Author's Note

Chapter 2, now proof-read! Chapter 3 soon to arrive, probably within the week.

Verraten

Chapter 2

It was late in the day, and Augustus and Fluttershy just arrived at her house, with Augustus clutching the ground, when his feet made contact with the ground. Augustus got up after a few moments of shock and looked at Fluttershy's house. It was a grand, giant oak tree, with windows and other necessities, carved out perfectly. He was astonished at this feat, and his mouth hung open a slight bit from sheer, pure amazement of the home. Fluttershy opened the door slowly, revealing an assortment of animals, surprising big to incredibly small, from mice to a couple of small fallow deer. Fluttershy went through the carved doorway and Augustus followed inside.
"F-Feel free to get comfortable," Fluttershy said, looking back at the man. Augustus nodded, and almost immediately took his trench coat, backpack, and satchel off, and sat on the plank floor while unlatching his bootstraps.

"This house is majestic, how did it come to be?"

"O-oh, it was my parents before they left."

"It is very nice. People in my world don't have anything like this."

Fluttershy blushed, then walked into the kitchen to grab something. In her absence, the variety of animals in Fluttershy's house was inspecting Augustus, their small button noses sniffing him for the scents he carried. He held out a hand to the deer, and it ever so slowly came forward and laid its head in his hand. He calmly rubbed the side of its head, and it nuzzled into his hand, making him chuckle under his breath. He began to play with the animals before Fluttershy came back with two porcelain cups, each filled with a small brown liquid, which Augustus assumed was tea.

She walked over to him and tilted over, giving Augustus a reminder of her sheer height over him, before he took one of the cups.

"Thank you, Ms. Shy... For everything. I probably would've bled to death if it were not for you."

"Oh, it was nothing. Animals come in all the time with injuries."

"Yes, but where I come from, wounds like the ones I had there are....extremely common, especially during this time of conflict."

"W-what? What's going on in your world?"

"A great war, one that I am almost certain will not end soon, at least without plenty of death for the world." He said and looked down sadly, sighing,

Fluttershy gasped and put down her cup, and she went over to Augustus, who finally stopped sipping from the small teacup and got up, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, you poor thing," Fluttershy said and went over to him and picked him up, pulling him into a bear hug which was tighter than a line of wire. Augustus felt slightly out of breath from the force of the hug, He felt as if he was in the tear gas once more, and he struggled to get out, but it was like being stuck under the weight of a tank. The hug continued until a loud series of banging was heard at Fluttershy's door, and someone talking outside.

"FLUTTERSHY! GIRLS NIGHT!"

Augustus panicked and burst from the hug and grabbed his things, quickly equipping them, and opened a window on the side of the house. Augustus looked to Fluttershy and covered his lips with a single finger and nodded, Fluttershy doing the same. Augustus hopped through the window but peeked his head through the window while standing on a crate.

Fluttershy opened the door, and let all of her one, two, five, no six friends inside. Augustus peeked a part of his head around, inspecting all of them, and their very awkward variety of colors. Blue, pink, purple, white, and orange. Each having their own distinctive look. The blue one looked rather scrawny, but her hair was made of the entire chain of colors from red to purple. The next one was hopping up and down, very pink and jumping constantly, while her puffed hair bounced up and down more than she did. The purple one had glasses on with a skirt and carried a small book in her hand. The white one had a very casual dress on along with light make-up. The last one had slightly dusty jeans on with a checkered shirt tied to her chest with a small white shirt underneath. All together, they looked the complete opposite of each other.

"How are they even friends? They don't match at all." Augustus whispered. He heard a twig snap behind him, and quickly snapped his head backward, but saw nothing. He shook his head a bit, took his helmet off and wiped his brow, before getting back up on the crate. He peered inside and the pink one was on the ceiling jumping up and down, caring naught for gravity.

"Was zum Teufel?" Augustus asked in his native tongue, peering more at the pink one and not paying attention to his surroundings. He heard a snap and quickly felt the crate below him give out, a large SNAP sounding out. He heard a few curious voices from inside, and grabbed his dropped things, and booked it for the tree line just near the house before hearing,
"HEY, WE GOT A PEEPING TOM!"

Augustus's feet hit the dirt quickly, more than he ever did in his life, even compared to his old life in the trenches. His legs peddling him more away from the possible danger back at his saviors home. He looked at him and saw a few shadows far behind, counting five only. Wait, wher-
Before Augustus could finish comprehending what was going on, he felt something knock his helmet off his head, and he fell on the ground, getting up hastily. He began to run again, looking at him, seeing the blue one with rainbow hair near him with her arm out like a clothesline. He grabbed his helmet and pulled out his rifle, turning on the safety and putting the bayonet on the tip.

"Geh jetzt weg!" Augustus warned in his own language.The blue one got into a fighting pose, and he did one himself in return. She eyes him very closely, beginning to circle him.

"Alright tough guy, let's see what ya got!" She said before she leaped forward, swinging her fists, Augustus dodged them quickly revolting with the butt end of his rifle, causing her to roll. She then charged him head first, catching his hands with her arms. He felt his feet lift off the ground, and he turned off his rifle safety, firing a shot right next to her ear. She let him drop on the ground, all the while holding her ringing ear. Augustus took the opportunity and jumped away, turning the safety on once more.

"Please, I was not spying on you!" Augustus pleaded, keeping his rifle in his hands, bayonet forward. He heard footsteps behind him, coming rapidly. The soldier jumped out of the way, the orange character from before tripping and colliding with Augustus' previous attacker.

"Dang it!" The orange one said as she adjusted her hat, and git into an incredibly aggressive pose, looking ready to jump on Augustus given the chance. He looked behind his aggressors and saw the other 4 going towards him. Fluttershy was behind all of them, looking as if she didn't want to be there. The purple one came forward slowly with her hands up.

"Peace, we are not here to hurt you, creature from the unknown." She said, almost mockingly slow. She came a little too close for comfort, so Augustus he re-armed himself and jabbed the bayonet at her from afar. She backed up and retracted her hands before giving a confused look.

"He looks like he's ready to hurt us Twilight, we need to take 'em down now!" The blue one said, her wings behind her opening and slightly levitating off the ground. Augustus turns his rifle safety off.

"Idioten! Stay away!"Augustus screamed at them, each of them backing up a small few footsteps.

"Wait. Deutsche? Deutsche?! The purple woman asked.

Augustus stayed still for a moment, putting down his rifle after a moment of hesitation. He took off the bayonet of his rifle, slowly coming towards them with the rifle in one hand, still next to his cheek. The German extended his gloved hand, looking at the purple one, who he assumed to be the leader. She grasped his hand, and he fully put down his rifle.

"Du sprichst auch Deutsch?" Augustus replied, happy to see a calmer face like his own. The purple one sighed and kept on shaking his hand.

"My name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said, with gleaming eyes.

"My name is Augustus, private of the Kaisers army," Augustus said, ending the handshake. He flipped his rifle over his shoulder, assuming a more passive stance. He stood in his place and began to talk to his new acquaintance.

"It seems we have a similar military ranking system. Amazing!" Twilight said, the small horn on her head shone, and a small wood board appeared, along with paper, ink, and a quill. She began to rapidly take notes, her friends shaking their heads. Her eyes become wide and curious the more and more notes she wrote.

Augustus was... shocked, to say the least. He'd never seen anything of the sort, only machinery. He shook his head and decided to focus on what was important first.

"So, how are you here?" Twilight asked. Augustus just scratches the back of his head and shrugged, looking at her,

"I am.... not very sure myself, but I was being suffocated by tear gas from my own artillery. I began choking, I went unconscious, then there was just a swirl of colors, and... here I am." Augustus explained, sitting on a collapsed log.

"Hmm. Maybe Celestia will have an answer for this." She said as the paper and writing items disappeared in a small fizz. She sat next to him and got very close to his face. He noticed that he is about neck height with her, like most of the other horses around here. His feeling of calmness is replaced with a slight off-put as Twilight sticks her face even closer to his own. She looked him dead in the eyes, and he returns the look, quizzically.

"Its okay everyone, he is friendly! Meet Augustus." Twilight says, pointing her hand towards Augustus, while Augustus just looks at them from his side, giving them all a very suspicious eye, especially the orange and blue women. They both give him the same eye, and Augustus looked at the other two, the pink one and white one, who looked rather neutral. He walks toward them, extended his hand, the pink one grabbing his hand first.

"Hiya Mister alien! My name's Pinkie Pie! How are you? When is your birthday? Oh, I have to start planning it right now!" She said, quickly fishing a piece of paper and ink quill from somewhere behind her, quickly turning around, hiding the paper. Augustus slowly backed away and went towards the white one.

"I did not even tell you my birth date," Augustus said confused as he saw the pink character scribbling down something faster than a bullet. He sighed and turned tot he white one, hoping for a better reaction.

"Hello, Sir. A pleasure to meet you. I am Rarity." She says, giving him her hand. He took off his helm and kissed her hand, something he learned before his conscription.

"Pleasure to meet you also," Augustus said, letting go of her hand, heading over to the others, who have their arms crossed like stubborn children. Augustus just walked past them while giving them a gazing eye, keenly watching their movement. They return their gazes, and the blue one spit at his feet, making him stop and turn his body towards her. She got on her feet, and puffed up, revealing a good few inches of height over Augustus.

"You should show some respect to others, especially soldiers," Augustus said.

"Not to a hairless monkey who swings a stick around." She said, shoving him. He looked up at her, getting his pistol out of his pocket. His eyes begin to tear up quickly.

"Aw, is the wittle monkey gonna cwy?" She said mockingly with a smile on her face. Augustus crept forward, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Rainbow cut it out! It's not his fault, it's yours!" Twilight said

"You...you don't know what I have seen," Augustus said, cocking the hammer on the gun back.

"Pssh, yeah right. We killed the leader of Tartarus before!" She said smugly, very assure of herself.

"Imagine... Imagine hell itself, above ground, your friends' skin melting off, your families and homes destroyed, turning into nothing but ash, everything you loved reduced to ashes... Seeing the dying look in your friends' eyes as they perish into darkness." Augustus said. He slowly crept forward, and she had a more serious expression on her face.

"W-well, imagin-" she was cut off by the barrel of Augustus's pistol to her chin.

"Imagine what? I've probably lived it, over and over again. Countless times." He said, his finger pressuring the trigger.
"You know not of Hell. The pain, the burning in your heart, when you lose everything." Augustus said.
"Augustus sir, please don't do anything rash..." Twilight said. Augustus looked at her, then back to Rainbow. He looked at her and squeezed the trigger, and the crackle of the shot went off, but no one was injured.

Instead, the gun lay to the side of Rainbow's head, barrel smoking, her ears folded in pain from the loudness of the shot. Augustus lowered his hand, and wipes his eyes with his other hand, clearing the tears from his eyes and going back to the log to pick up his rifle before walking away from the group.

She had a look of anger on her face, gritting her teeth while everyone looked at each other in silence before Twilight started speaking.

"We should head home, it's going to get dark soon. We don't want to be out here any longer, there's probably timber wolves around." Twilight said. Everyone nodded and began walking back towards the town, only one head turned to where Augustus was, and it was Fluttershy's.
Augustus purposely shoved his shoulder into Rainbows arm, she looked down at the ground, then to Augustus walking with the rest of her friends. She gritted her teeth once more and began walking with them, making sure to stick with Fluttershy behind Augustus, watching him. He was already chatting with Rarity.

"Darling you must get a new coat, that looks absolutely ravished!"

"No, thank you, Miss Rarity. But these have kept me alive through winters and summers on the front of battles. My helm has saved me from many bullets. These clothes are all I have left of my old world."

"Oh, sorry darling. But if you want me to patch them up, I could."

"Thank you, Miss, for you're very kind, especially to an outsider like me." He said, tipping his helmet to her.

"Its nothing, its the least I could do for what you've gone through," Rarity said, walking next to Augustus and Pinkie.

"Ooh, ooh, August! I already have your party all planned out!" Pinkie said, showing a simple drawing like a child's with balloons and a small cake on a table.

"August?" He asked, not sure if she was talking to him.

"It's a nickname, like how ponies call me Pinkie instead of Pinkie Pie!" She said, very happy and jittery still jumping up and down.

"Whatever you say. Pinkie." Augustus says with a shrug. He looked forward to seeing that Fluttershy's house was just in front of him.

"I will stay out here for a bit, to clear my thoughts." He explained. He sat down next to the front door while everyone else went inside the home, and Augustus listened to them through a window and could hear them talking, about him. All of it was about him.

"He seems like a gentleman. He's got better manners than many of the stallions in the town."
"His species must be on an alternate timeline like our own, but even more advanced. Did you see those machines? How it shot a projectile into the tree without even being seen? Eeee! So much to learn!"

"Uh, Twilight, if you forgot, he nearly sent that 'projectile' into my face!"

Augustus looked at the ground in his own thought, blocking out all the other sound, and his eyes were giving in to sleep. He raised his head and looked to the horizon, at the glistening orange sun quickly going down under the edge of sight, and the moon slowly being revealed to him. He smiled as the moon reminded him of his own world, the calming nights when most soldiers were asleep and dreaming of their families, or talking of stories from before that terrible war.

He opened his pack and took out a small charred picture. The faces of his family and spouse all charred away by damage over time. The memories of bombs exploding, buildings collapsing, and civilians running in terror, many of them just to be captured then conscripted into the warlike animals. His eyes became watery again, in memory of his family, dead by his own stubbornness.

The vision was beginning to appear again, his families farmhouse up in flames, the screams of his family inside. Two other soldiers hold him back as his eyes poured tears hearing the agonizing screams of his family as they burnt to death in the very place he was born. The roof of the house collapsed in, and the screams only got worse. As the rest of the house collapsed, a figure came running out of the fire and fell to the ground, burning and crinkling. His spouse, screaming in pain as her skin peeled off and burned in the heat.

Augustus got on his knees and began screaming while the soldiers held him in place. They finally let him go, and he crawled over to her, taking off his shirt and trying to put her out. His mind switched to her last words on her half-charred face as tears cascaded down her face, and her single arm grasped his fabric shirt.

"Do not worry, my love, I join my parents now."

Augustus's vision ended, and he found himself screaming still, breathing heavily while he tried to comprehend what was happening. It was night time, and all six of the women he just met were standing around him, staring at him. He clutched his legs and buried his face in his knees, trying to recompose himself. His heart was pounding and his mind was running wild.

"I...I-I'm sorry for disturbing you all." Augustus said. He pulled his helmet down and walked very quickly away to get some fresh air. But he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked backward, then up to see Fluttershy's face.
"Its okay, come inside my house, were having a sleepover. We need some company anyway." Fluttershy said without stuttering, a rare occurrence with others around.

"Why, what use am I to you?" Augustus said in a quiet tone, looking down.

"August, I suggest you listen. She'll use her stare on you." Twilight said while holding another book in her hand.

"You think some stare is going to affect me?" August said, looking back at her, then back to Fluttershy's face. It was sternly still, mouth straight, her eyes open, not breaking contact with Augustus's eyes. He looked into hers and eventually he felt a bit nervous, and moments pass and he feels like he was staring down the barrel of a tank cannon. It was... dreadful. It was depriving him of his sanity.

"A-alright, please stop. P-please." Augustus said he couldn't break the contact between their eyes. Fluttershy's face went back to its original form with a minor blush and a sweet smile. Augustus started breathing normally again and fell on his bottom, watching as she walked back into her house.

She looked back at him with a smile, and he ran towards the door and made sure to maintain a safe distance until he could regain his lost sanity from that mind-paralyzing stare. The rest of the girls had gone inside and already started playing games while Augustus sat in a wooden chair organizing his things
.
He watched them with cold eyes and finally began packing his things away again, then proceeding to remove his war-torn clothes. He took off his shirt and inspected its condition, which could not get worse. Torn, charred, bloody, and smelled like rotten meat. He put it to the side to be washed, but inspected the rest of his clothes and saw that only his shirt was dirty. He picked up the shirt and looked in his satchel, but could not find a new one. He threw the shirt down onto his bag and turned around, forgetting that he had no shirt on, and saw all eyes on him as his bare chest laid exposed.

"Uh, Ms. Shy, do you have anywhere I can clean my clothes?" Augustus said, ignoring the drool from some of their mouths.

"U-uhm, yes, out back, f-feel free to use it," Fluttershy said, not taking her eyes off of his small frame. He quickly went outside and around the side of the house, peeking in the window to see them all whispering. He knew it was about him again. He shook his head and continued his objective to clean his shirt.

He found the small bucket with water inside of it, sitting on the grass and began to soak the shirt in the water. It quickly turned it a deep red color, and he poured out the water of the bucket, grabbing his shirt and wringing it out thoroughly before putting it back on himself, its slight dampness making a soothing cooling effect around his chest. He sighed and went back inside to see the girls now all in a circle, with a bottle in the middle.

"What are you doing with that empty bottle?" Augustus questioned.

"Playing Spin the Bottle, silly!" Pinkie said with a large smile.

"What is that?" Augustus asked.

"You spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on has to do a dare!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I don't see the threat in it," Augustus said with a shrug.

"You have to do anything the pony says!" Pinkie said, making a devious smile towards everyone. Augustus raised his eyebrows in surprise, as that could be a big risk depending on the person.

"And you all agree to do whatever?" Augustus asked, and they all nodded. He shook his head and continued to lean against the wall before he felt a force on his foot, and it was Twilight pulling him over.

"Play a couple of rounds, its fun!" Twilight says with a smile. Augustus just scooted himself back to his place, but Twilight got up and towered over him.
"Or I could get Fluttershy to do her stare again?" Twilight said.

"You're bluffing..." Augustus said. He looked over at Fluttershy, who had her smile on, but her wide eyes said that this was no bluff, and he slowly scooted back over hesitantly. He most defiantly did not want to see those again.

"Fine, whose turn is it?" Augustus asked.

"New guy goes first." Rainbow said coldly. Augustus sighed and picked up the bottle, then gave it a good spin on its side, and it landed on himself.

"What happens now?" Augustus asked.

"You choose someone to give you a dare." Twilight said. Augustus pondered the risks, as he knew that Rainbow hates him, and Pinkie is not exactly reliable either, so he went with Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, you give me a dare.You saved me from the woods, you get the chance." Augustus said, and Fluttershy hid behind her hair, blushing intensely.

"A-alright. Um, would you, um...." Fluttershy stuttered heavily.

"G-give me a...kiss, for all the work?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind her long pink hair. Augustus was astonished at her bravery, and he was relying on her for an easy dare, but it came out as the opposite. He commended her yet feared her. But a dare was a dare.

"I-I suppose, for your work." He said, then slowly crawled over to her and they both puckered their lips, both ready to give in. Augustus felt her hot breath, and she felt his. Their lips made contact and Augustus was reminded of his spouse, their lips felt exactly the same, and he used his hand to hold Fluttershy's mouth in place before he realized what he was doing. He was kissing a horse-woman hybrid. He quickly got up and attempted to hide his blush, but failed horribly.

His embarrassment was too great and he grabbed his pack and satchel before heading out to the edge of the treeline. He dropped his pack right before the tree line and pulled out his hatchet, quickly slicing the tree up with the axe. To his own mind, he was stupid for letting himself be overtaken like that, just because of a dare. This turned him to rage, and the tree was already bare a few minutes in, his rage causing the tree to be widdled clean by his axe.

Hours later...

It was morning, the tree remained no more, just ahead of wood chips and some logs, a few poking branches, and nothing more. His mind was still fresh on the subject, that he had kissed his savior, even though his loyalty remained to his spouse. That was his obligation. Right?

He shook off his head and finally grabbed all of his items and very slowly made his way into the house, making sure not to wake any of the sleeping occupants. He closed the door gently and made his way over to his own corner and laid down his bad, taking off his trench-ware and making a small headrest for himself. His mind was still plagued by the kiss. How could he betray his original love? Was it the fact that she was gone? Was it the reminder of her? The feeling of Fluttershy's lips, there was no difference to the kiss. Augustus's mind was awake, but his body was exhausted, and that exhaustion led him into a very nightmare riddled sleep.

"Princess! Princess! News from your apprentice, Twilight Sparkle!" A small body said, and handed the colossal figure a small wax sealed note, with only a small few lines of writing inside.

"Dear Princess Celestia, we found something earlier today in the Everfree. Its sentient, and its got technology so far advanced from our own. We can use this to learn and advance far ahead in every field of science and magic possible! It has a name and military rank, its a soldier and its species are far ahead of ours! I will try to send more letter informing you of him. Your student, Twilight Sparkle"

The shadowy figure put the note down, and laid its arms on its legs, keeping its composure before crumpling the note and throwing it aside. The colossal figure stood up, turning its head to another couple of smaller creatures.

"Shining Armor, we have a problem. I need your best soldiers to be ready in a week to move to Ponyville."

"Yes, Princess!"

"Aunt Celestia, what is this about?"

"Nothing Cadence, just a... small problem in Ponyville."