//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Different Views 
// Story: This is War 
// by The Avenger 
//------------------------------//

A small tear ran down Celestia’s cheek. She should’ve known something was wrong in the Thicket when King Aspen stopped sending her letters, but after the Battle of Canterlot, she had assumed that he stopped so she would have one less thing to worry about. Now it was painfully obvious that it was because someone had attacked his kingdom.

She and the guards that accompanied her surveyed the once glorious kingdom. It was dead quiet, the only noise a stale, dank wind. The air was bogged down by the horrific stench of decaying flesh. The guards would occasionally find a deer who was still alive, but they were so traumatized by the ordeal that most of them couldn’t speak. And they were the lucky ones.

Based on what they had learned from the survivals who were able to corporate, the attackers arrived about five days earlier. It happened so fast that they were unable to fight back. It was a massacre. The attackers used strange, magic weapons to fight. And based on how these weapons were described, they were likely the same weapons used by the Changelings during the Battle of Canterlot.

As they found more survivors, she had learned that King Aspen, as well as his family, had all perished. Aspen’s grandson was the last to die, the invaders asking him about some treasure called the Heart of the Everfree. Due to being so young, it wasn’t long till he told them where the Heart was. Once he did, they disposed of him.

Celestia had heard of the Heart of the Everfree before, Aspen having mentioned it after the Well-To-Do incident, worried that the Minotaur would’ve discover it had he not been stoped. She asked what the Heart was, but he refused to tell, saying it was far too dangerous for anyone to know. Celestia complied. She had always assumed it was something similar to the Crystal Empire’s Crystal Heart. She had never imagined it was a machine similar to Ian’s Gundam. Ian had told her that it was actually a Mobile Titan; machines that, while similar to Mobile Suits like the Gundam, were far smaller and were primarily used for industrial use, with only a few used for combat.

However it got here, it was now in the hooves of a dangerous group. She had already sent her best guards to investigate this group and it’s apparent leader, this Venom. It may take some time, but they’ll find him. A guard then ran up to her. “Princess Celestia,” he said with a salute. “We’ve finished scouting the Thicket. There are only about 100 survivors. The pegasus guards are already taking them to Canterlot for treatment. What should we do next?”

Celestia took in the surroundings one more time. This once great city was no more. When the deer eventually recovered, they would have nothing to return to. Just ruins. It wasn’t because it be difficult to restore (Discord could easily do it with a snap of his claws). It was because everything they knew, everyone they loved, was gone.

With a sigh, Celestia turned to the guard. “Let’s go home. I have a sick friend to visit.”





“How are you feeling, Dash?” Gilda asked.

“Been better…” Rainbow answered in a weak voice. “When do I get out again…?”

“Two weeks,” she deadpanned. “After that, the doc doesn’t want you to even think about flying for at least 3 months.”

“Great…” Rainbow groaned. “So much for overseeing the Best Young Fliers competition this year…”

“Don’t worry. Spitfire said that she’ll take your place this year.”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Gilda?” said a nurse at the door. “I’m afraid visiting hours are over now, and Mrs. Dash needs her rest.”

“Alright, I’ll leave in a bit.”

The nurse nodded and closed the door.

“So… how are Lighting and Galah taking all of this?”

Gilda sighed. She was hoping Rainbow would’t ask that question yet. “They’re… Taking this better than I had expected. Galah says she’s okay, but I hear her crying in her room each night. As for Lightning… He decided it was time for him to move out.”

“Move out?”

“Yeah. He’s taking this really hard. I can’t exactly blame him. He’s going to move in with Topaz, feeling so we can still see him. But I’m not sure he’ll want to see us.”

Rainbow turned away from Gilda when she said that. “There’s no reason for him to move out. I already forgiven him.”

“But he hasn’t forgiven himself.”

The two quickly turned to the door. There stood Princess Celestia, a small smile adorned on her face.

“Princess Celestia!” they exclaimed. Gilda bowed down right away, while Rainbow tried to salute the princess, only for pain to rocket through her body.

“Please, relax. I am only here to visit a sick friend,” Celestia quietly trotted into the room and sat down next to Rainbow’s bed. “So… how are you feeling, Rainbow Dash?”

“Ugh… That’s been a popular question lately.”





A little while latter…

“Perhaps you had best explain this to me in the simplest terms you can manage,” Luna took a sip from the tea Twilight had provided upon her arrival, before setting it down on the table. “I may have grasped the many new ideas that appeared during my thousand years of absence, but I’m still having a hard time believing something so small could injure Dame Rainbow Dash to such an extent.”

“We’ll do what we can, Luna,” Twilight trotted up to the chalkboard, on which she and Sunset Shimmer had written a number of equations and diagrams earlier. “Let’s begin with Ian’s weapon, his gun, or more accurately the ammunition. Rusty Gear’s expertise with machinery and science was very helpful, so I’ll let him explain the basics.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Rusty cleared his throat. “Princesses, it is a common misconception in most ponies' minds that the purpose of an arrow-” he sketched out an arrow on the board to serve as an example, “[/color=#875445]-is to put holes in things. While that's part of the damage an arrow does, the primary purpose… is to induce blunt-force trauma to the vital systems of its target through impact,” he lowered the arrow again. “Simply put, it's a really weird-shaped club that's designed to hit the inside of something instead of the outside.”

Sunset then took over. “To get really technical, an arrow is a kinetic weapon that uses speed and weight to deliver force on impact. So the faster and heavier the arrow is, the greater the force it delivers.”

“Right. We ponies tend to use either regular longbows, best fired by either Unicorns with their magic or stationary Earth Ponies with their strength, or short bows more commonly used by Pegasi in flight,” now Rusty lifted up a small, black-wooden weapon. “And the Griffins, who have talons that can grip things and who can all fly, prefer to use small crossbows. They tend to use only a single shot to incapacitate a target before closing in with melee weapons. Minotaurs took this a step further. When I visited the Minotaur Islands a few years ago, I saw that some of their soldiers carry either huge ballistae or ship cannons.”

“Ah, yes, I remember something like that,” Luna said quietly. “During a diplomatic trip I recently took, I did see a Minotaur carry two cannons, one under each of her arms. She had devised some complex mechanism to light both fuses at once. While I never saw her fire them, I can imagine that few enemies foolish enough to draw her attention would survive.”

Celestia nodded. “And this ties in with Ian’s weapon?” she asked.

“That’s right. Like I said, kinetic weapons use speed and weight,” Sunset levitated the lead slug off the table. “The various species of Equus have always had to make a tradeoff between the two when it came to non-magical ranged weapons, and the trouble was always speed. It was difficult to propel anything lightweight fast enough to do considerable damage, and added weight made ammunition unwieldy and inaccurate,” she raised the lead slug up so that everypony could have a close look at it. “But the humans in the other Equestria and the civilization Ian came from have come up with a solution.”

“And this is where I’m still confused,” said Luna. “It is merely a simple piece of metal. It is barely the size of a crossbow bolt's head, and lacks the shaft. How could such a thing be harmful?”

“Like I said, Luna… it's all speed and weight,” Sunset levitated the slug to Rusty.

“This piece of lead is barely eleven grams in weight, only slightly heavier than a common arrowhead. However, during her last trip to Griffonstone, Princess Twilight observed that the Griffins have developed something similar during the last 10 years,” Rusty began to draw two diagrams on the board. One was rather long, while the other was far shorter. Ian’s name was written next to the shorter one. “Both the humans and Griffins have found a to propel these little metal slugs extremely fast.”

An uncomfortable expression crossed Celestia's face. “Exactly how fast do you mean?”

“I had to do a number of guesstimates for the Griffin firearms, but Bai told me how fast Ian’s gun fires these slugs,” Rusty frowned slightly. “The Griffin’s muskets, as they call them, can fire these slugs at about three-hundred to five-hundred feet per second, while Ian’s weapon can fire well over eight-hundred feet per second.”

thunk

Luna's tea cup hit the table, spilling the small amount of liquid left inside. Nopony at the table really noticed. “That… that cannot be possible,” she said. “Such a weapon… it would kill so easily, so horribly. What sort of magicks are harnessed to do such harm?”

Twilight shook her head. “No magic. Based on everything Ian and Bai told us, as well as what we learned from studying the Alicorn, absolutely nothing about their technology has the slightest bit of magic,” Twilight lifted something else from the table. It was a small, yellow cylinder with a pointed, orange tip. She spun the cylinder around so that the tip faced the Princesses. “Ian described to me how these bullets, as they’re called, work.”

Grasping the chalk with her magic, Twilight began to draw arrows at various points on the drawing of Ian’s gun as she explained. “When you pull the trigger of a gun, a spring mechanism hammers a metal firing pin into the back end of the bullet, igniting the small explosive charge in the primer. The primer then ignites the propellant, something called black powder, causing a miniature explosion with propels the metal slug out of the barrel.”

“Luckily, the Griffins muskets are simpler,” Sunset took the chalk from Twilight and began to do the same. “Instead of a cylinder, the Griffins place the black powder in the barrel, followed by a small lead ball. And while their muskets do have a spring mechanism, it’s more like that of a crossbow and instead of a firing tip, they use a lit fuse to ignite the black powder.”

“And, uh… what exactly is this… black powder made of?” Luna nervously asked.

“Unfortunately, the ingredients are not that difficult to find,” said Rusty with a frown. “The first ingredient can be found in any campfire: charcoal. The second can either be found in caves or be made by, ugh, soaking feces in urine: saltpeter. The last ingredient would be a little more difficult, but is still common: sulfur, which can be found near any volcano.”

Celestia gave the chalkboard a long look, processing everything they had said. “So then we have bad news and good news,” she said quietly. “The bad news… is that no armor we have ever devised could hope to stop these slugs at their full speed. I doubt even the most advance shielding spells would be able to handle these slugs for very long. The good news is that we may be able to recreate these weapon should the need arise. Luna, we may need to start up an enchantment protocol again.”

“We could not, sister! We are forbidden from doing such by treaties that both you and I have crafted and signed.”

“Those treaties might need to be renegotiated if we cannot find Chrysalis, Tirek, and those who attack Thicket. I will not let anyone else die because our Guard is defenseless to these weapons,” Celestia replied.

Luna considered this for a moment. As long as these weapons exist, then all of Equestria was in danger. The Changelings nearly conquered Equestria because of these weapons, with the only reason they hadn’t succeeded was because of Ian and the Alicorn.

And what happened to Rainbow Dash… If a single, unlucky shot from Ian’s gun could cause such damage, what could a well aimed shot form one of the Alicorn’s guns do? She shook her head, not wanting to find out. “Very well. When we return to Canterlot, I’ll send out letters to our allies.”

“It may be best to inform them of Ian and what has happened. Has news of the Battle of Canterlot reach any of them yet?”

“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time before it does,” said Twilight. “I’m actually worried about how King Scorpan of Tambelon is going to react when he finds out Tirek escaped again.”

“I… suppose we’ll have to find out, won’t we?”

The rest of the meeting unfortunately wasn't quite so informative. Apart from identifying the engines as the source of Ether, everything else about the Alicorn was so complex that there was no possible way for them to replicate any of it. Then the meeting’s focus turned to the group who attack Thicket. They somehow gained weapons similar to Ian’s, and there was apparently more hidden in King Aspen’s castle.

“Have you been able to deduce where Venom and his group are?”

Sunset shook her head. “I’m afraid not. The Guards haven’t found any leads, and Venom hasn’t been sighted in any of the towns that border the Everfree Forest. They might be in the forest still, or they found a way to leave it unseen. I’m not sure. What worries me is that they steal this ‘Mobile Titan’ and Faust knows what else.”

Celestia hung her head low. The fact that such a dangerous weapon was in the hooves of a group willing to kill for bits was a horrifying thought. She could only pray that they weren’t using the Mobile Titan right now.





Venom was anxious. The few hours since the Gundam Pilot interfered had been a little too tense for him. He and the other mercs were using the Castle of the Two Sisters as a makeshift hideout. It was perfect as it was in the middle pf the Everfree Forest, and few ponies dared to venture this far in. And while some guards had come by earlier that day, they were a little too anxious being in the Everfree Forest, so they left as soon as they could.

It made hiding from them all the more easier, since Royal Guards these days weren’t exactly known to be as great as they use to be. But that wasn’t the reason Venom was anxious. He had lost a few of his comrades that day. They will be difficult to replace, and their families will be devastated.

But there was another reason. Venom was currently speaking to his employer, someone only a few of his subordinates know of: Big Boss. Venom had contacted him as soon as they returned to their hideout, and considering how cold he is, Venom had every right to be worried.

“I am impressed, Venom,” Big Boss said. The single white line on the black screen vibrated as he spoke, his voice distorted beyond all recognition. “Not only have you managed to recover the Heart of the Everfree, but you’ve even managed to eliminate nearly the entire deer population of the Everfree Forest. And while the Mobile Titan you’ve recovered was damaged, it is mitigated by the other assets you’ve obtained.”

“With all due respect, the assets we acquired came at a high cost. I lost a good number of comrades out there. We were lucky to have retrieve their bodies before the Princess showed up.”

“Such as life, Venom.”

Venom growled at the blank screen. If there was one thing he disliked about his boss, it was his nonexistent regard for the well beings of others.

“But their deaths were partially their own fault,” Big Boss continued. “I had specifically ordered your unit to not engage the Gundam pilot if he were to appear.”

“I did tell ya, didn’t I?” 

Venom just simply glared at the one who spoke: An arms dealer called Arcadi.  He was currently in the shadows, his outline the only indicator of his presence.

Pop!

And his strange drink that comes in cans.

“Even without ‘em, Gundam pilots are some badass motherfuckers.”

Venom merely glared as the arms dealer as he took a sip from the can.

“Since they’re trained to fight big groups either on their own or as a team, it’s not that surprising he took them down so easy. And how many of you actually used the guns I sold you?”

“…”

“That’s what I thought,” he tossed the can aside, having finished it. “*burp* You weren’t use to the guns, and he had the best training imaginable. I’m just surprised that it took him that long is all.”

“Enough chit chat,” said Big Boss.

“Right. Let’s get back to business.”

“You said that the right people will pay top dollar for a combat ready Mobile Titan, correct? What is your offer for it?”

Arcadi stepped out of the shadows, his white suit blinding Venom somewhat. “I’ll give you some new armor and guns, as well as a few high-frequency blades and grenades for good measure. And since it’s an antique, I’ll even give you some VR Training systems. Sound good?”

“Do you have those assets on hand?”

“Of course.”

“Then we have a deal.”

Smiling, Arcadi pulled out a flat device from his suit. It produced a holographic screen with several buttons. Arcadi pressed a few, and the doors to his vehicle opened. The vehicle was at least 20 feet long, sitting on at least 10 wheels. “Everything is in the back.” Arcadi said as the back door lowered.

Venom gestured at two Unicorns nearby. Nodding, they trotted up to the vehicle and, using their magic, lifted some crates out and placed them in the center of the old courtyard. Meanwhile, two Earth Ponies dragged the Mobile Titan on a wagon to Arcadi’s vehicle.

Taking a moment, Venom tore the lid off of one of the boxes, showing a strange device with a headset of some sort. “Is this the VR Trainer you talked about?”

“That’s right,” said Arcadi as he popped another can of his strange drink.

“What’s the big deal with VR Trainer?”

“Simple: safety,” Arcadi took a sip form his drink before continuing. “*burp* A virtual reality simulation enables someone to do anything they can without the risk of death or serious injury. For example, a solider can re-enact any particular scenario, from engagement with an enemy to simple deployments, in any environment without the real world risks.”

“So its like a game.”

“In a way.”

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. The weapons were passed out to the remaining mercenaries, the VR Trainer was tested, and the Mobile Titan was ready to go.

“I’ll have ta be going now. I have a meeting with a Stalwart Steel tonight,”  Arcadi tossed his latest can as he climbed the front of his vehicle. Opening a hatch, he slide in before turning to Venom. “If you need me, holler,” at that, he fell in and closed the hatch.

The engine revving, the vehicle drove out of the courtyard, the Mobile Titan towing behind in. Then it literally disappeared from sight. “Hmph. Humans sure can be strange.”





Ian took a bit. In an instant he was in heaven. A big smile appeared on his face as he ate. After two hours, he was finally enjoying some nice, soft, warm, bread.

“You really do like bread, don’t you?”

Ian took another bit.

“You’re not listening to me anymore, are you?”

Swallowing, Ian took another bit. Soon the loaf of bread he baked was gone. Without saying a word, Ian took another loaf from the table and began to eat.

With an amused smile, Metal Gear tore a piece off of the third and last loaf and ate it. “Mmm… Not bad. I’m surprised you can bake.”

No answer.

Metal shook his head and decided to wait until Ian was done.

“Oh my. He certainly enjoys simple bread.”

On instinct, Metal Gear sprang up from the table and saluted his Princess. “Princess Luna. I didn’t hear you come in.”

The Lunar Princess gave a soft chuckle. “Calm yourself, Lieutenant. I am very here to visit,” Luna took a seat across the dinning room table. “I assume that he’s not aware that I’m here, correct?”

“Seems that way. We’ll give him a few minutes.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Ian grabbed hold of the last loaf and it was gone within a four minutes.

“Afternoon, Princess,” he said without batting an eye at her.

“Afternoon.”

“Hold on, you knew she was here?”

“I was eating, not deaf.”

“Yes, well I was visiting Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, and I have some time so I thought I see how you were adjusting.” 

“All in all it’s been fine. The town is nice and peaceful, for the most part. I’m almost sad that I’ll be leaving.”

Luna nodded. Ponyville was a nice little- Then she resisted what else Ian had said. “You… plan to leave?”

“Yep,” Ian replied. “We’ll be gone within a few days.”

“Why do you want to leave?” Luna asked. “After everything you did for Canterlot, and Stella Nova and her friends, and-”

“Princess,” Ian interrupted. “The only reason I fought those Changelings and went into that forest to help Stella and the others… Is because I made a promise to someone, someone who was dear to me, that I do what I can to help anyone who can’t help themselves. It’s a promise that I will not break…” Ian’s voice began to crack up as he mentioned this promise.

Realizing that she may have touched upon a very uncomfortable subject, Luna relented. “We’ll understand that you wish to leave,” she said. “Many within Ponyville will surely miss you, and there are many in Canterlot who would like to repay you for what you did-”

“And there’s probably a few who would like to lock me up.”

“-But we would like for you to stay for a little while longer.”

“I’m not sure everyone shares your high opinion of me.”

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Ever since news about Ian had gotten out to the general public, they have been… divided about it. Celestia had left earlier that day to attend a court session about the matter. They were always audacious. Before they were usually about some nobles trying to grab more power, or some activist calling for woefully unnecessary regulations, or some other nonsense. Now they had to deal with scared mayors demanding arrest warrants.

Half the populace was up in a panic, and nothing she or the other Princesses tried was helping much. Celestia had tried making public statements and rebutted the detractors, but nothing seemed to work. Some Equestrians just couldn't let go of what they'd seen or read about and simply refused to stop running scared. Seems like even in a world of magic, chaos deities, and hybrid creations; Equestria didn't always have a good weirdness filter.

And the worst part was that some of them had presented valid points. Ian is very capable of taking a life, and he does have access to an incredibly dangerous weapon. And there was no way to keep Rainbow Dash’s recent brush with death a secret forever, despite how much effort Twilight made to keep quiet about the cause of Rainbow’s injury. As for what happened in Thicket… well, dragons weren’t known for subtlety.

Luna knew firsthoof just how paranoid the Ponies can be. It took her nearly a year and a holiday just to assure everypony that Nightmare Moon was gone, and even now many are still weary of her. And she read about the Lunar Society, a group of fanatics who rose up after she was banished to the moon. They spread propaganda about Celestia, saying she intently banished Nightmare Moon just to seize more power.

That’s when Luna realized something. Both she and Celestia were in the same boat Ian was in at one point, and they both overcame it by showing the populace who they really were. “Perhaps there is a way to change their opinion.”

Ian raised an eyebrow at that. “Really? How do you plan to do that?”

“I won't. You will,” she said. “If we orchestrated some sort of event, say a press conference, then that’ll give the little ponies a chance to see the real you.”

“Press conference, huh? Alright,” he said with a shrug. “When should it take place?”

Luna thought for a moment. “Perhaps next week. That will give use plenty of time to prepare.”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but what are we gonna do in the mean time? I doubt Ian and I can handle Princess Twilight’s and Princess Sunset’s enthusiasm for an entire week.” Metal Gear asked.

“Hmmm… Perhaps you could study Fenrir.”

“Fenrir?”

“Oh, you mean that Mobile Drone that attacked you. That’s a good idea. Bai may be able to find out where it came from and who sent it.”

“Very well. I’ll have my guards drop off Fenrir later today.”





“Is this everything?” Bai asked two Night Guards. These two had, as Princess Luna promised, delivered Fenrir’s body to Ponyville for study.

“Yes, this is all of it.”

“Alright, place it on the table,” the two bat ponies lifted the remains, placing them on an open table as requested. “Good, you dismiss now.”

With a salute, the two guards flew off. When they did, Rusty immediately took a magnifying glass and began to examine the remains, sketching everything about it.

“He couldn’t have waited until after I run a diagnostic check?” Bai mumbled.

“He’s just very enthusiastic,” said Metal.

As Rusty took notes, Ian prayed open a hatch on Fenrir’s head. “All right Bai, you’re up.”

“Gotcha,” Bai jumped up onto the table. A hatch opened on Bai’s back, Ian pulled out a cord and plugged it into a port in Fenrir’s head.

“Well? Can you get any info?”

“Well its memory banks are still intact. But I’m not sure that I’ll find anything worthwhile. This thing is seriously fucked. And that’s not even counting just how encrypted the data is, or the seriously advance firewall blocking me. I can get us some info, but it’ll take time.”

“How long will it take?”

“Hard to say. Could be anywhere from four hours to ten days.”

“Ten days!?”

“Yeah. It’s going to be a long week. You guys have any movies we could watch in the meantime?”





Like that, a week had passed by. A very long, and boring week. Ian spent the time by doing mock battles in the Alicorn’s cockpit. Usually he did five mock battles a day, occasionally three more if he felt board. When the day of the press conference finally came, Ian jumped out of the castle the first chance he got.

Bai, for his part, had a very busy week. He made great progress, having took down the firewall within 12 hours, but the decryption process was a little more difficult. He was only 75% done when they had to leave for the press conference. Reluctantly, Bai went with Ian to Canterlot, Metal Gear accompanying them.

The train ride was rather uneventful, despite the fact that Princess Twilight, her husband Flash Sentry, and Princess Sunset were in the same car as them, their daughters sitting in the seats across from Ian’s

As the train came to a halt at Canterlot Station, as they exited the empty car they were greeted Princess Celestia and some guards. “Hello Twilight. Hello Sunset.”

“Princess Celestia?”

“We weren’t expecting you to be waiting for us? And why an escort?”

“It’s… a tad complicated,” she said, a well hidden but still visible nervous look on her face. “You’ll understand once we arrive.”

A few minutes of walking did little to discourage that somewhat visible nervous look on Celestia’s face, something that had gone unnoticed by Twilight and Sunset. Since they’re going to learn why Celestia was nervous soon, they decided to remain quiet about it.

It wasn’t long until they reached the castle’s grounds. Near the entrance, several ponies of the Crystal Guard were waiting, along with the Crystal Empire’s royal family.

“Hello, Twilight!” Cadence called out.

“Cadance!” Twilight ran forward with a huge grin on her face.

The pink alicorn moved forward to meet her halfway, and together, the old friends danced in place as they recited their foalhood chant.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The two of them completed the dance by shaking their posteriors at each other and in no time at all were laughing like a couple of schoolfillies.

“…What the fuck did we just witness?” Bai asked.

“STELLA! FLARE!” a pegasus mare suddenly shouted.

“Hi Hope, it’s really great to see you- GAHACK!!!”

Flare and her sister were suddenly bowled over by the Pegasus mare, the three of them tumbled about for a bit before stopping. “Oh, I missed you guys! It’s been way too long.”

“Hope, it’s only been a week and a half!”

“It felt like five months to me.”

Ian gave the cousins a bemused look. “Good to see you again, mister Ian,” said Princess Cadence.

“Huh- Oh! Right. Hello.”

“Yo! Empress Cadence.”

Cadance’s face flattered and her eyelids dropped. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she was doing her best to hold in a grumble, which earned a few snickers from a few of the ponies present, her family among them. 

“Princess!” she insisted.

“I refuse to call you that.”

Cadence could only groan in annoyance in response. “Don’t worry, mom,” her oldest child, Princess Flurry Heart, said as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You’ll only have to deal with him for a day.”

“Where’s uncle Shining Armor?” Stella asked.

“He went ahead to try and deal with a… complication.”

“Complication?

“Let’s just say that some ponies do not like the idea of Ian being within castle grounds.”

Ian, overhearing this, early scoffed at the news. “For some reason I’m not-” suddenly, Stella and Flare’s cousin appeared right next to him. Ian nearly jumped out of his skin when she appeared. “Uh, hi?”

“Hi! We haven’t officially meet. I’m Princess Mi Querida Esperanza. Just call me Hope,” she happily greeted. “I wanted to thank you for saving Canterlot, so I brought you some crystal berries. I hope you like ‘em,” she added while she held out a small basket of.

Ian, for his part, simply stared confusingly at the bubbly mare. “Uh… thanks…” he said as he took the basket of crystal… berries.

“Awesome!” Hope exclaimed. “C’mon! Let’s go!” at that she began to head towards the palace at full speed.

“Sorry about her,” said Princess Cadence as the small group headed for the castle.

But Ian didn’t hear. There was only one thing on his mind at that point. “You noticed too?”

Ian nodded. “Yeah… Hope’s voice… It sounded a lot like Sarah’s.”





“So how is everything going, Twilight?” Cadence asked as they neared the castle’s conference room.

Twilight beamed, knowing right away what Cadence was referring to. “It’s been amazing! Aside from a couple of mishaps, our study of the Alicorn has been going along smoothly. Oh, just imagining the technology and inner workings that make the Alicorn possible is mindbogglingly. And we’ve only scratched the surface!” she said with glee.

Cadence could only giggle at her sister-in-law’s enthusiasm. “How much have you figured out?”

“That’s the thing: I’m not even sure how the Alicorn could even move! I’m almost ready to get down on all four knees and beg Ian to explain it to us. I just feel like we’re on the cusp of understanding some amazing things here, and-”

A muffled shout up ahead caught their attention. “What the hay was that?”

“Oh no.”

Celestia broke into a canter, the other Princesses close behind, approaching the conference room where they were to meet up with Ian- to find Shining Armor, Princess Luna, Prince Kujira, Prince Enigma, Princess Aria, Princess Elatha, and a pair of guards inside, facing a number of nobles near the doors. Everyone looked angry, Luna most of all. “Celly! Thank Faust you're here,” the Lunar Princess said. “You aren't going to believe this.”

“When we asked for the attention of the Princesses, we were hoping that those two wouldn’t be with them,” someone in the group of nobles murmured, pointing toward Twilight and Sunset.

“Okay, everypony, please settle down,” Sunset called out, ignoring the comment earlier.

“Shiny, what’s going on?”

Shining gave the group a glance. “Duke Silver Star and his… associates apparently learned that Ian would be appearing today and are making demands that he be shackled for however long he'll be within castle grounds.”

Twilight turned to the Duke, who was looking at her with a weird mix of disdain and predatory opportunism. “I had hoped to bring my case only to Princess Celestia, but I suppose this will do,” he said. “The problem is that a dangerous animal who has already made one attempt to destroy our fine city will be here within the castle today! And everypony seems absolutely intent on letting it roam around unrestrained!”

“Now, Duke Silver Star, see here-”

“I will say my piece, thank you!” Silver Star snapped. Twilight barely repressed a snarl, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Flash take a half-step forward before composing himself. “This is an effrontery which I cannot allow to stand,” the Duke continued. “If the safety and security of this nation's nobility are not a priority to its ‘stalwart defenders,’ then we will take matters into our own hooves.”

Twilight's expression hardened. “And just what do you mean by that?”

“The choice is simple, Princess Twilight. Either that beast will be shackled the entire time it is within the castle grounds, or my associates here and I will petition Parliament to have it forcibly confined to its room within your castle until it is deemed safe by a third party to be selected through jointly chosen committee.”

As the nobles and royal family began to argue, Stella nervously glanced over to Ian- only to see him lazily eat the crystal berries Hope had given him

“So how are those crystal berries?”

“Kinda reminds me of rock candy… only more fruity.”

“What the- You’re not worried about being locked up!?”

“Do you really think I care what a bunch of pricks think of me?” he asked.

“Well, no, but still-”

Suddenly a disembodied zipper appeared in the air behind them. As it unzipped, Discord clawed his way out. “Hope I hadn’t miss anything exciting,” then Discord saw the argument between the nobles and royal family. “Great, I was hoping to make some nobles lives miserable today.”

“Discord? I thought you were still resting?”

“Ah yes, I am. But when I heard our new friend here was going to appear today, I decided to attend, see what kind of chaos he’ll brew.”

“Great, just what we need. The psychotic Frankenstein that can tear open holes in reality.”

“Oh-ho, I like him!”

“Uh, should we try to stop them?” Stella asked, pointing toward the argument.

“How? I don’t think they’ll listen to anyone at this point.”

“I got an idea.”

“You do?”

“Bai, remember when you first meet Lance?”

“Oh yeah- Oh yeah!” Bai began to laugh a little. “This is gonna be good.”

At that, Ian and Bai went over to the argument. “What do you think they’re planning?”

“I don’t know, but I am going to enjoy it,” Discord said as he took a bite out of his soda can and a sip form his popcorn.

Twilight was obviously doing her best to pull off Celestia's brand of calm neutrality, but some cracks were showing. “Now see here, Duke Silver Star. You are being entirely unreasonable about this entire situation! Ian has been absolutely compliant and docile throughout his stay at Ponyville!”

“With all due respect, Princess Twilight, your track record for judging threats is somewhat less than stellar,” the stallion practically dripped sarcasm. “The conditions are non-negotiable. One way or another, that beast will be secured and rendered a non-threat.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?”

The nobles and royal family practically jumped out of their skin. They were so busy arguing that they failed to notice Ian walk right up near them. “Ian?!”

“You see?!” Silver Star practically screeched. “The beast was lying in wait. It was going to cut off one of our heads when it got the chance.”

Ian’s only response was eating a crystal berry.

Celestia shook her head in disapproval. “Duke Silver Star, if you and the other nobles were to stay calm for a moment an-”

“Princess Celestia, with all due respect, we nobles will only be calm once that beast,” he pointed toward Ian, “and it’s weapon,” he then pointed toward Bai, “are locked up right away.”

“Yeah, this might be a bad time to tell you that I’m actually a bomb.”

“I don’t- Wait, it can talk?!”

“Oh, come on! How is a talking bomb the weirdest thing you’ve seen?”

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Ian said to the nobles. “Bai is… a little unstable. If you piss him off he could destroy the entire mountain.”

The nobles were beginning to back up a little. Some of them talked amongst themselves about the situation before Duke Silver Star turned to Princess Celestia.

“Princess Celestia, we demand that you lock up the beast before-!”

“KABOOM!!”

The nobles all at ounce tried to run. But instead of their usual grace they were a mess. Some of them tripped and were run over, while others simply fainted. And others still ran right into a wall, some getting their horns stuck in the walls.

It wasn’t until they heard laughing that they finally realized that Bai hadn’t exploded. They were victims of a prank.

“Hahaha! We’re just messing with you. I’m not really a bomb, I'm a robot. Haha!” Bai laughed.

Ian tried to surpass his laughter, but was failing horribly. “You’ve should’ve seen the looks on your faces.”

Even Princess Celestia was unable to contain a chuckle. Twilight snorted, while the other princesses were having a hard time stifling their laughter. Even the guards were having a difficult time not to laugh, Shining Armor especially. “Hehe, good one.”

“Thanks.”

“Now then,” Celestia looked to the nobles before her, a stern and angry look on her face. “I believe it’s almost time for the conference to begin.”

The stallion before Celestia frowned, raising a hoof to his chest. “Princess Celestia, you cannot be serious! After what that monster did to this nation's nobility-”

“His name is Ian, Duke Silver Star, and his weapon is very precise and deadly, and he is quite skilled in its use. Had he meant to harm any of you when he unintentionally destroyed your properties while he saved Canterlot, I'm inclined to believe none of you would be here right now.”

Each of the nobles were beginning to sweat. Clearly the last thing they want was to anger their Princess, something they’re failing at. “Now then, unless you want Discord there to include you in his upcoming pranks,” each of the nobles all gasped in shock and fear when Celestia pointed over to where Discord was, who waved as he drank some corn cornels, “I suggest you all leave.”

Reluctantly, the nobles began to leave. One by one, they left with their heads down, defeated. Duke Silver Star, after recovering from slackjaw, grumbled as he left.

“What a bunch of pricks,” Bai said, just loud enough so that Silver Star and the few nobles left could hear.

“Alright, now with that over, let’s begin.”

With that, the group entered the conference room. The room itself was sizable, about fifteen meters in any direction for the square shape and a tall ceiling. Windowless, the main light came from a wide skylight covered in barred glass that layered the roof across half of the room. The streams of sunlight glinted off gray marble floor as they walked through the center aisle past the prearranged chairs, roughly half of which were occupied. Being a public inquiry, a wide assortment of Equestrians were present ranging from nobles, elected officials, reporters, and other VIP representatives from across the nation.

Ian recognized a nodding Fancypants in the second to front row. He also saw a lot of different expressions as he passed. Some excited reporters jotting down notes between quickly looking up at him every couple of seconds, an older mare he’d seen a few times in Ponyville giving him a pleasant smile and a nod, more than a couple worried looks from various other members of the crowds, and a few enthusiastic ones who had to be told to stop clapping for a hero’s welcome after a few hoof clacks.

One of the reported trotted up to Princess Celestia, inquiring about the commotion earlier. Celestia simply told him that it was some foals making a fuss.

That’s one way to put it.

Ian gave them slight nod as he got near the front rows. But as he took his seat at the front of the room, one pony caught his eye. A pale blue Unicorn mare in the second aisle from the front. However, it was the expression on her face that caught his attention; there wasn’t one. The only sign of any emotion was her sapphire eyes; they were filled with a distrusting and determined look. There was just something… unnerving about her.

Princess Twilight took center stage just above and to the right of Ian’s spot. She coughed up her breath before tapping her hooves together to call the murmuring to a close and for the guards stationed in the back of the room to close the doors.

“Ahem… We welcome to the committee floor of the City of Canterlot, Ian James O’Connell.”

Ian visibly grimaced upon hearing his full name.

“Thank you for coming.”

“It’s wasn’t a problem, Princess.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we didn’t have anything important to do.”

“Before we begin, there is something I’d like to say…” The solar diarch paused, her eyes sweeping along the silent room to take in each face before speaking.

“Forty five thousand, six hundred seventy, and counting several births at the emergency hospital, two. That’s the population of Canterlot, a city founded a thousand years ago that nearly came into ruin for the fourth time in its history. That population isn’t just a number my little ponies, but the names of every pony, Gryphon, Minotaur, and beyond in both our city’s citizenry and visitors that were here on that fateful day. This human has no connection to Canterlot or Equestria at all, and yet he fought to protect Equestria as if it were his own home on his own free will. I think he has earned more than enough for us to give him real questions. I trust any of those in attendance will respect the names of all present. Canterlot and Equestria have no enemies in this room, we shouldn’t try to make any. Don’t you all agree?”

Fancy Pants, the mare from Ponyville, and the pale blue Unicorn began to lead the crowd in a gradually building, impressed clap. After a bit of applause, Twilight spoke up.

“Now with that done with, let’s begin. Who would like to go first?”

A noblemare raised her hoof, eliciting a nod from Princess Twilight.

“What kind of creature are you, exactly?”

“I’m a human.”

“What sort of things do you eat?”

“I’m an omnivore, but I mostly eat fruit and vegetables.”

The term ‘omnivore’ seemed to struck a cord with some of them. “So you’ve eaten flesh before?” a stallion asked without raising a hoof.

“Uh… not often. When I did it was often just fish and eggs.” Along with the chicken occasionally, but they don’t need to know that.

A stallion in the back then raised a hoof, waving it wildly to get Ian’s attention.

“Yeah?”

“What is that robot you used during the Battle of Canterlot?”

“It’s called a Mobile Suit,” Ian began. “Think of it as a tank that can walk. Mine is the GMS-100 Alicorn Gundam, or Alicorn for short.”

The stallion wrote down notes as Ian talked. “What does the GMS-100 stand for?”

“Gundam-type Mobile Suit, number one-hundred.”

The mare from Ponyville then raised a hoof. “Does that mean there are one-hundred of these mobile suits?”

“No, only that there were 100 Gundam-types. There were plenty other Mobile Suits.”

“Anything else?” Twilight asked. Truth be told, she had some questions of her own. But they would have to wait. The light blue Unicorn raised her hoof next. “Ah, yes. You have a question, Duchess Lapis Lazuli?”

“When was the first time you killed, Mr. O’Connell?” she asked.

“Oh, well… That’s something I’m not going to forget. I think the first time I killed I was around… 10.”

Everyone on the room, Discord included, was shocked.

“Why did you kill?” she continued.

“I did it out of self-defense.”

Lapis nodded before adding. “Just how did you end up frozen in ice?”

Ian sighed. He knew that question was bound to pop up eventually. “It’s a long story. I’m not even sure where to start.”