//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: A Pilot's Search // by Solarus44 //------------------------------// “Oh by the Creator, that was the best breakfast I’ve ever had,” Steel had a huge smile on his face and a hoof on his stomach as he lied back in his chair next to Sol After explaining Sol’s initiation to the colt, and a light-hearted scolding from Celestia for his language that still left him mortified, Steel had received his breakfast and devoured it all in record time. Despite the equine appearance, all Sol could see when he looked at Steel was his friend Dylan. That man could eat his whole body weight in food and still stay the same weight, Sol’s features drooped upon thinking of his old friend, Keep the fight going for me mate, do me proud. Both of the Princesses were chatting with Steel, joking around with him and trying to make him feel as comfortable as possible. They’re good lads. If you are good with kids, you’re very likely to be a good person in my book. “So how did you two end up together?” Sol was snapped out of his thoughts by Luna, turning around to find the dark blue mare staring up at him. I forgot to talk about that, didn’t I? How in the hell did I survive so long on the Frontier? “About two days ago, I was walking alongside a river, hoping to find someone. When I stopped to sleep for the night, I heard screaming from across the river and I went to investigate. I followed the screaming and found Steel about to become a Timberwolf’s dinner. I shot it and took Steel back to my rest spot where we slept. Next day we introduced ourselves and we went back into the forest to find his mother.” Celestia and Luna were able to draw from the mother’s absence how this story was going to end. Both kept a normal look on their face, no doubt to appear strong in front of Steel. But Sol had spent a lot of time around soldiers hiding their emotions and was able to detect their slight changes. Looking to Steel he could see the colt becoming visibly distressed as he remembered the events of that day. “You wanna sit this one out buddy?” The little guy looked up to him and gave a nod so small his head almost didn’t move. Celestia got up from her chair and moved to beside Steel. Her magenta eyes radiating kindness to the colt. “Come my little pony, we can go on a tour around the palace, maybe go into the city. I’m sure Luna can fill me in later.” She opened her right-wing, ushering Steel to her side. Steel looked to Sol, who gave a smile and motioned him towards Celestia. Steel got up and moved under the Sun Princess’ wing. Both then left the dining room, and Sol could already hear a laugh from Steel as the door shut. “You really care about him, don’t you?” Sol turned back to see Luna staring into his eyes, a small smile resting on her features. Sol began to fiddle with his fingers, not knowing how to respond. “Well, he is pretty cute.” Luna’s features told him she didn’t quite believe him. “I may not be an expert, but I recognise parental love when I see it.” Sol turned his eyes down. “Well if you want to understand, then I’m gonna have to finish my story,” Receiving a nod, he continued his retelling, “We eventually found the clearing where he lived with his mum. At the entrance to the clearing, there was a little statuette of a unicorn with its horn broken off. Steel told me that they were enchanted to keep the ‘bad animals’ out.” “And since the horn was broken, then the enchantment would’ve also been broken.” Luna had a hoof on her chin as if in thought. “Bingo. At the time I didn’t think much of it, as back home magic doesn’t exist. When we entered the cottage I found a timberwolf gnawing what remained of Steel’s mother. I killed it, and when the rest of the timberwolves appeared I killed them too. Later that day, after I had buried his mother, I had found another statuette with its horn broken off too. While I still didn’t believe magic was real, I knew it wasn’t a coincidence. That it wasn’t some animal that had bumped into it.” Luna’s features creased in worry, looking to the door where Celestia and Steel had left. “Somepony had destroyed the statues.” Sol gave a small nod in response. “I quickly gathered some supplies and left with Steel to Canterlot. I knew we couldn’t stay there, I had to get him somewhere safe,” Tears began to fall from his eyes, guilt racked his body as the image of the desecrated body appeared in his mind. He closed his eyes in an effort to stop the tears. “If I had taken him to find his mother earlier I could’ve saved her!” He suddenly felt some weight on his shoulders. Opening his eyes he found Luna’s face close to his and her hooves on his shoulders. Staring into her bright blue eyes he found only an ocean of calm and ancient wisdom. “Your priority was to Steel. You took him out of an area that had only proven hostile to you and gave him a place to rest. You willingly saved a completely alien creature and looked after him to the best of your ability. You went above and beyond, and I couldn’t be prouder to call you a Lunar Guard.” She pulled Sol into an embrace with a surprising amount of strength. Feeling her presence and hearing her words he began to calm down. They stayed like that for a good couple of minutes before they released each other. Sol’s face was still stained with dry tears, but otherwise, he had returned to normal. As they sat in comfortable silence, he felt what he knew was a shit-eating grin grow on his face. “You know back on Harmony it was usually the guy that made the first move.” Almost immediately a blush somehow managed to appear through her fur. “Wh-whatever doth thou me-mean thou monkey!” Sol erupted with laughter. “Oh my God, you are so precious. It’s just a joke. Sorry if it was perhaps inappropriate, that’s just how we broke silence back on Harmony.” The blush on her face began to fade away, as she sat motionless for a moment before laughing herself. “It was a good joke, prithee forgive mine own reaction.” Sol once more attempted to raise one eyebrow, failing of course. “What’s with the old-timey language?” Luna’s eyes widened in horror, her hooves covered her mouth as if she was trying to prevent herself from speaking. “Do you know of my banishment?” “Heard of it, don’t know much of it.” Now it was Luna’s turn to appear nervous. “Around one thousand years ago I ruled alongside my sister. But our subjects loved her sun far more than my moon, sleeping through it and never seeing all the work I put into the sky. They adored Celestia, and while they listened to me, they did not love me as they loved her. I grew insanely jealous and bitter until eventually one day I... well I cracked. My hatred, jealousy and bitterness transformed me into somepony else entirely. I had become a creature known as Nightmare Moon, and I attempted to plunge the planet into everlasting night. Celestia defeated me using magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony, banishing me to the moon for over one thousand years. And there I waited, until one day the Element’s power over me waned and I returned to Equestria. I was however then defeated once more by the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and I was transformed back into my normal form. As I had had no contact for a thousand years, I only knew the dialect from that time period. Every now and then I slip back into them.” Luna looked down in shame, unable to look Sol in the eyes. Sol looked to the shamed Princess, disheartened to see her so downcast. “If you think I am disgusted or something, then I think you’ll find yourself to be incorrect.” Luna’s head snapped up, her expression was hopeful. “Really?” “What you did a thousand years ago is irrelevant Luna. All that matters now is the present. And what I see before me now is a wonderful mare that has only treated me with respect and kindness. You’re amazing Luna, don’t forget that.” Luna began to resemble a fish out of the water, her mouth open and stammering. “I don’t know what to say...besides my guards and this one town, ponies are not normally so kind to me…” “Well I’m not a pony, I’m a human. And humans love the night.” Her facial expressions changed rather rapidly, going through many different emotions before finally settling on happiness. “Thank you, Sol... it means a lot.” While Sol was happy to see Luna happy, his Australian DNA demanded him to inject a joke into this sappy situation. “Well, they don’t call me ‘lady killer’ for nothing.” Despite Luna not knowing what lady meant, she was able to catch on the phrase’s meaning. As evidenced by her lightly punching his shoulder with a laugh. “Now I wouldn’t say that you big ape.” Sol raised a hand to his chest in mock offence. “I’ll have you know that humans used to be apes, now we only eat knits every other week or so.” Luna gave off another laugh, the sound of which was very pleasant to Sol’s ears. She got out of her seat and began walking towards the door. “While I’d love to sit here and exchange jokes, we’ve got to get you ready for the Guard. Please follow me.” Sol got up from his chair and soon reached Luna’s side. “Where we headed first?” “The armoury. While your weapons are more than adequate, we will need to change your armour’s colour scheme so you can be identified as Lunar Guard. Why is your armour coloured the way it is anyway?” “It’s camouflage,” Sol said as he looked at the various paintings lining the hallway. Luna looked over his armour again and looked back with a disbelieving eye. “Blue and grey aren’t exactly the best colours for blending into the environment.” “It’s urban camouflage, basically for city environments. The environment I was deployed in for my last mission was largely metal and concrete, so this colour scheme works. It’s also not meant to make me undetectable, but it’s meant to break up my shape so it males hostiles take just that little bit longer to figure out I’m a human, and to make it harder to shoot me from a distance.” Luna gave a small sound of approval at the concept. “So what was the last mission you went on?” “Operation Grizzly. Our objective was to attack an IMC research facility and investigate what was going on there. I remember the initial assault, dealing with an enemy Titan, and then the next thing I can remember is opening my eyes on an Equestrian hill.” “Maybe this facility had something to do with you ending up here?” Luna suggested. “Perhaps, but I can’t say for certain,” Some time passed as the two walked in silence before Sol broke it, “I made a promise to Steel that I would bring his mother’s murderer to justice. I would like to ask for your assistance in that.” Luna looked surprised at his request. “There is no need to ask, I had already planned to dispatch a team to investigate. Where was the cottage?” “Towards the edge of a forest West of here, Steel can probably give you a better description.” Luna smiled at the colt’s name. “Any excuse to see the little one is good.” Sol nodded in agreement, before realising Luna couldn’t see as she was looking forward. “Also, despite what you may think of my weaponry I will still need a new weapon.” Luna’s face scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean? Your ‘firearms’ are far superior to anything we have.” “True, but I need ammunition for them. And making ammo is outside of my pay-grade. Beck will have the knowledge, but until I get her back I only have a limited amount of bullets.” “Well we can discuss it with our resident ‘Master Smith’, as he likes to call himself.” Sol raised both his eyebrows, having given up on just one for the time being. “Sounds like a fun guy.” Eventually they found themselves outside what appeared to be a rather large building outside of the castle. There were many chimneys protruding from the building’s roof, some were billowing smoke and some were not. Luna entered and Sol followed through. As they moved through the building Sol could see dozens of ponies working on weapons and armour. Some were pelting steel on anvils, some were melting metal in the forge. What Sol was surprised by however was the heat, or rather the lack of it. “Shouldn’t a smithy be a bit hotter? It’s colder here than outside.” Luna pointed to the roof, and Sol could see blue symbols engraved in the stone and wood. “Very expensive cooling enchantments. A smith’s job is already pretty hard, gotta help them anyway we can.” Soon they came to the end of the building, and Sol was facing something the largest sapient creature he’d ever seen. A fucking minotaur! The 7 foot tall minotaur had a red fur coat torso with darker red fur covering his legs. The minotaur turned around and its features immediately lit up upon seeing them. “Haha! Good to see you Princess!” The minotaur boomed with a deep voice, turning towards Sol, “And you! Heard quite a bit about you and your weapons from the Lunar Guard! What’s your name?” He held out his hand in greeting. Sol eagerly met his handshake, surprising himself by almost being able to match the big guy’s grip. “Sol, you?” “Call me Stone,” Stone released his grip on Sol’s hand, much to his relief, “Whataya here for?” Luna stepped forward. “Sol here has been inducted into the Lunar Guard, and needs his armour colour changed to the Lunar standard. He also says he wants a new weapon.” Stone’s eyes lit up upon hearing ‘weapon’. “Got any ideas?” Sol rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know. The only melee weapon I’ve used before is my knife, and that is definitely not suited for frontline combat.” Stone thought for a minute before motioning for them to follow him. He led them to another room, one filled with various weapons and gear. “Take a look! Of course any weapon you pick will be custom made for you due to your larger size, bipedal nature and hands, but you should be able to pick a type of weapon you like.” Sol went over and inspected the different weapons on offer. He didn’t pick any up, only giving them a glance. All of these weapons are from European history, so I guess I already know quite a bit about them. He turned back to face Stone, noticing that Luna was nerding out over what looked to be a Zweihander. “This world has many startling resemblances to my world, weapons included. I can recall reading about pretty much every type of weapon here, so I already know what they all do. And I already know what I want.” He moved over to the hammer area and grabbed a one-handed warhammer. It was rather awkward for him to grip due to the various parts on it to make it suitable for hooves, but it was still a beauty nonetheless. “My fighting style is very...mobile...to say the least. I need a weapon that is small enough to not get caught on any terrain and fit on my person comfortably. While I could have picked a more elegant weapon like a short sword, I doubt most of my enemies will be so kind as to face me with no armour. And this hammer will be able to deal with armour far better than a sword. The hammer side can do blunt damage, while the spike side should be able to penetrate armour. A popular weapon for knights in history before plate armour became so developed they could ditch shields. All in all, I feel like this should suit me fairly well.” He placed the weapon back into its place before turning back. Luna stared at him with what he swore was...awe? While Stone gave a look of approval at his weapon. “Good choice, a maul is more my style, but a warhammer is still a fine weapon. I’ll make your hammer myself.” Sol smiled in appreciation. “Thank you, I look forward to having it in my hands. Now are we going to change my armour’s colour?” Stone’s eyes widened in shock. “Horseapples, almost forgot. I’ll be right back.” He rushed out of the room, almost pulling the door off its hinges. Looking to Luna, Sol could see she’d returned to nerding out over weapons. This time it was a bardiche. Girl likes her weapons. Can’t blame her really, all this stuff is really cool. Stone burst back in with a blue gem. “I’m gonna need you to take off your armour.” Sol hesitated for a second before he moved over to a table and began to take off his armour. How else is he gonna do his work if a human is still attached to it. Sol started by taking his helmet off his belt and placing it on the table. “So what does that gem have to do with changing my armour’s colour scheme?” Stone pulled the gem up to eye level, Sol’s eye level that is. “We use gems like these to colour a standard steel set of armour either Lunar or Solar standard. We weren’t going to use actual gold for the Solar Guard armour of course, we want them to survive a stab or two.” Sol thought this over as he began slipping off the armour plates on his arms. “So how does a Minotaur end up in Equestria? I’ve haven’t been here for very long, but all I’ve seen are ponies.” The big guy shrugged as he leaned on the wall. “I was found on the streets of Canterlot as a calf and was put into an orphanage. My birth parents may have been killed, maybe they left me, I don’t know. Doesn’t really bother me, I got adopted by a unicorn couple and they raised me. I may be a Minotaur, but I’m as Equestrian as you can get.” Luna piped up from a different section of the room, this time near an assortment of spears. “His parents were some of the best blacksmiths in Equestria, working in this very building as the head smiths. When they retired they recommended Stone here to fill their place. He had already been working here and had proven his worth, his steel was highly sought after by the guard. My sister promoted him fairly quickly.” Sol placed his combat boots on the table, and he was done. He was left barefoot in his fatigues. “That should be it, work your magic my friend.” Stone stepped to the table, first grabbing the helmet and turning it over in his grip, inspecting all the aspects of it that are certainly foreign to him. “I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen gear quite like this before. This helmet for example looks to have a glass visor.” Sol pulled out a chair from the table, eager to watch the Minotaur work. “You’re kinda right, but it isn’t ordinary glass. It’s incredibly durable and it captures the outside world, projecting it inside my helmet. This allows me to wear the helmet and not suffer any drawbacks to my visibility. It also displays information like my current mission objective, the amount of ammunition in my weapons, allied locations and a bunch of other goodies.” Stone let out an appreciative whistle. “Damn, this is some advanced stuff. No magic involved in this baby?” “Nah, one hundred percent human technology. No magic involved.” Stone reached for the gem. “I love humans already,” He placed the gem on the helmet and closed his eyes. The point of contact between the helmet and gem began to turn to a dark blue, and the colour spread out until the urban camouflage had been replaced by the Lunar Guard’s colour. As Stone reached for the shoulder pieces, Sol quickly reached out with his arms to stop him. “See here,” He pointed to the SRS insignia present, “I know it may not be proper for me to display the symbols of another military, but I haven’t got much to remind me of home.” Stone nodded, and Sol let go. Soon, his entire armour set was recoloured and Sol began to put it all back on. Once he was fully equipped again, he turned to Luna. She was sitting down in a pile of various weapons, trying to look inconspicuous. “How do I look?” The all mighty and powerful Princess of the Night lifted herself out of her sharp playground, trying to avoid the glare of Stone, making her look like a little child by comparison. “I may be a bit biased, but the blue rather suits you,” Luna sheepishly glanced at Stone, who was busy picking up the discarded weaponry, “I think we should leave the Master Smith to his responsibilities. Like right now,” She grabbed Sol’s hand and used her disproportionate strength to pull him by his hand out of the room and then out of the smithy. Once outside Luna let go of Sol, turning towards him with a glare. “Not. A. Word.” At those words, his eyes twitched. You can’t just tell me not to make fun of you after something like that, it only makes me want to do it, He opened his mouth to jab fun at her, but an even more intense glare and a flare of her horn silenced him, She may be an easy target, but she’s still an ancient being with magic, as well as my head of state. Probably best not to antagonise her, A devious smile creeped onto his face, Not yet at least. “Where are we off to now?” Luna began to walk back towards the castle, looking back to address him with an evil look. “Why the most exciting part of all. Paperwork!” A part of Sol died then. **** “Do you have a criminal record?” “Of course I don’t! I just arrived on this damn planet!” Sol had found himself in Luna’s study, sat in a guest’s seat opposite her behind her desk. They’d gone there to go through all the documentation required to grant him Equestrian citizenship and a place in the Lunar Guard. Unfortunately for him, Luna seemed to enjoy dragging out this rather tedious process. “What was your reason for wanting to join the Guard?” Luna was trying to hide her smile behind her documents. Trying and failing. Sol covered his face with his hands, bringing them down his face as he took some deep breaths. “I wanted to join the Guard so I can find a lost friend.” The mare was barely containing her laughter now. “And can you provide a description of this friend of yours?” Sol used a ruler he’d acquired from the desk to poke the dierach, eliciting a yelp in response. “Oh you know, fairly average. Tall, dark and armed to the teeth.” Finishing the exaggerated rubbing of her ‘wound’, she slid a document across the table while levitating a quill to him. “Please sign in the space provided and you shall officially be a Lieutenant in the Lunar Guard.” “Thank fuck,” He gratefully accepted the quill and signed his name, “Is that really all it?” He wasn’t too trusting in this case. Luna nodded, rolling her eyes. “As fun as it is annoying you, I do have other duties.” “So what do I do now?” Sol asked. Luna shrugged, looking down at a new set of documents. “Celestia is probably out in Canterlot with Steel, taking him to her favourite bakeries no doubt, so you can’t fawn over him for now. You don’t have any orders for the rest of the day, we’ll get into your duties tomorrow. Just explore the castle if you want, maybe check out the library? You do seem like a giant nerd.” “Oh you’re one to talk. I bet you could tell me the history of each weapon back in that room, their applications and their forging processes.” Once again, Sol was amazed by how ponies were able to blush through fur. “”W-we are one of the rulers of this nation, should we not know of the weapons used to protect it?” Sol leaned in until he was about to fall over the table, booping the Princess on the muzzle. “We’re all nerds about something Luna.” Luna brought a hoof to the point of contact, disbelief written plain on her face. This disbelief was quickly replaced by joy however. “Thank you Sol, for being so...informal with me. Normally the only creatures I can have a normal conversation with are my sister and my pet opossum, Tiberius. Although in the latter case it is rather one-sided. But when we are not in private, I would ask you to act far more formally. I am your head of state and the highest ranking member of the Lunar Guard, it would not do for others to see the chain of command be followed so loosely.” Sol stood at attention, giving the standard Militia salute. Longest path up, shortest down. “When in the presence of others I will do my best to stay professional Your Majesty. Having worked in positions of leadership before I know how important the chain of command is, and I am sorry for my immature behaviour,” Breaking his professional stance, he smiled, “At least, I am sorry for my behaviour in public.” Luna nodded, thankful for his understanding. “At ease. Now, you are free to do as you please. And also, I shall inform the Guard of your rank, so no need to worry about being mistaken for a civilian.” Sol gave his thanks and another boop on the muzzle before he pushed the office’s doors open and left the room. **** So she’s an alicorn? Certainly easier to say than ‘unicorn with wings’. Following Luna’s advice, Sol had made his way to the Castle Library, using some directions from a mildly intimidated maid. Can’t blame the girl, I am like two times her height. He’d read a fair amount of books by now, starting off with general knowledge books before delving into history, one of Sol’s favourite subjects. Two piles of books sat in front of him: a pile for the picks he’d picked out and was yet to read, and a pile for those he’d already read. Despite his rather lengthy stay in the library, the second pile was far smaller than the first. This was much to Sol’s excitement, as finishing something was always a bit depressing. The man read for hours, chipping away at the pile page by page, book by book. When Celestia and Steel entered the library in search of the colt’s caretaker, they found Sol asleep in his chair and his face laying on a military history book. While Steel laughed at the display, Celestia looked upon the soldier with an amused gaze. What a cute yet embarrasing sight. For him at least. Flaring her horn, she teleported herself, Steel, Sol and his books into his room in an effort to preserve his dignity. Levitating the books onto the bedside table, and Sol into bed, she then tucked Steel into his own. She left the room, looking back at the sleeping human from the door, and at the colt already moving to Sol’s side. Sleep well, my little human.