Sand on the Doorstep

The castle loomed ahead, dwarfing all of the buildings around it with its vast, pastel beauty. Roland, Nimbus, and Clarion walked toward the grand palace side by side, the Gunslinger taking the center position as befit a guest of honor. As they walked the two pegasi continued their attempts at conversing with their strange new friend. Clarion talked far more than Nimbus, but it was his questions which vexed Roland the most. The dark blue pony had a talent for cutting right to the point with his inquiries, and the answers Roland provided did not seem to sate his appetite for knowledge in the slightest. He kept his questions very polite and formal, yet Roland could sense a deep distrust in the heart of the questions themselves.

Clarion, thankfully, was satisfied with asking much more superficial questions; and thankfully she did not seem to mind the Gunslinger's brief, often single-word answers. "So where did you say you were from?"

"Gilead." Roland continued walking, never breaking stride or slowing down, less they might come to a complete stop and simply drill him about his past until he had nothing left to hide.

"I've never heard of Gilead. Where is it?"

"Far away."

The red pegasi took this all in good stride, a content smile on her face as she pressed on toward the castle. "How long have you been away from there?"

"Longer than you might believe."

"... That's a long time..."

"Yar, long and again..."

"Is your family still back there?"

The question was innocent enough, but it still cut the Gunslinger deeper than any blade or bullet ever would. Years, decades, centuries; no amount of time would ever be enough to wash the horrid memory of his mother's murder, nor the words of his father's final blood soaked warning from his mind. His mind went from them to the tet he had lost at Jericho Hill, the thought of Cuthbert's smirking face being the final nail in the coffin of this conversation, he had to end it. "I'm afraid I don't have any family. That's why I left, and why I am here now. I was hoping to start a new life Canterlot, but as you can see, that fire had other plans for me."

Nimbus looked over at Clarion briefly, his expression clearly conveying the point that their conversation needed to be dropped. She took the hint, simply nodding to Roland rather than asking a new question. They had come to the front steps of the palace and were greeted by the sight of file of armored guards marching toward them. The Gunslinger had noticed them assembling while they had still been a ways down the road and had wondered if their presence was merely a coincidence. That hope had faded the moment that the two rows of six began to move toward his little party as they mounted the first of the stairs.

Pegasi, all of them, but wearing black and gold helmets with an ornate horn forged onto the forehead, giving them the appearance of small alicorns. They wore chain-mail bearing the same color scheme, gold armor with bands and stripes of jet black metal interlaid over it. Even their wings had been dyed to match their raiment and they bore a specialized armor of their own: a long, thin band of lobstered metal encased the tops of their wings and held three feather-shaped blades in places which draped down the each wing itself. When fanned out, this would make their wings appear to have a set of razor-sharp claws extending just beyond the reach of their actual feathers.

It only took a moment for them to be surrounded, the guards forming a tight circle around the three visitors, wings extended to form a ring of blades around them. Roland had been scanning the entire group since he first noticed them, yet he was unable to pick out one as their leader. Their armor was identical, no one of them having different markings than the one next to them. So it came as little surprise when he finally noticed a lone figure moving toward them, concealed by the shadows being cast by the even sun. This one had to be their leader.

The unicorn's dark garb had helped to hide him from sight, but even keeping to the shadows along the staircase had not been enough to hide him from the Gunslinger's sharp eyes for long. As he emerged from the shade the sun revealed his body to be just as darkly colored as his cloak and armor. The hood which was pulled down over much of his face immediately put Roland on his guard. Would he really be so confident as to reveal himself like this? Surely he would know I'd recognize him with that ridiculous thing on, so why would he continue to wear it? ...Unless he truly is just trying to mock me, trying to force my hand, to make me react. If I were to gun him down here and now I'd have no way to explain myself... If I could even get these damn hooves to work the trigger to begin with. Damn you Walter, your coward's games won't save you forever.

The black stallion joined the rest of the group, two guards stepping back to make room for him. Face to face with this unexpected obstacle, Roland began recalling what he knew of the wizard and the way he normally operated. He would love to simply reveal himself for the sake of announcing that he had trapped me, but it's unlikely he would risk that in front of all of these armed guards. Still though, if he has already manipulated himself into a position where they take orders from him anyway, they may not be a threat to him at all. But even then he must know that I'd shoot him with or without any hope of escaping this situation myself... Unless he knows that I can't use my guns in this form. The one clothed in looked the three of them over with dark emerald eyes. He turned his head to one of the guards and muttered something in his ear, then simply turned and began climbing the steps to the castle without so much as a word to Roland or the others.

The guard who had received the orders stepped forward and relayed them to the rest of the ponies in attendance. "These three are not the ones we are looking for, there is no reason to hold them here any further. The two pegasi are members of the Disaster Brigade, part of the regiment that left to contain the forest fire, this last one I've never seen before, but Captain Stalker has assured me he is not the assassin. You, unicorn, what is your name?"

No one responded. In all honesty, Roland had no idea what was going on. It was only after the guard nodded to him and repeated his question that the Gunslinger realized that it was he who was being addressed. "My apologies, sai, the flight here seems to have taken a toll on my hearing," he lied. "My name is Roland. I was rescued from the fire by these two brave ponies. They are escorting me to meet the Princesses."

There was a slight look of relief in the guard's eyes as he returned to attention. Clearly the thought of having to deal with someone who was both unfamiliar and unresponsive had not been a prospect he was eager to deal with. "Well alright then, as long as that's all straightened out I see no reason to delay three any longer. Better hurry if you plan on introducing yourself to both of the Royal Sisters, though. Luna won't be staying much longer today, that moon isn't going to bring itself out, you know." And with that the guarded dispersed, leaving the three companions to continue up the stairs on their own.

Roland was in I hurry to reach the throne room now, he had far to much to consider and far too many new possibilities weighing upon his mind. Had that been Walter after all? Why had he simply walked off like that? Who were the guards looking for if not him, and who are they trying to save from assassination? And, of course, most importantly: "...Is there a horn jutting out of the top of my head?"

The question left Nimbus dumb-struck, for which Roland was incredibly grateful; he surely would have turned the Gunslinger's question into an excuse to ask a dozen of his own. Thankfully, Clarion answered before he could recover. "Uh... Well I wouldn't say 'jutting,' no. It's just, kind of, there. You know, like a... well like a horn." She looked over at Nimbus for help, but he was still trying to find the right thing to say himself. So she continued. "Don't, um... don't most unicorns have one of those?"

Roland had known this body hadn't been the same as the one he had had during his first visit to Equestria, but he had had no idea that it was an entirely different type of pony. Truth be told, he would have had no idea that he even had a horn on his head if no one had said anything about it. Now that he was conscious of that fact, however, a plethora of new possibilities presented itself. His first journey through this world had been tainted by the fact that he was unable to wield his big guns properly for most of his stay, having to rely on other, far less effective methods of combat. Now, with the potential power that this new factor might offer him, he was certain he would be able to at least fire those massive pistols this time around, should the need arise.

Quickly, he turned to Clarion and bowed his head, his long grey-black mane falling across his face as he did so, pushing his hat nearly off it's resting place just behind his horn. "Forgive me, I likely inhale far more of that smoke than I thought. I fear I may be speaking nonsense here and now. Just pay it no mind."

The dark red mare seemed somewhat put off by this display and hastened to assure Roland that he had done nothing wrong. "Really, it's quite alright. I do the same thing sometimes; and that's without even having my head all cloudy from smoke." She returned his bow with one of her own, nudged him with her snout gently, and waited until he lifted his head back up before returning to her designated position opposite Nimbus. The blue pegasus was still searching for the right thing to say and, in lieu of an actual response to the situation, simply shifted his hooves, looked straight ahead, and said: "Uh, right, well... as long as that's all straightened out, we still have a bit of a walk ahead of us and not much time left to get there. We should go... now... Please."

Finally the three continued on their brief pilgrimage to the throne-room. As they arrived at the massive door to the court two guards stepped into their path. Once more they were both pegasi, one white with feathered wings, the other a dark blue with wings like a bat, both baring the royal seal of the Princesses. They spoke as one, their voices mingling into a single, echoing din. "Halt! Thou will go no further until thine business is made known. The Royal Sisters have completed with their services to the public for today, only members of the council may enter unannounced."

Nimbus had regained his composure and apparently found his voice again during their walk and stepped forward to announce themselves. "I am Nimbus Chaser, fourth seat of Canterlot's Disaster Brigade. This is Second Seat Clarion of the same division, and this is Roland of Gilead. We come baring news of a devastation to the south of here, caused by some foul magic. Roland bore witness to the blaze personally and has implant information about it for the Council's ears only." By the time Nimbus had finished the guards had already backed away to their respective corners, signaling for the doors to be opened.

Nimbus had clearly been too distracted by his calculated introduction to notice the expression that had passed between the two guards, but Roland had seen it clearly. The moment the name of Gilead left his mouth the doorkeepers had straightened to attention without a second thought. It had been at that point that they had begun moving back toward the doors, rather than after hearing the entire explanation of why these three had come before them.

"Enter," they said simultaneously, "and be quick about it. The message that thee carries may be more important that thou realizes." And with that, the doors swung fully open and room before them was revealed.