The night dragged on as Zero found himself wide awake after identifying the voice in his mind. Apparently, he had managed to anger the ruler of the ponies and was going to meet her face to face. As he pondered upon what she meant by "dealing" with him, he came to one general conclusion.
Shit was going down tommorow.
He noticed he had spent the whole night awake as the sun began to shed light into the room. He knew he was going to regret not getting any sleep as his nerves began to tear at him in anticipation of the confrontation with the Princess in a few hours. Since he had some time to kill before his traveling companions would awake, he decided to try and quell his nerves in best the way he could: Poetry. More specifically haikus.
"Sun rising slowly/ Universal light for all/ Burning away fear." He spoke softly to himself
Despite their simplicity, Zero always found comfort in haikus. They allowed him to shut down the incessant thoughts in his mind and focus simply on whatever was before him. Though they were normally used to describe the beauty of nature, he extended it to include the beauty of combat.
"Metal against flesh/ Precise wounds cutting deeply/ Most satisfying." He continued.
He went on for an hour, alternating between nature and combat for he had an equal respect for both. He finally stopped as he heard the sound of movement coming from the room of his host. The lavender mare appeared with a grin on her face.
"Good morning, Zero! Ready to meet the Princess?" She asked innocently.
"I am" Zero replied simply, cold determination lining his words.
After a quick breakfast, Zero met up with the rest of his traveling party at what appeared to be a train station. Immediately after boarding the appropriate train, Zero found a seat far in the back of the train in hopes of getting through the trip undisturbed. He wished to determine the course of action he would take upon arriving at Canterlot for his audience with the Princess. Should he openly confront her about her threat or should he keep quiet and allow her to explain herself, in case he had somehow misinterpreted her words. He settled on the latter, not wanting to risk appearing as a complete fool in case he was wrong in regards to the owner of the voice. He was soon joined by Twilight, who took a seat across from him.
"Is something wrong, Zero? You've been awfully quiet this whole ride." She said with a hint of concern.
Before he could respond, Pinkie burst into the conversation with a shout. "Yea! What Twilight said!"
Zero cringed slightly, still not used to the loud outbursts of Pinkie yet. He gave them both a smile as he replied.
"There are no problems/ That bother me as of now/ Only exhaustion."
"Returning to the hayku thing are we?" Twilight asked with a grin.
"What do you mean?" Zero returned with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean earlier this morning. You spent about a whole hour just speaking in hayku. It was quite beautiful, even the ones that involved maiming and killing." she laughed nervously.
"I see" Zero said with a light laugh as well.
"Hey! I don't think I've ever seen you laugh before, not even at the party!" squealed Pinkie, who was surprisingly quiet this whole time.
This caused Zero to think. It was true. He hadn't laughed since his arrival in Equestria. The last time he remembered laughing was when he had decapitated that psychotic raider who had foolishly charged at him. He decided to keep that thought to himself.
"Well it was only a matter of time until you got under his skin, Pinkie" giggled Twilight.
On that note, the two mares left Zero to his thoughts again as they rejoined their friends at the front of the train. He took this time to take a nap, his mind having settled down due to the distraction of Twilight and Pinkie.
Zero was later awoken by Spike, whom Zero now understood was a dragon. Though he was quite skeptical at first, he figured if there was a world inhabited by talking ponies then why couldn't there be dragons as well? It seemed he had arrived at his destination, for he could see the magnificient structures that made up Canterlot were much closer than they were before. Though Twilight had pointed out the majestic city from Ponyville, it was much more beautiful up close. If the city weren't so brightly lit, it could almost pass as imposing.
Almost.
As the group of ponies departed from the train, Zero couldn't help but admire the beauty of the city further.
"Such a wondrous sight/ Pristine buildings surround me/ I am struck with awe."
"Canterlot is quite beautiful isn't it?" rose the voice of Rarity. The rest of the group murmured their agreement.
Not wanting to waste time, the group proceeded to the palace. As they approached the door to the throne room, however, they were stopped by one of the guard ponies. Zero noticed this guard's armor was slightly more extravagant than the normal guards. Before he could examine him further, the guard smiled.
"Twilight!" exclaimed the guard as he embraced her.
"Shining!" returned the mare.
Zero watched in curiosity, assuming they were either good friends or family. It wasn't neccessary to assume, as he was told seconds later.
Twilight turned back to him. "Zero, I want you to meet my big brother, Shining Armor."
"Nice to meet you" Shining said cautiously. Apparently he had also heard of his exploits, Zero thought.
The stallion continued. "I heard what you did to those Diamond Dogs and want you to know that I think it was....commendable." It was obvious he did not really think so. Zero could only smirk at the guard's well placed suspicion.
"There is no need to worry. I do not plan to cause trouble." Zero lied.
Shining nodded slowly. "Right, well I hope you all enjoy your stay." He moved out of the way to allow the group to enter the throne room.
Zero immediately noticed two larger ponies inside the throne room. The one was pure white with a mane made up of several light colors. What stood out about the mane was the fact that it wasn't actually hair. Instead, it had a more other worldly look to it. Her bright colors, along with the sun cutie mark on her flank, allowed Zero to identify her as Celestia. He had no clue to who the one next to her was however. She was a shade of dark blue with a mane that reminded him of the midnight sky. She had the image of a crescent moon on her flank. Both of them, he noticed, had a set of wings and a horn. His observations finished, he noticed Twilight running up to the two imposing ponies.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" She exclaimed.
"It is good to see you again, my faithful student." Celestia said with a smile
Zero instantly recognized that warm, motherly tone. She was undeniably the voice he heard in his head.
She continued to speak. "It is also nice to see all of your friends again." She gave each of them an approving nod, but as she got to Zero, her smile noticeably dimmed. "It is nice to meet you, Zero. I've heard much about you." she said with fake politeness.
Of course she knew about him, she spent her spare time invading his mind.
"Likewise" He responded.
Celestia returned her gaze to her student with a slight frown. "Though I hate to ask a favor of you after just getting here, could you and your friends make sure the preparations for dinner are complete?." She asked.
Twilight only smiled. "Of course, Princess. Anything for you!." Before she and her friends could depart, Celestia once again spoke up.
"Except for you." She pointed a hoof at Zero. "I want to personally thank you for handling the situation with the Diamond Dogs."
"Great."Zero thought to himself. Celestia's voice appeared in his mind.
"I do not wish to involve them. This matter is between you and I."
Zero only sighed as his companions left him alone with the princesses.
He turned to face them both. "You can begin thanking me now." He said with a sly smirk.
Celestia shot him a dangerous look. "Don't act foolish. You know the reason I called you here. You must return to your own world."
Zero returned the look. "And what gives you the right to send me wherever you please?"
"I do whatever it takes to protect my subjects from threats. You are a threat after seeing what you did to those Diamond Dogs. Additionally, from what I picked up from your mind, you come from a place where ruthlessness thrives and is accepted. You do not belong here." Stated the princess with coldness that rivaled Zero
Zero's anger was now rising at this point. "You foolishly judge/ Based solely on my background/ You are a moron/" He stated, venom dripping from his words.
As he waited for Celestia's retort, he was surprised to hear the other princess interrupt.
"Celestia, perhaps thou is judging too harshly." Said the mare called Luna.
Celestia was taken aback "You would go against me, Luna?"
"No, dear sister. I only believe thou should give the stallion a chance. Come to a compromise." Luna said with a shrug.
Zero glared at Celestia as he watched her ponder her sister's words. After a minute of silence, she spoke up.
"Fine." Celestia simply stated to the surprise of Zero. He had not expected it to be so easy to convince her.
"However." she added. Zero knew there would be a catch
"He can stay only if he passes a test. A challenge if you will."She continued.
Zero could only smile. Challenges were right up his lane. He was prepared for whatever she could throw at him, or so he thought.
"You are to spend the next month of your time here spending time with Twilight and her friends, your ultimate goal being to fully understand the magic that is" She paused for dramatic effect. "Friendship."
Zero's previous confidence faded, replaced with laughter. Was she serious? Friendship? She had just asked him to learn the magic of friendship. That was quite literally a load of bullymong dung.
"Surely you are joking." He said, still chuckling.
"I am dead serious." Celestia stated and sure enough wore a serious expression.
This caused Zero to frown. "Learn friendship? What is the point of such a frivolous task?"
"What's wrong? Are you afraid of a challenge?" Celestia teased.
Zero immediately regained his serious attitude. "I don't fear challenge/ My life revolves around it/ I seek out challenge." He growled, angry at the fact anyone would suggest he was afraid of a challenge. He had never refused to take on a challenge in his life.
"Then we have an agreement then?" Celestia asked.
Zero took some time to think. At very least she was giving him another month for free in this new land. He stared her directly in her eyes.
"Yes"
He couldn't see how learning friendship could prove difficult. The task sure sounded simple enough. He smiled, confident his work was cut out for him.