Fluttershy awoke from her slumber by the first rays of sunlight filtering through her windows. With a soft yawn, she climbed out of bed, and descended down the stairs to wake up all of her animals before making breakfast.
As she exited her cottage, she was surprised to see Jensen leaning against the doorway outside, who gazed at the rising sun in contemplation with a lit cigarette in hand.
"Oh, hello Adam," she spoke in her usual quiet tone. "I didn't realize you were awake."
"Got up early." Adam took another drag of his cigarette. "It's not often I get the chane to breathe fresh countryside air."
The two of them remained in silence for a short while.
"I'm going to feed my animals before making breakfast, if you don't mind..."
Jensen shrugged casually. "Hey, it's your home. No need to ask me."
The rest of the morning passed in relative silence. Fluttershy laid out a few bags of food for her smaller critters before moving to the pens of larger animals. Despite Jensen asking her if she needed help, she politely declined. Adam decided not to press the matter any further and kept smoking. By the time his cigarette had burned out, Fluttershy was done feeding the animals.
Good thing the lighter survived my little plunge, he thought before following the pegasus inside. A low rumble from his stomach reminded him of his hunger, and he sat down eagerly at table as Fluttershy served them both a salad from the fridge. However, she halted mid-stride and turned towards him.
"I'm sorry I forgot to ask: do you eat salad mister Jensen?"
"I'm an omnivore, so I can eat most things," he answered. He cursed under his breath and wondered if that fact would unsettle the timid mare, but to her credit she seemed rather unprovoked by it.
"It's alright," she reassured him at the sight of his expression. "I deal with predators everyday: I'm used to feeding them fish most of the time."
After a curt nod in acknowledgement from Adam, they both dug in.
[h+]
The evening before
Twilight Sparkle made her way quickly to the library as the sun set over the horizon, eager to send princess Celestia a letter about the new discovery she and Fluttershy have made.
A previously undiscovered sapient species! She thought excitedly. I bet the princess is going to love my report!
As she arrived in Ponyville, she took the time to slow down and greet the few ponies who were still on their way home for the night. As the last few rays of light disappeared on the horizon, she literally slammed through the library door.
"I'm home Spike!"
Her dragon assistant, who had been eating a tub of ice cream, became startled at her sudden appearance and fell from his stool.
"Twilight! Where have you been?" He picked himself up and ran over to her. "Do you know how worried I've been? I've spent all day looking around town for you, and when you didn't come home I just felt bad and... Drowned myself in ice cream to, uh... Bury my sorrows... In ice cream!" he finished with a rather insincere expression. Spike was surprised to be scooped up in a hug by Twilight.
"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting Spike, but I need to send a letter to the princess immediately!" She let go and ran to her desk to fetch quill and paper. "I've made an amazing discovery today!"
She unceremoniously shoved the quill and paper into Spike's arms and cleared her throat. "Dear princess Celestia-"
"Wait, wait!" Spike cried out as he tried to unfold the parchment. "I... There we go!"
"You done?" Twilight asked. "Good."
"Dear princess Celestia..."
[h+]
Celestia hummed contently as she finished scribbling down the last official document of the day and gazed contently outside her window. Ever since Discord's rehabilitation, life and state affairs had once again devolved into normalcy despite the occasional prank from said draconequus and Luna. Twilight still sent her friendship reports diligently, unaware of the destiny that was to befall her in the future. Outside, ponies slowly returned home for the evening as Celestia gently coaxed the sun to set above the horizon. She smiled: Celestia loved all her ponies dearly, even the more abrasive ones from the Canterlot nobility.
As she took a final sip of wine and laid aside her belongings for the night, Celestia was pleasantly surprised to see a letter with Twilight's signature materialize in front of her.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I've made an amazing discovery: a completely new sapient being has appeared on the outskirts of Ponyville! Me and Fluttershy were out on a walk through the Whitetail Woods when we found a large hole in the ground surrounded by massive magical residue. After we examined the outskirts for what might have caused it, we found the "human", as he's called - or he found us, more precisely. First contact was a bit tense, but I don't think he means any harm: he even saved us from a hydra who came along before Fluttershy managed to subdue it.
The human is called Adam Jensen, and from my observations seems to be a mostly furless primate (except for some mane on the top of his head). He is tall, somewhat taller than you, and posesses long limbs. The forelegs end with a five-clawed hand on each limb, and the muzzle is far less pronounced that a normal monkey. That is, however, not the most fascinating: his body is half mechanical! I've studied his forelegs, and I've found out that they are indeed made of some sort of alloy. It's like a prosthetic hoof but far more advanced: his movements look far more natural and flowing that you'd expect! His eyes are machinery too: you can see the optics readjust in his eyes. It's extremely fascinating. He's even got shades that retract into his head! It may sound ridiculous or even frightening, but his "augmentations" as he calls them are incredibly lifelike and whose smithing quality is beyond anything I've ever seen (don't tell Glowing Anvil I said that: I know how proud the court smith is of his work).
Adam is staying at Fluttershy's cottage for now. He's been polite so far, and I doubt he shows any interest in harming us. He seems mostly distraught at the thought of being away of home, and seems to have no idea how he woke up here in Equestria. Even so, I would recommend caution: he is armed, and has proven to both be able to hold open a hydra's jaw by his strength alone, produce blades from his arms, recover from injuries at a rapid pace and even turn invisible.
Even though he most certainly has the potential to become hostile (which I highly doubt), I hope you don't think of him as a threat to the ponies' security: he is literally the first of his kind here in Equestria, and I think there is so much we could learn from him and his kind.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
Celestia finished Twilight's letter with mixed emotions: curiosity for this new creature, and worry for the well-being of her student. She would have given the resposibility to Luna to look up on Twilight for her, but decided to wait for it until the morning. As much as she loved her sister, Luna had the unfortunate habit of lacking tact at times. Besides, she trusted her student's judgement. She quickly composed a letter to Twilight:
My dearest student,
I am relieved to hear that no harm has befallen you, and I share your curiosity over this "human" being. I will arrive in Ponyville tomorrow at 10 to see to this creature personally. While I trust your word that he will not harm you, I still wish to put my worries concerning you to rest. Being attacked by a hydra is no small matter, and I am glad that Fluttershy was nearby to help.
Princess Celestia
P.S: Please do not spend all night preparing for my arrival. Get some rest.
After lowering the sun for the night and wishing her sister good night, she went to bed with a slight feeling of apprehention before falling into a dreamless sleep.
[h+]
The sun rose over Ponyville. Contrary to her mentor's advice, Twilight had stayed up all night in her library, worried about how the princess might react to Adam's presence. Most of the scenarios her mind conjured ended with Jensen banished to the moon. From upstairs, a groggy Spike sighed in exasperation as Twilight's pacing wore deeper and deeper grooves into the floor, still confused about the whole ordeal with Adam.
"Twilight, this is exactly what the princess told you not to do! Besides, shouldn't you be resting from that hydra attack?"
"There is so much that could go wrong Spike!" she cried out in exasperation. "What if they end up hating each other? What they end up blaming me?"
"Blaming you- Twi, that doesn't even make sense! What would they blame you for?" Spike's stomach grumbled loudly. "Forget this, I'm making breakfast. Come to table when you aren't freaking out. Sheesh."
As the dragon set of for making pancakes, he was startled by the sudden appearance of Celestia, who had teleported at the front door.
"AAAH!" he exclaimed as he jumped in fright.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry Spike," the princess apologized and rubbed his head with a hoof. "Is Twilight nearby?"
"She's been up all night," he muttered. Celestia sighed.
"I should have expected that." As they both entered the living room, the grooves in the floor were so deep only Twilight's head stuck out of the trench. At the sight of the princess, the mare gasped in surprise, jumped out and nuzzled her mentor.
"Princess!" she greeted
"It's good to see you too Twilight," she replied with a kindhearted smile before recoiling in fright. "You're injured!"
True enough, several ugly gashes adorned her side, and a few of them had opened up and were slowly starting to trickle blood. Twilight gasped. "Oh... Oh dear. I didn't notice that..."
Celestia took on a stern but motherly tone. "Twilight, I want you to stay in bed for the day. You're in no condition to visit Fluttershy."
"But princess-"
"No, my student," she added more softly. "Stressing around will only make it worse. I am sure that Fluttershy told you to rest anyway."
"I- Of course. I'm sorry princess."
Celestia nuzzled her again. "I understand your anxiety, but I can handle myself. You vouched for him personally, didn't you?"
Twilight nodded. "Then I assure you there is little reason for us to start disagreeing." She turned towards the dragon in the room. "Spike, would you kindly watch over Twilight today? I'll be right back."
The dragon saluted Celestia eagerly before running to fetch some bandages. The two ponies nuzzled each other goodbye before Celestia exited the library, spread her wings and flew off into Fluttershy's direction.
[h+]
Fluttershy jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door.
Is Twilight already up?
As she opened the door, she was surprised by the sight of Celestia standing at her front door.
"Oh! I didn't expect you to see you here, princess!" She exclaimed after a short bow. "Is Twilight with you?"
"I told her to rest," Celestia told her as she entered through the front after the pegasus' invitation. "Poor dear stayed up all night." Fluttershy sighed quietly.
"I thought I told her to stay calm..." She gave the princess a nervous glance. "You're here for mister Jensen?" Celestia nodded. "He's in the library."
[h+]
"I take it you're Adam Jensen?"
Jensen lifted his eyes from his book and stared at the newcomer before rising to full height. "Yeah, that's me."
Celestia eyed Adam curiously. "I see Twilight's description really hasn't done you justice: to be fair, I had expected you to look like a gorilla with brass limbs."
Adam chuckled. "Yeah. I'm one of a kind." A short pause lingered between them. Behind the princess, Fluttershy fidgeted awkwardly.
"Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself properly," Celestia continued and raised a hoof. "I am princess Celestia of Equestria." Adam took it and shook it vigorously.
"Adam Jensen."
Celestia motioned for Adam to sit, who replied in kind. She then turned to Fluttershy before seating herself.
"Would you be so kind to fetch us all some tea?"
As the pegasus retreated to the kitchen, Celestia flashed a good-natured smile towards Adam. "I want to thank you for rescuing the girls from the hydra yesterday. Twilight has been rather positive towards you, and as my personal student I care deeply about her and her opinions of other ponies."
"I did what I had to," Adam answered. The memory of the ponies playing around with his tranquilizer rifle resurfaced. "They were in danger, so I reacted." Fluttershy entered the room again with a tray of tea and cups. Celestia thanked her politely as she served up her tea before Fluttershy seated herself between them. Jensen noticed the princess eyeing his augmentations.
"I admit your... augmentations are impressive," Celestia continued. "Basic magic prosthetics exist here in Equestria, but they are far more cluncky and unwieldy than what you are wearing. And we most certainly have not thought of militarizing it." Her tone grew serious. "Make no mistake Jensen. While I am grateful for saving my student and Fluttershy, I dislike violence in general. I will, however, do whatever is necessary to protect my little ponies at all costs."
Adam stayed silent for a while, pondering on how he should approach this in the most diplomatic way possible. "Violence is a necesary evil at times," he responded carefully, "but I would never abuse it, not against any innocents. I have no intention of harming you or any of your ponies, princess. You have my word."
A smile returned to Celestia's lips. "I'm glad we are on the same page." She drank a sip of tea before pressing on. "You mentioned that your arrival in Equestria was unexpected. I admit that while I know of most species that walk under my sun, I have never met one such as yours."
"I'm not from Equestria, as you might imagine. I woke up in a crater, and that's about it."
"And do you have any idea how this came to be?"
"I died."
Celestia and Fluttershy were caught aback by the sudden response and stared at Adam wide-eyed. "You... died?"
He shrugged. "Or I should have. Last I remember before waking up here was drowning into a frozen ocean."
An awkward silence settled over the library. "I'm.. Sorry to hear that," the princess said sincerely before growing thoughtful. "This is unexpected. There must have been powerful magic at work to save you, Adam... But for what purpose, I don't know why." She set her cup of tea down on the table and excused herself from the table. "It's been a pleasure meeting you Adam, but I have affairs to attend to, and I promised to visit Twilight today. I'll contact you someday Adam. In the meanwhile, feel free to stay with Fluttershy, if she approves of course."
"It's no problem at all, princess," the pegasus added gently. "He can stay here."
"Fluttershy, after Twilight feels better, maybe you should introduce him to your friends and the other ponies around Ponyville? I'm sure Jensen would like to feel welcome in these parts."
"Of course princess."
As Celestia bade the others farewell, she took of into the sky towards the library. Saved from death, she mused. You are an interesting being Adam, for such powers to take notice of you. Celestia's cheeks became tinted with red and she let loose a soft giggle. Not to mention you sound devilishly handsome!