Lesson Learned

“Alright Twilight, you ready?”

She gulps nervously, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

I smile, “Good. Let’s do this.”

I look around, “1 katana, 5 throwing knives, 3 combat knifes, 1 AK47 assault rifle, 2 drum magazines for the AK47, 1 Mossberg 500 shotgun, 20 M4 Carbine assault rifles, 1 Barrett .50 Cal. sniper rifle, 2 Remington Model 700 sniper rifles, 1 AA-12 full auto shotgun, 3 drum magazines for the AA-12 full auto shotgun, 2 Glock-18 full auto pistols, 5 red dot sights, 3 Double Magazines for rapid reloads, 1 Smith & Wesson M29 revolver, 2 Springfield Model 1861 Rifled Muskets with bayonets, 18 M67 frag grenades, and a fair amount of .44 magnum bullets, .50 caliber rifle rounds, 5.56mm rounds, 7.62mm rounds, .308 rifle rounds, 9mm bullets, and 12 gauge shotgun shells, standard and slug shells.” I list off all dangerous items I found over the last month and a half. “Got all that Twi?” I look back to the purple unicorn as she scribbles a few more things down on a scroll.

“Got it.” She smiles and rolls up the parchment before handing it to me with her magic.

“Thank you.” I place the parchment down on a table and grab the next one and toss it to her, where she grabs it with her magic and readies herself again.

“Ready?”

“Alright, miscellaneous items.” I walk over to another pile to take into inventory. “One copy each of Assassin’s Creed 1 and 3, one Gears of War 2, two Halo Reach games, two jacks for lifting a vehicle, one coffee maker, one fully stocked toolbox, one crowbar, one sledgehammer, one game guide to Mass Effect 3, one violin with an intact bow, one acoustic guitar, and one mildly torn recliner chair.” I finish listing and look back to the unicorn.

“Done.” She hands me the parchment and I lay it down next to the first one.

“I’m surprised that you haven’t found more of these things.” Twilight says while looking into the miscellaneous pile.

“Well, to tell you the truth, these were the only things that really interested me. With the times I wake up, I could use the coffee to keep myself awake; I remember playing a bunch of video games back in my world so I thought I would hold onto them just for the heck of it, and the recliner chair… I could use the relaxation.” I move past the unicorn and begin taking the stuff off of it before sitting down on it and laying back, letting the chair lift up my legs as I stretch out my back. “Oh yeah. Ahhh. That’s the good stuff.” I moan out. From everything that’s happened here, this feels just nice.

“Well, if there’s nothing else I better get back to Spike so we can…” she trails off as she spy’s the shelf I built to house some books. I have 6 books on said shelf, a history book chronicling every major and minor event that took place in America, a World Geography book showing every landmark and wonder the world has to offer to my people, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War strategy book, a massive cookbook detailing the many types of foods to eat, cook, obtain and how to make them from different countries and a military listing and catalogue of the different types of weapons made available to just about everyone, including the attachments to go along as well.

“Did you already read the ones I lent you?” I ask her. She looks at me and smiles nervously. I had some more books but Twilight is always the knowledge seeker, so I lent her some… a day ago. Seeing as how she’s smiling nervously and eyeing the rest of my so called library, I lay my head back and groan. “Fine, but first…!” I quickly stop her before she gets too excited. “Bring back the other ones first before I think about lending you these. Oof!” I shout as I suddenly have a large unicorn on my stomach and squeezing the life out of me.

“Ohhh thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou!” she quickly says and continues to hug me tightly.

“Twilight… if you keep doing this… Oh… I won’t be able to lend you… ahh… them!” I try to wheeze out.

“Oh I’m so sorry, Swift!” she quickly lets go, allowing me to take in a massive gulp of air.

“Ehhhh, it’s alright Twilight. I’m good.” I catch my breath and look at her as she continues to eye me with worry. “Hey, didn’t you say you had to go do something with Spike?” I ask her.

The lights in her mind suddenly flash on. “You’re right! I made a checklist of things I had to do today. I better hurry home before I’m late with the checking!” She turns around and her horn lights up. “I’ll bring those books back later.” That’s the last thing she says before disappearing.

“Yeah, no hurry.” I nonchalantly say and stand up. My mind plays over what I was thinking when we were done talking.

That face, her expressions, her hairstyle, her potential… Beautiful?! What was I thinking?! I shouldn’t be thinking these! I’m just trying to live as normal a life as I possibly can. Not fall in love with…

I close my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose, letting it out slowly through my mouth. She’s a friend Swift. One of your best friends. The only best friend you have ever considered as such and has treated you right. Don’t let false feelings get in the way of that. Maybe I’m just eternally grateful that we are friends again. With everything we went through, everypony’s been on edge for some time now. Thankfully, things have cooled down since then.

Taking my mind off things, I look at all the things I and the others found. It’s a pretty sizable scavenge. Thanks to Discord’s short renovation of Ponyville and the surrounding area, a lot of things popped up that I, my friends, and the rest of Ponyville were able to find over the time since Discord was defeated, more or less a month and a half ago. I only chose these items here in my house because they seemed the coolest and most useful. Any guns or dangerous weapons I or anypony else finds is to be brought to me for safekeeping, along with any other foreign items. The musket rifles had some dust of them which means one of two things: 1, they were on display inside a museum, or 2, they were stuck in warehouse for safekeeping or something. The latter option seems the most likely since museums sometimes wipe the dust off. A pretty big haul I found was a crate of those M4 rifles. Sadly they still needed to be outfitted with the receiver parts that allow for full auto capability. Thanks to the military book I found, I know the parts. Now I just need to find a blacksmith or someone with smelting to make it.

And the video games… Man, it’s been so long since I played them. I still remember befriending some others around my age who let me crash at their house a few times, where I slept under the bed most of the time. It wasn’t 5-star hotel perfect but was better than on the street. The snacks were good, the games were awesome, and it was a pretty good ride for awhile. Until the usual annoying sister found me, scared mother, or overly protective father with a shotgun that drove me out of the house. Still, it’s fun having these games again. I may not be able to play them, but it still feels good.

Along with what happened, because of Discord’s short… lengthy… I don’t know, reign, my sleep clock got completely screwed up with his fast changing days. The residents of the Everfree Forest also got scared further in so I was able to launch a small expedition to gather as much materials as everypony can possibly get from within. It was worthwhile for a bit until the denizens made their way back in. It was a shame, but tis’ their home. We also found a bunch of broken, destroyed, and half eaten things as usual: couches, chairs, clothes, a refrigerator, and a convertible that become a nesting hole for some things called parasprites. My friends specifically told me not to ever let one into my house, Ponyville, or to follow me whatsoever. Basically, cut off all contact from them. Still not sure why, they never bothered to explain, but at the moment I’m not looking for a pet so I left it, which sucked for the convertible.

Speaking of vehicles, my plane is back where it was, where I also took a more in-depth look at the manual and practiced more so I wouldn’t have a repeat of almost crashing and burning. Plus my bike is next to my house, and thank Celestia and heavens themselves… my Hummer is back to normal. I haven’t taken it for a ride since then but soon I might… might. What was also weird to see was a 42-inch plasma screen TV that was reduced to 21, give or take an inch or two.

On another note, since my reputation slowly grew from being one of the ones that defeated Discord and being the only one of my kind, it finally became official that I had to do a Q&A at Canterlot. My friends, the nobles, the princesses, and as many ponies that could come from all the different cities were to attend. Speaking of cities, some sound very weird and vaguely familiar, such as Las Pegasus, Trottingham, Cloudsdale, Coltumbus, Salt Lick City, Fillydelphia, Hoofington, and Stalliongrad. Needless to say, I’m probably gonna be pretty popular in a few choice places in Equestria, probably elsewhere too. Either way, things have quieted down to some degree of peace.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Hey, Swift! Open up!”

Some degree…

“Hold your horses, I’m comin’.”

Bad metaphor, dude.

“Shut up.” I mutter to myself as I make my way to my front door. “Why can’t you ever try to be subtle?” I grumble to the rainbow-maned pegasus on my porch.

“You know I can’t do that.” She replies as she hovers at my eye level.

I groan and lean against my door frame. “What do you need? Want to see me show off more of my limited, very rare weapons that could save my life or kill me in a battle?”

She stares at me intently, “Do you honestly expect to think that that’s all I want from you?” she slightly, but angrily, says.

I push myself off the door frame and lean in closer to her, “I know you too well to expect anything less.” I lowly say. We continue to stare at eachother for a little while longer, seeing if the other will crack.

Then she blinks, “Ha! You blinked! I win!” I happily pronounce and turn around to go inside.

“Wha-? Hey! I-“ Rainbow stammers out.

“Nope! You lose. I win.” I say and fall onto my couch with my hands behind my head.

“I… Fine! Whatever. I just wanted to tell you that Applejack wanted me to help tear down her old barn so she can make another one.” She gives up and explains.

I stare at her, “Annnnnnd what do you want from me?”

“Well, I figured that you might wanna lend a hoof… hand… you know what I mean.” She tries to correct herself. “I’m sure you have something to help you make things more fun.”

I sigh and shake my head slowly, “Rainbow, just because I have the tools doesn’t mean I-“ I stop myself, my serious expression slowly turning into a wide grin as I think. “Alright, I’m in.” I jump onto my feet, much to Dash’s delight.

“Sweet.”

“Lemme go grab my stuff.” I turn tail quickly and move back into the storage part of my house. Seeing all the weapons and items I found, I think of what to get. My mind doesn’t wander too far before I lay my eyes on just the right tools.

I grab the sledgehammer in my hand and get a good feel of its weight. Nodding, I turn around and grab three grenades before connecting them to my belt. “Alright, this’ll work.” I walk out into the living room to see Rainbow Dash laying back in mid-air. Wow, now that is pretty cool. Can’t at all see how she does it. “Eh-hem!” she looks up from her position which actually shows her staring at me upside down. Turning right side up to see me clearly, I lay the sledgehammer on my shoulder and smirk. “What do you think?”

She smiles, “Awesome. Let’s go.” She says and floats out the door. Without further ado, time to destroy a building…

“You’ve been pretty mellow lately. You know that right?”

“I know right.”

“Used to be that you only stuck to protecting and fighting and that’s it, barely any fun at all.”

“I know right.”

“But I have to admit, you seem a bit cooler now that you’ve loosened up a little.”

“I know right.” Rainbow glares at me, obviously a little more than ticked off at my repeating phrase.

“There you two are!” Our attention cuts to the orange farm pony in the Stetson hat. She’s in a ditch and is poking her head out to see us. “’bout time y’all showed up.”

“Sorry AJ.” Rainbow apologizes and hovers above the ditch.

“So you needed help with destroying a barn?” I quickly ask, more than a little anxious to bust the hell out of something with someone’s consent.

She nods her head, “Sure do. It’s there over yonder.” She points straight ahead of us and there it is. A barn in all its… glory. A giant painted faded, boards missing, holes in the roof and rickety type of glory.

“Wow, that thing needs to be condemned.” I bluntly say.

“I know right.” I snap in Dashies direction whose only reply is a wide grin along her face.

“Fine, fine. I deserve that.” I swing the sledgehammer back onto my shoulder and look towards Applejack, “Need anything specific done to it or do you just want us to go full on Rambo on it?”

Both ponies look at me with confused looks on their faces with the unknown name I mentioned. “An old war veteran who can create an innumerable amount of damage in a matter of seconds.”

Both ponies look at each other for a bit before turning back to me, “Uhhhh… Rambo?”

I smile and grab the sledgehammer with both hands. “Excellent choice madam. Die barn!” I yell and charge at the hunk of junk with the hammer over my head.

The stare a bit before Rainbow shrugs, “Huh… whelp, can’t let him have all the fun. Wait for me!” Rainbow fits her goggles on before taking off after me.

<<<>>>

Author’s note: Decided on changing the symbol for the scene transition.

“No need to panic. Rarity is just one pony. I'm sure one of my other friends will need me.” Twilight mutters to herself as she trots down the cobblestone road towards Sweet Apple Acres. After Rarity’s scream of fright turned out to be a false alarm, the lavender unicorn is now looking around to see if there is anypony around that needs some help with something. Considering that she has to send a letter to the Princess before sundown, just anything will do.

“Haaaaaaa!” *Crash*

“Raaaaaahh!”

Fortunately, that anything just presented itself in the form of two hyperactive and very destructive individuals: the rare human and a rainbow-maned pegasus. With a sudden smack, the nervous unicorn is halted by the sudden impact of a wooden plank at her hooves.

“What in the world...?” Twilight says in awe as she watches the duo go to town on the barn that is sure to belong to the farm pony Applejack. “Rainbow and Swift must be angry with Applejack! They must hate her guts! How wonderful!” Twilight says with happiness. In any other situation, that would kinda be considered mean. In Twilight’s situation, that’s perfect.

“Rainbow Dash! Stop!” Even if the destructive Pegasi wanted to go full head on into the building, the pink aura of magic surrounding the full length of her tail ceased that action in an instant.

“You too, Swift Wind!” Just as the human was about to bring the massive sledge hammer down on a poor defenseless segment of the wall, he’s stopped in mid-strike, the blunt heavy part of his hammer just an inch away from the target.

“Hey! What the-!?” he stammers out annoyingly as he tries to figure out on just what stopped his rampage. His theories don’t have time to sprout up ‘till his entire body is engulfed in the pink mana and is carried over to the owner, upside down.

“Listen, you two. I know you're upset with Applejack, but don't worry. Whatever it is that has come between you three, I'm sure that I, as a good friend, can help you resolve your problems.” Twilight explains her role as she lets the two fall onto the ground.

“Ow!” Swift yells as he lands on his head, his body now slumped in an awkward state from lying on his head. He then tries to look at the unicorn from his position. “Explain what the heck you are talking about and that why am I lying upside down on my head?” he asks her with a slight hint of anger in his voice. Of course he would sound like that. Suddenly going from a stress-releasing act of destruction to being dropped on your head can definitely kill the mood.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Rainbow adds.

“Oh, you two, you don't have to hide your feelings from me! I can tell you three must've had a terrible fight.” She tells the duo as she stares at them closely and intently. With a flash of light, Swift Wind and Rainbow Dash are laying down on benches on either side of the now therapist looking bookworm, complete with glasses, clipboard, quill, and mane in a bun.

Swift looks at himself for a second before looking at his partner of destruction, “How did we get here?”

The only reply is a shrug from the rainbow pony.

“Now, why don't you two tell me all about your issues with Applejack. You first Rainbow.” Twilight asks her.

“We don’t have any issues with Applejack.” Rainbow replies casually but a bit confused for the two.

“You don't? Then why are you destroying her property?” her question shifts over to her second patient.

“Uhhh… because she asked us to.” Swift shoots up into a sitting position, “Yo, Applejack! Clear this up for us will you!” he shouts

The orange farm pony pokes her head out of the ditch while wearing a red helmet. “He’s right. I wanted to put up a new barn, but this one's gotta come down first. Hehe. Now get back to it, you two.” Applejack explains.

“You got it, boss!” Rainbow happily yells before taking off towards the barn.

“Hold on there, speedy!” Swift intercepts her by grabbing onto her tail and halting her, sliding a few feet due to the Pegasus’s momentum before stopping. She grudgingly looks back at him.

“What the hay?” she asks in an annoyed tone. He lets her go and walks a few more steps towards the barn.

“I got this.” Swift casually says before grabbing all three of his grenades. Looping a finger into each pin, he pulls, starting the 4 second timer on them just as he throws all three. One grenade finds its way through the window at the top while the remaining two land through the open door in the front. “Hit the deck!” Swift yells as he jumps into the ditch, landing prone with his hands over his head.

“Aaah!” With a slight shriek, Twilight and Rainbow Dash duck into the ditch as well. A tense second later passes before…

*BOOOOOMMM!*

<<<>>>

“Ow.” I mutter in an annoyed tone as dirt, rocks and old wood lands on me and the others. I manage to shuffle myself out of the pile I’m under and look to see Rainbow Dash with a smile on her face and Applejack with teeth bearing grin, both of whom jump out to assess the damage. Now where’s everypony’s favorite bookworm.

“Uhhh…” Under the moaning and slightly moving pile of junk, maybe? I reach over and begin clearing the stuff of the unicorn.

“Don’t worry, Twi. I got you.” I say as I slowly pull her out and carry her out of the ditch. I set her down gently, “You alright, girl?”

“Brrruu.” She grunts as she shakes off the debris from her mane and muzzle. “I’m fine.”

I nod, “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make sure I didn’t kill anybody.” I casually say and begin making my way to the site of destruction.

“Wait!” However I am halted by the special mare clutching my leg. She looks up at me with wide puppy dog eyes and a huge grin. “Do you have anything you need help with? Maybe go exploring in the Everfree Forest? Need help cleaning your guns? Conquer your fear of your truck? Or maybe you want to experiment a bit on your relation to magic?” she quickly asks the questions. Ooooookkaaaaayy… weird. Nothing is really popping into my head right now so much to her disappointment,

“Nooo, no thank you. The… the mid-air rotation and then landing on my head magic bit was enough experimenting for me today.” I say before slowly sliding my leg out of her grasp.

“Oh, okay then!” she recovers quickly and begins to trot away, rather sadly for that matter.

What’s gotten into her?

It’s probably nothing. I walk back over to the others as Applejack looks into the slight crater and Rainbow Dash examining a tree with a plank of wood embedded into it. Standing between the two mares, and looking at the points of interest, I sigh, “Too much?”

“A little.” Applejack answers.

“That was awesome.” Rainbow Dash says with a smile.

I chuckle at the statements and kick a rock into the crater. A few minutes pass as no conversations are started. “Sooooooo… anything else you need from me today?”

“Just show up for the picnic this afternoon.”

“Oh, alright then.” I reply and begin walking away. I stop in my tracks and turn around. “Picnic?”

The two mares look at each other nervously before turning back to me. “We never told you?” The farm pony asks.

I slightly frown and cross my arms, “No, apparently you did not.”

“Oh,” Dashie decides to express hers and AJ’s awkwardness of the situation. “Well… we were going to have a picnic just on the outside of Ponyville over at that tree. We thought it would be a good idea to wind down after everything that’s happened.” She tries to explain in the best possible way without accidentally making things worse. She rubs the back of her head nervously, trying to come up with something else. “I guess we forgot mention it to you, huh?”

“Uh-huh.” I say flatly, my expression not changing an inch.

“Swift I-“ I silence the apple worker with a fling of my hand, basically telling her stop.

“No, don’t. I am hurt. What, you think I’m not your friend enough for you to tell me when you were going to have this little… get-together?” I say in a sad but hurt tone, making the two feel bad, even worse than a minute ago.

“But we-“ I do the same thing with Rainbow Dash.

“No buts! I am going to the market right now and buying a dozen sandwiches and then meeting you all over at the picnic area in one hour!” I shout and start walking away.

“Wait-“

“No!” I say while quickly turning and pointing at them. “I go!” I turn back around and continue walking. Where did that come from? I think I remember another pony shouting that almost every time she left a room. I think her name was Photo… something. I don’t remember.

<<<>>>

“He can be a bit weird sometimes.” Applejack states.

“And Pinkie isn’t?” Rainbow Dash adds. Both mares stare at eachother for a second before they share a short laugh.

<<<>>>

“Now where to go?” I ask myself as I stroll through the market square of Ponyville. After leaving my hammer back at home, I found the perfect place that sells some daffodil sandwiches that the girls like. I tried them before and although they aren’t the best things I’ve ever tasted, they’re bearable. I’ll buy them when I’m making my way to the others so that way they can be fresh. For now, the market square is bursting with life as the wares are being sold. Maybe something will catch my eye. I don’t go through here often so their inventory always shifts every so often. I look at my watch. With 40 minutes left to kill, let’s see if anything pops up.

Fortunately, something does. I stop in front of a stand that sells accessories, nothing too major but some watches, hats, small jewelry… and sunglasses too. The female earth pony with a yellow coat and black mane notices my attention to her goods. “Why hello sir! What can I interest you in today?”

My eyes wander around the stands sellable goods till my vision stops as I stare at the pair of black sunglasses. “Hmmm.” I lowly mutter as I think. The sun isn’t too bad right now, but I guess it never hurts to be prepared. “May I see these for a second?” she nods and allows me to grab the sunglasses and put them on. The world becomes a little bit darker under the glasses influence.

Suddenly I find a mirror in my face with the earth pony seller being the wielder of said mirror. Seeing how I look in them, the darkening of the sun is one reason. The other is that they sort of remind me of character from a video game who wears them a lot. I think it was… Albert Wesker if I remember correctly

Lastly, they’re pretty damn cool.

“How much?”

“5 bits.”

“Sure.” I immediately dig into my pocket and grab the correct amount of bits before dumping them on the counter.

“That’s it? You’re not going to haggle at all?” she asks in disbelief. From the statement, this market’s prices can be bended to meet the satisfaction of both customer and owner like at a flea market. Sweet.

“I’ve been having a good day so far sooo,” I look at her with a smile. “Count yourself lucky.” With that, I stroll off.

Half an hour passes of strolling around, nothing really catching my attention, but it felt good to browse. The sandwiches are bought and I’m making my way towards the picnic area where I see 5 of my 6 pony friends getting ready for the day of relaxation. “Hey girls!” I say with a smile as I walk up to them.

All my friends greet me in return, although I can’t help but stare at Pinkie as she uncovers her basket and balloons float up, slowly carrying the basket to the heavens. I already know what to expect, but you just can’t really get used to it. “Hey, Swift. Nice shades.” Rainbow compliments me.

I smile, “Thanks, you too.” I compliment her as she wears hers.

“Please tell me I did not forget the plates.” My attention shifts over to the white unicorn rummaging through her basket. She gasps, “I did. I totally forgot them. Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” she cries and swoons on her hind legs before falling on her… couch that she just made appear. “Why, why, why...” she cries over and over again till she sees the different expressions that the five of us have, mostly the annoyed looks that Rainbow and I are giving her. “Uh... What? You didn't expect me to lay on the grass, did you?”

“Eh.” I groan. Only her… only Rarity can make such a big deal out of the smallest thing. I lie down on my back and stare into the sky for a second, my sunglasses still on till I close my eyes and let the peaceful scenery relax me.

*Smack*

When my eyes open, I’m greeted with a horrible sight. “Hey Swift!”

“Ahhhh!” I yell in fright and jump up to my feet. As I turn around to get a good look, I trip on my own foot and come tumbling down on a cushiony red couch that’s being occupied by a certain fashionista pony. “Ow.” I groan out as I lay on my back with my legs draping over the toppled seat.

Rarity slowly climbs up to get a look at everypony, her hair in a slight mess with a couple strands poking out.. “Swift… tell me why my couch has been toppled over by you? With me along with it?” she grumbles out.

I slowly climb up as well and stare at what freaked me out, “Ask Twilight McCrazy over there.” I bluntly say while staring at said pony. Her grin can scare foals and her hair indicates someone who is mentally unstable.

“You okay, hun?” Applejack asks worriedly.

“No! I am not alright.” Twilight yells. Everyone gasps in shock at the predicament that our Twilight may have gotten herself into. I grab the side of the couch and tip it back over onto its proper side. “It's just terrible.”

“Yes?” We all ask in worry.

“Simply awful.”

“Yes?!” We ask a bit more intently.

“It's the most horrific trouble I've ever been in and I really really really need your help!”

“Oh will you just shut it and tell us already?!” I yell. From the falling over, the scare and obvious suspense that she is probably trying to put us through right now, I just want her to go ahead and tell us all just what is so freakin’ important so we can help.

“My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven't learned anything about friendship!”

… That? That’s what’s so important that she nearly gave me a heart attack? I fall flat on my front on the soft blanket under me while my friends breathe a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened.” Fluttershy says. I groan and roll onto my back while the others get back to relaxing.

“Something awful has happened! If I don't turn in the letter on time, I'll be tardy! TARDY!” Twilight yells as she appears all around, knocking Rainbow’s glasses off, appearing on my stomach, almost making Rarity spit out her juice, and finally looking like she has a nervous breakdown in the middle of us all.

I say nothing and keep my eyes closed as my friends giggle cutely at the false alarm that Twilight is taking way too seriously. I can’t help but look up at the audible steaming sound coming from the temporarily, hopefully, crazy unicorn.

“No offense, sugarcube, but it looks like somepony's gettin' themselves all worked up over nothin'.” Applejack tries to console her friend.

Twilight scrunches her face and swats Applejacks hooves away, “This is not nothing. This is everything. I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!” She yells, still going around and looking at us all in the eyes in a way to try and take her seriously.

Pinkie giggles at her point of view of ‘Twilight being funny’. “Oh, Twilight, you're such a crack-up! Hahahaa!” she laughs as she falls onto her back.

“Twilight, lighten up!” I shout as I stand up and walk over to the tree. “No one died or got every single little thing taken away from them just because they were a little late.” I try to explain to her that everything will be alright while sitting down. For crying out loud, she’s the one and only student of ‘The’ Princess Celestia! I doubt she’d let her go for just one little thing. No one’s perfect.

“He’s right. Come on. Have a seat and stop sweatin' the small stuff.” Applejack pats the spot next to her

Twilight groans and lets out a few annoyed and frustrated groans before teleporting away.

“Wow. I've never seen Twilight so upset before.”

“I have.” I HATE YOU!!... Don’t wanna relive that.

“Oh, what a drama queen.” Rarity says out loud. I chuckle and close my eyes.

“Takes one to know one.”

“Mmm!” Rarity lowly moans to herself at my comment. I raise my hand without opening my eyes and catch a sandwich that was propelled to my face. “Why thank you!” I happily say and take a bite out of it. “Let’s see if the sane people can actually relax now.” I say while laying back against the tree a bit more snugly.

“Yeah, let’s.” Rainbow agrees as she lies back on the blanket.

Rarity quickly forgets the comment and begins conversing with the others. They pass the time with idle chit-chat here and there while dining on the food that Applejack and I brought. Meanwhile, I just rest my eyes under my glasses as they converse while eating my sandwich.

“Swift, dearie, how often do you relax?” Rarity asks me. After I finish eating, I bring my glasses down with one hand so I can see her from over them.

I shift in my spot and move back up into a sitting position and placing my hands behind my head. “Not very often.” I bluntly say like it’s nothing.

“When was the last time you rested?” Applejack asks next.

I sigh and begin thinking of when exactly I did take a load off. “Let’s see… all throughout last week I spent organizing my house. The second week before I spent scrounging up whatever I could find in the Everfree Forest… I think maybe the beginning weekend before that week?” I ask unsure.

“Nope. You spent that day fixing up those contraptions of yours.” Applejack reminds me.

“Ohhh… that’s right. The third week back was when Twilight was doing experiments on me to see if anything else major happened to me from Discord’s attack… what about that Saturday through Monday?” I ask if I’m missing anything.

Rainbow shakes her head, “No, you were practicing on using your… plane I think you called it. Remember, you had me, Fluttershy and as many other Pegasi we could round up on standby in case you started crashing again.” The memories flood back to my mind. I remember now. Plenty of Pegasi were willing to help me with that issue. Thankfully they were all strong as hell so when the propeller to the front was slowing down, they were able to guide me back to Ponyville in one piece. During that whole weekend and then some, I had to go around and find the oils and lubricants needed to give that thing proper maneuverability. A pain in the ass but now I don’t have to worry about anything sticking on me.

“Oh… now I do. Thanks again for the help.” Both pegasi smile from my words as I continue to think, “Fourth and fifth week we spent scouring the forest… sixth and seventh we made sure Ponyville and Canterlot were back to normal and everypony wasn’t delirious anymore… like a couple days after we defeated Discord.” I finally say. Practically I spent working on one thing or another since Discord was defeated. With the monsters pushed back, I had to spend as much time as I possibly can in scrounging up whatever popped up in the Everfree Forest that I could use. The haul was big so it was worth it in the end, hopefully.

“Oh my. So you’ve been working almost nonstop for over a month?” The shy pegasus asks. I look towards the middle of them all, seeing the curious glances that they give.

“Yeah… yeah I guess I have.”

“Oh! No no no no no nooooo! You mustn’t go on for too long without a proper beauty rest dear! It could have drastic consequences on you!” Rarity yells in a scared tone.

I bring my glasses down and look directly at her, “Unless I look like a walking corpse, then I’ll worry about it.” I bluntly say and bring my glasses back up. I haven’t felt like total crap throughout my time here so everything seems to be cool.

“You should get a hobby!” Pinkie suddenly blurts out.

I shoot forward and take off my glasses. “I do have a hobby!” The same curious glances appear. “I take apart and put back together my guns and properly take care of my blades every so often so I can make sure that they are working alright so when the next time I am in a fight for my life, I won’t have a misfire or jam that could make or break me.” I casually say as I lie back and dawn my glasses again.

From the silence I don’t think that’s the hobby they were hoping to hear. “Uhhhh I don’t think that’s what she meant Swift.” Rainbow says as she looks at me from the branch above me.

I look up, “Alright, what did she mean then?” She looks at the others as they all share different looks, using their own form of talking without words.

“Didn’t you find a guitar?” Applejack asks.

“And a violin?” Rarity adds.

“And a trombone?!” Pinkie adds as well. All eyes loom over at her.

“No Pinkie. That’s you.” Rarity corrects her. Wait, Pinkie owns a trombone?

“Ohhhhhh… Okay!” she happily yells as she eats one of the sandwiches in one bite.

“Your point?” I ask, wanting them to get to the point of it all.

“Well since you have them, why don’t you learn to play them? The guitar mostly. I don’t see you playing any of those fru-fru songs that those high class ponies listen to.” Rainbow points out.

“Nonsense dear! A little classical music to a pony- err human’s life isn’t so bad; a nice change of pace from all the work that this brute does.” I stare at her as she snuggles a bit more into her couch.

“Do you want that mane messed up again?” I threaten her.

“No! Don’t you dare!” she hisses at me. I smile and look forward again.

“Good. Now back to the topic at hand,” I say, “So what you all are saying is that I should make some time to learn to play some instruments that I found in the monster infested forest that my home is built right next to?” I replay their question in my own words. Their heads looks down as I point out the situation that I can be in everyday. *Sigh* “Alright.”

They shoot their heads up and look at me surprised. “Really?!” All five voices say simultaneously. I smile and clean my glasses from a smudge on them.

“Yeah, sure. Could be an interesting experience.” Truthfully, the idea does sound a little appealing. I’ve never been one to truly listen to music all the time, but then again I barely had a moment’s rest back in my world. And here… almost at every turn there could be a music number ready to pop up in a moment’s notice, mostly by one Pinkie Pie.

“That’s good to hear.” Rarity says.

“Just make sure you learn some sick songs.” Rainbow says to me from up top. I place my glasses back on and give her a thumbs up.

“Do y’all hear somethin’?” After a few minutes, Applejack asks us from her position on the tree right next to me. Everyone perks their ears up to tries and pick up something. I bring my head up and look around but all I see is nothing but the countryside. The audible stomping sounds of running hooves become apparent closer and closer along with some voices.

“I hear something but I don’t see-” Suddenly a massive horde of pony’s run right in the middle of our little group as we were putting everything up. What’s weird is that almost every single one of them have heart shaped eyes and Mayor Mare is leading them all, or maybe she’s being chased. “What’s going- Argh!” I yell in pain as my sentence get’s cut off by a massive blur of red and a hoof to my thigh. I immediately grab my thigh as the trauma placed on it suddenly paralyzes it. “Damnit! Why do I keep getting hurt today?!” I yell in pain, anger and annoyance.

Once I manage to regain my senses, the scene in front of me is a mess. Ponies are fighting each other like crazy and I spot a few ponies fighting over a doll. A really… cool and awesome looking-

“Don’t look at it!” Somepony tackles me to the ground and covers my eyes. I quickly push off the pony to see it was Twilight, who immediately stops the others from looking at the doll as well.

“Don't look at what?” Rarity asks the still hysterical unicorn, who then pushes her hoof against Rarity’s eyes.

“My Smarty Pants doll! I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!” Fighting is right. The ponies are going full blown ballistic here.

“Enchant your-! Are you crazy?!” I yell at her. I try to get up but my leg is still paralyzed so I just fall back onto the ground.

“Oh, I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn't find a problem, I'd make a problem! The day is almost over!” Twilight tries to explain her reasons as she cowers on the ground under her hooves.

“Uhhh, I think we have bigger problems here!” With how all the ponies are going at it, I wonder and worry if some are willing to go to the death. And with my temporarily paralyzed leg, I can’t intervene.

“Twilight Sparkle!” The loud slightly booming voice yells at the unicorn from above. Night has already fallen and Princess Celestia is hovering in the air just above us, encased in bright light all over her.

“Whoa nelly.” Applejack nervously says as she takes off her hat.

“You said it.” I agree. The second the sun came down, the Princess suddenly appears out of nowhere. One of two things is the truth at this point: either the Princess felt this disturbance going on that was the source of her student, or that the lavender unicorn was right all along and we may have drove her to this. Either option sucks, the latter most definitely making us feel bad.

Princess Celestia’s horn glows her usual yellowish color, emitting a bright light that slightly blinds me and the others for a bit. Once I can see again, silence fills the air. Looking over at the field that housed a fierce battle, everypony is back to normal, no heart shaped eyes and more than a few with embarrassed looks on their faces.

“Meet me in the library.” The Princess harshly says to her student and walks away towards Ponyville.

“Goodbye, my friends. If you care to visit, I'll be in magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot.” Twilight says in a very sad tone before walking away to the library with her head hung low.

“Magic kindergarten?” Fluttershy asks confused.

“Canterlot?” Then Rainbow.

“She’s not serious is she?!” I quickly ask. No. No way. She can’t be forced to go back for not sending one stupid little letter…! Can she?

“We're never gonna see Twilight again!” Pinkie yells in worry. Can’t blame her. Twilight’s been with us through thick and thin. No way she can be taken away like this.

“Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Rarity yells hysterically. She looks at us nervously with all the annoyed and slightly angry glares we are giving her for her constant overreaction of every single little thing. “What? I really mean it this time!”

You better.

“Uh, what are we gonna do, y'all?” Applejack asks all of us. I grunt as I finally decide to force myself onto my feet.

“We intervene. Ugh! That’s what!” I sternly say and try to walk but I immediately collapse.

“Hold on there, big guy.” Rainbow says as she and Fluttershy help me onto my feet again. “We can’t just tell the Princess no.”

I look at her angrily, “My kind has had a history of overthrowing its superiors.” I pull my arms away and move forward a bit, ignoring the pain as much as I can before turning back. “Twilight is my best friend and I’ll be damned if all the hard work she’s done gets thrown away just for one little mishap. If you really want to make sure that Twilight doesn’t get sent away, then help me along.” I say as best I can while trying to hide the pain on my face, which I fail horribly. As soon as I turn back around, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy help me along under my arms. “A wise choice.” I say with a smile.

My friends smile back, “Come on. We have to hurry.”

“Right!” They all reply. We all make our way as fast as we can towards the library in hopes of stopping the Princess.

Let’s hope this works out.

<<<>>>

Dear Princess Celestia,
We're writin' to you because today we all learned a little somethin' about friendship.

Applejack Begins.

We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously.

Fluttershy adds.

Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about.

Then Rainbow Dash.

And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem...

Rarity…

...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem.

Finally Pinkie.

In which, the consequences can lead to disastrous results…

I add before patting the bag of ice on my leg.

In more than one way.

My friends giggle a little.

Signed, your loyal subjects.

Applejack finishes up. After our sudden intrusion of the Princess and her student, the Princess agreed to let Twilight off the hook on the condition that all of us, Twilight still, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and I, we all send her a letter of our lesson we learn on friendship whenever we do learn something. She also made it clear that we don’t have to send a letter every single week or every single month, just whenever we learn something. Now that all the craziness is over with and Twilight is no longer crazy, we all chill for a bit while writing our letter to the Princess. The ice on my leg also helps plenty.

P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-

Spike’s scribbling, horrible at being quiet and gloating P.S. note gets cut off by the glaring of Twilight.

“Eheh... uh... yeah... I'll just, um...” he nervously tries to say before scratching out his post. Everypony laughs at the silliness of the dragon. I smile and massage the sides of my thigh where I was stomped on in a way to ease the pain. It works a little as a slight bit of pain disappears under the cold embrace of the ice.

With a huff of green fire, Spike sends the letter to its destination. “There.”

“Very good Spike.” Twilight compliments her assistant. Her gaze falls to me, “You alright Swift?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Already gaining feeling in my leg again. The swelling will probably disappear by tomorrow, then give it a couple days and I’ll be running around doing life threatening things at every turn.” I say in a happy tone. She rolls her eyes while the others giggle.

“Well, it’s been fun, but ah’ better get back home and make sure Applebloom and Big Macintosh are better.”

“I should go to. I promised some of the squirrels I would read them a bedtime story.”

“And I got to get ready to clear the skies tomorrow.”

“I should go too. I don’t want to make Mr. and Mrs. Cake worry too much about me.”

“And a lady must get her beauty rest.” All my friends say and begin walking to the door.

“Girls…” All stop at the former crazy unicorn’s word. “I… just want to say… thank you for trying to stop the Princess from sending me away.” She thanks us a little nervously. “And to say I’m sorry for causing all of this in the first place.” She looks at me, “Really sorry.”

I smile and wave her off, “Water under the bridge.”

The others agree as well. With goodbyes in the forms of words and hugs, all that’s left is I, Twi, and Spike. “You can sleep here tonight.” She says to me.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother, Twi-“ I try to get up but the pain spikes. “Why-thank-you-very-much-for-your-kind-hospitality.” I quickly say as I ease myself back. “Going to sleep right now… feels just perfect at this point.”

She giggles before her horn lights up. “Here. Let me.”

“Whoa.” I say uneasily as I am covered in her magic mana and carried into a room. “No matter what, this still feels weird.”

“Oh, quit complaining.”

She slowly eases me into a bed, “Here, this is a spare bedroom I had just in case somepony needed to stay… or someone.”

I snuggle into a more comfortable position on the bed while keeping the ice where it is. The room is pretty basic. Nothing too fancy about, just a simple bed, some nightstands, and the walls are still covered in shelves littered with books. “Thanks Twilight. Consider this payment for dropping me on my head and forcing that massive riot.” She blushes in embarrassment at the events that happened.

“Right, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She says before going to the door.

“See you.” I say and lay back.

“Have a good night.” she blows out the candle that was the only light in the room.

“You too.” I reply before she closes the door, darkness immediately enveloping both my form and the room.

Let’s see; getting lectured a little by friends on my job, then getting nearly trampled, a near broken leg and having to try and talk down a god…

I smile, place my glasses on the nightstand to my right and close my eyes,

My kind of day to relax.

-------------------------------

Well, here it is. Hope y’all enjoyed this as much as I like doing my best in trying to enrich your lives a little.

Rate, comment, etc. You know the drill when it comes to reading these things.

Nightmare Night, Aka Halloween

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“Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul! Ah! Can you believe it?” Pinkie Pie the chicken shouts happily to Twilight the Bearded about her haul of candy and proceeds to peck at her load rapidly like a real chicken. It’s Nightmare Night here in Ponyville and everything is going about how it should be; the scary decorations are out, it’s night, and everypony is happily dressed up in whatever costume they could come up with for the holiday.

Pinkie, although too old to be trick-or-treating but none the less happy about getting free candy, pecks at her candy ferociously, oblivious to the dark storm cloud slowly creeping up behind her.

“And then, we went to Cheerilee's house, and got a bunch more goodies. Didn't we, Pip?” Pinkie asks the little pirate colt to her left.

“Sure did!” he replies just as the cloud pauses overhead. The Pegasus controlling the cloud bringing her forehooves back and ready to strike the cloud until…

“And then, we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith, and–“

*Shing*

Two long knives slide into an X formation just 3-inches from the pink chicken pony’s neck, cutting her off from her sentence. “Bam… you’re dead Pinkie.” The wielder of the knives whispers in her ear in a low, evil voice while having a hood cover his face with the shadow.

“Bwaak!” She shrieks before managing to slide out from under the knives before disappearing from view.

“Aahhh!” The other four fillies and colts scamper off in fear as well.

<<<>>>

“Ahhahahahahaaaa!”

“Swift! Are you crazy?! You could have killed her!” Twilight yells at me. I calm down a bit and wipe a tear from my eye.

“Relax Twilight! They’re not even sharp.” I demonstrate by slicing at my hands, fingers and arms. “Apparently poor maintenance is a thing for whoever owned these.”

“Aww, Swift! I was gonna scare them.” I look back up to the whining pegasus known as Shadow Dash on the black cloud above me.

“Sorry! You gotta be quicker than that Shadow Dash.” I emphasize the fast part of her name. She grumble something before zooming off to who knows where. Probably to scare some more innocent fillies and colts.

“So Twilight, how’s it going?” I casually ask her.

“Alright?! I’m alright but look what you did to Spike!” My eyes glide over to the dragon dressed as a… dragon? I don’t know. I just don’t know. He’s choking on some pieces of candy before he coughs them up.

“He looks fine to me.”

“Ugh.” She groans before lifting the twitching, slightly candy engorged dragon onto her back with her magic. “What are you anyway?”

I look down at myself and spread arms so she can get a full good look at me. “Like it? Rarity does good work in helping me replicate an assassin from one of the video games from my world.” My almost completely white costume featuring the hood over my face that ends in the form of an eagle’s beak, an open collar with red on the outer layer of clothing with a closed collar shirt underneath, the sashes of red going around my waist with the Assassin’s symbol thickly stitched into the middle, and the long lower part of my costume ending in points that reach almost to my ankles with it splitting down the middle on both the front and back while also bearing a wide red line through them. I was also able to sport the leather spaulder on my left shoulder with the white cape attached. My boots are close enough to go with the entire outfit so I didn’t need to do too much work in that area. I’m not completely defenseless however. From my best memory of the games I was able to allow my throwing knives to be fitted on me as well.

I wasn’t able to get into every single tiny detail of the robes but I was perfectly fine with the main bulk of it.

“Um, what are you?” Twilight asks confused. I smile.

“You are looking at the robes replicated of the famous assassin known as Ezio Auditore Da Firenze.” I say proudly while keeping my arms stretched out. She still looks confused. I drop my arms. “What?”

“You’re an assassin?”

“That’s right.”

“Don’t they usually wear black?”

I give her a deadpan look with my eyes half-lidded.

Stereotype.

“Yes, they usually wear black, but not all wear black.” I give her a short answer.

“But it just seems-“

“Wait! Let me see if I can remember what you are from the history books.” I quickly say to her in order to change the subject. I close my eyes and place my right hand against my forehead. “Father of some type of morphic spell, made more spells than any other unicorn ever… hold on it’s on the tip of my tongue… Star pearl the feared?”

Her expression falls as she looks to the ground. “Star Swirl the Bearded.” She says flatly. Judging from the tone of her voice, she’s corrected plenty of ponies before.

“Dang it, I was close.” I say while snapping my fingers. She sighs before walking away. I shrug and follow close by.

“Happy Nightmare Night, Applejack.” Twilight greets the scarecrow pony as pony’s right next to her bob for apples.

“Hey AJ.” I greet her as well.

“Howdy, Spike! Hey, Twilight, Swift! Nice costumes.” She returns the gestures to us.

“Thanks! I’m a dragon.” Spike interrupts us before we can say anything. Still don’t understand why you dressed like that.

“She means me, Spike.” Twilight says a little annoyed.

“Nooooo, she means us.” Now I say annoyed.

“With that beard, I reckon you're some sorta country music singer.” Applejack the scarecrow says while fumbling a bit with Twilight’s beard. Me and Spike quietly snicker while Twilight gets a little annoyed... again.

“And who are you Swift?” I regain my composure.

“I am a famous assassin from my world by the name of Ezio Auditore Da Firenze.” I proudly say before grabbing my knives and going into a fighting stance with my blades in the reverse grip. “After losing his family to greed and betrayal, he swore he would get revenge on the ones who wronged him.” I give the short info on Ezio’s life.

Applejack looks at me confused a little. “Ah’ don’t get your fancy talk.” Fancy talk?!

“Fancy talk? That wasn’t fancy talk. I’ll give you fancy talk.” I quickly challenge her. “Mio nome è Swift Wind e io sono il guardiano di Ponyville e le vostre vite.”

Twilight, Applejack and Spike look at me in the most confusing ways they can muster from my other language I just spoke. “When you have nothing better to do... you play as many video games as you can possibly get your hands on.” I say with a grin and sheathe my knives.

“How did yooouu...?” she tries to form a sentence.

“Last time when you were helping me take inventory back at my place, in the miscellaneous section I had some video games. Assassin’s Creed to be exact. That is where this guy is from.” I gesture to myself with my hands, more specifically the robes. “He’s Italian.”

“Oh! Well, here Bitalian is the word your looking for Swift.” Bitalian eh?

“Bitalian, Italian you get the idea. Point is, I played that game a lot and in different languages too, so you can say I picked up a few things as well.” From the times I played Assassin’s Creed, particularly from 2, Brotherhood and Revelations, I thought it would be interesting to actually play the game in the characters’ actual tongue, mostly that of Italian, or Bitalian here.

“Enough fancy speak!” Applejack shouts when she shakes her head of my sudden new vocabulary. “Ya' feel like bobbin' for an apple?” She gestures to the water filled bucket to her side. One pony goes to grab an apple but suddenly a certain wall-eyed Pegasus pops out from under water… covered in paper bags for some reason, with a chain in her mouth. She pulls and unfortunately the water and apples go down the cleared drain, leaving the sad Pegasus in the empty bucket.

I close my eyes and quietly chuckle to myself. Oh Derpy. You’re so funny.

There is some loud cheering behind us. As all four of us turn to a stage with a bunch of ponies gathered around it. “What’s going on over there?” I ask to no pony in particular.

“Looks like the mayor is going to say something. Let’s go see.” Twilight answers. We all move to the middle of the crowd so we can get a better look at the mayor who is dressed as a clown. I kneel down so I don’t obscure anypony’s vision.

“Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!” The crowd cheers and applauds. “Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon! Hahahahaha!” Mayor mare says loudly in a spooky voice to make her seem scary and adding a devilish laughter. Although it would work better if she wasn’t a dang clown.

“Spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that.” Spike says.

“Agreed.” I agree with him. Twilight slightly giggles.

The mayor gestures to her side but there is nothing. Suddenly a bright green cloud appears out of nowhere and Zecora walks out, her mohawk manestyle now gone and dangling down the sides of her head with spiders in it. I shudder at the sight of the spiders.

Spider. I hate spiders.

“You alright, Swift?” Twilight notices my shudder.

I look at her and smile, “Yeah. I’m good.”

“Hmmm.” She lowly mumbles to try and hide her concern from me. I see through it though.

“Follow me and very soon you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.” Zecora eerily tells us before moving off stage.

“Wanna go see this?” I ask my friends. Spike is alright with it, Twilight thinks for a second and I have no idea where Applejack is. Must have gone back to her bobbin’ apples game.

“It could be interesting.” Twilight says. Me and Spike nod before all three of us follow the group of fillies and colts, and one chicken pony towards the forest. We soon come across a giant stone statue of a fierce looking alicorn on its hind hooves.

“Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary.” Zecora begins her eerie tale of Nightmare Moon. She then grabs a hoof full of a green powder substance and blows on it, sending a massive cloud of the stuff swirling into the air before it takes the shape of Nightmare Moon, only in a sparkling green color. “Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.” Zecora continues as the fake Nightmare Moon comes hurtling right at us. The figure crashes into the ground and creates a type of smoke cloud, diming everypony’s field of vision.

“Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes.” A few ponies freak out and run from Zecora impersonating Nightmare Moon through the cloud. “But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!” The colt, Pipsqueak I think his name was, crashes into the statue and slowly backs up from its stare before hitting Pinkie who has her head buried in the ground.

Which I’m pretty sure a chicken doesn’t do that.

The two freak out and dash off. “Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by.” The green alicorn moves to each group of scared ponies, oblivious to them to go with what the storyteller zebra is saying. She moves to both me and Twilight, looking at us for a second before disappearing. “So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!” Zecora finishes up with a loud resonance in her voice as the fake alicorn disappears into sparkles.

“Uh, Miss Zecora,” Pipsqueak begins to ask Zecora. “If we wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won't gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?” he finishes asking.

“A perfect question, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend.” She says before blowing some more dust into the air. “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!” she finishes saying just as the green alicorn jumps at us. Everypony screams while I bring my leg up into the air as I jump up and slam down onto the fake representation of Nightmare Moon, making the figure burst into a wide area of sparkles all around. I smile and stand up straight. “But as it shows, some deflect what she throws.” Zecora gestures to me.

I smirk and cross my arms on my chest. “Hmph, she’s nothing compared to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.”

“Who?” Twilight asks me.

“Very popular fictional killers and tormentors from my world.” I quickly explain.

“Oh.” She says.

Everypony around looks grateful at my action and is happy that such a powerful figure is protecting them. Better not spoil tradition.

“Just remember everypony, I won’t be here all the time to protect you.” I say.

Suddenly a pair of green hooves wrap around my chest. The others gasp as the green Nightmare Moon bears its teeth right next to my head before biting into my neck. The figure doesn’t really bite me but only makes it look like it did. As soon as it does, I groan and tense up just as I did from when I remember getting bitten near my neck.

I reach out to the others with my right hand while having a pained look on my face. “Save yourselves!” I groan out and jump back, making the fake Nightmare Moon look like it just pulled me into the tree line to my imminent doom. As soon as I land I move behind a tree and hear the shrieks of the fillies and colts, and still Pinkie Pie, of my death.

“Aahhhhhh!” they yell, making me snicker and chuckle to myself.

“Quick! Everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here before she takes us too!” Pinkie yells. I chuckle a bit more and peak out to see them all dumping their candy under the statue. Wow, never thought I would ever see Pinkie Pie give up free candy.

“You’re so bad you know that right?” Twilight says behind me once she teleports.

“It’s all in good fun, Twi. C’mon, you gotta admit that it was executed perfectly back there.” I say while looking at her.

She rolls her eyes and sighs, “Alright. I’ll give you that. It was pretty good.”

I smirk, “Thanks.” I go to turn back but I notice the increase of wind speed around us. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Look!” She points out the tree line to spot a chariot heading towards Ponyville. It’s too dark out for us to be able to see who exactly it is, and from the sudden changing wind speed, swirling clouds in the moonlit sky, something interesting is about to happen.

“I don’t know who or what that is but it’s heading to town square. Let’s go.” She nods and we grab Spike, who was a little freaked out by my acting, before we immediately make our way back to town.

Pinkie and the others run through the area screaming as me, Twilight and Spike follow. Soon, the chariot stops just above everypony. The pony’s pulling the chariot are unlike anything I have ever seen before. The black, gray and dark purple armor clad Pegasi with bat-like wings and slit eyes bring a level to intimidation I have never seen before by pony’s standards. The dark robed and tall pony sitting in the chariot jumps out and slowly descends to the ground with ease as thunderstorms continue to blast throughout the night sky.

The robed figure’s hood falls back as they tilt their head back, revealing the Princess Luna, the former and once dreaded Nightmare Moon now no more. Me and Twilight smile at her appearance, considering she appears only in the night since she has to sleep during the day.

Hopefully the festivities surrounding her evil alter ego hasn’t made her mad.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight says in a slight happy tone once everyone else bows to the Princess in respect, or fear. Some of them are quivering under their hooves.

“Let’s go see what brings her here.” I propose. Twilight nods and before we can make two steps, she’s pulled to the ground by a purple claw and I’m kicked in the shin. “Ow! Charley horse!” I shout as I fall to my side. “Spike! What are you- Mmph!” Before I can quietly yell at the dragon, why the hell did you kick me in the shin?!, he covers my mouth with his other claw and gestures to both me and Twilight to be quiet. I grumble in pain and annoyance before looking back at the Princess who has her wings outstretched, removed her robe and standing in front of Cloud Kicker who’s wearing a type of witches’ costume.

Seriously, she can’t be that intimidating.

“Citizens of Ponyville!” she yells in the loudest voice possible I have heard, making me clutch my ears as tight as I can. She can rival bullhorns back in my world.

I was wrong! I was wrong! I was wrong! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I yell in my mind.

“We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night!” she continues in a slightly less booming and eardrum shattering voice. “A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!” she holds the last word a little bit as a sudden flash of thunder and lightning lights up her form. Love and admiration my ass with this type of atmosphere.

“Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!” Pinkie yells, making that same group of colts and fillies she’s been traveling with scream in fear as they all gallop away, leaving a very confused and stunned Princess of the night in her stance.

“What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” she finally talks in a more standard and regular tone. She finishes up with stomping her hoof onto the ground right next to a light yellow coated unicorn pony with a mane and tail of light blue and is dressed as a mouse, Lemon Heart was her name. The Princess also cracks the earth under her hoof stomp.

She looks over at the mayor, her bright rainbow wig being a dead giveaway. “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived.” The princess says as she walks up to the mayor and presents her hoof. The mayor’s only reply is a sharp gasp and even more quivering. Luna looks slightly stunned and looks at the devil dressed pony to the mayor’s right. She thrusts her hoof at the pony and receives the same as the mayor. From how she moved her hoof, it almost looked like she was going to punch her. “What is the matter with you?” Luna says and moves her hoof from side to side at each pony surrounding her, still receiving the same scared expressions. “Very well then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell.” She shouts before sauntering away from us all. Some pony’s relax themselves now that the princess is gone.

Me and Twilight stand up, a look of worry on her face from the whole scene that just transitioned right now. “She’s been gone for a thousand years right?”

“Yes, she has.”

“I guess she’s taking a while to adjust.” I say and sigh. Must suck having been gone for 1,000 years to see everything change. In 2,000 years, my kind went from horse drawn carriages, bows and arrows, and limbs being removed for a slight infection, to rifles having to take around a minute to reload, steam powered trains and cars, swords, and cannons, to finally ranged weapons that can put over 500 to 5,000 rounds of bullets to down range, saving a severed limb, vehicles going supersonic speed and so on. It all goes to show that in my world, even 100 years can be major change.

“It has. I better go talk to her.” Twilight says before starting to walk off. I sigh.

“I better come along as well. Maybe she’d feel a little more inclined to speak to someone who has somewhat a similar experience to her.” I propose. She may belong to this world but pretty much the only pony who knows Luna personally and is still alive is her sister, Princess Celestia. I can closely relate.

“You can't talk to her! She's Nightmare Moon!” Spike jumps in front of us to stop us. I groan loudly in annoyance and pinch the bridge of my nose with my right hand. This is seriously getting annoying.

“No, she's not. I saw the Elements of Harmony change her back to good. But it seems like she's having some trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years.” Twilight explains what happened.

“Plus the lack of dagger-like teeth, death stare and large menacing armored body leads me to believe that that’s not Nightmare Moon anymore.” I add. We start walking to try and find the lonely princess but I turn back to the dragon dressed as a dragon and kneel down to his eye-level. “Also, the next time you decide to kick me in the shin and make me drop to the ground like a rock… better think about it real carefully next time… alright?” I give my best smile but in a way that somewhat scares the dragon, especially with the dark shadow over my face from my hood.

*Gulp* “S-sure.” He nervously says.

I smile and pat his head, “Good. Wait for me Twilight!” I yell and take off after the purple unicorn.

It takes awhile but our search leads us back to the statue of Nightmare Moon with the Princess lying down in front of it.

“Princess Luna?” Her sad demeanor perks up at the sounds of Twilight’s voice. “Hi, my name is–“

“Star Swirl the Bearded.” The Princess interrupts Twilight in a bearable tone of voice. “Commendable costume! Thou even got the bells right.”

“Thank you! Finally! Somepony who gets my costume!” she says happily. Then her gaze looms over to me by her side. “Unlike some people.”

“Hey, I was close wasn’t I?!” I yell. “Besides, she has unfair advantage. She must have met the guy when he was still alive.” She rolls her eyes and I sigh before I look at Luna who is looking at me with an intriguing stare. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, you may by clarifying what it is you are.”

“Oh. Alright then. From my world we have this fictional universe that is centered between two opposing factions. I am dressed like the grandmaster of the Assassin’s Creed, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. His family killed by betrayal, he swore vengeance on the culprits, the Templars.” I explain as best I can as quick as I can. She looks at me a bit more and looks at me from all sides to see the detail of my costume. “The reason it is white is on account he is an assassin is because-“

“He fights mostly in the day and rarely uses the cover of dark. The white along with the added red allow him to have some form of blending in with the masses while the hood allows him to hide his face in case thou needs to make a swift getaway.” She makes a pretty good explanation.

“I… was gonna say that it was to be unique but… that actually makes more sense.”

“Anyways,” Twilight shouts to break both me and princess of our conversation. “We just came to welcome you to our celebration! My actual name is–“

“Twilight Sparkle.” The princess interrupts the purple unicorn again nonchalantly. The clear night changes instantly as clouds begin rolling in. “It was thou who unleashed the powers of harmony upon us and took away our dark powers!” she shouts in her royal Canterlot voice as she hovers just above the ground. “And you are Swift Wind, defender of Ponyville.” she motions to me.

The wind picks up as well, forcing me to instinctively put my hands in front of my face and sending me and Twilight sliding back a foot or two. “And that was a good thing, right?” Twilight asks a little nervously once the wind is gone. I hope it is.

“But of course. We could not be happier. Is that not clear?” she continues with that tone and staring at us like she hates our guts. Dang. She’s really out of place when it comes to being social.

“Well, you kinda sound like you're yelling at us.”

“Yeah I feel like you wanna throw us in the dungeon or somethin’.”

“But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak using the royal we, and to use this much volume when addressing our subjects!” The princess explains and shouts the last part even more loudly. Twilight’s beard and hat are pushed to the side while my hood is pushed off my head with the openings in my costume blown open a little and my hair pushed back, like I drove at 100 miles per hours in a Ferrari with the hood down. We both fix ourselves up as calmly as we can so we don’t accidentally antagonize her.

“You know, that might be the reason why you were ousted not 3 minutes ago as a demonic creature that feeds on the souls of others.” She looks at me sternly, making me smile nervously. “Maybe if you were to change some things about yourself, you might get a warmer reception than just screams of terror and fright.” I try to explain to her. In a last ditch effort I move closer so maybe she won’t scream in my face.

“Change our approach!?”

I was wrong.

“Lowering the volume will be major step in the right direction, right Twilight?!” I quickly say and ask the bearded unicorn while fixing up my hair.

“It definitely would.”

“Ohhh.” She realizes in that regular tone of voice again. Ahhh now that’s a voice you can fall in love with. I smile. “We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are... not sure we can.”

I snicker a little, making both ponies look at me. “Oh Princess, Princess, Princess.” I repeat while shaking my head. I drape my left arm around her neck to bring her close. “I am a species that has been at war with itself since pretty much the dawn of time. Never, did I think I would ever be transported into a world filled with talking rainbow colored ponies. If I can at least find some sort of peace and tranquility in this world, I think we can figure out a way on making somepony that was once this!” I gesture to the statue, “To something a bit more socially acceptable. And like the name of a song from my world sung by someone that so many people hate for some reason I can’t understand: Never Say Never.”

The Princess slightly smiles and moves away from my grasp. “Alright then. What does thou propose?”

“Hmmm, I have an idea.” Twilight speaks up.

<<<>>>

And that’s how we are making our way to Fluttershy’s door.

“Great idea, Twilight. If anypony can teach the Princess Luna about being subtle it’s Fluttershy.” I look over at said princess, “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“It is a sound plan. Fluttershy is definitely the pony who can give you some great pointers, princess. She's delicate and demure with the sweetest little voice.” Twilight finishes up just as we stop at the shy pegasus’s door. Twilight gently knocks on the door.

“Go away! No candy here! Visitors not welcome on Nightmare Night!” Instead of the usual quiet voice, a very loud and scared tone yells from behind the door. The princess shifts her eyes to us.

Wow. It’s practically once in a blue moon that she- I turn to the princess… of the night. Nevermind.

“Eh-hem.” I clear my throat and step forward, “Let me try.” I knock a couple times, “Fluttershy? It’s me, Swift. Twilight’s here as well.”

A couple hoof steps from inside and the door gently cracks open, a pink mane followed by a yellow muzzle and turquoise eyes. “Oh, it is you.” Fluttershy gently says before opening the door wider, “Oh, and Nightmare Moon.”

Huh, she took that better than I-

“Nightmare Moon?! Aahhh!” The shy pegasus gasps and gives a slight yelp before slamming the door closed.

Nevermind.

“Eh he he he. Wait right here.” Twilight goes in, leaving me and the princess alone on the doorstep. A few minutes pass and still nothing is heard, meaning Fluttershy probably found a pretty good hiding place.

“You did good today in raising the moon.” I try to make small talk.

“It is what we do best is it not?” she replies in a regular tone. I shrug my shoulders.

“Can’t argue with that.”

Again more minutes pass in uncomfortable silence and my way breaking the ice being a bust.

“Does thou have a festival similar to Nightmare Night?” she decides to break the silence. I look at her for a second a bit confused before I finally realize it.

Ohhh, she must mean from my world.

“Actually, yes we do. Although in my world it’s not called Nightmare Night.”

“Pray tell, what dost thou call it?”

“Halloween, or All Hallows Eve to some. The way how it goes is a lot similar to Nightmare Night. Going door-to-door to get candy, scary decorations and dressing up are pretty the same.” I look back over to her who has a weird look on her face. “What?”

“The name sounds a bit… weird.”

“Well, your saying is centered around the creature known as Nightmare Moon, while in my world it revolves around the Christian religion and festivals of the dead.”

“Christian religion?”

Oh right, they don’t have a dozen different forms of god or creator. “In my world we don’t have actual physical evidence of something to have created us. So people have gone around and made other representations of our almighty creator. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are some of the main religions that have sprung up long before I was born. Some follow blindly, some with reason, and others not at all.” I take a second to collect my thoughts. ”For me I could go either way. We don’t have the proof necessary to properly back up the claim of a creator, but then again something had to have made us.” With how my kind’s history has been heavily placed with the different beliefs and religions that sprung up, it can get confusing and frustrating at times.

I look at the princess, “The ponies here should count themselves lucky. It’s to my understanding that you and your sister are the daughters of the creator, right?”

She nods, “Yes, ‘twas our mother, Faust, who breathed life into we and our sister, along with this world and all you see around us.” She gestures around us with her hoof.

I snap my fingers, “And that’s the proof. You’re the living embodiment of the kin of the creator in this universe. Because of the fact that you and your sister have lived for thousands of years, no one or pony can question you because you lived through it all. For my kind, it seems we are destined to forever question it.” I say the last part a little sadly. It sucks though. Forever wondering if he or she truly exists… it’s truly something to think about.

“We… had no idea that’s…”

“It’s alright. We’ve lived for hundreds of thousands of years as it is, I’m sure we can stand to wonder a bit more.” I say.

“On that we are sure thou are correct. From what thou has brought to our attention from thy world… we are sure.” She probably means all the innovative devices and literature I’ve shown her. Since most of the ponies do business in the day, Celestia is usually swamped with work while Luna occasionally has some free time. And learning about an entirely new species is something that has interested her as of late.

“Thank you Prin-“

The door suddenly slams opens, “Fluttershy... you remember Princess Luna?” Twilight strains as the shy pegasus tries to fight the unicorns pushing.

“We’ll talk later.” I whisper to the Princess. She nods and takes a step to the pegasus.

“Charmed.” She says in her usual booming voice. Still needs work.

The Princess started to talk to Fluttershy in her usual booming and intimidating voice. The shy pegasus too… well, shy to properly speak up. When the Princess finally asked if she did alright, ‘Shy decided to end the lesson and retreat inside. However, a certain unicorn and a closed door stopped her in her tracks. Once the Princess had finally reached her goal, right back to the royal Canterlot voice she went while hugging Fluttershy. It then didn’t help that the usual pink chicken pony decided to make an appearance just in time to see the dazed and knocked out Fluttershy in the formerly evil princess’s grasp, prompting her to run in fear, yet again.

Now as we walk through the square where the concert stage is at and where the majority of the night is taking place, ponies are still gasping and diving to the ground in fear.

“It is of no use. They have never liked us and they never shall.” The princess grumbles as more ponies cower.

“C’mon Princess, they warmed up to me didn’t they?” I try to comfort her. Considering that Princess Celestia is just slightly taller than me on four hooves and Luna just below that, they should be able to warm up to Luna a lot quicker than they would me.

“It is different. Thou made a good first impression while we were remembered most as a creature of great evil.” I stop in my tracks at the sentence, leaving Twilight and Luna to walk a bit more before turning back to me.

“First impression? You were a benevolent ruler first, then a spawn of evil,” I say, “If I remember correctly, my first impression was of me standing in the middle of town square, a few feet over there to be exact, surrounded by a pack of Timberwolves, and killing them all without remorse while wielding some of the most dangerous weapons that you’ve all never seen before.” I walk up to the Princess and place a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure, if they can overcome that, they can overcome you.” I finish up sincerely. She smiles a bit at the details of my first impression to my friends.

“But you saved me, Spike and Rainbow Dash in the process.” I let my head fall at Twilight’s words. If I had said that, it wouldn’t have been as sincere.

I breathe in and take a couple steps past the princess, “Way to kill the mode, Twilight.” She rubs the ground a little embarrassed with her hoof. I let out the air and look around, “C’mon, let’s find Applejack. If anypony can give pointers on acting a bit more friendly and likable in public, it’d be her.”

“You're right, sorry. Oh! There she is.” Twilight breaks out of her embarrassed state and points ahead of us. Applejack is still next to the bobbin’ for apples game and just grabbed Pipsqueak from falling in.

“Perfect, let’s go.” Just as soon as Applejack turns around and sees the Princess of the Night, she ducks under hooves like all the others. Still getting old.

“Applejack,” I kneel down and place my right hand behind her neck, her ponytail brushing my hand and still feeling the shivering sensation she is exerting on herself. “The Princess is having a little trouble with fitting in around here. Maybe you can help her out?” I ask nicely.

“Fit in? Really? Egh!” She sarcastically says before I pull her ponytail back hard.

“Now Applejack,” I give her my best fake smile, “You helped me fit in around here. You sure you can’t extend the same courtesy?” I say in a tone that basically reads, ‘you don’t have a choice in the matter.’

Having to try and take care of a shouting thousands of years old god while constantly having ponies jump to conclusions no matter how hard you try can really tick you off just right.

“I mean... that's easy! All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun.” AJ quickly forgets about her fear just a little while ago and is already doing her best to make the princess seems likable to the masses now.

“Fun? What is this ‘fun’ thou speakest of?”

“Oh my god.” I quickly say a little under my breath. I know she is bad at being normal in public… but she has never heard of the phrase fun? Wow.

Twilight and Applejack gesture to a table that has two bowls, one filled with candy the other I’m not sure. “Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?” Luna asks to no pony in particular.

“Try to land the sp-sp-spiders on the web.” It just so happens that the scared pony right next to her hooves known as Cherry Berry explains the game that involves… spiders?!

I gulp and shake a little at the mention of spiders. “Swift? Are you alright?” Twilight asks me.

“I’m fine! I’m good! I’m alright!” I shout with louder tone than I wanted.

“You sure? Because you're shaking in your-“

“I said I’m fine!” I snap at her. She recoils as I regain my posture.

“Oooookay.”

The Princess then throws her… ammo the second time and it lands in the middle. “Ha! Your princess enjoys this ‘fun’! In what other ways may we experience it?” she asks us. Sounds like she’s finally come out of her shell and is now ready to properly socialize. As long as it doesn’t involve… *Shivers* you know.

<<<>>>

“Fire away, princess!” Applejack shouts. The princess does just that and flings the pumpkin, hurtling straight towards her target and scoring a direct hit.

“Ha ha! The fun has been doubled!” Princess Luna shouts happily. Other ponies cheer as well with her performance. By now the town has warmed up to her by a fair amount and isn’t cowering in fear of her.

I smirk and step forward, “Not bad, but let me try somethin’.” A pumpkin is placed on the catapult and brought down so I can place my foot on it to keep it in place. Looking at the trajectory of how the princess shot hers, and the force I’m going to exert on the pumpkin in mid-air, I take in those accounts and ready my weapon.

I let go and once the pumpkin hits open air, I pull back the arrow on my compound bow and fire. I land a direct hit on it and shoot two more times, landing more hits. The pumpkin finally goes low to the ground and slams into the target, my three arrows embedding into the target as well. “Bull’s-eye!” I shout and thrust my fist into the air. The crowd around us cheers even louder at my impressive skill. Normally skeet shooting is for guns but this will have to do.

“That was perfect!” Twilight compliments me. I smile and sling my bow over me. To spice things up I had decided to pick up my bow back at my house while the princess was having fun with the games. I remember that it was optional for Ezio to get a crossbow, so I thought it would be fun to bring a bit of Connor to the mix, along with new age 20th century technology.

“Hm, we are impressed. But let us see if thou can best us in another game.”

“Let’s just see if I-“ I stop as I turn around and something lands on my chest and I look down. My eyes widen as I stare into the red eyes of the black eight legged spider still on my chest. Suddenly my breath begins to quicken in short breaths.

“How many points is-“

“AHHHHHHHHH!! Get-it-off-get-it-off-get-it-off-get-it-off-get-it-oooooffff!!” I quickly scream my head off as I try to scratch the bug off to no avail while running around.

Once it’s finally off, I take both my knives in my hands. “Die you bastard! I wish you never existed! Die! Die! Diiiiiiiiiiee!!” I continue to yell while at the same time stabbing like crazy until there is nothing left.

“Swift! Swift! Calm down!” Twilight and Applejack grab hold of my arms from behind to keep me from stabbing a hole through the ground to their version of china. “It’s just a toy!”

“A-A-A t-toy?” I hesitantly ask, my mind still racing.

“Yes, a toy. See.” Twilight picks up a bit of the stuffing and shows it to me. I blink a few times before reality finally hits me. I went full blown blood raged crazy on a toy.

“A toy… hehe. It was just a toy… he he.” I chuckle nervously.

“Yes, Swift. A toy.” Twilight replies what I said in a much calmer tone.

“Wow, that was… I don’t know.” I fully stand up, noticing more than a few standing up as well, which leads me to believe that I must have pushed more than a few down while in my tantrum, and others back up away from me. “I think… I think I’m gonna… goooo… huddle in that… that alleyway looks nice.” I bolt off towards the alleyway I was talking about and huddle behind some trash cans.

<<<>>>

Twilight stares as her friend takes off running towards a nearby alleyway.

One thing going through her mind as of this point from what just transpired of her usual hardened for battle friend: What just happened?

She looks down at her hooves and notices his knives are still there in the destroyed remains of the toy spider. “I better go return these.” She picks up the kinda dangerous objects with her magic, “And make sure he is alright.” She turns to the princess, “Will you be alright here?”

“Do not worry, fair Twilight. We are having too much fun!” Princess Luna happily proclaims with a raised hoof and a smile.

“Don’t worry, Twi. Things seem to be looking up. Go on and see how he’s doin’.”

“Good, hope you continue to enjoy the night princess.” Twilight finishes up before trotting away.

“Why don't you try bobbin' for apples?” is the last thing Twilight hears before entering the alleyway.

“Swift? Are you here?”

“Spiders… spiders… spiders…” the repeating words come from behind a few trash cans.

<<<>>>

“Swift?”

“Aah!” I yelp.

“Here, you dropped these.” Twilight comes to view and floats over my knives from behind her. I smile and take them each into my hand. “Thanks.” I thank her and sheathe them.

“You alright?” she asks me. I calm down a little to get my bearings.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.”

“Swift…” she trails off, expecting me to finish what it is she’s thinking.

“There is pretty much no way I can convince you that everything will be alright after this right?” I give a nervous smile.

She looks at me and the stare she gives me says otherwise.

I sigh, “Didn’t think so.”

She sits down next to me and places a hoof on my shoulder, “C’mon, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Well, it’s stupid.” She prods at my side. “Alright alright, I suffer from… arachnophobia.” I quietly tell her.

She blinks a few times.

“I know! I know! It’s stupid! The big bad human scared of some teensy little bugs! I can take on a Manticore no problem but…!” I stop.

“Actually spiders aren’t technically classified as bugs because they have eight legs and the common bug has six-“

“That’s not the point!” I interrupt her info lesson.

“When I was way younger I woke up with a tarantula crawling on my chest just as I opened my eyes. I screamed bloody murder in the girliest scream I had in me and ran straight out of my room and fell down the stairs we had in my house.” I pause to try and remember something else. “I only suffered a few bruises and a twisted ankle but I had nightmares for about half a week.”

“Swift! You remember your childhood?!” Twilight shouts in happiness. Since my apparent amnesia screwed me out of remembering why I left my house, or anything of my childhood for that matter, I’m still mystery to the girls as much as myself.

I shake my head no, “I only remember bits and pieces every so often, and even then they don’t stick around. Apparently I may not remember who I truly was but my fear of… spiders is still there.” I slightly look up to see Twilight making a cutting motion along her neck and looking above, it also helps to know that I hear just the faintest flap of wings.

“Rainbow Dash! I swear in the name of all the religions and gods back in my world I will tear off your wings, rip off your cutie mark and permanently ground you to the earth with no hopes of ever getting back into the air if you so much as drop the tiniest spider on me!!” I yell loudly. Twilight is shocked at taking the full force of my threat into her face even though it wasn’t meant for her. The flapping stops for a second before zooming off. “Hm.” I groan and slam my face back into my hands.

“Oh Swift.” She calmly says and hugs me. “You don’t need to feel ashamed. Not everyone or everypony is perfect. You just have to do better at accepting it.” Her words don’t do much to make me feel better but it’s the thought that counts. I pat her hoof that’s around my front to reassure her.

“Thanks Twilight. I think-“

“Forever!” The loud booming tone of the Royal Canterlot voice interrupts me. We look up to see that the storm clouds have rolled in again and lightning strikes are appearing. Just as quickly as the lightning strikes happen, the princess is gone.

“Sounds like something more important happened while you were here trying to comfort me.”

“It sounds like it.” She says.

“Whelp,” I grunt as I take to my feet, “We better go see what happened.”

“Let’s.”

We make our way out of the alleyway to see a sad sight. Plenty of foals are moving about with their heads hung low while others are crying that they wanted to be so and so next year. I spot Applejack who looks sad as well. “Applejack.” I shout as we jog up to her.

“Oh, hey you two.” She replys sadly.

“What happened? Where’d Princess Luna go?” Twilight asks our friend.

“Firstly, Pinkie immediately points her out as foul gobbling monster… again,” she rolls her eyes, “And then she declared that Nightmare Night is canceled forever. As ya’ll can see, plenty of folks are downright disappointed.”

“But I wanted to be a zombie next year!” one little pony cry’s out.

“Crap, and this was my first Nightmare Night too.” I voice my displeasure. My first Nightmare Night reminds me of back home and it turns out to be the very last… this sucks.

“Second, Ah’ have no idea where she went. One minute she was having fun, the next she’s disappeared.”

“Great.” I sadly say. This whole thing was going smoothly, now it’s gone downhill even quicker.

“Don’t worry, it’s not over yet.” Twilight yells in a happy tone.

“Look pretty over to me.”

“What are you plannin’ to do, Sugarcube?” Me and Applejack look at the bearded unicorn in question.

“I’m going to do what I do best. Lecture her!” With that she gallops off to the general direction she thinks the princess took off in.

I sigh, “Well, better go see if I can lend a hand. You’ll be alright here?” I ask the farm pony. She nods and I go to try and catch up to Twi. Not really sure if lecturing is something to be proud of, Twilight. I chuckle.

<<<>>>

Pinkie Pie moves around, not really fazed at the fact that there is going to no more Nightmare Night as one would expect, and pecks at different pieces of stray candy littering the ground with her fake beak. Soon, she spots a stray line of candy leading to a deep dark alley. Without a second thought, she goes forth, focused more on the fact that there’s free candy in front of her over the distinct shadow looming over her in the darkness of the alley.

“Bawk!” she squawks loudly as two arms wrap around her form and pulls her behind some trash cans. A stallion in the street notices the squawk but shrugs it off as the wind when he sees nothing.

“No.” Pinkie looks up at her captor to see the darkened face of her only human friend. “No running, no shrieking, no yelling ‘she’s-gonna-eat-us-all’, just listen… alright?” he sternly says to her.

“Okay.” She says through a muffled response on the account he’s covering her mouth with his hand. He slowly lowers her to the ground. Twilight walks out into her view, followed by Princess Luna.

“Ba-ba-bwa-!” Pinkies incessant squawking cuts off the second she see’s Swift again, who mouth’s the word no slowly.

“Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna, right?” Twilight introduces her.

“Ah. The ringleader of the frightened children. Hast thou come to make peace?” Luna says in a sincere quiet and hopeful manner. Pinkie Pie slowly moves forward and inches her hoof towards the princesses wanting to do what it is that the princess just asked for.

Swift can’t help but smile at the fact that this will all be ov-

*BOOM*

A lightning strike appears out nowhere, illuminating the princess in a scary way, freaking out the scared chicken.

“Nightmare Moon! Bawk! Bawk! Baaawwk!” Pinkie clucks loudly and takes off running, somehow dropping an egg in her place.

“Oh no you don’t!” Swift yells and takes off after the fleeing pony. He manages to tackle the chicken pony to the ground just before they make into the open streets. He immediately wraps his arms around her front hooves and holds them in place behind her back while wrapping his legs around her hind hooves. He turns over onto his back so as not to hurt the pony under his weight.

Twilight gallops up and looks sternly at Swift’s prisoner, “She's changed, Pinkie! She's not evil or scary anymore!” she shouts at the struggling pony in his grasp. “And she definitely doesn't want to gobble you up!”

Pinkie’s struggling stops and instead looks at Twilight weirdly. “Well, duh.”

“What?!”

“Huh?”

“I know that. Sheesh, Twilight. I'm almost as big as her, how's she gonna gobble me up?” Pinkie asks.

“Guess she never heard of the concept of vore.” Swift mutters under his breath.

“What was that Swift?” Unfortunately, Twilight was sharp enough to her him.

“Nothing!” he quickly replies. She looks at him warily before returning to the matter at hand.

“Then why do you keep running away and screaming?”

“Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared!” The usually scared chicken pony explains.

In any other situation that would be alright, but when you’re trying to make somepony who was once an evil creature of the night to look… not as frightful and scary… that’s not one of these situations. Swift thinks.

“Fun?” Twilight asks herself confused. She thinks for a second before realization hits her. “Pinkie Pie, you're a genius!” Twilight shouts triumphantly.

“No, I'm not. I'm a chicken.” She happily says before squawking loudly.

“Ugh.” Swift groans at Pinkie’s silliness. Yes, I know it’s Pinkie Pie but you can only get so much before it starts to rub you the wrong way. And considering we are trying to help a god in becoming a bit more sociable… yeah.

The dressed up unicorn trots over to the princess, leaving a confused human still wrapped around a bubbly Pinkie.

“Princess Luna! I've finally figured out why you're having so much trouble being liked!”

“Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm.” The princess replies in a deadpan tone.

“Come with me. I'll explain everything on the way.” Twilight says before trotting out of the other end of the alleyway. “You too, Swift! We need your… acting skills again.” Swift complies so he turns to the side and lets the pink mare go. She rolls onto her stomach and turns to her captor just a second ago.

“Be good now. Wait up!” he orders the dressed up pink pony while crouched before taking off after the two.

Pinkie Pie sits on her flanks and stares a bit in the direction that her friends just took off in. They look like they could use some help. I made the princess look like such a scary monster since she came here. Maybe I can-

“Ooooh! Candy!”

All reasonable thought on wanting to try and help her friends leaves Pinkie’s mind as she spots the trail of candy she was following before and promptly starts to peck at the wrappers again to get at the sugary delights within.

<<<>>>

Twilight, Spike, Mayor Mare, Zecora and the rest of the fillies and colts of Nightmare Night slowly walk up to the statue of Nightmare Moon, continuing the tradition of offering candy to the all-powerful alicorn so as not to anger her. The pirate dressed colt Pipsqueak slowly moves towards the statue and leaves his bag of candy with all the rest at the foot of the stone statue.

“Goodbye, Nightmare Night. Forever.” He says in a very sad tone with his head hung low. He moves to the side and begins walking away slowly.

*Thunder*

Suddenly, lightning strikes and massive gusts of wind pick up all around.

“Citizens of Ponyville! You were wise to bring this candy to me.” Nightmare Moon’s loud booming voice of terror can be heard over the lightning strikes and gusts of wind. “I am pleased with your offering.” She continues as the wind blows Applejack’s hat off, “So pleased that I may just eat it... instead of eating yooouuu!” The statue of Nightmare Moon eerily says as it comes to life, the alicorn baring her fang like teeth to all the ponies around. Twilight keeps a smile upon her face as her plan begins to take effect while Spike is cowering behind her.

Now just one more thing to seal the deal. She thinks.

All the ponies scream loudly in terror and fear and begin to run away.

A shadowy figure jumps in front of the fleeing group of ponies, stopping them in their tracks. The figure slowly stands up tall with its head aimed to the ground. “But beware… fail to please Nightmare Moon,” he starts talking in a low eerie voice. He looks up, revealing his still darkened face but white sharp teeth and glowing blue eyes easily noticeable and scary.

“And I will bring you to heeeeeerrrr! Hahahahaaaa!” He laughs loudly, now fully standing on two legs with his arms stretched out to the side as lightning strikes boom behind him, outlining his figure in a way that is completely new to all who see.

“AAhhhhhhh!” the scared fillies and colts scream and begin galloping back to the safety of their homes and loved ones.

Swift watches as they run away from him and Nightmare Moon.

“He he, phew… that was kinda fun.” He says and walks back to the others and proceeds to take the contact lenses out of his eyes. “Nice job Twilight in enchanting these contacts with that afterglow effect, really brought out the scary, mind-controlled look on me.” He thanks the purple unicorn. She gives a triumphant smile to her human friend.

“Thank you.”

“I thank you Swift Wind for your help but, I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle.” She thanks him and tells Twilight of the failure.

“Just wait.”

“For what? For... for them to scream some more?” Luna asks in disbelief.

“You’d be surprised.” He replies with a sly smile.

“Of… what?”

“Um... Princess Luna.” The princess feels somepony tugging her mane. She looks down and stares at Pipsqueak the pirate. “I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?” he asks her with a bit of hope in his voice.

Princess Luna stares the colt with shock before looking towards a bush and seeing the ponies from before that fled in terror having the same hopeful look as the pirate at her feet. “Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?” she asks in disbelief at the colt’s request.

“It's really fun! Scary, but fun!”

“It... is?”

Huh… I guess the only thing she’s accustomed to when it comes to scaring is the sole purpose of fear, not fun and games. Swift thinks.

“Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year.”

“I thought this was your first Nightmare Night?” Swift asks Pip. He remembers the little pony saying to Twilight while he was hiding in the shadows.

Pip looks at the tall human with a smile, “It is! But now it’s my favoritest night of the year.” He says again with more happiness.

“Oh… well alright.”

“Well, we shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!” she proclaims the last part in the royal Canterlot voice again, making the colt slide back a couple feet from the force of it.

“Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!” he happily shouts. He hugs the princesses’ hoof. “She said yes, guys!” He says to his friends, leading them all to cheer out at the news. He then tugs on the ends of Swift’s robes. “You’ll still be here too, right?” he asks.

“Maybe… maybe not.” He taunts the little colt. One look at the sad little colts look completely breaks his act. “Relax, don’t worry. I’ll still be here.”

“Wow, cool!” He hugs his leg and trots off to his friends.

“I guess that makes two of us.” Swift says once he walks up next to Luna. She turns to him with a confused look.

“Two what?”

“Two, that one colt and one human clearly prefer you over that of your sister.” He clarifies.

“You do?”

He turns to her with a smile while crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Well, considering that you weren’t the one that blasted a hole into my chest… yeah, I think I can safely say I prefer you over the other.” He smirks, “Besides, I kinda prefer the night.”

She gives a meek smile knowing that she now clearly knows that there are two that prefer her over there sister, despite her… history.

“Well, Twilight, it looks like your plan actually worked.” He replies to unicorn.

“What’s that supposed to mean? My plans work!” she states rather loudly and annoyed.

He chuckles and walks over to her. He kneels and motions with his finger for her to come closer so as not to tip off the princess just a few feet from them. “Eh-hem, do I need to remind you…. Want-it, need-it?” he slowly asks her, forcing the mare to widen her eyes in terror of that faithful day. Just a simple little problem she wanted to create and fix led to the entire town wanting to almost kill each other for her smarty pants doll, and led her human friend right in front of her to temporarily become crippled for the next couple days.

“Oooh… right.” She nervously says while looking in a different direction, a nearby flower becoming interesting all of a sudden.

“Yeah.” Swift stands up and walk over to the princess, “Well, you’re no longer a demonic creature that wants to eat everything in sight, and Nightmare Night is still on. Shall we?” he asks her.

“Can it be true?” she asks herself. The thought and realization that ‘finally’ her reputation of being known as only Nightmare Moon is gone.

“Yes, princess. It-“

“OH, MOST WONDERFUL OF-!”

“Voice!”

“Oh, I mean... Oh, most wonderful of nights.” She says in a normal voice now. Twilight and Swift smile before going to both sides the princess with Spike on Twilight’s back, who was hiding in the bushes the whole time.

“Better, now let’s go keep your holiday alive.” Swift says. The other three smile and nod and proceed back to town.

<<<>>>

It didn’t go as planned but everything worked out in the end. Right now the princess is still in town and happily enjoying the festivities focused around her former alter ego. We watched as she enjoyed herself but right now me, Twilight and Spike are back at Nightmare Moon's statue so we can have a bit of quiet tranquility to ourselves, plus Twilight is finishing up her letter to her teacher.

“Finished!”

“Thanks you, Spike.” Twilight thanks her assistant. He wraps the scroll in its usual seal and sends it off with a wisp of his fire.

“Wrote a proper letter to the princess I see.” I emphasize.

“Yes, yes I did, Swift. I learned my lesson that day.” She says.

“That’s good.” I say to her while lying back against the statue. I can still hear all the fun going on back in town but I’ve sort of had enough excitement for today.

“By the way, how did you fake those fangs of yours when we scared that group of ponies?” After a few minutes of silence Twilight breaks it.

“Fangs?” I never used fangs as my get up, only the contacts. The only thing close is my- “Oooohh. Right. Fangs.” I try to make up something to say. “No, I didn’t use fangs.”

“Then how did you-“

“You must be referring to my canines. See, unlike you ponies in which your diet mainly consists of fruit, vegetables and plants, one of my kind’s basic food groups comes from that of meat.” Twilight cringes at the thought. “Yeah, I figured you might. Anyways, in order for us to properly eat said meat, each of us is born with a set of teeth known as incisors and canines. The incisors are used to help shear meat, while the canines are used to hold onto it and tear.” I explain. Throughout our time together I never really did explain to her much about my kind’s teeth anatomy. Granted, she never asked, but still.

She stares at me, “Wow, I… don’t…”

“A little hard to take in the information that the one who saved your life months ago is actually part meat eater right?” I ask her. She slowly nods her head.

I sigh and shuffle a little in my position, “Yeah, a little weird considering that most of the other friends you’ve known for so long aren’t.”

“Yeah… a little.” She nervously says. I sigh. Could it get any more awkward?

*BOOM*

“AAHHHHHH!” I jerk to the side from the sudden lightning strike and scream. I look up to spot two dark clouds and a fleeing Rainbow Dash. One of the clouds slowly lowers to reveal a smiling Luna.

She winks at us before beginning to laugh happily. The rest of us join in on her laughter. Finally she got back at Rainbow.

It doesn’t take long till the laughing dies down and we all share a moment to collect ourselves. “Oh! Princess! I just remembered. You never did get a proper welcoming to Ponyville.” I mention to her. “Allow me to be the first.” I say and crouch down on one knee in front of her.

“It is quite alright. I do not need-“ she gets off her cloud and tries to dissuade me from my action by waving me off with her hoof. I firmly grasp it with my right hand.

“I insist, your majesty.” I interrupt her with a sly smile.

“Oh, well… if you wish.”

“Thank you.” I clear my throat, “Princess Luna, Lunar guardian of the night, it is with pristine honor and delight that I welcome you to our fair village known as Ponyville. May your nights from here on out be just as beautiful and wondrous as the nights you create…” I lean in and kiss her hoof. “And you as well.”

“O-Oh…” she stammers and pulls her hoof away. She looks away with noticeable blush on her cheeks. “No pony’s… ever greeted me… like that.” She manages to say.

I stand and look up at the moon in the sky, “Well, I’m no pony now am I.” I say while sincerely smiling. “Besides, as I said before, I always did prefer the night over the day. It’s just how the dark blackness of the night that spreads over the land brings a sort of ambience that I like and can take advantage of.” I sincerely say. It’s true that plenty of times I would have been caught by the police if wasn’t able to slip into the shadows every now and then.

“Thank you.” I hear the Princess shyly say.

I walk over to her. I place my hand on her shoulder and give her a warm smile, “Anytime princess.” I say and walk past her.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asks me.

I turn around, “I’m heading home. The night is already taking its toll on me and I don’t want to wake up too late in the day tomorrow.” I turn back around and continue walking. The role of being a guardian is to be ready when danger strikes, not sleepy and inhibited.

“Are you sure you’re alright to sleep?” I stop at Twilight’s words and turn back to her.

“Twilight, I’m fine. That night was just a rare occasion. They don’t pop out every night okay? I’m fine.” I try to suppress her worries for me but she continues to look at me with that same look until she finally breaks down and sighs.

“Alright, Swift. Just promise me if something bad happens, you’ll tell me, okay?” she worriedly asks me.

I return with a smile, “Okay, Twi.” I turn back to walk away towards home, “Happy Nightmare Night!” I yell back and go.

“Happy Nightmare Night!” they reply in unison.

<<<>>>

“Twilight, were you just talking about that night when Swift slept over and he woke up screaming?”

*Sigh* “Yes, Spike.” I reply sadly. “Ever since that day, I tried to get him to open up a little more so I can help but all he’s done is stop me.”

“Oh.” He says before popping a claw full of candy into his mouth.

“Princess, is there any way you can go into his dreams and try to find out what’s troubling him?” I decide to ask Princess Luna. Being the Princess of the Night and all, she has the ability to delve into the minds of those that sleep in order to help them at times when they are deeply troubled and need that help more than ever.

She shakes her head no, “I am sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I have tried to on many occasions but he is still so… alien to our kind that I can’t get a single glimpse into him. Whether that’s the case or he is able to block me out, I do not know.”

I look back to my friend and see as he leaves my field of view.

Be safe Swift.

<<<>>>

Ever since Discord’s attack on me I have been having continuous nightmares, the usual mauling, ripping, tearing, destroying, and crashing type of dreams. Some of them were even centered around my own kind and especially the ponies. Sometimes I just wake up covered in sweat and tired, other times I wake up calmed due to the fact I was used to that specific dream, lastly I wake up screaming. The latter of course happened the night I slept at the library. It was a hell of a thing to explain but I was able to in the end.

Still Twilight tries to help out whenever she can but I don’t want to worry her even more. I’ve gotten used to them so fewer and fewer times at night so I don’t freak out over them as much.

Either way, don’t push yourself Swift.

I stop at my front door and look at the moon. In the middle of it I notice the dark outline of a unicorn in it.

You’ve come too far to lose your mind to that of yours and others demons.

-------------------------------

And another chapter finished. Looks like Swift is now getting into the grove of holidays in Equestria. We’ll see how the rest go.

Well, I already know because I’m the one making them… ah well.

Probably would have been done a little earlier except I’ve been busy trying to plan my trip to for the Brony Fan Fair in Austin in September. It’s kinda hard especially since I’ll be in college by then. Thank Celestia it’s on a weekend.

Anyway, rate, comment, you know.

New Position

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My fingers brush against the strings of my acoustic guitar, beginning my song. I took my friends advice to heart and have brushed up on my guitar skills greatly. It's weird. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to brush up on my skills with a musical instrument. It almost felt... natural to me.

My audience consists of the six Elements of Harmony bearers, one baby dragon, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and even Big Macintosh.

Scootaloo and Rainbow became giddy and pumped at the suddenness of the beginning of the song.

As I hit the final chords, my audience erupts into applause and cheers.

“Awesome!” *Whistles*

“Way to go pardner!”

“Very nice dear.”

“Whoo-hoo! Yeah! Alright!”

“… yaay…”

“Excellent work, Swift.”

I smile and slowly sit down and lay against the tree while carefully putting my guitar on the ground. I lean back a bit before something lands on my shoulder. I look up and smile, “Hello Ferus.”

The falcon nods before keeping her statue like stature on my shoulder.

“I still can’t believe you decided to take her as a pet.” Rainbow comments. I smile and continue to look up at my newest friend.

“I know right. She showed such amazing grace and resilience from your tests, Rainbow. Considering you decided to repay… Tank was it? Yeah, him, for him saving your sorry flank,” she looks away, embarrassed, “It didn’t seem right for her to be left empty clawed after everything she went through.”

It felt incredibly good being able to gain a pet, or a partner in this case I guess, as awesome as a falcon.

<<<>>>

“But I said whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet.” Rainbow says to everypony. I’m still a little pissed at myself that I wasn’t able to spot Rainbow while I was making my rounds along the side on my bike just in case something happened. Thankfully, the tortoise was able to get her out in time before anything bad really happened.

“You did! You did say that! She did say that, that was the rule!” Pinkie yells in Dashes face and proceeds to bounce around us all.

“And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help.” The falcon looks away nervously. “The tortoise!” Dash proclaims as she lifts up her savior. The falcon looks like she’s about to cry and hops of off Rainbow as she places the tortoise down.

“But what about the–“ Before Twilight can finish, the falcon offers her wing to the tortoise. They both shake and she promptly turns away with her head hung low.

Hmm, looks like she really wanted to be Rainbow’s pet. I smile as an idea pops into my head. Maybe she still can.

I step in front of the falcon, making her look up at me, my figure being outlined by the sun. “You know, just because you can’t be Rainbow Dash’s pet… doesn’t mean you can’t be a pet at all.” She perks up at my words and I swear I can hear most of my friends gasping. I kneel down, “I know you don’t know me, but I have a very important job here in Ponyville. And that job is to protect the inhabitants of this town from cruel and very powerful creatures.” I sigh, “However I can’t do it alone all the time. Stick with me, and you have free reign just as any other citizen in Equestria.” I stand up and stretch my right arm forward, “What do you say? Wanna be my partner and become the co-guardian of Ponyville?” I ask.

All my friends suddenly lean in to take in on the choice that is just about to take place, except Pinkie falls forward onto her face. The falcon looks around for a second, seeing all the other pets and their owners before looking back at me.

My answer comes in the form of a massive flap of her wings and landing gracefully on my arm.

“A wise choice.” She smiles and holds her beak held high.

“Wow! This whole test was so Rainbow can get a pet, but I wasn’t expecting you to get a pet too, Swift!” Twilight shouts happily, followed by agreeable murmurs from the others. My falcon shifts onto my shoulder so I don’t have to keep my arm held up.

“Well, technically partner but I guess we’ll get used to it, right?” I ask my falcon. She nods in agreement with me.

“Now that you two have your pets, what will you two call them?” Fluttershy asks Rainbow and me. We share a look before beginning to think.

“This little guy, despite his slow movement, he went through the entire gorge like nothing. He didn’t stop to become scared and didn’t even stop from all of the rocks and eels and junk. You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a…”

“Tank?” I finish her sentence.

“A what?”

“A tank is either a living creature or machine with a massive amount of strength and resilience that can usually plow through anything and overcome pretty much any obstacle.” I explain. Rainbows demeanor completely lightens into a smile at the info.

“That’s it!” she holds the tortoise high into the air, “Your name is now Tank!” she places Tank down. He looks back up and slowly, ever so slowly he smiles.

“Wouldja look at that? He even smiles slow.” Applejack states, making all of us smile and laugh. We soon calm down and I feel eyes on me.

“What about you Swift? What is your pet’s name?” Rarity asks me. I look at the falcon on my shoulder to get a better look. Almost instinctively, she flies forward and takes to the sky. She flies around in different circles and loops, along some aerial dive bombs and moving through the branches of trees that I’ve never seen before.

Fierce, bravery, elegance.

These are some of the words describing her, especially through her run of Ghastly Gorge.

Something to describe all of these, something that can mean what she is...

She lands on my shoulder with ease. “The falcon looks better on you actually.”
Rainbow comments, making me smile.

“Well, Swift… did you come up with something?” Twilight asks me.

From all the words I know, one stands out.

“Ferus…”

<<<>>>

“It’s Latin for different meanings; fierce, bravery, and elegance being the top of the list that made me think of the name,” I look back up at her. “It suits her.” She nods back and smiles.

“Very smart of you, Swift.” Twilight comments.

“Thanks.”

“Enough about that! What else you got for us?” Rainbow asks me. The others agree with her, no doubt a little more anxious at the thought of the other type of songs I can play.

“Well, if you all are so anxious, I think I can play another.” I say and stand up with my guitar in hand.

“Yaaaaaay!” Pinkie yells as she jumps.

“Alright, how about-“ I stop as I spot something.

“What’s wrong, Swift?”

I continue to stare at the object that’s far off and moving towards us. Everypony turns around and sees the approaching object as well. As it gets closer, its figure becomes more and more distinct. Soon enough, it’s clear that the flying object is none other than a chariot. A golden chariot to be exact. The sides where the passengers are supposed to be are in the shape of wings, and a star crest is placed on the front. Two white pegasi guards, dawned in their usual golden armor and mohawk centurion helmets, are pulling the carriage, but I see another figure riding along.

The carriage pulls up alongside us.

“Swift Wind?” A female pegasus pony, a coat of a slightly lighter shade of purple than of Twilight’s, eyes of a green color, and a mane and tail color of sky blue asks for me. She’s not wearing a helmet, and her mane is parted to the side to cover her left eye. Her armor is not the usual gold; instead, it is white gold.

“Yes?”

“Sergeant Major Violet Star.” She pronounces her position and name as she walks up to me before coming to a stop. “I have been ordered by Princess Celestia herself to bring you to Canterlot castle at once.”

My face becomes serious as I slowly place my guitar down against the tree. “What is it that she needs?”

“She did not say, other than the fact that it is extremely important for you to come at once.” She explains. I close my eyes for a second and think. What is that the princess wants for me that’s so important that she has to send such a high ranking officer to get me?

“She says it’s a job that only you can fulfill.” She says to me in a much quieter tone, enough for me to hear but not the others. I open my eyes and look at her. That can’t be good.

I sigh, “Alright then.” I reach to the side of the tree and grab my katana before strapping it to my back. I look at Ferus, “Why don’t you go catch yourself something to eat. You know where I’ll be.” She nods before flapping once and taking off. “We better get going.” Violet nods and we walk to the chariot.

“Wait!” Before we can take off, Twilight stops us.

“I didn’t hear anything from the Princess as to why he needs to go! He has a very important job here!”

“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle.” Violet says in still military tone, “But this is a military matter and is in no way to involve you whatsoever.”

Twilight looks taken back the sudden tone and subject of the lieutenant’s words. “But-“

“Twilight!” I interrupt her, “Listen, it’s going to be alright. If it’s something short and not much of a big deal, I’ll finish it up and head on home. If not, I’ll talk to the princess and ask for a small squad of the royal guards to be stationed here.” I propose. Still not sure exactly what it is that the princess wants with me but when it comes to me, it’s rarely good.

“Swift, are you sure?”

“Hm,” I nod, “I’m sure.”

The pegasi at the front of the chariot begin to flap their wings and slowly take off.

“Take care everyone! I’ll see you soon.” I say my goodbyes to them.

“Goodbye Swift!” Everyone waves goodbye and says them as well.

“I’ll throw you the biggest ‘welcome home party’ I can throw when you get back!” Pinkie happily shouts up to me.

I nod and give her a thumbs up, “I’ll be looking forward to it!”

“Be safe, Swift!” I hear Twilight yell up to me worriedly.

I give her a warm smile and wave back, “I will.”

With a nod from the sergeant, we take off towards Canterlot with me catching the last glimpse of Twilight’s worried face before she leaves my field of view.

<<<>>>

The ride to Canterlot was a little boring. Violet was silent the entire ride towards Canterlot, only answering my attempts to make small talk with short, simple answers. What was interesting about the ride was that we were in the air. I never did have a chance to ride in a chariot, especially in the air. The only instances when I went to Canterlot were when I went on a train or in my Hummer.

Either way, it doesn’t suck as much as one would think, especially since the sun is already just on the edge of the horizon. “We’re here.”

We slowly come down to the gates that reside in front of the castle itself. As we do, I’m greeted with two lines of royal guard ponies. Once I step out, they all salute us as we walk in front of them. What the heck?

“Wasn’t expecting this type of welcoming?” Violet whispers to me. I look at her.

“Not in a million years.”

“Hm, well get used to it.” We stop but I continue to stare at her.

Used to it?

She bows in front of us. Confused at first but I look away from her to the front, making me tense up.

“P-Princess Celestia?!” I immediately drop to one knee with my head hung low, “I’m terribly sorry! I-I did not see you there. I-“

“Please, Swift. You do not need to be so formal with me. Please stand.”

I slowly stand and try to relax a bit but the dozens of guards around me don’t make it easy. “Sorry. Um, Violet Star here mentioned you requested me?”

She nods, “You all are dismissed.” She says to the guards around us. One by one they all go back their original duties, leaving me, the sergeant and Princess Celestia alone. “Violet Star.”

“Yes your highness?”

“You may head to the briefing room with Captain Armor.”

She bows, “At once.” She trots away.

“Briefing room? And what’s with the more than standard welcoming committee?” I curiously ask her. When there is a briefing room, something is happening. If royal guard soldiers are suddenly saluting you even though you have no standpoint in the military whatsoever, it raises suspicions as well.

“It is best we talk where no pony will interrupt us.” She looks past me. I turn around to spot more than a few photographers getting ready to snap pictures of us. ‘Headline: Princess meets one and only violent species and rolls out the red carpet.’ Yeah, sounds like the tabloids.

“Yeah, that probably would be best.”

“Come. We shall talk in my chambers.”

“Right behind you, princess.”

We quickly make our way to the castle before anypony manages to snap pictures of us. With the different hallways we move around through, I’m glad I have her as my guide. Otherwise, I would easily get lost.

“Ah. Sister.” We cross paths with Princess Luna just outside of her chambers. “I’m glad to see you are awake. Preparing to raise the moon I see?” Celestia happily greets her sister.

“We shall not shirk our duties as the Princess of the night. We have been gone for over a thousand years. We must continue to make up for our absence.” She replies in the usual royal ‘we’.

“I can tell. A thousand years is definitely a long time to make up for.” I comment with a smirk.

“Ah! Swift Wind!” she moves past her sister and stands in front of me. “It is good to see you again! I must humbly thank you for your aid during Nightmare Night.” She bows to me, taking me by surprise. Whoa. Never had anyone bow to me.

“Oh, uh. Thank you. It was my pleasure to do so.” I smile and give a polite bow back.

“So, are you here for-“

“Sister!” Celestia cuts off Luna. From the look on Luna’s face, it seems she almost spilled the beans on something.

“Here fooorrrr?” I ask while leaning in, trying to look as intimidating as I can to break her.

“Uhhh, nothing! Nothing at all!” she nervously says, her face scrunching up like when Applejack tells a lie.

“Princess?” I egg her on.

“Uh. I- Well I-“

“Sister, don’t you have a moon to raise?” Celestia’s words immediately perk up her sister.

“You’re right! We must go!” she pushes right past me and turns back to me as she walks. “We will see you again Swift when-Oof!” she trips over her own hoof and lands on her face. She scrambles back up onto her hooves and blows a strand of hair out of her face. “Eh hehehe.” She laughs nervously before fumbling with the handle of a door right next her before finally going in.

“Uhhh, Luna? That’s the storage closet.” The sun princess says from behind me.

Silence follows, “WE ARE GETTING PARCHMENTS!” the Royal Canterlot voice follows after.

I slowly rotate my feet back towards Celestia to see an amusing smirk on her face. “Your skills in interrogation are increasing.”

I chuckle nervously and rub the back of my head.

“Come then. We have much to discuss.” She returns to being more serious and walks away. I look back towards the storage door one last time before walking away.

“Here we are.” We soon arrive at our destination. The guards in front of her door move to the side and allow us to enter. The second I close the door, the room becomes enveloped in a yellow light for a second before disappearing. “There. That should make sure no one will try to listen in on our conversation.”

I get a more detailed look of the room. The room is a shade of blue with a gray décor of clouds all over the room. It also contains a bed that is clearly big enough to hold the princess, a balcony staring out into the city, a fireplace, and a couple paintings, one focusing on the night and the other on the day. It also comes with its own bathroom.

“Dang, nice place you got here.”

“Thank you,” she says and walks over to the fireplace, “Now, onto more pressing matters.”

I walk over to her next to the fireplace and stare into the burning ashes. Something about it that gives me a sense of calmness and serenity. The way how the flames dance around and try to engulf almost anything it touches is pretty cool.

“A threat has been made against Canterlot.”

My sense of calmness and serenity is thrown out the window faster than old fashion styles for Rarity.

“What?!” I turn to her with a shocked expression.

“Yes, I’m afraid it’s true.” She says in a tone when she was talking to me and the others about Discord before he made himself known to us. “An anonymous letter was made to Canterlot just a few days ago, more specifically me. They made it clear about threatening the entire city of Canterlot of being overthrown.” She explains to me.

A threat against the Capital of Equestria? Daring, ballsy, hell.

“No one has claimed responsibility for sending the letter?” I ask her with a worried expression.

“No. I have no idea who would threaten the peacefulness of Canterlot or its inhabitants.”

“No one? No one at all?” I try to push the question.

“No, I do not.” I swear the expression on her face says things differently. She’s hiding something… but I better not antagonize her.

“Is this the reason why you called for me?”

“Yes it is. From what you’ve told me about your kind, you know war, threats, strategy, and plenty of other tools and techniques that would no doubt help us against this invisible threat.”

“But… princess I-I’ve never done anything like that. I’ve never been part of m-my kinds war whatsoever. I’ve never commanded others into doing anything.” I try to dissuade her. If she thinks of trying to make me some kind of commander-in-chief of the royal guards, I want no part of it.

“Be that as it may, you are as close as we can have at this point.”

“But-“ she holds her hoof up.

“You have learned about Equestria’s history, correct?” she asks me, still keeping that same look from the beginning.

“Y-yes.” I nervously ask her.

She looks at me, “Then you know the only time of conflict that has threatened Equestria was when this land first became known as Equestria.”

I look away to the side.

“We may have a large abundance of well-trained royal guard pony’s, but almost none of them have ever faced real fighting that requires the need to take the life of another.”

My face goes from being shocked to darkened, “But I have.”

“Yes.”

“So you want me to use the scars and skills I’ve picked up from my war-torn world to make yours the same?”

“I didn’t say-“

“But you were implying it?!” My voice heightens.

“That’s not what I-“

“You may be immortal princess, but out of all the wars, fighting, civil wars you’ve had to deal with are nothing compared to the blood, sweat, tears and heartaches that my kind have forced upon ourselves!” I yell.

She doesn’t move, she just… stares.

“I am still plagued by nightmares every single night because of what I had to do in my world. I continue to wake up screaming, covered in sweat and crying afterwards because of what I’ve done.” I say much quieter. Tears are threatening to force their way from the recesses of my eyes to make them known. I force them down and turn to the fire.

“When I was on the run from the police back in my world, it was the most grueling thing I have ever had to do. The constant scrounging of supplies everywhere I turn was something I never wanted to be forced upon myself! And I don’t even remember why I did it in the first place!” I turn around stop mid-way to the door. “I promised myself that when I was here… in your world princess,” I point to her, “I would never become what my kind became.”

I turn back, “Warmongering, greedy bastards bent on taking control of everyone and thing that we came in contact with.” I clench my fists tightly and place my right hand on the door, “I’m sorry your highness, but you’ll have to look elsewhere… However, ”I turn back to her, “I have some books depicting the strategies from some of the most renowned strategists from my world.” I place my head against the door, “I’ll send them your way. Use them as you see fit.”

I push open the door to see the guards standing in front. “Move.” I hiss.

They scramble a little before moving out of my way. I walk forward, my fists still clenched as I try to backtrack to the main gate.

<<<>>>

“So… that’s his decision then.” Princess Celestia says to herself sadly. She slowly walks over to the balcony and looks up at the moon her sister rose.

I can’t force him to go against a promise he made.

She looks down. She spots more than a few ponies casually strolling along the streets down below. She looks away sadly.

But it would have been appreciated to have him as a direct advisor.

She slowly makes her way to her place in front of the fireplace and slowly lies down.

“Tia?” She slightly smiles at the name that only one pony she knows that calls her that.

“Come in, Lulu.”

“I… passed by Swift on the way here.” Her smile fades as she hears the slow thumps of hoofsteps, “I… take it he…” Luna trails off.

“Yes, he declined.” Luna looks to the ground.

“We were afraid of that.”

“We asked a lot of him.” Luna looks up to her sister. “He has been through alot in his world as it is. He may be living here in Equestria, but that doesn’t mean we have the right to force him to go against his promise.” Princess Luna sits on her flank and stares at the fire like her sister.

“From what he’s said he’s been through, it may be a good idea to… leave him to any form of peace he can find here.”

“Maybe… but what shall we do? We don’t know what exactly it is that wishes to do harm upon us.” Luna asks Celestia.

Silence. Celestia looks away from the fire for a second to see the worried face of the sister she had ruled with for so long, and then had to banish before she was finally brought back to her. They both turn back to the fire.

Banishing a family member or somepony you truly care about above so many others is something that’ll tug at the heart for longer that any can comprehend.

“A disadvantage, of being immortal…” Luna looks to her, “Is that you live to see so many lives come and gone.”

“The friends you make…”

“The loved ones you have…”

“Eventually taken away.”

“Along with the discoveries that seemed so trivial now than when they were first discovered.”

The two sisters continue to lie silently next to each other.

For the first time in a long while, the act of an invisible threat against something they have worked so long and hard to build from the ground up, they are stumped.

<<<>>>

I can’t believe her. After everything I said, after everything I have been through, she wants me to bring tactics from my world to help? It’s that type of stuff that made them unruly conquerors of almost every single living thing back on earth!

I sigh, I’m sorry, princess. But I don’t know if I can handle the idea of turning this world into… I shudder and stop for a second to get my bearings. I hope she can forgive me.

“Did you see him?” I hear a voice around the corner just ahead of me.

“Yeah. Wonder what the princess wanted with him.” I slide along the wall quietly but carefully so I don’t become known to them.

“I heard that his species are really tough and smart when it comes to war.”

“Really? He doesn’t look so tough to me.” As I peer around the corner, I spot two more guard ponies. From the tone of their voices and features, they are the very same ones that were in front of the armory when I was trapped inside during the last Grand Galloping Gala.

“Well, regardless of what we think, I caught a glimpse of a note that the princess got. Said something about a threat.” The guard on the right looks at his friend.

“Is that why patrols have been doubled?” The right says. Left shrugs.

“From what I can guess, yeah.”

“And the princess is putting the protection of Canterlot in that things hooves?!”

“Keep your voice down.” He tries to calm his friend down, “Also, I think they are called hands from what he has.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Right lowers his voice a bit. “One of my friends went to that so called conference meeting that that thing held. By his kind’s standards, he’s only 16!”

“16!” Left says surprised. “What is she thinking? Can’t believe I’m questioning her, but putting the entire royal guard under his command?! He’d barely be considered grown-up.”

She wanted to give me command? THAT much command?

“A 16 year old taking command of the security of Canterlot? She does that and he screws up, a lot of ponies are going to be very mad.”

“Many would probably want to her to step down if she takes that much of a risk.”

Damnit! I can’t let that happen I- I think for a second.

But if I do, I go back on a promise I made. I bite my lip as I try to contemplate my decision.

“Don’t make yourself a promise, if you know you can’t keep.”

It seems no where can ever be truly filled with peace and happiness. I stand straight up and breathe in, “I promised my friends I would protect them. If Canterlot falls, the Elements of Harmony might well follow.”

Sometimes you have to break a promise to keep another.

“Eh-hem!” Both guards freeze as they slowly turn around to see me standing behind them with my arms crossed.

“Uhhh, how long have you…?” Right says.

“Long enough.” I sternly say. Both gulp loudly for me to hear. My eyes glide over the both of them, right being grey and a pegasus and left being white and a unicorn. “What are your names?”

“Star Caster… sir.” Left says. I nod and look at grey guard on the right.

“Lightningstrike, sir.” He answers.

I kneel down to their eye level give them a look, “You two know where the briefing room is?” I calmly ask them.

They are still slightly shaking at my presence and on the fact that I heard them talking about me and doubting my abilities.

“Y-yes, sir.” They say in unison.

I smile and stand up. I reach into my pocket and put on my sunglasses. “Well, lead the way then.”

<<<>>>

“Do not fret Luna. He has never actually been in any type of war or had to command whole squads of soldiers or security. Instead he has decided in sending us several copies of literature that involve using some of the best tactics and strategies that involve fighting in open conflicts or the defense of important structures from his world.” Princess Celestia tries to make her sister, Princess Luna, feel better about Swift Wind’s decision.

“You may be right dear sister. He is also somewhat young and I am sure he wouldn’t send us these strategy books unless he was sure they would help us out.”

“True. For now, let’s find him so we can have a chariot send him back to Ponyville so he doesn’t have to waste the bits for a train ticket.” Celestia says with a smile, glad that they now have an alternative to their situation.

“Let’s.” Luna finishes their conversation. The duo continues to walk down the various hallways until they come across a couple royal guards standing at attention in front of some double doors.

“Excuse me,” Princess Celestia asks the closest guard, “Do you know where the human, Swift Wind has gone to? The tall two-legged creature carrying a large curved sword on his back?”

“You have no authority here! Now get- Argh!”

“I can easily break your leg, snap your neck and turn you into a vegetable right now if I wanted to!” Two voices interrupt the guard just as he opens his mouth. Both princesses look at him.

“He’s in there, your highness.” The guard motions with his hoof.

“Thank you.” Both princesses peek inside at the sight. The entire room is in a circular shape, windows adorning nearly every single section of the circular room and there is a large round table in the middle big enough to seat 20 ponies. Right now, 7 in total are in the room, including the human, Swift Wind who is holding First Lieutenant Iron Hammer in a grip all are unfamiliar with.

He pushes the lieutenant off him. “I know what it is to be fighting. I’ve had to fight practically every single day of my life back in my world so I wouldn’t starve, be killed or thrown in jail. My uncle was military and I know what it is to take risks when need be. Plus, I have the knowledge of some of the best tactioners from my world at my disposal.” He tries to give them a reason for him to stay.

“Just because you know a few tricks here and there and picked up a few scars along the way doesn’t make you qualified to take command of the entire Royal Guard network!” Iron Hammer shouts to the human. He scoffs and walks along the table while dragging his fingers along the edge.

“Who says I’m going to take complete control?!” He shouts and clenches his fist on the table. “The Princess just wants an advisor. An outer party to recommend and implement his tactics that no one or pony has ever seen before!”

“I will not be overshadowed by an infant!” Iron Hammer slams his hoof onto the table.

Swift bares his teeth, “You want this infant to show you just what type of moves we use back in my world?!”

“I would welcome it!”

“Why don’t I-“

“ENOUGH!” Both rivals are silenced from between them by the loud authoritative tone of the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, also the highest rank attainable in Equestria's military, except one other that is only reserved for special cases. “Lieutenant Hammer, it was the princess’s judgment to give him this opportunity. Do you doubt Princess Celestia’s leadership?” he asks the lieutenant.

“N-no, I don’t.” he nervously replies.

“Then at least give him a shot and hear him out. The majority of the military body, depending on rank and positions, will supersede plans and actions that are deemed too cruel, crazy or just outright unorthodox for the situation at hand.” He looks toward the human, “Is that acceptable?”

Swift nods, “It is. I have no wish to take complete full control over the entire royal guard. Having a form of democratic military at this moment will suffice.”

Shining Armor nods before looking at the others, “Will that work with everypony?”

Violet Star along with the rest of the commanders in the room nod and murmur in agreement.

Iron Hammer remains unconvinced. “Just what type of military strategies do you bring with you?” he asks.

All eyes look towards the human as he smirks. He stands tall and crosses his arms. “I know of strategies, techniques, hand-to-hand combat moves, martial arts skills, and knowledge of the most renown tyrannical and the biggest scourges of humanity that have ever been born from my kind’s DNA. Not to mention plenty of heroes who were faced with overwhelming odds that would look like they would lose but achieved victory in the end.”

“Such as?” Shining Armor asks. The human clicks his tongue and proceeds to walk along the edge of the table.

“Ohhhhhhh where should I begin? The maniacal leader who earned the name “Vlad the Impaler” for having impaled over tens of thousands of his enemies during his reign; the dictator in World War II that executed and killed over 6 million of my kind based on the religion they were part of known as Jewish; the US of A working however they can to protect their own and others even though they were completely outmatched in numbers; or how about the influential leaders who were so well liked and feared that they turned their own soldiers and guards into suicide bombers. Where to start?” he finishes up his round and stops back at where he started. The look of fear, confusion, and interest plastered on all of the ranking officials faces.

“We might be here awhile.” Violet speaks up. Everyone and pony in the room nods in agreement.

“Lightningstrike! Star Caster!” The guards outside move past the princesses and stand at attention.

“Yes, sir?” Both shout in unison.

“We’re probably going to be here awhile. You think you can do us a favor and get us some coffee?” Swift asks the two guards.

“Of course, sir.” Star Caster replies.

“Good. Afterwards, you can join in on the session or be dismissed. Your choice.” Swift replies as he lies back in a chair and kicks his feet up onto the table.

Both guards are slightly shocked at the opportunity but regain their composure. “We’ll… think about it on the way, sir.” Lightningstrike answers before the two move out of the room.

“Great. Now, how about I start off by telling you the history of Joan of Arc, peasant girl turned commander of the entire French army in only a couple days.”

Just as the two guards go out of the room, the princesses peek back in to see all the commanders and leaders getting situated around the table.

“Well, it seems he has become comfortable.” Princess Luna says to her sister as the two begin casually walking away in the opposite direction that the two royal guards went in.

“It does. I’m glad to see that he has become involved in this situation directly. Learning everything from just a book is not always the best possible way to learn such information. Having somepony, or someone, audibly describe it for you has always proved best.” Princess Celestia explains about the situation with a smile.

“Very well put dear sister.”

“Thank you Luna.” Celestia’s smile fades, “I just hope this position and responsibility doesn’t put Swift in any difficult situations that will hurt him.” True she may be the ruler of this land and has been for years, but the discovery of this new species won’t bode well for her if she does anything to harm him. No doubt plenty of scientific minds or newsletters would like for him to remain alive.

“Do not fret Tia,” her sister rubs her sisters back to try and comfort her, “Swift Wind has done plenty enough as it is to prove himself a valuable friend, a fighter and warrior, and… adaptable when it comes to areas that don’t go according to plan.” Princess Luna thinks back to Nightmare Night and how grateful she is over the work he and Twilight Sparkle put into helping her.

“Yes… you are right, Lulu. He may seem somewhat young, but it is clear he has matured far along those lines.”

“I am glad. Now come,” Luna gestures forward with her hoof, “Let us get some cake before you retire for the night.”

*Pomf*

Almost immediately, Princess Celestia’s wings spread out from her body, making the younger sister giggle cutely at her older sister’s reaction. Celestia blushes before retracting her wings.

She lightly coughs, “Let us go then.” She says in royal manner with her head held high, her sister giggling cutely every now and then as they walk.

-------------------------------

Well, Swift seems to be doing nicely now isn’t he? Yeah he is.

I was able to overhaul a few nights so this came quite nicely and quick. Not to mention that it isn’t tailored to the actual episode themselves so my mind was able to freely wonder and come up with my own things.

You know the drill that comes with the end of every chapter: Rate, comment, yep.

Also just to clarify, any and all songs or art I show in these chapters do not belong to me whatsoever and belong to their respected creators and owners.

I’d like to thank Signia for being my proofreader for this chapter, as well as the last few that I was too bored or lazy to properly give credit for in the author’s notes section.

Sorry about that Sig.

Fitting in

View Online

Morning. A week and a half after Swift’s arrival to Canterlot, to be exact. After the massive information drop by the human to the Royal Guard commanders, he managed to fill his roll to the best of his abilities, given his position and reputation. He’s already started a set of rigorous training sessions for the guards. With an invisible force threatening Canterlot, there’s no telling what exactly it is that’s going to attack. Due to the large number of soldiers and commanding officers, most are stationed in a large open but closed down section of the market to train. For the large reformation of the training for the royal guards, different sections of the market have been closed down to accommodate the large number of soldiers.

For now, this new training sequence should give the soldiers a more open mind when it comes to fighting, along with a new fighting style.

“This is crap!”

Unfortunately, more than a few were defiant at the thought of learning this foreign fighting style.

“What was that, soldier?” Violet Star addresses the grunt at the front of her 100 soldiers.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but why do we have to learn a whole new fighting style based on that… thing!” the defiant soldier shouts. A small number of murmurs agree with the doubtful soldier.

“Listen soldier, I’m a little skeptic of the idea as well, but we have our orders, and we must follow them.” Violet tries assure her guards of the orders.

“I still don’t see how-“

“Trouble sergeant?” A low calm voice interrupts the argument. Violet turns around and looks up to see the human, Swift Wind, standing on the edge of the wall. Some of the guards tense up at the sight the creature that was the center of their brief argument just a few seconds ago.

“N-no, sir. I’m just training this batch of our soldiers in that new fighting style you recommended.”

“Really?” He says sarcastically before taking a step off the edge, allowing him to plummet one story down before landing on his feet. He slowly gets back up and walks closer to her. “Because it looks like to me that some soldiers seem a little… resistant to the idea of learning a new fighting style.”

Some of them nod in agreement as discretely as possible. Sadly, they failed. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ve tried to convince them on more than one occasion to follow orders but-“ Swift puts his hand up to stop her.

“Relax. Some don’t like change. They tend to resent it without a proper reason for it.” He shortly explains in a calm tone. He walks past her and stands with his hands behind his back in front of the soldiers. “I hear most of you don’t like the idea of me taking command, is that right?”

“With all due respect, you have no authority here!” Unsurprisingly, the soldier who spoke up first is the one to speak up now. “All you’ve done is protect a small little town from a few monsters. What makes you fit to command us?!” he finishes by slamming his hoof into his chest. Again, more agree with him.

Swift looks him over a bit before staring out into the others around that soldier.

“So because I haven’t truly proven myself to you all or to Canterlot on my skills and knowledge, you think I’m lying?”

“Yes!” A few soldiers say in unison.

They think I’m full crap then, huh? Swift thinks.

“Hm,” Swift slowly breathes in and sighs deeply, “Alright then.” Swift smirks before he sets down his AK47, his katana sword and unbuckling his belt fitted with his combat knife and Beretta 92FS before laying them next to Violet Star.

“What are you doing?” she curiously asks.

“Proving myself to them,” he replies before kneeling and pulling up his pants leg and removing the knife he had against his ankle. He looks up to the sergeant and can plainly see the unsure and skeptic look on her face, “And to you.”

He walks back to the front of the battalion of soldiers. “Alright!” he shouts, “I want five of the toughest volunteers front and center now!” Murmurs can be heard before the doubtful soldier at first and four others from different lines and rows begin making their way to the front of the human. “I want the rest of you to spread out so you can clearly watch this.” They do as he says; the group of soldiers begin forming a large U shape with the wall Swift jumped down from covering the rest. “Good, now that that is done,” He looks at the five soldiers in front of him intently, thoughts running through each of the soldiers head as to what the human is planning on doing.

“Attack me.”

Violet Star is shocked at the words.

“W-what?” Solder 5 asks nervously, unsure if he heard correctly.

“You heard me. I want the five of you to attack with all you’ve got. No holding back.” Swift bluntly says before bringing his hands up into a fighting style and into a bladed stance.

“You’re kidding, right?” that same doubtful soldier, soldier 5, from the beginning says.

“No, I’m not. You wanted me to prove myself to you all, so this is how it goes! Fight me!” Swift yells angrily. The constant criticism against him, his age as well as those questioning the princess’s judgment for giving him his position is starting to take a toll on him. Throughout the time he’s been in Canterlot, it’s rare for a guard to actually take him serious with his orders and whatnot. If they want him to prove that he is a capable fighter and not some all-talk teenager, this should be it.

“Listen, I know you are trying to prove something to us all, but why don’t you go back to your little town before you get hurt?”

The sound of low ‘ooh’s’ emanate from the crowd around them from soldier 5’s snarky tone.

Swift drops his stance. He looks saddened by the lack of cooperation from the soldier.

“So that’s it?” he asks sadly.

Soldier 5 smirks, “Yeah, that’s it.”

Swift breathes a sad breath and slumps a little, “Well, that sucks.” He walks closer to them and rubs his face, “I suppose… you don’t want to fight…” Soldier 5 closes his eyes and smiles triumphantly.

Ha! I knew it! I knew he was all talk. I’m gonna be a legend to all for talking down this- his thoughts are interrupted by a knee strike.

Swift’s knee strikes the bottom of the guard’s jaw and sends him up onto his hind hooves. Swift promptly follows up with a solid roundhouse kick to the chest, sending 5 flying back into the air before rolling roughly on the ground and stopping at the hooves of the crowd.

Shocked looks and expressions remain plastered on Violet Star as well as the surrounding soldiers and guards. All eyes stay on the human as he slowly brings his leg down back into his previous bladed stance. “I will.” I sternly say’s. If they don’t want to make the first strike, then I fucking will!

“Hey!” 4 shouts before charging at the human. Just before the soldier makes contact with the human fighter, Swift twists to the side and follows up with an open-palm strike to the side of the ponies face, caving in a small part of the helmet and sending the pony barreling to the ground. 2 and 3 decide to try and bring him down together.

Unfortunately, it’s their downfall. Swift jumps up and plants both his feet on either of their backs and jumps up, combined with their momentum, the two slide roughly on their stomachs against the ground. 1 brought up the rear of the duo but was too slow to move out of the way of the falling human, who uses gravity combined with his own weight and force to immediately drop the soldier onto his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs in the process.

Swift rolls onto his hands and feet before standing up. “C’mon! You said you can take me, so do it!” he yells.

A presence appears behind him, prompting him to turn around.

“Too slow!” Soldier 5 moves forward and quickly turns around, bringing his hind hooves up to buck the human with force that only soldiers who train frequently to keep their physique can pull.

Unfortunately, the tall thin figure that Swift is accustomed to works in his favor. He turns to the side and raises his arms up just as the bucking legs go to either side of him. He wraps his around the soldiers legs, keeping the soldier locked against Swift.

“Argh! Let me go!” 5 yells while trying to break free but Swift has a firm grip.

“I don’t think so.” He replies with a sly grin. He picks up the soldier over his head, easily making them the most noticeable and seeable figures of the entire crowd, before falling back and slamming the both of them onto the ground, making his prisoner yelp loudly in pain and surprise from the foreign move. Swift knew what to expect, so he was able to prepare himself for the fall. The soldier wasn’t as prepared, becoming momentarily stunned with the force exhibited on his spine.

Swift lets go of 5’s legs and spots a shadow over him. 3 brings his legs down to slam into Swift’s chest, but he counters by pulling his legs up and pushing 4 away and off of him, sending him crashing into the slowly shaking 5.

He jumps back onto his feet just in time to see 4 barreling right at him. Instead of moving or jumping out of the way, he stands his ground and takes the full force of the attack.

“Ughhh!” He grunts loudly as he’s slowly pushed back along the floor. The two slowly come to a halt as 4 continues to try and push but fails. Swift brings his right arm up and delivers a hammer strike against soldiers back. 4 jerks back with a yelp, but Swift grabs the pony before he can go back further. He looks up and notices 2 is coming at him as well, no doubt taking the position that Swift is in to take him by surprise. Swift picks up the stunned soldier with a grunt and brings him down on 2, slamming the two onto the ground and leaving them in a daze.

He steps back to take a moment to rest. He tenses up as he hears the scraping of hooves to his right. He immediately brings his right leg up and slams it into the face of a skidding soldier. After using 4’s weight against him and using it to slam 2 into the ground, Soldier 1 tried to take advantage and attack but freaked and tried to stop. Now 1 lies on his back in a daze as Swift Wind slowly walks up to him.

“Get up.”

1 quickly scrambles to his hooves but is knocked back down again.

“I said, get up.” Swift continues to say sternly.

1 slowly tries to get back up but his kicked in the stomach.

“Cah!”

“Is this it? Is this the best that Equestria has to offer?” He kicks again, “You claim to be able to take me on but look at this!” he yells, “I just took on 5 of you all at once without so much as breaking a sweat! This is why I wanted you to train more, to train the way I wanted you all to train! So you can be better than you ever thought you could!” Swift yells to all the royal guard soldiers surrounding. He looks back down to the shaking soldier as he tries to get onto his hooves. “You hesitated to strike me, got struck back. In battle, if you do that, you’re dead, bar none. So as I said… get… UP!” Swift yells and punches with his left hand.

…It doesn’t connect. 1 put up his right hoof to block the hit. Swift then tries to punch with his right but the same happens on the other. 1 quickly twists his fore hooves around Swift’s arms, making him trap Swift’s arms so he can’t bend them or move. 1 immediately stands up on his hind hooves to get up to Swift’s height. Both stare at each for a second before 1 pulls his head back and slams forward, performing the toughest headbutt that Swift has ever experienced due to the helmet amplifying the hit. He lets Swift’s arms go, allowing the human to stumble back a little in a daze before finishing up with a twirl around before slamming his left hoof into Swift’s head. Swift immediately fumbles and tumbles to the ground on his front.

Not one single pony watching the fight has their mouth closed, all jaws dropped in surprise of the apparent rookie soldier to the new training who just took down Swift Wind.

1’s eyes are wide with surprise at the sudden movement he just exhibited on himself. “Whoa.” He stumbles a little but lands on all four hooves due to him not being used no his hind hooves as much.

Swift slowly stands tall and looks at the soldier in front of him, the taste of iron in his mouth apparent to the blood slowly trickling down the corner of his lip. He wipes the blood off and examines it on his hand before looking back at 1.

1 immediately cringes at the thought of what the human will do. Oh Celestia! What have I done?! What will he do?! Will he kill me right here and now and blame it on a accident to the princess’s? Will he walk away and kill me in my sleep?! Or will he-

“He he he he, hahahahahahahahaaaa!”

Laugh?’

He slowly looks up to see a toothy grin on the humans face.

“That… is what I was looking for! That’s what I wanted to see! From your usual training you were mostly trained to take on heavier and bigger creatures like Minotaur’s, Griffons and even against your own kind! You’re not used to the stature of my kind, or the athletics I was able to pull.” Swift yells as happy as he can. The small amount of time that he was able to get these soldiers to train was a crowning achievement for him. 1 is still completely stunned.

He kneels to be level with the soldier that was able to gain the advantage on him. “This is the reason why I wanted you all to be more open to this new training sequence.” He places his hand on 1’s shoulder, “This soldier right here was able to use that very same moves taught to him to be able to take me down.” He gives the soldier a reassuring smile before standing. “I expect great things from you.” Swift holds out his fist. “Don’t make me a liar.”

He slowly hoof bumps the human. “Th-thank you, sir. I won’t fail you.” Swift nods and turns around to move away.

“Hold it!” he hears 5’s voice. He turn to the soldier with an annoyed grunt. “You still can’t take us all on!” he motions to all the soldiers surrounding him. As Swift stares at all the soldiers around him, he notices their expressions. Some are impressed and don’t look like they actually want to fight, while others still look happy to oblige.

“Uhhh.” With a frustrated sigh, he slowly walks over to Violet Star and picks up his AK. He looks around and stops at a dummy pony target against the wall he jumped down from. “You see that target?” He points to the dummy. Violet and the rest of the soldiers glance at the dummy before looking back to the human.

He takes aim, and fires. Bullets blast out of the barrel of his assault rifle and begin impacting the target, some bullets missing and hitting the wall while others go through. He doesn’t let off the trigger and completely pumps every single round into the target. When he finally finishes, the dummy is in pieces and shambles with dozens of holes littering it. He lowers his weapon, takes out the magazine and pulls back the barrel to clear the chamber before flicking the safety on.

The stunned and shocked expressions of the entire crowd around him say that’s he’s made his point. “And I can upgrade this weapon to hold a lot more of what I just shot. Plus these things are armor piercing so I can easily cut through your armor like nothing.” He states. The crowd doesn’t move, still stunned obviously. I mean, if you saw someone use a weapon you never saw before that was able to turn a version of your kind to pieces, it would definitely blow your mind. Swift passes a stunned Violet Star and that same doubtful soldier from the beginning before he proceeds to grab his equipment before going up some stairs to the top of the wall he just shot at. “Now,” he looks back to the crowd, “Get back to training!” He yells with authority. The soldiers begin reforming the lines from before in front of Violet Star. She looks back up at him, where he smiles and leaves, before looking back to her regimen for the day.

“Now, let’s try this again.”

<<<>>>

“Impressive.” As soon as I enter the doorway into the castle, a familiar royal tone greets me. I turn to the right to see Princess Celestia lying against the wall with her left hooves crossing her right.

“You think so?”

“Yes. It seems the doubt you had on yourself is gone.” She says with a smile.

I smile shyly and fiddle with my feet. “Yeah well, I was worried if I would’ve done good or not, but I have to admit it feels really good actually help your soldiers become stronger.”

“They’re your soldiers now. Soldiers or guards, they are yours.” She says happily.

I can’t help but smile at her words. My soldiers… that’s sounds pretty cool. At least now I can make sure that these soldiers are in the best condition possible for when the threat decides to rear its ugly head. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

“Please Swift, just Celestia will be fine.” She says.

“Alright then… Celestia.” Wow that felt weird.

“Good,” she pushes herself off the wall and walks past me, “Let’s walk and talk.” She gestures forward with her head.

“Sounds good to me.” After that little tussle just a minute ago, it’ll be nice to talk to the princess to relax a little.

Plus I owe her an apology after my outburst that night.

“How has military life been treating you? Is it as eventful as what you did out there?”

“It’s been tough, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Checking the state of the troops, the weaponry, the training, it’s definitely keeping me busy.”

“Has it now?”

“Of course. The weird thing is that it feels… fluent to me. I thought I would be freaking out as to whether or not I would be making decisions that would completely throw off the whole order and command system of the military and instill doubt to your rule but it hasn’t come to that. Still not sure of the whole thing but most of the guards and soldiers clearly see me as a commanding officer to them.”

“But others are still unsure of that fact?”

“Yes, as you saw out there.” I breathe a little and look out to see the soldiers running their drills I instructed. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“I am glad to hear that. I was a little worried about your physique and standpoint after your… outburst back in my chambers.” She brings up the memory. True, I was freaking out about the actions she wanted to bring to her military, but I can’t protect my friends forever. The least I can do is make sure that the military is the strongest as can be.

“Yeeeaaaahh…” I shyly but regretfully say. I rub the back of my neck in nervousness as we turn a corner, “Sorry about that, Celestia. I think I got a little… carried away with my rejection of the offer. Again I apologize for that, and scaring your guards outside your room… and commandeering two guards from their post to lead me without proper authorization… and nearly killing one of your generals… and-“

“Swift, it’s quite alright. You’ve more than made up for it in these last few days.” She stops me with a smile. I relax and gently breathe.

“Yeah, alright.” I calmly say. With how long Princess Celestia has been alive, I’m glad to see that she’s still got a truly kind heart.

“Your majesty.” A white unicorn guard carrying some saddlebags and something long wrapped in cloth in his magic stops in front of us and bows to the princess. “Sir!” he quickly come back up and salutes me.

“At ease, soldier.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve come with the items you’ve requested.” He pulls the wrapped object in front of us. I reach out and grab it from his magic field before feeling the object through the cloth.

I smile, “Perfect. And the rest?”

“Right here, sir.” He opens his saddlebag with his magic and pulls out a slightly smaller white sack that’s tied tightly at the top. I take those as well, examining the long object in my right and the sack in my left.

“Thank you soldier. You’re dismissed.” I thank the soldier.

“Sir! Yes sir!” he salutes me one final time before trotting away.

“What is that?” Celestia leans in and asks me with curiosity clearly plastered all over her face.

I smile a little more and turn to look at her, “All in due time, your highness. For now, do you have a sort of research wing of some kind where you have the brightest minds in Equestria working to invent something new?”

“Hmmm,” she taps her hoof to her chin for a second to think, “Yes, I believe we do. It’s over on the other side of the castle though.”

“Then let’s get moving!” I say with enthusiasm. Celestia immediately places a hoof on me, stopping me before I have a chance to take off.

“No need.” She closes her eyes and her horn begins to glow in her usual yellow aura.

“What are you-“

*Plink*

“-doing?” As soon as I finish, no longer are we in a long hallway that seems so familiar to all the rest. We are in a large white room with many different objects. Large canisters filled with different shades of colors, tables cluttered with notes, pads of papers and parchments along with microscopes of varying sizes. The room is filled with ponies wearing white lab coats, the room’s population being nearly dominant of unicorns but an occasional earth pony and pegasus helping out as well.

The room is silent at the sudden entrance of the princess and I. “Princess Celestia! So good to see you!” An old earth pony with a dark grey mane, tail and a slight bushy beard, a coat of just a lighter shade of grey and red eyes walks up to the princess with a smile.

“Steel Verrier! It’s good to see you as well.” The two embrace in a slight hug with one hoof each before separating. “How have things been here since I last checked?”

“Not much has changed since, your highness. We are still stumped on some of our research at the moment.” He turns to me and narrows his eyes. “Is this him?”

“Yes it is.”

He takes a few steps towards me and leans in towards me. I feel a bead of sweat roll down the side of my face as he locks his eyes deep into mine, almost like he’s staring into my soul.

“It’s so nice to see you, my boy!” he happily yells and takes my right hand into both his hooves, making me drop my wrapped object with a soft thud.

“It’s nice to see you as well, sir.” I reply with a little stutter in my voice from his vigorous shaking.

“Swift, this is Steel Verrier. He is the head researcher here in Canterlot, and a renowned blacksmith to go along with that title.” Celestia gestures to the old pony.

“’Retired’ renowned blacksmith. I used be one when I was much younger.” He says happily but looks away with a sad look. “Unfortunately, that’s a young, strong and tough pony’s game these days.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I say to him. It sucks like that. One moment you’re the very best at something, but as time passes, you’re not anymore.

“I’m not. Now I can use intelligence and wisdom to help better all of Equestria from here.” He gestures to the lab around us, which has sprung back to life.

“That’s good to hear.” I reply with a smile and pick up the clothed object I dropped.

“Steel Verrier, this is Swift Wind. The only human to be discovered here in Equestria, defeater of Discord, guardian of Ponyville, and new commander of Equestria’s military.” Celestia lists off my titles. I stand tall as best I can with a triumphant smile.

“So you’re the famed savior I’ve heard so much about? I’ve been meaning to try and get an audience with you, along with seeing the new commander that’s taken over the military. Never really expected him to be so…” he stares at my figure from the bottom and up again. “Tall.”

“Hehe, yeah I get that every now and then.” I chuckle while rubbing the back of my neck.

“So, what brings you two here?” he asks.

“Swift is the reason why we are here.” She looks at me, “Why are we here anyway?”

I smile and gesture them to follow me to an empty table devoid of any papers or notes that clutter the rest. “I was wondering if there was any way you can adapt these weapons to suit pony needs.” I unwrap the clothed object to reveal not one but my two rifled muskets that I had back at my house.

“Interesting. What are these?” the head research pony asks with a hint of curiosity in his voice. From the look he’s giving the rifles, he’s very interested.

“These are musket rifles from my world. Outdated pieces of weapons that use small bits of steel, lead and gunpowder to launch small projectiles at the intended target.”

“Fascinating.” He says with amazement.

“Yeah, unlike bows, arrows and crossbows, these shoot much faster, harder and aren’t as easy to take out as a regular arrow.” I continue to explain.

“A very interesting weapon.” He continues to voice his amazement. He turns his attention to me, “And you were hoping to adapt this weapon to suit our kind, correct?”

I nod, “That’s right. Unlike this version I have of this firearm,” I compare the AK with the musket, “These musket rifles use a much simpler design that should allow ponies to be able mass produce them.”

“That sounds manageable.” He turns back to the muskets and examines them from different angles with his magic, “Any defects or consequences that should be known?”

“Yeah, a few.” I pull out the other bag and spread out its contents, which consists of small lead balls, some powder charges, and some containers which held a specific amount of gunpowder. “You need to load these weapons with these items in a very specific way or else the weapons won’t fire at all, or could explode. The same can be said if you use too much powder.”

“Very specific?”

“Very.”

“Seems like such a huge risk if the wielder misses just one step.” He says.

“Yeah, well…” I look around the room before back to Steel, “Do you have a room where you practice and test some of your inventions?”

“Yes we do. Right over here.” He happily says and begins to trot away. I grab the muskets but a yellow aura surrounds the rifles ammo. I look over at Celestia who picks up the ammo in the exact position it was laid.

“Allow me.” she says with a smile. I nod and we walk after the head research pony. As soon as we reach the door, the room is white with a gray ceiling and a few tables at the front of the door. The room is like a large long but wide hallway with various scorch marks and holes in the walls along with some targets at the end as well.

“Perfect.” I lay the muskets on the table and motion Celestia to do the same with the ammo. I begin loading up one of the muskets.

“You’re actually going to shoot it?!” he asks with a hint of surprise.

“Yes I am,” I say with a smile and cock the hammer back. I take aim and get ready, “Provided our esteemed leader shields my body with some sort of protection spell.” I look at the princess with a face that basically says, ‘pplllleeeeeaaasse’.

“Hm, very well.” She agrees. Her horn begins to glow and a warm sensation spread along my upper body and down. Soon my body itself is encased with her yellow aura but the rifle is not. “There. You should be safe from any mishaps you inadvertently trigger.” She says with a smug grin.

“Thank you princess.” I thank her and motion for the two to step back far enough for an explosion from the rifle to not hit them or any fragments as well. Once that’s done, I take aim once again and set my sights at the head of the pony target that’s around 30 feet down range. “Firing in three… two… one…!”

With an audible snap and bang, the Springfield Musket Rifle in my hands fires off its round, making the target move a tiny bit on impact. I slowly lower the weapon and smile. “There we go.”

“The weapons didn’t explode into a million pieces… that’s a good sign.” Steel says. Celestia nods as well as I turn back to them.

“Yes it is. Come on, let’s see the damage.” I motion them with a wave of my hand and sling the musket against my shoulder. We jog up to the target. As we stop in front of it, I look it over to try and find the mark where the bullet landed.

“There it is.” Steel Verrier points to a small hole at the base of the neck.

“Hm, went a little off course but still a fatal shot.” I comment.

“He or she will be dead after a few seconds of bleeding out.” Steel adds. He moves closer to the target and squints to try and get as accurate a distance in the target as the bullet went. “Looks like it stopped just before it became a through and through…” he holds his hoof up and compares the size of his hoof with the size of the hole. It’s completely out of proportion. “And for earth ponies, digging it out with just hooves will prove near impossible. Even with some pliers, tweezers, small tongs or anything of that nature will prove a challenge when the wound starts to flood with blood.” He adds on the matter. He’s not far off. You have to actually see the damn bullet in the wound or else when you go digging around in there you’ll begin to tear the flesh in every which direction. “Princess, why don’t you try to take it out?” he proposes to her. I look at her as well.

“I’ll do my best.” She lowers her head to be eye level with the bullet hole and squints her eyes. Her horn begins to glow and I see just a faint glow of her magic on the outside of the hole. She bites her tongue and concentrates harder on the task. I notice the target is beginning to rock back and forth with the tugs from her magic.

“Alright, alright, alright. You can stop now.” I place my hand on her shoulder to stop her from toppling the object over or straining herself. But then again she’s a 1000 year old god that can control the sun… I don’t think I have to worry about her ‘straining’ herself.

“Egh, it’s wedged in there tight. I can take it out but it’ll cause a bit of tearing.”

“I feel sorry for whoever gets hit with one of these.” Steel says.

“Ehh, they’ll have to be a reason for it. Plus they can’t just leave it in there and dress the wound around it… they’d either die from internal bleeding and even if unicorns can use some type of healing spell to mend the flesh back together, there’d be complications involving lead poisoning or infections.” I explain the complications of being shot with one of these rifles and its ammo.

“Both an instant effect and a lasting one. A deadly and horrific weapon indeed.” Steel says while staring at my rifle.

“It’s sort of what my kind is known for.” I flatly say. He has an unsure and nervous look on his face as he examines the rifle, the bullet hole, and the bits of information that was mentioned just a little while ago. He look back to the princess, “Celestia, are you alright with the idea of… mass producing these weapons for our military?”

She nods and places a hoof on my shoulder, “I know it seems a bit more… drastic than how we usually fight, but with the unknown force behind the threat against my kingdom, along with Swift’s presence here in the first place, I just feel I shouldn’t take any chances.” She says in a sad tone. She lowers her hoof and looks at me, “Besides, I trust his judgment on the matter. His kind apparently does know more about warfare than us.”

I give a slight bow, “Thank you, princess.” I say with a smile. She returns the smile with one of her own.

“If you think that is best. For as long as we’ve been friends, you haven’t done anything to make me doubt you princess.” Steel says with a smile to her.

“Thank you, Steel. That means a lot coming from you.” Celestia says with sincerity in her voice.

“You’re welcome, your highness.” He says with a slight tip of his head. I smile at the spectacle in front of me. Even as an almighty thousands of years old god, it’s nice to see she can still have friends that isn’t just me or her student and her students friends. He turns back to me, “Now, why don’t you show me how to reload that thing properly and your ideas on modifying for pony use.” He asks me intently.

I smile, “I think that can be arranged.” I look at Celestia, “You should probably get out of here before we start to get technical in this place.”

“Oh don’t mind me. It would be a lie to say I’m not interested.” She replies smiling.

“Wouldn’t it be prudent for you to manage your nation?” I question her with a raised eyebrow.

“And wouldn’t it be prudent for my sister to catch up on today’s politics instead of leaning to me to do everything?” she replies in the same manner as I.

We stare at each other for a tense long minute. I shrug my shoulders and head to the table, “Suit yourself. Now what you wanna know is…”

<<<>>>

Later, Luna stares at the stack of papers that seems to stay as tall no matter how many she signs. Each paper ranging from simple reports, which seem to have increased tenfold due to a specific humans orders on the safety of the city, to long listed confirmation letters for supplies for the city in case of an emergency, including a massive import of steel, wood, craftponies, and blacksmiths.

Luna lets out a frustrated sigh.

“More reports your highness.” A unicorn guard pony walks in holding two bags filled with more said items with his magic.

With a heavy thud, the bags land on the ground next to her table. She leans forward and smacks her head on the table. “Thank you. That’ll be all.” She replies with a deadpanned tone.

The guard bows before stepping out of the room and leaving the Princess of the Night to her headache.

She looks up and growls a little. “I’ll get you for this dear sister.” She menacingly says before her lips curve into a mischievous grin. “When you least suspect it. Hm hm hm.”

<<<>>>

After spending a good chunk of the previous few days explaining to the research department how to modify the musket rifles to pony form and obtaining the ammo components for them, I’ve been given a small leave of absence to explore the occupied parts of Canterlot’s market when it’s at its most fertile picking. Right now I’m not equipped head-to-toe in weapons and arms, just my katana and a belt of sheathed throwing knives slanted along my torso.

As I tour through the bustling market area, I still turn a few pony heads… and not in the good way entirely. Answering as many questions as I possibly can, defeating Discord, protecting an entire town single-handedly, and being the commander of an entire military doesn’t undo the fact that I’m the only one of my kind here. At first I was just okay with the idea of being an advisor, but the fact that more and more soldiers, guards, and other ranking officials took my orders directly started to stick.

“Hey!” I stop dead in my tracks at the loud yell. Normally I would pay it no mind but something felt like it was targeted towards me. “Swift Wind, was it?” Yep, it’s for me.

I turn my head to right and spot a unicorn stallion waving to me. I slowly walk up to him and take notice of his features, a mane and tail of a dark blue color, white coat, black hooves, green eyes, and as he just barely leans over his counter I spot his cutie mark which looks like a sword with a dollar symbol next to it. Must mean he sells weapons. Although it does seem kinda obvious due to the fact that his entire shop is filled with spears, crossbows and swords of the like.

“Yes, what’d you need?” I ask once I stand in front of him. He looks up at me because of our height differences and all.

“Yes I… uhh… couldn’t help but notice… you is all.” He nervously says. It’d take someone oblivious to not notice the nervousness in his voice.

“I’m not in the position I am now without noticing the little things every so often. Besides,” I look around continue to see more eyes on me, which they promptly turn right back around, “I’ve already gotten used to the stares.” I sternly say and cross my arms. “You wanted something?”

“Well, I… is that a sword on your back?” he asks as he points to the handle of the katana on my back.

I smile and slowly pull it out with my right hand. “Yes, yes it is.” I say and hold the blade high.

His eyes grow wide, a small but slow gasp escaping his lips, and I swear I see sparkles in his eyes as well. “Oh my… I-I’ve never… may I…?” he holds out his hooves as a gesture for him to hold it.

I flip the sword with one hand and catch the flat blade part of it between my fingers and thumb. “Not at all.” His horn lights up and a light blue aura surrounds my sword before slowly easing it towards him where he carefully takes it in his hooves and looks it over. “Careful. It’s still sharp.” Now that I think about it, I should probably see to sharpening or reinforcing it. I’m sure pony magic will do wonders for that.

“Wow! I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s so sleek and skinny but it feels heavy at the same time. Tell me! How did you make this?!” He forcefully asks me while leaning in a little closer. Looks like somepony isn’t so nervous anymore.

I chuckle, “Sorry. I didn’t make it. Just found it.” He looks down sadly as he gently places the weapon down. “But I do know how it was made.” He immediately perks up and proceeds to open his mouth. I stop him by placing my hand in front of his face, “And no, I will not tell you how to make it. I’ve already got a few commissions in progress for the military right now and after they are done with that, I’ll probably show them how to make these as well.” I gesture to my sword. His face turns back to sadness again.

“Can you at least show me how you use it?” he asks. I guess from his point of view, holding this new species of blades in his hooves and not allowed to know how it is made, he wants to know at least something about it.

I sigh, “Yeah, I guess so.” He practically squees like Fluttershy at my agreement. He turns tail and goes to the back of his stand. A few moments later, he came out from the side holding two pony mannequins in his magical field. Ponies move out of the way and away from his stand as he places the dummy targets in front of his stand. I pick up my sword and move out of his way.

“There we are. Go ahead and take a crack at these.” He gestures for me to go ahead. Before I decide to decapitate the makeshift pony, I notice it doesn’t look entirely like the mannequins that Rarity uses. For one they aren’t on those pole stands, they are on all fours and standing straight up. He notices the questionable look I’m giving off towards the practice targets. “Something the matter?”

“No, not really. It’s just that these mannequins are a little different from the ones I’ve usual ones I’ve seen.” I reply while looking at them from all angles.

“Well they should be. Unlike the usual mannequins used by pony’s of the fashion industry, some of us weapon vendors tend have customers who like to test their purchases. So we tend to have some of these specially made mannequins nearby so they can go ahead and be satisfied with their purchases. We use different styles of material and wood in order to simulate the bone structure and other parts of the pony body to be almost realistic in comparison,” he explains while gesturing to the targets. Wow, badass. It’s not as good as ballistic gel, but I suppose it’ll do with the conditions they are in.

“Hm, impressive.” I comment. I grip the handle on my katana tighter in my right hand as it is slung over my right shoulder. I position myself between the two targets so their sides are facing me.

He smirks, “Why thank you. Now don’t be discouraged if you don’t make a clean cut on the first stri-“ In the blink of an eye, the pony targets head slowly slides off the neck and clinks to the ground. He freezes mid sentence and stares with wide eyes at the display. Several other ponies share the same reaction as him. I quickly grab the sword with two hands and bring it downwards and up on the other side of me, slicing the second target along its waist. At first, nothing, but the separate pieces fall to the ground away from each other. I spin the sword a couple times in my right hand before sheathing it onto my back.

“There. Impressed?” I ask. From the speed I exhibited, and the two clean cuts on near exact replicas of pony bodies have surprise plastered on the entirety of my audience. The weapon vendor pony slowly steps toward the first victim and looks at the wound before going to the second.

“Muscle… tissue… ribs… spinal cord… all with one… clean… cut.” He says with a hint of disbelief in his voice. “Not even the sharpest of blades I’ve ever seen or felt can match this.” He adds while trailing the edge of the cuts with his hoofs.

“Well, so you don’t go crazy, I’ll tell you how it happened.” I say to him. He looks up at me as I unsheathe my sword. “The thing that makes this sword unique is the fact that its weighted at the tip, which combines the wielders force, gravity, momentum and the weight itself to bring a clean cut, every time.” I explain. I’m still amazed at how the katana is. The bending and molding of different sheets of metal over one another makes this an awesome weapon to use.

“How is it weighted like that?” A pony from the crowd asks. I turn around to look for the voice but none of the ponies take responsibility. Some of them begin to part ways, revealing a cute sight to me. Standing there is a small little filly unicorn with a pale purple coat, yellow mane and tail, and yellow eyes. Even though she’s cute, and young, I can tell she’s much smarter than her age states. I sheathe my sword and slowly walk up to her before crouching. We look at each other for a few tense seconds and she shows no sign of cringing or fear but mostly curiosity.

I smirk, “That’s for me to know… and you to find out.” I say while gesturing from me to her.

“Hmph.” She shrugs, obviously a little miffed that I’m withholding information. I even hear the weapon vendor groan and thunk his head against one of the targets.

My smile turns neutral as I look around the small group around us. None of the other mares or stallions around us looks even remotely close to this little filly. Now a question remains, “Where’s your parents?”

“My dad’s off somewhere and my mom is-“

“DINKY! Where are you?!” A loud shout interrupts her.

“Delivering mail.” That voice… it sounded somewhat familiar. Dinky apparently cranes her neck to the side, “Over here mom! Just look for the tall, intimidating bipedal creature with a sword that can cut through a pony’s body with one cut!” she replies.

“Hey.” She smiles cutely back at me. I close my eyes and shake my head.

“Oh! There you are!”

That sounded really close.

My eyes open to be met with misaligned gamboges colored ones. “Hey Swift!”

“Aahhh!” I shriek and push back onto my back. I sit up and see a familiar wall-eyed pegasus hovering upside down in front of me. “Oh. Hey, Derpy. Scared me for a second there.” I say and slowly stand up.

She rights herself back up and lands on all four hooves, making her saddlebags jiggle a little. “I’m sorry.” She says and looks away sadly. I brush myself off and notice that the crowd is still here. I shoo them off.

“It’s fine. It’s gonna take a lot more than that to really hurt me.” I reply. She looks back to me with a smile. She turns her head to the side and her smile turns to anger.

“And you! Where’d you run off to?! I was worried sick!” she says in both worried and anger.

“I’m sorry mom. I saw the crowd of ponies gathering around Mr. Wind here so while you were delivering that letter, I got curious.” She says. She shyly scratches the ground with one of her hooves. Derpy continues to stare at her… daughter. Huh, I just barely realized that Derpy is a mother. Holy… I never pegged her as one.

She suddenly lunges forward and embraces the little filly in a hug. “Oohhhhh I can’t stay mad at my little muffin!” she squeals happily as the two rub their cheeks together with a smile. Now that is a cute sight right there. Mother and child getting along perfectly. It’s really nice and so cute at the same time. Then why the hell do I feel like crap?

A flowing breeze against my face makes it feel cold, colder than usual. I rub under my eye and realize I’m crying. Thing is I don’t feel bad enough to cry. So why am I? “Swift, are you okay?”

I look up and see the mother and daughter team separated and looking up at me. I rub my eyes a little more and look away. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Just got a… shred of the target I cut in my eye.” I make up. If I say I just spontaneously started crying will probably make her think I have some sort of repressed memories or feelings or something, which technically wouldn’t be wrong on account of my slight amnesia. Plus, I don’t like the idea of giving the media and press ammo against me.

Which reminds me…

I quickly grab one of my throwing knives and throw it at one of the nearby bushes. A loud audible crack can be heard just as the knife makes contact with its target. The bush ruffles a little bit before a black coated gray mane stallion slowly stand up over his hiding spot with a camera between his hooves, which crumbles into pieces. Shocked, scared, and freaked may all have closely similar definitions, but the expression on his face clearly says he was looking into the camera just as the knife came in contact. “Those negatives better be broken too.” I ask him. It takes him a few seconds to respond but he immediately scrambles his hooves against the broken remains of his camera before eating them. I give a nod of approval, then a nod to get the hell outta here.

He gallops off without a moment’s notice. I look back to my friends with a smile. “Let that be a lesson to the rest of you!” I yell loudly to no pony in particular. Silence follows, then several other paparazzi fly or gallop off less their cameras be my next victim. I really don’t like the idea of headlines screaming: “Swift Wind, brutal tactician from another world... Or soft hearted softy in reality?” Hell to the no. Looking back, Derpy and Dinky stare at me surprised with mouths hung open.

“So awesome.” Dinky says quietly. Derpy slowly extends her hoof out to give me something.

“Muffin?” … where’d she get that?

I stare for a bit, “Sure.” I happily agree and take the treat from her hoof. Ahhh, haven’t had dessert like this since… since I assumed my role. The aroma is slight but I’ve been eating military rations and Canterlot style meals, which sometimes tend to be waaaaaaaay too small for my taste, so this muffin from a friend is a welcome taste indeed. After taking a bite out of it, I decide to savor the taste. My decision is rewarded. “Mmmm… banana-nut?” I ask.

“*Gasp*!” Derpy gasps with a smile and nods her head rapidly in approval. Smiling at her cheerful demeanor is all I can do. She immediately pulls out another muffin and happily gobbles it up.

“Mom. Manners. You’re getting crumbs all over yourself.” Dinky says to her mother and proceeds to try and brush off said crumbs. Okay that is cute as hell, but funny at the same time. Dinky seems like the adult mother in this relationship, and Derpy is the young free spirited daughter.

“Hahaha.” I lightly chuckle at the display of Dinky trying to clean her mother of muffin crumbs while Derpy tries to move away from her swats.

“What’s so funny?!” Derpy suddenly says in my face, hovering eye level which makes me bend back a little.

“Oh! I.. uhh, I don’t… uhh…” I stammer. Being so close to those mismatched and different angled eyes may seem a little funny, but in hindsight it’s pretty freaky when you think about on just how she truly feels when looking. “Well, IIIII… was wondering what the two of you are doing here and not in… Ponyville?” I ask with a nervous smile.

“Oh! That’s easy.” She quickly agrees to change the subject and lands back on her hooves. “Some of the residents of Ponyville had some very special and important letters and mail they needed from here. So Derpy mail sprung into action as is here to make sure everything is going according to plan!” she happily shouts and salutes me. I guess without telephones, they have to rely on messengers for communications.

I finish up the muffin and ask, “You don’t make the deliveries? Just here to deliver invoices and confirmation orders?”

“Yes siree! I used to deliver much bigger objects like anvils, sofas and safes, but there were a few… incidents.” She nervously finishes saying and scratches the floor with a hoof. Incidents huh? Guess I should be glad I didn’t use her to deliver my rifles, or worse… my explosives. “So Derpy mail switched to just carrying and delivering non-heavy and easy to hold letters and documents.” She finishes up with a much more cheerful attitude.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Thank you. So what have you been doin’?” she asks me. I look around and see that the market is starting to fill back up with even more shoppers and customers.

“Let’s walk and talk.” I motion with my hand for the two to follow me. Derpy picks up her daughter and places her on her back, then proceeds to hover eye level with me so she doesn’t have to dodge other ponies as much. “What have I been doin’? Well, I originally started out as a nobody here in Equestria, then I became a simple protector of sorts for the little town you both have been living in longer than I have… right?” They nod yes, “Good. Then Discord escapes, I nearly die on several occasions, use the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone, and then embedded myself into Equestrian history forever.” I recap most of what I’ve done. Still feels weird knowing that on the windows that tell Equestria’s history, I’m there.

“Uhh, I think my mom meant a little more… recent changes.” The little filly said.

“Ohhhhh, okay then.” I act dumb and think. “Let’s see, after nearly getting my leg killed from that spell Twilight screwed up, then helping the Princess of the Night get better accustomed to her holiday and social life, I was then given the option to become the advisor to Equestria’s military hierarchy.”

“Hier-what?” Derpy tries to understand my vocabulary but fails.

“It means an organization or system where ponies or groups are ranked above one another based on status or authority.” Definitely smart for just a filly. I chuckle.

“Oh! That’s much better.”

“Anyways, one thing led to another, and after butting heads to prove my worth, I’m now basically considered the entire commander of the military.” I finish with a smile. Guardian is one title, Defeater of Discord is another, Last of my kind sort of implied here, and finally, commander of an entire army. I have the power to shape this as I please. The Princesses may be able to overlook any of my requisitions and orders but they aren’t exactly… military friendly. I come from a world of it so even though I have never been part of an official military branch, only by blood from what I can remember from my uncle, I’m still a good candidate.

“Considered… but not officially?” Dinky decides to point out. True, I’m not ‘technically’ commander yet. But no pony has yet to really point that out and call me on my bullshit.

“Yes,” I begin and turn my head to the side, seeing that we accidentally made our way to the castle. Right now we have a clear view of the courtyard, where a few of the off-duty guards are sparring, using the same fighting style they’ve been taught by me. “But no pony’s complaining.”

“That’s cool.” Derpy comments on the display.

“You’ve certainly come a long way. From a simple slightly more than average resident of Ponyville, to now… this.” Dinky gestures in front of us as one of the two sparring grabs the other in a arm-bar, where he holds one of his opponents front hoofs straight against his back and places his own against the back of his opponents neck, giving him two options: Break the arm, or break the neck.

“Yeah I have.” I mutter with a smile. I turns towards Derpy and her daughter, “Well, if there’s nothing else you need of me, I fear I must return to my quarters and go back to the grueling work of document signing.” I mutter with blank emotion. As much as I like the idea of all of this and I’m able to shape as I see fit, but the mountain of paperwork that goes along with it tends to be a bit of a pain in the ass. But hey, if the princess can do it for a thousand years, I can grow up and assume responsibility. Even if it does suck.

“That’s okay. We’re done for-“

“Mom, don’t you have another letter to deliver?” Dinky looks into her mother’s mismatched eyes upside down from atop her head. Derpy’s eyes widen and looks back to me.

“You’re right, Dinky! Here let me see if I can…” she trails off as she shoves her muzzle into one of her right saddlebag and fishes around for the next letter. Dinky looks into the other one.

Derpy shoots up with a look of worry on her face and gasps, “Oh no! I lost it! That was a very special letter that was supposed to be delivered to a very high ranking pony to the castle. What’ll happen to Derpy mail now?!” She starts to get a little hysterical as she grabs her head between her hooves. Then Dinky gently bonks her mother’s head, snapping her out of her hysteria and focusing on the letter in the little filly’s hooves. “Oh thank you muffin.” She immediately calms down and takes the letter in her hooves. Wow, she changes moods as fast as Pinkie Pie. Then again, Pinkie may practically break the fourth wall every now and then, but she’s got nothing on the wall-eyed pegasus in front of me. “I brought you a letter.”

I look at her, then to the letter she holds out for me to take. I slowly take the letter from her and look at it. It’s addressed to me personally and it’s from Ponyville. Huh, I guess they do miss me. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Swift. Or is it Mr. Wind? Or is Commander Swift Wind? Or-“ I place my hand on her muzzle.

“Just Swift is okay.”

I slowly let her muzzle go, “Okay Swift. Well, I better get back to Ponyville before another letter becomes late.” We hoof/fist bump and she takes flight. “Hold on tight, Dinky.”

“I will mom.” The little filly wraps her forehooves firmly around her mother’s neck, not enough to cut off air or hurt but so she can get a grip. She turns back to look at me, “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Wind.” She waves to me.

“It was a pleasure to meet you as well my little pony. And remember, you can call me Swift!” I shout as they fly off. I smile.

Well, this has been a fun experience for today. I look down at the letter in my hand. Let’s see who misses me. Before I can rip it open, I feel something on my shoulder.

Looking to my right shoulder, it’s no surprise that the one thing I feel on my shoulder is as familiar as the falcon claws I’ve come to know. “Hello Ferus.”

My trusty partner/pet nods back to me. I smile and look back at the letter as I begin walking up the stairs to the castle. The address is from Ponyville that’s for sure but what really interests me is the symbol that is used as a seal on the back to keep the letter closed.

It’s Twilight’s cutie mark.

Ferus notices as well. “I know. Let’s see what’s been going on.” I flick the seal open, “Ow!” Unfortunately, I got a paper cut. Looking at my passenger, she has an amusing smile on her face. “Shut up.”

I fish out the letter and open it up:

Dear Swift Wind,

It’s been a little over two weeks since you left. When that… high ranking pony guard just took you like that, I started to get a little nervous as to what might happen to you. After that same day you left, I started going over every single possible scenario I can muster that would happen, and how I could intervene without damaging your standpoint with the princesses and all.

“Wow, thanks Twilight.”

But soon after, an Equestrian military train stopped in town and offloaded a ton of building materials and food along with a dozen royal guards, 6 from the Celestial division and 6 from the Luna division.

The military isn’t made up of only the royal guard commonly seen wearing the silver and gold armor. Those pony’s are from the Celestial division, meaning they primarily take orders from Princess Celestia and work in the day, while the Luna division is the exact opposite, dark colored vamp-like pony’s with purple and black armor that work best in the night while primarily taking orders from Princess Luna. But I digress, back to the letter.

They arrived in the morning and immediately started to get to work. Along with the help of some of the residents in town, the new Ponyville Military barracks was built close to your home. I assume you had something to do with our new residents?

“Hehe.” I chuckle and move past some guards.

Anyways, I and the others really miss you and hope you could come back and visit, but I pointed out that if you have the pull to relocate a dozen guards from Canterlot to here, then you’ll probably be too busy with paperwork and schedules to come visit. If Derpy was able to get this letter to you, and she didn’t knock over a massive pile of paperwork for you, I hope this doesn’t interrupt you from anything important. It’s getting late as I’m writing this so… I’ll see you… whenever you have a leave of absence from your duties.

I hope you manage to write back.

Yours truly to never forget,

Twilight Sparkle

I look up from the letter and see the doors to my room in front of me. I sigh and push in. Ferus takes flight and lands on her rest near the window. I fold up the letter and place it back in the envelope and let it rest at the corner of my desk.

She really misses me. They all do. I sigh again and let my head slam onto the table. I’ve been so caught up in all my work here that I almost completely neglected my friends back in Ponyville.

I guess that’s what military life does to you. I pick my head back up and look in the drawer to my left. I pull out a new sheet of parchment and uncork an ink well. I grab Philomena’s feather and dip it into the ink. Celestia told me that like pegasus feathers, Philomena’s feathers are near immortal, long life spans, impervious to all forms of damage especially the weather, and they never lose their sheen of beauty. Seemed like the perfect writing utensil to me.

Dear Twilight-

“GET BACK HERE YOU!” The loud yelling from the hallway outside my door interrupts me, making me leave a massive scratch along the paper. I look outside and spot a giggling Princess of the Night gallop by my door.

“What the-“

“Where is she?!”

“HOLY-“ I fall off my seat at the pony that bursts into view of my doorway. At the size, Celestia. From the voice, even though it’s laced with venom, Celestia. The rest…

“Where is my sister?!” she hisses at me.

I stare at her, no words bother leaving my mouth at the image in front of me. “Uhhh…”

“Where?!!” she yells in my face as she teleports.

“Uhhhhhh… in Ponyville.” I chuckle. She narrows her eyes and my laugh falls dead as I feel the cold hard texture of my katana against my neck. “Okay okay okay! She continued down the hall!” I frantically yell and point out the door. She continues to stare at me before dropping my sword in my lap.

“Fine.” She huffs and begins walking to the door.

“Haaaa.” I let out a breath of air.

Then the steel comes back.

“Not… a word of this… to anypony.” She presses the blade harder, “You hear me?”

I gulp loudly, “Yes yes! I hear you! I hear you!” She pulls the blade back and continues to stand at the doorway. She turns to Ferus who looks like she’s trying to contain her laughter.

Then the steel on her neck.

“You too… or I’ll be having you for dinner tomorrow.” She nods her head vigorously in agreement with me. Celestia leaves the sword laying against the wall and gallops off towards Luna.

I’m still sitting on the ground, my heart racing a thousand miles an hour. The same can be said about Ferus. I am trying desperately to keep myself from laughing but I’m too terrified at the same time.

Sense comes back into my mind. I frantically rub the area where a sword I sharpen everyday and keep well-maintained was pushed against me. I breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t feel the familiar trickle of blood on my skin. I slowly get up and sit back at my desk. I crumple up the screwed letter on the table and toss it in the trash.

Two points.

I get started on the letter to Twilight and the others.

But one thing is still floating around my mind, constantly pegging at my inner thoughts for me to try and answer:

When did Pinkie Pie get a twin?

-------------------------------

Probably thought I was dead right? Well I ain’t. I’ve just been preoccupied with college; you know the usual new equations, tests, essays, schedules and such. But I blame most of my time away from my computer with a different form of technology, Aka my Xbox, more specifically, Grand Theft Auto 5.

One of the best things I’ve ever played. Broke records, broke minds, an awesome piece of gaming ingenuity that came out of Rockstar. Any who love games and love this website, join the Fimfiction crew and together we’ll dominate the plane of San Andreas.

Anyways, very very very sorry I took so long in making this. Now take heart… the next few chapters will probably be a turning point I’ve been looking for.

Now, rate and comment so I know you all still love me and won’t shun me because I decided to be lazy.

A Champion Rises

View Online

It’s quiet.

Usually, Swift is practicing some sword techniques on some old mannequins, or demonstrating and evaluating some new equipment he found in or near the Everfree Forest. The newly placed guards in Ponyville only spar within their barracks and only then do they make a whole lot of noise. The town used to be vibrant with ponies and an occasional griffon very interested in seeing the town’s defender, but ever since word has spread that the town’s defender is now the commander of the Equestrian military, Canterlot has become the most popular city once again.

Most of Swift’s friends in and around Ponyville have gone about their daily lives as usual, but it’d be lying if anyone said they were alright. Even though he is just a few hours ride away from Ponyville, the Elements of Harmony are still saddened that he isn’t there as often.

It seems that out of all the residents in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle has been the most affected by this turn of events. The Elements of Harmony and Swift Wind are still really close friends, but Twilight and Swift are even closer. It’s no lie that these two have been through thick and thin since the beginning on that fateful day.

With Swift taking on a small pack of Timberwolves that were about to tear Twilight and Spike to pieces, Swift’s thin hair of a demise at the power of Twilight’s teacher, nearly becoming permanent arts of decoration that would make Discord smile from the Cockatrice, to the defeat of an almighty god that could somewhat compare to that of the world that Swift was from.

However, through all the obstacles that was thrown at the two…

Little did they know that today was about to become a big day for the nation of Equestria, and to Swift as well…

<<<>>>

“Thank you, Swift.” Twilight Sparkle says to herself as she slowly walks through town while holding a letter in her magic field. Her new commander friend was more than willing to take time out of his new schedule to reply to the worried unicorn about his situation. All seems well and he is making a real change to things there. Even though he isn’t here to laugh and hang out with her and all their friends, Twilight can’t help but smile at the success her friend is doing. “I’m glad to see things are doing well for you.” She continues to talk to herself. She places the letter back into her saddlebags and begins to walk over a bridge. “I should probably do something nice for him. No doubt Pinkie Pie is probably getting ready to throw him a ‘Congratulations on being the commander of Equestria’ or something party.”

She looks up from the base of the bridge at the former defender of Ponyville’s home. “I should probably keep your house clean and make sure nothing bad happens to all your stuff.” She teleports to the front door and lays a hoof on it. “Celestia knows you can’t buy this stuff at a flea market.” She chuckles to herself as she pushes the door open.

“Did somepony say my name?”

“AHHH!” At the sudden foreign voice, Twilight shrieks and jumps under a nearby coffee table. Poking her head out, her eyes widen to see who it is laying on the couch. “P-Princess Celestia!? Wh-what are you doing here?” the shocked mare quickly asks her mentor as she steps out from under the furniture.

“Ohhh I’ve come to see exactly how Swift has been living in Ponyville.” She answers and examines the M4 Carbine in her magic grip, “From what I’ve seen here so far, he was doing well even before he assumed his new role.”

That’s from Swift’s armory. “Yes well… after all the help he did for us, this house was a gift for him from us.”

“He has been a tremendous help to I and my sister as well. Especially with…” Celestia trails off from her words as she remembers her sister’s prank. She visibly shudders at how many baths and hair dyes she had to go through in order to wash off all that… pink.

“Princess? Are you alright?” Twilight asks her mentor.

“I’m fine, Twilight. Just… remembering something.” Even though Twilight respects the sun princess unconditionally, she probably wouldn’t let her live it down, especially if Pinkie Pie heard.

Twilight nods at her teacher’s assurance. She shakes her head of the thought and resumes to the matter at hoof. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Two things: One, I wanted to check out Swift’s home and see how the guards he commissioned to come here were doing; secondly…” she stops and places the rifle down. Her face takes a deep stern look as she stands up on all four hooves. “Something very important has come up… and he is in the middle of it.”

Twilight doesn’t need to be the genius she is in order to know who he is. “He is?! Oh! What’s wrong?! What happened? Is he alright? What can I-“ before Twilight can continue her hysterical ranting, she’s silenced by the raised hoof of her teacher.

“In time, you must come to Canterlot, and so shall your friends.” Celestia calmly tells her student.

“My friends? What’s going on?” Twilight tries to ask her teacher for more information.

“Something is about to happen soon,” Celestia’s stern face turns to a smile, “And I think it would be best for Swift’s closest friends to be there for him when he needs it.”

“He needs it? Princess, please, what’s going on?” Twilight continues to try and get info out of her teacher.

Celestia shakes her head, “I am sorry my pupil, but I can’t stay much longer. I must return to my duties.” Her horn immediately begins to glow.

“Wait!” Twilight is too late as her teacher disappears in a bright flash of light before her. She blinks a few times as her brain tries to register any of the information she was just given, granted it was only just a couple bits of info, not enough to truly make something for the headstrong pony. He’s in the middle of it? What’s happened, or what will happen, and why didn’t she give me a straight answer? Thoughts run through Twilight’s brain as she imagines different types of reasons as for the mysteriousness of her teacher and situations for her dear friend.

She walks over to the mantle fireplace and looks at the only picture on there: A picture of Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy together around Swift, who is standing up in the middle of them all with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.

“Please be safe. You promised.”

<<<>>>

“Ow! Watch it.”

“Quit squirming.”

“Hold still so it’ll fit.”

“It’s too small! Arg!”

“Then we’ll make it fit.”

“Ah, fuck! Just stop it.”

“Alright, fine.”

This is a hell of a way to start the morning. Hanging out in the armory with the bat-pony known as Twinkle Drop of the Lunar Division as she tries to force a helmet on my head. She is what was stated, a bat-pony, wings that have the appearance of the bat, colored with a deep shade of violet. Her coat grey while her mane and tail are deep purple to compliment her wings. Being mainly the creature of the night and all, her eyes are the yellow cat-like slits. She finally stopped trying to force the matter, allowing me to grab the helmet on both sides and yank it off me. “Ow.” I rub the sore spots on the sides of my head and sore ears.

“Quit whining.” She huffs.

I give her an annoyed look, “Whining? You nearly ripped my ears!”

“Well I’m sorry if a standard Royal guard helmet is too small for you.” She mocks me. It’s funny because she’s not that far up in the ranking system and doesn’t drop down to bow to me or salute me at every turn. “Maybe you should have been born with those ears on top instead of on the side.”

“I can’t change genetic layouts. God knows my species has tried.” I lay back against a crate of crossbows. She chuckles and tosses the helmet onto a rack of others just like it. She had bet me that she could get a helmet of the royal guard onto my head no problem. The dimensions of the helmet would have allowed it to fit… except my ears were sort of in the way of that.

“Alright, so I don’t get blamed for deafening the advisor to the military, I submit. You won.” She nonchalantly announces her failure of the bet with a hint of annoyance behind it as well.

“Thank you.” I sigh.

“What was that? A hundred bits?” she begins fishing at the pockets inside her armor to grab the correct change.

I wave her off, “Nah. Forget it. I’m not really lacking in the currency department at the moment.”

“Aw come on. I’m a mare of my word.” She pushes and pulls out the correct amount of change. I sigh and take the Equestrian money and put it in my pockets, followed by a lengthy yawn. “You alright?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Just not used to getting up this early.” I reply and look at my watch, seeing the indication of half an hour till 7 in the morning.

“Speak for yourself. I’m not used to staying up this late.” She counters. For being a soldier in the Lunar Division, the night is sort of her regiment’s domain. It stands to reason that while I’m sleepy as fuck for waking up too early, she’s sleepy as fuck for not going to sleep yet. We sit here in the armory doing nothing, just staring at each other as I occasionally shift my katana on my back to different positions and we take in the differences between our species.

“Why am I here again?” I bluntly ask.

“I was told to keep you busy in a secluded place until 7.”

“And you’re not going to tell me why?”

“Yep.”

“I could have you discharged from duty.”

“No you can’t.”

“Damn.” The one soldier that fully realizes my spot. I could have a soldier discharged if I want but I need to have a reason as to why, and set it as a vote to the ranking commanders of the military.

Well, if we’re going to be here for another half hour, might as well learn something new. “How are you that kind of pony?”

“What do you mean? Bat wings, vampire fangs, insatiable lust for blood, glowing yellow eyes, and the fog shaping power?” she gestures to all her features, even licking her lips and teeth at the mention of her fangs and blood, making me cringe a little.

“Yeah.” I wearily ask her.

“Weeeell… I suppose it would be alright.” She gets into a more comfortable position, “When Luna was first starting out to be Princess of the Night, it became a little troublesome with the different hours of the night and day and everypony changing their sleep schedule. Soon after though, a vampony revealed himself to the Princess and swore allegiance to her. Because of his… impressive fighting skills, leadership abilities, and the fact that he’s a vampony… you know a-“

“A creature that primarily resides in the night and if exposed to sunlight, it’s flesh will burn. Not to mention it feeds off of blood… right?” I try to remember my vampire attributes from my world.

“That’s… exactly right. You have vamponies back in your world?” Twinkle asks me.

“Not vamponies per say. Vampires. And we don’t have them in reality, only in myths.” I reply. From the look on her face, she probably has a few more questions for me. “You were saying?”

“Oh, right! Yeah, because of him being of the night and all, it was no surprise that Princess Luna made him head of the Dusk Watch. It’s what they called the Lunar Division back then. Some still call it that but still.” She takes a moment to catch her breath. “After awhile everything was going perfectly well for the Dusk Watch. But soon it became apparent that the vampony’s need for blood and weakness to the sun was going to be a problem. Princess Celestia and Luna began working on a solution for this problem. Luckily, the solution came in a form that seemed the most fun to all.” She finishes with a smile.

“What happened?” I ask, my curiosity peaked at this new level of info.

She leans in close to me, “A hot steamy night of fun between the vampony and a female pegasus guard.”

“…” Huh, wasn’t expecting that kind of answer. Then again, love can do a hell of a lot of things. I stare for a bit on that answer, “Soooo… half… vampony… hybrids of sorts?” I give my best guess on the matter.

“Yep. After the news of their… actions that night, the doctors did some tests on the foal and very unique traits associated with it.”

“Which are?”

“Increased strength, agility, minor healing abilities that mostly associate with most small stab wounds and cuts,” suddenly she disappears into a plume of smoke.

“What the?”

“The ability to turn into fog.” A cloud of purple mist with glowing yellows eyes says right next to me. It, or she, almost makes me fall to the ground; instead I just jump a little. She moves back and Twinkle appears right where she was before. Now that’s pretty badass.

“Anything to add?” I lean back a bit more.

“Let’s see.” She thinks, “Seeing in the dark, tripled life-span of the average pony, no longer being burned alive in the sun, and not requiring to have blood all the time.” She looks away annoyed, “However what does suck is that we lose most of those powers in the sunlight. We still look like half-vamponies, but all those awesome abilities I said go right out the window.”

“That sucks.” I say bluntly.

“Yeah, so we tend to prefer the night in consolation.”

Sun or not, a hell of a lot of superpony traits for a night of love between two species of ponies. “Dang, and all that from…” I trail off, hoping she gets the gist of what I say.

She does, “I know, it’s weird right? The doctors and scientists mentioned some type mutation or something between the two of them and that foal. I never really got into the whole technical sciency stuff behind it all, just the results of it.” She finishes up her tale.

It’s kinda romantic if you think about it. Two lovers bear the fruit of their labor that spans forth a new breed of ponies that changed the face of the Royal Night guards.

Still, another question bugs me. “So other vamponies began to join the guard or was it that one that started it all have a lot of… downtime, and a lot of kids.” I ask. The former would still be a little crappy due to the fact that the originals would still require blood and not bursting into flames from the sun. The latter would be fun but could be… sore, and have a bit of a headache attached to it.

“The second one.” Headache it is.

*Long whistle* “Damn! Ha ha… wait, so the Lunar Division is composed of-“

“That’s right!” she interrupts me with a jump and a triumphant hoof raised. “The entire Lunar Division is made entirely out of my brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins.” She states.

Fuck… me. An entire division of guards focused to the night made out entirely of family and blood relatives… hell.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

“No doubt the bond of a family can do wonders in the middle of combat.”

“It has in the past,” she says with a smile, “And it will in the future.”

*Knock* *Knock*

A couple knocks tears us away from our conversation. We immediately turn towards the door to see it open and reveal a pegasus soldier from the Celestial Division. His mane and tail are a bright golden hue while his coat is as white as Rarity's and oddly enough over half the Royal guards in Canterlot. “Sir, it’s time to go.”

“Really?” I ask. I look at my watch to reveal it’s just five minutes till 7. “I guess it is.” I stand up.

“Hey, Sunny.” Twinkle says to Sunny apparently. “Long time no see.” She says to him in a casual tone.

“H-Hey, Twinkle. They d-didn’t mention you were guarding him?” Sunny stutters a bit to the opposite guard of him. Weird, he seemed fine to me but as soon as he saw Twinkle… She flashes a smile and saunters up to him.

“I don’t think they cared as long as somepony made sure he stayed here.” She says and playfully punches him in the shoulder. He doesn’t seem fazed but he rubs the spot she punched and smiles.

Okaaay… weird. “Uhhh… some introductions would be nice.” I interrupt.

Sunny perks up and walks up to me, “Right, sorry sir.” He holds his hoof out to me. “Sunny, Sunny Sentinel of the Celestial Division.”

I grab his hoof with my right hand and shake it firmly, “Swift Wind, defeater of Discord, guardian of Ponyville and advising commander of the Equestrian military.” We finish up our introductions.

“That’s great and all ladies,” I give her an annoyed look. Her only reply is a chuckle, “But I think we have something important to get to.” Twinkle finishes interrupting us.

“Crap, your right. Whatever it is that’s important, I don’t think it would be appropriate if I were to be late.” I comment. Sunny agrees with me.

“Well, come on then!” she shouts and gallops off right past us.

I start running towards the door, “Wait.” I stop just at the door and look back to Sunny. He slowly walks up to me and slowly closes the door till just a crack was left open. “Twinkle Drop, what do you think of her?”

His question catches me completely off guard. Nevertheless, I shake my head a bit and answer, “Twinkle? Well I haven’t seen her in action or anything yet but from this brief encounter… she’s pretty cool. Not like your typical guard whatsoever.”

“And the fact that she’s a half-vamp pony?”

“That… is pretty awesome. Everyone in the military back in my world was all nearly equal in almost every aspect. The fact that she’s… well… that, definitely makes her a hell of an asset.”

“So you were completely alright being so close to a pony like her?” he continues to press his questions.

I nod, “Not… completely. It was a little awkward being the only one in a room with an ‘optional’ blood sucking vampony right next to me.” I voice my version of the displeasure and emphasize the optional part. I know she’s still a pony and all, but the concept of blood sucking still doesn’t sit right with me… but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be a complete dumbass and turn down a friend. Especially one like her. He looks away but I continue, “But all in all, she seemed pretty good as a friend.”

“Oh,” he says a little surprised. “Thank you sir. That’s nice to hear.” He says. He didn’t say it to my face but it sounded like he mumbled ‘unlike me’. He walks past me.

“Hold it.” I stop him with a hand to his shoulder. He cranes his next to look up at me. “What’s your standpoint with her?”

“Well… we’ve been friends for six years now and I was just… curious to see what you thought of her.” Huh, a good friend eh? Different than the others and a friend willing to stick up for them… like me and Twilight.

“Well no need to worry about anything bad happening between us. As long as she doesn’t suck me dry, we’re cool.” I say with a smile. He returns the smile.

“Don’t worry, she won’t.” He says while looking forward. However the way he said it hinted at something underneath.

“Wait, what do you-“ Just as he goes out the door, I catch a glimpse of something on his neck. Now I’ve taken my share of injuries obviously, and that looked like a scar to me. “What the?”

“Hey!!”

“Ahhh!!” I yelp loudly and accidentally trip out the door. I roll onto my back and look up to see Sunny staring down at me. I give a weak smile and see who it is that nearly gave me a heart attack. As if I didn’t know, the purple mist with yellow eyes being a dead giveaway.

Twinkle Drop forms back into her old self and walks up to me. “What are you still doing here?! You’re gonna be late!” she shouts at me.

“Wha-“ I look at my watch to see it reads a couple minutes till 7. “Crap!” I roll back on my hands and jump onto my feet. “Let’s bolt.” She nods and all three of us take off. I move swiftly between different ponies trotting about while Sunny and Twinkle fly alongside me.

Before we know it, the doors to the royal throne room where we were properly congratulated on defeating Discord are in front of me.

As soon as my watch hits 7, I take a deep breath and firmly place them on the doors. Wonder what the princess has… Holy…

Once the doors are open, in front of me stands Princess Celestia and Princess Luna at the end of the carpet. My six friends, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack to Celestia’s right and Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy to Luna’s left, stand by the princesses with Spike holding something long and wrapped up behind them all. Many different ponies, ranging from those of the town I’ve been living in for over half a year now, to the various Canterlot elites.

Along the bright red carpet in front of me stands two long lines of Canterlot soldiers all holding spears that are leaned forward to cross with the soldiers opposite of them. On the left along Celestia is made up of soldiers from the Celestial Division, and the right along Luna are filled with her Lunar division.

“Swift Wind… please step forward.”

Celestia’s voice knocks me out of my bewilderment of the state of the room. Taking one step at a time, I slowly walk forward. With each step I take my heart feels like it’s going to bust out of my chest like a chest buster from Aliens with how tense I feel. With each set of soldiers I pass, they lift their spears to allow me to pass through.

My closest friends have happy smiles on all their faces as I continue to walk forward. Before I know it, I am now standing in front of one of the most powerful sentient creatures I have ever encountered, not here in Equestria, but my entire life. Probably all life.

“Swift Wind of Earth and Ponyville, are you willing to lay down your life for the friends you have made during your time here?”

All doubt, all uncertainty and discomfort I had up to this point… gone.

“I am.”

“For the citizens you have lived close to?”

“I am.”

“Against any and all individuals that wish upon harm towards I, my sister, the Elements of Harmony, and every pony from here to Tartarus itself?”

I clench my fist in determination. Slowly, I reach behind my back and make it so it is heard of the sound of my katana being revealed. I kneel down on one knee along with my swords tip on the ground.

An oath is what’s needed at this moment. Sure I agreed to the terms they mentioned right now… but I needed something a little more of a… personal connection for this to be right by me.

“In Darkest of Day’s, In Brightest of Nights.”

Good start…

“By Luna’s Grace, and Celestia’s might.”

Keep at it…

“Let no evil go unpunished.”

Nice…

“May my blade strike true, strike hard. Let no evil escape Swift Winds’s grasp.” It needed something else. Something to tie it together from what I just said. Quickly though, don’t wanna look like a dumbass just kneeling here. “Through honor and duty, Until my Princesses release me, or Death itself take me, will I remain.”

I need not to look up to know that Celestia is smiling at my oath right now. She takes my sword from my hands. Speaking in a voice reserved for those of knighthood in old times, she speaks: “We name thee Champion Swift Wind of Earth. May thee be blessed with Wisdom, strength, and victory forever more.” She motioned the sword onto each of my shoulders as she spoke.

Slowly the handle comes into view. I take it in one hand and stand. My friends are happy, the princesses are proud, and a crowning achievement has been placed on my shoulders today.

Celestia motions Spike forward from behind them all. He slowly walks forward, still clutching the clothed item in his claws. He kneels and presents the item to me in his outstretched claws. I sheathe my sword and proceed to kneel down where I gently take the item from his claws before standing.

“May this be a gift and symbol of your new position… Champion.” Luna humbly says with a smile.

I unwrap the gift from my friends. My eyes widen at the new katana sword lying on both my hands. The sheath is onyx black, the handle is made of some of the softest but toughest material I have ever felt. Underneath 6 gems and crystals line the handle, three on each side. The safeguard looks to be made of gold and the blade-

“Nn!” I’m slightly blinded as Celestia’s sun deflects from the blade at my eyes. Once I regain my focus, the blade, curved like the katana I have been using for so long, but made of the toughest steel, free of impurities but lined with pure silver. I examine the blade from all angles, trying to spot any nicks, tears or concaves I might find.

There is none.

“H-How?” I ask with astonishment lining every section of my voice. Never once had I revealed the secret as to the development of this type of weaponry, nor is it easy to make. Celestia points behind me with her hoof. I turn back to the crowd. That same merchant I met during my last visit to the market stands out in front of the audience. “You?”

“You did say I had to figure it out on my own.” He says with a smile, “15 failures later... She is born.” He motions to the weapon in my hand. I slowly turn back to the others while staring at the weapon with my mouth agape.

“But… the metal? And material?” She points in the opposite direction of me. On the other row, Steel Verrier smiles broadly.

“These bones may be old… but they still got a few good years left in them.” I turn back to the princesses.

Sheathing the sword, I look towards the sun princess. “Thank you. I accept this with my humblest of gratitude.” I bow to her. She copies the action back to me.

A smile is on both of our faces, a moment that neither of us should ever be ashamed of.

“Citizens of Equestria!” Princess Celestia shouts in the Royal Canterlot voice. Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard her use that. “We present to you… Equestria’s New Champion!”

The entire room erupts into cheers as ponies clap their hooves together and stomp on the ground, coupled with the flashing lights of various photographers. I’ve never been one to actually like the photographers, but I’m just too damn happy right now to get mad.

My mind is somewhat blanked out at this moment. Next to the princesses, I’m now one of the most powerful and most influential soldiers ever to be graced in Equestria. My friends are cheering me on as well as the crowd in front of me going absolutely nuts, and the princesses having the proudest smiles I can tell on their faces. This is definitely something to be proud of. I smile a toothy grin.

“Meet me in my chambers after all this settles down.” Celestia whispers in my left ear. I nod my head back so she knows I understand. Huh, wonder what she needs?

I shake my head a bit and bask in the glow of my new achievement.

And with that achievement comes something else. My smile turns neutral. She wouldn’t have made me Equestria’s champion unless for a reason. Everything was going swimmingly while I was just an advisor… nooo. Something big is happening.

I wouldn’t be alive right now if I hadn’t listened to my sixth sense of sorts. For now, let’s just enjoy it…

<<<>>>

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Come in.”

“You wanted to see me Princess?”

“Yes I did, Swift.” The human walks in fully and closes the door and locks it. It’s night, just like the first time they met when he got to Canterlot, they take their spots at the fireplace once more.

“This isn’t gonna be one of those things where the princess falls for the gallant knight right?”

She looks at him quizzically, “Falling?”

“Nevermind.” That usually happens in some movies and novels regarding knights and kings and princesses… and queens. Swift thinks while looking away.

“Be that as it may,” she turns back to the fireplace. “There is something you should know.”

*Sigh* “This place feels like it’s going to be a bad habit of breaking important news with me involved.” He grunts.

She chuckles, “Maybe… however you don’t know what exactly it is I called you here for? For all intents and purposes, I could have just asked you here for a friendly little chat under the ruse of important news.” She coyly states with a smile.

He turns to her with a look of seriousness, “When is anything… little with you?”

She stares at him for a few seconds, “Good point. Something important has come up.” They both turn their attention back to the roaring fireplace.

“What is it?”

“You remember that threat we received so long ago?”

“How can I forget? It’s the reason why I’ve introduced your soldiers with new technology and weapons.” He looks at her, “Why? Has there been a breakthrough?!” he quickly asks with hope lining his voice.

She slowly shakes her head, “I’m afraid not. Any and all leads we had thought were there have all been exhausted without a single clue as to who or what this threat is.”

*Smack* “Damnit.” Swift angrily curses with venom in his voice after he punches the mantle of the fireplace.

“Please.”

“Sorry.” He apologizes and retracts his hand, cringing a little as he sees the slight knuckle impression on the mantle.

“It is quite alright. I can understand your frustration on the matter. However I did recently come up with an idea.” He looks at her, obviously intrigued at the idea.

“You did? What is it?” Swift asks.

“I was thinking… if there are no viable threats to Equestria within Equestria itself… then maybe we need to go outside of here.”

Now that… caught my attention. He thinks and looks at her, “Outside?”

“Yes. There are various kingdoms, empires, tribes, clans, herds and countries around Equestria. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, the threat might have come from one of those places.” She casually explains.

Swift tenses up, “D-Do you mean a-“

“Not a war, hopefully. I was thinking more along the lines of some form of splinter or anti-pony group hidden under the leaders noses. After all, not many of the other species regard my citizens with as much… friendship as I’d like. Continuously calling us weak, pathetic and not worthy to live more often than not.”

“Ouch.”

“Yes, but it seems you are starting to prove them wrong in that department are you not?” she asks him with a smile. He nods yes. The royal guard, or the police force of sorts in Canterlot, along with the military divisions of Lunar and Celestial have become much better at fighting than most would expect. If they were to go to war, it would be pretty obvious that nopony would expect the introduction of new blackpowder weapons and explosives, plus their new fighting styles. They would be a force to be reckoned with. “I’m glad to hear that. What do you think?”

He calms down a bit at the thought. A full blown war is something that he clearly doesn’t wanna get in the middle of right now, but a renegade faction wouldn’t be as bad. Also, Equestria would probably get points with the other provinces on how good they are at weeding out those who threaten them. “That does sound a little logical. It’d be stupid to threaten an entire country within the country itself. But outside…?”

“Exactly.” Sounds like the two are in agreement on what exactly their course of action should be at this point. However, one other favor still remains for sun princess. “So you’ll do it?”

He raises his eyebrow in question, “… do what?”

“Be Equestria’s ambassador and find out who it is that threatened my - our - country?”

… Wow. Out of the blue why don’t you. Usually, when suddenly promoted like this, the one promoted tends to think: So the only reason as to why I’m given this great position is so I can become the most powerful… ambassador? “So basically… the only reason why you gave me this position is so I can travel to the surrounding countries and calmly ask them if they have any secret groups or organizations that hate pony guts with a passion that are willing to threaten you?”

“No, no no no nooo!” she immediately tries to push any negative thoughts from her Champion’s mind. “Out of everypony I have met in my time of being a princess for the thousands of years I have reined, you have been by far the greatest, most powerful, most compassionate, morally guided, and tactical creature I have ever met.” She looks at him closely, “You laughed in the face of danger more than once, you’ve suffered abuse beyond most… you tried to take on Discord just by yourself and defeated him in the end. This position isn’t given lightly.” She turns back to the fire, “I knew you were worthy of the title Champion for some time now, but I just needed one more thing to tip the scale in your favor.”

“The exhausted leads in Equestria…”

“Sparked the fact that those threats didn’t come from within, but outside. We needed somepony to go out with Equestria’s best interest at heart and do what they can to reveal the source of them. A pony would be obvious, but a human…?” she motions to me. “True, most of my kind wouldn’t exactly revere the ponies as a fighting force. Swift’s presence wouldn’t have as much attention on the matter. So with much hidden planning and resources, plus doing what we can to make sure you didn’t find out, we were finally able to finalize your coronation as Champion.” She finishes with a smile.

Damn, I didn’t really think about it like that. Even though I may not be of pony nature, she’s willing to place such a massive burden and honor upon my shoulders. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. The backlash of me failing as the advisor to Equestria’s military would have been bad. I guess now she’s willing to step it up a notch. Throughout all the torment, abuse, sacrifice and betrayal the human child has suffered through, here and back on earth, he has truly made him into a force to be reckoned with by all.

“You truly believe that don’t you?” he asks her quietly.

She nods, “I rarely make mistakes, Swift Wind.” She turns to him, “I am sure this isn’t one of them.” Her horn glows with her magic aura. She levitates a scroll sealed with her cutie mark symbol over to the Champion. She holds it in front of him. “I ask again, will you become Equestria’s ambassador, to travel as it’s voice and hoof to the different planes of civilizations around it, and ensure the protection of our country?” she asks with sincerity in her voice.

After everything that’s happened, it shouldn’t be a surprise as to what his next words are.

“What are my orders?” Celestia smiles and pushes the scroll slightly toward him. He takes it.

“But before you open it,” she halts him and her horn glows. “I feel I should give you your advanced paycheck to help prepare.”

“Oh princess, you don’t need-“

*Bam!*

… I swear I think I heard the floor crack.

<<<>>>

“Commander on deck!” Immediately every single military standing soldier and royal guard in the mess hall jumps to their hooves and salute me.

“At ease, everypony.” I calmly reply. They all go back to what they were doing as I scan the room. All these soldiers, all of them now under my full command. Man, I feel like the goddamn commander-in-chief of the USA.

“SWWIIIIFFFTTTT!!” Suddenly the most notable trait of this entire room comes in the form yet again as a bouncing pink ball of insurmountable fun I can never comprehend on the other side of the room. “OVER HEEEERRRRREEEE!!”

“Pinkie darling, calm down! No need to make everypony in the room deaf.” Rarity tries to calm down the energetic pony. I wave back to them and casually walk over to them. I have both of my swords crossing on my back with my hands behind me as well. Twilight, the rest of Element bearers, Spike, and Steel Verrier are at a table and conversing together. I smile at all their happy faces right now, because later on when we get home I’m pretty sure they’ll be saddened at the news that I’ll be leaving and not easily visited.

“Hello everypony.” I casually greet them.

“Hey Swift.” They reply.

“So Mr. Champion,” Rainbow starts, “What are your plans now? Exclusive lavish parties to celebrate the new perks? Oohh! Can you get me tickets to see the Wonderbolts in Manehattan next month?!” she hovers in front of my face really close at the last part. I chuckle in response.

“Get over here, pardner.” Applejack pulls her pegasus friend back down to her level with a bite and pull of her tail. “Stop smotherin’ him. He needs time to settle and relax… and maybe recommend the apple family business to someponies?” Just as soon as the farm pony pulls the excited pegasus from me, she gets excited.

“We’ll see girls.” I nonchalantly say as I sit down.

“Well, sir… I assume you’ll be needing a new wardrobe to truly signify your new position and authority?” Rarity says. She even hints to herself with a few twitches of her eyebrows. Wardrobe… yeah. Yeah, I’ll need something.

“And you’ll probably be sent to take on and defend hundreds of other pony folk who need help and defeat monsters who need to be defeated because they are big fat meanies who don’t know how to have fun and- Mmm mmf mamf!” Before I can get to it, Twilight pipes up the frantic earth pony with a magical zipper.

“What she means is you’ll probably be very busy, correct?” Steel Verrier asks. They all turn to me.

I sigh, “You don’t know the half of it. I’ve already got a new assignment that will require me to be precise and extremely careful.” I don’t reveal my true plan just yet. I don’t want them to make a fuss or a scene about it here, nor do I want Twilight to go to Celestia directly about it. She tends to be a bit protective.

“Oh my…”

“Sound like you’ll have your work cut out for you huh?” Twilight asks me. I nod as the pink pony struggles to pull the zipper on her mouth open.

“Eeyup. Until then I have to prepare.” I pull out both my swords and gently place them on the table. “You do good work, Steel.” I thank the elderly pony of the table. He smiles.

“Think nothing of it. When the Princess told me of her plan for you, and when I heard of that merchant working hard at trying to figure out the complexities of your sword,” he taps my old katana, “We both worked together and gave you this.” He taps my new katana. Seeing the differences between the two, maybe I should do something about that. A name would be awesome for that.

“Yeah…” I trail off and look at the two swords intently. My friends get confused. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking…” I pick up both swords. “You think I should name these?” I look at both of them again. “Yeah, I think I should.”

“Oh that’s a perfect idea, Swift! What do you think of Beauty?” Rarity immediately agrees and recommends a name. Beauty and the Beast if you're implying… but hell no.

“How about Supreme?”

“Raven? Because your fast and all.”

“Greatness!”

“Mmm mmf!”

“Redeemer?”

“Uh… Courage?”

My friends continue to throw out different names for me to use on my weapons. I place them both down and look at them intently as my friends continue to ramble on. All the names seem good but I need something to really mean something to me. I need something to- Wait!

“I got it.” I grab my newest katana sword and hold it up. “I dub thee… Galaxy.” Next I pick up my old katana, “And I dub thee… Redemption.”

My friends stop and stare at me. “Why those?” Twilight asks.

I smile and pick up Galaxy. “Like the sun and moon, what are they apart of?” I ask.

“The Gala-… oh.”

“Yeah,” I slowly cut across the air in front of me above everypony else. “My authority now can be rivaled by any one of the princesses. Both would be needed in order to overrule my orders. I am still their citizen, the guardian and protector of the innocent lives of your kind my friends. The name just felt… fitting.” I explain.

“An interesting view on the name. Well done.” Verrier commends me on my choice.

“Thank you.” I sit back down and sheathe Galaxy.

“And wha’ ‘bout Redemption there?” Applejack points to it.

I pick it up and look at its side, “I never did a whole lot of good back in my world. I tried to, but it never really stuck. People were mostly scared of the fact that I just killed a person in front of them than the fact I just saved them.” I say sadly and gently glide my fingers along the side of the blade, “When I got this sword, I took more lives… in front of you all.” I motioned to my friends. They all look down sadly. It may have been a few months ago, but Equestria isn’t used to seeing lives taken like that. I still regret what I did that day. My friends never could look at me the same way again. All covered in blood, scratches… and cuts and…

I shake my head as the images begin to flood back. “After that day, I wasn’t shunned to get out of town or anything. You didn’t throw me out or hold that over my head all the time I’ve been here. No, you understood what I did.” My friends nod their heads a little. “And after I let those diamond dogs go, I felt better knowing I didn’t take any more lives.”

My voice begins to quiet down a little, “This sword, has done right by me plenty of times over. Since then, I’ve only fought in self-defense.” I hold Redeemer up. “I feel… redeemed… now. No longer have I the need to… kill out of it being the only option.” I smile. Killing was practically all my kind usually think of… for power, money, respect. I only did it to try and protect. It was after that Diamond Dog incident that I realized… killing is not always the best option. I have to be lenient from now on. I have to take in account that ponies aren’t used to killing… but if the threat is real, chances are they’ll probably need to get used to it.

“That’s an interesting way to see it, Swift.” Twilight tries to perk me up. I smile and sheathe Redeemer.

“Thank you, Twilight. *Sigh* Hopefully things won’t be as bad as I think it is with my new assignment and all.” I voice my concern.

“Let’s hope to that.” Rainbow Dash proposes as she holds up a mug of apple cider. Applejack pushes one in front of me. I look at the drink in front of me, then back to everypony else who all have mugs like me. Except Pinkie Pie who is still trying to open her zipper mouth.

I sigh and grab the mug, “I’ll drink to that. Cheers.”

“Cheers.” We all the mugs connect and we drink. In Equestria, Apple cider is sort of their light beer. I’m sure they still have other stronger alcohols, especially wines from all those fancy fru-fru events I had to attend. For now, I’ll just enjoy being with my friends like this.

But there’s still the matter of my equipment. Better get it over with.

I put the mug down and stand up from the chair.

*GAAASSSP* Pinkie Pie finally pulls the zipper open. “Oh! Finally got that off! Now-!”

“Pinkie, how’s about if you stay quiet for now, I will buy you 10,000 bits worth of the finest desserts anypony has ever made.” I propose.

Steel Verrier is the only one unfazed by the amount I just said right now, while everypony, and dragon, else all stare with mouths wide open, except Rainbow who spits her cider all over the fashionista pony. Oh hell, she’s gonna get it.

Pinkie slowly zips her mouth closed again.

“Now,” Since I know I won’t be interrupted, onto pressing matters. “Steel Verrier, you are about to come out of blacksmith retirement for one last order.” He nods. Looks like he’s been around long enough to not question the princesses authority, especially someone in my position.

“And Rarity… you are about to have the toughest order you have ever been commissioned to do.” I menacingly say.

A bead of sweat would probably roll down her face at the mention of that if she wasn’t covered in cider and looking completely mortified. My friends know that if I mean something like that, I mean it.

Let’s just hope she can pull through it…

-------------------------------

Feel really good on how quick I got this out. By the time this should be posted, I will have already been halfway done with the next chapter. These free times I have between classes are really paying off.

On a story, drastic changes eh? I felt I should… move away from the storyline. Like some of the other best authors I’ve seen recently, I came up with something else that I’m sure you all will find pretty interesting.

At this point, comment on what you think of this part so far. Remember, there’s still much to go on from this point.

Preparations

View Online

Sitting on a bench and staring into the sunset is always peaceful. After I talked to my friends and the ponies I needed, we went back to Ponyville. It’s been four days since we got back. I’ve prepared all I can for now, but I still need more to get myself ready before I am sent on my way to the residing provinces around Equestria. First, to the Griffon Empire and then on to Zebrica. Those are the only two that are close enough to Equestria where they won’t be hindered too much by travel expenses. The griffons are just across the ocean from us and they can fly, so it seems logical they could attack if need be. Plus, they aren’t really too fond of ponies.

Zebra’s don’t necessarily hate ponies, but I don’t think I should take the chance of missing something with them either. They are slightly hindered by the ocean, but it is possible to cross it. They would also have an easier chance of going around it than the griffons.

Another place close by is the badlands, home to various different kinds of creatures that would put most of the ones in the Everfree forest to shame. That is including the massive herds of dragons that reside there in clans. We figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to try and ask them anything like that, lest they take offense and either attack or stop giving Celestia their eggs. Plus, they shouldn’t have a stake in the matter of harming this country if they both have a standing truce what with the egg transfers and all.

I may seem like I have a cool head, but inside I am a complete train wreck. I am about to jump head first into these new country’s for me with not a whole lot of knowledge to go on. I thought about asking Zecora for some info about her country… but then I realized on the prospect that she’s here and not there. I never realized the concept that maybe something might have happened to her there. Better not press the subject.

My friends told me they encountered a griffon awhile back before I appeared, an old friend of Rainbow’s that ended being not as good of a friend that she was made out to be. Let’s hope that bad blood doesn’t screw with my trip there. Oh man, my friends…

I already told them of what I’m going to do. They weren’t really… thrilled at the idea. I don’t have much of a bearing of the landscapes and all, but I’ve already pulled through more than once since I’ve been here when it comes to situations that don’t go my way. They even opted to go with me, but I strictly told them that they can’t. This isn’t some sort of frilly vacation for me. Equestria hasn’t had any sort of relationship with any these places in years, decades even.

As I travel to these places, so does the standpoint with Equestria. I am the ambassador of Equestria as far as I go there. An attack on me is an attack on Equestria from what the princesses told me. I have to be extremely careful and, as much as it loathe it, diplomatic in these places. Otherwise, a war may ensue. That means the company I bring will have an impact as well. A unicorn who’ll probably get wet at the sight of a whole new culture on literature; a fashionista who wants to examine, touch and relish royal drapes or attire; a pegasus with a former best friend of a griffon; another pegasus who’ll get too excited at the sight of new animals and pull off another Grand Galloping Gala event; a farm earth pony with a stubborn attitude; And Pinkie Pie. ‘nuff said.

I love my friends and all, but there are some things I have to do alone. This is one of them. I just hope they’ll understand and not try anything brash to screw this up.

“Hey Swift!” I don’t flinch at the sound of this new voice. Turning my eyes slightly to the side, I see the familiar purple with a hint of green colored dragon walking up to me. Spike… a good friend. The only male friend I’ve hung out with on a regular basis. Sucks that he’s young, in dragon years.

“Hey Spike. How you been?” I say, not taking my eyes of the sunset.

“All good. Just a few days ago Rainbow was suddenly modeled as a superhero for a bit.”

I raise my eyebrow in question as I turn to him. “Really?” My curiosity peaked.

“Yeah. After she saved a filly from almost falling a cliff and saving another from a well, suddenly autographs, fan clubs, and praise were being thrown at her from left to right.” He expresses by waving his arms around. “Then it started to get to her head.”

“Hehehe, that sounds about right.”

“Anyways, after a while the others got more than annoyed at her boasting and cocky attitude toward the whole thing. So with several different costumes provided by… Rarity.” He says her name dreamily. Seriously, when the hell is he going to stop dreaming and just fuck her already?! “They all banded together and played the part of the Mysterious Mare Do Well. You know, to teach her a lesson.” Spike snaps out of his love struck daydream and finishes the tale. He hops up onto the bench next to me.

“Mare Do Well… I think her name was mentioned in a few reports that were sent to me from the soldiers stationed here. A black tight clothed pony with a purple cape and hat? Reported to have been an alicorn? And even single-hoofedly repair a demolished dam?” I try to recap the reports that were given to me at the time.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Twilight was the one that repaired the dam.” Twilight… I look opposite of Spike and spot the dam that is placed at the main choke point of the river. Out of all the unicorns I know, only she could have the power to repair an entirely destroyed dam in the heat of the moment.

“Sounds like something she could do.” I mutter. The little dragon nods in agreement with me.

With nothing else to talk about, we sit here in awkward silence for a couple minutes. “Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“Rarity’s working on something for me at the moment. Do you think you can deliver a message to her and ask her on behalf of me on the progress she’s made?” I ask him. Although you’d have to be pretty stupid to not already know his answer.

“Oh boy would I! I’ll be right back.” He excitedly says and jumps off the bench before starting to run.

“Hey Spike,” the dragon stops to look at me. Remembering his ability, a question springs forth in my mind, “That flame thing you use on those letters to send to Princess… is it tailored to ‘only’ sending things to her?” I ask. I know Spike grew up with ponies his whole life but with how big, long and tall dragons can grow up to… seems kinda sad to permanently give him that ability to only send things to the Princess.

He goes to say something but stops before the words can leave his mouth. “Hm… actually, I’ve never tried anything like that before. Never really had a reason to. When the Princess sent us here for Twilight to learn more about the magic of friendship, whenever we’re done writing a letter, I just… think of sending it directly to the Princess and… poof. It’s sent.” He explains. Hm, interesting. I look around the area to see if anything comes to mind on how we can experiment with this. The Beretta in my holster catches my attention. I pull it out and look at it for a second, pulling out the magazine, inspecting its rounds and pulling the slide back slightly to see the bullet in the chamber.

“Hmmm, alright then.” I get up from my seat and make my way a foot away. “Hold on a second, Spike. I wanna try something.” I look around for a suitable target and lay my eyes on a lone thin branch on the tree. I take the magazine in my pistol out and putting it in my pocket, “Heads up dude.” I quickly say before pulling the slide back and ejecting the round out. The little dragon fumbles with catching the round for a few seconds before finally catching it. He looks up at me with a curious look.

“What do you want me to do with this?” he asks while holding the 9mm bullet up in his claws. I kneel down, let the slide move forward and point to the chamber.

“I want you to try and teleport that bullet into here.” I say while showing the chamber itself and having him see it from all angles. A more than worried expression appears on his face.

“A-Are you sure? I-I don’t want to do anything to hurt you or-!” I silence the worried dragon with a raise of my hand.

“Easy, just relax and do what you can.” I take a few steps back and aim at the branch. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I wait in my firing position for a few minutes, the unique little dragon doing his best to remember the destination of the object in his claws. With the sound of a huff-and-puff and green fire, I feel the weight change of my gun. I aim directly and pull the trigger.

*Bang*

The branch makes an audible crunch as it snaps right off the rest of the tree and hits the ground. I smile and holster my gun, “Nice, now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Wow! I didn’t know I could do that! That was awesome. Wonder what else I can send?” the eager young dragon begins to ramble off a bit while I walk over to my target. Hmmm, that power… my gun… wonder what can I do with that combo?

“What you thinking Swift?” Spike asks from behind. I think for a few more seconds.

“Nothing concrete yet, but something with potential.” I mutter. Maybe, just maybe, I can find something useful for this. I didn’t become Champion of Equestria for being oblivious and stupid.

“You think you can come up with something from all this?” he gestures to the demonstration I made right now.

“Possibly.” Is my only reply.

“Oh… well, I’m glad I could help Swift. I’d love to stay, but Twilight will probably need my help with something back at the library.” He takes a few steps before stopping, “But not before I stop by Rarity’s to ask her. Then I’ll send you a letter on what she said.” He adds before continuing.

“Hold on.” He looks back, “After you're done with that, get a letter to Steel Verrier at the local inn. I need to talk to him as soon as I can.”

“Sure thing. Bye!” he waves and runs away. I sit back down on the bench and watch him.

“I’ll be here awhile.” I shout to him as he walks.

When I told Steel he would be coming out of retirement, he opted to rest in the hotel here in town till my departure. Afterall, Rarity needs his help in order to finish up my order.

The sun hasn’t moved in the slightest since I started talking to him. For now I guess I’ll just continue to enjoy it.

*Slam* “Boo!”

But only for so long.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash.” I nonchalantly greet the rainbow-maned pegasus. Blunt, brash and fastest pegasus I know. Her tomboyish attitude and rough demeanor makes her a ‘considered’ male friend, when in reality she’s a female that I wouldn’t mind getting in bed with.

…What the hell did I just say?!

“Hey Swift, you okay?”

“Huh! Wha’?!”

“You blanked out for a second there. Did I scare you?” she asks with slight anticipation in her voice. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I smile.

“Nope.”

“Aw! I could have sworn I got you there.” She grumbles in annoyance and falls onto her back on the bench.

“Hehe, sorry Rainbow. You got to do a little better than that if you want me to soil myself.” I chuckle. She blows a piece of her hair out of her face in annoyance.

“So what are you doing out here anyway?” she asks me. I turn to answer her but I quickly turn right back around at the position she’s in.

“Oh, I… uh… just wanted to clear my head.” I stammer out.

“Because of your new journey in one week? The one where you will be leaving Equestria?” She grumbles.

*Sigh* “Yeah, that trip.” My saddened demeanor returns.

“Ugh! This is stupid! Why does the princess have to send you out there all alone?!” she angrily yells at me.

I let out a breath of air, “Because if I don’t… then no pony will.” I lowly say.

“What are you talking about? If this is so important, why doesn’t the Princess just go instead?! She’s the one that’s supposed to protect us. Not you!”

“And how would you feel if an immortal accusing you of something of a threat on her country?!” I yell at her. She recoils a bit at my sudden outburst. Seeing her like that, I calm down a bit and stare forward again. “If she or Luna were to go and ask them, words can easily be twisted on both fronts, which could lead to rumors spreading about and somepony or someone else will probably say that ‘the princess threatened us!’ or something like that. Plus, I have no doubt in my mind that at least one pony, griffon, zebra, minotaur or whatever will probably try and attack her. She can take care of herself, however the slightest threat to the princesses face can lead to immediate execution of that individual, and full on war with Equestria.” I bluntly say.

Rainbow cringes audibly at my bluntness on the situation as she rolls onto her stomach, facing me. “I may have almost as much power as both princesses, but I’m not immortal.” I look at her. “I’m not the son or daughter of the creator. That’s something others will take into account plenty of times over. With my power and authority, coupled with my mortal life, they’ll feel… comfortable around another that can die as easily as them.” I grab my Berretta and reload it before taking aim at a passing bird in the distance. “But it doesn’t mean I will make it easy for them to.”

“… Wow.”

I lower my gun and look at Rainbow. “Yeah, hectic I know. But it’s something I gotta do.” I finish up. She twists herself around until she’s laying on her side and looking out towards the sunset with me. No matter what happens, every time I look out to the sunset things always seem to calm down for me. Like the heated texture of the sunset itself, all my just seem to melt away at-

“Oof!” Something large and blue lands on legs. I look down to see none other than Rainbow Dash lying on her side, while sprawled along my legs. She looks back up at me with a giddy smile on her face. “Rainbow…” I say with a hint of annoyance in my voice.

“Hey.” She nervously says.

“Why did you do that?”

“I was bored.”

“… That’s it?”

“Yeah. C’mon, why don’t we just go do something to make you never ever forget your time here in Ponyville?!” she proposes while looking up at me. I admire her idea, but I already know I’ll never forget Ponyville no matter how hard I try. It’s my home here in Equestria and has done so much for me beyond anything I can do to repay it.

“He he, sorry Rainbow. Chances are I’ll already never forget Ponyville as it is. I mean, the Everfree Forest is right next door, the house you girls built is between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, not to mention it was right in the middle of town square that I battled the god of chaos and wielded one of the most powerful weapons ponies have to offer… statistics say I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

She goes to say something… but stops at knowing that I’ve bested her. Through my time here, things have pretty much run their course here. Not much left to do.

She huffs and places her head back down on my legs. Looks like she opted to sit here with me.

If there’s one thing I know, Rainbow Dash hates being in one place for too long. But I guess when it comes to good friends, I think she’s just as willing to make things okay with them as me. After all, she is the Element of Loyalty.

I gently place my hand on top of her head and glide my fingers through her rainbow-mane. “Mmm, your fingers make a nice comb.” She quietly says. From the gentle glide of my fingers against her, to the warm embrace of us close together, and in her words ‘a boring place to be’, she’s probably falling asleep. As I feel the pegasus long hair in between my fingers, I take note of their rough texture and strength. From the all the flying she does all the time, her body’s adapted to the high gusts of wind that bat her form constantly. Her mane must have grown tougher with how long air continues to hit her. Even her wings seem much more firmer than any of the other pegasi I’ve seen so far. The only thing that could come close to her is probably the Canterlot guards, but only close.

Except for that one feather out of place. I grab her wing and slightly open it. “Uhhh- Swift! Wha-what are you-“ I decide to do her a kindness and help arrange that one feather. I grab it.

*Plink*

It easily pops right off when I try to move it. “Oh crap, I’m so-!”

“Ohhhhhhhhh!”

My entire body freezes up at the long throaty moan that the pegasus in my lap gives out.

“Uh, Rainbow? Are you alright?” I ask her.

“Ohhh! Thank you, soooo muuuuucchh, Swift!” She writhes a little in my lap.

“Uh, sure no problem.” I nervously say at how she’s acting. Seriously it sounded like she was having an orgasm or something. Thankfully, the lack of liquid against my leg proves false on the matter.

“No really! Thank you!” she places her hooves on both of my shoulders and looks directly into my eyes. “Pegasi have to preen their wings to keep them strong and healthy.” She holds up my hand with the feather still in it closely between us, “This one has been stuck there, for days. The next feather was already growing underneath and this itch was driving me insane!” she practically yells the last part. She flexes her wings a couple times, most likely enjoying the feeling of that itch finally gone. “I didn’t want to ask the others for help, so I just left it there.” She grumbles the last part. Damn, sort of like having a chunk of meat stuck between your teeth for about the same amount of time. Once that piece gets out, you feel like heaven.

“Oh, well. Your welcome.” Even after I say that, she continues to stare at me. I slowly lower my hand but she still stares. “Rainbow?” I gently tap her on the forehead.

“Huh?! Oh sorry, zoned out for a second there.” She chuckles nervously and rubs the back of her neck.

“Hehe, that’s quite alright. Although if you could get off me, that would be alright as well.” I nervously say to her. She looks at me confused, before she looks down to see the exact position we are in.

She blushes hard. “Ahh!” she yelps and jumps into the air. “I’m sorry, Swift! I-I-I didn’t mean to-“ she goes a little hysterical.

I hold my hand up so she can be quiet. “It’s fine. Just as long as you’re willing to not make this go public.” Once I say that, my eyes widen and I jump behind the bench and look behind the tree.

“Uhh, sure but what are you-?” she tries to ask me but I grab her and pull her to the ground. I put my finger to her lips and hope she gets the concept to shut up. I look around the surrounding trees, bushes and boulders to catch an sort of glint, flash or rustle.

After a minute, I conclude that nothing is there.

“Phew.” I breathe a sigh of relief and drop back onto the bench.

“Soooo,” Rainbow trots up and jumps onto the other side of the bench. “What was all that about?” she curiously asks me.

I sigh, “… Paparazzi.” I grumble.

She tilts her head to the side, “The press? What about them?”

“Can you imagine the idea ponies would get if the press got pictures of us like that?” I ask her, quietly.

She taps her chin with her hoof for a bit, trying to come up with an answer. But like the power of imagination, her cyan coat turns red again as the same thoughts I have run through her mind. “Yeah. Exactly.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. Do you have to deal with stuff like that a lot?”

I shrug, “For awhile I did, but after I threw a knife at one of their cameras they sort of backed off.” I look back to the tree to see it’s still there. “But you never know when they are gonna pop back up like roaches.” I slowly turn back to the front.

“Wow, I never pictured celebrity life so… invading.” She says. I chuckle loudly.

“Well, it’s probably because you never knew one before.”

“I guess I better get ready to deal with that for when I join the Wonderbolts then, huh?” she asks me.

I smile, “Probably.” I mutter. She places her head back down on her front hooves and looks at the horizon with me.

“Hey,” her ears perk up, “What do you want to do with this?” I point out the feather still in my hands grip. She leans forward, prepared to grab the feather with her mouth so she can probably take it back to her place and dispose of it properly, but she stops just from closing her mouth. Her eyes glaze over my hand and up to my face. She looks back to the feather and closes her eyes.

She pulls back and lays her head on my lap again. “Actually, why don’t you keep it.”

Surprised is kinda what I’ll say right now. “Really? You sure?”

“Yeah! I mean,” she perks up to me at first but lowers her head back down. “I-If you truly have to go and do that stupid quest or whatever of yours… then maybe you should have something to actually remember us by.”

I look at the feather and examine it from all sides. Unlike the usual feathers you would find on birds and such, this feather right here feels a lot tougher and stronger than at first glance, plus it’s plenty lighter as well.

“I’m guessing the others are already working on getting you something before you leave. I’m not into the whole sappy gift giving type of stuff… s-so why d-don’t you go ahead and keep it… to at least remember me by.” She finishes stuttering a bit.

I look at the feather yet again to try and deduce something about this situation. It’s a nice gesture and all, especially by her standards, but something feels… different by this. “Is there something else to this? I can’t shake the feeling that this is supposed to mean something else.” I ask her. She turns back away from me.

“W-well, like a really long time ago, pegasi would give one of their primaries, that kind of feather your holding, to somepony they… um… love.” She jerks back around and leans into me. “But don’t think I love you! I just don’t want you to die!” she yells.

… Now that I see, I’m surprised to see on just how big pony eyes are, compared to the ones back home. With these giant saucers pushed right up against me, it’s kind of intimidating.

“Um, sure Rainbow. I get it.” I try to calm her down. She leans back and turns right back around.

“Anyway, it used to be that they would be a symbol of ownership… but then that ran out of style pretty quick.” Damn! Ownership?! Like… like slavery? …Hell. “Then came the idea of giving it to somepony you love… and want… to be with.” She tries to not make it sound like what she’s implying. She’s trying really hard to make it so that I don’t get mixed feelings about her like this. She scratches her hoof nervously along the wood board of the bench. “III… don’t know what to get you. And seeing you holding that pesky feather that was bugging me for too long… just seemed…”

“Right? Or appropriate?”

“Yeah, that.” She looks sternly at me. “But don’t think it means what I was saying earlier. I just want you to keep something of mine so you remember…!” she places her hoof on my chest, “Where it is you live?” she sits back down and stares at the sun, “And the others who are waiting for you here. Plus you also saved my life that first day we met, don’t think I haven’t forgotten that either.” She finishes up.

Looking at the feather, I can’t help but feel elated at the gesture Rainbow has given me. A piece of herself so I can remember her specifically by if anything dire happens wherever I am gone. I mean, Rarity is going to give me some new clothes, and Fluttershy gave me Ferus. It’s still gonna be awhile till I have to leave so maybe the others might come up with something.

Not that they need to in my case, but I’m pretty sure they would insist on it ten times over if I try to keep them from giving me anything.

“Rainbow.” I calmly call out her name. She turns to me, where I turn to her with a smile on my face. “I love it. No one I have ever met has given me something like this to remember them by. Even if it doesn’t represent what it usually does between the two of us, I still like the gesture. Thank you.” I reach out my fist so we can bump. She stretches her hoof out to return it, but she does something taking me completely by surprise.

She hugs me.

She wraps her forehooves around me and pulls me into a tight embrace. I’m stunned at first, but I slowly close my arms around her, mindful of her wings. “Just don’t die on us, you hear me?

I nod, “I promise.”

“Good.” She mumbles and pushes us away from each other. It’d be stupid to not notice the awkward situation we are in right now.

Still, this is so unlike her. Am I really that important you her? “Rainbow Dash… I’ve never seen you act like this before,” She cringes a little, “Why now?”

She lets out a deep frustrated sigh, “Because out of everypony I’ve ever known in my life, you have got to be the coolest, strongest, smartest… I don’t know what else –est I can think of but it’s all true! You are just… too awesome to deserve anything less than what you have now! You don’t deserve what it is that happened to you before you came here to Ponyville!” she yells at me. Shocked can be stated just a bit right now, still surprised on the idea of the feather and all, plus the hug, but no one verbally said what it was I did or didn’t deserve what I got. It’s just… Thank you.

“But you also live a dangerous life.” The determination she just awhile ago turns to a hint of sadness. “You’ve had too many close calls as it is. I just want you to actually look at something,” she points to the feather. “And remember how much you mean to us.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Having memories is one thing, but actual proof is another. I’ll keep it close.” I say.

“Thanks.” She smiles as she says.

I twirl the feather a little, admiring it’s sheen. It definitely shouldn’t come as a surprise that Rainbow Dash is one to take good care of her wings. “Hey, do I need to keep this somewhere specific or what? I don’t want it getting damaged anytime soon.” I ask her. I don’t have to worry about Philomena’s feather because she’s a phoenix.

“No, not really. Pegasi feathers are pretty much indestructible. There have even been reports of pegasi who were trapped in collapsed caves and buildings dating all the way back to even before Nightmare Moon came into the picture where their primary feathers were still in perfect condition. Unlike the powdered bones that laid right next to them.”

Now that is an awesome trait for pegasi, true controlling the weather is still a feat beyond even my kind and all its tech, but growing feathers that can last thousands and thousands of years beyond some ponies lifetimes is pretty cool.

“Sweet. That’s good to hear. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of feathers.” I joke with a slight chuckle. She lets out a small laugh with me as well. I take the feather and place it behind my ear, sort of like how you do with a pencil.

With all the awkwardness and feelings expressed in this moment, it’s quiet now.

“Well, I better get going. I need to make sure you’ll have clear weather for your trip and all.” She jumps and hovers in the air.

“Thanks Rainbow. I’d appreciate it.”

“See ya later!” she shouts and zooms off.

*Sigh* “See ya.” I say to myself. I didn’t matter to anyone for a time, I guess the concept of actually mattering to some individuals is hard to get used to.

“Hey Swift.”

I look towards the sound of a new voice and see the familiar farm pony trotting right up to me. I wave her over to me. “Hey Applejack. Over here.” Applejack, tough strong earth pony that has the mass and bulk to take down just about anything if she puts her mind to it. Can only imagine her as the dominator when it comes to being in bed.

…Seriously what am I thinking?!

Is this trip starting to make me go crazy and realize something about the girls I never did before?

“…Was that Rainbow?” In my daze, I missed the most of what Applejack was saying, but I got the last part. I turn back in the direction Rainbow took off in to see the fading streak of her trail.

“Yeah, it was. We were just talking for a bit.” I decide to try and leave out any details pertaining to any personal events that transpired between me and Rainbow.

“Talking eh? Then what’s that?” she points a hoof at me. I look at myself to see what exactly it is she means.

“What’s what?”

“That feather?”

...Ohhhhh, so much for being quiet. I reach back and pull the feather off me. “Oh this? Considering I would be heading into unknown territory, Rainbow took it upon herself to give me something tangible to instantly remember who I have waiting for me back here.” I explain. Unless Rainbow has secret feelings for me and did her best to try and make sure I didn’t catch on, I’ll treat this as something to at least remember my friends by.

“Really?” she smugly says with a wry smile. She even crosses her hooves. Sounds like she doesn’t believe me.

“Yeah, really. Considering my… reputation for danger and all, it’s nice to have something next to you to remember what you're fighting for when you are about to die.” I try to convince her.

“Y’all sure about that?” she keeps up her attitude. I groan and place the feather back on my ear.

“Well unless Rainbow is secretly in love with me and actually wants that old custom of giving your feather to the one you love to be true, then I’ll keep it as a memento.” I sternly say.

“Hmm, Fair enough.” She finally finishes interrogating me. She trots up to me and sits on the bench next to me. “So… you ready to go?”

I don’t answer her instantly. I take a moment to think. Rainbow was pretty steamed as it is on me leaving, wonder what Applejack will be. “Honestly, I have no idea. The idea of going out there all by myself is scaring the hell out of me.”

“Hell?” Oh right. They have something different.

“My kind’s version of your Tartarus.”

“Oh. You were saying?”

“Right, like I said. It’s scary, but I would be alright if I was just going to learn about some… things.” My friends haven’t been told on the threat that was made on Equestria awhile back. Even if they are the wielders of the most powerful weapons in Equestria, they aren’t the most reliable when it comes to sensitive info. Especially Pinkie Pie.

“Would be?”

Hehe… for a farm life style pony, she sure catches on to the little things. “If I wasn’t proclaimed Equestria’s Champion and its voice and arm while I’m visiting these places.”

“Tarnation. Sounds like y’all have a lot riding on yer’ shoulders then huh?” she tries to joke a little to lift my spirits. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much.

“Yeah, I do. Princess Celestia and Luna may run Equestria, but if my trip goes south just as soon as it started, they’ll be the ones picking up the pieces for my folly.” If you run a country, you know how it works and can keep it balanced to the best of your ability’s. When you meet a new country, you don’t know how it works and can end up bringing a war between the two provinces. It’s not a position most would like to be in, especially me.

“There anyway y’all can relax about this?” she asks me.

I sigh, “Honestly, just knowing that I have friends back here that are waiting for me is something that’ll keep my mind at ease.” I say. Even with all the torment I’ve gone through here in Equestria, it’s always come back to the fact that I’ve had friends nearby for me to protect. That’s something I can work towards when on this trip.

“Ah’m glad to hear that Swift.” She pats me on the back for reassurance. Small but it helped. “But if ah know anypony, or human, who can pull this off without a hitch,” She places her hoof on my hand, “It’s you.”

I smile. Element of Honesty… I can’t not take her word for it. I pat her hoof, “Thanks Applejack. I appreciate it.” I say sincerely.

“Think nothin’ of it pardner.” She replies.

With all the heartfelt conversation we just had, I failed to realize something, “What are you doing here anyway? I’m pretty sure a mind easing conversation wasn’t something on your agenda.”

“Well ah-“

*Fwoosh*

She gets cut off by the sounds of what small gust of wind. I look around and I spot a scroll on the ground nearby close to the tree.

I jump over the bench and walk up to the scroll before picking it up.

“Where’d that come from?” Applejack asks.

I smile, knowing that Spike’s ability is working perfectly. “Spike.” I open up the scroll.

“Spike? But he’s not-“

I hold up my finger to cut her off. She pouts as I read.

Dear Swift Wind,

Spike here, Rarity said she will be done with your new clothes soon. Steel Verrier was there as well so I was able to tell him to meet you at Twilight’s Library.

The Library? Why?

You may be wondering, “Why the library?”

Smug bastard.

Well, Twilight also wanted to show you something as well. She picked up a few things while you were in Canterlot and decided that maybe now would be the time to show it. From what I’ve seen, I think you’ll be surprised and happy to see these from just the appearance alone. Anyway, hopefully this letter actually made it you and not somewhere else.

Anypony else reading this that’s not Swift Wind, kindly tear this letter up and forget what you read here.

If this is Swift, please come to the library.

Your friend,

Spike the Dragon

I smile and roll the scroll back up. “C’mon. We’re heading to the library.” I motion to Applejack as I walk past her.

“The library? Why?” she asks as she trots up right next to me.

“I’m meeting Twilight and that scientist looking pony named Steel Verrier at the library for… some things to discuss I guess.” I mutter.

“Wha’ kind of things?”

“Not really sure. I’m just sort of winging things for a bit.” I answer. I have an idea of what I’m going to ask Steel Verrier but I’ll see his opinion on the matter. And Twilight needs to show me something that wasn’t at my house. Either she thinks this stuff is too important to leave out in the open of my house, or maybe she was just being cautious about them. I don’t know really. Hopefully it was nothing to be too disturbed about.

“Fair enough.” Applejack decides to not press the subject further. We soon make our way into town and pass the barracks that was made. It’s a simple design, really, of tree and wood construct along with a watchtower right next to it, dawning the Equestrian flag as well. A couple of guards are training outside with the new moves. One of them manages to grab the other and flip him over his shoulder and making him land on his back.

“Argh! Damnit! How do you keep beating me?” the soldier on the ground writhes a little.

“I don’t know. Just skill, my friend.” The other smugly says. It isn’t until I reach out with my hand to help the one on the ground up that they notice me. The one standing immediately salutes me while the ground just looks up at me before slowly placing his hoof in my hand.

I pull him up onto his hooves with ease, “Feign an attack.” I whisper to his ear just as it passes by my mouth.

“What?”

“Keep up the good work you two.” I casually say and turn back to Applejack who was standing a few feet away.

“Thank you sir!” the soldier that won replies before relaxing. “C’mon, let’s go again.”

“Oh, uh, sure.” The soldier who lost agrees after he’s hesitant a little.

“Wha’ was that about?” Applejack asks me as I make it to her and we continue walking.

“Just some advice.” I smile. A few hoof strikes can be heard behind me, followed up by a satisfying slam to the ground.

“H… how did you beat me?!” the first winner asks in disbelief.

Just before I round a corner, I look back and smile to the winner as he looks back to me. I walk forward. “I don’t know. Just skill, my friend.” The last thing I hear is the winner replying the smug comment his friend gave him when he won before.

“Your just full of surprises, aren’t ‘cha?” Applejack asks me with a smile.

“I know. I surprise even myself sometimes.” We both share a laugh for a brief moment before we continue walking in silence. It isn’t long till we pass by Sugarcube Corner that something has been bugging me for some time now. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

“You know… ah’m not even sure myself. No pony’s really seen her all that much since we got back.” Hm, that’s strange. I hope she’s not upset or saddened about my departure. I don’t want another Pinkamena episode after she thought we all didn’t want to go to her party.

I brush the thought aside and continue onward. Before we know it, we are standing in front of the library that Twilight has associated herself with for so long.

“Alright, let’s hope for the best.” I grunt.

“Oh come one Swift,” Applejack reaches for the handle, “I reckon nothin’ will happen here.” She opens the door.

“What is wrong with you?! Of course Star Swirl the Bearded was the best during his time!!”

“He may have been good but there was no way he was the best.”

“How can you say that!?!”

Me and Applejack look at each other as we see both brainiac ponies going back and forth with their argument as Spike seems to have nodded off. I give Applejack a ‘you were saying’ look. She smiles embarrassingly in reply.

I shake my head and step in. “He also-!”

“Eh-hem!” I grunt loudly, catching their attention and breaking their argument.

“Ohhh, Swift Wind! A pleasure to see you again!” Steel Verrier happily greets me.

I smile and we shake hand and hoof, “Good to see you again Steel. Hey Twilight.” I greet Twilight as well.

“Oh… hey.” She answers me in a low but sad voice. I raise my eyebrow in question.

“Twilight, you okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” She still sounds sad.

“Are you su-“

“Didn’t you ask him here so you can ask something?” she cuts me off as she points towards Steel Verrier.

“Yes. Her dragon assistant told me you wanted to discuss something with me?”

I look at Verrier, then to Twilight but she has her head turned away from me. Applejack notices this as well. Like a telepathic message, we both nod in understanding. “Yeah… I wanted to ask you something.” I warily start and give one last glance at Twilight. “But let’s discuss this in private.” I walk towards the stairs.

“Uh, okay if you think that is best.” He agrees and follows me up the stairs.

It is best. I’m pretty sure that if Twilight were to hear my plan, she would get curious. If she got curious, she would investigate. If she investigated, she would find out my end plan.

I close the door to Twilight’s room.

<<<>>>

“Sugarcube, you alright?” Applejack goes over to her friend and places a hoof on her shoulder to console her. Twilight shifts a little at her touch.

“I’m fine, AJ.”

“Twiiiiliiiight… Ah’m the Element of Honesty for a reason. Now what’s wrong girl.” Applejack pushes a little harder to try and get her friends to talk.

Twilight looks at Applejack for a second before finally caving in.

She sighs, “Uhh, it’s just… The princess knows he has next to no knowledge of the lands outside of Equestria. Why on earth would she be so inclined to send him out there with no help whatsoever?!” she angrily states.

Applejack looks down for a second, “Ah don’t know Twi.” Twilight looks down in disbelief. Applejack puts her hoof under Twilight’s chin to make her look up. “But I know this, Swift didn’t have any knowledge of Equestria when he first came here right?” Twi nods. “And he survived that didn’t he?” AJ says with a smile.

Twilight scowls and brushes Applejacks hoof away from her in frustration. “Out there isn’t like here in Equestria! They have bandits, they have wars, they groups that outright hate ponies!! If they find out if he’s the Champion of Equestria, who knows that they’ll do to him!!” she emphasizes champion as she yells. “It’s dangerous out there Applejack!” Twilight shouts the last part in AJ’s face. Through Twilight’s rant, Applejack does the one thing that Twilight was not expecting.

She laughs.

“He he hehehe.”

Twilight looks turns to anger at her friends laughing of the matter.

“And the Everfree Forest isn’t?” Twilight’s open mouth and raised hoof slowly close and lower at the thought. “Twilight. Ah’ know you care for him and his safety and all, but let’s face it. Ah’ don’t know what it is in this world that can take down that boy.” Twilight calms down a little more. “He saved your life when he didn’t even know who we were, he saved Fluttershy from a falling building, lives right next to that dern forest, tried to take on that… creature from the Everfree Forest when y’all two were going to Zecora’s-“

“Cockatrice.” She remembers that creature all too well.

“Right, anyway. He did that, not to mention… he defeated Discord.” Twi’s ears twitch at the mention of Discord. “He’s also leader of our military, Twi. Ah’ don’t know about y’all, but ah’ still believe that if anypony can handle anything our world has to offer, it’d be that human right there behind that door.” Applejack finishes as she points towards said door.

Twilight looks at the door and ponders a bit. Throughout all the time that Swift has been here, Swift has proven time and time again of his resilience, skills, abilities and knowledge. Even though he may be somewhat young, he’s clearly proven his mettle.

“Better?” AJ asks Twi.

She smiles and nods to her friend, “Yes. I’m fine. Really.” She says to make sure that she doesn’t sound like she’s lying or anything.

“Glad to hear that, Twi.” Applejack says with a smile and sits down on the floor, followed by Twilight. “So, what do you reckon they’re talking about in there?”

She shakes her head, “Honestly, I don’t really know. Anything can be said when it comes-“

“Is there any chance you can get it done before I leave?”

“It’ll be tough… but I think I can get it done.” Twilight gets cut off by the last of the conversation between Swift and Steel.

“Heeeee… good, good.”

<<<>>>

I open the door the rest of the way and slowly walk down the stairs. After I was done discussing what it is that I wanted from Steel, now it’s time for Twilight.

“Alright Twilight, we’re done talking. You also wanted to see me for something?” I ask her. She perks up and looks at me.

“Yes, I did! Right this way.” She happily jumps to her hooves and walks over to the door leading to the guest room where I stayed in last time. Haaaa, that was an interesting day.

Thing is, now she looks a lot happier than from before me and Verrier started talking. She was left alone with Applejack. I look over at the farm mare in question and give her a raised eyebrow. She gives a triumphant smile and waves me to continue following Twilight. I turn back to Twi and see her opening the door with her magic.

“The equipment I found is spread out on the bed. I hope you like it.” I give her a smile and walk in. I see something on the bed but it’s a little dark for my taste.

“Hey Twilight, some light please?” She responds by lighting a candle on either side of the bed.

My eyes widen at the spread before me. This… this I… I think…

“Swift? Are you alright?” Steel asks from outside the door, along with Twilight and Applejack poking their heads to see as well.

Slowly I turn around with a wide grin on my face. This stuff… I think Twilight may have just saved my life.

“Ohhh, I’m fine.” I turn back around and go for one of the cases, “I’m perfectly fine.”

-------------------------------

I feel good on how quick this one came out as well. Extra time at the college is really paying off. Plus I’ve already chosen my classes for next semester that should help out as well in this case.

I hope y’all still think this story is good and will continue to be good for a long while. Thanks everyone.
(Sorry if things may seem a little… mellow or something like that. Haven’t been feeling like myself but hopefully that won’t make you hate my work anytime soon.)

Departure

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The ceiling is a familiar place is it not? You go to bed, lie back, close your eyes and drift off into dream world. Then as your eyes - which some say they are the gateways into your soul - slowly open, the ceiling may be the first thing you see.

Letting out a long held in sigh, I blink a few times to get the sleep out of my eyes. Slowly I get up and make my way to the bathroom. Before long, the steamy hot water of the shower fills the small room as I stand there. Showers are usually relaxing, but most people never really take in the concept of the relaxed state you put yourself in when you submerge yourself under the water of a warm bath. The only reason why I’m taking a shower is because they’re quick, and my time table dictates that I be in the air towards the Griffon Kingdom within the hour.

After turning off the shower and drying off, I dawn my simplest of clothes, minus my shoes. I make my way towards the multi-locked door of my houses armory and promptly open it. In the middle of the room, my gaze immediately shifts to the assortment of equipment I laid out last night.

I pick up the body armor with the letters SWAT stitched onto the front and promptly fit to my chest. I also make sure to grab Rainbow’s and Philomena’s feather before I leave. After I finish tying the combat boots onto my feet, I equip my belt onto me and open up the smallest of the various black, pelican brand cases. I holster my new Colt M1911A1 XSE into the left. It’s a colt pistol modded with a stainless steel frame, onyx black grip, optional silencer and 16-round extended magazine. A standard magazine is what’s on it right now while the rest of the attachments are in the case. In the holster on my right, I have the Smith & Wesson Model 500 Revolver. One of two Combat knifes is in its sheathe behind me while the second is strapped to my left ankle, followed by the Colt Anaconda on my right ankle.

Next I sling both Galaxy and Redemption onto my back in the usual X-formation with a slow shing. I grab the gas mask and put it in one of my duffel bags. I open up the largest pelican case I have and marvel at the M4A1 Carbine equipped with a quad-rail system to allow up to four attachments on the barrel. Comes with a silencer, M203 Grenade Launcher, laser sight, flashlight, 4x red dot scope, 60 round magazine, and adjustable stock. Placing on the strap, I wrap it around me over my shoulder.

Since now I feel the weight of every piece of my weaponry on my form, I place the pelican boxes into my old duffel bag, filled with some food to last me over a week, medkit, my grapple gun, and some cigarettes that Twilight found. Never had I thought to smoke in my life, but with all the changes that have been thrusted into my life in half this year alone… I like the option.

In my second duffel bag, it’s filled with some frag grenades, various types of magazines, tear gas grenades, my Mossberg 500 shotgun, 2 full-auto Glock pistols, a Remington Model 700 sniper rifle, my compound bow, and some arrows.

I still feel nervous as hell, but this situation is inevitable… so suck it up. I roughly grab both bags and make my way to front door. I’m glad I’ve been doing plenty of exercises and lifts while I’ve been here, otherwise I’m pretty sure my back would have given out with all this weight. It’s not easy, but it’s a hell of a lot better.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Great. “Uh… it’s open!” I shout as I manage to squeeze through the door. I turn back around and begin locking the door again.

“Swift? Where are you?” Ahhh, Twilight… ever the curious and worried one.

“Armory.” I reply as I finish with the last lock.

“There you are.” She says as I turn around and see her poking her head around the corner.

“Here I am.” I chuckle as I spread my arms.

We share a light chuckle before the awkwardness comes forth like so many times between us.

“So… it’s time huh?” she asks.

My face contorts to serious as I nod, “Yeah, it is.” I lean down and grab both my bags.

“Oh here. Let me help you with that.” She interrupts my movements by wrapping both my duffel bags in her magic and lifting them up with ease.

I stare at her for a few seconds before I shrug. “Alright, thanks.” I walk to the door and hold it open for her, “Let’s get going.”

“Oh okay.” She says somewhat sadly as she trots out of my house. I close the door behind the two of us and promptly lock it before heading in front of the mare and leading her to where I will need to go. “Here.”

She floats up two things to my face. Notably, my cell phone, and what looks like a tape recorder. “Where’d you get these?”

“You said your phone has only so much life left in it and that it could be charged. I took it while you were gone and was able to charge it, and I found the other item outside your house.”

Hm, nice. I’ve always felt contempt and at ease with my phone, and the tape recorder can help keep my thoughts together on my journey. “Thanks. These will work.” I reply while placing both objects in my pockets.

“You’re welcome.” She casually replies. After a few minutes of walking, it gets too awkward for my tastes.

“So, will you be alright while I’m gone?” I ask her to strike up some sort of conversation with her to make this awkward silence go by faster.

She sighs, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine. Before you came along, we had our share of misfortunes. Remember how I mentioned Nightmare Moon? Trixie? Gilda and even the parasprite infestation?”

“Yeah, I remember. Using an ancient weapon on the princess of the night, a boastful and arrogant unicorn while also dealing with a Ursa Major-”

“Minor. Ursa Minor.”

“Whatever. Continuing, a stuck up griffon, and some fuzzy little creatures that nearly devoured the entire town because somepony messed up a spell?” I try to remember the incidents that Twilight had mentioned before I came along. She turns away and blushes a little at the mention of her spell.

“Precisely. Even though you’ll probably be miles and miles away from here, we can still handle ourselves. Besides, your soldiers will still be here when you get back.” She breaks from her blush and says while adding with a smile. I was getting favorable reports from the soldiers stationed here. Occasional monster attacks with minimal damages inflicted.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Again, the awkwardness returns. I know Twilight isn’t cool with the idea of me leaving and all, but it’s something I have to do. Plus it’d be a nice experience and change of pace from the usual stuff I’ve seen here in Equestria.

“Swift,” I turn to her, “Are you still alright with leaving? If you want, I’m sure I can try and convince the princess to-“

“Thanks Twilight. I appreciate your concern but I kind of don’t want to be cooked up here for the rest of my life. Back on my world, I would have liked the idea of traveling to the different countries that surrounded the one I was living it. Unfortunately, I was never able to because of… well, you know.”

“Being chased relentlessly?” she finishes up my words.

“Yeah, that. I don’t think I wanna miss this chance to experience something new here.”

“But won’t you miss us?” I stop, allowing Twilight to walk a few steps ahead of me before noticing my slight absence and turning back to me.

I sigh and kneel in front of her, “Twilight, of course I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you, Rainbow Dash, the apple family, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, the cakes, the cutie mark crusaders, everyone.” I reach out and place my hand gently under chin to make her look at me directly, “But as much time is between us, no matter how far apart we are, I will never forget the family and friends that are here, waiting for me to return.” I say with as much sincerity in my voice as I can muster. I definitely mean what I’m saying, since I still can’t remember my childhood, the inhabitants of Ponyville are still the closest family I got. I’ll need to be careful so I don’t mess this up.

“Promise?”

I smile, “I promise.”

“Thank you.” We lean in and wrap each other in a hug.

“Hey love birds!” We jerk each other away in surprise at the source of the voice. As we look around, I manage to take into account that we were walking for longer than I thought, because we are at the makeshift airfield where my plane is housed. All of our friends, minus Rarity and Steel Verrier are already here waiting for me, no doubt wishing to bid me goodbye. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders are here as well. Most notably, however, is the tall Alicorn sun princess surrounded by half a dozen Solar guards. “About time you got here!” Rainbow Dash yells.

“Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry.” Twilight apologizes and trots up to them. I stand to follow her as well.

“That’s fine Sugarcube.” Applejack greets Twilight, then turns to me. “You ready?”

I look around, seeing the comforting smiles that most of my friends are giving me, assurances that they support me and wish me luck without any words spoken.

Most are false.

I stop when I notice a certain pink pony sitting a little ways away with her back turned to us. Twilight sets my stuff down as I make my way towards Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie.”

“Hmm.” She shuffles away from me.

“Care to share why you’re mad?” I ask politely. Silence follows. After a minute,

“Why didn’t you let me throw you a party?!” she lightly yells at me as she turns right back around to me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she pokes her hoof into my chest. “Why would you not let me throw you a going away party? I wanted to make you and everypony else feel so much better about you leaving!” Tears look like they are on the verge of bursting from her eyes, “Why?”

I breathe out through my nose. We stare at each other for a few moments before I answer.

“Another reason to come back.”

She turns from sadness to confusion as to what I mean.

I smile as I continue, “Pinkie… for my state of mind, I’ll probably get the wrong message if you throw me a party about me leaving.” I quickly close her mouth before she can interrupt, “However, no party now will just make me want to come back even more and experience one of Pinkie Pie’s famous party’s.”

“R-Really?” she gently wipes a tear from her eye. I nod.

“Yes. Plus, if I do anything while I’m gone and I tell you about it, it’ll just give you an even bigger reason to throw-“

“An even bigger party!” she happily finishes up my sentence.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Oohhh! That means I better get started! I better start getting everything together so-“

I close her mouth. “Pinkie… do you really prepare like any sane person or pony I know? Or do you just pull out everything you need right from your mane?” She opens her mouth but I close it again, “Actually, scratch that. I don’t wanna know.” I let go. After a few moments of expecting her to go overboard again, I speak, “So, we good?”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” I reply with a smile and a nod.

“Pinkie promise?” she suddenly adds. Oh right, I forgot she does that.

“Pinkie promise, right.”

“Yay! Repeat after me.” she jumps once then back down.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She says while also doing the movements with her hooves as well. “Now you. Remember, you gotta do it just like I did.”

Hand movements and all. I take a deep breath, “Alright. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- AHH!” I yell loudly in pain as I accidentally poke my eye. Wow! Really?!

“You okay?” Pinkie asks me. I rub my eye a little to try and force the pain away. It eventually does and I blink a few times till I can see again, barely.

“Yeah, ah. I’m fine. I just forgot to cut my nails. Is my eye bleeding?” We lean into each other so she can inspect it.

“Nope! Just really red. Like pink eye. Ohhh do you know how annoying pink eye is?! Nothing like Pinkie’s eye of course. How would you catch my eye?!” Pinkie goes to her usual bubbly random self as she seems really interested in pink eye, and her eye. “Well, I suppose if you wanna catch my eye you’d have to strap me down, get a scalpel and dig it into my eye socket so you can pop it out an-“

I grab her and immediately close her mouth shut. Okayyyy, mind scarring imaginative situation off the check list. “Let’s get back to the others shall we?” I ask her with a fake smile, images of what she said and her suggestion still fresh in my mind, it doesn’t help that being so close to her I realize just how big ponies eyes are. Seriously, they’re as wide as dinner plates!

“Mokoy.” I slowly walk back to the others with Pinkie still in my arms and her mouth closed. My friends look at us weirdly.

“Uhhh, Swift why are you…?” Twilight begins to ask.

“It’s Pinkie Pie. Do you really wanna know?” I ask her with my eyebrow raised. She shakes her head and trots over to the princess. Thought so.

I gently place Pinkie down and let her go. I keep my hands steady around her just in case she tries to be herself again. After I’m satisfied, I turn around and walk over to the princess. “Princess.” I give her a slight bow.

“Champion.” She returns the gesture. “Are you ready for your journey?”

“I wouldn’t be here right now and loading up my plane if I wasn’t.” I reach down to grab my duffel bags. I stop at the familiar aura of yellow magic surrounding them.

“Allow me.” she walks over to my plane, followed by my bags.

“Thanks, princess.” I jog up to my plane and jump onto the wing before opening up the cockpit. “One here, and the other here.” I point to the back two seats. She nods and gently starts shifting the bags into their positions. Reason I’m using my plane is because it’s fast, I’ve gotten better at it, and I can definitely use the firepower if things get… hairy. Plus the transportation would be a nice bonus.

“There we are.”

“Thanks.”

“Also Swift, before you go, I’ve been meaning to inquire as to the means we will communicate if the situation dictates.”

I smile a toothy grin, “Gotcha’ covered.” *Sharp Whistle*

As I let out a loud whistle, Ferus lands on my shoulder. “Impressive.” The princess says.

I smile and let my legs hang off the edge of the wing. “But I’m sure you want something to be a little more… instantaneous like with Spike’s fire right?” I ask her.

She nods, “Yes, do you have any suggestions?”

I look around to see if anything sticks out that could help me. Even though the landscape is beautiful, I got nothing. “Hold on a sec.” Ferus takes off as I move to the cockpit and search my duffel bags for anything. I stop as soon as I see my bow. If I remember correctly, for quick speedy messages to be transported, they would tie letters to bows and send them flying to different sections and relay the message. “Can you enchant this?” I ask while holding out my bow. She takes the high-tech bon into her magical grip and inspects it from different angles.

“This… will suffice.” She says with a smile. I nod and both her and my bow both glow just a bit brighter. In a flash of light, she returns the bow to my grip. “All you have to do is tie the letter you want to send to one of your arrows, and fire high into the air, whereas the magic will allow the arrow to appear in front of me, somewhat like my Spike’s ability you mentioned.”

“Perfect.” I reply and gently place it back on top of the duffel bag I took it out from. I also take the initiative and put my M4 inside as well. I turn back to her, “My bow only sends letters if they’re attached to the arrows right?” she nods. “And only to you?” she nods again. “Okay, making sure.” I reply and jump down from the plane.

“Is that everything?” Twilight asks me. I look around, my annoyance and anger slowly climbing at the absence of two important ponies.

“No. God damnit, where are they?!” I mutter the last part to myself. I told Rarity and Steel Verrier to be here before I leave and they aren’t fucking here. Damnit I swear they better have a good reason to-

“Swift!” Well just in fucking time.

Rarity trots up, carrying a large garment bag with her in her magic grip along with wearing a saddlebag, followed by Steel Verrier who is carrying a small wooden box with a small belt on top on his back. “Well it’s about time you got here.” I lowly say.

“I’m sorry, Swift. I needed to grab my-“

“I’m not looking for excuses.” I hiss at her, making both ponies recoil a bit. “I told you both I needed this stuff here before I leave and I meant it.” I say with slight anger in my voice as I cross my arms.

“But we’re here now.” Steel speaks up, taking a step forward. I slowly glaze over to him and stare. I don’t need this. I need to get going. I shake my head and look at garment bag. “That it?” I motion with my head.

She looks at the clothing for a second before turning back to me. “Ye-yes. I just finished it last night.” I walk over and zip down the bag. I smile at the clothing inside, made to my specifications.

I pull out my new black duster coat. I take note of its slightly heavier than average weight as I pull off my swords and put it on. As soon as it put it on, I smile. “Perfect.”

“Yes, my first non-stylish soldier oriented attire.” She slowly walks up and extends the slit clothing at the bottom of my legs with her magic, “Fire-resistant polymer, durable cloth material to prevent easy tearing, lining on the inside to help resist the cold, and inside…” she takes some small tweezers from her saddlebag and opens up to the inside of the duster, allowing us to see various metal looped rings inside. “Highest grade steel we could make on short notice melded together to make new chainmail armor. It’s not the outside that matters, this one time being the exception at least…” she says and mutters the last part herself.

“It’s what’s on the inside.”

“Precisely.” She says with a smile and stitches the opening closed from some thread in her bag. “I also took the liberty of stitching in a few holsters for any… weapons you come across.” She adds.

I open it up and look inside to see the different straps inside. Pistols are easy enough but it also looks like I could probably fit in my shotgun against my leg as well. I smile, “Not what I asked but a very nice bonus.” I look back at her, “Thank you, Rarity.” I look over towards the elderly pony that accompanied her, “You too Steel.”

“O-Oh, well. I-It was no trouble.” She hesitates a little on her words.

“Something wrong Rarity?”

“I… no, it’s nothing. Don’t you have to ask Mister Verrier something?” she quickly finishes up and motions to Steel. Before I can ask again, she turns tail and quickly trots to the others. Huh, weird.

“Yeah, well.” I turn to Steel, “Do you have them?” I ask.

He nods. He reaches back and carefully holds out the box to me. “Finished up the belt a little while ago.”

I grab the belt and shoulder it over my arm since its way too small for me. I grab the box and open it, lightly chuckling as I close it and walk a few feet from everypony. All this stuff… it’s good. Well-made… he’ll need it.

“Spike!” The dragon perks up at my shout. “Front and center!”

He hastily hops off of Twilights back and runs up to me. I kneel as I place the box and belt down on the ground.

“Yes?” he nervously asks.

“Spike, where I’m going, I won’t be able to visit or come back here in a moment’s notice. Call me paranoid, but even though the soldiers are here… I want someone I trust to handle this.” He looks confused. I grab the lid of box and open it.

“… What are those?” he asks. I chuckle. I’m not surprised that he doesn’t know what he’s looking at.

“These, are the first single-handed designs of gunpowder weaponry from my world, the flintlock pistols.” I say while pull them out. One in each hand, I aim down both to make sure the aim is correct. “Devastating pieces of weaponry with good accuracy along with an intimidation factor on how loud they are.” I place one down, “Only is problem is their long reload time. However, you may have helped me come up with a work around for that.”

Spike continues to stare at me with a wide and confused stare. Placing the second pistol down, I grab 1 of 20 small rolls of paper and cloth on the inside of the lid of the box and hold it up for him to see. “These contain the exact amount of gunpowder, the bullet, and the rest needed to allow the flintlock to fire. Since your teleporting flame doesn’t actually burn anything it transports, your perfect.” I finish saying. I hand the ammo to him, where he shakingly takes it.

“I… I-I-I-I c-“

“You can’t do it?”

“N… no I…” he’s completely at a loss for words. Not surprising. He’s never really held a weapon before, let alone fire one. What I’m asking of him is a major change in his life… but it must be done.

“Spike…” I say in a calmer sensitive tone as I place the bullet back into the box. He relaxes a little. “Do you love Twilight?” He hesitates but nods ‘yes’.

“Do you love Rarity?” Doesn’t hesitate there.

“Do you love Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie and Applejack?” he nods again. “I’m glad to hear that, because I love them all too. But with all the dangers of the Everfree forest… I can’t be out there, and be here at the same time.” I gesture with my arms.

“I need someone. Someone brave, strong, courageous and with motivation enough to take a hit for the ones we consider as family.”

“But… Swift, are… are you sure I can…” I reach over and place a hand on his shoulder, “Spike, how old are you?”

“18.”

I smile, “I’m 16. From where I’m from, you would be old enough to own a gun.” I emphasize.

“But that’s-“

“Dragon years or no, 18 is 18.” I let the words sink in before continuing. “I need someone here to protect our friends, and family.”

He breaks contact with my eyes and looks down, thinking more on the subject I’m asking him to do.

After a few moments, I push the belt equipped with both flintlocks in the holsters and 10 of the bullet cloths along the sides. “Prove to me, that you can protect the ones you call friends and family.”

He looks up at me, a determined look on my face. “Prove to yourself… that you’re no longer the baby dragon everypony claims you are.”

Something changes. He no longer has that scared look on his face, now replaced with the same determination I had throughout my time here in Equestria.

He grabs the belt and slowly clicks it around his waist.

“I won’t let you down.” I smile.

I stand up and salute him. “I know you won’t.”

He returns the gesture. Before he turns around and leaves, I stop him by grabbing his shoulder, “Like a mother to her child, she’ll do everything she can to shield him from pain and horror. I don’t know the standpoint of mine, but I know some will try to take those from you.” I turn him around and look directly into his eyes, “Especially Twilight, and Rarity. Don’t let them.” He answers with a nod of yes.

I stand back up and we both head over to the group consisted mostly of our friends. The little fillies happily trot up to Spike and examine his new attire. “Wow, Spike! What’s that? Where’d you get those?!” The crusaders ask him. He looks up at me for an answer.

“You can mention them, just don’t brag or let them out of your sight. Do what you can to make sure I don’t regret this decision.” I say in a low voice, focused on the style of ‘serious but content’.

“These are my new weapons. Swift got them for me because…” he trails off as I begin making my way to my plane.

“Go on!”

“Wait, ah- Oof!”

Applejack suddenly gets pushed right in front of me with her flank pointed right at me. I raise an eyebrow in question. …Huh, all that work on the farm definitely payed off. And then some.

“Ow.” She gets up off the ground, shakes her head and stares at Pinkie Pie sternly, who smiles nervously in return. As soon as she turns to me, her anger disappears, “Hehehehe, sorry about that Swift.” Applejack chuckles nervously before calming down. “Anyway, Ah just uhh… Ah wanted to give you something before you left.”

“Really? What is it?” I ask while kneeling. She reaches behind her and pulls out a black Stetson hat. It looks a lot like the one she’s wearing right now, except this one has a band that’s a lighter shade of black around the middle area of it, plus it’s a bit straighter along the edges. I reach out and slowly take the hat.

“It’s mah lucky hat. Ah only wear it on special occasions. Since you’re going and all, I figured you might have better luck with it.” She explains.

As I look at the band, I grin as an idea pops into my head. I take out Philomena’s and Rainbow Dashes feather and slip them onto it. Once they are properly secured there, I slowly place it on my head. Gliding my fingers along the front edge part of it, I feel content and awesome. A badass cowboy hat, guns, swords, and duster… I’ll probably be making one hell of a first impression. “Nice, I love it. Thanks Applejack.” I say with a smile.

“Yer’ welcome. Just… be careful out there.” She asks with sincerity in her voice.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I walk over to my plane and climb onto the wing. “Is there anything else anypony wants to give me before I leave?! Once I fly, I’m not coming back for a long time.” I shout to everypony. They all look around at one another and expect one of them to walk up.

No one does.

“Alright then.” I mutter and head to the cockpit.

“Wait a second!!” I turn around at the sudden outburst from Pinkie Pie.

But then again, when doesn’t she have a sudden outburst of something. “I just realized I didn’t get you a gift!”

“Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about?” Twilight quizzically asks her friend. Pinkie suddenly grabs Twilight by the cheeks on her face and stares into Twilight’s eyes.

“Don’t you see! You gave him his new weapons and armor! Fluttershy got him a pet! Rarity his new clothes! Applejack his new hat! Rainbow Dash her feather! Even the Princess got him new position!” Pinkie yells and explains each pony as she pops up right next to them out of nowhere. She even appears from inside of Celestia’s hair when she mentions her. “I never got you a gift!” she pops out from inside of the cockpit. “I need to get you something really really quickly before you leave.” Before she can talk off, I manage to grab her tail at the last second as she continues to try to move through the air.

“Stop!” I yell at her. She stops struggling and hangs low by her tail. “That won’t be necessary, Pinkie.” I close her mouth before she starts getting hysterical. “You already gave me a gift I will never forget.” She looks at me confused and so do the others. “Let me explain.” I clear my throat,

“Forgetting the fact that you being here is a gift itself that I’m sure none of us will never take for granted, being as how such an interesting character you are.” I gesture to everypony, who all nod in approval. “There’s also the fact about your family.” That gets her interest outright.

“What about my family?” she asks.

“Tell me, how often do you keep in contact with your family?”

What’s weird, is that I’m still holding her by her tail and she gets into a near perfect position of the thinker. “Hmmmmmmmmmmmm… I send a letter every week to see how they are doing. I used to send a letter everyday but then they told me that their mailbox kept getting full so I had to send a letter every other day but it still kept getting full. So finally it was decided, one letter a week.” She finishes with a smile.

I just stare, “Yeeeaaaaaahhhh, right. In any case, I remember you telling me how you used to grow up on a rock farm correct?”

“Yeperu. I can name a tooooon of different types of rock. There’s Carbonatite, marble, sulfur, granite,”

“Pinkie…”

“Phyllite, quartzite, slate, gneiss,”

“Pinkiiiiiiee…”

“Travertine, Shale, Limestone, Flints, Coa-“

“PINKIE!” I yell at her face. She recoils and immediately shuts up. “I’m on a short time here. Let me get to the point, alright?” I sternly ask her. She nods vigorously. “In order for the Equestrian military to gain it’s new gunpowder based weaponry, we need a chain of suppliers to support the components… all of which can be obtained from a rock farm.” I finish with a smile.

Her fearful look for some reason changes to confusion, then amazement. “Wait, you mean-“

“Yes, Pinkie Pie. Your family is the first suppliers of gunpowder in Equestria. Even if they have morals or whatever that’ll make them not accept the money for the powder, they will still be written down in history as the first suppliers of gunpowder in Equestrian history.”

After a few moments, it’s obvious she’s speechless. Holy shit, that’s the first. Pinkie Pie, speechless. “Uhh, Twilight? Could you please?” I hold out in reference to her grabbing pinkie.

“Yeah sure.” She warily reply’s. She takes the pink pony in her magical grasp and carefully brings her down to the ground. Yet she’s still keeping a watchful eye on me. What’s with her?

I shake the thought away and head to the cockpit. I take off my swords and slide them onto the side of the pilot’s seat carefully so they don’t get caught or poke anything important. I turn back to the others.

“Well, that looks like about everything. I guess now I’ll say, I’ll see you all when I get back… whenever.”

“Farewell, Champion. I wish you well and good fortune on your journey.” The princess wishes me luck. All her guards and soldiers line up on the side of my plane and one by one, they all salute me. Even Spike joins in as well. I salute them all back. Once I make sure that no pony is in front, I startup my plane and watch as the propellers start spinning.

“You get back in one piece! You hear me Swift!?” Twilight yells over the sound of my planes engine and spinning motors.

“I will! Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” All my friends wish fortune as well on my trip. I smile as I grab the lid on the cockpit and slide it shut.

“Alright, pressure systems… green. Flaps… working. Turn system… perfectly tuned. Weapons… ready and waiting to be armed. Fuel gauge… empty. No surprise there. Hehe.” I chuckle. A regular pilot comes by and sees this, he’ll freak out especially if he’s in the air.

The gauge spikes suddenly before dropping to normal. That wasn’t supposed to happen. After my first near death crash, I’ve take every precaution I could find when it comes to making sure that I won’t actually crash. The sudden movement of the gauge needles like that can’t bode well. I pick at the meter for a second before shrugging. I don’t have time for this. I need to get moving ASAP.

I slowly begin my acceleration down the now makeshift runway. As another precaution, I started farther back from the first time I started. With the small bumps and beats of the ground below, my heart beats faster and faster and before I know it, the cliffs edge comes into view. I calm my breathing and gently pull the controls back. Just as I meet the cliff, I’m airborne.

I grin a smile of accomplishment as the clouds come into full view and the earth below me becomes harder to distinguish. As soon as I’m over the clouds, I sigh.

Now my journey to unknown lands commences. Let’s see what else this world has to offer me than Equetria.

-------------------------------

And so his journey starts. Hope y’all like where this is going. I sure as hell do.

Also something came up that’s been picking at my thoughts.

Is Swift still proclaimed as the sort of… Gary Stu?

I remember back when I first started people immediately jumped to the conclusion of him being the all around badass good guy with a cool head. Naturally, I can’t blame you. When I started, that was my main focus and never really thought of the ideas that I have now, especially him becoming the Champion of Equestria.

But I digress, now I’m curious of what you all still think of Swift? Is he still the Gary Stu character at first made to be?

Or is he different and more refined than before?

Place your opinions and comments below. Thank you all for your input.

Also, Season 4 premiere… nice. Especially since some moments of the episodes may seem a little… suggestive. Still awesome though.

The Griffon Empire

View Online

“Date: November 15th of the year 1998. Time: 0800 hours.
At this time, I start my journey of diplomacy, or something like that, to the provinces of the Griffon Kingdom and Zebrica. My job: A threat was made to Equestria one month from today and it is my job to find out who sent it. All leads within Equestria were exhausted and now we are forced to branch out to the other places around to try and find some clue as to the source. We do not think the culprits are the leaders of any of the countries; otherwise they would have attacked and taken us by surprise rather than let us build up our defenses… or maybe that’s what they wanted. I don’t know.”

I pause the tape recorder so I can collect my thoughts. Slowly breathing in and out, I continue:

“Whether they are cocky or not remains to be seen. In any case, I am to find any sort of group, movement, or anything of that nature purely tailored to the hate of ponies. I have the support of the king of the Griffon Kingdom, King Tiberius Onyxclaw, and the Chieftain leader of the largest tribe of Zebra’s in Zebrica, the Akowans. As long as I don’t pry, snoop, or do anything to them that might promote disdain or hatred to both myself and the country of Equestria, things should go without a hitch… hopefully. I also have- Wait, looks like I got company. Journal entry end.”

I stop the tape recorder and slip it into my pocket before grabbing the controls with both hands. I spot two flying objects heading straight for me. With an abrupt entrance, they both land on the wings of my plane roughly, forcing me to straighten it out before I crash into the ocean below. I flip the autopilot on and slide the cockpit open. Now I can perfectly see the two armored griffon soldiers staring at me with surprise, confusion, and anger.

“I am the Champion of Equestria!” I below over the rushing wind, and to make sure I mean business. “I am authorized to be here at the Griffon Kingdom and I demand why you nearly made me crash?!” I yell as I turn to the both of them from left and right.

“We were never told of anything coming to our empire! And even if we were, the Champion of Equestria is supposed to be a pony. Not some strange creature such as yourself.” The left one says. I clench my teeth in anger at his tone. I feel something cold on the side of my neck. I turn to see the right griffon pointing spear directly at me.

“Turn around at once or your life shall be forfeit.” He sternly says. I look back between the two a few times.

*Sigh* “I don’t have time for this bullshit.” I mutter to myself and drop down onto my seat, followed by closing the window.

“Hey!”

They rear their spears back but before they thrust, I flip off the autopilot, making the entire plane jerk down. I go into a slight nose dive to pierce through the clouds below me until I can see the water, and the Griffons’ city in the distance.

“Yes Argh-“ Before I can count my blessings, something slams into my plane. I look to the side and see one of the griffons trying to tear off the wing of my plane. I spot the other one above and groan. Twisting the controls, I perform an Aileron roll to shake off the griffon on me and keep the other one away. “Whoa. Easy now.” After doing a couple twists, I level out so I don’t start seeing double and end up crashing into the water. Already the empire is much closer but the griffons are still hot on my tail. To prevent them from trying to throw their spears if they decide to do it, I perform a barrel roll to really throw them off me. Definitely would make peaceful negotiations a wee bit harder if I end up killing their border guards. When my destination is as close as I prefer, I stop and begin my descent. Thank the many gods that I practiced.

As I increase my descent, I take note of my destination. You wouldn’t know it’s there if you didn’t notice the large double doors in the front of the mountain, the large slits and caves along the mountain, and the massive black tower sticking out at the top. Similar to the dwarves, it seems they built their city within a mountain. Looking away from the main part of the city, not much I can see of anyway, I notice a fair number of houses and buildings made of stone and wood construct on the outside. Along the side of the mountain, I manage to spot a nice long flat plot of land for me to land safely, hopefully.

Easing my way down, I manage to land somewhat smoothly. The landings a little bumpy but it’s the best I got at this point. The sputtering of my engine comes to a slow halt once I turn the engine off and stop.

“Phew… that could have gone better.” Because of the twisting and turning I did in the air, my hat got flung under my seat and my swords along my lap. Grabbing those items and putting them on, I open up and jump out onto the ground roughly.

Just as I stand up, half a dozen spears come to my neck. Standing perfectly still, I see the heavily armored griffons behind the golden tipped spears just a few inches from my neck. Well, this is definitely an interesting welcome party.

“I need to see your leader.”

“You will speak when spoken to creature!” the griffon directly in front of me yells, tightening his grip on his spear.

“I have authorization to be-“

“Quiet!” the griffon behind me pushes the spear against my neck.

I tighten my fist and pop my knuckles in the process out of anger. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I. Don’t. Have. Time. For. This. BULLSHIT!!

In the blink of an eye, my swords have been drawn. The griffons step back at the quickness on how I pulled out my weapons.

“Don’t move.” The first one shouts but with a slight bit of hesitation in his voice. Slowly, I bring Redeemer in my right up. “I said don’t-“ before he can finish, as soon as the tip of my sword touches the tip of his spear, it pops off. With an audible smack, the end falls and lands on the ground… followed by the rest of the spears. Now defunct, the scared griffons drop their useless sticks and back up.

“My patience has run thin enough as it is. I’ll repeat my question: I need to speak to your leader,” I point Redeemer forward at the first speaking griffon. “Now.”

“I-I-I-I…”

“Then speak.” The griffon soldiers around me turn their attention to behind the stuttering griffon. Three griffons walk up, all the griffons around me bow to them and part ways for the three to come to me.

The first on the left is slightly smaller than the one in the middle but he wears a suit of platinum armor, covering his chest and back but with space to allow his wings to spread forth and back with ease. He’s also equipped with iron claws over his regular talons, no doubt to add more killing power to his attacks. Another characteristic to note is the tips of the feathers on his head are dyed red.

The middle one walks with purpose and pride as we stand just a few feet from each other. He wears an ornate crown on his head, not the ones that are massive and completely covered top to bottom in jewelry, nothing like that. Gold bands adorn around his talons as each and every one of his claws, talons and paws, are black as the night itself. Around his neck is adorned with an albino fox fur and a massive diamond jewel in the center of his necklace.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure that this is legendary King Onyxclaw.

Lastly, this griffon is more heavily armored than any griffon, or any creature for that matter, than I’ve seen. I can just see the tip of his beak over the steel helmet he wears, he has a giant axe strapped to his back, his steel plated armor has various scratches and claw marks adorning the front. I also see small hit marks on his chest on the side, representing his kill count… he has a biiiiiiiig kill count. His claws are equipped similarly like the first griffon but minus the steel claws.

In relation to height, the griffon king is the same height as me but the left being slightly smaller by a couple inches and the heavily armored griffon is a bit taller than me.

“King Tiberius Onyxclaw?” he nods. I sheathe my swords and give a slight bow. “Swift Wind. Champion of Equestria. Bearer of Redeemer and Galaxy. Guardian of Ponyville-“

“Defeater of Discord. Yes I have heard much of your exploits.” He finishes up my introduction. “I was told of the reason you are here and am here to cooperate.”

“Yeah,” I smirk, “You sure have a funny way of showing your cooperation.” I motion with my hand at the surrounding griffons and broken spears.

“Quiet! You will show respect to the king or else!” The heavily armored griffon steps forward and grips the handle on his axe.

“Really?” I sarcastically say. I grip galaxy with my left, “Is that a threat?”

“Enough, Marcus.” The king brings his talon in front of the heavily armored griffon known as Marcus to stop him. The griffon looks at the king for a second, before glaring at me for a second. He calms down and steps back while releasing his axe. “Forgive him. My general has seen battle many times as it is. He just wishes for us to not be fighting two wars at the same time.”

“Two wars? I wasn’t briefed on the situation here either.” I ask.

“The Ligers, as usual, try to usurp my kind. There hasn’t been an official declaration of war with them as of yet, just skirmishes and confrontations every so often.” King Tiberius explains. “But having unspecified attacks on one side, and another from the sea wouldn’t exactly be in the best of our interests. Even if they are ponies.”

“I guess I can understand your situation. But in any case, I’m not looking for any type of confrontation between my country and yours. I just… really would have appreciated a better welcoming party than nearly crashing in the ocean.”

“Forgive us. We’ve stretched out our forces enough as it is. We couldn’t get to every single guard we had stationed out over the waters. I apologize for that.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just not make it a habit then huh?” I finish.

“Of course.” He looks around a sec, “How about we retire to the castle. It’s starting to get a little stuffy out here and I don’t think my soldiers would like the idea of me being so open to attack.” On cue, I look at the soldiers around and see most of them being more than a little on edge.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I just hope no one tries to mess with my ride.” I motion to my plane.

“Well, whatever that thing is exactly, you parked it close to the city so some scouts and archers can keep an eye on it.” He offers. I nod in approval of the proposition. He turns to the side and raises his talon to gesture me forward between him and the griffon on his left. “Shall we?”

“Let’s.” I reply and step forward.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

We freeze at the sudden but loud banging noises clearly audible around us. The soldiers get out their claws ready to attack while the general moves to shield the king and the other griffon. I pull out my S&W 500 and aim around to try and find the source of the sound.

*Bang* *Bang*

The noise sounds particularly close for comfort.

A tapping on my shoulder leads me to the griffon that was next to the king. He points to my plane as the bomb bay doors move with the banging noises. What the fuck?! Damnit.

“Stowaway.” I mouth the words to the prince. He nods and slowly we move forward. The general stays with the king as the soldiers back us up. The banging continues even as we stop just next to it. Slowly I reach forward and keep my hand just at the gap of the doors. I glance at the others around. All of them nod their readiness as they ready their claws.

Slowly, I mouth the countdown from 3 until in rapid movement, I pull the doors open and out pops…

I stare different feelings stirring around in my head, mostly anger and annoyance. “What… the fu-“

“Sorry Swift!” Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight push past us and over to a bunch of separate boulders, where the sounds of retching follow suit. As the first 3 empty their lunches, I turn back to Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy, which they look queasy as well but seem to manage.

“Geez Swift. Easy on the flying.” Rainbow groans out as she and AJ rub their heads. Fluttershy has trouble actually staying on her hoofs.

No words.

Nothing really tangible comes to mind as I stare at the separate groups of ponies.

“Ow. Well, that could have gone better.” Twilight grunts as she and her throw-up friends come back to rejoin the group.

“Indeed it could. I still don’t know how Pinkie was able to convince us to pile into that tiny compartment. Hardly a place fit for travel if you ask me.”

“But if we hadn’t gotten in there, then we couldn’t have gone with Swift and surprised him when we landed and then he would have been so stressed out that only the bright happy faces of his six bestest friends could cheer him up!” she looks at me. “Surprise!” she yells, randomly throwing glitter, streamers and confetti on me.

“Um, Champion? May I ask who these ponies are?” The king asks as he slowly walks up to us with Marcus still right next to him.

No words.

I gave them orders, and even asked with a please. But they stowed away.

“Um, Swift?”

I slowly I holster my gun and continue to stare.

“Swift?”

I carefully pull a streamer of the top of my head with a flick.

“You alright, dude?”

I tense my hands every few seconds as I do everything in my power to keep calm.

“Um, Twilight? Is his eye supposed to be twitching like that?”

<<<>>>

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?! I asked you, I ‘pretty please’ asked you to do one thing for me. And that was to fucking stay home!”

“But-“

“Shut it Pinkie!” she recoils. “Do you not know what kind of impression I just made on the king because of you?! Not a very good one!” I cut them off before they could interrupt. “Things like that may be all fun and games and even harmless back in Equestria… but this isn’t Equestria! These griffons aren’t ones to play games, especially not at this time!”

I stop to take a breath of air.

“Geez, Swift. Lighten up.” … Rainbow, I like you, but sometimes you really know on how to make things complicated for me. I stop breathing and slowly look at her.

“Rainbow… do you all know where it is that you were hiding in?” I calmly ask them.

“Obviously not a passenger seat.” Rarity says with a flick of her hair.

“You're right about that part. Did you happen to see anything big, cylinder-like, and possibly red-tipped?” I continue my fake calm demeanor.

“Ooh! I did!” she happily shouts, then recoils immensely at the stare I give.

“What did you do it?” I ask while getting really close to her.

She audibly gulps, “W-well, I-I didn’t know what it was. S-so I just started tapping at the red tip to see if I can find out.” She nervously explains.

Anger, a whole lot of anger right now. “Was- was that bad?”

Breathe in, breathe out. “Pinkie… that thing you were tapping… was 1000Ib bomb. I have two, and six rockets, plus a ton of ammo. Not a whole lot would make much sense right now to you, but think of this,” I start with a smile, “If that thing would have gone off, we would all be dead… because the explosion would be big enough to decimate half of Ponyville.”

As I let all the info sink in, my friends now grasp the situation they were in as they were thrashing about in my plane, and the tapping. Not to mention, the diplomatic situation as well.

I look to the blue Pegasus, “That’s… why I can’t lighten up.” I grunt in Rainbow’s face. She stops hovering and falls to her hooves. I turn around and head straight for the door out of the room.

“I need to tell the princess about this and get you back home.” I grip the handle.

“Now hold on their-“ I swing the door open and step outside before turning back to the farm pony. My stare may not be able to rival Fluttershy’s, but it’s enough to make Applejack back off.

“Stay… here.” I sternly but still calmly ask of them. With that, I slam the doors closed and lock them in the room King Tiberius was kind enough to let us use so we don’t make a scene out in the open.

“Uhh, god damnit.” I groan. With a thunk I lay my head against the door and calm my nerves. I really didn’t want the girls here whatsoever. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, especially after the situation I caused in my anger towards the girls in front of the king and all.

I push myself off the door and go to the table set up next to the door. It has my bow and arrows on it, plus some parchments, a quill, and ink. Hastily I write a letter to the princess on the situation before tying it to the arrow. I open up a nearby window and look down at the massive city. Even though it’s in a mountain, it’s pretty hollow. The griffons are definitely skilled when it comes to building their cities. I take aim at a nearby hole in the mountain, and fire. A small glow trails my arrow before it disappears into the air and out the mountain. Hopefully that did go through. Closing the window, I walk a few feet before I collapse onto a chair. But in case that didn’t, I still got Ferus.

“Everything alright?” I look up at the source of the voice to see that same griffon again staring at me.

“Honestly, I wish it was better. I’m sorry my friends decided to stowaway in my ride. I didn’t mean for that to happen, I swear.” I try to defuse any hostility he may have towards me or my friends abrupt entrance.

“Hm, my father is alright with the unexpected visitors, but we would have much preferred to be notified ahead of time.”

“Father?” I ask in confusion.

“Right, we didn’t have much introduction since you got here. I am Alan Hawkeye. Son to King Tiberius Onyxclaw.” He finally introduces himself.

“So that’s who you were. I knew you were important but didn’t know how much.” I say, “but yes, my friends are clearly new to this place. Just as I am.” I look at him sternly. “But fault is on both fronts of the situation. I would have preferred to have been properly notified on my arrival instead of nearly having to maim your guards.”

We narrow our eyes at each other at both of our arguments.

“Listen, I don’t want you to do anything to interfere with our way of life here. This isn’t that pony land-“

“Equestria.”

“Equestria… my kingdom is far from it. Be careful on your stay here or otherwise things will get complicated really fast. Any hostility against you is the same against Equestria, for some reason.” He quietly adds the last part. “But that doesn’t mean you can come here and do whatever it is you wish. Forceful eviction has been ordered to all the troops should the situation be deemed necessary.” After his ‘threat’, he shoulders me and walks right past me.

I clench my fists. Son of the king or not, I hate that guy. I turn around.

“Also,” I turn back, “My father has invited you and your friends to a feast.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yeah. My father thought it would give you and your friends a chance to clear the air.”

“Hm,” I think, “That… would be a welcomed opportunity. I accept.”

“Great, I’ll tell my father.” Without another word, he walks away. I’m pretty sure he was being sarcastic with the ‘great’ part but I forget it.

Now another problem. I have no idea where to go.

A passing guard with a spear catches my attention.

“Excuse me.” The guard stops to acknowledge me, “I need to head to a restroom. Could you tell my friends that are supposed to meet in this feast hall and I’ll meet them there?”

“Of course sir. I was just on my way to find your pony friends anyway.”

“Great.” After the scorning I gave my friends, I don’t think I would be the best at presenting this opportunity. “My friends are in the room with the double doors over there.” I point to the doors.

“Thank you. And the feast hall is down this hall then your first left, take a right at the end and the restroom should be right there. Keep going down the hall to reach the feast hall.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He replies and we go our separate ways. He heads to the girls door while I head to the restroom. I have to admit, in my anger induced mind I never did get the chance to properly examine my surroundings. Unlike Canterlot, torches adorn the walls around me and the walls are made of jet and quartz rock materials while long columns of marble pillars were present as well. The windows aren’t side by side by any means. Instead they are separated by several feet of blank wall, even sporting a torch in every other section available. The windows themselves are a different story entirely. Most can be opened when pleased to allow a little fresh air, however the plain windows have another feature I am particularly fond of. At the top of each window stands a shutter of steel and iron as tall as the window below it with a string attached at the top. If the castle were to be attacked, whether by civil war or enemy invasion, which the latter kind of seems unlikely considering the only means to get in would be the front doors, the windows would close and utterly seal the windows with near impenetrable metal. The cracks on the side of the mountain could be used as another entry point, but you would need transportation and a lot of protection to stand up to the arrow, ballista, and catapult fire.

After I freshen up in the restroom, my next destination is the feast hall. Upon opening the doors, I’m greeted by the sight of a massive table with all my friends already seated. I can’t really make out the type of wooden table they are using because of the white cloth on the top but it seats 5 people on each side and someone at each end of the table. At the end sits the king, on his right in order is his son, Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack. On his left, an empty seat, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. They all seem much happier than from when I was blowing up at them just a few minutes ago.

Slowly I walk over to them. The random conversations die down only slightly but still somewhat lively. “Champion, over here. We saved you a seat right here.” Tiberius motions to the empty seat next to him and Dash. I give a weak smile and sit down. “The chefs are already beginning to prepare our meals.”

“Thank you, and please don’t call me Champion every time. Just Swift will suffice.”

“Very well. While we wait, would you be willing to explain on exactly what it is you are here for?” The King asks. I go to say something, but turning to the side and seeing all my friends, I stop.

“Sorry your majesty. Not while my friends are here. This is on a need to know basis.” Wow, never thought I’d be saying that.

“Aw come on!” Rainbow groans. “I hate being in the dark like this. Come on, tell us what’s up.” Rainbow tries to push the subject.

“Yeah, let us in on the details. I promise we won’t say anything.” Pinkie loudly asks of me. I shake my head.

“Sorry.”

“Aw.” Pinkie groans.

I turn to the king and Alan, “Hopefully they won’t be here for long. I already sent a letter to-“ In a small flash, my arrow and a letter appears in front of me. “Speak of the devil.” I mutter. I take the letter and place the arrow down.

“What was that?” Alan quickly asks.

“Later.”

Dear Swift Wind,

I’m sorry to hear of the predicament you are in. I also wish to apologize that transportation to pick up the Elements of Harmony are halted for the moment. A small mishap at the Rainbow Factory near Cloudsdale resulted in a massive spread of clouds over a 53 mile radius. While the stragglers of the clouds are easy to round up, a large sum of them mixed in with the Everfree forest clouds and passed over the ocean between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. The result being is massive gusts of wind, large tidal waves, and hazardous thunder strikes nearly every second. Any and all weather ponies we are able to muster are currently working on the storm as you read this. From a few days to a week at best we should have the situation return to normal.

Best regards,

Princess Celestia.

I roll up the letter and groan.

“What is it? What did the princess say?” Twilight asks.

“A mishap at the Rainbow factory sent clouds scattered over Equestria. Some mixed in with the Everfree Forest so they glided over to the ocean and now a massive storm got created.”

“What?!” Rainbow angrily yells.

“Yep. So until the storm dissipates,” I look towards my friends. “You’re stuck here.”

Silence follows. My friends weren’t supposed to be here. In the short time I’ve been here, the Griffon Kingdom is clearly different from Equestria… how different, I can’t really say.

“Ah, here’s our food.” On cue, some griffons walk in, each carrying a few plates on their outstretched wings. With ease, they place plates of some salads and fruits in front of my friends. While the king and his son receives… steak.

Steak… oh my god… I forgot so much…

As soon as the plate is placed in front of me, I grab the griffon’s wing. “What the hell is this?”

He looks at the plate of salad in front of me for a second before turning to me. “Is this not what you like? Do you have a preference?”

Looking at my friends, then to the meals in front of the king and his son, I answer:

“Yes, I do.” I push the plate away from me towards my friends before looking the griffon in the eyes. “Get back there, and get me the biggest, juiciest, fucking steak you got.” I pull him closer till our foreheads are touching. “Understood?”

He gulps, “S-sire?”

“Get what he wants.” The king answers.

“Y-yes sir.”

“Good.” I gently but forcefully push him away. “Now go.” I command in a low voice. The griffon hastily gets to his feet and scrambles towards the kitchen doors.

The silence from before resumes almost immediately due to the scene right now. My friends don’t eat, neither do the griffons present at the table. My friends are probably too stunned to eat at the fact that one of their friends is about to eat meat right in front of them.

This trip has already started off badly so much. At this point, I don’t really care.

“H-Here you are.” The same griffon I scared the shit out of returns with my plate. True to what I asked, the steak in front of me is the biggest I’ve seen. It’s only slightly bigger than the kings.

“Thank you.” He moves away from me as my mouth begins to water at the sight. For months, nearly a year, counting both Equestria and Earth years, I haven’t had anything that looks nearly as good as this. Grabbing my utensils, I cut a piece off and hold it to my mouth for a few seconds.

My friends look mortified.

The king and his son just stare.

I eat.

The flavors long forgotten invigorate my taste buds.

I turn to my friends, “I like it.”

<<<>>>

“How could you do that?! How could you eat meat?!” Twilight shouts at Swift. The rooms that the king provided them are somewhat simple. He provided Swift his own to use during his stay in kingdom, and the one they are currently in has six beds for his friends to sleep in. “Answer me!”

“It’s in my kinds nature. We are omnivores. We eat both meat and vegetables. For too fucking long I’ve lost sight of that taste and I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to indulge myself.” Swift sternly tells Twilight. He backs up and lies against the wall. “Besides, you weren’t supposed be here, remember?”

“That doesn’t matter! You ate meat. Something that was once alive and breathing just as you!”

“Whatever it was before, it would have killed another animal! Who’s to say that this wasn’t some giant carnivorous creature that could have killed a family?!”

“You don’t know that! It could have been a simple little deer trying to get by and you loved the taste of it!” Twilight spat, “It’s disgusting!”

“Oh well excuuuuuse me for not finding a ton of plants and grass edible. I’m just trying to get by!” Swift continues his debate with Twilight while flinging his arms in the air. As the debate ensues, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash try to go to bed but can’t because of the other two going at it. Pinkie meanwhile is wearing a referee uniform and putting tally marks down between the two on a scroll. “And how is it disgusting?! That was one of the most beautiful smells I have smelled since I came here to Equestria.”

“It was once a living creature! It smelled awful!”

“Umm… Twilight…” Fluttershy tries to catch the unicorns attention.

“It wasn’t awful! I almost cried when I saw the king and his sons meal!”

“It was murder!”

“…Twi-“ The shy pegasus speaks a little louder but gets cut off.

“Murder is killing a creature with sentient intelligence that can actually talk to us. That meat was never able to talk to us!”

“How do you know that?!”

“Twilight.” Fluttershy finally gets a word in loud to catch the unicorn’s attention.

“What Fluttershy?”

“You shouldn’t get mad at him.” The debate between the individuals ends as they both turn towards her. “He’s just trying eat what he’s meant to. We can’t force him to change his eating habits or what’s right for his body.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. And now that you, Twilight, have lost this battle, I am going to go to my room and fall asleep. Goodbye.” Swift happily states and starts walking towards the door before grabbing the handles and opening them. Silence is left in the room at the sudden turn of events. Swift backs up into the room and even tracing his footsteps. “I’m sorry… but did I hear her right? Was she cool with me eating meat?”

“Yes, you were.”

“You… Fluttershy, were alright with…”

“I’m not… fully, alright with it… but it’s the circle of life. I know Mr. Bear is a carnivore so… sometimes a deer would get too injured or sick from the Everfree Forest and they would…” she gulps, “pass away… the family’s of the deer’s would let me have the bodies, so I was able to feed most of my carnivore animal friends without them having to hurt or… kill, other cute little animals, or even ponies.”

They both stare at the pegasus, flabbergasted that the one pony, the shyest, kindest, most easily frightened, and caring creature in the entire universe… understands the need to eat meat.

“I… wow. I don’t… wow.”

“IIIIII…”

“It’s getting late. We should get some sleep.” Fluttershy gently takes to the air and hovers over to her bed before tucking herself in.

“Yeah, yeah she’s right. Luna’s done her job now so now it’s time for us to get some rest.” Swift says before walking to the door. “See ya later, Twilight. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Swift.”

He opens the door and closes behind him. Instead of walking away to his room, he stands there.

“Holy hell.”

-------------------------------

Still making some progress. However my semester in college is going to end in less than a week so chances are I will probably be a little behind on my work.

I’ll do what I can to continue writing as much as I can, but I felt I should tell you just in case.

Anyway you know the drill at the end of these. Still looking for some feedback folks.

War

View Online

“November 22nd, 1998. 0900 hours.
Well, things have turned to hell in a hand basket almost immediately. The girls stowing away in the bomb bay for my plane was definitely not an impression I wanted to make on the king. He was cool with it afterwards and was nice enough to let them stay for a bit till the princesses are able to send a few chariots to get them. I didn’t want them to see me eat meat like that, but they weren’t even supposed to be here so there’s fault on their part as well. Twilights Birthday is coming up in about a week or so and I have no idea what to give her.”

“God damnit.” I groan and pause the recorder. In just a few days before her birthday, I yelled at her the loudest I’ve ever yelled directly at somepony. Things died down since then but I still feel like crap.

“Hmm, as long as nothing pops out unexpected like, I may be able to find a gift. In either case, Christmas is also coming up in around a month so I’ll need another present for Twilight and the others. God, Celestia, Faust, whatever, already this trip has nearly screwed up my entire relationship with my friends. Hopefully in time things will get better. So far I don’t have any leads as to the identity of the ones that threatened Equestria here in the Griffon Empire, but I’m still searching. For now I’ll-“

“Champion.” A griffon barges through the doors of my room. I look down from staring at the ceiling at him. “Your presence is requested in the main meeting hall. It’s important.”

“Well, looks like something new every day. Let’s hope its good news. Journal entry end.” I turn off the tape recorder and place it down on the desk. I grab Redeemer and my S&M 500 before heading to the door, accompanied by the messenger griffon.

<<<>>>

Oh how one would hope.

King Tiberius Onyxclaw stares at the guest in front of him, pondering the intentions that both his and his own species have from his visit.

Baron Von’ Butch, general, commander, but currently ambassador, of the entire Liger army sits across from the king. Ligers similarly like the griffons are half lion and half tiger. Because of the combination of these two fierce creature, Ligers are by far large, tough and extremely resistant to pain when it comes to combat. Ligers don’t use weapons as much, only those with rank and high place in their society are they given weapons to demonstrate their authority. Regular and civilian ligers tend to use brute strength and their claws to rip, tear, crush, and maim their enemies to death, which makes it tough to take down even one of them with just brawn alone. The ambassador carries many scars along his body, most notably the scar running along his jaw line and another horizontal on his neck. His large steel claymore remains tied to his back on top of his plate armor running along his chest and shoulder areas but leaving his legs free and open.

The king and ambassador stare at each other in silence, trying to ascertain each other’s movements and intentions. Both sit as they wait.

“Um, excuse me?” Tiberius glances at the purple unicorn to his right. “I’m sorry to say but, why are we here? This looks like something between the two of you and not ponies.” Twilight asks as she gestures between herself and her friends at the table.

“You are here because I requested you to be here.” The gruff voice of the Liger general answers.

“But why?”

He looks down for a second, “A great travesty has sprung up in the Liger Empire. The King, Verus Ofright, was murdered.” The ponies gasp at the news. Even though they have never been to The Liger Empire, it is well known of his strength, capabilities and his rule on the throne. Baron looks up, “I was sent by his son, the heir to the throne, here to find the culprit.”

“What makes you think the culprit is here?” Alan sternly asks. The general turns to the prince.

“Coincidence, knowledge and eyes.”

“That still doesn’t-“

“Announcing the arrival of Swift Wind, Champion of Equestria, Wielder of Redeemer and Galaxy, Guardian of Ponyville, and Defeater of Discord.”

The griffon guard at a pair of double doors yells, the doors wide open as the announcee walks in. Immediately he spots the King, the king’s son, his friends, and the first liger he’s ever seen, all sitting at a table. “You called for me?”

“Yes, we have. Please sit.” Tiberius motions to the empty chair on his right. After taking a seat, “Swift Wind, this is ambassador Baron Von’ Butch of the Liger Empire.” Tiberius looks to Baron, “Ambassador, this is-“

“I know who he is. Even if it wasn’t for the announcement of his entrance, his exploits have been spread far enough for me to notice.” The king stares at Baron, still curious as to what this means. Maybe he’s here to try and obtain aid in finding the suspect to his kings death, just like the Champion is trying to find aid in the threat against his county.

“What is it you need?”

“Explain why my king is dead?” Tiberius’s claws clench tightly at the tone and nature of the ambassador’s statement.

“I’m sorry, but I would have no knowledge on how he died unless you were to allow me to examine the body and give my opinion. I am fairly knowledgeable when it comes to wounds.” Swift calmly replies. Being the ambassador to the Ligers, like himself to the ponies, he must remain true to his duty as the Champion and ambassador, less he be the one to make things complicated instead of his friends.

“I’m sure you do. Unfortunately, culture dictates that in the event of death, only the family members of the victim may examine the body. So even if I were to allow you, others wouldn’t agree, especially his son.”

“Hm, pity.”

“What are you saying ambassador?” Twilight asked.

He sighs, “I’m saying, that the obvious culprit of the crime is the sitting to your left, pony.”

Swift clenches his fist under the table as Twilight looks to her left to see said human. “How is that possible?”

“One week, three days ago, King Verus was assassinated in his own chambers. The king was loved by his kind so it doesn’t reason another would kill him, a pony may be able to get in using their precious magic but they would never be able to match up to the strength the king has, even with the element of surprise, and griffon’s aren’t stealthy enough to sneak into the heart of the Liger Empire to be given the chance to murder him. Leaving only one other option…” All eyes once glance over to the human sitting at the table. Swift has a blank look on his face as he tries to make sense of the accusations against him.

“How was he killed?” After a few moments of silence, Swift asks.

“According to his son’s description, a thin long single stab wound directly to the heart, and another at the base of his neck, severing his spine.” He looks away, “Hopefully he didn’t feel much pain.” Baron recounts the small autopsy report.
“It wasn’t me.”

“Don’t try to deny it.”

“I’m not denying. I’m telling you the truth.”

“No other creature in the world has weapons like yours. And if you think that someone else would use mine or some other noble’s sword-like weapon, you’re wrong. We are tasked with keeping our weapons on us at all times and locked away when not in use.” He talks with a bit more force. He smiles, “Now why don’t you be a good little… whatever you are, be nice like your little pony friends and-“

*SLAM*

Interrupting the ambassadors statement of surrender, Swift slams his fist down on the table, shaking it slightly. Silence shortly follows before Swift says, “I don’t kill unless there’s a need to behind it. Besides, like I said, I didn’t do it.” He calmly finishes up.

“And I said-“

“Do you have any special ways to kill your own kind?” No one answers. “No. Well there are plenty of ways for my people. Japan has a history of ways to end lives. Samurai soldiers when defeated in combat would later commit Seppuku, the act of killing themselves to bring honor to their family’s name. Another samurai would be standing next to them to decapitate them so they wouldn’t have to suffer more than needed.” Swift smiles at the stares his audience gives.

“In China, the Chinese invented another form of death known as the Death of a Thousand Cuts. The Thousand Cuts of Death is accomplished by performing one thousand individual cuts across the entirety of the body. No cut crosses an artery, no cut alone would cause death no matter how much time passes. Rather, each cut, all the same time would bring unimaginable pain over the course of time as you watch the blood draining from your very own body.”

His friends stare wide eyed.

“Slow, agonizing, methodical, it is one of the most brutal and agonizing deaths ever conceived in my kind’s history. If the king did something to want me to kill him… his entrails would have been strewn all over the room if I wanted.” Slowly, he leans forward. “Frankly Baron, I don’t like you. I can respect you for the scars you have adorning your figure, an indication of your time with fighting and war… but I don’t like you.”

Swift leans back in his seat. General Butch grits his teeth in anger and annoyance as he stands. “How dare you? You think yourself something important?! All I’ve seen since I met you is someone who uses words to threaten me and my country. Unless I see with my own eyes, I see no reason one way or another to give you any form of respect that you may think you deserve!” He turns back to the door. “When I return to the Empire, The Kings heir will hear of this and it will mean war!”

“Who said you get to go back?”

The ambassador freezes in place at the sight of the human at the door far in front of him. He turns back to see him gone at the table. Still in disbelief, he turns back again but jerks back at the eyes right in front of him.

“You know, there are ways to make you see reason… at least to our favor. Hehehe.” Swift chuckles evilly. He stands his ground but the fear in his eyes says differently. “I could take you hostage, leave you trapped in a hole in the ground and feed you nothing but rotten and poisoned food, slowly but surely breaking your will till the point you’ll follow every word we say.” he say in a malicious voice. Swift takes a step forward, the ambassador takes one back. Swift smiles and grabs his sword.

“Enough!”

Both stop at the sound of the kings voice.

“You may leave ambassador.” Tiberius calmly says. Baron switches looks between Swift and the king before hastily moving away from the psychotic human towards the door. He stops shortly in the arch of the doorway and turns back to everyone in the room.

“I hope you know… this means war. For the griffons, then the ponies.” The door closes bluntly just as Swift turns around.

“Son of a bitch.”

“Wha- Di-Did he j-just s-s-say?” Twilight hysterically begins to say. Her and Swift’s friends begin to clamor a bit on the situation and what just a happened.

“Swift Wind, and your friends,” Twilight and the others stop their clamoring and turn to the king. “I believe it is best that you take your leave immediately.”

“Sir, I’m sorry I-“

“Now!” Tiberius yells.

<<<>>>

“Sir, please I can help!”

“You’ve done more than enough.” Tiberius sternly says as he and a small squad of soldiers accompanies me and my friends to the outside. A few soldiers also carry along my stuff with them.

“Your majesty there is absolutely no way under any circumstances am I to bring my friends back to Equestria in the same place they came in!” I voice my decision on the matter. Even though they know the danger, no way are they going in.

We stop a few feet from the doorway to the city and stand in silence. Slowly some flapping sounds can be heard. “Looks like you don’t need to.” Alan states with a pointed claw.

We all turn our attention in that direction to spot a very large carriage, military from the looks of it what with the sword and spear designs on the side along with metal sheeting along the side and metal wheels, plus the metal chains attached to the five ponies pulling it. She settle down just in front of us.

“Sir,” One of the lead pullers salutes me, “We were sent to pick up some ponies.”

“Glad this is working out perfectly then.”

“Listen,” I softly yell to Tiberius, “I am sorry for what happened but the Ligers also stated war on Equestria as well. I can’t leave here knowing that. Especially not with us on high alert as it is!”

“I did not ask for this either, but the Ligers have been the enemies to my kind for generations as it is. I know what they’ll do.” He takes a slightly calmer tone. “They especially think the ponies are weak. They won’t care to or even think of wasting their troops and resources on the ponies.” He looks at my friends for a second before turning back to me, “They will first try to end this skirmish we’ve been having for a long time before focusing you.” He turns away.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Swift Wind. Good luck in journey.” He promptly walks away with his guards in tow.

“No… god damnit.” I cures to myself. Already a war is brewing and now-

“Sire!” A lone griffon soldier flies straight towards King Tiberius and bows.

“What is it soldier?”

“A massive army of Ligers has just attacked the city of Dawnspear! Already they have taken hostages, weapons, and strategic points.”

Tiberius is at a loss for words over the capture of one of their most important cities. Alan looks worriedly as his father before looking towards the soldier. “How can this be?”

“We don’t know, sir. Some of the others believe that they must have gotten in position overnight within the swamp.”

“Raaah!” Tiberius growls angrily as he claws a nearby rock. “I knew I shouldn’t have been so cocky.”

“The General of the Liger army has also asked to speak to you as well sire.”

Silence follows from the king as be contemplates his response. He turns back, “You have no quarrel here champion. Take your leave now or you and your friends will be forced out.” He hisses at us. He turns back to his men.

“But I can help.”

He slowly turns back to me with a raised eyebrow, “Help?”

“My kind knows war. We’ve been fighting each other for years and I’ve read up on every single war that has transpired, both mine and here. Even my grandfather was in a war.”

“Have you seen war?”

Damn. I stay silent, not wanting to answer.

“I thought so.” He turns back to the griffon, “I will meet them. Farewell Swift Wind and his friends.” He replies back to us without even turning around. He walks forward with his guards close by as I spot griffons already flooding out of the castle gates. Alan looks back at me for a second before following his father.

“Fuuuuuuuuuck.” I groan.

“It’s alright, Swift.” Twilight comes over to me to try and comfort me. “Focus on back on Equestria. The griffons are tough but… in case they aren’t…” she trails off. I get what she means really. The Ligers would probably take the chance to annihilate their enemy’s they’ve had for so long. The ponies, at least to all the others, think they are weak, leaving them as secondary targets.

“Your right. We better head back now.” She nods and we both head to the carriage. Before I even get close, I grab the rest of my weapons and look at my plane.

Then an idea pops into my head.

I take off towards the front Pegasi pullers as Twilight and the others get in the carriage. “Soldeirs, come here.” I quietly motion them towards me.

“What is it, commander?”

I kneel down, “I’m probably going to do something incredibly stupid. Because of that, I need you all to get these ponies back to Ponyville and rest up at the barracks in town till I say otherwise.” They look at me confused at first but in understanding. “And under no circumstances do you tell the princesses about what happened here. I need time to try and mold this situation into our favor. Can you do that?”

They salute me, “Yes sir.”

“Good, thank you.” I get up and turn back to start heading to my plane.

“Commander!” I stop and turn back. “Good luck.”

I smile, “Thanks.” I continue heading towards my plane. As soon as I stop in front of, I’m starting to have second thought.

This is crazy. I look up and along my plane for a bit, fully contemplating what it is I’m gonna do.

“Then again, this world is crazy.” With the threat already imposed on my kingdom, I can’t allow a war on the doorstep either.

I have to stop it here and now.

---------------------------------------

Hey, sorry this took so long. In all honesty, I was incredibly lazy these past few weeks and month and didn’t find much free time in the way of getting this done. Plus my current editor had too much on his plate over the holidays to be able to make the improvements to this chapter… so expect some minor errors.

Even though I have free time at my college, I find myself succumbed to the infamous disease of writers block. Hopefully because I haven’t written in so long just states that I’m out of my groove.

In time I should be able to get back to uploading chapters again, sorry about it though.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to try and shorten the chapters from here on out.

On another note, I could really use some more editors and proofreaders… unless you guys really like to see the crappy missing words every now and then.

And finally, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

So it begins

View Online

Dawnspear is a lush, beautiful and well built city about a few miles away from the Griffon kingdom. The city isn’t built by stone entirely, rather it is more wood and open as one would expect. Unlike the Griffon Kingdom, the city within the mountains is more for those who wish to be safe in the event of a massive war that could break out with them, while Dawnspear is more open but still well defended.

Unfortunately, the city was built close to a swamp that is teeming with water associated predators and insects. The trees and plant life are incredibly thick, allowing any and all who dare walk its murky waters be met with much difficulty. Because of this, the once griffon controlled and popular city of Dawnspear is now under the temporary control of the Ligers through careful planning, sabotage and force.

Using the swamp as their cover, the Ligers were able to infiltrate the city in the dead of night and capture it by morning. Using this city as well as it’s people as a bartering chip, we’ll see just how much of a head start the Ligers can get in this war.

<<<>>>

Tiberius Onyxclaw walks to the entrance of Dawnspear while his general, Marcus Steelwing, remains far behind with a contingent of griffon soldiers in case something went wrong. General Baron Von’ Butch called for a parlay to allow both of whom to speak without a confrontation by a rookie or undisciplined soldier on either side. They both walk at an even pace until they both stand at even paces away from both sides of their armies. Tiberius stands adorned with a bit more armor than he used to be wearing but unarmed save for his natural weapons. Baron is unarmed as well, wearing the same clothing and armor he was wearing at the meeting moments ago.

“Baron.”

“Tiberius.”

“It would seem whether or not you got your perpetrator, this war wouldn’t have been preventable.”

“You know me too well Tiberius.” The King narrows his eyes.

“I didn’t earn my place as king by stealing my father’s place that’s for sure.”

“Hm, quite.” Now Baron is just trying to piss off the griffon king, actually he already did that when he took over one of his city’s.

“Enough talk, Baron. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Simple really: your son, and I promise the safe return of every single one of your griffons.”

Tiberius visibly cringes at the request, an entire city’s population… for his son. A choice no father would be willing to make, harder for the leader as well.

“M-My son?”

“Yes, your son. You give us him, and we give you back all of your captured griffons safe and unharmed. The same can be said for your son while he is in our custody.” Baron says with a smile in his voice. His words may seem genuine, but the Ligers and Griffons have always had conflict no matter the cause.

Safe and unharmed is a rare case coming from the ligers involving the griffons.

King Tiberius Onyxclaw is no tyrant by any means, he will not willfully sacrifice hundreds of his own people unless there was a way to save them.

However, his son is just as important to him as any number of his own people.

“Well, what is your answer?” Baron impatiently asks.

Tiberius ignores him and continues to contemplate his next words. If I give up my son… Oh Tartarus I would never forgive myself if anything bad happens to him. But if I don’t give him up, what would the rest of my people think, even my guards. They would all think that I regard my son above them all no matter how many lives are threatened. Tiberius heavily weighs his options.

“We can’t stay out here forever Tiberius. Make your choice now, or I will make it for you.” Baron says grimly. With time over, King Tiberius sighs.

“I am sorry, Baron. But I will be keeping my son, thank you very much.”

“Hm, shame really. Good luck with sleeping knowing the many lives you just damned for the sake of one.”

“Taunt all you want Baron, but my griffons are strong. They will not break so easily.” Tiberius says proudly before turning around and walking back to his soldiers.

“We’ll see about that.” Baron turns around and heads for his soldiers.

As soon as Baron makes it close to the gates, his men open the doors where he is greeted with his second-in-command. “Sir, what do you want we should do now?”

Baron looks back at the army of griffons, then up where he notices a lone vulture high in the sky. He smiles.

Already the buzzards are gearing up for a feast… interesting.

<<<>>>

“Sire?” General Marcus asks his king.

“Pull back the troops. If they see us all attacking at once, they’ll execute all the hostages within a moment’s notice. We need to form a new plan.”

“Yes sir. Griffons! We’re moving out!” Marcus yells, rousing the soldiers up almost instantly.

Tiberius looks back to the city and sighs while turning forward. I hope I made the right choice. He walks forward to move with his troops.

“Sire!” A single griffon shouts as he points back to the city. Everygriffon turns around to see the liger army starting to pool out of the city from its various entrances. Damnit! I knew it was only a matter of time but I was hoping for more time. “What are your orders?”

“Form a defensive line! We’ll let them come to us.” The griffons follow their king’s order and begin forming the line with shields at the front, swords behind and spears with shields just above the line.

“You sure you're ready for this sir?” Tiberius looks to the side to see his general handing him his sword, sword being an understatement. More like the tooth of a full-dragon he killed many moons ago.

He isn’t called a legend for nothing.

“You forget who you’re talking to my friend.” Tiberius says with a smile as he grabs his sword and a shield. Followed closely by his friend Marcus with his own battle-axe and shield.

“Just making sure.” They both take up places beside each other in the middle of the line. “You aren’t as young as you used to be.”

“Hm, says you.” The line is finished and all the griffons wait as the liger army charges and barrels at them like a massive herd of boulders falling down a hill. “Like old times, huh?”

Marcus looks at the charging ligers and smiles. It’s been too long since he was in a proper battle. “Yes.” The general looks around at his fellow griffons and sees the worry on some of their faces. Most of the battles that have taken place between griffons and ligers was never in an open battlefield where the ligers ballista’s and arrows could easily take away the griffons height advantage and the sheer muscle mass will clearly outmatch the griffons.

“Hold my fellow griffons!” Marcus yells “They may be bigger and taller than you, but remember the old saying, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!” he yells. He smiles as he hears more than a few griffons chuckling and preparing for the fight about to commence.

They make it to the 100 yard mark.

“Hold!”

75 yards

“Hold!”

40…

“HOLD!”

30…

“GET READY!!”

20…

“AANNNNND… P-“

TAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAK

The liger army stops in its tracks within 5 yards of its adversaries as a large spray of red mist and body parts emerge from their first two lines. The rest of the ligers are covered in the spray of blood from their comrades. The only thing the griffons suffer are new red polka dots on their shields and helmets.

A large metal bird flies above them moments later before climbing into the air again.

“What the-“

<<<>>>

“That was too fucking ballsy for my likes. Nearly took out some of the griffons.” Swift pulls up and banks to the side. He looks out the side. “Alright, alright alright. Take into account of the sudden wind change close to the ground, and for god sakes don’t go too close that I actually hit them.” Swift mentally prepares himself as he moves into position to attack again. Seeing as how the liger army has stopped, he needs to take out another of the front lines to really make them run with their tails between their legs.

TAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAKTAK

More bullets fly from the guns of Swift’s Avenger as he tears apart another of the front lines, albeit easier since they aren’t as close to the griffons.

“Haha, gotcha- Whoa!” He yells as a sudden rush from a rouge wind nearly throws him off course. “C’mon, c’mon’ c’mon!” He yells frantically as he tries to pull up in the direction the wind is coming from but he’s too low to the ground. “Damnit! Don’t do this to-!” Before he can finish, the controls suddenly jerk to the opposite direction in rapid movement, causing the plane to instead of fight against the wind, is now being carried with it into the air.

As the plane gains height again, Swift is momentarily stunned as to what the hell happened. What the-? What happened? I didn’t do that. He quickly grabs the controls as the plane tilts. Worry about that later. He shakes his head and looks over the side to see the ligers running.

“Alright, that got them scared, now to put the fear of the heavens into them.” He mutters as and begins to climb, right past the clouds until he levels out at around 2000 ft. Slowly he breathes in and exhales calmly before steeling himself. “Let’s do this.”

Completely turning the plane upside down, he dives.

<<<>>>

“What was that?! Where do they think they are going?!” General ‘Von Butch yells as he watches his army retreating straight back to his city.

“Sir, what are your orders?” his second-in-command asks.

Baron growls intently before glaring back to his soldier. “Orders?! The orders stand! Kill those griffons!” he yells angrily as he points to the motionless army across the way.

“B-But sir! What if that… thing comes back?! Our forces don’t have anything to take out something that fast.”

“It flies doesn’t it?” he glares to his second-in-command. He hesitates before nodding. “And what do we do to things that fly?”

“…*Sigh* We pluck their wings sir.”

Baron smiles, “Good, now the next time you see that creature, you-“

“INCOOOMMMING!!” A liger sentry yells while pointing to the sky. Baron growls in anger at the interruption before turning around. His growls lessens as he spots a dot coming straight down for his retreating army.

“BALLISTA’S! Get the ballista’s ready to fire!” He orders his soldiers.

“We can’t sir! They can’t aim that high!” he hears a soldier reply.

With nothing to hit that creature barreling straight down, he watches. “Curses.”

<<<>>>

In one quick motion, the metal bird launches something round straight down at the retreating ligers before pulling up as it drifts over the griffons.

In a massive, red, hot, fiery explosion, the rear of the liger’s army becomes decimated. Flesh and fur becomes ash and fire from the mysterious force while some ligers die from the sheer force of the explosion itself. A large plume of black and white smoke rises into the air as the remainder of the forces hurdle into the city, the explosion being just outside the city itself, lightly scorching the front gates.

The griffons stare at the carnage in front of them. Body’s fur and flesh with holes the size of their talons riddle the body’s while some are missing their limbs all together.

“Sire?” Markus asks his king, who is just as stunned as everyone else. He looks up as the metal creature soars above him and his soldiers, most of them cringing in fear at the thought of it directing it’s attacks at them.

That… thing looks familiar. He watches as it flies back to the Griffon Kingdom and disappears behind the mountain.

“Tiberius?” Markus knocks his king out of his stupor. “Orders?”

He looks back to Dawnspear before turning back to the city in the mountains. “Back to the kingdom. We need to rethink our plan.” King Tiberius says as he begins walking.

“Yes sir. Let’s move out!”

When they make it to the mountain, there’s no doubt about it. The metal flying bird that nearly destroyed the entirety of the liger army is none other than the very same vehicle that belonged to Swift Wind. Tiberius along with his son, general and soldiers stare at the machine in front of them. A whole new feeling flowing through them now that they know it’s more than a glorified, fancy flying machine.

The cockpit opens slowly, allowing Swift Wind in one motion to jump out. He lands easily on both his feet before standing tall.

He smiles before crossing his arms.

“So… can I help now?”

<<<>>>

“You proved yourself that much is true. But my father put me in charge of the offensive against the ligers. You don’t control my soldiers. You want something, you come to me, got it?”

“I understand. If the ligers really hate you that much, they won’t attack the ponies, if the general was even serious about that part, unless they destroy the griffons. My point in mind, better to stop them here than stop them later.” I say.

Alan stares at me for a second, trying to find any hint of a lie I may have. He doesn’t. “Alright then. There will be a meeting tomorrow in the war room. A guard will come by your room in the morning to bring you to it.”

“Thank you.”

“I will admit, I’m curious to see what other tricks you have at your disposal.”

“In due time. For now, I’m still light headed from the fight. I think I’ll turn in.” I turn around and begin walking away.

“I won’t keep you. Good night.”

“Buonanotte.” I wish him good night. I turn back to see the confused look on his face before he continues walking. “Hm, nice.”

“Ooof!!” Suddenly something hits my stomach, causing me and the other to stumble back.

“S-sorry about-“

“Watch where you’re going dweeb!”

D-Dweeb?! “Hey! I said I was-“

“Whatever I don’t want hear it.” The obviously female but bitchy griffon says. “Out of my way.” She shoulders me hard and continues walking past me. I just stare at the griffon walking away from me. Judging from her armor, and her attitude, she'd have a tough time staying in my kinds military. “Hey! Eyes up here.” She yells back to me. Now that I realize it, I think I was staring somewhere I shouldn’t.

“Wha- but I- You- Gaahhh!!” I groan in frustration and jog to my door before I decide to blow her head off. As soon as I shut the door, I drop hard onto my bed.

“Ehhhhhhhh… this gonna be a looooooonnng war.”

---------------------------------------------------------

Well, I think this is starting to come together nicely. Still looking for some more proofreaders and editors folks.

Comments and feedback will definitely help me in the long run.

Hope this New Year starts off good for you all as it did me.

Infiltration

View Online

“C’mon Twilight. Will ya’ll stop pacing around? Ah’m sure Swift will be alright.”

“This is not alright, Applejack! The second we had a chance to get out of that place, just as soon as a war starts with the griffons, he decides to play hero and be ‘their’ commander!”

“B-but he’s a-always been one t-to help w-when-“

“That’s just it Fluttershy! Why is he staying there and helping the griffons when he should be here helping us for when the ligers attack!” Twilight yells, causing the butter colored Pegasus to recoil under her mane. “He is Equestria’s champion. They made a verbal threat against both Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. It goes against his place to be helping the griffons side of the war for them instead of us.” She complains. “Maybe he’s more comfortable with them in a war than us. No surprise with that.” She mutters the last part to herself.

“Twilight, deary, calm down,” Rarity says. “With everything that we have been through, through all the dastardly trials and torments we all had to endure, can you honestly tell me that Swift Wind, the only human in Equestria who made an oath to said country, is willing to completely forgo all ties to us?” Twilight stops pacing and looks at the fashionista.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this war won’t last forever. At least I hope not.” She shakes her head of the thought. “But in any case, he tends to be the mysterious one at times. I’m sure that whatever he is doing right now, he is safe and… giving the griffons some tips on warfare for now until he returns here to us.” Rarity says with her best encouraging smile she can show.

Twilight stares for a few more seconds before heading over to the window and looking out to the darkened sky. It really isn’t true that Swift would forget his friends just like that to be comfortable in war. After all, who can ever be?

“You really think so?”

“I’m sure so deary. Now come back over here. Your food is getting cold.”

A low grumble emanating from her stomach reminds the bookworm pony with a slight blush that she hasn’t eaten much since she was just shipped back home a few days ago without her consent by some of Swift’s loyal soldiers. She’s more worried than hungry.

“Yeah,” Twilight sighs and moves away from the window back to her friends. “You’re probably right. He’s capable enough to be able to survive anything the ligers and griffons throw at him. I mean, he did survive the Everfree Forest annnnnd Discord.”

“That’s the spirit, Twilight!”

“The best we can do really right now is just wish him luck.”

“Yeah,” she looks out the window one more time before taking a bite out of some of her hay fries.

He’ll be fine.

<<<>>>

Brazor was a well commended soldier in the liger army, earning many achievements and titles while in the army that made him highly popular with the troops. True with the lack of war time for the ligers, many of those rewards were because of the skirmishes and defending against feral creatures, he has proven to be quite capable. Even though he was offered many promotions over the past years to bigger and better positions in the military that were more respectable and higher paying, but he denied everyone.

He always did prefer to be on the frontlines with his fellow soldiers, preferring to be right up close and personal with his target so he can see them fall before his very eyes, to see the life drain from their eyes as he plunges his sword deep into their heart and practically tearing it out.

He’s taken many lives throughout his career, maybe he should have taken that promotion so he could take more lives later on…

And not take a bullet between the eyes.

<<<>>>

*Phick*

I quickly push the liger into a linen closet before too much blood seeps onto the floor. After getting his sword and putting it with the others and locking the door tight, I grab a couple towels and stuff them onto the bottom of the door so no blood will seep out. I grip my Colt XSE tighter in my hands look outside.

Okay, two guards. Top rooftop across the way. Wait till they turn and… The two ligers armed with heavy crossbows turn away to examine the other street on the other side. I dash quietly across as best I can without making any noise. I listen in the dead of night for any noises that might have given me away. The guards continue their patrol.

I duck inside my target building and look around. The place looks like a tavern of sorts with empty mugs and overthrown chairs and tables strewn across the room. Whether it was because of it being a tavern to forget and be merry, or because of the sudden occupation, is unsure. I see a liger sleeping in a chair in front of the stairs.

Hm, as usual. I move over to him from behind and reach out to grab the keys.

*Creeeeaaaaak*

Stupid fucking creaky piece of shit floorboard! I mentally curse the piece of wood under my foot as I stare at the slowly moving body in front of me. I keep the gun pointed at him just in case he turns around.

“Hm…”

Phew. The jailer didn’t wake up. Avoiding the cursed loose floorboard, I quickly reach out and swap the jailors key for me own. His new key may not open anything but at least it should keep him distracted long enough till morning for the plan to commence. I holster my gun and move to the front and slowly make my way upstairs, using my hands each time to test and make sure my steps won’t disturb anything.

Okay, good. After finally making it to the top, I look down the corridor at the make-shift jail cells. The ligers almost immediately converted many of the larger buildings into prisons by ripping off some of the doors and replacing them with iron bars. I peak into the first one. Two adult male with a child. Their ears perk up as they hear my footstep. As soon as they get up from their slump, I put my finger to my lip. They get the gesture as they don’t talk.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes. We are.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“Honestly, I am not sure what happened. One second we all were just sleeping happily when next we were thrown into these make-shift cells and beaten. Those of us that tried to resist were beaten badly, others were made an example of.” One of the males looks away sadly. Looks like he lost someone close.

“Don’t worry, a plan is in place. You’ll know when to act.” I go to move to the last cell. A claw grabs my hand before I can move. I look down to see the small griffon child looking up at me. As soon as she sees me looking at her, she lets go.

“Y-your… the champion… right?” she asks in a low voice. I stare for a bit before looking at the other two adults in her cell and further down to see some heads poking out.

“Yeah, yeah I am. I’m getting you all out of here.” I say with a smile. She smiles up at me before nodding. I gently pat her head to reassure her before I make my way further along the cells. Making it to the last one, I take note of its occupants. One adult male griffon and one female. The male is pretty beat up with a couple of his claws broken, his back legs broken, feathers pulled and I see a large gash going over his left eye. The female however is pretty big on her stomach region, which means it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she’s pregnant probably within her last 13th month of pregnancy. A large bruise is present on her face along with tears as she does what she can to make sure the other griffon is alright.

“You two alright?” The both of them look up at me. “Right, stupid question. Listen, a plan is already in play to free the city. I just need you two to do me a favor.”

“Not much we can do from in here, Champion.” The male says before looking back down.

“Besides, my husband is in no condition to be moving whatsoever.” The female says. Married huh, that bond will help.

“He doesn’t need to move…” I stretch out my arm holding the key. “You do.”

“Where did you get that?”

“I didn’t get here by pure luck.” Slowly she reaches over and grabs the key. “Hide the key and in the morning, I need you to unlock this cell, then the others, and proceed across the street to that house. I stole some of the ligers weapons and stockpiled them there.”

“Why not now?” the griffon in the nearby cell asks.

“Because there’s no way all of you can take on your captors alone. In the morning, you’ll be our support when we enter the city.” I begin walking back to the front.

“Wait!”

I stop and turn back to see the pregnant griffon at the bars. “When will I know to free us?”

I smile, “Trust me, you’ll know.” With those last words, I take one last look out the nearby window and make my way downstairs and towards the front door but also being mindful of the still sleeping guard.

Alright, the others should be done with their side of this place as well. I take another look around as I slowly make my way down the street, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. We may have a map of the entire town, but what’s better than the one in your own mind.

“Fuck!” I silently curse myself as I watch a lanterns light slowly make my way from a corner. I grab the handle of a nearby door and try open it but it’s locked. The light gets brighter with every passing second and my heart beats faster. Looking around for more options, I look up and spot a lone water pipe above me. Last second, I kick off the wall and jump up onto pipe, praying that it’s strong enough to hold my weight as I cross my legs onto it as well.

“Did you hear that?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I swear to you I heard something over here.” Both ligers come around the corner with lanterns atop their backs.

“Your just paranoid. Look, we got this entire city under our control. We got this and there is nothing here to attack us.” For now at least.

“What makes you say that?”

“I just know these things alright. Things have quieted down since we tried to attack the griffon army so I don’t think they are going to try anything.” The ligers friend pushes up against him.

“And are you forgetting that metal beast flying around that nearly killed the entire army a few days when tried to attack the griffons?” Heheheee… That was awesome. Really made a statement at the end there.

“No I have not. Look, that thing was far too loud and clunky plus it hasn’t been seen around here since then. It could have attacked the city easily but it didn’t. Maybe it’s not as powerful as we think if it didn’t just continue the offensive.” C’mon guys coincidentally stopped right under me. Arms are getting numb here.

“Maybe… I don’t know. It was too easy for us to take over this city like that. Barely any resistance and we just moved in like nothing.”

“That’s because we’re the superior race here comrade. Always has been, always will be.” He says with a smirk. “Once we keep a firm hold of this city, we’ll be able to move into the Griffon Kingdom and take it over, firmly stating our place their rulers.”

“But that place is said to be near impossible to take!” They begin to walk away the direction I came from.

“Near impossible. Even if we don’t manage to break in, I’m sure we can just starve them out…” their voices trail off as I jump down and continue forward. The city is pretty big with different districts and areas being wide enough to allow for large bazaars to be held.

Continuing down the pathway, I continue to take note of every possible advantage I could find that may or may not save my life when we do decide to attack. Interesting enough, the entire place is a lot emptier than one would expect from an invading force to occupy it.

Then again, this invading force wasn’t expecting a ‘giant metal bird that breathes fire’ to suddenly sweep down from the sky and destroy half their army in mere minutes.

“Alright, getting close.” I find myself at the edge of the city at one of its many wooden walls. The main gateway, albeit destroyed, is still heavily defended. Besides, the others are waiting for me closer over here.

Fun fact, my partners are easily able to scale this wall being griffons and all, however the smooth trunks of the wood and pointed tips may be a problem for me. Looking around I try to find anything that may be able to help me climb it.

My eyes fall on a long length of rope.

“That’ll do.” I grab the rope and begin tying a loop at the end. Once I feel it’s big enough and tight enough, I prepare myself. Alright, all those time of watching AJ at the rodeo are about to pay off.

I toss it… and promptly miss. To some degree. “C’mon man, it looked so damn easy!”

Tossing it again… and miss. “Fuck!”

“Huh?”

I freeze and turn around to see a liger staring at me. We stare for a few moments till I spot the slow movement of his back paws moving. Instinctly, I throw the lasso at him and around his neck before he’s able to scream, the sudden constriction on his throat preventing him. Tightly grabbing the rope, I pull hard and tear him towards me, making him fall on his face.

I quickly run up to him and run my knife directly into the top of his skull. His body tenses up for a second before falling limp.

“Phew.” I sigh in relief. My heart is beating a million miles a minute at almost being made in this instant. After calming myself down and unlatching the lasso from the corpse, I drag it over to a pile of sacks and begin stacking them over the body. As long as no one jumps onto the pile or accidentally kicks one of the sacks, it should be good. Looking at the small pool of blood on the stone floor, I grab another sack and toss it onto the puddle. “Meh.”

Resuming my impromptu escape path, my next throw finally hits its mark. Yes! Testing the strength a bit, I climb.

Using the rope to climb the wall, my mind replays back to the last time I had to climb something, except the last time was on a sheer drop cliff and I was carrying a newly acquired sword at the time. Slowly yet steadily I make my way up the wall, taking note behind me of any prying eyes that would jump at the chance to spear or javelin me in the back.

“Easy does it… that’s it… almost there… just gotta keep my-“

“Leo! Where are you?”

Book it!

At the call of what I assume is the dead liger I killed, I double my efforts in climbing while also not trying to sound like I’m going to tear the wall down. As I make it to the top, I carefully angle myself so I don’t get skewered.

Alright, one… two… three!

Using as much of my arm strength as I can, I launch over the spikes. Unfortunately, some of my shirt didn’t go as well.

“Ow! Fuck! Son of a-!” I groan as continuously hit branches all the way down.

“Oof!... god… damnit.” I moan in pain once I hit the ground.

“Smooth, champion.”

“Oh crap.” I slowly look up at the smirking face of Alan and our third team member Gilda.

“Tell me, are all humans that… subtle, or do you just… how you say, suck?” he says with a smile and snarky tone.

“Shut up.”

“Geez, your about as quiet and subtle as my old flight school classmate.”

“You too, Gilda.”

“Then don’t suck so much.”

“Oh yeah you’d know would you.” I reply with a smile. And from that look, I hit a nerve.

“Oh you little-“

“Enough!” Alan quietly shuts us. “Did you finish your objective?”

“Yeah, yeah I did.” I say as I stand up and brush myself off. “The maps have been updated, thinned their numbers without them noticing and armed the prisoners. Second we attack, all hell breaks loose.”

“What?”

“Tartarus.”

“Oh”

“Can we go you two?” Gilda grumbles. We both take one more look at the wall before nodding and taking off.

Tomorrow, we take back a city.

-----------------------------------

I’m sorry, I don’t even have an excuse. What’s there to say? I pretty much lost my muse to write all that time ago. I still want to write this story, but it’s not as fulfilling when it keeps repeating over and over again in your head.

I still want to thank those of you reading this that have favorite this story, my previous one and followed me. It means a bunch from you guys and hopefully I’ll get back into the groove of writing. Maybe the reason I didn’t want to is because of my writing classes at college that required me to write.

I don’t know. Time will tell how often I’ll update.

Happy Reading.

Fighting Never Ends

by Tx Avenger 218

Lesson Learned

Nightmare Night, Aka Halloween

New Position

Fitting in

A Champion Rises

Preparations

Departure

The Griffon Empire

War

So it begins

Infiltration

Executing the Plan