Soldier of Equestria

by Silver-Spirits-and-Ales

Chapter three: A second wind

Sunday afternoon

When he woke up, the operative couldn't recognize his surroundings. He was on a bed, inside a prison cell. The floor and walls were made of the same featureless stone. There was a window with metal bars going vertically, through which he could see the blue, cloudless sky.

Brian got up and tried moving towards the window to get a view. But as he did so he felt a tug on his left wrist. Looking down at it he found that he was shackled to the wall. A familiar predicament, though the operative had hoped he'd never have to be in such a situation again.

Brian's torso was in bandages, and he could breathe properly again; At least his captors had done a good job fixing him.

"Hello?" the soldier called. No one answered.

"Hello?" he repeated. "Anybody?"

He heard some hoofsteps, and the metal door opened. A white pony wearing what seemed to be a golden Roman Praetorian Guard uniform peaked his head inside the cell, looked the man, and left.

"Very bloody helpful," muttered the human, sitting back down on the bed and leaning his spine against the wall.

With his right hand he went through his pockets, checking whether or not his captors had left his tobacco pouch. Unfortunately for him, they hadn't.

After a couple of minutes of idly waiting, the soldier heard the approach of hoofsteps. The door opened, and two guards, just like the one who'd peaked his head in earlier, made their entrance. They stood on either side of the door, as a third pony entered.

She was a pearly-white mare, much bigger than the guards protecting her, with a green, blue, light pink and green mane and tail. Around her neck was a heavy-looking piece of jewelry, and a crown was perched atop her head. She, just like the lavender-coloured pony back in Ponyville, had a pair of wings and a horn. The mark on her flank depicted a sun.

Of all the ponies the operative had seen until then, this one was surely the funniest. In his mind, she was just a red nose away from looking like a clown. Brian might even have laughed when first seeing her, had he not been shackled to a wall. Instead, he looked up at his captor, who had an eyebrow raised, a stoic expression on her face.

"Leave us," said the huge mare, prompting the two guards to depart instantly.

"Who are you?" she asked, sitting down in front of the soldier.

"Maybe you could answer a couple of my questions first," he retorted. "Why am I tied up? Was a cell not enough? Also, where am I?"

"When my faithful student Twilight Sparkle sent me a letter, saying she and her friends had found and captured a human in Ponyville, I sent the guard over immediately to recover you," she said. "I'm sorry for the ill treatment, but I dare say you've deserved it."

The soldier groaned. "Not that again," he thought.

"I was pretty worried when I heard the news," she explained. "I know very well what your species is capable of. And these reports that Twilight, her friends, and the rest of Ponyville gave me didn't help matters. As to where you are, you are currently being held in the eastern tower of Canterlot Castle."

"I see," said the soldier.

"Now, maybe you can answer my question, human. Who are you?"

Brian took a few seconds to think; there he was, in a world he didn't know. He needed more answers as to where he was, answers that he'd probably get if he played nice. With his free hand, he touched his neck, but he couldn't feel his dog tags. They had obviously taken them away. So there was no point whatsoever in lying about his name, or they would discover soon enough.

"Captain Brian Havelock, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment," answered Brian. "And you are?"

"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria."

The soldier instantly bowed his head to the princess. He was addressing royalty, after all.

Celestia stared back at the Captain with her violet eyes. She considered him for a few seconds.

"He is respectful," she thought.

"Pray tell, Captain: what is your purpose in Equestria?" she asked.

Brian hesitated. For all he knew, maybe he'd been sent on a mission to this place, and he just couldn't remember being sent. But that didn't make any sense. Before being transported here, he was already on a mission. He could remember the sound of guns, clearly dropping from existence in a split second. He could remember the details of that mission he was on, he could even remember breaking his shin just before appearing in this world.

"I am terribly sorry, ma'am, but I cannot tell you that." Brian said, smiling.

Princess Celestia chuckled, and smiled at her captive. She took in his uniform trousers and his eyepatch.

"Very well, Captain," she said. "Let's see if I can guess." She cleared her throat, and continued. "If the uniform you wear, and your rank are anything to go by, you are a soldier."

Brian snorted. "You don't say, Your Majesty."

Celestia chuckled. "Just call me Princess of the obvious," she answered. "But I think there's more to it than that. Your rank and your skills denote a certain seniority."

"Seniority?" snorted the officer. "Please, you're making me feel old."

"Oh, but I did not want to offend you, Captain," the princess said. "But I stand by what I said. You have several battle scars on your body." She looked at the scar going through the soldier's eye and the ones on his chest that weren't covered with bandages. "They go to show that you have experience."

Brian had to admit that the Princess had her charm. Her coat, her demeanor, and that mane that seemed to wave in the wind, even when there was no gust to be heard of. All of these traits gave the diarch a certain elegance. And that was why Brian was on his guard. She had gone from reproachful to flattering in mere seconds. Maybe she was just trying to butter the soldier up, in order to get the information she needed. An effective technique when used on certain people, although obvious to one who was trained to resist it.

But Brian decided to play along.

"There is something else," said the Princess. "For a soldier, you aren't wearing much protective gear. So I'd say you weren't planning to fight. No, you were on a reconnaissance mission. Now, if your handlers are planning to invade Equestria, I'd like to know, immediately."

"As much as I would like to answer your question, Your Majesty," replied the human, "I'm afraid I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't be at liberty to answer that question."

"I see," said Celestia. "Then, maybe you could answer another question. How did you get here?"

"Look," sighed Brian. "I don't know about that either. I was sort of... transported here. And trust me, I'd really like to know how. But all I want, right now, is to go home."

"Alright, Captain," the Princess said. "This is what I'll do. I will not question you further on reasons for your presence in Equestria. But you will stay detained in this cell until my student, Princess Twilight, confirms that you mean no harm to us. She is actually looking forward to seeing you. Until then, I would like you to rest and recuperate. If you need anything, please call one of the guards."

The sovereign bowed her head towards the shackles around the captive's wrist, a yellow beam shot out of her horn, and the chains magically disappeared.

"Thank you," Brian said. He lay down on his bed, just as Celestia left the room.

Comments

[ZombieMan]

Excellent so far, there are very few errors, mostly small grammatical issues. "Soldier In Equestria" stories tend to be largely disliked around here, mostly due to clichés.

[Silver-Spirits-and-Ales]

8779271
Thank you for your feedback, it means a lot to me. But please, could you tell me what these clichés are? Because I really want to avoid them.

[ZombieMan]

8779328
1. Soldier is fighting in a war on Earth, something happens like an explosion knocks him out and he wakes up in Equestria
2. Due to thier experiences, thier PTSD makes them act extremly hostile towards the ponies
3. They eventually become kind and learn to care as well as make friends with them

Ok not really clichés, but people seem to not like them because almost all "Soldier In Equestria" stories seem to follow the same formula, sometimes with little twists, and for many they jusy grow stale.

But you shouldn't try to change these things or just outright leave them out altogether, that would kill the whole story especially if that's basically your main plot.

[Silver-Spirits-and-Ales]

8779500
I like to think of these as motifs rather than clichés. I suppose my choice for a main character doesn't really help matters. This story started out as a Metal Gear Solid/ MLP crossover, and I wrote about two lines before realizing that writing a crossover limits my creativity too much. Still, there are some subtle (or blatant) references to MGS to be found throughout the story. FYI Brian is actually inspired by Naked Snake from MGS3, and snake is probably the most stereotypical soldier character ever.
But anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

[Ziper Ace]

Bruh...
The Pony and the Solider better apologized to each other about the Miss understanding