Aleksandr

Chapter 5: Нет.

Slowly waking up, I stretched, groaned, and carried out my new routine. I checked my weapons, to make sure Twilight didn't tinker with them. I opted to just walk around in my pants and undershirt. It was too warm for my greatcoat and ushanka. I holstered my Tokarev, satisfied at it's comforting weight in my holster. I did a few stretches, jumping-jacks, push-ups, and went up for breakfast. I sat down at the table, and noticed the chairs were much too small for me. That mattered little to me. I preferred my meals 'to-go'. I grabbed a few apples off the table, dropped them into my satchel. I picked up a buttered roll and began to nibble on it, savoring it's fresh-baked flavor. I was about to leave, when I noticed a small purple lizard... Thing staring at me. Once it noticed I was looking back at it, it made a poor attempt to look as if it wasn't staring, busying itself with dusting.

Is it Twilight's pet? If it is, I wonder how she taught it to clean the library. Strange. I thought. Continuing with my original plan of a morning jog, I finished off the roll and began to run around the perimeter of the town. I still got some stares and glances, and some went as far as insulting me, yelling things such as 'Monster!', 'Ape!' or even 'Get out of our town!'. I still didn't care. They didn't like me, that's their problem. Fuck them. I continued to jog, ignore the ponies' taunts, until I reached a bar. Finally! Thank god I kept my money in my satchel. Sauntering up to the bar, I heard music and laughter inside. This was odd, as bars were only really busy at night. I pushed open the door, and all sound stopped. All of the bar's occupants were staring at me. Some were too drunk to care, and went back to what they were doing. Others glared at me. I walked up to the counter, and sat down.

"What the buck do you want, ape?" The bartender sneered. Some "ooh's" were heard.

"Give me a shot of vodka. How much?" I replied nonchalantly.

"Why should I serve you?"

"You're forgetting I'm the one who can kill you without even getting up from this chair. I would change my attitude if I were you."

"Really? I highly doubt that."

Drawing my pistol, I took aim at one of the bottles behind the pony. I pulled the trigger, and the large bottle of bourbon shattered, spraying everyone within ten feet with hard liquor. Everyone had their hooves over their ears, some wincing in pain.

"Believe me now, horse?"

"Okay, okay! Don't shoot me! Take the whole bottle!" He handed me a rather large bottle of vodka, and I smiled triumphantly.

"Glad we could reach an agreement." I said, leaving.

///\\

I returned to the library, and it was late afternoon. I entered the library, and saw Twilight sitting on her haunches, a letter hovering in front of her face.

"Oh, hey Aleksandr! I just got a letter from the Princesses, and it says you, in addition to us, have been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Aren't you excited?" She was practically bouncing off the walls.

"I don't even know what this 'Grand Galloping Gala' is!"

"Oh... Well, it's a formal event were a bunch of noble-ponies gather for a large ball-type event. There's food, music, and dancing. Besides, it's a great place to make friends."

"Нет. I do not want to go."

"The princesses want you there."

"Fine! I'll go, only out of respect."

"Glad you could see reason." She said smugly.

"Wait, when is this going to be?"

"We go tomorrow."

"What?! Why did they send the invitation a fucking day before the event?!"

"I think she means it as a test for us. To see if we can get something done on a moments notice."

"Whatever you say." I ate the apples I had in my bag as my small dinner, and went back to the basement. I went to check my weapons, only to find that there were multiple boxes of ammunition for my weapons, about 250 rounds of 7.62x54mmR, 300 7.92x33mm Kurz, and 400 7.62x25mm Tokarev.

Wait, WHAT?! How?! Why?! I gasped in shock when I saw what else had been added. A PPSh-41, with drum magazines. This was beyond strange. This was bat-shit-crazy.

"Twilight!" I called upstairs.

"Coming!" She opened the door, and trotted toward me.

"Did you happen to get any guns?"

"Y-yeah... Princess Luna teleported them to me... One with weird pan-shaped things, In addition to a couple heavy boxes. I don't know what the crates contain. Seeing how you reacted last time I took any of them, I just gave them to you. I hope you like them."

"Thanks, I am very grateful. I really like them already. Hell, I should join the Equestrian military at this rate! But... How did she get these?"

"She didn't say."

"So, about this 'Grand Galloping Gala' thing. Do I need a suit? Either way I don't have one. The most formal-looking thing is my greatcoat and ushanka."

"I guess you can go in that, but you may want to see Rarity about cleaning it up." I inspected the submachine gun, and checked for any errors. It was in perfect condition. The metal had a new black finish, and unlike most I saw, it had a finished stock. The parts were clean and polished to mirror sheen, the sights were dead-on, and it was just perfect. I was trusting that the princess didn't reverse engineer it, but I had to ask her anyway. I could tell her how muskets were made... I think she would appreciate it. It was the least I could do to repay her.