This is a What If scenario where Jethro ended up in the Storm King's territory, separated from his house which ended up in Griffonstone.
Gabriella's Perspective: Five Years Ago…
It was just another day in Griffonstone for the local mailgriffon Gabriella, or Gabby as she preferred to be called. It was early in the morning and she'd just come from the local mail branch with a bag full of letters. The sun was just beginning to rise and shine its radiance on the once proud city, which had now become dilapidated and run down, but that never stopped Gabby from being her rare, cheerful self as she made her rounds.
However, much like every day, everygriff she came into contact with was their normal, crass and unfriendly selves. As the morning went on, Gabby kept her smile, but at the same time felt more and more down. All she wanted to do was try and brighten everything up around her, but it never seemed to work for her.
Her last stop of the day was to a local named Gilda. Gilda was a little bit different than most Griffons, but only Gabby seemed to be able to tell. It was hard to tell at a glance, but if she had to guess, Gabby would have said that the time that Gilda spent with Ponies seemed to change her, if only slightly. She wasn't quite as gruff as most others, although she was still gruff and unfriendly. Just never much to Gabby.
"Hi Gilda!" Gabby said as she flew towards her small house near the edge of the city.
Gilda, who was just lying in what little yard she had, looked up lazily at the mailgriffon approaching her. "Hey Gabs, sup?" she asked in a disinterested tone as she looked away.
Gabby took her words in stride. "Not much! Just got done delivering the mail and then I'm gonna go back to work! A mail delivery Griffon's work is never done! What about you? You gonna make those deeeelicious scones again, huh huh?"
Gilda waved her claw and rolled her eyes. "Nah. Day off today."
In truth, Gabby knew that Gilda's scones were not the best on a good day and horrendous most of the time, but she always made a note to buy one from the older Griffon and say how delicious they were to make Gilda feel happy. "Awww, but they're so good!" Gabby said sadly.
Gilda scoffed. "You and I both know they taste like shit," she said. "Nogriffon's forcing you to buy them."
Gabby was just about to reply in the negative, when she heard something in the distance. A small voice in the distance. She looked around. "Did you hear that?" she asked, landing right next to Gilda.
"Hear what?" Gilda asked with a yawn. "Look, if you don't have any kind of letter for me, beat it. I'm trying to sleep here."
"I thought I heard-" And then she heard it again. Louder this time. A voice calling out. It was female, and sounded scared and desperate.
Gilda slowly opened one eye. "Was that you imitating voices again?" she asked.
Gabby shook her head. "Not this time," she said honestly.
"…help!…" another fell voice on the air. It sounded closer now. Gabby looked around, first to the road leading to Griffonstone, then up in the air. After a few seconds, she saw a form approaching the city. She narrowed her eyes and blocked out the sun to get a better look. Something was flying towards them. After a while, Gabby gasped. It was a Dragon, a smaller one by the looks of it, and female. She was holding a limp form, one that Gabby had never seen before. It looked a lot like a Minotaur, but without the horns and fur. It hung limp in the Dragon's arms. Gabby's keen vision saw something that made her eyes go wide in horror. Blood was dripping from the creature's torn up chest.
She shook Gilda. "Gilda! Gilda! Look!" she pointed up in desperation towards the Dragon and strange creature she held.
Gilda groaned, then opened one eye. "Gabs, I'm trying to-hey!"
Gabby took Gilda's head and turned it right smack towards the approaching duo of non-Griffon creatures. "Looook!" she exclaimed.
Gilda grumbled but did as she said. And her eyes widened a bit in confusion. "The fuck…?" she said, sounding more confused than anything. "What's a Dragon doing-?"
"We gotta help them!" Gabby said, pulling Gilda off of the grass. "Come on, help me!"
"What's this 'we' shit?" Gilda snarled, pulling away. "Not our problem, Gabs. Just leave it be!"
"Come on! Come oooon!" Gabby insisted, pulling on Gilda's tail. "We've gotta help!"
"Not interested," Gilda said.
Gabby frowned, but then an idea came to her head. She absolutely hated stooping to such a level, but she couldn't very well help a Dragon and whatever she was carrying on her own. Quickly reaching into her bag, she held up a letter. It was in a blue envelope, and had an image of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of it. "If you help," she said in her best attempt at a smug manner, "I'll give you this letter from Ponyville."
Gilda's eyes shot open and she turned to face Gabby. When she saw the letter, she dove for it, but Gabby, being younger, was faster and dodged. "Give it here!" Gilda snarled.
"Not until we help those poor creatures!" Gabby said.
Gilda glared at Gabby for a bit, then, to Gabby's surprise, she smirked. "Blackmail, huh? You know, maybe you're a Griffon after all." She stood up, stretched her wings, and arched her back in a very feline manner. "Fine, guess it wouldn't kill me to get some exercise in for the morning. It'll help me sleep better too, I suppose."
Gabby's broad smile returned briefly before becoming serious. "Then come on! They're falling towards the Abysmal Abyss!"
And so the two flew up into the air. Gabby was pumping her wings with all her strength, trying to get to the duo of creatures before they reached the deadly Abyss. Gilda wasn't too far behind, flapping her wings just as hard as Gabby. As the two approached, Gabby saw some more details about the two strange creatures. The Dragon was definitely a young female, with blue scales and red eyes, which were wide in terror. A small portion of her left wing was cut, leaving her unable to control her descent. She was clutching the strange furless minotauroid creature tightly.
Said creature looked worse than the Dragon. It wore clothes that had been torn up and exposed a multitude of wounds that bled all over said clothes. Its hair was long and full of brambles, dirt and dried blood. Most of its exposed skin was covered in cuts and dirt. Its skin was pale, like it'd lost blood. It had a pair of large feathered wings, but they'd lost a number of feathers and were still losing more.
Gabby finally reached the two. "I've gotcha!" she said, reaching out an offering claw to take the weird creature from the Dragon.
Gilda soon reached her side as the weary looking Dragon looked warily between the two Griffons. "Take…him first," she said, looking down worriedly at the unusual creature she held.
"Gilda! Take him!" Gabby ordered.
Gilda rolled her eyes, but flew up and maneuvered herself so that she had the strange being in her strong arms. As she flew back down, Gabby straightened herself in the air and motioned to her back. "Climb on!"
Relief washed over the Dragon's features as she climbed onto Gabby's back. The younger Griffon was horrified to see just how skinny this Dragon was. She was lighter than she should be. Gabby was careful on her flight back down to Gilda's house. When she reached it, she saw that Gilda had just casually lay the minotauroid creature on the ground and was looking at him with a mixture of disinterest and boredom. After landing next to him, Gabby felt the Dragon on her back quickly slip off and crawl over to the creature, wrapping him in her thin, scaly arms. "Don't die on me, you hear me…?" she whimpered. "Don't you fucking die!"
Gabby's heart sank at the Dragon's tone. Turning to Gilda, she said, "Gilda! Got anything we can use to help? Bandages or water or something?"
"What do I look like, a hospital?" Gilda asked.
Gabby held up the letter again, putting it in both her hands and made a threatening motion like she was about to tear it. "Gilda," she said threateningly.
Gilda's eyes went wide. "Okay, okay! I'll go look! Sheesh…" She walked into her house, grumbling to herself.
The Dragon, meanwhile, was pulling the being's shirt off and used it to try and clean its chest. Gabby's eyes went wide to see just how many scars and wounds were present on the creature. It, like the dragon, looked malnourished as she could see its ribcage and its eyes looked sunken and weary. Gabby came over, pulling out her clawkerchief and quickly trying to get the worst of the blood and dirt off. She used her own water bottle to help the cleaning process.
Gilda came back out with some towels, a small bucket of water and a bottle of what looked like Griffon Whiskey. When Gabby glared at the other Griffon, Gilda just held up her claws defensively and said, "We can use it to disinfect the wounds, can't we?"
Gabby snatched the bottle, opened it, then poured some onto a towel before gently applying it to the worst looking wound on the being's chest. That immediately got a reaction from the strange creature. It opened its eyes wide and screamed in pain. He began thrashing about with surprising strength. "Gilda! Hold this being still for me!" Gabby shouted. As Gilda did her best to hold the struggling being down. Gabby got on top of him and said, "Calm down, we're trying to help!"
The being looked around wildly, fear ever present in its dark blue eyes. When it finally laid eyes on the worried Dragon, it visibly relaxed, reaching out a weak hand to her. The Dragon quickly grabbed it and held it to her cheek. Finally, the being spoke in a weakened male voice. "Em…ber…did we…make it…?"
The Dragon named Ember nodded, a small smile appearing on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks. "We're out of that Tartarus-damned place," she said softly, almost lovingly as she cupped the being's cheeks with her claws.
The being nodded, then turned to Gabby and Gilda. His eyes widened a little bit, almost in recognition before he said, "You sure…we're not in heaven…? Because…I see angels…"
That caught Gabby off guard and she blushed slightly before she shook her head. "Not angels. Griffons. See?" She spread her wings before returning them to their normal state. "Hold still, okay? This is gonna hurt. A lot."
The creature took a deep breath, then nodded. Gabby poured more of the whiskey onto a towel, and continued disinfecting the wound. "What's…your names…?" he asked weakly.
"I'm Gabriella, but call me Gabby," Gabby said, "and this is Gilda."
He smiled weakly up at them, then winced a bit before he said. "Jethro…Jethro Bethridge…"
Princess Twilight Sparkle's Perspective: Present Day
I just wanted this Friendship Festival to go smoothly. Was that too much to ask?
It had been a stressful day for Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle. Planning Equestria's first ever Friendship Festival had taken a lot out of the poor mare. She'd been running around Canterlot for hours, making sure things were perfect for their guests, asking the other three Princesses for help, and almost drowning in half-baked cake from Pinkie Pie's Easy Bake Confetti Cake Cannon, and now some Pony calling herself Commander Tempest was standing inside some kind of dirigible to deliver a message to Equestria about somepony called the Storm King.
Just before Twilight herself could say anything, Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance flew down in front of her, looking up at the dirigible in front of them and more specifically, towards the maroon-colored Unicorn.
Celestia spoke, and Twilight could hear her the tone of a seasoned ruler behind her next words. "Tempest, is it? How may we help you?"
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked," Tempest said with a small smile, and for a second, Twilight felt like things just might turn out alright after all. However, the Unicorn's next words quickly dispelled that illusion when she said, "How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"
Twilight swallowed hard. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew she had to try something. She snuck around her old foalsitter, and waved, smiling as best she could at the potential new friend. "Hi there…Princess of Friendship. Not exactly sure what's going on, but I know we can talk things out." She gave her best smile.
"Oh goodie. All four Princesses," Tempest said, and something in her tone sent a shudder down Twilight's spine. The strange Unicorn began walking down the gangplank. "Here's the deal, ladies. I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we make things difficult." Her expression hardened and she shouted, "For everyone!"
"And why should we cower before you?" Princess Luna asked, glaring defiantly at the newcomer. "There's one of you, and hundreds of us!"
Twilight felt a new sense of courage bubbling up within her thanks to Luna's words, but when Tempest began to chuckle, her courage began to falter. "I was hoping you'd choose…difficult." From behind her, two large gruesome figures stepped out, towering over even Celestia.
A horn sounded, and two other dirigibles made their presences known from the darkened sky. Twilight could only gasp before she saw more of the massive forms launching themselves from the dirigibles, landing among the Ponies.
Total chaos erupted then, and Ponies began to run in every direction, screaming in terror as other creatures jumped out from other hiding places on rooftops and from other incoming dirigibles.
Twilight didn't even have a chance to think before she saw Tempest launching herself into the air, and the next thing she knew the Unicorn had kicked some green orb towards Princess Celestia. Cadance jumped in front of the ball and began raising a shield to protect Celestia.
However, that's when a miracle occurred. Much to the shock of everypony, including, it seemed, Tempest, the green orb froze in a powerful pale silvery golden magical glow, diverting its direction upward towards one of the only clear patches of sky remaining. Amongst the chaos and screaming, a clear male voice boomed. "TEMPEST SHADOW! YOU AND THE UPSTART STORM KING HAVE MUCH TO ANSWER FOR!"
Tempest gaped in the general direction of the voice, which came from the same patch of sky. Suddenly, there was a blinding white light in the shape of a pair of Alicorn wings that filled the air. However, it lasted for only a few seconds before it died down…to reveal a large number of flying creatures, all in a large line. Twilight recognized some as Dragons and others as Griffons, but the one at the forefront was a being she couldn't quite identify. The shape seemed familiar, albeit with large wings resembling those of an Alicorn. The being flew forward, a large spiked blade with gold and silver wavey patterns on the blade and Dragon wings for a crossguard. There was a fierce looking claw weapon attached to his other hand. The being, who looked male, raised the sword above his head. He was wearing a long blood red overcoat, dark black leather clothes underneath, and had on his head of flowing long hair a helmet with a golden crown emblazoned on it.
Tempest growled angrily. "Crimson Emperor…" she snarled.
Twilight was now utterly confused. She'd never heard of this Storm King or this Crimson Emperor, and right now she wasn't sure if either were on the side of Equestria. This Crimson Emperor presumably was the bipedal looking creature flying above. He pointed his sword directly at Tempest. "I WILL GIVE YOU ONE WARNING: LEAVE EQUESTRIAN SOIL AT ONCE OR FACE THE MIGHT AND WRATH OF THE IMPERIUM'S ARMY!"
"This isn't your fight, Crimson Emperor!" Tempest shouted up at him. "Go back to your Imperium! This is YOUR only warning!"
"OH, I WAS HOPING YOU'D CHOOSE…DIFFICULT," the Crimson Emperor said in a mocking tone, perfectly copying Tempest's words from earlier. He held out the hand with the claw weapon attached. "TIME FOR YOU TO EXPERIENCE WHAT UNLIMITED POWER FEELS LIKE!" The next instant, bolts of blue lightning shot out of the blades, striking Tempest in the chest and flinging her away into a nearby building. That was when Twilight knew just what this Crimson Emperor looked like.
He was a human, a lot like the ones from Sunset Shimmer's world. Only, how he had wings and magic and his normal form wasn't something she could explain.
And there was no time to think anyway. The Crimson Emperor raised his sword and shouted, "SOLDIERS OF THE IMPERIUM, HEED MY ORDERS: PROTECT THE PONIES OF EQUESTRIA WITH YOUR LIVES. BRING ME TEMPEST SHADOW ALIVE. DECIMATE THE REST OF THE STORM KING'S FORCES!" Just then, some strange music began playing, its unusual chords playing from seemingly everywhere, echoing from the houses and towers of Canterlot. As the drums on the song played and the volume shot up, the Griffons and Dragons in the air began to scatter, and Twilight saw for the first time that they were armored, their claws augmented with sharp metal talons similar to the one on the Crimson Emperor's hand. She saw that they were made for only one thing: killing.
"You'd better get ready to die (Get ready to die!)! You'd better get ready to kill (Get ready to kill!)! You'd better get ready to run cuz here we come! Oooooh! You'd better get ready to diiie (Ready to die!)!"
The screams and shouts began anew, but this time from the Storm King's forces and those of the Crimson Emperor as they clashed. Many of the Crimson Emperor's forces made their way to where other Ponies were being cornered and fought the massive creatures who came with the dirigibles. The Crimson Emperor himself stayed in the air for a few more seconds before charging towards a large group of the Storm King's soldiers who had cornered a group of fillies, including, of all Ponies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
With a single swing of his sword, the Crimson Emperor not only killed the three invaders, but decapitated them, their heads rolling neatly off of their heads, blood spurting from their now empty necks. With a blast of his magic, which felt oddly like that of a Pony, he forced the bodies back, spreading his wings so that the fillies behind him didn't see the gruesome bloodshed.
"Sister, what do we do?!" Celestia said, her face a mixture of horror and anger.
Luna, on the other hand, looked around stoically. "Whoever this Crimson Emperor is, he's clearly on our side, for the moment. We need to protect our subjects!" And with that, the Lunar Diarch launched herself into the air, firing a blast of magic into a nearby Storm King soldier and sending him directly into a wall.
"Twilight, you and your friends protect the citizens of Canterlot!" Celestia ordered as she spread her wings.
"But how?!" Twilight was more terrified than she'd ever been, even during the Changeling Invasion a few years prior. No lives had been lost then, but this Crimson Emperor and his forces had already killed. Right in front of Ponies, Ponies who hadn't seen this type of violence or even heard about it except in books.
"Princess Twilight," Celestia said quickly, turning to her former student, "our duty is to protect our little Ponies. There's no time to debate. GO!" She launched herself into the air, her horn glowing as she blasted a nearby Storm King soldier with her magic.
Twilight turned to her friends. Applejack had already begun fighting back, as had Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was curled up in a trembling ball, shivering in fear and shock at the bloodshed. Pinkie was using her massive cannon to blast the enemies away, and Rarity was using some of the gems as projectiles, hitting the nearest of the Storm King's forces. Spike was beside her, trembling but trying his best to be brave as he blew fire at one of the smaller attackers.
Twilight felt the ground rumble behind her. She whirled and saw a larger creature charging towards her, a mace raised over its head. Twilight charged up her magic and blasted it back, sending it sprawling. However, she hadn't counted on another coming from the side. It grabbed her in its talons and began crushing her wings together. The pain left her unable to concentrate on using her magic. She heard her friends calling out her name in fear. That is, until the creature's eyes widened in shock, then the grasp on her lessened and she was able to break free. The Storm King soldier's eyes rolled back into its head and it fell to its knees, and that's when Twilight saw the full picture of what had just happened.
There, standing directly beside the soldier, was the grim face of the Crimson Emperor himself, his sword sticking directly into the soldier's head. With a single pull, the Crimson Emperor pulled the sword out, sending a fountain of blood into the air and splattering his already dark red coat. He watched the soldier fall with grim satisfaction, then turned to Twilight.
The Princess of Friendship backed away, trembling in fear. She had no idea what this particular type of human was capable of, and she'd heard a lot about them from Sunset Shimmer back in the human world where she still lived. However, there was something in his eyes that stunned her out of her fear.
Regret.
He stood taller, swinging his sword and splattering the blood on it all over the ground. "Fight on, Twilight Sparkle. Protect your fellow Ponies," he said before he spread his wings, which she now saw had blade tips on the wings. He held up his sword and pointed to the dirigibles above. It was suddenly encased in bright and hot blue flames. She heard his mighty voice calling out, "ALPHA AND BETA SQUADS, CAPTURE THOSE SHIPS AND KILL THE SOLDIERS INSIDE! GAMMA SQUAD! DECLOAK!"
A number of Griffons and Dragons nodded and flew towards the ships. Suddenly Twilight saw something she hoped never to see again. A green ring of fire appeared around a nearby filly, spreading up its body to reveal a Changeling. And not just any Changeling. It was Queen Chrysalis herself. As she had back at the wedding, she stood in a bipedal manner unlike her subjects. She glared back at Twilight before walking over to the Crimson Emperor. To her surprise, Chrysalis bowed to him. "My Emperor, all my Fae are in place."
The Crimson Emperor grinned. "Good. You know the orders. Eliminate the enemy forces with extreme prejudice. Feel free to drain them of any love they have. Do a good job for me and I'll give you a nice reward tonight." The grin turned predatory.
Chrysalis shuddered, but Twilight saw it was in some kind of anticipation. "Y-Yes, my Emperor."
"Good. Now go!" He gave her a swat on her backside with his wing. Chrysalis yelped before spreading her wings and flying into the air. The Crimson Emperor then rushed off towards a group of these enemies who were fighting a female Griffon who looked extremely familiar to Twilight.
However, before she could watch what happened next, another enemy soldier rushed her, raising a mallet. Twilight raised her horn and fired another magic blast at the soldier.
Celestia's Perspective
The battle was over in just thirty minutes. The enemy soldiers never stood a chance. The Crimson Emperor's own soldiers, which consisted of three fierce races, Griffons, Dragons and Changelings, overwhelmed the enemy invaders, leaving none alive. Canterlot's streets were littered with the dead.
Twilight and her friends had fought bravely enough, but now that the battle was over, they returned to the site of the Friendship Festival, collapsing against a wall and panting heavily. They were too tired to move. Celestia had fought as well, but as non-lethally as she could. Not that it mattered much because this Crimson Emperor had ordered no mercy shown to any but the Pony Tempest Shadow. She kept an eye on the Crimson Emperor's soldiers, who now were busy cleaning up the dead bodies, taking them into the newly captured dirigibles. Others were actually helping injured Ponies towards a makeshift medical tent hastily set up by the Imperium's forces. Celestia had heard the order given by the Crimson Emperor himself. It was one of the most confusing parts about him. He'd been so fierce and merciless before, but now he was among those actively helping the Ponies.
Currently, however, he'd gathered four of his forces and they were heading to the spot where the Dirigibles had been moved, which was the air docks at the edge of Canterlot. As Celestia approached them, she got a better look at who and what they were.
One was a blue scaled Dragon female with deep red eyes. She wore fierce looking red armor made specifically to fit her slender frame. She was nearly as tall as this Crimson Emperor was, and was standing very close to him as the five walked towards another smaller hastily erected tent. Celestia could see the seriousness in her eyes, but she also saw just how the Dragon's tail curled up around the Crimson Emperor's waist. She guessed that they were involved romantically somehow.
Two others were Griffons. One had the look of a warrior in her yellow eyes. She had white feathers on her head and neck and light brown wings and fur elsewhere on her body. She too, wore armor and, similarly to the Crimson Emperor, had fierce looking spikes attached to her wings and claws. She was keeping an eye out all around her.
The other Griffon was a dark gray with wide blue eyes. Out of all of them, she looked the least bit of a warrior. Instead, she was wearing what Celestia could only describe as a nurse's outfit. She'd seen this Griffon in the few hours after the battle flying around, helping injured Ponies to the makeshift tents erected by the Imperium. She, too, was close to this Emperor and was pressing herself slightly against him.
The fourth member, however, Celestia knew quite well, and a burst of rage spread through the ancient Alicorn. It was Chrysalis herself, although for some strange reason, she looked at this Emperor with a look of subservience which shocked the alabaster Princess.
Suddenly, Luna joined her, landing to her right. Cadance joined on her left, and the latter said, "Auntie, what's going on? Why are you following them?"
Celestia straightened. "To get some answers." She cleared her throat, spreading her wings regally as she called out after him, "Pardon me, Crimson Emperor, was it?"
The reactions of the four females surrounding the Emperor were varied. Chrysalis whirled and growled in an almost protective way, placing herself between the Emperor and Celestia. The warrior Griffon and Dragon stiffened, ready for a fight, and the nurse Griffon moved closer to the Emperor himself. However, the Emperor, who had still to turn around, clapped his hands sharply. "At ease, everyone," he said, looking at them all before turning to face Celestia. "Now this is indeed a surprise. Three of the four Equestrian Princesses." His tone was cool and collected, nothing at all like the vicious killing machine Celestia had witnessed only a few hours before. "As you've guessed, I'm the Crimson Emperor. I'm not really a big fan of it, but it is what it is. I rule over what once was the Griffon, Fae (or Changeling to you) and Dragon territories. And I know your names." He raised his hand and pointed. "Princess of Love Mi Amore Cadenza, also known as Princess Cadance of the recently returned Crystal Empire." He turned to Luna. "Princess Luna, younger sister and Diarch of the Night and Dreams." Then he pointed to Celestia. "Princess Celestia, older sister and Diarch of the Day." He looked behind her suddenly and grinned. "And I see the Elements of Harmony are approaching as well. And there's dear old Spike the Dragon. How nice."
Celestia turned and, to her surprise, the Elements of Harmony, along with a worn-out looking Spike, were approaching the group. Despite their exhaustion, they approach stalwartly. Twilight had a wary expression on her face as she looked at the unusual assemblage of creatures, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both had looks of mistrust on their faces, Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified and was hiding behind a protective Rainbow, Rarity was simply frowning and Spike was more so looking at Ember in shock. Before Celestia could say anything, Applejack stepped forward, eyes narrowed at the Crimson Emperor, looking ready to pounce. "Just what in tarnation are ya?" she snarled angrily.
The Emperor turned and faced the orange Earth Pony with a bemused expression. "Why, my dear Applejack, I'd have thought me being called the Crimson Emperor would identify me quite clearly. Or perhaps you refer to my race? If that's the case, Twilight Sparkle would know. Wouldn't you, Princess of Friendship?" He turned to regard Twilight with a cool countenance. "How's Sunset doing these days, anyway?"
Celestia also knew, based off descriptions Twilight gave of the world beyond Starswirl's Mirror, what this creature resembled, but she had never described these humans as having wings. Twilight stepped forward, gazing up at the strange human-like being. "How do you know about the human world?"
"Because I'm from a world that's similar to the one you know. I was once human until I was dragged into this world ten years ago," the Crimson Emperor said, now growling in anger as he pulled at his dark red garments, pulling them aside. All of the females surrounding him, even Chrysalis, to Celestia's surprise, looked away with sorrow as the Emperor showed them hideous marks on his chest and stomach. Celestia was sickened by what she saw. Scars of the lashes of a whip, deep gashes where he'd been injured by claws, and more covered his entire chest. He whirled on Twilight. "Ten years ago, mere days before you sent Twilight to Ponyville, she cast a spell that dragged me from my world to this one, only something went wrong! I ended up in the Storm King's castle instead of Griffonstone where I was meant to go! He captured me, used me in his sick games for five long and miserable years. I was forced to kill to survive in his arena! I almost died multiple times! And the women soldiers of his did things to me that-!"
Chrysalis quickly put a claw on his shoulder, looking at him with a look of deep concern. "My Emperor…please…"
The Emperor put his hand over Chrysalis' claw and squeezed, looking into her eyes with a small smile as he began to cover himself once more. "I'm sorry, Chryssi," he said softly, leaning in and touching her forehead with his, putting a hand on the back of her neck. "The nightmares don't easily stop, you know…"
The Dragon female came up and looked directly at Celestia. "You should be grateful," she snarled. "If it wasn't for my Emperor, you would be encased in stone and those Elements of Harmony and hatchling would be all alone looking for the Hippogriffs!"
"And how do you know about them?" Celestia asked, looking at the Dragon suspiciously. "You have knowledge of events in Equestria that you shouldn't have. How do you know all of this?"
The Emperor stood straighter. "I'm afraid that's an Imperium secret. But I trust my actions have proven that I am no enemy of yours. Not unless you make me one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be off. The so-called Storm King must be eliminated at all costs." And turning, he and his entourage continued down to the docks.
Time seemed to slow for Celestia the moment he turned away. There was so much to absorb here. Five years of intense torture, only for this being to become an Emperor. And of what? She'd somehow never even heard of this stallion before, but now it made sense that the Griffon ambassador slowly pulled away five years ago and why trade had been so unusual between Equestria and Griffonstone.
"He needs help," a still, small voice said from behind Celestia.
The alabaster princess turned, only to see Fluttershy staring after the retreating Emperor and his four companions. Fluttershy's right, Celestia thought. He's obviously been through much since he came to our world…I wonder…
She turned to Twilight. "Princess Twilight."
"Y-Yes, Princess Celestia?" Twilight turned and faced her former mentor.
"I want you and your friends to go with him."
"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed incredulously. "You can't be serious! He's a killer!"
"Rainbow Dash," Celestia began sternly, which shut the cyan Pegasus up as she listened, "Unfortunately, in battles, deaths occur. This was a battle, pure and simple. And he is obviously incredibly powerful. Fluttershy is right. He needs help. He's obviously known hardly any happiness since coming here."
"Despite the amount of love pouring out of those four towards him?" Cadance asked.
"You mean that Changeling is actually feeling love for somepony else?" Rarity asked in shock and disbelief.
"All things are possible," Luna said. "Second chances especially."
"She's right, girls," Twilight said, turning to look back at the retreating Emperor. "We're the Elements of Harmony. And I'm the Princess of Friendship. Not just of Pony friendship, but friendship in general. We've got to try, at least."
"He looks so saddy-waddy!" Pinkie exclaimed, and just like that, she zoomed off after him. "Wait uuup!"
"Darn it, Pinkie! Wait up!" Applejack said as she galloped after them.
As the others ran after the Emperor and his apparent lovers, Celestia looked after them. Her heart swelled with pride at all that her faithful student and her friends had accomplished. But she also felt uneasy. She felt that this journey, if this Emperor even allowed it, would change Twilight in ways she couldn't very well predict. "Be well, Twilight…please be safe all of you…" she whispered to herself more than anything, then she turned to Luna and Cadance. "Come on, you two. We have work to do." So saying, she turned and headed back to the main square. There was much to be done…