Chapter 1: Any landing you can walk away from

/Error...error... no data network found...\

/Location:...Planet Unknown...\

/Emergency Beacon status:...Beacon disabled by user/H@r~%¥....ERROR:user unknown...ERROR:unable to remove user...ERROR: unable to restric-...User/H@r~%¥ verified. ...Resuming emergency operations...beacon initialization failed...

/Damage report:.........Warning! Life support critical. FTL drive.....error. Drive not located.....Port main engine condition red.....ventral hull thrusters condition red..... all other systems green...Testing ship T.D.O.S.A systems:...All tests green... T.D.O.S.A uploading from Admin/GDFTR....Displaying ship ident and beginning emergency log entry\

/Date: 07.15.2120...\

/Commander: John Cormier...\

/Ship:...T729843...Designation:...Scythe...\

/Begin audio log transcript...\

Hey there, if you’re hearing or reading this then…well if I’m being honest, I have no idea why anyone would be reading this except for me, but for all I know I’m either dead or this has been published. Either way, I suppose I’ll introduce myself. My name is Johnathan Cormier, I’m 30 years old and I’m a pilot for…well myself, I guess. A freelancer if you want the exact terminology. I’ve got a few hobbies, including wood working, metal working, and oddly enough, the guitar and piano. Now you’re probably wondering why I’m doing all of this… Well I suppose I’m recording this as some way to document what happens to me over time after I…landed in this world, and Apollo if you say it was a crash again I’m going to kill you... anyway I suppose that it will also maybe serves as proof to myself that I’m not losing my mind. But anyway, I suppose that I’ll get this train wreck started, so with all that being said, lets boogey.

The Titan Dynamics Arrowhead. Though it is classed as an interdiction ship, the Arrowhead model also contains a cargo hold to allow for the transportation of small amounts of cargo, or even other people in a pinch. It comes standard with a weapons package of three gimbal mounted guns, and 4 missiles. It has an overall length of 22.5 meters, a wingspan of 16 meters, and a height of 5.5 meters. It’s name comes from the fact that the thing looks like an arrow from the days of old. Inside it has three main sections, the cockpit at the front, accessible from a deployable ladder and an opening canopy. It contains the controls to the ship along with the Titan Dynamics Onboard Ship Assistant, or as he has me call him, Apollo. Moving back from the cockpit there's the living quarters, containing a bed, weapons and ammunition locker. Next to the weapons locker was an armor locker which held my under suit and armored helmet, the two primary devices that, when worn, would allow me to perform EVAs in non-habitable environments. Next to the under suit was my light armor, and heavy exo-armor, both of which could easily attach to my under suit and beside it there's a locker for personal items. The last portion of the ship was the cargo hold, which currently held my crash kits, a station to repair me gear, and my favorite ground vehicle, a Hoplite. It was an electric all-terrain bike armed with a small autocannon on the left, and a heavy machine gun on the right. It could be charged from my own ships power supply, and was perfect for scouting or fast attack runs. Sometimes the bike was swapped for cargo, but that was mainly how the ship was set up. I wasn’t a merchantman or a delivery boy, I'm a freelancer, and my current contract was to guard the ships of Time Light Express on transportation runs from Forwaya to Orion-15. The job paid me 12,000 credits per run, and it was gonna be easy…Or so I thought.

“Terra control this Arrow 729843, I am clear of the landing pad”

“Arrow 729843, this is Terra control. We confirm that you are clear of the pad, have a nice flight. Control out.”

With my departure confirmed, I opened up the throttle of the ship, bringing its speed to 1000 meters per second. A minute, Apollo chimed in. “Attention, we have left an armistice zone, weapons and FTL drive now online.”

“Thanks for the heads up Apollo. Plot us a course for Forwaya and send a blink message to Time light and Lancer command letting them know that I’m on my way.” With the flick of a few switches, and a few taps on a screen later, I began to hear the familiar hum of my drive spooling up, and as it did, my HUD changed to display my drives spool percentage and calibration percentage. Once both reached 100, I pressed the button on my console, and with a flash, I jumped into faster than light travel.

I was about 5 minutes into my quantum jump, just relaxing and taking in the sight of planets and stars flying by me, and the sound of music from Earth's past when my HUDs master alarm went off, snapping me back to attention and scanning my displays “Apollo, sitrep.”

My AI companion immediately responded, “Warning, FTL Drive unstable...Automated emergency stop failed, recommend immediate action.”

My left hand went to the quantum drive control panel, and I slammed the emergency stop button.

“Manual stop failure.”

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I am not. I recommend that you put on your EVA suit.”

I jumped up out of my seat and ran to the hab section, donning my under suit, helmet, and heavy exo armor, before running back to the pilot's seat, getting back onto the controls just in time to see a bright light fill the cabin and blind me, but that’s not all folks.

“Looks like something happening with the electronics/ Apollo, go mobile.”

“Roger. uploading T.D.O.S.A to Godfather…..Upload complete...Warning, ship and suit CO2 scrubbing systems failure.”

“Oh, now you're just adding insult to injury...is there any…..way...to……..” I collapsed to the ground and 30 seconds later, I blacked out.

When I came to, I immediately noticed two things, the first was the blue sky around me, and the second was the fact that my helmet was on the floor of the ship next to me. Looking around at the sky around me and I saw that my HUD had shut off, but it seemed that the auto stop had come back online, and a further look into the planet’s atmosphere composition also told me that my ship had also found a planet with a breathable atmosphere once my CO2 scrubbers died. Getting back into my seat, I re-initiated the HUD.

“Apollo, you there?

a small screen with the picture of an arrowhead came up on my helmet's HUD “Affirmative Captain. Apollo is online”

“Good, Damage report.”

“Quantum drive:...Error, no drive found...

Engines:...Power fluctuating, landing recommended...

Communications:...Error, no blink comms arrays found...

Life support:...Warning, life support damaged, estimated failure in 01D:13H:20M:00.0S...

All other systems green...”

“Fuck…fine, looks like I’m landing.” I raised up my left arm and activated the display on my mobiholo, watching as it projected up a holographic display in front of me, showing the current time, any issues is my health, of which there were thankfully none, my heart rate, and the current level of gravity in my environment. “Link with ship sensors, don't upload, with the power fluctuation i don't want to risk you getting damaged. Analyze atmospheric composition and display current readings to my mobiholo.”

“Affirmative...Link established...Displaying…”

The holographic display in front of me changed, with the aforementioned windows decreasing in their size to allow for the newest window displaying the composition of the atmosphere outside my ship, as well as its overall quality/survivability, and what I saw astonished me. “Jesus, these readings are even purer than earth.” Seeing that I could definitely survive, I turned off the mobiholo’s holo-display, took my helmet off and disabled the ship's life support, instead allowing for the planet’s atmosphere to provide me with the air that I needed. Seeing that I was no longer in any immediate danger, I turned back to my ship's console, and brought up a display detailing the extent and location of the damage to my ship. Seeing that I was definitely going to need repairs to get it space worthy again, I decided that the best course of action would be to land and make repairs. “Apollo, any recommendations for our power issue?”

“Readings show we have approximately 20 minutes before engine system failure, and 1 hour until total system failure. recommend shut down of non-essential systems.”

“Give me a scan of the area, two pulses at max range.”

“Affirmative...sending pulses now.”

I watched on my HUD as the two scan pulses went off, and in the distance i saw a large mountain highlighted by the scans

“Scans show no ships within the area, no spacecraft in this planet's orbit, some settlements nearby and no aircraft...correction, scans picking up flying objects both large and small, analysing.........”

I lifted up the switch and readied myself to disengage the master safety. “Well come on man, give me a PID”

“PID not available. no IFF tag detected on the larger airborne objects. They appear to be balloons surrounding what looks to be a city on the side of the mountain. Possibly for guidance of ships in the airspace. The smaller ones also appear to be biological.”

“Given the atmosphere I think we'll be safe to keep the ship's life support off and vent in air from the outside. pressurization is still holding so that means we should be good to operate at any altitude...Im thinking we shut down weapons, blink comms, any systems in the red and the passive scanner array.”

“Shutdown of Weapons system requires authentication.”

“Godfather 1-1 authorizing weapon system shutdown. authentication, Willis.” I replied

“Authenticated. shutting down weapons systems. System now reads total failure in 5 hours, engines estimate failure in 1 hour.”

“Well then we've got no choice, I've got to take us down and effect repairs. were going to the mountain.” I began to slowly lower the ship down beneath the clouds, and what I saw astonished me. I was not over the woods of the north east, but instead I was over a, empty grass like area, similar to the fields in that were in the older European countries back on Earth, I could even see a small town in the distance of to my right, and some sort of structure on the side of a mountain about 20 klicks away. From the looks of it, the mountainside structure was probably some sort of landing zone or spaceport, so I adjusted my course accordingly, turning on my collision lights, and setting my nav lights to pulse out an SOS, that way the ports ATC wouldn’t consider my hostile, and would hopefully signal back to me with a place where I could land. I stopped my descent once I thought I was level with the top structure, so about 1000 meters off the ground, and I continued towards the structure, which looked to be a five-minute flight away. “Come on, just last me another ten minutes without any issues.”

I have no idea why I went in that direction when there was a wide-open field just below me that I could land in and go to the town to call for some assistance. I mean my systems were damaged so legally I could land anywhere safe, but I just felt drawn to that place. Anyway, I didn’t get to far before I saw something else that made me wonder if I was high or not, a fucking Pegasus, and not just a normal colored one, no, that would make too much sense. This one was fucking sky blue with a rainbow mane and tail, and it was flying right alongside me, trying to yell at me, I just shook my head, and tried to wave it away, but it didn’t leave, in fact it was joined by a mix of white pegasi with blue manes and tails, but these ones were wearing fucking gold armor and had spears. “Apollo. were these the biological objects you told me about?”

“Affirmative.”

“.....You and I are going to have a talk about relevant information later.” I turned to look out my cockpit window and started to try and wave the flying creatures away from my ship. “Get away from this thing, or you’ll get hurt!”

Of course, my shouting didn’t do much of shit, except for maybe anger murphy’s law even more, because as if it was on fucking queue, the master alarm sounded, causing me to look down to the display as Apollo called out the problem.

“Port thruster power low… Port thruster power low.”

A quick scan of the display panel confirmed that my left primary thruster was failing, and as if Apollo's alarm wasn’t enough, I was also greeted with the sound of a loud pang and the smell of smoke. Looking up to the rearview mirror in my cockpit, I could see the aforementioned thruster begin to spit it out like it was Winston Churchill.

“It's been like fifteen minutes, what the hell happened to ‘engine failure in one hour!?”

“It would seem the damage has cascaded, engines now predict imminent failure.”

“Well this just keeps getting better and better.” I replied. With the danger of total failure now increasing, and still no signal of any kind from ATC I made my decision. I was going to land, ATC and technicolor horses be damned. However, there was one small saving grace. The castle-like structure I was headed for was now within full view, and I had spotted my landing zone. There was a large plaza type area, definitely large enough for me to set down in…if it wasn’t half full of…other technicolor horses. “Right…freak out about horses later, land now.” My hands flew across my consoles, turning off my left thruster, and diverting the extra power to my RCS thrusters, and I quickly put my helmet back on, just in case the landing was a rough one. I looked at the creatures flying beside me, “Sorry about this, but I’ve got to get rid of you all somehow.” I turned a few knobs and set the volume on the outer speakers to max. “Now let’s just hope that this didn’t break as well.” I flicked a switch, and sound of Stranglehold by Ted Nugent Blasted out of the speakers, causing the pegasi around me to grab their ears, but more importantly, stop following me, allowing me some breathing room so slow and land safely…or at least that was the plan until another bang came to my ears followed by the warning system.

“Starboard engine, failure...Starboard engine, failure.”

“Bad timing Apollo.” As the ship began to lose altitude, my emergency training wanted to kick in, but I had an idea.

“As you are aware, I am unable to control the time at which these failures happen.But I would recommend following emergency procedure and going full RCS”

“Nice to see your charming whit still works. I've got an idea. give me one last boost from the engines and ready to fire the RCS thrusters on my go ”

“I see we are making a crash landing and you are hoping to fo-”

“Apollo its called a grand entrance, and don't explain it, that's gonna ruin the fun for me. Just do it.”

“.....all systems ready. firing engines now.”

I was pushed deeper into my seat for a half second as the engines fired, giving me enough momentum for a controlled fall/glide. By this point, the crowd below had noticed me, if only because of the music at first, but when they saw the ship somewhat careening towards them, they all began to run away. Of course, I wasn’t really focused on this, but more on trying to make sure that I landed in the plaza instead of smashing into the mountain and keeping the torque in the rotors in the green. “Come on, Come on.” I said to no one in particular as I watched the plaza get closer and closer.

“Terrain…Terrain…Terrain”

“I'm aware! ” The ground of the plaza kept getting closer and closer. I put my landing gear down,and pushed the throttle to full, firing the RCS thrusters at max power. I felt the ship begin to slow, but looking at my speed and height, this was gonna be a rough one. And a rough one it was. the ship slammed into the ground with enough force to shake me through my armor. “See Apollo? A grand entrance, not a crash.”

I shut down everything, opened my rear door, got out of the ship. As I did I could see that the area around my landing gear was heavily cracked and chipped.I took my helmet off and just sat down on the ramp facing the crowd and taking in what just happened. I looked to the crowd of ponies now all staring at me and with a smile I said, “Please tell me someone got that on camera because I will NOT be doing it again.”

I was met by wild-eyed stares and many faces held a confused-but-worried look on them.

“Uhh…you all can understand me, right?”

I didn’t get an answer, instead, out of the crowd came a large force of guards. Some of them looking extremely familiar to the guards that were around my ship while I was…flying, but there was also two new kinds of guards, some of them looked to be unicorns, and some looked like normal horses, but all were either brown or white, and all had the same gold armor and lances. They surrounded me and my ship with their lances lowered, so naturally, I put my armored helmet back on and my hand went to my pistol. It’s a custom model 2 Laslight laser pistol, modified to be able to stun and/or kill. with a micro dot sight and tac light, in its holster on my hip. As I did this, another guard, a unicorn with a white coat and a darker blue mane with purple armor stepped forward, “Who are you? State your intentions!” His voice sounded older, possibly my age, he had blue eyes, and stood at maybe 5 feet tall at the tip of his horn.

I kept one hand on my pistol, ready to draw it, but I put my other one up in the air, “Everyone chill out! I come here in peace. It’s not like I intended on making my emergency landing…where ever the fuck this place is.”

“That didn’t answer my question.” The guard replied

“You look different, you must be the one in charge here, so how about you order your men to stand down, and we'll talk about this calmly like gentlemen.” I took my hand away from my pistol, “See, I’m moving my hand away from my weapon, so how about you all take yours away from me?”

That may not have been my smartest move, as I said that the guy who looked to be in charge shouted out, “Weapon! Get down on the ground!” I backed up to the door of my ship and I was about to close it when another voice came out from the crowd. The voice was female and it sounded younger, probably in her early twenties.

“Shining, calm down!” there was a flash, from behind the crowd and a half second later another flash appeared in front of me, and out of the flash emerged a purple pony with a dark purple mane, that had a streak of pink in it, but the difference between this one and the rest was that it had both wings and a horn, and some kind of tattoo of stars on her flank. It spoke again while pointing to me, “He said that he comes here in peace, and while yes he has a weapon, if he meant us harm, he would have used it.” Of course, while this was happening, I walked towards the door that went into the living quarters, and opened up a panel next to it and began to inspect my ships oxygen system. Apollo, run a check on the atmosphere and my own O2 for me.”

The mechanical voice of my AI companion came through my helmet speaker “Affirmative. Reasoning?”

This caused the purple mare to walk up to me and the guards to move closer. “Uhm, Sir, I’m assuming that you are a sir, what kind of creature are you? What was the voice? And just what exactly are you doing?”

I chuckled, “The obvious.” I turned towards the pony talking to me “I’m surprised that my own hallucination doesn’t know my own race, and at the moment I’m checking my ships oxygen system to see what’s got me so high off my ass that I’m seeing all this.” I gestured around with my left hand as I inspected my life support systems with my right.

“Sir this is not a hallucination, this is Equestria, and I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.”

Upon hearing this I stopped, turned around, and burst into laughter, this got me a lot of looks, but I continued, “Oh I’m sorry, but I just can’t help myself. I mean this place looks like something out of a children’s book, and ‘Princess of Friendship?’ I mean wow, I’ve got to be completely lucy in the sky with diamonds right now.” I turned back to my ship, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to just go back to fixing my ship until this high wears off and I see where I actually am.” With my system looking like it was in order, and Apollo insisting that the atmosphere was breathable, I took off my helmet and turned to my right. I was just about to open my crash kit, when I was wrapped in some kind of pink aurora. Startled, I reached for my pistol while I began to look for its source, and I found the same aurora coming from Twilight's horn. I was levitated closer while my weapon was removed from my grasp by the aurora. I flailed around trying to escape the magic field that was holding me, but to no avail as my limbs were all pinned tightly against my body.

"What are you?" she asked, "I've never seen a creature like you before."

“I’m a human for your information.” I tried to struggle, but I couldn't free myself “Now let me out of…whatever this is.”

She looked at me like she was confused, "You never seen magic?!"

I look at her skeptically and then said, "Magic? Yeah right. Look, I’m a reasonable guy, so if you let me go I’ll cooperate in exchange for some help and answers from your end."

She let the me go from her magical grasp and returned my pistol, letting my comment about her ‘magic’ slide and walked toward the doors, "Follow me then."

Once she set me down I began to weigh my options. On one hand, I just made a landing in some sort of world that seemed to be run by rainbow colored horses with magic no less, and on the other, I could try to get my ship going again and leave, but there was no guarantee that id even be able to take off, or if I’d be able to escape their magic

I let out a deep sigh and I closed the rear door before I turned and followed after her, along with about 4 guards, including the one with the purple armor. I had barely gotten more than 20 feet from my ship when she turned to me. “What is your name?”

“My name is Johnathan, but you can call me John.”

She stopped and faced me while holding out her hoof, “Twilight Sparkle.”

I took it and we shook, “Well I guess it’s nice to meet you.” I continued to follow her and we walked through the crowd, flanked by guards, and towards the castle nearby, and as she did, I began to notice something else about this place.

Ponies. Ponies everywhere. I mean back when I was in the plaza and in the air I could have figured maybe it was some kind of hallucination to birds or something, but it looks like they own the place.

“Holy shitbucket, If its not a hallucination then maybe I died.”

“Watch your language!” she sternly scorned, “and you’re not imagining this, this is Canterlot, the capital of Equestria”

She walked in front of me and lead me through the town. Of course, the guards made it feel like a perp walk, which wasn’t helped by the fact that as I walked through the town, every-err-pony, stopped what they were doing to look at me like I was some animal at a zoo.

Every once in a while, Twilight would point some things out to me. Like restaurants or a few shops here and there. I will admit, overall, it’s actually a nice town, aesthetically speaking. I don’t know about its inhabitants yet, as I didn’t exactly talk to any of them.

Eventually we reached the castle. The main gate of which, was a drawbridge over a river that fed a waterfall, that was designed to go up to cover a massive set of double doors. Through the main gate was the opening to the main hall, it was a large open area with a set of stairs the lead up and to the left or up and to the right, along with passageways that lead left or right, our escort led us up the stairs and to the left down a hallway with stone or granite support pillars on both sides and large windows every fifteen or so feet. At the end the hallway was another set of double doors. Positioned at each side of the doors was a guard, who opened them for us, and according to Twilight, on the other side of the doors was the throne room. We stopped in front of the doors and my escort, with the exception of Twilight and the guard with the purple armor broke off and probably returned to their normal duties. The two massive doors swung open to reveal the throne room. It was about 200 feet long, by 100 feet wide and had pillars and large windows on both sides. Only the windows were glass paintings of Twilight and some other ponies. At the end of the room, was a single throne with…. Holy shit were those waterfalls on the side of it? As we continued into the room and I saw it in more detail I realized that in fact, they were little waterfalls. While I was standing there surveying my surroundings, Twilight walked up to the throne, and from behind me, I heard a high-pitched scream. I turned around with my hand instinctively on my pistol, to see what it was. I had just enough time to see a fancy looking clothes rack before I was smacked over the head with it.

"Get away from my friends’ you...you...you..." the female metropolitan voice behind the clothes rack wavered off in her anger as she took a closer look at me.

Twilight turned around and yelled, "Rarity wait, he's a guest!"

I grumbled to myself as I stood back up, rubbing the spot where the rack had hit my head, “Nope, definitely still alive.”

The refined voice belonged to a unicorn pony, similar in size to Twilight. She was white, with a violet mane, and with another one of those tattoos in the same spot on the flanks in the form of three diamonds.

"Oh dear heavens!" she responded, "My apologies darling, that was very unladylike of me."

I stopped rubbing my head where she hit me and gave her a slight nod, "It’s ok, I’ve been through worse."

The white unicorn nodded back, "Well, I am Rarity and may I ask your name as well as what you are?"

"My name is Johnathan and I am a human."

She looked to Twilight, "I thought they were only myths?”

Twilight shook her head, “I did too, I thought he was a strange minotaur at first.”

“Well here I am, the mythical human...” I stated sardonically.

Twilight rubbed her chin for a second before gasping “Oh! Idea!~”

“Come this way Johnathan,” She turned around and opened the doors again. She motioned for me to follow her, so I did. We walked for a minute or two then entered a large library area where she made a scroll appear with her magic, I watched her write something on it, and then it disappeared. She then motioned for me to sit down in one of the chairs, “Take a seat, I’ve got some questions to ask you when spike gets here.” She pulled up a chair for me to sit in, as Rarity walked over to me and inspected where I’d been hit.

“Are you sure that you’re alright darling, that looks like an awfully dreadful bump.”

“I’m fine,” while out of the corner of my eye, I watched as books began to fly around. A few of them, maybe three or four, landed on the table in front of me and each opened to a certain page.

“So, you’re using ‘magic’ to do all this?” I asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied as she turned around and brought over a chair for her. She set two more chairs into a semi-circle in front of me. As she did so, Rarity continued her answer.

“Yes, unicorns as well as alicorns in Twilight’s case, can use the magic in our horns for things like fine manipulation of the environment, spells, or even teleportation.”

“Huh, neat…. hang on, alicorn?” I replied.

“Yup,” Twilight replied, “A combination of all three types of ponies; earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi.”

“Ah I see,” I replied as I thought back to all the ponies I had seen today. From what I saw, she seemed to be right.

Not much later, Spike came into the room, and I again was left in shock as it turns out that spike was a fucking dragon! He calmly walked up to twilight, he looked at me with a bit of shock, but he then looked to Twilight who nodded and he took out a piece of paper and a quill. The three of them all sat down across from me. Spike lifted up a quill and what looked like some kind of scroll and nodded to Twilight.

Twilight looked at me directly, “So John, where are you from?”

“I’m from Earth, it's where my kind resides and from what I can infer, this land Equestria is probably in a different galaxy or even dimension.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“Well the first clue was the fact that none of my technology can acquire any form of signal here. Plus, we’ve explored almost all of our galaxy, and we haven’t found anything like this place in space, so I’ve got no other logical choices.”

“I see...” Twilight responded.

I broke off my focus on her and looked to see that spike was furiously taking notes.

I pointed to him “I’m guessing that you’re having him transcribe what I say?”

“As always!” the little dragon answered, “Twilight likes to make sure that her information is as accurate as possible.”

I smiled, ”Well she does seem to be quite the studious type, maybe even a bit of an egghead.”

Spike and Rarity snickered as Rarity replied, “A good friend of ours would say so.”

Twilight cut back in wanting to continue her study of me, “Anyways back to you John, what did you do for work?”

“I am a body guard of sorts. My job was to protect VIPs and escort cargo ships to their destinations. In my free time I would fix up my ship, play piano or guitar, or work with wood or blacksmithing. ”

That piqued Twilight's interest and got Rarity to look at me oddly as Twilight spoke, “That’s a rather Interesting list of skills that you have. But I am unfamiliar with your weaponry and why you still have them, but that definitely explains some things.”

Rarity spoke up, “Yes, and it would also explain his rugged look which I didn't notice when I first saw him.”

I just put my hand over my face and shook my head at that as she continued, “Honestly darling, you do look rather handsome and I’m sure that all the mares will swoon for you, especially with nicer attire.”

I chuckled at that, “Yeah sorry but no, I’m not exactly the fancy or refined type I'm just a simple guy at heart,” I sighed, ”Also, a woman genuinely falling in love with me?” I scoffed, “That's just a bullshit fairytale to me.”

The two mares were shocked. Both by my language and answer. Honestly, the only one in the room who wasn’t looking at me funny was spike. He was too busy staring at Rarity.

Ah, to be young and in love.

“John, why is your view so negative?” Twilight asked.

“It may be somewhat negative, but it’s the reality I have to live with given my line of work.” I stated, “and all I can do is accept it and just get used to the loneliness...”

There was an awkward silence that followed as the ponies in the room were stunned by my words. I then cleared my throat to break the silence.

“Look, I know this is a little fast and I'll understand if you say no,” I took a deep breath and exhaled, “but can I go back to my ship for the night?”

They both just sat there and stared

“I don’t know how long I’ll be there, but I’ll pay you for the space and any damage I may have caused when I can get the money,” I scratched my beard, “but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think this place accepts United Planets Credits as a valid currency.”

Twilight didn’t even take a second to respond, “Of course! Today has probably been a long one for you, and don’t worry about payment.”

I was somewhat surprised “That is...quite generous...uh your majesty…”

She giggled, “Please, there’s no need for formalities. Just call me Twilight, I’ll have some pony lead you back. Just give me a few seconds to talk with my friends here and I will meet you there.” She got up and her and spike walked off into another room, leaving me with Rarity. While Twilight was off somewhere, I took out a notepad and pen from my cargo pocket, and began to jot down what I was going to have to do to set up camp as well as possible events that lead to me crashing here. My primary suspect, the drive malfunction. As I was defining my suspects and possible mechanical issues, Rarity walked up to me.

"Again, I’d like to apologize for my earlier actions dear, in fact, stop by my shop here in Canterlot when you can and I’ll make you some clothes better than those garish rags that you have on as an apology."

I looked at her and then I thought back to what was packed in my crash box. I had maybe three to four days of clean clothes in there, well maybe longer if I stretch everything. Though my shirt and pants would be filthy. Obviously I couldn’t wear my undersuit all the time, so not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth I spoke.

"I’ll take you up on that offer then."

A smile came across her face as she replied, "Splendid darling, I’ll see you then, ta ta~," as she turned and walked out, Twilight walked in with a scroll in her grasp which looked kind of official, and another pony behind her. She floated the letter over to me and her and the new pony sat down across from me. I looked over the letter and saw that it had some sort of seal on it and it was addressed to me.

"This came in for you," she floated the letter over to me.

"I have mail already? I haven't been here for long."

"Well while you were waiting, I had Spike send a letter to my old mentor, Princess Celestia. I think she is interested in meeting you."

I opened the letter.

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Dear John,

My name is Celestia.

I have been notified of your arrival to our world by my faithful student, and I have been given the transcript of her interview with you. I would like to have an audience with you tomorrow back here at the palace Canterlot. I know you have many questions for me and I will do my best to answer them, just as I hope that you will be able to answer some of mine.

Yours, Princess Celestia

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I set the letter down on the table beside me. Something about that letter, something about that name, Celestia. It stirred something inside me, I don’t know what it was, but it lasted for only a second or two.

I must be anxious; shes does seem to be the mentor of Twilight who seems to be head honcho here.

Twilight walked up to me and asked "So what did it say?"

"Well the Celestia wants to see me tomorrow."

"Really? That’s great news!"

"If you say so.” I looked over to the pony sitting next to Twilight, “And who are you?”

The other pony got out of her chair and walked up to me, she was maybe 6 feet tall at the top of her horn and 5 feet without it. She had a white coat, a bright pink mane, and she had a crown for a tattoo on her flank. “My name is Majesty. I’ve been assigned to you as a liaison between you and the equestrian government.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” I replied, “But I don’t think I’ll need you at the moment, I’m just going back to my landing site to set up camp for the next few nights.”

She stood up and with her horn, she made a large saddle-bag-like backpack appear on her back, “I’m well aware of that. In fact, I will be joining you.”

I looked to Twilight with confusion but then I took stock of the situation. I’m a foreigner who crashed in their lands, and I’ve said that I’m armed, they are probably making sure that I’m as friendly as I say. “That’s fine by me.” I got up and offered my hand to her to shake it, “Pleasure to meet you Majesty, I’m sure Twilight has already told you, but my name is Johnathan, but you can call my John.”

She stuck her hoof out and shook my hand, “And it is nice to meet you too, shall we head out to your crashed ship?”

“I didn't crash.” I replied. “I made a grand entrance.” I got up and walked to the door and opened it for the majesty who walked out of it and led the way back to my ship. The guards followed us of course, but given the situation, it was understandable.

When we got back to the landing site, everything seemed the same, with two exceptions. It seems that a fire pit had been placed in the area which would allow me to light a fire for either heat or cooking, and there was a ring of guards surrounding the area. We walked through them and majesty went to set up her camp as I walked back to my ship, undid some straps, and took out two large black boxes from the sides of the cargo bay. The boxes held an extra 50 charges for my pistol, 10 days’ worth of MRE’s, a mess kit, three canteens of water, about 4 days’ worth of clothes, a small tripod chair, a flare gun, flares, matches, an emergency radio, a solar charger for the radio and my mobiglass, Medical supplies, a whistle, glow sticks, some emergency blankets and a normal blanket. The next box held A few tarps, a toolbox, a personal hygiene kit, about 100 feet of paracord, a backpack, Two jars of moonshine and the piece de resistance, my guitar. I know I know, it’s not practical, but in the event that I crashed and wanted to do something to keep my hopes up, the guitar will go a long way. I am also aware that the moonshine also seems out of place, but the line of thinking there was either A) I use it for sterilization. Or B) A celebratory drink for when I was rescued or something like that.

With my crash supplies inventoried, I moved into my living quarters to inventory my weapons and ammo. Staring on the left side, there was a modified Destroyer-12 energy shotgun with a 1x sight and flashlight, with the shotgun itself being modified to stun or kill like my pistol. I had enough charge packs with it for 120 shots. Next to it was my Coventry Arms CA-45 ballistic SMG with a 1x holographic sight and flashlight. Looking into the locker I saw that I had about 300 rounds of ammo with 150 of them already in magazines. For medium ranged combat, I had a CA-15 with a 3x holo sight, a laser, and a flashlight. The rifle itself had 500 rounds of ammo for it in the locker with another 150 already loaded into magazines. As I moved onto my next two weapons a smile came to my face. Both of them were rather large, and I could only hold them for long periods of time with the assistance of my heavy exo-armor currently on my body. This armor was basically a heavy armor suit with integrated exo skeleton. It allowed me increased strength and speed, along with its durability, made it the perfect armor for me to wear in any combat situation on the ground or in orbit. A feature which I gladly hoped would help me survive a crash back when I was unsure if I would have made the landing. Anyway, onto the guns. The first was an CA-55 ballistic machine gun. It had a 3x holo-sight, with a laser and compensator, as well as the ability for me to mount it by my rear door for use as a door gun. In the locker I had 2000 rounds of ammo for it, with 500 of those loaded into drum magazines. And finally, the piece de resistance, the Bolshoy energy machine gun. It has the same attachments as my CA-55, but the fun thing with this gun is that it could switch between stun and kill, meaning that I could use it for either crowd control or actual gunfights. The locker held 20 battery magazines for it, totaling up to 2000 charges, with the ability for more once the cells have been recharged. Having taken my inventory and writing it all down in my notebook, I locked the guns and ammo back up. I walked to the back of the ship and inspected the mounting system for the guns that came up from the floor, and with everything in its working order, I went where I usually kept my heavy armor and took it off along with my undersuit and placed them into their locker. Once I had some actual clothes on, I went to the door and picked up my helmet, I put it on my bed and going back to my boxes. I then took out an MRE, my chair, and some matches and I walked to the fire pit in normal clothes where I saw Majesty already trying to light it with her magic.

“Come on you stupid thing, light”

I chuckled as I walked over “Need a hand with that?” I asked

Majesty looked at me and I could see some surprise on her face, “Oh, I see you have changed your size, is that an ability most humans can do?”

I chuckled again, “No, I just took off my Armored EVA suit.”

“EVA?”

“Extra-Vehicular-Activity” I replied, “It allows me to leave the safety of my ship and enter any environment while it regulates temperature and provides me with oxygen. Most of them also come standard with maneuvering thrusters for movement in zero-gravity environments, and exoskeletons to aid with moving materials, or movement in environments with increased gravity. Mine also has armor plating on it, which increases its size and level of protection.”

“That sounds interesting, but I'm saddened to hear that you require armor.”

“Trust me, you’re not the only one.” I replied “But you'll be happy to hear that in this instance, I was wearing it in case my ship gave out before I could land it, and while I don’t let my emotions affect my job, I still wish that it wasn’t needed. The feeling of spaceflight, or even flight in general is…something else, the freedom it provides, the adrenaline rush that you get when you push to full throttle…there’s nothing in the universe like it.”

Majesty smiled at me, “I’ve heard something similar form many pegasi…..but to answer your previous question, yes, I suppose I could use some assistance.”

I set my chair down and picked up the log and laid it in the center before taking some of the smaller sticks and leaning it against the log and stuffing some of the napkins from my MRE under it, I then lit the match and placed it in the napkins and waited for them to light the twigs. After a few minutes of adding twigs and blowing on the fire, the log began to catch “There you go” I replied.

Majesty smiled and began to warm up some water from a pot over the fire, “Thank you John, may I ask where you learned that?”

“Yeah, I was a solar scout before I was a freelancer.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a group from where I’m from, its goals are to teach children life skills and survival skills” I replied

“And is there a similar program for females?”

“Actually, its co-ed. It’s nice because while some people may laugh at it, I believe that the program does impart useful knowledge onto those who are in it.” I replied

“That is good to hear” she replied as she walked back to her tent. With the fire lit, I sat down and tore open my MRE. I was going through the process of cooking it when Majesty returned from her tent with some pots. “John, what are you doing?”

I lifted up the MRE and took the meal out of the pouch and tore it open, revealing a burger patty inside. “Making myself some dinner.” I lifted up the slightly hot burger on the bread with the cheese spread “Take this for example, the Jalapeño and cheese burger, like a normal hamburger…but fucking disgusting.” And I took a bite and swallowed “But it’s better than nothing.”

Majesty giggled and shook her head. “I have a much better idea.” Her horn lit up and I saw my MRE disappear into the fire, and in its place, a plate and silverware. I heard some shuffling off to my right and I looked to see a chef with a meal cart making its way through the ring of guards.

He stopped next to us, took out a folding table from the cart, and placed it next to us. He then placed a table cloth and a covered try on it, with some glasses of water and a wine bottle. He then turned around, and left. I looked to majesty with a look of confusion. “Uh, what’s this all about?”

She smiled back at me, “It would seem that the princess wanted you to have a nice first meal in Equestria.” She got up and sat down on a cushion and I moved my seat over to the table. Using her magic, Majesty removed the cover off the try to reveal a sort of alfredo pasta dish with peppers and onions. She put some on our plates and poured some wine into a glass for her. She then levitated up my glass, “Would you like some wine?”

I nodded as I took a napkin and placed it on my lap, “Sure.”

As we started eating, Majesty looked to me “John, I have to ask, what is it like in your world?”

“It has its ups and downs.” I replied, “Humanity was once only found on one planet, but a hundred years ago, we reached for the stars. Slowly we found our place out among them. Humanity now has colonies on hundreds of planets, but unfortunately, exploration and space flight hasn’t put out the flames of hatred. Fights still break out, and ships still get raided by pirates. So people will hire me to protect their shipments or personnel…..but even though there is some bad, there is still good. Many seek to just explore the stars and share their knowledge with all, it’s a noble effort, but sometimes it gets overshadowed by the violence.”

We continued to eat for a bit, having more conversation as we both learned more about each other’s homes. I was surprised to find out that ponies are not the only creatures here, there were also dragons, griffins, yaks, hippogriffs, and a many more other magical creatures, but for the most part, Equestria seemed to be the more prominent country, and all of them managed to stay in peace and harmony. Majesty was shocked when I showed her my mobiholo and its many abilities, and was awestruck when I told her that it was a staple of everyday life in my universe and just how far we had advanced even without magic.

Eventually we had finished our meals and we had made our way back to the fire, and as we did Majesty looked to me again. “So, John, Twilight tells me that you are a musician?”

“Of sorts” I replied, “I mean it's nothing professional, just another hobby to pass the time you know?...i'm probably not even that good”

“Oh please, John, you mustn’t be so hard on yourself. In fact, I would love to hear you play.”

I looked at her inquisitively, but then I got up and retrieved my guitar from my case. I picked it up and did my best to tune it, and while I did, I was also trying to figure out what to play. I looked up at the skyline to see the setting sun turning the sky and clouds a nice shade of pink and orange as the night sky began to take over, and the perfect song came to mind. I raised my guitar and I began to play the opening of Stairway to Heaven. Majesty sat there and smiled as I played the notes, and when I was done, Majesty stomped her hooves and smiled at me.

“That was beautiful John.”

“You’re just flattering me.” I replied

“Far from it.” Majesty countered

I smiled at her, “Thanks…do you play as well?”

Majesty nodded. “I play most instruments.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.” I replied, setting the guitar down. We sat there for a bit before I called out to her again, “Hey uh Majesty?” I called out.

“Yes?”

I looked down at the scroll and looked back up to her “Could you tell me about Celestia?”

“Sure, what would you like to know?”

“Honestly, I don’t know… tell me anything about her; her past, how she looks, anything.”

“May I ask why?”

“Just so I can prepare for my meeting with her and ease my anxiousness.”

“I see...well let’s see what I can do,” Her horn glowed and a few orbs began to appear around me, each one containing a snapshot of something.

“What are these?” I asked.

“They’re snapshots of sorts, pieces of Equestrian history.”

I took a look at them and noticed that Celestia was in almost all of them, and as I saw her I noticed I was feeling more anxious but couldn't figure out why.

“What do you think John?”

“She certainly seems interesting.”

“Hmm, also here are some of my memories.” Her horn flared again and one of the orbs opened up and was displayed in front of us.

What came into view was a towering white Alicorn in gold jewelry sitting before me, with a flowing mane of Cerulean, Turquoise, a light pink, and a light blue, with her Magenta eyes staring down at us and a smile on her face. I could tell from this that she was very regal but not uptight in nature, she also looked...stunning.

I remember thinking to myself, “Wait, what did I just think?” I shook my head at those thoughts and with a flash of Majesty’s horn, the image before me began to play out and Celestia began to speak

“Eventually I realized all the anxiety I felt was because I didn’t want you to go.” As she spoke softly, I found myself fixated on her gentle caring voice.

“I loved having you as a student as you challenged me and taught me just as much I taught you,” Celestia looked shamefully at the ground, “I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was afraid that if you made friends, you wouldn’t need me anymore.”

The vision disappeared along with the rest of the orbs and I was left with the image of her smiling face burned into my mind.

Once again, it brought back some form of what must have been anxiousness in my chest but this time though there was a warmth there that wasn't before.

As I contemplated these strange feelings, I felt something tap my leg, and I realized then that I had spaced about for quite a bit.

I shook my head and sat down on my bed, “Sorry Majesty, that I spaced out there.”

“Don’t worry, you seemed perplexed and I didn't want to bother you.”

“Yeah...”

“Are you really that nervous about meeting the princess?”

“I guess so.” I replied with sigh as I got up and made my way over to my ship.

She put her hoof on my leg, “It’s okay she is a very kind pony.”

“Still, I can't help but feel anxious about-”

“Trust me,” she interrupted, “and don’t worry, when you meet her I will be there to support you.”

I smiled “Thanks Majesty, that kind of helps ease my worry”

She smiled “Anything for a friend in need” she replied

I looked down to her confused “Friend?”

“Yes dear, everypony needs a friend…would you accept my friend?”

I thought for a bit as I sat there “You know what…I think I’d like that” I replied then yawning, “I also think I’m going to call it a night."

She smiled at me and got up to walk to her tent, "Ok, good night John."

"Good night Majesty."

/End audio log transcription...\

Chapter 2: Day 1

View Online

//Begin audio journal transcript…\\

All data remains the same...

So, my first day here…I mean it could have gone worse I guess…but a lot happened and I feel like I’ve made too many mistakes…. I guess that you’ll see what they are.

I woke up the next morning inside my ship, on top of my bed in the hab section. I put on a fresh change of clothes, my concealed holster and pistol, grabbed my mess kit, opened the side door, and stepped from under my tarp expansion into the plaza. The fire that I had lit last night had since died, but there was a fresh pile of wood next to it. I set aside one of the smaller sticks and relit the fire. Once it was to the point where I no longer needed to constantly attend to it, I sat down in my chair from last night, pulled out my knife, and began to carve up the stick in my hand. Glancing down at my watch I saw that it was close to 7 am, which would explain the fact that most of the guards were now just becoming active. I continued to carve for another half hour before the circle of guards again parted, and a cart with some containers came through.

The unicorn pony pushing the cart walked up to me and stopped. “Would you like coffee or tea sir?”

“I’m no sir, but some coffee would be good about now.” I replied

He raised up two containers, some sugar, and a jar of milk, and I already knew what he was going to ask.

“Regular, and just a splash of milk please.”

The unicorn nodded, levitating up a cup and poured some coffee into the cup. He then added a bit of milk and spoke, “Princess Twilight, Majesty, and Celestia have requested an audience with you for breakfast. They ask that you come to the castle after your appointment with miss Rarity.”

I took a sip of coffee and nodded, “Okay, thanks, I’ll make my way over there in a minute or two.”

The pony nodded before turning and leaving.

I took another sip from the mug and I finished off my carving before placing my knife back in is concealed sheath on my left hip next to some spare mags for my Arclight, stood up, grabbed a spare set of clothes, and began to walk to Rarities shop with my coffee, following the same path I took yesterday.

It took me some time to get there, and I’ll admit, I may or may not have gotten lost once, but thanks to a zebra who spoke only in rhyme (Yes you read that right) I was able to find Rarities shop. The words Carousel boutique hung from a sign above the door. I opened the door and Rarity was standing in the center of the shop behind a mannequin doing something. As I opened the door, it hit a little bell which signaled its opening, and caused Rarity to look up.

“Oh, good morning John, come this way darling, and I’ll get your measurements.” Her horn ignited around my arm and I ducked to avoid smacking my head on the low door, she led me into a more open area and then she brought out a piece of measuring tape. “Now I need you to take off your clothes so I can take your measurements.” So, I took off my boots, coat, socks, pants, and shirt, leaving me in only my boxers. “I do need you to take everything off darling, it's ok, most ponies don’t wear clothes, besides, you can show me your cutie mark.” And before I could say anything in protest, her horn lit up as she removed my boxers leaving me completely naked. The look on her face was absolutely hilarious. “Oh…Oh my” was all she could manage to say as I quickly grabbed my boxers and put them back on.

“Yeah, I tried to warn you, humans don’t have cutie marks, and there’s a reason that we wear clothes, especially on our lower half”. It took her a few minutes, but Rarity finally regained her composure and set off to taking my measurements.

Once she had finished, she asked “So what exactly would you like me to make you?” I grabbed my spare clothes and gave them to her.

“For starters, I’d like five of those if possible, but if I came at a bad time, I can wait.” Rarity picked up the clothes and studied them

“Don’t worry darling, your clothes were requested as a royal rush order. they will be ready in two to three days’ time, I love a good challenge. Now go on, you have a meeting to go to.” I smiled as I put my gear back on and walked out the door. And just before it closed, I heard Rarity say “Now I know why the princess wants to meet him” I got a good laugh out of that.

A few minutes later, I was on my way to my meeting with the princesses, and I was maybe about a mile and a half away from the castle when I heard a commotion in the alley off to my side.

“Come on lady, give the bits and you won’t get hurt.” The voice sounded like that of a guy my age, and it didn’t sound too pleasant.

The next voice I heard, almost made me explode with rage. “Please, just let me go, I promise I won’t tell anyone about this.” It was the voice of Majesty. I stacked up on the alley opening, and drew my pistol from its holster and made sure it was on stun. I peeked my head around the corner quickly and I saw a rather buff stallion standing over Majesty, who was on the ground with her left front leg bent in a way that it shouldn’t be. I quickly scanned to see if the hostile had any help, and I entered the alley, gun drawn.

“P-please, don’t hurt me.” Majesty begged

The stallion got closer, “Oh don’t worry, I’ll grab my bits, have some ‘fun’ and I’ll be on my way.”

I snuck right up behind the attacker and fired a shot at his hooves before pointing the laslight at his head . “The nice lady asked you to leave her alone, so how about you get down on the ground, and keep your hands-er-hooves where I can see them.”

Majesty peaked her head out around the stallion, “John?”

“Yep, looks like your morning isn’t off to a great start.” I replied

The stallion looked back at me, “Here’s a better idea, you walk away before I buck you back into the street, and have my way with this bitch.”

That really pissed me off. So, I aimed my pistol for his body, and pulled the trigger twice. There was a flash of red as the bolts of energy erupted from the pistol, streaking through the air and into the offender. When the bolts hit the offender, I watched it dissipate over his body, and the stallion dropped like a sack of potatoes. With the offender subdued, I knelt down, putting my fingers under his chin to check for a pulse, and when I found one, I stood back up, holstered my pistol, and walked over to majesty who had a worried look on her face.

“Don’t worry, I stunned him. He'll wake up in about three hours feeling rather sore, but he’ll be okay…Do you have any spells that will keep him here until the guards can get here?”

She nodded, and then there was a flash from behind me and I saw that the culprit had disappeared.

“What was that? Where did he go?”

“I-I teleported him to the dungeon. We’ll tell the guards what happened at the castle.” She tried to get up, but the second she did she cried out in pain. “My-My leg, its hurt.”

I knelt down and looked her in the eyes, “It’s going to be okay, just calm down. Let me take a look.” Looking at her leg, you could tell that it was broken. I used my fingers to part her fur around the top of her leg and saw that the skin under her white coat was pink. I went down to the area around the break and saw that the color was still the same. “Good, no discoloration. That means that you don’t have any internal bleeding.”

Majesty looked at me, “But will I be able to stand?”

Looking at the break and remembering back to her cries of pain, I shook my head, “Probably not.” I looked majesty right in the eyes, “Now this is going to feel weird, but I’m going to have to carry you to the castle for medical help. I’m not exactly knowledgeable in pony physiology, and I don’t want to leave you here alone.” I moved into the position to put her into a fireman’s carry and looked back to her, “Ready?”

She nodded, “Yes…is this going to hurt?”

“It might when I first pick you up, but that’s just because of the fact that your leg is going to move a little.” I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out my carving, it was a rose. I took it and placed it in her ear, “So focus on that for me.”

“Okay, then yes I’m ready….and the rose looks beautiful, thank you.”

“Okay, one…Two…Three” And on three, I picked her up, and transitioned her to a fireman’s carry with her head off to my left side. Once I had her situated, I looked over to her, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Yes, thanks to you.”

“It’s nothing,” I replied, ““How much farther to the castle anyway? Because I don’t mean to sound rude, but you’re not exactly the lightest individual in the world”

“I'm going to overlook that comment as you're currently carrying me, and I would say that at this rate, we should be there in about ten to fifteen minutes.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic” I replied

It took longer than fifteen minutes.

When we reached the castle, there was a large commotion, but that is understandable considering the looks I had gotten from every pony on my way to my destination. Once I reached the gates, I slowly set Majesty down as ponies ran away from me, but as ponies ran, a set of 13 guards ran up to us. I looked up to them and yelled “Hey, I need a medic here! She’s got a hurt leg!” they responded by surrounding me and lowering spears, “Shit.” I responded to this action by laying down to cover Majesty and bringing my pistol to bear “Drop your weapons!” I shouted.

The guard in the purple armor from yesterday stepped forward and brought two swords to bear with his magic “Step away from her you monster!”

I focused my pistol on him “Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Now take your men and tell them to back the fuck off. I’m not leaving her until she’s safe.”

He scoffed “Safe? Yeah right, you’re the one who hurt her, just so she wouldn’t run right?”

I flicked the safety off, “This is your last warning, back off or I shoot.”

I heard the voice of a woman behind me, more specifically, the voice of Celestia. “That won't be required.” I looked to where Majesty was laying behind me, only to see Princess Celestia herself standing there behind me, in perfect health. And if I had any doubts, I looked at her and I saw the wooden rose that I had carved sitting in the same position between her ear, like it was with majesty. I shook myself from my shock and I stood up and put my gun back on safe and holstered it before bowing.

Celestia smiled at me and motioned for me to rise. She was actually a little taller than I thought, about six feet and a half feet, maybe eight feet tall with her horn. Just like the image I saw of her earlier, her mane and tail were a mix of green, blue, and pink, and it was billowing like it was in the wind. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of pink and her cutie mark was one of the sun, and her smile, oh I could just lose myself in it. She spoke in that kind and motherly voice that I had heard earlier, a voice that made even my fear of messing up begin to crumble. I shook my head a bit, I need to stay focused, I need to keep my head quiet before it gets hurt again or makes me do something dumber than usual.

I Just stood there with a look of disbelief on my face as all the guards saluted the princess. “Where…Where's Majesty?”

Celestia smiled “I’m sorry that you had to find out this way Johnathan. I was planning on telling you eventually, but circumstances required me to step in. But I am very grateful that you stepped in to protect me.”

“And what of your leg or the guy who broke it?” I asked

Celestia's ears flattened against her head, “Unfortunately, those were also illusions made by my magic.”

I sighed and lowered my own head, knowing that I had earlier told the princess some shit that would probably hurt my chances at good relations with her, then again who would want to be friends with me anyway right? “Of course, it was…may I ask why?”

“Yes, you may, but perhaps we could continue this discussion over breakfast?” Celestia then looked to the guards “Gentlemen, I thank you for your swift action, but as you can see, I am in no danger. However, I am disappointed that you were all so quick to judge my guest.”

The captain tilted his head in confusion “Ma’am, he looks more like a hostile militant than a royal guest.”

Celestia walked up beside me and all I could do was keep my face down, “I understand that Captain Armor, however, as Twilight most likely informed you, I was gone the last day because I was escorting a guest through Canterlot did she not?”

“Yes, she did your highness, however she did not elaborate beyond that, I apologize for my rash actions and the actions of my squad.”

“Your apology is accepted captain, but it is really Johnathan that you should apologize to.”

my head snapped up to Celestia then to the captain at the mention of my name. He began to step forward, but I stopped him “Hey, its ok man, you were just doing your job.”

Oddly enough he smiled at me and saluted me before turning to his own men and shouting, “Escort Formation!” As he did, the guards formed lines behind and on the sides of me and Celestia, with Shining just in front of us. “Forward March!” and with that we walked into the castle.

The dining hall that we were in was, according to Celestia, one of 5 in the castle. It was also one of the smaller ones, though I have no idea how it would qualify as small. The room itself was maybe 100 long feet by 50 feet wide, and maybe 30 feet in height. At its center there was a table with three place settings, and a door that led right into the kitchen. The guards stopped following me and Celestia as we entered, with all but four of them turning around and leaving, with the remaining four taking up positions just outside the door. Celestia motioned for me to take a seat, so I did, as she walked towards the kitchen. I was about to get up and see if she needed any help, but she saw my movement, “Please John, sit down and relax. Aside from my skills with instruments, I am also a skilled chef and baker.”

“Are you sure?” I asked

Celestia smiled at me, and for a moment I lost myself in it as she walked into the kitchen.

She’s beautiful…Wait what? What am I thinking? What the hell makes me think that I’d even have a chance with her anyway? And for all I know I’d be violating some kind of law or something or…..maybe it would be best if I left. I could try to fix up the ship and leave. I got up to leave, but as I stood up, I heard Twilight's voice from behind me.

“Where are you going John?”

“Uhh….I figured I would just sneak out of here before I do something that makes Celestia or you hate me.”

“Why would you think that?” she asked, walking to her seat and sitting down

“Because…I’m not meant to have a happy ending.”

Celestia walked in with three plates of pancakes, each was topped with fruit, whipped cream, and caramel. “I don’t believe that at all.” She set down the plates in front of us and sat down herself. “Now come, enjoy breakfast. We have much to talk about I’m sure, and I’m hoping that I can get a chance to apologize to you for any deception on my part.”

I smiled at Celestia and I took a bite of the food in front of me. “There’s no need to apologize Ma’am, and these pancakes are amazing.”

Celestia giggled at me, “Thank you Johnathan, and please, call me Celestia.”

“I smiled, and you can call me John your High-I mean, Celestia.”

The two of us just smiled at each other for a bit as we ate, and then Twilight cut the silence as she began to talk with Celestia about the goings on and the actions of her and her friends. I just sat there and ate as they talked and laughed about days gone by, and whenever I saw Celestia laugh or some, I couldn’t help but find myself infatuated by it. I glanced over to twilight two was looking at me with a slight smirk, and I quickly went back to food, and I began to wonder just what the hell I was thinking doing what I did.

I needed to stay focused and courteous here. I’m a guest and I need to stay in their good graces, not let my heart carry me off on some tangent.

Twilight broke me off of my train of thought by shifting the focus to me, “So tell us some more about yourself and your world.”

“Well while I am from one specific planet, earth, It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed there for any extended period of time. I mean I'll fly back there from time to time to see family, but I spend most of my time out in the universe taking up protection bounties…... People can’t seem to stop fighting over something, and most can’t seem to think of anyone but themselves. Though mind you, me and people have never been a good combination anyway. But with all that being said, there are a few out there who are trying to do good, those who keep up my faith in humanity…those who do whatever they can to help others.”

Both of them stared at me silently, I was waiting for a reaction from them, but all I got was silence, so I continued, “But I suppose that you’re probably wondering how I got here.”

They nodded

“Well if I’m being fully honest, I have no clue. If I had to place any guesses though, I would say that my FTL drive malfunction was what caused my arrival here.”

“FTL drive?” Celestia asked before she took a bite of her food

I took a swig from my coffee before replying, “It stands for Faster Than Light. its a device that allows for spacecraft to reach faster-than-light velocities, which allows for a trip that could take tens or hundreds of years to be done in minutes.”

Twilight's ears perked up at the mention of FTL, but she didn’t say anything, so I continued my story.

“Anyway,I started a jump, and not long after everything started getting real bright, and not long after that, I passed out due to my life support systems failing. When I regained my consciousness, I was here in your world, and you both know what happened after that.”

“Or it could have been the tree of harmony.” Twilight countered.

“The tree of whatnow?”

“The tree of harmony” Celestia replied, “It has been around since my sister and I first took the mantle of leadership, which will soon be passed onto Twilight, and it was created by Starswirl the bearded and his friends.”

“It also seems to have multiple powers, from magical projection to the physical manipulation of the environment” Twilight continued.

Celestia looked to Twilight, “Do you really think that it could be responsible for his arrival here?”

Twilight's horn glowed and a piece of paper appeared with a few diagrams. “Well his description of his arrival does seem to match something magical, and I do agree with his assessment that he is from another universe or possibly dimension. So far, the only thing that could accomplish a feat like that was the elements of harmony, and since we know that their power comes from the tree…”

“Then this tree that you’re talking about is what got me here.” I finished.

“Exactly!” Twilight responded

Celestia looked to me with a smile, “Well if it was the tree of harmony that was responsible for your appearance, then we can rest assured that my friend is not a threat to our world.”

I looked at her with shock, “Wait, you still want to be friends with me? Even after what happened outside?”

“Yes John. You saved me from a would-be assaulter, you carried me to the castle when you thought I was injured, and you even stood watch over me as you tried to get me medical attention. Though the circumstances that caused those actions were manufactured by me, you stayed true to me. When I told you about my deception, you understood and forgave me. You are indeed a true friend.”

“I’m not Celestia, I was just doing what anyone else would have done, I don’t deserve praise or friendship for my actions, hell, I’m surprised that I’m not in prison for what I have done here so far.”

“Why would you say that?” Twilight asked

“Because so far I’ve managed to commit assault and battery, and threatened royal guards twice.” I replied

“All of which have been forgiven.” Celestia responded. She took a few bites of her breakfast as I sipped my coffee before she asked me a question that took me by surprise, “John, why are you trying to push us away?”

I looked at Celestia and Twilight, then to my coffee, and I sighed, “I’m not much of a people person…...I have very few friends, and I live alone. And when you add in the fact that my job means that every day could be my last…. I’ve taken up too much of your time and hospitality. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to go, I’ve burdened you kind folks long enough.” I stood up from my chair, bowed, and quickly made my way out of the room and back to my ship. Once I was back inside the relative privacy of the cargo bay, I took out my toolkit, walked to the cockpit, and I started to work on my instrument panels. “What the hell was I thinking? Why am I getting so emotional around her, and why is she being so kind to me? I’ve made so many mistakes here…..no, I just need to focus. Get the ship fixed, then I’ll get out of their hair or manes or…you get the point.”

The mechanical voice of Apollo came through the speakers, “Im not sure that I do”.

I sighed and I went back to work on my instrument panel. After a few hours, I set my tools aside, and I sat back down in my pilots’ seat. “Well here goes nothing.” I flicked a few switches, and my ship came to life. My instrument panel lit up, and I was greeted by the tone of the master alarm. “Apollo, test all systems and give me a damage report”

“Affirmative...testing all systems... Main engines: Failed... All other systems green.”

“Good, that means im making some progress. Is the system stable enough for an uplink?”

“Checking...All T.D.O.S.A. systems green. Ready for uplink.”

“Roger, uplink with scythe, maintain combat comms and give me a display of any damage on the engines.” I looked at my panel as the display changed and a smile came across my face , “There you are.”

I got out of the pilot’s seat and I checked my mobiholo. According to its display, it was just after 12:30. I set my tools down, took out my MRE from last night, took my chair, and set up by the edge of the plaza, so I could enjoy the view with my lunch. From what I had seen, the circle of guards was still at its full strength, though now it was most likely to keep me in. I figured after what happened this morning, I was probably persona non grata at the castle, possibly here in the world as a whole. My best bet would probably be to take off once I can, and set down somewhere relatively remote. I scanned the horizon as I ate my meal, looking for somewhere that would be good for me, or even a direction to go, and as I finished my meal, I determined that the best place would probably in that large patch of woods that I saw off to the south west.

I sat there for maybe a half hour in total before I was jolted up by Twilight’s voice behind me, “The view is pretty great right?”

I began to bow but she stopped me, “Please John, there’s no need to do that.” Her horn glowed and another chair appeared and she sat down while motioning for me to do the same. “I just wanted to apologize for this morning.”

“There’s no need to apologize your high-”

Twilight lifted her hoof up, “John, I do remember saying that my friends can call my Twilight.”

“Oh…I figured that after my actions this morning I was no longer counted among them.” I gestured back to my ship, “That’s why I’ve been working on that. I haven’t taken a look at the engine yet, but I’m hoping that I can be out of your hair within a few days.”

“There’s no need for that” She replied.

“Why?”

“Because you’re not in any trouble. In fact, Celestia is somewhat worried about the welfare of her friend.”

Upon hearing this, a sense of worry came over me, “Is she alright?” I asked

“She is fine.” Twilight replied “In fact, she wants you to move into the castle.”

“She what?”

Twilight giggled, “Given what she has seen from you today, Celestia wants to make sure that you are comfortable here. In fact, she even has a job offer for you that she would like to give to you in person.”

I sat there for a second, wondering as to why this would be happening. If I didn’t take this offer, then I’d either piss them off more, or I’d lose out on a chance for a job, which given how it looks like I’m going to be here for a while, would be a big help, but then again maybe I should disappear before I do more harm than good. I pointed back to my ship, “What about my ride? I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt by it”

Twilight's horn glowed and there was a massive flash from behind me. I turned around and what I saw made me do a double take, my ship and campsite had vanished. I looked back to Twilight who already knew what I was going to ask. “Don’t worry, your flying machine and campsite have been teleported to the private gardens in the castle. The only ponies who have access to it are princesses and their guests. Your weapons have been placed in a safe in your room that only you and the princesses can access, and your personal belongings have been sent to your room.”

Upon hearing this I relaxed, but I was still worried about seeing Celestia again…I had this weird feeling when I was around her. It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, but it was not one I was familiar with. Nevertheless, it's something that I’ll have to figure out and fast. I got up from my seat and I folded up my chair. “Well then lead the way.”

As Twilight got up and led me back to the castle, I could see a line of guards from the camp around what was my landing site follow us as the rest began to break down the camp. The walk back to the castle was uneventful, with most of the scenery and public reaction being the same, but more tempered. Most likely because me being led to the castle was not a new sight by this point. As we got to the castle, we ascended the stairs in front of the main entrance, and then took a right instead of a left. At this point, the guards broke off and resumed their normal duties as Twilight led me through the castle to what looked like a residential wing. After a while, the number of doors decreased and I was led down a hallway and past a set of guards who were posted next to a set of stairs. At the end of the hallway there was a single door guarded by two more guards who parted for me and Twilight to enter the room.

On the other side of the door was a bedroom that looked like a penthouse suite at a hotel. It had a set of glass double doors, one of them led to a balcony, and the other to the garden where I could see my ship. From the looks of it, this room was the only one that had direct access to it as well. inside the room there was a rather large bedroom with a bed on one side of the room, with a fireplace and what looked to be a smaller bed next to it on the other. And in the middle, there was a set of glass double doors that opened up to a balcony with an even better view than the one from the plaza, and next to the doors was a stocked bookshelf. And on the balcony, there was a small table and a few chairs. Next to the bed was the door which led into a full-sized bathroom, with a sink, toilet, bathtub/shower and a mirror. I whistled with amazement, “So whose room did I get?”

Twilight walked up to the doors to the balcony and opened them letting in a breeze, “Actually, this room is usually reserved for visiting dignitaries.”

I chuckled, “You flatter me, but I’m probably as far as it gets from a dignitary of any sort.”

Twilight smiled back at me, “That is true, but the circumstances, we felt that it would be best for you to be able to access your ‘Ship’ while still keeping it safe from the public.”

I walked out of the open doors, onto the balcony, and the view that I had was even better than the one from the plaza. I looked up and to the left and I saw a tower with some more balconies. From the looks of things, that seemed to be where more rooms were, and if the stairs that I went past lead there, combined with the fact that they had guards posted there, those rooms were most likely the princesses. Looking back out on the horizon, I could see for miles and miles, I even saw what looked to be a floating city made of clouds! I shook my head, taking it as par for the course, and I walked back inside, then over to my ship. I opened its doors and I grabbed out my toolkit as I prepared to continue my work.

“For someone who has never seen magic before, you seem to be taking all of this very well.”

I opened up the engine compartment and began to look around it with a flashlight as I spoke, “Well I mean what else am I going to do? Yes, this whole situation is completely new and foreign to me, but one thing I learned when my father and grandfather taught me to fly is that you can’t panic when something goes wrong, that’s only going to make the situation worse.”

“That’s actually good advice…. what are you doing?”

“Well I know where the issue with my engines is, I just don't know what it is.” I replied.

“But why would you want to fix it? I already told you that you are a welcome guest here.”

“Because I liked flying.” I point to her wings “I’m sure you can understand why…the feeling of freedom and the adrenaline rush…the feeling of the wind rushing by you…there’s nothing like it.”

Twilight nodded with a smile, “I have a friend who would definitely agree with you…. Just keep an eye on the time please, you have dinner with Celestia at 5:30.”

I turned away from my work to face Twilight, “I have what?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention earlier, Princess Celestia wants to have a private dinner with you, she wants to help you feel more relaxed and welcome here, as well as offer you a job.” I opened my mouth to speak, but Twilight already knew what was coming, “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. I’m sure that Celestia has the perfect job for you to help you.”

I sighed, “Alright then, I guess I’ve got to trust you on that.” Twilight smiled at me and left as I turned back to my work. “Alright then, let’s find that gremlin.”

It was 4:00 before I found what was causing the issue, pulling my hand out of the compartment, there was a strange crystal in my hands, it was about five inches long and two inches wide. With the crystal in hand, I walked back into my room and into the bathroom, washing both my hands and the crystal off. Once both were clean of oil, I was able to better see the features of the crystal, and as I looked at it, it emitted a blinding flash of light forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them, there was a pony in front of me, more specifically, an alicorn. She was the exact same size as Celestia, her eyes were blue like mine, and her mane was red. Her cutie mark was one of a quill in an ink vial. Instinctively, I drew my Laslight, but I didn’t bring it to bear on the pony in front of me. “I don’t know who you are, but I have a good idea of how you got in here. I would advise that you tell me why or I’m going to yell for a guard, and I’m sure that they are not going to be happy to see any uninvited guests.” I raised my pistol a hair to make sure that she saw it, “And if you try to harm me, I’ll use this, then call for a guard.”

The pony in front of me rolled her eyes, and I saw her horn light up. There was a small flash by my hands, and when I looked to see what happened, my pistol was gone. Looking back to the alicorn, I saw my pistol in her magical grasp, and I watched as she effortlessly took the magazine out of the weapon, and field strip it before it all disappeared. “I do believe that was a rather rude way to treat the one who is responsible for your arrival here.”

I opened my mouth to call for a guard, but no noise came out

Looking at the mare in the room with me, I saw her horn was engulfed with magic, “You may rest assured that I mean you no harm, I am simply here to help you.” She sat down in front of a chair, and she motioned for me to do the same. I followed her instructions, but only because I couldn’t fight magic as I was. Once I was sitting down, she continued, “I'll start off by confirming your suspicions. Yes it was me who brought you here. As for the why, there are multiple answers, but let's just say that this world will be good for you, and you will be good for this world. I chose to bring you here because of who you are, but also because of what you need.”

I opened my mouth to speak again, but again no noise. I looked at the pony across from me and pointed to my mouth.

I watched as the magic in her horn dissipated, and I could speak again.

“What is your name?...what are you?”

She smiled at me, “My name is Harmonia, I am the entity that powers the tree of harmony, but you can consider me to be your guardian angel.”

“My guar-”

Before I could finish, Harmonia smiled at me and disappeared along with the crystal I had pulled from my engine. Looking at my Mobiholo, I saw it was 4:10, and I also noticed that my pistol had been returned to its holster. I could process this encounter later, but if I didn’t get cleaned up, I was going to be late for my dinner with Celestia. So, I got up out of my chair and went into the bathroom looking for the shower, and I was actually quite surprised to see how it worked. There was a two-valve system similar to most showers, one for hot and another for cold, but there was no shower head. Instead, the ceiling of the room seemed to have many holes drilled into it, with the holed ceiling covering the entirety of the shower, which in itself could easily fit Celestia with her wings spread wide. As I glanced at my mobiholo, I saw I only had 50 minutes left to get ready, so I turned the water on and jumped in.

The shower didn’t take only, maybe only 15 minutes, so with some time to kill, I began to read some of the literature that was in the room, so I picked up one of the books from the shelf, more specifically, The History of Equestria. I figured that I should probably do my homework on this place considering that I may be here long term and I needed to do anything to keep myself from thinking, because once I did…So, I sat down and read for the remainder of my time, and the more I read, the more I began to understand some of the things Celestia told me, she and her sister held the elements at one time and used them to defeat a king of shadows, and what was apparently this world's version of Q from Star Trek, before something happened to Luna and she went crazy. It must have been hard on Celestia. I mean I’ve lost family, but the loneliness, that I can relate to. I mean I guess I could have settled, but with the nature of my profession…well family wasn’t a good idea. I was brought back to reality by a knock on my door. So, I grabbed my pistol and walked to my door and called out “Who is it?”

The familiar soothing, motherly voice of Celestia responded “I’m here to give you some good news.”

I placed my pistol back into its holster, and I tried to make sure that I looked like a normal person before I opened my door “Good evening Your Highness. It’s a pleasure to see you. What news brings you to my door?”

She giggled “Please John, call me Celestia, and I am here to inform you that you have been accepted into the Royal Guard as my personal guard, and to pick you up for our dinner.”

“Wait what? Isn’t there some kind of process that I have to go through?”

“Well yes.” she replied “But your case is a special one, you don’t have much of a background to check, but I did spend a day and a half with you, and you did carry me to help, and save me from a would be attacker, which tells me that you’re not here in this world to hurt my little ponies.” She put her hoof on my chest “...and It tells me that your heart is in the right place.” I smiled, doing whatever I could to hide that voice in my head that kept telling me that I’m going to mess it up, and that this wasn’t a date. I tried to listen to my heart, I tried to believe that I could make a relationship out of this,

wait did I just say relationship? What am I thinking!?

“Well, that’s good news to hear, but I thought that I was supposed to escort the beautiful princess to dinner.”

She smiled and blushed a bit at that, “Oh…Well I thought that since you were still new to this world that you may get lost, so I decided it would be better for me to escort you myself than to have a guard do it.”

“Oh, well then thank you your high…Celestia.” damn it, of course I’d mess that up in front of her.

She giggled again and began to make her way to the dining hall and I followed close behind. I kept looking at Celestia and I stopped berating myself, tonight was for her, I need to set my own self aside and be happy. She was still somewhat of a stranger to me and me a stranger to her, but I felt like I needed to make sure she was happy, she was my friend after all. Not to mention that she had lost her own sister and spent a thousand years alone, I had no chance at filling that void or easing any pain if it was still there…. but maybe I could help ease the pain, and maybe she could one day help me with mine. As we got to the dining hall, I noticed how it was surprisingly empty, and inside the dining hall where there was a table set for two. I walked up to it and pulled out her chair for her. Again, out of the corner of my eye there was a bit of pink, but I looked up and around me on the columns there were copious amounts of flowers so I let it go as Celestia sat down and spoke.

“Oh, a gentleman AND a charmer.” she said as she sat down

I chuckled as I thought about how I’m neither of those and I took a seat myself “Well I try.” as I looked out the window, I noticed the sun was setting and that her horn was glowing. It was then that I remembered that her and her sister were both responsible for raising the sun and moon (yes you heard that right). “The sunset looks almost as beautiful as you Celestia.” I commented, it was a shitty attempt at a compliment, but I suck at relationships, so it was all I could do.

She smiled and blushed even more “Oh, and a flatterer too.”

I was shocked, she LIKED my complement? My heart soared for a minute letting me think that I could stand a chance with a beautiful and kind mare like her before reality reeled it back in. all she did was giggle at my complement and return one. She’ll probably start asking me more about myself and I’ll end up ruining the night. A few minutes after we sat down, the chefs came carrying a few silver platters and set them on the table, breaking my focus from my mental harassment. They lifted the covers to reveal a spaghetti type dish with a nice-looking red sauce and some basil, along with a nice red wine. As we started eating, the conversation from earlier today resurfaced “John, I have to ask, what is it like in your universe??”

I sighed “Well my universe is a mix of wonders and horrors. A universe filled with both light and dark morals, to be honest, it all depends on where you are.”

“I see” she replied “so what did you used to do?”

“I was a Freelancer...basically a mercenary. Albeit I was one with morals, usually only taking jobs that saw me escorting supply convoys, or bounty hunting dangerous criminals, but if I’m being honest, I should be one of them.”

Celestia shook her head “That doesn’t sound like an accurate description of the man who saved me after having just met me, and risked his life for me even though he didn’t know me.”

I sighed “You're too kind to me Celestia.”

“I'm just trying to cheer up a friend who desperately needs it.” she replied, I could have said something about how I saw how she needed to be cheered up, but I kept my mouth shut, I didn’t want to mess up or make her made by making it look like I was refusing help, so instead I decided to change the subject

“……so why did I get the job?” I asked, deciding that I wanted to get to that point.

She was a little shocked at my question “Well you were given the position due to your experience and because of the recommendation of the captain.”

“I mean the real reason; you don’t just go from jobless to being the princesses personal guard.”

She sighed and looked down “If you really must know, it is because Twilight does not know what to make of you, and to be honest, I still don’t either. This position is so we can keep you close and keep an eye on you for the time being, at least until you have earned every ponies trust…..I’m sorry, and if it’s any consolation, know that you have my trust.”

I knew it, it was all just a test, but then again I also understood, they don’t know a lot about me or my intentions, they are being good leaders by ensuring that I'm not a threat. But as I looked over to Celestia I saw that she was looking away from me, so I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder “Don’t be sad, you’re doing the right thing, to be honest I’d probably do the same thing if I was in your position…. I understand…..and thank you, your friendship means more to me than you think.”

She looked up at me and smiled as she used her magic to pull me into her embrace “Thank you so much John.” she held me like that for almost a minute before she let me go “Thank you for understanding.” As she held me close part of me knew that that wasn’t the only thing I understood her on. Being that close to her, I again picked up on a faint inner pain. A pain similar to my own…Somehow, I think that she knew that I was talking about that fateful night. I think she knew my pain…because I knew hers.

“And thank you for doing this Celestia. Most women in my universe want nothing to do with me.”

“And why is that?” she asked

I took a second to plan what I wanted to do. She was such a kind and loving mare, I didn’t want to burden her with my pain…but I had already opened Pandora’s box, and I was left between a rock and a hard place…...so I told her the truth. “The job. it's not one of glory or fame or riches. it's one for people like me. people who are ugly and dirty inside but looking to do some good. people who aren't looking for relationships, just a life of adrenaline highs that aren't paid for with blood money. Look at me, and then look at you, I mean you look beautiful and here I am in casual clothes.”

“Oh?..... Well then, John, I want you to look me in the eyes so I know that you'll understand what I’m about to say”

I stood up and walked over to her and did what she asked.

“John, I want you to understand this, what they think doesn’t matter, it’s what you think that matters, and I think that you look handsome if I do say so myself, and your clothes don’t make you look bad, they make you look rugged.” she moved her wing off to the side as if to throw something “Don’t let others define you, you are SO MUCH more than what they think.”

“R-really?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my head to the ground, knowing that I didn’t deserve her friendship or the kind words that she’s saying, “May I ask what makes you think that? Because when I look in the mirror, I don't see the man you're describing, I see many bad things.”

She used her hoof to raise my chin up so I was looking straight into her eyes…her calm, loving, beautiful eyes. “Your flaws do not define you, when I look at you, I see a man who has survived many battles, some of them with others, and some of them with himself. I see a man who is capable of doing great things in this world, I see a man who is capable of overcoming any challenge…I see a man who reminds me of myself many years ago.”

“Just after nightmare moon.” I finished “I’ve felt that kind of pain before.”

“You’ve lost a loved one too?” she asked

An image flashed through my head of a ship exploding beside mine, “He was a good friend of mine. Basically my brother…it was years and years ago, but it still hurts.” I replied

“As harsh as this sounds, the best thing to do is move on. The more you dwell on it, the more it will hurt you…I learned that the hard way.”

“Oh, I definitely know how that feels.” I replied.

She smiled and let me go “Now come, we still have dessert.” The chefs took away the dinner plates, refilled the wine glasses, and brought out what looked to be some kind of cake.

“What kind is it?” I asked

“Oh, it’s a mandarin, mascarpone madness”

“Saywhatnow?”

She smiled again, oh god that smile, it makes her look even more beautiful “It’s a cake that Pinkie Pie made, it’s my personal favorite.”

“Ah, that would make sense.” I picked up my fork and took a bite of it, it was actually pretty good, all the flavors mixed in well, nothing really overwhelmed you.
We sat in silence for a bit before I looked to Celestia and asked “Why give me a job as your guard?”

“Well so that way you can start to see in you what I already see.”

I smiled “Thank you.”

About a half hour later, we had finished out small talk and we had both decided to call it a night. So, I offered her my arm “may I escort you back to your chambers m’lady?”

She put out her wing and wrapped it around me “I think I would enjoy that very much” so together we walked back up to the tower, reminiscing about the night. And eventually we came to a set of double doors with Celestia's mark on them “Well this is where I bid you goodnight John.”

“Goodnight Celestia, thank you for the dinner and for everything that you said.”

She smiled as she replied “Oh, it was nothing, I was merely telling the truth as I see it.”

That got me to smile, the night had gone well, for once in my life, I had done something right, and maybe I could ask her out on a real date sometime after my first paycheck comes in. I felt on top of the world, I had a chance to maybe turn this friendship into a relationship. Soon I wouldn't have to worry about a title because she was planning on retiring to a beach. But as I thought of our future together, I also thought of the past, more specifically how long she’s been around. “Uhhh Celestia, before I go, I just have one more small question for you.”

“Please, by all means, ask away.”

“Well I was doing some reading earlier today, and I noticed that you’re in most of the history books, so what I’m trying to ask is…are you immortal?”

The next four words that she said immediately crushed whatever chance I had with her into pieces and then tossed them into the wind, “Why yes I am.”

And just like that any hope I had of finding love with her was dashed. She was immortal, I wasn’t. Eventually I was going to die, and I care too much to put her through that pain. She may never want more than friendship, but I still care too much for her to put her through that kind of sorrow, she already lost a loved one once, and that kind of pain doesn’t just go away. Maybe I needed to go away…no, she was a friend and I don’t want to hurt my friend by just leaving, no I needed to push past this. I needed to accept that my path was a lonely one.

“Oh…I see…well good night Celestia.” and with that she closed her door and I walked down the hall to mine. Once I had gotten into my room and closed the door and laid out on the balcony. Of course, she’s immortal. Because it’s against the rules of the universe for me to eventually find someone…why would I even think that I had a chance with her in the first place.
--
I think tomorrow I should tell them that they should find a new guard and that I’m going off to live in the woods somewhere, and I’ll ask her to send someone to check up on me once in a while and bury me when the time comes……. I…I’m going to go to sleep. It’s been a long day.
//End audio journal transcript…\\

Chapter 3: Feelings

View Online

//Begin audio log Transcription\\

Update:...Navigation restored.

Update:...Flight systems repaired.

Current Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria

So it’s my third day here in Equestria, and it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions. If I’m being honest, I’m quite shocked that I’m not in cuffs right now.

I woke up at 0600 in the bed of the ambassadorial suite in the castle. My mind was still reeling from the events of last night, but I had to set my emotions aside. “What was I thinking? I mean her of all people? She was never in my league anyway.”

I walked up to my mirror, “Just get to work. You should have seen this coming, after all, you chose this life, you chose the lonely path.”

I sighed and shook my head, “I know I chose this path…...but now, I regret doing so… For a chance with her, I’d give it all up. I know that I don’t believe in that whole love at first sight shit, but…well I think I fell for Celestia.”

Stepping away from the mirror, I put on my clothes before walking onto my ship and donning my light armor, I figured that I wouldn’t be needing my heavier exo armor for today. For weapons I took my pistol and my shotgun along with some spare power cells for both of them.

I walked out of my room, and as I did, the guards stationed by its doors saluted me. I saluted back and made my way to the throne room. Looking out the windows as I walked by, I saw that the sun was just about to start to rise, which made me wonder if Celestia was even in her throne room yet. I soon got my answer as when I opened the doors, the room was empty. Now I think it would be obvious what I did next, but for those of you who can guess what I did, I took the opportunity, and with no one around, I sat down on the throne.

“Now where’s a camera when you need one?”

I didn’t get an answer, because not even a minute after I sat down, the door opened, causing me to jump out of the throne as a guard walked up to me and saluted me. I saluted back and he spoke.

“Princess Celestia would like me to escort you to the royal garage, she would like you to accompany her to the festival today.”

“Festival? what festival?”

“The festival of friendship. It was Princess Twilight's idea. the day you arrived was one of the last days of preparations for the event.”

“I see.” I walked up to the guard as he smiled, I pointed at him, “You didn’t see anything. Tell Celestia I'll be there soon, but I need to grab something from my room first; would you mind sending along a unicorn who is very skilled with teleportation to my quarters?”

He responded by nodding, turning around and walking off as I made my way back to my room to get ready.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. I opened it, and to my surprise, Twilight was on the other side of the door. “Well then, this is unexpected.”

Twilight smiled back at me, “Well, they said that you needed a unicorn who was skilled with teleporting, and I’m one of the best. May I ask why you needed help?”

I smiled at her and walked to the doors that lead into the garden where my ship sat. “Wait here and you’ll find out.” She did so, and I walked into my ship’s cargo bay, out of her view. Making sure my Shotgun was secured in its position on my back and that my armored helmet was on my head, I got onto my Hoplite. With a flick of a few switches, its engine turned on, and I slowly rolled it out of my cargo bay. I got a small kick out of Twilight’s reaction, so once the motorbike was off the ramp, I got off it and walked up to her. “I’m going to need you to teleport me and my ride to the garage.”

Once she wiped the look of shock off her face, Twilight walked up to me and my Hoplite, “I’m sure that this is not necessary; in fact, I think Celestia wanted you to ride with her in her chariot. In fact, I think she said something about wanting to schedule another dinner with just the two of you again.”

I raised my hand up to scratch the back of my helmet, “Right…. About that…I don’t know if I should…I mean it seems just a little…. unprofessional.”

“How so?”

“Well, my job is to keep her safe, and as such I should probably avoid any…personal relationships…I mean don’t get me wrong, she’s an amazing mare, and she deserves to be with whoever makes her happy, but…well I think I should keep my personal feelings separate from the position that you both appointed me to.”

Twilight looked at me funny for a second, but then nodded her head, “Go ahead and get on your…whatever you call it.”

I did so, and not even a second after I sat down, my vision went white for a second, and when it cleared up after a few seconds, I saw that I was in the garage, right in front of a shocked looking Celestia, and her guards who were pointing spears at me. Once they saw it was me, they stood down, which was good because I fell to the ground shortly afterwards, which caused Celestia to gasp and run to my side, “John! Are you alright?”

I nodded and took off my helmet, “Yeah, my stomach just feels horrible.”

I heard her giggle as she helped me up, “First time you’ve experienced a teleportation spell then. Take a few deep breaths, then get ready to leave.”

I did what she said, and then I got back onto my bike. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Celestia smiled at me, “John, I’ve told you once and I’ll tell you again, my friends call me Celestia.”

I nodded as I got back on my bike and rolled it up next to her carriage. “I’m ready, I’ll ride alongside you. Normally I’d ask to take point, but since I don’t know my way around the city, I’m going to defer to your guards for guidance.”

Celestia looked at me, “But I thought that I had requested that you ride in my carriage alongside me?”

“You did, but…. Well I’ll explain later, long story short, I’ll be able to offer better protection to you if I can stay with my equipment...plus its been a long time since ive had a valid excuse to take this thing for a joy ride.” I patted my bike.

Celestia sighed, “Very well.” She looked to the guard’s pulling her carriage and nodded, signaling them to begin moving forward, and I did the same, matching their speed and holding off of the right side of the carriage. The ride itself wasn’t that long, maybe only 15 minutes, and oddly enough, our destination was the same plaza I landed in only days before. Once we had arrived, I shut down my bike and put its kickstand down as I scanned the crowd and skyline for any potential threats. Aside from some storm clouds on the horizon, I saw nothing to indicate that there were any potential threats. However, i also dint want to be caught with my pants down. I raised my left hand up and toggled the communications on my mobiholo and started to speak. “Apollo, Godfather, message.”

“Godfather, Apollo. Send traffic.”

“Apollo, orders are as follows. Climb and maintain angels 3 hold current position designated IP Olympus, recon for any potential threats. How copy?”

“Godfather, Apollo reads all. Alert when ready to receive AC check-in.”

“Apollo, Godfather, Combat Ops suspended until further notice. PIDs not possible at this time. will alert if the situation changes, out.”

“Apollo rogers. out.”

As I did this, Celestia got off her carriage and walked up behind me as I got off my bike. “Who were you talking to John?”

“A friend.” i replied as i took my helmet off and strapped it to my side, but not before taking the headset out of it and donning it. I walked up next to Celestia and nodded, “He’s helping me keep an eye on things today. so far we’re in the clear.” I pointed to the clouds I saw earlier, “The weather may end up putting a damper on things later on, but in terms of overall security, we're in the clear.”

“Thank you, John…. But why are you wearing that armor on your body?”

“Protection.” I replied. “And this is my light armor: it offers some ballistic protection, but that’s about it. It’s essentially cardboard compared to my heavier exo-armor, but that stuff is meant for if I expect to be in heavy fighting or a crash landing, so it’s going to be way more durable.”

Celestia looked at me with some worry. “But why do you need such protection? Equestria is a peaceful world.”

I smiled, “If I’m wearing this, it’s mainly because I don’t expect much of anything to happen. But it’s better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. Like your guards.”

That seemed to calm her nerves as she smiled at me and we began to walk through the plaza area I had landed in. Me, I just kept my head on a swivel and let her enjoy herself.

About an hour into the festivities, I took another look at the sky, only to see that the storm clouds were now overhead, and as I looked at the clouds, a dark realization hit me. I looked to Celestia as I drew my Destroyer of my back, “We need to exfil now.”

Celestia looked at me and smiled, “Calm down John, it’s just some weather.”

I shook my head and grabbed her, “Those aren’t clouds, that’s a smokescreen.” As I grabbed her, she recoiled back, and was about to shout, but just as she did, an airship broke through the smokescreen, followed by another, and then another, and then a small fleet, and as they passed over us, doors on the side of them opened, and ape-like creatures wearing masks and armor of their own jumped out, with one of them landing in front of me and bringing a spear to bear on me. Without hesitation, I fired my Destroyer, and watched as the gun fired a wave of energy into the soldier, stunning him and dropping him on the ground.

“Godfather, Apollo. multiple unknown contacts inbound on your pos. requesting orders.”

“Yeah no shit, Why weren't they picked up on radar?” I looked back to Celestia, “Stay behind me, and stay with me.”

She looked at me with some worry, “Where are we going? What are you doing?”

“Somewhere defendable and my job.” And with that we began sprinting back my bike and her carriage. “Apollo, Godfather, rally to my POS, combat Ops approved. Ready for AC check in.”

Celestia tried to stop me by putting her wing in front of me, “John, we need to stand our ground and fight.”

“If we weren’t so heavily outnumbered, I’d agree, but right now, my job is to keep you safe, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Godfather, Apollo. AC check-in is as follows. Call sign Apollo, airframe Scythe, current position IP Olympus at angels 3. Ordinance, times four Missiles and guns. Capabilities, IR,Thermal, and night vision. PLaytime indefinite. Abort code is wave off. How copy?”

“Good copy Apollo. Move to my position and await further orders. ceiling angels 1.5, floor 100. ”

“Apollo copies all.”

It took us a minute to get back to the carriage, and once we did, I saw that it was surrounded by royal guards fighting off the ape-soldiers. Realizing that precision was needed, I swung my shotgun onto my back and I pulled out my pistol. I put myself in front of Celestia and in rapid succession, fired a stun charge into each ape.With the current danger dealt with, the pony guards to move them aside and looked to me. I looked up the streets ahead of us and I saw them filling with more of the creatures I just shot, and seeing that there was no way to feasibly get out of here I had to change plans.

“Everyone make a perimeter around here now!”

the guards nodded as celestia looked to me with a worried look in her eye “John, just what do you think you are doing?”

I smiled as I took out a small IR grenade and planted it on my bike. “Calling my friend for help.” I keyed open my comms again. “Apollo, Godfather. alert when ready to receive CAS 5 line.”

“Apollo on station. ready for 5-line.”

“Game plan as follows, Type 1 control, Visual, Guns, no interval. friendly pos marked with IR beacon. Target infantry located 20 meters north from friendly's and closing. danger close authorization Juliet Charlie.”

“Contact on IR sparkle,targets 20 meters north. danger close authorized.”

I couldn't help but smile as I peeked my head over my cover at the advancing army. “Apollo. Cleared Hot. Give em hell, over.”

As soon as I finished that sentence, the air around us was filled with a mix of the roaring of engines, and the sound of another song from my playlist of earth's past. Sabotage. All of the ponies around me began to search for the source of the music, and the army that was advancing on our position seemed to be curious about it too as they started to do the same. A split second later the sea of soldiers was stopped as my ship appeared on the horizon, and opened up with a dizzying volley of fire from its guns. the soldiers in front of us were cut down and what was once an enemy force of terrifying size, was now cut down to a few troops who were running in fear.

“Godfather, Apollo. gun run complete. Be advised, 100+ hostiles advancing on your position from the streets north, south, and west, requesting immediate re-attack.”

i looked around at our position. i had the advantage of technology, but they had the number. it was only a matter of time before we were overrun. I turned to Celestia. “We've bought ourselves some time, but we need to get out of here. get everyone to the open area of the plaza where i first landed.” I took a smoke grenade off of my side and handed it to her. “When you get there, pull the pin on this and then toss it on the ground in front of you, it's how our ride out of there will find us.”

“What about you?”

“I'll be right behind you okay? I'm gonna try and buy us some more time to get you out of here safely.”

Celestia shook her head, “I wont leave you. How will i know if you're safe? How do i know that you wont do something crazy?”

I smiled at her as I took the headset off my head and handed it to her. “Just speak into this and I'll be able to hear you okay.” i lifted up my mobiholo and keyed open the com “I'll use this to talk back to you okay?”

“That's not good enough.”

I stood up and I put my hand on her neck as I looked her in the eyes. “I promise that I will come back to you.”

“You better keep that promise.” And with that her and her guards took off.

I smiled as I saw her running to safety and i lifted up my mobiholo. “Apollo, Godfather. Negative on re-attack. New station on net, Call sign Hera. she's moving to our first landing site for extraction. look for orange smoke.”

“Apollo copies everything. Interrogative, How many for extract?”

“Hera will tell you how many once you get to her…...Apollo Ready for change in command. Transfer all scythe command authority to Hera.”

“Transfer of command authority requires authorization.”

“Authorization, Lakeside.” I replied as I turned to my bike.

“Authorization approved. Hera now in command.....It's been an honor sir.”

“Keep her safe Apollo, out.” And with that I turned back to my bike and opened up the power supply as the 3 streets in front of me began to fill with more soldiers. Seeing that they were moving closer and closer to me I picked up the speed of my re-wiring. One of the soldiers at the front saw this and responded by throwing its spear at my location. it whized over my head and stuck into the stand behind me. I respond by pulling my pistol out and firing a few shots over the bike. it took me only another 5 seconds to finish my wiring job. so i pulled my destroyer off my back and peaked over my cover to find myself face to face with one of those ape-like creatures, only this one was different. This one was taller, had all white fur, and a staff with some sort of crystal on it.

He smiled at me menacingly “So you are the one who took out my troops.”

“Yep.” I replied as I fired an energy blast right into his chest. The blast sent him flying back into his troops and left him on the ground. I walked up to him and pulled a pair of cuffs off of my side. “I'm also the one whose about to arrest you and take the crown of yours as a trophy. Now drop the staff, stay on the ground, and keep your hands where I can see em”

“I think not.” he replied as he pointed the staff at me. I saw a blue light emanating from the crystal on its top. But before I could take cover, a lightning bolt came out of the top of it and hit me, sending me back into my bike, knocking it over. The impact itself was hard. hard enough that i could feel a few broken limbs, and the HUD in my helmet was displaying warnings to prove it. My bike itself had no signs of damage other than a small whine that was starting to emanate from the engine. “I think i'm going to give you one chance to save your sorry skin. Join me and help me rule the world, and maybe, just maybe, I won't destroy that princess pony you've been trying so desperately to save.”

I tried to give my response by lifting my gun to fire, but before I could I was hit with another blast of lightning.

“I didn't give you permission to move slave!” he responded “Now BOW! BEFORE! THE! STORM KING!.” each word was punctuated by a kick to my body

The whine started to grow louder and louder as i keyed open the comms on my mobiholo. “Shes not just a princess. she's my friend….maybe she could have been more than that.”

The storm king laughed, “Of course her personal slave is in love with her! how couldn't i see it?...oh well, it matters not.” He grabbed a spear and leveled it at my throat. “Your life or the princess. choose now slave.”

The whine from the engine was loud enough that I had to speak louder to be heard over it. “I'm not a slave. I am Celestia's personal bodyguard. I am a freelancer…..but more importantly, I'm also good with electronics and making things go boom!” I could feel the engine behind me heating up more and more as the whine grew to a screaming tone, and my engine started to glow. The king dropped his spear and started to run, but he didn't get far as he was hit in the leg by a bolt from my pistol. “Oh no you don't. you stay here and die like a man!” I dropped my gun and looked up at the sky. “I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise Celestia...I'm sorry I couldn't tell you I lo-”

before i could finish the world around me disappeared and was replaced with a white light. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a cigar, but as I did a hand appeared. it was attached to a human in armor that was blackened by fire. “The mission isn't over yet Launchpad.” He took the cigar and as he did, I woke up in the suite that I passed out in the night before.

Surveying my surroundings, the first thing that I noticed was that I was not in the same place that I fell asleep in. I was still in the room that was given to me, but instead of the balcony where I dozed off under the stars, I was now in the bed, with a dark blue alicorn sitting at its foot and staring at me. Instinctively I reached for where I had kept my pistol, but I found nothing.

“Your weapon has been placed back in its safe, and it will remain there until I know what to make of you.”

“Who the fuck are you and why are you in my room?”

The alicorn stood and spread her wings, “I am Princess Luna, Princess of the Night and master of the dream realm. I am also Celestia's younger sister.”

“Oh, so you’re the coffee-drinking sister who drives her up the walls.”

Luna looked to me with what looked to be a hint of annoyance, so I tried my response again, “May I ask why the hell you’re watching me sleep or why you broke in here?”

She began to walk around the bed as she spoke, “It’s quite simple, I had to make sure that you weren’t a threat to this land, or my sister. Her, Twilight, and Cadance all seem satisfied by your previous actions, but I was not. I decided that in order to fully prove your intentions I would manufacture a circumstance in your dreams. One that seemed real enough to you, but also allowed me to see who you truly are.”

I turned so that my legs were hanging off the right side of the bed and I was facing Luna. “So did I pass or what?”

“You sacrificed your life for my sister, that itself is admirable, but then I saw something else…You care deeply for her, don’t you?”

I sat there mystified; how the fuck did she figure it out? “I feel a connection to her if that’s what you’re asking. Do I want to make something more of it? Yes, but I won’t.”

“And why, pray tell, not?” The emphasis that she placed on the ‘not’ told me that I was on thin ice.

“Because it’s not meant to be. For starters I’m not exactly the type of person that any woman, let alone a princess would be interested in, and second, I’m a mortal. So even if some miracle happened and we fell in love, it’s only going to end badly for her, and I won’t do that to her.”

“I see…and because you plan on returning back to your home?” Luna replied. She paced around the room a bit more, keeping an eye on me the whole time.

“I don’t even know if I can go home….or if I even want to.” I pointed out to my ship, “And to be honest that ship is the closest thing I have to a home anyway.”

“And what of your…profession?”

“This may sound crazy, but I don’t enjoy my work…not anymore anyway. I mean the work we did was good but…”

“We?”

I sighed, “Me and my old partner. He got me into this whole freelancer shit to begin with.”

“And where is he now?”

Again the image flashed through my head of a ship exploding mid air. “Gone…..”

Luna looked at me for a minute before she understood what I meant. She didn’t say anything more, she just sat there. After about 5 minutes of tense silence she spoke. “You have passed my test. I will let my sister know the good news, but you can expect to see more of me.”

“Why am I going to see more of you?”

“Well, it's simple, you carry with you a burden of your past actions. I used to do the same, therefore I’ll put it upon myself to help you unburden yourself…….and because you seem to be the only other being in the castle who truly enjoys coffee.” I opened my mouth to protest, but she just smiled at me, and with a flash she was gone.

I walked into my ship and saw that my clothes and pistol were on my ship's bed. I put on my clothes and sat down in my pilot's seat, looking at the Hawaiian figure that sat atop it. “Of course she's Celestia's sister…which means if she was watching me, it’s not too far of a guess that Celestia saw what was in my head like Luna did….which means I should start packing.” I walked back into the room that was given to me and collected the few personal items I had put in there before walking back into my ship and closing the door. Just as it shut I heard a faint sound, similar to one made by a unicorn's horn when it started to channel magic. I turned around with my pistol drawn only to have it taken from my hands and disassembled by none other than Harmonia.

“You know, I’m starting to get pissed off that everyone is fucking with my pistol.”

“Then maybe you should stop pointing it at everypony you meet.” Harmonia replied.

I turned my seat back to my console and started my pre-launch routine. “Well if everpony would just fucking knock instead of say, teleporting in or watching me sleep then I might just do that…..So why are you here?”

“It's simple.” She replied. And with a wave of her hoof, my ship powered down.

“Hey!”

“Just where do you think you’re running off to?”

I sighed and turned my seat back to face her. “What makes you think I’m running?”

Harmonia raised an eyebrow at me.

“Okay fine, yes I'm running.”

Her response was simple, “Why?”

I chuckled, “Look around you…look at me. I'm not meant for a comfortable life or…relationships. Plus Celestia's sister just went through my head, and god knows what shit she saw in there so…yeah.”

“So…what?”

“So it's only a matter of time before I end up in prison for my past, I mean for fuck’s sake! I've killed people, Harmonia!”

She raised up her hoof and opened her mouth but I stopped her.

“Yes I'm aware that they were murderers or pirates or other…unsavory individuals and it was all legal and done in the defense of good people, but look at me and then look at the world that I'm in. The worst vice that I've seen possible in this world is eating too much cake. So can you blame me for wanting to remove myself from paradise before I either directly or indirectly destroy it?”

Harmonia chuckled at that last bit, “I suppose that this means that you don’t want to see this morning's issues of The Canterlot Chronicle or The Canterlot Gazette?”

“I'll read them. Probably won’t like what I see, but…I think I'll read them from somewhere else in this world.”

Harmonia shook her head, and with another wave of her hoof, my ship started up again, and my HUD came alive as Apollo informed me of the changes.

“Location:...Updated...

Navigation:...Active...

Current Location: Canterlot City...

...Displaying GPS to HUD...”

And like that a course popped up heading towards the forest.

“Now you can go wherever you please in this world and I won't stop you, but if I can make a suggestion?”

“What?”

“Perhaps you're not running because you fear your past actions. Perhaps it's because you fear what your future can be…and who you can be with. Just think about that for me.” And with a smile she disappeared, with my pistol reappearing in the holster on my side.

I turned back to my console and paused. I looked back to the figure on top of my console and I slowly lifted my ship off the ground and punched the thruster to full, following the direction of my HUD.

It was about an hour later when I found my landing spot. It was a clearing next to a lake in the middle of some place my nav system called “The Everfree Forest”. Another half hour later and I had set up camp and lit a fire. The place seemed secluded enough for me to be able to live my life without disturbing the ponies of this world, but I still left myself a way to watch them. As I stood in the open cargo bay door, I looked out across the lake and up to see Canterlot. With the mobility offered to me by my vehicles I would be able to get to any point in this world in minutes, meaning that if need be I could respond to any danger or threat…and I could watch as the inhabitants of this world grew and prospered. Taking my chair and one of the smaller pieces of wood from next to the door, I set up the chair next to the fire, took out my knife and began to carve.

A few hours later I looked down at my carving and what was once a stick was now an alicorn with its wings spread wide. I set down my carving next to my chair and went into my ship, walking out with an MRE. As I tore open my brunch a familiar face walked out of the woods. Twilight walked up to the fire pit and sat down next to me, “I had a hunch that you would come here.”

I got up from my chair and walked into my ship, “Twilight, please just leave me be.”

“I’ll admit, it was Princess Luna who helped me narrow down the list of where you would go, so from there it was only a matter of a few teleportations.”

“Twilight.” I pressed, “Just leave me be. If you want to send someone to check up on me from time to time and bury me when I kick the bucket that would be greatly appreciated…but I need to not be in Equestria.”

“I understand why you want to distance yourself, but if anything you need the exact opposite…and Celestia-”

The second she said that name I spun around. “What about her? Is she alright?”

Twilight smiled at me, “She is fine.” I relaxed a bit when she said that. “And the concern that you’re showing tells me that the assumptions that Cadance had were right.”

I heard another voice from behind me which caused me to turn around with my hand on the grip of my pistol. As I did that, I saw a pink alicorn that was about a foot taller than twilight standing behind me with a smile, and next to her was the captain. “Of course I was, Twilight! I’m the Princess of Love. Situations like this are definitely within my wheelhouse.”

I moved my hand off my pistol and bowed, “Princess Cadance, my apologies.”

She smiled at me, “No worries, I probably should have announced my presence earlier.”

Twilight walked out of the ship as the three ponies made their way to the fire and sat down with Twilight motioning for me to follow, “Come join us by the fire.”

I hesitantly walked down from my ship and sat down across from them, all the while wondering what I had done to warrant this visit, and what exactly was going to come of this. Twilight seemed to notice my uneasiness and she smiled at me, “Don’t worry John, Cadance and Shining are here to help you; in fact, we have good news.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Twilight looked to Cadance, whose horn began to glow, and images of me appeared, more specifically images of me next to Celestia. “It’s quite simple, I know that you have feelings for Celestia.”

I opened my mouth to speak but Cadance rose up her hoof and stopped me, and as she did, the visions around us vanished. “And don’t try to deny it. I started picking them up just after you saved Celestia when she was disguised as Majesty. I also felt your fear, and thanks to Aunt Luna I now know why. Much like Luna, your past still haunts you, so when you arrived here in Equestria it must have seemed like an illusion. But then Celestia came along and claimed you as her friend. After all you had been through and who you had lost, you thought you had your whole life mapped out. That it was just going to be you, your ship, and your job. Then a beautiful mare comes along and sends your plan to the Sun. So, you tried to push that fear of not knowing your fate back and bottle it up. I'm assuming that when Luna revealed that she took a dive into your dreams, that you couldn’t hold your fear back anymore.”

“So I ran.” I replied while looking down at my carving. “I couldn’t process that there was a chance that I would have anything other than my ship, my job as a freelancer, and the loneliness that it entailed, so I ran. And what makes it even worse is that running hasn’t helped me. I still feel the same way about her…”

“But,” Cadace interjected.

“But…Well, look at me and look around you, I don’t exactly fit in, and try as I might, I know that deep down I'd never be able to change on my own. Sure, I could hang up my undersuit and my guns……actually scratch the suit, I love flying, but my point remains.”

“Celestia can help you change,” Twilight replied.

“That’s just it, I can't get attached to her.” I snapped back. “I know that she knows the pain of losing someone close to her, and I refuse to put her through that again.”

Cadance shook her head, “So you’d hurt yourself your whole entire life by denying your heart what it wants and you think that Celestia is not only going to be fine with that, but that it won’t hurt her as well?”

“I didn’t think that I’d be worth her time or tears,” I replied.

Cadance sighed, “Sometimes you stallions miss what’s right in front of your muzzles.”

“What do you mean?” I replied.

Twilight stood up and smiled, “Equestria is a land of peace, tranquility, and magic. No matter the problem, we always find a solution.”

“I don’t know if you can cure what ails me,” I countered.

Cadance got up and put her wing around me, “WE may not be able to.” Her horn glowed and a picture of Celestia sitting across from me at dinner with not only a smile on her face, but a smile on mine, appeared in my hands. “But SHE can….And yes, I'm the one that took that picture. I'm sorry, but as the Princess of Love, I cannot allow a moment like that to pass without being documented.”

I looked at the photo and as I did, my memories of that night came to the surface of my mind. The two of us spent the night talking and laughing over an amazing meal.It was something I wanted to do again…and again…and again and again and…I think you get the point. I put the picture in my pocket and looked at the three ponies near me. “Okay, you win. I'll come back, but what do I do about…you know?”

There was a chuckle from Shining Armor, who had stayed quiet up until this point. “Just tell her how you feel, dude, and if worse comes to worse, send a letter to Cadance asking for help. I mean, aside from being the Princess of Love, she’s one of three ponies who know all there is to know about Celestia.”

I put on a smile of my own, “So I’ve basically got the Princess of Friendship, the Princess of Love, and the Captain of the Royal Guard as my wingmen?”

The captain laughed, “Pretty much, yeah.”

By the time I touched down back in the garden it was 15:30. I opened the cargo door and two princesses and a captain walked out behind me. They waved goodbye for the moment and it wasn't long before there was a bright flash off to my side. I looked towards the flash and my vision was filled by a towering mass of white with a flowing mane as she swept me up in her hooves. “Oh my friend, I was worried about you. Where in Equestria did you go!?”

“Well, aside from giving Cadance, Twilight, and the Captain a flight…Well, I got scared for a bit, but thanks to some help from some friends, I was able to find a way to work through my fears.”

Celestia smiled at me, “That’s good.” Then in a flash, her wing came out and smacked me in the back of the head. “That’s for just up and leaving without any warning. Do you have any idea how much that stunt you just pulled worried me?”

I lowered my head, “I’m sorry, Celestia.”

She shook her head, “Sorry won't cut it.” Hearing those words cut deep, but at the same time I expected to hear it. What I didn’t expect was what Celestia did next. “You can repay me by joining me for dinner tonight. This one will not be a test, just two friends enjoying a nice meal.” She walked up and put a hoof on my lips, “And don’t even think about saying that you don’t deserve it. Thanks to Luna, I now know quite a bit about you, and let's just say that you, her, and I shall be having a few talks in the coming days.” She turned around and headed towards the door where the other three ponies were waiting, but just as she got to the door she turned back. “I'll come by to get you at 6:00 for dinner.” And with that she turned and left, leaving me alone.

Not even a second after she closed the door, I felt a familiar presence behind me. “If you're going to say ‘I told you so’ just go ahead and say it.”

Harmonia walked up beside me and chuckled. “I was right, but more than that, I’m just happy to see that you are starting to come out of that shell of yours.”

“Maybe,” I replied, “I’m just surprised that you didn’t tell them where I was immediately.”

“You’re not a prisoner here. If you want to leave you that right, but it should tell you something that they came looking for you.”

“It does, and if I'm being honest, I'm still in disbelief about it.”

“Don’t worry, you'll do fine.” She turned around and motioned for me to follow her before gesturing to a spot in front of the mirror. “Stand there.”

“Why?”

“It's simple. You have a dinner date with a Princess and since Rarity has yet to finish your clothing order, I’m going to have to provide you with a suit.”

I chuckled, “What are you? My guardian angel? The guardian of this world, or a fairy godmother?” I then moved in front of the mirror, “Well, come on then, wave your wand and make me handsome.”

“Keep making jokes and instead of a suit I’ll make a dress.”

I turned my head to face her, “Now you’re the one that’s joking.”

Harmonia’s face lit up with a grin as a small tape appeared out of nowhere, “Oh, you should know that I’m not. Perhaps a nice off the shoulder, floor-length gown with a corset back for you?”

I put my hands up, “Okay, okay, you made your point. I’ll stop with the jokes… For now.”

“Good.” She replied, as she moved the measuring tape around. “There we are. And for you I think I have the perfect idea for a suit.” Her horn flashed and the clothes I had on had been replaced by a charcoal black suit coat and pants, with a red button up shirt and black tie. I looked at the lining of the suit and saw that there was a place for me to hide my pistol, and the lining felt…different. “Ah, I see you spotted the hidden features. Since you have a position as the princess’s guard, I saw it fit to include a place for you to conceal your weapon, and the lining is a special one. It is immune to puncture by knives, spears, or bows, and is even immune to light attacks from magic.”

“So my suit is also a suit of armor?”

“To some extent,” she replied. “It's also resistant to stains and wear and tear. But if you damage this suit the next thing I put you in is going to be a dress, am I clear?”

“I will do everything in my power to keep this suit from damage,” I promised, “And thank you for the suit…. I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for all you’ve done for me.”

“You can repay me by taking advantage of this second chance and by listening to Celestia and Luna’s advice.”

I nodded. “I’ll do all I can…though I’m pretty sure that Celestia and Luna will make me listen.”

“Because they care about you.” Harmonia responded before her horn flashed and the suit that I was wearing was replaced by the clothes I had on before. “I’ve put your suit in the closet, and I’ve placed a few of this morning's papers on the table by the fire if you want a good laugh while you wait for Celestia, but if I could make a suggestion?”

“Sure, what’s the suggestion?”

“Even though the smell of wood and smoke does fit your rugged image, I would advise that you take a shower before your date with Celestia.”

“I wouldn’t call it a date, it's just a dinner with my friend.”

Harmonia looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Given the discussion I had with Celestia and Luna, I'm pretty sure that it is in fact a date.”

“Wait, why were you talking with them?”

“I've had interactions with them before; in fact, some of them were rather similar to the ones i've had with you, but if you must know, I was informing them that you are truly not a threat, and that it was I who brought you here.”

“You didn’t need to do that.” I replied, “But thank you anyway.”

“Oh but I did, you see, I said that I have taken the mantle of your guardian angel. Now go shower up. Your date will be arriving in a couple of hours.” And with a smile, She disappeared.

Since I was alone again, I picked up one of the newspapers that Harmonia had set on the table and sat down as I read the headline.

The Canterlot Gazette

Canterlot Under Attack!

Strange creature attacks and is defeated by Princess and the Royal Guard.

“Wow, I didn’t think my choice of music was THAT bad.” I placed the paper down and picked up the other paper and as I did I saw a picture of the guards leading me away from my ship. “And let's see what you think of me...Oh, this one even has a picture of me.”

The Canterlot Chronicle

Another Beast for the Dungeons

Horrid creature tries to attack our beautiful capital and is defeated in short order by Princess Twilight and the Royal Guard.

Both articles went on in further detail, but to be honest, I didn’t really need to read on. If the title was anything to go by, I think I already knew what they were gonna say. That, and when I took a look up at the clock on the wall and I saw that I had only about an hour and a half left to get ready, and not wanting to incur the wrath of my guardian angel, I got up and made my way to the shower.

Like she had stated earlier, Celestia came knocking at my door exactly at 6:00PM. I got up to get the door, having showered, shaved, and gotten dressed in my suit. But what I saw on the other side of the door made my jaw drop. It was Celestia, but she had swapped her normal attire for a simple purple sequin dress that stopped just above her hooves and shoes, both of which matched her eyes perfectly. Her mane was braided and off to her right side. Her crown had been swapped out for a pair of silver earrings, and on her eyes was magenta eyeshadow. She smiled at me and batted her eyes as I stood there dumbfounded, “How do I look?”

“I-I-I.” I shook my head quickly before responding. “Absolutely stunning.”

Celestia's smile widened as she looked at me, “You don’t look so bad yourself, you know.” She lifted up her hoof and brushed it against my suit coat. “I didn’t think that Rarity delivered your clothes so fast, and I can sense that this fabric has some strong magic imbued into it, so I do have to ask, where did you get that suit from?”

“Harmonia.” I replied, “She thought that I needed something nice for tonight.”

“Oh, how thoughtful of her. Though I'm sure that you would look just as dapper without her assistance.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to thank her for the suit, and I'm not so sure I want to reply to that last part.”

Celestia tilted her head slightly to the side, “Why is that?”

“I'll tell you over dinner.” I replied, “It’s a bit of a funny story.”

Celestia smiled again, “I look forward to hearing it. Now then, shall we be on our way?”

I smiled back at her and followed her out the door. As we walked through the castle halls I expected us to turn to go to one of the dining rooms I was in earlier, but to my surprise, we just kept walking until we had left the palace all together. “Uh, Celestia, where are we going exactly?”

“I decided that instead of eating at the castle, we could enjoy a meal at one of the city’s best restaurants. The food is amazing, and its location allows for some of the best views in the city.”

I looked up at the sky which was beginning to change to a mix of orange, pink, and blue as Celestia began to lower the sun. “Well then, I’m looking forward to it.”

The walk to the restaurant took us about 30 minutes, all the while ponies were stopping dead in their tracks as Celestia and I walked by. Some of the looks were that of awe, and others were of pure hatred and disgust.

“I can’t wait to see what the papers are going to say about this.”

Celestia looked around and then looked back at me. “Pay them no mind, my friend. Tonight is about us. Now come along, we have reached our destination.” In front of us stood a restaurant with a single floor; it was mostly white on the outside and had what looked to be an open design, allowing for its patrons to take advantage of the views of Equestria. I looked up at the sign above the entrance and I saw the sign of the place, “Cliffside Restaurant.”

At the front door there was a pony standing behind a podium Celestia and I walked up and the pony at the front bowed. “Good evening, Your Highness. Please follow me and I’ll show you to your seat.” He picked up a single menu and Celestia responded to this by putting her wing around me. “I’ll be dining with my good friend tonight.”

The waiter looked at me and then Celestia and paused for a second before grabbing another menu and leading us to a couple of seats out on the balcony. I sat down across from Celestia and smiled as she did the same, while the waiter poured some water into our glasses before leaving. “You were right. The view from this place is beautiful, though it pales in comparison to you.”

“Oh my, thank you John, and may I say, you look quite handsome yourself.”

“Thank you.” I replied as I lifted up the menu, “So seeing that I’ve never been here before, what would you recommend?”

“The last time I was here there was this very nice masala dish, let me see if I can find-Ah yes, here it is.” She turned her menu around and pointed to the dish in question with her hoof.

“Hmm, Paneer Tikka Masala….Sounds pretty good.”

“Just be warned, it can be quite spicy.”

“Don’t worry, I have a lot of experience with spicy foods.”

Celestia smiled, “Do tell.”

I chuckled as memories of my past came to my mind, good ones for once. “Back when I worked with a partner, we’d often end up camping out on the empty area of a planet that was more secluded so I could see the stars, and so we could save on expenses. I'd secure the area and start up the fire while Icebox would cook. He wasn’t exactly a gourmet chef, but at the time, he had the energy to actually try to make something creative where I would have gone with something simple, or possibly an MRE. Anyway, since Icebox was the ‘chef’ among us, he started to grow some of the more common ingredients, one of them being Jalapeno peppers.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, his ship's cargo bay looked more like a greenhouse than a cargo bay, and I have no idea how he was able to keep them all alive, but he pulled it off, and his peppers…Well lets just say they had quite the kick. I still remember some of the pranks that he pulled on me with them.”

Celestia giggled, “I'm sorry, but I too have suffered at the hands of the jalapeno, courtesy of my little sister…What did you do in retaliation?.”

“Well, my area of expertise aside from flying, was technology. If I had to choose my best retaliation though, it would have to be the one night I snuck onto his ship and programmed his food processor to spit out nothing but ice.”

Celestia laughed wholeheartedly, and I joined her. By the time both of us had stopped we were smiling at each other while all of the restaurant’s patrons were staring at us. Celestia noticed my gaze and she used her wing to turn my head to face her. “Pay their glares no mind, my friend. The focus of tonight is us, not the tabloids.”

I was about to open my mouth to reply, but our waiter walked up. “Welcome to tThe Cliffside Restaurant. May I take your order?” I took a quick look at the waiter and I saw that her coat was a very familiar shade of pink, but she was missing her wings. It didn’t take too long for me to realize what was happening, and a wave of nausea came over me. “Excuse me for a second.” I stood up from the table and walked back into the restaurant, following the signs to the Colts restroom. Once in there I took off my suit coat and splashed my face with some water.

“You don’t think it could be a set up do you?...No, it can't be. I mean sure she invited me out to dinner, but I was told that the tests were over…….So it's Cadance trying to play a little game of matchmaker then. Afterall she did tell me back in the woods that-”

“Excuse me, you are going to need to leave now.” A snooty voice cut off my self-monologue. I turned around to see a white unicorn with a gold mane in a suit coat standing behind me. “Pets are not allowed on the premises., I thought that Celestia of all ponies would know that, but it seems that she has forgotten.”

“Look man, I get that the news hasn’t depicted me in the best light but-”

His horn lit up and grabbed my arm, “I see I’m going to have to take things into my own hooves then. Let's see how a night in the dungeons sits with you, foul beast.”

I grabbed my suit coat as he dragged me out of the bathroom, and as we entered the main restaurant again, I regained my senses. I drew my pistol from its concealed holster in my coat and put it against the back of his head. “You’re going to get one warning. Stand down or as Celestia’s personal guard, I will be forced to take action and defend myself.”

His magic still surrounded my arm, but he turned to face me, “You dare threaten me, beast? I am PRINCE Blueblood, and you are not my aunt's guard, you are a beast she tamed as a pet!” A devious smile grew on his face as his voice lowered. “But I see you are going to need to be taught some manners.” And in the blink of an eye, I was thrown into an empty table which shattered as I hit it. I quickly recovered and fired two quick shots with my pistol on its lowest stun setting at my attacker. Unfortunately, all this seemed to do was piss him off.

“You vile beast! You attacked me! HELP! GUARDS! THE MONSTER IS ATTACKING ME!” He then levitated up some bread knives in his magic and sent them flying at me. I was quick enough to grab a piece of the table to block the ones flying towards my head, but I winced in pain as I felt One of them cut my right arm and the right of my chest and torso, all of which were unprotected since i hadnt gotten my suit coat back on. Thankfully, Harmonia’s magic lining in my pants kept my legs safe. Seeing he was out of ammo for the moment, I dropped my impromptu shield and fired off three bolts at maximum stun into his chest. He dropped like a rock, and I went over and checked his pulse. It was running high, but otherwise still normal. I picked up my suit coat and placed my pistol back in its concealed holster just as two unicorns and a pegasi guard burst into the restaurant’s main door, and Celestia through the door to the outside balcony. I looked to her and I was about to explain myself, but I was tackled by one of the unicorns and I found myself in magic hand-and-leg-cuffs.

The pain on my wounds was excruciating, but that didn’t stop me from making a quip as I was being restrained, “Hey, buy a guy some coffee first.”

The guards didn’t seem to appreciate my joke. “You are under arrest for assault and battery of a noblepony; you have the right to not incriminate yourself; you have the right to have a lawyer on your case. If you don't have one, one can be assigned to you. Do you understand?”

Celestia stomped her hoof and I swear that the entire place shook. Her wings spread wide and she walked up to me and with her own magic, removed the restraints placed on me by the guards. “This man has committed no crime. He acted in self-defense within the capacity allowed him as my personal guard, and I officially pardon him.” She then looked to Blueblood, who was still lying on the floor unconscious. “Take Blueblood back to his home, and inform him that he will be responsible for half of the damages caused by his actions. The royal family will pay the other half.”

The guards saluted as their princess ordered. Celestia helped me up, and as she did, she noticed my wounds. She looked to one of the waiters who watched the whole thing unfold and floated some bits over to her with her magic. “Please inform the chefs that our order will be to-go.”

The waiter nodded and went into the kitchen before returning with two bags which Celestia took into her magic with a smile. “Thank you, my little pony.” She then looked at me, “Now let’s get you back to the castle.”

She put her wing around me to help keep me stable, pun not intended, and we walked back to the castle in silence. I knew I had fucked it up, and I figured that once I was back and patched up I’d be asked to leave.

As we reached the living section of the castle, I made a move to go back to the room I was in, but Celestia stopped me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Oh…I thought that after what happened you’d want me gone.”

“Perish the thought.” She replied. “First, you are going to follow me up to my chambers, I’m going to patch you up. Then, you are going to finish the date that you owe me.”

Her words made me stop dead in my tracks. “You still-”

“Yes. And don’t think that I didn’t notice that our waiter bore a striking resemblance to Cadance.”

“Wait, I thought that was your doing.”

Celestia chuckled as she lead me up the stairs, “So I see Cadance is planning something for us.”

“Well, she is the Princess of Love.” I countered, which seemed to make Celestia pause for a second before continuing.

Eventually we reached the doors to her room: they were a set of double doors with Celestia's cutie mark on them, and they were guarded by two guards, one on both the left and right side. They saluted as Celestia approached and opened the doors, and for a second I hesitated.

“Come along, Johnathan. You can either follow me or I can mother you in front of these guards.”

I smiled at her and chuckled at her mock-threat as I followed her inside her room. She then closed the doors, took off my suit coat which was now stained with blood, and removed my shirt and undershirt. “Now stay here while I go get some bandages.”

There was another voice from behind me. “Don’t worry, he won't be going anywhere.”

“Ah shit.” I turned and winced as Harmonia walked around the bed and in front of me. “Hi Harmonia, I take it that you were paying attention to tonight's activities?”

She nodded, “I was, and if I remember correctly, you promised me that you would keep my gift to you intact under threat of a dress.”

“Well, in my defense, most of it still is and I didnt start it.” I ventured

Celestia walked up to me with what looked to be some kind of ointment and gauze. She looked to Harmonia and smiled, and of course Harmonia smiled back. “After i get him patched up, one of you is going to tell me what ‘Threat of a Dress’ means.” She began to place some ointment on the bandages and wrap them around my torso, arms, and chest. “Your wounds aren’t deep, but I’m wary about using magic on them. I don’t want to run the risk of harming you accidentally.”

“Don’t worry about him.” Harmonia cut in, “Aside from the fact that he can take it, Humans are not negatively affected by magic. I'll leave him to tell you about my threats himself. I just figured that I would drop in to let him know that I intend to keep my word, but that I’m not angry at him for what he did tonight.”

Celestia nodded. “I see, thank you.”

Harmonia smiled, “A pleasure as always, Celestia.” She then looked to me with a more devious smile, “And as for you, there will definitely be bows, perhaps even some flowers on it.” And then she disappeared just as Celestia finished the last bandage, leaving me and Celestia.

“Welp, I’m doomed.”

“You are definitely going to explain just exactly what she was talking about, but first.” She levitated the two bags from earlier over to a table on the balcony, and placed them there with a glass of wine, some glasses, and candles. “We have a date to finish.”

---

//End audio log Transcription\\

Chapter 4: And so it begins

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//Begin Audio log transcription…\\

So, it's been two weeks since my last entry. Not much more has happened. My days are mostly the same, I wake up, get dressed, and then I stay by Celestia’s side. Most of the castle staff have gotten used to me being around, which is nice since the looks I was getting were starting to get really annoying. Celestia and I had a few more impromptu dates, though nothing like the one in my last log. I’m still waiting for Harmonia to come and get the revenge she promised, though to be honest I’m hoping that she forgot. Anyway, I’m making this log because of what happened today, or more specifically, WHO happened today.

I woke up in the morning still in the room that was given to me two weeks ago. I was happy to see that there were no ponies watching me in my sleep, and that I hadn’t been teleported elsewhere while I was resting. I climbed out of bed as the sun was coming up, and did my normal morning routine of hygiene before going to the closet and retrieving a set of pants and a shirt. Once I was dressed, I placed my pistol in its holster on my side, along with a spare power cell and I made my way to the dining hall for breakfast.

Now normally, or at least over the last week and a half, I was the second one to the dining hall. Usually Luna was already there enjoying some coffee as she came off of what her and Celestia called, ‘The night shift.’ However, today was Sunday, which meant two things. One, the three of us had the day off, and two, according to luna, Celestia was making pancakes.

As I walked into the dining room, Luna smiled at me and with her magic, levitated a mug filled with the liquid of life into my hands. “Good morning John. I trust that you slept well?”

I took a sip of coffee and smiled back, “One cream and one sugar, Just the way I like it, and It was alright…still having some nightmares but I’m used to it.”

Luna shook her head, “Now I see why they wanted me to talk to you.”

I sighed, “I’m going to guess that the ‘they’ that you are referring to are Celestia and Cadance?”

“Yes.” Luna replied before pouring some more coffee into her mug. “Which is why my sister has decided that you will occasionally be spending the night shift with me.”

“So what I’m hearing is that I’m going to need more caffeine.”

Luna giggled, “What you should be hearing is that my sister cares for you, And I know that you care for her. Cadance and Twilight have both told me that they consider you to be their friend, and I have to admit, you are starting to grow on me.”

“Probably has something to do with our morning chats.” I offered

Luna giggled at that before speaking. “After breakfast you will report to your quarters.”

“May I ask why?”

“My sister and I have decided to make your position official, therefore, you will need the proper equipment.So you will report to your quarters after breakfast so we can issue it to you.”

“Well then that’s a….I actually don't know how to react.” I replied. “I mean don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you both have decided to make my place here official, but I'm surprised that you're both going so far out of your way to help me.”

Celestia walked in out of the kitchen and gave me a quick hug as she set down a stack of pancakes in front of Luna. I froze up as she did and when I finally regained my composure she smiled at me. “Good morning John. I hope you slept well.”

“Well…I slept okay, but what's for breakfast?”

“I think that you already know, what do you say Lulu?”

“He knew, and as always, the pancakes are wonderful Tia.”

I smiled, something that was becoming increasingly more common due to my interactions with the royal sisters “You two seem extremely happy today.”

Celestia smiled at me as she spoke, “We’re ecstatic because your position is now official my friend. My sister and I are looking forward to bestowing your armor upon you. We also have had a uniform commissioned for you, Miss Rarity, Luna, and I will be meeting to discuss its design at a later date. Now, what would you like on your pancakes?”

“I see...and I'll have them with chocolate chips and banana.” I replied as I nursed my coffee.

“Chocolate and banana it is.” Celestia replied before turning back towards the kitchen.

I looked over as she was walking out, and Celestia seemed to notice my look as she smiled deviously and shook her hind quarters a bit, “Enjoying the view?”

I immediately jumped up out of my seat, “nonononono. I was about to-”

I heard a small giggle next to me and I saw Luna doing her best to hold in her laughter.

“Oh har har har. I was going to ask if you needed any help in the kitchen, I mean it doesn't feel right that I'm just sitting down doing nothing while you're making a meal for us.”

Celestia smiled back at me, “Don't worry my friend, I actually enjoy getting to spend some time making delicious meals myself. It helps me relax and clear my mind to stay focused on the moment. So sit down and relax, this won't take but a second.” And with that she disappeared into the kitchen.

Luna giggled again as I sat down, “I didn't know that you were able to turn such a deep shade of red.”

I sighed, “So I take it that both of you are pranksters.”

“Both of us are capable of the occasional joke, yes, though in terms of practical jokes, that would be my realm. Back when my sister and I were connected to the elements of harmony, one of the elements that I wielded was the element of laughter. My sister has picked up on a thing or two due being my sister, and for a while, the main target of said jokes.”

I got a small chuckle as I imagined the two sisters in a prank war, but then a more pressing question came to my mind. “So I know through the research I've been doing that Twilight and her friends are the ones who currently have the strongest connection to them, but what elements did you and Celestia used to have?”

“Well like I said earlier, I had Laughter, but I also had the elements of Loyalty and Honesty. My sister had The elements of Kindness, Generosity, and Magic.”

“Interesting” I replied, “I'd probably hold the elements of bad luck, loneliness, shooting, flying, drinking, and self hate.”

Luna's smile turned into a stare, “And this is one of the things you and I will be talking about during our time together.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, Celesdtia walked back through the doors with two sets of pancakes in her magical grasp. she set one down in front of me, and one down in front of the chair across from me before sitting down. “Bon Appetit.”

I picked up a fork and knife and began to eat. “Celestia, these taste amazing!.”

“Thank you John.” Celetia then turned to Luna, “Did he behave himself?”

Luna looked at me, then to her sister, “Well there are a few things that he said that I'll be going over with him tonight. As to what he said though, you of all ponies should know that doctor-patient confidentiality cannot be broken unless he poses a danger to himself or others.”

That last sentence almost made me spit my coffee out. “Doctor-patient confidentiality?...Luna you're a-?”

Luna finished my sentence, “Yes, I'm a doctor, more specifically, a psychologist. My degree is from Canterlot University, where Tia and I both graduated from, it was rather shortly after my return from...my time away. It was helpful since I had only recently discovered my ability to enter other ponies dreams.”

“Wow.” I replied, “...May I ask what Celestia majored in?”

“Civil engineering and Thaumaturgy.” Celestia replied matter of factly.

“Thauma-what?”

Celestia and Luna giggled slightly before Celestia replied, “Magic my sunshine.”

“Ah, well that would make-.” I paused as my brain caught up to that second part. “Wait...Sunshine?”

Celestia smiled lovingly at me, “Yes. Over these last two weeks I felt that you and I have started to become close. Not to mention how you liven up the stuffy atmosphere created by all the formalities and ponies who are more…...privileged than others.”

“Quite so.” Luna continued, “You seem to have this…..energy about you that livens up the area and picks up others.”

I chuckled, “So because I don't care about what a bunch of prissy nobles think of me, I'm living up the place?”

“Well yes and no” Celestia replied

Luna smiled deviously “Take for instance your…’assault’ on the castle last week.”

Celestia let out a small laugh, “I believe he called it a ‘training exercise.”

“Okay, in my defense, Windows where I'm from aren't magically enhanced to be a few hundred times stronger than steel, and the paradrop worked perfectly...the entry not so much...im still a little sore from the impact.”

The three of us all started to laugh as the memory of me slamming into the window above their thrones came back to mind.

We finished our meals shortly afterwards, and once we had handled the dirty dishes, the two princesses led me to my room, where I saw that some of the furniture had been moved to make a clear area in the center of the room. They pointed for me to stand in the center of the empty space, so I did so. Celestia walked up in front of me, and Luna did the same as Celestia spoke. “Now John, before we bestow your armor on you, we should probably tell you how it was made.”

“Okay, that's fair enough.” I replied.

Luna's ears flattened against her head as she started to speak, “Well you see, making a set of armor to our exact specifications is not an easy task to begin with. When you factor in the fact that you are not a pony, and that your tactics are radically different than those of our royal guard, we need a foundation.”

“Okay.” I repeated, “Sooooo...?”

Celestia's ears flattened against her head as well, “We had to borrow your light armor set and-”

I sighed, “If it's broken that's fine, I have the tools and supplied to fix it, though if you wanted to make some changes to it, you could have just talked to me instead of bringing it to a blacksmith.”

There was a small whooshing sound from my left side as Harmonia appeared. “They didn't bring it to a blacksmith, they brought it to me.”

Celestia spoke again, “Im sorry if we violated your privacy, but we wanted it to be perfect.” The Three alicorns lit up their horns, and the room filled with a bright light. Once I could see again, what I saw took my breath away. My armor had been changed, drastically. Its dull shades of black were replaced with a matte white. on the chest piece there was part of a sun on the right, and moon on the left and from the looks of it, they continued ontot the upper half of the arms. There was a small sheath for a knife on the tops of the left and right arms, and I saw on the right hip of the armor was a holster. I stood there dumbfounded, and Celestia walked up to me. I could tell she was worried about what my reaction would be, so i didn't bother waiting to give it to them. I turned around and I hugged both Celestia and Luna.

“It looks amazing, I love it.”

The two Alicorns smiled at me and wrapped their wings around me. After a minute, we let go and harmonia walked up to me and put her hoof on my shoulder. “Close your eyes.”

I did as she said and as I did, I felt a strong breeze hit me. Still I kept my eyes shut. After a minute, I felt her hoof come off my shoulder. “Okay, you can open them.”

When I did I saw that a mirror had been placed in front of me, and it was only then that I noticed my own reflection. On my head sat a ridiculous tiara and on my neck was a necklace with a pendant of a sun and moon. My hair had grown and was tied into braids down my back with bows in it, and on my body was an elegant,off the shoulder style ball gown. The entire thing was white with gold bows and sashes on the skirt, which went all the way down to the floor. I moved my feet forward a hair and I saw a pair of heels on my feet. I looked on the back and true to her word, there was a corset back, with a bow baccent, and the back was accented with flowers instead of bows. I looked over to the three alicorns who were all on the ground laughing. “I told you this was coming!” Harmonia called out.

“Yeah, you did, now can we get back to being serious?” I asked.

Celestia levitated up a camera and I saw it flash. She then set it aside and her horn glowed. With a flash my normal clothes had returned. “Now we can, and yes I plan on keeping that picture.”

I just shook my head.

Harmoina wiped the tears from her eyes and walked up to me. “When I first decided to help Celestia and luna with this endeavor, we first had to figure out just how you would access your armor.”

Luna continued, “ Normally, when we are in danger, our armor is but a simple spell away, but as you have said multiple times, humans do not have any magical abilities.”

“So what was the fix?” I asked.

Celestia walked up to me and used her wing to lift up the necklace from earlier, which still sat on my neck. “The pendant that currently rests on your neck holds your armor. It has been attuned to you, so you and only you can summon your armor with a mere thought.”

“Nice...can I try?” I asked

she nodded and the three alicorns backed up. I closed my eyes and thought of one simple phrase, armor on. and when I opened them I was greeted by the familiar sight of my HUD. “Wow, this thing even had some of my tech in it.”

“That was Harmonias idea.” Luna replied. “You should also be able to use that gadget on your wrist normally with the armor on as well.”

“This just keeps getting better and better.” I commented

Luna levitated the mirror in front of me, and I also got a chance to look at the outside of the armor. It was a dull matte white all over. on the chest there was an insignia of a sun on my right and loon on my left, and they seemed to continue around the side of the armor and onto the back.The arms were the same white and seemed to be attached to the gauntlets on my hands, and true to their word, I could see my mobiholo on my left hand. On my gauntlets there were sheaths for knives, and on my waist was a holster for my pistol and a few spare power cells. The legs were the same dull white color and seemed to be attached to the boots.

Celestia stepped forward with an even larger smile on her face. “The three of us also saw fit to add three other features to your armor. The first of which is a magical shield. All you have to do is raise up the arm you want it to appear on, and it will appear. you can also grow and shrink it from only being able to cover your arm, to being able to cover the area within about 10 feet of you, though you should know, the larger the shield, the weaker it will be.”

“More space, less power, got it.”

Luna stepped forward next. “We also saw fit to give your armor the ability to summon weapons.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“It's simple, The weapons that currently sit in the safe in your closet, plus a sword that I made myself, and two hand-axes made by Celestia and Harmonia can be summoned right to your hands as long as you are wearing your pendant.” she then stepped aside “I'll let Harmonia tell you about the best part.”

“Best part?” I asked.

“Yes.” Harmonia replied, “As the personal guard to the royal family, you have to be able to keep up with the royal family regardless of the situation.” She moved the mirror from earlier in front of me, and what I saw reflected in it almost made my jaw drop to the floor. On my back, spread wide open by Harmonias magic, was a set of metallic wings. They were the spitting image of a real set of wings. “They are made from the same material as the metallic components of your armor. Celanium. When they are not in use, they fold nicely up into your back so as not to take up any space. The black fabric padding under the metal and inside the armor is made of lular. this entire set of armor should be nigh impenetrable to any blade or or arrow, and even some magical attacks. It has also been enchanted to give you increased strength, endurance, and speed.”

I took off the helmet that was on my head, and as I did it faded away. I looked to the three alicorns who all giggled before Luna spoke again, “Don't worry, all you have to do is summon it and it will reappear on your head.” I looked at the three mares who stood across from me and tears came to my eyes. I opened my arms and they all came close and embraced me.

“Thank you all...thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I think we do.” Celestia replied, “We want you to be able to succeed in your job, but we also want to be able to keep you safe as well. This armor allows us to do both.”

“And if you break it I will replace all of your clothes with dresses” Harmonia replied, Which got us all laughing.

When we all calmed down again I had just one question. “So...How do I get this off?”

The night shift was something else entirely from what I had experienced during the day with Celestia. There were no prissy nobels to insult me in passing, no ponies staring at me like I was a monster that the princesses tamed as a pet. It was just empty halls and the occasional clatter of armor from the night guards as they passed by. I made my way down to the throne room at 2000 and opened the doors to see luna using her magic to place lavender on top of the pedestals in the throne room. “Ah John, it's good to see you. Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” I asked

“Well first i'm going to finish setting up the lavender plants about the castle, then you are going to spend some time talking to your Therapist. Once you and I have had our session, the two of us will take a trip into the realm of dreams to aid ponies in their sleep.”

“Uhh...are you sure you want me going inside other people's dreams? I mean aside from the fact that I know nothing about psychology, I also don't have magic.”

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but before she could she was cut off by a voice echoing through the halls, “That is true but think of all the WONDERFUL chaos that would cause!”

my pistol materialized in my hand as I started scanning for the source of the voice. “I'm giving you one chance to show yourself and state your intentions before i come looking for you.”

That laughter continued as I raised up my Laslight, but as I looked down the sights, my font sight was replaced with the face of some sort of creature that looked to have a horse's head, and the horns of both a deer and a goat. I dropped my pistol immediately and summoned the axes that were gifted to me earlier. “What the fuck is that?!?!”

Luna loudly stamped her hoof on the ground, “Discord! Cease antagonising our guard and come forth this instant.”

“Who the fuck is discord?”

There was a flash of light as my pistol was replaced with a 10 foot tall creature that….well I had no idea what the hell it was exactly, it looked to have the body parts of at least several other animals. it turned to Luna and spoke. “You haven't told Celestia's new pet about Discord! Lord of chaos and mischief? Luna that wounds me” he clutched his chest and fell on the ground with his tongue out. it was obvious he was playing dead.

I looked to Luna, “Please explain what the hell is happening.”

Discord floated back up off the ground and with a snap of his fingers, made a bar of soap appear. “It would also seem his mouth needs some watching out with soap.” he began to close on me and I readied myself to counter with my axes.

Luna spread her wings wide, “Discord that's enough. John is not a pet, he is the new personal bodyguard for my sister and I. Now cease these childish games and tell me why you are here or I just may let John show you how he earned his position.”

Discord turned to Luna with a dejected look on his face, “Oh fine. If you must know, I came to thank him. his presence here over the last couple of weeks has caused so much fun chaos amongst the stuffy canterlot elite, I just had to meet this new source of energy myself! Though I suppose a proper introduction will have to wait until later. I have to get ready for tomorrow's tea party with Fluttershy. Tata for now.” and with a flash he disappeared.”

Luna turned to me with her ears against her head. “I apologize for him Johnathan. Discord can be...a bit of a hoof full at times.”

“Its okay.” I replied, “When you're in a world full of mythical creatures i figured interactions like that were gonna happen….though now that he mentioned his name i think i remember reading about him. He turned the world into some crazy dimension or at least was going to until he was stopped twice by the elements of harmony. Then he was reformed by Twilight and her friends...That about sum it up?”

“More or less. There are a few details you missed, but those can be shared at a later date. Now come along to my office, you have an appointment and I won't allow you to be late to it.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Luna looked over her shoulder to me and called out, “And if you even think of trying to skip your appointment I will use my magic to carry you there myself.”

I sighed and followed Luna as we walked out of the throne room, through the castle, and back to the living section. I was surprised when I saw luna turn left and head up the spiral stairs toward the princess’s living quarters. I stopped and looked at my door, and then to the stairs. “Do i really want to go up there?” I asked myself, “I can always run….though running away from it all is what did this to me, though it wasn't a bad life per say.” I again looked up the stairs and my thoughts drifted to Celestia. I sighed as soon as her smiling face appeared in my mind's eye, I knew what my choice was going to be. “The choice between the life that I've become accustomed to versus a life filled with her…….I will always choose her.”

Luna head poked around the corner of the spiral staircase with a smile on her face. “That's good to her that you're finally letting love into your life.” her horn lit up and i felt myself raise off the ground, “Though it would seem that your old life still has some hold on you. Come along my friend, the doctor is in!”

Her office was not what I expected it to be, I was expecting some ornate room filled with paperwork or some kind of royal looking stuff, but instead the room I was in was more like a small personal library with a desk and two chairs. one for Luna, and one that was elongated for somepony, or in this case me, to lay down in. Luna placed me down in the chair with her magic and then took a seat in her chair before pulling out a notepad. “Normally I wouldn't do this, I would just go into the dream realm and help out my patients there, but I think that your mind has been invaded enough times in the last few weeks, so I'm going to do this the traditional way. Let's first start with what i saw when i was inside your dreams.”

“I don't think that there's much to talk about there.” Encountered, “Isn't there some kind of pill or something you can just give me? or some spell you can cast?”

“You already know that the answer to those questions is no. Not only would it be a massive breach of ethics, but it would do nothing to fix the problem. All it would do is fix its symptoms.”

“And that is bad because...?.”

Luna leaned in and put her hoof on my shoulder, “Why are you so against talking about how you feel?”

“I think you know why.”

“I mean besides the obvious, ‘I'm a stoic stallion and I don't talk about my feelings because that makes me weak’” Her voice has dipped down and taken on a gruff tone that I assume was an attempt at impersonating my voice.

“Probably because I've been alone for so long that instead of just dealing with my feelings, I just shove them into the back of my mind and occasionally they get out to beat the hell out of me before they either just go back to their hole, or I drink enough that they get drowned temporarily...and also I don't sound like that.”

Luna opened her mouth to talk, but instead, the sound of discords laughter filled the room and his head appeared out of the seat next to me, “You know he's right Lulu, he actually sounds like-”

Discord didn't get to finish his sentence because I had jumped up and in an instant my pistol was in hand and had fired a charge into the seat where his head was. There was silence for a minute as I realized what I had done. I looked at my pistol, then at the slight scorch mark left behind by the electrical bolt, then back to my pistol, then to luna.

“Ah shit, I’m sorry Lu-”

There was a bright flash next to me as I felt myself lift up off the ground and turn to see Discord with a frown on his face, his claw outstretched holding me, “Now THAT was rather ru-”

Again Discord was cut off, but not by me, he was instead cut off by a massive blast of magic emanating from Luna's horn. By the time that it stopped, the creature in front of me was charred, though it didn't seem to phase him. He dropped me on the ground, and literally DUSTED the char off of himself. “FINE! I understand when I'm not wanted. ARRRRRIIIIIIIVEDERCI!!” And with another bright flash, Luna and I were alone again, and my pistol was still in my hands. I let it dissipate back to where it goes when I'm not using it and I fell back into the chair I was in earlier and I covered my face as the realization of what I did hit me.

“Oh my god what have I done?”

Luna walked over to me and put her hoof on my shoulder, “You have done nothing wrong. I thought that the enchantments placed on this office would prevent any intrusions, though it seems that I didn't account for the lord of chaos taking a particular interest in one of my patients.” Luna lifted her hoof up and pointed to the brand new massive scorch mark spanning the ground and part of her office wall, “And if anything I believe that I've done a bit more damage than you have.” Her horn glowed and the room was filled with a bright light that when it died down, seemed to have returned everything back to a pristine condition. “But it's nothing that magic can't fix.”

“It can’t fix me.” I replied, “I mean Jesus, my first reaction to what happened was violence. I love it here, but I don’t know if I belong. I mean the worst vice in this world is eating too much cake.”

Luna giggled for a second, “Something my sister does all too often, but you need to relax. You can’t unlearn a lifetime of habits over the course of two weeks. These things take time, but the fact that you have noticed them is good. You are correct in that not every situation requires your action to resolve it, but you are our personal guard. Your job is to keep us safe, my sister and I cannot blame you for taking drastic actions in order to ensure our safety in times of danger.”

“But-”

Luna lifted her hoof up to my mouth, “No buts. you are nowhere near as bad as you think. If you truly were the monster that you believe yourself to be, you wouldn't be here, you wouldn't have gone out for dinner with my sister, and you most certainly would not have Harmonia watching over you.”

“Then why do I feel this way?” i asked

“Because you have been alone for so long that you don't know better...Before I can truly help you, I need to know why that is.”

I sighed as I looked at Luna, “Are you really sure that you want to know?”

She nodded as she sat down next to me.

“It was just over 3 years ago.” I started, “Like I said when we first met, I used to have a partner. His name was Micheal, or as I called him, ‘Icebox’. We had taken on an open contract from the guild to go and rescue a bunch of rich asshats that had gotten kidnapped by pirates. Our insert and entry to their hideout was flawless, but come to find out, it was a trap. They ambushed us just as we were getting the hostages out of the building. Fuckers were hoping to score some gear off of anyone who didn't want to pay the ransom. The gunfight didn't last too long. I mean the two of us were Freelancers with almost top of the line equipment provided to us by the guild and they were pirates using whatever junk they could get their hands on. When the dust settled, One of the hostages had been hit. Since my ship had more space and more medical equipment, We opted to have the hostages put on my ship while he used his to cover our escape. We took off and were about halfway to breaking atmo when his comm went dead. I looked over to his ship to see him putting a round into a pirate that had got onboard during the earlier gun fight...sneaky bastard. Icebox looked over to me with a smile, giving me the ‘all clear’ signal…...then his ship blew. The guild investigated the event, assisted by private investigators paid for by the rich assholes that we saved. They found out that the last pirate that snuck on board had planted a bomb that was on a dead man switch. The second he killed that scum, the countdown started.….I should have checked his ship. If I did, I would have seen that one of the bastards had snuck aboard his ship with a bomb…...After it was all said and done, I left the guild for a few years. I tried to do what I could to make it up to his parents, but they wouldn't even see me. Eventually my money ran out and the only ones who wanted someone with my skill set where the guild. So I went back to them. Said I'd take any job they had, so they put me on freighter escort. Normally most freelancers would do anything to avoid that job, all it was was sitting on your ass babysitting ships in space that was already protected and patrolled by the alliance. Personally, I didn't care. I just wanted a job while I tried to find some way to atone for my failure.”

I felt Luna put her wing on my shoulder as her hoof went under my chin and lifted it up to look at her, “What happened is not your fault. Yes it is a tragedy, but this world is very generous with second chances. Perhaps you were brought here to attone by finally finding peace.”

“Maybe” I replied, “but I have no idea how.”

Luna smiled gently at me, “I think you do. I see it when you are with my sister. You are happy with her, not to mention that when you're by her side there's always a smile on your face. something i rarely see when you two are apart. But there are also a few mental exercises that you can do to help. Well start with a simple one.” Her horn glowed and the room around me vanished, being replaced by what looked to be a portion of space. “I've taken us into the mindscape. It is from here that I can access ponies' dreams at night and it allows for your thoughts to be manifested before you, which will help for this exercise.”

“Luna I don't thin-”

“Listen to your therapist or I will tell Celestia that you are not cooperating.”

I sighed and did as I was told

“Good. Now imagine every single negative thought or emotion that you have about yourself and give it a form.”

I did as Luna asked, and a few seconds later, a charred broken set of armor appeared.

“Good. Now envision something that calms you. something that makes you happy. something that makes you feel the opposite of what that armor represents makes you feel.”

I thought for a few seconds before Celestia appeared by my side.

Luna smiled at me, “Somehow I knew that you were going to choose my sister...Anyway, now with the help of this positive manifestation, get rid of the negative one.”

It took a minute, but the manifestation of Celestia moved up beside me and we both walked up to the old set of armor. I just stood there for a second observing the damage, and in doing so I noticed something, the armor wasn't mine, it was Icebox. I stood there frozen, unable to move as I was flooded with a mix of fear, anger, and sadness. I wanted to do something, ANYTHING, but I didn't. I still don't know how it happened, but the manifestation of Celestia put her hooves around me, pulled me back into a hug, and I watched as her horn lit up and unleashed a torrent of magic turning the armor into nothing but a pile of ash. While still keeping a tight hold of me with her hooves, her wings came out and propelled us off the ground before she made one massive flap directed at the ash, sending it off into oblivion. We floated there in the air for a second as I closed my eyes and let the sound of her heartbeat and the flapping of her wings calm me. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but eventually I felt the ground on my feet again and when I opened my eyes, we were back in Luna's office. Luna was standing in front of me with a smile on her face, “How do you feel?”

I looked around my surroundings and took stock of my own self. “I...I dont know. better I think. I mean everything seems brighter, and it feels like there's this weight that's been lifted off of me.”

Luna walked up and put her hoof on my leg, “That's good...Now I know that you were supposed to spend tonight with me in the dreamscape, but given what's occurred here tonight, I don't want to undo the progress we have made here. And i know you were worried about not being of assistance, but thanks to your armor, you don't have to worry.”

“Why?”

“Because it contains the magical essence of both Celestia and myself, meaning that any magic you perform with your armor will be at the same strength as my sister and I, though be warned, this doesn't mean that you will be able to perform any spell you wish, infact, due to humans lack of magic, we doubt that you will be able to perform anything outside basic to low level intermediate spells.”

“I can live with that, but back to what you said before. Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?” I asked, “I mean this wouldn't be my first all-nighter.”

Luna shook her head, “I'm sure. Go and get some rest. I insist.”

“Okay, if you insist.” I got up and went for the door but I stopped. “Thank you Luna...I mean it...and if you ever need any of my help, reach out to me.”

Luna smiled at me, “You're welcome John, goodnight.”

“Night.” and with that, I walked out and back to my room. I looked at my mobiholo and saw that it was now 2130. Not really late, but at the same time I would have to work to try and calm down so that I wouldn't be dead tired tomorrow morning.

About forty five minutes later, I was still wide awake. Nothing I had done was helping me get to sleep, not laying in the bed, not counting sheep, or even breathing exercises. I don't know why, but I decided that a kitchen raid for some tea may do the trick. I mean Celestia was always singing its praises, so I was hoping that she would have some sort of calming or sleep aid blend. So I threw on some pants and an old shirt with some simple moccasins that Rarity had gifted me a few days back so I would have some ‘house shoes’, and I made my way down to the kitchen, however on my way there I noticed that the doors to the throne room were cracked open. My mind instantly went into ‘work mode’ as my pistol materialized in my hand and I peered through the crack in the door. As I did this, I saw that it was just Luna, though she seemed to have her attention solely fixed on some of the stained glass windows, and the look on her face….I knew that look, and it wasn't one that I wanted to see. I let my pistol dissipate, and I slowly made my way into the room and up to Luna's side. “Rough night?”

Luna almost jumped into the ceiling when I spoke, but she was quick to regain her composure and turn to me. “I am fine, and do not frighten me like that, it is quite rude…and may I ask why you are here after I dismissed you for the night??”

I pointed back to the kitchen “Needed a drink...so why are you here?”

“Because it is my duty to watch the castle at night.”

I chuckled, “Well from the looks of it you seem to be interested in watching only two parts of the castle…and if my limited knowledge of your worlds past is correct, these two-parts concern Nightmare Moon.”

“The creation of my rage and jealousy” Luna replied “…but it does not affect me. I am perfectly fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know you suck at lying, and you're showing the same behaviors that I was showing up until a few hours ago.”

The two of us stood there silently. Luna looked at me with a look of worry, and me looked at Luna with a look of concern as I spoke again, “Anything I can do to help you?”

Luna looked to me with an expression of shock, “How could you possibly even be able to help me?”

“Well I may not have any advanced magic, but I can listen and offer my advice for all that it's worth.”

Luna sighed, “You aren’t going to leave me alone are you?”

“I will,” I replied with a smirk, “Once I’m sure that you’re out of this sadness of yours.”

Luna looked at me with a mix of emotions on her face. I just stood there and waited for a response, and eventually she gave me one as her horn began to channel magic. “Come, I wish to show you something.”

I turned and started walking for the door as I spoke. “Alright, lead the-”

There was a flash and when my vision returned I saw that i had been teleported into the same realm that Luna and I were in not too long ago, but it didn't last. The starry surroundings vanished and were replaced by those of brick and mortar. Before me rested two thrones, But something was different. The air around me was tense, I saw Luna walk in from the shadows as she began to speak. “Not another step.”

“Uhh...okay...what's going on here?” I asked. I put my hand out to grab onto one of the railings next to the steps before the thrones, but my hand went through it. I looked down at myself and I saw that my body was almost translucent and that there was another Luna was right next to me in the same form. she walked up to me and spoke, “You are about to witness my greatest mistake.” her horn glowed and the vision in front of me continued.

“Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?” she walked onto a podium of sorts and continued, “There can only be ONE princess in equestria, and that princess, WILL BE ME!” She raised her hooves up and brought them down, smashing the podium and sending cracks up the walls as her eyes and horn glowed. The cracks continued up the wall and shattered a window behind her, sending glass flying as I watched the moon overtake the sun. As the sun was eclipsed, so was Luna. darkness surrounded her and began to swirl. I couldn't see what was happening to Luna, but when it was gone, so was Luna, and in her place stood nightmare moon. I watched as Celestia appeared, and the two of them did battle on the ground and in the sky. I watched as Celestia, with no options left, used the elements to send Nightmare moon to the moon.

When it was all over with, Luna looked to me with tears in her eyes, “Now do you see? This is why I feel this way.”

the look on her face...the pain in her eyes...all of this was how i felt after i lost my partner. I wanted to try and deal with what happened that day, but instead I became cold and distant. I wasn't going to let that happen to Luna. I turned to her and hugged her tightly as she cried. After some time when she had eventually calmed, I spoke. “It's like you said to me, the past is the past. All we can do is learn from it and move on.”

“But what if ponies come to hate me for this like I hate myself?”

I smiled, “I doubt that that will ever happen.”

Luna looked to me with a mixture of fear and doubt on her face, “What makes you say that? How can you be so sure that my past mistakes won’t come back to harm me or this kingdom? What proof do you have?”

I smiled back at her, “It's my time to show you something…Mind if I have the controls?”

Luna's horn glowed and suddenly my hands glowed blue “You can now bring up the scenes you want to show me.”

“Thanks.” It took me a few minutes to get a feel for the controls, but once I had an idea of what I was doing, I used this temporary power to look through the scenes in front of me from history and set a few aside. Another 10 minutes later and I had exactly what I needed. “Take a look at these.” I tapped on the scenes and the all began to play out before Luna. There were a few scenes of her being present at celebrations in ponyville and a few other locations, as well as the welcome back ceremony and the past few nightmare night celebrations. “You want to know what I see?”

“What do you see?”

“I see a mare who is beloved by her subjects, a mare who helps them every night, and who enjoys spending time with them. I see a mare who is every day working hard and whose subjects adore her all the more for it. Your subjects have forgiven you for any transgression you have made, and from the looks of it, they want to help you become better.”

Luna looked to me with a smile on her face, “Thank you Johnathan.” She then again hugged me tightly. When I looked away from her I saw that we had appeared in front of the window she had lost herself in before.

“You good?”

“.......Yes, I think I am.”

“Good.” I replied as I let go, “The pit of depression is mine. I call it fort sadness and there's no girls allowed.”

Luna chucked before I felt her wing extend and lightly slapped me on the back of the head, “Go get your tea and go to bed or I'll have Celestia come down here and drag you to bed herself.”

I put my hands up as I slowly backed towards the doors, “Hey, no need to call in the big guns, I'll listen.” I walked to the door, but as I reached it, I turned around, “Goodnight Luna.”

Luna smiled at me, “Goodnight John, sweet dreams.”

“Oh something tells me that you'll make sure they are.” I replied with a chuckle as I walked out the door.

--------

//End audio journal transcript…\\

Chapter 5: Tinman

View Online

//Begin Audio log transcription…\\

Update:...[M.T.U complete]

So it's been about a month since my last entry, I'd like to say that I'm sorry for not making one earlier, but I've fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole on a project of interest, plus Celestia and Luna have been keeping me busy between guard work, dates, and mental health stuff that Luna has...let's say strongly suggested, I do.

I woke up in my room at 6:30. I looked around my surroundings as the light of Celestia's rising sun started to pour into the room. For the most part the room was in just as I found it with a few exceptions. I had set up a table next to the doors the led to my ships current resting place where i could tinker on my equipment or read a book, A computer now set on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, giving me a comfy place to code or do some research on this world, and next to the glass doors that lead to my ship, there was a spare table and two chairs that I could take out into the garden to enjoy a meal outside when the weather allowed. Usually it did, though as I discovered in my research, apparently the pegasi plan the weather for each area of Equestria.

I looked down at my mobiholo and turned off its alarm as I crawled out of bed. I looked at the date as I walked towards the bathroom to take my morning shower. “Just gotta make it through today, then tomorrow I can sleep in.” I looked over towards my workbench and my old set of armor sitting on it, “And maybe I'll be able to get that project finished.”

30 minutes later, I was making my way to the throne room with some coffee in one hand, and a croissant in the other, dressed in one of the pairs of pants that rarity had made for me. The pants themselves were khaki and regardless of how many times i wore them, always looked like they were just ironed. On top I had a simple black t-shirt under a blue button up shirt that I had rolled up the sleeves on. I had learned over time that since I didn't have to wear my armor at all times, I had to be a bit more presentable than I usually was. Part of this was due to my new position as the princesses personal guard, and the other part was due to a couple more visits to the Canterlot Carousel for various work or personal reasons, where Rarity gave me a few outfit tips to, and I quote, “Properly court a princess.” I guess that my feelings for Celestia are a bit more obvious than I thought.

I got to the throne room just as I finished the croissant. I nodded at the guard stationed by the doors who responded by nodding back and opening up the doors. Surprisingly, the throne room itself was empty, though that wasn't a cause for alarm. Celestia had probably gotten tangled up with some paperwork or something. She mentioned in passing that she had a big announcement coming up and that she wanted to make sure everything was in order for it. What that announcement was she didn't say. I figured that it was probably some new party or something like that. The ponies of this world always seemed to be throwing a party for some reason or another. Seeing as the room was empty, I went around behind the thrones and out onto the balcony behind them. Out there there was a seat that I had made out of some scrap wood and a table that I made out of some scrap metal and wood. Resting atop the table was a scroll. I picked it up and looked at the seal. A gold sun with red ribbon, a clear sign that it was from none other than Celestia. I set my coffee down on the table and opened the scroll and I walked back into the throne room.
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Dear Sunshine,

I'm sure that you've noticed my absence in the throne room this morning, but do not worry. I've gotten tied up with some paperwork concerning an upcoming event here in Canterlot, and once it is done I have a meeting with a delegation from Saddle Arabia about the planning of the Equestria games. Please relax and take the morning off, maybe you can go work on that project that I've seen you tinkering on this last month.

Yours,

Celestia

P.S. I've made plans for dinner tonight in my quarters, I'll expect you there at 7:00 PM sharp.

P.P.S If you sit in my throne again, I might have to get you a crown to match it.
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That last line got a laugh out of me. “I guess I've spent enough time around her that she's starting to know how I think.” I rolled the scroll back up and took it back with me as I went back out and sat down in my chair. Like Celestia asked, I relaxed and just took in the scenery as I pulled out a piece of wood from the pile under the table and in my other hand, a knife appeared. It was easy to make my tools and weapons appear on reflex purely due to my past. I found that all I had to do was associate the thought with the reflex of drawing the weapon I needed and poof! There it was. The armor itself though was a different story. As I was still practicing donning it on reflex. The issue is that I had no real way of training myself to do it since I couldn't find anyone willing to toss a few wrenches or balls at me. Though at least I could get it off now without help.

I sat there carving for about 30 minutes, and when I stopped to survey my work, a rough form of an alicorn was starting to appear out of the wood. I was about to continue my work, but not before I heard the doors open loudly and the sound of armor coming in. I let the knife in my hand dissipate as I grabbed my cup and I went back into the throne room. I was expecting to see Celestia and an escort, but instead I saw Blueblood and a small army of nobles in armor, all of them armed. “Can I help you?”

Blueblood smiled as he replied, “Yes you can. You will stand still and allow the nobles of Equestria to arrest you under the charge of attacking a noblepony, and invading the minds of the princesses.”

“Oh come on, this shit again? Look man, I get that you've got issues with me, but this?” I gestured to the crowd of nobles in armor all holding various weapons, “This is just ridiculous.”

Blueblood said nothing as the unicorn noble on his right started to step forward.

I tightened my grip on the cup in my hand as I looked at the noble approaching me, “Alrighty then, guess we’re doing this. Look, I'm gonna give you one chance to ignore his orders, and save yourself some jail time. Interested?”

The unicorn said nothing as he got to within an arm's length of me and produced a pair of hoofcuffs with his magic.

He didn't get to do much with them as before he could react, I grabbed him by the horn, and pulled him in as I slammed the coffee mug into his head. The noble in question dropped like a sack of potatoes as the mug knocked him out cold. I looked down in my hands and saw that my impromptu weapon was still in pristine condition. “Damn...that's a good coffee mug.”

I looked to Blueblood as I raised my mug up again. His response was to light up his and fire off a bolt of energy hitting the cup I had in my hand. “You will kneel before me and allow me to drag you to the dungeons.”

“What the fuck man, that was a good mug!”

I didn't get a reply from Blue blood because a split second later, An arrow came out of the crown and found itself in my left thigh. I screamed out from the pain and I dived behind Celestia's throne as two more arrows came my way. “Oh you've got to be shitting me.” I said as I looked down at my new wound. “Fuck!” Placing one hand on the wound, and another on the arrow, I broke off the shaft, making sure to leave the arrow in my leg as pulling it out would cause me to bleed a lot more. By this point I was fuming, and I knew that it was time for action. “All right asshole, you wanna fuck around? Then it's time for you to find out.” I closed my eyes and mentally called out for the armor that was given to me by the princesses, but when I lifted my hand up, which should have been my pistol and an armored glove, there was nothing. I looked down at my hand and tried to pull my pistol into my hand while whispering ‘armor on’ but nothing happened. I even tried shaking my hand a few times to no avail. Not even my armor was showing up. “Huh...Well that's gonna be problematic.”

“Quit cowering behind Celestia's throne and come out so that we may subdue you without further dirtying this sacred hall” Blueblood called out.

“Here's a better idea.” I yelled back as I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. I saw a few of the sticks that I was working with by the open door to the outside, one of which looked thick enough to use as a weapon. I kept the throne behind me as I slowly limped over to the door, grabbed the stick, and made my way back to the throne and mentally prepared myself for what was coming. “You go down to the local store, look for this stuff called Viagra, and you all can use it to GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!” I forced myself to forget about the pain as I jumped around the throne with my stick smacking right against the side of Blueblood’s helmet. Of course it didn't have the intended effect of knocking him over, but it did catch him by surprise causing him to step back. While he was dazed I used my good leg to kick him back down into the crowd as I assumed a battle stance. “Next time check your corners.” One of the nobles on the steps of the throne was taken out by blueblood falling on him, and the other, an earth pony with just an axe came at me swinging. I sidestepped the swing and grabbed the axe with my left hand. “Hey, I've got this drum solo I've been working on, wanna hear it? I then brought my stick down on his head, breaking the stick and knocking him out cold. I grabbed the axe off of him and held it in my right as I looked to the crowd. “You call this a fight? I call this a ``difficulty tweak.”

I didn't get a response from the crowd. Instead I got a blast of magic from his horn which hit me square in the back. I fell down to the ground and found myself unable to move, and I didn't have to wait long to find the source.

“Fine, since you refuse to come peacefully, we shall do this your way. The spell I have just hit you with is a temporary stunning spell. Normally it's used to deter wildlife that gets too rowdy, but in this case it will work well enough to keep you down.” His horn glowed again and i saw a sword appear at his side as it was pulled from the scabbard on his armor, “But now indeed of tossing you into a deep dark hole, We the nobles of Equestria are going to slay you foul beast, once and for all!!” The crowd erupted into cheers as blueblood approached with the blade, “Any last words?”

“God, you just love the sound of your own voice don't you?”

Blueblood responded to this by putting his hoof on my wound, and he started to raise up his blade, but was interrupted by a sound that only I knew. The sound of a heavy laser weapon. Mentally I was both celebrating, and wondering exactly how I just heard the sound of laser fire, but I didn't have to wait long to see why that was.

The doors to the throne room flew open with such a force that they came off their hinges, and I watched as one noble from the back of the mob was sent flying across the room and impacting one of the banners hanging from the walls. The banner seemed to halt his flight as he got caught in it, and cushion his landing on the ground. The rest of the mob turned to see a 6 and a half foot tall armored suit with a Bolshoy EMG in hand. Blueblood kept his sword pointed at me as he turned to see what had just sent one of his comrades flying. “What in the name of Harmony is that!?!?”

The suit of armor raised the EMG to a low ready and from it, amplified by the speakers on the armor, came the robotic voice of Apollo. “This gathering is unlawful. You will drop your arms and disperse immediately or I will open fire!”

One noble regained his senses and swung his rapier at the suit, but all it did as it made contact was bounce off harmlessly. The suit responded by turning to the noble, grabbing the blade of the weapon with its left hand, ripping it from the noble's magical grip, and crushing it under its foot. Blueblood responded to this by lifting me up, and using me as a human shield, “What is that...that...that THING!?!?”

I chuckled because I already knew the shitstorm that was about to hit blueblood with hurricane force. I raised my voice and called out, “Apollo! Introduce yourself!”

The suit started to walk through the crowd, pushing the nobles aside who were still in shock from seeing this all unfold, and it began to speak. “I am Apollo, a T.D.O.S.A. for the ship Scythe. I perform many duties. I assure the success of my captain and his missions.” Apollo got closer and closer to us, causing blueblood to push me off to the side and point his sword at the new attacker , “I prevent collateral damage.” Apollo placed the EMG on his back and approached within a foot of Blueblood who now had his back against the wall. He took the sword out of Bluebloods magical grasp, and with his own two hands, tore it in half as a red holographic face appeared on the visor of the helmet, and boy did it look pissed. “But above all, I protect the captain and crew.”

Bluebloods face was full of terror, I'm pretty sure that he was probably seconds away from wetting himself out of fear as he cowered against the wall. I turned around to see what the reaction of Bluebloods mob was, but the room behind me was now near empty. The bulk of his comrades had retreated, and what little remained by this point were watching the scene unfold in horror. I'm assuming that the castle guard was seconds away.

I walked up to beside Apollo and patted him on the shoulder. “I think he gets the point buddy. Stand down.”

The red face of rage on the visor cooled to one without an expression, turning from a deep red to a light blue as Apollo turned to me, “Understood. Orders?”

“Hold him here for the castle guard…..and toss me a med kit.”

Apollo kept his face turned towards Blueblood and the gun pointed right at his chest as his left hand came off of the gun and took a pouch off his left hip and tossed it to me. “Vital monitoring suggests no presence of toxins in your bloodstream. I would recommend cleaning and wrapping your wound before seeking more professional medical attention.”

I opened up the pouch and pulled out some gauze and hydrogen peroxide. I then began to clean and wrap the wounds on my arms and assess the arrow embedded in my leg. “Thanks, I owe you one, and I think I've taken enough hits to be a professional myself.”

The face turned to me, “You and I both know that frequency of injury had no bearing on medical knowledge, and I would like to note that at this point you owe me 1,371 ‘ones.’”

“Well at least one of us is keeping score then.” I replied. I was about to continue talking but the hall filled with the sound of the clanking of armor and the stamping of hooves. I looked to the doors that were already kicked off their hinges by Apollo and I saw Celestia and Luna running in followed by a platoon of guardsponys in tow. The guards began to fill the room, and as they reached Blueblood, Apollo placed the gun on his back and walked to my side. At the same time the two sisters noticed me and ran towards me. As they did, I noticed that they too were in armor.

Celestia ran up to me and hugged me “Oh thank harmony you're alright!” It felt nice while it lasted, but then both her and Luna saw the arrow in my thigh and they quickly turned to Blueblood. I couldn't see the expression on Celestia's face since she had turned away from me, but I could see her mane was starting to change to the color of fire and I could hear the tone of her voice fill with anger as Luna's horn started to glow to cast a spell. Much like Apollo was minutes ago, they were ready to kill.

Celestia stepped to Blueblood who was now in shackles with a weird black metal cover over his horn, “Care to explain why there is an arrow in the leg of my guard?”

I quickly limped over to the two princesses and put my hand on their withers, “He's not worth it, and I think that between you two and Apollo he's had enough years of his life scared off him. Just stick him with the bill for the damages that he and his mob caused and put him and his posse on house arrest for a week or two to think about what they’ve done.”

Celestia turned to me and just as I predicted, her eyes were full of rage. “He could have killed you! It was him and his cohorts that shot you with an arrow!”

“Tia, look at me. I'll live, my partner in crime got here in time, and you were only seconds behind him.”

The rage in Celestia's eyes started to recede and I could see tears starting to form. “He was going to kill you, we wouldn't have-”

“Oh fuck it” I put my arms around her neck and I pulled her face close to mine before kissing her. “I love you Celestia, and I refuse to see you go down the same dark hole that you and Luna have pulled me out of.”

Celestia in shock and the look of rage on Luna's face was replaced with a smile as she spoke. “Finally. I was worried that I was going to have to lock the two of you in a room in order for you to profess your love to my sister.”

I rolled my eyes at Luna and turned back to Celestia, “I love you Celestia, and I will always be there for you.” I lifted my hand up to her cheek and rubbed it gently with my thumb, “Just as I know that you will always be there for me.”

Celestia's eyes once again filled with tears, but this time they were tears of joy. She leaned in and placed her lips on mine and I felt her wings wrap around me as well. “ I love you too my sunshine...It only took us a month of almost nightly dates to admit it.” Celestia smiled at me before letting go of me and looked down at my injury as her horn glowed. I felt the pain in my leg subside slightly as I felt a warmth of sorts surrounding the wound. “There doesn't seem to be any major bleeding, and it doesn't appear that any arteries were hit.” Celestia looked to one of the guards, “Please fetch the medics and tell them to bring supplies to remove an arrow.”

The guard nodded and ran out of the room.

I myself decided that I should probably be sitting for Celestia and the incoming medics to do their job, so I made my way over to one of the throne rooms pillars and sat down with my back against it. The pain from the action caused me to wince, but it was quickly dissipated by Celestia's magic.

Apollo stood beside me as Celestia's magic continued to work its way around my leg with the face on the visor lacking any emotion. Luna leaned over to me and whispered while using her wing to point at Apollo. “John, What is that?”

I chuckled as I turned my head towards the suit of armor, “Say hi buddy.”

Apollo responded by turning to look at Luna and extending his hand as the blue face on the visor smiled, “Greeting, I am Apollo, T.D.S.O.A. for the ship scythe. Pleased to meet you.”

Luna slowly stuck out her hoof and slowly shook Apollo's hand before looking to me with an expression that clearly said ‘explain. Now.’

“Since I didn't need my old armor anymore, I decided to give it to Apollo in order for him to have a body of sorts outside of the ship, that way he can move around and interact with the environment if he chooses to. I've been working on it over the last month in my free time, however as of this morning I was still making a few tweaks to the suit in order for it to allow him a normal range of motion. Which reminds me.” I looked at Apollo, “Hey buddy, how did you end up here?”

Apollo looked to me with a smile on his face as he said, “Admin Harmonia made a few changes to the initial design and assembled the M.T.U., call sign: Tinman, as the mob breached the gates. All tests were run and control of Tinman was established as they breached the throne room. Movement and weapons systems were tested en-route to location.”

I nodded, “Oh...well that makes sen-Wait, WHY IS HARMONIA AN ADMIN?!”

“I see. As for Harmonia, you can ask her once we've healed you.” Luna replied. She then looked to Celestia, “Are we going to have to amputate his leg?”

I immediately turned my head back to Luna who was snickering

“Okay, HAR HAR.” I replied “very funny.”

Celestia responded by placing a kiss on my cheek, “No, I'm just waiting for the medics to return with a more powerful local anesthetic before we remove the arrow. Luckily it seems like the arrow itself wasn't meant to do damage, as much as it was meant to prevent its target form using magic.”

“Which would explain why he isn't wearing the armor that we gave him.” Luna continued.

“Well in my defense, I'm still working on donning the armor from reaction alone, and I probably should have donned it the second i saw that crowd, but i decided to give diplomacy a try” I looked down at my leg, “Obviously it didn't go too well.”

“We can start training once you are healed.” Luna replied. She was about to say more, but as she opened her mouth, the medics ran in adorned in white armor with a saddlebag that had a red cross on it, and knelt down next to me. One of them reached into her saddlebag with her mouth and produced a syringe which she jabbed into my leg and then used her hoof to push the plunger. As she did, the pain in my leg disappeared. While this happened, the other medic was using his magic to unwrap the gauze I put on my leg. Once it was unwrapped, his horn glowed as his magic wrapped around the arrow and my leg. “No interior bleeding, arrows not blocking any veins, set to remove.”

The mare medic nodded at him and I watched as the arrow was slowly pulled from my leg by the stallion. Once it was out, the mare produced another two syringes, and injected them into my wounded leg one after the other. The stallion medic dropped the arrow from his magic and I picked it up, inspecting it myself as the two ponies sewed the wound close and redid the bandages around my leg. The Mare medic then turned to Celestia and saluted. “The arrow was removed without issue and we have injected him with antibiotics to protect against infection and tetanus, along with one of miss Zecora's potions to keep the pain at a minimum and speed up the healing process.”

Celestia smiled, “Thank you sergeants, you are dismissed. I will make sure that he doesn't open his stitches.” And with that, the two medics turned and left.

By this point, the guards had rounded up the mob, and were starting to lead them out of the throne room. Luna turned to Celestia, “I shall go with the guards and ensure that the perpetrators are placed under house arrest. You take your coltfriend and keep him out of trouble.”

Celestia's horn glowed and I felt myself lift off the ground. “Don't worry sister, he won't be leaving my side.” She turned to face me and smiled, “Come along my sunshine, You need your medicine.” Keeping me held in her magic, I slowly began to float behind her as Celestia turned to the door and started walking until I was lying chest down on her back.

“Medicine?” I replied as I looked to Apollo who was making his way towards the door in front of us, “I don't think I need anything, right man?”

“I am unable to make an accurate confirmation due to the potion given to you by the medics.”

Harmonias head appeared behind Apollo and smiled at me before turning and whispering something in Apollo's ear. His head turned to face her and he whispered something back while using the suit to give me a thumbs up as Celestia walked out of the throne room.

A short walk later, we had ascended the tower and were now inside Celestia's personal quarters. I was expecting to see Celestia walk over to the couch that was in front of her fireplace and lay me down there, but instead I saw her open up the covers of her bed with her magic.

“Celestia, I don't think you should put me there.”

Celestia levitated me off her back and in front of her, “Why not? It's extremely comfortable, and it allows me to keep an eye on you as I finish up some paperwork.”

“Cause I've got a hole in my leg and I don't want to get your bedsheets dirty…...plus I don't even think I should be in your room at all.”

“Your leg had been properly bandaged by medics, and has been subject to healing spells twice now. I severely doubt that it will just reopen. I don't understand why you suddenly don't want to be in my room. You've been here numerous times over the last few weeks for drinks and dinner dates.”

“Those are different though.”

“How so?”

“Because I was only temporarily here and I wasn't in your bed. I mean look at me, I'm just some lowly idiot who cra...landed in your city.”

Celestia frowned at me, “So it's because of your status that you're doing this? Because of the crown on my head? Is my status all that matters to you?”

“NO! Absolutely not.” I countered. “Celestia I fell in love with you because of WHO you are. I fell in love with the mare that's behind the crown, not the crown itself. I could care less about your titles or any of that. Back when I was carrying you to the castle and you showed your true form to me I was scared shitless, but you took me in and stayed true to the promise you made me when you were disguised as Majesty, which now that I'm thinking about it, how did I not notice that little play on words earlier?”

Celestia chuckled, “Probably because you were still in shock about how you had just landed on a world inhabited by magical ponies.”

“Probably” I continued, “But regardless. You treated me well, and both you and Luna have been working tirelessly to help me and make me feel welcome. Honestly I'd say that I felt something for you the second I saw you, but I didn't really know it was love until that first dinner date that we had my second night here ....But I'm not a good person. I'm a hideous violent idiot who you should have banished to the sun or something.”

Celestia sighed, “I see that your meetings with my sister aren't proving as fruitful as I thought.”

“Oh they are. Before I met with her I probably would have spent a good half hour installing myself and listing off reasons why I don't deserve the love of such a kind, wonderful mare.”

Celestia smiled as she moved closer to me, “Flattery won't make me overlook your self insults, though it is appreciated.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Celestia put a stop to that by putting her golden shoe to my lips.

“I wasn't finished. You deserve to be here because I love you too. Not for your looks or your level of intelligence, but for your heart. Cadance obviously was the first one to see it, but over time I saw exactly what kind of man you are. One who cares greatly for the wellbeing of others. One who would do or give anything to protect the ones he loves. That day in the alley when you saved me, I saw a glimpse of who you truly are, and during Luna's test I saw your whole heart laid bare. I saw your love and your pain….I saw That I too was developing feelings for you. Then you spent a night with my sister and helped her through her own pain.”

My eyes went wide

“Yes she told me of that night. She told me how you helped her, how you are able to reach out to others and help them out of the dark. It was then that I knew I loved you.” Celestia leaned in and kissed me deeply. We held the kiss for a minute before I realized that I was no longer floating in the air, I was in Celestia's bed.

I opened my eyes and sure enough, I was on top of her bed with Celestias smiling face directly over mine. I smiled back at her as I looked into those gorgeous magenta eyes and I saw love. I saw that she loved me, just as much as I loved her. I saw that she wanted me to be happy and to be safe, so I gave in. “Okay, I'll stay.”

Celestia shook her head, “You won't just stay, I want you to move in with me.”

“I-You want-I-me to?”

Celestia nodded. “We even have a place for you to put your ship as well so you don't have to worry about it being left out in the open….plus in a way you've already moved in with me since you've been living in our guest quarters for close to three months now”

I looked to Celestia with tears in my eyes, “Yes. I'd love to move in with you.”

Celestia smiled and kissed me again before getting off the bed with her horn glowing. I started to get up myself, but as I turned my body to get off the bed, Celestia extended her wing and pushed me back down. “Don't worry, I will handle moving your personal things. You stay here and rest, Doctors orders. I'll be back momentarily.” And with a flash, she was gone.

I sat there for a second dumbfounded at what had just occurred, but I knew what I had to do. “Time for another project.” I got up and swung my legs over the side of the bed with some pain, and I was just about to try to put some weight on my leg again when Harmonia appeared in front of me.

“And just what do you think you're doing?”

“Uhh…”

“Get back in bed and listen to your mare friend.”

“As much as I want to, I've gotta answer the call of nature, and I have a few ideas that I need to start working on. And don't worry, I can use my armor as a sort of support to keep stress off my leg. Plus I'm Celestia's guard. Its my job to be by her side”

“I think that given what just happened, you can consider yourself on medical leave for the next couple of days.”

I sighed, “You want the truth?”

Harmonia nodded

“Look, Celestia's has done so much for me, and i feel like I've barely done anything for her. I want to make her something, i was going to go down to first grab the carving i was working on, but also try to see if i couldn't get my hands on some metal to make her a little something.”

Harmonia smiled at me, “I thin k that that sounds like a wonderful idea, but you'll have to wait until your healed.”

“Why? I mean i used to do far more stressful activities with injuries that were worse than the one I've got now.”

“That may be true, but this is a different world. One where you don't need to just push yourself to the brink for no reason, and how much damage has doing that done to you over the years?”

“Honestly I don't recall.” I replied

“Well it wont be happening anymore.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit here?”

“Yes, you will sit there, heal, and wait for your love to return to you.”

I rolled my eyes as I started to put some pressure on my legs, but as I did something felt off, it felt like more was being put on the ball of my feet and when I looked down, I saw that my normal boots had been replaced with a pair of gold heels. The toes seemed to feature a fleur de lis similar to that of Celestia's own shoes, and had gold laces coming off of them up to my knees. “Hey, give me my boots back!”

Harmonia giggled, “That was for lying to me. As for your boots, you'll get them back when Celestia returns with your personal effects. I can't wait to see how she likes your new shoes. Have fun!” and with a flash she disappeared.

“We’ll see about that!” I yelled out as I lifted up my hand and tried to get my knives to materialize in my hands. But instead of a way to cut myself free, my hands were covered in opera gloves. “Now that's just not fair.”

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//End audio journal transcript…\\

Chapter 6: Some Big News

View Online

//Begin audio journal transcript…\\

Hey there! It's been probably a week since my last entry and things have been going really well. For those of you wondering, Celestia had a very nice laugh at my expense when she came back to her-I mean OUR room. Things are looking up and up, and Celestia told me the big news that she was keeping secret, and boy was it a doozie.

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I woke up in the morning to a scene that even after seeing it seven times still had me in disbelief. The first thought that came back to me when I was conscious was my sense of touch, which was currently telling me that there was a soft mass resting on my chest, and a slight movement of my head revealed that there was a soft, but firm object under my chin with something resting against my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes to see that the mass was none other than Celestia's head resting on my chest with a smile on her face. I smiled at the visage of my marefriend resting comfortably on my chest with her head under my chin and her horn resting on my cheek. I placed a gentle kiss on her head which seemed to have roused her. “Tia, it's five, I think you've got to start raising the sun.”

Celestia's head slowly rose up and turned to me with a smile. I saw her horn glow for a second before her eyes closed again and her head went back down onto my chest. “There, I'll raise it the rest of the way later, but for now stay still.”

“I've got a full size alicorn laying on top of me, I dont think I'm going anywhere, but why do I need to stay still?”

Celestia nuzzled my chest, “So I can listen to your heartbeat.”

“Fine.” I let my head rest back down onto the pillow, “But later I get to listen to yours.”

“That seems fair.” Celestia replied, “Now hush.”

I smiled at Celestia and placed a quick kiss on her head just before the base of her horn. Celestia responded to this by looking at me, lifting her head, and quickly touching her nose to mine. “Boop.”

I raised my eyebrow at her as she did this, “What was that?”

Celestia chuckled at me before resting her head back down on my chest, “I will tell you later, for now, hush.”

Celestia and I remained like that for another hour and a half before my mobiholos 6:30 am alarm went off. “Now it is time to get up.”

Celestia looked at me with a pout on her face

“Oh no.” I replied, “The eyes wont work on me.”

“But John, I want to stay with you and cuddle.”

I felt my will very quickly eroding as Celestia grinned at me, but luckily for me, I had an ace in the hole. I smiled back at Celestia as I spoke, “If we don't get out of bed, I won't be able to cook breakfast.”

Celestia's pout vanished instantly as she smiled, “Alright, you win. I see that you're getting just as skilled at pushing my buttons as I am at pushing yours.”

I got up out of bed but I didn't get too far. Just as I was about to make my way to the bathroom to start my morning hygiene, A large pair of wings wrapped around me and pulled me back into bed. I looked over to Celetia who smiled at me, “Aren't you forgetting something?”

I smiled back at her as I moved closer to her, “I don't know? Maybe you could refresh my memory.”

Celestia giggled as she moved closer to me and the two of us kissed. “Does this ring any bells my love?”

“Yes I think it does.” I replied as the kiss broke. “And once I shower you'll get more, plus I'll smell better.”

Celestia's wings returned to her side, “That sounds like a wonderful idea, but don't take too long, I too have my own morning hygiene that I would like to perform.”

“Don't worry, it won't take long.”

About 45 minutes later, I made my way into the kitchen with Celestia by my side. Luna was already there seated at a small table that she had brought into the center of the room. As I entered, She levitated a cup of coffee to me, “Good morning little brother, I trust that you and my sister slept well?”

I smiled as I took a sip of my coffee and started to walk towards the kitchen appliances, “Yeah, honestly this last week I've been gettin some of the best sle-” It was then that my brain, which was now fully functioning thanks to caffeine, processed what Luna had just said. I very quickly turned to face her, “Little brother? Where's that coming from?”

Luna stood up and walked over to me. She got up on her hind legs and hugged me. “It's coming from all you've done for both Celestia and myself. It's coming from your love for my sister and our love for you. Ever since you moved in and opened your hearts to us we've slowly become attached to you, The love we feel for you is akin to that of family.” Her head moved by my ear and she whispered, “And I will be very happy when that title changes to brother-in-law.” She smiled at me and let me go as Celestia giggled.

I just stood there dumbfounded, “I-I don't know what to say.”

“You don't need to say anything.” Celestia replied. “And don't even bother thinking that we are going to change our minds about this decision either.”

I smiled at the two princesses. “I wouldn't dream of it…...now then, who wants some egg sandwiches?”

Both princesses smiled at me as they sat down at the table.

“How would you both like your eggs? I can reliably make scrambled eggs, over easy, and fried.”

“I will take mine fried please.” Luna replied

“And I would like mine over easy on rye.” Celestia replied

I smiled “Just how I like em.” I grabbed a pan and set to work. As the eggs were cooking, I looked over my shoulder to see the two sisters whispering in each other's ear. “Anything you two would like to share with the chef?”

“We were just talking about an idea that we've had. Nothing for you to worry about.” Celestia replied.

“If you say so.” I said as I turned back towards the pans, a few minutes later, myself and the two princesses were enjoying a nice homemade breakfast. “Everything came out alright?”

Both princesses looked up to me as they were devouring their breakfast sandwiches and nodded.

I chuckled as I started to dig into my own, “I'll take that as a yes.”

Once we had finished breakfast, the three of us took a minute to wipe down the table and clean off our dishes so they would not burden the castle staff. I was surprised to see that once everything was cleaned up, Luna did not depart back to room, but instead stood by Celestia's side when she asked me to follow her to the garden. Once we had reached the former home of my ship, I saw that where there was once a machine, there was now life, and a covered patio, complete with furniture, blinds, what looked to be a large cushion of sorts, a fan, and a minibar. “Nice set up.”

Luna looked over her shoulder, “Well this is our private garden, so of course we would take some measures to increase its relaxing powers.”

“Yeah that makes sense…..So why am I here?”

Luna turned to face me, “Because it has come to my attention that you have been neglecting your mental health in favor of Celestia, Myself, and your duties as our personal guard.”

“Well I mean it is a rather full time posi-”

Luna walked over to me and put her wing around me. “Johnathan, you are showing all the signs of mental and emotional exhaustion. You need a day of true rest and self care.”

Celestia walked up behind me and put her wing on my back as well. “So that is what we have planned for today.” And in one swift movement of their wings, the princesses' wings lifted my shirt off my body.

I was stunned as I felt the calm breeze on my bare chest, and while I was still processing what had happened, I felt myself lift off the ground. I snapped back to reality to see Luna's magical aura surrounding me as Celestia's magic removed my boots and socks from my feet. Once they were done, I saw my shirt and shoes disappear in a flash, and I was set down on the ground. The soft cool grass felt amazing on my feet, and the princesses pulled the blinds on the patio and extended them to envelope all its sides. Celestia and Luna walked into the closed off patio, and then using their wings, opened one side of the blinds for me and motioned for me to come in. As I walked through the opening, I saw that the inside of the patio was still well lit. There were a few candles around the patio, giving off a pleasant smell, but I also realized that the blinds themselves looked like they weren't there from this side.

Celestia smiled at me as the blinds closed behind me. “The entire patio is surrounded in magically enhanced blinds that make it so nopony can see what happens inside, but those inside can see outside without any hindrance, they even allow the breeze through during the warmer months to keep the inside cool while the fan helps circulate the air.”

Luna motioned for me to lie down on the cushion on the right side of the patio, as I did so, she levitated a few bottles onto the top of the minibar. “Would you like anything to drink before we begin?”

“I'm good, though what exactly is happening here?” I asked with a hint of worry in my voice.

Luna giggled, “Nothing lewd I assure you. Celestia is going to give you a relaxing massage, then the three of us will take a trip.”

“Where to?” I asked as I got up from the cushion “I've got to prep-”

Celestia and Luna's wings shot out and stopped me from getting up as luna spoke, “There will be no need for an escort. Now relax and enjoy your massage.”

I laid back down on the cushion like Luna asked. “Fine, just stay safe.”

“I will. Now relax little brother, you most definitely need it.” She looked to Celestia as she walked towards where we had entered, “Do be gentle with him sister.”

Celestia smiled, “I always am.” She then turned to me as she sat down on her haunches, “Now take a deep breath, and exhale.”

I did so

“Again.”

Another breath.

“And again.”

As I finished exhaling the third time, I felt a cold liquid on my back and my ears started to pick up sound. I looked up and around to see that outside the patio, it was raining lightly. “I see Luna helped set the mood.”

“Indeed.” Celestia replied, “She wanted to ensure that this environment was as calming as possible, now lay your head back down and close your eyes. Let the calming oils do their job, and as you breathe, let your stress flow out of you.”

I did as Celestia said and resumed my breathing as she placed some oil on my back. I then heard the distinctive sound of metal resting gently on metal before I felt Celestia's hoof on my back. It seems that she had taken off her royal jewelry in order to make the massage more comfortable. I felt her hooves slowly start to apply pressure on my back as she rubbed the oil into my skin. I felt its cooling effects seep into me and my muscles relax. I let out a soft relaxed groan as Celestia's hooves started to work their way towards my upper back, applying more oil as she went. As she reached my upper back, my groans increased in frequency.

“Sweet harmony John, the amount of tension and knots your body has, how long has it been since you have had a massage or even a self care day?”

“This is my first.” I replied through clenched teeth.

“My goodness, it is a good thing Luna came up with this idea then. And I think that that means I will have to add you into our monthly spa trip.” Celestia giggled slightly.

“What's so funny?”

“Just the mental image of you sitting for a hooficure.”

“Yeah that ain't happening...and in my universe they're called manicures when done on our hands, and pedicures when done on our feet.”

“We shall see about that.” Celestia replied as her hooves started to work more of the cooling oil into my skin, “You of all ponies should know that I can be VERY persuasive.” As the word very came out of her mouth I felt her hooves put pressure by my shoulder blades.

I groaned as the pain came forward, “Uncle, uncle.” I let out a chuckle as Celestia moved her head by mine

“My my, The brave warrior has been brought low by a massage.”

“Har Har.” I countered, “Just...be a bit more gentle please.”

Celestia nuzzled my cheek, “I shall try, now relax and let the oils and my hooves work their magic. No pun intended. Go back to your breathing, as you breathe in, take in the calm, take in the positive. As you exhale, let all your stress and negative emotions be blown away.”

I did as Celestia asked, and allowed myself to relax. I took in the feeling of her hooves and the oil relaxing my muscles, I took in the sound of the rain, and as I did, I let out a long sigh. Maybe Celestia and Luna were right, maybe I should relax. I mean this world was nothing like the harsh universe I had grown accustomed to. This world is peaceful...its heaven. Celestia's hooves once again made their way up by my shoulder blades, and while there was some pain, it was not immense like the last time, and it was also balanced out with a sensation of relaxation. “Ohhhh….that feels good.”

Celestia giggled, “Then that settles it.” Her hooves started to move up and down my back in a chopping motion.

“Settles what?” I asked with my voice distorted by the chopping

“You will be joining Luna and myself at our monthly spa trips.”

---

An hour later I walked out of the tent a new man. My body felt relaxed and almost brand new, I was able to move my limbs in any direction without hindrance or pain. By this point, the rain had stopped and the garden looked freshly watered. I walked around the patio and by the doors of my old room in search of something somewhat important for my daily activities. As I made my way past the entry to the patio, the blinds moved aside as Celestia walked out. She had again donned her royal garb, and I could see that she was holding something in her wing. “Looking for this?” she asked with a smile as her wing extended, revealing my shirt in its grasp.

“Yes.” I replied as I reached to grab it out of her wing, but just as my fingers touched it, it was enveloped in her magic and disappeared in a flash. “Hey!”

Celestia giggled, “What? I think you look better this way.” She walked up to me and hugged me. I froze as I felt the warmth and the softness of her fur against my upper body, and her head gently resting on my shoulder.

“Please Tia….I don't like walking around half naked.”

“Why is that? You've seen that most ponies here rarely wear clothes anyway.”

I sighed and spoke dejectedly, “Because it hides my scars.”

Tia raised her head off her shoulder and looked me in the eyes as her magic enveloped my hand. I didn't know what was going to happen next, but given the serious look on her face, I figured that my special talent of destroying the good things in my life had struck again. But instead of a verbal lashing or any anger at all, Celestia turned her side towards me and placed my hand right against where her wings normally folded. My hands first felt the softness of her coat, but then I detected something underneath all that, something that I was familiar with, scars. I looked at Celestia with a slight look of shock on my face and she responded with an understanding smile. There was another flash and I saw that she had teleported my shirt back onto my chest. “You are not the only one with scars, my sunshine. Before my sister and I were asked to rule and for sometime after, Equestria faced many foes. Luna and I rose up and defeated them all, though unfortunately, not without injury.” She again faced me as her wings pulled me close into another hug. “Both Luna and myself bear the marks of conflict just as you do, though unlike you, we are lucky enough to have our coats to hide them. I apologize for my actions John, but you should know that around my sister and I, there is no need to hide or be ashamed of your body, your scars, or your past.”

I teared up as Celestia said that. I offered now words, I just put my arms around her and hugged her. We stayed like that for a minute before I heard the sound of somepony clearing their throat behind me.

I turned around with my pistol appearing in my hand, but when I realized who it was, the pistol disappeared. The source of the noise was Luna. I opened my mouth to speak, but Luna stopped me. “John, I swear if you apologize and start belittling yourself I will slap you...gently of course, but my point still stands. Look how far you've come, yes your weapon did come out but that is because you were startled and your job is to protect us.”

“And while my weapon was briefly visible, I didn't raise it like I would have.” i finished

Luna smiled, “Exactly. It's good to see that something from our sessions is sticking with you.” She looked to Celestia, “If you are ready sister, Our surprises are ready to be revealed.”

Celestia smiled as she looked at me, “John, I'm going to need you to get on my back.”

My head tiled in confusion, “Come again?”

Both princesses laughed at my confusion before celestia continued, “We are going to teleport somewhere and since you are still learning how to use magic with your armor, I think that I would be best if I teleported us to your surprise. So in order for me to more easily facilitate this, you will need to get onto my back and hold onto me.”

“Ah, I see.” I said, before a smirk of my own appeared, “You know if you wanted me to ride you you could have just asked last night.”

Celestia's face went as red as an apple as Luna fell to the ground laughing. Celetias' wing came out and smacked me upside the head. As she looked at me with a mix of embarrassment, and anger.

“Sorry” I replied as I chuckled, “I just couldn't help myself there.”

Celestia shook her head, “Oh hush. Get on my back.”

I did as she asked, “Okay im-” I didn't get to finish my sentence because my eyes were filled with a bright light and I felt a massive wave of nausea overcome me. I fell to the ground and as my vision returned I saw that I was in a forest. As I hit the ground, both princesses came to my side.

Luna put her hoof on my back, “Breathe little brother, breathe.”

Celestia sat down next to me and did the same as she looked at Luna, “We should have remembered that this was going to be his first teleportation.”

Slowly I felt the nausea subside and I eventually stood up. “Okay, I think it's passed.”

Celestia put her wing around me, “I'm sorry my sunshine.”

“It's okay.” I replied, “Just consider it karma for my earlier comment….so, what's the surprise?”

Both Celestia and Luna smiled at me as Luna pointed behind me. “Follow that path and you shall see.”

I turned to where she pointed and I saw a path large enough for a carriage to go down. I followed it for about a quarter mile until it reached a clearing in the trees, and what sat in the clearing caused me to almost fall on my ass. Before me stood a house. On the outside it looked like it was made from logs like the cabins of old. It was two stories tall, and I could see that the path I was on led up to the garage that was on the right side of the house. The garage itself had some solar arrays on the side, as well as a wind turbine, which I assume was what was powering the house. I walked around the side to the back of the house and again I was astonished by what I saw. The house was about 50 feet from a lake, and on the edge of the water was a dock that went out about 20 feet. and on the other side of that lake was canterlot mountain, and in the distance, canterlot itself. Turning back to the house, there was a deck that featured a patio similar to the one back in the royal garden. About 20 feet to the right of that was an outdoor kitchen complete with a grill, and a minifridge. The entire patio itself also seemed to be lined with some string lights in order to keep things bright during the night time, but not too bright as to block out the view of the stars. There was a set of stars that went down to the ground and to the left of them there was a fire pit and some chairs. I walked back around to the front door and Celestia and Luna were still out front, gesturing for me to go inside. I walked to the house and I opened the front door. The door itself was unlocked and it opened right into a hallway, on the right was the den/utility area where I could work on my gear and wash my clothes, I was actually surprised to see a washer and dryer in there, which lead into a garage, and on the left, was the stairs up to the bedrooms, two other bathrooms, and the balcony, and just to the left of the stairs was a bathroom, then moving straight ahead about 15 feet, was the kitchen, which opened right up into the living room and the dining room. It wasn’t a large house, but it was good enough for a family . I walked up the stairs and went into my bedroom. Inside the room was a bed (Obviously), a closet, a window with a good view of the lake, and a bathroom. I went to the closet, assuming that it would be empty, but to my surprise, it was stocked with all of the clothes that Rarity made me, and then some of my own ship, including some relaxation and sleeping clothes, but that wasn't all. On the left side of the closet there were dresses and various forms of jewelry, but it was all Alicorn sized. Next to my room was a smaller bedroom, and across from it was another room of the same size, so I guess that they were guest rooms. Across from my bedroom, there looked to be an office space big enough for two, and it even had my laptop. “Well damn, I guess they really took the phrase “Go big or go home” to heart here, which kind of made me wonder, what was in the garage? I mean I had seen a safe in the den, but why give me a garage unless….” I sprinted down the stairs and into the garage to see that Celestia, Luna and even Harmonia were there waiting for me with the garage door open. The garage itself was nothing special, it had a workbench with some tools, some cleaning supplies, and a safe, but other than that, it was empty.

Harmonia led the two princesses into the garage as she spoke to me, “I know what you are looking for, try the safe.”

I walked up to the safe door, which now that I looked at it, I saw that it was big enough for even Celestia to fit through. I saw that the safe had a keypad lock on it, but as I went to key in a code, it beeped and the door opened. I looked back to Harmonia who already knew what I was going to ask. “I have taken the liberty of not only magically attuning the door to You, Celestia, and Luna, but I've also made it work in harmony with you ‘tech’ as you call it.”

I smiled at her as I turned back to the open door, which led to a spiral staircase. As I approached it, the ceiling itself lit up, I'm assuming it was caused by magic. I made my way down the stairs, which went down probably 20 meters, and what they opened up into astonished me. On the right was a bay that contained two carriages from the garage in canterlot and my bike. On my left, my ship. It was in a massive bay that looked similar to those that I had landed in on various planets back in my own universe. I walked around my ship and I saw that it had even been cleaned, no, not cleaned, refurbished. Any scratches were gone, the paint looked like it was just applied, the whole thing looked like it had just come out of the manufacturer. I looked up and I saw the familiar sight of landing bay doors above me. Considering that I didn't see any doors topside. I'm assuming that they were hidden somewhere. I just stood there with my mouth agape as I took in my surroundings. I was so taken back by it all that I didn't even hear the sound of three alicorns walking up behind me. As I turned to face the trio of alicorns I had nothing but questions, “I...how did you-Why did you do this?”

“It isn't obvious?” Harmonia asked, “Its because the three of us care about you and want to make sure that you are comfortable in this world.”

I looked around at my surroundings again, “But I was already happy, i mean i'm in love, i'm living with the most beautiful mare in existence and her amazing sister, who also now sees me as her brother. Not to mention the fact that I've got a cushy job keeping them safe. I mean sure the nobles are…...an acquired taste, but all that aside im in paradise.”

The three alicorns smiled at me as I spoke. Celestia looked to me, and she was about to say something, but she was interrupted by Luna who whispered something in her ear. Harmnioa leaned in, and the three of them whispered amongst themselves for a minute before I interrupted them by clearing my throat.

“Something the matter?” I asked as I stepped closer to their huddle.

The three alicorns looked at me, then to each other before nodding. Celestia Walked up to me and placed her wing around me as Luna and harmonia disappeared in flashes of light from what I'm assuming were teleportation spells. “John, when making one more jump, this one is a bit further than the last so I'm going to cast a spell on you to help you avoid feeling nauseous again. And for future teleportation, just make sure to take a few breaths before you jump okay?”

I nodded as I took a few breaths. “Okay im-” Before I could finish, my vision was filled temporarily with a flash of blinding light. It dissipated quickly, but I still had a hard time seeing. It only took me a second to figure out why as the sounds of crashing waves hit my ears and I felt the warmth of the sun through my clothes. I heard a slight giggle from my left and suddenly the intensity of the light in my eyes dimmed and the intensity of the heat on my body decreased. As i opened my eyes fully, I saw that i was no longer in the woods, but i was instead, on a beach. I looked down at myself and I saw that my location wasn the only thing that had changed. My boots, pants, and tee had been swapped for flip-flops, khaki shorts, a red hawaiian shirt that was currently unbuttoned, and on my head i felt a pair of sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat. I took a minute to just take in my clothing change and my surroundings before I heard the familiar sound of giggling alicorns behind me. I turned around to locate the source of the laughter and what i saw almost knocked me on my ass. Celestia, Luna, and Harmonia where standing infront of a beach house, which in and of itself would have been a shock to the system, but what almost had me floored was the fact that Celestia had her own hair up in a ponytail, as she wore sunglasses of her own, a wide brimmed straw hat, and a red bikini with a wrap skirt covering up the bottom half. Celestia walked up and used her hoof to close my wide open mouth, “Careful my love, you don't want anything to fly in there.”

I shook my head a bit as my senses came back and my brain started working properly again. Celestia put her wing around me and led me to the house as Luna and Harmina followed. Celestia led me in through a sliding door and set me down in what looked to be the living room. She sat down across from me and smiled, “I do apologize if all this is overwhelming you, but let me tell you about this house. It has a master bedroom and bathroom with an attached balcony upstairs, here on the first floor is the office, laundry room, kitchen, dining room, living room, and two bedrooms with a full bathroom. The town is about a 5 minute walk up the beach, and there is this wonderful little market that i know you will love…”

I just sat there looking around at my surroundings and still taking it all in. I guess my continued silence must have worried the trio because Luna was by my side a second later with her wing on my shoulder and her horn glowing. I heard her voice in my head, “Is everything okay little brother?...just breathe, Like we practiced, taking in the calm, inhale.”

i took a breath in

“Good, now exhale and let your stress fly out and away from you.”

I exhaled.

“Again. In with the calm. Let the sound of the waves beat away the stress.”

Another breath in

“Now one last time, exhale and let the wave take your stress out to sea.”

Another breath out.

The glow around Luna's horn vanished and she sat down next to Celestia, “Better?”

I nodded, “Y….Yeah……..better…...I’m-”

Celestia shook her head, “There is no need to apologize. We should have known that all this in one day may have been sensory overload for you.” Her ears flattened back against her as she looked down, “Which makes what we are about to tell you all the more difficult. My sister and I...Well you see...We...After some time thinking.”

I looked Celestia in the eyes and as I spoke, a tear came to my eye as I felt all the weight that my months in equestria had taken off my shoulders return tenfold. “You’re breaking up with me right? I mean I suppose I should have seen it coming. You're a peaceful almost angelic being, and I'm a mmph-”

My speech was cut off by the hoof of harmonia up against my mouth, “For harmony's sake, she's not breaking up with you, she's trying to tell you that she and her sister are retiring!”

“Oh thank go-holdupamintue...retiring?...like retiring retiring? Like rocking chairs and yarn retiring?”

“Yes.” Harmonia replied, “And I swear that if you even think that this is your fault in any way, I'm going to have your marefriend cuddle you for the next one-thousand years.”

I leaned over to look at Celestia and Luna, “You two are actually-?”

The two princesses nodded at me and smiled.

I leaned back to look Harmonia in the eyes, “I'm good, just……..could I get the room for a minute here to process all this?”

Harmonia backed away from me and made her way out the door. Celestia whispered something to Luna before getting up herself and following Harmonia out, leaving me alone in the room with Luna, who turned back to me, “Is this something you would like to discuss with your therapist?”

I sat in the couch for a moment before looking over to Luna, who had now made her way to the kitchen and was pulling out a teapot, and nodded.

“Thank you John.” She smiled warmly at me as she set the teapot on the stovetop before sitting down across from me. “Whenever you're ready, we can start. Tell me anything you want.”

I sat there for a minute, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. The words wanted to come out, but I had no clue what to say, after a couple minutes, Luna spoke again?”

“Perhaps we could take a quick dive into your psyche? Things might come out a bit easier.”

I sighed, “No……..Let me ask you this, was the massage really to destress me? Why the houses?...Was it so that I’d be more receptive to the news?”

Luna's ears flattened against her head, “Yes and no…..They all had their own purposes, though I will admit, we were hoping that the massive amount of good news would help lessen the impact of the news of our retirement. The massage was my sister and I introducing you to the concept of self care, and the idea for the houses game from Cadance, Celestia, Harmonia, and myself, though Celestia and Harmonia played the biggest parts. We wanted you to have a comfortable place to live in this world, one free of the looks that you get, and the whispers of biggoted nobles who consider you to be the world's biggest threat since Tyrek.” The kettle in the kitchen started to whistle, and Luna effortlessly picked it up with her magic and poured it into two teacups which she then levitated onto the table between us. “It's from my own reserves. A calming jasmine blend that was given to me by Mistmane, one of the Guardians of Harmony, she asked that I give it to you when we broke this news to you…she would also like to meet you in person, all the guardians do.”

I took a sip of the tea and chuckled, “So even among your world's heros im a celebrity. Well as long as they don’t want to finish what the Nobles tried to start I’d be okay with that, who are they ag-”

Luna looked at me with an eyebrow raised

“Okay okay I’m trying to change the topic, but can you blame me?”

Luna sighed as she set her cup down, “No I cannot, buth I would like to bring something to your attention. Despite being in two separate locations, and both having different themes and floorplans, there is something similar about both of these houses. Care to guess what that something is?”

I sat there for a minute, sipping my tea and thinking back to my tour of the lakehouse and Celestia's description of this house. “I don't know, to be honest I was still getting over the shock of seeing her in a bikini.”

Luna giggled, “Yes, we thought that all three of us should choose beach attire, though I decided against it so that you wouldn't feel overwhelmed.” I opened my mouth to speak but Luna stopped me, “And yes I'm aware that that ended up happening anyway, but back to the point. The similarity is in the master bedroom. One designed for TWO instead of one.”

I thought back for a moment to the lake house, “Huh...yeah I suppose you're right, but I mean the two of us are already sharing a room so I don't see anything big there.”

“Because you missed the subtle hints, Go into the bedroom here, you'll see a full complement of toiletries for both of you, not to mention makeup and dresses.”

“Ah yes because I never know when I'm going to need to fix my eyeshadow or change out of a taffeta gown into a mermaid one.” Luna opened her mouth to speak but this time it was i who stopped her, “I had to run down to Rarities shop last week for some measurements for a project, she was designing a new fashion line while i was waiting and i listened in.”

Luna giggled, “You should know that the three of us don't joke around when the ‘threat of dress’ gets involved, but back to the point.It shows that Celestia doesn't just want you to be comfortable here, she wants to be comfortable here WITH. YOU. it means that she wants to be by your side, just like i know you want to be by hers, i mean why else would you have spent the last month working with the blacksmith to craft a ring for her?”

“How the heck did you find that out?”

“I'm the Princess of the night little brother, I have my ways…..And I may or may not have followed you to the blacksmiths shop once or twice.”

Like I said, one rollercoaster of a day. I'm currently recording this through my mobiholo at the beach house. When Celestia and Harmonia returned, Harmonia bid us adieu for the day, and Luna switched into her ‘beach attire’ aka, a blue one piece swimsuit, with a hat of her own. The two of us then went up to the town Celestia talked about and got some groceries for some island kebabs that Celestia cooked for us. She's currently waiting for me to finish this up so her and I can watch the sunset.

And she's done waiting, Good Evening everypony, I am Celestia, this is my first entry of my own into this machine, but rest assured it won't be my last, now if you'll excuse me, I have a coltfriend to cuddle with.

//End audio journal transcript…\\

Icarus

by EOD_Operator

Chapter 1: Any landing you can walk away from

Chapter 2: Day 1

Chapter 3: Feelings

Chapter 4: And so it begins

Chapter 5: Tinman

Chapter 6: Some Big News