//------------------------------//
// Act 1: Hero-Why Am I Here? 
// Story: The Winds of Redemption 
// by RagingPonyRider 
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	It was a lazy Sunday morning for both Celestia and the citizens of Canterlot. There was little motion in the castle and everypony resided in their rooms, visited family outside the castle, or simply relaxed and enjoyed themselves with Canterlot’s commodities and attractions.

However, her lethargy fell apart when Celestia received a letter from Princess Sparkle. It was relatively short, but it held the details necessary to inform her something unusual and especially dangerous had been sighted in the Everfree Forest. It also mentioned how Twilight was going to bring the Element of Kindness herself to report what she saw.

For the moment, curiosity got the better of her. There was little work for her anyways and she was always ready to help her pupil and fellow princess. 

Curious to see the creature, her horn glowed yellow as magic coursed through it; a form of divination, used for remote viewing across Equestria. She closed her eyes and a bright white light filled her vision, replacing darkness. Eventually, she saw the forest. She scanned the area and noticed a large clear path. 

Celestia mentally gasped. Broken bark, twigs, and tree trunks were strewn about. The ground was torn with what appeared to be enormous paw prints. She made it to the edge of the clearing and saw a mountain of the aforementioned lumber products. 

What could have done this? Was the timberwolf so massive that it destroyed a fraction of the forest, or was it the creature Fluttershy saw do this?

After a minute of inspecting the area, she found a clue: a trail of blue droplets..

Blood? I've never heard of an animal that bleeds blue, or…. is it not blood at all?

She watched the trail lead out of the forest and into the clearing. A forked road showed the path to Ponyville, where the trail stopped, puzzling her even further. A wild animal leaving the boundaries of the forest? It was almost unheard of. The animals and plants always stayed in their familiar habitat.

She followed the trail and saw a bipedal figure in walking towards Ponyville. She closed in on it and gasped: it was a human.

What!? That's impossible! How did one arrive in Equestria, of all places without my knowing? And how did one human slay a giant timberwolf by himself?

Now she understood the reason behind the hasty tone of Twilight's letter. It has been over a thousand years since Celestia first discovered humans, and they were more than memorable than from just their appearance. Luckily, the human seemed rather apathetic towards the mint unicorn, walking past her. Nevertheless, she knew more than enough what could happen when humans got involved in a situation. 

"Guards!"

The armor-clad pegasi stationed stood at attention, their faces now hardened. They ran towards her and saluted.

She turned to the brown pegasus to her left. "First Lieutenant Sky High, gather as many guardsponies as you can to bring this creature-" she materialized a picture of the human and levitated in front of them "back here from Ponyville as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Highness!" He took the photo and sprinted out of the room, leaving Celestia with the remaining pony.

"Captain Bright Shield-" the white unicorn tensed "-alert every guardspony to keep their eyes open but do not inform them about this creature." She could not risk exposing this creature too much. “Also, if the Elements of Harmony arrive-" she knew of her and her friends' tendency to get into trouble "-escort them here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" He vacated the room, leaving Celestia alone to think about the situation.

A human landing in the Everfree Forest, defeating a giant timberwolf, marching towards Ponyville...there's only one reason I know that explains how he's here.

"Discord."

"You called?"

In a flash, the draconequus appeared on one of the windows, smirking as always.

Celestia was not amused. She may have congratulated Fluttershy on the success of reforming him, but she had a reason why she left the Elements of Harmony with Twilight and her friends in Ponyville. 

"Have you heard?" She tried to remain diplomatic, knowing that Discord, despite his childishness, had matured during his time with Fluttershy. "A human has been discovered in the Everfree Forest."

Discord rolled his eye at her. "You don't say?" 

Celestia glared at him. Spirit of Disharmony or not, she was not afraid of him. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Pssh," he scoffed. "Now why would you think that? Isn't it normally your precious student -" Discord squeaked out those words "-that starts a mess like this? Remember her Want-It-Need-It spell?" He cackled like a madman when he heard what chaos she had caused. "What about when she swapped the Elements' cutie marks? Why are you pinning the blame on me whenever things go wrong?" He finished with a pout and his hands on his hips, wherever it was on his serpentine body.

"Don't play dumb," Celestia snapped. "Luna and I left the matter alone ever since we discovered them. Twilight could never have done this, even with her magic." She half-suspected he did this to spite her, for all the years she had the Elements turn him into stone after his escape. "Surely you must know of the gravity of having a human involved here."

Discord's pout slowly turned upwards into a smile. She knew that look. It was a smile he only made when he had something, most often, nasty or at least annoying planned. "I know more about humans than you could ever bother. And the one I brought here is special, to say the least."

"I could figure that out." A human that could face off against a timberwolf is impressive enough, but a colossal one? "But of all humans, why one so dangerous? This has you written all over it."

"What, I can't bring a new friend home without you breathing down my neck?" He teleported out of the window and appeared in front of her, gazing straight at her with an offended look.

Celestia froze. Discord, after befriending Fluttershy and to an extent, the rest of the Elements, had no other friends he could confidently call "friends".

She and Luna both understood the pain of loneliness, but for Discord to resort to kidnapping, and an alien at that, either demonstrated his desperation, or his desire to simply screw her over as always.

"If you were feeling lonely, why didn't you simply tell me?" she asked with the gentlest smile she could muster, but Discord felt pity among the sympathy in her voice. "I could use some time off myself, and I'm sure I can wrangle Luna for a get-together. I know you like theatrics, but this is overkill, even for you."

"That's...not exactly what I'm getting at." Discord sighed. He hated this about her. "Ugh, just...let me show you."

With a snap of his talon, a large television appeared in front of them and he hovered next to her, crossing his legs and arms in anticipation. Celestia cocked an eyebrow.

"What are you trying to pull, Discord?" Celestia faced him. "Convince me just how special he is?"

He scoffed again. "Maybe." Another snap, and a bowl of popcorn materialized in his lion paw and the screen flashed on, showing the human riding a blue motorcycle. "Then again, maybe not."





"Ah, Sam, you're just in time!"

Sam wasted no time drawing his sword. He was not going to be caught off-guard like last time. 

Discord sighed. "Jeez man, you're in front of royalty, put that sword away!" With a snap of his fingers, Sam's sword returned to its sheath and more importantly, in Discord's paw.

His face twisted in anger once more and glared at Discord. He wanted to run up and snatch the sword back from him, but he remembered what happened the last time.

"Look, I know we got off the wrong foot-"

"Discord!"

Both the spirit and Sam stared at her. Celestia's tone was stern and most prominently, threatening. She rose from her seat and spread out her majestic wings to their fullest. "Return his sword. Now."

Discord rolled his eyes. "Fine, but don't blame me when he starts cutting everypony into shreds."

It was a very real threat, but Celestia saw how aggravated he was when his weapon was taken. She knew how temperamental humans could be, especially when frightened. "Considering it's you we're talking about, I'm not surprised he's on guard," Celestia chastised. "Now, again, return his weapon."

Discord gave another snap, and the Murasama reappeared to Sam's hip. He immediately drew it out and raised it to his face, inspecting for any sign of vandalism. 

Celestia, seeing Sam calm down at last, spoke. "Now that's resolved, about the crowd of ponies behind the door-"

At that moment, said doors slammed open so hard Celestia was surprised it did not fall of their hinges. Luna, Sky High, a group of guards, and Pinkie Pie was standing at the doorway. 

"Hey Minuany! Hey Discord!" The pink mare waved for good measure. Discord merely waved back with a weak smile. 

Luna stepped in front of her. "Human, please! We only wish to..." She froze when she saw the red sword in his hands. She charged her horn again. "Everypony, behind me!"

Sam looked at the white alicorn, and back to the blue one. What was he to do? He could easily fight both of them off, but then what about Discord? The white one, Celestia, he guessed from her crown, seemed to be the only one that could keep Discord in check. If he fought, he would surely earn the ire of both alicorns, but the blue one and the pegasus beside her had already gotten ready to pounce at any moment.

"Luna!" Celestia hated raising her voice, especially towards her sister, but a single mistake on her part could destroy whatever trust Sam had towards the ponies. "Stand down, now!"

"But sister-"

"I said stand down," she repeated. "You're scaring the human."

Sam held back a laugh. He would have been offended if it was not so amusing. "Scared? Me?" He sheathed his sword and walked up to Celestia, smiling. 

"Hold thy tongue!" Luna shouted. "You are speaking to Princess Celestia, one of Equestria's leaders and most powerful-"

"Quiet, Luna." Celestia closed her wings and slowly walked down the steps to her throne. "I apologize for my sister's behavior. I am Princess Celestia. I must also apologize for your misadventures here. But first," She faced Sky High. "Thank you for your efforts. You're dismissed. Remember, I wanted a private audience. When we're done talking, we will open the doors ourselves."

"Yes, your Highness," he said and ordered his fellow guards and Pinkie Pie out the door. 

The doors closed and Celestia, Luna, Discord and Sam, were left in the room. Eager to diffuse the situation, Celestia figured the best way was to remain civil and respect him to get him to open up.

Sam smiled even wider at her attempt at friendliness. “So you're Celestia? Well, you can thank that thing-" he pointed at Discord "-for my being here. He just said my name, so I think my introductions are not very necessary." Celestia towered over her ponies, but compared to Sam, they met eye-to-eye. It was rare and faintly unnerving to her to meet someone that matched her size.

Celestia winced, but nodded. He was sharper than he appeared.. "Yes, Discord told me all about you, Sam."

"Oh? What did Discord tell you about me?"

"Enough to show me you do not belong here. I'm sure you understand why." After what Discord showed her, Sam's dangerous tendencies stuck to her mind like tree sap. He was indeed different, as Discord mentioned, but no better than the humans she knew of.

"Yeah, you sending over fifty of your men-uh, ponies, to bring me here. Seems rather extreme. If you know what I'm capable of, why endanger so many lives when you could have come see me yourself?" 

"Do not underestimate us, human," Luna spoke up. "Our race may appear diminutive to you, but we have dealt with threats against Equestria before, especially from Discord."

"Well, you've never dealt with Sam before," Discord chuckled before zapping himself into one of the windows again. "And when did I ever say he was a threat? Just give him a chance, Celestia. He didn't even touch any of your precious ponies."

"If by "chance", you mean a chance to get me back home, then please do." If Celestia was familiar with him and his history, then he would not spare her the politeness he gave Mayor Mare. His patience had run out, and the time for formalities was over.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I can't do that." Discord teleported out of the window and in front of Sam. His smile was gone and he wagged his talon at him.

Sam's anger was blatant now. "I don't care. You're going to send me back or you die." He pulled out his sword for good measure and pointed it at Discord's neutral face.

"Put your weapon away!" Luna shouted, remembering to use contemporary dialect. Her sister constantly reminded her to try to adopt the current Equestrian language to fit in better. "If Discord is the source of all this, let us handle him!"

Discord shook his head in disappointment. "I meant what I said. I literally can't send you back. You died, remember?"

"Yeah, so?"

Silence filled the room . The alicorns turned their heads to Sam so fast he reflexively assumed his stance, expecting an attack. Discord sighed and shrugged. "Well, there you go then."

"What? What is it?" Sam turned to Celestia, Luna, Discord, and back to Celestia. After another minute of silence, he gritted his teeth in frustration. "What is it!?" He felt the room starting to chill and his sword vibrate. 

Celestia intervened before his shouts could be heard outside. "Sam, even as the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, Discord is still magic."

"What are you all talking about? What does it matter? You brought me back from the dead-"

"Difficult, but not impossible. Discord is probably the only being that could resurrect a human," Celestia explained "but there are laws regarding magic even he cannot break. Bend, yes, but never break."

"I think it would be best, Tia," Luna spoke up, walking to her side, "if you showed him instead of explaining." Her horn glowed, and a tattered black book popped into existence. "Here, that summary." The book opened to a page and a large blue hologram appeared in the air, displaying the text in readable size. "Discord, translate."

He snapped once more, and the odd squiggles wriggled into familiar English, which Sam read with gusto.

Teleporting objects through space is an unusual display of magic, but not unheard of. Living objects, however, are a different matter. Whether the subject is dead or alive seems to be a factor determining if it can be teleported through dimensions. Every recorded attempt to teleport a live subject from this dimension to another has resulted in failure or the subject's death. Coincidentally, an experiment with a cadaver has seen success, though it required immense magical energy. Starswirl the Bearded is the most iconic example of magic experimentation and he has indeed performed teleportation through different worlds and even dimensions. However, the experiments were cancelled and prohibited due to it being too unequine. 

Wait. What?

"Every recorded attempt to teleport a live subject…. failed?"

"Yes," The hologram faded away and showed Discord with a small smile. "I might not be able to bring you here alive, but that doesn't mean I can't bring your remains here and resurrect you afterwards."

Luna groaned at the logic. Crazy or not, Discord was still intelligent, with eons worth of experience and wisdom in his brain. It was how he tricked Twilight, one of the smartest ponies she knew, twice after all. "If you spent more of your time in the courts instead of lounging all your free time-wait." She looked at Sam and back to Discord. "How did you teleport his remains here?" 

Discord chuckled. Even if the situation was dire, he could sense her curiosity. She was always more studious and stern that her sister. "If simple unicorns can produce enough magic to teleport objects from here to other dimensions, what's stopping me, the Spirit of Chaos, from pulling objects from those dimensions here? All you have to do is pinpoint, that's the tricky bit."

While Luna went wide-eyed at the explanation, Sam frowned. "So, you're telling me that if I want to go back, I need to die again?" Sam questioned. He did not like the prospect. Being stabbed the chest once was painful enough.

"Well, theoretically, yes, but don't bother." Discord crossed his arms, his trademark smile returning. "Dragging your body to this world was hard enough, but if you're asking me to bring you back to life there, forget about it. Even I don't have enough magic for resurrection at such a distance and your world's lack of magic makes it even harder. Besides, I doubt your squishy human body could handle the stress a second time. In short, you're stuck."

"What do you mean, I'm stuck?!"

"Unless you want me to send you back as a corpse, you're not going anywhere." Discord smile softened. "Human bodies are surprisingly difficult to manipulate with magic. Why do you think I didn't bring you back to life from Earth before I brought you here? Easy, because I  couldn’t until I brought you here, where I can use magic to my fullest. And besides, what purpose would you dying serve? The way I see it, I did you a service."

Although Discord uttered those words casually, Sam had them repeating in his head,

I'm stuck? Here, of all places?

Why? How is this a service? I never asked for this!

All I wanted was to either win or die with everything I had, giving it my all. But now I'm here.

What life do I have now? Here, these damn ponies, why I should I care about them?

What do I do now?

Sam fell to his knees, dropping his sword. His smug smile was gone and his entire appearance seemed to have turned a shade darker. 

Celestia and Luna could not help but pity him. He knew he did not belong here, and he was more than insistent that he be sent back to his own world. Human or not, he needed their help getting out of this world and they were more than happy to help, but if Discord's magical power cannot, what chance did they have?

"Now, let me explain why I brought Sam." Discord walked past his crouching body and looked down at the alicorns. "Celestia, you know just how special he is. And I'm not talking about like those humans from before. Surely, you could find a use suitable for him, one that doesn't make him slice everypony to pieces.."

Celestia flinched. She started to regret giving Sky High the order to gather as many ponies as he could. She did not know Sam's full potential at that moment, and tried to prepare for the worst. 

"Yes, Sam's dangerous, but look at me. I'm more magical and powerful than you, but you and the Elements were willing to reform me. Same deal here. You gave me a chance, now I'm willing to give him one."

Celestia bit her lip. The stakes were too high for her comfort. It may have felt hypocritical of her to deny him his request, but previous experiences with humans left her hesitant. "What if you're wrong? Humans are completely alien to this world. You showed me their potential in the past. Sam is no different, judging from what you showed me. Besides, look at him." She pointed a hoof at a kneeling Sam. "He's in no state to do anything."

"It's been centuries, Celestia, times have changed. As for now, just give him a couple days to adjust. He wasn't always a vigilante. Even as one, he has...admirable qualities I think you ponies could learn from."

"Admirable?" Luna interjected. "From what I see of this human, all I can tell is that he's a rebellious and hot-headed fellow. I tried to tell him to come with me but he simply ran away! I also heard from one of the guards that he saw him simply jump off the chariot mid-flight and entered the castle. Who knows what he could have done by himself?"

"Rebellious and hot-headed, kinda like me!" Discord cackled. "Well, he's just trying to-"

Celestia and Luna screamed.

A red blade lodged itself in Discord's skull, spraying crimson mist into the air. Blood kept spurting as the draconequus was bisected like a fish, all the way through to his snake tail. 

The sisters were petrified by the sight. Throughout their entire lives, nothing aside from the Elements of Harmony could touch him, but here, a human was effortlessly cutting through him like butter. 

After Sam finished filleting Discord, the halves dropped limp to the ground, staining the white marble. The scent of rust quickly filled the air and everyone's nostrils, almost making the princesses gag. 

Sam was breathing so hard he convulsed. His breaths came through clenched teeth and his shoulders rose and dropped every second. He never screamed in frustration before, but he was coming very close to doing so. He raised his sword to his eyes and saw the darker shade contrast with his blade. 

What do I do now?

He's dead, and I can't get back home. But what if he was lying?

No, he sounded completely serious, and Celestia's reaction didn't look forced. This isn't just some trick. I'm… really stuck here.

What purpose do I have? What did Discord bring me here for?

Hell, why should I listen to him anyways? I should have died, and there aren’t any humans to kill here. With me around, things would only get worse.

"Sam, how dare you-what do you think you're doing?!" Celestia sputtered. The brief moment of violence caught her off-guard, and Luna was transfixed at Discord's bloody remains body.

"You don't want me here, I don't need to be here." He sheathed his sword, and walked to the gate.

"Wait!"

In an instant, chains erupted from the floor and wrapped themselves around Sam's arms, halting them and Sam on the spot.

"What!?"

Luna was the first realized what happened. Before anyone else noticed, she saw Discord's corpse glow white before the halves brought themselves together seamlessly. Even the blood slid off the floor like oil and was absorbed. The result was a relatively unharmed and smiling Spirit of Disharmony.

"Well, I can't say I saw that one coming," Discord chuckled, creating a wet towel and rubbing himself free of excess blood. "Catching me off-guard, now that's impressive! I told you this one was special!"

"You!" Sam growled. He tried to move his hands, but they were wrapped tight.

"Discord you..." Celestia tried to speak up, but she turned her focus to Luna instead. "Luna, are you alright?"

"Yes, I...I'm fine, just...surprised," Luna stammered. She raised one of her hooves and saw speck of red on it and her slipper. "But sister, really...what do we do with this human? Sam's clearly dangerous. It was a good thing we brought him here, but what now?"

"Here." Discorded tossed his towel to her, which she grabbed with telekinesis and rubbed herself clean. Having thousands of years of life experience, she knew worse things than blood to be squeamish at. "For now, keep him alive. Get him accustomed to Equestria. That's the best you can do for him."

Luna laughed hollowly. "Keep him alive? What do you want us to do? Keep him locked up in one of our cells, strapped to a straitjacket?"

"No, no need to go that far," Discord chuckled back. He walked up to Sam, who was still restrained by the chains. "Now Sam, I understand your anger, but you can't go ballistic yet."

"That's enough, Discord!" Celestia stomped her hoof and stepped between him and Sam. "We will deal with the human. He's clearly hostile towards you, so I suggest you leave for your safety."

He blew a raspberry at her, but decided against annoying her any further. "Alright, fine, jeez. I need to check up on his friends anyways."

Although the phrase was muttered under his breath, everyone's jaw dropped.

"You brought more of them here!?"

"Don't tell me they're as dangerous as him!"

"What are you on about now? I don't have any friends!"

As soon as he said it, a loud bang was heard outside the room, followed by the shuffling and clashing of metal armor.

"Let me in there!" A muffled yell was heard behind the doors. "That was Minuano, I heard him! He just said "I don't have any friends."! No wonder he was so grumpy and irritable! Let me in! I know just how to cheer him up!"

Sam could not help but groan, even in his melancholic state. "Ugh, the pink one." He stared at his sword again, and a thought came to him. "Wait, Discord!"

He turned around, raising a paw that was ready to snap. "Yes, what do you want?"

Sam knew he did not have time for another full conversation. He could not rave about why or how he was now stranded in a foreign land or how he could return to Earth. Therefore he opted for the most obvious question standing out in his mind. 

"Just want to make sure. This isn't my sword, is it?"

Discord's eyes widened but eventually a smile crept up his face. "Nice guess. You're half-right. It's a replica. Don't you remember? You gave your sword away, remember?" 

He tore his eyes from the fake Murasama to see Discord, whose face softened into what Sam took as a genuine smile.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go now." His paw snapped, causing the chains to retreat into the floor. While Sam's arms and hands were relieved of their bindings, Discord readied his talon and faced the sisters, who glared at him. "Here's a little forecast: expect some windy days in the future. If you've any questions, ask Sam."

Before either of them could say another word, he disappeared in a flash of light. 

The dark alicorn growled and stomped her hoof.	"Blast him! We offer him our friendship and this is how he repays us?! I thought you had him reformed, sister?"

Celestia rubbed her forehead. Too much was happening in too short a time. All she wanted was a private talk with the human, but this new revelation made her head spin. "I saw him after his reformation, and he was genuinely remorseful, Luna. But now, we have more important things to take care of." She relaxed herself with a deep sigh before speaking to Sam. "Now I understand if you are still angry, but please put your sword away."

For a moment, Sam glared at Celestia. However, he could not think of any alternatives at the moment and relented. He was still stunned by Discord's news, but he reminded himself to remain strong. Weakness was one thing, but showing it to others as he did was disgraceful. "Alright."

"Good. Now, understand-oh, thank you." Luna had just handed her the towel, slightly browned from the blood. She hastily accepted it and scrubbed herself from any contrasting stains on her coat. "I had my guards bring you here so you may not harm any of my citizens. I'm sorry if they were...less than subtle about their approach."

Sam returned a small smile. "Well, they brought me here as fast as they could. I still need answers, though, for a lot of things."

"Of course. So do we. That's another reason we brought you here." Finished cleaning herself, her towel disappeared and she walked to the doors. Things were finally getting under control. "And I have a very special audience, so please stay calm."

"Yes, relax. I'm sure if you cooperate, things will go smoothly," Luna urged. However, she was still doubtful of the human. No one but her, Celestia, and Discord knew about them. How would they explain him to the rest of the populous, let alone the Element bearers, and worse, how would they behave if they knew of Sam's temper with Discord? 

Celestia nevertheless smiled at her sister's tact and opened the door, revealing a thick row of guards blocking the doorway. Twilight and her friends were trying to restrain Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash from breaking through the ranks, the latter having lost her patience and tried to break the door down. When they noticed the doors finally open, all activity ceased and everypony turned to their princesses.

Celestia was the first to break the silence. "Now, everypony. We've had our discussions. Now I'm sure all of you have many questions-"

"Tch, I bet you my sword that that pink one's bursting with them," Sam scoffed. All of the guard glared at him for interrupting the princess, but he kept a small grin. He saw her sporting the widest grin he ever saw and could not help but slightly chuckle.

"As I was saying," Celestia sighed. "The issue has been resolved, and I will take it from here. Captain Bright Shield."

A black and white unicorn shouted among the crowd of guards "Yes, Your Highness!"

"Return the guards to their original posts. I understand you've had the entire castle on alert to find the creature?"

A tinge of red appeared on his cheeks. "Yes, Your Highness!" He was simply being cautious. He never thought he would be admonished for thinking about the safety of everypony!

However, instead of a harsh lecture, she only gave a satisfied "Good work. You're dismissed."

Bright blinked at the succinct order, but he did not hesitate. "Yes, Your Highness!" he said, and after saluting, he faced his fellow guards and shouted "Inform every guard in the castle to return to their posts. We're no longer on high alert."

A chorus of "Yes sir!" later, the guards dispersed and only the princesses, Sam, Twilight and her friends remained in the corridor.

"Now that that's taken care of, the castle will be back to normal in no time." She turned to Twilight, who had been fidgeting on the spot. As her mentor, she recognized it from the numerous times she taught her something new. "Yes, Twilight, I received your letter concerning you and your friends' arrival. I want to hear all about your impressions of Sam."

"Sam?" Pinkie spoke up. "I thought his name was Minauno!"

Everypony's eyes looked at him expectantly for this mishap. Recognizing the name and its validity, Celestia's saw this as an opportunity to judge Sam firsthoof. Honesty was a part of the Elements of Harmony, after all. 

Sam bit his lip. He did not like to delve into his past, but he noticed the piercing look on Celestia. He knew she was trying to read him, and he could not risk tipping her off. "My real name is Samuel. Just call me Sam. Minuano's just a code name I went by."

"Oooh..." Pinkie widened her eyes in wonder. "Oh I see what you did there! Everypony kept saying Minauno was your name, but you never mentioned it was a code name! You're good!"

"So what are you then?" Rainbow spoke up. "A spy? A secret agent?" Despite the hostile tone, her intrigue and excitement was evident from hearing "code name".

"Before we ask anything, there's still one thing left to take care of," Celestia said. She too was eager for questioning, but she had to prepare for her new guest.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

As soon as he asked, a low growl was heard. Specifically, a growl of an empty stomach. Sam looked at the six ponies, while they stared back, thinking the exact same thing:

Was that you?

"Uh, that was me." A pink hoof was raised in the air. When everypony stared at her, Pinkie shrugged. "What? You know how fast Minua-I mean, Sam runs?"

Luna let out a hearty laugh. "Yes, I suppose we can have a late lunch. Come, let us go to the dining room."

With Celestia and Luna leading the group, Sam followed behind everypony. However, before another step was taken another growl was heard. 

Eyes were on her again, but Pinkie shook her head so fast it was a blur. "That wasn't me, I swear!"

Sam blinked several times before looking down at his own stomach. "Okay, that was me."