Chapter 8: Finally Moving
A/N: I am going to try this chapter without italics for the thoughts of each character. Please tell me what you think of the change (it being smoother, rougher, easier to read, tougher to read, etc.).
It seemed that Khan had been rambling aimlessly in my vision, yet I have a path to follow. The ponies don’t seem to trust me fully, which is fair, given the circumstances. Instead of leaving me to my machinations, it seems that they have sent Scowly along to watch my back… or maybe to stab it.
Finally Moving
~~~~~
Perspective: Artyom
Upon waking up this morning, I had expected a few things. I had expected to be leaving the building that had housed me for a few days, this of course meant that I would no doubt see all the ponies I had met at the ‘meeting’ in that library. As well, I had expected to have all of my gear back in prime condition, like the Princess had told me. Finally, I had also expected to have a nice little talk with Twilight about anything related to crystals, or what Khan had called, “The Crystal Palace.” To my surprise, I came to learn that there was an entire place dedicated to crystals; odd.
What I didn’t expect, was to be seated in a locked down and private train car. Even more of a surprise, was that I was sitting right across from Scowly.
Of course, by then he had told me his name, but damned if I would stop calling him that, just to mock him. He most likely was under the orders of the Princesses to not harm me. Hell, he might have even been ordered to protect me. How he could protect me was beyond my understanding.
Well… aside from his ‘magic.’ That stuff is cheating; he probably thinks that he is too good to get his dainty hoofs dirty. He definitely wasn’t impressing me, by any means. I know it is useless to judge someone by their appearance, but at what I had seen, it was kind of tough not to.
Princess Luna had portrayed the tougher, and more strict Princess, which corresponded to her entire look. Princess Celestia, whose name I had learned earlier that morning, had been regal, calm and rather motherly. This was backed up by her appearance, as well. Fruity looked as flamboyant and hot headed as she acted, I could do the same with each pony, except maybe Twilight… she was a little different in personality than her looks gave off. Though the point was still there, the ponies looked exactly like how they acted.
Of course, I rebuked some of my own thoughts, with the reminder that I had spent nearly no time at all around them. As well, the fact I was a foreign entity into their world probably shifted them a little. These were all just musings though.
Not like I could do anything else, what with Scowly continuously staring at me, the other guards in the train car holding their spears across the door and there were nothing, but couches, and chairs in the car. Even the windows were shut with blinds, with the only reprieve being that the blinds were on the inside of the window.
At least the morning was eventful enough to go over again.
~~~~~
(That morning)
Perspective: Artyom
A knock sounded on my door. I didn’t suddenly jump awake when I heard it. I had been lying in bed, awake, for some time at that point. My mind was constantly going over the dream, analyzing everything that I had been shown. As annoying as it was to be unable to stay asleep, it was good to have some quiet time to contemplate what had happened and what I was going to do.
So after the two hours of just staring at the ceiling, I had come to the conclusion that I needed to get some advice from Twilight preferably. I could ask one of the other Princesses, but they seemed to be interested in little more than just pushing me along. Of course, from my experience with leaders, there was a good chance that at least one of them had some sort of scheme in which I played some part. How they were going to keep track of where I would be headed was beyond me. Maybe, by some miracle, this time I was not part of a twisted game being played by someone. Maybe I could actually go about blazing my own path and finding my way home.
Maybe.
My feet swung off the bed, landing hard on the floor beneath the bed. The cold cement against my feet felt natural, almost as though I had a little piece of home to remind me. I sat at the edge of the bed for a few moments. I basically stared at the door with little thought in mind. That was how I often awoke in the mornings… well at least when I knew that I wouldn’t possibly die when I awoke.
A particularly loud sigh escaped my lips before I pushed off the edge and into a standing position. My body was beyond stiff, and yet the bed was so comfortable; I blamed Khan. I groaned in pleasure as I twisted and stretched my back, eliciting a few satisfying pops, as well as loosening up my muscles. A couple of hamstring stretches as well as loosening up my arms followed shortly after. It was always good to limber up before facing the unknown. The better in shape and prepared you are, the more of a chance you have to survive until the next confrontation.
The moment my body felt loose enough I walked quietly to my boots. They were merely two steps away from where I was standing, the cell itself was probably rather normal for a waist height pony, but for a nearly two meter tall Russian it was barely anything.
I had barely managed to gather what little I had before another knock sounded from the other side of the door.
“Попридержите коней, я почти готов.” I called back, before letting out a small chuckle. Oh, the irony of that statement was not lost on me. Of course they would never understand it, but that just made the comment that much more funny.
“Hurry up!” Was the call back, probably from whatever guard that was stationed outside of my door. That was honestly the first time I had heard one of them speak to me. That idea actually led me to believe that it was not one of the guards.
Why did I have to be right? I could have at least handled having to deal with the guard. The were straight forward, and spoke little.
No, instead I had to be summoned upon by Scowly. That white unicorn with the dual coloured mane was waiting for me the moment the door opened.
“Hurry up, human. The Princesses are being gracious and allow you to breakfast with them. Don’t make me drag you there!” Definitely a prick all the way to the core.
“Lead then, Scowly.” I muttered back, as he started to walk away. He must not have heard, for he just kept on walking with his head held high. Not even a single glance backwards to confirm that I was indeed following him. No, he expected it. He was definitely starting to annoy me.
Luckily, silence followed our little trek from my cell to the dining hall. By little I actually meant another twenty minute walk through a seemingly never ending series of hallways and doors. Like I said, though, luckily I didn’t have to listen to Scowly. I would be more than relieved when I could leave this place, and him, behind. Yet, despite my complete annoyance for the pony, I still felt some inclination to be nice around him. Well, ‘nice’ in a loose term.
Aside from my musings on my dual feelings towards Scowly, the walk to the dining hall was uneventful. We had passed a few guards, but, aside from them, the halls were bare and not a single pony walked by us. With the red carpet beneath us and the many expensive looking furniture, I would have thought that there would have been multiple maids running to and fro, to clean every centimeter of the place.
Yet, as I stated before, there was not a single maid in the halls. Just the endless paintings, and other decorations that lined the halls. As we walked, I did notice one specific painting though. I had little time to truly study it, but the picture was that of a rather large looking crystal… spire. That was probably the best word for it. From the distance the painter had portrayed the scene, it was tough to discern any miniscule detail about the spire, but what was obvious enough was that there were more crystals organized on the ground before it.
And around it, in a specific pattern, as though there were streets in between the crystals. It was hard to determine any more detail than that, due to it being a painting, but otherwise, it was rather magnificent in it’s scope. The more distance I put between it, the more my thoughts drifted from the exact content of the painting to the reason for it being painted.
If there was a little plaque underneath describing what the artist did to create such a scenario, I bet it would have said something about the artist going on a massive ‘trip’. Of course that idea is just me trying to humour myself, to cover up my lack of interest in anything else.
That was how boring the walk was. So, when we finally made it to the breakfast room, I was more than relieved to be out of the presence of Scowly. He went to one side of the rather large dining table, while I went to the other. I didn’t care if I was breaking some sort of cultural law regarding where I sat at the table, I was trying to at least put myself in a spot where I wasn’t looking specifically at Scowly.
So I maneuvered around to one side of the table, while Scowly went to the other side. After pulling out a chair and setting down upon it carefully as though it would break, I took a moment to look around the room.
Let me try and describe this room. The floor was made of a well polished marble… probably. I wouldn’t know since I was a soldier, not a rock enthusiast. This matched the room Twilight and I had done our little Q&A in. That was where the similarities ended though. The hall itself was rather large, probably about twelve meters in length and eight meters wide. The ceiling had to be a good two or three stories up, which made me wonder how big this castle was.
Around the hall there was numerous stain glass windows that varied colours. Not specific patterns to them, but the light that was shining through did come out in an almost hypnotizing fashion. In between the spaced out stain glass windows, various pieces of art was hung. Each one seemed to portray a different pony posed over a certain type of landscape. It was beyond obvious that this was depicting those who had proven themselves to be someone to be remembered.
As my eyes continued to search the halls, I noticed that there were banners hanging off the ceiling of the room. Two rows of about six were hanging. One one side, there was the same mark that was on the white princess’s flank, I think that was the right name for where it was placed. The mark was overtop a golden background colour, embroidered by blue and purple along the edges. Now, the other banners were on a darker shade of blue. The mark of Luna was in the middle of the flag. Only white was embroidered along the edges this time. A little odd, considering the nature of her flag. Aside from being a decorative addition to the room, they were probably symbols to remind every other pony here that the princesses were still in power.
Now, I had skipped over looking around the table for a reason. I had felt the stares on me the moment that I had come into the room. I put them instantly to the back of my mind though, so I could actually focus on other things. Those particular stares would continue to be ignored, while I pondered over what this table was made of.
First I thought it was steel painted with a completely realistic gold look to it. That was without examining it closely and actually touching it. The moment I looked closer, something was off about it. I quickly scratched at the ‘paint’ with the knife given to me, only to find that it was not even close to being paint.
They had a table made of gold.
Solid gold.
Damn. They had a stretch table, probably long enough to fit ten people on each side, as well as one at each end, and it was made out of solid gold.
Now, the moment I began to chip at the table, I was sure more than a few stares intensified, either out of curiosity or anger. I could not exactly confirm that without giving in, to the whim to look at them, but that was counter productive to what I wanted to accomplish. My goal was to prove to them that I was not some being that was at their beck and call. I could ignore them just as easily as they could ignore me.
So, aside from my constant amazement at the golden table, my attention shifted to the actual contents of the food. Every hope of mine was to see some sort of meat on the table, though a small voice in the back of my head said that the chance of such a thing happening was less than one of these ponies jumping at me from across the table.
Also known as Fruity and Scowly.
There are times where I was glad to be wrong. See, the Princess’s waiters were still bringing in food for those at the table. Many of the plates were filled with bread, flowers, hay, and what I assumed was a type of salad. A new waiter came with a covered tray balanced on his front right hoof, which was an amazing feat for me to see, but must have been everyday for the ponies. When the tray was placed down on the table the lid was removed to reveal: a tray of scrambled eggs. The heat was radiating slowly off of them, signaling that they had just come off of the frying pan.
Of course the waiter had been kind enough to set them down right next to me, and whoever was sitting beside me. Yes, I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, and musings that I didn’t even know who was sitting beside me at the table. I would worry about that when I finished gathering the contents of what would be my meal.
A few loaves of bread, a couple ladle scoops of scrambled eggs, what looked like a pancake, a glass of what also appeared to be apple juice. Whether or not it was was going to be based on what it would taste like was what would confirm it as being apple juice. Didn’t want to think about what else it could be.
I was going to start eating when I noticed a lidded tray that had been put on the table almost right next to my plate. Curiosity was going to get the better of me in this situation. A quick glance to the seat on my right found that there was indeed not a single soul next to me, so this tray was more than likely for me. I think there was a smaller version of me in the back of my mind jumping for glee at the thought of what could possibly be under the tray. I was making sure to not to give these ponies anything that they might be able to use against me. Plus, it would be unmanly to squeal like a little girl at the possibility which lay under that dome covered platter.
It was extremely tough though, as the moment I lifted the lid slightly, the smell of that beautiful type of food escaped the enclosure, and went straight up my nostrils. As well as more than a few of the other guests at the table. Whatever conversations that had been going on, there were at least two I think, ground to a complete halt.
Oh, that beautiful smell of sausage.
I didn’t care that the ponies were probably watching in disgust, but the fact that I had been brought a sausage overrode any chance for me to care. It had been a while, since I had tasted sausage. The rations that we had back in D6 were made of mystery meat. It hardly compared to the real deal.
Of course, I still had some semblance of manners, so I lifted the lid a little higher, and maneuvered my fork to stab one of the two pieces in there. The moment it was on my plate, the knife I was given, more like trusted with, was already cutting into the string of sausage. Within seconds, the piece was in my mouth and down my gullet. Never in my life had I enjoyed a single piece of food more than that piece of sausage. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was no longer at home or maybe it was because I was currently living in a palace that was filled with herbivorous ponies. It mattered little, since my entire focus was on the sausage, and eggs that I had dished onto my plate.
About ten minutes of complete silence had passed while I devoured my food. I ate at the rate of a starving man, yet I had been fed very well by these ponies prior to this meal. Either way, I was probably the center of everyone’s attention and had done little to divert their attention away from me. Not like it truly mattered at that point. I had other things on my mind and I would be out of their manes soon enough.
At the exact moment I was finished, I grabbed the small cloth next to me and dabbed at the corners of my mouth. I admit that it was in complete mockery of the whole ‘royal’ situation, but the ponies had taken it completely as a sign that I did have manners, even if it was buried underneath everything else about me. This little bit of etiquette did little to change their reactions to everything though. Even though they had more surprise on their faces, their overall look towards me was still a mixed bag that had barely changed.
Sitting at the head of the table was what I had learned was Celestia. She didn’t even look at me, her eyes closed as another fork-full of eggs was brought to her mouth. I moved my eyes to her left to find that Luna was doing the same but she had her eyes roaming around the room, glancing at me every once in awhile for extended periods. As it seemed, the Princesses cared little for what I did. Next to Luna was Scowly and he had the same look of distaste plastered on his face as before. It wasn’t much of surprise honestly, but Fruity who was sitting next to him had a look of disgust on her face while her plate was pushed away from her.
Queen Marshmallow, and Applejack had rather flat looks, as if they were trying to be neutral in their judgement of me. Fluttershy had a small smile on her face, odd enough considering that I had just eaten meat in front of her. Maybe she had dealt with such things in the past. I didn’t even bother to look at Pinkie for she was probably smiling with that all knowing grin. Besides, after yesterday, I didn’t want to have her read my mind again or whatever she did to know what Khan had said to me.
The only one I didn’t see on that side of the table was Twilight, which meant… she was beside me and I had probably completely ignored her. See, I came to the realization when I did my deep thinking earlier. Twilight and Fluttershy were one hundred percent genuine in their interest and liking of me. Those were the only two that seemed to be willing to give me a chance, aside from the generosity of the princesses of course. I wasn’t being entirely fair, since I had given few opportunities to any of the others but, as I kept reminding myself, I would soon be out of this place and on my own again. Maybe if I ever returned to this place or where they lived I would call upon them to show me around.
If I ever returned.
I actually looked over to Twilight this time, seeing that she had a small smile on her face, her eyes studying my every movement. They probably had been doing the same, during my little scarfing down of my food. A stray thought came into my mind, and I decided to act on it.
“Did you give me the sausage?” I asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded her head enthusiastically, “I asked the chef to prepare a serving of meat that a Gryphon would eat for breakfast. He gave me all sorts of choices, but, from what you told me yesterday, most of them would have been more harmful for you than anything. At least from what you told me.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her. Through all of this, she still showed me kindness and even went out of her way to give me a meal that not a single other in this room would have thought of. Of course they didn’t know what I ate, so how could they?
It was the thought that counted, I guess.
“Thank you, Twilight.” I had a smile on my face, something that I think took her by surprise. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen me smile, but just the nature of it was different; it was sincere.
From there, silence once again took hold of the breakfast. Not a single soul looked up from their meal. Perhaps they didn’t want to meet my eyes or maybe they truly were too focused on finishing the meal that they had started. Either way, we all sat in silence for a few more minutes.
“Artyom?” Celestia spoke up to rid the room of the silence. I merely looked over to her in a silent gesture to answer her call. “Are you ready to leave?”
I took a second to look back around the table. Emotions were being hidden well for once, which was a surprise since it seemed that most ponies sucked at concealing their true feelings. Well this was aside from the two Princesses, who had unnaturally good poker faces. I guess that was the result of being alive for an ungodly amount of time. That is to say, if Twilight was telling the truth about them last night.
“Да, it is time I believe.” I softly spoke.
“Very well. Luna, and I shall show you to where your gear is held. Shining will be coming to see you off as well.”
“Umm, Princess?” Fluttershy spoke up meekly, “May I, umm… come as well?”
This took me and at least Fruity off guard. I wanted to see where this went, while Fruity was about to speak up against it. Thankfully, Twilight spoke up to cut off Fruity’s new string of insults against me. Well, that was a guess on my part, but I doubt it was to sing praise about how much of a good person I was.
“I would like to come as well, Princess,” Celestia raised an eyebrow at Twilight, while giving her a small smirk which caused Twilight to continue “I mean, Celestia.”
Celestia cleared her throat before any other pony could speak up, “If Artyom is fine with others coming, then I see no problem.”
I simply shrugged at her statement, as if to say that it didn’t matter to me. If more ponies came to say goodbye to me then I wouldn’t complain. Even if I was basically cutting ties with them, I didn’t want to appear rude to them. Celestia just nodded in response before getting up from her chair and, of course, Luna followed shortly. One by one, everyone at the table got up from their chairs, with Celestia and Luna passing behind mine to lead me to wherever they was keeping my gear.
Without so much as a second thought I fell into step behind them. I proceeded to do what I always did during these long walks through this place, zone everything out and contemplate life. Of course, this time was different. The moment that I was truly getting into my thoughts, the Princesses ahead of me stopped in front of a closed room.
“Your stuff is in here, Artyom. We also have to discuss something.” Celestia spoke, while Luna opened the door with her magic. I was still a little shocked at how quickly we had come upon this room. Normally the walks were closer to twenty minutes, yet this time we had walked for barely five minutes.
In a small stupor, I walked through the doors, to find that she was telling the truth. On a table, at the other side of the room, sat all of my gear that I had examined yesterday. Without hesitation I made my way over to it, not caring to see what the others had been doing up to this point.
As I began to make my way through the methodical steps that it took to put my armour on, a pink movement appeared on my right.
No.
I slowly turned my head to the right, hoping that it wasn’t what I thought it was. I was contemplating praying to whatever imaginary deity was worshipped on in this world, but by the time my eyes picked up on the pink body, it was too late. Standing beside me on her hind legs, while her forelegs rested on the table, was Pinkie Pie.
Now, earlier this morning I had tried to understand why I was so freaked out by this pony. I mulled over all of the events that had been revolving around her, yet I found no hints as to her manipulating me personally. So why was it that she came off as completely horrifying? Her smile constantly gave me an unnerving feeling, as though she knew everything that was going to happen to me. That was bad, but it was the little ‘moment’ that we had yesterday that worried me the most. She somehow knew about what Khan had told me back at Sparta Base. If I ever met Khan again in my dreams I would ask him that, before he takes me on another long journey through my mind.
“Yes, pink pony?” I spoke, hoping to get rid of her by helping her quickly.
“You can call me Pinkie Pie, well… you already do, so that isn’t a problem.” My left eye twitched harder than it ever did at that. “So how was your dreams last night?”
My throat felt extremely dry at that statement. First of all, how did she know that I called her Pinkie Pie? Secondly, how the hell was that her name and I instinctually called her that? If those didn’t creep me out enough, was she implying what I think she was, about my dreams last night? I continued to look at her in silence, yet she refused to meet my gaze, instead staring at my gear as if she was inspecting it for faults.
“There was this nice stallion who came to my dreams last night. He was super friendly, and funny! Told me some awesome stories of where he was from, as well as about some of the people he met. We visited some cool places in my dream! I took him to Sugarcube Corner where I work, and then we went to Canterlot, where we are right now! Funny though, he asked to see the Crystal Empire, and I was surprised at how he knew of that place, since he said that he had never heard of Equestria.” Pinkie spoke quickly, leaving no time for her to take a breath.
Utter silence was all I could manage. Pinkie just looked up at me and smiled with that all knowing grin. If what she said was true, then I could only imagine what the hell this pony was. This was beyond insane at this point. I slowly looked behind me to see if the others were paying attention to this insanity.
“They can’t hear us, Artyom. I make sure my dreams are a secret, or else ponies would try and steal my awesome cupcake recipes from me!” My head snapped back to Pinkie, just in time to catch her smile fade to a more serious grin. “Listen, Artyom, I am sorry for scaring you, but I was just hoping to get a message through without being so brazen about it.”
This was freaking me out even more, than the previous mood she had been in. Her tone shift was probably the creepiest out of all, since she just seemed to come off as bubbly before hand. Now though, she was beyond serious, and I swear I could see her mane, or whatever it was starting to straighten out.
“You will not be alone in this, Artyom. Know that if you ever need guidance, just call on me or your friend while you sleep. You are here for a reason, you are alive again for a reason. Take your time to find that reason though, because if you don’t then all of this is in vain. Take care wherever you go, I hope you succeed. Oh, and talk to Twilight about your dream.” She finished with a smile, before removing her forelegs from the table, and walked away.
I didn’t watch her walk away. No, I was too stunned to even think about looking upon the pink pony. Faintly, I heard a few words being spoken, before the door opened, and closed again. She must have left, gone to do whatever she did, when she wasn’t saying fucked up things to me.
So there I stood, all of my armour on, yet the rest of my gear sitting on the table still. I was more than a little stunned and kind of lost at that point. My eyes were glazed over as I stared at my gear in front of me. It took the poking from a certain purple pony to snap me out of my somewhat catatonic state.
“Artyom? Are you alright?” I shook my head a few times back, and forth before looking down at the rather concerned eyes of Twilight.
“Да, I am fine.” She didn’t exactly look convinced.
“Are you sure? I saw Pinkie over here and got a little worried that she would have done something… over the top. I am sorry if she frightened you in any way. She can be quite a, heh, hoof-full at times.”
“She was of no issue,” I stated methodically, since I was trying to convince myself of that as well. “ Thank you though.”
“No problem at all! It is what friends do.” She smiled up at me. Such an innocent smile too.
“Heh, friends.” I mumbled before grabbing my hand charger and hooking it to a notched out spot, on the right side of my armour. I looked back to her quickly, “May I ask question?”
“Sure.”
I picked up my Saiga and slung it onto my back, “I had dream last night. About place made of crystals. Do you know of such place?”
“A place made of crystals? Of course! That is the Crystal Empire to the north. Odd that you had a dream about it though… is there a place like that back where you are from?” Her interest had been piqued.
“No. I saw picture of place on way to breakfast. Must have seen yesterday too.” I dodged her question, all the while finishing suiting up. My gear was fully on, or slung over my shoulder, but I was missing the most important items. My eyes scan the table to find it was indeed missing from my stash. The Princess must have held onto them until I was just about to go, probably as a form of insurance.
I was about to go over, and confront them about the lack of mask, but I was stopped by a butter yellow figure in my way. I looked down to see Fluttershy peering up at me with one eye hidden behind her mane. She had come to say goodbye to me.
“I umm… I just wanted… to say goodbye, if that was alright by you.” She spoke in a soft voice, the words trailing off, as she finished her sentence. Her shy demeanor was once again overpowering any confidence she had built up in the past while.
It mattered little me though.
“Of course, Fluttershy.” I bent at the knees to get to her level, shocking her slightly. She had probably come here, thinking that it would be a quick farewell before I left to my own machinations. I wasn’t going to let that happen though. She had shown me some kindness in a new world, and I felt bound to at least return it her a little. My journeys had taken a lot from me, but I would be damned, if I let them take away what compassion I had.
So, the moment I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a soft hug, she gave a startled eep. I held her in the position for a few seconds, knowing full well that Twilight was probably looking at me with some sort of smirk on her face. The hug though wasn’t a one way thing, as Fluttershy eventually reciprocated it and hugged me back.
When I let go to stand back up, I felt a little resistance from Fluttershy, who, without a doubt, didn’t want me to leave at that point.
“Thank you for kindness, Fluttershy. I hope I see you again.” I said simply while holding a small, yet somewhat sad, smile.
She returned it with her own smile, “I hope you return again too, Artyom. I wish things had been umm… different.”
I continued smiling at her for a few moments longer, until it was assumed that our goodbye was over. She gave one last, and this time large, smile before turning, and walking back towards the entrance to the room.
When our little goodbye finished, I made my way over to the two princesses, and Scowly who were in a small, and quiet discussion. Fluttershy continued past the princesses, and out the door. The moment that I came close enough to actually hear what they were talking about, they quickly dropped into silence, before turning their attention to me. Scowly with his trademark scowl, and the two princesses holding their neutral looks.
“Ahh, Artyom, are you ready to go?” Celestia spoke.
“Yes, but I am missing my mask, and filters.” I said, as I slowly crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted to be annoyed at the ponies for pulling a stunt like this, but at the same time I just couldn’t bring myself to become anything more than a little impatient.
“Ahh yes, they were actually just finished. The mask was fixed perfectly!” Celestia said, with a smile that seemed a little uncharacteristic of her, as if she knew something I didn’t. “Now, with regards to the filters, I am sorry. We couldn’t enchant them to last longer than twenty minutes. The spell that Twilight used is still relatively new.”
The way she spoke those last words seemed to imply that she was hiding something. There was more to what she was saying, but I knew that she was playing a game that I couldn’t beat her at. If her age was to believed, then she had much practice at being deceptive. “I will not survive long then.”
“No, we know that sad fact, but we do have a solution to that.” Luna spoke up this time, wearing a somewhat mischievous smirk on her face. I knew they had planned for something but what though? Were they going to try, and convince me to stay here? Maybe they would go back on my freedom, and lock me up once again… But that would not explain why they had given my gear back to me. “We have decided that, to not only help solve the air issue but as well help you in your journey, our former Captain of the Guard, Shining Armour will accompany you on your journey.”
I hoped that my face described what I thought of this plan. If it didn’t, then they would be hearing my opinion in the form of some strong words.
“He has the knowledge to cast the air filter spell, as well as combat experience, and knowledge of this world. I think it is a nice little showing of our willingness to back your journey, do you not think so?”
My eye twitched nearly violently. I needed to speak out about this, and tell them that I completely hated their idea, and that was putting it light. I was about to burst, but I felt a compulsion to keep the tone lower, and keep my language in Russian.
“Нет, не думаю! Это совершенно дурацкая идея! Я знаю что вы лжете об этом заклинании! Твайлайт говорила что сделала так только потому что не знала на сколько времени их стоит зарядить! Это абсолютный пиздёжь! И я ненавижу эту свинью которую вы зовёте капитаном, он высокомерный тупой хрен! И вообще, вы и так обращаетесь с мной как с низшим существом, а теперь ещё и это?!”
They all looked at me with confused eyes, but I could sense that the Princesses seemed to get the jist of what I was saying. Yet, they still stared at me as though they were expecting a translation into a language they could understand.
“Yes, I agree.” I choked out. Why did I say that? I didn’t agree at all!
Celestia gave me a rather arrogant smirk at the moment I answered her. “Perfect! Now, there is but one thing that needs to be answered.”
I looked at her, as if expecting her to ask which way I prefered to die.
“Where do you desire to go?” It was a simple question, and one that I could answer without having to force out a false statement. I knew that as soon as I told them where I wanted to go, I would actually get what I desired.
It was what I had expected, and it was what I got. A secure way to travel to where I needed to go. Anything to get out of that place at that point. How I didn’t see their manipulation of me before, was beyond me, but now that I could leave, I would take the first opportunity to break free from it.
~~~~~
(Two hours later)
Perspective: Artyom
So I sat, opposite of Shining Armour, a.k.a. Scowly, who had not flinched from looking at me with that glare. I knew that if we were going to travel together, which I despised, then we would need to look past any differences. It would be counter productive to be butting heads constantly. Mentally I sighed, as I knew that I would have to be the bigger person… figuratively. I might have just recently broken out of some weird mind control that the princesses put on me, but I would not transfer my new distrust for them unto a pony that I had judged before giving him his chance.
“Ладно, listen, Scow- I mean Shining Armour, we travel together for some time, we should put differences aside. We work better then.” I said with a hint of reluctance in my voice. I wanted to just ditch the pony, but at the same time, he would be beneficial.
“Hmph, the moment you earn my trust is the moment I needn’t have to put anything aside for you.” Well, he sure was stubborn.
“А ты упёртый хрен, да?” I said with a shake of my head. He might refuse to cooperate, but I knew that if we ever got into trouble, we would need to work together. I didn’t want to have to wait till the last second to be able to prove to him that we needed to be a team. Too many idiots had died, because they believed they could survive without any help. “You do not trust me. I understand, but pride is little compared to life. Do not be foolish.”
He simply gave a snort before looking away from me, focusing on the terrain. That was mostly unsuccessful… the fact he looked away being the only positive to our little talk. The pony was a stubborn as I was when I was younger. Thinking I knew what was right and that I was invincible. Heh, that was quickly thrown under a bus when I first experienced the tunnels of the Metro. Just like I did, he would learn fast, if we ever got in trouble. His pride would not be able to hold him in combat.
I sighed out loud, finally feeling the weight of this new change bearing down on me. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was in a new world, without any true clue as to how I would get home. Sure, Khan had shown me that book in my dreams, but that was hardly anything more than a strand to grasp for.
At least I could relax in the train car without having to wear my mask. The lack of any sort of plant causing me to die was a nice gift. I would surely have to start wearing my mask nearly twenty four seven. That did bring up the question of how I was going to sleep if we couldn’t find a location lacking plant life. Bah, that was a good distance away. Well, actually, if all went smoothly, we would be out of this ‘Crystal Empire’ in two days.
I might have been in a hurry to find my way off this world, but I would still accept hospitality when it was offered and, according to the princesses, I was welcome within the place. Of course it could just be a trap. At one point I would have thought myself to be paranoid, but, when I found myself acting in a forced manner, I lost most if not all of my trust for those two.
The moment I appeared on the train, I felt as though a fog had been lifted inside my head. My first thought went to their fucking magic as it would explain a lot of things, including my responses at times to what they said. As to why I had only noticed it this morning, I was clueless. All I know, was that I was beginning to hate magic. Especially teleporting… god that sucked.
Just like walking through that door in my dreams, it was hard to explain, since no words could accurately describe the feeling of dematerializing before being put back together in another location. The most I could say, would be that I never wanted to have it happen again.
I just began to realize that the train ride was tiring me out. Normally I would be wide awake, and constantly on alert, but with the fact that this car was being guarded at both doors by rather gruff looking ponies in armour, I was more at ease than normal.
“How long?” I asked Shining, drawing his eyes from the window.
“At least five hours.” He said quickly, before looking back out of the window. Obviously he was not in the talking mood.
“Wake me up when we arrive.” I said while picking a pillow up. The moment it was pressed against the wall of the car, my head was on it. Eyes quickly closed, while I gave a silent prayer that it would be a dreamless sleep. I had no desire to see Khan right then. Finally, with a small sigh I relaxed and let sleep wash over me.
~~~~~
(Five hours later)
Perspective: Shining Armour
After my little talk with the four guards I was assigned, I peered out the window on the way back to my seat since the window next to our original seats was drawn closed. The Crystal Empire was appearing off in the distance, soon I would get to see my wife again.
For awhile, I added.
A ticked off sigh escaped my muzzle, as i gazed on the sleeping human. The thing was tall and, now that it had its armour on, bulky, but I knew that under it all he had little mass, compared to any pony. I bet it would be easy to beat it in a hoof to hoof fight, and magic would just make it all too easy.
I needed to stop thinking about that, because I had to work with it now. The more I fight having to do this, the worse it will be. I groaned at that thought though. I was at war with the idea inside my own subconscious, but, as a guard, I knew the benefit of working in tandem and not trying to fight each other. So, it came as a surprise when he brought up that same idea, as if he was trained as well.
I took a seat, not in front of the human this time. I needed to put some space between me, and him for a little bit. Soon enough there would be none of that to speak of. We would be travelling to Celestia knows where, and I would constantly be in the presence him. The thought of such a thing would have been maddening, if I didn’t knew that, by doing this, I was helping the world become a better place.
That was probably the kicker as to why I didn’t tell Celestia off. My status as a Prince meant that I could have easily said no to her, her rank having since lost its dominance over me. The only one who could boss me around would be Cadance… and that was a whole new type of bossing.
Getting back to my original train of thought though; I could have turned this down. Yet Celestia came to me earlier this morning, seemingly knowing that I was about to find her and tell her off. What she told me… it was hard to digest at first, and it still didn’t make a lot of sense, but she had promised thatб by doing this, I would make a better Equis for everyone.
What did she mean, when she said he would lead us to our greatest enemy? I had always thought Discord, and Sombra were the true enemies of the world. They had been ‘defeated’ though, so who or what could be our greatest enemy?
A sharp whistle sounded off from the front of the train, snapping me out of my thoughts. It also seemed to wake up Artyom, as he rose from his slumber, eyes blinking to clear them out. I moved from my seat on the other side of the car to a window overlooking the side that the Crystal Empire was on. I knew what the whistle was for though. We were going to be at the station in five minutes.
Moving from the window, I proceeded to head towards one of the pegasi guards assigned to the train car. I knew her too, well at least as much as a Captain knew his guards. Not really friendship, outside of us working together, but she was a good guard, so it was odd to see her assigned to watch over this train car. “Sergeant Fire, I need you to fly to Princess Cadance and tell her that we will arrive in the train station shortly.”
The blue pegasus saluted swiftly, before heading out through the train car’s door. From there I could only assume that she had headed off towards the Palace. Now, even though I knew she was a blue pegasus, the enchantment on the armour disguised her as a standard white pony with the blue mane. The idea of conformity among the guard’s ranks had gone back hundreds of years. I knew the reason at one time, but it had since slipped my mind.
Once she had left I headed back to my original spot by the human. He would not leave my sight until I was able to put him under the watch of the Crystal Guard. Only then would I actually be able to have some alone time with Cadance. Maybe write a letter to Twilight, apologizing for spending nearly no time with her, when the whole point of my trip to Canterlot and Ponyville was to see her. Also, a letter to Mom and Dad would be beneficial, as it had been awhile since I saw them, let alone contacted them. That is of course assuming that the prior problem was dealt with.
I must have been staring off into space, or something because the human was looking at me with a smirk on his face.
“Thinking about someone?” He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“What is to you?” I asked to which he simply shrugged. A quick release of a breath through my nose calmed me briefly, taking the edge off my next words. “I was thinking about my wife and sister. If you hadn’t have shown up then, I would have had a nice vacation before returning to my wife.”
“You are not only one who lost something.” A cryptic statement as ever. Maybe he was being literal with that, or maybe it was some reference to something. Either way, he failed to elaborate on it, instead opting to look back out of the window.
For the last few minutes before the train entered the station, we sat in silence, neither of us saying a word or even looking at each other. The silence was a blessing, since the conversations that we had, such as it was, were rather quick and bitter. It would be good to actually talk to someone who didn’t get on my nerves.
The train slowed down, as it came into the station, finally coming to a complete stop once all the cars were aligned to the platforms. For all I knew, ponies were getting off and loading up on the train, but I couldn’t be sure, because we had closed the blinds on the car. There was no need to draw attention to who was in the car, because I knew what they would do. Half of them would stare in awe at the perceived new creature, while the rest would run around screaming their heads off. It seemed to be a natural reaction for any pony, be it Crystal or Equestrian.
For a few moments, we waited in the car in silence, neither the guards, nor the human moving at all. I knew what was going to happen, since Celestia had planned this ahead of time with Cadance. It would be fun to see the human react over being teleported again. His first time was hilarious, though most first timers did have a common reaction to such a thing. Either way, it would be amusing.
Maybe, calling him by his name would be easier than saying ‘the human’ all the time. It wouldn’t mean anything had changed in our little ‘partnership,’ other than a show of convenience.
Whatever thought I was going to have was cut short as a soft glow encased his body, as well as mine. For a second, he didn’t realize anything had happened, but soon enough he took note of the glowing. Watching his pupils dilate was mildly hilarious. Not as much as watching him scramble frantically to grab his mask though, it was priceless to see the horrified look. Of course, that was over quickly, as we popped out of existence before reappearing in a secluded room inside the Crystal Palace.
Every teleport leaves the vision a bit wobbly afterwards, but I had enough practice with it that it hardly changed, well aside from the scenery of course. Surprisingly enough, we were actually in Cadance’s and my chambers. Shelves of books and knick knacks lined the walls, accompanied by two dressers, as well as multiple paintings hanging from small spikes in the crystal walls.
“Shining!” Cadance nearly squealed as she hurried over to me. Her forelegs wrapping around me, before pulling me in a deep kiss. “I missed you.”
“You know it has only been a few days right?” I said with a coy smirk. Her eyes narrowed, as she got a devious looking grin on her face.
“Oh I know, but it has been pretty lonely here without you.” That got my mind swirling at the thought of what we would be doing later tonight. I was going to keep on with our little flirting, but a rather loud cough came from behind us.
Right, we weren’t alone and he had probably heard everything.
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lurkmore.so/images/2/2e/Gover.jpg
you know they don't know how dumb the are, if they know the power of the firearm than who will be the boss in the gourp
3402432
They have never seen anything like it before so how are they supposed to know what it does? Shining will learn though. Oh he will.
3402442 hehehehe
can't wait for it.
oh how i love the firearm how mech freedom can be hand or take away from this littile things.
Also the AK74 don't have the stoping power as the AK47 rounds did but the 5.45 have way more stoping power than the 5.56 ammo in the usa. I always wounder how long can the ak can handle with the dirty rounds that people in the metro always use, i mean my guess is that they have to clean the gun way more 1 time a day
3402477
The AK can handle the dirtier rounds better than his Kalash 2012 I would figure. The AK is more durable than anything else in the game.
3402551 it's too bad he didn't have the air gun in the game because hey all you need is steel balls and that's it. hell if i was going to the mlp world i want that gun sure having an ak is cool and powerful but it take too mach time for me to make ammo for it.
what i read from the story i hope he can find some tools or a blacksteim so he can get more rounds for his firearms
3402624
For a bit he will be forced to restrict his rounds.
For a bit.
Mind control/body override. I'm really starting to hate the two horses now.
Hope they get what's coming to them for denying someone of their free will. Good intentions pave the road to hell after all.
3402637
I personally love Luna (no duh right?) but in this fic I was never intending to paint Celestia and Luna as the benevolent leaders that they are normally shown as.
3402671 I know that, it's an issue we've already discussed and is completely understood.
Doesn't make it any less revolting, though.
On that note, congratulations, you wanker. You really know how to rustle my jimmies in a good way.
3402678
Good! I love invoking emotions out of people through my writing.
3402477
"God created men and colonel Colt made them equal. Senior sergeant Kalashnikov went further: he equalised not only people but the whole nations."
3402551
One would think that Kalashnikov will make weapon with national specifics and specifications in mind.
3402624 Helsing is the way to do it. And for balls - volt driver.
3402723
No I agree, but I'm saying that the design of the AK is made so it can operate with harsher conditions (including ammo I am assuming). The 2012 is unknown in that factor but I would think that it wouldn't be as easy to use with dirty rounds.
3402733 I think it's less of "dirty" and more of "reloaded". And, again, 2012 is made by same man. He would know what gun need.
I like the regular text instead of italics
3402865 Agreed. It makes the text look a lot cleaner.
Forgot to say it in the previous comments.
3402477
Funfact: Jacketed Hollowpoint 5.45x39mm rounds can quite literally cut limbs off.
3402813
Solid reasoning.
3402865>>3403005
II am beginning to agree as well... probably will stick with it unless I use them to emphasis something. It was interesting to use for awhile.
3403162 About italics: Told you so.
3403192
Ehh, I don't mind either way but I honestly just didn't want to italicize anything this morning. This is the result
Call me lazy
3403199 As you wish, you lazy girl!
3403242
3403030 really? i know some rounds can cut limbs off but a 5.45?
3403247
3403257
One bullet, no. A short burst, yes, maybe.
Anyway, the high velocity of the small-caliber bullet, coupled with the fact that it expands upon penetration (hollowpoint, eh) in soft tissue makes it a very nasty round and it makes very serious wounds, to such an extent that JHP ammo is banned from military use by the Geneva convention.
3403320 Meh. Enough of any bullets will tear limb.
3403417
True, but there's a difference between three and thirty.
3403527 I think you overestimate JHP and underestimate other in case of cutting limbs. I mean: difference isn't that big, it's mainly power.
3403630
I'm just a gun nerd and I don't pretend to know everything.
3403320 that eplx why i never seen JHP in shops or online ammo shops
3403681 ...That's, like, perfectly good type of bullets for hunting. You weren't looking hard enough.
ugh.. Shining is like a fresh recruit compared to Artyom. Wonder what this true enemy business is about. Was hoping for more of the main 6 but seems the story is heading in a different direction.
Shining is horribly OOC, imo.
3402432 Not even that, they're owned in a much simpler way: Artyom's an artist with the knife.
Seriously, a guy who fights off nosalises just with a single combat knife on an almost daily basis and is downright lethal with thrown ones no matter the target's species can wipe the floor with a horny horse's face (or those of several of them) given the right fraction-of-a-second opportunity. I'd bet half my chips he could kill even the old, old Luna.
3404352
It is headed in a different direction for sure. I'm trying be unique with the direction.
3404534
Everyone is OOC to you huh? Just joking but this is how I am portraying him. Not everything is by the original show in an AU story.
3404702
His only weakness is sneak attack magic. And being shot. And being stabbed. And dying, that's a big one.
3404534 But have we seen how he act NOT with family and friends? Not really. How he act with enemies? Nope.
Серьёзно, свалился тут непойми кто, напал на сестру + друзей + подчинённых, отпуск сорвал...
3404702 Ah, I remember when I tried to play Undercity in stealth mode. That was fun. Especially considering that I totally forgot that I had throwing knives.
why does everypony think that without armor, humans are just weak,sad creatures unable of defending themselves?
3406251
They don't think he is weak but they just believe that they are better than him. Also not everypony thinks that. Just those with superiority complexes. Which happens to be everypony but Twilight and Fluttershy at the moment.
3406480 they're still bastards if you ask me!! fuppers......
3406489
Fair enough, but I can tell you that at least 1 other pony will change their idea of Artyom.
Spoilers! haha
3406794 oohhh i think it will be fruity
XD
3406251 I know right, I once heard a guy killed a full grown Grizzly Bear by choking and biting his neck till he died.
3407642 sure it wasn't the bear that killed the guy?! :O na me be yokin' i believe you XD and that sounds pretty,pretty cool =D
3306614 i can't remeber now :(
If artyom has his weapons back, does he have ammo and how will he resuply? And i like this keep making more chapters.
3410143
At the moment he has no supply so he must be careful with his ammo.
Will he get a supply form? Will Shining stop being a dick? Will Cadance get some dick? Find out next time on!
Dragon Ball Z!
I am so sorry hahahahaha
3410992 haha lol. Nice jk...
Only Pinkie Pie would ever be able to properly pull such a mythical feat as that one off.
Main and probably most significant thing I picked up on in this chapter was this threat that Shining Armor has alluded to.
6490630 who else thinks Pinkie Pie can control chaos magic
Eh, why would he fall for obvious leash? He needs to take what is given but should call people on their lies.