Author's Note

The first time I tried putting this idea into words it was fairly well received even with all the issues it carried and grammatical errors it possessed. So I hope that you all still like this idea and that it’s worth all of your guys’ time to read.

Chapter One: Samuel

With a swish the sword gracefully sliced the air and through the watermelon on the picnic table, the long blade shone brightly and elegantly as it emerged from the now halved fruit in the early evening sunlight. Another slash came right down the middle, quickly and precisely the blade split the watermelon, effectively quartering the thing.

“See! I told you I could make one, and use it too!” A joyful voice came from beneath the steel armor that wielded the razor sharp weapon in both its hands.

“Haha, never doubted ya for one second.” Replied Applejack who stood leaned over the railing of her front porch,”Right Mac?”

“Eeyup.” He replied smiling from his spot on the bench behind his sister.

The steel figure clinked and clanked as it raised the longsword and slid it back down into the leather sheath at it’s side, the metallic arms then reached up and grabbed hold of its head and pushed upwards pulling off the intimidating helmet.

Underneath a lightly freckled pale human face with the beginnings of a beard emerged.

Sam gave a wide toothy smile,”Yeah I’ll bet you did, well what do you say then, have I earned the right to use the forge in the barn?”

“Course ya can colt, if y’all can make armor and a sword as complex as that then I don’t see why we can’t trust y’all to make some simple stuff around the farm.”

“Good,” The young man replied as he pulled the chainmail coif back to reveal his mass of long sweaty red hair, he shook his head like a wet dog flinging sweat in all directions,”God knows you guys need new hinges on that front door, my ears bleed every time one of you opens it.”

“Can’t say he’s wrong about that sis.” Mac chimed in.

Applejack laughed,”Celestia, that damn thing...” she shook her head,”I’m mighty appreciative of the help you’ve been giving us already Sam, ‘specially since this years harvest has been so good, it’s nice of ya to offer us help like this too.”

“Well it’s the least I could do after all you and your family has done for me.” He sat down at the table and began unlatching his gauntlets.

Mac grunted and asked,”Say would you be able to fix ma plow for me?”

“Sure, in fact I could even make you a new one if you wanted.” He replied pulling a gauntlet off.

“That’d be nice.” He looked to his sister,”Y’all got anything you want made AJ?”

Applejack opened her mouth to answer when a terrible high pitch creaking interrupted them, Mac sighed, Sam cringed and Applejack ground her teeth.

They looked over to see a smiling Applebloom beaming at them from the doorway,”It’s dinner time!”

Mac shot up like a rocket and quickly moved for the door,”Oh thank Celestia I thought I was gonna starve to death fore’ we ever got any dinner.”

Applejack laughed and shook her head, looking back at the young man fiddling with his breastplate she said,”Well Sam, are ya coming?”

“Yeah, just gonna get this stuff off and shower, then I’ll eat, don’t wanna stink up the dinner table.”

She gave a nod,“Mmmkay, Ah’ll make sure Mac and Bloom don’t eat everything before you finish up then.”

~

Kag watched the Rose pony as she made her way down the gravel strewn pathway, her hooves crunching loudly with each step. She reached the small wooden fence that marked the border of her house, opening the little creaking gate and stepping through she passed by the meticulously trimmed and well cared for garden along the edge of her yard.

She carefully made sure to not step on her perfectly cut lawn and followed the small stone path on her way towards the front door. Reaching the round wooden door, which was small even for a pony, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a key.

Unlocking the door she stepped through the entrance into the cool darkness of her house. She hadn’t even noticed him in the tree line.

Kag snickered to himself, the new chief had taught them all about sneaking and spying. That’s why they had been so successful lately, the chief had taught them that as long as they were careful, took their time and spaced out the slave raids then they wouldn’t be discovered.

The chief had him assigned to this pony, others in the tribe were assigned to different ponies. Each had orders only to watch and map out their assigned pony’s schedule, then at the chief’s discretion, they were to kidnap said pony.

It was a system the chief set up and expanded upon as soon as he took control and so far it was working out with spectacular efficiency. Tonight, was this Rose pony’s turn to be taken and Kag already had worked out how he would approach the affair.

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon now and Kag slowly moved out from his place in the trees, he moved towards the path on all fours, keeping low and in the shadows. When he reached the gravel he patiently waited, the shadows of the trees eventually lengthened far enough to encompass his way to her yard.

Like a spider he crept across the path, each fall of his forearms were slow and well placed, not a single crunch sounded. When he reached the gate Kag paused, with precise movements the raider slinked his way along the fence line, using the garden on the other side as cover.

Rounding the corner of the fence he fell into the deep shadow of the house, he continued along the fence till he reached the end of it and the west side of the house. A few steps more and he stopped, now under the kitchen window he took a few sniffs.

Right on queue the window above him opened and the pony leaned out, Kag lowered himself down further as she took a deep breath of fresh air. She did this every night, he’d been watching long enough to know it meant she had just finished eating, the next step in her routine was to take a shower.

That’s when he was to knab her.

Letting out a sigh of refreshment the off white equine leaned back into her house, he listened as she stepped away from the window and waited below the window for awhile longer. The stars were starting to peak out in the night sky when the sound of running water reached his ears.

Slowly lifting himself up with his hind legs Kag raised himself to his full height, he looked in through the window his predator eyes taking note of everything in sight. The kitchen led straight forwards into the living room and through the there was the hallway that led to the bedroom and bathroom.

Reaching out he grabbed hold of the window sill, lifting himself upwards and inwards he fell through the window and landed softly on his paws. With softness and care he stepped forward, moving through the kitchen swiftly he entered the living room, turning to his immediate right he began the march down the hallway toward his goal.

The sound of running water became louder with every foot advanced, at the end of the hallway there were two doors on either side, the left one was open and showed off her relatively small bedroom. The door on the right was closed and behind it the sound of soft singing came through the loud rush of water.

Reaching out with a clawed hand Kag grasped the door handle and gently twisted, it gave without resistance and the door pushed in slightly.

His mouth formed into a sinister, grotesque smile.

He ever so slowly pushed the door in further, when it was opened just enough Kag slipped a leg in and held his breath as he slid his body through the slim doorway. Once all the way in he pushed the door back and turned around, on his right was a toilet and on his left was a sink. Atop which sat a mirror decorated with her toiletries.

A few feet ahead was his target, behind the plastic shower curtain her silhouette swayed about as she washed her hair, her soft voice ringing with song.

“Can’t take my eyes off of you...” Kag had to acknowledge, she sang pretty well.

The soft pat of his step forward was drowned out by the cacophony of other sounds in this small room, slowly taking another step he stopped as she suddenly stopped singing.

The edge of the shower curtain slowly pulled back, his entire body froze, his breathing sped up and his eyes widened. He felt his heart attempting to burst as her arm reached out from the opening, only to grab at a bottle of shampoo on the sinks countertop.

Her arm retracted with the bottle and pulled the curtain back into place, the singing resumed and her silhouette went back to scrubbing her hair.

Kag let out a deep breath, his body visibly relaxing. Giving his head a light shake he resumed, finishing his step he began the next. Now he was nearly a foot away, everything was going smoothly, his left hand reached out towards the shower curtain while his other hand went down for his belt.

Without warning, the shower curtain was ripped aside,”Who are you?!” the Rose pony stood nude before him bottle raised threatening to attack.

Her eyes widened and she gasped when she saw his large terrifying form in front of her, before she could even properly react Kag acted fast and his right hand flew up. The club he had hold of slammed into the side of her head, she was thrown against the tiled wall of the shower and collapsed.

Kag looked down at his handiwork, blood trickled out of the side of her head she was hit on but she was still breathing and thus still useful. She wouldn’t need to be nursed back to health before being sold like the last two captured ponies.

Kag’s fangs glinted in his smile, the chief would be pleased with this.

He reached over and turned off the shower, then bending down wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up on his shoulder with ease. He left the bathroom carrying her like a sack of potatoes, he reached the living room and threw her onto the couch.

The chief had given him permission to use the pony once he captured her and Kag intended to make good on that permission.

Climbing up over her still wet naked body he smiled, reaching down he unfastened the belt that held his loose pants to his body. Simply looking at her had aroused him, Kag knew he was going to take his time and enjoy this catch, redheads were his favorite after all.

~

“That pie, was better than sex Applejack.” Mac snorted at the comment and Applejack burst out laughing.

Sam got up from his spot at the end of the table while she laughed, plate in hand and walked over to the kitchen sink. He gave the plate a quick rinse as Applejack recovered her breath,”Gosh darnit, Ah’ve never heard pie compared to sex before till today and I don’t think I needed to either.”

Sam just smiled as he made his way back to the table, sitting himself back down he leaned back in his chair.

Applejack sighed and gave a last little chuckle,”Ya know that Armor and sword you made is really impressive, I ain’t ever seen anything like it before. Same with that huge sword you got too.”

He shrugged,”Just your standard late middle age full plate armor and a longsword to go with.”

“I ain’t even gonna pretend to know what that means.” Applejack gave him a deadpan look.

He sighed with a smile,”And I don’t expect you too, not many back home knew either.” He shifted in his seat and layed a hand on the table,”You know it is weird, I haven’t seen any real advanced armors here, even back when I was at Canterlot.”

“When I saw the visiting Minotaurs, who are supposed to be the best of the best when comes to smithing, they had some pretty primitive stuff on.”

“Really?” Mac away from his plate to Sam,”Our armors uh, primitive?”

“Well yeah, not a single soldier has a layer of chainmail... or padding... or any actually protective plates. Hell they may as well just bend a piece of metal and strap it on, you’d get the same effect.” He laughed.

Mac raised an eyebrow,”That bad?”

“Oh yeah, the royal guards wear this weird cheap version of a hellenistic style armor and it doesn’t even cover them up very well.” He scoffed,”Now I will admit the weapons they make aren’t bad, the swords are like the Roman Gladius and the spears the recruits carry are perfectly practical for combat. My sword is still better though.”

“So how good is that armor and sword then?” Applejack piped up.

Sam smiled,“The best.”

“How insightful.” She sarcastically replied.

“Well okay, but you’re the one who asked for a lecture on full plate armor and swords.” He looked to her and began,”My Armor is virtually untouchable with conventional methods. The plate mail that makes up the outer layer is made from folded steel, it can stop anything from maces to war hammers. You’ll probably still feel the impact afterwards but that’s it.”

“The second and mid layer, chainmail, will cover the few parts of my body that isn’t protected by plate. Inner elbows, back of my knees, armpits and such. And finally the innermost layer is a thick padding shirt, it helps to lessen impacts and it provides a line of defense from penetrating arrows.”

“My sword is made in such a way that it’s perfectly balanced, any man could swing it with ease if they have the training that I do. The metal is able to flex and give enough that it’s extraordinarily difficult to break, it needs to be maintained like anything else but it’s far more reliable than most swords. In battle it affords me a lot of reach, which is especially good for thrusting and it’s edges are razor sharp, which also gives me the option of cutting too.”

He drew in a breath,”And that is why my armor and sword are the best.”

Applejack stuck her tongue out at him at him,“Nerd.”

Sam sighed and Mac sat up slightly,”Hey, if y'all have all these skills, why didn’t you go do smithin’ work for the guards or sumthin’? From what you’ve been saying about their gear it probably wouldn't be hard to make a decent living giving them real armor.”

“If I’m being perfectly honest, I just didn’t want to. It would be like being a short order cook but for armor and I really don’t wanna do that.”

“That’s fair.” The large stallion grunted and stood up, stretching with a groan he looked at his sister and friend,”The suns going down and it was a long day, I'm gonna head up to bed.”

Applejack modded,”Alright Mac see ya in the morning.”

“Night.” Sam waved as Mac walked out of the kitchen.

The Apple mare relaxed in her chair, cracking her neck. Sam shifted his weight, eyes focusing on a knot in the table. She swallowed and looked over at him, they sat together in near complete silence as the sun sunk further and further out of the sky.

“Ya know Ah’m glad your doing so well Sam.”

Looking up he was brought out of his own thoughts,”Hmm?”

“Ah’m glad that you’re doing so well what with adjusting to our world and all.”

“Oh... it’s not really been that bad, I mean this worlds a lot like mine. Just with humanoid animals that can talk and magic...”

She sighed,“Ah’ve overheard you answering Twilight like that a couple times, Ah ain’t asking what she is though. Ah wanna know how you’re doing now that you ain’t going home for sure.”

He swallowed and looked down, he was quiet for a second as though thinking about what to say next,”I was close to my family, I, uh, still kind of have trouble trying to sleep.” He grimaced,”When I close my eyes to sleep my mind always reminds me that I’ll never laugh at my dads stories over thanksgiving dinner again.

“I’ll never go on trips to the coast with my brother to hike. The worst fact is the fact that I will never get to have have lunch on the weekends with my mother again. It’s hard to accept that’s for sure.”

Shaking his head and heaving a sigh he continued,”I’ll never see my friends again either, no more trips to the bowling alley at midnight, or nights where we binge movies and play video games.”

He looked up at her with wet eyes and smiled,”But it’s nice to have you and the others as my friends, you guys taking me in and helping me get on my feet means more than you could ever know Applejack.”

She gave a small genuine smile,”I’m happy to hear that Sam.”

He returned the smile,”Having you, Mac and Bloom here on the farm with work to do has been a blessing. Celestia still talks with me through letters and going to meet up with Twilight every couple of days to exchange knowledge about each of our worlds is helpful.”

“Good, Ah can’t imagine what going through what you have is like, but I’m glad that we all have been helpful to you. Celestia knows a good stal-er man like yourself didn’t deserve what happened to ya.”

He smiled and looked down, she did the same and the two of them fell into silence. Again minutes passed as the two sat in silence.

“I should probably get going now.”

Applejack raised her brow,”Huh?”

“We didn’t finish talking about the most influential world leaders from our worlds last time, so Twilight asked me to come by tonight and finish it off. She seemed really interested in one of my worlds old kings.”

Applejack scoffed,”Pulling hard working ponies away from sleep for some research, sounds about right for her.”

He laughed and gave a sigh,”Its not that bad, I don’t mind talking about history for hours on end.”

“Alright, well Ah won’t expect you to be up until a little later in the morning then Sam, good luck getting that crazy pony satisfied with yer answers.” She stood up and nodded, he nodded back and watched her leave the room.

Standing up he turned to his left and made for the door, reaching out he grasped the handle and pushed. Stepping out of the cool house the humid evening air hit him and he paused, the cicadas chirped merrily in the trees and mosquitoes buzzed about him with great enthusiasm.

In the low light the farm was as scenic as could be, Sam gave a good look at the fields of apple trees before starting on his way.

~

The street lights of Ponyville were like the streetlights of London in the industrial revolution, except powered with magic rather than gas. The empty streets carried the echo of Sam’s footsteps like a cave carries shouts. His eyes wandered as he made his way, the different shops and businesses that he passed took on a different tone at night.

Dark and foreboding, the buildings on either side of him gave a bad feeling in the night, he instinctively looked every time he passed by an alley into the impenetrable darkness that was held at bay by the light of the street lamps. Who knows what might be hiding in these wells of black...

He shook his head,”Damn, I’m only freaking myself out.”

Rounding a street corner he stopped abruptly, of course the street light ahead was flickering. Why wouldn’t it be. Sighing he looked down and steeled himself, after a moment he looked back up and resumed walking again.

The echo of his steps felt louder as he passed under the flickering lamp, he suddenly jumped.

Reflexively Looking to his right he was greeted with the sight of another dark alleyway, he’d heard a crash and a sound like footsteps. What sounded like muffled screams reached his ears and his fear dissipated, concern flooded him when they were suddenly cut off and he took a step towards the alleyway.

“Hello?!” His own voice replied to him as it bounced along the walls inside the inky dark.

He took another step forward,”Is something wrong?!”

Swallowing he marched up to the edge of the alley and stopped, he squinted as he tried to penetrate the night with his vision. The most he could see was the outline of a couple barrels and some trash in the dark, he stood there for a second listening.

He strained his eyes and ears to pick up on anything, it didn’t feel right, you don’t just hear random muffled screaming. Shaking his head he sucked in his teeth,”Weird.”

Deciding against investigating the sounds further he turned around and went back out into the street...

...Kag let out his breath, his heart was beating like a snare drum on speed. That was to fucking close.

He’d been making his way back to the cave with the Rose pony, using the dark alleyways of the town at night like he always did. Just as he’d ducked into this alley that weird looking pony came walking up, which just happened to be when the Rose pony decided to come to as well.

She, of course, began to scream.

He had to quickly cover her mouth and keep force it shut, it wasn’t until he placed his claws on her throat that she stopped trying to scream. Kag managed to duck behind a stack of barrels just in time to get out of sight, that damn guy walked all the way up.

If he’d taken another step Kag would have had to kill him if he was discovered, the chief would not have liked that. He hated anything that drew more attention than was necessary and two disappearances in one night was more attention than was necessary.

Grumbling he looked down at the terrified pony underneath him and sneered, these ponies make good slaves but they pissed him off when they acted like this. He reached down and smacked her head into the ground, she whimpered and tears began flowing from her eyes.

He only got angrier.

“Listen to me, you make a sound and I’ll paralyze you.”

The look in his eyes told her he wasn’t lying, she nodded and he grunted, throwing her back over his shoulder he stood up and again they were off, hopefully without any interruptions this time.

~

Dear Twilight,

I Hope this letter finds you well. I for one am glad you’ve come to me for consultation on this matter as you are right, it is a real phenomenon and a delicate situation. If word reaches the public there will be panic, riots and fear abound. Ponies being systematically kidnapped for an unknown reason is bad enough as is, but having it lead to all tartarus breaking loose in our faces is even worse.

I will admit that, the recent cases of missing ponies you listed seemed completely random at first but there is a pattern in the circumstances surrounding their disappearances. It is concerning to see, Luna and I agree with you that it needs to be stopped immediately. We are dispatching investigators from the royal and lunar guard as soon as possible, we need to gather as much info as we can before proceeding.

I have my doubts as to your suggestion of who is perpetrating this phenomenon. It seems unlikely the that the brutes you think to be the culprits are the ones doing it, it may fit their usual behavior but it’s too bold and intelligently done for them in my opinion. I think a rogue group of changelings attempting to feed on ponies is a much more likely explanation, though who knows, time may prove you right.

No matter what though remember that you have Luna and my support, we will assist you in any way we can and if the situation escalates we will interfere before anything truly disastrous can happen.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia of Equestria.

Twilights face dropped, she let out a sigh and leaned back. Her shoulders sagged as she lowered the letter back onto the desk, pushing herself back she grunted and stretched her arms upwards. She let herself relax into her padded purple chair and looked out the window of her study.

The stars of night twinkled in the sky, Luna had done a good job.

Twilight knew Celestia wanted to do nothing but good for her ponies, but she couldn’t help feeling like they needed to do something more. Yes of course it was best to act with all the information you can gather, she knew that better than anyone, but everyday could mean another pony missing.

She just had a bad feeling about the whole thing and she was just so sure of who was doing it...

A knock came at the door startling her, looking to the entrance she raised her brow,“Yes?”

The door opened slightly and a head of messy red hair peeked through,”May I come in?”

She perked up a small smile forming on her face,”Of course Samuel.” She stood up as he entered,”You want me to have a servant start the fire?”

He nodded and rubbed his hands together,”Oh yeah, I love the huge fireplace you have. This castle is just cool.”

She chuckled,”I know it is, it used to be a carved out tree you know.”

“I’ve heard the story, must of been a hell of a surprise to see it turned into this.”

She rounded the desk,”You have no idea.” She smiled and gestured to the chairs at the far end of her room, he gave a nod in understanding and together they walked down to the fireplace. Sam set down in the biggest chair and let himself melt into it, Twilight rang the servants bell before herself sitting down.

“Thanks for coming back to finish off this part of your history, especially so late, it’s just fascinating to me, I’m sure you understand.”

He smiled,”I get it, really, history is my favorite thing to talk about. Took classes in it at every chance I got.”

Her smile widened,“Now, as I recall you left off in the middle of Charlemagne’s campaign against the... Saxons correct?”

“Mmmhmm, had I reached Widukinds capture yet or...”