The Diplomat

On the outskirts of Equestria proper, there was a place that was nothing but desert. A desolate place, full of nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. Vast expanses of the golden grains covered the land as far as the eye could see.

And, given the fact that the sand had long since been carried by the wind through the air, there wasn't much to see anyway. Not without getting a stinging feeling in your eyes, at least. No animals stirred, no plants grew, and no rivers flowed. It was almost as if nothing could live here at all. It was barren, void, dead. A wasteland. It was empty, end of story.

At least...that's how it appeared on the outside. One the inside however, lived a civilization thousands of years old. A population that not only lived, but thrived, in environments like this. A culture so ancient, so isolated, so shrouded in myth and legend, that it was thought to have never existed at all.

But that's the thing. They do exist. And one lucky (or perhaps unlucky) human is about to find that out for himself, once and for all.

"Ugh...what hit me?" Chris asked to no one in particular as he struggled to stand up, going from having his face firmly planted in the sand, to kneeling, and then to standing in all of ten seconds. he took a moment to check himself over before looking around and noticing nothing.

Nothing, as in nothing at all around other than sand for what seemed like miles. As he stared at all the emptiness around him, only one thought managed to surface in his slowly panicking mind.

"Where in the name of all things holy am I?!"

Chris had lost it. He was now currently sitting down in the sand, hyperventilating and clutching his head as if that would stop the fear from spreading to the rest of his body.. His eyes were wide and he kept rocking back and forth on his heels, trying to give his body something to do to take his mind off the reality crisis he was currently having. Where was he? What happened to his parents? What about his siblings? Were they alright? How did he get here? He was pretty sure he had been in his bed staring blankly at the ceiling for a while before this all happened. So how did he end up here? Wherever here was. Was he still on earth? Did he get kidnapped by aliens? Was he gonna be probed?

He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that one, even in his condition. 'There's no way that would happen.' Then he realized something. If he wasn't kidnapped by aliens, then there were only two possible explanations for this to be happening.

Either he's in another dimension, or he's dreaming. He chose to believe the latter option.

'But if this is a dream, then I should be able to pinch myself and wake up.' He rolled up the sleeves of his brown long sleeve shirt and gave his arm a nice quick pinch. While it elicited a sharp intake of breath from him because of the pain, the dream still remained, unchanged.

'Damnit! I thought that would work! but if it didn't then that means... No. There's just no way. It can't be...' He couldn't actually be in another dimension could he? That's impossible! Human technology hasn't even gotten that far yet!

'And if it has, why haven't I seen it?' Chris thought as he was finally able to calm down enough to think rationally.

'Well, it looks like the best course of action is to search for other people.' He couldn't stop himself from thinking, 'If there even are any people left in this dimension.'

And so, he trudged on, keeping the sand out of his eyes as best he could with both his hat, and his hand.

'Where the heck is everyone? There can't seriously be no one here at all. Right? Right?'

Chris had been walking for almost an hour now, and there was still no sign of anyone at all. Every now and then, he thought he heard a bug flying close by, but he assumed that it was just his imagination, or that the heat was getting to him.

'How could bugs of all things live in a place like this anyway? Must be a hallucination.' He thought as he wiped his forehead. He had begun to sweat profusely in just under twenty minutes of walking

However, even as he said that, he had begun to notice a significant increase in the number of these strange bugs ever since he started moving. He would hear them much more frequently now, buzzing about to and fro all around him. It was almost as if there were thousands, maybe millions of the little things crawling around. That thought alone was enough to cause shivers to run down Chris's spine.

'Millions of bugs? Are you kidding me right now? I'd kill as many as I could and book it the heck out of here. That is, if I knew where I was going.'

That's right. Where exactly was he going? up until now, he'd been following his instincts. That quickly changed to following the sounds of those weird bugs he kept hearing. He didn't know exactly what made him do it, but he felt that, if he could follow these bugs, he would be able to find his way out of this empty place.

And so, he did. He followed the sounds of the bugs all the way up until he saw some kind of strange figure materialize somewhere in the dust ahead of him. The sand clouds were so thick, he couldn't see what the figure looked like. Nevertheless, seeing what might be the first sign of life for miles got his hopes up.

"Hey! Hello! Is anyone out there?" He shouted, his hands cupped on either side of his mouth to amplify his voice as best he could.

The figure didn't move.

'What's wrong? Did they not hear me?' He tried again, this time, louder. "Hey! I said, 'Is anyone out there'!"

Still nothing.

'What in the-...? How in the world am I supposed to know they heard me when they don't even answer? Are they deaf?' Chris was getting a little impatient now.

"Hey-" He tried again, but was cut off.

"Yes, yes, I can hear you. Now quiet down would you? You're making my head hurt."

'Ah...perfect. So they did hear me after all.' Chris immediately relaxed. He was about to be saved. He had made his way through the desert to finally be rescued by someone who could take him to civilization. He watched and waited for whoever it was he had called out to to show their face.

But what he saw when they did, shocked him. This was no human. There weren't even words that could begin to describe what it was he was currently looking at. The closest, he thought, would be...

Monster.

It had a black body, and slightly resembled the equines of his world, only smaller. A pony, maybe? No. Ponies didn't have insect wings, last time he checked. Neither did they have fangs so sharp that they looked like they could cut through steel, and eyes that, the more he stared at them, seemed to stare right back, deep into his soul. But, those things were all a part of his imagination, right? Just a hallucination caused by the heat. He noted the fact that the strange bug-like creature had slit pupils, and double ringed irises. Taking a wider view of the creature revealed a dark green saddle like thing on it's back, and holes in all of its appendages, including its wings.

'Okay....that's...weird.' he thought to himself as he stared the creature down. Driven by a sudden curiosity to know, despite his situation, he couldn't quite stop himself from asking...

Off in the distance, the sound of humming could be heard as Queen Chrysalis, queen of the changelings and ruler of the hive, trotted along her territory. 'Ah, what a wonderful day for a walk.'

Having been so stressed out recently, what with the demands of her rule and all, Chrysalis decided that she needed time to clear her head.

'Ah...A mother's work is never done.'

She'd just about had it. No more Global Hive Meetings where all they do is talk about either conquest or the glory of the old days. No more letters from changeling dignitaries asking for merges, containing death threats, or of all things, her hoof in marriage. No more local hives asking for her help just to take out the trash, and none of her slightly overdependent children begging her for cookies.

Now, it was just her, the sand, and her thoughts. Or...so she thought.

"Hey! Hello! Is anyone out there!" she heard a voice call out over the sound of the rolling sands.

'Now who could possibly be out here at this point in time? It's much too early. I swear if one of my scouts managed to get lost on the way back here i'll-"

"Hey! I said, 'Is anyone out there'?"

She heard it again. This time, a bit clearer than before. That didn't sound like any changeling she knew. Where was the echo in their speech, the characteristic, 'My queen', or even, 'Mother'? Something was wrong.

"Hey!"

'Oh, for the love of-' she thought as she held a hoof to her head before saying, "Yes, yes, I can hear you. Now quiet down would you? You're making my head hurt."

She took a moment to nurse her throbbing head, only able to hold one eye open in the process. However, what that one eye witnessed, it would never forget.

As she watched the sand settle around the figure she saw behind it, she was shocked to see something she could only call...

'A monster.'

It was tall and hairless save for the short brown mane on the top of its head. It was bipedal, with forelegs that ended not in hooves, but in five strange blunt looking claws. It had a flat muzzle, small eyes and slightly resembled a kind of hairless ape of some kind. She took note of the fact that it wore clothes.

'Hmm, so it's not just an ordinary animal.'

As she watched the strange being slowly make its way toward her, she couldn't help but ask...

"What are you?!"