Apex Is Coming

After sleeping on an amazing bed for a day, then sleeping on a rough couch for the next six, Twilight and I were ready for the trip to her parents. Throughout my entire week in Ponyville, I was practically always in the library, all I did was nap and beg Twilight to pick me up pizza.

Of course, every time I asked, I had to answer a bunch of questions about my world. Most of it was just general knowledge about technology and mortality. I answered them to the best of my abilities, leaving out certain details I had a feeling she would prefer not to hear. Twilight was generous enough to not ask me personal questions, but she did ask a lot about my gear though.

“I still can’t believe there’re over 9 billion humans!” Twilight was bouncing in place next to me.

“I still can’t believe you’re so excited about that,” I muttered. Currently, Twilight and I were standing in front of the Ponyville Train Station. Twilight had already purchased our tickets, so all we had to do was wait for the train to arrive.

“Why shouldn’t I be?!” Twilight was attracting unwanted attention. Sure enough, literally every pony at the station was staring at us.

“Because, it’s not that important.” I lowered my glasses and glared at the eavesdropping ponies. All of them instantly looked away, pretending that nothing happened. “Keep it down though,” I whispered to Twilight while adjusting my glasses.

“Sorry.” She looked up with a sheepish smile. All I could do was sigh. “Well, maybe Ponyville wouldn’t treat you like an outsider if you actually interacted with any of us.” Her sheepish smile turned into a frown.

“Did that party not happen?”

“Yes, but that’s all you did! You only left the library twice. And that was to get your clothes from Rarity.” Her frown turned into a stern look. Rarity did a better job then I thought she would. She made me a couple of long sleeve shirts due to it now being fall in Equestria. The shirts were made out of cotton, which felt amazing against my skin. So far, she had only made two shirts. One was white, while the other was black, neither had a design to them.

Rarity also made me a pair of sweatpants. When I first told her what they were, she freaked out. She kept screaming at me about how it would be a disgrace to the fashion industry. After convincing her that they were extremely stylish where I came from, she gladly made them for me.

The extremely awkward thing though was that I forgot about underwear. I don’t wear anything underneath my suit, so it’s not like I had a pair with me. So my second visit to her shop was to tell her how to make underwear. Luckily, she was able to successfully make a pair before Twilight and I left.

“I think you’re mad cause I’m fly.” I gestured towards my outfit

“What does that mean?” Twilight asked while cocking her head to the side.

“Means I look nice.” I flipped my hair, moving it out from my vision. My hair was still the same color as Twilight’s coat, which she hated because she had to deal with teasing from Spike and Pinkie Pie on the occasions when she visited.

“I suppose you look nice.” She quietly said.

I was about to call her a hater until a loud whistle filled the air. I watched as an old locomotive train pulled up to the station. The doors on the side of the train’s passenger cars opened and ponies began to pour out. After the flow of ponies exiting the cars ended, the pony who I assumed was the conductor stepped out. “Let’s go,” I said as I started walking to the entrance of one of the closer cars.

I showed him my ticket and ducked down into the train at the same time. After that, I instantly started heading towards the back. I was hoping I could get a seat away from everyone else.

I sat down and let out a sigh, while Twilight took a seat in front of me and sat her saddlebags to the side. “I can’t wait to catch up with my family.” She mumbled as I watched her open her saddlebags using magic, pull out a massive book, and open it.

“Wait, how long is this train ride?” I asked, worried to hear the answer.

“Two hours. Didn’t I tell you?” She had a mischievous grin as she finished.

“No!”

Twilight let out a giggle. “Here.” She opened her saddlebags and pulled out something that actually surprised me. “Maybe they are for entertainment. I wish you could just tell me.” She floated over an impact grenade and gently sat it on my hand.

“One day.” I smiled and started to balance it on my palm. Only two other ponies entered the cart Twilight and I were in. It was only a filly and what I assumed was her guardian. They both sat closer to the front of the cart, sending a couple of glances my way.

After a couple of minutes of me just balancing the grenade on my hand, the train let out a loud whistle and started to move. I wasn’t ready for the sudden motion, so I ended up dropping the impact grenade. Somehow, it ended up rolling to the front of the cart. “For fuck sake,” I muttered as I stood up to go grab my things.

Before I could get it, I watched as the filly got out of her seat and grabbed it using her mouth.

“Uhh...” I awkwardly spoke.

She trotted up to me and held her head high. I assumed she was letting me grab it. “Oh, thanks.” I grabbed the grenade from her mouth and started to wipe her saliva onto my shirt.

“No problem mister.” The filly spoke with a lisp that I found adorable. She was a normal pony who had a pale coat with a red curly mane and tail. She was wearing large purple glasses with magenta eyes behind them.

I smiled at her and bent down. “Thanks.” I gently rubbed her head.

I heard a muffled laugh come from my right. I looked over and saw a familiar looking pony. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be good with children.” She spoke in a sweet tone. I assumed it was the fillies mother. She had a pale coat with a red mane and tail. The only difference between the two was that the mother’s mane and tail were straightened and she had cobalt eyes. Just like her filly, she was a normal pony.

“Have I seen you before?” I stood up and began examining the pony.

“Well, I was at your welcome party.” She finished with a soft smile.

“That makes sense.” I nodded while turning and walking away. “Well, cya around.” I quickly shuffled back over to Twilight to avoid a conversation.

“Have a good day!” The adorable filly called out. I went back over to Twilight, and just like before, I sat across from her. Twilight seemed like she was deeply focused on her book, so I choose not to disturb her.

The two-hour train ride was awful. For some random reason, the filly and her mother decided to move next to me. They tried to engage in small talk with me, which didn’t go well since I kept my responses extremely short and didn’t try to contribute anything to the conversation.

They eventually gave up on the boring chit chat and went on to questions about me. The only questions I answered were my name and stuff about Earth. Any personal questions I decided not to answer by saying ‘to personal’.

“Have a good day, Saint.” Sugar Crash, the mother said. She stood up and headed towards the exit.

“Bye, Alpha!” Twist, the filly said while handing me back one of my grenades and following her mother. I ended up giving her one to play with because she asked me to, apparently she thought it was a metal ball.

“Alpha?” Twilight questioned. I looked over and saw her floating her book back into her saddlebag.

“She has trouble pronouncing Saint. So I told her my nickname.” I stood up and slid the grenades back into my pockets. I then headed towards the exit of the car and stepped out onto the Canterlot Train Station.

I instantly noticed that the train station here looked ten times better than the one in Ponyville. It was a lot fancier and very clean. Not many ponies were present, but the ones that were were wearing fancy clothing. The mares were wearing dresses of sorts while the stallions were wearing suits.“What type of city was this again?” I turned around and questioned Twilight.

“It’s the capital of Equestria. It’s where all the nobles live.” She trotted over and stood by my side. I watched as some of the fancy ponies entered the train cart, while others gawked at me. “Come on, I wanna see Princess Celestia before I see my parents.”

I turned around and followed Twilight. She lead me out of the train station and into the actual city of Canterlot.

I only took a couple of steps into the city, but I spun around and examined my surroundings. “Wow.” I muttered. The entire city seemed to be connected to the side of a mountain. The only reason why I knew this was because in the distance a waterfall was coming down from the mountain the city was attached to.

Following the path of the waterfall, I noticed a massive castle. I couldn’t really tell what it was made out of due to how far away I was, but I was able to see that it had a couple of towers that went up pretty high.

“That was always my favorite part of this place.” I spun around and looked at Twilight with a dumbfounded expression.

“Why can’t we live here?!” I questioned.

“Because, all my friends are in Ponyville of course.” She started to trot off as she finished her sentence. I quickly hurried after her and stayed by her side.

Twilight and I kept a steady pace as we walked down the cobblestone road. We passed by many buildings with very fancy architecture. Some buildings had marble pillars, while others were stores with glass panes showing off their fancy clothing and jewelry. The place was definitely nicer than Ponyville, but something about it was off.

I spun around and saw all the ponies staring at me, watching my every move. Examining me. It made me feel cold and sick. “Twilight, anyway we can get breakfast?” My voice filled with unease.

“Oh sure. I know this amazing donut place we can go to.” She must have realized I stopped walking because she was closer than I expected. “But, are you ok?”

I sadly shook my head. “In all honesty, no I’m not. I feel cold and sick.” I emphasized my coldness by wrapping my arms around my sides. In an attempt to hug myself.

“Maybe you’re just hungry. We did come here pretty early.” She was right about that. She woke me up at around 6 and I told her to wake me up later and went back to sleep. She woke me up an hour later, telling me how the train was going to be here soon. I had to quickly get changed into my new clothes and leave, causing me to miss breakfast.

“Yeah,” I muttered quietly. I followed Twilight as she lead me down street after street. No words were said, which made everything worse, but we eventually made it after only a couple minutes of walking.

“I was expecting Dunkin’. But this will do I guess.” I scratched the back of my head as I read the sign. Twilight and I were currently standing in front of a building that had a sign that said ‘Donut Joe’s’. But the sign also had a massive pink frosted donut on it.

“What’s Dunkin’?” I looked over and saw Twilight gazing at me with curiosity in her eyes.

“Same thing as Donut Joe’s I guess.” I walked towards the building and entered it. A bell could be heard chiming with the opening of the door. My nostrils were instantly hit with the smell of frosting and donuts. The inside actually reminded me of a donut place from my world. They had mismatching tile flooring and small tables along the sides of the shop where you could eat. The counter was filled with donuts and other good looking pastries on display. The windows had a promotion for some special deal they had going on today, but I couldn’t be bothered to read it.

The only thing that was different from the donut shops I had been to was that instead of a human cashier, there was a male unicorn. He had a light yellowish coat with a brown mane and green eyes. His tail was currently being blocked by the counter. He was wearing an apron and a miniature chefs hat to complete his look. “Long time no see, Twilight.” The stallion called while waving us over.

“Hey, Joe.” Twilight began trotting over to counter. I quietly followed behind her with a confused expression on my face.

“What can I get you two?” He questioned her with a bright smile after Twilight and I had made it to the counter. Twilight was looking over all the donuts and acting as if nothing was strange.

“Ok, I’ll ask. You’re the only pony who acts as if they’ve seen me before. What gives?” I crossed both of my arms and waited for a response from Joe.

“I’ve seen all types of species. I’ve seen dragons, griffins, and diamond dogs.” He then gestured with a hoof towards his various donuts. “At the end of the day, we all like donuts.” He finished with a grin.

“Definitely, right on that one.” I looked down at Twilight who seemed to still be deciding on what to get. “I’ll take whatever you get.”

“You sure?” She looked up at me with a confused look.

“Positive.” I walked away and sat at one of the nearby tables. Sadly, the table was really low to the ground, so I was very uncomfortable with how I was sitting.

I attempted to play with my impact grenade, but I still felt extremely cold and sick, making me not want to move. So, I decided to let it sit in the center of the table.

It didn’t take long till I heard the clopping of hooves approaching me. “Hopefully I didn’t make you wait long.” I heard Twilight say from behind me.

“Nah.” I gently shook my head. Twilight slipped her saddlebags off and gently sat down right next to me and floated over two brown paper bags onto the table. I quickly grabbed one and opened it to see its contents. All it had were two chocolate donuts with chocolate sprinkles.“Can’t go wrong with chocolate.” I muttered as I took one out and bit into it.

It tasted far better than any donut I’d ever had before so I quietly kept munching on the delicious treat. The quietness didn’t last long though, as I heard Twilight start to hum. “I still can’t believe I can’t figure out what these are.” I looked up from my snack and watched Twilight as she levitated my grenade around.

“You probably can’t make them here, that’s why. Well, I hope you can’t.” I quickly snatched it out of the air using my free hand and held it on the palm of my hand.

Twilight looked at me with a frown. “Why don’t you just tell me? I thought you trusted me.”

I looked at her with my own frown. “I do trust you, Twilight. It’s just that I don’t know if I shou-“ I was completely cut off as the bell from earlier rang.

“Twilight, I heard you were back in town!” A male voice shouted. I looked over and watched as a stallion came trotting over and sat right next to Twilight.

The stallion had a blue mane and tail. His mane was straightened and long enough to cover his dark blue eyes a bit. He had a cyan coat with a cyan horn to match. “How’s it been.” He continued. He wasn’t paying attention to me at all, his focus being on Twilight.

“Hey, Blue Bridge!”Twilight erratically said. I tapped my grenade on the table, getting the attention of both the ponies.

Blue Bridge looked at me with an annoyed glance. “I also heard you had a pet monkey.” I felt my eye twitch a bit at hearing that.

I gently slipped the grenade back into my pocket and looked at Blue. “I ain’t no pet.” I tried to speak in the deepest and most intimidating way possible.

Twilights ears flopped down while Blue looked dumbfounded. “Wait, you can actually talk!” I was about to say another comeback, but Blue kept talking. “I didn’t know you were that good with magic, Twi!”

I let out a sigh, I still didn’t feel better, and I was too sick to deal with this. So I decided to just pick up my donut and continue where I left off. “Well anyways, what have you been up to?” Blue tried to continue his conversation with Twilight.

“I’ve been good I suppose. How’s my brother been?” I’ve heard very little about Twilight's brother. Only that he’s some type of ruler of an empire.

“He’s been fine. Just been busy being a prince I suppose” Blue chuckled as he finished. I tried my hardest not to react to learning that Twilight was related to a prince.

“Yeah, I’m sure he and Cadence are doing a fine job of ruling the Crystal Empire .”

“Yeah, but you’re here to visit your parents, right?” Blue leaned in and waited for Twilights response.

“Yep.” Twilight nodded after answering.

“Suppose I could walk you there.” I almost choked on my donut as I watched Blue get up and walk towards the exit.

I stood up and looked at Twilight. “Who the fuck is that?” I angrily said after finishing my donut.

Twilight gave me a weird look as she stood up as well. “He’s just my brother’s friend is all.” She grabbed her saddlebags and headed towards the exit. Right before she got to the exit, she threw a crumpled up brown paper bag into the trash can.

I let out a sigh and just grabbed my second donut and took a bite. Once I did that, I crumpled my paper bag and threw it away. I then headed for the exit with my donut in hand.

Once I was outside, I began to stretch while rubbing my stomach with my free hand. I still felt sick, and the food wasn’t helping. But I would feel bad if I just threw it away. “Follow close now little guy.” I looked down and saw Blue looking at me with a smile.

“I’m not a pet for fucks sake,” I growled while angrily finishing my entire donut.

Blue looked shocked at first, but before he could respond, Twilight cut in. “He’s right, Blue, he isn’t my pet. Or a pet at all actually.”

Blue looked over to Twilight with a confused expression. “So, he’s not a hairless monkey?”

I let out a sigh and just shook my head. “Nope! He’s actually from another world. He’s called a human.” Twilight responded for me.

Blue looked at me with a look of excitement. “Really!?” Then his looked changed to one of sorrow. “Sorry, about that, I didn’t know.”

“It’s whatever.” I pointed ahead of us with a finger. “Let’s just get this over with.”

And just like that, we began walking through the city, heading towards the massive castle. Blue and Twilight chatted away while I just looked at the oncoming ponies.

The ponies of Canterlot had this sophisticated vibe to them. It made me want to speak without slang, dress fancy, and actually mind my manners. A majority of the ponies were unicorns, but all of them had their eyes on me when I passed by.

My investigation was cut off as I heard Blue speak up. “Hey, what’s your name exactly?”

My eyes flicked to Blue and I watched as a dark blue aura around his horn died down. “It’s Saint.” I suspiciously spoke.

He had a frown on his face as he continued to ask questions. “Twilight said you’re from a place called Earth.” I nodded once. “What kind of job did you have in Earth?”

I squinted my eyes behind my glasses and looked away. “I cleaned up trash.” I technically wasn’t lying since I did kill people who were considered ‘trash’.

I was suspicious of Blue, I was thinking he had cast the lie detection spell on me. I looked at Twilight and she was looking at me with a weird look. “What?” I asked.

“You collected trash?” She raised an eyebrow and awaited my answer.

“No.” I quickly flicked my eyes to Blue, but kept my head facing Twilight. He had a glare on his face while his horn was glowing a faint Blue. “It’s a long story that I’ll tell you when we get back home.” My eyes flicking back to Twilight.

She looked away from me and shook her head. “If you say so.” She muttered. I looked back at Blue and he was staring off to the side of us.

I looked over and noticed we were passing by an alleyway. “Hey, Saint, let me show you a great view of the waterfall.” My eyes twitched as I looked back at Blue, who was looking at me with a big grin.

“Pass.” I didn’t hesitate in saying this. I didn’t trust Blue, he was creepy and I was getting a bad feeling from being next to him.

Twilight turned around, forcing us to stop our walk. “You should go, Saint. It’s always good to learn the layout of Canterlot.”

I’ve never wanted to strangle someone as badly as I did at that moment. I looked at Twilight with a frown. “No, I don’t plan on being here longer than I have to.”

“Aww, come on now.” Now Blue began speaking with a fake sadness in his voice. “It won’t even be that long.”

I kept shaking my head. “The princess is a lot more important.” I kept trying to persuade them into dropping the detour.

Twilight frowned, but then then changed it into a smile. “I’ll meet you two at the castle. I wanna talk to Celestia alone first anyway. Blue, show him around, but don’t take long.” She then turned around and headed towards the castle.

“This bitch,” I muttered while rubbing my temples.

I looked over at Blue, and he was wearing a bright smile. “It’s this way.” He said while walking towards the alleyway. Which I wasn’t surprised by.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, I followed him. I stepped into the alleyway and began walking to the other side. “I think Canterlot is a lot nicer than Ponyville,” Blue spoke while backing up slightly, letting me walk side by side with him.

“I agree.” I was getting more suspicious by the second. Everything felt wrong.

We walked in silence for a couple of seconds, yet those seconds felt like minutes. The only sound that could be heard was the clopping of hooves, and my boots hitting the stone ground.

Sadly, the silence was broken as Blue began to speak. “So, what’s your real name?” My heart dropped as I stopped walking. Blue stopped directly in front of me and took an aggressive stance. “What’s the point of lying about your name?”

I let out a sigh and crossed my arms. “I’m not lying though.” Right as I finished speaking, I felt it. My entire body felt like it was on fire, as if someone lit me on fire with a match. I dropped to my knees and tried to scream, but nothing was coming out.

Then it stopped suddenly. It just disappeared, as if nothing happened at all. I tried to stand back up, but my legs felt sore.“The fuck was that.” I croaked out.

“That’s what happens when you lie.” Blue sounded smug. I looked up and watched as he began to approach me. His horn started glowing a dark blue, and seconds later, I felt myself get lifted into the air.

“What’s the point of this!” I shouted.

Blue frowned and shook his head. “A chaotic force appears in the Everfree. Then the next day, Twilight sends a message to Princess Celestia about a new species.” Then his changed to a more angry look. “That’s not a coincidence.”

I tried to move my body, but I couldn’t. “How do you even know that!” I growled.

Blue let out a groan. “That’s not important. What’s important is you telling me why you’re in Equestria.”

“Kill yourself.” I spat at him. Blue shook his head and his horn started glowing brighter. “Ok! Chill out for a second.” I continued.

Blue gave me a confused look as his horn died down. “So you’re going to talk?” He asked.

“Somewhat, just let me move for a second.” Blue gave me a flat stare. “It’s uncomfortable to talk without being able to move.”

“I’m not stupid.” He protested.

I gave him my own flat stare. “You’re a fucking unicorn. Just grab me if I try to do anything.”

Blue had a look of realization as he nodded his head. “You have a point.” He dropped me to the ground and I landed with a stumble. “So who are you?”

I kept my eyes on Blue as I started digging into my pocket. “I’m me.” Blue glared as his horn started glowing. “Relax!” I pulled out the impact grenade and held it for him to see.

“What’s that exactly?” Blue growled.

“Well, want the long definition or the short one?” I still held it out for him to see it. My plan was to just blow him up and move on with my day.

Blue stopped glaring, but his horn was still glowing. “Long.”

“Well, I don’t know how to make them, but this is how they work.” I pressed the button on the metal ball. “There used as distractions.” It wasn’t technically a lie since I sometimes use them as distractions.

“What do you mean?” Blue cocked his head to the side.

I twisted the cap and the impact made quite a loud beep, signaling that it was armed. “I mean exactly what I said. You can throw it and it’ll cause a distraction.”

Blue’s horn stopped glowing. “So it makes a loud noise?”

I shook my head while making sure not to drop the grenade. “Yeah, but that’s not it though.”

“Well, what else does it do?” Blue sounded annoyed, but that was what I was hoping for.

“Makes an explosion.” As soon as I fished speaking I hurled the impact at him. Time seemed to slow down as I watched the impact slowly approach Blue.

Blue looked confused and then shocked. Yet it was too late. He wouldn’t be able to use his magic in time.

Yet, right before it hit him, the grenade was caught in a rose-colored aura. “What?” I was confused as to what happened.

Blue let out a breath as he chuckled lightly. “Looks like I’m still lucky.” Then his horn started glowing, and all of a sudden, he vanished with a loud pop.

I didn’t have long to question what just happened, because I heard the sound of hooves from behind me. I spun around and watched as a stallion was approaching me.

The stallion had a pure white coat with a blue mane and tail. His tail and mane had different shades of blue streaks going throughout them both.

Turns out, he was the unicorn who caught my grenade. His horn was glowing the same rose color. “So who are you?” I questioned.

The stallion just had an angry expression on his face. I watched in awe as my impact was floated by my head. “Don’t let it hit the ground. Or anything for that matter.” The grenade was levitated over to the stallion. He looked it over once before looking back at me.

I slowly crept backwards, hoping to just leave and run away, but the stallions horn started to glow, oh brother. I tried to keep moving, but I couldn’t, it felt like something was crushing me. I dropped down to my knees and began coughing. “You’re under arrest for attempted murder.” I forced my head up and looked the stallion in his eyes.

His sapphire-blue eyes bore into mine. He looked angry, almost like he wanted to kill me. I could see the hatred in his eyes.

Then the pressure stopped suddenly. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t for some reason. I kept struggling and struggling, but my entire body wouldn’t move. Then I felt myself being lifted off the ground, a familiar aura surrounding me.

“I didn’t even do anything!” I shouted. I tried to break free of the hold, but I couldn’t move anything. Neither my legs nor arms would move.

“Don’t play dumb.” His voice was cold, very cold. “I was listening the entire time.” He shook the impact grenade around in his magical grasp. If it ended up touching anything, it would go off.

I had an annoyed expression on my face. If he was there the entire time then he should have helped me.

The angry stallion turned around and started trotting off, while I lazily floated behind him. We exited the alley and began heading down the road. The second we were out in the street, everybody stopped and stared. I tried to signal that I needed help, but for some reason, I couldn’t even speak.

We were like this for what felt like hours. I felt tired and really wanted to sleep, but the position I was in made it nearly impossible. But then I noticed that we were approaching the castle.

Up close, the castle still looked massive. Part of the castle was hanging off the side of the mountain, while the waterfall from earlier continued down it. We stepped onto a lowered drawbridge and began heading towards the entrance.

We walked by a door and into the actual castle. I didn’t get to examine my surroundings because my vision suddenly went black.

I tried to move my arms to my eyes, but I still couldn’t move. I tried to speak out, but I also couldn’t do that.

At this point, I gave up. I stopped struggling and accepted what was about to happen to me. There was nothing that I could do. No escape, and no exit.

During my time floating, I tried my hardest to listen to my surrounds. I felt multiple eyes on me, whispering could be heard from many directions. I tried to listen to them, but I sadly couldn’t make any of them out.

Then the whispering was replaced by a door being opened. After hearing the door slam shut, I heard the sound of hooves on stone. That was the only sound I heard for a few minutes before I heard the noise of metal grinding against something. That sound only lasted for a few seconds. Right after it stopped, I felt myself get thrown like a rag doll.

I landed on the stone ground with a loud thud. I let out a groan as I rolled over and tried to get on my feet. I had trouble getting up, but eventually, I was able to stand. Then I heard the same noise of metal grinding against something. I tried to reach for the noise, but my hand hit something. I felt around for a second and realized it was a metal bar. I felt around a bit more and felt more metal bars.

Before I could realize where I was, my vision returned. I looked around and realized I was in some type of prison cell. The pony who had taken me here was nowhere to be seen.

I turned on my glasses because of how dark it was. Like always, my glasses brightened, allowing me to see. I peered out of the cell and looked around. I then realized I wasn’t in a prison, but instead, a dungeon. It looked like I was in a cave. Other cells were carved into the rock walls along with a staircase that was off to the side.

I started banging on the bars, hoping to break them. “Let me out for fuck sake!” I shouted, my voice echoing a bit before dying out. I started kicking the bars, trying to loosen them. But they wouldn’t budge at all.

After a few minutes of pulling, kicking, and screaming, I gave up. I sat against the corner of my cell and started panting. I still felt sick and cold for some reason. I hugged my sides in an attempt to warm myself up. The worst part was that the cell I was in didn’t even have a bed.

After a few minutes of panting, I lightly laid across the hard stone ground and stared at the ceiling of the cell I was in. The cell barley being lit by a nearby torch that was in the hallway.

I turned my glasses off, slid them off my face, and set them on the ground a few feet away from me. I closed my eyes and just tried my hardest to at least sleep before that pony got back.

Sleeping proved to be difficult as I kept moving around, trying to find the most comfortable position. After a couple of minutes of struggling, I ended up curling up into a ball, which proved to be pretty comfortable.

I was awoken by the sound of something banging against metal. I quickly rolled over to my side and locked eyes with the unicorn from earlier. “Hi.” I yawned. I slowly stood to my full height and began stretching. My back was killing me sadly. “Definitely not better than the couch,” I muttered. But, a plus side to this situation was that I didn’t feel sick or cold anymore!

I crouched down a bit and grabbed ahold of the bars and stared the unicorn in the eyes. “So.... attempted murder huh?” I tried to sound as cheerful as I could.

The stallion shook his head repeatedly before responding. “The princesses wishes to speak with you.” His horn began glowing with that same rose color aura. The metal bars I was standing behind slowly started to swing outwards. Making that grinding sound from earlier.

I quickly grabbed my glasses, slid them on, and stepped out of my cell. Before I could adjust to my new surroundings, I felt myself get picked up into the air.

Just like before, my vision blacked while I heard the unicorn start trotting. I tried to move around, but just like earlier, I couldn’t move at all. I tried speaking, but couldn’t do that either.

I was like this for only a few minutes before I heard a familiar voice start shouting. “Saint!”

I tried to move my head to the sound of her voice but I couldn’t. I tried to call out to her, but before I could, I felt my feet suddenly touch the ground, causing me to stumble a bit.

My vision returned as I watched Twilight run up to me. She threw herself at me as I caught her in a hug. “Jesus, it hasn’t been that long.” I staggered back a bit, trying not to fall on my back.

After a couple of seconds of awkwardly hugging, Twilight got off of me and looked up at me with a stern look. “It’s been 5 hours!”

“What?” I crossed my arms and looked over to the unicorn who kidnapped me. “Blame that guy if anything.”

“You’re the one who committed the crime!” He barked at me. He approached me and glared up at me. “You’re a monster!”

“Wait, what crime!?” Twilight shouted.

I completely ignored her as I kept my attention on the unknown unicorn. “First of all.” I crouched down onto his level and stared into his eyes. “You were watching what was happening. Why the fuck didn’t you do anything?”

He turned around and trotted away from me. “That’s not important.” He spoke coldly. I rolled my eyes and stood back up.

“What happened, Saint!?” Twilight kept pestering.

I ignored her again as I spun around to view my surroundings. “Where are we exactly?” I asked. Currently, we were in a massive room that had many stone pillars along the walls. Between the pillars where glass panes that had images of what seemed to be different times of the day.

My inspection of everything was cut off as an unfamiliar voice spoke. “You’re in the castles throne room.” I looked over and saw a strange sight. There was a massive throne sitting on top of a golden dais.

On that throne was a single pony. She had a white coat with a mane and tail that seemed to be blowing in the wind. Her mane and tail both consisted of pink, turquoise, and two shades of blue that I couldn’t really identify. Along with a pair of magenta eyes. She also wore a golden crown and necklace, both having a single purple gem embedded into them.

The strangest thing though was that she was a lot bigger than any of the ponies I’d seen so far. She also had a pair of wings along with a horn. “You seem important.” I adjusted the glasses I was wearing slightly.

“That’s Princess Celestia!” Twilight loudly whispered.

“That’s perfect!” I ecstatically shouted. “I have a message for you. Kinda urgent.” I began to approach the majestic princes. During my stay with Twilight, I learned that apparently there isn’t a queen or king. Instead, Equestria was governed by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

“So urgent that you almost harmed one of my citizens.” She spoke coldly while glaring down at me.

“What did he do princess?!” Twilight butted into the conversation from behind me.

Before I could respond, that evil stallion spoke. “He almost killed another pony, Twiley.” He sounded disgusted by my actions.

“First of all, you know that’s bullshit. Second of all, that’s not important.” I spun around and glared at the stallion.

“It is important. You’re a danger to my sister and everypony around you!” He shouted while trotting over to me.

“Your sister?” I questioned. Before he got any closer, he jabbed a hoof at Twilight. “Wait, you two are related?” I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

“It’s true. That’s my brother, Shining Armor.” This time it was Twilights turn to speak.

I was baffled by the fact that this was actually her brother. “I thought your brother was the prince of an entire empire! Why the fuck are you even here?” I growled.

“The princess had a special task for me, so she summoned me here. And during my stay here, I learned a lot about you.” Shining Armor began to approach me again.

“Oh?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What makes you so important?”

“Being the captain of the royal guard allows me to arrest you for attempted murder!” He shouted. At this point, he was only standing a few feet in front of me.

“You, the captain!” I burst out into laughter and held my sides. The laughter only lasted for a few seconds. “This place is fucked then,” I said after calming down.

“How?” He growled.

I just shook my head repeatedly. “You set me up for fuck’s sake! You do that a lot?”

“That would be my fault.” I turned back around and watched as Celestia was stepping down from her golden dais and beginning to approach us. “I requested Shining Armor, to watch you as you walked throughout the city.”

“That’s not fair.” I turned back around to face him. “That doesn’t mean watch me suffer you ass.”

Shining Armor glared at me. “I would’ve done something if you didn’t try to kill him with that thing!

“What thing?” Twilight questioned. “And what do you mean kill somepony!?” Twilight began to approach me.

“Those metal balls, Twiley.” Shining lifted a hoof to stop Twilight before she got any closer to me. “I’ll show you what it did.”

Shining then turned and began to walk towards a big doorway that was already closed. “Wait, you let it detonate?!” I called out to him.

He didn’t even respond as he pushed open the doorway with a single hoof. He then turned back and looked at Twilight.

Twilight turned around and looked at me. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and looked back towards her brother and began to approach the open doorway.

I watched as they both took a left before the door shut with a loud bang. “Well anyways.” I turned back and looked at the princess.

Before I could say anything, Celestia let out a sigh. “Can you explain the situation to me? I fear Shining Armor told me a very bias version of it.”

“Uh sure” I adjusted my glasses before continuing. “Just use the lie detection spell, the default one please.”

She nodded her head and I watched as her horn began to glow a golden aura. Seconds later, it died down. “Ready.”

And then I explain everything. I explained what happened between me and Blue, explained how Shining basically set me up, and how I’ve slept in a dungeon cell for hours.

When I finished my story, Celestia seemed to be thinking deeply. After a few seconds, she sounded calm as she spoke. “I appreciate you not lying, and I’m sorry for what happened between you and Blue.” Then that calmness changed into more of a stern look. “But that doesn’t give you the right to attempt to harm him.”

“Sorry about that.” I honestly didn’t feel sorry in the slightest. “But I kinda panicked. Magic actually scares me, there’s nothing I can do against it.”

Celestia had a perplexed look on her face. “I see.” She nodded her head once and had a smile on her face. “I’ll forgive you for now, but only because you were scared and you were lashing out.”

I clapped my hands and bowed my head slightly. “Thank you, your highness.”

“I’ve heard many things about you from Twilight.” Celestia continued.

I lifted my head and smiled. “Like?”

“That you’re introverted and tend to be quiet.” Her smile brightened. “She also said that you’re kind and nice, while also being sarcastic at times.”

“That’s practically me I suppose.” My smile brightened as well.

Celestia began to approach me as she continued speaking. “So, you said you had an important message?”

I opened my mouth to speak but was were cut off as the door from earlier opened. “That was fast,” I muttered while turning around. I watched as only Shining Armor entered the throne room. “Where’s Twilight?.”

“That’s none of your business.” His tone was cold. He began to trot over to Celestia and me. “She said you had more of those things. What do they do?” He demanded.

I let out a sigh and decided not to keep asking about Twilight. “Let’s see.” I began to rub my chin as I continued. “One causes a blinding flash, another causes a smokescreen, and the last one is better than the one I used.”

Shining Armor looked past me and looked at Celestia. “Is he telling the truth?”

“Yes. I’ve cast the lie detection spell on him.”

“Okay then. Well enough about me.” I clapped my hands together and looked at Celestia. “I have a message for you.”

“What manner of message?” She cocked her head to the side.

“A warning. I would’ve told you sooner, but apparently, the ball you’re planning is important.”

She smiled again as she began speaking. “I was lucky enough to get a little break from my duties.” Then the smile turned into a frown as she continued. “Then my guards alerted me about an unknown creature that entered the city.”

“Guards? Surprised that you only have him in here.” I pointed at Shining as I finished speaking.

“I don’t always need guards around me.” She replied.

“Cool, cool.... anyways, back to the topic at hand.” I looked between Celestia and Shining Armor as I spoke ominously. “Apex is coming.”

“Who?” Both of them spoke simultaneously.

“Oh, forgot this isn’t a third world country.” I scratched the back of my head as I continued speaking. “Apex is a highly skilled assassin group from my world.”

Celestia had an unreadable expression while Shining looked confused.

“So, an assassin group from your world is coming here?” He questioned.

I took a serious tone as I began to speak. “Yes.”

The room was silent for what felt like ages. None of us spoke. Shining Armor kept looking between me and Celestia, while she seemed to be deep in thought.

Celestia looked like she was about to say something, but Shining began to speak instead. “What makes your worlds assassins so special?”

I got pretty annoyed by how confident he sounded. “The fact that they will destroy you and everyone else.” I turned and looked at Celestia. “I mean no disrespect when I say this, but they could easily kill you.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, but before she could say anything, Shining Armor cut her off again. “You’re underestimating the princess and Equestria.”

“I’m not. I’ve been here for long enough to know that you ponies are actually pretty smart.” Shining Armor opened his mouth to speak. But I continued. “But, they’re stronger and smarter than you.”

Shining shut his mouth as I finished my statement. But Celestia began to speak. “Shining Armor, leave Saint and I for a while. I’d like to speak to him in private.” Celestia began to trot off towards the door. I quickly followed close behind her.

“Why?! You shouldn’t trust him.” Shining started to complain.

Celestia and I were already at the door. Her horn started to glow a golden aura. After a couple of seconds, the door opened, showing a marble hallway. “I’ll be fine. He gave us a warning he didn’t have to. We should at least show some trust.”

I stepped into the hallway with Celestia by my side. Right outside of the door were two ponies who were equipped with golden armor and golden helmets.

Shining Armor stepped into the hallway with us and began to complain again. “He almost killed somepony!”

Celestia sounded annoyed at this point. “That’s true, but this group could kill more and possibly pose a bigger threat.”

Shining let out a sigh and began to trot away from us. Before I could say something, Celestia began to trot off in the opposite direction.

I sighed and quietly followed behind her. The guards from the door walked by my sides while we followed Celestia.

We passed by many windows that had an amazing view of the city. I tried to pause and look out the windows, but the guards kept bumping me to keep me inline.

During the walk, I saw many closed doors, along with other guards. But I noticed that the majority of the guards all looked the same. White coat with blue manes and tails. Every time we passed them, they tensed up and watched as we walked by them.

We walked for what felt like ten minutes, passing by guards and doorways leading to unknown parts of the castle, turning down hallway after hallway, till we were standing in front of a bigger door than usual. It wasn’t as big as the door that lead to the throne room, but it was bigger than the other doorways I’d seen.

The guards left my side and moved over to open the doorway. After opening the door, Celestia and I stepped into the room, and the first thing I noticed was a massive dining table. “What?” I looked at Celestia with a raised brow.

“I would like to discuss things over dinner.” She began to trot over to the dining table. Celestia took a seat at the head of the table and I sat in the chair closest to her. And to my surprise, the chairs were actually big enough for me.

Seconds after we took our seats, a far off door opened up, and in came a unicorn wearing a chefs uniform along with a chefs hat.

He trotted over to the princess and bowed his head. “What would you like today your majesty?” He said after lifting his head back up.

“The usual,” She spoke elegantly. She looked over to me with an awaiting glance.

“Uhh... whatever you’re getting I guess.” I wasn’t expecting her to ask for what I wanted.

The chef bowed one more time. “As you wish.” After lifting his head back up he left us.

Celestia and I sat in silence for a while. I kept glancing at her when I thought she wasn’t looking. She seemed to be deep in thought about something.

Then Celestia began to speak. “How dangerous is this group?”

“Very.” I let out a sigh as I continued. “They could easily destroy Ponyville if they wanted.”

Celestia let out a sigh. “I can tell your telling the truth. But may I ask, how do you know they’re coming?”

I hummed a bit before responding. “I’ll answer that on one condition.” I put my elbows on the table and intertwined my fingers.

“And that condition is?” Celestia squinted her eyes slightly.

“You don’t overreact.” I squinted my eyes at her as well, but quickly remembered she couldn’t see because of my glasses.

“What do you mean?” She dropped the squint and cocked her head to the side.

“Exactly what I said.” I let out a loud sigh before continuing. “The only reason why I know this is because I’m the leader Apex.” Celestia looked shocked, then she looked angry. I watched as her horn began to glow its usually golden aura. “BUT. I’m the ex-leader.”

Celestia had a look of confusion as her horn died down. “Explain.” She demanded.

“So much for not overreacting,” I muttered. I moved my hands and began tapping the table lightly at a slow rhythm. “I shouldn’t even be here. We were betrayed by one of the bosses, and he somehow gained complete control over their minds or something.” I began tapping the table harder. “And instead of doing the same to me, he sent me here.”

Celestia took a calm expression and began to speak softly. “So, you were betrayed and cast away to Equestria. What makes you so sure they will follow after you?”

I was about to respond, but before I could, I heard the sound of a bell. I looked over and watched as the kitchen door flung open. Out came a massive cart, followed by the male unicorn from earlier.

He pushed the cart over to the table and began to levitate the food over onto the table and place the plates in front of Celestia and I.

Turns out, Celestia’s usual meal contains a side salad with a bunch of flowers in it, a basket of bread, a plate of pasta, some tea, and to top it all off, a piece of chocolate cake.

The stallion also levitated over a couple of spoons and forks for the both of us. “Can I get a glass of water?” I asked the stallion.

He gave me a confused look before looking over at Celestia. She nodded once and he bowed his head again. After lifting his head, he began to push the cart away.

I decided to ignore the salad and pick up a piece of bread instead. It was pretty hot since it was freshly made, but I ignored it and took a bite.

The bread tasted amazing. The inside was soft and hot while the outside was nice and crispy. After finishing my bite, I looked at Celestia. “The person who took control is power hungry. He always wanted the group to be powerful, and prove to everyone that we were unstoppable. Taking over another world would definitely prove that.”

Celestia let out a sigh as she levitated a piece of bread over to her mouth. Celestia and I ate in silence. The stallion was nice enough to bring my water out quickly. The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional clatter of silverware and me tapping on the dining table. The food was amazing, but I didn’t even try the salad or tea. I’m more of a coffee person, and the salad had flowers that I didn’t even recognize.

After all of the food I considered edible was finished, I began eating the cake. “You can stay the night if you like, but I’ll be assigning guards that will follow you and stay outside your room.” I looked at her and realized that she had already finished eating everything.

The cake was really good, but I quickly swallowed the piece that was in my mouth. “That’s fine.”

I went to go take another bite, but before I could, she spoke up. “I would like to speak to you again tomorrow about the best way to deal with your group.”

I nodded and began eating the cake again. After taking a couple bites, I realized that Celestia was waiting for me to finish. I didn’t want to make the situation awkward, so I scarfed down the cake as quickly as I could.

After I finished, I stood up in my seat. “Come along.” I looked up and watched as Celestia got out of her seat and began to trot over to the exit. I quietly followed behind her.

We exited the dining hall and stepped into the hallway. But, before we could actually turn to walk down it, Celestia paused, almost making me bump into her.

“Before we go, I’d like to ask something.” She sounded calm yet concerned at the same time. I didn’t know how to explain it. She continued, but didn’t turn to face me. “ Why, were you the only who sent here?”

I let out a loud sigh and began to scratch the back of my head. “In all honesty, I don’t know.”

I walked up and stood at the side of Celestia. She had an unreadable expression on her face as she turned to face me. “Another thing. During your stay in Equestria, you will not harm another pony, unless they intend harm to you first, and you will not solve the problem by taking their life.”

“No promises.” I crossed both of my arms and looked at her. Celestia didn’t respond to that, her face void of any emotion. All she did was trot ahead of me.

I let out a sigh and followed behind her. I wasn’t lying when I said no promises. Killing is just my thing. You can’t just stop me from doing it.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Celestia and I turned down a hallway. Down the hallway were many closed doors. We both stopped in front of the first door. “You ain’t gonna kill me or something while I’m sleeping, right?” I looked at Celestia with a nervous expression.

Celestia gave me a deadpan looked and shook her head once. “Cool, well, cya later.” I opened the door and stepped through it. Upon entering the room, I turned around and quickly shut the door behind me before Celestia got any ideas.

I let out a sigh as I shuffled across the room I was given. The room was pretty large, with a couple of dressers and desks, along with a door leading to what I assumed was a bathroom. I took my glasses off and set them down on the desk closest to the bed. I then laid across the large bed and stared at the ceiling.

Sadly, I wasn’t tired at all because of the nap I had earlier, so I stood back up and headed for the door. I opened the door and peeked my head out. I instantly noticed that there were two guards trotting down the hallway. Unfortunately, I made eye contact with them.

They were both wearing unreadable expressions, which creeped me out. I decided to close the door before they questioned me.

I sighed and sat down on the bed. “Fuck it,” I muttered. I slipped under the blankets and decided to just force myself to sleep. I didn’t feel ok about sleeping at the palace. I’m just hoping Twilights teacher is smart and doesn’t harm me.