Now when you wave at someone and they wave back that usually means a conversation is about to happen, but when your on a planet that you have no idea on the language or how to interact with the local population but seeing how a pink horse is bouncing in place and waving at me what is so far nonstop because for the past three minutes not ONCE did she stop. I think this horse is hyperactive to the extreme, at least she seems happy about being hyper, not many people can say that because they usually get scolded at because they don't settle down or calm the hell down.

Standing up after hugging my zebra friend I looked at the six horses, wondering how they found me and why they are here I turned to my small zebra friend and saw that she was busy looking at my Atlas kneeling beside the bat lion but when my attention went back to the six horses I saw that were coming closer in my absence of sight but when my head was looking back in their general direction and they stopped in their tracks. That was when the small lump of purple on the purple unicorn's back began to move, I thought it was part of her mane but when I saw it move and wobble on its own I then thought it might be a growth or a tumor, but I was proven wrong again when I saw it uncurl itself into a distinctive shape of a humanoid-like body with the exception that it is smaller, more round, is purple and green, and that it looks like a overgrown iguana.

'Huh...seems like they are curious about me but I really want to know how they found me...'

Last Night

Spike's POV

"So tell me again Twilight why must I come with you girls on this trip to find this diamond dog?" I said with a bit of a yawn, I was just woken up from my well deserved nap after working all day for my big sister, Twilight, and just when I was getting to the good part of my dream where I was fighting off Discord to save my beloved Rarity, I get woken up by Twilight for some big important mission.

With a grumble and a groan I had rolled from my cozy basket and stood up while stretching, feeling a few of my spines straighten out while popping, one particular spine took a bit of encouraging to right itself and when it did I felt a sigh of relief escape my lips as I hunched a bit and let the great feeling pass through me before getting yanked off the ground and placed onto my older sister's back and directly onto the saddle that was placed there.

"How many times must I tell you Spike?" Twilight says while trying to sound professional even though she looks like she hasn't slept in days.

"As many times as it takes for me to fully wake up?" I quip as I practically feel Twilight roll her eyes and with that eye-rolling she trotted downstairs and made her way out the front door with me in tow.

And just like that we were out the front door and out in the middle of the night with not a soul to be seen with the exception of a bouncing pink pony with a saddle on her back and a helmet with a flashlight attached to it on her head. Standing beside our loveable pink friend was our dependable friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash, somehow managing to wake her up at night seems much easier then trying to wake her up during the day. Arriving behind the two mares is the rest of the gang, Rarity and Fluttershy with saddles on their backs as well seeing how that we would probably be camping out there for the night and maybe a few more if it takes us longer then usual to find this elusive dog.

"Alright girls, do you all have what you are going to need for this trip?" the other mares gave a few nods, Pinkie giving the most since she was bouncing around all of us while Rainbow Dash was lazily hovering above us, trying to go back to sleep but from a tug on her tail by Pinkie she was forced to wake up again.

"Okay, I know this may seem odd that I called all of you out here especially since Winter-Wrap Up is just a few days away and that its already getting cold." Twilight said as I put on my new scarf that Rarity made for me and a pair of fuzzy gloves.

"Uh yea Twilight, why are we exactly out here, I was busy resting up for tomorrow." The Dash said as she landed beside Applejack who was busy trying hard not to yawn but a small one managed to escape while Rarity was busy putting on a fashionable yet cozy looking hoof booties.

"Well I know that you all must have heard about that Diamond Dog that Applebloom brought into Ponyville yesterday right and we partially chased before losing sight of I think is a male dog at the lake. We know that for the most part he is different from almost all the other diamond dogs because from what Applebloom told me the other day that he has somehow befriended Zecora and well she thought it was safe to bring him back."

"Ah still don't get why she thought it would be a good idea to bring one of those mutts here." I nodded at what Applejack just said as I reached into Twilight's saddle and pulled out a comic book, thinking that by catching up on my reading that all this would just simply blow over.

"Apparently she wanted his help to get their cutie marks." I facepalmed, I knew those three have been busy trying to get their cutie marks but this is just getting foolish.

"I still don't get why we have to do this now instead of in the morning, this cold is going to damage my mane!" Rarity whined a bit, I know I shouldn't be saying this but you don't have to worry about dying easily in this cold. Just in case if it does get any colder then it is now I put on my knitted sweater that Twilight Velvet sent me last year as a present on Hearth's Warming Eve.

It took these girls at least ten minutes to stop talking about what they heard and what they saw when the diamond dog came to town, I know I could care less because I was busy trying to sort the books in the library but once they were done they all started to trot off out of town toward the Everfree Forest.

Once we were off I had to get a hold on Twilight for balance and I had to put away my comic book because at the rate these girls were moving I might accidentally lose this.

You know that feeling you get when you enter a creepy building or when your reading a spooky story just before going to bed or even going into a creepy dark forest known for having dangerous monsters that are well known for tearing ponies limb from limb. Well I got that feeling because all seven of us just went into the Everfree as if it wasn't haunted or filled with manticores and timber wolves.

"Sooo tell me Twilight why you decided that we must search the Everfree Forest first instead of Ghastly Gorge or even that one Diamond Dog hidey hole that we know of?" I said hoping that at least one of the girls would stop and think on what I just said, put the pieces together and then get an idea to check those safe places first but sadly none of them agreed with me.

"Because Spike we got Applebloom to tell us that the diamond dog was at Zecora's place and seeing how that is in the Everfree we have to check that place first, and besides I doubt that Zecora would just brush us off on this once." and with that we continued on moving through the brush and trees before finally coming up to the lonesome hut.

With a knock from Applejack we all waited patiently for our zebra friend to show up and when she did Twilight told her why we are here and to my surprise Zecora looked shocked because she was honestly not expecting us to be looking for the elusive dog that has 'Terrorized' Ponyville the other day even though he was trying to run away from the cutie mark crusaders. I mean who wouldn't? They have been known to wreck things in their pursuit for a cutie mark, and even I know what they are good at, they just can't seem to see it.

After Twilight told Zecora why we were here and where we could find the diamond dog, Zecora agreed to tell us where to look and also wanted to come with us. I don't know why she wanted to follow us but hey, that's her thing if she wanted to come see an ordinary dog wearing strange feather back armor.

And off we are again but this time following the lead of one Zecora the Zebra, she had to pack a saddle for the trip stating that traveling in the Everfree Forest can be dangerous even with the right precautions and I have to say that she is right, cause we almost ran into a pack of timber wolves and just narrowly avoided bumping into them and if it wasn't for Zecora we would have become wolf meat.

"So Zecora, any idea why a diamond dog would stay all the way out here?"

"Maybe he has been exiled from beneath the stone, to be up here all alone."

With that being said we moved in silence, not one of us talking or making much noise and it wasn't before long before we showed up to a large, empty clearing in the forest, the center of the clearing was made of cooled glass. As we looked at the empty space I hopped off Twilight and walked over to a spot on the ground that is darker then the rest and when I stopped just right above it I leaned down a bit and dug my claw right into it and after I swiveled my claw in it for a good second or two, and as soon as I yanked it out I smelled something akin to iron and when I flicked my tongue out to taste it...it was simply repulsive to say the least.

"Spike, what did I tell you about tasting things that you don't know about."

"You don't need to remind me Twilight, tastes pretty bad to begin with." I said before mumbling about it tasting like Rainbow Dash's dirty sweatbands.

As we all looked around to see what was once here Zecora went to the center of the glass circle and started to mess with the darker shade of brown with a hoof, seems like she is trying to figure out where to go next or where the diamond dog went cause he was obviously here at some point in time.

It wasn't before long that we left the clearing and followed what looked like a long path of destruction made by something very large. I don't know what else could possibly make a mess like this besides a pack of manticore or a hydra but whatever it is, it must be huge!

Hopping back on Twilight's back all eight of us went through the wreckage of greens, climbing over crushed bushes and broken tree branches and we did this until we came across a river with running water that looked like it would be at least twenty hooves deep. And for those outside of Equestria that doesn't use our system of measurements, that would be two meters deep and if your really, really finicky about it, six point five six one feet...wow I really am a nerd.

"So umm...Twilight, any ideas on how to get across?" I said while looking at the running water, I knew it was running because when I looked upstream I saw it falling from the rapids and also that just from looking down at the water it was moving very fast. Maybe if I had some spare paper on me I could make a small sailboat and see how fast it is going.

Looking at Rainbow Dash I saw her hover just barely over the water, trying to look at her own reflection but seeing how the water is distorting it beyond belief she just lets out a huff flicking her mane a bit before coming back onto dry land.

"We can always just ask Steven Magnet to help us across like we did last time." I raised my eyebrows at that, I don't know who she is talking about but the sound of that name probably means some stallion she met...and he better have been nice to her or otherwise I might introduce him to lefty and righty!

"Who?" honestly that name sounds like a strange pony who has an obsession with magnets.

"Oh right, you weren't with us when we took down Nightmare Moon." and before I could ask just who this guy is from the corner of my eye I saw something very long and very purple come swimming up the river only to stop right in front of us.

And at that moment my thoughts of introducing him to lefty and righty were quickly dashed away from the sheer height of Steven Magnet, he is literally towering over all eight of us.

Anyways after talking to Steven Magnet, the Everfree Free River Serpent, we were allowed to across the river by using his back as a bridge, and apparently this was the second dragon that Fluttershy isn't afraid of seeing how I am the first that didn't make her lock up tighter then Rarity's gem lockbox, if only I can find the key that unlocks it...

Going back up the river we found where the path of destruction had ended on the other side and began on this side and it is safe to say that this beast surely did not stop for anything, even when wet it sure as tartarus didn't convince it to slow down and take a breather. I don't know about most ponies from the book on the Everfree Forest that I read that one time Twilight was out with her friends fighting Discord, I saw somewhere a passage that said that following anything within the Everfree Forest is a guaranteed way to get lost or eaten, and seeing how we are doing just that I had to make a mental note to tell Twilight just before we get mauled by a manticore or a timber wolf 'I told you so', just maybe I can get a chance to enjoy the feeling of being right for a second before imminent death.

"Are we there yet?" I said while reading one of my many comic books that I brought with me that was wearing a protective plastic cover to keep it safe from the world.

"No." was Twilight's response, and she had a good reason to, we didn't even get to the part where Pinkie supposedly laughed at the trees to make them go back to normal.

And after ten minutes have passed by and we found nothing but the creepy trees that Pinkie laughed at and flying moths the size of my head...why are they so big?

"Are we there yet now?" I asked as I flipped a page on my second comic book, Marevel versus Coltcom and so far it is an interesting read.

"Not yet Spike." Pinkie said as she was bouncing backwards, somehow managing to not hit a tree in the process.

As soon as it reached an hour of trotting through dense bushes, dark trees, and stepping into large hoofprints in the mud I just to ask again.

"How 'bout now?" It is truly amazing how many comic books a dragon can go through when they are absolutely bored out of their mind.

"No!" all six mares shouted as Zecora laughed behind her hoof, clearly enjoying the fact that I have little patience when it comes to being in this accursed forest.

"Actually my draconic friend, we are almost near the end." Zecora said and with a sigh of relief from all seven of us we continued to move on with the exception of me because if I was walking beside them then this would take forever.

I expected us to be relatively close to where the diamond dog is hiding out and I was thinking it would be a freshly made cave in the ground but I was not expecting us to cross an old rickety bridge that looks like it has seen better days. The old rope bridge even had some wooden planks missing and the rope holding it all together looked frayed and is about to snap at any sign of a sudden weight shift.

In all I did not look happy that we had to cross the bridge let alone go over a bridge that was built a thousand years ago, and a thousand year old bridge built over a canyon that even I can't see the bottom.

"So Twilight...you crossed this bridge?" I said as I let out a dry swallow, I really do not want to cross this bridge but seeing how Twilight is adamant about this it really leaves me no choice but to cross this bridge but with my eyes closed, its not the fact that I hate old rickety bridges but I just have a slight...tiny...fear of heights.

And without even telling me that we are she took one step on the bridge and immediately we heard the bridge creak rather loudly and I prayed to Celestia that this bridge does not collapse underneath us at the worst possible moment.

Muttering to myself I clung tightly to my big sis, my claws digging a bit into her fur and I felt just the tips of them brushing against the skin under it and to my surprise Twilight seemed to be ignoring it or not noticing the fact that I am gripping onto her for dear life while keeping my eyes clenched tightly and it wasn't before long that we made it to the other side and once we made it to dry land I slid off the lavender unicorn and proceeded to kiss the ground for only a second before thanking Celestia that I lived.

Before I climb back onto Twilight's back the rest of the girls crossed the bridge with the exception of Rainbow Dash because she just flew across and was waiting for all of us to get to the other side.

"Alright girls, just a little bit further and we will be back at the castle."

"So do you really think this diamond dog is all the way out here?"

"I have a ninety percent guarantee that he is going to be here."

"And what about the other ten percent?"

"Well five percent chance he might be hiding in Froggy Bottom Bog and a four point nine percent he is hiding in Ghastly Gorge."

"And that point one percent?"

"Probably hiding out in Ponyville somewhere we rarely see or visit."

And it was with that lone comment that made me wonder just exactly we haven't looked in Ponyville first instead of checking the spooky scary forest that has been known to eat ponies if they ever get lost within its dark and cold depths.

Sighing as quietly as I could I just sit there with my arms crossed as we start to move again but we stopped when we heard the sound of the bridge creaking and groaning and in a slow, agonizing moment, the bridge we just crossed snapped at our end as it fell down and slammed into the side of the canyon and two seconds later the two ropes holding it together on the opposite side creaked before snapping as well. With the bridge gone we are not stranded on this side of the forest, that is unless we want to go all the way around just to return home.

"Alright, so who has a map of the Everfree Forest we can possibly use to get us out of here without being eaten by the local wildlife?" I say in an almost sarcastic tone, I knew that coming out here was a bad idea and even when I voiced my concerns about this it went unheard and seeing how we are now stranded I can now safely say that I called it.

Hearing Twilight grumble under her breath as she trotted forward, following Zecora as she shook her head at us for taking too long and from the now plain as day howling that all of us can hear, we picked up the pace unless we wanted to be timber wolf food. Wondering what time it is I pulled out my small watch that I brought with me as it told me that it was almost midnight, and I could have been asleep at home the entire time in a nice warm basket with a fluffy blanket.

It was almost an hour later that we finally arrived at the castle but when Zecora poked her head past the gate she quickly pulled back and said we should camp out here for the night and when we asked why, all she said was manticore and giant beast.

I don't know about you ponies but when those two words are in the same sentence I tend think that coming on this trip is a bad idea.

After we all agreed to not enter the castle at this hour because of what Zecora saw and was later confirmed by Twilight and Applejack so we all set up camp right outside the walls. I know I said this before so I am going to say this again, this is not safe, this is a bad idea, and that I called it.

Once all of our tents have been set up I moved into Twilights as well as Zecora, seeing how Twilight made her tent big enough to fit four of us, and Pinkie had Fluttershy bunking with her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sleeping together which isn't much a surprise for me, seeing how the rumors are floating around about those two. And lastly we got Rarity sleeping in her own tent, and I was gonna ask if I could join her but sadly she was already sound asleep so there goes my chance at trying to get on her good side.

Morning

Being poked awake is not something I am not used to but it still fairly rude to wake up a sleeping dragon even though the one being woken up is still considered a baby or a child. Either or I don't really care which I am I just wanted to get a few more hours of sleep since we were woken up to the sound of a manticore roaring quite loudly and the sound that Fluttershy made when she woke up was priceless.

Trying to snap Fluttershy out from her daze took us ten minutes out of our lives and when she did finally come back to us she was shaking like a leaf on the day of the running of the leaves, probably a pun was in there somewhere but I digress, it was funny to watch Rainbow Dash and Pinkie try to calm her down and bring her back to us.

"So this is it...a big scary manticore and a giant whatever-it-is monster waiting just on the other side of this gate?" I tried to keep my voice from cracking but at the sheer thought of having to face a manticore that probably has something larger then itself 'owning' it as a pet...it does not bode well for my continued existence if it decides to unleash its 'pet' on us.

Looking at every single pony here I saw that they all looked nervous except for Zecora for some reason, she never really explained to us why she knows this dog or what their relationship is but I am not one to pry into private matters, that is Twilight and Rarity's job, and to top it off why does she seem to happy? Are those two dating or something?

It didn't take long for everypony to take their tents down and have them put away within their saddles and before any of us could eat some breakfast Zecora was already trotting inside.

Before any of us could try to stop her or even tell her to wait up for the rest of us, she was trotting into what appeared to be a courtyard of sorts but when I saw the rows upon rows of half-flanked built tombstones constructed out of sticks and helmets I then thought of it more of a graveyard. Zecora stopped trotting for a moment to look at all of the graves that has been constructed but then she went back to moving, ignoring the growling manticore and giant armored creature for better or for worse I don't know and I can't really say otherwise but it seems she has this all figured out.

That is until the manticore snapped at her and before any of us could spring into action to pull her back to us we all heard it yelp as the giant armored beast pressed down on it a little too hard and we all let out a sigh of relief because the manticore backed down and whimpered in defeat, I guess Zecora knows the thing in the armor as well.

Seeing how that the manticore has been subdued for the moment all seven of us slowly started to make our way inside, I can say that this place looks like a dump, the walls are all broken or cracked, the rust on the gate is plain as day, the grass is wild and unruly, no plants to speak of and lastly there is a strange looking diamond dog kneeling down and hugging Zecora...

Wait...what?

As the two broke their hug she turned back a bit and waved for us to come forward, apparently she wanted us to greet this dog and with a bit of apprehension from most of us we moved onward, I decided to hide partially behind Twilight's currently ill-kept mane just to see what is going to happen between my friends and big sister, and the diamond dog, minotaur I think and lastly the now whimpering manticore.

Once we were inside the castle's courtyard slash graveyard, we all looked around to see if there is anything on interest but that was mainly on the diamond dog watching us and the giant armored minotaur with no horns petting the manticore, that is until it stopped petting said pet and that was when we all saw something we weren't expecting.

The upper center of the minotaur's chestplate had what looks like a small group of icy blue eyes, the largest of the group is at least twice the size of a hoof, second largest is hoof shaped and the other two are roughly the same, probably the size of marbles and then there was that larger blue eye that was almost on top of it, it was pretty creepy just looking at it. Then there is its body...multi-jointed metal legs, I see a bunch of nuts and bolts screwed into its arms and legs, strange bars all over its body and odd metal plates with holes in them placed in confusing locations.

Just what kind of madpony would even create such a monstrosity.

"So umm....hello?" I was not expecting the diamond dog to speak let alone sound so...young? I am using that in the correct context cause I was honestly surprised that the dog before us is not only alone but also sounds like he is in his mid-teenager years. He waved at us and I don't know why but Pinkie waved back, I guess there are some thing that everypony knows what it means so I can guess that this one dog is friendly.

After I heard him speak up I removed myself from Twilight's mane and oddly enough I saw the dog turn from the ponies around me and focused squarely on me, it feels strange because I can't see his face let alone what he is facial expression is since diamond dogs are pretty easy to read.

I was expecting Twilight, Fluttershy or even Pinkie Pie to say hello back but they just looked at him funny for a while, maybe he was speaking a language that none of the ponies understand but I know what it is clear as day.

Anthony's POV

Looking back at what must be a baby dragon or possibly an out-of-water river serpent I can see that its body is far larger then its stubby limbs so my guess of it being a river serpent can't be too far off.

Shrugging a bit I turned my attention back to the six mares standing next to and around the baby dragon as I waited for a response to be made and what felt like a minute I tried again.

"Uh, can any of you understand me?" I asked almost quietly but loud enough for all of them to hear me with the exception of the manticore who is still laying there beside my Atlas.

I was expecting the lavender unicorn mare now wearing a pair of egghead glasses to talk to me but when she did all I heard was horse sounds and noises, there was alot of neighing and whinnies so all of that was lost on me, that is until the little baby dragon standing in the middle of all those pony ladies started to talk my theory of mythical lizards can understand me. He actually had to wave at me to get my attention before he started to talk and he was the only one I was able to understand.

"Yea, I can understand you...I think, do you know what I am saying big dog?" the little dragon said and with a bit on an unease smile on his face I can tell he has no idea if anything got through to me.

And just like that I grew a new fondness for mythical creatures in the world and for a very good reason. He is the most adorable and cuddly looking being I have ever seen, he might as well be one of those stuffed animals you find in the claw machine that you discover at bowling alleys or at the mall. Not only does this dragon understand the words coming out of my mouth but he also called me a big dog, I knew that one day that somebody will call me that instead of calling me the guy with the big long gun and the thin body aka the glass cannon.

"Oh good, for a moment there I thought I was gonna have to draw everything I had to say again just like what I do with Zecora here. So little dragon, what is your name?" I said sheepishly before lowering myself to his height, trying to not look intimidating to any of them besides Zecora since she already knows what I look like beneath this helmet.

"My name is Spike, what is your name big dog?" and with an extension of his arm I saw that he was going for a handshake and this was the moment I was waiting for.

"My name is Anthony, and I am not a diamond dog, not sure why everyone thinks I am one." extending my own arm out to meet his I grasped his tiny, scaly hand and gave it an easy shake in fear that if I put all my strength into it I might accidentally crush every bone in his hand.

This is the moment humanity has been waiting for, sadly there are no other humans to witness this moment and to send it out for all to see.

"If your not a diamond dog then what are you? Not to sound rude and all buddy but you pretty much look like one." the little dragon asked me with an inquisitive look, I know that nobody on this planet knows what I am but I can at the very least enlighten these seven ponies and one baby dragon what I am, why I am here and most important of all, do they know of any plumbers or gardeners.

Waving them over I started to walk toward the castle entrance that led to the lobby and when I glanced back to see if they are following I saw that Zecora and even Spike was trying to get them to walk with me and with some convincing on Spike's part because I heard every single word he said and well...apparently even a baby dragon can be as persuasive as a high class lawyer.

"Come on girls, we came all the way out here in the most cursed and scary forest in all of Equestria just to find him and now you don't even want to know more about him? Like seriously, why the buck did we come out here if we are just going to go back with nothing in our claws or hooves to show for this misadventure." I don't know what buck means but seeing how these are ponies and mythical versions of ponies then I can think that it means 'fuck' or 'hell', but then again I have been wrong before.

With a bit of apprehension on their faces if I can call it that, they slowly started to follow me in and it took us a while but we eventually came into what is the dinning room and I had to remove the skeletons that was in here with the exception of a skull that couldn't be removed from the table because it was melted to it. Pulling the chairs out I went about doing so with some leisure because they were taking their time to get here and as soon as they arrived the chairs are all out, mine included, and that I was waiting patiently for them to make their way to their seats.

Once they sat down I helped push a few in, the rainbow maned pegasus and the orange normal pony with the cowboy hat did it themselves and seeing how the rainbow one looked a bit miffed for some reason I did not try to press my luck with helping her so I just let it be for now and moved on with the rest of the mares. The white unicorn seemed to like me for pushing her chair in for her when she sat down in it but sadly I couldn't understand a word she said cause it came out as horse sounds, and Spike just glared at me and I just shrugged before moving onto the buttercream pegasus who was shaking in her seat but seemed to have calmed down just a tad bit to the point where the shaking isn't so visible. The purple unicorn and the vibrating with energy pink pony took their own seats and pushed it in a bit but from the corner of my eye the pink pony is trying to hold something in, my guess is she is holding in all that abundant energy or is trying to say something but can't seem to without it coming out wrong...that or she just has gas, I don't know.

"So Anthony, you said you weren't a diamond dog earlier, just what exactly are you then?" the young dragon asks me and trying to put it lightly without blowing his mind and possibly the minds of the other ponies around the table.

Looking at the lavender unicorn who was still wearing the nerdy glasses and had a notepad and quill out and was apparently writing something down, I don't know if she can understand me or not but what I do know is that she looks like a complete nerd. I bet she even lives in a book shaped building.

"Well, from outer appearance alone I look like what you would call a diamond dog but underneath all of this armor is actually not a diamond dog, but a human." and with that said Spike just looks at me in confusion and I knew that he would have no idea or a clue on what a human is let alone what one looks like.

Watching the little dragon tell the purple unicorn what I just said I watched her scribble something down and that is when she speaks up only for it to come out as whinnies and neighing and I could only tilt my head at her in wonder, trying to figure out what she just said.

"Uh Spike, what did the purple one just say?"

It took Spike at least a second or two to get what I was saying before snickering a bit.

"Oh right, I forgot to let the girls introduce themselves." and before I could interrupt the little lizard the six mares started their introductions in order from left to right but sadly I couldn't understand a word.

Staring at all six mares I just scratched my head and tilted it to the side and it took Spike and the rest of them a while to get done but when they finished up they expected me to say something but I just went on ahead and said what was on my mind.

"Spike, I know that they all just talked about themselves for a while now but I have nary a clue on what they all said. I saw their lips move but all I heard was strange noises and whinnies." and just like that there was silence and then Spike started to snicker quietly under his breath but sadly he couldn't hold it together and started to laugh out loud.

Waiting patiently for him to stop I just sat there staring at him and when it was just him laughing all it took the hoof to the back of the head from a lavender unicorn sitting right next to him to get him to stop. I know that might be a bit rude but still though to be the only person to understand a foreign person's language and than hear from said person what they heard on their end well...I don't really know.

Rubbing the back of his he scowls a bit at the purple mare before getting rid of that angry look and opted to replace it with a somewhat unhappy pout.

"Alright, well the purple unicorn is Twilight Sparkle-" I suppressed a snicker, "- the orange earth pony with the Stetson hat is Applejack-" another snicker suppressed "-pink earth pony is Pinkie Pie-" my suppression of laughter is starting to falter " the white lovely unicorn is Rarity" snickering fal--....lovely? The hell? "-the cyan pegasus with the wild rainbow mane is Rainbow Dash and the yellow timid pegasus is Fluttershy, who is very timid and is currently hiding behind Applejack...again." at this point I was both trying so hard not to laugh and trying to figure out their names and its correspondence with their colors and butt tattoos.

"I see..." I really didn't see anything but then again these ponies did look adorable, with the bright colorful coats and wide, expressive eyes they did look quite cute and adorable, now if only there was a way to weaponize cuteness.

"So Spike, these friends of yours, what do they do for a living?" I said as I mulled over what each of these mares could possibly do for a living on this world, seeing how everything here looks like it belongs in the medieval ages.

"Well Twilight is the town's librarian, Applejack owns and works at Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity is a fashion designer, Fluttershy takes care of the local wildlife that comes her way, Rainbow Dash works as a member of the weather crew, and Pinkie Pie works at the local bakery." and with that being said I now had a clear palette to paint these ponies with.

Looking at the ponies I can clearly see them working as the very thing Spike just told me, and the funny thing is the purple unicorn really does fit the librarian card with the exception that she isn't wearing the hot librarian skirt, tight shirt and low square glasses with her hair in a tight bun.

'Wow I really need to keep my fantasies in check.'

"Hmm..."

"Yes Spike? What are you wondering because that 'hmm' could be quite a few questions that have yet to be asked." I think I might have just said something in a sagely manner, or I an way that just confused the hell out of him but hey, can't get worse then it already is right?

"I was just wondering who is that big minotaur that is outside petting the manticore? I mean he didn't say anything or even make a sound when he saw us...well I think it is a he." Spike said and I immediately knew exactly who he was talking about.

Slightly leaning back in my chair I barked out a laugh before turning on my throat-mic and telling my Atlas to come inside and to stand beside me. This room we all are in is large enough for him to stand in with plenty of room to spare, I don't know why these ponies would make a castle this large seeing how small they are but I can only guess they're must be much larger species out there.

As these ponies and young dragon wondered I let out a sharp laugh the ground beneath my feet and their hooves and claws started to rumble with short bursts of rumbling and it wasn't long before my Atlas walked through the double doors and walked around the long table before stopping behind me.

"To answer your question Spike, it isn't a he, neither is it a she. This, Spike, this is a machine, one manufactured by my people for a purpose that I can not freely say at the time being but I can say that this beautiful piece of human engineering is powered by a small piece of the planet's core." as I started to talk about my Atlas I saw Spike try to tell the lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, everything I am saying and from the banter between the two I can see that he is somewhat screwing up in relaying the news.

"This colossal of a machine stands proudly at twenty-four feet tall and weighs exactly twenty ton without its weapon and twenty point four tons with its defensive armament. Standing before you is the Atlas model Titan, this fine piece of military and civilian hardware was created with the Frontier in mind for the purpose of assistance in construction of new buildings or to fend off against the hostile wildlife. This particular model though I have personally upgraded and altered to be user friendly and for it to be more safe for myself." I said as I smiled at the first thing I got for my Atlas, a form-fitting soft chair that comes with a warmer built into it so I can sleep comfortably when I am forced to stay inside during a lull in combat.

It took the little dragon a while to process everything I just said and even more time to tell that to the lavender unicorn but in the end he had this to say.

"So its a he then?" I just had to laugh a bit at that one.

"No, not really, machines don't have genders but depending on the person they sometimes give them a personality that implies a gender but for myself, this Atlas is a she, and I have taken to calling her Tabi." and as I said that I heard alongside with everyone else in the room my Atlas talk.

"You know I do not like to be called by that name Anthony." my Atlas spoke in a European accent, Russian to be precise.

I love her voice, it sounds hot and rough and that she always knows when to talk at just the right moment, especially when I was talking to Ingrid and I was about to ask her out for some private time.

Tabi can be such a cockblocker at times.

"Yea I know that, but what should I call you then? Not by your serial number cause that is way to long."

"You could just call me Lisa you know."

"But I like Tabi better."

"I know that but I prefer to be called Lisa."

"Fine...but you better stop waking me up at the worst possible times just for a confirmation code whenever you update your drive cores. That is annoying enough as is." truth be told updating a Titan's driver core is a pain in the ass, especially if it was damaged because you have to account for damaged data or corrupted streams of memory.

As I got back to asking Spike about what he had for questions since he had to be a proxy for his pony friend since I can't understand their pony language.

"Twilight is asking what is your cutie mark and what it represents." Spike said as I looked at him in confusion.

"What the hell is a cutie mark?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head, my eyes shifting over to Pinkie who is still vibrating in her chair, how she hasn't exploded yet is beyond me.

"You know, the thing that represents what you are really good at in life, your natural calling." Ooooh, now that makes perfect sense.

"Oh, that sounds nice, your job in life is the thing your best at but aren't there multiple people that have the same job? Won't their cutie marks look exactly the same?" and now it was Spike's turn to laugh at my question.

"Oh no man, I am sure there are plenty of jobs out there that are all the same, plenty of ponies got the same type of occupation but their cutie mark will always be slightly different from one another that and not everypony looks exactly the same, different coat colors, eye colors and mane colors will set them apart." Spike explained and that helped cleared up at least two other questions I had loaded up and it also filled in some information for my knowledge codex within my Atlas and armor's intel compartment.

"Thanks for explaining that to me Spike, that had me confused for a bit and if I was going to try and figure it out I don't know how long it would have taken."

"No problem...oh and Twilight is still asking me if you have a cutie mark and what it means, she seems to be pretty interested in it because she doesn't know what you are or what you even do for a living." that purple unicorn seems pretty adamant on trying to figure out what my job is and if I have a cutie mark.

I don't know if a tattoo of the Marauder Corps on my back counts or a tattoo of a Dragon's skull with a knife stabbed into it on my neck would even mean anything but seeing how this land has the thing of 'Tattoo makes the Pony' so I could tell them I am a soldier or a dragon slayer, either of the two are true but the dragon slayer was a long shot, I didn't even know that dragon would eat that grenade.

Just winging it I decided to go with the one on my back, I rather not scare the crap out of Spike and tell him I go around killing dragons every day.

"Well its not much of a job but out of necessity, I am a soldier for the Frontier Militia." and what a job that is...fresh out of high school, working as a janitor for the IMC and the first thing that happens is that it gets fire bombed and destroyed by the Militia and I get branded as a traitor but was released because lack of evidence, my town gets raided for harboring a few members of the attack and I get conscripted into the Militia since I was one of few homesteaders still alive in the area, meet some new people, trained to become a Pilot, killed some people, met Ingrid, got my own Titan, started dating Ingrid...just so much stuff to really think about at the moment.

Watching Twilight scribble something down on her notebook I look back to Spike who seems to have another question from the lavender unicorn.

"She is also asking what exactly did you do for this 'Militia', I didn't want to ask it cause I think it is something private and all but she is determined to find out, sorry."

"It's alright, and besides I didn't do much I just for the most part acted as a recon unit or as a spy, most of the time it was just laying down in one spot for hours or even days at a time while watching a bunch of people from a distance without being seen." I may not be telling them the whole truth about what I do for the Militia but I am telling them just what they need to know to get them off my back.

"You were a spy?"

"Yes, I was a spy, what does it matter to you?"

"So you wore fancy outfits and attended social gatherings and getting the mare of your dreams while living a life of danger!"

"Not really, no, more like I disguised myself as an enemy Pilot and walked around while trying not to blow my cover while I gathered information on what the opposition has at the moment, how strong they are and if they have reinforcements coming. On most days it was just boring to the point where I had to actively fight myself from falling asleep." I said as I messed with my hair a bit, playing around with a few strands as Spike relays what I just said to Twilight who then repeats what he just said so the rest of her friends can understand what is going on.

For the most part everything was going great, no one was trying to kill the other, no yelling matches, just a calm talk between aliens trying to lay the groundwork for peace.

Three Hours Later

"-and that was how I escaped from the military police when my extraction ship left without me." I finished my tale as Spike told everyone else my story, truth be told I find it nice to be able to tell someone else my life stories without being judged for picking a side.

Spike seemed to be completely entranced by all of the missions I undertaken throughout my carrier as a recon sniper for the Frontier Militia, it was made even better when the pink pony moved from her seat and came closer to me and just like Spike she seems to be enraptured with my stories. The cyan pegasus seems to taking my story with a grain of salt alongside with the orange pony, the yellow winged pony is still scared of me as for the white unicorn seems to be looking at my armor with some sort of disdain.

If you don't like synthetic leaf and twig camouflage on top of hard leather and plastic steel then you can go fuck yourself, this mishmash of armor saved my life on more then one occasion.

"Wow! That is amazing!" Spike said and I can safely say that Pinkie Pie said the same thing.

"I know, I was there, then there was this one time I took my girlfriend on a date to a carnival and her brother was following us the entire time and when we finally got to the photo-booth to take our pictures he broke in and proceeded to fight me. The booth got the whole thing on a single roll of film and we left before the police arrived, it was nice while it lasted." I sighed, my mind going back to all the fun times I had with Ingrid, that girl really brightened up life to the point where my nightmares were for the most part ignorable but that I am here in this world away from both the IMC and the Militia...I just don't know anymore.

As time went on and more questions were asked and answered it soon got to the point where we all knew each other fairly well enough to get a feel for what we like or don't like, and the friendly-brotherly relation between me and Spike was almost on level with the one I had with my brother with the exception that Spike is a living zippo lighter. I was actually amazed that Spike was able to breath fire because I always thought that baby dragons couldn't breath fire until they were older, glad I was proven wrong cause I hate spiders so much, my Atlas could have zapped it but it might have hit me as well. Another thing I learned about Spike and his fire-breathing ability is that if he concentrates he can make it send things to someone else, my guess that special gift passes for instant messaging for a backwater planet but hey, at least he is using his gifts to his advantage.

By the time it was lunch time the girl ponies pulled out from their saddles the equivalent of human salads, I saw flower petals, a carrot or two, some apples, and even hay. As they ate I pulled out from small pocket on my chest the protein bar, I hated the taste of it but it was enough to stave off hunger, Spike was eating what looks to be gems but that should be impossible, then I remembered that I am no longer on a world that should make sense so I just passed it off as this world running on magic and improbability.

"So Anthony..."

"Huh?"

"I was wondering, what's it like inside that thing?" Spike said as he takes a bit out of a sapphire gem, the crunching is rather loud, something I find unsettling.

'I wonder if that even hurts when he eats that.'

"Oh you mean in the Atlas?" I said as I looked up at Tabi/Lisa, its central eye tilting to look down at me.

"Yeah, must be fun." Spike said with a sigh, I guess he wants to know what its like to be flying under his own power.

"Oh Spike, trust me, it is, especially when your dropping down in it, feels like your flying." I said as I gave my Atlas a pat on the leg.

When that conversation ended we concluded our business for the day, the ponies waved goodbye, Spike waved a bit longer then normal but I just passed it off as a kid being impressed by a peer but seeing how we just met I had to guess I was like a big-brother figure for the little guy. Zecora later came up to me and sat down on her haunches and opened up her forelegs to me and I immediately get she was requesting and I kneeled down and gave her a hug, even though I couldn't feel her fur through my armor but when my head rubbed against hers and that large mohawk of hers I felt the warmth and soft texture, it is strange how this zebra can be so soft to the touch, I guess it must be a common thing on this planet.

Walking the girls, Zecora and Spike out of my home I led them back to the wooden rickety bridge and as they crossed it I waved goodbye and when they are finally out of my field of vision I made my return back to the castle, the manticore is fast asleep and was snoring quite loudly, bad enough that it could possibly put my father's snoring to shame.

'Such nice ponies...I wonder if I should try to visit them next time instead of having them come here. This forest isn't very safe without any weapons or a means of repelling the beasts of the wilds and to keep them at bay...maybe a Dog Whistle Tower...but where would I get all the parts required to even build such a thing.'

Tapping my Atlas on the leg I watched the hatch open up and as I crawled in to take a short nap I felt a slight shiver race up my spine and I just shake it off as me being paranoid about the local wildlife trying to eat me. Closing my eyes I started to count sheep hopping over a wooden fence and that was when my thoughts turned to the sheep, wondering if they were sentient like the ponies here.

Ignoring that thought I slowly wandered off into sleepy land and sighed happily as it started to rain pizza from the skies.

"P-please....you must help me...I don't want to be alone anymore!"

With a snort I was suddenly woken up, my Atlas blaring an alarm and when I looked to see what could possibly be the cause I saw that my heart-rate was almost skyrocketing into the red zone and that I was pushing my limits. I don't know what is the cause of this strange medical dilemma or who that voice belongs to but it is starting to haunt me.

I sure hope it isn't a ghost that is plaguing me.

Trying to go back to sleep I let my eyes close once more but this time I gave my Atlas permission to dump me onto the ground if this was to happen to me again.

'I really hope its not a ghost...I hate ghosts almost as much as I hate spiders.'

What I don't know is that as I fell asleep for a second time, my Atlas was given a short ping as something moved on its radar for a second before vanishing, it didn't register as organic or machine, nothing more then a phantom blip.

A shadow.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, I had a ton of crap to go through and that I started working at Smart and Final so I might be a bit slow.