Rise of the Titans: Rebirth

Chapters

The Arrival
First Contact
Meeting Rainbow Dash
Trekking the Whitetail
Ponyville
Culture Shock

The Arrival

The world was swimming, everything was a haze of pain and sadness. Every memory flashed by him in rapid succession leaving him to wallow in his despair.

'So this is Hell, huh? Could be worse, I know I deserve worse.'

Eventually the haze started to lift. The man's thoughts began to clear. His senses sharpened. He could hear birds chirping and animals calling. He could feel the tickle of the grass underneath him. The sweet smell of a forest permeated his nose. The data his body received only proved to confuse him.

'No, this can't be Hell. I don't smell brimstone or hear screaming. If anything if feels more like Heaven. No, that's not right I don't deserve to go to Heaven. For God's sake, I got my heart ripped out if my chest for what I did!'

His thoughts were put to a halt when he noticed the steady beat of his heart in his chest. This information further confused and thoroughly terrified the man.

The man's eyes shot open in panic and he quickly sat up to survey his surroundings. He was sitting in a field of grass, each blade gently swaying in the breeze. Tall trees surrounded the field in all sides. It was dark out, the pale moon shining brightly in the night sky. The man could see millions of stars shining in the sky, beautifully made as if looking at a rich tapestry. The air was cool and inviting, giving the man reason to believe it was one of the warmer seasons. As he looked around he breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed everything around him had taken a subtle red hue.

'At least my eye is functioning. Don't know what I would do without it.'

He slowly stood to his full height to try and aquire a better view of his surroundings. This proved to be difficult as he realized that both his legs were asleep, causing him to promptly fall on his ass.

"Shit, well good job Ryan. Great way to represent the Titan Regiment."

Ryan proceeded to stand, albeit slower, and started to walk around. He stayed within the clearing and only came within five feet of the forest as he examined his new sleeping spot.

"Well... Doesn't look like Sylus's Manor. There were no grass or trees in the gorge. Really begs the question... Where in all the Hell am I?"

Ryan traversed his way back to the spot he awoke at and sat back down to gather his thoughts. Taking a breath, the man began to take stock of his situation. Slowly, he patted himself down, searching for anything useful.

Ryan noticed that he was wearing a pair of jeans, stained dark blue, with black work boots on his feet. A black jacket was open on his shoulders, allowing the man to see a black T-Shirt, with the words 'Mountain Dew' splayed on the front in neon green, underneath it. Reaching up, he breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the familiar weight of his gray fedora perched upon his head.

His relief was short lived, however, as the man realized that his pockets were empty. He stood quickly and scanned the clearing in a desperate bid to find anything of use. He growled in frustration as he realized that he had nothing to help him.

'Really? Nothing?' Ryan's face quickly became acquainted with his hand as the full severity of the situation finally kicked in. 'So, I'm stuck in the middle of butt fuck nowhere, with nothing but the clothes on my back. Not to mention, I should be dead!' Ryan scanned his surroundings once more before sighing in defeat and moving back to his sitting spot.

He contemplated his circumstances. In situations like this, Ryan knew he could fall back on his friends. A stray tear fell from his face as he remembered the fate of his comrades. He cursed whatever cruel God that had revived him and not one of his friend's instead. He could feel his resolve crumbing as the fact that all his friends were dead finally settled in him.

Falling back on the ground, he placed his hands over his face as a cascade of tears began to flow. The man's weeping turned into a snarl as he slammed his fist into the ground.

"I don't deserve this! Why? Why did I come back!" Ryan's tears began falling again as he thought of his fallen comrades and their sacrifices. "Oh God! It should have been Angel! Or Rage! Furnace or Wind deserves this more than I do! Hell, even Reaper would've been a better choice!"

Finally losing it, Ryan curled into a ball and wept over his circumstances. His friends were dead. The love of his life was brutally murdered in front of him. The man who killed her was also dead from his hand. He had lost everything, including his life. He had no purpose. These thoughts kept bouncing around in his head as he contemplated why he was alive again.

Eventually, the tears stopped and all that was left was the man's shaking. He looked up and began studying the night sky. The moon had moved considerably since he last checked and the stars seemed to have grown dimmer in response to his plight.

Closing his eyes, he felt his exhaustion take over. The man allowed sleep to take him as he fell into a shallow slumber, riddled with pain and nightmares.

Watching over the sleeping human, a being floating above chuckled heartily. He pointed at the man, revealing a tiger's arm. "You wish to know why I brought you back and not the others?" His chuckling grew into laughter as he knew that the man below couldn't hear him. "It's because, you are a wild card! And wild cards are fun and chaotic! You harbor your insanity like a cloak, and I can't wait too see it come out."

The being 'tsked' slightly as he noticed how distressed the man was. "Well now? You mustn't have a breakdown yet! This is the first time in a long time that I actually have a plan!" A large scroll materialized in front of him as he began reading it. "Find great warrior, check. Steal great warrior, got it!" His snowy eyebrows rose as he read the third part. "Tea party with Uncle Grandpa? Who is that? Bah, I'll figure it out later. Right now I have to 'convince' a certain Element of Loyalty to do some night flying. Tata!"

With a snap of his fingers, the being disappeared, leaving a pink cloud that dissipated moments later.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the start of this series. I hope to update quickly if this gets good reviews. Please, this is my first story, so inform me of spelling or grammatical errors so I may fix them. If there is a way I can make the story better, please say so, I'd appreciate the feedback.

Thank you,
Epic

First Contact

Rainbow Dash sighed happily as she soared over the Whitetail wood. Her prismatic mane gaining it's trademark windblown look from the short flight. The mare looked over at the forest beneath her, it's leaves seemingly glowing silver under Luna's moon.

"Alright! Time to get to work!" The pegasus slowed her impressive speed as she came upon a large cluster of tall trees, the smallest reaching ten feet in the air. The trees were grouped close to each other, causing the branches to come together in a variety of mesmerizing ways. The mare studied the pathways and tunnels that the trees created, marvelling at the natural obstacle course laid out before her. This was were the oldest trees in the Whitetail resided, and where Rainbow practiced her tricks.

Rainbow quickly dove towards the trees, looping over, under, and between the branches with the ease of a seasoned professional. Performing back flips and aileron rolls, the mare quickly finished off the natural obstacle course with astonishing speed.

Not even slightly winded, she wooped boisterously. "Yeah! That had to be a record time! Oh! If only AJ could see this!" Performing multiple flips through the air, she dove back into the thicket.

She flew through the wooden maze of sharp branches and tough trunks with ease. Narrowly avoiding each obstacle with a flap of her wings or a contortion of her body. She would fly head first towards a wall of branches, before weaving through in an impressive display of grace and agility. Everything passed by the athletic pegasus in a blur of brown and green motion. The forest's obstacles and challenges proved no match for the superior skills of Rainbow Dash.

Above the forest, an ancient being watched over the mare as she flew through the trees.
He cackled, as he observed the prismatic pegasus.

The being spoke into the open air around him, unafraid of being heard. "Well, convincing her to come out here was easier than I thought. Just goes to show you, all brawn and no brains." He broke down into giggles at his own comment. "Now to work my magic!"

The being snapped two claws on the eagle talon that worked as his hand, releasing a spell that seeped into the mare's body.

"There, that should tucker you out. Now if my calculations are correct, this Stone Flesh spell should take effect shortly." With another snap, he disappeared. "Now time for our Titan friend to make First Contact."

The mare flew for hours on end, speeding through the trees with a skill unmatched. As she completed her final round, Dash touched down below the trees, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. She adopted a large toothy smile.

"Whew, what a workout. I'm pooped." Dash then fell back onto the ground, letting the cold earth cool her body. "I really gotta come out here more, have more fun like this."

Rainbow attempted to stand, only to have her muscled strain in protest at the movement. With a giggle, the mare thought 'Jeez, worked myself too hard today. I just need to rest it off then, get back up when the sun rises.' Rainbow readied herself for a nap before a worrying thought entered her mind. 'How come my legs are sore, when I was only flying?'

The mare, now slightly panicked, tried again to stand, only to suffer the same results.
Rainbow grunted in exertion as she slowly began to push herself up. Her muscles rebelled in an agonizing cacophony of pain, causing the mare to gasp and fall face first into the ground. It felt as though all the muscles had flexed out, and refused to relax.

'Okay, wow. That hurt! I've never been this sore before. Maybe I just pulled something?
Yeah that's it. Just pulled a muscle... or two... or all of them. Okay, just stay calm and stand up. Can't be that hard.'

Breathing heavily, Rainbow picked her head up and looked around for something that would be able to help her. Spotting a good sized branch laying on the ground near her, she reached out and grasped it with a shaky hand. Pulling it towards her, the mare grit her teeth as she planted the branch in the ground and slowly used it to pull herself back up.

Slowly, she stood, heavily leaning on her makeshift cane as the unexplained fatigue continued to assail her. 'Come on Dash! You can do this! You just gotta walk the five miles back home and you can crash at somepony's house and rest.'

With a grunt, the mare began her slow trek through the peaceful forest. Rainbow whimpered with every step, each one shooting pure pain through her body. Her breathing grew shallow as the mare realized that each step was getting harder and harder to take. It was as if her legs were turning into solid rock, immoveable. Looking down only worsened the feeling as the mare saw that her legs were steadily turning grey.

"Come on! I can make it!" Rainbow yelled defiantly towards the heavens as she continued to persevere. A laugh escaped her as she noticed a break in the trees ahead of her. It was far off, but it could mean that she would be safe. Steeling her resolve, Rainbow pushed onwards. Calling upon a hidden reserve of energy, the mare trudged forward towards the end of the forest. With a final push, the mare exited the tree cover with a triumphant woop.

Her celebration was short lived as she realized that she did not actually exit the forest, she just walked into a small clearing. Dash's hopes fell as she realized how desperate her situation was. The mare leaned against the cane as it was now the only thing holding her up.

'Come on Dash, you'll be alright. Just gotta keep moving.' Her attempt to press onwards was prematurely halted as, to her horror, she could feel the effects of whatever was afflicting her moving up her body. Without looking she knew that the grey stone was advancing up her body. Oh sweet Celestia, this hurts! I'm going to die here!'

Panicking the mare fell back, landing against a tree. Her wings scraping against the wood as she slid down the trunk. Hissing in pain, she quickly reached up to grasp at her wings, inadvertently throwing her makeshift cane across the clearing.

Rainbow watched in horror as her only mode of transport flew out of her reach, into the dark clearing. She could feel her hopes shatter as she heard the branch impact the ground.

Horror gave way to confusion as a shadow jumped up from the floor. A masculine voice cried out as the shadow jumped back from the sudden noise. Rainbow could feel her consciousness slipping as she sat against the tree.

In a desperate attempt, Dash let out a weak "Help me" to try and gain the other pony's attention. Rainbow couldn't tell if her ploy worked, as at that moment, the mare passed out from the pain.

Ryan's eyes shot open as his ears picked up the sound of something landing near him. Jumping up, the man hopped back away from the assailant. He grew perplexed as he only witnessed a branch sitting in the grass in front of him. The man groaned as he facepalmed at his own stupidity.

'Jeez, man. It was only a stick.
No need to freak the hell out. I've faced much worse than a stick.' The man looked around the darkened clearing. 'What threw it all the way over here, though?'

His unspoken question was quickly answered as he heard someone speaking behind him. Looking back, his mind had completely stopped upon gazing at the sight before him.

The man's eyes widened as only one word came to his mind. "Samantha?"

His confusion doubled as he realized that it wasn't a human that stood in front, but a species of creature he had never seen before. Stepping towards the creature, the man examined it further.

The first thing he noticed was the pair of gray wings splayed out behind the creature, stuck in an erect position. Next was the being's hair. It was wild an unkempt and looked extremely wind blown. What was most odd was that it's hair encompassed all the colors of the rainbow, starting with a fiery red at the top and ending in a bright purple near it's shoulders. It was wearing a white t-shirt that clung to it's body from sweat, allowing the man to see outlines of breasts. 'So it's a she.' She was also wearing a pair of black biker shorts along with a pair of worn out sneakers.

A tail protruded out from behind her, it matching the woman's hair in color and style. The parts of the skin that he could see was a dark grey, like stone. Her eyes were closed, not allowing the man to see them.

All of this Ryan processed in a split second. He quickly became worried as he noticed that her face, which was pushed out at the mouth and nose making it look as though she had a snout, was twisted into a grimace of pain.

The man reached out and shook the woman's arm lightly. "Hey, are you alright?" He marveled as he could feel a multitude of short hair follicles on her arm. 'So, it's fur, not skin. This is freaky as Hell.'

His musings was abruptly stopped as he felt a jolt run down his arm. He grunted and jumped back as the woman's eyes shot open, revealing two large cerise orbs. She gasped as the gray on her fur quickly began bleeding out of her, leaving behind a bright cyan coat. Her wings sagged and gained the same color as her light blue coat. Each feather on her wings spread outwards, drinking in the cool night air.

The gray liquid pooled underneath her, before quickly hardening again around the grass. The plants stopped there swaying as they were quickly rendered immobile, trapped in there positions for the foreseeable future.

The woman at first looked extremely relieved to be out of her stone prison. That look quickly turned sour as she looked down and noticed the ground underneath her. She than stiffened and looked back up, finally noticing the human in front of her.

Through the entire display, Ryan could only watch in silent astonishment. Finally, after what felt like forever, he said one simply phrase.

Rainbow's eyes shot open as a feeling of pure euphoria washed over her. The intensity of this bliss pulling her from her slumber. She gasped out loud as she felt all of her muscles finally relaxing, releasing her from her torment.

Looking down, her paled as she observed the fate that befell the grass underneath her. They were all gray and stiff for a wide arc around her. They felt hard as a rock, completely immobile.

'Is that what was happening to me?' She could feel her heart rate increase as the morbid thought flashed through her mind. Her inner turmoil was, thankfully, cut short as she noticed somepony standing in front of her.

To say the pony in front of her looked weird was an under statement. He was wearing all black, except for a weirdly shaped gray hat on his head and what looked like bright green scribbles painted on his shirt. His body had no fur, only sporting short black stubble on his chin. His skin was a light brown that matched his small eyes. There was no tail on the pony, and most of it's black mane was hidden underneath it's hat.

It's chiseled square chin told Rainbow that she was looking at a stallion. His muzzle was missing, making his face look crushed in.

'What is this? I've never seen a pony that looks this weird.'

Rainbow stiffened as the stallion in front of her spoke for the first time. In a deep masculine voice, he said.

"What. The. Fuck."

Author's Note

Well! Finally finished chapter two. I originally planned to have Ryan meet Fluttershy due to a loose pet, but I just couldn't make it work. I ended up scrapping that idea in favor of this one, which I personally believe is better.

ANYWAY! I feel like it's not as as good as it could be. Please, if you can, give me some ideas on how to better the story and inform me of grammatical errors. Feedback is always welcome!

Thank you,

Epic

Meeting Rainbow Dash

"What. The. Fuck."

This simple phrase, this short sentence perfectly summarized the young man's inner emotions. It capsulated his confusion and growing panic, along with his small curiosity.

'What is this.... thing? Is it a female? It's got breasts, so I guess it's female. What species is she though? Would she even understand if I asked her?'

Ryan studied the woman sitting in front of him. Now with a better look, he could easily notice the lean muscles on her body. Even with them resting from the strain of her previous ordeal, he could tell she was built for speed. Her large cerise eyes were focused on him, like she was scrutinizing him, trying to take in his every detail.

The woman attempted to stand, only to wince in pain as her body rebelled at the movement. Ryan quickly moved closer and lightly grabbed her arm. The woman attempted to flinch back at the sudden contact, but groaned in pain as her body again made it's plight known. Her eyes quickly moved up to meet his, a pair of fearful cerise orbs meeting two calming chocolate lakes.

Ryan looked down at the woman and calmly said "Hey, it's alright. Calm down, your body is pretty wrecked after that whole gray skin thing. You might want to rest a bit, regain your strength." The man was not lying. The woman was sweating profusely just from the simple act of moving and she looked extremely short of breath.

Calming down a bit, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the bark of the tree behind her. She sat there like that for several minutes before Ryan decided to sit down in front of her, crushing the stone covered grass underneath him.

'Alright, time to take stock.' He began to sort the events of the day in his mind, bewildered at his situation, 'I managed to kill Sylus and avenge Malcolm, Maria, and...' The young man had to stop and choke back his tears as a flood of memories assailed him. 'I... I managed to avenge Samantha. I got blasted out of Sylus' manor and died.' A memory of his heart sitting atop a stalagmite surfaced in his mind. 'I woke up in this forest and found this... female being... who looks like she met Medusa and lived.' The man could only groan in defeat at his circumstances.

Slowly, after what felt like a half an hour to Ryan, the woman's eyes began to open. Her eyes were bleary and unfocused as she took in her surroundings. With a start, the man realized that she had managed to fall asleep and was just now waking up. He would have laughed at the absurdity of everything, but the laughter had long since died within him.

Her eyes eventually landed on Ryan and promptly widened in shock. With a groan, the woman spoke. "Seriously! It wasn't a dream? Are you kidding me?" Her voice was rough, constantly scratching, and held a deep fatigue, eluding to her previous predicament.

With wide eyes and a fallen jaw, Ryan worked to gather his thoughts, as hearing the woman speak had caused him to lose them. 'Holy shit! She speaks English? This is either extremely weird, or extremely coincidental. Probably both.'

Clearing his throat, he asked the woman, "You okay, ma'am? You were pretty exhausted from... whatever... that was." He had to pause to find a way to describe her ailment. Giving up, he just went with the obvious 'something' approach.

'Woah, this guy is so weird looking' That was the first thing to enter Dash's mind when he spoke. Aside from his appearance, he had a deep voice, and an accent that she could only pin down as Manehatten sounding.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Dash replied "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I'm just tired." Staring into his small eyes, she could only wonder what he was. She weakly lifted her arm, her hand reached out towards the strange stallion. "Names Rainbow Dash, what's yours?"

The stallion in front of her slowly reached his arm out and grasped it, shaking it slowly. He looked shocked, like he couldn't believe what was happening to him. Eventually he managed to push out an appropriate response.

"Ryan. My names Ryan." Shaking his head he seemed to finally refocus. His caramel eyes zeroed in on her, taking in her every detail. Rainbow shifted slightly under his scrutinizing gaze, feeling his eyes bore into her very being.

'Jeez, what's with this guy? It's like he's never seen a pegasus before.'

Dropping his arm Ryan looked away from her into the forest, allowing Rainbow to breath a sigh of relief. Taking a deep breath, he once again initiated eye contact and began to speak.

Looking over through the trees of the forest, a silent sigh escaped Ryan.

'This is by far the weirdest thing to ever happen to me. I have to know what's going on, and it looks like this blue chick is my only source of info.' Ryan looked back over towards Dash, attempting to adopt a calm expression.

With a small plan in mind, he began speaking. "Rainbow, I have to ask. Where am I and what are you?"

The question seemed to offend the woman, as evidenced by the cross look that she had adopted. She huffed slightly before responding, the feathers on her wings ruffling behind her all the while.

"What? You saying you never seen a pony?" Her chest puffed out, causing her admittedly small breasts to become more prominent. "I am THE Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in all of Equestria! The best pegasus around!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the man, confusing him more than he already was. "The real question is, what are you? Some sort of spy? Huh, huh?"

Ryan's eyebrows rose considerably at this flood of new information. 'She's... a small horse? And a pegasus? In a place called Equestria? What kinda drugs am I on?'

His hand became very acquainted with his face as he processed what he had just learned. Dropping his face-palm, he once again focused on the woman, 'No, wait. I think a female horse is a mare or something.' He once again focused on the mare, and said "I'm a human, not a spy. I don't even know where I am or what Equestria is."

The later part of his sentence was true, he was completely lost on his whereabouts. The former, not so much. He was much more than a human now, had been for a long time. 'No use telling her I'm a Titan. If she doesn't know what that is, then I don't feel like telling her. If she does know, then... then I'm not dealing with another person that thinks I'm a monster.'

Rainbow's eyes bore into his for a good ten seconds before she relaxed slightly, slumping down but not breaking eye contact. Letting out a breath, the mare deflated somewhat, as if holding her aggressive stance had tired her out.

With a sigh, she began speaking again. "Alright, so your not a spy. I don't know what the hay a human is though." Rainbow took a glance at her surroundings and gasped when she stole a glace behind Ryan. "Ah, jeez! It's morning already? I gotta get home. Everypony is gonna be worried."

Ryan looked behind him to see the sun peeking over the trees in the distance, it's golden rays beginning to light up the world around him.

'How did I not notice the fact that it's morning? Something is wrong, I'm a lot less perceptive than usual.'

Ryan continued to watch the sunrise in confusion, until he was pulled from his thoughts when a gravely yelp sounded behind him. Whipping his head around, he noticed that Rainbow was now laying on the ground and holding her right knee in pain.

Walking over, Ryan slowly crouched down in front of the mare. She looked up at him and flinched away from his close proximity to her. With a quiet sigh, Ryan reached out and gently pulled Rainbow's hand from her kneecap.

Ryan noticed immediately that the fur and skin on Dash's knee had been scraped off, leaving behind an angry red sore. It was bleeding slightly, a small trail of crimson was beginning to run down her leg and into her shoe.

Looking back up he locked eyes with Rainbow, who flinched at the sudden attention. Not paying her reaction any mind, Ryan gestured to the mare's newest injury.

"This isn't a bad scrape. Your knee should stop bleeding in a bit, don't worry. What happened to you in the minute that I looked away? How did you get this wound?"

Ryan only realized later that he said these words in such a quick succession that it was almost impossible to understand him. That coupled with his awkward way of phrasing his previous statement, left the man wondering just what was wrong with him.

Rainbow, for her sake, didn't seem to notice Ryan's internal conflict. Looking towards the ground, Rainbow muttered quietly to herself. Her voice was a whisper, one quiet enough that Ryan didn't hear what was being said.

With an annoyed huff, Ryan waved his hand around in a circle. At this point, he was finally losing his confused state and reaffirming his annoyed attitude. "Could you repeat that? I can't hear you."

Rainbow's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as the mare looked towards the ground, refusing eye contact. With a heavy sigh, Rainbow attempted speaking again. This ended up being only slightly louder than before.

"I… I tried to stand up and I fell over. My legs are still trashed from earlier. When I fell I may have scraped my knee." Her voice grew a little shakier as her blush deepened. "I was just trying to get back home. My friends will probably be worried about me."

Sighing, Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. 'Honestly, this is getting to be too much. I don't know how much more of this crazy I can take.' The man grumbled as he attempted to reign in his growing frustration.

Getting closer, Ryan slowly picked Rainbow up in his arms. Standing, he held the mare bridal style and focused on the sun rising over the treeline. Ryan chose to ignore her weak protests of 'not being awesome' and it being 'totally not cool.'

Clearing his throat, he waited until he received the embarrassed mare's attention before speaking.

"You're in absolutely no shape to walk at the moment, Rainbow Dash. Also by the looks of it your too exhausted to even LIFT your wings, let alone fly. I recommended that you tell me where your town is so I can take you there, otherwise I'll leave and you can wait for your friends to come find you."

'Who does this guy think he is? I don't need to be carried like some weak filly! I am THE Rainbow Dash! I can do this on my own!'

With her resolve steeled, Rainbow began struggling in his hold. "Hey! Let me go you big bucker! I can walk! This is so not cool!"

Instead of being put down, Rainbow let out a squeak when she felt the human's grip tighten. She stilled her movements when she heard Ryan loudly clear his throat. Cautiously, Rainbow glanced up at her new companion.

Dash didn't know if it was his accent or the way he threatened her with no emotion to his voice, but something about him scared her. Something about this stallion set off a deep, primal instinct in her. An instinct that said, 'If you don't want to die here, then do what he says.' Meekly calming down, Dash pointed to the left of the sunrise, towards where she knew Ponyville resided.

With a grunt, Ryan nodded and began walking the way Dash pointed. Rainbow sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position for the long trek that was to come.

'This is going to be a long day.'

Author's Note

Well, chapter three is finally out. I want to apologize to the one person actually interested in this story for the long wait. School sucks and all that jazz.

Also, I have recently discovered Amino, so that's fun. If you wanna chat, I'm a part of the Equestria community under the username Epicocity1527.

Hope you guys like this chapter, I plan on making more like it. As always, inform me of spelling errors.

-Epic

Trekking the Whitetail

Ryan rolled his eyes as he heard Rainbow Dash sigh against his neck. The two had been walking through the Whitetail Woods for a couple of hours now. Somewhere in that time, the rainbow maned pegasus had been transferred to Ryan's back. Even in that time, with every sigh, there was a constant drone of 'are we there yet?' from the human's new backpack.

With a sigh of his own, he shook his head and grumbled as the inevitable question was asked. He grumbled silently as he pondered the worth of dropping his new companion and walking on his own. After a few seconds of thought, Ryan thought better and only shifted his weight to readjust Rainbow.

Looking back, he kept a calm face as he said in an even, albeit strained, voice. “You should know that I'm following your directions. Wouldn't that stand to reason that out would know of we are there yet?”

Rainbow looked down at him, her large cerise eyes taking in his features again, before shrugging and saying. “Well, I usually fly over everything really fast. Walking this slow past everything is so boring. Can't we go any faster?”

Ryan took a look at the surroundings as they walked. The forest’s trees created a natural blanket, casting everything in a slight shadow. The pockets of morning light filtering through the leaves and the chirps and scurrying of the forest's inhabitants served to create a peaceful atmosphere that most would stop to enjoy. Ryan was not most, though.

Sighing again, he focused on the path and absentmindedly said. “No. I'm not in any hurry, so we are not speeding up.” Looking back again, he raised an eyebrow and questioned. “How is it you can fly anyway? Those wings don't look big enough to create enough force to get you off the ground let alone fly.”

To his mild surprise, Rainbow’s jaw dropped and a massive blush spread across her face as he asked that. He calmly looked on and waited as she started sputtering and blurting out random words. Eventually she managed to get herself together and calm her blush. With a look of anger, she spoke.

'I can't believe that he just asked me that!? Who does he think he is!?’ Rainbow could feel her cheeks heating up and fought to bring her embarrassment down. It quickly gave way to anger as she regained her natural cyan hue.

Against her bodies protests of pain, she reached out and slapped Ryan in the back of his head. While she couldn't muster much force due to her exhaustion, she still managed to get the man's attention.

With a grunt, he looked back at her, with a cold fury. Whether too dumb or too angry to notice her companion's death stare, Rainbow huffed and practically yelled into his ear.

“You do not ask a Pegasus about their wingspan! We met today! That is so wrong! What is wrong with you!” With another huff, Rainbow looked away from Ryan. Her cheeks puffed out and red both from embarrassment and anger.

She let out a yelp as she suddenly found herself falling. Grunting as she fell onto her flank, she looked up at the towering figure that just dropped her. He slowly turned and Rainbow felt the same feeling of intimate danger that de experienced earlier at the clearing. Her heart rate picked up and she held her breath in fear as Ryan slowly crouched down until they were at eye level.

She would later deny it ever happened, but tell brash Pegasus was terrified in that moment. When she looked into Ryan's eyes, she saw nothing. Not a single ounce of emotion or spirit came out of them. She swallowed and vainly attempted to look away, but something about his stare kept her from looking away.

Jeez! What is he doing? I can't move! It feels like Fluttershy’s stare, but worse.’ While she had been at the mercy of her friend's stare only once before, Fluttershy's paralyzing power left her feeling like a foal being scolded by their mother.

Ryan's stare was much worse.

It felt like a top of food chain predator had finally cornered their prey. As if it was letting the animal watch as it pondered over how to kill it. Rainbow started shaking as she felt like a weak animal, about to he slaughtered by it's natural predator.

Ryan's thoughts ground to a halt as he felt his companion hit him. He stopped moving and though he knew she was speaking, he completely ignored her as he was assailed with his past.

Memories of pain and torture flowed through his mind, blood and war covering the globe as he fought tooth and nail to survive. He turned and looked back at Rainbow, but could only see the grotesque visage of the monsters that swore to exterminate.

His mind raged and twisted in a cacophony of torment, each one telling him do something different. Dozens of voices of friends and enemies alike giving him instruction on the threat he was up against. Out of all the voices, one spoke the clearest.

This voice’s anger and bloodlust cleared all of the other voices away. The deadly edge to it managed to bring Ryan into moving as he dropped the Pegasus from his back and turned to look at her. Crouching down, the man stared into her fearful eyes as the voice practically screamed into his mind over and over.

'END HER!'

Ryan almost gave into the voice. It was not new to him. It was a part of him, an add-on from his past, another change he's had to endure because of his choices. He would have listened to it and wrapped his hands around Rainbow's neck if another voice in his head hadn't decided to speak up.

'Ryan. Calm down. This isn't you. She isn't one of the Awakened. You aren't a murderer.’

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks as he listened. The new voice easily drowned out the angrier one as it spoke. It's light and calming tone instantly brought the man's rage down to a halt.

He looked away from Rainbow as the hallucination wore off and she looked like herself again. Sighing in defeat, he stood back up and thought back to who that voice belonged to. Closing his eyes, he shed a single tear as the images of her raced by in his mind. Shaking his head, Ryan looked back at Rainbow and sighed.

'I scared her too much. Oh well, she'll get over it. Right now, I need to find a town and get my bearings. And it seems she's my best bet.’

Shaking his head, Ryan stared down at Rainbow and thrust out his hand. The Pegasus flinched back a bit before understanding the gesture. Reaching her hand up, she grasped his and grunted a bit as she was forced onto her feet. She looked up at him and audibly gulped as he sighed and said.

“Look. I'm sorry for that. Don't…” Ryan struggled to find his words for a bit. “Don't attack me like that. I have some… mental problems that can set me off if I'm provoked like that.” He sighed again and turned around. “Come on, let's keep going. We can't be far now and you should be good to walk.”

Ryan didn't wait for a reply and began walking. Sure enough, he heard the tell tale sound of footsteps behind him. Slowing his pace, he met Rainbow's slow tired walking with his own calm steady one. She kept her eyes forward and stole occasional glances at her companion as they walked.

A silence descended upon the two, only broken by the entrancing cacophony of the wildlife around them going about their day. The crunch of fallen leaves underneath a pair of light sneakers and heavy boots proved to be the loudest occurrence in the immediate area. The peaceful environment was disturbed by the sound of Rainbow clearing her throat. Glancing at her, Ryan waited patiently for her to speak.

Slowly, she said in a quiet voice. “Hey, I'm sorry for hitting you. I just got a little mad. Your not supposed to ask a Pegasus about their wingspan. It's not right.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked forward again. He responded with, “Why is that? I'm not familiar with your customs and shit. Is it a bad thing to ask?”

Rainbow's voice picked up some as she said. “Well it's like this.” She spread her wings a bit, but winced as the fatigue from earlier still assailed her. “A Pegasus’ wings are really important to them. It's what makes a Pegasus a Pegasus. Asking about their wingspan or, Celestia forbid, trying to touch them is only really done by couples and stuff.” She ruffled her wings a bit before folding them back against her back. Wincing again, she rubbed her shoulder and continued. “Not to mention, they are really sensitive.”

Ryan nodded along and thought to himself as she finished talking. ’So it's kinda like asking about a guy's dick size, huh. Well, kinda, I guess.’ Shaking his head, he pondered silently for a bit before saying. “Okay, that makes sense. How far out are we anyways? What should I expect from this town of yours?”

His companion looked to the sky and squinted her eyes. “We shouldn't be too far out. Maybe another half an hour walking.” Looking over at Ryan, Rainbow raised an eyebrow and said. “What do you mean by 'what should I expect’ exactly?” Her voice held a bit of trepidation as she asked her questions.

Ryan, for his part, only shrugged and said. “What are the people like? Are there others like you? What should I expect them to do.” He shook his head and said. “Judging from your reaction earlier, I don't look exactly normal.”

Rainbow seemed to relax and smiled cockily as she puffed her chest up a bit and said. “Well, nopony there is as awesome as me, but there are some cool ponies there. They might be a little weirded out by you, with all the black clothes and no fur and stuff.” Rainbow pointed at the gray fedora on his head and asked. “What's with that anyway? Doesn't exactly fit that whole thing you got going.”

He grunted a bit and put a hand up to adjust the hat on his head. Sneering a bit, he said in a deadly serious tone. “It's important to me. Don't try and touch it. It's like trying to hit me, doesn't end well.” Rainbow's hand flew back to her side as the pseudo threat hung in the air, bringing with it back the silence of the forest.

The duo continued through the forest with no real urgency, much to Rainbow's displeasure. Her eyes constantly darted to Ryan before returning to the path in trepidation and the constant sound of her grunts every time she ruffled her wings in obvious anticipation gave Ryan a clear sign that she wanted to be out of his presence.

'Or maybe she wants to fly or something. Basing her movements off of Sa...her.. when she got anxious isn't really smart. Maybe she needs to take a piss or something, I don't know.’ He sighed and shook his head. 'Alright, sych up and close off. You need to get your bearings and decide on a course of action.’ Steeling his emotions, Ryan adopted a look of calm and breathed deeply through his nose. 'You don't have time to hesitate and freak out. Time to pull it together Rain.’

Rainbow didn't know how to feel at all right now. She cast a quick glance at the tall man walking with her. Sometime ago, the curiosity and panic seemed to melt of off his face while she was looking forward. His gait was a lot steadier now and he seemed to have pulled himself together.

She felt that this should have made her calmer as well. Ryan being less jumpy meant that there was less of a chance of him acting terrifying like earlier. It meant that Rainbow wouldn't have had to feel so helpless again.

While she wouldn't openly admit it, Ryan's stare terrified her and his mere presence put her on edge. She had slowly been regaining her confidence from hearing his apologies and questions, his relaxed way of speaking working to ease her nerves. That disappeared somewhat as his newfound calm fully sunk in.

She couldn't pinpoint the reason, but there was something wrong with Ryan. While he appeared calm and collected, his movements were off. His movements were fluid, but somewhat mechanical. He looked calm, but somehow on edge. It was as if he was forcing himself to stay calm.

Rainbow was about to voice her concerns, when she caught sight of something. A break in the trees ahead of the pair gave her pause before she smiled. Unlike earlier, she knew that it wouldn't be just another clearing. Speeding up, she moved to the edge and cheered as the familiar sight of Ponyville came into view.

“Yeah, we made it! Finally! That was the worst practice session ever!” Throwing her arms into the air, Rainbow turned and looked at Ryan, who was watching with a raised eyebrow.

Sheepishly laughing, she rubbed the back of her neck and said. “Well, thanks for helping me get back Ryan.” She laughed again and continued. “You ready to see Ponyville?”

With a smile, she turned slightly and showed off the town she lived to her companion. Her smile faltered and she grew confused as Ryan snorted and facepalmed.

Groaning, he said. “Ponyville? Really? That's it's name? Please tell me that pun is a one time thing.”

Author's Note

I'm back!

Ponyville

Ponyville looked like an okay place. The sun was shining bright as it rose into the sky, bathing the small town in a golden glow. The town was situated in a flat landscape surrounded by hills and forests, the hills moving towards a large mountain and the forests covering two sides of the town's borders. The field was a sea of green as all the grass swayed in the wind, occasionally broken up by a stray tree or a road of packed dirt.

Said roads moved straight into the heart of Ponyville, which stood proudly in the idealistic landscape. A multitude of buildings spread out throughout the town, each of their own distinct shape and color. It seemed as though every building was made to be unique, fit to the design of whoever built it. A pattern was clear however in that most buildings had thatch roofs, all the colors were bright, and most were two stories at most.

The only two things Ryan could see at the position at the edge of the forest that didn't follow that pattern was a large marble dome-like building that resembled Roman architecture and a large tree that had a door and a balcony seemingly grown out of it. Everything had a cheerful and somewhat feminine feel about it which would have set Ryan on edge, had he noticed.

As it were, all of the man's attention was focused on the denizens of the village. Many people were going about their day, walking from building to building, going to stalls set around the center of Ponyville,or just hanging around and interacting with each other. They all walked on two legs and wore clothes similar to ones Ryan was familiar with, but that is where the similarities ended.

Everyone looked just as unique as their houses and businesses. Each pony had their own coat color, usually something bright and cheerful, and a different colored set of hair that matched their tails. Hairstyles and eye colors were just as unique, giving each and every pony a sense of being their own person.

Ryan's breath caught in his throat as he looked up and saw some of the people flying through the sky. His hands began to shake as he took in everything and noticed how many of the ponies had wings, while some had some sort of horn sprouting from their foreheads. He could barely believe his eyes as he tried to scan the area, but was more shocked when a set of words splayed themselves over his eyes.

'Scan failed. Hardware missing. Upgrade required.’

This worked to shock Ryan out of his stupor as he focused on the message. He grew more perplexed as he tried and once again failed to perform his scan, something that was standard issue for him to do. Reaching a hand up, he tapped at his left eye, sighing as he felt the glass contact against his finger.

Before he could put much thought into his new problem, the sound of his companion shouting his name shook him back to reality. Stealing his features, he glanced over at Rainbow.

With a cross look and her arms crossed below her breasts, Rainbow huffed and said. “It's about time! I've been trying to get your attention for like two minutes now! Jeez, next time I'm leaving you here.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and decided to ignore her triade as he looked out over the town again and said. “Your going to have to help me out here.” He waved his hand out in the general direction Ponyville. “I have no clue what I'm looking at. Those people over there are the same species as you?”

His companion still looked irate as she said. “Ponies. We are called ponies. I don't even know what a 'people’ is.” She shook her head and smiled as she continued. “There are three types of ponies. Pegasi, like me…” Rainbow puffed out her chest and flared her wings, before hissing in pain and folding them back down.

Frowning, she looked back at her feathery appendages and rubbed at her shoulder as she continued in a calmer tone. “Then there are Unicorns, who have horns. They can do magic and stuff.” Ryan raised an eyebrow and was about to talk before Rainbow interrupted him. “Then there are Earth Ponies, who are really strong and are really good with plants and farming.”

Ryan, with his arms crossed over his chest, waited patiently for Rainbow to finish talking. After a few seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and said. “Okay, magic? 'plants and stuff’? What does that even mean? Magic isn't real.”

To her credit, Rainbow only looked a little confused as she thought on what he had said. Frowning slightly, she said. “No, magic is real. It's what helps me fly. It let's Unicorns do all of their spells and stuff and it's how Earth Ponies are so strong.” She shrugged and said. “You should ask my friend Twilight. She knows more about this egghead stuff than me.”

Ryan decided against asking further as he stole a glance at the forest behind the two, the one he had just woken up in the night before.

'What the Hell did I get myself into? I should be dead. I should be gone. Why? Why am I here? What is here?’ He barely noticed the stray tear of frustration sliding down his cheek as his thoughts quickly went south. 'This is too much. Too fucking much.’

'Oh jeez, what's wrong with him?’ Rainbow looked on at Ryan in concern as she noticed his attention drawn back to the Whitetail. She followed his eyes for a bit, before waving her hands in his face.

Huffing, she frowned and said. “Hey come on. Don't space out on me again. It's starting to get super annoying when you do that.” Ryan blinked quickly and shook his head as Rainbow waved her hands.

Seemingly getting his wits together again, he shook his head and closed his eyes with a sigh. Rainbow watched as her companion's features smoothed over and his body went rigid as he stood to his full height.

Rainbow felt a chill down her spine as she looked up at Ryan's imposing figure. The height difference between the two was obvious, Rainbow barely reaching his shoulders. His muscular frame only intensified the affect as it made him all the more intimidating.

Ryan opened his eyes and sighed again before saying in an eerily calm tone. “Sorry about that. I’m getting very distracted lately. It’s all a little jarring, being somewhere I’ve never been. I can’t seem to focus.”

Rainbow didn't need to be the Element of Honesty to tell that he was hiding something. With anypony else, she would have flown up to their face and asked about what they were hiding. Past events stopped the prismatic mare from trying her rather abrasive approach.

’I really don’t want to set him off. This guy is scary when he’s mad.’ Rainbow grimaced as the still fresh memory of Ryan’s outburst in the woods flashed through her mind. Against her better judgement, the mare decided to trust fear over curiosity and let the man be.

Shaking her head, she shrugged lightly, her wings bobbing a bit with the action, and said. “It's all good dude. C'mon let's go find my friends, maybe we can get you some answers at Twi’s place.”

The walk through Ponyville was... something, to say the least. Ryan barely batted an eye as he noticed many of the denizens of the small town eyeing him and whispering to each other. The same people would flinch and turn away whenever the man would look their way. His eyes tracked each and every one as he passed by them, trying to find some pattern in their colorizations.

Though there was very little rhyme or reason to any of the ponies styles, he did see some similarities to each other. 'They all look like a little girl ate a box of crayons and threw up on them.’ Ryan stole a glance at Rainbow as she trudged along ahead of him, her earlier exhaustion still creeping up with her slightly labored breathing. 'Especially her, Dash got the special treatment.’

His eyes roamed again and noticed another thing about the gathered ponies, other than their skittishness. 'They all have some weird tattoo on their hands.’ Each and every person he passed had a tattoo on their hands, sitting on the back of it, in the middle of the appendage.

One yellow furred woman with bright orange, curly hair had a bundle of carrots on her hand, while a light brown pony with darker brown, windswept hair had an hourglass on his hand. Looking over at his companion, Ryan noticed that Rainbow had a cloud with a multicolored lightning bolt shooting out of it.

Said pony looked back and raised an eyebrow at him as she caught him staring. Raising her hand, she looked at the tattoo and said in a sarcastic tone. “What? Never seen a Cutie Mark before?” Rainbow chuckled a bit and continued. “At least not one as awesome as mine at least.”

Ryan blinked slowly and gave a deadpan stare at Rainbow as he processed this new information. He managed to let out a grunt of confusion, causing his rainbow maned companion to smile and chuckle again before looking forward and resuming her walking. Accepting his weird fate, Ryan sighed in defeat slouched his posture and followed behind the woman at a sedate pace.

Though he was used to the occasional odd situation, as his job warranted that he do some insane things, Ryan found himself far out of his comfort zone ever since his sudden wake up call in the forest. Nothing was familiar to him in this place. The people were completely different from what he knew and all of the buildings looked to be hundreds of years out of date.

Eventually the pair found themselves in front of the large tree that Ryan had spotted earlier. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he looked over at Rainbow. Said Pegasus was busy as she slouched a bit and sighed in exhaustion.

Wiping her arm across her face, she said in a tired voice. “Well, this is Twilight's place. She's a pretty big egghead so I'm sure she can answer your questions.” Sighing again, the rainbow maned woman opened the door and walked into the building.

Ryan straightened his body and shook his head as he walked into the tree house. Once again, the man was assaulted on all sides by pure confusion. By all accounts, he was now standing in a library. A table was nestled in the corner with a few chairs and a writing desk stood some feet away, equipped with all sorts of writing materials. There was an arch that led to another room, but Ryan couldn't get a good view at what lay inside it.

Instead, he focused on the walls of the tree. Shelves had been carved out of the wood everywhere he looked and books upon books were neatly stacked in each one. Walking up to a shelf, he barely paid attention as he heard his rainbow haired companion yelling for someone. Pulling out a random book, he opened to an even more random page and tried to read the text.

Emphasis on tried, however. A scowl formed on his face as he looked at the unintelligible scribbles on the page. 'Great. So we speak the same God damned language, but the writing is different? That's so fucking convenient, isn't it?’ His inner musings were stopped however as he heard a feminine shriek behind him.

Quickly closing the book, he turned and shot a questioning glance at Rainbow and a new pony standing next to her. This pony was a Unicorn, with a purple coat and a similarly colored mane. A pink streak cut through the Unicorn’s mane, the only change other than that being her horn poking through and parting her mane. Her tail had the same coloration and matched the smooth style of her mane.

The pony looked to be a woman, as she was wearing a grey vest over a white button down shirt with a grey knee length skirt. A pair of white socks were on her feet, finishing off the nerdy look the woman was currently sporting. She had her hands over her mouth and her large purple eyes were wide with shock as she looked on at Ryan. Her 'Cutie Mark', as Rainbow called it earlier, was what looked like a large starburst surrounded by five smaller starsbursts. The large one had a pink outline with purple color filling that matched her coloration well, while the smaller five were all white.

Crossing his arms, the man cleared his throat and said. “Can I help you, ma'am? I know I'm not exactly pretty, but still.”

This caused her to blush lightly, turning her purple fur into a light shade of pink, before she dropped her hand and shook her head. Chuckling awkwardly, she walked up to him and thrust out a hand. “He, he. Sorry about that. When Rainbow said she met a new friend, I didn't expect them to look like this.”

Ryan could hear Dash choke back a laugh as the new woman's eyes bugged out. Giving off a little squeak, she very quickly said. “Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so rude! Please forgive me!”

The man remained unfazed as he slowly reached out and shook her hand. Quirking an eyebrow, he said in a calm tone. “None taken, honestly I'm still trying to get used to all of the variation you all seem to have.” He waved a hand around and snorted. “My name is Ryan. Ryan Mathews. I’m not from around here and this is all a bit overwhelming.”

While he dropped his hand back to his side, Rainbow huffed and leaned against a bookshelf. Smirking, she chuckled and said. “You can say that again. Hey Twi!” She pointed to Ryan and continued in an incredulous tone. “He didn't even know what a Pegasus was!”

The purple woman grew quizzical as she pondered her friend's words. Looking to Ryan, she smiled and said. “Well maybe I can help. I know my fair share of things.” Looking over at Rainbow, she said. “Can you get the others Dash? Maybe we can all help him out.”

Rainbow shrugged and smiled as she waved a hand and moved to the door. Yawning slightly, she said. “Yeah sure, I'll see who's available. I'm gonna ask him some stuff when I get back, so don't break him until then.” With that, she left the library and walked off.

Turning back to Ryan, the Unicorn woman smiled and gestured over to the table off to the side of the room. The man shrugged and took a seat at the end, across from the new person. Shy curiosity met calm stoicism as she cleared her throat. “Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you Mr. Mathews.” Crossing her hands on the table top, she continued with what Ryan assumed was going to be the story of his new life for a long time coming.

“Let's talk.”

Author's Note

Hello all yee who read my work. I'd like to apologise for the wait on these chapters. I'm going through school and thus don't have as much free time as I'd like.

Anyway, I have a request for all of you. If you could put up some examples of questions for Ryan from Twi or the others in the Mane Six, that would be appreciated. I'll be sure to credit those that help.

Again, any spelling or grammar errors, please point them out.

Epic

Culture Shock

“Let's talk.”

Ryan sighed and slouched in his chair as he took a second to think back on his situation. From his abrupt arrival, to his meeting with Rainbow. The walk through the forest and through Ponyville. He shook his head as he tried in vain to think up a way, someway, for this to all just make sense.

He shook his head and grunted as he noticed Twilight patiently waiting with a concerned expression painted across her muzzle. 'Okay, calm down. Having a panic attack or a fucking flashback won't help you now. You just need to figure out where you are and where your magic ruby slippers are. Wherever the Hell they are around here.’

Taking a deep breath, he slipped his calm facade back over his face and said in his usual dead baritone. “Okay then, let's talk. Now I have a lot of questions about where I am and I'm sure you have some questions as well. I propose a game of sorts.”

This seemed to intrigue the purple mare as she perked up and a shine came to her eyes as she smiled widely. Ryan idly noticed that her ears were pointed like an actual horses and stuck out of her mane. Said ears swiveled and pointed towards the man as she spoke.

“I suppose. I'm always happy to play a game with a potential friend.” She raised an eyebrow as her smile turned from jubilant to curious. “Though that does beg the question. What kind of game do you have in mind?”

Leaning back in his chair, Ryan closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Putting one leg over the other, he said. “It's pretty simple really. I ask you a question and you answer it. Then you ask me a question as well. It should help us figure out what we want to know.”

Ryan quickly raised a finger into the air, his eyes still closed, and heard the telltale clicking teeth sound of someone closing their mouth in haste. “There will be some rules though. You have to answer your own question as well as the other person. Say if I ask what gender you are, I'd have to answer as well.

You also have the chance to refuse to answer a question if it is too personal or not a subject to be shared.” He coughed lightly and said in a subtly quieter tone. “Our cultures seem to be different and we may come across a taboo subject for one that the other doesn't share. I'd like to avoid those for now, other than to know that I shouldn't bring it up.”

Ryan opened his eyes as he dropped his hand back down to his body. He noticed that Twilight had a surprised expression on her face. She cleared her throat and said. “Well, you seem to have a good plan for how you want this to go. May I start us off by asking how? I myself was just going to ask you somethings and maybe help you along as you needed it.”

Ryan shrugged and waved a hand in the air in a circular motion. “I had more time to prepare for this than you. Your friend Rainbow told me you would be able to answer some things and I came up with this little game to help speed up the process a bit.”

‘There's also no need to tell her that I've dealt with non-hostile aliens before and have a vague idea of how to handle this. It'll only confuse her.’

He barely noticed Twilight's small nod as he cleared his throat and said. “Alright, It's my turn. What is a pony? You all seem so different in your colors. It's very disorienting for me. Where I'm from, my people only come in so many colors, not nearly the palate you all have.”

Twilight smiled slightly and quirked her other eyebrow to meet the first as she thought on the question. “Well...We as a species are called ponies. There are three main phenotypes within our genus; the Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony. Our magic all affect us in different ways. A Unicorn can channel magic through their horn, like this.” Her horn lit up in a purple glow, startling Ryan. He barely noticed a subtle tinkling sound in the air that accompanied the glow. His surprise was compounded when a book from the shelf behind Twilight glowed in the same color and began to float towards them.

Setting the book down, Ryan's eyes widened as a new string of words splayed themselves across his eyes.

'Unknown energy source detected. Scanning commencing.’

Ryan stared in shock before narrowing his eyes. 'Now you wanna work! Well woopdee fucking doo. What happened to needing an upgrade earlier!’ Just as he finished his thought, another message displayed itself across the screen.

'Scan failed. Hardware missing. Upgrade required.’

The man let out a defeated sigh and slumped his shoulders as he buried his face in his hands. 'Of course. God dammit all. This is getting to be very annoying.’ shaking his head, he calmed his features and gestured for Twilight to continue.

The purple mare looked confused for a second before going back to speaking. “Well uh…Unicorns use our magic through spells that usually channel through our horns, but the more mana heavy spells require we use hand gestures as well.”

She seemed to relax as she spoke, clearly used to lecturing and teaching others. “The Pegasi use their magic through their wings mostly. It's what let's them fly, even though their wings shouldn't be big enough to provide lift, and it allows them to interact with clouds and change the weather.”

Ryan held his hands in the air and spoke up quickly cutting Twilight off. “Hold up! What in the Hell do you mean 'change the weather?’ That's fucking impossible!”

'Wow. That's the most expression I've seen out of him so far.’ Twilight let out a giggle as she took in Ryan's incredulous expression. Smiling, she shook her head. 'His culture must be so different if he doesn't know about weather control.’

She had to suppress a squee of excitement from the prospect of learning something new in favor of clearing Ryan's confusion. Taking a deep breath, Twilight calmed her smile from manic to slightly above super excited as she said.

“Well the magic that allows Pegasi to fly also allows them to touch clouds. They can stand on them and move them, putting them where they need to be and then coax the needed weather out of them.” She chuckled and scratched the back of her head. “Well that's the simplified version anyway. I could tell you the more inde…”

Twilight trailed off as she noticed Ryan's condition. His hands were covering his face as he faced towards the table. He was shaking and his eyes were darting everywhere, as though he couldn't focus on just one thing. Twilight reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. She could faintly hear him whispering to himself. “This can’t be real. This can’t be real. This can’t be real.”

He flinched and looked her way, focusing on her as she adopted a calming smile and said. “Hey, it's okay. Calm down, it's alright.” Though she kept it hidden, Twilight was starting to panic. 'Okay Twilight, stay calm. You need to calm him down. Spike is out looking for that quill, so no tea.’

Ryan seemed to be calming slightly as his shaking stopped and he closed his eyes. He began taking deep breaths, stopping his whispering as well. Twilight sighed in relief before leaning back in her seat. Looking around, she called out. “Owlicious? Are you awake? Can you bring my friend here a glass of water?”

She noticed Ryan looking at her with a quizzical expression before she heard the sound of wing flaps. A couple of minutes later, her pet owl flew up with the requested water, the glass resting in it's talons, and placed it in front of Ryan. He watched the owl fly over and perch itself on a coat rack near the lavender mare. Said owl closed it's eyes and seemed to go to sleep.

Clearing his throat, he took a drink of the water and said shakily. “You have an owl, huh? Cool. They are smart animals where I come from.” Twilight smiled inwardly as she saw Ryan relax again. He was still tense, but he seemed to not be on edge anymore.

Nodding her head, Twilight looked to Owlicious and said. “Yes, I just recently got him. Owlicious is smart and he helps me with my late night study sessions.” She looked back at Ryan and continued in a worried tone. “Are you okay, Mr. Mathews? I would hate for you to have another panic attack over what I said.”

Ryan took a deep breath and closed his eyes, squeezing the glass, just enough to make Twilight worry for it's safety, before relaxing and saying. “No, it's okay. I'm just getting overwhelmed and it's causing me to freak out more than usual. I just have to get used to this.” Shaking his head, he continued with the same calm baritone as earlier. “Let's just finish my question.”

Twilight slowly nodded her head and spoke even slower, to try and prevent the man across from her from being overwhelmed again. 'I should take this slowly. It seems like this has taken a toll on him. Why though? Why is this so different for him? Who, no, what is he?’

Shaking her head, she collected her thoughts and said. “The Earth Ponies are the strongest of the three tribes, what we call our different phenotypes. Their magic gives them a special connection to the earth, hence their name, that makes them excellent farmers and craftsponies.”

Ryan calmly nodded his head as he listened, something that caused Twilight to let out a sigh of relief. 'Okay, crisis averted. For now. Let’s try and keep it that way.’

Clearing her throat, Twilight waited for Ryan to look at her before asking. “Now you know what I am, but what about yourself? I've never seen anything like you before and I've read up on every known sapient species on Equis.”

The man was about to speak, before he was interrupted by the sound of Twilight's front door opening. A smile formed on Twilight's face as she watched her friends file into her home.

Twilight's ears swiveled and she smiled as she looked over to the door. Ryan turned in his chair as well and raised an eyebrow in question as her friends walked in.

Being the first in the proverbial line, Rarity sauntered into the library with a purposeful step. The Unicorn's simple white dress cascaded down her body, hugging closely to her to accentuate her curves. The color blended perfectly with her coat, making it look as if she wasn't wearing anything at all. The purple of her mane and tail and her icy blue eyes clashed brilliantly with her clothing, bringing the focus of any passerby to them.

Next was Rainbow, still wearing the same clothes she arrived earlier in. While most of the dirt and dust was cleared from them, Twilight could still see that they required a wash. While the brash Pegasus was outwardly calm and smiling, she could see the exhaustion and apprehension in her friend's eyes as she looked over at Ryan.

Applejack was the last to come in, her emerald eyes instantly locking onto Ryan as she regarded him critically. She had her golden mane and tail in their usual ties and brown stetson was perched atop her head as always. The blue jeans and flannel shirt she was wearing looked to be clean, meaning that the Earth Pony had already finished her chores for the day. The simple pair of work boots clacked against the wooden floor as she approached Twilight and Ryan first. The Unicorn in question smiled as she stood up to talk to Applejack.

Ryan watched with an impassive eye as the three new 'ponies’ walked into Twilight's house. His mind was racing with the possible outcomes of his scenario as he discreetly took in all of the libraries exits. He stood up with the purple woman as she walked up and embraced her friend. Ryan casually took in how all four of the ponies where around the same height, the orange one being the tallest, though none of them going farther than his shoulders.

When the two separated, Twilight said aloud. “Applejack, Rarity! Thanks for coming over.” She then looked to Rainbow and said. “Dash, where are the rest of the girls?”

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly, “Busy. Fluttershy and Pinkie got some stuff that needs done. They said they'll come over when they can.” Though she hid it well, Ryan could tell that the Pegasus was still wary of him, refusing eye contact and shivering slightly whenever he looked at her.

The white Unicorn woman spoke up next, a slight British accent evident in her tone. “It appears it shall only be us four darling. Now Rainbow said you wanted us to see something unique and I must say…” Ryan regarded her with a raised eyebrow as he saw her icy blue eyes take in his whole figure. He calmed somewhat from her smile as she said. “...if you mean this stallion here, then you do not disappoint.”

'I sure as Hell hope that she's not flirting with me. I'm not Malcolm. Not into aliens like him.’ Shaking his head, he took a step towards the Unicorn. Her icy blue eyes met his light brown ones with a calm professionalism. Smiling lightly she stuck her hand out, the back of her hand facing upwards toward Ryan's face.

With a light airy tone, she said. “It is very nice to meet you darling, my name is Rarity Belle. I'm the local fashionista here and I must say you have…” She looked over the man's clothing, her smile straining a bit as she took in the details of his apparel. “...a very unique style.”

Recognizing the Unicorn's gesture, Ryan gently took her wrist in his hand and planted a kiss on her knuckles. Letting both of their hands drop, he noticed her smile become genuine again as he looked at his own clothes and said. “...Hmm, not exactly what I usually wear. I just kinda woke up here, wearing all of this. The shirt could be different, but I'm okay with the rest here.”

His focus was shifted when he heard Twilight behind him say. “What do you mean 'woke up here?’” Looking back at the purple Unicorn, he arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Moving his eyes to the ceiling, he said.

“I'm gonna ignore the fact that you skipped my turn with your second question.” Taking a moment to think, and to let Twilight recover from her slight embarrassment, he continued. “I'm not really sure, honestly. Something happened to me back where I'm from. I blacked out and then woke up in a forest with Rainbow over there getting stoned out of her mind.”

All three of the ponies in the room looked to the aforementioned Pegasus, questioning looks in their eyes. Rainbow, for her part, chuckled embarrassingly and said. “Not really sure what happened. I was flying around The Whitetail Woods, practicing and stuff. When I landed, I felt really tired and sore.” She shivered as the memory came back to her. “When I looked down, my legs were all rocky. I tried to fly again, but I was too tired.”

Ryan took in the information with a calm, detached mind. The woman, 'No, mares.’ all looked shocked at what they heard. Rainbow seemed to be struggling to talk as the near death experience seemed to have gotten to her. Clearing his throat, he got their attention before finishing for the Pegasus.

“I was asleep in a clearing when I felt something get thrown at me. Woke up, freaked out, and saw her sitting against a tree. Her body was gray up to her neck and when I went to touch her, she gasped and the stone literally leaked off of her. She passed out after that”

The mares all looked to be speechless, Rarity and the orange mare comforting Rainbow while Twilight had an inquisitive look on her face. He scarcely heard her whisper. “I know that spell from somewhere. Where did I hear it?” She shook her head and looked to Rainbow before saying. “Dash, if you want, you can go take a nap in my bed upstairs. I don't mind.”

The Pegasus smiled appreciatively before walking away and up the stairs to of the library. When she left, Twilight looked to Ryan and said “Okay, Mr. Mathews. Why don't you introduce yourself to Applejack and we can get back to answering some questions.”

Ryan nodded his head and looked to the orange mare. He made a subtle flinch as he noticed the sheer similarities that she had to one of his friends. The golden hair, the emerald eyes, and the smile on her face almost caused him to break down then and there. Pulling himself together, he walked up to her and thrusted out his hand.

The mare smiled and grabbed his hand. His eyebrow raised at the strength that she boasted, her grip strong enough to make Ryan grunt in sunrise. Her shake would have popped a normal aman's shoulder out of it's socket as she said. “Well howdy there partner. My name's Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acres right outside of town. Nice to meet ya.”

When she let go, Ryan shook his own hand out before saying. “It's nice to meet you Applejack. I hope I can see these acres soon, maybe see what it's all about.” Looking back to Twilight, he said to her. “Okay, let's get this done. I want to see what this place is about.”

Twilight nodded her head and pointed to a pair of couches. Walking towards them, she sat down and said. “Let's all sit down. Girls, I'll explain what we're doing and maybe you can participate as well.” The three people standing quickly moved over to the couch and sat down as well.

Twilight sat down attempting to look calm, but failed as her excitement showed through her sparkling eyes and slight bouncing in her seat. Rarity sat next to her, her open palms against her lap as he she adopted a calm yet attentive expression. Ryan and Applejack sat on the other couch, the man leaning forward with his elbows against his knees while Applejack leaned back with arms against the backrest.

Rolling his shoulders, Ryan grunted as he cracked his neck. Shaking his head, he calmed his expression and watched idly as he Twilight explained the 'game’ to the others. After, he loudly clapped his hands and said aloud to the ponies who were now watching him. “Alright, let's get back into it.”

Author's Note

Welp. I'm back. Not gonna lie, I have no excuse for my absence. I just... didn't write. I'm going to try and invest more time into this story. Hopefully, someone can enjoy my drivel.

-Epic