Warrior's road

Luna opened her eyes and looked around and confirmed that she was still in the medical ward. She exhaled loudly through her nostrils as she dropped her head down on the pillow. She thought about yesterday, about how the... whoever he is came into her chamber accompanied by her sister, about what happened in the dining hall then the throne room and then how she was taken from there to here so nurses and a doctor could treat her wound. She still remembers what her, ugh, ´guardian´ told her.´If you pull that dagger you will die,´ she scoffed inwardly at that.

"Well, glad to see you're not fucking dead from that spectacle you pulled off," came Strike's sarcastic voice.

"And tis good to see thee in such a jolly mood," Luna replied in kind.

"You would be like that too if somebody tried to turn you into Thanos and then got that awful mint ointment," to say that Strike didn't have good morning would be an understatement. Seriously, who came up with that stuff? Anyway back on track. Strike dropped his head down and tried to get a little bit more rest but was interupted when the door in the ward opened and in walked Celestia with 2 guards. She came up to her sister's bed and nuzzled her lovingly which Luna was more then happy to return. The display was strange to Strike, sure he was affectionate with his siblings but never anything like that. But he dismissed it as something ponies do. When the nuzzle ended Celestia sat down on the bed and took her sister's hand in her own before she spoke.

"How are you?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"We are fine, tis simply a minor injury," Luna replied with a smile to her sister. Celestia then looked at Strike and saw that he was looking.

"What about you? How are you?" he shrugged as much as his body allowed.

"You were there when that guy listed what I did to the other one and you also were there when that bruise was revealed," he answered. Celestia nodded before she looked back at her sister.

She looked back at him. "I have few things that I wish give to you. First are your living quarters-"

"What? Was I supposed to sleep on the ground before?" he interupted.

"You don't interupt the princess, ape," growled an earth pony stalion. Strike couldn't be bothered enough to make any comment to that.

Celestia cleared her throat before continuing.

"No, you would be given chambers even before, you will only be living in better conditions." Strike briefly wondered if she meant that the previous room was supposed to be simple or broken to shits. "As for a second thing, I was thinking how may I help you with your work and I realised that you will need a proper equipment as well as a training. What were you thinking? To recklessly charge somepony that has a sword while all you have are your fists?"

"I won, didn't I? And besides, I had and still have equipment on me and I already underwent a training, a military one at that. I just choose not to use the equipment, that's all," he replied simply.

"Be as it may, it was still reckless and stupid and once the Lunar Guard has grown in numbers, you will receive both of those things." Celestia let out a tired breath before looking back at her sister with a loving smile. "Get well soon, Lulu." She wispered before she stood up and headed for the door with the guards following behind her who closed the door.

Strike closed his eyes to get more rest before the sound of someone clearing their throat came out. Strike opened his eyes and saw Princess Luna looking at him.

"Despite what Our sister said, Thee fought well. Impressive even. We have not witnessed somepony who was willing to stand against somepony with a sword or any weapon while they themself are unarmed. Such act would certainly be inspiring to both poets and guards alike," she said. "We could spar once we are back on our hooves."

"Hmmm." Strike hummed in disinterested tone before he slowly turned to his right side and layed down as best as he could without agravating the bruise.

Luna thought as she was looking at him, ´what made him the stalion he is today?´ that question is for later to answer. now it is time to rest. Luna layed down and closed her eyes before she fallen asleep.

After 2 more days spent in the ward and being visited by Celestia, Luna was released together with Strike. Fortunately there were no more attempts so far but it was only a matter of time before it happened again. When they were released Luna immediately went to the dining hall to finally get something proper to eat as the medical food tasted horrible. When they got to the dining hall Celestia was already there, enjoying a slice of cake. Strike was offered to take a seat and have a meal by her but he was adamant this time about not wishing so, stating that the medical meals have disgusted him food for the time being.

During the meal Luna asked Celestia if there was any paperwork or any petitioners that needed her attention. Sadly there were no petitioners but there was some paperwork that Celestia missed during her shift, so when the Princess of the Night was full she went into Celestia's office and began going through the papers. She did not take any break even after 4 hours of reading and granting some of them while declining others. It was getting on Strike's nerves how he was doing nothing, just standing there like a statue, It was making him feel exposed. He kept looking to and fro with his eyes as if every corner was hiding some kind of threat that was just waiting for the right opportunity to attack, which went unnoticed by the princess as she was both too focused on the papers and his face was covered with his mask.

Strike layed his eyes on a paper that was going to be next after Luna was done with her current one. The paper caught his interest so he took it out of the pile and began reading it. The paper was about a mare who's son went missing after he went to his friend's birthday party but never came home, so she asked some of her friends to help her find him. But what they found wasn't what they hoped for. They found the boy laying in a puddle of his own blood. No witnesses, signs of a fight, nothing. The perpetrators left no trace of any magical signature or any kind of trail that could be followed directly, then it was asking for someone to investigate it and-

"It is not very clever to take official documents from a princess, especialy right from under her snout." Luna said as she took the paper from Strike and began reading it herself. Her eyes widen as she read the contents.

"The poor mare. We cannot imagine how heartbroken she must be," she said as she looked at Strike who gave no answer. Her face became one of determination. "We will order captain Midnight Shine to send a detachment of royal guards to investigate this occurrence." Luna stood up from her seat and was gone in a blink of an eye. Strike could only looked at the spot the princess was standing on only seconds ago.

With no direction and knowledge of where the office is located, Strike could only wander the castle's halls and hope to find it soon. As he was wandering the halls he came across maids and solar guards and while the maids either moved out of his way or pretended the he was not there, the guards weren't as quiet.

"Freak."

"Beast."

"They should throw you into the tartarus."

"The princess shouldn't be protected by a monster."

These and other opinions were said as Strike continued to traverse the halls. Memorazing them as best as he could, he checked every door that looked like they led into an office instead of bed chamber before giving up and going back into the princesse's office. Opening the door, he found her standing inside the office. They were both looking at each other before Luna came up to him.

"Where in the tartarus have thee been!" she exclaimed.

"Searching for you," Strike replied.

Luna sighed before she continued. "That is irrelevant right now as We did as We said, a detachment of 5 guards is on its way as we speak." She as said as she went back to her previous spot with Strike not far behind her. "Murder is a very serious crime and We will not allow it, We must find out where the perpetrators are and behead them!"

"Behead them?" Strike asked.

"Yes." Luna said sternly. "How would thee feel if thy own child was murdered and thee could not safe them?" Luna asked.

Strike was quiet for a moment before replying, "I would't know the feeling as I never had children of my own."

Luna sighed before continuing. "We suppose that it does not matter then, only a parent could understand the pain of a another parent."

Strike kept looking at her before she spoke again, "We should go rest and hope that the perpetrator will be caught soon." She said before she left the office and went for her chamber with Strike following behind her.

Once there, she oppened the doors to her room and went in. She then heard the sound of metal meeting metal, looking back she saw thestral guards posted at her doors blocking Strike entrance with their pikes.

"Hold there!" one of them ordered, "who goes there?"

"It is fine, guardsponies. He was assigned to Us as a personal guardian by Our sister." She said before she looked at Strike, "Thee may leave for thy own chamber. We will be alright in Our own," she said. Strike thought about it a little before nodding and leaving.

He wasn't able to find his room, fortunately he found a maid and asked if she knew where his room was. She nodded and told him to follow her, once they were at the door, the maid was on her way quickly. Opening the door, Strike saw that his room was in the shape of a square 3x3m in length and width, making it pretty spacious for one person. To his right was a bed that was facing door to his left. In front of him was a desk with quil and inkwell with a window that was slightly on the right of it.

On the said bed layed to piles of cloathing, one of it was the top parts and the other bottom parts. Turning towards the door he oppened them and what little light peered through the darkness told him that it was a bathroom. Strike looked around and soon found a switch and used it to turn on lights. Now that he could see more, he saw a bathtub that would fit both him and someone if he had a company, next was a toilet with prepared paper and a sink with soap. He also saw towels that he could use to dry himself.

He looked at the tub with uncertainty if this was a good idea. On one hand, it would be nice to finaly wash himself and be clean again, however he didn't wished to waste water on cleaness when... Strike had to remind himself that this wasn't The Desert, but another world entirely. He saw grass and flowers and trees on his way here on the train. Taking a deep breath he began slowly removing his cloathes and droped them on the tiled floor, once he was done and he stood naked, he picked up the cloathes and put it on the bed before coming back and slowly climbed into the tub.

The showerhead was fasten in a shower holder so he could just pull it up a little bit and the water would rain down at him. He turned the nob to the left and then pulled it up before hot water began pouring down at him.

Strike was panting driely while the sun kept frying his exposed body. He wasn't even sweating at this point and was seeing things that weren't really there.

He had to leave his car behind after what the War Boys did to it while they were chasing him, for what reason they did it, he didn't know and neither he wanted to. The only things he managed to save were his glock and a machete.

Strike kept walking before he heard the sound of multiple engines, "HAHA, THERE HE IS!" roared one of those whoresons in glee.

"QUICK, HE'S GETTING AWAY!" screeched another one. Their engines revved as their vehicles began moving towards Strike.

In a desperate will to survive. Strike began running as fast as his beaten body would let him. A small part of him that was shrouded by his instincts knew that it was to no avail. They were moving faster than him.

A thunderpoon flew over his head and landed several meters ahead of him. Thanks to the air blast the fire from the explosion didn't reached him.

He layed on the ground as a War Boy jumped off of his friend's car and began sprinting towards him. The War Boy picked Strike up but was quickly knocked-down by a hard head-butt.

The War Boy felt something trickling from his nose. He licked the liquid off and the taste of iron entered his mouth. His expresion of suprise quickly turned into an insane smile. He stood up and charged Strike again.

The War Boy threw a jab at Strike who dodged it before slashed against the Boy's side. The Boy Stumbled and turned around only to be stabbed deep in his abdomen.

Strike pulled out his machete and began turning around to face another opponent only to be smacked hard on the back of his head.

With a dull thud Strike was laying on the ground and was holding to his consciousness only by a thread. Another War Boy came up to him and was ready to end him before he was stop by one of his friends.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" he roared.

"WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT LOOK LIKE?" the one who wanted to kill Strike roared back.

"We can use him for better things then killing him."

"YEAH? AND WHAT'S THAT!" the War Boy who 'saved' Strike head-butted his friend hard enough to knock him down. The War Boy who got knocked down quickly stood up and got into his friend's face.

Their forehead were touching each other and they both had their teeth bared at each other before their faces turned into crooked smiles. The War Boy who was knocked down realised what his friend meant. "Oh, now you speak my tongue. He's going to be a great addition." They both made their way towards Strike before he finaly lost his consciousness.

The flash was sudden and as fast as it appeared it disappeared. Strike quickly turned off the nob and climbed out of the tub before he slipped and fell on his right side. He was breathing quickly and clutching at his chest. It took him some time but he began slowly calming down and stood up before he looked back at the tub. He came up to it and looked at the nob before climbing into the tub and setting the water on ´cold´ temperature and pulling the nob up. His feelings to feeling cold again were mixed, on one hand, it felt wonderful to feel differently then like he was going to be cooked in his own juices. On the other however it felt shity just from the principle of feeling cold.

A mixture of dried blood, sweat and filth was falling from Strike's body and into the drain. Strike stopped the flow and looked around for some shampoo but all he found was bar of soap, that would had to suffice. He took the bar and began rubbing it against his body. Once he was done with that and the bar was almost completely gone, he turned on the stream and washed the soap from his body. Now clean, Strike climbed out of the tub and went for the towels and began drying himself. He then dropped the towel on a puddle he made before going out of the bathroom, he looked at the piles and simply choosed the first pieces on tops. Putting them on and putting the rest on the desk, he then looked out of the window and saw that it had to be atleast 6 in the morning.

´I would like to know one thing. Why does the Night Princess have to work in the night and sleep during the day.´ He thought about it a little, ´I guess she just got the night shifts.´ He closed the curtains and came to his bed before he dropped into it like sack of potatoes and fell asleep quickly.

Strike woke up and turned around and found a digital clock on his nightstand which showed 16:10. He closed his eyes again and began working the energy to stand up from his bed before he got interupted with a knock on his door.

"Excuse me," called a weak voice, "um, are you the one who's been assigned to princess Luna?" instead of answering, Strike stood up and came towards the door and opened it. Outside was a maid that looked up to look into his face and she saw a tired frown, "uh, I'm s-suppose to b-bring you t-to the dining hall," she said weakly. Strike gave her ´hold up´ gesture before he closed his door and got dressed, he then opened the door and nodded for the maid to lead the way, she did so until she brought him to the hall. Strike then walked to the doors and opened one of them before entering.

Celestia looked up from her meal to see Strike closing the doors and leaning against a wall next to them with his arms crossed. She thought about asking him to sit and eat but decided against it and returned to her meal. They stayed like that for a while before the doors were opened again and in walked Princess Luna. She looked at Strike before greeting her sister and sitting down and waiting for somepony to take her order. The same maid that brought Strike here came out the door that was behind Celestia's chair and took Luna's order.

When the maid left, Luna looked at Strike. She thought about the same thing as Celestia did before and too decided against it and instead began talking with her sister until her meal was brought. Strike only watched in silence as the 2 princesses ate together while he felt an emptiness in his stomach. It didn't take long before it growled softly which made the princesses looked from their meals and look at Strike. They kept looking at each other before Strike breathed out through his nose and took a seat on the same chair as before and took off his mask, after that the maid came back shortly.

"W-what do you w-wish?" she asked.

"The same as before," Strike answered.

"R-right," the maid said before she left. Strike put his arms on the table and connected his hands together and put his head on them before closing his eyes. He didn't have to wait long and as the maid was making her way to Strike, a spoon slipped from her grip and clattered loudly on the ground.

The chains rattled as Strike hang upside down and kept jerking in them. He snapped his jaws at any War boy that got too close. Strike still didn't know what they were planing to do with him but that mattered little as his current problem are the chains and War boys that keep poking him hard with pipes. They were laughing like psychos at his defenselessness as they poke him.

The door leading into the room were kicked open, "ENOUGH!" roared a deep voice before heavy footsteps made their way towards Strike. He looked up and saw someone he thought he would've never see. Damian Richards, who is now known as Scrotus.

"Never thought I would see you again," Scrotus said before he gave a croocked smile, "no wonder my boys were so enthusiastic. You are a great fighter after all," he finished before Strike frowned up at him.

"I heard what happened to you. Pity that whoever they were, they weren't good enough to finish the job," Strike replied.

"HE FAILED BECAUSE I'M A GOD!" Scrotus roared and kneed Strike hard in the abdomen which knocked the wind out of him. What Strike was refering to was the contraption on Scrotus's forehead. He then noticed the curved horn on Scrotus's groin.

"Compensating for something? Eheh ehehe," Strike laughed weakly. Insulted, Scrotus pulled Strike's head to his groin to give him the scent of a god and his recent carnal activity. Scrotus roared when a great pain erupted from his balls. He immediately delivered a hard gut punch to Strike but he didn't let go so Scrotus hit the man in his own ball. Strike yelled as he let go of Scrotus's groin. Both of them were suffering in silence until the pain dulled a little, then Scrotus looked at Strike before his face contorted in rage.

"You will pay for this. You will fight in the Arena until you die, you dog," Scrotus stated.

"I'm looking forward to taking you down with me," Strike replied. Having nothing more to say, Scrotus was about to leave the room but turned back and smiled.

"Prepare him." Was the only thing he said before he left. The War boys tore Strike down from the ceiling before they began to prepare him for his first fight.

All of Strike's muscles were tensed and prepared to fight any kind of threat. It took him a second before he realised that he was holding the chair he was sitting on and was aiming it at he maid before which was standing Celestia who was prepared to detain him at a moment's notice.

He slowly put the chair down and sat back down on it. "What happened?" he asked.

"When the maid dropped the spoon, you stood up all of a sudden and began aiming the chair on her," Celestia explained. " What heppened? Why did you react as you did?"

Strike breathed in and out through his nose, he thought about what good it would do to tell her. None but it wouldn't help him if kept it to himself. "I have PTSD," he said simply.

"PTSD?" Luna asked slowly.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder. It's a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence or other threats to person's life," he explained.

"Is there a way to cure such thing?" Celestia asked.

"No. The best thing you can get is a supression from medicine and reguraly visiting psychiatrist. Which if you wonder, is a medical practitioner specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness such as PTSD, ASD, anti-social disorder and others." The princesses looked at each other and thought about what they were just told. An illness that cannot be cured, and there is multiple of them. They looked back at Strike before Celestia asked.

"This... PTSD, was it?" Strike nodded, "what happened to you to bring you such illness?" Strike thought about before starting.

"I would prefer to not talk about it," Strike did his best to supress any kind of feeling that was bubling inside of him. fortunately for him, the maid haven't dropped his meal so it was just question of getting him a new spoon before putting it in front of him. Once he had his meal, he began digging into it.

Celestia wanted to press further but she knows when there is time for that and when not. When he and the princesses were done eating, Celestia exused herself while Luna came into Celesti's office and began going through paper work again. Once she finished, she and Strike came into the throne room and waited for petitiones but none came. While Lune was leaning her head against her right fist and tapped her fingers on her other hand impatiently, Strike on the other hand looked to be relax but with a much closer look one would see that his muscles were tensed as hell and prepared to sprung into action.

After some time of waitinf the throne room doors were opened and in walked a stalion in black suit. His mane and tail were both blue and Strike also noticed a small mustache on his muzzle. When the stalion came up what Strike assumed was a respectable distance, the stalion bowed deeply before speaking. "Princess Luna, I was hoping that could meet you," Strike's muscles tensed even more as the stallion said that, "my name is Fancy Pants."

Luna looked at Strike who was staring at Fancy Pants like a hawk. Even though he appeared calm on the outside, one looked at his hands told her everything. She looked back at Fancy Pants who was still bowing deeply. "Thee may arise Fancy Pants. What ails Thee for wishing to see Us?" she asked.

"I served in the Solar guard for your sister and whenever there was a serious problem, I was the first one she turned to. Over time we became good friends so I simply wished to meet the pony she loves the most," Fancy Pants replied.

This was certainly going to be interresting for Luna.