"What the hell are you looking at!?" Shouted Lee Marvin as his pants hung around his ankles, his German uniform splayed and ripped open as he held his shotgun in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other.

Daniel sat in an overflowing metal bathtub, naked as the day he was born, holding a turkey with a spicket coming out of its beak.

"The sunset! Is it shifting?" Daniel replied to the inebriated man.

"Of course! It's the power of the fairies that let the moon have a baby after all!"

Lee Marvin took a long drink while leaning back, then fell down into a manhole.

Daniel leaned over the tub and looked into the hole "...You falling?!" he shouted after the man.

Without warning the man rose out of the water from between Daniels legs, all wet and looking rather annoyed "The sewer system needs a bit of work you dummy." he growled before giving Daniel a hard slap.

====

Daniel jerked out of his sleep and started coughing and hacking.

'What the hell kind of dream was that!?

Daniel pulled the covers off himself and shifted before falling back onto the bed of the truck disoriented. He blinked as he was suddenly overcome with a dizziness he could only have associated with being drunk. He felt light headed.

'Okay....maybe it was that pig ape thing I ate. The meat must have...something in it...maybe...I dunno...I need to pee.'

He rose with a bit of difficulty and opened the door to the sun blazed rocks and desert. The air was dry and hot, and he realized he was sweating and slightly read skinned. The inside of the truck was also a bit hot as well.

'Okay. Next time I look for a cave. I'm in the desert, not the woods, and I now have an idea of what caused this dizzy spell....doesn't explain the dream though....whatever.'

Daniel slowly stepped out, shoes still on from last night and he did his business.

===Canterlot===

Celestia stared down upon the morning court with heavy lidded eyes. The herald and her various courtiers had noticed how tired she was, despite outward appearances. How could they not, considering they had come over the years to learn her habits and ticks when attending to the issues of the nobility and matters of state?

Celestia wouldn't blame them if they had openly questioned her in front of every single pony as to why she was 'off key' this day.

The truth is, she didn't sleep very well the last night. In fact, she hadn't slept at all. Her mind was too active with what she had discovered out in the badlands.

At first she trembled with a giddy excitement at something that was not only in the most literal sense 'not of this world', but also could answer many of the questions that had plagued scholars and philosophers in so many areas for so many centuries.

That's when doubt and fear started to settle in. The realization that not only were the various species of this world no longer 'alone' in the universe, but that one of them hailed from another world entirely had blown away many fears, and created all new ones. The questions about how, where, why, and who came up over the human species as a whole as well.

How did they get here? It seems the 'Rift' that 'Daniel' mentioned in his journal yesterday provided that answer. It would also answer the 'why'. It didn't answer the 'where' and 'who'. As far as 'who' is concerned, there likely is no real culprit, as it very well could have been a natural freak phenomenon that brought a portion of the human species to this world. If there was to be a who however, it would have to be Discord. He's the only one powerful enough to cause such radical warps in the fabric of reality. To what purpose however? They would be the 'why'. Again, knowing him, likely to cause some form of...change.

Celestia resisted the urge to shake her head at that thought. It couldn't be for anything but trouble if he was responsible for it in the first place. So...she can only guess that he was not responsible, otherwise he would have made mention or done something the last time he had been freed.

So...that leaves 'where'. Where did the humans enter this world from? According to records, it was right here in Equestria, a little bit before even her time with her sister Luna as rulers. It was after the founding of Equestria though. Therefore it was after the classical era, but before the modern one.

It didn't take long after that for humans to spread everywhere. They seem to breed like rabbits really, though without litters.

That thought almost brought a small blush to her face.

Regardless. More questions have now arisen from the arrival of Daniel.

What kept her up was not just the questions about her own world, but also that of Daniel's. What was it like? What kind of race did humans develop into? Were they peaceful, or were they warlike? Did they have powerful magic, or were they like the humans here in that regard? Just questions of wonder, and discovery.

She was too excited to rest...and she was paying for it. She hadn't stayed up all night for a long time, and now she was into her thirtieth hour of being awake. She wanted to rest so much right now.

A bell tolled, and her thoughts were brought back to the now as she realized it was time for lunch. Finally some respite.

She stood and slowly walked out of the throne room and to her quarters, fully intent on getting an hour long nap...though maybe she could check on the human before she drifted off to sleep.

The room was what any normal everyday pony would call simple. Celestia had found in her time that keeping things simple, made life simple. So while it was beyond her personal ability to simply simplify her life due to her royal responsibilities, she could have some measure of control where she was able to be but herself.

Near the windowed doors that led out to the balcony, was a pile of soft clouds that Celestia used as her land of pillows. They were semi-permanent pillows compared to normal clouds, and they remained stationary unless she or one of her Pegasus maids moved them. She laid down upon the luxuriously soft clouds that for her felt like the smoothest silk. She sighed contently as she sunk into the cloud and sniffed in the magically enchanted smell of fresh rain and wind breezed air.

Her eyes opened lazily to the distant mountains and she remembered what it was she was thinking about.

"I almost forgot about him. Maybe I should just wait until..." She paused as the thought of Daniel once again filled her mind, and reminded her that she could miss something. She groaned. "No...I should check, even if only for a minute. At least to see if he was still there or on the move."

She nodded to herself as she closed her eyes and focused her power. In a moment her power and the scrying spell once again flashed her mind and spirit across vast reaches of Equestria, into the frontier, and to the badlands. She appeared facing away from the mountain towards the Suburban. She glanced to around looking for the human when she heard a sound behind her.

Had she taken a moment, she would have recognized the sound. Instead, in her tired state, she merely turned without thinking and was given an eyeful of male. She blinked as she froze and jerked back from the sight, her face flush from the sight as she backed off and the human finished his...business.

Daniel zipped up and nodded to himself as he turned and looked towards the mountain, looking left to right, taking measure of what he was about to plan out and do.

Celestia sat on her rear, frozen in place, and her tired mind catching up to what she just saw. She shook herself. It wasn't the first time she had seen male genitals, of human or pony, but...wow. It wasn't as if she really 'looked' before, nor was she into 'that' sort of thing as some nobles were. It was just a shock to have the feature suddenly appear before her eyes so closely that she was so shocked...that's all.

Daniel pulled her mind away from that road of thought as he opened the back of his truck and pulled out a belt and began to put it on. Celestia noticed on the right side a strange...holster like device. She's seen them before in Dodge Junction with the sheriffs wearing them and carrying various things like spoons and even sling shots. What she saw in the holster was neither of those. It was some sort of wooden handle screwed onto a metal frame. She had no idea what that could be, even when the human pulled it out.

It shined of some kind of steel, very well polished, and strangely complicated in appearance. The human then pressed something that made the rounded portion pop out, but not fall. Celestia looked as the human made sure of something, nodded, and closed it back up. Daniel placed the device back into the holster before pulling out some other kind of thing. It too had a handle upon it, similar but much larger then the silvery one. It was all black, and looked to be made of some...strange material. The barrel of the device itself was some kind of black steel, but everything else was some rough, and equally black material.

Celestia cocked her head as the human checked that device by pulling back the handle that was attached to the front of the thing. It was only when the human held it against his shoulder, and looked down the length of the device, that she recognized it for what it was. It was a weapon. She glanced down at the smaller one in the holster and realized it was a weapon as well.

So not only an alien, but a well armed one. At least...she would guess he was. She had no idea of what these weapons could do. For all she knew they fired balloons. She snorted to herself at the thought. A certain pink...Her eyes widened as she realized now what sort of weapons these were. Though that particular device was used only for quick decorations, what if it were used...

"Oh my." Celestia sounded out as the implications filled her.

"No...no. Let's not jump to conclusions so soon Tia. We know nothing about these...weapons. He's likely just..."

She paused as she noticed Daniel wasn't in her sight anymore. She blinked and looked to and fro for the human. "Darn it!" she shouted.

She had been so preoccupied that she didn't notice him leave! Where did he-

The sounds of rocks falling to the ground grabbed her attention and she looked up and felt her eyes widen as she saw Daniel climbing up the steep hill that led up the mountain.

"Oh wait! Be careful!" She shouted, even though he wouldn't hear her. She floated up quickly as he gripped onto a few dead trees, and continued his climb up.

She stared up tot he summit and realized that he could in fact reach the top, but it would take him time to do so. If he was slow and careful, he could do it without too much difficulty.

Celestia looked on worried and wondered-

"Your highness."

She blinked and looked behind her as a voice filled her ears

"your highness."

That voice...she realized who it was. Celestia slumped as she realized that she spent alot of her time watching when she wanted to nap.

She sighed forlornly and released her focus.

Her eyes opened as she looked upon the window to the balcony. Her eyes swiveled as she gazed upon a maid who held a scroll.

"Your highness. It is time for the continuation."

Celestia groaned as she stood up "Indeed. Do me a favor and bring me some tea. Heavy on the caffeine. I'm going to need it."

'among other things' her mind let out.

"Yes your highness." the maid replied in a bow before backing out of the room.

Celestia sighed as she yawned and shuffled out of the room. It was gonna be a long day.

===Badlands===

Daniel grunted as he grabbed onto a rock ledge, steadying himself before lifting himself over.

"Raughra..." Daniel grunted out. Translated loosely as "Finally".

"Well...my throat is still fucked. At least I can make sounds now without hurting myself. Why I can't make much more noise then a grunt and growl when I can shape my lips....no fricken idea. I'll take what I can get though...such as it is."

If Daniel hadn't been paying more attention to the environment and what he was doing, this conundrum would have bothered him far more.

Daniel stood up and turned to look over the land around him.

He had to admit...it was rather pretty in its own way.

As far as the eye could see to the south, were flat barrens, with large stone fields here and there. The east and west were more mountains, large distant ranges that were a dark orange.

It was to the north that caught Daniel's attention though. He could see in the distance a split in the range...and was...that a trail?

Daniel grinned, he had a heading.

Now he just had to climb down without killing himself.

Fun.

As Daniel reached the edge where he could climb back down a shriek filled the air. It took a moment for Daniel to react, but that moment was all it took for whatever made the sound to crash into him and grab onto his shirt. He fell to the ground with a yell and got a look at what grabbed him. What he saw was the biggest bird he had ever seen. It's feathers were large and uneven in places, colored a variety of browns and yellows. The neck was covered in white yellow hackles that stood straight out from the neck and vibrated with a loud growl that came from the its throat. The face reminded him of a large owl, with large orange eyes staring him straight in the face. What made Daniel really take pause was the fact the bird had a wingspan of at least twenty feet, until it's sharp beak bit into the front of his shirt.

With a roar, Daniel lashed out with a solid punch to the eye of the giant avian, landing a solid hit on soft tissue. It jerked back with a screech before growling again and leaping forward with sharp claws. Daniel rolled to the left onto his knees, and under the right wing and near the body. He threw another punch out, landing a solid hit on the birds side, causing another cry and sending the bird about 4 feet away.

Most people never really realize just how much damage a properly thrown punch can actually do, especially when thrown at a weak point. Daniel however couldn't really know that he hit such a point since weak points of large birds were never covered in martial arts classes. The bird didn't seem to care as it whipped to face him and back off with a loud hiss like growl.

Daniel took the opportunity to pull out the pistol and aim to fire at the bird, but it jumped up to dive down at the last second as he fired.

The explosion of sound was loud and seemed to thunder for miles. It was enough to make the bird stagger, and realize that he wasn't the easy prey that it thought, and began to follow instinct to fly off from the obviously strong threat.

Daniel watched as it flew off with a cry and waited for half a minute when it was out of sight before setting to climb back down.

Author's Note

I deeply apologize for this entry to the story.

RL intruded on me in the way of having to go to Florida, dealing with family stuff, and my falling into a depression I am just starting to get over.

I'm gonna try and at least do a chapter a week for this story starting this week.