The Fallen Soldier

Chapter 13

Home Sweet Home

According to Rarity, Twilight and Celestia have been on quite the rampage in their efforts to track me down. Although Twilight has been much more… passionate about it. Frankly, I wasn't sure if I should feel flattered to fetch that much attention, or insulted. I'm almost 30 years old and have little need for a babysitter. Though given the circumstances, I particularly saw Celestia's attention as hypocritical since she technically gave me citizenship in Equestria. Perhaps she still didn't fully trust me? Not that I can sneak off anywhere anyway, where the hell would I go?

"After that horrible blizzard…" Droned on the voice of Rarity.

I snapped back from my thoughts, it's been but a few minutes since we left that cafe and I'm already dozing off. That day-long journey has fucked with my train of thought.

"Has it really been that bad?" I suddenly asked aloud to no-one in particular, though I expected Rarity to answer.

"Oh by Celestia yes!" She exclaimed, twisting her head, rolling her eyes, and gently moving her arms up. She really exaggerated that. "She hasn't stopped since she found out!" Rarity began to rant, "We were all awaiting your arrival - quite eagerly I might add - and were in shock when you never stepped off the train!" She took a quick gasp of air and continued, "She stormed onto the train and hunted down a poor worker who looked scared for her life when she saw Twilight approaching her!" She turned to Fluttershy, who was minding her own business and kept going. "She scared that poor woman half to death! By the gods! The look in her eyes!"

I gave her a hesitant smile and an awkward chuckle when she looked at me. I had little words for her, and opted for a simple, "Wow."

She rolled with that, "But now that you're here darling, we can put all this behind us and get Twilight back to normal in a jiffy." She started walking a little faster after saying that, she also stopped talking.

In an attempt to fill the empty air, I tried my hand at small talk. "How long have you known Twilight, Rarity?"

She was very quick to reply, "About a month, dear." She looked up and brought an arm to her mouth, she seemed to be in deep thought. "Her arrival has brought a refreshing tune to my daily life, that's for sure." Her words seemingly reflected in the smile she showed me.

I suppose it was nice to see that Twilight had some good pals. Despite her haughty appearance, Rarity seems to be quite the person.

"What about you dear? How are you enjoying Equestria?" She looked up at me, even Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair to gaze at me.

"Well, it ain't home," I calmly replied. "It's… something, I'm not too sure on how to explain it."

Rarity smiled at me, "I understand. Home is where the heart is after all." She returned to looking at the road we walked down, "Perhaps Twilight can help you return home, she's a very intelligent woman."

I showed no emotion as I replied, "Don't get my hopes up." Then gave her a small smile, "I appreciate the thought though Rarity."

A somber look overtook her smooth facial features, "Of course." Then she coughed, and smiled, "I'm sure you'll like it here in Ponyville, Anderson. The townsfolk are fantastic once they get to know you."

Welcoming the new subject, I replied, "I don't doubt it. Though I'd love to know what the town offers in terms of entertainment?"

We rounded another building, bringing Twilight's library into full view. Finally, I have arrived at my destination since leaving for it days ago. I mentally readied myself to face Twilight after so long.

"Well, darling, Ponyville features many establishments you'd see elsewhere in Equestria. Although we do have a few noteworthy restaurants that tend to garner the eye of tourists traveling Equestria."

"What would these restaurants be exactly?"

"We passed one of the two on the way here, it's called The Pigeon and is known for its exotic foods from the south. Though it is a little pricey, it's worth a least a visit."

I wasn't one for expensive restaurants, so the chances of me ever going were low. I needed to devote all my financial resources into funding my trip into the Everfree anyway. But something tells me Twilight will force herself into my trip as well. I need to create some backup plans in case I run into any wildlife while escorting a civilian. Although I have the feeling Twilight can handle herself, I'd rather not take the chances. Without my gear, I'm in no condition myself to be charging headfirst into a forest people with magic fear to tread.

"I'll keep it in mind Rarity. For now, let's put this talk off, we've got Twilight to handle now." I spoke, pulling Roach to a stop near the entrance into Twilight's library.

"Of course, darling." Rarity replied, eyeing the door, then looking at me as I climbed off Roach and tied him to a nearby post. Hesitantly, I left the horse be, telling myself to find better arrangements for it so it didn't sit out in the cold 24/7.

"Now… " Rarity began, "It might be best that you let me do the talking for now. Lest… well, just me work my magic."

I had no intent to argue with her thinking.

Rarity pushed the door open, as she walked inside I motioned for Fluttershy to follow her, she gazed me in the eye once and looked away, quickly following after Rarity. Then I followed her inside.

It was much warmer than the last time I was here, perhaps it had something to do with magic? There is a giant crystal chained to the ceiling, it's not glowing, or emitting a sound, but it could still produce heat. I think.

"Twilight! Darling! Where are you?!" Rarity yelled into the open air.

Almost immediately there were footsteps from upstairs, they were soft and weak, but moved incredibly quickly. As I turned to watch the stairs leading upstairs, a small purple dragon came barreling down them, so fast, in fact, that he tripped near the bottom. He jumped back up as quick as he fell though.

"Rarity!" The little dragon spoke, his lizard eyes bright at the sight of the woman.

In that instant, I assumed he had some kinda crush on her.

"Oh, Spike! It's fantastic to see you, truly." She knelt down to his level, "Where is Twilight? She has company." Rarity looked back at me, where I awkwardly stood.

His eyes were already wide at the sight of Rarity, but when he saw me, they opened so wide it looked like they were about to pop out.

"You found him!?" He shouted.

Rarity cringed and put a finger to her lips, "Quiet Spike! We need to ease Twilight into the news! You know how she gets when things don't go according to her plans!"

Spike nodded, seemingly perfectly aware of how she's been behaving recently. "Of course!" He quickly glanced behind himself and up the stairs, then turned his head back to Rarity. "I'll go ask her to come downstairs."

Rarity nodded and stood back up as the little lizard turned and dashed upstairs, calling, "Twilight!" As he did so.

Once he disappeared, Rarity was quick to turn and instruct me, "Anderson, Twilight is going to be very hands-on with you when she sees you." She stepped closer to me, "Try not to get upset and maintain the best patience you can with her. Twilight can get very… passionate when her plans don't work out. So it's best if you just let her do what she must to satisfy herself."

I simply blinked and nodded, "Understood. I'll just stand here and look pretty."

She smiled, "That would be fantastic."

Suddenly, the room flashed purple. I turned towards the source and saw a distraught Twilight. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and dark bags slept under her eyes.

I wasn't aware I had this effect on women.

Twilight then approached me at an inhuman pace, making me stumble backward at the sudden closeness. Her hands reached out and gripped my cheeks, she stood on her tippy-toes and leaned towards me - Although her short stature still left plenty of space between us - giving me an unwanted close-up of her face and the exhaustion that had appernalty overtaken her during my absence. She gazed into my own eyes for a moment, she twisted my head to the left and right.

"Are you okay!?" She more-or-less shouted into my ears.

Forcing my head into a neutral position, I calmly replied, "Yes, I'm fine."

Twilight absolutely unloaded on me in the next second, "Where have you been?! What exactly happened on that train?! Why didn't you teleport with me and Rainbow?! Why didn't you come back sooner?! Why is there green stuff stained on your outfit?! Were you attacked?! What attacked you?! Are sure you're not hurt in any way?!" With each question, her face inched closer.

Eventually, I reached up and gripped her wrists, gently prying them off of my face,"Let's do one question at a time, please."

Her eyes focused on me with this crazed glare hiding behind the exhaustion. It seemed like my words didn't get through since she started to open her mouth again. But Rarity was quick to grab her by the shoulder and pull her away from me.

"Twilight! Darling! Let's calm down, yes?!" Rarity twisted Twilight around until she was facing her.

I couldn't see Twilight's face, but that death glare Rarity was giving her seemed to tell me plenty. The room was silent for a moment until Twilight reached up and removed Rarity's arms from her shoulders.

"Yes, you're right Rarity." Twilight coughed, turning to face me. "My... apologies, Anderson." She then approached me again, though much slower. "I've been worried." She simply stated.

Guess it was time to work that magic. "So I've heard," I replied.

There was silence, she didn't know what to say to me, and I sure as hell didn't know what to say to her. I was told to come here, and that's what I did. What happens from here is beyond me.

"Twilight, darling, why don't you make us some tea and we'll sit and discuss Anderson's recent… adventures?" Rarity interjected into our little staredown.

Twilight lit up at the idea, "Of course!" She turned to the little lizard, "Spike make us some tea please!" Then proceeded to order all of us into the kitchen at the back of the library.

We all sat at the kitchen table.

It was quiet.

"Sooooo…" Twilight began, "Where… what have you been doing lately?"

I just looked at her, "Twilight." I began, stopping briefly to consider my next words, "Just ask your questions."

She licked her lips nervously, "I-I don't think there is enough time in the day." She joked, cracking an unsure smile.

I didn't laugh, instead taking a deep breath."As you already know, I was ejected from the train following my involvement with an argument between a couple. I walked for a while, Rainbow Dash found me, then she summoned you - Twilight - with that thing you gave her." I took a breath, then continued, "Afterwards I boarded a train that was heading my way."

"How did you board a moving train?" Rarity asked, "They don't stop mid-trip."

"I jumped on it." I deadpanned.

She looked at me, then Twilight, then Fluttershy - whose quiet demeanor made it easy to forget about her - and then back at me. She looked like she wanted to ask something else, but chose to keep her thoughts to herself.

I continued, "After boarding the train, I chose to stay between the crates I had fallen in between. I must've fallen asleep because when I awoke, I was near this old-western town called Appleloosa."

"You went all the way to Appleloosa?!" Twilight exclaimed, "That's a 3-hour train ride!"

"Well, I wouldn't know since I was asleep for most of it." I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. "Anyway, the train stopped there due to some local Buffalo protesting on the tracks."

"Protesting?" Rarity asked.

Before I could answer, Twilight did it for me, "Oh yes, the local Buffalo tribe near Appleloosa started sending negotiators to Canterlot to discuss some kind of problem. Rumor is it's about Appleloosa's sudden construction."

Was Twilight interrupting me something for me to become adjusted too? Hopefully not, otherwise it'll get old pretty fast.

"Twilight is right for the most part." I uncrossed my arms at the sight of Spike bring a plate full of drinks. One-by-one he sat a drink in front of us all, my drink… my tea was dark and steaming. I wasn't sure if I had to add sugar or anything, maybe I just drank it? I internally shrugged and pushed the thought off, it was hot anyway, no point in burning my tongue. Continuing my talking, I began, "Appleloosa was built on the sacred land the Buffalo used to stampede, which is some kind of ritual they practice. I decided to ask the town sheriff for directions to Ponyville, he gave me them, but also mentioned the Buffalo problem they were having."

"Why would he bother telling you?" Twilight asked, stirring her tea with a spoon she pulled from nowhere.

I looked down at my tea, "He thought I was a mercenary."

The table was silent for a moment, Rarity broke the air, "Well… you do look like one, darling. What with your… outfit and demeanor " Twilight shot her a glare as if she had just insulted me.

Ignoring her comment, "Playing along," I simply continued talking, "I asked him for more details and then for help in getting to Ponyville if I did manage to solve his problem."

"How exactly did you plan to solve the problem?" Twilight asked.

"Talking."

"And how'd that go?" She followed.

"If I couldn't talk them into leaving, or some form of agreement. The Sheriff gave me a magical clay model to summon some spirit to scare them off." I added, "since they're religious and all."

"A clay model?!" Spike of all people interrupted.

Turning his way, I spoke, "Yeah. It was supposed to bring a spirit, but instead summoned a monster."

Everyone gasped at that, then the smallest voice spoke up, "Was anyone hurt?"

That voice was Fluttershy. It was the first time to spoke loud enough for me to hear, by this point I thought she might have been some kind of mute.

Before I could answer her question, Twilight asked, "What did it look like?!" With a serious expression.

Rather than attempting to describe the monster, I held my eyes shut for 5 seconds, activating my synthetic eyeballs and launching the Heads-Up-Display. When I opened them, I went straight into the system menu and started searching through all my files. Eventually, after running a quick search, I found the recorded fight I had with the monster.

Twilight was the first to question this, "Why did you eyes turn yellow?"

Knowing the explanation would be long, and Twilight would want more and more, the more I answered; I ignored her and raised my left arm - the cybernetic one - and flipped the palm of it upwards. A light flickered briefly, and then a still image of the monster emerging from the flames -
took its place. I looked at Twilight, "This is it."

Her mouth was hanging open, everyone else just had wide eyes.

"That looks like an Imp." Spike casually added to the open air, calmly stirring his tea.

Twilight turned to Spike, mouth still wide open, eyes now wide as well.

"I read about ancient monsters in my free time." He, again, casually replied, whilst sipping his tea.

Giving Twilight a moment to restart herself, I decided to try my tea. It was ok.

"How in Celestia did you get away unscathed?" Twilight asked.

"Well-" I paused, wondering if I should mention that it killed over a dozen Buffalo before I finally decided to intervene -"It… hurt a lot of Buffalo before I could find a suitable weapon to fight it myself."

"Darling! You couldn't possibly have!" Rarity announced, violently sipping her tea.

Unsure of how to respond, I said, "Yeah, I uh, killed it with an axe I found in some tent."

Now it was quiet again.

"You what?!" Spike shouted in surprise from across the table.

"I killed it," I repeated, "With an axe I found."

The look on his face told stories, though he kept talking, "You're just a-"

"Supersoldier with training and technology hundreds of years superior then what any of you will see in a lifetime?" I finished for him, then I leaned toward Twilight, talking, "Let's get one thing straight Twilight, so there is nothing left in the air, I am a soldier. I have been one for the last 13 years, and I plan to continue being one, I am not the kind of guy you make friends with." I leaned back, sighed, and rubbed my eyes. "At least that would be the case where I come from, but I'm here, and the chances of me being stuck her permanently grow every second."

Twilight didn't know how to respond.

So I kept talking, "I don't have the time to dawdle here at this table and talk about my past. I need to find the crash site of my ship and look for signs pointing to what made it crash in the first place. From what I've read in the Royal Canterlot Library, the weather in the Everfree Forest isn't manually controlled, and no efforts to preserve the ship have been made on Celestia's part; So I need to get there before Mother Nature herself destroys the damn thing."

Not that I was trying to come off as a bad guy, or ruin the first impression I made on the woman and her two friends. But I had a simple goal right now, I wasn't trying to avoid the conservation, such a thing would be inevitable since I'm supposed to live with her for the time being.

"Look," I turned to glance at Rarity and Fluttershy, both wide-eyed and unsure of what I was to say next, "You don't even have to go, I know the forest is dangerous, and I know you or any of your gal pals don't have any actual combat training. But I need to do this, I need answers, I need something to settle my mind. Just tell me where I can find the ship, and then point me to the local... Blacksmith, so I can buy what I need."

I know I just met Twilight, and now I'm already trying to leave, but it's like my dad always said.

No time better than the present. Why wait? I'm here, Twilight is here, I just gotta ask her what direction to walk in to find it. The ship is destroyed, I know that much, it won't be getting me off this planet anytime soon. I just want answers, the sooner, the better.

"Anderson." Twilight suddenly spoke up, "I'm not gonna let you do that."

I raised a brow at that, "What? Why?" I asked, "Is it, Celestia?"

"No." She declared, "It's the forest, Anderson. It's incredibly dangerous and host to many different kinds of unknown lifeforms that could very easily kill you!" She blinked a few times before adding, "Capable soldier or not!"

Internally, I sighed over how things never seem to go my way, why couldn't she just say, 'yes,' and let me go on my way? I'll come back and she can ask me whatever she wants then.

"So what?" I rubbed my face, "You and your gal pals gonna escort little ol' me?"

Twilight smirked, looked at Rarity and Fluttershy, then back at me, "Yes." She simply stated.

Oh dear god, now… now I've gotta-

"Girls!" She announced to her two friends, "Let's get everyone else and head for the Everfree!"

Fucking hell.

Authors note -

I thought I'd finish this sooner. But I've only been working on it every 2-3 days, spending at least an hour on it. I wanted this chapter to include the trip to the everfree itself, but I'd rather end it here since it's been so long. Next chapter can have the trip and Anderson's brief introduction to the rest of the Main 6. Aka, the 'Gal Pals.' After that we'll conclude the first arc, and then focus on character devolpment and his relationships with the Main 6. I'm gonna try and avoid tropes, Anderson won't work at the Apple farm, I've got something else in mind.

Anyway, thanks, all y'all, for not answering my question asking if Anderson should be allowed to use magic. Really appreciated.

No answers comments this time, no one commented.

See y'all next time, and thanks for reading.

Next chapter - The Everfree Is ALIVE!