Not a Crazed Gunman...

by base4

The unicorn queen can't ignore me now.

The train whistle blew loudly as we sat in the station. It had only been an hour since our chat, but the train had already arrived and was about to start collecting passengers. We quickly boarded as the conductor opened the doors to usher people in. We got a lot of very odd looks, but for the most part, they left me alone. Might've had something to do with the Princess who I was following, but what would I know.

Relatively few people actually got on the train to Canterlot, which was surprising, considering that the city was usually overwhelmed with tourism. However, that day was just different for some reason.

The conductor shut the doors as Twilight and I took for an empty car and sat down in the small, definitely not-for-human seats. For a minute, we sat there in silence, glancing over at one another every once in a while. The train began to crawl, and we finally started moving towards Canterlot.

After a minute or so, Twilight spoke up.

"Sniper..." she started. "What did Spy look like?" she asked.

I turned over to her, raising an eyebrow at that. "Blue suit, a tie, a mask, and a fedora," I flatly replied. "Why'd you need to know?" I questioned, fist balling up a bit at the thought of the Spy.

"Well... I think it's long overdue that you heard about this," she began. "During the first night of your visit, I had sent a letter to Princess Celestia about you. We talked back and forth a little as she provided information to me." She paused, letting out an anxious sigh. "In the first letter... she mentioned that someone, a human, had fallen down from the sky a few years back," she said.

I connected the dots and my eyes opened wide. "N-no..." I backed up a bit in my seat.

"That man... it was the man who betrayed you, wasn't it?" she said, frowning with concern.

I gripped my head as the memories all made sense.

---

"Why do we kill, Sniper?" he said.

I looked up at him, unsure of what to say.

"Is it truly all zat necessary? To die over and over, living a life of war?" he pondered aloud.

"Maybe." I looked to the battle in the distance. "Maybe not."

"I don't want it be necessary. I hate zis. I am tired of it all," he expressed. "Zere is no rest, Sniper. No rest from this endless war." He gave a serious, but regretful look. "Every day I must work endlessly, only to fail again."

---

"Oh my god..." I said.

"I know it must be shocking for you," she said. "...But it had to be said."

I sat there, head down as I leaned forward. I spent a second to recollect myself before looking up at Twilight. "During his stay... what'd he do?"

"Sniper... I don't know that you need to know any more about this," she said, concerned. "You should be moving on-"

"Twilight," I interrupted. "Just tell me."

She sighed. "Alright... After he arrived, the Princesses had to track him down. He had cloaked away after the royal guardsmen tried to apprehend him, but the Princesses got their hooves on him. He told them all about your world, about the war you fought in daily, and about his own role. They made a spell to send him back, but Celestia says he was really... reluctant to leave. They didn't really know why at first, but Celestia figured it out." She paused. "He didn't want to go back to his own world. He said that the peace here had brought out another side of himself that he had lost in the endless battle. In the end though, he went back, because he knew that he didn't belong here."

I looked at her and sighed angrily, frowning in the process. "I think I can continue the story, Twilight. After he came back to his team, he was a changed man. I found him on the battlefield, cryin', but for some reason, I spared him, and we became good friends. We were supposed to fight, so our teams didn't like the friendship between us, but we didn't let it drive us apart." I sighed, looking down and closing my eyes. "We enjoyed the peace and quiet of the areas outside of battle, takin' in the sounds of nature. But it didn't last."

The rest of the trip was silent. We both had a lot on our minds. For example, there was this one question that kept nagging at me throughout the rest of the ride.

Maybe our friendship was real, and if it was... then why'd he kill me?

---

When we arrived in Canterlot, 3 royal guardsmen were stationed outside the train for us. They escorted us through the busy streets of the beautiful city to the large castle at its edges.

There were two more guards stationed at the door, and they and our escorts quickly conveyed some information.

"Is this the creature?" the door guard asked.

"Yes," replied one of our escorts. "We're taking he and Princess Twilight straight to the throne room to perform the spell."

"Alright."

They opened the massive doors to the castle and we embarked for the throne room. Twilight began to shift uncomfortably as we reached it, another set of doors opening ominously.

The throne room was quite massive, almost a hallway instead of a room. Stained glass windows lined the walls, detailing ponies performing various actions. In a few of them, Twilight Sparkle was shown doing something, presumably defeating various monsters, along with Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and even Spike in a few of those.

At the end of the room sat 2 thrones, one held higher and one held lower. As we approached them, 2 ponies came clearly into view, one white with flowing, pink, green, blue and purple hair, and the other navy with ethereal, sparkling dark blue hair that looked like the night sky.

It was obvious that these two were the Princesses Celestia and Luna.

When we finally got close enough, the guards bowed, and I followed their example, taking off my hat and placing it on my chest as I bowed with them. We all stood up as the guards and Twilight backed away slightly from the throne, leaving me the center of attention.

Celestia looked straight at me with a flat, unreadable face, likely the product of many years of practice. "Sniper, I presume?"

I tipped my hat. "G'day, your majesty."

Her unreadable face shifted into something akin to affirmation... or perhaps a small tinge of respect. She took her time to examine me for a second, noticing my weaponry, and nodded to her sister.

"I understand that you are a mercenary, Sniper?" she said, frowning slightly.

"Yes, your majesty. In my own world, that was my job."

She and Luna traded looks briefly. "We can send you back to your own world, Sniper," she said.

I wasn't at all surprised. "I know." I frowned, picking up on her hint.

"It's time, Sniper. Time for you to go back," Luna said.

Something began bubbling up inside of me. "Why?" I said.

"Hm?" she said, puzzled.

"Why do I have to go back?" I asked, almost pleadingly.

Celestia frowned. "Sniper, I'll put this gently," she began. "You are a mercenary, and I cannot allow that in Equestria."

The bubbling began to increase. "Was a mercenary, Celestia, only in my own world."

She seemed offended, but her expression didn't show it. "I still cannot allow a killer to reside in Equestria, Sniper. That is why you must return to your own world."

The bubbling turned into a furious boil. "You think I would hurt your little ponies!?" I yelled, furious out of almost nowhere.

The guards approached me with their spears ready as a reminder.

"Do you think I would have become friends with Twilight if I wanted to kill? Do you think I would have saved Scootaloo from the timberwolves if I didn't care?" I yelled, accusingly, pointing at her in an aggressive stance as if to point out the unjust treatment.

Her expression sank slightly, seemingly pitying me. "Sniper, I understand your concern... but you do not belong here."

"I think he does."

Twilight came to the middle of the room, standing next to me.

Celestia seemed very concerned by this.

"I know Sniper. He has a good heart, Princess Celestia, even if it might not show all the time." She looked to me, and then back to Celestia with a smile. "I wouldn't have guessed he was a mercenary if he didn't tell me so, and I know that he would never do anything to hurt anypony in Equestria."

They looked at one another for a moment, silence filling the room. Celestia looked ready to say something, but I interrupted before they could begin.

"Celestia's right," I said, looking straight, expression flat.

"W-what?" Twilight reacted, looking over to me with concern.

"I don't belong here," I elaborated. "This isn't my world, Twilight. No matter how much I do to fit in, it still won't be right." I turned to Twilight. "I have to leave."

"Sniper... no..." she said, trying to convince me otherwise, but I had made up my mind.

I turned to the Princesses. "Cast the spell."

And so they did. The horns of both Luna and Celestia glowed with the power of the sun and moon, and arcane symbols on the floor, previously invisible but still drawn there, began to appear. A circle surrounded by these symbols had been drawn on the ground, and as the symbols glowed, I could feel a pull on myself. The glyphs grew brighter and brighter red, until suddenly, the Princesses stopped casting the spell.

"Please step into the circle, Sniper."

"Alright." I turned over to Twilight one last time. "Goodbye," I said.

She stopped, unsure of what to do, and hugged me. I returned the embrace. "Goodbye..."

After only a second, we released, and I made my way to the circle. Standing inside it, I could feel the pull greater than ever before. It felt like it was about to rip something out of me, but gently, like surgical removal.

The Princesses lit their horns once more, and the tugging increased as a light began to envelop me. Twilight sat a ways away, frowning as she watched the spell unfold. I felt the tug increase, about to yank something out of my body...

And the spell stopped. An audible shattering filled the room, breaking the glyphs on the ground as they turned yellow, and then disappeared like dust in the wind. The light was gone, and I still stood in the throne room with Twilight, the Princesses, and three guards.

Celestia was dumbfounded, Luna was shocked, and Twilight was simply concerned.

"Celestia, what happened?!" she asked, rushing to my side as I looked back to Celestia.

"The spell... broke. Something's wrong."

It was then that I heard something incredibly familiar.

"AAHHH! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Author's Note:

What's this? Another twist? Yeah, you heard right.

This chapter was harder to write for some reason. I think it was the complexity of the situation and the shifting tone of the passage that made it hard.

Also, sorry to have to shut down Twilight there when she was trying to make a point, but I think that in the end, Sniper knows he needs to go back, and simply can't deny it.

Next chapter, we have another interlude before we get back into the main story.

Comments

[Keystroke Cascade]

Atleast we can rule out pyro from the list of suspects who might have fallen... that would not end well

[Sadistic Joy]

I say demoman appears

[StainedBarrel]

8288411
8288565
You might want to click the last words of this chapter, it's a link. (stupid fimfic making links black)

I can't wait to see where you go with this next, especially with this twist.

[quipdoesmc]

that sounds like spy

[Royal7]

but the Princesses got their hands on him. 

[base4]

8289004
Thank you, corrected.

[modern2wars]

PLEASE I HAVE TO KNOW HOW THIS ENDS!

[mrkillwolf666]

more

[Eric Longtooth]

Good chapter. but I feel like Sniper fliped from 'I don't want to leave' to 'just take me' a bit too quick. it seemed... sudden.

[base4]

8324045
It's sort of supposed to be sudden, but not instant. It took between the time Celestia stopped talking to when Twilight finished talking for him to make up his mind. The implication is that he thought about it, and came to a very sudden realization. However, I can see your point. It was very fast.

In the future, I'll try to take that into consideration.