Chapter 2-Strange New Land

    “Ah think he’s wakin’ up…”

    Gaius certainly hoped he was not. His entire body felt like it was on fire, stiff from laying too long on his back. Time to check himself. Hands… all fingers were moving, though his left index may have a sprain. Still useful. Feet… no broken toes. Legs and arms were unbroken, but lit up with pain as he moved them. Slashed and bruised, most likely. He took in an exceptionally deep breath, wincing faintly. Two broken ribs, definitely, and likely a few cracks. Well. Guess it was time to fully awaken and check out the situation.

    The first thing he noticed, and this surprised him greatly, was that he was inside. And the ceiling was… wood? Hades, he was in a Celtic home. Only they used wood for buildings still. He slowly turned his head, eyes opening fully. ...maybe he was in Hades. The beings staring wide-eyed at Gaius were certainly not Celts. They weren’t even human. Colorful almost to the point of being practically obscene, they seemed to be immature horses, though the heads were rounder, the eyes larger, and the snouts far shorter. And one of them seemed to be wearing an odd styled, flared hat. There were six in all, two with sharp-looking horns, two with wings, and two with neither. Oddly enough, the purple one seemed to have both. He could probably handle them, if he needed to. He hoped.

    “Sir? Can… you understand us?”

    And they spoke Greek. Of course they did. At least, it sounded something like Greek, which Gaius was fluent in, but the accenting was somewhat stronger. What in Hades was going on here?

    “I can,” he replied slowly in Latin, watching them closely.

    They all blinked, turning to stare at each other curiously.

    “Anybody catch that?”

    “Nope.”

    “Uh-uh.”

    Gaius let out a cough, and blinked as all sets of eyes returned back to him in an instant.

    “I uh, said I can understand you, yes,” he replied, this time in Greek, “Where am I?”

    The purple horned and winged horse smiled faintly, revealing a set of very white, flat teeth.

    “Well, sir, you’re in the Ponyville Library, my uh… my home!”

    Not a city name he was familiar with… seemed rather childish too. Gaius grunted softly as he sat up, eying the yellow winged horse that startled at his movement. Don’t try it.

    “What… province is that?” he asked the purple one slowly, working his jaw past the sore pain arcing through it, “What land?”

    “Well, Equestria, of course,” the hat-wearing pony replied, chuckling under her breath.

    Land of Horses? Well, it would make… some sense, considering whom his… caretakers, were? Or wardens. Gaius slowly scanned the room. It was indeed a library, though he saw odd blocks of paper instead of the scrolls he was used to predominating. A staircase led up a level, and he assumed it was a living area for the purple horse. No weapons that he could see… wait! His armor, the well-loved lorica segmentata he had polished to a brilliant sheen and kept in immaculate repair, was settled on the floor by the door to the outside, dented and battered and soaked in blood. Beside that lay his nicked and blood-stained gladius and four of his saved pila. His red, horse-hair plumed helmet had been casually tossed aside, and this made him scowl. He was a Centurion, and his armor deserved respect, even by barbarians.

    Gaius tossed the blanket covering himself aside, ignoring his nakedness as he struggled to his feet. The horses were faster than he thought, though. One, the yellow winged horse, rocketed to his side, holding him up with a pair of surprisingly soft hooves. The pink horse had leaped quickly on his bed, standing on her hind-legs with her forelegs on his back.

    “What are you doing, sir?” the purple horse asked in surprise, wide eyes somehow even wider, “You’re injured! Moving like this could aggravate them-”

    “My name is Gaius Marius,” he snapped irritably, glaring around, “I am a Centurion of the First Cohort of the Legio IV Liberatrix. That armor is mine, and I will have it back!”

    The horses were stunned into silence… all but the polychromatic winged horse who had been eying him this entire time. She crossed the distance with a single flap of her smallish wings, ruby eyes glaring daggers into Gaius’.

    “Hey! Do NOT yell at my friends!” she snapped back, “Especially Twilight! She’s just trying to help you! If it weren’t for her you’d still be freezing in the Everfree Forest!”

    It was like a staring match between an African elephant and a rhino. Both figures were pissed, stubborn, and not budging.

    “...which is Twilight?”

    The multichromatic horse blinked, wings slowing as she drifted to the ground. She pointed a hoof to the gulping purple horse.

    “That’s Twilight Sparkle. My name is Rainbow Dash. And these are-”

    Gaius nodded slightly as they were named: the orange, hat-covered horse was Applejack; the shy, yellow flier was Fluttershy; the staring, frowning white horned horse was Rarity, and the grinning, slightly bouncy pink one was Pinkie Pie. ...interesting names, but so far it seemed par for the course. This whole place made little sense to the soldier. Obviously, he was either dead, or insane. But that made no sense at all. One was not supposed to hurt when dead, unless one was condemned to the Underworld. But this too-bright world was hardly a hell. And if he had gone insane in the battle, well… he’d still be dead from a thousand vengeful Celts. So something else had to be going on here. Something equally implausible, most likely.

    -------------------------------

    This creature was very strange indeed. Twilight watched Gaius carefully as he put back on his armor and clothing, a stun spell ready on her horn in case he tried to move on any of them. Ever since she had become Princess, the whole ‘protect Equestria’ thing had been really getting to her. And this creature was definitely dangerous. Twilight only came up to his shoulders, and she was taller than the other ponies she knew. The armor he wore was made of iron and bronze, something she had noted while undressing him, and had an inner sheath of leather and linen. A warrior’s garment, and practical too. The weapons he had harkened back to an older day in Equestrian history; the short sword was a lethal stabbing weapon, certainly able to pierce the silvered bronze armor the Royal Guard wore, as could the thin but heavy iron darts, and the steel bladed dagger. It made her nervous for her guardponies, the ten stallions and mares who had volunteered to protect her and the other Elements with their very lives.

    So far, the creature (he called himself a Roman Centurion, whatever that was) had been guarded, but somewhat curious as well, asking questions about the government of Equestria, its size, and if they were CERTAIN that they had never heard of the Roman Empire. Twilight had triple-checked all of her atlas’. Nothing about a Rome, beyond a Zebrica city named Roam. A quick lesson about the geology of Zebrica and its inhabitants actually made the Roman smirk, and quietly assure Twilight that that was not his own homeland. Damn. Twilight really hoped Princess Celestia arrived soon. She couldn’t make heads or tails of this Gaius Marius.

-----------------------

    When the ponies (Gaius found out the hard way that they did NOT like being called horses) finally let the Centurion out of the library, he found himself… actually rather comfortable. While the village around him was certainly not built in the Roman style, more thatch and stone than brick and concrete, it bespoke a civilized people… err, ponies. That would take some getting used to. That, and the complete and utter lack of armed sentries at the mouth of the village, or any kind of guardpost for as far as the eye could see.

    “Why would we need to?” Applejack replied when he brought it up, “Equestria ain’t at war yet. Heck, most’re hopin’ this will all just blow over and we’ll get everythin’ squared away again.”

    The naivete was almost shocking. Sentries were… needed, absolutely. Who would keep watch in case of raiders? Criminals? Apparently, according to an amused Twilight, the mayor of the town was in charge of that, along with Twilight’s own guard, due to her being a kind of royalty. Ten ponies to guard a princess. Insanity. The Emperor’s personal guard alone, the Praetorians, numbered over five hundred of the strongest, most ruthless legionaries Rome had to offer. Gaius shook his head slowly, his crest catching in the wind. The group of six ponies, and a trailing number of Twilight’s silver-armored guardponies, led Gaius through the village, showing him the sights. Most of it baffled him.

“So this shopkeep sells both… quills… and furniture?” he asked Rainbow Dash slowly, eyebrow raised.

She smirked and nodded, looking amused.

“Yep. Don’t ask why. We really have no idea, and he won’t give you a straight answer. He’s a bit…”

“Sun-touched?”

“Crazy?”

“Loopier than a melted fruitcake in a super slide!?”

“...what they said.”

Gaius couldn’t help but chuckle at this, shaking his head. Naive as they were, the ponies were rather charming, at least. He wished they had been on his world before the gods brought him here; how he wanted to see the Senate try to deal with pony ambassadors.  But those happy thoughts had to wait. A trumpet blast brought his head up, and a stunned whistle left him. This was the royal guard he expected.

-----------------------------------

Celestia frowned deeply as she stood on the edge of her royal chariot, eagle-sharp eyes gazing down at the gathering ponies. And the lone creature, gleaming in armor and standing out by the bright red of his crested helmet. He was tall, easily as tall as Celestia herself. His weapons were advanced, and she could tell by his calculating eyes that his mind was equally advanced. He was looking for her strengths and weaknesses, and those of the two hundred members of the Royal and Lunar Guards the Sisters had brought with them. A display of strength, certainly, one of the few they tended to show, even to griffins, or the Ursans. But this creature, this Roman as Twilight explained in her letter, was far different. And possibly far more dangerous.

Spreading her glorious wings, the Princess of the Sun glided down from her chariot perch, landing with a soft thump in front of the Ponyville delegation, Luna quickly taking her place beside her. Twilight was smiling widely in relief at the sight of her, and raced to stand on her left. All eyes turned to the Roman. He was quiet, right hand resting on the pommel of his dagger, the other in the guard of his rectangular shield. Ageless pink-purple eyes met the hardened, green eyes. Silent seconds passed. With a soft ring, the Roman suddenly drew the short sword from its scabbard, point facing the ground. Behind her, Celestia could feel the air crackle with magic as Twilight’s unicorn guards prepared to attack the Roman. But they had no need. With a soft grunt, the Roman jammed the blade into the soft earth, and knelt down on one knee, head bowed respectfully.

“Queen of Equestria,” he began loudly, voice confident despite the numbers around him, “My name is Gaius Marius, Centurion of Rome.”

Celestia smiled faintly. Interesting. Well, politeness was a start.

“Greetings, Gaius of Rome. My name is Princess Celestia, and these are my co-rulers. My sister, Princess Luna, and my faithful student, Princess Twilight Sparkle. We bid you welcome to Equestria. As long as you maintain yourself honorably and peacefully, we should not have any problems.”

Luna softly cleared her throat, exchanging a knowing look with Celestia, “However…”

“We would ask that you come with us to Canterlot, for a more private talk about the nature of your arrival. To ease our concerns, you see.”

Celestia looked the Roman over, already preparing a convincing argument, when he surprised her with a simple, “As you wish.”

Very interesting indeed.