The next few days consisted of a lot of sweat inducing work as well as a great deal of searching through the library. Nights were spent training and learning more about being the Overlord. The day before my trip to Canterlot was the only break from the routine as that was the day I went to get my clothes from Rarity.

By that point I had stopped bringing Twilight with me for protection and ponies had stopped peeing themselves in my presence. The most I got now were just stares and a few mutterings. When I got to Carousel Boutique, Rarity insisted that she see me in the suit to make sure everything was right.

The suit she made for me looked like a normal suit for the most part. White dress shirt, black slacks, a black bowtie. I didn’t have dress shoes but that was easy to ignore. The only thing that stood out was the jacket. I don’t know if Pinkie came by and started telling her things but something had possessed her to make the suit jacket a dark red, the very same shade that the Overlord armor used. It was a strange choice, but I had to admit it looked pretty damn good.

The rest of my clothes were simple like I asked. They were all single color t-shirts or sweaters with sweat pants to match them. She even made me something that resembled shoes. They basically were pads that had straps on them. The tops were made of something like sponge while the bottom was just rough stone.

I also got that apron I asked her to make for Spike. Only costed me a few bits too. I still find it odd that the pony currency is gold. Back on Earth my daily salary would sustain me for a year.

That night I stayed up until Twilight went to bed and then grabbed Spike from his pet bed. We took his old apron and burned it outside. Even cooked marshmallows over it.

The next day Twilight and I got on the train to Canterlot. Both Twilight and I had brought saddlebags for the trip: mine was extra clothes, while Twilight’s was full of, you guessed it, books.

When we finally stopped at our destination sometime that afternoon, I threw my bags over my shoulder and stepped outside. We didn’t go far before a group of ponies in gold armor came up to us. Seriously? Do these ponies just shit this stuff out?

“Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight stepped around in front of me. “That’s me.”

“We have orders to take you and your… friend to the castle. If you would follow me.”

Canterlot was much less glamorous than I had expected. For the most part it was like Ponyville with a castle and a different choice in building style. There were a few other buildings you would expect to find in a city but nothing out of the ordinary.

The only real difference were the ponies. Where Ponyville ponies were scared shitless of me, these ponies had their noses so high in the clouds they didn’t even take notice of me. I wasn’t sure if I should be glad I wasn’t attracting attention or if I should start culling the herd. I bet I would be praised for getting rid of them.

Soon we reached the castle, without bloodshed I might add. I did kind of wish one of those Scrouges had tried to start something. Would have given me a reason to fight them. Anyway, the guards led us inside and up to a large set of double doors. One of them darted inside for a minute before swinging the door wide and waving us in.

Inside sat the princess, sitting in a throne room that was rather the opposite of my own. Instead of darkness and pillars this one was wide open space and stained glass windows. Her throne though definitely put mine to shame in its current state. And I thought sitting in my broken throne made me feel too high and mighty. Her throne’s pedestal is on a pedestal!

Looking at the princess herself I could see how she was Faust’s daughter. Despite how close I could have been to death just looking at her gave me a sense of calm. She gave us a small smile as we approached the throne.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle. It is good to see you my faithful student.” Twilight dropped all manner of formality as she ran up to her teacher. They shared a brief nuzzle before Celestia looked up to address me. “And you must be Don. A pleasure to meet you at last.”

I gave a small bow as I stopped in front of the sun diarch. “The pleasure is all mine. After all it’s not everyday you meet with royalty.”

“Well aren’t you quite the charmer. I can see why my Twilight was so quick to make friends.”

“Well, to be honest, when we first met I sorta hit her on the nose. Not my best moment.” This didn’t seem to dissuade her from her happy mood.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it. From what Twilight has told me you were rather disoriented when she first found you.”

“Ya, the thing is-”

“Pardon me sister, but we-” Our polite conversation was interrupted as another alicorn entered the room. This one seemed to be the opposite of her sister in color scheme and spoke in what I could tell was an old english accent. She seemed rather shocked by me as she had completely stopped what she was saying to stare.

Deciding it was about time to break the awkward silence, I tried introducing myself. “Uh, hello there. I guess you are Princess Celestia’s sister right?” Our one-sided staring contest continued for a few more seconds before she turned to Celestia.

“Sister, we must talk.”

“Luna, this isn’t a good-”

“Now! This is urgent.”

Celestia sighed in resignation. “Fine, but let us speak elsewhere. Twilight, how about you go show Don the gardens?” Twilight was more than happy to oblige as she hopped up from her spot next to the princess. Soon Twilight and I were heading down one of the massive hallways, Celestia and Luna going the other way.

Once outside Twilight began telling some story about her brother but I lost interest as I looked around the gardens. Soon my eyes were drawn to the castle towers as I looked over their intricate design.

After what felt like only a moment of silent contemplating, I looked around to see Twilight had sat down by a small lake. As I walked over to join her she seemed surprised to see me. “Oh, I didn’t know you were done.”

“Done with what?”

“You seemed to be in deep thought like you usually get so I didn’t want to disturb you.” Does she actually expect that of me now?

I brought my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I was just thinking about what happened in the throne room. Luna seemed to be rather upset by me.”

Twilight looked down at the water rather glumly. “Ya, I know. I’m not sure why though. Maybe she knows something about humans.”

“That’s possible. If it got under her skin like that though I don’t think I want to find out.”

“Really? But what if it was something that could help you figure out who you are?”

I can already guess. “Like I said, if it really is that bad I’d rather never remember. As far as I’m concerned this is who I am now.”

What I said seemed to work as it brought a smile back to Twilight’s face. We sat there in silence for a few minutes before Celestia flew down and landed next to us.

“Ah, there you two are. This is a lovely spot to relax isn’t it.”

“Sure is.” Celestia joined us in relaxation for a good hour or so before something interrupted us. And that something was my growling stomach.

Twilight giggled as Celestia made my embarrassment clear. “Oh my, sounds like someone is hungry.” She stood up and spread her wings in a pony version of stretching. “How about we head to the dining hall to eat?”

Dinner was amazing though it wasn’t the feast you would expect of royalty. Only what was needed was cooked up. Throughout most of the meal Twilight told Celestia everything about Ponyville and then eventually went into talking about what she found out about me. I still wasn’t a magical genius like Twilight but I knew enough by that point to summarize what she said: Human ain’t magical.

Soon all that remained of our meals were empty plates and Twilight had finally finished with her report. I was about to excuse myself when Celestia spoke up. “Excuse me Don, but I was wondering if you could answer a question for me?”

“Sure.”

“I was just curious about your home. What’s it like?”

“Well Twilight already described it to you in great detail. I don’t think I can add much more.”

Celestia rose an eyebrow at this. “So you’re saying your home is Ponyville? Why?”

“I can’t remember what my actual home is back on Earth, and what I do remember of that world is pretty terrible. War, famine, genocide, people there just take advantage of everyone they can. There’s so little good in the world it can’t stand up to all the hatred and greed.”

Celestia seemed rather surprised by my answer but it didn’t take long for her to recover. “Does that mean that if I were to give you the option to return home, would you not take it?”

“I wouldn’t leave Equestria even if you paid me.” This brought back Celestia’s warm smile in a heartbeat.

We had a bit more light conversation and then headed off to our rooms. Celestia had prepared a guest room for each of us so we didn’t have to share. After getting into my pajamas, which were actually the crypt clothes (shut up, they make great pajamas), I slipped into bed. Thankfully it fit my long body so I could get comfortable. Once I was ready I put a hand underneath my pillow and it wasn’t long before I had drifted to sleep.

* * *

It was a sunny day in Ponyville. The kind of day no one could spend inside. That’s just how I was spending it, and who better to spend it with than with my friends.

Rainbow Dash flew up above making loops while Pinkie Pie cheered her on from the ground. Rarity and Fluttershy gossiped as they normally did. Applejack and Twilight went about setting up a picnic nearby. And through it all I sat in a tree just looking over the fields below us with Spike on my shoulders. It truly was a great-

“Oh my. This was not what we were expecting.” I turned my head slowly, so as to not shake Spike off, to see who had decided to join in on the fun. Turns out it was Princess Luna!

“Hey Princess. Beautiful day ain’t it?” Despite how wonderful everything was she seemed rather confused by it all.

“We suppose this is rather nice, but we shan’t let this continue. We must speak to you.” As she said this the entire world began to shimmer and fade. Before long the hill and all of my friends were gone, lost to an endless void of stars.

“What’s going on? Where did everyone go?” My voice seemed to echo in the bleakness of space despite there being nothing for the sound to travel through.

“This is a dream Don. As princess of the night we can enter the dreams of ponies and people alike to speak with them and aid them if need be.”

“Aid them? Am I in some sort of trouble?”

“No Don, rather we believed you to be trouble. For you see, we feared you were a creature we had seen long ago come back to haunt us. However, we are now certain that is not the case as your dreams have shown us you have a kind soul. So for suspecting such an evil thing of you, we- no, I am sorry.”

Seeing Luna so down, I decided the best thing would be to give her a hug. “It’s alright Luna. You were only doing what you thought was right. I can’t hate you for that.”

“Thank you Don. It fills me with joy to know you are so forgiving. Now I have a job I must fulfill so I will let you get back to your dream. Good night Don.” And with that she disappeared. Once I was sure she was gone I looked around the dreamscape as I let a wicked smile begin to form on my face. I didn’t care if anyone heard now as I shouted out to the void.

“Gnarl, you’re a fucking mad genius!”

* * *

Perhaps this warrants a bit of an explanation. I imagine a lot of you were thinking that maybe I had gone soft after my little chat with Twilight? The truth is I played Celestia and Luna like a violin. I had them so fooled I doubt they will ever attempt any of their ‘tests’ ever again.

So yes, I, an entity that has technically been alive for less than a week fooled two three thousand year old princesses into thinking I’m the nicest guy to ever exist. Now the smarter of you probably see the fault in this. How is that possible? How could someone who is a sub-par liar and has no experience in such tricks defeat Celestia and Luna in a game of wits? Well the answer is quite simple really.

Gnarl.

The night after I got the invitation to Canterlot, Gnarl began teaching me everything I would need to get by Celestia and Luna. He knew that Luna had once been Nightmare Moon and that, as a result of a one thousand year banishment, was out of place with the world. As such she was more likely to recognize what I was and would be the one to want my swift execution with little evidence as that was how things worked back then.

Celestia on the other hand would not stand for such an act. She would want to test me, to make sure I wasn’t just faking it and to please her sister’s suspicions. Gnarl was on top of things here as well. He planned for multiple possible tests based on how he had seen Celestia run things and had me learn how to see them and dance my way around them.

For instance, did you know that her sitting by the water with Twilight and I was a test? She knew my old self was ruthless and wouldn’t have just relaxed for so long. How about the questions at dinner? The whole time she had a lie detector spell going so I made sure to say just enough to get her to believe I meant no harm. After all, the only home I technically have is Ponyville. Plus, why would I want to leave Equestria? I’ve got an evil empire to build and there is no way in hell you can make me give that up.

Finally there was Luna entering my dream. Gnarl made sure I was well aware of the dream walker before I left for Canterlot and prepared me for it. I couldn’t go to the fortress as usual because I don’t dream and that would have been a dead giveaway that something was up. Instead Gnarl taught me how to lucid dream and just before bed I pulled my glove off underneath my pillow. Once asleep I made the ‘perfect dream’ and just waited until Luna decided to step in.

Even if I hadn’t had all of Gnarl’s warnings, I still would have known the princesses were going to test me. A little bit of magic and a good eye saw to that. Celestia should think about changing where she has her sisterly talks to somewhere other than a balcony over the gardens. Made it easy prey to the second spell Phglem had taught me. Essentially it allows me to hear something far away. Useful when some of your mortal enemies are plotting against you.

Back in the garden… *

Once outside Twilight began telling some story about her brother but I lost interest as I looked around the gardens. Soon my eyes were drawn to the castle towers as I looked over their intricate design.

Checking to make sure Twilight was still somewhere close by, I began to force the flow of magic to move through my body as I attempted to direct it into a spell. I slowly shaped the magic as I had been taught, making sure not to make a mistake and lose my progress. Once it was done the sound of birds chirping went silent and was replaced by the Celestia’s voice.

“Luna, I assure you, it isn’t as bad as you believe.”

“And what are we to believe sister? That you haven’t brought the thing that killed our mother into our home? That you haven’t allowed it to walk about free for nearly a week? You know what it is capable of if it is allowed to regain its power.”

“Luna, you have no proof that this is the same creature from when we were kids. Sure it is of similar body shape but that is all that ties him to that demon.”

“Then we find proof. Search his mind for this proof you require and let us be done with him.”

“I will not force my way into what little memories he seems to have just to satisfy your paranoia, sister. That may be how we did things in the past but now we stand by a code when it comes to law. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’.

“So you are willing to put the lives of your ponies at risk just because there is a chance tis naught but an innocent?”

“Luna!” The warm tone of Celestia’s voice had vanished. “I am well aware of the danger, but so far he has been nothing but kind. The monster from our youth would have killed everything in its path the moment it returned. Instead this one has been trying to fit in, to make friends. I will not charge anyone, pony or otherwise, with a crime they have not been proven to have committed. That is final.”

There were a few moments of silence before Luna spoke. “I suppose you are right sister. I am not adjusted to the new customs of this era and it seems I still have far to go. Just… promise me you will watch him. At least for a time just to make sure.”

“I will Luna. Part of me bringing him here was to make sure he isn’t what you fear him to be. Unless we find any evidence I ask that you treat him as a guest.” I heard the sound of hooves slowly fading and I ended the spell.

*

Now don’t mistake this as me being smarter than the princesses. I’m sure if I didn’t have Gnarl I would be a bloodstain on the wall right now. This just happened to be a situation in which what they expected wasn’t even close to what was actually there. Celestia and Luna tested me, expecting a brute that was just barely hiding under the radar. Instead they went up against someone who knows what they are doing and gets pretty good advice too.

Anyway, that about sums it up. Back to the story.

* * *

I broke myself away from the dreamscape just so I could replace the gauntlet, then I quickly made my way to the fortress. I wasn’t surprised to not find Gnarl waiting for me. I had told him not to wait as usual since I had to deal with Luna. The night was only half over though so I figured at the least I could give the old imp a pat on the back for a job well done.

I got up from my throne and stretched a bit before putting my hands to my mouth. “Hey Gnarl! Come out here you horrid, disgusting abomination.” It wasn’t long before I heard him shuffling towards me and only a few seconds more before he was visible.

“Ah Master! I trust things went well with the princesses?”

“Well? They went amazingly! They didn’t suspect a thing. Somehow you managed to get me through the black hole that was this trip alive. If there’s some position above the one you’ve got right now, considered yourself promoted!”

“Oh, well thank you Master. I do pride myself on a job well done, and tricking those princesses was a pleasure in itself. Oh how I wish I could have seen their smiling faces as you pulled the wool over their eyes!”

“You worked a miracle today, no doubt about that. Now then, you want to see if Clobber is awake?”

“If he’s not I’ll make sure that whatever dream he’s having becomes a nightmare.”

Now that put a real smile on my face. “What would I do without you, Gnarl?”

Author's Notes:

So about not having daily updates...