Stone Vault

Stone Vault awoke in his new bed, the downy softness of the mattress still foreign to him. Walter had grown up without a lot of the finer things in life, he was used to “making due” with whatever was on hand. As odd as it sounded, that was the thing Vault had the most trouble with. Suddenly going from a world where he could barely pay the bills to, for all intents and purposes, being a pet for Equestria’s ruling class.

However, Walter was never one to sit around and idle the days away. He was determined to not be a burden on Twilight, despite her assurance that he was no such thing. It didn't feel right, he wanted to be useful, to contribute. These feelings were intensified the day Twilight introduced him to the citizens of Ponyville. He saw those looks again; fear, distrust, and even amusement. The last one bothered him the most, like how one would look at a dancing monkey, not an intelligent being with thoughts and emotions.

Vault slapped his cheeks a few times, he had to get out of his own head for a while. He couldn't let himself get depressed from a few negative reactions. He would just have to show these ponies he was a good guy, somebody they could trust, not some kind of dangerous beast. But as he walked into the bathroom for a morning shower, a nagging thought grew in the back of his mind.

“You want them to trust you?” the voice said, “Even when you know they shouldn't?” it taunted. Vault buried his head under the steaming stream of liquid relaxation, trying in vain to keep such ideas out of his head. “Face it, we both know you're a monster.” the voice grew in malevolent intensity, “And in this world of cartoon horses? You can't even hide it anymore.”

“No!” Walter snarled out, his voice low and bestial. He pounded his fist on the crystalline wall of the shower, the solid structure fracturing beneath the sudden assault. Vault pulled his shaking hand from the fresh crater on the once immaculate surface, tiny bits of crystal falling from his undamaged fist. “I’m… I’m not a monster.” he assured himself.

Even though he didn't really believe it.

This was turning out to be an interesting week for Twilight. Not only did they discover a new, intelligent species, but now said discovery was living with her! Stone was an… interesting creature to say the least. He was very quiet, but polite and answered her questions without complaint.

It had been eye opening, to say the least. Stone wasn't simply from some unknown tribe living within the Everfree, or even anywhere else in the world. It would seem he came from another world entirely! Unfortunately, Vault had no idea how he got to Equestria in the first place. When asked, his response was “I was hit by a truck.” to which her natural reply was “What's a truck?”

That had been a can of worms Twilight was not prepared to open. The world where Vault was from apparently had no magic of any kind, advanced technology taking it's place. From what she could gather over her many talks with Stone, a “truck” was a large motorized carriage designed to carry large amounts of freight. Sort of like a train, but smaller and not bound to running on tracks.

After that, Twilight spent every spare moment asking questions about Stone's world. This “Internet” thing he talked a lot about sounded really exciting, the entirety of a world’s knowledge, always right at your hooves! All this technology required immense amounts of power, or “electricity”, to work. This power was generated by “power plants” all over the place. Coal was apparently the most common, which was fascinating, who knew the same fuel that powered trains could run an advanced technological civilization?

Naturally, the conversation segued into other ways “Humans,” as they're called, generated electricity. Solar power was her favorite, she'd have to tell Celestia about that one. However, the conversation took a dark turn when Stone mentioned something called “Nuclear” power. He explained what it was, to the best of his ability, and how it came to be.

In an instant, Twilight's image of a technological utopia run by scientists and scholars was shattered. They created this power, capable of generating more energy than ever before, for the sole purpose of killing. It was originally a weapon, capable of destruction of such magnitude, Twilight could scarcely imagine it. But that isn't what scared her, not by a long shot. Not even Stone’s explanation that this was just how humans typically progressed, the never ending race for an advantage over your enemies. The thing that scared her the most, was how passive he was about recounting the sins of his people, like he didn't really care.

They didn't talk for a day after that. Twilight told him it was because she needed to archive her notes for later review, but in reality it was so she could come to terms with what she had learned. Vault seemed harmless enough, polite if a bit… distant. But she had never heard of a species capable of such violence before. Even the infamously antisocial and predatory griffins were schoolyard bullies by comparison. Humanity, if Stone's explanation of the them was correct, is incredibly scary.

Naturally, she couldn't confirm the truth with an unbiased opinion, that would require interviewing more humans to get a proper sample. Considering that Stone couldn't tell her how he got here, that was incredibly unlikely, bordering on impossible. But even if she could, would she want to? Was Stone a typical member of his species? Was he more hostile and negative than the norm, or was he an exceptionally gentle example? That last thought chilled her to the bone. A group of intelligent people, with access to weapons of supreme annihilation, and the nigh sadistic desire to see them used.

Maybe one human in Equestria was enough.