Chapter 7: Departure
A.N.: The start of this chapter may be a bit rough...
(Steel's P.O.V.)
Sitting there with my arms crossed as best as I could with my full suit of armor on, I continued to look over the small table and at Celestia. I had let her tell me everything there was to know about Ponyville, its surrounding countryside, and those I was expected to meet. While I had let her talk for the entire time, I had waited until she was finished to give her my own proposal for what she wanted. Now however, I watched her eyes shift back up to my own, before she said, "Steel, I must stand firm on my decision."
Dropping my head, I let out a sigh as I thought of the best way to say this, but I said, "Celestia, if I am to require protection from the wildlife, then I will need my weapons back." Lifting my head back up as I formulated the way to get my meaning across even more, I looked directly into her eyes as I said, "You are sending a human into an area that has had attacks in the past without his weapons. The reason humans use weapons is to protect ourselves from those that wish to harm us, and mind you, without my weapons, I can be killed very easily."
"Now Steel, I doubt that something like that would happen. You have p-"
It wasn't what I would usually do, but I cut her off as I spoke a little harsher, but soft enough that my point would hopefully hit home, "And what if something like that did happen? The first human on Equestria would be dead because the Princess doubted his self-restraint. I already told you that I will only use them if it is required."
The expression on Celestia's face made it seemed that she was ready to refuse more than ever now, but she didn't say anything. Looking to the side and near the doors, I wondered how much the guards outside were hearing. I know Celestia and I both spoke softly, but our voices did carry across the room a few times before during our talks.
Turning back towards Celestia as I heard the sound of something shuffling, I saw her wings moving a bit, before she looked towards me with a remorseful expression. I felt my frown growing, but it stopped as she said, "Alright Steel, I have full faith that you will be responsible with your weapons... but please, don't make me regret allowing you to carry your them..."
Smirking as I stood up, I gave a nice stretch, feeling various parts of my back loosening up, before I said, "Now Celestia, what happened to having full faith?" Chuckling a bit, I quickly cut it off, before I realized something else, and I asked, "Princess, when am I supposed to be departing to Ponyville to meet Twilight?"
Walking over to the door that led to her balcony, I looked out and over the sunny day, which had a few clouds in the air. It was a beautiful sight... one I hadn't gotten to see in a long time. I may have been here for a few days already, but I had never really been or looked outside during the daytime. I was so used to it being nighttime while I fought alongside my brothers and sisters in arms, or the sky would always be stained with black smoke or purple hulls from covenant ships before glassing the world.
I shuddered, before I was pulled from my revere as Celestia's voice broke through, and I was being dragged back into reality and away from those horrible nightmares. "...later today. Would you prefer to go by chariot, or by balloon?"
"Whatever gets me there faster will do just fine."
Pulling my mind back into the present, I focused on Celestia, if only to rid my recent memories from fully coming back and haunting my mind.
Reaching a hand back, I made sure I had everything on me, from my knife, to my pistol, my med kit sack, and finally, my tactical equipment. Hefting the small device as the chariot approached down the road with a pair of Pegasus pulling it, I slid it onto my hip opposite of my magnum. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Celestia still wasn't here, but how could I blame her, she was a ruler, and before I left, she was tending to a large stack of papers.
Looking down the street, I saw a chariot being pulled by two of the Pegasus pony guards I had seen around the castle. The chariot wasn't anything special, just an open backed wheeled carriage that was typical to roman era. I can only hope that Ponyville is as small as it seems, but if things really do head south; only the Princesses are larger than me.
The chariot came to a stop ten feet from me, and from the looks of the two ponies as I approached, they weren't too excited about my strange appearance. I couldn't blame them though, as I was nearly a third larger than the largest standard pony, and I probably didn't look the friendliest without a princess walking beside me; or I walking beside one of them.
Stopping in front of the pair of ponies, I placed my arms across my chest as I asked, "Are you two the ones taking a person by the name of Steel to a place called Ponyville?"
They both looked at each other, before the one on the right replied hesitantly after turning to look back at me, "Yes, we are here to take you to Ponyville... if I may, what are you?"
"I'm a human from another world, or in an easier way to identify me, I was part of that meteor shower a few nights ago." I said as I made my way to the back of the chariot. I had indeed learned during one of the past discussions that during my crash, my drop pod, the flaming husk of a mongoose, and other various space debris that had come through the portal with me had acted as a meteor show to those on the ground and around Equestria.
Getting onto the small wooden platform that would be where I would need to stand for the duration of the trip, I made sure everything was secure, especially my medical bag. Gripping the wooden railing, I heard the other pony, but this time I heard the feminine tone to it, "Are you ready back there?"
"As ready as I will ever be." I murmured to myself, but when I saw her ear flicker, I knew instantly that she had heard my supposedly quite voice. Note to self, ponies have better hearing than humans... and possibly other senses as well.
Looking towards the castle as they began to drag the chariot forward at an increasing pace, I smiled as I managed to catch a glimpse of Celestia standing on a balcony along the side of the castle. Raising my hand, I waved towards her as a form of farewell, or at least until I was required to come back to Canterlot.
(Princess Celestia's P.O.V.)
Smiling as I raised my own hoof up and waved it lightly to Steel, I knew this wouldn't be the last time I got to see him; no, only until the Gala and its afterglow wore off would I be able to give him my attention again.
Watching as the chariot that would take him to Ponyville lifted off the ground, I smiled as I was able to still see his reaction to the sudden change of perception. Sighing softly as his chariot began to grow smaller and smaller, I looked over my shoulder and said, "Gale's Direction, how are those invitations coming along?"
"We still have over three hundred more Princess... are you sure you don't want others to help with this task?"
Turning around and walking back into the study, I used my magic to quickly begin working again, while personally writing each invitation, and I said, "There will not be a need Gale's Direction, I'm sure we can finish before it is time for me to set the sun."
Smiling as I continued my work, I needed to be sure to send Twilight a letter later, further explaining anything else I had missed out on what I had sent her the previous night...
(Steel's P.O.V.)
Turning my head away from the distant clouds and looking towards the fast approaching town, I could only surmise this was the destination that the Princess had in mind for me. It was the only town we had passed, and while I had seen ponies walking along the ground below, I had only seen other Pegasus at a distance. Doing my best to memorize the buildings for later use while moving through the town at ground level, I began to notice the crowd that seemed to be forming near what must be the town square.
Using my helmets magnification feature, I saw the multitude of ponies that seemed to be eagerly awaiting my arrival. Though somewhat distorted, I think I saw Twilight standing near the front of the crowd, but the bump as we made contact with the ground forced me to zoom out of my helmets feed.
After we came to a full stop, I took in a deep breath as I stepped off of the back. Alright... nothing to fear... just a lot of ponies, all unarmed, and at least the biggest one seems not even half the size of Celestia...
Walking towards the front of the chariot, next to the pullers, and in front of the crowd, I wasn't surprised to see all the shocked faces of the ponies. I had half a mind to take off my helmet, but a nagging sensation in the back of my held kept me from doing so, and this time, I was going to listen to it unlike when I had talked with the Princess. Instead, I granted them the courtesy of depolarizing my faceplate, and I saw a few of the ponies take in sharp breaths. Not a sound was made, only the occasional movement in the crowd was made, and it was starting to become quite awkward.
Turning and looking towards another part of the crowd, I began to scan through them so I could hopefully find Twilight; a unicorn I was supposedly going to meet upon my arrival. I had thought I had seen her before we had made a full landing, but I was apparently wrong. Opening my mouth so that I could call out and try to get out of this situation, I stopped as I heard a sound in the distance, but as I looked to where I thought it was coming from, I nearly went cross-eyed.
"Oh, what are you, I never seen one you before, are you a small minotaur, or are you some kind of alien!?"
"Uhh..."
I couldn't get a grip on what was happening, or what had just happened, as one second I had been looking down a street, and the next my visor was filled with a painfully bright pink color. I tried to back up, but I only bumped into the guards behind me. I did my best to move away from them, yet at the same time from the pink mare that had been rapid firing questions at me.
"Uhm... h-hello?" Turning my attention to anything else beside the bouncing pink mare, I felt my eyes widen as there was the pony I was supposed to meet. "You are Steel, correct?"
Nodding my head, I took a glance back at the pink mare to make sure she was still there, which I gladly saw she was, though now she seemed to be busy in a conversation with a white pony. Turning my attention back to the purple unicorn in front of me, I cleared my throat before I myself spoke this time, "And you are Twilight Sparkle if I am no mistaken?"
She nodded before she seemed to let out a nervous chuckle like giggle, before she asked, "Princess Celestia said you were coming, b-but I don't think anypony here has ever seen anything like you before."
Nodding my head in understanding, I looked around a bit more, before I said, "Yes, as far as I know, no human has ever landed on this planet before... or even visited Equestria."
"What do you mean by 'landed'?" Twilight asked, and at this point, I saw the crowd actually lean forward as a single collective, and I knew they were going to hear about this one way or the other, Might as well let them all in on the not so big secret now rather than later.
"Well, I more of crashed than landed. That meteor shower a few nights ago, those weren't meteors, that was debris from a ship I had been on, and I was one of those 'meteors'."
There was an exaggerated gasp to the side of me, and I shot my head in that direction to see the white mare looking at me with shock, but it was the pink mare that issued the gasp. She pointed a hoof at me and said, "I was right, you are an alien! Do you eat brains, can you fly, did you meet Luna on the moon?"
I was read to ignore her entirely, until I heard her ask about Luna, and that was when my own curiosity got a little more elevated than before. Turning to face her, I asked just for clarification, "Do you mean Princess Luna?"
"Of course Silly, who else would I mean?"
Shaking my head lightly, I crossed my arms behind my back as I said, "No, I didn't meet the Princess on the moon. She wouldn't be able to even survive on the moon without it being terraformed, or without a pressurized suit so that she could breathe."
"No, she was nightmare moon, so she was able to live on the moon unt-"
I flinched as Twlight quite literally stuffed her hoof in the pink mare's muzzle, effectively silencing her ramble of nonsense. I looked towards her, as if I wasn't wrong, even if it was nonsense, she was implying something that Twilight was attempting to cover up. "As much as I'm sure you wish to hear about our Princesses history, I would like to have a few more questions with you, but in private."
Nodding my head, I watched as she took her hoof out of the pink mares mouth, but it was only when she looked back at me and spoke did she start walking away, "Please follow me."
Making my way after her, many of the ponies created a wide path, though a few stayed closer and seemed to try and get closer and better looks of me. ODST's were better suited for working on the battlefield or in the shadows, but while I may be just a medic, I still preferred to work in the shadows; so I repolarized my faceplate as to give myself at least a small amount of privacy.
Letting out a tired sigh, I reached down and confirmed that my pistol was where it should be, before looking towards the purple mare I was following. Back at Canterlot, my only real interaction with a mare was with Princess Celestia, so I didn't have much to compare her to, other than the obvious height differences between her, Luna, and the rest of the pony populate I had come across.
Where Twilight was rather short and stout looking, I realized just how slim both the Princesses looked, and even looking around, I saw all the other ponies were rather stout looking, with the males being more so. Then I did a mental comparison between humans and ponies, while it might seem cool to do magic like a unicorn, or fly like a Pegasus, I still think humans have the better advantages here. We got machines than let us fly, vehicles that can go faster than anything alive, and Spartans have shields... in our own way, we have magic too.
Coming out of my thoughts, I saw Twilight had stopped, so I did so right beside her as well, before she asked, "Princess Celestia warned me that you might be a little... reserved. Would you mind taking off your helmet? It will make it easier for everypony else to accept you if they can see your face."
I knew this was going to come up eventually, "If you would allow me to just remove it once we enter, I will gladly oblige."
"I would rather you not frighten my assistant too bad. Celestia said you don't look to frightening without your helmet, so I must ask you again to please remove it." She asked, and I saw the firmness in her gaze, but the nearly pleading look was even more prominent.
Sighing as I reached my hands up to my helmets clasps, I was willing to do this, but this time, I wasn't going to hand my weapons over to anypony that asked; I had made a deal that I was going to keep with Celestia, not another pony. Twisting my helmet until the motion had it let out a hiss of pressurized air; I felt the slightly warmer air rush into my suit. Even with a cracked helmet, my suits air conditioning unit still functioned well enough that my suit remained chilled to the temperature I liked. My visor depolarized immediately now that the power supply was disconnected from the pressure pads inside the helmets inner seals.
Once I was holding my helmet under my arm and looking towards Twilight, I noticed her eyes roving side to side, up and down, and almost over every feature of my face. Her eyes held a curious light to them, and it was only rivaled by the intense awe in her eyes. I looked around, and I saw a few of the ponies still around us were also giving me highly interested looks now instead of the fearful looks I had been receiving earlier. It was a nice change, until I actually saw the curious looks slowly turning into more interested ones.
When I heard the door open, I looked forward, and saw that Twilight had used her magic to open it up, and as I began to make my way towards the open doorway and escape from the watching eyes; I received a shock.
Just as my foot made contact with the ground, Twilight looked over her shoulder, and I felt something ram into my side with a considerable amount of force. I scrunched my eyes closed as I crashed into the ground, but I made sure to grab whatever it was that slammed into me. I felt something solid squirm a bit in my grip, and I instantly knew it was a pony from the thickness of the limb I was holding.
Using the little bit of momentum I had left, I twisted my body and used the ponies weight to effectively throw them off; but that made me roll onto my stomach. It wasn't a position I wanted to be in with a hostile now nearby, and as I made my way to my feet, I heard Twilight speak, "Rainbow Dash?"
Once I was to my feet, I reached a hand up and gripped it around the hilt of my blade, but I didn't take it out just yet; though I still pulled it out by a few centimeters in case it was needed fast. Across from me was a rainbow colored maned mare, and the way she was lying across the ground seemed that I had managed to stun her with my throw. Her gaze shifted up and towards me, and I saw the surprise in her eyes.
It wasn't until Twilight trotted past me did she ask, "Rainbow Dash, why did you do that?"
I watched as the mare on the ground, Rainbow Dash, quickly got to her hooves, "I didn't mean to crash into it, I was just wanted to get here as fast as I could. But what is it? It was like I crashed into a tree again!"
Relaxing my stance a bit as I pushed my knife back into its place, I straightened up a bit, before I said, "I'm a human..."
Looking to the side, I saw my helmet lying there on the ground near my feet, so I knelt down and snatched it up quickly. When I looked back up and at the two mares in front of me, I saw a light spark pass through Rainbow Dash's eyes, and it was as her gaze shifted from my eyes to Twilights did it become apparent that something was running through her mind. "Twilight, can you give us a moment? You know I wouldn't want anypony to hear me apologize."
There was a short giggle, before Twilight nodded, and began to walk towards the still open door, at which point she said, "Alright Dash, just don't keep him too long, I want to give Princess Celestia a report as soon as I can."
While I watched Twilight walk into the tree house, now that I was able to give it a proper look over, I made sure to keep an eye on the other mare across from me. It wasn't until the door closed did she make move, and one that I was expecting.
When she was hovering in front of my face, she placed a hoof on my chest, "You had better not try to harm Twilight in anyway, mister, because if you do, I will find you."
Reaching a hand up and pushing her hoof off of my chest, I felt a little bold, as I knew she couldn't be any more than half my size at rough estimation. The only ponies that seemed to be a real threat around here were the male ponies, as they seemed to have a bit more muscle and size. "I don't intend on harming anyone here, but if you continue to act hostile towards me, I will respond in kind. I promised the Princess I wouldn't hurt a pony here, but that only applies to those that aren't aggressive."
Her eyes narrowed a bit, before she motioned both her hooves at herself, and then at me, "I'm watching you..."
Before I had a chance for a comeback, she zipped off at an incredible speed, leaving a light rainbow colored streak in her wake. Note to self, keep a close eye on the sky while in Ponyville...