Harmony to Loyalty

Chapter Two

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Despite the weight of my gear It didn't take me long to close the four hundred or so meter gap between the ship and tree line as I quickly made my way up the nearest tree that provided a good hiding spot, settling myself on a thick branch that gave me a good line of sight of the crash site. Once I was lying down in a comfortable position I opened one of the bags and fished out a scope which I quickly mounted onto my rifle, with this done all that was left was to wait, a spaceship slamming into the ground must've caused a shit ton of noise so someone has to come investigate eventually.

It didn't take long for me to see movement, I squinted my eyes at the dark sky above the crash as I noticed about six figures circling in the air. 'Must be scouting it out…but what are those, planes? Those don't move like any plane I've ever seen' I pondered as I looked through my scope to try and get a better look. Although my eyes were stronger and sharper than that of a normal human's, the darkness combined with the height made the figures hard to discern though I could've sworn that the figures were wearing some type of armor. Before I could discern anything else the figures left quickly in the opposite direction in what looked to be a formation of some type.

A few more minutes passed in silence before I heard it, the sounds of multiple footsteps. I couldn't interpret much from the sound, only that the footsteps were heavy…and that they didn't belong to any human that I've ever come across. This was confirmed when the sources of the footsteps revealed themselves as they surrounded the wreckage quickly and with purpose, they were in what looked to be armor that seemed reminiscent of roman or greek guards…now that in itself seemed ridiculous but that paled in comparison to the other detail that I had a bit of a hard time processing.

They were bonafide, genuine, motherfuckin HORSES in guard armor that was a few thousand years out of date as far as my knowledge of history went. Now…a lot of words came to my mind at this image of horse guards performing an organized sweep of the area around the ship, however there was only one that I actually managed to vocalize.

"…what?" I whispered to myself, taking all of my restraint and willpower to not yell at the top of my lungs at the lunacy before me. Taking a moment to breathe and calm my perplexed mind I managed to compose myself enough to continue scoping out the scene with my…well scope. After a short time two guards found their way inside the ship at the order of what looked to be their superior who was a…unicorn? Wait what?

"Just don't think about it…the more you do that the more your head hurts" I mumbled to myself as I noted the unicorn's purple and gold armor and tail that consisted of various hues of blue. I noted the arrival of the six flying figures that I guessed were…pegasi? Pegasus…s? Look my concept of reality at this point is shot beyond the point of caring so fuck it whatever. The pegasi approached the unicorn and a after a short conversation the six took to the skies again, I kept low as they flew overhead.

"Scouts…and their sweeping the area…they're definitely looking for me" I whispered as I noted the wide area they were covering, more than likely they assumed that their target would be trying to run as far away as possible. Guess my approach of 'hiding right under their…muzzle' seemed to be working well…remind me to slap myself later for that joke.

The two guards that entered the ship made their way back out as they approached the unicorn with a look of…disgust? I got my answer as to why when the unicorn ordered more guards to enter, after a few minutes they exited carrying what appeared to be one of the cryostasis tubes.

"Ah they found my roommates, lovely" I whispered as I watched them handle the tube like it was going to come to life at any moment or explode, a brief cry of alarm sounded when one of the pony's grasp on the tube slipped, causing it to turn over and dump out the corpse inside onto the ground much to the disgust of everyone around it. While that was kinda fucked up in its own right, I couldn't help but find that blunder at least somewhat humorous. The unicorn simply used…oh what the fuck is this?

"They can use fuckin magic now?" I grunted out in disbelief as I watched the unicorn's horn glow which was followed by the corpse glowing as it was lifted and gently placed back in the tube. One of the other guards standing next to the one whose hold slipped gave him a firm slap on the back of the head before they lifted it and hauled it off.

My head was practically about to burst at the abundance of unanswered questions swirling around in my mind as well as the amount of stupid so I decided that I've seen enough and didn't want to risk getting spotted by the increasing number of guard ponies that were filing into the scene. Gathering my things and using the trees as cover I quickly made my escape from the scene to find somewhere to hunker down and take a well needed rest.

I stirred from my rest with a yawn and a stretch as I sat up on the high up tree branch that I had been calling home for the past week. The tree itself was mighty in size and a good ways into the forest that I had since learned was called the Everfree forest. The place in the tree that I made my makeshift home wasn't what you would call luxurious, I mean it's a goddamn tree after all, but it provided everything I needed from a shelter like this. It was high off the ground, it was shrouded on practically all sides by the various branches thick with foliage that made a perfect natural camouflage and it was deep enough in the forest where no one had a chance of stumbling by. Not that I was worried since I learned that the ponies consider the forest to be unnatural and scary, which was fine by me since I was doing just fine in the forested environment, better than the goddamn ship anyway. Are there predators here? I can certainly hear them and I've seen one of them that looked like a wolf made of wood…you could call it a timber wolf, yup I'm a goddamn comedian. So far they've all seemed to steer clear of me so I've steered clear of them, not exactly sure why but I'll just let my ego assume it's because I'm just that badass…though some of these trees creep me the fuck out, I swear I feel like their watching me or something, but for the sake of my sanity I just ignore that feeling as best I can.

My week had basically consisted of exploring the forest and scouting out the nearby town of Ponyville…no I'm fuckin serious that's actually the name of the town…I know. A matter of fact I find the names of the various towns and cities of Equestria to be downright insane and frankly surreal as I pulled out a map of equistria that I err…borrowed from one of the shops in Ponyville along with a few other maps that I borrowed during my jaunts into town, under the cover of night and within the shadows of course. Names such as Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Stalliongrad, Canterlot and Appleloosa still appeared as written and they still got a laugh out of me at the silliness of it all. The world map wasn't any better with countries such as Zebrica, Germaneigh, Prance, Cowrea, Neighpon…seriously either this is the most elaborate practical joke ever or this is serious which in that case, what the actual fuck?

I shook myself out of my stupor and threw the dark green groundsheet, which I had been using as a blanket around myself and secured it snugly to myself. The groundsheet was nice because provided me with some protection against the elements, it hid my form while hiding in the trees, its dark green color also helped with hiding in the forest. I still remembered how much of a bitch it was to actually make the fuckin thing, although the material that I again BORROWED was nice…though the place I got it from…the carousel boutique was it? Was probably one of the gaudiest fuckin places that I've ever seen, seriously where's the architect that designed that place so I can chuck his ass off a cliff.

Honestly I don't like all the 'borrowing' that I've had to do over the past week, but the way I figured it I'm at least entitled to food, water, shelter and information, as far as the whole law against stealing was concerned I'll write an IOU, a LOT of them...eventually. Not that it really matters since I'm not a citizen of Equestria in the first place so it can shove its laws up its ass for all I care honestly.

I gathered what I needed from my bags and proceeded down to the nearby river where I stripped down and bathed quickly, while there was practically zero chance of anyone stumbling upon my naked ass out here I still felt the need to be quick about bathing in the river, not to mention who knows what's in the river in the first place. Afterwards I laid down on a nearby tree branch that overlooked the river and had my breakfast which consisted of a couple of apples, water and a couple of carrots, the apples and carrots I also borrowed, if anyone asks I'll just add it to my tab or something and the water I got from the river which was surprisingly clean all things considered.

Once I was finished with my meal I proceeded to do what I usually spent my days doing, gathering information, which usually meant spying on the residents of Ponyville. Now was this a bit creepy? Possibly but it wasn't like I was peering into bathroom windows or listening into bedroom conversations, I guarafuckintee you I have ABSOLUTELY no desire in anyway whatsoever to do either of these things. No it was more along the lines of watching the day to day activities of the residents from the seclusion of the forest, listening into various conversations in the hopes to catch relevant pieces of information such as the various going ons and news, although most of the time it was inane gossip that I either had no clue about or just didn't give two shits about, as well as get a gauge on these ponies and how to handle them.

From what I've gathered the ponies here are peaceful creatures, their relatively simple and quite friendly to one another, it was reminiscent of how everyone knew each other in a small town and had a tight knit community as a result, it made perfect sense since Ponyville in itself was a small town. Although the friendly and welcoming attitude that most of the ponies had boded well, there was another thing that was making me apprehensive to even consider approaching them in any way and that was what some ponies referred to as 'that mess in the west'

From what I could gather over the bits and pieces of conversations I've listened in on, there was some kind of conflict going on west that called for a draft about four months ago that mandated at least one able bodied stallion from every family to head to Canterlot to join the Equestrian Royal Army. Ever since then a lot of different rumors had been swirling around the country, things like ponies seeing Appleloosa and Manehattan on fire, huge boats seen coming from the ocean in the west and that the Equestrian Army wasn't doing too good as a whole. This was most definitely a full blown war, but everyone seemed hell-bent on not calling it that for whatever reason, maybe they just couldn't fathom the idea? It's possible, I mean it's pretty clear that no one here has ever experienced one before so maybe the reality of that hasn't set in yet.

But that wasn't what truly made me apprehensive to make contact with anyone though, no what's truly worrying me was a poster that I found on the ground during one of my nighty escapades that I recognized as one of the posters that the guards were handing out earlier that day. Now of course I can't actually READ the scribbled abortion that these ponies called a written language but I didn't need to read the poster to understand its significance.

For right in the middle of the poster in all its glory was a detailed drawing of a bipedal creature with two arms, two legs, carried a weapon that looked to be a rifle and had an evil, menacing grin on its face, the whole thing akin to propaganda poster one would see during wartime. There was no doubt about it, the creature was a human…and that's why being seen at this point wouldn't lead to anything but trouble.

There was no other way around that fact, even if the ponies were as friendly and welcoming as I believed them to be, they were also scared and when you're scared you might as well throw the concept of predictability out the window because theres really no telling what you'll do. They might allow me to tell my story and maybe even help me, I can concede it's certainly possible, but I think it's more likely that they'll get scared and think I'm one of those invaders that came on ships…well technically I kinda am an invader that came on a ship in a sense but that's not the point dammit!

The point is that it's too dangerous now, I mean it's of course inevitable that I'm going to have to approach SOMEONE at SOMEPOINT. I really can't continue to live in the forest like this without someone eventually spotting me after all, but I need to wait for the right time and right opportunity, until then I'll just keep doin what I'm doin.

As I made my way towards the spots I usually used to spy I passed by the field that my ship had crashed in, now there were many things I could say about the equestrian military but if I had to give them credit where credit was due it was how quickly they completely cleared out the field before the next morning. I knew this since I had come back that morning to only find an empty field with a large scar running along it, the explanation the ponies of Ponyville were given for it was that it was simply a space rock that was removed for their safety.

How considerate of them…still it was probably a better explanation than 'oh by the way some space monster crashed here last night' knowing these ponies that wouldn't go over all that well. My eyes lingered on the field for a few moments longer before I went on about my business.

That night I laid on my tree branch in silence as I snacked on yet ANOTHER apple, I swear I'm going to be the first person ever to OD on fucking apples at this rate. I idly chewed as I went over the day's events, nothing much happened honestly…although I swear that I saw a pink pony bounce a good twelve feet in the air before I realized that it apparently walks around by bouncing…now that in itself was a bit of a mindfuck in its own right but frankly at this point I've learned to not be surprised anymore by the weird shit I keep seeing for sanity's sake.

I threw the apple core off to the side as I laid my head back on the thick tree branch that I've been using as a bed, using one of my bags as a makeshift pillow and fiddled with the portable radio that I took from the ship. I've inferred pretty quickly that no one around here uses a radio, at least that's what I can assume from the static that I consistently pick up whenever I try using it. However I distinctly remember the short radio conversation that I heard as I was hurtling into the atmosphere, assuming it wasn't a hallucination brought on by intense stress…and months of isolation…and having my brain frozen for eight cent…you know what fuck you I know what I heard.

As I fought with myself mentally in probably one of the stupidest internal debates I've recalled having, I almost missed the soft makings of English underneath the mountains of static. Fortunately I managed to snap out of y stupor long enough to adjust the radio to hear better as I caught the rest of the conversation.

"…is routing as we speak sir, the offensive worked like a charm"

"Very good captain, capitalize on our advantage and press them until their entire line is broken. Once that's done then we should have no issues with occupying the rest of the heartland until we reach their capital"

"Of course High Commander Adalhard, any further orders?"

"Other than what was already laid out in the plans no, though if prisoners can be taken then attempt to do so, if not…well prisoners are not a high priority"

"I understand sir, I'll convey that to the rest of the unit, Praise King Francis!"

The conversation cut out there as I was left to ponder this information, from what I could tell these were the same voices from last time and it seems that they've succeeded in breaking what I can only assume was the Equestrian military lines. I've only heard this Adalhard guy speak for two small conversations but I can already tell that this was a guy that shouldn't be fucked with lightly, the pragmatic way he addressed the concept of taking prisoners was a bit troubled if not disturbing…I mean I can be a callous prick with little regard for the people around me at times…ok a lot, but still goddamn.

And then there was this King Francis guy, I'm not sure what he's the King of or even if he's all that important, but the way the other guy praises him he may as well be the second coming of Christ. The reverence in the other guy's voice for this king was a bit off-putting to say the least…then again I've heard these ponies talk about their princess like she's some kind of god which is just as weird so I guess I'm just the odd one out in that regard.

As these thoughts swarmed around in my head I felt the sweet allure of sleep take hold as I closed my eyes for a well-deserved rest.

Another week has passed since that radio conversation and even from my roost in the Everfree I could feel the tension in the air as Ponyville seemed to progressively go into a higher state of alert with each passing day. I overheard a rumor of Fillydelphia falling in under two days after the defensive line fell, which I discovered was just twenty miles west of said city from a conversation between two pony soldiers. Speaking of soldiers there were way more of them than before in the town as the number of military ponies swelled over the past week, some of which came into town carried by pegasi with what I saw were the telltale signs of shrapnel wounds along with bullet wounds, sword wounds hell some even had crossbow wounds as out of place as that was. Some of them had permanently crippling injuries such as lost limbs and one who looked to have been blinded in both eyes by shrapnel. I would've called the sight grotesque if I wasn't completely used to sights like these from my younger days that I dare not relive.

Unfortunately due to the increased guard activity my nightly escapades have become too dangerous, almost getting caught a couple of days ago put an end to that, besides I felt like at this point I had done enough information gathering to attempt to answer this simple question.

Who do I go to?

On one hand going to the humans would make the most sense since I'm at least half a human myself, but I simply knew too little about them other than they had some sort of monarchy like the ponies did, although I could infer that the human monarchy was much more autocratic and militaristic which based on my knowledge of history never tended to end with rainbows and sunshine. Not to mention that even in my time when I walked the streets of the earth I knew and…well tolerated I guess, humans didn't exactly treat me with the upmost kindness, not that I cared since anyone that tried to fuck with me got their asses leveled…maybe my doctor had a point about the whole anger thing…then again he was always high as a kite every time I bothered to see him so what does that asshole know?

The ponies could be a possibility as well since from what I knew about them they were peaceful and for the most part nonviolent. However with the image of their enemy so vividly clear due to the posters that guards were posting around town I could only assume that they'd have a difficult time differing me from those other humans.

In other words either way I'm fucked in more ways than I'm keen on, not to mention that getting involved with either side would no doubt get me involved in their war which I had no interest whatsoever in being in the middle of. Though the more I think about it, the more get the dreaded feeling that I'm going to be involved whether my stubborn ass wants to be or not. I sighed profusely to myself as I decided to return to my tree hideaway early as to think more on the subject, sitting here and staring at talking Technicolor ponies on the verge of panic wasn't exactly helping my anxiety in the slightest.

It was early afternoon when even from my roost in the Everfree I could make out the clear signs of battle, the distant sound of artillery pounding, war cries and the hint of burning in my nostrils roused me from my lunch as I immediately bee lined for the tree line overlooking Ponyville. After ten minutes of jumping from branch to branch in the now familiar path that I took to the town my senses were quickly barraged with sensations that invoked old memories long tossed to the back of my mind, hoping to be forgotten. The artillery pounding becoming more pronounced with every leap I took, the war cries more distinct and vivid and the burning and smoke in danger of overpowering my sense of smell as I tied a piece of cloth around my mouth and nose in an attempt to protect my sensitive nose, one of the downsides of heightened senses that always seemed to rear its ugly head when I least needed it to.

When I reached the tree line I was greeted with probably one of the most puzzling battles I've ever come across. The ponies had gathered their forces behind makeshift barricades that looked to be thrown together with whatever could be found around town, unicorns used a mixture of defensive shield magic to defect as much of the artillery and gunfire as possible from the other ranged forces which consisted of a mixture of unicorns lobbing spells and ponies with crossbows launching bolts at the attackers. The rest were infantry mostly armed with swords, shields, spears, axes and even some who seemed to be armed with farming utensils who were most likely militia or volunteers who had the daunting and bloody task of closing the distance between them and the attackers.

I decided to skirt the tree line to get a better look at the attackers, they were indeed human as I spotted regiments of riflemen firing upon the advancing ponies in volleys with what looked to be a mixture of muskets and rifles with bayonets, some of the regiments were dressed in identical red and black uniforms while a lot others were wearing the clothes of what you'd see from the poor strata, most likely drafted farmers and craftsmen in militia regiments. The militia were in front armed with what looked to be whatever musket or rifle they had over their fireplace at home, no doubt to take most of the initial causalities so the professional soldiers could be preserved, behind them were the professional soldiers armed with mean looking rifles that were entrenched to act as a line of defense for the artillery and their crews as they rained death down from the skies, some of which were targeting the advancing ponies with bloody results but most were shelling the town which was still protected by the magical shield though even from this distance I could tell that said shield was weakening.

So basically an army that looked to be transposed from the Napoleonic era against an army of magic wielding ponies…I'd call this insane but I don't think that would do the sight justice. As much as this fucked with my mind there was one thing that was as clear as day, the ponies were losing and losing hard. They had strange magic sure but their enemy was better trained, better armed and used tactics that made mincemeat of whatever was thrown at it, which was proven by the battlefield which was littered with many more corpses of ponies than humans. The Ponies that charged forward took extreme losses before they could even get within striking distance, not counting any that turned tail and ran, most of whom were gunned down with a shot to the back while their crossbows were simply too ineffective to truly be a danger to the superior firepower the humans wielded.

I watched without enthusiasm as the pony infantry was all but routed in under fifteen minutes time, whatever was left over making mad dashes towards the fleeting safety of the magic shield which was weakening with every wave of artillery that slammed against it. I already knew that the ponies lost this decisively, the moment their magic shield fell the town would be all but lost to the explosive power of artillery.

I couldn't watch the inevitable slaughter as I moved further along the tree line away from the carnage and smell of death laced with gunpowder. After about fifteen minutes of moving along the trees I came across a familiar field that held the apple trees that provided me with one of my main sources of food for the past two weeks, however it wasn't the apple trees that held my attention, it was a streak of rainbow across said trees that caught my eye. I knew it was against my better judgement but the sight baffled me just enough to warrant curiosity as I leaped quickly to the apple trees and made my way across the field as quietly as possible to investigate.

I stopped in a particularly large tree as I had a clearer sight of the commotion. By a red barn was four humans who looked to be trying to capture a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail, I'd laugh at the ridiculousness of that if the situation at hand was much less serious.

The humans were using a simple net to try and capture said Pegasus who was flying around at a daunting speed, it was clearly attacking the humans with a flurry of kicks that looked rather painful from my perspective. Now one would imagine that if that kind of advantage you could fight them from multiple angles with superior speed as the four humans looked to be militia, so probably not well versed in combat. However this Pegasus also fought predictably, consistently flying down with the same attack patterns that the humans soon picked up on as the one with the net managed to time his throw right as the net found its way around the Pegasus who landed on the ground with a violent thud.

The humans relished in their victory as they secured the net around the Pegasus and seemed to be debated over what to do with their newfound prisoner. As they debated I did so myself as I decided what to do, I mean it would be so damn easy to just walk away and not involve myself in this whole nasty affair. After all it's neither my fight nor is it my obligation to help any of these creatures who haven't done anything for me, I've left myself out of other peoples affairs in the past and its worked for me just fine.

But if that's indeed truly the case then…why do I feel the need to involve myself with this? Is it my human side with its morality and empathy that's compelling me to do so? Am I just a stupid asshole who doesn't truly know when you should and shouldn't involve yourself? Or perhaps maybe, just maybe, that deep inside despite all my piss and vinegar and cynicism that I could possibly be what some people would call a 'good person'?

I chuckled to myself as I positioned my rifle, my decision already made somehow in the endless illogical labyrinth called my mind.

"Fuck all that gay shit" I whispered to myself as I looked through the scope and aimed at a human who was standing over the captured Pegasus in glee. "These guys just piss me off…that's all"

"So what do we do with it?" One of the humans asked the other who was standing over their prize with a rather disturbing look in his eye.

"We bring it back to the camp of course…but theres no need to go there just yet…not when theres fun to be had" He said with a little too much joy as the others had a mixture of expressions on their faces ranging from uncertain to uncaring while the Pegasus who had been struggling to release itself stopped and stared at the man in genuine fear at what the implication of that could be.

"Uhhh I don't think that's a good ide-" Before he could finish his statement a loud crack sounded from behind as the man standing over the pegasus gripped his throat in reflex as blood squirted out of the wound in bursts, some of which got on the Pegasus who now was scared out of its mind as the life left the man's eyes as he collapsed on the ground, giving a few twitches as blood pooled around the source of the leak, a look of utter surprise plastered on his face.

The other three jumped and reeled in disgust at the violent display as they gripped their weapons tightly.

"Take cover it's an ambu-" The second human barely had time to issue the order as another loud crack was heard followed by the right side of his skull bursting open as a mixture of bone fragment, blood and brain matter littered the ground as he died before hitting the ground.

The other two hid behind separate hay bales as they still tried to compute what was going on, shock and panic etched across their faces.

"What…what do we do?" One asked as he hid to the best of his abilities

"We find this son of a bitch and put a bullet in his head that's what" The other voiced with a bit more confidence as he gripped his musket and slowly peered over his cover in an attempt to find the shooter, an action that was rewarded with a loud crack followed by a bullet to the top of his head as it entered cleanly and exited violently as blood, brains and bone scattered on the ground behind as he fell back dead.

The last man sat frozen in horror as he realized that he was the last one alive, in a fit of sudden rage he removed himself from cover and shot his musket into the trees haphazardly with a yell, silence only followed as the man stood there, unsure of what to do next.

The Pegasus watched the carnage in horror as the need to throw up increased with every violent death she witnessed. As the last man stood up and shot his weapon into the trees, a brief moment of silence fell across the farm before the Pegasus caught what looked to be the silhouette of something dashed its way quickly and silently across the trees. Her eyes trailed it as it disappeared behind the barn wall, the man seemed to snap to his senses as he attempted to reload his weapon.

In the middle of his action however the figure revealed itself in the form of leaping from the roof of the barn and delivering a strong kick to the man's back which sent him sprawling to the ground. The man attempted to bring up his musket in an attempt to club his attacker but the attacker simply dodged the blow and delivered a strong kick to the man's head, sending him reeling to the ground. Before the man could get back to his senses the figure grabbed him from behind in a strong chokehold with its left arm while bringing a knife up to the man's eye with his right.

"Hi there, hope you didn't mind me dropping in" The figure joked darkly as the man struggled against his attackers iron hold of his neck.

"W-what do yo-" The Pegasus watched as the figure tightened his hold on the man, cutting off his air flow for a moment as he panicked at the loss of air. The Pegasus couldn't make out much of the figure from its place on the ground since the figured was covered a large dark green coat with a hood that obscured his face, all the Pegasus could decipher was that it was male and human, the Pegasus simply watched on.

"Shut the fuck up I didn't say you could speak" The figure spoke with authority as he slightly loosened his hold. "You don't speak unless I tell you to, is that fuckin clear?" The figure demanded as the man simply nodded. "Good…I apologize if I'm being somewhat antisocial in my approach but uhhh…I haven't exactly talked to anyone in a LONG time so bear with me and my lack of manners" The figure apologized callously as it emphasized the blade in its hand. "Now then I have some questions and you're going to give me answers, I ask you answer, if I don't like your answer I kill you, you try to bullshit me or fuck with me I kill you, you try anything stupid…well you seem like a smart guy, I'm sure you can figure it out. Is this all clear to you?" The man nodded "Good now then first question…what in the holy mother of fuck is going on here?" The figured questioned as the man struggled to answer.

"I-I don't really know sir, I'm just a farme-" The man was cut off with another tightening of the chokehold.

"I don't give a fuck about who or what you are or were, now answer the goddamn question"

"OK OK…King Francis called for the holy liberation of our rightful lan-"

"Holy what now?" The figure interrupted

"The holy liberation, the time when humanity will take back what's rightfully ours and put the non-human creatures in their place, that's how the king describes it!" The man spilled

"Ok…and who in the fuck is King Francis?" The man seemed to be taken aback in confusion as he answered

"Y-you don't know King Francis? How is it that possible? You're a man like me so he your king too ri-" The man was once again cut off with a choke.

"That fuckstick, whoever he is, is NOT my goddamn king and believe me when I say I'm nothing like you so get that notion out of your head" The figure growled out as he continued. "Next question, what is your king's plan once he conquers what he wants, what's his goal?" The figure asked

"Like I said sir, he will take back humanity's rightful lands and bring in an era of peace and prosperit-" The man was cut off with a shake

"Peace and prosperity for everyone and all that he needs to do is wage some insane holy war against anything nonhuman? Gotta be honest here chief, your King sounds like a bit of a loon" The figure ribbed as the man seemed to get offended.

"Our king is not a-"

"YOUR king is a goddamn moron with a murderboner for anything that doesn't look like him and runs his kingdom like a cult of personality where he believes he's the divine god king destined for greatness, am I missing anything or does that basically sum it up?" The figure asked before continuing "This is starting to bore me so I think I'll ask you one last question…why should I let you live?" The figure asked seriously, the man sat still for a few moments before responded.

"Because…because I have a family…please sir I have kids!" The man pleaded desperately as the figure contemplated his words before bursting out in a derisive fit of laughter.

"Oh really now THAT'S the best you got?" The figure asked incredulously "And I suppose that all those 'non-human creatures' as you put it, that are being slaughtered as we speak didn't have family or kids of their own? Give me a fuckin break with your pitiful excuses…you know what you are? You're a goddamn hypocrite who'll fight in an insane war like this and then have the audacity to sit there and use your kids as a shield to avoid recognizing the reality of your own actions and decisions…I'm done with you" The figure concluded as he quickly plunged the knife into the left side of the man's throat and drug it across until the man's neck was split completely open, blood spilling from the wound as the figure tossed the dying man's body aside without a care and lifted himself to his feet. The figure watched for a moment as the man stared up in a plea for help as the life left his eyes, the figure simply scoffed at the display and shook his head.

The Pegasus watched the scene with a mixture of emotions, confusion at some the subject matter brought up during the interrogation, anger at the way the man seemed to regard non-humans as lesser, but the most prevalent emotion was fear, fear from what could've happened had this strange human not intervened…but that fear was replaced with what this human was going to do with her. She watched the way the human killed the other without a hint of emotion as the other pleaded for his life, the display chilled the Pegasus to its core as she had never seen someone kill another in such a way…granted she had never seen anyone killed until today but she knew that what she saw was just…cold.

The Pegasus's breath got caught in her throat as she watched the human approach her, expecting the worst she closed her eyes and waited for what she felt was the inevitable. However nothing happened as she heard the sounds of footsteps before that was replaced with the shifting of grass and cloth. The Pegasus braved opening her eyes and was greeted with the sight the human sitting casually just a few meters away from her. It only occurred to the Pegasus moments later that the human's hood was down, allowing the Pegasus's eyes to be drawn to the human's eyes which were a steely yellow that seemed to pierce right through whatever they looked at. It would stand to reason that after everything that the Pegasus had seen along with staring into an inhuman pair of eyes that she should be scared out of her mind…but that wasn't the case, despite the intimidation factor present at first glance as the Pegasus stared into the…well creatures eyes, since she was questioning whether this was indeed a human, the Pegasus felt strangely at ease. The Pegasus wasn't exactly sure what it was, but as she stared into those eyes the one thing that felt certain was that the creature didn't intend any harm.

A few moments passed as the creature sighed as it dug into its pockets and fished out a strange stick like object and put one end into its mouth, it then fished out a strange device that produced a small flame that it used to light the other end of the stick. The creature inhaled deeply and then exhaled as a plume of smoke left its mouth, the creature relaxed slightly as it brought its left hand behind its back to hold itself up in a sitting position.

"Well…do you know how to speak like the other technicolor weirdos or what?"

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Author's Note: Well goddamn that one ended up being longer than the last one, oh well I suppose that's a good thing since it took me longer than expected to finish this chapter since I went on a trip to Vegas over the weekend which prevented me from doing any writing, it was a fun trip though so it's all good.

The trip also gave me time to think about how to approach this chapter since most of it was just description and detail as opposed to actual dialogue which didn't show up until the last scene, hopefully it was done well and wasn't too boring to read through but a lot of it was needed in my opinion.

Not that it really matters since I usually do what I want anyway but as always I don't mind criticism in the least.

Anyway next update should be in a few days to a week depending on my free time so see ya then.