Regular Sunday Update, AWAY!!

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“No way.” The mare behind the bar, Berry Punch, didn't believe a word of Reman's story.

“I'm telling you, the man found his way into the cargo hold,” The Imperial paused for a sip, whatever this was, it burned his throat on the way down. “Gutted the captain in his quarters, and escaped, the pirate crew was none the wiser.”

“How did he even get in?” A gruff, old stallion asked. His attitude said 'cargo shipper', probably spent his entire life on at sea, age must have taken that from him.

“That's the thing: most of the crates were empty, the crew didn't know exactly how many, though. They must have loaded him up by accident.” Reman didn't know if the story was true or not, but it did make for great smalltalk. “You're up, Hard Hat.” An Earth pony stallion grinned.

“OK, so, this one time...”

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“Why'd ya do that, sis? Mister Reman didn't want to hurt nopony.” Applebloom asked.

“Mister Ray-what? What in Equestria are ya talkin' about?” The older mare was still calming down.

“Mister Reman,” Sweetie Belle began, “He saved us from timber wolves, just up the road.”

“I certainly didn't see a new stallion anywhere.” Rarity looked around, trying to find whoever her sister was referring to.

“Well, he's not a pony, he's a, what was that word again?” Scootaloo, the tomboy of the CMC, hadn't given her full attention to Glade earlier.

“Lycan,” The older mare finished, which caused eyes to turn to her. The Pegasus was never good in front of crowds.

“Thanks. Lycan, wait, isn't that like moss?” Glade giggled at the orange filly.

“They are similiar words, but they have very different meanings.” The Pegasus smiled, Glade liked foals, despite common belief at the barracks.

“The meaning we don't know is what, exactly?” Twilight Sparkle, apprentice to the Princess, could not comprehend those last few minutes. She wasn't being mean or anything, she was just shocked. It wasn't every day that a monster strolls up to the local bakery with three fillies on its back. Even for Ponyville, with its odd string of events centered around the Elements, this was strange. “Please, enlighten us.”

“Um, could we lose the crowd? I don't do so well with eyes on me.”

“Take our eyes off you? So you can get away? I don't think so.” A rainbow maned Pegasus hovering above the crowd had said that. Rainbow Dash, that was a familiar face, Glade had gone to Junior Speedster Camp with her.

“We can talk in the library if you'd like.” Twilight was the kind of pony that liked to keep the peace, good, the last thing they needed was violence.

“Lead on, Miss Sparkle.”

“Please, just Twilight.”

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“... to this day, we still have not found that plunger.” That was, without a doubt, the greatest story Reman had ever heard in his life. Even though its content left everyone in the room a little red in the face, Hard Hat's tale rivaled those of the greatest bards. “Your turn, Berry.”

“You and everypony else has heard every yarn I have to spin. Why don't you go again, uh, I don't think I caught your name, stranger.”

“Sorry, that was rude of me. My name's Reman, and I’d be happy to go again, gotta show up Hard Hat somehow.” The Imperial thought for a moment, trying to find some great tale or legend. His face lit up when he knew just which one to tell. “It all started two hundred years ago, in the Imperial City, the prison to be precise.” No one at the bar expected a story about jail.

“Emperor Uriel Septim the Seventh was fleeing the Palace. Assassins had claimed the lives of his sons, and it was up to the Blades to ensure his escape to safety.” The Imperial paused for another drink, he was developing a taste for the burning liquid. “Their escape route led them through a certain dungeon cell...”

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Princess Celestia's directions had been correct. Twilight's library home was, indeed, near the center of Ponyville, in a hollowed out, yet still living, tree. It struck Glade as odd, why keep flammable material inside more flammable material? The Pegasus knew Twilight had a dragon, which only raised further questions. The door clicked behind the seven mares, locked by Glade's request.

“So, where should we begin, Miss Spar-, sorry, Twilight?” Glade's mind had been going a mile a minute during their little stroll. Reman should have been back by now, whatever was holding him up had better be worth it, the Pegasus was going to give it to him when he finally showed up.

“I suppose we could start with the monster you walked into town with.” Twilight Sparkle, for what it's worth, was calm when it came to problems that didn't directly endanger her and her friends. It was a wonder that a monster running around Ponyville didn't set off warning bells in her head.

“Right, Reman, that's his name.” Glade was trying to find the right words, she was never an eloquent pony. “He calls himself a 'human' but he's also part of a race called the 'Imperials'.”

“So, he's not from Equestria?” Twilight was taking notes, ever in pursuit of knowledge.

“By Celestia, no. His home is called Nirn, with countries I’ve never even heard of.”

“So, he's from some other country, don't give him no right to walk around like he owns tha place.” Applejack was still a little agitated from earlier, she took her sister's safety very seriously.

“It's not that he meant any harm, he lost control at the Festival, but that was a one-time thing.” Glade didn't have complete faith in the Imperial, but the Princesses had assured her that he was noble in his intentions.

“If he lost control once, can't it happen again?” Twilight wasn't looking up from her parchment.

“Think about it, earlier, he didn't attack.” The Pegasus paused, trying to think of what Reman would say about himself. “He has free will, and uses it to the most benefit.” Glade knew she was on a line of thought she could exploit. “Wouldn't that have been the perfect time to act like a wild animal?”

“I suppose you're right.” Twilight dipped the quill in ink. “Now, what's a lycan?”

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Reman had been talking for three hours. His audience listened with rapt attention, eager to hear the conclusion of the Oblivion Crisis. He'd just gotten to the Champion of Cyrodiil opening the doors of Sancre Tor.

“But, that's all I can say, for now.” Reman had finished his old drink, settling now for some rather cheap beer. “I need to be on my way, important business and all.”

“Ever coming back?” Berry Punch asked, just as eager to hear the conclusion as everypony else.

“Of course, this is the only place that serves alcohol that I'm aware of, it's not like I have a choice.” Reman chuckled with that last bit, he actually enjoyed this place, but swapping stories for six hours can drain a man. “I'll be back as soon as I can.” The Imperial rose from his seat, why they had bar stools he'd never know, Reman had given up on trying to understand a lot of the items the ponies had that didn't fit their physiology. But eating utensils still irked him.

“Before you go, here's your change.” Berry handed (hoofed?) a bag of coins to him, larger than when he walked in. Before he could ask, Berry explained. “You payed with gold bits, way more than you needed to. So, you have most of the gold ones, plus some silver bits, and a whole lot of copper bits.” Reman would have to ask Twilight about their money system. If his suspicions were correct, he was walking around with a lot of money, and experience taught him that flaunting money attracted the wrong kind of attention. With a nod to Berry and a wave to the other patrons, the Imperial went out the door.

Where he immediately received a horn in the groin. Reman hadn't hit the ground that hard in years, nor had he received an injury like that in an equal amount of time.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!” His 'assailant' was a white Unicorn with a blue mane and tail, her red eyes contrasted pleasantly with the color scheme. The mare was polite, even helping him up, the Unicorn added, “My name's Vinyl Scratch, what's yours?” She didn't seem put off by his appearance in the slightest.

“It's Reman, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Scratch.” Reman held out a hand, which the Unicorn shook.

“Just call me Vinyl, being called Miss Scratch makes me feel old.” Vinyl had a wide grin on her face. Friendly and energetic, a strange combination to find on Nirn, but Reman was no longer on Nirn, a fact really needed to get so he'd quit comparing the two worlds.

“You don't seem like the kind to visit bars, Vinyl.”

“Nah, I just work the club, I don't drink much.” She sniffed the air, then covered her nose. “No offense, but your breath smells like someone set a brewery on fire, most ponies would be on the ground by now.”

“What can I say? I just hold my alcohol well.” That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely true, either. Reman's beast blood prevented him from getting drunk, his system just burned through the stuff too quickly for it to affect him. The two shared a laugh.

“I've never seen you in town before, you new?”

“Yes, just got in today, actually.” A look of apology crossed the mare's face.

“Sorry about your welcome party, a monster kind of crashed it.” To Vinyl's great surprise, Reman started laughing.

“It's alright, I think I had it coming, anyway.” Reman dusted off his improvised Legionnaire battledress, it was really just a manly skirt, but he'd punched out more than his fair share of people who called it that. “I enjoyed talking, but I need to be on my way.”

“That's fine. Hey, maybe you can catch my show sometime!” Her smile was back to being huge.

“I'd like that.” Reman gave a smile as the two went their separate ways. The Imperial noticed the streets were oddly empty for this time in the evening.

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“That's quite a lot to think about.” Twilight had gone through twenty sheets of parchment, filled both with Glade's information and her own speculations.

“I'm glad Reman stashed some notes in my bag, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to tell you all that.” Tension had gone down, but was still present, despite Glade's best attempts. The lycanthropic pony had needed the Imperial here hours ago, she hadn't remembered most of what Reman had said on the subject, but she kept Twilight busy and answered any questions the elements had.

“Where do you think he is?” That was Fluttershy, by Glade's guess. Unfortunately the dossier Princess Celestia had provided hadn't included pictures of the timid Pegasus, apparently she was camera shy after a brief career as a model. The lycanthropic mare didn't understand why the Element of Kindness was concerned about the Imperial, but she thought it may have been connected to her love of animals.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea.” Glade said flatly. While both the Princesses had given her explanations on the Imperial's behavior, she was still largely in the dark about him. For all she knew he was chasing cats through the local park and licking his genitals in a poor excuse for a bath. The Pegasus was now aware that her last bath was two days ago, and following her previous train of thought, licking herself clean. Glade had never felt so disgusted in her life.

There was a knock at the door. Twilight briefly wondered if that was her guests finally showing up, but she dismissed the thought. The purple Unicorn opened the wooden door, half expecting somepony to be returning a book, or looking to borrow one. What she did not expect was the sight of a white cloth, which was wrapped around the midsection of a bipedal creature she didn't recognize from any of her books.

Its furless skin was an incredibly light pinkish tone. A patch of short, brown hair rested on its round head. Its face was flat, with no muzzle or snout, but a triangular protrusion on its face probably functioned as its nose. Its forelegs ended in dull claws, similar to the paw of a monkey. The creature was covered in lean muscle, perhaps it was predatory in nature, built for the chase of prey with enough strength to finish the job.

The creature's paw(?) held an envelope, bearing the Royal Seal. Its mouth turned upward, was it smiling at the purple Unicorn? The creature held the parcel to her, and Twilight reluctantly accepted it. To her surprise, Princess Luna had written it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As you may be aware, my sister sent ahead for two ponies, and for you to prepare a place for them to rest. If you are reading this, then you have met at least one of the two. The creature before you is Reman, and I assure you that he means no harm to you or your friends. He is visiting on Royal business and is in need of your assistance. If you have questioned them, as I suspect, you are already aware of Summer Glade's condition.

Reman seeks a cure for her, and to a lesser extent, himself. I expect your full cooperation in this matter. Make us proud, Twilight, both my sister and I have complete faith in you.

Princess of the Night,

Luna

PS: Have fun, Celestia

“Well, that was something else.” Twilight thought aloud.

“It most certainly is, little pony.”

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