Nine Realms

"What...what are those things?!"

Rainbow’s sense of confusion was shared by pretty much the entire group, as they gazed out on what now lay before them. From the edge of the forest where they all stood, there was a sloping hill, and at the bottom of it, there was a small valley, with a winding river running through it. But, at the edge of that river, there appeared to be a small village of some kind. Wooden huts with straw roofs, and a great fire roaring right in the centre of it, with the one notable piece of architecture being a single house, much longer than all the rest, near the edge of the place. However, it was the people that drew the most confusion, as they were unlike anything any of them had ever seen before, walking on two legs and clad in furs and leathers, often blonde in their hair, which some had taken to putting into various styles of braids. While most of the mares looked to this with uncertainty, Twilight and Spike gave each other knowing looks, then simultaneously glanced back down to the village.

"They're...they're humans!" Twilight exclaimed.

All of their friends looked to her, and it was Rarity who asked the question that all of them had burning on their minds right now.

"Humans? But, darling, aren't they the beings you said resided on the other side of the magic mirror?"

Frowning slightly, Twilight nodded.

"They are. But there's no doubt about it, those are definitely humans."

Pinkie, hearing this, put on a wide grin.

"Aha! That explains it! The map's magic went crazy and zapped us through the mirror, right?"

Twilight paused on that. The mirror was the only means she knew of to get to the human world, so Pinkie's argument did actually make some sense. And yet, several points gnawed at her mind, prompting her to shake her head.

"No...I don't think so. The mirror only ever took us to one specific place, the outside of Canterlot High. And this...definitely isn’t that place."

She turned, looking to her party-loving friend.

"And besides, these people here seem...well...less advanced than the human society I came across via the mirror. This...this is somewhere else entirely."

Pinkie's ears drooped slightly after having been told that her theory was incorrect, but then she soon perked up again when Fluttershy began to speak up.

"But...what about some other way? We know there are other means of getting to the human world, like when Starswirl banished the Sirens? He didn't need the mirror to do it."

Twilight nodded.

"Yes...that's true. So we might be dealing with something along those lines. Although..."

Slowly, she realised her hoof, staring at it for a moment.

"...every time someone from our world has been sent to the world of humans, they themselves have become human, with the exception of Spike."

At that, the young dragon folded his arms and gave a huff.

"I was a dog," he grumbled.

Twilight smiled to this, but then focused her attention yet again on the village below.

"Regardless of how we got here, these are the only people we've met so far. At the very least, they'll know where we are, and from that, we can get our bearings."

Applejack looked down to the village herself, then turning her eyes to her alicorn colleague.

"Are ya sure askin' em is the right call, Twi? We don't know if they're friendly."

Twilight sighed.

"I know...but what other option do we have?"

Her question hung in the minds of her friends for a time, and they all looked to one another. Sure enough, none of them actually did know of any other alternatives to their leader's suggestion, prompting another long sigh on Twilight's part. So, taking a moment to compose herself, Twilight started to walk forward.

"Okay, but remember, we have to be careful. This may well be the first time these humans have ever seen people like us. This is a first contact situation, so it has to be handed with care."

Rarity swept aside some of her mane, which had blown in front of her face due to the still-blowing cold winds, and nodded to her friend's words.

"There's no need to fret, darling. I assure you we are the very model of diplomacy!"

Rainbow chuckled.

"Yeah! And if they give us trouble, we know what to do!"

Rarity rolled her eyes to her friend's display of bravado, and opened her mouth to counter it. Unfortunately, before she could even get a single word out, she was kept from doing so when, all of a sudden, something fast and sharp shot right at them from the side, burying itself in the ground in front of them. All of the mares and Spike took a simultaneous step backwards, and looked on to see that it was, to their shock, an axe. Immediately, all heads turned, and they saw, to their horror, that a group of those humans were already upon them, having apparently been further along the tree line where they had been standing. How long they had been there, they did not know, but now they had been spotted, and were immediately being set upon. With round wooden shields and brandishing swords and axes, the local humans charged forward, shouting battle cries in a tongue the Equestrians didn't understand. However, they did understand the concept of being attacked, and so Rainbow immediately got to work.

"They asked for it!"

And she darted off before anypony could stop her.

"Rainbow! No!" Twilight called out.

But it was too late, as her pegasus friend immediately rushed forward, using her great speed to give a full-on frontal assault to their attackers. Before the humans realised what was going on, the one at the centre of their group now received a high-speed head-butt to his midriff, sending him flying backwards and right into a nearby tree, knocking him out. Naturally, the other humans, who had not been expecting these strange creatures to fight back, looked on with disbelief at what had just happened. As for Rainbow, she flapped her wings, rising high into the skies and looking down at the attackers.

"Alright, you guys! I don't know what you want, but if you think we're going to sit by and let you attack us, you've got another thing coming!"

And it was right at that point where the clouds in the skies above them began to give way, unleashing a single beam of sunlight. Coincidentally, that light was right behind Rainbow, and so bathed her in that glow to the humans below her. Awe came to their expressions, and they slowly looked down to the other ponies. They gained confusion, surprise, even a little fear, and then, without warning, several of them got down to their knees and, to the surprise of the Equestrians, actually started to pray. They still didn't understand what language they were saying, but they recognised deference when they saw it, and slowly, Rainbow got down to the ground, looking over to Twilight.

"Er...what's going on?"

Stepping forward, Twilight shook her head.

"I don't know, but..."

She glanced to her friend.

"...it's stopped the fighting, so let's focus on that."

Again, she moved forward, and after clearing her throat, she spoke up. She knew they couldn't understand her, and that she still couldn’t understand them, but even so, she hoped they would recognise an attempt at diplomacy when they saw it.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle...and we mean you no harm."

Several of the humans, the ones who hadn’t started praying, looked to one another and began to whisper. The mares watched, hoping for some peace in all of this, but nevertheless ready to flee if things went south. Then, when the whispering was done, the largest of them, brandishing a particularly sharp-looking axe, looked to them with steely resolve, then used his weapon to point down to the village at the bottom of the hill. Twilight looked down to it as well, and when understanding came to her, she nodded to the towering human, before glancing back to her friends.

"I think...we've been given a chance to talk."