Twilight Sparkle did not like to be taken by surprise. Unfortunately for her, Reman was always a little shocking when first met. The studious mare and the lycan locked eyes, neither moving an inch. The Imperial spoke first, well, he tried to, anyway.

“You don't look so tough.” Reman had been interrupted by a cyan and rainbow Pegasus. Rainbow Dash, Reman had skimmed her dossier, mostly just read the report on her behavior. Dash was cocky, hardheaded, and loyal to those she trusted. The Imperial could work with this.

“Oh, and who are you?” For the third time today, Reman speaking didn't surprise any of the ponies.

“I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria and future Wonderbolt!” She puffed out her chest, her face displaying unnecessary amounts of pride and confidence. Reman was wondering why she was flying indoors, the thoughts were completely unrelated, but his mind worked like that.

“Never heard of you.” The ego is the softest part of the body, and this mare was no exception. Her expression fell slightly, pride replaced with anger.

“Oh yeah? Well I’ve never heard of you, either.” For some reason she thought that would get under his skin, Rainbow Dash failed at this. In reality, Reman was pretty much unheard of on Nirn, excluding the Frozen Hearth, of course. But the fact that he held no fame didn't bother him, but the case was likely the opposite for the multicolor mare.

“You want to make something of it?” Reman raised his voice slightly and stepped forward. Dash respond by flying towards him, stopping inches away, at eye level.

“What if I do?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, they were still way too big for her head in Reman's opinion. The Imperial responded with the same, on him, the expression looked threatening, instead of Dash's comical countenance.

“Could you... um please stop fighting... it's scary...” The voice was soft enough to strain Reman's hearing, that must have been Fluttershy. Her dossier did her timidness no justice, the Imperial thought the yellow Pegasus would faint if she heard a thunderclap. But regardless of her, admittedly weak, attempts, the two did not back down. Dash growled in an effort to intimidate the Imperial, an effort that was severely wasted.

“Yes, please, this is no way for civilized ponies to behave.” A white Unicorn said that, three identically cut gems adorned her flank, Rarity was the name provided by the Princess. Attempts to calm the two failed again, with Reman getting closer to Dash, their noses touching. The pair stared each other down, violence threatening to erupt at any moment.

That's when they started laughing. As though somepony had just told an incredible joke, the Imperial and Pegasus were holding their sides, tears forming in their eyes from the force.

“You're not so bad,” Dash said, catching her breath.

“Neither are you.” Reman wiped a tear, still chuckling. “Could you believe the looks on their faces?” A grin had made itself known.

“They were so scared,” Dash started laughing again, oblivious to the harm that the others perceived Reman capable of. Everypony thought he played the part of monster a little too well, even Pinkie had been petrified by his predatory facade. The group tried to shake it off, but the Imperial was too convincing, the information Glade provided had nothing to convince them.

“What's with the looks?” Reman broke the, now awkward, silence. He didn't like people staring, and the large eyes of the ponies didn't help. Why were their eyes so big? “Was it something I said?” The Imperial had a sheepish smile, he didn't like scaring women, well, mares in this case. He was, however, fine with killing women that attacked him, if they were armed and posed a threat.

“I think it was what you did.” Glade had been completely unaffected by him. The lycan Pegasus waved a hoof in front of Fluttershy, “Hello, anypony home?” The timid mare didn't flinch, or even blink, at the sudden intrusion. “I think you broke her.”

“Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie, Fluttershy, could you come here?” Twilight wanted to clear the air, and she'd need Rarity's tact to get on Reman's good side, if he had one. The Imperial was scary, that was a given when meeting anypony for the first time, but Princess Celestia had sent Twilight to Ponyville to learn and try new things, this was just another lesson in friendship. Or so she kept telling herself.

In truth, the lycans , and Twilight did mean both, were unknown quantities, variables that could be anywhere within a infinite number of extremes. Reman had appeared nervous, his eyes shifted around and he constantly watched the windows for anypony who may be looking in. Glade appeared to be a no-nonsense kind of mare, her bleached coat and blue, dyed mane spoke for that, one of Celestia's royal guardsponies could be trusted. The kitchen door clicked as it closed

“Now, we can get started.” Twilight gestured to Rarity, who had long been back to normal. The white Unicorn went to her friend's side, the whispered whispered to each other. Reman and Glade shared a look, both hearing them perfectly, it seemed Twilight wanted to lie with the dogs, metaphorically speaking. The two broke up their conference just as Reman and Glade passed a silent message.

“Well, I suppose introductions are in order.” Twilight bowed, or was that a curtsy? “I am Twilight Sparkle, apprentice to Princess Celestia and bearer of the Element of Magic.” Rarity stepped forward, poise and grace all around, now Reman thought she was a Breton pony.

“My name is Rarity, dress maker extraordinaire, and holder of the Element of Generosity.” She curtsy/bowed as well. Reman made a mental note to ask which it was later. “If I may be so bold, your skirt is marvelous.” The Most Backhanded Compliment in History Award goes to... “Simplicity is in this year, after all.” Wait, what? Reman neglected to read Rarity's file, which he now admitted, was a mistake.

“Ah'm Applejack, mah family runs Sweet Apple Acres, the farm just outside Ponyville.” The orange pony tipped her hat. A farmer, likely a hard worker, she must have been Apple Bloom's older sister. A farm meant food, Reman would likely purchase some rations from the Apple family.

A pink bolt of energy flew at the Imperial. Reman didn't even have time to react to the threat. The disturbance of nature and magic was two shades of pink, mane and tail resembling that fancy spun sugar the had in Elsweyr.

“Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, number one party pony in Ponyville!” The pink one had a smile that appeared unnaturally large. It seemed Sheogorath had gotten here before Hircine, if ponies like this walked around. “Sorry about the party, but we thought you were going to hurt somepony! Not that you're mean or anything, unless you are, but then you wouldn't be here, right? I mean, Gilda was mean, but she didn't hide it, but you're not hiding anything right?” How did she say all that with a single breath without losing wind? Pinkie looked like she was expecting an answer.

“No, I'm not mean.” Reman said with a smile. One would think showing teeth that were meant to rend flesh from bone. But, surprisingly, the pink pony took that as encouragement, even giving a 'thumbs up', the Imperial didn't even want to know how she managed that without fingers. His little show of human niceness, or pony niceness as the case may have been, had given a timid, yellow Pegasus enough reason to have her voice known.

“My name is... Fluttershy,” Her resolve had taken a sharp downward turn, Reman looking her dead in the eyes may have been a contributing factor. Had he violated some cultural law? Surely not, the Princess would have informed him of such, unless she was trying to be polite by humoring him. Reman averted his eyes and chuckled, trying to seem friendly.

“Take your time, we have all night.” The little, yellow Pegasus flinched at his voice, still scared. Fluttershy looked around, meeting the eyes of her friends. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie gave an affirmative nod, AJ gave a shrug, Dash just smirked. Each of Fluttershy's friends gave approval, eager to get her on equal ground with the Imperial. The yellow mare took a deep breath, then spoke again.

“I take care of the animals around here.” She looked at him, more specifically, his injuries, both new and old. Fluttershy didn't like what she saw, was that rage in those eyes? Reman hadn't seen a pony this mad before, it was a little frightening, despite Fluttershy's most likely frail body and gentle disposition. “Who did this?” The little Pegasus flew to the Imperial, and began inspecting him.

“What kind of pony would do this?” Did she not get that he was a warrior? Wait, Glade didn't know that, so there was no way for any of the Elements to know. “Are these cuts? Did somepony torture you?” Reman prayed for Stendarr to grant mercy on Fluttershy's enemies. “Oh you poor thing!” Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders, then immediately remembered who she was hugging, and flew behind her friends. “I'm sorry.”

Reman laughed, not at the Pegasus, but her behavior. Fluttershy obviously couldn't bare the thought of someone causing harm to an animal. The Imperial wasn't even agitated about being thought of as an animal. One could not harbor anger for the yellow pony, nothing made of flesh was wired to do so.

“I suppose it's my turn to go.” Reman took a deep breath. “My name is Reman, I’m an Imperial from Cyrodiil. From what I’ve been told, I’m a pretty decent guy.” He looked at the ponies around him, with the exception of Glade, and smiled. “I'm certain you are curious about my reasons for being in Ponyville.”

“Nope, not a bit, Glade told us all about it.” Pinkie said with a smile. Reman stopped thinking, he didn't have to give a long winded explanation?

“Yeah, the notes you gave me answered every question they had.” Glade gave, her hoof held out like a person explaining something.

“I'm glad your information was so thorough, but, why are lycans weakened by softwood floors?” What? Who had given them fake information?

“I didn't give you any notes, Glade.”

“Then... who did?” Reman thought for a moment. Who would enjoy tricking the Elements by providing Glade with false information? The culprit would have to be smart, they relied on Reman ditching the lycan pony in town, leaving the Pegasus to explain the situation. Luna was ruled out, she cared about his opinion too much for this little stunt, that left two more individuals: Celestia and the guard that had given them the backpacks. The answer dawned on the Imperial.

He was going to kill Celestia if he ever saw her again.

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Can anyone explain whats going on with the search feature? I saw a story that was updated today on Page 13, way behind fics that haven't been updated in weeks, and I just want to know what's going on.