Sins of Equestriaby CorneredbadgerChaptersHigh Speed DirtPeace SellsDread and the Fugitive MindHigh Speed DirtMarcus was a mercenary by trade, hopping from one star system to another in his heavily armored little freighter, Dragon's Shadow, picking up whatever jobs needed to be done. His usual work involved retrieving bounties placed on pirates or criminals hiding in places someone couldn't legally drag them out of sometimes the odd bodyguard gig too. It paid quite well, especially the more dangerous jobs he usually took. Most of his earnings went towards weapons, his ship, or to improving his personal armor. He operated on the philosophy that the best defense was in fact a good defense and all the safety procedures, backup backup plans, and specialized pieces of equipment he owned reflected that. His ship had hull plating that could rival a dreadnought with a shield generator rated for a ship twice as large as the one it was fitted to. His personal armor was a similar caliber of overkill designed to be both defense and offence at once. An iridium steel alloy with an ablative carbon coating cast into four millimeter plates and then lovingly forged into the best damn suit of armor this side of Andromeda. Power augmenting servos in the arms and legs combined with a mesh work of straps and buckles to distribute the fifty kilogram weight perfectly over his body. The helmet was a masterpiece unto itself. Crafted of the same materials with the same devotion it contained a full communication array, an uplink to the suits onboard computer, multi-filter visual enhancements, as well as a full ECM and ECCM suite. In short, Marcus was prepared for anything. Almost. When he went to bed that night Marcus had never pictured himself falling through the air towards a giant crystal tree upon waking. If he had he would have made an emergency appointment with his psychiatrist and found a lower stress job. Considering the fact that when he had lain down he had been traveling through extra dimensional space at speeds many times faster than light; it wasn’t something he had felt the need to prepare for. Yet here he was, hurtling through the air above a tiny town on an unknown planet towards a garish, crystalline tree. His helmets HUD tracked two very important numbers in front of his eyes, his speed and his altitude. Neither number was comforting. Another trait of Marcus' worth mentioning was his unbelievable tenacity. No matter how grim the situation he would find a way to survive, usually through careful planning and knowing his own limits. He had survived stranded on planets considered inhospitable, been lost in the black recesses of space, and faced his own mortality more times than he could remember. But this time he had no plan, no back up, and the odds were stacked insurmountably against him. So he did the only thing that came to his angry mind; he yelled out his rage at one of the most fundamental forces of the universe before colliding with a wall of crystal. * * * "FUCK YOU GRAVITY!!" Twilight Sparkle was jolted awake by a loud yell followed by a resounding crash from the library as something impacted her new crystalline home. Scrambling out of bed and stepping over a groggy and confused Spike she rushed into the hall. "RAINBOW DASH! What did you do this time?" the purple alicorn yelled as she stomped through the halls towards the library proper. She loved her accident prone friend but at three in the morning friendship only went so far. Twilight finally reached her beloved room and, reaching out with her magic, lit the lamps around the room casting a warm glow on the scene before her. There was a large hole in the exterior wall where her unwanted guest had entered leaving an entire shelf destroyed and good only for kindling, several more shelves had collapsed from the impact as well and to top it all off books lay scattered all over the floor in piles. Twilight gasped at the bibliographical carnage before her. "RAINBOW DASH!" she bellowed as her mane erupted into a wild mass, JUST WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME HAVE YOU DONE! WE JUST FINISHED RESHELVING THE LIBRARY, NOW WE HAVE TO START ALL OVER!" Twilight began levitating books at random, looking for the source of her frustration. A book drift against the wall opposite shifted slightly as though somepony were trapped in its papery clutches and Twilight pounced at once. Books exploded away from the prostrate form all of them landing in neat stacks as Twilight opened her mouth to deliver a scathing lecture to her polychromatic pal. Much to her surprise however the form she uncovered was not Rainbow Dash. In fact it wasn’t even a pony. Before her was a simian form shod from head to toe in black metal which, now freed from its bound bindings, pulled itself up to its feet, its head nearly reaching the ceiling. "You are not Rainbow Dash." * * * Marcus regained consciousness and was immediately aware that his entire body felt like pain. His head throbbed, his chest felt like he had been hit by a car, and his extremities all tingled. After laying in the peaceful dark and getting used to the pain he slowly opened his eyes, then he blinked, and again. No matter how many times he blinked the world remained pitch black. 'So, the afterlife is a big, black, painful nothing' he thought, 'a lot of religious people are gonna ticked off when they get here. Also it smells like old books, which is kinda weird.' Suddenly the "afterlife" shifted and picked itself off his prone form. Battered and barely clinging to consciousness he struggled to his feet. The massive weight of his armor making it a herculean task in such a state but he was determined to face whatever was before him on his feet. What was in front of him was the most adorable gods damned thing he'd ever seen. * * * The confused pair stood staring at each other for several long moments before a voice from the doorway broke them from their daze. "Sweet Celestia! What is that!?" Spike cried having finally navigated his way to the library.He quickly ducked back out of the room until only his head peeked around the jam, the rest of him concealed in the hall way. He had hit a growth spurt perhaps a month after Tirek's defeat and was now slightly taller than Big Mac and two ponies in length with his neck and tail adding another pony length each. His serpentine form was powerfully built but mentally he was a teenager. A rather scared teenager who was looking at his surrogate sister standing a short distance from something that had invaded their home. His fearful eyes were locked on the bipedal form standing in front of Twilight as he stood in the doorway. As two sets of eyes locked onto him and he immediately regretted opening his mouth. "Spike, stay there! I don’t know what this is yet. Be ready to get the girls or the princess if we need her." Twilight tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice but everything about the creature in front of her scared her. It towered over her at over two meters tall and more than half that wide at the shoulders and the way it held itself radiated tense wariness mixed with a threat of violence. Adding to this presence was the fact that it was covered from top to bottom with black metal armor. Many of the larger surfaces were etched with terrifying images or phrases. The worst part was its helmet though, or at least what she hoped was a helmet. It was the same black metal as the rest of its armor but it bore the visage of an angry dragon with a mouth full of teeth and a pair of horns curling down the sides of the helm to end in sharp spikes just below and a several centimeters in front of its chin. Nothing could be seen inside the helmet, neither through the eyes nor its gaping maw. "What-" her voice cracked when that horrible face swung towards her "what do you want?" "Holy crap it can talk!" the monster rumbled in a deep voice speaking perfect Equish but in a tone that sounded more like he was addressing himself rather than anypony in the room. "Okay, wait. I just hit a wall traveling at terminal velocity. I'm dead. I have to be dead. Because now I’m standing here talking to a tiny unicorn and that’s just..." his voice trailed off and the room was silent again for a moment. "Am I dead?" he asked, his voice taking a sadder tone. "No, you’re still alive, see." Twilight tentatively reached out rapped her hoof against the metal plate on his thigh. "Still solid. Everyone in Tartarus is all wispy and incorporeal. Though you did just crash through the wall into my library." Twilight gestured towards the wall of her home before subtly nodding at Spike to get help now that she had its attention elsewhere. "Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do to help?" "Concussion, some broken ribs, it’s nothing that won’t be fixed in a few hours" He slumped down into a seated position on the back of the destroyed bookcase and folded his arms across his knees. "So if I'm not dead then where the hell am I and how did I end up crashing through the wall of someone’s home?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle. You’re in my castle in Ponyville. It’s a small town in Equestria." Twilight's curiosity was now peaked now that the mood in the room had become much less tense. Now her thoughts turned towards the fact that before her was a previously unknown species of primate that was obviously sapient. Oh the research she would be able to do and the papers she could write. "Can you tell me who you are? What you are? I've never met something like you before." She used her magic to float a piece of parchment and a quill in front of her and prepared to take notes. “My name's Marcus. I'm a human, Homo Sapiens." His answer was muttered but audible as he tried to process his situation. "Could I see what you look like? Can you remove your helmet?" After a brief moment in which Twilight worried she had pushed too far, Marcus reached up and pulled his helmet off with a snap as the seals he had built released. Beneath the helmet was the oddest creature Twilight had ever seen. His face was resembled a gorilla except much flatter with a pointed nose and wider set eyes. The top of his head was covered in a short black fur that also highlighted his brow line and even a patch on his chin. Other than that he was much more sparsely furred than any other mammal she had ever studied. At this point Twilight's self preservation, which had forced her to keep her distance until now, was fighting against her scientific curiosity and, while it was a valiant struggle, it was in vain. She closed the gap between them and began prodding at his armor, taking a hand in her hooves to more closely examine what she could of their structure. She noted that the gauntlets he wore weren't identical. The right one had a thick metal ridge jutting out past the knuckles and a trio of metal plates covering the palm while the left one had a sharp triangle of metal in place of the ridge and the palm was covered by a foreign material. Marcus was caught off guard by this sudden invasion of personal space and after his stammered attempts to ward off the inquisitive mare failed he simply put his hand on her chest and pushed her back to arms length. Twilight seemed to get the message and opened her mouth presumably to apologize but was interrupted by a new voice coming from the hole in the wall "Hey egghead, did you know you have a huge hol-y crap that things trying to kill Twilight!" the raspy voice cried out. Twilights head whipped towards the voice and had just enough time to spot Rainbow Dash dropping a massive black bag on the floor before she darted at Twilights 'attacker'. "Rainbow no!" Twilight attempted to grab the pegasus but the small room coupled with her friend’s incredible flight capabilities meant that her attempt to salvage the situation failed, to the audio accompaniment of a loud metal crash. Rainbow Dash flew headlong into her target forehooves out stretched, turning herself into a horseshoe shod missile. Marcus simply angled his chest slightly and allowed his armor to absorb the blow. The thick metal and ample padding beneath it reduced the impact to little more than a nudge to him. The impact however sent painful vibrations up the daredevil’s legs and left her forelegs numb. "Oh, so that’s how it's gonna be then huh?" Again, despite Twilights protests, she moved faster than anyone could react and spun to aim a swift buck at the monsters head. He managed to move his head enough so that it wasn’t a direct hit but even the grazing blow staggered him to one knee before he slowly tipped forwards and crumpled on the floor, blood leaking from a gash above his right ear. "HA! Once again Rainbow Dash saves the day! Don’t worry Twilight he won’t be- whoa!" Her boisterous antics were cut off as she was finally wrapped in a purple aura and dragged before an incredibly irate alicorn. "Do you have any idea what you just did? I was fine Rainbow! He wasn’t attacking me and you might have just ruined my one chance to study him!" Twilight’s voice was even and quiet, only slightly louder than a whisper. This worried the cyan pegasus. The tone of voice combined with the new knowledge that this was one of Twilights research projects set off all kinds of alarms in Rainbow Dash's mind. She knew just how much Twilight valued her science even if she didn't understand most of what came out of the egghead’s mouth. The fact that she had just done bodily harm to the subject of said science meant she had to try and avert the coming rage/panic attack. Twilight could get feisty if you interfered with her studies. "Don’t worry so much Twi; I’m sure he's fine. Hay, I've taken worse blows and I was up and around before you knew it." Rainbow chuckled nervously under her friends unwavering glare. "Yes Rainbow, it’s quite obvious you've survived several blows to the head." Twilight deadpanned. The clatter of several sets of hooves arose from the hallway and saved Rainbow from any further repercussions. Seconds later the rest of Twilight's friends burst into the room led by Applejack with Fluttershy, predictably, bringing up the rear. The girls paused as they took in the disarray that greeted them. Book lay strewn across the floor, shelves were tipped or destroyed and a suit of decorative armor had been knocked to the floor from its stand. "Don’t worry sugarcube. Ain't no metal monster gonna mess with our friend and get away with it" Applejack drawled, looking around the room for the 'monster' Spike had warned them about. "Oh don't worry, Rainbow dash here helped more than enough already." Twilight shot the pegasus in question an unhappy glare as she rose from the giant pile of metal on the floor "and Marcus and I were fine. I may have overreacted a little when I sent for you all." "Well, if the brute decided to come in through your wall rather than use the door like a civilized pony I don’t blame you for taking precautions." Rarity spoke up turning her attention away from the shambles the room had been reduced to. A groan form the floor drew everyponies attention as what the four new arrivals had believed to be a decorative suit of armor began to stir and pushed itself off the floor. Fluttershy let out a tiny eep and hid herself as best she could atop one of the still standing shelves while Applejack readied herself to run the intruder. "Did anyone get the number of that train that just hit me" a deep voice rumbled as he rose to a knee and grabbed the dragon styled helmet that sat on the floor near him. "That was Rainbow Dash. I’m very sorry; she is a bit overprotective sometimes and likes to act before she thinks." "Meh, no real harm done. I took worse during basic." Marcus slipped his helmet back over his now throbbing head, wincing slightly. "It’ll be fixed in a few minutes anyway." once again safely enveloped in his metal shell he looked around finally noticing the newcomers. "More friends of yours, Sparkle? Are they going to try and kick my ass too?" He chuckled a little at the idea of getting beat up by a bunch of waist high ponies. "You’re laughing. Does that mean you’re feeling better?" "That hurt too much for me to be dead. I'll freak out about the implications of that later." Marcus said pulling himself to his feet for the second time that night. The four newcomers all stepped back from the towering figure before them. He was taller than even Princess Celestia but was built like a minotaur. Add to that his cruel looking armor and helm and the sight thoroughly unnerved them. "Twi, sugarcube. What exactly have y'all gotten us into this time?" Author's Note first attempt at a multi chapter story. Lets see how big of a crater this leaves after the inevitable crash and burn shall we? Peace Sells"Oh this is Marcus. He's a human and I think he's a little lost." Marcus nodded at this from behind Twilight. "So I'm going to ask him some questions and hopefully we can get this whole mess sorted out." Twilight's chipper attitude was not shared by anyone in the room. Even the ever bubbly Pinkie Pie found herself slightly unnerved by the new arrival. It wasn’t a Pinkie Sense it was just a general feeling that something terrible was in the room with her. Something that even her tried and true method of laughing at it wouldn’t make any less... wrong. "Uh, 'Sup?" Marcus waved at the new ponies. although after the greeting he got from the blue one he was still a little tense. "Sparkle is right, I went to bed and then I woke up here. Or a thousand meters above here would be more accurate." Marcus tilted his head towards the hole and chuckled nervously trying to ease the tension in the room as all but one pony in the room were still looking at him with a mixture of fear and aggression. "Marcus," Twilight whispered from his side “I think it’s the helmet again. It’s not exactly friendly looking." He looked at her and then very pointedly turned to look at Rainbow Dash then back to Twilight who chuckled uneasily. Her gaze darted from Marcus to her friends trying to think of another way to calm everypony down. "Spike, how about you take the girls downstairs and make some hot coco for everypony. I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" Twilight guided everyone towards the door, levitating Fluttershy from her hiding spot, and after numerous reassurances that she would be fine managed to send them towards the kitchen. "So, that went better than your rainbow friend. I still get the distinct impression they don’t like me much." "I’m really sorry about that. They usually aren’t like this; they are the friendliest ponies I know. Maybe if you didn’t have the armor on?" "I’ve only been here an hour tops, Sparkle and you’re trying to get me undressed? For shame." Marcus grinned as he pulled off his helmet and began to nurse his aching skull. The throbbing had started to get worse. "What? I. No, that’s not what I meant at all. I mean that stuff is pretty scary looking, though I would like to see you without the armor on. TO STUDY! I want to study you without your armor in the way and I’m going to stop talking now because everything just comes out wrong." Twilight too slumped down to the floor though she kept her face towards the floor to hide her rapidly reddening face. "Relax, it was a joke. It’s a coping mechanism to being dropped into a strange world filled with mythical creatures. Sorry." "Oh, it’s okay. Um, I know I told the girls I was going to ask some more questions but are you sure you’re okay? You were bleeding. I could go get my first aid kit." Twilight eyed the small cut above his ear but made no move to tend it without his permission. "I'll be fine. The implants will get it patched up soon enough. If you have questions ask 'em. I'll tell you what I can." "Thank you. So you said mythological creatures, what did you mean by that?" "Well where I’m from unicorns and pegasi are myths created millennium ago by ancient cultures back on Earth. It’s a little weird talking to one. No offense, but you freak me out as much as I probably do you." "That’s strange that we would be your myths. See humans are considered mythical creatures here." Twilight’s parchment and quill had once again floated up in front of her as she resumed her note taking. "What did you do where you came from? You mentioned basic; did you mean basic training like in the military?" "Yeah. I was a soldier for a while, I... decided not to reenlist after my second tour," Twilight's ears perked up but Marcus cut off her next question "for reasons I don’t want to talk about" His tone left no room for argument. "After that I signed on with a company to works as a bodyguard. Paid pretty well but I couldn't stand some of the clients. Used the money I made to get a bounty hunter license and kit. After that I just worked hard hopping around the galaxy. "WHAT!? Around the... but galaxies are massive! They're hundreds of thousands of light years across. There's no way anyone could cross them." Twilight's mind boggled at the idea of crossing a galaxy. She knew of them from her star gazing and questioning Princess Luna about certain topics but even Luna had agreed that space travel was not something even magic was capable of. "Well yeah moving through normal space it would take centuries just to get to Earth's nearest star. That’s why we use warp drives. It allows us to move from point to point with massively reduced travel time." Twilight's eyes light up at Marcus' explanation. "So your species has developed a way to travel between the stars? How does it work can you replicate it? Do you have a warp drive with you I could study?" The armored human sighed at his new role of teacher, grateful that throughout his life he had picked up an impressive amount of knowledge about various subjects. "Well it all started based on a phenomenon called an Einstein-Rosen bridge, most people just call it a wormhole. It was just theoretical until we figured out a way to stabilize it after that..." * * * Meanwhile, gathered around the large table in the middle of the kitchen, Twilight's friends discussed the unexpected arrival. "He's a big 'un but he seemed like a right enough type, even after Rainbow had a go at him." "Hey! It looked like he was attacking Twilight how would you have reacted?" "Well, if anything his wardrobe has made me worried. Who needs that much armor?" "It is pretty scary looking. Especially with the d-dragon helmet." "He scares me too." The conversation ground to a halt at Pinkie Pie's statement. "Uhhh care to explain that to us, sug'? Cause I seem to recall you suggesting that nasty King Sombra just needed a hug, but this guy has you worried." Applejack sat looking at Pinkie just like the others, all waiting for clarification. "It's just all the other meanies we've had to deal with just captured us or knocked us out of the fight. The changelings put us in pods, Discord made us act all topsy turvy, even Tirek just locked us up. But he doesn’t feel like the kind of pony who does that. Something about his seems a lot more... final." Pinkie Pie's mane deflated a little as she noticed her friends worried expressions and she felt terrible for making them worry. "Pinkie, darling, he’s not our enemy though. Even after Rainbow assaulted him and knocked him out he didn’t seem to hold any ill will towards her." Rarity wrapped a comforting hoof around her pink friends shoulder, none of them had ever seen Pinkie so worried. "Besides I already proved I can take him so what’s to worry?" Rainbow added. Her comforting, though arrogant, words had some effect on her best friend a bit of her manes usual bounce returned. Even Fluttershy offered reassuring words "Maybe he’s a lot like Henry. Everypony is always afraid of him when they first meet him because of his claws and teeth, but he’s just a big softy." "I'll trust Twilight's judgment." Spike joined them, setting down a tray with eight mugs of cocoa on the table. He then curled his long body on the floor but staying at eye level with his friends, "And so what if he has a dragon on his armor, I AM a dragon. Besides, the poor guy seems as confused as to how he got here as we do." "Yes, I suppose even I would be a little irritable if I found myself in completely foreign surroundings. I suppose we should get to know him before we jump to conclusions." Rarity nudged Pinkie gently in an attempt to bring her back into the conversation. "I guess." Her pink mane had re-inflated some but was still far from its natural puffiness. "Besides who's gonna throw the first alien in Equestria a welcome party if it’s not the most awesome party pony ever?" Rainbow put as much energy into her words as she could, hoping to lighten her friend’s mood. She had seen this side of Pinkie before and didn’t want her to stay this way too long. "You're right Rainbow. I’m going to throw him a party he'll never forget. And I can see how he reacts, you can always tell a pony’s character by how they act at a party. “Pinkie’s mane re-inflated as she spoke.”I just hope Twilight asks him the really important questions like what his favourite kind of cake is or what kind of frosting he wants. She always forgets to ask new ponies the really important stuff." Everyone at the table smiled a little seeing their friend back to her normal self and went back to their cocoa, awaiting the pair upstairs and Twilights verdict on their new visitor. * * * "So after that first contact event we played up the whole humans are monsters thing for a bit as a way to keep the rest of the galaxy off balance till we could figure out where we stood on the field. Eventually, we dropped the act and mingled with the rest of the galaxy but it was a rough start." Marcus sat across from Twilight on the floor of the library. Several stacks of parchment were neatly piled around the young alicorn each page full of notes with another gripped in her magic. "So your race fooled an entire galaxy into thinking you were some sort of demon from Tartarus? That's, well that’s kind of crazy to even try." "Yeah but that’s what made it so fun to pull off." Marcus smirked at Twilight's confused expression before a thought occurred to him. "Are your friends still downstairs? Are they going to be worried that we’ve been up here so long?" "What do you mean it’s only been," Twilight glanced at the clock "an HOUR! Oh no they are probably worried sick not to mention it’s four in the morning and they probably want to be in bed." Twilight jumped to her hooves, being careful of the notes around her before darting to the door. "Come on. We should go talk to them so they can get home." Marcus rose and gathered his helmet, leaving it under his arm so he didn’t frighten anyone else, slung the bag Rainbow had been carrying over his shoulder, and followed Twilight through the winding halls to the kitchen where the other ponies awaited them. * * * Marcus let Twilight lead him to the kitchen while he tried to process his situation. Stranded on an unknown planet, possibly a different dimension, no way to get home, not much in the way of supplies, and of the seven natives he had met so far six of them were terrified of him and one viewed him as a science project. He had been in worse situations, but this was going to be tricky no matter how he played things. Oh, and he could apparently survive landing at terminal velocity. That part needed investigation. Marcus as pulled from his thoughts when they stopped a short distance from an open doorway. The light spilling from it when every other room had been dark as well as the smell of warm cocoa meant they had arrived. Twilight Sparkle stood in front of him looking up from barely more than waist height and wearing a nervous smile. "Remember they are just a scared of you as you are of them. So be nice and try not to be too insulted by what they say. Please? Some of my friends can be a little... open about what they're thinking." "I wont. I'm used to people being scared of humans, fallout from pulling the biggest practical joke in history on an entire galaxy. I'll be on my best behavior." He gave Twilight a wide smile, which made her flinch for some reason, before adjusting the helmet and bag he carried. "Lets get this over with." Inside the kitchen the rest of Twilight's friends sat around a large circular table, empty or partial mugs of hot cocoa sat in front of five colorful ponies and a large, purple dragon. Everyone's attention focused on the door as Twilight and Marcus entered. Twilight settled herself into a seat and motioned for Marcus to do the same. A quick look at the chair told him that it would never support his weight so he set it off to the side and knelt on the floor leaving him at nearly eye level with the others at the table. "Alright girls, I've talked to Marcus about his situation and from what he's told me he came here by accident and is now stranded. I would like to offer him a room here and try and find a way for him to return home. Anything you girls would like to say?" "So wait is this like the first Friendship Court or something? Shouldn't we be on our seats so its all official?" Everypony looked around the table at Rainbow's words noticing that it was already set up almost exactly like court would be. "I think we can keep this informal, especially considering what time it is." "We were talking among ourselves earlier while you two were up in the library and we've reached a decision of sorts." Rarity looked around the table at her friends, all of whom nodded for her to continue. "We have decided that Marcus should be allowed to stay in Ponyville if that's what he wants. While first impressions were a little... rough, I'm sure we can all look past them and be friends." Everyone at the table nodded in agreement. Marcus had noticed several worried glances pass around the table as the white unicorn spoke even if Twilight hadn't. Clearing his throat, he decided to try and put everyone at ease as much as he could. "I appreciate your trust and I'm grateful for you all giving me this chance." Mostly because he really had no idea what he would do if the natives were hostile while he was stranded here. "Hopefully I won't be here too long and things can get back to normal pretty quickly." He smiled again but made sure not to show any teeth this time remembering Twilight's reaction earlier. "Well shoot, you seem like a pleasant enough feller and it would be down right unneighborly of us to turn ya'll away without getting ta know ya. An' don't worry too much about causing a stir, we've plenty of weirdness in these here parts." For the next half hour or so Marcus, Spike, and the girls sat at the table with the human answering as numerous questions about himself, his species, where he came from and what his favourite cake flavor was. Eventually the excitement of an alien arrival wore off and everyone began feeling the effect of the early hour and decided to return to their respective homes for the night with the light of dawn just peeking over the horizon. "Well I'm glad they like you now. I think even Pinkie was a little apprehensive around you at first." Twilight smiled and added between yawns "Now i think its time for bed. Its already been an exciting day and the sun isn't even up yet. If you want I can have Spike show you to a room for the night. we can figure out something more permanent after everypony has had some sleep." "Your hospitality is appreciated Miss Sparkle. I would love to have a bed for the night." "Excellent! Spike could you show Marcus to his room, I need to write a letter." * * * "Tada!" Spike threw open the door to one of the largest guest rooms and allowed his companion to take in the sight. A large four post bed with a nightstand on either side dominated the far wall with a dresser and closet on the left wall and a bookshelf and stand mirror on the right. the floor was layered with a plush carpeting and a pair of windows on either side of the bed allowed a wonderful view of a sleeping Ponyville. "This is magnificent. You didn't have to give me a room this nice." While Marcus appreciated the generous hospitality his aversion to what he saw as 'soft living' railed against the room before him. "We kinda did," Spike chuckled "it's the only room with a bed big enough for you." "Oh, well I guess that makes sense." Marcus entered the room and set his bag next to the bed. He then shed his gauntlets and proceed to begin unlatching many of the plates on his armor. "Look, now that Twilight isn't here I want to make something clear." The dragons tone of voice suddenly changed from his normal cheeriness to a serious tone that seemed almost threatening. "I saw your teeth downstairs. I don't know if any of the girls noticed but I know what having canine teeth means." He flashed something that only a blind man would be able to call a grin, showing off rows of sharp fangs. "I don't know if you told Twilight about your diet but teeth like that mean meat is a part of it. If you try to hurt anypony while you're here I will be coming after you and I can literally eat steel. Got that?" "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat something I can hold a conversation with. Besides, humans are omnivores. It's actually possible for us to survive on plants alone." While he doubted the dragons claim to be able to eat his armor, it was still a dragon, and one does not meddle in the affairs of dragons. "Well that's good to hear." Spike once again wore his usual smile "I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Bathroom is just down the hall on the right if you need it." The adolescent dragon turned and left the room, pulling the door closed with his tail as he went. After Spike left Marcus sat on the edge of the large bed and picked up the chest piece of his armor. He reached into a small pocket in the lining and withdrew a thin plastic sleeve. Gently he opened it and took out the single picture that lay inside. It was of a woman in military BDU's, her form tall and lithe with well honed muscles, she wore her red hair long and pulled into a loose ponytail and eyes were the color of fine emeralds. She was standing with her arm around the waist a much younger Marcus. His hair was still clipped close to the skull and he had far fewer scars but the biggest difference was the massive smile plastered across his face, a smile that light up his entire face. The picture was slightly faded and tattered at the corners but not enough to betray its age of almost three hundred years old. Marcus gingerly replaced the picture in its home before lying on the bed and attempting to find sleep. * * * Deep within a castle not so very far from Ponyville, a midnight colored alicorn sat in a special chamber warded from prying eyes. She sat scowling at the large circle in the center of the room. It was two meters across and made of a solid gold ring inlaid into the black granite of the room's floor. A multitude of arcane sigils surrounded its outside edge; they too were gleaming gold and set into the floor. Each rune was carefully cut and placed to focus the power of a spell as the caster desired. In all it was an expensive and impressive set up, and it had failed spectacularly. Her spell should have pulled the Seven Spirits from their prisons and forced them into the hosts she had chosen. But something went wrong and the most dangerous of the spirits had been lost. The dark alicorn paced around the circle looking for any clue that could help explain what had happened. As her eyes swept over the circle for what felt like the hundredth time she noticed something. One small rune was misshapen causing it to take on an entirely different meaning. One small painstakingly crafted and triple checked rune was wrong. The implications of this did not sit well with her but at least now she had a lead on where to find her missing Spirit. Her ears perked up as she heard hoof falls far above through her through a magical monitor. If her sister was up she would have to wait at least another day before she could begin her search unnoticed. She sighed and, with a flare of her magic, shifted her form back to her daily disguise. Soon enough she wouldn't need it but until then hiding a little longer wouldn’t hurt. She was immortal; she could afford patience. Dread and the Fugitive MindAuthor's Note Woo new chapter! This one is in first person because its the only way I could make it flow together. Next one will be back to 3rd person limited omniscience. Dread and the Fugitive Mind Fire blazed around my broken body as I sat propped up against the wreckage of a Mesier class tank. I felt the comforting weight of a combat knife in my right hand while my left tried to keep my life blood from escaping through the jagged wound across my torso. All around explosions and screams echoed through the forest. Torvin. Two hundred and seventy years and it still haunted me. I sat there, knowing I was dreaming but unable to wake as I watched the scene unfold again. As I sat there a Sselk patrol passed by the blasted wreckage that had been my tank. One of them paused, its forked tongue flicking out from a saurian mouth full of fangs. It slowly turned to look at me and raised its shard rifle. Hideous weapons that launched jagged slivers of specialized crystal that would sink deep into the flesh of a target before fracturing within the wound. I watched as it drew a bead on me but then hissed out a laugh and aimed low before squeezing off a single round. Remembered pain lanced through my leg as the round impacted, shredding armor and the muscle underneath. I heard myself scream in pain while the Sselk watched and laughed. It turned away and loped off into the dense forest, its clawed feet leaving gouges in the damp soil. I watched the blue scaled tail disappear into the underbrush and knew what came next. I would slowly lose consciousness from blood loss. Once I blacked out I would wake up or the dream would repeat, different battle maybe but always a dream of my past failures. Slowly my eyes shut while I hoped desperately to wake. I opened my eyes again and the world around me was still inky darkness. This was not the partial blackness of nighttime but true darkness; yet I could see myself perfectly as if I were standing in a well lit room.I stood there, still fully armored despite having removed it before I laid down, and looked about trying to find some feature in the surroundings. I saw nothing but empty void. I'll admit I was starting to panic a little as my imagination ran rampant. A voice from behind me startled me from my musings. “So you are Twilight’s new guest. I hadn't expected you to be so large.” “I get that a lot." I turned to face the voice and found myself before a dark blue alicorn mare with a flowing mane that seemed to house the stars and a crescent moon on her flank. She was taller than the other ponies I had met, the tip of her horn reaching just below my chin. "So now I’m dreaming about ponies, not sure what that says about my mental health.” “You are not dreaming about us but we are still in your dreams. I am Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night, and one of the diarchs of Equestria." "Well it is a pleasure to meet you, your highness." Twilight had told me a bit about the two princesses ruling her country. This was the younger sister so either they didn't see me as a big threat or I wasn't worth big sis' time. Still, little sister or not she was royalty. I gave her a respectful bow, bending at the waist but keeping eye contact. "What did you mean about us still being in my dreams? I didn't realize you were in Ponyville too.” “I possess an ability commonly called Dreamwalking. It allows me to enter another beings dreams as well as affording me a measure of control over the reality within. I'm currently sitting in my bed in Canterlot, only my consciousness is here.” “Huh. Neat trick.” Actually the ability scared the crap out of me. I don't want people in my head. I had enough of that crap with the Lorkeer and they needed to be in the same room to mess with any other race. Seriously, fuck telepaths. Their idea of a practical joke is messed up. “Indeed. I usually aid our little ponies with their nightmares but I find that dreams are a better window to someones soul than the eyes could ever be.” Luna says pulling up images from the dream that had just finished. Its strange seeing the bloody wounds and knowing that it was my leg but experiencing none of the pain that normally came with it. “ Twilight mentioned you were a soldier? I have never seen weapons nor creatures such as these. But its cruelty is unmistakable. Your kind stood against them?” “Yeah, the United Terran Alliance answered a protection treaty we had with the Echobi. Those bastards,” I gestured at the screen showing the two and a half meter tall anthropomorphic lizard, “are the Sselk; sadistic, dogmatic, supremacists hellbent on wiping out anyone who offends their warped ideology. They decided that the Echos offended their gods so they started a war with the sole purpose of annihilating them. Five long years of fighting before we finally broke their military power. They still want to kill most of the galaxy but now they don't have the weapons to do it. Still think we should have razed their planets.” I rubbed my leg feeling the deep scars even through my pants. When I glanced away from the images and back at Luna she was looking at me with an odd expression. “Credit for your thoughts?” “You speak casually of committing the same genocide you fought to stop yet there's no anger in your heart when you say it. I can not decide if you're joking or if I should be worried for my ponies.” “Mostly joking. I do think its foolish to leave an enemy behind you but if we destroy them what makes us any better? Bit of a catch twenty-two.” I shrug, I was never one to spend a lot of time philosophizing, I preferred practical problems. Those could be solved with sufficient application of violence. “So what do you think of what you've seen so far? I'm not going to end up knifed in my sleep am I?” Maybe a bit casual when talking to a princess of the land I had just crashed in but we were in my head at the moment. My sovereign territory. “No, I would wait for you to wake up at least.” Luna smirked, “As one warrior to another it is the least we could do.” “Warrior? I thought you were a princess?” At least she has a sense of humor. I've dealt with nobles of dozens of species and almost all of them act like the galaxy owes them everything. At least I hope that's humor. “I can't be both?” She started to sit down in the nothing we had been floating in and suddenly there was a plush cushion beneath her. “My sister it the better diplomat but I have my talents as well. I am the highest ranking military officer, above even my sister, and in times of war I have final say in all things directly related to the conflict. It is a system that has served us well in the past and I hope we can avoid needing in the future.” “Seems like it would.” I sat down cross legged wondering if I could copy Lunas cushion trick but deciding against it. She had experience with dreams, I might wake up Cthulhu. “So how much did Miss Sparkle tell you about me?” “Enough to peak my curiosity but it feels like there is much she didn't tell me or doesn't know. Perhaps you could fill in the blanks? What exactly was it you did back home? You were a soldier, then a bodyguard, then a bounty hunter. What I want to know is why those jobs in particular.” The tea cup in front of her was wrapped in a dark blue glow and lifted to her lips as she waited for my answer. I hadn't even noticed the tea set appear in front of us. There was even a setting for me. “What do you mean?” I asked, picking up the cup and swirling its contents. “ All of your career choices involve some degree of violence. I want to know why. Be warned, if I don't like your answer I can be in Ponyville with that knife in seconds.” She said it all with the same calm facial expression. The scariest part was she was serious. After several years of bodyguard work you learn to pick out who is and isn't an actual threat. The way Princess Luna had told me she would kill me with the same bored certainty you tell someone that humans are crazy just screams threat. “I enlisted because of my family. My dad and his dad were both Marines, great-granddad was one of the first airmen out of the Veil.” I took a sip of the tea and tried to read Lunas expression over the rim of the cup. Nothing. Note to self; If I survive this, never play poker with this princess. “After my third tour I wanted to settle down and a buddy of mine put me in touch with a company he knew. Worked there for a couple decades before I decided I needed to do something more and I took the test for my bounty hunting license.” “What changed?” Not a question I really wanted to answer. “Someone I cared about was taken from me.” “Your reason for settling down in the first place?” Gods damn her. “Yes.” I said through clenched teeth as I forced down all the unpleasant memories that were getting stirred up. I couldn't face them again. “So was it revenge or justice you wanted?” She had set her cup down and I realized this was a very important question and I doubted she would like the answer. “Bit of both. I think it was more revenge. Probably not what you want to hear but it would have felt hollow to watch someone else take them down. It had to be me.” “Actually,” she smiled, finally some emotion! “I like that answer over some false platitude about justice for a loved one or some tripe. Your honesty was all the answer I wanted. Besides, I know what you felt and I cannot fault you for following the same path I've walked.” She leaned forward and rested a hoof on my shoulder, “You've my condolences and I hope you found some peace in their deaths.” “Did you?” “No.” “Yeah, me either.” We sat there in silence, sipping tea and ,at least in my case, repressing memories. Finally Luna broke the silence. “Would you like to dream of her? I can guide your subconscious towards thoughts of her. It will take over from there and your night will be filled with memories of happier times.” I set my teacup down and frowned at it while I debated just how open I wanted to be with my new companion. “I tried that. Visited a psychiatrist who taught me how to 'guide my mind'. It was supposed to help me with the dreams you saw. Help stop them. Which it did, nothing but happy dreams of mom, dad, Lisa, and then you wake up and all of that is gone. I prefer the nightmares, princess; at least these ones end when I wake up.” Luna wore a small frown “That is a rather bleak out look.” I shrugged “I've gotten used to them. Besides I already know how they end so its not as bad.” Honestly it was still horrible but the alternative was worse so I had to settle for the lesser of two evils. “Speaking of dreams those ones usually last me all night, how long have we been here?” “It is nearly midday. You have been asleep for several hours. We have been talking for perhaps half of one. I don't know how long your kind usually sleeps so I am unsure if this is unusual or not.” “Average humans usually run an eight hour sleep cycle. I can make due with maybe four hours in as many days, but I'm pretty far from normal.” Her timeline tracked with what I had assumed. I usually only remember the last few dreams before they wake me up. “I'll probably be waking up soon. Twilight probably wants to study me some more.” Luna chuckles, “Yes that does sound like my sisters pupil. Even after her coronation she has a thirst for knowledge. Well If you are due to wake soon then I believe I will take my leave.” The tea set disappeared as did her cushion as she stood up. “I believe my sister will be coming to Ponyville tomorrow to meet you and welcome you to Equestria, but allow me to extend my welcome to you now. It was a pleasure being able to sit down and talk casually, it is a rare treat.” She began to fade out, like reducing the opacity of a HUD. It was more than a little weird to watch. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Princess!” Luna snapped back to her solid state instantly, “Could I ask you to keep what you've seen and I've shared secret? Or at least not give the details just yet.” Luna gave me a slight nod “I will respect your privacy but know that I must share some of what I've learned with my sister. She is the one who asked that I look in on you and determine if you're a threat. While you have my trust you must understand that your skills mean you could pose a threat to our subjects.” “I understand. Just don't tell her why I prefer my nightmares? Please?” Luna stepped forward and rest her head over my shoulder in the pony equivalent of a hug. At least that's what I'm assuming it is since Twilight's friends exchanged them before leaving. Either that or the princess was coming on to me and Twilight was polyamorous. “Sister would understand, she has lost as we have; but I will keep this secret. Enjoy your time in Equestria, Marcus. Hopefully we can find a way to send you home.” She once again began to fade from view and when she finally fully disappeared I too woke up to brilliant noonday sun pouring through the window. Only here for a few hours and things were looking up. Half the rulers already liked me and teaching Twilight couldn't be too much trouble. Maybe being here for a while wouldn't be so bad.
High Speed DirtMarcus was a mercenary by trade, hopping from one star system to another in his heavily armored little freighter, Dragon's Shadow, picking up whatever jobs needed to be done. His usual work involved retrieving bounties placed on pirates or criminals hiding in places someone couldn't legally drag them out of sometimes the odd bodyguard gig too. It paid quite well, especially the more dangerous jobs he usually took. Most of his earnings went towards weapons, his ship, or to improving his personal armor. He operated on the philosophy that the best defense was in fact a good defense and all the safety procedures, backup backup plans, and specialized pieces of equipment he owned reflected that. His ship had hull plating that could rival a dreadnought with a shield generator rated for a ship twice as large as the one it was fitted to. His personal armor was a similar caliber of overkill designed to be both defense and offence at once. An iridium steel alloy with an ablative carbon coating cast into four millimeter plates and then lovingly forged into the best damn suit of armor this side of Andromeda. Power augmenting servos in the arms and legs combined with a mesh work of straps and buckles to distribute the fifty kilogram weight perfectly over his body. The helmet was a masterpiece unto itself. Crafted of the same materials with the same devotion it contained a full communication array, an uplink to the suits onboard computer, multi-filter visual enhancements, as well as a full ECM and ECCM suite. In short, Marcus was prepared for anything. Almost. When he went to bed that night Marcus had never pictured himself falling through the air towards a giant crystal tree upon waking. If he had he would have made an emergency appointment with his psychiatrist and found a lower stress job. Considering the fact that when he had lain down he had been traveling through extra dimensional space at speeds many times faster than light; it wasn’t something he had felt the need to prepare for. Yet here he was, hurtling through the air above a tiny town on an unknown planet towards a garish, crystalline tree. His helmets HUD tracked two very important numbers in front of his eyes, his speed and his altitude. Neither number was comforting. Another trait of Marcus' worth mentioning was his unbelievable tenacity. No matter how grim the situation he would find a way to survive, usually through careful planning and knowing his own limits. He had survived stranded on planets considered inhospitable, been lost in the black recesses of space, and faced his own mortality more times than he could remember. But this time he had no plan, no back up, and the odds were stacked insurmountably against him. So he did the only thing that came to his angry mind; he yelled out his rage at one of the most fundamental forces of the universe before colliding with a wall of crystal. * * * "FUCK YOU GRAVITY!!" Twilight Sparkle was jolted awake by a loud yell followed by a resounding crash from the library as something impacted her new crystalline home. Scrambling out of bed and stepping over a groggy and confused Spike she rushed into the hall. "RAINBOW DASH! What did you do this time?" the purple alicorn yelled as she stomped through the halls towards the library proper. She loved her accident prone friend but at three in the morning friendship only went so far. Twilight finally reached her beloved room and, reaching out with her magic, lit the lamps around the room casting a warm glow on the scene before her. There was a large hole in the exterior wall where her unwanted guest had entered leaving an entire shelf destroyed and good only for kindling, several more shelves had collapsed from the impact as well and to top it all off books lay scattered all over the floor in piles. Twilight gasped at the bibliographical carnage before her. "RAINBOW DASH!" she bellowed as her mane erupted into a wild mass, JUST WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME HAVE YOU DONE! WE JUST FINISHED RESHELVING THE LIBRARY, NOW WE HAVE TO START ALL OVER!" Twilight began levitating books at random, looking for the source of her frustration. A book drift against the wall opposite shifted slightly as though somepony were trapped in its papery clutches and Twilight pounced at once. Books exploded away from the prostrate form all of them landing in neat stacks as Twilight opened her mouth to deliver a scathing lecture to her polychromatic pal. Much to her surprise however the form she uncovered was not Rainbow Dash. In fact it wasn’t even a pony. Before her was a simian form shod from head to toe in black metal which, now freed from its bound bindings, pulled itself up to its feet, its head nearly reaching the ceiling. "You are not Rainbow Dash." * * * Marcus regained consciousness and was immediately aware that his entire body felt like pain. His head throbbed, his chest felt like he had been hit by a car, and his extremities all tingled. After laying in the peaceful dark and getting used to the pain he slowly opened his eyes, then he blinked, and again. No matter how many times he blinked the world remained pitch black. 'So, the afterlife is a big, black, painful nothing' he thought, 'a lot of religious people are gonna ticked off when they get here. Also it smells like old books, which is kinda weird.' Suddenly the "afterlife" shifted and picked itself off his prone form. Battered and barely clinging to consciousness he struggled to his feet. The massive weight of his armor making it a herculean task in such a state but he was determined to face whatever was before him on his feet. What was in front of him was the most adorable gods damned thing he'd ever seen. * * * The confused pair stood staring at each other for several long moments before a voice from the doorway broke them from their daze. "Sweet Celestia! What is that!?" Spike cried having finally navigated his way to the library.He quickly ducked back out of the room until only his head peeked around the jam, the rest of him concealed in the hall way. He had hit a growth spurt perhaps a month after Tirek's defeat and was now slightly taller than Big Mac and two ponies in length with his neck and tail adding another pony length each. His serpentine form was powerfully built but mentally he was a teenager. A rather scared teenager who was looking at his surrogate sister standing a short distance from something that had invaded their home. His fearful eyes were locked on the bipedal form standing in front of Twilight as he stood in the doorway. As two sets of eyes locked onto him and he immediately regretted opening his mouth. "Spike, stay there! I don’t know what this is yet. Be ready to get the girls or the princess if we need her." Twilight tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice but everything about the creature in front of her scared her. It towered over her at over two meters tall and more than half that wide at the shoulders and the way it held itself radiated tense wariness mixed with a threat of violence. Adding to this presence was the fact that it was covered from top to bottom with black metal armor. Many of the larger surfaces were etched with terrifying images or phrases. The worst part was its helmet though, or at least what she hoped was a helmet. It was the same black metal as the rest of its armor but it bore the visage of an angry dragon with a mouth full of teeth and a pair of horns curling down the sides of the helm to end in sharp spikes just below and a several centimeters in front of its chin. Nothing could be seen inside the helmet, neither through the eyes nor its gaping maw. "What-" her voice cracked when that horrible face swung towards her "what do you want?" "Holy crap it can talk!" the monster rumbled in a deep voice speaking perfect Equish but in a tone that sounded more like he was addressing himself rather than anypony in the room. "Okay, wait. I just hit a wall traveling at terminal velocity. I'm dead. I have to be dead. Because now I’m standing here talking to a tiny unicorn and that’s just..." his voice trailed off and the room was silent again for a moment. "Am I dead?" he asked, his voice taking a sadder tone. "No, you’re still alive, see." Twilight tentatively reached out rapped her hoof against the metal plate on his thigh. "Still solid. Everyone in Tartarus is all wispy and incorporeal. Though you did just crash through the wall into my library." Twilight gestured towards the wall of her home before subtly nodding at Spike to get help now that she had its attention elsewhere. "Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do to help?" "Concussion, some broken ribs, it’s nothing that won’t be fixed in a few hours" He slumped down into a seated position on the back of the destroyed bookcase and folded his arms across his knees. "So if I'm not dead then where the hell am I and how did I end up crashing through the wall of someone’s home?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle. You’re in my castle in Ponyville. It’s a small town in Equestria." Twilight's curiosity was now peaked now that the mood in the room had become much less tense. Now her thoughts turned towards the fact that before her was a previously unknown species of primate that was obviously sapient. Oh the research she would be able to do and the papers she could write. "Can you tell me who you are? What you are? I've never met something like you before." She used her magic to float a piece of parchment and a quill in front of her and prepared to take notes. “My name's Marcus. I'm a human, Homo Sapiens." His answer was muttered but audible as he tried to process his situation. "Could I see what you look like? Can you remove your helmet?" After a brief moment in which Twilight worried she had pushed too far, Marcus reached up and pulled his helmet off with a snap as the seals he had built released. Beneath the helmet was the oddest creature Twilight had ever seen. His face was resembled a gorilla except much flatter with a pointed nose and wider set eyes. The top of his head was covered in a short black fur that also highlighted his brow line and even a patch on his chin. Other than that he was much more sparsely furred than any other mammal she had ever studied. At this point Twilight's self preservation, which had forced her to keep her distance until now, was fighting against her scientific curiosity and, while it was a valiant struggle, it was in vain. She closed the gap between them and began prodding at his armor, taking a hand in her hooves to more closely examine what she could of their structure. She noted that the gauntlets he wore weren't identical. The right one had a thick metal ridge jutting out past the knuckles and a trio of metal plates covering the palm while the left one had a sharp triangle of metal in place of the ridge and the palm was covered by a foreign material. Marcus was caught off guard by this sudden invasion of personal space and after his stammered attempts to ward off the inquisitive mare failed he simply put his hand on her chest and pushed her back to arms length. Twilight seemed to get the message and opened her mouth presumably to apologize but was interrupted by a new voice coming from the hole in the wall "Hey egghead, did you know you have a huge hol-y crap that things trying to kill Twilight!" the raspy voice cried out. Twilights head whipped towards the voice and had just enough time to spot Rainbow Dash dropping a massive black bag on the floor before she darted at Twilights 'attacker'. "Rainbow no!" Twilight attempted to grab the pegasus but the small room coupled with her friend’s incredible flight capabilities meant that her attempt to salvage the situation failed, to the audio accompaniment of a loud metal crash. Rainbow Dash flew headlong into her target forehooves out stretched, turning herself into a horseshoe shod missile. Marcus simply angled his chest slightly and allowed his armor to absorb the blow. The thick metal and ample padding beneath it reduced the impact to little more than a nudge to him. The impact however sent painful vibrations up the daredevil’s legs and left her forelegs numb. "Oh, so that’s how it's gonna be then huh?" Again, despite Twilights protests, she moved faster than anyone could react and spun to aim a swift buck at the monsters head. He managed to move his head enough so that it wasn’t a direct hit but even the grazing blow staggered him to one knee before he slowly tipped forwards and crumpled on the floor, blood leaking from a gash above his right ear. "HA! Once again Rainbow Dash saves the day! Don’t worry Twilight he won’t be- whoa!" Her boisterous antics were cut off as she was finally wrapped in a purple aura and dragged before an incredibly irate alicorn. "Do you have any idea what you just did? I was fine Rainbow! He wasn’t attacking me and you might have just ruined my one chance to study him!" Twilight’s voice was even and quiet, only slightly louder than a whisper. This worried the cyan pegasus. The tone of voice combined with the new knowledge that this was one of Twilights research projects set off all kinds of alarms in Rainbow Dash's mind. She knew just how much Twilight valued her science even if she didn't understand most of what came out of the egghead’s mouth. The fact that she had just done bodily harm to the subject of said science meant she had to try and avert the coming rage/panic attack. Twilight could get feisty if you interfered with her studies. "Don’t worry so much Twi; I’m sure he's fine. Hay, I've taken worse blows and I was up and around before you knew it." Rainbow chuckled nervously under her friends unwavering glare. "Yes Rainbow, it’s quite obvious you've survived several blows to the head." Twilight deadpanned. The clatter of several sets of hooves arose from the hallway and saved Rainbow from any further repercussions. Seconds later the rest of Twilight's friends burst into the room led by Applejack with Fluttershy, predictably, bringing up the rear. The girls paused as they took in the disarray that greeted them. Book lay strewn across the floor, shelves were tipped or destroyed and a suit of decorative armor had been knocked to the floor from its stand. "Don’t worry sugarcube. Ain't no metal monster gonna mess with our friend and get away with it" Applejack drawled, looking around the room for the 'monster' Spike had warned them about. "Oh don't worry, Rainbow dash here helped more than enough already." Twilight shot the pegasus in question an unhappy glare as she rose from the giant pile of metal on the floor "and Marcus and I were fine. I may have overreacted a little when I sent for you all." "Well, if the brute decided to come in through your wall rather than use the door like a civilized pony I don’t blame you for taking precautions." Rarity spoke up turning her attention away from the shambles the room had been reduced to. A groan form the floor drew everyponies attention as what the four new arrivals had believed to be a decorative suit of armor began to stir and pushed itself off the floor. Fluttershy let out a tiny eep and hid herself as best she could atop one of the still standing shelves while Applejack readied herself to run the intruder. "Did anyone get the number of that train that just hit me" a deep voice rumbled as he rose to a knee and grabbed the dragon styled helmet that sat on the floor near him. "That was Rainbow Dash. I’m very sorry; she is a bit overprotective sometimes and likes to act before she thinks." "Meh, no real harm done. I took worse during basic." Marcus slipped his helmet back over his now throbbing head, wincing slightly. "It’ll be fixed in a few minutes anyway." once again safely enveloped in his metal shell he looked around finally noticing the newcomers. "More friends of yours, Sparkle? Are they going to try and kick my ass too?" He chuckled a little at the idea of getting beat up by a bunch of waist high ponies. "You’re laughing. Does that mean you’re feeling better?" "That hurt too much for me to be dead. I'll freak out about the implications of that later." Marcus said pulling himself to his feet for the second time that night. The four newcomers all stepped back from the towering figure before them. He was taller than even Princess Celestia but was built like a minotaur. Add to that his cruel looking armor and helm and the sight thoroughly unnerved them. "Twi, sugarcube. What exactly have y'all gotten us into this time?" Author's Note first attempt at a multi chapter story. Lets see how big of a crater this leaves after the inevitable crash and burn shall we?
Peace Sells"Oh this is Marcus. He's a human and I think he's a little lost." Marcus nodded at this from behind Twilight. "So I'm going to ask him some questions and hopefully we can get this whole mess sorted out." Twilight's chipper attitude was not shared by anyone in the room. Even the ever bubbly Pinkie Pie found herself slightly unnerved by the new arrival. It wasn’t a Pinkie Sense it was just a general feeling that something terrible was in the room with her. Something that even her tried and true method of laughing at it wouldn’t make any less... wrong. "Uh, 'Sup?" Marcus waved at the new ponies. although after the greeting he got from the blue one he was still a little tense. "Sparkle is right, I went to bed and then I woke up here. Or a thousand meters above here would be more accurate." Marcus tilted his head towards the hole and chuckled nervously trying to ease the tension in the room as all but one pony in the room were still looking at him with a mixture of fear and aggression. "Marcus," Twilight whispered from his side “I think it’s the helmet again. It’s not exactly friendly looking." He looked at her and then very pointedly turned to look at Rainbow Dash then back to Twilight who chuckled uneasily. Her gaze darted from Marcus to her friends trying to think of another way to calm everypony down. "Spike, how about you take the girls downstairs and make some hot coco for everypony. I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" Twilight guided everyone towards the door, levitating Fluttershy from her hiding spot, and after numerous reassurances that she would be fine managed to send them towards the kitchen. "So, that went better than your rainbow friend. I still get the distinct impression they don’t like me much." "I’m really sorry about that. They usually aren’t like this; they are the friendliest ponies I know. Maybe if you didn’t have the armor on?" "I’ve only been here an hour tops, Sparkle and you’re trying to get me undressed? For shame." Marcus grinned as he pulled off his helmet and began to nurse his aching skull. The throbbing had started to get worse. "What? I. No, that’s not what I meant at all. I mean that stuff is pretty scary looking, though I would like to see you without the armor on. TO STUDY! I want to study you without your armor in the way and I’m going to stop talking now because everything just comes out wrong." Twilight too slumped down to the floor though she kept her face towards the floor to hide her rapidly reddening face. "Relax, it was a joke. It’s a coping mechanism to being dropped into a strange world filled with mythical creatures. Sorry." "Oh, it’s okay. Um, I know I told the girls I was going to ask some more questions but are you sure you’re okay? You were bleeding. I could go get my first aid kit." Twilight eyed the small cut above his ear but made no move to tend it without his permission. "I'll be fine. The implants will get it patched up soon enough. If you have questions ask 'em. I'll tell you what I can." "Thank you. So you said mythological creatures, what did you mean by that?" "Well where I’m from unicorns and pegasi are myths created millennium ago by ancient cultures back on Earth. It’s a little weird talking to one. No offense, but you freak me out as much as I probably do you." "That’s strange that we would be your myths. See humans are considered mythical creatures here." Twilight’s parchment and quill had once again floated up in front of her as she resumed her note taking. "What did you do where you came from? You mentioned basic; did you mean basic training like in the military?" "Yeah. I was a soldier for a while, I... decided not to reenlist after my second tour," Twilight's ears perked up but Marcus cut off her next question "for reasons I don’t want to talk about" His tone left no room for argument. "After that I signed on with a company to works as a bodyguard. Paid pretty well but I couldn't stand some of the clients. Used the money I made to get a bounty hunter license and kit. After that I just worked hard hopping around the galaxy. "WHAT!? Around the... but galaxies are massive! They're hundreds of thousands of light years across. There's no way anyone could cross them." Twilight's mind boggled at the idea of crossing a galaxy. She knew of them from her star gazing and questioning Princess Luna about certain topics but even Luna had agreed that space travel was not something even magic was capable of. "Well yeah moving through normal space it would take centuries just to get to Earth's nearest star. That’s why we use warp drives. It allows us to move from point to point with massively reduced travel time." Twilight's eyes light up at Marcus' explanation. "So your species has developed a way to travel between the stars? How does it work can you replicate it? Do you have a warp drive with you I could study?" The armored human sighed at his new role of teacher, grateful that throughout his life he had picked up an impressive amount of knowledge about various subjects. "Well it all started based on a phenomenon called an Einstein-Rosen bridge, most people just call it a wormhole. It was just theoretical until we figured out a way to stabilize it after that..." * * * Meanwhile, gathered around the large table in the middle of the kitchen, Twilight's friends discussed the unexpected arrival. "He's a big 'un but he seemed like a right enough type, even after Rainbow had a go at him." "Hey! It looked like he was attacking Twilight how would you have reacted?" "Well, if anything his wardrobe has made me worried. Who needs that much armor?" "It is pretty scary looking. Especially with the d-dragon helmet." "He scares me too." The conversation ground to a halt at Pinkie Pie's statement. "Uhhh care to explain that to us, sug'? Cause I seem to recall you suggesting that nasty King Sombra just needed a hug, but this guy has you worried." Applejack sat looking at Pinkie just like the others, all waiting for clarification. "It's just all the other meanies we've had to deal with just captured us or knocked us out of the fight. The changelings put us in pods, Discord made us act all topsy turvy, even Tirek just locked us up. But he doesn’t feel like the kind of pony who does that. Something about his seems a lot more... final." Pinkie Pie's mane deflated a little as she noticed her friends worried expressions and she felt terrible for making them worry. "Pinkie, darling, he’s not our enemy though. Even after Rainbow assaulted him and knocked him out he didn’t seem to hold any ill will towards her." Rarity wrapped a comforting hoof around her pink friends shoulder, none of them had ever seen Pinkie so worried. "Besides I already proved I can take him so what’s to worry?" Rainbow added. Her comforting, though arrogant, words had some effect on her best friend a bit of her manes usual bounce returned. Even Fluttershy offered reassuring words "Maybe he’s a lot like Henry. Everypony is always afraid of him when they first meet him because of his claws and teeth, but he’s just a big softy." "I'll trust Twilight's judgment." Spike joined them, setting down a tray with eight mugs of cocoa on the table. He then curled his long body on the floor but staying at eye level with his friends, "And so what if he has a dragon on his armor, I AM a dragon. Besides, the poor guy seems as confused as to how he got here as we do." "Yes, I suppose even I would be a little irritable if I found myself in completely foreign surroundings. I suppose we should get to know him before we jump to conclusions." Rarity nudged Pinkie gently in an attempt to bring her back into the conversation. "I guess." Her pink mane had re-inflated some but was still far from its natural puffiness. "Besides who's gonna throw the first alien in Equestria a welcome party if it’s not the most awesome party pony ever?" Rainbow put as much energy into her words as she could, hoping to lighten her friend’s mood. She had seen this side of Pinkie before and didn’t want her to stay this way too long. "You're right Rainbow. I’m going to throw him a party he'll never forget. And I can see how he reacts, you can always tell a pony’s character by how they act at a party. “Pinkie’s mane re-inflated as she spoke.”I just hope Twilight asks him the really important questions like what his favourite kind of cake is or what kind of frosting he wants. She always forgets to ask new ponies the really important stuff." Everyone at the table smiled a little seeing their friend back to her normal self and went back to their cocoa, awaiting the pair upstairs and Twilights verdict on their new visitor. * * * "So after that first contact event we played up the whole humans are monsters thing for a bit as a way to keep the rest of the galaxy off balance till we could figure out where we stood on the field. Eventually, we dropped the act and mingled with the rest of the galaxy but it was a rough start." Marcus sat across from Twilight on the floor of the library. Several stacks of parchment were neatly piled around the young alicorn each page full of notes with another gripped in her magic. "So your race fooled an entire galaxy into thinking you were some sort of demon from Tartarus? That's, well that’s kind of crazy to even try." "Yeah but that’s what made it so fun to pull off." Marcus smirked at Twilight's confused expression before a thought occurred to him. "Are your friends still downstairs? Are they going to be worried that we’ve been up here so long?" "What do you mean it’s only been," Twilight glanced at the clock "an HOUR! Oh no they are probably worried sick not to mention it’s four in the morning and they probably want to be in bed." Twilight jumped to her hooves, being careful of the notes around her before darting to the door. "Come on. We should go talk to them so they can get home." Marcus rose and gathered his helmet, leaving it under his arm so he didn’t frighten anyone else, slung the bag Rainbow had been carrying over his shoulder, and followed Twilight through the winding halls to the kitchen where the other ponies awaited them. * * * Marcus let Twilight lead him to the kitchen while he tried to process his situation. Stranded on an unknown planet, possibly a different dimension, no way to get home, not much in the way of supplies, and of the seven natives he had met so far six of them were terrified of him and one viewed him as a science project. He had been in worse situations, but this was going to be tricky no matter how he played things. Oh, and he could apparently survive landing at terminal velocity. That part needed investigation. Marcus as pulled from his thoughts when they stopped a short distance from an open doorway. The light spilling from it when every other room had been dark as well as the smell of warm cocoa meant they had arrived. Twilight Sparkle stood in front of him looking up from barely more than waist height and wearing a nervous smile. "Remember they are just a scared of you as you are of them. So be nice and try not to be too insulted by what they say. Please? Some of my friends can be a little... open about what they're thinking." "I wont. I'm used to people being scared of humans, fallout from pulling the biggest practical joke in history on an entire galaxy. I'll be on my best behavior." He gave Twilight a wide smile, which made her flinch for some reason, before adjusting the helmet and bag he carried. "Lets get this over with." Inside the kitchen the rest of Twilight's friends sat around a large circular table, empty or partial mugs of hot cocoa sat in front of five colorful ponies and a large, purple dragon. Everyone's attention focused on the door as Twilight and Marcus entered. Twilight settled herself into a seat and motioned for Marcus to do the same. A quick look at the chair told him that it would never support his weight so he set it off to the side and knelt on the floor leaving him at nearly eye level with the others at the table. "Alright girls, I've talked to Marcus about his situation and from what he's told me he came here by accident and is now stranded. I would like to offer him a room here and try and find a way for him to return home. Anything you girls would like to say?" "So wait is this like the first Friendship Court or something? Shouldn't we be on our seats so its all official?" Everypony looked around the table at Rainbow's words noticing that it was already set up almost exactly like court would be. "I think we can keep this informal, especially considering what time it is." "We were talking among ourselves earlier while you two were up in the library and we've reached a decision of sorts." Rarity looked around the table at her friends, all of whom nodded for her to continue. "We have decided that Marcus should be allowed to stay in Ponyville if that's what he wants. While first impressions were a little... rough, I'm sure we can all look past them and be friends." Everyone at the table nodded in agreement. Marcus had noticed several worried glances pass around the table as the white unicorn spoke even if Twilight hadn't. Clearing his throat, he decided to try and put everyone at ease as much as he could. "I appreciate your trust and I'm grateful for you all giving me this chance." Mostly because he really had no idea what he would do if the natives were hostile while he was stranded here. "Hopefully I won't be here too long and things can get back to normal pretty quickly." He smiled again but made sure not to show any teeth this time remembering Twilight's reaction earlier. "Well shoot, you seem like a pleasant enough feller and it would be down right unneighborly of us to turn ya'll away without getting ta know ya. An' don't worry too much about causing a stir, we've plenty of weirdness in these here parts." For the next half hour or so Marcus, Spike, and the girls sat at the table with the human answering as numerous questions about himself, his species, where he came from and what his favourite cake flavor was. Eventually the excitement of an alien arrival wore off and everyone began feeling the effect of the early hour and decided to return to their respective homes for the night with the light of dawn just peeking over the horizon. "Well I'm glad they like you now. I think even Pinkie was a little apprehensive around you at first." Twilight smiled and added between yawns "Now i think its time for bed. Its already been an exciting day and the sun isn't even up yet. If you want I can have Spike show you to a room for the night. we can figure out something more permanent after everypony has had some sleep." "Your hospitality is appreciated Miss Sparkle. I would love to have a bed for the night." "Excellent! Spike could you show Marcus to his room, I need to write a letter." * * * "Tada!" Spike threw open the door to one of the largest guest rooms and allowed his companion to take in the sight. A large four post bed with a nightstand on either side dominated the far wall with a dresser and closet on the left wall and a bookshelf and stand mirror on the right. the floor was layered with a plush carpeting and a pair of windows on either side of the bed allowed a wonderful view of a sleeping Ponyville. "This is magnificent. You didn't have to give me a room this nice." While Marcus appreciated the generous hospitality his aversion to what he saw as 'soft living' railed against the room before him. "We kinda did," Spike chuckled "it's the only room with a bed big enough for you." "Oh, well I guess that makes sense." Marcus entered the room and set his bag next to the bed. He then shed his gauntlets and proceed to begin unlatching many of the plates on his armor. "Look, now that Twilight isn't here I want to make something clear." The dragons tone of voice suddenly changed from his normal cheeriness to a serious tone that seemed almost threatening. "I saw your teeth downstairs. I don't know if any of the girls noticed but I know what having canine teeth means." He flashed something that only a blind man would be able to call a grin, showing off rows of sharp fangs. "I don't know if you told Twilight about your diet but teeth like that mean meat is a part of it. If you try to hurt anypony while you're here I will be coming after you and I can literally eat steel. Got that?" "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat something I can hold a conversation with. Besides, humans are omnivores. It's actually possible for us to survive on plants alone." While he doubted the dragons claim to be able to eat his armor, it was still a dragon, and one does not meddle in the affairs of dragons. "Well that's good to hear." Spike once again wore his usual smile "I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Bathroom is just down the hall on the right if you need it." The adolescent dragon turned and left the room, pulling the door closed with his tail as he went. After Spike left Marcus sat on the edge of the large bed and picked up the chest piece of his armor. He reached into a small pocket in the lining and withdrew a thin plastic sleeve. Gently he opened it and took out the single picture that lay inside. It was of a woman in military BDU's, her form tall and lithe with well honed muscles, she wore her red hair long and pulled into a loose ponytail and eyes were the color of fine emeralds. She was standing with her arm around the waist a much younger Marcus. His hair was still clipped close to the skull and he had far fewer scars but the biggest difference was the massive smile plastered across his face, a smile that light up his entire face. The picture was slightly faded and tattered at the corners but not enough to betray its age of almost three hundred years old. Marcus gingerly replaced the picture in its home before lying on the bed and attempting to find sleep. * * * Deep within a castle not so very far from Ponyville, a midnight colored alicorn sat in a special chamber warded from prying eyes. She sat scowling at the large circle in the center of the room. It was two meters across and made of a solid gold ring inlaid into the black granite of the room's floor. A multitude of arcane sigils surrounded its outside edge; they too were gleaming gold and set into the floor. Each rune was carefully cut and placed to focus the power of a spell as the caster desired. In all it was an expensive and impressive set up, and it had failed spectacularly. Her spell should have pulled the Seven Spirits from their prisons and forced them into the hosts she had chosen. But something went wrong and the most dangerous of the spirits had been lost. The dark alicorn paced around the circle looking for any clue that could help explain what had happened. As her eyes swept over the circle for what felt like the hundredth time she noticed something. One small rune was misshapen causing it to take on an entirely different meaning. One small painstakingly crafted and triple checked rune was wrong. The implications of this did not sit well with her but at least now she had a lead on where to find her missing Spirit. Her ears perked up as she heard hoof falls far above through her through a magical monitor. If her sister was up she would have to wait at least another day before she could begin her search unnoticed. She sighed and, with a flare of her magic, shifted her form back to her daily disguise. Soon enough she wouldn't need it but until then hiding a little longer wouldn’t hurt. She was immortal; she could afford patience.
Dread and the Fugitive MindAuthor's Note Woo new chapter! This one is in first person because its the only way I could make it flow together. Next one will be back to 3rd person limited omniscience. Dread and the Fugitive Mind Fire blazed around my broken body as I sat propped up against the wreckage of a Mesier class tank. I felt the comforting weight of a combat knife in my right hand while my left tried to keep my life blood from escaping through the jagged wound across my torso. All around explosions and screams echoed through the forest. Torvin. Two hundred and seventy years and it still haunted me. I sat there, knowing I was dreaming but unable to wake as I watched the scene unfold again. As I sat there a Sselk patrol passed by the blasted wreckage that had been my tank. One of them paused, its forked tongue flicking out from a saurian mouth full of fangs. It slowly turned to look at me and raised its shard rifle. Hideous weapons that launched jagged slivers of specialized crystal that would sink deep into the flesh of a target before fracturing within the wound. I watched as it drew a bead on me but then hissed out a laugh and aimed low before squeezing off a single round. Remembered pain lanced through my leg as the round impacted, shredding armor and the muscle underneath. I heard myself scream in pain while the Sselk watched and laughed. It turned away and loped off into the dense forest, its clawed feet leaving gouges in the damp soil. I watched the blue scaled tail disappear into the underbrush and knew what came next. I would slowly lose consciousness from blood loss. Once I blacked out I would wake up or the dream would repeat, different battle maybe but always a dream of my past failures. Slowly my eyes shut while I hoped desperately to wake. I opened my eyes again and the world around me was still inky darkness. This was not the partial blackness of nighttime but true darkness; yet I could see myself perfectly as if I were standing in a well lit room.I stood there, still fully armored despite having removed it before I laid down, and looked about trying to find some feature in the surroundings. I saw nothing but empty void. I'll admit I was starting to panic a little as my imagination ran rampant. A voice from behind me startled me from my musings. “So you are Twilight’s new guest. I hadn't expected you to be so large.” “I get that a lot." I turned to face the voice and found myself before a dark blue alicorn mare with a flowing mane that seemed to house the stars and a crescent moon on her flank. She was taller than the other ponies I had met, the tip of her horn reaching just below my chin. "So now I’m dreaming about ponies, not sure what that says about my mental health.” “You are not dreaming about us but we are still in your dreams. I am Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night, and one of the diarchs of Equestria." "Well it is a pleasure to meet you, your highness." Twilight had told me a bit about the two princesses ruling her country. This was the younger sister so either they didn't see me as a big threat or I wasn't worth big sis' time. Still, little sister or not she was royalty. I gave her a respectful bow, bending at the waist but keeping eye contact. "What did you mean about us still being in my dreams? I didn't realize you were in Ponyville too.” “I possess an ability commonly called Dreamwalking. It allows me to enter another beings dreams as well as affording me a measure of control over the reality within. I'm currently sitting in my bed in Canterlot, only my consciousness is here.” “Huh. Neat trick.” Actually the ability scared the crap out of me. I don't want people in my head. I had enough of that crap with the Lorkeer and they needed to be in the same room to mess with any other race. Seriously, fuck telepaths. Their idea of a practical joke is messed up. “Indeed. I usually aid our little ponies with their nightmares but I find that dreams are a better window to someones soul than the eyes could ever be.” Luna says pulling up images from the dream that had just finished. Its strange seeing the bloody wounds and knowing that it was my leg but experiencing none of the pain that normally came with it. “ Twilight mentioned you were a soldier? I have never seen weapons nor creatures such as these. But its cruelty is unmistakable. Your kind stood against them?” “Yeah, the United Terran Alliance answered a protection treaty we had with the Echobi. Those bastards,” I gestured at the screen showing the two and a half meter tall anthropomorphic lizard, “are the Sselk; sadistic, dogmatic, supremacists hellbent on wiping out anyone who offends their warped ideology. They decided that the Echos offended their gods so they started a war with the sole purpose of annihilating them. Five long years of fighting before we finally broke their military power. They still want to kill most of the galaxy but now they don't have the weapons to do it. Still think we should have razed their planets.” I rubbed my leg feeling the deep scars even through my pants. When I glanced away from the images and back at Luna she was looking at me with an odd expression. “Credit for your thoughts?” “You speak casually of committing the same genocide you fought to stop yet there's no anger in your heart when you say it. I can not decide if you're joking or if I should be worried for my ponies.” “Mostly joking. I do think its foolish to leave an enemy behind you but if we destroy them what makes us any better? Bit of a catch twenty-two.” I shrug, I was never one to spend a lot of time philosophizing, I preferred practical problems. Those could be solved with sufficient application of violence. “So what do you think of what you've seen so far? I'm not going to end up knifed in my sleep am I?” Maybe a bit casual when talking to a princess of the land I had just crashed in but we were in my head at the moment. My sovereign territory. “No, I would wait for you to wake up at least.” Luna smirked, “As one warrior to another it is the least we could do.” “Warrior? I thought you were a princess?” At least she has a sense of humor. I've dealt with nobles of dozens of species and almost all of them act like the galaxy owes them everything. At least I hope that's humor. “I can't be both?” She started to sit down in the nothing we had been floating in and suddenly there was a plush cushion beneath her. “My sister it the better diplomat but I have my talents as well. I am the highest ranking military officer, above even my sister, and in times of war I have final say in all things directly related to the conflict. It is a system that has served us well in the past and I hope we can avoid needing in the future.” “Seems like it would.” I sat down cross legged wondering if I could copy Lunas cushion trick but deciding against it. She had experience with dreams, I might wake up Cthulhu. “So how much did Miss Sparkle tell you about me?” “Enough to peak my curiosity but it feels like there is much she didn't tell me or doesn't know. Perhaps you could fill in the blanks? What exactly was it you did back home? You were a soldier, then a bodyguard, then a bounty hunter. What I want to know is why those jobs in particular.” The tea cup in front of her was wrapped in a dark blue glow and lifted to her lips as she waited for my answer. I hadn't even noticed the tea set appear in front of us. There was even a setting for me. “What do you mean?” I asked, picking up the cup and swirling its contents. “ All of your career choices involve some degree of violence. I want to know why. Be warned, if I don't like your answer I can be in Ponyville with that knife in seconds.” She said it all with the same calm facial expression. The scariest part was she was serious. After several years of bodyguard work you learn to pick out who is and isn't an actual threat. The way Princess Luna had told me she would kill me with the same bored certainty you tell someone that humans are crazy just screams threat. “I enlisted because of my family. My dad and his dad were both Marines, great-granddad was one of the first airmen out of the Veil.” I took a sip of the tea and tried to read Lunas expression over the rim of the cup. Nothing. Note to self; If I survive this, never play poker with this princess. “After my third tour I wanted to settle down and a buddy of mine put me in touch with a company he knew. Worked there for a couple decades before I decided I needed to do something more and I took the test for my bounty hunting license.” “What changed?” Not a question I really wanted to answer. “Someone I cared about was taken from me.” “Your reason for settling down in the first place?” Gods damn her. “Yes.” I said through clenched teeth as I forced down all the unpleasant memories that were getting stirred up. I couldn't face them again. “So was it revenge or justice you wanted?” She had set her cup down and I realized this was a very important question and I doubted she would like the answer. “Bit of both. I think it was more revenge. Probably not what you want to hear but it would have felt hollow to watch someone else take them down. It had to be me.” “Actually,” she smiled, finally some emotion! “I like that answer over some false platitude about justice for a loved one or some tripe. Your honesty was all the answer I wanted. Besides, I know what you felt and I cannot fault you for following the same path I've walked.” She leaned forward and rested a hoof on my shoulder, “You've my condolences and I hope you found some peace in their deaths.” “Did you?” “No.” “Yeah, me either.” We sat there in silence, sipping tea and ,at least in my case, repressing memories. Finally Luna broke the silence. “Would you like to dream of her? I can guide your subconscious towards thoughts of her. It will take over from there and your night will be filled with memories of happier times.” I set my teacup down and frowned at it while I debated just how open I wanted to be with my new companion. “I tried that. Visited a psychiatrist who taught me how to 'guide my mind'. It was supposed to help me with the dreams you saw. Help stop them. Which it did, nothing but happy dreams of mom, dad, Lisa, and then you wake up and all of that is gone. I prefer the nightmares, princess; at least these ones end when I wake up.” Luna wore a small frown “That is a rather bleak out look.” I shrugged “I've gotten used to them. Besides I already know how they end so its not as bad.” Honestly it was still horrible but the alternative was worse so I had to settle for the lesser of two evils. “Speaking of dreams those ones usually last me all night, how long have we been here?” “It is nearly midday. You have been asleep for several hours. We have been talking for perhaps half of one. I don't know how long your kind usually sleeps so I am unsure if this is unusual or not.” “Average humans usually run an eight hour sleep cycle. I can make due with maybe four hours in as many days, but I'm pretty far from normal.” Her timeline tracked with what I had assumed. I usually only remember the last few dreams before they wake me up. “I'll probably be waking up soon. Twilight probably wants to study me some more.” Luna chuckles, “Yes that does sound like my sisters pupil. Even after her coronation she has a thirst for knowledge. Well If you are due to wake soon then I believe I will take my leave.” The tea set disappeared as did her cushion as she stood up. “I believe my sister will be coming to Ponyville tomorrow to meet you and welcome you to Equestria, but allow me to extend my welcome to you now. It was a pleasure being able to sit down and talk casually, it is a rare treat.” She began to fade out, like reducing the opacity of a HUD. It was more than a little weird to watch. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Princess!” Luna snapped back to her solid state instantly, “Could I ask you to keep what you've seen and I've shared secret? Or at least not give the details just yet.” Luna gave me a slight nod “I will respect your privacy but know that I must share some of what I've learned with my sister. She is the one who asked that I look in on you and determine if you're a threat. While you have my trust you must understand that your skills mean you could pose a threat to our subjects.” “I understand. Just don't tell her why I prefer my nightmares? Please?” Luna stepped forward and rest her head over my shoulder in the pony equivalent of a hug. At least that's what I'm assuming it is since Twilight's friends exchanged them before leaving. Either that or the princess was coming on to me and Twilight was polyamorous. “Sister would understand, she has lost as we have; but I will keep this secret. Enjoy your time in Equestria, Marcus. Hopefully we can find a way to send you home.” She once again began to fade from view and when she finally fully disappeared I too woke up to brilliant noonday sun pouring through the window. Only here for a few hours and things were looking up. Half the rulers already liked me and teaching Twilight couldn't be too much trouble. Maybe being here for a while wouldn't be so bad.
