The Endless Void

Chapters

Prologue + Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Prologue + Chapter 1

“Command, this is Alpha team…systems are in check and everything’s ready for launch.”

It still seems like only yesterday I heard those words; but before I start rambling…let me tell you about who I am, and what happened. My name is Techno, I and a group of eight other ponies have been sent up into space under the orders of Princess Luna herself. We are a team of three unicorns, three pegasi, and three earth ponies; we each have a different part on this ship. The three unicorns, me and two mares, handle the technical and the medical stuff (I worked alongside one of the mares); two of the Pegasi handled piloting the ship while the third was our captain. Finally, two of the earth ponies handled growing our food and the final was our second doctor.

Luna had given us specific orders, to explore the galaxy and report back to her when we could. We were to find planets and look for life; thankfully we were all trained in advanced firearm combat just in case. The Princess said we were the best qualified for these jobs, she said she had this idea years ago but…couldn’t find the right ponies…so, to make sure we didn’t have to be replaced…she basically gave us immortality. We experienced more than you can imagine out there, and saw things you wouldn’t even begin to imagine possible. Our ship was named The Eclipse, and she was the best ship anypony could ask for. Let me start from the beginning, and when I say the beginning…I mean the very first day, but not of our journeys in space…our first day of being called upon.

The day before I was called, I was sitting in class and taking a few notes. It was college at Canterlot University, and I had just turned 19 so, needless to say I wasn’t expecting much of anything to happen. I was studying to become a computer technician; I could fix or take apart a computer like it was nothing so, I felt it was my calling. Naturally, I didn’t feel quite as smart as everypony else in that class, but I still did pretty well; maybe it was because I didn’t want to get a big head and become a douche. Our professor was speaking about something pretty boring, not going to lie, but we heard a knock about halfway through the lecture. The door opened, and before my eyes, was Princess Luna herself! I stared wide-eyed as she entered into the classroom; I had heard the Princesses might visit a class from time to time but, I never thought I’d witness it. Even our professor was in shock as she entered the classroom, but who could blame him? She trotted in and looked around, a small smile on her face.

“Greetings, everypony,” she said in a regal, and echoing, voice. I was still in shock as she talked in her voice; thankfully it was pretty easy to hear her.

“You are probably wondering why I have come here, well,” her horn gave a bright glow, and all of a sudden I saw this weird looking suit appear.

“You see, we are in need of a technician for a…’trip’,” she said, laying the suit down. “Naturally, I will be taking requests for anypony who thinks they’re qualified; Please don’t be shy, anypony can apply.”

I looked around as the whole class quickly went down to apply; I, on the other hoof, decided to stay and sit. There was no way I would get in, what did I have that was special about me?

My thought process was cut-off by her voice again, “Excuse me, you in the back…brown mane, glasses…Why aren’t you applying?” I looked around, eyes resting on her as the thought of “Oh, sweet Celestia, I offended her…now I’m dead,” ran through my head. She trotted up to me, past the crowd, and stopped right in front of me. I was panicking, the Princess had come right up to me, and she could do anything and probably get away with it!

“Do you not want to apply? The position is available for anypony,” she said in a very calm voice. “Oh, uhm…your highness,” I managed to get out, “I…I would apply but, I don’t think I’ll get it is all…I think somepony else should get this privilege.” She looked me over, a small smile coming to her face as her horn gave a quick glow. “Come with me, I would like to conduct a little interview with you.”

My brain completely stopped working for a few seconds, not even joking…everything just shut down. “A-…okay…Princess…” I stood up, following her as everypony watched us leave. “Mister Techno, you seem to doubt yourself a lot,” She said, looking back at me; “but…how…I never told you my name?” She laughed a little, tapping her horn; “Magic, Mister Techno,” she said with a smile. “Oh, right right…I knew that,” I said, chuckling nervously as she lead me into a small room.

I looked around, taking a seat in one of the chairs; “So, Princess…what are…” my words were cut short as she started to scan me. I froze up and looked at the aura around me; it kind of tickled a little bit, to be honest. After a couple of seconds, she tapped her chin and started to write something down; “I think I have all I need…thank you, Mister Techno.” I looked around, tapping my fur and stomach in confusion, “That was…interesting?” She laughed, “Techno, I simply conducted my interview, your name has been put into the list of potential candidates.”

I was confused for a second, what exactly did she do? “You might want to get back to class; I think your professor is starting again.” My eyes widened, “Oh! Right, right, thank you for your time Princess; it was truly an honor,” I gave a quick bow, and ran back to class.

After class, I lay around my dorm and just thought…”What did she mean? What’s this trip thing? Who’s going to be chosen?” I sighed, looking up at my ceiling as I just continued thinking and thinking. “Heh…would be kind of cool to wear that suit thing…” I smiled, imagining myself in that suit and looking heroic and strong.

My fantasy was stopped, however, when I heard a knock at the door. I sighed, slowly opening the door with my magic; as luck would have it, thankfully, it was my best friend. “Coastal!” I said, already feeling a little better, “you have no idea how happy I am to see you.” He looked at me and laughed a little, “Well…glad you’re excited?” The green pegasi plopped down on my couch, “So, Techno, why are you so excited to see me?”

I thought about that question, “Could I tell him the Truth? He’s my best friend, but I don’t know if I should keep this a secret or not…” I sighed, “Oh…you know…just happy to see my bro, Coastal Shores, is all…boring day, need something to do with my bro.” I smiled through the lie, feeling terrible I had to lie to him. But, he believed it, so I was off the hook.

“Well, what do you want to do?” He asked, standing back up and stretching his wings. I scratched my chin, thinking for a few seconds, “Hmm…cake?” He chuckled a little at that, “Sure,” he said with a smile. I smiled also, a piece of cake sounded like just the thing right now. I stood up, popping my neck and spine, “Alright, but you’re paying,” I said with a smirk. “Oh, ha ha…I’m paying for my slice, and that’s it,” he said, returning the smirk. I chuckled, trotting out the door with him.

It was a nice day, kind of warm but with a cool breeze, a little cloudy but not too much to block the sun, was a really nice day. So we arrived at the nearest bakery, got a slice of cake each, and began eating. I couldn’t really enjoy the chocolate cake I had as much as I wanted to, I was so worried about what Princess Luna said and what she could have meant. “Hey, dude, everything alright?” Coastal said, having finished his cake already. “Whoa…think you could have eaten that any faster?” I said with a laugh. He looked at the clock, then back at me, “We’ve been here for about 10 minutes…you sure you’re okay?” He asked, getting a little worried.

I sighed, pushing my half eaten cake to the side, “Just…have a lot on my mind is all…lot of stuff happened…” I looked around, signaling him to follow me. He did, and we ended up behind the bakery; “Uhm…why are we behind the bakery?” He said in a confused voice.

“Look…you’re the only pony that I true enough to tell this secret to…” I sighed, and started telling him about what had happened today; I didn’t leave a single detail out, I told him everything. After I finished explain the events, he stared at me wide eyed; “Dude…” he said in a low voice, “that’s awesome!” He grinned at me, while I looked at him confused; “Wait, what?” I asked him. “You got to talk to, and meet Princess Luna…that’s something not everypony can say.”

I sat back, mauling over what he said. “You know…you might actually have a point…I got to talk to Princess Luna herself!” I smiled, I knew telling him would help. “You should feel lucky; you might be working for her one day.” My eyes widened at that thought, “I might be working for a Princess someday…” I shook my head, coming back to reality; “I went out of it again…didn’t I?”

Coastal laughed, nodding with a smile. “Yes, you did.” I chuckled a little, sighing, “I should be getting back to my dorm; I have a paper to write.” He nodded, “Alright, nice getting to see you again.” I smiled, giving him a quick hug; “Same, see you around, dude.” I waved and teleported back to my dorm room.

Once I arrived, all I could do was what I was doing before; sit on my bed and continue thinking about the events of today. The events ran through my mind again and again, and only one question stuck out among the others; “Why me? What’s special about me?” I sighed, looking at the clock for a couple seconds; thinking this much, and the events of today were making me tired. “Eh…I got nowhere to be for the rest of the day…” I said with a yawn, pulling the covers over myself and quickly falling asleep.

I awoke to a loud knocking at my door, which took me a while to full wake up and answer. I yawned, not even fully aware I was out of bed right now. “Hello…?” I said in a quiet, low voice. “Mr. Technological?” I heard a strong voice say before me, causing me to wake up a little.

I looked over, seeing that it was 2 in the morning. “Uhm…who’s there? You know it’s pretty late at night…” I looked over at the ponies at my door, seeing that 2 royal guards were standing in front of me. “Oh! Sorry, Sirs…what seems to be the problem?” They kept their serious expression, looking me dead in the eyes with a piercing gaze. “We need you to come with us; you have been summoned by the Princess.”

My eyes widened, had it not been so late I might have been able to recover quicker; but sadly, I stood for about 8 seconds, simply trying to wrap my mind around this fact. “Uhm…okay…why?” I asked with a slight yawn. “She didn’t give many details, other than to collect a Mr. Technological; aka, you…correct?” I rubbed my eyes, nodding a little; “Yea, that’s me…do I just…go with you guys?” The guards nodded, trotting down the hallway and looking back at me.

“Just follow us, and you’ll be fine.” I sighed, grabbing my phone and wallet, and followed the guards. I was tired, confused, and had no idea what was about to be set before me; guess I had no choice, my fate was pretty much set at this moment in time.

Chapter 2

The guards took me to the Palace; it was as magnificent as I always imagined it would be, and I looked in awe at its sight. I’d heard stories about its beauty, and it seems that every one of them were true down to the last detail. “Wow…Sirs, this place is amazing…” I said, my eyes travelling from place to place.

They simply laughed, looking at each other with smiles; “Hasn’t every guard said that the first time they entered this palace?” the one on the left asked the other. “Anypony who sees the inside of the palace has said those exact same words,” the one on the right replied. I felt a little embarrassed at the fact I had said the same thing as everypony else; was I really that plain? Of course, it is the biggest place in Canterlot so; guess it’s to be expected.

“Wait here,” the guards said, trotting off down a hall; I wanted to continue exploring the castle but, I don’t want to be known as the stallion that tried to run away.

So, I sat down on the floor and looked around at the room I was in. I honestly had no idea where I was, but it was quite elegant to say the least; I just prayed when the guards came back I didn’t get separated from them; this place looked big enough to get lost for months. The thrill of being called to the palace was starting to wear off, and I started to feel tired again; but can you blame me? It’s about 3 in the morning.

I gave a quick yawn, and started to clean off my glasses; putting them back on, I saw that the guards were trotting back towards me. I put my glasses back on, and stood back up as they arrived. "The Princess will see you now,” they said in that always stern tone.

“Wait…I don’t…have an appointment or, anything like that,” I said in a confused voice.

Thankfully, the Guards detected my confusion and decided to give me a little more information. “The Princess will explain once you’re with her, just go forward and see her in the Throne Room,” they said as they shifted to the side, giving me a clear path. I sighed, trotting forward to the room in question; did I really have much of a choice in this?

Now I won’t lie, anypony else would brag about how honored they felt to be approaching the Princess; but me? I was nervous as hell right now, I think I was shaking and sweating a little bit too. I was about to be in front of Princess Luna herself; it was different when other ponies where there, as in the case of yesterday, but I wasn’t sure if anypony else was going to be with me during this.

I slowly entered the throne room, seeing Luna sitting on her throne and feeling myself freeze up for a couple seconds; I took a deep breath, trotting forward and slowly bowing in front of her. “P-Princess Luna…it’s an honor to be in your presence…”

I looked up at her; she was magnificent in the moonlight. “Mr. Techno, I’m sorry to summon you at such a late time,” she said in a calming voice.

“Oh, your highness, I don’t mind at all; any time would have been good for me,” I added, trying to sound humble. She smiled, getting off her throne and trotting to me; “Follow me,” she said as she passed.

I quickly followed next to her, looking up at her; she was regal, looked magnificent in the light, and was very beautiful. Of course, I would never say any other those things, I’d probably get another “Everypony says that” response like I did with the guards.

“Uhm…Princess…” She held up her hoof, and I stopped mid thought.

“Everything will be explained tomorrow, when you are more aware and alert,” she chuckled, looking over at me.

“Oh, thank you, Princess Luna; you’re too nice,” I replied, remembering that I was indeed extremely tired.

She led me to a hall that had 9 doors in it; 4 on the left, 4 on the right, and 1 in the middle. I looked around, a little confused at what I was supposed to be looking for; “Uhm…Princess?” I said without a hint of what to do, or which door to go behind.

“Oh, forgive me, the others are asleep already, yours is the second door on the right.”

Great, now I was even more confused at what was going on. “I’m sorry…others? Mine?”

She took note of my confusion, and pat my back gently; “Everything will be explained in the morning, second door on the right.” She trotted away, looking back and saying a phrase that sort of worried me. “Tomorrow, you’ll know all you need to; have a good sleep, Techno.”

I sat for a couple seconds; sighing as I trotted towards the door I was assigned. I stared at the door for a second, wondering what was going on and why I was chosen for whatever was going on. I shook my head, slowly opening the door and looking inside the room. It was dark, so I had to find a light switch; but once I flipped it on, I found a comfortable looking room in front of me.

It looked like what most ponies would label as a guest room; consisting of a bed, a lamp, nightstand, and a drawer. I smiled at the comfy looking room, slowly closing the door as I sat on the bed; it was pretty comfy, and right now I didn’t care so much anymore. I yawned and took my glasses off, “Tomorrow…” I sighed, putting my glasses down and getting under the covers of the bed.

I just wish I could sleep, I was even more nervous than I was yesterday afternoon. A question that should have popped into my head was something she said early on; who in the name of Equestria were these “Others”? Was I in the position to be a new guard, or something?

“I can’t be a guard! I’m not that pony you call to defend a village or something, I’m that pony that’s playing the game where you do that!” I was making myself even more nervous, what was in store for me tomorrow? Maybe I was going to be a test subject and forced to complete chambers, then betrayed and killed at the end!

I sighed, rubbing my head; “I have to stop playing that game…” I said as I turned and looked at the black ceiling. Then the worst thought started running through my head; “What if me and these ‘others’ were in line to be killed, for crimes we don’t even know we did!”

I started to panic, we could all be dead tomorrow because of something we did, and I’m only 19! I was wide awake now, only the thought of potential murder was running through my head; maybe I could run? Yea! I could run- No, wait…that’s a dumb idea; I can easily be traced to anywhere I go in Equestria.

My fate was sealed, I was a pawn in whatever kind of game this was and I had to play my role. If I didn’t play my role, I would probably have to run from the guards and hide; and I’ll be honest, I was always the first one found in a game of hide-and-seek.

I could either face death, or face the potential of something even worse than that; what that was I had no idea. But, then I started thinking about it; “Princess Luna wouldn’t want to kill anypony, she’s way too nice to want to harm anypony.”

I smiled as the new thoughts came in and flooded out the old, slightly disturbing, ones. How could I think Princess Luna would want to kill a group of nine ponies? If she wanted to, we would have been thrown into dungeons or something; instead of these rooms. That was a silly thought to think she would want to kill us, I don’t think Princess Celestia would allow it without good reason.

I closed my eyes to try and fall asleep again, but sleep didn’t seem to want to come to me; stupid second wind never comes when you really want it. I sighed and opened my eyes, putting my glasses up and looking at the clock next to my bed. “Ah dammit…it’s 4 in the morning…” it wasn’t even early 4; it was closer to 5 than it was to 4.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t sleep, I had my second wind, and I was too excited to learn about what might happen tomorrow. Fate just wasn't on my team today, was it?

I decided to pull out my phone; pressing it on hurt my eyes a little from the brightness. I put it back up, flipped my bedside lamp on, and started to look around for some kind of reading material. Newspaper, Magazine, Novels; any of those would have been great right now, just something to do to maybe tire me out.

Then, an idea came into my mind; “Maybe one of those others is awake also, and I can get to know them.” I pulled the covers off of me, and started out of the bed. Sadly, I was use to the bed I had, so instead of getting out I more of fell out…on my face.

Anyways, after regaining myself I retrieved my glasses and walked to the door. My hoof rested on the knob, as I started to ponder if this was a good idea or not; “What if they think I’m trying to escape?” I asked myself quietly. They would only see me leaving my room, and was I supposed to get up at a certain time?

Because if so, I’m going to be a zombie in the morning until I get some coffee or an energy drink; and what about my studies and my job? Am I just supposed to quit both of those while I’m doing whatever it is the Princess wants me to do?

I sighed, and decided to open the door and walk out. I saw the somewhat lit hallway, looking around for a couple seconds before I closed my door and stood outside. It was quiet, and very peaceful; of course I couldn’t sleep during this, the most relaxing time of the morning and here I am, wide awake.

I tapped my hoof for a second, wondering how I was going to explore and still be able to find my room again; “I can barely find my house after exploring in Ponycraft…how am I going to find my room again?” After some thinking, I decided I might be able to use a string or something to guide me back.

My horn glowed for a couple seconds as a string of magic tied itself around the door knob, making sure I could be able to find it again. I smiled, and started down the hall; thankfully there was enough light for me to see by.

I looked around at the architecture of the Palace; it was old fashion-y and interesting. It looked like it might have over four hundred years ago, or possibly even longer than that. I decided since I was exploring, and since I was new, I would check into any open room that I found; if I got yelled at, I could just say I had no idea.

The first room that I found was a huge library, bookshelves that look like they stretched for miles and miles. My eyes wondered from shelf to shelf, all I wanted to do was take a book off and read until I passed out; but this might have been a private library, and taking a book might get me in trouble. So, I took a quick minute to look around and decided to continue exploring the castle. I wanted to go back to that library so bad, and just pick a book and random and see what I would find. Maybe I’d get lucky and find a book on magic, advanced magic that hasn’t been used for over a thousand years; or something. Maybe I could find a spell to turn back time, or maybe one to go forward in time and bring something back to this time so I’d be the stallion with the most advanced technology. “That would be the coolest-”

My thought process was cut short, as I accidentally ran into somepony. My glasses flew off my face, and behind the pony I had ran into. Everything was blurry as I started to look around; “Ah, sorry…so sorry, didn’t see you, I was distracted…” I said as I looked for my glasses. The pony I ran into gave me my glasses back, and I smiled as I put them on.

I blinked a couple times, getting a clear look at the pony I had ran into. She was a smallish, earth pony mare, with a white mane and a deep red coat; she stared at me, wide-eyed, and didn’t say a single word.

“Hello…” I said, trying to break the silence that was between us, “I’m Techno.”

She still didn’t say a single word; she just kept looking at me. “Uhm…what’s your name?” I asked, trying to get her to say something. Her cheeks turned a bright red as she slowly turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

I sat for a couple seconds, wondering what had just happened; did I do something wrong? The better question was, “Who was that mare?” She never gave me a name, all I knew about her was what she looked like; was she one of the ‘others’? I wanted to follow this mare, maybe to try to get an idea of who she might be, but she seemed pretty nervous from what I could tell.

I decided to let her be, and decided that it was time to return to my room; maybe even try to get some sleep. I looked up, making sure the magic string was still attached to my horn, and started to follow it back. I noticed the line was being left over, and I needed some way to get rid of that; just in case I wasn’t supposed to be out. I started to think for a couple of second, then I got the idea; “What if I reel it in, like with a fishing pole?” guess it’s worth a shot.

I sat down, and slowly started to suck the line of magic back into my horn. The weird part to me wasn’t the fact I was doing this, but that it was actually working. I smiled, and then my brain got the most random idea you could imagine. “Maybe I could reel myself back to my door!” I said with a grin, “be something to try out at least,” I chuckled, starting to reel more and more line back in.

As I felt a tug at my horn, I sat up straight, and continued reeling myself in. I was pulled by the line, lying on my back so I wouldn’t fall onto my face; this was actually really fun!

I laughed a little as I got back to my door, untying the string and sucking the rest in. I sighed happily, opening the door and looking at the clock. “Holy crap…it’s seven in the morning…” seems my exploring had taken a lot longer than I thought it did; still fun to explore the castle.

I was exhausted right now, my second wind had finally left me and that exploring had only made it leave faster. I took off my glasses, set them on the bedside table, and started getting into bed; I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow, I was that tired.

When I awoke, I looked over at the clock and I thought it read 8 A.M; “Wow, I only slept for an hour?” I was impressed with myself; I didn’t sleep the day away.

I stood up, put my glasses on, and looked back at the clock; needless to say, I was wrong about what time it was. The clock didn’t read 8 A.M, it instead read 3 P.M.; I had slept an additional 7 hours. “Oh…that’s probably not good…” I thought to myself, looking at the door that leads into the hallway.

I was scared to go out, what if I was supposed to be up early to do something for the Princess? I gulped, slowly opening the door; I was expecting to find some guards or something waiting for me.

But, to my relief, nopony was there to arrest me. I slowly stepped out, taking a quick look around before continuing; guess I was in the clear right now. One thing I noticed was that the doors to the other 8 rooms were open, meaning the ponies inside them were somewhere in the castle or at least near it. Maybe this was my chance to find somepony who could explain what was going on, and maybe I could finally get an idea of what my role in this weird incident was.

But, who was I going to talk to; I have no idea where the Princess might be, those other 8 ponies could be anywhere. In short, I was completely on my own until I found somepony to help me. I sighed, and decided to start wandering this giant Palace.

I passed quite a few things during my explorations; I passed the library again, I also passed an armory. I took a quick look inside, and saw a couple suits of armor and a few weapons. Of course you know what my first thought was; I wanted to put one of them on, and just see what it looked like on me.

But, thankfully, I talked myself out of it; had a group of guards been walking by they might have seen me and thought I was a guard. Again, I’m not even close to guard material; I’m a squishy nerd, not a strong warrior.

I decided to continue my journey to look for somepony who could help, most of what I was walking through was hallways. I swear they were getting longer and longer as I walked on, and they never seemed to end! I shook my head, closed my eyes for a second, and continued walking forward. To my luck, I heard hoofsteps in the distance; probably only about 30ish yards from where I was now.

I listened closer, and headed towards the source of the hoofsteps; maybe it was somepony who could tell me where I was supposed to go! As I took a left, I saw the pony only a couple feet away; “Hey!” I called out to the pony, “I need some help! Wait up!”

I ran towards what looked like a stallion, or what was an extremely muscly mare. He stopped as I got close to him, and turned around to look at me. I was right, he was huge!

“Who the hay are you?” He asked me in a deep voice. I took a second to look him over; he had a leafy green mane, and a deep brown coat. He was a simple earth pony, just like the mare I had seen before, except he was pretty much the exact opposite.

“Well? What’s your name, stranger?” He asked again in his deep voice.

I shook my head, snapping out of it and looking back at him; “Oh, sorry, I’m Techno…I was called here by Princess Luna,” I replied to him. He looked me over for a second, tapping a hoof on the ground. “You must be the last pony we need,” he said with a smile, “I’m Cypress, nice to meet you.”

He stuck out his hoof; I was scared to shake it honestly. I gently took his hoof, and shook it up and down. Geez, this stallion looks like he could throw me to the wall without any problems; he’s freaking ripped!

“Have you met the others? I’m sure they’d love to see the final member of our group,” he said with an interested look; “No, I haven’t…I just got up less than an hour ago,” I replied.

He had a laugh that echoed through the hall, it was a little intimidation to say the least; “Well, Techno…I’ll take you to them, just follow me.”

He walked off, and I walked side by side with him. “So, Cypress,” I asked, “you were called on by the Princess as well?” He nodded, looking over at me; “About a month ago. I was just working on my farm when she came and said she needed me.”

Huh…what was Princess Luna planning? Calling upon a pony that was good with technology, and calling upon a pony that was good at growing things?

“You said you haven’t met anypony else, right, Techno?” Cypress asked me. I nodded, looking at him, “That’s right, you’re the first one I’ve meet…except for this one mare, but she might have just been some random pony.”

He looked at me with an intrigued look; “Oh? What did she look like?” he asked, stopping in his tracks. I started to think, trying to remember what she looked like; “Uhm…white mane…a deep red coat…she was kinda small and very shy…”

Cypress started laughing, patting me on the back. “Ah…she’s one of us, but you’ll learn more about her in a couple minutes,” he said with a smile. I was a little confused, but also a little happy that I had made a new friend. “Come on, we shouldn’t wait to introduce you anymore,” Cypress said as he walked forward again.

I smiled, and followed him; I was about to meet a whole group of ponies, and hopefully they were as nice as Cypress was.

Chapter 3

“I was actually sent to look for you, you know. Princess Luna told us that our final pony had been found; of course, she didn’t know he was going to sleep over half the day away,” Cypress said with a laugh.

“Sorry…I couldn’t sleep last night and…I’m sort of a very heavy sleeper,” I replied, feeling really embarrassed.

Cypress simply patted me on the back, “Now look here, Techno; everypony is going to make mistakes,” he chuckled, looking over at me, “I remember my first day here, the guards had to send out a rescue team to find me.”

I laughed, feeling a little better; “Really? You don’t seem like the type who could easily get lost,” I replied, smiling at him.

“Now, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have gotten lost but…you’ve seen the size of this castle,” he said with a smile.

I was feeling much better; Cypress was a really cool stallion and seemed to say the right thing at the right time.

“Ah, here we are,” he said as he pointed to a door;

“…It’s a door,” I said to him.

“Really? Now I thought it was a cabbage pie,” he laughed, making me feel stupid again, “go inside the door, is what I mean.”

I gave myself a mental slap, groaning at my own stupidity; “I knew that…just tired is all…” I said as I walked inside the room. Once I was in, I saw a few ponies reading books, saw two flying, and the last was practicing magic.

“Well, these are your crewmates, what do you think?” Cypress said from behind; “I…I’m not sure, to be honest,” I replied. I didn’t know these ponies; they all just looked like regular ponies to me.

“Our captain seems to be missing,” he said as he took a quick survey around, “probably with the Princess, discussing things.”

Okay, so we have a farmer and a pony good with technology, also have these other ponies who I have no idea about, and now we have a captain; Sweet Celestia, it’s like Lost all over again, the further you go the more confusing it gets.

“Well go on, talk to somepony,” Cypress said as he pushed me forward a little; “Whoa, what exactly am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I’m a random pony, you don’t know me at all and I have no idea who you are but we should talk.’

Wow, you’re so nice, Techno, this pony’s trying to help you and you’re being a total asshole.

“Uhm…sorry about that, Cypress, I’m not good at meeting new ponies,” I said to try and not seem like a jerk.

“Well, just go up to them and introduce yourself; watch out for the two pegasi though, they like to target the new pony.” That could either mean beat up, or try and single out to me; “Target them…and beat them up?”

Cypress laughed, “Uhm…I’m sure you’ll figure out soon enough what I mean,” he replied.

I shrugged, and decided to walk around the room. After a couple seconds, I saw a familiar face;

“Hey, I remember you…didn’t we see each other last night?” I asked the velvet mare in front of me.

She turned around, sitting down and starting to blush again. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I told her as I sat down also; “I’m apparently the newest pony in this…group of sorts,” I told her.

She blinked for a couple seconds, and then looked around with a still bright blush on her face.

“I can leave, if you want,” I offered; she shook her head as I saw another mare come over.

She was entirely new to me; she was a unicorn for one, and she had a light purple coat and a light red mane. She was about average height for a mare, about five or so inches taller than the mare she was walking towards. Once this mysterious mare arrived, she leaned forward and the other mare started to whisper to her. She nodded, looking over at me, and back at who I guess was her friend.

“Alright, I’ll tell him,” she said as she walked towards me, clearing her throat.

“Aloe says she’s sorry for the way she acted; you see, she’s very shy around stallions,” the mare told me, “she hopes she didn’t freak you out, or cause you to think she’s weird.”

I shook my head, looking back at the pony I now knew as Aloe; “It’s alright, Aloe, I just thought you were a shy pony is all, not weird.” She smiled at hearing that, whispering something to the other mare;

“She says thank you, and that you seem like a nice stallion, Techno.”

I nodded, and looked at the speaker for Aloe; “Well you know my name’s Techno, can I ask who you are?” I asked her as I looked back at Aloe for a second.

“Me? My name’s Rosemary, but everypony calls me Rosie,” she said with a smile, “it’s great to meet you, Techno, you’re the 9th member?”

I shrugged, looking at her with a confused expression; “I guess, but I have no idea what I’m the 9th member of,” I replied.

“Aww, you poor thing,” she said as she pulled me in for a hug, “nopony explained it to you?” She asked in a very soothing voice; why was I being reminded of my mother?

“No…Princess Luna said I’d learn all I need to know today,” I replied as she started to rub my back. “Well, Rosie can help with that little problem,” Rosemary told me as she broke the hug, “don’t you worry at all.”

I smiled, this mare was so motherly and caring; the kind of pony you’d want to be adopted by because she’s just that awesome. “Thanks, Rosie, you’re too nice,” I told her; she simply giggled and looked at me with a smile still present, “I’m just very kind hearted,” she told me.

Wow, all three of the ponies I met here were pretty awesome; even if one of them is too shy to talk to me, she seemed really nice. “So, Techno, what would you like to know?” She asked as she lead me to the nearest table; “well, first I’d like to know what I’m doing here.”

She nodded, tapping her chin for a second; probably thinking of what exactly to say. “Well, Princess Luna has gathered the nine of us because she says we’re the most qualified for a mission she wishes to set in motion; I’d tell you what it is but, I guess she was waiting for everypony to be here.”

I nodded, writing that down, “Alright, guess we’re all going to find out in a day or so?”

She nodded, looking around, “How about you go meet everypony else? I can tell you’ve already met me, Cypress, and Aloe Vera; go meet the others that are here,” she added as she turned me over to yet another mare; she was kind of like Rosemary, mostly because her mane was a light purple like Rose’s coat, and her coat was a nice orange, but she was an earth pony.

Should I be worried that I had seen the cutie mark of the stallion I saw, but hadn’t seen the cutie mark of the three mares I saw?

I shook my head, and walked over to the mare; “Hello, I’m Techno,” I told her. She looked over at me, and checked me out a little; “You’re the 9th, I take it?” She asked me. She looked strong also, just like Cypress; “That’s true, well that’s what everypony has said anyways.”

She offered a hoof, and I, of course, accepted it; “Name’s Magnolia, pleasure to meet you, Techno.”

I decided to sit next to her, so that I could get to know her a little; “So, Magnolia, why are you here?” I asked her.

“Well, like Cypress over there, I’m a farmer as well.”

This was getting weird, two farmers? What was she going to do with two farmers and a nerd like me; and what do Aloe Vera and Rosemary do? Are they farmers also, or are they something else?

“Hey, Techno, everything alright?” I heard Magnolia ask me; “Hmm? Oh, sorry yes; just got lost in thought it seems,” I said with a light chuckle.

She laughed a little also, “You know, you remind me of somepony else in our group.”

I was baffled at what she meant by that; “I…do?” I asked her, looking back to her with curiosity.

“Yep, I’m surprised you haven’t met her yet,” she replied; “you both seem like you’d get along nicely, she thinks a lot too.”

As I took a quick look around, I noticed that only seven ponies were present in this room, including myself; “Uhm…is she here? In this room?”

Magnolia took a quick look around as well, and tapped her hoof for a second; “Guess she’s out somewhere; sorry about that, Techno.”

I sighed, “It’s fine; I’ll meet her later I guess.”

I stood up, and decided to walk outside to where the two Pegasi were flying; “Be careful with those two,” I heard Magnolia say behind me. I looked back at her, confused again; “Why? Are they jerks?” She shook her head, whispering to me; “They’ll try and prank you every chance they get…” she told me.

Oh great, it was 3rd grade all over again; two ponies always trying to prank me.

I breathed in deeply, and walked outside to them; “Uhm…hello,” I called out to them.

Both of them stopped mid flight, and flew down to the ground to see me. “You have any idea who this guy is, Turbulence?”

The one on the left asked; “Not a single clue,” replied the other one. The one on the left approached me, looking me over. “Who are you, stranger?” He asked in a stern tone, kind of like the guards I met; “I’m Techno, and you both are?” I asked.

They looked at each other for a couple seconds; they looked a lot alike to be honest. They both had a blue coat, except the one on the left was light blue while the other was darker blue; plus the lighter one had fire red mane, while the darker one had a black mane.

“I’m Zephyrus,” said the light one; “this is my younger brother, Turbulence.”

That would explain why they looked so much alike; “Nice to meet you both, everypony has been calling me Number 9.” They both got the, “That’s what he’s doing here” face as I heard them both go “Ohh.”

Zephyrus patted me on the back; “Nice to meet you, welcome aboard…now, you might want to go talk to Princess Luna,” he said as his brother smirked a little.

Why did they want me to go talk to Princess Luna?

“Uhm…alright…nice to meet you guys,” I said as I walked back inside.

Magnolia was waiting by the entrance, and ripped something off my back; “Coming out of the closet, are we?” She asked as I looked at the note reading “I love cock.”

I looked at the two brothers laughing their asses off; “So that’s why they wanted me to leave,” I said as I tore the note up.

“I warned you about them,” Magnolia added; “I’ve been bullied most of my school life, this isn’t something new to me,” I replied as I threw the paper away. I just prayed that was the only thing they were going to do; “They’re going to do more…aren’t they?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Yep…best of luck to you, Techno.”

Great, it was pretty much a carbon copy of grade school, and I don’t even have a teacher that I could tell and they’d stop.

Well, I’m a pretty okay stallion, maybe if I can pull a better prank on them they’d leave me alone…well, either that or I’d have be in the hospital for the next few days.

Meh…I wasn’t going to do anything and I know it, so why bother even telling myself these lies? “This is probably just a phase…maybe, if I don’t react the way they want me to, they’ll get bored and leave me alone.” Worth a shot, right?

I held my head up high, and looking around for any signs of a new pony.

No luck, sadly; the numbers remained the same. Three earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns; guess I had a little searching to do for the last two.

I sighed, and walked back into the hallway.

Now I begin my blind journey into this strange and huge place;

seriously, would it kill them to have little map kiosks or something?

“Now let’s see, they said she was like me…so if I were here, where would I want to be?” The answer was clear as day; anywhere that had internet or some kind of game system to play on.

I walked around until I found a guard that could give me directions; “Excuse me, but does the palace have any place where there’s internet?”

The guard gave me directions, I wrote them down, thanked him, and headed for where he said;

I was going to make a kiosk joke to him but, he probably wouldn’t have found it very funny.

After a few minutes of blindly walking around, I came to a very big realization; “Crap, I’m lost…”

How could this happen?

I followed that guards instructions perfectly…at least I think I did anyways.

I groaned, and decided to try the only think I knew might work. “Marco!”

What? If you were in my horseshoes you would have done the exact same thing; besides, screaming help might make somepony think I was in serious trouble.

Nopony replied, so I decided to walk around and continue saying Marco until I got a response.

It took about 3 minutes, but finally I heard a faint reply in the distance. My ears perked up, and I called again; “Polo!” I heard this voice reply to me, it sounded kind of feminine; maybe it was the pony I had been searching for all along.

Finally, I found the source of the voice; “Ah, finally…somepony.”

She turned around and looked at me;

she was beautiful…her dark pink coat was so neat and clean, her beautiful white and rose pink mane was tied in a ponytail and her horn was so finely rounded and perfect.

“Hey, you alright? You’re looking a little flustered and…are you blushing?”

Oh sweet Celestia!

I was blushing!

Alright, I had to get myself together and try to calm down…she’s just a girl…a beautiful, well groomed, make your heart pound girl. “Uhh…I…” I cleared my throat, trying to talk; though it seems every intelligent word that I tried came out as a random noise and or a whimper.

“Everything okay? Are you lost, or something? What’s your name?” She asked, looking at me with an expression of confusion and worry.

Come on dude, don’t make yourself look like an idiot in front of her; just try and say something.

“H…Hi…” is all I managed to mutter out, and I was still blushing terribly; wonder if this is what Aloe feels like whenever she talks to a stallion?

“Hello, I’m Iris,” she said to me, still looking a little freaked by me; “and, you are?” Oh, this was going to take a while;

“M…my n-name…m-my name…” come on, don’t look like a freak, do something!

I took a deep breath, got out my notepad, and wrote my name on it; better to do that than keep acting like a weirdo.

“Techno, nice to meet you…are you related to Aloe Vera by any chance?” I shook my head, slowly starting to gather myself back to normal; “N-no…it’s…nice to meet you, Iris,” I said with a shy smile.

“Are you lost, because if you are I can help you,” she offered me; “o-oh…no…I’m Number 9.”

She smiled at hearing this, and walked closer to me. “Well, we should probably meet up with the others,” she said as she nudged me; “you have met the others, right?”

I nodded, slowly standing up with my legs shaking terribly. Iris took note of this, and chuckled a little; “You really do remind me of a stallion version of Aloe,” she jokingly said.

Ah great, that’s what a stallion wants to hear;

I needed to show her I wasn’t shy, but try and keep it tame so she doesn’t think I’m weird.

“Uhm…would a stallion version of Aloe…have,” I needed something cool, and I only knew of one thing that might impress her.

With the glow of my horn, I teleported the coolest sword replica I had bought a few years ago into my hooves and took it out of its sheath. “Would a shy stallion have this awesome sword?”

Her eyes lit up when she saw it, and a smile came to her face; “Well, I didn’t know I was in the presence of The Hero of Time.”

Oh my sweet Celestia she knew what it was from;

Princess Luna, if this is a dream…please just let me stay asleep.

“Mind if I see it,” she asked with a hoof out; “Uhh…no, of course not.”

I slowly placed the sword into her hoof, blushing as my hoof touched hers. Her horn started to glow as she looked it over, still smiling; “This is quite detailed; where did you get it?” “Uhm…internet,” I replied.

This mare was beautiful, she looked so attractive with glasses, and she was a gamer girl…it’s like a perfect trio combined into one, like the Triforce.

I wanted so badly to ask her out, but…I was scared, what if she said no? I want to be friends with her, but I’d love to be…well, more than just friends. Asking her out might make things awkward for us, and then I’ll have nopony that I might be able to have nerdy conversations with.

I sighed, putting the sword back into its sheath and teleporting it back home. I guess it was for the best that we just build up a friendship now, and maybe I’ll try once we get to know each other a little better.

“So, you’re a nerd just like me I take it?” I said with a chuckle, taking my glasses off to clean them of fog.

She nodded, giggling a little; “Have been all my life; my parents joke and say I was born with a controller in one hoof, and a bag of chips in the other.”

I laughed a little, smiling as I regained my composure and calmed down; “Mine say that my first words were ‘Finish him’.”

She began to chuckle at my nerdy jokes; and it wasn’t an ‘Oh, you poor thing’ laugh, it was a ‘That’s pretty funny’ laugh. Hmm…but I needed something big to see just how nerdy she was;

“Hey, Iris…mind if I ask you a question?”

She looked at me with interest, wondering what I was about to ask. Hmm…what’s the nerdiest question possible for a mare like her?

“What time is it?”

She simply grinned, putting up a hoof and waiting for me to bump it. I, of course, did;

“Iris, you are the coolest mare I’ve met so far…nopony else shares my nerdy knowledge…you even got my TV show reference.”

She chuckled; “And you’re the first stallion I’ve met that shares my knowledge as well; you have no idea how many references I’ve made and everypony just looked at me like ‘…what?”

I chuckled; my shyness was over to say the least.

“Come on, we better go get with everypony else just in case something important happens,” she said as she trotted down the large hallway.

I quickly followed, taking a glance at her every so often.

There was no denying it anymore…I was in love with this mare.

Chapter 4

“Well, I see you two did happen to meet each other,” I heard a familiar voice say behind me; “yep,” replied Iris, “Techno, here, is actually pretty cool.”

I cleared my throat, trying to hide a very obvious blush; “Y-you’re really cool too…Iris…” I said as I kept facing the other direction, pretending to look out a window.

Cypress walked in front of me, raising an eyebrow as he saw my blush; “Hey, Iris, how about you go help Rosie with some spells?”

I looked up at Cypress as he said that, wondering what he was doing; “How about you help me with something as well, Techno?” I shrugged, looking back at Iris and waving; “See you later, Iris.” She smiled, walking forward and giving me a little hug.

I couldn’t help it at that point, I froze up, my glasses fogged up, and my whole face turned deep red; almost as red as Aloe’s coat.

She let go, waving back as she walked over to where Rosemary was. I remained in my own little world after that small hug, not even able to see from the blush I had.

I came back to my senses as Cypress shook my shoulder; “Everything alright there little buddy,” He asked me in a worried tone. It took me a couple seconds, but after blinking a few times and cleaning my glasses of fog, I came back to reality.

“I-I’m sorry…you- we-…where am I again?” Cypress looked at me with a confused expression; “That hug must have affected you more than I thought, you sure you’re gonna be alright?”

I nodded, taking a deep breath; “Yea…yea, I’ll be fine…just…wasn’t expecting a hug from that…warm mare…” Cypress smiled, laughing a little; “I figured you two would become good friends, but I honestly didn’t expect you’d fall in love with her.”

My blush returned as my eyes widened;

“W-what?! I-I’m not in love with her! I-I just think she’s…beautiful and…and smart…and…and the most perfect mare I’ve ever seen and I want to spend the rest of my life with her because she’s the most ama-“ Cypress put a hoof to my mouth, shushing me. “Alright, calm down, don’t want her hearing that do you?”

He was right, if she had heard that she might think I was a weirdo. I wonder if she already kinda knew I had a little crush on her, or maybe she just thought I was a little shy; either way, I had to try and not make it look obvious.

I took another deep breath, letting out a long sigh as I moved Cypress’s hoof away; “You’re right, I need to learn to control my emotions for the time being.”

Cypress gave me a reassuring pat on the back; “Your secret’s safe with me, I won’t tell anypony.” I smiled, giving him a friendly hug; “Thank you so much dude, you’re like the awesome big brother I never had.”

He simply patted me on the back again, and I let go; “Are you an only child?” I shook my head; “No, I have a big sister…and she’s awesome; I tried being like her when I was younger.” Cypress nodded with a chuckle; “The classic ‘younger trying to be like the older’, huh?”

I nodded with a smile; “Yea…don’t younger siblings usually do that?”

Cypress simply shrugged; “Not sure, I was an only child after all.” That was actually really surprising to hear; I could have imagined Cypress as the oldest brother of a few siblings.

“Come on, I wasn’t lying when I asked you to help me with something.” That’s right, Cypress had asked me for help before…well, you know; “Oh, right, what do you need help with?”

We walked over to one of the tables, the one furthest from Rosie and Iris; probably a good idea…knowing me I would have just stared at her most of the time and thought about what might become.

Anyways, before I get off topic, he placed a book in front of me; “A book? Something special about it?”

Cypress nodded as he started to explain what the book was for; apparently it was a spell book that was filled with healing spells.

“You see, Rosie has been reading this book for weeks, in case something happens to anypony.” I nodded, looking a few of the spells over; “What seems to be the problem? Are they too hard for her?”

Cypress shook his head, pointing to the “Healing” part.

“She can’t find anypony to test them on, because nopony has been terribly hurt since she started reading them.”

Oh, that is a bit of a problem; it’d be like if you wanted to see what kind of sandwich was the best and being in a room of ponies that don’t eat bread.

“This may be a lot to ask of you, Techno, but we need to make sure these spells can help; would you mind if I roughed you up a little? I promise I won’t leave any scars or cause a lot of damage, we just need a bruise for the most part.”

So, to help Rosie, I have to get punched by Cypress?

That’s insane, why should I have to be the one getting punched? He could be working with those two pegasi jerks for all I know. I can’t believe he would do that!

Well…that’s not true…I knew I could trust Cypress, and he was kind of right, we did need to see if those spells worked; but Cypress is a HUGE bastard, he could probably break my jaw with a single punch.

“Come on, Techno, I know it’s a lot to ask to be punched, but it’s for the greater good, I promise.”

Crap, he was putting a lot of pressure on me at this point; on the one hoof, I did like Rosie and would really like to help her, but on the other hoof, I don’t want to be punched by Cypress.

I thought hard for a couple minutes, but finally…I did what was right; “Alright…you can punch me…but not too hard, okay? And only once, I don’t want my skull cracking in half.”

Cypress smiled as I took my glasses off and closed my eyes; “This’ll really mean a lot to Rosie, you’re doing us all a favor,” I heard him say to me. “Sure thing, now please be gentle…I don’t exactly have the strongest of bones.”

I sat for what felt like an hour before I finally heard Cypress take a breath.

Ah, here it comes, and it’s going to hurt terribly; he might even knock me out cold.

I prepared myself for the incoming punch, but it never came; why didn’t he do it already? Maybe he decided against it, I wouldn’t have minded that to be honest; and of course, as soon as my guard was lowered,

WHAM!

He punched me square on my right eye.

I’m not gonna lie, a couple seconds after he did, I started crying from the pain. “Oh, Techno, that looks bad…” I heard him say as he looked my eye over. “Of course it’s bad! You punched me in the eye!” I yelled, continuing to cry softly.

“Alright, don’t worry, we’ll take you to Rosie and she’ll fix you right up,” he reassured as he took my hoof and carried my glasses. I could already feel my eye swelling shut, but thankfully no blood; still, that really freaking hurt!

Sadly, what was running through my mind wasn’t “I’m doing this for Rosie,” as it was more, “Cypress, you piece of shit! I should have never agreed to this!”

We finally arrived where Rosie was, and I was aware of this because I heard a mare’s voice ask, “Sweet Celestia! What happened?”

I tried to think of an excuse, but I think Cypress was already ahead of the game; “It was a hoof bump that went horribly off-track…think you can try and fix his eye?”

I looked over, seeing Iris with a shocked expression; Crap, why did she have to see me like this?

Rosie led me to a chair, which was right next to Iris, and started flipping through what looked like a spell book. “Geez…and this was because of brohoof?” I nodded, holding my punched eye; “Yep…seems we were both off on our angles…”

She continued inspecting my eye, “Damn, that is really bad…” Maybe you could kiss it and make it better? …Damn you brain! That almost slipped out, and that would have been really bad!

“Here we go, I think I found a spell that can help us,” I heard Rosie say as she got to my side, turning my head to check on my eye. Her horn started to glow, and my eye started to itch and tickle; “Don’t rub it, okay, Techno?”

I nodded, it was really hard not rub it, mostly because it was natural instinct on my part. I actually did start to feel a little better after a couple of seconds, and my eyelid started to reopen; “Alright, good, good, everything’s going pretty well, how do you feel?”

“It itches, a lot, but I’m starting to see out of my eye again.” Rosie smiled at hearing this, and after a minute or so, it was like nothing ever happened. I felt my eye, and heard Iris’ voice say from behind, “Crap, Aloe needs my help…see you guys later.” That’s the last thing I remember before feeling her hooves wrap around me, pulling me into a quick hug.

The same thing happened as last time; I froze up, turned deep red, and went wide eyed. I was out for a good ten seconds before I heard Rosie’s voice in my ear, and her hoof tapping my cheek. “Techno, you okay? Hello?” I shook my head, looking over at Rosie as she put my glasses back on me, very confused and worried. “What happened? You completely stopped.”

I took a deep sigh, looking back up at her; “Nothing, just…zoned out, is all.”

She arched an eyebrow; damn she was good, or I’m very bad at lying…probably the second.

I sighed, looking around and whispering to her, “Is it that obvious?”

She nodded, but hugged me with a smile; “You two would make an adorable, nerdy couple.”

I turned deep red again, considering that was the very last thing I thought she was going to say. “B-but, we only just met…and, granted, she is very attractive.” Rosie simply patted me on the back, “Have you thought of asking her out?”

That was pretty obvious, of course I thought of asking her out; I also thought of other things we could do, but that was just for me to know.

I nodded, blushing a little as I looked away; “Y-yeah, I’ve thought about it…just don’t think I should act on it just yet, I mean we did just meet after all.”

Rosie nodded at hearing this, and sat next to me; “Well, when the time is right, take your chance before it’s gone,” she said with a smile, kissing my cheek.

I smiled, feeling my cheek after Rosie’s little peck; she really is an awesome mare, I could see her being the one to help me and Iris become a thing.

“Now, you should probably go meet the captain; just listen and I’m sure you’ll be able to find her.” I nodded, trotting off and listening closely; trying to filter out voices I had heard already and one that was new.

After a minute of listening, I heard a voice that sounded new, so I decided to look for this pony; they sounded like a mare, but not like any of the ones I had met today.

I arrived to indeed see a mare, a pegasi mare, and she was talking to those two douche stallions. They saluted to the gold looking mare, meaning she was probably somepony I should make sure I don’t make angry, and flew off. She had a sword on her back, which looked kind of old, and a mane that was almost the same color as her coat, little darker though.

She turned around, and looked at me with a serious gaze; “You, are you Techno, our 9th member?” I quickly stood up straight, and saluted;

“Yes ma’am, I’m Techno, it was a pleasure to be called upon.” She nodded, walking over to me; “At ease,” she said in a still kinda serious voice, “name’s Valkyrie, I’m your captain.”

“I promise I’ll serve you to the best of my abilities,” I said with a confident attitude. Our captain looked me over, as if looking into my head.

“I think I’m gonna grow to like you, Techno, you seem like a pony I could trust to get things done when I need them done.” I nodded, still trying to be serious; “Yes ma’am, just ask for anything and I’ll get it to you as soon as I can.”

She nodded again, “Glad to have you aboard, you seem like you can bring a lot to the table.” I smiled, my stomach growling loudly;

oh yeah, I forgot it really has been over 24 hours since I last ate.

I saluted again, trying to not look a fool, “May I be excused, captain?” She nodded, “Dinner should be served at 7, make sure you arrive on time.” I nodded, standing at attention, “Yes ma’am, I won’t disappoint.”

“Glad to hear it,” she said as she trotted off; yep, not somepony you want to piss off.

I looked out towards the two brothers, and while they were jerks, I must say…they were pretty impressive flyers. But more to the point, I’m freaking starving! I don’t even remember the last time I ate; I think it was when I was with my bro. Oh crap! I need to tell Coastal about this; I just have not been on my A game for the past few days.

Okay, I have a few things on my to-do list, but I think I should address the most important one first; I need something to tide me over until seven.

I trotted outside, and looked for a guard; they were like guides to me at this point, and I know that might sound a little mean, but it’s true.

I saw something new, it was a mare dressed in guards armor; weird, right? Most of the royal guards were stallions.

Taking this interesting note, I decided to approach her; “Excuse me, Miss,” I said as I tapped her shoulder, “do you know where I can get something to eat?” She turned around to face me, and I expected her to say something emotionless and strict sounding; but instead, she looked at me and said, “What up, little colt?”

Huh, okay that was something I would not have expected to hear from a guard. Also, I don’t think many guards have paint stains on their hooves; this was going to be interesting, I could already tell she was different.

“Little? I’m about as tall as you, just not as strong looking.”

She looked me over, and nodded; “Yeah, you look like kind of a weakling,” she said, looking me in the eyes. “Oh, thanks, hey look a reason to leave.”

I turned around, heading back where I came from, when she flew in front of me and landed in my way.

“Uhm, excuse me, you’re kind of in my way,” I said as I looked out from her side, though she didn’t even move. “Hey, you know I was kidding about that weakling thing, don’t you?” Okay, now I’m confused again; “No, sorry, I didn’t know it was supposed to be a joke.”

She turned me around with her wing, leaving it around me as we trotted off; “I’ve got a pretty good poker face, don’t I?” She looked over at me as she chuckled, “What’s your name?” I looked over at her, still no idea where we’re headed to; “Technological, but please call me Techno, it’s a much better name.”

She nodded, shaking my hoof, “Nice to meet you, Techno, my name’s Inspirational Wind, but you can call me Wendy for short.”

I looked at Wendy’s white coat, which had random splotches of paint on it, and even some in her electric blue mane. “Alright, I’ll just ask, why do you look like a Jackson Ponlock painting?”

“Ha! Not bad, gonna have to remember that one,” she chuckled, “I just forgot to clean myself up, I do a lot of painting in my free time, you see.”

Okay, this mare was the exact opposite of what a guard usually is, is covered in what she claims is paint, and is leading me on an unknown path; why the hell am I remaining so calm right now? Honestly, I was too hungry to panic, I didn’t have the energy.

I looked over at Wendy, my stomach growling loudly again. “Hey, Wendy, I know we just became friends, but do you have any food you’re willing to share?” She rubbed her chin, going down a different hallway as she nodded; “Yep, did you not eat lunch or something?”

I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my head as I tried to explain without seeming stupid; “Well, you see, Wendy, I’m a heavy sleeper, and I went to bed late.” She laughed, looking at me with a smile; “You forgot to eat, didn’t you?” I nodded; she pretty much summed up what I was going to say in one sentence.

“Well, you’re lucky, because I did too; got a little too involved in my latest project, and lost track of time.”

“Wait, don’t they provide the guards lunch or something?” She nodded, opening a door with the word ‘Barrack’ over the top of it. She went over to the locker that I guess was hers, and opened it up. “They do, but I bring my own in case I get too wrapped up in my hobby.”

She took out a brown paper back, opening it up and handing me half a sandwich. I happily took it, taking a bite and sitting down; I’m not exactly sure what was on that sandwich, but it tasted amazing at this point.

She sat next to me, munching on her own half of a sandwich; “So Techno, tell me a little about yourself.”

I swallowed the glob of food I had in my mouth, looking over at her; “Well, not much to say, I’m a computer geek, I have an older sister, I was going to Canterlot University before all this happened.”

She looked over at me, taking a sip from a bottle of water; “You must be really smart, isn’t it only the A students that even get considered for that school?” I nodded, finishing my half sandwich in less than a minute; don’t judge, I was really hungry at this point, and you would have done the same thing in my horseshoes.

“Yeah, explains why I was called a nerd back in my high school days.” I felt Wendy looking over at me and lean in a little. “Hey, they may have called you a nerd back in the day, but pretty soon they’ll be calling you Boss.” I chuckled at this, nodding; “That’s true, very true; thanks, Wendy, you’re awesome.”

She nodded, standing back up; “I am, aren’t I?” We trotted off, and I was feeling much better, even if it was just a small amount it was enough to tide me over. “Better, Techno,” she asked as we headed…Celestia knows where; “Yep, thanks again, Wendy.”

She simply smiled as we continued on; “Now, don’t forget your lunch again, okay?” I chuckled, nodding; “Will do, I promise I’ll try and remember to eat.”

We smiled, trotting along the hallway; sweet, guess who just got another amazing friend? I gotta say, with all the questions and worried this is putting me through, it’s getting to be worth it.