“Good morning!” Hanji greeted to a restrained titan.

It appeared to be a four-meters class with short blonde hair. Despite having its legs having spikes driven into it and into the ground, as well as some more through its shoulders, and having its head restrained by multiple ropes, it stared at Hanji with a hungry smile as it tried to jerk its head forwards at her, only managing to get caught by the ropes with a wheeze.

In place of her glasses, she wore a pair of prescription goggles with a thick, leather triple-band holding them in place behind her head. With her standing with their faces not even two feet from each other, a Scouting Legion soldier with light-brown hair walked up from the crowd that gathered to try and pull her back. A mass of soldiers also observed this with fearful looks.

“Major,” he pleaded, “don’t get so close to him.”

“How are you feeling?” asked Hanji, ignoring her comrade’s tugs and words. “What is your name? Do you hurt anywhere?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“This isn’t the first time when we managed to capture a titan alive,” Hanji explained to her new friends. “First, we tried repeating the same experiment we have conducted five other times in the past, which was to try and communicate with them. Unfortunately, establishing communication proved impossible this time as well.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hanji walked to the next titan, a seven-meters class with short, brown hair and a narrow face. The titan was affixed onto its stomach, having spikes driven through its legs, arms, and back to restrict its movements, as well as several ropes around the neck to prevent further advancement.

“Isn't the weather wonderful today?” she asked it. “Are you hungry?”

Without warning, it lunged its head at her ankles, all to the shocked gasps from the crowd. Hanji jumped out of the way in time.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed. “Whoa, whoa, that was close!”

“Major!” shouted the same male soldier. “It’s too dangerous!”

Hanji tried to step up closer to it once more, only for the titan to snap at her again. Hanji jumped back, whooping in frightened surprise.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“However,” reasoned Hanji, “in my opinion, the time I spent trying to interact with titans was so enlightening that I even forgot about sleeping.”

“Not sleeping so she can study,” Spike said with sarcasm, who sat next to Twilight, “Gee, I wonder who that sounds like.”

Twilight shot her assistant an angry glare.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Afternoon had fallen in Trost, and the titans still looked upon Hanji with their fixed, hungry expressions.

"A long, long time ago," Hanji spoke, marching back and forth in front of both titans with her goggles around her forehead, "there was a tribe who ate people. They weren't titans like you. They were humans. They hid out in caves in the mountains. They attacked travelers who happened to tread the roads nearby, robbed them of their valuables, killed them, and ate their flesh."

Two bemused Garrison soldiers with long, wooden spears looked upon Hanji's actions.

"She's started another one of her naming ceremonies," a black-haired soldier said.

"What did we end up with last time?" replied the other with brown-hair.

"Chicacchironi and Albert."

Hanji continued with her story, completely unaware of any small-talk behind her.

"They kept up their resistance for twenty-five years," she said, "During that time, over five-hundred people became their prey. That might be more than the humans you guys ate. They also experimented with various ways of preparing their meals: turning the buttocks into steaks, cutting the thighs up into cubes and cooking a stew with them, they minced, kneaded, and fried the hard meats, and out of fat and innards they even made sausages."

The soldiers behind them were repulsed by the gruesome events depicted in her story, one soldier even putting his hand to his mouth to hold back his vomit. Some were not so strong in their stomachs, having to go to the back to retch.

"That's right," Hanji exclaimed, leaning in towards the titans. "They knew the concept of 'cooking.' That's how they were different from you. But then those cannibals made a mistake, and they were all caught and executed. That's the same as you. You made the mistake of attacking mankind, and you were caught."

She began to walk to a spot where she could be in between both titans at a safe distance.

"So I'll name you after the men who led that clan. You're Sawney," she said, pointing to the four-meter titan. "You're Bean," she said, pointing to the seven-meter one. "But don't worry. I won't have you executed."

Hanji walked up to Sawney and held onto his large finger, his hand restrained by the spikes.

"It's nice to meet you, Sawney," she said before going to the seven-meter titan and grabbing his finger. "You too, Bean. Let's try and get along."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Thus,” Hanji stated, “I named the four-meter class titan ‘Sawney’ and the seven-meter class titan ‘Bean.’”

“You can name your titans?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “No fair! I want to name my own titan too!”

“Well,” she giggled, “perhaps next time we capture one, I’ll let you have the honors.”

“Cool! My very own titan! Just wait until I show him to the Cakes!”

“The Cakes?”

“They’re her landlords and employers,” explained Fluttershy. “They run a bakery in the town where we all live.”

“Oh! Well, Pinkie Pie… I don’t think you can really keep a titan as a pet…”

“Probably won’t stop her,” Rainbow Dash spoke. “She has a pet alligator at home.”

“An alligator? I’ve never heard of such a creature. Are they dangerous?”

“When they’re adults,” explained Twilight, “yes, they can be dangerous, but it’s still an infant, so it hasn’t even grown its teeth yet. Either way, we’re REALLY straying off topic here.”

“Right. My apologies. Anyways, next, we deprived the titans of sunlight. The titans are clearly less active during the night. These experiments tried to prove that they gain some kind of power from sunlight.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Underneath the cover of a thick, tent, Hanji observed Sawney with a lantern as her only source of visibility. Sawney, looked deeply tired, its eyes barely open and its movements labored and lethargic.

"You've worked hard, Sawney," whispered Hanji, looking into a pocket watch. "Goodnight. See you tomorrow."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“The reactions varied between each titan,” said Hanji. “Sawney’s activity dropped significantly after an hour of being deprived sunlight.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hanji sat in between her lantern and Bean, observing with interest as its mouth remained open and its neck pushed forwards to try and eat her, the ropes holding it keeping it from doing so.

"You really like to stay up late, huh, Bean?" asked Hanji, looking at her watch. "It's okay. I'll stay here with you."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Bean, in contrast,” said Hanji, “stayed active, even after three whole hours of sunlight deprivation. They always manage to surprise me. They don’t need food or water, and even though they have vocal organs, there’s no need for them to breathe. All they need to stay alive is sunlight.”

“Wait,” Twilight tried to clarify. “So titans are fully-photosynthetic creatures?”

“Like plants?” asked Rarity.

“Right, but plants also require water and nutrients in the ground in order to thrive. These are functioning creatures that have even simpler living requirements than plants! This is incredible! This borders on impossibility!”

“Wow…” admitted Hanji. “I actually never thought of it that way. OH!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “Conducting experiments with a winged unicorn! Tomorrow couldn’t come sooner!”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. Her capacity and passion to learn practically mirrored her own. And for all extents and purposes, she couldn’t wait to bond with a new potential “study-buddy.”

“I look forward to it,” answered Twilight. “You seem like a fun person to be around, even if everypony else doesn’t think so.”

“I’m very happy about that,” replied Hanji. “I bet Sawney and Bean are just going to love you!”

Twilight gave a sheepish grin, nervous about playing Sawney and Bean for children like Hanji was.

“But still,” Hanji said, “I’m curious about what would happen if they cut off sunlight completely, but they're such valuable experimental subjects, I can't risk them dying. We've killed previous captures by accident. I accidentally hit the nape of their neck when we tried cutting their heads off. Their names were Chicacchironi and Albert. They had such beautiful smiles. I feel bad about what I did to them...”

Eren gasped lightly at this statement.

“I don't want that to happen again,” she sighed. “I'm sorry.”

"Hanji..."

Hanji then tossed her body onto the table, her face becoming one of anguish and pain as she gazed deep into the eyes of Eren and any nearby ponies. The sudden change and action set them all aback some.

“The next stage of my experiments involved coming into direct contact with their bodies!” she shouted, clearly distressed by the memories. “These tests were to test the titans' sense of pain!”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hanji, carrying an eight-foot rod with a hot, burning end, jabbed it into Bean’s right eye. Although Bean's fixed smile remained constant, it didn’t stop the restrained giant from wailing loudly. With each jab and press of the rod into its eye, Hanji screamed in sadness for her test subject, her goggles placed on her forehead, allowing her tears to flow. Many of the soldiers in attendance just stared at Hanji with mild horror and confusion.

“Leader!” shouted the light-brown haired soldier from before, trying talk sense into her. “Is there any need for you to be screaming?”

“How can I not scream,” she shouted, “when Bean is in so much pain?”

Raising the stick up for another jab, she couldn’t help but wince in discomfort at the sight of its mangled, blackened hole where its eye once was.

“Don't give up, Bean!” she cried. “Hang in there!”

Hanji drove the stick back into its eye, forcing another painful roar from Bean. Hanji could not stop crying. As long as Bean hurt, so did she.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Eren was astounded at her capacity to feel remorse for a pair of titans. Rainbow Dash just looked at Rarity and encircled the side of her head with the tip of her hoof, letting her know that she though Hanji was crazy. Applejack’s own hoof smacked the other side Rainbow Dash’s head, causing her to stop.

“Watch the bump!” hissed Rainbow Dash, rubbing where Applejack had hit her.

“I won’t miss it next time,” whispered Applejack. “Now show some respect.”

Twilight, however, despite the unorthodox feelings Hanji had for the two titans, understood her feelings. She merely rested her head on the front side of her hooves with her elbows upon the table and nodded as Hanji tearfully told of her experiments.

“We needed to confirm that titans have no weak spots other than the napes of their necks, you see… It was a heart wrenching task.”

However, her tears stopped as she explained what occurred with the other titan.

“Compared to Bean, Sawney didn’t react much at all.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hanji ran the burning rod into Sawney’s chest. However, the titan continued to stare at Hanji without any change in its expression. While Hanji was still sad about what she was doing, Sawney’s lack of a reaction made her task far less traumatizing.

“Sawney?” she asked it. “I stabbed you in the heart. Doesn't it hurt? What do you feel then?”

Sawney began to open its gaping mouth, groaning as it did so. Hanji was a bit nervous by the reaction, but seeing something different about to happen, she began to turn her nervousness into excitement.

“What is it?” she asked it. “What’s wrong?”

The titan lunged its head forwards, forcing Hanji to dodge its bite, Sawney’s teeth just inches from her neck and shoulder.

“Whoa!” she shouted.

“Leader!” shouted the brown-haired soldier. “Fall back!”

“Ahahaha!” giggled Hanji. “That was really close!”

"You're actually going to end up dying!"

Hanji continued to laugh excitedly, all to the fright of the onlooking soldiers.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“It’s just that Sawney isn’t any good at expressing himself,” Hanji explained simply. “He just keeps trying to bite my head off!”

Applejack was unnerved by her answer. It almost seemed like she was treating the titan almost killing her as a child that talked back to its mother. She turned to Rainbow.

“Okay, Rainbow,” she whispered, “I think you might have a point now.”

“Why do you sound so joyful talking about titans?” Eren quietly demanded.

“Yeah,” answered Rainbow Dash. “What’s up with that? One almost made a snack of your head and you still treat it like a foal who’s in time out!”

“Eh?” Hanji questioned.

“Titans are our natural enemies that drove us to the brink of extinction,” Eren spoke. “Hanji, you’ve experienced the threat they pose yourself many times, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have,” she answered. “I have seen my comrades getting killed right before my eyes countless times. When I first joined the Scouting Legion, I fought titans while fueled by my hatred of them. But one day, I realized something. It was when I kicked and sent flying the freshly severed head of a three-meter class titan; the titan’s body was light; unnaturally so.”

Eren, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were shocked by this prospect.

“Well of course,” Twilight mentioned. “There’s no way a thing that massive could stand on two legs; their bodies would just collapse!”

“Right,” confirmed Hanji, “and that lightness applies to the bodies of all titans. A severed head that should have been quite heavy, in reality, was almost weightless. And then I heard that when you transformed into a titan, Eren, that titan body of yours formed up literally out of thin air. So I thought this: What if the things we see are not the things that are actually there?”

Hanji then poured Eren and herself a cup of tea and refilled the cups of each of the ponies.

“The offensive approach fed by hatred has been tried for decades already. Now, I want to try and look at titans at a different point of view then everyone else's. My attempt may be futile in the end… but… I will do it anyway!”

There was a bit of cathartic silence before Hanji continued with her explanations, Eren using this time to take a sip of his tea.

“Eren, if you take part in the experiments, we might be able to learn something new. And if we do, it may be a step forward for all of us. I know all I do is pin my hopes on you and make you uneasy, but I’m so happy now. No one can do what you’ve done before–”

Right in the middle of Hanji's statement, Spike made a belch that was accompanied by a purple and green flame. The fire formed above the table near Eren and Hanji. While Eren quickly scooted back away from the fire, Hanji tipped in her chair and shrieked slightly, spilling her tea all over the table. The fire, however, condensed into itself and turned into a letter bound by a red ribbon and gold seal.

Eren couldn’t believe what he had just seen. While he had been seeing Twilight’s spells before, he had never seen fire turn into a solid object. The ponies however, were elated to see the letter, knowing exactly who it was from.

“What was that?” asked Eren.

“It’s a letter from the princess!” exclaimed Twilight.

“The…” muttered Hanji, getting up off the ground, “princess?”

“She’s our leader back in our world,” explained Rarity. “She’s the one who sent us all here in the first place.”

“You mean… you have contact with the leader of your home world?”

“Why yes, Hanji. Did no one ever tell you?”

Hanji’s face and smile were shuddering and her breaths were shaky. Clearly, she was getting excited.

“I have to tell Commander Erwin!” she shouted, sprinting out the room through the doors above her.

There was a void of silence following her sudden departure.

“Man,” Eren sighed. “That woman is nuts!”

“That’s what I was trying to tell all of you!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flying above the table.

“Rainbow Dash!” scolded Twilight. “Sit back down!”

Rainbow Dash did as instructed, having gotten her point across.

“What does it say?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight cleared her throat.

“My Little Ponies,

I have not heard from you for days. Are all of you alright? Please respond as soon as possible after receiving this letter.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia"

Twilight groaned, unhappy that she kept her princess waiting for so long.

“Spike,” she asked him, “do you have a quill and paper?”

“Of course!” he answered, pulling both items from his person.

With another clearing of his throat, Twilight dictated her letter.

Dearest Princess Celestia,

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike, and I are perfectly alright. It seemed that our existence had caused a stir in the human world, and so they put us on trial to see if we were beneficial to humanity or not. Thankfully, the Scouting Legion, one of three Military factions in this world, have testified on our behalf and we are currently making our residence with them.

I’m very sorry for not responding to you sooner, but after we recaptured that city, which was named Trost, we left our saddlebags with my papers, quills, and ink inside the HQ building there and they were confiscated by the Military Police, another of the three factions. However, the commander of the last faction, the Garrison, spoke on our behalf and got our belongings returned to us.

Here are some other things that I believe would be of interest to you and Luna. These smaller bipedal creatures are called humans, and the bigger ones are called titans. The planet we are currently on is simply called Earth.

There are three walls that contain the final remnants of humanity. The outer wall is Wall Maria, which had been breached and abandoned five years ago. We are currently inside the next wall: Wall Rose. Further in is Wall Sina, and within that is the kingdom. I hope this may answer some questions that you had back in Equestria.

But we are currently safe with the Scouting Legion, and have actually made quite a few friends here. In fact, I’ll let you hear from some. I hope to hear back soon.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

Eren gasped. He looked to the Twilight, who was already levitating a blank paper and quill to him.

“Huh?” he wondered. “You want me to–”

“Go on!” urged Twilight. “Tell the princess about yourself. I think she would like to get to know you.”

“But… what do I even write?”

“Whatever you want, sugar,” Applejack answered.

Eren was a bit nervous about talking to the leader of a nation on another world, but the reassuring glances of the ponies told him that he’d be fine. With the tip of the quill at the upper left hand corner of the paper, he began his letter.

Dear Celestia,

My name is Eren Jaeger. Until recently, I was a cadet in the 104th Training Squad of the Military, but is now a full-fledged soldier in the Scouting Legion. I have also recently discovered that I have the ability to transform into a fifteen-meter class titan, and I was also put on trial with these ponies because of it. But like them, I have been allowed to join the Scouting Legion to use my titan power to reclaim Wall Maria.

While I find their appearance odd, I am indeed making friends with your ponies, especially Rainbow Dash. She is very loyal and she cares deeply for me, and I also care for her. I also like everyone else, as they seem to still treat me like I’m normal, despite my powers.

While they aren’t with me currently, I have my best friend Armin Arlert and my adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman. I only got to see them last during the trial, and I only hope the best for them. I have not even seen my other friends from the Training Squad since the Trost invasion, but I only hope that they make true to their promise from before the invasion and enlist in the Scouting Legion with us.

Lastly, I want to thank you for sending these ponies here. They are good fighters and even better friends.

From,
Eren

Footsteps were heard down the hall that came closer to the room that Eren and the ponies were in. Suddenly appearing from it was Hanji, but her arms were held behind the door; she was pulling someone in.

“Commander Erwin, sir, you must see this!”

Sure enough, still in his military attire, Erwin was forced into the room by Hanji.

“Hanji,” asked Erwin, “might I ask what you’re doing bringing me down here at this hour?”

“It’s incredible, sir!” she spoke. “Twilight and her friends have connections with their leader on their home world. She just sent Twilight a letter!”

Erwin’s face unchanged, but he stepped forwards, interested by this.

“A letter, you say?” Erwin asked. “What does it say?”

“You can read it yourself,” said Twilight, giving Erwin the letter via her magic.

Erwin scanned through it quickly, putting his eyes back on Twilight.

“Where did this letter come from?” he asked. “How did it come here?”

“Spike has magical dragon’s breath,” answered Twilight. “Princess Celestia can send letters to us through it and Spike sends them back the same way.”

“I see…”

“You may talk to her if you like,” Twilight said, handing Erwin the quill that was left in Eren’s hand.

“And what do you think she would want me to say?” he asked.

“Tell her about the Scouting Legion and what you think of us. Whatever you like.”

Hanji looked betrayed again, wanting to write to Celestia as well. Twilight looked upon her as she turned her head, chuckling at her own forgetfulness.

“Alright, Hanji,” she said, “you can too.”

Twilight levitated another quill and paper from her own person and levitated them both to Hanji, who grasped out for them like a kid being presented a lollypop. Upon gaining them, she immediately put quill to paper and began writing.

“Just don’t write yer life story on that,” Applejack called to her.

Hanji didn’t seem to acknowledge her, being more focused on her writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

My name is Hanji Zoe, and I am a squad commander for the Scouting Legion. I just want to say that it’s an honor to be able to write to you, and that I am really enjoying the ponies’ company. I particularly like Pinkie Pie; she really is just a pink ball of joy that can lift almost anyone’s spirits. I also look forward to spending time with Twilight; she’s extremely bright and she also looks forward to the experiments I have been conducting over the past few days.

I don’t know if it’s convenient for you or not, but I would absolutely love to meet you in person someday so I can talk to you about these experiments. I hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,
Hanji Zoe

Erwin also put careful considerations into his letter to Celestia.

Dear Princess Celestia,

My name is Erwin Smith. I am the head commander of the Military force known as the Scouting Legion. I want to let you know straight away that your ponies are in very good hands. Our force has some of the best soldiers in the entire Military and they will teach the ponies all they know.

I’m not sure how much of this world you already knew before sending them here, but they will be putting their lives on the line for the sake of humanity just as we are. If this disturbs you in any way, feel free to send them back to their homes, but please know that they are a valuable addition to the cause and I firmly believe that they can help see us to victory.

Just as Erwin was about to finish his letter, Levi stepped in.

“Oy!” he exclaimed coldly. “Some of us are trying to get some sleep, so keep it down!”

“Levi!” Twilight said. “You’re just in time. Our princess has just contacted us. Is there anything you would like to say to her?”

Levi took time to consider this. As much as he wanted to go back up to bed, he knew that talking to the leader of an otherworldly nation was something that he shouldn’t pass up.

“I can think of a few things,” he said.

Erwin, seeing Levi walk up to Twilight and taking her last quill and another sheet of paper to write on, finished his letter with one last paragraph.

The Legion's Captain, Levi, will be the one responsible for training the ponies. And while he may come off as cold and violent, he is without a doubt the greatest soldier I have at my disposal, and I know he will be fit for the job.

I hope to hear a response in the near future.

Signed,
E. Smith

Levi knew exactly what to write.

Princess Celestia,

As grateful as we are for your extra reinforcements, do know that they will be put through hell to ensure that they and the rest of humanity survives. As far as I’m concerned, your ponies are nothing more to me than beasts of burden until they can prove themselves valuable soldiers.

I won’t hesitate to insult them. I won’t hesitate to hurt them. I won’t hesitate to break them body and soul, because what’s out there will otherwise destroy them entirely. During the trial, I had to bloody up Rainbow Dash after an outburst from her in the court threatened to see her friends and Eren executed.

It took every soldier at the King’s disposal, myself included, years to train into the soldiers that we are now, and the ponies will be lucky if they have a month before our first mission outside the walls. Their training will be hard on them, and if they can’t handle it, then you might as well send them back home, because I have no patience for weaklings.

Respond as you see fit.

Levi

With his final signature, Twilight took Erwin and Levi’s papers and ordered everyone’s responses together, starting with hers, then Eren’s, then Erwin’s, then Hanji’s, and finally Levi’s.

“I shall be going back to bed,” Levi responded, passing Erwin on his way to the door. “Don’t make me have to come back down tonight.”

With that, Levi turned the corner and headed back to his bedroom. Hanji, Erwin, and Eren watched Twilight as she wrapped and sealed the papers together in ribbon and the gold stamp. She then handed it to Spike, who took a large inhale, remembering Celestia’s warning from before he left, and blew a heavy plume of flames onto the paper.

Eren gasped in shock over what Spike was doing. Hanji squeaked as she watched the flames reduce the paper to cinders, but remembering Levi’s threat, she clamped her mouth with her hand. As the flames vaporized the paper, the ball of fire condensed, getting smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared.

“I assume this is how you send the letter’s back?” asked Erwin.

“That’s correct, sir,” Twilight answered. “I doubt she’ll respond very fast considering the amount of letters she was sent, so if you wish, you can go back to bed.”

Erwin huffed and gave a very slight smile.

“Very well,” he said. “You may all retire whenever you wish. Hanji, when Eren wants to go to bed, you know where the basement is, correct?”

“Yes, sir!” she answered.

“Good. Goodnight.”

Erwin walked out of the room and exited, leaving Eren, Hanji, the ponies, and Spike alone once again. Hanji still couldn’t believe what she had seen. Her letter was sent back to another world through a ball of fire. Hanji’s shock became one of sheer joy, having witnessed something so awesomely fantastical.

“Wahooo!” she exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

“Hanji!” hissed Twilight. “Quiet! Levi will hear you!”

“That was incredible! Just think about how much faster mail is on your world!”

As Levi walked up the stairs towards one of the lengthy hallways, he heard Hanji’s excited shouts downstairs. With a grunt, he turned his head away.

“Pointless…” he muttered before walking down.

Eren continued to watch Hanji express her enthusiasm for the magical abilities of these ponies with shock and awe. While Rarity and Twilight tried their best to hush Hanji by putting their hoofs to their pursed lips, Pinkie Pie jumped up on Hanji’s head, putting her belly over her mouth in an effort to shut her up. Fluttershy hid under the table, expecting Levi to come storming in at any moment.

Ever since I joined the Scouting Legion, Eren thought, watching the chaos as Hanji pushed Pinkie Pie off her face, I get surprise after surprise thrown at me. Not just Major Hanji, but everyone, including and especially these ponies, are weirdos. It’s almost like the Legion is a haven of freaks... But it's also a group of people that demand change… That’s why they’re the Scouting Legion.

“Hanji!” called Eren.

The ponies all looked to Eren before they sat back down in their chairs. Hanji also couldn’t help but wonder why Eren asked for her.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I would like to hear more about your experiments.”

“Eh?” Hanji exclaimed, genuinely surprised at Eren’s genuine interest. “Really?”

“I think I should know as much as I possibly can to be fully prepared for tomorrow’s experiment.”

“I agree,” Twilight added, glad for the tension that left the room. “Plus, I like knowing this kind of stuff. So tell us, Hanji, what else do you have going on?”

Hanji was giggling in anticipation for the details she was about to give as the ponies crowded around her, ready to listen.

“Right,” she stammered through her own intensity, “I did leave out some things in my summary earlier. I will tell you everything,but it might take some time, though…”

“That's fine!” exclaimed Eren.

“Well,” she began, “when we first captured a titan, I made a hypothesis...”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

The morning sun had broken through the sky and into the windows of the old castle, and Hanji was still talking. Eren was still awake, but his lack of any sleep left him in a zombified state as he instinctively nodded to Hanji’s statements and observations. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike had already fallen asleep, having grown bored with Hanji’s ramblings.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, were wide awake and listening to every word Hanji had to say. Both took sips of tea to help keep them up. Fluttershy and Rarity were also trying their best to listen, but were nodding off more and more by the second. Despite the different receptions of Eren or any of the ponies, Hanji continued to talk to her heart’s content.

“So,” she rambled, “you've learned nothing new from what I told you, right? You should have learned all of this as a cadet. You knew it all, right?”

“Yes…” mumbled the weary Eren, “I knew all that…”

“Good!” she exclaimed, waking Eren, Fluttershy, and Rarity back up. “Let's go over it again, and this time, I'll add my personal opinions and assumptions!”

“Huh?” Eren exclaimed. “But it’s already morning.”

“First,” Hanji continued, ignoring him, “the tita–”

The sound of the exit door slamming open awoke and shocked every single creature in the dining hall. They all turned to see a Garrison soldier standing there.

“Is Major Hanji here?” he asked. “Our test subjects… Both titans that were our test subjects were killed.”

Hanji shot up out of her chair, horrified by the news. The ponies shot nervous glances to each other, wondering who could have done such a thing.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

A large group of soldiers were crowded around the site inside Trost where Sawney and Bean were once restrained, but the titans that were there were replaced by smoldering and decomposing ribcages and skeletons. Hanji was above the group, bawling and wailing her eyes out as she watched her work and experiment crumble away before her eyes.

“Sawney! Bean!” she screamed. “This can't be happening! Please tell me I'm dreaming!”

From the back, Eren, who was hooded with his cloak, the ponies, Spike, Levi, Erd, and Gunther, observed the sad scene.

“Poor Hanji,” spoke Twilight solemnly. “And I was so looking forward to working with her on this.”

“Those experimental subjects were very valuable,” Gunther said. “Was this a soldier's doing?”

“Yes. The culprits is still unknown at this point,” answered the nearby Erd. “The two titans were slaughtered at the same time just before sunrise. When guards noticed what was going on, they already escaped using their 3D Manuever Gear.”

“So it was a premeditated attack by two or more people, huh?” asked Gunther.

Eren, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie continued to watch Hanji cry and pull her hair as she watched her two titans that she nearly loved like sons shrivel up.

“Look at our leader,” Auruo spoke with a smug smirk. “She’s losing her shit.”

Petra, fed up with Auruo's insensitivity, forcefully elbowed him straight in the ribs, followed by a pain-riddled grunt from him.

"What on Earth...” sighed Eren.

“Let’s go,” Levi ordered, turning away and beginning to walk. “The Police will deal with the rest.”

“Yes…” sighed Eren, also disappointed for Hanji’s loss.

As the three other humans and the ponies turned to leave, Erwin caught them.

“Eren,” he asked.

“Commander?” Eren exclaimed. “What is going on?”

“What do you see here?” he questioned with his hands upon Eren’s shoulder. “What do you think the enemy is?”

Eren froze up, unable to provide him with an answer. Erwin took his hands off and began to walk away.

“Sorry,” he said with a final pat on Eren’s back, “don't mind me.”

With the commander leaving, Eren, Levi, Erd, Gunther, Auruo, Petra, and the ponies walked away from the place together.