//------------------------------//
// chapter 2: A lesson in mystery 
// Story: Maverick: Coming Home 
// by The Drifting Bard 
//------------------------------//

books can generate a sense of self worth and fear




I had regained consciousness on a seat just outside a large room.
"wha, where the fuck am I?" i asked nobody in particular.
a voice echoed from the door. "you, young sir, within the walls of Canterlot Castle"
I looked around, as the mighty doors opened.
"follow me please" a young man in a suit stated. 
I obliged, knowing that the others were either behind me or already inside.
"ah, you must be the maverick," a gentle voice sounded out through the hall.
"my Faithful student here has told me a little bit about you" I simply bowed.
"please, don't bow before me" the woman sitting there had her wings folded behind her. her hair flowed mysteriously.

I then watched as Twilight levitated a bag to me. "your books, Rick" i grabbed the bag.
"so, whats your name?" I asked. the woman then giggled.
"forgive me, i'm Princess celestia" my jaw hit the floor. 
"no, you forgive me, I was... expecting someone older" i chuckled.
"as was I, you are 219 years old, are you not?" she asked. 
i shrugged my shoulders. "depends on how you look at it, the amount of jumps i've done accumilates the years away from...my...homeworld, oh  crap... thats why i cant go back" all the people in the room watched as I began to clench my fists


within a few moments, i had calmed myself down. "Princess, I must ask that instead of invading my head, as Twilight may suggest, i think its best to let you read these books," the second princess levitated the bag of books towards herself, she reached in and grabbed the first book "that was I think the 5th jump, I started documenting them before I forgot them"
"what jump is this one then?" Celestia asked.
"my 50th and hopefully my last"
Luna had begun reading, intrigued by my adventures. 
truthfully though, I wouldn't be surprised if she began to weep when she hits book 4, or as those of you behind the fourth wall would call it.... Skyrim.

I glanced over to Twilight, she had been reading the book entitled "assimilate this". the poor mare thought it was a comedy.
she was, like the rest of the crew of the starship prometheus, dead wrong.
she threw the book at me, "you could have warned me!" i sighed.
"that was only book 7" i chuckled. before long, each pony in the room was reading one of the books.

i suddenly felt a pair of wings envelop me. "I.... I am truly sorry for your loss" i felt a few tears land on my back.
i returned the hug. "don't be, she and i both knew the risks of travelling with a Dragonborn" i sighed.
the moon princess could see the telltale signs of tears forming in my eyes.
"I just didnt anticipate Bandits" I took off an amulet of mara. "please, add this to your collection of things" I smiled. 
"It must be hard, jumping from... world to world"
Celestia simply nodded.

"truth betold, the ones I actually wrote about, were the ones I felt were important," I chuckled.
"the last jump hasnt been written... didn't have time" 

however, it's when Celestia picked up two books with both the same title, I sighed. "act one and two... I let the captain of the Prometheus read them, she liked 'em... hell, make copies of them if you wish" for a moment, the horn on Celestia's head glowed. and each book had been copied.
"It's quite funny actually, Dr Light always got my name wrong, so I simply called myself Joe in that world"
Celestia began to skim-read the first act, "No mention of Joe here"
"Second book dear" I chuckled.

"you blew up?" She looked dumbfounded.
"wasn't the last time"
she looked at me with worry.


"that was... quick" I blinked.
"what about that book behind your back?" Luna asked. 
"It's something I wish i didn't go through... the whole ordeal left... mental scars"
All of them looked at me for a moment, I handed the book over to Luna. "Inside there is a tale of something worse than you could possibly imagine" She began to read, then saw the images. she looked angry for a brief moment and then looked at me, seeing I was visibly quaking with fear. "oh my.... you've seen too much death my friend"
I simply nodded.

"so, the last jump?"
"I blew up again, self sacrifice"
she simply gave an Ohhhh...