The Alicorn and the Last Human.

At the School of Friendship, Rarity was in her classroom, getting everything nice and clean for when her students would arrive. Naturally, she even decorated her classroom to give it a more… chic and welcoming sensation. "There we go, yet another job well done. Perhaps I could use some of this decor as an inspiration for my next line of work," Rarity said to herself.

While she was envisioning her new fashion line, a bright flash appeared in her room, which barely blinded her before it disappeared instantly. As she was able to get her sight back, she is then met with Nyx and Ryder standing in front of her. And she can see that Ryder was feeling a little sick from the teleportation and was a little wobbly. Nyx notices it as well and sees the nauseous look on his face.

“Sorry, Ryder. Guess teleportation doesn’t work well for humans?” She said right before she started to notice Rarity was in the room. “Oh, hi Rarity.” She waved at the fashionista with an innocent smile on her face.

"Good morning, Nyx darling. What brings you here to my classroom?" Rarity asked.

“Well, I came here to ask you a favor, if it isn’t a bother,” Nyx asked.

"And what might that be, deary?" Rarity asked.

“Well, I’m having Ryder in my class to teach my students of his history of the human race, but since his last clothes are ruined, he’s gonna need a new closet line of clothes. So do you think you can fix-up something for him to wear?” Nyx replied.

"Ooh! Not to worry! I can take care of that for you in a jiffy, deary.” Rarity replied while using her magic to pull out her essentials so she can begin the process.

Ryder looks to Nyx with a slight look of fear on his face and shaking a little. Nyx then brings her hand up to hold his hand to give him comfort. “Don’t worry Ryder, there’s nothing for you to be scared of. Rarity is just gonna make you something to wear. And I’ll be right here if you need me for anything.” She assured him.

He was hesitant at first, but calmed down and nodded before letting Rarity take his measurements for his new clothes. Nyx watched and waited as Rarity soon got just the right kind of measurements she needed. She then began grabbing some fabric and cut out the shapes of the clothing, then sewed it all together.

And after several minutes, Rarity then hands over Ryder’s new clothes and has him change into them behind the room divider screen in the classroom while she and Nyx wait by her desk. After a few seconds, Ryder comes out from behind the room divider screen and in his new clothes. In his upper body, he wore a black long-sleeve shirt and a dark-brown shearling leather jacket; as for his lower body, he wore navy-blue jeans and wearing terracotta-color leather-laced boots.

"Whoa, you're looking sharp there, Ryder. I'm liking the new you," Nyx complimented. Ryder immediately blushed from her comment and smiled a bit while feeling embarrassed.

“Darling, you look smashing," Rarity said, admiring his new look.

Ryder makes hand signs saying "Thank you, Rarity,"

“Well, now that he has a set of clothes for today. Is there any chance you make him a closet-set after school?” Nyx asked.

“Since I now have his measurements, I can fix up a clothing line for him. Maybe I can even have my class pitch in as a class assignment," Rarity said.

"Good idea! Thanks, Rarity. You're the best."

"Think nothing of it, deary. Now hurry on over to your class. I'm sure they're dying to know so much about the human race," Rarity said.

"Right. Come on, Ryder. No time to lose," Nyx said as she tugs on Ryder’s arm and pulls him behind her as they ran out of the room. Leaving the fashionista unicorn alone to imagine and fantasize about the two’s potential love life.

“Ah, young love.” Rarity said.

Time passed by and soon, the School of Friendship was now open. Students were coming from every kingdom, getting ready for their respective classes. Nyx's classroom, naturally, was stocked full of students, taking their seats and getting their notebooks out.

"Alright, good morning class, I hope you all slept well last night," Nyx said. "Today, we will be learning about something… extra special. Today, we will be learning about a brand new species that not even Equestria has any record of, or has even heard of." After she said that, she received a raised hand from one of her students, who is a young female griffon; and later asked a question.

“Wait, since when exactly did Equestria discover a new species that we all never heard about?” she asked.

"Good question. Truth be told, this new specimen was discovered recently yesterday by yours truly and Discord. But maybe it'd be better if I showed you this specimen," Nyx said. She then gestures for Ryder to show himself. Ryder, who was facing the wall in the teacher's chair, turns around and reveals himself to the class, making everyone whisper and gossip at his presence. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet a brand new friend of mine: Ryder, the potentially last standing human being." The students were all fascinated by this man, then began bombarding question after question.

“Hey, can he breath fire like me?” a dragon student asked loudly.

“Can he fly?” A pegasus pony student asked as well.

“Can he lift heavy objects with ease?”

“Can he turn invisible?”

“Does he know how to do the conga?”

“Does he shoot laser eyes?”

“Seriously, laser eyes?”

“Hey, it can happen!”

"Alright class, calm down. Before you overload his brain, I have to tell you that due to his encounter with a timberwolf, he lost his voice in the struggle, so he can only speak sign language for the time being. For those of you who can't understand sign language, I will happily translate his words as he tells you the story of his race," Nyx explains.

Ryder smiles at Nyx, then begins making hand signs while Nyx translated.

"A long, long time ago, humans once inhabited the Earth and lived in many different countries around the world. About 7.5 billion people to be precise. We once lived simple lives, gathering food, growing crops, breeding cattle, and raising our young. But as time went by, our race evolved in both good ways and bad ones.

On the bright side, we built big, tall building structures that required hundreds of our kind to built, but it was how they were built in the first place that was wretched. In ancient times, we humans once practiced… Slavery. Treating those who looked different from us like outcasts and forced them to do our dirty work for him and toss them aside as if they had no other purpose. But it wasn't until later on in the Victorian ages back on December 18th, 1865, that slavery was officially outlawed. But of course, the discrimination and racial hate still lived on and those in power or even small groups like the devilish KKK let it thrive. But soon in the 1970s, it was finally outlawed as well and it began to die over time, but small parts of it remain alive.

Soon, the world evolved even further with what we called "technology," state of the art machinery that helped us thrive in our everyday lives. With things such as Television, or TV for short, video games, stereos, telephones, even vehicles like cars and trucks, trains, and trollies. But as our tech evolved, so did the human's dark desires for such luxurious items. We even evolved weapons during that time. At first, it was simple things like stone axes and clubs, but then came guns. Heavy machinery that could pierce through flesh and bone and potentially kill a man in an instant; which were also used in deadly conflicts and wars in the past hundreds of years of our lives.

But then, things spiraled from bad to worse in the year 2020. Thousands of lives were being lost from a deadly disease because of our stupidity, our law enforcement we called "police" resorted to police brutality, unjustified hated violence towards our mentally disabled and the unarmed innocent people. We grew bitter, greedy, and vengeful until finally, our dying race was put down by continuous war declarations; ranging from civil wars, revolutionary wars, world wars; and even pollution in the air, oceans, and lakes.

I've lost count of how many years it's been since my savage human race was wiped off the face of the Earth." after Nyx finished translating, the class was in total shock. Along with her students, Nyx was also shocked and surprised hearing of the horrible history of the human race and how it led to their downfall and possible extinction. Now she was thinking that is it even possible that even a handful of humans could survive that event and still thrive to this day.

"U-Uh so, any questions, class?" Nyx asked, getting her mind back on teaching her class. "And remember only one question at a time." Just about nearly every student raised their hands. "Yes, go ahead." she pointed over at the dragon student.

"If the human race is extinct, how were you able to survive?" he asked.

After hearing the question, Ryder then starts to sign and Nyx translates for him. "Actually, my great-great-grandparents survived the event, and soon they traveled the decimated land and came across small groups of survivors and then they came together and searched for a place to start over and that’s when they came across an old military fort which was left behind after the great extinction. And of course, over the years, it would later become the colony I grew up in. But soon tragedy struck for me when my parents died from a small plague that hit my colony, which killed off 100s of us. We didn't have the medicine or the know-how to treat the disease.

I was 5 at the time and the only one who took care of me was my eldest 16-yr-old sister, Dana. She was the best sister I ever had. She did everything she could do to raise me in our colony, she made sure we were fed, tucked me in at night, and taught me education. I was lucky to have her in my life and we had each other.

But then 4 years later, that’s when things took a dark turn for us. Soon our colony was attacked by… soldiers wearing plated armor. They raided our colony, burning down our homes, and slaughtering us, one-by-one. My sister helped me escaped our colony, but we were almost caught by one of those soldiers and he tried to kill me, but my sister put up a fight and kept him away from me. She told me to run, and so I did. As I was running as fast as I could, I looked back to see if my sister was behind me. But what I saw, tore my soul to pieces when that soldier that found us, struck my sister down with his sword. I watched my only sister, my only family, killed in front of me.”

Ryder's heart felt like it was breaking in two when he told that dreadful story. Tears streamed down his face and so did some of the students. Other students were either shocked… or pissed.

Nyx was by far the most shocked out of all of them. She could not believe that Ryder’s past was immensely tragic, and how much he lost. His home, his people, and most importantly, his family. She now realized why Ryder was all alone and searching for other humans; he was made an orphan and all alone.

As a cloud of sympathy and grief had filled the classroom, Nyx then decided, for Ryder’s sake, to continue with class and cleared her throat in a loud manner to get her student’s attention

"Now, does anyone else have any more questions before I hand out your next assignment?" Nyx asked. Then, another student raised their hand, a changeling student. Nyx pointed, allowing them to speak.

"This is regarding you being discovered. Where did Nyx find you and what happened before you came here?"

Ryder then signs a few more words, of course, he left out a few...no, actually all of the things that happened this morning. “Oh, she discovered me back in the Everfree Forest where I saved her from a vicious Cragadile by having it clamping and trapping its jaws on a tree and stabbing into its brain.” Nyx translated.

"Whoa! Sounds like you've rescued yourself a future wife there, buddy," Sunrise Scorcher commented, winking. Ryder's entire face turned red with embarrassment. But not much as Nyx’s face, who was about to let her cousin have it.

“DETENTION!” Nyx shouted while pointing at Sunrise.

"Aww, come on. Man, this sucks. No one can take a joke these days," Sunrise said, bummed out before teleporting out of class.

“I thought it was funny,” one of the male students in the room spoke out.

"All joking aside, if you took down a cragadile, then does that mean, humans have incredible strength within them?" Blazing Sparkle asked.

Again, Ryder replied to the question. “The strength and speed of us humans vary among us. There are even a few strongmen who are capable of lifting about 1,155 pounds.” Nyx translated for him.

"Dang!!! That's almost as strong as Applejack!" an earth pony student said, surprised and very ecstatic about this info.

"Yes, now that'll be enough questions for now. Next. I want you all to do a 5 paragraph essay on what you learned about the human race and if you run out of time here, you can take your essay home with you as homework.” Nyx said just as the school bell rang for class to end. “And right on cue. I expect all of you to finish your essay before the end of the week. Class dismissed.” She added.

And as she said that, all the students in the class got up from their seats and walked right out of the door. Nyx sighed, still upset with her cousin making such an embarrassing comment. 'What am I gonna do with him?' she thought.

Nyx then walked out of the classroom and out into the hallway for a quick breather. As she was taking a quick break, she's startled when someone slammed their hand against the wall near her face. She looked and saw a male pegasus with golden fur, amber eyes, and green hair.

"What's the matter, Ms. Nyx, you're looking a bit stressed," he said.

“Uh, nope. I’m fine. I’m just… uh, finishing my break, yeah. And I should be… heading for my next class.” Nyx replied, feeling a bit anxious and suspicious about the stallion in front of her. Of course, as she was about to leave, the stallion prevented her from walking away and grabbed her hand, and dragged her into an empty room in the hallway. "What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to get yourself suspended or worse, expelled? What was that for?"

"Relax, little night angel, I'm just gonna try and make you… feel good, loosen you up. Make you feel like a whole new mare," he said with a smirk. "And believe me, I never stop until the job is done right." he tries to bring her close to him, but she flails and pushes him away. "Hey, come on, don't be that wa--" he's stopped when Nyx slapped him across the face.

"This kind of behavior is unforgivable! You're a student and I'm a teacher!" Nyx scolded.

"And yet you're starting as a young adult, so there. Now, be a good girl and let me give you a good time," he said walking up to her. He goes to try and grab her wrist but is then grabbed hard by his arm. "Ahh! Hey, what the?!" He looks over to see who grabbed him, only to meet the furious eyes and glaring expression of Ryder. And with one swift pull, the human yanked the stallion off of Nyx and pushed him back against one of the desks in the room.

The stallion didn’t like it one bit.

“Hey! Who the fuck are you? And why the hell would you ruin our fun, huh?!” the stallion stated loudly to the human, who kept himself between the student and Nyx. “The hell are you supposed to be?!” The stallion shouted before rushing towards Ryder.

But instantly learned the hard way that it was a big mistake as Ryder grabbed his arm and proceed to plummet the stallion’s muzzle with his fist, repeatedly. Even going far as elbowing harshly to his noggin. Ryder then knocks the student to the ground and stands over him, before kneeling next to him and beating him more by punching his gut several times. Soon after, Ryder stopped his assault and stood up onto his feet, looking over the bloodied and bruised stallion on the ground, groaning in pain.

After glaring down at the stallion for a while, Ryder then turns to Nyx and signs a few words saying: “Are you ok?”

"I… I'm fine. Thanks, Ryder. I thought I was done for sure. Come on, let's take this delinquent over to my mom. She'll dispose of him properly," Nyx said. She walked towards the exit but felt her knees still shaking. Ryder could tell that bastard shook her up, so he walked next to her, keeping her comfy while she levitated the delinquent off to the principal's office.

"Young stallion, I cannot believe your reckless, distasteful behavior!" Twilight scolded, looking down at the delinquent who sat in front of her. Her dark gaze was enough to make him feel tiny and helpless. "Going after your teacher… MY DAUGHTER… the way you just did, cannot go unpunished, period! Under no circumstances are students allowed to have affairs with the faculty members! Or even force them! Is… that… CLEAR?!" she yelled in her own Canterlot voice, making his heart skip a beat. "I said… is… that… CLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAR?!?!?!"

"Y-Y-Yes, Principal Twilight, ma'am!" he panicked.

"Now then, for your punishment, I believe since you tried to force yourself onto my niece, I believe she has the right to press charges against you… HEAVY charges! Furthermore, your enrollment here is no longer valid. You… are… EXPELLED!!!" Sunset shouted so loud, the booming sound of her Canterlot voice made the delinquent's chair fall back with him as well. "And your parents will hear about this one." her voice now low, deep, and menacing. "Nyx, Ryder, you are free to go," Sunset said sweetly with a smile.

"Thanks, auntie, mom," Nyx said gratefully. Ryder bowed his head then left with Nyx to let them deal with the delinquent some more. Once the doors were closed, Ryder dropped to the ground, clutching his heart as if he almost had a heart attack. "Ryder! Are you okay? Did my mom and aunt scare you that much?" Nyx asked. Ryder nodded. "Sorry about that. They're just highly protective of me, even though I've grown up. But rest assured, they still like you as long as you keep being yourself."

Ryder sighs silently and calms down before Nyx helps him back up on his feet. "Come on, let's go, we got other classes to teach. This time, I'd like for you to tell the class what your human race did for entertainment," Nyx recommended. Ryder smiled at the suggestion and gave her a thumbs up.

The two quickly make it back into their classroom where their students are waiting patiently for their teacher. "Hello class, sorry I'm late. Had a bit of trouble with a student earlier, but everything is good now. Are you ready to learn?" she asked.

"Yes, Ms. Nyx," the class replied.

"Good. Now before we begin, I'd like to introduce you all to my good friend, Ryder," Nyx said, gesturing to Ryder, who was standing outside the door. He walked inside, then stood next to Nyx, still uncomfortable with being around new faces. "He's a little shy but very nice. He's a new breed of species known as a human. He rescued me when I was attacked by a cragadile." Ryder waves at everybody. "However, due to one of his previous encounters with a timberwolf, he can't speak… not just yet, anyway. But he'll find his voice again in due time."

"Ms. Nyx, if I may," one of the male students called out, raising his hand. Nyx looked up and saw that it was Asriel. "Does this mean we're gonna be learning about a new subject that revolves around him?"

"We are. And we’ll be learning what the human race did for entertainment. Ryder, you know the drill," Nyx said. Ryder nodded and began to make signs while Nyx translated for those who couldn't understand. “For all of you who don’t understand, since his vocal cords are damaged and in the process of healing; Ryder can only speak sign language as a form of communication. And what he said was; that the entertainment that humans had in the past were professional sports leagues and movie theaters, even other sources of entertainment like opera theaters, music performances, talent shows, and even several little games like “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. Nyx translated.

"Rock, paper, scissors? They still did that even back then?" Asriel asked, confused.

"Apparently," Nyx confirmed. Ryder continued. "Now he says; we also had these electronic devices called video game systems where you play as a character and go on multiple adventures, but not every game was the same. They ranged from different genres like First-Person Shooter, which was mostly action-based, multiplayer fighting, RPG, which is mostly based on a fantasy leveling system, then there are simulation games designed to emulate real or fictional reality; to simulate a real situation or event. They also had games where the player's decisions impact the entire game. That’s all I can remember.” After Nyx had finished translating, all the students were amazed by all the information that Ryder shared. "Any questions, class?"

And once again, Asriel was first to ask. "Did these… video games, as you put it, teach any specific lessons to people how to play them? And did the humans also make a living out of playing them?"

Ryder made hand signs. "Some of them did make a career out of playing video games and even got to have an early hands-on experience by pre-ordering them. Some of the famous gamers were once online stars on this thing called the internet. People from almost all over the world would watch them play just because they liked their content or to just find ways to beat some of the games. But, in the end, they still loved what they did. They even created this thing called Virtual Reality, which allows players to feel like they're brought into the game itself."

The whole class was astonished after hearing of such devices. Now nearly everyone in the classroom wanted to know what it was like to experience such fun activities. And not a second later, everyone was raising their hands high; asking more questions. However, none of them would get the chance when the bell rang for class to end.

"Sorry class. Maybe next time you can ask him what's on your mind. Until then, grab your stuff, and don't forget to turn in your assignments tomorrow at the start of class; and yeah, I’m talking to a few of you.”

Her students nod and leave the classroom, gathering their textbooks and heading off to their next class. As of right now, Nyx doesn’t have another class until the next period, so she decides to head on over to the teacher’s lounge.

“Well, break time. So Ryder; wanna head over to the teacher’s lounge to relax while we have the time?” Nyx asked the human next to her, with Ryder replying with a smile and a thumbs up. "Great! I've got a delicious lunch packed and I'm sure you'll love the fantastic spread." Nyx took Ryder by the hand and guided him off down the halls and soon leads him into the teacher's lounge where the two eventually meet up with most of the other staff, including Twilight and her best friends.

"Hi, Nyx, another successful day of teaching the class?" Twilight asked happily.

"Yeah. It was quite interesting. The students wouldn’t stop asking questions about Ryder's species and the things they did, aside from their barbaric nature," Nyx replied.

“Barbaric? What do you mean darling?” Rarity asked.

After she asked that question, Nyx looked over to Ryder to make sure he was far enough so he couldn’t hear them conversate quietly. And seeing that he was, Nyx then breaks to them what she had learned from Ryder in her class. Telling her mother and her friends about the years of wars and violence that humans have committed during their run in the past. And all of the horrible events and conflicts that were caused and waged by humanity. Hearing all of this dreadful history, had the girls shocked and send a shiver down their spines.

"Goodness gracious! I cannot believe humans could be so cold and cruel! This has to be the WORST… POSSIBLE… THING!" Rarity said dramatically.

"Pushing aside Rarity's dramatic reaction, she does make a point. How can humans even think about being so cruel like that? If those humans were the dominant species back then, shouldn't they have been more civilized like we are?" Rainbow asked.

"It probably doesn’t matter now, since the human race is nearly completely extinct now. But if Ah may ask, were there any good sides to them?" Applejack asked.

“Well yeah, there were many humans who have done some good, even a few who inspired others to make movements or revolutions that did not involve any violence or conflict; and several who have worked hard to preserve sacred historical lands and endangered species,” Nyx replied.

“Wow. I guess humanity does have a bright side to them after all.” Sunset responded.

“Indeed. And it’s good to know that not all humans are bad.” Twilight said.

“Well yes, but there’s something you all should know,” Nyx informed them all.

“What do you mean, Nyx?” Heat asked while being curious about what she had to say.

Everyone in the room all remained silent for a moment so Nyx could be allowed to speak.

“Ryder also mentioned some little information about his past. The colony he was once born in and lived in; was mercilessly attacked by armored soldiers, who killed all of his people. Including his sister, the only family he had left. And this all happened when he was a young child.” She explained Ryder’s tragic backstory to them all.

Everyone in the room was completely shocked and heartbroken by what they had heard, with a few of them feeling saddened to hear of how much Ryder had lost.

“That’s so dreadful.” Rarity commented.

“Poor Ryder,” Fluttershy said as tears of sadness poured from her eyes.

“Who would attack and destroy an innocent colony of a race that bears no hate or bad ill towards every kingdom in the world?” Heat asked.

"Did he get a close glimpse of these soldiers and what they looked like?" Eternal asked Nyx.

“Ryder didn’t say; he and sister were too busy escaping that they didn’t even stop to catch a glimpse,” Nyx stated.

"Damn! There has to be some way we can find out who it was that attacked them. But without any clues, we're just searching blind," Eternal said, slightly frustrated

“Maybe there is a way.” Twilight proposed before turning to Nyx. “Do you think Ryder knows where his colony is located?”

“Well, I don’t know? Maybe?” Nyx replied.

“What is it your thinking of, Twi?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, ya might as well let us in on it,” Applejack added.

“I’m thinking that if Ryder is the only one to escape his colony and knows of its whereabouts. And since he stated that the attack happened when he was a child, then that means that the place may very well be abandoned.” Twilight explained. “So I’m thinking maybe Ryder can take us there and we searched the place for any clues that may tell us what happened.”

"Dear, do you think maybe when we get there, we can search for any DNA traces of whoever attacked his colony? It's possible that during the struggle, the humans might have spilled some soldier blood," Heat implied.

“Plus, it would be a good chance to see if there are any traces of survivors. After all, Ryder escaped, so there may be a chance that some others have too.” Sunset claimed.

"If there was blood over there, it's possible it either dried out or something. But if I may ask, what good will it do to find blood traces of the soldiers?" Eternal asked.

“Well, after hearing about humanity’s dreadful history, it may be common that the humans would put up a fight with their attackers to defend themselves.” Rarity replied.

"And if we find traces of DNA from the soldiers, we can get some info on their autobiography. Who their names were, who they worked for. It's a longshot, but it's the only option we have to go on." Nyx said.

“Um, not wanting to argue about this plan; although, is it a good idea to ask Ryder to take us to his colony? The one place where his people and his family were killed? I’m not sure he’ll be up for it?

"Well, it’s worth a shot,” Twilight stated. “When the time is right, we’ll ask Ryder to take us there.”

"But we’re gonna have to wait until tomorrow for me. My daughter's been getting into trouble for picking on one of the students and that student's grandfather wants me to fix this problem," Sunset said.

“You mean Discord,” Fluttershy responded, which earned a surprised look from Sunset. “Yeah… I know. And...” Fluttershy steps closer in front of her bacon-haired friend and then her calm, cute expression instantly turned to a look that will wreck your soul and kill ya swiftly. “I’m not very happy about it either.” After that, Fluttershy then walks out of the room, still looking upset.

"Goodness gracious. The poor dear. I'd feel the same way my child was being picked on. I can't even begin to describe how horrifying it is and I should know, I've felt the same way before in past years," Rarity said.

“Rarity, would you quit it! I’m already feeling guilty as it is,” Sunset shouted

"Calm down, Sunset. Rarity didn't know you'd feel upset," Rainbow said.

“Sorry, I’m just… feeling disappointment knowing that my daughter has hurt one of my friend’s children,” Sunset replied.

"As am I, Sunset. But we'll sort this whole thing out soon and make sure she doesn't try this sort of thing again." Eternal said, comforting his wife.

Sunset looks to her husband with a smile on her face. “Thanks, honey. Glad to have you support me all the way.” She said.

“Yeah, hate to ruin the touching moment. But am I the only one thinking that if Ryder agrees to take us to his colony, we may be going into possibly uncharted territory?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, that’s the fun in going on a journey, Rainbow.” Pinkie replied

"Well, I slightly agree with Rainbow Dash. Also, we can’t all go; I mean we have other things going on in our lives, and who would be watching the school while we’re gone?” Rarity stated.

While it was just a simple question; however, it was a bold one.

“Well, then I guess only a small group of us can head over to the colony while the rest of us stay here. But the question is; Who’s willing to go?” Heat asked.

“Well, I think I should go with Ryder. After all, I’m the only one he trusts completely and I need to be there to comfort him if he does have a hard time going back to that place.” Nyx said.

“While it does seem logical, but I cannot allow you to go alone Nyx,” Twilight exclaimed.

“She won’t be alone, silly. I’m going too!” Pinkie volunteered. “If there are any survivors at the human colony, I’m gonna throw them a party!”

“I’ll come too, I need to get away from class now and then,” Rainbow said.

“I’ll tag along too. Can’t have my niece running into uncharted territory with a human male.” Eternal stated.

"What, you don't approve of Nyx seeing someone outside her species?" Heat asked.

“No, I just wanna make sure nothing funny happens,” Eternal replied. “Also since we might need some backup in case something goes wrong, so I’m thinking of calling in someone to join us on the investigation as well.”

We’ll since three of our teachers are gonna head out for a day. I’ll send word to Starlight and Trixie to cover Nyx and Pinkie’s classes while Sunset and I will cover Eternal and Rainbow’s.” Twilight said.

"Then we're all in agreement. After everyone their daily tasks are taken care of for today, we’ll begin our investigation tomorrow.” Sunset said.

After their conversation has concluded, the school bell rings for the lunch break to end and soon everyone left the room to head on to their classes for the rest of today.

Later on, after the school day had concluded, everyone had left home or castle to rest up for the evening. Meanwhile, Sunset and Eternal had more oppressing matters to deal with, concerning their daughter's violent behavior. And to take even more drastic measures, they've also invited Asriel and his family over to the castle. Everyone was currently in the living room with a tray of nice, hot tea.

The tension was crystal clear on how upset everyone was. "First off, we'd like to thank you guys for coming over. And we'd also like to express our apologies for the inconvenience our daughter has caused you," Eternal said.

"With all due respect, Eternal, how can you call THIS…" Fluttershy pauses as she lifts her son's shirt, revealing the punching bruises he got from Searing Shimmer, "...an inconvenience? Explain that to me!" she asked, infuriated.

"I have to agree with Fluttershy. I don't tolerate those who would harm my son like that, especially those who are supposed to be his friend," Israel scowls at Searing indirectly.

“Give me a reason why I should not banish her to another universe for hurting my grandson!” Discord demanded while having an actual fire in his eyes.

"Because not only is Searing going to apologize, she will also be punished for her actions, one which we all can agree on accordingly. Now, go on, Searing. Tell them what you have to say for your actions," Eternal said. Searing sighed and got up from the couch, looking directly at Asriel and his family.

"I admit it. I was wrong to hurt your son. I got so carried away with trying to make him less shy around others that… I didn't realize he was feeling so miserable. I was wrong to lay my hands on him so violently and I promise with every fiber in my being that won't happen again. Asriel… I'm sorry for what I've done. I know you're still mad at me, but I hope that over time you'll come to forgive me. And maybe we could… still be friends. If not, I don't blame you," Searing said sadly as she went over and kneeled to Asriel's eye level.

The timid teenage unicorn colt looked up, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. He hesitated at first, but quickly went in and hugged her, though his body still shook as if he was terrified. Searing could feel the fear he was radiating. She realized what she had done. She hugged him back, feeling upset with herself for driving him into this state. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," she whispered trying to fight back the urge to cry.

Even though Asriel’s parents and grandfather were upset with the mare in front of them, but just seeing the guilt-ridden expression on her face and how emotionally broken she was about what she did to Asriel.

Asriel slowly wrapped his arms around her in return. "I forgive you, Searing," he said quietly. Of course, his words of forgiveness only caused Searing to be more upset with herself; but they did give her a sense of peace. She could recognize how shaky his words were. That only meant she needed to work extra hard to earn back Asriel's, along with his family's trust.

After giving her sincerest apologies, she released Asriel and watched him being comforted by his mom and dad. "Now that that's taken care of, shall we discuss it in our room, or would you like to wait until tomorrow?" Sunset asked.

"Well… she did show how sorry she was, so we can discuss it tomorrow when you get back from your travels," Fluttershy said.

"Fair enough. We'll talk more before we head off tomorrow morning," Eternal said.

"Agreed. Thanks again," Israel replied before they shook hands.

Later, both families left the room and each went in different directions, with Fluttershy and her family leaving the castle and Sunset and Eternal heading into the kitchen to get dinner started while their daughter went up to her room. As she entered, she walked over to her bed and flopped onto the mattress as more tears came from her eyes; she had some long hours of thinking to do.

The next morning, Twilight and Sunset's family all gathered in the dining room, with Fluttershy’s family as their guests, for obvious reasons. The families just sat there in silence, eating their meals and not saying a word… except for Nyx's siblings and her cousin Sunrise.

It started when Nyx had picked up a strawberry and asked Ryder to open his mouth as she places it in his mouth for him to eat the fruit and smiles at how delicious it was.

"Heh, you know, you two look like the cutest couple ever, cuz," Sunrise pointed out.

Nyx immediately became flustered by his comment and turned to face him at the table while Ryder simply continued to eat his breakfast.

“No we don’t, we’re just good friends,” Nyx replied. “Also I’m watching over him and making sure he eats well,” she added.

“Yeah well you’re blushing says otherwise, big sis,” Blazing stated.

"Do me a favor and keep the lovey-dovey crap away from my line of sight," Burning said, turning away, unamused.

Nyx was a little hurt and confused by the attitude her brother made. And it made her question as to what is bothering him.

“Dude, why you gotta ruin the moment?” Sunrise asked.

“Sunrise, don’t try to start an argument. Especially in the morning, mister,” Sunset scolded him.

"Hey, he's the one who's acting all sour," Sunrise pointed out.

"Burning, you know if anything is bothering you, you can tell me, right?" Blazing offered.

Burning sighed. "I'm just peeved right now, that's all," Burning replied before finishing the rest of his breakfast. "You wouldn't understand." After finishing, he got up from his seat and left the kitchen to grab his stuff. "I'm getting a head-start on my homework on my way to school." After that, the others heard the main door closing.

"What's his problem?" Sunrise asked.

“I wish I knew,” Blazing replied.

"Remember the results from the test scores from last semester?" Asriel asked.

"Sure, he and Blazing got the top scores in the entire class without getting a single question wrong, why?" Eternal remembered.

"Well… I was there when I saw what happened. Blazing, you remember how your classmates kept praising you for you placing at the top?" Asriel asked.

"Sure, I remember when it was hard to breathe, too," Blazing said.

"Sadly… Burning had no one by his side, praising his hard work… except me. But he was too upset to listen to me and he just stormed off. But not before he said, "I'll make them see I'm more than just a shadow to her." Asriel said.

"Now I see. He's being overlooked, despite his incredible work. That would explain why he's always locked in his room almost every day," Heat said. "Maybe I should have a word with him as father and son."

"Why didn't he just tell me in the first place? I would've gladly given him some praise," Blazing said, worried for her younger brother.

“Me too. I constantly wondered what was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was and he always avoided me when I try to ask.” Nyx added.

"We'll try to figure that out soon, but for now, we have other matters to attend to. One of them is the proper punishment for Searing's inexcusable behavior," Sunset said, turning to her guilty daughter.

"Ooooh, you are so busted," Sunrise muttered, holding in his laugh.

"That's enough out of you, son. Unless you want to be punished with your sister," Eternal pointed out. After that, Sunrise quickly shut his mouth. "That's what I thought."

"Sorry, dad," Sunrise replied, shrinking into his seat.

'Serves you right, you carefree little troll,' Searing thought to herself.

"Now, as for Searing here, how about we have her help you guys look after the animals at the sanctuary after school for the next week?" Sunset offered.

“Well that seems reasonable,” Israel replied before turning to Fluttershy. “What do you think about that, Flutters?” he asked.

“As long as she is on her best behavior and that she promises that she won’t harm the animals. I will accept it.” She stated.

"Sounds like we've come to a compromise. Searing, you know where to go after school. I'll pick you up at around 6 for dinner. If she gets into trouble, just let me know," Eternal said.

"We will. And please be careful on your trip," Fluttershy said.

During the conversation, everyone in the dining room heard loud knocking sounds echoing through the castle. Everyone became silent after that, wondering where it came from until the knocking was heard yet again. While everyone was confused about what it was, Eternal however wasn’t.

“It sounds like somepony is at the entrance?” Nyx claimed.

“He’s here,” Eternal said.

"Who's here?" Sunrise asked, confused.

“Well, might as well let them in.” Heat said as he gets up from the table, as well as Twilight, leaving the dining room and heading straight for the entrance of the castle. He approached the front doors and opened them up, revealing a unicorn stallion who looks to be somewhere around Eternal's age, possibly older. he had orange fur and a blood-red mane, and he also had a deep scar over his left eye.

“Seriously? You send me a message to come over and it took you guys a minute to answer the door?” The stallion said with a stern face before it turned into a smile.

"Hey! It's been a while since we've seen each other. How are things going for you, buddy?" Heat asked, shaking his hand.

“Inferno, we didn’t expect you to come for a visit. I would have prepped one of the guest rooms.” Twilight said before she and Inferno exchanged hugs.

“Don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the couch in the library; it’s way more comfortable than the beds,” Inferno replied before he enters the castle.

"Nice to see you again… old friend," Eternal smirked.

Inferno looked over to see him standing by the main stairs of the castle. Inferno then had a shocked expression on his face.

“Eternal!” He said before he walked over to him, with Eternal walking towards him as well. “You son of a bitch.” Inferno added. The two stallions then grabbed each other's hand, keeping a firm grip as they shook. Their muscles tense up as they soon got into a wrestling contest.

“What’s the matter, Flames? Did Twilight and Sunset get you pushing too many pencils?” Inferno asked in a taunting way.

"Fat chance, you call that a grip?" Eternal taunted back. "I'm starting to wonder if you had any luck keeping in shape after retiring from bounty-hunting."

“Oh, I’m just peachy,” Inferno replied.

With the two at a stand-still for a least a minute, the two stallions then shared a laugh and hugged it out; ending their little competition.

“You never knew when to quit.” Inferno chuckled.

“And you never learn to stop pushing yourself to the limit,” Eternal said.

As the two grown stallions were having their buddy-buddy reunion, everyone else that was in the dining room walked right into the room. Sunset, Fluttershy, and Israel were a bit surprised to see Inferno; they didn’t expect he was coming to visit Ponyville.

"Oh my. I didn't know Inferno was tagging along," Fluttershy said in surprise.

"Neither did I. Hey, Inferno. How's life been treating you back at home? Is your mother still doing alright in Canterlot?" Israel asked.

“She’s fine. So is dad. Of course, they had a run-in with some douchey nobles, but mom got them to back off.” Inferno said. “Oh and also Twilight, mom and dad wanted to say hi and that they 100% support when you and Sunset official become the rulers of Equestria,” he added.

"That's very nice of them. Tell your parents we said thank you," Sunset replied.

Soon Nyx, Ryder, Blazing, Sunrise, and Searing walked into the room, all four of them were confused about what was going on until they got a glimpse of Inferno. While Ryder didn’t know who the stallion is; although, Nyx, Blazing, Sunrise, and Searing did. Then soon Blazing ran up to the stallion and jumped on him for a hug, staggering Inferno a bit.

“Uncle ‘Furno!” She shouted.

Soon Nyx, Sunrise, and Searing walked over and hugged Inferno as well. The stallion chuckled happily seeing them all again after so many years.

“Kids! It’s so good to see you all again.” Inferno said with a bright smile.

Soon the four of them got off of Inferno and stood in a line in front of him, with Ryder walking up behind Nyx to not be seen.

“Wow, look at you all, all grown up, the last time I saw all of you, was during that Heart’s Warming party Twilight threw here in the castle. And that was when you all were small and sitting on my lap.” Inferno said as he observed them for a while before looking at Nyx. “I’m not sure my eyes are working. But is that you, Nyx?” He asked.

Nyx chuckled a bit before answering. “Yes, it’s me Inferno.” She replied.

“No, it can’t be,” Inferno responded. “Years ago, you were the most adorable alicorn filly. Now you’re a matured, strong, beautiful mare. Where has my life gone wrong? I refuse to believe it!” he said.

"Still a comedian as always, Inferno. By the way, how's your wife doing?" Nyx asked.

“You mean as in making the Royal Guard recruits to go through every difficult training drills and harsh exams she can think of? Tempest is doing good. Hell one of her recruits aced their exams and the drills with flying colors. And you guys will not believe who it is?” Inferno said.

"Who?" everyone asked.

“Gallus,” Inferno stated. “Sooner or later, that kid will be the first non-pony Royal Guard in Equestria. That’s history in the making.”

"That's amazing! I'm so happy to hear one of my graduates is doing so well. Be sure to give Gallus my best regards," Twilight said.

“Will do. But of course, I think Silverstream will be taking him out to celebrate.” Inferno replied.

"I'm not surprised. Pretty soon, wedding bells will ring for those two," Sunset chuckled.

While this happy reunion was going, it wasn’t long until Inferno notice Ryder’s presence in the room and saw him hiding behind Nyx.

“Say Nyx. Who’s your new friend there?” He asked out of curiosity.

"This is my friend, Ryder. He's a human… probably the only one left of his kind. We're going on a little… trip outside of Equestria to do some… research," Nyx replied. “And Ryder is gonna be our guide.”

“So this is why you called me here, Eternal?” Inferno asked. “Ya needed me for back-up. I knew you couldn’t last without me.” He jokes.

"Please, I've handled myself in tighter situations. Remember the Chrysalis incident?" Eternal asked, smirking.

“You, me, Heat, Twilight, Sunset, and everyone else were trapped in cocoons and had our butts saved by Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and freaking’ Discord.” Inferno corrected.

"Not that one, the Canterlot Wedding incident! When that bitch hurt my mother," Eternal said, bringing up that other incident.

“Hey! I thought we both vowed never to speak of that.” Inferno stated. “I had to fight the urge not to punch Shining in the face for being an idiot, right after that whole debacle.”

"I remember that! I also remember when Heat slapped him across the face.” Israel replied.

“Oh yeah, that was funny.” Inferno chuckled and so did Eternal.

“And what was it he said to him after he snapped out of it? Oh yeah, "Siblings are supposed to help one another, where was your fucking brain and heart at when you made your sister cry?" Israel added.

“That bit him in the ass,” Eternal said which caused him and Inferno to laugh a little more.

"Okay, if we're done bringing up that little incident, can we please get back to the mission? We don't have much time," Heat said, blushing a bit from that incident.

“Yeah alright,” Inferno responded right as he took out a scroll from his pocket and then open it up to reveal the map of all of Equestria and sets it down on a nearby table as everyone huddled together to see it. “Okay, so we’re gonna have to know what our heading is. So Ryder, can you tell me where we’re going?” He asked, only to receive no word from the human. Since that he doesn’t know, Nyx fills him in about Ryder.

“Uh, he can’t speak, his vocal cord was damaged by a timberwolf attack.” She tells him.

“Oh. Uh, sorry, buddy.” Inferno apologized to Ryder.

“And he can only communicate through sign language.” Heat added.

“Then does anyone here translate for him?” Inferno asked.

“I do,” Nyx stated as she turns to Ryder. “Can you show us where your colony is, Ryder?” She asked.

Ryder simply shook his head and Nyx could already tell that he doesn’t want to. As if he doesn’t wanna return to go back there. Soon the alicorn takes a hold of his hand and looks directly at him as he did towards her.

“It’s okay. I understand you don’t wanna go back there. We just wanna know who was responsible for destroying your home and your people. And we can’t find out without your help.” She assured him. “And don’t worry, I’ll be by your side all the way. Okay?”

Ryder looked into Nyx's reassuring eyes and reluctantly nodded in understanding.

“Good. Now would you please tell us where to begin?” She asked him again.

This time, Ryder hesitantly agreed to do so, as he walks over to the map beside Inferno. Raising his hand and dragging it on the table and next to the map, he then extends his index finger and places it on a section on the offside of the right side of the map.

Everyone was confused as to what was Ryder pointing at, and more importantly, why didn’t he did it on the map. Of course, Inferno was the first out of all of them to figure it out.

“W-wait? Are you saying that your colony is not in Equestria… It’s beyond the west of it. Is that what you’re saying?” Inferno asked.

Ryder nodded in reply.

"I've heard rumors that most of the land beyond the map is a deserted wasteland devoid of any life," Eternal said.

“Well, I heard rumors that it’s an extensive mountain range where there are everlasting snowstorms there,” Israel replied.

“I heard other rumors of it being a massive uncharted forest region.” Heat stated.

“Look, guys, we don’t know what the hell is out there! It’s called the Undiscovered West for a reason.” Inferno responded to all three of them. “Nopony ever dared to venture there unless they wish never to be found. Also, in case you all forgotten, Princess Celestia, along with the Canterlot nobles, banned any settlement or venturing there,” he informed.

"Then I'll have to send a message to mother for the reasons why we're heading out there," Eternal said.

“Naw, fuck that, we can’t wait that long. Plus, there isn’t much border control there, so we’ll sneak in, find what we’re looking for, and get out before anypony notices,” Inferno stated.

“Well, how are we gonna get there? We can’t take a train there since there aren't any railroads into the Undiscovered West. The only way we can get there is by airship.” Nyx said.

“Well… uh… I do have a solution.” Inferno proposed.

“What, you gonna build us a railroad?” Eternal asked.

“Nooo… But I do have an airship waiting outside.” Inferno replied.

"Airship? Wait… you don't mean…?!" Twilight asked in realization.

Before Inferno could reply, the front doors of the castle entrance slams open, causing everyone to turn around and see Rainbow and Pinkie standing next to the entrance.

“Morning everyone!” Pinkie shouted while waving. “Oh and hello Inferno, I see the authors decide to include you too.” She added.

“Hey, guys! You all are never gonna believe who is in Ponyville right now!” Rainbow said excitingly.

"I think we have a pretty good guess on who showed up," Twilight replied. "But why don't we go outside and see?" The others agreed and went outside the castle to say hello to some even more familiar friends. Outside, they spot a giant airship parked outside with a few pirate birds waiting with big smiles.

“Well, look at what we have here boys, it’s the future rulers of Equestria.” Captain Celaeno said before taking a bow along with her crewmates.

“Celaeno, you don’t have to be formal towards me and Sunset,” Twilight replied.

"It's been a while since we've seen you and your crew. How goes the swashbuckling?" Eternal asked, going over to shake her hand.

“Well, we were docking at a port in Klugetown where we met Inferno here, asking us to take him here. And of course, he told us why and we agreed.” Boyle replied.

“And on the bright side, we got to see you all again.” Lix Spittle added. Squabble makes a loud squawk in agreement.

"Not to mention we don't have to worry about some stupid ape tyrant-wannabe trying to take over the world," Heat said.

“Oh yeah, ever since he’s out of the picture; we’ve been living our lives, soaring through the skies, and searching for treasure. Living a Pirate’s Life” Mullet stated.

"We're very happy for you. Maybe when we're not so busy we can all have a feast to celebrate our reunion," Twilight said.

“Well, we heard that you ponies need a ride to the Undiscovered West of Equestria. Sounds like a risky thing to do.” Celaeno said. “So what is your purpose there?” She asked.

"It's a long story, but…" Nyx replied before explaining all of the details she knows from Ryder.

The pirates were astounded and were in disbelief of all the torment and suffering that the human had gone through.

"That's pretty messed up if you ask me. If we had been there, we'd have gladly taken care of those bastards who raided this young lad's home," Mullet said, clenching his fist.

"Assuming we can find any trace of them. Officially, venturing into the Undiscovered West is strictly forbidden by order of my dear mother," Eternal said, disapprovingly. "But, unofficially, we have no other choice but to conduct an investigation."

The pirates look at each other and soon they had a silent conversion with one another before turning to the ponies in front of them.

“Well lucky for you, we aren’t under any jurisdiction of anyone. So pack your bags and climb aboard, maties.” Celaeno stated as she turns to the Mullet. “Mullet, have the crew get the ship ready to soar.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Mullet replied before turning to his crewmates. “You heard the captain. Back to work, ya miserable birds! We have a long travel ahead of us!” He shouted.

"Aye aye!" the other pirates replied, saluting before prepping the ship. In the process, Captain Celaeno guided Nyx, Eternal, Inferno, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Ryder onto the ship.

After they boarded, the airship began its departure as Eternal and Nyx’s family waved them goodbye as did they as the ship ascends into the sky and flies west towards the western border of Equestria.

After departing Ponyville, it was a long travel to the western border. During the trip, everyone had time to catch up. Rainbow and Celaneo spar with cutlasses like they did back when the Storm King invaded Equestria, Pinkie and the other pirates were having a fun conversation and telling each other jokes, Inferno and Eternal continue their arm-wrestling contest from this morning, with the two locked in a standstill.

"Not a bad grip. I see you haven't lost your touch after all these years.” Eternal said.

“You’re one to talk. I barely felt any power from that arm of yours.” Inferno replied.

"I was just giving you a handicap, Inferno. But I can step it up a notch, if you want," Eternal said.

“Well… I have been going too easy on you. Wanna make a bet.” Inferno smirked.

Then soon the two stallions were putting all their strength, and still, not one of them was budging.

As for Nyx, she and Ryder were sitting in Captain Celaneo’s quarters. Mostly because the alicorn had discovered that Ryder had now developed a fear of heights. So she took him off the ship’s deck so she could comfort him without him having to constantly look down at the ground below.

"Not used to being this high up, huh?" Nyx asked, sitting by Ryder's side.

The human shook his head in fear and curled himself up; hugging his legs as he sat.

"There, there. It's alright. You're safe here. You're nowhere near the edge of the ship. But if you want, I'll stay here right by your side until we've touched land." Nyx said reassuringly. Ryder nodded, still hugging his legs tightly. The alicorn then wraps her arms around him and embracing him so he could feel comfortable. "You feel a little better now?"

Ryder's eyes gazed up at Nyx and nodded a little, snuggling into her some more. Nyx giggled and snuggled him right back, using her wings as blankets to warm him up. Little by little, Ryder's body was settling down. Having Nyx by his side always seemed to calm his nerves.

Of course, Nyx understands that Ryder is still scared, but it wasn’t about heights; he was scared that he had to return to the place where his colony, his people, and his family were taken from him. It was a deep emotional scar that had never healed for years

"Ryder, I understand you don't want to relive the painful memories. No one does. If you'd like, you can sit out on this and let the others check the place out," Nyx said.

Ryder shook his head in reply and soon he starts giving hand signs. “They don’t know where the colony is. And I am the only survivor that knows its location. And… I don’t want you to go to that place alone.” He signed.

"Alright then. This is a big step you're taking. But I'm right beside you in the end," Nyx said, patting him on the head. “And it’s very brave of you to face your fear rather than run away from them the rest of your life."

As more time passed and with Nyx and Ryder connecting, even more, the ship finally reached its destination and touched land. But… "Hmm… are you sure this is the place?" Celaeno asked, looking around and finding nothing, but dried up land, a not-so refreshing wind breezing by, just an empty land void of any life.

"Yes, this is the place. That abandoned railroad we passed over aligns with the western border. This is the Undiscovered West.” Inferno replied.

"It's like a ghost land out here. Now I can understand why this place is forbidden. You can't even run a small town in this dead land," Eternal said.

"Even so, we should still try and find Ryder’s colony," Rainbow said.

"Ooh! If there are other humans, I'm going to throw them a "Congratulations on Surviving in the Undiscovered West" Party!" Pinkie said cheerfully.

“Ok, but we need to know where the colony is located?” Inferno asked.

After hearing him said that; Nyx turns to Ryder who looked very uncomfortable and scared to be back in this forsaken land. She wraps her hand around his and faces him, eye to eye.

“It’s okay Ryder. It’s hard to come back here. But as soon as we find your colony, we can leave this place. Okay?” She said to him. The human nodded his head in reply and then he walks up to the front of the group and he observed his surrounding. He even got down on his knees and dug his hand into the dry dirt until he took a chunk of the earth.

“Uh, what is he doing?” Eternal asked.

“I think he’s trying to become familiar with the landscape. That’s my guess.” Nyx replied.

Ryder then inspects the handful of dried dirt in his hand.

"Or maybe… he's trying to find the entrance?" Celaeno guessed.

After inspection, the human drops the dirt onto the ground, and then he turns to the group and brings his arm up to point to a mountain range about a mile away from them. Soon everyone understood what he was doing.

“He’s saying the colony is located somewhere on those mountains,” Nyx stated.

“Well, it doesn’t look far. We take the airship over there, however, we’ll have to hike up those mountains on hoof.” Inferno responded. “Hope you all brought hiking gear,” he added.

"I don't mind. I've been meaning to get in some more exercise," Eternal said.

"No sweat. I can just fly up there," Rainbow said.

"I wouldn't advise that. The temperature gets colder the higher you get, so you might end up freezing your wings off," Nyx said. "We have no choice. As soon as we reach the foot of the mountain, we gotta hike up."

Rainbow frowned and pouted after hearing that piece of information.

"I don't suppose you've all packed some warm, fuzzy snow gear, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Pinkie… I always come prepared.” Inferno stated in reply.

“Alright then ponies, climb back on the ship. We’re heading to the mountains.” Celaeno said as she walks back onto her ship. Everyone else followed her, climbing aboard before taking off once again, moving closer towards the mountains.

Finally reaching the foot of the mountains, the entire crew stepped off the ship once again. "Alright, we're here. So, Ryder, is your colony at the peak of the mountain, or is it somewhere on the base or the foot?" Celaeno asked.

Ryder gives some hand signals, with Nyx helping him translate. “He said; “None. The colony is located on the other side of the mountain. Luckily, I know a path that’ll get us on the other side the fastest”.” Nyx translated.

“On the other side of the mountain? That’s how far I need to go without flying? Great!” Rainbow complained.

"Rainbow, will you stop complaining? This isn't about what you want, it's about Ryder. So suck it up already. Besides, your wings aren't the only things that help you travel," Eternal said. "You should try power walking, it's all the rage, too."

"Ol' Hot Head is right. Give those glutes of yours a good workout, Dash," Celaeno said.

"Ugh, fine!" Rainbow pouted some more. The group then took off on the path, following Ryder to where his human colony should be located. The more they traveled, Ryder's memories started flashing before his eyes, Not the bad ones, but the happy ones. The ones where he and his sister used to play together. All the times they played board games, playing hide and seek, tag, listening to her sing… it all brought so many happy and sad tears to Ryder.

The group continued to hike up the mountain, freezing from the cold temperature of the mountain’s climate, and their muscles pushed to exhaustion until Ryder halts at a cave opening in the mountain.

“Finally! A break. My legs were killing me.” Rainbow stated as she fell flat on her ass as her leg muscles were in pain.

"Well enjoy your little break while it lasts, Rainbow. Cause we still have a long way to go.” Inferno replied.

“Why did we stop here? Cause it looks like Ryder is too attached to that cave?” Pinkie asked while pointing to the human in question.

Soon Ryder starts making some more hand signals to the ponies, while Nyx translated.

“He said that this cave will take us to the other side of the mountain. His people had dug and mined this passageway as an easy method to travel through the mountain without hiking over the top of it.” Nyx said.

"Damn! Humans sure are resourceful," Inferno commented.

“Well, at least it’ll save us hours of hiking,” Eternal claimed.

“Fine by me! Cause there is no way I’m climbing up this mountain anymore,” Rainbow stated.

"Rainbow Dash, I don't mean to be rude, but you've gone soft if you can't handle this hike," Eternal said.

“Fuck… you.” The pegasus replied.

“Let's just go already. I’m sick of you two going at it.” Nyx stated as she and Ryder enter the cave. The others follow the two inside, away from the cold, harsh weather.

As they all walked deeper into the cave, the darker it becomes. So much so that Nyx, Eternal, and Inferno had to light up their horns to provide light.

"How long did it take these humans to mine this entire cave?" Mullet asked.

Ryder made some more hand gestures while Nyx translated. "He says it might've taken them either 5 or 10 years. Without any mining machines or explosives, his people had to do it with pickaxes and sledgehammers.” She said.

"That must've been tiring. But I bet it was all worth it if they were able to accomplish something like that," Pinkie commented.

“It got us out of the cold and saved us a lot of hiking, I would gladly kiss one of them for constructing this cave.” Rainbow boldly stated.

"Assuming if they're still alive or not," Eternal said. "I'm more focused on searching for clues on the massacre when we get there."

“Hey, there’s a light at the end of the cave!” Pinkie informed them all as they all see that light at the end of the cave, signaling them that they made it to the other side of the mountain.

"No time like the present," Celaeno said. Ryder leads everyone out of the cave and reached the other side, seeing what was there.

The cave leads them to a ridge of the mountain, and down below was a lush forest region at the base of the mountain, with a forest of pine trees and a flowing river through the valley. They soon hear the sounds of a waterfall coming from the mountainside, which must be the collected rainwater from clouds above.

“Wow. This is so beautiful.” Nyx said.

“It’s enough to make a grown stallion cry…” Inferno stated while he almost shed a single tear. “But NOT this stallion! Get back in there, tear.” He said as his tear retreats into his eye.

"And I thought Pinkie defied all logic," Rainbow commented, shocked.

"Logic? What is this logic you speak of?" Pinkie asked playfully. Everyone else laughed it off, as did Pinkie Pie. Well… except Ryder. The group continued onward down the trail, following their human companion to where his colony might be.

They walked for quite some time, hiking through the forest and hearing sounds of wildlife around them. Until they soon arrived at what appears to be a concrete wall.

"I… think we found what we're looking for. Now the real challenge is finding a way inside," Celaeno said.

"Ryder, do you know where the entrance is?" Nyx asked.

The human nodded his head and soon he gestures the group to follow him as they walked along the wall until they reached an opening in the wall; which wasn’t the entrance, it looked like something tore through the wall. As everyone entered the colony, they are meant with a tragic sight. All the houses that were built in this place were destroyed, debris scattered all around, everything was burnt and turned to ash, and destruction all around; as if this place was a war zone.

"Sweet mother Celestia," Eternal said in shock. "Whoever caused all this must've been a real barbarian, that's for sure. This calls for an investigation."

Pinkie's poofy mane quickly deflated and flopped. "It's so… so… horrible!" she said, tears swelling up in her eyes.

“This place is… its… There’s nothing left intact,” Rainbow commented.

“What happened here?” Inferno asked as he walked up to a well that had water in it. “This place was perfectly hidden and easy to defend… Who attacked this place?”

Nyx stood silent for a long while as she observed the entire ruins of the former colony. She then turns to look at Ryder, only to see that he wasn’t there.

“Ryder? Ryder!” Nyx called out to the human, which got everyone’s attention.

“Nyx, what’s wrong?” Inferno asked.

“Ryder is gone! He must have run off,” Nyx replied while she felt extremely worried.

“What? Where did he go?” Rainbow asked.

"I-I don't know, I just took my eyes off him for a second and he just… disappeared!" Nyx stuttered, growing more worried.

"Everyone spread out and find him. We don't want him getting hurt," Eternal said.

“I’ll go with Nyx, can’t have her going off by herself,” Inferno stated as he followed the distressed alicorn as they searched for the missing human.

"I'll go with Celaeno and Pinkie!" Rainbow said.

"And I'll go in alone. See if I can't dig anything else up from here while I'm at it," Eternal said.

Soon after everyone split up and headed out in different directions. Inferno went with Nyx towards the right side of the colony; while Rainbow, Pinkie, and Celaeno went towards the left side of the colony. Eternal moved towards the center of the colony, trying to see if there were any clues of the disaster.

"Ryder, please be alright," Nyx muttered, looking around and trying to find her friend.

She and Inferno searched the ruins of the colony, observing the destruction and despair that it all reveals.

“What happened?” Inferno asked.

"I don't know. But whatever caused this, it wasn't a small group invasion," Nyx replied. "Who could be so cruel as to wipe out this entire fort?"

"Not sure. But we should keep looking for your friend. Maybe you can get a read on his heat signature with your magic," Inferno replied.

“Oh right, I forgot,” Nyx replied as she conjures up a heat-seeking spell. With this spell, she gave her eyes thermal vision and searched for any footprints made by Ryder. Eventually, she picks up his footprints, which barely emitted enough heat, but it was enough to track them. "I've got his heat signature. Follow me."

Inferno nodded and followed the young alicorn. She traced his footprints through the crushed debris and eventually came across one of the homes that were still standing… but it was burnt to a crisp. "Something tells me this wasn't a barbeque gone wrong," Inferno said.

“How do you know what a barbeque is like?” Nyx asked hi

“I was at the Dragonlands one time and they have great barbeques; of course, I didn’t eat the meat they cooked, just some watermelon and other fruit bowls,” Inferno stated.

"Oh, that makes sense," Nyx said. "But anyway, I'm gonna go inside and look for Ryder."

"Just be careful. No telling when this house will crumble on top of you. It’s probably unstable.” Inferno informed her.

"I can conjure up a shield to protect me and Ryder. But thanks for the warning," Nyx replied before heading inside. Nyx kept following his heat signature inside the charred building.

As she entered, she observes the insides of the burn-down house. She couldn’t make up of all the objects, sofas, or cabinets in the building; but the shape of them made it clear to her what they are. Eventually, she followed Ryder's footprints into a bedroom in the back of the house and found her friend standing next to what looked like a burnt up dresser, holding a broken picture frame… crying.

"Ryder? W-Was… was this your home?" Nyx asked. Ryder looked up at Nyx. He was unable to hold back the tears and ran up to her, hugging her tightly, sobbing uncontrollably, thought he couldn't make a sound… at least not yet.

But it was clear her hunch was right. The house they were standing in… was Ryder's home. The place he spent his childhood, and where his family was. It was hard for her to see her friend like this, but she can understand how much it hurts him to have to come back to his home in its current state… and relive the memories of his family.

Soon after, Inferno follows into the building afterward and eventually walks into the room where Nyx and Ryder were in. As he entered, he watches the young alicorn comforting the distressed human. Inferno was confused about what was going on.

“What happened?” Inferno asked out of concern.

Nyx turned her head to face Inferno. "This… This was Ryder’s home.” She replied.

Inferno’s expression turned shocked and felt a great sense of sympathy. He now understood why the human ran off; he was coming home after being away for so long. The retired mercenary let out a sigh of pity as she watches Nyx does her best to comfort the human.

Later, Inferno decided to leave the two in the room and walked back into… well, what’s left in the living room. As he stood in the empty charred room, he observed the walls of the former household; feeling a great sense of sadness to see a place that was once filled with happy memories become a place of despair and ruin.

As he was doing some observing, he soon notices a glint of something shiny in the walls. This caught his attention and had him very curious. He walks towards the wall where he saw the shine came from. As he inspects the wall, he then notices something like a shiny metal piece stuck and looks like it was chipped off or broken. Inferno takes out his dagger from his sheath and then stuck it into the cracks to try and pry whatever the object out of the wall. After a few struggles, Inferno managed to pry the object free as it fell to the floor.

The stallion puts away his dagger as he reaches down and picks up the object. After doing so, he observes it for a while, he realizes that it was a broken top piece of a blade; probably a sword. He also sees that the metal of the broken blade wasn’t rusted or worn. But as he was inspecting it, he could sense… magic aura coming from the metal.

That’s when Inferno realized what type of metal this broken blade was forged from.

“E-Equestrian Steel?” He gasped. "Nyx, Ryder, come here. You might wanna see this," he called out. Later on, the two quickly come out of the room and head over to Inferno.

"What is it?" Nyx asked.

"Here, have a look at this and see if this rings a bell," Inferno said, showing her the broken blade he found.

She gasped. "That's Equestrian Steel, one of the hardest metals. But these are forged into weapons exclusively and ONLY for the Royal Guards!”

“And the entire Equestrian Army,” Inferno added. “Nyx… I hate to say it. But… I believe this area was attacked… by Equestrians.” He hesitantly stated.

"Looks like both our hunches are correct," a male voice called out. Inferno looked back and saw Eternal at the doorway, holding another piece of Equestrian Steel in his magic aura. "I found a few of these lying around in some of the destroyed buildings as well as some dried up blood samples, most of them were human… but one of them had pony DNA."

“What?! But... that cannot be true!” Nyx responded. “No pony in Equestria would ever dare to commit this sort of violence. Right?” She said.

“I know it’s hard to understand, Nyx. But… there’s no denying it.” Inferno replied.

"I suspect there was sabotage when this massacre took place. When we get back home, I'll have Sunset and Twilight go over the evidence and we'll trace the blood to one of the guards who attacked this place," Eternal explained.

"What if that blood leads to some random guard and not the one behind the attack?" Inferno asked, having his doubts.

"As I said, it'll lead us to one of the Royal Guards. He or she could tell us who the commanding officer was that ordered the attack," Eternal said.

“Well, how do we know that this blood sample comes from a dead pony?” Inferno counterclaimed.

"Hmm… fair point. Blast it-- wait. Of course! Even if he is dead, we can trace his records back at Canterlot, he may even have comrades who made it out of there alive, possibly even family," Eternal said in realization.

“So we find out this pony’s profile and trace it to either his platoon or anyone else that knew him, we might have at least a few evidence on who else was involved,” Inferno responded.

"Exactly! Quick, let's regroup with the others and tell them about what we just found. Then we'll head back into town." Eternal said.

"Right," Nyx said before turning to Ryder. "Looks like there might be a chance to get justice for your colony.

Ryder didn’t reply or make any other expression. And soon he walks off towards the stairwells and carefully walked up to the second floor of the house. Leaving the 3 Equestrians in the living room.

Nyx felt even more sympathy for Ryder as she turns to face Eternal.

“Give him some time, he’s… coping.” She stated.

“This was his home,” Inferno informed his old pal.

"I see… I can understand his behavior. I'll be waiting outside when you and Ryder are ready.” Eternal replied as he walks out the door.

“I’ll do the same. Nyx, you best wait in here with Ryder.” Inferno stated.

“I will,” She replied.

“Good girl,” the retired merc responded as he follows Eternal out the door.

After the two had left the house, Nyx waits patiently by the staircase; giving Ryder the time he needed to recollect himself.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Ryder follows the hallway on the second floor as he reaches for his parent’s room at the end of it. Once he reached the door, he opens it and enters the room.

Just like the rest of the house, the room was incinerated. Nothing but ashes, charcoal, and a few dust bunnies. All that was in it was a charred bed and dresser. On top of the dresser, there used to be pictures of him and his older sister, but it looked like the pictures there didn't survive the fire either. The only picture that did survive is the one Ryder's holding in his hand… the only picture of him, his sister, and his parents together. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Ryder, having no family to come home to.

He felt conflicting emotions in his mind, giving him a headache. He felt loneliness, sadness, and a sense of loss. Although on the other end, he felt broken, enraged, and near close to going completely insane.

All this injustice that was done to him has to be corrected. And if he has to… he'll probably have to resort to taking one’s life, just like whoever was responsible for this took his sister’s.

As soon as he recollected himself, Ryder then turns his head to a tall wooden cabinet in the corner of his parent’s bedroom. It also had a lock on it, which was damaged as if it was forced wide open. Ryder walks closer to the cabinet and opens it wider to reveal something that had him experience flashbacks. Inside the cabinet, was a shotgun; a Winchester Model 1912 to be exact; although, the memory flashbacks that the weapon gave him weren’t violent or cruel.

For it was his father’s gun. And he remembers him seeing his father carry this weapon with him when he took him hunting years back. Of course, they didn’t found anything to hunt but they enjoyed walking into the woods together; taking it as a father-son moment.

Those moments always brought a smile to his face since it gave him plenty of time to bond with his father. A moment that was so long ago. And his sister was the only family he had left… And that was taken from him.

Soon a serious and emotionless expression appeared on Ryder’s face as he reaches for the gun with his right hand, and with the strap attached to the gun, places it over his shoulder. Then searches the cabinet with his left hand and finds two boxes filled with 25 shotgun shells each. He soon takes off his backpack and zips it open, grabs both boxes and places them inside, closes it up, and puts it back on. He checks the cabinet once more to see what else was inside and then he walks towards the door of the room to leave. But not before glancing back into the room one more time and then walks into the hallway.

Waiting patiently downstairs, Nyx hears Ryder coming down the stairs which had her walk right next to the staircase to see the human walking slowly down the steps. "Did you see everything you need-- wait, what's that thing hoisted on your back?" Nyx asked, noticing the gun he's carrying on him.

Strangely enough, Ryder didn’t reply after she asked that and then proceeds to walk past her and towards the front door. This new behavior had Nyx confused and more worried about her human friend.

"Ryder, is there something you're not telling me?" Nyx asked.

Later, after thinking that she’ll have to ask him when they get back to Ponyville, Nyx follows Ryder out of the house where they meet up with Eternal and Inferno, who were both waiting outside for them.

As soon as the two stallions stare at the young alicorn and human, Ryder’s gun immediately caught Inferno’s eyes.

"Something on your mind?" Eternal asked.

“I have no idea what he has there, strapped to his shoulders… But for some strange reason, I feel like I want it?” Inferno whispered to him in reply.

"Hmm… I wonder what that object is. I've never seen anything like it before," Eternal added. "Could it be a weapon of some sort?"

“I think it’s best not to ask,” Inferno responded.

"Whatever it is, Ryder doesn't seem like he wants us to know. Maybe it's best to respect his wishes… even though that thing is raising a lot of red flags in my head," Nyx said.

“Well, we pretty much found the evidence we’re looking for, might as well head back,” Inferno stated before he starts to realize something. “Hey, what do you think Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are doing on their part?” He asked.

"Uh… just follow the tear-gushing geyser over there," Eternal said pointing to said geyser a few yards away from where they were, followed by distant wailing.

“Yep, that’ll do it,” Inferno responded.

Soon after, the four walked over to where the geyser was located, and as they arrived, they were met with a crying Pinkie with Rainbow and Celaneo standing beside her trying to calm her down as best as they could.

"Let me guess, Pinkie Pie didn’t find anyone to throw a party for?" Inferno asked.

"No, it's not that. Take a look over there," Celaeno said, pointing in front of the guys. In the short distance, they noticed a bunch of these spears wedged into the ground. And on each of the spears were what looked like human skulls. The top of their heads embedded form below and put on display like a bunch of sick, twisted trophies.

"T-This is… atrocious!" Eternal said, clenching his fists. "Now I want to arrest whoever did this to these humans.

Nyx was truly horrified by this brutal display, so much so that she embraced Ryder in a hug for comfort which had the human surprised but wasn’t protesting and comforted her. Their embrace catches Inferno’s eyes and in his mind, he proclaimed; “I ship it.”

"Hey, guys. You might want to check something else out. We found something… odd on one of these skulls. Maybe you can tell us what it means," Rainbow said before escorting everyone towards one of the skulls. Upon further inspection, the group found this strange symbol carved on one of the skulls. It looked like a small, bold x inside of a larger X.

“What kind of sick joke is this?” Celaeno asked out of disgust seeing this display.

"Either it's that, or some kind of mark left behind by one of the guards during the attack here. I'm not sure who, but we can only hope the "artist" who made this isn't dead. Nyx, do you think you can use your thoughtography ability to get a picture of this?" Eternal asked.

“I don’t know. I have never seen any symbol like this. It’s not even the symbol of the Royal Guard or found in any of the books back at the castle library.” Nyx replied, doubting that this ‘symbol’ would give any clues.

“Of course it won’t, it’s just an X inside another X; it doesn’t mean a thing. Also, who would be dumb enough to leave their mark on a crime scene? Trust me, I have done things like this towards bad ponies and other corrupted scumbags, but I would not leave any mention of myself behind.” Inferno stated.

“Perhaps whoever did this, did it out of pride in their kill,” Celaeno exclaimed.

"Which gives us all the more reason to record this thing. Come on, Nyx. You're the only one who's got the best thoughtography in this entire group." Eternal said.

“Well I have a much better idea,” Nyx responded as he reaches into his back and pulls out a blank piece of paper and black chalk. Hesitantly, she approaches the marked skull and then places the paper on it and starts to etch onto the paper and as she did, the symbol on the skull is then scribbled onto the paper, making an identical copy of it. After getting the symbol, she then folds up the sketch and places it in her satchel.

"Hey! Good idea! Tracing the symbol will make it much easier when we bring it back home! Good thinking, Nyx!" Rainbow praised. "You practically take after your egghead mom."

"Well, when you spend most of your time studying and preparing for countless journeys, you tend to pick up her habits. Lucky for you, she's not here to hear you call her "egghead”.” the young alicorn replied.

“Ok now that you got that taken care of, can we leave this forsaken place, please?!” Celaeno asked impatiently.

"Take me away from all this! It's too SAAAAAAD!!!" Pinkie wailed, gushing out more tears.

"Alright. We've found all we can from this ransacked cemetery. Let's head on back to the ship and off to Equestria," Eternal nodded. After their investigation was complete, the group headed for the exit of the fort. One by one each of them walked through the broken hole in the wall. But just before Ryder could set foot out of his home.

"Ryder…" a voice echoed behind him. He turned around, but nothing was there. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Despite his confusion, he turned back and caught up with the rest of the group, leaving his torn-up home behind… probably for the last time.

It took them hours to walk back to the ship, having to cross back through the secret passage and hiking back down the mountainside. Sooner than later, they eventually made it back to the airship and they all silently climbed aboard the ship, especially after everything they had seen. Ryder was the last one to board, and as he was about to, he soon felt a warm presence rush past him which had him jumped and looking around to see what it was.

After seeing that there was nothing, Ryder then proceeds to climb aboard the airship. Once he did, the ship then takes off from the ground and then ascends into the air. Leaving the Undiscovered West and making its way back to Equestria.