I could feel my body tense up as I awoke to the sound of something walking around in the same room as me. I immediately reached for my rifle, grabbing it and aiming at whatever it was that was in my house, only to realize that I had brought in that pony from the day before. It stared back at me as I aimed the rifle, the look on its face confused, yet still scared. I gave a loud sigh, setting my rifle back against the end table, and shaking my head.

"Sorry." I apologized. "I forgot you were here."

It didn't respond to my words, only returning back to the far corner from me, where the blanket I had given it laid. It seems it used that as its little sleeping spot. It laid there, staring at me, a curious yet cautious look on its face. With my lights back on, I could finally get a good look at what it looked like.

It was purple, as mentioned before. It's hair was a dark blue, with a magenta streak going through it, same with its tail. The most peculiar thing, other than the color, was its horn and wings. I've seen plenty of strange creatures since I landed here, but this would have to take the cake for being the most interesting looking creature I've encountered so far. It did look feminine, atleast from my understanding, so I assume it's a female.

She stared back at me, as if describing me in her own head, as I did to her in mine.

I didn't really know what to do. I mean, should I talk to it? That seemed like the logical thing to do, as it could understand me, but what the hell do I talk to it about? What do I ask? What do I say? I mean, how the fuck do you even begin talking to a purple pony that's capable of actual intelligent thought, and can speak back?

My thoughts were interrupted as I could feel my stomach grumble. Well, I suppose I could start simple.

"Are you.. uhh, hungry?" I asked, standing up slowly as to not frighten her. She nodded her head lightly, her hesitation from yesterday still there but not as obvious. I nodded to her and began to move through the kitchen and to the freezer. I grabbed two little packages of meat, along with a small package of potatoes. Cooked meat with some potato slices seemed easy enough. I made my way back into the kitchen, heating up the cooking stove and putting both packages of meat onto the pan. While it began to brown, I turned my attention to the potato.

I set it on a small cutting board and began to skin it with my knife. I did it slowly, as I used to do it fast and I would often get cut. I don't think getting blood in the food of a guest would be a good way to introduce myself, even if its an.. animal. Once I got the skin cut, I began to cut it into slices, and once I was done I let it sit on the cutting board. I turned my attention over to the meat, which was browning. I used a wooden spoon to cut it into manageable pieces.

You know, I used to have an electric stove my first year here. I managed to get it all set up and ready to go but the damn thing took too long to get hot. I'm an impatient bastard, so I opted for a traditional stove, fueled by wood. It heated up much faster, and didn't take so long to cook. On the RIm, time is of the essence.

As the meat was browned decently, I put the slices of potato in. I'm not a chef, but if it was edible I was fine with it. Even if it tastes like trash, a little bit of salt and pepper made sure to cover it up a little. I'd also rather have my food burnt than underdone. Food poisoning is not fun.

I assume the smell, or the sound of sizzling meat had caught her attention, because she walked right up to the entrance of the kitchen and sat there, eyeing me the entire rest of the way. She didn't look exactly.. happy. Though, most people here don't look happy to begin with, so who knows. I made sure that the potato's were decently cooked, and the meat was good to go before pouring half onto a tray, and the rest onto another tray.

Food was ready to be served.

I picked both trays up and headed for the main room. As I stepped closer, she seeped all the way back over to her corner. I laid the tray in front of her before walking over to my own little table and taking a seat, digging into the meat and potato's eagerly. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were my favorite times of the day usually, as they gave me time to think, and that's exactly what I did.

Why wasn't I freaking out about this? I mean, sure, I've seen some crazy things here on the planet but, nothing like this. I feel like I should be freaking out and kicking the thing out of my house, but I just.. didn't. I was confused with my own actions, but I didn't dwell on it.

I glanced over at her and, she hadn't even touched the meat. She ate up the potatoes, but the meat was just sitting there. She eye'd the meat with a look of slight disgust, and intrigue. It was like if she was debating whether or not she should try it, having a moral debate. Perhaps she was vegetarian? I had never really thought about that..

However, she bent her head down and closed her eyes tightly, taking in the tiniest bit of meat into her mouth. She seemed scared, but not even a second later, her eyes opened wide in shock. She stared at the meat, her mouth open. A second later and she was happily eating the meat up, devouring it pretty damn quickly. I was a little proud of myself in that moment, oddly enough. I guess I cooked it decently enough that she liked it.

Way to go, Rex.

After she was done, she wiped her mouth and looked over at me, noticing that I was staring at her nearly that entire time. She seemed to shrink as she met my gaze, and gave a light giggle.

"S..Sorry.."

There it goes again. I think that's the third word it's actually spoken so far, and two of those words were sorry.

"Sorry for what?" I asked.

She gave a light cough before pointing at the tray. "I-I.."

Ah, I get it now. She was sorry for acting, what, unladylike or something? Did she think she offended me with how fast she ate? I waved a hand at her, stopping her from trying to continue talking. "Don't be sorry for something like that. We all gotta' eat." I flashed a smile at her before standing up, my tray in my hand. I walked over to her and picked her own tray up, and disappeared into the kitchen.

I set the two trays in the sink, cleaning them off with as little water as I could get away with. With the trays sufficiently cleaned, I set them on top of the others, and walked back into the main room. I headed right over to my bed, and took a seat, lifting my leg up and setting it across the other. I guess I should start talking to her now, understand a little bit about her. That's what normal people do, right?

"So.." I started. "What exactly.. are you? I've never seen something like you before, and definitely have never seen something like you talk."

She tilted her head in question. "I'm.. a pony. You don't.. know about ponies?" She questioned.

I shrugged. "I know about 'em. I just never seen something like you. Y'know, the wings, horn, and the purple."

She didn't answer back, simply staring at me once again. She did that a lot, though I couldn't blame her. I stared at her quite a lot too. Call it payback, I suppose. "You got a name?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

She nodded. "Twilight Sparkle."

What in the.. Twilight Sparkle? Really? I mean, the name oddly fits her, but still, it's one hell of a creative name. Atleast her last name wasn't named after a fucking plant. "I'm Rex. I'm sorry if I'm a little.. confused, or odd, i'm just not used to having company. And, especially, that of a talking pony."

"Do ponies here not.. talk?"

I shook my head. "If they can, they obviously never have."

"..oh."

...

God, that silence really likes to take the room hostage, doesn't it? "So.. How'd you end up on my front lawn?" I asked with a light chuckle, trying to get rid of the awkward silence and tension. It seemed to work, as Twilight gave her own little chuckle, though it seemed one of nervousness.

"I uh.. Don't know. I tried to do a long-range teleportation spell and ended up here.."

"You tried to do what?" I asked. A long-range teleportation spell? First off, teleportation is impossible as far as I know, and second, spells? This isn't some medieval fairy-tale where magic and potions and shit like that exists. That's all fake.. Right?

"A long-range teleportation spell. I guess I messed it up and.. ended up here. Where exactly.. am I?"

I gave a light laugh. "I'd love to know that too. I couldn't tell you what the world here is really called. I crash-landed her around.. two years ago? Yeah, two years ago. Most people on the planet simply refer to the world as a Rimworld, or the Rim."

"You.. crash landed here?"

"Yep." I replied. "I worked as a bartender on a trade-ship, and next thing I know red lights start flashing around everywhere and I get shoved into an escape pod and flushed out into space. Minutes later, i'm on this shithole of a planet." I tried to sum up the events, as I didn't like to dwell on it. Each time I think about what I had on that ship, and what my life used to be like, I just feel hurt. I went from being a bartender with a decent living, to a man with a rifle, fighting to survive. Quite the change, huh?

She looked like she wanted to question me further on the matter, but didn't. Instead, she frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. I guess we are both stranded."

"You sayin' you aren't from this world?"

She nodded. "I guess the teleportation spell wasn't exactly just long range.."

Ah, well this is great. I got to meet a pony-alien thing. "So.. You believe in magic, or something?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

I shrugged. "No reason, just that magic doesn't exist."

There was a long pause as her mouth hung open, trying to process exactly what I just said. She looked like she was slightly offended at my words. Maybe I insulted her belief? I didn't really mean to, but it's just fact, magic does not exist. Anyone who would think otherwise is a little crazy.

Though, all of my thoughts came crashing down as she lifted the blanket with a purple aura, flashing me a smirk. "So, how would you explain this?"

I swear, i'm actually going insane. Perhaps this is all just some fever dream that i'm living in while I bleed out. I didn't know how to respond, seeing as the blanket was basically floating in air without the help of anything except that weird purple glow emanating off it. It had to have been some sort of technology, right? I mean, magic doesn't exist.. How could it exist?

"How.. are you doing that?" I asked slowly, still trying to comprehend what was going on in front of me.

"I'm an alicorn.. I have a horn, see?" Twilight tapped her horn with her hoof, giving me a little smile. She seemed to be enjoying my stunned reaction.

"That.. doesn't explain anything to me."

She let the blanket fall to the floor, grabbing it with her hoof and spreading it out onto the floor. "If you say magic does not exist, it most likely doesn't. Atleast, on this world. It very much does on mine." I still stared at her, stunned. I was going to try to offer a counter argument, but I couldn't find anything to say that would counter it. If it was technology, what would it be? And how would I be able to prove that it was tech? Could tech even do that?

I shook my head, trying to keep calm. "Well.. If you teleported here with magic, why don't you just.. use it to teleport back?"

She shook her head. "I tried when you.. found me. Each time I did, my magic would fizzle out and it would emit a big purple wave."

Ah, so that's what that was.

"You don't have any magic that could help you get back home, or somethin'?"

She shook her head. "Every spell I tried didn't work. I even did a scanning spell, which would give me my location, but all it came back with was nothing. So, I assumed I was no longer on Equus."

"And you aren't freaking out?"

She gave a slight frown. "I.. was. Especially when I saw you. You're kind of.. uh.. Intimidating."

"Doubtful." I replied.

"However," She continued. "I know that once they notice i'm missing, they'll definitely send somepony out to come get me. That's why i'm much more calm!"

I couldn't tell if she was lying, but it sure sounded like a lie. I could understand how she felt though. I went through the same stages when I landed here. I freaked out for a little bit, and then came up with the great idea that 'somebody will come get me or send a rescue ship to help me.' Two years later, still no ship. That hopeful dream died a long while ago. When she mentioned that same exact phrase, I could hear that she wasn't believing her own words.

I know she doesn't know a lot about the world, but the coincidence of meeting me instead of some crazy tribals is pretty crazy. Not saying that i'm better than everyone else, just the fact that there are so many people that would skin her and eat her without a second thought. Yet, she came into contact with me. If I had someone to stay with for my first few nights, I would've been better off way earlier in my stay here on the Rim.

Yet, I was all alone. I had to rely on me, myself, and I. It definitely came with its fair share of troubles.

Also, what did I have planned for today? I don't recall planning anything for today, atleast nothing of importance. It was snowing like hell outside, and it's not like I had business being out there. I suppose I could get to cleaning out storage. Or, alternatively, I could simply talk with this somewhat adorable purple pony alien in my house. I mean, as much as I wouldn't admit out loud that I was enjoying the company of her already, I definitely was.

So, that's what I decided to do. To spend the entire day talking to this pony. I'll call it a day off.

I've got to be honest.. I'm excited.

Author's Note

Hey! Let me know on my pacing on this one, i'm not so sure of it.

I hope you guys like this chapter. I was originally going to have Twilight stay silent for the most part for a couple of chapters, but I felt like that would've felt odd. I hope this didn't come off as rushed.

Rex is supposed to be seen as a relax individual, taking things as they come, and instead of dwelling on anything that would cause him stress, he would rather ignore it or go along with it.

If you liked this chapter and want to show your appreciation, or have any criticism, be sure to comment down below. I usually respond, and even if I don't, I always read them. Promise!