Author's Note

Hey guys, im sorry that this has taken me so long to write. Rest assured, i am still writing the story, but between work, and classes, i dont have a whole lot of time to write anymore.

Chapter 16: On the Road Again

The adventure begins

--

I came to the next morning to the sound of knocking on my door, followed by the sound of a teleportation into my room. I opened my eyes to see the queen standing by my bed. As you can expect, I jumped out of my bed with some shock. “Uhh…Sunflare, what are you doing here?”

“Good morning to you too Johnathan.” she replied with a smile.

“Why are you so happy?” I asked.

“Because our guests are eager to meet you again. I believe that they see you as their friend.” she answered, but as she did the smile disappeared from her face “Johnathan, please be safe when you go…I don’t want you to get hurt…...in some ways…...I see you as a son.”

I got up from my bed and hugged her “Thank you Sunflare…...I know I haven’t exactly been the best guest…but thank you for taking me into your family…for giving me a home and a purpose.”

She smiled and hugged back “Your welcome dear…...now get dressed and get ready, your merry little band will depart after breakfast.”

“As you wish your highness.” I replied I got out of bed and walked into my bathroom. I turned on the water for the shower and sink before taking out some shaving cream and with a thought, I had a knife in my hand “I will admit, this summoning thing is definitely useful.” I spread the shaving cream on my face and proceeded to use the knife to shave away the hair that had grown in on my face and neck. Once I had finished, I cleaned of the knife and let it dissipate back into wherever the hell it goes before stepping into the shower. Ten minutes later, I was finished with my hygiene and in my clothes. I took another weeks’ worth of clothes and supplies and put them into a pack, I laid the pack down by my door and walked into the hallway, and down into the main dining room. Again, the king, the queen, and all of the pillars were seated at the table enjoying a meal. The queen smiled as I walked in and poured myself a cup of coffee.

“Ah, the Reaper awakens from his slumber.”

I looked down to my watch, “Meh, its only 8 am.” I replied before sitting down.

“Well aren’t you going to eat Johnathan? This could be the last time we have food from the castle for a while.” Starswirl asked.

“Meh, I ain’t that hungry.” I replied as I sipped my coffee.

“Come again?” The queen asked as she levitated a plate of eggs, toast and biscuits and gravy over to me while giving me a stern glare, “I think I heard you say that your starving.”

I sighed, “Yeah I guess I did…mom.”

She smiled knowing that she’d won “Good, then eat up, and this is nothing, if you want, I can actually start treating you as if you were my child.”

“Yeah how about no.” I replied

“You wouldn’t want me as your mother?” Sunflare asked, looking hurt

“No, I’m not saying that, if the way Celestia and Luna turned out are an example, then you’ll make an excellent mother.”

She smiled at me, “Thank you Johnathan, but why wouldn’t you want me as a mother?”

“Because I already had one back in my world, and because I piss you off too much.”

“What do you mean had?” she asked

I lowered my head, “In the human world, there’s this disease, Cancer. In most cases its uncurable…I lost her about 3 years back, and my father 3 years before that… My brother stopped talking to me after we lost mom……can we please move on?”

She put her wing around me, “Johnathan, just because you make me angry, doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want you to be my son. All it means is that I care deeply for your wellbeing, and I have to believe that that is one of the reasons why the tree sent you back to us, because you need a loving family in your life once again.”

“You don’t want me in your family, I’ll just ruin it.” I replied.

Sunflare smiled, “Well you don’t exactly have much of a choice. It would seem that our daughters are adamant about you being in this family, and I trust their judgment. Now eat your food before it gets cold.”

As I ate my breakfast, I began to listen in on the conversation going on around me.

I tuned in on stygian mid-sentence, “…anxious to see what has become of my village since I’ve been gone.”

“That’s understandable, especially given its current situation.” Starswirl responded.

“And even if there is a major problem, you’ll find a solution like you did with my villages food problem.” Rockhoof continued.

“And the critters in the forest.” Meadowbrook added.

Flash stood up, “And from those dragons.” Flash looked to Stygian, with a smile. “Don’t worry my friend, well get the job done.”

I cut in, “And I spent most of last night making the job easier for us.”

“How so?” Stygian asked.

“I’m glad you asked.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of the speakers and tossed it to him. “It ain’t much to look at, but it’s what’s going to keep us from becoming mindless zombies under the sirens control.”

“Zombies?” Sonambula asked.

“It’s a figure of speech.” I replied.

“How does it work?” Stygian asked.

“Electricity and radio signals, all of which are common where I’m from.” I replied.

Flash placed his hoof on his chin “If I remember correctly, the humans didn’t have anything like this…electricity that you speak of, or radios.”

“That’s correct.” I replied, “Which should mean one of two things, either one, I’m not human and one of the countries in this world has managed to secretly develop this technology, or-”

Stygian cut in, “You’re from a different time.”

I put another forkful of my plate into my mouth and swallowed before answering “Ding ding ding, we have a winner.” All of the pillars looked at me with confusion all across their faces “I’m from the future.” my answer seemed to satisfy their confusion. I looked to stygian as I took another forkful of food “How’d you guess?”

Stygian smiled, “Well your mannerisms like your speech patterns, and actions in general are mostly unseen in this time, your clothes are unlike any that I’ve seen, and your weapons are definitely not magic and seemed to use some sort of explosive, which is beyond anything in Equestria, and obviously can’t be magic….needless to say I had my suspicions but I always assumed that it was just the doing of the armor gifted to you by the king and queen.” he replied.

I drank the last sip of my coffee before answering him. “Nope, but to be honest, I’m not from the future where it counts.”

“What do you mean?” Stronghoof asked.

“I mean most of my knowledge is weapons and shit like that, nothing useful in a peaceful world like this, like medicine.”

Upon hearing the word ‘medicine’, Mage turned to look at me, “Are you sure, isn’t there anything you think could help?” Meadowbrook asked.

“No not really, I’m mostly guns and computers, I mean I have some first aid training, but magic kind of beats any medical knowledge I have. I’m not a doctor, and as for computers…well the technology to make anything like a computer is far beyond what Equestria has.” I replied.

“Well then what are you?” Mist mane asked.

“I don’t know…am I a soldier? ...am I an engineer?... am I a monster? .......am I just a depressed idiot desperately trying to get back to the life he once had? ......I don’t know, take your pick I guess.” There was no response to that…just silence.

Eventually breakfast was finished and everpony got up to go pack their things. I was on my way up to my room when I was stopped by the voice of the king behind me, “Johnathan, could you please come with me to the throne room?”

I sighed and walked back down the stairs, silently following Orbash to the throne room. Once we were inside it, he motioned for the guards to leave, and he stood there in front of me silently. Eventually I caved to my curiosity and spoke, “So why did you call me here? Is this about what I said at breakfast or something?”

“No.” he replied.

“Then what is it?” I asked.

The voice of the queen came up from just behind me, “We wanted to wish you a safe journey, and remind you that you are not alone.”

I turned around to see the queen standing behind me before she pulled me into a tight hug. I was tense at first, but eventually I relaxed and hugged back “Ill be safe, you have my word.”

The queen let go of me and chuckled, “Good, for as second I though that we were going to have to come with you.”

“Not possible, your safety is paramount.” I replied.

The king walked up to me and put his hoof on my chest “So is yours Johnathan…. which is why where making sure that you don’t have any alcohol with you.” As he said that, the queen levitated my pack into view and began to sort through it before fulling out two flasks, both filled with moonshine.

She then levitated them to the king, “Now what do we have here?”

“Hey, I need those!” I replied.

“What for?” the king asked.

“Ones for drinking, and the other is for first aid. Alcohol is good at killing germs, thus it makes a good disinfectant.” I replied.

The king and queen looked at each other for a second before the king floated the flasks back “We will let you keep them, but if you get drunk, you will be in deep trouble.”

I nodded “Understood…...is there anything else?”

“Yes.” the queen replied. Her horn glowed again and the pendant around my neck came into my view “When you get the chance, listen to their messages. I know you’ve only heard one.”

“I can’t.” I replied.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because you see how they make me. I become filled with rage and grief…I lose control of myself.” I replied.

The queen let the pendant fall into my hands, “Then you’re not truly listening to them. They did not leave those messages to remind you of what you lost, they left you those messages to show you how much they care for your well-being, that no matter what they will always be with you…...that you are their family.”

I looked down at the pendant and clutched it tightly, “I’ll admit I didn’t see it like that…or if I did I forgot……….look, I know that I haven’t been the best guest, and I have no excuse for what I’ve said and done…but my separation from them…it fucked me up, it sent me spiraling back down a hole that I had just crawled out of…a hole that I thought was filled in by their love… I let that hole control me, and it still does in some ways. But I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to get myself out of it…and for putting up with me when in too stubborn to try.”

The queen smiled “We wouldn’t have it any other way, but remember,” she pointed a hoof to her baby bump “Soon we wont be the only ones who need you.” She then walked up to me and hugged me tightly before passing my gear back to me “I’ve placed a few enchantments on your bag so it will hold more, everything you need, including clothes, food, water, and medical equipment is housed inside it. The space inside it is not infinite, but it is more than what it once held, now run along, you and your merry band have a world to save.”

I smiled back at the queen and walked to my room. I opened my closet, and opened the safe that the kind and queen had provided for me to stow my weapons. The safe itself was mostly empty, save for my Sniper, my homemade launcher, and my SMGs. My rifle, pistol, and shotgun were already with my armor, so all I had to do was summon them. I reached into the safe, and grabbed the sniper and the launcher, as well as the respective ammo and speakers for each. I attached my sniper to my bag, and I was surprised to see that my launcher would fit in my bag, but I figured that it would be best to put it on a two-point sling and carry it on my back. With my gear readied, I threw my pack on my back, and made my way to the front hall. Starswirl and stygian were already there waiting for me.

Stygian gave me a worried look “Are you sure those will be necessary?”

“I’m hoping that I don’t have to use them, but if shit hits the fan, I want my guns with me.” I replied.

“But surely we won’t have to resort to such barbaric-”

Starswirl raised up his hoof and cut Stygian off, “Johnathan has made up his mind my friend, and trust me, he will not change it.”

I sighed, “Look, my job here is to ensure the safety of this group. These sirens have already made it clear that they are a hostile force who is not willing to negotiate. They want world domination and must be stopped. If things don’t go well or magic doesn’t fix the issue, lethal force will.”

“I have faith that it won’t come to that.” Sonambula replied as she and the rest of the pillars walked into the main hall with bags of their own on their backs.

“I agree, sure we had to fight others in the legion, but we never had to resort to killing.” Flash replied.

I sighed as I looked to the seven ponies in front of me “Look, you all have your prerogatives, and I have mine. I will do what I can to minimalize my need for force, but I’m still bringing my guns, and I will not hesitate to use them, and no pony will change my mind. Got it?” They all just looked at me with varying looks on their faces and nodded.

Starswirl put his hoof on me as he spoke, “Even though I don’t agree with your personal code, I can understand your reason behind it, and I’m sure they will too someday…now come along, it will take a few teleports to get to the point you suggested.”

“I thought I suggested walking?” I said, throwing my pack back on my back.

Stygian walked to the door and opened it before speaking, “Yes you did. However, it would take nearly too long, and time is of the essence, so we have decided to teleport to a location about an hour hike from my village, we will then hike to a ridge above my town and launch our attack from there.”

“Good, that will give us time to recon the town.” I replied as we walked out of the castle and over the bridge. Once we got over the bridge, Starswirl looked to me

“Johnathan, I’m going to need you to don your armor, we shall require its magical abilities.”

“For what?” I replied “I don’t exactly have the teleportation spell mastered.”

“It’s not too difficult of a spell, all one must do is envision a place then think ‘teleport’. Stygian knows where we are going, so in this instance we will be aiding him by adding our power to the spell. And while it is true that you have not mastered the spell, some help is better than none, especially for the distances that we are traveling and the group we have.” He replied.

With a thought, I was clad in my armor, and my helm was donned. As it did, I was greeted by the HUD flashing to life. “Ahh it’s good to see that this works.” I raised up my hand and it began to glow with the armor’s black aura “I’m ready.” I replied as Starswirl, Stygian, and I stood equidistant from each other, surrounding the other 4 pillars, and with a flash, we had appeared…in the forest…more specifically, a bayou. I didn’t see much else, as I was overtaken by nausea and a lack of strength, which made me fall to one knee, drop my pack, and dissipate my helm. “Ah…I think I’m going to hurl.”

Rockhoof chuckled, “The mighty Reaper, brought low by a simple teleportation spell.”

I slowly raised up my hand and gave him the middle finger “Humans don’t have magic dumbass. And besides, I’ve never gone a long distance.”

Starswirl walked up to me “John is right, I’m sorry that I didn’t take that into consideration my friend, do you wish to set up camp here?”

I took a few breaths and laid down on my back in the grass of the bayou “No, just give me five or ten minutes for my stomach to settle and for the world to stop spinning.” Starswirl nodded as he and the other ponies all sat down and began to have snacks I guess. Eventually, the world stopped moving and my stomach settled. I slowly got back up and put my pack back on my back and walked over to the group. “Okay, I’m ready to teleport out of wherever here is”.

“This is my swamp.” Mage replied.

Stygian stood up and put his bags back on is back “Which means it should only take one more teleport to reach the hiking point.”

“Good. And when we get there well set up a FOB, establish a guard rotation, and start scouting the village at night.” I replied

Flash raised his hoof up “Just one question.”

“Well ask it.”

“What’s an FOB?”

“Oh, right, you all don’t speak military” I replied “FOB stand for Forward Operating Base, in this case it’ll be where we set up camp.”

The group gave me a collective “Ah” telling me that they understood me. If all goes well, they won’t need me either. I put my helm back on as the rest of the group stood up.

Stygian walked to the front and looked back to us all “Is every pony ready?” The group nodded as his horn, Starswirls horn, and my gloves all lit up with magic, and with yet another flash, we were at the base of a mountain. I could tell that we were near the ocean from the distinctive smell of salt water in the air. Stygian walked to the front of the group “Now all we have to do is hike to the ridge. It should only take an hour. I shall lead us there.”

“Don’t you think that it would be best for me to lead the way?” I asked

Stygian looked back to me “Why? I doubt that you have been here before.”

“No, I haven’t, but I do have equipment that allows me to negate the sirens effects on me, while the rest of you don’t.” I replied.

“That is true, however, if we get lost, then we won’t need your equipment.” Stygian countered

I nodded as stygian began to walk up the mountain and the group followed, with me at the back. “I swear if I have to carry some pony up this mountain, I’m going to be pissed.”

--

Eventually, we made out way up to the ridge, and from it, we were able to see Stygians village. Stygian dropped his bags down and took out a tent. I had my tent in my bag as well, but id set it up later. “This is where we will set up camp everypony.” I put down my bags and summoned my M4 into my hands before loading in a mag which drew the attention of the group, who like stygian, had begun to set up their tents. Starswirl walked in front of me as I began to walk out of the camp “Just where do you think your going?”

“To secure the area.” I replied.

Rockhoof walked over to us “Why? No pony followed us up here.”

“That doesn’t mean that they won’t come up here to check out the area.” I pointed my thumb towards the village on the horizon. “And I don’t know about you, but Id rather not get caught with my guard down this close to an OPFOR stronghold.”

The rest of the group walked over to me as Sonambula spoke “OPFOR? What’s is that?”

“It means OPposing FORce.” I replied “Now please move so I can go make sure that no pony can sneak up on us using the trail.”

“How do you plan on doing so?” Starswirl asked .

“It’s simple, bullets.” I replied “Ill set up a few tripwire devices, that when triggered, will ignite the powder in the bullet, thus making a loud bang, and alerting the guard on duty and waking everyone else up.” no one moved “Look, its my job to keep you all safe, so please, let me do my job.”

Mistmane stepped forward and placed her hoof on my hand which was resting at my side “Johnathan, you need to relax.”

“I can’t.” I replied “I made a promise.”

Sonambula walked up “You must trust in us. Have hope that things will be alright.”

“Life has taught me otherwise.” I countered

“But that was your life in YOUR world. Equestria is different.” Stygian replied

“I don’t care.” I replied “It may be different, but I am still the same.” I began to walk back down the trail, and as I did, Starswirl walked up behind me

“If you are going somewhere then I will follow you.”

“You don’t need to Starswirl…I can do this alone.” I replied

Another set of hoof steps joined Starswirl, and the voice of Mistmane came up from behind me, “But why do you have to be alone?”

Starswirl looked to Mistmane with shock, and I also saw a different look in his eyes, a look of love. “Look, you two head back to camp. Ill be fine on my own. Ill be back in probably 20 minutes, and besides, I need some time alone.” I tapped on my pendant

Starswirl sighed Alright, but if you are not back in twenty minutes, all seven of us are coming after you.”

“Fine.” I replied and I began to walk down the trail, and as I did, I heard Starswirl speak to Mistmane

“Perhaps you could tell me a little about yourself.”

I chuckled and spoke to myself, “Goodluck Casanova.”

Once I had finished setting up the tripwires, I looked to my watch. I saw that I had about 5 minutes before I had to be back to camp, so I decided that I should take the king and queens advice. I sat down and pulled out my pendant and as I did, I felt a slight warmth in my heart, but I also felt a growing sadness…I missed them so much… I miss being with them. I miss waking up with Celestia, I miss Lunas insight in my dreams, and I miss Cadance’s support. Of all the times in my life that I need them, now would be the one…I need to listen to their messages, even if it kills me. I moved my fingers over Lunas mark, and an image of Luna appeared. It sat down in front of me and smiled.

“Johnathan, I hope this message finds you well. I know that you will be hesitant to want to see it…if I’m honest, I know you probably don’t want to. I know the pain that you are going through. It is very similar to one I felt over my thousand-year banishment.” Her image reached out a hoof and placed it on my shoulder “The pain and anguish will overwhelm you at time, as I’m sure that it has once or twice…it is okay to cry Johnathan. You are not invincible, and you do need help. Let my mother and father help you…well assuming that you have already met them and mother hasn’t sent you to the sun or done anything rash.” She sat there for a moment and tears came to her eyes. “Know this little brother, no matter how far away you may be, I will always love you. I will do whatever is in my power to protect you, as I know you will do the same for me.” then, suddenly, her image moved close to me, and hugged me tightly “Come back to us soon John. Celestia and I miss your cheer.” The image let go of me, smiled at me, and disappeared.

I looked down to the pendant and held it over my heart, “I will sister…I promise.” After a minute, I got back up and started to walk back up the mountain. I got about maybe 100 feet before I heard a large group, maybe 4 sets of hooves. I summoned my armor and rifle, and readied myself for a fight, but instead of an enemy charging me, it was the pillars, with Starswirl and Stygian at the front.

The group came to a stop when they saw mw, and Starswirl walked up looking relieved. “There you are! You had us worried!”

I looked to my watch “So you couldn’t have waited another five minutes?”

He shook his head, “When I say twenty minutes, I mean twenty minutes.”

I sighed “Fine, whatever.”

Flash flew up to me, “So what took you so long? We had begun to think that you may have gone to fight without us.”

“What happened is none of your business.” I replied

Mist Mane stepped forward, “I take it that the delay was of a personal nature.”

I nodded and Mist Mane looked to me with understanding, “I too, miss my home.”

I nodded and began to walk back to camp.

As I walked up the path, I heard some chatter from the group behind me, but none of them came up to me, at least, not until I got back to the camp site.

I got back to the camp site and I began to look through my pack, it took a few minutes, but I was finally able to find my tent, and about 5 minutes later, it was set up. I took my pack and placed it inside, but not before I pulled out a small chair, my sniper, some binoculars, a laser range finder, and a cigar. I set up my chair, sniper, and I lit up my cigar. “Let’s see how far away you are.” I lifted up the binoculars and the rangefinder. I looked for anything that was big enough so that I could be sure the rangefinder was accurate, and through the binos, I saw a decently sized statue in the center of town. A few scans with the rangefinder placed it between 1000-1005 meters away from me. looked around the town some more, and I didn’t see any activity in the town, at least, not until I came across something that looked like a large out-door theater, and from the looks of it, the place was packed and surrounded by what looked to be a green mist. Through that mist, I could see ponies fighting, I mean it was basically the mosh pit of a Slayer concert. I switched to my sniper scope for better magnification, and I saw the source of the mist. It was coming from the ponied themselves, and it was being directed towards the stage. The three beings that were receiving this mist looked to be sea horses of sorts, but they could fly. “Fan-fucking-tastic.” I looked over to the group behind me who was laughing and eating, “Hey Starswirl, come take a look at this.”

I heard him get up and walk over to me “What do you want me to see?”

I moved out of the way and gestured to my sniper “Take a look through the scope, your better with magic than me, so maybe you can tell me what that green mist is and why those three sea-horses are absorbing it.”

He walked up and placed his eye right up to the scope “How can you even see from this? Everything is black except for one tiny spot.”

I sighed “Move your head back about two inches.”

He did as I said “Ah, that’s much better. Now let me see.” He looked through the scope for about 30 second before gasping and looking at me, “I hope your counter measures are effective.”

I grinned “They will be…why?”

“Because if those three sirens have been doing this for days, they will be powerful, and those ponies will be completely under their spell.”

I took a long pull from my cigar, blew the smoke into the air, and watched as the smoke moved off to the east. I then smiled, reached into my tent, and pulled out a speaker, “Trust me, they’ll work.” I then tossed the speaker back into my tent and sat back down in my seat. “winds off to the east here, lets see what is like down there.”

Starswirl sat next to me, I lifted my cigar to my mouth, looked back through the scope and tried to find a flag or something to tell me the wind direction and speed. As I did, he lit up his horn and took the cigar from me, “What is this thing, and what are you doing with it?”

I reached to take the cigar back, but Starswirl levitated it away. I sighed and answered him “It’s a cigar, and I was smoking it.”

“And is it healthy?”

“…..No.”

“They why in Equestria are you doing it?”

“Because it calms me in a way…lets me temporarily forget my pain.”

He sighed and floated the cigar back to me “Please John, stop doing these things. I understand that you miss your bride, but what’s done is done. Doing things like this is only hurting those who care about you in THIS time.” He walked over and placed his hoof on me “Please, come join us around the fire. It will do you some good to make some friends.”

I heard Rockhoof call out behind me “The wizard is right, come join us around the fire, I have a great many tales that I could tell.”

“Look, personally, I’d rather be alone.” I replied taking a long pull from my cigar.

“And why is that dear?” Mistmane replied.

“Because I’m in pain and I want to be alone.”

“Why are you in pain?” Meadowbrook asked bringing out her bandages and salves “Do you have any wounds that need healing?”

“No” I replied “I don’t need healing. I Just need to be alone, my pain is internal…emotional…..I just need some time alone to sort it out.”

“I don’t think so.” Rockhoof said as he got up, picked me up, and sat me down next to him at the fire, “Now then, come enjoy some time with your friends.”

I sighed as I lifted my cigar back to my mouth, only to have it ripped from my hand by Starswirl’s magic, who then promptly tossed it into the fire. I looked at him angrily “What was that for?”

“I will not allow you to harm yourself. The king and queen gave me very strict orders to keep you safe, and that includes protecting you from your self-destructive tendencies.” Starswirl said as he lifted up my other cigars and threw them into the fire. I stood up to do something, but as I did, he levitated up my jars of moonshine “These will be next if you continue with this behavior.”

I stayed standing up, and they all watched as I walked up to the ledge, packed my gear back up, tossed it into my bag, walked into my tent, laid down on my cot, and closed the zipper. I lifted up the pendant again and I just laid there holding it to my heart.

Outside my tent, I heard the pillars whispering about something, most likely me, but I didn’t really care. I was too pissed to care about much of anything. I know that my methods of coping with my situation aren’t healthy, but its not like I can do much else. I cant just empty my rage in a firestorm of bullets because of my limited ammo situation, I cant just get in my truck and floor the accelerator because it got blown the fuck up, I couldn’t take my axes and chop wood because of our proximity to the enemies location, and now I cant drink or smoke because its unhealthy. Why can’t I just be left to my own devices? I’m not a pony for fucks sake. My heart isn’t full of goodness and joy, I don’t have magic, I’m human. Inside my heart is a mix of things, and my ways of de-stressing are different from those of ponies. Are they sometimes unhealthy? Yes. But who gives a damn? Its not like I’m chain-smoking my cigars like Churchill, and so far, I have not gotten drunk at all…but that’s not how they see me. they see me as a broken man on the verge of suicide…sometimes they’re not wrong, but its not easy to get over being ripped away from the one thing that made you feel truly loved…I sighed as I looked to the pendant “And I pretty sure that they won’t ever understand anything about humans…humans aren’t like ponies, sure they are capable of great and kind things, but that’s not our nature. By nature, humans are cruel, violent, destructive things. The sad thing is, most of us enjoy it too, as long as we come out on top, we don’t care how we got there. We hurt ourselves or we hurt others with everything that we do. I see now why we were banished from this place. Our nature is one of destruction, and it would not have been long before we ruined this place. Our own nature is the final nail in humanities coffin…..and yet for some unknown reason, for some crazy ass prophecy, I was brought here to Equestria, and to Celestia…she made me feel like I deserved good things….like I deserved to be loved…she made me believe in love again...i knew this was going to be hard…and we both knew that we would have to be separated for some time in order for this spell to allow me to be by her side for eternity…but we weren’t prepared for how we got separated…we thought it would be on our terms, that there would be lifelines in place, that it would just be a simple task with me being gone for maybe a week total…but this…..it’s changed me…what will become of me by the time I return to her…will she even take me back when I return, after what I’ve become?” I looked down to my pendant and a tear rolled down my face as the zipper on my tent opened and all of the pillars were sitting down outside of it, and in front of the door to my tent, was my box of cigars and my moonshine.

Starswirl levitated them up and into my tent as he spoke “Your right my friend, humans are different from ponies, but your nature…your nature is different. I was wrong to do what I did…There is so much about humanity that I have yet to learn, and I cannot make assumptions, but there is one thing that I know for certain. You are not as bad as you think you are.”

“Look at me Starswirl, then look at the rest of you, I don’t exactly scream ‘hero.”

“And nor do I” Stygian replied cutting in, “But here I am. I sought out these ponies because I believed in the good that they can do for this world, and you would not be here if you did not fall under that category.”

“And how exactly do I do that?” I asked

“Well there’s your little doohickeys for starters.” Rockhoof replied “They can make sounds, and you can control them from your thingamajig on your arm.”

“My speakers?”

“Yes. They will allow us to save the world by preventing those sirens from taking control of us.”

“It aint over till the fat lady sings.” I replied, which earned me odd glances from my part members. I sighed and replied, “Its an expressions, basically, it means that we shouldn’t celebrate anything until the job is done. Just because my speakers work, doesn’t mean that they’ll work against their magic.”

Starswirl nodded, and looked to stygian. “If that is the case, we should probably research a spell to aid us in that respect.”

“I agree” Stygian replied “We should be prepared for any event.”

“Which is why wer aren’t going to attack untill we can fully understand our enemies” I replied. “I figure that gives you two maybe 48 hours unless we get spotted, so use it wisely.”

They both nodded and went back off to their tents, leaving me with the rest fo the group.

“That goes for the rest of you, get some rest. Ill take first watch tonight.” I looked to flash “Ill be waking you up in a few hours to take the next shift, followed by Rockhoof, then Mage, then Mistmane. The next few days are going to be interesting. Tomorrow im going to observe that village, and tomorrow night, im going to set up my speakers. The day after that, we liberate the town.”

They all just nodded and each of them went back to their tents as I got out of mine. I again had gear from earlier, so I set up my perch and watched. The sun set maybe 15 minutes lter, and not long after, I was startled out of my focus by a light and a hoof on my shoulder. In response, I spun around with my pistol appearing in my hand, but the face I was greated by was one of a friend. The pony from the tree of harmony. She smiled at me and sat down next to me as I sighed and went back to my watch

“How are you even here?”

The pony pointed at the pendant around my neck

“I figured as much…so why are you here?”

She again pointed at me, then to her eyes, then me. I figure her message was that she’s here because of me and that she is watching me

“I know that you’re watching me, and I don’t even know your name! But why do you care so much about me, and why wont you speak to me?”

The alicorns ears flattened and she looked down and I looked back into my scope as I heard the alicorn scratching the ground.

I sighed and looked back to her as I spoke, “Look, I’m sorry… I’m a simple man, all I wanted was to be with the mare that I loved. Never in my life did I think that this was going to happen, hell, I didn’t even think that I would end up finding love, but I did…and I suppose I have you to thank for that, even though I don’t know your reasons.”

She looked up at me and smiled as she pointed down to where she was scratching at the ground, and I saw that she wasn’t scratching at all, but she had written something in the dirt. A single word, “Harmonia.” She pointed to the word, then to her, smiled at me, and disappeared.