In a World Where I Don't Belong

I was laying down on a hill top over looking the entrance to the gem mine for almost an hour, observing the area to see if the diamond dogs had any sentries posted outside or if they made regular trips to the surface. My surveillance turned up nothing, for the mine appeared to be abandoned. Either they were being smart by keeping a low profile, or they were dumb enough to think no one would come after them.

'It's now or never.' I thought to myself as I stood up and rushed to the entrance, rifle at the ready. There were large dirt mounds scattered around that one could easily use to surprise an unsuspecting passerby so I made sure to keep my distance. When I got to the mine entrance, I could hear some voices coming from within. Judging by how quiet they were, it was likely they were deep inside. I pulled back the charging handle slightly on the rifle to make sure I had a round in the chamber. I did the same with my pistols and holstered them before making my down the mine.

If it weren't for the constant noise and voices coming from within, I would probably be wandering around in circles for ages. Tunnels seemed to branch off randomly in different directions, each one leading to another intersection. How exactly they navigated their way through here was beyond me. The voices slowly grew louder and more defined as I went deeper, and I was able to make out parts of their conversation. Although I couldn't make out much, I did overhear something about the princess. Was that their plan all along? To trick the princess herself into coming over here using her own people as bait? If so, then these diamond dogs were smarter than they let on. Then again kidnapping royalty didn't exactly sound like the smartest idea either.

The voices were very distinct now, I could clearly make out what they were saying. I stopped just behind a corner to listen in. I risked a peak around the corner since the tunnel I was in had no lighting and my black clothing and gear allowed me to blend in with darkness surprisingly well. At first, I thought I was going after a gang of pony thugs and "diamond dogs" was what they called themselves. However, they were quite literally dogs except for a few human like features. They were certainly bigger than any dog back on Earth, and they walked on two legs instead of four. And of course they could talk, I wonder if every living creature in this world had a higher form of consciousness.

There was a total of five I could see, two were standing on either side of a doorway, obviously they were sentries, and there were three others standing together a little ways in front of them. These three must be the source of the voices I heard coming in. Two of them were wearing dark grey vests with collars around their necks, and the third had on a red vest and a jewel hanging from his collar. This one must be their leader.

"Well done boys, with the ponies we have, we'll dig up enough gems to last us for months!" The one in the red vest said.

"If we're gonna dig up gems that fast, then why don't we just keep the ponies around?" The tallest of the three said. He clearly wasn't the brains of the operation.

"Because you fool, it's only a matter of time before the royal guard shows up now that we have their princess and I want to be long gone by the time they arrive. We'll keep them working until dusk, then we'll take all the gems and head out."

So they're using them as forced labor, not the worst of fates for someone who's been kidnapped, but it would be best to not let them drag it out any longer. Under most circumstances, I would take the stealthy approach. However, in all my infinite wisdom, I neglected to bring my suppressors. There was no doubt in my mind that there were more of them deeper inside the mine, and they would all come running as soon as they heard the gunfire. I would have to be quick and precise if I was going to maintain the element of surprise. I remember from that book I read that unicorns were one of the few races on this planet that could directly control magic and focus it into a spell, and that alicorns were more powerful than any unicorn. Considering these diamond dogs were able to subdue Starlight and Twilight, they had to have a few tricks up their sleeve.

'Ah, now this will be interesting to see. I can't wait to see you in action.' Sombra chimed in.

"Now really isn't the best time." I thought so only he would hear it.

'Just put on a good show, I'm anxious to see how you handle yourself in a fight.'

I forced Sombra's voice to the back of my head so I could focus on the matter at hand. Since there was no sneaking around them and the rest would know I'm here as soon as I fired my first shot, there was no point in trying to be stealthy. I took a deep breath as I rounded the corner and let my rifle hang in front of my chest from the sling. Might as well give them a chance to surrender and hand the ponies back, although I knew they wouldn't. That way when Twilight bitches at me for killing them I can say I tried.

"Excuse me" I yelled out to gain their attention. They all turned towards me in a fighting stance. At least they weren't as frightened when they first saw me as everyone else was when they first saw me.

"Who and what are you?" the leader asked.

"Who and what I am is not important. What is important is what I want." I answered back.

"Oh, and just what might that be?" the leader asked as the two sentries moved up beside him.

"The ponies you kidnapped from Ponyville. I want them back." I replied.

"Oh yeah?" the leader asked as he took a whistle out from inside his vest and blew it. It let out a high pitched whine and a dozen more diamond dogs came rushing up from deeper within the mine. "You and what army?" he asked with a smug grin on his face. In total, there were now seventeen diamond dogs.

'Well done, now they have us surrounded.' Sombra pointed out.

"Oh I know they do. Those poor bastards." I didn't wait for Sombra to reply before I drew my pistols and unloaded as fast as I could into them.

Four dropped before they even knew what happened, the rest charged forward once they realized the fighting started, and three more fell to the ground before they got half way. The three dogs with vests ran off with their two body guards as the rest came at me, making it a 5-1 fight. Although better, it still wasn't good. One of them was closer than I thought and tackled me from the side as I put two rounds through his head. I shot another dog in the leg before the gun in my right hand locked back, indicating it was out of rounds so I dropped it now that it was little more than dead weight, the other pistol likely not far behind. The fight was down to 3-1. Sure one of them may be on the ground but so was I, and this 200+ lb dead dog on me wasn't doing me any favors.

The remaining two that were still in the fight saw their opportunity and pounced. I took aim at the one on my left and fired but he was too close and smacked the gun out of my hand and it slid across the cavern floor. He drew back his fist and I knew what was coming next was going to leave a mark, fortunately it would just blend right in with the other bruises on my face. The punch hit hard, but it was far from being the worst hit I ever took and threw one right back at him. I hit him in his nose as hard as I could in my position and it was enough to knock him back for a few seconds, enough time for me to roll the dead body off of me.

I pushed myself up but a flying kick from the other diamond dog connected with the side of my head, knocking me back down and onto my back. He raised his leg in a move to curb stomp my skull, but since I was no longer being crushed by his recently deceased friend I had full access to my knife. I drew my blade and stabbed it into his raised foot, or paw I should say, and he screamed in pain as he fell back taking my knife with him. I then rose to my feet as quick as I could and drew my machete from my back and faced towards the dog I punched earlier. He was no longer dazed from the hit and was back in his pathetic excuse of a fighting stance. He glanced at his comrade lying on the floor screaming and holding his foot/paw thing and at all the rest of his fallen friends and back at me. I could tell he was angry, that he wanted to avenge his brethren, but he knew that to try would likely end in his demise.

"You had me outnumbered seventeen to one, now look around. Five of you ran off like cowards, nine are dead and two injured, and through all of your combined efforts, you only landed two hits on me. Do you really want to do this?" I said, trying to reason with him. "The way I see it, your two friends need medical attention, and your leaders abandoned you to your fate. You owe no loyalty to them, not after they left you to die. Take your friends and get them the help they need. There's no need for all of you to die, I'm only after the ponies." This seemed to get through to him as he relaxed his stance and nodded in agreement. I sheathed my machete when I saw he was done fighting.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the the dog I shot in the leg crawling towards my pistol that I lost. He grabbed it and raised it towards me but I put a round right between his eyes with my rifle, and he dropped my pistol as he laid there motionless. I swung back around to the dog I just spoke to and he screamed and fell backwards as he pushed himself back against a wall.

"Scratch what I said, 10 of your friends are now dead. Can I trust you two to leave this place and never come back, or should I go for a full body count?" The two remaining diamond dogs didn't say anything, they just shook their heads, to scared to speak.

"Good." I walked over to the dog that had my knife in his foot and grabbed a hold of his leg as I placed a hand on the handle of the knife. "Sorry about this, but I kinda need this back." I ripped the knife out, causing him to scream in another fit of pain. I flicked some of the blood off the knife and placed it back into its sheathe. The two diamond dogs hurried off, the one with the injured foot using the other for support. I turned towards the doorway that led deeper into the mine, and waited for a second to see if there were any more coming up. All I could hear was the faint voices of the three dogs that ran off barking (pun intended) orders and arguing with each other. I collected my pistols and swapped out the mags with fresh ones and placed them back into my holsters. I did a quick gear check to make sure I didn't lose anything in the struggle and continued my descent into the mine.

Twilight was sitting in her cell, trying to pry off the device the diamond dogs put on her horn to no avail. No matter how hard she tried to get it off or cast a spell strong enough to break it, the device wouldn't budge an inch. Starlight was attempting the same thing, but had just as much success as the princess.

"Ugh, what is this thing?" Twilight huffed in frustration. "Where did they even get these things?" She asked as she continued to struggle against the strange contraption that rendered her horn useless.

"It's no use, Twilight. I don't know what they are but they're obviously too sturdy to break." Starlight said in defeat.

"No, I almost got it. I just need to.. ARGH!" Twilight cried out as the metal device locked on her horn administered a powerful shock, making her world turn white for a brief moment in pain. Starlight rushed over to her side in worry, fearing her teacher may be seriously injured.

"Twilight are you okay? What happened?" Starlight asked as she helped the princess sit up.

"I don't know...I thought I felt it come loose but then it shocked my horn." Twilight explained as she brought a hoof to her head. Her mind was pulsing, each one feeling like a sledge hammer coming down on her head. Twilight was convinced that trying to remove the device by force was only going to result in more painful shocks, and conceded that she would have to find another way to break out.

"I just don't understand, how did the diamond dogs even get a hold of these things?" Starlight wondered.

"I don't know, but we have got to find out where they came from. There's bound to be more where these came from." Twilight said as her crippling headache slowly began to subside.

"Without our magic, we won't be freeing ourselves anytime soon. And it may be a while before help comes along." Starlight said as she sat down next to Twilight, afraid as to how long they may be held captive.

"Don't worry, I'm sure our friends are on their way. They would never abandon us." Twilight said, confident that the other elements will come along shortly. Until then, there wasn't much they could do besides think of where the diamond dogs would have gotten this technology. Starlight and Twilight took turns looking at each other's device, looking for weak spots or where there might be a release. Despite the situation, Twilight's inner scientist was fascinated by the devices on their horns. Twilight suspected they weren't of Equestrian origin since they didn't resemble any technology that came from Equestria, which only perplexed her more. Equestria is the most advanced nation on Equis, and she wasn't aware of any other nation that had the capabilities of developing such technology considering there were only a few other species other than unicorns that could use magic. Even then, these devices seemed to be designed specifically with unicorns in mind since they fit so perfectly around the horn.

"Princess Twilight? Is that you?" Twilight was shaken from her thoughts when she heard her name. The voice belonged to a minty green unicorn that was standing on the other side of the door to her cell. The unicorn approached the door to her cell, stunned that the princess of friendship suffered the same fate as she did. Twilight looked to her horn to see if she had one of the devices on her horn as well, but to her surprise she didn't. Twilight rushed up the door to her cell, hope rising up within her that they may be freed sooner than they thought.

"Lyra! Thank Celestia you're here. Quick, get us out of here! They put these strange things on our horns and I can't use my magic." Twilight explained. Instead of breaking the lock to her cell, Lyra gave a pained look to the princess.

"I'm sorry your highness, but I can't do that." Lyra said regretfully.

"What? Why?" Twilight asked, frustrated.

"These diamond dogs kidnapped us for forced labor. Right now they're keeping Octavia and Bon Bon locked up and are threatening to hurt them if Vinyl and I don't find gems for them." Lyra explained.

"Yeah, and now since they have you two as well, that's all the more reason to not provoke them." Vinyl Scratch added as she walked up to the cell door next to Lyra. Twilight let out a sigh as she thought of what to do, but couldn't come up with anything. As capable as Lyra and Vinyl may be, any attempt at freeing themselves would put the lives of her subjects in jeopardy, and that wasn't something she was willing to risk. She hated to admit it, but for the first time the diamond dogs had the upper hoof and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"Alright, for now just do what they tell you. The other elements will come along soon enough to get us out of here. We beat them before, and we can do it again." Twilight said to try and assure them that they will be rescued. Lyra and Vinyl nodded at her words but before they could continue the conversation, loud popping noises echoed throughout the mine, making them jump in surprise at the sudden noise.

"What's that noise?" Vinyl asked the group. They could hear diamond dogs barking and screaming mixed in with the rapid pops.

"Sounds like rescue came sooner than we could have hoped for." Lyra said in anticipation. Vinyl and Lyra had hopeful expressions that they were about to be rescued, but Twilight knew who was behind the source of the noise and was none to pleased about his presence.

"Twilight, is that who I think it is?" Starlight whispered to the princess.

"Unfortunately, it is. Oh that idiot, I told him to stay in the castle! How did he even get out? I locked him in his room and cast a spell on the door!" Twilight answered, clearly agitated. Lyra and Vinyl looked back at the princess, confused about her outburst and why she would be upset that rescue was coming.

"Princess, what are you talking about? Whose coming?" Lyra asked. Before she got an answer, five diamond dogs came charging into the room and slapped the devices onto her and Vinyl's horns before they got a chance to charge a spell.

"Get them back into their cells! We'll deal with them later. He has to come through there to get to them. We'll ambush him then and make him pay for what he did!" Their leader said as the two unicorns were thrown back into their cell with Bon Bon and Octavia. Octavia rushed over to help them up.

"What is going on out there?" she asked the two unicorns, clearly distressed about the situation.

"Don't worry Tavi, the other elements are coming and will free us soon enough." Vinyl said to her housemate, much to her relief.

"Oh thank Celestia! I thought we would be trapped in this mine for ages." Octavia exclaimed. All were clearly excited at the thought of being rescued, except for Bon Bon. She was looking out from behind the cell door with a rather stern expression, and this caught the attention her closest friend.

"Bon Bon, Are you alright? We're about to be rescued, shouldn't you be excited?" Lyra questioned her creme colored friend. Bon Bon looked back at Lyra, and gave her a forced smile.

"Yeah, I am. It's just this whole thing has me feeling exhausted and I just want to get back home." She explained. Lyra nodded, feeling the same way.

The mine was now quiet except for the sounds of my footsteps, which was a dead giveaway that the dogs that ran off earlier set up an ambush. I kept my rifle pointed in front of me, scanning for the smallest signs of movement. The tunnel soon opened up to another large cavern, this one was well lit with torches on the wall and the gems sticking out reflected the light from the flames. I stopped a few feet away, sensing that this was where they would try to catch me by surprise. At the other end of the cavern, I could see a cream colored pony looking at me. Unlike all the other ponies that saw me for the first time, this one eyed me with suspicion and didn't look at all surprised that I was human. I ignored her glare and thought on how best to approach the situation.

I couldn't see any diamond dogs from my position, so they were most likely hiding on either side of the tunnel opening, hoping that I would blunder right through for them to jump on. I took a few steps back and sprinted towards the cave opening, making sure that my footsteps were loud enough for them to hear. Just before I reached the cave opening, I dropped to the ground and stuck a leg out as I slid past the opening like a baseball player sliding into home plate. As I suspected, the were waiting on either side of the opening and two of them jumped out to try and tackle me. Since I slid into the cavern I was lower than what they were expecting and they smacked into each other and collapsed onto the cavern floor dazed from the impact.

I stood up and spun around in time to see the two sentries from earlier throw their spears at me. The first spear was easy enough to dodge, but doing so forced me into the path of the second spear and I spun to miss it just in time for it to miss its mark and it grazed my left arm instead of burying itself into my chest. My arm flared in pain as I could immediately feel blood come out of the wound, but I paid it no mind as I pointed my rifle at the dog who threw the second spear and put two rounds in his chest and a third in his head, ending his life. The diamond dog that threw the first spear was charging at me, hoping to get me while I was distracted. I knew I couldn't bring my rifle around in time to shoot him, so I went for the next best thing and brought the butt of my rifle up and smashed him in the face as hard as I could. A sickening crack and yelp echoed throughout the cavern at the impact and he fell back holding his face, blood pouring down between his fingers.

The last diamond dog who I identified as their leader jumped up from behind a mine cart that he was hiding behind with a dagger in his hand and swung his blade around in a fury. I aimed at him and pulled my trigger but he smacked my rifle away as I did so, sending the bullet into the wall of the cavern. He raised his arm to bring his dagger down into my neck and I grabbed his arm as he did, stopping the blade's progress. He tried to punch me with his other hand but I caught his fist with my other hand and we were locked in a battle of physical strength. Knowing that there were two more dogs behind me that could join in at any moment, I needed to break out of this deadlock and brought my forehead down on the diamond dog's face knocking him back as he grabbed his nose.

The first two dogs recovered faster than what I thought and came up behind me, each one taking an arm into their grasp and holding me in place. Their leader slowly looked up, smiling sadistically at seeing me immobilized. I was in trouble, there was no doubt about it, I could see Twilight and Starlight looking at me from one cell, horrified at my current state. There were four others who I assumed to be the kidnapped-or foalnapped-ponies from Ponyville, looking on with the same expressions. I turned my attention back to the leader of the diamond dogs as I struggled against the two holding my arms to no avail. Their leader cackled in laughter, believing that they had won.

"Not so tough now, are you? I don't know who or what you are, but you are going to pay for what you did to my pack!" he brought up his dagger with a sadistic smile, thinking of the ways he was going to make me suffer.

"Listen, enough of you have died already. Let me go and I'll let you live. Refuse, and I'll be forced to kill all of you." I replied. This only earned laughter from all three of them, confident they had me beat. Oh how were they wrong.

"HA! You really think I'm that stupid? We have you beat, and now it's time for you to pay." the leader said as he came towards me, dagger raised.

I waited for him to get close enough then I grabbed a hold onto the vests of the dogs holding me, and used them to lift myself up and use both of my legs to kick their leader as hard as I could in the chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. He tripped over a small boulder and fell backwards. I landed on my feet and before the two holding knew what to do next I kicked the one on my right in the side of his knee causing his leg to bend in a way it shouldn't with a loud snap. He hollered out in pain as he let go of my right arm and I immediately brought my fist into the face of the dog holding my left arm. I felt his nose break from the impact and he staggered backwards, caught off guard. I grabbed a gem from a nearby cart and shoved it into the eye socket of the dog whose nose I just broke, making him shriek in agony.

Eager to silence his loud crying, I grabbed his head and in one swift motion I twisted it around, breaking his neck with a loud crack and he dropped to floor. One down, two to go. The leader was still on his back, trying to catch his breath and the other was in tears, holding his leg that was obviously broken. I picked up one of the spears that was thrown at me and charged at the one with the broken leg and with full force I plunged the spear into his back and lifted, picking him up as the spear exited through his stomach. He looked down at the spear, horrified beyond imagine at the foreign object sticking out of him. I set him back down and grabbed hold of the spear that was sticking out of the front of him. He looked up at me, a cry for mercy in his eyes as he knew what I was about to do. I didn't say anything as I placed my foot on his shoulder and kicked back as I pulled the spear all the way through him and his lifeless corpse dropped to the floor. Then there was one.

The leader was slowly standing back up having regained the ability to breathe. He looked at his two dead partners and back at me, tears of anger streaming down his face.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, buddy. I gave you and your boys a chance to walk, but you refused." I said as I unbuckled my rifle from its sling and placed it in an empty mine cart and did the same with my pistols, knife and machete. "But since I've been kicking your ass left and right, I'm gonna tip the odds in your favor and let you have your blade and I'll use nothing but my bare hands." I proclaimed as I lifted my hands to show him I had no weapons on me. He didn't say anything in reply, he just let out a pathetic battle cry as he charged at me with his dagger in rage.

He swung his blade around in a blind rage, not using any form or technique. His judgement was clouded with anger, and the only thought on his mind was to end my life for slaying his entire "pack" as he called it. I kept dodging his wild swings easily enough since he would give away his next move by pulling his arm back before striking. He lunged in towards me and I grabbed his arm that was holding the dagger and brought my knee into his gut, knocking the wind out of him a second time and landed a punch on the side of face, forcing him to the ground. I decided not to take advantage of his weakened state and instead backed off to let him recover.

"Oh for Christ's sake, I'm not even using any weapons. You can do better than that, now come on! COME ON!" I antagonized him. He didn't even wait until he regained his breath before he charged again, not learning his lesson and used the same wild slashes he did the first time. I repeated my last move, blocking his attack and slamming my knee into his torso, except this time I was done playing with him. I pushed him back and landed my fist in the center of his face, making him stumble back. I kept up this bull rush tactic of pushing then hitting him to keep him dazed and off balance until I got his back to a wall. I kicked and sent him sailing into the wall, knocking the air out of him a third time. He was beaten, bloody, and could barely stand from all the hits he took. I approached him to finish him off but in a burst of adrenaline he raised his dagger and brought it down towards me.

I caught it easily enough, and he unwittingly just gave me what I needed to end this. I pretended to slowly lose my strength, letting the dagger creep closer and closer to my chest. I heard one of the ponies cry out in fear at the scene playing out in front of them, and I decided that it was time to end this. I grabbed his hand that was holding the dagger and slowly turned it towards him. He struggled back as hard as he could, he even tried punching me in the side to get me to ease up, but it was no use. Years of fighting, both in combat and in brawls has taught me how to deal with pain, and he might as well have hit me with stuffed animals.

Once I had the dagger positioned just above his heart, I slammed my palm into the hand holding the dagger, burying the blade into diamond dog's chest. He drew in a sharp breath at the sudden jolt of pain and I eased him down to the cavern floor as he grew weaker by the second. Despite being moments from death, I could still see the anger in his eyes, how much he hated me, how badly he wanted the situation to be reversed. One day I'll find myself in his position, fighting someone who is just a little bit better, someone who is just a little bit faster. But today is not that day, and I watched as the life left his eyes as I have for so many others.

I stood up from the dead diamond dog and turned around to see five of the six ponies gawking at me, whether it was in awe or disgust I wasn't sure. The sixth one, the cream colored one that I saw when I first came in here, didn't look shocked at all by what she saw, she actually looked more impressed than horrified. I've got a strange feeling that I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on that one. I turned my attention to the princess of friendship, who was sharing a cell with Starlight. They both took a step back as I looked over to them and I could tell by their faces that they were terrified of me. I took my time gathering my weapons from the mine cart to give the ponies some time to snap back to reality.

Now, this is the point of the story where you're probably expecting me to have a sudden realization of how terrible I am, how I'm a monster and I should feel bad about taking the life of another living being, and all that other bullshit you read about when the hero of a story kills someone. Then they go on to become the perfect and ideal man, become OP as fuck and gets chased after by every girl in the story like you would read in a bad fan fic 'shut up, I know'. Well tough shit, this isn't that kind of story. The looks those two gave me as they backed away is nothing new to me.

"Twilight!" I said a little louder than I normally would to get her attention. Her ears went flat against her head as she tucked her tail and shrunk down, still mortified by how much of a heartless monster I was. "Fancy seeing you here, I just wanted to drop by and see how that whole 'let's resolve our differences by sitting down, talking about our feelings and singing kumbaya' was working out for ya." I paused for a moment to see if she had anything say or any lectures to give, but she remained silent.

"Hey!" I heard one of the other ponies call out to me. "When you're done terrorizing the princess, would you mind letting us out of here?" it was the cream colored earth pony. The other ponies she was sharing a cell with looked at her like she just challenged me to a fight, and volunteered her cell mates to join her. I lazily took a few steps towards her cell, slightly surprised at her outburst.

"As much as I hate to disappoint such a fine lady such as yourself, I'm afraid I'm under direct orders from the princess to not undertake any rescue missions. However, she didn't mention anything about not dropping by and seeing how she was doing. She assured me that she had the situation under control and that I don't need to worry. So with that being said, I bid all of you a good day." I turned around and started walked towards the exit.

"Wait..." I heard Twilight weakly say from her cell. I stopped in my tracks knowing what was about to come. I turned back towards her cell and saw that she was no longer huddled on the floor, but instead was standing in front of the door, her head hanging low in defeat.

"Yes, Twilight? Is there something you need?" I asked. She let out a sigh and gave me a sharp glare before continuing.

"Will you PLEASE let us out? They put these strange devices on our horns and we can't use our magic because of them." Okay, I was expecting her to ask me to let them out, but the whole 'strange device' thing I was surprised by. These diamond dogs seemed like little more than organized thugs, and although I'm no expert on how magic works, a device that could render an alicorn's horn useless seemed like something that characters like these wouldn't normally be able to get a hold of. The keys to their cells were hanging from a hook on the wall, and I opened both cells without a word. Twilight was defeated solely because she underestimated her enemy. A mistake that most don't get a chance to atone for, but there was no need to rub it in.

The ponies came out of their cells, and they couldn't help but look at the broken and bloody bodies, much to their own disgust. Hope their not too squeamish, cause they're gonna have to pass by more on the way out. There was one pony that was far more interested in me than the dead. The minty green unicorn slowly came up to me, looking up at me in awe like I had rainbows shooting out of my ass.

"You..you're...human!" she said to my surprise.

"You know what? You are the first pony I've met that actually knows what I am. I would give you a gold star if I had one." She walked around me in circles, closely observing every inch of my body.

"You know if you take a picture it will last longer?" I asked her to get her to stop gawking at me. She realized what she was doing and looked away and blushed from embarrassment.

"Oh..I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare." I rolled my eyes at her apology and walked towards the tunnel that led to the surface and the others followed right behind me. I warned them about the dead diamond dogs up ahead so they would have a chance to mentally prepare themselves, not that it would help much. The walk towards the mine's entrance was quiet, the only noise being the clopping sound coming from the ponies' hooves. I didn't expect much in the way of conversation, most people go internal after a traumatizing experience like what they just went through, and I wasn't going to try to force them to open up. We made it to the surface as the sun was starting to set, the air was slightly cooler than what it was when I first entered the mine. The walk back to town was just as silent, and as we got closer I could see that ponies were out and about again, trying to get back to normal.

Ponies noticed us coming down the road and dropped everything they were doing to tell the rest of the town's residents that we were coming. Soon enough a large crowd was gathered in front of Twilight's castle, and they all cheered as we approached. Princess Twilight didn't acknowledge them as she walked up the stairs to her castle and entered through the doors, the other ponies followed in after her. Starlight was the last one to enter and she looked back at me before closing the door behind her. I turned to face the crowd and raised my hand to quiet them down.

"Everypony, I appreciate the welcoming committee, and I am glad to announce that the ponies the diamond dogs kidnapped are back and no serious harm has come to them, to include the princess and her student. Now please, they have been through a lot today, and require some much needed rest. There will be plenty of celebration and merriment tomorrow, but for now, let us take some time to recover." The crowd was satisfied with my words and everypony trotted off to their homes, ready for some sleep after the stressful day they had. All except three. Still standing at the foot of the stairs was Big Macintosh, the little filly that I rescued from the dragon, and an elderly green pony that I didn't recognize.

The filly hurried up the stairs and motioned for me to come down to her level so she could tell me something important, so I complied and knelt down so I wouldn't tower over her. As soon as I was down, she threw her front legs around my neck in a tight hug. I couldn't help but smile from her adorableness as I hugged her back, careful not to use my injured arm so I don't end up getting blood on her. Big Mac and the elderly pony laughed and smiled at the little filly's actions, and she let go of my neck and let me stand back up.

"Mah name is Applebloom! Thanks fer savin' me from that dragon, mister. Ah can't thank you enough." She said, her southern accent making her seem all the more innocent.

"Don't sweat it kid. It was the least I could do. After all that dragon was trying to roast my hide as well." She trotted back to the side of the old pony as Big Mac approached, seeming it was his turn to thank me.

"Thanks again fer what you did for mah little sister, my family owes you debt of gratitude." he said as he extended his hoof out to me.

"I was just in the right place at the right time, but if I ever need something, I'll be sure to let you know." I said as I grabbed his hoof in a hand-hoof shake.

"Big Macintosh is right. If ya ever need anythin' don't hesitate to come on by the farm and we'll help you out as best we can. We ain't got much, but it's the most we can offer. Name's Granny Smith, by the way." The older pony said as she walked over next to Big Mac and extended her hoof the same way as Big Mac did. I was extra careful when I shook her hoof to make sure I didn't hurt her and let it go after a brief moment.

"Well, like ya said it's been a long day, and little Applebloom here needs to get ta bed. We can talk more later Curtis. It's been a real pleasure." Big Mac said as he made his way back down the castle steps. Granny Smith followed after him and they all waved goodbye as they headed off towards their farm. I waved back and turned to enter the castle and saw Applejack standing in the doorway, giving me a look I didn't really know how to take. Her expression was one of what looked like admiration coupled with the look one would give when they knew something the other didn't.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nuthin'." She chimed as she turned around and walked back into the castle. Okay, from the way she said nothing, there was definitely something. She was trying to antagonize me, maybe for the way how her family thanked me. She was trying to play mind games, unfortunately for her, I could see right through what she was trying to do and didn't even give her the dignity of a response. I followed her inside the castle and she led me to where everypony else was waiting in what looked like a lounge area. All of Twilight's friends were here, along with the other ponies I rescued. They all looked exhausted, but I knew they weren't gonna rest until I at least looked at the devices on their horns.

"Alright, let me take a look at those things on your horns, maybe I can get them off somehow." I said as I entered the room. Everypony looked at me and gasped in horror as they all saw my arm that was hit with a spear and had a decent amount of blood still covering it though the wound stopped bleeding.

"Oh you poor thing. You're not doing anything until we get you all fixed up. Wait here, I'll get everything I need to make you all better." Fluttershy said as she flew off. She came back less than a minute later with a first aid kit.

"Don't worry about it. It's little more than a scratch." I said trying to get them to stop worrying.

"Don't be ridiculous darling, we need to get you cleaned up so it doesn't get infected." Rarity added.

"It'll be fine." I argued back.

"Will ya quit being such a little foal about it and let us help?" Applejack asked in a forceful tone. They all had the same stern expression on their faces and I gave up trying to convince them it was nothing too serious.

Alright, fine." I threw up my hands in forfeit and sat down in a chair Rarity pulled up with her magic. I took off my rifle and flak and set them on the floor. She took one look at my top and was disgusted from its current condition.

"Ugh, would you please remove...whatever that ugly thing is you're wearing? I don't want to touch it." I rolled my eyes at her and complied, unbuttoning it and throwing it off to the side.

"Wow...what kind of cutie mark is THAT!?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she pointed at my right arm. This drew the attention of everypony else in the room and they all flocked to me to get a view at my full sleeve tattoo, which they thought was a 'cutie mark.' I remember reading about them from the book I borrowed from the crystal palace's library. If I remember correctly, they're supposed to be some sort of mark on a pony's flank that tells them what their special talent is. Twilight immediately snapped out of her depressed state and was at my side in an instant. She grabbed my arm and slowly ran her hoof across it, admiring every inch and detail. The others were crowded around her and looked on with the same fascination.

"I hate to disappoint you all," I said as I took my arm back from Twilight's grasp, "but that's not a cutie mark. It's a tattoo, and I've had it long before I came to this world." This earned me looks of disappointment and confusion, but the most curious was Twilight.

"Tattoo? Is that like a human equivalent of a cutie mark?" she asked.

"No, not really. You ponies magically get cutie marks when you discover your special talent. Humans get tattoos on their own for different reasons. Some get them because they think it looks cool or it may have special meaning to the person. Other times it's because a person gets blackout drunk with their friends one night and pass by a tattoo parlor in Pensacola with Pokemon in their display window and so they think it would be a good idea to get a squirtle that's wearing shades and giving a thumbs up tattooed on their ass." (True story by the way.) They just stared at me with blank expressions. I might have confused them a little with that last part.

"Do you have more?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, I do. I got some on my chest and back as well."

"Oooh, lemme see!" Pinkie made a move to grab my shirt and lift it up but I grabbed her hooves before she could.

"I don't think so..." I said as I let go of her and she dropped back to all four legs.

"Awww, why not?" Pinkie whined.

"Because you don't need to see them." I responded.

"Oh come on darling, we just want a peek." Rarity argued.

"This conversation is over. I can take care of my own arm." I said as I grabbed the first aid kit from Fluttershy and stood up from the chair, making the mob of ponies take a few steps back as I rose above them.

"Ahem. Aren't you forgetting something?" the unicorn with the shades asked me as she pointed to the device on her horn.

"Are you sure you want me to look at it in the state I'm in?" I asked her. I lifted up my left arm to show them how much blood was covering it.

"Okay, maybe you should wash up first." she admitted.

"There's a bathroom just down the hall, I'll show you." Spike volunteered as my guide and showed me the way to the bathroom. I thanked him and he left me so I could have some privacy. I closed the door behind me and removed my shirt so I could get a clear view of the cut on my arm. It wasn't anything serious, most of the bleeding has stopped and aside from a small scar it wasn't going to cause any problems. I grabbed a wash cloth from the towel rack and soaked it with water in the sink and began to wash off the blood on my arm. I heard the sound of hooves slowly clapping and I knew who it was gonna be before I looked.

"Well done, Curtis. I must say I am very impressed. You managed to take down an entire den of diamond dogs. They may be little more than mindless brutes, but they can be dangerous when in large numbers. Yet you came out on top with little more than a scratch." Sombra was in the mirror in front of me, appearing just like he did this morning.

"I am honored to hear that his excellency is impressed with the skills of his lowly subject in combat." I responded sarcastically. "If it pleases the crown, is there any other ways this humble servant may serve his king?"

"Since you asked, some more magic would be excellent. As nice as the dose I received this morning was, I still require more. MUCH more." Sombra responded seriously.

"Again, I'll get as much as I can without trying to give it away, so please be patient. After all it's not like you're going anywhere." Sombra was none to pleased with my remark, and the death stare he was giving me showed it. He lightened up after a moment as if he had something to counter it.

"Need I remind you where I currently am in your body? My horn lies directly next to your heart. Should you ever go against our agreement, I may be forced to do something...rash." He threatened.

"A death threat? if I die with you inside me, you won't have anyone to seep magic from. Meaning that if I die, you die with me."

"Perhaps, but in the end, the fact that I took you down for betraying me would be worth it."

"Likewise." I responded to his threat. He stared me down, our eyes not daring to break from each other's gaze. He looked for any sign that I was bluffing. Any small movements, twitches, or so much as a drop of sweat running down my head. After a few moments of staring each other down, he laughed to himself as he broke the stare down.

"You know what? I think I'm beginning to like you. So many ponies cling to life, desperately holding on no matter what the consequences. But you? You're willing to end your own life as long as it means you will take down your enemies with you. Perhaps you and I have more in common after all. Until next time." Sombra said as he faded away.

"Heh, yeah...maybe." I said under my breath. Aside from the story I heard from Spike on how he saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra, I didn't really know much about him. I could tell that he was very different from most of the other ponies I've met and possibly a little bit on the psychopathic side, but then again most would say the same about me. I wonder how many books Twilight has about the history of the former King and the Crystal Empire. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind for a different time as I finished cleaning the blood off my arm and could see how bad the wound really was. It wasn't serious, barely deep enough to leave a scar.

'Another one for the collection.' I joked to myself as my eyes scanned the rest of my upper body, looking over all the other scars that were scattered across its surface. Despite only being a contractor for a small time, I got a lot of combat experience under my belt and I've received many scars during my time. Each had its own story, I had one on my right shoulder from a sniper that miscalculated his shot, a few others scattered along my left side from getting hit with grenade shrapnel, and a few random ones from getting stabbed or cut. Some were from terrorists high on fumes, some were from street thugs looking to make a quick buck, I even had one on my left shoulder blade from a psychotic ex-girlfriend.

The one scar that stood out from all the others was the long one that ran down the center of my chest. That one, along with others, was earned during the time I was enjoying the hospitality of those that captured my team. It happened over a year ago but the memories were still fresh in my mind. I ran my hand down its length as the memories played in my mind on their own, unwilling to let me forget and move on. It was strange, I knew it was all real, that it happened and proof of it was literally carved into my body. But every time those memories flashed through my mind it felt like I was remembering a long forgotten nightmare from my childhood. What made it worse was that the memories brought back more than just images.

Even now I could still hear the shouting from my captors, cheering and taunting as the torturer made his cuts with the cold steel of his many blades. All the pain that came with being strapped down to an old metal bed frame as electricity was sent rocketing through my body. Having my head held underneath water until I nearly drowned, brought up for air just before and barely having the time to take a breath before being forced back under. All the drugs, poisons, and toxins that were injected into my veins in varying combinations, each having its own unique way of inducing pain and agony. A knock on the door brought me back to reality.

"Curtis? Are you okay? Do you need any help?" I heard Starlight ask from the other side, her voice muffled from the door. Her voice brought my mind back to reality and I realized that I was drenched in a cold sweat. My legs gave out and I caught myself on the sink in front of me so I wouldn't slam my head into it and give myself a concussion. My legs slowly regained their strength, even though my entire body was now shaking from the artificial cold I felt. Another knock came from the door.

"Curtis? Is it alright if I come in?" Starlight asked, growing concerned from my silence.

"I'm fine Starlight! I'll be out in a minute, just gotta wrap it up and I'll be out." I responded, barely able to calm my voice enough to hide my current state.

"Oh, okay. Just wanted to check." Starlight said, not entirely convinced. It was enough to get her to leave, though, for I could hear the sound of her hooves as she trotted down the hall.

I was almost fully recovered from the sudden attack, after experiencing them enough I learned little tricks to help bring myself back faster, but they only helped so much. I kept my eyes focused on the reflection in front of me. Focusing on a single location helped with the dizziness and confusion. Slow, deep breathes helped to reclaim control of my body. I was almost back to normal, I continued the breathing exercises and focusing on my reflection, my red eyes staring back at me.

'Wait, red eyes? I don't have red eyes.' I remembered as I shifted my focus back a little, thinking I was trying too hard and was starting to hallucinate. When I did, I saw that it wasn't my eyes that I was focused on, but Sombra's. In my current state, I couldn't read his expression clearly. Concern? Pity? Disgust? Fear, maybe? I didn't care, I forced him to the back of my mind, along with the memories that insisted on me reliving them. Fortunately the episode was almost over.

The shaking was gone, I no longer had a cold sweat, and my thoughts became more clear by the second, it was finally over. I've lost count of how many times that has happened, but one thing is for certain is that they never get any easier. I remembered that I still had a room full of ponies waiting for my return so I used the wash cloth to wipe the sweat off my body and wrapped up the cut on my arm. I was grateful that it happened while I was isolated and none of them had to see it. I threw my shirt back on and looked down at my hands to make sure they were done shaking. After seeing I had full control over my body I left my room and walked back to the lounge area where the ponies were still waiting for me. When I walked into the room, the cream colored pony came up to me and she had something in her mouth.

"Hur, tahk thiff." She mumbled as she dropped a small key card with a magnetic chip in my hand. "The leader of the diamond dogs used this to take those things off their horns. I don't know how he did it though."

"Thanks." I said as I took a seat in the chair from earlier. "Alright, one of you come here." Right after I finished my sentence, the minty green unicorn slid in front of me and looked at me with a big smile on her face.

"Ooh! Ooh! Do me first!" she pleaded. She glanced around at everypony once she realized we were all giving her the same weirded out expression at her unusual anxiousness to be examined by an alien. She coughed nervously into her hoof as she tried to play it off.

"I mean, I should go first since we don't want to risk anything bad happening to the princess or Starlight, right?" I rolled my eyes at her lame excuse, and held out my hands for her to come closer so I can get a better look at the device locked onto her horn. She looked at my hands in awe, admiring at how foreign they looked compared to hooves. I started to get a little creeped out by the way she was staring at my hands, wondering if hands were really that fascinating to ponies.

"Well? Are you gonna come closer so I can get that thing off or what?" I asked her. She looked up at me in shock, and then back down at my hands. With a nervous gulp she gently placed her head in my left hand, letting out a soft squeal at the touch. It was obvious that she was blushing and wouldn't take her eyes off of me as I pretended to not notice her gaze. I tilted her head a little in either direction to see if there was a specific spot I was supposed to hold the key card to, but aside from a small red glowing light, there were no defining features to it. The unicorn shifted around nervously as I did so. I heard a few giggles from the group of ponies to my side and I glanced over to them to see some of them whispering to each other, Rarity being the center of attention among them.

"Oh, don't mind us darling. You two keep doing what you're doing." Rarity chimed as she brought a hoof to her mouth to stifle her laughter. I was getting a little agitated from them so I did my best to ignore them and turned my attention back to the unicorn in front of me. Since there weren't any obvious spots to hold the key card to, I held it in front of the red light to see if it would do anything. After a few seconds, the device beeped and released itself from the horn and dropped to the floor. The minty unicorn sighed in relief, and mindlessly pressed her cheek into my hand as she closed her eyes. She looked up at me after a few short moments with half-lidded eyes, and saw that I was giving her the same weirded out expression from before. She shot up straight once she realized what she was doing.

"Um...Th-thank you. My name's Lyra by the way. Lyra Heartstrings." she introduced herself as she held out her hoof, and I took it in my hand and gently shook it.

"It was nice meeting you Ms. Heartstrings. My name is Curtis. It's been a real pleasure." I responded. She let out another weird, nervous laugh as she continued to mindlessly shake my hand, not realizing the growing awkwardness in the room. The group of mares let out another burst of giggles, this one louder than the last, and Lyra finally snapped back to reality. She gave me a nervous smile as I let go of her hoof and she trotted over to join the group, knowing that they weren't going to show her any mercy.

"Alright, who's next?" I asked, and a snow white unicorn with a short blue mane and tail with some oddly cool looking sunglasses took Lyra's place in front of me. At least this one wasn't going to be nearly as awkward as the last one.

"Sup dude, name's Vinyl Scratch but most ponies know me as DJ Pon-3. Don't worry, I promise I won't fawn over you like Lyra did." Vinyl said loud enough for Lyra to hear.

"SHUT UP! I DID NOT!" Lyra defended, shifting her gaze away and scrunching her muzzle in embarrassment at being called out. I didn't bother looking over at Lyra to see her reaction, I kept my stern gaze at the unicorn in front of me.

"I don't care if you all want to tease each other, but do it some other time. I just want to get this over with so we can all call it a day." I responded with a serious tone.

"Alright Mr. tough guy, no need to be so salty." Vinyl said as she sat in front of me. I held the key card in front of the light on her device and it clicked open and fell to the floor just like the last one. Vinyl didn't move, however, she continued to sit in front of me and stare up at me. At least I think she was staring at me, I couldn't see her eyes because of her glasses.

"Well?" She asked.

"Well what?" I shot back.

"Awe come on, you gave Lyra a scratch under her chin, don't I get one?" She asked. I knew it was more of a shot at Lyra than an actual question. I folded my arms and didn't say anything in response to let her know I wasn't going to play along.

"Ugh, fine..." She sighed and trotted back to the group. Starlight took her place in front of me and I unlocked the device around her horn the same way I did the others and she got up with a quick "thanks" and trotted back over to the group. At least she was reasonable. The last one to go was the princess, and she trotted over in front of me and sat down like the others. She tilted her head forward a little to make it easier for me and I held the key card in front of the light on the device like the others and after a few seconds it clicked open and dropped to-

ZAP

A blast of magic from Twilight's horn shot out and hit me square in the chest, sending me flying across the room. I landed on my back with a hard thud and slid across the floor a few feet before coming to a stop. There was a sharp pain in my chest and it was impossible to breathe. I heard the group of ponies gasp and run over to me, a few of their furry faces appearing in my vision that was going dark. Twilight was the first one to reach me and although I could hear her voice, I couldn't make out any of the words she was saying. Her face was way too close to mine for comfort, and if I could have I would have pushed her away, but my vision continued to go dark as I felt my consciousness fade away and soon enough I was out.