"Well, here's to hoping this trip goes well. Be sure to alert the princesses if something happens." Twilight stated. The unicorn was completely decked out in some kind of special explorer's uniform and also hauling a fair bit of gear on her back as she trotted towards the front door, with Spike following as well.

"Don't worry, if anything happens they'll be the first to know. Besides, like I told ya, today is my day to just relax. If anything happens, I'm sure Zecora and Gebo can take care of it, heck I'm pretty sure Mac and Lyra could also put up a fair fight with or without the aide or assistance of my alien forms. You go on and explore, I'm gonna take a nap." Leon reassured. He walked over to the living room and fell face first onto the sofa, immediately collapsing into a snoring heap.

Twilight opens the door and the two leave while Leon is out like a light.

Thirteen Hours Later...

Leon is currently pouring himself a cup of whatever kind of coffee he brewed and decides to try and brush up on the cultures of other species, just in case he has a run-in with a few of them before things get real crazy.

"Let's see... 'Anthropology', 'Mammalius-Avianus for Dummies', 'Minotaurs and Myths', and not a single thing about dragons, why am I not surprised. I wonder if she's got anything on like actual myths and legends, like a--" Leon was then cut off by the sound of a few knocks at the door. "Door's unlocked, come in or buzz off, I don't really care." Leon said aloud, still browsing the various books as he sipped on his coffee, his face scrunching up in dissatisfaction.

"Ech! Whoever drinks this black, more respect to them, but good lord this is bitter. Sucking a Lemon dry would feel less awkward." Leon remarked. He turned around to set the coffee cup on a nearby table, only to then scream and lob the cup of coffee at what had made him react in such a manner.

Before the cup or the liquid inside it could spill anywhere, both the cup and the liquid were stopped in a blue aura, made by a rather unhappy princess of the night who set the cup down and lowered the liquid back into its container. "Good afternoon to you as well, Leon Derrickson. Tell me, do you know where Twilight is at the moment? Every time I send a scroll to her, she constantly replies back to me that things are okay, sometimes before I can even reply back to the last scroll." Luna asked.

"She said she was going on a trip, and if anything happened, I should tell you and your pretentious sister about what's going down. I don't actually know where she went, but she looked like she was dressed up to go explore some kind of jungle or a really grassy savannah. Besides, I'm sure she's fine." Leon stated, walking back to the bookshelf as he continued looking through the plethora of books to read.

Luna stepped forward and looked at the human as if something seemed different. "You are not worried that she may be in danger? What about what happened earlier with that flaming creature--"

"Igneus. His name is Igneus, he's just as alive as you or I are. Call him by his name, or you're no better than Celestia." Leon corrected.

"What about what happened earlier with Igneus, he almost tried to burn Canterlot to the ground just to get his hands on the Omnitrix. You're not worried that he will come back, hopes renewed that he will be stronger, strong enough to take the Omnitrix by force?" Luna asked.

"What is it with some of you ponies being Xenophobes, that's what I'd like to know; This is getting ridiculous. It was interesting at first, but now it's just pissing me off and no one's telling me why. There were humans in this world long before my superpowered ass showed up, did none of the humans want peace and harmony for all walks of life or something?" Leon rebutted.

Luna was shocked, at first, to hear such a question, but the more the silence of the room began to fill the space between them, Luna was all the more concerned about something she was keeping to herself, and Leon could tell from a mile away.

"You don't freak out when Spike's around, and he's a dragon. A baby dragon mind you, but a dragon nonetheless. Hell, a fully grown dragon, that is my friend, that I brought to the castle during that Blueblood fiasco, helped you with making Blueblood come clean to his crimes, and no one was freaking out then, no one batted an eye that he could talk or even use spells. Hell, most of Ponyville has almost gotten used to seeing me in the open, seeing me become one of my eleven transformations. What is it with you ponies assuming that everything that isn't your race is out to get you? All it took was understanding and talking to get Igneus to just back off for a moment and rethink his choices. Friendship and acceptance isn't a pony-exclusive thing, but Celestia and Blueblood seems to think otherwise." Leon explained.

Luna couldn't argue with Leon's evidence and the logic that supported it. Luna took a deep breath and sat down on one end of the table. "Be seated, Leon... Let me regale you of my time working with the humans of our world." Luna stated.

'Well this was unexpected. But hey, today is my off day, it's not like I actually need to do anything at this given moment or anything.' Leon thought. He walked over and sat down.

"Pray tell, do you usually take milk and sugar with your coffee?" Luna asked.

"Eeyup." Leon confirmed. Luna used her magic to summon a carton of milk and a small serving bowl full of sugar cubes. Leon put 5 of those cubes in the coffee and a bit of milk as he mentally prepared himself for Luna to tell him the story. He was always curious what happened to the ones that were here before him, but it's not like anyone besides Lyra would be willing to assist him in figuring something out.

"Let it be known that during the uniting of the pony tribes. Earth, Pegasi, and Unicorns, there was also a more advanced tribe that had settled in not too far from where the first all-pony settlement was established. This tribe was known as the Homosapien tribe, but they were affectionately called humans by our forefathers. They had a lot of advanced intricate systems already set up, and it would've been certain doom for all three pony tribes if a war was started with them, so we made many efforts to make them our allies, and in return, we learned from each other's customs and soon found ourselves in a turning point," Luna started.

She summoned a cup of her own and poured herself a cup of coffee as she cleared her throat. Leon listened carefully, already encapsulated by the idea that humans were already advanced. "They shared many things with us. Resources, knowledge, even aide from serious destructive forces of nature. It was around this time that the humans had helped us better understand friendship down to its fundamental levels, and in-turn, it helped us realize that enough friendship from the 3 pony tribes can allow anypony to ascend to the status of an Alicorn, and it's how we decided that a Triarchy would've been fit. Two representatives for Pony kind and one representative for humankind." Luna explained.

"Wait, so there were two Pony Princesses, and a Human Prince/Princess working together to govern over a still-developing country? That's... actually pretty frickin' sweet, human representation by one of their peers. The two ponies, I can take an obvious guess on who they were, your highness," Leon remarked with a smile. Luna nodded and continued to sip her coffee. "Continue, please, I'm intrigued. Who was this human representative anyway?"

"A man named Marcus Wayne III. From what he had told to me, he and the humans were but mere children when they came to these lands before ponies came along. Each faction of their human society had a faction, each one pertaining to a specific alias they took on. If it were possible to go back in time and show you, maybe you could help me make sense of what these factions represented. It'll be a bit difficult to part ways with some of Marcus' old equipment for a moment or two, but it could prove to be useful." Luna offered.

"Flattering, but I'm not the analytical type. Lyra might be able to help you, though. She's a huge fan of Anthropology and anything related to humans, so she'd practically be honored to help one of the princesses with such a task. But please, continue with the story, Luna." Leon stated.

"One day, on the longest day of our 30th year of ruling as a Triarchy, Marcus came to fulfill his royal duties... but he seemed to carry a weight of regret and pain on his back as he came in. Celestia thought nothing of it, but I knew better. Marcus warned us that his people wouldn't listen to reason on a simple solution, and decided to declare war on Canterlot. He couldn't sit on his throne and call himself a prince anymore if he has to rule over an unruly species such as his. He abandoned Canterlot when ponies needed him the most, and the day the humans attacked, Celestia had wiped them out with a single spell." Luna explained.

Silence filled the room. Leon couldn't begin to fathom what this world would've been like if he showed up earlier. Probably would've been enlisted as a soldier, or be used as a weapon of mass destruction...

"That's a very grim story, your highness, but I do appreciate you telling me this. It actually makes me feel a bit better that I didn't show up earlier in this world's timeframe... who knows what they would've done when they heard aliens exist." Leon shuddered. "Whatever happened to Marcus anyway?"

"I couldn't tell you, we couldn't find him, but sources say he retreated to the coldest peak of the tallest mountains outside of Equestria... no pony and no man was brave enough to track him down, and weeks after Celestia murdered those humans and wiped them out, I was improperly banished to the moon, along with the restless soul of my general, Erebus. Maybe one of these days, things will be different." Luna hoped.

Leon got up and pat Luna's back, sipping his coffee as he thought on a lot of things. "Well, I don't know when Twilight said she'd be back, but hopefully it'll be soon, it's 7:15 in the evening, and they still aren't back. I could've been resting easy, but I may actually have to go out and find them... whoopie." Leon said mildly irritated.

As he said this, however, the door opens up. Twilight's gear is shredded and torn up, Spike is covered in vines, and Applejack is right behind them, drenched in some kind of purple slop. "Oh god, you guys look horrible. What happened to you?" Leon asked.

"Where do I begin..." Twilight remarked, sitting down at the table as she put her head down and immediately fell asleep. Spike just walked upstairs, probably to wash himself off of whatever events transpired today.

Applejack sat down as well, clearing her throat. "Ah think I'll be tha one to tell this story, since Twilight's all plum tuckered out. Hope you two don't have anything goin' on later this evenin', this may just take all night." Applejack said tiredly as she yawned. "Got any coffee? Ahm so tired..."

Leon brought a cup and poured coffee into it as the pony began to gulp it down. Applejack took a deep breath, and let the caffeine slowly do its thing as she recalled the events.

"Many thanks, partner, now, it started off with Twilight comin' over to ask me if I wanted to help her with a pet project..." Applejack started.

Thirteen Hours Ago that day...

Earlier that very day, Applejack had been trying to once again push herself during a morning of exercises, hoping she can keep herself in shape and not get punctured in the flank the next time something truly insane comes around and starts causing havoc. "Ok, just gotta keep at a steady pace, and if I feel like I'm goin' too slow, I'll just go a bit faster." Applejack told herself.

Applejack was about to make another attempt at a full sprint, until she saw Twilight and Spike coming her way. 'Well that didn't last long.' Applejack thought to herself.

"Hey Applejack, heard around town that you're doing exercises. Figured the only exercise you had was from working on the farm, but I know what happens when you assume." Twilight remarked. Applejack just smiled as she stretched her legs out, trying to limber up so she doesn't pull anything out of place. "How have you been feeling, by the way?"

"I've been fine, sugarcube, though my hindlegs are still sorer than a tenderized steak, I can work and move through the pain just fine. Where are you and Spike goin' dressed like that?" Applejack asked, looking at Twilight's strange outfit, and the odd gem she had given to Leon the other day. "And apparently our alien friend let you keep that strange gem, I see?"

Twilight nodded and adjusted the gem a bit as she started to touch the air in front of her face as she looked through the menu. "Yeah, it's essentially a magical gem from another world, it's called a 'Magicite' according to Leon and his dragon friend. I've never felt so excited to learn more about magic in a long time, so many new spells that I haven't heard of; So simple and yet so complex, it's perfect for me!" Twilight stated with a cheery grin on her face.

"She's also planning to go into the Everfree Forest to test these spells on the monsters that live in it. I swear, hence the outfit, it's like she's just discovered that RPGs existed, and not tabletop games like O&O, I mean an actual video game. But hey, at least she's having fun, I'm tagging along so I can provide as support. In battle and just moral support." Spike added.

Applejack couldn't understand a lick of what they were talking about, but all she could understand was that Twilight and Spike were going into the Everfree Forest on their own. This set alarms off in the farm pony's mind, and she just couldn't risk anything happening, if they did get in over their heads, or if they were outnumbered. The farm pony also thought of another idea that could benefit her. Joining them on this trek could also help her push herself more.

"Say, you two wouldn' mind if ah tagged along, would ya? Safety in numbers, right?" Applejack asked. The smile on Twilight's face couldn't have gotten any wider, the mare hugged the farm pony as the three then headed off towards the Everfree Forest, all the while a stallion obscured in a robe followed behind them, a sinister smile forming on his face.

Applejack, Twilight and Spike walked carefully into the forest, making sure they were as quiet as they could be. The trees loomed over the trio as the winds seemed to slightly blow on by in an oddly calming breeze.

"It's quiet... too quiet, if you ask me." Spike said skeptically.

"Gotta agree with Spike on that, Twilight. The Everfree is never this calm, let alone quiet. Call it a hunch, but I think somethin' might be off." Applejack said worriedly.

Twilight seemed to just be in her own mind, staring at the open menu as she tried to figure out the menu a bit more. She was aware of her friends' concerns, but she was determined to see this through. Spike smelled the air, and while he couldn't pick up on the smell of any timberwolves, he did pick up on an overwhelmingly strong scent.

Divine, strong, potent, and pleasant, and it came from the Magicite that hung around his caretaker's neck. Spike felt a bit woozy, yet the smell was just so alluring. He didn't notice that Twilight and Applejack had stopped in their tracks, facing off against three black venus fly-trap vine things.

"Ok, I think we have a fair advantage in this fight. Applejack, you take the one on the far right, Spike you go for-- Spike?" Twilight looked at the little dragon, seeing that he was completely incapacitated by a sensory overload. "Oookay, I guess I'm getting the other two."

Applejack runs forward and rears her hindlegs up for a buck, knocking one of the venus fly-vines away as Twilight focused on using her new spells. She charged up a fire spell, launching it towards the two venus fly-vines, knocking them back and slowly charring them to a burnt husk; Applejack has been fending that one vine thing off pretty well and watched as it scurried off, fleeing from the fight.

"Now that's how we do back on tha farm. That was rather abrupt, but hoo-wee I could actually go for another scrap." Applejack remarked with a confident smile.

Twilight nodded as Spike rode on Applejack's back as they continued, it was obvious that Spike didn't look like he was feeling good. "Spike, are you okay? You look like you're coming down with something bad. We might have to go back." Twilight said worriedly.

"N-No, I'm good... b-but that gem thingy around your neck, i-it's so... strange. It's driving me nutso, its smell is giving me a headache. I just need to keep my distance for a minute, that's all. It's like getting a smell of like some foreign divine meal, and it's so good, it's overwhelming." Spike reassured, smiling weakly as he tried to keep his composure.

The unicorn shrugged her shoulders and trotted onward with Applejack deeper into the Everfree Forest. From behind them, a bald stallion in some kind of stealth suit follows close behind as he uses his curved horn to cast a spell, his body began to blend in with the environment as he made haste to keep up with the mares and the dragon.

In the darkest depths of the forest in a small clearing, Gebo is constantly analyzing several small blue flowers, carefully picking them up and tossing them into a mason jar. The drone moved towards Zecora, who was preparing some kind of brew outside of her hut.

"I have acquired the Humericus Intoxicus Flora, or as you have called it, 'Poison Joke', shall I commence the mixing of the ingredients?" Gebo asked nonchalantly.

The Zebra stopped stirring and tossed in a few orange mushrooms before stirring once more before meeting the drone's emotionless gaze. "Patience is something you must look into adapting, because brewing potions and doing good is still beyond your understanding. Poison Joke, despite it's name, is not to be trifled with for a potion this tame. Understand and listen well, my metal confidant, while you have shown a slow increase in progress; entirely trust you, I still cannot." Zecora rhymed.

"Logical inconsistency has been detected. I assumed you had trusted me, after the human had drastically mangled my programming for another purpose, and here I am, trying to find my purpose, only to know I am not trusted. Exposit the way I can acquire all of your trust, Zebrikkan." Gebo inquired, slowly adding in Poison Joke petals to the brew, watching it become a menagerie of different colors, some of them didn't even seem to be on the prismatic spectrum as Gebo added the petals one-by-one.

Zecora looked at the drone and back at the brew, an idea came to her mind, she knew what to do. "If it's my trust that you so crave, I need to study the effects of Poison Joke, on something artificially made. Pick another poison joke flower from the patch, rub it all over yourself and we shall soon see if the machine has met its match." Zecora rhymed.

The drone set the jar down and calculated the appropriate response to the request. There was an odd property to the flower itself, something Gebo still couldn't understand, let alone pick up on his instruments. Gebo plucked another poison joke and began to nonchalantly smear it all over his mechanical body, and almost instantaneously, there seemed to be an effect on the drone, as the drone's armored plating began to shape and become rigid, almost like scales.

Twilight and Applejack continued to move through the Everfree, and soon began to feel like they were being watched. Spike was still out cold, what with the smell of the Magicite just being a bit too much for the baby dragon to handle for more than a couple minutes before passing out.

"Ah am gettin' the feelin' that we might be being followed, Twilight, just tell me when and I'll buck them into next fall." Applejack stated, readying herself to use her hindlegs more. Twilight looked around and decided to try and use one of the spells she hadn't used yet. Her horn began to spark and glow a white color as a Stallion came into view, clad in a stealth suit and having a curved unicorn horn.

Twilight could perfectly see the stallion's HP and MP. 75 HP, but there was no MP for her to see... that felt like that shouldn't have happened.

"No magic? What kind of unicorn doesn't have magic?" Twilight asked curiously. The stallion sneered and was about to attack, until an unholy roar echoed out from the forest, as well as the echoing screams of Zecora. "Today just doesn't seem like a good day for anything, does it?"

The stallion groaned and trotted away into the brush, all while a cacophony of strange metallic clicking and snarling sounds rang through the forest, waking the baby dragon and scaring the two mares stiff. It was unlike anything they had faced before. Above them, was a huge metallic monster in the shape of a dragon. It had pulsating red orbs along its legs and tail, as well as crimson scales and silver fins protruding along its massive body. It had one singular squinted eye glowing red as it roared out again, the metallic clicking and snarling following right after.

Within the clutches of the huge beast, was Zecora, who was struggling with all her might to get free of the beast's clutches, but it was safe to say that she was pretty stuck. "MAKE HASTE TO MY HUT, PLEASE! OTHERWISE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, I WILL BE DECEASED! MAKE THE CURE FOR POISON JOKE, AH MAY NOT MAKE IT IF YOU DALLY LIKE THE TOWNFOLK!" Zecora cried out. The dragon whirred as it spread its huge wings out and flew out of town, with the Zebra shaman in toe.

"Ohh... so that's what that was that woke me from my nap earlier. I'm surprised I went back to sleep at all when that thing flew overhead," Leon stated in amazement. "I'm kinda worried that the drone was actually affected by Poison Joke though, but at the same ti-- Wait a minute, how did you know about the part that you weren't there for?"

Leon and Luna looked at the farm pony, who just sighed. "Zecora had to go clean up the mess at her hut, but still wanted me to properly tell the story so nothing is left out, so she made a quick potion that transferred a copy of a creature's memories into the mind of another pony, makes it easier to tell the whole story when someone can't be accounted for. Do you wanna hear the whole story, or do ya wanna keep flappin' them lips?" Applejack stated with a chuckle.

"Please continue, Applejack. We'd like to know if this story has a happy end, or an end at all, if you'd so kindly." Luna stated. Applejack nodded, and began where she left off, with Zecora being nabbed by a huge drone that was turned into a dragon.

"Ahm beginnin' tah think we were doomed from tha start, Twilight. We need tah go and help 'er, or at tha very least get Leon tah take care of it." Applejack said, pacing worriedly.

Twilight walked over to the mare and stopped her in her tracks. "Applejack, you're not usually one for worrying. If there's something wrong, you need to tell me, cause Zecora needs help, and we might be the only ones besides Leon who can right now!" Twilight stated.

"Ahm fine, Twilight, but ahm just not feeling as confident to start goin' against another one ah them metal monstrosities again, don't wanna worsen my injury, or lest I get another one." Applejack explained. She didn't mind helping others out, or doing the right thing, it's just the fact that Applejack was concerned about her own well-being, but Zecora was in a much worse situation than she was, and wasn't about to let her, or her friend down.

"Applejack, if you need more time to rest, or just want a day to walk or jog around, I would've understood instead of dragging you into the Everfree, only to now hunt a robot that's been turned into a fierce and ferocious dragon. It sounds crazy, but this is what's happening right now. Think you can withstand just a little more, for Zecora?" Twilight asked.

"Ah can sure try, just don't expect me to do something crazy. Let's go follow that metal dragon and give it what for!" Applejack said firmly. The mares and the baby dragon trotted off after the dragon.

The dragon roared as it flew low to the ground, only for a magical blast to hit it in the back, causing the beast to rise up, and look at its attacker. It was Twilight, she was trying her best to hurt the dragon, but it seemed to shrug off the magic attacks without any effort. Before anything could be done, the dragon then spewed a huge torrent of purple slop at the trio before shooting several dart-like projectiles from its toes and tossing several vines at the trio. Twilight and her gear got slashed and torn up quite a bit, Spike was trapped and ensnared in the vines, then Applejack was drenched in the purple slop, now seeming to be weighed down by the substance itself.

The dragon let go of Zecora, dropping her from a great height. Thankfully, Twilight was there to catch her before she went splat, but Gebo was now flying out of Ponyville, roaring mindlessly.

"that can't lead to anything good... do we go after it?" Applejack asked.

"I don't think so. We don't have the firepower to fight a dragon, let alone a drone that we couldn't fight that was turned into one. We'd be better off sending Leon after it... I'm sorry if I got you dragged into this fiasco." Twilight apologized.

"Meh, it's not the craziest thing I've had to deal with, so you're alright. I just need to be more prepared, in case more drones like that thing show up... maybe we should keep them away from the Poison Joke, it'll help with having to either fight or die trying to fight a bunch of dragons." Applejack stated.

"And that's what happened. Zecora brought me back to her hut so I could get her memories, I properly refreshed myself on everything that occurred that day, and we have the issue of that drone thing you decided to keep around now bein' a bigger thorn in our side than an overgrown rose." Applejack stated firmly.

"In my defense, I didn't know Poison Joke could affect robotic drones made by a possible alien manufacturer. There's a lot about your world that confuses me, and I'm still trying to learn about it... This is going to be bad, I'll say that much, but I will take care of Gebo, eventually. I just need to be smart about this." Leon stated.

The three ponies sat in silence, until Twilight then abruptly woke up.

"And that's why we aren't going to... to... t-t-to..." Twilight then hit her head on the table again, falling back asleep.

"I think Twilight has the right idea, it's so late out! I'm gonna head back to the farm and get some shut eye. Farewell, Princess of the Night. Goodnight, Twiggy." Leon said. Applejack got up and the two walked out of the treehouse, making their way back to Sweet Apple Acres, while the princess of the night pondered something.

'I'll have to find a way to look into the human's dreams somehow... something irks the human, and I may find my answer as to what in his dreams.'

Author's Note

This was a short chapter, short being relative, since this is nearly 5,000 words long. I figured I'd try to make shorter chapters when there's not a crisis, while also trying to explain the history of this version of Equestria.

Enjoy!