Mister Crowley

Mr. CrowleyBy: Die Philosophen- -“For the last time! I. AM. NOT. A. FEATHERDUSTER!”Rainbow Dash- -

        Celestia released her breath as she slumped forward in her executive chair, staring at the paperwork she had been slowly accruing over the span of the day while her sister was out on another expedition with a few of her aides around the local mountainside. Unlike her sister, even if they both had unlimited power compared to the rest of the government, they both agreed to a division in their workload; Celestia was set for the grunt work, mentoring at her school, and generally most of the management between the ministries and Parliament. Luna managed public relations, dealing with the demands of the people, and a few projects of her own as well. Mostly she was left to herself, with some mentoring lessons and checks here and there. This maintained harmony between the two in their shared office whenever either of them were in, but it would always ultimately boil down to minor threats and petty pranks between the two royal sisters.

        However, something which was far out of Luna's jurisdiction, but not her knowledge, was the black operations she kept in the sidelines and out of the eyes of the public. During the earliest equestrian colonial periods, she had personally outfitted dozens upon dozens of miniature expedition units to explore the colony of New Equestria in search of any ancient structures. The ones that they found were ancient, predating the pony tribes by thousands of years. They had held knowledge from their time that could benefit the empire in the coming years.. If it hadn't been for Celestia and Luna locating a old vault system high in the mountains, of which they'd been searching for during the wedding, the entire revolution wouldn't have been conceptualized.

        And with the uncovering of another installation in the colonies, the expeditions scientists reporting that the technology within was beyond the original vault. However, as it became evident, the technology found on some were clearly built for equine use,  while others were more akin to someone with opposable thumbs and had electronics grafted to their body. Admittedly, she only knew one person that had such requirements, the only human she learned was 'augmented' to a scale that he could be roughly compared to a walking machine, and he was closer than expected to home. Immediately, the Princesses went to work, leaving the office. Placing her hoof on the receptionist’s desk, she addressed the pony sitting behind it. “Send out a summit alert for the ministers and all Parliament members of the House, and send word for Major Metro Light to find the Elements of Harmony and Sir Demirci. Lock down the conference rooms for immediate use.”

- -

        The Elements were rounded up from their odd jobs around Sibeki and escorted by a cadre of guards out of Sibeki while a splinter group divided to find Sir Demirci. Understandably, their employers at the time were vexed, but in the end became compliant as each were taken away one by one and marched down the well-beaten pathway leading to the isolated township. Finding Sir Demirci, the augmented human polishing his jackboots when they told him of his need. “Give me a few seconds, gentlemen...” The leader had said, disappearing into the manor for sometime.

        Within, Sir Demirci unstrapped and slipped off his boots, setting them on a table and slowly slid his hand down the platform under, hearing a faint click and the platform detached. Setting it upright, he checked inside of it and found a completely field-stripped automatic pistol inside. Checking it over quickly, he reattached the platform. He then did the same with the other, which held four magazines of ammunition with engravings on each;FMJ, JHP, Inc., andAP. Checking each, Sir Demirci replaced each magazine and returned the platform. “Sir Demirci, the Princesses will not tolerate tardiness, please be quick.”

        Sir Demirci redonned his boots and stopped short of the frame leading to the foyer of the manor to check himself over. He donned an orange dress shirt with a obsidian-black vest and matching pinstriped tie. Below that were dress pants a white sash in lieu of a belt. Looking closer towards himself, Sir Demirci could see the slight bulges under his skin which revealed critical nodes in his augmentation network, akin to a circulatory system that fed from the natural production of his organs, each of which were synthetically manufactured. Practically the only thing remaining that was relative to being a human was his brain, which he used physical augmentations. Even his blood was artificial, which itself served as a way of transporting energy to his organs and recycling his oxygen.

        This choice was made when he was younger, during a period where augmentation surgery was an restricted practice in Europe. Due to natural disabilities and severe physical damage to his body, he volunteered for a full-body augmentation surgery before a large audience of over a hundred scientists who had flocked to the Spezialisierte Augmentation-Krankenhaus von Berlin to watch the surgery take place. Hours upon hours were poured into transforming him, and it paid off in the time of recovery that followed. After the surgery, he had endured weeks of lying in bed while his brain adjusted to the new appendages , weeks of building up the node network, two straight years of physical therapy and training, followed up by cognitive and electronics training. It reminded him that the only thing that was remotely left intact was his face, the rough and rugged example of aging and the ten years of abuse redefined his facial features. He was much more tanned,  and his eyes were now divided between a rustic red and a steel grey, a sign that his eyes themselves were augmented on their own course.

        “Sir Demirci! We cannot wait any longer!” The guard snapped, reciving a rather irritable look in return. Slipping his rimless glasses from his lapel and donning it, the man simply waved his hand back and forth at the guards, and began their rushed trek towards Ponyville.

- -

Ponyville's Rail Terminal wasn't a true sight to behold beyond a small ticket station and a platform, but since the NORT's establishment, there had been a slight improvment in safety measures, an opposing station across, and doubling the rail systems. Both rails were occupied, one by the typical steam powered trains with the familiar fluttering gold-and-black flag of Stalliongrad District, a few well-built ponies and a buffalo offloading crates and boxes. Most trains coming in from Stalliongrad were almost twenty to thirty-five cars long, and offloading of the goods could even take days, often wreaking living hell on the Pegasi weather schedule due to the random time periods between shipping and arrival.

        Next to the magnificent steam train was a smaller and more compact one, but with significantly more elegance and care into the design with just five cars. However, unlike the steam powered one, the train’s engine was the second car from the rest, and had a rather loud hum akin to an active electrical machine. Following behind was a passenger car, and what appeared to be a dining car, ending with a caboose. The most noted features were the cadre of guardsponies secured by sandbags,  the empire flag waving lazily above. “Well...this is most certainly a new prospect...” Sir Demirci mused as he stepped into the passenger cart.

        The interior was opulence with no expense, of which he had a slight distaste as he was waved over to a circular seating by the Mane Six. Giving them a warm smile, he took his seat in a independent chair next to Fluttershy and Applejack, the others taking up the circular seating. “The Princess ordered you too, Sir Demirci?” Twilight's question was almost immediate, the human nodded.

        “This is the FOURTH time this year! Something’s really rustling the Princesses jimmies...” Rainbow Dash said irritably, gaining a few red faces and a sour look by Twilight and Rarity. “What? It's true!”

        Sir Demirci let out a false cough as the train lurched out of the station and slowly gained speed as they passed through Ponyville, “Anyhow, we'll just have to see what's coming up. Anypony know how to play Blackjack?” Every hoof seemed to raise besides Fluttershy’s and Twilight’s, gaining Sir Demirci's curious amusement. “Alright, I'll give you two a run down.” Slipping out the deck of cards from his vest pocket, the augmented man slipped them out from their package and laid out by order of numbers. “The objective of Blackjack is for a person to reach, or come close to twenty-one in worth of cards.” He stated, pointing towards each card and quickly snatched up two eights and a five, showing them before returning to the deck. “An Ace,” he lifted a Ace of Spades up, “can be worth either one or eleven, but it's up to the dealer. Ours will be eleven.” Setting it back down, he then pointed out the Jacks, Queens, and Kings, “Face cards are worth ten, the rest are representing their numbers.”

        “Is this just for fun, or are we making a bet?” Rarity asked, the others looking at each other before and talked quietly before settled on betting.

        On their persons, each pony donated five bits to the pot as Sir Demirci had concluded his tutorial before placing his own bets to the table. Quickly dishing out a single card to each of them, Sir Demirci began their game.

- -

        Their game was finished only mere minutes before they reached Canterlot, and at the request of time, they were notified the train arrived just under thirty minutes and were preparing to digress from the standard rail lines. Twilight lagged a bit as she lowered the window enough to look out the window, and gaped as she noticed the looming city of Canterlot was fading into view, the standard rail line that led up towards the public stations were just above them, and instead their rail line was arching downwards. Jerking her head back in before her skull was pasted as they entered a underground tunnel, fluorescent lights flashed before them as they kept a medium pace, until it became clear what their target was.

        All seven of them stared in awe as they passed through the caverns that once imprisoned Princess Cadance, the massive crystalline structures looming over and under their suspension rails as the high-speed train passed through and took an uphill route. Soon coming to a halt, an elegantly designed marble station came into view. The train pulled in and halted before the two Princesses, Celestia stern and Luna dire. Stepping off the train, Sir Demirci was the last to exit the locomotive, with his boots clattering against the fine stone. As he saw the royal sisters, he bowed before them. “Come, no time for formal banter.” Was all that Celestia stated, reciving some questioned looks by the six mares. Luna gave them a sympathetic smile.

        Following up the endless flights of stairs and into the Parliament wing of the castle, they were brought into a conference hall housing the Ministers, some of the most well-known scientists (quoted by Twilight from theMannis Scientia recently published scientific news magazine), and a few familiar faces from the House of Alicorns, from Blueblood, much to Rarity's own disgust, to Cadance and Shining Armor. Sentiments subsided, the Mane Six took their seats while Sir Demirci stood at the side, watching as Luna took the podium.

        “Oh-Three, today we've received information by in-field expedition agents into the New Equestrian territories. Beyond the establishment of new districts, and our active military agents minimizing the threat of revolts and chaos, Expedition Outfit Granite and Obsidian located an active but desolate outpost. Inspection has shown this base to be older than the Old Ponies themselves, and in utilization of a technology incapable of hooves.” Sir Demirci raised his eyebrow at this, gaining a few looks from the others. Luna continued, “This entire installation was found active, with a cache of scientific wealth that could surely speed up the industrial revolution twenty-fold if recovered. So far any attempts have been locked out to the incompatibilities.”

        Soon enough Luna turned her eyes towards Sir Demirci, “We'll be requiring a humanoid creature with augmentations. Sir Demirci, you and the Elements are Harmony are hereby informally indicted into the Oh-Three.” Holding her hoof to halt any protests from the group, “You will have no choice but to accept, refusal will be met with denial. All seven of you will have a CME Train awaiting at Ponyville's terminal in one weeks time, prepare accordingly as you will be several weeks away from home. Now, onto further business..”

- One Week Later -

        Following the mysterious meeting with the 'Oh-Three', the seven of them were divided on the concept of being forced to work for a mysterious organization ran by their royalty, not to mention Twilight's status in the House of Alicorns. Since then, the seven of them joined together at the library on the last day before they were to leave, a note from Luna telling them to use a fabrication that the Royal Scientific Board required all seven of them for a expedition to Fillyrock. Though it seemed to be met with approval with most who questioned them, a few were looking particularly skeptical of them, Applejack's family in notice. Sibeki's residents were still divided from the previous few months since they had become an autonomous community under the empire. But soon they were ready, with affairs set straight and prepared.

        Standing at the rail terminal, Sir Demirci kept his duffel bag slung around his back, dressed in his usual outfit, with the addition of white dress shirt and what looked to be chest rigs to a weapons holster and various pouches. Slipping back his sleeve and followed up by the back of his hand and up to half-way to his arm, it was replaced by a miniature keyboard and screen, plus a knob on his arm popping out. Scanning out the screen, Sir Demirci's vision was filled by the screen, subconsciously turning the knob, the screen switching through various media files and other assortments of items stored and soon found what he wanted exactly and quickly replaced the plating, including his sleeve as he caught sight of the Mane Six trotting up onto the station.

        Greeting them with a nod, they wasted little time finding their train; the only one in the depot. And sure enough they were speeding through the countryside and towards the far western district of Fillydelphia, per the orders.

- -

        Several weeks later, and to the fears of the Mane Six about the 'strange wild weather' and how it felt different from home and the works, they arrived at their mysterious destination; a grand outpost overlooking the surrounding landscape and a grand encampment. Herded into the outpost without so much as a word beyond the commands, they were met by a rather bubbly mare with pale grey eyes who waved to them with overly-enthusiasm. “Hello, initiates!” She practically bounced over towards them, her wild grey hair sporadically going over the place, her white fur and hide splotched with a diversity of colorful stains. She wore a third-rate engineer barding , kept together with a variety of other articles. “My name is Polar Cap, Chief Engineer of the 5th Wrench Fillies Division and your assigned overseer for the time being. May I ask your names?” She stuck out her hoof, Sir Demirci shaking it with a smile.

        “Sir Julius G.C. Demirci of Argamak and Sibeki.” Giving her a polite bow, Polar followed in suit.

        “Twilight Sparkle.”

        “Applejack.”

        “Rarity.'

        “F-Fluttershy...”

        “Pinkie Pie!” At the notice of the name, Polar and Pinkie both infused their similar personalities, quickly befriending each other before being broken up by Sir Demirci.

        “Rainbow Dash.”

        After introductions, Polar quickly began their tour of the Old Ponies facility. First stop was the main building, which looked to be a giant shanty that was cleared out by the resident workers. “The Old Ponies had plenty of these outposts scattered all over Equestria. All the professors back at the academy always said they were military, but I disproved them with that maneframe that Mister Demirci's here for!” Giving the mare a blank look, she continued on, “My thesis said that they were actually like clouds, except they store information and not Pegasi!” Following her from the main building, they came across a smaller one taken over by the security. “This was supposed to be the cafeteria and bedding, but it was cleared out once we found i-”

        “Polar Cap!” The mare went rigid as she turned towards the sound; a very stern and sour-looking magenta-coated Unicorn with red eyes marched towards her. “I thought I made it absolutely clear that minimal contact with the initiates, and it looks like you can't keep your damn muzzle shut. Now shut your damn mouth, and get back to work!” Polar gave them a weary goodbye and walked off, Sir Demirci taking note of this and walked towards the Unicorn.

        “What's your problem?” The unicorn looked towards the augmented man with a frown before turning around, about to leave until she felt a great pressure on the back of her neck and loud scraping noise as she dragged back and forced to the ground. Clearly she could hear the voice again, except with a much darker tone, “Initiate or not to some whack fuck order, I don't take it lightly seeing other people abuse their position over another person, manager or not. Do NOT ever fucking do something like this again, or my fist will be the last thing you'll see.” Releasing the unicorn, Sir Demirci turned towards the awe-struck and slightly fearful Mane Six, “Lets get this the over with, I don't wish to be in this hellhole of a land any longer.” Watched over by the guards, the seven of them left the unicorn in shock.

        Compliance was unanimous from the mares as they descended into the reaches of the main building, Applejack and Pinkie Pie diverging when they caught sight of a distressed and bawling Polar Caps. The others kept pace with Sir Demirci as he marched deeper and deeper, soon coming across hard-working archaeologists and other assorted workers, many of them giving Sir Demirci the largest berth possible as they were frankly scared witless seeing the sight of an augmented human. Though one'brave' manager showed them to where Sir Demirci was needed and escorted him to the deepest depths of the structure, before what he could acclaim was the most complex-looking computer in existence.

        The large cylindrical room spiraling around a series of interconnected computer clusters in a spiral like pattern leading down towards the ground floor, and from their position, the apex was impossible to see. “Oh...my...” Fluttershy whispered.

        Rainbow Dash bolted up and weaved through the catwalks and massive wiring. Soon enough they heard the echo of her voice. “I can't see the top of this thing!” she rang. Soon coming back down, she landed gracefully on her hooves and frowned as they watched Sir Demirci find his way up into the elevated position facing the spiral. Soon a voice echoed across the room:“Viable subject detected; Augmentations confirmed. Please standby.” Sir Demirci turned towards the Mane Six with a look of surprise as a group of guards barged into the room and stopped as they watched the human turn around and stare at the spire.“Subject confirmed; Emergency Protocol Thena-Pluto active. Welcome, Descendant and/or Relative of 'Doctor Mateu Didac.' Please standby.Holographic monitors activating.”

        “Julius! Julius!” The shouts were deafened as Sir Demirci's auditory sensors overloaded and practically burst. Before him were glowing levitating monitors with a diversity of colors.

“Augmentation nodes copy-store operations active. Please confirm.” A crimson screen appeared before him, and slowly raised his hand towards the imprint on the screen, much to the protests of the Mane Six as they were held back by the guards, Pinkie and Applejack joining the group with Polar Caps. Sir Demirci placed his hand to the monitor, and then he felt the true force of knowledge.

        Letting out an almost inhuman scream of pain, the ponies watching on as a torrential rain of data codes floating within the holographic screens assault the human before the conduit slowed to a stop.“Maneframe copy-storage complete, please standby.” Sir Demirci was lowered towards the ground, soon restoring his auditory sensors and stumbled against a railing and placed a hand towards his forehead and breathed in slowly before looking up towards the crowd before him, slowly fading in and out as a slew of warnings reported overloading and strains on his augmentation software were starting to spawn a possible critical failure.

        And then he heard it, a deafening ping echoing across the structure, and a dull thunk registered against his chest, squarely at his heart. Looking down, he saw the tail of a unknown item that could be no larger than a twenty millimeter bullet carved into his chest, a warm pleasant feeling, as if a fast-acting depressant had affected his system. Not to mention he noticed his suit was stained beige, his synthetic blood spilling out from the crushed ribcage of his skeletal structure. Feeling an oncoming panic attack, Sir Demirci looked towards the now shocked crowd, watching as the Mane Six daringly galloped up the steps and towards him, only registering the second thunk before he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

- -

Princess Celestia watched solemnly towards the distance as her mind was preoccupied with a large variety of things, noting the sound of a thunk as a figure appeared from the balcony to her side, it’s entire body enshrouded in a cosmic appearance, two unblinking white eyes staring at her dully. The familiar sound of a suave and light voice emanating from it,“He's nearly dead, I've disabled most of his system after it was fed.”

        Celestia only nodded once, “Overkill?” She let out a sigh as it shook it’s head and looked towards the moon and back towards her.

“The maneframe was registered to Doctor Mateu Didac. The presence of that human could cause a complete and utter paradox if it wasn't for this night. Why did you wish for me to force an evolutionary change in it?”

The Princess paused for a moment, feeling a cold sweat wash over her coat and slowly spoke, “The change was for the better of Equestria...”

“Do you take me for a fool, Princess Celestia? There's another thing you have planned and I can feel your emotions. An excuse would only make way for more. So really, tell me why?”

        “Just watch and observe. It'll run its own course in due time.”

“Pffft...strange immortals. I'll ensure the conduit remains alive, but you'll owe me for this.”

        Leaving her in the darkness, Celestia remained quiet to muse over her thoughts.

- -

        The first thing that Sir Demirci felt as his augmentations slowly booted up one by one was that he couldn't feel his arms, legs, or even feel his own face. Slowly feeling his optics began their standard cycle, a warning flashed through both, exclaiming that he would be temporarily disabled from any other beyond standard color vision pendingspecies changing. Confused, Sir Demirci raised his arm towards his hand, his optics flaring when he noticed the fact he didn't have a hand...

        He had ahoof...

        “Dear sweet merciful Old Father!” His voice echoed, the man stumbling from bed and falling muzzle-first into the ground. A dull throb was registered before naturally-made painkillers dulled the painful landing. Lifting onto his forelegs, Sir Demirci took a hoof forward and moved again, proceeding to collapse into a heap. Attempting further resulted in him able to stand but unable to actually walk without collapsing in a heap, but fortune had it that he was placed in front of a mirror.

        He was most certainly tall, no higher then his human form, six foot two inches, his gaunt frame showing the difference between being a human and pony, and the morphed frame that was once his exoskeletal structure was replaced with living hide. His mane was dirty blond, unkempt, and looked as if stain blotches coated it. Staring back towards him were his eyes; a rustic red from augmentation surgery and his natural steel grey. He looked at himself in a mix of shock and horror before slumping down to his haunches.

        “Julius? Are you ok-” Applejack's voice said, pushing the ward open and catching the sight of the gargantuan stallion, her eyes went wide. “O-Oh, sorry there big fella, was lookin' fer somepony e-” Applejack was caught off by the same shocked sight as her and spoke.

        “Applejack? Què dimonis em va passar a mi? Què diables va passar?” He looked desperately at her, the stetson-wearing mare taking a step back as the stallion took one step towards her and collapsed into a heap, his frantic foreign tongue reaching out to her in desperation.

        Soon Applejack was met by the others, each with their own look of shock or awe at the sight before there was a almost silent click, picked up by Fluttershy before the frantic stallion spoke, “What happened!? Why am I a pony!?” His desperation and fear were tensing the air as he attempted to stand, only to collapse into a further heap. “Celestia damn these hooves!” Sir Demirci's teeth pressed together as he attempted to stand again, this time on shaking hooves. Before he felt himself about to drop again, a hoof wrapping around his foreleg and magic enveloping his other, glancing to see Twilight giving him a smile.

        Soon enough he was being assisted by the rest of the Mane Six, taking tips and pointers to adjust his posture after being calmed. “This is just....impossible! Julius, do you remember anything?” Twilight probed, the stallion shook his head, taking in sharp breaths as he shifted his hindleg to adjust with Applejack's slack, feeling his foreleg adjust with Twilight before her foreleg and magic field slipped out from his and watched as Sir Demirci finally stood independently. “Nothing...?” Again his head shook as Applejack nudged his side and had him slowly move forward, only for him to stumble and regain his composure. “What do you remember?”

        The human-turned-stallion carefully tried again, this time with moderate success as he looked down at the four foot mare and focused, “...I remember....only seeing Pinkie Pie and Applejack leave them to comfort Polar Caps...and something about not being able to see something. Everything else is just...blank.” Twilight caught the others looks of worry and patted Sir Demirci on his side.

        “Come on...lets try to get you walking before we do anything else..” Sir Demirci nodded, the Mane Six supporting him as they began what felt like years of physical therapy.

- -

Only ten minutes had passed when Sir Demirci was starting to gain the hang of being quadrupedal when they were called over by a familiar white coated mare waving her foreleg towards them. Adjusting, they helped Sir Demirci over towards Polar Caps, who looked up towards him in curiosity before noticing his eyes and looked in awe, “S-Sir Demirci?” He simply nodded as she attempted to comprehend just what she was seeing before poking him in the muzzle, receiving a whinny from the stallion, “Oh who cares, I'm just happy you're okay!” She stated rather loudly and embraced the stallion in a hug, giving him a rather overfriendly kiss on the cheek, much to the discomfort and embarrassment of the stallion.

        “Thank you for everything, Sir Demirci. You stuck up for me, a complete stranger, in front of the field commander. Nopony else did the same for me, and I can't show how much my gratitude is!” Sir Demirci smiled before returning the hug, the Mane Six letting out a collective “aww” before Rainbow Dash piped up, “Get a room, you two!”

        Sir Demirci let go of the mare, his face even further turning red as Polar simply stuck her tongue out at Dash before looking back up to Sir Demirci, “Umm...Sir Demirci? Could you do me a favor?” Receiving a nod, she continued on, “I...would appreciate it if you could talk to Dr. Galileo and see if he could transfer me over to Ponyville District's Science Bureau?”

        The stallion's eyebrow raised even further, “And why is that?”

        Polar sheepishly rubbed her foreleg before speaking up, “Because...my new friends live there?” Sir Demirci looked towards the Mane Six, all of them nodding in response before looking back to Polar, “Umm...since you've been out for a days, I just made friends with them, and I really don't like staying here in the colonies at all. Could you please?”

        Releasing a sigh, Sir Demirci looked her straight in the eyes and nodded, the mare giving him another appreciative  hug before giving them all a goodbye and bouncing her way towards the reception and out the double doors. Turning to the Mane Six, he stared at them for a few seconds before they continued training him to walk with four legs, instead of the simpler two-leg method he was used to as a human.

- -

        After several days of training, Sir Demirci was able to walk independently without support, albeit unable to do much beyond a trot, and rear onto his hindlegs. However, in lieu he still had perfect grasp of his augmentations and most of his functionality. And after a final test given by his assigned doctor, the human-turned-stallion was now prime for transfer over to the mainland and release. Taking his time to keep himself well-balanced, he soon found that they'd brought him back to Fillyrock, the bustling port city in a flurry as they passed through a crowded sidewalk. There were power trains of the familiar vehicles used by the Scientific Board pulling wagons and trailers covered up and kept heavily secure with a proper battalion of guardsponies.

        The walk to the harbor was filled with awe, curious stares, and even a few actively moving away from the giant out of fear. Sir Demirci kept his slow pace, only returning the stare with a sharp look of irritation and focusing as the software for his display actively sought out every detail of the ponies around him, from their current disposition, scents, stature, and even copied pictures of them into the 'personnel' section of his cerebral storage banks. Passing by shops, vendors,  Sir Demirci was almost dragged to the ground as one particularly grabby vendor tried to whisk him off towards Celestia-knows-where, only to be stopped by the Mane Six.

        Escaping to the harbor, they were soon met by the magnificent sight of Princess Luna standing before them as ponies from their own walks of life boarded the residential ship. Luna gave them a warm smile but paused at the sight of Sir Demirci and widened as she craned her neck to look at his face and noticed the distinctive heterochromic eyes and slowly spoke, “W...What manner of trickery has become of you, Sir Demirci!?”

        The stallion's eyes shot open as his optics flared with renewed vigor as they checked every aspect of Luna before settling on shock and awe. “Princess Luna....I...can't explain, I don't remember anything...” Luna continued to gawk at the sight before Twilight stepped in.

        “Princess, he's...been hurt by something we cannot understand what, but he's been transmuted into a pony. We need to see Celestia right away...”

        Luna wasted no time at the request, “Very well then, come, we'll have the personal transport prepared for our arrival. But for now, Sir Demirci, we would like to politely request that your person remain within your own stateroom for the remainder of this cruise.” Complying, the Mane Six helped the stallion onto the ship, silencing rather discontent ponies when they notice just why he's delayed, and a simple stare from Luna sent the more physical ones back into a quiet minority.

- -

Following several days returning to Fillydelphia, the seven of them were taken onboard the personal train of the royalty, which had them launching through the landscape and reaching the capital in a nerve-wracking forty minutes. There they were escorted almost immediately to a debriefing room and spent the latter part of twelve hours reciting, word-by-word, their own recollection of the event, which had them up late into the night until they were dismissed by Celestia, cryptically stating that Sir Demirci was simply at the 'wrong place and wrong time' and placed him under the care the Mane Six until he could grasp being a pony. This set off many red lights for Sir Demirci, but simply surrendered and accepted it. But he knew there were other plans in his mind for whatwasto come.

        It'd been well over twenty-four hours since they arrived in Canterlot, and after discussing Polar Caps with Luna and having her transfer papers pushed through with lightning speed, after bidding her a goodnight, he took to action. In the day he's been here, he was gifted a slew of items by the Mane Six; A charcoal black saddlebag with a safety rig around his chest complete with extra pouches to store his items, specially made by Rarity at his request and design. A neon pink hoofwatch by Pinkie Pie, so to “be the master of time”, as Pinkie put it. A black-and-moss button-up shirt that had similar qualities to Daring Do, bought by Rainbow Dash that somehow fit him quite comfortably. Following up was a rose by Fluttershy he pinned to his shirt, directly over his right lung, enchanted by Twilight to survive without its stem, only requiring the sun to survive.  And finally, what struck him the most was a picture kept in his shirt pocket of the Mane Six, autographed by each of them as a reminder of who their friends were.

        Securing his items and the harness over his shirt, Sir Demirci checked over them; he had 'borrowed' a sum of Bits from Twilight's room, a few provisions from the kitchens, and a proper map of Equestria and surrounding regions. Escaping from the grounds was simple enough with the graveyard shift. Only four to six guardsponies active on the battlements, a few patrolling the guards, and a squadron of Pegasi circling overhead. He slipped out from the gates and into the streets of Canterlot.

        Avoiding the late night aristocratic population, and avoiding more patrols, he reached the gates when he knew that tingling feeling from the back of his head and found himself almost muzzle-to-muzzle with Applejack, who didn't seem to show any positive reaction to his presence. “And what d'yah think yer doin' out here, sugarcube?”

        The stallion refrained from making a scowl, “I'm leaving, Applejack.”

        Applejack's ears dropped low when the words connected to her mind and responded, “Why? Ain't ‘cha happy here?”

        He refrained from a snort and looked towards her with a hint of sadness, “Applejack...why would I be happy? The entire trip I've been stuck inside staterooms, a hospital ward, and inside a caravan for weeks on end only to become something...something I've only encountered for a few months.” He let out a shudder-filled sigh and continued, “I don't even know if I'm an actual pony, or just a cyborg with a pony’s body.” This struck Applejack a bit as she noticed the sadness in his voice. “I...just wish to be alone for a while, just...to think. Or something along those lines.”

        No amount of debate, or how heated it became would budge the stallion from leaving until both were fighting back tears. “J-Julius...atleast p-promise y'all come back and v-vist us....” The stallion nodded, closing the gap between them and giving her a final hug, the mare responding by, out of the blue, kissing him on the lips which left the stallion confused, hot faced, and still tearful as she slipped off her stetson and handing it to him. “S-Sorry fer that....kinda a Apple family tradition to see off friends...but please take this, Julius. Just to remind ya of where yer home is.” Biting his teeth, Sir Demirci doffed the hat and gave her a final look before disappearing into the night, Applejack watching before turning and into a squadron of guards.

        “Miss Applejack, we've been requested by Princess Luna to escort you back to the castle, as per the district curfew for those under twenty-five years of age.” The leader, a bright orange mare with silver eyes, stated with a hint that she was in less of a mood to deal with denial. The young mare simply nodded and walked off towards the castle, flanked from all sides as they marched through the streets.

- -

        “I can't believe it, Julius is gone!” Twilight repeated again as the city was in a uproar, the five of them in exception to Applejack, watched from their shared balcony as squadrons of Pegasi, legions of Earth Ponies and Unicorns pass through the streets in search of the missing person. It felt strange seeing a military so active, unlike the peaceful township, in exception to the frequent guards coming into the township from the nearby garrison.

        However, Applejack  refused to leave her room and was last seen in a less-than-perfect disposition, appearing to have been crying non-stop and refused to talk to talk, comprehensible to the point she got out was that she wanted to be left alone for a while. Their curiosity was squashed at the mention of her before, opting to not press her further.

        Soon enough it became evident the leader was long gone from the city, and an all-points-bulletin was placed on his head to be returned to the capital alive. But to everypony else....he was gone like a specter from their peripheral vision.