//------------------------------// // Inquiry // Story: Bad Memories // by brohoof22 //------------------------------// Luna continued to follow Matt, invisible still. Matt seemed extremely uncomfortable, and continued to glance at Luna's direction, seeming to know exactly where she was. "How does he know where I am?" Luna thought. "Even when I move side to side, he still follows my location." Suddenly, Matt whirled around, and again, stared right at Luna's location in the air behind him. He quickly picked up a pebble, and threw it to where Luna was flying. Caught off guard, she narrowly dodged the stone. However, the sudden movement of her wings had displaced a bit of air. And when the pebble sailed through the displacement, it seemed to arc down faster then what was natural. Luna froze in her place, staring at Matt to see if he had detected the unnatural pebble movement. He had. Matt's eyes widened, and he turned around to begin running down the street. Luna easily followed by air, noting his movement and sense of urgency. "Great" Luna thought. "I just made him more suspicious then he already was." Matt continued his sprint, and eventually ended up at Twilight Sparkle's home, opening the door. Luna landed and moved over towards the window, attempting to listen in on any conversation. "Oh, hello Matt!" Said Twilight. "I gathered up all of your stuff and put it inside of your room. Oh, and I picked up Rocky as well, Fluttershy made a small bed for him too." Matt slowly nodded, looking around the room for any apparent eavesdroppers. "Um, thanks Twilight..." Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked around the room, looking past the window where Luna was peeking through, who was still invisible. "Are you okay Matt? It seems like you are looking for some-pony." Matt more or less ignored her and looked around for a few more minutes, then replied. "No no, I'm fine. Well goodnight Twilight." He started walking down the hall to his bedroom. Twilight looked confused but still did not say anything. She said goodnight to spike and then proceeded upstairs for bed. Luna moved away from the window and then flew around the house to look into Matt's room. She looked through the window and saw Matt hugging Rocky and then sat on the bed for about ten minutes, thinking. Luna then saw Matt take out a small ring with a diamond on it, and gazed into the diamond. After five minutes, and several tears, he kissed the diamond and placed it on his nightstand. Matt then crawled into bed, with his feet hanging off the back since the bed was made for a pony, and laid his head on the pillow, quickly going to sleep. Luna was about to leave until Matt started tossing and turning in his sleep, in obvious distress. When this continued for several minutes, Luna made up her mind. Since Luna was the princess of the night, she also had some control over dreams of creatures. Dissipating into an vapor form, she went through the window and started viewing Matt's dream discreetly... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ...Dust flew everywhere, clouding Matt's vision. He could not see, and all he could hear was a loud, piercing ringing in his ears. His mouth tasted of powdered concrete and blood. He heard shouting not too far away, but it seemed so distant, disembodied... "...Get up! For god's sake get up Matt!" Cried the woman. Matt was spun around until he was facing upwards to the sky, then he felt a solid slap across the cheek, which snapped him out of it. "Wha...what?" Matt said, struggling to get up. "Oh thank god, you're okay!" She helped Matt to his feet. "We have got to get out of here!" Matt shook his head, and said nothing as he ran to the sniper rifle that was ten yards away. Picking it up, he checked the ammunition remaining in the magazine. He had two bullets left and he had no extra magazines remaining. He jogged with the rifle back to his old spot after he checked to see if Rocky was alright, which he was, and then took his sniper position on the ledge. He scoped in, and aimed his crosshair on the tank. He moved up slightly and saw the Russian manning the turret on the top of the tank, which was pinning down any American solders that could have destroyed the tank. Matt focused his rifle on the Russian. *Click* "Fuck!" Matt yelled. His rifle had misfired the round. Quickly pulling out the magazine, he continued to keep th rifle down towards the Russian side as he waited for the bullet to fire. There would be no telling when it would fire, and he couldn't shoot the other round as that would cause an explosion. *CRACK* The gun finally fired, and ricocheted off of a overturned car, and then hit a Russian solder's AK-74 rifle, knocking it out of his grip with a surprised face. Matt stared. "How in the hell did that even have a chance of happening?" He thought, nearly laughing. Matt then took the magazine with a single round, and rammed it into the sniper rifle. He then scoped back onto the communist grunt manning the turret mounted on the tank. *CRACK* The bullet pierced the man's throat, blood gushing out between the man's hands as he tried to staunch the bleeding. The communist finally stiffened, and fell across the turret he had just been manning, burning his cold, dead skin. The tank, once again, began rotating back to where Matt was positioned. Before an American solder burst out of hiding with a scavenged RPG and fired it at the tank. *BOOM!* The tank exploded in a shower of metal and oil and echoed throughout the long city street. Using the scope to scout around the battlefield for a little longer, Matt finally threw the rifle as hard as he could over to the Russian side. He turned and walked away hoping that the heavy rifle would hit an enemy on the head. He walked back to the woman and Rocky, beckoning them to the door. "Alright, the American forces are out in front of the hotel at this very moment and are moving up. This is our only chance to get out alive, so, we are taking it. Let's stop by the room so we can pack up some more gear in case we get separated form the battalion. I am talking about clothes, communications, that sort of thing, but do not over weigh yourself, we need to move fast and long." Matt said to the woman, who just simply nodded. As they all ran down the stairs, they finally came across their floor and ran to their room. Passing by all the blood and bodies in the hallway, Matt and the woman began packing. Matt was in charge of everything that was not clothes while the woman was in charge of the complete opposite. Matt grabbed a duffel bag, opened it, and began throwing items inside of it. First he grabbed his camping gear that he had brought, which was his tent, sleeping bags, and his bow/arrows. Next, he grabbed his laptop bag which had his phone and laptop, along with his iPod touch for communication, and portable entertainment. He then grabbed Rocky's food and some treats, along with a tennis ball. Lastly, he packed away a solar-charged car battery that he made when he was in college. This battery was charged by solar energy and then could be tapped into by his modified power strip. Swinging the duffel bag around his shoulder, he turned to the woman, who threw a bag of clothes, that could fit inside of his half-full bag. After unzipping the bag, throwing the clothes in then re-zipping, they were ready to go outside. Well, Matt was ready, the woman looked to be about to throw up. Rocky was jumping around everywhere, obviously nervous as well. Picking up the duffel bag and his rifle, Matt bit back bile as he once again crossed the blood stained hallway to the door of his room. They then began running down the stairs again until they made it to the ground floor, where there was another metal door. As soon as he opened the door to the lobby, he ran to the corner and threw up, along with the woman. The lobby had been massacred, civilians and solders of both sides that had been inside when the bombs hit were all dead. Some had their bodies thrown apart by grenades or when they flew through the window, shot off by the bombs that had destroyed the streets. Looking to the main desk, he saw several bodies slung across the top, staining the deep colored wood with crimson. Looking behind the large desk, he saw several bodies of American Army men and women with their respective gear. Matt called the woman and Rocky over to where he was standing, then he dropped his AK-74 and picked up the familiar M-16 rifle. He also undressed a man and a woman from their vests and slid it on themselves. After gathering up three grenades, a flash grenade, and any extra ammunition for his rifle and pistol, he handed the woman a M-16 rifle. Matt knew that this would matter little since she had no experience with these weapons, but he and his fellow solders knew this gun better than the Russian standard and could help her easier with the American rifle. After gearing up, Matt looked outside to see both sides at a stalemate. Neither side gaining the advantage. He told the woman to stay close to him, and held onto Rocky's collar, and charged out into the red tinted sunlight. Sprinting and zig-zagging in between the cars, he ran to the farthest point from the fighting, but where there was still solders. There were two American solders behind an overturned car there. "Here." Matt pushed the woman down behind the car, in between the two solders, who had begun to stare at him. "Stay here and follow the solders, but as far back as you can, I don't want you getting shot." One of the solders finally spoke to Matt. "Who the hell are you?" Matt grunted. "Corporal Matt White of Marine Specialist Team 64." "Okay...Why are you here? That detachment is not in Paris." Asked the second solder. Matt pointed to the hotel that they had been staying at. "I took a vacation here while I was on leave. Only my first day here." "Damn...hope you got your money back." The solder said the last part with a chuckle. "Fuck you. If she." Matt pointed to the women. "Gets hurt, I will personally find both of you, cut off your hands, and shove them so far up your ass that your brain will get a massage. Capiche?" The solders nervously nodded their heads, then began to fire down the street to the oncoming Russian forces. Pivoting on his heels, Matt ran back to the front lines with Rocky and then slid behind an car that had skidded sideways. As soon as he made it to cover, he peeked his head over the car to see the oncoming communist troops. He began picking off the solders one by one until some bullets whizzed by his head, forcing him to duck. Three Russians then rounded the side of the car, seeing him instantly. "Well shit..." Two of the Russians charged at him instantly, being too close to raise their guns at him. Rocky jumped at the solder to Matt's right and began his work on him, while the one on Matt's right charged at him with a combat knife. Dropping his rifle, Matt reached down to his two knives in his boots, and pulled them out, reflecting the dull sunlight. He then twisted the two knives in his hands reverse style, catching the Russian slightly off guard. Not many American solders had two knives, but this one seemed to know what he was doing, but he was too close already to back off and then began swinging at Matt. Matt caught the blade on his left knife and then delivered a punch to the Russian's gut, sending the red-coated solder backwards, but he quickly recovered, swinging the knife again. This time, Matt caught the solder's knife using his right knife, and flicked his wrist, sending the Russian combat knife skidding down the road. Matt quickly stabbed the communist's gut with his left, then dragged the solder closer to his face. "You picked the wrong day to get out of Moscow motherfucker." Matt quickly pulled the knife from the solder, spun around him, then impaled both of his knives into the Russian's back. When he withdrew the blades, the Russian fell on his knees, and then fell flat on his face. Matt was about to sit down for a moment when he remembered, there was a third solder. As if on cue, he was forced to the ground by the butt of a rifle, he rolled over only to face the barrel end of a rifle pointed straight at his face. His attacker began saying something in Russian, but then stopped abruptly. The communist looked down to his chest, and saw a gleaming red blade impaled through his body. The blade receded, and the solder fell over, dead. Matt looked up above him and saw an outstretched hand, grasping it, he was pulled back to his feet. "Ugh...thanks..." He turned to face his savior and they both froze at the sight of each other. "Sgt. Richards!?!?" "Corporal White?" Sgt. Richards lead his squad when they were deployed in Italy, he was there when they got pinned down by some other Russian forces. He had also saved his life on numerous occasions, including this one. "What the hell are you doing here Corporal?" Richards asked. "I was on vacation in this hotel during leave." He geustered to the hotel next to them. "And I barely escaped with my life. What are you doing here? Are you on leave too?" "I had nothing to go back for, so I volunteered to lead security groups through Paris, as you can see, we were not exactly prepared to take on a full force." "What exactly happened anyway? One moment we were sleeping peacefully and the next I was thrown out of bed by a bomb." He sighed. "Long story short, they made a new stealth system and the took half the city before we knew what hit us." Matt nodded, called for Rocky, then once again began shooting at the oncoming forces, whether that be by gun or by knife, with Richards fighting alongside him. Matt continued to hold them off while Richards put two fingers up to his headset, listening for a radio signal. "Alright, listen up. HQ is saying that there is a whole shitload of commies coming down this street, and back there is already taken." He motioned behind the front lines. "Paris is just about lost and we are isolated, so they are telling us to escape by any means necessary. We can't get air support either." Matt began looking around for an exit, and his eyes fell on a closed manhole. He motioned towards the manhole and Richards went and picked the cover off the hole. He radioed for all the solders to run here ASAP. Matt went to find the woman. When he found her, he was relived that she was okay, and then helped her down the manhole. He got a fellw solder to carry down Rocky. Matt was the last one down, maneuvering his heavy bag into the hole and shutting the cover closed. They were all thrust into the darkness of the sewers... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Enough." Luna said quietly as she exited Matt's dream. She had seen enough blood, red coated humans, and of the woman to know that this was certainly not a happy dream. Luna looked back to where Matt was sleeping, and he was tossing and turning in bed, muttering. Luna dipped her horn down to Matt's head, and he stopped writhing in bed and began to sleep peacefully, his dream over. *Grrrrrrr* Luna looked to the corner and saw the dog, Rocky, growling softly at Luna. Luna put her hoof up to her mouth. "Shush." The dog stopped growling and began staring at her quizzically, trying to figure out what she would do next. Luna turned into a mist and drifted back outside of the window. When she was out she returned to her physical form and began flying back to the Canterlot Royal Palace. She had to tell Celestia about what she had seen in Matt's dreams... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt woke up quietly and peacefully, the first time in a while. He recognized his dream, not unlike the other dreams he had. Shuddering, he pulled himself out of his bed, using his crutch, he limped over to where the bathroom was. Matt washed his face in the sink basin, then looked up at the mirror. He saw a rugged, face stare back at him. Its beard unkempt, his face pale, his eyes with dark circles underneath, and his dirty brown hair. Man, I look like shit..." Matt washed his face off some more to get out all the grime, and then left the bedroom. Matt checked his watch, 5:30, and then paced around to find out something to do for the next few hours. All of the "ponies" were still asleep and so was that small purple dragon. Matt woke up Rocky, gave him some of the food he had packed, and then began rummaging through his pack again, seeing what was recovered. He found his M-9 pistol, still loaded, in his duffel bag with its holster. Odd, one would think that this should be removed after he was found. Stupid fucking scientists. After checking his pistol, and his rifle which was also recovered, for any signs of damage, he holstered his M-9 pistol to his waist, just as a precaution. He also moved his prized solar battery in front of the window to gather up solar energy. With Rocky following Matt, he walked out the bedroom and into the main body of the library. Matt was not hungry, so he began browsing the library for its contents, to see what exactly these scientists had made up. After picking up a copy of, "A Brief History of Equestria", Matt sat down at a desk and began reading. He was becoming more and more astounded as he read, the whole story seemed so...perfect. To write anything like this in a fictional sense must have been astoundingly hard for anybody, even for a group of writers working on this at once. The only other way of this being so well written, was if this had actually taken place, and the author had seen everything first-hand. After reading the summary of "The Great Equestrian War" He checked the cover again for the author, but all it said was, "Princess Celestia". "Princess Celestia huh? What a bunch of baloney!" Matt laughed and returned the book to its shelf, and continued to browse the shelves for a bit longer, Rocky watching him from the corner, gnawing on a few tennis balls. Matt eventually returned to his room and gathered up his solar battery, and his laptop and iPod from his bag and returned to his desk. Placing the heavy battery on the floor, Matt plugged in his laptop and powered it on, resulting in a loud start up noise. "Alright, so I get shot, and yet, this laptop still works perfectly, go figure" Matt said to himself. Matt checked his watch again, 7:00, and deduced that these pony things would likely be getting up at any moment. Scoffing, Matt logged into windows, and opened up Team Fortress 2. Obviously, there was no internet connection, so all he could do was play training mode. He did not mind however, his laptop was very powerful and could sustain a number of bots. The map "Dustbowl" was selected and he began playing as the engineer. He was upgrading his sentry until he was interrupted by a voice above him. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked groggily. Matt stared a few minutes and then said, coldly. "Playing a game" "Sentry down!" Played the laptop. Matt cursed softly, those damn spies... Twilight saw this strange device that sat on the desk, quickly woke up, and ran downstairs to get a better look. She stared a the moving pictures on the device, enthralled. Matt eventually got a bit bothered by this and turned to Twilight. "Can I help you?" He said sternly. "What is that device? Its amazing!" Matt raised an eyebrow. "Uh, its a laptop. Why? whats so good about it?" Twilight looked to Matt, amazed. "I have never seen this before in my life! What exactly does it do?!?" Twilight levitated a paper and quill over and waited for Matt's answer. Matt seriously couldn't believe why this...creation would ask that question. Honestly, what are these damn commies trying to test? And what for? The silence was interrupted by a loud belching followed by a soft jingle from upstairs. "Aw COME ON! I was dreaming about me finally getting my wings!" Cried Spike from above. Twilight placed the paper and quill back down. "Excuse me." Twilight then began galloping upstairs to Spike. Matt stared in that direction for a few seconds, then returned back to his game, ripping through solders with his mini-gun. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey Spike, got a letter?" "Uhhhhh, yea. Twilight, you might want to come see this." Spike said, rolling up the parchment. Twilight frowned and levitated the letter in front of her. Unraveling it, the note read. Dear Twilight Sparkle, It would appear that you were correct in your assumption of Matt, saying he was suspicious of you and everypony else. Luna was watching Matt wander through the streets of Ponyville in secret. Matt appeared to be studying every last brick and plank of the buildings. While we do not know why he was doing this exactly, we now have some information about his past. Luna followed Matt into your home, and watched as Matt slept. He was tossing and turning in his bed, mumbling incoherently. When Luna traveled into his dream, she saw something...traumatic. We will explain in greater detail later today. At about 1:00 this afternoon, we will be in Ponyville. I want to ask Matt a series of questions regarding his past, and why he is here. I do not know if he is hostile, or outright friendly, but with the information you have given me, it is likely he will not want to speak at all of it. Regardless, I need you to have Matt inside of your library when we get there. Sincerely, Celestia P.S. Luna here, also make sure that...long metal thing, is secured away from Matt when we are there. Same with the smaller metal item, similar to the longer one. I have good reason to believe that these are seriously dangerous when used with intention. Be discreet about our coming, Matt will likely panic if he knows we are on our way. Twilight rolled the letter back up, and placed it on her desk. She was beginning to worry about what would happen when they got here. Twilight looked at the clock, 7:30, and began thinking of ways to preoccupy Matt's time. He would stil be suspicious, so she must be careful. "Twilight?" Spike said. "Spike, I need you to go into his room, and pull the long metal item out and hide it somewhere. Do not let him see you do it, or else it will only raise suspicions. I will look around for anything else he has in his possession that looks similar to it" Spike nodded and then ran downstairs, to Matt's bedroom. Twilight looked outside and saw everypony going outside for their work. Since it was a Sunday, Twilight was relieved that the library was closed, it would make it easier to keep Matt from freaking out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike quickly ran downstairs, but then slowed when he was in sight of Matt. Matt was using some sort of device that showed pictures moving on it. Spike could stare at it for hours, but he slapped himself, snapping out of it. He quietly moved past Matt, and went down the hall into his room. He looked in the corner and saw the pile of stuff. Ranging from clothes, to bags, and other knick knacks that he, and perhaps Equestria, did not know of. He quickly began searching the bags for the long metal object, which he found almost immediately, and began looking for a place to hide the odd contraption. *Thud, Thud, Thud* "Oh hay!" Spike quietly muttered. Twilight's steps were much lighter than this, and paced differently. This must have been Matt, coming to his room. Spike looked desperately around to find a place to put the item. If he placed the gun back into the pile, it would stick out, and it was on the bottom earlier, Matt would surely find out that he had been rummaging around. But if he hid it now, then Matt might not know at all, since the metal piece was in the bottom of the pile. Spike looked to his left at the window, threw it open, tossed the black object outside, then quickly slammed it shut. The door opened. "Spike? What are you doing in here?" Asked Matt. "Oh nothing, just cleaning up the house. Twilight always tells me to do her stupid chores, like cooking or cleaning. You know." Spike replied, trying to keep a straight face as he began making Matt's bed. Matt raised an eyebrow, and continued to study Spike for a few more moments, before shrugging and going to his bathroom. Spike let out a sigh of relief and then climbed out the window, shutting it as he left. He picked up the black, metal object and moved it behind the house. Spike then placed the object inside one of the thick bushes that lingered up next to the house. Spike sighed, finally done with the ordeal, and then proceeded to make himself a sapphire and jade sandwich, to help him relax. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight watched Matt use his strange device that he called a laptop, for most of the day. After he was done with the invention, he began gazing out the window, and stared at every pony that walked by. He seemed especially interested, or agitated, when a red pony would go trotting by. Twilight made note of this just in case. It was about noon when Matt moved from the window absentmindedly, and began browsing the various books in her library. Matt tended to focus on the history and science books. He laughed at almost every single page, like it was all a big joke. Twilight checked the clock after a time, 1:00, and prepared for the entry of the princesses. Twilight looked towards Matt, and froze. There was a flash of light being shone dully from his hip. It was there, Twilight saw, the other, smaller version of the metal contraption. Stupid, stupid, stupid! how could I forget the one most important thing I had to do! Twilight thought. Twilight tried to think of a way to get the device away from his hip without his noticing. To her dismay, there was no solution that would work in time for the Princesses. She looked outside again, and saw the Princesses carriages being set down in front of her house. Twilight ran outside to intercept and warn the two royal figures. "Ah, hello my faithful student!" Celestia started. "Is Matt still inside?" Luna moved up next to her sister. "Does he have access to the metal contraptions?" Twilight slowly, solemnly nodded. "Yes he is inside, but he still has the smaller version of the metal item. What is it anyway?" Luna replied. "When I was in his dream, it appeared to be a weapon. What it does, and what it is called, I do not know. But you say he still has the smaller one, where is it now?" Twilight sighed. "On his hip." Luna flinched slightly. but quickly regained her posture. "No matter, Celly, are you ready?" Celestia nodded her head. "Yes" The three began walking back inside, while the guards all stayed outside, save for one guard for both Celestia and Luna. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt continued to feel that something was amiss. Spike was "cleaning his room", Twilight had been watching him just about all day, not saying anything. Something was happening today, and he hated not knowing things. Matt moved over to the corner where Rocky was sleeping, and began stroking his fur. Matt heard the door swing open, and without looking, said. "Twilight, what is going on, and who is with you?" All three of the ponies were taken aback. How did he know there were more ponies there without looking? "I know what you are thinking, you are wondering how I knew that without looking. Well, it comes from being forced to listen for the slightest noise, and always having to watch your back every day for two years straight." Matt said, still not looking in their direction. Celestia nervously cleared her throat. "Yes well...allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Celestia, ruler of Equestria. And this is my sister, Luna, who leads alongside me." At the name of "Celestia" Matt stood up and turned around to the new ponies. Celestia and Matt now both knew what each other had looked like. Matt stood tall, actually about an inch taller than Celestia, while Matt sized up Celestia. She had a flowing, sparkling mane that had all of the bright colors of the rainbow, had wings and a horn, and had a presence of authority around her. "Is that so?" Matt said with a touch of sarcasm. "You are the great Celestia, one who wrote many of these books." Matt gestured to the bookshelves around him. "And the one who rules Equestria with a gentle, but firm hand...or hoof." "Yes that is correct." Celestia replied. "And now you want to ask me questions, about how I got here, what my background is, all of that stuff. That right?" "Yes" "Well I am not telling you bullshit." Celestia was shocked, along with Twilight. No-pony had ever talked with such vulgar in front of royalty. And Matt also seemed to read their minds! Luna however, was not as surprised at Matt's outburst. After all, his memories are something that one does not forget easily. Matt turned back around and began petting his dog once again, who was just glaring at the three ponies in front of the door. "Ugh, whats with all the yappin?" Said Spike as he walked down the stairs, he had obviously been sleeping since his eyes were all droopy. He stopped walking when he saw the two princesses, and Matt simply paying more attention to his dog rather than the virtual goddesses that were in this room. "Care to elaborate? Why do you feel so strongly about not telling us anything?" Celestia asked. Matt said nothing, he sighed and then sat on the ground, crossing his legs, and simply sat there, staring at the floor. "We know about what happened to you Matt, at least, we know some of what happened." Celestia said. Matt shook, and looked at the two princesses that were in front of him. "What?" "Luna here watched your dream last night. Having power over the night she also has the ability to manipulate and watch others dreams. She saw the destroyed streets of the city you call Paris, the red-coated men, who she did not hear the name of, and the woman that was with you." Celestia sighed. "I can understand now why you seemed suspicious when you woke up in the hospital, as Twilight here noted in one of her letters. I sent Luna here to watch you as you were in Ponyville, When she told me of your dreams, then I knew why you were so tense." Celestia drew another breath before speaking again. "Luna here told me she saw blood, lots of blood, bodies, exploding machines, knives, and everything else that we do not know of. Luna eventually had enough and stopped your dream when you moved into the hole." Twilight and Matt were thunderstruck. Twilight could not believe what she was hearing, that Matt had first hand experience of watching people die, sometimes by his own hoof...er hand. Matt however, was surprised, but yet not surprised. If these Russian scientists could basically make an entire world in his head, then them know this information was not quite as surprising as one would think it would be. There was a long period of silence, lasting about twenty minutes or so. During that time, Matt continued to sit with a thoughtful look on his face, thinking hard. The long silence was interrupted by laughter, Matt's laughter. "ha ha ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA!" Matt stood up, and looked at the ponies with a penetrating stare. "If you honestly think this will make me talk! Then you are sadly mistaken!" Matt's face slowly formed into a crazed look. "I have gone through hell and back! And now you motherfucking communist bastards are experimenting on my mind, to get me to talk! Well it WONT WORK!" Matt drew the small metal object from his hip and pointed it to his head. The three ponies stumbled backwards in shock. "I don't know if this will work at all, I might actually die, or I will just wake up. Honestly, I hope I just die, so I can join my friends that were shot down by you red uniformed pieces of shit. If I wake up however, I will be sure to look all of you bastards..." Matt looked up at the ceiling. "And say things so horrible that you will kill yourselves for knowing that you are the shit of the earth!" Celestia was mortified, Matt thought that he was being tested on by those men that he was running from. Celestia did not know the entire story, but she did assume something like this was on his mind. Celestia did not expect however, for Matt to point his weapon at his own head. Rocky was stood up from his corner, and looked around the room with frantic eyes. Taking a deep breath, Celestia tried to talk to Matt. "Matt..." She said in a gentle tone. "What makes you think that this world is fake?" "...You have to be shitting me. Did you honestly think that I accepted this world for what it was, and had no doubts about it! HA! There are unicorns, pegasi, regular "earth-ponies" and now alicorns. And they fucking talk. There is magic, manticores, and god knows what else! This is like some little girls show!" "There is not any of this where you come from?" Asked Celestia, genuinely confused. "What? Of course there is not! You should all know this! Your gig is up you Russians! So just stop this stupid charade!" "Matt, this is real. This is not some figment in your head, this is real life. Equestria, ponies, manticores, magic, its all real. I can understand why you would think otherwise, in fact, I think that if any of my little ponies were to go to where you are from, they would have the same reaction. Did you feel your wounds when you were hit by the manticore, or did you feel the sun as it shone on your face?" Matt faltered, the pistol in his grip hung loosely for a moment as he thought about what Celestia said. But his maddened mindset just denied all reason thrown at him. "LIAR! This is all some crazy experiment to get answers out of me!" "Matt, even with what your technology that we saw, I honestly don't think that any-pony from where you are from could possibly alter one's mind so accurately. In fact, the only pony in Equestria that can do that is Luna right here." Celestia indicated to the smaller, dark blue alicorn next to her. "Also, Twilight has observed that you have been reading our history books, many of which written by myself. The amount of time to fabricate that much information so chronologically and perfectly would be inconceivable. The only reason it is recorded at all is because my sister and I have lived for thousands of years." Luna stepped up to her sister, leaving Twilight behind who was still paralyzed with how the discussion had turned. "Matt, what did you dream of after you entered the hole?" Luna asked. Matt stared at the small navy blue alicorn, still holding the pistol to his head. His arm had begun to hurt from stretching the bullet wound so much. "Uh...I...I was in a meadow, with flowers everywhere and trees surrounding the clearing." "Were the flowers blue and yellow, and the trees oak and maple?" Luna asked. Matt stared. "How...how did you...?" Luna's horn glowed, and a cloud materialized in the middle of the library. An image of a meadow with flowers and trees was shown within the cloud from a first person view. "Remember? I can alter alter and watch any-pony's dreams. I am the only one that can do this, as Celly here told you." "Do you believe us now?" Celestia asked Matt. Matt had a thoughtful, yet slightly crazed look on his face. This all makes sense.... Matt thought. I can't believe it but it makes sense what they said. I am in some crazy world, where the myths on earth are reality here. Matt thought through all of the information that his brain had absorbed in such a short amount of time. And after about ten minutes of thinking, Matt slowly pulled the pistol away from his head. All of the ponies, and Spike from the stairs, sighed a collective sigh of relief. Celestia's voice was now much more relaxed. "Matt, I am sure that this must be hard for you to take in all at once. Why don't you rest for the rest of the day. We will talk with Twilight here and give her a few instructions, which she will relay most of them to you. I will get the top scientists of Canterlot to find out how we can get you back home." Matt simply nodded absentmindedly, beckoned over to Rocky, and began slowly walking to his room. Matt opened the door, walked inside, and then shut the door behind him. Celestia turned to Twilight, who had gotten over her paralysis, and levitated a piece of paper and a quill over. "My faithful student, I need you to allow him to stay in your home for the time being, or any-pony's home that both you, Matt, and the resident feel comfortable with. I also need you to gather up some information about his home. As in his geography, politics, social standards, that sort of thing. I also need you to find out about some of his equipment that he brought with him, but don't be too pushy. Lastly, I need you to observe his medical condition until he is of a healthy stature." "Yes princess Celestia" Twilight said, nodding. "Great." Celestia wrote Twilight's instructions on the piece of paper and levitated it over to Twilight, who then placed the instructions on her desk. "I expect a letter or two during the next week Twilight, to show what you have learned. Come Luna, we must return to Canterlot and hold public court. The ponies of Equestria may be peaceful, however their problems continue to pester their lives." "Yes sister" Luna replied. As the two royal sisters boarded their chariot, and flew off back to the capital, did Twilight finally notice Spike on the stairs. "How much did you see Spike?" Twilight sighed. "Everything following the first bit of vulgarity." He replied. "Alright, it wasn't going to be a secret for long anyway. I will call the girls over later today and explain what has just happened recently." Twilight said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note Sorry about the chapter delay everyone. School and a little bit of writer's block kicked its way into my time. But I now have some new ideas flowing so the next chapter should not take as long. I hope...