Warrior

It has been a few months since I arrived in Equestria after an unexpected meeting with an old friend from school, with in my first few weeks I found a magic sword called Dragonbane and after that I helped save the Princesses from a kidnapping plan plotted by the nobility with help from my cousin Rogue, I haven't seen him since then but I know he's out there somewhere. At any rate Twilight and the girls have been getting ready for a big party at the castle in Canterlot tonight, meanwhile I've been training with Broadsword, Celestia's retired body guard all day, I also had an invite to the Gala, but I don't plan on going because Broadsword's training always leaves me tired and sore by the time he let's me go at the end of the day. "And that'll do for to day." Broadsword said stopping my training four hours earlier than usual.

"What, It's a bit early?" I ask dripping with sweat as I take the training weight off and place it on Broadsword's back porch.

"You have been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala along side young miss Sparkle and her friends, there for I am releasing you early." Broadsword said going back to his house.

"But I didn't plan on going." I say as Broadsword looks at me.

"It's non negotiable, now get, you have a party to get ready for." Broadsword said going into his house, locking the door behind him. Well shit, I guess I have to go to this Gala thing now, but I don't have anything to wear, so I solemnly walk back to town. Once I get back to the library I found Twilight and the others ready to leave in their dresses.

"Blake, Your back early." Spike said.

"Yeah, Broadsword let me go early because I was invited to the gala." I explain.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Spike said all dressed up for the gala.

"Blake, I didn't know you were coming." Twilight said as the girls looked at me.

"Neither did I until Broadsword let me go early." I say in response as I drop Dragonbane off by the door.

"Well it's a good thing I made you a suit then." Rarity said holding a suit up in a dry cleaning bag. I really didn't want to take it but I didn't have anything else to wear.

"How did you even get my sizes?" I ask.

"Twilight gave it to me when we got our invites." Rarity said with way to much enthusiasm.

"Whatever I guess, I'm not going." I said walking back to my basement room not caring about the protests and whiling of the girls.

"Oh come on, it'll be super fun." Pinkie said quickly grabbing me by the wrist to stop me.

"No, I made my mind up weeks ago when the tickets arrived." I say pulling my arm free as I open the door to my basement room thinking I'd settled the matter, but I ended up walking face first into a magic barrier and had to take a step back.

"Oh no you don't." Twilight said using her magic to make the barrier and then swap my clothes with the suit in the dry cleaning bag with a smug look on her face. I'm not going to lie that got on my nerves, I mean I had no intention of going from the start and here Twilight is more or less forcing me to come along.

"Since when could you do that?" I asked seeing the clothes I had been wearing neatly folded pop out of nowhere and on to the couch.

"You look smashing darling." Rarity said looking at me in the same way a hungry lion would regard a piece of meat, so I threw off the suit jacket and put my blue trench coat back on over my black shirt and silver waist coat if only to spite Rarity, I still haven't forgiven her yet even though she and Applejack have already served the 500 hours of community service they were given for attacking me when I first arrived in Equestria.

"Fine, I'll come, but I'm bringing this coat and Dragonbane." I say not too happy that that I have to go along, but the girls all seem to be taking it as some kind of victory, I'll let them have it for now, but if they think I'm going to hang out with them when we get there, they have another thing coming. After about half an hour the carriage arrived and the girls got in while I sat up front with Spike, it took about two hours to get to Canterlot from Ponyville and I honestly, I didn't know what to expect, so imagine my shock when we arrived and everyone broke out into a musical number again, even Spike joined in while I watched on speechless, seriously how do ponies do that and sing in perfect harmony as if they rehearsed.

As I walked into the castle behind the girls I showed the guards at the door my invite and they didn't say anything about me bringing a sword to this Gala, I guess they must have been expecting me. As soon as we get in the girls all went their separate ways leaving me and Spike alone, but it doesn't take long for Spike to wander off leaving me alone in a room filled with some of the most influential Ponies in Equestria. "Oh joy, I get to mingle with the upper class snobs." I say under my breath, getting a dirty look from a nearby mare, but I don't care enough to say or do anything so I just went to the garden not even bothering to go and speak with Princess Celestia, even as Twilight waved me over.

"What nonsense, an utter waste of time if ever i saw one." Dragonbane said in my mind.

"Nice of you to pipe up, I was starting to think you'd lost your voice." I say back in thought as I pass some guests.

"Whatever, I didn't want to come anyway." I think back only to get no response from Dragonbane.

"Hi, it's Blake right?" A female voice says behind me, and I turn to see who it is. To my surprise it was the mare who was with Rogue when he showed up during the whole kidnapping thing, Tome I think her name was.

"Uh... Tome?" I ask hoping I got it right.

"That's right, I know your cousin, Rogue." Tome said as she stood next to me wearing a nice dark blue dress that showed off her curves nicely, wait no, bad Blake, don't think about that stuff. "You know, you kind of look like him." she said as she leaned in to get a better look at my face.

"Really?" I ask nervously, taking a step back.

"Yep, there's a familial resemblance." Tome said with a wide smile.

"So, uh, what are you up to these days?" I ask, to be honest it has been on my mind what she's been up to.

"I now work in the castle library now, I'll be taking over as head librarian in two years when Lotus Dust retires." Tome explained with a happy smile, and I was happy that she was happy with this outcome. "So uh, you know Rogue?" I ask, genuinely curious about my cousin, since i never actually got to speak to him.

Tome brightened at my question and she seemed to become excited. "yes, I knew him, He saved my life once." She said happily then looked away. "And... I shot Him in the butt, left cheek." Tome said embarrassed, the way she looked away was cute, like a school girl confessing to her first crush.

"Seriously?" I ask, I mean, damn. She shot him, in the ass, and they still became friends.

"Yeah, I thought He was looting the bodies of my friends." Tome explained. I guess I can't blame her for that one.

"You came from a wasteland right?" I ask, remembering that detail about her.

"Well, no. I come from a stable, a kind of underground bunker meant to preserve Equestria and it's people, but not all of the stables did." Tome said, and she looked away, giving me major Vault Tec vibes, like a Fallout game.

"Really? What was that like?" I ask, I was actually very curios.

Tome looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it." She said lookin away, I could tell it was a sore topic, so I left it.

"So uh, d-do you want a drink?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"I'll take a bottle of Wild Pegasus if you have it, ...Make that two bottles." Tome said with a seductive wink that made me think that she had tried this on Rogue and failed.

"I'm not sure if they have that." I say, scratching the back of my head.

"It's ok, I brought something from the Penderyin brewery." Rogue said holding a bottle of whisky.

I looked at him for a few seconds. "Rogue!" Tome shouted, warping her arms around his neck as she pulled him into a hug, I couldn't believe it, there he was, like a ghost stepping out of a shadow.

"Hey, get off Tome, you know I don't do that mushy stuff." Rogue said throwing Tome off of him.

"Sorry Rogue, it's just, I didn't think I would see you again." Tome said, I couldn't blame her for being surprised, I was surprised too.

"How are you here? no one was able to track you down after what happened with Umbra." I ask, feeling like there had to be a reason He was showing up now.

Rogue seemed to pause as he thought of what to say. "...I'm not a lap dog Blake, I don't let others tell me what to do, and I sure as shit won't be found if I don't want to be." Rogue said, his aggressive tone catching me off guard, I didn't think he would be like this. "Look Blake, I know I left pretty quick last time, but we need to talk at some point, somewhere where these ponies aren't going to interrupt or but in. No offence Tome." He said looking at Tome for a moment.

"Some taken." Tome said with a shrug.

"Sassy bitch as ever I see." Rogue said with a smirk.

"Oh Rogue, you can take the Stable mare out of the wasteland, but you'll never take the wasteland out of me, ...not after everything that happened." Tome said with a sorrowful look, like she was regretting a few things.

"Blake, are you out here." Twilight called.

"Shit, I'm out." Rogue said turning to leave, as he tossed a bottle of whisky to Tome. "Found it in my duffle bag, you like it more than I do." Rogue said vanishing in a flash of red light.

"Wild Pegasus, my favorite." Tome said with a smile as she tucked the bottle away into her purse.

"Blake, there you are." Twilight said walking over. "Oh it's you again, Tome, right?" She asked looking between the two of us.

"Uh... yes, It's Tome. It's nice to see you again Twilight." Tome said, giving Twilight a respectful bow. I couldn't blame her, from what I understood Twilight and the others were big shots in the timeline Tome came from, so being around them must have been surreal for her in ways I couldn't imagine.

"It's nice to see you again as well Tome." Twilight said turning to me. "Come on Blake, the Princess should be done seeing the guests soon, I'm sure she'll want to see you." She said taking my hand to pull me along, but I didn't budge.

"Twilight, no. I'm talking with Tome." I say refusing to move, Rogue's words about being a lap dog playing in my mind, as I realise that up until now I've been rolling over and doing everything Twilight and the Princesses want, without setting any boundaries.

Twilight looked at me for a moment, she clearly wasn't used to me putting my foot down, and that was my fault, I never set any boundaries. "But the Princess." Twilight said, doing that puppy eye thing to try and get me to cave.

"If the princess wants to see me that badly, I'm sure she'll send someone to find me." I say pulling my hand free from Twilight's grasp.

"Finally decided to grow a backbone? A little late don't you think." Dragonbane said in my mind, speaking to me for the first time in a while.

Twilight hesitated for a second. "...Oh, right. Sorry, I'll find you if the Princess wants you." Twilight said her ears folding back as she left with a sad look, it honestly killed me inside to be so blunt, but I need to establish some kind of boundaries for myself, I also need to get a place of my own, where I can have some real privacy. After Twilight left Tome and I spent the rest of the Gala together, just talking, Tome even took me to her quatres in the castle and showed me her lever-action rifle, it was nice, 44.Magnum, a classic if ever there was one. Tome and I ended up having the bottle of whisky that Rogue had tossed her, to say we ended up well past pickled would be an understatement, turns out it's a bad Idea to mix free wine and 200 year old whisky, because Tome and I ended up passing out in her room, and no, we didn't have drunk sex, we just passed out with a dribble of whisky left in the bottle.