Unintentional Invasion Ch.3 - Child's Play

It took you half an hour to suit up and get prepped. Twilight had come back in, panting heavily. She had apparently been running recently.

 

"Anon, there you are! I told Celestia what you told me, sh-"

 

"I know." You cut across. "Baltimore is already under attack."

 

"...you mean Baltimare?"

 

You paused, before nodding.

 

"Baltimore, Baltimare, whatever." You shrugged, clamping your assault rifle onto your magnetic backplate.

 

"Wait, what are you doing?"

 

"I'm going to help." You replied simply, stepping past the unicorn. She had a look of relief as she watched you go by, a small smile on her face.

 

"Going to play hero again? Good."

 

You chuckled as you entered the throne room. Celestia was already there, projecting a map from her horn of what you presumed was everything she held in her kingdom. Several guards in extremely ornate golden armor were standing around, you assumed they were of higher rank than the standard guard. A small port city was lit up in red, you were assuming that was Baltimare. Celestia looked up from her discussion to greet you.

 

"Ah, thank goodness you're back. Baltimare is under siege, I don't know how much longer they can hold out. Luna is gathering her Night Guard, but they will not be ready for a few hours more." She explained, and you nodded.

 

"So, how am I getting there? I doubt you have a dropship." You asked, and the princess simply smiled at you.

 

"Come here, Captain."

 

You stepped forward, and she gestured at the map. "Select a place, and I can teleport you there. Choose, quickly."

 

You debated for only a moment.

 

"...can you put me in the air?" You asked. Celestia's expression went from worried to confused.

 

"I can, but...why?"

 

You chuckled.

 

"A little thing I picked up from this group of Special Operations guys I worked with for a bit. Put me here, at cloud level." You pointed right over the ocean, right off shore. Celestia nodded, and a burst of magic knocked your shields out.

 

It was instant. One moment you were staring the princess in the face, the next...you were falling towards a fleet. It was roughly twelve or thirteen ships, all of which could be considered frigates from the 1600's back on Earth.

 

Cannons were being fired at the city, which in turn was protected by a golden shield. It flickered every time a shell hit, it was only a matter of time before it fell. The city wasn't returning fire, which was odd. Either they lost their only means of offense, or simply weren't expecting the attack.

 

Or worse yet, they didn't HAVE any defenses.

 

You positioned yourself above a ship, thinking up a plan of attack quickly. You used your HUD to line up the perfect attack vector...and pointed yourself like an arrow.

 

"Feet first into hell..." You quietly recited. A griffon looked up as you fell, and he turned to warn his allies.

 

Too late.

 

You slammed into the deck, all half-ton of you cracking the ship in half and sending the griffons into the water. Your shields were knocked out on impact, and you felt a bruise developing on your ankles from the sheer force of it. The ship quickly sank, and the firing abruptly stopped as the remaining navy attempted to find the cause of the attack.

 

Firing up your low gravity maneuvering thrusters, you pushed yourself along underneath another ship, and thrust your arm upwards. Wood splintered and water flooded into the new hole as you widened it enough for you to climb through. A griffon assaulted you as you pulled yourself up, shields flaring to ward him off. You countered with a fist to his gut, followed by a hay-maker to the back of his head. His skull shattered and he fell into the hole, sinking beneath the waves.

 

You looked around, water quickly gathering around your boots as the ship continued taking it on. To make this quicker, you punched a few more holes into the bottom and now-submerged sides. You made your way up the decks, pulling your knife and gutting another unsuspecting griffon and tossing him below deck.

 

"You guys are making this too easy..." You muttered, turning on your camo as three rushed past you to try and contain the damage. You grabbed the last one and slit his throat, then made your way up to the top deck. Cannons were being loaded and aimed at the city, despite the ship itself quickly sinking. They hadn't been lit yet, however.

 

You turned your cloaking off and drew your magnum, shooting a torch-bearing griffon in the back of the head. Said torch lit the wooden deck aflame, and the gunshot brought all attention to you. They rushed you with swords and spears, which you ducked around and countered. One slashed wide, letting you grab his wrist and bring his elbow down on your armored knee. The limb shattered and he screamed, before your knife silenced him. You grabbed his sword and threw it, though the angle was off as the handle just glanced off another griffon's shoulder.

 

He stabbed with his spear in return, which you grabbed and snapped in half. You then picked up and threw the griffon into the growing flames, causing his feathers and fur to ignite. He dove off the side of the boat, screaming until he hit water. You shot the next two, each taking three rounds before finally dying.

 

Thinking quickly, you turned the ship's cannons to broadsiding, aiming at the ships on either side. You grabbed the torch and lit the fuses on them all, then dove off the side. The cannons went off, gutting the left ship entirely and heavily damaging the one on the right. The right ship had its mast shatter and fall over, crushing one poor griffon and pinning the leg of another. The ship you just left finally sunk beneath the waves, flotsam on the surface being the only evidence it was there at all.

 

You fired your micro-jets up again, maneuvering to the side of the wounded ship. Reaching up, you started forcefully putting climbing holes in the side, clambering up. The griffons saw you coming, beginning to throw things at you to knock you off. Your shields absorbed and deflected some of it, but they failed to stop a cannonball they dropped over the side. The impact dazed you and caused you to lose your footing, falling off the side and back into the ocean.

 

"Fuck me." You muttered, activating cloaking again and using the previous handholds to get back up. The griffons weren't there waiting anymore, having resumed bombardment of the city. This was fortunate, as the water cascading off your armor would have given you away. You waited a moment, before quickly climbing the remainder of the way. The griffons didn't hear your scrambling over the cannon fire, which was fortunate. You clambered over the rail, before going below deck and to the very bottom. Punching a hole into the bottom, you pulled the pin on the only frag grenade you had and put it just underneath the water, letting the concussive force of the blast be magnified.

 

It didn't disappoint, tearing up half the floor (and knocking your shields down to half) when it went off. You turned cloaking back on as Griffons came to investigate and attempt to repair the damage. Sneaking around them, you made your way up and back onto the main deck. A griffon lit a cannon, and you immediately thought of a great idea: You rushed over, knocked the griffon into the water, and grabbed the cannon. The fuse was quickly getting shorter, and you placed it barrel down on the deck.

 

The griffons figured out what you were doing and abandoned ship, the cannon going off a short moment later and sending the cannonball through all three decks, into the ocean below. The cannon itself was lifted off the deck thanks to Newton, and then gravity took hold and brought the cannon hurtling back onto the top deck. It broke through and came to a stop on the second. Combined with the damage already done, the ship began listing to the side before capsizing entirely and tossing you into the ocean.

 

A horn sounded across the fleet, and the shooting ceased. The surviving ships turned around, retreating. It made sense, you just laid waste to a quarter of their fleet in under fifteen minutes. You slipped beneath the waves yourself, waiting until you hit the sand beneath to start the long march to shore. Your armor separated the oxygen from the water, and in addition to your air tank? You were at no risk of drowning. You could afford to relax a bit.

---

 

You surfaced on a beach half an hour later, walking towards the city. You could hear the cheering from where you were outside the walls, and several ponies rushed out to greet their savior...only to halt in fear as they realized you weren't a pony. They looked you over, then inexplicably relaxed and started cheering again.

 

You waved and walked into the city, where several guards saluted you and one began speaking.

 

"Sir! Sergeant Shadowstone, reporting! We...weren't expecting Celestia's Elite Guard, but it's a relief nonetheless." He looked back at the retreating ships, then let out a low whistle. "I had heard stories, but wow. I never thought they were actually true! That was amazing!"

 

You arched an eyebrow under your helmet, but mentally shrugged.

 

"Sergeant, tell me everything you can. Where they came from, why they're here, whatever you can."

 

"All I know is that they appeared on the horizon and just started shooting. There was no declaration of war, no alert, just cannonade. We didn't have time to set up our own defenses before you showed up." The unicorn replied, inspecting the damage to the city. "I couldn't tell you why they were here either, I know pretty much nothing about this."

 

He left to help a few of his fellow guards pull a pony out from under a pile of rubble, and you decided to take a look at what help you could offer. There was shockingly little damage, you suppose thanks to that shield that was surrounding the city interior. You burned an hour looking for any way to help, finding nothing that a group of guards wasn't already accomplishing.

 

Suddenly, you were back in Celestia's throne room. Your shields were blaring again, before you silenced the alarm. Celestia had a warm, thankful smile gracing her features as she addressed you.

 

"Good to see you again, Captain. I'm glad you made a difference, my little ponies likely couldn't have held the assault off as unprepared as they were." She gave you a small bow. "I know that, due to you being a soldier of a foreign army, you didn't HAVE to help...which is why you have my undying gratitude."

 

You pulled your helmet off and smiled back.

 

"It wasn't an issue. I have a bone to pick with the Griffons anyway. Tried to run me in for an interrogation by force, and I'm in the mood to hold a grudge at the moment."

 

Celestia chuckled.

 

"Well, then I am glad you are on our side. I believe you've earned the remainder of the day to relax, so please." She levitated a small satchel over to you. "Technically what you have done for us is mercenary work, and repelling an attack on a major port city is worth quite a lot indeed. Five thousand bits, straight from the treasury and authorized by both myself and Princess Luna."

 

"Thank you, Princess." You gave a quick salute, before something sprung to mind. "Well, while I'm here, I have a question. One of your guards said I was part of your "Elite Guard". Any idea why?"

 

"Ah yes. Ponies with their armor emblazoned with my Cutie Mark are among the best of my troops, and as such are referred to as Elite. The marking on your shoulder happens to match exactly, though your skill certainly places you within that group regardless." She explained, before turning to the side and letting you compare.

 

You looked between the two for a moment, and now knew where the accusations of "Equestrian Spy" came from.

 

"Damn, I'd swear I'm psychic." You grinned. There was virtually no difference between the two, which was a happy coincidence indeed. Celestia gave you another warm smile.

 

"If you'll excuse me Captain, I have some business to take care of. Feel free to explore the city or castle to the fullest extent, I've already alerted my guards that you have free reign." With that, she excused herself to what you presumed were her chambers, and you went back to your room to remove your armor.

 

Twilight was there, waiting for you.

 

"Anon!" She called, face lighting up like a beacon. She galloped to the door and looked you over, before nodding. "Good, you're not hurt." You chuckled quietly, she wouldn't be able to see minor injuries through the armor anyway.

 

"Eh, wouldn't say I'm not *hurt*. Just a bruise or two." You began taking your armor off, and showed her your left ankle. It had already swollen up a bit, bruising lightly. The unicorn winced at the sight, even though you didn't really feel it. "It looks worse than it is, Twilight."

 

"Even so, I don't think you should be walking on that." She inspected it a bit more. "Even if you're not a pony, that still screams 'sprain' all over."

 

"Probably is. I'll be healed over by tomorrow though." You shrugged, before you realized you had left all your comfortable clothing and footwear back at the Infinity...which you no longer had access to. Barefoot it was, then. Not exactly the most ideal thing, but you'd live with it. "Come on, I've got five thousand, uh, 'bits' to burn. Hero pay." You grinned at the unicorn, taking her words and putting a playful spin on them.

---

 

You were letting Tour Guide Sparkle lead you around the city, which you quickly learned was named Canterlot. Lots of horse puns around here, you noticed.

 

The lavender pony was currently leading you through the central square, where she pointed out three book stores she used in addition to a few restaurants that she frequented when she was in town. There were several clothing shops as well, though Twilight suggested you wait until you managed to see some pony named Rarity. Apparently she was a master at making clothing to fit oddly shaped beings, and you definitely qualified. Lucky you, you noted with a hint of sourness at the playful teasing.

 

You were sitting in Twilight's favorite restaurant, you didn't catch the name. A normal pony seated you both, and handed you menus.

 

"Wildflower salad, lettuce sandwich, hay fries..." you muttered. "Twilight, mind pointing out something the omnivore would actually eat?"

 

She giggled, before highlighting a few fish options for you. Came with a side salad as well, so you couldn't really complain. The only drinks available were various fruit or veggie juices...or water. You were missing carbonated drinks already, and it had been just over a day. Regardless, you ordered a lemonade and salmon with a side salad (you made sure to ask for just lettuce, tomato, and spinach; to hell with that weed shit), while Twilight ordered a dandelion and lemon salad with water.

 

"So Anon, mind if I ask some more questions?" Twilight asked, looking extremely eager before catching herself and calming down. "I want to know more about you!"

 

"Shoot." You replied, leaning back in the bench. It was actually rather comfortable, the soft wood and ambiance helping you relax. You could definitely use this vacation...

 

You two chatted about Humans in general for a little, going over things from eye and hair color to height to why you didn't have fur.

 

"Also, why do you wear that black thing everywhere?" She asked, quill at the ready.

 

"It's so I can suit up at a moment's notice. When I'm on the Infinity, I need to be ready for anything, at any time. This black bodysuit makes it so that I take only two minutes instead of thirty." You paused, then added. "It's also a modesty issue. I've got nothing covering me underneath this."

 

"Modesty?"

 

"Twilight, my species has been wearing clothing for at least six thousand years. To be seen without clothing in public is immodest. There are very few reasons I can think of for being nude in the presence of others."

 

"Which are?"

 

"...do I really have to spell it out for you?"

 

Twilight stared blankly. Apparently you did.

 

"Sex, Twilight."

 

A bright red blush immediately formed under the unicorn's purple coat, and she coughed.

 

"W-well, uh, on that subject, what are human mating habits like?"

 

You chuckled.

 

"Wouldn't you like to know." You teased, putting on a wolfish grin and staring directly at her.

 

"Oh look!" The unicorn said a little loudly. "Our food!"

 

Indeed, the food was being wheeled out to the two of you by your pegasus waitress. She placed the fish in front of you (with a small amount of displeasure, you noticed), and the dandelion salad in front of Twilight. The lavender mare didn't touch her food though, instead watching you eat your fish with a mild amount of curiosity.

 

"I've always wondered what that tasted like, but never had the nerve to order it myself...it actually smells pretty good..."

 

Smiling, you speared a small piece on a fork. You offered the tiny chunk to her.

 

"Try it then, mooch."  You teased, and she rolled her eyes before taking a nervous bite. Twilight chewed a few times, gauging the texture and flavor...before swallowing it and shrugging.

 

"Not...too bad, actually. Not something I'd eat every day, but definitely an option if I want something...exotic." Twilight placed a dandelion on her fork and offered it to you. "Wanna try?"

 

"No thanks," you laughed. "I ate enough when I was three."

 

"Suit yourself." She said with a small smile.

 

You two idly chatted for a bit, this time with you quizzing her on how things worked around here.

 

"So, let me get this straight." You said, placing your fork down. "Princess Celestia raises the sun, and Princess Luna raises the moon."

 

"Yes."

 

"Luna also arranges the stars in the sky?"

 

"Mmhm."

 

"Twilight, I have been to most of those stars up there. I can confidently tell you none of them have ever moved."

 

"Then you're lying, I see her arrange them every night." Twilight's ears flattened to her skull.

 

"I swear to you I'm not." You replied, hands up in a defensive motion. "I can show you when we get back, my armor has 2 Petabytes of storage for down time usage. I...do a lot of reading on star charts."

 

"Fine." She grumbled. Wow, it was like someone flipped a light switch. One moment she was curious and pleasant, the next she was eying her salad like she would enjoy nothing more than to watch it burn. Weird.

 

You both finished in silence, paying the fifty bit bill and leaving eight for the waitress.

---

 

Twilight cut the tour short immediately afterwards, eager to see this proof of yours. You walked together to your room and you picked up your helmet, putting it on and doing a general search for star charts.

 

"Look Twilight. If the stars did what you said they do every night, there would be some significant changes. These six star charts are one year apart from each other. There's little to no difference."

 

You placed the helmet on her little pony head, and she looked about. She then flopped onto her flank and sat there, stunned. A sniffle. You pulled the helmet off to find her in tears. Whoops.

 

"So I've...been lied to all this time?" She meekly asked.

 

"I wouldn't say 'lied to'. Maybe just a powerful illusion spell, so 'technically' it's not a lie." You offered, trying to keep the unicorn from bursti-too late.

 

You pat the crying unicorn on the back, letting her get the sorrow out.

 

"Wh-what about Celestia raising the sun...?"

 

"That might be true. She might rotate your planet on her own, so it's possible that she does 'raise the sun'. Luna as well may bring about the night, just...not how you were told. Sorry Twilight."

 

"No, no...I should thank you. If there's one thing I hate, it's being ignorant of the truth." She sighed. "I'm just...coping with my entire worldview being brought down around me." She looked around meekly, the blush coming back. "Can...can I stay here tonight?"

 

You chuckled.

 

"Of course. Take the bed, I'll take the floor."

 

Twilight hopped up on the bed, covering herself and pulling the covers to a point where she could clutch them for comfort. You genuinely felt bad for breaking it to her like that, but she would have found out eventually, you supposed.

 

"Ooooh! We can do something I've wanted to do for a while now!" Twilight chirped, mood suddenly much better. You looked at her, genuine confusion evident. Her horn lit up, and a book appeared from the aether. She hovered it over to you. "My second sleep over EVER!"

 

"'Slumber 102: Opposite Sex Fun: Third Revision'?" You read, before slowly looking at her. Was she coming on to you? "Twilight, what..."

 

"It says all the fun stuff a co-ed sleep over can have, while guiding around the faux pas that most end up being! It has other fun stuff too, like smores and ghost stories, but that was covered in the previous editions." Twilight finished, beaming at you. You gave her a tired, flat look, before opening the closet.

 

"Good night, Twilight."

 

You took a comforter from the shelf, draping it over yourself to sleep. Darkness took you almost instantly.

---

 

You awoke to whimpering.

 

"No...n-no..."

 

Sitting up slowly, you saw Twilight tossing and turning on the bed.

 

"Don't take...me...don't...wanna..."

 

You reached out and touched her back...and were immediately thrown against the wall by a powerful burst of arcane might. You saw stars and the room was spinning as Twilight jerked awake.

 

"Ow...ow...ow..." You muttered, as the unicorn slowly turned to see you against the wall. "That was...kinda uncalled for."

 

"Oh no, Anon! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Here came the tears again. "I'm sorry! Please don't go, I didn't mean it!"

 

You stood slowly, rubbing the knot developing on the back of your head. That was gonna sting tomorrow.

 

"I didn't mean it, honest!"

 

You sighed, stumbling over and stroking her mane again.

 

"Those Griffons really messed you up, huh?" You asked quietly, mostly to yourself. "Shh...there there, it's gonna be alright."

 

Twilight responded by laying her head on your left thigh, quietly muttering "I'm sorry" over and over. She eventually stopped, her breathing becoming slow and even again. A guard peeked into the room, having heard the heavy thud from ten minutes ago.

 

This guard was different though. His coat was dark grey, and his armor was a midnight blue. He had little tufts of fur at the end of each ear, and in place of pegasus wings he had bat wings. His most distinguishing features, however, were the half-inch long fangs protruding from his mouth and his bright green cat-like eyes.

 

"Is everything alright, sir?" He asked in a low baritone, looking around the room. "I'll put in a work order for the crack in the wall."

 

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just a bit of a nightmare." You replied, still stroking Twilight's side. The guard nodded and closed the door, though your sharp hearing noticed he didn't actually leave the door unattended. The sound of hooves stopped far too abruptly for that.

 

That was fine. If Twilight threw you against the wall again, you might actually need some stitches.

 

Looks like you were pulling an all-nighter again. You sighed lightly. Well, maybe not. If you shifted her like so...there. She was still using you as a living pillow, but at least you could sleep now.

---

>>Date: March 25, 2558

>>Location: Canterlot Castle Guest Bedroom

 

 

The sun rose, and Twilight rose with it as soon as a ray of light hit her. She yawned and stretched, finally lifting her head off of your numb leg.

 

"Mornin' sleepyhead." You said, smiling tiredly.

 

"Morning Anahhhhhhhhhhhhhn..." Twilight replied, yawning mid-sentence. Her mane was sticking up in various places except for where she had been laying her head, which was matted against her face. You noticed a small amount of drool on your leg, which you frowned at.

 

"Sleep alright?"

 

"Better than I thought. You're better than Smartypants!" She said with a small smile. "Th-thank you Anon."

 

"It was no problem..." You said, a sudden image of the Siege on New Alexandria coming to mind. A child, using your armored leg for a pillow much like Twilight was now...

 

You shuddered involuntarily.

 

"Something wrong?" Twilight asked, catching the end of the shudder. You shook your head, forcing the smile back.

 

"Nah, just the tail end of a nightmare." You replied. She opened her mouth to question again, when your stomach growled. Good ol' stomach, interrupting uncomfortable subjects right when you needed it. "So, breakfast?"

 

Twilight narrowed her eyes, then sighed...then blushed as HER stomach growled in sympathy to yours.

 

"Yes, but...I can't be seen by the Princess like this! I need to use your shower!"

 

She leapt off the bed and trotted into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her. You simply stretched and left, heading towards the dining room. You decided to skip PT today, it wouldn't kill you to miss a day. Instead, your short walk was made more interesting by a conversation you happened to overhear. Though to be fair, the voices in question weren't exactly being conspicuous.

 

"Ugh, I can't BELIEVE Auntie Celestia would allow something like THAT to stay in the castle!" A haughty voice echoed down the hall.

 

"I agree, sir." Another voice, female. Judging by the 'sir', probably a guard or personal attendant.

 

"Did you hear what it did? Smashed four griffon ships in an instant! Such violent tendencies, and it's being allowed HERE!" A snort, and the two voices finally came into view. A white coated, blond maned unicorn in a fancy dress suit, and (like you predicted) a female pegasus guard. Her armor was slightly different, silver instead of gold. You wondered briefly if that was an indication of higher or lower rank. She still did have the usual white coat and blue eyes, however. "If anything, he just made a diplomatic mission even harder!"

 

"Well sir, he DID save Baltimare." The pegasus mentioned offhandedly. "The griffons fired the first shots."

 

"IT did when it 'rescued'," the unicorn spat the word out like it was something horrible, "those two unimportant ponies! Reports say it killed over ten griffons on its own! I need to talk with Au-Oh."

 

The unicorn cut himself off as he finally tore his eyes off the guard, noticing you staring at him. You were more amused than angry at the moment, it wasn't the first time you had been insulted more or less to your face. A small snort came from a guard standing nearby, but he quickly reverted back to the passive stare.

 

The unicorn was oddly quiet and meek as he walked past you, into the dining room. The pegasus with him rolled her eyes, following him after giving you 'the eye'. You almost felt a Sarah Palmer-esque vibe from the tiny guard, and that...scared you a bit.

 

You followed them in, a wry grin on your face. Something told you that, given half the chance, you were gonna have FUN with this guy. Several plans started forming in your head, most of them involving using your active camo for some mischief.

 

You sat down at an empty table, watching as various guards, delegates, and other important peop-ponies gathered to eat breakfast. Princess Celestia was sitting at a larger table at the back of the room, surrounded by other ponies. You heard a few discussing something in hushed tones, occasionally looking at you.

 

A purple flash drew everyone's attention, until Twilight Sparkle appeared in front of you. She sat at the table as well, while the other ponies went back to their meals. Twilight's mane was still damp, though her coat was dry at least.

 

"Hi Anon!" She said happily, as a waiter hurriedly came over to take her order.

 

"Ah, hello Madame Sparkle! It is so good to see you again!" The unicorn said cheerfully. Twilight smiled back.

 

"Good morning!" The mare looked the menu over briefly, before turning back to the stallion. "I'll have the maple oatmeal with a glass of orange juice!"

 

"Ah, the usual, of course. I'll be back shortly!"

 

He then trotted off before you could get his attention.

 

"Oh yeah, because I'm not hungry, ya know." You muttered.

 

"Calm down, Anon, I'm sure he just didn't notice you." Twilight said in his defense. You snorted.

 

"Twilight, I'm twice as tall as anyone here. You'd have to be blind to NOT notice me." Looking over, the waiter was chatting with a few other waiters and waitresses. You locked your eyes with him, and he went into the kitchen to avoid your gaze.

 

"You're kinda scary..." A mare next to you whispered, before clapping her hooves over her mouth when she realized what she said. You merely gave her a curious look.

 

"Uh, how?" You asked, genuine confusion in your voice. "I haven't been mean or threatening, have I?"

 

"You're so...tall...you smell like a predator. Act like it, too. Eyes locked right to me, probably eying me up as a meal..."

 

You blinked.

 

"Please, leave me alone..."

 

You frowned, then stood.

 

"Anon, wait!" Twilight said.

 

"It's fine. I need to complete my exercise sets anyway." You growled. MRE for breakfast it was.

---

 

Hours later, you were taking a solo trek through Canterlot. Ponies were still giving you fearful and cautious looks, or simply avoiding you outright. You sighed to yourself, taking a seat on a park bench.

 

"There you are!"

 

You looked up to see Twilight trotting over to you, tickets floating next to her. You tilted your head and cocked an eyebrow.

 

"Train tickets. Princess Celestia wants to see you before she sends the two of us to Ponyville. Can't wait to be back home, Spike must be worried sick..." She trailed off, before giving you one ticket. "Hold on to that, DON'T LOSE IT." You recoiled from the sudden forcefulness. "Sorry, but that ticket is special. It's a one-way trip ticket, courtesy of the Princess herself."

 

You nodded, putting the ticket in your bodysuit's pocket. Twilight headed off for the train station, while you headed back for the castle. The short walk was uneventful, and you walked into the throne room.

 

"Is that you, Captain?" Celestia asked. Her voice came from the same balcony as the other night, and you walked over.

 

"Yes, Princess." You replied, standing just inside the throne room.

 

"Come, join me. It's such a pleasant day." She said, moving to the side slightly to make more room. You did so, seeing the blissful smile on the ruler's face. Her eyes were closed, but her ears were tracking you.

 

"You wanted to see me?" You asked, cutting right to the chase. Celestia chuckled.

 

"Yes, Captain. I just wanted to personally thank you for protecting Twilight. Not only would her parents be devastated by her loss, but I would have been as well." She turned to you. "I may call Twilight 'My Faithful Student', but I try to treat her as though she were my own daughter. I'm sending you to Ponyville with her, because I know you'll keep her safe."

 

You listened, not commenting.

 

"She trusts you as well. During our private speaking the other day, she spoke very highly of you. How you were her 'knight in shining armor', as she put it." Celestia let out another musical laugh, before sighing and frowning.

 

"I still do not know what to do with this Griffon situation, but something will develop. In addition to protecting Twilight, I'm sending you to Ponyville to act as its first line of defense. You will be given a monthly stipend, and housing will be provided by Twilight. She personally wanted to make sure you were comfortable."

 

You nodded.

 

"Also, one final thing. I know what your species is capable of. Please, try to keep yourself under control."

 

That last bit came off as more warning than friendly banter. You arched an eyebrow, and Celestia's normally warm features were cooled off significantly.

 

"I-I'll be sure to do that." You replied, before saluting and stepping away.

 

The fuck was that about?

---

 

You gathered your armor and put it on. Though you COULD carry it, that didn't particularly mean you WANTED to. It would be far easier to simply let your armor support itself. Other than that, however, there wasn't much of yours to take.

 

You marched to the train station, boarded the train, and decided to look for a movie to watch on the way down. You had quite a few in that 2 Petabyte storage space, roughly a thousand or so movies to choose from. You relaxed, settling in as the generic opening to an action movie started. You made sure to mute your helmet's speakers too, so you wouldn't disturb the others.

 

The train started its journey just as your movie started, and you were on your way.