Welcome Strangah!

It had been a few minutes since our beloved Merchant wound up with AJ and was walking down the road followed closely by the Crusaders, and all was right with the world... in a sense. As right as it can be when you have someone carrying around ten tons of death in their coat, that is. The group hadn't said much, The Merchant would occasionally ask about the town they were approaching, and if they would be interested in purchasing his wares. When Applejack asked about what he sold, he showed her what it was he carried.

She became worried about the insane amount of weapons he had on his person. She knew a combat knife when she saw one, as well as other types of knives, but the other things escaped her, but judging from everything he carried and how he said they were good for taking care of nasty critters, she assumed they were also weapons. And he had plenty of them in his coat, more then enough to effectively make him a threat. When confronted, he said shooting up a potential customer base wasn't good for business, and he was no threat to anyone unless provoked.

The mare was suspicious, but the man didn't make any moves to stop her when she almost attacked him just a few seconds ago. Thankfully any further fighting between the two was stopped when they reached the town, and when the population spotted the man, some ran, others stared and kept their distance, while some others wandered closer to him to ask who and what he was.

The Merchant merely informed them he was a simple Merchant selling various goods, and when he showed them, well... some weren't too happy with his selection of death and beat it fast as they came. He was disappointed, but shrugged, maybe there were others who wouldn't mind buying what he had.

What a strange little town this is. The Merchant chuckled as he eyed the citizens looking at him with looks of suspicion, others with gazes of fear. It was understandable, that much he knew, he was carrying around a ton of weaponry that, if he were so inclined, he could kill every one of the ponies he's seen so far. But he didn't, he simply wasn't that cold-hearted and cruel, so far the ponies haven't done anything against him to make him feel like killing them would be a good idea.

Besides, if he went around killing everyone he saw, it'd put a bad mark on his reputation!

Bad for business. He nodded silently to himself as they walked through the town. If The Merchant had to admit anything about this place, its that it looked simply homely, the houses were built nicely with thatched roofs and had a nice atmosphere around them, there were bright colorful flowers growing in front of houses and along the paths, and there was a smell in the air that, while he couldn't identify it, was very pleasant.

It was a stark contrast to the village he came from, the water was clean and crystal clear, and there was all kinds of wildlife around the town. He saw some rabbits, birds, frogs, ducks, it was very lively and very different from Spain.

A nice change~ The Merchant nodded once more, it was a very nice change. Being able to walk around, and not have the inkling that something was out to get you, it was nice to not have that feeling lingering over his shoulder like a leech. The man didn't know how to react to this new information, he just figured he would play it by ear until he got a good grasp as to the severity of his situation. Was he stuck here for good? Was there a way back to Africa?

Did he want to go back, after everything he's had to suffer through, the loss and the pain?

"Well, here we are Mister Merchant." Applejack announced, breaking him out of his thoughts.

The man hmm'ed in thought, looking up at the location he as brought to. An eyebrow rose in shock as he saw where he was brought to, a large crystal castle... "This is very... strange." He commented, he's seen castles before, in fact he lurked around one in Spain, selling weapons to the officer as he tried to take down Saddler. It, however, was not colored like a giant crystal and certainly wasn't this colorful or tacky looking. It was dark and Gothic, and had many secrets and traps strewn throughout its dark halls and passageways.

This place looked like something out of a child's cartoon show.

"Well, we should head on inside, Twilight's the one you'll be wanting ta talk to." Applejack informed the human, trotting up the steps as the CMC followed close behind. The Merchant hummed in thought before following the ponies, after all, what could go wrong?

A Few Minutes Later

Everything could go wrong actually, especially when Twilight was in full re-shelving mode inside of her library. Applejack and the crusaders had led the Merchant through the castle, the man taking in everything he saw with bated breath. The castle's halls were very bright, with many doors lining the halls and corridors leading to who knows where. Eventually, they made it to the library, a large looking room with dozens and dozens of books. AJ and the crusaders were standing in said library, watching as the lavender princess as she feverishly shelved books left and right, giggling to herself all the while.

Needless to say, The Merchant was at a loss as to the proper way to react. to this situation. He's seen some pretty manic individuals, but this princess looked to be bordering on near obsession with how she was placed her books in their shelves. And to The Merchant's surprise, there was a small purple/green dragon following her around with a tired expression on her face.

This whole thing...

Was very strange...

"Ehehe," Applejack chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "She uh... she does this a lot."

"She's a strange one she is." He mused, getting a few giggles from the CMC, he allowed himself a smile at that and a chuckle. Their noise seemed to have broken Twilight out of her sorting, as she turned her head to look at the intruders.

The mare's eyes widened as she caught the eyes of The Merchant.

"Hello there, Strangah." He greeted, waving a hand at her as she flapped her wings, hovering in mid air.

"Applejack," The mare started, "who is this? In fact, what is this?"

The farmer tapped The Merchant's leg, "This here is The Merchant, some feller that got lost and wound up on mah farm." She explained to her friend, she wasn't sure what else to say, so she added. "He's looking fer some help, so Ah brought him here, figured you could help out." She smiled, she hoped she would help, she wasn't sure what to do with this human. He was very strange.

Twilight hummed a little as she landed on the floor, and started trotting over to the human. She examined his coat, his eyes and the strange mask he was wearing, her horn started to glow and she started the process of scanning the human for any harmful or dark magicks. The Merchant seemed to shiver from the feeling, he could feel the magic aura going places it shouldn't be going, but he allowed it to happen. After all, if he wanted to figure out where he was, and what was going on, he needed to be cooperative.

After what felt like several hours, - when it was actually a minute or so - she stopped and smiled. "I can't sense any dark magick, but there is something that I can exactly pinpoint that is surrounding you... hmm..." Twilight stepped back, her eyes going up and down The Merchant's cloak with an inspecting gaze. "Can you do any magic?"

Another chuckle from him, "No I am afraid not little pony," he said before reaching into his coat, pulling out a black box. "But this... this, is magic~" He informed her as he opened the box, pulled out a small blue colored candle and held it in his hand before pulling out a lighter and flicking it on. He carefully held the open flame to the wick, and in a flash, the wick exploded into a blue flame. The Crusaders all Ooo'd at the candle, AJ tilted her head, and Twilight looked unammused.

"I have some candles like that, its not exactly magic... uhh," Twilight never did ask for his name. "Who are you?"

With a -unseen- frown of disappointedment, The Merchant put his candle out and deftly returned it back within the folds of his coat before saying, "I am The Merchant," He introduced himself, bowing his head slightly to the mare. "Hehehe, I understand that you might be able to... assist me."

The alicorn hummed in thought, looking at The Merchant. "Maybe... what do you need help with?" She asked, smiling slightly.

With a slight chuckle, he started, "Hehehe, I was merely standing in my cave, when my candles had suddenly exploded beside me." He explained to her, arms hanging by his side as he looked down at her with a slight slouch. "Then I was in her orchard... I am wondering if perhaps... you can send me back to my own world." He finished, as his thoughts turned to what he just said. He was in another world, one that looked very much like a cartoon of sorts, even these creatures, with their large expressive eyes were a tad bit unnerving to him.

He dealt with stranger things, of course.

"Your own world?" Twilight asked. "I... think I might be able to help you with that, I'm not sure however." She explained, before turning towards her bookshelves and walking over to them before pulling a book out. "After all, trans-demensional travel is extremely hard magic, and only one pony was every capable of doing that. And he did it without magic, he just made the portal to Equestria's alternate universe, where some of my other friends are at."

To say the Merchant was lost would be an understatement, he listened to what she was telling him, but seemed to be confused. Trans-demensional travel? He pondered, was such a thing possible? It seemed so, considering his current location, but was this world connected to his own? Or was he thrown halfway across space and time and into a cartoony looking place, because some deity was bored? He had no clue, but if he could get back home, that would be great...

But again, did he want to?

" -ing. So really, it's up to Princess Celestia to help me out with this, assuming we can power a portal to your own world... finding it however, is another story entirely." Twilight went on, as AJ had gotten lost after the first sentence and went over to talk with Spike. "I mean, there are hundreds, if not thousands of worlds... finding yours specifically would be a challange." She told him, turning to look up from her book to find the Merchant fiddling with something in his pocket.

"I see." He said quietly, looking around the room he was in with a curious gaze. He saw many books lining the shelves, big ones and small ones, hardbacks from the looks of them all and he found himself somewhat intrgued by the potential knowledge within their folds. They spoke the same language, but did they write the same?

"Don't worry! I'm sure we'll find it and get you home safe and sound!" Twilight smiled brightly, closing her book as she looked up at him. "I'll jsut have to send a letter to the princess."

Looking back down at the mare, the Merchant rose an eyebrow. "Princess?" He heard Twilight mention a princess before, but didn't think anything of it.

"Yes," Twilight nodded, smiling still. "She's my former mentor, and she's one of the most powerful alicorns in existence! I'm positive she can help you." She told him, before trotting over to the dragon, Spike as AJ walked back over to the human.

AJ tilted her hat back as she sat down, blonde tail swishing to curl around her legs as she looked up at him. "So, what's th' word partner?"

The Merchant hmm'd to himself, hands in his coat pockets as he watched the small dragon begin writing something on parchment. "The purple one says her... princess can aid me in... returning, hehehe." He chuckled, the very idea of being helped by colorful ponies tickled him, and he began wondering if he was really in another world, or if he simply died and was whisked away to some magical afterlife.

"Princess Celestia is one powerful alicorn," AJ grinned, "If anypony can help you out, its her, Ah reckon."

Hopefully. The Merchant thought but didn't say, as he watched the parchment get consumed in green fire before zipping out an open window. Strange... very strange.

"Now we wait!" Twilight declared, before turning to the Merchant before pulling out a notebook. "If you don't mind, may I ask some questions?"

The Merchant shrugged, and Twilight looked excited.

If only he knew.