Chapter 7: A Road To Home

As much as I enjoyed my little getaway, it was time to return to the muck and mire I was so eager to escape from. My mind keeps flashing back to Luna. Why was she so interesting? Why can’t I stop thinking about her? I felt part of myself reflected in her eyes. Almost like her and I were similar, maybe she would even understand me.

The path back to Taraska was lined with hulking trees that had to be hundreds of years old. Bushes of varying types, mostly rittled with berries, were scattered everywhere. Food would never be an issue for them. It was still so hard to believe such a place existed. I hear a rustle in the bushes to my left, among a group of trees. Little eyes pear around a thick trunk at me. A little filly head with brown fur, a blue mane and blue eyes pokes out from the bush.

“Um...what’s your name?” Her tiny voice was just barely audible. A second filly grabs her by the tail and yanks her into the bushes, accompanied by angry whispering. Even though my face was still hidden by my helmet, I still smile at them. She sees it in my eyes and takes a few cautious steps from her hiding spot. I wanted to remove my armor to show them how friendly I was, but with the Og Nag running around, there was no way in hell I was going to expose myself.

“First Captain Raiden. But you can just call me Raiden.” I call out in my best “I’m not going to kill you.” tone. There’s more whispering, but it’s not angry anymore.

They try to stay concealed behind the trees, staying low and quiet. I pretend not to notice as more whispers and a little giggle make their way out of the shrubbery. I'm blocked from their view by more vast trees as I round the corner. A small smirk crosses my face and I dart into the small forest, hoping to catch the foals by surprise. After a few seconds, I hear the children sneaking up to my left. Judging from the quiet patter of their hooves, there’s three of them. My entire body tenses up, trying to remain as quiet as possible while they chatter away.

“Where did he go?”

“Do you think he used magic?” I lean around the tree so they can see me. Frightened screams fill the air as they run away to their original bush. With a massive smile on my face, I get back on the road with a casual stride. I had missed the innocent fun of children, the clear sky, sunshine, flowers, everything. Even the smell of fresh air.

I had never really stopped to appreciate the sounds of this place. The lack of yelling and burning fires was a fabulous treat. Birds chirped in the air, I could hear distant civilians talking with each other. Did they know how lucky they had it? Should I even tell them about our world? I contemplated giving an order to our troops not to be too specific with our history. Some things are best left forgotten. The soft sound of hooves trails behind me. One of the fillies from before watches me, staying in sync with my pace. She doesn’t seem afraid though; more curious than anything. I turn my head back around, waiting for her to say something.
She’s tan, with a light shade of auburn in her hair.
“Hi” she whispers.
“Hello.” I say, accompanied by a wave of my hand without turning around.
“What are you?” she asks.
It takes me a minute to think over how to respond to such a vague question.
“Um...do you mean my species, or who am I?”
“I dono…” she mumbles with a small shrug.
“Well my names Raiden and I’m a human.”
“What’s a human?”
“Um...well we come from a different world than yours. Otherwise we’re just the same as you, we just look different.”
“The other fillies told me you eat us. Is that true?”
“No, of course not.” I say with light laughter.
She turns to her left and yells at the gathering of trees.
“You’re all a bunch of liars!”

I see several pairs of curious eyes peer at me from behind the trees. A few of them are brave, and cautiously walk up to me, almost cheered on by the nervous unsure whispers of their friends.

The first young colt walks by my side. He’s orange and has blue hair. He just looks up at me while I walk. It gets awkward as he doesn’t even respond to my friendly wave, he just stares. A few more join him, and before long, there’s about twelve of them. I wonder if it’s even safe for them all to be running around.
“Do your parents know you’re out here?” I ask. The orange and blue colt responds.
“It’s okay, school got out a while ago so now we get to do whatever we want.”

I had a hard time grasping a world where you can just let your kids walk around without worry. They all suddenly start asking me a billion questions. They want to know what the emblem on my armor means, where I got all the scratches on my armor, why I even wear armor. A large shadow passes me on the ground. I look up and see Princess Luna. She lands just a few meters ahead. Her tail sweeps across the ground and sends a gust of leaves scattering off the path. Her silky fur shimmers a bit in the sun. We lock eyes for a few moments and there's something different this time. The tension that hangs in the air is gone and the silence that I normally resent, is more like a calm breeze flowing between us. The foals all gasp, go to one knee and bow. One young colt gasps and recoils.
“Nightmare moon!” He runs off to the trees shrieking. I watch him confused.

Luna laughs with a bit of nervousness, her eyes darting back and forth. What was Nightmare Moon? Was that a saying in their kingdom?
“Alright, you’ve all taken up enough of Captain Raiden’s time. Go back home now." Luna gives them a gentle dismissive wave of her hoof. I hear disappointed groans, with a few goodbye’s thrown in. I wave and bid them farewell.
“Care if I join you?” she asks in that wonderfully light voice of hers. I nod too many times and stand completely rigid as I walk. She smirks a bit and narrows her eyes.
“Of course you don’t mind. I’m sure my beauty leaves you speechless.” She says in a jokingly stuck up tone. I smile under my helmet, but remain silent. How could I even look at her? Why am I so nervous? I try to think of something to say, but my mind is a complete mess. She gently flicks me with her wing.
“Why so quiet? Are you overwhelmed by my beauty?” she says with that same joking tone as before. To my horror, I heard myself blurt out "Yes." She giggles and my mouth contorts in shock.
“Aw, you’re so nice.” She leans her head forward and tries to peer under my helmet.
“Why do you always wear that thing?”
“Used to it, and it’s quite necessary where I come from.” She gets a bit closer to me. I can feel her wing brush against my armor every few steps.
“Aw c'mon, I bet you have the cutest face ever!” She still tries to peek into my helmet with that sly smile and those alluring narrowed teal eyes of hers. My cheeks and ears explode in red.
“I can see you blushiiiiing!” I start fidgeting with my hands. She leans her head back in a wonderful laugh.
“Oh you’re just a delight Captain Raiden!” I can only think of one thing to say.
“You can just call me Raiden...if you want to.”
She smiles.
“Captain Raiden too official for you?”

She starts marching like a soldier, and in a deep military voice she says.
“First Captain Raiden, vanquisher of villains! Partaker of women!” I start chuckling. She trots up and down a bit excitedly as we walk.
“Yay, I got you to laugh!” We continue in silence for a few minutes. I get a whiff of her perfume. It’s vanilla mixed with some kind of fruit. My face starts blushing all over again. What is it with her?
“Do you mind if I ask you some...questions about your world?”
I rub my neck uneasily.
“I must be honest with you Princess, I’m not allowed to say much.”
She nods and doesn't show any hint of offense.
“What does your King plan to do now? I mean can you even get back?” I shrug, having almost no answers.
“We have no idea how we even got here.” She nods more slowly and studies me.
“You have no idea how you got here, or you’re not entirely sure?”
I turn my head towards her.
“What’s the difference?” She looks forward. I begin studying her. There’s suspicion in her voice.
“Well if you had no idea how you got here, then I guess you were doing your normal thing, then poof you woke up here. If you’re not sure how you got here, then maybe you were doing something to...maybe an object, like reading from a scroll, or using some type of magical device, then it goes off and teleports you here.”
I clear my throat.
“I apologize your highness-”
“Luna.”
“Very well, Luna. If we’re becoming a problem, we can do our best to relocate, but it will take time.”
She’s completely serious now.
“You misunderstand me Captain Raiden. You’re not an issue at all. I would just like to know if we can expect...more of your cities or people, or if it was simply a freak accident.”
“Ah, I assure you, it wasn’t something anyone is going to replicate.”
She nods and smiles.
“Then would you mind telling me what you know about your...incident? I’m inquiring because we’re quite knowledgeable on magic. Perhaps we can help?”

I let out a quiet sigh; I guess I can tell her some of the truth.
“Our Minister, who studies magic, found a device and used it as a last ditch effort. Some type of large white orb. It ended up teleporting our entire city here.”
She turns back to me.
“Last ditch effort for what?”
I look at the ground.
“We were under attack and it didn’t look good.”
She sighs relieved.
“To be honest, I’m glad you weren’t attacking and trying to use some unknown device. I’d take that as you were a bunch of vicious conquerors.” I feel humiliated. I want to tell her what the King is planning. I want to be done with all the secrets and lies. I don’t want to play this game anymore.

We finally get to my city. My gaze falls to the left and right as I struggle to keep our eyes locked. She turns to the side and bumps me with her flank.
“Well I guess this is where I bid you goodbye. Thank you for talking with me Raiden!” She says in the friendliest of tones. I nod to her. She spins around and is about to take off. Over my shoulder, my mouth blurts out more anguish.
“Feel free to visit anytime.” I start smacking my helmet with my palm repeatedly. She takes off, flies in a small circle and lands next to me again.
“Is First Captain Raiden asking me on a date?”

I start stuttering like mad. She can hear the obnoxious noises from my helmet and giggles.
“You got a thing for me Captain?” She gently whips my back with her tail. I can’t get a word out. My face gets so hot I’m about to ignite. She bursts out laughing.
“Okay, I’ll stop picking on you.” She takes off. As she flies, she calls out to me one more time.
“Nice talking with you Captain Raaaideeeen!” As soon as she’s out of sight, I round a corner, tear off my helmet, and pant while hunched over.

Did she actually have some kind of connection with me, or was this all a ruse to pump me for information?