“Are... Are we almost... There? Please say yes... Oh for the love of Celstia say yes...” Twilight had been running at Selen’s pace for almost five hours. They had made it about 50 miles and Twilight was ready to collapse.  She was sweating harder than she ever had before, even during her last race. The one where Applejack and Rainbow Dash had tied for last. A sudden sadness fell over her. It finally hit her that she would be without her ponyfolk for a whole week. But then something else clicked in her brain. Selen wasn’t winded. And he had already done this extremely long trek in the same 24 hours.

“We are really only about a quarter of the way there. Do you need to stop?” Selen looked over at the pony with concern. Her hair was completely flat except for the ends which seemed to be spiraling and curving outwards. She was, in a word, frazzled.

“Yes please. I just need to stop for a minute...” Twilight fell to the ground in a heap. The cool, dirty, white sidewalk felt good on her burning body. “Or maybe and hour...”she thought to herself. It was the middle of summer, a hot day, and both of them had just finished running. But even so, Twilight was laying in the sun. Selen worked his way slowly over to a wall in the shade of the afternoon heat. He took off his backpack and slid down to his rear. But before he could begin resting, he stood back up. Groans of pain broke through his pursed lips as he climbed his way back up the wall. He walked over to Twilight and picked her up. She began to protest but decided against wasting her energy. It felt strange to be carried in something’s arms. She felt almost safe and cozy, like she was back in the library in Ponyville with a good book and a blanket. Safety. Something she now loved and enjoyed every second of. That was, until he put her down. She was laid down on her side in the shade and Selen went back to his resting place against the stone. She was even cooler there and began feeling more refreshed instantly. Once more, a thought came to her. She never would have gone into the shade if it weren’t for Selen. She would have just laid out there in the sun and baked to death. Selen didn’t seem like he would ever make that mistake. To her, he was wary of everything around him. Then a correction entered the study going on in her head. Not everything, just things that would end in death. She spoke up and picked up right where the last Q and A session had ended.

“You never did tell me what your species was called.” She pointed out.

“Ah yes, I forgot. We are called humans. Well, I suppose we have many names but human is probably the least scientific but still most common name for us.” Selen decided that for now he wouldn’t ask very many questions. He could do that later when the pony could think straight. For now he was content with answering her inquiries.

“Are all of you humans so violent?” She was trying to push him into telling more of his story. Like so many books she had read before, she wasn’t content with the tale until it was finished.

“Well it depends on who you’re comparing. If you’re talking about me as a basis for the human race then most of us are more violent and kill or steal on a daily basis. If you are basing this off the mugger I killed, then yes most of us are that violent. I think right now, I’m about as gentle as they come.” Selen replied calmly. Twilight was treading on dangerous ground and Selen could feel himself start to sweat.

“As gentle as they come? But you killed that mugger. That’s not very gentle if you ask me.” Twilight cleverly avoided his past, knowing that it would probably end badly.

“Well I don’t do that everyday as the other people do. They do it because they’re trying to live and get enough money to buy the things they need to live. Like food and such. But I don’t buy food, I grow it. So therefore I don’t need to kill everyday just to get by. I only kill in self defense.” Selen explained calmly. He was getting a bit annoyed at the pony’s accusations.

“Oh. Now I understand.” A great weight lifted from Selen’s face and he seemed to smile a little. Twilight couldn’t help smiling too. Just seeing the human’s face turn from it’s stoic expression to one of a happy countenance was enough to make her smile. His face seemed to hold a special power over her. “So what kind of food do you grow?” Small talk ensued and Selen was not happy about it.

“Oh I grow apples and such. Wheat too but i think we should get moving again. Are you feeling a little less tired? We can just walk for now.” Selen suggested moving again in hopes of it spurring questions that would lead to more sophisticated conversation.

“Oh uh sure. In just a minute. But for now, can we...” She was cut off by a loud explosion behind her but it sounded as if it had come from something small. She tuned around to see a small metal tube pointed at her face. She moved her head to the side and looked past the barrel where she saw a man holding a small box that was attached to the tube. There were a few other small extremities on the strange thing but Twilight just regarded them as unimportant. The fact that the world she was in contained things such as murderers and thugs had completely slipped her mind.

“Hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle. How are you?” Twilight did not sense nor see the anger and rage on the man’s face. The bearded man spoke in a gruff voice. It sounded a bit like it had been rubbed over with sandpaper a few times before it came from his hidden mouth.

“How much is she worth? Being an electric talking pony and all?” The question was directed at Selen. Twilight was still trying to figure out what the man meant and turned to ask Selen for help figuring out what was going on. Then she notice him lying on the ground in even more blood than before. Selen tried pushing himself up on his uninjured arm but he slipped in the red pool of sticky liquid and fell back to the ground.

“Answer me or I’ll put another hole in your gut. How much?” The broad bearded man spoke again and waved the gun at Selen. All Twilight understood was that somehow that metal tube put holes in people from a distance and she could assume that holes in humans were not good. Selen began shaking uncontrollably. The major tremors seemed to end quickly and Selen tried to get up again. He made no sound except for labored breathing as his left foot slowly gained a grip on the floor beneath him, and he began lifting his shivering torso from the ground. He pushed with his hand on his knee and finally stood. Twilight now observed that his whole body was covered in the deep red fluid. It gushed from his shoulder that had been injured before as well as a spot below it. The previously sealed wound had opened up during the fall. He held his abdomen with his uninjured hand and looked at the gun wielding man with a scowl on his face.

“ Nuh... No... You cannot have her... I need her to get... get out of here. Besides I do... don’t think she’s worth any money, mainly be... because she’s not actually from here. As in from Earth.” Selen hunched over a little as he spoke and that seemed to help the bleeding just a little. He also took gasping breath in between some words. To Twilight it was clear that he was injured even worse than before.

“You’re one crazy dude you know that? I’m just gona kill you and take the pony. Wow, I din’t never expect to say that in my lifetime...” He spoke in a way that reminded Twilight painfully of her cowpony friend Applejack. The thief raised his gun and pointed it at Selen’s head. Twilight took a step back in fear. Things had begun making sense at the word “kill”. She finally got it that if she didn’t do something soon then her protector and guide would die, and she would be stuck in the hands of this evil person before her. An idea finally sprung into her head and she reared up on her hind legs. She was a small pony, not much taller than a few feet at shoulder height. So when she reared up, she barely made eye level with Selen, who was still hunched over and staring into the face of the gun. While she had her underside exposed to the world the thief kicked her. His reactions were unaccounted for and Twilight had suffered for it. She was sent reeling backwards into the wall.

“Maybe that’ll teach you stupid robot to mess with me. I would kick you more an make sure you stay down but I gota...” The bulky man was cut off by a sharp bony elbow to the gut. His face seemed to stretch outwards and some spittle flew from his mouth. The assailant had been none other than Selen.

“Twilight run! Take the first left you see! Find somewhere safe!” Selen spun from his position to face Twilight. He had rammed his injured arm into the man’s sternum and bought his friend some time to escape. He turned back to see the damage he had caused the man, who was now lying sprawled on the concrete clutching his belly. The gun was lying a few feet from him and he looked temporarily immobilized. Selen tuned once more to see a blur of purple hide behind the corner of a building. She was safe. She would find a hiding hole and be fine. Then Selen found an excruciating pain on the side of his face and spun a few times before landing hard on his side.

“You jus cost me prolly thousands of big ones. I’m gonna to take that money out of your ass punk. Then I’ma take those fancy rings you got there on your hand.” The brawny man walked over to where Selen lay and picked him up by the throat. His victim squirmed and kicked, but to no avail. The man hoisted Selen higher and higher until he was a foot above his head. “I wanna watch you die you stupid son of a bitch.” The thief tightened his grip.

“Nuh... No. Selen croaked out with the last of his breath. In one desperate move powered by pure self preservation, Selen planted his foot on the thug's head and forced him to release his grasp. Selen used his face as a springboard and flung himself away from the person. The man roared and held his face as Selen grabbed his pack and took off. The western man grabbed his gun and aimed it at Selen but then thought better of it and walked away. It seemed like to much of a problem to kill the stupid person and instead he busied himself with finding his next victim.

“At least I didn’t have to kill him...” Selen told himself. “and I’m even more glad that the splint is holding up this lo... Oh shit!” As if to spit in his face, the universe decided that to be the time that Selen’s partially wooden foot should break. He stumbled and fell to the ground face first. As if to motivate himself, he said aloud, “Keep moving you worthless piece of shit. If you can’t walk then at least crawl. Go you mother fucking dog! Save the pony!” Selen began crawling as fast as he could to the wall. He saw the first left and began making his way slowly to it. Before he could get there though, a small purple head poked out from the side. It seemed to be trying to discern weather the crawling figure was friend or foe. But before Selen could yell his occupation, the purple pony emerged.

“Thank you so much for what you did back there. I didn’t know he would kick me and I really thought I could help. What can I do for you now?” Twilight had completely lost her speech pattern. None of her words had the intelligent flair she put on them anymore. She was so flustered at the fact that she had been kicked and could have maybe been sold off or just ended up plain dead.

“Just.. just stay right there and let... me get up. We’re not going to make... it to the safe house tonight, unless maybe we can... No never mind. We’ll have to hole... up somewhere else. Also, I think you should know that I’m most likely going to have to be... be shirtless the rest of the journey. I’m going to need to wrap this... agh this bullet wound in something and I really don’t want to take off my... my pants in the presence of a lady.” Selen placed his hand heavily on Twilight’s back. She swayed a bit under the weight and strained against it, just to stay standing. It seemed uncomfortably close to her rear but she didn’t want to trouble the human anymore than she already had.

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but you left your shirt back where we met. You aren’t wearing a top already.” Selen pushed hard on the pony’s back and lifted himself from the ground.  He swung away from the pony and hopped over to the wall where he pressed heavily against it with his uninjured arm.

“Ah balls... you’re right. We’ll have to find a new... new way to bandage this up then. Bullet wounds are probably the worst thing a hum... human can suffer from.” Selen explained while inching his way along the wall. He hopped along his one good foot and pushed hard with his good arm.

“No just stop let me help you here. Just sit down and I’ll try and find a way to cart you along.” Selen gladly obeyed the order and slumped to the ground. A fresh pool of his essence streamed from his stomach.

“Now how on earth... am I still even alive?” he questioned himself while gazing deeply into the puddle of red that had begun to form near his hip. “What is it to stop... bleeding again? Pressure and keep it above my heart?”

Twilight had taken the first left again and gone back to the street that Selen had directed her to. It was a dismal sight. Chunks of buildings were blown off and stone littered the streets. Piping was sticking out of everywhere and the rubble and carnage made it hard to navigate. Not much blood showed anywhere but some strange outlines were burnt into the walls. Only now, that she was looking at them a second time, did she realize that the shapes were humans, and that the people who had been used to stencil it, were now dead. She stopped and resisted the urge to release her lunch. She looked away from the wall with the gruesome sight and instead directed her gaze towards the other side of the street. She was relieved to only see destroyed buildings and some extra random wood lying about. She noticed a piece about sizable enough to make a new splint for Selen, and it even had a bit of cloth attached to it.

“Maybe he can start moving again.” thought Twilight as she trotted over to the plank protruding from the rubble. She grabbed it with her teeth and tugged with all her might but it did not budge. She tried fruitlessly to wiggle it back and forth, but it did nothing other than bend. She sighed and began moving the rubble around. The plank extended deeper and deeper into the ground and seemed to grow bigger as well. Twilight reached to the plank again and tugged more. This time, more of the wood showed and moved. She was pleased with her progress and continued tugging only to find the plank attached to something. Perplexed, she cleared the rubble more and found that the plank was attached to a wooden box. Soon, she found that the wooden box had two wheels, and that the string attached to another plank of wood that was also attached to the box. What she had just discovered was a cart, and her excitement grew immensely. She cleared the area around the cart out and when she finally got it completely uncovered, she looked inside. There was a bloody mess of a human resting in the bottom of the box. Twilight finally let her lunch go. The vile and acidic chunks flew from her mouth and landed just before her. Again and again she exploded with disgust, until finally she was free of all the food in her. Undigested bits of the apple Selen had given her lay strewn across the ground around her and the mass amounts of liquid flooded around her.

“Just... Just take it to Selen. He’ll know what to do with it. C’mon Twi... Just grab the cart and pull it along...” Twilight said aloud to herself. She grabbed the string in her mouth and pulled the literally dead weight over to where she had left her friend.

“What the hay? Why are you upside down!” questioned Twilight when she reached her protector. She had come around the corner to seem him standing on his head against the wall. His stomach and shoulder had stopped bleeding now.

“Well I’m upside down because I needed to put the gun wound above my heart. See how it stopped bleeding.” Selen indicated on his chest where human hearts lie. “Also, super good find with the cart there. That is, if you can pull me.” He sounded and looked much better. Twilight realized that maybe human had something equivalent to pony adrenaline that kept them alive when they were in danger. He rolled himself back over onto his good foot and began hopping over to the cart. Twilight stepped out from in between the planks of wood and looked at Selen intently. She wanted to see his reaction to the dead body in the cart. What she saw was both disappointing and impressive at the same time because instead of grimacing or screaming or losing his lunch, he just picked it up by the least bloody part of the shirt and flung from the cart. His shoulder began bleeding again but he just grabbed it ferociously and rolled over the edge into the cart.

“I really don’t mean to be a burden. Today is seriously the first time I’ve been hurt like this ever. I think I should be good in a few days if we wrap it tightly.” Selen shifted himself to be more comfy in the cart.

“Oh no. You really aren’t a burden. I don’t think I can run with you though so we are going to have to go slower.” Twlight grabbed the thick band of cloth and began moving. Selen was indeed lighter than she had predicted. Much lighter than the dead body. But even so, she would still be unable to run. She began at a brisk trot, heading down the street towards a three way intersection She also found that despite holding something in her mouth, she was able to talk. She would still be able to find out more about Selen as they moved along. “Why are you so comfortable around dead things?”

“It’s probably all those horror stories that my mother read me when I was young. If that isn’t it then I really don’t know.” Selen replied casually. He was still a little torn up about talking about his mother.

“Wait your mother read you horror stories when you were young? As in bed time stories that are supposed to help you sleep?” Twilight was a little confused.

“Yeah. It was pretty off... But then again she also beat me and locked me in the basement sometimes. Well actually almost everyday now that I think about it.” Selen still seemed so casual talking about his painful memories. They were in no way the worst, but they still stung.

“She sounds terrible. I think I see now why you aren’t more scarred by her death.” Twilight was trying her hardest to keep from offending her friend.

“Now don’t get me wrong, I loved my mother. She was one of the few people I knew who actually took care of me and taught me life lessons. She just taught the wrong ones. Instead of teaching me to love and tolerate, like a mother should, she taught me to be wary of the world and everyone in it, like a school bully should.” Selen stopped worrying. Having someone to talk to about his mother made him feel a little better on the inside.

“I suppose that makes a little sense. But that makes it seem like you grew up without a mother or a father.”

“Well that’s pretty much true when you think of it that way...” Selen began trailing off so Twilight decided to pick back up.

“So now that we’re moving, do you think that we can make it to your house?” Twilight asked with hope in her voice.

“No not a chance unless you’re willing to be brave.” Selen replied.

“Well I think as long as it doesn’t involve anymore bullets or blood I can do it.” Twilight felt the sudden urge to impress the alien by bravery. She took a second to figure out why she had this new urge and determined that it was for her species. She was the only representative for the time being and she would try her hardest to make a good impression.

“ Okay then. I got an idea of what we can do to get there faster. Do you see that big old pipe over there on the other side of the intersection?” Selen saw Twilight nod and continued. “Stop there.” Twilight nodded once more and went on towards their waypoint. She stopped a litttle away from the entrance and pulled away from the reins. The front of the cart did not have long to fall due to the length of the planks of wood. Selen got out of the cart carefully and hopped over to what looked like a dirty sewer. It was in fact a sewer but it had run completely dry. There was a steep drop as soon as it diverged from the street and it opened up almost immediately after the original enclosed area. It also spread out rapidly and turned from metal to concrete as it did. A few slime covered blocks jutted out of the ground at random intervals and locations. “You ready for a ride?” Selen asked the already terrified pony.