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Chapter 1 - Matsunaga Hisahide - An Unexpected Visitor
Matsunaga Hisahide Chapter 1 Location: Outside of Ponyville's Town Date: February 18th, 2036
Equestria, a country that has known peace for quite sometime. Ruled by the two Princesses; The Princess of the Sun, Celestia & The Princess of the Moon, Luna, the citizen's of the land couldn't be happier. However a mysterious entity has appeared, unbeknownst to all, and is strolling towards one of Equestria's well known towns - Ponyville. Who is this being? Where did it come from? Nopony knows. One thing is for certain, whoever this anonymous being is, there is something about this shadow that seems too good to be true..
"Now then, time for me to introduce myself."
An Unexpected Visitor
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As the sun was elevated into the blue sky, the lives of the citizens of Ponyville was present with a brand new day. Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi alike woke up and began their daily routines. For one such Pegasus, who lived in a cloud home above the town's vicinity, today felt like it was going to be great day. The owner of the cloud house burst out of the front door with blinding speed, which would have been impossible to follow if it weren't for the rainbow coloured trail she left behind.
The Pegasus halted her speed and perched herself on one cloud that had a clear view of the town below. The cyan coloured Pegasus flicked her rainbow coloured mane and tail and wore a confident smile.
"I've got a really good feeling about today." said Rainbow Dash. She began flapping her wings and her body rose from the cloud. With her proud posture and confidence written all over her face, she looked around in every direction with her pink eyes. As he her eyes gazed all over the town, she couldn't help but stop when something caught her attention. North of the town, she noticed a silhouette of a tall figure that seemed to be walking towards Ponyville. The smile on her face turned to a jaw that could hit the floor.
"What is that!?" Rainbow exclaimed with apprehension. "Whatever it is, I better let Twilight know, she can probably figure out... whatever that is." With her objective in mind, Rainbow bolted towards the Ponyville library.
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Around about the same time, Matsunaga continued walking towards the town with both of his hands casually behind his back. Matsunaga is a tall, middle-aged man with black hair with grey stripes in the style of a samurai ponytail, brown eyes, and sports a unique style of facial hair only covering the sides of his cheeks. He wears black and yellow light samurai armor, with an asymmetrical black and white long coat on top. He's also always seen carrying a katana on the left side of his hip, why that is - no-one knows.
Calmly and methodically walking towards Ponyville with an almost warm smile, Matsunaga noticed a rainbow trail being directed from a cloud, down towards the town he was approaching.
'Hmm... it seems the introductions will be happening earlier than I thought.' Matsunaga pondered without changing his face. 'Not that it matters. I had a feeling she would notice me first anyway. Though I wonder, a monster or a stranger, which will I be labelled as first?' As his thought's went through his head, his eyes were presented with the town's buildings growing larger. It was obvious he was getting closer but what did get his attention was the sight of two figures standing in the middle of the road, their bodies facing in his direction.
Within a couple of minutes, Matsunaga stopped within a few feet of the two figures. One of them was the Pegasus - Rainbow Dash and the other was a lavender unicorn with dark purple mane and tail, both with light purple and pink higlights, as well purple eyes that matched it's colour. The two ponies stared at the man with a puzzled look plastered all over their faces, mouths agape and all.
"This is definitely what I didn't see coming." Matsunaga spoke with an equally puzzled look plastered over his face, one that he made sure to put on as he felt he came in range of their line of sight. "I've been here only a day in this part of the country and I find that the land is filled with multi-coloured fairytale-like beings-"
Rainbow finally managed to get words out of her mouth in time to cut Matsunaga off. "It spoke!" Rainbow exclaimed in shock as she jumped back a little.
'Monster it is.' Matsunaga thought, stepping back slightly and adding more concern to his look.
The purple unicorn turned her head towards Rainbow Dash with a stern look and spoke with a harsh tone "Rainbow, that's not very nice." She returned her focus towards Matsunaga. "Sorry about her, we were just wondering who or what you are? And what do you mean 'this part of the country'?" the lavender unicorn asked.
"I was travelling with an acquaintance across Japan towards Oshu." Matsunaga began to explain, keeping his concerned look. "We took refuge overnight on the road and when I woke he was gone. I assumed that he headed towards our destination alone, as I spent the previous day alone walking along the road. Now I am here. This is Oshu... right?" he spoke with a tone that seemed to be losing confidence.
"Japan? Oshu? What in the hay are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash spoke again, obviously annoyed with the explanation that was just thrown in her face. "This is Ponyville, a town that is a part of country called Equestria!" Rainbow said with a hint of proudness in her voice.
As the words left her mouth, the Pegasus and the unicorn watched as the stranger's face turned from concern to utter shock. His right hand went over his face slowly as he began to increase the pace of his breathing. The large being dropped down to one knee and his face was aimed at the floor. All that could be heard from him was heavy breathing. The purple unicorn began to approach the stranger, with a look of genuine concern on her face.
"Hey, hey, take a deep breath ok?" the lavender unicorn said.
As instructed, he slowly began taking deep breaths.
"From what you are saying, it seems like you somehow woke up from your world into ours." Twilight began speaking softly. "We have never heard of a place called 'Oshu' and definitely never heard of anywhere called 'Japan' either."
Matsunaga slowly moved his right hand away from his face. "Another.... world...?" Matsunaga looked at the unicorn with a face that showed a being that just been related with information that is logically impossible to comprehend.
The unicorn placed her left hoof on the beings right arm, "I'm afraid so." the unicorn said with pure sympathy. "How about we start with introductions, ok?" A smile formed on her face. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn and the owner of a library here in Ponyville." Twilight pointed her right hoof and her line of sight towards the Pegasus hovering where they were originally standing and spoke again with a more positive tone. "My friend here is Rainbow Dash, a Pegasus who is head of the weather team here in Ponyville".
"Don't forget the best flier here too!" Rainbow said proudly. "You won't see anything like me in your world!"
"Ahem!" Twilight exclaimed sternly.
Rainbow put a hoof over head and nervously giggled. "Oops... hehe.."
"So, what's your name again?" Twilight asked as she looked at the stranger. Matsunaga seemed to regain his normal breathing pattern. After taking one last deep breath he began to stand up. As he did, he threw a puzzled look at Twilight and then one a Rainbow. After a few moments he looked at the palm of his left hand, closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh. Opening his eyes once more, he turned to Twilight. She tilted her head slightly with a welcoming smile. Matsunaga held out his hand to her.
"My name is Matsunaga Hisahide. A human, and for what it seems to be now, I have no profession." said Matsunaga with a small smile appearing across his face. Twilight looked at his hand wondering what he was doing and then it clicked in her mind. She placed her hoof in his hand and they proceed to shake. As they shook, Matsunaga smile grew a bit more and he seemed to be quite calm, Twilight returned the smile.
Rainbow came closer to the two. "Since you are new here, it only seems fair we show you around." said Rainbow.
Matsunaga released his grip on the handshake and looked at Rainbow, keeping his new smile and calm demeanour. "I would appreciate that." Matsunaga said. "By the way, are there any other humans around per chance?"
Twilight then said with sympathy. "I'm sorry, but you are the only human we know of and to be fairly honest, you are the first I think anypony has ever heard of." Her face than was plastered with realisation and her mind went a thousand miles an hour. 'Oh my goodness!! A being, a human, from another world! I cannot believe it! I wonder if there are more? How many more though? I wonder if they use magic like us and ca--'
"Twilight!" Rainbow exclaimed, cutting Twilight's thought process.
"What?" Twilight asked. She then realised she was smiling because of the information that just blew her mind. Almost immediately she put a hoof over head and nervously giggled. "Ehehe...sorry.."
Matsunaga chuckled slightly. "Pay no mind to it, Ms. Sparkle."
"Rainbow's right though, we should show you around. On the way, we can head to the library and I can send the princess a letter about your situation and maybe she can help you out." Twilight explained. Rainbow nodded in agreement.
"Your world has a princess? Are you acquainted with her well?" Matsunaga asked and Twilight responded with a nod.
"I'm her student." Twilight said with a hint of pride.
"Student, you say?" Matsunaga said with a voice of genuine surprise. He then proceeded to take a step back to bow the upper half of his body to Twilight. "I would be humbled with your assistance, Ms. Sparkle."
Twilight cheeks turned slightly pink and couldn't help release a nervous giggle. "No need to be so formal, shall we get going?" Twilight turned a pointed a hoof towards Ponyville. Matsunaga then returned his former posture with his hands behind his back and a warm smile on his face.
"Please, lead the way." Matsunaga said. Twilight began to walk back into the town and Rainbow hovered to her right, following alongside her. Matsunaga began to equal his walking pace with theirs.
As the trio walked into Ponyville, Matsunaga was enjoying the welcoming feeling and his warm smile grew a bit more across his middle aged face. While the calmness of the situation portrayed a positive atmosphere, Matsunaga's thoughts were something that the two girls next to him would not expect.
'Hm, that was almost too easy.' Matsunaga thought calmly, his expression not changing to match his thoughts. 'It's good that they rolled out the red carpet for me, but I mustn't get too coy. Good thing's come to those who wait, so it will be a pleasure to meet you at last, won't it? Princess Celestia.'
To Be Continued
Author's Note
My first shot at my first story with one of my favourite villains of all time. Please tell me what you think, I'm not the best writer in the world. My schedule is quite random at the moment so I can't make any promises of when the next chapter will be available. Thanks for reading and take care.
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Chapter 2 - Matsunaga Hisahide - The Welcome Wagon
Matsunaga Hisahide Chapter 2 Location: Street's of Ponyville Date: February 18th, 2036
After their brief meeting and receiving information that he has somehow arrived in another world, Matsunaga was greeted awkwardly by two citizen's of the town - Rainbow Dash & Twilight Sparkle. They took it upon themselves to show the human around the town and kindly informed Matsunaga that they will contact the Princess to see if she can help him. Humbly accepting their offer of generosity, he followed the two ponies into the town with an amiable smile on his face.
"Don't worry, Matsunaga. I'm sure everything will be alright." said Twilight.
"Yeah, nothing will be worth sweating over, we got your back." said Rainbow Dash.
"Hmm, I hope so..." Matsunaga replied.
The Welcome Wagon
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As ponies began walking out of their homes, embracing the fresh air that the morning graced them with, their gazes were aimed at a trio that were casually passing by. Two members of the trio were familiar faces that the citizens of the town have grown fond of more and more, as their deeds have deemed them 'One of Equestria's Greatest Defences': The Elements of Harmony'. However, the third member of the trio was someone that gained a lot of fixated gazes of either curiousity, fear or both, from everypony that caught a glimpse of him.
Matsunaga surveyed the ponies that stared at him, on face his smile turned into more of a nervous grin but mentally he wasn't fazed. 'Not surprising that they are all transfixed on me, then again I am used to receiving such looks.' His thoughts then showed him a brief image of a man with brown long hair in the form of a ponytail, staring at him as if he saw a ghost. 'Who is that boy again? Oh well, the notion is irrelevant.'
Twilight and Rainbow knew that simply by casually walking into town with this human would attract a lot of attention. It's as Twilight said, Matsunaga is the first human anypony has ever heard or seen before.
Rainbow leaned towards Twilight as they continued on their path through the town, "So, should we head to the library, or keep walking around until he receives looks from all the ponies in town?" Rainbow asked.
"How about this; I will continue walking with you two until we reach the library, before and after we do, we should introduce him to the rest of the girls." Twilight replied with her idea, "once we do; I will write the letter to the princess and you can take him to see Applejack and Fluttershy, since their homes are beyond the library."
"Fair enough." said Rainbow. She then hovered round the back of Matsunaga and then proceeded to float by his left side. "Hear that big guy? We're going to introduce to our good friends, you will still get to see the sights though," Rainbow aimed her front left hoof at her face and wore a lot of pride on her smile and tone, "courtesy of the coolest Pegasus around these parts."
'Ego the size of a house, this one has.' Matsunaga thought, 'wonder if she understands the word subtlety?' He smiled at the Pegasus, "That sounds like a plan, Ms. Dash. It would be nice to meet your frie--"
"HEY! YOU! GUYS!!!" the trio were caught off guard by an excited call, that came from a female, aimed at them from above. When they looked up, the saw a pink pony with bubbly pink hair that had largest grin on her face looking over a roof of the building next to them.
"Talking of which." Twilight said with a light chuckle. The pink pony leaped down from balcony and landed a couple of feet in front of the trio. With her sky blue eyes growing wider, aiming at Matsunaga.
She took in a deep breath and began inspecting the human from head to toe, all the while she spoke at a rapid pace with a cheery voice, "Hi! Who are you? Where did you come from? Why is your hair in a pony tail? I like the mix of black and white on your getup! What's that by your hip? When did you get here? How old are you? How do you know Twilight and Rainbow Dash?" When the plethora of questions ended, the pink pony began catching her breath. Matsunaga and the two girls faces became dumbfounded by her questions. Matsunaga blinked several times, processing the questionnaire that was swiftly shoved in his head.
'This one speaks as fast as he moves. I may as well humour her.' Matsunaga pondered and then began to reply at a calm pace, ticking the boxes of the questions that were asked. "I'm Matsunaga Hisahide. I'm from another world. I prefer this to having my hair over my shoulders. Thank you for the compliment. A katana, that's a family heirloom. I arrived in this world yesterday. I'm 43 years old. I just met your friends about seven minutes ago."
The pink pony nodded to every answer he gave her and then finished with a huge gasp whilst jumping in mid-air, "You're from another world!?" when she ended the sentence, she charged behind the building next to them and within seconds returned with a wagon.
"I can now use my 'Welcome to Equestria' wagon!" the pink pony said as she opened the hatch of the wagon's top and pressed a switch on a small mechanism that seems to have trumpet ends attached to it, a light bouncy beat began to play. The pink pony began dancing around on her back legs, standing up straight and started to sing;
"Welcome to Equestria, oh, Welcome to Equestria, Welcome to Equestriiaaaa~~~~
Matsu-na-ga~~~
There's places to be, smiles to see, treats to eat & ponies to meet.
You'll love it hear, that much is clear, and you will know that where there is fun - Pinkie will appear~~~
Oh, one more time!
Welcome to Equestria, oh, Welcome to Equestria, Welcome to Equestriiaaaa~~~~
Matsu-na-ga~~~"
As the song ended, confetti shot out of the wagon skyward in every direction. Pinkie ended her dance on her back knees with front arms in air, catching her breath. Once again, the trio were dumbfounded by Pinkie's performance and stood surprised for a few moments. Matsunaga broke the silence by clapping his hands together, with a bright smile on his face. Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other, genuinely surprised and then let out a large laugh, both of the girls turned back to Pinkie and began clapping their hooves together and cheered for Pinkie.
"You certainly know how to greet strangers, Pinkie" Twilight said with a small chuckle.
Matsunaga continued clapping as his thoughts went on, 'If she was in Japan, she could replace that prissy preacher Sorin. Then again... those two would more than likely take Xavism to a whole new level with their presentations and festivals.' Halting his clapping, he gave Pinkie a warm smile that in turn, made Pinkie smile. "I never thought I would receive a greeting like this, thank you very much, Ms. Pinkie."
Pinkie's smile grew brighter at his appreciation. "You're welcome. Oh, right, almost forgot. I'm Pinkemina Diane Pie, but everyone calls me 'Pinkie' Pie. Party thrower extraordinaire. It's nice to meet you." said Pinkie.
"Likewise." replied Matsunaga. His eyes diverted towards her back legs where he noticed a marking of three balloons on her rear. Turning his attention to Twilight's and Rainbow's rears and saw a pattern of stars in circular formation on Twilight's, and a rainbow bolt coming out a cloud on Rainbow's. Puzzled by this unique feature, he raised his right hand and pointed back and forth between the three ponies, seemingly unsure of what to make of the situation. "Pardon my rudeness, but what are those markings on your rear's supposed to be?" asked Matsunaga, "I notice all three of you have a different one. I haven't seen anything like it before." his thought's however were different than his words, 'Keep playing the curious cat, Matsunaga, they will only answer what you know already.'
Twilight was the one to answer, "These are our cutie marks." Matsunaga turned his attention to Twilight with an even more confused look.
"I beg your pardon?" Matsunaga replied.
"Cutie marks." Twilight repeated with enunciation, "All of pony kind receives one, when they come to the realisation of their special talent. Mine represents my special talent for magic and my love of stargazing."
"Mine represents my love for speed, flying and racing." said Rainbow.
"Mine represents my love for parties and I have thrown so many I can't count." Pinkie explained "I have thrown parties for weddings, get togethers, celebrations, birthdays, even just for the heck it. I love them so much! One time, our friend Rarity, kept trying to go back and forth between her own party and a fancy party, to keep everyone happy, she ended coming back to us at one point with a croquet mallet in her mouth." Pinkie chuckled, followed swiftly by Rainbow and Twilight chuckling along with her.
Pinkie then somehow changed her bubbly mane's style to match Rainbow's spiky bangs. "Rainbow was like 'What's with the croquet mallet?'" swiftly afterwards she changed it again to more curly one, "then Rarity was like," she pulled the ends of her mane and shoved it her mouth, gripping it with her teeth making what she said next muffled, "'What croquet mallet?'" Rainbow ended laughing so hard from Pinkie's impression, she landed on the ground back first, kicking her legs about from a laughing fit. Twilight began laughing a whole lot more, she could hardly contain herself. Pinkie shook her head and her mane returned to its original state, she chuckled along with the other two girls.
Matsunaga stood truly flabbergasted at what he just witnessed, mouth agape and all.
As the girls around continued their outburst of laughter, Matsunaga began to mentally recollect himself, 'Remember, when it comes to this upbeat pony, there is always one thing to do - you must not question her antics.' A moment later, he managed to get but a few words out, "That was...quite a tale." Matsunaga said, still quite surprised by Pinkie's actions.
A few moments later, all three of the girls recollected themselves.
"Anyway, what's going on?" Pinkie asked.
"Matsunaga here, has somehow woke up in this world, and we were just showing him around and plan to introduce him to the rest of the girls." Twilight explained.
"Neat." replied Pinkie.
Twilight continued, "We are now going to Rarity's to introduce him to her. Along the way I'm going to stop by my place so I can send a letter to the Princess about Matsunaga's problem. While I do that, Rainbow will go with Matsunaga to Rarity's to save time."
"No harm in my joining you three, right? I got nothing to do today anyway." Pinkie said bouncing up and down on the spot.
"I see no reason to object. The more, the merrier, as they say." Matsunaga replied with a welcome smile. Twilight nodded with a warm smile and Rainbow merely shrugged her shoulders.
"Then let's get going then. I'm sure the Princess will help out sooner, the faster we get the letter sent off." Rainbow said, hovering high above the group, pointing a her left hoof in the direction of a giant tree. Twilight nodded at Rainbow, but what seemed to mistaken as a signal, the Pegasus flew off with great speed towards the tree.
"Rainbow!.. Sorry about her, she get's impatient some times. Let's go." Twilight said, charging in the same direction as her friend took off in.
"Come on, MH, we don't want to keep them waiting." Pinkie said, casually bouncing after her two friends. Matsunaga began jogging in the same direction the three ponies went, making sure not to fall too far behind.
As he tried to keep his sights on Pinkie, smiling all the while, his thoughts once more delved into what is going on, 'Hehehe... The beauty of this moment is just too brilliant. Still, I must keep this up, I must not give them reasons to begrudge me... yet. Hehehe...'
To Be Continued
Author's Note
Second chapter is here, please tell me what you think. I had fun with Pinkie's song and I must admit it did take me quite a while, had to think of a tune to go with it. Once again, my schedule is random at the moment, so I cannot make any promises of when the next chapter will be published. Thanks for reading and take care.
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Chapter 3 - Matsunaga Hisahide - Doubling The Threads
Chapter 3 - Matsunaga Hisahide - Doubling The Threads
Matsunaga Hisahide Chapter 3 Location: Outside of Golden Oak's Library Date: February 18th, 2036
Within the short amount of time Matsunaga has been in Ponyville, he has met three different ponies, all of which know each other - Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle & Pinkie Pie. All three of them have agreed to help him out and introduce him to their three other friends. As the trio of ponies rushed over to the Golden Oak's Library, with Matsunaga not far behind, none of them can tell that within this human's mind - a hollow cackle is finding humour in their generosity.
'Hahaha... Now then, three to go.'
Doubling The Threads
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Within the centre of the quaint town, a giant tree sits in place. This same tree is also the home of Twilight Sparkle, which in turn is the Golden Oak's library. Hovering just outside the front door, a cyan Pegasus looks from the way it came with a frustrated frown and her foreleg's folded too, waiting with dwindling patience. Across the street, a purple unicorn runs toward her home. As she stops herself outside of the tree, catching her breath, she shoots a disapproving glare at her friend whom is also looking at her friend with a similar front.
"Well, you took your sweet time." said Rainbow with a condescending tone.
Her expression unchanged, Twilight takes one last deep breath to regain her stamina, then replies to her friend, "You're the one who misunderstood my gesture and took off without waiting for us." Rainbow rolled her eyes as a response which didn't swim too well with Twilight. Twilight released her frustration with a heavy sigh and looked up at Rainbow again and spoke with a more calmer demeanour, "Well, since we are here, no other option but to wait." Twilight turned her head to look in the direction she came from, waiting for either Pinkie or Matsunaga to appear from behind the houses. After a few moments of silence, except for the sound of Rainbow's wings continuously flapping, the Pegasus spoke up, directing her attention to Twilight.
"I wonder if all humans have weird hooves like his." Rainbow stated. Twilight turned her attention back to her friend with a raised eyebrow which prompted to her to reply.
"I can see what you mean, they had those little curly pointy things on the end of them." Twilight replied whilst looking at her right hoof, her mind baffled by what those pointy things were on the Matsunaga's right hoof.
"His left hoof looked a little more creepy though." said Rainbow.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"When I moved to his left side, after I had a quick word with you about what to do earlier, I could have sworn I saw purple claws sticking out on the inside of the hoof, underneath those curly things." Rainbow explained. Twilight put her right hoof to her chin with concern and began to speak her thoughts.
"Maybe there are different types of humans in his world." Twilight stated before continuing, "I'm sure we can ask him some more questions about his world later, when he is better acquainted."
"That would be interesting to know, I just hope I don't get bored with the details." Rainbow replied with a huff before looking back once more in the direction she and Twilight came from. This time she saw Pinkie casually bouncing towards the library and Matsunaga wasn't far behind, also approaching the library.
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Following his new pink bouncing companion through the streets of Ponyville, Matsunaga's eyes looked left and right while his head face forward. Every pony that he saw, he noticed that they all looked different, there were no identical twins to be seen anywhere. 'At least it won't be hard to distinguish who is who in this land' he thought. For a second he noticed one pony who looked like they just saw what they feared most, the moment the pony gazed upon him passing by. From a distance, even though it was brief, he could tell the pony's colour was lime green and it's eyes were amber, the hair was a lighter colour and appeared to have a large white section of hair. Whether it was the pony's natural colour or it was affected with a fear that much, Matsunaga's interest dissipated almost immediately so that he could keep a view on where Pinkie was going.
It wasn't hard to lose sight of Pinkie, especially since she was the only pony in any direction who was Pink and bouncing. Before long, after moving past several houses and receiving more shocked looks from the locals, they were heading towards a large tree where Twilight and Rainbow Dash waiting with questionable looks on their faces. Matsunaga noticed this from afar and, like a script being given him to act out, his thoughts began in his mind while his face was project a calm but nervous smile. 'I have a feeling that questions will brought up soon. No matter, if they will ask, I will answer to the best of my ability.'
Within seconds, all four of them were standing outside the library together, technically two though - if you count Pinkie's bouncing and Rainbow's hovering.
Rainbow let out a loud sigh and began to speak. "So now that we are here, now what?"
Twilight looked at her puzzled "You forgot already?" Rainbow put on a nervous grin and shrugged her shoulders which Twilight responded to by shaking her head. "I'm going to get a letter sent to Princess Celestia, remember? In the meantime, you two will take Matsunaga to see Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy."
"Actually," Matsunaga interjected, making the three ponies turn their attention towards him, "I would think it would be wiser for me to come into the library and wait with Ms.Sparkle, while Ms.Dash and Ms.Pie retrieve your friends to this abode." Matsunaga began explaining his thought before receiving a 'Huh?' from Pinkie and Rainbow, Twilight was surprised by this thought but waited for Matsunaga to finish, "For one, I would think it would draw too much attention. At some point, I'm certain all of the residents here will want to see me, like a circus attraction-"
"Oooh, I haven't been to a circus for a while. The last time I went to one, there was a lion, a giraffe, a hippo and a zebra but the zebra was painted in polka dots and an afro and did this weird dance and I thought 'That is so cool, I wonder if he threw parties.' But then, I thought 'Silly, he is with a circus, he is always throwing parties with all the jumps and the hoops and the-" Pinkie rambled on before being interrupted by Twilight's cliché way of snapping Pinkie back to reality.
*Cough, Cough*
"Oh, sorry" Pinkie apologised with a nervous chuckle.
"Pay no mind to it, Ms. Pie" Matsunaga replied with a welcoming smile, while his thoughts were speaking something opposite. 'Sorin would be calling your name to 'Spread the Love', I can see the showboating followers bowing before the insanity in front of me'.
"I certainly wouldn't want to cause more attention than I already have. If I wait with Ms. Sparkle, the attention should die down over time, and whilst we wait for the whole ensemble to be brought together - I will be happy to answer any questions you wish to ask me." Matsunaga said calmly whilst the three ponies listened intently. After he finished, Rainbow nodded casually with his idea.
"What he says makes sense. Plus, if me and Pinkie split up we can get the other three here in no time." Rainbow replied with a bit of enthusiasm. Twilight put a hoof to her chin for a moment, pondering Matsunaga's idea. She looked to Rainbow and nodded which, once again, made Rainbow take off in the opposite direction. Twilight looked at Pinkie and then nodded her. Pinkie tilted her head to the left for a moment, wondering what she meant. After a long a pause, Pinkie replied with a long 'Oh!' and then darted off in another direction.
"Let's get you inside." Twilight commented. She turned towards the door of the tree and enveloped her horn with pink aura, the same aura enveloped the door knob and the door came open. The unicorn went inside the tree. Matsunaga, inspected the size of the door and realised it was just over half his size. For him to get in, he would have to crawl in.
'Beggar's can't be choosers here. The best is yet to come' Matsunaga thought. He got onto his knees and elbows and peered his head in the doorway. "Won't be a moment, Ms. Sparkle." Matsunaga called out. Twilight was in the middle of the library as she watched the human literally crawl into her home. She couldn't help but feel awkward yet guilty about the entrance he made. When Matsunaga's feet got through the door he looked around the library and noticed there was some space to his left where he could sit. He continued to shuffle across the floor to the point he had in mind. When he reached the spot, he brought himself to his knees and put his rear on the floor between his feet. His placed on his hands on his thighs and took a moment to take in his surroundings which was interrupted by Twilight's nervous laughter. Matsunaga turned his attention to the lavender mare.
"Sorry about the door and the space, I understand that your stature is disproportionate to the library." Twilight apologised with guilt twinging in her tone as she looked to the floor infront of Matsunaga which glum face. She could see Matsunaga raised his right hand, casually waving about. As her gaze met his face, she saw that calm smile that he continuously wore for the majority of the time he was around.
"Pay no mind to it, Ms. Sparkle" Matsunaga replied, "It is to be expected, as you said, given my stature. Nothing a little readjustment to this world wouldn't remedy." He brought his hands to his katana and removed it from his waist. Bringing the katana to the floor next to him, seathed, he returned his attention to his hostess, who seemed to have perked up a little bit after hearing his acceptance of the situation he is in.
"I'm surprised." Twilight commented. "For somepony, who is from another world, you seem to be very level-headed about all this."
"From my experience, you have to accept new situations quickly and take with a calm approach. Acting irrationally and going on a rave of panic, doesn't help anyone." Matsunaga replied which was received with a welcoming smile from Twilight. Matsunaga clap his hands together which made her jump, he couldn't but giggle, "Apologies, but getting back to the matter at hand - didn't you need to your accomplice 'Spike' to send off a letter to the Princess?" as the words left his mouth, Twilight smiled and then brought a hoof to her face and let out a long groan. "Ms. Sparkle?"
"I'm sorry." Twilight said with a nervous grin.
"Again? Whatever for?" he replied with a light chuckle at the repeating situation.
"I forgot Spike is with Rarity today, he said he would be helping her with some gems." Twilight explained.
"Gems?" Matsunaga was taken back by this.
"My friend, Rarity, is a fashion expert and wanted Spike's knowledge of gems to see if the gems she wanted to put on her new fashion idea were fake or not." Twilight continued. Matsunaga brought his right hand to his chin and hummed in thought.
"I suppose, we will just have to wait. Since Ms. Dash and Ms. Pie are retrieving your friend, I'm certain to assume your companion is with her too." He commented
"Yeah, I guess so." she replied bluntly.
"Therefore." Matsunaga said while raising his right index finger, "I propose we get to know each other better. I assume you have a lot of question's about me." In an instant, Twilight was overjoyed with the idea. She immediately used her magic to grab a notebook and an pencil, which she promptly had hovered in front of her with her levitation spell. Matsunaga, once more had his calm smile but couldn't help let out a snort of humour at the hostess' interest. "Eager, I see? No point in holding you out in suspense then. Ask away, Ms. Sparkle."
"Oh, where do I begin?" Twilight said with joy. The feeling of getting to know more about a human, the only human ever known in the history of Equestria, was for her, the equivalent of that childhood moment when Celestia asked her to be her personal student. Trying to contain her excitement, Twilight began to 'ask away'. "Ooh, I know."
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20 Minutes Later
As Rainbow hovered towards the library, she stopped midair and turned in the opposite direction of the tree.
"Hey! We can't keep them waiting by walking like snails, you know!" Rainbow called out down the street.
"We know Rainbow, ah told yah, we're just not that sure about meetin this Matsawhoisits." said an orange mare with a Stetson hat on her head, covering her blond mane. Her honest lime green eyes, expressing concern that match her face, looked right at Rainbow. Her blonde tail flickered about as she trotted alongside another mare who's coat was a light grey that seemed to blend well with her indigo mane and tail, both of which had curly ends. The grey mare looked at the orange mare with her azure eyes and seemed to understand her concern but didn't look as fazed by the situation.
"Well, while I can say that I am unsure about meeting this 'hue-man', from what Rainbow has said, he sounds like a reasonable being, Applejack." said the grey mare, just stopping in front of Rainbow Dash. As Applejack stopped as well, she looked at the mare with a frown.
"Ah' get that, Rarity," Applejack started, "Ah' just wanna make sure that this guy ain't gonna do anything bad to us. Just because we agreed ta help 'im, doesn't mean he won't turn tail on us." she stated, expressing her honest concern with a now more uncertain expression, looking at the ground. Rarity placed her right hoof under her friends chin, cupping it as she brought Applejack's gaze to her face.
"I understand your concern, darling." Rarity began with warm smile, "If he does acting suspicious then we will ask him about his motives, simply as that. However, we must remember not to judge the book by the cover, ok?" as Rarity finished, Applejack returned the smile.
"Thank you." replied Applejack, bringing her stance to a more stoic form. "At least ya know where Ah' stand on this."
"I get ya, AJ." Rainbow said, bringing her self closer to the other mares, "but he seriously seems like a nice guy, besides I think he is more concerned with getting home more than anything. Even if he does try anything, he also seems to get that it wouldn't be worth trying." she stated with confidence. "Twilight did tell him that she knows the Princess, so I'm sure Celestia would put a stop to him, if he did do something shady." Applejack seemed to perk up a bit more at Rainbow's comment.
"I dunno," said a voice that spoke to the three mares who turned their attention to a purple scaled lizard with green spikes on from the head, running down its back to its tail. It's arms were crossed, it's emerald eyes and face matched its apprehensive tone, "He sounds too good to be true to me."
"I know, Spike." Rarity replied with a calm tone, "but let's give him the benefit of the doubt, alright? I'm sure it will be nice to speak to another male, won't it?"
"Yeah, well," Spike began, his expression unchanged but his tone didn't sound as harsh, "I just hope he isn't a jerk like other males I know." rolling his eyes, remembering his little trip to the dragon lands. He turned his attention to his west where he heard a mare approaching them while humming a tune, lo and behold, it was Pinkie. She bounced towards them with her usually cheery attitude, alongside her was another mare, who had straighter light pink hair, her fur was a lemon yellow and her eyes were cyan like Rainbow's coat. As she stopped in front of her friends, Pinkie kept bouncing up and down and the yellow mare stopped by her left and looked at the other mares with a welcoming smile.
"Hello everypony," the yellow mare spoke politely, "sorry we took so long, Angel wanted the food he asked for. Got to give the animals what they want." she said with a blush. This promptly was received from a sigh that came from Rainbow.
"You know, you spoil him too much, Fluttershy." Rainbow commented. Fluttershy, looked down to the ground, a bit withdrawn from the reply.
"Oh, do I? I'm sorry..." Fluttershy replied, a little saddened that her friend saw her as a bit of a push-over.
"Let's worry about dat another time, sugarcube," said Applejack, "we don't wanna to keep Twilight and this Mastawhatmacallim' waitin'."
"His name is Matsunaga." Pinkie responded with a cheery spring, "Did Rainbow even tell you I did a song for him that he enjoyed?" Rainbow's head dropped down at the mention of it, for her, Pinkie and song, sometimes don't go to well together.
"Here we go..." Rainbow deadpanned. Pinkie began to take a deep breath so she could go for an encore.
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Inside the library, the was an atmosphere of peace and quiet, as expected of a library. The only noises breaking the silence were the sounds of Twilight's levitation spell holding the notebook and pencil and the same pencil used to take down notes. Even though it was twenty minutes, Twilight had managed to take down three or four pages worth of notes, about human anatomy and biology from which Matsunaga tried his best to answer to a certain degree. All the while, he kept a calm demeanour and feigned blushing when it came to certain questions, to make himself appear more of a three dimensional character that his houseguest was conversing with. His mind, had other thoughts.
'So far, so good, even though it's been a short amount of time, I seem to have given her more of a reason to trust me. If she is willing to note down the information in regards to the human body that I have explained to her about, then she might-' his thoughts were cut off when a familiar voice began to play a tune outside the library.
"Welcome to Equestria, oh, Welcome to Equestria, Welcome to Equestriiaaaa~~~~"
The tune broke Twilight's magical concentration and she dropped the pencil and notebook. She turned her head towards the door with her mouth hitting the floor. Matsunaga looked in the same direction and gave off a nervous chuckle.
"Ms. Pie certainly enjoys singing, doesn't she?" Matsunaga commented, his face showing a great deal of worry. Twilight rushed over to the door and brought it open swiftly with her magic, then promptly pulled Pinkie inside with her magic.
"Pinkie, were supposed to not draw too much attention remember?" Twilight ordered her. She released Pinkie, whom landed flank first on the wooden floor in front of Matsunaga.
"Sorry, Twilight." she apologised before turning her attention Matsunaga, "Hi, MH." she greeted with a more upbeat greet.
"Hello again, Ms. Pie." Matsunaga replied calmly.
"Come on in, girls." Twilight called out to the other mares on the outside. The four mares and the little lizard walked into the library of their lavender friend. When they were all, Twilight used her magic to close the door behind them. As Pinkie and Rainbow sat to the right of the new guest of Equestria, Rarity, Applejack and Spike merely took a couple of steps from the door before their jaws hit the floor. Fluttershy crouched down behind Applejack, hooves covering her head in fear of what this huge being in the library might do to her, the fact that his size alone, even sitting down, dwarfed her.
"Matsunaga, I would like to you to meet; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and my number one assistant Spike." Twilight announced as she pointed to each respective party member.
"It's nice to meet you all." Matsunaga began, "I am Matsunaga Hisahide," he placed his right hand over his chest and bowed his head toward the flabbergasted trio and scared mono, group that entered the room. His eyes met Rarity's as she was examining him up and down. 'Ah, yes, she is the fashion oriented one of the group, no doubt my attire will receive a reaction, like moth to a flame.' As if they were reading a script, Rarity moved toward Matsunaga by a couple of steps, still examining him. She closed her jaw and brought a gentle smile to the conversation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, good sir. I am Rarity." she spoke politely, "I must say, you have an interesting design to your attire. The contrast of black and white down the middle is quite intriguing and that segment of gold on the black side is quite surprising." she continued to monologue as she studied the human from almost every angle. Matsunaga wore an awkward grin as he was put on a pedestal. He looked at the other ponies and dragon who were still astounded by his presence. Despite Rarity's examination, he decided to address them.
"I understand that you may be fearful due to my size alone, but I want to reassure you all that I am merely another lost one trying to find his way home," he began tentatively "I am grateful that you all are taking the time out of your lives to help me and once again, I wish to thank you." As he finished, Spike walked around the room towards Twilight's side, his face showing his uncertainty about all this. His eyes narrowed a little as he gave an audible cough to draw the humans attention towards him.
"Look, I'm all for helping for someone who got lost and all but I have to ask this -" Spike looked at Twilight who was surprised at Spike for stepping into the spotlight to this being he has only known for two to three minutes, "how do we know we can trust you?" Twilight gasped at Spike's question but then frowned at him. Rarity returned her spot by Applejack and Fluttershy, who seemed to have summoned the courage to make herself know by standing next to Applejack.
"Spike!" Twilight replied harshly. Before anypony could say anything, a small chuckle was coming from Matsunaga whom was lightly smiling at the question.
"I understand, Sir Spike, I had a feeling that I would be asked this at some point." He looked around the room to see that everypony and Spike were raising an eyebrow at him. "A strange being comes along, carries a sword as an heirloom to his side and suddenly he is receiving help from close friends without batting an eye? If, I was you, Sir Spike, I probably would have thought the same thing." he explained and Spike was astounded, it was like he knew what he thought the minute he found about it. The scary thing was, he hit the nail on the head. "I wish to express apologies if I come across as shady or sinister, I would like to infer that I am not so that we could all get along but I assume it wouldn't be enough to sate your uncertainties." Matsunaga continued, looking at each one with a caring and earnest face which matched his tone.
"Uhh... Well," Applejack began, unsure of what to say to the statement, "It's as Spike said sugarcube, we're not all that sure we can trust ya, we just me ya." All the mares, were looking at each other with uncertain glances as the elephant in the room was addressed. Even Rainbow, Twilight and Pinkie were beginning to feel this uncertainty fill the room as a dim aura began to take hold. Matsunaga let out a large sigh, who again gained all the mare's and Spike's attention as he raised his right hand defensively but welcoming to the honesty.
"Fair enough. So I propose that I share with all of you where I come from and how I came to this current situation. I won't give you my childhood, because the truth of my story will help you understand why. All I ask is that you let me tell you all what my world is like with an open mind, please." he pleaded to all the ponies and dragon around him. As a couple of moments of silenced passed, the mares and Spike all huddled together in a small corner on the other side of the room, forming a small circle, their heads pointing inwards away from their guest.
"Will this be enough to earn your trust, AJ?" Twilight whispered.
"Ah' guess.." Applejack said bluntly.
"He does seem to be as nice as Rainbow said, Darling." Rarity interjected with a reassuring tone, remembering the similar conversation she had with her before they met the human.
"Ah' get that. But, Twilight, ah'm just unsure is all." Applejack replied, a little more sad than earlier, feeling like she has done something wrong. Twilight placed a hoof on AJ's shoulder.
"I understand, but I'm sure if he wanted to do any harm, he would have done something by now, wouldn't he?" Twilight said calmly.
"Ah' suppose so." the orange mare replied once more with a bit understanding in her voice. She felt a bit of deja vu~. "Ah'm sorry. I just don't want to see any of us getting hurt by helping him, that's all." All of the girls, Spike included smiled at AJ as she repeated what she said earlier. "So Ah' say we hear his story and give him a chance, alright?" she proposed with confidence. All of the members of the friend's circle nodded lightly with a warm smile. The discussion over, they all turned to Matsunaga and each one sat in separate parts of the library, making themselves comfortable.
"All right, Matsunaga." Twilight said with a warm smile. "We all agree to hear your story." Matsunaga returned the smile.
"I thank you all" Matsunaga replied. He looked at each of the girls who all looked a bit more comfortable with his presence, he looked at Spike who seemed a little defensive but didn't seem he wanted to dismiss his friends because they wanted to give Matsunaga the chance. Relaxing his muscles and posture a bit, he let out a sigh of relief. "Let me tell you all the tale of my world, a world that changed day by day as a long era went on, the Sengoku era."
'Yes, please, listen well, as you all feel dread and false reassurance from my version of the war torn era.'
To Be Continued
Author's Note
I apologise for the delay on this chapter, its been really busy on my end, I wasn't sure about the direction I wanted this story to go but I am a lot more confident about the course of it, I won't spoil my plans. Again, no promises on when the next chapter will be up. Thanks for reading, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. All feedback will is appreciated.
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Chapter 4 - Matsunaga Hisahide - A Hermit's Tale
Matsunaga Hisahide Chapter 4 Location: Golden Oak's Library Date: February 18th, 2036
An opportunity - That would be the perfect word to describe Matsunaga's situation at this point. The Mane Six have all come together in Twilight's home and, after a short but decisive discussion with each other, have given the human a chance to earn their trust by telling them his world and how he came to Equestria. It was an opportunity that came into his lap all to easily, in his mind. As the mare's and the dragon took to spots in the library and waited for him to begin, Matsunaga relaxed his mind and body, for this tale he was about to tell - would be the easiest task he felt he had to take.
"Be forewarned, the world I come from is not for the faint-hearted..."
A Hermit's Tale
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"The world I come from is, at the point of it's history, is a completely different world when compared to this world." Matsunaga began. He looked around the library as the mares and dragon listened to him intently. "No, let me rephrase that - I don't know about the rest of the world but I know one thing about the country I come from... " He paused for a moment before he continued, exhaling a heavy sigh before. "The entire country - is at war."
'War' - a word that was completely foreign in the land of Equestria. In the entirety of it's history - Twilight has only found one situation in Equestria to be deemed a war - the territory war that the citizen's of Appleloosa and the native Buffalo's had, however that was only a minor dispute that was resolved when the Mane Six got involved. Other than that, there was the historic moment were Princess Celestia fought and defeated Nightmare Moon, the imprisonment of Discord, the Changeling invasion and the relinquishment of Sombra, but all those were short battles that, while it had some casualties, didn't affect the entire country.
When Matsunaga told them all this one simple fact, the positive mood in the air died. All the attendant's, of his story, eyes widened in horror and their ear's dropped and positive emotion they felt about learning of his land faded almost entirely as they all shared a gasp of shock. Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight brought their hooves to their mouths. Whilst Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Spike jaw's dropped to the floor.
After a few seconds passed, Matsunaga looked at Twilight with some sorrow in his eyes then closed his eyes momentarily before continuing. "War has affected the country for a long time. Japan, the country in question, has various supreme generals from north to south, east to west. Each neighbouring state had a supreme general that ruled over it, each one lived differently, there was no supreme who had the same ideals, way of life or fighting style. All of them had hundreds of soldiers who would live and die for their lord. In a few cases, there were some warlords who had loyal retainers that were respected as much the supreme general but didn't command as much power as their lord but would lead the state soldiers into battle for their lord. In simpler terms, some of the second in commands were as unique as their lords."
"I vaguely remember why the war started in the first place. All I recall, there was some political dispute between two states, about who would rule the country, that failed... After a large battle, it somehow spread to the nearby provinces and then from there, it spread throughout the entire country." After heaving out another heavy sigh, he looked around the room once more to see all the mares and Spike were distraught after that last statement. Despite the ever growing feeling of sympathy towards him, he could feel coming from the ponies and the dragon, he continued.
"Around the time war started, I was under the command of Nobunaga Oda. He was known as one of Warlord Triage, he didn't come to earn that title at first but overtime it became apparent why. When it all began, I am ashamed to say, I was proud to serve under him. He had the talent, the intellect and most importantly the ambition to rule all of Japan. He would lead his troops into battle against a few minor supreme generals who posed as threats to some of the states that he was neighbours to, and being one of the second in command I would watch them unfold. Left and right, he would lay waste to his enemies and come out victorious with minimal effort. The weapons he chose for combat were a longsword and a shotgun, a weapon that could fire multiple strong metal pellets that would impale various victims in an instant or kill them." The sound of sobs filled the air as he finished the sentence. Like war, death by another ponies hoof was practically non-existent in Equestria. To learn that there was a place where warriors would die left and right, day after day was daunting to think about.
"But then, after the fourth battle was fought and won, against the Hojo clan, he ordered the troops to... 'Burn EVERYTHING!'. I watched from afar, on the pathway back to the Oda state, long after the battle was one, the castle that once belonged to the Hojo and the lands surrounding it, including homes and farms were burnt to ash in a merciless inferno. After that single act, Nobunaga earned a title, his true title - The Demon King. I couldn't believe the man who I had sworn my loyalty to would do something so monstrous." He clenched his fists tightly, gritting his teeth before taking a deep breath so he could continue his story. "The true ambition of the Demon King was shown through that one act, which in turn spread his reputation throughout the nation. Once I returned the Honnoji castle, I confronted him. He sat there, on a crimson throne, covered from neck to foot in grey armour, his crimson cape was tucked another his rear. He looked at me with those empty grey eyelids of his as he pulled away the cup of wine from his mouth. What struck me most was the 'cup' he used. To further add to his title, he would, literally, use the skulls of the supreme generals he murdered as a cup, a token in his eyes of his victory. The notion of it sickened me to my very core." He wasn't the only one sickened by that thought. The sobbing from all the listeners became more audible. Fluttershy fainted from the image of a skull being used a drinking cup but it was inaudible as the sounds of sobs were drowning the room, only Matsunaga's voice was louder than the cries of the mares and Spike.
"I still remember looking at that monster that day with nothing but guilt in my core. Guilt from believing that this man was the right one to rule the country, that the battles I fought for him were for a just cause... Regardless, I made my voice heard - I told my former master that what he was doing was inhumane and that I would stop him. He... he laughed at me. He crushed the skull in his hand with little effort and called me: 'A peon in the presence of The Great Demon King, a pawn who desired nothing more than to treasure things of folly and whose power was nothing more than a pebble compared to the mountain that he is'. Despite this, I drew my sword and fought him with everything I had and he defeated me within minutes." He stopped for a moment, just to look at Twilight who despite the tears forming down her face, she motioned him to continue. He responded with a small but slow nod of acknowledgement.
"That moment, when he aimed the shotgun barrel at my face, point blank with a sadistic smile on his face and no spirit in his eyes, I thought it would be my end. I acknowledged my defeat and waited for my end, I closed my eyes and waited for the end. Only to hear his footsteps move away from me. He walked away from me, I thought it was mercy, I thought there was... just for a moment - a small shred of humanity peeked through his dark soul. But that thought was destroyed when he turned toward me, swinging his crimson cape at me, swatting me out of the castle and sending me tumbling to the forest outside the walls of Honnoji."
After that statement was made, he could a few questionable 'huh's. It was important that he addressed this quickly, otherwise the entire story would fall apart. "His power is, indeed, demonic. Through some form or another, throughout the years, he has managed to manipulate demonic power into his entire being while still keeping his humanity intact. He could have fluxed his power into his sword and drilled me with it but for some reason he simply sent me soaring to the land below." Making the explanation clear, he looked around to see that whilst Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash seemed to believe it, Spike and Applejack didn't look so convinced but shrugged their shoulders.
'Hmmm...' his thoughts began, 'I best be careful with what I say around these two.' Letting his mind make mental note of Spike and Applejack, he continued his story without a second thought, adding a tone of shame to his voice. "From that point onward, I was deemed - 'The Villain of the Sengoku Era'. Throughout the nation, I was rumoured to be a greedy old hermit, who tried to take Nobunaga's position of power and keep the flames of war continuing for the ages." The group, except Fluttershy who was still out for the count, gasped in shock, which made Matsunaga mentally smile, but on the outside, he look down to the floor in shame.
"I couldn't go anywhere without someone accusing me of being a monster of the nation. I was forced to run and hide in solitude. Until one day..." he said adding a slight tone of hope to his tale, which made the listener's ears perk up. "I met a man. A mute, skilled warrior who was bar none one of the greatest fighters I have ever had the honour of meeting." He could see the listener's mouths make an 'O' shape and wonder what this meant. "There are three types of fighters in Sengoku war. Footsoldiers, who rely on swords and other weapons to win in close quarters combat or otherwise known as Samurai." Rainbow's interest was made known when Mastunaga heard her 'ooooh' at the statement.
"Range fighters, who rely one ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows and guns to take out enemies from afar." Matsunaga continued, "And Ninjas, who rely on stealth, elemental and assassination techniques to take out enemies quickly." He could see that Spike's jaw hit the floor at the mention of the third kind of fighter and at the corner of his right eye, he could see Pinkie doing the same.
"This man I met, was the ninja of legend. He went by the name of Kotaro Fuma." Once more, he could see Spike had his attention fully on him now, the young drake's eyes were wide in wonder at the thought of meeting a legendary ninja. "When he first appeared, I thought it would be my end. However, despite being a mute, he handed me a letter that made his intention's clear; 'He would follow me wherever I went, in exchange for me to put an end to this war, or at the very least find a way for people to live peacefully, far from the conflict.' I was astounded at this notion. This man, who had been known as infamous assassin for hire, was looking for a means of peace. It felt too good to be true." He shook his head and chuckled lightly at this before continuing, "I made it clear that there was no way I could end the war without an army, so instead went with his second option and all he did was nod in agreement." Twilight looked at him with a warm smile of sympathy.
"It took us a few weeks, but we eventually came across a mountain area that had been untouched by the war and as hidden amongst trees. The only downside to it, was there was a pathway to this area, the thought of army coming across this area by chance was troublesome to think about. After another few days of excavation we managed to conceal the pathway to this area that I and Kotaro found. Another few days passed before we managed to make a camp with some hand made huts, but by the time that came to pass an unexpected turn of developments came to be," he took a deep breath before continuing, "a band of soldiers that donned the banner of the Oda army found our settlement, at first I thought we were snuffed out by Nobunaga and were going to fight for our lives. However, they dropped their weapons and took of their helmets. I recognised them almost immediately." he stated before quickly glancing at Twilight who, once again, donned a puzzled look on her face.
"They were members of the army who were under my command at the time we fought the Hojo clan at their castle. One's who were rejected Oda's orders to incinerate what remained of the Hojo's settlements. The leader of the group told me how they humiliated by Oda's loyalist generals after they were ratted out for ignoring Nobunaga's command. They were kicked out of the army and banished from Oda clan, like me, and came to find me." All of them shared a moment where they smiled in sympathy for Matsunaga, it seemed even the power of friendship was possible in other worlds as well as their own.
"However," Matsunaga said with dread before continuing, "I was also informed of how the war was progressing. Another tyrant had appeared, who wanted to take the country by force - Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was known as the 'Conquer King' for the fact the he was inhumanely large and unbelievably strong. What made him so fearful throughout the nation was," Matsunaga lifted his right hand up opened, holding out for all to see, "he could demolish an entire army, with his bare hands!" Matsunaga clenched the same hand into a tight fist, his faced scrunched up as his appeared to be grimaced with the idea of it all. The listener's all joined in another gasp of shock, it was too much to bare - another tyrant who wanted to ruin lives and force innocent humans to walk under him. For a moment, they were all slightly grateful that they did not live in their story teller's world.
"With this information, we all strengthened our resolve to find a means of taking the innocent bystanders away from it all. From then on, we tried very hard to remain inconspicuous as possible, spreading the word of a safe place for all that were affected by that war to escape too. A few more months passed, and we managed to take several hundred orphaned and homeless people away from their war torn lands and bring them to our secret hideout. As time went on we managed to expand our new home from a small camp to a village. It took a lot of effort but everyone who lived their was living peacefully, untouched by all the conflict." A warm smile came onto Matsunaga's face at this point as he looked at Twilight.
"This town reminds of the village, you know." he commented.
"H-How so?" Twilight asked, slightly caught off guard when she realised he was addressing her.
"When I looked at the ponies, before they saw me, I could see on their faces warm smiles. The air around this town feels almost serene." Matsunaga replied, meaning every word. "Anyway," he said, returning to the story. "Two months ago, three large development's happened." All members of the audience, bar Fluttershy, were slightly leaning forward by this part of the story. "The first - our village's population had almost reached a thousand settlers. By this time, we had to make sure that our home was still being kept of the sight, lest we risk exposing ourselves to the war. So Kotaro went on a journey to find a second hideaway, so that innocent people would be kept safe. It took a couple of weeks but we managed to find one, that was a week's walk from our first hideout. We allowed the residents to decide whether to stay or go and eventually it came to that we sent half of the settlers to our second home. Last I heard, they have become acquainted with the second hideout and are in the works of creating another village their as well." Matsunaga finished with a warm smile on his face.
"The second - another key player in the war came out of the shadows and made himself known - Ieyasu Tokugawa. This man was a former member of both the Oda clan and the Toyotomi clan. After years of servitude he finally gathered the means to create his own army to fight in the war." Matsunaga said bluntly.
"Another one?" Applejack commented, bringing Matsunaga's attention to her.
"Yes, Ms. Applejack." Matsunaga replied calmly.
"How many more of these nutcases are there?" Applejack asked with disdain. Matsunaga took a moment to think, looking saddened at the thought.
"Including the three I have mentioned before, there are more than fifteen of them, there is about one for every state in Japan as I said before." Matsunaga replied. Every pony and dragon simultaneously let their jaws drop to the floor. All of these humans wanted to take the country for their own by fighting to the death? It sounded more insane than Discord himself.
"Apparently Ieyasu was different. He claimed that he wanted to unite the lands in the name of bonds. It seemed cliché at first, but he was starting to gain a large following from some of the other lesser known generals of Japan. That didn't stop him from coating his hands in blood when he fought his enemies though, did it?" Matsunaga asked out loud, rhetorically.
"Isn't what they call a hypocrate?" Rainbow asked out loud.
"Hypocrite, Dash." Twilight corrected. "You were saying, Matsunaga?"
"Thank you, Ms. Sparkle." Matsunaga replied, before continuing, "and yes Ms. Dash. He is. His followers, don't see that though. They see him as shining beacon that will guide the land to a prosperous future. Whilst I can sympathise with his 'cause', I hope he remembers to leave the innocent ones out of it all." Matsunaga commented with a hint of anger. "Him, Toyotomi and Oda, make the Warlord Triage. At this point of time, even now, they are three key players that will decide the fate of the war." As this fact came to light, the audience became more puzzled at this, but one thing sounded certain - the war sounded like it was far from over.
"The third development came a week ago. I received a letter from Date Masamune - Head of the Oshu state. He somehow managed to find out about me and wanted me to come with Fuma to Oshu to meet him. How he came across this information? I have no idea. However, in this letter, he wanted to discuss in person about the war itself and why I have been hiding all this time. Leaving the hideouts in capable hands, Fuma and I set out to Oshu. It is just over a week's journey from where out settlement was to Oshu, so imagine my surprise when I continue on my path to find this small town." he said with a slight chuckle. "I assumed Fuma went on ahead this morning to scout out if it was to be a trap, but lo and behold, I am here in your world." he finished with one final sigh.
"That is the story of my world." Matsunaga stated. Looking around, he could see that all of them were at a loss for words. What were they to say? This human was from a world where war was life, a world where we was antagonised for standing up against a monster, a world that he managed to make something good out of all the years of chaos and death. All of their enemies, they had fought in their world now sounded like pricks off of needles when compared to the tyrants of Matsunaga's world.
Twilight felt nothing but sorrow for the man sitting in front of her. It explained why he seemed so upset when they first met, of course one would be upset when they find out they are in another world entirely, but this human had a created a means of peace for the ones that scarred by the war - that was still going on. To be taken away from that without any explanation, so suddenly, the sorrow for him came in a double load.
Matsunaga sat there, looking at the floor eyes closed. To them; they saw a human who had to return to his world so that he could be certain of the settler's safety, to come across a soul who would go through so much for others, it was remarkable. But in his mind, he was playing the waiting game now, 'Will this do it?' he simply thought, waiting for a response of some kind.
He got one, when the sound of hooves approached him and a pair of legs wrapped around his neck and a head rested on his shoulder, Matsunaga opened his eyes to see that it was Twilight who came to embrace in a sympathetic hug. The room was silent for a moment until she spoke out loud with a warm tone.
"I promise you Matsunaga, we are going to find you a way home, I promise." repeating her promise to the human, Twilight tightened her grip slightly. Following another long pause, Matsunaga returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around Twilight and embracing her in a hug. One by one, the rest of the group came over and embraced Matsunaga in a similar fashion and form a group hug, even Spike and Applejack joined in.
"Thank you." Matsunaga said, shedding a tear whilst smiling contently at their kindness. They held each other in a friendly embrace for quite some time as tears began to shed from all of them, excluding Fluttershy, who just managed to bring herself back to reality. Shaking her head and moaning in pain slightly, she looked at the group with concern.
"Oh dear," Fluttershy said, embarrassed, "is everything alright?" Rarity turned her head away from the brace, wiping a tear away from her eye as she looked at the yellow pegasus.
"I will tell you later, darling." Rarity said calmly, trying to keep her composure.
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As Celestia's sun began to set, every pony began to take part in a plan that they decided together, following the story and heart-warming embrace, each of the mane six told their own tales of their world - a lot of time passed which led up to the discussion of said plan.
They all came to an agreement that Matsunaga would be able to sleep in the barn of the Apple family, considering the comfort of hay. Rarity tried to object to the notion but Matsunaga raised no qualms against the idea. Rarity, however decided that it would be best if he had a blanket his size to sleep in for the night. So after taking his height measurement's she headed back to Carousel Boutique to prepare said blanket.
Fluttershy decided to go with Rarity so that she could listen to the tale that the rest of her friends sat through whilst she was out cold. Rarity did say that she would tell her about it. Pinkie Pie decided that if he was going to stay a night at the barn, the least she could do was prepare a meal for him to fill his empty stomach. Her and Matsunaga conversed for quite some time on what he liked to eat, it did take quite a while, and even though mentally his patience was beginning to wear thin, he managed to keep up the façade of being interested of her methods of cooking and so she left the library to go to Sugar Cube Corner to prepare the food.
Applejack left before the others after they agreed to let Matsunaga stay at the barn, so she could prepare the barn for him prematurely. Twilight and Rainbow discussed the means of creating a temporary fog so that they could Matsunaga to the farm without any pony seeing him. While it did come up that she would have to explain why this happened all of a sudden, the best excuse they could come up with would be Rainbow was 'training so hard for the Wonderbolts one evening that it got out of hand and somehow it created the fog'. They agreed that they would do this and Rainbow would have to clear the fog by the end of the plan. Fortunately, rain was scheduled to come during the night over Ponyville so this could work around it.
Matsunaga seemed baffled by this, how they could talk creating weather on a whim, but shrugged it off when Rainbow told him that the Pegasi can control the weather of Equestria. Rainbow left quickly after the conversation to get started on the 'accident'. Leaving Twilight, Spike and Matsunaga to discuss what to say in the letter to the princess. After fifteen minutes of thought and discussion, they decided that it would be best to tell the princess about his tale, it would be shortened so that the main facts were made potently clear. Those facts being - He somehow came into Equestria through no intention of his own, he needed to get back to his world as soon as possible, he had the trust and responsibility of innocent lives to care for and to make sure that they weren't affected by the war until it ended. They also agreed to put that he would be eternally humbled and gratefully if he could get a response as soon as possible.
With the message sent off, Twilight agreed to do her part to help by studying means of world teleportation in her library for the night. Matsunaga showed his gratitude to each and everyone of them as they got to work.
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As Luna's moon began to rise in her night sky, Matsunaga began to make himself comfortable in the back of the barn, where Applejack had prepared the make-shift bed for him to lay for the night. He was surprised to find that blanket Rarity had made was already there, along with the food that Pinkie made herself sitting on top of the blanket. Applejack informed him that Rainbow picked the items up for them so that they wouldn't have to come through the fog, for the point that they might have gotten lost. Bidding Applejack good night after thanking her for the hospitality, she expressed her sympathies and apologised for not trusting him at first. Matsunaga dismissed it and said that she every reason to be wary of him, nobody, or in her case no pony would trust some pony they have never met instantly. He made sure to express his thanks for giving him a chance which Applejack happily accepted before heading to her home.
As Matsunaga sat on the hay, blanket laying over, back against the stacks of hay that were placed for him, he began to take in the food that Pinkie prepared - lettuce and tomato sandwiches. Taking in a large bite of it, he had to admit this was rather delicious. He normally had a bowl of rice in Japan but this was a welcome change of meal.
Some time passed into the night before the rain started to pour over the barn. The sound of heavy rain drops hitting the reinforced wooden walls and roof, were the only thing Matsunaga could hear. It was proof that Rainbow Dash was indeed a hard worker and mare of her word. Matsunaga could still the contents of the barn thanks to the roof windows that were placed above. It gave enough light to see all around him.
Indulging in the last of his sandwich, Matsunaga look above at the rooftop where he saw single black feather drifting down slowly towards him. As it came within reach, Matsunaga reached up with his left hand and grabbed the end of the feather. He methodically brought it down in front of him and held it out in his open palm, staring it before opening his mouth to speak.
"So..." Matsunaga began to speak out loud to the feather. "I have now earned their trust. To think the inhabitants of this world can be so easily swayed. They are no different than humans. They would easy follow someone for a 'cause' if they believe will bring them peace, when in the end it only delays their deaths." he spoke out loud, bearing no emotion to the feather, a sadistic smile began to form in his face.
.........
"Inform her; that we will have more information for her when the time comes." He addressed the feather in a more serious tone, still devoid of emotion, "More than likely, it will come tomorrow. That is all." As he finished his sentence a strong blast of headed toward the barn door, releasing loose strands of hay from their batches, giving them flight before falling back to the barn floor. He watched the door move slightly back a bit, and then shut all on it's own it seems, leaving Mastunaga alone with the feather.
"Yes." Matsunaga said, gripping the same feather in his hand. "Be it man or creature, peasant and lord alike," the feather began to light up in flames in his palm, for a few moments, he watched it burn from a feather to a cloud of black smoke, releasing his grip as it turned in the small cloud, his hand leaving no burn marks at all, "We are destined for dust...." He brought his left hand a couple of inches in front of his face, the same sadistic smile widened than before, the mane six were in the palm of his hand - and he was loving it.
"Hahahahahaha......"
To Be Continued
Author's Note
Whew. This one was NOT easy to do. I feel this is the chapter that will make or break the rest of the story depending on how you see it. Again, I apologise for the delay. I hope you enjoy this fourth chapter. Tell me what you think. Take care.
