocket again, and another scroll was activated. I saw a brilliant flash of light, and the Minotaur skidded to a stop with a howl.. His axe fell to the ground as his hands rubbed at his eyes furiously. I felt a grim smile of satisfaction. I’d activated the blinding scroll, it seemed. And it had worked.

My bow fell from my hands as I charged forward. My knife was ripped from its sheathe as I ducked behind the Minotaur, and it bit deep into the back of the Minotaur’s knee. The leg buckled, and the Minotaur fell to the ground. A quick stab to the heart later, and the third and final Minotaur that had charged up to the platform was dead.

My knife was re-sheathed, and I retrieved my bow from where it had fallen as I ran over to the royal family. “Chris!” I heard Luna exclaim as I dropped to one knee next to them. “But… we thought you were dead!”

“Not yet,” I replied. I stuck my bow back into my quiver and drew my knife. The blade bit into the rope wrapped around their hands, and one by one their were released from their bonds. I could feel Solaris' gaze upon me the entire time, and I could understand his suspicion. The only time that he'd seen me before was in the company of Adamant Will, down in the dungeons. But I wasn't concerned about his feelings towards me at the time. “How the hell do I get these things off of you?” I asked as I gestured towards the ring locked around Celestia's horn.

“Removing the magic-suppression rings requires a magical touch,” Serenity explained. “It will have to wait until the battle is over.”

“Then I guess I’m staying up here,” I grinned.

Down below us, the battle had turned into little more than a rout. Few of the non-guard Minotaurs had been prepared for battle, and even those Minotaurs who did have weapons found themselves hopelessly outnumbered. Further, without Adamant Will’s talisman protecting them, the Minotaurs withered under the firepower of the spells directed at them from the gathered Unicorns. Within a few Minutes, the Minotaurs had retreated entirely into the palace.

A shadowy shape vaulted up from below us and landed next to Serenity. “Chris,” the figure nodded, and I smiled as I recognized the figure.

“Sombra,” I replied. Sombra’s expression was neutral as he knelt down next to the royal family. His horn lit up with a grey aura, and he touched each of the rings locked around their horns. As he touched each one in turn, the ring snapped open and fell away, and the cap on top of the horns was easily lifted away. Each Unicorn let out a soft sigh of relief as their horns were freed, and they rose to their hooves. The gathered Ponies seemed to have abandoned their pursuit of the fleeing Minotaurs, and now turned to look at the royal family

“The day is won,” Serenity finally announced. “The Minotaurs have nowhere to run. They are surrounded on all sides.”

The roar of the crowd was deafening

“There will be no prisoners,” Solaris added with a snarl. “We will show them the same ‘mercy’ that they showed us.”

If anything, the roar became louder. The Ponies surged forward into the palace, brandishing their weapons.

“Chris,” Serenity continued as she turned towards me. “You’ve done it. You succeeded where we could not. You killed Adamant Will. You removed their protection from our magic.”

“Thank you, Chris Powell. You have saved Equestria.”

> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’s him. That’s the one.”

“Are you sure?”

"Of course I'm sure. How many others like him are there?"

“Bullslayer…”

I tried not to glance in their direction. I really did. But it’s so difficult to not look at someone who you know is talking about you. Who’s not even trying to hide the fact that they’re openly staring.

So I looked.

They were innocuous enough. Two Earth Ponies, one stallion and one mare. Both ponies were off-shades of light orange - I could only assume they were related in some way - and both were holding weapons coated in blood. Fighters, still hunting for any last Minotaurs that might be skulking about. Both Ponies blanched and immediately broke eye contact as I looked in their direction. Still, as I walked past them, I could feel their gazes boring into me.

Bullslayer…

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard a Pony call me that in the past few hours. Fitting, I suppose, when you consider the big thing they knew me for. It wasn’t exactly like my killing of Adamant Will was a secret. I’d only done it out in the open where the entire city had been able to see it. Everyone knew me for that. Everyone thought I was a hero.

If only they knew how close I’d come to letting Adamant Will get away with it…

A gentle hand fell over my shoulder, stirring me from my thoughts. My pace had slowed, and I picked it back up as I glanced over my shoulder. Serenity removed her hand from my shoulder with a soft smile. She was still thin - too thin. Dangerously thin. As were Celestia and Luna, who walked a few paces behind their mother. As was Solaris, whose condition was dire enough that he had been unable to join us. It would probably be several weeks, at least, before they returned to their normal, healthy size. But all three mares had been washed up and changed into clothes that, while a few sizes too large for them now, at least made them presentable. A trio of dresses, each one matching the mare’s hair - mane, rather. Pink for Celestia, midnight-blue for Serenity and Luna. And, perhaps most encouragingly of all, the same burning fire had returned to their eyes. 

The trio was followed closely by six guards - or what passed for guards in the confusing aftermath of the liberation of Everfree. For all I could tell, they were just Ponies that were willing to keep the royal family safe. None of them were armored, and each one had a different weapon - One with a spear, another with a hammer and shield, and so on. No uniform. Just the same implied desire to keep their queen and princesses safe.

“Are you well, Chris?” Serenity asked as I broke eye contact.

“As well as I can be,” I replied truthfully. “Just… nervous.”

“About what you wish to show us?”

I nodded. “It’s something you all need to see,” I continued. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but it is what it is. I’ll trust you to decide what to do with it.”

We rounded yet another corner. This one was on the edge of the palace, if the sunlight pouring in through the windows to our left were any indication. I felt my heart beating just a little faster as I recognized the double doors only a few hundred feet down the corridor. “We’re here,” I murmured as I came to a stop just outside the doors.

“In here?” Serenity asked, moving closer towards the doors.

“Yes. But hold on a second,” I added. My hand slipped into my pocket, and I pulled out one of the final two scrolls that I had stowed in there. “Let me go in first. It’s only been a few hours since we routed the Minotaurs. We don’t know if any took refuge in here.”

“Very well,” Serenity nodded. “After you.”

I made sure that I was standing out of direct sunlight before pressing the seal on the scroll. As the scroll disintegrated into ash, the almost-familiar pins and needles feeling swept over me. Looking down, I could see that my body had been replaced by a black silhouette. I knew that to Serenity and the others, I had vanished from sight.

But nearby, another figure had appeared.

Only a few paces away from us, down the direction we had just come, was another shadowy silhouette. I couldn’t see any facial expressions - the silhouette didn’t give me the benefit of seeing his face - but I already knew who it was. Sombra. He’d insisted on following us, after all. Whether to help protect the royal family against any Minotaurs they might encounter, or because he’d lost trust in me, I didn’t know. Nor did I really care.

Sombra made his way down the hall towards me, ducking past the beams of light that poured in through the window. The silhouette reached down to his belt, and the distinct sound of a knife being drawn echoed through the hall - a sound that was echoed as my own knife was drawn. We exchanged no words, but instead moved towards the door. Sombra pulled gently, and the door offered no resistance, sliding open with a soft creak.

The torches inside had all died down. It didn’t matter too much. The light streaming in from the door provided enough illumination to see by. The two of us crept into the room. We moved towards the only other source of light. A faint red glow coming from the far end of the room. My eyes were scanning the room. I knew his were too. We were watching. Waiting. Looking for anything to make itself known.

Sombra, a few paces ahead of me, made a sweeping gesture to either side. A spray of fireballs flew away from him, each one hitting a torch embedded in a wall and lighting it. As the room grew brighter, more features became known to us. Long tables, running from one end of the floor to the other, with a series of guns laid out upon them. Tiled floor, with black and white tiles arranged seemingly at random with no discernable pattern.Three barrells pressed up against the wall to my right. A large chunk of wood leaning up against the left wall. A forge at the far end of the room, with a few embers still smoldering in the furnace.

But no Minotaurs that either of us could see.

I could see that Sombra was looking at me, and I nodded. I walked back out of the room and stepped into direct sunlight, allowing the concealment spell to be ripped away from me. “All clear,” I announced. “Come on in.”

The other door was flung wide open, allowing even more light to spill through into the workshop. I lead the group back into the room, making sure to keep my knife at the ready just in case. But it seemed that it wouldn’t be necessary. Even with the shadows no longer concealing me, nothing jumped out at me. Nothing made itself known.

Sombra was already at the far end of the room, visible to all. The shadows had faded away from him, and I could finally make out his form. He, too, was thin. The weeks of hunger had clearly taken its toll. But the weakness and hunger could be fully dealt with later. He and I both knew what had to be done first

“What’s this?” I heard Luna ask from behind me as she made her way into the room. “None of this was here before…

“A makeshift workshop,” I explained. “Set up by Adamant Will when I arrived. I… had to strike a bargain with him to get into the castle. Those new weapons that they had. The one that they used in the throne room to kill the informant.”

Serenity raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

I sighed. “I taught them how to make those,” I admitted. “They were all made in here.” I moved towards one of the guns and picked it up. It was one of the ones that Adamant Will’s army had used - If nothing else, the black powder residue in the powder tray and around the muzzle of the gun were clear indicators of that. A quick glance towards the other guns let me know that they, too, had seen use. “High-speed ballistic projectile weapons,” I continued as I poured a small bit of powder into the tray, and the rest down the muzzle of the gun. A single shot followed after. “Far more powerful than the crossbows that the Griffons have created. More powerful… and more deadly.” I cocked the flint back and turned towards the chunk of wood leaning up against the left-hand wall. “A demonstration,” I added as I raised the rifle to shoulder height and steadied it.

I pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

A flash of light pierced the room. A shower of sparks flew away from me out of the flashpan as the powder was ignited, and a spray of smoke and sparks erupted from the muzzle of the gun. Alongside the boom of the gun firing came a second sound - slightly softer, but piercing through the air just as the gunshot did. The crack of splintering wood. Indeed, small splinters flew away from the chunk of wood as the bullet blasted through it, leaving a small, round hole in the panel.

Silence.

None of the Ponies in the room spoke. I could hear my own breathing. I lowered the gun from my shoulder and placed it on the table behind me, smoke still leaking from the muzzle. Looking up, I could see Serenity, Luna, Celestia, the guards… nearly everyone looking at me with a look of shock on their faces.

Everyone except Sombra.

Sombra’s face remained expressionless. I had no way of knowing what was going through his mind. Surely those guns had been in use at the battle. Surely they had claimed the lives of a number of Ponies there. Did he blame me? I’d already come to terms with it myself - creating the guns had been necessary in order to kill Adamant Will and save Equestria from enslavement. But did Sombra feel the same way?

Serenity cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to her. “And… you say you are the one who taught them… who showed them this… thing?”

“I had very little to work with,” I tried to defend myself. “All I had to offer Adamant Will, in exchange for getting closer to his inner circle, was knowledge. And knowledge of warfare is all he seemed interested in…”

Serenity held up one hand, cutting me off. “A simple yes would have sufficed,” she said calmly. “And such a device… is this the only type that your people have created?”

“Far from it,” I shook my head. “These are comparatively primitive.. The ones we have now can fire hundreds of rounds in under a minute. And there are other designs that can be used for different situations. This right here is child’s play compared to some of the other weapon’s we’ve created, especially in the past century or so.”

“I see…” Serenity mused. “Then there is only one thing to do. Guards!” The six Ponies behind her snapped to attention as Serenity turned towards them - not in unison, but close enough. “See to it that these… guns… are destroyed. Melted down, blown to pieces, I don’t care. I want all evidence of their existence eliminated.” The guards saluted once more. “Good. Dismissed.” 

The guards moved past Serenity towards the guns lying on the table. I could see them hesitate, however, as they reached the weapons. None of them seemed willing to touch them. “They’re not going to go off on their own,” I promised, grabbing the gun I had used for the demonstration and moving it back towards the rest of the guns. “They need to be loaded and primed first. And none of them are loaded or primed. They’re not gonna go off if you just pick them up.” I tossed my gun towards the guard nearest me, who fumbled and caught it. “Go use the forge or the anvil and hammer, or whatever you need to.”

“Oh, and those barrels over there?” I added, pointing towards the trio of barrels lined up against the wall. “Those are full of gunpowder. Very dangerous. Do NOT light those on fire. They’ll explode. Violently. You need to burn the powder in very, VERY small amounts. Outside, preferably.”

I watched for a minute as the guards slowly, tentatively, picked up the guns and began to move them towards the forge at the far end of the room. Once I was certain that they were out of earshot, I moved closer towards Serenity. “I was hoping you were going to say that,” I murmured.

Serenity nodded. “Those weapons must never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands,” she replied. “They’re too dangerous to risk keeping around. All knowledge of their existence must be eliminated. Who else knows of these weapons, besides yourself?”

“Adamant Will knew… though he’s not much of a problem anymore,” I smiled grimly. I held up one hand and began ticking down the Minotaurs who had worked on the guns with me. “Thunderhoof, the Minotaur that was assigned as my personal guard. Dusthorn, the royal alchemist and apothecary. Steelskin, the blacksmith who created the weapons. There were a dozen Minotaurs that handled the guns when they attacked your camp, but none of them knew the mechanics behind the gun or the chemical composition of the gunpowder. And there were a couple of other smiths that came in and worked the forge the day before they attacked your camp.”

“And would all of those Minotaurs have been in the castle today?”

I hesitated for a brief moment before shrugging. “Most of them would have, yeah,” I replied. “Thunderhoof, Steelskin, and Dusthorn I know for certain were there, and those are the big three. They actually knew enough to be able to build a gun from memory, or at least instruct someone else how to do it. The soldiers probably would have been present too. The smiths… probably, though they might not have been there. But again, they only worked with the weapons for a couple of hours, and had no knowledge of what made the gunpowder work. Without that knowledge, without any gunpowder, a gun is about as useful as a metal club.”

“So, assuming that we got rid of those three Minotaurs, you’re the only one left on Gaia that knows how to make one of those things.”

There was a longer hesitation this time. I glanced up towards Serenity, meeting her eyes. Her expression was blank. Try as I might, I could get nothing from it. And yet…

“...Correct…”

Silence descended upon us. Silence broken only by the sounds of the guards at the far end of the room, firing up the furnace. Preparing to destroy the last remaining evidence of firearms on Gaia.

Finally, Serenity nodded. “Then I suppose we’d best double our efforts towards finding that pool in the caverns,” she murmured. For a brief second, I saw the corner of her mouth inch upwards. 

“After all, we had a deal. Help us kill Adamant Will, and we help you find your way home. And I’m nothing if not a mare of my word.”

> Chapter 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days.

Three short, frantic days. Little more than a blur, really. It was so chaotic. A whirlwind of activity, of energy and confusion, of trying to figure out who was where and what they were doing. I don’t have a lot of concrete memories of those three days. Fleeting images, mostly.

Three days spent in the throne room, in a conference room, in the dining hall - wherever the royal family was, I was likely there as well. Even though Solaris still eyed me warily, Serenity must have put in a few good words on my behalf. It was almost as though I’d become something of a family friend. I was even asked for input on a couple of matters concerning the rebuilding of Everfree and the rest of Equestria. 

Three days spent watching the royal family begin to pick up the pieces of their kingdom. Word spread quickly throughout Equestria of Adamant Will’s death. Every day, as we settled in for breakfast, we would receive news of another insurrection taking root - in Baltimare, in Fillydelphia and Manehattan and Vanhoover. The military leaders that had either survived within the resistance or been liberated from the palace’s dungeons had been dispatched to the largest cities to lead to fights. Fights that quickly became routs, as the Minotaurs withered and fled in the face of the Unicorns’ unmitigated magic.

Three days spent looking at dead Minotaurs. Trying to identify the corpses. It wasn’t pretty. Some of them had been killed gruesomely, such as one who had had both arms severed and three arrows punched into his chest. I was eventually able to identify the Minotaurs that I was looking for. Steelskin, a fierce snarl still etched on his face, with rigor mortis ensuring that his hammer would never be pried from his fingers. Dusthorn, head severed from his body and tongue rolling out of his mouth. Thunderhoof, defiant to the end, with one hand cut off and the other still clutching his bloodied axe, finally done in by a sword through the heart. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of regret roll over me as I saw each of these Minotaurs, but especially Thunderhoof. It almost seemed like seeing a dead friend. But just as quickly, I moved on. Regret for my actions would not change them.

Three days spent meeting up with old acquaintances. Firefly and Doctor Caligari were both bruised and bleeding, but very much alive. Captain Thunderbolt, too, survived. I couldn’t help but shudder at the gleeful smile he bore as I recounted to him Adamant Will’s final moments. I didn’t find Blossom until the third day, resting in one of the many makeshift medical wings that had been established all across the castle lawn. Her left hand had been severed, but she made sure to let me know, no less than a dozen times, that she’d survive just fine without it. She also let me know that Orchard had escaped from the camp unharmed, through they’d gotten separated in the woods.

And three nights. Three long, dark, glorious nights. Peaceful. Serene. Three nights spent in my room, recovering sleep that I’d lost. I slept better than I had in weeks. I didn’t wake in the middle of the night. I woke up refreshed. And the beast from my nightmares - the one that Serenity had banished - did not return.

So much happened in those three days. Everything changed. Whereas under Minotaur rule my travel had been strictly controlled, I was permitted nearly limitless liberty with my movement throughout the castle. Pony guards of all three races replaced the hulking forms of the Minotaurs. Minos’ banners were replaced by the emblem of Equestria - a sun and moon chasing each other in a large circle against a violet background. Talk echoed through the halls of the castle at all hours of the day, and often well into the night. Talk, and even occasional bout of laughter. Despite the challenges that still lay ahead, an air of lightheartedness had swept through the palace.

Familiar faces had faded away, as well. Blossom remained in one of the many makeshift medical wings, and Orchard remained unaccounted for. Sombra left the capitol on the second day, traveling north towards his home in the Crystal Empire. Firefly and Thunderbolt were both dispatched to the large cities to direct the battles being fought there. In fact, the only familiar face besides the royal family that hung around was Doctor Caligari. Even then, most of his time seemed to be split between the various medical wings, tending to the wounded and sick.

I quickly found myself settling into a routine. I would join the royal family in the dining hall for breakfast, and hear the latest news from around the kingdom. I would meet them in the same room again for lunch and dinner, and again just before bed. The rest of my day was spent in a variety of locations, often with one or both of the Princesses. On the lawn, observing the training drills of the new recruits to the guard. In meeting rooms, listening in on policy meetings and battle strategies. And sometimes, simply spending time in the library, reading up on the history of Gaia, out of curiosity more than anything.

So began the fourth day as usual. As I pushed my way into the dining hall, I saw that the four members of the royal family were already at the other end of the dining table. Their plates were still mostly full of fruits and grains, though they’d already begun to eat. Solaris and Serenity were leaned in close next to each other, a set of papers spread out on the table between their plates. Luna and Celestia weren’t involved, but based on the angle of their ears, I could guess that they were listening in.

“Good morning,” I greeted the group as I took my usual spot next to Celestia. A plate had already been set out for me, with the usual morning meal upon it - sliced apple, toast, grapes, and cantaloupe.  A good breakfast for Ponies, for sure. And yet, I still felt myself missing my favorites from home. Biscuits and gravy. Bacon. And grits. Oh god, grits…

“Morning, Chris,” Serenity replied I saw her smile a bit, but she didn’t look up towards me..

“What’s the news today?” I asked as I popped a grape between my teeth and crushed it with a satisfying pop.

“The Minotaurs have been fully pushed out of Fillydelphia,” came the response, this time from Solaris, who again did not meet my eyes. I closed my eyes, trying for what felt like the thousandth time to identify his voice. I still couldn’t quite place it, though it certainly sounded similar to one back home. “And Vanhoover has begun to rise up. Other, smaller towns are reporting that their occupying forces are beginning to leave on their own. It seems that their forces are in full retreat.”

“Good, good…”

“That’s not the only thing.” I turned my head towards Celestia as she continued, though she chose instead to focus on her breakfast. “We found the maps that the Minotaurs have been creating while searching the caverns beneath Everfree a couple of days ago. We’ve had a few soldiers exploring them.”

I felt my pulse pick up. Something about the way she said that… “Go on…”

“...I believe we’ve found your pool.”

Silence.

I could have heard a pin drop. Even the chewing of their breakfasts had ceased. Before, they had refused to meet my eyes. Now they all stared at me in unison. Watching. Waiting. For a few moments, I sat in silence as well. Stunned.

Finally, I was able to get my mouth moving again. “W… when did this come in?” I asked.

“Last night, after you had gone to sleep.” That had been Luna that spoke up this time.

“Well then…” I murmured. I reached down and popped another piece of cantaloupe into my mouth, chewing it slowly. As I swallowed, I felt a grin split across my face. “So… when can we go there?”

“As soon as a group of guards can be assembled. Which we sent orders for half an hour ago.”

The rest of breakfast passed much like the rest of the previous three days had - in a blur. I barely remember eating or drinking. I barely remember leaving the dining hall to go gather my things. The walk down to the throne room… it was all a blur. There was only one thing rushing through my mind at that point.

I was going home.

Back home. To family. To Evan and Carlos, Mom and Dad and little bro. Back to horses that walked on four hooves instead of two, and didn’t answer when you spoke to them. Back to meat for every meal of the day. Back to the things I’d never known I’d miss. School. Work. Those super-steep stairs in the classroom building that left you out of breath no matter how good of shape you were in…

A hand fell across my shoulder, dragging me from my rush of excitement and back into reality. Somehow, I’d made it to the throne room. I glanced over my shoulder to see Luna turning away from me, back towards Celestia. I did a quick once-over to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind. My bag was slung over my shoulders, and certainly felt heavy enough for everything to still be inside. My knife was clipped to my belt. The familiar weight of my phone lay in my right-side pants pocket. My bow and quiver were strapped to my back, underneath my backpack. The pouch of scrolls was tied firmly around my belt. My flashlight was in hand.

I was ready.

So too, it seemed, was everyone else. “Alright, torches everypony!” I heard Serenity call out from the front of the crowd. There were eleven of us in total - myself, Luna, Celestia, Serenity, Solaris, and half a dozen guards. We’d all gathered around the foot of the stairs leading up to the thrones - thrones, I realized, that had replaced the massive ornamental chair that Adamant Will had sat on. Another memory of his reign of terror had been done away with, it seemed.

I heard the rushing of wind, and a flash of light burst to life from the front of the group. A series of fireballs rose up into the air, and slowly fell back down. Each ball fell onto a torch held by one of the Ponies - eleven in all - and each torch roared to life, sputtering and spitting flames.

“This way, now,” I heard Serenity call out. I saw her ascend up the stairs towards the throne, followed by Solaris, Celestia, and the guards. Luna held back, falling to the back of the pack with me. We all crowded up towards the top of the throne, and those towards the front of the group moved behind the thrones themselves. There was a moment of silence. Then, the sound of stone scraping against stone. A moment later, the group began moving forward. Sure enough, as we rounded the thrones, I saw that the wall behind the throne had disappeared, sinking into the ground to reveal a tight, downward spiral staircase.

The secret entrance into the caverns beneath Everfree.

I clicked my flashlight on as I entered the dark spiral and began to descend into the bowels of the earth. I could hear and feel Luna behind me, torch in hand, as we made each turn down the spiral, and I could hear the stone wall sliding up behind us to seal us within.

Eventually, the spiral leveled out and opened into a larger cavern. Much, much larger. The ceiling had to be over a dozen feet above my head, and the walls further apart than half a dozen of the guards standing side-by-side. The group had all stopped there, and I could see Solaris peering towards the back of the group as we exited the spiral.

“Everypony here?” Solaris asked no one in particular. His eyes darted across the group, counting the individual members. “Alright. Half of the guard in front of us, half behind. Take us to this pool.” The guards responded immediately, fanning out to box myself and the royal family in. Three of the guards stood side by side, torches held high and swords drawn, while the other three guards mirrored their positions behind us. One of the guards up front motioned with his torch, and as one we took off further into the cavern.

An eerie sense of deja vu washed over me as we wandered through the caves. The passage was wide at points, narrower at others, sometimes to the point where we had to walk single file. More than once, we had to stoop down to fit under a low ceiling. The torchlight cast flickering shadows all across the caverns, shadows that were broken only by the solid beam of light cast by my flashlight.

Celestia walked close to the front with her parents, speaking to them in hushed whispers. Luna, on the other hand, hung near the back with me. For a long while, our group walked in near silence, with only the whispers from the front of the group revealing any conversation.

But I had a few questions still. Questions I hoped to get the answers to before I left. “Hey. Luna,” I hissed.

“Hm?” I heard the response come from my right.

“I got a few questions I’m hoping you can answer before I get out of here.”

“Go on.”

“First off… why aren’t you all using those balls of light that I saw you using when we first met down here?”

“Because we have access to torches this time,” Luna replied. “Last time we ran down here into the darkness without the time to prepare. We had no time to fetch torches. This time, we did. And maintaining that light orb for a long period of time can be taxing. No need to spend more energy, especially in our state.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded. “So, second question. And this one’s been bugging me for a while now. Adamant Will’s talisman stopped magic, yeah?” Luna nodded. “Right. So… why didn’t you all just accelerate, say, a small rock to supersonic speeds? Use something like the gun I built, but with magic instead of an explosion?”

“Well controlling and accelerating an object that small to such speeds with good accuracy requires an incredibly refined magical talent,” Luna began. “At best, we’d be throwing the rock in roughly the general direction of our target. And we did try such a tactic, but it turns out that the magical protection was able to detect that the projectiles had been flung by magic, and stopped our magically-accelerated missiles dead in their tracks. Same with any kind of fireball or shards of ice or anything like that. It was an incredibly sophisticated protection, one which we’re going to have to study at some point.”

“So what are you all going to do with that amulet?”

“Hide it, probably. Destroy it, if we can, though given its ability to resist most forms of magic, I doubt we’ll succeed.”

“One last question.” There was a brief pause as we stooped beneath yet another low overhang, with me having to drop to my knees in order to fit underneath. “What exactly was that last spell you gave me?”

“Something of an experiment,” Luna began. “As I said, mother and Celestia and I worked on that spell for several days, and it took quite a bit out of us. It was a combination spell. The first bit was a time warp. I’m sure you noticed that tim seemed to freeze around you when you used the spell.” I nodded. “That was the first part, and the part that required most of our strength. Warping time is no easy matter, even for such a brief moment. The second part was simpler, but perhaps just as important. A spell to harden the resolve of whomever activated the scroll. We believed that if it came down to using that scroll, you might be in… a bit of a bind. Scared. Perhaps too scared to act. It was a little something we added to overcome that fear.”

“So that explains the warmth…”

“Warmth, hm?” I could almost hear Luna’s eyebrow raising. “Where?”

“Right here,” I replied, tapping my chest right over my heart.

“Interesting…”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Nothing important.”

I wasn’t convinced. Not at all. But I shrugged it off. Whatever her interest in the effects of the spell, it wouldn’t be my problem for long.

The rest of our trip passed in silence. It was a long journey - at least an hour, most likely more. I couldn’t tell. My phone was dead - well and truly dead at this point, with no charge left in my charging battery to turn it back on. The sun, which I had learned to use as an approximation of the time, was hidden from view. We kept walking, on and on through the caves. I’m sure my anticipation made it feel longer than it actually took, but it certainly felt like an eternity.

But eventually, we stopped.

“Here,” I heard a rough male voice echo through the cavern. Peering past Luna’s shoulder, I could see that a large opening was cut into the wall to our left, and Serenity and one of the guards was looking through the opening.

“Chris,” I heard Serenity’s voice cut its way back towards me. “Is this your pool?”

Slowly, I pushed my way through the crowd and up towards Serenity. As I rounded the corner, my eyes fell upon it. A large, crystal-clear lake of water, almost perfectly circular and a dozen feet in radius. The fiery glow of the torches illuminated the surrounding area, allowing me to glance around. Even half-drowned as I had been the last time I had seen the lake, there was no mistaking it. I could even spot that small handhold that I had grabbed onto to stop from toppling back in.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “This is it.”

“Excellent.” Serenity gave me a pat on the back, and I turned my head towards her. “Please, take the bow and quiver as tokens of our thanks. The scrolls, too, you may keep… though perhaps it would be wise to use them sparingly,” She added. “If I understand correctly, you Humans tend to react rather strongly when first introduced to magic.” This earned a small round of chuckles from the three mares and myself as I remembered the first time I had been introduced to magic - floating around one of these very caverns, hoisted by Celestia. 

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to keep them in good condition,” I promised as I pulled my phone from my pocket and clicked my flashlight off. Both of these items were tucked away in my bag. No sense in getting electronics wet when I could keep them safely stowed away where it was waterproof. “It’s been interesting, but I don’t think anyone back home will believe me if I tell them where I’ve been for the past month.”

“What will you tell them?”

I shrugged. “I was lost in the mountains? I dunno. Nothing that would lead any of them back here, I assure you.”

“Farewell, Chris.” Celestia stepped forward and offered me her hand, which I shook. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Good bye.”

With a final breath, I shut my eyes and jumped into the darkness of the lake.

My eyes snapped open underwater.

Nothing happened.

I waited some more.

Still nothing happened.

My lungs were beginning to burn, so I kicked upwards. The weight of my bag dragged me down, but it wasn’t enough to keep me under forever. My head broke the surface, and I gasped down a gulp of air.

My own gasp was echoed by several others. Turning back towards the group, I rubbed water out of my eyes and blinked to see them all staring at me. “Is something wrong?” I heard Solaris ask.

“I ran out of air,” I explained. “It’ll work this time. Bye!” Once again, I dove under the surface of the water and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

I waited as long as I could before breaching the surface again. I spluttered a little this time, dragging myself over to the edge of the water and hanging on as I recovered my breath. “Are you sure this is going to work?” I heard one of the guards ask.

“Of course it’s going to work!” I exclaimed. “This is how I got into Gaia! It’s got to be the way out! It’s got to work!” For the third time, I plunged beneath the waves. I dove further down than I had before. Down towards the bottom. My eyes were scanning the walls. Looking. Searching for a tunnel. A passage. Something.

Anything.

Nothing.

I coughed, and a surge of bubbles rose from my mouth. I planted my feet against the floor of the pool. I pushed against it, and rocketed upwards again. My head broke the water again, and this time my gasp was accompanied by no small amount of splashing.

“Chris, something’s wrong!” I heard Luna call out over the splashing of the water. “It’s not working!”

“It’s got to work!” I replied back. “It has to!

“I’m not sensing any magic around this pool,” Celestia’s voice echoed through the cavern. “It’s just water.”

“It’s a portal home!”

I dove underwater again. Before I could go more than a few feet down, I felt something grab my leg. I thrashed against the grip. But it was no use. Its grip was too tight. I felt myself hauled upside down out of the water. Looking back towards the group, I saw Serenity’s horn lit up. Her magical aura was surrounding my leg, She lowered me gently down to the ground.

“Chris. It’s not working.”

“It has to work!” I all but yelled. Soaked though I was by the pool, I could feel fresh moisture building at the corner of my eyes as I scrambled to my feet. “It’s my portal home!”

“It ain’t no portal,” I heard another guard mutter. “Just water…”

I felt the back of my bag hit the stone wall behind me. They were gathering closer. I had to get away. “No… no, you’re wrong. It’s going to work. Just let me back in that pool and -”

“Chris.” Luna’s voice cut into mine. “No. You see it as well as we do. Nothing’s happening. It… it’s just a pool, Chris. Just water. Nothing else”

Silence.

My vision blurred. Around me, I could hear hushed murmuring. I didn’t care. I must have fallen down to my knees. I vaguely noted that Luna had knelt down next to me. She put one hand on my shoulder. I reached up with both hands to try and rub the blurring away from my eyes for a moment. My hands came away wetter than they were before. I turned my head towards Luna.

And in her eyes, I saw pity.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head. Darkness took me.

> Chapter 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don’t remember exactly how long I was out for. It had to have been a couple of hours, at least, for I awoke in a bed. Not the bed that I had spent the past two and a half weeks in, but a bed nonetheless. The room I was in was small - or, relatively small, anyway. About as large as a bedroom in a modest home. Sunlight filtered in from the windows in the far right-hand corner of the room, with the drapes pulled to the side so as not to obstruct the light. Other than the bed and a nightstand, the only other object to be seen was a single, wooden chair sitting against the wall near the door.

Oh, and the Pony occupying it.

The Unicorn mare had her eyes closed and her horn lit up with a faint golden aura, the same color as her fur. I pushed myself up on my arms so that I was sitting more than laying down. That seemed to get her attention, for the glow died down and her eyes snapped open. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

A thousand images flashed before my eyes. The descent into the caverns, the pool, diving up and down and up and down, being dragged out like a drowned rat... Emotions quickly replaced the images. Despair, anger, depression, rage… I found my mouth suddenly dry, and the corners of my eyes wet.

“I’ve… been better,” I finally replied.

I could see the Unicorn begin to rise out of her chair. She took one step towards me, then hesitated. “I… uh… should I go… get the queen?”

“Serenity?” My vision flashed red. She had been the one to drag me out of the pool. She had been the one to stop me from trying again! I could feel the corners of my lip curling into a snarl.

And then, it was gone. The rage. The anger. Everything. It was like something had tripped in my mind, had hit the reset button on my emotions. All that was left was cold, hard logic, along with an almost painful emptiness in my chest. No. It wasn’t her fault. The pool hadn’t worked the first three times. She’d only stopped me from drowning myself. Slowly, I nodded. “The queen. Yes, go get her.”

I barely even registered the Unicorn turning and all but sprinting out of the room. I was left alone, with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company. I closed my eyes and slid down the bed so that I was fully laying down once more. To an outsider, I would have seemed asleep. But no. Sleep would not come to me, nor did I want it to. Serenity was coming to speak to me, and likely to decide my fate. Again. I needed to figure out what exactly I wanted, and what my position was.

The only way home that I knew of was closed. For whatever reason, the pool hadn’t sent me back. Which meant that, for now, my journey to Gaia seemed to be a one-way trip. I was stuck here. The only Human on the planet, amongst a number of alien species. More than I already knew of, most likely. I had to find a way to survive, at least until I found another way home. That essentially meant throwing my lot in with one of the established civilizations. I had already worked alongside the Ponies of Equestria, which essentially left me with two choices on how to proceed - remain within Equestria, or take my chances out in the wild and try to find another kingdom.

It wasn’t a very difficult choice. The Minotaurs would never accept me, for obvious reasons. The Crystal Empire was a close ally of Equestria,so what would effectively amount to a defection to them would be pointless, and most likely counter-productive. And the Griffons… Well, they were a wild card. I had no knowledge at all about them, other than that their skills at leatherworking were supposed to be superior to that of the other species. That’s hardly enough information to judge a potential home by.

Equestria, meanwhile, had a lot going for it. With their Unicorns now able to freely use magic, their military might seemed to be greatly bolstered. They were allies with another kingdom, the Crystal Empire. I was already known to not only the leaders of the kingdom, but also to the common citizen. More importantly, I was seen in - hopefully - a positive light for slaying Adamant Will and saving the royal family. And while Solaris still seemed wary of me, I was almost certain that I had the full backing from Serenity, Celestia, and Luna. If nothing else, I was pretty certain that they wouldn’t fry me on the spot.

Pretty certain.

On top of that, there were a couple of added perks to staying with Equestria. The pool I had entered Gaia from was not too far from the capitol city, so if anything changed then I would be only a short distance from the pool. Plus, even if nothing changed, there was always the chance that some magical discovery would be made that could send me home. I could even try to bargain with Serenity and Solaris to see if they would put some research towards that objective…

And so a game plan began to formulate in my head. Given the option, I would stay within Equestria. I would help them as I could, while keeping an eye on the pool. Hopefully, Serenity and the others would devote some resources towards finding me another way home. Unlikely, though, considering the fact that the Minotaurs still needed to be fully pushed out of Equestria. To that end, I’d try to win some influence in the capitol, especially with any kind of magical researchers. I’d get them to look into ways to send me home. And if an opportunity came, I’d seize it without hesitation.

And if I wasn’t able to stay in Equestria? This gave me a bit of pause. I was still pretty sure that Serenity and Celestia and Luna wouldn’t let me be killed, at the very least. But Solaris… he was the wild card in the royal family. At the very best, he was wary of me. At worst… if they couldn’t talk Solaris into letting me stay… What then? I’d have to find some other kingdom to stay with … The Crystal Empire? Sombra knew me there, at least. Or else I could strike out for the Griffon lands and pray that they were the welcoming sort. Or maybe some other kingdom that I hadn’t even heard of yet. I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes. I wasn’t exactly comfortable with how much my plan banked on Solaris and Serenity letting me stay. I honestly didn’t know what would happen if they didn’t...

All I knew for certain was that my end goal had not changed. Get home.

As if on queue, I heard the door to my room creak open. I snapped one eye open as the door creaked to a halt, and pushed myself back upright into my sitting position. Four figures stepped into the room, one after another. Serenity was at the front of the group, her expression blank. She was still thin, but not nearly as thin as Solaris, who walked behind her. Even underneath his shirt - which was several sizes too large for him at this point - I could see his ribcage. Still, his eyes continued to burn with a fire that I had to respect. He wasn’t going anytime soon. Not without a fight.

Celestia and Luna followed behind their father. Celestia maintained the same neutral mask that I had seen on Serenity so many times. Luna, I could tell, was attempting the same. Her mask, however, was weaker. I could see concern in her eyes. Fear, maybe?

Nothing that reassured me, at the very least.

“Chris,” Serenity began. “Are you feeling well? A bit calmer?”

“I’ve… been better,” I admitted. “But I’ll live.”

“I’m sorry - 

“Don’t be,” I interrupted, holding up a hand to silence her. “It’s not your fault. I just… kind of assumed the portal would work both ways, and that it’d still work…”

“I think we all did.”

“So. You’re not able to return home after all,” Solaris frowned. His eyes locked onto mine, and I found that I could not look away. A sudden sense of vulnerability washed over me, and a slight shiver ran down my spine. “And so, we must decide what to do with you.”

“Do not act as though our position is uncertain.” Serenity’s gaze was now drilling into the back of Solaris’ head. “Without his help, all four of us would be dead, and our subjects slaves. If nothing else, we owe him a place to call home for now.”

“You seem to forget the aid he granted to the Minotaurs,” Solaris hissed. “This technology he gifted them with? How many Ponies fell to it? Their blood lies on his hands.”

“Even without those weapons, those… guns… They would have fallen to the blade or the arrow,” Serenity countered. “The Minotaurs would have just as easily defeated us without them. I say again - we owe him our lives.”

“You are the only one who seems to have a problem with him, father,” Celestia added. I would see him stay as well… assuming, of course, that he wishes to,” She added

Suddenly, all heads turned back towards me. Celestia’s mask was perfectly neutral, betraying no emotion, though her opinion had been made clear. Serenity and Luna both looked expectant… hopeful even. I had no doubt that those three would welcome me into Equestria with open arms, just as I had expected.

Yet Solaris… there was anger in his eyes. Contempt, even. Once again, I felt that same sense of vulnerability wash over me. Solaris was the king. And if the king himself didn’t want me around… for a brief moment, I considered turning down their offer and striking out on my own, rather than face his hostility.

But no. I blinked, and in that brief moment, that instant that my eyes were separated from his, the vulnerability faded. I quickly broke eye contact, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. No. I wasn’t about to be intimidated away from my plan, away from my best - my only hope at returning home. Solaris thought that he could bully me away.

He was in for a rude awakening.

“For what it’s worth,” I began slowly, looking towards Serenity, “If given the option, I would remain within Equestria.”

“It’s settled then.” Serenity gave Solaris a knowing look, complete with a scowl. “All three of us disagree with you, dear.” The emphasis on the last word wasn’t lost on me. “And I suspect that our populace may begin to ask questions if they learned that Chris had been unceremoniously banished from Equestria.”

Solaris’ scowl had faded, leaving a surprised look on his face - shocked, even. His brow furrowed again as he closed his eyes, arms folding over his chest. “... Very well,” He finally conceded. His eyes snapped open and locked with mine, his expression now one of mild curiosity. “You may stay, Chris. Do not make me regret this decision.”

“I don’t intend to,” I retorted evenly, matching his gaze as best I could, trying ignore my heart hammering away in my chest. So this was it. I was staying in Equestria. For now, anyway. What I’d do, I had no idea. With Solaris clearly unhappy about me staying, I wasn’t even sure how long I’d be here. 

 But for now, at least, I’d found my place.