> Breakfast was not a letdown, and you sure as hell felt like a royal guest.
> Piping hot pastries, coffee, tea, and breads where on demand.
> All made fresh and with the sort of artisanship you had seen in the French countryside before.
> However, you made it a point to eat quietly and avoid eye contact.
> Breakfast started ten minutes ago and no one has said a word to you.
> The cyan Pegasus, Rainbow Dash refused to be in the same room as you.
> Celestia, the large “Alicorn” as she called herself sat opposite to you.
> Five others ponies sat the table eyeing you carefully, waiting to see what you would do next.
> Cautiously you glance up to see Celestia focused on you, with a stare could pierce tank armor.
> You immediately look back down to your plate.
> “So…” Celestia began after taking a drink of her tea. “How is breakfast?”
> You swallow the mouthful you had and nod.
“It’s very good, your highness. I would like to thank you for your hospitality.”
> “Oh really it’s no problem. So would you tell us your name?”
> You start to say your real name but stop yourself instantly.
“Anonymous.”
> She cocks her head a moment in confusion and smiles pleasantly.
> “It’s a very good name for someone like you I suppose. You already know my name but I would like everyone to introduce themselves to our new friend here.”
> The purple unicorn that sat at Celestia’s right hand set down her muffin and cleared her throat.
> “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am Celestia’s Royal student.”
> An orange…regular? Pony was next to speak.
> “I’m AppleJack.”
> The short lived conversation died out sooner than it had started.
> They must have heard Rainbow Dash’s panicked ranting too.
> To them, you were a killing machine, and no one likes killing machines.
> Celestia notices your dejection and immediately shifts the subject.
> “Now how did you get to our homeland Anonymous?”
“I was dumped out here through a black hole.”
> The explanation seems to confuse the Princess further.
> “And what is that?”
“It’s like a hole that has such a strong gravitational pull that it can suck in anything…including light.”
> Sounded good enough, you weren’t a physics major after all.
> “And it sucked you in and spawned you above the ground?”
> You nod. Then you thought of a question.
“How did you know I was above the ground when I came out?”
> “Oh, well the others told me.”
“No they didn’t, they weren’t aware of my existence until I contacted them. Want to tell the truth now?”
> She shoots you a very hard glare but maintains a friendly visage.
> “I could feel a disturbance in the natural order of things. I expected something unusal to turn up eventually.”
“You could feel me come in? Did you feel anything else?”
> “I can hardly see how that is important to this conversation.”
“I can.”
> You look at the five others.
“I know your all afraid of me thanks to your friend, but if you think I am bad, there is someone much worse out there than me if I am correct. I have to know if he’s here too.”
> You turn your attention to Celestia.
“Please, I need to know.”
> She glances at her subjects a moment and sighs.
> “Yes, there were two disturbances much alike. But I doubt if they have anything to do with eacho-”
“Where? Where did you feel the disturbance?”
> She gives you a puzzled look.
> “I cannot pinpoint where, I can only feel them. It was a much greater distance from Equestria though, unlike you that happened to arrive near my winter estate.”
> If his arrival was anything like yours, then his chances were slim.
> A fitting end, killed by his own machine due to his own madness.
“Thank you Princess. You have set my mind at ease.”
> She smiles and breakfast goes concludes with a little bit of small talk between the friends.
> But not you.
> Celestia and Twilight are the first ones to ask for your time but you had more important matters to attend to.
“Is Rainbow Dash the one that bought me in?” You ask Twilight as she heads up to her room.
> “She is, why?”
“Just curious. Any guess as to where she is now?”
> “She’s in her room. Why?”
“Just curious…again…I will be with you in a few minutes Twilight and tell you all about how my stuff works but please, don’t mess with it too much. Wouldn’t want an accident to happen now would we?”
>After asking several pony guards where the Rainbow pony had gone you finally find her room.
> You reach out to the door knob and gently twist it.
> Locked.
> You press your ear against the door and hear her moving around, the occasional soft sob.
> Fuck. Regret starts to sweep your mind.
> No one should have to see things like what she did…
> That’s why you  joined in the first place so you could let other people avoid seeing how horrible combat can be, so it never came home to America.
> Now you’re in a foreign land and you already traumatized someone.
> With a leader like that, you doubt any of them have seen any actual combat. You even suspect the concept of killing is a taboo here.
> You knock a few times.
> “Who is it?”
> You say nothing.
> The door creeks open and you immediately put your boot in the door and force it open.
> Rainbow steps back shocked into silence, her ears laid against her head and her face contorted in fear.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
> You kneel to her lever to look her in the eyes.
“I just felt obligated to thank you for bringing me here. I would have died out there if you hadn’t helped.”
> She seems confused, you were after all in her eyes, a heartless killing machine that slaughtered creatures in the worst possible way.
“What you saw is terrible I know. I’m sorry you saw it, really I am…”
> You hesitate.
“But, I don’t like killing…I was defending myself, they were charging at me with weapons.”
> You sigh. Why did you even agree to fucking carry those things in the first place? Why?
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry and to thank you for helping me despite what you saw. It speaks volumes about you, so consider yourself a friend of mine.”
> You get up, turn and walk out of the room without another word, quietly shutting the door behind you.
> There, that was all the loose ends from last night.
>Backtracking your way to your room was simple enough and finding Twilight’s room was easy enough.
> You open the door to see her levitating the FN eyeing it curiously.
“Twilight I told you not to touch m-”
> She gives a startled yelp and a loud click is heard.
> Your heart skips a beat.
> You grab the rifle from the air and quickly unload it.
> The empty grenade casing lands at your feet as you slide the grenade launcher open.
> You empty the FN and clear the round.
“Be thankful that the round was already spent. This is not a toy; this thing will kill you quicker than anything in this place. Do you understand me?”
> She lowers her head. “I’m sorry…” She whispers.
> God damn it, you’re just hurting feelings right and left ever since you got here.
“Sorry Twilight it’s just I don’t want anyone getting hurt more than I have already done. Now what do you want to know?”
> She immediately perks up when you offer to explain the science behind things.
> “I want to know everything.”
“Alright, well to understand how it works, you need to understand why it works.”
> You launch into a science/history lesson as you detail every part of the weapon and its function. Along with the various ammunition and the properties behind it.
> You suddenly find yourself having taken nearly two hours just to get halfway through it all.
“Tell you what Twilight, that’s all for today. Tomorrow I will explain a little more okay?”
> She nods, obviously swamped with new information. While she writes in her notes furiously, you collect all your gear and stash it in your room.
> You suddenly notice that your armor is absent from your gear.
> You walk downstairs, and see the Princess looking out the window as the snow falls.
> “My, it’s a heavy blizzard today. It’s a good thing Fluttershy was able to get to the weather team in time to postpone the blizzard, otherwise they may not have found you Anon.”
“Weather team?”
> “A Pegasus team from Cloudsdale was bringing some excess snow here from Canterlot, they were informed not long before the blizzard was set to begin from what I understand.”
“Wait, you mean that the weather is controlled by ponies?”
> She giggles at your lack of knowledge. “That’s exactly what I am saying…may I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what do you need to know?”
> “Earlier at breakfast when you asked about a second disturbance you exhibited genuine fear for a moment. Why?”
“Because a man bought me here against my will with a machine of his…”
> She turns and looks at you. “But that’s only part of the story I feel. You said he is capable of destruction, greater than you are?”
> You carefully create an answer. Accurate enough to sate her curiosity, but vague enough to keep your options open.
“If given the right materials he could kill a lot of people. The only reason he is capable of doing more damage than me is because unlike me, he is willing to kill anyone to get what he wants.”
> “Interesting. Tell me Anonymous, do you take enjoyment from killing?”
“None at all, your highness.”
> “Ah.” She says. You can feel her wanting to ask another question but she refrains from doing so.
“Do you know where my armor is?”
> She looks towards you a moment and then back out the window. “If I had to guess, I would say Rarity has it. I have noticed she’s been shut in her room ever since I got here, she is probably trying to clean it and repair it. Her room is on the opposite side of the house to yours.”
> You think the princess had more to say but you could wait, you thank her and set off to find Rarities room.
> In no time, you find her room and knock a few times.
> “Just a moment darling!”
> Darling?
> The door opens and she immediately grows hesitant.
> “Oh hello Anonymous, may I help you?”
“Have you seen my armor? It’s the same color as these cloths but a lot heavier.”
> “Oh yes I saw it lying on the floor this morning near the door and it was filthy and the leg was in tatters. So I took the liberty of cleaning it for you and sewing the leg up.”
> She levitates it towards you in a neat folded pile and places it in your arms.
“How much do I owe you miss? I mean, you really didn’t have to do that for me.”
> “It’s my pleasure! Please, consider it my gift to you.” She says with a forced smile.
> You don’t even have to look hard to see she’s afraid of you. You thank her again and go back to your room and star to take inventory of your gear.
> Everything accounted for and everything works more or less.
> All you needed now was a map and a compass.
> Ever since you woke up this morning you knew you were on Celestia’s clean up list.
> She was too calm, and she was far too collected when you called her lie at breakfast in front of her subjects.
> You needed out, but leaving now would be suicide. She would be able to track you easily if she could fly.
> Nightfall however, may prove to be your best chance.
> You sit down and look out the window a moment.
> Where the fuck would you go in the first place?
> You hear the door click.
> It was locked.
> You turn to see Celestia standing in the doorway.
> “Could I have a word with you Anonymous?”
> You maintain a calm expression. You couldn’t let her know you were on to her.
“Certainly, your highness. What’s on your mind?”
> “Oh nothing in particular, just wanted to get to know my Royal guest a bit better.”
> The door shuts and she sits in front of it.
> Your hand grips your sidearm.
“What would you like to know exactly?”
> “Why were you so afraid at breakfast this morning when I mentioned the second disturbance?”
> You begin to answer but Celestia is called away by a frantic Twilight.
> “I will be right back.”
“Don’t worry, I will wait here.”
> The fucking hell you will.
> You quickly gather your equipment and put your armor on. Grabbing the chair, you barricade the door.
> With a tug you pull the window open as quietly as you can. You grasp the ledge with your gloved hand and pull the window closed.
> Making your way around the house you find a single Royal guard shoveling snow into a pile.
>When he’s not looking you drop into the snow pile, get up and run.
> You get a pretty good distance from the house before slowing down in a heavily wooded area and sheltering from the Blizzard for a moment.
> No map and no compass, no GPS, and no point of reference.
>Taking your binoculars out you see the shape of a small town in the distance.
>Maybe a three hour hike? Four at the most…
> They would have food, a map, and a compass somewhere in there that you could easily procure.
> Quietly if at all possible, if not you had some flash bangs that could serve to scare a shop owner or two enough.
> The only real problem you had now was your footprints. The blizzard would get rid of them pretty quickly, but not fast enough if Celestia was able to see them from the air.
> It’s a blizzard though you could barely make out the town because of the lanterns; you knew your armor and cloths would keep you warm enough to survive out here now that you were mobile.
> Your hesitant to continue on though, what if you were just in shock? What if Celestia was really telling the truth about wanting to be your friend?
> You look back. You’re not that far away, you could just make the excuse that you wanted to get some fresh air.
> After barricading a door? Not likely. That would just make you look more suspicious, not to mention give her more reason to want you gone.
> You get up and begin the trek towards the town.
> You can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching you though.