Jaze stood in the bright sunlight outside of Canterlot Castle. He had on a set of green fatigues to replace the tattered flight suit he had been wearing when he was brought in. He had found several changes of clothes in his Mule, along with a month's supply of food, a full load of combat gear, and a few other pieces of tech. He also had his sword riding his left hip. There could be worse ways to start a new life, Jaze thought, at least you're not naked and helpless.

Jaze had spent the past several days being healed by the ponies' magic and learning all he could about the land of Equestria. He learned of the types of ponies and the various other creatures in the land. He also learned about the magic of the land itself and how it affected everything. Most of his lessons had taken place in the large guest room that the Princesses had loaned to him while he healed, and Princess Luna herself conducted most of his lessons. She taught Jaze a lot of the recent history of Equestria; including her own story, that of Nightmare Moon. She told him of her banishment, return, and subsequent defeat at the hands of six ponies wielding something she had called the Elements of Harmony. She did not seem to bear any ill will towards anypony who had taken part in her defeat, and only regretted that she had to be defeated in the first place.

"We are not sure why we did as we did," Luna had confided in Jaze, slipping into the royal pronoun usage without realizing it, "just that we were so jealous of Tia, and once we started, we couldn't stop."

Jaze realized how hard it must have been to tell someone who was mostly a stranger something so personal and he admired her for being able to speak so calmly about the incident. He knew that he could not so readily share his past. His past was something he wished to bury in a deep hole and never allow to see the light of day again. During these lessons he did let something slip and that was his guard. He found himself genuinely laughing for the first time in years. He knew that, against his better judgment, he had made a friend in Luna.

Two royal guard pegasi pulling a chariot landed in front of Jaze, jostling him from his thoughts of the past few days. He lifted his Mule on to his back with one hand, astounded once again by how light it felt. The doctors had warned him that the magic might have curious side effects on him, as the spells were designed to work on creatures that had lived under the influence of magic their whole lives. So far, Jaze had noticed that the side effects had all been positive; increasing his strength, reflexes, and his already keen senses. A part of him, a part he did not like to admit existed, welcomed these increased abilities. As he climbed into the carriage, Luna walked out of the Castle behind him.

"So, today's the day you get to leave here." She said, her face a blank mask.

Jaze offered her a small smile, "Yeah, now you don't have to spend your days teaching this idiot about everything."

This elicited a small laugh and a smile from Luna, "Yes, I suppose there is a bright side to everything, isn't there?" The smile fell from her face, "I just wanted to say good-bye before you left, and to tell you that you need to lighten up a little. You're not being punished for being here; we just don't want these Cye things to know where we are."

"I know that."

"Just try to be friendlier, and less formal with everypony. Remember that most of them have never met a soldier, and acting like one will only make your life here more difficult."

"I'll try to remember that."

"When you get to where you're going, a student of Celestia will show to your house and around town" Jaze gave Luna a nod. "And one more thing, and this is from Celestia, try to make some friends. There is more power in friendship than you know."

"All I can do is to try."

"Remember, you will always be welcome here." Luna said as the guards took off for the small town of Ponyville.

The carriage landed smoothly in front of a purple unicorn, with a pink stripe running down her purple mane. She looked somewhat familiar to Jaze, he had seen her somewhere before but he could not remember where. She bowed her head slightly as Jaze stepped from the carriage. She did not seem to have noticed what Jaze was yet.

"Hello and welcome to Ponyville." She said as she brought her eyes up to Jaze for the first time. Her mouth fell open in shock at the strange creature standing before her. She only heard of a few bipedal creatures before, and most of them were monsters in the Everfree Forest. The figure before her matched none of the descriptions she had heard and at a little over six feet he towered over her, but Celestia had trusted him so he could not be too dangerous, could he?

"Hello, my name is Jaze Armand. What is yours?" The figure asked in a friendly, if somewhat stiff, voice.

"I- I'm Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student."

The two pegasi pulling the carriage could not help but chuckle at the look of shock on Twilight's face, as they knew that they had worn similar expressions at their first meeting with the stranger. They took off, leaving Twilight and Jaze to work through their awkward situation alone. Jaze stood there, Mule on his right shoulder, left hand resting on the hilt of his katana as Twilight tried to find her voice.

"So, uh, Jaze," Twilight began haltingly, "would you like to go to your house now?"

"I would like that very much, thank you." Jaze responded politely. In truth, he could not wait to set his pack down. Even with his suddenly enhanced strength, the Mule was starting to cut into his shoulders and become uncomfortable.

"Well then, please follow me." Twilight guided Jaze through Ponyville. The ponies on the streets were staring at this new thing in their town. Several dashed into the closest building they could find. The rest noted that it was Twilight in front of him and just stared.

Jaze had begun to feel a little unsettled at all the stares directed at him. While none showed any hostility, he did begin to feel as though he was a freak on display. If I had known that I was gonna be such hit, I would've charged admission, Jaze thought with a nervous sort of chuckle. He noticed then that his left hand was resting on his sword, a nervous habit of his from long ago. He let his hand fall down past the sword and forced the tension in his body to leave.

Twilight, seeing Jaze's unease, picked up the pace and soon the pair left Ponyville for a small path leading towards a strange forest. Jaze assumed this to be the Everfree Forest that he had heard so much about. He could feel the strangeness of the forest just by looking at it. Wow, I ran through that; bleeding and almost unconscious? Jaze thought in wonder, I have the devil's luck. Jaze shuddered at the thought of being lost in that forest and resolved to never let that happen to him. The duo walked along the path until it came to a small split, and they took the less travelled path on the right.

Twilight indicated the other path, "My friend Fluttershy lives down that way, and a kinder soul you'll never find anywhere. Later I'll take you to meet her. She'll be your closest neighbor, so she will be there if you need any help. Your house is this way."

"So did you all build this house for me?" Jaze asked, more than a little bit impressed.

"No, it used to be the house of a scientist that was studying the Everfree Forest. The house was just left here when she moved back to Canterlot a few years ago; Celestia commandeered it so we could fix it up for you to use." Twilight looked at the looming Everfree Forest nervously "The only other ponies that live this close to the forest are Fluttershy and the Apple family, their oldest daughter is one of my friends. Her name is Applejack and you'll get to meet her as well, along with my other friends: Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

"That's very kind of you all to go through so much trouble for a complete stranger. Thank you."

"Everypony's a stranger at first, but they can all become friends, right?"

"That's a noble sentiment, Ms. Sparkle."
"You can just call me Twilight, Mr. Armand."

"Then return the favor by just calling me Jaze," he gave a small smile, "Mr. Armand makes me sound too important."

Twilight smiled for the first time since seeing Jaze, "I guess it does." She looked ahead, "Oh, we're here."

The house was a one story affair with an inviting feel to it. It had a small porch by the front door, and the whole thing was painted a light blue, not unlike the sky. When Jaze opened the front door and stepped inside, he saw that the inside was painted the same beautiful blue. He found himself in a largish, fully-furnished living room. Through an archway on the left wall, Jaze could see a full kitchen, also fully furnished and containing many of the same amenities found in an early 21st century Earth home; the only thing missing was a microwave oven. As he looked around, he was amazed that the Princess and these ponies would go to such lengths for him, a more or less complete stranger. He felt gratitude well up in his heart.

"Do you like it?" Twilight asked somewhat nervously.

"I love it, Twilight. This is one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me. You have my thanks again." Jaze replied sincerely. Jaze walked around the living room and then explored the kitchen

"I'm glad." Twilight responded with a smile.

"Where is my bedroom?" Jaze called from in the kitchen.

"At the back, just follow the hallway connected to the kitchen." Twilight called back.

"Alright, let me drop my stuff in my room and we can go elsewhere. Weren't you supposed to show me around town?"

"Yes, I was. We can leave when you're ready."

Jaze walked through another arch in the kitchen that opened into a hall way. He walked down it a short way to where the hall turned to the left. On his left there were two doors with another door at the end of the hall. The doors on the left opened to reveal a bathroom and then a small study. The door on the end opened to reveal a large bedroom; fully furnished like the rest of the house. The room contained a bed, large by pony standards, but roughly the size of a full size human mattress. There was a chest of drawers and a small night stand as well. At the back was a door that led to a large walk-in closet. He dropped his pack next to the bed and rejoined Twilight in the living room.

"You ready to go?" Twilight asked Jaze.

"Ready." Jaze replied quickly. He had to admit that he was curious about Twilight's friends; he already found himself liking Twilight, despite having just met her, and he felt that her friends would be just as likable. Plus, he hoped that the other ponies in town could get used to seeing him and stop staring whenever he entered their vision if he appeared in town often; he felt that being in the presence of some of the local ponies would aid in normalizing him to the townsfolk.

"Alright then, let's go." Twilight said with a bright smile as she exited the house with Jaze following.

Twilight had gotten over her initial shock at meeting Jaze and had decided to give him a chance before passing judgment. He was different, but so was Zecora, and she had turned out to be a helpful and caring friend when given the chance. Twilight owed it to all she had learned about friendship to give Jaze the same chance. He already seemed nice enough, if a little stiff. If Twilight was honest with herself, Jaze reminded her a little of the Royal Guards.

"So, where are we going first?" Jaze asked, breaking into Twilight's thoughts.

"Oh, I thought we could go meet Fluttershy, since she's so close by." Twilight said.

"Sounds good to me."

"Just one thing," Twilight looked at Jaze severely and delivered a warning, "Fluttershy is kind of timid, so try not to upset her. We're all kind of protective of her."

"I'll try to be good." Jaze responded. With that warning delivered, the pair set off down the path to Fluttershy's house.

Twilight raised her hoof and softly knocked on the door of the small cottage. Jaze looked at it in wonder; the cottage had grass growing on the flat surfaces of the roof and vines had climbed some of the walls. The house managed to stand out from its surroundings and to blend in with them at once. Twilight knocked louder when nopony answered her knock.

"W-who is there?" A sweet, quiet voice asked form inside the cottage.

"It's Twilight, and I brought somepony for you to meet."

"Oh, uh, okay," the voice, Jaze assumed it belonged to Fluttershy, answered, "I’m coming out." The door opened to reveal a pegasus pony with a pink mane that flowed across her face, and a soft yellow coat. Like Twilight, this pony looked very familiar; he still could not think of where he knew them from. When the pony looked at Jaze her eyes lit up with wonder.

"Wow, what is this new creature? I've never seen anything like this before. It's as tall as a small bear, but it's mostly hairless…" Fluttershy began pacing around Jaze, looking at him from every angle; even taking off at one point to fly at head level to inspect his face and head. Twilight was biting back a laugh at the look of confusion on Jaze's face. "Do you know if it is a boy or girl, and does it have a name yet, or can I name it?" Fluttershy asked Twilight in a quietly excited voice.

Jaze looked to Twilight, "I thought you said she was timid." Jaze said with a small bemused smile crossing his lips, his first since leaving the Castle. "And I do have a name, it's Jaze." he added

"Oh wow, you can talk! What are you, where are you from, are there more things like you?" Fluttershy asked several more questions like this in rapid succession, but in a voice never louder than a loud whisper, while Jaze did his best to give evasive answers.

"I think we should go, we still have to introduce him to the rest of our friends, Fluttershy." Twilight said in a voice of mock exasperation.

"Uh, may I come with you? If that's okay, I mean." Fluttershy asked Twilight, her timid nature reasserting itself while talking to her friend.

Twilight looked to Jaze in askance, "So sounds fine by me, Fluttershy. I'd be happy for you to accompany us." Jaze replied to Twilight's unasked question. He found he could not help smiling while looking at Fluttershy. Jaze got the impression that she was a lover of animals. She had seemed so hesitant and sweet when talking to Twilight but had been excited at the thought of a new creature to learn about.

"So where are we going now?" Jaze threw the question to Twilight.

Remembering Jaze's unease in town she said, "Let's go to Sweet Apple Acres so you can meet Applejack." Twilight said as she set off on a trot back down the path. Jaze fell into step just behind her, while Fluttershy walked next Jaze so that she could continue to pelt him with all sorts of questions.

After five minutes of questions, Jaze smiled at Fluttershy and said, "I appreciate your interest, but I would like to tell my story as few times as possible. Can you wait to have your questions answered until everypony that wants to hear it is in the same room?"

Fluttershy looked appalled, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to get you mad..." she said trying to hide her face in her mane.

"And you haven't, I just don't want to have to repeat myself to everypony." Jaze quickly replied, worried that he had upset Fluttershy. Twilight's warning aside, she possessed an innocence and he felt a natural urge to protect her.

They had been walking in silence for a while when Jaze heard two loud booms; booms that sounded a lot like a fighter achieving Mach 1 speeds; but it had sounded smaller, like it was made by something a lot smaller than a jet powered fighter. He dove into a ditch by the path and started scanning the skies for the fighters that had made the noise. His diving for cover was not a conscious decision, but an instinct that had been drilled into him while he was fighting in ground battles. Jaze saw what appeared to be two rainbows appear in the sky. That's impossible, he thought with confusion, there's no rain, what could have made the rainbows? And I've not seen planes of any sort so what made the sonic booms?

It was then that Jaze noticed he was not the ditches only occupant. Fluttershy, startled by the sudden noise, had apparently dived into the ditch behind him. At the edge of his vision, Jaze could see a rainbow colored streak leading away from where the rainbows had originated. The streak turned and began heading in their direction.

Jaze stayed in the ditch as a cyan pegasus pony with a rainbow mane quickly approached Twilight. She was trailing a long rainbow streak behind her as she flew at a speed that would make a professional street racer green with envy. The speedy pony was soon right on top of them, and she dropped to the ground for a graceful landing. She looked tired, but immensely pleased with herself.

"Aw yeah, I did it!" the pegasus exclaimed excitedly.

"What did you do, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, still a little in shock from the booms. She cast a look around the area and asked worriedly, "Where are Fluttershy and Jaze?"

"We're down here." Jaze called from the ditch as he stood up. Fluttershy shakily got to her feet as well. Twilight called her "Rainbow", so perhaps this is her friend Rainbow Dash? Jaze thought as the pegasus continued.

"What did I do?" Rainbow Dash said, having not seen Jaze in her enthusiasm, "Only my best trick ever!"

"I thought that was the Sonic Rainboom?" Twilight said, confused.

"It was, but I needed something to top it. The Wonderbolts had already seen the Rainboom, so I needed something better to dazzle 'em with. So what is better than a Rainboom? Nothing, except two Rainbooms at once! Somepony didn’t think I could do it, but I did and now I gotta go settle a bet." Rainbow said smugly, and then she finally caught sight of Jaze, who had now moved closer to the pair of ponies. "Who’re you?" Rainbow asked warily.

"Hi, I'm…" Jaze started, but was interrupted as a pink blur moving almost as fast as Rainbow Dash had crashed into him.

"Ouch!" The blur yelled before springing to its hooves and began hopping around the trio excitedly.

"Ohmygoshdidyouseeit?" The blur, which Jaze could now identify as a pony that was bright pink from head to tail, asked in one quick spurt. "That was amazing Dashie! I thought that the Sonic Rainboom was cool, but Double Sonic Rainboom is so far beyond cool that it's not cool how cool it is. That was the most amazing, wonderful, fantastic…"
She paused in mid-bounce and gave a loud gasp of surprise and excitement when she caught sight of Jaze, who was just getting up from being tackled from the sonic pony. "Ohmygoshwhatisthat?" She started bouncing around Jaze asking many of the same questions that Fluttershy had, without bothering to wait for answers. Jaze, still dazedfrom the impact, was getting dizzy trying to follow her as she appeared first over one shoulder, then the other.

She suddenly stopped again, "You know what this calls for?" The pink pony started to race away, but Twilight stepped on her tail in a move that could only have come from long practice. This caused the pink pony to fall flat at Twilight's hooves.

"Keep it small; nopony else but the six of us and Jaze. Alright?" Twilight ordered.

"Uh-huh!" Was the pony's enthusiastic reply.

"And keep quiet about it." The pink pony mimed zipping her lips shut, then unzipped them to whisper something to Twilight. When she had re-zipped her lips, Twilight removed her hoof from the pink one's tail, and then she was just gone, so fast that Jaze did not see her move.

Twilight looked at the stunned Jaze, "So, what do you think of my friends so far?"

"That pony… She breaks physics. You don't break physics, physics breaks you. I think I need to sit down…" Was Jaze's confused reply, and he promptly sat down on the path.

Silence reigned for a few moments, and then Rainbow began laughing at the dazed look on Jaze's face. Twilight soon joined in the laughter and even Fluttershy could not help but let out a nearly silent giggle. Jaze sat there looking at the laughing ponies, and could not help himself; he began laughing as well. The laughter continued for several minutes, and Jaze enjoyed every second of it. What is it with these ponies, thought Jaze as he fought to get his giggles under control, first Luna, now these girls. I go two years without a chuckle, and in a few hours these ponies have me in stitches. Have I gone mad?

"Okay, okay, I'm better now." Jaze said as he gave his head a shake and wiped the tears of mirth from his face, "I just have two questions: who was that, and what in the heck is a Sonic Rainboom?"

"That was my friend Pinkie Pie," Twilight informed Jaze, a wide smile on her face, "and as for the Rainboom, talk to Rainbow."

Jaze glanced at the cyan pegasus who still had not recovered from the laughing fit, "Maybe later," Jaze said. As he was staring at Rainbow he knew he had seen these three ponies before, but he was having trouble pinning down where he had seen them.

"AHA, now I know!" Jaze suddenly exclaimed.

"What do you know?" Twilight asked.

"I know where I have seen you all from. There is a stained glass scene in Canterlot Castle and you three are in it." Jaze looked in the direction that Pinkie had disappeared in, "Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure she was in it too." He remembered what Luna had told him about the six ponies in the scene. "You all are the Elements of Harmony, aren't you?"

"That's right," Rainbow confirmed with a confident smile "now that you know who we are, mind telling me who you are?"

"My name is Jaze Armand, Ms. Dash"

"Drop the 'miss' stuff. No need to be so formal."

"So, Rainbow, we were heading to Applejack's farm when you showed up. You want to join us?" Twilight asked.

"Sure," the tomboyish pony had on a mischievous grin, "like I said; I need to settle a bet."

The three ponies and Jaze were walking between the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres, looking for Applejack. Jaze could hear grunts of effort and what sounded like hooves on wood coming from somewhere up ahead. Then he caught sight of an orange earth pony with a yellow mane. She had two baskets underneath a tree and was kicking the tree to make the apples fall. My guess is that's Applejack, Jaze thought to himself.

"Hey AJ, time to settle up!" Rainbow called as she darted forward.

"What?" Applejack said. She had an accent that reminded Jaze of the American South.

"I did a Double Rainboom!"

"Tha's nice, Rainbow." Looking away from the smug pony.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"I'm waiting,"

Applejack winced "Fine, 'Rainbow Dash is the most talented athlete in all of Equestria'. There, ya happy?"

"Very." Rainbow replied looking even more smug than before, if that is possible.

Applejack gave the tree another hard kick which caused most of the apples to fall down into the baskets. Most, but not all.

"Oh pony-feathers!" Applejack cried in frustration at the apples still cling to the branches.

"Allow me," Jaze said as he reached where Applejack was standing. He leaped, grabbed a branch, and hauled himself into the branches of the tree. He began picking the remaining apples and dropping them into the awaiting baskets while Applejack picked up the apples that had missed the baskets. He jumped down as he dropped the last apple into the basket.

"Why, thank ya kindly Mister…"

"Jaze Armand, but you may call me Jaze."

"Well then, thank ya Jaze." She looked to Twilight, "Ah take it tha' this is the new arrival from Canterlot?"

"Yes he is."

Applejack shook Jaze's hand with her hoof, "Then welcome to Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres. I'm Applejack; ya can call me AJ if ya want."
"Thank you for the welcome, Applejack."

"Ah'ma take these here apples to the barn, and then we can talk if'n ya want to."

"Would you like some help with that?" Jaze asked.

"If ya want to, I would be much obliged." Jaze bent down picked up the baskets and motioned for Applejack to lead the way. She walked him and the other ponies to a large red barn. Applejack had Jaze drop the apples into two large bins that were already quite full of apples.

"Thanks fer carryin' those; ya didn't have ta carry both but I appreciate it."

"You're welcome; besides, I liked getting to use my muscles. It was no problem at all." he assured Applejack. He could hear Twilight whispering something to Rainbow and Fluttershy behind him

"So where ya from Jaze?"

Twilight gave a small cough and stepped up next Applejack to whisper something in her ear. Jaze caught the last part "… that way we can all hear at once." Applejack gave a whispered, "Okay, sounds good".

"What's with the cloak and dagger stuff?" Jaze asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Twilight said, too quickly.

"Sure," Jaze said, not believing her for a second but he decided to let it go.

"Well, Ah would love to stay and chat, but Ah gotta, uh, pick more apples."

A small grin crossed Jaze's face, "Applejack, you're a terrible liar."

"Ah ain't lyin', now get goin'."

"Yes ma'am," Jaze said as he and the other ponies left.

"Uh, we need get going now." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes, I need to get back to my patients." Fluttershy said in her small voice.

"And I need to keep practicing my flying."

"What is the deal here?" Jaze said to Twilight as the two pegasi left in different directions.

"I don't know."

"Just tell me. I heard you whispering to those two."

"It was something personal."

"Alright then…" Jaze looked her in the eye.

Twilight looked away quickly, "C'mon, you still need to meet Rarity."