Freedom, At Last

"That bed won't even hold three of us!"

"Well you can thank Marcus for being the dumbass and convincing the two Princess' to give us a singular room." Jake said with a groan, looking over at Marcus. "Seriously man, we couldn't have atleast enjoyed our stay here? Thank god we got you to shut up about the food."

"Hey!" Marcus yelled, raising his hands up in defense. "From what we've been through i'm surprised none of you are skeptical. Let's see- we're thrown into presumably another world, attacked by cultists, and are being confronted and brought into a castle by an unknown species of horse, which can perform magical abilities, have their own government structure, and can talk. How are none of you skeptical?!"

Boris chuckled, flopping onto the bed. "Marcus, when you are my age, you begin to understand that questioning everything in your life will only lead to headaches. If I die, I die knowing that I am at peace within my mind. These words I tell you are my way of telling you to shut that mouth of yours up sometimes and live within the moment. Otherwise you will live your life in constant pain, reaching for the nearest bottle of vodka like so many other russians!"

"I'm not Russian though!"

"Do you drink?

"Yeah-"

"-then I think you're close enough."

Marcus stared at the ceiling, giving out a groan. The room the men were currently in was a simple royal bedroom, given to other royals from other nations. To any other royal, it was the lowest of the low. It was a common room, with common things inside it. It wasn't anything special- almost civilian like.

Yet to the men, it was paradise.

Dmitri chuckled. "It's been so long since I've seen a bedroom not destroyed. Let alone- without blood smeared across one of the walls or the walls being littered with bullet holes. And did you guys see the city from the ride up here? It's beautiful! I can't believe we're really here."

"Yeah- yeah-" Artyom said, nodding his head. "-but what do they want us for? They've obviously got something planned. They aren't lending us this room and good food later on without something in return. And what the hell could we even give them in return?"

Marcus sighed, shaking his head. "Given how the entirety of Tarkov and the surrounding area was blipped into existence on their world? Probably something dealing with that. We forget that Tarkov is an absolutely huge place- we're talking a whole city, a whole area with nothing but forests, the civilian mall, and even down to the reserve. I could see it when we were in the sky. It's literally all there."

Jake shrugged. "It's whatever man- i'll tell them whatever they want to hear if it means we get to eat good. Come on, can you imagine bacon? Bacon!"

"I don't think so-" Marcus quickly interrupted. "They're horses. They're probably not carnivorous."

"Fuck you Marcus! You ruin everything!"

"Shut up- I'm pointing out fact!"

Artyom giggled. "Is it just me, or is anyone else loving the fact that Marcus has broken his silent streak? This is entertaining." Artyom went to take a look at the books that were on the shelf, before snapping into defense once the door was knocked upon.

All of the men turned to the door, weapons drawn on instinct. It was insane that the Princess' even allowed them to keep it. The men stared at the door in silence for a few seconds, before Jake nodded to it. "Is anyone going to fucking open the damn thing?!" He whispered.

"Fuck- fine- and put your guns down!" Boris groaned, getting up from his comfortable spot on the bed to answer the door. He slowly turned the knob and swung it towards himself, showing the pony on the opposite side. That pony happened to be a guard, dressed in the guards regular golden attire. However, this guard seemed a little different.

She had her golden armor on, but it had white stripes on it. She also had a dark purple color to her, with her mane and tail being dark purple with a darker shade of grey. She took a second to scan the room, before taking a step inside, almost bumping into Boris as she did so. "My name is Aegis, I am a service guard under the Royal Guard Armory. Under the order of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I've been assigned to you all as your assistant around the castle, and to inform you of the rules of the castle."

"Ooohh~ We get a bodyguard- and a girl too!" Jake said, raising his eyebrows.

"Holy shit Jake- and it's another species!" Artyom said, shaking his head.

"Shut up- I do what I want!"

"Ahehm." Aegis interrupted. "I'd like to go over some things with you all, if you would please listen."

Boris nodded, closing the door behind her before stepping in front of her, sitting on the bed. "Go ahead."

"What I am about to say are the rules of the castle, specifically designated to you five and you five only. You are held to a different standard of conduct due to the special circumstances you all have found yourselves in. Firstly, you must not go into area's that I, or other guards have said you are not able to enter. Doing so will result in apprehension, and force. Second, you will not use any force or present hostility to those who have not presented either to you. Self defense is allowed. Thirdly, you do not answer to any authority that is not official."

"The fuck does that mean?" Dmitri asked.

"There are plenty of nobles who would be interested in you five. They are not in official capacity, atleast in this situation. Under normal circumstances they would, but under these, no. I'm telling you this because there will inevitably be some public hysteria or other situations that will arise within the nobility. That is a situation for me, the guards, and the Princess' to handle. Is that understood?"

"I uh... Sure." Dmitri said with a nod. "I'm not sure why you're telling us this though. Why don't you tell these... nobles?"

Aegis sighed. "We have."

Jake chuckled. "Sounds like they didn't exactly like that?"

"No, they did not." Aegis said with a shake of her head. "They were quite upset with that news. They will try to intimidate you instead. However, that is only the first thing I've come to tell you."

"Oh?" Boris questioned.

"Princess Celestia and Luna want to arrange a meeting with one of you tomorrow morning. It will be a private meeting, with food presented. The other four will stay inside this room, and have food be directly ordered to this room. Tomorrow morning, I will come to fetch one of you for the meeting. That means that I will need you five to decide who goes."

"Definitely not Jake-" Marcus said.

"-definitely not Marcus!" Jake retaliated.

Artyom threw his hands up. "I'm not exactly the best at discussing shit like this. I'm young and dumb- just not as dumb as Jake."

Dmitri shrugged. "I don't think I'm fit for it. Not yet."

Aegis stared at Boris, who shook his head. "Always letting the old man have to do everything. Yes, miss Aegis, I will meet with the Princess'. I suppose if any of us were to meet with them, it should be the most level headed of the group, and the wisest too!"

"Age doesn't define wisdom!" Marcus yelled.

"Yeah? And those books you read don't make you smart!"

"Wh- yes they do!"

Aegis face-hoofed, turning to the door and opening it with her magic. "I will come back tomorrow morning. Please, get some rest. You will need it tomorrow."

"What? That makes it sound like something other than just the meeting will happen tomorrow." Artyom said, slightly concerned with her words.

"That is what is supposed to happen. However, the elements are coming to the castle, and I'm sure Princess Twilight would like to meet with you, despite Princess Celestia and Princess Luna telling her not to."

Boris sighed.

"Great.."