A New Beginning

Chapters

Chapter 2 Shell Shock Awakening (Revised)
Chapter 3: Attempt at "Friendship" (Revised)
Chapter 4 Solar Sun Celebration
Chapter 5, *Interlude*: Royal Intrigue.
Chapter 6 Equestria is Unfair.
Chapter 7 Roads Left Untread
Chapter 8 Starting Over
Chapter 9 Friendly Introductions. Hi, my name is... Wait, what?
Chapter 10: Bats...I Hate Bats...
Chapter 11: Introverted as ever
Chapter 12 The Weekend Freakend.
Chapter 13 Cold Truths
Chapter 14: The Day After It All...
Chapter 16: New Beginnings (Revised)
Chapter 17: Just one of those days.
Chapter 1 The Beginning... (Revised)
Chapter 15 : Yo Ho’ Me Hearties and a barrels of… Cider.

Chapter 2 Shell Shock Awakening (Revised)

<><><><><>Chapter 2: Shell Shock Awakening.<><><><><>

Revised 12/27/21 - 1/24/22

With an intense gasp I snap awake the scratches on my pod are not there- however I manage to introduce my face into it with a sudden jerk forward. With a yelp, I clasp my nose tightly as I feel a trickle of what I assume to be blood quickly I put pressure on the nostrils and tilt my head back.

“Pod Cycle Sequence Engaged- Suspended Animation cycle time is ….. Nine-Nine Nine-Nine; Critical Error detected. Pod locks disengaging in-

"Three”

“Two”

“One”

At first, both of the glass sliding doors open until one gets stuck halfway and slams open shattering into a million pieces sending fragments everywhere. I shield my eyes before rolling out of the pod and hitting the floor; for the first time I take a slow breath of air- I was expecting a pleasant gasp of fresh air- only to be greeted with an extremely pungent odor of rot and decay; I nearly gag from the awful stench as I cover my mouth with my hand.

I take two of my fingers and try to clear the slight blur to my vision, eventually, I see the pod is giving off an almost “completely done for” blue glow, However, the control panel shows that the pod has exceeded its running protocol by nearly a thousand times over there are multiple error codes their code numbers show a complete system fault being present, however, somehow the data is accurate up until it froze and broke. Among the errors is a proxy warning stating that the system cannot begin the pod cycle after the predetermined thawing period.

‘I know it's a bad time but- you’re alive? Congratulations for at least waking up and still having that little voice in the back of your head.’

Should I be ecstatic that my consciousness is still bothering me…

‘………’

Thought so.

Taking a moment to look around I see the photo of ash still in the pod. It ripped slightly when I rolled out of the pod. Dusting off some of the glass shards that are still on me and pinching my nose at the same time I scoop it up and put the photo into my pocket for safekeeping.

With another examination of the room I feel for a light switch I finally find one in the fold-out kitchen area- I flick it up and much to my surprise a couple of lights buzz on for a moment to reveal the place is an absolute dump. Everything - and I mean everything's a mess there's multiple inches of dust everywhere, cracks in the ceiling moss on the floor rotting couches. Even the blankets I used to cover the couches are rotting and falling apart.

A moment later the lights buzz out and another explodes, adding yet more glass to the gradually increasing amount on the floor. Now it's pitch black and I haven't a clue what, when, and where I am. With careful footing and the sound of crunching glass under my boots, I try to look at the pod for any sort of indication of what year it is suddenly I feel a really bad migraine begins to take over.

The panel flickers but with a firm smack on the side it lights up fully. I carefully go through the logs, the touchpad barely responding to my finger as I try to scroll through the records.

“Cryostasis engaged 2050, Stage 1 check-in at 2055. Failed- Emergency disengaged deployed - Malfunction detected- Patient vitals stable- Override engaged, resuming to stage 2.”

From there on the message is repeated over 400 times before it finally shorted out and simply gave up recording the data, the errors started cropping up around 200. With a slight chuckle I shut the panel off disregarding the records; because if I am to believe the data- that would put me to sleep for a whopping 2000 years.

“Bah- that piece of shit broke years ago. I’m gonna go outside and see that maybe a decade has passed by and structure returned to the world.” I say with confidence as I feel around my surroundings. Unfortunately not looking very well because not a moment later I get my boot caught on what I suppose is a loose cable or something because not a microsecond later I am busy eating shit, face-first into the moldy concrete.

"Ow! You son of a motherfucking-" I curse to myself as I pick myself up off the floor and feel around for a suitable surface to help get myself off the floor at this point my nose is gushing out the red stuff real fast as I can hear the pitter-patter of it dripping on the floor. With a bit of luck, I manage to feel around and find the leg of what I surmise to be one of my dining room chairs. With some effort I get myself up only for the chair to crunch under my weight- and suddenly I find myself once again on the floor.

“I swear to fucking god I am going to kick the shit out of whoever made that fucker.” I get up slowly grab what's left of said chair and throw it against the wall with enough force to shatter it the rest of the way.

“Bitch.”

‘YEAH, you tell that chair whos boss!’

By now my vision has started to adjust to the very dim lighting, the only thing keeping it from being completely black in here is the pods currently failing systems.

Feeling around some more I finally manage to locate the wall and make my way to where I stored my shake light. With some rummaging around I finally get my hand on it and give it a whirl only to find it not working.

"Well… that's inconvenient."

With a disappointed sigh, I feel my way to the lower door that leads to the stairs to the surface- I eventually find them and instead of walking up to them I gradually crawl up them and save my body from any more “owwies”.

I feel around some more this area is completely blacked out, I find the handles and with a deafening squeal one of them unlatches and some unknown debris falls on my face- I presume to be rust from the latch. With a good firm grasp on the second handle, I yank with all my might, the handle buckles and starts to bend.

"Oh don't you fucking dare." I sit down and take my boot and with the most powerful curb stomp, I can muster I kick it sending the handle open and snapping in two.

"This piece of shit…"

'now can you get it opened…'

I brace my shoulder under the heavy door and with a huge grunt, I start to put my weight into the massive reinforced door. At first, it doesn't budge but with a second attempt, I see a tiny crack of sunlight. A glimmer of hope, I continue my damnedest to press into it until finally It gives way and swings open; unfortunately not before my shoulder cracks from being pushed out of place with a very awful sounding popping noise.

The lid swings open as I grasp my shoulder in agony, the door slams onto the ground as the power of the sun blinds me with such force I nearly fall back down the stairs from whence I came. I shield my eyes for a moment the sun is so bright I can see red in my hands- at first, it looks like it worked, I indeed was put into sleep long enough for the nuclear winter to dissipate.

Eventually, my eyes adjust enough to where I can blink and see my surroundings; my house is… gone. Everything from the neighborhood homes to the shattered remains of their homes is completely gone- replaced by massive trees. My bunker is squarely inside a convenient spot where the trees left a hole in the canopy for light to pass through.

I'm in utter disbelief, there's not a trace of civilization here- perhaps there's something nearby, and simply this area was marked as a hazard zone and nature has simply reclaimed the area.

"This...this can't be right. I was supposed to be asleep for 20 years. Surely a forest this large couldn't have sprouted that fast. Surely not…

With another look around I try to find any indication of civilization in the area- with that being said I look back down the flight of stairs I crawled out of I can see the moss and overgrowth sprouting from the cracks in the floor.

'Maybe the pod wasn't mistaken about how long we were asleep.'

God, I hate this fucking voice in my head, can you shut up.

'Hey, don’t hate me just cause I’m beautiful, maybe if you were a little saner I wouldn’t be here to keep your sorry ass company.'

I walk down the stairs back into the shelter I reach into the closet where I stored the flashlight and grab my bayonet knife from the back it's still wrapped up, I quickly undo the wrappings and see the outside leather is degraded- but the knife itself is mostly spotless of rust, clip it to my side, besides it in a gun rack is the rifle I found- if it's been 20 years or longer… the odds of the ammo being usable and stable enough to shoot is extremely low. For now, I'll stick with my knife and hope for the best, a glance down at my watch- which is still somewhat functional indicates it's around 17:00. (5 PM)

With no other options and the day coming to a close I climb my way back out of the shelter and look at the ominous dark forest.

-Side note, I've always had a fear of forests and this is about as bad a nightmare scenario gets for me.

With some hesitation, I take a step into the woods, my hand over the handle of my blade. It went from suddenly extremely bright out to moody dark the moment I wandered in. If my sense of direction is correct to the left of my bunker is where my base was. That should be due South. From there I can have at least an educated guess as to where to head.

As such, I venture deeper and deeper into the forest Hoping upon hope I find something or a way out of the forest. Unfortunately, it isn't meant to be, I take a misstep and fall into a large puddle of mud, thankfully not my entire body but my legs up to my groin are now bogged with mud.

"Great…" I hoist myself through it and continue on my way making progress onwards lucky me I come across a pretty wide river- which… I don't remember being there before anyways I walk into it only to find it's up to my knees deep, enough to get the mud off, after oh I don't know thirty-ish minutes I got most of the mud off, and with the help of a nearby tree and a good run up and a whole lotta pain; I pop my shoulder back into its socket before continuing. The forest however seems like it's getting darker and I am finding no indication or visual cues. Quite suddenly a branch snaps to my immediate right and left in the brush reorienting my attention to my surroundings.

That branch is followed by a low pitch growl as I look around there are at least two hostiles here, I draw my blade out and keep my body oriented to the sound not giving them a clear shot at my exposed back. The growl only continues to get more intense as I continue backing up keeping my guard held high shielding my face with my arms and keeping the knife blade facing out ready to strike if need be. In an instant, silhouettes of what I presume are wolves leap out of the clearing towards me with such ferocity that I am already on the ground before even having the split-second chance to defend myself.

The one directly on top of me snaps in my face using one of my arms I push into the crest of its neck only to find that the fur on this thing is so coarse it seems to puncture my skin as I try my hardest to keep this thing off me. Using my one free arm I land the knife into what I presume is its head and suddenly as fast as it had come to kill me the thing quite literally explodes into a million pieces- after seeing its buddy being dealt with it seems to lose interest rather quickly as it turns tail back into the forest its whimpering getting distant quickly. I pick myself up and dust off and sheath the knife into its holster and turn around back the way I… came?

“Ah which direction did I come from…” I say to no one in particular my voice echoing in the clearing, Picking any direction at this point I resume my quest to find any civilization.

<><><><><>Approximately an Hour Later.<><><><><>

“Uhg… This is hopeless…” I plop down on a tree stump after what I presume to be at least an hour or more by now I can’t tell with hardly any light in this shitty forest. It also was not a good thing that I encountered whatever the hell that was in the forest earlier. Some light managed to shine through the treetops revealing my arm to be soaked in blood and tree branches sticking out of my skin, some of which are a few inches long; really bad splinters the adrenaline wore off a short while after the encounter...

My attention is brought out of my thoughts as my watch beeps to let me know supposedly another hour has passed by.

“Fortune favors the bold; what a load of bullshit.” I pick myself up again and push onwards in a straight path, unfortunately, I haven’t found a single landmark from where I came, I presume I am going in another direction entirely. I continue trudging over roots and vines until I see a bright light less than a hundred or so feet away. Instantly my stamina picks up I take off full sprint for the opening I leap through the clearing into a lighter forested area and a small stream that goes into the forest.

A glance around at my surroundings, the trees make way to what appears to be a dirt pathway leading what I presume to be.

‘Civilization… At last.’

At this point I take a good long look at my arm which has no less than a dozen sized branches in it from whatever explosive was used on me; with better judgment, I decide to endure the agonizing pain and press onwards and find someone who can patch me up. Surely medicine by now has improved vastly. With a smile on my face, I follow the dirt path coming to a stone bridge that goes over the stream, I cross it quietly I see a ton of horseshoe imprints on the ground, perhaps this area has now become more urban and has been turned into an agricultural area now- at this point, I also notice what looks like solid lines paralleling the hoof prints signifying horse-drawn carts?

I stop and kneel examining them closer- the prints are fresh.

"What the hell is this- Somethings not right here." Despite what I see, I shrug it off surely there's a reason that can explain this, perhaps this area is now Amish or something.

I get to the crest of the hill and find to almost my shock and horror, thatch-roofed homes in what I can only describe as something straight out of a fantasy land gone wrong. A village made of stone and thatch rooves and architecture that looks like it came back in style from the 1600s- and paint that would make you vomit from the mere sight of it. Not only that but the only thing moving around the town at this exact moment are mini horses- I guess you’d just call that a pony then. Loads of small ponies wandering around the area. Some seem to be conducting business or something as they go about their day.

At this point I am at an utter loss for words; completely baffled by what I have stumbled on. Perhaps maybe twenty years in the making the mutations of animals have made them more useful perhaps that's all that has survived and humans are using them to help in the rebuild.

You can’t keep denying that something isn't right here. Not since what we saw and heard in that pod. You cannot keep ignoring that.

I clasp my head as a powerful and extremely painful pulse of pain courses through my head as an ear-splitting headache takes over, so bad is this pain I cannot even begin to comprehend what's going on. The pain is so bad I almost feel like I am about to keel over from it, I put my injured arm on a nearby tree to support myself and breathe for a moment. I take my other hand place it on my head and yank on my hair to try and take my attention off the excruciating pain of the headache and move on. Sadly this only results in a little bit of relief before resuming full force.

“I can’t keep this up much longer at this rate...”

I once again for least the umpteenth time today pick my sorry ass up from the tree and limp into the town fearlessly pressing onwards; hoping upon hope to find another human, yet all I find is a bunch of curious equine eyes staring at me some seem utterly horrified at what I can only guess is this broken man limping through the town with blood, mud, and other unnamed crap smeared all over him.

I don't know why but it looks like some of them seem to be communicating; I can’t tell as I am fixed on trying to find another human of ANY kind. I am so hellishly bent on this one task I fail to notice the obscenely pink pony trotting beside me with a smile on her face. Once she catches sight that I have noticed her she immediately zooms in front of me walking backward keeping pace with me which honestly at this point isn’t that hard.

"HI, THERE!" This pink monstrosity shouts with utter glee- in PERFECT English, catching me completely off guard. As a result of the shock, I instantly reel back in horror falling squarely on my ass and kicking my feet to get distance from her. With my one good, arm I reach around and try to pull my knife out but it's now firmly stuck under me as this pony gets close to me again craning its neck.

“You alright stranger? You don’t look so good…” She attempts to get closer to me only resulting in me frantically moving further away in an attempt to create distance between us.

“Stay BACK; you monstrosity!” The adrenaline kicks in again I use my bad arm and push myself up pushing a few of the sticks into my arm deeper into their wounds causing more bleeding enough to start pooling on the ground underneath it. Now I have access to my knife I reach around and pull it out baring my teeth in defense I see at this point much to my dismay there are no humans nearby at all.

“Do not take a step further...”

“Mister you’re injured-” its ears fold down as its look shifts to one of concern as it looks me over wincing visually.

“Not… A step.” I back up slowly at this point the other nearby ponies seem to take notice and fear starts to spread in the crowd eventually not more than a minute later it spreads to widespread panic most of them scatter and shut the doors of their respective hiding holes the pink pony takes one step towards me I use my boot to kick up dust from the ground in its face, catching her completely off guard as she now cannot see she wobbles and in a panic screams at the top of her lungs; probably thinking I was going to hurt her as soon as I blinded her.

With a swift slashing motion of my arm, I get the now abundant excess blood off my arm and with haste, book it back to the forest at full speed not looking back at full very painful sprint white-knuckling my blade the whole way. I practically leap into the forest and only then do I start to calm down and take a moment to mull over what just happened; I lean against a nearby tree that I still have a view of the trail; with any luck, I did my best to minimize the blood trail as I ran.

“I’m not insane. No… I cannot be; that pony was not communicating to me in perfect English; Nah… That pod said there'd be side effects.” I mutter to myself trying to remain calm amid my retreat I can hear the distinct sound of hooves pounding the ground in the distance- I presume local law enforcement or some sort of military force trying to apprehend me.

I don't think so…

‘I’m not crazy…’

You are crazy.

‘SHUT UP.’ I stab the tree with my knife firmly embedding it in the trunk I slide down the trunk and sit there for a while looking at the brush around me.

At this point my arm is starting to burn, with my other hand I feel my arm- at this moment it feels like it is on fire as the dull achy pain compounds with the obvious stabbing pain from the branches. If I don’t find treatment, and soon there’s a good chance this will get infected not to mention the blood loss while not severe right now will eventually catch up to me if left untreated- although not an ideal situation; It may not be a good idea to go anywhere until the sun has set and the darkness allows me the ability to move.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I managed to find some leaves and branches and made myself a temporary shelter that I can at least camouflage myself in and with some effort I turned the vines into a rope that I both used to tie my shelter together and although not ideal, with so many deep wounds across my arm; using my teeth I tie some around the uppermost point of my arm creating an improvised tourniquet enough to slow the bleeding until the wounds clot up and not too tight to severe flow completely.

I manage to lay in silence and try to snooze- rather unsuccessfully- much to my misfortune the sounds of the forest and high winds billowing through the trees kept me wide awake, and the prominent fear that the smell of blood may attract other predators to my location keeps me wide awake. My trusty knife is in my hand as time slowly creeps by. Eventually close to a couple of hours have passed, the wounds on my arm appear to have clotted up and stopped perpetually bleeding, in addition despite the pain being damn near unbearable the sun is starting to set allowing me the opportunity to start making my way into town for some much-needed recon.

Even though I don’t morally agree with it I must find supplies to help patch myself up, luckily no one has come looking for me yet which is a good sign that no one has found my blood trail leading directly to me; at least not yet anyway.

With the moon fully risen and luckily for me a full one at best there's enough light for me to navigate the darkness and make my way back into town. With the utmost care and with a short piece of vine I weaved into a rope I tie it around my mouth so if I bump my arm and inflict pain upon myself I at least will dampen the noise I make as I snoop through the area.

That being said my nose stopped bleeding and formed a massive and nasty blood clot in my nose which I promptly blew out so I could breathe again probably not the most ideal situation but with all my training and what's left of my worn down wits I begin to recon the area around the town and with some luck I manage to find a hospital or a clinic of some type given the giant red cross on top of it.

With care, I make my way around it and investigate it thoroughly for any sort of guards or security which for a hospital seems to be a lack of. There are dozens of windows all around this building peering through just about all of them on the bottom floor and with some luck, I manage to find one that opens, albeit there’s a sleeping patient in the room…

With no other options and some effort, I open the rather squeaky window and wedge myself through the floor showing me zero mercy as it creaks under my weight the patient doesn’t seem disturbed; that or it is unconscious, as the pony is wrapped thoroughly in bandages around its waist and two distinct nubs, the bandages are slightly bloody from what I can see.

With great care not to disturb this sleeping pony, I inch my way over to the door, and quietly I open it leading into the hallway I look around some dim lights are coming from lanterns that give off an eerie glow as I walk down the hall; with some investigative skills I find a closet with all the medical supplies I could ever ask for; at that moment I hear hoof steps approaching outside I quickly move into a dark corner as a candle floats by the door as two ponies dressed as nurses walk by the prominent red cross on their bodies. They are having a casual conversation.

“I’m going to go check on Tempestas. You got upstairs tonight?” The female nurse walks with her compatriot.

“Yeah, I got upstairs this shift. Luckily not a lot of activity this week.” She says with glee as they both go their separate ways. With a renewed sense of haste, I grab a few bottles, pop the cork of one and take a small sniff, the pungent odor of alcohol wafts into my nostrils making me quickly regret my decision to do so.

I put the cork back in and grab a couple before finding a neatly packed tray of needles for stitching wounds. I take what I can carry filling my cargo pants with as many medical supplies to the point of overflow. I shove a couple of bottles of alcohol into my side pouches keeping them safe and from falling out of my pockets. With that sorted, I proceed to creep my way out of the storage room I see one of the nurse ponies come out of the room I came in from- presumably this “Tempestas” fellow they were talking about earlier. Thankfully the nurse goes up a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the hallway as I sneak into Tempestas’s room and once more wedge myself through the window to safety.

With renewed haste and vigor to dress my wounds, sprinting as quickly and quietly as my legs can carry me; I whisk by the center of town by now there is a small unit of ponies in golden armor and black chrome-looking armor shining under the moonlight. They’re talking to a few civilian ponies, out of curiosity I hide in the shadow of a building nearby quietly eavesdropping on them.

“The thing was much taller than any other creature I’ve seen in my life.” It exclaims with fear. “It threatened Pinkie Pie with some sort of short-bladed weapon- It looked like it knew how to defend itself- I think that he’s frightened and wounded, therefore dangerous if you corner him.”

“Any other information you can provide us, ma’am?” A rather gruff voice asks.

“It stood on two legs and was able to move quickly, I’m almost positive it came out of the Everfree forest.”

“Alright, if we need any more information we will find you; Thank you- Alright guys I want a perimeter started here and work our way out to the forest. I want every stone, tree, and river checked with a bucking magnifying glass if that is what it takes, We find this beast tonight!” The male soldier clad in gold armor points the rest of the armored ponies immediately start scouring the area.

‘Everfree forest huh…’

Having heard enough I hear a loud swooping noise followed by the clattering of something very metallic. I look around the corner from the darkness and see several more ponies land in the square, this time two very tall ponies with two distinctive colors start talking to the lead soldier.

… Time to go.

‘Yep.’

With renewed haste once more I make my way to the “Everfree Forest” and quickly return to my temporary shelter, this time I cover it some more with leaves and branches to conceal it better before putting my newly acquired supplies on the ground. Looking at my arm the blood has dried thoroughly and is flaking off, I retighten my improvised tourniquet slightly whilst using my teeth to pull the cork off one of the bottles.

Lastly, I thread a few needles getting them ready to be used; lastly, I reach above my head and break a branch off the tree above my head I take it in my mouth biting down on it squarely I place my knife in the fire while I pour a ton of alcohol over my arm- instantly burning sensation rockets up my arm sending chills through my back as the pain intensifies tenfold. As I cope with the searing pain, I inhale through my nose rapidly in and out before I take the knife out of the fire.

The tip of the very edge of the blade is now a dim red as it begins to smoke from the heat I breathe in through my nose again taking as deep a breath as I can. Clamping my teeth on the branch, I shakily hold my hand just above the wound hesitantly before sinking the tip of the blade into the wound, immediately tip of the blade fizzles as the heat burns my flesh and cauterizes the wound as I proceed to dig fragment from my arm, my immediate reaction is to scream in pain; the branch muffles it as I keep pressing onward as I slowly remove the fragment from my arm, the pungent odor of burning flesh and wood permeates the air around me.

In excruciating pain as my eyes water immensely as I pull a four-inch splinter out that’s the width of a pencil out of my arm; the wound starts to profusely bleed now there’s a wide-open hole in my arm the pain so intense that my hands become unsteady. I take one of the bottles and splash it over the wound; in sheer agony once more as the alcohol vacates the blood from the wound. Taking one of the curved needles and begin to stitch the wound closed, using my knife to cut the thread and tie a clean knot on the end.

When it’s all said and done I lay against the tree stump to my back spitting out the branch in my mouth allowing myself to breathe wiping the tears from my eyes as I wrap a bandage around it packing it tightly to promote clotting.

“One down, many more to go…” I say to myself as I resist the urge to down some of the alcohol I used on my arm.

‘It’s going to be a long night.’

<><><><><>Several agonizingly painful branches later.<><><><><>

With the last branch fragment removed from my arm and stacked on top of the others, I finish sewing the last wound closed, taking a small rag and soaking it with alcohol I wipe the area off again before bandaging it repeating the same steps over, and cleaning the rest of the crusted blood off wincing as I keep powering through. Finally wrapping my arm in a thick layer of bandages and removed my improvised tourniquet.

Although my arm is immensely sore boarding complete numbness I can move all my fingers without issue so the branches seem to have avoided going deep enough to inflict any serious muscle injury so at least there is that. Then again the adrenaline could be hiding any more pressing injuries. Time shall tell-

Pushing the gathered branches I used to build my little hideaway, I step out of my operating room taking a step out into the cool breeze, I stretch my back out before looking around my eyes steadily adjusting; admittedly the cool breeze feels quite nice on my injured arm and is also helping with the swelling.

I take look back into my temporary shelter grabbing my knife and wiping any blood off it before returning it to the holster and with some confidence I proceed to head back towards the town to see if they’re still looking for me. I make it exactly one step before I hear the telltale crack of a branch snapping, I didn’t feel a branch under my feet; I slowly look down towards my feet; there's a perfect bit of light from the moon above illuminating my foot- and a non-existent branch.

‘Ah hell.’

My heart rate increases I can hear it rapidly start to beat as I once again call upon my blade as I scan my surroundings as my adrenaline for the umpteenth time today picks up once more as my fight or flight instincts kick in again. The sheer terror I feel right now not knowing where that sound came from and not being able to see a thing other than small patches of light through the treetops. I’ve been in multiple combat scenarios with many different parties and nothing is scarier to me than not being able to see the combatant and to boot not knowing if they can see me clearly or not.

Immediately I notice that the moon is illuminating me slightly, I step backward into a shaded-out area allowing my eyes to adjust further hoping I can maybe catch a glimpse of the hostile-; No luck.

At that point I book it out of the edge of the Everfree into the clearing; stumbling slightly I get to my feet as I proceed to continue running- at least until I run into what I can describe as running headlong into the equivalent of a brick wall. Except it isn’t a brick wall, Gathering my senses I return to my feet quickly only to be at eye level with one of the ponies from the village square. Two bright and VERY pissed-off cyan eyes pierce my soul as it motionlessly stares me down.

With caution I back away slowly as it unfolds its wings and puts them up behind it making it look enormous- I presume it's trying to perform a scare tactic-

Spoiler alert. It’s working.

I think we should run?

‘Time to go!’

I turn on my heel and book it back towards the forest tripping over roots and tree stumps as I leap into the forest at full speed- at that very moment, an enormous blue laser pierces multiple trees leaving a gaping smoldering red hole, through half a dozen solid trees. One falls over from being almost completely cut in half.

‘New Plan, Run Faster.’

I keep running only for that thing with wings to plow through the trees like a hot knife through butter crushing them a power I have NEVER witnessed before, her eyes glowing as a spike on her head- wait a second.

‘No way… Is that a uni–’

I duck as another beam barely flys past mere inches from my cheek the very presence of that beam leaves a flash burn I can feel immediately setting in on my cheek as I blink in utter horror as this mythical being is truly trying to kill me right now. What even are the odds of this happening. Meanwhile this magical motherfucker is already charging for another shot, the poor trees behind me now having multiple holes through them.

At this point my thoughts are moving a mile a minute as I think of any plan of action; no amount of training I’ve ever had in my life prepares you for this- I continue running as fast as I can, much to my dismay I trip on a large rock, large enough to send my sorry ass to the ground, frantically I struggle to push myself back to my feet, scrambling to get to cover and get away from this being as it almost tauntingly crushes large tree branches in her way to sending splinters every direction.

"Giveth yourself up foul beast…" Her voice booms and practically commands great power.

‘Hard PASS’

I get to my feet and with my dwindling courage, I shoulder bump her putting the full weight of my body into her making her stumble and lose focus buying precious seconds to book it past her, leaving her in the forest as I follow the trees with glowing holes in them. I leap through the clearing I collapse to my knees breathing hard to the point my chest is hurting immensely as I start coughing from lack of oxygen.

Suddenly the unicorn slams into the ground in front of me imbedding her silver horseshoes firmly into the grass directly in front of me, now with the moonlight over her I get a good view of her; her wings are fully extended and drooped down wide the slight breeze ruffling the individual flight feathers as she has a look of sheer irritation absolutely and understandably plastered across her face.

“I beg thee… Try that again… I beckon you.” She aims her horn down slightly it’s glowing bright white ready to send another one of those beams at me. I remain silent apart from the occasional cough, I can’t say for certain but I know the look on my face is probably one of mixed terror and awe of the situation. Here I kneel before a creature described in ancient mythology and I’m about to die to it, or maybe they’ll imprison me.

“I… Yield. Mercy.” I collapse and lay on my back trying to breathe as I wait for the outcome of this situation.

Much to my shock, her horn stops glowing as her wings fold in before she circles me looking me over curiously her eyes squinting like she knows something or perhaps she senses something off.

“You are capable of speech?” her wings fully fold to her sides as she continues to circle me.

“I do. I’m struggling to do so.” she’s upside down for me as I ask her a question. "How are you talking; how are you a real thing right now," I ask, immediately she stops for a split second, her face adopting a look on her face akin to being offended by the mere question.

"All pony kind have the ability to converse." The brief explanation is accompanied by a stare, the moonlight illuminates her face, really accentuating her facial expressions. She's appears offended that I asked. However, before I can get another word out, she asks me yet another question.

"Where from which do you hail?"

“Somewhere where you aren’t capable of speech,” I say with almost venom in my voice that shows her I am in no mood for a casual chat... Unsurprisingly she squints her eyes her offended expression evolves into one of mild annoyance. However, interestingly there appears to be something else in those eyes… Curiosity perhaps?

"We have not seen a being like your kind since we were banished,” She sits looking rather regal as she continues to look at me. “It has been many moons. It was believed your kind was deceased from the world if my memory serves.”

Hey, it's your subconscious here… Might be a bad time but; wouldn’t you agree that- perhaps the pod was reporting the correct length of time...?

"Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" I ask as I work up the energy to sit upright not facing her. "Follow on the question, why? Why are you hunting me?"

"We art ‘Princess Luna, Sister of Princess Celestia and co-ruler of Equestria and its surrounding territories.” Her wings unfurled slightly ready to pounce on me if I try anything. “Sister and I were informed locals that a creature of unknown origin wandered into Ponyville this afternoon- you frightened an entire town and threatened harm upon one of our subjects.”

“Tis not just that, you managed to frighten one of the noble element bearers. A feat we consider offensive in its own right…Truthfully, we have been observing you quietly from above since you emerged from your sanctum; you are an impressive being to be able to heal thyself.” Her voice shifts to one of admiration.

“To my credit your highness, she got too close to me, and having no understanding of what you people are I am less than inclined to feel bad about defending myself-;. While injured no less.” I turn to face her, my eyes squint as I feel my cheek- which at this point hurts immensely.

"Did we inflict injury?" She steps closer trying to get a closer look at my cheek; I reactively scoot away from her. “We can heal-” I cut her off.

"I think you’ve done enough to me tonight.” Her ears seem to fold to the top of her head while maintaining her stoic facial expression.

‘Does she… feel bad?’

Best not dwell on that…

"Are thou certain?" she says, giving me a questionable look.

"I'm fine. Frankly, I’d rather tend to myself than have you do so right now.”

Harsh much…

‘She tried to kill us with lasers.’

“Thou hast not answered thine question… Where did thou come from…” She reiterates the question, remaining stoic.

“Weren't you listening? I couldn’t tell you as I don’t know anymore either. Home I guess? I don’t even know where that is.” She puts a hoof under her chin-scratching it curiously as she continues to look on.

"Thou is quite… Perplexing. I cannot set my hoof upon how long it has been; Star Swirl the bearded was alive helping the last of the Terran species. It is safe to assume that your kind went extinct…"

"I'm sorry, but that simply can't be possible… There were once billions of us that roamed the world and you’re telling me that the entire population has simply; vanished? Died? Eviscerated? Pardon my skepticism highness, but that is bullshit...”

“We could be mistaken; Thine banishment has only just recently ended. We are vastly out of time. I will have to consult mine sister for insight…”

"Whatever you say highness…" I sit down before easing myself to laying on my back looking up at the clear sky above the stars above are quite dense you can see many clusters of nebulas and other constellations I have never seen before.

My body at this point has tapped out completely as my eyelids start to become heavy I hear some rapid hoof steps approach but at this point, I am simply too weak to fight whatever is coming.

"Terran!" I feel something cold on my chest shaking me. It's too late to try and keep consciousness.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I stir slowly, my vision is cloudy at first I panic because my eyes are open but I cannot see a thing. I feel around only to lay my hand on something firm yet soft like silk-.

'Oh no.'

"Thou is awake!" I am instantly taken into an embrace that is both soft and rock-solid as she hugs the absolute piss out of me.

"c-nt; breth- air!" I tap her with my arms which are starting to burn from pain. She gets the message and stops as she gently sets me down.

"Apologies, we sincerely thought you had moved on…" I still can't see, but I inhale deeply, my vision slowly coming into focus the moon has moved down dimming the surroundings.

"How long," I ask meekly.

"Tis been two hours, thou must be incredibly injured."

"Don't suppose you are capable of making a fire. It’s so dark out I can’t see." Instantly her horn illuminates the area around her as she zaps a set of logs in and zaps it shortly thereafter setting them alight instantly. Of course, this startles me as she simply lays down allowing her wings to rest on the ground as she warms herself.

"How the hell did you do that?" I scoot towards the fire.

"Mine Magic? My memory slips, but couldn't your kind bend magic as well?"

"No! Absolutely not!" I stammer as I put my hands out to warm myself; my body starts to shiver in a desperate attempt to warm itself, which causes more discomfort and itching from the wounds all up and down my arm.

"How did thou get those wounds…?" She cranes her head looking me over in a better light.

"Some wolf-looking fucker went and tried to make a meal out of me. I declined and killed it- something exploded and sent fragmentation wood everywhere, my arm happened to be in the way…"

"Timber Wolf." She casually says.

"Timber what-" I stammer.

"A cursed creature created by a chaos deity; they thrive in the forest…"

"You're killing me here, highness."

"It thrives off permanent chaos magic and binds wood branches to form a body for itself. Hence a Timber Wolf…They do not hunt for food, they hunt for sport. Impressive you fought one and destroyed it with ease."

I glaze over every word she just said, only acknowledging the last part with a nod.

'what kind of fresh hell did I wake up to.'

"Hmm…" she looks at the fire quietly before looking at me again. "Do you require food?"

"If you happen to have some." I don't even finish the sentence before an audible pop sound catches my attention as she floats over a plate of fruit nonchalantly without a care in the world, a dark blue glow around the plate as she sets it in front of me.

"Telekinesis?" I reach pick it up and examine the plate for tomfoolery.

"A unicorn's most basic spell is moving objects at whim. A pegasus can fly at incredible speeds and a normal earth pony knows the soil and possesses strength."

"What does that make you then? I thought you were just a unicorn but you have both."

"They refer to those who have both as an Alicorn." For the first time, she smiles as she bites into a bright red apple with a satisfying crunch.

"Mine turn to ask thee some questions…" She gives me a look as she shuffles herself to the other side of the fire beside me still floating that apple beside her.

"How did you end up here?" She lays on her belly her wings drooped down as she stares intently into the fire.

"I had to choose between slowly starving to death or taking my chances with a machine."

"Machine?" She cranes her neck to look me in the eye. "Elaborate"

"I don't think you'd understand if I told you; it put me to sleep for a long time, I had to take the chance and decide between dying from starvation or the machine killing me in my sleep peacefully, that's it."

"I apologize…" She puts the apple down and lays her head flat on the ground. "Deciding between the two greater evils is a treacherous path… it looks like you chose wisely."

"I don't know about that." I look over down at my bandaged arm.

"Nonsense. Life is sacred and you should be grateful to see the light of day once more. Such a gift is not a given right…"

"I guess. I get to witness the beautiful night sky; I've never seen them so clearly the smog used to hide their beauty."

"Thank you." She suddenly says smiling she flips her mane over her head despite the hair itself being stationary the color is moving as if there's a wind billowing it.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I arranged those nebulas into that pattern tonight." She says casually without explanation. I just blink before returning my attention to the plate. I grab the grapevine and eat them. They're extremely sweet and ripe, vibrant in flavor. If they grew here perhaps these beings have done what humans couldn't and healed the planet.

"We assume you are confused?" I stop snacking on my grapes, returning my gaze to her; oddly enough she giggles at the sight she puts a hoof in front of her mouth.

"As the princess of the night it is my job to adjust the constellations each night; that includes the phases of the moon."

"I'm sorry did you just tell me you can move whole celestial bodies?" She simply nods as she gestures at a bright star that flickers in the distant universe. Her horn glows before shooting a beam into the sky. There's a slight delay, but she tilts her head slightly that star suddenly starts moving drastically right before my eyes, my jaw instantly drops at how she casually just flung a molten ball of fission many light-years away.

She could have wiped our ass out of existence without breaking a sweat…

'I'm scared.'

<><><><><><><><><><>

Unfortunately after another hour of casual conversation- as casual as you can be about something like this anyways; Princess Luna had to return to the capital city of Canterlot, whatever or wherever that is- like I’d know where that is. Despite her absence before she departed she was kind enough to fly over the trees and look for my bunker, she didn’t find it and could only provide me a compass to help direct me, however, she warned me that at night the creatures that reside in that forest become ten times more powerful, and timberwolves won't be the only thing I’d have to watch for- if you call being able to see in the pitch-black that is.

Despite this, she offered to bring me back with her to Canterwhatever it was- of course not knowing what these ponies intend for me I declined and opted to sleep in a pile of leaves and branches with a campfire. She was kind enough to not force the issue and conjured a blanket for me to use to stay warm- which is where I am now, staring up at a sky full of stars with a small fire hidden behind trees with a shelter made of branches I snagged from the Everfree.

My life’s at an all-time low even by my standards- but I suppose for now it could inevitably be worse, for now at least it seems like there’s no radiation or immediate death. Despite the outcome not being what I wanted, I am alive and I am grateful to a certain extent.

Still, things are, without a doubt, confusing. Everything I’d once known of science to technology has decided to leap out the window; moreover, evolution has been passed onto mythological ponies. I mean, of all the damn things in the universe, it had to be ponies…

<><><><><>Sunrise Next Day<><><><><>

I shoot forward knocking a blanket off my body as I gasp for air, startled awake from a nightmare. For the briefest moment, I thought it was all just a dream until I notice the smoldering fire beside me and my bandaged arm. I hoped upon hope that it was all just a dream-

‘I wonder if they have therapists here?’

I’d need an insane asylum for the amount of shit that life has decided to drop on my lap; all semblance of logic I know has seemingly packed up and decided to leave me to what's left. Opting to do my best not to think about it, I shrug it off and stand up leaning on the tree as I stretch my back cracks multiple times, probably from the poor sleeping conditions I have subjected myself to.

“I need food and water,” I grumble.

A short walk towards town, I come across the stream I found yesterday, flowing with crystal clear water as it makes its way downstream. I weigh my options, I have no way of boiling this water to remove any parasites, but the water doesn’t look terrible enough to worry greatly and at this point, it’s this or venture into town again and get pelted with rocks.

Without any other options, I kneel beside it taking a good long look at my reflection, these last few- conscious weeks have taken their toll on me, I now have a fairly good start on a beard and my features are rougher than I recall- only exacerbated by the fact I’m covered in mud, dirt, blood, and god knows whatever else that black shit is on my brow. Returning my attention to the water I cup my hands and scoop some out enough to take a sip; it tastes clean, not that it would help me if something was in it, but still, water is water, and clean drinking water is as positive of an outcome as I can hope for.

I scoop as much water as I can and gorge myself fully. Finishing, for the time being; cupping my hands together I splash my face with water and wipe the excess crap off it and clean my one good arm that I can clean of dirt- I reach to my knife and wash it off before using it to shave off some of the scruffs on my face dipping the blade in every few strokes.

At that point, I notice something- rather a pony… Laying on her back on the opposite side of the stream under a big overgrown tree, she a bright neon teal-colored pony that appears to be sleeping soundly, as far as I can tell, her eyes are covered by blacked-out glasses; holstering my knife to my side I attempt to get to my feet, the ground on the edge of the stream gives way a making a loud splashing noise- I visibly cringe at the sound I look up and the pony has vanished into thin air- without a sound no less.

“Perhaps I was seeing things…”

I turn around she hovering right in front of me her glasses on the crest of her head her vibrant piercing magenta eyes staring me down with a pissed-off glare that could kill an elephant.

“Ah- hell…”

Chapter 3: Attempt at "Friendship" (Revised)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4 Solar Sun Celebration

Author's Note

Chapter is being re-written and does not follow new chapter points.

12-19-23

Chapter 4 Solar Sun Celebration

Chapter 4: Solar Sun Celebration

"I hate school…”

“Of the many things I hate on my short list, this is absolutely one of them…” I gripe to myself quietly as I continue to go over the characters Twilight had given me about two hours ago. Despite my best efforts as I continue to I compare the two languages I can't find any similarities. I pause for a moment and stretch my muscles out, enjoying the prickling sensation in my back.

“There has to be something similar about these…” I place my hand on my chin rubbing it in thought, as I trace the first character on the list Twilight provided me with. However, as I continue to trace I begin to notice a pattern between the letters. Just like German it still has some similarities as English. After sitting for what felt like much longer than it was, I feel as though I start to understand. All I have to do is compare the similarities and the shape of the characters I have been assigned, sure enough, I see that the A in Equestria looks a lot like the English numeric system in a few ways, however I am not for certain this is correct. Looking at the other characters for the same similarities I write a simple name in the Equestrian format. Assuming that the word and letter order isn't different from English, I have, at least in theory, written “Twilight” on the paper in front of me.

"Ah-ha!, Perfect!, The easiest language I've ever learned!"

“Good going there; still got to learn the rest of it…”

I pat myself on the back and I take a look at the partially dusty history book beside my language books. I open the History book’s back cover and place Twilights alphabet list just above the pages of the book. Gently I close the book on the paper and turn to what I hope is the first page of the book. As I glance at back and forth between the book and the letters I slowly start to translate the first page from Equestrian to English within half an hour.

"Chapter 1 Prehistory of Equestria - Ruins of a Civilization"

I double-check to make sure that I translated it correctly. Sure enough, my assumption of the word order is in fact correct; glancing back and forth at the history book and the translation paper Twilight gave me earlier I begin to translate the pages of the chapter. A short 20 minutes of copying symbols onto a sheet and studying later I translated the information. Within this info it told me that there are two rulers what I didn't know was the second name. However, with that piece of information stored away in a later chapter it told me of Princess Celestia the eldest ruler of the land and responsible of the old world’s rebirth to flourish . According to this chapter Celestia and her Sister (who hasn't been mentioned yet…) Terra formed large areas of the world and made them what they are today. Despite this there are still some remaining areas around the world left over to be reminders/burial grounds for survivors who lived long enough to see their world off. Evidently the largest found piece of was a chunk of metal from an unknown object recovered on a beach in the Northern Atlantic inscribed and burned on the piece are odd symbols “Москва” since terraforming was performed no pony has been able to successfully identify what it means since the more historical data was destroyed prior to the planets discovery. Upon request of the princesses it was placed in the Royal Sisters first castle and moved to Canterlot Archives and moved to Manehatten and is currently in lockup.

“Odd… those look like… Russian symbols?” I try to look closer at the symbols written in the book.

“Gah, why does that part have to be so damn worn down.” I look as close as possible by pressing my face to the page.

“Fuck it…” I move onto the next page and continue to write translate and read the book. Well over 4 hours later, I’m on the verge of reaching Chapter 19. I snicker to myself as I admire my massive pile of papers beside me that I had used to translate the chapters I had previously read. Taking a brand new piece of paper and the list of words I carefully translate the 19th chapter in this massive history book. Slowly but surely the name becomes clear.

"Chapter 19 The Solar Sun Celebration." I put my hand to my chin and recall a particular princess mentioning it.
“The Solar-Sun Celebration; an annual national holiday for nearly two millennia in Equestria’s 2 two millennia time span known as the unification period. This event symbolizes the end of Tyranny from Discord the spirit of Chaos, this also symbolizes the anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s banishment nearly 1000 years ago.“ I can't help but re-read that again to be sure I read it correctly.

“Nightmare Moon… I thought that Luna was the second sister…” I think back to when Luna had looked at me guiltily the other night. ‘Was she telling me the truth about who she was’ I continue to read and translate the letters on the page with interest forming on my face.

“The event takes place at the dawn of the Summer Solstice when Princess Celestia raises the sun and Princess Luna's lowering of the moon creating a beautiful rift of light that emanates around half the planet.”

Suddenly, as I continue to read a rainbow blob slowly moves over the right side of the book as light shines through a garden level window nearby. Looking over I see the sun slowly creep over the hills and mountains in the distance as the reality of the situation hits me like a freight train.
"Ah Shit… I need to get out of here!" I quickly gather my study books Twilight had given me. As I run up the stairs to see a purple blob slouching over piles of papers I slowly approach her to see she's fast asleep snoring softly. Gently I set my books down and put my hand on her shoulder gently shaking her awake.

"Geez Twilight, you're harder to wake up than I am." I whisper under my breath after a few more slight nudges I see her eyes sag open as she moans slightly.

"Morning sleepy head" I smirk as she yawns, stretching her forehooves.

"Nyy-w-wht tyme is it? (Ugh, why did you wake me.)" she slurs her words as she sits upright, her mane a frazzled mess sticking in just about every direction imaginable. Kneeling down to match her current height I crouch next to her.

"I was hoping that you could tell me, I can only assume, my best guess is around 5:50/6 A.M." she gets up on her hooves and stumbles over to the curtains and looks out.

"Looks to be 5:40 in the morning Nhhhg." she yawns and she almost falls over I catch her before she does.

"Perhaps you should sit down?" she nods and wraps her right fore hoof around my neck. Gently I help her over to the couch she's surprisingly lightweight, I help her sit down for a second she stretches her hind legs and her back much like a cat would after a long nap.

"If it is nearly 6 in the morning chances are I should probably head out before the common folk see me; can I take these books with me,”I reach over and grab the books from where I left them. “I’ll have nothing better to do this week besides reading.” I give a slight smile.

"I don't see why not; but please careful that history book in particular is very old. It has been passed down through the ages and added onto throughout the years."

"No problem! I promise I will guard them with my life." I give her a smile as I leave her house.

However, when I got outside I was already seeing ponies already setting up what appears to be something similar to a farmers market. From what I can see from my current position they were selling a multitude of items ranging from food to physical items. It was almost like the Flea markets that were found in California and the farmers markets of Colorado.

'Look at yourself, you're only 27 and you talk like you are an old geezer...’ I pause for a moment thinking about it. ‘Never mind, I am technically well over 2000 years old now.’

I GOT THE RIGHTS GOD-DAMN IT!' I shake my head side to side dismissing the idea with a slight chuckle.

As I leave the town I begin to run a little faster back down to my bunker hoping no-o-pony has seen me. Only a few minutes after my departure the sun has risen seeing no danger and seeing I am a decent distance away from the town I watch as the sun creep over the horizon shedding hundreds of vibrant rainbows around me.

"Strange... In my life I've never seen the sun cast so many rainbows." I shake my head turn my attention back to the bunker door at my feet.

Reaching down I pull the hatch open with all my strength the door squeaks open. As I enter my bunker I turn the lights on; gently they flicker to life, making a slight buzzing noise and emitting little to no light. I make my way to my bed without care I toss the books onto the old bed, as I should’ve expected it made a large dust cloud rise quickly I rear back trying to avoid the dust floating around me. Only a few seconds after I begin sneezing hysterically. Once the dust settles off the bed, I sit down on the edge of the bed, I flip the pages of the book open to find the Solar Sun Celebration once again.

“The solar sun celebration is also a yearly celebration to honor the relationship and reformation of Princess Celestia's sister Princess Luna.”

'Wait Princess Luna; huh, so she is royalty weird how she had managed to spot me of all things.' I pause for a moment thinking it over.
‘But the question is; why was she there… right then and there almost....... Waiting for me…? Why does she seem to take an interest in studying me.’
Seeing no other options I will have to just accept the fact she is infinitely more powerful than I could imagine.

‘Probably just a lucky coincidence; I probably won’t ever see her ever again.' I continue reading thinking of my luck.

"Princesses of the Sun and Night in eternal harmony; since the very beginning existence of Equestria.” I stop for a brief moment looking below where a small edit was made.

“It was only recently Princess Luna was reformed, however, is still learning how to cope with the modern ways of life."

‘She was banned for 1000 years...Talk about a life loss gap.’
I scratch my head, trying to wrap my head around the situation with no other options that I could find reasonable I lay my head down on the old pillow gingerly fluffing it and fall asleep.

<><><><><>Hours Later<><><><><>

Groaning, I roll on my side and blink my eyes open seeing nothing I rub my eyes with the back of my wrist after rubbing my eyes as I sit up I notice a slight very dim cyan glow in the dark; curiously I stand up and clumsily walk over to the CryoStasis pod; on the floor I find my old digital watch still glowing bright as I get closer to it. Carefully, I pick it up and see the corner of the screen is cracked (Not sure if I was wearing it, the crack probably formed when I fell out of the pod) but still readable It says it is 22:43 P.M (10:43Pm).

"Damn, I must've been exhausted from all this." Remembering when I left Twilight's Library. Gently I wrap the watch around my wrist; carefully attaching the clasp. Looking down at it I press one of the chrome buttons turning the screen off to conserve battery life. With a stretch an audible crack is heard, followed by a slight groan. I walk over to the edge of the bed to grab my shirt off the end of the bed, I walk up the stairs quickly putting my shirt on, I push the hatch open with an audible squeaking noise. A second after doing so, I feel a blast of cool evening air against my entirety of my body. I look up to see a sliver of the moon slowly moving across the sky and I think about what I had read about earlier and I look towards the town see light emanating from Ponies homes on the outskirts of the town. Before I head towards her house I go back down into my bunker and throw the closet to the right of it open finding my travel bag hanging up. Naturally, it was dusty as hell; despite this, I start throwing some dingy clothes on the bed till I find what I was looking for; A small container within it is a picture of my friends, and on the opposite side clamped to it is my US Navy tactical knife. I take the knife out and flip it open to see the blade is still inscribed with the Pat. number 3,455,213. I close it and attach the clamp to the side of my pants just in case, I look at the picture looking at my lost best friends. I turn the picture frame around removing the latches hold the picture in place and remove the photo from its glass protection and hold it in a better light.

‘I hope you all have found peace wherever you are… I’ll make this right for all of us.’ I roll the photo putting it into my shirt pocket. As I make my way for Twilight's I hear the ever so slight sound of hoofsteps following not too far behind, momentarily I stop and pick up some rocks and toss them into the nearby river and continue walking, acting casual as I could making sure that it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me; More than a few minutes pass, I can still hear them following me closely stopping instantly I throw a stone I had hidden in my hand at a nearby tree. As if on cue the stone stops only an inch from Luna's face.

"If you're going to follow me, you need to keep your distance I heard every step you made." Pausing momentarily.

"You certainly have an uncanny knack of finding me in the weirdest places don’t you…” from what I could see a slight smile spreading across her face.

"Thou have an incredible sense of hearing." She smiles softly in the moonlight.

"Thank you, but in my own defence; I was born with horrid eyesight, and naturally my hearing was heightened even with eye surgery, I still rely more on my hearing." I raise a hand to halt anything she was going to say.
"Anyways, might I ask what brings you back here," I look at her quizzically. “following me more specifically?” Her face seems to turn a slightly red.

"We came to see how you have fared so far." her stary mane moves like it was being billowing in a slight breeze.

"I-I suppose i’ve been doing...decent, I suppose." My curiosity gets the best of me from what I had read earlier.

“Since you are here...could you tell me about what the solar sun celebration is?” Instantly her smile fades and she turns her head away and looks at her reflection in the nearby stream and sits silently.

'Good job Austin you upset a pony princess how will you sleep at night knowing you did this.'

"Are you ok?" I sit beside her.

"Nothing is bugging us, I am glad….. Thou are doing better" she seems to be suppressing a slight change in her breath.

‘Mayday!Mayday!Mayday! Abort yo-fuck you're gonna do it anyways, aren't you....’ my conscious practically screaming at me in the back of my head.

"You know I can tell when someone is upset, clearly something is bugging you." I sit beside her wrapping my arms around my legs.

‘Smoooootttttthhhhhhh...'

“We are fine.” she looks away, but I can see a slight tear forming in the corner of her eye in the reflection.

“It’s about Nightmare Moon isn’t it?” she winces slightly and looks at me with a look of regret in her eyes.

“I might not know much about you or the history of this nation… but from what I read in the last 24 hours or less, it mentioned something about a banishment.” she seemed to be really upset by this seeing this I test the waters and I slide a bit closer to her. Gently placing my arm around her seeing that I couldn’t think of any better way to make the situation better. She looks over her shoulder at me, her fur below her eyes are slightly matted down. To ease her I tighten my grip as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

“We cannot help feeling guilt for what we have done.” her eyes close as she lies on her stomach.

“We all make mistakes…It’s what makes us who we are. I’m sure you didn’t mean it.” I keep my arm around her and she folds her forehooves under her chest and proceeds to lay her head on the ground next to the stream. For the next twenty or so minutes of so sitting there quietly, she shifts her face to me and asks me a question that sends shivers down my spine.

“Hath thou made a monumental mistake in thy past?” she looks with her greenish cyan eyes.

"Fortunately, I haven't made a life threatening "bad call", my superiors on the other hand have though; and it cost me a best friend… but I feel just as guilty for not intervening. If I could I would've gladly taken the bullet for him ; but I can’t change the past.” Looking at the position of the moon it was getting later. Despite my better judgment I take my hand off her and slowly stand up offering a hand to her to join me, she takes it and stands up now I can see she is slightly shorter than I am by mere inches.

"I hate having to leave your highness, but I must get going before Twilight tans my hide. I said I would ask her if i had any questions; please take care Pr-.” She smiles and cuts me off

“Luna” she simply says.

“Pardon?” I look at her confused.

“Please; call me Luna.” she has a light shade of red as she softly smiles at me.

“Uh- Alright...Please take care Luna.” I wave at her and I begin to walk away but before I do I hear her voice.

“Thanketh thou very much.”

"Whatever for?"

"For not fearing us..." she very slight smile.

I nod and smile as she returns her gaze to the stream beside her.

The walk to Twilight was pretty uneventful a few crickets here and there a branch whacking me in the face here and there… Eventually I reach Twilight's home and knock on the door waiting patiently however; While waiting I gently put my ear to the door to listen in; within all I can hear is the sound of books hitting the floor almost constantly. I remove my ear and hesitate to knock again, whilst rotting away outside Twilights door I swear I can feel the years pass by.

‘Do these ponies know anything about being proper?’

At least another 5 minutes pass before I hear an Audible creaking noise as the door behind me opens revealing the small Purple Unicorn.

"Jeez Twilight, took you long enough." looking over her I can see massive piles of books everywhere; and I mean EVERYWHERE.

“Sorry!” her cheeks turn a bright red.

“Can I come in?” we stand there awkwardly.

“Oh right Sorry!” She regains her composure as I walk in I see a mess that rivaled my room when I was a teenager.

"Was I not invited to one crazy party or something?" stepping around the massive piles of books carefully.

"No silly, its Thursday book organization day!" she gives an enormous grin that seemed a little too optimistic for something as remedial as ‘organizing books’.

"Say whaaaaa," my eyes widen and I shake it off. "Uh- Nevermind, I'm here to talk to you about something that’s bugging me- er more specifically a Ponies “actions” towards me."

“Do you know who this pony is?” Twilights ears perk up as she sits down in front of me.

“I believe you’d know her as Luna.”

"Huh-what?" quite suddenly .

"Yes Princess Luna to be exact I was reading about her and her "Reformation"." I bend my fingers.

“Oh, would you mind if we took this downstairs to talk about it?" Gently she sets the books down on a shelf and heads down the nearby stairs.

“No, not at all.” I follow after her.

"So what is Luna doing thats bugging you?" Twilight takes a seat in a chair I do the same across from her.

"No, no its not what she’s doing per se, It’s odd because she’s Royalty. This week alone she has visited me multiple times; including about 20 minutes ago"

"Hmph, that's certainly odd; this is definitely out character for her. She normally doesn't fly that far from the palace in Canterlot." her ears splay backwards to her head, hoof on her chin.

"The first time I thought I could understand the second not so much. It’s almost as if she’s keeping an eye on me."

‘That combined with the fact she’s mysteriously finding me with ease.’

"Well, she doesn't normally reveal herself at all since ponies still are adjusting to her reformation." Twilight gazes at the ceiling trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

“The thing is I mentioned something about the Sun Celebration, and she seemed highly distraught by it.” I give her a rather upset look.

"I think it’s that time of year she feels guilty for what she did all those centuries ago, if you recall her Nightmare moon period-" I cut her off

"So she was Nightmare moon! Ah-You see she didn't confirm to me that was her, but it did seem to...oh... that actually explains a lot; but why did she become that?"

"Well, long story short Luna felt that her sister Celestia’s sun was cherished more than the darkness of the night, than her night that she spent hours upon hours creating, charting, labeling just for no pony to enjoy it but herself." Twilight gives a sad look.

"As a result..." she continues on "Her anger corrupted her and she attacked Celestia supposedly, she was captured in battle seeing that Celestia couldn’t help her she banished Luna to the moon for which she represents for the better part of a 1000 year sentence."

"Jesus...Little overboard?”

“The Elements were supposed to remove the Nightmare side of her. From what my friends and I have found they deemed her too corrupt and in term sent her to the moon. It also was found that a prophecy was made that she would escape her Lunar prison.”

“How long has she been un-banished?" I look at her coldly.

"She wasn’t; nearly two years ago she escaped and was reformed by the Elements of Harmony.... again." she smiles.

“That doesn't make sense...you just said earlier that she was too corrupted to have that side of her removed.”

“We think that it has something to do with being away from magic for so long on the moon weakened her and making it easier to remove,” she sighs for a second. “As of current she seems to be fine since then, she gets a fresh start.” Twilight puts a hoof over her mouth and giggles.

“She gets a brand new start on life...Kind of like you!” Twilight's eyes light up.

“I suppose so; so what are these Elements you told me about, what are they?" I raise an eyebrow whilst trying to understand.

"Elements of Harmony." she gets out of the chair and walks up the stairs and grabs a particular book off the pile she had strewn around earlier and comes back down and levitates it in front of her; turning to a particular page she clears her voice.

"There once were 6 stones, known as the Elements of Harmony, once rumored to be almost non existent until given to the two regal sisters each representing something that made them who they were. When combined created the most powerful magic that the world has ever seen. However upon Luna's banishment they were lost forever rumored destroyed during the banishment as they lost their power that represented Luna's half,” Twilight slams the book closed. “Until my friends and I found them." She sets the book down beside her.

"There are 6 elements...The Elements of Kindness, Generosity, Happiness, Honesty, Loyalty, and lastly magic." I put my hand over my face and slide it down opening one of my eyes at Twilight who is now smiling wider than ever.

"Ok, so judging by your crummy Poker Face, you're one of the most important of the 6 elements." I raise my eyebrow.

"Oh, you're no fun," she giggles "Your assumption is only half true you need all the Elements to function, I am the element of magic itself."

"Interesting; so the Elements basically is a shower that purifies the magic of a sentient being here that possesses magical properties?"

"Right again, you're catching on!" she gives me a smirk.

"That's a surprise, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed; so what does this have to do with Luna being upset. If these ponies don’t like her this much, than why is she still a co-ruler.”

"Well, that's the problem ponies still think she's got an evil flame somewhere in her. Be that as it may that's only a small portion of the population in Equestria." Twilight's ears fold back a look of sadness in her.

"I seriously doubt it… but at the same time, I see both sides of her problems and I cannot blame her for that she spent her time crafting something for others peo-ponies enjoyment, and what did they do... They didn't appreciate it; honestly, I don't blame her for it because I know how it feels to be ignored for your hard work, its something I knew all too well as a child."

"Indeed." she sighs

"Well, I should probably head home and continue my studies, still gotta work on memorizing your language." I begin walking and I stop and look at Twilight. "Oh, I almost forgot I bought this for you." I reach into my pocket and hold a folded picture which she takes in a pink aura.
“Consider this as proof, and a gift.” With nothing else to say I leave her library heading what little I can call a home, leaving Twilight drop dead stunned.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Yep, here I am again walking near the forest back to my bunker.

'What a shitty place to have a home'

I continue to walk back along the stream back to my home however, as I come to the top of the small hill I see something I wasn't expecting.
"L-luna?" I see her laying flat her head buried in her hooves she appears to be asleep (at least I hope she is). I lean down next to her and place my hand on her shoulder. To my surprise her fur is incredibly soft and under the moonlight, her mane is shimmering.

'Hey Romeo snap out of it, and say something!' I shake it off and slowly shake her to hear a slight sniffle and moan.

"Are you ok?" I sit next to her quietly as she yawns.

"Why does thou show me such kindness whilst others do not?" she looks at me with a face I find rather cute.

"Well for a multitude of reasons firstly you showed me kindness and I'm happy to repay it; second I feel that second chances are good for a person when their past wasn't their fault" I smile and offer a hand that she takes standing back on all fours. Now that I'm not starving to death or running for my life I get a chance to admire her beauty.

"From what I was told and what I have studied; I sympathize completely, you did what you did out of anger and neglect, Heh- something I- humans know all too well."

"Thou do?" she sits on her haunches listening like a child being read a bedtime story.

"I wasn't exactly appreciated when I was younger, I was scrutinized for what I could though I do know nothing can compare to what you went through." As I stand there awkwardly the voice in the back of my voice shouting.

‘Oh for fuck’s sake, just hug her!’ To her surprise, I gently wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into a hug. I let her go to see her face is red, baffled a small smile crosses her face her eyes wide that would make even the toughest heart melt.

"Thanketh thou." she smiles and what I didn't expect was for her to fly off instantly.

'You’re welcome.' I give a slight wave as I stare as her silhouette flies off into the distance.

‘Stay strong.’

Chapter 5, Interlude: Royal Intrigue.

<><><><><>~Luna - Austin 1 hour ago.~<><><><><>

“We all make mistakes… It’s what makes us who we are.” he says as he tightens his grip around me slightly.

There are millions of ponies across Equestria that do not like me, some even residing within the walls of the very castle that stands as the capital of all. Even so, sitting beside me is an intelligent being who has lost everything he ever cared for and practically been abandoned by all he has ever known and loved, yet is showing me more kindness than most of my subjects. As he speaks, he does not think of me as a ruler; but a pony – an equal in his eyes, but why…? Why is it he is so kind to me after all he has been through? This isn't the only thing that is bugging me; there is something familiar about him yet I cannot place my hoof on it. Seeing nothing better to do, I lay next to the stream we were talking by thinking about what makes him so different, despite him being a different species. In less than a minute, hundreds of questions sprout with no reliable answers.

'Fie to it all! Why do we feel this way around him…?'
'What makes him different from the nobles, stallions, and mares that would normally only come to us for help.'

Seeing no other way to stop the questions, I lay beside the stream and meditate on the thoughts that plague me.

<><><><><>One hour later. - Present.<><><><><>

A short while later we can hear somepony or something approaching, and our ears turn towards the noise.

"Are you ok?" I recognize the voice that belongs to the human.

"Why dost thou show me such kindness whilst others do not?” I look at him quietly with our hoof over the other. He sits beside me and begins to tell me the reasons why he acts the way he does. Without warning he hugs me in a way that rivals that of my sister. With this I take flight towards Canterlot feeling slightly happier than I did when I had arrived.

<><><><><>Canterlot - 20 minutes later.<><><><><>

I land on the balcony of the tallest tower of the Canterlot castle; folding my wings to my sides, I begin trotting down the stairs to meet Tia. As I walk down the corridors I am greeted by four guards standing at attention, two of which are standing to attention next to a corridor; seeing this they both salute motionless, the other two follow suit and take a similar stance. As I continue my path up I approach a massive door with its own set of guards, these two are dressed in light gray armor and holding Kiras staffs; spotting me, they move their staffs apart to their sides quietly, not offering so much as a glance. A slight smile crosses my muzzle as I look at the door bearing my sister’s golden sun; gently I knock on the door. A few moments or so later I can hear the slight sound of hooves scuffling around.

"Sister, we must talk." I put my ear to the door to hear soft hoof steps.

"Come in, Luna" I hear Tia say with a slight yawn and we enter.

"Sister, we have returned from Ponyville!" I smile proudly.

"So I can see. And how did your search fare?" She sits down next to the fireplace, her regalia placed neatly on the dresser.

"Tis what I want to talk to you about." I give a blank look and sit next to her laying on a cushion that was next to the fire.

"What is it, Luna?" she gently drapes a wing over my back my ears splay to my head.

"Before we arrived here...did mother not tell us that the species on this planet were all but destroyed?" I see Tia's ears fold back immediately from the question.

"She told us that the planet had fallen in turmoil; she did mention that by the time we would arrive they would be all but gone." she looks at me a face of dread crosses her muzzle.

“But we remember there was a small group of humans that did survive for a short while.” I look at Tia now trying to trace her steps back to that day.

“I recall you were the one that they saw.” I smile sheepishly at the statement.

“Yes...but shortly after they all starting dying from something we did not understand,” she looks at the flames dancing happily.

“The last to pass was laying on his back.”

"Oh... yes...that was about the time I found you with him." I give a sad look as I recall the specific memory.

“He looked fine...until he removed his shirt and revealed his skin was covered in boils, rashes, irregular colorations, and multiple lacerations.”

“At the time we could not do anything about it,” Tia sighs and looks at the floor guiltily. "We did what we could to suppress his pains; we were also young still very young very inexperienced mares, it was all we could do; our magic couldn't reverse the effects of what he came into contact with." she looks away from the fire at us.

“What makes you think of such a time, dear sister?”

"Well... that's just it. The disturbance in Ponyville was something we thought were long gone." her eyes widen.

"There's a human still alive? In Ponyville?" her mouth nearly hits the floor in shock.

"Yes, we could not believe it either; two legs and arms. He is barely surviving or at the very least struggling to survive."

"B-but how is that possible? It’s been nearly two millennia since one has been seen!?" she stutters.

"Thy guess is as good as our own."

“B-b-but how?!” Tia is now gasping trying to grasp the situation.

“We are not sure; but he is quite docile much like the ones we met then;” I pause for a moment. “Sister…do you have the book that human gave you all those centuries ago?” I stare at her quietly.

“The one he made us promise to keep safe; I have it here, but I still haven't learned how to read it,” she pauses momentarily. “You propose we bring him here so he can possibly translate it?” I nod. As she is clearly putting some thought into this.

“Well...there is the matter of him being moved around. If he is in such a feeble state as you say than he is probably malnourished perhaps...For now we should give him some time… For the time being I will send letter to Twilight about him and request her to keep a watchful eye over him." I sit up and stretch my hooves and begin heading for the door leaving my sister to write a letter.

"And Luna..” I stop abruptly before heading out.

“Remember, you will need to talk to the castle décor artists about the banners for the Sun Celebration." she glances at me with a gleeful smile as she writes that letter my ears fold back as I remember what the human had done before I left.

"Certainly, Tia!" I put on a false smile as I open the doors; the guards promptly moving their staffs to their sides once more, as I am out of Tia’s gaze my smile fades as I close the door in the corner of my eye I spot one of the guards eyeing me with a look of curiosity which he quickly stows as I glance at him.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Well thus far it has been 4 days living in this newer...eh older world and so far this week I've broke my nose, scared a town of multicolored ponies with said nose, and met royalty due to said ponies having a full on panic attack, all in all four days it has been a pretty productive week. All the while I look like I have been dragged through forest I can see my hair draping over my eyes...the wind didn’t help that either- you’d think that wind would blow your hair backwards; well not me, the way I was headed the wind was blowing it straight into my face. To make matters worse there isn't a scrap of food around this place. Knowing I am right next to a river there should be fish in it. Nearing the water the wind picks up and I nearly fall face first again; regaining my balance I approach the water I observe the surface for any signs of activity. After a while I continue to stand by the shallow waters of the stream waiting for an unfortunate fish to swim by wrist. Half an hour later my stomach betrays me and growls in anger.

“I get it you are hungry...Jesus; look I’m trying…” my stomach returns with a low growl…

“Yea, yea I know just shut up.” I chuckle slightly; and as if my prayers have been answered a fish swims right by my hand carefully I flip my knife open with my left arm and, gently, I lower the knife into the water waiting to pounce...

"Dinner..." I stab the fish behind the head causing some blood to flow into the stream. Quickly I grab it out of the water.

“Not much but it will do…” I sigh and begin to skin it of its scales and other organs. Once I finish cleaning it I start to scavenging for dried grass and twigs when a voice behind me speaks up.

"What are you doing?" I recognize the voice as Twilights.

"Uhm- nothing?" I turn around to see Twilight, noticing she is sitting to the rock I grab it from her side she watches me curiously.

"Sure doesn't seem like nothing." She gives me the most serious look she can possibly muster.

“Well I don't know what to tell ya’,” I continue to stack the dried grass and twigs into a small pile. "What brings you out here anyways?" I run my thumb over the surface of the rock. With a glance I can identify this is quartz rock. Without a second thought I strike my knife to the rough surface of the rock making sustaining sparks. The first attempt doesn’t entail a fire in the grass.

"You don't have to do this you know I could just light it fo-." The second strike causes the grass to slowly ignite as she sits quietly watching almost baffled.

“Quartz stone…” I hold the rough rock up to show her.

“What?” she looks at it curiously

“Quartz stone is a stone that's slightly rough fine side allows my knife to create sparks easily. Though difficult at times, mostly works without needing something to stoke the fire.” I set the rock down

"So... What really brought you here?" I raise an eyebrow at her. Her poker face fails and she sighs.

"Curiosity got the best of me, I suppose." she smiles sheepishly, by now the fire is slightly larger I place a few twigs on it prodding it exposing unburned areas into the fire.

"Why do you say that?" I put more wood onto the fire.

"Well it’s surprising to see you are able to survive with such little resources," she observes as the fire grows larger. “It’s incredible....” she lays down silently.

"Well just about anything beats being where I sleep; it's hard enough to worry about the place falling in on me." I stab the small piece of fish meat with a small branch and put it into the fire with a resounding sizzle.

"I've been out here many times and I've only seen Zecora's hut. There isn't anything out here, so where do you live." her stare turns serious.
“You mentioned above the ground...but did you look below your hooves? I pull back a burned piece of meat that is now on fire.

‘well may taste like shit, but it's better than nothing.’

I blow out the meat and eat in a bite I look over to Twilight who is looking at me with an odd expression. One I know all too well. Discomfort.

“Sorry.” I swallow.

“eh- what is it you said that humans eat exactly?” I look at her closer her face is slightly pale.

“Humans are Omnivores.” she gives me a look of surprise and horror.

“You eat m-meat?” I slowly nod.

“I’m not gonna eat ya’ sheesh I'm not that barbaric I have fucking morals you know,” she gulps slightly. “anyway, who is this Zecora you spoke of.”

"S-shes a Zebra who lives in the Everfree."

"English." I put my hand to my chin.

"The forest" she points a hoof at the forest less than fifty feet away from me.

"Oh..."

“She is a potion master that lives deep within the forest.”

"Well I am like Fluttershy, I don't live in it but on the outskirts of it." her eyes turn to the size of dinner plates as she looks at me with wonder and almost like pinkie she does a slight skip jump onto her hooves in front of me.

“Ohhh, can I see it?! Pleeaseeeeeee?????” her eyes practically like a puppy.

‘Oh I’m gonna love this.’

“Hm....maybe; I’ll think about it.” she suddenly falls on her haunches now begging me with her eyes practically saying ‘pweeeeaseeeeeeeee’???

“Ah alright, alright fine...just stop with the eyes…”

“YIPPIE!!!” Twilight is now hopping around excitedly.

“I have to warn you though Twilight...the place is old and decrepit...It could very well collapse and that is the last thing I want or need to happen is a pony being pancaked under literal tons of debris.”

“I’ll be careful!,” she sits down “Can we go now?” she starts fidgeting in place.

“Patience. I want to eat something first: I’m starving…” I pull the second piece out of the fire and blow on it.

“Me needz few more minutes.” I eat last portion of the fish.

“Oh come on…” she gives me an upset look.

“I’m only yanking your chain, don't be so sensitive about it.” I laugh a bit as I chew scooping some water out of the nearby stream I douse the fire.

“Not funny!” She scowls at me

“Well then I'm afraid to tell ya' that is your problem; anyways are we going or not?” she gets up and starts to follow behind me, after a short few minutes she catches up to me and walks beside me.

“So what was it like?" she looks up at me

"What was what like?" she looks up at me.

"The human world?" I stop walking instantly at the thought of the explosion.

"Are you ok?" I feel soft hoof on the side of my hip.

"Uh… It was fine." I lie as I shake my head and the thought with it.

‘I really wish I could say I was ok...’

"So where is this home of yours?" We walk into a rather large clearing surrounded by trees slightly concealing the area around and what hides below the ground.

"here..." I mumble slightly.

“What?” she looks at me like I am crazy.

“We’re here.” I say again a little louder.

"There isn't anything here" Her look changes to that of one of concern.

"One second." I crouch down feeling for a slight gap in the moss below. finding the lip of the door I heave on it with all my strength. I continue to yank on the door the hinges squeaking in protest from the weight and age of the door. with a large thud the hatch falls on itself revealing a menacing set of steps the sunlight stops halfway down the stairs.

"Please be mindful of the condition this place is in." She is practically like a kid waiting in line for a candy store to open.

"After you." I gesture down the stairs with my left hand.

Last second she hesitantly looks down the stairs and slowly begins her descent. With her going this slow it takes awhile for her to reach the bottom; as soon as her first hoof touched the bottom stair her horn lights up half of the decrepit living room. Quietly she slowly begins examining what's left of my once decent second home.

"Not very impressive is it?" I walk over to my rusted generators.

"Not impressive; it's absolutely incredible!" gently she levitates a tarp off the mantle revealing a few books and a photo album.

"Call it whatever you want." I chuckle sarcastically as I check the oil of the generator. As I expected it is beyond expired. Giving it the best of luck I yank the old starter cord with sputter it starts for half a second and kills over. Out of instinct I crack the fuel cap to see the fuel is not liquid anymore but a gel.

'Fuck.It.All.'

I do the same with the second generator as I pull the second cord with a similar result it sputters out. I remove cap again but this time I find only the top layer is gelled over.

'Fuel must have clogged the intake pipe.' Looking over I can see Twilight levitating something off of my mantel.

"Were these your friends?" The light on her horn brightens what she is holding. I stand up and walk over to her; gently, I take hold of the photo album to see a photo of my five best friends at a party when we returned from months of being on tour. With a slight smile I look back to the purple mare.

"They weren’t just my friends they were my second family..." Immediately her ears fold down.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked." She looks away sheepishly.

"Nah- Don't be sorry for asking an honest question." I set the album back down on the mantle.

"But how did you survive." I stop abruptly and face the unicorn mare now standing before me.

"I won't lie...It was my cowardice actions and bad judgment that landed me here." Silently I walk past her to the very corner of the room.
Standing quietly the corner is the Cryostasis pod its lights now shut off due to power failure.

"What happened to me so long ago was- is my biggest fuck up; obviously you know there is no way to reverse the clock." I put my hand on the cold glass of the pod.

"Well," Twilight quietly approaches me. "You should at least try to enjoy this new opportunity. I mean as of right now you are a living sentient being, that as far as we know you're the last of." I turn around to see Twilight sitting behind me, a smile across her muzzle.

"You know that doesn't really help me feel better about my situation," her ears flatten to her head. "But what you say does hold merit; I will try to make the best of it...However, I fear the outcome." Her ears perk up again.

"This reminds me of when Celestia told me when I was a filly,"

"Everypony has a purpose, big or small there is always a reason." Twilight cocks her head to the side in possibly one of the cutest smiles I've seen.

"A statement that cannot be more true."

<><><><><><><><><><>~Twilight~<><><><><><><><><><><>

Later that day...

After a long and interesting day with the human in his home I gallop as fast as my hooves can carry me. Entering Ponyville many ponies part in the market as I charge my way through. I slow my pace as I approach my library; Using my magic I open the door to see Spike putting a few books back on different shelves. I enter and close the door behind me drawing the attention of spike.

"Hey! Twilight! How'd it go?" He pushes the last book into place and slides down the ladder.

"It went well, very well; truthfully I think I encouraged him it's never too late to do something." I smile at Spike.

"Well isn't he the last of his kind anyways? Just about anything he'd do would be considered quite noticeable anyways, right." Spike gives a slight laugh.

"True, wait how do you know he's possibly the last?”

“Twilight...I’ve been organizing every book in this library all day long...I do tend to read some of the history books and can safely say there wasn't one that mentioned his kind - or anything remotely close to him.”

“Hmmm- well either way, he has much to adapt to." I sit at my desk; levitating my quill and ink over I begin writing on a spare piece of parchment nearby.

"Dear Princess Celestia,"

"Today I made a trip to find him; At your request I personally believe he's more than capable of traveling, despite this I would think it wise he was introduced to the town and adapt to some ways of life be throwing the truth at him. Though, while I was there I found something that might shock Luna and you. Attached to this letter is a photo I managed to extract from a photo album however, it was of his friends but a closer look revealed something I did not expect, you described one of the remaining humans upon your arrival to this planet nearly two millennium ago. This human resembles the traits you described."

"I suggest we give him time."

"Your faithful student,"

"Twilight Sparkle."

I attach the photo gently as I don't want to damage it.

Tightly I wrap the letter in a red and gold ribbon with a wax seal of Celestia's cutiemark.

"Spike send this with haste, Celestia must read it as soon as possible." I look up at the dragon once again sorting books on the very top shelves.

"Alright, Alright just let me put this book ba-haaackkk" I hear a loud crash of books falling on top of spike I turn around to see him smiling sheepishly with a book on top of his head.

"back...I’ll just...send that now..." he takes the letter breaths fire on it as it flies out the open nearby window.

"Thanks' Spike!" He continues to smile sheepishly.

"Yea...." he scratches his scales and pulls the book off his head and resumes his work organizing books.

Chapter 6 Equestria is Unfair.

Chapter 6: Equestria is Unfair...

Last night Twilight got to explore the depths of my past. Unlike what I had expected, she was more excited than a kid in a candy store. She explored my home for nearly an hour before abruptly saying she had to leave. Whatever the reason was, it must have been really important, because she nearly knocked herself out on the stairs. After she left in her mad dash I closed the hatch, leaving the room completely blacked out.

Seeing that now I have nothing better to do, I use my watch as a light and walk over to the mantelpiece. Laying there on its side is the photo album Twilight was looking through. Taking the photo album, I sit on my bed and, using the dimmed light from my watch, I look at the pictures, examining them, each picture holding a specific memory. Flipping it open I see myself and my closest friends graduating from Marine boot camp; that day we were decorated in dark green and cap, beside me is my father and mother smiling at this proud accomplishment. Beside me is Stavo saluting with a cheesy smile.

“The good times…” I sigh aloud as I adjust the pillow and place the album on my chest and close my eyes, eventually drifting to sleep.

<><><><><>The Harsh Reality of Dreams.<><><><><>

Bright lights flash my eyes, I instinctively place my hand over my eyes as my eyes slowly attempt to adjust, after a while look around my surroundings to see a bright blue sky; hesitantly I sit upright, looking around I can see my home town around me the trees swaying lazily in the slight breeze. Carefully, I stand up and look behind me to see a trail leading up to a road; opposite that is an open field of sunflowers. As I look around there isn’t a soul in sight, it’s quiet…too quiet.

Almost on cue dark storm clouds begin to form shortly followed by lightning in every direction and in the center of it all is a dark purple mist traveling at me full speed. Instinctively, I start running for my life in the opposite direction dodging large rocks and dead tree branches. Looking behind me, I can see the mist gliding along the ground, going around rocks with ease without noticing I trip on a rock and fall face first into the dirt. I kick backwards trying to get back on my feet only to see the mist bearing down on me.

“AHGH!” I scream aloud; promptly falling face first from my bed to the cold cement floor, causing me to hyperventilate. Choking on myself, I slow my heart rate and get my breathing back to a somewhat normal rate as I prop myself against the side of my bed.

“This world has a way of fucking with me doesn’t it…” I exhale slowly, feeling my way to my feet, using the bed as a guide I slowly navigate in the general direction of the stairs. Abruptly I trip and fall on top of something rectangular.

‘Fuck me that hurt!’ I reach down and trace my hands around the object to it’s one of the books that Twilight allowed me to take with me.

‘Clutz.’

“Must’ve forgotten to take that off the back of the bed…” Using my fingertips I take the book in my grasp and use all fours to trace the wall to find my way back to the edge of the bed. Once finding the bed I place the book in the center so I don’t forget about it later. Resuming my path along the wall I make my way back towards the stairs using memory and touch to navigate the dark room using whatever light I can get from the watch plastered to my wrist which is virtually next to nothing.

For what seems like ages I reach the top of the stairs only to realize the even more tedious process of pushing the hatch open. Using my entire upper body strength- or at this rate what's left of it, I finally hear an audible screeching noise as the hinges protest under the weight. Halfway open I heard a metallic twang noise indicating one of the hinges caves in; with one more heave I push the lid over onto the grass to reveal it is the dawn of a brand new day.

“What shall I do today in this wonderful world of color barf…” I look at the sun that is creeping out behind the forest cover that surrounds me. Shrugging to myself, I walk towards the edge of Ponyville momentarily stopping and hiding from some ponies passing over the bridge. Stopping on the opposite side of the stream near the bridge the ponies crossing into Ponyville. Laying prone in a bush I squint to see the market- what I wouldn't give for a pair of binoculars. From what my eyes can see; groups of ponies beginning to bring a market to life as hundreds of carts and stands are unfolded and made ready for the morning rush. Various sales ponies selling fruits and some running various pawn shops, some even selling odd trinkets.

‘Really is like a California Flea market.’ I look at the particular vendor selling weird figurines and tribal goods. Without any warning at all I hear a high pitched feminine voice beside me- my blood instantly running colder than the Antarctic.

“What are we spying on?” Immediately I turn paler than white as the blood rushes to my feet; In fear as I jump out of the bush and fly face first into the stream. Realizing that I had forgotten to inhale I struggle to breach the surface of the stream when I break the surface I inhale the life giving oxygen.

Moments later I clear one of my eyes and I pull myself to the shore, my clothes drenched and sticking to my sides. To ensue my misfortune a small morning breeze washes over my body, amplifying the cold ten fold. Looking over at the bush to find it is completely empty, immediately my brain kicks into emergency fight or flight mode thinking of hundreds of scenarios all of which amplify my paranoia. All of them put to rest except one as a shadow envelopes half of my body, I look up to see a the exact same pony who screamed at me the very first day I came here.

‘Ah great it's you...Gonna' scream at me again, aren’t ya’ and have me arrested and or executed…?’ I think quietly exhaling silently as we continue to glare into each others eyes my raspy breaths audible as I'm still coughing out water. Finally the awkward silence is broken when she does the impossible.

“No silly! Why would I have you arrested?” my eyes widen at the prospect of what she just said.

'No. No; JUST NO. Please for the love of god tell me that was just a coincidence. PLEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEE. My heart can't take it!'

"No what? What's the coincidence? Should I get you a doctor?" My eyes widen my genuine fears confirmed.

“What the fuck; NO," I cough and lapse up from the water still in my lungs.

"THAT ISN'T POSSIBLE! EVEN FOR PONIES!" I practically lose my voice as I gasp for air.

“Heh, all in due time...” The pink pony moves like a snake and slinks off out of sight as I roll over coughing my liver out, all the while I'm attempting to rationally think about what just transpired in front of me. Slowly, but surely I get to my feet and limp away from the town down the trail I took from Twilights house. As I walk I continue to look over my shoulder to make sure no one is tailing… As If it mattered anyways.

“H-Hi Austin.” I continue to walk completely oblivious to the world.

“Whoohoo….? Austin?” A yellow hoof waves in front of me momentarily snaps me out of my trance.
“Pink pony...surprised;” I inhale sharply “Illogical.” I collapse on the softest thing in reach- that being this lovely patch of grass.

‘Lights out…’

<><><><><>The Unconscious Void.<><><><><>

Looking in every direction I see nothing but black I look down and immediately regret doing so, looking down just to find there’s nothing below my feet. Looking down only sends me into a full blown panic attack, but suddenly a noise echoes across the blackness of the void. Listening closely I can hear someone or something calling my name.

“Austin...?” My name echoing throughout the void surrounding me. Looking around in desperation I try to locate which direction the voice is emanating from. With no success I try one last ditch effort; I open my mouth to scream but no words come, only silence as tears of fear and panic take hold. After a while I feel cold and everything turns to a blur around me as reality reforms.

<><><><><><><><><><>

”Aaaauuussstiiinnnnn” A soft hoof presses against my chest I groan and a second later a very cold sensation hits my face, followed by a loud splash on my face I snap awake swinging at anything within three feet of my fists. Luckily I run my hand over my now soaking wet face in time to rub my eyes clearing the excess water that was blurring my vision to see that I almost clipped Fluttershy square in the jaw.

“Ah-Cr- I’m so, so, sooo sorry. PLEASE for the love of god please tell me now I didn’t hit you.” The shy pony hides behind her mane immediately I fall into a second stage panic attack. My eyes turn to the size of pinpricks when she puts her hoof on my leg.

“N-no you didn’t. I ducked.” My heart still going a million miles a minute I inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth.

“I really don’t wanna hit ya’ I’m already known for scaring an entire town- whoa, whoa- wait a minute here; why am I in your house? How long was I out-“ Looking around to find I am indeed in Fluttershy's house, she puts her hoof over her mouth. As I look around to make sure this is in fact her house, looking at her, she has her eyes locked on my face practically telling me one thing.

‘Right… Shutting up now.’

“At least answer me this; how did you get me here?” I move backwards on her couch into the corner allowing her to sit beside me. Revealing her face from her mane in one of the most adorable ways I have ever seen...EVER…

“Honestly, it was coincidence. I heard some pony scream and I came looking. I found you instead.”

“You guys need to start explaining to me why that goddamn pink pony has a knack of scaring the living piss out of me.” I cross my arms in mock anger.

“You mean Pinkie?” I lean back a bit feeling my back crack from how I am laying down.

“I don’t Caaa-are what you call her. Ouch… I just wanna know how the hell she appeared out of nowhere next to me.”

“You really do have a lot to get used to here in Equestria,” she pauses and gives a cute giggle. “Pinkie has and always will have these ‘senses’ or odd times. We’ve lived around Pinkie for so many years no pony bothers trying to question the logic in it anymore.”

“You mean to tell me that Pinkie can randomly appear next to me on demand if she wants?!” Fluttershy leans away from me in fear and begins to use her mane as protection once more.

“Sorry… But seriously, that’s such an invasion of privacy. Being in the situations I have been I don’t appreciate it that she’s just able to appear next to me, she liable to get punched in the face out of reflex; or...worse.”

“What were you doing anyways,” she stops and turns red. “Um- that is if you don’t mind me asking that is?”

“I woke up today with next to nothing to do besides wandering around.”

“Oh, that... sounds- really boring…” she looks at me and practically whispers with a slight frown.

“Huh?”

“I said that sounds boring." she raises her voice raises ever so slightly, but quickly returns to an awkward silence.

"Can I ask you something Fluttershy?" she looks at me quietly and nods.

"I get how your name implies you are shy, but you don't seem it at all. Just an observation is all." once more she hides behind her mane but this time she's hiding a slight blush she fails to cover up with her mane.

"I-it's a long story- and I don't want to bother you with it." she looks away he wings folded tight to her sides.

"I can respect your decision, but I have an excess amount of time on my hands." Slowly she lays down beside my lap getting comfortable as she prepares to tell me her story.

"When I was a young filly I was made fun of because I wasn’t just unsociable but I failed a lot of my flight tests; I wasn't cut out for flying almost." she looks at the floor and closes her eyes.

"Take it some of the other students were less than polite." she slowly nods and continues her story.

"If I wasn't having my name made fun of, I was always being harassed by other students, who flew faster, even some who couldn’t fly much better than me had reason to make fun of me, At the time it seemed like everypony would participate in 'harass Fluttershy hour'." As I listen respectfully to her heartfelt story I place my hand on her neck trying to comfort her as her calm composure crumbles and she begins to whimper. Out of heartfelt sadness I gently lift her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her in a somewhat tight embrace, almost on instinct she wraps her hooves around me and stops crying. After a while we just sit in each others embrace I let go of her to see her maroon eyes her whites red from crying.

"Feeling a bit better?" She nods, I attempt to move her back, but she tightens her grip around me refusing to go back.

‘Ah just let the pony stay.’

"To even the playing field I'll let you in on some of the stuff I went through as a kid." unlike what I thought she'd do she lays her entire body over my legs and looks up at me with her ears perked up as she listens.

"When I was younger, I didn't get picked on by kids. At least not maliciously, that or I just never noticed; Probably both- either way, I was a hyper little brat. When I was about six years old there was this kid named Tie, at the time we weren't friends I had very little to actually call them a true friend; but one day there was a brawl with a kid named Michael Fawa- he was tormenting Tie pushing him around. Being me my mind instantly thought I should help him, without a care in the world and zero craps given," I pause momentarily looking at the now slightly worried Fluttershy.

"I intervened, by intervening- I pushed Michael away from Tie and it ended up costing me three of my front teeth, apparently he punched me square in the jaw. It also became apparent that the blow made me incredibly drowsy and nauseous; according to everyone around me, I spat my teeth out along with a lot of blood. The nearby teachers picked them up and took me to the nurse. From my perspective, everything was a blur, some muffled voices and people lifting me away. When I came back to the land of the living I found out Michael was expelled for violence and I got sent home with a note to my parents and my three teeth with cotton wedged in the gaps where they stood. To put it lightly I looked like hell." I give a cheeky smile to Fluttershy particularly revealing the three teeth in the lower right corner of my jaw that were once knocked free.

"Oh...my. So humans can also grow back teeth too?"

"Yeah, humans are born with two sets of teeth baby teeth and adult teeth."

"Ohhh, humans seem to be quite special as they get older."

“That is completely left to your discretion on what you define as “Special”,” I grin at the statement she lays her head down and asks me a question I didn't expect.

"W-would it be too much to ask for more stories?" I think about her question quietly for a moment before shrugging.

"I suppose so." her face lightens up to one of giddiness.

"I think I know of a few stories that will tickle your fancy."

"There was a time when I ran into a stationary object..."

<><><><><>Dusk...<><><><><>

After the better part of four hours of telling various stories to Fluttershy who had kept me company all day had fallen asleep as I told her a story of when I got to sit under the cover of stars; that night I was waiting for a particular meteor shower to arrive. As it turns out the pony on my lap had moved her entire body to my lap one of her wings is sprawled out over the side of the couch, the other covering the ponies face once again making me redefine the levels of cuteness possible. The only problem now is the peacefully sleeping Fluttershy has pinned me to the couch; with the gentlest of movements I move my arm from under the prison that is her body. However, notice the sun beginning to lower via the window’s light moving away from me, I look at my watch attached and look to find it is 18:09 (6:09PM).

Without a doubt it is definitely getting late and to not overstay my welcome I use my other hand, which is still under Fluttershy’s body and my newly freed hand, I lift the sleeping pony up ever so gently as not to wake her. As I move her, she stirs ever so slightly and adjusts by wrapping herself into a ball; making my way up the nearby stairs, I carry her in her own bed (at least I hope it is her room.) and wrap a blanket around her to keep her warm. Slowly I pull the covers over her, she coos and pulls them tight to her body, with a smile now permanently etched on my face I exit the room, making extra sure to close the door without incident as not to wake her. With the utmost care that rivals Seal Team 6 I walk down the stairs, making extra sure not to make a noise, however, one more thing stands in my way, and it comes in the shape of a little bunny blocking the door.

“Go on get out of here!” I motion for my hands for him to move, he stands strong and gives me a look of impatience, I weigh my options and I opt to step over him. Before I, even as I attempt to leave, he points at his food bowl which is now empty. Out of annoyance I give him a 'Are you serious right now look' and he taps his foot rapidly in annoyance. In defeat I throw my hands up in mock surrender as I step into the kitchen, It took some effort, but a brief search later I locate a bundle of carrots in a drawer without hesitation, I grab one and use my attached knife and slice it into much more sizable pieces for the bunny to munch on.

"Enjoy little guy." I whisper as I close my knife with a click as I step over him and out the door.

"Next stop… Twilight's place." I begin to walk over the bridge that connects to Fluttershys now darkened home to Ponyville.

<><><><><><><><><><>

The walk to Twilight’s wasn’t too much of a pain of course the occasional pony would walk down the same path, but every time they looked my direction I managed to hide behind something usually they would shrug it off and continue on their way. This happened a grand total of five times before I reached Twilight’s home within the center of the town. Granted, I could’ve just walked down the streets, but my conscious still says I should stay hidden for now. Quickly I knock on the library door, constantly looking over my shoulder, making absolutely sure no one has spotted me yet; that and I am making 110% sure that Pinkie doesn’t pop out of nowhere and surprise me again. After a while the library opens up to reveal Spike looking more than exhausted.

"Hey Spike- Is Twilight here?" He's so small I literally have to look down to make eye contact. It takes him a moment to contemplate a proper response.

"She's out getting some supplies. She said not to let in anyone today; guess it wouldn't hurt to let you in though, considering you two are friends."

"Huh, she considers me a friend? A complete alien being from the ordinary- that's actually really nice." Spike bows respectively, and gestures me to come in I carefully step around him and stretch out my back.

"So what kind of supplies?" I take a seat on the couch looking at the shelves of books now cleaned and ordered.

"She mentioned something about food and writing material." he gestures to Twilight's unusually empty desk.

"Can I ask you something?"

‘What's with everyone and questions today...’ Spike walks over to a bookshelf pushing a ladder over he climbs it retrieving a particularly small book.

"Sureee, what is it?" I clasp my hands into a ball.

"Remember when you stopped by during our organization day?," he opens the book briefly, I look at the cover and nod. "Well, while I was putting books in alphabetical order back, I sometimes read them and I read this book it mentioned some info on human philosophy. We aren’t Canterlot archives, but we have some information or… at least some mythological information about your kind."

"Interesting, I'm assuming you are wanting me to confirm if it is true or not?" I raise an eyebrow in curiosity at what it could hold. Spike simply nods as he clears his throat before reciting some information from the book.

"It states that during that time humans were going extinct, no more than 400 survived around the world; all of which either died of a bad sickness that caused their skin to practically melt off or left sores." I stop him there knowing exactly what killed them.

"Firstly, it isn’t a sickness. It's a man made source known as Radiation Poisoning. Humans can withstand very little of it before getting the sickness- too much we die a very slow and painful death." I think back to the nuclear fallout; ash fluttering in the breeze like snow.

'Is it possible I was radiated as well...' I put my hand to my head a new problem arising.

"You ok?" he sets the book down and climbs to the top of the wooden coffee table in front of me.

"I'm fine Spike." I roll my hand into a fist to give him a reassuring fist bump, unsurprisingly he looks at me confused.

"You are supposed to return the gesture by bumping my fist." His eyes lighten up and he copies my motion and bumps my fist.

"Awesome! I learned a gesture from an ancient being!" he looks like he’s truly accomplished something monumental.

"Not helping me by making fun of my age. I’m not that old at all Spike." he stops immediately.

"Wait... how old are you then?" He hops down from the coffee table and returns the book to the shelf.

"In reality, minus the 2000 years I've been locked away; I'm only 24 years old- still very much young. Thank you..." Spike looks at me like I'm crazy.

"T-Twilight is only 21!"

"Trying to say something?" I give him a smug look.

'Try digging yourself out of this one spike...' I think manically in my head as he tries to frantically regain his thoughts.

"No! Eh, no, sorry. I didn't mean -" I stop him when he starts hearing me laughing maniacally.

"Dude, I was kidding, relax." I put my feet up crossing them over each other.

"Oh...ha..haaa..." he nervously scratches behind his head. Almost expectantly he looks at the door, which squeaks open with a very weighed down Twilight. Being me, I get up off my ass and grab a few of the sacks from her magical grip causing her to wince in surprise. Her eyes shrank to pinpricks as she realizes it's me.

'That's not the face of I'm happy to see you.'

"Evening, Twilight." I take the bags over to her kitchen table setting them down.

"Spike! I thought I told you not to let people in tonight!” she looks at spike, pure anger in her irises as she sets the other bags down.

“B-but I thought he was the exception!” He returns with an equal tone that vaguely matches her own.

“Yes of course, if it was a normal night, but tonight is really busy and I have important things I need to attend and arrange!” my eyes shift to the mare and back to the dragon.

“OUI! I’m right here... Stop talking like I don’t exist,” they both stop and look at me quietly.

“Good… If you two are done bickering like an old married couple I’d like a job of sorts, unpaid or paid I don't care so long as I can do ANYTHING.” I cross my arms.

“I’m sorry…” she quietly lands with a thud on the floor looking down.

“Why are you apologizing to me? I’m only stopping you two from fighting.” I sit down on the floor in front of her, oddly enough even sitting down I’m taller than she is.

“Yeah… I know that, but I really shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me.”

“I would say it’s the human thing to do… and then I realized just what kind of reality, I’m in right now.” Suddenly Spike bursts out laughing, falling backwards into a fit of laughter, I look at Twilight who now has a look of confusion. I put my hand over my face a big grin on my face and begin to laugh with spike. It wasn’t long before Twilight looks between us both.

“WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!” she shouts causing us both to immediately stop laughing and look at her quietly. Calmly, I stand up now towering over her by several feet.

“I think the question is… Why aren’t you?” she shakes her head and walks past me, she looks over her shoulder and uses her tail and literally whips my chest causing me to flinch in pain. I shake my head and think over what just happened.

“OWWW!” I rub the spot where her tail struck me, lifting up my shirt I see a red spot now forming.

‘Does the saying, “Don’t mess with the bull you get the horns" still apply? Or should I chalk this up to “Don’t mess with the unicorn or you get the horn?”’

'Either way...duly noted...'

“Gah... Really Twilight. All I was going to ask if there anything I can do around here instead of sitting around on my thumbs?” I walk over to Twilight who is currently sorting through her groceries.

“I wasn’t expecting you to come by at all today.” She levitates some capsules of ink and parchment paper and stacks them on her desk over so gently making sure they are exactly lined up.

‘And I thought I was OCD…’

“Fine… If you want something to do, I could use a hoof unloading the groceries.”

“Alright, simple enough.” I walk over to the remaining bags next to the door and lift them to the kitchen, reaching in I find that just about everything is vegetables and fruits respectfully abiding by theses ponies typical diets, I can say already tell now that this is going to not only take time to adjust to, but also probably cause medical problems later.

It is sort of fun to find that most fruits that Twilight seems to like are also ones I enjoy myself back when everyone was around; fruits such as Pineapples, Apples, Oranges, hell, even Mangos are a common mix in this bag and this kept on for more than five minutes one after another I kept reaching into the bag. One after another almost in a damn pattern, it's lettuce, tomato, random fruit stacked. With the stack of fruit and vegetables getting extremely large I'm beginning to question this bag.

“Twilight what the hell is with this bag?”

“What about it?”

“I've been unpacking the same damn bag for five freaking minutes. And I can still feel more fruit in here and my arm is all the way in.”

“The bags are enchanted to hold more than you see.”

“Oh... Ok, if you don’t mind, I think I'm going to go and plunge my head into the lake and hope I wake up in the right reality. Did you seriously just say you enchanted this simple bag with a spell that makes it hold more?!”

“Yes, you seriously have a lot to learn about us.”

“Then why does my reaction always seem to surprise you?” I cross my arms a scowl across my face.

“Why do you bother reacting to anything at all?” She retorts a scowl crosses her muzzle for the longest time we stare at each other waiting one another to make a move.

"Touché." I break the silence and begin to laugh maniacally shortly followed by Twilight.

“Ah- you ponies are gonna drive me insane; I think I will fit in perfectly in this world the sarcasm never left it!” I reach into the bag and pull out the remaining supplies, of course with Twilight always keeping her eyes on me. There is no denying it when I wonder why she is acting so odd tonight. Despite this and all the shit I give her, she still has the somewhat “sweeter” side of her. However, all of these events only led to my advantage, turns out most of Equestria knows about electricity and has advanced to an extent; still looks as if they won’t be ever will be anyways. I mean, who needs a phone when you can just go POOF and send a message instantly and messages aren’t lost… well as far as Twilight cares to tell me anyways.

This is also not limited to owning a fridge, toaster, and other various essentials that the average human would use- Twilight being herself, even has a coffee machine for those long study nights. Overall the night went well in my opinion; despite all of this interesting stuff this newly rebuilt planet has to offer, Twilight was hell bent on making me talk about the past and their similarities and differences – luckily I managed to shrug off most of the questions by either changing the subject or just simply shrugging the question off entirely, much to my amusement she acted just like a little kid would who didn’t get their way in a Lego store.

"So...What was a typical day for you like?" She walks past me levitating some ink to a storage cupboard.

"Just an ordinary lifestyle. Wake up report in and go on with my life, carry out orders if I had to."

"That's really vague!" She pouts in annoyance.

"I could ask why you whipped me with your tail and receive an equally vague answer." She looks at me with her purple eyes quivering, for the briefest of moments I can't resist the urge to tell her. Falling on my Marine training I remain strong.

"Not gonna work on me Twilight, trying that trick on me- I may be new here, but I grew up with a sibling who pulled the same card."
"Horse Apples!" She stomps her hooves and returns to her task, leaving me to do a victory lap in my head. It wasn't before long that Twilight's clock begins ringing signifying it's midnight.Spike being one step ahead of me went to bed for his so called “dragon nap”, (guy sleeps more than I did when I was a kid.) eventually I wave good night to Twilight and begin my walk back, before anything I think about my options- two clear options presenting themselves.

A – sleep in my ready to collapse home, or B – sleep on the softest pile of dirt I can find. Before I can decide either I hear the familiar sound of hooves running full gallop towards me, turning around I see Twilight charging at me full speed.

'Looks like Twilight has different ideas for us tonight...' Not even five minutes out of Ponyville she’s hauling ass straight towards me and what appears to be a scroll floating behind her closely.

“oH DEAR GOD!” she leaps towards me and tackles me to the ground.

“Oh, thank Celestia you didn’t make it out of Ponyville!” she has her eyes locked with mine for the briefest of moments before she realizes she’s got all four of her hooves imbedded into my chest.

“C-can’t bbbbreaaath.” I groan in pain she immediately gets the picture, and gets off of me, her horn, lights up a dark shade of pink as her magic lifts me upright and against the stone railing on the bridge.

“The crap is wrong with you Twilight?! A simple yell would have sufficed!” I have a slight coughing fit from where she knocked the wind out of me.

“I’m so sorry, Really, I am but I forgot that I needed to do something tonight and with the way things are going in Ponyville with moving here recently myself, I have to take on responsibilities I’m just stressed; but part of the point I need to get you to a location very soon or we will be late!.”

“Late fo-“ she levitates my entire body onto my feet and pushes me along.

“No questions till we get there.”

“But.”

“No.”

“Come on” I plead with the unicorn.

“Neigh” she shoves me with her magic I comply and she leads me out of Ponyville under the light of the moon.

“THAT’S NOT EVEN FAIR!” I shout in protest.

“Shhhh.” With this we continue on our way to God knows where, all I know is I’m getting more tired by the moment and moving farther and farther away from anything… even the soft pile of dirt that was beckoning me to sleep on.

'DAMN YOU INFERNAL PONIES!!!'

Chapter 7 Roads Left Untread

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8 Starting Over

Chapter 8: Starting over

After a night like that I tend not to sleep, so it didn’t surprise me when I looked at my watch to find it’s nearly five in the morning at least hoping it is still correct that is. All night long I was occupied reading the information on the remaining humans that survived in this book, to be honest when it was written the information is really inaccurate. Not a surprise to me since most humans were preoccupied trying to survive than write things out. However, one thing that really does strike me as odd is that most humans that survived, the very few who did survive reported the casualties spread across several locations around the globe including a few areas that weren't in the blast. More specifically, they were caught in the nuclear ash; that combined with that many nuclear blasts most likely created a blizzard and enough radiation to kill any life form or any sentient being at bay or millions of years… Yet here's a world of magical beings living, breathing, and eating.

History aside, the sun is rising over the horizon, I get out of the bed, leaving the book to the side, I open the curtains, allowing rays of early morning sunlight to arch all around the room. Massive glares peaking at the top of distant mountains. I place my hand over my eyes, shielding myself from the bright rays of sunlight. The Night princesses unexpected visit last night; odd in its entirety, did benefit me and has given me a bit of renewed courage to at least go back to Ponyville confidently... hopefully. Though the memory of the dream is vividly playing over in my head, I can’t tell if it actually happened or if it was my twisted mind just making things up.

That is IF the dream was in fact something that did happen and that was her, I cannot help but wonder why she seems to be watching me closer than Celestia. Hell, even more than Twilight and that is saying something. Despite all the questions and concerns that keep turning in my head, I turn around and stretch out my back with a satisfying crack. Picking up my loose garments off the edge of the bed, I take them and enter the bathroom.

Tossing my shirt onto the nearby towel rack, I put my pants on. Shortly after I stumble over to the faucet turning it on allowing the water to turn to freezing once satisfied with the coldness of the water I splash it on my face immediately clearing the sleepless expression currently plastered across my face. Reaching over I grab a hand- hoof towel I pat my face dry of water, making sure to clear my eyes. Walking over to the full sized mirror to my right, I examine my body for any physical signs of radiation burns after looking over the entirety of my body all I could find was the traces of a large scar from a 5.56 bullet; all that remained after it grazed me. The memory of the burning sensation of the bullet ripping through flesh sends chills down my spine. Grabbing my shirt I put it back on, while in the process of making sure all the buttons are in the correct holes someone knocks on the door followed by a rather gruff voice.

“Sir, are you in there?” I continue checking my clothing and head into the main room part of the bedroom.

"Just a minute." I twist the knob and pull the door open to reveal a guard clad in golden armor top to bottom, very different from the ones I saw at the gate last night. Respectfully he salutes and looks at me sternly.

"Princess Celestia has requested you to join her and company for breakfast."

"She did, did she? How in the world did she know I was awake..." I think aloud, only to be interrupted by the guard clearing his throat.

"Right, sorry. Give me a moment would you?" He nods and stands next to the door. Closing the door with a slight clicking noise I head back to the bathroom to move my hair from my face and make the bed before returning to the guard who is still standing idly by.

"After you." Immediately he rotates on his hooves with accuracy that rivals the decorated marines. Quietly he marches down the halls; looking around at the now sun lit halls I can see hundreds of paintings and stained glass. It didn't take long before another set of guards marched by, both staring at me. I look at the guard escorting me and back to the others that just passed. They looked exactly same... the more guards we pass the more I notice they are all the same fur and all they all match exactly the same.

"How is it that every guard in this castle matches each other so well? What did Celestia pick all you guys with white fur and now there's not a single white pony in the world that isn't serving here?" We through an open archway with two more guards who are exactly the same color, validating my point further.

"It's our armor sir, Its enchanted to make us look more uniform while serving the princesses." he has no emotion in his response. He instead taps my shoulder I look at him, he takes his helmet off and his fur turns to a dark brown color.

"The name's Walz; Journey Walz." His green eyes standing out from his brown coat, he puts his helmet back on returning him to his former white fur and blue eyes. He gestures to the doors the two other guards are standing at attention.

"Interesting, pleasure to meet you."

"You as well, take care now." he walks off, leaving me with the two others who are now staring at me almost perplexed, I look down the hall to see him put his helmet back on as his fur turns to it's solid white color.

'So much for individuality...'

"Sir." They both stand solid at the entrance with a salute.

"At ease?" I give a weak salute, they nod and open the doors.

"They await your presence." I walk past them into a now well lit cafeteria with a thud they close the doors behind me. Looking to my far right, I spot Princess Celestia however next to her is another slender pony sitting beside her. She is entirely pink with an almost cotton candy- or perhaps Schubert ice cream mane style. I slowly walk over to them both and gently bow to them and take a seat two chairs from them.

"Ah, Austin, so good you could join us I take it you slept well?" Celestia looks at me with a rather warm smile.

"Er...Uh.,” I stumble to think of something to say that remotely resembles what i’m thinking.

‘THINK YOU MORON!’

“I slept decently, thanks for asking." I return the pleasant smile.

‘NAILED IT!’

"And how about you?" I place my arms and cross them looking to my right making eye contact with Celestia.

"I slept soundly! Thank you for asking!" She retorts, she seems extremely excited for something. I nod in return and look down the table to find some buttered toast neatly stacked on a plate.

‘Sold to highest bidder...’

"May I?"

"But of course! Help yourself." I grab a few slices and eat them slowly to make sure I don't make a fool myself. Yet, as I eat it, I can't help but feel they are watching my every move, swallowing the delicious toast I notice Luna isn't present.

"Where's Princess Luna?"

"She should be along shortly." Celestia is now levitating a teacup to her muzzle, just at that moment a loud thudding noise echoes throughout the spacious room, standing in the center of the door is Luna, albeit a very tired and annoyed one at that.

"Ah, Good morning Lulu." She simply slinks into the seat next to me her mane a disheveled mess.

'And I thought I looked horrible.'

'Silence thy gob!' Her voice echoes through my head, causing my eyes to widen slightly as I shake my head. A minute passes, leaving the room in an awkward. Silence, however some greater power must've taken note; a chef comes running out of the nearby kitchen, levitating four large plates of eggs and other various goodies. He sets a plate down in front of me with some fine silverware.

"Thank you, Suaval" He bows excessively low and quickly returns to the kitchen.

Not hesitating for a moment I take a fork and begin to cut my eggs and eat as I do the pink pony finally speaks up, as if she spent this entire time trying to figure out what to say.

"So... This is the human you've been telling me about?" I immediately stop eating and swallow.

"Indeed, this is Austin, Austin, this is Cadence." I set my fork down quietly and look at her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you!" She seems like a very kind pony, her soothing smile making her that much cuter.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Cadence." I continue to eat my breakfast. As I finish my breakfast, I neatly stack my few dishes and silverware.

"Where do I take these?," Instead of an answer they look at me like I am crazy. "What?"

"Well; I suppose you can take them into the kitchen?" I nod and I take them to the kitchen and open the door and place my dishes at the sink and begin to listen to their conversation a nearby chef looking at me curiously. He levitates a pot near and joins in listening to the princesses conversation with no objections he looks back at me and his ear pointed at the nearby door.

"He indeed has a lot to adapt to." I hear Cadence trying to be quiet followed by Celestia.

"Indeed, but we mustn't pressure him, he has suffered enough. He intends on returning to Ponyville; he wishes to rectify the wrong he has done so far and try to fit in. Though I think he would be in better hooves here.”

“Twilight turned out fine and she still lives in Ponyville?” Cadence chimes in happily.

“Indeed, I have already written a letter to expect him later today; however, that is if he wishes to stay a bit longer.”

"We agree." I hear Luna finally say something about the overall situation.

“You and him seem to get along quite swimmingly.” Celestia seems to literally imply this upon Luna.

“Yeah! You two are even using your dream walking spells to silently communicate, don't think I didn't notice.” Cadence adds with the almost certain intent of making fun of Luna.

“Nay, we hast been keeping a careful watch over him, he lied to thou this morning. He did not sleep well by any standard. Never hast we witnessed such a horrible dream in a millennia.”

“How so?” A silence takes hold and the chef looks at me with interested eyes still stirring what appears to be lunch.

“We spent this entire week trying to access his dreams. To no avail; every time we got close- he woke up, last evening we were able to finally help him, but he woke up moments later after confronting us.”

“What happened in his dream sister?”

“We would rather not for the sake of his privacy.” Luna’s voice now changing to one more forceful. Deciding I have heard enough, I look at the chef and back at the door.

“Is there a way to get out of here quietly?” I whisper to him, he glances over his shoulder and walks over to another mare he levitates the pot away to her, she gives him an angered expression.

“Yes, there are a few ways that lead to different corridors of the castle.”

“Considering you are a chef of the castle you know where my quarters are? I need to get a couple things from my room I didn't take with me.” He nods and gestures for me to follow he walks over to a blank wall and pushes against it, causing it to rotate to a dark passage, promptly torches ignite down the whole way.

“Follow this passage; when you exit, take a left, straight, then a right and two rooms down you will find your room. To exit, go back down the way you came and take a left coming from, straight, and then take a right into the gardens; there’s a small path that leads out to a private exit the princesses had put in to escape the press if needed.” Nodding I offer my hand to his hoof which he shakes it and wishes me luck.

I won't lie the passage is as tight as a cliché one from a movie scene. Only difference is I try to avoid the princesses...Way too much royalty for my taste...for the rest of my life. I appreciate Luna not telling them what transpired, but it confirmed what I was fearing the whole night. It was indeed real, doing this meant I didn't have to talk to them awkwardly or them attempting to pry the information from me. Kudos to the chef, though he must’ve known how I was feeling. It wasn't long before the passage came to a flat end next to the wall is a button, I press it the wall rotates on its axis allowing me to leave into the hallway. Thankfully, no one was here at this moment.

‘Home fr--’

“Going somewhere?” A soft, almost motherly voice asks from behind me. In fear my back stiffens as I turn around to see Celestia sitting on her haunches.

“Er-No,”

‘Good luck getting out of this one, see ya next week pal’.’

“Uh- fuck never mind, Yes… You caught me red handed. Was trying to leave quietly before you noticed...” I look at her guiltily, she stands up to full height and approaches me and says something I didn't expect from her.

“I understand completely; I take it you overheard us?” I nod, not daring to look her in the eyes.

“It was strange for her to enter my dream, and her admitting she was trying to help me and finally succeeding to do so bugs me. That and she can listen in on my thought- wait you can't do that too can you…?”

“Luna taught me how to, but I found it to be only useful around nobles and their true intentions.”

“That really bugs me…” I state flatly finally getting some courage- Nope never mind, I look into her magenta eyes for not even a second before flat lining to the floor again.

"I take it you overheard what I said about the arrangements for you to study with my star pupil; Twilight Sparkle, she has gladly accepted to house you there for a day and teach you the new ways of life."

“No, I attempted to leave as soon as possible. Trying to figure this out myself.” Celestia nods and stands up and walks past me, gesturing for me to follow, I do so as she leads me down a series of corridors in the exact opposite of my room where I need to go.

“Please follow me.” She stops and turns around to face me with pleading eyes. Those eyes...Look away...errr….goooddd damn it. RESIST DAMN IT.

“Alright, alright! Fine...” I look behind me and return my gaze to the floor.

“Wonderful!” She prances slightly in excitement as she begins leading me down the long corridor.

“How did you find me?” I walk beside her, her mane moving in the drafty hallway causes it to whack me in the face a few times, humoring the princess.

“When we had those escape tunnels built they were linked to myself and Luna to help us find each other if we got lost or took a wrong turn.

‘Noted.’

‘Indeed’ Celestia’s voice echoes through my head.

‘STOP THAT!’ I look at Celestia who is now on the verge of breaking down in laughter.

“Even we need to have a laugh every now again.” I roll my eyes, she places her hoof over her mouth and giggles and continues on our stroll to god knows where.

"So where are you taking me Celestia?"

"Well, if you are to fit into this new society you must adapt, learn our history, our cultures, and so on. Much like my dear sister had to after she was reformed." She stops briefly and gazes out of a corridor window to see a small sliver of the moon setting over the horizon.

“What a view.” I comment as the mixture of blue and reds make a light purple as several rays of sunlight begin to become more vibrant.

“That was always Luna’s specialty, she prides herself in making even the simplest of things beautiful.” Celestia has a genuine smile across her muzzle.

"I read some or Twilight's history books and saw she was banished. It must've been a hard decision to make. I don't think she blames you for that. Andddddddd hopefully I read that information correctly as well...”

"After she was banished I had to take over her duties of raising and lower the moon and sun. A constant reminder of what happened the sky never truly looked anything like her’s, this aside; I believe this is how Luna and you get along so well, she will deny it left and right, but she has been keeping a very close watch over you bordering on stalking almost.,” Celestia chuckles before continuing “Perhaps she finds peace of mind around you, maybe she finds sympathy and something she can relate to, after all you both endured the most unimaginable of things."

“Being frozen after a planet being destroyed, and watching a whole species die and being banished to the moon out of anger and jealousy are two totttttalllyyy different things.”

“Agreed, but she was upset long before she was banished.”

"So what is it I'm supposed to do." I look into her magenta eyes.

"I want you to study with Twilight, and report to Luna, much like Twilight does with me. You will tell her what you've learned." she gives a smile and continues to walk down the corridor.

“Alright?” I make sure there isn't anything else, Celestia, taking note of this takes a seat near me.

“I’m doing this because I think it would be a benefit to you, as well as her I believe her mood will improve and she can have some company.”

“Woa, woa, woa, wait a second there...You implying she doesn't have friends?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Luna, since she was banished and returned hasn't had a lot of luck with talking to a select few.”

“Those being?” I ask with genuine intrigue.

“Myself, Twilight, and her friends.” Celestia’s smile fails as it turns to a blank stare.

“Well, I may not know her that well, but consider me her new friend.” Celestia looks at me with a smile and continues towards our destination.

“I just hope it will brighten her mood.”

"I'm sure it will!" She stops outside a gray door with a really complicated looking lock on it. Tapping it with her horn the lock clicks back and forth, up and down, and many other ways before turning into a square, with a click, the door swings open, allowing access into what appears to be a stock house as shelves seem to line the walls. Slightly ducking down Celestia enters gesturing me to follow her, I follow after her to be greeted by many odd and rather...repulsive smells Celestia uses her horn scans the long line of shelves when she looks up and finds what she’s looking for. Levitating a rather old looking box she blows the dust off of it before levitating it before me; I take it in my arms as she levitates a small stack of papers.

“Question...What are these?” I look at the worn out box.

"These are magic seals and an imprint stamp that bears my sisters mark. When the seal is melted and you stamp it, the seal is imprinted with Luna’s mark and her magical signature. Meaning the message will send to her when you attach one to a scroll or anything else you may want to send that is feasible." she explains rather proudly.

"That's pretty ingenious, and you just want me to send her an update letter using them?" I reposition the old box under my arm making absolutely sure it won't fall.

“Once a week if you can, that should be about all you need, Twilight can provide you with quills when you arrive.” Nodding in understanding Celestia taps the lock of the door once more causing it to make several clicking noises as it locks once more.

"I take it the Chef told you how to get back to your room?" Celestia looks at me.

“He did, I think I can retrace my steps there. Thanks again Celestia, you, Luna, and Twilight have been extremely great hosts; Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a problem at all, I hope we can meet again some time again, If you will excuse me, I must prepare for day court. I wish you safe travels Austin!” I nod as Celestia turns down another corridor, I go the opposite direction, as I walk down the hall I notice the number of staff walking down the halls has increased, that also meant more attention to myself as many of the guards, maids, and the other various staff give me odd glances and stares as I pass by.

<><><><><>30 Minutes Later...<><><><><>

Ok, so maayyybeee I don't know my way back as well as I initially thought I did… So far within a span of 20 to 30 minutes I took at least three wrong turns, overlapped my travels at least four times more and nearly knocked a maid over, which oddly enough was kind enough to provide me with directions to the dining hall, which would allow me to find my way back to my room. Granted the conversation with the pony was somewhat awkward, she seemed quite calm to talk to me.

After that little escapade I managed to make my way back to my room, I throw the door open and set the old box on the nearby nightstand next to Diary case Celestia had also given me earlier. Quickly I gather the few things I had brought with me, I stuff the Mythology book into my pocket making sure not to ruin the pages. I stack the two wooden cases up and using a bit of sewing thread I found in the closet I tie those together. Now that all that was done, I exit into the hallway, using the directions from the chef pony from earlier.

‘To exit, go back down the way you came and take a left coming from, straight, and then take a right into the gardens’

“Okay….so straight down…”

“Leaving so soon?” I stop dead in my tracks as yet another familiar voice speaks up behind me turning around I see Cadence walking up to me casually.

“Yea? I’m returning to Ponyville to begin life anew.”

“Auntie Tia wanted you to have this before you go, as a farewell gift.” Tia…? Now noticing she has a sort of backpack on she opens it with her magic and levitates a red velvet pouch over to me and drops it in my hand. Curiosity getting the better of me, I open the bag to find it full of golden coins. Reaching in I pull one out and look at it closely my jaw promptly dropping. Emblazoned on the ‘head’ side is Celestia’s sun mark with a bird flying in the center with the words carved around it in equestrian characters.

‘Prosperity In Harmony.’ I trace my finger over the engraving in awe I flip it over to see it engraved with a large number 20 followed by bits in equestrian Characters.

“She...S-she just gave me these- I-I can't accept this...” I hand the bag back over to Cadence who pushes it back, a gleeful smile on her muzzle.

"No, please consider it your welcome home present, we all have faith you can start over!”

"T-thanks, please tell her I said thank you,” I take the sack and attach it to my side. “Also...I’m sorry I was really quiet around you this morning, It was a long night…”

“I understand completely, Luna told us after you left.” she waves a hoof nonchalantly like it’s nothing.

“So I hear; anyways, maybe if I visit the castle again, I’ll make it my goal to talk to you again.” I look at my watch.

“Alright, well again thank you for this I must go if I’m going to make it to Ponyville before the afternoon sun tans me.” I wave goodbye she returns the gesture and returns to the castle. Walking over to where I entered last night, the guards at the gate once again pull it open; I nod to each of them walk down the cobblestone type path the gate closing with a resounding clunk as it seals shut. Looking over my shoulder as I get further away, I look to the top of the tallest spire on the castle to see a dark blue pony standing on the top, I wave to it and continue on my way down the hillside from the castle into the bustling city below.

'Now where is that train station...'

<><><><><>City Life Sucks...<><><><><>

'Ah, claustrophobia… welcome back, I missed you…No, not really.'

I look around the crowded streets of Canterlot- Er, I should I say the deserted streets of Canterlot and the crowded sidewalks of Canterlot? Seriously, as I walk down the street, no matter how well I try to show how friendly I am. I come within 50ft of a crowd they disperse and run, If they don't do that, they get as far to the side as they can and cower in fear.

‘Way to make me feel good about myself...Then again, what would I expect from upper class ******’s’ my head bleeping that part out causing me to smile maliciously, this only serving to make the crowd fear me more.

Definitely something different than what I'm used to, either way I managed to ask one pony the quickest way to get to the train station, for me it was like trying to pry the answer out of a toddler; for him I imagine he was so scared he either pissed himself or was on the verge of passing out. With new directions I head through the City parting the crowds of ponies like the red sea. It wasn't long before i located the station I approached the pony at the ticket window calmly with the most polite face I could muster. Funny thing is he thought It was some sort of prank- that is till he realized just how real I was when I slammed the counter with my fist you could say that he was in a much more cooperative mood with me after that. He was so polite that he gave me a free ticket and call me a freak- no, excuse me, a “monster”. (And by Free I mean being pelted with tickets in fear… Nice guy right?)

It took nearly half an hour of waiting before I hear the sound of a train. When the thing pulled into the station, it wasn't what I was expecting a train to look like, but what ever its a world full of Technicolor ponies… The hell was I supposed to expect at this rate who gives a damn anymore. Without a second thought, I board the train and take a seat in the middle of the car nearest to the window. As I sit down the train begins to lurch forward, pulling out of the station down a hill into a valley, strangely enough this railroad has quite a sell factor on scenery. The sun rising to full peak over the trees below to make the most beautiful scene I have seen a very long time. The view being abruptly interrupted as we enter a tunnel, seeing nothing better to do I look up to find some pillows, I pull one out and put it in the corner of the window and the seat and take a nap (hopefully long enough to endure the rest of the ride.). However, before I can even close my eyes, something taps me on the shoulder, cracking one eye I see an older pony finely dressed in a blue suit with a fancy timepiece chain hanging from his pocket.

"T-ticket, please." he stutters slightly says, holding his hoof out shakily with a hole punch. I hand him my ticket and moves to the pony in the back who is staring at me quietly. He reads over the ticket, verifying its authenticity and promptly punches two holes out of the date and returns it to me.

"Thank you." I give a smile as I push the ticket into my pocket and use my arm to block all light from entering my eyes as I attempt to drift asleep.

<><><><><>An Hour later<><><><><>

‘Nya...’ Groggily, I feel something push against me, choosing to ignore it I hear someone speak to me though what he was saying exactly is being muffled.

"Hey...Hey buddy...wake up…,” I open my eyes to see the conductor standing next to the seat I was currently sleeping in. “C'mon pal, you're gonna miss your stop" the conductor shakes my shoulder as I open my eyes slowly and yawn causing him to back off a bit in fear.

"Wha..now?" Regaining his composure, he clears his throat.

"W-we're in Ponyville; according to your ticket this is your stop." he levitates my boxes for me as I get up and stretch.

"Thank you." I take my belongings out of his magical grip as I walk down the center aisle, making extra sure I don't fall, I step off the train onto the platform, almost immediately everypony within a hundred foot radius starts staring at me. However, unlike the ponies in the city they didn't seem too worried, nor concerned about my presence. Some even came up to me and shook my hand like a long lost friend. As I rounded a corner, I could see exactly why they weren't afraid.

"Welcome to Ponyville Austin!" A large banner read out in possibly the largest font I've ever seen.

Inhaling slowly with the boxes in hand, I begin walking down the slope past a large group of ponies who wave to me, However, unexpectedly in a flash of orange and purple something whooshes by me leaving a cloud of dust I wave my hand in front of me clearing the debris to see...absolutely nothing. Putting aside a question for later I continue on my way to Twilight's library; It didn't take long to spot her place, and with great luck no one was swarming me uncomfortably. With that I sigh a breath of relief and knock on the door a short minute later the purple pony opens the door.

"Ah! Austin good to see you made it safely!"

"Yea,” I point a finger at Twilight who looks at me with a look of confusion. “Never...and I mean NEVER; teleport me again.” She gives a giggle and steps aside for me to enter.

“Oh, alright deal…” she mockingly grins and moves aside, allowing me to enter I see Spike on the couch passed out.

"So I take it I'm living here?" I set my boxes down.

"For the time being yes, unfortunately I only have one bedroom."

"I CALL THE FLOOR!" I give an obnoxious smile my volume causes spike to stir slightly, but he stays asleep.

"Oh ha-ha; no you will be sleeping on the couch."

"Ever heard of sarcasm? It’s a wonderful thing you know." I pull the mythology book out of my pocket.

"You sound like discord." she turns her tail to me and heads upstairs.

"Discord?" I ask curiously.

"Discord is the god of chaos and disharmony."

"Sounds like I'd get along with him just fine."

"I Somehow doubt it... Anyways, my friends will be coming over to decide who will be able to provide you much more reasonable residence."

"How long until they arrive?"

"Not for awhile, but I figured with the time we have now, perhaps we can begin studying those letters I gav-"

"Already-,” I pause to let Twilight know what I'm trying to say. “I already finished studying those “Basic” characters, I’m pretty much set and ready for the next set, hell give em' all to me."

"Really?" she gives me an astonished look as I hand her a rather crumpled up piece of paper with half a page of simple sentences.

"Wow! You learned that quickly; your handwriting is slightly messy, but that is expected; So far I’m impressed!" she gives me a smile.

"Thanks! I also learned some other letters as well and began reading some of that history book."

"Ohhh, which part did you get to?" Twilight happily hops on the couch beside me an excited and very happy look plastered on her muzzle.

"I think I was in chapter 19 going on 20; The Solar Sun Celebration."

"Well... That dashes my plans, seems you're more advanced than I thought initially." she puts her hoof to her chin.

"Perhaps you can write me a review of a specific part you enjoyed in that history book?" She looks at me as I set my chin on my arm.

"Meh… Oh, and before I forget; while I was there Celestia gave me these." I pull the bow of the knot I tied earlier to keep them together and pull out the magical wax Celestia had given me and the wax stamp with Luna’s mark on the bottom.

"Perhaps you can explain to me what the coins are; Are they real gold? Also, do I efficiently use the wax seal things."

"Hehe, silly the coins are just the currency and yes, they are made of somewhere from 14 to 24 Karat Gold, considering these are 20 bits each I’m going to say 24."

"You're kidding me, right? Gold coins as the primary currency,” I exhale for a moment to think about what she just said. “Back then this would have made me a millionaire!" her smile suddenly drops into a look of astonishment.

"Then what was your currency?"

"Paper bills, they sucked though... not as much value for a normal Joe like me"

"Believe me, you're nothing close to average."

"Well; ... No not to you at least." I put the golden coin back in the velvet sack Cadence had given me earlier.

"Now how do these work?" I take one of the blank pre-seals out and look at it, surprisingly it doesn't melt in my hand.

"This is the old way of sending letters to the princesses, now if you want to send a letter the seals already have the imprint and seal on contact. These are older, where you have to heat the stamp and press it." she takes the red seal out of my hand and grabs a piece of paper rolling it into a small scroll. Gently she places the seal to the paper’s edge and suddenly, her horn lights up melting the seal instantly to the paper.

"May I see the wax stamp?" she looks at me still holding the hot sealed scroll.

"One Sec." I quickly search the box for a wax stamp, in the corner of the box is a small square box wrapped in a tiny piece of fabric with lace around it. Gently I pull it out and unwrap the twine to reveal a beautifully crafted midnight blue box. Opening the box I find a marking covered Wax stamp, with care that rivals a bomb squad I lift it out and hold it in my hand, at the bottom is a silver moon with several indents.

"This?" I hold out for Twilight instead she shakes her head.

"Yes, that's the one all you need to do is gently press it into the seal now." Twilight levitates the letter in front of me so my arm has clear access to it, I press the wax stamp to the still slightly warm seal leaving an exact imprint of Luna’s mark on the red seal. I reach for the scroll, but Twilight swats my hand away.

“Ow. What was that fo-” she stops me and points at the seal, which is changing color from red to blue.

"All done, now you have a completed letter for Princess Luna" I hear a slight giggle from Twilight.

"What's so funny?" I look at her curiously.

"Nothing, just you and Luna seem to get along really well is all.”

"Yea, believe me her sister told me how Luna seems to take a particular liking to me. Believe me, I find it strange."

“I don’t.” Twilight states flatly as she hands the scroll to me.

"Either way, I appreciate the help you've provided me with Twilight I am in your debt." she simply returns it with a smile.

"It is my pleasure." she suddenly leans over and wraps her hooves around my waist in a soft hug.

"Wha-What are you doing?" I look at the purple unicorn wrapped around my waist.

"Just something to return the generosity you showed me when you allowed me to look In your home."

"U-uh...That was nothing at all Twilight, the past is in the past, I have nothing to hide, u-uhhh, in fact feel free to visit as much as you wish; just please be careful." I keep my hands from touching her she releases her grip around me.

“I'll keep that in mind.” she gives me a smile and lets go of me and looks at the nearby clock.

"You have a couple hours before my friends can arrive, are you hungry or would you like, maybe you should rest a bit before they arrive."

"Hmmm, truth be told sleeping sounds more appealing to me, I am rather exhausted." Suddenly she gets up and hops off the couch and gallops up the stairs past a closed door and disappears. I look down at the now blue seal still in my hand.

‘Starting over is going to be fun.’

“HEADS UP!” I hear Twilight yell from the top of the stairs. Instantly a pillow smacks me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me.

“OWF, the hell are these things made of?”

“They are magically enchanted to be exceptionally firm.”

“Oh…Eh- Thanks!" she nods with a warm smile, her horn, lights up and close the windows around me dimming the whole room.

“Lay down and get some sleep, I’ll wake you up when it’s time.” Twilight goes into the kitchen and gets something to drink.

‘Don’t have to tell me twice...’

"See ya’ in a bit." I say as lay on the couch and almost immediately I pass out from exhaustion.

Author's Note

"Every day is a new beginning; Stay away from what might have been and, look at what can be."

Hope you guys enjoy, if you see any errors in grammar or spelling or overall story problems. Please let me know.

Have a good one!

Fusion Out. :ajsmug:

Chapter 9 Friendly Introductions. Hi, my name is... Wait, what?

Chapter 9: Friendly Introductions. Hi, my name is... Wait, what?

After getting about half an hour’s worth of a nap, not enough to call it a power nap by any means. I found Twilight on the couch, Spike perched on her back sleeping peacefully as she reads a book encased in her magic, oddly enough I also found that I am wrapped in a star covered blanket that I didn't put on before I fell asleep. Rolling onto my back I look at the ceiling and exhale loudly gaining the attention of Twilight.

"Sleep well?" she asks in a slightly cheerful tone.

"If that's what you want to call it." I groan as I use my hand to wipe the sleepless expression off my face. Against my better judgment, I kick the blanket off and throw my feet over the side of the couch, stretching my entire body in every direction humanly possible, with a few satisfying pops in my back as I exhale.

"How long till your friends arrive?" I ask as I blink a few times, allowing my eyes to readjust and clear the blurry purple blob in front of me.

"About an hour." she looks at a nearby wall clock. Looking at my watch I find it's only 13:03 (1:03 PM) Twilight noticing me looking at the watch tries to lean a bit to get a better view.

"What is that?" She quizzically asks as she levitates Spike off her back onto the couch, causing him to stir slightly; she stumbles slightly as she walks over to me and looks at my mysterious time piece.

"It's my watch." I unlatch the prongs that keep it firmly attached to my wrist and offer it to her to play with.

"B-but how does it even work? There's no big or small hands on this tiny thing." she shakes it lightly, trying to get it to turn on trying desperately to make it work. A grin forms across my face as I take it out of her magical grip and tap the soft rubber bellow the display. Almost immediately, it flashes four white dots on the screen before moving one dot left, once it reaches the opposite side, it flashes back to the right before flashing all lights twice. The screen turns black momentarily as white pixels dance across the screen loading the time from left to right causing Twilight's jaw to drop.

"What? B-but-but; how?!" she stutters over her words as she takes the watch back immediately it turns off because the screen times out due to physical activity.

"Wait- No, Oh Celestia! I'm so sorry Austin; I think I just broke it!" her eyes shrink to pin pricks as I begin to chuckle.

"W-wha-why are you laughing." her ears are flat to her head.

"Relax Twilight;," I adjust my seat and take the watch back.

"The reason you don't see the hands to tell the time is because this watch is special; it's electronic meaning it doesn’t need hands instead it keeps track of the time with specific time zones that are programmed into it, you can also tell it to follow specific, custom times if you desire." I roll the watch over to the side and press a tiny button on the side the watch vibrates and repeats the light pattern from before and reveals the time.

"See; nothing to worry about." I re-attach the watch with the two prong into the band making sure it's snug to my wrist.

"I don't know what to say! First off, that is incredible, your species must have been really advanced." Twilight is now practically acting like an adorable kid who just got a day’s worth of candy.

"Some area's we were extremely intelligent others not so much; sometimes almost a little too intelligent for our own good." I finish messing with my watch when I hear something odd like something flying outside.

"You hear that?" Twilight's ears perk up as she nods to me; cautiously I walk to the front door, I grab the handle and pull it open only to have the sound be amplified ten fold. Looking around I try to find the source of the sound; suddenly a trail of rainbow flies by at full speed only allowing me to see a cyan blur go straight into the sky, I keep looking up to see it stop and B line straight for the ground. In fear I stand there rooted to the spot as the rainbow trail gets closer to the ground and at the last moment it changes course... Straight for me...

‘Oh, this is going to hurt.’ My eyes widen as I brace by shielding my face with my arms; right before impact I hear a femine voice screams out.

"LOOOOOOOOKKKK OUTTTTT!!!!!!!" Instantly I'm blasted backwards from the blur impacting me square in the chest, sending me flat on my ass pain rushing to every part of my body as I hit my head on something extremely hard. My vision fading spinning in circles as stars flash by my eyes as my conscious fades into oblivion before fading out as I look up to see Rainbow Dash looking at me a look of dread on her face.

'Hey, welcome back- we missed ya’, you know the drill; Lights out!' Like the snap of a finger my vision and memory fades out as my consciousness fails.

<><><><><>Twilight’s P.O.V<><><><><>

“RAINBOW!?” I scream at the top of my lungs as I just witnessed her slam Austin straight into a shelf of the bookcase near the door.

“IM SO SO SORRY!!!!!” She screams at equal volume all the while panicking on top of him.

“We will discuss this later; GET OFF HIM!,” Rainbow now, turning bright red gets off him and crouches next to his limp body.

“Help me get him to the couch.” She nods as I levitate his body up and she uses her body to prop him upright. Once in a suitable position I use every ounce of magic I can and lift him a few feet above the ground; his appendages dragging on the ground. With one heave rainbow rolls him on his back onto the couch.

“Ok, let me consult my first aid book.” Galloping quickly over to bookcase near the kitchen I scan the M section and find Medical Aid and Day to Day Home Remedies. Without a second glance I yank it down and flip through the pages finding anything I can about head trauma instead finding a whole list of definitions of unconsciousness and how to treat it.

“Unconsciousness is when a person is unable to respond to people and activities. Often, this is called a coma or being in a comatose state. Other changes in awareness can occur without becoming unconscious. Medically, these are called "altered mental status" or "changed mental status." They include sudden confusion, disorientation, or stupor.”

I pause and look at Austin's body and back at the book.

“Unconsciousness or any other sudden change in mental status must be treated as a medical emergency.”

My eyes shrink to pinpricks as I quickly scan the rest of the book.

“If someone is awake, but less alert than usual, ask a few simple questions, such as the following
"What is your name;"

"Got it.,"

What is the date;

"Got it.,"

How old are you?”

"Ok, Got it!" I continue to read on.

“Wrong answers or an inability to answer the question could suggest a change in mental status.”

I return to Rainbow who is still sitting beside him, gently rubbing her hooves against his limp appendage. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, her eyes red and puffy.

“W-what do we do about him?”

“We need to check for the following, quickly I might add...” levitating the book nearby I begin checking his body for the following.

“Check the person's airway, breathing, and pulse frequently. If necessary, begin rescue breathing.”

I lower my ear over his mouth to hear him still breathing (Thank Celestia!) I continue reading while using my magic I gently prop his head up to keep his airway open.

“Rainbow, check the back of his head; see if he’s bleeding.” She sniffles and wipes the tears from her eyes and gently checks the back of his head.

“He’s not bleeding.” She lifts his head up a bit more to make sure.

“Good; if he doesn’t come to within a minute or less go get Nurse Redheart as quickly as possible, go get me a bag of ice, he's going to need it for swelling.”

<><><><><> Austin's POV<><><><><>

Looking around I’m in the darkness of the void, looking in every direction I can’t even see my hands but I can hear people/ponies speaking.

‘He’s going to hate me when he wakes up.’

I can hear Rainbow sobbing, but no matter what direction I look, the sound is constantly around me and yet I can’t speak. Attempting to do so only results in the sound of my breath as it escapes my mouth with no sound what so ever. Oddly enough my neck area feels slightly warm and I can feel something touching my hand instinctively I try to move my hand but the appendage doesn’t cooperate with me.

It wasn’t even a second later that I feel my whole body begin to shake as light begins to appear in front of me. For fear of something hitting me again, I squint and turn my head away. Instead of pain, warmth fills my body as it encases me bringing me back to reality.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I inhale sharply as my eyes shoot open to a bright light coming through the window, rolling my head right, I see Twilight and a very distraught Rainbow Dash. I attempt to move, but my body sorely disagrees and I'm instead met with a sharp pain shooting straight to my skull. Instinctively, I slam my eyes shut and groan.

“Are you ok?” Twilight asks, her voice slightly stuttering. I groan in response as my eye opens to see them both staring down upon me.

“What is your name?” Twilight asks me, I groan and clear my throat.

'What kind of question is that?!'

“Austin…… G-. Lanc---aster.” I slide myself back a bit and prop myself up the pain in the back of my head reaching the full peak; instantly I clasp my hand to my head once more in pain.

“Oh my fucking god; What the actual FUCK happened.” I crack my eyes open to see Rainbow’s ears flat to her head.

“Oh, hold on I know how I can help the pain.” Twilight’s horn, lights up as she approaches me and taps her horn on my head, eliciting a groan as all the pain fades away almost immediately. I look at Twilight with a look of sheer happiness and awe.

“Where have you been all my life?” I place my hands on Twilights shoulders and gently shake her, as I quickly run my hand over the back of my head feeling a massive goose egg.

“Uhg…What happened?” Rainbow now turns an extremely dark shade of red as her wing’s droop from her sides as she begins to apologize spastically.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there I was hoping Twilight opened the door with magic, so I could stop in the library; and before I knew it I had impacted you and –“ I stop her from continuing.

“Did you mean to hit me? Did you purposely intend on hurting me?” Using my elbows to prop myself up a bit more looking her dead in the eyes.

“W-well, no I-.” I stop her again with my hand.

“Then it was an accident Rainbow- No harm done really; and from the looks-/ feeling of it, Twilight stopped the pain so I’m not upset… But please, next time don’t assume while flying people or ponies have that quick of reflexes to move out of your way, I especially won’t.” I gesture to Twilight who moves back a bit allowing me to sit upright on the edge of the couch. I stand up and stretch inhaling as I do so I don’t black out. Now, having the time to notice, I look down to see Twilight is really short compared to me, at the very least 4ft 1 at the most 4ft 5, Rainbow not fairing much better than Twilight.

‘Huh, I wonder if that’s just a normal thing around here…’ My thoughts wander for a bit.

“Austin?" I hear in a slight echo, but paying it no mind.

‘What is the average height of a pony anyways…’

“AUSTIN!”

“Huh, what?” I look back at the two who are now curiously watching me Twilight is levitating slightly off the ground but sill not reaching eye contact.

“You ok?” Rainbow Hovers in front of me with ease.

"Yes, Er.” I clear my throat awkwardly. “Was just thinking about something and I zoned out." Twilight shakes her head and sits herself on the opposite side of the couch rainbow following suit.

"As I was saying; the rest of the girls will be arriving soon, so if you’d like you have time to prepare." Twilight looks up at me.

"Pray tell, how would I prepare? I don't have any other sets of clothing; I don't know where anything is around town; and believe me, if I could I would get this mop off my head, I would do so in a heartbeat; oh and probably get myself the largest bottle of wine I can get my hands on." I run my hand through my thick hair that has grown all the way to the edge of my eyes.

"Fair enough, but if you wish to take a shower or anything else you have the option.” Twilight goes up the stairs, I look at Rainbow her ears are still folded to her head; Twilight enters her room and disappears, a moment later spike yawns as I remembered he was on the other couch; he rubs his eyes and looks at me and Rainbow before speaking.

“Huh, Oh hey Rainbow, and wait, weren’t you in Canterlot? I heard Twilight sent you off to the castle, how did it go?" he stands up on the couch and stretches while rubbing his eyes of sleep before hopping off and immediately getting to work.

"That really depends on your point of view." I recall my nightmare and how Luna stepped in and stopped it making shiver slightly.

"That bad? Hehe, everyone’s first time is always odd, I remember my first time in the castle when I was just a hatchling." he smiles as he leans against a nearby stack of books.

"Yeah… At least you were born In this time period." I place my chin on my hand.

"Hey! It isn't so bad! Come on you got a whole new world to explore, opportunities to take friends to make and meet, you got a lot of things to look forward to!" Rainbow gives a smile as she sits beside me wrapping a wing around me; that combined with big beady eye and a giant smile that makes me mentally scream.

‘DAWWWWWW; ahem, I mean… that’s… adorable.’.

"As true as that may be; It won't be easy for me to just up and forget the things that happened to me or my race for that matter… or the actions that got me here in the first place either…”

If only it was that easy to forget my friends, however Rainbow has a point; I got a life ahead of me I better make the best of it... for everyone who sacrificed their lives I must represent the human race as a whole at least being the last of my kind I can do so with dignity as my last gesture; A knock on the door interrupting my thoughts.

"Rainbow can you get that for me?" I hear Twilight yell from upstairs.

"Yeah, No problem!" she walks over to the door and opens it and stands aside and lets in four ponies among them I see Fluttershy. The others I didn't recognize A White Unicorn with purple mane and matching tail, orange pony and Stetson, and that god damn pink pony this time she looks like she's just eaten pure coffee (No water just… Pure 100% coffee beans).

‘Y u bounce so much?!’

"Where's Twilight, Rainbow Dash?" I hear the White unicorn says, as she stands proudly next to Rainbow.

"Upstairs, I'm not sure what she’s doing." Rainbow folds her wings to her sides once more opting to lean on me instead.

"I'm sure she will be along so--" she stops mid sentence as she looks over at me, for the longest time she stands still and states at me; either A curiosity getting the better part of her, that or she’s gonna mace me...

Money is on the second option.

"Is this the, um...,” She struggles to figure out what I am, only for Rainbow to interject.

“Human.” Rainbow corrects.

“Right! My apologizes… Is this the Human, that Twilight has been on about?" they begin to approach me except Fluttershy who smiles at me from the door as she makes her way over to the couch opposite me.

"Yeah, Rarity this is Austin-, Austin, this is Rarity." Rainbow introduces us clearing the awkward silence

"It is an absolute pleasure and honor to meet you darling!" Rarity smiles I move over a spot on the couch and she takes a seat to the right of me.

"This here is Applejack." Rainbow exclaims almost too happily Applejack immediately taking advantage of the situation walks straight up to me and begins shaking my hand excessively fast.

"Pleasure tah’ meet y'all in person partner; Twilight has told us a lot about ya’!" her heavy southern accent matching her rough n’ tough complexion and reputation as a hard worker perceives her quite nicely.

"It is a pleasure meeting you too." I reply using my left arm I rub my now sore arm. As soon as Applejack sit’s Pinkie bounds over quickly and begins spouting questions and statements at an impossible speed that even my A.D.D couldn’t keep up with...

"HI AUSTIN! Oh my gosh its sooooooooo incredible to meet you without being absolutely terrified!!!!!” My eye twitching as Pinkie continues... “The moment I saw you I was like AHHHHGGG!!!!!!! But now we’re going to be the bestest friends ever!!!!" Her voice beginning to be drowned out as I focus on the others around me; Rarity makes a move to silence Pinkie.

Oh… MY… GOD, MAKE IT STOP; PLEASE!?

"Alright dear, I think you may have overwhelmed him." Rarity chimes in and stops her Pinkie stops immediately a smile still plastered across her muzzle.

"Terribly sorry dear, Pinkie can sometimes come off as a little…"

‘Brash, overbearing, tiring, and a possible lawsuit???’

My thoughts keep running wild, but I can’t blame Pinkie… it’s just her nature… At least that’s what Fluttershy hinted at when we last spoke, thinking it over for a moment I decide to move on and clear things up with Pinkie.

"That's quite alright." I reassure her as I shift my seat. Shortly after Twilight comes down while levitating a book above her as she makes her way down the stairs.

"Where y'all been Twi?" Applejack looks at her.

"Studying; Well… Trying to find anything I can on humans, so I can study that is; ever since Austin arrived, I’ve been searching hard for any info I can. Spike found me a small book, but according to you some of it was misleading.” She looks at me, her gaze shifting between the book in her magical grip and me.

"Hmmm, while I was in Canterlot Luna let me into the Archives and the librarian helped me find this. Perhaps it can be of use to you." I remember I still have the book in my pocket I stand up everyone gawking at me as I pull out the book that still reads in golden equestrian letters.

“Mythological Creatures of the Birth age.” I read aloud and hold it towards Twilight.

"Not sure who this Star Swirl the Bearded guy is, but he wrote about my "kind" some of it is completely inaccurate garbage; Some of it is surprisingly dead on."

"Oh, thank you! This might help me better understand you, Star Swirl is one of the worlds most renowned magic spell writers. He actually passed away a few years ago." She exclaims with a bit of dread in her voice; her ears fold to her head confirming my suspicions.

"How old was this guy?" Knowing he was writing about my kind when we started going extinct as stated in the book.

"No pony knows exactly how old he was; last I read he was going on his 2090th birthday before he passed away; that is if I recall correctly… and he was a unicorn, so that means he was 19 times older than the average unicorn pony…" Twilight’s brow now furrows her brow trying to think about something as I ask a question of my own.

"So what? He used a life potion or something? Has to be something in that area, right?" I return to my spot between Rarity and Rainbow as Twilight looks at the book in her magic.

"Not sure… Some ponies say it was a potion… Myself and many others more think otherwise, we may never know what. He was, after all a very introverted pony who hid his works away."

"Ahem, I hate to interrupt your egg head spasm, but you called us here for a reason... Remember." Rainbow Interjects and is now hovering impatiently beside Rarity and me.

"Oh, right, my apologies." Twilight set’s the books down and takes a seat on the opposite couch with Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.

"I called you here simply because Austin here doesn't have a home right now… He needs a real place to stay for a while; I would do it myself, but;… My spare rooms are full of books and other various objects that I can’t fit anywhere else right now, or as I said; I would house him myself." Rarity almost too quickly speaks up causing me to flinch slightly at her sudden outburst.

"But of course darling! I have a spare room in my boutique that I am not using!" Rarity is now looking up at me, a large smile across her muzzle making me slightly uneasy.

"If Y'all are looking for employment; me and Mac could use help on tah’ farm; we can pay five bits an hour for a full day’s work."

"Well, I have nothing better to do, so why not." I smile in agreement, I reach over to shake Applejacks hoof, she takes it I firmly squeeze it and shake it.

"Perfect, come by the farm at 6 AM sharp,” I release her hoof, she looks at Twilight. “Twi I gotta head back to tah’ farm Mac is goin’ need mah help with some varmets who keep making holes in the barn and chewing up our farm equipment.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then, have a good one Applejack.” I give a gentle wave; she stops and looks at me.

“Can call me AJ ya’ hear.” She tips her Stetson at me and exits, leaving the room in silence and all of us looking at each other awkwardly.

“She must like you, she never usually lets ponies call her that on their first day!,” Twilight says with a smile as she continues on. "I suppose that it’s settled. Are you sure you want to stay with Rarity?" Twilight looks at me with very cute and inquisitive eyes.

"Anything is better than my old place, I don’t wanna be a burden on you Rarity it should be me asking her if it’s fine. I couldn't be more thankful for the offer though." I smile warmly at Rarity who is now looking up at me.

"But it isn't a problem atoll dear, shall we depart?" She gets up and starts walking towards the door.

"Yeah, just give me a moment to get my few possessions." I walk over and retrieve the two boxes with everything I need. Before I leave I give Twilight and the others wave and a massive group hug as they all swarmed me into a warm embrace… Never have I felt so at home with a species that isn’t even my own. With all the hugs and waves sorted we walk into the afternoon sunlight.

"So where are we heading?" I walk beside Rarity, taking note of how she walks, which might I add is very proud and prominent.
"Firstly, I must pick up some new fabrics for some projects I am working on this week, after that I must stop to the spa after we drop them off at the boutique."

"A spa, may I ask why a spa?"

"Twilight told me you needed a haircut and some freshening up. I happen to know the owners and they shouldn't mind helping you."

"Oh... Uh… well, I’ve actually never been to a spa.,” Rarirty stops dead in her tracks.

“Never… been to a spa?!,” She dramatically leans towards me, me equally leaning backwards away from her as she shouts.

“HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!” She gets exasperates extreme levels of drama in each word, each word resulting in me leaning back just a little more to the point I’m going to fall all the while my eyes watching her nervously.

‘Believe me, I’ve been wondering the same thing for years.’

“This simply cannot continue!” she announces with extreme prejudice as she rears up on her hind legs, pressing one into my chest almost causing me to fall.

‘Can still run ya’ know…'

“Uhhh- er uhhhh…,” I stutter as I try to find something to say, clearing my throat and standing up straight as a board. “Uh… Thank you Rarity, again... I cannot thank you and all of you for helping me."

"But it’s not a trouble at all dear!" The previous conversation being completely overwritten as if it never happened… Catching my breath I pick up the pace to catch up to her now noticing a really menacing, almost malicious smile on her face.

‘You ponies will be the death of me…’

<><><><><> One Short Walk Later… <><><><><>

Even not being told the time of year it is, I can already tell its either late July or late June; the heat bearing down on the back of my neck and the sweat that is pouring from my head is a very clear indication…That and I was never great with heat anyways. How these blasted ponies are able to walk in the summer with fur and this much heat is a great mystery to me. Nor have I ever felt this much heat in my two tours of service; well, maybe boot camp, but that’s another story… Despite the blazing heat and the fact Rarity not sharing her umbrella; (where she got said umbrella is beyond me), nor do I feel inclined to ask either. Sometimes it’s better off not knowing; sadly it isn’t big enough to cover us both from the sun anyways.

Not long after we finally made it to the fabric store, (thankfully it has a massive fan, I stood by the entire time Rarity was buying her fabrics). Once she got the fabrics she levitated a few over to me to help her carry home, not that I mind anyways; this being the least I can do since she offered me a place to stay for a while. It didn’t take long after we got them sorted and checked for defects once satisfied with all the fabrics and were all accounted for we tie them up and take them back to her boutique. Originally I thought the walk to her place would be short, and boy was I wrong…

Her boutique is bordering on the outskirts of Ponyville and from what she has told me so far, she is quite renowned in the fashion world for her unique designs for dresses and suits and various other clothing products. So why the hell is her business this far from the center of Ponyville is very odd (at least to me it is), but oh well who am I to judge her, after all she seems like she’s been pretty successful so far.
“Here we are!” Rarity snaps me out of my thoughts and points her hoof at a very tall, slender home with two large windows with a very interesting paint scheme of white and blue on the very top are ponies in a formation, literally suggesting it’s a carousel to literally say “I MAKE CLOTHES HERE!”, finally getting the words to describe it and the same words to break the awkward silence between me and Rarity I quietly clear my throat.

"So this is your boutique, it almost reminds me of Roman Cathedrals."

"What are Roman Cathedrals?,” She looks up at me, I make to answer her but she cuts me off. “You must tell me all about it sometime it sounds really interesting!" she opens the door and quite suddenly a wash of cold air hits us.

‘I was going to say that’s rude to cut me off- but ohhhh god that feels soooo good right now.’

"Remind me sometime and I’ll tell you about it- for now though, and if it’s all the same with you… I would love to sit down and enjoy the cold air." I give a slight chuckle and she joins in with a very cute giggle as she levitates the fabrics from my grip and walks upstairs. She gestures for me to follow her.

"The weather ponies said they needed to dry out the residual water from last week; basically dry everything out to make room for light rain scheduled before the Solar Sun Celebration, something to do with adding natural beauty.” She sets her fabrics on a table outside a room with a sewing machine emblem nailed on the door.

"Your room is down the hall, give me just a moment and I’ll give you a tour." She opens the door, I follow her in and to my surprise there are mannequins of ponies everywhere, each with extremely colorful and uniquely sewn dresses (oddly enough, none for males… something I will ask about later.),

Looking up I see several banners emblazoned with a sun and moon at equal height creating a beautiful barrage of colors. Looking back down Rarity is putting the new rolls of fabric on holders for use later and looks at me briefly before exiting the room. It didn’t take long for her to lead me to my room since it was just up the hall, she opens the door and gestures for me to follow before speaking.

"I’m not sure what kinds of rooms were considered normal for you and your kind, but for a pony this room has all the essentials fairly large, I hope it is enough for to get comfortable."

“This will do just fine! If only you saw what I was living in before… Just about anything beats that.” She giggles while using her magic to open the curtains and sun shades allowing light to pour in.

“Do excuse the clutter, I haven’t been up here in a while.” I look to my right to see a old mannequins and some boxes of whatever was in them (dare I ask). Looking to my left I see the bed rivals the size of a king size bed by human standards, next to that is the night stand with matching twin lamp on the opposite side, above that is a metal decoration piece above the bed; just about everything in here mimics a comfy hotel room, definitely enough to be comfortable with.

“You say this is standard for most ponies’ right?” She looks at me a curious expression on her muzzle.

“Yes, by most ponies’ standards this is a normal room.”

“Huh, this room rivals the size of a lovely hotel.” I smile and her curious expression now one of shock.

“B-but how?”

“Probably the size differences between you and me.” My eyes widen as I realize what I’ve just said.

“D-did you just call me fat?” If I had a mirror I’d probably have eyes the size of dinner plates.

“N-n-no, I didn’t!”

‘You’re on your own pal’.’

“I Really didn’t mean it like that at all!?” My voice, stuttering as I try to reverse out of this situation. Good going on my part not even unpacked already making fun of ponies… However, as bad as things are going to get my ears are only met with Rarity laughing. Making me trip over my thoughts like dominos.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you are so much like other stallions!” She practically breaks down in a fit of laughter ditching her posh attitude. In the heat of the moment I’m frozen to the spot my eyes probably wide as dinner plates.

‘That didn’t just happen.’

“Darling, even I must have some fun sometimes.”

‘You… you she demon…’

“Oh come now dearie, shall we go on with that tour I promised you?” seeing no other logical or beneficial way besides the one she’s offering me right now. Hesitantly, I nod at her a smile forming across her muzzle she walks by me leaving me in the room, I put down the two boxes I brought with me from Canterlot. I’ll have to get the history book Twilight gave me later on tomorrow.

“Are you coming?” I hear Rarity, I passively listen as I continue to stare at the boxes.

“Yeah, give me a second, would you?”

“But of course.” She hesitantly looks at me before leaving, I listen for her hoof steps to fade before I return my attention to the box, almost hesitantly I open the lid that belongs to the seal stamp Twilight had shown me how to use earlier.

Something about my life here seems so unreal to me; I never thought id be in a world full of ponies that re-populated the desolate wasteland sure may have taken the better part of two millennia, but they did it and that still surprises me. Even reading Stavo’s diary still seems so unbelievable to me considering I spoke to him a week before the first impact, the only regret I have so far is leaving them behind; I have to live with knowing I abandoned the remainder of the human race when it need everyone. Yet these ponies are forgiving of my nature, and have allowed me to message royalty… It’s going to take a while to get used to- that’s putting it mildly.

Setting the stamp back, I tuck both boxes under the bed for safe keeping and walk into the hallway, easily remembering the way Rarity brought me in from I go downstairs. Peeking around a corner, I find her taking measurements of something in her magic.

“I’m good now.” I walk up beside her to find she’s levitating a box full of jewels and near her face she’s examining a huge ruby (huge by my standards...).

“Ah, that’s good to hear, be a dear and pass me that second magnifying glass would you?” Looking over to the area, she points to the desk, I find a much larger pair of magnifying glasses gently I pick them up by the side as not to smudge the lenses.

“Here you go.” She takes them from my grasp and looks at the ruby closer.

“This jewel is simply divine!”

“I would imagine so, that thing is huge.”

“This is actually a lot smaller than most.”

“How!? How can it possibly be- you know what I don’t wanna know nor do I care anymore. The lesson of the week don’t question anything anymore…” I look straight at Rarity with the blankest of expressions before long she begins laughing.

“Heh- I’m sure there’s a lot more you can learn other than that!” she exclaims with a very posh accent.

“All in due time. Now I believe you wanted to give me a tour?” I give her a smile as I look around the room now noticing several dresses are on display including a small stage.

“Oh of course!, Ahem, this room is where I display all of my new work’s and some all time favorites such as this one.” She walks over to a mannequin with a beautiful red wine dress, black lacing around the edges and golden pieces of fabric draping down the back. Overall, it’s a very beautiful article of clothing.

“Very beautiful, may I?” I hold my hand out to touch it looking at her for confirmation.

“Go ahead!” She offers me a smile, I gently run my hand down the dress, it feels remarkably soft, rivaling the feeling of silk.

“Impressive.”

“Thank you!” she turns slightly red as she shakes it off gently as to not ruin her mane style; once she regains her composure, she begins walking to a nearby room, me following close behind I follow through the door to find this is a kitchen and dining room.

“I don’t think this room needs explaining does it?” Rarity turns around to face me a smile on her face.

“Nah, so far you’ve covered the upstairs, the showroom, your sewing room, and my room.”

“Ah the only rooms left are Sweetie Belle’s room, the bathroom, and the downstairs living room. There’s not a lot to see.”

“Ah, that’s fine Rarity, my house didn’t have a lot to show off either, if that’s any condolence to you.” I chuckle a bit while pulling out a chair and taking a seat near her.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was your home like?” Her horn, glows a very faint blue as she pulls up a chair in front of me.

“Hmmm, well down near the door, I had a couch surrounding an entertainment system (‘Tv’s exist here…? Probably not...’) near that I kitchen had an island to where we could watch and talk to people in the living room, go upstairs my room and a guest room and a bathroom. OH and the back room which leads on to a sort of backyard porch,”

“There really wasn’t a lot interesting about my home, I only had the basics sorted out.” I put my hand to my chin gazing into the past as I think about my home only for my thoughts to be broken by another question.

“It sounds quite interesting. Did you have fashionistas then too?”

“Oh of course we did, but those were usually reserved for the really upper class folk. I could never afford those even if I tried.”

“Then who made… those…?” she points a disgusted hoof at my digital camouflage Marine pants.

“These? They are our military standard Camo pants, they are just casual, so if we were called into duty we had em’. Though these are my personal pair, our base had floral color I kept these from when I was in the service.” I give a rather cheeky smile.

‘The stories this pair of pants could tell…good and bad...’

“Oh.”, She blankly states before raising a hoof. “If you want I could take a few measurements and make some new cloths for you.” Without hesitation or even asking what the catch is.

“YES…”, Rarirty flinches. “I-I mean, yes, that would be greatly appreciated!” the excitement in my cheeks heating up and probably showing as bright as the sun.

“Later tomorrow, then work for you dear?” her horn glows once more only this time, causing a resounding crack, on instinct I fling myself to the ground and cover my head, after a moment of silence I look around to see Rarity her mouth agape.

“Holy shit! What the fuck was that!” I sit back up slightly, looking around for the source of the sound.

“I only teleported my clipboard here.” She looks at me sheepishly.

“Why does it make such a loud noise?” I get to my feet and put the chair back my hands slightly shaking from adrenaline.

“That’s a normal thing for some unicorns, but why did you jump like that?” she sets the clipboard down gently, thinking I might jump at the slightest noise.

“I served in two tours for my country, I’ve seen a lot of things, things I wish I didn’t have to see, the doctors back then sent me to therapy; I got somewhat lucky… They said I only have a mild case of PTSD, or if you don’t know what that means; it means Post-traumatic stress disorder; for lack of a better way to describe it- loud noises can startle me into fight or flight mode.”

“Some royal guards go through similar problems, but yours seems a lot more severe than theirs are.”

‘I don’t think these guys have explosives even…’

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“No, I’m sorry if that comes out rude- but I have met retired guardsmen who have been in those sort of situations; they have never done or acted the way you just did.”

“Jeez, maybe I do need a spa treatment.” I jokingly chuckle.

“OH, that’s right! I almost forgot, we should probably get going.” She magically grabs me by the arm and yanks me through the door nearly knocking me face first into the archway. Rarity not complying with how I’m putting resistance against her, eventually I give up and follow with her; her grip never loosening.

'Help me!'

<><><><><>Spa Field day…<><><><><>

‘Note to self, make sure to note so Unicorns do NOT magically grab me… EVER.’

Rarity is still hauling ass with me in tow locals moving out of our way, I can’t help but feel my cheeks heating up as I blush from how awkward this looks to others. Though other ponies we pass must’ve noticed my flushed face, as they got their hooves over their mouths as they giggle. Despite my distraught face screaming “Help me!”

‘YET NO ONE IS HELPING ME! COME ON PEOPLE!’

My eyes practically pleading for someone to help me from the unicorns immense grip; out of everything going on I won’t lie, I considered chewing my own arm off like a trapped coyote. As quickly as those thoughts crossed my options Rarity releases me using her magic to keep me from falling face first into the ground.

“Here we are!”

“You could have just let me run at my own pace ya’ know! Dragging me doesn’t help me.” I rub the area where she was grabbing me with her magic.

“Sorry…” she looks down slightly.

“It’s cool, so where is here?” Her ears perk up almost immediately.

“This is the local spa, the spa twins also know how to cut manes’ so this area is a one stop shop.”

“Sounds good, but this isn’t a mane, it’s just hair.” I give a smile and she shakes her head a smirk across her muzzle.

“After you!” I pull open the door for her to enter before me.

“How chivalrous of you!” She enters and I look back towards the forest in the distance…

‘Could still run.’

Hesitantly, I follow behind her, the first thing that greets me is the pleasant smell of coconut and something else… mango? My thoughts being interrupted by a very heavy French accent.

“Welcome to La Te Da spa how may ve-... zerve you...? Ah! Miz Rarity it'z good to zee you!” A blue pony behind the counter with an extremely heavy French accent quickly runs out front to greet Rarity, however I notice she’s carefully observing me.

“It is good to see you too lotus! I do apologize for coming unannounced, but my friend here could use some attention.” I cough into my hand causing the blue pony to flinch slightly.

“Oh, right where are my manners! This here is Austin, Austin, this is Lotus, a family friend.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” I offer my hand to her and surprisingly, she takes it and shakes it daintily though judging how she’s slightly shaking she is just as uncomfortable as I am.

“What iz it that he needz.”

“He needs his ma-Hair cut and if you can give him my usual, if he want’s that is.”

“But of courze!” instantly she disappears into another room, she comes back with another pony noticing they have similar mane styles.

“Follow uz pleaze.” Their French accents almost match perfectly. I nod and look back at Rarity who is now smiling and waving a hoof at me.

‘Am I detecting...Twins?’

I walk behind the two ponies who look back at me one with interest the other with a look of curiosity.

“Erm zizter?”

“What iz it? She speaks with a slightly less heavy French accent.

'boy can I call shit from a mile off?'

“I don’t think he fit’z into what ponies zit in.” she giggles

“If I must ill sit on a bucket and take a buzz cut if I have to.” Both of them begin giggling, they look at me this time they lock their eyes with mine… The eyes man…the eyes… They must have known what I was thinking they burst out laughing in a very adorable giggle some French people would do back in the day. They open a door and hold it open for me, I walk in and see a row of seats and two large mirrors hanging over a counter that’s covered with several pairs of scissors, rollers, combs, and brushes.

“Letz zee if he can even zit down.” I take that as my cue to try and sit in the chair, luckily my ass still fits in this chair.

“Zo how would you like your er-,”

“Hair.” I interject helping her.

“Right! Your hair cut?” she opens a few drawers before going behind me to the wall to get something similar to a slash bandolier, she returns to the drawer and pulls out a small razor blade, scissors, and a comb. Then one thing popped into my head.

‘How the hell is she going to use those scissors…?’

“Is it possible you can get it as short as possible on the top without seeing too much of my skin? Oh, and cut these off.” I gesture to my sideburns from the ear down to be removed.

“Zimple enough!” she exclaims almost as if this was another day she gets started by taking wetting my hair down and combing it back and from what I can see she uses her mouth to hold a razor before gently taking off a massive amount of my hair. Once she was satisfied with how much she’s taken off, she takes out the scissors and they start opening and closing on their own as she takes the comb and cuts down more bit by bit.

Before long she finishes and she gently shaves off my side burns with the razor before happily announcing she’s done.

“How did I do today?” she sets everything back on the counter and hangs the bandolier on the wall.

“Remarkably like how it used to be, actually.” I run my hand through enjoying the prickly sensation of short hair along my palm.

“I don’t think I’m going to need the usual Rarity offered me, perhaps another time. Hey, what is your name anyways?”

“My name iz Aloe.” She looks up at me smiling.

“Lotus and Aloe; very pretty names!” Aloe is now smiling happily as she walks out front behind the register.

“Don’t let Rarity know I’m paying for this one, not till she asks about it anyways.. They’ve been exceptionally generous to me already.”

“Zat will be five bitz pleaze.” I reach into my pocket I still have the 20 bit coin Twilight explained to me.

“Here, keep the rest as a tip please, you guys deserve it!” Her face now has a bright smile on it that could make anyone scream out loud.

‘Dawwwwwwww!’

“Thank you- but what iz your name?”

“My name is Austin, It is a pleasure to meet you Aloe. Let Rarity know I'll be at home.” I wave and smile to her as I exit into the late afternoon sunlight, looking at my watch it says it’s roughly 15:14, (3:14 P.M). I see a few ponies staring at me with looks of curiosity as I walk back to the boutique, some of which waved to me.

‘These ponies are weird.’

“Hey, you!” I faintly hear a voice call out, but it’s probably not me… right?

“Hey, you! Thing on two legs!”

‘Please be the other guy on two legs...’ A soft hoof taps my waist causing me to flinch.

“Thanks for stopping!” I turn around and look down to find a brilliantly green pony with orange/yellow eyes.

‘Fuck…’

“Um… Can I help you?” I blankly ask.

“Are the rumors true? Are you a human?”

“That depends on who’s asking?”

“Oh, sorry! Lyra Heartstrings!”

“Pleasure; Yes, I’m a human, names Austin.”

“Wow, T-this is unbelievable, I’ve read so much about your kind- you have no idea how hard it is to find information on your long lost civilization.”

“I don’t need a book to tell ya’ that much…” I chuckle slightly.

'Stalker alert...Abort, Abort!'

“It’s an honor to meet you! Ever since I was a filly I was curious about what existed before us.”

“Huh…Well, what can I help ya with.” She’s done it…You fair pony have peaked my interest…

“Would you mind if we took this to my friend’s coffee shop?”

“You had me at coffee, lead the way.” She happily jumps in place and walks by me I follow behind her she’s happily skipping every few steps in happiness. It didn’t take much longer since the coffee shop is on the way towards Rarities boutique, as you would expect as soon as I enter the smell of pure black coffee impacts my nose.

“Hey Bon Bon! Can you get some coffee ready, I brought a special guest!” She glances back at me, a smile still plastered across my face.
“You can sit wherever you want, we’ll be out in a bit.” I nod and pick a seat that is close to a window as possible. To pass the time I look out the window and think about the events that transpired today. As I observe ponies walk down the streets with kids, bags, food in their magical grip; a whole ecosystem rebuilt from the ground up from the ashes we left behind.

“Here we go.” A gentle tapping noise of glass to a wood surface I look to my right to see Lyra taking a seat like me, she looks highly uncomfortable.

“Bon Bon will be out in a second she’s got one more order to finish.” Lyra levitates over a few cups and a sugar bowl and a pair of tongs.

“How do you like yours?”

“Three sugar, please.” She levitates the coffee pot and pours me a glass and levitates three sugar cubes into it. I take it and sip the steaming black liquid, the sharp taste of caffeine coursing through my veins, combined with a sweet and half bitter taste it leaves behind.

“Best cup of coffee I’ve had a in a long time.”

“You should thank Bon Bon for that, I can’t cook nor serve drinks to save my flank, but I can play a harp.” She smiles sheepishly as she rubs the back of her head nervously.

“That actually sounds nice.”

“Really?”

“A long time ago Harps were considered peaceful, very beautiful instruments that had an equally beautiful sound.”

“Sorry I’m late that last batch of candy was a thorn in my-“ she stops her rant halfway.

“Well, don’t just leave it hanging there.” I sit up straight with a smug look on my face.

“Lyra; when you said you brought a guest I thought you meant pony.”

“This is better Bonnie, this is Austin, in other words;” she breathes for a second while looking at me.

“He’s that human that ponies have been rumoring about.”

“Uh-huh… Highly unlikely, remember Lyra they taught us they were extinct over 2000 years ago.”

“Well, ya’ know that; but I am in fact, a human.”

“Why should I believe you.”

“I survived by unconventional means, how I’m here is a stroke of luck and stupidity on my part, if that isn’t enough, I’m wearing devices that your world hasn’t even seen yet.” I gesture to my wrist watch that stunned Twilight earlier.

“Touché.” She smirks and takes a seat, but this time she isn’t sitting like Lyra.

'wow that actually worked. Yus...'

“So you had some questions for me?” I cross my arms and lean back in the chair.

“Oh, yes!”

<><><><><>Later that evening.<><><><><>

For the longest time I thought they’d never stop asking me questions about the human race, be it on the political side of things to the basics they asked me question after question, though it probably beats sitting around Rarities boutique; granted, I enjoyed my time with them and so far I’ve made some new acquaintances and maybe down the line some lifetime friends. That said the sun is beginning to set my watch confirming it’s 10 till 8 Lyra and Bon Bon gave me something to do for four and a half hours. Surprisingly enough the local shops are all beginning to close as pony’s head home for the night, the boutique in my sight I pick up the pace and jog home and knock on the front door.

“Where have you been all day?!” Her face looks like she’s been worried sick- and crying?

“I got my hair cut, and Lyra found me, speaking of, I made some new friends.” Her look changes slightly to one of relief.

“I was so worried, Aloe said you were going home and I didn’t find you hereandIdidn’tfindyouandIthoughtyouweretaken.” I put my finger to her muzzle silencing her.

“I’m fine Rarity, I can handle myself- and Twilight trusted you to house me, she obviously has faith in you and myself, and you can always know I will come back.” Her eyes grow wide as she puts on the cute puppy dog eyes.

“Pinkie Promise?” she emphasizes with her lower lip.

“Pinkie what?” she stops the face and acts out the steps, I copy her actions and she hugs my waist; Gently I pat the back of her curly mane with a resounding giggle from her as we go inside. Exchanging a wave I walk upstairs pulling out the box full of wax and blank scrolls. Taking a seat on the bed, I grab a jar of ink and white quill, I dip the point into the ink gently and begin writing a practice letter.

"Dear... Princess... Luna…" I write sloppily over the paper I pause and thinking about what I’m going to write. Choosing the first thing that comes to mind, I dip the quill in again and begin writing.

"I don't know how to start or even begin to thank you and your sister for one, as I write this as a practice note of sorts I hope it finds you well, even though I know I will have to wait to send this tomorrow well when you are asleep..." I scribble and drip ink all over the page and I frown and just keep writing using the small pool of ink to keep writing.

"I don’t know who I’m kidding, honestly, I don’t know how pony folk can think I can forget the past so easily just how much has drastically changed, It wasn’t subtle for me one day I try to escape and somewhat pray I die, what feels like a day later I fall out and break my nose. Heh, pleasant way of starting off in a new world yet...” I pause to think about how I’m going to put this.

“Yet I can’t help but feel this is my luck, maybe it’s god’s way of telling that I should see how evolution works, or maybe I’m here to keep these ponies from following down the same path… And here I am ranting in a letter I’m not even sending… If I had a wish; IF I did have just one wish, I would like to see all of my friends and family one more time and ask their forgiveness of what I’ve done."
I stop writing and set the quill aside and frown upon what I’ve written, in anger I crumple the paper and throw it in the corner.

"Fuck it…" I take my shirt off and toss it at the end of the bed and attempt to fall asleep and mentally prepare myself Applejacks farm early in the morning.

Author's Note

Had very little help editing such a massive chapter I made it this long so it could count not only as a double chapter; but also allow him to meet a few new ponies other than Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow, boy is he in for it in the next chapter...

Also, behold my largest chapter in the story so far- over 9.8K words I'm exhausted.
Secondly. Almost 900 views, on the first chapter and over 4000 on the story total. wha-HOW?! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :rainbowkiss:

As always if you see any errors, please point them out for me to fix. Thanks!

Special Thanks:
Sean Perez for pushing me to write this, and meeting me personally!
Fluttershy Ze Medic for character development ideas.
Ben717, Help with southern accent for Applejack.

Thanks guys!

See Y'all in the next chapter! Bye Bye!

Chapter 10: Bats...I Hate Bats...

Chapter 10: Bats… I Hate Bats...

No matter how hard I try I can’t ever seem to fall asleep early… Looking at my watch, it flashes to life temporarily blinding me, I blink and find that it is 0412 (4:12 A.M). Groaning in annoyance I kick the covers off my body and put my feet on the cold floor, rubbing my eyes, I find that the moon is still shining brightly outside through the window, illuminating part of the room; with it a mannequin reflecting some of the light making that much more creepy.

‘Of all the things Rarity could have had stored in this room, it had to be those creepy motherfuckers.' I approach them and look at them and find a dusty piece of cloth and put it over the mannequin covering entirely

‘Fucking anxiety of mannequins…’

Seeing as I won’t be able to sleep anytime soon I gently reach for the handle and open the door quietly as possible trying my hardest to not let it squeak. With some luck I made it out of the room and head down the stairs, making sure the stairs don’t squeak, gingerly applying pressure to each stair.Once my trip down the stairs is completed successfully I walk into what I remember is the kitchen. Carefully, I open the cabinet to find various spices, I close it and search for anything edible; at least by my standards… Eventually I find some crackers in a container, I take them and stroll into the showroom where the beautiful dress still sits, this time reflecting the moonlight perfectly.

After walking around aimlessly looking at the various photos of rarity and three other ponies (I’m assuming are family) and others of ponies who looked exceptionally important celebrities. I got bored and found out the layout of the house does a sort of roundabout’s back into the main lobby of the building. Feeling I have searched and scoured the downstairs thoroughly I put the container of crackers back where they belong and head upstairs quietly as I did before. Now, having the time to truly look at the place for myself and being a creeper I am; I open the first and closest door within range to find Rarities place of employment, her sewing room.

Looking around with genuine intrigue, I look around at the various tools and instruments used to measure, adjust, and predict how much fabric is required to make a specific set of clothing. Sometimes I feel some of the fabrics on rolls being gentle not to damage or ruin their smooth surface. Once done with that room, I close the door with a slight thud from the door latching (and me cursing under my breath from the noise I made) I walk down the hall looking at the last two rooms.

"Two to go..." I hear something creak behind me my back stiffens slightly as I turn around to see something I didn’t expect. Standing behind me a confused look on her muzzle is a tiny unicorn, the tiny horn barely seen through her messy mane, she had been sleeping quite soundly.

“Who are you?” she asks me half drowsy a really odd, almost bemused look on her muzzle now, I crouch down to her height gently whispering as not to frighten her… Then again she hasn’t run from me yet, and she very well could…

“Who are you?” I retort.

“I-I asked first…” she yawns.

“Touché, my name is Austin; what is yours?” I yawn with her (ITS CONTAGIOUS GIVE ME A BREAK!) eventually giving up on crouching and instead I sit down in front of her, as my knees are now beginning to become sore.

“I-I’mmmm, Sweetie Belle.” She yawns in the cutest way possible and almost falls over, I hold my hand out to support her and she has a tiny smile on her face.

“It’s nice to meet you, but don’t you think it’s a little late for someone- somepony your age being up at this hour?”

“I couldn’t sleep…”

‘Heh, guess that makes two of us, huh?’

“You and me both; but I’m sure you got stuff to do in the morning, it might benefit you to sleep," she cuts me off with a pout.

“I don’t want to do anything tomorrow.” She angrily plants herself on her haunches and cutely crossing her forehooves- overall quite adorable.

“Why?”

“Ponies bullying me and my friends at school.” Her ears fold flat to her head, now she looks mad. Wow that escalated quickly didn't it?

‘And just when I thought this planet got away from that bullshit too…’

“We have all been there before- If I may, I can offer you some advice.” Her ears perk up and she looks up at me as I sit up straight eliciting more back cracks.

“When I was younger, I got mistreated by bullies; practically every day of my existence pushing me around, heck even some of them even tore up my spelling test results. I remember so many things about what happened after that. All I have to say to you Is this, If a bully bug’s you, but doesn’t physically touch you, they are simply begging for attention; so the answer is simple… don’t. They hate being ignored. Trust me- if they attempt to hurt you; you’re going to hate this advice but... Let them because it will serve as proof they did something to you and they get into more trouble.” A malicious smile creeps on my face as I remember that incident with Michael.

“That actually works?” her eyes are full of wonder and hope now.

“It works about 95% of the time, sometimes it doesn’t; as much as they will annoy you, and as much as you will want to punch them, ignore them it’s all about being more mature than them.” I smile as I offer my arms to her and she stands up and stretches and without a second thought she hugs me tightly, her hooves not reaching around the entirety of my waist; and my god she has a hell of a grip!

“Now how about I put you back to bed for a strong start in the morning?” she doesn’t reply, but simply snuggles into my chest, her fur soft and warm as she shifts slightly, I lift her into my arms, making sure to support her and make sure she’s comfortable. I open the one door that Rarity didn’t show me today; upon opening the door, I'm greeted it the fresh scent of lilacs as the moonlight shines on her bed, before I can set her back in bed, I can hear a slight snore come from her signaling she’s already out cold. I put her in her bed making sure to tuck her snugly within the covers.

Now done exploring the entirety of Rarities home, I leave Sweetie Belle’s room more questions left unanswered than before.

‘I wonder why she didn’t ask what I was… or why I was here. Or how she managed to get of her room before I saw her… odd….’

I exit her room and close the door and return to my room to try and go back to sleep myself- that is if Insomnia will allow it… maybe, please? I lay my head on the pillow adjusting myself slightly and close my eyes and attempt to sleep, after all I got a hell of a day ahead of me.

<><><><><>One Hour Later<><><><><>

Gah… Did I ever mention how much I hate having a sleeping disorder some days? Fuck, the amount of times I nearly got my ass reamed in boot camp; How I didn’t still astonishes me, that drill sergeant was an asshole too... I look at my watch it's 0535 (5:35 AM). Bah… Might as well get started on the day… I kick the covers again for the second time this morning abandoning the warm sheets. Hesitantly, I take my over shirt off the back of the bed and put it on now realizing the time and what Applejack said to me as I look at the watch again. It beeps happily at me changing to 0536 (5:36 AM).

“Shit.” I mumble as I quickly make the bed and head downstairs to find Rarity and Sweetie Belle already up enjoying breakfast.

“Good morning darling~ Sleep well?” She’s quite peppy this morning… Too peppy… CAN IT.

“I’ve probably said this before and ill say it again, that really depends on your point of view…” I smirk and take a seat next to Sweetie Belle who smiles up at me happily, I pet her on the head slightly messing up her mane inducing a dirty look from Rarity.

“heh- sorry.” I straighten her mane out as Sweetie giggles happily eating her breakfast.

“So what would you like for breakfast, dear?” Rarity gets up and walks over to the cabinets.

“What do you have?”

‘Can’t wait to hear this one...’

“Hay, grain cereal, hay cereal, carrots, grapes-“ I stop her from continuing.

“I’ll just throw it out there I can’t eat hay; I’ll just take the grain cereal.” She levitates out a bowl and serves me a bowl with a spoon.

“Thanks!”

“Tis not a problem!” Rarity smiles as she sits next to me.

“So when did you two meet, Sweetie Belle is unusually calm this early in the morning.”

‘Wow, really… Huh. Who knew?’

“I honestly couldn’t sleep last night so I wandered around the house and she snuck up on me, so I talked to her a bit. Thankfully, she didn’t scream instantly.”

“I was considering it!” Sweetie pouts once more crossing her forehooves again.

“Well, thank you for sparing my ears.” I playfully poke her on the shoulder and she giggles and resumes eating, I do the same and out of the corner of my eye I could see Rarity was in shock… wonder what got her tongue. Silence taking over the room, I look at Rarity and Sweetie.

“Well, I need to be at Applejack’s farm in 20 minutes or so, where’s her farm?”

“It’s just over the hill, actually, would it be too much to ask for you to take Sweetie to school?”

“Nah, If it’s on the way I’ll drop her off.” Looking at my watch I nearly choke on a spoon full of oats, I quickly eat it and put the bowl in the sink.

“Ok, time to go, I really don’t wanna be late on my first day.” I give a slight smile as sweetie leaves her bowl on the table and runs upstairs. I look at rarity with a raised eyebrow- she quickly comes back, this time with what appears to be the pony form of a backpack.

“Ready?” she smiles and nods I hold the door open for her I look back at Rarity and wave.

“Good luck darling!”

“To you as well!” I see Sweetie is already on her way, I jog to catch up to her.

‘At least she knows where she’s going.’

“Applejack’s farm is up there on the hill.” She points to my left to a dirt trail leading to massive rows of apple trees.

“Huh…Interesting- think you will be ok today?” I look down at her and she smiles.

“My friends and I will try your advice today, and maybe try to get our cutie marks.”

“You’re what's its now?” she gestures to her flank.

“What am I looking at?” I give a look of utter confusion.

“Most ponies have a mark here, my friends and I are the only ones in our class to not have ours.” Her ears droop as she continues.
“That’s why we get bullied all the time.”

“Well, I’ll let ya’ in on a secret of a human if it makes you feel better.” Her ears perk up and she looks at me with a slight glimmer in her eyes; we stop and I crouch down next to her.

“Humans don’t have marks.” I give a smile and her eyes fill with wonder.

“Don’t let one mark constrain what you want to do or let that change how you are around people.”

“That’s AWESOME! But how did humans know what they were good at.”

“Some humans always knew what they wanted to do, some didn’t; other’s on the hand/hoof followed what their hearts told em’- after all if it didn’t work out for them they could always try something else.”

“So… I was basically a guessing game?”

“Putting it that way, yes.” I smile as we approach a tall red building, it really looks like a cliché school house alright…

“Sooooo,” She traces her hoof in the dirt in a circle while looking away from me.

“Will you be able to see me and my friends after school?” I shrug.

“I’m not sure, I got a lot of stuff to attend to; if I have time I will try. Don’t get your hopes up too high, anyways, I gotta get going or I’ll get my bum tanned by Aj.” she giggles and I follow along with a hearty laugh and she runs off towards the playground, I can’t help but smile at how much she reminds me of my little sister back in the day.

I shake my head with a smile still on my face as I follow the dirt trail leading towards the massive orchard.

<><><><><><><><><><>

It didn’t take long to head up the trail, the birds are just beginning to take flight and begin chirping around me majestically as the sun leaks in through cracks in the trees. Overall, what these ponies have done to the world have made it incredibly more beautiful to be in. Never have I breathed in such clean air or felt this good in a very long time. With an end of the trail now in sight I finish my sight seeing as the trail opens up to a clearing a white fence now bordering the trail as it leads up to several different fields; in the center of it all a small farm house sits; some smoke billowing out of the chimney. Not far from that is a tall barn, one that almost looks like it’s out of a children’s book, overall it’s a really serene place to be, now realizing that I’m closing on the farm house I look up to see an old worn out sign that has clearly seen better days. However, in huge bold and gold equestrian letters I read out loud.

“Sweet Apple Acres.” Bellow that is some faded text I can’t make out properly. Shrugging, I continue towards the quaint little home, stepping on the porch it creaks under my weight. To my left, there’s an old rocking chair flanked by a bench, to the right is a potted plant. Everything about this place screams rustic. I close my hand into a fist and knock on the door half hesitantly I can hear whispered voices followed by hoof steps but they don’t sound dainty…

‘Wonder who’s going to greet me tod-‘ the door swings open nearly clocking me in the head. I look in the doorway to see a large stallion with red and orange mane and tail, he’s just about as tall as I am, which is surprising; he’s also a lot more burly than myself, his eyes though… he’s definitely suspicious of me. After an awkward 20 seconds or more he breaks the silence.

“Who are you'.” His voice dark and quite dis-heartening as he speaks with an almost venom in his voice as he speaks to me… to put it mildly if I had eyes like these ponies they would probably have shrunk to such a small size right now.

“AppleJack gave me a job- she said meet her here at 6 this morning.” I look at my watch to find it’s 0559 (5:59 AM)

“Ah, you’re that human she’s been talkin' bout.” His face turns neutral and he holds out his hoof.

“Pleasure tah’ meet ya…names Big Macintosh, ya’ can call me Mac though.” I suppress a laugh from the irony of his name; I take his hoof half expecting him to snap it like a twig from the smug look most likely plastered across my face; however, he gently moves it up and down, he's a lot more gentle than AJ...

“The pleasure is all mine. Austin by the way.” He nods and moves aside gesturing for me to go in, I squeeze by him awkwardly and find the home to be just as rustic as it is outside.

“There ya’ are partner!” I hear a familiar voice to my right I see AJ walking up to me her Stetson not on her head.

“On time as you asked.” I smile at her.

“Very good, we were just finishin' breakfast- you aren’t hungry are ya'?” She looks at me almost showing concern.
“Rarity provided me with breakfast before I headed out.”

“Alright, well today, Mac will be tilling the southern field; you and I will be checking through the orchards, it will be harvest season in a month’s time, so all we gotta do is check the fields and do quality checks.”

“Simple enough.”

“Sure is partner les get to it.” She grabs her Stetson off a coat hanger near the door with her mouth and swings it onto her head; impressively it sits on her the first time without her having to adjust it. She heads out of the house me following her closely I can see Mac hooking up what appears an old fashion farm plow behind him.

“Ok, we are going to check the western field together so I can show ya’ the ropes.” I nod and she enters what I’m suspecting is the western field.

“Alright to start off, we need to check the roots of the tree, make sure its getting enough water- we do this ever five trees. If one of the areas is dry we must put in a claim to the weather ponies for more water.” She leans her head down next to a tree and feels it with her hoof.
“This an is good; so what we look for is the ground has a warm moist feeling, but it ain’t dry and flaky.” She moves down five trees and does the same process over. Before long we have a row done, I do as she says telling her what I think the condition of the trees are in, once I check them she makes sure and confirms what I’m saying. Overall, this job is fairly easy, before long we are mostly done with the western field.

“You’re a natural at this partner.”

“That or I have a good teacher.” I narrow my eyes slightly.

“Ah reckon you are ready to tend to the Eastern field.”

“I’ll get it done boss.”

“Ya’ don’t need tah call me your boss sugercube.”

“Well, you are… anyways, I’m gonna go get to it.”

“Alright, I’ll be in the barn helping Mac out by the time you finish. Meet me there for your next job.” I nod and head towards the barn in the opposite direction of the Western field I see Mac loading up crates into a wagon.

“Need some help with that?” I approach him.

“Ah suppose so.” He forces a crate in and wipes his brow with his hoof. I walk over to a crate and wrap my fingers around the bottom of it giving it a firm yank to hear bottles clinking.

“Hey- Mac, what’s in these crates?” I struggle to lift the crate to the lip of the wagon once I get it on the edge I push it in with the others.

“About three cases of empty bottles fur cider season.” He lifts a crate up and I push it making sure it snugly rests in the wagon.

“Huh, you guys make cider. Interesting,” I struggle to lift another crate in.

“Eyyup, some of the best buckin cider this side of Equestria.”

“That’s one hell of a claim.” I push the crate in, looking to the stack of crates there’s only three left I continue on.

“Y’all should give it a try.”

“Put me on the list for some, would ya?”

“Sure thing.” Mac heaves the last two crates in and latches the wagon.

“Alright; Ah can handle the rest from here, thanks for the help.”

“It’s what I’m here for, I gotta head to the Eastern field anyways!”

“Good luck partner.” He leans his head in respect and heads off.

‘Luck with what…?’

<><><><><>1 hour and 27 minutes later<><><><><>

“OH DEAR GOD BATS FUCK GO AWAY!!!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I run away as a swarm of bats chases after me.

‘AJ YOU GOT A LOT TO EXPLAIN SOMEONE GET THESE MOTHERFUCKERS WAY FROM ME!’

“HELLLLPPPP MEEEE”

I keep running top speed away from the bats into the clearing, making a B line for the barn I can see AJ and Mac standing there having a casual conversation only to see them look at me right beside them is a pile of hay, she gestures towards it I leap into it, hiding myself deep within. A few minutes later I hear AJ speak up.

“Ya, can come out now.” Hesitantly, I step out of the hay dusting myself off.

“You got a lot to explain to me...” I cross my arms and a look that could kill a full grown bear.

“Y’all didn’t read the sign?”

“What fucking sign?!” I throw my hands in the air in annoyance at this bullshit my anger spiking to max levels. If anger could show I would probably be redder than a tomato.

“Ah… there’s an area of the Eastern field that’s inhabited by bucking fruit bats. We haven’t been able to get rid of them yet.”

“Great… and you didn’t warn me.” I calm down a bit, my breathing returning to normal… mostly.

“Anyways; what do you have to report on the field.” Great… Good to know you get right back on it AJ… Well played.

“The far left of the field could use some water, that was about it.” I swallow, clearing my throat as I speak.

“Ah’ alright then, there isn’t much else to do for today.” She walks over to a small chest and pulls a pile of bits from it, I look at my watch to find it's nearly 1515 (3:15 PM) a 9 hour shift.

“50 bits for a good day’s work.” She pushes them into a sack and hands-hoofs it over to me.

“Thanks!”

“Not a problem partner will see y'all tomorrow.” I nod and wave as I walk the way I came this morning.

“yea… maybe…” shake my head and walk down the path I came from.

‘I wonder if Sweetie is out yet.’

“Hey Austin!” A familiar voice sounds nearby I look down to see sweetie.

“Afternoon sweetie.” I keep walking completely oblivious.

‘I wonder if schools have similar hours.’ I stop as I realize who I just saw.

“WAIT A MINUTE.” I turn around to see Sweetie and a few other small ponies she’s gigging and the others are using her as cover.

“Sorry… was thinking. I was actually going to see if you were out of school.” Sweetie smiles as the other remains quiet with a face that resembles a mix of confusion, horror, and something else… intrigue?

“We got out fifteen minutes ago.”

“Ah, that answers my question then; so how was school?” I crouch down to their height.

“Surprisingly, it worked! They started bragging again and pestering us about our ‘blank flanks’.” She turns slightly red and scratches the back of her head sheepishly

“Scootaloo almost punched Tiara, but she stayed calm and they lost interest.”

“So; one of you is Scootaloo, right?” one of the other ponies next to Sweetie coughs into her hoof.

“Oh, sorry girls; This is Austin- He’s a human!” She proudly states pointing a hoof at me, I shake my head at how childish she is.

“Austin, these are my friends,” She walks over to the closest pony and wraps a hoof around her neck. “This is Scootaloo.” The orange pony with purple mane waves slowly. Looking a little closer I notice that her mane resembles Rainbow Dash’s mane almost... Coincidence?

“H-hi.” She stutters, and is slightly shaking.

“Hello!” I smile warmly and she calms down slightly as the other one; a yellow pony with red mane and HUGE bow tie atop her head.

“And this is Apple Bloom.” Ok…………. Really…….. Kudos to parents on naming her… She’s clearly AJ’s sister… that or her daughter….. I shake the thought from my head and smile to her as well with a polite wave.

“Very nice to name you; you wouldn’t happen to be Applejack’s sister / daughter, would you?” I ask with a raised brow.

“Ahm' her sister.” She smiles proudly.

‘SCORE ONE FOR AUSTIN- MOSTLY!!!’

“Ah, well, I just worked with your sister; anyways since you guys are here; I’m taking it you are all going to hang out at AJ’s?”

“Eyyup.” Sweetie Belle does a pretty decent imitation of Mac eliciting a chuckle from me.

“Well, in that case I’m going to head out and explore.”

“Before you go, Rarity wanted to see you. I’m not sure what about though- said something about a surprise.”

“Huh… more surprises… Not sure how to feel about that, anyways. You girls have fun; it was a pleasure meeting you!”

“You too!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both simultaneously wave, I depart down the trail back to Ponyville.

<><><><><><><><><><>

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” ― Paulo Coelho

<><><><><> <><><><><>

Well, it didn’t take too long to get to the outskirts of Ponyville back to where I originated earlier this week, the place still looks serene as ever. I continue walking down the patch of grass between the tree’s to my bunker. Before long I find the moss covered hatch the broken hinge still laying next to it; well... as gentle as you can be to a three foot thick concrete hatch…

I throw it open once more and enter the darkened space using whatever light my watch can project on the dark area surrounding me. Practically feeling my way around I find my generators and the lone battery I had taken from the SUV the day before I arrived here using my watch I look at the dusted and worn down connections before gently shaking the battery to still hear the acid inside still sounds like it could be reinvigorated, perhaps with some wine I could restart the acid and put new a charge in and use it as a backup for the lights- another time though.

I push the battery back to the wall and look at the generator, using my nail I take the fuel injection pump off the side and see that it’s clogged with debris. A simple cleansing and some sort of fuel, be it gasoline or propane I could get this thing running again. Checking all three generators over again, I find that the 3rd one farthest to the right is in perfect condition and still has some usable gasoline in it that didn’t solidify; but the quality of the gas is what gets me. Thinking it over, I practically say “Fuck it, if it blows up, oh well.”

I yank the starting cord only to hear it sputter in protest. I try again Once, Twice, Three times, It sputters to life in protest, though the cylinders are making a really bad out of tune popping noise, meaning that it’s definitely not in mint condition (probably because of the gas, and various other problems...), but the lights begin to flicker to life, on low power they begin illuminating what I would call the worst living space I have ever seen vines, hundreds of cracks in the walls, the ceiling is slightly buckled and the list keeps getting longer…

I walk over to the pantry door and open it where I kept all my smaller belongings such as photo albums and other various things I cherish. Opening the first drawer on the bottom I find a few small books and a bible, I close it and move to the next shelf and find my old leather back wallet still containing my information if I ever needed it, and right beside it glimmering in the flickering light is a tiny silver ring, I pick it up remembering it’s a ring that an old friend gave me a long time ago, examining it closely, the thing still look’s brand new after almost 2,100 years in this drawer the black symbols still showing clearly as it wrap’s around the entirety of the ring. Smiling, I put it on my right hands, ring finger it still fits me perfectly I continue searching for anything else.

After a while of scavenging a few things from the pantry, I walk over to the Cryopod It’s offline, but the doors are open I notice something small in the bottom corner of the pod stuck in a crack.

“Ah no way…” I reach for it to find it’s my old LGG3 the edge of the screen is cracked, probably since it fell and hit a certain angle within the pod... But I don’t remember putting it in with me… Odd… I press and hold the power button for a few seconds, surprisingly technology within the pod also gets preserved, the charge on the other hand doesn’t… Lovely. I put it in my pocket and grab the books Twilight gave me as I kill the generator and exit into the late afternoon sunlight. Carefully, I shut the hatch and walk back to Rarities Boutique only to stop and remember what Sweetie said.

‘SHIT HER SURPRISE…’ I pick up the pace and start jogging back home.

<><><><><>RUN BITCH RUN!<><><><><>

Well, I ran half the town in under ten minutes, either this is a really small town or I’m extremely fast and should participate in a triathlon and totally pig out my ego. I think the towns small… Maybe… Either way I made it back to Rarities Boutique and knock on the door almost as fast as a BLMG fire’s. Eventually Rarity opens the door almost completely dumbfounded at me inhaling and coughing from all the running I just did.

“I—I-I’m home!” I fall to the left and trip over myself slightly.

“Where in Equestria have you been?” She asks as she magically keeps me stable as she leads me towards a nearby couch, almost too quickly I drop everything in my hands and crash sideways.

“W-I… was working all day, and I went to get a few possession’s and the books Twilight gave me, Sweetie told me you had a surprise, and I may or may not have let time pass and I forgot…”

“But it’s alright dear~” She sings slightly and has a smile across her muzzle as she walks over to a covered cloths cart she pushes it towards me and has a smile as wide as Texas.

“I present to you, my first human clothes!” She squee’s in excitement and pulls the blanket off the top to show at least three different sets of clothes of various sorts.

“I didn’t know what size you were so I made them as close as possible; if they don’t fit I can fit them to you at another time. But what do you think?” her eyes are glittering as I stand up and walk over to the clothes eyeing them carefully in wonder and excitement, slowly I move within grabbing distance of Rarity. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her smile seems to be wearing down and her ears droop.

“You don’t like them?” Before she can understand what happens I immediately I pull her into a massive hug, lifting her completely off her hooves; now she’s freaking out and squirming in my grip.

“You have no idea how much this means to me! I can finally get something new to wear instead of these. Thank you so much!” I realize now that she’s no longer squirming in my grip, and that I am squishing Rarity. Gently I set her down on all fours and she shakes her head before fixing her mane and the smile returns.

“I’m so glad you like them darling; for a second there I thought you were going to dislike them.” She brushes herself off.

“Like them?!”, I pause dramatically. “I love them!”

“I really like this maroon colored one. Those are more my casual style, anyways I need to go unpack these few things and get stuff set up and prepare a letter for Luna later this week as well as get ready for my job in the morning.” I pick up the things I dropped on the couch and head towards the stairs only to be stopped by Rarity.

“Can I ask you a quick question first?” I turn around thinking about it, I shrug and look her in the eyes.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Why do you wear clothes everyday?” Wow… gotta admit, did not see that one coming.... I clear my throat and find the best possible way of explaining this without making it anymore awkward.

“Erhm; Human's aren’t like ponies, we conceal everything behind clothes that and walking around in the nude was (is...) considered taboo, I still sort of consider it that way that, and we anatomically don’t have anything to hide what we got.”

“Oh…” Her face turns a magnificent shade of red.

“Yeah, anything else you’d like to know?” I lean against the archway a slight smirk on my face.

“Nope; nothing at all! I was simply curious, completely curious... heh.” She nervously scratches the back of her head.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Her blush increases ten fold.

“Well, ok then… I’ll be upstairs.” I quickly leave the room and set everything I collected on the bed and begin sorting them out and putting them in easy to find locations.

Once that was all set and done, I head downstairs and collect the clothes from the hangers and fold them on the bed minus the pair of maroon T-shirt and matching shorts. I’ll wear these later on after a shower…

“Whatcha doiiinnn?” A high pitch voice speaks up behind me, I flip my shit and duck and cover unfortunately I hit my head on the back of the bed spreading a world of hurt throughout my skull.

“PINKIE STOP DOING THAT!” I shout from the other side of the bed as I rub the back of my head in annoyance.

“Stop doing whattttt?” she hops on my bed and looks down over the edge at me, her blue eyes piercing my soul… I mean ... ah fuck it you figure out what I mean, to much pain...

‘Damn you physics breaker…’

“Stop sneaking up on me!” I flip her the bird and she looks at my finger curiously.

“What does that mean?”

‘Fuck my life…’ I put my hands over my face in annoyance.

‘It’s going to be a really long fucking night.’

“I was going to ask if you wanted to attend a Welcome to Ponyville party tomorrow night.”

“Sure, sure just promise me you won’t sneak up on me anymore…”

“YIPPIE! I Pinkie Promise I won’t sneak up on you anymore!” she runs out of the room and disappears.

“What the fuck did I just agree to…” I tap my head against the back of the bed closing my eyes.

Author's Note

Welp, aside from an extreme phobia of bats, mannequins, and other creepy shit. I think this was a good first day! Work horse? I THINK NOT!

Have a good one guys! see ya' in 11!

Special thanks.

Ring was something of a gift from a good fan and friend; Sean Perez.
Thanks man, will never forget it!

Chapter 11: Introverted as ever

<><><><><><><><><><>

"Telling an introvert to go to a party, is like telling a saint to go to Hell." -Criss Jami

<><><><><><><><><><>

“What the fuck did I just agree to…” I tap my head against the back of the bed.

I put my hands to my face, slowly pulling them down, dragging my eyelids with them, I can hear Pinkie hopping down the stairs. Followed by another set of hooves coming up; not wanting to get up I look at the ceiling in dismay.

“Knock knock” I hear Rarities voice from the open doorway.

“Yeah?” I lean over slightly and look at her. “What can I do ya’ for?”

“Nothing.” She walks in and looks at me.

“Pinkie just invited you to one of her parties... Didn’t she?”

“What gave it away? Me being on the floor? Or her walking out of my room…?” I pause and get on my feet again and sit on the bed. “Or the fact I don’t get how that pony can break physics.” Rarity gives me a sympathetic smile before sitting in front of me.

“Nopony has figured her out... Not one.”

“Yea, so I heard… and witnessed, I just feel bad for the guy who dates her...” I roll my eyes at the thought of Pinkie keeping an eye on him through her wall physic breaking non-sense.

“So what’s exactly is this party going to be about anyways?”

“Pinkie usually throws a welcome to town celebration; but you have been avoiding ponies almost since the day you were first seen.”

“For good reason…” I shrug before sitting down on the bed.

“Can I ask what that reason is?” She hops on the bed beside me leaning on me and placing her head on my shoulder, minding her horn.

“I-I’d rather not talk about it…”

“Why ever not?”

“Because it’s a long and sad story.” I look at her out of the corner of my eye that she’s… smiling? She notices I’m looking at her and she looks at me now with big puppy dog eyes.

‘Not again!... BAH DEFENCES WEAKENING C’MON THAT ISN’T FAIR!!!’

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I tell you! Just stop with the eyes!” She has a smug grin across her muzzle as she resumes leaning her head on my shoulder, I can feel her fur is extremely soft, almost like silk… What was I supposed to expect from a pony who spends a ton of time in the spa… Yeah… Never mind I retract my statement now, I mentally facepalm.

‘Oh, I’ll get you for this… maybe not today. Maybe not next year, but I will get you…’

Sighing loudly, I think about the best way to explain this to her without making myself feel horrible.

“I've never been a sociable person- to put it simply. I’ve avoided ponies out of fear, and now I want to avoid them because I just want to be left alone, don’t take it personally- but back then I was the same way... There was a short list of people I could tolerate for hours on end, being here for only a week; I don’t have anyone to truly trust. That and there’s only so much interaction I can take before I leave for a while. It’s just how I am.” I take a moment to carefully think about what I just said; two responses come to mind of what she’s most likely going to say now, she’s so totally going to have me talk to more people; that or she will show sympathy. Praying on option two.

“I understand, it’s completely natural to act this way, but perhaps Equestria and other ponies can help you “ She does something I did not expect she gently rubs against me.

“Uhhhhhhhhh, what was that?” I lean my head away from her, slightly disturbed.

“What are you talking about?” She looks at me confused.

“What you just did; why’d ya’ rub on me?” I mentally facepalm myself from what I had just said.

‘Your choice of words definitely could have been better on that one pal…’

“I only nuzzled you- it’s a sign of care and affection here.”

“Oh… If it’s all the same I’d prefer it if you don’t do that, kinda weirds me out.” But it was warm and enjoyabl- WHAT AM I THINKING, BAD BRAIN, BAD!

“I’ll keep that in mind~” She voices happily. I DON’T LIKE THIS! NOT ONE BIT.

“Anywho, perhaps you’d learn to overcome your social problems by being here in Equestria.”

“Perhaps… I’m gonna take a shower now; maybe get some rest and be on my way to work at six.” Her ears droop slightly and she nods and hops off the bed like a cute kitten being disturbed from a nap.

“See you in the morning Rarity.”

“Night!” She magically pulls the door shut, I can hear her hoof steps getting distant and I get back to my initial task; folding my new clothes… Gently I take the maroon shorts and matching T-shirt. Looking closer in proper light I can now see there’s a gentle black stripe running the full length of them, with a smile I fold them neatly on top of one another and place them on top of the nearby nightstand and get my final sets of clothing folded and put away in the nearby dresser. Thankfully Rarity was kind enough to give me an empty dresser, even with so few clothes she was nice enough to provide me this much; hell the fact these ponies are so accepting of me, at least so far they are; is short of a miracle.

Deciding I’ve rambled on enough in my head, I take the set of clothes and head for the bathroom I found last night during my snooping. Opening the door, I look both ways to see any oncoming ponies; seeing no pony I cautiously watch my back and open the door to the bathroom. Quickly as possible I fling myself in and shut the door hastily making sure I lock it; with that said I can’t hear anything outside anymore and I breath a sigh of relief.

Almost too quickly I pull the shower curtain back and look at the dial for the water- if there was an award for how long it takes to figure out a knob, id most likely win it- I tried pulling, pushing, moving up and down and I didn’t think to twist it… Wow, I'm definitely some kind of stupid… Now the water is on and a decent temperature I take my old marine fatigues off and lay them near the new clothes including my now extremely disgusting underwear…

‘I really need a new pair of whites… that or no underwear for a while.’ I shiver slightly at the thought. I take my watch off and place it on the nearby sink keeping my ring on my hand so . Carefully, I step into the warm water, keeping my head in for a few seconds before having to wipe the water from my eyes and using my hand I stand against the wall enjoying the warm feeling of the water. When civilization failed and the end of the world came the one thing I missed while being underground was not being able to take a shower- not to mention a warm shower.

Now completely soaked I slowly read the labels in the various bottles Rarity keeps; most of which have different and wonderful smells, deciding on one in particular bottle (cinnamon… don’t judge me.) I wash myself down fairly quickly and wrap a nearby towel around my waist and re attaching my watch to my wrist all the while thinking about my current predicament with my not so tighty whities… Seeing that Rarities bathroom is a shower and a bathtub I can probably clean them myself and let them dry out and use this towel the rest of the night and pray they are dry enough to be worn by morning… That or swallow my pride and ask for a new set…

After a brief moment I think about my options, It is with the deepest regret and utter embarrassment that I put the shirt on and keep the towel on while carrying my soiled underwear on my left. Carefully, I walk downstairs, I walk around the corner, I find Rarity reading a book on the couch, luckily Sweetie isn’t up (that I know of).

“Hey- uh Rarity,” I awkwardly clear my throat and carefully think about what I’m going to ask.

“What is it darling?” she hasn’t noticed what I’m holding yet.

“Eh, you made me clothes but there’s something else that we use under the clothes. To put it simply I need more of these.” I hold the somewhat white pair out for her to see.

“Er- I can definitely handle that.” She turns a light shade of red.

“Sorry, but I really need new pairs of these-.” She holds her hoof up.

“Say no more! I completely understand, I’ll get to work on it first thing in the morning.” She calmly smiles, still slightly red in the face.

“Ok, thanks, but eh is there-“ I hear her zap and I look back at my article of clothing.

“Cleaned.” She winks at me.

“Uh- thanks.” I awkwardly shuffle out of the room and back up the stairs and put my underwear and shorts on. Seeing I have nothing else to do, I hop on the bed and lay on my back and stare at the ceiling. Hesitantly, I reach under the bed and pull out the wooden case that contains Stavo's diary, gently I grab the worn leather book and open it to a random entry to learn more about what happened; that and knowing me- reading tires me out rather quickly.

<><><><><>The Next Day.<><><><><>

You know those days you don’t remember having a dream? Yea, that’s pretty much me every day of my life; all things considered, it certainly beats anything at this rate… Looking at my watch, it lights up stating it's close to four thirty in the morning- leave it to me to wake up at the crack ass of dawn; but it certainly had benefits when I was in boot camp. Flopping back on my back, I exhale loudly and ponder one of life’s toughest questions.

‘Should I try to get more sleep? Or suck it up and get on with my day…?’

After five minutes of staring at the oh so enjoyable ceiling I kick the covers off, gently placing the diary on the nightstand next to my head; carefully I put my feet on the ice cold floor; almost too quickly I regret my decision of leaving the covers, but I have a job to do today. Practically fighting myself to get going I put my clothes on and my watch I stretch and head downstairs into the kitchen, unsurprisingly, no one is down here; I mean who in their right mind would be up this early anyways. Shaking the thought from my mind, I grab myself a bowl and as quietly as possible I retrieve the bag of cereal I had yesterday. With the utmost care I pour myself a bowl with all the other essentials and begin to eat my breakfast. Looking out the nearby window I can see the sun slowly rising.

‘Well, at least I’m not the only crazy person for being up this early.’ I chuckle at the Idea of Celestia drinking a giant ass mug of coffee while raising the sun.

After about ten or so minutes of eating a bowl of cereal; I go back upstairs and grab my boots and double check I’ve gotten everything sorted I write a quick note and leave it on the side of the bed and head out into the cool morning air. This early some ponies are out (most likely some merchants) I walk by a few stands and the ponies who own and operate them not daring to say a word to me. Way to make me feel welcome guys, really- I appreciate it. I roll my eyes when I hear a rather soothing feminine voice behind me.

“Excuse me, sir.” I stop in my tracks and look behind me to see a young mare, to confirm she’s talking to me I point to myself, she nods and approaches me.

“I couldn’t help but notice you’re wearing a ring.” I raise an eyebrow and look down at my ring that’s now glistening in the morning sunlight- carefully I clench my fist hiding it away slightly.

“Yea? What about it?” I look down at her and notice her flank has jewel on a pillow.

“It looks simply divine is all, I was wondering where you got it.”

‘You’re only interested in it because of the value aren’t you…’

“It wasn’t made here, or in this century for that matter. It’s a gift from a long lost friend… one I hold dear to my heart.” I hiss with almost venom in my voice.

“AH! I was wondering because I have never seen such intriguing markings.” She gets slightly closer, I pull It away from her; taking a hint she realizes what she did wrong. Clearing her throat she looks at me.

“May I?”

“Look with your eyes, not your hooves… or magic.” I slowly take the ring off my finger, gently laying it in my hand as she pulls out a magnifying piece out a slash bandolier wrapped around her waist all the while she looks at it closely.

“Do you know what it is made of?” She looks up at me curiously.

“Stainless Steel.” I reply emotionlessly and quite possibly the blankest expressions man ever thought imaginable.

“It’s got some really detailed engravings that wrap evenly all the way around, it’s quite beautiful.”

“Thanks?,” I give her a really odd look as I slip it back on my finger.

“OH! Where are my manners. My name is Encrusted Jewel! One of the finest metal and stone merchants this side of Equestria.” She proudly poses with a hoof to her chest.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“If you ever need jewelry repaired or wish to buy something for that special somepony, I’m here twice a week!”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I wave to her and walk away from her continuing on my stroll around Ponyville.

‘Fucking Creepy…’ I walk away from her continuing my stroll around Ponyville seeing that I got a while before anything good happens; might as well enjoy the time I got doing absolutely nothing worthwhile with it- right? It didn’t take long for a few more ponies to try and talk to me granted, I give them the fact they are at least trying to get to know me; though my introverted side of me is starting to kick in and by the time it’s said and done in already done with people for the next few weeks in under an hour.

Looking at my watch I find it’s 0510 (5:10 AM) I walk begin walking towards Applejacks farm for my second day’s work granted, I’ll be a bit- a lot earlier than I was yesterday, but certainly beats being late.

<><><><><>One Twenty Minute Loiter Walk later… <><><><><>

I arrive at Applejacks home, I listen to see if anyone is even awake yet, hesitantly I knock on the door and wait for a moment, after the first minute I’m starting to reconsider knocking again and just go home and come back when I'm supposed to. I turn around and walk down the steps and I hear the door squeak open.

“Y’all are really early today.” Applejack yawns and rubs her eyes sheepishly, as if I had beaten her at waking up early.

“Sorry- Couldn’t sleep anymore today, so I’ve been loitering around Ponyville today…”

“Ah understand, we were just getting up and eating breakfast- would ya’ like to join us?”

“Sure, why not.” I walk back up the steps and she moves aside and lets me in I look around to see an old looking pony sleeping soundly.

“Who’s that?” I gesture to the old pony.

“That’s Granny Smith, Y’all don need tah whisper, she’s ah’ heavy sleeper.”

“Huh… Ok then.” Applejack leads me into the kitchen where the same pony I met with Sweetie.

“Mornin’ Austin!” AppleBloom smiles and continues eating what appears to be an apple pastry.

“Good morning.” I gently wave and take a seat at the table near AJ.

“So what do we need to do today?”

“Lucky for us today partner; we only have tah tend tah the carrot portion of the farm, we should be done ba’ noon!” She smiles happily before serving me a plate of apple pastry.

“Sounds simple enough.” I take a bite and the instant that pastry touched my tongue, an almost literal explosion of flavor I sit there for what I think was two minutes before anyone noticed me with my mouth open.

“Y’all ok?” She shakes me slightly with her hoof.

“This… Is… DELICIOUS!” I emphasize my words as I take another bite.

“Compliments to the chef!” I keep stuffing my face with this ungodly pastry.

“Thank ya kindly!” AJ turns slightly red and begins eating her food.

Roughly twenty or so minutes later, Apple Bloom had to head to school, I asked her to tell Sweetie, why I wasn’t able to walk her to school this morning.

With that settled Applejack and I got to work on tending to the carrots near the barn. Just like every other crop on this farm it’s always attended to without magic or any chemical protection like we used to use to keep pests off the product- how they managed to avoid this, is still a mystery to me just as much as how Pinkie is able to break physics. Shrugging it off I kneel beside AJ as she tries to pull out a particularly stubborn carrot.

“Need help?”

“Nah, I got it.” She continues to struggle with it for another thirty seconds only making the situation that much more funny.

“How about now…?”

“No…” She continues to stubbornly yank at it. Finally the nice side of me caves in and I walk over and heave the carrot out. Turns out the thing was a lot wider than it appeared on the surface, but a swift yank it pulls out easily; casually I hand it to AJ to see her face is in shock.

“How’d you do that?” she looks at the carrot and back at me.

“What? You know my arms aren’t just for show, you know.” I give her a smug grin, she gives me a look that almost literally say. ‘Really? Did you just say that…’

“Ok, fine! I’m only kidding; I’m horribly out of shape… probably... most likely” She continues to stare for a moment before laughing and eventually she shakes it off and continues working on the field carefully picking a few other carrots.

“Hey Austin ya’ mind doing me a favor?” I stop preening weeds and walk over.

“Yea’ sure? What is it?” Using my shirt I wipe sweat from my head.

“I need ya to take this bushel of carrots to Fluttershy, she asked for a supply of our finest for her critters.”

“Ok deliver these to her and come back. Anything else?”

“Eyyyup and Nope, they’re already paid for.” I nod and take the bound carrots and begin walking the trail.

‘Not my brightest idea to be wearing dark clothes in the summer… again, what the fuck was I thinking?’

“This fucking heat...” I gripe aloud to no one in particular, being born in one of the coldest months of the year also doesn’t help my hatred for the blazing heat and blizzards… why couldn’t the cryo pod release me in spring, I continue walking down the path towards Fluttershys cottage, complaining all the way.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I may exaggerate a few things in life, but I doubt this is one of them, walking across town in heat that was probably close to 90° feels like trudging through a fucking fire pit scratch that- like walking through a flamethrower. Yea… I exaggerate a few things, but come on give me this one. So far I’ve crossed half of Ponyville and thus far I’ve encountered swarms of ponies giving various waves, glances, hello's, and various mixed faces as I passed by. Though no one ever seemed to pay me any mind- much to my advantage…

Roughly five to ten minutes later I cross the bridge the last landmark that says you’re now leaving Ponyville, and also signifying I’m almost to my destination. Not a moment later I hear a slight whistling sound overhead, being me, I look up and see a streak of rainbow flying straight- nope, never mind it just diverted course… andddddddddd is heading straight for me. Bracing myself, I close my eyes a sense of deja vú encasing me. However, instead of hooves sinking into me, and the feeling of my body being imprinted into the ground, I instead hear a light flapping noise, I open my eye slowly to see Rainbow smiling softly.

“How’re you doing big guy?” She lands beside me.

“Doing good, just taking these to Fluttershy for Applejack.” I hold the tightly wrapped bundle of carrots.

“Ah, good; I caught you in time! AJ sent me out to find you, you don’t have to come back today after you deliver those. She said she handled the rest since you pretty much finished it all.” Rainbow, using her nose opens up a pouch and hoofs me a bag of bits.

“Alright, cool means the rest of my day is free now.”

“Yea, my job has been slow too, only have to clear a few random clouds.”

“Sounds fun.” I sarcastically smile as I continue to walk towards Fluttershys home, Its now visible from behind the trees keeping it hidden from view. With Rainbow by my side, we continue talking casually as I walk up to Fluttershys door, I raise my fist to the door and gently I knock on the door. A few seconds later the shy pony opens the door.

“H-hello Austin and Rainbow.” She quietly mumbles before moving aside. Instantly I’m met with the cool air inside.

“Here's your carrots. Applejack sends her regards.”

“Oh! Thank goodness! Angel Bunny has been begging me non stop for more carrots. These will last a while.”

“That’s good to hear. If it’s all the same with you I’m gonna stay for a few more minutes to cool off.”

“Oh, it isn’t a problem take your time.” I take that as an open offer to sit down on the closest couch possible. Finding it, I slump down and enjoy the cool air and soft couch; closing my eyes, I can hear a flap of wings followed by something heavy and extremely sharp clawing into my shoulder.

“YIIIPE!” My eyes shoot open and I look up and there, perched on my right shoulder is a massive eagle. Its eyes staring at me as if judging me silently. Not sure if I should be terrified or in awe. Before I can do anything about it, it spreads its wings and lightly flaps down to adjust its position from my shoulder to my leg. Surprisingly, this time it doesn’t dig its talons into my leg… yet… dear god please don’t let this majestic bird kill me.

“Aarne! You know it isn’t polite to land on guests!” Fluttershy approaches the eagle and it spreads its wings before gracefully taking off and landing on a huge perch above the kitchen doorway.

“Aarne? What a beautiful name for a bird of prey.”

“I found him two years ago, his wing got caught in a tree and he was grounded, he almost d-died. I nurtured him back to full health; he’s been here ever since.”

“Huh… Owning a bird of that size was controversial back then; I’ve never seen one up close besides being in a zoo. He’s quite majestic.” His head cocks slightly as if he understood me.

“He certainly is!” Fluttershy smiles before hopping on the couch beside me. Shortly after Rainbow feeling left out decides to join us…. Except instead of her sitting beside me or next to Fluttershy she opts for laying on my lap instead.

“What are you doing?”

“Laying down?” she looks at me shamelessly and lays her head on my leg eliciting a sigh from me all the while I’m keeping my hands away from her.

“Comfy?”

“Very much so, Yes; thanks for asking.” She folds her ears to her head and continues to lay on my lap- one thing I did notice is just how soft she is, that and how light weight she is; then again I’ll chalk that up to her being a Pegasus, she has to be light enough to fly. Hesitantly, I poke the side of her chest. Immediately her right eye shoots open, eyeing me with an annoyed expression across her muzzle.

“Any chance of you moving?” I give a hopeful smile.

“Nope.” My smile falters into a blank expression.

“Good to know…”

‘I hate my life... Mostly... Well it’s debatable…’

<><><><><>Several Hours later.<><><><><>

From what I know, we sat there talking each sharing stories and adventures for what seemed like hours. Most of these stories were about all we had been through; roughly 90% of them involved a creature that would be considered mythological back in the day, this is still a bit difficult to believe. Rainbow had just finished telling a story about the first time she performed “Sonic Rainboom”, For now I’ll just tally that up to her breaking a sound barrier… Her overall description sounds extraordinarily made up and told as a wives tale… Ah well, I’ll believe it when I see it.

“So, how long did it take for you and your men to cross the desert?” Rainbow is now looking up at me, she’s asking about the time our hummer broke down more than 40 miles from base. Rainbow is stillcomfortably relaxing on my lap.

“We spent roughly five hours walking back to base…, we got picked up halfway back, needless to say the crew that took us back laughed their asses off.” I remember when our lone hummer had a heavy oil leak because some dumbass mechanic forgot to tighten the damn drainage bolt before it was put back into service... How it managed to get out of quality check amazes me. That or we all just assumed you were competent enough to tighten something so simple. Looking at the two around me listening to my story started laughing.

“Needless to say we all had pretty good tans after that.” Rainbow breaks out laughing extremely hard, Fluttershy is gently giggling, looking through the window I notice the sun is beginning to set I look at my watch.

“Ah well, it’s getting late time for me to start heading back soon.” Rainbow seems to know and gets up and stretches while still on top of my lap, to my surprise she is extremely cute when she’s relaxing. I almost miss it… Almost… anndddd there I go again. I seriously need to stop thinking like that.

“I’m gonna head home and get ready for a busy day; tomorrow the Weather Factory is getting some clouds ready for Applejack as she requested. After that, we’re going to return the rain later that night; from what I’ve heard, they’re doing it to make the grass look really lush for the princesses.” She shrugs slightly before hopping off my lap.

“Cya guys!” She flies out the door, leaving a slight rainbow trail behind her, I look at Fluttershy who is still slightly giggling.

“I think I‘m gonna head back as well. Oh, and when does the Celebration start anyways?” I get up and stretch with a few back pops, Fluttershy doing the same gets up and stands beside me.

“The Celebration will happen next week, the day of the solstice. The princesses will be attending all day.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It will be the second time Ponyville has played host for the Celebration.”

“Sound’s like a bigger event than I thought.”

“It depends on the pony!” She enthusiastically smiles.

“Well, thanks' Fluttershy, see you later.” I wave to her and head out into the cool evening air.

After a short five / ten minute walk back into the center of Ponyville the first thing I notice is the town is completely empty- like beyond the normal empty for this hour... There isn’t even a tumbleweed here; I dramatically stop and wait for one to appear, after a minute, nothing happens. Shrugging in disappointment I continue walking only to be stopped by a cliché tumbleweed. With wide eyes, I watch it roll away from me.

“And that just made things that much, much more creepy.” I say to myself to no one in particular; Shaking it off, I continue on my way back towards the boutique.

All too ready to sleep, that is after a nice warm shower- nah scratch that a cold shower; one thing I enjoy in the summer is a really cold shower. Continuing my walk and thinking about things to do, I notice for the briefest of seconds I see a pony stare at me around a corner and run off behind a building. Just like that the creepy levels just went off the charts, cautiously I continue walking back, I can see the boutique and to my surprise the blinds are all drawn and no lights are on inside, my anxiety levels just peaked to max, extremely hesitant I twist the door knob I gently pull it open and enter with my back away from the inside of the boutique. Turning around I find the entire lobby is pitch black; except one corner and just then and there I see an ear perk up followed by a literal ton of ponies screaming at me.

“SURPRISE!!! WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” A ~~huge~~- GIGANTIC fucking crowd of ponies scream at me… and I think I just shat my underwear… Cleanup on isle 2… Please.

“Are you surprised?!” Pinkie bounces in front of me.

“That would be a horrible understatement!” I shout as I walk over to the near the couch and collapse onto it face first, all the while other ponies begin partying around me, even Fluttershy is here.

“Whatcha mean?” Pinkie bounces over to the couch next to me.

“I’m not a social person Pinkie; Thanks for the party, I really appreciate it, but I’m probably gonna stay here.” Her ears fold down to her head and her mane goes flat.

“I-I’m sorry.” her tail falls limp as she walks away, before she can I pull her back and her ears perk up slightly. I cant help but feel like a total asshole, as if the nice side of me just bitch slapped me.

‘You should feel horrible…’ My mind on rewind, I sit up and look at Pinkie.

“Pinkie, wait.,” She stops and turns around and looks at me.

“Look; I’ll give it a shot… Ok?” Her mane and tail turn puffy once more (don’t ask me how…) and she has a smile and hugs me extremely tight. No exaggeration either!

“Ahgk! P-ikie…cnt bret.” She blushes slightly letting me go and I inhale.

“Heh, sorry!” She has a huge sheepish smile across her muzzle.

“It’s all good.” I straighten my shirt out and get up and almost immediately loud music starts blaring. Looking to my right, I can see what appears to be a DJ with a headset with one side on, and tinted glasses. Welp, if there was an award for matching titles with your physical appearance that would be it! Getting curious, I walk over to her and find she’s using her magic to keep her set of turntables playing a really solid and might I add very catchy club song.

“Sup bro!” she shouts and looks at me, I’m slightly taken aback, albeit everything else around here is a bit surprising that this pony reminds me so much of so many friends I had. She’s so unlike every other pony I’ve met so far.

“Not much; chillin’ I suppose.” I smugly reply, seeing if she’s exactly what I think she is.

“So you’re that human everyone’s been talking about; Lyra hasn’t shut up about it since she met ya’.” She lowers her glasses and winks at me, remarkably she has some seriously beautiful almost blood red eyes- did not see that one coming…

“Yeah, I’m that human. Don’t think there’s many of my kind still walking the planet.” I applied the sarcasm so thick to this that it was practically dripping off it.

“I’d say that’s a pretty good estimate.” She retorts smugly, CONGRATS YOU PASSED MY TEST!

‘I like this pony…’

“So you dig this party? One of Pinkie’s best so far this week.” She takes he shades off and places them behind her horn.

“How many parties does she throw.” My eyes widen slightly.

“Buck that, I’d lose count trying.”

‘Did she just…?’

“Really? That many?”

“Oh yea man! She loves throwing parties for everything and everypony, she usually asks me to perform as the entertainment for them.”
“Standard day then?” She nods her head slightly.

“Pretty much.” She takes her glasses and places them back on her nose and walks over to her turn table, knowing some types of equipment used while being a DJ her turntable’s look similar to an Odyssey set. Then again, I could be horribly wrong…

“Huh… Cool I guess! I think I’ll go get a drink.”

“Alright, catcha’ later- OH and the names Vinyl Scratch!”

“Austin.”

“Nice meetin’ ya Austin. Oh and welcome to Ponyville and stuff.” She Smiles while lowering her glasses down and winks at me. If there ever was a time to be awkward. Now would be it.

She gets back to playing music, the next song has some heavy bass and a catchy snare to boot. Seeing nothing better to do, I walk over to a large pile of pastries, punch, and what appears to be beer (maybe… Please?). Hesitantly, I taste it to find it’s apple cider, not that this is a bad thing; taking a few cups with me, I sit in the corner and drink myself away, oddly enough, I see several ponies eyeing me with an odd expression on their faces like I had just eaten one of them. Another pony about to do the same thing looks at me and I walk over to her drawing her attention.

“Why are all of you staring at me for drinking this?” She begins shaking heavily.

“B-b-bee-cause it’s h-hard cider.” She stutters while trying to shrink herself down, trying to make herself as small as possible.

“So?” My mind slowly realizing what I’m drinking, as if I care anyways! I take another swig right in front of her..

“N-No pony should be able to drink that much hard cider!” She points her hoof at the other cups I left in the corner of the room.

“Do I look like a pony to you? Even if this is an alcoholic drink, this is some really lightweight shit…” She doesn’t reply instead she side steps away awkwardly back into the crowd.

“Typical.” I say to no one in particular.

‘Fucking ponies, what a’ bunch of lightweights.’ I shake my head and walk back over to the corner of the room, watching the ponies dance. Some are talking others, even doing exactly what I’m doing and avoiding the crowd, some drinking to their hearts content. One thing's for certain, though…

It’s going to be a long night… I close my eyes and continue drinking as the bassy music continues to play.

Author's Note

Yep this chapter is really late compared to my usual once a week chapter. It's been a long and really tiring week- and for the 3rd time this year I'm sick with something that ruins my voice. Yay~. Well despite this I really don't have anything better to do other than write and sit around on my thumbs.

I also got some seriously bad writers block with this chapter so I do apologize if it is bland or repetitive (I seriously hope not), but I hope you guys enjoy it anyways. ALSO in other news the story reached 1,00~~4~~19 views this week. You have any idea how insane that is to wake up and not have the urge to scream but cant with a sore throat?! Seriously guys! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :raritystarry:

Special Thanks:
Sean Perez for keeping me laughing when this chapter sorely pissed me off.
Jackson for some words of wisdom.

Thank you, you two! I really appreciate it.

There was no editor for this chapter besides myself. If you find any errors, please leave a comment and I will correct them ASAP.

See y'all in 12! :twilightblush:

Chapter 12 The Weekend Freakend.

Chapter 12: The Weekend Freakend

You know after a party when things are usually fuzzy for most but you didn’t drink much and got away before anyone could notice and you got away without having to pitch in on cleanup…?

Well, In this particular situation, I got the pleasure of finding out that Equestrian liquor isn’t anywhere near as potent as the stuff I used to drink, however, that comes as a double edge sword- stuff isn't powerful enough, so not only do I have to help clean up. But it also fails when you live in the same place said party was thrown. To top the cake; the fucking alcohol isn’t even strong enough to even get me tipsy (The ponies on the other hand/hoof couldn’t tolerate more than four glasses apparently before becoming ill).

To be honest, I’m not sure which I prefer at this point- being absolutely wasted and try to forget this week's event… ORRRRR being slightly buzzed and mild headache and clean up duty… Sighing aloud, I push the thought from my mind and continue doing what I was for the past half hour prior to this train of thought…

…
…

That being sitting upside down on Rarities couch…
All the while watching a pile of passed out ponies sleep sprawled out on the floor in various positions; you know what, you’d be extremely surprised how much fun it is to listen to what they say in their drunken stupor, to put it simply it's quite adorable and hilarious.

Anyways, the said ponies I’m watching are cuddled together, Rarity, AppleJack, and Rainbowdash- unsurprising I know. Oh, if only Rarity knew how “un-Lady like” she’s sleeping right now, oh god I think I’d die of laughter; actually I might use that as a form of blackmail later... A few minutes pass when I hear a sudden scraping noise on the opposite side of the room draws my attention to the right (Being upside down this is the left) side of the room to see Vinyl disassembling her sound equipment.

I sit there and put a hand to my chin and contemplate if I should help or not (The softer side of me eventually winning.) I flip myself the right way up and stretch and walk over to her.

“Need a Ha-hoof?” I correct myself before yawning slightly as she lifts her glasses up over her horn and looks at me.

“Ehhh, sure man; why not? Would you mind getting that bass cannon in its case?” I look over to where she’s pointing to see a massive subwoofer lined with electric blue stripes- this thing has to be at least a 40+ inch sub.

“Consider it done.” I blurt out before thinking.

‘I’m going to kick the shit out of that nice side of me…’

Hesitantly, I walk over to the towering sub and walk around behind it and see it’s still connected, gently I detach the input, output cables and throw them aside and examining the sub I see a few slats that seem to fit a hoof. Reaching in I use them and gently tilt the massive sound blaster on its back.

Looking at Vinyl she looks like she’s enjoying herself; now noticing I was looking back at her, she turns slightly red before returning to rolling cables. Not long after I have the sub in its case with traveling pads neatly wrapped around the speakers. Overall, I gotta give myself a pat on the back here I think I did a pretty good job- at that moment my thoughts stop immediately as I feel a hoof jab me in the side and snapping me out of my moment of humility.

“Nice! Packing that bucking thing would have taken me ages.” She smiles as she uses her magic to latch it shut and wheel it over to the door silently past the group of sleeping ponies.

“Anything else?” I look down at her and back at my watch to find it’s Saturday.

“Nah, man I gotta get stuff back to my club for tonight’s performance;- Speaking of that reminds me!” She levitates a piece of paper and a nearby quill and writes something on it once done she returns the quill to the table.

“Just show the bouncers this if ya ever wanna hang sometime,OH and well welcome to Ponyville.” She winks at me.

“Really? Sounds like fun, I’ll take you up on that!”

“Yea dude consider it a housewarming gift. Anytime you wanna hang I’m usually there.” She smiles and winks at me before returning her glasses to the bridge of her muzzle as she begins levitating her table and other various equipment. I follow her to the door and she waves back to me and I close the door silently only to be left with the mess from last night and the reality hitting me like running headlong into a brick wall. These fuckers aren’t even awake to help me clean this shit, a bemused look on my face I sigh with one simple phrase entering my head as I get to work cleaning up.

‘DAMN YOU INFERNAL PONIES.’

<><><><><><><><><><>

“Ok… Let’s see… Garbage cleaned up bottles all put in the kitchen in a bag in case she intends on doing something with them later… Can only assume… Eh trash and stains are pretty much clean and the smell is gone.” I whisper to myself as I proudly pat myself on the back and see that the group of ponies are tightly cuddled into each other and sleeping soundly… Kinda makes me feel bad for the hangover they’re probably going to get when they wake up. Quietly I stand there overlooking them, I hear a set of hoof steps coming down the stairs; minding my step as not to make as little noise as possible, I look around the corner to find a very tired Sweetie Belle, quietly I walk up beside her.

“Morning.” I whisper, she yawns and rubs her eyes one at a time before moving her fluff mane out of her face.
“Morning.” She arches her back and stretches like a cat.

“Sleep well?” I lean on the wall as she sits on her haunches.

“Deeepends.” She yawns again.

“Rarity is still asleep. How about you go get yourself ready and we can go get something to eat. My treat.” I smile and she instantly perks up and runs up the stairs before tripping on the last stair.

“You ok?” I take a step towards her and she waves her hoof.

“I’m good…" she gets back up on all four’s and runs back into her room, leaving me chuckling as I walk upstairs to my room. Opening the door I reach under the bed and pull out the sack of coins Celestia had given me. Carefully, I retrieve a few gold coins out and put them in my pockets. Thankfully Rarity seemed to have taken note of my pants having several pockets- thank god… I put the coins in my pocket not knowing how many I put in a hand full just to be safe and walk downstairs and wait for Sweetie to come back.

It didn’t take long for her to get ready, not even five minutes even, she happily jumps down the stairs and walks up to me with a happy smile plastered across her muzzle.

“Wherever you wanna go, still don’t know what’s around here.”

“Sugar Cube Corner it is!” She smiles all too happily before running out the door, slamming it behind her causing me to flinch and Rarity flings a hoof over AJ’s torso… That’s sorta cute actually… No shame.; surprisingly the girls are still fast asleep in a bundle of limbs and bodies…

They didn’t seem to notice the door that’s really unusual… Noted. Carefully, I open the door and exit the Boutique; looking to my left I can see Sweetie Belle nearly at full gallop, quickly I run after her to catch up.

“HEY WAIT UP!” I pick up the pace some more.

<><><><><><><><><><>

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!,” I shout in the middle of a crowd making everyone stare at me in fear.
“Sweetie are you TRYING to give me diabetes?!” I point at the extremely large gingerbread, and I mean a life size fucking gingerbread house… I hate gingerbread houses; they never for the life of me would stand up- and every year I’d end up with a mess of wasted gingerbread and frosting… Gah the crap my family gave me over it… Wow I got off track real quick didn’t I...

“Di-a-what?” She looks at me with a bemused look on her face.

“Uhg… You know what, never mind…” I sigh in defeat of the kind of reality, I am living in now; one that apparently allows for the existence of a life size walk-in gingerbread house bakery.

“Okay, let’s go in and grab some pastries, Pinkie makes the best in Ponyville!” she happily walks up to the door.

‘Oh really… I’ll be the judge of that.’

“Alright… But I warn you,” I point at her maliciously. “I’ve had a lot of pastries and it’s hard to get my favorite right…” I smile devilishly as I hold the door open for Sweetie.

“Pinkie hasn’t disappointed anyone in Ponyville yet!” She proudly states, as she cleans her hooves off at the welcome mat.

“Thanks!”

“No problem.” I follow her in, and immediately my nose is bombarded with heavenly smells of pastries on the display shelf to my left. She guides me over to a corner seat, taking a seat I look around at the room around me to find the room has a rather cozy feeling as I look at the rather… Peculiar decorations scattered around the store- unsurprising that they are all something sweet related. Looking around I see Sweetie talking to Pinkie as she gestures to me Pinkie looks at me with a smile before bouncing over to me with Sweetie in tow.

‘How’s she bouncing like dat…’

“Morning Pinkie, sleep well?”

“Yes indeedy do!” She happily takes a seat next to me.

“So Sweetie tells me you’re hard to satisfy when it comes to pastries.” Her expression immediately turns into one that a businessman would use to reel her clients in.

“It’s hard because I only like one pastry-“ She raises her hoof to cut me off.

“Cheese Danish with lace frosting and a hint of lemon.” She crosses her hooves with a half lidded stare.

“H-how the fuck…” Sweetie taps me on the shoulder.

“Pinkie senses… don’t question it.”

“B-bu-“

“No but’s.” she says as I sigh in defeat.

“I’ll have a few ready in fifteen minutes.” Pinkie triumphantly smirks and bounds off for what I can only guess is the kitchen.

“Soooo, cheese danish, huh?” Sweetie has a smug look across her muzzle.

“Don’t… Even…” I cross my arms before slumping into the seat. Fucking ponies man…

<><><><><>15 Minutes Later.<><><><><>

“Here you go, enjoy your Danish and for Sweetie- your usual!” Pinkie pushes our plates onto the table; how she managed to keep two plates balanced on her back is by far among one of the most impressive things I have seen.

“Thanks, how much do I owe ya?” Pinkie briefly thinks about it before putting on a smile.

“I think today I can sell you these half off, two bits.” She smiles happily before sitting beside me.

“In exchange I’d like to consider this as a repayment of how I treated you when you first arrived.” Her ears droop slightly.

“You only reacted that way because I’m not normal, I would have done the same.” I wrap my arm around Sweetie and Pinkie and pull them into a hug, Sweetie gently lays her head on my side.

“I wouldn’t be alive now if it wasn’t for the kindness of you ponies, as many headaches as you guys give me with how different things are now; I owe you all my life.” Pinkie's ears shoot up and she nuzzles into my side.

“No you don’t silly! Ponies will always try to show kindness even if we don’t always display it the right way; sometimes it only takes a simple act of kindness.” Pinkie sits up and gets to her hooves before returning to the front desk, I take the moment to find a couple coins, finding a couple I place them on the table as Pinkie comes back with a bag in her mouth.

“These are for Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack; make sure you give them to cure their hangovers.” Pinkie winks before taking the bits off the table, looking at Sweetie, she smiles at me and I take the bag and set it beside me in the seat and dig into the warm deliciousness that is a Danish. Hesitantly, I stare into oblivion…

It’s almost too good to be real, slowly I raise it to my mouth and I take a bite and immediately my mouth is met with the most heavenly taste that probably exists right now; that or I’ve slipped into a sugar coma. Realizing I’ve been chewing the same bite for a while I swallow and stare straight forward.

“So did she meet your standards?” Sweetie asks as I look at her, she’s wearing a smug look on her muzzle- and now it’s time to be a total jackass…

“No.” I reply with no emotion in my voice, as expected Pinkie appeared out of nowhere behind Sweetie; her jaw LITERALLY hit the floor.

‘Pause for dramatic build and effect.’

“She went above and beyond, can really taste the slight lemon, exactly how I like it… How did you know, it tastes exactly like I remember.” Pinkie gasps and her mane puffs up and she jumps over Sweetie and hugs me tightly.

“AGHK KA-Y PINKIE BREATH!” I gasp for air as she squeezes the life out of me.

“Oh… Sorry; I had a hunch!” Her fur turns slightly red and releases me- never in my life have I been hugged so hard that I miss the sensation of inhaling air. The things I take for granted…

“It’s… all good, but please, no more death hugs.”

‘Totally not good.’

<><><><><><><><><><>

“Gah… Sweetie… Never again- that food was amazing.” I rub my stomach in appreciation.

“I told ya’ she was good at baking.” I look at her my facial expression probably enough to say ‘Ya think?’.

“Well, now what are you going to do now?” I look at her curiously.

“I’ll probably go meet up with my friends and work on getting out cutie marks.”

“Ah, ok- well I won’t hold you up then, I need to get this to Rarity and the others; I just hope they are in a good mood when I get there.” Sweetie giggles and smiles at me.

“I’m sure they will be happy to see you!” She waves a hoof before leaving towards Sweet Apple Acres leaving me standing outside Sugar Cube Corner; shaking my head with a smirk on my face I begin walking in the direction of the boutique- the sweet smelling pastries in hand.

A short walk later the sun has risen a bit higher and is now bearing down on me, luckily I managed to stay in the shade the buildings are providing all the way back, making it to the boutique I gently pull the door open and step into the cool air of the boutique.

Taking my boots off I walk into the showroom to find that pile of ponies who were sleeping on the couch are now sitting around in a circle talking casually talking to each other except the unmistakable blob of cyan partially covered in a blanket on the couch; glancing at my watch It’s 11:42.

“Afternoon.” I say a bit louder to Rainbow’s dismay.

“Gahhhh…. Not so loud!” I see the blanket shift as AJ chuckles with a hoof over her mouth.
“Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much…” I cross my arms in mock annoyance with a raised eyebrow only to see Rarity scowling at me menacingly.

“What?”

“You’re the one to talk- says the stallion- man who drank ten whole bottles of hard cider.” she crosses her hooves.

“Yeah’ partner, you drank Rainbow and mah self under the table- I reckon you drank three times tah recommended for any average pony!”

“You should not be alive right now…” Rarity bluntly points out.

“Well the end of my race didn’t kill me… Soooo I don’t expect your light weight cider is gonna get me either.”

“Don’t be so cocky about it darling, you still could drop dead.”

“Couldn’t happen soon enough…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing- eh, Pinkie said to give you guys theses.” I set the bag of pastries on the nearby table.
“She say’s it will help the hangover a bit.” Instantly Rainbow flies out of the blanket and has already grabbed one and started eating.

“Ah- good ole’ Pinkie Pie; her pastries always help the headache after.” Applejack chuckles a bit before rubbing her temples.

“Ah shoot hoof one over for the rest of us Rainbow!”

‘For now… I’m calling bullshit.’

“Anyways- It’s Saturday, I think I’m going to wander a bit- unless you have work for me AJ?”

“Nah- not today, I’m actually going to be heading to Appleloosa for the weekend to visit Braeburn.”

“Ah- well, that’s nice. Well, I think it’s time I go around and meet some ponies.”

“I’m glad you’re taking my advice after all!” Rarity has a very large smile across her muzzle.

“Yea… Don’t get your hopes up yet- anyways, I’ll see you all later,” I stand up and look back at AJ. “Good luck with your trip Applejack.” I give a half salute before walking back out the door just in time to hear AJ yell back.

“You too partner!”

“NOT SO LOUD!” Rainbow cries again before throwing her hooves up, leaving me laughing hysterically outside the door. First stop… no idea… Shrugging to myself, I begin walking in a random direction- hell, whatever I find or whom I find or whatever I find is better than nothing right?

<><><><><>Not even two hours later…<><><><><>

You know… I think I couldn’t have been more happy and terrified at what transpired today; first off I walked straight into the center of town, I got some odd looks, some waves, and some downright shunning me- none of those reactions really surprised me as the one that swooped in and nailed me in the back and sent me face first into the dirt. The pony in question was a gray mare with blonde mane. After apologizing repeatedly, she told me why she had a hard time landing and managed to hit me instead; sadly she mentioned her medical issues. Apparently she has something very similar to what humans used to know as Strabismus (cross eyed disorder) which is also very rare in Equestria. Still I couldn’t help but feel bad for her and life she’s probably had to endure, I bet everyone who knew her always had something polite to say, knowing the general mentality of every society in the history of ever…

Overall I gave her a hug and reassured her it was ok and she hesitantly went on with her day, though I’d probably run into her sometime in the future- and that can be taken literally if the next time I see her goes the same way as the first… Anyways, when I continued on my way after that charade I navigated clear across the other side of Ponyville in record time, meeting a few merchants here and there even got to meet some residents who live here; after all that was said and done I decided to ask around to find a decent place to grab some chow a few merchants told me that there is a restaurant that might suit my fancy. Another short trip back towards the center of the town I managed to find it bustling with ponies of all kinds.
It took a lot of effort but, after a brief discussion with a few staff members being frightened by me and refusing to let me into the place, I managed to get into a very tense talk with the manager- luckily I used my charm and I got a table near a window of the place. It’s also just my luck that I got seated near a pony- that said pony gets up and pokes me on the shoulder.

“Excuse me. Sir…?” I look over my shoulder to see in more detail a small blue unicorn with an hourglass on her butt.

“Yes?” I look at her with a slightly bemused smile.

“I attended your Pinkie party last night, and I thought I’d welcome you personally; and while I was watching I couldn’t help but notice your canines. I was wondering- did all of your kind have them?” The blue pony looks at me curiously, her hoof to her chin as she leans a bit closer with my equally leaning back from her and gulping awkwardly.

“Y-yes, all humans have canines, we were omnivores so we had a healthy balance of both worlds.”

“You don’t… you know?” She lowers her voice slightly as her voice becomes slightly shaky, I sigh aloud at what she’s implying.

“I’ll say this once and hope it gets around… If I was gonna eat you, don’t you think I’d have done it already... We only hunted non sentient beings, like fish and boars so on.”

“Oh…, well I-I guess that’s good know.”

“Honestly, the thought of eating something that’s just as smart as I am is disturbing… and wrong.”

“Mhmm.” She smiles before looking at my fangs a little closer.

“So you never told me your name?” I fold my left arm behind my neck.

“Oh,” She scratches the back of her neck sheepishly. “My name is Colgate.” Instantly my eyes shoot wide open.

“Say again?” Tell me now I heard that correctly…

“I said my name is Colgate.”
‘OH NO WAY!!! HAHA!’

“That’s what I thought you said…”

“Why? What do you mean?”

“Well… take no offense to this, it’s funny to me because you’re named after a popular brand of toothpaste we used back then…” I cover my mouth with my hand and attempt to suppress my laughter all the while her face is entirely red.

“That’s… great.” She’s still extremely red and the look on her face right now is somewhere in embarrassed and horribly insulted. I feel bad for this pony, then again Colgate did help keep me keep my teeth pearly white; meh I suppose.

“I wouldn’t take it to heart, Colgate was a pretty popular product!”

“Oh, that’s supposed to make me feel better…” She gives me a bemused look.

“Maybe?” I shrug, after a few minutes of awkward silence, she returns to her seat and eats her food. Speaking of food… where’s the waitress and waiters at? Looking around I notice that nearly the entire restaurant is staring at me.

‘I swear if these ponies don’t quit staring I’m just going to leave…’

Not even a moment later a pony in a very crisp looking uniform with a notepad and quill ready to order.
“Uh-,“ He gulps. “Are y-you ready to order?”

Wwooowwww… The other servers here couldn’t grow a pair to come out here and instead made this poor guy serve a being he’s never even seen or knew existed do this… Then again I guess that make sense… Right?

‘Just play it cool- You’re no different than them.’

“No need to be afraid of me-,” As best as my efforts are to make him less terrified I if you’re all this afraid I’ll just leave.” I give him the most relaxed face I can.

“N-no s-sir, I’m fine. Today’s special’s isn’t me”

“What?” I raise a concerned eyebrow.

“N-nothing today’s special is Mango Fruit Salad.” He quickly states.

“That sounds good.” He scribbles on his pad before looking at me again.

“A-anything to drink?”

“Water will do.” He scribbles it down and quickly runs off to the kitchen.

‘Oh boy… Ponyville where everypony makes you feel welcome… At least I get food…’

“Hi Austin.” My eyes widen as I look behind me to see Twilight.

‘Greeaaattttttt… just what I needed.’

“Mind if I sit with you?”

‘Yes…’

“No.” I say mindlessly.

‘Click... Boom… shooting yourself in the ass.’

“Thank you!” She sets a book down on the other side of the table and takes a seat.

“So, did you enjoy your party.”

“Honestly Twilight; I appreciate the thought, but I’m not a party guy.”

“At least you went.” She gives me an optimistic smile, I retort with a look that says “Really…”.

“Why didn’t you attend?” her face turns slightly red.

“I was talking with Princess Celestia about the human world; I was trying to find the best way to help you adapt to this world and the information she told me from personal experience was helpful to say the least…”

“Yea?” The waiter comes back and pushes my bowl of fruits in front of me and my glass of water, Twilight waits till he leaves and leans in close.

“I didn’t know your planet was destroyed in a war.”

“It wasn’t Twilight.”

“What do you mean?!” she looks at me with an unamused look across her muzzle.

“I’d rather not talk about what did end my kind. We were at war with the rebels in western Iraq… that and diplomatic discussions was failing in Russia.”

“Iraq? And Russia? You mean like Stalliongrad?”

“Really… Wow, that was either a really ironic pun or that’s really ironic.”

“What? Stalliongrad is a part of Equestria outside trading, they work with Yakyakistan and a few other nations.” I give myself a moment to pick my jaw off the table.

“Great…”

“What do you mean?” She looks at me with a half lidded expression.

“I-It’s nothing.”

I honestly can’t believe there’s a pony version of Russia and Pakistan… Really. I just hope they don’t do the same thing as before- then again, there’s the saying, “Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it.” I wonder if that applies to a nation that doesn’t know anything about the history before this one- for now I can only hope that they don’t- for now anyways... I take a few bites out of my salad and push the rest to Twilight who happily accepts.

“So… have you written any reports to Luna yet?” I sigh aloud and look at my lap.

“No… As much as I want to I can’t find anything to report yet.”

“Not every letter has to be a report you know… I’m sure she’d apprecia-“

‘Annnddddd that tears my last nerve.’

I raise my hand and cut her off.

“I’m sure she and every other pony under the sun would appreciate a lot of shit… Look, Twilight I’m sorry I can’t make friends easily or be sociable as you guys are.” I take a breath for a second.

“It’s been a rough life and things have changed so drastically that I’m not sure I’m ready to even be open yet.”

She looks at me blankly with a face of sympathy and sadness.

“I’m doing the best I can; but it’s gonna take longer than a week for me to get used to all this.” I get up and grab two twenty coins out of my pocket and set them on the table in front of her.

“Enjoy lunch.” I nod before leaving the restaurant making sure not to look back.

<><><><><>Twilight’s P.O.V <><><><><>

I watch Austin walk down the street to where I can assume he’s going home… I feel bad for him and his situation, but he won’t let me help him or tell me what’s wrong.

“Your bill, Ms.Sparkle.” A waiter walks over and sets a black book down.

“Here.” I slide the bits over to him.

“So. What was he?”

“Austin? He’s-,” I try to think of the proper way to tell him. “The last of his kind…”

“Oh wow, he must have a lot to bear… I sort of feel bad for him now… What exactly happened?”

“I think that’s a question we’re all pondering the answer to at this point.”

“Well… In any case send him my regards Ms. Sparkle.” He takes the bits and walks back over to other patrons.

‘I think I know just the pony to help…’

I get up and leave the diner and gallop back to the library to send a letter.

<><><><><> <><><><><>

“SPIKE!!!” I burst into the library to see Spike jump out of his bed and spasm on the floor.

“GAH!!! WHAT, WHO, WHY!?” He rolls on his back and flings his claws in every possible direction.

“Spike relax, it’s just me!” He stops and clears his eyes and focuses.
“Oh… How was lunch?” He cleans up his bed and slides it into the corner before hopping on the couch and looks at me.

“I’m not sure how to answer that right now; Right now, I need you to write a letter.”

“Ok, sure.” I watch him walk over to the desk and pick a quill, ink, and paper and casually sits back down on the couch gently dunking the tip in ink.

“Ready when you are.” I clear my voice and begin pacing.

“Dear Princess Celestia,”

“So far, progress with Austin has been somewhat promising; he’s fit in somewhat decently, even though he may not admit it openly; however, he seems conflicted ever since Pinkie threw him a welcome to Ponyville party. I heard from plenty of ponies around Ponyville that say he was sitting in the corner and drinking cider all night… Although I must point out he drank several times more than the average pony could withstand- I might conduct some research on that at some point- anyways, I must request that you or Luna talk to him about it, in my heart I believe that if we learn his story we can be better friends for him and make his life more bearable.”

“Your Faithful Student,”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Get all that, Spike?” I look over to see him mumbling and scribbling the last part of the letter before fanning it out and drying it before rolling it into a scroll.

“Yup, all set.” He inhales and breaths fire on it, turning it into dust as it flies out the open window.

“Let’s hope we can help him.”

“Twilight, I think you worry too much about him, things take time and he hasn’t been here long enough- put yourself in his situation; his world has been turned upside down and everything he really ever had or cared about is long gone, he’s probably hurting…”

“I know Spike, but we got to try to help him.”

"Some Ponies don't want help."

“Heres to hoping then.” He hops on the couch kneading the pillow and gets comfortable in the nook of the cushion before falling asleep once more.

“Yea… Here’s hoping she can help.” I walk over to my desk and think.

Author's Note

Sorry for the massive three week delay on this; I swear I got the worst case of writers block and worst case of family issues in a few years. Thing's are settling down now and I'll resume writing this story with much more perseverance than I did before... Or you know at least TRY to.

Also I must apologize if this chapter isn't all that interesting, I was really trudging through to write it. I think I coulda done better...

IF you see something wrong with the chapter, please leave a comment so I can fix it ASAP. Thank you!

If I'm not writing this, I'm most likely helping this guy edit his work, you should give it a look if you're looking for something hilarious to read.

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/260044/djs-guests

Have a good one guys; and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Peace

Special Thanks.
Vengeful Spirit (For talking to me)
Jackson (For inspiring me)
Flutters Ze Medic (For keeping me company when he could- thanks!)
Sean (For once more urging me to keep writing and aspire to more.)
Solid Poison (For giving me something to do and take my mind off of it all. Seriously. Thanks!)

Chapter 13 Cold Truths

Author's Note

Oh my lord 141 likes. O-oh my... :fluttershyouch:

I'm honored so many of you liked my story and I hope this chapter isn't too much for you all to take in.

Warning, this chapter contains gore- not excessively, however, it's heavy combat oriented on Austin's past. I Hope you all enjoy it regardless, and I hope it will answer some of the various questions you may have about the story and why he is the way he is.

Chapter 13 Cold Truths

Chapter 13: Cold Truths.

<><><><><>Interlude Princess Luna<><><><><>

A gust of breeze blows through my mane as I look off the balcony of the tallest spires of Canterlot Castle, the view and the stars being in perfect alignment- just as I had hoped made this night more perfect than ever for a walk. That is until I a knock at the door disturbed my moment of peace; walking to the door, I look in the mirror making sure my crown, and regalia is in proper order I grip the handle and pull it open to see a maid bat pony looking back at me. Quickly she bows.

“Rise, my young pony.” I smile at her as she lifts herself and looks me straight in the eye I recognize her as Blossom Honeycomb.

“Y-your highness,” She bows again and raising promptly. “Your sister requests your presence in her room.”

“Very well, Please inform her I shall arrive shortly.” I smile slightly.

“Yes, your highness.” She bows low again before galloping off down the hallway, gently I shut the door and remove my regalia; I’m slightly surprised she didn’t notice I wasn’t wearing my shoes. Heh- well… off to Tia then... I open the door again and step out quietly making my way down the corridor, at this rate, nopony should be up to see me beside the few night staff.

<><><><><> <><><><><>

Finally arriving at my sister’s room after taking a slight detour I raise my hoof and knock gently.
“Sister! Thou summoned us hither?” I turn my head slightly pressing my ear against the door only to hear the slight shuffling of hooves on marble and carpet followed shortly by a very enervated Tia opening the door. Her eyes droopy, her mane flat and not moving and to top the look off her ears are folded to her head.

“Ah- evening, Lulu.” She yawns and stumbles slightly. “Yes , please come in sister.” I walk by her and sit by her fireplace void of its usual flame.

“Shouldst thou be asleep, the night is at its peak.”

“I’m afraid that even after a long day with the noble’s, they left me with a bunch of documents that requires my signature.” She gives a slightly bemused smile.

“We see… Then what hast thou summoned us for?”

“I’m glad you asked,” She levitates a rolled up, scroll to me, taking into the grip of my magic I unroll it skimming over the letter.

“Sister, We doth not understand, this is a letter from Twilight Sparkle; what dost this hast to with us?"

“Twilight has requested your help with our old worldly friend, she want’s you to talk to him; from what I can gather he’s not a very social person on a scale that rivals Griffins- minus the greed.” She says with a flat brow as she levitates a nearby teacup to her mouth and sips some.

“Thou wish us to violate his boundaries of privacy just to try and help him... That sound's like 'tis defeating the purpose dost it not.”

“No; we want you to simply find out what is bugging him...” I heave a sigh, closing my eyes and thinking about the task at hoof.

“Very well Tia; I shall merely peek.”

“Thank you, Lulu.” I return to all hooves and walk out of Tia’s room back to mine and once more attempt to enter the human’s dream. It was difficult the first time; there’s truly no telling the outcome this time. Just hope I may be able to help him after suffering so long…

<><><><><> <><><><><>

Upon returning to my chambers, I sit on the balcony overlooking Canterlot to the dim light of Ponyville in the distance. Getting comfortable I think about the human before breathing lightly and focusing on him.
I cannot help but wonder what could be keeping from caring so adamantly about not letting ponies help him. I exhale before looking around.

“Hither goes nothing. . .” I feel the surge of energy before hovering in the middle of the room as a single white tendril majestically floats around the room before exiting towards Ponyville, eventually turning invisible as not to startle ponies taking a midnight stroll around Canterlot.

“Let us see thy turmoils…”

<><><><><><><><><><>

Feburary 14th, 2047 : 15:00 HRS

Location: Iraq- Fort Isladula.

1ST Lieutenant Lancaster.

<><><><><> <><><><><>

“Sir?” I hear a gruff voice followed by a rough pat on my shoulder.

“Hhhggg.” Is all I can say as I groan as I rub my eyes, sunlight shines in my face making me squint and look away to see Maverick.

“You ok man?” He leans on the bunk bed.

“Yea. I think so…”

“You sure?,” He crosses his arms before sitting in the bottom bunk of the bed opposite me.

“I-I think it was just a dream is all- nothing big.”

“Alright then. Everyone else is out getting cleaned up. Command has some orders for you-“ I sigh aloud.

“Great… Just what I wanted to hear... Another damn briefing.” I hop down and grab my shirt at the end of the bed, promptly I put it on and begin making my bed, as I do so I hear the tent flap open as Stavo enters the room.

“Ayyeeee, good mornin princess.” He smirked before grabbing a towel from the end of the room.

“Ah fuck you...” I yawn promptly and shake my head.

“Good to see you too sunshine.” I flip him the bird, he chuckles he continues his routine; Meanwhile, I continue to tuck the comforter and smooth it out. Finishing that task I grab my boots from the floor, sit down, and put them on, making sure the laces are tight.

“Alright, catch you two later.” I open the flap of the tent and walk out.

“See ya later honey, have fun at work!” Stavo blows a kiss I raise my hand and flip him the bird all the way out of the tent, as I exit the tent, I can hear Maverick die of laughter followed by Stavo.

‘Couple of knuckleheads…’

I continue walking down the worn dirt path passing a few fellow Marines, some in better condition than others relaxing, some working on vehicles, and others sunbathing on a nearby Mrap. Making a left at a junction two mechanics salute me, with a blank expression I shallowly return it. Ahead is a green tent, inhaling I enter it to see Major Young sorting a stack of papers on the desk in front of him.

“You wanted to brief me, sir?” I stand at attention, he glances at me before chuckling.

“At ease Lancaster,” He returns his gaze to the papers. “Take a seat.” I nod and sit opposite him and look him in the eyes. He clears his throat before pulling a folder out and sliding it across.

“These come straight from the top.” I open the document to see a map of a location we all know as the city of Nema.
“Nema…? Why this city?” I set the satellite image on the desk.
“Command feels it would cripple these rebels and slow their Western expansion off.”

“Yea, I know the benefits; but we don’t nearly have enough manpower to even come close to breaking their defensive lines… We’d be dead in an hour.” He pushes a Styrofoam cup towards me full of water, I gladly slowly sip it while reading the vast pages of the documents.

“Apparently, they sent us four main line tanks, and access to air support at whim.” I stare at him baffled for a moment.

“Looks like command just went all in, Jesus… When are they wanting this whole thing to kick off?”

“Tonight.” I choke and spit water the opposite direction and cough profusely.

“Y-You can’t be serious.” I sputter.

“Afraid so, command also got aerial reconnaissance photos, Satellite images, and even went as far to obtain building plans of high value targets for parts of different ground teams…”

“Holy shit how much did they invest in this?!”

“Well, let’s see... maybe five mil in vehicles alone. It really isn’t our job to try and figure those kind of sums out. Anyways, these are for you and your team.” He passes a particularly thick folder labeled Scalpel team.

“I’ll let my guys know.”

“Good luck out there.”

“Yea, you too...We’re gonna need it,” I exit the tent and shout back to him. “IF WE MAKE IT!”

“You’ll all be fine!” He shouts from within the tent, I chuckle and begin skimming through the documents.

‘This is insanity…’

<><><><><><><><><><>

“Alright guys settle and take a seat.” All eight of my men in my platoon take a seat in front of me.

“Alrighty boys, our target today is the bridge outside the capital city of Nema. Command has instructed us to move on this bridge as it is one of three that crosses a water drainage trench. These bridges can support the weight of our tank brigades to move effectively with two lanes versus the other bridges which are single lanes.” I open the folder and pull out an aerial shot of the bridge and our entry point and tack it on the board behind me.

“According to Intel our entry should be virtually unhindered, theoretically. If worse comes to worse, we got two hunters, tank support, and possible C.A.S on standby to the Northeast. At roughly 17:54 we will be crossing this bridge and from there we hit a major point.
“Remember, prepare and expect the worst, victory in this city means that the rebels will be slowed down and we come one step closer to ending this desert conflict; any questions? We’re short on time so I can only answer a few.”

Stavo raises his hand and leans back in his chair.

“Any possible extraction points or exfil locations in case things do go down and we have to pull back our line.”
“CAS will be within two miles of our location ready to move at a moments notice, including the combat medic wing.” Stavo nods and our medic, Gabe raises his hand hesitantly.

“When do we deploy?”

“Within the next half hour.” He turns slightly pale.

“Anyone else?,” No one raises their hand. “Alright briefing concluded we all know what we're here for.”

“OORAH!” We all shout in unison before getting up and exiting the tent.

<><><><><><><><><><>

An ominous alarm rings out around the base as men scramble from tents and various locations across the base, some putting their pants on, others rushing to the armory. With the whole base on scramble alert I quickly put my helmet on and latch it, adjusting the goggles on my head. A private dispensing weapons tosses a rifle from the armory to me, quickly I sling it over my back and run towards the lead hunter. Pulling the latch I swing the door open, hop in and slam it shut; like a well-oiled machine I begin checking my gear.

Behind me, Gabe and Maverick hop in and follow the same process. Finishing my inspection I pull a velcro strap and pull out a radio, twisting the top knob I change the channel and put it to my lips.

“Overlord, this is scalpel we're rolling out on Nema now. How copy?”

“Overlord copies all, proceed to destination with caution. Over.”

“Copy that. Scalpel rolling out.”
“You heard the man Stavo let's get a move on.” He complies and we start rolling out the gates of fort Isladula.

“Hey, Maverick?”

“Yo?”

“Your folks send ya’ your Walkman back yet?”

“Actually, yeah, they did.” I look behind my seat to see him pull out a small device and a charge cable.

“They said they updated the library.” He plugs it in the center console, swapping the reader to his device. After a minute a song begins playing. A smooth beat starts playing as Gabe pulls his helmet over his eyes and shifts to get comfortable, we make a left turn on the rough road as the main character begins singing.

‘I would leave, I would leave
If I could I would. ‘

I look out as the dirt trail bounces up and down as we enter the nearby town of Verimy. We pass several civilians going about their daily lives, a few stopping to stare at the oncoming convoy of heavy vehicles roaring through their tiny village.

The song continues as we make another turn onto a main road. A truck pulls out of our way and waves to us, and I return the gesture, the sun blinding me slightly so I lower the sun visor.

‘I’m grinding my teeth, through my face, it’s a hell hole.’
‘Stumble through the streets
In my head it's a hell hole’

“Hell of a fitting song.” I break the silence and look back at Maverick, he’s chuckling as he looks out the window, looking to the opposite Gabe is turning slightly pale.

“You ok?”

“I-I’m fine sir.”

“Drop the formalities for now Gabe.”

“I’m Positive.”

“Alright, just breath.” He nods.

“This your first time in combat isn’t it?” He nods again.

“Gaberiel Uniaze, 22nd Medical reserves.”

“Fitting that you are apart of Scalpel, huh?”

“I suppose so.” He gives us a weak smile.

“We will keep ya safe. Trust me- us.” Stavo looks In the rear view mirror.

“Don’t worry kid, ya got nothing to worry about.” I reassure him at that moment I feel a sudden pain in my head.

“Uhg. What the hell…” I put my hand to my head I look around to briefly see a slight flash of light.

“You good man?” Stavo looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Yea… Just a headache… ugh, that’s bizarre.” I continue staring out the window as the song continues playing.

“Alright game faces people, we got about ten minutes before we arrive at our entry point.” I look over at the GPS to confirm I pick my rifle up, gently pulling the slide back to determine if there's anything that's going to jam it. That done, I pull another velcro strap on my chest and retrieve a 5.56 mag, push it in, and press the mag lock button on the side I hear the others do the same. We come to another intersection I look in the mirror to see the second hunter, not too far behind are the two tanks following behind them.

“There it is, Ready up!” We all brace for combat tightening our helmets, we approach the bridge I hear Johnny come over the radio from the second Hunter.

“Looks like they barricaded the bridge; Not sure we can make it through that.” I grab the radio out of my vest pouch while looking in the mirror to see he’s staggered out of the formation to look ahead of us.

“Of course not. It’s never that easy.” I smile slightly.

“With all due respect, sir, but Damn straight!” He replies I chuckle a bit.

“Alright, get your plugs in.” I reach into my pouch and pull out two earplugs, one dark black, the second is yellow, which allows us to still hear while sacrificing some protection. I stuff them in, Stavo driving the hunter with his legs does the same. It was at that moment I look out the front windscreen to see a man standing, his weapon raised at our vehicle. My blood runs cold as a muzzle flash followed by a swift Impact on the bulletproof glass followed by a low thud of the sound catching up a second later, we all duck instinctively but keep driving forward.

“Taking fire, evasive manoeuvres!” At least a dozen more men start standing up behind him and open fire on our lead hunter. Stavo makes a hard left and stops at the edge of the bridge, almost driving into the trench. He flips the latch and kick opens his door and hops out and gets behind the wheel of the hunter, I crawl over to his side using the overhead grab bars, pulling myself and my equipment out with me as Gabe and Maverick deploy and take cover.

The second hunter crew of my Platoon dismount and take cover as the rounds continue whizzing by, the metallic clanging noise as rounds impact the right side doors followed by multiple loud cracking noises.

“Orders, sir?” Stavo shouts in my ear and looks at me shakily as another barrage of rounds impacts.

“These fuckers aren’t letting us get an advantage.” I reach into my upper chest pouch and retrieve my radio.

“Tankers do you copy?” Static.

“This is Pigpen, over.”

“Move up, drive over their barricade, weapons free; engage at will, I say again Engage at will.” Their response is their tank rolling up and around our hunter perimeter. The engine roaring as it tears down their barricade menacingly. My men stack up on me as the second tank pulls behind Pigpen as they cover our advance with their 50.cal MG’s mounted on top of the turrets. Moving quickly behind it watching every possible angle, when someone hits me on the back, I see Johnny’s lips moving like he’s shouting and he points, I follow his gaze, everything seemed to slow down as what he was saying hit home.

“INCOMING RPG!!!” Followed by a loud explosion as pieces of armor hit the ground near us, I peek around the corner of the second tank, dubbed “Thunder-Hammer”, to see that Pigpen has stopped dead in its tracks. Reaching for my Radio once more.

“Pigpen. What’s your status! Come in Pigpen!” The dust subsides slightly, smoke rolling off the lead tank.

“Scalpel, This is Pigpen,” A groggy voice comes over the radio.

“What’s your status?”

“I think our driver is dead, that RPG might’ve gotten lucky, sliced clean through the view port, our command gunner is also injured.”

“A.T.A.P?”

“Possibly, sir..”

“Sit tight, we’ll have you out shortly, Thunder-Hammer did you catch that.”

“We copy all, moving to engage.” My men and myself move behind Pigpen’s ceased tank as Thunder-Hammer turns its main gun towards the enemy.I gesture for my men to cover their earplugs at that moment the 120mm cannon fires a burst shell above the Rebels devastating a few of them, but forcing them to retreat further back from the bridge. I run around to the front of Pigpen as Thunder-Hammer moves in front of pigpen to provide cover. Close inspection I see a perfect hole in it’s armor right where the reactive plating wasn’t covering the hatch. I climb on top of the turret and knock on the hatch, it raises and flips open, I look down and offer my hand to the main gunner and pull him out, he hops down into the arms of Maverick and is dragged back to the Hunters. I reach in again to help the command gunner, I see light spots on his chest, I lean my head in to see holes where the turret swivels, gently I move him over and have him out; this time Johnny takes him back, Gabe closely follows them.

“Thunder-Hammer, surviving tank crewmen have been recovered, cleared to fall back into cover.”

“Roger that.” The tank reverses slowly, its turret looking right and left constantly, I run back to the hunters.

“How bad is he Gabe?”

“He’s got shrapnel in his chest, his body armor stopped most of it; However I don’t have the equipment to remove it.” He looks at me with a straight face.

“Any good news?”

“It avoided all vital organs as far as I can tell.” I place my arm on the wheel of the hunter as I think of what to do, the tank sits in part cover from RPG’s and continues to maintain suppressive fire to keep them from overrunning our position. Looking around at our surroundings, there aren’t many options.

“It looks like we have no other choice but to push through.”

“Sir?” He looks at me gravely.

“Call in support.” I simply state.

“Y-yes sir.” Stavo grabs his radio and changes channels, briefly we hear the other teams struggling in similar situations Stavo swaps the channel over to command. He pulls a map out as well as a GPS and compass he reads off like an automation.

"Overlord, We're pinned down; Mass resistance at mark 175405/134 N/W. Requesting immediate air support; Lima, Echo, Gulf, Uniform, Lima, ZuLu. Over" Another dozen rounds whizz by followed by ominous cracking as the sound catches up.

"Roger that Scalpel Squad, Confirm fire order at 175405/134 N/W- to Echo E2."

"Command this is Echo, we acknowledge all- Standby for Sitrep. Over"

“Copy that, Echo.”

“Thunder-Hammer, maintain suppressive fire.” The tank complies and Opens up with its 50, keeping the enemy at bay a little longer, a moment later a second RPG impacts the turret reactive armor with a heavy metallic clang. Moments after it retaliates by sending a shell into their defenses.

“Scalpel, this is Echo do you copy. Over?”

“We read you loud and clear.”

“FLIR is picking up multiple heat signatures, we have you in sight; roughly thirty bandits opposite your position, would recommend you maintain position for now.”

“Roger that, what’s the word on C.A.P?”

“They have been requested to Spike, ETA is roughly five minutes. Hang tight.”

I relay the message to my men via hand signals before taking my rifle in hand again and bursting a few rounds at the enemy positions.

“Take up LMG positions and lay down some cover, keep them at bay!” Maverick and Johnny open the backseat door on both hunters, and almost simultaneously crawl into the “trunk” retrieving two L-R-C-MG (Low Recoil Compactible MG), tossing one of them to me I set it down on the ground and catch some box magazines. Johnny hops out and deploys the quick Bipod system on the bottom of the MG and quickly loads a 200rnd 5.56 box mag with a satisfying clicking noise, he peeks out and begins laying down some long range fire from the hood of the lead hunter, Maverick quickly follows up beside him on the second hunter..

“Thunder-hammer, what’s your ammo status?”

“We currently have 25 rounds in our main gun, and 423 in the 50.”

“Keep me posted!”

“Yes, sir!” The tank fires another burst of hot 50. Caliber lead down range

‘I pray we hold out long enough...’

<><><><><>Princess Luna<><><><><>

My eyes snap open as the spell fails and fizzles out.

“What in the world.” I take my hoof and rub the base of my horn, heat radiating off it from the failed spell.

“What is this black magic…” I reignite the spell, the partially white tendril floats around in circles around the room as I pour more power into it; quietly it begins to snake out of the window once more attempting to make the connection. Expecting nothing but successes I am met with a horrible rebound surge of energy as the spell once again fails, this time with a deafening bang.

“I-impossible. No creature is able to resist our power; especially in the dream realm!” I proclaim as I think of possible solutions to this rather bizarre situation. Rising to my hooves I begin pacing in thought.

“What could possibly have failed…” Each possible explanation becoming even more absurd as the next. I stop in my tracks as a possible solution comes to mind… Direct link with the dreamer, but I would be risking his safety… but this is the only way to solve what is going on.

“Tis worth a try, we suppose…” Honing in on the human's location, I charge my horn and teleport directly next to his unmoving body. His face is stressed in fear, his brow is covered in sweat, his appendages are grasping the sheets as if clenching something. He rolls over and scowls.

“Poor human, what art thou scared of…” I hop on the bed beside him and charging the spell once more I set my horn against his forehead. He hisses as I force my way through, bypassing whatever was keeping me out. Passing through the clouds I fly above what appears to be a desert city, diving lower I begin hearing bizarre noises- loud explosions is how I would describe them.

Looking around I find Austin behind cover with whom I assume are comrades. Something whizzes by my ear as it impacts metal, leaving a shower of sparks. My eye’s widen as a loud cracking noise deafens me, I hide behind a nearby barrier

“What have we stumbled into…” I make sure I am invisible to him one more time. A voice calls out from nowhere.

“Scalpel this is Hyena, we're closing now, keep your heads low and enjoy the show, over.” Austin picks up a black device and holds it close to his mouth.

“Copy that.” A low whir becomes known, looking around I see a small spec in the distance get larger and larger and the noise getting louder.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Looking to the far right, I see the helicopter move in, practically flying down the street rather than above it, an instant later the noise of the bird climaxes as it flies less than 12 ft above us, for a while the rebels stop firing for a moment to think about their situation, the pilot of the Hyena comes over the radio.

“Surrender… C'mon, that thing called a brain…” He pleads over the radio, I look over the hood of the hunter to see the twin m134 miniguns are spooled and ready to rip into them, instantly the rebels open up with everything they have at the bird. Unfazed it hovers patiently as the very last rebel runs out of ammo in their mags. For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened; until the pilot let loose a millisecond, it’s already fired hundreds of rounds with a menacing zapping noise as hundreds of casings drop to the ground as their entire line is devastated, man after man gets cut down In the hailstorm of hot lead.

“Scalpel, cleared to move up, over.” The bird tilts to the left and moves off the bridge to avoid unnecessary rotor wash, Thunder-hammer moves up across the bridge, in a column formation we use it for cover once more, this time we manage to reach the other side of the bridge.

“Secure the area and set up defensive positions.” My platoon begins checking for possible survivors.

“Scalpel, Hyena requesting permission to scan nearby buildings.” I remove my earplugs.

“Permission granted, proceed with caution.” The bird moves down the trench scanning buildings within the vicinity of the bridge. Taking a few minutes, I sit down and unlatch my helmet drying my head of sweat and dirt that’s collected there.

“We’ve completed our sweep, all clear so far.” The little bird hovers over the bridge the pilot giving us a thumbs up.

“Copy that, good work.” Stavo walks over to me, his rifle slung over his shoulder.

“Well, as soon as the capital is captured and released to the proper government we can all go home…”

“Ha, no kidding. Won’t be for a while, though, but I agree I cannot wait to go home to my own bed and be away from this sandy hell hole.” Stavo raises his hand to say something but is cut off by the radio coming to life.

“Scalpel we’re we got clearance to land for a few minutes, over.” The pilot hovers perfectly in the same spot.

“Copy that.”

“You were saying?”

“Was going to say, you said it brotha.” He takes a seat nearby and removes his helmet, the bird hovers over the bridge and gently sets down and begins spooling down to an idle as the pilot hops out and runs over taking his helmet off.

“So why do you got clearance to land there?” He salutes before putting his helmet under his arm.

“Command gave us the clear to land, all lines broke through the last stop is the capital, sir.”

“When does command want us to press up?”

“They haven’t given us any info yet, was wondering if you guys got something or if we got left out or something.”

“Nah, we aren’t getting anything yet.”

“Guess we set up an outpost here, wait for further instructions; get Gabe up here Stavo.” He nods and jogs off.

“Alright, we’re heading back to base, need more ammo.”

“Something we all need. Good luck.” he nods before running and putting his helmet back on and climbing into the helicopter and gaining a few feet of altitude before heading in the direction of the airbase.

<><><><><>Princess Luna<><><><><>

Watching the humans talk, the one with the large helmet walks off to his loud machine before leaving in a cloud of dust, whatever that device was… Focussing my magic I attempt to determine the mental state of Austin’s mind; scanning him is giving me an uneasy reading, as if he knows something is going to happen...

“But why…and what?” halting my scan I transform into a mist and get a little closer to listen in on their conversation.

“- So basically all three lines have moved up and our cover just went back to rearm…”

“I don’t know man, if they assume it will be over that quickly.” Austin raises his hand.

“Believe me I think we’re all on edge, and I don't think any of us will be getting any sleep tonight.”

“Great.” The other human sighs aloud. “Alright, I’m gonna get to work on an ammo count and find out if we need a resupply as well.”

“Alright, good luck.”

“Yea, you too.” The second human walks off, leaving Austin shaking his head.

‘Perhaps we shouldst end this dream and wake hi-’

A large machine rolls by and halts and two more humans jump out and the machine pulls off to the side of the road, the other two walk over to Austin with a salute.

“Sir, we got a head count from all lines from command. Our line has one loss so far, the other lines… weren’t so lucky;” He pauses trying to think of the best way to put it. “Five Dead, 16 injured, two in critical, that’s line three over the civilian bridge roughly 300 Mikes from us.”

“What about line two?” Austin inquires.

“They suffered ten fatalities, they are still counting injured- the main force took it really hard; a remotely detonated I.E.D took those men out.”

“Jesus Christ… I seriously hope command thinks these losses are worth it…,” He runs his hands through his messy hair before sighing. “That makes my job harder, send word to command let them know we need a bomb squad to check this road before we can safely proceed.” The other human runs off to his machine and sits in it.

Looking back at Austin a slight twitch in my horn sends shivers down my spine, another scan show’s his heart rate has increased.

‘What is going on…’ A team of humans carrying black tarp with an arm hanging out, my eyes widen as they carry it to a nearby tent, a human with a red cross on his arm comes out and walks over to Austin..

“So?” Austin says, looking at the tent with a stoic expression.

“That missile cut through the armor like butter, by the time he knew what hit him, he was already dead- that’s if the impact detonation shock didn’t kill him first…”

“Was that one of those new anti-tank missiles these assholes been getting from the Russians?”

“That would be my best guess, the missile cut through the armor and then shotgun blasted the inside with molten copper followed by the blast of fire...It was a quick death at least...”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better, Gabe?”

“No...sir,” He stiffens slightly. “But what do we do now?”

“We wait till either they attack or till command gives us orders to go ahead.” Austin crosses his arms.

“Yea… and I hate every second of it...”

“You believe that command thinks as soon as this city is under our control that things will go back to normal?”

“Well, we would be out of a job, a part of me wishes it would happen, but I'm sure some bullshit will come up and we will be pulled back to service.”

“Really?”

“That’s always how it works.” Austin chuckles and looks at Gabe and they both laugh for a moment.

“Yea, but are you excited to go home?”

“I suppose so.”

“I honestly can’t wait to go home to visit my paren-” He gets cut off as he raises his hand to the side of his throat as another loud cracking noise passes, my ears slam to my head.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Something warm splatters across the side of my cheek when the crack of a bullet catch up a second later, Gabe raises his hand to his throat and collapses to his knees, a look of horror on his face. A split second decision I take him by his left arm and pull him in front of the nearby hunter out of the line of sight of the sniper. I shout out loud to all my men in the surrounding area.

“TAKE COVER SNIPER!”

Reaching into his front pouch I pull out a thick cotton wad and tossing other crap out, I remove his hand and apply pressure on the wound. My radio crackles to life.

“Austin do you copy, what’s your status?” He sounds frantic, but I continue to focus on Gabe’s wound.

“Stay with me Gabe, C’mon man.” I keep my hand on the wound to maintain pressure, he looks at me a face of horror he puts his bloodied hand on my sleeve and looks me in the eye and begins choking on his own blood.

“No, no, no, no, no, NO!” I repeat over and over as I think of what I can do… My face turns cold as I realize that there’s nothing I can do. He coughs and splatters blood down his chin as he looks at me, his eyelids flutter followed with his eyes rolling into the back of his head as his whole body falls limp. A tear flows down my face, I grab my radio with my bloody hand and respond to Stavo’s hail.

“Solid copy, who was it?,” I press the button hesitantly.

“Gabe.”

“Oh shit, how bad is it?”

“KIA.” I let go of the talk button and begin crying before pressing it again, Stavo doesn’t reply, I press the talk button again.

“Follow R.O.E, stay in cover.”

“Copy that loud and clear.” I switch the channel on the radio.

“Overlord this is Scalpel-” I pause for a moment. “Enemy sniper East of our position, we need immediate eyes on, over!” I wait a moment and look at Gabe’s corpse and close his eyes with my hand. A trail of blood flows down his neck onto his shoulder patch on it it says.

Do No Harm, Do Know Harm.’

“I’m so sorry…”

“Scalpel this is Overlord, Echo is approaching your A.O now, stand by." My breathing hitches slightly I rummage through my front vest pocket and retrieve my compass and flip it open and pointing it in the possible direction of the sniper; there aren’t a lot of buildings in the area so that limits it down to a few, my best guess is the sniper is somewhere bearing roughly 128 E.

“Scalpel this is Echo, we are in your A.O we are doing F.L.I.R scan now of the area.”

“Lima Charlie, stand by.” I sit in quiet and look around, at my surroundings, my entire platoon has moved into hiding and because of my carelessness, and now our new guy just got shot in the neck.

“Scalpel, we got no thermal readings of the area, the sniper may have moved off to another location.” I stay quiet as the reality hits me like a freight train, he’s in another location; he could very well be looking at me and I wouldn’t know it.

“Increase the search radius, we need to find this guy before he causes any more casualties.” Another voice comes across the radio.

“Scalpel this is Hyena reporting back in ready to combat.”

“Good timing Hyena!” I feel slightly more hopeful as the bird flies low to the ground over the bridge.

“Glad to be here, sir!” They break off away from the bridge as the radio comes to life again.

“We got a single thermal contact roughly 500 mikes from your current position; he’s prone on a balcony he isn’t moving...”

“Hyena copies, moving to clear his possible exit point.” They break off towards his position I watch them turn sharply towards the building, I lose visual I look back to Gabe’s limp body to his shoulder pouch which is slightly bulging, I reach over and open it and pull out a partially blood covered letter, on the top it's addressed to Mississippi, I take it and put in my pocket my radio comes to life once more.

"Hyena belay that order! Break your attack immediately, we've got a visual of an individual aiming a shoulder projectile." Echo shouts over the radio.

"Copy!" I peek out slightly just in time to see a telltale white smoke trail from a nearby roof chase after Hyena, it arches sharply Into their turn; It smashes into their rear rotor but doesn't detonate.

"WE'RE HIT, MAYDAY I'VE LOST ALL HYDRAULIC CONTROL IN THE TAIL ROTOR!" At first the bird flies straight for a few seconds and begins spinning wildly out of control both pilots attempting to land it. It continues to spin and lose altitude into the trench, I lose visual all I hear is a loud splash followed by rotors smashing into the water and debris being sent into the air.

"Overlord, Hyena is down. Multiple hostile forces converging toward's line four, one confirmed KIA, two unconfirmed KIA requesting immediate C.A.S to lazed areas."

"Solid copy, Emergency teams are deploying to Scalpel’s location, Buzzard one and Buzzard two are wheels up and in route ETA 3 minutes." The radio goes dark I sit there in complete shock at the events that have just transpired. I look at the ground and collapse to my knees and continue crying as things go from bad to worse.

Mindlessly I sit in the open I stare towards the direction where Hyena went down.I begin walking towards the bridge despite the sniper, he takes a potshot at me and misses by a few feet in front of me, tears flow down my cheeks, another round whizzes by a little closer I keep walking aimlessly without a care.

"AUSTIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" I hear Stavos voice vaguely yelling behind me, as if in slow motion I feel something tear into my side, I collapse to the ground wheezing as a horrible burning sensation fills my entire body. Rolling over, I look to the sky which is now a pinkish blue

'I lost three good men today- what’s the point now. I'm ready for it to end...'

I await the next round to hit, but it doesn't instead I hear the faint roar of jet engines getting closer I look right to see a solid line of tracers and rockets impact the apartment in the massive dust cloud as the building gets bombarded and promptly collapses into a massive dust storm. Seconds after two A164 wipeouts fly over quickly and breaking off the attack.

"Scalpel, sniper neutralized we got you covered from here." Another sound starts to approach I look right again to see two Blackhawks hover and land on the bridge and deploy fresh troops, I groan and look left to see Stavo running to my side things slow down as he waves a medic over.

"What the fu- yo- thi-k-ing." His voice slows down as I stare at the moon above his voice gets drowned out by white noise as events replay over and over in front of me. As if in slow motion a medic runs and skids to a stop, throwing his bag down, and begins inspecting me by shining a light in my eyes. I squint and he pulls a large canister out and opens the top with his teeth and begins slowly talking to me. Instantly I feel a surge of pain, followed by nothing I twitch slightly blackout.

<><><><><><><><><><>

"Pfft...and here I was thinking I'd never have THAT one again..' I mutter out loud to myself as I take a deep breath and lean forward. I manage to stop my heart from bursting out of my chest from the shock.

Unfortunately, that didn't last very long because it shot right back up when I heard breathing from the other side of the room.

"How art thou feeling?" Luna asked as she steps out of the shadows, her eyes and mane shimmering in the darkness.

“I-I’m fine, but why are you here?” I look at her carefully, she comes closer and hops on the opposite end of the bed and sits tall.

“We art hither to watch over thy dreams, however, we couldst not connect to thy dreams yet the aura thou wast giving off indicated thou wast experiencing a bad nightmare.” She pauses, her look becoming more serious.

“We teleported to thou and connected to thy subconscious and entered thy dreams directly, doing so we thought we would find out the source of thy problems... Wherefore thou wast in such teen; we discovered at first thou weren't in any danger; when thy friend perished we tried to change the dream but was not successful. For this, we apologize wholeheartedly.” Her ears droop and her mood changes to a really sad one, I sit completely baffled that she was able to see into my worst nightmare. I exhale slowly making her left ear twitch she looks at me.

“So you saw it all, huh?” I adjust the pillow behind me and sit up straight to face her, she nods slowly, slightly confused look on her muzzle.

“We… Did.”

“Do you blame me for anything I did in that dream?” I look for a genuine answer from her ears perk up and she looks at me shocked before leaning forward slightly.

“Nay! How couldst thou say that!” She exclaims before stomping her hoof into the bedding, I chuckle slightly and rub my eyes.

“I’m glad you don’t, this my pony friend, is partly the reason why I am the way I am. I haven't had that dream in year’s prior to my release from that capsule, before I arrived, I was being treated for Posttraumatic stress disorder, it’s the reason why I have this scar on my chest. In that dream I was completely aware of my actions, but no matter how hard I try I can’t change my actions.” I look down at my lap.

“But why did thou leave protection.”

“The moment that Hyena got shot down every little fiber of hope I had faded. I cracked under the stress and from what I remember I got up and walked out, I can’t describe it honestly.” I shake my head slightly.

“We understand.”

“And two more things Luna.”

“Yes?”

"Please tell me this whole...watch me while I'm sleeping thing... Isn't an everyday occurrence because..." I slowly imply what i’m saying with a slightly disturbed look on my face.

"Oh, we apologize. We only came hither to establish a better connection." she says, her cheeks glowing slightly in the moonlight, she looks away.

“Doth thou feel better now?”

“I feel fine, the second thing I request is to either wake me up forcefully or just let it run its course, I don’t want you to feel pity for me for something that happened so long ago.” I say guiltily as I look out the moonlit window, only to feel a hoof turn my attention to her.

“And that is whence ye are wrong, We will not sit idly by and let thou suffer, none of us will. That's what friends art for.”

“If only, I don’t want to burden the others with these problems.” Everything goes quiet.

“But they art already worried about thou. Surely thou wilt see it.” she exclaims with slight anger in her voice.

“Luna, I understand your concern and theirs as well, but please let me be; It’s hard, yes, but I don’t want others to get involved in it so I can’t lose more.” A tear begins rolling down the side of my face, instantly Luna snatches me in her wings and pulls me to her and hugs me tightly and refuses to let go; her warm embrace stirring more emotion I begin crying, she lays her head on my shoulder still holding me close.

“Ye are not alone.”

“T-Thank you.” I whisper as I continue to sob slightly.

“Thou're welcome.” She tightens her grip.

<><><><><>Last Thoughts...<><><><><>

“Dear Mom, Dad, and sister.”

“I know by the time this reaches you guys back in the states I will long be deployed and letters will become a lot more scarce as time progresses; But I bear good news in this letter and a few trinkets for you guys. Firstly, I would like to let you guys know that I got approved transfer today! Now I can finally fulfill my dream to not only serve my country but save lives just like I said I always would (All my hard work is paying off finally). I hope you are all proud of me.”

“In this envelope I leave a patch for you Dad apart of my line of work most medics wear these on their shoulders proudly;I hope you find time to sew it on your jacket sometime and I expect a picture of it later. For mom, I managed to get a few recipes from the local delicacies for you to make back home that I found were really delicious, I expect to see them during the holidays or whenever I come back. Lastly for my adorable sister, I encase to you a military red cross pin this is the international peace symbol of the battlefield and is among the most important things we possess and wear the commanding officer allowed me to send it back as a memento for you to add to your growing pin collection. Anyways, I hope this letter reaches you all in good faith, till the next time I get to sit down and write another letter,”

“Love you all.”

“Gaberiel.”

“P.S, Yea, my handwriting is horrible. I know you will complain about it when I get back mom…”

<><><><><>Second Author’s Note!<><><><><>

<><><><><>Please read<><><><><>

OH MY GOD 4+ weeks after my last chapter, this one was really hard for me to write, but I felt it needed to be written to sort’ve make it clear that he wasn’t a 2d character who has everything easy and coming straight to him. This will be the first and only gore chapter for a while, also some references are in the fight scenes and vehicles I listed that happened to be in the same time period. Kudos to those of you who can guess them first and accurately.

Have a good one guys, and I will see you in the next chapter!

Special Thanks~
Sean Perez
Solid Poison
Jacob (Revive Monkey)
Brooke Reed (My School's AP class teacher for heavy amounts of encouragement.)
Thank you all for your support!

Chapter 14: The Day After It All...

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Chapter 16: New Beginnings (Revised)

I used to believe that the orders that I followed meant something to me, it made me feel like I was worth something… The tours I served for several years ended abruptly, what good did the fighting do for me? All those years of training and discipline, It got me right here; right fucking here. In the middle of a café full of four legged beings that a cruel god barfed pastel upon, where blood was spilled for centuries.

I wanna tell these people...PONIES; exactly how I feel about being here and how uncomfortable it is making me. However one thing is very prominent in the back of my mind, this really isn’t my home anymore; don’t get me wrong, the peace and lovey-dovey crap they endorse right now is a nice turn for a planet full of generations of bloodshed, wars, and outright self extinction.

In this humble human’s opinion, I understand that these ponies have nothing to fight about to my knowledge. I was asleep for a millennium; For all I know this peace was hard fought; they came here and adopted this planet and fixed the immense destruction. I can only imagine how many bodies they disposed of.

The biggest question in the back of my mind right now is how many of these folks know just how many people died right below their hooves. The billions of people that used to inhabit this planet. I wonder if they brush that fact off to the side or if it’s even taught in their history classes...

‘Hey, You’re talking to yourself again… You’ve been staring at this poor pony in front of you for ten minutes now...’

Yeah? Your point?

‘Nothing, but if you keep it up these guys are gonna think you’re nuts…’

Good point me- As if the lone human among the populace of ponies that average 4ft tall; and god only knows what else that exists here doesn’t already think that, to begin with. Not to mention them popping into my dreams, out of thin air, and flying at the speed of mache Jesus, I don’t think my poor heart will be able to take it.

‘Foreshadowing? That’s a bit dark dont’cha think?’’

Best pull up a chair.

“Helloooooo?” Storm waves her hoof in front of my face. “You ok? You’ve been spaced out since you ordered… You’re starting to freak me out.” She wears a face of concern as she leans over the table to reach me.

“Oh… Again… my bad, it’s nothing; I just have a lot on my mind is all.” I suddenly realize I was in fact staring at this poor pony at her corner table with the most blank thousand yard stare.

Immediately I cough and look out the window and look back over the cafe, most of these ponies are enjoying their beverages, others are staring with mixed facial expressions; I ignore their glances and return my solemn gaze to Storm.

“I can only imagine what is running through your mind. Anything you want to talk about?” She sits on her haunches, her wings slightly stretched outright from her sides.

“Yeah… lemme break the awkward stalemate I seem to have created.” I ponder a quick question for her off the top of my head. “How long have you been serving?”

“Eh, I was just a grunt before my talents were recognized by my superiors…I think as of now, a little over three years of service.”

“Talents?” I squint. “Your talents for waking people up with your super cruise in the dead of night?” I deadpan at her as I raise an eyebrow.

“Listen here, flank hole; I said I was sorry, I have a hard time sleeping at night and taking night flights helps when the suns not burning my retinas.

“Tsk, Tsk, did I touch a nerve?” I cast a sly smile across my face as I cross my arms and lean backward in the seat.

She immediately stops talking before turning slightly red, her tail audibly flicking around under the table. “N-No!”

“Mmmm doesn’t seem like a no to me.”

“You’re such a flank hole…” She crosses her forearms in a rather pouty manner before slumping in her chair.

“Shit bag, asshole, dickhead, cunt, you name it; I’ve probably been called it- Numerous times I might add.” I smile warmly, she rolls her eyes, her feathers are furled, her tail still audibly slapping against the seat under her.

“So…” she fumbles with her words for a moment as she taps her hooves together. “Um… so… how long did you serve?”

“Uh… I did almost 5 tours. First two were short. I did roughly if memory serves me.” I count on my fingers, Storm watching me puzzled as I do so. “Uh I’d say roughly six-ish years, my last tour wasn’t finished.”

“Tour?” She looks confused.

“We’d server tours, varying from six to twelve months, my last one was pushing nineteen months, I was actively deployed for a desert incursion. I was determined to be unfit for service due to injury and mental state...”

“What does that mean? You’re not gonna go crazy on me are you?”

“No, Just the last combat mission I was involved in broke me, I did something stupid and got myself injured in the process-.”

“I’m….I’m sorry to hear that; I am sorry you had to go through a lot of this. It can’t be easy on you right now.” Those cute eyes look as sympathetic as they get.

“I should’ve at least played the lottery; with my odds I think I won the greatest jackpot in the history of humans”. I exhale slowly, closing my eyes.

At that moment Telna arrives with a large silver platter on her back with two empty teacups and a crude looking kettle. With precision, she uses her large feathery tail to hook the kettle and sets it down on the table followed by the cups.

“Quite impressive control for not having anything to grab with.” I marvel at the level of control.

“Oh, this old thing?” She looks at her tail and back at me. “normally I’d use my talons but I would shatter the fragile glass…”

“Huh, so a handshake is off the table then?” I lean forward and place my chin on my knuckled hands. She smiles warmly.

“I would advise you not to.”

“At risk of sounding rude, do you mind If I ask what you are? I see a bunch of different characteristic details all over you. You almost look like a dragon?”

“Oh! Nonsense, I thought you were going to ask me something much worse than that; I get that question quite often so it’s no problem… I hail from Taipone, Home of the Kirins.”

I have an unreadable expression on my face, as I recall Applebloom told me about them a few days ago.

“Wait… the race of ponies who look like dragons but not quite one?”

“Well that’s a crude way to put it, but yes that’s us.” She smiles revealing some quite large fangs along with those interesting whisker things dangling from her nose.

“Alright… I’m sorry in advance out of curiosity and because I’m not from around here…” I lean in slightly to make it more private. “How does the… mating cycle thing work? Surely it isn’t safe for someone your size to mate with a dragon…?”

‘Unless they like it brutal...?’

You just had to go there.

‘Well I am in your head, you thought it first...’

Well, that about sums up my theory … Mental hand clap bro.

‘Right on’

**CLAP**

“Honestly…” She doesn’t look embarrassed even slightly. “It’s one of the questions I get asked most, but since I left I can only simply describe that process. The Female dragon is the one who gets to carry. As it is physically impossible to birth a dragon from a pony It’s rather hit or miss which gene turns us into this or a thoroughbred dragon. Weirdly enough the difference between pony and dragons is they lay eggs but the egg absorbs whatever traits the male has...” She says quite professionally.

“Wow… that was…more informative than I was expecting…” I can’t help but deadpan.

“Huh. I have to admit that was a question I’ve had for a while now and I didn’t wanna scare ya with” Storm is practically slouched over the table listening just as intently as me.

“That won’t scare me away; to be honest, I get a lot of strange questions; after a while it doesn’t really bother me… but of course, some folks out of town are quite shall we say… rude.” She smiles as she pours the tea into small cups. On that note the smell its quite delectable.

“Well in that case, I appreciate the biology lesson.”

She gives me a slight head bow before giving me a sheepish toothy smile.

I’ll be honest with you, I have seen many things in my lifetime but nothing as cool as that, the evolution of a species that shouldn’t exist. Simply incredible how this planet has evolved in such a way.

This really isn’t my home anymore, I really am the alien among these people.

‘Technically…’

Shut it. Don’t even say it.

‘ET PHONE HOME.’

“Is he alright?” Telna looks at Storm curiously.

“You get used to it....” she sips on her cup of tea. “Another good cup of tea as per usual!”

“You give me too much credit.” Telna smiles and proceeds to sit with Storm.

<><><><><> After Tea...<><><><><>

“Please come back soon Austin! Your business is always welcome!” Telna smiles happily, her large fluffy tail wags behind her as she has a cute smile on her muzzle.

“Of course, I enjoyed your tea!” I give her a smile before walking with Storm, Storm seems to be quite happy about the whole situation.

It’s strange but I’ve been here and these people have accepted me into their lives almost as one of their own… It’s amazing how trustworthy they all seem. By comparison to the life that I lead so long ago this really does feel like a cakewalk to me. Call me crazy but I may just be able to finish out this life and go in peace at this rate, this place has such an unnatural calm to it.

However, there are many questions I have to find answers to… Who was that weird shadow staring at me from outside the pod? Is there any of my kind left around at all on this planet? How far have these ponies colonized and are there more types of mythical beings I can encounter? So many questions still need answered and what kind of legacy I am going to leave behind for these people.

“So where are we going now, Storm?” I put my hands in my pockets as I stare at the sky. A squadron of pegasi moves a wall of clouds clearing the sky of any overcast that was previously present.

“My grace period ends soon so I’m just going back to base to get ready to report for duty again.” her black glasses glimmer in the sunlight as she fiddles with them with her wings trying to get them straight.

“Oh yeah, forgot; at risk of sounding like a total moron, why is it I can see your glasses now and not while you’re in armor?”

“You didn’t probably notice because the armor is enchanted to hide whatever I wear under it through an illusion spell forged directly into the armor. It also makes us look like a unified force among other things.” She flips her head moving some of her mane from her face.

“Another example in some rare cases, perhaps someone who is arrested who’s got connections will be hard pressed to track down that specific pony or ponies, visually identifying us is essentially out of the equation and thus not putting our homes and potential families in danger.”

“Huh… I Admit that’s pretty cool…cooler than slapping a mask on or heavy helmets” I give her a thumbs-up and nod my head in approval.

“Yep! Next time I see you, I promise I’ll show up in my armor.”

“Sounds like a good time, alright- I’ll catch you later.” Storm nods before leaping into the air and blasting off towards the military fortress, side note I can feel my hair being blown back from the amount of back blast she just kicked off. I observe quietly as I watch a red streak fly towards the castle in the vast distance.

“That girl is something else…”

‘Is a girl the correct way to label her?’

I wonder if that matters…

‘True.’

“HEYYYYYYY!!! HUMANNNN!! Austin!!!” I hear a familiar pony yelling my name, I look around to see a pony pulling her cart like mad after me and when I say like mad, I literally mean she’s generating a sand storm behind her. As she gets closer I recognize her very light blue mane and tail anywhere.

“Oh…. SHII-” She skids to a stop in front of me. Somehow nothing flew off her cart nor did I end up as a pancake, the dust around us settled. She’s left there standing with a thin layer of dust on her and she shakes herself off immediately unhitching the cart. I cough as I smack the air trying to breathe, while wiping my eyes simultaneously.

“Hey...” I cough again “Jewel, I thought you were traveling?”

“I was! You will be happy to know when I reached the nearby merchant halls one of the merchants from the Balisong Empire arrived a day earlier than myself! As it just so happens he had a large shipment of copper wire you were seeking.”

“That’s awesome! How much?” I look slightly concerned that it’s going to cost more than what I got.

“The amount you gave me was enough to buy his entire stand…” She holds my bag of bits in her hoof, handing them back to me. I take them quietly, a bit surprised, in addition to this she uses her muzzle to flip open her saddle pack and pulls out a large spool of fine copper wire perfectly wrapped on a wooden spindle.

“Will this be enough?” She smiles.

“Should be more than enough, to be honest, that’s awesome! Thanks, Jewel.” I smile and out of instinct, I pat her head. To my shock and horror before I could even stop myself, her face lights up bright red as she seems to instinctively lean into it. In an instant, she snaps out of it and pulls away from my hand her face a bright red. I immediately yank my hand back almost expecting to get the shit beat of me when she opens her mouth.

“Why’d you stop…..” her ears are folded back her face bright red as she rubs her foreleg with the opposing one in an almost sheepish manner

‘Wait, hhhwattt…?’

“Hang on pause. I did that completely by accident and I am so sorry I should’ve asked first but what do you mean w-why did I stop” I’m completely baffled… Why am I even surprised this is a thing?

She raises her brow before plopping down on her haunches in an almost offended manner. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to scratch behind these ears without magic?” She deadpans as she shakes her head around flapping her ears around with ease.

“Point taken…in earnest.”

“Back on topic; what exactly are you going to do with this stuff anyway? It doesn’t have much visual appeal like gold wire for jewelry making that I’ve seen” She puts her hoof to her chin trying to guess. I sincerely doubt she’d ever guess what I have in store for this stuff. Unless by some miracle these ponies have anything powered by traditional electricity.

“I’m trying to recover some memories I desperately want back and the only way to do that is utilize the conductivity of this wire. If it works anyways, pester me about it next time you see me.”

“I’ll hold you to that! Until next time, farewell!” She quickly re-attaches her cart, and heaves it away the way she came, I look at the fine wire examining it closely; I take a small piece and bend it back and forth, breaking some off to reveal this wire is PURE copper, with any luck I’ll be able to use twilight’s magic and some good ole fashioned human engineering.

With any luck this won’t blow up in my face...

<><><><><><><><><><>

Stepping over twigs, branches, and whole trees over fairly large rocks deep in the forest approximately one to two miles away in a clearing away from town is my underground abode; long time ago before things went south originally my house came with this part of the house in the ground as most did in the urban area I lived in at the time. Built-in 1961 to early 1962 this house was built in fear from times of the communist Russia itself and at first was just meant to be solid for at least a decade.

Skip ahead 85 years to 2047, I bought the house for a ridiculously high APR; At the time I was apart of the national guard, a high school graduate; but a pretty big failure at life at the time, literally nothing to brag about at that point in time I had no degrees and I opted to escape into the military where I excelled in my training, and my leadership qualities got me into an officers academy.

That’s slightly off tangent; in 2047 I bought this house, the one real one big achievement I’ve had in life at the time… A house almost on par with a victorian; It needed a ton of work… To be honest the house was almost as big a shit hole outside as it was outside, the product of a foreclosure at the time and in the middle of a remodel what walls were in the place were not insulated or painted; but it was still structurally sound enough to repair and work towards; the real estate agent said with enough “TLC” the house would rocket in value if enough was put in.

By mid 2047/48 I bought the rights to the home and signed a 30 year mortgage; but back to the bunker when I went into the shed that acted as it’s entrance I was amazed to find out this bunker was here from an era similar to the one that was beginning to sprout unsurprisingly the bunker was in horrible shape. As the agent said though with enough work, blood, sweat, and profanity that would make your mother cry in disappointment. Bit by bit I rebuilt the walls with new concrete and retained the original lead sheets as it was cheaper than trying to extract those sheets between the 3.5 ft concrete in all directions total according to schematics that I could find. This also included the ceiling; the contractors also added new center support as it was possible the roof was starting to cave slightly and would continue to do so. I was originally planning on installing a minibar and hardwood floors- I also wanted to connect the bunker to the house via an underground tunnel. Of course that did not happen.

In addition to all the physical structural integrity being beefed up I also made it more like a second home. I equipt with its own water circuit, but was still connected to the main water line from the house however it could be disconnected if such a need were to arise; in that scenario it had a small water tank which admittedly was not large enough to sustain constant use for more than a couple days of moderate use, better than nothing.

I also splurged to have it wired to utilize a set of flex-fuel generators that had carbon filters, which could last for days with intermittent refueling should there be a power outage, in a pinch it was sometimes better than my house in many ways because power would grey out from time to time it was not uncommon for me to go down to the bunker and watch a movie and run the generator and kick a cold beer back from the minifridge in the folding kitchen it had.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I stroll up to the entrance of the thick door the only major giveaway is the small indent into concrete that acted as a handle with one solid yank the door squeaks in protest as it thumps over on its hinges the air seals dry rotted away along with the moisture trails and corrosion on the concrete show how long this has been underground. As I peer down the long dark stairs into the dusty cavern below a rustle of leaves followed by a twig cracking immediately grabs my attention. Almost instantly I have my hand on my rusty bayonet.

“Who’s there!” I shout out to the tree-filled area looking around in all directions.

“Whoa! Hang on a second… it’s me!” Spike pushes aside as he walks through with his hands up.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing out here?” I return the bayonet to its pouch before giving him a mildly annoyed look.

“Well It did start off as me following some wildlife and zoning out and exploring out of pure personal curiosity.’' He looks at me as innocent as he can but I can tell by how his eyes are shifting he’s full of it.

“Uh-huh Let’s just way for the moment I believe you for a moment that I believe you, that you zoned your way out into this dark forest you ponies seem to avoid like a plague that you came here to explore.” I’m deadpanning.

“Uh… Well when you put it that way it sounds a lot less believable.” He wears a cheesy grin.

“Oh and shall I top it off that any curiosity you may have could be answered by the vast amount of knowledge in that library you live in?”

“Alright, fine! Ya’ got me, I wasn’t totally lying either, I was wandering and I did see you and was wondering why you were going this way; and I swear that’s the truth.” He crosses his heart before pointing his finger.

“Well now you must tell me if what you discovered has satiated your thirst to know.”

“Let’s see…. Thorns in my feet which are also sore from walking this far and the branches hitting me in the face. You know, Admittedly, yes this is cool.” He deadpans at me without skipping a beat before peering over the edge of the abyss below.

“I’ll give you credit, for that I'm surprised you can say that in such bright sprit-” he points his finger at me.

“I’m actually in a fair amount of pain.” He’s not showing an ounce of even acknowledging it.

“Thorns?” I raise an eyebrow ever so slightly.

“Thorns…” He agrees; he takes a look around the area. “So what exactly is this place?”

“I guess you can call it part of my house- at one point.”

“Do humans live underground? That would explain why we haven’t found any…” He looks up at me before returning his gaze back down the ominous black stairway, I start my way down using my hand to help me stay balanced as I do so.

“No, typically they don’t, otherwise we’d be a lot paler.” I can hear spikes claws tapping the floor behind me as he puts his hand on the wall.

“Basically, if I’m left to believe how much time has passed, this is a multi century old concrete bunker that is somehow still standing after cataclysmic events of the past. It also looks like it survived the area being terraformed.”

“This place is creepy.” I can almost detect a slight bit of pessimistic fear in his tone.

“I don’t blame you thinking so.” I walk the rest of the way down the stairs and stop where the light becomes non-existent. “Hey, can you by chance create fire?”

“Oh because I’m a dragon I can just create fire...” I can detect some sarcasm here…

Tsk, Tsk, Touched a nerve

“I thought that was something you could do easily?” I look back he’s gone he already ran back up the stairs and comes back with a large stick before I can even comment on his speed he gives a big belch setting it ablaze with a bright green flame and hopping the rest of the way down the stairs.

“I was joking. I send letters to Princess Celestia daily…” I can see a sly smile as we look around into the dusty vine covered nastiness that is the bunker.

“Honestly, no jokes here but that is pretty damn cool.” I look around the place; there’s cracks all over the ceiling where despite my efforts the roof is sagging around the center support and the wood floor is rotted. At this moment the smell hits me, it smells like death happened in here.

“I do like the creepy crypt feeling you’ve done with the place.” Spike gags before giving me a look.

“Careful your sarcasm is pouring onto the floor. Just like my lunch that is about to join it.” He moves the torch around the place, lighting some of the cobwebs ablaze.

“Well anything you put on it would probably be an improvement at this point.” I walk over to the massive rusted gray pod in the center of the room, it is covered in moss, vines, and dirt, the wires are rotted and exposed in several places. Just looking at the thing makes zero sense how it kept working as long as it did. Upon closer inspection, the glass looks like it took a hard impact as It has a large crack from top to bottom of the main viewport.

“So why did you come here?”

“Tell me, doesn’t it seem a tiny bit odd that I’m here when the condition of this machine would suggest it would be in fact broken?” Spike walks up to and runs his claws across it, illuminating other parts of it with the torch.

“T-this thing is what kept you alive?” He walks around it curiously inspecting its various hoses.

“I didn’t expect it to honestly do that, this machine was in its development stages from the documentation I found when I heaved it here.” I rub my chin as I continue my assessment of the condition of the machine.

“What exactly is this thing anyways?” As he tries to climb on top of the glass eventually succeeding and peering into it.

“Think of it as a giant bed that forces you to sleep for extremely long periods. The world was such a different place all that time ago; I didn’t feel like I had much chance of surviving. I tried this in an attempt to preserve myself for a decade or so and hopefully the world cleared up a bit this being a self contained unit ran on minimal power and its own supply of freezing agents. By all means I should’ve woken up a lot sooner, this machine still requires some power from time to time, it could’ve easily lasted years before requiring a top up and the only way to do that is wake the occupant and restart the process. That clearly did not happen.”

“I think you’re right. Look! It looks like something or somepony got into a fight while you were frozen, check it out it looks like debris was tossed about; also look at this piece.” He runs his hand down the side of the control panel. There’s a large dent in the side of it Spike looks at it and back to me.

“I can’t help but feel like a divine force intervened and wanted me here for a reason. I need to find out who and why.”

“I’m sure Twilight and the gang can help you get those answers, they’re pretty good at this sort of thi-” I cut him off before he could finish that sentence.

“No.” I bluntly and abruptly say in a rather harsh tone.

“What, No? Why?” He double-takes.

“For now let’s not get them involved; They’re already doing a lot more than what any reasonable person should when encountering an alien entity. While I know that this is very important and quite concerning, I feel at this stage it would only bring unnecessary attention and strain at this moment.” Spike sighs before immediately conceding without an argument. A slight shiver runs down my spine from the vague memory of a black-masked being face to face with me in that pod.

“Alright… It’s your stuff and your life. I suppose, you have more right to that than anyone.” He gives me a look of discontent.

“Yeah, I think I’ve seen everything I needed to.” My watch beeps letting me know another hour has passed by.

“Soooooo…. Can I ask you something?” Spike moves the torch around looking at the various belongings that are either covered in a thick blanket of dust or rotting away.

“I guess?”

“Twilight mentioned that you’d been asleep for over a thousand years… What did that feel like?”

“Felt like being asleep for a minute or two and someone violently rolled my ass out of bed on the floor as a prank.” I continue looking around for anything out of the ordinary, I suddenly came to a dead stop looking on a wall shelf. There’s a severely rotted picture of my team and I posed in our kit; right beside it, staring back at me with an almost terrifying smile is Ashlyn.

“That’s… oddly specific”

“My friends were the kind of people who would do that if you deviated from the routine.” I continue to stare at it before approaching it and gently picking it up, as I do half of the picture literally disintegrates to dust leaving only half of her, at least her smile is intact. With the greatest of care I can I put it back.

“What did you find?” Spike comes over and stares up at me and the remaining picture frame on the mantle.

“Are those?” he words quietly trying to get a closer look.

“When I served they were the closest thing I had to a family outside my family.” He attempts to reach for the picture.

“Don’t; I just destroyed this other photo...” I say with a slight sadness in my voice.

“Sorry, I was just... Curious.”

I go to pick up a chunky black box, its digital picture frame that has long since died, the cord still attached to the wall. I remove it and wrap it up before shoving it in one of my cargo pockets.

“I think it’s time to leave.” I wait at the bottom of the stairs, Spike leads and walks up the stairs, for a brief moment I look back, he stops halfway and looks back at me.

“Are you going to be alright?” He wears quite a concerned look on his face.

“Yeah… I’ll be fine.” I cannot feel uncertain about that answer, or the longevity of it.

Spike makes his way to the top of the stairs and waits for me, patting the top of the torch without flinching, putting it out and stomping the remaining red hot embers into the dirt. I make it out into the blisteringly bright sun, with one big heave I pull the heavy concrete lid over and reseal what is now effectively a tomb. I let out a quiet sigh

<><><><><><><><><><>

After a short walk back Spike breaks off and heads towards Twilight’s meanwhile I head out towards Rarity's it’s getting pretty hot out here, notably, I noticed that many pegasi are laying on the clouds and sunbathing as they casually fluff their clouds.

‘Hmmm. I bet Einstein and Newton are probably rolling in their graves right now...’

Yes.

I sigh aloud and look back to the sky and in the distance the Canterlot castle, and with that notion I look down at my watch it’s barely four in the afternoon I think at this point with nothing better to do with my time, I think I’ll proceed to take part in one of my favorite past times….

I feel like I require a nap… Upon taking stock of the area, there’s a nice set of trees grouped with plenty of shade and not a single pony in sight. I walk over and take a good long look around first before slumping against the base of the stump, with a slight adjustment to my posture I pull my shirt off and put it over my head.

…

...

“Heya.”

‘I'm going to commit murder...’

“Whatcha doin man?” I absolutely refuse to open my eyes, I know all too well that if I even acknowledge this presence I won’t get any sort of peace for a solid 30 minutes or more...

“Hey.” She pokes me in the side. “HEY!” She pokes my shoulder now.

‘Anger levels rising.’ I move my shirt off my head before cracking one eye open to see Dash is in front of me… annnnnnd she’s upside down… hovering… upside down.

“Heeeeeey Dash….” I say through gritted teeth.

“Oh not much, just relaxing a bit; what about you?” she rights herself and floats onto a tree branch directly above me.

“I was in the process of trying to take a nap?” I look up at her, a mild look of annoyance clearly present on my face.

“Ha, I’ll admit human you got some good taste this is my personal hiding spot.”

Almost on queue someone in the distance drops a pane of glass that can be heard shattering for a mile.

“Oh?” I try to say with strained grit.

“Yeah…. I sorta… come here to be myself and relax a bit” She gets steadily quieter.

“Be yourself? The hell does that even mean?”

“Ponies tend to view me as a loudmouth super cool super fast pony... While those are true, I do have my moments where I'm not and sometimes I want to be by myself sometimes. It's nice to be lazy on your own every now and again.”

“Wow. that’s a bunch of big fancy sophisticated words I never expected to ever hear leaving your mouth.”

“Oh go buck yourself.” She gives me a peeved look before floating down and swatting me rather hard on the side. Much to her immediate regret.

“Ah! There she is.” I can’t help but snicker, she joins me in a giggle as she rubs her wing against her muzzle. "That’s pretty cool though, you’re like a popular chick who is secretly a big nerd arentcha? What else do you do, read in your spare time with big nerdy glasses” I take a wild guess before putting my shirt back on my head before I can see the look on her face that’s a tell tale...

“.... I hate you so much right now.” She’s red all over almost as if she’s embarrassed.

“Wow I must’ve really nailed that one on the head- Hey don’t feel bad about that, nothing wrong with having a hobby; now if you can excuse me and if it’s cool with you. I’m gonna try to catch a few like I intended.”

“That’s cool, feel free to.” Instead of her returning to her spot, she stays beside me and hits the stump of the tree with such force a book falls down and lands perfectly in her hooves, somehow she’s holding the thing open with ease...

How… even?

‘Leave it.’

Buuuuuut… Physics...?

‘For once, listen to yourself this is how you end up in shit situations and less napping.’

I close my eyes and slowly attempt to dip into the realm of sleep.

<><><><><><><><><><>

I open my eyes like I never left. I look around, for some reason I’ve been moved into the void looking around there’s absolutely nothing here.

“Oh good. One of those dreams…”

“Greetings~” An all too familiar voice echoes in a white space.

Hey subconscious, buddy, friendo…

‘You’re on your own pal.’

“Where the hell am I Luna…?” I look for her in… some direction that I think is up, all depth perception is completely lost in here, all of a sudden a slight giggle as she materializes at my feet coming to eye level.

“Right here~” She’s not wearing her normal regalia, she’s got a more casual sash on.

“Cool trick… Next question, where the crap are we right now?”

“We are currently in your mind, I sensed your presence in the dreamscape, while I was meditating; I couldn’t resist the urge to visit my favorite hooman. From the looks of it you are in deep sleep; someone hasn’t been sleeping.” She playfully nudges my side.

“Jee… I wonder why.” This apparently prompts her to put a hoof to her mouth as she giggles sweetly and walks past me.

“Why is there nothing but a void here?”

“Because you haven’t quite started a dream.” Her horn glows for a moment. The scene around us visually spirals around us as colors flood in as the scene changes to a bedroom that is completely darked out gestures for me to follow her; she moves the curtains aside and walks onto a balcony. I take one step out onto the balcony and realize that this isn’t just any balcony, this is the Canterlot Castle. I’m LITERALLY standing on Luna’s personal balcony overlooking a vast space of Equestria.

“How…” The whole scene around us flickers almost exactly like a simulation.

“Relax thineself- erhm” she coughs awkwardly “Calm yourself, too much thought will cause you to wake.”

“Alright…” The scene changes again this time to a thick forest around us Luna looks around smiling calmly.

“Very Impressive, this must be what you deem as calm.” Luna takes her wing and plays with a tree branch so realistically it’s hard to believe this is a dream.

“D-did I do that?” she nods and knocks on a tree, the thing sounds like a real oak.

“Very well done, for someone who has no experience; however because I am helping you most ponies wake up after such a change like this.”

“Yeah not going to lie, I didn’t do that with any intention of that turning out as well as it did.”

“There’s art-... always room to improve. Much like myself.

“Have you been practicing how to speak the modern tongue?” She proceeds to sit on her haunches and clears her throat.

“Yes, we- I Have…. It is… less than desirable.”

“Hey progress is progress. I have just one question though…”

“Hmmm?” She cranes her neck slightly, her ears perked up.

“What brought you here…?”

“I thought I said I just wanted to visit.” She smiles casually. “I am quite surprised; you figured I had a dirty motive.”

“....Ok that was just awful.” she looks at me confused before her cheeks turn bright red against her blue fur as she realizes her mistake and me for pointing it out.

“Go fornicate thyself!” She immediately covers her mouth; instantly I burst out laughing, her ears drop level like a pair of canards.

“I figured you’d ask me when it’s later in the night… I believe your sister also mentioned you sleep during the day so you being awake is awfully bizarre if that holds true.” I cross my arms. “Now what did you want to ask me?” She sighs.

“I… Kind’ve wanted to know more about you. You see… When I was quite young when we first came to this world, yours and your people had started to cease to exist, not long after the first colonizers started to come to your planet and rebuild, I started down a dark path. One that took me away from this world and the only family I have. Much like thinesel- myself being put back into this world has been confusing... I feel we can understand each other better than anypony else, even my own sister.”

“Huh… So you’re asking me to relearn life together… With you, with the sole purpose to rejoin society?” She nods her head happily, she doesn’t say anything but I can tell by her facial expression she’s hoping I will say yes.

“You know what, sure; why not I would be honored to give it a shot.” In a split second she has me wrapped in her wings in a bone crushing hug. She doesn’t look it but my god she has the strength of… a god…

‘Wait a minute…’

“Can’t BREATH.” I whimper as she lets me go. I start a coughing fit as I stretch my back cracks audibly throughout the dreamscape.

“Sorry…” She gives me a sheepish look. “I am simply thrilled I have another friend to talk to now!” She starts to stamp excitedly flapping her massive wings carelessly almost hitting me in the process.

“Well in that case where does her highness wish to start.”

“Wherever you wish the dreamscape is your canvas.” She smiles her tail happily thwapping the ground as she plops where she is

‘There are no lies we can tell ourselves that are hidden in a dream.’

“Let’s get to it.”

Chapter 17: Just one of those days.

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1 The Beginning... (Revised)

Author's Note

I hope all of you have a great new year! I hope I will join you there; Brand new revised chapter!

4000 Words turned into a much better (In my Opinion) 10000+, Every week I will try to revise each chapter.

Chapter 1 The Beginning... (Revised)

<><><><><>A New Beginning<><><><><>

<><><><><>Chapter 1 The Beginning<><><><><>

<><><><><>Revised : 12/20/21<><><><><>

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” ― Paulo Coelho

This is a sad day for all of us, and to none is it sadder than to me. Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins. There is only one thing left for me to do: That is, to devote what strength and powers I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have to sacrifice so much...

<><><><><><><><><><>

My eyes slowly crack open to see the welcome rays of the early sun as the sound of a bugle echoes in the loudspeakers, thus starting another long day, but hopefully, today is the day I can go home and see the woman I fell madly in love with years ago. I roll over as well as my other six friends in bunks around me. As they all jump from their respective bunks I hop down and begin putting my standard uniform on: A standard issued tank-top and desert-camouflage pants over my white underwear.

I am currently going through the long reintegration process on a coastal base just coming fresh out of a 36-month deployment in the middle east; we were wheels down approximately a month ago, one wounded, two dead out of my unit of eight. Due to the fighting in the Nema region and the chilling experiences we faced that day holding down one key area we were rotated out quickly thereafter and sent back stateside after our absurdly long deployment.

Of our eight mary band of what I'd affectionately call psychos, only six of us actually made it out, our newest member Gabriel Uniaze- shot and killed by a sniper round to the neck. He was dead in mere minutes in the heat of the shootout with insurgents. It was his first and last deployment; and the reason why I am racked with guilt, it's because of him that I was recklessly injured and subsequently removed from combat due to mental fatigue. He was nominated by our unit whole heartedly for the medal of honor for showing bravery at such a desperate hour.

Being this is the start of a longer story, I like to mention that the moment we landed back stateside the safe embrace of my home country the weight of those decisions and empty promises weighed even more heavily on my conscience- Especially that of Gabriel's death. As his commanding officer at the time I the actions or non-action thereof falls directly on me. Of course, the whole unit attended his funeral thankfully the honor guard presented the flag to the family. That being said they knew who I was, and regardless of their kind words, I knew that they hated me and everything I stood for, whether they didn’t say it their eyes told me all I needed to know.

Aside from Gabe- the other casualty was one of my close friends Mitch Tav, we called him M-tac, he was our radioman at the time, he and a few other fellow Marines were in a mrap when a well-placed RPG nailed his convoy on patrol. I wasn’t there when he was killed but that exact reason is why it bothers all of us to this day and why we made an effort to visit him as soon as we got home as he was buried while we were still on deployment- No rest for the weary.

Above my bunk is a man named Stavo, we call him Stav, he's our resident MG operator, also one of my longtime best friends- from high school to basic. Also one of our most rowdy in the unit. Then across the way is Noz and Sean, both joined on during basic and were assigned to our unit as infantry support and radio operators respectively, and have been with us only since the beginning of our deployment. Directly to my left is Sao pang and Robert Leshaw, both are E.O.D.T’s respectively.

Lastly to my right is Mav and SJeng Melba, or as the group loves to call him Mr.chinaman for his heavy accent. Make no mistake though neither of these two is anything but loyal brothers as they went with us through basic and are regular infantry trained in most positions and are almost more experienced than me in a few regards.

With those introductions in mind the sun barely cracking the horizon we get our beds in order and usual morning inspection before making our way to mess hall, as one of our longest-standing traditions among long time members among us- it's usually a race between Robert and Stavo beating just about 90% of the base for the first fresh dibs. While sometimes we will join in on this moment of merriment the rest of us “civilized” assholes will usually take a seat and wait for the storm out and catch up on the news- before moving onto PT and then usually a shower thereafter. Today is a little different considering our unit is technically on liberty leave. We tend to get PT done before chow and hit the showers and get on with life whether it's on the base or not.

The primary reason today is the exception is lately is the disturbing news taking place across the Atlantic, with the latest tensions going on. Everyone is more on edge than usual- even though we can’t afford to waste our liberty time, we still keep up on current events. Namely, those going on in the far east- You see the year is 2050, roughly around the peak of late summer, the sun is shining and most people are out enjoying their day to day lives almost ignoring the blaring fact that tensions have risen so sharply in the middle east that the backers behind that war currently beginning to overstep the proxy wars they start and go directly for the kill so to speak.

That being said, the two main players that haven't changed in the last half-century are the United States and the Peoples Providence of Russia, formerly known as the Federation of Russia, after the last man in charge of the nation died and passed the torch onto a new dictator hell-bent on returning the world to its nineteenth-century roots. Today is the day that peace talks between the UN and the PPoR, are continuing today after months of deliberation. Something that could directly involve at least twelve different nations declaring war on each other due to land borders alone being overstepped by the PPoR- the outcome of this conference; will likely determine their intentions and the entry into what could be the most costly war to date since 1939...

Almost on queue, I watch our base SSG quietly slip in as he usually does in the morning to catch unaware personnel off guard; This time he’s holding a clipboard and not looking too happy, but then again who can tell when he is happy when he practically has a permanent scowl on his face. He takes a single piece of paper off the clipboard and tacks it on the daily bulletin board before slipping back out of the room oddly enough without saying a single word.

Being partially curious and knowing my rank as a grade 0-2 lieutenant, it's my job to keep in the loop when new announcements come to light; even minor ones. I get up leaving my tray unattended with the rest of my men who are now currently chowing down without a care in the world. I lean in and look at the rather short announcement on the board.

“You may see a lot of news coverage of the current meetings with the PPoR, the United States has proposed a settlement and possibly pull out of troops from the middle eastern provinces under Russian backing; As such, this is being done to bring them back to the negotiating table. The current presidency and his cabinet have decided that this is the best course to avoid total bloodshed. For many of the troops stationed at this base, this may bring a “bad taste” in those who have fought and lost brothers overseas.”

“Hey, what are you reading, chief?” Mav places his hand on my shoulder leaning over my shoulder as he reads the same bracket I do.

“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me?” He looks utterly baffled. “Of fucking course we’re gonna be pissed off. We just lost two guys not to mention your ass just caught a purple heart not even a month ago.” He looks at me curiously. “Why aren't you reacting to this? Normally you’d be more pissed than the rest of us…”

“Oh, make no mistake, I am very pissed right now. But If I strain anything I will be in more pain than I already am.”

“Oh, are you fucking kidding me?” He reads on. “US & Russia haven’t come to any agreements on terms” He sets his plate down and leans in closer in stunned silence as he reads on. Once he finishes I continue re-reading the same announcement, stopping when he puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Austin, you ok?” He shakes me lightly and I snap out of my trance.

“I’ll be fine.” I lie and stare at the ground.

“If you say so” He pats my shoulder and goes back to the rest of the group. I simply walk back and sit at the end of the table while the rest talk about the new announcement. All I can do is think of how the possible outcome of the war between one of the largest military forces in the world couldn’t possibly turn out okay.

“Hey- Austin? You all there man?” Rob waves his hand in front of my face before rapidly snapping his fingers in front of me again and I snap back out of my daydreaming.

‘Total war ' could mean they storm borders or go even more over the top. How can any hierarchy allow this to happen in any form of government? How can anyone let this happen with a conscience.’

“What now, what did I miss?” I look around in a daze snapping out of my trance for a brief moment.

“You missed the discussion. We were asking what your thoughts were on the possibility of war.” He gives a serious look.

“Not gonna lie fellas, I won't waiver the possibility of what happens, I’m worried about one trigger-happy Russian in power without the two cents the good lord gave him to come to a more reasonable decision. But with this current administration wanting to get on its knees and give em’ a ripe blow job I don’t see how we can avoid a war with them if they keep trying to appease them.” I give a flat look as everyone else looks at me quietly, almost completely shocked that I didn’t filter a thing out, even normal personnel who walked by are giving me looks.

“What? Y’all were deployed with me last month and you act surprised that reality could very well slap you three ways from Sunday...” I take my fork and start eating my morning meal while my friends eyeball me closely. I fold my egg over into an omelet and stab it before eating it like a creatine, the rest of my unit following suit and talking among themselves as Stav nudges my shoulder.

"So Austin, what are you doing on your week off?" Stavo asks as quietly as a Stavo can- meaning he said it loud enough for the whole fucking base to hear him- promptly the rest of the unit looks at me curiously.

"I can see tinnitus has not been kind to you Stav… After my checkup and PT I intend to go home and visit my woman." I smile as some of the guys give me a pat on the back. “Although I am a bit damaged she’s still excited to see me after I gave her a call a few days back.”

“I’m just happy she’s stuck with you so long through all the bullshit you put her through.” Stav eats some bacon with a satisfyingly crisp crunch. The rest of the group have supportive approving smiles on their faces as they continue to dine with me, some even nodding.

Soon afterward, the SSG returns to us and eventually sits down to talk to us, he’s relatively new to the base as he transferred in shortly before I rotated out oddly enough the situation seems to show that he too is worried about the current diplomatic problem facing the country at this moment…

He explains that he’ll be going home to visit his wife and child who’s still a toddler as soon as the base permits him to do so; sadly if I ever wanted to start something like a family I don't think now would be the opportune time to do so. It will have to wait because the only way that child would ever have a father figure is if I retired- with war seemingly approaching I doubt I’d make it back to raise the kid.

Frankly; I feel that the guys who are actively deployed and out of the country from their families are the strongest bastards in existence, having to keep in the back of their minds that they have a kid looking forward to their return- not only that but the ability to keep work and home time completely separate and make critical judgment calls without fail.- Personally, I feel that with my luck I'd be shot and leave the kid fatherless as he had to witness the honor guard hoist my five-star oakwood casket into the ground. I simply can't justify it.

I push the thought from my mind and realize it’s almost time for me to depart, so I say my goodbyes and start packing my old, tattered traveling sack. As I continue packing my bag, finishing by putting my marine uniform on and neatly pressing out the wrinkles before putting my hat on, I start for the gate towards an awaiting line of black SUVs taking personal home, some for the first time in years...

A Private first class holds a sign in front of his waist with my name on it. I approach him calmly as he immediately drops the sign to his side before saluting at attention before uttering the phrase.

“Sir.”

“At ease, private. Thanks.” He nods before opening the trunk and taking my bag and putting it in the back as I climb in and let out a sigh, the pain easing slightly as I rest on fine leather, probably the first time since I left.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Despite being able to relax slightly as we drive along the highway, there's not a lot of cars going either direction despite it being noon, as we drive by over a bump I see as we round a wide turn a car is currently on fire as a fire department rushes to put it out; on the other side, the side we drive past another car abandoned in the ditch with its hood up.

"Where's all the traffic?" I ask my driver.

He looks in the rear-view mirror, adjusting it slightly.

"I presume you heard the news going on overseas sir? Unfortunately, that news has spread some serious panic across the whole United States... People are missing work; gas prices are increasing and to top it off the nation is looking down the barrel of war, no one wants to go anywhere at the time of crisis…" He chuckles as we pass another broken-down car. On the windows is inscribed,

"Our government is leading us to war! The end is coming!" In rather flamboyant white graffiti writing.

“Case and point sir.” My driver points to the car firmly in the ditch.

‘This whole situation has everyone in a panic and now there are millions that know this. The ball is firmly in the Russians' court at this point it would seem.’

Let's hope it doesn’t go that far.

‘Since when have you ever become an optimist?’

I look out of the window leaning on the door slightly before adjusting myself and trying to relax a bit and put those thoughts to the side. Now’s not the time to have such a negative outlook on things at this moment. Today is a happy day- a day to celebrate and enjoy being alive for the moment. At that moment I start to drift off into sleep as I think about the positives. As soon as I do, it feels like but a second before the driver is gently rocking my shoulder waking me up.

“Sir, sleep well?” He smiles as he holds my bag. He pulled up into my driveway and already unloaded my bag and left it at the door before waking me up. I look at my wrist and realize I've been out for almost an hour now. A fairly quick trip home in all fairness considering how far I am from the base- I unbuckle myself as the private holds the door open for me I stumble slightly he moves to almost catching me. I put my hand up slightly and nod to him thanking him quietly before I stretch carefully not to pull anything.

“Thanks for the ride.” I look at his name tag on his name is Garcia Verz. “Private Verz, have a good rest of your day.” He smiles before giving me a respectful salute and hopping back in the SUV and backing out and driving down the street.

I look around to see not all much has changed- even my yard is still vibrant green and tended to by my neighbors. Granted I did pay them to do so but insisted they’d do mine when they were done with theirs completely free, quite possibly the best neighbors I’ve ever had; I kneel down next to the potted plant next to the door and unlock it before swinging the door open, the late afternoon sun casting a golden glow on the hardwood floor as a pleasant smell of vanilla candle wafts through the air. The caretaker I hired must’ve been through here recently because it's quite pungent.

First things first, I take my bag and my cap tossing them on the couch and grab the nearby remote and click the TV on before making my way to the kitchen to make a snack before giving my physical therapist a call to get that scheduled for either tonight or tomorrow. I reach to the top of my fridge grabbing a bag of chips and a bowl. I pour them into the bowl before getting a cheese stick out of the fridge along with a cold Sprite. From the kitchen I can hear the TV blaring commercials; finally, it seems to make it rather convenient to the local news network; and unsurprisingly the first thing to come up… the appeasement talks with Russia.

I quickly sit down on the couch next to my discarded bag and click the volume up, the female newscaster has already begun elaborating on the situation in earnest.

“...as tensions continue to rise between in the UN as they battle onwards with the current peace settlements in full swing since six this morning tensions have never been so high since the height of the cold war-, United States representative, Charles Brunt; and the Ambassador of PPoR and delegates of 15 other nations deliberate more in detail how these discussions may bring not just war to the borders along the Russian Caucasus but perhaps global conflict may just be inevitable; PPoR representative (Annushka) Аннушка was earlier seen this morning entering the plaza with heavy protection… As always We’ll have more on that story as events unfold, stay tuned. Back to you, Jen."

“Well, that was some interesting news, Mia! Coming up next: Electric over Gas, with today's rising gas prices reaching an all-time high of $6.10 per gallon will switching to an EV save you money? Stick around and find out with this latest summary coming up next on News 21-” I turn the television to another channel since anything is basically better than this.

Everywhere I go, this whole situation has everyone so scared that society is practically falling apart at the seams because one nation with enough nuclear technology to send us back to the first ice age is in control under what is essentially a psychopath hell-bent on Stalinism at its peak. So bad is the situation I almost think it would make Stalin blush...

I sit down and try my best to collect my thoughts, before realizing how pointless it is to even bother worrying at this point, there's not a thing I can do other than wait and find out. Seeking a distraction, I finish unpacking my bag and eventually take a quick shower and stare at myself in the mirror, the fresh bullet hole in my abdomen still bright pink... By the time I finish my other various tasks, it’s about 10 o'clock at night and I realize I have yet to call the woman and check in on her as I am sure that she’s scared of the situation unfolding. Rather promptly I head into my room and pick up the phone and dial her number and listen to it ring before going to voicemail…

“Hi! This is Ashlyn, I’m not able to come to the phone right now, please leave a message!” I wait with bated breath unfortunately she doesn’t pick up.

“Hey Ash, I wanted to check up on you make sure you’re doing ok, I just got home and I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner, it's been a little hectic as I'm sure you can guess; anyways I hope you will call me back soon- but knowing what time it is; you’re probably asleep. Love you, babe! Kisses~” I hang the phone up before closing the blinds in my room before kicking the bed sheets down and laying down and turning the lights off and slowly drifting into the realm of sleep hoping for a better day tomorrow.

The next morning comes and I rise from my sleep, not quite knowing when I’d fallen asleep, to begin with. I can only hope that maybe today things have calmed down a little bit or maybe something has been worked out to alleviate the situation. I turn the computer on and grab a mug to pour my coffee into. Starting Google up, I see a news bulletin flash upon loading the homepage with a heavy sigh I reluctantly click it. As hopeful as I am upon waking up, my mood is shattered instantly by the simplest and worst possible headline I could’ve imagined possible.

"Charles Brunt has been killed in a mysterious car fire! Is the PPoR responsible?" I let out an audible gasp and nearly dropped my mug as the words sank in at that instant as I scroll down half a page a limousine is on fire as a fire brigade attempts to put the fire out...

"No...no...th-this can't be happening!" I panic as I pace the room with my hands in my hair. Seconds later, I stop and think about what’s going to happen. “How many things could they do to us!? Why do I always have to be right?” I scream in my mind as I resume my pacing, before realizing that I need to get in touch with everyone as quickly as possible as things could be heating up quickly.

With such haste, I rush to the phone and dial Ash’s number again trying my damndest to be annoying as possible and get an answer from her. No answer. I dial again, and with the same result, I click on the TV and flip through the channels quickly getting to the local news only to unsurprisingly see the news trying to calm people down and utterly failing in doing so.

“The Pentagon has released official confirmation that Charles Brunt in fact deceased in a car accident last night on his way to his hotel- unfortunately the UN council has temporarily adjourned the talks at this time as the PPoR representative has returned to Russia on a private plane this morning shortly following Mr.Brunt’s death; the fact there has not been any comment is where suspicion has risen.”

“In addition to the PPoR representative, there has also been rumors of a potential cyber attack being aimed directly at the United States as to what purpose this attack is for we cannot be too certain at this time and we urge citizens to remain calm and contact local authorities for directions as we await government word on the situation as this story unfolds to its conclusion.”

I immediately turn it off and sit on the couch, running my fingers through my hair as I try my hardest to comprehend the severity of the situation. As I think about it, the phone begins ringing- I frantically fumble with the stupid thing before answering.

"Hello?" I ask raspily, the worry in my voice very clear.

"Oh my god, Austin- I’m so sorry I missed your call last night! I was asleep…" a soft voice speaks to me almost instantly calming me down.

"H-hey Ash, it's good to hear your voice too.” I manage a smile.

“So why are you trying to call me so frantically, I missed at least three calls from you now.” I can hear her concern for me very clearly. I breathe slowly and think of the easiest way to tell her.

“Have you watched the news today?”

“Not yet why? I try not to watch it because the whole situation is depressing to think about.”

“Not that I don't disagree with you on that; however news just came in that the Russians may have had a hand in killing the US representative last night…”

“I’m sorry I know that’s probably really bad, but can you explain it a bit more to me.”

“It means there's been provocation from Russia against us… It means I could be bootlegged back into service if this gets any worse, the US may have to quickly deploy there and get ready for what could be a full-scale war.” I sigh loudly. “Depending on how bad it gets, that includes me as soon as the doc clears me.”

“But you just got shot less than a month ago. There's no way they can do that…”

“Normally I’d agree with you but this is a huge conflict waiting for one stray spark to light what is essentially a powder keg.”

"They can't do that!" She shouts in frustration, "They can't!" I hear her cry.

“I’ll be over there as soon as I can. I want to be with you for as long as I can.”

“I’m going to send a message to my boss and let them know…”

“I’ll see you soon Ash. I love you.”

“I love you too…” She hangs up quietly the moment I set the phone down it rings again this time the caller ID is blocked, I press the answer button.

"Hello?"

“Yo, Austin, have you watched the news dude? We just got a directive at the base- the whole god damn sector is locking down; can you get to a secure line?”

“I’m not able to right now why?”

“You know what; fuck protocol on this one, Cyberattack has been confirmed and looks to be happening right now Austin. They’re attacking the BMEWS Satellite grid… They’re attempting to blind us.”

"What?! You cannot be serious right now!” I immediately get to the window and see my neighbors are rushing to pack their belongings and haul ass to god knows where at this point.

“They’re doing it man- They haven't called us back to service yet but you need to find shelter, you and your lady as soon as a possible man.”

“Understood- stay safe Stav.”

“Godspeed- good luck Austin.” The line goes dead.

I hang up the phone and grab my TV remote, turning it on as I grab my cell phone from the charger and immediately try to get ahold of Ash as fast as possible. The TV blares in the background as a loud warning tone is being issued on the official emergency broadcast line that sounds like a thunderstorm warning.

"The United States Government has issued an emergency action notification for the entire nation until further notice. At 12:45 PM Eastern standard time, United States Military Surveillance satellites detected nuclear activity in the following areas: Teykovo, Verkhnyaya Salda, and Tatishchevo. As a result, the president has been moved to a safe, secure location. All citizens are advised to begin preparations for nuclear attack at this time."

I nearly drop the phone just as Ashlyn answers.

"Hello? Yes, Austin what’s happening?" Ashlyn asks, but I can barely process the shock as I fail to speak.

I gather the nerve to finally speak. "There’s been a huge change in plans Ash... Get your most important personal belongings and grab as much food as you can and make your way here double time…"

"What’s going on?” Her voice gets more shakey as she hears the fear in my voice.

"There's a nuclear missile attack alert being sounded as we speak and Stavo just called me to let me know it's real…" While I am on the phone I rush up the stairs and grab a couple of suitcases and fill them with some basic clothing and as much food and water as I can get. I grab water jugs out of the pantry filling them in the sink as fast as possible while staying on the phone with her...

"How soon can you get here?" Just as I utter the words from my mouth I hear the loud scream of a tornado siren that makes my blood run cold... I immediately rush to the window to see people in the streets running in a panicked hurry as they trip and fall over each other for footing as cars rush down the streets playing slalom around pedestrians as pure chaos unfolds.

“I can be there in roughly forty-five minutes…”

“Get moving as fast as you can, things are going bad real quick over here and you’re gonna be on foot, rather be safe than sorry...”

“On it sir.”

“Not the time for jokes Ash.” I promptly hang up and continue packing things running to and from my house to my shed and down the set of stairs under it to my incidentally refurbished blast shelter…

Five minutes pass and so far nothing has happened the panic and chaos has subsided but the siren is still blaring in the far off distance I tuned my radio to the EAS frequency and I’ve managed to put as many supplies from the house in the bunker as best I can I’m at the top of the stairs waiting when I hear the radio go static for a split second before completely cutting out as a bright light erupts from the distant city some 60 miles away.

I realize it’s getting bigger and brighter even from this distance the bright light is getting more immense as the reality of the situation hits home- quite literally. With the most haste I’ve had in my entire life I race down the stairs and slam the shelter door shut and lock it down and back away slowly. A few minutes later I can hear the shed above being annihilated from the shockwave. The very worst situation possible has just happened- and the horrific reality also slowly dawns on me, Ash was likely close to the epicenter of that blast…

Whether it’s out of pain or fear, I can't tell sobbing and shouting at the top of my lungs in pure agony. I take my anger out and punch the concrete wall repeatedly; eventually, the blunt force bloodying my knuckles eventually running me out of steam and sliding down my back crying quietly, trying to come to grips with the whole situation at once. Not even an hour after being warned of the danger the area around and possibly many more have been likely struck by nuclear weapons from a psychopath behind a desk in a nation over the Atlantic… I can only pray that we were able to retaliate and show them the power of the M.A.D doctrine…

A quiet sob echoes in this empty tomb-like structure that is now my home for the foreseeable future…

<><><><><>One Week Later<><><><><>

Seven days- Seven whole days have passed since the blast- there’s been a lot of seismic activity since then and I have yet to open the hatch for fear of fallout poisoning leaking in; the area near the door is most likely contaminated, Life inside my bunker isn't totally miserable apart from coping with the immediate losses; I am however thanking myself for at least having the place refurbished and restored long before this ever happened it certainly is nice to at least have something to do. However, 7 days alone have started to take a toll on me mentally, with not a single soul for me to talk to and the demons within steadily chipping away at my very soul.

The main problem right now is I am presently running out of supplies- with some varying bit of knowledge I have on this kind of scenario which is probably next to zero, I do know however that the first three or so days are the most critical to the radiation given by fallout to start winding down significantly enough to not require as much protective gear- which obviously I don’t have.

Inevitably it really comes down to pure luck at this point- whether or not the wind blew the most radioactive fallout my direction or not is completely unknown- unsurprisingly either because of my depth underground right now or because of complete society failure I am not picking up a signal from anyone or anything. Which does not bode well for me either.

Strapping on what I'd affectionately call my “big boy pants” I put as many layers on as I can safely carry and trudge my way up to the hatch with thick gloves. I pull the release handles and push the hatch door open and try to lay it over on the ground. An unpleasant and unwelcome chill hits me in the face- it's the middle of summer and snow is wafting me in the face as the cold air has frozen a lot of structures around me- this means that nuclear winter has indeed hit hard and that the risk of radioactive fallout has indeed blown my way, to what extent is unknown. It is also pitch black out here, a ghostly quiet as the snow under my feet crunches as I shut the hatch behind me and continue looking around at the immediate area.

I approach what remains of my house, it's not even fair to call it a mess- the whole damn house is half destroyed, half the windows are cracked and blown out. The garage has collapsed and my house is close to collapsing with it. With some more investigating I managed to find my way into the garage and find a beam from the house that has basically made a hotdog out of my car. On the shelf, I grab a flashlight out of a yellow safety case luckily it's a shake charge type and doesn't require batteries I scour my house and find nothing is left indicating someone either tried to loot the place or the shockwave was powerful enough to knock things around so badly it is useless to find anything in it.

With some inquisition I continue walking down the street investigating the homes of my neighbors for survivors- much to my horror there are some bodies in some of the bathrooms of the homes whole families crushed in the ceramic tiles of the shower cuddled together in their last moments.

After an hour of looking I come to the immediate conclusion that the only reliable place I can get any sort of supplies and possibly shelter and rendezvous with friendly troops is my home base approximately some eighty miles to the south of the blast the complete opposite direction of the blast it's likely in better shape than here which is closer to ground zero despite being sixty miles to the city.

If my calculations are correct- and I am horrible at math- there's zero chance of me being able to trudge my happy ass all the way there anytime soon- It would be in my better interests to find a means of transport, despite that I continue to walk down the street looking for anything that may be still operable- the weather getting progressively worse and worse down to where I can barely see three feet in front of me however the extra layers benefitting me significantly keeping me warm.

I come to a gas station or at least the remnants of one the windows blown out and many cars stacked up every possible way in a panic as many are smashed up some of them still with their occupants still at the wheel- faces firmly planted in the airbag large glass shards impaled into their faces and various other orifices a truly horrific scene… I try my best to avoid vomiting into my mask as I search around for any sign of vehicles that may still be functioning.

By some miracle, I spot a lone SUV parked next to a Humvee most likely both vehicles are from my base. I open the door to the hummer first and press the start button. Lucky me it does try to turn over but it seems to be siphoned of its gas. I go to the SUV next and pull the handle to find that it’s locked.

I walk around it checking all the doors only to find that the trunk is left unlocked- it is indeed from my base when I see a carbine in the back inside a black case- a handy find. I crawl through the interior over the seats to the driver seat and find the key luckily in the ignition- probably left there in a panic and the vehicle locked itself. I twist the key, hearing the v8 turnover and rumble to life as the display console goes through its startup checks. With a smile, I slowly reverse the vehicle past the mashed-up pile of various other cars and make my way onto the main street and continue my trip south to my base.

To my misfortune the next several miles aren't enjoyable by any stretch- constantly I’m having to swerve around burnt-out cars and cars piled up in a crash and bodies strewn around the place. I even managed to find a forward operating military medic camp for the wounded. I didn’t stop because I didn’t want to bear witness to the horrors that were likely there, there's nothing on the radio; it's like the whole state's communications have been essentially wiped from the face of the earth.

Even with bright headlights it’s still a blur and I’ve nearly hit a few abandoned cars, but thankfully after a couple of hours of slow driving I make it safely to the base, and rather surprisingly there's not a soul here either, the security gate is smashed down; however, the snow’s getting worse and I need food to survive this horror I’ve found myself in. I drive around the base and park it in the vehicle compound which is essentially a hanger that would normally be full of all types of vehicles...

As I get out of the car it’s like entering a ghost town- not a soul here, the adjacent hangar is full of cots and not a single one has an occupant. Not a single indication as to what happened or where everyone went. This base had hundreds of personnel and now it's just me here; I shake my flashlight and begin investigating, conveniently most of the doors are propped open as it appears power is out and the doors would be locked down- so there’s that at least. Interestingly enough it appears this base was not a primary target as there appears to be no damage to it apart from power being out I presume that's because the target was the infrastructure surrounding it.

After a quick evaluation; I return to the SUV opening the trunk and grabbing the rifle and a mag of ammo bump slapping it in before hitting the bolt catch racking the first round. Using the included sling I put it around my neck suspending the rifle in front of me as I search the place more a bit more making my way to the cafeteria the doors here are locked I take the butt of the rifle and smash the window reaching in to flip the deadbolt behind it being wary of glass shards.

With the door unlocked I start looking around only to see everything basically left in the same spot since the day I left- down to the same news bulletins still there. I press on and enter the kitchen, finding a bunch of preserved meats in the freezer- not sure how good they are with the power being out with a probably good judgment call; I opt to leave them there. Nearby in the adjacent pantry, I manage to find canned peaches and assorted other canned goods like tomato soup and beans. I grab my bag from the side taking it off and with haste start tossing cans into my bag along with any bottled water there also happens to be some canned soda in there as well.

With being a regular at this base I locate the armory, a couple of extra mags can't hurt especially if the opportunity arises and the ability to hunt is possible without the risk of radiation poisoning. That being said; I make my way down a few corridors my bag jangling with the sound of cans before coming to a steel-plated door with the words “armory” over the top, much to my misfortune it's locked however being that I used to know the mechanics here I know there's an acetylene torch in the maintenance bay not far from here.

After a short walk back to the SUV I put my bag in the trunk as I make my way to the maintenance bay, as expected in the corner marked in bright hazmat stripes I find the torch and wheel it back to the armory- now at first this seemed like a good idea but the possibility I could create an ammo fire cutting this door open could happen- it seems like an acceptable risk. I torch the deadbolts and the hinge the door essentially falls under its own weight, after moving the equipment out of the way I tug the door the hinges still red the door falls forward with a loud crash enough to make my ears ring. Inside the armory is almost stuffed to the brim with ammo and rifles in racks. I quickly grab a few and put them in my side pockets before moving on.

As I walk down the empty halls there are many interesting things in this building making absolutely sure no one is here- I walk through another set of double doors the wall color changes from tan to bright white there's a bunch of hazard warnings plastered everywhere they could find a blank spot to put them.

“Caution, Live Ammo Used- Authorized Personnel only.” I chuckle for a moment. “I’m authorized” with a smug look as I walk into an adjacent room.

The windows are black as I kick the door open and look around to see a lot of lab equipment and a bunch of what looks like a test facility for certain types of equipment that need to be calibrated. In one room I find a rifle placed on a stand cleared- and a piece of plate armor in front of the barrel; looks like a test area for armor. With a nod, I walk back out and check other areas as well just out of curiosity.

The majority of these rooms are filled with an assortment of test equipment and testing new weapons and other various pieces of technology and being deployed with select units before becoming fully deployed. I pass another set of doors to find a large warning sign on it.

“Caution: Liquid Nitrogen - Gloves and Face shield required beyond this point.”

‘I wonder if this is what I think it is…’

There have been rumors surrounding the newest technology to save lives on the battlefield in recent years- spanning as far back as two decades ago as a matter of fact. The technology then was much more unstable and riskier than the alternatives and for the longest time was left more like a freak sideshow. I pass through the doors scanning the area before being greeted by a set of locked glass doors. With some aggressive negotiations with the said door I shoot the hinge in the middle of the two before forcing them apart and walking down a flight of stairs into a sterile-looking lab the area seems to actually somehow still have some power as the lights kick on- not to their full brightness but dim enough to make things out.

Inside this room there are multiple control panels and plenty of clipboards full of information, quickly scanning through them I see that the name of this particular project is known as ‘Project CP VR.5’ in layman's terms it is what I initially suspected- a mobile deployment deep sleep pod for wounded soldiers. I approach another door, this one is a metal slide door with a small viewport, I stand on my toes to peer inside and see multiple pods laying horizontally stacked side by side a small stream of vapor wafting off each as they glow an ominous blue.

Luckily there's no need to break anything in here. I press a simple green button and the door opens with a hiss allowing me access I walk in and examine the pods there are many danger signs warning me about the use of Liquid Nitrogen that gloves are required to handle. Not surprising but what is it there are at least six pods here being tested and not one of them is occupied.

I look a bit closer and approach one of the control panels attached to the side of one of the pods and tap what looks like a touch screen- surprisingly the screen boots up and runs a test sequence before displaying current information on the system. What appears to be nitrogen levels to the vitals of the occupants which is currently set to N/A. I tap the screen again and the screen prompt pops.

“CPR5 #3- Begin test sequence?” It flashes in front of me. I hesitantly press it and the inside of the pod makes a loud hiss before cycling the inside of the pod the lid slides over the opening to reveal the inside of the pod a soft-looking cushion and propped up headrest as vapor streams over the side. The pod beeps at me grabbing my immediate attention.

“Power Levels low- Power cell requires charging- Standby mode engaged.” The lights in the pod suddenly dim as its main functions keep going but all accessories associated with it start to dim down, at that moment the power in the room flickers for a moment before completely shutting down the room instantly goes pitch black only illuminated by all the pods in this room giving off a rather creepy red glow now instead of blue.

After twenty years of advancements in this particular technology, the application of this pod is to be deployed to the front and seal vitally wounded soldiers and transport them back stateside where the medical technology is more available thus saving more people's lives. Other applications obviously would be long-term storage of a being- Other branches of the armed forces such as ‘Space Force’ also have suggested the use of this technology as a primary transport to move people from earth to mars when that technology is possible to do such a trip. It hasn’t happened yet that the tech is just now starting to come to full usage. It's still not perfect but despite that fact, it’s an incredible feat of technology.

This being a mobile example of the pod, my immediate thought with the current situation is along the lines of ‘can I use this to save myself for the long term.’ Incidentally, even if the pod were to fail and kill me at this rate it's going to be a back and forth problem of surviving and finding others and hoping infrastructure in the area steadily returns.

I take a seat in a nearby chair in the lab and think it over for a short while, debating my options at this point.

‘I feel like a coward if I went this route…’

Who’s here to judge you though? You already managed to beat the odds against the blast- congratulations, now you get to sit it out and scour the area with your injuries and slowly kill yourself in this radioactive infested shit hole. But hey- at least you won't be a coward.

‘I get that. But what if someone else lived as well. It’s my duty to be faithful to those I serve. This country.’

I got news for ya pal but from the looks of it let's be real here, not a soul is here to save they either died or moved on you are stuck way behind the lines. You’re probably already a statistic…

I growl in annoyance putting my hands to my temples trying to think about what I’m gonna do here- I could try to survive or go into one of these and hope I wake up again when things get better or someone finds me here. With a heavy sigh, I think it out and look around at the pod and steadily plan out how I can move one of these bulky bastards.

<><><><><>Multiple Trips Later<><><><><>

A few hours have passed and I managed to get some tools to start disassembling the pod to make it fit through the doors and into the trunk of my car. Thankfully these pods have wheels on them to roll around for mobility's sake. With some effort and careful work taking all the wiring off the pod which is only a handful of sleeved cables attaching the control pad to the pod and a few thick cables attaching it to the wall, after a few prods into the socket on the wall come to find out its just standard wall power around 110 volts. Probably designed this way so it can be used in other nations because the other output is the European standard for power outlets. This pod is designed to be utilized everywhere which works in my favor.

After reading some more documentation in the lab I also managed to locate the Liquid Nitrogen canisters housed under the service panel of the pod’s casing and are designed to be quickly swapped relatively easily with minimal tooling, also managed to find the storage closet for beer keg styled storage canisters. Luckily all of them are full. I already took a couple up the stairs and loaded them into my transport.

With some creativity, I put some boards on the stairs and push the heavy bastard up the stairs into the main hallway and roll it into the hangar into the waiting trunk of my vehicle. Unfortunately, the pod is slightly too long to fit in the SUV's massive storage. I cannot close the trunk fully but with a strap, I lock it down before getting the control panel and cables loaded in beside it. With that, I leave a note in the main area letting maybe some wanderer know that I was here and there are possibly other survivors out here before hopping in the driver seat and departing the base- as it gets further away in the rearview before disappearing in the fog of the storm I make my way back home…

After completing the same drive back home, avoiding the cars and bodies strewn all the way back the storm is progressively getting worse. The temperature on the dashboard of the car indicates it's a balmy 29 degrees outside - in the middle of summer. I pull up to the shattered remains of my house and drive over the fence into the backyard backing up to the entrance of the bunker, with some haste I begin unloading my supplies into my underground lair trying to avoid disturbing the ground as little as possible to avoid stirring any possible contamination.

Similarly, how I loaded the pod into the trunk I use planks of wood and cardboard to slide it down the flight of stairs onto the ground floor, naturally doing this on my own I almost eat shit as it almost runs me over, however, at this point, there's no going back the pod is down here now and won't be able to be pushed back up the stairs it came from. With the pod firmly on the ground, I rapidly get the rest of my supplies out and slam the trunk closed before pulling the concrete door shut and latching it shut, I also grabbed one of my gas cans out of the remains of my house to fuel the generators in the sealed room at the back of my little underground abode.

<><><><><><><><><><>

In the dimly lit room of my bunker I sit on the small couch writing in a diary, I started keeping documents so that if by some miracle if someone ever manages to find me- it also brings me some solace in these bleak times, I scribble with my pen, I wince when I do because the bullet wound I earned myself is starting to hurt steadily more and more because I’m putting myself through worse and worse physical training to pass the time- there's also a lack of painkillers to help ease the pain, I wince as I scribble some more in my diary.

‘Diary - Day 17’

"It has been a couple of days since my last entry here, but it's been around seventeen days since the disaster- Haven't come into contact with anyone; pretty everyone is gone in the city at this point no wanderers have shown up. I’ve left plenty of marks for people to follow in the surrounding neighborhoods for any stray survivors that may wander through so that they can rest here.”

“Can't say I'm doing any better- my wound is starting to radiate pain down my spine which I'm sure is probably not a good sign- I am still trying to exercise so that I stay in the best form I can. I hope that there are some pockets of the nation left to come to aid… Truth be told, I'm not sure what to do at this point…"

I sigh and look over at the small fold-out kitchen and see the few cans of food I have left.

“There are about three cans of food varying from peaches to beans and bacon left- my generator is starting to falter from time to time, I’ve done a few repairs to keep it running but the carbon filters in that room that vent to the outside are also starting to fail. I have to make a decision quickly and figure something out or I won't last another week and that's being generous.”

I have a couple of options left now. I can try to make my way south past my base and try to find others, I was hoping maybe some of my units would’ve come to find me but at this point, I'm not sure if they’re alive or dead. The only other option at this point is glowing ominously in the corner of the room that I shoved it in. The cryo pod has been drip charging ever since I brought it back home. Its systems are fully charged and its Liquid Nitrogen tanks are replenished as I've been back and forth on the decision working it over in my head.

Hesitantly I approach the pod and press a button on the panel the glass screen rolls over allowing access to the soft padding a resounding hiss emanates as it vents off excess pressure of the LN. With almost a look of sadness, I look around my home and go into a nearby closet and grab some blankets and sheets out throwing them over the couch and other belongings, I clear the rifle I took out of the SUV and put the mags on a shelf inside a nearby closet next to the fold-out bed. I wrap the rifle up in sheets and make sure it's safe before closing them up.

With sorrow in the pit of my stomach I walk up the stairs and throw the hatch open and take a look around, the house finally gave up and collapsed on its own weight it's nothing more than a pile of wreckage, the snow has subsided but the cold wind smacks me across the face it's a tad foggy out today. I try to get one last good look at the area before sealing it back up once more and returning to the side of the pod.

I walk over to the small shelf, I managed to recover some photos out of the house before it collapsed, with some blankets, I gently cover each one up with care, some small tears streamed from my eyes onto one photo, in particular, a photo in summer of Ash in a cute tank top and a single ponytail at the park, just before I was deployed last year. With great care I wrap it up in a smaller blanket and set it beside the pod before taking one last look around, I make sure to shut the generator off instantly the lights go out; only leaving the pod's ominous glow illuminating the room.

On the control pad I enter an estimated freeze cycle, the maximum number is twenty years, It pops up a red warning box.

“Warning, Unknown side effects of prolonged suspended animation may cause permanent brain damage or death. Continue?” I tap the confirm button.

“Enter Patient’s approximate weight/height.” I type in on the num pad and click confirm.

“Settings confirmed. Please prepare the patient for the procedure.”

With some hesitation, I slowly climb in and swing my feet over the edge, I lean over and press continues on the pad it begins a countdown.

“Starting #1 cycle. Please wait.” I lay on my back immediately. I quickly snatch the photo of ash and lay it on my chest holding her close as the lid rolls over me. The tinted glass starts to get dim, the pod starts to cycle oxygen for what I presume is L.N. The glass displays a countdown.

‘Well… This is it huh. Either we die here or we wake up in twenty years.’

It has been a good run…

Engage.

A loud hiss, and then… Nothing…

<><><><><>Epiloge<><><><><>

For a short time, I see a black outline of a being slinking along the outside of my pod, its eyes piercing yellow, in a harrowing tone it drags a single claw across the glass scoring it.

“Hmm… Isn't this… interesting, look at that… A human that gave up his own humanity to save his own SKIN! How deliciously evil…” It seductively rattles its voice, almost sounding aroused at the prospect.

“I may… have uses for you yet… Mr.Lancaster- there’s loads of fun to be had. Oh! I can feel it… When you wake up make sure you stop and…” It gets really close to the glass of the pod. My eyes widen as my heart rate increases as he snaps his finger- lights out.

‘Smell the ashes~ I’ll be seeing you soon.’

Chapter 15 : Yo Ho’ Me Hearties and a barrels of… Cider.

Author's Note

Man… Some days I wish I could sit down like I used to and write these chapters more consistently, by now most of you probably wandered off to new stories afar- nevertheless I bring you this long awaited chapter, I know it’s not nearly as long as normal, (believe me it took me forever to wrack my brain to think of how this chapter was supposed to go after I lost the outline.)

Either Way, after countless months I hope you all enjoy it, I’ll see y'all in the next one!

P.S. As per usual, if you guys see any errors I may have missed (more than probable) Please shoot me a comment or a PM. Thank you!

Chapter 15 : Yo Ho’ Me Hearties and a barrels of… Cider.

Chapter 15: Yo Ho’ Me Hearties and a barrels of… Cider.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Well… Here I am, the blazing sun bearing down on me pulling a cart full of barrels to a guard outpost; Thus far I’ve tripped, slipped, and tumbled a few times on this slight incline most likely because of these poor excuses of wheels being so notched. It’s gotten so bad it has nearly used my face as a brake shoe. To be perfectly honest, this is not how I anticipated my day to go, and to think it started off so smoothly too... Yet here I am trudging my way through the blazing hea- I haven't even moved twenty feet… Oh gooooddd damnnn ittt….

<><><><><> One Hour Earlier...<><><><><>

05:22 - Outskirts of Ponyville.

With the sun rising in the distance, I realized the moment I woke up that AJ didn't give me a specific time for me arrive and begin going through today's chores and assignments; so I suppose I may as well arrive a tad earlier just to be on the safe side, lest I receive a metal pony shoe to my grundle.

‘Doesn’t that make your spine shake a bit? Couldn’t you just imagine her curb stomping someone with those?’

NOT HELPING.

Anyways… To account for it, I’ll show up a bit earlier than normal, hopefully I can help them out a bit more and put in more than my fair share of work, something that I’ve been sorely lacking to uphold as of late.

That being said, there’s hardly any light outside as of yet; Rarity wasn’t even awake when I had packed my stuff and walked out the door. Though to keep her from worrying I left a note explaining I probably won't be home till later tonight as a common courtesy.

While walking on the stone paved street I look up at the morning sky, noticing that there aren’t any clouds overhead, I pass into an open area where there are no trees giving way to a perfect view of the Canterlot castle in the distance.

I continue walking with my hands in my pockets as I cross the bridge that leads out of Ponyville, I briefly pause and stare at the arks of sunlight creeping over the distant mountains behind the castle, with a slight smile I pull my hand out of my pocket to adjust the shoulder strap of my bag,

Turning on my heel I continue on my way to the farm a calm breeze blows some leaves across the path as the trees around me sway peacefully. Today I’ll damn well do my best and prove to these ponies I’m more than capable of pulling my own weight; I’ll make sure of it!

<><><><><><><><><><>

Eventually, after a good ten - fifteen minutes of walking up the various dirt trails, I finally arrive at the farm, unsurprisingly no one is out yet... There is however a nice plume of smoke rising from the chimney, judging by the sweet smell in the air, I’m going to assume that it is coming from the kitchen, indicating that I am not only early… I am early enough for breakfast.

I walk up the porch, with each step they squeak under my weight with every motion I take.

‘Don’t you find it slightly intriguing how old this place is? It’s so rustic here that only time could make something this perfect.’

With a smile on my face I hesitantly I raise my hand to the door to knock before my hand can even reach the door it opens quickly to reveal Applebloom.

“Howdy!” She has the biggest smile on her face.

“Top of ta mornin’ to ye lassie!” I give her my best Irish accent and return the smile warmly before scooping her off her hooves like a cat. “Where’s your sister? She in the kitchen?” I stare into her eyes.

“Yup!” She blankly replies maintaining the deadlock with my eyes.

“She was expecting me?” I squint slightly making sure to dramatically raise my eyebrow all the while maintaining eye contact.

“Mhmm!” She copies my facial expression to the T, I can’t help but laugh at her poker face.

“Want a piggy back ride?” I raise an eyebrow still not breaking my stare.

“Yes, please!” She breaks her mimicry blinking a few times before realizing, “Daw darn it… No fair.”

“No one wins a staring contest with me… ever.” I smirk victoriously, “Also, wish granted.” I toss her over my head and let her lay on my shoulders she wraps one hoof around my neck gently while purring slightly.

‘I thought these ponies couldn’t get more cute. Wrong again…’

“TO THE KITCHEN! AWAY!” I take off through the house straight into the kitchen before stopping behind AJ.

“Y’all sound like a herd of cattle…” She turns around only to look up at Applebloom.

“You’re no fun you know that....” I give her a bemused smile.

“Neither are you partner, let’s face that fact here and now.” She winks before kicking the pan on the stove which SOMEHOW manages to send mornings breakfast onto a plate on the nearby table.

‘Bro… she just laid you out.’

No shit, Sherlock.

“H-how even…” I stutter before pointing at the table and to the stove. “HUH???” I point to the stove. “HUUUHHH???” I point to the table. “Do you ponies even physics?”

“So it’d seem, y’all just stand there like a couple of boards, dig in!” I set Applebloom to the floor, she hops into her seat and starts eating I sit beside her. As I've come to expect of equestrian culture their cuisine here is surprisingly much tastier than I anticipated; either that's from all the years of crap they fed us on the front lines, or the general quality of food then as a whole was worse than it is now… Eh either way it's tastier, and still probably healthier.

Looking over at Applebloom I see she's ALREADY cleared her plate clean; I look back at mine, I'm only halfway through it and Applebloom is starting to get this really predatory glare towards me.

“I feel slightly concerned for my safety.”

‘Is it just me or is she getting closer… QUICK! Hide your food and condiments!’

Before I can react Applebloom attempts to take my plate in the blink of an eye a newspaper swats her on the head, looking over I see an old pony who REALLY shouldn't be walking at her age.

“Geeeh, Applebloom you know that is not polite to pesturin’ other ponies food…” She looks at me with a happy and almost homely smile.

“This here is Granny Smith, one of the eldest in the generation of the Apple family!” Applejack sits beside me setting her Stetson on my head, My eyes widen slightly.

“What are ye sayin’ Applejack… are you calling me old…”

‘Stepped right in that one AJ…’

“I’ll have you know I’m still hip as a-” An audible cracking noise practically echoes in the room.

“I’ll just take a rain check on this lecture…” She gently pushes a chair out and sits down, her ears pressed firmly against her head.

“So, the oldest in the Apple family; That's quite amazing, It is an honor to meet you Mrs. Smith.”

“Daw you're a rather friendly….. Thing-” AJ cuts Granny smith off before leaning next to her ear.

“Human, Granny!” Aj leans back towards me.

“A whaaa? Ah human? Well paint me in Zap apples! I thought all of them were extinct… hmmmm” She stares off into space with her hoof to her chin, my jaw drops slightly, I’m left completely baffled by her nonchalant attitude.

‘Holy fuckin’ Crist… What the fuck do I even say to that!?’

AJ takes note and pokes my shoulder gently while pushing me slightly.

“Why don't you finish up breakfast and go help Bigmac, I’m sure he could use some help.” Without a single word I finish my plate and walk outside to the barn to see the red stallion loading barrels into a fairly large sized cart, I approach him he nods at me as he finishes loading the last few crates into the cart.

“Need any help?”

“Eeyup, Need tah’ load the second cart with the remaining goods we’re taking to market.” He hangs off the cart and points to the other cart sitting opposite of us.

“Alright, what do you want me to do after?”

“Choose which cart you want tah’ take.” He simply states before starting to load the second cart, I walk over to the second cart and climb into the back. He kicks a box into the back; sighing slightly I start to slide them into position one after another.

<><><><><> Later… <><><><><>

“Alright- to summarize the route, travel through the town, over the bridge, walk two miles South-East to the guard outpost… Which is conveniently on a hill…”

“That about sums it up sugar cube!” AJ smiles happily, I look at my watch to see its only 05:40.

“While yer’ at it; could you possibly take Applebloom to school?” AJ looks at me with pleading eyes.

“Uh- sure, I suppose it’s not a big issue since I’m going through the town anyways; so why not.” I lift the harness off the ground that I made some last minute modifications’ to and begin to strap it to my lower torso and latching it on firmly. With a hefty heave forward the cart doesn’t budge. I push myself backwards and instantly yank forward this time, however it begins to move with ease.

“Alright, I'm good to go…” From out of nowhere Applebloom pops out of the cart with a small bag around her back. “Guess she is too.”

“Safe travels Austin.” AJ winks at me, I start walking with the cart to the town, beginning what already looks like a very long and painful trip, with a bit of effort I slowly roll the cart down the trail from Sweet Apple acres and back into Ponyville.

Thus far it's been a quiet walk, admittedly I'm surprised Applebloom hasn't said anything to me, looking back, I see she's reading a small book on her hoof.

“What’re you reading?” I look where I'm going to make sure I don’t go off course.

“I’m reading the last few pages of equestrian society for fillies and colts, 3rd generation.”

“So; you are essentially reading about different cultures and people…?” She nods before flipping a page, and continuing with a smile.

“Yup! Ms. Cheerlilee assigned my group to study the Kirin’s history and their modern day cultures- like what they eat or their native languages.”

“Oh… That’s pretty neat actually, way back yonder we used to write group reports on similar studies...; though… most of my partners never really helped me…” I shiver at the thought of my early childhood. “So, real quick what's a Kirin?” I look back at her; I am met with a giggling filly.

“The Kirin is an indigenous group of ponies who also partially look like dragons!”

“Like... Spike?” I feel a small pair of hooves jump down and wrap around my neck, looking out of the corner of my eye I see Applebloom with her book in her mouth.

“Nwat, qite!” I take the now partially slobber covered book and open it to the page with an ornate bookmark in it.

“Turn to page 153, the Kirin are not quite like Spike, Spike is a pure drake- Kirin is both pony AND drake.” She chirps happily.

“Ohhhhh, so they are a hybrid species, that’s cool.” While flipping through the pages of the book, It would be at this point I realized I can't tell which page is 153, and for the 3rd time this week I’ve never had quite a loud collective facepalm in my head for years… I swear I haven’t felt this stupid in forever.

“Lemme’ help you out.” She quickly flips the pages with her hoof and stops on a page.

“My apologies for my lack of knowledge of the equestrian numeric system…”

“At least you speak it fluently!” Applebloom mockingly pats my shoulder.

‘BY SHEER LUCK!’

Would you kindly fuck off…

“Fair point, now then; Kirin… Please correct me if I mess something up… ahrm.” I clear my throat I look at the page and start from the beginning.

“The Kirin is a race of pony-drakes that appeared in the mid… something time period between the… uh…” I look at Applebloom.

“Yingatzi period.” She smiles, as she listens intently.

“Right, The Yingatzi period, they originated within the-“

“Taiponizi”

“Thank you-, Taiponizi territory, legend has it a half dragon and a pony mated, creating an even mix of the two races and creating generations of peace between the two, during this period it is known that the Taiponizi ponies made peace with nearly all neighboring dragons; a bond and friendship that lasts to this day.” I look over my shoulder at Applebloom. “How’d I do?”

“Spot on! You should totally narrate these stories to my class, no one would fall asleep in class!”

“Oh that's mean to your teachers.”

“I’m serious, history is usually quite boring…”

“I personally enjoy history, though it was mostly war related type of history, turning points for my people… That also lead to the end of our civilizations…… Erm. Off of that depressing topic, we’re almost into Ponyville, where do you want me to stop?”

“The school is up here at the junction, just drop me off out front, that will be ok.” She slowly shifts and hops off my back and onto the cart once more. With little to no effort I stop the cart outside the school, and just like every other building in this strange nation, it looks like something straight out of a children's coloring book…

“Alright Applebloom, good luck at school today.” I begin heaving the cart before I hear a new voice.

“Mr. Human~!”

I wonder if I should book it and run… Those two words don't belong in a sentence while I'm around.

‘Your call…’

With a large heave the cart lurches as a dark pink pony walks in front of me, forcing me to stop… again. At this point I'm obligated to just keep moving, sighing within my head, I look to my left to see a red devil on my shoulder it pokes me with its pitchfork.

‘Run her over! Ya’ gots a job to do.’ I look to the other side of my shoulder only to see nothing.

...

‘Isn't there supposed to be two of you…? Where's the other guy…?’ I look at my right shoulder again; still nothing.

It’s official… I'm now the devil's advocate.

‘I gotta say, it’s not as hot as I expected…’

“What can I do for you, ma’am?”

“Oh please, call me Cheerilee, I'm the teacher of this school.” she gestures to the monstrosity that is the school behind her as young ponies flood in, and as I come to expect, about 90% of them are staring at me, however, I will say it got exceedingly funny when one dunderhead ran smack into a wall, serves you right for not paying attention…dumbass... With a smirk on my face I return my attention to Cheerilee.

“Ah, I see… How may I be of service to you?”

“Sweetie Belle turned in her work and told me you had helped her using a method she didn't previously know about.”

‘YAY! I'M IN TROUBLE FOR TEACHING KIDS THE WRONG METHODS GO-’

“When I saw the method, I remembered my college teachings I was taught in Canterlot, the method you taught Sweetie belle, is only taught by the Taiponizi.”

Where have I heard that before…

“I wanted to personally ask you about it; I know it is a touchy subject, but did your race previously use this method commonly…?” She tilts her head before sitting on her haunches.

“Yeah, the method is typically called Order of Operations, I noticed that in Sweetie belle's readings it wasn't really referring to as that, so I clarified it and explained it more in depth- well as good as someone who is crap at math…”

“Because of you, she passed her homework with a A+. She was also able to quickly solve other problems before my other students.” Cheerilee smiles happily.

“Huh; That's… that's surprising... Nevertheless, I'm happy I could be of assistance.”

“No! Thank you for contributing, I know adapting to new surroundings, for you it must be amplified by a hundred…”

“Nah, it isn't as bad as you think, albeit it does have its ups and downs, but I've got help; and plenty of hooves and ears to listen.”

“That is very good! I didn't get to make it to your welcome to Ponyville parties so this may be late, but welcome to Ponyville and the greater Equestria!”

With no time flat she springs up and does a drive by hug just as the bell on the school rings. “I hope you have safe travels Mr. Lancaster.”

“Thanks bu-” She's already walked in and closed the door. “How the hell did you know my last-.....”

“...”

“Pinkie Pie………” sighing aloud, I give the cart a large heave the wooden wheels clatter, I shake my head profusely. No, it wasn't enough for ponies to constantly stare at me, now they are praising me for shit I barely knew as a kid… I live such an over exaggerated existence it's not even comical anymore.

'I feel violated...'

<><><><><>Swamp Crack is a Bitch.<><><><><>

I wonder how these ponies live, it's pushing a solid 100° out here I've been out here for an hour- minimum; and yet I look around I see these ponies walking around doing the same thing, and they don't even look like they are breaking a sweat; meanwhile my ass would like to write a formal complaint about a serious case of swamp crack. Nevertheless, my trip to this “guard outpost” which by the way, it isn't a guard outpost. This thing is the size of a small fortress.

“So, are y’all gonna finish the delivery?” I jump from shock to see BigMac standing there with a small cart attached to him.

“How in gods green earth did you get here so fucking fast?!” he stands there quietly a slight smile gracing his muzzle.

‘Look at this cocky motherfucker...’

Sighing aloud, once more I heave the cart forward BigMac pushing from behind, it wasn't too long before we got to the front gate of this
monster. I silently give Bigmac a glare, to which he simply walks by me and knocks on the front gate, and then… silence. Seriously, as soon as he knocked everything around us went dead silent.

As quiet as it got, the gate begins to creak and open inwards to reveal- (surprise, surprise) yet another mare however, something looks rather… Familiar… I can’t seem to put my finger on it though; BigMac steps forward.

“We’re here tah’ deliver this here cider and other consumables.”

“Huh? OH! Right I remember, give me a sec’.” She adjusts her pitch black glasses before unfurling her wings and in an instant, a red… stripe…

Oh… She comes back and stops exactly in the same spot where she was previously was before; she looks at me completely oblivious.

“You…” I Blankly stare into her sunglasses.

“Pardon?”

“You’re the same mare who was flying CIRCLES around my house this morning, keeping me awake this morning!”

“...” She stares at me.

“...” I stare at her.

“See… What happened there was…” She sheepishly rubs the back of her head.

“Don’t even give me that bullshit!” Meanwhile, BigMac stares at us.

<><><><><>That morning...<><><><><>

I cover my head with a pillow as the picture frames on the walls shake every few seconds, groaning, I get out of bed and look outside to see the red streak fly off, sighing slightly, I close the window and get ready to lay back down, I pull the covers over-; The picture frames rattle as a loud whoosh passes overhead…

<><><><><><><><><><>

“Oh… Sorry.” She gives a halfhearted smile.

‘Yeah… Sorry doesn’t bring back sleep…’

“Can y’all rent a room… We came here tah’ do business…” BigMac snorts, I look at the mare quietly, only to find that she’s slightly red.

“Yeah... Sure. What all did they order from you anyways?” He flips open his saddle back before using his hoof to pass me a scroll. Unrolling it reveals a large list of ordered items, looking back and forth at the carts to the list I put the amount together.

“15 kegs of cider, 15 more kegs of hard cider, and… 45 bottles of “Regal Sunset Cherry Malt…” I look at the mare. “Quick question; are you guys by chance trying to kill yourselves…?”

‘Like you honestly care, that brown s.o.b stole 3 hours of sleep from me…’

Us…

‘Whatever.’

“Ehhhnope, This is jus’ a normal routine shipment.”

“NORMAL? Since when is it NORMAL to have 15 KEGS of booze in an active military base?!”
The mare raises her hoof; “Since the bill that allows us a twenty four to forty eight hour liberty pass, which was enacted in-”

“IT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION!” A collective round of facehoofs thud around me in an almost in unison manner.

“Ya know what, fuck all of you, let’s just get this damn shipment unloaded.” I throw my arms up before walking back over to my cart.
“He sure is an odd one isn't he…?” I slightly over hear her whisper to Bigmac.

“I HEARD THAT!” I deadpan on her, they both stare at me quietly, Bigmac looks back at the mare.

“So Y’all still holding that get tah’ gether tonight?”

“Yeah, the commander gave us that liberty pass for the night.”

‘Inability to resist curiosity at max, must eavesdrop…’ I discretely move myself and the cart closer.

‘Tactical options available.’

“Yeah, that's why we ordered out these barrels, somepony has a plan in motion for all of this.”

“And one large pocket book.” Bigmac returns to his own cart, heaving it forward, he starts moving towards the gate slowly, the mare walks up to me as I get ready to follow.

“I really am sorry about that… I couldn't sleep last night either.” Storm trots behind the cart.

“Ya’ know what... I could sleep, but some pony thought like hell that 4 A.M was a great time to start generating sub-sonic earthquakes.”

“I know! I know! Let me make it up to you though, how about I buy you some breakfast or something.”

‘Don’t do it… ‘

“...”

‘Don’t…’

“Sure. Actually, I kinda’ am hungry after hauling your newly attained one way trip to alcohol poisoning...”

‘What did I just say’

What you say and what my stomach says are two different things.

‘Fair point…’

“Hellooo? Eques to human?” her hoof waves in front of me I flinch slightly. “You alright?”

“Yeah, just thinking about total war and destruction of this overly cute and fuzzy world.” She blankly stares at me trying to comprehend what I said.

“Wha.”

“Relax, I'm joking, just help me pull this cart in.” I start to slowly pull the cart she starts pushing from behind.

“I never did catch your name.” I look back at her over the top of the cart.

“Oh, right; my name is Storm!” She says a little too quickly, her muzzle turns a dark shade of red. “It’s cool to meet you...” She mutters.

“The feeling is… semi-mutual, you still owe me sleep.” Storm gives a huge sigh, her muzzle still red. With a shit-eating grin on my face we haul the cart into the inside of a wooden room masoned with stone, as you would come to expect there's torches on the walls providing gentle illumination- almost looked like an authentic dungeon. While I'm busy admiring the atmosphere, Storm is giving me quite a nasty scowl.

“Not cool dude…”

“Ah well, it was funnier to me anyways…” I continue to grin as we put the cart next to Bigmac whom is performing a rehearsed unloading process, moving this stuff so quickly it honestly puts my hands to shame. To be perfectly honest I'm happy to be just unloading this shit rather than pulling it. I heave myself up onto the cart and start rolling barrels out the back Storm pushing them with her hind leg gently to a wooden shelf creating a rather nice stack of barrels, out of nowhere Storm stops and looks at me curiously.

“So…… I don’t get it- you just woke up this week and you're already working; the princess's offered to provide living accommodations in the Canterlot castle; … yet you are here working your rump off. Why?”

‘Well, damn…’

“Uh… To be honest, I could do that, but it’s simply not in my nature to be the guy who sits around and does nothing; I guess I just can't stand others paying for me to live here free. That's being a freeloader and I don’t want that to be my first impression I make.”
Storm stands there for a moment attempting to process what I just said; how about that! An alien being telling her that I can’t stand being lazy.

“That’s pretty noble;” I smile.

‘Well, at least she di-’

“And stupid.” I instantly facepalm.

“You are such an asshole…”

“A what?”

‘Oh god damn it ...’

<><><><><>Later<><><><><>

I think I lost 50 pounds today, I think I've found a new workout regimen today; How to lose weight not in 90 days, not a year… a day… I can make a fortune off this!

‘And for only 20 payments of 19.99 YOU TOO can look post apocalyptic malnourished!’

So help me god if I step up to offer help AJ with this run again, I'm going to literally shoot myself in the ass.

‘Money…’

FUCK YOUR MONEY…

“Um… hellllooooo l, you spaced again….” Storm waves her hoof in front of me as she hovers in front of my face, I shake my head quickly and blink rapidly.

“Now that I have your attention,” I stare at her silently “I present to you, the Jade Dews Tea shop.”

“Neat… How about that, hot leaf juice, I was never a fan of tea…”

“Neither am I; HOWEVER! I know the owner, and she brought back traditional and authentic Taipone techniques here from her home village.” I follow Storm into a rather bustling Chinese themed entrance, not surprising to see primarily ponies talking casually and sipping tea and eating small rice balls, the smell in here is quite intoxicating to be perfectly honest, the whole setup is… peaceful. Still following Storm she takes a seat in a corner booth as a pony completely covered in a light teal cloak comes to our table.

“Welcome back Storm! It's been a while, and I see you brought a friend too!” She flips her mane to reveal a scaly muzzle. I think at this point my jaw hit the table.

‘Oh no way… That’s freakin’ cool!’

“Hello there! You must be that human that's been raising a huge commotion lately.” she giggles.

“Yeah… I'm THAT human… The name is Austin.”

“It is a genuine pleasure to meet you Austin, my name is Telna!” She kneels slightly on one hoof and bows respectfully.

“How may I serve you two today?”