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Will, Jay and I are standing around a big circular table in the Canterlot castle. Celestia and Twilight stepped outside, so all three of us are just standing around awkwardly and waiting for something to happen. I’m not sure exactly we’re waiting for, but we’re waiting for it.

“Nice to see you two again,” Will says to break the tension.

“It's nice to be around some more humans,” Jay says happily.

“We’re still the only ones here that we know of,” I remind him. “Don’t suppose you heard anything about Dick?”

“Never even knew anyone else was here until you pulled that badass stunt to get me out,” he smirks.

“Consider it a favor for pulling me out of the hole back on Earth,” I say, a bit embarrassed.

“You could’ve gotten out.”

“That water was salty as hell.”

We both laugh a little bit, then the door opens. Twilight and Celestia walk in, both of them looking a little sad and levitating a map.

“So why did you need us all?” I ask Twilight.

She puts the map on the table and rolls it out. There are three Xs and a circle on Mount Canter (I’m proud that I learned Equestrian geography), and a small red circle with a dot in the center somewhere in a group of mountains.

“What’s this?” Jay asks.

“Map of the world,” Twilight tells him.

“And the ink?”

“An updated map of the humans,” Celestia informs us.

“Why circles and Xs?” I ask her.

She points at a circle. “This one is centered over the Canterlot Graveyard.” Very slowly, she looks up. “That should tell you everything about the different symbols on the map.”

“And the three Xs are us, I assume?” I have an idea of what the different shapes might mean, but I really, really, hope it isn’t that.

“Yes,” she replies softly.

“The circles are less concentrated deposits of your magical tag,” Twilight says, bluntly summarizing what we’ve probably already figured out. “In layman’s terms, they would be-“

“Dead,” I finish for her. I don’t really know why I blurted that out; I guess I’d rather hear me say it than a pony. Twilight’s a great friend and all, but she's not human. I guess I'd rather one of us talk about that than something else.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her eyes turning red.

“Do any of you have any questions?” Celestia asks.

“Just one.” I point at the other little circle, the only mark not near Canterlot. “Where’s this?”

“Land of the dragons,” Celestia says plainly. “Whether the human there died of natural causes or malice, we don’t know.”

Twilight whispers something to herself, then snaps back to the table. That seems suspicious as all else, but I have a hunch that asking would just cause problems.

“Well, I’ve got no more questions,” Will says.

“Same,” Jay agrees.

“All my questions are answered.” I shoot a quick glare to Twilight, who looks like she knows something she shouldn’t. “Twilight and I should probably get back to Ponyville.”

“I should head back to Minos soon,” Will announces. “It’s a long train ride, and the last direct train there this year leaves in a couple hours.”

“Rehab place wants me back soon,” Jay says. “Turns out recovering from being starved for nearly a year is a lot more complex than just a quick dinner.”

“Good luck to both of you.” I go to Twilight, who’s slipped back into some sort of trance. “Ready?”

“Huh?” she asks, snapping out of her trance again. “Oh, we’re going, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” I can’t help but smile a bit. Her popping in and out of attentiveness is actually a little adorable.

“Right,” she says hastily, “Let’s go.”

I turn back to the room one more time. “See you all again.”

Twilight and I walk out of the castle and into the streets of Canterlot. A few earth ponies are shoveling some snow, and a couple more are decorating a pine tree in front of a store selling decorations for something called Hearth’s Warming Eve.

“What’s Hearth’s Warming Eve?” I ask Twilight. “The pony Christmas?” I wait a few moments, then look at her when she doesn’t reply. “Twilight!” I snap at her.

She flinches, almost slipping on the icy road. “Oh, I’m sorry. What is it?”

I sigh. “Twilight, what’s up with you? You’re being really absent minded, and you weren’t before we came here. Did something come up?”

We get to the train station, and she plops down on a bench. I sit down next to her and put my shoulder around her. “You okay?”

“It’s something we figured out,” she says, incredibly mopey. “The other human, the fifth one? It says he was in the land of the dragons.”

“Why’s that bad?” I ask. “Is it really bad there? Are the dragons really bloodthirsty?”

“It’s not bad; I’ve been there before with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike. And they can be a little harsh, but not really anything too bad.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

She looks down at the snowy platform really sadly. “There’s a rather famous story from one of the religions that used to be very big.”

“I had no idea you had so much faith,” I tell her.

“I don’t. Nopony really does, but it’s still pretty important.” She stares into the sky. “It says that the gods used to rule their planet, but they grew angry with each other. They went to war and nearly destroyed each other, and only five remained. They came to this planet and each created a different race to protect the land.”

“Interesting story, but what’s this have to do with us?”

“The five races were the ponies, the griffins, the minotaurs, the changelings, and the dragons.” She looks back at me. “And where were the five of you when you came here?”

“It’s got to be coincidence,” I assert.

“I’d believe that too, but think. A race that constantly fights against itself, and only five of them come here. The humans are always in some sort of war, and five of them came to Equis and ended up in the homelands of the races in the myth. Coincidence or fate?”

“It…” I think about it for a moment. “A long time ago Id've said coincidence, but given how things work here, I don’t know. I mean, you and your friends all got your cutie marks because of Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom, and then you all became the Elements of Harmony. You’ve defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the queen of the changelings. That's too damn coincidental to be a coincidence.”

“Fate does work in mysterious ways,” she agrees.

“I don’t know if I quite believe in fate. I mean, we can feel the repercussions of our actions easily. You do something stupid, it comes back to bite you in the ass. But now I’m here.” I point all around. “I’m sitting on a bench on a planet run by aliens that look like animals we used to use as tools. If I weren’t here, my life would be still the same as it was when I came here. Same bland life, same bland hobbies, same bland major at the same bland college.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m just saying, huge stuff like this doesn’t happen for no reason.” I pull her in closer. “I guess this could be worse, though. As far as sci-fi aliens go, your kind is all right. You haven’t tried to probe or dissect me or anything. At least, not that I know of,” I joke.

“I’d never try that!” she laughs. Seems like I’m rubbing off on her, too; not even a few months ago, she would’ve been appalled at the idea.

A whistle blows in the distance, and a train comes into sight. “Guess this is ours,” Twilight says, getting up and walking to the end of the platform. I walk next to her, and we wait for our ride together.