The Chronicles of Arcuz

by Lee Geko

Negotiations

Stardate: 9/3/78
Ponyville Train Station, 7:00 AM

The six pony's and I had purchased our tickets and boarded the train. I was the center of attention for the entire way to the station (I expected no less) and we were on our way to the castle. I accessed my inventory for the change of clothing that I had brought, and went into the restroom to change. My combat armor is incredibly difficult to get off, but I manage. After changing and packing away my armor in my infinite-mass storage module, I notice for the first time today that Ace is still at my side. I pull out my trusty 44. magnum and flip the safety on, I then twirl it on my finger cowboy-style for a bit before re-holstering it. I then practice my quick-draw for a while before heading back out to sit with the others. Twilight has her nose in a book, Rarity is sketching something, Applejack is just relaxing, Fluttershy is looking out the window, and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash look miserable. 'ADHD' I thought to myself, watching Pinkie attempting to sit still. Applejack turned her attention to me after a few moments. "So" she began "whats your name?" "Xavier" I replied, she nodded "mighty fine to meet ya" she said, I nodded. We began talking about farming back on earth, and here in Equestria, it must have been a good 2 hours before we were interrupted by Pinkie, who caught everyone's attention by practically shouting "i'm so bored!" Everyone looked at her for a few minutes before Twilight broke the silence. "Why don't you try reading something, Pinkie?" Twilight asked she then pulled a dufflebag from the luggage in the racks. "I brought plenty for everyone" she said with a confident smile. Rainbow Dash was the first one to get a book, witch surprised me. She got a book titled "Daring Do" and the cover depicted a pegesus mare swinging on a rope holding an artifact of some sort. 'Indiana Jones' was the first thought that came to mind. Rarity picked out a book on dressmaking, Fluttershy got a book on gardening, and Twilight pulled out what seemed to be a book about magic, and Applejack and Pinkie just stayed ware they were. I looked in the bag briefly and asked "do you have anything on the history of this place?" Twilight beamed, and in no less than ten seconds, she had put together a stack of about twenty books on the history of Equestria. "Wow" I said, looking at the stack "that;s a lot of books." Twilight chuckled to herself and blushed a little "sorry" she said "I guess I overdid it a little" I shrugged "it's fine" I replied "in fact, I'm going to get started" I said, grabbing the top book from the stack. The rest of the train ride was almost completely silent, save for Pinkie trying to get me to play a board game, she decided to take a nap after I brushed her aside, and when I was about to open the second book in the stack, we arrived,
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Canterlot castle, 6:13 pm.

It was nighttime when we arrived, but just barely. As we neared the castle gate, I found myself being followed by an armored guard on each side, then one came up behind me. 'I know this strategy' I thought 'they act normal, but once they have you surrounded, it's out with the weapons and on with the chains' I smirked. As another guard began walking in front of me, I saw my chance to ruin their plan. We passed under a low archway, I jumped onto one of the walls as the guards drew their spears, I ran up to the top of the inside of the arch, and dropped. The four guards were instantly knocked out by the impact of my body forcing them to hit the ground. Twilight and the others just stared at me in shock. "To easy" I muttered to myself, cracking my knuckles, I then looked at the group "sorry about that" I said very calm "but I saw that one coming." I saw Twilight and the others trading uneasy looks, "part of my training" I said "need to be ready for anything." I noticed that they didn't seem to calm down any, in fact, Rainbow Dash was glaring at me and Fluttershy was hiding behind the others. After a few seconds of awkward silence, I found myself surrounded again by about 10 guards this time. I sighed and gave myself up, after all, I wanted to stay on good terms with these people, er, pony's. I soon found myself in what seemed to be the throne room of the castle, still surrounded, and waiting to talk with the princess. She arrived in a matter of minutes, a tall, white unicorn with wings and a mane that had more color to it than Rainbow Dash's, I could tell that she was in charge because Everyone in the room (with the exception of me) bowed the moment she entered. I was expecting to be chewed out or punished, but strangely enough, the first thing she did was dismiss the guards. 'This is odd' I thought to myself, there was a silence for a few seconds before the princess spoke "good to see you again" she said warmly. I looked around to see who she was talking to before she spoke again "Xavier" she said "whats wrong?" I thought for a second 'well, lets see, I'm trapped on an alien planet with no backup, no communication, and a mission to fulfill' but I said "nothing." "Yer lying, sugarcube" Applejack said from across the room 'the fuck?' I thought 'how did she know that?' I took a deep breath and said "no, I'm fine" then I turned to the princess "you wanted to see me?" I asked as politely as I could "yes" she replied "I wanted to have an audience with you." So far so good "from what I understand" she continued "you and your crew came to Equestria on a mission, correct?" I nodded "what was your mission?" she asked. 'Ah' I thought 'the fun part' "you see" I began "I am a negotiator, I am to be the first to speak with you on the behalf of the Earth government about possibly starting a human settlement on this planet." We all sat in silence for a few moments before Celestia spoke again "I know almost nothing about your race, and you expect me to grant you permission to settle here?" she asked me like I was insane. "No" I said after a few seconds "personally, I don't, however I am following orders, and my orders were to present the case, but since I'm marooned here, I have no further orders." Celestia seemed to be lost in thought momentarily, but it didn't last "does your race have any hostile intention to us?" she asked, I replied by shaking my head "can you make contact with them?" she asked, another no. She pondered this briefly, and seemed to make a decision "you will stay in the castle until such time as I see that you can be trusted" fair enough "since you are unable to establish contact with your fellow humans, I trust you to abide by Equestrian government standards until such time as you are able to rejoin your own government" I nodded "we won't have any issues" I said 'I hope I made a good decision' I thought. "In one weeks time, you will be brought to a royal court to decide your place, until then I trust you to not draw unwanted attention" she finished "I understand" I said with a half-bow. 'It could be worse' I said to myself as I was dismissed and shown to my room.
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Washington D.C., 4/21/2123

The castle of Canterlot and it's inhabitants began to fade around me as I exited the simulation pod. "Well?" asked the captain before me "how was our first trip to Equestria, mister O'Neil?" I gave him a smirk and replied "you should know chief, you were there before me." Captain Richard returned the smirk. "We will continue tomorrow, Alex, with any luck we can have you in Equestria for real within a week." He saw the worried look on my face and put an arm around my shoulder. "I understand that moving to a new planet can worry someone, trust me, I know, but you don't need to worry" he assured me."after all, their as peaceful as you can get."