Some moments earlier…

Princess Celestia – ruler of Equestria, goddess of the sun, and epitome of grace, beauty, and kindness – has solely guided and ruled over her ponies for the last thousand years… yet even though she’s praised by her ponies, given all the cake she could want, and more… not of it was worth what she lost.

Being the only immortal alive, and alone; her sister, Princess Luna, now known as Nightmare Moon is banished to the moon, and while her banishment would not last forever, the wait was long and soul crushing. Behind her facade of a happy, glorious smile, she was deep in despair and sadness, the only moments of peace was from doing the things she loved… only to be reminded of the mistakes she made.

Since these past five-hundred years, she has tried her best to keep her ponies together in harmony. And while it only took a decade since Nightmare’s banishment for everypony to forget, it nearly took five-hundred years to keep the peace. There are still pieces of chaos and violence in the farther reaches of Equestria, where her power and will are weakest, do what she can from her throne.

It didn’t help that she possibly arguing with the most frustrating stallion ever. I swear if I hear another idea of foal labor I’m going to make everypony’s eardrums bleed once I’m done screaming in this stallion’s face.

“Flippant Deal; while these ideas do sound… ‘interesting’, we are entering a new era, and I believe these sort of opinions will be frowned upon. So I must ask to stop attempting to have the younger generations enter the workforce – especially in dangerous locations!”

The unicorn called Flippant Deal, was one of the more infamous nobles, but surprisingly made a good amount of wealth… through unsavory means. Sadly proof of these means haven’t been found and so far he has been kept a close eye on him by both the guard and Celestia.

There are similar ponies like him that Celestia wished to send to Tartarus herself, but these ponies are lacking any evidence whatsoever, or kept their private lives out of the media.

“But your highness, I believe such a proposition would work greatly for yourself and many other ponies – my new workforce would double, nay, triple work production for next couple of years, and give the younger generation some work experience. Don’t you agree,” said Flippant, giving a toothy grin.

Celestia replaced her usual smile with a glare; Flippant chuckled weakly as sweat started to gather around his brow. A loud cough came and Celestia looked to the side; standing some distance from her with some other nobles with him was General Deluxe Jacket, and his wife, Elegant Dress. The couple were known in the nobility as General Deluxe was the greatest soldier of their time, while Elegant prepared the most glamorous of social parties; the couple were also donate their wealth to helping the poor and sick.

“I think we should go back to the main issue at hoof; the city of Manehatten needs more funding to complete the residential district of the city. Baltimare and Fillydelphia are rampant with crime, and let’s not forget about the Griffish Isles – the griffin settlers and pony immigrants are starting to show signs of distrust and possibly a war on our hooves. I may be a general but even I know that the lost of life isn’t worth to make a point,” said Deluxe.

Celestia smiled at this, ponies like Deluxe she could count on, she would be happy to see how their grandchildren would be like and future generations to come from the family clan. The princess nodded in agreement, when a guard entered the throne room.

The guard removed his helmet, and knelt down in respect to relay his message. “Your highness, a young couple with a friend of theirs that were escorted by Private Emerald have arrived. Shall I bring them in?”

“Of course – this meeting is adjourned until further notice; leave if your business here is done,” said Celestia.

A few of the nobles left – including Flippant Deal – leaving only the guards in the throne room, and Deluxe, Elegant and their posse. For a few minutes the room was quiet until the doors opened; entering inside was one of the ponies’ escorted by Private Emerald who was with the stallion, but most peculiarly was a tall bipedal armored being that Celestia has never seen before.

Now who could this be?

An announcer on her left opened a scroll and took a deep inhale to announce those who entered. “Introducing Smooth Earth, Private Emerald, and… and…” said the announcer, look at the scroll he was given. The pony then motioned for one of the guards; while mostly nopony could hear what he said, Celestia did however. “Who’s the one in the armor – ask him his name?”

The guard nodded before approaching the armored being, the guard seeming to ask while the being stood there in thought. This day may be interesting after all.

“My name is… Zen.”

Oddly enough when he said this, Private Emerald seem to stare back in confusion before facing her highness once more. Then for a while she removed her helmet and did the same thing the previous guard did; the earth pony with her did the same but the armored being called Zen seemed to stand clueless.

“Bow you idiot,” said Emerald, muttering. For a second Zen continued to stand as if he was in deep thought, before lowering himself but instead of kneeling he had one arm around his middle and bent his whole upper body down a certain angle. He kept this for a few seconds before rising back up, while the other two ponies continued to kneel. And the day gets more and more interesting.

“Your highness; Private Emerald of the 8^th Company, reporting for duty! I have completed my mission and brought Smooth Earth and his family to Canterlot, safely!” said Emerald, still kneeling.

“Thank you for your service private, but… Who’s this you have with you; I know their name but not their race?” asked Celestia, awaiting an answer.

Before Emerald could answer Zen seem to step forward; in that instant several royal guard approached with spears forward, the one that spoke to Zen even had her spear pointed behind him.

Zen’s POV – Canterlot Castle, Throne Room

Well aren’t I in a pickle. Zen’s mini-map showed all the guards that surrounded him were not highlighted red but instead orange.

I seem to have forgotten to tell you something Zen; the colors of different targets on your mini-map, each have a meaning – red means enemy targets, blue means civilians or non-threats, green mean allies, orange means possible threats or non-target threats, yellow means VIP targets. There are more color types but these are the ones you should best memorize; if you wish to contact me with having to speak, simply turn off the communicator on your helmet, and you can speak without anyone hearing your voice.

Again you come to save the day Jiule, I swear I don’t know what I’d do without you. After that, Zen turned off the radio to give Jiule a quick order.

“Jiule, I want you to scan every entity in this room, only; give me names, occupation, age, you name it,” said Zen, inside his helmet.

I’ll do what I can, it’ll only take a minute. After done with that, Zen turned his communicator just as one of the guards began to speak.

“Step back; nopony or anyone may approach the princess without just cause!”

“Pardon my rudeness,” said Zen. His voice had the desired effect; all of the guards flinched back just how Emerald first reacted when hearing his voice for the first time. The nobles that stood to the side flinched back to except for Deluxe and Elegant, while Celestia gained an intrigued look in her eyes. “As you know my name is Zen, I met Private Emerald the ponies she was escorting when they were attacked by some raiders. I swiftly handled them of course, and decided to travel with them to Canterlot.”

Celestia leaned forward to get a better look of Zen and his armor; after being satisfied with what she saw, she leaned back to her seat, before speaking. “And what reason… do you have for coming to Canterlot?” asked Celestia.

“None; just how I explained to Emerald – I arrived from the Frozen North, and spotted a train that led me to Equestria – you could say that I’m lost,” said Zen.

“So a faraway traveler then; well it is my honor to meet you, and since this is the first time that anypony and myself have met anyone like you, you shall be treated like any ambassador to come to Equestria.”

“I welcome and thank your hospitality, and I hope our relationship grows.” Zen stepped back to stand with Emerald and Smooth, the guards settling down and going back to their original positions.

Emerald sighed before looking at Smooth; with a nod he stood back up and moved forward to speak. “Your highness, I come with grave news from Vanhoover; the city is under siege by a small army of minotaurs,” said Smooth, his accent gone. “I’m not sure if they come from the Minotaur Lands but I was told by Private Emerald’s superior that their rogues and possibly defectors from the nation. They’ve taken over the city and myself, my wife and companion have barely managed to escape, and they plan to move their forces here to Canterlot in two weeks – possibly sooner.”

The nobles and some of the guards look in fear and worry before Celestia raised her hoof and silence once more reign; she then looked at all her ponies then at Smooth Earth. She rose from her throne and moved down to meet Smooth Earth who simply gazed downward to not offend or look upon Celestia; for awhile she stood before him before cupping his chin with her hoof, raising his head to look at her.

“Do not worry my little pony, we will save your fellow ponies and retake Vanhoover from these defectors,” said Celestia, moving her gaze to General Deluxe. “General Deluxe, I want our forces to prepare to defend Canterlot, and send messengers to all the cities and towns near Vanhoover about what has occurred and tell the blacksmiths to prepare my armor for me!”

“It will be done your highness,” said Deluxe, bowing and exiting. Deluxe’s posse exited the throne room, leaving Celestia alone with her guards, Smooth, Emerald, and Zen.

“Now then, I thank you for telling me this Smooth Earth – I believe you should check on your wife, Emerald would you please lead him to the medical wing.”

Emerald nodded and put her helmet back on then led Smooth with her. Once the two left the throne room, Celestia now stood alone with Zen; she moved back to her throne and sat down, looking upon the armored being.

Now what shall we do with you? “Zen – am I correct – while I must thank you for saving my ponies, I believe an award must be given. Go speak to Organize Mess our quartermaster, he should give you the bounty on these bandits you fought. I’ll also have somepony lead you to your room for you-”

“That won’t be necessary,” said Zen, interrupting Celestia.

“Oh, and why so?”

“I have… a good sense of direction, I can find my way to the room and this quartermaster; you have done enough by allowing me to stay in Canterlot,” said Zen, bowing again.

Celestia gave a confused look before it shifted back to her signature smile. I can’t tell if he’s being prideful or not… Whatever it may be, that armor he’s wearing isn’t just for protection.

“But I must ask for a favor,” said Zen, catching her attention.

“Ask for anything, I’ll do my best to make your stay here better.” Zen nodded at that statement before thinking of what he should ask.

I know one of my weapons are here but I shouldn’t tell her that, I also want to try out my weapon still and whatever things I can do… I think that duel with that Warcry pony might be coming in handy after all. “I wish to test my mettle – my skills to say the least – I’ve haven’t fought for a long time, and wish to keep my skills sharpened and mind clear for any situation. I believe a Drill Sergeant called Warcry asked for a duel with me; if it is possible I may fight him, that is all I ask.”

Celestia thought about this then moved to the other pony that stood beside her – possibly a secretary or maid. “Please tell Drill Sergeant Warcry about his duel request for Zen has been accepted, and prepare the duel at the Canterlot Colosseum in two days,” said Celestia, whispering to the mare beside her.

The mare nodded then exited through a side door; Celestia looked back at Zen and nodded. “I find this request acceptable, I myself would like to see the one who defend my ponies, fought these raiders. I hope to find this duel as entertaining and a good morale boost for the troops – Drill Sergeant Warcry is known to bring the newer recruits a tad upset when under his training regime.” I could remember when I first met the pony; he does not let his namesake down, that is for certain.

“Again I thank you for your generosity; I will take my leave, and maybe we may… talk in private sometime.”

“I’d love that; come to the gardens later in the afternoon, you can join for tea if you like,” said Celestia. Zen bowed once more for the final time, and exited the throne room; Celestia saw the size of his weapon, being as big as him and big enough to cut a fully grown minotaur in half. She also saw some of her guards saw the size of his weapon and gulped – whether it was in fear or the fact he could wield such a weapon.

Several minutes after Zen left the Throne Room…

After exiting the throne room, Zen wandered the castle… well to the eyes of others it make look like wandering, in reality, he was mapping each of the castle’s floors and sections – well the areas he has access to of course. Right now he was indeed going to the quartermaster’s office; Jiule mapped and pinpointed each of Zen’s objectives today, listing them down with collecting his bounty first, explore Canterlot for awhile secondly, visit Celestia later in the afternoon, then finally find one of his weapons.

Right now, Zen was going down a hall that should lead to the quartermaster’s office; after taking a turn, he spotted a few doors on both sides of the hallway. Following his mini-map, Zen took the first door to his right; above said door was a said that said, “Quartermaster Organize Mess”. Knocking on the door, Zen gets no response so after a second knock someone responds.

“Doors open, come inside!” shouted a male voice.

Entering inside, what Zen expected to see was not what he thought it be like. Whoa… this place is a mess. The room was three times wider than a regular room and twice as high, as there were boxes, crates, and other stuff that were either stacked, piled, or left on the ground carelessly.

“I’m in the back, and sorry about the mess, we just got a new shipment of weapons from the armory!”

Following the source of the voice – and the blue blip on his mini-map – until he went around some crates. Working on a desk was a big earth pony, who was currently writing something down, the stallion looked gruff and masculine, but held a form of hidden genius behind his chestnut-colored eyes. The stallion still kept his eyes onto what he was writing, occasionally mumbling something about more shields and running out of training dummies.

“If you’re here for that crate of arrows, its over-” Just as the stallion looked up while pointing a hoof to a crate to his side, he finally saw Zen. “...there...”

Zen coughed finally getting this stallion’s attention, standing straighter than before. “Greetings, my name is Zen; Princess Celestia told me to come here to get a bounty on some bandits I executed. Would you be the quartermaster by chance?”

Finally realizing why this… armored thing is here for, the stallion smoothed his unkempt mane and stood back, extending a hoof. “Indeed I am; Quartermaster Organize Mess! You here for a bounty you say? Well just tell me the name, and I’ll look through and hoof you your reward,” said Mess.

Zen shook the stallion’s hoof before he went under his desk and brought out a few wanted posters. “So, who was the fella?”

“Hmmm… I believe his name was Burin, I also killed several of his lackeys… three other minotaurs, and eleven diamond dogs, if I’m correct,” said Zen, in thought.

“Wait, your the one who handled with that piece of cow manure?! Damn, I thought those rumors I heard from those guards were fake; well thanks for handling that piece of crap, he’s been making it difficult for the guard – which included myself – bastards kept looting the bodies, making us restock our supplies and waste resources.”

After finding the wanted poster and several others, Mess pulled a drawer and brought out a metal box. Opening said box with a key, inside were a bunch of golden coins – or bits from what the scanner is calling them – and a few gems. After counting them down, and writing how many was removed from the box onto a piece of paper, Mess shoved the bits into a coin bag and hoofed in to Zen.

Zen took the bag and immediately sent it to his personal storage. “Dang, that’s one neat trick. What did you do?”

“I have a… storage of sorts; its not like a bag or anything, more of a separate space of reality to put away any items I find,” said Zen, trying to explain his item storage.

“…Sooooo… like an enchanted bag that can hold an infinite number of things,” said Mess, simplifying what he heard.

“In a sense, yes; thank you for giving me the reward but… I have zero knowledge what to spend it on, or rather where to spend it.”

Mess had a knowing look and motioned for Zen to come close, but because of his height, Zen had to kneel down until his helmet was directly leveled with Mess’s head.

“New here huh, well I was too so to one traveler to the other, I know a few places you can check out. I know an awesome bakery that sells the best garlic toast, a friend of mine owns the place so just tell her that Organize Mess sent yeah. For that interesting weapon you got, head to the eastern part of the city near the mountain, there you can find some blacksmiths to see that weapon and armor of yours for repairs and the like. Finally there’s a tavern called ‘the Lazy Stallion’ just some distance in between the castle and the southern guard barracks, the owner is called Sweet Liquor, and don’t let his looks fool you, he’s a quite the conversationalist for somepony his size. Now I hope you have a great time here, and good luck.” Organize Mess smiled back as Zen left, the stallion waving his farewells.

Once Zen exited his office, three more objectives appeared – the first was to see this bakery at the marketplace, the second was to go find a blacksmith and finally was to visit the tavern called ‘the Lazy Stallion’ in that order – on his mini-map, all highlighted, including his other objectives.

Which one of these would you like going to first? The nearest is the tavern, but due to the time, I believe it be best we head to this blacksmith first… however, we should gather supplies at this marketplace while we can; the choice is yours in the end.

Hmmmm… getting some information from this tavern would be useful, though getting my stuff checked at a smithy isn’t bad either… but Jiule is right, I haven’t eaten anything ever since I gotten here and while I am not hungry, there’s no problem with getting ready if I do. “The marketplace will be our first destination.

With that Zen headed off to the marketplace, exiting the castle the same way he entered it, the two guards watched him leave but vigilantly until somepony stopped him just as he was leaving.

“HOLD IT! WAIT!”

Zen turned around and saw a blue furred unicorn with an emerald green mane and tail, while at first glance the mare looked unremarkable, but when Zen saw her eyes, they were the same color as that guard that escorted him here – bronze eyes. It’s that guard from earlier, but what does she want?

“Hey, I’m off duty until I’m called later tomorrow, since you’re new here and all, I thought I’d show you around… that and I am famished. So where you want to go? ...Oh by the way, why did you not tell the princess your real name?” asked Emerald, a little curious.

“...If I must be honest, I wasn’t sure ‘Luke’ was my real name. Before I met you and those other ponies, I can’t remember anything from before I came to this land, my real name and the like, everything I once knew is a blank.” Not entirely true, there’s fragments here and there, I know what songs I like and what they’re called but I can’t recall how I knew them or better yet, where they come from. I have a grasp of these simple memories but anything complicating than that is too much… as if something is blocking my ability to recall anything.

“Damn really? You should of told me, told the princess… Well why Zen then?”

“It was one of the names I found with the belongings I found with me, I thought it would be… a fitting name to choose.”

“Speaking of stuff, where do you keep everything you have?” The two began walking, heading to the marketplace – one following, the other leading… or the other way around.

With a short example, Zen brought back the bag he looted from one of the bodies before and the bit bag. Placing the bag of bits into the satchel bag, he slung it until it hang around his torso and on his side. “I’m able to hold things through a – and through the words of another - ‘an enchanted compartment with infinite storage’. While useful, I’ll keep to more practical means of storing things in public; I’d rather not have to explain over and over how it works.”

“Yeah… cool...” said Emerald, sweating. Zen noticed this but before he could ask, Emerald answered swiftly, sighing. “That voice of yours is giving me the heebi-geebies… you might removing that helmet so you can speak normally.”

“Sadly I’d love to, but my armor seems to be stuck on. Whether it has to do with my amnesia or not, but I was planning on seeing a blacksmith later. You may join me if you like after our visit to the marketplace.”

“Sure, I’d like to see that weapon of yours, especially if its being inspected by a professional.”

For awhile the two wandered into the marketplace; Zen went to various of stores that interest him and before long the two headed to the bakery Zen was told about by Crate. Zen has bought several items from the marketplace – these include, a bushel of apples, some water containers, a bundle of rope, a blanket, some cloth, and some flint to start a fire – and due to his intimidating look, a majority of the shopkeepers gave him a discount. This gave Emerald a laugh from seeing every shopkeeper they passed, whimpering in panic.

“That was hilarious, I never seen something like that in my life! Ahaahahah!” said Emerald, finding the thing humorous.

“To be feared is not something I want to have as a common thing.”

“Sorry sorry; anyway, let’s head to this bakery you mentioned, I’m hungry!”

The two finally reached the bakery, and entering inside the bakery had some chairs and tables but the building itself was empty. A mare was by some shelves in the back, before she heard the signature ding from the bell placed on the door. The mare stepped down from the stool she was on and approached her latest customers for their orders.

“Welcome to Sweet Roll’s Bakery, how can I help you?” asked the mare, and glanced at her latest customers. Once seeing them, instead of the fearful look that Zen thought would happen, she gave an intrigued one instead. “Wow, never see anyone like you before; your not a minotuar, way to tall and slim for a minotaur… a dragon maybe? Nah, dragons don’t wear armor, their scales are tough enough without it.”

“I myself am not sure what I am, but I can tell you my name. Zen, and the mare beside me is Emerald; I came here because somepony by the name of Organize Mess said this was a good spot to buy some food,” said Zen.

“Really now, of course that stallion brought you here,” said Sweet, with a huff. “I keep telling him I don’t need help, advertising my wares from him… Well nothing can be done – what can I get you two.”

Emerald approached and spotted the blackboard in the back with a list of different pastries and food to eat. With a good look, Emerald nodded and look back at Sweet Roll. “I’ll have the Canterlot Mountain Roll,” said Emerald, with finality.

“Alright; and what about you big guy?”

Zen glanced at the different foods to choose from… but for some reason, his need for hunger did not arise. “I’m fine actually...”

“Wait really? But you like haven’t eaten anything since we came to this city!”

“Whoa now, what’s this about not eating? I may be trying to sell my wares but I ain’t letting nobody starve themselves on my watch! Now you go buy something, or I’ll force feed you!”

“It is not I am trying to starve myself… rather my need for hunger has literally vanished… And if I even do get hungry, my helmet is sealed shut from being opened at all.”

Sweet gave a sad look, before a thought came to here; suddenly the mare ran to the back through some double doors. A couple of noises were heard – consisting of pots and pans clattering loudly on the ground – when she returned with a little baggy, hoofing it to Zen.

“Try this, nobody can resist my famous ‘Jelly-Filled Bread’, I’m working on another name for them, but so far ponies seem to love them,” said Sweet, proud of her creation.

Opening the bag, inside was a donut with some jelly filled inside, the pastry giving a sweet smell that made Emerald drool. Zen stared at the treat before looking up at Sweet, the mare giving a go ahead gesture with her hooves. After continuing to stare at it, Zen trying putting near his helmet, thinking this to all be stupid.

How in the heck am I going to eat this when I can’t remove my-

Suddenly, something interesting happened; the donut slowly turned into particles like when he does it with his hands, but instead of the particles going into his hands, they want to two slots on the side of the lower part of his helmet. Once the particles entered, Zen felt no, tasted the donut itself as if he were eating it, confused and shocked, Jiule’s voice came up.

It appears that while your need to eat has vanished, which includes your hydration levels, you may still eat and drink with the two vents on the side of your helmet. The vents will turn anything that you consider food into matter, while this matter can be used to consume to replenish aura, it can also be used to repair your armor by using the matter and transferring into repairable material after battles. While armor and aura can regenerate naturally, this will quicken the replenish time even more, so eating after and before fights is important; think of it as keeping up your stamina after a winded fight.

Well, so much for starving, but why am I not hungry anymore… is this suit… keeping me alive?

Zen finally noticed the other two mares looking back at him – Emerald was shocked even more while Sweet Roll seemed to wait with bated breath. “Sooooo… how is it?”

“...It is surprisingly delicious… Also, I think I know a good name. How about… donut?”

“Donut huh… Not bad, yeah, I’ll think I’ll keep it – Sweet Roll’s famous jelly-filled donuts! Hey, tell Organize Mess for thanks for sending you to me, your more of a help than I thought. As thanks, the food’s for free; come by anytime you want.”

Emerald thanks Sweet Roll, as we both exited her bakery, and while Emerald ate her food, we made our way to my next destination. Time to find myself a blacksmith.

Reaching the eastern part of the city was somewhat difficult, due to this part of the city risen to a certain incline, making the pathways here a slope upward. A majority of the buildings were different smithies and stores for weapons, armors, and materials to for other blacksmith to buy.

Zen and Emerald entered the area and for awhile couldn’t find a blacksmith that interested Zen. Thought after sometime, a certain stallion stopped him as he was glancing at some weapons on a few stands.

“Hey you! Tall, big, and intimidating; you interested in me checking that katana of yours?!” shouted a random voice.

Wait, this pony knows what a katana is? Zen turned around but instead of expecting a pony, he saw a minotaur wielding a smithy hammer and wore a large protective apron and heavily covered gloves around his four fingered hands. Scratch that, he's a minotaur.

“They weren’t kidding when some strange armored being came into this city; its rare enough that other species come to Equestria, but your a new level of strange if I have seen anything from this city and the new visitors we get coming here. Name’s Steel Forge, I’m a blacksmith from the Minotaur Lands, and I came to Equestria to improve my skill and spread my name!” said Steel, grinning. “By the way, I noticed you have a katana, and the last time I seen a weapon like that was from south west of here. I travel a lot and I seen a tribe of warriors use weapons like yours… well, maybe not as big or lengthy as yours. May I take a gander at that magnificent piece?”

Zen was unsure to let this minotaur touch his weapon, but since he was the only one to ever know what his weapon was, and with confidence, it was safe to say he was trustworthy enough. Pulling his weapon from his back, he laid on both his hands; Steel put away his hammer to a holster on him, gently lifting the surprisingly heavy weapon – even for him – to his grip. For awhile Steel had to balance himself before gently settling the weapon on a large anvil for inspection.

After some ‘awws’ and ‘ohhhs’ later, Steel looked up at Zen with an amazed and impressed look. “I seen my fair share of weapons through my travels, but whoever made this was a master. Its as if they simply made it out of thin air or brought it into existence! Either way, while there’s nothing I can improve upon this weapon, maybe there is something I can do for you?”

“Actually there is; you see, I had this armor stuck to me for a number of hours and was hoping to find a blacksmith to remove it. If not the armor at least the helmet, as I wish to see my own face,” said Zen, in response.

“Your own face?” asked Steel.

“Dude’s has amnesia, doesn’t even know what he looks like,” said Emerald.

“Whew, now ain’t that just unlucky. I’ll see what I can do, just sit there and I’ll bring my tools.” Steel went back to his forge, going through some things and grabbing some other stuff. While Zen and Emerald waited, the two – or rather Emerald – decided to make the time by conversing with her new acquaintance.

“So, while I know you got amnesia, how long have you been in Equestria?”

“A day at best; I came to this place from the far Frozen North… beyond that… my memory is foggy.”

Emerald seemed to have an ‘oh’ look to her, looking away in embarrassment, Emerald fumbled around with her hooves a little before continuing the conversation. “Well… what do you remember?”

What do I remember? Maybe I can tell her about my interests.

“I seem to have a grasp about my kind’s musical interests, my mannerisms seem to be another sign that my body knows how I’d act on certain situations. My only problem… is that I can't recall any memories of when I’ve ever used said things in certain moments – my interests and the songs I know are there, but any correlating memories to them aren’t. A big part of myself is just… blank, gone.”

Emerald continued to have a sad look on her, when Steel returned with some of his tools. Placing them down beside Zen’s weapon, he cracked his knuckles in a ready position.

“Alright, let’s get that armor of yours off,” said Steel, excited.

For the next few hours, Steel has tried everything to remove Zen’s armor – mostly his helmet – at first he tried gentler methods to not harm Zen from inside, but he said he can’t feel a thing. So after that, Steel has did everything he could; hitting things with a hammer, prying it open with force, clamping certain spots open, and tried to hack it with a saw. None of these worked so after that, Steel gave Zen a goo spit-shine of his armor and weapon and gave his katana back to him.

“Welp, I tried everything I could; that armor of yours is tighter than a virgin cow. While I can’t help getting you outta of your armor, I can repair and clean up your armor from any blood stains on it. I’ll even be your personal blacksmith, if you promise not to visit any other blacksmiths… unless its a female then I won’t blame yeah – every male loves a woman who can handle a weapon these days.” Steel said this, winking at Emerald were she blushed, the minotaur laughed heartily in response.

“I thank you for your services; in the future, I may give you some bits when I can the next time I visit,” said Zen, placing his katana on his back.

“No problem, I did sort of ask to see that weapon so all services today are free. Just remember to visit, and I’ll check that armor of yours for any chinks, and resharpen that sword,” said Steel. “Have a safe journey!”

Zen left the interesting minotaur with Emerald, the two heading back to the marketplace when Zen checked the time. On his heads-up display, on the top between his bars and mini-map was a compass that showed the time and position of the sun and moon. Looking at the time, it was 2:30pm, meaning his small visit with Celestia would be next.

“I must leave you Emerald, I have a visit with someone else right now,” said Zen.

“Really now? Is it a mare; who’s the lucky lady?” asked Emerald, jokingly. Oh if you only knew.

“Something like that, I could also meet you at this tavern called ‘the Lazy Stallion’,” said Zen.

“Sure; now we know you can eat and drink, I want to see how well you can hold your drink. Good luck on your little get-together.” Emerald left, deciding to meet Zen at the tavern; with that Zen went back to the castle to go see a certain sun goddess.

Celestia’s POV – Canterlot Castle, Castle Gardens; 2:40pm

Celestia was enjoying a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake – her favorite, chocolate – under the shade of a gazebo in the gardens. While she did tell Zen to meet her in the garden for some conversation and tea, she didn’t specified when in the afternoon to see her, so she’s waited her for awhile until evening.

Maybe I should of specified the hour of the day he should of sought for me.

“Princess Celestia, I wish to see you.” Celestia looked up and to her surprise, she saw General Deluxe approaching.

“General, what brings you here?” asked Celestia.

“My apologies if I am interrupting your break, but I must talk to you about what that earth pony said this morning. If it is and that the town of Vanhoover has been taken over by some rogue minotaur soldiers, shouldn’t we do something to fix this? I do not wish to question your rule, but I believe we should attack when the enemy least expects it!”

“And leave the capital and other cities defenseless, no; we will wait until signs of any movement from them are made. Until then we shall make our move and retake Vanhoover, and make an example of this invaders for harming my ponies.” Celestia took a sip of her tea, before gently putting it down with her magic. “I know you worry for those still left at the city, but to rush head-on without knowing their numbers is a fatal mistake… However...”

“However, my lady?”

“We could ask for assistance from some… ‘hired’ help,” said Celestia, her thoughts going to a particular warrior. “Specifically, this Zen character.”

“Him? I don’t want to be rude, but I do not trust him; just because he rescued our own doesn’t mean we owe a debt to him. We don’t even know what he is, or where he comes from.” At that same time, a guard came to Celestia and with a bow and salute – the bow to Celestia and salute to Deluxe – he rose back up with a message.

“Sir Zen is here to see you for your afternoon tea, princess,” said the guard.

“Thank you, please bring him here. As for this conversation, we will continue it on a later date, for now make sure our defenses are secure and forces ready when needed.”

Deluxe nodded and left with the guard; several moments later, an armored tall figure approached from the distance. Now then… let’s see what kind of being you are, Zen.

Zen’s POV – Canterlot Castle, Castle Gardens; 2:45pm

After being told to wait, a guard came back to tell him that the princess can now see him; exiting through more double doors, he found himself outside in a garden of some kind. Walking down a marble path, surrounded with various flowers, Zen spotted Celestia sitting a large pillow, drinking some tea on a round table under a gazebo.

He approached his target and once he gotten in speaking range, Celestia spoke while she set down her cup of tea. “Hello Zen, I am glad you decided to see me for tea. Please, sit down and join a cup; would you like sugar?”

Zen sat down on an opposite pillow, the size also big but smaller than Celestia’s by a little. Looking at the before mentioned tea, he motioned for some sugar when a light glow surrounded it.

“Do not worry, you are a guest and I’ll pour you some myself,” said Celestia, insisting. “Now then; sugar?”

“...Two, please...” said Zen, accepting her hospitality.

Celestia nodded, pouring some tea and putting two cubes of sugar, and stirred. After that she gave the cup to Zen who lifted it with one armored finger. The finger itself had a pointed edge and would shatter the cup, if it weren’t enchanted so Celestia didn’t crush it with her natural levitation unless she wished to. Gazing at the cup and its contents, Zen glanced up at her with his small orbs for pupils – she smiled warmly, unfazed by his ever constant glare – then looked back at the cup, sipped.

Well it was more of him putting around the lower part of his helmet, the rest happened on its own. The tea slowly flowed out by an invisible force, as it went inside the vents on his helmet; Zen then placed the tea back down, at least a quarter of the tea gone now.

“The tea was… wonderful, thank you,” said Zen.

“I am happy you like it, but I must ask is why do not remove that helmet of yours? I can see you can clearly drink it, but why must you wear it when you can do so normally?”

Here we go, time to start explaining my situation. Zen started with his journey from the Frozen North, to meeting Emerald and her group, arriving at Canterlot, meeting the blacksmith called Steel Forge and that his armor being stuck but not useless.

Celestia gave a forlorn look, reaching her hoof at an attempt to comfort but resided that idea after what Zen spoken next. “Though… to be honest, because of memories being gone my need to know myself is growing smaller and smaller… I do not think it would matter who I was in the past or what I look like now. Other than that, this armor is keeping me alive in a way; I can still eat and drink but not out of hunger or thirst as the armor seems to negate my natural needs. Sleep doesn’t seem to affect myself or give any of the natural effects of sleep deprivation, but it is a nice way to relax I must say. The armor uses anything I may eat or drink – through the helmet, not naturally – into material to repair or rejuvenate my aura-”

“Aura?” asked Celestia, intrigued by this word in particular.

Zen, I may explain what aura is to her if you like.Wait, how is she going to do tha-

“Greetings, your majesty,” said a feminine voice from Zen’s communicator. Celestia gave a wide-eyed look of shock, before it changed to fascination.

“My word, Sir Zen, you did not tell me you have a spirit companion alongside you,” said Celestia, awed.

That can work; we’ll go with that. “She’s not a spirit – well similar to a spirit, just not the same way – but if you like you can think of her as such.”

“I am sorry if I did not introduce myself at the throne but I estimated that your subjects would not react well from hearing a dis-embodied voice from nowhere.”

Celestia giggled at that, giving a warm smile in return. “You are correct, they’d panic and think Zen was possessed; I can sense no ill will from either you or Zen… May I know your name, spirit?”

“My designated name is JIULE; you may calle me Jiule,” said Jiule.

“Jiule… It is a lovely name; my name is Princess Celestia, but I believe you knew that since the throne room.”

“Indeed I have, but I believe you wish to know what aura is. Well a short explanation of aura is that its the life-force of all living beings; think of it as magic, but on a higher plane of power. Aura is used for any range of things, it is what makes you, you, giving you a range of abilities and powers from your very will. Aura can also be condensed into a physical form called, aura crystals. These crystals come in various kinds but the basic ten are based off the ten elements – fire, light, ice, wind, thunder, earth, wood, water, steel, and darkness – and these crystals each have a synchronous connection with one another while others are stronger or weaker against the other. An example is that fire is stronger against ice but weaker against earth, and syncs perfectly with steel. Each living being has a type of aura, and depending on your aura type you can used different abilities based off your aura, and are better suited or vulnerable from others with aura types that are stronger than yours. Those who can synchronize with another aura can strengthen one another, and those with the same aura only balance one another and the winner is the one with the stronger aura. While majority of beings can hold one type of aura, rare few can hold two as well… creating some interesting combinations.”

Celestia found this information interesting, not only did it gave some interesting insight about a few things, but it could answer some major questions about magic and all living beings. This aura being the life-force of all beings and a form of energy or power would undoubtedly lead to great discoveries.

...It could all be found by a spirit who’s the companion of an unpredictable warrior from unknown lands… Indeed a great obstacle for those who seek knowledge.

“In fact, Zen has the ability to see another being’s aura… We would be interested what kind of aura you have,” said Jiule, mentioning Zen’s Aura Vision.

“Wait, is this true?” Zen nodded in confirming he has the power to see aura – the life-force of a being. Celestia thought of this and found it a worth while experiment to try, and that she was curious what her aura was like. “Alright, I’ll accept this offer; Zen you have my permission to use this… ‘Aura Sight’ of yours.”

For awhile Zen stood still, but Celestia saw a change in his eyes, a small glint but noticeable to tell that something has changed.

Zen went through his different vision settings until he entered in Aura Vision, and what came to his sight nearly caused him to trip over himself. Backing away from what he saw, Zen fell to the bottom of the gazebo, landing face first – or helmet first in this case – to the ground. Celestia gasped and tried to help Zen up when he raised an open palm toward her to stop.

“Hold! I was just shocked at the size of your aura is all… let me prepare myself and I’ll see what kind of aura is yours,” said Zen, still looking away.

Celestia was still worried but understood, slowly backing away until she was sure was a safe distance from Zen. After composing himself, Zen stood back up and looked… and what he saw was miraculous.

Celestia’s aura was surrounded in a yellow glow like the sun, and in its center was a fiery red, but what made Zen stumble back was the sheer size and power it gave off. The aura was brimming with energy, barely bursting from the seams; for a size reference, it was twice the size of the gazebo, and this was her aura in her natural state. Imagine if she were to seriously fight back… holy damn.

“Ummm, Sir Zen… What is the color of my aura? I am curious to know, so please, do not keep me abated with anticipation,” said Celestia, a little embarrassed from being ogled at still.

“Sorry for my rudeness, your highness,” said Zen, deactivating his Aura Vision. “It appears you are a rare case, as you hold two types of auras – fire and light – and to be fair these two make sense as you are the goddess of the sun. These two aura types could explain a bit of your personality if I was looking at them at that way.”

“Ohhh? What was my personality like from seeing my aura then?”

“Well, the red aura represents some form of need to kept a strong hold on your goals and a fiery temper when challenged for what you believe in, but its covered by the warmth of the yellow aura, which symbolizes the optimism you hold in others and the warmth and love you give to those you care for. If I had to give a personality description of these two… I have to say, ‘fiery guardian’; one who defends those they cherish, and will burn those who dare harm those under their care… You are deeply protective of others, whether it is a need that you yourself were defenseless… or that you lost something due to consequences.”

After giving her explanation, Celestia had a far off look in her eye, as if a horrible memory appeared. Zen noticed this and as he approached Celestia to break her from her stupor, she done so before he could, wiping the sudden appearance of tears. “I am deeply sorry… I just found the description from your companion, spot on… Maybe we may continue this conversation a later date,” said Celestia.

Zen continued to give his unnoticed worry, before kneeling down and bringing both his fists to his torso – one on his chest, the other on his back – in a salute that he can’t seem to memorize where he got from. “Of course, I find these small talks of ours… ‘interesting’,” said Zen. Looking up he noticed how late it was starting to get, and noticed Celestia stare upwards too. “I must take my leave as I have things planned in the evening… but, princess...”

Celestia looked at Zen who was preparing to leave; he gave a look that the princess couldn’t decipher, as his helmeted face made it difficult to guess how he felt. For a short while silence reigned when Zen, turned away but continued to speak.

“I may have lost my memories… but I recognized the look of someone who’s lost a love one anywhere… If you request it, I’ll be a shoulder to cry on,” said Zen, leaving.

Celestia stared with complete utter shock, before that shock shifted to a smile; she watched him leave, a lonely wandered from a land faraway, with nary a memory to reminisce about or anyone to go back to. He and my situation may be more similar than I believe… But would he listen and see the part of myself that has been in pain for the last five-hundred years?

Canterlot, The Lazy Stallion; 4:00pm

The sun began to settle, ponies and other manner of beings went to the safety of their homes… while those who walk under the night, do various debauchery things. Zen walked down the now empty streets of Canterlot, heading south to his next destination. Turning a corner he saw his goal at sight, an old wooden tavern with an interesting sign near the front doors; the windows were yellowed and cracked, the wood seemed to creak and molded over, but the sounds inside were quite the opposite for a decrepit place, as the jovial sounds of laughter and talk were echoed from the surprisingly standing establishment.

So… this is ‘the Lazy Stallion’ hmm… Better hope Emerald’s here.

Zen entered, and he came upon a very interesting sight – now inside were various beings from ponies of all kinds, minotaurs, a couple of griffin, and a few zebras, but what really caught his attention was who else was there. A few familiar faces were sighted like, Quartermaster Organize Mess, Drill Sergeant Warcry, and… wait, was that Emerald?

Is she dancing on a table… and DRUNK?!

Emerald was dancing on what the tables, as she levitate to mugs of beer and brought them to her muzzle, guzzling both down instantly. “YEAHHH! WHEOA CAEN BEET MI NOOOKNW HYAE TWORPS! Shouted Emerald, drunk… verily.

“By the deities Emerald, I told you to wait for me… not get wasted,” said Zen, whispering to himself.

The first one to notice Zen wasn’t Emerald but Organize Mess and Warcry; the two stallions motioned for him to come and patted an empty seat for him. Accepting the seat, Zen sat down and met face-to-face with the most burliest stallion he’s ever seen. At first glance, you expect him to be the silent-type of pony correct… that changed when he spoke.

“Hey! Welcome to my establishment buddy, what drink you want? Oh, name’s Knock Out, but call me KO for short!” said KO, extending a hoof jovially.

Zen looked at the hoof and shook it, before gazing at Mess and spoke. “You were not exaggerating when you said he like to… ‘speak’,” said Zen.

“Told you so; by the way, I gotta thank you for what you did for Sweet Roll. She’s been trying to get ponies to buy her new pastries for weeks, that name idea you gave her really helped, ponies are sure to flock over to her soon,” said Mess.

“Speaking of mares, I see Emerald is having a grand time.”

“This happens often, the second that mare touches an alcoholic drink, she holds onto it like a vice-grip. Lass was getting bored when you told her to wait for you here… better do something before you leave,” said Warcry. “Also, I heard you convinced the princess of our duel, no need to get permission from her highness. Getting challenges from a fellow warrior is natural these parts, but get ready to face me in the Colosseum.”

Zen nodded, but before he left, he spoke to Knock Out for some information. “Knock Out, I need some information on how to find any nearby caves here in the city. Do you know where I can find any?” asked Zen.

“Just call me KO… and for caves, don’t you mean the Canterlot Mines? They’re just east past the blacksmith forges, you’ll find a mining elevator, that’ll take you to the lower levels… But why you wanna go there? That place is dangerous, if you don’t know your way around,” said KO, interested.

“I’m… looking for something.” KO looked at Zen with suspicion but gave up, deciding to not bother with his business. “By the way, may I have your strongest beverage, I want to test something.”

“Sure; that’d be five bits.” Zen pulled out his bit bag from the satchel slung to his side, handing the stallion five bits. Later, KO returned with a mug filled to the brim with a brownish liquid. “Now be careful and take simple si-”

The warning wasn’t quick enough as Zen simply grabbed the mug and chugged – or absorbed through his vents – the whole thing at once. It disappeared the second he slammed it to the counter-top; everyone stopped to stare gobsmacked, at the sheer bravery and stupidity that Zen did.

Everyone waited for what would happen… when Zen simply looked inside the mug and gave it back to KO to clean. Taste like mangoes. “Not bad, though to be honest I don’t feel anything,” said Zen, nonchalantly.

At that moment, everyone burst into shouts as they all laughed and sang in merriment at Zen’s action of drinking the most heavy drinks there was. “Dang, I don’t know much about your fighting prowess, but if you can hold your liquor and not feel a thing, then you have my respect,” said Warcry.

“OY NOH FARE! IE CEN DRIK TEAH STOFF!” Emerald ordered the drink as well, but before she could even touch it, she fell asleep like a board, snoring loudly. Zen stared at the now sleeping Emerald, paying for her drink and finishing her beverage herself – which got another round of applause – before he carried Emerald back home.

“Mess, do you know where Emerald lives here?” asked Zen.

“She doesn’t live here nor does she have a room in any the barracks… How about you let her stay at the room Celestia gave you; the room is located at the west wing, and it should be the room with no sign on it. Good luck if she wakes up,” said Mess, smirking.

Zen ignored the stallion idea of a joke, and highlighted his objective; he carried Emerald back to the castle, the mare mumbling something along the lines of Zen being late and that she wasn’t a weakling. Once he found his room, Zen opened the door and found the room to be sizable and roomy – there was a bed big enough for three grown ponies, a writing desk near the window, a wardrobe for clothing, an armchair near a chimney, and a bathroom with a tub big enough for two ponies, and a sink. The room also had a balcony, and while not as big as the other balconies, was big enough for Zen to stand on.

Entering inside, Zen gently place Emerald onto the bed, putting the covers over her but as he was about to stand, Emerald grappled her hooves around his neck. She then started nuzzling beneath his helmet, and while this would get a reaction out of any self-respecting male… Zen felt nothing.

First my no need for food and water, my lack for rest, I’m barely tired, alcohol has no affect on me, and now this… I’d be – or I think I should – be flushing like a tomato… but nothing… am… am I unable to feel anything anymore?

Zen gently removed both of Emerald’s hooves around his neck, and gently placed them on top of her barrel. The mare slept quietly, but before he left, Zen knelt down and brush some of her mane from her eyesight, staring at her sleeping form. Gazing at her like this was… nostalgic for some reason… why was this so familiar.

We should leave for the mines, the sooner we retrieve your weapon, the quicker we can head for this one, the sooner the next will be retrieved.

“Agreed,” said Zen, quietly to himself. Exiting the room, Zen made his destination to the eastern part of the city. “Next stop; the mines.”

Canterlot, Canterlot Mines; 5:50pm

The sun had set and the moon has fully risen, the lunar glow bathing the city in its light; the moon showed the face of a mare if anyone stared upward, sadly Zen had other things to focus on at the time. After passing several forges and armories, he finally reached some caves that were made by the ponies of this city; the caves were half spherical in nature, and inside one of the caves was a wooden elevator to the lower levels of the city.

Entering the elevator, Zen pulled a lever, the mechanisms lower him below the deeper parts of the cave. Once lowered, Zen exited the elevator, and after taking a couple of steps forward, his mini-map changed as a new location name appeared.

Crystal Caves

“So this is where one of my weapons are, can you find the weapon here, Jiule?” asked Zen.

Hmmmm yes, but its exact location I can’t get a read on, all I know is that is is deeper and north of you. Follow this given path and you should be able to retrieve it.

Zen looked at his mini-map and the complicated turns and twists he’d have to take to retrieve this weapon. Welp, let’s get this show on the run.

A few hours of traversing the Crystal Caves later…

Zen climbed a steep cliff-face, and once he reached the top… he saw his prize; on top a naturally made pedestal was a bow made of pure obsidian, the bowstring an onyx color, and was sturdy from plucking it. The weapon laid partially stuck in the rock, so with his katana, Zen pointed it toward the pedestal with both hands gripped at the handle and brought it up.

“Void Slash,” said Zen, sending his sword into a downward strike. From the strike came a slash of concentrated void energy that hit the pedestal, shattering it and freeing the weapon. After putting away his katana, Zen reached for the bow before it vanished into a swarm of particles, and entered his palms.

Suddenly a pop-up appeared and showed the name or names of his new weapons. Weapons acquired: Forever & Wisdom. Path of Infinity unlocked; transformation now available.

Transformation? I can transform?

The weapon known as Forever & Wisdom, follow the Path of Infinity; these weapons are support-type weapons. The bow is used to attack enemies from a distance with its obsidian shard-like arrows, and can transform to a staff that can summon armies of obsidian golems, infused with energy from the Void. Along with using this weapon, a new transformation state is available to you when using these weapons, to better suit the fighting style.

“Jiule, I can transform into different forms, depending on the weapons I gain?”

Indeed, but its best you try them yourselves for a better experience than what I can tell you.

The idea of taking different forms was interesting but before Zen could test his new weapon, a strange portal appeared from above him, when something dropped out. Looking down, the item was a strange silver platter but what was odd was the four symbols and word on it – the four symbols were from order to upper left to lower right; the upper left corner was of some kind of hammer meant more for bashing heads than anything else, the upper right corner showed a vicious looking knife that could make his weapon look weak, the lower left corner was a strange bear plushy with a top-hat an bowtie, the lower right corner was a drawing of a faceless figure wearing a suit with the word no repeated around it, and finally in the center was the word all in capitals. The portal closed off before Zen could find out what was on the other side, going back to examining this strange object.

“Jiule, what is this thing?” asked Zen.

It appears to be a platter with strange symbols, but oddly enough its literally covered in several different energies, one of them being void which means that where ever this thing came from it was from another realm. I can track the source if I just…

Suddenly just as Zen touched it, voices started to come from the platter at the same time, for awhile they were indiscernible from one another. Zen separated the voices and analyzed them, his mind slowing the information to a crawl; displaced, other worlds, other entities, it was all being transferred to Zen’s extensive collection of knowledge.

Intrigued, Zen stored the strange object, and returns back to the surface – traveling down the varying tunnels and underground caverns. Once making it back to the surface, Zen makes his way to a distant tower in the center of Canterlot. This day got interesting...

Author's Notes:

The next chapter is going to take place with a crossover with this fellow's story: The Faceless Ones

Now I'm thinking of he writes his perspective on things, I write mine or something to extent like that. Either case, first crossover, and Zen's going to learn that he's not the only one far from home.

Update: Zen doesn't get sent into another world in this version; for now no crossovers just yet sadly

Thoughts: Celestia
Zen