1: Not quite a dark and stormy night.

Adam Jensen’s Magical Equestrian Adventure

Deus Ex: Human Revolution / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

A Crossover Fan Fiction

Written by Focusphobia

All properties belong to the respective owners

Chapter One: Not quite a dark and stormy night.

Night

Early Summer

Clouds Dale

Rainbow Dash couldn’t sleep.  The sky-blue pegasus couldn’t understand why she was still awake.  The rainstorm, scheduled earlier that day, was successfully made, despite a few setbacks.  But sleep would not come, and Dash could only lie on the cloud bed in her cloud room, and this irritated her.  She ran her front hooves through her rainbow mane and said to herself, growling.  “Why can’t I sleep?  Why in Luna’s name can’t I just fall asleep?”

Out of annoyance, R.D. decided to just do some flying.  Hopefully, this could make her tired.  She took off from her roost in Clouds Dale, not really knowing where she was going, nor did she care as the cool night air whipped past her.  “Ha!  I should do this more often.  This feels great!”

It didn’t take long for Rainbow Dash to figure out where she was.  She found herself hovering over the storm clouds situated above Ponyville.  She admired her handiwork, thinking to herself.  ‘Sure there were other pegusi who helped, but they aren’t as awesome as yours truly, the one and only Rainbow Dash.  The storm’s working fine and… Wait.  Wasn’t it above Ponyville?’

The storm wasn’t above Ponyville anymore.  Somehow, it moved away from its intended location… over the Everfree Forest.  That cannot be good, especially considering all the stories about ‘things’ coming out of those woods, never seen or heard of elsewhere in Equestria.  It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination that somepony or something was messing around with the storm.

The thought didn’t sit well with Dash, especially since said storm was her work and she did not like anypony or anything meddling with her work.  She put on her game face and cracked her knuckles as she said aloud, “Looks like somepony is asking for a hindquarter whoopin’.”

R.D. flew towards the forest and through the dark clouds.  She now wishes that she had a light or goggles, but no sense into stopping now.  And it didn’t take long for ‘Equestria’s Fastest Flyer’ to make it past the brackish haze.  Then she saw something… odd, causing her to stop in her tracks.  A most peculiar sight, to which Dash responded out loud, “What in Celestia’s and Luna’s name is that?”

What indeed.  Rainbow Dash was looking at a golden light, shining out from a clearing in the more ancient trees of the Everfree Forest.  She returned to flying, mostly to get the whoopin’ over and done with, and to get out of the cool rain.

She got closer to the source of the light, the incandescence revealing more details of the environment.  The clearing wasn’t so much a clearing as it was a crater.  R.D. crashed enough times to know what that is.  The rain-soaked earthen oblong looked like it was recently dug up, the one side being raised higher and the middle went deeper as it got closer to the light source. More than enough to know which direction it came from.

Something was moving in the giant hole, making its way around the light source, which was beginning to flash brightly with brief moments of dimness.  Rainbow Dash thought the shape was familiar, and then; “Wait, isn’t that…”

Earlier

Before Sunset

Canterlot

A tall white alicorn stood on the castle spire’s balcony, watching the sun slowly sink past the horizon, her younger and slightly shorter dark-blue sister at her side.  “Another beautiful day draws to its close, to be followed by a beautiful night.”

“Yes it is.”  The younger sister stood silently for a brief moment before she spoke again.  “Celestia, I feel tonight would alright if I used the ‘old method’.”

“The ‘old method?’  I don’t quite recall what that is.  Could you describe the details to me?”

Luna was pretty sure Celestia had an excellent memory, but decided to provide the knowledge regardless.  “Well, as I recall, we would fly over Equestria and-” And then it clicked…

The Princess of the Night turned her eyes towards the Princess of the Day, who had a fore hoof over her mouth, holding back a regal giggle.  Luna held back her own laughter to not give her sister the satisfaction.  “Very well, I shall depart.”

Having composed herself, a smile graced the elder princess’s face.  “Excellent.  Bring forth the night, dear sister.”  Luna was already gone before Celestia even finished the sentence.

Her royal smile widened a bit at the enthusiasm of her younger sister.  It wasn’t that long ago when Luna was trapped in the prison better known as Nightmare Moon.  But that is over, and thanks to the Elements of Harmony, everything is right in Equestria…

Or is it…

Something felt… wrong.  Celestia could feel it.  Somewhere, at some time very soon, something was about to happen.  It felt good, like meeting a good friend after a long time.  But there was also a bad feeling, like a night terror.  The latter raised apprehension and Celestia could no longer see Luna from the spire.  ‘Maybe I shouldn’t worry.  The night doesn’t take very long to blanket Equestria and I’m probably fretting over nothing.  Luna knows how to handle herself and she will probably be back long before the event even occurs…’

A Bit Later

Dusk

Over Ponyville

The pegusi  busied themselves all day, trying to get the blasted storm in place.  One thing or another slowed the progress of the scheduled early summer showers.  Whether it was ponies calling in sick, accidents involving clouds shaped like muffins, or random monsters attacking for whatever reason; basically, it’s been a busy day for the winged ponies.

Amazingly, as it was getting too dark for anypony to continue working, the storm was finished, rain falling immediately upon completion, and almost everypony went home.  Rainbow Dash was glad it was all over and done with.  “Next time,” she said to herself, “I’ll have to work faster; otherwise ‘The Wonderbolts’ won’t even look at me, or even want me as a member!”

A stately voice spoke behind her.  “I don’t know about that, Rainbow Dash.  You did an excellent job with the storm.  I don’t see why The Wonderbolts wouldn’t ‘look’ at you.”

R.D. was surprised to hear somepony speak to her, having thought she was alone.  And she wasn’t scared, because being scared is uncool, something Rainbow Dash isn’t.  “GYAH!  Huh, oh… Oh!  Princess Luna!  Wh-what are you doing here?”

The Princess of the Night let out a small, yet very polite laugh.  “Rainbow Dash, we are not engaged in official business in the court.  You may call me Luna.”

“Oh, right.  So, ‘Luna’, what brings you out here to Ponyville?”

“Just the night.”

“Oh.”

Awkward silence ensues… only to be broken by Luna.

“So, the rain storm; is it for the summer crops?”

Rainbow Dash scratched her head.  “Yeah, it is.  I just wish it were done earlier.”

The princess had a slight puzzled look on her face to this comment.  “Pray tell, what delayed it?”

“Well…”  Behind the princess, there was a grey pegasus, with a light-yellow mane and tail, flying upside-down, her eyes double-winking in the waning light.

“…Nothing too serious to worry anypony.  These things sometimes just happen, Luna.  And usually, the only thing anypony can do is just keep on going and keep on trying.”

The pony formerly known as Nightmare Moon saw the wisdom behind the words of her winged subject.  But there were other matters to attend too.  “Well, Rainbow Dash.  It has been a pleasure speaking with you, but I really must be going.  The night won’t fall on its own.”

And with that, Princess Luna flew off, the night sky slowly blanketing the land behind her.  Dashie waited until Luna was gone, then she let out a yawn.  ‘I should go get some sleep,’ she thought to herself as she flew to Clouds Dale.

Later

After Nightfall

Over Ponyville

Luna was flying full speed back to Canterlot, mostly so Celestia wouldn’t worry.  The elder princess was many things, and a somewhat overly concerned older sister was one of them.  After all, the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco wasn’t that long ago.  ‘Has it even been a year since my exile to the moon?  Regardless, I’m glad -’

Princess Luna never finished the thought, because she suddenly felt the sensation that something did not belong in the night sky.  HER night sky!  Her blue eyes began to search the heavens for the offending anomaly, using memories of lessons and experiences alike.  ‘THERE!  An extra star in the old Phoenix constellation!’

The anomaly’s presence was a serious concern.  After all, it couldn’t have been a new star.  Luna has acquainted herself with anything in the night sky that Celestia placed during the lunar exile.  And it certainly wasn’t a planet.  Perhaps it is a-

‘METEOR!’  Luna barely had time to dodge the shooting star as it fell through the sky.  She hardly had time to breathe when cold dread washed over her.  ‘No!  Is there anypony in danger from that thing?!’  Her inner question was swiftly answered as the falling star’s crash was muffled by the Everfree Forest, relieving her of the fear of ponies getting hurt.

Unbeknownst to the Princess, there was somepony who was close to the crash site.  Unharmed, but confused, none the less.

‘Where am I?  And how did I get here?  That light…is that a meteor?  Probably radioactive.  Best to stay away.  Already have enough problems.’

It didn’t take long for Princess Luna to find the crater.  Of course, there’s the plume of dust and smoke to follow.  But there was another indicator.  ‘Is that a… golden light?’  She flew towards the light source, landing in the fresh gash in the earth.

‘What’s this, a flying unicorn?  Genetic experiment or advanced animatronic?  Either way, it would need to be really lightweight in order to fly like that.  And on top of that, those jewels look cheap… I think I’ll wait and watch.  Wait, how is the hair blowing?  There isn’t even a breeze.’

Debris of various trees were scattered around by the meteor, some having caused a patch of fire flowers to ignite.  This usually isn’t a problem, unless the forest is dry. Which it kind of is.  Luna’s response was to simply channel her magic through her horn, summoning the storm over Ponyville to her location, dousing the flames with the rain.

‘What... just… happened?  Was that… magic?  No, no!  The flowers have a -uh- chemical reaction causing them to combust and -um- the horse used telekinesis on the storm clouds.  And the horn has bioluminescence. Yeah, a logical explanation for everything.’

One problem dealt with, the Princess observed the anomaly, slowly sauntering around it.  The fallen star was looked like a large glass orb with a dark shape filling most of the inside.  The light being generated actually was flashing, with moments of brilliance followed by brief dimness, the cycle showing glimpses of the figure inside.  The incandescence sequence wasn’t very noticeable or visible at first, but it was progressing.  And the pattern bugged Luna.  The rhythm was familiar, but where did she know it from-

“Princess Luna!”  The yell drew Luna’s attention to Rainbow Dash, hovering over the clearing.

‘They… can… talk... Wait.  Princess? Seriously?  And on first name basis, too.  That’s cute.  And this newcomer has… rainbow… hair.  Okay, I am not going for ‘that’ cheap shot.’

Rainbow Dash had no idea what was going on.  She also had a confused look on her face as she flew down to the Princess.  You know, all things considered.  “So… Luna. What’s up?”

‘Looks like different breeds of the same species, since the robot theory didn’t pan out.  And what’s with the tattoos on the flanks?  Probably a form of social and racial identification.’

Luna quickly gave Dash a synopsis of the events when they last spoke to the present.  “So, what are you doing out here, Rainbow Dash?”

‘Really?  Rainbow Dash?  What a ridiculous name.  Although- No!  Not going for the cheap shot.’

“Well, I couldn’t sleep, so I flew around for a bit.  Then I noticed the storm had moved.  So, I came to check things out and here I am.”  She smiled brightly, partially to hide the fact she wanted to hurt the storm meddler, in this case, Luna.

Dash stopped smiling.  “So, Luna, is it me, or could that flashing rock look like it would have music to go with it?”

“What?”  Luna was all sorts of confused and she barely managed to let that one word.

‘What?’

R.D. was able to answer in 1.37 seconds flat.  “You know.  It’s like a lightshow going along with something Vinyl Scratch would play.  It’d be like, BUM bum... Bum bum... Bum bum...-”

In Luna’s mind, a single thought lit up. Then it raced through the barriers of bewilderment and shot out of her mouth as a single word.  In short, an epiphany.  “Heartbeat!”

“What?”  Rainbow Dash was the confused one now.

‘Just answer the question.’

The Princess of the Night didn’t explain what she meant.  She simply lit her horn in its blue aura and started scanning the anomaly with her magic.  And then-

“It’s alive!”

“What?”

‘Get ON with it!’

By some miracle, Luna managed get the words speeding around in her mind out of her mouth.  “That dark figure inside the stone. It’s alive!”

Rainbow Dash, while still a bit dumbstruck, was recovering quickly.  “No way.”

‘How?  The freezing vacuum of space, the superheated atmospheric reentry, the landing alone would have turned that thing into jelly, not to mention the general lack of breathable air!’

Tonight was one mystery after another and Princess Luna going to get to the bottom of things.  “We’ll need to get it open.  Rainbow Dash, go and contact your friends.  We may very well need their assistance.”

Dashie gave Luna out an enthusiastic salute and sped through the clouds towards Ponyville.  The Princess stopped smiling as the pegasus disappeared.  She then lit her horn with magic, and started scanning the anomaly again.

‘What are you up to, ‘Princess’?   What do you hope to achieve, now that you’re ‘alone’...’

Luna did successfully find the life force inside the fallen star, just like before.  But she was unable to gleam anything else from the dark figure.  Almost like it was resisting, disrupting her magic…

Without warning, black words appeared on the stone, startling the Princess enough to stop using her magic.  When nothing else happened, she inspected this new development.  The text was the same language that Equestrians used, and as they were written:

He who was trapped in the flow of time,

Forever punished, without a crime.

This Hero, freed from his twisted fate,

Shall be opposed by one of hate.

When Evil’s power fails to maintain,

The Hero’s life shall not be in vain.

But until that end, much strife will come

When bleak War ravages the kingdom.

The princess didn’t know what to make of this passage.  ‘Is this a prophesy?’  She attempted to solve this new development, completely unaware of the burning gold eyes that have been watching her.

The hidden Observer didn’t make a sound as he made his way from the hiding spot towards the crater.  It stalked closer, and closer, and closer, hands raised towards Luna, oblivious to the danger approaching her, ready to-

POW!  The Observer only saw the flash of blue and heard the faint sound of bells as the magic blast went smack dab into his chest, causing a spin with some air time before landing face first into the mud.  While he spat out moistened earth, Princess Luna slowly walked towards the observer, her horn glowing blue, her eyes filled with anger.

“Did you honestly believe that I, Luna, a Princess of Equestria, would be unaware of somepony spying on me?  And did you think, for one minute, that I couldn’t sense your wicked intent?”  There was no response from the downed being.  “Well?  What do you have to say for yourself?”

“You talk too much.”  And with that, he threw mud into the face of the Princess.

Luna quickly wiped the muck from her eyes, only to have the Observer tackle her.  She managed to hit him square in the face with a fore hoof, stunning the attacker for a moment.  Luna pulled herself up off the ground and away from him, and stood with her back to the trees, readying her magic once more.  He arose, cracked his neck, and assumed a fighter’s stance.

They both stood there, both staring with blue and gold eyes, and both covered in mud.  Luna inspected the biped, trying to determine the species-

CRACK!  The stone exploded into thousands of high-velocity shards going in all directions, embedding themselves into the surrounding trees.  Fortunately, Luna wasn’t in any danger, thanks to the foolish biped between her and the now-shattered anomaly.  As some fragments sank into his flesh, he let loose a gasp of rage and pain, eyes and fragments glowing gold.  But Luna’s attention was drawn to the figure on a large piece of steadily shining unbroken crystal, kneeling on a leg with an arm resting on the other.

The Observer himself turns his gaze towards the figure in the crater.  The surprise that shown so obviously in his body language was swiftly replaced with immense wrath as he trudged up to the second biped.  The Newcomer looked up at the Observer, just as a hand grabbed his throat and lifted him into the air.

Luna, acting before the Newcomer suffocated, levitated multiple shards before shooting them into the back of the pincushion that was the Observer.  Angry curses spilt out of the attacker as the Newcomer fell to the wet ground, coughing and gasping for air.  The wicked biped looked over his shoulder at Luna.  He then reached his arm around, and pulled the fragments from his back.

One by one.

Luna was feeling something.  Something she has not felt in a long, long time.

Terror…

And the only reason she was feeling this, was because as the Observer pulled the shards out, the holes in his rain-drenched clothes reveal-

No wounds…

Unmarked skin…

Those unholy golden eyes…

The fear in her own eyes did not go unnoticed as he turned around, and began walking towards her.  She was frozen in place as he somehow produced an item in his hand, seemingly from nowhere.  Time itself seemed to slow as his arm slowly raises, the object level with her eyes, the finger tightening inside the ring-

‘Who is this being?’

‘Where did he come from?’

‘Am I going… to die?’

‘How is that fragment floating by itself?  Wait…’

The floating fragment plunged into the chest of the Observer.  Time snaps back to normal as the Newcomer, now visible, has his right arm wrapped around his opponent’s neck with his left directing the shard.  This agitated the Observer, and he shot his head backwards into the Newcomer’s face and followed with a half-spin flat-palm blow to the chest.

The newly wounded biped fell to the earth, his right hand on his broken nose with the left breaking the fall.  He managed to look up at the Observer as the item pointed at-

KRACKOWowow…

Fire erupts from the object’s mouth and thunder echoed through the clearing and surrounding forest.  Pain erupts in the Newcomer’s left shoulder, the projectile tearing through the muscles.  And all he could do was lie rain-drenched in the mud, with a monster stared at him with contempt.

“Princess Luna!” Six voices cried out or to be accurate, five loud voices and one soft.  She was still frozen in place with terror…

Unable to tell the girls to get away.

Unable to dodge the Observer as he spun around and backhands her.

Unable to see her crown land in the mud.

Unable to stop the darkness…

Canterlot

Although anypony would tell you otherwise, Celestia was worried.  ‘Luna should have been back by now.  Maybe I should go find her.  No, she’ll think I do not trust her.  Perhaps she’s hurt or-‘

Then she felt it.  Somepony was trying to mentally contact her.  It wasn’t invasive, but it was invitational, though slightly annoying.  It also had magic to it, but it was unlike anything Celestia has ever felt before.  ‘It does seem urgent.’ She opened her mind to let it in the message.

At first, it was black, a blacker black then a starless night.  Then it turned whiter than a snowy blizzard.  It settled in between the two extremes and color bloomed in the vision.  It was blurry, but there was black, grey, gold, and a reasonable amount of dark blue.  Shapes began to appear, and soon the vision was clear.

A meteor falls from the sky and crashes in a forest.

Luna investigates the meteor.

She is attacked by a shadow.

The meteor opens to reveal a grey-clad biped, which is then attacked by the shadow.

Luna saves the biped, but is unable to truly hurt the shadow.

The shadow looks at Luna and she is unable to move.

The shadow is about to hurt Luna, but the biped stops it-

Only to be punished by the shadow.

Luna, still unable to move, could only stand there as the shadow descends upon her.

The shadow looks directly at Celestia…

And smiles at her with golden eyes.

The vision fades…

A Bit Later

Everfree Forest

“How much further, Dash?” Asked Twilight, who was practically drooling over the idea of studying the anomaly, as the five runners and one flyer moved through the rain.

The gold light was already visible when R.D. answered.  “Just over that hill.  We’re almost-”

KRACKOWowow…

They all jumped at the noise, noticeably Pinky, who ducked and covered in a bush, her umbrella hat visible.  Fluttershy’s reaction was to simply squeak and cover her eyes.  Rainbow Dash was the first of the ponies to recover.  “That isn’t thunder.”

They swiftly made their way up the hill, Pinky Pie returning to carry Fluttershy up the incline.

As they made it over the crest of the hill, the ponies’ eyes widened at the scene.

The princess and two bipeds were in the crater.  One biped was wounded on the ground, shards of crystal scattered.  The girls shouted Luna’s name in unison-

Only to see their princess struck by the standing biped…

Who had the gall to look at the ponies…

And smiled with the malevolence of a predator, as he raised the object towards them-

Only for the Newcomer, getting up with impressive speed, to break the object with his right hand.

The Observer glanced at his broken possession with an emotionless expression before tossing it to the mud…

And spun around, delivering a solid kick to the Newcomer’s head.

Enough was enough.  Ill treatment of the Princess and unnecessary torture of the Newcomer cannot be tolerated by anypony and especially not by the Bearers of Harmony.

Pinky Pie performed a flying kick into the Observer’s face, his gold eyes filled with confusion and shock as to how she moved so quickly, while Fluttershy rushed over to Luna, to make sure the Princess was okay.

Before he could recover from the previous attack, Rainbow Dash flew at a high speed into the Observer’s chest, knocking him into the mud, during which Twilight used her magic to treat the wounds of the unconscious Newcomer.

Applejack and Rarity hogtied the Observer with heavy ropes before he could push himself out of the mud, followed up with a ribbon that Rarity had with her.

With the aggressive biped restrained, albeit with intense glaring at Rarity, things calmed down considerably.  Everypony looked to Fluttershy, fearing the worst.  “It’s alright, girls.  Luna is only unconscious.  She should wake up soon.”

The ponies sighed with relief at the news.  Rainbow Dash flew up to the clouds to stop the rain, while the attention of the others remained elsewhere, mainly on the Princess and the Newcomer.

Pinky took this opportunity to inspect the Observer with a scrutinizing gaze.  But it wasn’t easy doing so, due to all the mud covering him and the slowly fading light of the crystal piece.

Fortunately, the clouds were cleared up enough for moonlight to fill the clearing as Pinky Pie turned around facing her fellow ponies with a pipe, blowing out some bubbles before she talked.  “Ladies, I have made a deduction.  These bipeds are, pause for dramatic effect, Mareliens!  Marelien scouts from outer space!  And now that they’ve fought, we’ll be caught in the middle of an intergalactic space armada battle!”

The other ponies, except the distracted Twilight, let out sighs of exasperation.  Even the Observer rolled his eyes on that, though he was still wondering where that pipe came from.  Twilight spoke up.  “I’m sorry, Pinky.  Were you saying something?”

Rainbow Dash returned from the cloudless night sky and landed next to Luna.  Everypony else went over to encircle the Newcomer.  Soft-spoken Fluttershy asked, “Is he alright, Twilight?”

“He’s fine now.  But it doesn’t make any sense.  The wounds healed without assistance and my magic couldn’t do anything to help him.  It’s like he’s resistant… somehow.”

“You don’t suppose he’s the best at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice?”

More exasperated sighs came from the ponies and the Observer knew that phrase from somewhere.  Rarity expressed her thoughts aloud as she removed Luna’s crown from the mud. “Pinky Pie, darling.  I speak for all of us when I say; what are you talking about?”

“Oh right, ix-nay on the ourth-fay all-way.  So, anyways, what are we going to with Mr. Observer?

“Who?”  The ponies asked.

Pinky rolled her eyes before answering.  “Well duh.  The non-pony bundled up like a bale of hay with a ribbon on top.  I mean, what else was he doing before he ‘introduced’ himself to Princess Luna?”

While the others were digesting that answer, Rainbow Dash left Luna’s side, stomping through the drying mud towards the captive, and looked him square in the eyes.  “In my personal opinion, I think the caverns below Canterlot are too good for this monster.”

Twilight sighed. “As much of a monster as he is, we are not responsible for punishing him for what he has done to this poor creature and Luna… Oh.  We need to contact Princess Celestia.”

“No need for that, Twilight Sparkle.”

Everpony looks up at the Princess of the Day as she descends into the clearing, followed shortly after by a set of four heavily panting Royal Guard.  The ponies humbly bowed in her presence.

The Guard moved around the prisoner as he and Princess Celestia looked at each other.  The two did this for a moment, neither blinking nor moving, before she lowered her head and whispered something only he could hear.

Nopony else noticed the brief flash of fear that played across his golden eyes.

Princess Luna was finally awake enough to say something.  “May somepony assist me in standing up, please?” Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped her to her feet and Rarity placing the cleaned crown on her brow.

Celestia moved quickly and embraced her sister in a tight hug.  “Luna, I’m glad you’re safe.  Just… don’t use the ‘old method’ for a while.”

The hug lasted about a minute.  Some ponies wept a tear or two at the sight, except Rainbow Dash, who had some dust in her eye. Twilight was wiping her own eyes when something flitted in the edge of her vision.  She turned her head and saw, on the Newcomer’s throat, a swirling pattern made of faint golden light, becoming words she couldn’t understand.  It faded before she could say anything.

A textured groan escaped the lips of the Newcomer, startling everypony, as he spontaneously sat up, hands on the sides of his head as he muttered to himself.  “So this is what he meant by ‘side-effects’.  Thanks, idiot, for warning me about the blindness.”

The words of golden light reappeared on his throat once more after he spoke.  Everypony saw them this time, but that bewilderment wore off quickly.  After all, tonight has been… different.

Princess Luna, free from her sister’s clutches, walked towards the biped as he stopped holding his head and started listening around.  She stopped a few hoof steps away before speaking.  “I humbly request your attention, noble warrior.”

He looked up at her with his blue-grey eyes.  Even though he is technically blind, they still seem to pierce the soul.  The Princess mentally noted on the mixed nature of his eye color when he answered.  “Are you… speaking… to me?”

“Indeed, I am.  My name is Luna, Princess of the Night, and I wish to thank you for defending me from one with foul intent, and I would be even more grateful to you if I knew the name of my defender.”

The Newcomer sat there blinking, trying to process what he just heard.  “P-p-princess?”

‘Surprise would be a reasonable response, considering everything that has happened tonight,’  Celestia thought before she replied.  “Yes, she is.  And I, Princess Celestia, also wish to thank you as well, for saving my sister-”

Twilight quickly whispered something into her teacher’s ear.  “-And my subjects from the actions of this fiend.”

Silent, he sat there for another moment.  “Do you mind if I stand up?  Sitting in the mud while talking to royalty seems… highly inappropriate.”

“Not at all.”

He stood up and-

He heard multiple gasps and a quiet squeak of terror.

Applejack, being her honest self, couldn’t refrain from whispering her thought out loud.  “Well, I’ll be.  He’s huge.  Even taller then the Princesses.”

Rarity panicked a bit as she whispered.  “Applejack!  Even if he is taller than everypony else, you mustn’t offend him.  And what if he heard you?”

Pinky Pie felt the need to add to the hushed conversation.  “What if he grinds our bones to make his bread?”  This naturally caused Fluttershy to squeak again and hide behind Rarity.

The Newcomer’s brows were furrowed in response to these comments.  “Would you feel better if I knelt down?  Apparently, I intimidate others easily.”

“Don’t even bother, imposter.”

Everypony looked at the Observer.  For most of them, they haven’t heard his voice.  For Princess Luna… she has.  And she would rather forget.  And even though he is bound like a hay bale with a ribbon on top, he still manages to inspire fear.

“You are willing to bow before those who claim to be royals, without knowing who they really are or the very nature of their rule.  You believe that a name and memories are your own, but those are lies fed to you through the twisted science that spawned you.  Oh, and the worst mistake that all of you have made tonight, was not checking me for other weapons.”

A painful flash of light and sound filled the senses of everypony.  When things returned to normal, three of the Royal Guard present bound in rope and one in a comically insufficient length of ribbon.  The Observer was standing, armed with an odd cannon pointing at the gathering of ponies.

“Now, I am going to leave.  You try anything, you will die.”

The Newcomer scowled at the Observer as he made his way past the ponies.  “You’re pathetic, you know that.  You beat up a blind man, threaten a group of girls, and spout a ridiculous monologue like a stereotypical villain.”

The Observer laughed out loud.  “That’s rich, coming from the science experiment who thinks he’s a man, when in reality, ‘IT’ is just a facsimile, grown in a tube from nothing more then hair follicles.  So, tell me, doppelganger.  Who is really the pathetic one here?”

Celestia did not appreciate it when somepony threatens anypony else, especially her subjects, her sister, herself, or even this Newcomer.  “Have you already forgotten what I said to you earlier?”

His left eye twitched as he started walking backwards into the woods.  “No, I have not.  But I’m afraid I will have to take my leave.  Goodbye… Princess!”

Time seemed to slow as the cannon lit up with a red light, accompanied with a rapidly rising whine.  The Newcomer’s ears perked up as he moved in front of the light-

BZZZZZAP!!!

The Newcomer fell to his knees, a smoking crater in his chest.  The Observer was genuinely surprised at the act.  But surprise was quickly replaced with horror at who was behind the wounded biped.

“Enough!”

Bright blue flames replaced the gentle flowing mane and tail that belonged to Princess Celestia as she started hovering off the ground.  Everypony else backed away as the pressure of magic rose rapidly in the clearing, causing difficulty in breathing and standing.  Only Luna, Twilight, and the Newcomer were unaffected by the crushing force of righteous fury.

Luna had seen her sister like this before, the last time being before the Elements of Harmony exiled her to the Moon.

“I was willing to forgive you for your trespasses, on the grounds of misunderstanding or confusion.  But upon seeing this abominable act, it seems that more drastic measures may be required.”

The Observer was desperately trying to get away from the enraged Princess, but his legs seemed to be made of jelly.

“I, Princess Celestia, hereby banish you from Equestria.  FOREVER!”

Blue fire flew from her horn as it engulfed the Observer, preparing him to be teleported outside of the kingdom.

But it didn’t.

The fire died down, revealing a burned, but healing Observer.  His cannon, reduced to a puddle of molten metal.  Kneeling with his mouth agape, he beheld Princess Celestia, the golden light of his eyes dim as tears slid down his face, moistening the dried mud that hasn’t fallen off.

The fiery mane returned to normal as Celestia hovered to the earth and looked him square in the eyes, revealing subsiding anger and sorrowful disappointment.  “Go.”

He scrambled to his feet, retreating to the forest, disappearing into the darkness.  Rainbow Dash flew to the edge of the crater before stopping to yell at the fleeing biped.  “Yeah, you better run!  And don’t you dare come back!  Cause if you do, there will be more of that waitin’ for ya!”

“Rainbow Dash.”

Dashie’s backed stiffened before she turned around to see the emotion in the Princess’s eyes.

“Please.  Don’t.”

R.D. rubbed her head with a forehoof.  “Sorry, Princess Celestia.”

They both turned their attention to the Newcomer, like everypony else did when thing calmed down.  Smoke lazily rises from the wound in his chest as he periodically coughed in one hand.

Luna mustered enough courage to speak.  “How?”

He coughed before looking at her with one open eye.

“How is it that you would allow yourself to be hurt to protect others?”

“Easy.  (cough) I wanted to.  (cough) It’s my decision.(cough)  And while I never asked for this, (cough) it was mine to (cough, cough) make.  Oh, (cough, cough) you asked me earlier what (cough) my name was.  It’s (cough) Adam Jensen.”

He coughed once more, and glanced at his hand.  His vision cleared up a bit, right then.

He wished it didn’t, for he saw red and black in his palm.

His vision faded to black as he fell.

Voices fading to silence…

END

(A/N: I hope you like this story.  Feel free to give your comments if you do or don’t like this story, or if you find something wrong.  And trust me, there were mistakes made.  So, if there are any, let me know so I can get on those.  Thank you.)