Not a Crazed Gunman...

by base4

Interlude: Letters, Notes, and Messages

The Night of Sniper's Arrival...

Twilight closed the door to the room, locking it as Spike entered with her.

Spike turned at the sound of the lock clicking. "Why'd you lock the door?"

"Our guest is better off not seeing what I write about him," she explained. She sat down at her desk.

"Um... Alright." Spike didn't question her motives.

Twilight got comfortable in her chair, pulling out some parchment and a quill. She collected her thoughts and began.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I write to you with utmost urgency to inform you of the appearance of a strange creature. He is a tall, bipedal creature dressed in red and brown clothing, speaks perfect Equish, and addresses himself as 'Sniper.' I have given him a room in the castle as per your instructions on if new, intelligent life is discovered.

What concerns me about this creature is how he addresses himself as 'Sniper,' and carries a few strange, metal objects and a large knife at all times. I do not know what this means, but I fear that he may become a threat. However, he seems talkative enough and responds reasonably to social situations.

He claims to have died and found himself falling from the sky, landing in the bushes next to my castle. I harbor skepticism to his claims, but perhaps there is an explanation.

Please respond with any information that you might have.

Twilight

She sent the letter to Celestia and waited for a response. A few minutes later, Spike burped up a letter.

Dear Twilight,

This matter may be more serious that you at first thought.

The contents of this letter are not confidential, but I advise you to not expose any of the more sensitive information contained in this letter.

'Sniper' is a human, a race of sentient bipedal apes. They come from another dimension entirely and are far more technologically advanced than anything pony society has ever seen.

They experience similar emotions to us and are bound by a similar social structure. Their society also parallels ours in many cultural ways, from the architectural styles of certain cities to the way we value art and music.

Sniper is not supposed to be in this dimension. He was most likely transported here by a magical phenomenon.

I cannot expose any more information without your full consent. You must promise not to divulge any information in the following letter.

Celestia

She quickly wrote back, sending off the letter.

I promise.

It took a full 10 minutes for a reply to be made.

Dear Twilight,

I trust you will remember that the contents of this letter are confidential and are not to be exposed to the public. They are for your eyes only.

We have had contact with humans before. We found one outside of the castle a few years ago. He managed to evade us using a device that could turn him invisible at will and another that could create the illusion that he was somepony else.

We eventually captured him and took him in for questioning. He told us his name, 'Spy.' It was not his real name, but he did not wish to disclose it to us. He told us of his predicament, how he had died and found himself here, and said that he was attacked by the guards on arrival. He went into hiding, planning to infiltrate the castle and gather intelligence before attempting to make his first move, but was caught in the nearby library when a stallion barrelled head first into his invisible body.

He told us of a war between two sides, RED and BLU, eternally locked in combat, with devices to resurrect them upon death. His role was to infiltrate the enemy lines and pick off key targets with his knife. The two sides were exact replicas of one another.

We sensed a magical aura around him, one that was consistent with the basic pattern found in displacement spells, a field you spent a lot of time studying yourself.

We had asked him about his exposure to magic, but told us that the human world was almost devoid of it. However, in his world, magic could be harnessed by an express few people. Every Halloween (the human equivalent of Nightmare Night, which also falls on a similar date), his battlefield would be corrupted by magic, and on multiple occasions, the wizard Merasmus showed up, conjuring up horrifying monsters, ranging from flying eyeballs that shoot rockets to a skeleton that chops people's heads off.

During this time, they could also cast their own spells, harnessing magic through spellbooks. Their exposure to Merasmus's magic, as well as to the various spells during Halloween each year, seemed to be the best explanation for the appearance of the magical field around him.

We managed to send him home by developing a spell that could sever his body from the magic surrounding him, but he seemed reluctant, and actually quite sad to leave. In the end, though, he left without resistance.

Attached is a picture of 'Spy.'

She stopped reading the letter and flipped it over. A photograph was taped to the opposite side of the parchment.

The attached picture was of a man with similar proportions to Sniper. He wore a blue mask that covered all but his eyes and mouth, a fedora on his head with a band containing a few playing cards, and a suit, complete with a tie and dress pants. Everything he wore was colored blue, except for 4 things: A black and white... thing, a yellow watch, a small, flat container, not unlike a makeup kit; and a strange looking... knife. In the photo, he casually smoked a cigarette, holding up the kit.

She picked up the letter and continued reading.

Twilight, that human, Spy, was a killer. He was cunning and villainous, and if he had not been caught, he may have killed to get the upper hand. He was not welcome in Equestria. The man you just met, Sniper, might also be a professional killer, Twilight, so I expect you to remain alert.

From what we know of the human world, they can be chaotic and violent, and also malicious at times. His behavior, if your description of him so far is accurate, seems to be better than that, and I advise you to continue to form an impression of his personality.

I am counting on you to discover if Sniper is a mercenary. Be cautious, but be brave. He may be a threat.

Celestia

Twilight carefully placed the letter back onto her desk. The window in the room, still open, gave an opportunity for a cold, gentle breeze to waft in. A shiver ran down her spine as she studied Celestia's words, cold as the wind that blew in from her open window. The curtains open, they drifted gently in the oncoming air, warping and twisting as the night's wind seemed to howl at her very being.

Celestia had never been that blunt about anything.

She was frozen by the sounds of Luna's night, peaceful, but ominous nonetheless. As she thought about it, she let her mind relax. The wind had not howled at her, and the night was not her enemy. The other side of every coin is always different from the front, but nonetheless, it is still the same coin. She spent a second to really take it all in.

The night, opposite of the day, was feared for the darkness it spawned in its wake. But the night was simply the other side of the same coin; day was its opposite. They were both in tandem, a balance that made whole the cycle of time.

Celestia had two sides, just as she and everyone else did. But she would never see the other side until she decided to flip the coin.

Twilight composed her response.

Dear Celestia,

I understand your concern and will do my best to follow through with my responsibilities.

But I don't understand why Spy was so reluctant to leave. Did he have any regrets about his own world, or did you never really know?

I think that it may be important to understanding not just his motivations, but also humans in general.

Twilight

She woke Spike, who was gently napping in the corner instead of full on sleeping. She sent the letter to Celestia and received another response a few minutes later.

Dear Twilight,

I can tell you why he was so reluctant to leave, but know that it is not a happy story.

She stopped for a second to consider her warning before pressing on.

His world is not like our own, Twilight. He lives in a world that is divided by the differences between their cultures and races, and disagreements can easily evolve into full-on wars. They are all human, but they sometimes refuse to work as one.

Spy was hired as a mercenary, and has fought for many, many years without much rest. During this time, he has become numb to death, killing, agony... everything, as he says. It is a coping mechanism.

But he told us that his stay in Equestria had reminded him of the things he had forgotten in war. Love, kindness, friendship... all things that he had lost to time. This is why he was reluctant to leave. Our world had these things, while his did not.

Luna and I still remember the last words that he said before leaving. "I do not wish to return to my own dimension, but I must, for I do not belong here. Au Revoir."

Spy did not want to leave, Twilight, but he knew that it was inevitable, and so he did.

Celestia

Twilight stared at the paper, processing what Celestia had said, before pushing it aside and grabbing her own.

Dear Celestia,

I've made up my mind. Tomorrow, I will begin introducing Sniper to my friends. This way, I can judge his character and introduce him to society.

Twilight

She sent off her last letter for the night, and tucked herself into bed, but as she began drifting off to sleep, she heard another burp.

Spike came over to her with one last letter, this one more of a note.

Dear Twilight,

Good luck. I have complete faith in you.

Celestia

She smiled with pride, placing the note to side, and finally fell asleep.

---

Late Afternoon, the Day after Sniper's Arrival...

Twilight walked wearily into her room, steps somewhat slow and sluggish. A frown on her face, eyes looking down at the floor, the dread was almost palpable in the room.

She stopped in front of her desk, sighing, before finally sitting down to get to work. She grabbed some parchment, some ink, and a quill, and composed the letter. She received a response only a few minutes later.

Dear Twilight,

Sniper is to be brought to Canterlot as soon as possible. Bring nopony else but you and him.

Celestia

Twilight stared at the paper for the longest time, contemplating her options. Finally, she rolled up the paper and sighed. Turning to the stairs, her head drooped in shame, she went to go break the news to Sniper.

I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen.

Author's Note:

Big reveal much?

This chapter was formatted like the small cutaway from Sniper's perspective in the first chapter of the story. Instead of being in the first person, it's in 'pseudo-third.' 'Pseudo' because there are a few thoughts in italics.

Next chapter, we're going back to Sniper's point of view.

Comments

[RedX-100]

Dear Celestia,

I've made up my mind. Tomorrow, I will begin introducing Sniper to my friends. This way, I can judge his character and introduce him to society.

Celestia

I didn't know Tia wrote letters to herself.

[base4]

8278521
WHOOPS! Lemme just go fix that real quick...

[RedX-100]

8278681
Glad to be of assistance!

[quipdoesmc]

I expected this to be a meme story... but my expectations were messed with once again.
9/9 moustaches