"Uhhh, Twilight? You mind explainin' what's goin on here?" The orange mare with the stetson asked, her eyes shifting back and forth between me and the new throne.

"I-I don't know! There's never been a precedent for something like this!" Twilight replied, staring at me with wide-eyed wonder.

"Forget that! We have him right where we want him!" The cyan pegasus cried, zooming towards me at full tilt.

"Wait! Rainbow Dash don't-" Twilight began, only to be interrupted by a pained grunt as I smashed my fist into the pegasus' muzzle.

"Piss off!" I snarled, grabbing and throwing the stunned pegasus back towards her friends before raising my blade again, a soft blue light pulsing from the now gleaming metal.

"Look, just calm down-" Twilight began.

"Calm down? Calm down!? Lady, I don't know if you've noticed, but I have every reason to be pissed right now!" I shouted, taking a threatening step forward, "I am not going back in that damn cage so you can gather data on me before cutting me open!"

Starlight stepped up, levitating the pegasus to her hooves and repairing the damage to her nose, "Look, we didn't know anything about you, so we had to learn!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed. The harsh sound echoing through the chamber as I doubled over, clutching my sides, "Oh, you didn't know? You had to learn? Well that just makes everything forgivable, now doesn't it? Fuck you."

Starlight's pupils narrowed to pinpricks, shock etched across her features.

"You ponies had every indication that I was intelligent and not a damn animal, but you still took my things and kept me locked in a cage! Took samples from me while I slept! What possible excuse could you have for doing that?" I snarled, my gaze piercing into each and every set of eyes in the room.

"Hey! Don't you be talkin' to my friends like that!" The orange mare shouted, taking a more aggressive stance.

"Or what? You'll try to lasso me again? How'd that work out for you last time?"

The mare made a noise similar to a growl, pawing at the ground with her forehoof.

"Come on, then! Come at me!" I growled, lowering my stance a bit, pulling back my blade so I could lead with a lunging stab.

"ENOUGH!!!" Roared a voice from the back of the group of ponies, startling everyone in the general vicinity.

Everyone turned their heads to stare at the seething butter yellow pegasus who was glaring at her friends as if daring any of them to make a sound.

Then she turned her attention to me.

I would love to say that I matched that glare with one of my own, that I stood my ground against a seemingly weaker creature, but I didn't. Instead, I instantly rose out of my combat stance and into a more defensive one, my blade raised in front of me to ward off any incoming attacks.

"First of all, Applejack and Rainbow Dash!" The two mares in question stood to attention, "exactly why did you resort to attacking this poor creature when we had him 'right where we want him'?" She questioned sternly.

"B-but Shy!" The prismatic pegasus stammered, obviously not used to the tongue lashing she was getting from her friend, "he started it!" She said, pointing an accusatory hoof in my direction.

"No 'buts' Rainbow! And how exactly did he 'start it', hmmm?"

"Shy, I really think yer missin' the point here..." the other pony, presumably Applejack began, only to be silenced by a stern glare from the pegasus.

A part of me was highly amused at the sight of my two biggest aggressors getting chewed out by what I assumed to be the physically weakest of the group, a slight smirk made it's way onto my face.

"Twilight and Starlight Glimmer!" She called, the two mares in question stiffened at the sound of her voice.

"Y-yes...?" Starlight asked tentatively, a nervous grin on her muzzle.

"When you and Twilight told us that you were quarantining the Everfree Phantom, you said it was because of any side effects being exposed to so much manticore venom would have on him with his species being entirely unknown," 'Shy's' glare intensified, causing the unicorn to begin sweating nervously, "and yet here he is, completely healed and with no visible side effects of the venom!"

Starlight blanched under the piercing gaze of the normally quiet and soft-spoken pony.

"It was to satisfy my curiosity," Twilight said plainly, stepping forward, "I asked Starlight to assist me in my research, she can't be blamed for this."

The pegasus turned to the purple pegacorn, "and what were you researching?" she asked sternly.

Twilight sighed, "when we carted him back from the Everfree, I immediately did a blood test to see if any of the manticore venom had remained in his system. However, I soon discovered that the proteins that formed the molecular structure of the venom had been severely broken down in the Phantom's bloodstream, and I wanted to know why. And when we found out about his uncanny resistance to magic..." She turned to me and bowed her head in shame, her ears drooping, "in my search for an answer, I ignored the needs of my subject, and for that I'm sorry."

I stared at the purple mare, putting on my best poker face.

She seems really sincere about that apology, and I doubt she would lie when my one benefactor in this place... wherever this place is, is standing right there...

"And don't think I've forgotten about you, mister!"

And just like that, I was on the defensive again, crouching behind my blade as if it would somehow save me from the stern glare of the butter yellow pegasus currently staring daggers at me.

"Y-yes?" I stammered sounding like the total wuss I was at that moment.

"What gave you the right to hurt my friends like that? Poor Spike would have had a concussion if he was anything other than a dragon! And you could've seriously hurt Applejack the way you wrestled her to the ground like that! What do you have to say for yourself?" Her eyes were locked onto mine, but they weren't angry like I was expecting. Instead they were filled with... disappointment?

"I owe 'Spike' an apology, but I needed to get him out of the way to make my escape. As for the others... what I did was in self-defense, I believe I was justified with what I did." I stood up more confidently, posturing myself as though to intimidate a pack of those wooden wolves, "and had lethal force been necessary... so be it." I said, hoping and praying that my final gambit to get out of this situation would pay off.

"If that's true, why did you bother tying up Applejack and shutting Spike in your cage?" The pegasus questioned, looking pointedly at the blade in my grasp, "you certainly had the means to use a more... permanent solution, so why didn't you? I don't believe you're a bad creature, so please let me help you."

"I..." I stammered, no! What are you doing you idiot!? She's with THEM! Don't waver now!

I steeled myself, "bullshit! What could you possibly gain by helping me? Don't forget, I can still cut through the lot of you and find my own way out of here!" I snarled, showing my teeth as I crouched lower into my stance, my blade at the ready.

The other ponies tensed, slipping into their own combat stances, something akin to grim determination on their faces.

"Fluttershy, ah don't think talking him down is workin', you'd best get away from him now." Applejack said in a low tone, only to be silenced by a raised hoof from Fluttershy.

"If that's what you truly believe, then do it. Prove me wrong, attack me and prove to us that you're the monster you want us to believe you are," She stared into my eyes, "but I don't think I'm wrong about you."

I raised my blade in both hands, a clean strike to the neck, quick and easy. She won't even feel any pain.

I met her gaze, my face a stoic mask as her friends watched the spectacle unfold.

My hands shook slightly, still poised to strike, why am I hesitating!? She's a tiny horse! A dumb animal! This will be just like spearing a fish back in the forest!

I grit my teeth, raised the blade a little higher in my shaking hands.

Her gaze didn't waver for a second.

I couldn't do it.

I spun the blade around in my hands and bought it down, stabbing deep into the crystalline floor, "DAMMIT!!!" I cried, tears leaking from my eyes as I slumped to my knees and rested my head against the flat of the blade, "I can't do it! There, you happy?" I sobbed, knowing full well that my escape was now impossible.

A hoof landed on my shoulder, causing me to stiffen slightly as it moved in gentle, circular motions, "there, there..." Fluttershy cooed in a soothing voice.

I reached out and pulled her into a hug, drawing a squeak from the pegasus as I wrapped my arms around her neck as I buried my face in her pink mane, "I... I can't... do it..." I choked out softly my voice cracking.

"I know... I know..." Fluttershy murmured, rubbing the back of my head.

I just knelt there and cried.

After I had calmed down, mentally kicking myself for my meltdown earlier, I sat in the new throne bearing the silver flame gemstone. I don't know why, but sitting there just felt... right somehow, as if I was truly meant to sit there. I had left my sword in the floor as a sign of trust.

Six of the other ponies sat in their own respective thrones, with Spike taking his seat next to Twilight's throne and Starlight summoning her own wooden stool to sit on.

"Let's start with the obvious question," Twilight began, levitating a scroll and quill in her magic. I could see a small pile of blank scrolls and spare quills next to her throne, "what exactly are you?"

"Are you seriously gonna take notes on this conversation, princess? Don't you think you've had enough?" I asked, receiving a stern look from Fluttershy, "what? She's been doing that the entire time I was conscious! It kinda gets a little old after a while."

"Just humor me for a bit here," Twilight sighed, "though I think we should start with your name first, you do have one right?" she asked, setting the quill and scroll down and looking at me intently.

My... name...?

With all that had happened since my arrival to this weird world, the fact that I didn't have a name I could remember had completely slipped my mind, "I... I can't remember..." I murmured under my breath, my eyes widening.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I can't remember my own name..." I said a little louder.

"What do you mean ya can't remember!?" Applejack exclaimed from her throne, "yer smart enough to talk, I know yer parents must've given y'all a name!"

"Applejack!" Fluttershy scolded before looking back at me, "please explain what you mean."

"Exactly that, when I woke up in the... 'Everfree Forest' was it?" Twilight nodded in confirmation, "I couldn't remember a single thing about myself. My past experiences up until that point had been completely erased." I crossed my arms, scratching at my chin with my hand, "I still remember all my general knowledge of where I came from, but the only thing about 'me' personally that I've been able to recall is a fear of spiders."

This caused Rainbow Dash to roar with laughter, "t-the big scary Phantom's scared of spiders!?" She choked out while gasping for breath... before laughing again, clutching her sides and almost falling off her throne.

"Hey! It's not funny! Spiders are horrible little hell-spawn!" I yelled, my cheeks heating up from embarrassment.

"Anyways," I growled, glaring at the snickering pegasus, "I have a feeling that my memory loss is linked to however I ended up in the Everfree. And before you ask: no I don't remember it." I said, intercepting the question before it left Twilight's muzzle.

Twilight chewed her lip a bit, her brow furrowing. "What do you remember then?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It'll be easier to explain things if I have a map. Do you have one on hand-er-hoof?" I asked.

Twilight nodded, a beam of light emitting from her horn and striking the table in the center of the circle of thrones, a holographic map of what I assumed was the country I was in appeared over the top of the table's flat surface, "This is a map of the Principality of Equestria and it's surrounding territories and neighbors," explained Twilight, "why did you need this?"

I stared at the map for a while, studying it. "Does it zoom out? I don't recognize any of these places."

Twilight's horn flared again, another beam of light striking the map as it zoomed out further, revealing a world map with several continents and gaps that I assumed were oceans and seas between them, "this is a map of Equus, the name of this planet," Twilight explained, looking at me expectantly.

"Nothing, not a single recognizable landmass," I muttered, studying the map intently, memorizing as much of the geography as I could.

"What exactly are you saying?" Starlight asked.

"That this isn't even my world," I replied, looking up at the seven mares and dragon around the table.

"What, you really think we'll believe you're an alien?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, looking around and taking in the expressions around the table, "... you're serious, aren't you?"

I nodded.

"Y'all don't look like yer too concerned 'bout that fact," Applejack remarked, the doubt clear in her voice.

"Trust me, I'm probably gonna have a massive freak out session later," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose, "I'm just using my default survival strategy I've been using since I showed up here."

"Which was...?" Twilight asked tentatively.

I looked her in the eye, "shove aside anything other than cold logic, panicking wouldn't help me, and neither would crying. Those can wait until after I've survived, and I haven't stopped surviving yet."

I sighed, rubbing my temples, "but enough of that, I don't think I'll be solving my memory problem anytime soon. To answer your earlier question Twilight, I'm what's known as a 'human' back where I'm from. We're an omnivorous race that walk on two legs, and we're the dominant species on our planet. Does that answer work?"

I looked over to see Twilight furiously scribbling notes on her scrolls, multiple quills levitated in her magic as splatters of ink flew from the quill tips.

I guess I caught her off guard by answering her question after dropping the 'I'm an amnesiac alien' bombshell...

"What kind of magic does your race inherently use? What form of government do you employ? Why do you have nipples?" Twilight rattled off, not taking her focus off the numerous scrolls she was jotting various notes and hypotheses on.

This time, it was my turn to be caught off guard.

"Ummm... excuse me, WHAT!?" I exclaimed, my face burning a little at the pointedly sensitive question asked in such a clinical tone.

Twilight looked up at me with a confused expression, "you're clearly a male, so why do you have nipples? Do human males lactate instead of females?"

She asks with child-like innocence... I thought as I stared incredulously at her, "Twilight," I began, "I'm gonna pretend that was a totally normal, and non-awkward question and say no. No we do not."

"But then why do you have them?"

"We're done talking about this."

"But-"

"DONE." I growled, glaring at the purple mare.

Fluttershy shot me a look, "what!?" I said, "that question was super awkward!"

"Be nice," Fluttershy said simply, staring at me.

"Fine," I grumbled, looking back towards Twilight, "I have a question for you now."

"What is it?" Twilight asked, giving her quills a much-needed rest.

"What exactly are you? I'm kind of familiar with unicorns and pegasi from what I can remember about my world's mythology, but I have no clue what you are."

Twilight looked genuinely confused by the question, "mythology? You don't have ponies where you come from?"

I shook my head, "no, we have ponies, they just don't talk... or have wings and or horns."

Twilight shot me a weird look before continuing, "I'm what's known as an alicorn," she said, placing a hoof on her chest, "although I was once a unicorn like Rarity and Starlight, I was ascended to alicorn hood after completing my final test as Princess Celestia's student."

"Ascended?" I asked.

"Alicorns are ponies with the magic of all three pony tribes within them," she explained, "the increased strength and constitution of the earth ponies," she gestured to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, "the flight and cloud walking ability from the pegasi," she gestured to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, "and finally, the ability to use Equus' latent magical field in it's natural form, courtesy of the unicorns," she finished, gesturing to Starlight and Rarity.

She looked back at me, "alicorns are living symbols of the harmony between the three tribes, and represent the founding of Equestria as a whole."

I nodded slowly, "uh huh, is that why you're a princess then? Can I also assume that this 'Princess Celestia' is an alicorn as well?"

"Yes, why?" Twilight asked, giving me a curious look.

"No reason, just curious." So this nation is ruled by one race that 'supposedly' represents all of them, huh? Along with a monarchy? Talk about backwards thinking...

"You know... we still don't have anything to call you by, we can't keep calling you the 'Everfree Phantom'," Rainbow Dash remarked, "so, you got anything we can call you?"

I thought for a moment, "imagine that everything you knew was taken away, nothing but a gigantic gap in your memory to replace it with. You know that you had to have had history at some point, but for some reason you can't remember any of it. Following me so far?"

Everyone's heads nodded.

"Then," I continued, "imagine that because of whatever wiped your memory, you also ended up in a place with zero understanding of how things work, what's going on, or where the hell you are. Everything you may have done up to that point has been rendered entirely pointless, leaving you as just a face attached to a living body in a world that doesn't know you. You could have been anyone, but instead you've become completely anonymous."

I cock my head, looking up at the ceiling, "now then, because I've been 'anonymous' for at least a few months after vanishing from my world, I've likely already been presumed dead," I grin before looking back to the ponies, "and since I'm now -technically- an anonymous corpse, why not give me a name to match? I think my temporary name should be John Doe."

"John... Doe?" Twilight said, cocking her head to the side, "why that?"

I looked at her, "it's a name given to unidentified corpses. And it's only temporary until I get my memories back."

Twilight levitated a quill and scroll, scratching what I assumed was my new name down onto the parchment, "John Doe it is then."

Still creeps me out... I thought as I covered my scarlet right eye and the shock of stark white hair with my hands.

I was currently staring into a mirror, part of the adjoining bathroom that had been delegated to me as part of my room in the castle, I had left my sword in Twilight's lab for her to study the next day (as well as a sign of trust), but at the moment it had been decided it was better for everyone to turn in early.

When I had asked for my clothes to be returned, Twilight had sheepishly told me that they had to cut them off to treat my wounds (and for a fiber analysis), at which point Rarity had volunteered to make me some new clothes by way of apology for the way I had been treated, the measuring was taking place tomorrow as well.

"Heh, it's a wonder what starvation and running for your life will do to burn calories," I mused, flexing a bit in the mirror.

I had never really gotten a good look at my body in the cracked mirror back at the ruins, looking at myself now, it was easy to see why I had been mistaken for some unknown beast of the Everfree. The hunger had really done a number on my body fat, despite my efforts to keep my diet as balanced and as big as I could manage, leaving my body and face gaunt, hunger etched into every detail. My muscles had also developed due to my excessive tree climbing, my muscles were lithe and strong, like those of a jungle cat. And finally my skin had tanned to a darker shade of brown and the stubble on my face had grown thicker and more wiry.

All in all, I looked every bit like a phantom that had spent it's days wandering the Everfree in search of it's next meal.

I sighed, grabbing the cutthroat razor resting next to the sink and began to work on shaving my face and set about making myself human again.

Finally, Princess Luna thought as she finally managed to pierce the veil of the mysterious dream she had been sensing for the past two months, she wasn't sure exactly what being this dream belonged to, but it certainly did not feel like any race she was familiar with. All of a sudden, the majority of the illusions, logic traps, and mental barriers around the unknown mind that had stymied her had suddenly vanished, as if the being had decided to drop it's guard.

I must be careful, there is no telling what creature is lurking in this dream... Luna prepared her own mental defenses, encasing her own mind in several layers of protection before stepping into the unknown dreamscape.

What stretched out before her as a seemingly endless, featureless plain of bone white grass growing out of black soil, a sky filled with black clouds overhead. The monotony of it all was only broken by a dead tree, it's branches clawing rebelliously at the dark sky, it's bark the color of the darkest ebony, with a rope with paper talismans attached to it wrapped around it's trunk, the talismans swaying in the nonexistent breeze.

"A shell dream?" Luna murmured as her gaze swept across the desolate landscape, her ears swiveling, trying to pick up the slightest hint of noise. She tried to use her power as a dream walker to force her way through the false dream. A set of wooden double doors suddenly appeared directly in front of her past the black tree in response.

The grass around her hooves made an unsettling rustling noise, sounding more like bone being scraped against stone as she slowly made her way towards the doors.

Just as Luna was about to reach the door however, three large, white feathers embedded themselves into the earth before her, halting the lunar diarch in her tracks.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that, your highness." A mysterious voice said, the voice echoing through the area around her as a portcullis dropped down over the double doors, causing them to vanish.

"Who goes there!" Luna cried, spinning about and reaching out with her power, seizing the presence she felt and yanking it into a physical form.

"My, my. I'm impressed, you got me to manifest! Good for you!" The voice said, echoing from the direction of a stark white raven sitting in the branches of the black tree, preening it's feathers absentmindedly.

The bird was about the size of a medium sized dog, a set of dichromatic blue and red eyes sat above it's ebony beak, which it was using to align it's three regrowing primaries on its right wing.

"What are thou? be warned, we are not one to be trifled with!" Luna shouted, snorting and stamping her hoof aggressively at the large bird.

"No, I suppose not." The Raven said, ceasing his preening and giving Luna her full attention, "now then, why have you come here?" It asked, it's beak unmoving.

It is speaking directly into my mind? But that's...

"Impossible?" The Raven finished, cocking it's head. Luna could only imagine the smug grin the Raven was no doubt giving her, "understand this, little pony. You may be a very powerful psychic, but it pales in comparison to what I can do in this realm, is that clear?"

"Then why have we been allowed entrance thus far?" Luna questioned, tightening her defenses even further, allowing this aspect to read her thoughts any further would likely result in her losing her mind.

The Raven ruffled it's feathers, huffing in annoyance, "you are here because the idiot you tried to reach decided he was in a safe enough place to lower his guard, which in turn caused more work to suddenly crop up for yours truly."

Suddenly, a piercing shriek erupted far off into the distance, the sound barely reaching the pair. However, the immense ripples through the dreamscape could be felt greatly by the pair.

"What was that!?" Luna asked, glaring at The Raven.

The Raven sighed, seeming to massage the bridge of it's beak with the joint in it's wing, "that, would be the other troublesome pest that prevents me from resting, I'm afraid you will have to go." With that, a portal of swirling black mist opened behind Luna, chains of bone-white metal shooting out and wrapping around her hooves and chest, dragging her back into the portal.

"I highly recommend you don't attempt to break in again, I won't be so lenient next time," The Raven said, just as Luna's dream aspect began to fade, screaming into the portal.

Luna awoke with a start, throwing off her sheets roughly as she immediately departed for her sister's chambers, not bothering with putting on her regalia. The doors to her private chambers slammed open, startling the two thestral night guards watching the hall as their princess stalked out, a look of grim determination on her face

Celestia needed to hear of this immediately.

Author's Note

Aaaaaaaand done! *whew*

A little bit of wind down from the previous chapter, and a bit of a teaser for some future events.

Regarding John's name... don't worry, he'll remember it at some point

The shell dreamscape is sort of a mass fusion between Hueco Mundo from Bleach, Dark Link's miniboss arena from Ocarina of Time, and the arena where you fight the Shagaru Magala in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Just thought it would look cool.

As always, be sure to comment down below with feedback, theories, and questions that I may or may not directly answer!

And as always, thanks for reading!

Edit: Fixed some problems with the early dialogue, sounded good when I wrote it, but afterwards... not so much.