//------------------------------// // Reparing the Damages // Story: The Wayfaring Strangers // by BiasedAmerican //------------------------------// "So... Nothing wrong here?" The Guard Sergeant asked. Twilight shakes her head no. "Alright then...." Applejack said in embarrassment as she walked out awkwardly to the door, the guards and Rarity followed. As the others left and closed the door, Twilight immediately looked at Soviet with an angry look. "What in Equestria were you thinking?!" She yelled. Soviet forgot what he had done, he took a minute to remember as Twilight gave him the death stare. Soviet then remembered about the spy and said, "Oh right! I forgot. I was shooting at the Changeling spy that your guards didn't know of." He replied. Twilight was dumbfounded if he was telling the truth or not. "If so, where is this spy you are talking about?" She asked, expecting Soviet to not answer if he was making all this up. "That bug, it's been trying to find me this entire time, and my thermals say that he's a bug and not a pony. So as a guess, he's a spy!" Soviet retorted. Twilight was surprised that he was telling the truth, based on the confidence and how fast he answered. She rubbed her chin to help her think on what to do with the spy and how the guards didn't find the spy before. "Fine," she sighed, "I'll alert the guards to-" she was cut off by Tankery. "We'll handle it, Princess." said Soviet. After a few minutes of Soviet trying to find the spy with Twilight by looking out the window, a Guard ran into the room and immediately ran to the Princess. Soviet saw the exhausted Guard whisper to Twilight, as her eyes opened in a panicked matter, Soviet's curiosity peaked. As the guard finished talking to Twilight and stepped backwards to give Twilight space. But as she was calming down, Soviet walked out the room to try and find the kitchen so he can cook cinnamon rolls. The four left behind were confused on where he went, but Tankery and Elta both asked Twilight, "What did he say?" Twilight was panicking as she didn't prepare for this, but she answered their question, "Both Princess Celestia and Luna are coming here to discuss defense plans.. and I haven't prepared for their visit!" She yelled as she ran out the door to prepare the castle for the royal arrival. "Shit, I have to warn Soviet." Tankery whispered to himself. “You know, with Moonbutt and Sunbutt coming here, you and I could offer them both some detailed strategies on how to fight against the enemy in the coming conflict.” Elta interjected into Tankery’s thought process, walking up to him and trying to make some small talk, now that they were the only ones in the room. Tankery then spoke to Elta as he was holding his laugh about what Elta called Luna and Celestia, "True, true. That would be very helpful, but that's IF the war starts." He then became shy after that as he sang in his head, "I'm alone in a room with a female woohoo, I'm alone in a room with a female woohoo" Soviet, lost in the hallways, then spoke to himself, "I sense a retarded event happening...." “I could probably only really provide information on the gear of the Griffon military, not to mention weaknesses and certain flaws in it. I actually held a position in the military once. Though, if your appearance and fancy space technology says anything, I would assume your species is quite skilled in warfare, yeah?” Tankery snapped back into his senses and replied, "Yes, we're pretty much known for it." He said, surprising Elta as she thought of Humanity in another view. But she tried to ignore the bad parts of Humanity. "I'm going to find Soviet." Tankery said as he walked out of the room. “Oh! Uhh…okay then. See ya I guess.” Confused with his sudden and abrupt departure, Elta could barely get a sentence out before he walked away out of her range. 'Why are these two so awkward and bad at socializing…?' Elta thought. Tankery walked out the door, only to be already lost. "He'll handle himself." Tankery said as he gave up on finding Soviet. As he walked back into the room, he saw a tail sticking out from under the desk. For fun, and for fear effect, he switched into an East German uniform with an AKM. Walked up to the desk and pretended to not notice anything. As Starlight was calming down, she heard footsteps approaching her hiding spot, she tried to look around to find Spike, but the footsteps stopped right in front of her. It was silent, she heard a feminine voice saying, "What are you doing?" But just then, the entire table slid, exposing Starlight to the remaining 2 in the room. She screamed, "Please! Don't hurt me!" She yelled. The Human was aiming his AKM at the pony while keeping his foot on her stomach to keep her down. "Who else was watching us?" Tankery asked. Starlight didn't know if she should expose her friend or to sacrifice herself to save Spike. She doesn't want Spike to get hurt, so she hesitantly spoke out, "J-just me." Tankery saw her answer to be a bit suspicious, so he looked around. He looked behind him and saw the bookshelf. He saw the books move a bit and aimed his rifle at the bookshelf, "Come out, or I'll waste you and the books." Tankery yelled. Spike came out with his hands up and stood in front of the bookshelf he was hiding in. Tankery lowered his rifle and asked Spike, "Answer me truthfully or it's both of your heads going to be put on pikes, understand?" Spike gulped and nodded. "Are there any more of you hiding?" Tankery asked. Spike nodded no. "Good, now. Why were you spying on us?" Tankery said as he walked over to Spike, towering over the small dragon. "Y-you guys came in while we were reading our books. We were scared and tried to hide." Starlight answered, as Spike was stuck in fear. Tankery raised his eyebrow in response. “So you weren’t spying?” “No, we were just hiding! It’s not everyday something like you just walks into here!” Tankery sighed, "True.. but why didn't you come out earlier?" he asked. "We don't know! We were scared!" Starlight screamed. "Again, fair enough." Tankery replied. He then extended his arm towards Starlight to get her up and said, "Come on, get up. It's already awkward enough without you lying down." "For a creature that's supposedly dangerous, they're awfully polite." Starlight thought to herself. Starlight reached her hoof out to Tankery, as he grabbed it and helped pull her up to where she could stand. Applejack and a guard we're roaming the halls to find Soviet, they eventually heard noises coming from the castle kitchen, and as she walked in. A Human still in his uniform, without his gas mask but a black mask only revealing his mouth, eating cinnamon rolls. "Uhhhh, what are you doing?" Applejack asked in a hostile tone, still angry at Soviet. Soviet stood still and still holding the plate in his hands, he said, "Food." As he smiled awkwardly. As stubborn as she was, Applejack huffed and walked out the room, still not trusting Soviet. Rarity understood both sides of the arising tension. "I think I know how she feels about your peculiar situation. I'll talk to her, for now, try to make her trust you so it won't become a problem in the future." She then walks out to follow Applejack but she stopped at the door and turned around to look at Soviet. "If you don't mind, can I take these?" She gestured at the plate of cinnamon rolls. "Sure." Soviet answered, handing her the plate. Soviet sighed as she left the room, "Well shit, guess I'll make another batch." He went back to cooking. Spike passed by Soviet as he left the library to go to his room. While he was cooking, Twilight was at the center of Ponyville, awaiting the Princesses arrival. "Do you see them?!" She yelled frantically to the Guards. The guards nodded no, but one yelled. "They're over there!" He pointed. As the two princesses landed from flying, Celestia talked to Twilight in a stressed tone. "Twilight! We need to discuss matters quickly, we have no time." This made Twilight's worrying worse, but she saw Luna limping. She ignored it it to ask about it later at the castle. "Right this way." Twilight responded to Celestia, then they left to the castle. After he finished cooking, Soviet wandered the castle while eating his cinnamon rolls, trying to find his way back to the library. But as he was wandering around, the three Princesses went through the front doors of the castle. Celestia looked stressed and Twilight kept looking at Luna to find injuries that would be causing her limp. They entered the table room and Celestia, panting, said "Luna has been attacked, and the assailants are headed here. We must prepare for their arrival." Twilight became curious and alert to who could've been the assailants. But Soviet and Tankery were at the back of her mind as she was panicking for Celestia's arrival. "What did they look like and how many were there?" Twilight asked. "Two of them, and they are bipedal creatures with horrifying voices that scares me to my core." Luna answered. Twilight gasped as she might've knew who the assailants were. She then asked Luna to confirm her theory, "Did they happen to call themselves Tankery and Soviet?" She asked awkwardly. "Y-yes, how did you know?" Luna asked in an alerted tone. Twilight felt guilty and she looked guilty as she said, "Uhmm... I might know where they are." "What?! We must capture them now!" Celestia barked. Luna was starting to feel guilty, and was thinking to herself that she was the aggressor, as the humans may not have creatures with powers such as Luna to enter someone's dreams. Twilight on the other hand, was getting scared as she might be punished for housing the assailants. She spoke out, "I might know where they are-" she was cut off as the door opened behind them. They all looked behind nad swa Luna's description of the assailant. It was Soviet, he entered the room, still with a roll in his mouth, was confused on what was happening until he saw Luna staring at him, eyes wide open. He heard a loud royal voice crack the silence, "YOU! You're the one responsible for attacking my sister and could've killed her!" She barked as she stomped towards Soviet, charging her horn. Soviet almost shat himself as she yelled, marching towards him. He finished his half eaten roll and retorted with, "I'm sorry if I had to defend myself to a magical being that doesn't exist in my homeworld!" "And you think that justifies stabbing my sister?! Who do you think you are!" Celestia retaliated. Soviet gulped and swallowed his pride, saying "I'll admit I was scared. You think it's normal for me to have someone intrude in my dreams and to put me in a situation where I had to defend myself?! I took measures to ensure that I wouldn't get stalked in my sleep!" Soviet retorted. Celestia was about to yell at the top of her lungs until Luna butted into the heated argument, "Sister, I appreciate you defending me but I'll admit I put him in a position to make him defend himself." She said in a calm tone. "But you didn't have to stab my leg! But thankfully, only the pain was real and not the wound itself. But now I understand that he was scared. I thought he was working for the Changelings to infiltrate us. But guessing he was eating food and Twilight doesn't seem to be harmed, I guess he isn't working for them." "That's true, he told us that he escaped Changeling custody to help us." Twilight added to further back Luna's claim. "Thank you Princess Luna and Twilight." said Soviet. "And I must admit, you look more beautiful in person, Luna." Soviet added. Luna was caught off guard with that response, she blushed and thought that he would've been angry at her for forcing him to defend himself. "W-why thank you... That was quiet unexpected." Soviet chuckled a bit as his compliment worked to catch her off guard. But as the tension in the room was calming down, Spike's curiosity spiked as they mentioned that Soviet stabbed Luna. But at this point, he was getting more scared, as the other human was loose in the castle. So he ran back to the library to find Starlight. But in the room, Celestia began to back down as she began to notice that any argument against Soviet would end in him using the self defense card, and that her sister doesn't seem to be that mad at him anymore. She sighed and said, "I guess you were justified in self defense, but the measure you took was too extreme." "And to at least to calm things down, the least you can do is apologize to each other." Twilight added. Soviet sighed and Luna looked down to think. The room became awkward as everyone awaited for the two to apologize. Soviet and Luna said at the same time, "I'm-" They both stopped as they said it at the same time. They tried again, "I"m sorry-" They both stopped for the same reason. "You go first." Soviet suggested to Luna. "Why thank you, I am sorry for intruding in your dreams." Luna apologized. "And I too am sorry for taking extreme measures against you, Princess." Soviet apologized. Twilight smiled in excitment as she's solved a friendship problem in a while but she isn't too sure if this was a friendship to begin with. But at least it stopped anyone getting harmed. "Great! Now we'll-" she was cut off by Celestia whispering into her ear. "Let them spend some time together, I haven't seen her smile like that in a while. And so it doesn't complicate things." Twilight nodded. "Oh and Twilight, we must talk to the Garrison Officer to notify her that we're sending more ponypower to defend Ponyville." Celestia added. Twilight nodded and they both left the room. As they left, Soviet still felt guilty for stabbing her leg, and he finally didn't feel awkward since they were both alone and he can finally speak his mind. "Princess Luna, I truly do feel sorry for stabbing you. And to show that I am," he looked around for his plate and grabbed it, "you can have my cinnamon rolls." He smiled as he handed it to Luna. Luna took a bite and had a face of satisfaction. "Oh my! This is absolutely delicious, where did you even get them?" She asked in an excited voice. "Made them myself." Soviet chuckled. "I swear to God if she wants to take the plate." Soviet thought to himself. "These are well made, I hope you don't mind if I take the final piece." Luna asked. "Here, take it." Soviet answered. But in his mind, all he was thinking was "FUCKING SHIT IT WAS THE LAST OF THE INGREDIENTS!" "Thank you dear." Luna thanked. "And it's not your fault you had to defend yourself, I'm the one who should be apologizing. So don't worry. And besides, the wound you gave me didn't affect me in the real world, besides the limping." She apologized. "No no, it's my fault. I went too far. And I am curious on how you entered my dreams." Soviet asked. "Well, it's hard to explain, but it's a responsibility I was given with my cutie mark. That reminds me, do you have a cutie mark?" Luna replied. "Well no, but do warn me next time you'll be entering my dreams so I don't accidentally harm you again." Soviet answered. "Note taken. But I am also curious on why you hide your face? I mean there is no one else here but us." She pointed out. "Well true, I just like to hide my face. So no one sees my face because I'm insecure. But you, you pull of beauty without even trying." Soviet complimented to try and change the subject. "Why thank you, again, unexpected. But my curiosity will eat me alive without seeing your face. So if you could please, dear." Luna retorted. Soviet sighed, "Just for you. But don't tell anyone, got it?" Soviet asked. "This secret shall never get out of me." Luna answered. Soviet then pulled down his mask and revealed his face. "Well why would you want to hide that face?" Luna asked Soviet. "Is this what flirting is like? Wow, I'm flirting with a horse, what the hell is wrong with me. Tankery is going to say I'm down bad once I get back." Soviet asked himself in his head. But as he though, he didn't know that he was blushing a bit, visible to Luna. While this was happening, Tankery was still bored in the library, waiting for Soviet to come back. Starlight broke the awkward silence as she saw Celestia and Twilight walk by the hallway. "I'm going to go to the sugar cube, anyone else wanna come with?" She asked. "Yeah, I'll go." Tankery answered. "I'll come too!" Elta said excitingly. They all got up and left the room and into the hallway. No one spoke until they arrived at the sugar cube. "Twilight, how long until you think we'll see them become friends?" Celestia asked. "I don't know, but that Soviet person is interesting. You really must know their species history, it's a lot more complicated and longer than ours. Even his name is suspicious, it's the name of his country's most hated enemy. I think it's just a nickname he made with his friend." Twilight explained. "Interesting, I'll ask you about their world later, but I'm getting worried that something might happen to my little sister again, let's go check on her." said Celestia. "Sure, but we should do that after we meet the generals. We haven't been briefed on what their plans of defense are." Twilight replied. After their conversation, they were headed to Rarity's bouquet as the Garrison used it as an improvised Headquarters to confuse any spies. A few hours later, Tankery woke up from his nap in the Sugar Cube as he fell asleep when he got there. "Ugh, where am I?" He asked. But as he opened his eyes, a bright pink pony was staring at him eyes wide open. "You're at the sugar cube, silly!" She yelled. Tankery screamed and his chair tipped over to where he fell. Starlight peaked over the table and asked him, "You sure you're okay?" "Yeah yeah, I'm fine, just didn't expect a jumpscare." Tankery replied. Pinkie Pie, who was jumping up and down, asked Starlight, "Is this the Tankery person you were talking about?" in an excited tone. "Yeah.. that's him alright." Starlight answered. Tankery was looking at Pinkie as he was trying to figure out who she was, but as he blinked, the pink figure was gone. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She yelled into his ear. Tankery jumped and yelled, "Jesus Christ, how do you move that quickly?!" "What do you mean?" She asked. Tankery sighed and said, "Nevermind, anyways, is there any food here?" He asked. "Yes! There is! We have cupcakes, cakes,-" she was cut off by Tankery saying, "I'll have one of everything." Pinkie Pie squealed as she didn't know anyone who enjoyed that many cakes. "God, Soviet's going to kill me if he knows I ate cake without him." Tankery whispered to himself.