>That morning you got ready for work
>Your first day back to work since becoming magic horse protector, you contemplated if you should tell people
>Yeah, contemplated it for all of two seconds
>They'd throw you in the fucking loony bin, so you decided to keep it to yourself
>By the time you got home, you were exhausted
>After dinner, you prepared for bed with a new shirt, new pants and your shoes
>You were tired of walking around horse world in socks and sleepwear
>Drifting off to sleep, you listened for any sounds, but nothing came
>No vibrations or shaking coming from your bed
>No wavering reality
>You opened your eyes: no horse world
>You eventually fell asleep with all your clothes on and woke up the next morning still in your own bed
>A pang ran through your chest
>What if you never saw Celestia and Luna again?
>The thought left a feeling like a stone in the pit of your stomach and it didn't leave you all day
>Getting home from work that night, you weren't very interested in your dinner
>When it came time for bed, you absentmindedly stripped down and changed into new pajamas
>Just as you drifted off, the distant chaotic chatter of a large crowd reached your ears
>It seemed to get closer and closer until the noise surrounded you and you realized you were laying on a hard floor
>Sitting up, you nearly head-butted some stallion looking down at you
>The crowd hushed as they realized your sudden intrusion
>Looking around, you were in some large dining hall with long tables covered in platters of food and desserts
>Tall windows lining the hall revealed a sunset outside
>The ponies around you wore formal attire and you looked down at your pajamas
>No shoes, yet again
>As you stood up, a familiar blue figure approached you through the crowd
>Luna paused in front of you, she was wearing an extravagant dark gown with silver trim that trailed off behind her with silver shoes and a black tiara
"Luna?"
>"Anonymous!"
>She stepped and hugged you with a foreleg before whispering in your ear.  "My savior, these ponies are far too boring."
>She broke the embrace and introduced you to the nervous crowd
>Shaking a couple ponies' hooves, they looked strangely at your outfit
>"Sister will be most ecstatic that you're here," Luna smiled
>As if on cue, the large doors to the hall opened and a white figure appeared
>Celestia walked in and the ponies around you bowed
>"Fillies and gentle colts, thank you for coming tonight to commemorate-"
>She paused a moment when her gaze landed on you
>"-to commemorate the completion of our castle," she walked toward you and her sister, continuing her speech
>You saw her gown matched the elegance of Luna's, though hers was white with gold trim
>She also wore golden shoes with a golden tiara on her head
>Celestia reached Luna and they both extended their wings
>They were an impressive sight
>"Please enjoy the meal and conversation," she concluded and the crowd applauded by clopping their hooves on the stone floor
>As ponies made their way to seats along the tables, Celestia approached you, beaming
>"Anonymous!" she exclaimed and hugged you before quickly releasing and clearing her throat
>It was apparently not proper etiquette for royalty if the strange looks she received told you anything
>"It is a pleasure to see you again," she said, returning to a more formal tone
"It's great to see you too," you smiled at them and they started ushering you over to the end of one of the tables
>You had noticed they'd grown again
>Celestia was your height now and Luna was only a couple inches shy
>You also saw Celestia's mane was waving slowly in an intangible breeze and the pink faded into an array of colors near the roots
>Looking at Luna, her mane was motionless and the same light blue you remembered, if not a little longer
>As the three of you approached your seats, Celestia and Luna had been recounting stories of things that had happened since the last time they saw you
>Ponies apparently thrived under their leadership to the point they were now considered princesses
>There was even a castle erected for them that you now sat in
>The two ponies levitated food from nearby dishes while they continued talking
>You grabbed some food as well, avoiding the hay and grass some trays held
>Listening to the stories, you realized some of them sounded very old
"How long has it been since I was here?" you asked during a moment of silence as Celestia and Luna ate
>They looked at each other for a moment
>"Around one thousand years or so" Luna calmly remarked
>You nearly choked on a bite of salad
>"A lot has happened since then," Celestia added, poking at her food with a fork
"Apparently," you replied, looking around at the formal ponies and the large hall you sat in
>At the doorway Celestia had entered through, you saw a pair of stallions wearing armor watching the crowd
"Looks like you took my advice about the guards."
>They both looked at the guards and smiled
>"Yes, and they've been useful more than once," Celestia replied
>The three of you sat, ate and talked with the occasional interruption from ponies wishing to speak with their princesses
>You were fine with the interruptions as your conversations were pretty one sided considering you had two days of news to recount that consisted mostly of going to work and sleeping
>There was another silence between you after a couple hours and ponies started approaching the princesses to thank them and say their goodnights
>Staying near them, you didn't get much chance to talk with Celestia and Luna again until most of the crowd had left
>A couple small groups remained, chatting over half finished meals they wouldn't touch again
>You'd just opened your mouth to say something when a stallion appeared and bowed to Celestia and Luna
>"Princesses, I was wondering if I may have a private word with you for a moment."
>His voice was low and rough as he looked from you to them
>You were about to make a remark when Celestia spoke up.  "Excuse us Anonymous, this should only take a moment."
>The two of them stood from their seats and proceeded to walk along with the strange pony
>While watching their conversation, a unicorn walked up to you
>Hoping she would go away, you didn't look at her until it was obvious she wasn't leaving
>Turning to look at her, you found a knife held to your throat as she held a hoof to her mouth
>"Shhh."
>Looking around, you watched as other ponies spread out to the dinner's hangers-on
>Celestia and Luna faced away from the crowd, still talking to the rough stallion
>Luckily it didn't take them long to realize the party had gone quiet, but as they turned, the stallion shouted out to the others and quickly clamped rings around the base of the princesses' horns
>The others had rounded you and the remaining guests to one side of the hall and ushered the guards out and jammed the door
>A pair of them galloped to the stallion, placing shackles on Celestia and Luna, binding their hooves and wings
>After it was apparent they couldn't break the chains, Celestia called out
>"Is everypony okay?"
>The ponies around you seemed to be in shock and didn't say a word
"Yeah, we're fi-"
>"Shut up," another knife met your throat
>That shit was getting old
>"Let them go, whatever this is about it doesn't involve them."  The chains around Luna's hooves clattered as she stomped
>"Insurance policy, princess."  He whispered in her ear
>"Well?  You have our attention, what do you want?"  Celestia asked coldly
>"What everypony wants or should want.  To be free."
>An indignant expression flashed to Celestia's face
>"How are you not?"  Luna asked before her sister's anger flared further
>The stallion took a deep breath and looked over Luna and Celestia's restraints
>"Princesses," his voice dripped of contempt as he bowed to them
>"You two have ruled over ponies for at least a millennia, shaping the nation in a way no average pony ever could."
>"Shaping it in lasting peace and harmony.  How awful," Celestia butted in and he eyed her coldly
>"That may be true, but at the price of our own autonomy."
>You were tired of looking at him, listening to him and tired of this fucking horse keeping a knife to your throat
>Looking at the ponies around you, they seemed to be snapping out of their initial shock
>While the ones guarding your group listened to their leader's speech, you quietly asked some of the larger stallions near you for help
>"If you disagree with something we are doing, you could have spoken with us instead of this," Luna spoke and again rattled the chains on her forelegs
>"We tried that, princess.  Your associates felt our request too ridiculous to schedule an appointment with you."
>"Imagine that," Celestia scoffed under her breath
>He ignored her
>"Regardless, what we now want is nothing you can change.  What we want now is for you to no longer rule ponies and since it is unlikely for you to step down permanently, we will need to put you down," he paused and smiled. "Permanently."
>The stallion's horn glowed and he produced a dagger from beneath his jacket
>Watching, you finally stood up and put your weight into a right punch for the mare with the knife
>Unluckily she was able to react in time and grabbed your fist with her magic, mid-swing
>She grinned wickedly, brandishing that fucking knife at you again
>Thinking quickly you spun, pulling against her hold on your right hand as your left elbow connected solidly with her left eye
>Her magic wavered as she howled, releasing her grip on you and the knife
>A couple of the other ponies guarding the group stepped towards you, but stallions you'd talked to stood and kept them busy
>Using their distraction, you charged toward the stallion threatening Celestia and Luna
>His reaction time wasn't as fast as his assistants' and he couldn't stop you from tackling him at full speed
>Pressing your weight down on his neck with one hand, you raised the other to start pummeling the ever loving fuck out of him
>Before you could begin, you noticed a burning sensation coming from your side
>It felt like some had lit a stream of gasoline on your bare skin and the pain radiated into you
>You fell off him and looked down at a handle sticking out of your side
>Celestia and Luna called out as you looked back at him
>He was fucking smiling at your confusion
>You raised a fist again, determined to make him into Jell-O shots and Elmer's glue
>That determination was snuffed out when his horn lit and the burning in your side intensified as he twisted the blade
>Vision swimming, you heard the princesses screaming at him
>A moment later, the sound of glass shattering reached your ears and large blurry masses flew across your distorted vision
>"Anonymous!"
>You heard your name, but it was very muffled and distant sounding
>A feeling of magic enveloped you and you started to struggle
>That bastard wasn't done with you yet?
>Your weakly flailing arms were crossed on your chest and held there firmly and you felt yourself be lifted off the floor
>Hearing more urgent muffled voices, you tried to concentrate on them as you felt air rushing past you
>Your name and a couple hints of words were all you could make out
>A moment later and you found yourself being set on something soft
>A coffin no doubt
>Blurry faces floated above you
>Hell was filled with horses, who knew?
>Another muffled conversation, but it sounded more like arguing
>When it finished, the fiery feeling returned, withdrawing from your abdomen
>The pain snapped you back awake
>Looking around, you were in an infirmary surrounded by Celestia, Luna, and a couple medical-looking unicorns
>There was also a towel pressed to your gut that was rapidly turning red
>"We need to put him out to work on this." One of the unicorns said as she readied a bottle
>Celestia looked to her quickly, "You can't!"
>The mare paused at the princess' outburst
>"If he falls asleep, he'll be transported to a place where he won't have any help."
>The mare looked from the princess to her peers and down to you
>"Get a bite stick," she says firmly to another unicorn
>She leans down to you, "This is going to hurt, brace yourself."
>She then placed a wooden stick sideways in your mouth and you bit down on it
>"Not that I even know what he is or how to treat him."
>The princesses backed away from you as the medical ponies gathered near your wound
>The pressure on your gut was removed and you bit down on the stick as you felt them open your wound to look at the damage inside
>Your vision started to blur again and sounds became muffled as these horses operated on you
>Every time you felt yourself drifting off, there was another sharp pain or someone calling your name
>An eternity later, white and blue masses appeared above you and the stick was removed from your mouth
>You felt dizzy from a combination of the pain and blood loss and wouldn't have been able to say anything even if you were coherent
>Shivering, more blankets were placed on you and you felt a comfortable, warm pressure on your forehead
>"Thank you, Anonymous.  You may sleep now if you'd like," a kind voice whispered in your ear
>It's sudden clarity cutting through your foggy mind surprised you, but you couldn't say anything back
>Instead, your fluttering eyelids slid closed and you drifted off to sleep