We Brave Few

I didn’t sleep that night, my mind was too preoccupied with other thoughts. I kept thinking about my situation, how I had gotten here, and what I was going to do next. To be completely honest, it was quite frightening being so far from home. Sure I had left home to join the war, but I was always with my mates. With them, it never really felt like I‘d left home.

Here everything was just so different then it was back on Earth. I guess it was the true separation from everyone I know, that left this feeling of homesickness brew in the pit of my stomach. So much so that often times, I found myself struggling to find some common ground to latch onto.

Sighing at the desk, I looked out the french doors. A lone cup of coffee cusped within my cold hands. A mare had brought it up to me not too long ago. Sugar Drops, if I remember it correctly. She was a nice cream coated mare. It almost reminded me of my mother when she said she'd noticed me doing circles in the halls. In truth, I was just trying to make my way to the library. Thankfully, she knew these halls better than me and walked me back to my chambers.

Looking over the balcony railings, I could see the sun once again crest over the distant horizon. A new day had dawned and with it came another opportunity to make sense of this new world. One to which I would be living within for ‘a while’ as Princess Luna had informed me.

As little as it was, this world was starting to grow on me. While I struggled to find common ground, I found myself finding a new stead to plant my boots. Thing is, I had trouble figuring out if it was the kind inhabitants, or if It was the fact that they placed me within such a luxurious room that made me feel this way. Maybe, most likely, it was a collation of the two that made these feelings so prevalent.

Turning my attention back to my cup of coffee, I swirled it around in my hands. Gunfire echoed in the distance, yelling of the brass hats could be heard as the whistles blew. My eyes grew wide as I tear my gaze away from the swirling black coffee to see the room empty and the voices slowly fading away.

It had been happening a lot more often recently, memoirs of a soldier torn away from war. I’d heard that some of my mates were having the same visions back when I was on the line. They called it ‘shell shock’ or something. Said that the hardest part wasn’t seeing the battlefield once again, nor was it the horror of reliving the most frightening moments of their life, but it was the guilt and pain that came after. Knowing that my friends were fighting and the war, the war was still going on.

A knock came to the door as I sat there motionless. My mind still in the past waiting for the second whistle. One that I was so sure would never come; then why was I still waiting? I was a soldier at the ready with no commander to give him orders.

Another knock came, this time it was heavier. The pain in the pit of my stomach grew as I looked towards the door emotionless. By the time I had the chance to collect myself the door opened and Princess Celestia walked in. Her face displaying a clear sense of worry, but as her warm motherly eyes landed upon me she softened.

“You had me scared there for a minute Leo,” Her composure a stark contrast to when I had first met her, that's for sure, “had me thinking you ran away again.” I guess that my first impression stuck.

Either way, I simply shook my head towards her.

Continuing she proceeded to apologize, “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong hoof yesterday, but I plan to make that up to you today.”

I continued to stare at her, my interest slightly peaked. Her own gaze wandering towards the cup of coffee held in my hands.

“You might want to ease up there, or you’ll break it,” Celestia commented as she motioned towards the cup.

Looking down, I was shocked to see my knuckles turned white around the cup. Placing it back onto the table, I looked back towards Celestia. She gave me a warm smile as she motioned me over towards the door, “I’m sure you’ll find this morning to be quite enjoyable. Maybe you’ll even find it a bit informative as well. I’ve requested somepony to meet with you later in the evening.”

Getting up from my spot, I walked over to her. My right brow raised, I questioned, “who may are we meeting?”

At the sound of my voice she perked up, “one of my students, I’m sure she’ll love to pick your brain as the saying goes. For now, shall we make our way to the dining hall? I’ll have breakfast ready for us post-haste. I’m sure you’re quite famished partaking in the events of yesterday.”

I found it quite interesting that Celestia seemed to have the same idea of Luna. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to argue with her. A warm meal was the fastest way to a soldier's heart.

Nodded my head as the two of us exited the room; we made our way towards the dining hall. My mind attempting to memorize every turn we made and all the halls we went down. By the time we had made it to the dining hall, I was once again lost. This place was quite expansive, which I found quite surprising as the endless labyrinth that was the trenches seemed to come to me easier.

“I have to say, I’m quite pleased with your progress thus far. I would have expected you to be a lot more difficult to deal with, what with you being from another world in all.” Celestia once again spoke up as we neared the doors to the dining hall, “top that with the fact we had taken all your equipment when you arrived here at the castle. To which I apologize; as it was my sister’s intuition that was the deciding factor. She herself is still conforming to the new way of life here in Equestria. It came as no surprise that you were a bit panicked when you awoke. I know I would’ve been.”

In all honesty, I had completely forgotten about my equipment. With all the commotion of waking up here, I found myself wanting to run rather than fight. That being said, Celestia seemed to have a pretty good grip on what was happening. If anything it was probably from the ‘plan’ she had conjured up. I could thank Luna for that information.

Yet, even if it was all part of her ‘plan’ to integrate me into their pony society, it still proved to me that she was quite the wise mare. Not many would be so willing to even think about letting some stranger keep their arms. I would have to make sure to ask later if she would let me have my stuff back. Even without the ammo, the rifle would be enough to shake this feeling of anxiousness sitting in the recesses of my mind.

Entering the dining room, the two of us came to see Luna. She was sitting at the far end of the table looking just as worse for wear as me. Hearing our entrance, she looked up to me, to which I nodded back towards her. Gracing me with a warm smile, I continued into the room with Celestia.

“We see you had a pleasant night as well sir Leo,” Luna started.

It felt weird being called sir, it was after all the title that was mostly meant for the higher-ups. Nonetheless, I smiled back; telling her all she needed to know. Celestia, on the other hand, seemed lost in thought as the both of us took our seat at the table.

“I take it that the reason Leo is warming up so quickly is thanks to you dear sister?” Celestia pondered.

Luna simply shrugged before replying, “it’s not up to me sister; to how he behaves. It’s Leo, and him alone that is responsible for the changes to his actions. I was simply there to witness it happen.”

It was quite poetic how she worded her statement. Yet, I couldn’t help but find myself disagreeing with it. Sure I was the one that ultimately warmed up to the ponies here, but it was her talking to me all night that gave me the confidence to trust them. Without her, I probably would’ve still been in my room, trying to escape.

“What would you three like to have this morning,” came a new voice.

Instincts kicking in, I found myself turning halfway around in my seat before he even had the chance to finish the sentence. Eyes dilated and aimed right at the new pony that was standing in-between me and Celestia. I could sense the guards standing in the room shift position as Celestia silently waved her hoof just out of view.

Seeing the situation settle down, I slowly recomposed myself and nodded my apologies to the new stallion. Nodding back he went back to taking down Celestia order. It was at this moment that I took in my situation.

I was seated in the best possible position should a fight break out. The light that came in from the windows shadowed me perfectly, and the spacing between the two princesses and I was equal. Meaning that if I wanted to, I held a choice. My eyes wandered back over to Celestia. She was good, unnervingly good at making soldiers feel relaxed. Which brought up the question of if she was hiding something.

My thoughts were halted as the stallion in the beige coat turned towards me, “and you sir?” I was intrigued that he didn’t bat a single eyelid at me, a new species dining with the princesses.

“Do you have oatmeal?” I picked the first meal that I was positive most places had. It was a simple, yet filling dish.

Nodding the stallion continued, “and what would you like to drink?”

“Orange juice?” I questioned more than stated.

With a brisk nod, he moved over to Luna. My attention followed him as I watched Luna order not breakfast but rather dinner. Odd, but rather fitting seeing as she’s most likely to go to bed right after this meal. She did mention something about ‘night court’ last night, which would explain why she decided to let me go before the sun had risen.

“So Leo,” I turned my head back towards Celestia, “I can’t help but wonder about the world you come from. You were at war right?”

I nodded.

“Please excuse me for bringing up this topic during breakfast, but for what was the reason for this war? If you don't mind me asking that is?” Celestia continued.

I shook my head, this was question was bound to be asked. Getting it out of the way now would probably be the best course of action, “It was a lot of things that lead to the war. I used to read the news a lot when I was growing up with my father. I guess you could say that it all began with the mutual defense alliances between the many nations of my world. Couple that with arms race with Germany and the nationalism the Slavic had to not be part of Austria but instead be a part of Serbia. In the end, it was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that lit the fire and caused the whole world to go mad.”

Both Celestia and Luna looked at me with surprised expressions. Out of all the ponies present it was Luna that spoke up, “you seem to be well versed in the politics of your world.”

I took that as a compliment, my father always told me that knowledge was key and using it in the field of battle could be the deciding factor of life and death, “you can thank my father for that.”

“So you say that the ‘world went mad’ do you imply that most of your planet partook in this conflict?” Celestia extrapolated from my previous lecture.

Nodding towards her, I continued, “as I stated with the mutual defense alliances between the nations, this caused Austria’s ally Germany to follow them into war with Russia which was an ally of Serbia. To which Germany also declared war on France which was an ally of Russia causing Great Britain an ally of France to declare war on Germany.”

From where I was sitting, I could see the intent look on Luna’s face as she absorbed all of the information. While on the other hand, Celestia kept a stoic expression,“So where in these countries do you hale from?”

“Great Britain, I fought the Germans on the western front,” I reported.

Celestia and Luna both seemed to have questions, but I was saved by the server as he and two mares pushing silver pushcarts came out bearing our food. One of the mares stopped between Celestia and I as she opened the lid and placed our respected meals in front of us. Both our meal shying in comparison to Luna’s full-on dinner.

Getting a nod from Celestia, I dug into my meal. I never thought I would find the day were oatmeal actually didn’t taste bland. They must have added some fruits and sugar to the mix as I came to taste a mirage of flavors. Not only that, but the warmth of the hot meal spread to every inch of my body. You could have said I died in no-man’s-land and gone to heaven and I would have believed you.

Scraping what little of the oatmeal was left sticking to the bowl. I reached out for the orange juice and took a long swig. Once again the taste seemed to be amplified. It was like I was biting straight into an orange, collecting only the juice as I devoured it.

By the time I was done polishing off both the meal and the drink, I came to see Luna eyeing me with an amused smile. She herself was still halfway through her own meal, while Celestia beside me had just started.

The rest of the morning went by rather quickly. With both Celestia and Luna occupied with their own meals, I opted to simply look around the dining hall. Like I had seen before, the place was beautiful. Unlike the throne room that sported more marble than a sculptures workshop, this place held a more wholesome atmosphere.

A large rug spanned the entire floor of the dining room, coming to ends at the molding of the stone walls. Large banners of holds I had yet to know the name of, hung between the windows. Up above, instead of chandeliers, floated small white orbs. I found myself looking at them the most. I knew that some form of magic existed here, but to see it used in such a commonplace baffled me to no end.

As breakfast came to a close, Luna bade us her farewells as Celestia ushered me out of the room and into the grand hall. From there we continued down towards the front of the castle to where she lead me down another series of corridors before we came upon a room with a metal door.

Placing her hoof on a button beside the door, a small chime rang from the other side. Before long, a white-coated stallion opened the door. He looked towards Celestia and bowed, he then changed his attention over to me and bowed once more. Confused on their customs here, I opted to bow in response causing Celestia to let a small chuckle escaped her lips.

“You don’t have to bow Leo since you’re a guest to the crown,” Celestia commented as we entered the room.

Stepping inside was like stepping into an entirely different place. The entire room was lined with metal walls, the floor was made out of some sort of laminate, while the strange colored markings lit up the ceiling.

What surprised me, however, was that in the middle of the room sat alone stainless steel table. To which my clothes, Brodie, boots, rucksack, and rifle all laid upon. I could even see that they had disassembled the contents of my rucksack and had it all out on display. As for my rifle, it had its bolt racked back and all the ammo taken out. I was actually quite surprised they were able to figure out how such a foreign object worked.

I looked over to Celestia, as she did to me, “While we would love to study and examine the type of material and manufacturing process of all your items. I have informed my sister that we will be returning them all to you, in a show of good faith. That, however, does not mean we don’t know what they are and the dangers they present. This is why we ask you to leave your weapon unloaded at all times within the boundaries of any city, town or village without express permission from either I or my sister.” She lectured as she lead me to the table.

Once again she spoke up, “Any signs of aggression, and or threats to any of the ponies will be met with immediate suspension of the items and could lead to your detainment. We understand the prospect to arm oneself, to that we will allow you two of the projectiles. The rest will be stored safely.”

Again I found myself at awe at her trusting nature. She was harboring all of the responsibilities should I do something with my equipment. Not only that but to give someone that -I will be the first to admit- isn’t really in the right frame of mind, a loaded weapon. It was so odd to me that I found myself shaking my head.

Walking up to the table I took a look at my clothes. Even here, where everything was done to the highest of standards. They couldn’t get out the mud and blood that had stained my uniform. Moving onto my rifle, I could see the chips, dents, and scrapes.

Reaching out towards my Brodie, I could see my mud-covered hands. Bullets whizzed by as I hid under the barbed wire. Placing my helmet on I covered my head as a shell exploded off to my side. Dirt and rocks came raining down over me as I looked forward. A couple more feet and I would be safe.

I looked down to see the stainless steel table. Placing down the helmet, I moved my hand over to my rain cloak. The sound of rain pouring down as I sat in my dugout erupted as my eyes took whiteness of the flooded trenches. I hugged my rifle as the thunder and shelling echoed off in the distance.

Eyes wandering from the cloak to the rifle upon the table. The distance between me and it grew until the rifle was a good twenty feet away lying in the mud. Struggling to get up, my vision blurred over as I placed my hand onto my helmet and ran towards my rifle. A high pitch ringing was all I could hear as I continued to run. I could see my mates doing the same as they rushed towards the other trench. Reaching for my rifle I scooped it up and jumped into the trench with them.

Sighing I brushed my hand once again along my uniform. Taking it in hand along with my rifle, I slung my rucksack over my shoulder. The only thing left on the table was the ammo and bayonet, to which I left there. Celestia had shown that I had nothing to worry about here within the walls of the castle. For me to take them would only endanger her citizens, to which I could not risk.

Celestia smiled as I walked back towards her, “It is great to see that my sister’s judgment of you was right.”

I looked over to her confused, to which she continued, “I wanted to make sure you were still able to think rationally. Not only that but you have easily proven yourself to be quite the responsible stallion.”

Understanding dawned on me as I looked at her, it was another part of her ‘plan’. She probably wasn’t going to give me the ammo or the bayonet. Rather she was just testing my reaction to being handed them. My assumptions from before were correct, I would have to make sure I kept a close eye on Celestia. She always seems to be two steps ahead of me. Which is a clear sign of either a great ally or a formidable enemy.