One week. It had been one week since I'd returned to Aelyssia. From what I'd been told, the Dragons who had gathered were growing restless and itching to move again. The food that had been found had been brought out and distributed among the Dragons. Huǒshān had reported that the grumbling against Torch had begun anew after the food had been distributed, mostly about what a selfish asshole he'd been.
I'd been too busy to keep in much touch with Twilight aside from a couple of calls and a nightly text wishing her a good night. It was during these texts that I noticed Twilight had discovered emojis as she used them more and more often in her replies, which consisted of varying ways of saying I Love You with hearts and such added after.
It was the seventh night after my arrival and I found that I had more time than usual in the evening. I was talking to Twilight over Discord now, and she had a lot to tell me about happenings back in Ponyville. Things seemed to be calm over. She told me that she'd received news from Celestia that two new ponies were going to be coming to town, those being Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst. Celestia herself had actually called me about them an hour earlier and had asked if they could stay at my house until they could find a new place. I'd agreed, but only after I was finished in Aelyssia.
Aside from that, things had been rather peaceful in my hometown. The CMC had been continuing to search for their cutie marks and had invited Spike out more and more often to play. Apparently, a few days before, they'd caught him while he was playing Skyrim and had appeared quite intrigued with the game, so now Twilight had been casting the Anthro spell on the CMC after they came so they could take turns playing video games. I resolved to get Spike a video game console or two on his birthday when it rolled around.
That wasn't all that had happened. Apparently, Celestia and Luna had both created a number of journals for each of the Elements of Harmony and their human counterparts back on Earth. The books had been sent through and now they were all talking back and forth with each other. Pinkie and Diane were eagerly exchanging recipes, Jackie and Applejack were talking about the different ways they handled things on their farms, Rarity and Trisha were of course discussing fashion, Dash and Rainbow were actually discussing plans for the former to come to Equestria for the summer and practice flying, Fluttershy and Shye were exchanging notes on various creatures that didn't exist in each world, and Twyla and Twilight were discussing magic and science. Spike and Brandan had both gotten a journal as well and were both talking about general stuff that young boys talk about, like video games or sports and even girls.
I had a few things to report as well. The first thing I had to tell her was that Wallflower had been exploring the surrounding land and testing it with her magic. According to her, she could very likely create good soil in the volcanic lands, but it would take Earth Pony magic to do so. When I asked how she had known about Earth Pony magic, she confessed that she had seen Applejack testing her abilities when Wallflower had gone to the part of the Everfree that was now burned down to study its soil. Being a unicorn, she had sensed the magic coming from Applejack's hooves and determined that it was a powerful type that could accelerate the growth of plants in a way far superior to any spell she knew. Twilight was excited to learn about this, of course, and said that she would go down to Sweet Apple Acres the next morning to ask Applejack if she could run some more tests to see what progress her friend was making in the further developing of her magic.
The second bit of news I relayed came from Sunset, who was extremely close to cracking the portal between the fabric doors similar to the one I'd given Twilight. During lunch break earlier that day, I had been talking to Sunset in the large dining hall about it. She seemed excited to tell me all about it, but as I was no magical expert by any means, I asked plenty of questions and took as many notes as I could. To Sunset's credit, she patiently explained things to me in a way I could understand, using Earth terms and ideas to help. Even though I was no expert, she still asked me for some ideas, because one of the things she admired best about humans from her experience was their ingenuity and cleverness. I gave a few offhanded suggestions that I didn't think would work after discussing them, but Sunset still wrote them down. By the end of that conversation, Sunset looked even more excited and said that she thought that she'd solved it. She galloped out immediately before I could ask what she meant.
Twilight was smiling on the screen. It was still somewhat light outside where she was, whereas the sun had set for Aelyssia about a half hour ago. I could see the sun illuminating one of the walls of books behind her and offscreen I heard Spike and the CMC playing something on the main computer nearby, and it sounded like they were playing some video game. "Well, from what I've read about human history, your kind are very ingenious for a species that doesn't have magic to make things easier," she was saying.
I shrugged. "When you don't have or need wings or magic, you've got to find other ways to make life easier," I replied, while pointing to my laptop. "Case in point, computers."
Twilight beamed. "Such a marvelous invention! I've managed to write so much faster with this keyboard! Although I'm jealous that you can type so fast with your hands." She looked up at her horn. "I can only type so much with this, and I'm slower when I try and change into an Anthro form." She looked at me and a hopeful look appeared in her eyes. "I've found this…program, I think it's called…named Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. I'm thinking of using it to help. You think I should?"
"Sure, go for it," I replied. "I actually taught myself, but I've heard that program is good."
Twilight nodded and picked up one of the pens I'd given her, using it to write something down. "By the way," she said, "Twyla mentioned that it might be a good idea for me to get a printer. I looked that up online. You think I should get one?"
"Yeah, that's probably something we should get you," I agreed. "Just leave a note and when I have time, I'll send some money through and ask Twyla to get you one. She's the most technologically inclined out of them all, so she'll know just what to get you."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. A hurried knock. Behind the door, I heard Sunset calling "Jethro! Jethro! Let me in! I've got big news!"
"Is that Sunset?" Twilight asked.
"Yep," I said as I turned. "Door's open, Sunset!"
The door opened hard and I saw a wide eyed and smiling Sunset on the other side. In her magic she held a large piece of fabric and the crystal that I'd given to her. She rushed in and set the crystal down on my lap. "Hold this," she said as she rushed over to a wall with the fabric.
"What's going on? I can't see," Twilight said.
I turned the laptop around so the camera was looking directly at Sunset. We both watched as she put it up on the wall. I saw that it was the fabric door that I'd lent to Sunset to experiment with. I watched as the fabric slowly formed into the door. "Did you figure out how to connect two doors?" I asked when the door had been formed.
She galloped back over and retrieved the crystal in my lap. "Watch this," she said excitedly, then turned to the laptop. "Twilight! Where are you right now?"
"Up on the library's main floor, why?" the unicorn asked.
"Is your door in place and where is it?" Sunset asked.
"Yeah…it's safe down in the basement still."
"Good! Go to it and make sure it's closed tightly," Sunset said.
Twilight nodded and went off screen for a bit. I could hear the sound of a door opening and hooftrots heading down a set of stairs. We both waited until said hoofsteps came back up and Twilight returned. "It's closed and locked," she said.
"I don't think you had to lock it, but it shouldn't matter," Sunset said as she faced the door, the crystal in her magic. "Go downstairs again and take the laptop with you this time," Sunset instructed.
Twilight nodded and I saw her turn to one side. "Spike, I'm going to the basement in case you and the Crusaders need anything more."
"Alright," I heard the young drake reply before shouting in victory "Hah! Sniped him!"
"Nice shot!" Scootaloo's voice said from nearby.
"Thanks!" Spike said.
"Go git 'em!" Apple Bloom's voice said.
As the three encouraged Spike in whatever game they were playing, I heard the sound of magic surrounding the laptop. The screen moved and eventually Twilight was down in the basement. She set the laptop down on a nearby table and had the camera facing the doorway. "Ready!"
"Okay, here goes nothing," Sunset said. With that, she lifted the crystal and put it between her and the door. She shot a blast of magic through the crystal, startling me, but that was all it took. She put the crystal aside on the nearby bed and we both watched as the door frame began glowing. On the screen, I saw the same thing happening to Twilight's door frame.
"Hey, is the door frame supposed to be glowing?" Twilight asked in alarm.
"That's normal, let it happen," Sunset said.
"Same thing's happening over here," I added reassuringly.
The light only grew brighter, and on the screen I saw a bright white light illuminated on Twilight's now astonished face. She covered her eyes with a hoof just as I brought my wing up to cover my own eyes. Sunset had to do the same. There was a flash, and then the light receded. I pulled my wing back and the glow was gone. We were once more looking at a doorway. On the Discord call, Twilight was bringing her hoof down and looking at the now normal looking door. "Did…that do it?" she asked.
Sunset rushed forward and threw open the door. There, on the other side, was a large room with tall bookshelves and a lit fire. She galloped forward, took a right, and rushed off. I turned when I heard a door open on the laptop mic. Twilight's eyes widened as her door was flung open from the inside and Sunset came barreling out. She waved at me. "Eureka!" was all that she could say. She had a sparkle in her eyes and the widest and happiest smile on her face.
I heard Twilight gasping, then there was a smile on her face too. She rushed off and I could hear the sound of hooves galloping in the room beyond. Twilight came into view and rushed towards me. Jumping through the door, she leaped onto me, hugging me tightly and burying her face into my neck. "Jethro!" she shouted with joy.
I wrapped my arms and wings around the happy unicorn while Sunset, watching this on the other side of the portal, merely smirked. "From what I've managed to surmise, the connection is permanent so we can't just break it and make new ones with two different doors," Sunset explained.
"So if I were to move this door and place it back somewhere else, it would now automatically connect back to Twilight's new microdimensional library? Like some kind of Remember Me feature?"
Sunset nodded. "Exactly!"
"Hey, Sunset! Do you think if somepony made a connection between two of these and sent one to Earth it would bypass the species change?" Twilight asked with equal excitement.
"If we could make it work, I don't see why it wouldn't," Sunset replied, "but I don't know much about Star Swirl's mirror to say. Plus, there's no magic on Earth."
"I saw Jethro cast some magic there," Twilight countered.
"Right, forgot about that," Sunset said. "Well, it's worth looking into. Anyway, I'm coming back."
As Sunset left the screen, Twilight looked over at me and smiled, nuzzling my face happily. "I'm so happy to see you," she said, her hooves wrapped around me tightly.
"Me too, Twi," I replied with a smile of my own.
As Twilight relaxed in my arms, I heard Sunset approaching from beyond the door. She took a look at the two of us and smirked. "Get a room, you two," she said in a teasing tone.
"We are in a room," I replied quickly, gesturing to the bedroom we were in. "My room, as a matter of fact."
"Then I'll leave you be," Sunset said as she headed to the door.
"Wait!" I called out. She stopped and turned, a curious expression on her face. I touched the necklace around my neck and summoned four more of the fabric doors. I placed them on the bed next to the gem. "Could you make two sets of doorway portals? And be careful, two of those are on the bigger side, so connect those two so that bigger Dragons can step through." Sunset nodded eagerly, grabbed the four pieces of fabric along with the crystal and rushed out, leaving me and Twilight alone.
Once the door closed, I felt Twilight pressing herself closer into me, clinging tighter. I rubbed her back gently. "You okay?" I asked after a while.
She nodded. "I'm fine. I just missed you."
Smiling more, I held her closer. "I've missed you too," I replied, "and now we can visit each other in person."
Twilight nodded. From the still active Discord call, I heard the basement door open. "Twilight? You down here?" Spike's voice called out from upstairs. "Do we have any more of Pinkie's cookies left?"
"I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied.
There was a pause, then the sound of footsteps coming down. "What was that, Twilight? I didn't hear you."
"I said I don't know if we do," Twilight repeated.
"Your voice sounds weird. You okay?" Spike asked as his voice drew nearer.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Twilight said, "you're just hearing my voice through the laptop."
A few moments passed, and then Spike came into view on the screen. His eyes widened when he looked at the screen. "Dad?! Is that you with Twilight?!" he exclaimed.
"That it is," I smiled and waved. "Sunset managed to open a portal between two doors."
Spike turned towards the still open door and with a shout, he ran into the room. I watched him turn the corner again and run through towards where Twilight and I were. "Dad!" he shouted as he joined in on the hug, throwing his arms around me and Twilight.
"Hey, little drake," I smiled as I put an arm and wing around him. The three of us sat like this, hugging it out for a long while.
We were still hugging when the Crusaders joined as well. I was made aware of them when I heard Scootaloo's voice saying, "Whoa…that's one huuuuge bed!"
I looked up and saw that the Crusaders, all in an Anthro form and wearing some wintery clothes. Scootaloo's wings were spread behind her and she jumped up. I saw, to my astonishment, that she had gained some skills in flying, but only for a little while. She flew around the room and landed on my huge bed. "Fluffy!" she said as she began bouncing on it.
"Howdy, Jethro!" Apple Bloom said, "I didn't know you were back yet."
I smiled and shook my head, releasing Spike and Twilight from my grip. "I'm not back yet," I explained, "I'm still in Aelyssia."
"But how?" Sweetie asked in her cute and still squeaking voice.
"Well, let's just say that Sunset Shimmer managed to create a portal between Equestria and Aelyssia," I explained.
The Crusader's eyes widened and they looked around the room, now in awe. "So we're in the Dragon Lands now?" Scootaloo asked after a while. When I nodded, she smiled and her wings buzzed behind her. "Awesome!"
"Yes it is, but you should get going," I said as I stood and stretched. "It's later here than it is where you are. I've got a big day tomorrow."
"Aww, but I wanted to see the Dragon Lands," Apple Bloom said with a pout.
"Not right now, little filly," I said, "because if I let you go exploring, I'd get in trouble with your sister and brother, or worse, your grandma. I might be an Emperor, but that mare's got plenty of kick in her for someone her age."
"Don't let her hear you sayin' that," Apple Bloom said, "or she'll tan yer hide."
"Duly noted," I replied. "Anyway, when things settle down, and if your families give you all permission, then you can come back. For now, though, time to go back home."
"Awww," the three girls said, but they still complied and walked back through the door.
After one final hug from Spike, he too went back, leaving me and Twilight. She stood on her hind legs and hugged me once more as well. "Can I come back?" she asked hopefully.
"We'll see," I said after a few moments of contemplation.
She nodded, then there was a look of indecision on her face. It looked like she wanted to do something or say something but wasn't sure how. I was about to ask what she was thinking about when she leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. I froze, stunned by this bold move. Her face went red and she looked away. "Ah…I-I wanted t-to see what it was l-like to kiss the stallion you l-l-love," she stammered out quickly. "S-Sorry about-eep!"
A smile crossed over my face and I wrapped her into a tight hug. "It's alright, Twi," I said softly as my hand ran through her mane, "I'm not mad."
She melted into my embrace and I felt her relax. "Thank Celestia…" she said softly. "I was afraid you'd be mad or would hate me."
"I love you, Twilight," I said gently, "nothing would make me hate you."
She tightened her hug around me. "Thank you…" she whispered. After a while, she broke the hug. "W-Well," she said as she adjusted her mane with her magic, "I should get going. I've got a lot to tell Twyla tonight."
I chuckled. "Tell her and Brandan I said hi, would you?" I asked.
"I will." With that, she gave me one final smile before she headed back through the door.
"Wait a moment!" I called out, making her pause and turn. "Stay there for a bit. I want to try something." She nodded and I closed the door. I pulled at the corner, turning the door into a piece of fabric again. I put it up against another part of the wall, watched it form into a door again, then opened it. On the other side, I saw Twilight looking expectantly at me. "Okay, phew…it worked," I said.
"What did you do?" Twilight asked.
"Just moved the door somewhere else," I explained.
She nodded. "Good call. Alright, talk to you same time tomorrow? In pony this time?"
"Sure, that sounds good," I said. "See you then."
With a wave, she headed off. I closed the door and pulled it off the wall. I folded it and set it down on a nearby table. I quickly got ready for bed and after putting some extra logs on the fire was nearly ready.
Just then, Zecora and Scarlet came in, both yawning. "We heard that Sunset managed to open a portal back to Ponyville?" Scarlet asked as she jumped into bed, getting comfortable under the covers.
"That she did," I said as I got into bed next to her.
"That is quite an accomplishment, love," Zecora said as she slipped under the covers on my other side, taking my hand in hers. "Can we see it?"
"Maybe tomorrow," I said. "For now, I'm beat, and if Sunset finishes what I asked her to do by tomorrow, we'll be extremely busy." I gave her a goodnight kiss, then did the same for Scarlet. "Goodnight, you two. I love you both."
"We love you too, studmuffin," Scarlet grinned as she wrapped her front hooves around my arm and snuggled in close.
"Sleep well, my dear," Zecora said as she too snuggled up close.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
"Thanks for doing this for me, Sunset," I said as I put the Palantir-esque gemstone in my backpack the next morning right after breakfast, "I owe you big time." I was in the dining room with Zecora, Scarlet, Wallflower, Sunset, Gemini, Mica, Ember and Huǒshān. Chrysalis and the Dazzlings didn't exactly want to join us for breakfast so I had some of the newer servants deliver a meal to their room. Gemini and Mica were at the table with me despite the former's protests.
"Just let me at any old books in Virynth Atheos, and we'll be even," the unicorn chuckled.
"Deal," I chuckled.
Ember looked at me. "So…what exactly did this Pony do?" she asked.
I turned to my new Hand. "She came up with an easy way for us to travel from here to the city," I explained.
"And how will that happen?" she asked.
"Through a pair of magical doorways," I replied. I then proceeded to explain in simple terms what would be happening.
"That will be quite helpful, My Liege," Huǒshān said, "especially for those among us who are old or infirmed and can't make the flight. But these doors…are they big enough for our largest of Dragons?"
Sunset raised her hoof. "Mr. Huǒshān, please leave that to me," she said, "these doors can grow or shrink in conjunction with each other when connected. I made sure of that before I went to tell Jeth-the Emperor about it."
Huǒshān looked carefully at the young Unicorn, then slowly nodded. "I suppose that's possible," he said, "I was only a young hatchling when we escaped the palace, so I never knew much about these doors." He turned to Jethro. "So, what is the plan, My Liege?"
I nodded. "I'm gonna use the Resplendent to go there with a few of the guards and those who came with me so we can find a place to set up the doors near Virynth Atheos, but while I'd like to leave as soon as possible, the Dragons who came here are gonna have to know what's going on."
"Yeah…leave that to me and Huǒshān," Ember said. "No offense to you, Your Grace, but you tend to talk a lot. Dragons prefer less words and more action." She hit her chest hard.
"We can get the Dragons here organized and ready, My Liege," Huǒshān added in agreement. "How long will it take until you reach the city?"
"Last time it took me about…a few hours to get from there to here, so if I leave in the next half hour, I can have the doors open some time in the afternoon." I looked at the two Dragons in the room. "Have them ready before then. It'll definitely be before sundown."
"As you command, My Liege," Huǒshān replied with a bow, the ancient looking Dragon looking slightly excited. I thought he heard the older Dragon say, "I can go home…"
I smiled, then turned to Ember. "Thanks for staying behind, too."
Ember scoffed and waved her claw. "Don't say it like it's a chore. I chose this, and I'm a Dragon of my word."
I nodded. "I trust you." I turned once more to Sunset. "I'd like you to stay behind, too, just in case something happens." I pulled out the spare cellphone I had brought with me and handed it to her. "Call me if anything happens."
Sunset nodded, took the cellphone, placed it on the table, then raised her horn. It began to glow, and her body did the same. Her form began to grow and morph until she became an Anthro version of herself, albeit completely naked. She covered herself briefly before grabbing the phone with her hand and vanishing in a blink of magic. Everyone else just stared at where she had been standing in confusion. "Um…since when were Ponies able to change at will?" Huǒshān asked.
I put my arm around Zecora, who leaned against me. "You've seen my wife here, correct?" he asked. "She's not like other Zebras. It's a magic spell that one of my friends discovered."
Sunset appeared once more in a flash of her magic. She was now wearing a pair of jeans, a light blue blouse and a black leather jacket. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I forgot about being naked like that." She turned back to me. "I'll keep you updated in case things go wrong."
"What about me?" Wallflower asked nervously, raising her hoof.
"You can come with me, Zecora, Scarlet and the guards I'll be taking with me," I said. "Besides, I'm gonna need some of your expertise in finding fertile fields where we can grow crops."
Ember sighed. "We don't exactly like veggies," she said.
"Spike has eaten them before," I argued, "and he's been alright."
She rolled her eyes at me. "Don't expect Dragons to be bouncing off the walls."
"I don't," I said as I stood, "but we're going to need more of a steady supply of food if we're hoping to settle down and begin rebuilding the old capital to its former glory. There might be animals around that can be hunted, but that's no guarantee." I looked back at Ember. "Dragons did used to eat apples once upon a time, so we know your ancient diets were different than now. And let's not forget what your father once stored away from other Dragons. Trust me, we'll figure it out."
Ember ran her claw back across her head spines and nodded. "Alright…I guess it's worth a shot."
I smiled, then turned back to the others. "Now then, it's time to get started. We have work to do."
The flight back to Virynth Atheos was a rather quiet one. The Dazzlings and Chrysalis joined us, mostly because they didn't want to be left with Dragons who hated them, or at least that was what Chrysalis said. The High Fae woman sat near me on a chair most of the time, looking over the side at the passing landscape. Lahar, Strato, Scoria and Silica were the four guards I chose to come with me, which they did without question. I decided that since their devotion was apparently without question that I would grant them the title of my Honor Guards, along with Gemini and Mica.
The Dazzlings, meanwhile, wandered the ship while at the same time experimenting with their new wings. I asked that some of the guards who accompanied me to keep an eye on them since they didn't seem all that confident on their flying abilities.
Wallflower and Scarlet seemed to form a bond rather fast, since I saw them mostly sitting and talking on the main deck. Sometimes I would catch Wallflower looking over the side and pointing at some part of the ground. Scarlet would then fly down, then return with some dust in her hooves. Wallflower would examine it. I'd never seen the green Unicorn so excited each time.
Gemini and Mica stood by me, fully armed and ready to go. I could see in their eyes that they took their duties more seriously than normal. Gemini stood near me, scanning the skies with a devotion I hadn't seen in her except possibly when she was in the employ of the Lycan Empress. Mica did the same.
Zecora, unsurprisingly, stood by me as I navigated the Resplendent across the wastes of Aelyssia. She would even take the wheel whenever I needed to use the head or if I needed time to rest. She managed to fly the ship rather well, so much so that she joked about learning how to drive my car. I chuckled at that and said that I might just let her when things settled down. She seemed pretty excited by that, which made me smile.
When the local time was about four in the afternoon (my phone somehow automatically switched time zones when I came to Aelyssia) my Pegasus eyesight spotted the ancient battlements of Virynth Atheos. I sent two of the guards, Strato and Silica ahead to scout out the area and to make sure that the shield that had been kept up around it was down. As I waited for them to return, the ancient ruined city continued to gain prominence in front of us. It was just as magnificent as I remembered it. Tall towers, the ancient spikes coming from the battlements, the same Dragonfire scorches on the walls, the still mostly standing city within the walls, and the vast empty plains just outside of said walls.
My guards came back after a half hour and knelt before me. "Your Grace, the shield is down," Strato said.
"Very good. You may stand," I said, "Anything else to report?"
Silica was the one to speak as the two stood. "The buildings are in surprisingly good shape, Your Grace," she said. "The buildings seem to be able to withstand the elements without any problems."
"You think they're capable of living in?" I asked.
Silica and Strato looked back at each other, a look of uncertainty passing over their faces. Strato turned to me first. "The outward buildings might not be alright, but we both found large cave systems underneath the city."
I raised an eyebrow. "Cave systems?" I repeated. "How big?"
"I couldn't exactly tell, Your Grace," Silica admitted, "but it seems that many of the buildings have an opening which leads to an underground chamber. I couldn't tell if they were individual ones, or if they were connected to each other, but the caves I saw seemed sturdy enough."
"They were big enough for a Dragon family to live in if need be," Strato agreed.
That wasn't something I had anticipated, but it was another stroke of good luck. In the event of a storm, and if they were as sturdy as these two were saying, we could use them as emergency shelters. "And what about the castle itself?" I asked, "did you two explore it?"
Silica and Strato nodded simultaneously. "It's in much better shape than the rest of the city," Strato said.
"Did you find any entrances to underground caves in the castle itself?" I asked. "There should be one somewhere, especially if the last of Old Aelyssia escaped from the palace."
"We couldn't find anything," Silica said.
I waved my hand. "Well, we'll conduct a more in-depth exploration of the city later," I said, "our first priority is getting the other Dragons here and set up." I turned the Resplendent down towards a large body of water near the gates. Thankfully, it was just large enough to hold the ship comfortably, and after dropping anchor and getting things in order, we all disembarked and approached the city walls. We flew, and those who couldn't fly were carried by the guards. As we did so, I turned to Silica and Strato. "Did you see which part of the walls were the strongest?"
Strato, who was carrying Wallflower, nodded. "The eastern portion of the wall seemed the most intact," he said.
"The southern walls are pretty strong looking too, and they're taller," Silica added.
I nodded and looked down at the walls. Every part I saw looked strong, but the southern walls were the tallest. I flew down towards the tallest portion of the wall and landed. Everyone else followed behind me. I walked up and put my hand on the stone, touching it and trying to get a feel for it. Beside me, Zecora walked up and put her own hand on the wall before turning to me. "These walls are very solid, dearest."
Scarlet came up, turned, and bucked at the wall. She winced as she hovered up in the air. "Oh yeah, solid as hell," she said.
I heard a fist hitting the wall from nearby. Turning, I saw Gemini with her fist still against the wall. She turned to me. "It's solidly built," she said.
I nodded, then touched the necklace around my neck. In front of me, two large pieces of fabric appeared, one substantially larger than the other. I turned and looked back out at the southern portion of the land we were standing in. There were vast empty plains for miles around, plenty of space to create camps and possibly farmland in the future. I turned to the four Dragon guards, then took the first piece of fabric. "I need your help," I said.
Lahar stepped forward. "What is it you command, Your Grace?" he asked.
"I need you to set these fabric doors up," I said. He and the others listened as I explained just how these fabric doors worked.
When I finished, he nodded. "We understand." He turned to the others. "Scoria, you're with me with the larger one. Strato, Silica, set up the smaller one right next to it."
I stood back and watched as the four Dragon guards carefully lifted the two large pieces of fabric and unfolded them before moving them towards the wall. One was approximately the entire height of the wall itself, give or take a few feet. The other was a third of that size. I watched as they set up both, and smiled as both doors solidified. The guards returned to my side, and I lifted my hand. The Staff of Ignu appeared in a flash, and the gemstone glowed brightly as power coursed through it. The doors began to open. Sunlight came in from the other side since both doors had been facing west on the other side. Unlike the door to Equestria, these two didn't have any intermediary room. Instead, they were just two doors between one place and another. On the other side of the smaller one, I could see a grinning Sunset along with Ember, Huǒshān and the other Dragons, all of whom were staring through the doors in awe.
Lifting my staff, I brought it down loudly, and a burst of energy flew from it. In a booming voice, I said, "Welcome to Virynth Atheos! Welcome home!"