The Survivor

It's just another spring day at the base for Sgt. John Benson. He sits at a picnic table under the beautiful blue sky, listening to the sounds of the birds chirping and singing in an old oak tree, fifty yards away. The squirrels chatter away, chasing each other around. Sgt. Benson is cleaning his McMillan Tac-50 sniper rifle after just finishing at the shooting range.

From the corner of his eye, he notices his captain coming towards him. As the captain nears, he gets up from the picnic table and stands at attention, saluting and greeting him with, "Afternoon sir!"

Cpt. Burt Shraber continues on walking, returning the salute to Sgt. Benson with an annoyed look. He then stops and stands before him, "Damn it John, how many times I gotta tell you to cut that shit out during off-hours and on weekends! Please return your rifle to the armory and grab your special rucksack, and meet me at the east side of the base by the old dry dock area Sgt. Benson, there is something I need to give to you for safety's sake."

John relaxes for a moment, feeling like that was an order, and responds by snapping to attention once again—saluting him with a hasty "Sir Yes Sir!"

Cpt. Shraber palms his forehead, annoyed at his continuing habit. He lets out a sigh in surrender, then turns to leave and looks at his watch. When he sees that it is 5 p.m. he decides on a time and looks at his friend, "Be there by 7 p.m," then takes his leave.

John waves goodbye and gets a slightly annoyed wave back, which greatly puzzles him. Before he reassembles his rifle, he quickly finishes the cleaning of his weapon and puts the kit away.

After picking up his equipment, John takes the rifle back to the armory and heads for home. As he arrives at the barracks, John retrieves the rucksack his captain requested and quietly wonders why he wants him to bring this supersized backpack along. As John starts making his way to the meeting, he thinks about what might be going on and arrives five minutes early.

After seeing John approach, Sgt. Schraber continues to lean against an aging wall that has a large chunk of sidewalk butting up against it. When John gets close enough, he motions for him to wait there a second. He then proceeds to open a hidden cover in the wall, and looks into the retinal scanner first with his right eye, then presses his hand to the scanner for verification.

John stands a short distance away and watches earnestly as the chunk of sidewalk sinks into the ground a few inches. It then stops and slides into a slot on the left side of a square shaft, a platform then rises into view with a pedestal near the left edge of the floor. "What is this sir?" John asks the captain.

"Shh, now's not the time for questions, I fear we are being watched." The captain answers while glancing around the area for anybody that shouldn't be there.

"Nobody is around though" as John looks around nervously before continuing "I know we're not being followed by anybody."

"I know John, it's just my senses telling me something isn't right." he responds, feeling a little nervous about what he needs to do. "Ok, let's get going John." he says.

Cpt. Shraber steps onto the metal platform and motions for John to join him on the makeshift elevator. He then presses a button on a pedestal in the elevator once John joins him and starts their descent into the earth.

Sgt. Benson maintains his balance as the elevator descends into the earth as the concrete slab slides back over, then back up to close the hole. He wonders how far down the shaft goes, as the elevator continues to descend, coming to a halt twenty minutes later.

Burt steps off of the platform and into a dimly lit corridor. "C'mon John, there's a bit of a walk still." He says as he motions for him to keep up.

John steps off the platform and breaks into a light jog to catch up to his captain. He then continues to follow him down the corridor, when he asks, "What is this place Burt?"

Burt kept moving forward and replies, "This is a vault that holds a single, very dangerous weapon."

John follows him in silence for a minute before he asks his captain, "What is the weapon, and why do we even have it here if it's so dangerous?"

He looks back at John with a straight face and answers, "It is called a Mobile Mini-nuke or MMN-01 for short, and it's here because It's an experimental thing the government has cooked up to try to even out the balance of power in the world."

He stars at Cpt. Shraber in disbelief at what he just heard. "Are those fuckers crazy! WW3 nearly kicked off a few months ago when we accused a few countries in the Middle East of building up their nuclear arsenals!"

Burt comes to the end of the corridor and sighs sadly, then places his hand and eye against a scanner saying, "Beginning of fall."

John stares in awe at the dead end before them as the wall slowly falls into the floor, revealing a decently sized room beyond the corridor.

Burt enters the room, heading to a pedestal rising from the floor. As he reaches the pedestal, he places his hand on top of it.

As the pad detects a hand resting on it, it sends a signal out to give them the challenge. Through several hidden speakers, a voice echoes throughout the room, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once saying, "I have become death, the destroyer of worlds."

Burt keeps his hand on the pedestal and answers, "Oppenheimer."

John hears a noise in the room like stone against stone, as a thin and large slab of stone with a chest on top rises out of an opening in the floor. Curious, he moves closer to get a better view, the chest is an ornate black box with silver corners. Gold filigree adorned the sides in continuous, adjoining arcs. He notices that a golden lock sits in the center of the chest with a keyhole large enough to fit a skeleton key.

Burt takes a key from his pocket and inserts it into the lock, then turns it to open the lock. He places the key back into his pocket, then lifts the lid and pulls out a rectangular-shaped device. Setting it carefully on the stone block, he steps to the side and motions John to come closer.

John takes a few steps forward and examines the box closely. Slightly bigger than a shoebox, the casing looks like black titanium, having two handles on either side. The display had an illuminated, inlaid keypad with a round, key-shaped switch above it.

Burt takes a different key from his pocket and holds it in his fist. "Set your rucksack down and open the secret compartment at the bottom."

"What the fuck are you doing sir? I don't want to carry that dangerous fucking thing around with me." John replies unhappily.

"DO AS YOU'RE TOLD SERGEANT!" Cpt. Burt shouts angrily to John. "Only you can keep this thing out of enemy hands." He replies. Turning his head to look up at John, he holds his palm out and faces up with the key to the device sitting on it, waiting for him to accept his new responsibility.

Sighing in defeat, he hesitantly takes it from his palm and pockets it while shaking his head, "I'm doing this under protest sir." John states, obeying his superior. Setting the rucksack down and unzipping it, he opens the compartment at the bottom of it.

Lowering his hand, Burt sighs and looks away saying, "I'm sorry my friend but there's no one else I trust to do this job but you." Turning around, he takes the device from the stone block's surface and then turns to face John. Moving to where the rucksack sits and taking a knee, he carefully starts to lower the device into the compartment. He lets out a sigh of relief, then stands back up and says "A perfect fit, now it's YOUR baby to guard."

He looks up at his friend and superior, then narrows his eyes saying, "Asshole, I'm not gonna be giving you alcohol for a while, you know that right?" John replies seriously while closing the compartment up, then zips the rucksack closed. He lifts it onto his back and waits to follow Burt.

Burt laughs loudly and then says, "Awe don't be that way John, It's not like I'm gonna ask you to use it." He then heads for the elevator, motioning John to follow.

John sighs and follows him out while answering, "Oh fine then, I'll just give you a wine cooler as punishment."

"Sounds like a deal to me, you always did brew really good alcohol." Burt says and continues down the corridor, towards the elevator that leads to the surface.

John continues to follow the captain, thinking about what he would do once they return to the surface.

Almost a half-hour passes by before they finally reach the elevator as Burt says, "Wait thirty minutes before using the elevator please." Stepping onto the platform, he raises his hand towards the pedestal with a slightly sad look on his face as it starts to rise out of view of his friend.

John waves goodbye to Burt, but notices the sad look on his face and says, "Yes sir. Don't give me that sad look, because I have to get you that drink I promised when this shit is over with."

Burt smiles and chuckles at hearing that, and says, "I look forward to that drink when it's over John, I'll catch you later when it's safe to return it here."

John loses sight of Burt's head as it rises out of view and calls out, "See you later captain." As he loses sight of his friend, he waits for a half-hour as Burt asked him to.

John continues to lean against the wall as the elevator returns from the surface, then moves to get on the elevator when the ground beneath him shakes violently. As he loses his balance due to the violent shaking, he quickly braces himself against the wall to avoid falling and letting the device hit the floor.

He hears a loud crash coming from behind, informing him of the room collapsing at the end of the corridor where he used to be. As the shaking finally subsides, John says to himself, "Holy shit, what was all that about?!" He then hurries onto the elevator and presses the button to get to the surface before he is buried alive.

Twenty minutes later, the elevator starts nearing the surface, and all of the dust and smoke from outside began to fill the elevator shaft. John begins to cough because of all the dust and smoke in the air around him, causing him to cover his nose and mouth. As John finally reaches the surface, he looks around with shock on his face when he notices a mushroom cloud rising into the sky, making him think, 'This can't be really happening, but I can smell the smoke, hear the explosions from far away as well as the burning fires. I know some people do have nightmares that seem real to them. Could this be what theirs were like? There are even a few people who can feel or smell when having a dream. Is this similar somehow?'

When he looks around, he sees that many of the buildings are burning wildly and says, "What the fuck is going on around here?" When he sees the wall, he spots his friend hunched over, burned and bleeding badly. John runs over to Burt, hoping he isn't dead. He grabs Burt while loudly asking, "CAPTAIN, ARE YOU OK?" As he gets more anxious, John repeats himself and lightly slaps him on his unburnt shoulder.

Burt painfully opens his eyes while coughing, and takes a breath to say, "No, I'm not ok." Cpt. Burt Schraber looks up at Sgt. John Benson, kneeling down before him with a worried look on his face. Knowing that he doesn't have long to live with his extensive burns and injuries, he takes a ragged breath and gives his friend one last order, "Forget about me and gather what supplies you need to survive this, get fully geared and get yourself the fuck out of here. THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER SERGEANT, NOW REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING AND GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE!"

"SIR YES SIR!" John says while rising to his feet in a hurry, he then heads towards the barracks to get what equipment he has in his room.

Cpt. Burt takes one last look at his friend while he runs for the barracks with a smile on his face, he softly says, "I'm proud of how you turned out kid." Closing his eyes, his body falls onto his side, releasing his final breath.

John runs towards the front door but is stopped by a scary sight before his eyes. Part of the building Is burning and a portion has already collapsed, barring entry through the front. John begins looking for another way into his room on the second floor when his eyes notice a shattered window on the first floor that wasn't in flames yet.

He carefully climbs through it and works his way through the room. After taking a look around, his eyes land on the corpse of a young woman burnt beyond recognition lying on the floor. He cringes at the horrible sight thinking, 'What kind of a hellish reality is this, this can't possibly be real...can it?' before returning to his task, exiting the room and running down the hall leaping over dead bodies that are in the way.

Turning to the left, he runs up the stairs, sidestepping bodies that litter the steps and the landing. Reaching the top and turning left, he runs down the hall and leaps over a hole that appears in front of him. Finally at the door to his room, he opens it and hastily enters.

John sets the rucksack down and quickly starts working his way around the room, gearing up with what he needs for survival. Now equipped with a canteen on the side of his belt and a flak vest over his torso, he grabs his helmet and straps it on before double-checking his inventory. Looking through the items he needs to survive, he has everything except for weapons, magazines and ammo, night-vision goggles, and food.

After picking up the backpack and exiting the room, John carefully throws the rucksack over his shoulders and exits the way he came in. Stepping back through the shattered window, he lands firmly on the ground and made his way to the armory for the rest of what he needs.

John looks outside and watches more nukes go off in the distance, a few detonate in his line of sight while others are just marked by a mushroom cloud above the distant target. Wasting no time to deal with the hell that's happening around him, he breaks into a sprint towards the armory.

John slows down and looks inside the armory cautiously, finding it mostly undamaged. He fully enters the building and learns that the armorer has locked himself behind the gate of the arms room thinking, 'Well that is a predictable sight, but still...this is all too much to be real.' He approaches Corporal Newman and says, "Hey Newman, open the door so that I can gear up for a fight. Captain Shraber's dead, and it looks like WW3 has just begun. I saw many buildings on fire, and the barracks are a lost cause." explaining to Corporal Newman what the situation is outside.

Corporal Newman's eyes bug out of his skull yelling, "REALLY? NUKES ARE DETONATING ALL AROUND US!"

He then sighs saying, "Yeah, so I guess it would be good to unlock this door and stop hiding behind it."

Newman's face turns into a frown, and feeling bad for being scared, he unlocks the gate to the arms room. "Come on in and help yourself to what you need, because the world has officially gone to hell now," Newman replies as he opens the gate and heads back to his desk.

John enters the armory, takes off his rucksack, and sets it down before grabbing what he feels he needs: Five magazines for his sniper rifle and three full 100 round .50 cal ammo cans from an unlocked cabinet.

"Corporal Newman, open the big cabinet," said John.

Corporal Newman obeys the order and unlocks the cabinet saying, "I'm not surprised you're taking that too, it is WW3 we're talking about." Then returns to his desk and sits back down.

John retrieves two carrying bags to hold additional plastic ammo boxes for the M249 he's taking with him on his journey, making sure to grab two full cans holding 4 plastic boxes each with 200 rounds of linked ammo in each box for the M249 along with an NVG and an extra battery from the shelf. Moving on to the weapon locker, he picks up the M249 and ties it onto the back of his rucksack. He then retrieves his sniper rifle and leans it between the wall and a weapon rack, then starts to fill the empty magazines; setting them securely in pouches on his vest and backpack, but leaves one out.

While packing things up, John moves things around so that he still has room for a few MREs to sit on top before he closes his rucksack and puts it on his back again. He then grabs the rifle, loads the mag, and chambers a round. Exiting the room and heading for the outside world, he stops and looks back saying, "Goodbye Newman, I hope I get to see your ugly ass again one day." before walking towards the destruction that lies on the other side of the doors.

Newman calls out, "YOU BETTER OR I'M GONNA SIT ON YOU!!"

John laughs while entering the hell outside, and starts to make his journey to his girlfriend's apartment thinking, 'I wonder what else this hellish nightmare will throw at me...'. Arriving ten minutes later he freezes in his tracks, losing his grip on his sniper rifle. It lands on the soft grass with a quiet rattle as he falls down onto the soft grass on his knees in shock at the sight of the crater before him. He looks around at what used to be houses and buildings, but now nothing's left standing at all.

A massive crater takes the place of where her apartment building once stood, devastating him at seeing the destruction before him. John hangs his head and lets the tears run down his face in rivers as he starts to sob thinking, 'This...This must be a dream, it must be... There is no way that what I have seen here...is really happening.'.

He pays attention to nothing as he sits there, waiting for himself to wake up when the sun finally reaches the horizon. A loud crackling sound fills the air as static electricity starts gathering around him, he doesn't notice anything due to the emotional and psychological pain caused by the hellish things he saw earlier. Continuing to think everything happening around him is part of a terrible nightmare when he is struck by a bright bolt of lightning, immediately followed by the sound of thunder.

A few hours ago in Equestria...

The morning is bright and clear as Twilight searches for the hidden section in the library of the Castle of Two Sisters. Twilight heard Luna mention a book to her about a secret of Equestria, and hopes to find it. As she reaches a certain shelf, she pulls on Luna's favorite book, Goodnight Moon. A bookshelf then slides back and into a space in the wall, making it look natural.

Entering a much larger room, she starts searching for the book she wants, finds the book two hours later, and exits the room. She stands in the Two Sister's library and tries to read the cover of what she found but can't due to the book's age. She sighs with disappointment and goes back home, hoping to read it in better lighting.

As she arrives at home, Twilight sets the book down on the friendship table. She then sits down in her chair and starts to read it but she's interrupted by the table activating, showing a spot on the map just outside of the Everfree Forest. Twilight sees the cutie marks belonging to her and Applejack, and leaves the castle to get her friend while complaining, "It always seems to know when I'm starting a new book because this happens EVERY TIME!"

Applejack sees Twilight trotting towards her, feeling ready for a short break from harvesting zap apples. She meets her halfway, asking her, "Howdy there Twi, what can ah do ya for?"

Coming to a stop with an annoyed look on her face, Twilight answers, "We have a mission Applejack, just outside of the Everfree Forest. Could you use help with the zap apple harvest?"

Shaking sweat off her body, she then sighs a breath of relief saying, "Ah definitely could use the help! Ah'd be grateful if ya would."

She smiles while following Applejack to the zap apple trees saying, "I found an interesting book hidden away in the castle, I look forward to getting back to reading it."

As Applejack stops by the trees, she takes a seat near them and smiles saying, "Is it anything ya might find useful?"

Twilight looks to her friend and answers, "I sure hope it will satisfy my curiosity when Luna mentioned a book that contains a secret about Equestria, I wonder what the secret could be..." She then looks around and grins as they relax near the zap apples when she asks her, "Want to make it a race?"

Feeling her exhaustion fade away, Applejack grins back and replies, "Of course, it's been a while since we last competed against each other. Yer on!" They both count to three and take off for the zap apples, competing for fun and to see who will finish first.

After a couple of hours, they both are breathing hard as Twilight looks at the number of barrels they filled and chuckles saying, "Looks like we tied, Applejack." With the race over at last, the girls sit beside a water barrel to cool off. As she catches her breath and walks beside her friend, Twilight tells her about the trip she made to the castle. As they walk through a field, they reach the spot the map indicated, but nopony is there. Looking around puzzled, she says, "Well this is a first for me Applejack, we came to help solve a friendship problem but there's nopony around to help. Let's go back so we can read that book and figure out what secrets that book holds."

"Me too, Twi, ah can't believe there's nopony around for us ta help," Applejack looks around in confusion as well and continues, "Ah'll come with ya Twi, ya piqued my interest with that book."

As she follows her home, she asks, "Ah wonder what we'll learn from that book, Twi."

"I guess we'll see when we finally get to my house and read it." Twilight eagerly replies, picking up the pace a bit.

Finally arriving at her home, she opens the book and they begin reading it together. A couple of hours pass by when their eyes open wide as they read the end of the book. Applejack is stunned at what the species did to the other inhabitants in Equestria saying, "Ah can't believe a species so thoughtless and cruel actually existed HERE of all places!"

"I know what you mean Applejack, how can an entire species see others as nothing more than food or servants?" Twilight says, feeling glad that their entire species was banished from Equestria around two millennia ago by the legendary Starswirl The Bearded. "Another scary thing is that there is no real description other than they were taller than any foal or full-grown adult."

"Ah can't believe they were fond of huntin' dragons, it even said that dragons were terrified of comin' across them." Applejack shudders at the thought of how terribly strong these things were. "Ah hope they stay banished from Equestria."

Just then another light appears in the same spot as before, along with the same two cutie marks hovering above the location. Seeing this, she shakes her head and starts moving towards the door saying, "Ugh, this better not be another wild goose chase...let's go Applejack."

They return to Twilight's home a half-hour later as Twilight feels really aggravated by another useless trip, and gives the table an annoyed glare and asks, "Is there something wrong with this darn table!?

She looks at the table and shakes her head saying, "Ah dunno Twi, but that table is being weird today."

Sunset approaches as the dreaded, but much-loved mail pony, Derpy Hooves shakes Twilight's castle as she slams into the side of it. After recovering from her epic crash landing, she knocks on the door to deliver an important message to Twilight from the castle.

Feeling her home shake violently from the tell-tale sign of Derpy's arrival, she chuckles lightly and says, "I hope she's ok from that rough landing." Twilight answers the door and asks, "Are you ok after that crash, Derpy?"

Derpy hands her the message with a smile and answers, "Oh yes I'll be fine, that happens all the time with me, have a good day princess!" She then takes off for her next stop and darts towards Ponyville, causing cats to screech in surprise as she knocks trash cans over and bottles break after falling down to the street while she darts between the houses.

She closes the door and reads the message, causing a worried look to come across her face, and says, "Applejack, Princesses Celestia and Luna have been kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis!"

"Heavens ta Betsy Twi, let's get a hoofin'." Applejack replies eagerly. Before they start to leave, the table once again shows the same light near the Everfree Forest, with the same cutie marks above the location.

With night quickly approaching and Twilight already annoyed at the table, she exclaims, "I SWEAR, IF THIS IS ANOTHER WILD GOOSE CHASE, I WILL EXAMINE YOU!!"

"Ah agree with ya Twi, this is pony apples!" Applejack says as the two of them start trotting towards the Everfree Forest.

The two of them arrive at the spot outside the Everfree Forest as Twilight loses her cool, yelling, "That's it! I've had it with that table, as soon as we get back from rescuing the princesses I'm going to thoroughly examine every inch of it!" Stomping her hooves, Twilight turns to go save the princesses.

"And ah'll help ya Twi, this is the last time that table pranks us!" Applejack says while turning to go save the princesses with Twilight. She hears a strange, staticky noise coming from somewhere close by, and tries to pinpoint where it's coming from as a black cloud starts to form above them. Seeing her friend walking her way, she realizes the danger she is in and shouts, "WATCH OUT TWI, GIT OUT FROM UNDER IT!!" Warning her of the danger above her as Twilight looks up and gallops to safety, out from underneath the cloud as it gets bigger and turns into a thunderhead.

Quickly flying beside Applejack, Twilight shouts in surprise as a loud crack of lightning strikes the ground where she used to be. Lightning continues to strike the same spot over and over as the sound of static electricity builds up, the noise becoming too loud for their sensitive ears to handle.

The two cover their ears and wait a couple of minutes for it to go away. As the static builds up to a critical point, a lightning bolt turns the slowly darkening sky into day for a brief second, temporarily blinding and deafening the two ponies.

As the light fades away, the two ponies think they see something there, but can't really make it out due to a large purple blotch blocking their vision. Placing their hooves over their eyes, the two girls try to get rid of the spot they are seeing.

A couple of minutes pass before they are able to hear clearly again, and think they hear somepony sobbing. As their vision clears up, they see the shape of something in the spot where the lightning struck the ground.

Twilight turns her head towards the vague shape, wishing that the bright sunset wasn't in her eyes so she could find out what's there. As her curiosity gets the better of her, she approaches the spot cautiously, not sure if it's friendly or not. As she hears quiet sobs coming from the spot ahead of her, she learns it's a living creature but is very sad as she sees it start to rock back and forth. speaking while sobbing in between, "I wish I would wake up already, this nightmare is just too much to handle anymore..."

When they hear that, Applejack and Twilight both try not to startle the poor creature with sudden sounds. Twilight slowly makes her way in front of the creature and lays down on the ground just outside of its reach, then tries to think of a way to get its attention without startling it. Coming up with a subtle idea, she uses her tail and lightly whips it back and forth in hopes of the creature noticing the movement.

As his eyes open up, he looks around at the ground curiously for a moment. Noticing that there is tall grass in front of him instead of short grass, he catches movement in his peripheral vision. Taking notice of the movement, he slowly gets his crying under control. He then wipes the right sleeve of his arm across his eyes to dry his tears, lifting his head up to look up to find what made the movement thinking, 'Did the nightmare change, or did I wake up?' To his surprise, he sees what he believes to be a newborn foal lying on the ground in front of him flicking its tail side to side. He then makes himself a little more comfortable, wanting a better look at the foal, he moves his body into a sitting position. Still unable to make out more than the basic outline of the foal, he wonders if there is a carrot or an apple nearby to offer them.

Looking around, he doesn't see anything to offer the foal but grass. Instead of offering food, he decides to try coaxing the foal to come closer to pet it by raising his hand up flat with his palm facing the sky while slowly extending it towards the foal's nose saying, "Come here little one, I won't hurt you."

She turns her head towards the creature's voice and finally gets a look at the face belonging to the creature before her, seeing a pair of beautiful green eyes with a few gold streaks and a red tint around the edges. Twilight glances over at Applejack briefly, then lets out a soft giggle after hearing that and says, "Umm...no offense but I think I'll stay right here until I get to actually meet you, sorry." Twilight replies with a gentle smile and holds her ground.

Sgt. John Benson's eyes move to the foal's head and sees the whites of the foal's eyes. He is alarmed at suddenly hearing the foal speak, and quickly draws his combat knife from its sheath around his right ankle. Rising to his feet and hastily shrugging off his backpack, he gets into a fighting stance with his weapon raised, and exclaims, "YOU CAN TALK, W-WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Not knowing what to do, he looks around nervously as he feels his fear rise while his heart beats faster.

Twilight freezes in place as she sees the figure suddenly have a weapon in its grasp, becoming three times taller than her, even standing on her hooves, and answers shakily, "Y-Y-Y-Yes I c-c-can t-talk, and I d-d-don't know."

Not waiting for the creature to harm her friend, Applejack races around the creature and jumps up, aiming for the upper half of its body in an attempt to knock them to the ground. As she topples the creature backward, she stands on top of the creature then moves a forehoof to its throat, trying to pin it down saying, "Hold it right there, ah won't let ya hurt her!"

As John is pinned to the ground, his training kicks in, showing an opportunity to flip the tables on his opponent. He clenches his hand into a fist and grins, then quickly curls his fist, and then his arm, and drives it into their rib cage as hard as he can to knock the wind out of their lungs in order to quickly restrain them. He then feels the weight on his chest disappear and rolls to his right, landing on his stomach, and quickly straddles his opponent while pressing his blade to their throat saying, "Rule number one, the fight is not over until the other can't fight back."

Applejack feels the air get knocked out of her and gasps for breath, trying to get back up but finds she is unable to as something heavy lands on top of her while something long and sharp is pressed against her neck. Fearing the blade to her neck she shouts, "AH YIELD, AH YIELD DAGNABBIT!!"

With his blade to their neck, he moves his blade a little and grabs the back of his opponent's neck. He then gets up onto his knees and pulls their head up off the ground while moving the blade to the front of their throat and says, "That was fun but you need a lot more training in hand-to-hand combat in order to have a chance of pinning me, little one." He slowly begins to notice the lack of the smell of smoke and the sound of crackling fires consuming the wrecked debris scattered around him and thinks, 'Maybe I am only dreaming because the sound of fire and the smell of smoke can't just disappear. Yeah, I must be dreaming this all up, I wonder where I fell asleep at.'

Twilight lights up the area with her horn to see what is happening and immediately regrets it. Fear is on her face when she sees Applejack held by the neck with a blade pressed against her throat, lying underneath of a really tall creature that matches the description in the book she and Applejack read earlier. Tears form in her eyes and run down her face as she quickly pleads, "Please, don't hurt her! I'll do whatever you want, just please, please don't hurt Applejack!"

Sgt. John Winston Benson suddenly finds it easier to see and notices that the orange foal below him is apparently female and is called Applejack, turning his head towards the foal with a bright light above their head. Blinded by the light and unable to see, he isn't able to make out much detail other than they have a light purple coat and says, "Okay, you have a deal but I can't see too well with that bright flashlight in my eyes."

She cocks her head in confusion for a moment before realizing the creature means her light is too bright and extinguishes it, then recasts the spell to be not so bright and says, "Sorry, is this better?"

His eyes adjust to the change in light and is shocked to see the tip of the light purple foal's horn has a small white orb at the very end of it while the rest of it glows with a weird aura and asks, "What are you? Why do you have a horn on your head, is there something wrong with your horn to make it glow like that?"

Twilight looks up at her horn, relieved to see that nothing is off, and cocks her head to the side saying, "There is nothing wrong with my horn, I am just using magic to see better." She then watches the creature, wishing he would let Applejack go, and answers, "My friend and I are called ponies, I am an alicorn while she is an earth pony. I promise to tell you more if you will let Applejack go."

John looks at the talking pony curiously and thinks, 'Yeah, this is definitely a dream. At least it is a better one than the last nightmare I experienced.' He chuckles and says, "Okay then, I don't know why I'm having this weird dream but I will wake up eventually." He then glances down at their friend and decides they aren't a threat he can't handle saying, "Alright, I don't see a problem with that as you don't have any weapons." He then gets into a kneeling position and pulls his knife away from her throat and returns it to its sheath, then moves his right hand underneath the filly's body and helps her stand up saying, "Stand up little one."

Applejack feels the creature's hand brush against her teats, causing her to lightly blush as she is set onto her hooves. She feels his grip around her neck slip off as she receives a gentle swat to her rear, making her run towards Twilight as his hand slides down her back.

She watches Applejack run back with a blush on her face, making her curious for a moment but she decides to ask about that later and turns her attention back to the creature. She stares back at the creature with confusion and says, "I-I assure you that it is quite real, it is an important part of every pegasus, unicorn, earth pony, or alicorn."

John stares at her in disbelief saying, "M-Magic is real, are you really that twisted in the head to believe magic is real! That is a fantasy that only exists in make-believe fairy tales, dreams, fiction novels, and movies."

Applejack gets a feeling that the creature is very confused and lost, making an idea form in her mind, and taps Twilight's shoulder with her right forehoof and quietly says, "Uhm Twi, ah think that they don't know where they are."

Twilight forehooves herself at not realizing it sooner and says, "Do you know where you are right now?"

He looks around and doesn't see burning buildings anywhere and says, "I am asleep somewhere, dreaming away until I wake up or someone wakes me. I was having a nightmare before this, but it is over now and I don't want to talk about it. I will tell you that this is turning out to be one weird dream."

She tries again to help the confused creature out and says, "I'm sorry, but you are not dreaming right now. Can you tell me where you think you are?"

John refuses to believe what is being said and says, "I am not quite sure. I may be in my barracks, still asleep in my bed at the base in Colorado."

Twilight sighs and corrects him saying, "I am sorry, but you are in Equestria. This is a land mostly inhabited by ponies, our princesses have been taken by the evil changeling queen, Queen Chrysalis." As her curiosity rises, she asks, "I answered your question, what in Tartarus are you!?"

He thinks for a moment and says, "Equestria, huh...I heard of it before in a show that my girlfriend loved to watch." A sad look crosses Sgt. John Benson's face as he remembers the hellish nightmare he had before this one and replies, "I'm a human, my name and rank is Sergeant John Winston Benson." As he is able to see them both clearly now, he takes a good look at the two ponies standing before him, one has a purple coat and eyes, sporting a very dark blue mane and tail with raspberry streaks in it, a unicorn's horn, and wings of a pegasus. Next to her stands Applejack, who seems a little older with an off-orange coat, green eyes, and a braided blonde mane and tail. He notices a light blush on Applejack's face and decides to tease her a little, and winks at her teasingly, causing her to look away while blushing harder. Still believing that he is dreaming, he asks the both of them, "Is this Queen Chrysalis tough?"

Shaking her face to stop blushing, Applejack clears her throat and replies, "Well, she ain't exactly easy ya know...Why are ya askin'?"

He looks around the lighted area for his rucksack, finding it with his M249 on the back of it as his rifle lays on the ground nearby. A grin shows up on his face at seeing his two weapons, John gets up and walks over to his rifle, grabbing it with his right hand, he then points to the backside of his rucksack with his free left hand and answers, "Because I might be able to help you get through her warriors. I AM a very well-trained soldier after all."

Twilight becomes more curious, wanting to know more about this human as she replies, "Umm...okay, sure you can help us save them if it keeps us from fighting them all alone." She then thinks to herself, 'Is it just me, or is he a little too accepting of what is going on right now? I'm not talented enough to deal with somepony on the verge of a mental breakdown, so I'll need to tell the princesses about it and let them handle it.'

"GREAT, just give me a moment to change weapons real quick," John replies. Going to his rucksack, he kneels down beside it and holds his rifle with both hands while making sure the safety is on, unchambers the loaded round slowly, and removes the magazine. He then lays his rifle on the ground and grabs the unloaded round, returning it to the mag, and reinserts the mag into the rifle so he can take his M249 off his rucksack.

Twilight watches in curiosity as the human takes a weapon from his bag and asks, "What are you doing?" as he places the weapon he was holding into its place.

John grabs his rucksack, wondering what's inside that he can make use of. He then sits the bag upright and opens it up, finding an NVG, then removes it. He then digs around and pulls out a can containing supposedly holding the plastic ammo boxes for the M249 when he finds some canvas bags inside his ruck. He then sets them aside and pulls out the two canvas bags, after getting a better look at them, he finds out they are for carrying magazines for the M249 and sets them aside as well with a chuckle thinking, 'This is definitely a strange dream...'

He moves to his SAW (Squad Attack Weapon) and grabs the cocking handle on the bolt with his palm facing up, then pulls it all the way back until it locks into place with a click and returns the cocking handle to its forward starting position until it clicks into place once again. Next, he then puts the weapon on safe by pushing the safety button on the left side to the right, hiding the red line indicating it is ready to fire. He then opens the weapon's cover by squeezing the latches and lifts the cover up, then checks to make sure the tray, the breach, and the chamber are all free and clear of any debris.

He opens up the can and removes one of the plastic magazines and inserts it into the receiver underneath, making sure it is secure. He then grabs the first few inches of the linked ammo and lays it into the tray while resting the barrel on his rucksack, using his left hand to hold the link in place carefully as he slams the cover down hard. Hearing the cover click into place, he knows his gun is loaded and ready for action. He then opens up the bipod legs and sets the weapon down, then pulls out two more plastic magazines before closing the ammo can and returns it to his rucksack before closing it up. He then grabs the NVG and attaches it to his helmet, he grabs one of the canvas bags and puts one of the magazines into it, and hooks it onto his belt.

After doing the same thing with the other bag, he picks up his ruck and throws it over his back with a grunt before kneeling down to grab his M249 and slings the strap over his right shoulder, then moves the strap over his head to make it easier to walk and save his stamina for the coming battle.

Applejack watches as the human gets back onto its feet and says, "Dang that looks heavy, umm...what all do ya got in that big sack?"

John smiles and answers, "Well, I'm not entirely sure what's in there exactly but it appears to have some food and clothing at least." He then tries to make a joke and asks, "Shall we go rescue those damsels in distress?"

Twilight laughs at John's joke and replies, "Yes let's go save those damsels. My friends call me Twilight."

The three of them make their way towards Princess Celestia and Luna's location with the help of one of Twilight's spells. Needing to rest a bit as well as plan a strategy before reaching the queen's lair, Twilight stops and lays down for a bit, starting a fire to keep them all warm.

Sitting down for a rest, John takes out his canteen and cup, then pours water into it and drinks it. He then thinks of the two ponies and refills it while asking, "Do you two want some water?" and offers the two ponies some water.

Twilight smiles and makes her way over to the offered cup saying, "Thank you, John." She then takes a drink from the cup and motions Applejack to come over to take a drink as well.

John refills the cup with water and lets the ponies drink their fill. As they sit back down, John says, "When we engage the enemy, make damn sure you DON'T stand anywhere near the front end of this thing when it goes off or you WILL be either hurt or killed."

Taking one last drink from the cup, he puts the canteen and the cup away and asks, "Twilight, Applejack can you two deal with any threats that get too close? I will have to reload this if it runs out of ammo. I don't know anything about magic, so please keep them back while I do so."

Applejack gulps and responds nervously, "Y-Yep, ah can sure handle that."

Twilight feels nervous after hearing the human say killed and says, "Yes I can handle that task." She then takes the opportunity to ask, "By the way, what is that weapon you're using called?"

Looking at his weapon, he tells her, "This weapon here is called an M249 heavy machine gun, it fires multiple projectiles at a rapid rate. The one on my rucksack here is called a McMillan Tac-50 sniper rifle, it fires a single projectile capable of hitting a target far away."

Getting to his feet ten minutes later with a smile on his face, he says, "Well you two, shall we get this fight started?" Showing some concern, he says, "I'm warning you now, there will be a lot of blood, I hope you aren't squeamish."

The two gulp hard as they reply nervously, "Not at all, John." The three of them continue on their way towards the princesses.

They arrive as the sun is a couple of hours away from rising and take their positions when they are greeted a few minutes later by an army of 200 changelings standing in their way.

Paying no heed to the music starting to fill the air, John gets down into a kneeling position. He then lowers the NVG into position and turns it on. He then prepares to unleash hell on the enemy, looking eager for some action and shouts, "BRING IT ON YOU FUCKERS, I SAID BRING IT!" He then begins to sing along with the song as he clicks the safety off and starts firing his weapon at the army of changelings.

The two girls' mouths hang open at John's sudden outburst, making Twilight cast a spell to protect their ears from the noise of the loud bap-bap-bap-bap coming from the gun as they see the army finally start to charge towards John hissing angrily. They both look for any changelings that try to sneak around to attack them from behind, doing whatever they can to protect each other and the human.

Queen Chrysalis is startled briefly at hearing a cacophony of strange music and chaos erupt outside of her new lair and screams, "DARK MIST, GET YOUR CHITIN IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Running into the prison wing of the lair with a terrified look on his face, Dark Mist answers quickly, "My queen, how may I be of service?"

Angrily tapping a hoof on the floor, the queen screams, "WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON OUT THERE!"

Still shaking, Dark Mist gives his report saying, "My queen, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and some strange creature we've never seen before are tearing through our troop numbers like paper! That creature is using some kind of weapon that can't be stopped."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Queen Chrysalis yells in disbelief as the cacophony continues on.

Turning to Queen Chrysalis, Celestia asks, "What is wrong, are your plans not working out Chrysalis?"

Grinning, Chrysalis turns to Celestia and says, "Oh, and what makes you think that you will make it out of here alive?"

Minutes pass by as the noise starts to quiet down a little, seeming to be getting closer as Queen Chrysalis prepares to order her followers to kill the princesses. Everyone inside the room jumps when an explosion makes everyone in the room freeze and turn their eyes toward the heavy double doors falling towards the floor.

Earlier

John calmly walks down dark corridors, keeping an eye on any direction he can while firing at the changelings foolish enough to turn to fight as others flee in terror at the mere sight of him. Reaching a secluded quiet spot, he tells Applejack and Twilight to wait for him to open the door, and stay quiet while he talks to the queen to give her a very special present.

Nodding their heads, the two girls agree. Twilight asks, "What is it you are going to give to Chrysalis?"

Arriving outside of the prison wing's entrance, grinning with an evil look in his eyes, he says, "Something that just happened to be in the bottom of my rucksack, it's just a small device to demonstrate Mankind's power." Pulling out two blocks of C4 and breaking them in half, John applies them to the hinges and wires them up to the detonator. John stands back a safe distance with the girls behind him and presses the button to blow the hinges on the heavy double doors.

Falling to the floor, the heavy double doors make a loud, echoing bang. Acting to play the part, John proudly enters the room first with malice all over his face as he turns off his NVG, lifting it up to look at the princesses. Motioning with a hand wave, he orders the two girls beside him.

Princess Celestia's eyes widen in fear at the sight before her, sobbing and exclaiming, "Oh no, no, NO NOT THEM AGAIN!!" Seeing her prized pupil and Applejack enter the room like slaves, she continues to tremble and sob incoherently.

Hearing Celestia sobbing brings a big smile to Chrysalis's face as she turns to greet the strange creature whom her enemy fears, saying, "I'm very upset with you killing so many of my children, however, I can't let you leave until you give me that THING you used on my poor children."

Still acting like a stooge, he responds, "Your Majesty, if you would allow me to have those two as concubines, I will grant you a device that makes this weapon PALE in comparison to it, nothing will be able to stand in the way of what that device can do once it opens."

Pondering the offer, Chrysalis grins evilly and makes a decision saying, "My dear friend, I do think we have a deal. Please give me the device now."

Setting his weapon and rucksack down, John answers back, "Apologies Your Majesty, but as a show of good faith, can you give me those two over there first?"

Chrysalis frowns and ponders the counter offer saying, "You are a tough one, but I will allow it just this once!" She then opens the cages and drags them both to the creature with her magic.

With a nod and a smile on his face, he removes a few items in his rucksack in order to open the secret compartment. After pulling the device out and setting it on the ground before him, he says, "Your Majesty, this device has a time seal on it, and will only open after the time entered runs out."

Still following the plan, Twilight continues on and slowly moves over to Celestia and Luna, whispering into their ears quietly, "Please play along, this is all planned out, just trust me." She then stretches out her wings according to the plan while waiting for the next part.

Going along with her scheme, Celestia keeps sobbing as Luna hangs her head and looks gloomy.

As she starts to feel really annoyed, she taps her foot and yells, "WELL HURRY UP AND GET TO IT THEN, DON'T KEEP A QUEEN WAITING!!!"

Entering fifteen minutes into the timer, John searches his pockets for the key and finds it. He then inserts it into the keyhole and turns it before removing the key. He returns it to his pocket and stands up, leaving the device to count away. As he sees Twilight stretching, he kicks her in the barrel with the side of his boot, knocking her onto her side roughly. "There's another whipping for you, Twinkle-Butt! How many times have I told you not to talk when I'm handling business!!" Raising his hand to backhand Twilight, he stops and lowers it after she cringes and nods saying, "Good, you have learned your lesson, maybe I won't use the Flail Whip on you this time."

Seeing them being treated so poorly sends Chrysalis into a fit of laughter, saying, "OH, YOU HUMOR ME, CREATURE! You may leave now that you have repaid your crime of entering my territory and killing my children."

John bows to Chrysalis before repacking his rucksack and returning it to his back, leaning over to pick up his weapon and yells at Twilight, "Now take us back to camp, there is a lot of work you all need to catch up on while I sleep!"

Twilight tries to catch her breath after it was knocked out of her after being roughly kicked in the side, she rises to her hooves and nods her head saying, "Y-Yes Master." Hearing her cue, Twilight gets up groaning. As she begins the spell, she hears John sarcastically say, "Awwe, did I not kick you hard enough?"

As Twilight completes the spell, the sound of Chrysalis's laughing ceases while the stars appear in the sky above them. John feels himself get pushed onto his ass and finds an angry Twilight standing on his lower legs with her forehooves on his chest and hears her shout, "That kick was a little hard you know!"

With a sigh, he says, "Look, I'm sorry Twilight, I had to REALLY sell it so we could get out alive. We need a protection spell NOW Twilight. You're not going to want to miss this."

Twilight casts the spell over the whole group and looks towards Chrysalis's lair. As the minutes pass by, a sudden burst of light blinds the group, making them cover their eyes. The flash of light is brighter than the sun as it's immediately followed by a very loud boom. A huge column of dust and smoke rises endlessly into the air as the light fades out.

Immediately after the initial blast, John yells to Twilight, "Keep the spell up Twilight, this better be a strong shield because we're dead without it!"

Looking back at the fading light giving way to a slowly rising column of dust and smoke, John calls out the stages, "One, a bright light appears, preceding a massive fireball, sending out an electromagnetic pulse, killing any electronic devices. Two, immediately after the fireball, a shockwave of air is sent out, crushing any object or structure unable to handle the force. Three, burning any gases available including oxygen, leads to the birth of a firestorm, rapidly increasing the temperature to extreme levels. Four, a vacuum effect is created, sucking air and debris from around it, making the column of dust and smoke get higher. Five, radioactive fallout returns to the ground, leaving it heavily irradiated and hazardous without proper gear." He sighs sadly before saying the last one. "Six, black rain will fall to the ground, but DO NOT drink it or let it touch you, or you will get radiation poisoning."

Twilight readjusts her shield to keep out harmful elements and dangerous temperatures as the four ponies watch in awe and fear as the first wave approaches, bringing with it flying debris, making them all brace themselves for the endeavor as the debris bounces off, cracking the shield. As the second wave passes over the shield, the temperature inside rises uncomfortably, making them start to sweat.

Looking up at the shield, Celestia and Luna see cracks all around it and channel all their magic to Twilight to aid her in fixing the cracks and keeping the shield up. Luna encourages Twilight by saying, "You can do this Twilight, just think of this as another one of my sister's more difficult tests."

With the black rain beginning to fall, John looks and motions for the others to look at him saying, "Sorry but we are going to have to move while keeping this shield up. One of you is going to have to carry Twilight on your back until we are out of the danger zone." He watches as Applejack picks Twilight up and starts to follow the two large ponies walking ahead of the group.

Walking for what seems like forever, John looks around and thinks that the group is finally far enough away to drop the shield. Feeling the temperature inside the shield drop at last, he says, "Okay Twilight, you can drop the shield now." before dropping to the ground breathing heavily.

Finally hearing she can drop the shield that is consuming so much of their combined magic, Twilight happily releases the spell, watching as the shield falls apart around them. As Twilight's head falls beside Applejack's sweaty neck, she quickly falls asleep.

Applejack lays down slowly to avoid dropping her sleeping friend and gives John an angry look while raising her hoof to show that she is not happy with them.

Waiting for Twilight to wake up, the group takes a break. Twenty minutes go by as Celestia lifts the sun over the horizon while Luna lowers the moon while Twilight stirs and opens her eyes moments later.

Celestia drops her calm demeanor and angrily shouts using the royal voice, "WHAT IN THE BLAZES OF TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING HERE HUMAN?! I THOUGHT STARSWIRL THE BEARDED HAD BANISHED YOUR KIND FROM EQUESTRIA!!!"

Startled at the sudden outburst of the princess, John scoots back a short distance answering, "W-Why are you yelling at me, I helped to save both of you?!"

Twilight walks over to Luna tiredly and taps her shoulder quickly and speaks softly up to her saying, "Uhm...Princess Luna, I think there is something you should know about this human."

Luna lowers her head closer to Twilight saying, "And what might that be Twilight?"

She whispers quietly into her ear saying, "I think you should intervene because the human is confused and doesn't know where they are, I tried to convince them that they are really in Equestria but they seem to think that this is a dream and not reality. I don't know enough to properly handle this, so I had to wait until we rescued you both."

She looks at the human and watches them closely for a couple of minutes, she then notices a twitch in their hand. She walks towards her sister and softly places a hand over her mouth to silence her, saying in a mere whisper, "Shhh... I apologize for interrupting you, dear sister but now is not the time for anger. Can't you recognize the troubled state this human is in?"

Celestia closes her eyes for a few seconds and takes a few calming deep breaths, then opens her eyes and tries to see what her sister sees. She watches every move the human makes, missing the slight twitch in their hand, and says, "I'm sorry Sister, but I do not have the same intuition you do."

Luna smiles softly and says, "That is okay sister, I shall handle this for it needs to be handled very carefully." She then looks away from her sister and turns towards the human, taking a few steps forward until she stands in front of them. As she looks at how tall he is, she lifts her head up higher to look at his face. Unable to look at his face and into his eyes she lightly giggles before saying, "My my, you really are a tall human. My name is Luna, it is nice to meet you. Could you please do me a favor and lower your head to where I can get a better look at your face?"

John looks down at the small pony called Luna and nods, then moves his body into a sitting position with his left leg outstretched and his right leg bent inwards with his boot resting against his left thigh. He then unslings his M249 and lays it on the ground, then looks at Luna's face looking right back at him, and says, "Okay, here you go. My name and rank is Sergeant John Winston Benson, nice to meet you as well. May I ask if you are a mare or a stallion? Your voice seems to indicate you are a female, is there anything else you need me to do?"

She smiles and giggles saying, "Your guess at hearing just my voice is correct, we are all female here except for you. With how unfamiliar you are with this place, it is no surprise that you have a little trouble telling females from males." She then shakes her head slowly side to side saying, "Not right now, but I would like to talk to you and help you. You think you are dreaming, correct?"

He looks at her, feeling slightly confused, and cocks his head at a slight angle saying, "I know I am dreaming because none of this is real, horses can't talk or use magic. There aren't any royal princesses in their race, only those that bear the names of Royal or Princess, and those are just that because there's no such thing as a pony being a princess. There are a few strange things here that aren't in the real world, such as those crazy talking insect things called uh...changelings...right. No way is it real that with the help of a make-believe talking Alicorn named Twilight and her talking earth pony friend, I rescued two mythical talking pony princesses with just my SAW. So yes, I must be in a dream because I may have fallen asleep in one of the buildings at the shooting range while trying to get approval to practice long-range sniping."

Luna sighs and says, "Okay then. If you truly are dreaming, close your eyes and try to change the area around you. Each individual can control their dream if they wish to, all they have to do is use the power of their imagination to create something different."

John closes his eyes thinking, 'I'm already dreaming, so this should be easy.' Unsure of what she is up to, he imagines himself in a desert somewhere in the Middle East. After keeping his eyes closed for a while with the location in his mind, he opens his eyes to see that nothing has changed around him saying, "It didn't work, I don't get it... Why didn't it work?"

She watches him try a couple more times, succeeding in only irritating himself further, and asks, "Would you mind if I showed you something?"

He winces as a slight pain shoots through his head and slides his hand underneath his helmet to rub the side of his skull and nods his head, feeling confused at what is happening, and says, "S-Sure, I don't see any problem with it. What is it you want to show me?"

Luna lays down on her stomach and says, "Okay then, lay down just in front of me and I will use my magic to help you understand what I am talking about."

John is a little curious about what she is going to show him with her magic and lays down with his M249 on the ground in front of him saying, "Okay, now what?"

She then smiles sweetly and says, "Now I just want you to close your eyes and let your mind wander, I promise you that I will not do anything harmful with my magic. I am just going to take us to a place where I can show you what I was talking about."

He is unsure about falling asleep with strangers around him but hesitantly does as she asks, taking a calming breath while letting his mind stray thinking, 'I have no clue why she is being so nice to me right now, I wonder what she is trying to do...'

Luna lays her head down and casts her spell to bring him into the dream realm with her, taking him to her own dream as she drifts off to sleep. Finding herself lying beside her bed as the human shows up just in front of her and says, "You may open your eyes now and look at where we are."

John opens his eyes and feels a cold floor underneath of him, he pushes himself up and feels much lighter. Turning his head to look behind him, he immediately notices that his rucksack is gone and asks, "Hey, what is up with this? My rucksack is gone." He then looks around and sees a room with smooth blue walls, high arch windows with light blue outer trim around the edges, and a dark blue wooden cover at the top of each arch having a design with some gem at the top of the arch. Each window has a set of drawn-back, dark red inner curtains with a thin outer curtain, which hang freely in front of the windows. He looks at more of the room to see strange lamps placed around to provide light, a few odd paintings of ponies or landscapes are hung in places along the wall as there is a large, high arch blue door with a few intricate light blue designs on it and a large, white moon in the center of the door and designs. He finally notices the really large, strange bed towards the back of the room and says, "Wow, this is impressive and very strange. Where are we right now?"

She smiles at him and stands up saying, "We are inside my bedroom, inside my sister and I's castle in the city of Canterlot. This is the realm of dreams that I watch and protect each night, I make sure that my subjects sleep peacefully and without nightmares. I am sorry to say this but it is important that you know and understand that right now, you are asleep and seeing what I am imagining. To help convince you of this, let me change the scenery a bit. Hmmm...what might help to convince you about this being a dream? Oh, I know just what to show you, though I don't want to visit that place again. This is to help you out, so it is not my place to ignore what someone needs."

He looks around as everything around him fades away like a mist blown away with a gentle breeze, taking notice of the change of scenery instantly as he finds himself in front of Luna on a large barren alabaster plain with a black sky. He looks a little closer at the strange, white dirt below him and digs his fingers into it. Making a fist, he picks up some of the dirt and notices that it has a faint glow to it, and hastily dumps it out of his hand. He looks up at the sky and sees glowing white specks scattered all around and says, "Hold on a sec...what the FUCK is going on?! How are we still breathing in space?!"

Luna chuckles at his reaction then looks up and to her left, at the blue planet she calls home, deciding to answer his question later and says, "Turn around and look to your left, then search for a blue planet a little ways above the white horizon and you will see."

John turns himself around and tries to find what she is describing, he finds it and is shocked at seeing planet Earth saying, "Wow, this is quite an interesting view, where are we at? How do you know what Earth looks like?" He takes a closer look at the various continents scattered around and turns back around, focusing all his attention on her saying, "Wait a minute, that's not Earth... Just where are we Luna, and what is going on?"

She sighs and says, "You may not want to hear this but you need to understand. Right now, we are on the surface of Equus's moon where I was banished when I became Nightmare Moon. Everything you see here is all a dream, though the field we came from is real. You are not on Earth anymore Sgt John Winston Benson, I do not know how you came to be here but my sister, Twilight, and I will try to figure out what brought you here as well as try to find a way to send you back."

He is in total shock at hearing her say that and looks at her saying, "Y-You're lying to me... I can't possibly be in another world right now! If I really am on some planet called Equus, that is filled with creatures of fantasy, then...that means the hell I came from...actually...happened..." As the reality of everything that he saw sinks in, his head slowly turns to face forward while his eyes drift down to stare at the ground.

Luna slowly walks up to him, feeling a little worried about him, and speaks gently, "I would never lie to anyone, I have learned that any lie told hurts someone. You may not know me, but you need to understand that I will always find time to help and talk to you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

John sits there quietly for a moment, not wanting to deal with his inevitable breakdown right now. He tries to fight it off but fails and it comes anyway, he begins to sob while his upper body slowly rocks back and forth as he says, "D-Dead...they're all dead...my friends are dead and gone...the world I came from is dead."

Her eyes grow as large as saucers, filling with tears while he continues to break down. She walks up to him and wraps one of her forelegs around him, then gently tries to pull him into a hug as tears start to make their way down her face. Canceling the spell keeping them in the Dream Realm, she gets up and walks over to the sobbing human, then lays down next to him. She then places the back of her left front hoof tenderly against his cheek as tears flow down her face, feeling sad about having to make him see reality and softly says, "I promise that things will get better for you, just give it time. I will always be there if you need me to, perhaps even my sister may help you if you should ask. We are both just a letter away, just find Twilight's little brother Spike and ask him to send the letter to one of us."

Celestia watches as the human curls up around her sister, making her wonder what happened, and asks, "Just what did you do to him in the Dream Realm sister?"

Luna looks over at her sister with tears trailing down her cheeks and says, "I helped John to face the reality of his situation, I am afraid that he will need help from many kind ponies to recover from what he has lost in the world he came from. Perhaps we could investigate what brought him here and find a way to send him back if he wishes to?"

Twilight looks at the human curled up around Luna, feeling sad for what the human must have gone through to make them break down like this, and says, "Well, I can tell you how it started earlier if you want to hear the full story, Princess Celestia."

Celestia then turns her gaze from Luna to Twilight and says, "Very well then Twilight, tell us how this all started."

She sits down and says, "Okay, well I was at your old castle, searching through the library's secret room. I was hoping to find a book that Luna indirectly mentioned containing a secret history of Equestria, but she avoided my questions and only told me to look for her favorite book to get the answers I wanted. After I found the book two hours later and returned to my castle, I was going to start to read it when the friendship map summoned me and Applejack. It showed a location a little ways from the Everfree Forest sort of near Sweet Apple Acres, I put the book down and went to go get her. I arrived and wanted to help her finish harvesting the zap apples before they vanished, we both took a short break and went to the location it showed me but found nothing. So, Applejack decided to go with me to my home and check out the book. We then learned about the existence of some strange, really tall creatures that were not nice to others at all but were all banished by Starswirl The Bearded. The table again showed us the same location with only our cutie marks, but nothing was there when we arrived and waited for a few minutes before going back to my home. We were annoyed at how the table was pranking us like this when it showed us the same thing as before, and that is when we received a message from Derpy telling us you were taken captive by Chrysalis. And we went to go check it out but if nothing was there that time, Aj and I were going to check out the friendship map to see what was going on. This time, however, when we were about to leave to go save you two, Aj and I heard a strange staticky noise fill the air when she noticed a dark cloud appear over where I was standing. I looked up to see the cloud getting even bigger when Applejack told me to run and get out from under it, I barely made it over to her when the cloud started to create bright lightning that repeatedly struck the ground where I was moments before. I watched the cloud continue as the staticky noise continued to get louder and louder, it became so loud that it hurt our ears. As it started to give me a headache, a super bright bolt of lightning struck the same spot as the others did before and blinded us for a few minutes. That is when we encountered this human that matched the book's description..."

The solar princess looks at Twilight as she finishes her story, and finds her story very curious saying, "When we are ready to move on, could you show us this spot where the human appeared?"

Twilight looks at her and nods her head saying, "Yes I can, though it may be a little while. We need to let him go through his breakdown, only then can he start to recover and regain his composure." She looks at the crying human and feels sorry for whatever caused him to cry like that.

He continues to sob as he lays there and starts to talk to no one in particular saying, "Am I...dead...am I? I don't know, I must be but can't tell. What will I do now, where will I go...I have no home."

Luna wraps one wing around him as she hugs him with her forehooves tightly, caressing his back with her hoof while trying to calm him saying, "Shhh, everything will be okay. Let out your sadness, pain, and tears. Let them out so you can move on from this grief." Wanting to help him get over it, she begins to sing a lullaby to him saying, "I know you are not a baby and I am certainly not your mother, but this is the only lullaby I know that might help you calm down." She then begins to hum a song that her mother used to sing to her and sings, "Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna get you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird won't sing, Mama's gonna get you a diamond ring. If that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna get you a looking glass. If that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna get you a nice soft robe. If that nice soft robe wears out, Mama's gonna get you a cart to pull. If that cart you pull turns over, Mama's gonna get you a dog named Rover. If that dog named Rover won't bark, Mama's gonna get you some paint and a brush. If that paint and brush lose charm, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in our home."

John calms down a little after hearing her sing and chuckles saying, "I guess this world has a few similarities with the one I came from, I remember that lullaby being different from how you sang it." He then sits up and lets out a sad sigh, and continues to speak, "Everything that I remember seeing in my previous world is very different now. It's all gone, burnt to ash and reduced to rubble and ruins. I really have no idea as to how I got here. I was in front of my girlfriend's destroyed apartment when I found myself here in an unknown and strange world. How do you know of my species though?"

Celestia looks at the human harshly with mild sympathy in her eyes as she answers, "Your kind originally began here eons ago, as you evolved into more intelligent beings, you began treating other species living here like food and slaves!"

John hangs his head and sighs, feeling sorry for those in Equestria his ancestors treated poorly, answering back, "Well I'm sorry for what they have done to those living here, but I am not like them, I swear."

She then narrows her eyes and says, "I have yet to see proof of that since you have indeed saved both me and my sister's lives, but at the same time you laid waste to the entire hive and even may have killed every changeling inside of it. One thing that is not tolerated in Equestria is taking the lives of other sentient beings, and you have already violated that. I shall send you back to where you came from." She then charges up her horn with the spell she learned from Starswirl The Bearded to send him back to where he came from.

She watches as Celestia is about to re-banish John, Twilight intervenes, saying, "Princess Celestia, when Applejack and I first met John, it was clear that something bad had happened wherever he came from. Do you think that it would be better for him to remain here to recover from his breakdown at realizing how much he has lost and to see how wonderful Equestria can be? After all, it was his idea that saved you two."

Ready to use the spell taught to her by Starswirl The Bearded, Celestia starts casting the spell but stops as she hears what her prized student says. Sighing in defeat, Celestia says, "Very well, you may have your way, Twilight. But remember, I will be watching this one closely."

Twilight smiles at hearing her answer and says, "Thank you, Princess Celestia, I will not let you down." She then looks at John and says, "All six of us are gonna show you around Ponyville, and Equestria whenever you are ready for an adventure." Remembering that he has no place to call his own, Twilight thinks for a moment and says, "Ummm...you can use one of the spare rooms in my home in Ponyville if you like, I hope you will feel comfortable there until you find a place of your own."

Pondering the offer Twilight made, John looks at Applejack who is staring at Twilight with her mouth hanging wide open, and says with a grin on his face, "That is a great way to catch flies you know, Applejack."

Snapping out of her stunned attitude, Applejack closes her jaw and gives John an angry face. While a blush appears on it, she starts heading to Ponyville, saying, "Ah'm still mighty unhappy about yer plan fer dealing with Queen Crysalis as well as holding a knife to mah throat, mister John."

He looks over at Applejack and says, "I understand that Applejack." then turns his gaze to Twilight saying, "Thank you for asking Celestia to give me a chance, I accept your offer, Twilight. Until the time comes that I can find a suitable place to call my own, that is." Turning around and following after Applejack, he notices that Twilight is lost in thought.