Rigdon stirred in his bed, murmuring out something incoherent. His eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision slowly adjusting to the room around him. A groan escaped his lips as the sun slithered through the window and decided to attack his newly opened eyes. He slowly stood up, giving his lips a couple of smacks. He slowly slumped over to the main area of the library, turned to his right, then walked over into the kitchen, finding Twilight near the sink. Spike was on top of a stool, a chef’s hat rested on his head as he made some pancakes.

Twilight’s mane was unkempt. A brush and coffee mug was suspended in her magic. The brush slowly moved upwards and was dragged thoroughly through her mane as the coffee cup was lifted to her mouth. She took a small sip before turning back and sitting at the main table. Rigdon approached, taking his seat across from her. Spike jogged over, placing the pancakes onto the table with a small thump. Reaching over, Rigdon grabbed a fork and smashed it into the pancakes, slicing a piece off before stuffing it into his mouth.

“So, Twilight, are you going to be coming with me today? Y’know—to invite me to everyone?” Rigdon asked her as he continued to shave off pieces of the pancake and eat them. “Everypony,” Twilight corrected him as she placed the brush down. Her fork stabbed a piece of hay bacon. The fork was levitated up as she began to munch on it.

“Of course I’m going with you,” she started off, a small smile appearing on her face. “For one, I need to document what happens so I can report it to Celestia. Secondly, I’d love to see how well you’ll get along with everypony!” Twilight lifted her coffee to her muzzle once more, letting the dark liquid flow past her lips.

“What’s your recommendation on who to meet first?” He reached his hand up, continuing to shovel his pancake into his mouth. Spike now had his own pancakes that seemed to contain small bits of gems. Twilight put her cup down and put her hoof up, gently rubbing her chin. She then pointed at him.

“I think Pinkie is your best option,” Twilight answered his question as she lifted her cup up once again. “Just expect to have your mind blown.” She got up and walked over to the sink. She levitated her plate over, the water turning on. She washed her things before neatly placing them in their respective cabinets. Like the library, it was all extensively organized.

Rigdon stood up, his hands fidgeting with his plate as he walked forward, soon finding himself next to Twilight. He placed his hands forward, the crisp, cool water spilling onto them. He grabbed a nearby sponge, bringing it down onto the plate. He scrubbed back and forth, the suds only growing more and more as he wiped it spotless. He slowly brought the plate to the water, the soap flowing away from the surface. The plate glistened in the light as it took up a wavy version of his face. He reached over, slowly filing the plate away with its brethren.

“Here, read this,” Twilight moved the list over towards Rigdon. He reached out, grabbing and reading it before looking dumbfounded. He turned back to Twilight, who had that prideful look on her face again. “I organized you a small list that you can use for everypony! It has all of their likes, dislikes, and everything! Now, there’s no way you can’t befriend them!” She explained to him.

A worried expression fell onto Rigdon’s face. He looked down at the list before looking back up to her. “Twilight…” He trailed off for a moment as his eyes quickly darted back and forth from the paper, then to her. “Ah’ think this feels a bit wrong. I don’t think this is going to help me make friends.”

Twilight’s expression fell as she levitated the list back to her, looking over it once more before staring back at Rigdon, her lips pursed softly. “What do you mean? Everything looks good.” Her face contorted, confusion now forming at the forefront of her mind.

“Look, Twilight,” Rigdon called out softly. He got down on his knees to see her eye to eye. “I know how good planning can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love organization as the next person.” He reached out, placing his hand on her head. Twilight looked up, her eyes crossing slightly as she fixed them onto his hand. “But there are just some things you can’t plan for—Friendships being one of them.”

Twilight’s ears slowly pulled back against her head as she listened to his words. Her lip quivered as she could only murmur but a few words. “B-But… but…” She was interrupted by Rigdon poking her nose. Twilight quickly crossed her eyes to look at his finger, her nose scrunching up. Rigdon sighed and folded his arms. He slowly rose back to his full height.

“Did you use any planners when you met your friends?” He questioned, of which Twilight gave a shy shake of her head. Rigdon gave a nod and smiled. “See? You didn’t need any of that stuff to make great friends. Look, point being… Sometimes it’s better to go with the flow. In this case, It’s so that they can get to meet the real me,” He added on as he stared at her.

Twilight’s expression slowly turned to a smile as her ears slowly perked up. She seemed a lot more confident then earlier. She nodded as she spoke softly. “Yeah… I guess I didn’t need anything like that.” She quickly stood up on her hind legs. Moving her body forward, she would wrap her hooves around his waist and pull him into a quick hug. “Thank you…” Twilight pulled herself back, her hooves quickly planting themselves onto the wooden floor. She walked to the door and opened it with her magic. “Just don’t expect me to give up documenting everything that happens,” She gave a teasing smile.

“Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Twilight.” Rigdon followed after her. He gave Spike a quick fistbump as he passed him. That certainly made his morning. The door slammed shut, Rigdon’s body getting bathed in a shower of sun rays as he met the outdoors with open arms. Twilight trotted towards Sugarcube corner, greeting anypony on her path. Twilight opened the door and walked in, making sure to hold it open for Rigdon.

He slowly moved into the building, his nose immediately getting swarmed and attacked by the scents of baked goods and sweets. He took a couple steps forward, his eyes slowly moving from side to side, before they looked back to Twilight. He slowly looked back to the front counter. “So, Twilight… Where’s Pi-” He was cut off when all he got was two blue eyes and a ball of pink taking up all of his vision. Rigdon stumbled back, taken by surprise by the sudden sight.

Pinkie would immediately jump down onto the ground, though she didn’t exactly stop jumping. He could practically feel her energetic nature leak from her figure. A small ‘boing’ could be heard, seeming coming from nowhere.

“Ohmygosh! Are you new to Ponyville? Hi, My name’s Pinkie Pie, but everypony just calls me Pinkie! I love welcoming new ponies! What are you? I’ve never seen you before. Oh! Are you from another country! That’s so cool!” She would blurt out in one breath, quickly taking in a deep breath before she stopped bouncing. A small squee appeared out of nowhere as she gave a huge grin. She lifted her hoof out so he could shake it.

Rigdon was just taken aback by her nature. He slowly reached forward, taking her hand and giving a quick shake of her hoof. Pinkie retracted her hoof as she returned to her normal bouncing. “Rigdon… I’m a human. It’s nice to meet you” He replied as he slowly retracted his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rigdon,” Pinkie then let out another gasp. “Ooh, ooh! We need to throw you a party! One for being the first human in Equestria, and the other for welcoming you to Ponyville! This is going to be so awesome!” She squealed in excitement. Rigdon looked back to Twilight, giving a bit of a worried expression. Twilight had a smile on her face, quickly giving a few soft shakes of her head. ‘Classic Pinkie.’

Pinkie jumped behind the counter once again, now going through everything to find a cupcake. Surprisingly, she was fresh out! She quickly ran over to a nearby closet. She opened it and stuck her hoof in. “Don’t worry! I always keep a stash of cupcakes around Ponyville,” She then miraculously pulled out a cupcake from the closet. “In case of cupcake emergencies like these!” Pinkie then went over to Rigdon and offered the cupcake to him.

He slowly picked the sweet up, his brows furrowing a bit. He seemed a bit skeptical about it. How long was that cupcake even sitting in there? He lifted it up to his mouth and took a small bite. Of course, giving the laws of physics a middle finger to the face, the cupcake tasted like it had just come out of the oven. He looked back to Twilight, a shocked expression on her face.

Twilight gave a small roll of her eyes before giving the best of an answer she could. “It’s best not to question how she does it. Trust me—I’ve tried.”

Rigdon gave a small shrug before taking another bite of his cupcake. Honestly, at this point, he should really stop questioning how this world works. After all, magic is a thing here. Finishing the cupcake, he would throw the rapper into the nearby trash can. Twilight finished scribbling everything down.

“Next should be… Rarity,” She looked back up. Rigdon gave a solemn nod. Opening the door, Twilight gave a wave to Pinkie before leaving. Pinkie quickly returned the gesture, a couple of laughs leaving her lips. Rigdon gave her a wave as well.

“You two have a fun day! Don’t forget to come back whenever you’d like! I still need to throw that party for you!” Pinkie called out as the door was shut behind him. Twilight was certainly right about the mind-blowing part of meeting Pinkie. He felt like he had just eaten a whole bag of sugar and was crashing big time.

“You’ll get used to her eventually, Rigdon.” Twilight spoke up softly as they continued to move along. Rigdon rolled his eyes as a couple of ponies ran past them both. Raising an eyebrow, he wondered what was up. Looking over to Twilight, he found his same look of confusion on her as well.

“Hey, you wanna check out what’s going on?” Rigdon questioned as he pointed his thumb to where ponies were flocking to. Twilight gave a silent nod in response to his question.

“Something has to be wrong,” Twilight voiced her concern, her eyes dotting up towards Rigdon. “Nopony ever acts like this… Well, except that time with Zecora.” She looked back down. Rigdon soon broke into a light jog. He continued to follow the galloping and trotting ponies. He couldn’t make out what they were saying about the situation. But, judging by their tone of voice, they seemed quite concerned about whatever it was. He weaved around the winding roads, soon coming into a clearing with a bunch of ponies. Rigdon froze up at what he saw.

In front of him were a platoon of soldiers on the floor. Those uniforms… The tan tunic with red accents was unmistakable. His ears began to ring as the figures slowly got up. He could see them slowly reach for their guns, their voices cutting his soul like a hot knife through butter. A man with an ushanka placed firmly on his head walked in front of the soldiers. He looked around, staring at the ponies. He looked back and began to talk with one other person.

“Rigdon, look! More humans! Celestia is going to be so ecstatic when she hears about this!” Twilight grinned as she stared at the soldiers. Rigdon slowly was blasted back to reality. He looked down to Twilight, quickly shaking his head. He could feel his lip quiver.

“Twilight, can you make a shield?…” Rigdon questioned her. Twilight looked up with a confused look. She couldn’t understand why Rigdon was acting so weird.

“But, why wo-” Rigdon cut her off, causing her to recoil back, ears slowly drooping, “God damn it, Twilight! Now’s not the time! Can you make a shield or not?!” Twilight gave a sheepish nod. “Put it up! Put it up now!” Rigdon desperately called out. A light purple engulfed the two as they stood there.

The platoon lifted their guns, pointed them at the crowd and… Chaos; It was complete and utter chaos. Twilight can only stare in disbelief as ponies ran in every direction. She gritted her teeth as flurries of bullets banged against the shield, large cracks forming where they were concentrated. The bullets stopped, but the screaming didn’t. The shield slowly lowered, the sight of death hitting the both of them like a freight train. Leaning down, Rigdon scooped up the flabbergasted pony. Soldiers barged into homes, loud, thunderous bangs sounding as lives were snuffed out.

Tears began to roll down Twilight’s cheeks as she lifted her hooves up, covering her ears from the loud noises. As he continued to run, Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks. She looked up to Rigdon, fear in her voice as she practically yelled out,

“SPIKE! WE NEED TO GET SPIKE!” She would cry out. Rigdon stopped dead in his tracks, before looking back to the town, watching pegasi fall from the sky as they were hit. He looked back down to Twilight, her cheeks stained. He gave a small nod before running back in.

Rigdon held her close to his chest, his heart beating at a rapid rate. Russian voices called out to each other as they continued their genocide. It took some careful maneuvering, but he was eventually back where they had started for the morning. Blood was stained across the once colorful town. He could feel his heart sink as the door to the library was wide open. He walked up and placed Twilight down. He looked at the trembling mare, reaching out and grabbing her hooves. He squeezed softly, causing her to look up at him with her big, soulful eyes.

Placing his finger over his lips, he made a soft ‘shhh’. Twilight gave a small nod, tears still gently dripping down her face. Rigdon looked around, a thick stick catching his eye. He picked it up, then looked back to Twilight. ”Stay right here. Don’t come in unless I say so, alright?”

WARNING: Gruesome scene ahead! Scroll down to Scene over to skip Gore

Twilight gave a quick nod. Rigdon slowly stood up, his figure crouched a bit as he walked in. A soldier was looking through some books, muttering something under his breath as he nonchalantly flipped through the pages. Unaware of the danger behind him, Rigdon continued his approach. Once he was close enough to him, he attacked with all of his might!

He lifted the stick over his head, before slamming it against the temple of the other human. He let out a couple of words, presumed to be cuss words as he dropped his things. Rigdon didn’t stop his attack. He slammed the stick against his head once again, this time causing the other to stumble and fall onto his side. Rigdon continued to lift the stick above his head, and bring it down onto him… Over, and over, and over again. The man let out a couple of gurgles and pleas of mercy as the wooden floor was slowly stained with his blood. Rigdon let out a small grunt, the stick slowly getting covered in the other’s fluids. The skull of the other was slowly but surely caved in, his voice slowly growing quieter as the moments passed

Rigdon took his anger out on this unfortunate soul. Because of them, he lost his best friend. Because of them, he was transported here. Because of them, they were once again trying to take everything away from him. Rigdon slowly closed his eyes, brain matter beginning to spill onto the carpet. The Russian’s body involuntarily rose and fell with each hit that he gave. He took deep breaths, dropping the stick as he stared at the body. It was completely unrecognizable. Blood and pieces of brain were everywhere. He looked at his hands, his mind numb from his first killing. The air carried a prudent stench of adrenaline.

SCENE OVER

He reached for the gun that laid before the dead soldier. He picked up the gun and a couple of clips from the pouches of his body. He quickly ran into the other room, to find Spike hiding under the table. Rigdon bent down, picking him up and quietly running out of the library. Twilight looked up, her figure shooting straight up. She reached out and pulled Spike into a hug, which she returned. Rigdon looked around, before turning back to Twilight.

“Twilight, we need to go… It’s dangerous here.” He called out. Twilight, looking up, gave a knowing look before looking back down.

“Where are we supposed to go? What about my friends? Is this happening in Canterlot? What’s happening?” She had so many questions—many of which he sadly couldn’t answer. What he could answer was what needed to be done next.

“Somewhere far away from here. In the woods, or at least somewhere along Sweet apple acres. It needs to have a lot of cover.” He would say as he began to walk. For now, the safest bet seemed like Sweet apple acres. Sure, the entrance was quite accessible, but he knew that if they went further in, it would be much harder to find them with all of the trees.

Soon, a light purple magic began to envelop them. Rigdon could feel the ground slowly disappear from below him. Closing his eyes, a small ‘poof’ sounded out. He opened his eyes, finding them among apple trees. He heard a thump, his head quickly looking down. Twilight let out loud gasps for air as she laid on the ground. She was so exhausted. He looked around, figuring that the coast was clear enough to relax a bit. How could he end up from an engineer, to a killer? He pressed his back against a tree, his figure slowly sliding down until he sat against the ground with another small thump.

He looked over to Twilight, a small frown appearing on his face. He slowly reached over, his hand resting against her head. He slowly began to stroke back and forth, comforting his friend. With all she’s done, this is the least that he could do.

“It’s alright… Just rest. You’ve done a lot today…” He cooed softly. Twilight’s breathing slowly calmed down as her eyes grew heavy. Eventually, she fell asleep on the ground. Rigdon looked up, his view dominated by apple trees with ripe fruit on them. The sun beamed through the leaves, providing a good amount of shade for all of them. He looked forward, his face stern. He couldn’t go to sleep—he was on watch. He wondered what was going to happen next in the coming days. Was there going to be more Russians? All he could do was wait… But, with a good friend by his side, everything seemed just that more bearable.

Author's Note

And so it begins!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you all would like to give feedback, just post them in the comments!