Ever since Ember agreed to become Dragon Lord, or rather, something more like my regent, she and I had spent most of our time in my office together along with Twilight, who joined us fairly often through my own copy of a door to her new library. The purple Unicorn had insisted that she wanted to help since she was learning more and more about Dragon history and heritage from the books in her new library. Sunset also joined in often as she, too, studied the old texts.
Together, we managed to cobble together a somewhat comprehensive history of the old Aelyssian Empire, and I was stunned to find out that the land was older than I thought.
The Empire had formed approximately ten thousand years ago, according to the many historical and anecdotal records. The five draconic races had, at one point in their history, warred among themselves and with each other for resources and land. All was apparently chaos and fire.
During that time, known as the Age of Strife, an individual from the Dragon race, a young male named Ignu, was born. He was depicted in ancient drawings as having crimson scales, yellow eyes, wide wings and a bright blue star pattern of scales on his forehead. He came from a loving family, but just after his molting, his parents and siblings were all killed and he was sold into slavery to a gang of Dragon criminals, although back in that era, there were little laws in place.
Among that gang was a female Wyvern slave about his age named Delphyne. She was used for her incredible magical aptitude whenever they would rob or pillage the small villages on the continent. The two became close over the years of servitude in the gang, and finally they were able to escape thanks in part to Ignu's incredibly growing strength and Delphyne's powerful magic. They both slaughtered the entire gang, gathered the map they had made of all their treasure hoard locations, and spent the next few years returning the stolen goods to the rightful owners.
It was during that time that a powerful wielder of a strange magic appeared on the Dragon's continent. She quickly became known as the Black Witch Tiamat. She quickly began establishing herself as a power to be reckoned with, spreading hatred wherever she went all across the five microcontinents and the smaller islands surrounding them. The many depictions of her that Twilight and Sunset found in the books showed a strange humanoid being with many different features smashed together. More like a true Draconequus.
Tiamat only grew in power and eventually conquered what would eventually become known as the Aelyssian Empire, ruling over it with her husband, a Wyvern male named Abzû. Together, they created a nation full of corruption and torment. They both ruled for at least a hundred years.
During that time, Ignu and Delphyne slowly went throughout the many nations, sewing the seeds of rebellion among the five races. Thanks to Dragons longer lifespan, Ignu and Delphyne were still in the prime of their lives when the Red Rebellion took place all across the nation. Thousands of the five races were killed during the rebellion, which lasted for a whole week and ended with Ignu, Delphyne and a large host of rebels from the five races advancing on Tiamat's castle.
The battle was one for the history books, quite literally. Legends said that the fight between Ignu and Tiamat lasted for one whole day. Tiamat only wanted to win, and so she drained the magic from Abzû to make herself more powerful. Delphyne was Ignu's magical support, and it was due to them working together and eventually temporarily joining to become one being of vast strength and magic, that they were able to finally take down the tyrant.
However, as Tiamat lay dying of her wounds, she took one last bit of revenge. She used the little bit of magic she had remaining to cast a curse on the entire world. She didn't say what it was at the time, but one text Twilight found said that it temporarily made the sun go dim then return. The ground also shook all over the Empire.
After she died, it was discovered that she had two children, a male and female. Ignu and Delphyne debated what to do with them, since not only were they the offspring of two very powerful magical creatures. Many of the rebels insisted that they be executed, but Ignu and Delphyne refused outright. The argument between the two became so bad that it almost came to blows. In one point, one of the more powerful Wyvern mages cast a spell at the babies, but Delphyne deflected it. However, this was enough to cause a rift in space to open. Due to the chaotic nature of the combined spells when in close proximity to the two hatchlings, they both vanished and were teleported completely out of the world.
Enraged by this act, as Ignu was planning to adopt the two hatchlings, the young Dragon nearly killed the offending Wyvern, but Delphyne stopped him before he could. Instead, inspired by the mercy of his closest friend, Ignu did show mercy, but made the Wyvern, a female named Echidna, into his slave to serve him. She accepted without complaint, as she had gotten what she wanted anyway.
With Tiamat and Abzû dead, the five races began the process of rebuilding, and even begged Ignu to become their ruler. He resisted at first, feeling that he wasn't worthy of such an honor, but eventually accepted with Delphyne's assurances. He was given tribute from all over the five island nations and used it to build Virynth Atheos from where they could rule. He intended for it also to be a haven where all five races could live in peace.
Over the course of a year, however, many Dragons began to notice that the days and nights appeared to be lengthening. Delphyne gathered all the most powerful Wyverns to her side to help her discover what had happened, and eventually it was discovered that Tiamat's last curse had made it so the sun and moon would slow down and eventually cease movements altogether in the sky. Ignu told them to keep this information a secret, but also ordered them to look into a solution. Months passed, and the days only got longer and longer. Just when it looked like all hope was lost, a miracle occurred.
The anecdotal tale that Sunset found said that one hot afternoon during the winter months, Ignu was walking through a dying garden in the palace. He was angry due to the heat and lack of sleep as well as a lack of progress from Delphyne and her mages. He stared up at the sun, a boiling orb of flaming death in the sky. Reaching up, he wished he, too, had the strength to grasp it and move it along its arc. The blue star pattern on his brow immediately burned with a white light, and the sun in the sky did move according to his wishes.
When he told Delphyne about this, she asked to study him and figure out what might have happened. She discovered that, when she and Ignu had merged, they had exchanged something. She received a copy of his strength and he had received a copy of all of her magical abilities. It took them another few days, but eventually, the two managed to move the heavenly bodies in their proper times. The land healed, and the crisis was averted.
However, the two knew that they were not immortal and had to pass on their knowledge. The two got married that same year, and elevated Echidna from a slave to concubine. This was done at Delphyne's request, since Echidna was nearly equal to Delphyne in terms of power. In this way, two lines of Ignu's descendants were formed, the Delphyne Line of Imperial Succession and the Enchidan Line of Dragon Lord Succession.
Ignu's first child, a daughter born to him and Delphyne, was named Aelyssia, and it was after her that the Empire finally received its name. It was either that, or he named her after the Empire, no Dragon historian could be sure.
The empire lasted eight thousand years in relative peace and harmony. The Aelyssian royal family alone held the secret of moving the sun and moon, and it was because of this that the empire lasted for so long. Ember was stunned to hear that the ancient five draconic races were quite friendly with one another. She was also further stunned to learn that she was more than likely the last living descendent of Ignu through the Enchidan line of Dragon Lords, since the last of the Delphyne line was killed off in the war with the Fae. When she wondered if this meant she, too, had magical abilities, nobody had a clear answer for her, especially since nobody there knew just how Wyvern magic actually worked.
The history ended with Dormog's final days. He was the final Dragon known to harbor the secrets of moving the sun and moon in the heavens, but there was absolutely no way to figure out just how the group of Ponies got their hooves on a similar spell. Twilight insisted that Starswirl the Bearded most likely developed a spell on his own, while I wondered if somehow Dormog managed to escape and give the secret of raising the sun and moon to a group of pre-Equestrian Unicorns. Sunset actually agreed more with me, since she said that the timelines seemed to match up.
After we had managed to establish a somewhat comprehensive history of the founding of Aelyssia, I didn't see Twilight for a while, but when I asked Sunset, the bacon haired Unicorn just said that she was busy compiling a massive report not only for Celestia and Luna, but for me and Ember as well, with an extensive bibliography and cited sources. She was practically writing a book about the history of the founding. When I heard this, I asked Sunset to tell Twilight that copies of this book would be placed in whatever library might exist in Virynth Atheos' Imperial palace as well as in whatever public library I would have built in the future for the future education of Dragonkin everywhere.
This type of study left me exhausted, and I finally decided to take at least a day or two off.
It was now December 18th, a Saturday, and I was in my Earth house's garage, pulling box after box off of the shelves on either side. Music was playing throughout the house, and I was singing along. Currently, I was singing Mannheim Steamroller's version of Oh Tannenbaum.
"Oh tannenbaum, Oh tannenbaum, you stand in verdant beauty. Oh tannenbaum, Oh tannenbaum, you stand in verdant beauty. Your boughs are green in summer's glow and do not fade in winter's snow. Oh tannenbaum, Oh tannenbaum, you stand in verdant beauty."
Just the act of singing a Christmas song during the Christmas season was more than enough to put me in a good mood. I carried another bright red storage box into my living room and opened it. I beamed happily when I saw the strands of Christmas lights inside that hadn't seen the light of a Christmas season in at least a few years. I normally didn't have much time to put up anything other than my artificial pre-lit Christmas tree and some decorations. Now that I had the time, I planned on decking my Earth house with lights as well as my Equestrian house with some Hearth's Warming decorations, which were so identical to Christmas décor that it was almost scary.
Of course, I wasn't alone. Scarlet was hovering nearby, carefully testing some of my LED lights to see if any bulbs needed replacing. Zecora was busy as well, setting up my artificial pre-lit incandescent tree in front of the living room window. Despite my insisting they didn't need to help, they had insisted, and I had no choice but to give in.
As I put the other box down, Scarlet looked at it, then at me. "Jesus, how many boxes of lights do you have?" she asked incredulously as she put one strand down in the Good to Use pile.
"Even if I never use them, I always buy lights every year," I admitted sheepishly. "It's a guilty pleasure. Trixie and I would go nuts during Christmas Season. We put so many lights on the house that you probably could spot it from space." I chuckled at the memory.
"You could probably cover the other house with all the lights here if you wanted and still have enough for this house," Scarlet said with a chuckle.
"Speaking of, did you test one of the lights in the other house's plugs?" I asked. With the restoration of the house, I'd had them wire each room so that it was all up to code. Equestria had a power grid for its more modern conveniences, such as stoves, refrigerators and lights, but to my understanding, it was powered by magic. Houses and businesses were connected by underground wiring to power stations which would pull ambient magic from the air and convert it into power. I actually had purchased a backup generator for my house in the event that there was a power outage. It was a relatively new concept to the country, having been developed less than a century ago.
"I did, and they work," she said with a smile.
"Really? That's good," I said. It had been nothing short of a miracle that most of my own electronics would work in the Equestrian house and would work with their power grid. However, I'd still been cautious and used a surge protector whenever I plugged in something from Earth, like a laptop or lights. Since I had access to Earth, now, I had promised that I'd go there sometime and shop for some more. "Did you try them with the surge protector or directly into the plugs?"
"Both, actually," she said. "You said they don't draw as much power as lights here, so I figured it would be fine. And I used an older strand."
"Alright, that's good," I said. "I still want to use a surge protector, but thanks for letting me know, sweetie." I reached up and smacked her markless flank.
"Hey! Behave," she said with a snarky tone and a wink.
"Hey, can't help it," I said with a grin, "I like your flank and I cannot lie."
"It amazes me just how similar our two worlds is," Zecora said as she plugged in the middle portion of the artificial tree. "Language, technology, stars, and names of certain places."
"Parallel evolution, perhaps?" I suggested.
"Jethro, I'm gonna go test this strand in the other house," Scarlet said, holding up an incandescent strand of lights.
"Sure, go ahead," I said. As she flew out, I continued, "I mean, obviously this isn't Earth, but you've gotta admit, the similarities are scary sometimes. Hell, I've even looked at some of the celestial events that happened after 2010, and there's a lunar eclipse happening in a few days. At least on Earth. I wonder if it'll happen here?"
"They do," Zecora said as she carefully placed the last part of the artificial tree on the stand. I walked over and helped her put the last piece of the tree into the pole, then plugged it in. "Thanks again, sweetie," I said, turning to face her.
Only to find that we were very close to each other, our noses nearly touching. She smiled and put a hoof around my neck. "Anything for you, dearest."
I slowly wrapped my arms around her and planted a kiss on her lips. We both stared at each other for a while, then she pushed me onto my back, kissing me passionately all of the sudden. Startled, I quickly recovered, pulled her closer, and kissed her deeply back, running my hands up and down her back.
The spell was unfortunately broken when someone from the door cleared their throat. "Hey, as fun as that looks, I think you've got something else that you need to take care of now, Jethro."
Zecora and I broke apart, faces both flushed. Scarlet was hovering in the doorway, smirking down at us. But it wasn't her smirk that caught my attention. It was what she was holding in her hooves. "Hey, what are you doing with the Journal we use to communicate with Earth?" I asked. I didn't need her to answer, because at that moment, it began to glow and vibrate. "Oh, I see," I said.
"It just started doing that," Scarlet said as Zecora climbed off of me. Scarelt flew over and handed the book to me. "I didn't know what else to do."
"Well, hand it here," I said. She did so, and I quickly opened it and read the following:
Howdy, Twilight,
I know you wrote us and told us things were going okay on your side of the mirror, but we were just worried since we haven't heard from you in a while. Last we heard, there was some fancy council going on, but then you stopped talking. Diane told me just to wait a while, but I can't really wait much longer. Is everything okay over there?
Your friend from Earth,
Jackie
I looked back at the previous message, which, true to what Jackie had just written, was a small report on what had happened after they had returned to Earth. It had been dated one day before the first meeting of the Council of Equestria had met. I stood, rushed to my desk, grabbed a pen from one of the drawers, sat down and wrote back:
Hello, Jackie,
It's me, Jethro. I'm not Twilight, but I hope I'll do. Right now, things are slowly returning to a little sense of normalcy, but ever since Twilight wrote about our situation, there have been some major changes around here. It's a pretty long story, and writing by hand is a bit harder for those of us in the texting generation, isn't it? I could come over to Earth maybe sometime tomorrow and get you up to speed, if you want. Just let me know, okay?
Your friend,
Jethro
I smiled and was just closing the book when it began glowing again. I read the message as it was being written:
Jethro! Thank God! Glad to hear from you! We were getting a bit worried when we heard about this Council. I'm glad to hear that you're okay. It's already our holiday Christmas break over here, so we could come see you or you could come over here if you want. If you're coming over here, dress warm. It's colder than Hades over here.
There was a lull in the writing. I chuckled then wrote back:
I'll see what I can do over here. I'm a bit busy today, so I can try and come over tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
After a few seconds, Jackie wrote back, Alright, I'll keep the book with me. We're expecting a snowstorm in a couple days, so my family and I have to batten down the hatches. See you tomorrow then, I hope.
Same to you. Later, I wrote back.
After that, nothing else came through, I closed the book. Scarlet asked, "What was it? Did you find out?"
"Yeah, it was Jackie," I said.
"For real? What's wrong? Everything okay?" she asked.
"Nothing's wrong that I can see," I said, "I think she was just worried. I might be going to Earth for a bit."
"I hope you don't think we'll be staying behind," Zecora said, walking over to me.
I looked over at the two members of my new herd. "Heh, yeah, I know better than to do that to you two," I said, "and besides, they know you." I grabbed a piece of scroll that I'd bought a while back. "I'm gonna write a letter to Celestia, then go ask Spike to deliver a message. Tomorrow, I think we're heading to Earth."
Dear Celestia,
Sorry to bother you on a Saturday, but I just got a message from Earth through the journal. The girls who came here during the crisis with Eris are getting worried about us, so I was hoping Zecora, Scarlet and I could come to Canterlot tomorrow and go through the Stargate to go see them.
Your friend,
Jethro
My dear Jethro,
As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about those very same humans when I got your message. I've wanted to thank them for their help during Eris' attack for a while, now. I have an idea as to how I can do that. Tomorrow morning at around ten o'clock, I'll be down there with my sister. Please wait for us in front of your Earth house. Please tell Twilight and her friends to meet us there as well along with Sunset.
Your friend,
Celestia
"Whoa…you three did all this yesterday after you sent that message to the Princess?" Twilight asked as she stared at my Earth house in awe.
I grinned. Scarlet wasn't completely wrong when she said I would have plenty of lights left over. The exterior and interior were all decked out with Christmas lights, white and multicolored. On the inside, each room had lights on the walls, garlands on the ceiling, and tablecloths, couch covers, even my artificial garland for the door. I'd brought out some of my fir scented candles and had lit them. My artificial tree was already fully decorated with my personal ornaments and decorations.
On the outside, the gutters were all decked with large bulbed LED chasing Christmas lights. On the roof itself, I had placed a representation of Santa's sleigh, complete with each reindeer, including Rudolph. I had a large inflatable Frosty in the yard along with some flashing snowflakes staked into the ground. The old property line was lined with more strands of solid multicolored lights and inner lit candy canes, and the firepit was glowing with a large pile of twinkling yellow lights to emulate a fire. Directly underneath my front window, I had placed a manger scene. Even if I wasn't much religious anymore, I still wanted to distinguish my decorations from Hearth's Warming.
"It's really festive!" Spike said, sounding like he meant it. "More festive than Canterlot, even!"
"Yeah…I did go a bit overboard," I admitted, "but I don't care! I can finally spend a Christmas with friends and loved ones! I'm not gonna stop, either! Hell, if I can, I'm gonna buy some more lights back on Earth for my other house."
"Okay, this Christmas holiday sounds cool and all," Rainbow said, "but why are we here again? It's too early."
"Celestia asked that you all be here," I said, holding up my letter from her. "I don't really know what for, but I assume it's for a good reason."
"If I know her, she's got something up her sleeve," Sunset said with a smirk and a roll of her eyes. "I swear, she's always about ten or more steps ahead of anyone."
"Well I can't wait to see what she has in store!" Pinkie exclaimed with a wide grin. She was hanging on my back, her front legs wrapped around my neck and her hind legs wrapped around my stomach.
"I'm curious, too," Fluttershy said.
"Please, knowing that rainbow colored princess, it's something completely fucking weird," Angel, who was in my arms while I pet the young bunny, said with a roll of his own eyes. This was the first time I'd heard his voice since becoming able to hear animal voices. He had a high pitched voice like that of a young boy.
I chuckled. "I wouldn't say that, Angel. But it's probably something that is gonna surprise us."
Angel looked up at me, then shrugged. "What's even weirder is being able to talk to more than just Fluttershy, now."
"It is a bit weird, isn't it?" I asked.
"Eh, guess you could do worse than some weird winged alien and the pathetically lovesick Dragon over there," he said, pointing to Spike.
"I'm not pathetic!" Spike said, putting his claws on his hips.
"Who's calling my little Spikey-wikey pathetic?" Rarity asked, sounding aghast as she put a hoof on Spike's back. "He's not pathetic! He's adooorable!"
"D'aww," Spike said with a blush.
"I do hope we aren't interrupting anything," a familiar female voice said from behind us.
We all turned and saw Celestia and Luna walking up to us, the latter looking exhausted. However, the moment she saw my house, Luna's eyes shot wide open. "Sweet Elements…what happened to your house, Sir Jethro?"
Celestia looked at my house as well, and smiled wide. "I must say, I've never seen these many decorations for Hearth's Warming on a single house before."
"They're actually Christmas decorations," I explained. "But they do look a lot like Hearth's Warming ones, don't they?"
"Except for the manger scene over there," Sunset chuckled, pointing to the decorations in question.
"I was wondering about that," Celestia said.
"It has to do with the religious origins of Christmas," I explained. "I've told Twilight about it already."
"I'll ask her about it later," Celestia said, "but for now, my sister and I have a surprise for you, Jethro."
"Why do I have the feeling I'm gonna have mixed feelings about this surprise at best?" I asked, frowning as I handed Angel back to Fluttershy, who took him in her hooves and began stroking his back gently.
Celestia chuckled. "At least let us surprise you with it first," she said.
I sighed and nodded. "Surprise away, my friend," I said.
Celestia turned to Luna, who nodded. They both raised their horns, which began glowing simultaneously. The two concentrated hard on casting whatever spell they were attempting. Their horns brightened more so than I'd ever seen them do before. Everyone else looked away, but I was still able to watch for some reason. With a large flash, something appeared behind them. A large surge of magical power flowed out from whatever they'd teleported.
Luna stumbled forward, but quickly recovered herself. However, it was Celestia who began to fall forward. I rushed forward and caught her in my arms. She slumped a bit against me, groaning a bit.
"Princess! Are you alright?!" Twilight asked, galloping over. Sunset was by her side as well, an equal look of concern on her face.
"Be at ease, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, "she is unharmed. The amount of magic required for what we just teleported here was simply draining."
I looked back down at Celestia, who was now opening her eyes. She looked up at me with a bleary expression. I grinned. "Well, looks like the Dragon Emperor has kidnapped the princess in real life," I teased.
I saw a small blush appear on her alabaster cheeks before she gently raised her wing and swatted me on the back of the head. "Oh, hush."
I laughed. "Assaulting a foreign ruler? How scandalous! Now, how shall I retaliate?" I asked with amusement.
Celestia smirked and smacked the back of my head again before standing up. "Behave, Your Grace," she chuckled.
"Just call it a preemptive retaliation for what you just did, which I'm sure is gonna cause me tons of headaches," I said.
"Har har," Celestia said with a smile. She then turned to face what everyone else was looking at.
She was still was a bit wobbly, so I caught her in my wing and held her up. "You sure you'll be okay?" I asked.
"I'll be fine," she said with a warm smile. "But maybe you should see what I've brought you."
"I'm afraid to look," I admitted, but did as she said. And my eyes widened.
Standing in the far southwestern corner of my yard, where before there had been just grass and a large brick fence, stood a large nondescript building which looked a lot like a red barn. Pinkie, who had climbed off my back after I caught Celestia, was pawing at the door curiously alongside Applejack. The others were walking over towards it as well, staring at it with varying degrees of awe and confusion.
Luna waked up to the other side of me and smiled at my slack-jawed appearance. She raised her hoof and closed my mouth. "A simple teleportation spell has you this flummoxed, my dear friend?" she asked.
"I can't teleport yet," I said, "and the one time I did, I only did it because Chrysalis was about to hurt someone I care about. But enough of that. What the hell did you bring here?"
"Think of it as an early Hearth's Warming gift, or Christmas gift in your case," Celestia said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, for some reason, that doesn't make me feel better," I said. "I've got a feeling I know what you've brought here, and I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not have a look and see," Celestia said, lifting up a key in her magic and handing it to me.
I took it and looked over at the locked barn. "Yeah…probably should," I said.
"Leave my sister to me," Luna said, moving over to Celestia's other side and putting a wing around her. "Go and see what we have given to you, Sir Jethro."
I nodded and released Celestia, then slowly walked over to the large barn. It looked like it had been recently constructed, and I could feel magic emanating from it. As I approached, the others moved out of my way as I held up the key. Grabbing the lock, I put the key in and undid it. I pulled the lock off, slipped it into my pocket along with the key, and threw the barn doors open.
The interior of the barn was too dark to see anything. At least, at first. When I stepped inside, a number of very familiar lights, all outlining a circular structure, appeared. Standing in the center of the barn, plain as day, was the Stargate.
I quickly turned towards Celestia. "I assume you have a good reason for bringing this here instead of keeping it locked up," I said. "I'd assumed that this was meant to be a secret."
"You are closer to this world than we are," Luna said. "Nopony but you would know how to act in this world. Well, you and perhaps Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset nodded slowly. "Yeah…I could blend in," she muttered.
"So why bring it here?" I asked again. "You do know I have others in the house that don't know about this little bit of advanced magical tech. Ember, Chrysalis, Gemini, and Mica, to name four. And Ponyville, to name five through however many Ponies live here."
"This barn is much more than a barn," Celestia said. "My sister and I have cast many different magical protective spells around it, and there were ancient Ponish runes carved into the wood that provide additional protection."
"That isn't all," Luna added, lifting her horn. With a pop, something appeared directly above me and hovered down to me. I reached up and took it, looking it over. She'd teleported a thin but ancient age-stained bound book with no title.
Frowning, I opened it and looked through it. The words were in ancient Ponish, and seemed to talk a bit about the Stargate itself. There were handwritten notes and diagrams of the mirror throughout the book. The book's first page had the title MIRROR OF WORLDS: By Starswirl and Nightwalker. I looked up in confusion. "Who's Nightwalker?" I asked.
Twilight's eyes widened. "He was Starswirl's assistant and one of his first pupils!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to the book, jumping onto my back so she could get a good look. "This…is a first edition?!"
Celestia nodded. "Luna found it a few nights ago when looking through Canterlot Palace's restricted library," she said. "It's one of the only copies remaining. There are only two more, but this one was hoofwritten by Starswirl and Nightwalker. Please be careful with it."
I carefully looked through the book, Twilight eagerly reading along. I could see her mouthing the words as she read along with me. I paused, then looked back up at Celestia. "Why me?" I asked again.
"We were not lying when we said that it would be a better idea for you to have access to it," Luna said, "but we also wanted it more out of our reach. My sister and I have been tempted to visit ever since Twilight opened it permanently."
"We would never go there without your permission," Celestia said, "but we didn't want to be too tempted."
"Access to all of that advanced technology should not be in our grasp," Luna added.
"So you decided to give it to the Emperor of Aelyssia?" I asked.
"We had already planned on giving it to you before you ascended the throne," Celestia said quickly, "and I have faith that you will not use it in any negative way."
"I would never do that," I said. "If anything, I'd want access to certain things you can't get in Equestria. For personal reasons."
"What, like a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese?" Sunset asked in a teasing manner.
"Don't judge me, Sunshim," I grinned. "And I like it without onions, for the record."
"Who's Sunshim?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's her movie star nickname," I joked. "But in all seriousness, Celestia, Luna, can you look me in the eye and honestly say that the Stargate is better off in my hands than your hooves?"
I was surprised when not only did the two princesses look me directly in the eye, but they both fell back into ancient Ponish and said in unison, "We hold thee, Jethro Bethridge, in the highest regard in terms of our trust."
"I shall endeavor to keep thy trust unbroken," I replied automatically in the same language. I looked at them with a stunned expression. "You…really think that I'm worthy of the highest of ancient Pony pledges?" I asked.
"We do," Celestia said with a smile. "You've demonstrated multiple times to myself and my sister that you're a stallion of integrity and are very much worthy of the pledge."
"We can think of no other person who could watch over this relic than you, Sir Jethro," Luna said with an equally kind smile.
"Well…I don't know what to say," I said, a bit overwhelmed by their trust in me. "Thank you." I turned to the Stargate. I was still unsure about all of this, but if they had this much trust in me, I would follow the pledge. "Scarlet, could you go back to the house and grab a pen and the journal? I need to contact Jackie."
"Sure thing," she said before she zoomed back to the house.
"Do you think it'd be possible for some of us tah go tah Earth sometime?" Applejack asked, giving me a pleading look. "Ah'll admit ah'm a mite curious about what's on the other side."
"Well, I suppose we could do it at some point when things calm down," I said, "but the other side of the Stargate leads to Camelot College. It's a bit out of the way."
"Jethro! Jethro!" Scarlet said, shouting as she flew towards me. The journal was in her mouth, and it was glowing and vibrating. She reached me and dropped the book into my waiting hands.
"Wonder what Jackie's saying," I said as I opened the journal. What I read there surprised me even more than being gifted the Stargate itself.
Jethro? Are you there? Please write back! That statue from Camelot College just appeared near one of our apple orchards!
Please hurry! I haven't told anyone else about it, but it's gonna be seen soon! Please hurry!
I just called Shye at college! She says the statue's gone!
Mac saw it and he wants to call the police!
Marigold and Granny saw it and are freaking out! I'm trying to calm them down now! Where are you!?
I reacted immediately Turning to Scarlet, I said, "Get a pen!"
"Right here!" Twilight replied instead, floating a pen over to me.
I grabbed it and wrote back: On my way through now! I'll try and bring someone with me who can help explain to your family what's going on! All of you go to the statue!
"Is something wrong?" Luna asked, clear concern in her voice upon seeing me frantically writing.
"The location of the other end of the portal moved!" I turned to Applejack. "AJ, I might need your help explaining things. Seeing another Jackie might help convince them what I'm about to say."
"Ah'll do mah best," Applejack said, standing up straighter.
"I will come too, dearest," Zecora said.
"You aren't leaving me behind," Scarlet added.
"I wasn't going to," I said to my two herdmates. I looked at the others, who all had equally eager expressions on their faces, looking at the Stargate and back to me. "Okay…I know what you're going to ask, but for now, I think it's best that you stay behind. At least for now."
"Hey, I need to come too," Twilight exclaimed. "I might be able to figure out what's going on!"
"No, Twi," I said, handing her the book Celestia gave me. "I'm loaning this to you so you can study it. Keep me updated using the journal."
Her ears flattened. "Alright…but stay safe, okay?" she pleaded. She took the instruction book and the journal from me. "Let me know if you need me."
"Or any of us!" Rainbow said. "We'll be there in ten seconds flat!"
"I've no doubt you will," I said. Looking back at Celestia, I gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry to run at a time like this."
"It sounds like you need to go clear something up on the other side," she said. "Go. We can make sure things stay safe here."
"Can one of y'all tell mah family ah might be home a mite later than ah thought," Applejack asked.
"I can go tell them," Rainbow said.
"Thank ya kindly, Rainbow," Applejack said.
"Are you all ready?" I asked. When the three mares who were coming with me gave me an affirmative, I looked down at Applejack. "I suggest you prepare yourself. It's a very…strange transition."
"Ah can handle anythin'," she said, facing the Stargate. "Ready whenever!"
"Hopefully I can get this all straightened up in an hour or more," I said. "Could someone tell Chrysalis, Ember, Gemini and Mica that I've gone out for at least the day."
"Of course, my friend," Celestia said reassuringly.
"Thanks, Celestia." I turned and faced the Stargate once more. "Allons-y!" And with that, I rushed forward, followed close behind by Applejack, Zecora and Scarlet. I ran up the ramp, and jumped through…
A rainbow tunnel…my body twisting and turning in impossible angles, stretching and contracting like taffy…I screamed…
…And stumbled out of the statue, tumbling until my momentum ceased. From behind me I heard three other voices as my fiancée, marefriend and close friend all stumbled out of the statue.
Groaning, I slowly sat up and looked around. We had appeared near an orchard, that much was obvious by the leafless trees standing in rows nearby. The statue was standing in the middle of what I assumed was a fallow patch of farmland.
And a few feet away, four humans were staring at us in complete and utter shock, including one familiar farm girl. I raised my hand and waved. "Um…surprise?"
However, they were all staring past me. I turned and saw Applejack, now a carbon copy of Jackie, trying her best to stand. I rushed over and helped her to her feet. She looked around, then saw the other humans. She raised her new hand. "Howdy, there, ah'm Applejack," she said with a smile.
It was Mac who fainted. I sighed. "This is gonna be fun to explain…"