//------------------------------//
// Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 
// Story: Friendship? Emotion not found. 
// by The Rar 
//------------------------------//

Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria
1:00Pm SET



*Knock knock*

“Hold on one moment!”

“There is no rush”

“There is always a rush when you have an order to fill!”
The door opened to reveal a deeply stressed pony, covered in fabric clippings and long measuring tapes.

“Do come in.” The pony said as she moved from the doorway.
Ajax ducked and slowly entered the battlefield that is Rarity’s workplace.
Fabric was scattered across the ground, some even attached to the floor by tailoring pins.
Sheets of paper covered in designs and measurements were scattered on tables and some had fell onto the floor, adding to the overall clutter.
All in all, it was a mess.

“Uh… Have I come at a bad time?”
Ajax had decided that he would pay Rarity a visit today. She was the last pony left to visit besides Twilight. He was still worried about visiting her, which was strange. Ajax had never really been worried about anything. Sure, he’d been unsure of some things but he’d never worried about them. He was deeply worried about Twilight though. How would she take seeing him?
Ajax assumed she was in a bad way, no one had seen anyone leave the library besides the dragon named “Spike” since Twilight had been placed there.
He was worried about making a bad impression, about screwing up.
Visiting her was made even more worrying because of the fact that Twilight’s assistant was a dragon.
Ajax hadn’t seen him; Ajax hadn’t heard more than a name and a species.
But from what Ajax had learnt from reading, dragons were creatures you really didn’t want to annoy.
These things made huge creatures like Crawmerax the Invincible look like a push over.
If you shot Crawmerax with a rocket, it’d get annoyed.
Ajax had read that you’d have to hit a dragon with a freight train packed with explosives to simply get its attention.
Twilight, someone who was scared of Ajax, had a dragon at her side.
Very worrying.
Ajax was pulled back to reality by Rarity.

“No. Why ever would you say that?”

“It’s just… To be honest, this is a mess.”

“This, my friend, is creation.”

“It looks like you’ve brutally murdered something that bleeds fabric.” Ajax said as he looked around the messy room.

“Oh ha ha sir, very funny. You’ll be eating your own words when my masterpiece is complete.”

“I find that very hard to believe.”
The various snips of fabric around Ajax suddenly did something very strange.
They all gained a light blue aura and levitated into the air towards a pony shaped manikin.
The entire room and the messy pony instantly cleaned themselves of all mess.

“Wh- What is going on her- Ahhhh…”
Ajax remembered the two ponies he had met when he had arrived in Ponyville. Faith and Shield. Unicorns.
Magic, how interesting.

“Well?” Rarity asked

“Well? Well what?” Ajax confusedly asked.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“I was distracted by your magic.”

“Well, now that I have your attention, introduce yourself.”
Rarity seemed interested in getting straight to the point. Maybe she was just trying to start conversation in her own little way?  Whatever the case, Rarity continued to work on whatever it was she was doing. Her dress had been assembled in the few moments Ajax had been in the building.
Amazing.
Ajax was indeed eating his words, it was a masterpiece. Even Ajax, someone with no sense of fashion, could tell that. She’d finished. Ajax couldn’t tell what she was working on now.
It didn’t matter anyway, he’d been told to introduce himself.

“I am Ajax, you already know that. I was on a planet called Pandora, fighting a company named Hyperion. It was going well; I only needed one other device to succeed. I came to your universe due to an unforeseen set of events taking place and I come here now to ask for your assistance on returning home. Again, you know that.”

“Go on.” Rarity said as she glanced over to Ajax.

“I’m still a little fuzzy on how you’re going to help but I understand it involves using your powers as Elements of Harmony to send me home. I have already convinced four of you to assist me. Only you, Miss Rarity, and a pony named Twilight Sparkle remain. The aim of today is to earn your complete trust and your cooperation.”

“Anything else you feel I should know?”

“Hm… No. That’s where the useful information before I came to Ponyville ends.”

“Then tell me about Ponyville.”

“Why?”

“The point of today is to earn my trust, is it not? Just answer my questions.”

“Ok? Ponyville is… A nice enough place. Too quiet for my liking, not enough going on.”

“Not about Ponyville itself silly, about your time in Ponyville.”

“Oh, right. I’ve been staying with your friend, Applejack. I sleep in her barn.”

“What of Applejack? What do you think of her?”

“She’s nice, very kind and considerate. She’s a good one to talk to as well. She’s a very interesting specimen. After I helped her with her harvesting she seemed to be interested in helping me. Thanks to her I managed to earn Rainbow Dash’s trust.”

“How?”

“She was telling me about all of you. Your personality, likes, dislikes, jobs and general stuff like that.”

“How did you earn Rainbow Dash’s trust then?” Rarity had now finished with whatever she was doing and had sat near Ajax to hear his stories.

“Crashing into a tree.”

“Pardon?”

“Ha! Flying really. Flew up and spent some time with her as she flew to Cloudsdale. Racing and talking, a good combination.”

“So who did you visit next?”

“Fluttershy”

“How did you earn her trust? I’d expect her to be frightened of you.”

“She was problematic. But nothing we couldn’t overcome. Simply taking it gently was the key to getting her to open up. After I showed I could be gentle with her, she began laughing and chatting, it was great. From what I’ve been told of her, she was unusually open around strangers. We talked all day about animals in Equestria and how they compared to those on Pandora. After several of my creature were explained in detail and the way animals live in harmony with ponies in Equestria was explained, we called it a day.”

“And then we come to today?”

“Not quite, I did spend more time with Applejack. I couldn’t sleep you see and I went into her orchard to practice my hand with a blade. She came and we talked.”

“About?”

“Life before freedom. Dark stuff, I do not wish to delve into it today.”

“Understandable. Then we come to me, yes?”

“You seem strangely interested in yourself.”

“Is it strange to be interested in someone as fabulous as myself?” Rarity asked, seeming offended

“Yes.” Ajax replied

“Hmph. I do not believe it wrong to take interest in one’s self. What would you know of it? You obviously don’t care about yourself”

“And just how do you know that?”

“Well,” Rarity began
She stood up and touched a faded and scratched leg plate and shook her head.

“Your outfit is fading and is scratched in many places.”
She examined the cracks in Ajax’s armour and servo pipes.

“You have several badly mended cracks lowering your overall appearance.”
She took a few steps back and simply said.

“Black and bronze. What a horrible horrible crime against fashion.”

“I do not seek to look fashionable pony; I wear these colours to intimidate.”

“I’m sure I can make you look fashionable and intimidating!” Rarity exclaimed

“Please, let me try.” She begged

“Pony, this armour is sacred to me.”

“It will still remain sacred, even if it gets a new colour will it not?”

“I don’t know about this… My colours are mine and mine alone.”

“Ajax, if you allow me to re-design your body and make it look more presentable, you will have earned my trust.”

“Why would letting you re-design my armour make you trust me?”

“You said it yourself, your armour is sacred. It takes a great amount of trust to let someone work on such a precious piece.”

“Yes, but I have to trust you, not the other way around.”

“The way I see it is if a pony is willing to trust you, shouldn’t you be willing to trust them?”

“Hmm… You have a point pony.”
Ajax looked at his battle scared armour.
Maybe a free paint job wouldn’t be so bad?

“Ok Rarity. You seem to know what you’re doing in the fashion department. You have my permission to paint me. Within reason.”

“I will make you beautiful. A true work of art!”
Rarity pulled a chart seemingly out of thin are and suck it in Ajax’s face.
Ajax read the text printed at the top of the large sheet.

“Your guide to over 600 shades and colours” Ajax read

“Indeed. Pick one, and I’ll tell you if it’s acceptable. Then we’ll pick where to put the colour.”
600 colours and shades.
Correction, over 600 colours and shades.

“This is going to be a very long day…”



Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria
5:00Pm SET





“So Ajax, why did you pick black as your original colour?”

“Why not?”

“It just doesn’t suit you darling. It doesn’t suit anyone in your position. Is there some special reason?”

“Hmm… Tactical advantage I suppose. I attack in the night most of the time so it seemed fitting. But there is also a little bit of personal taste. I love the way dark colours shine when applied to metal”

“Hmm? I didn’t think dark would sparkle”

“Maybe not on fabric, but on metal it does. It all depends on how the paint is made and for what purpose.”

“Interesting. You’ll have to give me a lesson in the art of metal someday.”

“I will try.”

“Now, what colour do you want this leg to be?”
Rarity placed a hoof on Ajax’s right leg.

“White with black around the trims of each plate please, like the rest of me you’ve done.”
So far Ajax had requested that all of his armour plates be painted a snow white colour with black around the edges of each plate. 

“Are you sure? There are many other colours that are acceptable.”

“I am sure. White is a nice colour.”

“Suite yourself”
Rarity began to lightly scrape away the black paint that covered Ajax’s leg.

“Hmm? What’s this Ajax?”
As Rarity scraped away the paint she discovered a faded piece of art work on the lower section of Ajax’s leg, on the plate above the foot.

“What’s what?”

“This” Rarity said as she took her hoof off of the image.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“It certainly doesn’t look like nothing.”
Rarity inspected the piece of art. She couldn’t see much, but what she could see looked amazing. For war art at least. It showed a strange looking skull and a sword, much like the one Ajax carries, sticking in the top. Pocking out from behind it were two objects that looked like Ajax’s weapon. It may well have been a symbol of war, but it was a well done symbol of war.

“It is nothing. Leave it.”

“Don’t you want me to re-paint it or som-“

“No. Remove it, paint over it and forget it. Nothing good will come of talking about it.”

“No. I will not paint over it. I demand to know what it means.”

“Past sins is what it means.”

“Go on.” Rarity pressed.

“Be careful pony, you tread on very sensitive ground.” Ajax warned

“I’m sorry. I’m very curious. Please tell.”

“I was a soldier. It means I was good at what I did.”

“And… What exactly did you do?” Rarity nervously asked as she looked at the sword sticking into a cracked skull.”

“I killed.”

“Yo- You what?” Rarity said, shocked by Ajax’s bluntness.

“I told you nothing good would come of this…”

“I- I know you did. Go on.” Rarity said, trying to cope with the fact that she’d been very intrusive into a killer’s life.

“As with most military, Hyperion awarded medals for excelling in work. Material medals would get lost or destroyed, so Hyperion opted for a different approach. You kill lots of people; they paint a skull on you. You slice lots of people; they add a sword somewhere on there. You shoot lots of people; you get a gun added on there. I killed, so I earned a skull,”
Ajax pointed to the skull.
“I sliced, so I earned the sword,”
Ajax pointed to the sword.
“I shot and I shot and I shot, so I earned two large guns.”
Ajax pointed to the two weapons.
“I’m not proud of it, so paint over it and remove it from my sight.”
Ajax clawed at the image before he took his hands away.
“Do you have any more questions to ask that I assume, when I answer, will disgust you?”
Rarity looked at Ajax with a shocked face. She was slightly shocked by the fact that Ajax was a killer, he hadn’t mentioned that. Maybe he assumed she knew? She was mostly shocked by the fact that he hadn’t asked her to remove it. He hadn’t even thought to mention it.

“Why didn’t you tell me this when we first met?”

“To be completely honest with you, I’d forgotten about it. That was what I wanted. To forget the horrific symbol that forever plagued my body, reminding me of the burden of sin I carry.” Ajax said angrily.
Rarity had obviously annoyed him. This could ruin the entire day. Ajax might storm out before his painting can be complete.
That would look awful.
Rarity couldn’t allow it.
She had to salvage this somehow.
After several moments of awkward silence, Rarity got an idea.

“Ajax?”

“Yes, Rarity.”

“You say you want to forget?”

“Greatly so.”

“Removing the image won’t do that, I can tell you that for a fact. The memory will forever remain when you look down at your leg.”

“You’re probably right, but what choice do I have? It’s that or leave it there.”

“Not quite.”

“Hmm? You have an alternative?” Ajax confusedly asked

“I do.” Rarity said confidently.

“I’d love to hear it.”

“How about… We replace it?”

“Replace it? What with?”

“Oh Ajax, can you honestly not think of anything?”

“No, seriously.”

“We replace it with a happy memory. We replace it with Equestria.”

“Eh?” Ajax said uncertainly.

“You sounded like you had a good time with the other ponies. Why not replace this horrible memory with a good one?”

“Hey… That’s not a bad plan.” Ajax enthusiastically said, excited at the idea of removing one of his worst memories. 

“A question remains though.”

“What would that be?”

“What to paint?”

“Hmm… Good question…”
Both Ajax and Rarity were stumped for ideas. Ajax had had an enjoyable time in Equestria; he just couldn’t seem to find a way to express his enjoyment in an image.



Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria
7:00Pm SET


Ajax and Rarity stood before a sheet of paper, sketching out designs but to no avail.
They were about to give up, until a voice saved them.

“How about you, Rarity and all of her friends?”
The voice came from behind Ajax and Rarity. They both looked behind them.
The voice came from a small pony.

“Hello Sweetie Belle” Rarity smiled

“Hey sis. What are you doing?”

“I think you already know you little eavesdropping spy.” Rarity said, sounding a tad annoyed

“I helped! Didn’t I?” Sweetie complained

“You. I remember you. You’re one of the young ones I, Faith and Shield saved when you annoyed that pack of wooden wolves.”

“Yes, she was. And she’s very sorry for roping you and those two guards ponies into fighting, aren’t you?” Rarity asked as she glanced at Sweetie Belle.

“Uh… Yea. Sorry about that.” Sweetie Belle awkwardly said.

“It is no problem young one. You are forgiven. You have suggested a great design idea, after all.”

“See Rarity! I told you I’d make it in fashion designing! He thinks it’s great!” The young filly bounded back off to the upper level of the building, full of joy.

“Don’t encourage her.” Rarity said.

“I don’t need any more mish mash dresses.” She added as she began sketching

“Ha! I think what she suggested was great and she needed rewarded for it.” Ajax laughed.

“Maybe you’re right. But enough of that. We have a masterpiece to create.”

“Indeed. Let us begin.”



Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria
10:00Pm SET



“Well, what do you think?”

“I think…”
Ajax looked down at the freshly painted design upon his leg. It portrayed all five of Rarity’s friends, Rarity herself and Ajax. They looked happy.
The image was cheerful and exploding with colour.
It was a master piece.

“I think it’s amazing…” Ajax simply said.

“Ha! I knew you’d like my work. I am the best, after all!” Rarity happily said

“Indeed…” Ajax breathed. He was incredibly impressed with Rarity’s work. So much so he was speechless. Not only had she given him a new design of armour, she’d removed a horrible memory and replaced it with joy.

“I think I’ll be off now Rarity. Today has been fun. Hopefully we’ve connected a little?”

“Indeed we have Ajax. You’ll have my help when you need it.”

“Thank you Miss Rarity. Thank you…”
Ajax walked out of Rarity’s shop, after waving her goodbye of course, and headed off to Applejack’s barn.
Something was very wrong and it bothered Ajax.
He was happy.
Why was he happy?
Why had he let a stranger touch his sacred plate?
Why was he enjoying this universe so?
Was something wrong with his system?
Had he put wires into the wrong places when he’d repaired himself?
Or… Maybe…
No, not possible.
Ajax wasn’t the emotional type.
He didn’t build friendships.
It wasn’t possible that he was actually enjoying himself.
Wasn't it?

NOTE:
Now, you may be asking yourself “Why did this say Ajax visited Fluttershy, yet there is no chapter where this happens?”
Well, that’s because… I tried.
I really tried.
Please don’t hate me for it, but I simply couldn’t do it.
I just couldn’t get Fluttershy’s chapter to be something I’m happy with.

I kid thee not, 6 hours. 6 Hours spent last night trying to get an intro written down. I just couldn’t do Fluttershy and make it what I wanted.
Again, please don’t hate me for it. I just couldn’t.
Sorry.
I did dedicate a little more explanation to Fluttershy in this than I gave to the other ponies so hopefully that will make up for a small part of it.
Once again, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry…