The Journals Of A Human

by EOD_Operator

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Alternate Universe, Romance, Princess Luna, Self Insert, Profanity, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Sex, Human
Length: 116055

A human has returned to Equestria. this is his own record of his actions in this strange new world.

For many years, Humans have been nothing more than myths in Equestria, old tales used at campfires and what not. But one human, shunned by his own people for his mental disorder, has been chosen to be brought back to this magical world. who or what brought him to the magical world and why is unknown to him, but what follows is the accounting if his actions, his love, his hate, and of foes that will test every fiber of his being.

Published 2017-03-21 02:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-04-27 22:39:59 UTC

Prolougue - Slinging Some Plastic

Author's Note

So I added a prologue as part of the re-work. I do appologize for it taking so long, but work and college take priority. so thank you all for bearing with me, and with that said, heres the story.

Definition of acronyms

DMR: Designated Marksman Rifle

LMG: Light Machine Gun

QRF: Quick Response Force

OPFOR: OPposing FORce

Fraggos: Term used in MilSim to describe side objectives that upon completion, will grant the team more points or equipment.

Technicals: trucks with mounted machine gun

Prolougue - Slinging Some Plastic

Life. Love. Happiness. I deserved none of these. Every story has a beginning, something to I guess provide context or something like that. This is mine. Before Equestria, there was earth. There was my home, and empty one. There was me, a depressed, 225 pound, cowardly, computer engineer with Tourettes and no friends. A man who had to hide his disorder from everyone he knew, because if they found out, he’d go from being a co-worker or squad mate, to a useless retard. A man who in his free time, played military simulation, in hopes of getting to feel like there was something that he could do in order to feel like a “real man”, like a man that women wanted to actually date instead of use to make their boyfriends jealous. a man who was sitting on his couch, with tactical gear in a pile in front of him, deciding whether or not he should even go out. He knew that he would go, after all, Airsoft was the one thing that brought him joy now. And besides, he had paid 150 bucks for this two day Op. Eventually, he sighed and put his gear into his truck, a black, beat up, 2004 GMC canyon. “Spring Offensive here I come”.

After an hour and a half in the truck, he arrived at the event. He smiled as he drove into the parking lot and was greeted by the smiled of other players who were already geared up and heading to the briefing area to be driven out to their respective spawn locations. He parked his truck and put on his own gear before grabbing his own Airsoft rifle, magazines, a radio, a medkit, some spare ammo, batteries, and water. A half hour later, he was out at his own spawn and conversing with the team commander who assigned him a squad and gave him Op orders. He walked out of the command tent and assembled his squad and began to brief them “Okay guys, we gotta go clear castle Everfree and a field in grid Kilo 5. We’ll be working with another squad who will be attacking it from the other side. Command wants this objective taken and held so we can gain the ability to use artillery and a few fraggos. Any questions?”

One guy raised his hand “What’s the callsigns?”

“We are Reaper Squad, and our support is going to be Crossroads. Command is godfather.” Each of the 9 guys in front of him nodded

“Any other questions?” no one spoke. “then lets go.” The ten-man squad jogged away from their base, towards their objective, and unbeknownst to them, half the enemy force.

Once they reached the edge of the woods, the earpiece in the leaders ear crackled to life. He motioned for the squad to halt and spread out across the tree line as he received a message. “Reaper 1-1, this is Godfather, be advised, Crossroads has encountered a large hostile force. 50 plus hostiles with technical support. Number of technical unknown. QRF callsign Razor and friendly technical callsign Warhorse are inbound. Contact on frequency 21. Over.”

He depressed the push to talk button on his headset “Reaper 1-1 acknowledges all and requests update on Op-Orders. Over.”

“Reaper 1-1 this is Godfather, Op-Orders are as follows, engage at your discretion, but be advised, you will not have support.over.”

“Roger, command, wait one” he switched to another channel “This is Reaper 1-1 to Razor and Warhorse. Requesting ETA. Over.”

Another voice came over the radio with the sound of an engine in the background “Reaper this is Warhorse, ETA five Mikes. Over.”

“Reaper this is Razor, ETA ten mikes. Over.”

“Reaper acknowledges all, you guys better haul ass because we're about to do something stupid. Over.”

“Roger Reaper, well do what we can, Over”

He switched back to the command channel “Command this is Reaper, Were going to move to capture Everfree. Over.”

“Command acknowledges. Upon capture, command of artillery support will be transferred to you if needed. Good luck 1-1, Over and out.”

He then pressed the push to talk button on a smaller radio. One that he used to talk to his squad “Okay, we're gonna push the objective and capture it. We will not have support and we won't have much time to strong point it because OPFOR is right on our heels. I want the DMR and one of the LMG’s on the high point., and the other LMG and one of the launchers on the far side. Everyone else, spread out inside the castle and get ready for some fun.” As he stood up, so did the rest of his squad.

Seconds before they reached the castle, all hell broke loose. The tree line erupted with the sound of electric gunfire and three pickup trucks with LMG’s mounted in the back burst out of the tree line. One of his squad members dropped to a knee and rose his gun into the air “Hit!! Medic no!”

The one squad member had been hit just outside the entrance to the castle. He looked to the right to the tree line and saw that there was an enemy squad moving to flank. He didn’t have much time. He looked to the SAW gunner “Cover me”

The SAW gunner nodded and placed himself on a wall were he could cover the leader without getting hit. Once he was in place he got on his radio “Set”

The leader readied himself and got on his radio “Covering fire”

The SAW gunner opened up and began to spray plastic pellets into the tree line as the leader ran and grabbed the downed squad mate before dragging him back into the castle and into cover. He reached into his pack and pulled out a white piece of cloth and wrapped it around his arm. The squadmate had been revived. “Your back in the game, now get up top and raise the team flag.

The squadmate stood up, nodded, and took off up the stairs. A few minutes later the radio in the leaders ear again came to life. “Reaper 1-1, this is Godfather. Objective is ours. Contact artillery call sign Observer on frequency 13. Over ”

He quickly grabbed a red smoke grenade from his vest, pulled the pin, and threw it out into the field, which was now full of the advancing enemy force. As he did this, he changed the channels and began to speak into his radio “Message to observer. Requesting fire mission. Grid to suppress, Kilo 5 Alpha. Smoke on the deck by target!”

A voice came over the radio “Message received, shot out, splash in 6 seconds.”

Sure enough, six seconds later, a large puff of white smoke enveloped the field and scores of people shouting hit were heard by the leader and his squad.

The voice of Observer came back over the radio “Reaper this is observer, Targets suppressed. Over ”

The leader spoke “Roger Observer, nice shooting, you just saved our asses. Over.”

And with that the leader switched back to the command channel “Godfather this is Reaper, OPFOR neutralized, objective secure.”

But as he spoke, the wind changed direction, and the smoke from the grenades began to blow into the castle. The radio cut out, and the leader couldn’t see anything. The smoke was beginning to make his head hurt, he had to find a way out, but before he could. The pain In his head intensified, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Chapter 1-Welcome to Equestria

My name is John Cormier.

I am a human.

This is my story.

Last time I checked, I was a six foot tall white guy that is about two hundred twenty pounds. I have light brown hair and blue eyes. How I got here is a mystery to me. What I do know is that, one second I’m was walking back to respawn at an Spring offensive, Airsoft event, and the next moment I’m in a strange world of magical talking ponies.

Anyways, on with the story.

I slowly came to and looked around to see that i was at the bottom of some sort of canyon.

What happened?

As I looked around, I noticed a strange looking tree in a cave in front of me, below an old castle, along with all of my gear. This shocked me at first because I’d looked over the event area myself, and there's no way in hell that this was a part of it. I trudged over and collected all my items together, and looked into my gear pack for a quick inventory.

I was already wearing my plate carrier but there was no helmet to be found. However, I did find my 1911, my M4A1 with an ACOG, and my five day pack inside of a medium ruck. The pack consisted of spare clothing which was mostly socks or shirts, more loaded magazines for both weapons, a few MREs, and a compact sleep system, but as I inspected my weapons, I almost dropped them. My Airsoft guns had been replaced with the real thing. Instead of pellets, I had bullets. Instead of an HPA gun and CO2 pistol, I had real firearms. I quickly picked them up and secured them, making sure that no one would be hurt, when I noticed that no one was around.

I looked to the world around me, and i decided it would be for the best if i took the weapons and gear with me. I then looked further around my surroundings to see that I was in a cave of sorts that continued on behind that same weird tree and as I did, I finally noticed what the tree was made of.

Holy shit is this thing made of fucking crystals?

Another inspection of the tree confirmed that it was. I was quite surprised at first, but in hindsight, my first moments here was probably the least weird compared to what laid in store for me later.

After I had fully regained my bearings, which took a while as I was in front of a crystal fucking tree. My first plan of action was to try and explore the surroundings that I was in and try to figure out just where i was exactly in the castle above me, and try to get a call out on my Baofeng. So I threw on my ruck, secured my sidearm into my holster on my waist, slung my rifle across my chest, and proceeded toward the cave.

The cave opened into some kind of canyon in front of an old castle which looks like it’s close to falling down, and I could see old stone steps leading up the side of the canyon wall to it.

Ok, I’ve got a way out of here but let’s check out the rest of this place first.

I walked into the cave and brought my rifle up to bear while I switched on the attached surefire flashlight.

I walked for maybe a few hundred feet before I hit the wall of the cave. There was nothing in here. Why would this space be here if there was nothing? The walls themselves looked fairly natural, but there was some man-made aspects to the cave here, so I started to feel around the wall while tapping it.

After ten minutes of this, my efforts bore fruit. My inspection of the wall had revealed an area of maybe ten feet high, and five feet wide where when I tapped the wall it sounded different.

It could be a door.

I felt around for some kind of way to open it, when my hand brushed by one of the little outcroppings. Then with a hiss, the door opened slowly. Of course, I backed away and readied my rifle incase anything came out of the new opening.

As it revealed the otherside, I saw a dark passageway which lead up to something above, most likely the castle that I saw earlier above my location. This is a stupid idea, but I don’t fucking care anymore. I pointed my rifle up the passage which illuminated it and proceeded up the steps.

My assumption about the stairs were correct, they did lead into the castle. I slowly opened the door to try to keep myself unnoticed, but as I did, i realized that the place was empty. The stairs themselves opened up into a library of sorts, that looked to be connected to a throne room, which in itself was connected to the tower. I followed the stairs up the tower and set my stuff down by the broken window. I then took out my solar charger and let it sit in the sun. i wanted to make sure my radio and phone had power. The radio for coms, and the phone for GPS. someone would come for me, and i wanted to make it easy to be found. I took out my baofeng and turned it on to the frequency that I was given for the field staff. I then held down the button on my headset and spoke “Hey, is anyone out there, I may or maynot have gotten lost and need some help back to base”

I sat there in wait for a minute, but got no response

“I'm serious guys, this shit aint funny, I could use a hand here”

Again the no response. I kept at this for maybe a half hour, even tried my phone, but it had no signal. With all my options exhausted, I switched the radio to the emergency frequency, 406 MHz

I sighed as I pushed down the button and began to broadcast “Mayday Mayday Mayday. My name is John Cormier, Im requesting immediate aid. I'm lost in the middle of nowhere with limited supplies, requesting direction or aid to my location, over”

I waited for five minutes for a response that should have come in five seconds. Fearing that the transmission got garbled, or no one heard it, I tried again

“Mayday Mayday Mayday, person in need of immediate assistance, does anyone copy? I Repeat, Mayday Mayday Mayday”

Again no response, but in this period of silence, I heard some noise. It was two voices, one female and one male. I immediately shut off the radio so i could hear them better. As the female voice spoke.

"Come on Spike, we need to get some of these books back to the castle library before they get damaged," the female voice stated, "I'm surprised that these books are still here, even after a thousand years exposed to the elements."

She sounded young, probably in her early twenties. Then the male voice came in, his was that of a young child.

"But why did we have to come out here so early Twilight?" the male voice stated.

I opened the door slowly while I peeked through. What I saw made me double take. Coming up the stairs before me there was a light purple pony with a horn and wings with a purple mane that had a reddish stripe going through it. She was about waist height to me and had some kind of sparkly stars looking tattoo on her flank. Right beside her was a small purple and green dragon. He was about half her height and to my disbelief, they were talking.

Okay, this has got to be a dream or something.

The purple pony, turned to the dragon, "Well why else would the map send us out to here, all of this knowledge is in danger of being lost.”

I tried to close the door so I could sneak away and reevaluate what I just saw. Unfortunately ancient doors make noise, lots of noise. So as I closed the door, a very loud creek echoed out in the tower which startled the two talking creatures.

"What was that!?" Spike yelled, both the pony and the dragon looked to where I was.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the door fully closed in time and was left exposed. Left with no other alternative I threw the door open and rushed out of the room.

“Don’t fucking move!” I brought my rifle up and aimed at the two, “Who and what the fuck are you?!”

The two were startled by aggressive tone but before I could react, I was wrapped in some kind of pink aurora, with the same aurora coming from the purple one’s horn. I was levitated closer while my weapon was removed from my grasp by the aurora. I flailed around trying to escape the magic field that was holding me, but to no avail as I my limbs were all pinned tightly against my body.

"What are you?" she asked, "I've never seen a...minotaur like you before."

"Minotaur?" I responded “I’m a human for your information.” I tried to struggle, but i couldn't free myself “Now where am I and what kind of technology is this, it is almost like...magic.”

She looked at me like she was confused, "This is the land of Equestria,” she replied matter of factly, “and have you never seen magic?!"

I look at her skeptically and then said, "Yeah right, this sounds like something out of a...nevermind but I’m a reasonable guy, so if you let me go I’ll cooperate in exchange for some help."

She let the me go from her magical grasp, letting my comment about her ‘magic’ slide and walked toward the doors, "Follow me then."

Once she set me down and I collected my weapon, I began to weigh my options.

So, I seemed to be trapped in some sort of mythical fantasy land with multiple sapient species with one of them being talking horses. Great.

I let out a deep sigh and followed after her, along with her little dragon who remained silent but wary of me.

Might as well form good relations with the local nationals and see where this takes me, not like I have many other realistic options.

“My name is John by the way.”

She stopped and faces me to hold out her hoof, “Twilight Sparkle.”

I took it and we shook, “Well I guess it’s nice to meet you.”

Hopefully I won't be needing to run away, it is unlikely I would escape her magic.

I continued to follow her and we walked the narrow path in silence for some time, maybe fifteen minutes, before we came to the edge of the woods.

There was a small town was visible in the distance. It looked like one of those old traditional, cottage style towns that you’d find somewhere in Europe.

“Finally civilization, or at least some form of it, I appreciate the guidance.” I started to walk towards the town, but oddly enough, she kept following me.

Soon enough, I saw why.

on the edge of the town was another crystal tree, and this one was huge, and from the looks of it. It had a colossal castle on top of it.

“What the fuck?” my language shocked Twilight, and caused her to put her hooves over spikes ears while sending me a stern glare.

As she did, I began to notice something else about the small town.

Ponies. Ponies everywhere.

The town was filled with more pastel colored ponies than a young girl’s room.

“Holy shitbucket, I’ve got to be high on ketamine or drunk or something.”

“Watch your language!” she sternly scorned, “and you’re not imagining this, this is my home, Ponyville.”

She walked in front of me, with the little dragon now riding on her back, and lead me through the town. Of course, to me it felt like a perp walk, because as I walked through the town, every-err-pony, stopped what they were doing to look at me like I was some animal at a zoo.

Every once in a while, Twilight would point some things out to me. Like the town hall, the local restaurant, a few shops here and there. I will admit, overall it’s actually a nice little town, aesthetically speaking. I don’t know about its inhabitants yet, as I didn’t exactly talk to any of them.

It took me a minute to realize, but she was walking me to the castle, probably to meet their leadership. Something that may not bode well with me as I was in military clothes with unfamiliar weaponry. I wasn’t exactly going to come off as a harmless individual.

As we approached the doors, Twilight turned to me and said, "This...” she gestured to the grand crystal castle before us, “This is my home."

I just stared at her in awe.

She had to be pulling my leg.

"You live here?" I asked

The one I now know as Spike the dragon jumped off her back and opened the door. "Yep!" he casually stated, “Welcome to the castle of the princess of friendship.”

I just stood there absolutely flabbergasted, "The princess of friendship?” I said with obvious doubt to my voice, “Okay this is definitely a dream.”

Less than ten seconds after that statement, there was a high-pitched scream from behind me. I turned around with my rifle at the low ready to see what it was. I had just enough time to see a fancy looking umbrella before I was smacked over the head with it.

"Get away from my friends’ you...you...you..." the female metropolitan voice behind the umbrella wavered off in her anger as she took a closer look at me.

Twilight turned around and yelled, "Rarity wait, he's a guest! I found him in the old castle."

I grumbled to myself as I robbed the sore spot on my head, and stood back up "Definitely not a dream…”

The refined voice belonged to a unicorn pony, similar in size to twilight. She was white, with a violet mane, and with another one of those tattoos in the same spot on the flanks in the form of three diamonds.

"Oh dear heavens!" she responded, "My apologies darling, that was very unladylike of me."

I stopped rubbing my head where she hit me and gave her a slight nod, "It’s ok, I’ve been through worse."

The white unicorn nodded back, "Well, I am Rarity and may I ask your name as well as what you are?"

"My name is John and I am a human."

She looked to Twilight, "I thought they were only myths?”

Twilight shook her head, “I did too, I thought he was a strange minotaur at first.”

“Well here I am, the mythical human...” I stated sardonically.

Twilight rubbed her chin for a second before gasping “Oh! Idea!~”

“Come this way John,” She turned toward Spike, “get a pen and some paper.”

She grabbed my arm in her magic and pulled me along into what looked like the castle library as Rarity followed.

“Take a seat, I’ve got some questions to ask you when spike gets here.” She pulled up a chair for me to sit in, as Rarity walked over to me and inspected where I’d been hit.

“Are you sure that you’re alright darling, that looks like an awfully dreadful bump.”

“I’m fine,” while out of the corner of my eye, I watched as books began to fly around. A few of them, maybe three or four, landed on the table in front of me and each opened to a certain page.

“So, you’re using ‘magic’ to do all this?” I asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied as she turned around and brought over a chair for her. She set two more chairs into a semi-circle in front of me. As she did so, Rarity continued her answer.

“Yes, unicorns as well as alicorns in Twilight’s case, can use the magic in our horns for things like; fine manipulation of the environment, spells, or even teleportation.”

“Huh, neat…. hang on, alicorn?” I replied.

“Yup,” Twilight replied, “A combination of all three types of ponies; earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi.”

“Ah I see,” I replied.

Not much later, Spike came into the room, and the three of them all sat down across from me. Spike lifted up a quill and what looked like some kind of scroll and nodded to Twilight.

Twilight looked at me directly, “So John, where are you from?”

“I’m from Earth, it's where my kind resides and from what I can infer, this land Equestria is on a different planet.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“Humans are the only truly sapient species on the our planet, not to mention we’ve explored all of our planet, and we haven’t found anything like this place. So I’d have to bet that I’m on a different planet.”

“I see...” Twilight responded.

I broke off my focus on her and looked to see that spike was furiously taking notes.

I pointed to him “I’m guessing that you’re having him transcribe what I say?”

“As always!” the little dragon answered, “Twilight likes to make sure that her information is as accurate as possible.”

I smiled, ”Well she does seem to be quite the studious type, maybe even a bit of an egghead.”

Spike and Rarity snickered as Rarity replied, “A good friend of ours would say so.”

Twilight cut back in wanting to continue her study of me, “Anyways back to you John, what did you do for work?”

“I built computers, but in my freetime I rehearsed combat scenarios, hence my uniform and weaponry.”

That peaked Twilights interest and got Rarity to look at me oddly as Twilight spoke, “Interesting, I am unfamiliar with your weaponry and why you still have them, but that definitely explains some things.”

Rarity spoke up, “Yes, and it would also explain his rugged look which I didn't notice when I first saw him.”

I just put my hand over my face and shook my head at that as she continued, “Honestly darling, you do look rather handsome and I’m sure that all the mares will swoon for you, especially with nicer attire.”

I chuckled at that, “Yeah sorry but no, I’m not exactly the fancy or refined type I'm just a simple guy at heart,” I sighed, ”Also, a woman genuinely falling in love with me?” I scoffed, “That's just a bullshit fairytale to me.”

The two mares were shocked. Both by my language and answer. Honestly, the only one in the room who wasn’t looking at me funny was spike. He was too busy staring at Rarity.

Ah, to be young and in love.

“John, why is your view so negative?” Twilight asked.

“It may be somewhat negative, but it’s the reality I have lived with,” I stated, “and all I can do is accept it and just get used to the loneliness...”

There was an awkward silence that followed as the ponies in the room were stunned by my words. I then cleared my throat to break the silence.

“Look, I know this is a little fast and I'll understand if you say no,” I took a deep breath and exhaled, “but do you have a place where I could crash for a night?”

They both just sat there and stared

“I’d be gone tomorrow after breakfast, and I’ll pay you when I can get the money,” I scratched my beard, “but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think this place accepts american dollars as a valid currency.”

Twilight didn’t even take a second to respond, “Of course! The Castle has a bunch of guest rooms and I wouldn't mind if you stayed in one, also don’t worry about payment.”

I was somewhat surprised “That is...quite generous...uh your majesty…”

She giggled, “Please, there’s no need for formalities. Just call me Twilight, I’ll have Owlicious lead you to a room. Just give me a few seconds to talk with my friends here and I will meet you there.”

From behind me I heard the flapping of wings and a small cooing, “Whooo.”

I turned around to see a small owl hovering behind me as Twilight spoke, “Yes Owlicious thank you, just follow him John.”

I picked up my stuff and followed the owl as the flew slowly down the hall to a small set of double doors and unlocked them.

“Thanks man,” I replied as I walked into the room, and holy shit was this place was fancy.

I just stood there in the room and gawked at its finery. The room was more than large enough for a human and with matching furniture. There was also a set of glass double doors that opened up to a balcony and another door on the side wall opened to a large luxury bathroom.

I heard two sets of hooves come up behind me and turned to see Twilight and Rarity walking up. I looked to Twilight with awe, "Wow, and you’re sure you’re okay with me staying here?"

"Of course, I always treat my guests well.” she replied, as I walked over to the bed and set my pack and gear down Rarity walked up to me.

"Again, I’d like to apologize for my earlier actions dear, in fact, stop by my shop when you can and I’ll make you some clothes better than those garish military rags that you have on as an apology."

I looked at her and then back to my pack as I realized that I really only have five days of clean shirts and socks, well maybe longer if I stretch everything. Though my combat top and bottom would be filthy.

"I’ll take you up on that offer then."

A smile came across her face as she replied, "Splendid darling, I’ll see you then, ta ta~," as she turned and walked out, Twilight walked in with a scroll in her grasp which looked kind of official. It had some sort of seal on it and it was addressed to me.

"This came in for you," she floated the letter over to me.

"I have mail already? I haven't been here for long."

"Well while you were getting settled in, I had spike send a letter to Princess Celestia. I think she is interested in meeting you."

I opened the letter.

Dear John,

My name is Princess Celestia.

I have been notified of your arrival to our world by my faithful student, and I have been given the transcript of her interview with you.

I would like to have an audience with you at my home here in Canterlot.

I know you have many questions for me and I will do my best to answer them, just as I hope that you will be able to answer some of mine.

Yours, Princess Celestia

I set the letter down on my bed and walked out to the balcony to watch the sunset. Something about that letter, something about that name, Celestia. It stirred something inside me, I don’t know what it was, but it lasted for only a second or two.

I must be anxious, she does seem to be the head honcho here.

Twilight walked up to me and asked "So what did it say?"

"Well the Princess wants to see me tomorrow."

"Really? That’s great news!"

"If you say so, now do you have anything I could write in?” I gestured around the room, “maybe an empty journal or a notebook?" with a small flash she made one appear in my hand.

"Here you go," Twilight replied, then she turned to leave.

“Hey uh Twilight?” I called out.

“Yes?”

I looked down at the scroll and looked back up to her “Could you tell me about Celestia?”

“Sure, what would you like to know?”

“Honestly, I don’t know… tell me anything about her; her past, how she looks, anything.”

“May I ask why?”

“Just so I can prepare for my meeting with her and ease my anxiousness.”

“I see...well let’s see what I can do,” Her horn glowed and a few orbs began to appear around me, each one containing a snapshot of something.

“What are these?” I asked.

“They’re snapshots of sorts, pieces of Equestrian history.”

I took a look at them and noticed that Celestia was in almost all of them, and as I saw her I noticed I was feeling more anxious but couldn't place about what.

“What do you think John?”

“She certainly seems interesting.”

“Hmm, also here are some of my memories.” Her horn flared again and one of the orbs opened up and was displayed in front of us.

What came into view was a towering white Alicorn in gold jewelry sitting before me, with a flowing mane of Cerulean, Turquoise, a light pink, and a light blue, with her Magenta eyes staring down at us and a smile on her face. I could tell from this that she was very regal but not uptight in nature, she also looked...stunning.

Wait what?

I shook my head at those thoughts and with a flash of Twilight’s horn, the image before me began to play out and Celestia began to speak

“Eventually I realized all the anxiety I felt was because I didn’t want you to go.” As she spoke softly I found myself fixated on her gentle caring voice.

“I loved having you as a student as you challenged me and taught me just as much I taught you,” Celestia looked shamefully at the ground, “I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was afraid that if you made friends, you wouldn’t need me anymore.”

The vision disappeared along with the rest of the orbs and I was left with the image of her smiling face burned into my mind.

Once again, it brought back some form of what must have been anxiousness in my chest but this time though there was a warmth there that wasn't before.

As I contemplated these strange feelings,I felt something tap my leg, and I realized then that I had spaced about for quite a bit.

I shook my head and sat down on my bed, “Sorry Twilight, that I spaced out there.”

“Don’t worry, you seemed perplexed and I didn't want to bother you.”

“Yeah...”

“Are you really that nervous about meeting the princess?”

“I guess so.” I replied with sigh as I laid down on the comfy bed.

She put her hoof on my leg, “Its okay she is a very kind pony.”

“Still, I can't help but feel anxious about-”

“Trust me,” she interrupted, “and don’t worry, when you meet her I will be there to support you.”

"Thanks,” I replied then yawning, “i think i'm going to call it a night."

She walked to the door "Ok, good night John."

"Good night Twilight..."

Well that’s all I have for today. Tomorrow I go to meet another princess and maybe I can find out more about Equestria. Though it seems that this is only, the beginning...

Chapter 2- Majesty

This day did not exactly go the way that I'd have liked it to, but then again I have the shittiest luck.

So, I learned to just roll with it.

I woke up to a loud crash within the castle. Instinctively, I grabbed the nearest weapon, my handgun, and a spare magazine. I paced smoothly down the hall scanning quickly every nook and cranny as I went, until I came across a larger set of double doors from where the sound originated from.

I'm really getting sick of these things.

So I stepped off to the side to the right side of the doorway, and kept my sidearm ready. I paused for a moment to listen, thinking that maybe I was just overreacting, but then a loud and high pitched scream immediately kicked me into overdrive. I kicked open the door busting the latch, rushing in with my barrel up, and as I scanned across the room looking for threats I noticed the five mares sitting in crystal thrones. They were around a large map and were staring at me mouth agape. It was then I realized that not only did I probably barge threateningly into what was most likely a friendly get together, but I was also only in my underwear.

Yeah, not one of my finest moments...

Twilight was the first to speak, “Uhhh John, what was that all about?”

“Well I heard a loud noise, I went to investigate and then a loud scream came through this door,” I responded.

Rarity stepped through the door I had come through, she took a second to assess the damage to the door then looking over to me over before responding, “Oh well then I should thank you for your actions then...” she paused, “...also apologies for instigating them with my scream.”

She then gave looked over at my nearly undressed form with a slight blush, “Oh may I ask, do all humans usually dress so….minimalistically?”

I cleared my throat a bit with tint of rose color to my cheeks, “Well, this is fairly standard athletic underwear humans wear, I usually dress like this when I sleep to stay cool......and since I was trying to get here in a hurry I didn’t have time to change into my normal clothes.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry for startling you darling, which reminds me, I would like you to come with me after breakfast so I can take your measurements for your new clothing,” She stated.

“Ok, I’ll be over after then….and may I ask you a question?” I asked while looking intently at the diamonds on her flank.

“Yes darling?”

“What is it with the marks on your flanks, I noticed almost everypony I’ve seen has one.”

Twilight and the other four mares got out of their chairs and walked to me, and I noticed that they were all similarly about half my size in height. A slightly taller orange mare with a blonde mane spoke up, “Well they’re our cutie marks,” She had a southern accent and her mark was three apples, “Ah’m Applejack, but you can call me AJ.” She stuck out her hoof to which I stuck out my hand, I was surprised by a firm and energetic shake.

The next mare to come up to me was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, “Don’t humans have cutie marks?” She questioned with a tilt of her head,” Oh, and I’m Rainbow Dash by the way, fastest flyer in all of Equestria,” she had a cloud with a red, yellow and blue lightning bolt. She sounded cocky, especially about the fastest flyer bit, with a bit of a rasp to her voice but friendly all the same.

The next mare to come up to me was a pale gold pegasus with a pale pink mane and three butterflies for her cutie mark. She spoke in a very soft and gentle voice, “I’m fluttershy...” I didn’t hear her at first, so I got kneeled down while trying to look as passive as possible. I was lowered to about her height and spoke softly, “I’m John.” This time she spoke a bit louder, “I-I’m Fluttershy...”

I smiled at her for pushing through her shyness, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Fluttershy.” She looked up and smiled back at me.

Last in the line was a pink earth pony, with an even brighter pink mane. When I went to introduce myself, she just gasped then ran off in puff of dust leaving me just standing there with a confused look on my face.

Twilight just walked up to me and said, “Don’t worry, that’s just pinkie pie being pinkie pie.”

“Ah…..Well, I think that I’m going to go get dressed, what time do we have to meet with the princess?”

Twilight glanced to the clock that was hanging on the wall, “Well the next train to Canterlot leaves in about an hour and a half, so you should have enough time to meet with Rarity and then get to the station.”

“Ok, I’ll see you then.”

I walked into my room to change into my combats and don all my gear. Once out of the castle, I made my way through the town. It took me about ten minutes to find Rarity’s shop, I’ll admit, I may have had to stop for directions. Also, I found that most of the local ponies were actually quite welcoming. One of them being a zebra of all things, was the one who gave me directions to Rarities place. Though she said it all in some of sort of rhyme.

I stopped outside Rarities shop, the words ‘Carousel boutique’ hung from a sign above the doorway. I opened the door and saw that Rarity was standing in the center of the shop, behind a mannequin doing something. As I opened the door, it hit a little bell which signaled its opening, and caused Rarity to look up.

“Good morning darling, come this way, and I’ll get your measurements!~” Her horn ignited around my arm and I ducked to avoid smacking my head on the low door.

She led me into a more open area and then she brought out a piece of measuring tape, “Now I need you to take of your clothes so I can take your measurements.”

So, I took off all my gear and clothes, leaving me in only my underwear, “I do mean everything off darling, most ponies don't wear much anyways.” Before I could say anything in protest, her horn lit up as she removed my boxers leaving me completely naked.

The look on her face was absolutely hilarious.

“O-o-oh my uhm,” was all she managed to say as I grabbed my boxers and put them back on.

“I tried to warn you, there’s a reason that we wear clothes and especially on our lower half.” It took her a few minutes, but Rarity finally regained her composure and set off to taking my measurements.

Once she had finished she asked, “So what exactly would you like me to make you?”

I lifted up my uniform, “For starters, I’d like two more of these in this pattern, two in a tan color, two in black, and two plain black tops with tan bottoms. Then maybe some more casual clothes as well, and if I came at a bad time, I can wait,” Rarity studied my uniform closely.

“Don’t worry darling, your clothes will be ready very soon, I love a good challenge. Now go on, you have a train to catch.”

I smiled as I put my gear back on and walked out the door. Just before it closed, I heard Rarity sigh, “I wouldn't mind measuring him some more...”
I got a good laugh out of that.

Eventually I made my way to the station, but my luck wasn’t having it today. In front of the station was Twilight and some other very tall unicorn pony. She was about to my the middle of my chest in height which was about a head taller than most, with a white coat and a pink mane that kind of looked similar to Fluttershy’s. There were other ponies there, but I could already hear the conductor’s announcement, “I’m sorry folks but the train is out of service, all tickets will be refunded or replaced for tickets on a later train if we can get this one repaired.”

“Shitbucket,” I replied as I walked up to Twilight, “So I take it there’s been a delay?”

“Unfortunately, yes, the train seems to be broken and they don’t know how long it will be to repair it” she replied

“So, what’s that mean for my meeting with Celestia?” I asked

“I’m glad you asked” she replied “I already sent her a letter informing her that you would be late, but that you would be hiking up the mountain”

I looked down to her with a look on my face that just said ‘Really?’

She saw my look and sighed “Don’t worry, it should only be a day’s hike, and I’ve arranged for a guide to help you”

I stuck my hand out to the guide “I’m John”

She smiled and shook it back and her voice sounded a little older than she looked but I paid it no mind “Thank you dear, my name is Majesty, I’ll be your guide up to Canterlot”

I un-clipped my rifle and reconfigured the sling for a two-point and slung the rifle on my back over my pack “Well it’s nice to meet you Majesty, when do we start our ascent?”

She placed some kind of saddle pack on her back with her magic “Right now if you’re ready.”

“Lead the way.” I said as she smiled and we began to make our way to the base of the mountain, funny enough, there’s a trail that goes up the side of it, then again folks needed a way to come and go from the mountain city before the train was invented. We stopped at the base of the mountain and Majesty turned to me

“It's probably best if we stop for lunch here, we won't reach the city until late tonight so I think it will be best if we take the longer trail up the backside of the mountain, there’s a nice little lake there that we can set up camp at.”

“Ok, you’re the guide.” I replied as I sat down and pulled out an MRE, and I was happy to see that it was the beef patty “Well at least it’s not the creamy spinach fettuccine...” I said as I tore it open and poured some water into the heating pack before wrapping it around the meal pack.

“Huh?” Majesty turned to me and I saw she had some kind of flower sandwich out as she pointed to my MRE “what is that exactly?”

I smiled “The army’s greatest invention, the Meal Ready to Eat, where the majority of options are bland or taste horrible.” I lifted up the slightly hot beef patty on the bread with the cheese spread “Take this for example, the Jalapeño and cheese burger, like a normal burger…but fucking disgusting,” and I took a bite and swallowed, “But it’s better than nothing...”

She got a small laugh out of my commentary “I see…you know from what I’ve seen your quite the card for a military man.”

“Yeah I guess.” I replied.

She smiled as she bit into her sandwich, “So tell me a little about yourself and your military.”

“Well you know my name already so…..well I’m 28, about 6 feet tall, don’t exactly know my weight at the moment, and I'm a computer engineer, and in my free time, I reenact battles...Still don’t know how I got here though.”

“So your military doesn’t know of our world?”

“To my knowledge, no. Trust me, if your world was found by mine you’d be an internet sensation, I can already hear the news people.” I moved my hand apart to kind show a headline “Breaking news, tonight at six, NASA has found a world like ours inhabited by magic talking and flying horses!”

Majesty broke out into full blown laughter at my joke “Oh my goodness that is funny.”

I smiled “It's good to have someone to laugh at my jokes.”

“Well it's not to often that I have customers, I mostly do work on the trail keeping it in good condition then I do leading ponies up it.” she replied as she finished her sandwich.

“Huh…Interesting.” I replied

With lunch finished, we began to make our way up the mountain. Most of the time I was silent, it was obvious to me that Majesty was enjoying the sights and probably the quiet from me. She probably hated the sound of my voice, but then again who doesn’t?

My self-deprecating train of thought was interrupted when Majesty turned around to me “You ok back there? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Oh…uhh…. yeah I’m fine.” I replied

She walked up to me and raised her eyebrow at me “Are you sure? You don’t sound fine.”

I sighed “I’m fine…just a….Im fine.”

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow for a few seconds before turning back around “Well then let's get back on the trail, we’ve got a few more miles to the camping point.” and with that she began walking with me following her. About a half hour later I looked out to see how high up we were and, I was going to continue to mentally berate myself, but just as I was about to, I was greeted with one of the most spectacular views in my life, we had just gotten above the clouds and all I could see was an endless sea of blue above the green of the forest and the grass. There was even a city in the distance and it was floating. Yep, you read that right, a floating city. I was in disbelief at first too, but apparently, it’s the city of Cloudsdale, most of the pegasi live there and it’s the hub for the Equestrian Weather Control. But that view, I’m still in love with it. However, it wasn’t enough to cover up the small amount of fear I had. I’m going to admit it, I was very worried about how it was all going to go, there was the potential that after today I could become public enemy number one. Honestly it was very possible with my luck. Especially if my heart kept doing whatever it was doing. All I know is that I don’t deserve love, I don’t get the happy ending.

I was broken from my trance by what I thought was a hint of pink in the clouds and Majesty walking up next to me “I see you’re enjoying the view?”

“Yeah.” I replied “It’s amazing.”

“It's one of my favorite things about this job.” she replied “Honestly if I could I’d spend hours on end just sitting out here with the fresh air and watching as the setting sun turns the clouds into many beautiful shades-”

“And then watch the stars.” I replied, finishing her sentence “Yeah, I know what you mean, I used to do the same thing when I went camping, I’d set up my tent, but on nights when the weather was nice, I’d just lay out there under the stars.”

Majesty sat down next to me, “That sounds rather peaceful.”

“Yeah, it was…but it was never enough to hold over the sadness inside me.” I replied

“What sadness?” she asked

“Depression caused by my Tourettes.”

“What’s that?”

I sighed “Well it’s a mental disorder, causes my brain to send to many signals to my body resulting in physical twitching and a small speech problem, I was diagnosed at six and since then my life’s been hell, at first my family was embarrassed of my existence…but eventually they got used to it, but my peers didn’t. I was harassed and abused day in and day out. Women left me when they found out about it, saying that I deserved to be dumped for a real man, that all I deserved was a lonely death and a funeral that no one would attend…I tried to join my nations military but the medical board said that my disorder disqualified me from serving.”

“They why are you in military clothes?” she asked

“I was wearing them when whatever brought me to this world took me…..you see, before I came here I was at rock bottom, I was alone, I had let myself go, and I was on the verge of suicide, so I’m chalking this all up to that magic tree that I woke up in front of.”

Majesty turned to me with a look of shock, “That’s horrible! How could anypony be so cruel!”

“Because I was different I guess… honestly, I don’t know or care about it anymore. I’ve just accepted that what they said was the truth...that I’m going to live and die alone.” I replied as I picked up a small pebble and began to turn it around in my hand, and as I dent the craziest thing happened, I felt something soft wrap around me, I looked to my right to see that majesty had wrapped her hooves around me and was hugging me. “Uhh….I'm not going to fall, I’m okay.”

“I’m not holding you because I think you’re going to fall, I'm holding you because you need a hug.” she replied I opened my mouth to speak but she put her hoof on it “And there’s nothing you can say to stop me so let it happen.” so I just sat there for a few minutes as she hugged me, eventually, she let go of me “So you believe that the elements had something to do with it?”

I stood up “Yeah, it makes the most sense, and I’m surprised that everyone-er-pony, says that I’m taking this well, I mean what else can I do? Panicking over something I can’t fix isn’t going to help me at all, so why should I worry about it?”

“I see… that’s actually very smart of you…. but may I ask if you’re worried about anything?”

“Well there’s the obvious part of meeting the Princess. I mean Celestia sounds nice and all, but I’m not exactly a good person, and look at me, I don’t exactly scream ‘I come in peace.”

“That is true, but I’m sure the Princess will be understand, and I’m sure she'd be willing to help you.” she got up and we began walking the path together “I’ve met the princess a few times.”

I looked down at her “Oh really?”

“Yes, like I said, my job sometimes involves leading ponies up the mountain, and sometimes, dignitaries do not wish to part with their carriages, so I get called to lead them up. In a way I’m sort of an ambassador.”

“huh, interesting” I replied

“Yes, and like I said, this means I’ve had some meetings with the Princess, and trust me when I say that she’ll understand, I’m sure that she’d even be willing to put you up in the castle for the time being.”

I smiled “Thanks Majesty, that kind of helps ease my worry.”

She smiled “Anything for a friend in need.” she replied

I looked down to her confused “Friend?”

“Yes dear, everypony needs a friend…would you accept my friendship?”

I thought for a bit as I walked “You know what…I think I’d like that.”

She smiled “Good.” We walked for maybe another half hour before we came to the lake that Majesty told me about. It was a nice little clearing, and by the side of the mountain, there was a waterfall that drained into a lake “This is one of the lakes that the river around the castle drains into.”

“Wow.” I replied “This is actually pretty nice.” I walked to the edge of the lake and set down my gear about 100 feet from the water before walking over to the water's edge to see that the lake was crystal clear with a slight orange tint from the now setting sun. I looked to my watch and saw that it was now 1700 or 5PM.

I looked over to Majesty who had already used her magic to set up a small tent for her, and her horn was glowing while she was looking down at a log, my guess was that she was currently trying (And failing) to light a small fire “Come on you stupid thing, light”

I chuckled before I walked over “Need a hand with that?” I asked

“Yes, I suppose I could use some assistance.” she replied

I picked up the log and laid it in the center before taking some of the smaller sticks and leaning it against the log and stuffing some of the napkins from my earlier MRE under it, I then went to my pack and 30 seconds later walked back to the fire with a match “Watch this.” I stuck the match against the rock, which caused it to light and I then placed it in the napkins and waited for them to light the twigs. After a few minutes of adding twigs and blowing on the fire, the log began to catch “There you go.” I replied

Majesty smiled and began to warm up some water from a pot over the fire, “Thank you John, may I ask where you learned that?”

“Yeah, I was a Boy Scout.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a group from where I’m from, its goals are to teach boys life skills and survival skills.” I replied

“And is there a similar program for females?”

“Yeah, however, from what I’ve heard from family friends and members of that program, even though they have the ability to, the Girl Scouts don’t usually do the same type of activities as the Boy Scouts, and there are also co-ed programs…needless to say there are lots of options for everyone.” I replied

“That is good to hear.” she replied

“Yeah, well if you need me I’m going to make myself some shelter.” and with that I began to make myself a small shelter using a tarp from my bag and some tape up against the face of the mountain. Fifteen minutes later, I had a small little place to rest my head. With my shelter made I walked back over to the fire, just as the water in the pot started to boil “May I ask what your making?”

Majesty smiled “Just heating up some water for some tea, would you like some?”

I shook my head “Thank you, but I’ll pass, I’ve never been much of a tea person.”

“Ah so you’re a coffee drinker?”

“And proud of it, like most people, I need coffee in order to function in the morning.”

Majesty smiled “Not much of a morning person then?”

“I’m basically a zombie before 8 am when things aren't exciting.” I replied, which got a small laugh out of Majesty.

We sat around the fire as the fun finally set and the moon rose in the sky, and it was at that moment that Majesty looked to me and asked “I know now that you are not military, but I’ve seen those things on your back and side, so may I ask what are those weapons that I always see you carrying and why do you have them?” I sighed, well I guess I was going to have to tell her.

“This is my Rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine.” She looked at me inquisitively as I chuckled at my own shitty joke. “It’s a dangerous weapon.” I pulled out my magazine from the rifle and I cleared the chamber and I picked up the bullet that fell out “This is a bullet, it consists of a primer, a metal casing, explosive power, and the top of the bullet is what gets fired out. The bullet goes into the magazine, and the magazine goes into the rifle. The rifle then has a small pin that hits the primer which ignites the power which propels the bullet down the barrel of the weapon at the target or enemy. And it may be small, but it can do some damage, as for how I got them, I’m going to say it was the tree, and I carry them because I know how to use them and it could be dangerous for anyone who doesn’t know how to use them, or if they wish to use them to bring evil to have them.” I loaded the bullet back into the magazine and it the mag back in the rifle.

Then she pointed to the pistol on my hip “What about that?”

“Basically, the same thing, but on a smaller scale.”

she looked at me with concern in her eye “Why would you need such weapons and how do you know how to use them?” she asked.

“I think I have them for protection, be it my own or for this entire world, and I know how to use them because I used to teach people on how to use them, and because I might not have been in the military, but I did military simulation for many years”

“what is Military simulation”

“Basically, me and a few hundred-other people all get together for a weekend and basically rehearse military operations for fun”

“Ah I see, so you train for fun?”

“Well for me it was kind of therapeutic as when I was out doing it, my Tourette’s would almost disappear, maybe it was because my brain was already operating on high because of the adrenaline, I don’t know, but it helped me and made me feel happy so…yeah.”

“Ah, so it meant more to you than others then?”

“Not really, but yes, it did hold a special place in my life.”

“I see, but what will you do now?”

“I don’t know, I mean it's safe to assume Milsim is out…...maybe I’ll take up wood carving? I used to do a bit of it before I came here but now that I'll have my weekends free, I guess I'll need a new hobby”

“That sounds nice” Majesty replied as she poured herself some tea “…You know contrary to what you may believe, you are a good person John.”

“I don’t know” I replied

“I think that you will fit in very nicely in Equestria, your strong, caring, and you’re a good person.” To be honest her words got me thinking, maybe this world was different from my own. Maybe this world won’t care about my disorder, maybe I won’t ruin this one just by existing.

“Thanks Majesty…. you know, I think that maybe I’ll open up a woodshop here.”

“That sounds like a good idea” she replied

She smiled at me again, and as she did, I felt that stirring in my heart again, but I dismissed it, it's not my heart, I don’t deserve love, but she’s been so nice to me. and yet she still deserves a better friend than me…...I needed sleep, maybe that’ll put a temporary end to this chaotic conflict inside me “I think I’m going to call it a night, I'll see you in the morning”

Majesty smiled and pulled out a book “Okay goodnight John, if you need me i'll be over here, I think I’m going to do some reading before bed.”

“Fair enough.” I replied I started to walk to my shelter, but I stopped and turned to Majesty “…. And majesty…...Thank you for being my friend.”

She smiled back at me “You're quite welcome my dear, goodnight.”

“Night” I replied as I walked to my tent and laid down using my pack as a pillow, and keeping my head propped up so I could watch the stars.

I'm still in my tent watching the stars as i write this, but somehow they look different. They look…..Brighter.

Chapter 3- Clusterf**k

Chapter 3- Clusterf**k

I don’t really know what to say about today. It’s definitely been…...interesting.
--

I woke up around 0630 to see that the sun was coming up, so I got up from my tent to start breaking it down and I saw that I was up first. Or at least I thought I was, the tent flaps on Majesty’s tent were closed, leading me to believe that she was asleep, however, luckily for me, she left the pot out. I walked back to my shelter, broke it down, and placed it into my pack before getting out some coffee from an MRE. I then grabbed the pot and filled it with some water from the lake. The fire didn’t take too long to restart. Once I got the fire going, I took out the pot and I took some paper out from my journal and placed the coffee grounds in it before putting it in the water and putting the top back on it. once that was done I walked around the clearing and found myself some more sticks for the fire, but I kept the two thickest ones. One would be a fire poker, and the other would be for me to carve, and I already knew what I was going to make. I sat back down by the fire after placing some of the wood on it and inspect the coffee pot. Most of the water had now turned to coffee, but I wanted it to percolate a bit “Only a few more minutes.” I sat down with my back against my pack and began to just carve the bark away from the stick. It was only two inches in diameter and a foot long so it didn’t take long.

Once I had the bark cleared away I set the stick aside , folded up my knife, and got my cup to sample some of my coffee. I opened the lid and hucked the paper holding the grounds into the fire before pouring myself a cup and taking a sip from it. As soon as it hit my tongue, I was overwhelmed with the bitter taste. I mean I usually take my coffee black, but trust me when I tell you this, MRE coffee taste like absolute shit. But it was coffee nonetheless so I drank it. As I did, I picked the stick back up and began to carve my little sculpture and drink my coffee. I got about halfway through my second cup, and I was just finishing with the general shape of the carving when Majesty emerged from her tent. I looked to my watch to see that it was 0800, I had spent the past hour or so just sitting by the fire sipping coffee and whittling. “Morning sleepyhead” I replied as she walked up to the fire.

“What is that smell?” she asked “Is that coffee?”

“Yeah” I replied “It ain't the best, but its still coffee, the pot’s on the fire, so if you want some your welcome to it.”

She looked at me and then to the pot and then back to me “I think i'll pass on it for now” she replied “…But may I ask why your up so early? I thought you said you hated mornings.”

“While that is true, I’m still usually up early. I may hate mornings, but life requires me to get up early so…yeah. But hey, at least I have coffee.”

“Oh, I know what you mean.” she replied

I took a few heavy pulls from my mug before pouring myself some more and continuing my carving “Yeah, my father used to joke about it, said that me and him were instant humans, you just had to add coffee.”

She got another chuckle out of that “Yes I have a sister who is like that at times.”

“Older or younger?” I asked

“Younger” she replied “And I do love her so, but sometimes she drives me to my wits end.”

“I hear that, I have a younger brother as well. Me and him were always at each other's throats when we were kids. There were a few times when I just wanted to knock him into next week.” I took another swig of my coffee “But I sure that that’s every older sibling at times.” I looked to the pot to see it was almost empty “You sure you don’t want some coffee?” I asked as I took another sip.

Majesty looked again to me and then back to the pot and smiled “You know what, I think I will try some.” she levitated a cup up to me and I poured the rest of the coffee into it which only filled it up halfway

I cautioned her as I poured it “Now keep in mind that I didn’t put anything in it so it may be a little strong.”

Majesty laughed, “Oh please how bad could it be?” she took a large swig from her cup and I instantly saw her face change as she spit it all out on the fire and proceeded to cough “My goodness, how in the world can you drink or even stomach that swill?”

I chuckled again as I took another swig “Its an acquired taste, and in my defense, MRE coffee isn’t exactly the best, and I did warn you.”

“That is true.” she put her cup away as I finished off mine and went to the lake to clean the pot out. When I came back, I dumped some water on the fire and smothered the ashes. By the time it was safely out it was 0930, Majesty had finished packing up her site. “Are you ready to depart? We only have another hours hike to get to canterlot.”

I threw my pack on my back and walked up to her “I’ve been ready since seven AM.”

She smiled “Oh now don’t get snippy, a girl needs time.”

I raised up my finished carving. It was a small flower, a rose, and I handed it to her. “Here, I want you to have this.”

Majesty looked to me with a look of shock as she took it in her magic. “Thank you John, it's beautiful.” She hugged me and put the wooden rose on her ear, much like a contractor or construction worker would place a pencil there. “If you do start up a woodworking shop, I will definitely frequent it. Now come along, if we don't move quickly, we will be late for our appointment with the princess.” she turned and began to walk up the trail.

I sighed and shook my head as we began to walk up the trail. For better or for worse, I was going to meet the princess, maybe Majesty could come with me, that way she can vouch for me. I mean twilight will probably be there as well, but two's better than one. I actually wonder what the city looks like on the inside, I mean from what I saw from twilight's castle, the Palace seems to be a key part of the city, but then again, the capitol building would probably be the central part of any capitol city. But I wonder what the architecture will be like, and whether or not everything will be filled with the tactical nightmare known as double doors. I was again taken out of my train of thought I I hear Majesty scream and I saw her collapse. I immediately ran up to her “Majesty you ok?”

“Y-Y-Yes, I…I just tripped.” she tried to stand up but she yelling out in pain “I…I can't stand up.”

I looked down to see that her front right leg looked bent in a way that it wasn't supposed to. I didn’t see any different coloration so If it broke then it didn’t cause any internal bleeding which is good. “It looks like your leg is hurt.”

“How badly?” she asked

“Bad enough that your not gonna be walking on it” I put my arms under her and slowly put her into a fireman's carry. “So…I'm going to have to carry you”

She started to protest “Johnathan what are you talk-”

“No, I'm not leaving you, this time i'm the one whos not changing his mind” and I slowly but surely began to carry Majesty up the mountain. I don’t know how much she weighed, but all I know is that between her and my gear, im going to be sore in the morning. Unfortunately I had to leave her gear where she fell. “How much farther to canterlot? Because I don’t mean to sound rude, but your not exactly the lightest individual in the world”

“I'm going to overlook that comment as your currently carrying me, and I would say that at this rate, we should be there in a half hour.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic” I replied

--

It took longer than a half hour. As my watch hit 12 noon, I walked into the trainstation on the edge of Canterlot. I slowly set Majesty down as ponies ran away from me, but as ponies ran, a set of 13 guards ran into the station. I looked up to them and yelled “Hey, I need a medic here! She’s got a hurt leg!” they responded by surrounding me and lowering spears, “Shitbucket.” I responded to this action by laying down to cover Majesty and bringing my rifle to bear “Drop your weapons or I will shoot!” I shouted.

The guard in the purple armor stepped forward and brought two swords to bear with his magic “Step away from her you monster!”

I focused my rifle to him “Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Now take your men and tell them to back the fuck off. I’m not leaving her until she’s safe.”

He scoffed “Safe? Yeah right, you’re the one who hurt her, just so she wouldn’t run right?”

I flicked the safety off “This is your last warning, back off or I shoot.”

I heard the voice of a woman behind me, more specifically, the voice of Celestia. “That won't be required.” I looked to where Majesty was laying behind me, only to see Princess Celestia herself standing there behind me, in perfect health. And if i had any doubts, i looked at her and i saw the wooden rose that I had carved sitting in the same position between her ear, like it was with majesty. I shook myself from my shock and I stood up and put my gun back on safe before bowing.

Celestia smiled at me and motioned for me to rise. She was actually a little taller than I thought, about six feet and a half feet, maybe eight feet tall with her horn. Just like the image I saw of her earlier, her mane and tail were a mix of green, blue, and pink, and it was billowing like it was in the wind. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of pink and her cutie mark was one of the sun, and her smile, oh I could just lose myself in it. She spoke in that kind and motherly voice that I had heard earlier, a voice that made even my fear of messing up begin to crumble. I shook my head a bit, I need to stay focused, I need to keep my heart quiet before it gets hurt again or makes me do something dumber than usual.

I Just stood there with a look of disbelief on my face as all the guards saluted the princess. “Where…Wheres Majesty?”

Celestia smiled “Im sorry that you had to find out this way Johnathan. I was planning on telling you eventually, but circumstances required me to step in. But I am very grateful that you stepped in to protect me.”

“And what of your leg?” I asked

Celestia's ears flattened against her head, “Unfortunately, that was also a lie.”

I sighed and lowered my own head, knowing that I had earlier told the princess some shit that would probably hurt my chances at good relations with her, then again who would want to be friends with me anyway right? “Of course it was…may I ask why?”

“Yes you may, but perhaps we could continue this discussion in the castle?” Celestia then looked to the guards “Gentlemen, I thank you for your swift action, but as you can see, I am in no danger. However I am disappointed that you were all so quick to judge my guest.”

The captain tilted his head in confusion “Your highness, he looks more like a hostile militant than a royal guest.”

Celestia walked up beside me and all I could do was keep my facing down, “I understand that Captain Armor, however, as my sister most likely informed you, I was gone the last day and a half because I was escorting a guest to canterlot did she not?”

“Yes she did your highness, however she did not elaborate beyond that, I apologize for my rash actions and the actions of my squad.”

“Your apology is accepted captain, but is is really Johnathan that you should apologize to.”

I my head snapped up to Celestia then to the captain at the mention of my name. He began to step forward, but I stopped him “Hey, its ok man, you were just doing your job.”

Oddly enough he smiled at me and saluted me before turning to his own men and shouting, “Escort Formation!” As he did, the guards formed lines behind and on the sides of me and Celestia, with Shining just in front of us. “Forward March!” and with that we began to walk to the castle.

It wasn’t long before Shining wanted to start a conversation with me, “So, you military?”

It took me a second to formulate my answer, I figured I mind as well be honest “Not really, but I've still had some training of sorts.”

The captain smiled “Well I guess that explains a few things.”

“What kind of things?” I asked

Shining answered, “Your clothes, your actions, and the fact that your carrying whatever those things hanging from your side and attached to your hip, which I can assume are weapons based off of how you hold them.”

I smiled “That is correct, but I have one question, why all the fuss for just me?”

Shining the captain looked to Celestia who just nodded, “Well some of it is because of what happened at the station, but the princesses thought that it would be best for us to escort you to the palace and to make sure none of the local aristocracy decides to do something stupid, and also because the princess should have a guardspony with her at all times.”

“VIP protection.” I replied

The captain nodded, “Exactly…..so how extensive is your training?”

“Eight years.” I replied which caused the captain to whip around to look at me and Celestia who only nodded in agreement certifying that what I said was true

He turned back around and I heard him mutter under his breath, “Eight years…damn.”
He didn’t say much to me after that, but I as I began to focus more on the city, I realized that it was a good idea to have the escort. I mean the city itself was massive. Some of the buildings looked almost alike, but don’t get me wrong, the architecture was amazing, and the view, holy shit the view. You could see for mile and miles. But unfortunately, as we got closer to the castle, the local ponies weren’t so friendly. Most of them looked at me like I was some monster or prisoner being led by the guards to the dungeon. Some of them looked at me with looks of pure disgust, but one of the first things you learn after being diagnosed with Tourette’s is the ability to not give a fuck about what people think of you.

After about 30 minutes, we came to the main castle gate, and my worry pushed itself to the forefront of my thoughts, “This is it.” it kept saying “This is the moment that decides your future, are you going to fuck it up like usual? Or by some miracle is the princess going to let you stay?” I mean she said she would when she was majesty…but still, I’m me, and after everything I told her…well I won't be surprised if I end up in the dungeon.

The main gate was a drawbridge over a river that fed a waterfall, that was designed to go up to cover a massive set of double doors (Ok, when I find the guy who designed these places I’m going to smack the shit out of him, I can see the need for the large door for defense purposes, but you couldn’t have made it a normal one instead of one that’s a tactical nightmare). Though the main gate was the opening to the main hall, it was a large open area with a set of stairs the lead up and to the left or up and to the right, along with passageways that lead left or right, our escort led us up the stairs and to the left down a hallway with stone or granite support pillars on both sides and large windows every fifteen or so feet. At the end of the massive hallway was a large set of (you guessed it) double doors. They had the markings of a heart, a sun, a moon, and some stars on them. Positioned at each side of the doors was a guard, who opened the doors for us, and on the other side of the doors was the throne room. We stopped in front of the doors and my escort, with the exception of Shining and Twilight broke off and returned to their normal duties. The two massive doors swung open to reveal the throne room. It was about 200 feet long, by 100 feet wide and had pillars and large windows on both sides. Only the windows were glass paintings of…Twilight and her friends!? (OK, definitely going to ask the princess about that.) and at the end of the room, was a set of thrones, one blue, and one yellow with….. Holy shit were those waterfalls on the side of them? As we continued into the room and I saw it in more detail I realized that in fact, they were little waterfalls. While I was standing there surveying my surroundings, Celestia motioned for the guards, including the captain, to step outside the throne room as she went and sat in her own throne before looking down to me “So what do you think of my home?”

“It's very nice, however tactically speaking, im not much of a fan of the double doors.”

She chuckled “I see, now I know you must want some answers.”

“Yes, why all the Deception?”

She sighed “Well I needed to know if you were a threat or not.”

“Ah, that would make some sense”

“I'm sorry if it has hurt you in anyway, but I do hope that you know that my offers of friendship and a place here in the castle were sincere”

I sighed, “Im not hurt by it, I realize that you are a princess and that i'm something that this world has never seen before. It's only natural to make sure that I wont pose a threat to your land………and thank you for those offers, if it's still alright with you, I would still be honored to accept them.”

Celestia again smiled at me. God, its beautiful…SHE'S beautiful, I could just- No, she deserves better, and I need to focus

“Thank you John, and I do thank you for being honest with me on our hike up, I have heard quite a bit about you from my student, Twilight sparkle, but it was nice to get to know you, and to see what you hide under your mask.”

“My mask?”

“Yes, the persona that you work so hard to keep up at all times, the one that you kept on for twilight and her friends, but what I find odd was that you took it off for me.”

“Because I felt comfortable around you…er Majesty…er you”

Celestia looked at me and smiled “And do you still feel comfortable around me”

“To be honest, right now, Im scared.”

I saw her ears flatten against her head again “Why?”

“Because I'm in a new world that seems to be run by ponies, because you’re the princess…and I’m me…...and because of my past.”

“Ah, I see. Now this make sense.”

“What does?” I asked

Celestia smiled, I think because she found a chink in my depressions armor, and I think she was right. “Johnathan, I don’t care about your shortcomings. You need to let the venomous words of your peers go, they cant hurt you in this world, and they cant make me change my mind on wanting to be your friend.”

As she spoke those words, I felt this strange feeling in my heart again. I was going to try to suppress it, but I knew that she was right. My past can't hurt me as it used to. The only thing that can hurt me here is me. if I kept repressing and isolating myself then I’ll be wasting this new chance. But the depressed part of me was right, my nature is a violent one, one that could ruin this peaceful world. “I…I guess you're right”

Celestia chuckled “Why of course I am, I’m the princess.”

“Ah yes, because you were obviously right when you tried to start that fire.” I countered, and oddly enough she began to laugh, hard. Eventually I started to laugh to. It felt good to laugh with someone instead of just laughing alone, but I was stopped when I hear Celestia snort

I stopped and looked up to the princess who was now blushing heavily and I was doing my best to stifel my laugh.

“I'm sorry about that Johnathan, that was very unprofessional of me”

“No no no, its ok, everyone gets to make some mistakes…and that was kinda funny…and you laugh is pretty uplifting” I replied

“As is yours Johnathan” she replied

I smiled “Please, call me John”

Celestia smiled back “I will John, and please, feel free to call me Celestia. I don’t feel the need for honorifics amongst friends”

“Thanks…to be honest I’m not much for formal things either... sorry”

Celestia got up from her throne and started to walk towards me, “Oh there's no need to be sorry dear, I too often grow tired of all the formalities of my job, but unfortunately they are required…..but on the hike up I was able to relax and just be a mare for a few days…it was nice, and for that I thank you.”

“I….I don’t know what to say, usually most women hate me.”

“Why is that? You’re a nice person, and you’re a courageous one too.”

“I'm not courageous, and women hate me because of my physical appearance and my aforementioned Tourette’s.”

“Well I don’t hate you for it, I actually find it quite inspiring that you’ve managed to push past your disorder, fear, and worry to interact with me, and carrying a pony that you barely know up a mountain is pretty courageous.”

As Celestia drew closer, and as she drew nearer, my worried grew, and I took a half step back, but as she drew closer, her presence and her voice began to have more power over my fear. I was able to look into her eyes, god they were beautiful, just like her. I could just sit there for hours and lose myself in her beauty. But as she drew closer, I began to stare deeper into her eyes, and for a second, I thought I saw something that I was familiar with in her eyes…I think she was wearing a mask as well, because in those magenta eyes, I saw a glimpse of loneliness, sorrow, and loss.

All I could respond with was “I know.”

My response caused her to step back a bit, and we just stood there looking into each others eyes for a few seconds, but after that, Celestia broke the silence “Perhaps I should answer some more of the questions that you have for me?”

“Yeah” I replied, “Well for starters, how did I get here?”

She smiled at my question before she answered, “Ah, I see you wish to be direct. Unfortunately, your guess is as good as mine, but according to Twilight, you said you woke up in front of the tree of harmony, so I am willing to bet that the elements of harmony may have played a part in your being here.”

“Elements of what now?” I asked

“The elements of harmony, they are honesty, kindness, generosity, loyalty, laughter, and magic.” She gestured to the glass paintings of all around me “They have been used by me and my sister, but they now belong to Twilight and her friends”

“Uhh. Okay. Uh. I really don’t have much to say about that. Or how to react really, especially considering the last 48 hours.”

“I understand, this world is still new to you, and my actions probably have not helped.”

“Well you're right about the new world, thing, And as for what you did, it's water under the bridge, but I think at the moment I should focus on more pressing concerns.”

“And what would those be?” Celestia asked

“At the moment, its finding a job and my own place to stay. And I know that this may seem kind of fast, but I was wondering if maybe you had a place for me to crash, and maybe a job opening in the Royal Guard? As you can see from my clothes and my gear, and from our earlier talks, I have some experience and I’m knowledgeable in tactics. But if I have to wait then I understand, I know you would probably want to make sure that I am not a threat to your people-err-ponies, damn.” I looked down for a second. Of course, I would make that mistake, you’d think that after maybe 48 hours of hearing it spoken one-way I’d begin to do it more, but no, I had to fuck it up, and in front of a princess no less

Celestia looked me up and down for a few moments while deciding on her answer. “Well I will be meeting with Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor later today, so I…or we, shall see….in fact, let me call the captain in now to get his answer.” Celestia walked past me and to the door, before walking back to her her throne a minute later as the captain walked up to my side. She then looked over to Shining as she spoke “Given what I’ve seen from you, I am willing to allow you to join the Royal Guard, that is of course if the captain wishes to have another soldier join the ranks.”

Shining stepped forward “Your highness I was about to ask you that myself, I believe that Johnathan would make an excellent addition to the Guard.”

I was in shock at what he said…he barely knew me …no, I need to shut my mind up, this is going better than I thought it would. I’m being handed an ex Machina here and I’m taking it. I just kept my mouth shut and waited until I was spoken to.

Celestia looked at shining, and then walked up to me. It took every single fiber of my being to avoid twitching or making any kind of verbal tic. He cannot know what I have, otherwise it’ll be all over.

She smiled at me as she spoke, “Very well then, unfortunately I must cut this session short as I do have other royal duties that I must attend to, however, John, perhaps we could continue this discussion over dinner?”

I just looked at her confused “Wha-wait what?” I was shocked that she’d want to see me anymore- no, I needed to get my heart in check, this was most likely going to be just a meal with her and the guards or something so she can ask me more questions when I’m comfortable, I mean she’s gotta know I’m nervous. There’s no way this is going to be a date.

She giggled, “I would like to have you stay here in the castle for dinner with me tonight, I’ve had a room made ready for you in the tower, the captain will show you to it and we shall meet for dinner here tonight, and I do owe you in a way for carrying me up the mountain…and I want to try to make it up to you for deceiving you.”

I stood there dumbstruck “I….I…” my heart began to race, what do I do, what do I do? No, I needed to stop, take a breath, and relax, she's your friend, and shes been kind enough to offer you a home and a job.I smiled “sounds like a plan your highness” and with that I bowed and left the throne room. I couldn’t believe it, I’d made it through the meeting without a single tic, I just needed to keep calm now, she wanted to meet me again, not for a date, but it was better than nothing, however out of the corner of my eye, I saw another small flash of pink, it was probably just the light from one of the stained-glass windows.

Shining again took the lead as we walked through the castle up to the tower, and as we got there we walked by two double doors on opposite ends of the hallway, one had Celestias Cutie mark on it, and the other had a crescent moon cutie mark. We stopped in front of another set of double doors across from a set with a crystal heart mark on them. He opened the doors and inside was a rather large bedroom with a bed on one side of the room, with a fireplace and what looked to be a smaller bed next to it on the other. And in the middle, there was a set of glass double doors that opened up to a balcony with an even better view than the one from the train, and next to the doors was a stocked bookshelf. And on the balcony, there was a small table and a few chairs. Next to the bed was the door which led into a full-sized bathroom, with a sink, toilet, bathtub/shower and a mirror. “Here we are.” he said, as he walked in and motioned for me to follow.

“Wow, nice place they got here” I said as I went and set my stuff down next to the small bed next to the fireplace “So who’s my roommate?” I asked

Shining answered “No pony. This room is yours.”

I looked at him like he was crazy “Your shitting me.”

Shining shook his head “Nope, I’m afraid not.”

“Well then...” I replied. I walked further into the room and dropped my stuff down as he turned to leave. “Oh, and before you go, I want to thank you for giving the princess your recommendation.”

He smiled “It’s the least I could do. After what I saw at the train station this afternoon, how you defended the princess even though you hardly knew her, I definitely think you’re the pony-er- man for the job. Plus, I saw how you were looking at Celestia, and I think maybe I’ll ask for you to be placed as her personal guard.” He chuckled “Just watch out for my wife, she’s the princess of love.” and with that he walked out.

“Wait what?” I turned around to face him, but he had already left…. And with that, I was on my own. Since I had time to kill, I started to disassemble my rifle and clean it, and that ate up about a half hour of my time. Looking at my watch I figured I had about 4 hours before my date with Celestia, so I decided to pick up one of the books from the shelf, more specifically, The History of Equestria. I figured that I should probably do my homework on this place considering that I may be here long term and I needed to do anything to keep myself from thinking, because once I did…... So, I sat down and read for about two hours, and the more I read, the more I began to understand some of the things Celestia told me, she and her sister held the elements at one time and used them to defeat a king of shadows, and what was apparently this world's version of Q from Star Trek, before something happened to Luna and she went crazy. It must have been hard on Celestia. I mean I’ve lost family, and I’ve held my friend as the cancer took him from me……. I know her pain… the only difference is that his death was probably my fault…I should have been there for him……. Anyway, with just over an hour left, I decided that it would be best for me to freshen up. I wanted to look nice for my meeting with the princess, and I needed to get my mind off my past. So, I went into the bathroom and decided to take a closer look at it. It was maybe 10 feet long and 15 feet wide. It had a toilet, as usual, and a very large tub I mean the thing mind as well have been a hot tub or a pool, but then again, this place was designed with ponies in mind, and not humans. I looked over the valve system for the tub, trying to determine how exactly I could get the water to go up to the showerhead. It took me a few minutes, but my dumbass finally figured it out. I turned on the water and it began to come out of the shower head, which oddly enough, was a section of the roof, but then again, designed for ponies not people. As the water warmed up, I took off my shirt, socks, and shoes, and as I did so I took a glance of myself in the mirror. I looked like shit, my beard was all scraggly, my eyes looked drained of life…you could tell I was depressed, but oddly enough, my physical appearance had improved, my body fat was all but non-existent now, I was in almost peak physical shape, hell I could maybe even stand a chance in a fight with a pony now. I shook my head breaking my trance from the mirror as I felt the warmth of the water from the shower calling to me. I stripped the rest of my clothes off, and stepped in, letting the warm water fall over me and calm my thoughts. I stayed in the shower for maybe 15 minutes before I turned off the water and stepped out. I dried myself off and again I come to the mirror. I didn’t know exactly what to feel at the face staring back at me, everything had been improved, but my demons still followed me into this world of peace and love. I straightened out my facial hair, and put a clean set of BDU’s on. I still had about a half hour to kill, so I went and sat out on my balcony. As I watched the world from my perch, my thoughts began to drift, but luckily my conscious was drifting as well, apparently, I had drifted slowly off to sleep. Sometime later, I was woken up by a knock on my door. So, I grabbed my pistol and walked to my door and called out “Who is it?”

The familiar soothing, motherly voice of Celestia responded “I’m here to give you some good news.”

I tucked my pistol back into its concealed holster, and shoved my depression back into its hole as I put on my metaphorical mask of a normal person, and I opened my door “Good evening Your Highness. It’s a pleasure to see you. What news brings you to my door?”

She giggled “Please John, call me Celestia, and I am here to inform you that you have been accepted into the Royal Guard as my personal guard, and to pick you up for our dinner.”

“Wait already? Isn’t there some kind of process that I have to go through?”

“Well yes.” she replied “But your case is a special one, you don’t have much of a background to check, but I did spend a day and a half with you, and you did carry me up the mountain, which tells me that your not here in this world to hurt my little ponies.” She put her hoof on my chest “...and It tells me that your heart is in the right place.” I smiled, doing whatever I could to hide that voice in my head that kept telling me that I’m going to mess it up, and that this wasn’t a date. I tried to listen to my heart, I tried to believe that I could make a relationship out of this, wait did I just say relationship? What am I thinking!?

“Well, that’s good news to hear, but I thought that I was supposed to escort the beautiful princess to dinner.”

She smiled and blushed a bit at that, I think that maybe I was able to keep my depression hidden, “Oh…Well I thought that since you were still new to this world that you may get lost, so I decided it would be better for me to escort you myself than to have a guard do it.”

“Oh, well then thank you your high…Celestia.” damn it, another fuck up.

She giggled again began to make her way to the dining hall and I followed close behind. I kept looking to Celestia and I stopped berating myself, tonight was for her, I need to set my own self aside and be happy. She was still somewhat of a stranger to me and me a stranger to her, but I felt like I needed to make sure she was happy, she was my friend after all. Not to mention that she had lost her own sister and spent a thousand years alone, I had no chance at filling that void or easing any pain if it was still there…. but maybe she could one day help me with mine. As we got to the dining hall, I noticed how it was surprisingly empty, and inside the dining hall where there was a table set for two. I walked up to it and pulled out her chair for her. Again, out of the corner of my eye there was a bit of pink, but I looked up and around me on the columns there were copious amounts of flowers so I let it go as Celestia sat down and spoke.

“Oh, a gentleman AND a charmer.” she said as she sat down

I chuckled as I thought about how I’m neither of those and I took a seat myself “Well I try.” as I looked out windows I noticed the sun was setting and that her horn was glowing. It was then that I remembered that her and her sister were both responsible for raising the sun and moon (yes you read that right). “The sunset looks almost as beautiful as you Celestia.” I commented, it was a shitty attempt at a complement, but I suck at relationships, so it was all I could do

She smiled and blushed even more “Oh, and a flatterer too.”

I was shocked, she LIKED my complement? My heart soared for a minute letting me think that I could stand a chance with a beautiful and kind mare like her before reality reeled it back in. all she did was giggle at my complement and return one. She’ll probably start asking me more about myself and I’ll end up ruining the night. A few minutes after we sat down, the chefs came carrying a few silver platters and set them on the table, breaking my focus from my mental harassment. They lifted the covers to reveal a spaghetti type dish with a nice looking read sauce and some basil, along with a nice red wine. As we started eating, the conversation from earlier today resurfaced “John, I have to ask, what is it like in your world?”

I sighed “Well my nation, the United States is currently fighting in another country to help take back said country from evil people...Basically the world is all falling apart and my county thinks that it can put it back together, even though we're still drowning in our own problems.”

“I see” she replied “so what did you used to do?”

“I was a computer engineer, I built and fixed computers. I was kinda good at it, and it meant that I spent a lot of time alone, but given my past I was more than happy to be alone, and then on my weekends, I’d gear up, go to the field, and sling some plastic.”

Celestia tilted her head in confusion “What is a computer?”

“An electronic machine used for calculations, operations…basically most of human society runs on computers now.”

“So you repaired these computers to keep your world running smoothly and a soldier?”

“Of sorts, but you give me too much credit, I never did anything that important, and I was never truly a soldier…it was really just pretend.” I replied.

“From what you’ve said of this airsoft, it sounds like its more than just pretend”

“It wasn’t the real thing, and thus I don’t deserve praise for it. I’m not a true soldier, just a depressed fake.”

Celestia shook her head “That doesn’t sound like an accurate description of the man who carried me up a mountain having just met me, and risked his life for me even though he didn’t know me.”

I sighed “You're too kind to me Celestia.”

“I'm just trying to cheer up a friend who desperately needs it.” she replied, I could have said something about how I saw how she needed to be cheered up, but I kept my mouth shut, I didn’t want to mess up or make her made by making it look like I was refusing help, so instead I decided to change the subject

“……so why did I get the job?” I asked, deciding that I wanted to get to that point.

She was a little shocked at my question “Well you were given the position due to your experience and because of the recommendation of the captain.”

“I mean the real reason, you don’t just go from jobless to being the princesses personal guard.”

She sighed and looked down “If you really must know, it is because my sister does not know what to make of you, and to be honest, I still don’t either. This position is so we can keep you close and keep an eye on you for the time being, at least until you have earned every ponies trust…..I’m sorry, and if it’s any consolation, know that you have my trust.”

I knew it, it was all just a test, but then again I also understood, they don’t know a lot about me or my intentions, they are being good leaders by ensuring that i'm not a threat. But as I looked over to Celestia I saw that she was looking away from me, so I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder “Don’t be sad, you’re doing the right thing, to be honest I’d probably do the same thing if I was in your position…. I understand…..and thank you, your friendship means more to me than you think.”

She looked up at me and smiled as she used her magic to pull me into her embrace “Thank you so much John.” she held me like that for almost a minute before she let me go “Thank you for understanding.” As she held me close part of me knew that that wasn’t the only thing I understood her on. Being that close to her, I again picked up on a faint inner pain. A pain similar to my own…Somehow, I think that she knew that I was talking about that fateful night. I think she knew my pain…because I knew hers.

“And thank you for doing this Celestia. Most women in my world laugh at me or insult me.”

“And why is that?” she asked

I took a second to plan what I wanted to do. She was such a kind and loving mare, I didn’t want to burden her with my pain…but I had already opened Pandora’s box, and I was left between a rock and a hard place…...so I told her the truth. “Because look at me, I’m ugly, I’m dirty, I mean you look beautiful and here I am in my combat uniform……and because of my mental disorder.”

“Oh?.....well then, John, I want you to look me in the eyes so I know that you'll understand what i'm about to say”

I stood up and walked over to her and did what she asked.

“John, I want you to understand this, what they think doesn’t matter, it’s what you think that matters, and I think that you look handsome if I do say so myself, and your clothes don’t make you look bad, they make you look rugged, and your disorder?” she moved her wing off to the side as if to throw something “Don’t let it define you, you are SO MUCH more than it.”

“R-really?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my head to the ground, knowing that I didn’t deserve her friendship or the kind words that she’s saying, “May I ask what makes you think that? Because when I look in the mirror, I don't see the man your describing, I see many bad things.”

She used her hoof to raise my chin up so I was looking straight into her eyes…her calm, loving, beautiful eyes. “Your flaws do not define you, when I look at you, I see a man who has survived many battles, some of them with others, and some of them with himself. I see a man who is capable of doing great things in this world, I see a man who is capable of overcoming any challenge…I see a man who reminds me of myself many years ago.”

“Just after nightmare moon.” I finished “I’ve felt that kind of pain before.”

“You’ve lost a loved one too?” she asked

“Yes, I may not have been the direct cause for his death, but I still feel the need to take the blame for it.” I replied

“As harsh as this sounds, the best thing to do is move on. The more you dwell on it, the more it will hurt you…I learned that the hard way.”

“Oh, I definitely know how that feels.” I replied.

She smiled and let me go “Now come, we still have dessert.” the chefs took away the diner plates, refilled the wine glasses, and brought out what looked to be some kind of cake.

“What kind is it?” I asked

“Oh, it’s a mandarin, mascarpone madness”

“Saywhatnow?”

She smiled again, oh god that smile, it makes her look even more beautiful “It’s a cake that Pinkie Pie made, it’s my personal favorite.”

“Ah, that would make sense.” I picked up my fork and took a bite of it, it was actually pretty good, all the flavors mixed in well, nothing really overwhelmed you.
We sat in silence for a bit before I looked to Celestia and asked “So if you know that I’m depressed like this, then why give me a job as your guard?”

“Well so that way you can start to see in you what I already see.”

I smiled “Thank you.”

About a half hour later, we had finished out small talk and we had both decided to call it a night. So, I offered her my arm “may I escort you back to your chambers m’lady?”

She put out her wing and wrapped it around me “I think I would enjoy that very much” so together we walked back up to the tower, reminiscing about the night. And eventually we came to the double doors with Celestia's mark on them “Well this is where I bid you goodnight John.”

“Goodnight Celestia, thank you for the dinner and for everything that you said.”

She smiled as she replied “Oh, it was nothing, I was merely telling the truth as I see it.”

That got me to smile, the night had gone well, for once in my life, I had done something right, and maybe I could ask her out on a real date sometime after my first paycheck comes in. I felt on top of the world, I had a chance to maybe turn this friendship into a relationship, but as I thought of our future together, I also thought of the past, more specifically how long she’s been around. “Uhhh Celestia, before I go, I just have one more small question for you.”

“Please, by all means, ask away.”

“Well I was doing some reading earlier today, and I noticed that you’re in most of the history books, so what I’m trying to ask is…are you immortal?”

The next four words that she said immediately crushed my heart into pieces and then tossed them into the wind, “Why yes I am.”

And just like that any hope I had of finding love with her was dashed. She was immortal, I wasn’t. eventually I was going to die, and I care too much to put her through that pain. She may never want more than friendship, but I still care too much for her to put her through that kind of sorrow, she already lost a loved one once, and so have I…that kind of pain doesn’t just go away. Maybe I needed to go away…no, she was a friend and I don’t want to hurt my my friend by just leaving, no I needed to push past this. I needed to accept that my path was a lonely one.

“Oh…I see…well good night Celestia.” and with that she closed her door and I walked down the hall to mine. Once I had gotten into my room and closed to the door, I got into my sleeping clothes and I laid out on the balcony. Of course, she’s immortal. Because it’s against the rules of the universe for me to eventually find love…why would I even think that I had a chance with her in the first place.

I think tomorrow I should tell them that they should find a new guard and that I’m going off to live in the woods somewhere, and I’ll ask her to send someone to check up on me once in a while and bury me when the time comes……. I…I’m going to go to sleep. It’s been a long day.

Chapter 4- Trials

Well today's been a bit of a debacle…..okay no, I can’t sugarcoat this, it was a total clusterfuck. It all started in dream.

I woke up in my dream, not knowing it was a dream, and thus I carried on my usual morning routine. I woke up at about 6 am, just in time to see the sun start to rise. I slowly got up out of my bed and into the bathroom. I didn’t notice much of anything as I was basically running on autopilot. While I waited I was basically staring at myself in the mirror while I thought. I was still in Canterlot so last night wasn’t a dream, and as I thought of last night, Celestia’s words began to ring in my ears. But I shook my head and ran it under the now room temperature water from the shower. “What can I do? It’s not like I stood a chance with her anyway. I mean she’s a princess and I’m…me…...I guess those assholes were right…I never will find love…...I’m going to die alone…. fuck!” my rage and sadness had built up to a point where it needed to be released. I whipped around and punched the wall with all my force “AHHH!” I just kept hitting the wall for a minute until my hand started bleeding, and the pain started to get to much for me in my angered state. By that time, I had gotten my anger out of my system and the water in the shower was hot, however I had left a blood stain on the wall, something I’d have to clean up before I head out today. So, I got in the shower and I washed away the blood from my hand and cleaned myself up, letting the hot water run over me and drain me of my pain and my grief. Eventually, I turned off the water and dried myself off, my right hand had been cut up badly by my repeated assault on the wall, and for my troubles all I had done was add my blood to it. I sighed and used my wet towel to wash off the blood quickly and then went into my pack for some bandages. I pulled out some gauze and proceeded to wrap it around my hand and secured it with some tape. Since my injury was cared for, I walked over to my pack to get a fresh set of clothes and my gear. I may have been pissed and depressed, but I had a job to do, I walked back into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. “I’m the princesses personal guard, I need to be on my A-game. I need to act professionally. I’ll be ok. I’ll just do my job, stay here until my house is built or something, and maybe I can work up to asking Celestia out again…No. I won’t harm her by loving her and then putting her through the pain of my eventual death…...it will hurt me to not try to pursue a relationship, but it will keep her safe from pain. And maybe she’ll find a someone who deserves her friendship more than I do.” The self-talking helped only a little, but I didn’t have anything else to do for my pain in my heart, I guess I was just doomed to repeat the past. I sighed as I walked back out of the bathroom to my pack. It was then that I noticed the four black BDU’s (Battle Dress Uniforms) sitting on my pack next to four more pairs of socks and boxers, a couple of plain green T-shirts, and some black shorts with cargo pockets. I smiled as I went over to them and picked them up and opened up the note that was on top of them

Dear John,

Thank you for the challenge, please feel free to come back anytime you need anything else darling.

Yours, Rarity

“Well at least something good will have happened today” I set the note down and I put on one of the new uniforms. They fit me perfectly, and they felt comfortable, Rarity must have had them delivered while I was out at dinner. I looked at myself again In the mirror, and after some time, I walked to my pack and pulled out my knife and some shaving cream. 5 minutes later, my face was fresher and clean shaven, but it didn’t do much to hide my sorrow. I sighed as I grabbed a face shield and walked out onto my balcony. I sat down on one of the cushions and used the other one on my back so it would cushion the wall that it was on. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon, the sky was painted a beautiful of orange and blue and the clouds looked almost like cotton candy, and standing on the balcony next to me, was Celestia. I tried to ignore her, but she must have seen me. She started to walk closer to me. Every single hoof step she took brought back those four words. Until eventually she was at the end of her balcony, a mere 10 feet from me.

She smiled as she called out to me “Good morning John.”

I turned slowly to look at her and got up to go to my edge of the balcony, and I did my best to hide my sorrow, but the pain in my heart began to grow more and more the closer I moved to her. I could have walked back inside, but then she would have known something was wrong. “Good morning Celestia, did you sleep well last night?”

“Why yes, I did, and you?” she smiled, I guess that she didn’t notice my pain, and that smile, my god that smile. It was like a kiss on my wounds and a knife to my heart at the same time.

“I was fine” I was lying

I think she picked up something there, but she didn’t press if she did, “So, are you ready to start your new job today?”

“Yeah, and I’d like to thank you again for allowing me to take up the job.” A half truth, I definitely wasn’t ready, but that didn’t matter

“Well it was the least I could do, especially after the wonderful evening we had last night.”

“Yeah, it was…..it feels good to finally have a friend”

Celestia smiled “Yes indeed…is everything alright John? You seem a little down”

“No I'm ok” I lied

“Are you sure?” she asked. She was legitimately concerned about me…she cared about me, and I cared about her….I think I'm in love with her…..but she deserves better than me, and I don’t want her hurt her with my own mortality

“Just still a little shocked that your immortal, I mean last night when you said you were similar, I know what you meant, I mean we both have some emotional baggage…and I want you to know that as long as I live, I’ll be here to help you.”

Celestia smiled “Your so sweet Johnathan, don’t be so harsh on yourself, and don’t worry about my immortality…but I thank you for your offer to help me…I’m happy to see that you care about me.”

“I always will Celestia……….Well I’m going to go finish getting ready and grab some breakfast before I head to the throne room.”

She smiled and walked back into her room, “Alright then, I shall see you soon then.”

And with that I walked back inside, and the more distance I put between us, the stabbing pain in my heart began to lessen, but the sadness in my eyes began to grow. I had to stop and lay face down in my bed as my sadness began to make me tear up. Eventually, once my emotions had run their course I got up, and began to halfheartedly put on my vest, and grab my rifle and put my pistol in its holster on my side and clip my rifle to its sling. With myself geared up, I walked to my door and made my way down to the kitchen, the place was more or less deserted (pun not intended). So, while I was alone, I took the opportunity to grab myself a donut and make some coffee. While I waited for the coffee to brew, I ate my donut and tried to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead. When it was finished, I took my coffee and walked to the throne room. The doors leading into the throne room were unmanned, signaling to me that Celestia still wasn’t in there. So, while I was by myself I started to walk around the throne room looking for a good place to set myself up…ok in all honesty I just went and sat in the throne. I may be depressed, but come on, if you had a chance to sit in the chair of a world ruler, you’d take it. I’ll be honest, it was actually kind of comfortable. If only I had a camera.

When I heard the door start to open about ten minutes later, I quickly jumped up out of the throne and I stepped to the side before the doors fully opened and any pony saw me. It was then that a group of about ten guards walked into the throne room, and in between them was a smiling Celestia. I immediately snapped to attention and saluted her as she walked up to her throne and sat down, again as she drew closer to me the pain of what I was going to have to tell her grew more and more.

“You may stand at ease John, you have no need to salute me.”

“But I do your highness, you are my superior officer.”

“Please John, it’s Celestia, and in that case, I order you to not salute me from now on.”

“Yes, your high- Celestia.”

She got a little chuckle out of that. God, she’s beautiful, kind, and funny. And out of my league…and immortal…annnd I need to focus. I mentally slapped myself, focus on keeping her safe, think tactically, no more lies…. I needed to tell her “Celestia?”

She turned to look at me “Yes John?”

It was time. I was going to…wait… what’s with all the guards. She never had this many before. “Um Celestia, do you usually travel with such a large escort force?”

She looked out on her guards and frowned a bit “Not usually.” and it was then that green flame erupted around six of the guards as maniacal laughter filled the air. The flames died down and before us stood six bug like alicorns, all about the size of a normal pony, except for the one at the front of the group. She was the same size as Celestia, but her voice sounded deeper, more malicious and she was all black with green insect like wings like her minions. She had holes in all her legs so the damn things looked like fucking swiss cheese, and her horn was jagged and twisted.

“Oh Celestia, it’s so nice to see you again, I’ve waited a long time to get my revenge, now surrender yourself and your kingdom to me or I will have my minions drain every pony they see dry of love until they are nothing but husks.”

Celestia's guards stood up and took a defiant posture, but as the minions surrounded her and her guards, she motioned for them to yield…she backed off.

I slowly moved myself into a more advantageous position and so that way Tia want near my firing like as I spoke under my breath “Time to go to work.”

Celestia kneeled before the bug thing, “I yield to you Chrysalis, just leave my subjects unhar-”

But before she should finish her sentence I cut in. I walked out from behind her throne with my rifle raised “Chrysalis is it? look, I'm a nice guy, so I'm going to give you and your cronies one chance to surrender in piece, and I suggest you accept it, because failure to do so might result in some lead poisoning.”

Chrysalis grinned “I see your new pet thinks that it has some teeth” she began to sniff the air around me before laughing and looking to Celestia “Aww and its in love with you, perhaps i'll drain you of your love while he watches.”

I chuckled back, only mine was a bit more menacing “Touch her and you die.” I flicked the safety on my rifle off.

Chrysalises wings flapped as she approached me “Oh? And how is that so?”

I was going to respond, but Celestia cut in “Leave him alone Chrysalis, your fight is with me.”

Chrysalis looked to me and Celestia and then back a few times before breaking into full villain laugh before looking back to her minions “Oh this is just perfect! She has feelings for him to!”

I looked to Celestia with a mix of hope and shock

Chrysalis saw that look and spoke to me “Don’t get your hopes up, your love is much stronger…hmmm…perhaps I'll lock the two of you up together so your combined love can feed me…yes I rather like that idea”

I was getting tired of this real fast. I raised up my rifle and a loud shot rang out through the throne room, one shot to her leg, spattering her green blood on the ground and causing her to freeze and her minions laughter to stop. “That was a warning!” I shouted as I raised my rifle to face the bug queen in front of me “Now surrender or your head is gonna have about as many holes as your legs!”

“YOU INSOLENT LITTLE-!” another shot rang out as the head of the minion next to her exploded covering her side in brains and green blood. And the rest of her minions to back away from me

“Last warning!” I readied myself for Chrysalis’ next move

“DIE!” and with that her horn glowed and unleashed a green beam of sorts, which was countered by a gold beam from Celestia's horn. As the four unicorn guards attacked the other four bugs with swords, spears, or magic, but out of the corner of my eye there was another flash. A bug had appeared and launched a magic bolt at Celestia. I knew what I had to do.

Time froze as I plowed through Celestia, pushing her aside as I jumped into the path of the beam and I saw images flash in front of my face, my entire life…and it was pitiful…I deserved to die. The images stopped and pain erupted in my body as the beam me square in the chest, knocking the air out of me and I felt the ceramic plate in my vest absorb the impact, but then Chrysalises beam hit me. The now broken plate in my vest did little to stop her strike, it punched through and into my chest and it sent me flying into the throne. I tried to get up but the pain in my chest was too much, it felt like I had five or six broken ribs and a punctured lung. I raised my hand to my chest and it was covered in blood. “You fool, your puny weapons and armor are nothing against the changeling queen” she walked around me and she pointed to Celestia “Look at what your little pets love has done to him”

Celestia stood up and strained against the magic of the four changelings holding her “His name is Johnathan, and he is my friend, he is not a pet. He…he is the man who makes me feel like I deserve the love and adoration that all of my subjects give me…he is the man who makes me feel like I can finally forgive myself for my past sins.”

“And now he's going to be a DEAD man” Chrysalis replied “And the sad thing is, he's going to die regretting never telling you how he truly felt. And you get to watch.” she gloated as she walked closer to me “Any last words” she lowered her horn to my throat and it began to glow. I reached for my guns, but they were gone, probably knocked off me by the magic beams. I glanced down to my waist and saw that I still had my tanto knife on me

I kept thinking to myself as I slowly moved my hand down to my knife, that’s right, just a little closer “Yeah” I replied weakly as my hand slowly closed around my knife on my side “You talk too much” and with that I plunged the foot-long blade into the side of her neck causing it to move her aim just to the left as her horn fired a beam of magic that hit the side of my throat. I pulled my knife from her neck and she collapsed to the ground with blood squirting from the hole in her neck. Seeing their leader fall, the rest of the changelings ran. I had done my job, but it had come at I price, I too was fatally wounded.

Blood began to ooze from the wound on my neck as Celestia rushed up to me “JOHN!!” I heard her hoof steps running up to me as I opened my eyes and saw her standing above me trying to heal the wound on my neck, but my wounds were too much. I saw the tears in her eyes “Please, stay with me”

I slowly raised my hand to her face and gently brushed her mane out of the way “Don’t worry my beautiful princess…...its ok… I need…to confess………I…love…. you” and everything went to black. I had died…well I guessed that I had deserved it, not like I was going to do much good in the world anyway. And on the bright side, Celestia would be able to find a stallion who truly deserved her love. A small light appeared in front of me and I walked towards it, but before I could get to it a blue alicorn mare stepped through it with her horn glowing, and the darkness around me transformed into some kind of space like expanse. The blue alicorn was about 5 and a half feet tall and she had a crescent moon cutie mark.

“Is this heaven?” I asked but then I switched focus “Is Celestia ok?”

The blue alicorn shook her head “No, this is not the afterlife, and I assure you, my sister, although a little shaken, is ok”

“That's good...if shes safe, then I did my job.” As I finished my sentence, I realized what she just said and I looked at her funny, “Not the afterlife?” It was at that moment that the realization of what had just happened had hit me. It was all a dream, a nightmare, and she’d probably used her magic to pull me out of it. “You must be Princess Luna.” I said as I quickly bowed as she walked up to me. Her mane had the same billowing effect like Celestia's, only hers was all blue. She spoke with a voice slightly deeper and more serious than that of her sister’s usual tone.

“Yes, I am, you may rise” so I stood up and Luna walked closer to me “So you are the warrior that appeared in our land three days ago.”

“Yes, but I’m not a warrior, and I would like to thank you and your sister for the hospitality that you all have shown me.”

“Well you are welcome, and my sister had not informed me that you weren’t a warrior, I will have to ask her about that…. but in any case, everything that has just transpired has been inside a dream.”

I felt my hopes rise for a brief moment, maybe Celestia wasn’t immortal and I could actually try to pursue a relationship with her. “Wait, the past three days have been a dream, or just the fight with Chrysalis and the changelings?”

“The latter.” She replied, and again my hopes were crushed…. But there was still the lingering question

“Ok, Why?”

She was honest in her reply, “Because we needed to test you, to make sure that you were not an enemy in disguise, or had any ulterior motives.I see now, that that is not the case, and I will be honest, the way you acted and fought I thought you were. But then you sacrificed your life to save that of my sister, a pony you barely knew, but from the looks of it, you care for her dearly.”

“Yes, I do, it’s just…” I supposed that I was going to have to tell them eventually

Luna spoke with a bit of a harsh tone “It’s just what?”

“She’s immortal, and she’s a princess, totally out of my league and I’m…I’m me. I don’t deserve her love, and even if I did I’m not immortal. I don’t want to go through a wonderful relationship with her only to have her hurt in the end by my eventual death…so I’m sorry, but I must decline the job she offered me yesterday. I’ll pick a secluded spot in the world so I can live out my life without disturbing your world, just send someone out every once in a while, to make sure I’m still alive and or bury me when my time comes, or if you want to banish me or lock me up, or lock me up, or lock me up in the place that you banish me to, I'll understand.”

“No.” she replied “I see, so you are willing to deny yourself the one thing you’ve always wanted to make sure my sister is safe and happy, and even go so far as to give your life for her…you have passed my test.” she gave a soft chuckle “ And as for you leaving or being locked away or banished …. You may come out now sister.”

There was another light behind me followed by hoof steps that approached me. I turned around to see Celestia herself, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. I walked up to her and set my gear down “Celestia, are you ok?” she just looked at me and then a second later she pulled me into her embrace and wrapped her wings around me

“No.” and with that she held me tighter as she began to sob into my shoulder.

I began to gently run my fingers through her mane to try and calm her down, and after a few minutes, she was calm enough for me to talk to her, “Its Ok Celestia, I’m here for you. Why are you crying?”

She spoke with a soft voice as she held me, “In your test… you so readily sacrificed yourself to keep me and my ponies safe from harm… You kept your feelings for me to yourself …because you wanted to keep me safe…. even if it meant… you never attaining true happiness….. But you never thought to ask me how I felt…to ask if I felt a connection too…I don’t want you to die…I don’t want you to go.”

“Well I…I was worried that id mess it up or that my Tourette’s would turn you away from me...I..I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry Celestia……and it's true, you do deserve better than me, Chrysalis was right, I am pathetic.”

“John, I don’t care about your disorder, you’re a kind, brave, and loving man. Those things that I told you last night are true, you and me are very much alike, and I am a little ashamed to admit this, but you are my only friend.”

And with that I started to tear up and hold her tightly as we both began to cry. what had I done? Why didn’t I tell her?

We just sat there for I don’t know how long, just holding each other, eventually I spoke up to Luna “Was it true all those things that Chrysalis said?”

Luna nodded “I was playing the part of the villain, I will admit, I did not expect you to have a blade concealed on you.”

Celestia continued “My sister has control over dreams and can understand ponies thoughts while inside them…I'm sorry that I did not admit my feelings to you”

“Don’t be” I replied, “I can understand why you hadn’t told me, we’d only known each other for 2 days. Ill mean yes I felt love, but I knew that I had to take it slow otherwise I’d lose you altogether, and right now, your one of my only friends. Was I hoping to eventually become more? Yes, but I knew that I had to take my time, but when I thought I was going to die…well I needed to tell you….You’re an amazing mare Celestia, you deserve any man or stallion that you want…..and I’ll understand if you no longer wish to see me now.”

Celestia frowned “No, I would never do that. Im happy that you admitted your feelings to me….and as for what you said earlier, I’m not going to lock up up for saving me, though I’m not happy that you think so low of yourself, I cannot fault you. …and I would love it if you would ask me out to dinner tonight.”

I smiled “I’ll be sure to do that.”

And then the world faded into white for a second “Sister, he is waking up, we can continue this shortly.”

“It was nice to finally meet you your Highness.”

“Please, call me Luna, and it was nice to meet you too.”

and with that everything faded away as I snapped awake in my bed. Immediately I jumped up and I ran to my balcony and threw open the double doors. And I ran onto my balcony as Celestia ran onto hers. I felt a little more relaxed to see that she was okay, but I didn’t have much time to do anything else because her horn glowed and I felt something engulf me, and sure enough she had me wrapped in her gold aurora as she levitated me over the ten-foot gap and into her hoofs. “Don’t ever do that again. Do you know how much it hurt to watch you die?”

I lowered my head, “Yeah, I do…which was why I wanted to leave, that way you wouldn’t, that way you would be safe from my mortality…you wouldn’t be hurt like I have”

She began to tear up “No, it would only hurt me more, I’d have to spend every day worrying about you, I will refuse to forget you. I felt a connection between us last night Johnathan, and I’ve seen what you hide from the rest of the world. I’ve seen your pain, it’s very similar to what I felt after the loss of my sister, so please, I beg of you, stay here in the castle, let me help you”

I looked her in her eyes, she was telling the truth, I needed help, and I had felt a connection between the two of us….and I loved her...I wanted this so badly “But what about my own mortality? I don’t want to have to put you through the pain of my death”

She put her wing around me “Do not worry about that, Equestria is a magical place, full of wonder and…well... magic.” she giggled “I’m sure I can find a way to remedy that problem, but for now we don’t have to worry about it ok? I want you to be happy, I want you to become the wonderful man that you truly are.” she smiled, and my heart began to pull itself back together.

“Thank you for everything. You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

She giggled “I think I do, I was watching your test remember.”

I smiled at that, remembering my dream and what Celestia had asked me to do, “So, maybe we could go on an actual date tonight? I’d like to get a chance to see a bit more of your amazing world.”

“Yes, I would love to.” And with that she got up and walked into her room and began to put on her royal attire

Seeing her getting dressed reminded me that I have my own morning ritual that I needed to attend to, “Well I have to get dressed for work, unfortunately I can’t protect the Princesses in only my boxers.” And with that I turned to the balcony and she walked out behind me. And I noticed that she was…admiring me!? “Enjoying the view?”

She got a good laugh out of that as she replied “Well you are quite handsome.” and with that she levitated me back to my balcony. “I shall see you soon my sunshine.”

I smiled “And so, will I my beautiful princess.”

she smiled at that and blew me a kiss, and with that we both went back into our rooms. As I did, I could have sworn that I saw another hint of pint out of the corner of my eye, but I again let it slide. I looked to my watch, and I realized that I hadn't adjusted it, luckily, the time was correct and so was the date, June 19th. And upon seeing that date, I remembered something that I read, something important that I had to do for Celestia. The time itself was only 0730, so I figured that I’d get dressed and make run down to the blacksmith to set up my idea. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave me with time for a shower because I didn’t want to be late for my first day. So, I walked into my room, and to my delight, my stack of new clothes actually was on my bureau. So, I picked one of the black uniforms off of the top of the pile and went into the bathroom to freshen up and take a quick shower, only this time I didn’t beat the shit out of the wall. After my shower, I put on my new uniform, and then I started with my combat boots, then I strapped on my battle-belt, which held my dump-pouch, three of my M4 mags, three of my 1911 mags and my pistol, and its holster. Next was my tactical vest, or plate carrier. This held 9 1911 mags, my med kit, my camelback, two flashbangs, and two M67 Frag grenades. And inside the vest, on the front and back were two armored plates and a 1-point sling for my rifle to hook onto on the front. Then came my Shemagh. It’s basically a piece of Arabic cloth that can be wrapped around the neck or face for some minor protection and identity concealment. Once I had my gear on, I opened my door to see that the guard detail that was babysitting me was no longer there, so I decided that I should try to make my way down to the throne room by myself, I’d been down that way a few times now and luckily, I remembered my route…...ok I got lost once…or twice, but it’s not my fault, everything’s got double doors on it, and i did manage to talk to the blacksmith, so everything's set up. Eventually, I made my way down to the throne room and I stopped at the double doors, and much to my surprise, they were already guarded. “Wasn’t expecting the princesses to be in there already” I looked to one of the guards and asked “Hey, when did the Princesses get in?”

He said nothing, just stood there…like a statue, kind of reminiscent of the Buckingham palace guards

“Or you just stand there” so I looked to the guard across from him “Your turn, when did the princesses get in soldier?” this time I actually got a response

“Sir, only a few minutes ago.”

“You don’t have to call me Sir.” I replied

“On the contrary, Shining Armor has started to spread the word of you position and his respect for you, and any pony who has the Captains respect has mine.”

“What’s your name?” I asked as I held out my hand for him

He took in and we shook “Valliant Blade.”

“Mines John, it was nice to meet you.” and with that he opened the doors and I walked through. And to my surprise, sitting right next to each other, were Celestia and Luna.

Celestia and smiled at me as she spoke “Good morning John, are you ready to start your duties as the personal guard to the princesses?”

I snapped to attention and saluted her “Yes Ma’am.”

Luna got a small giggle out of that “Please John, there is no need for all of that formality, please, stand at ease.”

So, I relaxed and walked to the throne “So where would you like me to be?”

Celestia extended her wing and pointed to a spot on her left in between both thrones “Right next to me” so I waked up and sat down next to her “Have you had breakfast yet my sunshine?”

“Not yet, I’m not hungry and I have more important things to do anyway.”

“Like what?” Luna asked with a slight look of concern on her face

“My job, I have a duty to protect the princesses, just because I might get hungry doesn’t mean that that duty stops so I can eat.”

Celestia chimed in, “Well you haven’t been knighted yet, so officially your duty hasn’t started.”

Damn. She had me beat on that one. “Look, I don’t matter, but keeping you two safe does.”

Celestia looked a little surprised at my response, and it took her a second to regain her composure before she pulled me close with her magic and stared me in the eyes “What did I tell you earlier? You matter to me. I care about you.”

Luna stepped into the group as well “As do I. Your job and concerns may be our well-beings, but our concern is yours.”

Celestia replied “Indeed sister.” and then she set me down “Now please, go eat something.”

I sighed, there’s really no way I could fight it, and I guess I could use some coffee “Alright, alright, you win…do you think you could have a cup of coffee and a croissant or something brought here?”

Celestia smiled “I don’t see why not.” she looked to one of the guards and relayed my order and five minutes later I was sitting in between to two smiling alicorns as I ate my breakfast.

“So, any visiting delegates coming today?” I asked

“Well there is one, but she will be here later.”

“What’s her name?”

“She’s my niece, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire.”

“Well in that case I better get started on a protec-”

Celestia raised a hoof to cut me off “Relax my sunshine, you still haven’t been knighted yet.”

I sighed, “Well when am I set to be knighted?”

Luna replied “If all goes well, the ceremony is set for tomorrow afternoon.”

I smiled “I look forward to it then.”

The day passed without much happening, Celestia and Luna heard grievances from ponies, most of them being over simple disputes like land, with the more heated ones being from the nobles, most of them were about some honor bullshit, and I’ll be honest, I wish I had some popcorn with me. That shit was quality entertainment. Unfortunately, the most frequent event was ponies walking in, seeing me, pointing at me, and then asking about me like I was some sort of monster that the princesses had taken on as some sort of pet. And the more nobles that came and did that, the angrier I got. None of them did anything physical, I think having the princesses by my side kept them from working up the balls to do that, but I was still getting pissed. Celestia would place her hoof on my hand and look at me every once in a while, to try and relieve my stress and anger, but also to try and tell me to pay them no mind. Eventually, I just took my glove off my left hand and sat there holding her hoof. I know that I was probably the one who needed it to be calmed down more, but oddly enough, I felt Celestia relax as I held her hoof, my thumb moving gently in small circles on her soft fur just below the metal of her golden shoes….Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without her.

--

Finally, the time came for me and Celestia to start getting ready for our date, Celestia and Luna dismissed me before both taking their leaves, and I walked up to my room to get ready for the coming night. I looked at my clock which read 1630 (That’s 4:30 PM) and I was supposed to pick up Tia at 1800 (That’s 6 PM) for our date. That left me with an hour for the blacksmith, and a half hour to clean up. So I quickly ran down to the forge, and put my plan into action. I managed to get what I wanted done, and the blacksmith said he said that he would set the gem, engrave it for me, and have it delivered to my room when it was finished, so that was definitely a big help.

When I returned to my room, I had exactly a half hour left to get dressed and clean myself up for my date. So, I looked through my new wardrobe for something a bit more formal. And to my surprise, not only did Rarity make me a Military Dress Uniform, which was most likely a commission from Celestia, but there was also a nice charcoal black suit with a maroon button up shirt and a tie of the same color. Below it was a pair of dress shoes. So, I set the suit aside and I grabbed a t-shirt for an undershirt, However as I passed by the bathroom, my hand went up to my facial hair. I remembered that I had only shaved in my dream, so I stopped and pulled on it for a few seconds before I made my decision. I walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. After a quick wash and rinse I again found myself staring at myself in the mirror, only now, I had a knife.

--

So, a half hour later, I was clean shaven and showered, I wasn’t going to go on a date with a princess smelling like my tac vest or looking like a Hobo. Next, I put on my suit, I’m not going to lie, Rarity did a pretty good job on it, and I did look pretty fucking dapper if I do say so myself. I decided that I would take my pistol with me, and keep it concealed. I know it’s a date, but I still have a job to do.

Anyway, 1800 rolled around, so I got up and I walked out of my room and over to Celestias and knocked on her door. This time I didn’t get lost, I mean how could I her room was right next to mine. I heard her voice in a bit of a melodic tone through the door “Come in!” I opened the door, and I saw the room was empty.

“Uhh tia?”

“I'm in the closet dear. I’m still trying to make my choice for what I want to wear. If you could wait for me on the balcony that would be appreciated.”

“Okay” I called out as I walked outside. The sun was still up in the sky, which is reasonable considering that Tia was getting ready for our date. So, I sat down in a chair chair and read one of the history books that was on the small table next to me. But I had the same problem with this book as I did with the others, why was there no mention of humans in any books I read? I mean I’ve only seen mentions of my kind in mythology books, and even then, it made humans sound like…monsters. I mean I’ll admit, humans don’t exactly have the same peaceful demeanor as ponies, and with my disorder I’ve never had a good view of my own race or world anyway, but still…you know, the sad thing is, the more I think about it, the more I think that pony mythology has a point about us...or me at least.

I was snapped out of my train of thought by Celestia's angelic voice “Im ready!” I got up to go inside, and as I did, I began to hear hoof steps approach the door. And when it opened…My god… it was the most beautiful thing that I had seen. Celestia stood before me with her mane in a braid off to her side and she was wearing a light red dress that crossed over her front and was held up with a star-like pin, and the part covering her flank was the same light red, but was adorned with the pink silhouette of her cutie mark, and the trail of the dress started from a light pink and then proceeded down to the same shade of red as the rest of the dress, and at her rear knee level, there was another gold pin of her cutie mark. “Good evening my handsome sunshine.”

I just stood there in awe “Y-y-y-you look absolutely amazing” I swear, if my eyes were screens, you’d be seeing “John.exe’ has stopped working” message, and there I was without a proverbial task manager, but luckily, Celestia was willing to do that for me

She smiled and giggled at my dumbstruckness as she spoke, snapping me out of my daze “And you look quite handsome, are you ready for our date?”

“YES!!...err I mean yes”

“I can see your enthusiastic about this.”

“Well I'm a little worried about it, but I have feelings for you. Luna showed you how I was when I thought that the past had repeated itself”

“Yes, she did. I saw the real you. I saw how much you cared for me. That you were willing to bear the pain of never knowing love just to keep me and my sister safe. But know this. You will no longer have to bear that pain.”

“And why is that?”

Celestia walked up to me and looked me in the eyes “Because I feel the same way, I know that you wanted to take things slowly, but I think that we can both agree that that’s not going to be plausible after what we both said in that test…...I want to love you too, I don’t care about your disorder. That doesn’t define you. it’s your actions and your heart that define you.”

I didn’t know what else to say or what I should do…So I hugged her. I just stood there and hugged her as she stroked her hoof down my back. After about a minute, we let each other go. “So, where would you like to go?”

“Oh well I was going to let you make that decision, my sunshine.”

“Well it is your date as well. Plus, I don’t exactly know my way around the city yet.”

“Ah I see, well then I know the perfect place, it’s not far from the castle, and me and my sister will eat there from time to time.”

“That sounds perfect then. Lead the way my beautiful princess.”

She blushed at bit at that as she wrapped her wing around me and we walked out of the castle together. As we walked through the streets, I noticed that Celestia's horn was glowing, and I looked around to see what she was doing, but then I saw how the sky was becoming its lovely shade of orange and pink and red. She was lowering the sun. I looked around again to see that the nobles were shooting me funny looks and some of them were giving me the death stare…or the “I have money and political power and I don’t like how the princess is with an ugly monster like you.” stare. I just smiled and put on my best “Go fuck yourself.” look and kept walking. I didn’t want to make the looks I was getting aware to Tia, so I decide to ask her the question from earlier. “So Celestia, I’ve spent some time looking in the books, but why is there no mentions of humans?” She looked at me with a look of slight concern and sadness, I just looked back and assured her “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if you do, be assured. Whatever it is, I can take it.”

She sighed “Well I suppose that I was going to have to tell you eventually…Humans lived here many ages ago, in a land across the sea. They didn’t have magic or wings, but they had imagination. They could build many great things, but some saw them as week and inferior. So, they decided that they would take what they wanted from the humans. You see, the human land was very rich with resources like gems, coal, and wood. So, the Zebras and the griffin decided that they would go and take those resources and subjugate the humans. They were wrong. The humans, while lacking in magic or wings, were very adaptable. And in battle, they fought like crazed manticores. They drove back the zebras and the Griffin and returned to their land to rebuild and mourn their losses. The griffins became allies of theirs and aided with rebuilding, even establishing trade routes with them, but the zebra. They saw the humans as ‘Star touched’ and began to fear them and portray them as monsters. But as time went on, the griffins realized that all trade with humans was done through their lands, and they grew greedy. But the humans had no choice, and they continued trade with the griffins, and their products eventually came into equestria, and this created a large demand, but to get human products, you had to go through the griffins, and once they lost the idol, they became even more greedy. They placed high taxes on human imports and exports. The Humans had no choice but to accept them, but as the prices for exports grew so did their distrust and hatred for others. The humans began to amass an army and began to spout rhetoric to the griffins in hopes that it would convince them to come to the table to renegotiate trade prices, but eventually the zebras used this as an excuse to plead for help from my parents. My father Orbash, and my mother Sunflare took their plead into consideration and took a deeper look into the humans. Who at the time were building up their military technology as well to prevent any further attacks from the zebra, and to make sure they could withstand an assault from the minotaur’s. Eventually they believed that the humans had become too much of a danger, so they used the elements and sent them away to their own world.”

“I…I don’t know what to say…I mean that explains a good chunk of human myths, and even some of our history. It’s unfortunate to hear that my people were banished without given a chance to say their part, but the past is the past I guess, and it’s not like you had a chance, humans are very much a war-like species. Especially my country. A great author once said, ‘God created war so Americans would learn geography’. And that is still very much true to my people today. We try to keep to ourselves, but we are constantly dragged to different parts of the world to help protect our allies and fight whatever evil is attacking them.”

Tia stopped and held me tightly “That doesn’t matter now, like you said. The past is the past. You are a good man John, don’t let any pony tell you otherwise.”

“Thank you Celestia…and the past is in the past, i'm sure that I can work to repair whatever damage has been done.”

She smiled as she let me go and we kept walking to the restraint talking about our day and Celestia telling me more about the history of her world, even telling me about one unicorn named “Starswirl the Bearded” I mean the guy basically sounded like the pony version of Merlin the wizard. And it sounded like he and Celestia were close. She was his student, much like Twilight was hers.

Anyway, we got to the Restaurant and we walked up to the pony up front, when he saw Celestia he bowed, “Good evening your highness.”

Celestia smiled at him, “Good evening my little pony.”

he then grabbed a menu for her and motioned for her to follow, but when he saw me, he put his hoof up, “I’m sorry sir, but you’ll have to wait until I can check your reservation.”

Celestia walked up to me and pulled me close to her with her wing as she spoke, “He is with me, I would like a table for two please.”

The waiter looked to me in a look of shock and i just smiled back, “Y-yes your highness, follow me please.” and with that he led us to a booth

I looked to Celestia and smiled

“Thanks Celestia.”

She smiled back at me “Your welcome my sunshine.”

As we walked through the restaurant, I again saw the bit of pink, but this time, it was sitting across from the captain, that bit of pink as it turns out, was a mare. I was going to go over and talk to them, but we had gotten to our seat. The waiter set the menus down on the table with some very fancy looking silverware, and we sat down across from each other. The waiter then placed down some glasses before speaking again, “May I get you anything to drink?”

“I’ll have a bottle of wine, white please, and some water.” Celestia replied

The waiter looked to me “And you…sir?”

“I’ll just have some water.” I replied. He levitated out a pitcher and filled the glasses with water, and with that he gave us the menus and left. I distracted myself with the menu to avoid looking at the glares of the Aristo ponies around me, but I noticed that that pink mare was at a table not to far from our own. “Uhh, tia, I don’t mean to startle you, but I think that that pink Pegasus mare over there sitting with shining has been stalking me for the past few days.”

Celestia smiled “I see you have a keen eye.”

I took a sip of the water that the waiter left, before I spoke, “let me guess, it's another test?”

Celestia looked down again with her ears folded against her head as she spoke softly “Yes it is…Im so sorry my sunshine”

I….I was surprised, but I was still on a date with Celestia, I wasn’t going to let this ruin it. I gently reached out and placed my hand under her chin. She flinched at my soft touch, probably expecting a harsher reaction, but I slowly raised her head to look me in the eyes “Its ok Celestia, I understand. Your just making sure that your world is safe…..I love you, and I’m not going to let a few tests change that. You are now and always will be my beautiful princess.”

Celestia raised her head up from my hand and smiled, what happened next took me, and everypony in the restaurant except for the mare watching us, by surprise. As she lifted her head from my hand, she smiled, and as I smiled back at her, she placed a quick kiss on my lips.

The second I felt her lips on mine, I froze, along with most of the ponies in the restaurant, including the band. I didn’t know what to do, and the whole room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I just sat there, frozen in place, as my mind basically exploded. Again the mental, “John.exe has stopped working.” message flashed in my brain. Celestia waved her hoof in front of my face and tapped me a few times

“John, are you alright?” she tapped me again as the pink mare got up from her seat and smiled at me before sitting back down as Celestia tapped me again “Johnathan?”

The ponies in the restaurant seemed to have lost interest in me, and for the most part, went back to eating or working. I shook my head a few times, and my mind rebooted. “I…I…..you kissed me”

Celestia smiled “Yes I did. Your kind words required kind action.”

“Ill admit, I wasn’t expecting that.” I replied

“And I wasn’t expecting you to forgive me” Celestia countered

“I will always forgive you tia. I mean I could never stay mad at you. Or your beautiful eyes.” Celestia began to blush as I spoke “Or your loving smile, or your kind voice.”

Her face was almost full on red now “You’re such a flatterer.” she replied

I shook my head, “No, I speak the truth, you are a kind, loving, and absolutely gorgeous mare.”

Celestia smiled “And you are a kind, strong, handsome man.”

“I don’t kn-” I started to speak, but celestia put her hoof to my lips

“Shush, I know what your going to say, and I will no longer allow you to treat yourself so poorly.”

“But-”

“Nope, no buts. As your marefriend, I am going to make you see all the amazing qualities that I see in you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.”

I sighed “Okay, you win.”

Celestia smiled “Of course I did, I'm the princess, your boss…..and now your marefriend”

all I could do was look at her and smile…It felt good to smile.

After a while we went back to the menus, “See anything you like my sunshine?” Celestia asked

“Yeah, the tofu scampi sounds pretty good, but the pesto risotto looks delicious as well.”

“Oh, I would suggest the Scampi, it’s one of the best dishes here, and a personal favorite of mine…. Maybe we could share it?” she purred.

Images of a popular scene from a Disney movie came to mind “Oh...uh…I... uh…yeah. let’s go with that.”

A few minutes later the waiter brought our drinks and took our orders. Celestia took the wine bottle in her magic and poured it into two glasses for myself and for her, then we both started to drink

I took a sip of it and smiled “The wine is great.”

Celestia smiled back “That’s good to hear.”

As we sat there I started to move my arm out to her when I heard what sounded like a snooty “Hmph” I looked up to see a white stallion with a gold mane standing in front of the booth glaring at me un-approvingly as I just rolled my eyes. He then looked to Celestia before talking in a stuck-up tone “Excuse me, Your highness.”

Celestia responded with the tiniest hint of annoyance in her voice “Yes Blueblood?”

He immediately pointed to me “What is that…THING…doing here, I know you are the ruler of the land, but the rules do forbid pets on the premises.”

Ok, the looks are one thing, but this. Time to step in. Celestia started to reply, but I cut her off “Excuse me mate, but I’m currently on a date with a very beautiful mare, now if you could please do us the courtesy and FUCK. OFF. That’d be great.” I threw on a fake smile before turning back to Celestia “Now where were we my beautiful princess?”

That only made him more pissed “YOU IGNORANT PEASANT DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM! I AM PRINCE BLUEBLOOD!”

I looked back at him and slowly moved my right hand down to my concealed pistol and gave him the middle finger with my left “yeah yeah, whatever mate, you see, its folks like you that I really hate, if I had been a pony and looked like this, you all would not care about me, I’d just be another gentleman. But because I look different and don't sound like a fucking snob, you decide to come over here and try to shove your elitist shit onto me, in hope that it might get me to cave to your whim, but here's a newsflash. Not all of us were born with a silver spoon shoved up our ass!” I stood up from the booth to look down on him “Now go run along back to wherever you came from”

And that sent him off the edge “THAT’S IT! IT'S TIME TO TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS!” and with that he levitated out a bread knife.

“KNIFE!!” and within a half second Blueblood was staring down the barrel of my pistol “Drop it, or I drop you!”

“EN GARDE PESANT!” and with that he stabbed the knife at me, I moved to my left, but it still caught my arm, tearing my suit and cutting my skin. Which was a very VERY dumb move for him. My cut arm lashed out with a left hook to his jaw which dropped him to the floor, I then put my knee on his neck and my pistol to his head

“You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”

But before I could do anything, two of Celestia's guards had shown up and were pointing spears at us both the one on the left yelled out “HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!”

Before I could say anything, Blueblood started to bullshit “Oh thank goodness, you’re here, this THING started to attack me, its violent. Take it away!” I looked up to the guards to say something, but with a snarl on my face and anger in my eyes, the guards bought his story. The guards levitated me up and hand-err-hoof cuffed me.

At this moment, Celestia stepped in to my rescue, “ENOUGH OF THIS! GUARDS!” they snapped to attention and looked to her “You will release that man at once, and place Prince Blueblood under arrest for assault and lying to law enforcement.”

“But your majesty, this…whatever it is has assaulted the prince.”

“No, he acted in self-defense, and he is a human, and he will be regarded as such. Am I clear?”

The guards bowed and took off my cuffs and put them on blueblood “Yes your highness.”

“And you.” she looked to Blueblood “Its actions like this that give the nobles such a poor image. You and those like you need to learn to respect others who have been less fortunate.” She looked back to the guards “Get him out of my sigh.” and with that they took Blueblood away.

“Well that probably could have gone better” I remarked as I holstered my pistol and looked back to Celestia who was looking right back at me “I’m in trouble aren’t I?”

She smiled as I sat down “Quite the opposite actually, though yes I am a bit discouraged that you have brought a weapon on our date, I also must realize that you job is to protect me and my sister. Plus, you did act in self-defense.” I began to tear up as she said that, causing her to wrap her wing around me and pull me close to her “Is everything alright my sunshine?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m too violent. I don’t deserve your love, and I don’t deserve to be in this world.”

I felt her wing slap my face “I don’t ever want to hear those words out of your mouth again. You deserve love. Your kind, honest, brave, and you put others before yourself no matter what. You deserve me. You deserve to be happy. Am I clear?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes “Yes.” I had ruined the date

Celestia stood up and looked at my left arm where my suit was torn “Are you sure you are all right Johnathan?”

I looked to my arm and i saw that my where the knife had slashed me, my arm was bleeding. Not too heavily, but it was enough that i would need to patch it up. I was luck that i had worn a red suit shirt and that the fabric was helping in a way that it was stopping some of the blood and clotting it in a way, but i still needed my medkit. “Im fine, its nothing serious”

She looked at my arm, then to me. “If you say so...Come with me my sunshine, I think that it would be best for us to go home, we have a meeting with Princess Cadence tomorrow.” she left some money for the drinks and our meals. Then we got up and walked back to the castle, all the while I was trying to avoid clutching my arm. The night sky on the way home looked amazing, but It didn’t make up for what I had done.

“I see Luna put up her best work for us tonight.” I remarked “It looks beautiful…almost as beautiful as you my princess.”

Celestia blushed and giggled “Luna only has control over the moon, however my father did say he was able to control the stars.”

“Your father?” I asked freezing in my place. If Luna and her were powerful enough to move the sun and moon, and their father was strong enough to move other celestial bodies...I was fucked.

“Yes, King Orbash, and its night skies like these that help reaffirm the belief that our parents are still watching us”

“Oh…should I start fearing for my life?” I asked

Celestia laughed out loud “Oh Johnathan, you are funny at times…no you need not fear, I actually think my father would like you, however it’s my mother who you should be wary of.”

Great...just great. “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever meet them.” I replied as we drew closer to the castle.

We got back to the castle and we walked back up to the tower, and I stopped at my door as she went to hers. As she walked by me I clutched my arm where I got cut, and my hand came back bloody, I took a look at my cut and from the looks of it, the movement of my arm and suit had aggravated the wound. But before I could open my door, I felt something tugging on my right arm. I looked over to Celestia to see her horn glowing. “Come with me my sunshine, I saw that blood on your hand and i can see that you tried to play your injury off as a minor one to keep me calm. Now come along, as punishment for lying to me, you are going let me heal you.”

“It’s ok Celestia, I’ll be fine, I can patch myself up.” Her gold aurora spread from my arm to my whole body as I was levitated off the ground. “Tia, I’ll be fine, plus you’re a princess, I’m just me, I don’t matter…...plus I’m not the type that gets invited into rooms, usually I'm just told to leave and never return.”

She levitated me over to her as she opened her door and took me inside “Well I don’t care, and I’m the Princess here, I make the rules, and your hurt. Im going to fix your wound, and if you keep this up, I may start nagging you about it too.”

I sighed, she had magic, and it’s not like I could run so. “Okay. You win.”

She smiled as she walked over to me and magically took off my shoes, socks, suit coat, shirt, and undershirt, leaving me bare-chested as blood now began to run down my arm, no longer being stopped by my shirt fabric. “Now stand still.” her horn glowed and she touched it to my arm and the wound slowly started to close. “There, all better.” she smiled and laid me down on her bed.

I touched the spot where I was cut, and it actually had healed, unfortunately there was no scar, so I guess I wouldn’t be getting a trophy from that encounter. So, I picked up my clothes and moved to the door. I just wanted to leave before I fucked up even more. She was the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen in my life...I was in love with her….but I was naive...how could she ever love someone like me?

“Well thank you for tonight Celestia, I’m sorry my actions put an early end to it and ruined the evening… Well it's late, I’ll be heading back to my room now I guess.” And I went to the door, but she stepped up behind me and put her hoof on me

“Please, stay for a bit. I was worried when you got hurt, and I want to keep an eye on you. I want to make sure you are safe, as much as you want me to be safe”

Of course, she’d want that, over the past three days, I’ve found that Celestia can be quite the sweetheart. But the funny thing is, I found myself moving closer to her as she spoke, eventually I was only a few inches away from her, staring deeply into her eyes. Which caused some confusion in her.

“John? Is everything alright?”

“Well…. you know how I feel about you…and I had fun tonight…well fun up until I was stabbed…...and I was wondering...maybe...we could…Kiss?”

I was expecting her to slap me again and tell me to get out, but instead she smiled at me and wrapped her wings around me, “That sounds lovely” and with that we locked our lips together. I held her tight and closed my eyes as we both finally felt real love for the first time. And with that kiss, so many years of loneliness and depression and worry disappeared as our lips met each other’s. When it was all said and done, and we broke the kiss, both of us were smiling, and for the first time in a long time, I no longer felt pain in my heart. Of course, her smile was bigger than mine, and it only increased her radiant beauty, but it left me wondering

“Celestia, why are you smiling?”

She moved closer to me and put her hooves around me “Well isn’t it obvious? I’m in love…and also because I was planning on doing this.” I felt her grip on me tighten, and we fell onto her bed holding each other and smiling.

The 30 minutes where we laid like that were some of the best in my life, I had found love, but I also had to remember my sense of professionalism “Uhh Celestia, it's getting late, maybe I should go back to my room and hit the sack. I still do have work tomorrow.”

“Awww. Do you have to?” she sounded a little sad

“Well what would you have me do? I mean we've only known each other for three days.” I countered

“I know, but, even you admitted that Lunas test has changed some things about us. Our relationship has a had a bit of a romantic boost, and as I said, I feel a connection to you…please, stay the night with me.”

I looked at her dumbstruck “I mean yes our relationship has had a boost, but it still needs some work…...but you want me? ....to stay in this room?... And sleep here?”

She smiled “Yes, yes, and yes. I can't think of a better way to work on our relationship, and your depression then a little cuddling.”

“I…I…...” I stopped and let myself think, if I wanted a relationship, I had to put in the work as well, she invited me to stay and I needed to stop being such a damn coward, and if i kept going the way I usually do, it wouldn't be long until I put a gun to my head “I accept.”

She smiled again “Good, now I’m going to get washed up, I’ll let you get comfortable…just don’t do anything crazy.” And with that she walked off into the bathroom. I walked out to her balcony and set up the cushions in a way similar to what I had previously done, and I just sat there and stared at the stars. I heard the water start and I also heard her starting to hum. It sounded like an angel. I forget how long she was in the shower, honest, I was just getting lost in her angelic humming.

I don’t know what song she was humming, but I do know that after sitting there for some time with my eyes closed, I think I began to sing myself. I wasn’t paying to much attention as I was only singing to myself, but at the end of a somewhat shitty rendition of Ben E King’s “Stand by Me” I heard hoof claps to my left. I opened my eyes, and just as luck would have it, Celestia walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her mane and her body and was now sitting laying down on the cushion across from me. “That’s was a lovely song Johnathan.”

I shook my head, “Well I can't take the credit for it, and with my singing, it probably sounded like nails on a chalkboard.”

Celestia smiled “Nonsense, with love songs, it's more about the lyrics than anything…and I will always stand by you.” I saw her horn glow and I was pulled onto her cushion, which was the size of a king size bed, and into her embrace. She smiled at me, but this smile was a little mischievous, and let the towels go to reveal her wet mane. God and I thought she looked hot in that dress. She giggled as she asked “Enjoying the view?”

“Oh, now that’s not fair” I countered as I started to blush, which only egged her on more

Celestia smiled as she spoke, “So, the big strong warrior does blush”

I covered my face a bit as I replied, “Because I'm not used to all this...or to your affection...I don't deserve it”

“Why?” she asked

“Well…...because your hot…...and I’m ugly as shit”

“Oh, stop it, your handsome to me, now go wash up. I do love you, but you do need to shower.”

“Yes dear” I replied sarcastically. She smiled as I set my clothes down and I walked to my room where i grabbed my sleeping shorts before walking back to Celestia's room and into the bathroom, where I took my clothes off, and stepped into the shower. this time the hot water didn’t have as much of an effect on me, perhaps it was already because I was calm and happy. I mean my date with Celestia went well…. or sort of well. She invited me to stay the night with her, and she’s says she loved me…I think I found the one…I think I can do this without fucking it up.

After some time, I got out of the shower, dried off, and put my sleeping shorts back on, walked out of the bathroom, and laid my clothes and gun down under the seat in front of the fire where I assumed I would be sleeping before walking to the balcony. Celestia was out on her balcony reading through a book, so I decided that it was best to not disturb her. So, I walked to the bed that was next to the fire and laid down. I had just made myself comfortable and closed my eyes when Celestia came back in and walked over to me. I heard her hoofsteps, and when I opened my eyes, Celestia was standing over me with her face inches from mine “That’s not where your sleeping John.”

I got up and looked at her, I figured that she didn’t want me near the fireplace for my own safety. “Well where should I go? I mean I can take the floor, or the balcony is fine with me.”

“Nope, you will sleep with me”

I froze in my tracks at her reply “Why? I mean I love you, but you’re a princess and I’m…me”

Celestia walked up to me and put her wing around me. It felt so soft on my bare chest and back “And I don’t care, I want to lay with you tonight and cuddle. I want to remind you that I love you, and besides the floor and the balcony are uncomfortable, and I can’t keep you safe when you’re not next to me.” and with that she picked me up and floated me into her bed and she laid down next to me. She then wrapped her hooves around me and draped her wing over me before pulling the covers over us, effectively securing me in a cocoon of her soft fur, feathers, and love. “Goodnight my handsome sunshine”

I smiled, finally giving into her love. “Goodnight my beautiful princess.”

Chapter 5- Through the eyes of the sun

Greetings. I am Princess Celestia. Over the past few days, I have seen that John has been writing in this book frequently. So, while he is still asleep, I am going to add my point if view into his journal. I now know how he feels about me, so it's time for me to write my feelings about him down. But before I begin, Johnathan over the time we’ve spent together, I’ve come to love you with all my heart, but last night as we slept, I discovered something about you that I never knew… You snore… VERY. badly. But other than that, you make the perfect pillow.
--

So now I shall start from the beginning I guess. four days ago, I was sitting in my throne when I received a message from my student, Twilight, informing me that she had found a human. At first I was surprised, but she then went on to describe him, I remembered back to the stories my mother and father would tell my sister and I. The human called himself John, he was about eye level with me, so at or near six feet tall, friendly, but he had no idea of how he got here. She said he woke up in front of the tree of harmony, so if I had to guess, I would say that the elements of harmony had something to do with his arrival. It was then that I remembered something. A message from an old mentor. I asked my sister to summon Princess Cadance and to take over for me for a minute while I went to write a message for the human. Immediately ran up to my chambers and I went to a section in the wall next to my fireplace. When I touched my horn to it, the wall moved away and opened up to a staircase that led up to the very top of the tower. This staircase had not been used in a while, left untouched since the days of Starswirl the Bearded. These steps led up to the personal library and archives of the royal family. But there were two books that I was interested in. I lit the torches with my magic and ascended the steps. At the top of them, sat a room, about the size of mine and Luna's, filled with bookshelves of ancient texts, stories, journals, and spells. But in the center of the room sat three books. The journal of my parents, the journal that me and Luna used to write in many many years ago, and the journal of Starswirl himself. The latter of which, has been magically sealed since his disappearance. And on top of it sat a note. A final message from my old mentor. It read

“Open it together with hoof and hand. You and the one of your heart.”

My sister and I have tried for years to open that book, but to no avail, and then when Luna turned…I……...When she was saved and returned to me by Twilight and her friends, we tried with a new vigor, but it still would not open. And now, hearing of this warrior, John, and his arrival, I couldn’t help but wonder, could he be it? I remembered the story of the humans and their fall from grace, but I also remembered the great things they did for this world, and a long-forgotten friend of my family. I walked back down to my room and sealed the passage again. I needed to be sure.

Upon re-entering the throne room, I was shocked to see Cadance standing beside my sister, “Cadence, it's lovely to see you, but may I ask how you were able to get here so fast?”

The princess of love smiled and walked up to me and we hugged quickly “I’ve been working on my teleportation spell, Shining will be here by the end of the day, he may be strong, but his magic isn’t at the same level as ours.”

“I see.”

“Auntie, may I ask why you summoned me here? Lunas letter said that I was needed here urgently.”

I looked to the guards in the room “Please leave us.”

They nodded and left, once they had closed the door, I locked it, and placed a magical orb around the three of us to prevent any sound from leaving. I did not want our conversation to be overheard by any passerby. “A human as arrived in Equestria.”

My sister took the information the hardest “WHAT!? Sister, you must be mistaken.”

“I’m not Luna, a human, who appears to be a warrior, has been brought back to our world by the elements.”

“Well in that case, we must place him into custody immediately, we don’t know what he may be capable of, you remember the stories our parents told us sister. They are violent, untrustworthy, and cruel creatures.”

Cadance chimed in “That was because they were constantly attacked by others because of their lack of wings or magic, and then fell victim to the griffin’s greed, and the zebra’s treachery. If I remember correctly from the stories Celestia told me, they were also capable of building great things, even falling in love with others outside of their race. I say we bring him here. He’s lost and confused. I believe that we should welcome into our world with open hooves.”

Luna retorted “You can’t possibly be serious, for all we know, he could be here to destroy our world”

“The elements wouldn’t do that” Cadance replied

I raised up my hoof and silenced them both “Both of your arguments have their merit. We shall invite the human here to the castle and have a room prepared for him.”

“Sister have you lost your mind!!”

“BUT, he will be kept under observation for the time being until we can be sure of his intentions. I will not throw him in the dungeon simply because he MAY be dangerous. That would make an enemy of him for sure. So, he will stay here under our watch.”

Luna was still not sure, “But sister, how will we know that he does not mean us harm?”

“The answer to that is simple, we will each make up a trial for him to go through, I shall meet with him in disguise and lead him up canterlot mountain to the castle. I will ask him questions of his past, who he is, and what he does, I will keep a spell on him to ensure that he isn’t lying to me.” I answered

“Then I shall test him in a dream” Luna replied

“And I will test his heart” Cadance answered.

“Then it is settled. John will be here the day after tomorrow. I would like to ask the two of you to remain unseen by him for the time being. I fear that he may become afraid or suspicious of us if he knows that all three of us are here before he is.”

“Yes sister.”

“Yes auntie.”

“Good.” and with that I removed the orb from us and unlocked the doors “I believe that that is enough for one day, I am going to retire to my room and ready myself for what tomorrow may bring.”

“I shall ready myself for his tests.” Luna replied

“And I will follow him throughout the days and monitor his heart, and be there in case you need help Celestia.” Cadance continued.

I smiled, but I also was worried, knowing that both my sister and my niece could be right. “Then I shall see you both soon.” and with that I walked out and up to my chambers. As I lowered the sun, I looked out to Ponyville “I shall see you soon”. As the moon rose over the horizon, I walked back into my room and fell asleep.

The next day, I awoke and I went through the same routine of hygiene, taking extra care to make myself look as professional as possible. Especially since I was in a sense, meeting a foreign emissary. My sister was most likely in her room or hiding somewhere in the castle, and Cadance has gone somewhere, I suspect that she will be near John for most of this. All I could do is wait honestly. I have canceled most of my plans for today, and I have made sure that the castle staff understands that I will be gone for a few days and that he is coming here as a friend. I penned a letter to Twilight, informing her to make sure that the train is not in commission when Johnathan arrives at the station, and that I would be in disguise as a mountain guide who would be bringing him up the mountain. From the sound of things, the ponies in ponyville did not fear him, but the nobility of canterlot may see him differently. The problem is, is that zebra mythology on humans has gone to form most of the stories about them, and most of the nobility is well versed in mythology and the history of Equestria. The zebras portrayed the humans as monsters that eat ponies and destroy everything. But I know different. All I can do is wait and hope.

A few hours later, a letter appeared in front of me.

Dear Celestia,

I have taken care of the train to canterlot. John seems anxious to meet you. He says he has a few questions for you, but be warned he is armed. The weapons he has are nothing like anything that we have here. I have tried to get him to come unarmed, but he seems dead set on keeping them. According to him, he rehearses battles for fun, and that for the safety of others, he is keeping these “Guns” on him. He has not harmed any pony, but he tends to reach for his weapons in a dangerous situation or when he feels frightened.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

I read the letter over a few times, from the sound of it, Cadance was right, but the fact that he was armed suggested that Lunas theory may hold some water. I stood up and with a spell, I had donned my disguise. I decided to choose a younger form of myself, minus my wings of course. It was a form I was semi familiar with, and one that I felt would not tip Johnathan off to my true identity. I then sent a letter to Cadance, letting her know where to go before grabbing a saddlebag filled with various hiking materials that had been assembled by my sister and I, and with a flash of my horn, I teleported to Twilights castle.

With a flash, I appeared in the center hall of her castle, or as Twilight and her friends called it, the map room. Twilight was waiting for me there, and as I appeared, she bowed “Good morning Princess Celestia.”

I smiled at my faithful student “There’s no need to bow Twilight, you are a princess as well, technically speaking, I should be bowing to you” I raised up my hoof to gesture to my new body “How does my disguise look?”

“It looks amazing princess…may I ask what your new name will be?”

“Hmm...I had not put any thought to it…” I scratched my chin with my hoof when a possible name came to me “How about Majesty?”

“It sounds perfect… but you may want to change your voice up, that way we can be sure he won't notice.” she replied

“True” I replied, and with a flash of my horn, my voice had been changed “How does this sound?” I asked

“like a mix of your voice and rarities.” she replied “Which will work, but we should probably hurry, I’ve had them shut down the train to canterlot, and I’ve informed the conductor on what he has to say, but I only managed to get it shut down for a few hours, and John will probably be there in a half hour, so we best be on our way.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” After a short walk, we reached the train station, and already, a small mob of ponies had formed, and it was just in time too. Not even ten minutes after we arrived, I saw Johnathan walking towards the station. When I first saw him, I was surprised. He looked almost exactly like what I remember from my parent’s stories and then some, and he definitely looked like a warrior. I smiled as I would when I would meet any diplomat, and as he walked closer, I got a better look at him. He was wearing some sort of green shirt and pants, and over that was a black vest with small metal boxes on the front, and an odd looking black metal thing hanging from his vest, which I can only assume to have been his weapon. He also wore tan boots, a black helmet, and some sort of tan scarf. I saw him look over to the two of us, then to the conductor who was making apologies to the mob and assuring them that they were working to fix the train. he then muttered a vulgarity before turning to me and twilight and walking up to us

“So, I take it there’s been a delay?”

Twilight stepped forward and spoke, “Unfortunately, yes, the train seems to be broken and they don’t know how long it will be to repair it.”

He looked to me and then Twilight, “So, what’s that mean for my meeting with Celestia?”

“I’m glad you asked.” she replied “I already sent her a letter informing her that you would be late, but that you would be hiking up the mountain.” An annoyed look came across his face, but Twilight intervened. “Don’t worry, it should only be a day’s hike, and I’ve arranged for a guide to help you.”

He looked to me and stuck out his hand “I’m John.”

I smiled and shook it back as I spoke, “Thank you dear, my name is Majesty, I’ll be your guide up to Canterlot.” he looked at me oddly for a second before reaching for his gun, which shocked me, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that Cadance was up in a cloud with her horn ready, but her hostility faded away as we both saw that John was only changing how his weapon was clipped to him, slinging it over his back instead of having it hang off his side before speaking “Well it's nice to meet you Majesty, when do we start our ascent?”

I placed my bags on my back “Right now if you’re ready.”

He smiled at me before he spoke, “Lead the way.”

I smiled back at him before making my way to the base of the mountain, where I had us stop for a bite to eat. “It's probably best if we stop for lunch here, we won't reach the city until late tonight so I think it will be best if we take the longer trail up the backside of the mountain, there’s a nice little lake there that we can set up camp at.”

“Ok, you’re the guide.” John replied as he dropped his bag down and began to look through it and pulled out a brown bag and sighing before saying “Well at least it’s not the creamy spinach fettuccine...” he then tore open the bag and added water to it…very strange.

Meanwhile I had pulled out a sandwich that Luna had made before I left, but I saw smoke coming from that bag that he had “what is that exactly?”

He looked to me as he spoke “The army’s greatest invention, the Meal Ready to Eat, where the majority of options are bland or taste horrible.” he lifted up some kind of sandwich before taking a bit from it “Take this for example, the Jalapeño and cheese burger, like a burger…but fucking disgusting…But it’s better than nothing...”

His commentary on his food had caused me to stop eating my own, and it had gotten me to laugh, oh if only some of the guards had his sense of humor “I see…you know from what I’ve seen your quite the card for a military man.”

“Yeah I guess.” I replied.

I took a few bites of my own sandwich before starting my round of questions. “So, tell me a little about yourself and your military.”

John took another bite of his ‘sandwich’ and a sip of water before he spoke, “Well you know my name already so…...well I’m 28, about 6 feet tall, don’t exactly know my weight at the moment, and I’m a computer engineer, and in my free time, I re-enact battles...Still don’t know how I got here though.”

Ill admit, I had no idea what a computer is, but that’s a question for later “So your military doesn’t know of our world?”

“To my knowledge, no. trust me, if your world was found by mine you’d be an internet sensation, I can already hear the news people” He raised his hands up and spread them apart suddenly, which was a slight startle to me, but did not appear to be hostile, and what he said next confirmed that, “Breaking news, tonight at six, NASA has found a world like ours inhabited by magic talking and flying horses!”

I did not know much about John at that moment, but his sense of humor had me laughing hard “Oh my goodness that is funny.”

He smiled at me sincerely, “It's good to have someone to laugh at my jokes.”

I smiled back at him, “Well it's not too often that I have customers, I mostly do work on the trail keeping it in good condition then I do leading ponies up it.” I replied as I finished off my lunch

“huh…interesting.”

With lunch finished, we began to make our way up the mountain. As we walked up, I would look out to see how far up we were, and to get a loom at the view. From what I saw, we were making good time to the campsite. The view from the cliffs was not as good as the view from my own chambers, but it was still breathtaking in a way. I looked back to John, and when I did, I did not see the rugged, comedic man that I had had lunch with not long ago, instead I saw the look of a defeated man…a depressed man…I saw myself after that fateful night…. I couldn’t let him go down that path, so I stopped and spoke to him “You ok back there? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

He didn’t offer much of a reply “Oh…uhh…. yeah I’m fine.”

I raised my eyebrow at him and walked up to him “Are you sure? You don’t sound good.”

He sighed and avoided my gaze, “I’m fine…just a….im fine.” he was most certainly not fine

I looked at him and then out to the sky, then back. “Well then let's get back on the trail, we’ve got a few more miles to the camping point” and with that we kept walking up the mountain. His condition was worse than I thought. We continued to walk, but eventually I stopped hearing his footsteps, I turned around to see what was wrong, and I saw that John was looking out at the sky.

I walked back to him, and I saw that he was fully enthralled by the view from the trail. “I see you’re enjoying the view.”

“Yeah, It’s amazing.”

“It's one of my favorite things about this job.” I replied “Honestly if I could I’d spend hours on end just sitting out here with the fresh air and watching as the setting sun turns the clouds into many beautiful shades-”

John cut in and finished my sentence, “And then watch the stars.” I was surprised that he too enjoyed the sky. I realized then that there was more to him than what I had seen and heard, that there was a piece of myself in him as he continued to speak “Yeah, I know what you mean, I used to do the same thing when I went camping, I’d set up my tent, but on nights when the weather was nice, I’d just lay out there under the stars.”

I set down my bag and sat next to him, “That sounds rather peaceful.”

“Yeah, it was…but it was never enough to hold over the sadness inside me.” he replied, giving me a glance at who he really was.

“What sadness?” I asked

“Well according to my shrink, depression caused by my Tourette’s.”

“What’s that?”

John sighed, at first I thought he wouldn’t say anything, but he turned to me and spoke “Well it’s a mental disorder, causes my brain to send to many signals to my body resulting in physical twitching and a small speech problem, I was diagnosed at six and since then my life’s been hell, at first my family was embarrassed of my existence…but eventually they got used to it, but my peers didn’t. I was harassed and abused day in and day out. Women left me when they found out about it, saying that I deserved to be dumped for a real man, that all I deserved was a lonely death and a funeral that no one would attend…I tried to join my nations military but the medical board said that my disorder disqualified me from serving.”

If he wasn’t military, then why was he dressed like that? “Then why are you in military clothes?”

“I was wearing them when whatever brought me to this world took me…...you see, before I came here I was at rock bottom, I was alone, I had let myself go, and I was on the verge of suicide, so I’m chalking this all up to that magic tree that I woke up in front of.”

I now had my suspicions confirmed, he was not a threat, he was a broken man, one who needed friendship…he was like me up until Luna returned. “That’s horrible! How could anyone be so cruel!”

“Because I was different I guess… honestly, I don’t know or care about it anymore” he then picked up a rock and began to study it, and I saw then what I had to do. I picked my hooves up and wrapped them around him, which caused him to freeze up. “Uhm…. I’m not going to fall, I’m okay.”

I kept hugging him, “I’m not holding you because I think you’re going to fall, I'm holding you because you need a hug” he kept trying to get me to stop, but I put my hoof to his lips, “And there’s nothing you can say to stop me so let it happen” he gave in and I eventually let go of him before asking him, “So you believe that the elements had something to do with it?”

He stood back up and put his pack on “Yeah, it makes the most sense, and I’m surprised that everyone-er-pony, says that I’m taking this well, I mean what else can I do? Panicking over something I can’t fix isn’t going to help me at all, so why should I worry about it?”

“I see… that’s actually very smart of you…. but may I ask if you’re worried about anything?”

“Well there’s the obvious part of meeting the Princess. I mean Celestia sounds nice and all, but I’m not exactly a good person, and look at me, I don’t exactly scream ‘I come in peace”

I almost chuckled at that, but years of diplomatic experience help me stifle it, oh if only he knew. “That is true, but I’m sure the Princess will be understand, and I’m sure she'd be willing to help you” I got back up, grabbed my things, and we began to walk back up the slope. He was worried about meeting me, but maybe I could ease his fear, “I’ve met the princess a few times.”

He looked down to me with shock “Oh really?”

I did not enjoy lying to john, but the situation required it. “Yes, like I said, my job sometimes involves leading ponies up the mountain, and sometimes, dignitaries do not wish to part with their carriages, so I get called to lead them up. In a way I’m sort of an ambassador.”

“Huh, interesting.” from the sound of his voice, my tactic was working

“Yes, and like I said, this means I’ve had some meetings with the Princess, and trust me when I say that she’ll understand, I’m sure that she’d even be willing to put you up in the castle for the time being.”

he smiled at me and I smiled back, “Thanks Majesty, that kind of helps ease my worry.”

“Anything for a friend in need.”

John looked down to me like I had just spoken a different language “Friend?”

“Yes dear, everypony needs a friend…would you accept my friendship?”

I was worried that I might have said something wrong as john just kept walking in silence, but eventually, he spoke “You know what…I think I’d like that.”

I smiled back at my new friend, “Good.” We walked for a little bit longer before we came to the resting site, it was a small lake that me and Luna had found when canterlot was being built, “This is one of the lakes that the river around the castle drains into.”

“Wow…This is actually pretty nice.” John walked to the side of the mountain near the water and set his stuff down, I assumed that he would be setting up his tent, so I began to get a fire started to make us some tea or at least keep us warm if it got cold…the only problem with that was that I had forgotten how to light A fire by hoof, and I didn’t want to risk using magic to start it, as I may have given away my true identity.

“Come on you stupid thing, light”

I heard a small laugh from off in the distance, and then John walked up to me “Need a hand with that?”

I dropped the sticks and saw that my efforts had born no fruit, “Yes, I suppose I could use some assistance.”

He set up the logs and some sticks and then got a match. “Watch this” he struck the match, and placed it in the fire under the smaller twigs, after a minute or two, the log began to catch and he stood back up “There you go”

I smiled and placed a teapot over the fire, “Thank you John, may I ask where you learned that?”

“Yeah, I was a Boy Scout.”

“What’s that?” I asked

“It’s a group from where I’m from, its goals are to teach boys life skills and survival skills” it sounded similar to the group that Applejack's sister and her friends had going

“And is there a similar program for females?”

“Yeah, however, from what I’ve heard from family friends, even though they have the ability to, the Girl Scouts don’t usually do the same type of activities as the Boy Scouts, and there are also co-ed programs…needless to say there are lots of options for everyone.” he replied

“That is good to hear.”

“Yeah, well if you need me I’m going to make myself some shelter” and with that he walked off. I heard some a few crashes, and a small amount of profanity, but eventually, John had made himself a shelter and had walked back over to me “May I ask what your making?”

I smiled at him as I poured myself a cup of the pots contents, “Just heating up some water for some tea, would you like some?”

he shook his head “Thank you, but I’ll pass, I’ve never been much of a tea person”

“Ah so you’re a coffee drinker?”

“And proud of it, like most people, I need coffee in order to function in the morning”

I chuckled, his responses reminded me of Luna “Not much of a morning person then?”

“I’m basically a zombie before 8 am when things aren't exciting.” He replied which almost had me burst out in full on laughter. It felt good to talk to him

We sat around the fire, making small talk, and enjoying each others company, until eventually, I had to lower the sun. I was able to do it discreetly while I held my teacup in my magic. Eventually, Luna Raised the moon, and the night sky looked breathtaking from where we were on the mountain. As I began to think back to earlier today, I looked to John “I know now that you are not military, but I’ve seen those things on your back and side, so may I ask what are those weapons that I always see you carrying and why do you have them?”

he sighed as he brought out his weapons, “This is my Rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine.” I just stared at him and he sighed again, “It’s a dangerous weapon” he pulled part of the weapon from it and then pulled another part back and lifted up a small brass object before speaking, “This is a bullet, it consists of a primer, a metal casing, explosive power, and the top of the bullet is what gets fired out. The bullet goes into the magazine, and the magazine goes into the rifle. The rifle then has a small pin that hits the primer which ignites the power which propels the bullet down the barrel of the weapon at the target or enemy. And it may be small, but it can do some damage, as for how I got them, I’m going to say it was the tree, and I carry them because I know how to use them and it could be dangerous for anyone who doesn’t know how to use them, or if they wish to use them to bring evil to have them.” He took the bullet, put it back in the mag, and ut that back in the gun and I then asked about the thing on his hip

“What about that?”

“Basically, the same thing, but on a smaller scale”

“Why would you need such weapons and how do you know how to use them?” I was beginning to get worried, these weapons could wreak havoc on my world, but johns response eased my worries.

“I think I have them for protection, be it my own or for this entire world, and I know how to use them because I used to teach people on how to use them, and because I might not have been in the military, but I did military simulation for many years.”

Again with this practice of his, “What is Military Simulation?”

“Basically, me and a few hundred-other people all get together for a weekend and basically rehearse military operations for fun.”

Interesting “Ah I see, so you train for fun?”

“Well for me it was kind of therapeutic as when I was out doing it, my Tourette’s would almost disappear, maybe it was because my brain was already operating on high because of the adrenaline, I don’t know, but it helped me and made me feel happy so…yeah.”

This disorder of him…it's caused him so much pain…I was happy to hear that he has a way of helping it. “Ah, so it meant more to you than others then?”

“Not really, but yes, it did hold a special place in my life.”

“I see, but what will you do now?”

“I don’t know, I mean it's safe to assume MilSim is out…...maybe I’ll take up wood carving? I used to do a bit of it before I came here but now that I’ll have my weekend free, I guess I’ll need a new hobby.”

“That sounds nice.” I replied as I put more tea in my cup. John needed to cut himself some slack. “…You know contrary to what you may believe, you are a good person John.”

“I don’t know.”

“I think that you will fit in very nicely in Equestria, your strong, caring, and you’re a good person.”

“Thanks Majesty…. you know, I think that maybe I’ll open up a woodshop here.”

“That sounds like a good idea” I smiled at Johnathan. Partly because it was nice to have a friend, but also because I loved the idea of a little wood shop near the castle. However, I knew that for the time being he would have to be a guard…but perhaps maybe someday, hell have a quaint little shop, or maybe he’ll use his engineering skills to build something for this world…though I know that he’d probably build it for me

John smiled back at me before standing up, “I think I’m going to call it a night, I’ll see you in the morning.”

I smiled, knowing that tomorrow, I would be able to tell john some truths. I hated lying to him, especially since he’s been so kind…since he reminds me so much of myself. Sure, he may have a more rugged exterior, but underneath it, there lies a very big heart. I pulled out a small book of my own, one that was enchanted to Luna, Cadance, and myself could secretly communicate on this venture. “Okay goodnight John, if you need me I’ll be over here, I think I’m going to do some reading before bed.”

“Fair enough.” he replied, and with that he began to walk away, but before he got to his shelter, he turned back to me “…. And majesty…...Thank you for being my friend.”

I smiled back at him wholeheartedly. I was happy that some of my efforts to help him were working. “You're quite welcome my dear, goodnight.” And with that he walked off. I saw john lay down in his shelter with his head propped up as he watched the stars. I looked down to my “book” and I saw that my sister had left me a message

Is everything going alright sister? Should I send the guard?

I sighed as I wrote back There’s no need Luna, the more time I spend with Johnathan, the more I seem to believe that Cadance may be right about him

At the mention of her name, Cadance chimed in See, I told you so, and his heart proves it. I must say you’ve had quite the effect on him auntie, its been a while since I’ve seen some pony so depressed, but thanks to you, his heart is starting to beat it

That is good to hear I replied We shall be arriving at the train station in the morning, from there I’ll bring him to the castle, however, I’m going to need a distraction in order to cast off my disguise without him noticing

My sister replied, and I could hear her mischievous grin from here I’ll come up with something

I sighed, but I then also began to worry for Johns safety. Just don’t do anything too crazy, I’ll fake an injury, a few guards showing up to take me to the hospital and escort Johnathan to the palace should do the trick.

Luna's reply helped stay my I will have the captain lead the team

Very well…goodnight sister, goodnight Cadance

Goodnight Celly

Goodnight Auntie

I awoke the next morning to a familiar smell, the smell of coffee. I expected to open my eyes and see Luna, however, when I did, I was greeted by the view of my tent, and as I opened the flaps, John was sitting there, with a pot over the fire, and a cup of the seaming liquid inside. I stepped out of my tent and John greeted me with a smile. We had a small discussion, which lead to me trying coffee for the first time, and from that experience, I have promised myself that I will never try it again. It felt nice to talk to John, and I was happy to see that he had come out of his shell, maybe not all the way, but still, he had come out. He even provided me with proof of this, by giving me a rose that he had carved himself. Eventually we began our hike up the mountain, and as we neared Canterlot, I put my plan into action. While John was again distracted in his own thoughts, I “Fell” I collapsed to the ground with a scream, and two seconds later, John was by my side

“Majesty, you ok?”

“Y-Y-Yes, I…I just tripped.” I then tried to get up, actin like my front right leg was too hurt before yelling out in pain again, “I…I can't stand up.”

John kneeled down next to me and inspected my leg “It looks like your leg is hurt.”

“How badly?”

“Bad enough that you’re not going to be walking on it” I was expecting him to stay with me until I could get the guards down here to help, but what he did next surprised me. he took my pack off me, and then picked me up, and placed me over his back to carry me. “So…I'm going to have to carry you.”

I was worried that the weight of me and his pack may hurt him, and I tried to tell him that “Johnathan what are you talk-”

He put his finger up to my lips “No, I’m not leaving you, this time I’m the one who’s not changing his mind.” and with that he began to make his way up the mountain, however he had to leave my pack behind, but that was simply teleported to my room when we got away from it, however, every once in a while, John would grunt. Eventually, he stopped and looked up to me, “How much farther to canterlot? Because I don’t mean to sound rude, but you’re not exactly the lightest individual in the world”

I chuckled, “I'm going to overlook that comment as your currently carrying me, and I’d say that at this rate, we should be there in a half hour.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic” his vulgarity would have warranted a bit of a verbal chiding from me, but given the situation, I let it slide

It took us longer than what I had said, but that was not an issue, the true problem began as we walked into the train station on the edge of town. The second my little ponies saw Johnathan, they began to scream and run away in fear. John paid it no mind, and he gently set me down on the platform as a squad of guards, led by the captain ran onto the platform with spears at the ready. John looked to them as he pointed to me “Hey, I need a medic here! She’s got a hurt leg!”

The guards only responded by lowering their spears to point at John, and he in turn, sat down so his body was shielding most of mine, as he raised up his rifle and swept it from guard to guard as he spoke. “Drop your weapons or I will shoot!”

I saw Shining Armor step to the front of the group, and I expected him to defuse the situation, but he only responded by drawing his swords with his magic and pointing them towards John “Step away from her you monster!”

John focused his weapon to the captain, and I feared the situation might have been getting worse as John spoke “Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Now take your men and tell them to back the fuck off. I’m not leaving her until she’s safe.”

John was doing this to protect me?...I…I had to help him, unfortunately, the captain didn’t back down “Safe? Yeah right, you’re the one who hurt her, just so she wouldn’t run right?”

I saw Johns thumb adjust lever on the rifle, the two were about to fight. “This is your last warning, back off or I shoot.”

Seeing no other course of action, I stood up behind John, and with a quick spell, my disguise had been cast off. Seeing my true identity, the captain and the guards all immediately snapped to attention, “That won't be required gentlemen” Upon hearing my true voice, John just turned around, and when he saw me, he stood up, adjusted that little lever, and bowed deeply. I smiled at him as I motioned for him to rise, and as he did, he stared at me with a look of surprise on his face

“Where…Where’s Majesty?”

I smiled at him, even though I felt horrible about lying to him. I explained my reasons, and John seemed to understand, though I’m afraid that I had driven him back into his shell.

The walk back to the castle was uneventful, though when I saw the looks that Johnathan was getting from some of the nobels, I am happy that my sister decided to send more guards. My meeting with Johnathan also went rather well, I was happy to hear that even though I had lied to him when we met, he was still willing to accept my offer of friendship, and even more delighted when he accepted my offer of dinner. When the time came for our meal, I felt that it would be better for me to personally lead John to the dining hall. I owed him that much, especially after he carried me up the mountain and after he forgave me for my actions. John was surprised to see me, and even more surprised to hear that he would be my personal guard, but in his eyes, I say the conflict between his heart, and a tantavis of his own. During the dinner, things went well, and I found myself doing some bonding with John. I’m happy to say the he left the table in a better mental state than when he arrived…. until I bid him goodnight. I should have known that he had feelings for me, I was foolish to answer his question. Especially one that hurt him so. Fearing for Johnathan’s safety, I waited until he had returned to his quarters before sneaking to my door and quietly made my way to Luna's room. My sister was just about ready to start her night shift when I interrupted her

“Luna, there is no time to explain, but you must test Johnathan tonight?”

“Why sister, I thought you said that we should take our time with this test?”

“Because I fear for his safety.”

My sister snickered “Because you have developed feelings for him?”

I stopped as I thought, I didn’t think that I had developed feelings, not at least in a sense of love, but then again, I feel attracted to him… and he’s wasn’t bad- looking either…. “He reminds me much of myself after I lost you.”

“I see” my sister rubbed her chin with her hoof before sighing “Fine…I shall move up my test for you sister. Now come along, he is most surely asleep, we need to begin the dream manipulation quickly.” With that being said, I followed Luna into her room, and with a flash of her magic, we were watching Johnathan in his dream. I was hurt to see how my response had crushed him, and me and Luna were both scared at how he physically abused himself. It took every fiber of my being to keep me from intervening…and then when Luna came is as Chrysalis…and when John sacrificed himself…I myself was crushed. John reminded me so much of myself…my sister was right, I did have feelings for him. I was elated when he asked me out for a date, even though it took some motivation, and even though Bluebloods little stunt did hurt the evening, I’m still happy to see that I’m starting to break down the walls around Johns heart… that he may be my one.
--
Now for my more serious message. The day I got that letter from Twilight about your arrival in Equestria was one of the best and worst days in my life. I had heard stories of humanity from my parents. My sister and myself were fixated on the stories of their great fighting abilities and how humans, creatures with no magic, or wings, could do and build so much. But I also remember how they became a cold and distrustful race. Unfortunately, it was due to their own lack of magic that lead others to believe that they were weak. That they were vulnerable. So, they were constantly under threat of attack. I can still remember my parents sorrow as talked of how they had to cast them from this world. That is why I was worried when I heard of your arrival, I feared that your world may have sent you here to reclaim its lost land. The night I heard of your arrival, I sent for Princess Cadance and my sister to meet with me and discuss what we should do. My sister Luna, much like our mother, suggested the idea of placing you into custody until we could verify that you were in fact, not a threat to our world. My niece Cadance wanted to go to see you immediately. She believed that you were just a kind and gentle soul who was stuck in a new world. She always sees the good in ponies, or in this case people. So, I did what I could to mediate. Both sides had their virtues, but they also had their flaws. So together we devised three trials. My trial, The Trial of the Sun, came first, and it would decide the course of the other trials. As you know, it was our trip up the mountain to Canterlot. I wanted to meet the real you, the you that comes out when your alone, not the façade that you put up when you’re in public…. the you that I feared you would try to hide in your meeting with me…. And you passed it with flying colors, so I moved on and gave you a position in the guard as my personal protector to help aid my sister in her test, but I also gave you that job because of what you did at the station. I was surprised to see that you were so willing to sacrifice yourself to ensure the safety of some pony who you had only met. I was discouraged that the actions of the guards forced me to reveal my identity to you, and I am sorry that I had to deceive you that way, but we had to make sure that you would not hurt my little ponies… And I saw how you were looking at me, I saw your internal struggle when I thought I felt your feelings for me. I was hopeful that you would pass the remainder of the trials, but I was worried for you when you asked that last question about my immortality. I saw how much my answer deflated you. Worried for your well-being, I accelerated the time table of the next trial, having it take place that night, instead of over the course of the next few days. So that night, Luna conducted her trial, the trial of the Moon. In this trial she would simulate the real world in your dreams and then have a power attack us and see what you would do. To see if you could be trusted. We were watching you when we weren’t participating in the test. I was heartbroken to see what my response combined with your past had done to you. And to hear that your own life meant nothing to you. it devastated me. To hear that you hated yourself so much, to see the damage that others had done to you was saddening. But the fact that you were willing to cast your own happiness and well-being aside to fulfill your duty and protect me that sparked my own feelings for you. I saw how you held others before yourself, that you were willing to do so much to keep others safe from harm. I didn’t need Cadance there to know that you were in love with me, and that your heart was in pain. And as the day went on, I saw that you were doing whatever you could to hide your pain. You would have been able to hide it from anypony else, but I have been around for thousands of years. I’ve seen that look before, and as much as I wanted to confront you on it, I couldn’t. I had to let Luna do her trial.

It was your actions when Luna simulated a chrysalis attack that proved your intentions to Luna that broke my heart. The fact that you were willing to give your life for a pony who you knew for only 24 hours at the most, was proof enough to Luna that you could be trusted, and it was proof to me of your love. And when you read this John, I want you to know one thing. That if you ever do something like that to me in real life, then I will slap the living daylights out of you. Damn it, I love you! Do you know how devastated I was when you died in my hooves!! Don’t you ever, EVER do that to me, even if it is just in a dream! Your life may mean nothing to you, but it means everything to me! I meant what I said last night, and I want to spend everyday with you and every night, I want to lay down with you and hold you close to me. I don’t care about your disorder. I know that you wanted to take things slowly, but we can both agree that Lunas test has changed our relationship. Especially since we confessed our feelings. You are the first stallion, or should I say, man, to actually see me for me, and not some god. And yes, I may get the occasional love letter from a noble, but none of them are like you. none of them actually love me for who I am. They love me because of my position of power. You are the man for me. I hope to one day call you my handsome prince.
Your beautiful princess,

Celestia.

Chapter 6- A Step Up.

Before I start my coverage of my fifth day in Equestria, I need to say something. Celestia, I saw what you wrote in my journal. I'm so sorry that my actions have hurt you. I'm going to do what I can to make it up to you. To become a man that deserves your love… to become your handsome prince.
Now for my preface. Today was actually an Okay day. It was my actual first day guarding the princesses. But first, I was treated with a dream
--
I woke up in the dream to the sound of a forest, and a lake. The view that I opened my eyes to told me that it was a dream. When I opened my eyes, I saw the sky was a nice shade of pink and orange, created by the setting sun, and I was by a lake surrounded by forest, I saw a small dock going out onto that lake with a boat tied to it, and when I looked around, I saw that I was on a roof of a small shack. Around me there were a few lights strung up, and by the door, there were some speakers, and a mini fridge, and right next to me, there was a few wood carvings, along with the tools for carving. I was about to get up to explore more, but as I stood up, I heard a soft whoosh as a portal of sorts opened, and Princess Luna Stepped through it. as I saw her, I stood at attention and saluted her

“There is no need to salute me in your dreams Johnathan.” She replied. So, I lowered my hand and began to bow, but she also stopped me from doing that “Nor is there need to bow.” She looked around at the area surrounding us “This is a quaint little dream. Unlike the nightmares that I know that you have been having. The ones that you hide from your journal and my sister.”

I walked over to the mini fridge and to my delight, it was filed with drinks, more specifically, mason jars full of moonshine. I took out a jar and opened it up before taking a swig “So what, I’m haunted by my past…not much I can do about that…I take it this dream is another test?”

Lunas horn glowed and the jar floated to her “No, this dream is your own creation, and a way that I could see you under the mask that you hide behind” she took a sniff of the contents before gaging “How can you even stomach this? It smells terrible!” her horn glowed and the mason jars were all replaced with wine “There, that’s better.”

“Not cool Luna. And I can stomach it because I used to make it.” I replied before a more pertinent question came to mind “So then why is my dream not a nightmare?”

Luna walked to the edge of the roof and then looked back to me and smiled “I did not make any alterations, but I might have an idea.” she motioned with her hoof for me to some to her, and as I did, I almost fell on my ass. I saw me, or at least a me frozen mid run with a massive smile on my face, and right behind me, was Celestia. I looked to Luna with a look of shock on my face, and with a flash, I was down on the ground, and I looked up at the roof to see luna smiling. Her horn was flowing, and I already knew what was coming next. With a flash, I found myself running and laughing with a laughing Celestia behind me. “You can’t escape my cuddles!” she shouted, and about five seconds later, I felt myself being held by Celestia's hooves, both front and back, as her wings spread wide and we took to the sky…or at least went back up to the roof. Celestia gently placed me down in a cushion next to the chair I entered the dream in, and she landed gently on top of me, and wrapped her wing around me as she gently nuzzled my face “I love you John.”

I smiled and I kissed her “I love you too my beautiful princess.”

I raised my hand up to run it through her ethereal mane, and as I did, I noticed something, well, two somethings…rings. A ring made of some sort of black metal, possibly gun-metal, rested on my right ring finger. It was nice and simple, with Celestia's Cutie Mark engraved into it on a few places over the ring, and at the base of Celestia's horn, sat a gold ring with engravings similar to that of her necklace, and a small purple gem. It matched her royal attire very well, I was wondering how she got it, but then the lightbulb flicked on in my head as she spoke “You were right my handsome prince, this will be the perfect place to raise a foal.” We were married. My heart exploded as I looked off behind Celestia to see that Luna was sitting there with a very large smile on her face. Her horn flashed and the dream paused. I tried to get up to talk to her, but I was unable to free myself from Celestia’s loving embrace.

“Uhh, Luna, you may have to come to me.”

She walked up “Would you like me to free you?”

“No” I quickly replied “I like this…it feels nice.”

Luna giggled “Have you figured out why this is not a nightmare?”

I shook my head

“Because of my dear sister… Because you love her.” she replied

“I do, but she deserves better than me.”

Luna frowned “Johnathan, why must you deny yourself love? You are seeing this dream because your psyche thinks that this could be your future. Because my sister has started to heal the wounds on your heart. Let her continue to heal you…you may think that you don’t deserve it, but you do, and my sister needs somepony to love as well. You have changed her for the better.”

“How?” I asked

“Eternity is a long time. In our lives, we’ve both done many things that we are not proud of. My sister bares the scars of many battles, but with you, I believe that she can move beyond her past, and so can you….you actually remind me of myself in in that respect.”

“Nightmare moon?” I asked

“Yes, I actually created a being to torture me because of my actions that night. A Tantivis. But I was freed from it by Twilight and her friends. You too, have made one by the looks of it, but yours haunts you while you are awake.”

“My depression.” I replied

“Yes….we all have our own tantivis, but it can be defeated. Just as my sister is defeating yours, and how you are defeating hers.”

“How am I doing that?”

“Johnathan, you are the first man to see my sister for the mare that she really is. You love her because of her, not because of her status. And while my sister has received many a love letter from the nobles, none of them would care enough about her to carry her up Canterlot mountain, or sacrifice their lives for her. My sister, like you, has neglected her heart for the sake of others, but with you that has changed. You two are perfect for each other. You two can heal each other.” Her hoof pointed to the Celestia on top of me “When I look at this, I see my sister is truly happy again. I see she has re-discovered her youth with you. I see how you have healed her, and how she has healed you.”

I sighed “Luna, can I show you something?”

“Yes.”

I focused my mind, and the world became a blank slate.

“What is this?” luna asked

“I'm going to show you how I see myself.” I focused, and a mirror appeared. As I stepped in front of it, Luna saw what was reflected back, the mixed image of a monster made of shadows, bearing a smoking gun, before the shadows peeled away to show a fat, ugly, dumb, beast. “This is how I see myself. On the outside I am violent and a monster. On the inside, I am a fat, ugly, worthless, retarded, waste of oxygen.” I pointed to the left and Celestia appeared. “I see Celestia, as kind, beautiful, loving, and perfect. I see her as deserving better than me.”

Luna frowned “May I show you something as well?”

“Sure.” I replied

Lunas horn glowed and the mirror changed. Celestia appeared, but she looked different. She looked older. Her fur was grayed and I could see scars on her skin. Her mane had lost its ethereal effect, and her hooves…they were covered in blood “This is how my sister sees herself.”

“But she is nothing like that.” I countered

And out of the side, a new version of me stepped in. I looked almost like if prince charming had become an operator. In one hand I held my rifle, and in the other I held a shield. And behind me…stood the old Celestia, cowering behind the man in the mirror “This is how my sister sees you.”

“I…She is nothing like what she thinks she is.” I replied

Lunas horn glowed and the mirror vanished “Then make her see herself the way you do…and let her make you see yourself in the same way that she does.”

“I…...I’ll try.” I replied

“Good.” Luna said with a smile “Because I shall be informing my sister of this dream meeting.” and before I could say anything, the world flashed white and I came to.

When I came to, I felt something soft all over me. I opened my eyes to see that it was none other than Celestia, who was laying on top of me with a large smile on her face, and on her back was a...holy fuck was that a phoenix!? “Did you sleep well Johnathan?”

“Yeah. I haven’t slept this well In ages…..and you know that there is a phoenix on your back right?”

Celestia smiled “Yes I do, John, meet Philomena, Philomena, meet John.” the phoenix was about 4 and a half feet tall, and it looked at me funnily as I spoke

“Uh...Hi?”

Philomena took off from Celestia back and landed on my chest. She looked me over for a few seconds before she stated to nuzzle my chest as Celestia giggled “She likes you.”

I smiled at the sight of the phoenix nuzzling me before she chirped and flew to a perch near the fireplace I lifted up my watch to see what the time was and I saw that it was 0700 “Uhh…Celestia, its 7, shouldn’t we get to work?”

Celestia smiled as she nuzzled my cheek “No, the Knighting Ceremony is today, meaning that all my duties have been put on hold. And the ceremony isn’t until tonight, which means that we’ll have the entire day to prepare.”

I smiled as her soft fur brushed my cheek. It felt good to be loved. “Uhh…shouldn’t I go get dressed?”

I tried to get up, but as I did, Celestia put her wing around me and pulled me back down and on top of her before she put her front hooves around me and held me close “No, not yet.”

“Why?” I asked

“I believe that it may have something to do with the dream that you had last night.” she replied

“Luna already told you?” I asked

“Yes she did.” Celestia replied, which made me look up and place a kiss right on her lips, only this time, instead of breaking the kiss, we went further. As our lips met, and our tongues invaded each others mouths, our love and passion for each other was confirmed. From that moment on, we knew that we were meant to be, and as we continued our kiss, my depression for the first time was no longer in control of me, for the first time in many years, I felt truly happy.

When we broke our kiss I looked Celestia in the eyes. “Celestia, you are kind, beautiful, and amazing. You are the most beautiful thing that I have laid my eyes on. You are not old, and I don’t care about your past. I love you, and I refuse to let you see yourself as anything else.”

Celestia teared up at my words, and she again wrapped her hooves, wings, and even her neck around me, as she began to cry. I just sat there and gently ran my fingers through her mane while I held her. After a few minutes, it felt like she had calmed down, and her breathing had steadied. I gently turned myself around and I saw that Celestia had fallen asleep. I smiled at the fact that I had put her to sleep, and that she had fallen asleep holding me. I gently nuzzled her back, and placed a kiss on her head at the base of her horn, which unfortunately that woke her up. “Huh?...oh, I must have fallen asleep.”

“It's okay Tia, like you said, we’ve got some time.”

Celestia smiled at me and kissed me again “I want you to move in with me.”

“Are you sure?” I asked

“Yes my sunshine, I’m sure…even though you do snore.”

I chuckled “Sorry.”

“Its okay dear, I have on occasion made the tower shake with mine.”

I burst out into laughter and Celestia joined me. When we settled down again, I looked to my watch, it was now 0800 “Uhh tia? I think we should probably start to get ready, or at least get dressed and eat.”

Celestia looked to her clock on the wall and sighed “I suppose that you are right…when is the last time that you had a bath?”

“Uhh…I haven’t had a bath since I was ten, so like 18 years…but I shower every day.”

“Well that is about to change, come along.” Celestia let me go and got up from the bed. I just sat there and waited for her to tell me when it was my turn. But instead of waiting for a bit, I heard the sound of magic, and I felt myself lift up into the air

“Uhh…what's happening?” I opened my eyes to see that Celestia was using her magic to bring me with her

“Were going to take a bath.”

“Together!?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” I asked

“Because I love you, and because I think you’ll like the Royal bathing room” Celestia carried me down the hall for a bit and stopped at a set of double doors. When she opened them, I was greeted by what was basically a pool. It was massive. Big enough for 5 Celestia's to stand next to each other wingtip to wingtip. Celestia gently placed me on the ground and began to remove her royal attire. All the while I was just sitting there, the bath was filled with warm water, like a hot tub, and there was even some bubbles coming from it, and the whole thing was filled by a few fountains.

“Wow.”

Celestia smiled, “I told you would like it, now come on in.”

“But wait, dont you have a decently sized tub in your bathroom?” i asked

Walked over to a closet as she spoke “Yes, but I find this one to be more relaxing, and as you can see, it can function as an indoor pool if the temperature of the water is changed, but I almost never have enough time to use it, so normally I'll use my own tub or shower.”

“Ah I see.” I replied. I placed my own towel down on a chair as tia got into the water. I wasn’t going to get naked, and I was only in boxers, so I slowly walked into the bath and sunk. Celestia gasped, but I quickly swam to the surface “How deep is this thing?” I asked

“About 8 feet, but there are some benches and the middle and sides are only 4 feet deep.”

“I'll have to keep that in mind.” I replied as I swam out to the middle and just laid there, floating on my back. I had closed my eyes, and was just laying there, when I was overtaken by a massive wave of water. When I resurfaced and opened my eyes, I saw that Celestia was not too far from me, and she was doing her best to stifle a laugh. I smiled back at her and before she could do anything else, I sent a wave of my own her way. While it wasn’t as big as hers, it got my message across, ‘this means splash-war’. We smiled at each other for a few seconds, before the room exploded with torrents of water, and a fit of laughter from both me and Celestia.

After maybe ten minutes, we both settled down, and Celestia began to wash herself off. I grabbed a bar of soap and quickly scrubbed myself down and then made my way to the edge of the pool to dry off, unfortunately, Celestia saw me, and before I could react, I was enveloped in her magical grasp, and dragged across the water into her hooves “And just where do you think your going?” she asked, with a bit of a sultry tone

“uhh…to dry off and get dressed?” I replied

“I see…well perhaps you would like to stay and help me?”

“With what?” I asked

She floated a small bar of soap over to me, “My wings dear.”

“Why me?”

“Because I love you…and because I don’t want you to be alone…and because I liked the feeling of your fingers in my mane, so I'm hoping that they will feel equally relaxing on my wings.”

I smiled “I see, well when you put it like that…” I gently used my hands to stretch out her wing, and starting from the wingtip, gently ran my fingers through her feathers. I knew my efforts began to bear fruit when I heard Celestia let out a very long sigh. I smiled, and by the time I had finished both her wings, I thought she had fallen asleep standing up. To see if this was true, I placed a small kiss on her cheek, which seemed to have brought her back to consciousness, but with quite a shock

“NO!!!” I quickly jumped back, fearing I had done something wrong, as Celestia immediately went into a defensive pose with her wings spread and horn glowing. But as she looked around, and then looked to me, her ears went back and she lowered her head and with a flash, she teleported away. I was shocked at this, but I had an idea of what happened, and where she went. So I quickly dried off, and put on some clothes in my room, before retrieving a lockpick from my pack. I went to the door to Celestia's room, and on the other side, I could hear Celestia crying.

I checked the handle on the door, and sure enough it was locked. I wasn’t going to pick it yet, instead I wanted to talk to Celestia. I gently knocked on the door and called out to her “Tia?...you there?...you gave me a little shock back there, everything alright?...you ok?”

She gave her response between sobs, “Go..away.”

I wasn’t going away. So I sighed, and I took my lock picking set out of my pocket. You see, the drivers door on the truck I drive…or used to drive before I came here, had a lock that would sometimes automatically trigger due to its age, so I kept a pic set with me, and even if it didn’t, it's helpful because my dumbass has locked the keys in the car once or twice. In my defense, I was in a rush both times. Anyway, I examined the lock, and brought out a few pieces of the set, and a minute or two later, I heard a soft click. I returned the pics to my pocket, and slowly opened the door. What I saw inside Celestia's room, almost broke my heart. Celestia was laying down, crying. I took off my shoes, and slowly made my way to her, the sound of her sobs masking my footsteps. She didn’t know I was in the room with her until I laid down on the cushion next to her and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. This caused her to look to me, and I could see her eyes were red with tears.

“I told you to leave me be.” she replied as he lowered her head and looked away

“Well I'm not too good at listening, and I can see that your not the only one whos haunted by their past….I’m not going to let you be alone.” I gently cupped my hand around her chin and moved her head to face me before placing a kiss on her lips “I’m going to help you through this…I love you, and I'm not going to let you hurt like this.”

“Jonathan, Ive seen things that would make others die of fear, I've fought many battles, I've fought shadows, I've fought mad men…I've fought and banished my own sister… I have so much blood on my hooves… I have scars from battles long-forgotten…Im just an old tyrant, haunted by her demons.”

“No, you are not a tyrant tia, you are kind, loving, motherly, you would go to the ends of the earth for your ponies, just as I would go to hell and back for you. I am here to help you.” I replied, as I began to run my fingers through her mane again

“Johnathan, I have a darkness inside me, an uncontrollable rage, I let it out once in the shadow war…that wars darkness still haunts me…”

“The war against Sombra?” I asked

“Yes, he used his dark magic to corrupt the ponies of the crystal empire and forced them to fight against equestria. My ponies had taken so many injuries…I lost control of myself….I don’t want to lose you to my dark side.” And she began to sob again. I moved so she could rest her head on my shoulder. As I sat there with my eyes closed,I nuzzled the side of her face while I stroked the back of her neck and mane. Soon I found myself gently singing in the still of the night to her. Once she had regained her composure, I moved to look her in the eyes “You won’t lose me. I too know about shadows. For some time, I lived amongst them. I let them control me, but then I met you, and the light of your love has cast them out, and I will do all I can to do the same for you.”

“But my scars…” she replied

“They won’t go away, but don’t let them be reminders of your failures. Let them remind you of times where you prevailed…times where you saved Equestria. The ponies that lost their lives can’t be brought back, but you can carry on in their memory. They would want you to celebrate peace and harmony. They wouldn’t want you to sit in a room and grieve, they would want you to live, to love, and continue to spread peace and harmony.”

Celestia smiled at me and moved her hooves around me. I was confused for a second, but then she turned onto her side, and pulled me close into her underside to hold me close to her heart as she wrapped her wings around me, and rested her head down my mine as she spoke. “Thank you, my sunshine.”

I put my arms around her, and I held her tight in return “Anything for you my beautiful princess.” I don’t know how long we laid like that, but laying there like that, wrapped in each others arms, and tia holding me close to her, and hearing her heartbeat... It felt good. I felt her love for me, and I’m sure she felt my love for her. Eventually, my watch beeped, and I saw that it was noon. Celestia looked to my watch as well, I was happy to see that she was already looking better.

Celestia giggled “Oh my, it appears we have lost track of time”

“I think it was well spent” as I, both our stomachs growled “…but I think we should probably eat something.”

Celestia chuckled “I agree. I'll have something sent up for us.”

“Shouldn’t we start getting ready as well?” I asked

“The ceremony is not until 5 my dear, don’t worry, we can have lunch and cuddle for an hour and a half before I start getting ready”. Celestia's horn glowed as she penned a letter to some pony, and then with a flash, it was sent away. Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” she called out, and the double doors opened to reveal two ponies, both pushing carts with covered dished on them. They wheeled them into the room by me and Tia before bowing and leaving. Celestia's horn glowed as both dishes levitated over to a small table, which she then cleared of papers, and sat down by. I followed her and sat down across from her

“So, what for lunch?” I asked

Celestia levitated the covers off the plates to reveal some kind of rice dish with what looked to be tofu and some kind of orange sauce “The chefs prepared us a rice dish with some tofu with a spicy orange sauce and white rice.”

“Looks good.” I replied as I picked up a fork and took a bite “Tastes good as well.”

Celestia smiled as she levitated over some glasses and a water pitcher before she began to eat as well. The smile disappeared from her face once she tried the sauce, and she immediately went for water. I stopped what I was doing and looked to her

“Tia? You ok?”

She took a few more gulps of water “The sauce maybe a little too spicy for my taste, how are you eating it.”

I chuckled “I'm one of those types that puts hot sauce on everything, ergo I'm used to spicy food.”

“Ah, I see.” Celestia poured herself more water as she continued to eat.

As we did, I realized something “Tia, is this a date?”

Celestia smiled at me “I guess it could be, though if it is, I must apologize then for being underdressed for such an occasion.”

“Underdressed? You’re in royal garb, I’m in a t-shirt and shorts, if anything, im the one whose underdressed.” I replied

“Touché” She replied. We continued to eat for a bit, and when we finished our meal, she spoke again “Johnathan, I was serious when I told you I wanted you to move in with me.”

“I know” I replied “I was going to bring my stuff over tomorrow, but I can understand if you want me to wait”

“No, after this morning, my love for you has been affirmed…I need you John…when I’m with you, I see myself as you do. When I’m with you, the shadows are banished from my mind…when I’m with you, I feel like I deserve the love and adoration that you and my little ponies have for me.”

“So then you want me to move in tomorrow?” I asked

A smile appeared on Celestia's face as her horn glowed “No.” there was a flash “I want you to move in now” I looked around to see that She had used her magic to teleport my stuff into her room before leaning over and placing a quick kiss on my cheek. “And now you are.”

Eventually, the time came for me and Celestia to get ready for the Ceremony. I got up, and since I didn’t have to get fully undressed, I just took off my shorts, and I opened up the closet, and the thing was massive, but luckily, my clothes had been hung up on the right side by the opening, and they were relatively easy to spot, as my clothes weren’t designed for a pony. I picked up the hanger with the uniform that rarity made for me, and it looked amazing. The Dress uniform itself was all black, with gold buttons, and and blue appelettes. The buttons and the eppaletes had the main symbol on the equestrian flag (Celestia and Luna flying in a circle around both the sun and moon) on them. The uniform itself was blank aside from that. It also had black pants, with a gold and blue line down the side of the pant leg. I put the uniform on, and picked up my dress shoes and put those on as well. There was no hat or anything, so I was ready to go. I stepped out of the closet and apparently, Celestia was waiting for me with a smile “My, my. Handsome, rugged, strong, AND you clean up nice. It seems I have found myself the perfect stallion-friend”

I smiled at her as I blushed “You flatter me”

“No, I speak the truth” she replied as she kissed me “You are my handsome warrior.” And with that she went into the closet and I went out to the balcony. The view from Celestia's balcony was amazing, it was the second most beautiful thing in my life. I looked to my watch and I saw that it was 3:30, I had an hour and a half until the ceremony. I sat down and lost myself in the view, and as I did I began to think. Celestia deserved better than me. I’m just some idiot from New England who doesn’t belong here…but I love her so much.

I began to speak to myself “But she’s a beautiful princess…and I’m…”

Celestia walked up behind me and put her hooves around me as she cut me off. “Her stallion-friend.” I turned around to face her and I saw that she was wearing some fancy dress. It was red and purple with gold swirls. Not as cute as the dress she wore on our date, this was more formal, but considering today’s event, it was understandable. But still I found myself staring at her, and of course, she saw that and smiled.

She walked up to me, kissed me, and put her wing around me “So shall we make our way down to the throne room?”

“Lets.”

A short walk later, we were in the throne room, and as the door opened, I was greeted by two alicorn mares, Luna, who was in a purple dress, and a pink alicorn that I could only assume to be Princess Cadance, who was wearing a blue dress with her hair done up with…holy shit were those diamonds!?...they were, and next to her was the Captain.

Cadance walked down to me and stopped in front of me and I bowed she motioned for me to rise with her hoof “Please John, there is no need to bow.”

“That seems to be the popular phrase amongst all of you… you must be Princess Cadance. It’s nice to finally meet you without you trying to hide from me.”

That drew a look of surprise from all in the room “But, how did you know?” Cadance asked

“Well as you probably know, I actively participated in Military Simulation for a good part of my life, as well as gone through a few other training courses. So, I’ve learned to look for things that would indicate that I was being watched……and Celestia told me of the tests.”

“Ah, I see, but yes, it is nice to finally talk to you. as you know, I was following you over your first few days here. I wanted to talk to you then, but my presence was required at home again…. but in any case, I’ve been monitoring your heart.”

“Really, I didn’t think I was that likely to have a heart attack.” I joked

Cadance chuckled “Not like that, I was monitoring your love that you felt. And to make sure you weren’t going to be a risk or that you weren’t lying.”

“I know.”

“You were always telling the truth, and your love for Celestia is very pure and powerful. I’d be honored to be there when you two finally exchange vows.”

Both me and Celestia blushed at bit at that, but we smiled. I could tell we were both thinking about a life together. As for me, I again saw a small house on the edge of the nearby lake, with us out on the roof or balcony staring at the stars and holding each other close. Some music playing over the speakers, most likely Sinatra…. maybe even a daughter “Yeah.” I slowly replied

The captain walked up to me and I shook his hoof “So you ready?” he asked

“Yeah, thanks again for the recommendation.”

“Anytime, we’ll have to go out for a drink or something”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that, just as its strong”

“I know what you mean” Shining replied with a smile, “And were also going to have to make sure you can effectively guard the princess.”

The Princesses started to giggle at us, and eventually Celestia cut in “I hate to interrupt, but we do have to get ready for the ceremony. And as for Jonathans training, im sure that I can be his teacher. My sister and I do have combat experience.”

“I think I’d like that.” I replied

With the conversation done, Celestia began to brief us and allow us to rehearse what each of us would do, and eventually time for the ceremony came. Unfortunately, I would be starting outside the throne room until I was queued in, but that was probably for the better, considering that me and the nobles aren’t exactly friends. But I was still able to hear Celestia's voice through the doors.

“Citizens of Equestria and delegates from abroad, I welcome you here to Canterlot today for a momentous occasion, we are gathered here today to welcome a human back into our lands, and to grant him knighthood.”

There was an audible gasp from the audience, and I heard somepony start to protest,

“But your highness-”

Celestia cut him off as she continued, “He has already proven himself to Princess Cadance, My sister, Princess Luna, and Myself. And it is with extreme pleasure that I introduce him to you now.”

The doors opened up and I marched in and up to the throne before the three smiling princesses as ponies, griffins, and yaks began to clap. There were only two groups that weren’t, the nobles, who seemed to be grouped around a flustered and bruised Blueblood, and the Zebras. but that that moment I didn’t care. As I reached the throne, I stopped and saluted the princesses, then assumed the parade rest position as Celestia walked up to me “Johnathan Cormier, do you swear to protect this world and its inhabitants?”

“Yes ma’am.” I replied

Luna walked forward “To watch over it and defend it either night or day?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Cadance stepped forward “To keep love in your heart and let it give you strength.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Both Shining and Celestia stepped forward as Celestia spoke “Kneel please.” I got down on my knee and the captain handed her a sword, which oddly enough, had the punisher skull on the pommel and the hilt. She then took the sword and tapped both of my shoulders with it “You may rise” I stood up and Celestia placed the sword and its scabbard on my back and I turned to face the audience “It is my great pleasure to present to you your newest knight, and the royal families personal guard!” and the crowd erupted in applause, even the nobles lightly clapped. And with that the ceremony turned into a bit of a party…or as much of a party as one can have when you’re at an event like this. Anyway, ponies and delegates went around talking to the princesses or each other, as a quartet started to play some classical music. It wasn’t half bad, but I’m not really a classical guy.

Unfortunately for me, I don’t really like big parties, so I tried to make my way over to the drinks and food, and then off to some corner where I could sit and listen to the music and wait out the night, but unfortunately, I was the center of attention. Ponies, griffins, and yaks all wanted to come up and meet me, hell even a few of the nobles gave it a shot, though one that really stood out was a guy by the name of Fancypants. He was about the same size as the good Captain, only he wore the upper part of what looked to be a suit. He had on old timey handlebar mustache, and in his was a monocle. And contrary to his name, he was very lacking in the pants department, business t he wasn’t an asshole, so I digress.

“Good evening Sir Johnathan.”

I offered my hand for him to shake “Please, just call me John.”

To my surprise, he actually shook it “Not one for formality I presume?”

I chuckled “No, not really, never have been, I mean I can do professionalism when I need to, but I find that formality gets in the way sometimes.”

“Oh I quite understand, but nevertheless, it is still very nice to meet you, unfortunately, your image is not the best amongst the elite, especially after your confrontation with Blueblood. Yes, sadly, he’s been attempting to slander your good name.”

I simply shrugged my shoulders “Meh, to be honest, and pardon my French, I don't really give a fuck about my image. He got what he had coming to him.”

“Ah, I see, and my I ask you something?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Are you aware of the fact that Celestia may have a…how do I put this…crush on you?”

I smiled “Oh yeah, I know.”

“Oh, how?” he asked

“Because I may or may not be her…how did she put it?...Stallion friend?”

The look on his face was one of complete shock “My word man. Congratulations!”

“Thanks, she actually had me move in with her today.” I replied

“Ah, so the relationship is going well then. Well I wish you the best of luck, and I do say, keep whatever you are doing up, the princess hasn’t been this happy since Luna returned.”

“Really?” I asked

“Yes, and I know I’m not the only one who is happy about this. Just make sure to send me an invite to the wedding.”

“I don’t think were that far in yet, me and here are in love, but I don’t think she'd want to marry me.”

“Oh I beg to differ my good man, but in any case, it was a pleasure to meet you, I shall be walking around and mingling. If you want to talk again old chap, please feel free to find me.”

“Yeah, it was nice to meet you too.” and with that he turned and left. The rest of the night went very similar to that, ponies would come up to me, ask me a few questions and then leave, but one thing that will always stick with me was towards the end of the party, when Tia walked up to me with a Zebra by her side

“Johnathan, I would like you to meet the Kaisar.”

“Good afternoon your highness.” I said as I bowed

“Good afternoon.” he replied in a bit of an exotic accent. He then proceeded to look at me for a bit, before stating “You are the Reaper, you bear his weapons, and even though you don’t have his mark, you are star touched.” He then looked to CeIestia “This has in no way hurt our nation's good standing with each other, but you must understand why I must leave. ” and with that he turned and ran out.

“Well that was nice.” I said sarcastically “So what was that about.”

Celestia looked a little nervous. She pulled me of into a side room and locked the door and cast a spell on it before speaking. “A human warrior, much like yourself, lived here many ages ago, he magically appeared one day in front of the tree of harmony. He was alone and confused, and he was picked up by the Palace guards one day and brought before my father Orbash, and my mother Sunflare. At first, they were not sure what to make of his story. All they knew was that he was armed, and that he could potentially pose a threat. My mother wanted to put him in the dungeon until they could assure that he was not a threat, but my father convinced her that that would make an enemy of him, so they put him up in the castle, gave him the job as a guard, and conducted three trials of his character, the Trial of the sun, the trial of the moon, and the trial of the heart. The Warrior passed all of these tests. And my parents made him their guard. Over the years, they became close friends, and eventually a part of our family. And when my parents gave birth to me and my sister, he vowed to them to keep us safe. And he did, but one day the zebra attacked, they were after him. He defended our family throughout the entire ordeal. He suffered great wounds, but he kept fighting. He worked with our forces to drive off the attack and the zebras dubbed him with the title of “The Reaper”. They told stories of his fighting and believed he was “Star-Touched”. Eventually, he disappeared. And was never heard from again. I think you are that warrior.”

“Well what makes you say that?”

Celestia looked around before whispering in my ear “I will explain this to you tomorrow. It's time that I told you something.”

I nodded my head in agreement “Okay, but we should probably get back to the party before folks start to get the wrong idea.”

“I agree.” Celestia put her wing around me and we walked back into the ballroom. By now the celebration was dying down and ponies were beginning to return to their homes. I looked to my watch, and I saw that it was 2030 (8:30 PM) which would explain the deadness. Half an hour later, Celestia and Luna got up onto the stairs and bid everypony farewell, as the guests all left, and we returned to our quarters. Once we were back in the room, I took the swords and placed them with the rest of my weapons before putting my uniform, pants, and shoes back in the closet. As usual, Celestia was waiting for me on her bed, but she was still in her royal garb

“Everything okay tia?”

“Yes my love, im just very tired…perhaps you could help me?”

“With?”

I saw the devious smile appear on her face “Undressing.”

“Uh…I…uhm...uhh…..heh,”

Celestia giggled at me “Could you take off my royal jewelry?”

“Ah…that makes more sense, sure” I started first with her metallic shoes, which actually didn’t weigh much, considering they were probably made of gold. “Where should I put these?” I asked

“Next to the closet, there’s a place to put them under the mirror” Celestia replied.

I walked over and sure enough, there was a self for me to put them on. I placed the four shoes down and walked back to Celestia, who then lowered her head. “Now my necklace” I lifted her necklace up, and this thing had some heft to it, the things must have been completely solid gold. I lifted it up off her head and gently took her crown off as well. I took both of them over to the mirror and placed them with her shoes before walking back over to her and laying down myself. I let out a sigh of relief as I rested on the bed “That’s better”

Celestia smiled as she wrapped her wing around my shirtless body and pulled me close to her “Yes, much better.” She smiled at me and I smiled back before touching my nose to hers, which earned me a kiss from Celestia.

“I love you Celestia.”

“I love you too John.”

Celestia's still asleep as I’m writing this, but I think it's time for me to call it a night. My princess’s soft embrace is calling to me.

Chapter 7- Birthday (Sex scene)

Today has been eventful to say the least, but it was a good eventful, afterall, it was the 21st of June, Tia’s birthday, and what better way to start that day than with a shared dream
--
The dream started off in a blank expanse, similar to the one that Luna had pulled me into. It was a space between dreams, which told me that the princess of the night was nearby. “Luna? Why am I here?”

I heard the sound of someone entering the realm and I turned to see Luna “I have summoned you here because my sister needs your help.”

“Whats wrong with tia?” I asked “Is she Okay?”

“My sister is in no danger of physical harm, but…”

“But what?” I asked

“She has a tantivis of her own.” Luna replied

“I thought only you had that, and that it was destroyed.”

“Mine was, but my sister made one of her own in secret.”

I clenched my fists “Get me into her dream. I’m going to kill it.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Yes.” I answered, “I love Celestia, I will protect her from this…neither of you deserve to be tormented.”

Luna smiled as she opened up a portal “I wish you luck Johnathan.”

I stepped through the portal, and onto a battlefield. The first sounds that came to my ears were the sounds of crying coming from just over a hill in front of me. I crested the hill, and my eyes were greeted by the sight of bodies and blood, but in the center of it all, wearing armor that had been broken and dented, was Celestia. “Tia?...is that you?”

She looked up to me with tears in her eyes “John?...How are you here?.... you need to leave quickly!”

“No, I’m not leaving. I’m here to save you from becoming me…I’m here to protect you…I’m here because I love you.” With a though I was decked out in my gear with guns and swords ready “Now where is it?”

“Its too strong Johnathan, please, leave before it hurts you” Celestia began to plead with me, pleas that I quickly stopped with a kiss “I meant what I said yesterday, your not a tyrant, your hooves are not blood soaked.”

I heard a sinister voice from behind me “Hers may not be, but MINE are!”

I turned around to see a pony who was the same size as Celestia, only her mane and tail were made of fire, her eyes looked like those of dragons, and she wore orange armor and wing blades. “And just who are you?” I asked the new pony before me

The pony laughed sinisterly “I am Daybreaker, the stronger, prettier, and more powerful version oh her” she pointed a hoof to Celestia

A smile came across my face “Ah, I see that now.” I replied as I drew my pistol and shot Daybreaker in the head “Well now you’re dead…so.” As the now -dead Daybreaker collapsed to the ground, I turned around to face Celestia “Come on honey. I know the perfect dream that we can go relax in.” but before I could get to her, I hear movement from behind me

“Foolish Mortal, you think your puny weapons can harm me?” I turned around to see that Daybreaker had arisen. I drew my rifle and stood defensively in front of Celestia which caused Daybreaker to laugh “Come on, try it.” She put her head against the muzzle of the gun

“Nah.” I replied as I dropped my gun and pulled my sword from my back, and made a second one appear in my hands. “I always did prefer to dual wield.” and with a quick movement, I brought the swords down on Daybreaker “I think I’ll give my new toys a try.” my initial strike caught her by surprise, and she lashed out at me with her wing blades. I looked back to Celestia who was watching on in horror.

Daybreaker laughed as she used her blades to deflect my swords “Your technique is sloppy and childish.” and as I took a swing at her head, she ducked low and her blades slashed my leg. I took a step back from her observing my enemy.

I holstered one sword and drew out my pistol “Maybe I just need to change techniques.” I raised up my pistol in my left and in my sword in my right

“I think your right.” Daybreaker replied as her horn glowed. I already knew what was coming, so I ducked off to the side just in time to dodge a beam of magic shot at me. I picked myself up and holstered my other sword and pistol and picking my rifle up as I started to fire it at Daybreaker. She continued to fire her magic at me as my bullets hit her. I saw that they hurt her, but any damage done was not lasting. As I shot, Daybreaker laughed, and tia watched on in horror as Daybreaker spoke “When are you going to learn. I am immune to your attacks, surrender to me, and I shall put an end to your pathetic existence.”

I stopped shooting for a second as my enemy kept talking

“Yes, that’s right. I know what you truly want, you want death. You believe that you don't deserve love or life. Why else would you have tried to kill yourself in your old world?”

“That’s Bullshit.” I replied

“Oh really?” Daybreakers horn glowed, and a knife appeared in her grasp. With the tip of its blade bloodied “Then what is this?” I raised my gun up and shot the knife causing it to shatter

“A relic of a man that I once was and will no longer be.” I replied as I thought. How could I beat her, my guns had no effect, and she was too skilled for swords… but I had a smoke grenade…and I was in a dream…a vivid dream.

“Are you so sure about that?” Daybreaker asked “Even now you feel the pull of your depression. I can hear your thoughts. You think that my lesser version deserves better than you, that you need to die so she can find the pony she truly deserves.”

I slowly pulled a smoke grenade from my pouch “I do believe that Celestia deserves the stallion of her dreams.” I pulled the pin and hucked the grenade by Daybreaker’s hooves “But I also realize that that stallion is me.” the grenade popped and began to spew smoke, giving me enough time to put some distance between me and my enemy so I could summon my new toy

As the smoke cleared, Daybreaker used her magic to spew flames in the surrounding area. “Where are you whelp! Come out and face me!”

The ground around her began to tremble as a loud roaring cloud of smoke came up the hill into her view. And out of that cloud of smoke, burst an M1 Abrams tank. Its spotlights came on and centered on her as a smile came across her face “So you send a machine to fight for you coward?”

My voice came over the speakers affixed to the tank “What you said got me thinking, this is a dream, and my weapons were insignificant.”

“So, you conjure up a shell of armor to defeat me? Pathetic!”

“Not just a shell of armor, but a shell of armor with a VERY big gun.” I replied as I put Daybreaker in the center of the crosshair on the display in front of me inside the tank. And with a smile of my own, I pulled the trigger, firing a 120mm round into my foe. When the smoke cleared from the resulting explosion, I opened threw open the top hatch, and ran back to Celestia, who had thankfully been nowhere near the fight, I guess Daybreaker knew that if she died in the dream, shed lose her chance to torture her. I ran up to Celestia and hugged her tightly as I placed a hiss on her lips, which seemed to have broken her trance “I love you my beautiful princess. Daybreaker is gone, she won’t hurt you anymore.”

I felt Celestia put her wings around me and hold me. I heard her begin to cry “Thank you Johnathan…I’m so sorry for not telling you.”

“Its okay my love” I replied “I’m here for you. Daybreaker is gone.”

I heard Celestia gasp as I turned around just in time to have Daybreakers wing blades slash across my chest, arms, and legs, making me fall to the ground. She laughed maniacally as she looked to me and Celestia “Oh, now I see, you’re in LOVE with her. That will make things all the more sweeter for me when I kill you!” She lowered her blade to my neck “Any Last words?”

I looked her in the eyes and then I looked to Celestia, who was standing tall with her horn lowered in a battle stance, and her wings spread wide. “Yeah...I think you’ve pissed off my girlfriend.”

Daybreaker looked up to see Celestia standing tall in her armor with her horn glowing “Get away from him!”

Daybreaker laughed “So now you decide to fight me, and for what?” her wing pointed to me “This worthless, idiotic, pathetic excuse for a man?”

“He is my true love, and you will not hurt him!” Celestia replied “You are no longer needed. I will never be you! And you will never exist again!” and as Celestia finished her sentence a massive beam of magic erupted from her horn and disintegrated Daybreaker. With her tantavis defeated for good, Celestia ran up to me and her horn began to glow. The world around me shimmered and my wounds began to close. I knew that I was laying on some type of cushion with tia right next to me, but as I began to look at the world around me, I realized that it was familiar…it was the world that I dreamed of last night. As I looked around the house again, I heard Celestia speak “My sister was right, this is a beautiful dream.” I felt myself raise up off the ground and float back to Celestia, who turned me around in her magic to face her before she lowered me into her loving embrace “This would make a wonderful future.”

“You like it?” I asked

“Yes, it's very relaxing, and simple. It would be a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot… a wonderful future indeed…..but at the moment, we need to discuss your past.”

I sighed, knowing that my secret was out “What about it?”

Celestia's tone turned more serious “Don’t play dumb…Why didn’t you tell me? Why did I have to find out from that monster instead of you?”

“Because In my past…before I met you, I was a very depressed man… I tried to slit my throat.”

Celestia began to tear up “Why?”

““I think you know…Humans…Humans can be loving and amazing people, but they can also be cruel, harsh, and vindictive. Especially if your different. I’ve told you about how I have Tourette’s and that causes some twitches or speech problems…well back home people used to mock me, beat me, even deny me jobs because of it. I was useless, I had no one who loved me, I mean even my own family disowned me, and I had lost so many relationships to my disorder, with each ex constantly telling me how I deserved to be alone for all eternity, and to die alone and have a funeral that no one would attend…... and they were right. So, I did the only thing that I could do…I decided to make the world a better place and remove myself from it.”

I bowed my head and expected to be slapped or verbally berated. But much to my surprise, I felt Celestia use her hoof to raise my head up to look her in the eyes as she wrapped her wings around me and brought me into a kiss, after a minute she broke the kiss and spoke in a motherly and loving tone. “Johnathan, I love you. I care about you. When I first met you, I felt your pain, I saw the mask that you were hiding it beneath, but you are a kind, loving, and handsome man, and that’s all that should matter. You don’t have to worry about your old life. You’re here now with me. With my love. This dream we are in, a dream of a small house on the edge of a lake, and a loving family, you can have all of that now…...you came into this world for a reason.”

“And what reason is that? look at me, all I’ve done so far is stand by your side and beat up a noble.”

“No, you’ve done much more than that. You are here because you deserve a second chance, a better life than the one you had......and because you’re not the only one who has been alone for many years. I too have shared in loneliness. But then I found you. I saw so much love and potential in you, and I sensed only a fraction of what Cadance picked up in your heart. It devastated me to hear that you were in such a poor condition. But I also know that being with me has been healing your heart, as it has mine…I share your dream of us together.”

I was on the verge of tears “You…you do?”

“Yes” she replied “I always will. And never forget that…but for now, or at least until I can trust you, your will not be allowed to leave my side.”

“Why?” I asked

“Because it is my job to keep you safe as well.” she replied “And don’t be sad, I’m sure that you will enjoy spending all day by my side.”

“I look forward to that, but it’s the eventual lectures that I probably won’t like”

Celestia smiled “I won’t lecture you…too much.”

I smiled back weakly and the world faded into white.

When I first woke up, I could have sworn that I was still in a dream. I was in Princess Celestia's room, in her bed, with her laying on top of me smiling. I had to hit myself to make sure it was reality. And that definitely got a small shock out of her
“Sorry tia, just making sure this isn’t a dream”

She smiled at me “Ah, well I guess that would be understandable. So how did you sleep?”

“Very well actually. How about you?”

“Oh, I haven’t slept like this in thousands of years.” She smiled and nuzzled my cheek “I have finally found love”

I kissed her on the cheek “And so have I…My beautiful princess” and as I looked to my watch I also saw the date and time. It was 0630 on June 21st. Celestia's Birthday “.…and one more thing.” I placed a deep kiss on Celestia's lips “Happy Birthday my Beautiful Princess”

Celestia smiled and she kissed me back “Thank you my handsome warrior.” She then Smiled at me and nuzzled the size of my face. We snuggled in silence for a while before Celestia spoke up “John?”

I brought my head away from her chest and looked at her “Yeah?”

Celestia spoke slowly at first, as if she was unsure of what she was going to say “Would you…maybe…we could consider doing something more…personal tonight?”

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what she was asking. “I…you mean?...with me?”

She nodded.

She did. The Princess of the sun, ruler of Equestria wanted to have sex with me. I just sat there dumbstruck for a second before my senses came back to me and I pulled her into a kiss “Yes…I would like that.”

My answer caused a smile of her own to come across her face as she pulled me back in and kissed me multiple times, and then switched to a sultrier purr “Good, I can’t wait for tonight lover boy.” and she then proceeded to kiss me check and them start kissing me down my body stopping at my chest. And of course, while she’s doing this, I’m frozen in place with total shock.

“Um uh Tia?”

“Yes, my love”

“Well…uh…how do I put this…...humans aren’t as…big… as stallions…if you catch my meaning.”

She smiled and kissed me “Oh I don’t care about that. I love you, and that’s all that matters.” Her response got a small smile out of me, something that she was very good at doing. “There’s that handsome smile” she said. I chuckled as she said that. Even though I didn’t know why she said it. “I’m serious John. I hate to see you depressed. So, I’m going to make it my endeavor to make you smile whenever I can.”

“Tia, I’m fine”

She placed a hoof on my shoulder “No you’re not John. I’ve seen your dreams remember, and I know how you feel and how you’re thinking. I want to make you happy again, I want you to feel loved, I want you to know that we care about you……but if I can’t do it, maybe Pinkie pie can.”

Oh god “Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…I’ll let you help me…I love you.” and that earned a smile from her “God, I can just get lost in your amazing smile.” and I kissed her on the cheek

She rolled on top of me and purred “Just wait until tonight.” and then she nuzzled my chest and got out of the bed and went into the bathroom, and before she closed the door, I heard her call out “I'll be just a minute, please don’t do anything rash.” I can only assume that she was washing up for her usual work today, because I know for a fact that I’m definitely not sexy enough for it to be the other reason.

I got up and walked to the balcony. I knew Tia would probably be mad, but I just needed some fresh air, and damn, that view. To this day, it remains the second most thing I love about this world (You all should be able to guess the first, I’ll give ya a hint, I’m sleeping in her room). I saw the sun was already up in the sky and the ponies of Canterlot were going on about their business. I must have gotten a little swept up with the view because I didn’t notice Celestia walk up behind me and wrap me in her wing. “What did I tell you about being alone?”

“That I’m not allowed to be alone.” I replied.

“That’s right.” Celestia put her hooves around me and together we laid down on the cushion that she had out on the balcony. “It is quite a wonderful view, isn’t it?”

I chuckled “What is, the balcony or me in only my boxers?”

That got a small laugh out of her as she kissed my cheek “Both… I’m all done in the bathroom, I know that you wanted to wash up before that day starts.”

“And you just want to see me naked.” I countered, which earned a small blush from her

“Well you are quite handsome.”

“No, I’m not. I’m about as ugly as they come.”

“Your handsome to ME John, and that’s all that matters.”

I smiled again and kissed her “I love you Celestia.”

“And I love you too John.”

A short while later I stepped out of the bathroom in my usual clothes, and I saw that Celestia was levitating up three books. “Uhh Tia? What are you reading?”

I saw her place the books down on the bed and walk up to me. She was wearing her usual royal attire, so I can assume she was waiting for me to finish so she could get ready. She walked toward me “They are journals of myself, my sister, and our mentor, Starswirl the Bearded.”

I walked up to them and looked at them all “So why are you reading them?”

She walked up to me and placed her wings around me and then cast some sort of bubble around us. “As you know, alicorns are immortal. And you are not”

“Yes.” I said with a slightly depressed tone.

“I may have found a way to fix that?”

I immediately looked at her “How? Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

“The solution is in all of them, however, I am unable to read certain parts of my journal, and I can’t even get into my parents or Starswirls.”

“So, then we don’t have a solution?” I asked

“I wouldn’t say that.” she levitated up a note damn thing looked real old, the paper and the ink were faded and it read

“Open it together with hoof and hand. You and the one of your heart.”

“What does this mean?”

“I mean that your biggest fear can be fixed, you can be made immorta.l”

“And what makes you think that I can access it?”

She Smiled “because you’re my one”

“What is it exactly?”

“If I remember correctly, it is a time travel spell that I worked on with Starswirl, I mentioned it in my diary, but it’s also an age travel spell.”

“And that is?”

“It can reverse your age, and I think that if some alterations were made, and if enough power were applied to it, it can even halt your aging.”

“You mean?...I could be made immortal?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do it, let’s open it.” I moved my hand to the cover as Celestia moved her hoof to it as well. and together we both lifted the cover. Only, as we both did that, there was a blinding flash of light from all the books, and as they all flew open, I was hit with some sort of shock that sent me flying across the room.

“JOHN!!” Celestia ran up to my side “Are you alright my love?”

My body ached from whatever had hit me and the wall that so graciously stopped me. I groaned and slowly got back up on my feet, and to my surprise, a tattoo had appeared on my arm. It was one of a punisher skull with Celestia and Luna's marks on either side, and what looked to be a small heart inside the right eye socket. It was my Cutie mark. Celestia looked at my arm and smiled and I’ll admit, I did too “I’m going to feel that tomorrow… so what the hell was that?”

“It was the spell, I opened it with my one, and from the looks of it, it gave you your cutie mark”

“But what does my mark mean?” I asked

“Maybe it’s meant to show that you are our protectorate”

“Maybe… but at least I have one now.” and I kissed her on the cheek

she picked up the books and then placed them in a safe and closed it with her magic. “They shall remain here for the time being. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

“And an equally busy night.” I deadpanned. That got a blush and a laugh out of her. Both of us were ecstatic, but we now had solved a major problem for both of us.

Celestia placed the books into some kind of safe, and we both walked down to the breakfast hall and we both sat down as the chefs served us. “I hope you like pancakes.”

“I do.” I replied as I began to dig in. once breakfast was done, it was time for work. The dining hall is not too far from the throne room, so we did not have far to go. As we walked, I began to think, and eventually I spoke “You know, there was something that Daybreaker was right about.”

Celestia glared back at me “No, nothing she said was right, you are not what she said you were.”

“Not that.” I replied “My fighting technique with my swords was sloppy…I need to be better with them. Eventually my guns will be useless, and I won’t be able to keep you safe…not that I could in the first place…I mean look at me, I’d probably get my ass beat by even the weakest of ponies.”

“That’s not true my dear. I’m sure I can train you to better your skill, but you yourself are a forced to be reckoned with even without your guns.”

“How so?” I asked

“You managed to hold your own against Queen Chrysalis and Daybreaker.”

“Yeah, in dreams.” I countered

“But nonetheless, both were enemies who were trying their hardest to kill you.” Celestia replied as we walked into the throne room “Now come along, you can use my sisters seat today as she is resting.” I slowly moved and sat down in the throne of the princess of the night.

“She okay?” I asked

“Yes, but sometimes, the night shift can be very draining on dear Luna.”

“That’s understandable.” I replied “…so what’s first up on the list?” I asked

“I am scheduled to meet with the pony in charge of the kingdoms taxes.”

Shitbucket

About an hour and a half later, the tax minister left, and I was about ready to toss myself out a window. Celestia saw my look and gave me a smile “Oh now it wasn’t that bad.”

“It was for me” I replied “I hate math and taxes. I’m more of a hands-on kind of guy.”

“I see.” Celestia replied “Well don’t worry, our training will make up for the time that we sit and listen.”

“Your teaching me?” I asked

“Yes, I may be a princess, but you must remember, I am also the supreme commander of all of Equestrias forces. And therefore, I must be a skilled fighter….and the only ponies who are allowed to kick your flank are the royal family.”

I chuckled “Naturally, I mean my fighting style is no style, it's basically just drunk boxing to get my enemy away from me so I can shoot them.”

“I see.” Celestia replied “Well as you mentioned, that tactic is not valid with swords.”

“Yeah, but I'll probably incorporate, some axes, knives, and a bow into my fighting style as well.” I replied

“I see, Personally I prefer the battle axe, so I can instruct you on that and hoof to hoof combat, but I know my sister is very skilled with swords and scythes, and Cadence can help you with bows and arrows.”

“Ah, so I get to have my ass kicked by the entire royal family, sounds fun.” I replied

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you my sunshine.” Celestia replied as she placed a quick peck on my cheek and the next two ponies walked in, and both of them looked kind of stuck up.

They walked up to the princess and bowed, and I could see Celestia putting on a fake smile as she spoke “Ah, Jet set and Upper crust, how may I help you today my little ponies?”

Jet set, the male, spoke first “Thank you for allowing us to speak to you your highness. As for the matter that brings us here we humbly demand that that...that-”

His wife, upper crust walked up and pointed at me as she spoke “That…thing!”

“Yes, that monster! We demand that he be banished or placed in a dungeon.” Jet set finished “I understand that you need to mingle and diplomatic with other cultures, but that beast belongs in the dungeon, not by your side.”

Celestia's smile disappeared as her tone become much more serious “I’m going to forgive your verbal transgressions as long as you both leave now. I will not allow this baseless slander to stand in my castle.”

Jet set walked up to the throne as his tone grew more serious as well “Your highness, it would not be good for you if you were to ignore us. It would not be good for your rule if the government were to…shut down because of an injury inflicted to you by that beast.”

I had heard enough. They can say all the shit they want about me, but no one threatens the princesses. I walked down from the throne, and pistol-whipped Jet set. I drew my sword and put it against his neck as I pointed the gun to his wife “You are both under arrest for threatening the princess.”

Celestia walked up and put her hoof on me “Calm down Johnathan, I can handle this.”

I nodded and holstered my pistol and sword and stepped back as Celestia looked down to the two nobles who were now frozen in place “As you can see, that ‘monster’ is my personal guard, and he cares very much for the safety of the royal family. I may be able to control him now, but if what you say does happen, not even I will be able to protect you from his wrath. So, if I were you, I would relay what has happened to those who think that they control Equestria. Johnathan is a friend of this world, and the royal family rules this land, not nobles with inflated egos…. now leave my sight before I decide to have you arrested for harassment and threatening the royal family.”

The two quivering nobles quickly rose and ran from the room. As the doors closed, I walked up and sat in the dark behind the throne and buried my face in my hands. “They’re right…I’m a monster…I’m too violent for this world….my existence here has ruined it, just like earth” I took off my swords, my rifle, and my pistol, and laid them down behind the throne. With my knowledge of the guards i could easily sneak out of the castle and go somewhere secluded in the world where Tia won't have to worry about me ruining her life. I was going to get up and try to find a way to sneak out of the room, but Celestia had snuck up behind me. as I stood up to leave, I was enveloped in her magical grasp, and pulled straight into her hooves, which quickly wrapped around me to hold me in a very tight hug

“You’re not a monster John. You have not ruined my world.”

“But I literally almost killed those two.” I countered

Celestia sighed “John, they threatened me, you took action…you are not a monster….do you sometimes jump too attack too quickly for my liking? Yes, but given your past and the world that you come from, that’s a given, and something that I can help you with…I’ll have my guards investigate the threat, and I think I’ll hold a press conference in order to clear things up about you.”

I said nothing. I just sat there and let Celestia hold me close to her. I just stood there with my face buried in the side of her neck. I said nothing as I let her soft fur, her heartbeat, and her love comfort me. Eventually I felt her move, and as I looked to her, I saw her move her head in close to mine, and our noses touched. I moved my head back as Celestia smiled and did it again as she spoke “Boop.”

Eventually the royal business day came to a close, and me and Celestia returned to our room. I went and sat out in my chair on the balcony as Celestia sat at a desk by the door while looking over a few papers, most likely the tax plan. Eventually, my watch hit 1700 and Celestia began to slowly lower the sun to a setting position. Meanwhile, I was just trying to figure out what I was going to do to present my gift to Celestia. I looked to Celestia to make sure she was busy, and with the coast clear, I pulled out a bold bracelet and began to turn it over in my hand, trying to come up with a good way to present it to her. The best way was the romantic dinner, but how could I do it then? Maybe put it in the champagne glass?...no, that might make the bracelet sticky or something, and I didnt want to put it around the glass because that would give it away. Think man, Think!

My thought process was interrupted by the sound of cooing and flapping, along with a new weight on my right shoulder. I looked up to see that Philomena had decided to perch herself on my shoulder.
“Oh, Hey Philomena”

She rubbed her hard against my cheek and gave a happy coo before jumping down to my lap. She looked to me, then to my hand with had the bracelet in it, and I saw her wing point to the bracelet as she looked to me with a tilted head.

I leaned in close and whispered to her, “It’s a surprise for Tia. For her birthday, but I can’t seem to…” it was then that the idea struck me “Nevermind…uhh…could I ask you for a favor?”

I wasn’t exactly a good cook, I mean I could make a lot of meals thanks to training from my father and my time in the Boy Scouts, but I wasn’t exactly a gourmet chef. But luckily for me, the castle had some very talented cooking staff who were more than willing to help me……especially considering that my first attempt looked like something that would come out of the receiving end of a flame thrower. But with their help, I was able to make Celestia dinner and desert, both of which were paired with a nice red wine. It took some time, but eventually Celestia left her room, and in the time that she was gone I was able to set up a table on the balcony for two, with some candles and flowers.

Celestia walked back into the room at 1830, and she instantly saw my handiwork. She smiled at me as she walked out onto the balcony, “John, what is all this?”

I walked up to her and placed a kiss on her lips “You didn’t think I’d find out?” I pulled out a chair for her

Celestia looked at me funny as she sat down and I sat down across from her “Find out what?

I lifted up the cover to reveal a nice risotto meal, and for dessert, homemade cake. “Happy birthday my beautiful princess.”

The meal itself was great. Celestia enjoyed all of it, but the best part was when I gave her her present. We had just finished the meal and the staff had cleared the table from the balcony, and me and Celestia were laying down together on the big cushion and watching the setting sun.

“So, have you enjoyed your birthday so far?”

“Yes, my love. Thank you for doing all this for me.”

“I would do anything for you Tia” I replied “...And most recently, I did this”

“Did what?” Celestia asked. And as she did, a phoenix came out of the setting sun, with a bracelet in its claws, and landed on Celestias back. It then leaned over and deposited the bracelet in my hand

I showed it to Celestia “It’s not as good as something from a real jeweler, but with the help of the blacksmith, I think it came out good.”

She gasped as her magic picked it up from my hand and she looked it over before putting it on her hoof. As I suspected, it fit perfectly, and it matched her royal attire. As she did so, tears came to her eyes as she rolled on top of me and began to kiss me rapidly. “Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

I smiled and got a bit of a chuckle out of Celestias enthusiasm. “So, I take it that you like it?” I asked

Celestia stopped and pulled me into a passionate kiss “I love it.”
We laid together out on the porch until the moon began to rise. eventually, the time came where most ponies went to sleep, and me and tia went inside and had out fun.

Sike! Oh, come on, you guys didn’t think that I wasn’t going to talk about the first time that I got laid right? Anyway, around 1900, Celestia got up from the cushion and went inside. I figured that it would just be best to wait out on the balcony for her to get ready. As I waited, most of the thoughts that went through my head were either “Holy shit this is happening!” to “Holy shit I’m fucking terrified!” (no pun intended)

About 20 minutes later I heard Celestia walk up behind me and she began to speak with a sultry purr, “I’m ready my love” I saw a golden aurora wrap around my shirt and take it off. I turned around to see….my god…so…. sexy… she was wearing white panties, with frill and gold accent, white stockings with gold heels, and some kind of white corset or whatever, with pink eye shadow. I know that I’m definitely not doing how she looked justice at the moment, but I don’t know a whole lot about what she was wearing, plus this is all a little on the private side. But in any case, she looked sexy as fuck…pun intended…I saw her golden aurora move to envelope my whole body as it picked me up and she brought me to the bed and purred “Come here lover boy.” Celestia walked slowly to the bed and climbed on top of me as our lips met again and our passion started to flow free. Our tongues invaded each other’s mouths as we held each other close and enjoyed our love, however, after a while, things began to pick up. I felt my boots being pulled off and the button fly on my pants being undone, leaving me in only my boxers, which were beginning to show my slowly hardening dick. and as she began to pull those off I stopped her

“Tia, I have to tell you something. Humans aren’t as…big…as stallions.”

“Oh, I know.” she said with a smile “But I don’t care.” and she pulled my boxers off to reveal my now rock-hard dick. “Oh, excited, are you?”

“Y-y-yeah…. This is…kind of my…first time.”

“Oh, well then don’t worry, I’ll help you.” and she started to kiss down my body, stopping at my waist, all while I shivered with each kiss. I slowly began to take off her lingerie in the same fashion she took my clothes off, slow and methodical. The air reeked of arousal from both me and Celestia, and as I undid the hooks holding her socks to her panties, I felt a slight wetness on the bottom of her panties.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s excited.” I joked. I think that might have earned a small giggle from her if she wasn’t already moaning in pleasure. I slowly slid her panties off and tossed them aside, and gently moved my fingers around her vagina.

It seemed that she knew that I was waiting for her to give me the green light to continue, as she called out between moans “mmmm. Please John, continue” and that was all I needed to hear, I slowly and methodically moved my fingers to stroke her pussy, and slowly move deeper with every passing minute, and judging by her reactions, she liked it “Oh! Mmmm, John… I’m getting close.” hearing those words, I kept just moving my fingers, but she stopped me “No…I want to…do the real thing…if you are ok with that.”

I smiled and slowly pulled my fingers out “I thought you’d never ask…. just uh…it’s my first time.”

“Oh, down worry, I can help you.” she said with a bit of a devious smile, and with that, she got on top of me and slowly lowered herself onto my rock-hard dick. Whether she was going slow because it was my first time, or because she was trying to make sure she didn’t harm me, it still got a bit or a groan out of me, but it was just then that I realized that none of us had…protection, but again, she seemed to read my mind “Don’t worry my love I’m not in the heat, it will be fine…and yes I may or may not be reading your mind.”

“Magic?” I asked

“Yes.” she replied. And with that she continued to lower herself to my hilt, and then she started to go back up and down my shaft while both of us moaned in pleasure. However, it was Celestia who reached her orgasm first, but then again, she also had me to get her started. And to her credit, she kept going on me. Eventually it was me who was close

“I’m getting close tia.”

That caused her to pick up her efforts as she moaned “Good.” and as she finished her sentence, I reached my orgasm.

Having had our fun, tia came off of me and laid down by my side we held each other and kissed, as the air smelled of the musk of my cock and the perfume of her vagina “That was amazing.” I said between kisses

Celestia smiled “I’m good to hear it. And I’m happy to have been your first.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way…now let’s wash up.” I slowly got up as tia horn glowed and I heard water start to run. I walked into the bathroom and saw the massive tub, I mean this thing was the size of a small pool or a very large hot tub. I guess that tia had one installed in her room so she could wash up without having to leave her room. The tub filled up after about ten minutes, and I saw Celestia walk up behind me, still in her lingerie

“John, could you help me take this off?”

I knew she could do it herself with her magic, but I still obliged her. She lifted up each hoof one by one, and one by one, I gently pulled off the shoes and socks. And then she kneeled down and allowed me to undo her corset and gently pull it off. We placed her lingerie and my clothes to the side and we both stepped into the tub, and when I sat down on some sort of bench, it was about chest neck high for me. I closed my eyes and relaxed for a second before I felt a splash of water hit my face followed by a giggle from Celestia. I opened my eyes to see her smiling face holding up a bar of soap with her hair all shampooed up. She floated the bar over to me, but just before I was about to grab it, she stopped “ah ah, I’m washing you.”

“Okay.”

She ran the bar of soap over the front of my body and my arms, using her magic to lift up my arms so she could do my pits “Turn around please.” I did as she asked, and I felt her use her magic to run the soap bar all over my back “Now wash that off so I can do your hair.”

“Wow, I’m really getting the five-star treatment here.” She giggled as I washed the soap off my body and then sat back down as she help up a bottle of shampoo

“Now hold still while I wash your hair.”

Sarcastically I replied, “Yes mom” she broke down into full on laughter as I washed off my hair and then proceeded to get out of the tub to dry off. But before I could get out, I felt tia lift me up with her magic and drag me back into a hug

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Well I was going to let you relax here while I dry off and then sit out on the balcony.”

“You were going to go and sit out on the balcony and be alone? Not if I have anything to say about it.” She held me in her magic as she dried off and then walked out of the bathroom with her floating me behind her in her magic. She stopped by her ben and laid me down in it before getting in the bed herself and laying on top of me. “There, that’s better, don’t you agree?” and she began to nuzzle my chest

“I…. Yeah. Yeah it is.” and I placed my arms around her

She giggled “you make an excellent pillow John. I just have to wear earplugs for your snoring.”

“Oh, I’m not that bad.”

She wrapped her wing around me “We’ll see about that.” And with those words, I began to gently stroke my fingers through her hair until we both fell asleep.
--
So that’s all for tonight…so far, things have definitely been looking up in life. And even though I’m worried about leaving Tia in order to become immortal like her, I know that in the end it will be worth it.

Chapter 8- Depression

So it's been about a week and a half since my last entry, and today marks the end of my second week in Equestria. So far, I’ve been getting used to this world, but I will admit, I’d kill for some steak or something like that. With that being said, if getting a piece of meat meant losing Celestia, then I guess I’m a vegetarian now. I love Celestia, and I will not give her up for anything.
--
I woke up this morning to Celestia asleep on top of me. I’ve noticed that it's never me or her that wakes up first, and that it tends to switch day to day. Both sides have their advantages anyway. If I wake up first, I get to enjoy being cuddled by a sleeping Celestia, and the smile on her face as she holds me close to her…god its so cute. On the other hand, if Celestia wakes up first, I get to wake up to her beautiful smile over me. In the two weeks that I’ve come to know her, she’s been amazing. She’s been kind, accepting, almost motherly in a way….i love her, and the best part is, that even though she deserves better than me, she loves me back. I looked to my watch and I saw that it was about 0630, and the date was June first. And according to tia, the Grand Galloping Gala was on the 21 of June. Personally, I wasn’t looking forward to the event. According to Celestia, it's usually a high-society party, and with the exception of the past two years, is pretty boring. But still, I was willing to got through it all for my beautiful princess. As I was thinking, I also remembered that today, Celestia told me that she wanted me to come with her to her school and answer some questions that her students had for me. I was kinda looking forward to that, but I was also worried about what some of the parents might think of me. After the school day, I had a training session with the royal family. Now that was something that I was looking forward too, granted I was probably going to get my ass kicked. I decided that I should probably start to clean up and get ready seeing that today I was going to have to be on my best behavior and try to be presentable, but when I tried to get up, one of Celestia's newer reflexes kicked in. When I tried to get up, Celestia moved her hooves around me, and she rolled onto her back while pulling me on top of her and putting her forehooves and wings around me as she proceeded to nuzzle the side of my face. At the moment, I was basically a massive stuffed animal. Seeing as I had no escape. I just let myself get comfortable.

About fifteen minutes later, Celestia woke up. “Good morning my handsome warrior”

I smiled as I turned my head to look at her “Good morning my beautiful princess, looks like you make a nice pillow too, your so soft and cuddly”

Celestia giggled “Your quite comfy as well. And from the looks of it, you tried to get out of bed”

“How’d you know?” I asked

“Because of how I’m holding you right now…so why did you try to get up?”

“I wanted to wash up early. You said today was the day that I was going to go with you to your school, so I wanted to try to look presentable.” I replied

“Don’t worry, John, I’m sure that my students will like you, you just have to be yourself.”

“Are you sure about that?” I replied

“Yes…but do try not to swear”

“Yes Dear” I sarcastically replied, which made Celestia giggle a bit

“And there’s also your training as well.” She continued

“Yeah, I know, I’m a little anxious about that too.”

“Don’t be, I’m sure that you will do fine.” Celestia replied

“Yeah” I replied “If anything, at least I'll get to see how sexy you look in your armor”

Celestia began to blush “Flatterer.”

“And you wouldn’t have me any other way.” I countered

Celestia placed a kiss on my cheek and I saw that she was wearing the bracelet that I made for her “No, I would not.”

“Your wearing the bracelet I made?”

Celestia placed a kiss on my lips “Yes, it has become a part of my everyday wear, and I have yet to take it off since you gave it to me.”

I was shocked to hear that. I mean I was happy to hear that she liked it so much, but I was surprised to hear that she had yet to take it off. “Wow…I…I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything” Celestia relied. She then placed a quick kiss in my lips again before letting me go “Now go on and wash up for today.”

“thank you” I replied as I slowly rolled off of tia and then made my way to the bathroom. As I turned on the water, I began to think of the house that I saw in my dreams…the house that I wanted to share with Celestia. She right, this world is different, with the exception of the nobles, this world seems to be a nice place. Speaking of those asshats, the nobles seemed to have backed off after that incident with Jet Set and his wife. Now they all just seem to avoid me. It should make the Gala interesting.

After I got showered, I grabbed a pair of tan pants for today, but I saw that my shirts were missing. As I walked back into the room, I saw that Celestia floating up a black t-shirt in her magic. “Looking for this?”

“Yes, as well as the rest of my shirts, do you know where they are?”

Celestia smiled “Yes, but it don’t understand why you need to wear them.”

“So that way I can comfortably wear my vest and not be cold” I replied

“But I like how you look” Celestia replied as she put her wing around me “and don’t tell me that you don’t like the feeling of my wings and my coat on your skin.”

I sighed “You know I do, but I do have to try to look professional Tia.”

She sighed back at my shirt, and then when she looked at me I knew I was not going to win this argument. She was giving me puppy eyes as she fluttered her eyelashes “Pleeeaaase?”

I knew I had lost. I sighed as I thought things out. “Fine, but I want the shirt for now because we’re going to meet your students. After that I’ll go shirtless ok?”

Celestia smiled as she placed my shirt on me and a kiss on my cheek “Thank you for seeing reason my sunshine.”

“The puppy eyes kind of won me over.” I replied

Celestia smiled deviously at me “I’ll keep that in mind… now come on dear, I still need to make us some breakfast, and get to my classroom before the school day begins. It’s not good for the teacher to be late” and with that she walked out the door

“Oh, now that’s just evil.” I replied as I threw my gear on and ran out the door after her.

I caught up to Celestia in the kitchen as she was getting out some supplies: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and some fruit. My guess was that she was making pancakes.

I walked up behind her and hugged her as I spoke “Where would the coffee be?”

Before she could answer, Luna walked into the room and floated over a cup of my lifeblood to me. I took a sip and smiled “Thanks”

“Your quite welcome. It's nice to have another coffee drinker in the castle, I even hear that you got my sister to try it.”

I smiled as I remembered back to the day where I was hiking up the mountain with Celestia er I mean majesty “Yeah, but it didn’t end to well.” I replied.

“No it did not.” Celestia said as she brought out a plate of pancakes for the three of us.

My pancakes were plain, with the exception of a little bit of butter and syrup. I smiled as I began to eat “These are good tia.”

“Thank you, my sunshine.”

Luna smiled at Celestia's name for me “So I see that my sister has grown very affectionate for you since you have arrived.”

“Yeah” I replied “And I have too…in a way, we kind of owe you for that. If your dream hadn’t forced us to show our hands…I don’t know what would happen”

“I’m sure that you and my sister would have fallen In love.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have been able to have sex with her when I did if it wasn’t for that boost.”

I heard Celestia gasp and I felt I wing smack the back of my head and I heard Luna stifle a laugh

“I deserved that.”

“And now I’m not going to go easy on you in training” Celestia finished with a smile

“aaaannnd I deserve that too.” I replied, and all three of us broke into laughter.

When our laughter died down, we finished our meals, and the staff began to clean the plates as the readied the kitchen for the days cooking. Celestia and I made our way out of the castle, and into purple and white three-story building that had three towers coming out of it. the way the center one was attached to the school, actually made it look like a wizard’s hat. As we walked in, the building itself was almost empty save for a few staff ponies walking around. I looked to my watch and I saw that it was already 0730. “Tia, when is school starting?”

Celestia sat down at a desk and began to go through some papers “In about fifteen minutes. I’ll have you go hide in a side room while the students arrive so they aren’t late to class.”

I walked up to Celestia and stood by her “Ok. But I'm only going in there at the last minute. I don’t want to be away from you for long.”

Tia looked to me and smiled “I love you too john…….just remember, do try not to scare my students.”

“I’ll try” I replied “Oh, and before I forget, could you find a safe place for these?” I took off my guns and swords and placed them on tias desk

“Yes I do.” she replied, and with a flash, my weapons disappeared “I have teleported them to a safe in our closet that only you, me, and my sister can access.”

“Thank you tia, now I don’t have to worry about some kid trying to take them.”

Celestia giggled “Yes, I would never hear the end of it from the EEA and parents if they did. I’m sure that I will be receiving a visit from Chancellor Neighsay sometime today anyway.”

“Why? And can't you just tell him to relax?”

Celestia sighed “I can try, but when it comes to schools, unfortunately, I do have to listen to the EEA, and I don’t know if the chancellor with like you.”

I leaned in close and placed a kiss on Celestia lips “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that he doesn’t shut you down. Besides, I don’t think I need my weapon anyway.”

“And if you need them, all it will take is a simple spell.” Celestia finished as she placed a kiss on my cheek. “Now run along, students will be arriving soon.” And with that I quickly ducked out of the room and into the room across from it. from the looks of it, it was a teachers lounge.From my location, I heard the sound of hoofsteps and the voices of kids as they entered the hall. I didn’t know how long it would take for Tia to come and get me, so I sat down in one of the chairs and let my mind wander. I began to think of how far my relationship with tia had come. From first meeting her to now. She makes me feel like I deserve to live. Between her and her sister, my depression is almost gone. I feel like I finally have a place where I belong. I love her so much. But I don’t know what to do? and the fact that she wants to spend forever with me…what if I mess up? What if she doesn’t want to marry me?.......I’m such a coward I buried my face in my hands “Oh…what am I going to do tia?”

As I finished speaking I hear some murmurs and Celestia clear her throat behind me “Well maybe you should introduce yourself to the class.”

I lifted my head up and say I was no longer in the lounge, but instead I was back in Celestia’s classroom, and it was filled with fillies and colts, as well as a pony with a white coat and black hair with a red robe on who was just sitting there glaring at me “Oh…you teleported me…..Well then, morning everyone, my names John, and as you can see, I’m a human.”

One of the fillies in the front row cut in “And you’re the princesses coltfriend?”

I looked back to Celestia with a look of shock “How did she know that?”

Celestia rolled her eyes “Tabloids my sunshine.”

“Figures.” I replied before I looked back to the class “Yep, I’m her coltfriend. But I’m also her personal guard.”

A blue colt raised his hoof up and asked “If you’re her guard, then why aren’t you wearing any armor?”

I smiled “Actually, I am” I took off my vest and pulled out the metal plate from its pouch “Mine is just hidden.”

I raised up the plate for the class to see which earned a few ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the kids, as well as an eyebrow raise from the stallion in back as he began to write something. I put my plate back in my vest and put it back on “So, any other questions?”

Celestia smiled “Actually yes, I had my class prepare a few for you.”

“Ok, well then question away.” I said

I saw smiles on all the kids faces. It felt good to see them smile, I think I know now why tia teaches. Anyway, the question started. The first one came from a grey unicorn filly

“Where do you come from?”

“Good question. I come from a world called Earth. It’s definitely not a peaceful as equestrian, and there’s also no magic there.”

That earned me a few gasps from the students as the young filly who asked the question asked “No magic?”

I shook my head “Nope, but what we lack in magical ability, we make up for in ingenuity. On earth there are many amazing machines that allow us to do things like travel long distances quickly, or fly.” I smiled as I pulled out my phone “And devices like this allow us to communicate instantly back and forth all over the world, or even listen to music.”

Again, I saw the stallion in the back begin to furiously scribble on his paper, and the foals kept asking me questions. What they asked varied from my favorite food, or color, to what I would want to do if I wasn’t tias guard, and as I answered them all, the stallion in the back kept scribbling away. I did what I could to ignore him, I was here for tia and I guess for her students as well. I mean most of the questions were easy and typical of what you’d expect from young kids, but is was the last question from a light blue pegasus colt that made me freeze “Are you going to marry Princess Celestia?”

I quickly looked back to Celestia who had covered her face with her wings. I looked back to the students with a slight blush of my own as I scratched the back of my head “I…uh…wow…that’s…definitely a good question….uh…..well………as I guess everypony knows, I’m in love with Celestia…..and I do think that it is possible that, in the future, I may marry her.”

The entire class smiled and broke out into a collective “oooh” I swear they would probably have started singing the kissing song, but Celestia stepped in

“Thank you, my faithful students for such wonderful questions. and what do we say to our guest?”

The class all spoke at the same time “Thank you.”

Just when I thought that all the questions were finished, the stallion who was hiding in the back stepped forward “How do we know that you have the kingdoms best interests in heart. How do the ponies of Equestria know that having you near our beloved princess, won’t cause any damage? How do we know that you won’t destroy our world if left to your own devices?”

Celestia stepped forward and began to speak “Chancellor you have no right to-”

I put my hand in front of tia as I chuckled “I was wondering when you were gonna speak up.”

Celestia whispered in my ear “John, you don’t have to answer his questions,I can dismiss him if you want.”

I looked to tia “Don’t worry my beautiful princess, I wont do anything dumb.” I looked back to the chancellor “That’s actually a good question. You see I can understand why you asked it. fact of the matter is, you and the rest of the nobility are scared of me, or just don’t like me. and while I honestly don’t care, I am going to try to put out the metaphorical fires here for not only my own benefit, but Celestia's as well. You see, your just gonna have to trust me. Let me ask you this, I’ve been here for almost a two weeks now, and as you no doubt know, I weapons and equipment are far superior to anything this world has seen, AND I spend all day by the princess’s side. So, if I was aiming to hurt your world, wouldn’t I have done something by now? Wouldn’t I have taken out your leadership? and I think that Tia as well as some of the nobility can agree that having me around offers a new way of looking at things, because the simple answer is, I’m not a bureaucrat. And as for the ruling, trust me you’re not the only one hoping that I don’t get stuck with that. BUT, if in the unlikely event that that does happen, aside from some advice from Celestia and Luna, I would hope that those under me with far more experience would offer me a hand-er-hoof in assistance.”

The chancellor took down some more notes “I see.” he then looked to Celestia “Princess, you will have my report by the days end.” and with that he opened up a doctor strange style portal and stepped through it before it closed. As he left, the bell rang, and the students all left the classroom leaving me and Celestia alone.

“Well he was fun.” I sarcastically remarked.

Celestia stepped away from her desk as I sat down on one “Yes, I’m sorry about the Chancellor. But as the head of the Equestrian Education Association, he need to make sure that the students academic futures are protected.”

“its ok, though from what I’ve seen, he may be a tad bit on the racist side...though I’ve only just met the guy...I just hope that I gave him a satisfactory answer. The last thing I need is the noble in charge of schools pissed off at me.”

“The nobility will come around to you eventually my sunshine” Celestia smiled as she put her wing around me “Now come along. It’s time for your combat training. And if I recall, I still have yet to get you back for your comment during breakfast.”

I sighed as I began to walk with her “Ah yes…that” I was going to get a ‘royal’ ass whopping. “Perhaps you could go a little easier on me?”

“And just would I do that?”

“I was thinking a massage?” I replied with a small smile

“Hmmm” Celestia stopped and tapped her chin with her hoof “I believe that that would be reasonable. I haven’t had a massage in ages”. I let out a sigh of relief which caused tia to giggle before she spoke again “Now come along, I don’t want to be late for our reservation in the sparing room.”

“You had to reserve a place for us to fight?” I asked

“Yes, there are a few sparring rooms in the castle. The problem is that they are usually used by the guards, however I was able to get one reserved for us. That way your ego won't be too bruised when I kick your flank.”

“I thought you said that I was a capable warrior.” I replied as we entered the castle

“You are, but your technique needs work…and you need a fighting style aside from the sloppy one that you already use.”

Eventually, we reached the sparring room and inside was a decent number of weapons and gear, but on a pedestal inside the room was two sets of armor, one black, and one gold. Celestia lifted them both up and floated the black set over to me, and I noticed that it was designed for human use “I had the guard deliver our armor to this room for us.”

I grabbed the armor from her magic and looked it over “Where did you find all this?”

Celestia smiled as she walked behind a cover “From the same place I got the journals of Starswirl. Now put it on, I want to make sure that your safe.”

I sighed and began to put on the bulky pieces of metal. When all was said and done, I looked like one of the knights of old “I don’t know how I feel about this tia, I mean it’s definitely not what I’m used to. Are you sure this stuff won't hinder my fighting capabilities?”

“Oh im sure” Celestia replied as she walked out from behind the cover with her armor on, and I'm not gonna lie, in full gold armor, she looked pretty damn hot. Starting with her helm, it was gold, and had a crown attached to it, along with a blade of sorts in front of her horn. The helm came down the sides and front of her face and snout, leaving her eyes, and mouth open, with her ears somewhat protected behind her crown and her hair tied up in a ponytail behind it. The armor moved up her neck where the armor covered the side and back of her neck as well as most of the front, but it was spaced so she could still move her neck and head around. Moving down to her body, the armor itself was set on top of some kind of brown fabric, which I guess made it more comfortable or something, and on the front of it, was a purple gem attached to a small shield to protect her front and chest. Moving back, the armor covered her body very well, including her underside, as well as the tops of her wings, which looked to have blades on them as well. On her feet, she wore what were almost boots. But they were basically her normal shoes, but they went up almost half way up her lag and they had the brown fabric on the back of it. and in her magical grasp, was what looked to be a mix between an axe and a spear. I just stood there dumbstruck as Celestia floated two swords over to me. “Like what you see?”

I smiled as I put on my own helmet and grabbed the swords from her magical grasp “Sexy, and a talented fighter, you really are the perfect girlfriend.”

Celestia made a mock pout “And I wasn’t before.”

“yes you were-I mean-I-you-I….”

Celestia began to giggle at my rambling “Relax my sunshine, I was merely joking”

“Oh…right…oops.” I keep forgetting that Celestia has a bit of a mischievous side to her

Celestia raised up her weapon “So, let’s start off with a quick spar so I can assess your skills and technique.”

“Uhh, shouldn’t we be using wood or something like that to prevent injury?” I asked

“Don’t worry my love, the swords have been dulled so they will not cause injury.” Celestia replied, and a half second after she did, she took a swing at me, which I only dodged by an inch

I looked to Celestia “So it’s going to be like that.”

“You must expect the unexpected dear, your opponent may not fight fairly.” Celestia replied

“That’s okay” I charged right into Celestia and swung at her with my right sword and nicked the underside of her armor “I usually don’t either.”

My strike caught Celestia off guard, but she quickly regained her composure and the base of her weapon slammed into my chest pushing me back as she went on the offensive. I did what I could to keep myself in close, but every time I did, she would use the pommel of her axe to push me back so she could swing at me. I needed to think of something fast or I was going to lose the fight. I backed off and dropped one sword as my hand went for where my pistol was supposed to be, but I remembered that I had no guns. And since I wasn’t going to be able to pick my sword back up, I was now just down to one sword. Celestia was good at this, I needed to do something fast though. With no options left, I ran at her again, but she already anticipated a charge as she lowered her axe to hit me dead center, but as I got near it, I slid under her strike and before I got under her where she could easily lay down and pin me, I jumped up right into her chest plate and try to hit her neck. But my warrior princess was fast, before I could put the blade to her neck, she regained her composure from the body slam. Before I knew it, her magic grabbed hold of me and dragged me up into the air, upside down. In front of her. She quickly smiled at me before dropping me onto the ground and tapping my head with her axe “I win.”

I got up and dusted myself off “So how’d I do?”

Celestia took off her helmet and kissed my cheek “Not too bad, you seemed to recognize that you needed to be close to me in order to keep me from using the bladed end of my weapon.”

“But you are better than me and were able to push me back and even then you probably could have used your horn or wing blades to hit me up close.” I replied “….and was the drop really necessary?”

Celestia smiled slyly ay me “Would have preferred that I buck you? And yes, you are right, but I figured that I would go easy on you”

I sighed “So what was I doing wrong?”

“Well mind you, that swords aren’t my forte, but I can tell you that dual-wielding, while effective on offense, removes almost all of your defensive capabilities”

“So what would you recommend?”

Celestia smiled as she levitated a shield over to me “A sword and a shield go well together, you can attack, and defend, and even use the shield to knock opponents off their feet, but I would suggest keeping your shield at somewhat of an angle so that it increases its effective armor and will allow you better block attacks with less force so your arm does not tire.”

I put the shield on my arm and moved it around a bit “Ill try it.” I said “But what about the Hoof to hoof combat part?”

Celestia sighed “To be honest my dear, I wouldn’t know how to teach you. Ponies are very different from humans. I wouldn’t know where to begin on teaching you for that, but from what I have seen, with some practice you will be quite capable” She took her helmet off and lifted mine off my head with her magic “And I don’t want to hurt you my love.” She placed another kiss on my lips “My handsome warrior.”

I smiled and kissed back “My beautiful princess.”

Celestia let go of me and I felt her tail wrap around my neck “You know, you look quite handsome in that armor.” Celestia replied

“Meh, I prefer my normal gear over this.” it took me a second, but I realized that her voice had turned into a sultry purr, and as I did, I froze up.

Celestia giggled as she picked me up in her magic, took the armor off me, then set me down. “Relax John, I'm only joking.”

“Oh….right….I keep forgetting about your sense of humor.” I replied

“Well can you blame me?” Celestia asked “You don’t exactly make it difficult for me.”

I scratched the back of my head “I guess it’s because I’m still getting used to be in a relationship.”

Celestia nodded “I understand, the last fourteen days have been a stark difference from your life back on your old world.”

“Yeah” I replied “I may have lost Airsoft and most meats, but in exchange for that, I got you and your love. And I wouldn’t trade anything for that.”

Celestia smiled at me and I saw her hoof go to her face to cover up a blush. “John, would you come with me to the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Are….Are you sure?” I asked

“Yes, there is no pony else I would rather go with than you. For me, the gala is not what it used to be, but with you by my side, I’m sure that it will be a night to remember.”

“But I don’t even know how to dance.” I replied

“I can teach you.”

“You can?”

Celestia smiled “Yes, anything from classical to the tango.”

“You really are the perfect girlfriend.”

Celestia walked up and nuzzled my cheek “And you are the perfect boyfriend.”

I shook my head “I’m not. I’m far from perfect. You des-”

I was cut off as Celestia put her hoof to my lips “Hush. You are perfect to me john. You are now and always will be my sunshine.”

I brought my hand up and gently caressed her jaw before placing a kiss on her lips “And you will always be my beautiful princess.”

Celestia smiled and let out a sigh of relief as my fingers ran through her mane. I smiled back, and as I moved my hands away, she began to pout “Why did you stop?”

“Because you still have to teach me, and besides I did say I was going to give you a massage later.”

“Ah yes, I almost forgot about that” She replied “Wait here a moment” and with a flash of gold, she teleported away. I leaned against the wall and waited. I was still in a bit of disbelief that tia had asked me to the gala. Me, a dumb, violent, useless, monster. The nobles are right about me. I don’t belong in the castle. Not as I am. I stood back up and looked to the swords in the rack in the corner. As I did I heard Daybreaker’s words in my head over and over again. Daybreaker was right too. Celestia deserves better than me. I walked to the swords. They were right, all of them…I needed to go.

My hand reached out for the sword, and just as my fingers touched it, there was a flash of light behind me. I spun around to see that Celestia had teleported back into the room, and that her standard jewelry had been swapped out for a sparkling red dress, with matching eye shadow, and in her mouth, she held a rose. She floated the rose into her hair and looked at me “John, what were you doing?”

I quickly pulled my hand away from the sword and turned to Celestia, “Getting a sword to practice while I waited” I quickly replied

Celestia frowned at me “Don’t lie to me. What were you doing?” her tone had become more stern than usual. She wanted the truth.

“They’re right, all of them” I replied “I don’t belong here, I don’t deserve you. I’m a violent monster with no place in this world.” I just kept looking down at the ground. I couldn’t look Celestia in the eyes. “I was going to take care of myself”

Celestia's horn glowed and all the weapons and armor in the room disappeared “you will no longer have access to weapons until I say otherwise”

I just nodded

Celestia walked away “I….I need some time alone.” And with a flash, she left. I walked back to my old room, and I locked myself in it. I had ruined the best thing that ever happened to me. I had lost the one woman that would ever love me, and it was my fault. With tears in my eyes, I went to the balcony doors, but they were locked. Tia had thought of everything. So I closed the blinds, went to the darkest corner of the room, and I cried.

————————————————-

Greetings everypony, I am Princess Celestia. I will be taking over in this journal for a bit, as I feel that my perspective also need to be given in this story

I Teleported into my room, and I instantly knew what I needed to do. John wanted to dance, and I had just the dance in mind. The tango. I went into my closet, and picked out a nice red outfit, and quickly donned it as well as some makeup and a rose. I wanted to try to get that cute little dumbfounded look on his face that he gets whenever I do something like this. But when I teleported back into the room, I saw John, my sunshine, reaching for a sword. He quickly spun around, and as he did, I saw that he had a look in his eye. The look of one who was about to die. “John, what were you doing?”

He looked to me quickly and replied “Getting a sword to practice while I waited.”

I knew he was lying. How could he? I felt my anger and sadness growing “Don’t lie to me. What were you doing?”

“They’re right, all of them…I don’t belong here, I don’t deserve you. I’m a violent monster with no place in this world.” He looked down and I saw he was on the verge of tears “I was going to take care of myself”

He…he was going to kill himself. Upon hearing what he was going to do, I was filled with a mix of shock, anger, fear, and sadness. I did the only thing I could do. I teleported everything In the room away. “You will no longer have access to weapons until I say otherwise.”

John didn’t even reply. He just kept his head down and nodded

I shook my head and walked to the door “I….I need some time alone.” And with a quick teleportation spell, I was gone, and in my sisters room “Luna, wake up!”

My sister snapped awake and into a battle stance “What is wrong sister? An attack?...wait…why are you dressed like that?”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I grabbed my sister, held her close, and began to cry.

In response, Luna did what she could to calm my sobs. She rubbed my back, and when I had calmed enough to speak, she began to question me “What is wrong dear sister?”

I wiped tears from my eyes “Johnathan tried to kill himself.”

“HE WHAT! Why?”

“He said that It’s because he doesn’t deserve love, that the nobility and Daybreaker were right about him.” I replied

Luna stamped her hoof “That’s preposterous! Where is John! How dare he do that to you!”

I grabbed luna “Don’t…I will handle it….Im so angry at him…but I love him so much…I don’t want him to die.”

“Nor do I sister, Johnathan is a good friend.”

“I love him Luna. He’s more than just a friend to me…He is the man that I want to spend all of eternity with.”

“I know Celly…that is why you must put your feelings of anger aside and go to him. Tell him how you feel about this, and give him the power to crush his tantivis once and for all, just like he did with yours.”

I nodded “I agree. We must find him.” I stood up but my sister put her hoof on my back

“You may want to fix your makeup first.”

I shook my head “No, I need to find him” and with that, I ran out of her room and to the sparing room and kicked in the doors “JOHN!” there was no response, the room was empty. I began to worry, where could he have gone? I began to search the castle grounds, but he wasn’t in the garden, and the guards hadn’t seen him. I then took to the skies in hopes of finding him, but he was not at the top of the castle or on the edge of the cliff. I returned to my room and searched there, but there was no sign of him. By this point, an hour had transpired, and I was beginning to really worry. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose the man that I loved. I had to find him. I picked up one of his shirts and I held it close to me. “I love you so much John.” And as I held his shirt to me, I had an idea. I could use a scrying spell to find him. As I cast the spell, his shirt began to glow, and I began to see his location and him. He was in his old room. Alone and in the dark. Through the gaze of the spell, I could hear his sobs. I immediately dissipated the spell and teleported into the room. Just like what I saw in the spell, it was dark, and the man that I loved was curled up in the corner, crying in defeat. I don’t know if he heard ,me, but he did not move. I slowly walked up to him and placed my hoof on him “Johnathan?” he turned away from me to face the wall

“Just leave me.” he replied

I said nothing. All I did was lay down next to him and placed my wing around him. “I don’t want you to die Johnathan. I want to spend eternity with you.”

“But…But you deserve better than me. the nobles are right about me...Daybreaker was right about me.”

“No they are not my sunshine.” I replied

I was going to kiss him, but before I could, the balcony doors opened and my sister walked in and placed her wing around him as well “Nor will they ever be.”

He looked over to where my sister's voice had come from “Luna? Why are you here?”

“Because I care for you as well. Because my sister cares for you. You mean a lot to us. You are in a sense, a member of our family.”

“I'm not. Nor do I deserve to be. Just leave me here to starve and die.” he replied

Luna walked up and laid down next to him and put her wing on his side. “Well that’s too bad, because by declaring your love for my sister, and by her declaring her love for you, you have become a member of the royal family.”

I stroked johns back with my hoof “Please John, your more than just a guard. You’re the man that I love. You’re the man that I want to spend eternity with, and I’m the mare that you want to spend eternity with……please John….before I meet you, I was so alone. I had no pony to love…I watched my friends and family find their husbands or wives, all while I stood by and wondered if I would ever get the same chance…you are my chance…You are my one.”

He turned to me and I saw tears on his face. “Why?...I mean look at me. Im dumb, violent, useless…I’m everything wrong with the world. You are a beautiful princess, one who is kind, compassionate, loyal, honest, generous, funny….you deserve so much better than me. You deserve the man of your dreams.”

Luna cut in “John, YOU, are the man of her dreams.”

“And you always will be” I stated. And as I did, I laid my head down on him. “Besides, without you, who would I have for a pillow at night?” He gave a weak chuckle at that. He tried to sand up, but I kept holding onto him. “You cannot escape my love.”

Luna slowly stood up and smiled “Now my dear sister is going to lay here with you and smother you with her love until your depression and suicidal thoughts are gone. Then we will work together tonight in your dreams to fully eradicate it. Depression has angered the wrong family. I shall see you tonight…Brother.” And with that my sister walked out of the room.

John raised his head and spoke “Did she just say brother?”

I smiled “Yes. You are a member of the royal family like she said. You are my lover.” I giggled a bit “And now her little brother.”

He sighed “You two aren’t going to give up on me are you?”

“No” I replied “…..and John…..I’m sorry for what I said in the training room…I don’t want to separate from you…I just want you to be safe and happy. I hate watching this depression control you. I hate seeing you sad like this. I makes me feel like I don’t matter…like I’m going to lose you…like I’m powerless to save the man I love….I hate feeling powerless. I’m an alicorn princess, I have all the power in the world, yet it doesn’t seem enough to protect you.” I held him tighter as tears began to resurface “I can’t lose you.”

He slowly turned around to face me, there was still tears in his eyes as well. He then put his arms around me, and buried his face in my chest “I”m so sorry tia”

As he did so, I rested my head on his shoulders and my own tears began to flow. We held each other like that for some time. Eventually, we both calmed down and john stood up “So what now?”

I looked to the clock on the wall. It was about 6:30 “Well I have another hour at least before I need to lower the sun. Like my sister said, tonight we will be venturing into your psyche to crush your depression once and for all. I know that we won't see an overnight change, but confirming that we will always be there for you will go a long way in your recovery.”

“So what should we do with our time before then?” he asked

“Well if I do recall, yo do still owe me a dance” I replied as I used my magic to make a quick make up kit appear so I could fix what had been ruined by my tears, before making the kit disappear and making a rose appear in its place before putting it in my mouth.

“But I can’t da-” John started to reply, but he was swiftly stopped when my magic enveloped him and he began to dance the flamingo with me. the two of us danced to an unheard beat, and as we did, John began to smile. Our movements quickened and grew livelier, and what he didn’t notice was that as we danced, I no longer held him in my magic, we were dancing together under our own power. We finished with me leaning down and John holding me. I removed the rose from my mouth and placed it in my hair as I spoke

“That was fun, your almost a natural my sunshine.”

“I was Okay I guess, but it was you who was doing all the work.” he replied

“Actually, the last half of the dance was all you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and I’m sure that if you can flamingo, you can definitely handle the slow dancing at the gala in twenty days.”

“I should probably start planning security for-”

“No, you are relieved of your duties until I can be sure that you won't harm yourself”

“But-”

I put my wing to his lips as I spoke firmly “No buts. Until I can be sure that your depression is gone, I will not have you working or even looking at weapons.”

He sighed knowing that I was right “I understand.”

I looked to the clock and saw that it was seven, and I began to hear the pleas of my stomach for sustenance. “Come, let's go to the kitchen for a quick bite. Im sure that you must been hungry or thirsty.” I put my wing around John and we walked to the kitchen. After a quick bite to eat, we retired back to our chambers, where, once in bed, I placed my legs and wings around Johnathan before pulling the covers over us. “Goodnight my handsome warrior.”

John let out a sigh of relief as he rested his head on my chest “Goodnight my beautiful princess”

Chapter 9- Best Night Ever.

So it’s the day of the gala. I know its been awhile since I’ve made an entry, but I’ve been thinking. Not much happened in the last twenty days…well actually, something did happen. I made a choice, one that was going to affect the lives of me and Celestia. Over the course of those twenty days, I steeled myself, and with the help of the blacksmith, I created two monuments to my choice. I know I also left this out of my last entry, so what I will do is start this entry with the escapade from the night that Luna and Celestia helped me defeat my depression, or as Luna called it, my tantivis.
--
The dream started off back at the house on the lake. I was back on the roof, but I was alone. I got up to see if Luna was just hiding, and as I did, a portal appeared, and Celestia and Luna stepped through it. Luna smiled as she looked around “Ah, I see that you are having this dream again. I do love this peaceful scene.”

“Yeah, it's ok.” I replied as I laid back down

Celestia walked up and nuzzled my cheek, “I’m sorry we’re are late sunshine, but Lulu had to pick me up.”

“It’s okay, time moves at whatever speed one wants in a dream.” I replied

Celestia laid down on top of me and smiled “My sister is right, this is a very peaceful scene. The house, the lake, the setting sun…It would be the perfect place to live.”

“Yeah, that why I want to build it.” I replied “I’ll probably add a small dock to go and fish off of and maybe even build a boat.”

“What will you name it?” Luna asked

“I don’t know” I replied “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it I guess…if I get to it” the world around me shimmered for a second as Luna and Celestia lowered to battle stances

Luna looked to Celestia “Sister, his tantivis is larger than I thought.”

The shimmer and Luna's words never registered with me, I was too deep in self-deprecating thought “Who am I kidding? I’ll never see this in real life…I don’t deserve love.” As I finished a wall of black erupted between me and the two sisters

Celestias POV
As the wall of darkness surrounded john, myself and my sister assumed a defensive posture. The world fell away and an oh too familiar voice echoed around us “So you figured it out, didn’t you?”

I immediately recognized the voice of my lover’s torturer. I readied myself for battle as I spoke “Show yourself Daybreaker!”

Her maniacal laughter filled the air “Oh Celestia, why would I do that?”

“To prove that you are not a coward.” Luna replied “Now show yourself or I will forcibly remove you from this world.”

Another cackle filled the air “You have no power here, and nor does my weaker form. Only this weak human can stop me, and once he is disposed of, no one will deny me world domination!”

I froze “What do you mean?”

Out of the darkness arose a window of sorts, and though it, we could see John, holding a knife. “Humans have no magic, and thus once they are dead, there is will be nothing holding me back. I will break free and rule the world. Though I see my efforts in the waking world were ineffective, so I will just have to kill him in here.”

My sister lowered herself into a battle stance as well “What do you mean in the waking world?”

“Like I said, humans have no magic, and thus are able to be influenced by any strong magical force” John began to move the knife to his arm “Now watch as he dies, and know this Celestia, it will be your fault”

I felt my anger grow, both at this monster, and at myself. I should have known that she would infect Johnathan. I should have known she would try to hurt him. I should have done a better job at protecting him.

Daybreaker appeared next to John and began to drag the knife down his arm with tears in his eyes “She deserves better than me.”

NO! I couldn’t let the man I loved die. I charged a magic beam with as much power as I could “NO! I will not lose him! I refuse to let him believe that you are right!” I fired the shot into the wall, and for a moment, there was a hole, but it sealed itself as quickly as it was created.
John stopped what he was doing and began to look around, “what was that?........oh what does it matter.” he began to cut his other arm

Daybreaker laughed “There’s nothing you can do that will stop me, your worthless magic can’t save him

“I won’t let you do this!” I called out “Johnathan loves me! and I love him!”

Daybreaker walked up to the window “Oh please, you can do so much better than this piece of human trash. I can already think of a list of nobility who you could use to increase your wealth or strengthen your kingdom.”

I could see behind her that John was already halfway down his second arm. I had to stop her. I had to save my beloved. I looked to my sister and with a nod, we both began to charge our spells.

Daybreaker again laughed “All this effort for one worthless, idiotic, coward?”

Luna spoke “He is not worthless, he is not idiotic, and he is not a coward. He is a brave, kind man, one who has opened my sisters’ heart, and allowed her to see herself in a new light. He is a man that I consider to be my brother!”

I looked to my sister with shock and she smiled back at me as she continued

“Yes sister, I see him as one of our family. I will not lie, I see a lot of myself just after nightmare moon inside of him, and once we vanquish this pest, I shall let him know”

Tears came to my eye “Thank you Lulu.”

“You’re welcome big sis. Now shall we save your lover?”

“Yes.”

Daybreaker laughed at us “You fools seem to forget that only he can beat me, and once he makes this last cut, I will be released into the waking world!” she pointed a hoof to John, who was not holding the knife to his neck. I was only going to get one chance.

I took off the bracelet that John had given me “Now sister!”

Together, our combined magic put a hole in the barrier the size of a cart, but it began to close, and just before it did, I was able to call out to my handsome prince and throw my bracelet at him “Johnathan!”

My lover halted with the knife just about to pierce his skin, but my shot was true, and the bracelet knocked the knife out of his hands as he looked to the small hole “Tia?” He looked down at his arms and then to the barrier where Daybreaker was standing “You.”

My plan had worked, The illusion was shattered, my husband was alive, and he could now see his tormentor. I could see the fire in his eyes, and the world began to shake as he filled with rage. Daybreaker was going to pay dearly for what she had done.

My POV

Rage. Pure and uncontrollable. That was my first emotion once the illusion was shattered. I didn’t know what Daybreaker was using me for, but I heard the tone of Celestia’s voice, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be pretty. “You.”

Daybreaker tuned to face me, and for the first time, her face was full of fear “What? How? I controlled you!!”

“Well it looks like someone broke your connection.” With a simple thought, my weapons appeared by my side, and I was in a full suit of armor “Now I’m going to break you in half.” Her wings spread to fly away, but the ground before her erupted in shadows, which wrapped around her and held her to the ground. “Oh no you don’t.”

She tried to break free, but nothing she did got the tendrils to let go “Why isn’t this working!?”

I laughed “Because I’m back in control now. And now I’m going to pay you back for what you’ve done.” A pistol materialized in my hand, and I fired a round into her front kneecap and she cried out in pain. I walked around her and an axe materialized in my hands. I brought it down twice and with that, cut off her wings as she continued to scream.

“YOU…YOU MONSTER!!”

“You wanted to control me, so you need to see all of me.”

“No! Let me go!”

“Not happening.” I replied “You tortured me, and you hurt the mare that I love. And for that, you die.” I turned around, and fired a round into Daybreakers head, killing her. I then proceeded to empty the mag into her head and then using my sword, chopped it off. I stood there and stared as the head, and her body, dissolved into nothingness, and the barrier fell to reveal two shocked princesses. I looked up at them, took off my helmet, and let it and drop to the floor. “She’s gone.”

Luna stepped forward with her horn glowing “I concur, Daybreaker is no more.”

I turned and walked away, but Celestia walked up behind me “John, where are you going.”

“I…I don’t know…. What I did was…...”

Celestia put her wing around me “What you did was what you felt was necessary.”

“I let out the darkness in me.”

“No, she was the darkness, her influence drove you to do what you did.”

“It didn’t drive me to kill her. My anger did that.” I replied

“And your anger was justified.” Luna replied as she walked up and sat down beside me “Now come, I’ve had enough of this dark place. Let us return to the peaceful cabin that we first saw.”

“I agree, I do love the quaint peaceful environment of our future home, don’t you John?”

I picked up the helm and looked at it. I had killed her, but I had done it to save the one I loved. Celestia put her hoof on my hand

“Please John, let us leave this place. I want to see the happy you, not the sad you. What you did was necessary, and it save not only yourself, but it saved me and my sister too…possibly even all of Equestria.”

She was right, I had to let this all go, what was done was done. Right now, I needed their love. “Alright.”

The world around us disappeared, and in its place, trees, a lake, and a view of Canterlot appeared. Below us, the roof of a house and the house itself. We all laid down on a large cushion that appeared, and as we did, some white string lights appeared around us, and In the Still of the Night began to play from softly from speakers behind us. I felt Celestia’s and Luna's wings wrap around me as Celestia spoke “See Lulu? This is the home Johnathan one day hopes to build.”

“I know Celly, he has shown it to me before, I can see why he constantly has this place in his thoughts. It is quite peaceful.”

“Yeah it is” I replied “And to be honest, I’m thinking of adding a small boat house to the end of the dock as well.”

Celestia turned her head to look at me, “Oh really? Why”

I scratched my head, “I don’t know, maybe it won’t be a boat house as much as it will be a pavilion. I figured we could put something out there to cover the boats, and maybe us if we decide to eat or relax out there” I stopped and looked up at the sky, seeing now that it was full of stars. And in doing so, I laid down on my back to look at them, and the two sisters did the same “But that’s something I'll figure out later, for now, let's just relax and enjoy this moment together.”

We stayed like that until the dream ended. Over the following days, I felt myself getting better, but the effects of what Daybreaker had done to me weren’t going to disappear overnight. With the gala coming up, Celestia restored me to duty, but there was a catch. For the moment, I had to remain by her side at all times. Anyway, now that you're sufficiently caught up, onto what happened today, the day of the gala, and probably my best operation yet.

I woke up in Celestia's bed again, like I always do, and no matter what, I still love the feel if it. I don’t know if it’s because I like the bed or not, but I’m definitely sure that it’s because I like who I share it with. I’ve noticed that whoever wakes up first out of the two of us tends to switch. Sometimes I’ll be up first, and sometimes Tia will be up first, which is what happened today. And let me just say, there’s nothing that makes me feel better then when I open my eyes to see Celestia's smiling face. I smiled and placed a kiss on her lips before I spoke “Good morning my beautiful princess.”

Celestia smiled as she kissed me back “Good morning my handsome prince.” If you haven’t noticed, she likes to use that name for me, along with either sunshine or love, meanwhile I call her my beautiful princess.

“So, today's the big day?” I asked as I tried to get up. I know she doesn’t like me leaving the bed immediately, but considering what was happening tonight, I’d hope she’d understand.

But the thing with Celestia is that she knows me very well. she wrapped her forehooves around me and pulled me back into the bed as she laid down on top of me, and it wasn’t just her head like when we sleep, this was her whole body, but I’m not complaining, she loves me and I love her…and her coat is very soft, especially considering that I’m only in my boxers. Celestia purred, “Going somewhere my love?”

“Uh, I got to get washed up and then get ready for the Gala.”

She smiled and her horn glowed “Now now John, you know that you not allowed to be alone, and besides the gala isn’t until later tonight.”

“While that is true, there are still some things that need to be set up, and I have to get washed and grab my suit, then set up guard rotations for the event.”

“Well, all of those things can be done after breakfast, and as for your suit.” Celestias horn glowed as she levitated up my suit and a dress, which I can only assume was for her “Everything is in place.”

I was still going to have to grab my bullet proof vest from my gear to wear under my suit. Now I know that I’ll be the only one with guns, but there were going to be a bunch of nobles around, so better safe than sorry. Anyway, it seemed that she had thought of everything, so I just relaxed and let her snuggle me.

Once the clock hit 0630, Tia had to get up to raise the sun, and I got up and washed up for work as usual. I then walked over to the closet and grabbed a pair of green pants and a black shirt. I again decided that I would go light on my gear because of the fact that I would be switching into my suit relatively soon. Anyway, I got my pants and boots on, and set my vest, sword, and guns aside and walked out to the balcony. Celestia was almost done raising the sun and I noticed that she wasn’t alone, sitting on her back was a Philomena. I walked up behind her and sat down in a chair that I had placed out there. “Beautiful morning, almost as beautiful as you.”

Tia smiled. Now if you remember, I mentioned that Celestia has gotten very good at reading me, however, that increase in skill has gone both ways. One of the first things I picked up on is that she likes seeing me shirtless like this. I don’t know why, maybe because it makes it easier for her to see the marks on my arms, but she likes it and it doesn’t bother me much, so I do it. “I see your trying to woo me again John.”

“Yeah, well that and I’m trying to rack up brownie points in case I do something stupid.”

She got a small laugh out of that, which in turn made me smile. It always made me feel better when I saw that she was happy. She looked at me to see the grin on my face and her smile only got brighter. “Now there’s that handsome smile.” and she placed a kiss on my cheek. Recently, Tia, her sister, and Cadance have been doing what they can to get me to smile because they think that “I need to smile more and care about myself.” I mean I guess they’re right, but I still feel a little odd while doing it, guess it could be that I’m not used to my life going this well, I mean I have a girlfriend, a family that loves me, a stable job doing what I love, I mean I have a future here, or at least a better future then one I would have had on earth.

It was just then that I felt something land on my right shoulder, breaking my train of thought. I looked up to see that Philomena was now on my shoulder she cooed and rubbed her head against my cheek before she moved from my shoulder to my lap

“Thanks again for your help on that date Philomena…now if only you could help me when she nags me.”

Celestia giggled before calling out from behind me, “I heard that.”

“Um…well shit.”

“Don’t worry my love, its ok, your sense of humor can be very uplifting at times.”

“Really now?”

“Yes, even though it can also be a little…inappropriate.”

“Well in my defense, I am a guy so.”

“Yes, I know…uh John?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me with something?”

“Sure, what do you-” I got up from my chair and turned around to see that Celestia was still not in her royal garb, but rather, it was on the bed next to her. “…Need?”

“Oh, well I seem to be having trouble with my magic right now, so I was wondering, could you help me put my royal attire on?”

“Err…well I uh.”

She fluttered her eyes and gave me puppy eyes as she spoke “Pleeease.”

I tried to look away, but I couldn’t say no to her. “Oh, ok fine, you win.” I walked over to the bed “ok, what’s first?”

Celestia lifted up her hoof “My shoes.” So, one by one, I picked them up and gently placed them on her hooves. “Now for my necklace.” so I picked up it up, and she was kind enough to lower her head to allow me to slide it down on to her and settle it at the base of her neck. “Now my crown." I picked it up and gently put it on her head. When I was done, she lifted her head back up and placed a kiss on my lips “Thank you my love, now it is your turn.” she smiled as she lifted up my shirt and my gear.

I started to back slowly until I hit the wall “Oh uh...I…I think you may want to let me do that on my own honey.”

She smiled “Nonsense, just stand still.” I felt her pick me up with her magic and my vision went black as my shirt flew onto my body, then I felt something hit me as my vest and helmet flew on to my body

“Tia, please, let me handle myself” she kept struggling with me gear after a few minutes she gave in

“Ok, I’ll let you down, but show me how you put all of that on.”

“Fine.” I felt the ground on my feet again as I took off my gear and shirt and then made sure that Celestia was able to see how I put them on as I did so. “There…oh uh, honey, could you pass me my helmet?” She smiled as she floated my helmet over to me and put on my head. “There, now I’m good.”

“Oh, yes you are.” She responded, turns out that another thing that Tia likes is me when I’m all geared up. She says it enhances my ruggedness.

“May escort you to breakfast m’lady?” I stuck out my hand for her to take

“Yes, you may fair knight.” and she wrapped her wing around me, and we walked like that together down to the dining hall, which was already set for the Gala, and took one of the tables as I walked back to the kitchen and made myself some coffee and Tia some tea. Of course, there were a few eyes on me, but I don’t think that any pony was going to question the 6-foot guy with tactical gear as to why he was making breakfast. So, I got out some pans and a few eggs, some cheese, bread, and olive oil, and began to make some eggs, over easy. The first parts easy, but the hard part comes when you flip the egg, because you don’t want to rupture the yoke. The best over easy eggs are when the white is all cooked, and the yellow yoke is warm, but still gooey, and it’s a good thing I was wearing gloves, because after a while, the olive oil starts to spatter and burn you.

So, after I made our breakfasts, I walked back out with our plates and drinks and set them on the table, “Breakfast is served my princess.”

“Oh, John, you didn’t have to.”

“Meh, I felt like doing it, and no offense to your staff, but I seriously doubt that they could top what I made.”

“What did you make?”

“Eggs, over easy, I used to do them all the time with my father.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, my old man showed me the ropes on a lot of things, one of them being how to make the perfect eggs over easy.”

Celestia took a bite and grinned before swallowing and taking a sip of her tea “Well he taught you well.”

“Thanks.” I began to eat my own breakfast. “So, what’s on today’s agenda?”

“Well I will be greeting foreign attendees to the gala, most of them will be staying over in the castle due to the long trips that they talk from their lands.”

“I’ll be sure to increase security then, probably make a few patrols myself.”

“I don’t know, my love.”

“Tia, I know that you want to keep me safe, but you have to let me do my job.”

“I know, but it could be dangerous, I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“Tia I’ll be fine, and If I recall, you gave me the job.”

“I know, but I can also take it away. Remember I may be a princess, but I’m also soon to be your wife, therefore it is now my job to worry about you.”

I took a sip of my coffee, and I placed a gentle kiss on Celestia's cheek. “I know.”

Celestia smiles and pulled me into a kiss, and as we kissed, Luna walked into the room. “If you two are going to make love, please return to your room.”

Celestia pulled me close to her and stuck out her tongue at her sister as she spoke “Is that a hint of jealousy that I hear lulu?”

Before Luna could reply, Cadance spoke as she walked into the kitchen “I believe it is.”

“It is not.” Luna replied as she sniffed the air “What is for breakfast little brother?”

“Eggs.” I replied, although it was muffled by Celestia's fur “Uh tia? Can I cook now?”

“Oh.” Celestia let me free “Sorry my sunshine.”

“Its okay.” I replied as Cadance and Luna sat down at the table as i turned back to the stove, and i heard celestia sigh.

Right after that, i heard Cadance ask “Oh, Do I hear wedding bells?”

I immediately turned around to see Celestia staring at me lovingly, and looked to Cadance and quickly tried to railroad the conversation away from my plans. “You two want eggs?”

Cadance smiled, and i knew i was busted, but that was a conversation for later. “I would love some.”

“Yes, please.” Luna replied.

I broke out more eggs and began to do the same thing that I had just done for me and tia. “Wait, Luna, did you call me brother?”

She smiled “Yes I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I care about you Johnathan. Since you first came here and began to court my sister, I felt a connection to you somehow, and after the incident with Daybreaker…..I felt that you needed more support than my sisters love, so we reached a decision together and…Welcome to the family.” She walked up and hugged me “Little brother.”

I stood there dumbstruck “I….I don’t know what to say…..thank you. Thank you so much.”

Luna let go of me and smiled “We felt that after all you have done for our family, you deserved to become one of us.” she giggled “That way you’ll have somepony to pester you around the holidays.”

I chuckled at that “Thank you…sister” I walked back to the stove “Either of you want cheese or toast as well?”

“I would love some cheese and toast” Luna replied as she sat down at the table

“What about you Cadance?” I asked

She shook her head. “I’ll have the eggs plain. I figured a light breakfast would be good. We mares do still have to fit into our dresses tonight.”

“I have to get into a suit too.” I replied “Fucking hate suits.”

“Why is that?” Cadance asked

“I find them too restrictive. Not enough room to move efficiently. You sacrifice function for form.” I replied

“Well then you could wear a dress as well.” Luna replied

“Har Har, very funny” I replied.

Luna took a sip of orange juice before she continued to speak, “Well, if you are speaking tac-”

Luckily for me, she was cut off by the door opening and a guard walking in. “Uhh, your highnesses, Commander, the delegates are here.”

“Thank god.” I muttered under my breath as I turned to face the guard “Alright, we’ll be there, but in the future, maybe knock or something.”

“Yes sir.” and he turned and left

“Well it’s time to go to work.”

Cadance and Luna got up and walked to the throne room and Celestia walked up to me. “Please be careful John, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, I’m only boosting security because of the fact that it’s a major event for your world…and because the last one got sacked by Chrysalis.”

“Ah yes, There’s the John I know and love.” she placed a kiss on my cheek and used her magic to make my sword appear in its scabbard before going into the main lobby. Once I was sure that I wasn’t being followed, I quickly went to the blacksmith to pick up what I needed for tonight, and on my way back to the room, the expected happened. I ran across Cadance in the halls.

I quickly grabbed her and dashed into the nearest room before I asked her, “So how did you find out?”

She smiled “Im the princess of LOVE johnathan...plus i may or may not have been following you once or twice.”

I sighed and shook my head “Well at least your better at stealth, so I suppose there's that silver lining…..please tell me you haven't told anyone.

“Don’t worry John, I haven't told a soul.”

“Thank god, because the idea was i was gonna surprise Tia.”

“I saw that from the look you gave me this morning. Your lucky that my aunts train of thought was elsewhere or she might have suspected something.”

“WHat do you mean?”

“She’s head-over-hooves in love with you John…..so may i see the ring?”

I took a second to think about it, but i figured i could trust her. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small box and opened it “It took me some time, but I made it myself...i figured it would help convey how i feel.”

Candance had to cover her mouth with her hooves to muffle her squeals “Johnathan, its beautiful.”

“So i take it that means she’ll like it?” i asked as cadance handed me the ring back and i hid it in its box and placed the box in my pocket.

“She’ll love it” Canade replied. “Now i have to go get ready for tonight...John, what time is it?”

I looked to my watch “12:01”

Cadance gasped “I only have 6 hours to get ready!?” she placed a quick kiss on my cheek and ran off.

I chuckled and shook my head “I love this family.”

--

The rest of the day continued without much to talk about, I secured the area, identified possible entry and exfil points, and made sure that I knew the list of delegates and nobility to some extent, and I’m sure you can imagine how I felt when I saw that Blueblood was on that list. I could only wait to see the looks on some of their faces when I carried out my plan… and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was looking forward to the possibility of a rematch against him, which probably wasn’t going to happen…...unless he started it. But anyway, I had the guards prepped, and the castle ready, so I decided it was time to get myself ready. I walked back to my room and set my gear down and grabbed my suit out of the closet. I made sure to check to see that my suit had no wrinkles, and I began to get dressed, my suit pants, and dress shoes, then an undershirt and my Kevlar vest, followed by my suit shirt, and then the coat, and then I slipped my pistol and a spare magazine into my concealed holster on my right side. Because Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were going to be near me tonight, Celestia had seen fit to allow me to carry a firearm tonight. I know I probably won't need it, but I still should be ready incase something goes bad. With my weapon stored, I went to see myself in the mirror. Now all admit I was focusing a bit more on whether my vest and pistol were visible before looking at myself just to see exactly how I looked, and I can say, I looked pretty fucking dapper. I had my hair smoothed back, and I kind of looked like john wick minus the beard. And if I had any doubt that I wasn’t looking good, the voice of my princess soon crushed that doubt. Celestia walked into the doors, I’m assuming that she was here to get ready for the gala like I was, and I saw in the mirror as she smiled and walked up to me.

“You look rather handsome dressed like that my love.”

“Yeah, that may be, but I prefer my usual attire to suits. Though I won’t disagree that there are situations were a suit is probably better than a tactical vest.” I walked away from the mirror and to the balcony doors “Well I’ll let you get dressed, I’ll be out here when you’re ready for me…and luna wasn’t serious about what she said earlier right?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. My sister does have a bit of a mischievous side to her, but she can also be serious.” Celestia replied

“Well my suit was still here so I think that she may have been joking.”

“I would advise to keep on the lookout. If my sister was serious, then its best to be ready.”

“You seriously don’t think she’d try… would she? I mean A, she doesn’t know my sizes, and B, guys don’t wear dresses.”

“That may be true, but my sister has ways.” Celesta said with a cautious tone. “And speaking of dresses, I have to get into mine.”

“Okay, I’ll be here waiting.”

Tia smiled as she purred “But what if I need help like this morning?”

“Well to be honest, I think it would end up like you trying to put my gear on me”

“And why is that?”

“The same two reasons why Luna’s attempt to get me in a dress would fail. One, I’m a guy, and two, I’m not a pony.”

“I can see your reasoning…fair enough, I shall call for you when I’m ready.”

I nodded and then went out to the balcony. I set up my small chair, and sat down as I watched as ponies started to flock towards the castle, and the sun was beginning to lower itself onto the horizon, god I still love this view, I mean I can just imagine this with some string lights, a mini fridge, and a sound system playing some Sinatra in the background. It would be perfect. To be honest, I kind of felt myself drifting off to sleep in that chair, but before I could completely black out, I heard a voice calling out to me. “Oh John, I’m ready!”

I got up from my chair and shook my head to shake the sleepiness off, and when I opened my eyes, it was like an angel was in front of me. Celestia was absolutely gorgeous, she wore a dress with a gold body piece and a white….I’m going to say the skirt part, look, I don’t know a whole hell of a lot about dresses, but I’m doing the best I can for description here, anyway the dress had a gold section up front, just below her necklace from her royal attire, with some sort of little banners or whatever moving hanging from the front and moving to the back of the dress, and then I moved back into a gold and white skirt thing on her back, and it had a few diamonds on it as well hanging from the edges. And she wore gold shoes with laces that went up to just below her knee, kind of like a ballet shoe or something…look, I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do, I mean I’m not too good at describing this stuff, plus she was too gorgeous for words anyway. I mean I really just kind of stood there awe-struck at her beauty as she spoke “Are you ready to escort me down my love?”

“God your gorgeous.”

“Huh? Was that a yes or a no John?”

I shook myself a bit as my senses returned to me and my mind began working again “Oh, Yeah, sorry about that, my mind had a bit of a short circuit there for a second.”

I felt her put her hoof in my hand wand wrap her wing around me “Its ok my love, now come, let us enjoy this night.”

“So, what’s the game plan?” I asked

“We shall start by making an announcement at the beginning of the event.” Celestia answered

“We?”

“Yes, me and my sister, it is going to be her first gala since her return.”

“Huh, well hopefully that will keep some of the…guests off my back.”

I felt Celestia nuzzle my cheek “Don’t worry my love, everything will be fine, just pay them no mind, and know that I will always love you, no matter what happens.”

I looked over to her “Thank you” we walked hoof in hand together into the main hall/ballroom and the guards opened the door for us. The room was filled with ponies and other creatures all in formal attire some of them talking, and some of them dancing, but they all stopped as me and Tia walked in. Celestia stopped at the top of the stairs next to Luna and Cadance and she began to speak

“Thank you for coming to this year’s Grand Galloping Gala, I’m very happy to see my little ponies and so many foreign representatives together in peace and harmony enjoying this amazing event, I know many of you are anxious to meet my sister, so I shall let her offer up a few words.”

Celestia stepped back, and Luna stepped forward “Greetings my subjects, I thank you all for attending and for accepting me and forgiving me for what I have done. If fills me with joy to see that all of you have cast aside your doubts and apprehension, and welcomed me back to my sisters side. I just hope that my first gala in a thousand years will be one to remember, and it is with great pleasure that I declare this Gala open! now let tonight’s festivities commence!”

Just as she finished, I raised my hand up “Actually, if I could have everyponies attention, I have an announcement of my own!”

All of the eyes in the room were on me, and the three princesses were giving me funny looks.

I turned to Celestia and I began to speak from the heart “Celestia, ever since I met you, you and your family have been nothing but kind to me. you’ve accepted me into your family and given me a reason to live…I love you…I love you enough to fight for you, compromise for you, and sacrifice myself for you if need be. I love you enough to miss you terribly no matter how far apart we are, no matter the distance and regardless of the time we are apart. I love you enough to believe in our relationship, to stand by it through the worst of times, to have faith in our strength as a couple, and to never give up on us. I love you enough to spend the rest of my life with you, be there for you when you are in need, or want me. I never ever want to leave you or live without you.” I got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of my pocket “I guess what I’m trying to say is…Celestia will you marry me?”

Tears came to her eyes again ah she raised one hoof to her mouth and stood there for a second before pulling me close to her and wrapping me in her wings “Yes! Yes! A million times yes!”

“May I?” I asked as I held up the ring

“Yes…my handsome husband.” and she lowered her head to allow me to place the ring on her horn before she placed a kiss on my lips. When the kiss broke, we smiled at each other, and probably half of the jaws in the room hit the floor.

“I should probably go an mingle a bit. I have no doubt that a lot of ponies now want to talk to you.”

Celestia smiled at me “Alright, but don’t do anything rash my love.”

“I’ll try not to.” I replied as I walked down the stairs into the crowd.

And with that the room became a buzz as she said that, with some ponies running directly up to Celestia. I knew that she would have some questions to answer, so I took me leave and made my way over to the bar. Luckily the bartender was one who approved of the marriage.

“You’re lucky you know.” he told me

“How so?” I asked

“Well off all of the stallions I’ve seen, none of them have managed to swing a princess, congratulations.”

“Thanks”

“So, what will you have to drink?”

“You know how to make a white Russian?”

“No, sorry, but we do have alcoholic cider.”

“Oh, well in that case, I’ll take a round of that.”

I reached for my pocket as he grabbed the jar “No charge, this one is on the house.”

“Thanks” I took the jar and put some of the cider in two glasses “Cheers.”

“Cheers” and we both downed the glasses. “Don’t look now, but you’ve got company coming your way.”

“Who is it?” I asked as I moved my hand down to be ready to grab my gun

“Blueblood, and he looks a little flustered.”

I stood up “Thanks for the drink.”

“Anytime.”

And with that I walked away from the bar, I only made it a few feet before Blueblood caught up to me “Blueblood, I thought I saw your name on the guest list.”

“You will address me as Prince, or sir.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening, so, why are you here, come to bitch and moan about how a lowly commoner, and an alien to boot, stole the heart of the beautiful princess?”

“Watch your words, the princess can only protect you from so much.”

“Keep talking pretty boy, see where it gets you. your just jealous because I got in bed with her, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fiancé to go and kiss and dance with.”

As I turned to walk away, I felt something grab my suit coat and I looked around to see Blueblood’s horn glowing “That’s it, I have had enough of you and your lack of respect, I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!! If I win you shall be banished from Equestria.”

“And if I win?” I asked

“Then I won’t have you thrown in the dungeon to rot for assaulting me and almost killing me when I first confronted you.” he spat back

A smile came across my face as I turned to the bartender “How much for the glass?”

He smiled back at me, “Like I said, it's on the house.”

I smiled deviously as I poured myself another glass, walked up to blueblood, drank the whole glass, and then proceeded to nail him in the head with the glass, which shattered the glass, and put him on the ground “Challenge accepted.”

He shook his head and gazed at me, amazed at my immediate response “What is this? Have you no Honor!?”

“Sorry, looks like I’m all out” I took off my suit coat and unbuttoned my suit shirt “Now get up and fight!”

Blueblood got up and fear came across his face, I don’t know if it was my reaction to his challenge or just maybe I had some look in my eyes, but he backed away from me “S-S-Stay back! Y-Your crazy!” and with that he ran out of the hall, and hopefully the castle as well.

“You're goddamn right.” I checked to make sure my pistol was still on my side, and it was, so I walked back over to the bar and buttoned my shirt back up and put my coat back on as ponies and delegates stared at me as the bartender handed me another glass of the cider and I took a swig, “What?” I called out “He challenged me and I won.” that seemed to get the night back on track. Hopefully it would give them something else to talk about besides the wedding now. The rest of the night went through without much else to write, Celestia introduced me to a few delegates, and I ran into Twilight and her friends, all of them approving of how I cut Blueblood down a few pegs. Both me and Tia went back to our room at the end of the night and she got out of her dress and shoes and I got out of my suit, and I lowered myself into the bed slowly and quietly as Tia was already fast asleep, but over the past two months, I think she’s developed a reflex to wrap her wing around anything that she thinks may be me while she sleeps, and to be honest, it’s kind of cute. So, as I laid down in bed, Celestia's wing came over me like a blanket, pulling me close to her as she let out a sigh of relief. I rested my head down on a pillow and let the sound of her heartbeat lull me to sleep.

I still can't believe that she said yes, but in any case, I'm gonna be busy helping tia with the wedding plans, to be honest, I'm fine with whatever she chooses. I'm just happy that I’m going to finally get to marry my true love.

Chapter 10- Promooooteeeed!!!

So, it’s been a week since the gala, and things have been going well. Celestia and I have begun to make the wedding plans, and are beginning to settle on a date, but today, the three princesses had a surprise for me, one that I was kind of expecting. Let me clarify, I didn't know what it was, but I knew something was up because of how secretive Tia was acting. Anyway, I’ll let you read on and see just what it was.

The morning started out different from the other, at around 7:00 I woke up alone. It’s happened before, but only if there was an emergency that required her immediate attention, and even then, she always left a note. So, I got up, and as I looked around, I saw a note on the closet door

Johnathan

I’m sorry that I couldn’t be with you this morning to see your cute smile resting on my chest, but a matter of the utmost importance has required my presence in the throne room. Once you wake up, please have something to eat, and meet me in the throne room. Your weapons won't be required

Your beautiful princess and fiancé,

Celestia

“Interesting.” I set the note down and put on my standard clothes and my vest, however, it was completely empty as Celestia still didn't want me armed unless I was by her side. Once I was dressed, I made my way to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee and quickly scarfed down a couple donuts. Once I had finished my light breakfast, I set the dishes in the sink, and made my way into the throne room ready to start another day of watching my beautiful fiancé run the world. But what I saw as I entered the room took me by surprise. Celestia and Luna sitting in their respective thrones, and Cadance was standing by their side, but my camping chair that I keep in between the throne was gone, and as I stepped closer to the thrones, the three princesses rose and spread their wings. I kept walking toward them “Uhh, Tia, Luna, what’s going on?”

Luna spoke first “Commander Johnathan Cormier, you have served us well over the past two months since your arrival.”

Cadance continued “You have followed you heart and it is pure. you have found love and have let it give you strength.”

Celestia stepped in “We stand here before you with one question, will you continue to carry on in this fashion? Will you continue to stand up for the good, and protect this world?”

“I…Yes, I will this world is loving, kind, and peaceful, the exact opposite of mine…but if I’ve become a threat to it…” I realized that this was probably about my fight with Blueblood...I had messed up and ruined the one good thing I had in life, and now I was going to pay for my mistakes. I took off my gear and set it on the floor before me, got on my knees, and closed my eyes “Then I'll remove myself from the equation. I'll handle the threat.”

I heard the sound of three sets of hooves running up to me and I felt them all hug me, between the three of them, I was unable to move as Celestia spoke “No John, this is nothing like that.”

“Then why ask me all those questions, why is the door locked?”

Celestia lifted my head “It is locked because we wanted this to be a surprise to the kingdom. Unfortunately, there are some in the world who would see you in chains…but John, know this, I will never EVER banish you or place you in the dungeon.”

Luna continued “You are a member of our family.”

Then they all talked “We love you.”

I was in tears as the three princesses held me tight. “I…I…Thank you…I love you all.”

“We love you too.” they all responded

and then Celestia's horn glowed “Which is why we have done this.” there was a flash and then something appeared in the spot where I usually put my chair. it a black throne with red cushions, it wasn’t as tall or grand as the thrones of Celestia or Luna, but it had my mark on it. Celestia wrapped me in her magic and placed me in the throne before continuing “We wanted to ask you to rule beside us…to become a prince.”

I didn’t know what to say all I could do is sit there with my mouth wide open

Luna walked up and tapped my leg before making a quick remark “I think we have broken him sister.”

It took me about 5 minutes to form a response, “I……………Honestly, I don’t know…I”

Cadance walked up to me and put a wing on my shoulder “Its ok, we know that this is a major decision that we are asking you to take.”

“Yeah, it is.” I replied “But why are you all asking this?”

Luna stepped in “Because you deserve it, because we want to help you and love you like the amazing man and family member that you are…. there’s a saying that constantly comes to my mind, and I think it would apply to you as well as me.”

“And what saying is that?” I asked

“Let your past make you better, not bitter.”

“I see.” I replied. And she wasn’t wrong. I need to keep letting them help me, and this is how they want to do it. They must think I’m ready or able to do the job, or they wouldn’t ask me. But I’ve never done something like this, but look at them, they’re doing this for me, they want me to join them…they love me…...they want me to become a prince.

I sat there like this for maybe ten minutes before Celestia walked up to me and spoke “I can understand if you want to take some time to decide, but I do believe that you are worthy and ready to become a prince.”

Those words did it for me. I stood up from the throne and looked at the three mares who had so kindly accepted to me into their life and their family “I’ll do it…. yes.”

Celestia again picked me up in her magic and floated me into the hooves of the three princesses who then hugged me tightly. “Thank you, my love. Thank you for saying yes.”

Then Luna spoke, “I know you are ready for this brother.”

And then finally, Cadance “We will be with you every step of the way.”

I really didn’t know what to say, I mean I’m usually the guy on hand with the wise ass remarks, or the intimidator, this was not something I was ever prepared for, so I just let the three mares hold me lovingly. And then after a while Cadance spoke, “So when will you make the announcement?”

Celestia answered “I think today would be a good time, we can set up a press conference to make the announcement.”

I finally worked up the courage to speak. “No.”

All three princesses looked at me with shock and Luna spoke “What do you mean no?”

“I mean I think this is something that should wait until after I get back. And besides, we still have the wedding to plan.”

They all sat in together and spoke quietly to one another before looking to me and smiling. As Celestia spoke “You are right, there are a great too many things already in place, and it would be better for our subjects if we followed your plan and eased you into a position of authority.”

Then Cadance continued “But, that doesn’t mean you can informally be one of us…kind of like a substitute if you will.

“What? What do you mean?” I asked, and then Celestia stepped forward and all three bowed as she spoke

“It means you have been given a promotion, PRINCE John.”

“I…I…I...” I just kept stammering “Thank you… thank you all.” I got up from the throne and I hugged all three of them……and then the guards walked in

Celestia walked up and placed a kiss on my cheek. “And when we wed, your title will be official.”

“Yeah, we still have to decide a date for our wedding too, but I’d say sometime in the fall…. maybe September?”

“That sounds beautiful, the leaves will have changed, and the world will become a multitude of beautiful colors.”

One of the guards cleared his throat, “Excuse me your highnesses, but your presence is required immediately.”

Luna walked forward “With what?”

“There are delegations here from Griffinstone, Saddle Arabia, and Yakyakistan they wish to convene an emergency meeting.”

“Involving what?” I asked “And do they have proper protection?”

“Yes commander, Security details have been assigned to the delegates per your orders, and at the moment, they are all gathered in the meeting hall...as for the issue, it concerns lord Tirek.”

“How so?” Celestia asked

“They want to know what measures have been put in place to ensure that he won't return” The guard replied, but something about his tone, suggested otherwise.

“I’m sensing that there’s more to this than Tirek...am I right?” I asked

The guard looked to me, then to the three princesses

Cadance spoke up “I believe that your commander just asked you a question soldier.”

The guard sighed “Yes sir, they are worried about you and your proximity to the rulers of the Equestria’s government.”

I shook my head. This was just what i needed, more bureaucrats afraid of me because I'm different. “Fucking typical.” I replied

“Well then let us go put those fears to rest” Luna replied as she walked towards the door, but she stopped and looked back at me when she saw that I wasn’t following her “Come along Johnathan, you need to prove to the delegates that you are not what they say you are.”

“No.” I replied “The last place you want me to be is in a room full of politicians. You, Celestia, and Cadance should go and make my case, I'll stay here so I don’t make your jobs harder.”

Celestia turned to me, “What did I say about you being alone?”

“That I’m not allowed to be alone.” I replied “But this matter is bigger than me, I don’t want you to lose alliances because of me.”

Celestia put her hoof down, “No, you’re coming with me, and that’s an order.”

Cadance chimed in “There may be another way.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“I could stay here to with John, while you two go and defend him…...in fact, he could even take over for you two while you are in the meeting.” Cadance replied

Celestia smiled “That’s a brilliant idea.”

“No, it’s not.” I countered

Luna walked over “Yes, I agree, Johnathan should be given a chance to adjust to his new position and in doing this, we can help the delegates cast their fears aside.”

“Let’s not give him a chance.” I countered

Celestia looked to me and smiled, “Sorry my love, but the vote is 3 against 1.” she used her magic to pick me up and set me down in my throne

“I have a bad feeling about this.” I replied as she walked to the doors

Luna looked back and smiled “Don’t worry Johnathan, Cadance will remain behind to help you if you need it.” and with that they walked out

Cadance smiled and looked back at me “Don’t worry, this will be fun.”

I sighed and sat down in my new throne “Why do I not share your enthusiasm?”

Cadence walked up and sat down beside me “Because your worried that you may make a mistake and that Celestia will get mad, or that you’ll hurt her image.”

I looked to her with shock “How did you know?”

“Because it’s the same way I felt when I was placed in charge of the crystal empire” she replied as she put her wing around me “I understand your fear John, but don’t worry my nephew, you’ll get it.”

“Nephew? Oh, please don’t tell me that you’re not doing this as well?”

She giggled “Yes I am.”

I sighed “hang on…. wouldn’t I be your cousin?” I asked

“You would, but considering that I am much older than you, I am going to consider you my nephew.”

I rolled my eyes “I hope you know that I’m not calling you Auntie Cadence.”

She giggled again “I thought as much”

“So, what’s on the docket for today?” I asked and under my breath I began to pray “Please don’t let It be paperwork.”

“Don’t worry, this is my last day here, and your first day on the job, well start it off with something easy.” Cadance smiled as she gestured to the guards at the door and spoke “Let the day court begin!”

“Shitbucket……uhh can I get the paperwork instead?”

The day court was rough to say the least, but the beginning of it was a total shit storm. The second the ponies saw me, they began to panic, some of them running down the hall screaming that I had killed the princesses, and the others demanding that the guards arrest me. Luckily for me, Cadance was there to relax the growing mob, though the volume that she used…let’s just say I should have brought some ear pro.

“EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!!”

Upon hearing her voice, the crowd halted in place and Cadance continued to speak, but with the crowd now standing silently, she was able to use her normal voice.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been called away for an urgent meeting. They have left myself and the commander here in charge until they return. Rest assured that any decision made by either of us, is a decision of the royal family.”

A lot of ponies, especially the fancy looking ones, began to grumble, and some even outright left. With my ears still ringing looked to Cadence rubbing my ears “what the hell was that?”

She looked to me with some shock “Oh no, I forget to warn you. The royal Canterlot voice can be quite loud. I’m sorry John.”

I sighed “It’s alright, just a little warning next time.” I looked up to the guard and spoke “Let’s get this over with.”

To be honest, it actually wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was, especially since I had Cadance giving me advice. Most of the ponies were there to have small issues solved, like property line issues, or needing arbitration on an argument. I actually got a laugh out of one request. A unicorn filly walked up to the throne. I smiled as she walked up
“And how can I help you little one?” I asked

She was a little skittish at first “um…I…uh…I want math banned.”

I had to cover my mouth to try and hide my chuckle. I mean here she was, probably no more than ten years old, asking me to ban math. “may I ask why?”

“uh…. because I don’t like it and it's hard.” she replied

From her age, she probably hadn’t even started algebra yet. “May I ask your name young one?”

She smiled “My name is Epiphany.”

“Well Epiphany, your claim does have some merit, and I will give it some consideration, but unfortunately, I cannot make a decision at this moment.”

I was expecting the kid to say thanks and leave, but what she said next took me by surprise, “Because Celestia would be mad?”

I smiled at the kid and ruffled her hair “Yeah…something like that”

She smiled back at me “Thank you sir.” and with that she left

Once she left, the hall was empty save myself and Cadance, who was now giggling at me. I looked to her and asked “What’s so funny?”

She stopped and looked to me “The fact that she knew why you said no, and not to mention that whole interaction was not only heartwarming, but a little funny.”

“Well her claims do have some merit, trust me, I still have flashback of the hell that was calculus and discrete mathematics.”

Cadance looked to me with some worry, “You’re not actually going to grant her request, are you?”

“Oh hell no.” I replied “But I can sympathize with her…was she the last one?”

Cadance looked to the guards who nodded “I think she-”

The door burst open and a group of maybe 20 nobles walked into the throne room, and at the front of the group, in full armor with swords were, Jet Set, and Blueblood. I don't know how the hell they got in here armed, but that was a thing for later. If they were armed, the guards at the front saw and Tia would be on her way to stop me from doing something stupid.

The guards formed up around me and Cadance, but it was still 8 on twenty. We would still win, but the whole thing would probably be like a mosh pit at a metal concert, where there really wouldn't be any real winners, but a brawl. Cadance stepped forward “What is the meaning of this”

Blueblood stepped forward “We are here to rid this world of that monster and save you Princess Cadance, now step side so we can slay the beast.” he raised up his sword and Jet set did the same.

Cadance responded by making a bow and arrow appear, and I responded by reaching for my rifle…which wasn’t where it should be because Celestia still banned me from having weapons when she wasn’t around me. “Shitbucket…. uh Cadence, slight issue.”

Jet set laughed “It appears that the beast has had his claws removed. Dispatching him shall be easy.”

Cadance shouted out “Stay back or I will let this arrow fly.”

Blueblood chuckled “Princess, we both know that you’re not going to fire that arrow, so why don’t you just step aside, we’ll have this issue resolved in a few seconds”

Cadance smiled, “Your right.” but then she used her magic to toss the bow and arrow to me, which I then notched and drew taught “But HE will.”

Blueblood laughed, “Oh please, he probably doesn’t even know how to properly aim with it, there is no chance that we will land a killing blow”

He wasn't wrong. It had been years since I used a bow and arrow. I did my hunting with firearms, now a bow and arrow, but I had to work with what I had until backup arrived.

The two began to move closer, and as they reached the base of the throne, there was a bright flash as Celestia and Luna teleported in wearing their own armor, followed by a familiar large axe which appeared in front of Blueblood, and a sword in front of Jet set, Halting them both. There was another flash, and the bow had disappeared back to Cadance, but in its place, my vest was once again furnished with my magazines and equipment, and my rifle appeared in my hand. I chambered a round I immediately brought the weapon to bear on the two would-be assaulters as the voices of Celestia and Luna cut through the silence.

As Celestia spoke, I could hear the rage in her voice “You two are going to drop your weapons and surrender to the guards, or you will both end up in Tartarus permanently.”

Luna looked to Celestia “I'm not so sure that would be enough sister, but I hear the moon is lovely this time of year.”

The two looked at each other, then to the princesses, then to me, which prompted me to flick the safety off. And Blueblood finally began to speak, “Oh…Your highnesses, it's such a relief to see you, we thought you were dead.”

Luna spoke again with a tone that held the same amount of rage as Celestia’s, if not more. “Well we are very much alive, and enraged at this attempt to harm my brother.”

Jet Set looked to Luna with a look of shock “Brother!?”

“Yes” Luna replied “Because of his closeness to my sister, and because he is alone in this world, he has been made a member of the royal family.”

Blueblood matched Jet Sets shock, “But he is not of nobility. He cannot rule or be a ruler, thus the only way for him to rule was for you two to have been…killed by this beast.”

When he said beast, the axe moved closer to him as Celestia spoke “What did you say about my fiancé?”

Blueblood began to stammer “I-I-I-I-”

“Cease your stammering.” Celestia looked to the guards “Take these two away before we do something that they may regret.” the guards nodded and placed the two in chains and escorted them out of the room, and the rest of the guards, escorted the group of nobles to the exit. Once the guards had left, I removed the magazine from my weapon, and pulled the charging handle back, ejecting the round in the chamber, and placing it in the magazine and putting the weapon on safe and the mag in my dump pouch. Since the guards had left, it was just myself and the three princesses left in the room, and the three princesses immediately ran up to me and hugged me.

I smiled, “I was wondering when you two were going to show up.”

Luna looked at me with confusion, “What do you mean brother?”

“Well I figured that a group that size, plus the fact that two of them were armed, I’d imagine that the guards would be going to find you pronto…so how did the emergency meeting go?”

Celestia removed her helm and nuzzled my cheek, “Well unfortunately, we had to call a slight recess because of this incident, but the meeting will resume shortly, and I want you to join us there.”

I tried to break away from the hug, but they had me surrounded “Uhh…I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Cadance used her wings to nudge me back to Celestia and Luna as she spoke “What do you mean John? You handled day court well, and you even were able to make that little filly happy.”

Celestia smiled as she looked to Cadance then to me “What does she mean by that John?”

“A small unicorn filly came in asking him to ban math, I believe that he handled the situation very well.” Cadance replied.

Luna began to smile as well as she spoke, “What was Johnathan's response?”

“He said that unfortunately, he couldn’t grant her request, and then the filly asked if it was because auntie Celestia would get mad at him, and he said yes.”

Celestia and Luna both began to laugh, and Celestia leaned in and whispered in my ear “I didn’t know that you were good with children, I suppose that’s all the more reason to have one.”

I chuckled nervously as Celestia smiled deviously. The awkwardness of the situation was only further fueled by the fact that I didn’t know if Celestia was being serious or if she was just having a laugh at my expense. But as I thought about it, having a child with Celestia, a little boy or girl or colt or filly, sounded like a good idea. I looked to my fiancé with a smile, Maybe one day soon my beautiful princess.”

The three princesses smiled at me and Celestia kissed me. once she moved away, she placed her wing around me and began to pull me towards the door with Luna on my left side and cadence behind me, “Come along, we have a meeting to attend.”

I looked to Celestia to protest, and I noticed that her and Luna were still in full armor and armed, and I was armed as well. “In full armor? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive?”

Luna looked at herself and then to Celestia “Johnathan is correct sister, perhaps we should stow away our arms and armor before meeting the representatives.”

“Perhaps you are right Luna.” Celestia’s horn glowed and then with a flash, her armor and weapons, as well as my rifle and its magazines disappeared, but my pistol had appeared in its holster on my hip with three magazines, one in the magwell, and the others in the magazine pouch. There was another flash as Luna did the same with her weapons and armor, and a smaller flash as cadence did away with her bow. I looked to my pistol, then to Celestia.

“Uhh Tia, I still have my pistol.”

She again put her wing around me, “I know my love, but given what has most recently happened, I believe that you can again be trusted with weapons. But, when not in my presence, it will only be limited to your pistol and your sword.”

I looked to Celestia with a smile “Thank you for fixing me.” I looked to Luna and Cadance as well “And thank you too. Without the three of you…I don’t know where I’d be.”

Luna smiled back “You’re welcome dear brother.” As she finished, we got to a set of double doors “Are you ready to meet the delegates?”

“With you three by my side, I am.” I replied

the two guards opened the door, and sitting around a table, was a fancy looking Griffin, a yak with a crown on his head and some kind of bands on horns, and an earth pony who was about the same size as Celestia, maybe only slightly smaller, she had a pink coat, purple mane, and she wore some kind of purple saddle-slash-bridle thing that had some blue and white detailing.

I walked into the room as the three princesses took seats, and I took my place in the corner as Celestia spoke. “Thank you for allowing us a quick recess, there was an issue that required our direct attention.”

The pink pony delegate smiled as she spoke, her voice definitely sounded like she was of Arabic descent. “It is alright Princess, and I see that you have brought your husband to be to these talks.”

Celestia looked to me and motioned for me to sit down between her and Luna, and I did so as she continued to speak. “I felt it would be prudent, as he is the subject of these talks.”

As I sat down all the delegates stared at me. “Uhh….Hi.”

Luna pointed to each delegate as she spoke, Johnathan meet Lord Gestal, Prince Rutherford, and Queen Amira.”

I stood up as each delegate approached me. Lord Gestal got to me first. His voice sounded fancy, but not the stuck-up kind of fancy, Anyway, he stuck out his claw and I stuck out my hand to shake it as he spoke “It is good to finally meet you sir.”

“Likewise.” I replied

The next delegate was Rutherford, and he was…something else. I reached out for a handshake, but the guy just picked my up, and gave me a VERY strong hug as he spoke, or more accurately yelled, “Friend of ponies is friend of yaks! It is good to meet you new friend!”

Even though his grip was basically a vice, and was slowly draining me of air, I was able to speak “It’s nice to meet you too Prince Rutherford.” He seemed to like my reply as he set me back down and smiled before going back to his seat.

The three princesses giggled as I took a second to catch my breath from the encounter, and when I looked back up, I was face to face with Amira, who was staring deeply into my eyes. I tried to look to Celestia, but Amira placed her hoof on my face keeping it in place. After a while she finally spoke “I see that your bride to be was correct, you are not a threat to this land.” She then moved her hoof down to my shemagh and gave a quick tug on it “I see that you also wear a keffiyah, may I ask how you came into possession of it?”

“It was given to me.” I replied

Amira looked at me and smiled. “I see, it must have been a reward then. In our culture, the keffiyah is a symbol of honor, it comes in many forms.” she pointed to the bridle thing on her head, as well as her headpiece, necklace, and saddle “Mine signifies that my people have honored me by making me queen of our land.” The took mine off my neck and began to look at it, “The pattern and color on yours signifies that you are a skilled and honorable warrior, in our homeland, this pattern can only be bestowed upon one individual by a king or queen.” She gave it back to me and I put it back on as she looked to Celestia and Luna “I can see that he is a great man.” she looked to me and Celestia “I wish the two of you the best.”

Cadance looked to the delegates “Then I take it that all of your worries have been set aside?”

Amira and Rutherford nodded, but Gestal put his claw up as he spoke “I have not.”

Amira looked to him “May I ask why?”

“Well unlike you, I will not risk my land because of what YOU saw in his eyes and an insignificant scarf. AND, there is still the matter of the debts owed to Griffinstone by humanity.”

“I wasn’t even born when it happened, ergo it ain't my problem.” I replied

“Not in the eyes of the griffin kingdom, you will be expected to pay off that debt.” he replied with a grin

“How was this debt accrued.” I asked

“By trade, your people owe the griffin kingdom close to 5 trillion bits… though we would be willing to overlook this debt if you were to instruct us on how to build devices similar to the one on your hip.”

I looked him dead in the eye and made my point clear, “Go fuck yourself. You won’t be seeing a single penny, and you will not be getting your claws on my technology.”

Celestia stepped in “Lord Gestal, when humanity was banished, that document was made invalid.”

“On what grounds?” he asked

“Humanity no longer existed, thus for all intents and purposes, was seen as dead, and you cannot collect assets from the deceased.”

“Under equestrian law, that may be true but-”

Luna stepped in front of Gestal and glared “You will cease this greedy attempt to boost your own wealth. Has the amount not been so high, you would not even bother asking for compensation.”

“Perhaps you are right, but you cannot deny that repayment of that debt would go a very long way to aid in repairing the griffin kingdom.

Luna looked like she was about to go postal, but I put my hand on her back “I’ve got this Luna.” I stepped up to Gestal “Look, we both know that there’s no way in hell that I can repay the debt on my own, and I’m not going to place Equestria in financial ruin trying to pay it off, nor will I be giving you any of my technology or equipment. If I did so just to save my own ass, that would just be irresponsible of me, and it would place Equestria, not to mention my fiancé in danger. So, I’m sorry, but I cannot do what you ask.”

“Then there will be conflict” Gestal shouted

I put my finger up “It would be nice if you would let me finish” he calmed down and looked at me “Look, I can’t pay you for my peoples dept, and I refuse to give you the technology you want, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot give you aid.”

Gestal tilted his head “How so?”

“In my home I was an engineer, if you so wish, I can try to design a way for your own people to repair your home, hell, if you want, I’ll return to Griffinstone with you, and hammer the nails in myself.”

Gestal smiled at me as he stuck out his claw “Your willingness to help us is quite shocking, especially since I had just threatened war…. There will be no need for you to come with me, and I would greatly appreciate your designs…. Though I will not lie, I assumed you would have reveled in a chance to fight.”

“Trust me, as fun as it is to tear things down, it feels a lot better to build.”

Gestal got up and walked to the door, “I see…. I look forward to receiving the plans.” He looked to the princesses and bowed before leaving the room

Once he had gone I sighed “Well there’s that crisis averted.”

The princesses giggle and Amira smiled as she spoke “You truly do deserve to wear a keffiyah. I look forward to meeting you again.” she looked to the princesses and like Gestal, bowed and left, with Rutherford just leaving after her

I looked to Celestia “I seriously hope that this isn’t going to be a daily occurrence.”

“Trust me John, if it was, my mane would probably be gray.” Celestia replied as she put her wing around me “So tell me of your first day.”

--

With the day coming to a close, we all decided that it was time for dinner. The four of us were seated in the dining hall, and the princesses poured themselves some wine as I relaxed in my chair with some water…or at least I was until Luna brought up the encounter from earlier today. “There is still the issue of Blueblood and Jet Set. What do you wish to do with them John?”

“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked

“Well they did try to kill you.” Luna replied

Celestia put her wing around me as she spoke “Don’t remind me.”

I sighed, I knew what I had to do. “Let them go with a warning.”

Celestia and Luna almost spit out their wine and Celestia looked to me with concern “John, they almost killed you.”

Luna walked up and placed a hoof on my head “Perhaps he suffered a head injury.”

“No.” I replied “They wanted me dead because they think I’m a monster. It may take some time to convince them that I’m not, but if you two banish them, then there’s no chance that I'll be able to establish any sort of relations with them. Letting them go without harm will hopefully begin to make them rethink their opinion, and with the help of the more sensible nobles like Fancypants, then maybe we can even eliminate this view of me, because like it or not, I’m probably going to have to work with them in the future.”

Celestia smiled at me “That’s very kind of you John.”

I looked to the guards in the corner of the room “Go release those two idiots before I change my mind.”

The guard nodded and left.

“Now then, lets just relax and enjoy the evening.” I replied

“Yes, I feel that would be best, since it will be my last evening in Canterlot for the time being.” Cadance replied

“Shining getting jealous?” asked

Cadance giggled “No, but I do miss my home kingdom, and even though I have been able to keep up on my work, it would be best for my subjects if I returned home to the crystal empire.”

“I see.” I replied, “I’ll arrange a guard detail first thing tomorrow to escort you to the train.”

Cadance smiled, “Thank you john, but that will not be necessary, I’m sure that my husband will have a group of the crystal guards with him when he arrived to pick me up.”

“Fair enough.” I replied

As I finished talking, our meals arrived. We all ate dinner together and then retired to our bedchambers. When I had gotten out of the shower, I got into my sleeping shorts, and went into the bedroom. I saw it was empty and that Celestia was out on the balcony. I walked out to her and kissed her on the cheek, which aside from making her blush, prompted her to pull me down to her side, where she quickly put her wing around me, pulling me even closer into her side. “I love you too my beautiful princess.”

“John, I was so worried about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was worried that me and Luna would have been to late…that you would be dead.”

“You know that I would let that happen Tia. Actually, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, Blueblood would probably have an arrow in his knee or something like that.”

“I know, but I still feel responsible, I should have made you come with me and-”

“And then the representatives would have been introduced to those idiot’s viewpoint, and they would have seen me in my…work mode, which is not something that would aid friendly relations.” I countered “You did everything you could Celestia.”

“I’m just thankful that we have rid ourselves of Daybreaker…had she still been inside me…blueblood and jest set probably would not be alive.”

“Its okay Tia, she won't ever be back. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Celestia smiled and nuzzled my cheek “I know you will my handsome prince, just I promise to keep you safe.”

From above us, the voice of Luna spoke, “As do I, and thank you for getting him in one place for me sister.”

I stood up in shock and looked up to see Luna, who was hovering about ten feet above me, drop something. I tried to move, but in a split second, I saw the familiar light blue magical aura of cadence holding me still, and Celestia’s magic take control of the object falling towards me. everything went black for a half second, and then my vision returned, all three princesses were laughing. I looked at myself and realized why, they had managed to get one of Celestia’s dresses on me. Luna landed next to me and though her laugher began to speak. “See, I told you dresses were better, I even managed to get my sister and Cadance to collaborate with me.”

I shook my head and began to chuckle “in hindsight, I should have seen this coming.”

--
So that’s how the day went, from waking up alone, to my promotion, which then resulted in a mutiny, which ended with me in one of my fiancés dresses. To be honest I’m surprised it fit, what with me being human and all, but that’s besides the point. Today has taught me something, that I love this family, and that they love me.

Author's Note

Ear pro: Ear protection

Chapter 11- Till Death Do You Part

Why? ......Why am I forbidden to feel happiness? Today is September 21st. It was set to be the best day of my life, the day on which I was going to be married to the one woman who loved me. But instead, I’m here, back in time and stuck here with no way home, sure I may have a house, but all I have is a tree to talk to for now. It’s the fucking elements, this worlds version of some higher power that apparently forbids my living a happy life…. I guess I should explain how I ended up here, Explain the cause of my anger and my misery…Explain my want to die.

--

I had woken up later than usual this morning, probably from the fact that me and Tia were celebrating a little early, as we would both probably be too busy with the marriage and then setting up the coronation that we may not have time for a honeymoon, but anyway, this time Tia was up first, and I’ll admit, it a little better than me waking up first. I get to see her beautiful smile as I open my eyes. And the way she wakes me up is perfect. She nuzzles my cheek until I wake up…though there was one time, not long after my “promotion” where she just let me sleep in and raised the sun into my eyes…but I like it when me and her get to do this, I get to hold her close and gently run my fingers through her fur, wings, and mane, and she will lay on top of me and nuzzle me. This is what I lived for. The moments like this, where it’s just me and Tia together, holding each other close, feeling her soft fur on my bare chest. We stayed like that for a while, which made me wonder if something was wrong “Uhh, Tia, is everything alright?”

She smiled and kissed my lips “Everything is fine my sunshine, and after today I will be able to call you my handsome husband.”

Ah yes, today is the wedding “And Ill be able to call you my beautiful wife.” I lowered my head. I finally did something right…or have I? what if the past happens again? I can’t take another loss, being used, I…I don’t want to make her hate me like I have with every other woman I dated. I... I…

Celestia stopped my thoughts by putting her hoof under my chin and raising my head back up. I was expecting to get some form of lecture, but instead what I got was something new, a song. Her angelic voice began to sing and calm my sadness and fear “You are my sunshine... My only sunshine… You make me happy, when times are graaayyy, you’ll never know just…how much I love you…so please don’t take…my sunshine away.” and as she finished she wrapped her wings around me and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.

I think I already knew the answer as to why she sang to me, but I asked anyway “What was the singing for?”

She gave me two answers, one obvious, the other, not so. “Well because you are my sunshine, and I love you, I hate seeing you sad, which is why I’m giving you this.” She levitated up a set of dog tags with my name, Callsign, and rank in her guard on them, and then next to the two tags, was a small pendant with Celestia’s, Luna’s, and Cadances’ marks on it, and she placed it around my neck

I hugged her, but I was still confused “Thank you Tia…but why?”

She smiled “Well now you are in the military, the royal military, you no longer have to see yourself as a pretender, and as for that pendant, it is enchanted, it carries some advice from Luna and a small message from Cadance, and a message from all three of us to my parents.”

“What did you put in?”

“I’ve already placed a message in there too, but I’m also going to our vows in the pendant…and I also put a song in there.”

“Which one?”

“You already know.”

I began to tear up as I looked down at the tags and the pendant around my neck. It was not only a gift, but it was a reminder and a symbol of the love that the three mares had for me, that I was a member of their family. Ever since that day when I accepted their offer to take the throne, Luna has started calling me her little brother, and Cadence has called me her nephew more times than one, and Celestia has never stopped calling me her sunshine or her husband. little did I know that that pendant would soon be the only thing keeping me from putting a bullet in my head.

After some more cuddling, Celestia decided that it was finally time to get up and start getting ready. The rehearsal for the ceremony had taken place the day before and I had made sure to call up all guards to active status for the event. I wasn’t going to let my wedding end up like Cadance and Shining Armors. I had already decided that I was going to wear my military dress uniform with my pistol hidden in its holster at my side, so while Tia raised the sun, I cleaned myself up and got dressed. As usual, Tia was waiting outside the bathroom for me to see how I looked, and as I expected, she found me rather handsome. We had decided to do our wedding a little differently in that the two of us would be walking together down the aisle instead of me waiting for her, or as she put it, “Standing alone” so she had me wait out on the balcony as she got into her dress. While I waited, I took in the view of the city. Most ponies were flocking toward the castle, and I could see the train coming up the mountain. I’m actually kind of surprised at the number of ponies that are attending the wedding, especially because to my knowledge, I wasn’t to popular amongst some of the higher ups of the Canterlot elite, but I guess that some of them have gotten more used to me, maybe because Celestia loves me, or maybe because I’m the only human in equestrian, so I guess that made me a small celebrity, but I still couldn’t stop myself from smiling, sure, they may have been coming for Tia, but they were still coming, and I was going to be married, I was finally going to know love and peace, I wasn’t going to die alone.

As I finished that though, I felt something nuzzle my cheek. I turned around to see an absolutely gorgeous Celestia in her wedding dress. The dress had a large purple gem in the front on her chest, and the dress itself was made out of a fabric that reminded me of the sunrise, her hair was mostly flowing until it got to some kind of braid or ponytail thing about two thirds of the way down, and she wore some kind of lace up sandals and pink eyeshadow. She pulled me closer and smiled “How do I look?”

“Absolutely beautiful, like a sunrise.”

She giggled “And you look as handsome and strong as ever, but if you think this dress looks good, wait until you see what I’m wearing under it.” she grabbed my hand with her magic and placed it on her flank letting me feel the lingerie that she had on underneath her dress

“Oh, what’s going to be on the agenda?”

She smiled at me “Everything.”

“Oh, well then I can’t wait.” and as if on queue, bells started to ring, which was our signal to make our way down to the main hall. So, I stuck out my hand to her “Shall we?”

She smiled and placed her hoof in my hand “Lets.” and we walked down to the grand hall together. As we walked by, guards snapped to attention, and then when we hit the set of double doors that lead into the main hall, a chorus of what sounded like birds began to sing the traditional wedding song, I don’t know the title, but it was interesting to hear as me and Celestia walked up to the altar, and standing there, presiding over the wedding, was Cadance. I mean it only made sense, after all, she is the princess of love.

As me and Tia stopped in front of the altar, I turned to see just who was in the room, of course Twilight and her friends were in attendance, there were also a few delegates, and some of the higher ups from the Guards, and to my surprise the Canterlot nobility was in attendance, including blueblood, who was clapping with the rest of them, now that took me by surprise. Anyway, I looked back to Celestia and Cadance, and I nodded “We’re ready.”

Cadance smiled as she spoke “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to unite two lovers in marriage. Now marriage is a wonderful thing, it shows the strength of love that ponies, or in this case, people as well, have for one another.” As Cadence spoke, I began to feel a small pain in my head, but I thought it was nothing, probably just me being nervous, but Celestia seemed to notice that I was looking off as I felt her magic on my shoulder. When I regained my focus, Cadance was reaching one of the more important parts of the Ceremony “..and if there is anypony who objects to the union of these two lovers, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

And as expected, there was no noise whatsoever “Silence is good.” I quipped, getting a small laugh out of every pony in the room, but as they laughed the pain in my head grew, and it began to move down to my chest and arms, but I kept my pain hidden

And then Cadance began to speak the most important part of the ceremony, she was about to have us exchange vows. “We come now to the words the bride and groom want to hear the most today…the words that take them across the threshold from being engaged to being married. A marriage, as most of us understand it, is a voluntary and full commitment. It is made in the deepest sense to the exclusion of all others, and it is entered into with the desire and hope that it will last for life. Before you declare your vows to one another, I want to hear you confirm that it is indeed your intention to be married today. Princess Celestia, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Johnathan in marriage? If so, answer, I do."

Celestia smiled as she spoke, “I do.”

Cadance looked to me “Johnathan Cormier, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Celestia in marriage? If so, answer "I do."

I smiled as I spoke, “I do.”

Cadance smiled as she continued “Johnathan and Celestia, having heard that it is your intention to be married to each other, I now ask you to declare your marriage vows. Please face each other and hold each others hooves and or hands.” We did so, barley containing our want to kiss, but my pain spread to my whole body as Cadance continued “Celestia, please repeat after me… I, Celestia take you, Johnathan to be my husband. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives, until death do we part.”

Celestia spoke, with her horn glowing, I don’t know what it was for, but It made me feel better, “I, Celestia take you, Johnathan to be my husband. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives, until death do we part.” I smiled again and I noticed a faint glowing on my chest. Like she said earlier, Celestia was adding our vows to the pendant. But the pain was approaching levels were even Cadance was noticing, but I signaled her to continue, so she did

“Johnathan, please repeat after me… I, Johnathan, take you, Celestia, to be my wife. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives, until death do we part.”

I mustered up all the strength I could to hide the pain from my voice as I spoke “… I, Johnathan, take you, Celestia, to be my wife. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives, until death do we part.”

Cadance smiled as she floated up two rings, and gave Celestia's to me and mine to Celestia. And I watched as Tias horn lifted the ring and placed it on my finger as she spoke “With this ring, I thee wed.” and then she lowered her head as I walked over to her, hiding my pain and placed her ring on her horn as I spoke

“With this ring…I thee wed.”

Celestia lifted her head back up, but as Cadance spoke, my pain reached unbearable levels, and I began to wince as she said the one line that I wanted to her my whole life “Then by the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

And just as she finished, Celestia and I moved in close, but before we could kiss, the pain grew too great for me. I fell to the ground and there was a bright flash, and then everything went dark, when I came to, I was on top of a roof slash balcony, there was a camping chair similar to the one that I had back in Canterlot set up, and with the pain in my head lingering, I sat down until it subsided, but as I sat there, I felt some kind of weight on my waist, and chest, I moved my hand over them to feel both my tactical vest, and my battle belt. I was wearing my usual tactical gear, but what happened to my suit? Where was I? I got up from the chair and looked around, there was a mountain which was the same size as Canterlot mountain, but to me shock, there was no Canterlot on the side of it. As I kept looking at my surroundings, the realization hit me, I knew where I was, or more appropriately, WHEN I was, and I know how I got here. I quickly got up, grabbed a face shield to conceal my identity, and ran out of the house to the area where I knew the castle to be, but this time, it wasn’t run down. It was in pristine condition, but I was lucky, the guards seemed to be doing a rotation or something because from what I could see from the tree line, there were none. So, I made my way down to the bottom of the canyon and walked into the cave of the tree of harmony “You son of a bitch, you took me from my wife!”

The tree just stood there…silent

“Put me back! Send me back to her!” I lashed out with my fist and punched the crystal tree, hard. I ignored the pain in my hand as I kept hitting it, tears coming to my eyes as I kept hitting and yelling “I love her! Please!” after a few minutes, I collapsed to my knees in tears. All I had done was bloody my hands at a tree…I had nothing to live for anymore, I had lost Tia. So, I reached for my pistol and put it to my head. With a sob, I pulled back the hammer and pulled the trigger…...and nothing happened. I looked up to the tree to see that it was glowing, along with the rest of my body, but more importantly, the tags and pendant that Tia gave me. As the tree held me in its glow, I closed my eyes and wiped away me tears. I understood what I was doing, it was completing its spell, it was making me immortal, but it was also doing something else. When I opened my eyes, an alicorn the size of Celestia was standing beside me, with her magic preventing the hammer of the pistol from going all the way forward, and thus preventing the pistol from firing. Her eyes were blue like mine, and her mane was red. Her cutie mark was one of a quill in an ink vial. Using her magic, her took my pistol from me, took out its magazine, and removed the chambered round before letting the hammer go forward with a click. She then returned these items to me and sat beside me. As she did this, I realized that she was an image made by the tree, and that the tree was going to keep me alive. it had given me everything that I had seen, the house, my clothes, and now immortality. I looked at the tree, and then to the pony and snarled “You may be keeping me alive, but that doesn’t make up for what you did. You took me away from my wife and I didn’t even get to say goodbye, for all she knows I could be dead.” and then the tree glowed, and a scroll appeared at its base, it was marked with Tias mark! I quickly opened it up and read the letter.

Johnathan, I don’t know where this letter will find you, but know this, I will always love you, I dream both night and day for when we will be reunited, I have been spoken to by the elements, and they have allowed me to send this letter to you, please, put the guns away, we may be apart in time, but we are united in love, and that will transcend all. Know that this is your time to rise, this is your time to spread your wings. And just because you are gone, that doesn’t mean that you will no longer hold a place in my heart.

Your loving wife forever, Celestia.

I held the letter close to my chest as I cried, she knows I’m alive. She sent me a letter. I already have something to remember her by, so I took out a pen and inscribed a message of my own on the back

Celestia, I don’t know when you’ll get this, but know that I got your letter. Know that I will carry on and do what I can to get back to you, even if I have to take the long way back. I will be reunited with you one day, and then we can finally finish our kiss.

Your handsome husband, John.

I placed the letter back on the ground at the base of the tree and looked to the pony “Send that back to her.”

The tree and pony did nothing, “Look here asshole, she has nothing to remember me by, and you owe me for dragging me here against my will, now send the damn letter to my wife!”

There was a flash and the letter disappeared, I looked back up to the tree “Thank you…I’ll probably be back, because until I can get a clear understanding of things, you’re the only one I can talk to.”

The pony walked up and placed a hoof on me, the look in her eyes told me she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. She took her hoof off my shoulder and let me go.

“Even if you don’t talk back.” I got up off my knees and walked back to the edge of the cave, I looked to make sure I was clear, and then I made my way back to my cabin, but as I stopped, I realized something, this was the cabin that I planned to build if I had stayed alone…it was the cabin I wanted to live with Celestia in, the one I was going to build for us, and the tree-pony-thing…Fuck, now I owed it an apology, but first, I needed to get myself situated, so I decided to see if the tree had really gotten the house down. On the outside, it already looked calming and unassuming. It had some solar arrays on the side, as well as a wind turbine, which I assume was what was powering the house. As I opened the front door, it opened right into a hallway, on the right was the den/utility area where I could work on my gear and wash my clothes, I was actually surprised to see a washer and dryer in there, which lead into a garage, and on the left, was the stairs up to the bedrooms, two other bathrooms, and the balcony, and just to the left of the stairs was a bathroom, then moving straight ahead about 15 feet, was the kitchen, which opened right up into the living room and the dining room. It wasn’t a large house, but it was good enough for a small family of three. I walked up the stairs and went into my bedroom, inside the room was a bed (Obviously), a closet, a stand for my gear, a closet, a window with a good view of the lake, and a bathroom. So, I took my stuff off and went to the closet, assuming that it would be empty, but to my surprise, it was stocked with all of the clothes that Rarity made me, and then some of my own from home back on earth, including the rest of my camo types and some relaxation and sleeping clothes. Next to my room was a smaller bedroom, and across from it was another room of the same size, so I guess that they were guest rooms. Across from my bedroom, there looked to be an office space big enough for two, and it even had my laptop. “Well damn, I guess the tree really took the phrase “Go big or go home” to heart here, which kind of made me wonder, what was in the garage? I mean I had seen a safe in the den, but why give me a garage unless….” I flew up off the bed and ran down to the den to the safe, sure enough, it was just the right size to be contain weapons, but to my surprise, it was locked, I mentally slapped myself, of course it's locked. So I looked to the keypad on the safe and entered the first code the only code that came to my mind 23537842, “Celestia.” A grin came across my face as the tumblers fell into place, and I was able to pull the handle on the safe, opening it, and on the inside of it…stairs. I walked down the stairs into what I’m going to guess was the basement, and when I turned on the lights… well at the moment I forgot about everything as my eyes fell upon the fact that the safe opened into a whole damn room filled with weapons and equipment, the safe wasn’t a safe, it was a saferoom! This place even had a fucking minigun! But I’m getting off track here. The room itself wasn’t all too big, maybe 50 feet by 50 feet, but the walls were covered with firearms of all sorts. And in the corner was a work area for repairs or upgrades, and on top of the work table, were two carabiners with keys on them, I walked over to them and picked them up, there was three keys on each one, one key was average size, so I’m assuming that it was the house key, the key next to it was smaller, so I’m going to guess that it was the key to unlock the gun lockers that housed the variable smorgasbord of guns in the room, and the third key, well I think that was the best gift of all, it was a back car key with the GMC logo on it. So, I picked up one of the carabiners, clipped it the belt loop of my pants, walked out of the room and closed the safe door and locked it, then went into the garage to see one of the greatest things of all time. My black 04 GMC canyon, only now it had some improvements, there was a light system now equipped onto the top of the truck, and from the looks of it, the suspension and tires had been changed to larger military grade off road ones, and on the bed on the truck, just behind the crew cab, was a mounted M2 Browning. My truck had been turned into the technical of my dreams, so I opened the door and put in the key, and I was happy to see that it was on a full tank of gas, and from the looks of it, it had two tanks, and I had a gas pump in the garage, I was ecstatic, I mean I’d probably take the gun off it for now, but I couldn’t wait to take Tia for a ride and…. oh…right…I’m alone. I began to feel I slight warmth in my chest, I looked down to see the pendant was glowing, right, they had all left me something, well I guess I should see what they left me. I walked into the house and to the fridge, but unfortunately, the one thing this house didn’t have, was alcohol, but that can be remedied. I saw some spare supplies to make a moonshine still in the garage, and I still remember how to build one thanks to my boss. With a mental checklist of things I needed to do starting to come together, I walked up to my balcony/roof, sat down in my chair, and lifted up the pendant. It had the marks of the three princesses made out of some sort of gem, I ran my hands over Cadance’s mark, “Lets what message the princess of love left me.” As I held it in my hand, the gem that was carved into Cadance’s mark began to glow and the air surround me began to shimmer and Cadance appeared “Cadance? Is that you?” I got up from my chair and walked up to her, but when I touched her, my hand just past through her body and she began to speak.

“John, if you’re seeing this, then you’re probably in the past…alone.” she raised up her hoof and put it on me, and I could feel it. “I know it’s going to be hard, especially after your rough past from your old world, but remember, we love you, you have a lot to look forward to, an eternity with Celestia, the possibility of a family, and many friends in this world. You may be alone now, but your fears can be laid to rest, this world is different from yours, it’s better for you, over the past months, I’ve seen you grow into a different man then the one I first met, a better man.” She giggled “A man that was happy to call my nephew, and now my brother in law. now stay strong, that’s an order.” and she smiled as she faded away. I smiled as the message ended, Cadance had been following me for the entirety of my first few days in Equestria, she had been the mare that showed Celestia and Luna the love in my heart…she was the one who married me to the love of my life. I rested my head back in my chair, and stared at the setting sun and the night sky. “It’s beautiful, right Tia?” I looked over to the empty chair next to me “Oh…. right…. I’m alone.” I sighed again and help back tears “Maybe…maybe I just need rest.” so holding back tears, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to feel a warmth on my chest, the first thing that came to my mind was that it was all a dream, just a nightmare, but when I opened my eyes, I was still alone…the warmth was just the sun…it’s not a dream…its real… “I can’t just sit here, I have to get up…do something…fuck it, I’m making the still.” I got up from my chair and walked down into the house and to the kitchen, it was fully stocked with everything I need from food to drink. “Wow, this place does have everything.” I reached over to the sink and saw that I had running water “Including a kitchen sink.” I took a small second to laugh at my own joke before making myself some coffee and some eggs. When I was finished with my breakfast, I took my coffee and walked into my garage, opened the garage door, grabbed a welding mask, a welding torch, and some metal, and started to work on the still.

After a few hours, I had finished most of the still, when I looked up to the sky to see a set of pegasi guards in the air flying by “Shitbucket!” I turned off the torch and ran into my garage. From the looks of it, they weren’t armed, but I don’t know if they saw me. I waited in the garage and kept my eyes open. The pegasi didn’t land, so I assumed that they didn’t see me…but I’m smarter than that. Since I didn’t want to be out in the open while I worked, I walked back out and pulled the finished components of the still into the garage, all I had to do was make a condenser, and I knew just the thing to use. I walked out to the lake with a 55-gallon drum and a hand truck, I filled the drum with lake water and then brought it back into the garage and set my still up, by the time 1300 rolled around I had the still fully assembled and making its first batch. I looked around the garage once more, and was delighted to find a box full of cigars in the work bench. So while I waited for the first batch to finish, I used the torch to light up the cigar, and sat there, smoking a cigar, and making moonshine. As I sat there, I wondered what else I could do, I mean it’s not like I had a lot to do besides hide and be alone…but then again, I wasn’t alone…I had the tree. So, I shut off the still and geared myself up. I grabbed a 1911 and three non-lethal rounds from the weapons locker, and some flashbangs and smoke grenades, and clipped them to my pouch. Once I had done that, I grabbed a couple of MRE’s and put them in my pack, I then threw my pack over my shoulder and walked out of my house and into the woods.

It took me about an hour, but I finally made it to the castle.I guess that pegasi didn’t spot me, but they did see my house, which probably means I'll need to expect company, because from the tree line, the castle looked like it was on high alert. I mean don’t get me wrong, I still made it to the tree, but it wasn’t as easy as it was last time. As I got there the thing began to glow the pony again appeared, but this time, she had something in her magic. It was a tan had with the word “Cadillac” on it, and the symbol of the Cadillac motor company on the front…I knew this hat…it was the hat my grandfather gave to me. I took it in my hands and rotated it around. It was my hat. I smiled and put it on my head “So I guess you know that I would be coming” I sat down against the wall of the cave and brought out my MRE and started to let it heat itself up as I talked “look…I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done…I guess I do owe you that, but I miss my wife.”

The pony walked up to me and used her magic to lift up my pendant

“I know I have the pendant, but a pendant can’t hold me close at night…a pendant can’t tell me it loves me, but then again, I’m here talking to a tree that will probably never actually talk to me so there’s that, but then again it keeps me from going mead so…yeah…...so how you been?”

The pony just sat there and did nothing as my MRE began to steam so I pulled it from its packet and cut it open, it was teriyaki chicken with rice.

“Yeah I thought as much…so how do you like your neighbors?” I pointed up toward the castle above me as I began to eat

The pony smiled at me and then she pointed to me and pointed up

I swallowed my food and took a sip of water from my canteen “Yeah, yeah, I know I should talk to them, but I’m waiting for the right time, I want to get an understanding of the area and the situation before I do anything…which begs my next question, did you tell them about me?”

No response

“This morning I almost got spotted by a pegasi patrol and it took me almost an hour longer than it did yesterday to get here because I had to doge their soldiers, so I ask you, did you tell the royal family I was here?”

The tree glowed as three more marks appeared next to the white pony, I can only guess that they were the king and queen’s, and they began to orbit around my mark as if protecting it or loving it, or honestly, I don’t know, they went and floated around my mark ok. Whatever it means is what it means

“Look, you may be all powerful, but I’m not. And even though I may or may not be immortal, I don’t have powers and I don’t want to chance throwing myself into something I don’t know anything about and messing it up, I mean look at me, I don’t exactly scream peaceful.”

The pony just looked at me confused

“I mean what am I supposed to say, hi, I’m a human form the future, oh yeah, I know you just banished all my kind, but I’m different because I’m from the future, and oh, I’m also having sex with and was about to marry your future daughter!”

I watched as the pony face-hoofed and the marks disappeared

“Sorry…it’s just…it’s a complicated situation…but…thanks for being here I guess... you know, giving me someone to talk to…I’ll…I’ll try to come back when I can and maybe not tell you a sob story.” I finished my MRE and put the trash in my pack and brought out a two small shot glasses and brought out a small flask “But before I go, try this, I made some moonshine.” I put some shine in the flasks and raised one up “Here’s to...well shit I got nothing…meh.” and I downed the shot.

The pony used her magic to lift up the glass and then downed its contents, and as she did, she pointed to my glass and made a gagging motion

“Oh come on, it's not that bad.” I picked up the glasses and put them away before slinging my pack over my shoulder again. I walked to the edge of the cave I felt something tap my shoulder.

The alicorn again pointed up and she looked like she was pleading with me.

I shook my head. “I'm sorry, I can't face them yet…the pain of losing Tia is still too great.” She looked to me with that same look as earlier.

“I know your sorry…and I forgive you…I have to accept that what you did was for the greater good….I’ll be back soon, for now, you the only company I’ve got.”

The alicorn smiled and disappeared.

I peaked out of the cave and looked to make sure I was clear, but the castle was still on alert. I made my way back up and into the forest without getting caught, so all I had to do to get back to my house was follow the main path here and then I would find the small trail that went to my place, but with the castle on alert, the path would be watched, so I have to stick to the woods alongside the path. I was able to make it maybe half way home before I heard voices and hoof steps coming up from behind me.

“Fan out men, they said it went this way!”

“Yes sir!”

I immediately broke into a full-on sprint “Shitbucket, they followed me…but how, I didn’t see anypony or…the tree.” I moved deeper into the woods in case they decided to send pegasi up to scout as I heard them calling out

“Human! Show yourself in the name of the king Orbash and Queen Sunflare!”

I kept running as I talked to myself “Yeah that’s not happening.” I kept running for a bit before I climbed up into a tree and hid myself in the leaves. I reached for the flashbang on my belt “Please work.” I pulled the pin and chucked it off to my right, and about 4 or 5 seconds later, the distraction device went off.

I watched as the guards came up and ran in the way of the flashbang “He’s this way, I heard that noise!”

I waited for about ten minutes until I came back down from the tree with my guns drawn. The problem was that they wouldn’t do me much good if I got surrounded, because I wasn’t using regular bullets, instead I loaded soap bullets, they wouldn’t kill, but they would incapacitate and hurt like hell. Eventually I made my way back to my house, and it was just before the sunset. I figured that if the guards didn’t find me, they'd probably come here, or most likely go home. I didn’t see any pegasi with them, so I was hoping that without a guide, they wouldn’t be able to find my house, and let's face it, It's not like the king and queen are gonna come after me.

--
I walked into my house, and set my pack down. I went and replaced the non-lethal magazines with standard magazines, and then made my way up to my roof and laid in my chair. I took off my gear and set my weapons down beside my chair so I could grab it if needed, and I watched the sunset. “Well I didn’t get caught, but they're probably gonna be looking for me tomorrow” I looked up to Canterlot mountain as held my pendant in my hand “The sky is beautiful Tia…I only wish I could share this view with you…this was the house we wanted to build after our marriage…the house I’ll build for us when I get back.”

And there was a slight breeze behind me, followed by two sets of hooves walking up behind me, and then a male voice spoke “You are right sir, it is a most beautiful evening”

I moved my hand down to my belt to grab my pistol as another voice spoke up from behind me, female “If you wish to keep your hand, you shall remove it from that weapon.”

I lifted my hand up and away from my pistol “Shitbucket…so who are you, and why are you at my house?” I stood up and turned around to see the king and queen standing behind me, both of them were about Tias size, only their asteral effect was over their entire body instead of their manes. Orbash looked like the night sky while giving me a curious look, and the latter Sunflare, looked almost like Tia, with her colors being that of the morning sky, while she was glaring at me with her horn already channeling magic for a spell. “Ah, the king and queen, well I guess I was going to have to meet you two eventually, though I figured it wasn’t going to be until tomorrow. So, may I ask why the hell you’re going through all this trouble and how the fuck you found me?”

The Queen spoke “How dare you speak in such a vulgar manner to us!”

“Well you did kind of just break into my house and threaten me, now how about you calm down QUEEN Sunflare.” I looked to Orbash, “King Orbash, help a guy out here?”

they took a step back baffled as she “H-How did you know our names?”

“It’s a long story.”

The queen hardened herself again “Well you shall have plenty of time to tell it in a cell.”

I smiled and slowly moved my hand for the smoke grenade on my belt “Yeah not going to happen.” I pulled the pin and smoke began to pour out of the grenade. The king and queen moved towards me, but by the time they got to my position, the smoke was too thick for them to see me, so I moved back into it and raised my pistol.

The king called out “You seem like a warrior, and a skilled one at that, but you should know, we are alicorns, and your home has been surrounded by our forces.”

I smiled as I moved out of the smoke behind them with my pistol drawn “You mean the guards I’ve slipped past three times now?”

The king and queen turned around with their horns glowing as a shield formed around them and I was levitated into the air, but I still kept my aim on them, then the king began to speak again “Impressive, you are right dear, he is definitely a skilled warrior.” he looked back to me “Now you’ll be coming with us.”

“Not happening, you’re not taking me prisoner”

The queen put her magic around me and began to levitate up cuffs, “You don’t have much of a choice”

“Oh that’s bullshit, I didn’t even do anything to you. All I’ve done is keep to myself and talk to the tree of harmony, which form the looks of it, has stabbed me in the fucking back.”

Orbash and his wife looked at each other and whispered to each other before Orbash looked to me and spoke “You won’t be our prisoner, you will be our guest. Surely that will be better than being here alone.”

“Bullshit.” I replied “...and you should probably pick a side because this whole thing where you flip from wanting to arrest me to wanting to befriend me is not really convincing.”

“We have changed our minds because of what you have said.” Orbash replied, “If the tree of harmony is responsible here, then that is a good sign about your character. So please, allow us to make you our guest.”

I stayed silent for a minute as they held me in their magic “Well I guess I don’t have much of an option, do I?”

Sunflare spoke “No, you don’t.” and she quickly spread her wings and took off as I looked to Orbash

“She doesn’t like me that much, does she?”

He sighed “No, and I am suspicious of you as well, but from what I’ve seen and heard from you, you seem pure of heart. Afterall, the tree of harmony protects our land. But mark my words, if you are a threat, you will-”

“Yeah, Yeah, I know, I’m either dead or I join my people.”

“How do you-?”

“Trust me, it’s a long story.”

“One I look forward to hearing.” and with that he took off into the air holding me in his magic.

One short flight later, we had reached the castle. It looked like a typical castle on the outside, but on the inside, it looked very similar to that of Canterlot castle. Anyway, they carried me in their magic until we reached the throne room, and then they proceeded to clear it and lock the doors before setting me down. “Huh, this is a nice place you’ve got here, but honestly I prefer mine, it's more…relaxing.”

Sunflare spoke “Silence, we have brought you here so you can answer our questions.”

“Funny, considering you haven’t answered mine, how did you find me?”

Sunflare smiled as she looked off to her left “You may come out now.”

A third and fourth party came out from behind the thrones, it was a gray unicorn with a long gray beard and he was wearing a cape and hat adorned with bells, and next to him, was the pony form the tree. “Starswirl the Bearded and the tree of harmony, of course.” The pony of the tree of harmony went to my side and left Starswirl standing alone with a priceless look on his face.

Starswirl looked shocked as he spoke “W-What? How does he know my name!?”

I smiled “Oh I know a whole lot of things.”

“Like what?” he asked

“We were just about to find that out.” Sunflare said “Now then, you are going to answer our questions truthfully.”

“I have no intention of doing otherwise.”

“And why is that?” Orbash asked

“Because I have a house and a still that I want to get back to, if you haven’t noticed, there all I have now for the foreseeable future….and because I’ve been through this before, I mean you have no idea how much of a déjà vu sensation I’m getting right now.”

I felt Sunflare’s gaze on me soften a bit, then harden again as I made my smartass remark before she spoke “Let’s start with the simple things, who are you?”

“My name is Johnathan Cormier and I think you already know what I am.”

Orbash spoke “Yes we do, which is why I ask you, why are you dressed in that fashion and why were you armed, and how are you still here?”

“I'm here because the tree decided to put me here, and I’m a soldier.”

He scratched his chin with his hoof “Yes, your mannerisms were indicative of that.”

Sunflare spoke “Among other things, which then brings me to my next question, why are you armed, and what kind of weapon is this?” she levitated up my pistol and I became immediately worried as she proceeded to flag it all over the place.

“Be careful with that! It’s dangerous! Give me my fucking weapon back!”

The queen glared at me “You will not address me in that tone, and it does not appear dangerous.”

“Trust me, it is, and if you want to keep yourself free from injury, you give that gun and let me disable it.”

Her horn glowed as she lifted me up into the air “Was that a threat?”

“No, it’s a warning, what you hold in your magic, besides me, is a pistol.”

Both of them looked at me inquisitively as the king spoke “A pistol?”

“Yes, it’s a type of gun.”

The queen spoke now “What is a gun?”

I answered “It’s a dangerous human weapon that uses an explosive power called gunpower to launch a metal projectile at very high speeds, now can I please have mine back.”

The queen spoke “HA! Do you really think that I am a fool!?”

“No, but your messing with something you don’t quite understand.”

Orbash came to my rescue “My love, please, give him his weapon, if it is a dangerous as he says, it would be wise to let him lower its danger, because from what we have seen, he is the only one who knows how to disable this weapon.”

Sunflare looked to her husband, then back to me, then to my gun, then back to me “Fine, but know this, make one wrong move, and you will have the a thousand years to think about what you’ve done in the sun.” she floated my gun over to me and I took it in my hand.

“Thank you, your highness.” I pressed the magazine release on the pistol, letting the magazine fall out into my hand and placed it in my dump pouch, I then pulled the slide back removing the chambered round, and I then took that and put it in my pouch as well, I felt the slide locked in its open position. “There, its secured.”

The queen looked surprised, and so did the king, but not to the extent that she was. It took some time before she spoke “I…Well thank you…but may I ask, why you did this?”

“It’s my job to protect the royal family.”

The king stood up “What do you mean, I don’t recall seeing you in the ranks of our royal guard.”

Then Starswirl stepped forward “He’s from the future.”

I pointed to Starswirl, “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner, how’d you guess?”

He smiled “Because I’m working on the same kind of spell, plus what else could be used to explain your unheard of weapons?”

Finally, both the king and queen were now surprised, “So…I’m guessing that you want me to tell you my story?”

The king spoke “Yes, I think that would be very helpful.”

“Well then in that case, get comfortable, because this is going to take a while…and perhaps you could maybe set me down.”

Sunflare set me down “Ah, yes, I think you have earned that.”

“Thank you, now then where to start…. well I guess it would be when I first was brought to Equestria.” As I began my tale they listened intently, but as I began to speak of my time with the sisters, and my….um… fun with Celestia, well let’s just say, the queen was pissed again

“YOU HAD SEX WITH OUR DAUGHTER!?!?” The queens yelling was probably heard throughout the castle as she jumped off her throne and she stood right in front of me

I backed away slightly as i spoke “In my defense, she hasn’t been born yet, and it was her idea.”

Unfortunately, that didn't help me. The queen picked my up in her magic her horn began to glow “That’s it! your going to the sun!” she screamed.

I was lucky that orbash was there. The queens horn glowed brighter and brighter, but Orbash put his hoof on her shoulder “My love, calm down, harming him will do us no good, and if the tree really did send him here, then he is here for our benefit.”

I looked to the tree-pony and spoke, “Speaking of the tree, why did it take me back in time just before I was about to kiss her?”

The king stood up “What do you mean?”

“I mean I was about to marry her.” I looked down and closed my eyes, trying to hold back tears. I sat like that until I felt wings on my shoulder I looked up to see the king and queen in front of me, the anger in their eyes gone was gone, and replaced with one of concern. “I’m…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be crying right now…look uh…if you want, I’ll leave, and if you want me to vacate my house, I’ll do that as well.”

The king spoke “You will do no such things, in fact, you will be offered a room here in the castle and an opportunity to continue your duties to the royal family.”

Now I was speechless “W…. Why, after all I’ve done.”

Sunflare took me in her magic and levitated me up to look her in the eyes, “Because you love our daughter, and because I can see the pain that being separated from her and being cast into the time alone has caused you.”

“But why?” I asked

The king spoke “Let me ask you this, if we had not been led to you, would you have turned that weapon on yourself?”

I looked down, if only they knew. “I don’t know…I miss her.”

“We can see that.” he replied

The queen stood up and began to drag me with her using her magic “Now the hour grows late, come, we shall show you your new quarters and let you rest.” the two of them led me to a room in the castle almost like the one that I was first in when I was in Canterlot. “You will be quartered in here.”

I walked in and lain down on the bed “Thanks.”

The queen continued “Your welcome, we can continue our earlier discussion tomorrow over breakfast.”

“Alright then, goodnight.” and with that the door closed, leaving me alone again.

--
So now you know why I want to die. I want this all to end. I didn't ask for this, all I wanted out of life was a peaceful life with Celestia. I almost had it too, if it wasn’t for the fucking tree….im going to bed.

Chapter 12- Adjusting

My third day back in time, my first full day with the parents of the mares that showed me love and compassion…quite surprising, I’m happy to say that I’m now writing this from the comfort of my home, which I now feel more at home in. Especially since I’ve been given the opportunity to do what I’m good at.

-----

I woke up in the room that the king and queen were nice enough to lend me, however I was not alone, the king and queen were sitting in front of my bed. I did a double take as the two of them smiled and Sunflare spoke

“Ah, I see you are awake, I hope you know that you snore very loudly.”

I sat up and pulled the covers off me to see that all my clothes, save my boxers, were missing “Uhh, may I ask where my clothes are and why your watching me sleep?”

The king and queen smiled as the levitated up another tactical uniform with my vest and battle belt and the king spoke “You mean these?”

“Yeah, may I ask why you undressed me?”

The queen spoke “Well because your old clothes were covered in dirt and sweat.”

“I could have gotten them.”

“No, not yet, we need to know that we can trust you.” the queen replied

“Oh come the fuck on, it’s not like I can do much against you, take a look at yourselves, then take a look at me, I have no magic, and no guns, just let me go and check up on my place, hell you can even take a tour of it instead of just my balcony, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna take a shower and put some clothes on, unless you don’t trust me enough to let me to use soap or dress myself.” I took the clothes and gear from their magic and walked into the bathroom and closed the door. About ten minutes later I was out of the shower and putting my clothes on, the queen had brought me my boots, tan tactical pants, a black shirt, my vest, and battle belt. I put all of it on and then opened the door and stepped out into the room to find the king and queen waiting outside the door, “So, what do you think?”

The queen answered “We have decided to grant you the ability to return to your home.”

“Great, lets go.” I began to walk to the door, but I found myself being held in their magic grasp

The queen spoke inquisitively “You wish to depart at such an early hour? You do realize that the woods are rife with Timberwolves and that you have not yet eaten anything.”

“Meh, I can make something at my place and as for the timber wolves, you do still have my pistol”

The queen was quick to speak “I know what you’re going to ask and the answer is no.”

“Ok, that's fine.” I replied and I kept trying to walk as they followed

The queen continued to speak “What? You’re not going to refute my decision? That seems very much unlike you.”

“Meh, the way I see it, there's not much I can do to stop you, and honestly I don't really have it in me to try anymore.”

There was a flach behind me and I looked to the that the king and queen were now wearing some sort of saddlebag or something. “And why is that?” the king asked

“I’m not a good man.” I replied as I walked out of the castle and down the path. The queen was right, it was still kind of dark out, a quick look at my watch revealed that it was just before 0600, but its not like I had that far to go. But as I walked down the trail I began to hear what sounded like a dog growling, A very big dog. “Your highness?”

The queen spoke “Yes?”

“Give me my gun…please.” and as I spoke a large timber wolf stepped out of the brush and walked toward me and the king and queen behind me. It was about 4 feet tall, had glowing green eyes, and some serious teeth on it.

Sunflare stepped forward with a smile “Oh don’t worry, it's only a timberwolf.” her horn glowed and a beam of light shot out of it and landed in front of the wolf causing it to scatter “See, not a problem at all, also, I told you so.” Right after she finished, the sound of trees breaking started to reach me ears, followed by a very deep growl.

“And what about that?”

The king and queen stepped in front of me as sunflare spoke “Johnathan, get behind us.” a large timberwolff stepped out of the woods and onto the path. It was basically like the last one, if the last one maintained a strict diet of steroids and red bull. it was about 20 feet tall on all fours and had a good set of teeth on it, teeth I planned to stay out of.

I took my face shield out of my pocket and pulled it over my mouth and nose looked to the king and queen “I have an idea, cover me.” I didn’t give them time to argue as I charged full bore at the massive wolf in front of me as sunflare and orbash started to unleash their magic on the wolf. As I got closer, I grabbed a smoke grenade from my belt and pulled the pin and let the spoon fly free as smoke began to pool out of the grenade around me, concealing my advance. I managed to get close to the wolf, but as I got to its paw I saw it was looking down at me with its other paw ready to strike “Shitbucket…Well this is gonna suck.” The paw came down and smacked me square in the chest and sent me flying back out of the smoke and into the dirt in front of the king and queen. The two ran up to me as I picked myself up off the ground. I felt an immense pain in my chest as I got up. “Ow” the king and queen just stared at me. I felt myself bleeding from a few places, but before they could start to fuss over my wounds or tell me how dumb my idea was, the wolf advanced out of the smoke.

Sunflare and Orbash kept firing beams of magic at it, but no matter what they hit it with, it kept reforming. The wolf kept moving towards us, and I noticed something though the opening in the queen’s bag, it was the grip of my pistol.

I shook my head as I worked myself up to do what I was about to do “Oh I’m going to be in so much trouble when this is over…fuck it.” I grabbed a magazine from my belt, reached into her bag, grabbed my pistol, loaded the mag in, and pulled back the slide, chambering the round.

Sunflare seemed to notice what I was doing as she stopped and pointed her horn towards me “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

I pushed her aside and raised my gun towards the head of the massive wolf “MY JOB!” I replied, and I began to fire the pistol at the wolfs head. As my rounds impacted its head and mouth it began to stagger back, and now that we were gaining ground, the king and queen began their attacks anew, firing their magic into it, meanwhile I was focused on getting headshots. I counted out 7 shots from my pistol, all of them headshots, I dropped behind the king and queen as I loaded a new mag, but it the wolf still stood, I reloaded and fired my next six shots at the head again, with the .45 caliber round ripping into the wood and causing damage that I saw wasn’t repairing, but I was on my last shot in the mag. The wolf was distracted with the two royals strafing it from the skies, I had to hit something vital, and I had the perfect idea. I lined up my shot and timed slowed, “Sight alignment…Sight picture…Squeeze the trigger.” I pulled the trigger and I felt the recoil, and watched as my shot hit home in this glowing eye. The wolf let out a roar in pain and clutched its eye in its paw before retreating back into the woods. The slide of my pistol had locked beck signifying it was out of ammo. In one fluid motion, I pressed the mag release and let the mag drop into my hands and put it in my dump pouch before taking another mag from my belt, slamming it into the pistol, and released the slide lock before placing the gun in my holster.

The king and queen landed in front of me, the former with a smile on his face, and the later looking at me like she wanted to kill me. “So.” I said “Shall we continue to my place?”

Sunflare spoke with anger in her voice “How dare you do that!”

“Do what? Save our asses? Protect the royal family?”

“No!” she yelled “How dare you use that vile weapon against our will!”

I looked her in the eyes as I calmly replied “I don’t care.”

“WHAT!?!?! Give me one good reason why I should not vaporize you were you stand”

“Because I made a promise to the one woman I love. I promised her that I would do anything in my power to protect her, her family, and her world. Because I could have just as easily shot the two of you or myself. So, you know what if your going to vaporize me then do it, because without her, my life has no meaning, and believe me, I would LOVE to turn my gun on myself, but thanks to that damn tree, I can’t!” I grabbed her horn and put it to my head “So really, I have no good reason, so go ahead, kill me. I want you to.”

I looked at her with tears in my eyes, as she just stared back at me. I saw the anger in her eyes fade away.

“KILL ME!”

She raised her horn and shook her head “No, I will not do it” she backed away “I now see who you are. I see what my husband sees in you, I see you are a sad, broken, and lonely man, one that we are going to endeavor to repair. We shall follow you to your place of living and allow you to take a few items with you. you will be living in the castle with us, and shall be by our sides until we deem otherwise.” She picked me up in her magic and started to pull me with her “Now come along, your house is not far from here and, and your wounds need to be patched up, plus you did say that you were going to make breakfast”. A short walk/float later, my cabin came into view.

“Ah, home sweet home.” they floated me up to the front door and I pushed it open, “Please, come in.”

The king and queen walked into my house and began to look around

“My medkit is in my pack, on the roof.”

The king went up to the roof and came back down with my rucksack in his magic and floated it over to me. I grabbed the kit out of my bag and then started to bandage the gashes on my arms, but the supplies started to float away.

“I can patch myself up, I’m fine.”

Sunflare spoke “No you are not John, now let me help you.” her horn glowed and she touched it to my head. The wounds on my head and the pain in my chest began do dull away as she performed the same spell on me that tia did. “Your very lucky that you weren’t hurt any worse… Why would you charge and enemy like that unarmed?”

“Because It’s my job to protect the royal family. I was hoping that I could buy the two of you time to come up with a solution.”

“I see…were you hoping that the beast would kill you?”

“…..Honestly, it didn’t matter if it did or didn’t, I’ve become apathetic.”

“I see………. There, all done.” she set me down on the ground and I walked to the kitchen

“I’m gonna make breakfast, feel free to look around.”

Both of them began to look around my home taking in the sights and taking to eachother, but they both stopped when they saw the pictures on the wall. Pictures of me and Celestia, that I’m guessing were another gift from the tree. I let them look around the house as I went into the kitchen and started to make breakfast, eggs over easy. I set out some plates and began to make some toast and coffee as the king and queen stepped in. “You two want cheese on your eggs? Maybe some coffee?”
The queen sat down at the table and raised her hoof “No, coffee, but I would like some cheese.”

“How about you Orbash?”

The king sat down next to his wife “I shall try some yes.”

I set down a mug and poured some in before filling my own mug, which was cut from a 105mm shell. And set down some sugar and milk on the table before going back to the stove. “Can I get you anything to drink Sunflare? Maybe some tea if I can find it?”

She smiled “Yes I think I would like that.”

I got out a pot, filled it with water, and set it on the stove to heat up while the eggs cooked, and a few minutes later, the three of us were sitting around my table eating. We sat in silence for a minuted before the king began to speak

The king began to speak “You have a nice home Johnathan.”

“Thank you, and please, just call me John.”

“But we have some questions.” said Sunflare

“Well then ask away.” I replied

The queen started “How much do you love our daughter?”

“Ah so were getting right to the point then.” I took a sip of my coffee “She’s the mare of my dreams and the only one in my heart. I promised her that I would do anything to protect her and her family. I was going to marry her, and when I found out that the tree took me from her…” I sighed and put my pistol on the table “I took this gun and tried to shoot myself with it.”

“Just as I suspected.” the queen replied “I’ve seen your true character. You are a good man with a damaged past. You try to hide yourself in a soldier’s persona, try to hide your pain, and the zen that you feel from a battle, and for most ponies, they wouldn’t know, but my husband and I, we are not most ponies. We saw how you were when those timberwolves attacked. In that moment the only thing that mattered to you was keeping us safe, even if it meant injury to yourself. We saw the brave warrior that our daughter will see in the future.” She placed her hoof on me “You need to forget about your past. Let your pain go. The lies that you say about yourself are untrue.”

The king spoke up, “We want you to tell us about your past. About what made believe these lies, about how you got here.”

“Why do you want to know? I mean last night your wife wanted to kill me.”

“Because we’ve seen who you really are.” he replied

“And because we want to help you be better.” the queen continued

I sighed and began to tell them my story, all of it, everything from my childhood up until I met them, and to their credit, they listened intently, even smiling when I told them that the three princesses took me into the family, “…and then after I built the still I went to the tree, then made my way back here, and well you two know the rest.”

As I finished, the two looked at each other and then the king spoke “May we excuse ourselves for just a second.”

“Yeah sure, I’ll start cleaning up.” I picked up the plates and started to wash them in the sink before refilling my coffee and sitting back down at the table for a minute before the king and queen walked back in.

Sunflare put her wing around me “I had no idea that is was that bad, for one to go through what you have gone though, it is truly heartbreaking.”

“I tried to kill myself your highness.”

“Yes, I know, but I thought it was due to your separation from your true love, but I was wrong, you have been led to believe these lies about yourself but that’s all they are, lies. And if you would allow us, we will prove that to you.”

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot you can-” their horns glowed and the world around me shimmered again, I found myself standing in some kind of expanse similar to space, but it was colored similarly to tias mane, and before me there were scenes, my time with Celestia, my dreams with her, me decking blueblood, and me taking shots at the Timberwolf “…Do.”

Sunflare raised her wings high “You are damaged John, but you are still a good man, you are compassionate, loving, brave.” the scene of the three princesses hugging me after I accepted their offer to rule besides them “and a man that we would be happy to welcome into our family.” I stared at the scene before me and I could feel the three princesses hugging me again, before I turned back to the king and queen behind me as the king stepped forward “You have proven yourself to us.” He raised up a set of armor, similar to that of the guards, but different. This one was for a human, and it was all black. “We want to give you your position as a guard to the royal family.”

I looked at them for a second. “I’ll do it, im going to be spending time with you two anyay, so I mind as well do something then.” I pushed away the armor “And don’t worry, I have my own gear.”

“I don’t think so.” the queen spoke “You will be wearing our armor.” she pushed it back to me

“I don’t need to, I have my own, and if we could go back to my house I’d show you.”

“Fair enough.” Their horns glowed and with a flash, the world around me returned to what it once was, my house “Now go fetch this armor of yours, and we shall put it to the test against ours.”

“Why do I get the feeling that ‘put to the test’ is gonna be a lot more destructive than I think?”

“Maybe because you’re finally starting to understand us.”

“Yeah I doubt that.” I said as I walked up to the roof and pulled the armoured plates out of my vest, and brought them back down.

The queen was baffled “This is your armour!? Two metal plates!”

“They’re not just metal, their AR500 steel plates, its class A3 armour. that’s some of the best armor on I’ve got, watch” I took the plate from her magic, walked out of my house, and placed the plate against a tree about 50 feet away. “Now with your permission, I’d like to test my armor.”

The king and queen looked at each other before the king spoke “Permission granted.”

I smiled and brought out my pistol and fired a shot into the plate. There was a loud clang and I holstered my pistol. I walked up to the plate and brought it back “See, not even a scratch, now lets try yours.”

Sunflare smiled as she put the royal armor on the stump. “Why don’t you try something bigger than that pistol?”

“Like what?” I asked

There was a flash and my sword appeared in front of Orbash, and an Barrett M82A1 appeared in front of Sunflare. I did a double take at the sight of the massive rifle in Sunflare’s magical grasp.

“I can understand why you’d want me to use a sword, but why the fifty cal? I mean I’d assume that you want there to be some armor left after the testing, and even then, the shot is gonna send this thing flying a mile away.”

Sunflare just smiled “Oh you’ll see.”

I took the rifle in my hands and loaded a round into the chamber “Ok, just warning you, that there isn’t going to be much armor.” I lined up the armor and pulled the trigger as the massive rifle roared and the large round flew downrange and struck the armor and sent it flying into the tree behind it and through the scope of the rifle I could see that it was still intact, with not even a scratch on the paint “…..Left.” I walked down to the armor and just stared at it and then I looked back at the king and queen “What the fuck is this thing made of!?!?!?”

Orbash stepped forward “It is the same material that the armor for ourselves is made out of, and it had been enhanced with many enchantments.”

“And what are these enhancements?” I asked

Sunflare spoke “It is resistant to heat, cold, blades, and many other things, including lightning. It has also been enchanted to grant its user enhanced speed and strength, in order for the user to stand a chance against most foes, and even grants the user fight.”

“It does what?”

Sunflare’s horn lit up and lifted the armor up and with a flash, a pair of wings unfolded from the armor and spread wide as she spoke “This armor was designed for the protector of the royal family, thus is must meet the royal family’s expectations, and allow the user to be able to keep up with the royal family in all aspects, including flight and magic.”

“Well shit, I hate to admit it, but your right, your armor is better than mine in all aspects...except one.”

The king and queen looked at me inquisitively as the queen asked “And what aspect is that?”

“Simple, your armor doesn’t have MOLLE.”

“What in Equestria is MOLLE?” the king asked

“And why is it so important that it makes your fabric and metal vest better?” the queen continued

“MOLLE stands for Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment. It's used to hook the magazine pouches and many other things onto my tactical vest, and without it, I wouldn’t be able to effectively use my equipment or my fighting style, which would hinder my combat capabilities and I assume that you would not want your personal guard to be hindered in combat would you?”

“No, we would not” the king responded.

The queen just stood there glaring at me “…...Very well, we will find a way to incorporate this Molly into your new armor, but for now, grab your things and meet us back here, we must return to the castle soon.”

“Ok, I'll get my pack and gear…but can I take the still along?”

“No.” the queen responded “We will not have you stumbling around the halls drunk.”

“Fair enough.” I said as I walked into the door of my house and began to get my clothes and gear ready to go “Who the fuck pissed in her cornflakes this morning?” I filled one duffle bag with clothes, one duffel bag with technology, parts to build technology, and my laptop. I then went to the gun room. “Now comes the hard part, what to choose.” I spent some time going through each gun and choosing the few that I would bring with me. I opted to go with an M45A1 pistol, a WP 870, because CQB. I chose an HK MP7 because more CQB. For my rifle I went with the Colt M4, because it’s a nice reliable weapon that I’m familiar with, and because it can be used for many situations. And then for long range, I went with the McMillan Tac-338 sniper rifle. I figured that .338 would be a good choice because I can have a balance between speed and power. With my bags packed I walked outside, closed and locked my door, and turned to face the king and queen. “Ok, lets go.”

The king and queen raised their heads and their horns glowed as Orbash spoke “We have decided to take the fast way home.”

“Teleportation?” I asked

“Yes.” he replied and with a blinding flash I was back in the room that I had spent the night in, and would now be spending many lonely nights in. I set my bags down and then fell to my knees as a wave of nausea overtook me “Little warning next time.”

The king winced and the queen walked up to me “Are you alright Johnathan?”

I laid down on the ground and closed my eyes, “Just….gimme a sec.”

“I probably should have mentioned that the first teleport will have…side effects on non-magical beings.”

“Ya don’t say.” I replied. After about ten minutes, I felt good enough to stand. The king and queen had left me to unpack, so I began to do just that when somepony began to knock at my door.

“Who is it?” I asked

I heard the voice of the king on the other side “Its us.” I opened the door to see that both the king and queen were in fact on the other side of the door. “We wanted to check on you to make sure that the teleportation was not having any more negative effects on you.”

“Its ok, Im fine.” I replied “I’m just starting to unpack.”

He continued, “Yes I see…. well then we will give you the day to yourself to let you get accustomed to the castle and unpack your things. Tomorrow you will start your position.”

“Ok, then.” I replied. I turned to close the door but Sunflare put her hoof in the way and stopped it

“Johnathan.”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t do anything stupid.”

“I thought everything I did was stupid.”

She put her hoof on me “Johnathan I'm serious.”

“Look, you’ve only known me for a day and I haven’t exactly been the kindest guy. So please be truthful with me here, are you just doing this so I don’t shoot myself?”

“I…...We….I…I don’t have an answer.”

"Yeah I thought as much...look you should probably get to work, so I'll stop keeping you from it, but before you go, I just want to know one thing.”

“And what is that?” the Queen responded

“Why did you bring my pistol with you?”

“Well if it was as destructive as you said, I was hoping that we were hoping to get to see you use it to attain a better understanding of its workings.”

“That would explain why you just followed me instead of not letting me leave the castle or using teleportation…. that’s all I got, and you have a kingdom to run so I'll be in here the rest of the day if you need me" and with that the two turned and left. I'm surprised that they did, I mean honestly, I thought that they'd put up more if a fight, but I guess they figured that I was right...or maybe they're planning something.

After an hour or two of setting myself up in my room I sat down on the balcony and held the pendant from the royal sisters in my hand and stared at it. I was separated from them for the time being and there was nothing I could do about it. Only god knows how they are feeling whenever they are, forget about me, at the moment all I could do was think about their well-being. I let the pendant fall back to my body with a small metal Klink, and drew out my flask from my pocket and sipped shine as I watched the horizon. But before I could finish it off, I heard a very faint sound of a teleportation spell. So, before my “guest” could do anything else, I drew my pistol and whipped around to see Starswirl standing in my room “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”

Starswirl stood there for a few moments looking at me in shock and confusion before I holstered my pistol “Oh…Well I’m very surprised that you heard me.”

“Don’t be.” I replied “The king and queen did the same trick on me a few nights ago, and I’m surprised that I heard it at all.”

“Ah I see, a warrior must adapt and whatnot.” he rubbed his chin with his hoof and floated my flask up to his nose and sniffed it before dropping it and coughing “However, I didn’t think that a warrior of your skills would require whatever liquor this is to function.”

I picked up the flask and pocketed it “Let me make this clear, one, I am not a Warrior, I’m a fake. Before I woke up in this world, er in the future to be precise, I was a fat, idiotic, depressed, coward. The only thing that has changed about me is my physical appearance and my physical status.”

“So?” he replied “You choose who you want to be, Celestia saw you as her warrior, and I believe the king and queen are coming around to you as well.”

“Yeah we’ll see how long that lasts.” I replied

“What do you mean?” he asked

“It’s simple really, in the end I’m going to fuck up. Don’t know how or when, but I will be the one that ruins my life.”

Starswirl floated my flask up again “Well then I see you’ve decided to take the fastest route to that ending then” he tossed it back to me “Maybe you’re right, I don’t know why the king and queen would allow a depressed drunk in their company, but remember this, you may not care about yourself.” his horn glowed again and my pendant and tags raised off my chest “But SHE does.” And with that he walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving me there alone with my thoughts.

Chapter 13- The Villain of the Piece

An island in the of Equestria, currently not mapped. The area around it dark, dead, and ravaged, and in the middle of it, a dark castle rises like a needle injecting its poison into the world. Inside it, sits a pony adorned in jagged armor, one of darkness, one who seeks to drain the life from this world. The one they call Pauron. His voice deep and surrounded by shadows and echoes, and before him, a cowering beast made of timber “What do you mean they were saved?”

The wolf stepped forward “My liege, just as we were about to carry out your orders, another being managed to stop us with this.” the wolf raised its paw up to the dark pony and opened it to reveal a small piece of metal

“What is this? You and your pack was defeated by a small scrap of metal” flames began to pour out of nowhere and forming behind the dark pony. “Give me one reason why I don’t drain the life from you where you stand”

“M-My liege, the being was using a weapon, one that we have never seen before, one of immense power, but not magical. One that our regenerative powers could not best, unlike the king and queens magic.”

The dark pony rubbed his chin, “And what being possesses this weapon?”

“It stood on two legs and-and arms and hands, its face was featureless, just a white mark in the shape of some kind of skull.”

“You idiot, that was a human in a mask! I thought you said that the king and queen had banished them!”

“T-t-they did my liege, my minions saw them perform the spell.”

“Then how is it that a human was around to save them!”

“I do not know my liege.”

“Hmm…...It matters not, this human could become a great ally…leave this place before I decide to punish your failure.”

“Y-y-yes my liege.” and the wolf scampered out

“Hmm…a human…if he is anything like his brethren, then he should be easy to take care of, and then the king and queen shall fall…and the world will be mine for the taking.” as Pauron thought said this he began to laugh maniacally, his laughter seeming to echo through the castle as well as the rest of the world.

I snapped awake and sat up in bed sweating and breathing hard “What the fuck did I just dream about?” I slowly got up and shook my head “Fuck it, I don’t care anymore, after what I’ve been through over the past months, that is probably normal…...I need a coffee.” I got up out of bed and slowly made my way down to the kitchen and made myself a cup before going back to my room. Of course, there was a royal guard trying and failing to follow me covertly. You think that’s since they’ve been doing it ever since I got here a month ago they be better now, but whatever I guess. I’m just going to let the king and queen could do whatever. I got back to my room, or at least what had been my room for the past two weeks, and sat down on my balcony with my drink and listened to the sound of the forest. There wasn’t much happening so I checked my watch and saw that the time was about 0600. Most of the castle was probably still asleep. So, I spent some time sitting on the balcony before I got an idea. “I’m probably going to be in some trouble for this but I don’t care, I need something to do.” I got up from my chair, put some clothes on, grabbed my shotgun and MP7, along with my pack and some ammo for the two, and then walked out to my balcony. From the looks of it, the room was in a tower about 300 feet off the ground. “Well shitbucket, that cuts off that route of escape, but then again…” I turned around and walked back into my room and began to look through my stuff. “It’s got to be here somewhere…..bingo.” I picked up the a bundle of rope and walked back out to my balcony, secured it to the railing, then tossed it over the side and hooked in. “Let’s hope the air guard isn’t up.” and with that I began to rappel down the side. Now you’re probably wondering, “Why not just take the front door?”, well that answer is simple. Since the king and queen tasked a guard to me, I know for a fact that they aren’t going to let me waltz on out the door, thus I needed to find another way out.

I reached the ground and unhooked from the line, and began my walk to my house. The twenty minutes was very uneventful, but I still kept my shotgun at the ready in case I ran into more trouble. As I approached my house, I saw that the door was partly open. I stopped at the edge of the tree line and racked the shotgun. Of course, I put a few bean bag rounds in there, but I also had a few slugs just in case. I made my way up to the front door and silently entered my house. I could hear a voice inside the garage, so I cleared the house before making my way there.

“Hmm, this is very interesting indeed.” said the voice on the other side.

I kicked open the door and raised my gun “On the fucking ground asshole!” and standing before me in my gunsight, frozen in fear, was none other than Starswirl himself. “Starswirl?...What the fuck are you doing in my house!?”

He remained frozen for a second, but began to speak more as I lowered my gun “Uhh…. I…. Well…I w-was performing research.”

“What kind of research requires you breaking into my FUCKING HOUSE!!”

“If you would calm down I would tell you.”

I sighed “…...You know I could have shot you.”

“Yes, I know, but the risk was worth it so study who you are as a person, which I was doing, until I saw this thing here.” He gestured over to my truck with his hoof “What exactly is it?”

“It’s called a truck. It’s a type of powered vehicle that allows me a fast means of transportation to almost any location, I actually came here to mount a weapon on it and take it for a drive.”

“Well then, I am going to come with you.”

I chuckled “I never took you for a comedian”

“I’m not joking.” he replied

“Well you’re not coming along, I came out here to be alone.”

He rubbed his chin “And did you have the permission of the king and queen to do so?”

“I don’t need their permission to go to my home.” I replied

“If I remember correctly, the castle is also your home.”

“Ah yes, because I obviously want to get stalked by guards all day.” I quipped

“That could happen here, all I would have to do is cast a simple spell and I could have an entire regiment here.”

“You wouldn’t.” I responded

“I would…but I think I can look past this transgression and tell the king and queen that I asked you to come with me if you take me with you.”

I stared at him for a few seconds, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. “……. Fuck…Fine, you win, get in the damn truck…BUT don’t touch anything!”

He smiled at me and I walked back into the gun room and grabbed the 50 cal and a some ammo boxes for it. I then carried them all back to the garrage and mounted the gun to the truck, and placed an ammo box next to it, so if I needed to jump on the gun, all I would have to do is load the belt in, cock it and fire. I secure the spare boxes in the bed and I opened the drivers door to a slight surprise. From the looks of it, Starswirl had jumped into the driver’s seat and touched everything.

“Are these the controls to this machine?”

“Get the fuck outta that seat! My truck, I drive…and yes…. now move.”

He got out of the seat and got into the passenger seat “Well come on, I am anxious to see how it works.” He floated up a quill and some paper

“Just don’t distract me” I replied as I got into the truck and unclipped my carabiner with my keys on it and put the key into the ignition, pressed a button that opened my garage doors, and turned the key, starting the truck. As the trucks engine, rumbled and came to life, Starswirl began to take notes furiously, and he kept looking at me like a kid on Christmas. “If you think this is good, just hang on.” I turned on the radio and I definitely knew it was my truck. I smiled as Slipknot began to blare from the speakers as I floored the accelerator. The trucks engine screamed, and the trucked launched out of the garage. The force of the acceleration sent Starswirl into the back of his seat, and I let my foot off the pedal as the truck reached 80 MPH.

“This…This machine is amazing!” Starswirl shouted

“Yeah it is, and it’s all mine.” I slowed the truck down to a stop as we came into an open field. It was a field I had seen before, this…this was where ponyville would rise.

Starswirl looked over at me as I put the truck in park and turned it off “Why did you stop?”

“This field is where the town that first took me in when I got here will rise.” I pointed over to the mountain “And that’s where Canterlot will rise.”

“Ah, you are homesick aren’t you.”

“…I’m not going to lie, I am…I miss my beautiful princess.” I got out of the truck and leaned on it.

“Yes, I saw that.” He got out and walked up to me

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said a few weeks back, everything you said…you were right…I’m a sorry excuse for a man.”

“No, I was wrong. I’ve seen your home, you are a good man Johnathan, you were taken away from the love of your live and thrust into this time. Your reactions are just, but you have made some ignorant decisions.”

I chuckled “Story of my life.” I sat down on the grass and put my back against the tire

Starswirl sit down with me and I felt him place a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up to see Starswirl had taken off his hat and laid it down next to him. “You are a good man John, I see it, the king and queen see it.” his horn glowed and I saw that he was levitating my pendant and tags up “And they see it. You’ll get back to them, I promise you that.”

I held the pendant in my hand and pulled it close to me. I felt it grow warm and I could have sworn I felt Celestia's lips on my cheek, but before I could do anything else, I heard what sounded like the footsteps of a large animal, and the sound of trees cracking. I slowly reached my hand into my truck, and pulled out my guns. And motioned for Starswirl to stay down. I peeked my head over the truck and saw that it was the same wolf thing that attacked me before. I quickly pulled up my face shield over the lower half of my face, and pulled a pair of shooting sunglasses out and put them on before maneuvering to the back of the truck and getting on the bed of it and firing the non-lethal round into the air and loaded my lethal rounds “Hey ugly! Looking to get your ass kicked again!”

The wolf slowly turned toward me and spoke “You are the human that defeated us earlier…our master Pauron the great wishes to speak to you. he wishes for you to join his conquest of the world.”

I slowly started to walk around the bed and ready the .50 cal. “Oh really?”

“Yes, but first he wishes to know your name.”

I smiled under my mask “Call me Reaper, and how much would I stand to make off this?”

Starswirl stood up and pointed his horn at me “You traitor!”

The beast reeled “The gray beard! Master must know of this!” the beast turned to run

“Oh, come the fuck on.” I whipped around and brought the browning to bear on the wolf, and opened fire, the massive rounds tearing the beast apart and rendering it into nothing but wood chips. “I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere except my fireplace.”

I was about to get off the gun when a magical beam blasted by me “Stay where you are traitor!”

“Oh, you have got to be shitting me, you ruined the element of surprise, and I’m the traitor?”

Starswirl looked at me confused

“Wait, you seriously thought I was going to join them? Fuck no!”

“Well then why were you saying that you were considering his offer?”

“Because I wanted to keep him distracted while I readied the gun. I got lucky that all I had to do was get behind it and cock it when you blew the element of surprise.” I walked over to the what remained of the wolf and started to pick up the pieces “Now come on, grab some firewood.”

Starswirl just stood there.

“Come on man, this stuff aint gonna pick itself up.” I knelt down to pick up more wood, when I saw a tiny black orb, maybe the size of a marble. “Hey what’s this?” I picked it up and handed it to Starswirl

“That is what gives the wolf the ability to reconstruct itself, but it’s supposed to be green, this one has been corrupted somehow…...or maybe enhanced.”

I took the orb back and placed it on a tree stump “Well then.” I took out my shotgun and pulled the trigger, firing the slug into the tiny orb, and basically turning it into dust.

This shocked Starswirl and prompted him to yell, “What was that for! I was going to study that!”

I put the gun back in the truck and a bunch of wood in the back before responding “Better safe than sorry…. now come on, I’ve gotten my fill of memory lane, and this field is too open. I’ve lost the tactical advantage, now get in the truck.” he just stood there as I opened my door and started the engine “Come on, unless you want to walk.”

He just closed his mouth and got in the truck. We sat there as I drove back to the house, and only when I turned the truck off in the garage did he say anything “I don’t know if I will ever truly understand you or your actions.”

“If you want my advice, don’t.”

“John, despite all that has happened, this doesn’t change my opinion of you, you ARE a good man.”

Before I could respond, the voice of the queen came from behind me as her and Orbash walked into the garage through the now open garage door. “Yes, he his, and he is now going to explain himself.”

I sighed “Of course you found out of my escape.” I turned around to see that the two were looking very pissed.

The queen spoke first“Yes, we did. Would you care to explain why?”

I was about to open my mouth when Starswirl moved in front of me and spoke “I asked him to come out here to help me survey this area. I did not feel right entering his home without his consent or his presence here in case it was booby trapped.”

The queen raised and eyebrow and looked at me “Is that what really happened?”

I looked to Starswirl and back “Yes, it is.”

“Well if you were being watched by Starswirl, then my anger can be excused, however, my husband and I are wondering why there is a copious amount of wood in the back of your…truck as you call it, and why there is a piece of it sticking out of your right arm.”

“Wait there is?” I asked as I looked over on my arm to see a small piece of wood had stuck itself in there and that the wound was bleeding. “Huh, would you look at that, there is, as for the wood in the back of the truck, well I ran into that wolf thing from a few weeks ago, let’s just say we won’t have to worry about him anymore…as for the wound, well you can ignore it, I’m gonna go get some plyers, gauze, and alcohol.” I walked over to the work desk in the garage and pulled out some plyers and took out some gauze from my med-kit, but before I could get to my still, I was cut off by the king.

“And what do you intend to do with those items?”

“Well isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna take the wood out of my arm, disinfect the wound, then wrap it”

“That process sounds painful” the king commented

“Oh, it probably will, that’s the second reason for the alcohol”

The queen stepped in as well, blocking my escape from behind “In that case, we cannot allow you to do that”

As she finished her sentence, blood from my wound began to flow down my arm, and onto the ground. I looked at the queen who was looking at the wound, the blood, and then back to me as I said “Were ignoring that.”

“No, we are not!” she replied before she pulled me close and held me close to her with her hoof as her horn glowed and began to work its healing magic on my arm. It painlessly removed the fragment, and then began to heal the wound before my eyes

As she finished healing it and let me go I turned around and yelled at her “The fuck did you do that for!?”

She yelled back “You would rather bleed and suffer pain from infection in your arm!?”

“Yes!......I’m responsible for my own self, wounds and all.” I turned away from her and put the plyers back in the work desk and my gauze back in my med-kit.

She looked at me for a few seconds before speaking “Johnathan, you may find it hard to believe, but I do care about you. I consider you a member of our family, and I want what’s best for you. I want you to be able to live a happy life.” She lifted her hoof up to my shoulder and turned me around to look in her eyes, “I want to make sure that you make it back to our daughters in the future, because my husband and I believe that there is no one better suited for the task of protecting them than you.” The king stepped up next to her and they both opened their wings as much as they could in the garage, and their horns glowed as the king spoke

“Johnathan, we have decided that it is time to bestow your armor upon you.”

“Oh?...well, where is it?” I asked.

“Follow us outside and we shall bestow it upon you.” The king replied

“Or we could just do it in here.”

“Oh, shut it and come outside Johnathan, it will be easier as well as less dangerous.” the queen replied before wrapping me in her magic and dragging me outside. “Now stand still” their horn glowed and with a flash, I felt a strong weight all over my body, and my vision became obscured. I looked around to see what their armor was. It was a bunch of old metal plates, kind of like a knight armored suit, but a lot heavier, and on top of my head, was an old guards helmet.

“Uhh what is this?” I asked

“Your armor.” the queen replied with a smile

“I seriously doubt that you expect me to protect you in this, this isn’t practical for me at all!”

“Oh, we do, but it’s not done yet, we still have to bestow magic onto your armor”

“Ah I see, you just wanted to get a laugh out of me first”

“Yes, now stand still.” the queen replied.

“And think of an armor that best supports the way you fight.” The King finished.

I did as they said. I stood there and began to think of an armor that would work best with both firearms, as well as swords or whatever weapon that I had. As I did this, their horns glowed and I put the helm back on and signaled to them that I was ready. Right after I gave them the thumbs-up, a beam of magic leapt from both their horns and struck me square in the chest and radiated over me for about 30 seconds before a burst of it hit me all over and sent me flying back about 50 feet and knocked the wind out of me.

The king and queen ran up to me as I got my breath back and as I laid there on the ground, I offered only this remark, “Why does magic fucking hate me?” the king and queen smiled as they helped me to my feet before the king spoke

“Feel any different?”

I took a second to assess how I felt, more specifically, I could barely feel the weight of the armor on me, “Well the armor feels lighter.” I replied.

“Well that’s because it’s been imbued with out magic.” The queen replied, and as she did she made a mirror appear “Take a look.”

The king began to speak “We put some thought into your armor, and we decided it would be wrong to rob you of your combat abilities with your weapons of choice, so we took your…vest as you called it, and applied some magic.”

“Please tell me you didn’t break into my room and fuck with my stuff.”

“No, we broke into your room and improved upon the thing that will keep you safe should you be attacked.” the king responded.

I sighed. “Well at least your honest about the breaking into my room part…Why can’t a guy have any privacy?” they opened their mouths to speak but I stopped them “I was being rhetorical….so what ‘improvements’ did you make?”

The queen smiled “I’m glad you asked” their horns glowed and with a flash their armor disappeared of my body, and re-appeared in front of me, but instead of the blank metal pieces that it was originally, it now looked like the demon love child of my vest and their armor. The leg pieces had been adjusted so that they were less stiff, and on the right of the right leg piece, there was a holster for a shotgun, and inside it sat the 870, and on the front of it there was a place for a knife. On the left leg piece, there was another sheath for a knife, but that was it. Moving up to the chest piece, around the waist area, there was something similar to my battle belt, but it was still fully connected to the armor, as to not leave a gap. On the front of the armor, MOLLE had been added so I could put my mag pouches on it, and a scabbard for my sword had been added to the back, and tucked under the scabbard, looked to be a pair of wings. Moving onto the arm pieces, on the right, there was another scabbard for a knife, some places to put some shotgun shells, and it moved down into an armored glove. On the left, there was some places to put large caliber sniper rounds, and on the arm, it moved down to some kind of screen on the left just after my hand, which upon closer inspection turned out to be my phone. And as I looked at the caliber of the rounds on the vest, it seemed that it had been made to accommodate the weapons that I had brought with me to the castle. The king and queen just stood there as I stared at it, but before long, the queen spoke. “Well try to put it back on now” I picked up the armor and before I could try to slide it on, the armor itself moved. It became dark for a second, almost like a shadow. I looked around to see where it went, but I soon realized that the armor was now on my body.

“Well this is actually pretty badass.” I commented.

The king spoke, “Yes we thought you would like it. It has been customized to work with most of your weapons.”

“Huh, using magic to tailor make my armor” I again looked to the bullets on my vest “…. And let me guess, you also decided it would be beneficial to look at my guns while you broke into my room?”

“Yes.”

I sighed “Is nothing private?”

The queen responded “Well it is our castle.”

“True, but you got to have some faith in me” I countered.

“Ah yes, we shall put our faith into a man who has attempted suicide twice.” The king responded.

“Ow…now that’s just cold” I replied

The Queen cut in again. “But that’s not all, look at your helm.”

I took it off my head and what I saw amazed me. The helm covered both my head and face, and what I saw was a masterpiece. On the front of it, was a white skull similar to the one on my face shield. The eyes were covered with black glass, and the entire helmet was made of their metal, but the inside was cushioned with padding. I put it on and noticed that as I did, a HUD appeared in the glass and the control pad on my left arm lit up “Holy shit, made you think to do this?”

The queen replied. “You did. Like you said, the armor is tailor made. The magic has changed it based of your thoughts and ours. The armor itself will give you the ability of flight and magic, as well as boosting your physical abilities, allowing you to spar with the strongest warriors in the land and come out on top.”

The king cut in, “In essence, it turns you into an alicorn, almost on par with our power.”

“So that means magic should come easy to me right?” I asked

“Not exactly.” the king replied “While it is true that your magical power is almost the same as that of an alicorn, you must first learn a spell in order to perform it. So while you will be able to master spells easily, you will not be able to perform them all.”

“Got i.t” I replied

“There is a difference between magical power and ability.” Sunflare finished.

“Huh…...So how do I look?” I asked

“Do you want the truth?” the queen asked

“Yes” I replied.

She looked at me in the eyes as she replied, “You look like a monster…like darkness”

“Good.” I replied

“Why is that?” the king asked.

“The simple answer is that it will strike fear into my enemies…... the more in depth one is that it almost mirrors how I see myself on the inside.”

“You do realize that if we wanted to we could change that armor to a bright gold or blue or something else.” the queen replied

“You wouldn’t.” I replied

The queens horn glowed, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”

I sighed, “You don’t want ‘good people’ protecting you from evil. The ones that shake hands or keep everyone happy…No, you want those who have stood in the darkness for long enough …that they became it.”

The king and queen stared at me for a while, I don’t know what they were doing, but eventually the queen spoke “I see…..now come along, it’s time to return to the castle before anypony sees that we are gone.” And with that, she took off followed by her husband, and with a flash, Starswirl had disappeared as well, leaving me on my own

I sighed and picked up my guns and holstered them “Looks like I’m walking.” I began to make my way to the trail while studying the features of my HUD, I had a location display which was currently put up onto the castle, and a small ammo counter that switched with my guns.

From the looks of it, I could make some tech to link up with it and use it in tandem with my gear. It took me about an hour, but I finally made it back to my room. I couldn’t get through the front door because of my looks with my armor, and since I had no idea how to get the armor off, I had to climb back up into my room. At least the helmet was like a helmet and I could get that off, but the rest I had no idea. Fortunately, it looks like the king and queen were waiting in my room for me “Am I going to have to change my locks?”

The queen smiled “We can teleport.”

I replied “Oh bite me…now can you tell me how to get this armor off?”

The queen used her magic to lift my arm up as se spoke, “Well there are claps and some ties, but that method would take time, and there may be some cases where speed will be required.”

“So how do I get it on or off quickly then?” I asked

The king replied “It’s simple, just will it off.”

“And how exactly do I do that?” I replied.

The king stepped up “Just close your eyes and imagine a wind blowing on you”

I did as he said “Ok, now what?”

“Imagine that wind blowing a little harder, and its slowly taking your armor with it. Imagine it slowly fading off of you.”

I did as he said. I concentrated on the wind and when I opened my eyes, I saw that the right arm of my armor was gone.

“Good, now do the same for the rest.”

I tried to do the same, but I think the astonishment kept me from fully concentrating, because try as I might, I could not get the rest off. “Uhh Houston we may have a problem, I can’t get the rest off.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ve done well enough.” The king responded. Both their horns glowed and the armor faded into shadow and disappeared

I watched as it went, and found myself wondering about it. “May I ask where it goes?”

“I could tell you but with your own lack of understanding of magic, I doubt you’d understand.”

“Fair enough.” I replied, though I had my ideas of where it would go. “So why do this all now?”

The queen stepped forward and I saw Starswirl behind them with a look of worry on his face “Well we have decided that it is time for you to know…I am pregnant.”

I stood there in awe “You…you mean…for how long?”

The queen replied “10 months…she is due in 1 month from now.”

“I…that’s amazing.” I reached down for the pendant on my neck and held it tightly “…I’ll pack up my stuff”

“Why?” the queen asked

“Well I figured that I’m not exactly the kind of person that you would want to have in the castle while you are raising a child.” I walked over to my bags and picked it up, but as I did, the blue magic aurora, and the marigold magic aurora of the king and queen wrapped around me and my bags, putting my bags back in the closet, and floating me in between the two of them.

“You’re not going anywhere.” the queen replied “We choose you as the family guard, and we aren’t letting you quit.” She raised my pendant up with her hoof “They wouldn’t let you quit……...I know you find this hard to believe, but over the past few weeks of your residency in or home, we have come to consider you part of our family, not just our protectorate.”

“Ah yes, because it’s obviously been me protecting you.” I remarked

“Sarcasm aside, you are right, we are capable of handling ourselves in most situations, but do you remember that wolf?” the queen turned me to look into her eyes.

“Yes.” I replied

“That is proof that there are some things that you can keep us safe from, and it’s also proof that you need protection.”

“You two would have figured it out eventually, and besides that’s why I have armor.”

“Not that kind of protection. You don’t need protection from others, you need protection from yourself.” the queen replied

Her answer was true, I was a danger to myself, but it also got me thinking about earlier today. “And speaking of that wolf, how did he know Starswirl?”

The two set me down from their magic before the king stepped in, clearly having thought of his answer beforehand. “Ah yes, he informed us that he referred to him as the gray beard. Well Starswirl is well known throughout the land as a master of the magic arts, perhaps the beast feared him because he could counter his regeneration.”

“Yeah that could be it.” I doubted his answer, there was more to what happened, but at the moment I didn’t want to ruin the mood by pressing the matter. “Well enough about me, when is she due?”

The queen smiled, I think she was happy to move on as well, but I could detect a hint of worry behind her mask of cheer. Even the king was discontented. Trust me, after having a mask both physical and metaphorical on myself for a long time, I know how to see through them. “Well unlike humans, ponies take 11 months to have children. So, she is due in a month from now, so June”

“Wait its May?”

“Yes, I assumed that you would have figured that out.” the king answered

I looked at both of them and deadpanned, “I plead the magic tree that I think likes to take joy in fucking with me.”

“Ah, I see, Yes, the tree of harmony works in mysterious ways.” The queen answered

“Well at least I know now.” I replied. “I take it you’ve already settled on a name?”

The queen beamed, “Yes, we have, as you know our daughters name shall be Celestia, and her eventual sister shall be named Luna.”

“Yeah, time travel will do that, honestly, I’m getting a headache thinking about it, but sorry.”

She shook her head “There is nothing to be sorry about, both of us were happy to see the pictures I your home, and the ones that you keep in here. It helps us to know that our daughters will grow into wonderful mares. That they will one day be there to help you.”

She used her magic to lift the pendant up into my view “You’ll get back to them Johnathan” she studied it a little longer before realizing something that had been a suspicion of mine “This pendant has been imbued with their magic. I can sense three distinct auroras” she didn’t get much time to study it because the pendant began to spew out light, and when it faded away after a few seconds, all three princesses were standing before us. The queen doubled back in shock as Orbash moved up ready to fight, and Starswirl stood there mesmerized. All the queen could say was “How did you get here? Did the pendant bring you here to console your lover?”

The three princesses offered no response and the king tried to touch them, but his hoof phased right through them “What is this?” he asked

“They’re projections…. Its a message for you two I think.” I replied. The three projections moved away from the king and queen and surrounded me, with the projection of Luna on my right, Tia in the middle, and cadence on the left. I went and sat down next to my table and started cleaning my shotgun while the images of the three princesses all just stood there. For a second I thought that’s all that was going to happen, but then the projection of Celestia stepped forward “Mother, Father, if you are seeing this then John has most likely given you permission to investigate the magic coming from the pendant around his neck. That magic is ours. We put it in the amulet for him, so he wouldn’t be alone. Please do be kind to him, he is my husband to be, he is going to be the father of our eventual child.” I stopped what I was doing and looked up. To the image of Celestia as it turned around to face me “That’s right my handsome prince, you will one day be a father. I’m not going to let this separation hurt our love.” she stepped back and Luna stepped forward “Mother, father, I know that by now, Johnathan will most likely have done something extremely idiotic and brash.”

“More than once.” the queen replied

“Hey!” I interjected

“But just know that while he may not be the easiest individual, he is a good man, one haunted by his past. But under the royal families tutelage, maybe he can one day move past his pain, but until then please, watch over him as we have.” she stepped back and the image of Cadance stepped forward and bowed.

“Your highnesses I am Princess Mi Amore Cadance, princess of the crystal empire, and the niece to Celestia and Luna. I came to know John very shortly after he came to Equestria. I presided over the marriage of him and Celestia. He is a very good man, and the three of us want him back in one piece. Although his heart is broken, it is still pure, and myself, Luna, and Celestia were just beginning to put it back together. I hope that you can add a few pieces to our work…and keep john safe. Although he is very caring, he does have a nasty habit of forgetting his own needs….we love him.” she stepped back with the other two and all three of the images disappeared.

“How did they have the time to come up with all this?” I asked

“When you care for someone as deeply as they do for you, you make the time.” The king responded.

“Touché.” I went and sat back down at the table and continued cleaning my guns while the three of them watched on in awe

Starswirl was the first to shake the shock and walk up to me “And you don’t have any other reaction to what just happened?”

I looked up at him while beginning to re-assemble the shotgun, a mix of anger and sadness brewing in me “Oh yeah I do, but if I let those emotions out…” I racked the pump on the shotgun “it’s not gonna be pretty…my being sent here is not a topic that pleases me, now please, before my emotions get any worse, I’d suggest you give me some space.”

“You’re not going to shoot me.” he replied

“No, not with lethal rounds, but beanbags still hurt.” I countered

“Johnathan, please, calm down.” the king pleaded.

I spun around to face him, the anger in me growing ever stronger “No!”

Now the queen was getting ticked “Johnathan if you do not calm down then WE will calm you down. They were just images and messages.”

I looked at her like she was speaking in a different language “Your kidding, right?... THEY ARE NOT JUST FUCKING IMAGES AND MESSAGES TO ME!!...they are a reminder of what I’ve lost, that I’m stuck here and at the mercy of a fucking tree with some damn crystals in it. They are a reminder that I am not allowed to ever experience joy for more than maybe a few months. That no matter where I am, I will always have what I love taken away from me when it will hurt the most…. now please…get. Out.”

The look on their face was that of shock, disappointment, and sadness, but they did as I asked, slowly the three of them turned around and left my room, looking back a few times as I sat back down at my table, pulled out a flask from my bag, and began to drink from it. After a minute, I hear my door close. I got up and locked it, I was finally alone. My emotions began to build up inside me my rage, my sadness, until eventually I couldn’t hold it in. “FUUUUUCK!!” I stood up from my table and three it across the room “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” my vision began to blur and I began to see red as I tore through my room, destroying everything in sight in a burst of rage and fury. When I was done, nothing was left standing. The mirrors were destroyed, the walls cracked, all my gear lay in shambles, and other various odd and ends littered the room, with me standing in the center, bloodied, bruised and breathing heavily. Eventually my vision cleared and the strength faded from me. I collapsed to the ground and with my anger satiated for the moment, sadness began to take its control. I just laid there on the ground, and began to cry. I felt pathetic, I kept wondering what they would all think if they saw me like this…that maybe the world was better off without me…so I crawled over to a pile and searched for a pistol. Eventually I found one, and I put it to my head…and then I pulled the trigger, but instead of a bang and the end of my life, the pistol just clicked. The stupid fucking tree at work again. So, I dropped the gun and just curled up there in the ground and waited to die from anything.

I don’t know how long I laid there with my tears, but eventually there was banging at my door, followed by a crack as a beam of magic sliced through it and tore the door away. Two sets of hooves ran in, I didn’t open my eyes, I didn’t even move, I just laid there, hoping that whoever had just entered the room would put my pathetic ass out of its misery. But instead I hear the sound of a horn and its magic, and I began to feel weightless. Whoever was in the room with me said nothing. I heard the sound of hoof steps again, and I felt a small breeze on my skin. Whoever was with me was moving me. after 30 seconds, I felt something soft on one side most likely a bed. A few seconds later I felt a pony lay down beside me, and pull the covers over me. I had very little energy left, but I felt a hoof and wing wrap around me and pull me close. I heard the sound of magic again, and the room began to fill with Celestia's angelic singing.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when times are gray.””

Hearing her voice...it calmed me, but it also awoke a deep sorrow inside me. I tried to get up ad stop the singing, but the pony who was with me held me down, and for the first time, I heard the voice of the pony who was with me. As she pulled me close Sunflare spoke softly “No, stay with me…its ok…you’ll be ok.”

“You'll never know just, how much I love you”

She began to nuzzle me and being drained of all my energy, I just laid there and fell asleep.

“So please don't take, my sunshine away.”

Chapter 14- A New Family

I came to in the morning I the embrace of Sunflare. Oddly enough she was holding me in a very similar way to the way that Tia did….it was comforting. The world faded into black and dark ominous voice came from all around me “Ah, how the mighty have fallen.” I got up from the bed and looked for where the voice was coming from. Again it spoke “I’ve seen the darkness inside you Reaper, I’ve seen that you have allied yourself with the king and queen, and I saw how you mercilessly tore apart my minion with your weapon and destroyed my link to him.”

“Ah, so you’re the ‘almighty Pauron’ how about you show yourself to me.” I started to move around in the darkness, I felt to my side, but my weapons had been taken, if this got into a fight I had only my hands.

“Hah! You wish to pick a fight with the dark pony himself? You have courage and power I will give you that, but I doubt that you would be able to beat me while your unarmed human.”

“Well see about that.” I replied

“Enough of this, I’ve come to make you an offer. I’ve felt and seen the darkness inside you. And I’ve also felt your pain. Join me and I can give you infinite power. I can take the pain away.”

“Hmm. Let me see, a creepy ass voice comes to me in darkness and offers me power, gee, whatever am I to do?”

“Sarcasm is not befitting of you.” he replied

I looked into the darkness and offered my only reply. “You know my answer already. Now fuck off.”

“Fine, I gave you your chance…no matter, you will be destroyed soon enough.” and with that the shadows receded, and I snapped awake in Sunflare’s grasp

--

Sunflare awoke as well as I looked around me and noticed I was now in the king and queens room…aaaannnd in my infinite wisdom, the first words out of my mouth were, “What the fuck?”

The queen looked at me and frowned, “I see your awake…and that your vulgar as ever.”

“Would you have me any other way?”

“Unfortunately, no. As much as I hate to admit it, you are growing on me.”

“Huh….so why am I in your bed and not in the dungeon?”

“Well why would you be in the dungeon?”

“Let’s see, oh, maybe because I threatened you all in a depressed and drunken stupor?”

“Ah yes, that incident. Well you are pardoned from it.”

“Wait what? Why?”

“Because you were hurting. I can only imagine that pain that you must go through at times. To be with a mare who loved you so much, the mare who healed the wounds your old world gave you….and then to be taken from her…you must hold onto hope Johnathan. And as for why I brought you to my chambers, you needed comfort, the kind only a loved one can offer…and if what you said about you being brought into the royal family in the future is true, then that would make me your mother. ”

“Oh…uh…I don’t know what to say.”

she put one hoof on her belly, which did have a noticeable baby bump “You don’t need to say anything. And in one month, you’ll be a godfather.”

I couldn’t help myself “Ah, I see your making me an offer I can’t refuse.”

Sunflare just looked at me confused “What? No, this is definitely up to you, I just thought that since you-”

I cut her off “I was trying to make a joke, I forgot you guys don’t have that movie here, Never mind.”

She sighed “I wonder if I will ever understand you or your humor at times.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.” I replied, and as I finished my sentence, Orbash walked in “Ah, how’s it going your highness…uh…sorry about last night.”

He looked at me with a look of concern “You do not need to worry about that, but I fear that I must tell you, that your dream wasn’t a dream.”

“The fuck do you mean?” I asked

“Yes, my love, what do you mean?” Sunflare asked

“HE has infiltrated Johnathan’s head. He was trying to strike an accord with Johnathan.”

I heard anger in the queen’s voice “What was Johnathan’s response.”

The king smiled “it was quite simple, and very Johnathan like. ‘Fuck off.”

I gasped sarcastically “Your highness, that kind of language is very unbecoming of you… and you two do realize that I’m standing right here right?” They both just smiled at me as I spoke, but the king began to press

“Did his visits effect you in any way?”

“Did they peak my interests? Yes, was I going to accept? Never.”

They both smiled, but then the smile on the king’s face disappeared “You do realize that he has declared that he wants you dead?”

“Okay.” I responded “I’m not surprised, I did kind of turn his minion into firewood, and I’m in his way of world domination, I mean his goal is extremely cliché, but I’m still gonna kill him if he tries.”

The queen chuckled “Ah yes, typical Johnathan…nonetheless, I think we should put more time into your training.”

I sighed “Well in that case, I should probably go see how much damage I did to my room. And try to salvage what I can. Hopefully my gear won’t be too badly damaged.” The king and queen looked at each other with concerned glances on their faces, but they couldn’t stop me. I walked out the door and down to my room, and when I opened the door…… all I saw was destruction, my room now in shambles once again. My gun were probably broken beyond repair, and that meant whether I like it or not, I would have to learn how to fight without my guns. I needed to adapt, or I wouldn’t be able to protect this family…I’d fail again….no, I needed to stop, I need to learn that I wasn't alone. I walked around the room, just taking in the surroundings, and i saw that with the exception of my guns and gear that had been safely locked away, my room was destroyed. “Now I see why the two of you were concerned…. I really did a number on this place didn’t I?”

The king sighed “Yes you did, and we heard all of it.”

“I see then why do I not have any injuries?” I asked

“Because we healed them.” the queen replied “Physically you are fine, but mentally-”

“Yeah, I know, mentally I’m wounded severely.” I cut in

We all just stood there observing my destruction for a few minutes before the queen spoke again, “Perhaps we could use this as a form of training?”

The king looked at her “Well I would prefer that he knew how to get his armor on and off through his shadow phase before we move onto magic.”

“What is it with you two having conversations about me like I’m not there when I’m right next to you both?”

The Queen snickered “What is it with you and your humor?”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“What I think my wife is trying to say is that she doesn’t understand your humor at time…then again I don’t either.” the king replied

“Ah I see…well I chalk it up to my time in MilSim…and probably my broken mental state……….so what’s the plan for fixing my destruction?”

“Well my wife is right, this could be a good way for you to better learn the magic abilities of your armor, but first you need to effectively get it on and off.” I snickered as the king said that last part. Because, as damaged as I am, it still took every single ounce of will I had to refrain from saying ‘That’s what she said’

“So, I guess that’s what we’re gonna start with?” I asked

“Yes.” he replied, “Now try to summon your armor.”

I just stood there “Uhh…. you didn’t tell me that part.” I replied

The king scratched his chin “Ah yes…right then…. Just try to will it to appear on you.”

“Probably easier said than done.” I replied as I closed my eyes and mentally called out for my armor to come to me. as I did so I felt somewhat of a breeze, it only lasted maybe a half second, but as it hit me I felt…different…stronger. I opened my eyes, and much to my surprise, my armor was on my body, and my vision was slightly tinted, and the HUD was once again displayed in my vision. I raised my hands up to feel my head, and I felt my helm on my head. “Nice.” I said. The king and queen just smiled as the queen levitated what remained of a mirror over to me, and holy shit I looked badass.

“Don’t get excited, getting the armor on is easy.” the king replied, “Now try to get the armor off using the same technique I told you yesterday.”

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind “Here we go again.” I began to focus on my armor and let the mental breeze blow it away. I let the breeze pick up, and eventually, one by one, the pieces mentally faded from my mind until it was all gone. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see that the armor had disappeared as well. The whole process took maybe thirty seconds. “Well what do you know, I did it.”

The king smiled “Yes you did, and with more practice, you should be able to put the armor on and take it off in the blink of an eye, be it the full set or just a certain piece.”

“Hmm, that will be helpful.” I replied

“Yes, it will.” the queen continued, “Now try the process with your eyes open.”

“Ah, ramping up the difficulty is see.” I replied

“This is nothing, you know as well as we do that most enemies will not fight fairly.” the king replied.

“Yeah true.” I answered, looking down at my hands and in my minds eye, imagining the armor on them, and sure enough as I did this, my arms darkened as the armor phased onto them “Ok that is definitely badass.” I replied. I took a few swings before I imagined them fading away, and low and behold they disappeared.

The king and queen smiled as the king spoke “Good, now to add the stress component.”

“Stress component?” I had a feeling I knew what they were talking about but I wasn’t sure, and all my hopes were confirmed as the king levitated up a wrench

“Yes, you will be placed under attack, and you will be expected to summon your armor to block the attacks.”

“Ah yes because if I can dodge a wrench I can doge any regular attack.” I deadpanned

The king offered no reply, he only smiled and tossed the wrench at me, causing me to raise up my arm to block it and I only had time to think, “armor”, but that was all that was need. Right before the wrench it my arm, the armor phased onto my arm and the wrench bounced off of it. and with another though, the armor disappeared. I raised my arm up again and the armor appeared and with another thought it disappeared. I nodded my head, “Huh…neat.”

The king smiled, “Well done, now we can begin your weapons training.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

The queen stepped forward “Your armor is linked to your sword and it can also summon a shield. As we told you before it has been imbued with our magic, while in that armor you are in effect an alicorn, but you are not invincible or limitless.”

“And what about my guns?” I asked

The queen replied “The weapons that you have here are linked to the armor, however unlike your swords, you cannot use the armor magic to craft more, so once they are lost or broken, you cannot repair or replace them.”

“Understood.” I replied as I walked to the door, but the king stepped in front of me

“Where are you going?”

“Well we’re going to weapons training, so I guess I should go outside right?”

The queen stepped forward and put her hoof on me “The weapons training can wait for now, or at least until you are in a better mental state come, summon the greaves of your armor.”

“Uhh…greaves?”

“The arms of your armor.” she replied

“Ah, sorry, I’m still kind of stupid.” I summoned the arms of my armor as I felt a slap on my head. I turned around to see that the queen had extended her wing to smack me in the head

“You will stop this constant self-depreciation one way or another, and if I have to slap your depression out of you then I will.”

I chuckled “Now I see where Tia gets that motherly side of hers/”

“Ah so she has tried the same thing?” Sunflare asked

“Well…. yeah.” I replied

The queen smiled “I’m happy to hear that my daughter loves you so.”

“Oh, I thought it was because she said ‘the most crucial part of the healing process is the nagging.” I deadpanned, which earned a chuckle from Orbash “See? He gets it.” I replied

“Oh hush” the queen replied “Now I will teach you one of the most basic elements of magic, levitation. It’s quite simple, pick an object, and move it in your minds eye.” her horn glowed and the fragments of a chair levitated up and into a pile

“Ok.” I replied and tried the same to the pistol in the corner. My right arm glowed a faint black and a magical aurora of the same color appeared around the whole gun, yet it fizzled out before I could lift the gun “Damn it.”

“Don’t get frustrated, keep trying.” the queen urged. I looked back at the pistol and focused harder, and ever so slowly, the pistol levitated itself a few feet into the air.

“Hey I got it.”

“Good, now bring it to you.” the queen replied. With a small raise of my arm and opening of my palm, I brought the pistol into my grasp “Holy shit I have the force.”

“The what?” the queen asked

“Don’t worry about it…just something from a famous movie series in my world.” I replied. The king and queen smiled, probably happy to see me out of the dumps somewhat.

“Ah I see.” the queen replied “Now then…perhaps it is time we get this room cleaned up?”

“Uhh…well how? I kind of destroyed it.”

“Ah yes, well that can be undone.” the king replied as both of their horns began to glow. There was a blinding flash, and by the time the white faded from my eyes, my room was in pristine condition, just like it was before I wrecked it.

“With a little magic, anything is possible.” the queen finished.

I dissipated the armor from my arms and hugged them both “Thank you.”

The queen smiled “Your welcome Johnathan…but next time you do lose control of yourself, you’ll be on your own for fixing things up.”

“Fair enough.” I replied. I walked around my room and indeed everything was as it once was, but there were a few additions. I now had a safe to lock my weapons in, a small work desk for repairs, but most importantly, on the walls were pictures of myself with Celestia or the rest of the royal family. I turned back to the king and queen who were smiling at me as they stood in the center of the room. I walked up to them and the queen already seemed to know what I was going to ask.

“We thought that your room could use a little more of a homey feel.” she stepped forward and picked up a picture of Celestia hugging me and floated it over to me with her magic. “And because you need to realize that no matter where or when you are, she will always love you, and always be with you.” I lowered my head as I began to think, but this only prompted Sunflare to walk up to me and lifted my chin with her hoof to look her in the eyes as she continued “What would she do is she saw you like this? Depressed, drinking, on the verge of suicide?”

I sighed…she was right, “She’d tell me she loves me…shed hold me close and make me see that I’m better than what I think I am…and probably smack me.”

The queen smiled at that “Yes, she does indeed sound like my daughter.”

“Yeah…I love her…She is and always will be my beautiful princess.”

“And you are and always will be her prince.” the queen replied. “You are a member of this family, and the godfather of our daughter.”

“Your serious about that?” I asked

“Yes.” she replied “I do not take things like my daughter’s well-being lightly, you are her godfather, and you will be their protectorate and Celestia's prince, I know it, you know it, the tree of Harmony knows it, and your cutie mark defines it.”

I pulled up my sleeve to look at the mark on my arms “Yeah I kinda figured that from what was on it.” I walked out to my balcony and looked out on the sky. The sun was up and the guards were out doing rounds, and my watch showed that it was about time for lunch. The king and queen walked up behind me and I could hear the slight sound of magic. They were probably getting ready in case I tried to jump. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump…I just wanted some fresh air…still trying to process my situation.”

The king walked up “I can understand how you feel about being thrown back in time against your will…and I only wish there was a way I could understand your pain…I can only imagine how devastated I would be if I was ripped away from Sunflare.”

“Trust me man, you don’t want to…the pain…the loneliness…the alcohol.” I lifted up my flask and took a swig but it didn’t last long before the queens marigold aura wrapped around my flask and it disappeared

“Hey I was drinking that!” I turned around to face her

The queen looked at me sternly, “Well now you’re not, I don’t know how you can even stomach that swill, but I will not allow you to become a drunkard.” I sighed and went to speak but she put her hoof to my mouth “Ah-ah-ah, no refutations. You will not be allowed to have that flask on you anymore.” she put her wing around me and pulled me out into the hall, “Now come along, it’s time for lunch, I will not have you skipping meals.”

I rolled my eyes and started walking as I commented sarcastically “Yes mom.”

The queen looked back “don’t make me mother you, young man.”

“Young man!? I’m 36!” I replied

“Yes, and I’m as old as existence, so guess what, you’re a young man to me. now come along, the kitchen staff have skills that will astound you.” And with that I followed her into the dining room with the king behind me with a massive grin on his face. The queen pulled out a seat for me and I sat down in it as the two of sat beside me

“So, what’s for lunch?” I asked as a pony in a chef’s outfit came into the room.

He smiled and bowed “Good afternoon your highnesses!” he looked to me and smiled “and you must be the commander, it’s a pleasure to finally see you, I’ve been shown those meals that you have been eating, and I was appalled at how you could stomach those garish things… so what may I interest you all in?”

The queen smiled “What is today's special?”

“Today's special is an onion soup appetizer, a shrimp scampi risotto, and a wonderful pinot grigio.”

The king and queen smiled, “That sounds wonderful, but the commander here will not be partaking in the wine, just a water for him.”

The chef bowed “As you wish your highness.” and with that he left us for the kitchen.

When he left I looked at the queen who already seemed to know my response as she gave one of her own, “I said that you will be cutting back on the alcohol and I meant it.”

I sighed “It bites because I know you're right.”

Sunflare smiled “Good, then maybe you start listening to our advice more often.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that.” I replied and oddly enough, as I did, the queen began to chuckle.

“Ah yes, there’s the Johnathan that we know….it makes us happy to see you out of the pit of your depression.”

“I’m not fully out…but for better or for worse I’m climbing the ladder that your family has thrown down to me.” I replied. I no sooner finished my sentence when the chef came back into the room with our food in his magical aura.

He placed the food in the table with the drinks “Lunch is served.” and with that, he left.

The food itself was great, it had been a while since I had had anything like it, considering I have been running on a mix of MRE’s and some homemade meals since I’ve arrived. We spent most of the meal enjoying the meal, with the king and queen mentioning that they planned to continue my training after the meal.

When we finally finished out food, we stood up to go back to training, but before we could, guards burst into the room “Your highnesses, there is a large fire near the castle.”

“How close?” the king asked

The guard answered, “Not far, but luckily for us, it is near the lake, it should be easy to put out.”

“That is good, but still, keep more guards at the ready incase an evacuation is needed.” the king replied.

“Wait.” I chimed in “You said near the lake?”

“Yes.” the guard replied.

A look of fear came over my face as I summoned my armor and bolted through the guards and the doors “Nonono, please no.” I ran for what seemed like an eternity, and as I got close to the clearing where my house was, I could see the fires glow “No no no!” I ran faster and summoned my helmet, hoping that it would offer some protection from the smoke now coming towards me. I burst into the clearing and my fears had come true…before me, was house was ablaze…my house. I wondered just how it could have happened, and then the realization struck me “That son of a bitch!”

There was a flash behind me as the king and queen teleported in. the queen tried to console me but I wasn’t having it “Johnathan, please, there’s nothing you can do, now please back away from the fire.”

I turned around to face them “Who is Pauron, how does he know you!!”

The king stepped forward “Johnathan we don’t know that this was him.”

“It was.” I replied “It was that son of a bitch…he took my home from me...MY! HOME!” It was then that another realization hit me and I jumped on top of the king and queen “Get down!”

The queen was flustered “Johnathan what is the meaning of this!? Get off of-”

The world shook as a deafening blast followed by small pops erupted from my home, shrapnel and exploded ammunition bouncing off my armor. When the popping died down, I got off the king and queen “My house had a weapons locker and a gas reservoir…the fire got to it…set off everything inside.”

The king and queen nodded, realizing that I had just saved them. They stepped to my side and the kings horn began to glow. I was thinking they were going to levitate some water onto the fire, but instead ice and snow shot from his horn and the fire started to die out, and the charred remains of my peaceful home began to ice up. In a matter of 30 seconds, the king had defeated the blaze…and rendered me homeless. I had lost whatever weapons and ammo were in my house… I had lost pictures…I had lost my truck. I fell to my knees and dissipated my armor. “Its…its all gone.”

The queen walked up to me, sat down next to me, and put her wing around me. She didn’t say anything, she just sat there and held me. Eventually the king walked up to me, sat down on my other side, and put his wing around me too. The three of us just sat there for I don’t know how long, looking at the iced-over, burned down house in front of us. The house where I was going to live with Celestia. The house where the two of us were going to raise a family…it took them some time, but eventually the queen spoke “Perhaps it would be best if we return from the castle…away from all this.”

I just nodded silently and stood back up. The king and queen did the same and walked beside me as we slowly made our way back to the castle. When we arrived, I walked into my room and started putting some things into a bug-out bag all while the king and queen watched me. the did nothing until I picked it up and walked to the door. I only made it a few steps before the king’s magic took the bag off and the queens magic picked me up and pulled me into a hug from the both of them. The queen as usual was the first to speak “You’re not leaving us John.”

“Even if you think it will protect us.” the king finished.

The held me close as I began to cry, and as ponies walked by they started to stare. The queen looked at them all and shouted “Cease your staring at once! This man has just lost his home! He has reason to shed tears, and no pony here shall think any less of him for it!” the onlookers quickly fled and the king went and shut my door.

“It’s ok now John.” he said “Let your sadness out…I shall go see starswirl.”

The queen looked up at him inquisitively “Don’t worry my dear.” There was a flash and I was just left with the queen, who pulled me close into her chest and stroked my back as I cried. She held me close for a few minutes before I spoke.

“Why?...why can’t I have a happy life?”

“Shhhh… you will Johnathan, all this shall pass, and one day soon, there will be light in your life.” She replied. Eventually, my sadness began to fall away and my tears began to subside. Sunflare seemed to sense this as she let go of her hold on me to look me in the eye “Better?” she asked.

“I don’t know if I ever will be.” I replied. As I did there was a flash as Orbash and Starswirl appeared in my room.

Starswirl walked up to me “Come my friend, I need your help with my studies.”

I looked at him and then to the king and queen and wiped the tears from my eyes, “And you need the depressed guy because…. why exactly?” I asked

“Don’t question my methods, just come with me.” Starswirl replied. His horn lit up and even eloped my arm as he pulled me along to his study. Inside it was books upon books upon books, and equipment for every scientific field imaginable. He pulled up a chair for me and sat me down in it, before getting one of his own and sitting done across from me. “I’m sorry for all your loss John.”

I sighed “Don’t be…and if this is some kind of intervention it sucks.”

He chuckled “It’s not an intervention Johnathan, its three friends sitting down.” his magic came to life and levitated out a small box filled with mason jars “And enjoying a drink.”

I look at him skeptically “You can’t be serious…where did you get this?”

He smiled “I copied your recipe…but I still have yet to acquire a taste for it.”

“Yeah that could take some time.” I replied, as I took out a jar and opened it “But once you do.” I took a sip of the shine, enjoying the taste and the burn “It becomes the best liquor you’ll ever have.” I passed him the jar and he took a small sip before coughing

“I don’t know about that.” he replied “…...but you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve copied your contraption… but well have to keep it secret from the queen.”

“Yeah fair enough…she’d be very pissed if she found out.”

Starswirl laughed, “Oh I know, but I’ve never seen her as angry as you make her sometimes.”

“Yeah I have that effect on people.” I took another swig

He chuckled and took a swig and coughed again “You know, I think I could get a taste for it…in a thousand years.” We both started laughing at that. It felt good to laugh. Eventually I felt his hoof on my shoulder “Johnathan, I truly am sorry about your loss…I know how much your home meant to you.”

“Don’t be” I replied “…. It’s not the house that’s got me like this…It’s what it it stood for. The house can be rebuilt, but the memories and the dreams…” I took another swig “They’re gone.”

“They’re not my friend…they’re just…missing.” He replied

“Maybe…...wait did you just say friend?”

Starswirl smiled “Yes I did.”

I took another swig “Huh…well then.”

We sat there for a few moments in silence before he brought out a book of sorts “This is a book of all my finding in the study the science of magic.”

“Science of magic…sounds kind contradictory.” I replied

“Let me finish…this book contains all my finding…including my theory of the pillars.”

“Pillars?” I asked

“Yes, the pillars, the embodiment of the best elements within us. The ones that can spread life and virtue.” He opened the book to reveal drawings…and holy shit I thought my handwriting was bad “I know of ponies who represent them all.” He handed me the book as his magic flipped through the pages. Inside the book was pictures and research on 5 ponies. Their names were Rock hoof, Flash magnus, Mage Meadowbrook, Mist mane, and Sonambula. These five ponies were depicted in a circle of sorts around Starswirl. “Strength, Bravery, Healing, Beauty, Hope, And Sorcery.” Each virtue appearing under the ponies as he spoke. “I have done countless hours of research on these ponies and how they themselves are pillars of their virtues.”

“Ok…so why tell me this?” I asked setting down my drink and delving into the book.

“Because I believe that you yourself, are a pillar.”

I set the book down and look at him “You kidding me.”

“No, I am not, you sir are the seventh pillar.”

“Of what? Drunkenness and depression?” I countered.

“No.” He replied “You my friend, are the Pillar of Protection.”

“May I ask how you came to this conclusion?”

“It’s simple.” he flipped a few pages over, and in it I saw drawings of myself, my equipment, my house, my guns, everything, and each one had intense notes below it, including a note of my personality and actions “I’ve been studying you.”

I looked over the notes and pictures again “Ok can people please stop breaking into my room? I mean seriously, this is starting to piss me off.”

Starswirl was taken aback “Ah…...yes well if it’s any consolation, I am sorry…. sometimes I can get caught up in the study.”

I sighed “What’s done is done…just don’t do it again…...so have you met up with them?”

“I…...well no…I haven’t had a reason.” he replied

“Well I’d advise that you don’t wait for one, you going to want the team to know each other and have good cohesion if you want to be effective.”

“You mean we, don’t you?” he asked

“No, I mean you. You don’t want me as pillar.”

“Yes, I do, you are the pillar of protection-”

I cut in “Who needs protection from himself.”

“So, you can protect the rest of the world.” he countered “I’ve talked with the king and queen, and they have agreed to let me take you on…and you could do to make some friends.”

“Why?” I asked

“You know the answer…but I suspect that your event with that timber wolf helped my cause.” he replied

“Of course, they would…so when do we go to find this merry band of warriors?” I asked

Starswirl walked into the back of the room and came back with a saddlebag “We leave now.”

“I’ll go get my stuff then.” I replied, but as I got up Starswirl’s horn glowed and my pack and guns appeared in a lump in front of me, I was wondering where my vest was, but then I remembered that the king and queen did away with it to merge it to my armor “Or you can do that.” I picked my pack, put it on, threw it over my shoulder, and attached my weapons to it before pulling my up face shield. “Let’s go then, I want to get out of here before the queen changes her mind.”

“That’s the spirit.” he replied, and together we walked to the castle door and I pulled up my face shield…...and that’s about as far as we got. On the other side of the door was a group of six ponies…all of the pillars were gathered at the castle door, and in front of them, a small unicorn…Stygian.

Chapter 15- The Pillars

Stygian and the five ponies behind him were slightly taken aback at the sight of me, Rock hoof went for his shovel…yes, I said shovel, and flash went for his shield. In response I raised my rifle up “Afternoon folks, I’m John, also known as the Reaper, now if you’d lower your weapons that would be nice.”

Flash spoke first “Not a chance, now you best surrender to us and let the king and queen go, and we’ll let you go.”

I looked back to Starswirl “Wow, I did not know humans has this shitty of a rep this early on.”

“Well mind you humans were very militaristic and they did try to take over the zebra lands in retribution.” Starswirl replied

“Wait we did what?! When were you going to tell me that?” I look back to the six ponies at the door “This will be just a second.” and with that I closed the door, pulled down my face mask and looked to Starswirl “I want the truth. Now!”

He sighed “I suppose you were going to find out soon enough…the human race was attacked by the gryphon, and zebra. They came to us for help but we remained neutral…the humans felt betrayed…... Eventually, they beat the alliance…But they then proceeded to conquer the rest of the world…I….we were left with no choice…they had to be banished.”

I looked him in the eyes “No matter what happens, you will tell Celestia and Luna that it was the zebra who got the humans banished…am I clear? I will not have my kinds past actions ruin this beautiful world for her.”

He nodded his head “I understand.”

“Good……. thank you.” I replied before pulling my mask back up, raising my rifle and opening the door again. “Okay, now, where were we?”

Rock hoof stepped forward “You were about to surrender.”

I started to laugh “Oh that’s a good one.” I let my rifle fall to my side “Come on in, Starswirl will explain.”

Just as I turned my back I heard a pony shout out “Now!”

My vision darkened as my helmet came onto my head as I instinctually summoned my armor and turned around just in time to block a shovel with my left arm, and catch a shield to my chest. If it weren’t for my armor I probably would have been knocked down onto my ass, but the strength that it gave me kept me standing.

I turned around to face the six ponies, now fully clad in my armor

One of the mares, a Pegasus called out surprised “My word, what is that?”

Both flash and Rockhoof stared at me for a second before Rockhoof took another swing at me with his shovel, only this time, I raised my hand up to catch it mid swing. I tilted my head side to side, and the audible crack of my muscles was heard. I smiled under my mask “My turn.” I tightened my grip on the shovel and ripped it from Rockhoofs mouth, spinning around to use it as my own weapon. I switched the shovel to one hand to use it as a sword, but before I could do anything else, Starswirl decided to step in.

“Every pony stop this at once!” his horn glowed and the shovel disappeared from my grasp and flashes shield disappeared from is hoof “Johnathan is not an enemy, he is a friend of the royal family.”

I looked to him and dissipated my helm “Oh come no man, I was just about to have some fun.”

He looked back at me with a look that just said “Really?”

I sighed and dissipated the rest of my armor “Fine I’ll play nice…but they started it.”

Starswirl sighed “I must apologize for the actions of my friend…please come in, we were just on our way to find you all.”

They moved to come in, but then Stygian stepped forward “I’m sorry, but there’s no time.”

“Nonsense.” Starswirl replied “You all must be tired from your journey, now come, stay the night.”

Stygian stomped his hoof “We cannot!”

“Why not?” I asked. I doubted that stygian would be a large threat, he was a very skinny unicorn, and he was slightly smaller than the average pony, but the fact that he was a unicorn makes things difficult.

“Because the longer we wait, the more danger the rest of Equestria is in.” he replied

I walked up to him “Explain. Now.”

“My village has fallen victim to the sirens, three creatures that use their voices to bring forth the rage of others and turn ponies against each other, while they feed of the hate.”

I heard of that myth before…well the human version of it…and our version used their song to enslave their victims or something like that. Hey cut me some slack, I know guns and computers, not mythology “Sounds like a credible threat.” I looked to Starswirl “You heard of this?”

He scratched his beard before replying “Yes I think I have, but only in myth and hearsay.”

I looked down to Stygian. If what he said was true, then we needed to move to stop the spread. But at the same time, we needed to prepare and come up with a game plan, with three unicorns, technically four if I have my armor on, we could teleport there and possibly have enough power for a fight. “Ok you have my interest…but your staying the night, if we’re going to fight, we need to be rested and have a game plan.”

Stygian started to protest “No we ca-”

Flash cut in “He’s right, with an enemy like this, we need a strategy.”

I knelt down to stygian “We will teleport to your village tomorrow, but we can’t just run into a fight without a plan and tired. That won’t help your ponies or the rest of the world.” I put my hand on his shoulder “Trust me.”

Stygian looked away then back to me after a few seconds “…I will…and you are right, we cannot fight in this tired state.” he looked over to Starswirl “We will accept your offer for lodging for the night.”

Starswirl smiled “Good, follow me.”

The stallions followed him, but the three mares stayed behind looking at me as I stood up. I looked at them as the earth pony amongst them, Mage Meadowbrook, took off her mask. I heard the three mares taking under their breath as I walked by them up to my room. If we were going to face an enemy I needed to ready my guns and figure out a way to counter their song.

I stepped into my room and set out my guns and ammo, with the loss of my weapons room, I was stuck with what I had, and I had no form of replenishment. I walked into my closet and set out my ammo canisters on my table. It took me about an hour, but I got my ammo tally. I had 1000 rounds of 5.56, 300 shotgun shells of various types, about 2000 rounds of 4.6 by 30 for my MP7, 100 rounds for the .338, and about 500 for my pistol. It was enough for a big fight, but I still needed to be careful. I summoned my armor and took out my guns. I heard hoof steps go by my door as I began to clean them before putting them back in their respective holsters before dissipating my armor. I admit, the armor and its link to my weapons was helpful. I actually wondered if it would allow me to summon my guns without the armor on, just like with my swords.

I began to run through the mental process that the king had gone over me with, and sure enough, as I raise my rand, my pistol appeared. “This will definitely help.” I repeated the process and the pistol disappeared. “Very helpful……...now how am I going to counter their song.” I looked to my table which now had all of my supplies spread out on it to form an impromptu work desk. I walked over to it and sat down, but before I could start to work there was a knock on my door. I looked up and walked to it, I was expecting Starswirl or the king or queen, “Ah so I see you finally learned how to knock instead of just breaking in.” I opened the door and on the other side was the three mares from earlier. The pegasus, Sonambula, the unicorn, Mist Mane, and the earth pony Mage Meadowbrook “Oh…it’s you three…I was expecting some pony else.”

Sonambula spoke first “Ah, I see.” she had some kind if foreign accent, but I still can put my finger on it…maybe middle eastern, I don’t know. “May we come in?”

“Sure.” I replied “Don’t see why not.” The three mares smiled and stepped in “Sorry the place is a little messy, I usually don’t get visitors outside the family and Starswirl…and I should probably also apologize for my actions earlier this afternoon.”

Sonambula smiled “Don’t worry, all is forgiven.”

Mist Mane spoke, her voice matching her aged appearance “It’s quite alright my dear.”

Followed by Meadowbrook, whose accent was actually reminiscent to applejacks “Water under the bridge.”

I sat back down at my desk “So may I ask why the three of you are here?”

The three mares came up to me and they each put a hoof on me. Sonambula was the first to speak “We are here to help you. You have lost hope.”

Followed by Mage “You need healing.”

Then Mist Mane “You fail to see your own beauty.”

“Nothing is wrong with me.” I replied

The three mares just raised their eyebrows at me

“What gave it away?” I asked

“We had a hunch, but your actions now have proven it.” Sonambula replied

“And the king and queen may have mentioned it.” Mist Mane continued

I sighed “Of course they did.”

“And the fact that you hide your identity under that mask doesn’t help your case.” Mist mane added

“To keep my identity hidden and the ones I care about safe.” I countered

“That sounds nobel, but you must remember that they care about you.” Meadowbrook replied

“They shouldn’t…...Look, you three don’t have to do this…or any of the philosophical shit.” The three of them looked shocked as I spoke. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve been through a lot….im damaged, but that’s how I operate…. I don’t need to be fixed.”

“Don’t need to or don’t want to.” Sonabmbula replied

I sighed and looked up to my ceiling “Honestly I don’t know anymore…I used to be better.”

There was a few seconds of silence, but then Mist Mane spoke, “May we ask as to why you’re like this then?”

“It’s a long story…I’m…not from here…from his time…I was taken from the mare that I loved….and sent back here…alone…I know the reasons why I’m here…or at least I think I do…but I still miss her…I love her.”

The three mares gasped before mage responded “I’m sorry to hear that…but that love can heal you.”

“And I can see that it gives you hope.” Sonambula replied.

I chuckled and looked to the three mares standing in front of me “I see what you both did there……and I’ll try to let it do that.” they all smiled at me before Mist Manes horn glowed and an image of me in my armor, holding Rock Hoofs shovel appeared in thin air

She pointed to my armor “May I ask about this and your mask?”

I whistled. “So that’s how I look in full gear.” Mist mane raised her eyebrow “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. That’s my armor, bestowed upon me by the king and queen.”

“How did it appear on you?” Sonambula asked “And why does it look the way it does?”

“Well the first part, is because its connected to me by magic.” I held up my hand and let my armor materialize and dissipate in front of them as they stared in surprise “As for the second part, that was my idea. Apparently, the magic in the armor lets it adjust to the user’s preference.”

“That would explain it.” Mage replied.

“Yeah, and I want to try to make some additions to it. maybe an audio system for distractions or for the sake of boosting my own ego……. hang on…that’s it.”

“What’s it?” mage asked

I turned to my desk and started putting supplies together “Music…that’s how I can counter the sirens song.”

“Why would that matter?” Sonambula asked

“From what I’ve heard from myth and from Stygians story at the door, then the sirens can control people-er-ponies through sound...through their singing. If I can’t find a way to counter their song then we won’t stand a chance at winning the fight.” I started to take a few speakers, some electronics, circuit boards, and a soldering iron. I started to put things together when Sonambula put her hoof on me.

“There is time for that later, but now, it is time to eat. You must keep your strength up.” I felt her hoof pull on me “Come, the chefs prepared a feast, and the king and queen have requested your presence.”

“Oh, so you all coming here was their idea?” I asked

“No, its was ours, but they highly encouraged it.” Mist Mane replied

“Of course, they did.” I replied. I set my soldering iron down and got up from my chair “They’re probably going to want to talk to me about me being a pillar.”

The three mares looked at me inquisitively as Meadowbrook asked, “A pillar?”

“Yeah.” I replied “It’s what Starswirl has dubbed our merry little band.”

“The Pillars….it has a nice ring to it.” Sonambula replied “…But why would the king and queen want to talk to you about it, it is your choice in the end isn’t it?”

“Not really.” I replied.

“Why is that dear?” Mist mane asked.

“They want to make sure that I don’t purposely get myself killed.” I replied

“Why in Equestria would you do that.” Meadowbrook asked

“You three said it yourself, I’m broken, I’ve lost hope…take your pick…I have depression and a mental problem.”

“Then we can help cure you.” Meadowbrook replied.

“Not going to happen.”

“Why?” Sonambula asked

“Because what I’ve got…it can’t be cured.” I pointed to my head “All of its up here…no amount of magic or potions or beauty or hope can fix me.”

“We shall see about that.” Mist Mane replied.

My hands became enveloped in magic and Sonambula and Meadowbrook got behind me and started pushing me out of my room and in the direction of the dining hall “Hey what gives?”

“Aside from getting to know the man behind the mask, we’re bringing you to dinner.” Sonambula replied, and with that the three mares dragged/ pushed me into the dining room, where the king, the queen, Starswirl, Rock Hoof, Flash Magnus, and Stygian were all seated at the table, with chairs left for myself, and three mares currently pushing me into the room.

Sunflare smiled as I sat down on her left side “So I see that you required some motivation to join us Johnathan.”

“I was working.” I replied

“Well even you require food. I’m sure that whatever project your working on can wait for an hour or two while we converse with our guests and your…what is the word you use…squad mates?” Sunflare replied

“Ah yes, dinner with the ponies who I came close to beating the crap out of. What fun.” I countered sarcastically.

“And we’d like to apologize for our actions.” Rock hoof replied

“Yeah, we lost our cool” Flash continued.

I looked at them, and then looked to the queen ignoring the group at the table “Why did you want me to join them, I’m nothing like them…I’m damaged…I’m not a hero.”

“Star swirl and my husband seem to think different…and if I must be honest, I do think that they will be good for you…you need to make friends John.” The queen replied. I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off “Don’t start, you know I’m right.” She leaned in closer to me “And don’t think that I don’t know about that contraption that makes that alcoholic swill that you enjoy so much that’s in Starswirl’s quarters.”

My face went pale as I looked to Starswirl and the king “We’ve been compromised.”

“Oh, I know.” the king replied “She gave me and him a stern talking to…but I can see that our radical tactic worked.”

I looked to the queen “Please don’t get rid of the still.”

“I am not…even though I don’t know how the three of you can stomach it, and I must know, why do you drink that swill if you know that it is slowly killing you by destroying your insides?”

I sighed “It will only do that if I drink in excess all the time…and as for the answer…I don’t know, maybe I kill myself slowly like this because I don’t have the courage or the ability to do it quickly.”

The queen frowned at me, along with the rest of the ponies at the table. But eventually her fiery gaze cooled off, and she spoke “I can see that we still have much work to do on you……but I have decided to let it stay as it does seem to boost morale, and the alcohol seems to act as a very effective cleansing agent in medical needs.” she replied

Looking back to the guests at the table, the six ponies were just staring at me with confused looks on their faces. “It’s a long story.” I replied “…But anyway, I suppose that this would be a good time for formal introductions.” I replied

“Yes, that would seem appropriate.” Stygian replied “I am Stygian, unicorn, and scholar, I hail from a small village in horseshoe bay.”

Rock Hoof spoke next “I am Rock Hoof, Soldier of the Mighty Helm, I hail from the northern lands, my village is at the base of a volcano.”

“Well if I were you I might want to have a small talk with the idiot that put it there in the first place.” I replied

“That problem has been solved, I dug a trench around it…by myself with my trusty shovel.” he countered

“Huh…well then…so whose next?” I asked

Flash stood up “I am Flash Magnus, soldier in the Royal Legion” he picked up a shield off his back “And this is Titus.”

“The fireproof shield?” Starswirl asked

“Yes.” Flash answered “The same shield I used to defeat the dragons and save my comrades.”

“Nice to see I’m not the only egotist here.” I replied

Everyone in the room chuckled as flash sat down and Meadowbrook stood up “I am Mage Meadowbrook, I’m a healer from the bayou.”

Followed by Sonambula “I am Sonambula, I’m just a pony who tries to give hope to others.”

“Nonsense.” Starswirl replied “You singlehoofedly saved the price and defeated the sphinx.”

“Because I had hope.” She replied

Then Mist Mane stood up “I am Mist Mane, I’m just a simple mare who sees the beauty in everything.”

“And who restored her kingdom to its former beauty.” Starswirl countered

“It was nothing.” She replied, then she looked to me “So, who are you?”

“Yeah.” Rock hoof continued “I want to know more about the human who was able to beat me in combat.”

I sighed “Call me the Reaper. I’m not known for anything, I’m just a depressed asshole with some nice weapons and the knowledge to use them effectively.”

“Then why do the king and queen call you Johnathan?” Sonambula asked.

“Because he has chosen Reaper as his Nom de guerre.” The queen answered.

“Why? Johnathan is a good name.” Mist Mane replied

“It doesn’t scare my enemies, and Reaper keeps my true name hidden, which will keep myself and my loved ones safe in the future.” I replied

“From your enemies?” stygian asked

“That’s and my peoples past.” I replied

Starswirl began to speak, “A past that you don’t know much about, the human race did many-”

“I don’t care.” I cut in “I don’t care what my people did, it’s in the past and I don’t want to hear about it.”

“For a formerly friendless, immortal, desperate, your quite cynical.” He replied

“The human race may be nice at times, but we are not a kind race. Were cruel and vindictive to our own, we kill, we hate, and all it takes is the smallest difference for all of that to be directed towards you.” I replied

“How long was it directed at you?” Mist mane asked

“Most my life, from when I was six, up until I was brought to this world. All I want to do is forget my past in hopes that the pain will be forgotten with it.” I replied. The three mares got up from their chairs and embraced me, as Rock Hoof, Flash, and Stygian nodded their heads in understanding. I looked to the three mares as I spoke, “You can let go of me, I’m not asking for love or compassion, the damage has been done, and it’s my job to fix it.”

“Ah yes because you’ve been doing such a good job in that department.” the queen replied from across the table

“My methods are…unorthodox, but they help.” I replied

The queen looked me in the eye as she spoke, “Your methods are harmful to your well-being, and I won’t have you hurting yourself. You are a member of this family now Johnathan, for better or for worse, this is why I have allowed you to join this group. Perhaps their comradery and support will prove effective in your healing process.”

I sighed as the mares broke off their hold on me and returned to their seats “Fine, I’ll join the group, but I’m not going to change my fighting style.”

“Why would you?” Stygian asked

“Because my methods are…lethal.” I replied, which solicited a look of shock or gasp from all ponies in the room except the king, queen, and Starswirl “Look, I’m not quick to kill, I prefer peace, but if needed, I will fight, and if the situation calls for it, then I will use lethal force.”

“Slightly ironic don’t you think.” Stygian replied

“What is?” I asked

He continued, “You say you prefer peace, but in order to attain peace your willing to kill.”

“Sic vis pacem para bellum.” I replied, which got me a stare form all ponies in the room. “If you wish for peace, prepare for war.” I translated. “…...and yes, I can see the slight irony in it…. but I’m a complicated individual.”

“I see.” my answer seemed to satisfy Stygians curiosity and he went back to listening to the room. The meal itself had little worth mentioning, just the group telling the king and queen of their tales of fame, and every once in a while, looking back to me. Eventually, I attempted to get myself excused to go back to my work, but as I rose from my chair, the queen stopped me.

“Just where do you think your going?” she asked

“To work on something that will keep myself and this merry band from suffering the same fate as the ponies of Stygians town.” I replied

“How?” Starswirl asked

“I have a theory, from the mythology that I’ve read and heard, yes that’s right I can read, the sirens control their victims through their songs, meaning all I’ve got to do is cancel out or dilute their songs and that will hopefully cancel out or at least diminish their power over us so we can fight.”

“I see.” the queen replied “Then I shall allow you to be excused. But some pony will stop by your room eventually, I do not want you to go without sleep.” she replied

“Fair enough.” I replied. And with that I left the room and went back to my own. “First things first I need to figure out how to get my phone out of my armor.” It took me a bit, but I was able to figure out that my phone, just like my weapons, could be summoned via magic. With this problem solved, I could start building. I walked to my closet and opened it to find that it was no longer a mess. My shirts and pants were hanging up in their own sections, my shoes were placed below them, my coats were hung up above the shirts and pants, and on the top was some spare linens, the second half of the closet, more specifically the right half, was taken up by a large safe, as tall as me, and about 4 feet wide. “huh, I guess that the spell also organized this a bit.” I pulled out the duffel bag holding my various electronics parts and dumped it onto the table. I proceeded to then organize the pieces and pray that the capacitors would be able to hold a decent charge. I stopped to open a window to make sure I would have somewhat of a vent for the smoke, and then turned on the soldering iron.

Two hours, and some shocks and burns later, I had assembled the first speaker. The thing was the same size as a 40-mm grenade, but I had yet to figure out what I was going to do to make the thing stick to various surfaces. I couldn’t use magnets as there was no metal around, but I could use spikes. Id place one on the bottom to puncture materials like concrete or marble and a few on the sides so I can launch or throw it onto softer surfaces like wood or tapestry. It took some time as I didn’t have a welding torch so I had to improvise with my soldering iron and some scrap metal from the blacksmith near the guards quarters. I manages to fashion a few hinges to make sure that the device could be launched from a grenade launcher or since I don’t have one with me, I could make myself a spud gun and use that. Another hour and a half later, and I had make myself a functioning launcher from more scrap metal and spare electronic parts, all in all, it was about the same size as an M120 grenade launcher and worked in a similar fashion. I looked at my watch and I realized that it was 23:00 “meh, I still have an hour, but I’ll need to get rid of the headshot hitbox to use it effectively.” I laughed at my own joke and inspected my work. All I needed to do is figure out how to link this up to my phone, which was actually the touchpad in my armor, and then hook it up to the solar charger that I had made. Luckily all that would take was some simple coding, which could be done via my laptop. I took my new creation and proceeded back to my room when the king rounded the corner.

“Ah I see your burning the midnight oil Johnathan, against my wife’s orders.”

“Meh, I’ll get some sleep, but I need to make at least two more speakers first.” I replied.

“Speakers?” he asked.

“Small devised that can play music from an electronic device like the one that is incorporated into my left arm.” I replied.

The king smiled, “Yes we noticed that amongst your possessions, it took us some some to activate it, but once we did, we determined that it could be useful to you.”

That got me to thinking, “Speaking of my armor, how is it powered?”

“Through a mix of your solar power and a tactic that Starswirl has been experimenting with since your arrival.” he replied.

“Which is?”

“Magic as a source of energy.”

I looked up to him then back to my phone then back to him “You mean that because of me…” I stopped there “I guess that Tia was right, I will do great things.”

“What do you mean?” the king asked.

“Starswirl’s theory will become Equestrias primary method of power, maybe even the whole worlds.” I answered.

“I see…well don’t tell him that, his ego can become quite inflated sometimes.”

I chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Just make sure you get some sleep Johnathan.” the king replied before walking off to his and Sunflare’s quarters.

I walked into my room and sat down at my desk with my computer. A half hour later, I had created a driver and the devices code, and uploaded it to my phone and the device respectively. I got up and grabbed the speaker and the launcher that I had made off their chargers and walked into the hall. “Time to see if this will all work.” I flipped a switch on the launcher and the small electric motor began to whir and compress that air for a launch. I then placed the speaker down the tube and aimed it for the wall on the end of the hallway. I looked around to make sure I was alone and seeing that I was, I yanked the valve release which released the air and sent the speaker flying through the air and into the wall and the end of the hallway. “Yes!” I laid the launcher down against the wall and went to inspect the speaker. It was intact. “Now let’s see if this will work.” I raised my arm up and summoned my left arms protection, and brought up my phone. I opened it up and pressed the power button on the speaker, something I forgot to do before I launched it, and I was greeted by the little blue power light that began to blink as it scanned for an uplink “Good the impact didn’t wreck the inside.” I after a few taps on the pad, the light turned solid blue signaling to me that the two were connected. A couple touches and swipes later and I had my song library open on my phone “Hmm, what to choose, what to choose.” I smiled as I found the song. “This will work.” I tapped the screen and the speaker burst to life and Frank Sinatra’s “Come fly with me” began to play loudly out of the speaker. Realizing that it was late at night, I quickly turned it off before it woke any pony, but I left the speaker in the wall. Again, I brought up my control panel where I could see the connection status and began to walk away from the speaker, wanting to determine the range that it could receive from. Keeping my eye on the screen, I saw that it finally lost its connection at around 100 meters. I walked back to the speaker, making sure to check the hallway that it was in to see if any pony and come looking to see what the commotion was, but for once, I got lucky. It took some force, but I was eventually able to pull the speaker out of the wall. I looked it over for any damage but there was none “Now I just have to make you some battle buddies.” I tossed it up and caught it before walking back into my room to copy my design.

As the clock hit 0100 I had managed to make 4 more copies totaling up to 5 speakers. “That should be enough…hopefully.” I laid down the soldering iron and unplugged it from the battery, which I then hooked back up to the solar charger and laid it back outside so I wouldn’t have to wake up early to do so. With everything as ready as it could be, I placed the speakers in the grenade pouches on my pack and the home-made launcher inside the pack. At that point I got stripped down to my sleeping attire and laid down in by bed while I held up the pendant into my view before placing a small kiss on it “Goodnight my beautiful princess.” I let the pendant fall back down onto my chest. And oddly enough, before I passed out, I swear I thought that I felt a small kiss on my lips as well.

Chapter 16: On the Road Again

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.

Chapter 17- Meanwhile

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