Chapter 22: Gossip

As I pulled up to, what I expected, was a carriage runway, I gently let the ship down before getting up and out of the ship. The moment I did I noticed every guard's eyes were on me, waiting to see what I'd do.

"Take me to Celestia." I said to the nearest guard, getting him to nod and motion for me to follow.

I followed the guard through the castle and it's many, many hallways until we came to a set of two ornate doors, just like before. They opened them for me as I walked in, helmet retracted, and greeted the princess.

"Celestia..." I said giving a small bow before looking back up. "It's done." I said getting her to look back at me with confusion so I continued. "The war, Celestia. I ended it. They wont be bothering you any time soon."

After saying that she looked down, trying to form a sentence as she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"It's... over? Just like that? What did they say?" She asked, listening intently.

I looked to my sides and noticed every guard was also listening curiously. "Well, they said they surrender to YOU, so do with that what you will... but for now we have something to discuss." I said as I made my way towards her throne. "And I think it's best to speak... in private. It has to do with... returning home." I said as I glanced to the back door leading to the war room.

Nodding, she quickly stood up and made her way there before I stopped her.

"You think you can call Luna as well? This has as much to do with her as it does you." I said back as she nodded, and flashed her horn yellow.

A few moments later, Luna appeared next to her with a curious look. "What's going on? Oh Jake your back already!" She said with a smile.

Nodding I began walking to the war room. "Yes, now let's get to discussing our current circumstances." I finished as I opened the door for the two princesses before walking in myself.

We all walked around the table, map placed out in front of us, as I set my hands down and looked at them both. In response they both looked straight back at me, motioning for me to begin.

"Alright, so Celestia... you know this but Luna you do not. As of about a half an hour ago, I finished the war between you and the Griffons. They had apologized for their actions, and have promised not to bother you with violence anymore." I said with a smirk. "Well as long as I'm here anyway... which brings me to my second point!" I said as I stopped leaning on the table and began pacing. "As you know my ship is fixed... but not COMPLETELY. I need to repair the FTL drive, also known as 'Faster than light'. Without it, I'm not going anywhere." I said getting them both to nod. "Now... depending on the damages I can expect to have it functional within the next day or so... leaving me two days time to get back to earth before..." I paused as I nodded. "You know the rest... so now brings me to point three..." I said as I turned to Celestia.

"Do you want to hide, or reveal yourself now?" I asked Celestia seriously, getting her to look at me with confusion.

"I... don't follow." She said with Luna nodding as well.

"Well... what it means is, do you want to seek help, and reveal yourself to my kind and, by default, the Verix as well." I spoke getting Celestia to wince. "Or plan b, you can try and stay in hiding while I return to my planet, as if I never even came here." I said putting Celestia into deep thought. "The way I see it, both sides have it's advantages and disadvantages. On one side, getting help means the ponies of Equestria become the most technologically advanced species on this planet, meaning you will never be under the threat of war with other species from Equis." I stated, taking in a breath. "But... in turn reveals your planet to the Verix, therefor dragging you into this mess. And to pay for your protection you WILL have to help out the cause in some way." I said watching her intently, letting it all sink in.

After a few minutes passed by she let out a breath and looked right at me. "And what if we take option two?" She asked worriedly.

I scratched my chin as I thought it over. "Well... if your lucky the Verix will never come across your planet, and you'll never have to deal with them. I'd leave and never return and Humanity would never know of this place." I said getting her back into a state of thought. "But... if they DID find you. There is nothing that we have to get us here fast enough before the whole planet is dead." I said in a somber tone.

Celestia winced as I finished my explanation and began thinking it all over. She took a few steps away from the table, and turned around with Luna and spoke in hushed voices. After a few minutes, Celestia turned to me with a look of defeat on her face.

"We have decided... to reveal ourselves. We don't want to take the risk of being found by the wrong side first." She said nodding to me. "So we'd like to join your fight against the Verix then, in return please keep my ponies safe." She finished.

Nodding back I replied. "Don't worry, they'll be in good hands. Now the fourth point WAS going to be who shall accompany us on the ride there to speak to Earth Gov with me... but we already had that one figured out." I said as I turned and motioned to Luna.

Celestia looked at her sister a few seconds before something clicked. "L-Luna... your going with him?!" She said shocked.

Nodding back she smiled. "Yes! I've always wanted to go beyond our reach and know what's out there! Now I have a purpose to do so AND a way!" She said smiling.

Celestia let out a sigh as she looked between us both. "I just wish you'd spoken to me before making these plans but... I guess this is probably the best way to do things. I need to stay and watch over my ponies." She said as Luna leaned into her.

"Cele don't worry, you can handle the sun AND moon by yourself! I can't! You've had over a thousand years of practice!" Luna exclaimed as Celestia put on a hint of a smile.

"I... suppose your right. Alright I guess that's it then, alert me when you're ready." Celestia said as I nodded and made my way out the door.

As I left the castle and walked to my ship, it automatically started it's engine and began hovering, courtesy of Lucy. I jumped into the door as it closed behind me and piloted the ship out of the area and back towards Ponyville. As I did so I thought about all the ponies I had met in my short time being here. I had met all of the elements of harmony... on my first encounter! Heh what were the chances of that? Not to mention meeting Celestia and Luna, especially my friend Luna. I hadn't shown it while I was there... but when Celestia had said she wanted to stay in contact with us... I felt so relieved... and I didn't even know why.

'Perhaps it was just the thought of losing a friend...' I thought to myself as I nodded.

As I flew over Ponyville I spotted a tree-house, belonging to one Twilight Sparkle, so I decided to take a little detour.

"Lucy, pull up in front of the Library, I want to talk to Twilight." I said getting an 'Affirmative' from Lucy as I stood up, took off my armor, and made my way to the door.

A few moments later there was the sound of ground meeting the bottom of the ship as the door opened and I stepped out. I looked around me and saw that every pony nearby was looking at the ship in wonder. I ignored the looks and walked up to the door, quickly knocking. I waited a few more moments before Spike opened up the door and stared wide eyed at me and then the ship behind me.

"... TWIIIILIIIIGHT!" Spike yelled out as he turned around.

A few moments later I heard Twilight from inside. "What is it Spike!" She yelled back getting the dragon to look at the scene again before turning around and answering.

"Uh... door's for you!" He shouted as he ran inside.

A few moments later Twilight emerged and took in the scene with wide eyes before gasping, grabbing me in her magic, and throwing me inside the house. She immediately slammed the door behind me before turning to me with an angry look in her eyes.

"What's wrong with you! Do you know what you've done!" She shouted as she ran into the kitchen.

Confused, I replied. "Uh... what do you mean? The ship is perfectly safe sitti-" I was interrupted as she came back into the room, holding a newspaper in her magical grasp.

"Not the ship! THIS!" She shouted as she threw the paper on the ground in front of me. Curious, I bent down and picked it up, straightening it out and looking at the front page's headliner, and the picture directly under it.

Friend or Lover?

As shown above in this picture, it seems somepony has finally caught Luna's eye! But the strangest fact is... they aren't a pony! Nor any other recorded species on the planet! With the exception of one... very strange (And thought fake!) race. Eye witnesses say it's an intelligent being with super advanced machines as they are called, and already flew one across Equestria, taking out a part of the Saddle Arabian kingdom! Upon closer inspection of the being... the only documents with diagrams or information even relating to him... is of a very old mythological race... known as the HUMANS! Yes we've all heard the stories from when we were young, of the things they created! Of the terrifying and wonderful stories that were never proven true or fake... but this is the first hard proof of the existence of humans EVER documented! Not much more is known about this 'human', but reporters all across the globe are currently doing anything they can to contact and interview said pony (person?) themselves, as ponies across Equestria want to know...

Why is he HERE and just how CLOSE are these two?

The picture in question is the picture of Luna and I, with me standing on my two legs and her on her back hooves, and this photo was taken as she was in midst of blinking AND blushing, making this photo look excruciatingly suggestive. I dropped the paper on a nearby table and ran my hand through my hair.

"Holy shit... well I guess the whole world knows about me now..." I said looking back at the peeved Twilight.

"That's not what I'm worried about!" She said pointing to the paper. "The paper is right! Just how close are you two?!" She asked taking a step closer.

I took a step back in response as I quickly answered. "Nonono we aren't close like that... we're just friends!" I said back getting her to huff.

"Horseapples! Look at the way she's looking at you! You can't tell me there's 'Nothing going on'!"

I put my hand on my forehead as I let out a nervous chuckle. "Trust me Twilight... nothings happening. The events leading up to that picture were so unexpected you wouldn't believe me if I told you. It's like the whole world is trying to make a joke out of me!"

Shaking her head she let out a sigh. "Alright... I'm gonna believe you on this one. But I'm still warning you. BE CAREFUL! These ponies already SUSPECT you two are something. So you are going to have a lot of attention very soon. Just... try and not attract anymore?" She asked politely as I nodded and breathed out.

I walked over to the window beside the door and looked out, seeing over fifteen ponies taking pictures of my ship. I shook my head and stepped away, turning towards Twilight for the original reason I came.

"So Twilight... I was wondering if you wanted to see my ships FTL drive?" I asked as she scratched her chin.

"I don't know... I'm kind of busy..." She said as she gave a small smile.

"Are you sure? Cause when I fix it... I'm leaving the planet." I said getting her ears to drop.

"But I've been working on this new potion and if I don't finish it now I'll have to redo it all-"

Interrupting her, I spoke up with a smile. "Oh... did I mention the FTL drive was a scientific breakthrough?" I said perking her interest. "It lets you travel across space... Faster than light." I said with a smile.

Her eyes widened to unholy levels as her mouth hung open. In an instant, she was beside me and ready to go.

"SPIKE! WATCH THE LIBRARY FOR ME WHILE I'M GONE!" She yelled into the Library as she pushed me towards the door. "Come on! Let's go slowpoke!" She said as she gave me another shove.

I let out a small chuckle as I reached for the door and opened it, immediately being swarmed by ponies with notepads, quills, and cameras.

'Probably just best to ignore them for now...' I thought as I led Twilight through the sea of ponies.

"Equestria wants to know... where did you come from?!"

"Are there more of you?! If so how many?!"

"Are you going to be the future king of Equestria, due to your relationship with the Princess?!"

'Just... ignore...'

I finally made it to the ship and got in as it hovered in place, helping Twilight up as well... before it closed, silencing their endless sea of questions. As I made my way towards the cockpit, Twilight followed, looking around in awe at everything around her.

"Hello Twilight!" Lucy said through the ships speakers.

Twilight jumped in the air a foot or so, giving a small "EEP" as she did.

"Who was that?! Where is she?!" She asked looking around.

Chuckling I turned to her, watching as she looked at every crevice, looking for the owner of the voice. "Twilight... remember when I said I had someone with me named 'Lucy'?" I asked, getting her to nod. "Well that was her."

Confused she looked around some more. "If that was her... then where is she?"

"Well Twilight... she isn't actually ALIVE. She's an A.I. A program... but a damn smart one at that." I said as I turned and looked at her even more confused expression as I sat down in the captains chair. "Eh... I don't feel like explaining this... Lucy... do me the honors please?" I asked getting a 'Yes Sir!' As a response as I took off into the sky, towards my landing point to fix this FTL drive.

Author's Note

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