Author's Notes:

This one took a bit longer than expected. Kept having to go back to redo some parts to make it sound better for myself. Still working on my style, though let's get this out of the way.

Thanks Regreme for proofreading, you're always a big help. And I'll try not to be so indecisive in my planning for the following chapters.

Sam felt bored, and quite tired. Which was to be expected of a conduit sitting in a interrogation room with his hands literally tied nearly right after the crack of dawn, or in this case, chained and shackled. He was never a morning person to begin with. Even so, this was no time to think about sleep, he had to find a distraction. He leaned back in his chair as far as the manacles would let him comfortably as they were also chained to a sturdy anchor in the floor. With nothing else to do at the moment, he swept his gaze around the room for the umpteenth time.

A sturdy, stone brick room around ten feet by eight feet. In the center sat a steel table with four legs that had been bolted to the ground. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was a single lamp that lit the entire room with a dull yellow light. Across from him was another set of two chairs, which like his, sat lower to the ground and had a wider seat. To the wall just behind it and a little to the left was a heavy looking steel door, the only way in or out of this room. On the wall to the left of that, a one-way mirror that spanned nearly the entire face of the wall itself showed a reflection of everything that Sam already saw in reverse. Another heavy exhale escaped Sam as he rolled his neck to work out the growing stiffness from having sat there in his spot for nearly an hour already.

You’d think that this would be a time to panic in this situation, but this isn’t the first time that Sam had been brought into this room, or one similar to it. This had to be the third time he’s seen the inside of this room since his ‘incarceration’. Of course, it might also stand to reason that the last few days have made this moment somewhat less unnatural. Sam leaned back a little more and reminisced on how exactly he came to be here. That, and he was still rightfully bored as he had nothing else to do and taking a nap was definitely left for a better time.

The first thing he could remember after that bomb went off back in Memphis was being surrounded by D.U.P. soldiers. It was a little fuzzy, and he could have sworn that their uniforms’ colors were a bit off, but he was sure he put up one hell of a fight. It wouldn’t be til later that he learn who he actually got into a fight with. The next day, by his estimate, was the weirdest part. He woke up in a hospital room. Or at the least, what passed for a hospital room. The bed he laid on was a bit short, like it was made for someone shorter, and the mattress was pretty lumpy. His whole body ached from whatever fight he had been in, and every time he tried to draw out some of his wires it made him dizzy and nauseous. He could also feel a good portion of his body had been wrapped in enough gauze and bandages to make a mummy envious. The only thing that felt off putting was that his arms and legs were restrained by medical straps. So, as any sane person would do, Sam calmly assessed the situation, tested and determined the holding power of his bindings, and voiced his concerns to the nearest attendant that could hear him. He did not try flailing against the restraints, reopening some of his more grievous wounds, all the while shouting obscenities loud enough to wake the dead.

Upon the small commotion he made to garner someone’s attention, he did not expect a light blue furred, mint green mane and tail miniature horse to burst through the door. It was made even more ridiculous by the fact that said horse also wore a nurse’s cap atop its head. Sam couldn’t help but stare, as did the horse, until it somehow spoke and called for more horses. These ones were a bit larger and bulkier than first one to appear and wore what looked like flashy gold armor. At this point, Sam started to think that he may have hit his head a little harder than usual during the fight to be seeing such a ludicrous sight. He immediately put that thought on hold as the bulky horses fought to hold him still as the one in the nurse’s cap came up to his side with a very pointy looking needle. The horses had to work feverishly to restrain the conduit until the nurse horse could administer a sedative. After that, Sam’s memory was a little fuzzy again, but he did remember having a lovely afternoon chat with Mr. Lampshade. Even if he didn’t find many of his jokes all that funny.

When he woke up again, the light blue horse was there, a stethoscope gingerly wrapped in its hooves. Seeing that the conduit was awake, it meekly asked him if he was ‘feeling better’. Once more, Sam questioned his current mental state and whether or not he got hit in the head more than usual. Though Nurse Patient Care, the horse’s name, did an admirable job in not letting Sam’s joke about her name get to her. So began the long and arduous process of convincing the wire conduit that he was not dreaming or hallucinating and that he was in a hospital being treated for his injuries that he acquired from not only his fight in Memphis, but also when he took on an entire platoon of royal guards. To top it all off was that he was also being detained, thus the restraints, for breaking and entering into the royal palace of Canterlot, resisting detainment, and multiple counts of aggravated assault against several royal guards. If it weren’t for the part about the pun-tastic locale, Sam would have considered it to be a regular morning on a Tuesday. Of course, there was also the other part about how he was somehow being treated by a horse in a hospital get-up like it was a normal thing. So, more questions were raised that, unfortunately for him, would never be answered immediately due to the two gold armored horses from before marching into the room. As like all authorities in Sam’s experience, it was not for the conduit’s benefit. Sam overheard one of them speak to the nurse to see if the conduit was fit to be interrogated. The nurse replied that most of Sam’s injuries were healing faster than expected, but he would still need more time before he could be released from the medical dispensary. The first horse nodded for the nurse to take her leave before the two ‘guards’ discussed about how to handle the now awake conduit. After having to listen to the conduit babble on about getting his one phone call, the guards became fed up and left. More than likely to alert their higher-ups.

After another day in the hospital, Sam was released and immediately led to the presently familiar sight of the interrogation room. He was left there while his escort left the room after chaining him up, which left him to try and make his escape. Unfortunately, his power still seemed to be weak and agitated him with use, although he was lucky to notice that they were coming back to him, albeit slowly. So, he planned that once his power was fully restored, he would break out of crazy horse town and find his way back to Memphis. Hopefully his friends were okay in the meantime.

For the next few days, a routine came about. Sam would wake up in his new home away from home; a.k.a., an actual dungeon cell. Check how much power he’s regained. Be escorted to the interrogation cell for questioning. Crack a few jokes at whoever was escorting him. Be questioned for hours on end in interrogation, sometimes by a horse by the name of Aegis Flare and sometimes by the big cheese herself and her somewhat austere sister. They’d later send him back to his cell after getting practically nowhere whenever they questioned him and left him to what devices he could keep himself occupied with until the next time. Sam would check again on his powers before going back to planning his escape and turning in for the night. It was only a matter of time, but hopefully not much longer as he could feel that his power was nearly restored. Although the lack of sleep from staying up to observe guard routines was starting to get to him and making him a little more irritable.

Sam was drawn out of his musings as the familiar sound of the steel door across from him unlocked and revealed the ever-aggravated face of his favorite captain of the royal guard, Aegis Flare, as he marched in. Sam could swear that the scowl he wore was somehow his default expression as he’s never seen the disgruntled horse without it. So, every time they talked, Sam would time just how long it took before the captain’s left ear would start flicking in annoyance. It was always pretty funny. Though it seemed that the grumbling captain was not his only visitor. In walked her royal cheesiness herself, Princess Celestia. Sam rose from his seat with the best shit eating grin he could muster and mockingly bowed.

“Your excellency, what a surprise! I’d offer more than just a simple bow, but I’m a little chained up at the moment,” the sarcasm layered so thick, it could top a birthday cake.

Unlike the captain, who was quietly gnashing his teeth, the princess shook her head, but tried to salvage it by smiling faintly. She sat herself in the opposite seat from Sam while Aegis Flare took his usual spot of just to her right, though never sat down.

The princess took a silent and deep breath before addressing the detainee, “That won’t be necessary, but I must ask that we skip these pleasantries so we can begin.”

Sam already knew the routine, which he was frankly getting a little sick of, but played along. It would be over soon enough. He could probably catch a nap after this too if he played his cards right. So, it retook his seat and focused on trying to get through this as painlessly as possible

“Alright, but I hear they’re serving up a special surprise for today’s grool. I don’t wanna miss that.”

Sam could hear the near silent huff of the captain as he had to endure another session of Sam’s brand of humor.

“Very well,” the princess replied as she shifted only slightly in her seat, “I guess we’ll start from the top. What is your name?”

“Marty McFly,” Sam answered immediately with a smirk.

“Not Luke Skywalker or Tinotenda, Prince of Ukraine?”

“Yup!”

Sam took a quick glance over at the captain and noted that his ear was already twitching. That had to be a new record.

“And what exactly are you? We have no records of a creature such as yourself in our archives. And I don’t believe you to be a ‘one-horned, red-eyed beast’.”

Sam chuckled at the inadvertent joke that just played out before answering, “Well I’m not exactly a hairless monkey either.”

Celestia merely sighed, “Of course. So, if I may ask. How is it that you came to appear in my throne room in the middle of my day court?”

Sam leaned back again. Not to actually think, but to waste a little more time. “Well, I was out for a walk, when I saw this lovely place you got here and decided to take a little detour. Gotta say, I can really dig what you do with the place. Though I think it could do with a few paintings, or hell, some splash of color other than gray.”

The princess frowned a little. Her attempts to hopefully draw out any new information was not going so smoothly. She had to think of something else. Something that would possibly catch this strange creature off balance.

“...Tell me, Marty McFly. How did you become so injured?”

“I think you can thank cappy over there for that,” Sam replied, a little more bitterly.

Aegis Flare had a hard time trying not to ruffle his feathers with every second that he had to spend dealing with this creature. He was told that the princess would lead this interrogation, but he could already see that it was becoming pointless. If they were to get the information they needed, they needed to show this ape-like creature that they were willing to be more direct.

“I mean before you ended up in my throne room,” Celestia tried to lead the creature, “if I recall, you were bleeding profusely and suffered more than a few bruises.”

She watched as the creature tensed for a moment before relaxing again into its usual posture.

“I fell down some stairs.”

Silence filled the air after Sam’s deadpan answer. The pony princess and the conduit were locked in a stare down, both unwilling to let the other see them flinch. At least until Captain Aegis Flare let out an exasperated sigh.

“Your majesty, if I may,” the captain waited for the princess’ reluctant approval before getting up in Sam’s face, “You’ve already wasted enough of our time, ape. You will tell us who you are, where you come from, and why you are here!”

Sam was actually a little taken aback from this, but not enough to really feel intimidated. Just that he found something else to really dig a little deeper under this horse’s skin. So, like any other time he’s had to deal with people like this. He pulled out his own secret weapon.

“First of all, rude,” Sam started off the banter, “Second of all, you have got to tell me what kind of mouthwash you use, ‘cause I’ve got to get some of that. That’s like doublemint fresh right there.”

Sam could almost see a vein bursting behind the captain’s oppressive gaze as he continued to try and intimidate the conduit. He even slammed his hooves on the table in front of Sam in some vain effort to look tough.

“I’ve had enough of your roundabout answers! Tell us what we want to know, or I will see to it that your interrogations are a lot less friendly!”

“Oh, now that I’d like to see.”

“Enough, Aegis Flare!” Princess Celestia cut in, “Please take a moment to calm yourself.”

The little pegasus glared as hard as he could at the conduit before stepping off to the side.The princess retook her seat in front of Sam, easing her posture to appear more relaxed. It was her turn again to try and win the conduit over, and by god, was Sam getting more than a little sick of it. He could already see what was going on here and frankly, was too tired to really deal with this.

“Listen, Marty Mcfly, I don’t want to see either of you come to blows. This situation is far from ideal, and-”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap,” Sam suddenly blurted out, having finally had enough and wanting nothing more than this to end so he could go back to sleep rather than sit here listening to this crap, “I can already tell you are far too smart to be playing this good cop, bad cop game, Sunny. Don’t try to act like you care when you don’t.”

Off to the side, Aegis Flare was glaring so hard that you’d think he’d set Sam on fire with his gaze alone.

“As for you,” Sam returned the captain’s glare, “I would love to see what you’d have in store in this ‘unfriendly method’ of yours. I’m being sincere by the way. I would love to see what your serious interrogations are like, because I’ll tell you this: Anything you come up with, I bet I’ve already been through, or something even worse. I’ve been through enough shit that any one of your soldiers would be screaming for death before the week’s out! So, bring on the psychological mindfucks; bring on the propaganda abuse, and bring on the straight up torture! Same goes for you, sunny britches.”

Not really sure what brought on that outburst in himself, Sam couldn’t be asked to care. Like he said, he’s seen this song and dance before, including the director’s cut. Although the rant did leave feeling a bit better, but before Sam even had time to react, a hard right hoof made sweet love to his face. He could only groan in pain while voices muddily argued in the background as he shook the sucker punch off. Then, Sam smiled. The odd familiarity of authoritative abuse actually felt comforting, in a weird way. Being locked up in the grand daddy of all detention centers for more than a couple of years will do that to a guy. He swished around the blood and spit in his mouth before spitting it out and spoke up.

“Whoo... now, that’s what I’m talking about! Got another one in you?”

“Captain Aegis Flare, I don’t care what he had said! That was unnecessary!” Princess Celestia continued to berate the pegasus, ignoring the conduit altogether, “Remove yourself from this room!”

“But your majesty, he has shown nothing but disrespect to you and-”

“Leave, NOW!”

‘Christ, did the room just shake?’ Sam thought all while his ears recovered from their ringing.

The begrudged captain gritted his teeth before bowing and marching out of the room.

“Ah, come on. We were just getting to know each other,” Sam had to add snarkily, “Welp, I guess that just leaves us… Wait, what?”

Princess Celestia was already halfway to the door, obviously taking her own leave. Though, not before turning her head to face the conduit with an expression that was devoid of any of its usual cheerfulness.

“We are done for now.”

The steel door exit swung shut, leaving Sam to ponder the princess’ reaction. There was something else beyond the lack of cheer behind her gaze, and Sam couldn’t help but feel some inkling of guilt.

A couple hours later, the only other beings to enter the interrogation room were a pair of guards with Sam’s lunch. A simple vegetable stew, a bread roll, and a glass of water. Normally, the conduit would have taken the opportunity to quip about how there wasn’t any meat on the tray, or if there was someone new, he would have made a tasteful joke about the benefits of horse meat for his diet. Though no such thoughts entered his mind this time. The guards came and went and left Sam to eat his meal in silence. This wasn’t like the conduit at all, but the way that the princess had looked at him left him wondering. What was that expression she had? It wasn’t anger or annoyance. Nor was there any malice toward him or his lack of cooperation. This was something that Sam had not seen directed at him as far as he remembered. In actuality, Sam had seen this expression before, albeit only once, and it was ‘pity’.

Having nothing else to do since he was locked in a room and chained to a table, Sam closed his eyes to rest. His plan to catch a few Z’s was swiftly interrupted by the telltale sound of the steel door opening once more. Sam shot back up awake and alert to find that his new visitor was none other than the blue princess herself, Luna. Or as he liked to call her, Loony. Unlike her sister, Loony wasn’t afraid to ‘cut to the chase’ when she spoke. Not to mention that whenever she got flustered or irritated, usually by Sam’s hand, she would start talking like a character out of ‘Ye old medieval times’. So, like any other time she came to try her ‘hoof’ at cracking the conduit’s will, he made it a point to try and get her to talk like that just for giggles.

“Hey, Loony,” Sam started off, a half smirk already on his face, “how’s the nightlife treating you?”

At first, Luna stopped and pondered on a reply until she just resumed her walk to the opposite side of the table to take a seat across from the conduit. Sam was only slightly disappointed that the lunar princess did not take the bait, but recovered quickly to try again.

“So, your sister was in here earlier,” Sam began the setup, “Gotta say, she could really do well in theater with a set of pipes like that.”

Luna only sighed for a moment and continued to stare at the conduit with a measured gaze. It seemed like the princess wanted to play hardball. Sam could handle that.

“Hey, Loony. Wanna hear a joke?” Sam only waited for a moment to continue regardless of the princess’ answer, “What do you get when you cross a vampire with a snowman...frostbite!”

Not even the sound of crickets could be heard at such a lame joke. Though to be fair, the crickets that lived in the nook in the eastern wall of the room had decided to take a vacation that week. In the meantime, Luna just arched one of her eyebrows. Sam was still smiling like an idiot, but he soon dropped that too as he engaged with the princess’ staring contest. Cool, cyan eyes met chocolate brown with more time just ticking away as the two just sat there and stared.

“What is it that drives you?” Princess Luna suddenly broke the silence.

Sam was caught off guard so thoroughly by the question, that he actually couldn’t come up with a nice quip in response. Then, he really started to think about the princess’ strange question. So, he did the only thing he could think of.

“Come again?” ‘giggity’

Princess Luna took a deep breath, “So far, you’ve done nothing but antagonize myself, my sister, and every guard assigned to you. I’ve read the report over and over about your ‘appearance’, and although annoying, I’ve yet to see this ’flagrant disregard for life’ or ‘animalistic rage’. When I first heard of you, I expected to see a wild animal whose only purpose was destruction. That is not what I’ve seen these past few days. You may be arrogant, brutish, and might I add, have a terrible sense of humor, but something without emotions you are not.

“So, all I want to know is; what is it that drives you?”

Out of all the questions in the world that Sam could have been asked, he got the one that he had no comeback to. The princess waited in expectant silence and watched as the conduit tried to come up with an answer. Sam tried to come up with anything witty, but the question was so serious that he too started to think it over seriously.

And then, it hit him, “Survival.”

“Survival?” the princess repeated.

“Yeah, you could say that’s what drives all of us in the grand scheme of things.”

Princess Luna smiled, “I guess you do have a point. Though, I think there is more to you than some mere survival instinct.”

“What makes you say that, Loony?”

Although not fond of the name, Luna let it slide for the moment, “Because, we wouldn’t be here talking right now with some civility.”

“If you want, I could tell you another joke,” Sam smirked

“That won’t be necessary,” Luna deadpanned, “Tell me something though: why is it that you choose to come here?”

At that, Sam had to reel in his snort of laughter before it got out of hand. The princess arched one of her eyebrows, unaware of what was particularly funny, but something about the being’s reaction added another clue to her growing theory on this creature that she had been working on since they first met. If she was right, her next question might be what she needed to finally make some headway in this challenge.

“Did you have any intention of even coming to Equestria to begin with?”

Sam remained tight lipped. Not like he was gonna make this easier for his, so far, favorite princess. Of course, Luna was already taking note of the creature’s subtle movements that spoke volumes above anything that had been said so far.

Princess Luna eyed the creature a little more crucially, “You never intended to come here, did you. You came here by accident?”

It seemed that Samuel was finally caught. Not that it mattered. His plans for escape remained the same, and as soon as it was later that night, he felt confident of having regained enough power to break loose. That is until a certain princess threw the mother of all curve balls his way.

“Tell me, what would you do if we were to let you go right now?” Princess Luna asked calmly.

It was Sam’s turn to finally be floored by this crazy rabbit hole of a wonderland since the first day he woke up. His brain almost couldn’t comprehend exactly what he was just asked, even if he did understood the words. He didn’t believe for a second that he would get just a slap on the wrist and be set free, but the question still remained. What would be his answer? Not like he had planned on any impossible chance of just being let go. The thought just seemed entertaining. Luna watched as the creature thought, and finally found what she was looking for. Her sister may have played the political game to near perfection, but she was always the one that was better at asking the right questions.

Sam played with a link from his chains out of nervous habit as he finally spoke, “Let’s just say that I have better places to be than here.”

“And where would that be?” Luna asked, “Your home, isn’t it?”

“You could say that,” Sam simply replied.

Luna dropped into thought again before nodding toward the one way mirror. Sam caught this and already anticipated the door to the door opening once more to allow another occupant. Who he didn’t expect to enter was the other princess herself, still wearing that strange expression on her face from the last time. The solar princess closed the door behind her and made her way to sit beside her sister, where they engaged in hushed tones before Sam. After a few minutes of debate, they both turned to the conduit with Celestia leading the speech.

“I know you do not trust me, or our kingdom, but... I only have one question. All I ask is if you will tell me the truth… Do you wish to go home?”

Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way that it was going to be this simple. Even if what they were implying was true, what would they expect in return? Sam wasn’t about to let them have the upper-hand, or would it be ‘hoof’ in this case.

“If I say yes, what kind of deal are we gonna work out here?”

Celestia and Luna looked to each other before Celestia replied.

“All we ask is that we know where your kingdom lies, so we may contact them in regards to the terms of your release.”

And there was the catch. Sam already expected something like this, which was why he avoided thinking about what the possible answer might end up being. Of course, now was as good a time as any to get the information he needed.

“Have you ever heard of Tennessee?” he asked matter-of-factly, but also with a small quiver of doubt.

The sisters both gave him blank looks. This was not looking good for the conduit.

“The United States of America?”

Just more blank and questioning looks.

“This ‘United States of America’,” Luna began, “Is it beyond the Griffon Empire?”

Sam frowned, “I think we may be thinking of a different place here.”

At that, the solar princess’ horn lit up, and after a flash of light, the table between them was covered in what Sam could only assume was an atlas of the world. Now Sam had already seen feats of ‘magic’ these horses were capable of, so it wasn’t quite new, but what really caught him off guard was what laid before him. Before either of the princesses could say anything, Sam’s eyes already took in the unfamiliar land masses, and his frown grew deeper.

“If you would,” Celestia spoke up, “Could you show us where on this map your kingdom lies?”

Sam studied the map a third time in some vain hope that it would magically rearrange itself to look like earth. No such luck in that regard. With a dejected sigh, Sam finally came to grips with a fact that he wished wasn’t true.

“I can’t show you on this,” he plainly said.

Celestia looked at him in bewilderment before replying, “If you are worried that we will take retribution against your home, you have nothing to fear. All we wish is to see is this misunderstanding resolved.”

“You don’t understand. I can’t show you where my home is on this map. Not while none of this is even matches what my world looks like,” Sam said while sweeping a hand over the map.

Luna was the first to pick up on it first, “Did you say, your world?”

The two princesses seemed flabbergasted. Here they were, in a room with a creature that just said that it might as well be an alien. Not exactly something that you could just take in casually. Celestia and Luna turned away from the conduit and whispered frantically back and forth as to what this could actually mean. This could potentially redefine their view on diplomatic relations if they were to contact this creature’s home. Sam, on the other hand, was occupied with the sobering thought that he wasn’t even on his home planet. Not that he didn’t suspect as much, as a nation full of candy coated equines that were as smart as humans would have made headline news for weeks back in his town. This just left him with the prospect that finding a way home may be a lot tougher that he originally thought. He shunted to depressing thoughts to the back of his mind to focus. He’d just have to find out how he got here to begin with and work from there. So long as he had a goal, he could get through this. The princesses returned to the table after their deliberation. Each of them bore an expression that Sam couldn’t quite tell if it was either serious or worrisome.

Celestia spoke first, “I only have one question before we proceed any further. My sister asked you this earlier, but you never told us an answer. Did you come here, to Equestria, intentionally?”

Even though he could have made a witty remark about the horse related name-pun, Sam only replied simply, “No.”

Not like it would matter. It wasn’t like he was giving away state secrets here. Of course, his one word answer was met with an unusual response. Both the princesses looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement.

“It seems that we have made some terrible assumptions, Marty Mcfly,” Celestia stated, “We all assumed that you were sent here with ill intent, but my sister and I believe that your actions in the throne room were primarily due to delirium brought on by whatever trauma you suffered beforehoof.”

Sam listened to the deduction. All of it, within the right context, was sounding to be quite in his favor.

“Although it is still to be said that you attacked and severely injured a number of guards that are still recovering from your actions,” Luna continued, “We can’t overlook that just yet. Your detainment, although regrettable, was a necessary step to ensure our subjects safety. Although, if what you have told is true, as my sister as said, I believe we may be able to help one another out.”

‘And here comes the catch,’ Sam thought.

The lunar princess looked the conduit straight in the eye and asked, “If we were to let you free right now, what would your intentions be?”

Now that was something Sam wasn’t expected to be asked. He wholeheartedly expected some form of compensation for his deeds. Not that he had much to offer other than the tattered clothes on his back. The only question was, ‘what kind of answer were they looking for?’. Sam studied the two princesses faces intently, but only found a strange, sad curiosity on either of them. Whatever that was about, Sam didn’t know. Though he did know that maybe, just maybe, he should at least try to be a little more straightforward in his answer this time around. Not like he had much to lose.

“You really wanna know?” Sam started off, “Ever since I got here, all I could think about was the fastest way to get out of here and back home. If you’re saying that you got a way to send me back, then I’ll give you a shot.”

Sam watched as their expressions shifted from hopefulness to happiness and then to that mystery expression he couldn’t place, pity. They whispered back and forth once more and nodded again.

“Marty Mcfly,” Celestia spoke up, “We are willing to circumvent your detainment and aid you in finding your home, but on one condition.”