Applejack had galloped after the human for a good mile or two, in an attempt to show him how much she appreciated the new scar her friend would have. She had ran and ran and ran, her hooves pounding and tearing at the ground as she pursued the man who has caused her friend so much grief. She had been running so fast that she hadn’t even realized that her hat had flown clean off and that he her tails bow was ripped off by a branch thrown at her by the human. Her determination being ever so present with the rage that had built up in her.

But every time she thought she was going to catch up with her enemy, he would make some sort of twist or turn which would cause her to slow down and stumble as she tried to keep up with his ever shifting movements. But after trying and trying to catch him for what seemed like an hour, she saw him jump through the tree line. Realizing that she might have lost him, she put more energy into her hooves as she tried to keep up with him. But as she forced her way through the brush and the tall grass of the forest, she saw the human steadily step his way back before running at full speed and jump out of her vision

And the second that Applejack had coerced through the forest’s outline, she could see the small cliff that she had almost galloped off of. But as she looked down at the cavern that she had nearly fallen in, she saw the human on the other side of the cliff, holding on for dear life. She immediately got back on her hooves and took a few steps back, about to jump to the other side of the cliff and follow the human. But as she was about to jump to the other side of the cliff, she saw the rock that had been supporting the human cracked under the human’s weight.

And before she realized it, the stone slab had been released from the ground that had been holding it for over a millennium, bringing the human down into the depths of the waters below. She watched him fall all the way down into the hole in the ground, her eyes never leaving his panicked face. And she watched his body splash into the icy waters. She waited to see if his head would poke out, and after a few seconds of dead silence, his arms came flailing out of his watery grave in an attempt to keep himself afloat.

Her eyes widened slightly at seeing his body shot out of the water, somehow alive. She thought his head or body would have hit the rocks below, but it seemed that luck was on his side that day. She looked this way and that for a path down the river, but her efforts were futile for the cliffs themselves were too deep to safely get down. So seeing the man who had maimed her friend slowly drift away from her, she could do nothing more than simply glare at him, only able to watch as a bystander.

He had soon grabbed onto a log that had floated down the river and was using it as a raft of sorts. And as he floated further and further away from her, he looked right up at her. She looked right back at him with rage and hate featured on her face. They held the stare of hate and fear for as long as they could before he was drifted too far away for her to see him anymore.

She sat there in a slight disbelief at what she saw, the events of what had transpired finally making itself prevalent in her brain. The last human to ever been seen in recorded history was over three years ago. And she just chased it into the Everfree forest. But as she was thinking about the events of what had transpired, she suddenly remembered that a friend of hers was on the ground bleeding profusely out of her shoulder. So with the thought of losing her friend, she shot back up onto her hooves and galloped back to her farm as fast as her legs could.

Twilight Sparkle laid on the ground, holding her shoulder in a fruitless attempt to stop the blood that was staining her purple fur and pooling around her. Her breathing had become ragged and anytime that she tried to move her hoof, she would feel irrevocable burning pain course through her body. She tried to use a teleportation spell to get to the Ponyville hospital, but the pain kept making her lose her focus. It’s amazing that she didn’t go into shock. So without any options, she had no choice but to stay on the ground, still as a corpse.

But as she laid on the ground, still as a rock, her thoughts have wandered on the human that had attacked her and caused her such monumental pain. She couldn’t help but think of the events that had up to her bleeding on the ground. She had exploring Ponyville in an attempt to get understand the community that she had been apart of for a couple of months. But as she trotted from place to place, admiring the architecture and saying the occasional ‘Hello!’ to ponies that passed her, she heard the shrill shrieks of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drawing ever closer to her.

Being the ever good pony that she was, she turned around and asked the duo what was wrong. When they told her that something had attacked them in the Everfree, Twilight gave them an apathetic glance. She had heard many lies come out of Diamond Tiaras mouth, but as she kept hearing the begging and pleading voice for her to come with them, she finally gave in and followed the two foals to the Everfree.

And as they got closer and closer to the eluded forest, she had kept warning them to stay in her sight, that they were getting to close to the forest, and that they should go back to Ponyville where it is safer. But as she kept warning them and warning them, she saw a human standing there. She hadn’t read much upon the study of humans, but every book that she had read told the same story. They are dangerous.

The last human in recorded history was over three years ago and was thought that its race had went extinct. But yet, there was one standing in front of her with its bright amber eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Its clothes were dirty and covered in grime, its overgrown hair was unkempt and filthy while its face was covered by a stubbly beard.

Out of parental instinct, she put the fillies behind her and told them to ‘Go! Run! Get help!’. After saying the last syllable of that sentence, she started to pour magic into her horn and was about to cast a telekinesis spell. But instead the human out of unnatural speed dashed back into the forest. She almost followed it out of curiosity, but then realized that it was running back into the forest. So she yelled at it, told it to ‘Stop running!’ and ‘I won’t hurt you!’, but her yells were meet with faint ears. So seeing as to the danger that Ponyville was more than likely in, she galloped all the way to her library and called out for Spike.

But after remembering that he was out with Rarity collecting gems again, she immediately levitated a quill and a piece of parchment and began writing as fast as she possibly could.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I don’t know if you will believe me or not, but found a human near Ponyvillle! A couple of fillies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, said that it attacked them. This is the first time in three years that a human has been spotted and I don’t know what to do, please tell me what to do! Should I study it!? Capture it!? Please respond fast!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

With that, she rolled up the parchment, wrapped it in a ribbon and placed it on the main rooms table for Spike to give to Celestia when he came back. With that done, she was back out the door of the library and began to focus her mind on Sweet Apple Acres. Why didn’t she go to her other friends? Well, Fluttershy was on the other side of town and would more than likely coware at seeing a human instead of helping, Rainbow Dash was more than likely on a clouse asleep, and Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie.

Leaving only Applejack to help her. And so she cleared her thoughts, closed her eyes, and focused her mind on the location that she wanted to teleport to. And with a flick of magic, she was at Sweet Apple Acres. She knew that she would need help from all of her friends in order to deal with this possible new threat, but one step at a time.

But through the small mental pain that she had endured, she made it to apple farm and started to look for her friend within the immaculate amount of apple trees. Barely, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Applejack trotting into the farm with her little sister, carrying bushels of apples upon their back. She galloped her way towards the two apple sisters.

Storming into the barn, she screamed for Applejack.

“Applejack!” Snapping their head, Applejack and her little sister looked at Twilight with a little bit of surprise before Applejack realized who was at the door. A small frown plastered itself on her mouth and a scornful gaze appeared on her eyes

“Twilight, ah swear, if yer here to help again, I told ya, ah-”

“Applejack, I need your help to gather the girls, I saw a hu-...” Applejack look of sternness and annoyance turned into surprise as she saw the actions being taken by Twilight. Applejack knows Twilight well enough to know that she would have a good reason as to why she slammed the barn door open. But as Twilight was about to tell her about her recent discovery, she noticed Applebloom looking at her confusingly. A foal, not even twelve, was about to be exposed to the horrific knowledge of humans. Knowledge that a mind so young should not ever hope to experience. So she chose her next few words carefully.

“... I saw a… monster outside of Ponyville,” Sort of carefully. But with the words that had spilled out of her mouth, Applejack's face of surprise turned into one of steel determination, and the two friends were soon galloping out of the farm, leaving the filly by herself.

“So, wha is this thang?” Applejack said when they were far away enough from the barn. Twilight’s galloping slowly turned into a stop as she looked down at the ground, asking herself if she should tell Applejack about the human. One part of her said that ‘You should, she’s your friend!’ while the other side said ‘You shouldn’t, she won’t understand!’. But during her thoughts, Applejack had noticed the lack of a friend by her side and turned back around to see Twilight standing still. With curiosity sparking her mind, Applejack questioned what Twilight was doing.

“Wha’ ya doing, Twilight? Ah thought we had a monster to take care of,” Applejack said, causing Twilight's head to slowly look up to her farming friend. But with as much of steady breath as she could muster, Twilight told Applejack the challenge that they would face.

“... It’s a human,” Twilight said, with a trembling voice and wavering lip. Applejack’s face could not have been more horrified.

“Hu-hu-human? Twilight, the las’ time a human was seen was ‘bout three years ago. Are ya sure?” Applejack asked for a small bit of confirmation, hoping that her friend was joking or was simply imagining.

“... Yes,”

Applejack lost her sight on Twilight and her vision trailed on to the ground, where her thoughts were running a million miles. Soon, her face contorted itself into a small bit of rage as she looked back up at Twilight.

“Liar,” And without even saying another word, Applejack was soon galloping off to her house towards her granny, Twilight taking off after her. Applejack would turn her head back every so often to see her rather flabbergasted looking friend.

“Applejack, I’m not lying!”

“Yer lyin’!” Applejack yelled at Twilight, continuing to run towards her house to take care of more chores, where she didn’t have to hear any more lies. Soon getting there, Applejack trotted up the stairs and into the lovely abode she called ‘home’. Twilight waited outside, half tempted to barge inside of the home and drag Applejack out. But as she waited outside of the rather large building, she couldn’t help but question why Applejack would call her a liar. Could it be that she had a bad experience with humans? Could it be that she doesn’t want to believe her? But as questions upon questions filled Twilight’s open mind, her train of thought was brought to a halt by a pair of arguing voices.

It was a mere muttering at first but then it turned into full blown screaming. She was about to poke her head in and see why the family was arguing so much when the screen door suddenly swung open, almost knocking Twilight off her hooves. Snapping herself out of her daze, she looked down the apple farm path and saw Applejack stomping her hooves down it in a childish manner. Twilight, being the ever curious pony that she was, galloped to the side of Applejack and began to ask her questions.

“What happened?” Twilight asked in a wanting voice, following the cowpony.

“Nothin’,” Applejack replied in a voice that made Twilight flinch, but she prevailed.

“Are you sure?That didn’t exactly sound like ‘nothin’.”

“Ah said it was nothing’.”

“Applejack, I’m your friend, you can trust me with-”

“I don’ wanna talk ‘bout it,” Applejack said, interrupting Twilight’s thought. And so Twilight brought her thoughts to back to the major problem at hoof.

“Well, can you at least tell me why you called me a liar?” A few seconds after Twilight finished her sentence, Applejack stopped in her tracks and stared at Twilight with a disbelieving gaze.

“‘Cause humans ain’t nothin’ but thievin’ scumbags that been stealin’ from mah family fer generations. Applebuck season is happenin’ right now, and I can’t afford to lose even one single apple because some stupid humans thinkin’ it’s alright ta steal what ain’t theirs. An’ with ya tellin’ me that humans are prowlin’ aroun’ again ain’t doin’ nothin’ but upsettin’ me. The only reason why I’m headin’ ta Ponyville right now is ‘cause granny is too stubborn to see yer lyin’. An’ besides, ya probably scared it off,” Applejack said, before she continued to trot towards Ponyville again. Twilight on the other hand was trying to comprehend all the information she was given. That the Apple family had been the victims of crimes without even seeing it, and that they were about to become even more of a victim soon. So, with newfound determination, she began to increase her tempo.

“Please Applejack, we need to hurry,” Twilight said, skipping in front of her friend in an attempt to increase her pace

“Twilight, if what yer saying is true, then I doubt it’d come back to Ponyville an’-!”

“Applejack, we don’t have time to argue! It could be wandering around in Ponyville as we speak! Come on, I’m sure if we hurry-” Twilight was soon cut off as she saw the beast in front of her, standing as threateningly and as menacingly as it had been before. Its eyes were as wide as saucers and its body, much like theirs, was frozen on the spot. Twilight stood there, unable to move from the position that she was in, completely and utterly stoic as she saw the creature in front of her. That was, until Applejack pulled out a lasso and threw it at the human, busting the human out of its gaze and causing it to run away from them.

“Ah, horsefeathers,” Applejack said in a small voice. She rolled up her rope and was off chasing the human that she had missed.

“C’mon, Twilight!” Applejack shouted behind her, her face completely filled with determination as she dove into the farms trees in an attempt to track the human. Twilight stood there still as a rock, wondering to herself if she should follow Applejack and towards wherever the human was going. The blood in her hooves had moved elsewhere and her forelegs refused to move. It was out of complete and utter fear of the human being that she couldn’t move. But after realizing that her friend was in potential danger, the blood returned to her hooves tenfold and she began to gallop towards Applejack as fast as her hooves could carry her.

But as she got closer and closer to her friend, she heard the sounds of a struggle, hoping that it wasn’t Applejack on the ground. But as she pushed past the last of the apple trees, she saw Applejack holding the human on the ground with a rope around its neck as it attempted to free itself. Twilight was absolutely horrified to see the monstrosity of such a show unfold in front of her, and was about to scold Applejack for being so violent and vicious. Until she saw the human cut a large piece of the rope with a hatchet. Twilight saw this small bit of intelligence unfold itself in front of her, she made a mental note on it and continued to look at the human as it continued to run forward. But as Twilight had continued to watch it run forward, she remembered why she and Applejack had been chasing it, and she began to immediately use magic.

She had tried to grab any part of its body so that it wouldn’t be able to move, anything that wouldn’t hurt it too much, but it was a useless effort. Whenever she tried to grab its clothes with her magic, her magic dissipated into nothingness. Whenever she tried to grab its limbs with her magic, her magic dissipated into nothingness. Whenever she tried to grab its saddlebag with her magic, her magic dissipated into nothingness.

But when she grabbed the rope with her magic, her magic held strong. And so she grabbed the rope and tried to keep him in one place as he twisted and turned, grabbing the rope in an attempt to be freed. But as it threw itself this way and that, it managed to turn around and looked at Twilight’s horn, a small apologetic look implanting itself on Twilight’s face. It had thrashed a little bit further and had pulled out something metal that was aimed right at her. And before Twilight could react, she heard a deafening sound of an explosion go off in front of her and felt something enter her foreleg.

Twilight’s concentration of magic had cancelled itself and allowed the human freedom again. Her head slowly looked down to her foreleg, and in seeing a gaping hole in her leg slowly letting blood pour out of her body, she did nothing but stare at it, her mind unable to process what she was seeing. Her own blood slinking out of her body and staining her purple fur. The pain then hit her like a brick wall. All the pain in the world had shot through her, and she fell on the ground cradling her foreleg in a vain attempt to rid the pain that plagued her body.

She was ignorant of the world around her as her body convulsed and shivered from what it felt. She watched the human get back up and start running through the fields of apples again, she watched on as she was unable to move. Suddenly, she heard Applejack gallop her way and, in an almost terrifying fashion, she saw Applejack’s mouth move up and down but was unable to hear her. All she was able to hear was the ringing sound that made her world around her feel inadequate.

But as sudden as Applejack came to her, she was suddenly stomping against the ground in an attempt to catch up with the human. Leaving Twilight with a feeling of abandonment.

Which brings you up to where she is now.

There she was, still on the ground, tears silently crawling off of her face as the pain was still prevalent in her body. Her consciousness wondering what would happen to her family. She would never say goodbye to her mother or father. She would never get to see her brother get married to a pony. She would never see a stallion she would want to spend the rest of her life with. She would never have foals to annoy her and love her at the same time. And she would never grow old and die surrounded by her loved ones.

No.

Instead, she would be on the ground, alone and afraid, bleeding to death. Or so she thought. Applejack had come back, almost ten minutes later, with her hat ruffled and torn as she looked over Twilight’s bloody body. Twilight looked up at Applejack with a lack-luster look as she tried to say something. Applejack, noticing this, sat silent, waiting for her friend to tell her what she wanted.

“Hos-... Hospital,” And with one simple word, Applejack picked up Twilight and placed her on her back before she started to gallop to the hospital as fast as her farm legs would allow her. And galloped she did. She galloped and galloped, never stopping for a break or a breath, for she knew her friend’s life could be taken at a moment's glance.

Arriving at Ponyville, she galloped past the many ponies that had a looked at her in confusion as they caught sight of the pony that Applejack had upon her back. Only for that look to turn into one of horror as they see their local librarian’s blood gushing out of her body.

But Applejack ignored the looks that were given to her, as she was far more concerned for her friend. But upon turning a corner, she saw ‘Ponyville General’, the local hospital for any Ponyvilleians. And once she saw her target, she locked her eyes on it and ran even faster.

And once she had all but slammed the doors open, she called out for help.

“Help! Somepony, help!” She said as her lungs were pumping oxygen in and out of her body. A nurse with slightly pink fur, white fur, and a red cross for a cutie mark stared at the two for a moment before suddenly yelling out for a gurdy and for someone to prep ER. And an entire team had popped out of one of the many doors, wheeling a cart behind them as unicorns lifted Twilight off of Applejacks back and placed her nearly lifeless body onto a gurney.

Applejack was tempted to follow them, but her hooves told her that she had been running enough. And so she sat down on the ground with the few nurses that have surrounded her, her lungs heaving and hooves aching.

“What happened?” Asked one of the nurses as it stared at the door that Twilight was taken through.

“Human,” Applejack said simply as she continued to stare at the door, hoping that her friend would live. The nurse's head snapped towards the orange pony covered by her friends blood and stared at her with her mouth agape.

Spike walked back to Ponyville, dragging a wagon full of jewels behind him as Rarity continued to talk his ear off. But it didn’t matter to the little drake that Rarity continued to talk about the latest fashion model, or even about the latest seasonal fashion line, he would listen to anything she had to say to just be around her. Anything for her. And so he walked in silence responding to some questions while sneaking a gem or two into his mouth when Rarity wasn’t looking.

They had been done with today's activities of collecting gems and were on their way home to Ponyville. Spike still listening to Rarity ever so lovely voice as they got closer and closer to town. But when they did get close, they noticed that some of the ponies looked mortified while others were giving them sorrowful looks. Rarity didn’t really notice because she had been more focused on the conversation she was having with Spike, but that didn’t stop the little drake from feeling the uncomfortable stares plant themselves on his back. When they occasionally passed a couple of ponies, Spike would hear they mutter ‘sorry’. It was almost nonexistent, but it was still there, edging him on as he continued his walk with Rarity.

But after going through his bitter experience, he finally arrived at Rarity’s boutique. Rarity then thanked Spike for helping her collect by giving him a kiss on the cheek and a handful of gems. Spike had a dreamy look plastered on his face, forgetting the faces some of the ponies gave them, and almost falling into a dreamlike state. And he was suddenly brought out of his daydreaming when he heard Rarity slam the door in front of him.

Letting out a dejected sigh, Spike started walking back to the library, dragging his feet behind him in a begrudging manner. And as he pushed the door open to his home, he noticed an entire number of ponies all looking at him again. But he ignored the looks that he was being given, opened the door, and proceeded to go inside the wooden abode before calling out for Twilight.

“Twilight, I’m back!” He said with his small immature voice. But as he started walking further into the tree, he noticed there was a lack of a certain purple pony yelling back at him.

“Twilight?!” He yelled out again, looking around the library for her as he felt an unnerving feeling crawl up his back. And as he looked up and down and around the entirety of the small library, he noticed a rather small scroll laid flat on the main table. Scuttering his feet towards the table, he noticed that it was sealed with the traditional seal that symbolised its inevitable meeting with Princess Celestia.

And so, he picked up the scroll and breathed his green, burning breath unto it. And after dealing with the small task, and calling for Twilight a couple more times, he walked over to one of the couches, jumped on it, and let out a long yawn before falling asleep for the night. Peacefully unaware of how injured his pony sister was.

Princess Celestia was currently in the throne room, looking over two ponies that were arguing before her. She sat idly by looking over a paper or two while straightening the pillow she sat upon. The ponies before her were arguing about a simple manner, but one that piqued her interest more than most of the rabble that came through her courtroom.

One of the ponies was saying that a runned down part of canterlot was to be torn down and a school was to be built there, for the betterment of the future generation. While the other pony was urging that, in doing so, there would be more homeless ponies on the street and less housing for those in the future.

For the first time in a long time, she was a bit torn between the two. In one hoof, the future generation would have a better education and more than likely end up homeless. But there was more than enough land to expand the houses. In the other hoof, everything would remain the same and the world would continue the way it has been for over a millennium. But as she was about to interrupt their ‘marvelous’ conversation, a rather recognizable parchment had apparated in front of her.

And a small smile had curved on her face. Knowing her student, Twilight more than likely discovered another friendship problem and solved it instantly. A rather commending trait that can be found within her young student. But remembering that she was in the middle of court, she gestured the two squabbling ponies out of the throne room and told them that ‘This conversation will be continued soon’. And as soon as she saw them turn their tail and leave the confines of the grandeur room, she ripped the ribbon off and began to ponder what friendship lesson her student has discovered this time.

Could it have been about sharing? Telling your friend a secret? About standing up to your friends when they’re doing something wrong? The thought and imaginings of Princess Celestia’s mind never seemed to stop pouring out as she thought of the next accomplishment that her student has mastered. And with an everlasting thought, she unfurled the letter and began to read.

And the smile on her face turned into one of horror. She kept redding the letter over and over again, thinking that she was simply imagining the words on the paper. But as she kept reading it again and again, she began to realize that what she was reading was truth. And her face of horror soon turned into one of sheer will. She promptly stood up from her throne and began to trot her way towards the door, levitating the scroll behind her. In doing so, she told the guard to ‘send four squads of guardsmen to Ponyville’ and that ‘day-court was over’ before she began to march her way over to princess Luna’s room, where the master of dreams was currently resting.

Celestia could have used a simple teleportation spell and appear in Luna’s room, but she needed time to think about the events that were sure to come. And walking around the many halls that castle had would allow her mind to wander. How would she deal with the humans this time? She wanted no bloodshed to occur like last time, but she couldn’t let these humans attack her little ponies.

But as she managed to make her way up the castles many steps and past the many stationed guards, thinking about how to deal with the human threat, she finally made it to her sisters room. Where she promptly knocked and stood silently before her sister’s chambers. She heard a small grunt and before she knew it, she saw ‘elegant beauty’ that was Princess Luna. The princess was standing in front of her with a slightly disheveled mane, no regalia on, and slightly angry looking face. Princess Luna looked at Celestia for a couple of seconds, not really caring for what reason she was woken up for.

“What doth thou want?” Princess Luna said, showing just how irritated she was at the current situation. This, however, did not affect Celestia as she responded within a second of the question.

“Luna, we need to converse about a matter, it is of grave importance,” Not even waiting for a response, Celestia trotted into the room and looked out over the balcony that was stationed in her sister’s room. There she looked over her kingdom and admired it for its worth. And even though she knew her kingdom was not perfect, she knew that her subjects were more than quaint to deal with them.

But as her mind wandered and wandered more about her subjects, she heard the disgruntled voice of her loving sister.

“If ‘tis is about the Yak meeting, I told thee that they already accepted our apology.”

“It’s not about the Yak’s,” Celestia said solemnly as she continued to admire her sun striking the landscape

“Then what is so important that you had to wake thee from mine sleep?!

Princess Celestia remained silent for a small time, letting the awkward feel of the air wash over the two of them. But even though Princess Luna wanted to do nothing more than yell at her sister for not saying anything, she heard a small bit of despair pour out of her sister's mouth.

“My most prized pupil has sent me a letter entailing that a human was sighted near Ponyville,” Celestia hadn’t said another word. The entire room was silent, nothing but the small bit of wind making noise at it hit against the glass doors of the balcony. But through the silence, Princess Luna’s mind was asking itself one simple question.

“And, pray tell, what it this 'human’?”

“I see somepony hasn’t caught up on their studies-” Princess Celestia said, giving her sister a quick glare before looking back through the balconies window ”- but now is not the time to scold you. Now is the time for caution.” Princess Celestia said before turning around and looking at Princess Luna’s eyes. Princess Celestia floated over the scroll that her student had sent her into Luna’s vision for her to read.

And as Princess Luna read it, she couldn’t help but be confused. She had no idea what a human was and why it would cause such a smart and calm pony like Twilight Sparkle to panic. And while the mere thought of this ‘thing’ harming one of her subjects makes her blood boil, she can not understand how one being would cause her own sister to be scared.

“Celestia, what is a human?” Princess Luna said after some time. Princess Celestia floated the scroll over on a nightstand before thinking of a simple way to explain what a human is.

“A human is an intelligent, cunning, and dangerous creature. We don’t know when they first started to appear, but the first official documented sighting was one hundred and twelve years ago,” She stopped talking for a short time and looked at her sister with such loss and doubt plastered on her face before she continued to talk.

“The pony who documented her said that she came out of the Everfree, with cuts and bruises. So, he thought about helping it, but when he was seen, she ran back into the forest,” Princess Celestia stopped for a moment after hearing her sister chuckle slightly behind her.

“Tia, this sound’s like a foal’s tale, thou aren't trying to pulleth mine hoof?” Princess Luna said, slightly smiling at her sister.

“No, Luna, this isn’t a joke,” Princess Celestia said, giving her sister a quick glare before continuing on with her story.

“So, being the worried pony that he was, he went to the nearest royal guard for help. But they laughed in his face, said that ‘he was drinking too many pints’. But one guard listened and decided to investigate the area it was last seen. But when the guard didn’t report to his commander, they sent a platoon into the forest to find him. And when they did eventually find him after two days of exploring, the only thing they could make out was his foreleg,” Princess Celestia looked back at Princess Luna with a blank expression adorned onto her face. Princess Luna, however, looked a little concerned for the matter.

“Thee aren’t suggesting that this ‘human’ did this, art thee?”

“The battalion of guardsponies found hoofprints leading away from the murder scene. And they followed them…” Princess Celestia remained silent for a small time, simply looking back through the small glass door that separated her from her sister’s balcony, a melancholy look implanting itself on her face. She let out not a whisper nor a sound, instead, letting the silence of the air take a voice instead.

But eventually, Princess Celestia’s face turned back into one of calmness and broke her gaze from the glass door, and turned her body fully to her sister, looking her in the eye with meaning and sorrow.

“They were slaughtered, the few bodies we did find were unrecognizable. But during the fight, one of the guardsponies managed to find his way out and galloped back to command. In his report, he said that they were surrounded by twenty of them, and that he managed to grab onto some of their belongings while he tried to escape. One of these items was a book written in their strange foreign language. It was then that I was made aware of the recent events that had transpired. I was more than a little angry that I wasn’t told sooner of the lives that had been lost, and-”

“Tia, get to the point,” Princess Luna said, losing her speech pattern as she continued to listen to Celestia..

“... We sent the book to an expert team of decipherers. It took them a couple of weeks to decode their language, but when they did, they discovered things beyond imagination. They were a thriving community, they were intelligent, and that they came from a different world entirely,”

“How?” Princess Luna said, cutting off her sister.

“We don’t know yet. It might be some portal we’re not aware of yet, or maybe some other outside power.

“That’s impossible. Any spell or charm would have killed them before they even got the chance to get here.”

“I have a team of wizards investigating the matter, but regardless, after we discovered they were sentient, I tried to send diplomats with gifts to show them that we mean them no harm.”

“No harm?! Those bastards murdered your guardsponies, and you wanted to show them mercy?!”

“I sent an entire platoon of guardponies with them just in case things didn't turn out as planned. They searched for weeks on end, but couldn’t find them. They tried following tracks but they usually ended up at a dead end. That was until they returned with only five ponies. They said that they found others bloodied and mutilated. The only reason they were still alive was because they decided to separate to cover more ground. It was then that I realized the types of monsters they are.“

“Do you remember that one pony who documented the first human? Well, he had it printed on newspapers, told everypony about it, not a single being in Equestria didn’t know about the humans. So I told the world what had happened and what I tried to do. They were angry for some time, and turned that anger to the humans. Some of my ponies went into the forest in order to avenge their fellow ponies, but hardly any ever came back. Some of ponies that did come back went on to write books on humans, thinking that they knew everything about them without knowing the whole truth.”

“I deployed the guard to surround the forest to make sure that no humans get out and no ponies go in. And after reports of humans stopped three years ago, I pulled them back thinking that the human threat had subsided, moved on, maybe went extinct. But it seems that I was wrong.” Said Princess Celestia as she started to trot towards the door before stopping half way towards it and looking back at her sister.

“I already sent a squadron of guards to ponyville in order to asses the situation. We do NOT want to cause a panic Luna. If what Twilight said is true, then we must keep it a secret. Even though it pains me to not help her, we can NOT let the public know about this human's existence,” Princess Celestia said while opening the door to the hall. Only to be stopped when she heard Luna speak her next sentence.

“And if this Human were to harm your student what would you do?” Luna said, looking at Celestia with an observant eye to see what type of tale she would tell. Celestia, on the other hoof, was stoic for a moment, her face emotionless as she thought of what she would do if Twilight was harmed. Thinking about how many terribly awful things that she would do to the human if it even dared lay a hoof on her precious student. Celestia took a deep, calming breath to shut down those raw emotions and looked back at her sister

“If Twilight was harmed, so be it. She was not my first student, nor will she be the last. Many of my students that I have taken under my wing, and showed them the beauty of Equestria, have long since passed, both old and young. If she were to die, I would mourn for her death, and I would cry for weeks, but the cycle would continue.” Celestia said as she looked down at Luna, not daring to show even a hint of emotion. Luna looked at her sister with the same face of emotions. Though Celestia did not answer Luna’s question directly, Luna was more than pleased with what she heard. Celestia then opened the door all the way saying on the way out-

“Luna, do not go into their dreams, who knows what sort of nightmares they hold in their mind,” Princess Celestia said before she closed the door to leave Princess Luna with her thoughts.

Princess Luna looked back at the spot her sister was at before looking at the ground, simply thinking about the new information that she had been given. During her thinking process, she looked through her balconies windows and looked at the landscape before her. Maybe if she hadn’t betrayed her sister so many years ago, she would have been able to stop this thing before it began to manifest itself.

She then tore her vision away from the see through door and returned to her bed, where she let her mind fall into the realm of dreams, where she commanded the world.

Princess Luna looked over, and under, and around, and forward, but no matter how hard she looked and how hard she tried, she could not manage to find a doorway into this humans dream. She had looked for a door that stood out against the usual happy, light, colored doors that lined the long, vast world in order to find that one door.

She must have passed hundreds of thousands of doors and spent countless hours looking for the right one to open. But after looking from up and down, and door to door, she managed to find one simple wooden door. It wasn’t glowing, it wasn’t shining, it wasn’t even flowing with nightmares. It was just a simple dark wooden door. And this is what caught her attention the most.

Her curiosity must have gotten the best of her because not a second later, she opened the door and floated into the dark atmosphere of the solemn room. Or at least she tried. She was thrown back out of the door, almost as if it was resisting her, and she stared at it perplexed as to what could have caused such a force to push her out of the dream. She got back onto her hooves again and stepped forward into the dark room again, using her magic to aid her. This time, she wasn’t thrown out unceremoniously like last time

No instead, she found herself riding the back of some strange enormous metal contraption. Its interior was crowded and felt like she was trapped inside of its confines while the glass next to her only taunted her with freedom. But even though the situation she was in confused her, she remained calm through it all. After all, she had seen a great many of things withinside the dreamscapes of ponies.

She was, however, brought out of her confusion when she heard something being slammed against the confusing machinery. And as she looked in its direction, she saw right in front of her the most peculiar creature she has ever seen in her immortal life. Sitting in front of her was a tall, tanned skinned, black haired being who was too busy adjusting his seat to notice her. She thought that this 'thing’ was ultimately the human that her sister talked to her about.

But before she could further observe the human sitting in front of her, she heard the sound of a small child talking.

“Me to be like you, I know, but I really don’t want to study these things,” Princess Luna snapped her head to her right and saw a smaller version of the human in front of her. Noticing its black hair and the color of its skin to the human that sat in front of her. Immediately, she connected the dots, and thought that this youngster in front of her was the human's child. But that’s not what drew her attention the most. What drew her attention was the fact that it spoke Equestrian.

Her sister had not mentioned that these 'ravenous’ creatures were able to speak Equestria’s language. It frightened her slightly, confused her to no end. But just as she was about to announce herself she felt a sudden shift in the metal device she was in before she felt herself being thrown out of the humans dream.

She landed hastily on the ground of the dream realm. She looked back up and stared at the door that she was in before she watched it turn to dust.

And after all she had seen within that confusing world of a dream, she had only one small thing to say.

“What happened to you?”

Author's Note

Why is this coming out about two months of waiting? Because I'm lazy.