Pixis walked along Wall Rose, taking a swig from an ornate metal flask that he kept in the inner pocket of his jacket. He then stopped and looked below at the interior of the wall inside Trost, standing right on its edge. There were dozens upon dozens of titans trying to climb up, but none were remotely successful, especially the titans under fifteen meters tall. Eren, Mikasa, Armin (now with his 3D Maneuver Gear back on), the ponies, and Spike were all behind him, still looking to see if Eren was okay after transforming into a titan twice that day.

“Huh,” Pixis sighed, “Still haven't seen one....”

“You still haven't seen one what?” asked Twilight.

“I wouldn’t mind being eaten by one of those titans if she happened to be a stunning beauty.”

Twilight was slightly confused, but also interested by his answer.

“Who even is he?” whispered Rarity to Mikasa and Armin.

“That’s Dot Pixis,” Armin explained. “You see, when our home district of Shiganshina was attacked by titans and Wall Maria fell as a result…”

“Hold on,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “I’m a little new to this whole world and all, so could you mind backtracking for us a bit?”

“Certainly,” Mikasa intervened. “Over one-hundred years ago, titans appeared and began to wipe out humanity. Back then, our technology was not nearly advanced enough to even scratch them, and humanity was pushed to extinction. Humans then built four walls: Wall Maria, the outer wall, Wall Rose, the middle wall where we are now, Wall Sina, an inner wall, and the inner district, where the king lives. These walls kept humanity safe… for a time.

“Since the walls’ construction, the Military was formed to protect the last remnants of humanity and to try and reclaim as much land as possible. For a time, the people were safe from the titan threat. That was until the appearance of the Colossal Titan. Being tall and large enough for its head to be able to peer over the fifty-meter walls, it destroyed the barrier of the district of Shiganshina, the southernmost district of Wall Maria where Eren, Armin, and I lived.”

“That must have been scary,” Fluttershy quivered, horrified by the scenario.

“It was horrifying,” Eren butted in. “The Colossal Titan busted down the wall in one kick, letting all of the titans outside in. Many people died… including my mother.”

The ponies gasped, indeed horrified by this fact.

“Eren,” Mikasa tried to speak.

“I watched as a damned titan ate my mother,” he continued, anger and hatred being grunted through his speech, “and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Eren!”

“And I swore that I would wipe out all titans from this–”

“Eren!” Mikasa shouted again, finally getting Eren to stop.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the back of her head. “I can see why you feel so strongly about it.”

“Anyways,” Mikasa resumed, “another titan known by survivors as the Armored Titan, breached Wall Maria, forcing us to surrender the land in between it and Wall Rose to the titans as they poured in from the outside, into Shiganshina and through Wall Maria. The other districts to the east, west, and north of Wall Maria were forced to evacuate to the nearest district at Wall Rose. For Eren, Armin, and I, that happened to be Trost, where we are now.

“One year after the fall of Wall Maria, the three of us enlisted to join the Military and help in the cause to stop titans and save the human race. But to answer your first question, because the titans attacked the south district of Wall Maria, the next logical step was for the titans to invade the southernmost district of Wall Rose, which is Trost. Dot Pixis is the Commander-in-Chief of the southern region, which includes Trost. Because the titans are attacking the southern districts, he is given full authority over the defense of this place as well."

“I see,” answered Twilight. “Thank you, Mikasa. That was very helpful.”

“Still though,” Applejack mentioned, “that story was terrible. I can’t believe anypony could be forced to live a life like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Eren scoffed, “did you say ‘anypony?’ Don’t you mean, ‘anybody?’”

“We must have different terms for things between both of our worlds,” Twilight guessed.

Suddenly, it dawned on Eren that he still had no idea what exactly these creatures were.

“Wait. Worlds? Magic? Who– no. What even are you?”

“You know,” Pixis spoke, approaching them, “I’m inclined to know as well. Perhaps we can start by knowing your names.”

“Of course,” Twilight exclaimed, reaching her hoof out. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ah! A pleasure, Ms. Sparkle.”

As Pixis shook the hoof of the lavender alicorn, who smiled at Pixis’ kindness and sincerity, the other ponies formed a line to introduce themselves as well. Twilight finished, allowing the next in line, Applejack, to introduce herself.

“I’m Applejack,” she said, allowing the commander to shake her hoof. “Great to meet you, Pixis.”

Pinkie Pie was up next, instead opting to vigorously shake Pixis’s hand with both of her front hooves.

“Hi!” she chirped, still shaking his hand. “I’m Pinkie Pie. It’s an honor to meet you Mr. Pixie! You certainly don’t look like any pixie I’ve ever seen! Have you ever eaten a pixie before? You know those chocolate covered caramels with pecans in them? Aren’t they delish? Perhaps I can make you some when yo– WHOA!”

Rainbow Dash had already pulled Pinkie Pie away by her tail, ending her rant.

“Sorry about her,” Rainbow Dash said. “She can get a bit loopy when she meets new friends.”

“It’s quite alright,” answered Pixis with a warm smile. “In fact, it’s quite refreshing to see such cheerfulness from someone, even in these desperate times.”

“Great! Anyway, the name’s Rainbow Dash.”

“An honor,” he spoke, shaking her hoof.

Once she was finished, Spike walked up to Pixis. Their size differences forced Pixis to a kneel as he shook Spike’s claw.

“Hi, Mr. Pixis,” Spike greeted. “I’m Spike. I’m a dragon. I’m also Twilight’s #1 assistant.”

“How charming,” Pixis proclaimed.

He then looked over Spikes shoulder to see Fluttershy huddled behind Mikasa and Armin, trembling in fear.

“What about her?” asked Pixis.

“That’s Fluttershy,” answered Spike. “As you can probably guess, she’s a bit nervous around strangers.”

“Come on,” Twilight said, lifting Fluttershy to Pixis with her magic.

Eren and Pixis, who were unknown to the magical abilities of Twilight and Rarity, looked upon this act with genuine awe, with Pixis even chuckling as if he had just recognized a long lost friend. Twilight set the balled up pegasus in front of Pixis, who continued to hide herself away behind her flowing mane.

“What’s with you?” asked Rainbow Dash harshly. “You’re being really rude right now!”

“It’s just that…” Fluttershy whimpered, pointing at Pixis’s jacket, “…that crest…”

“My crest?” Wondered Pixis as he looked at the shield and rose patch on his jacket pocket. “Oh… I see.”

She must still be upset about that one commander, thought Twilight.

“You see, there are three different branches in the military: there’s the Military Police, who are stationed in the inner district and protect the king, there’s the Scouting Legion, who focuses on retaking land outside of the walls, and then there’s us,” he said, pointing at the patch on his front-left jacket pocket, “the Garrison, who manage the walls and keep order in each of the districts.”

“And what about the crossed swords crest on Mikasa and Armin?” asked Twilight.

“Those are the marks of the cadets. By tomorrow, if there’s a tomorrow to speak of, the soldiers will be able to choose which of the three branches they wish to join. However, only the top ten in each graduating class gets the honor of joining the Military Police.”

“Huh. I think I got it.”

“However, if my status as being part of the Garrison is what you’re worried about,” continued Pixis to Fluttershy, “just know that I’m nothing like that one man back there, and I’ll see to it that you see him as little as possible. Is that okay?”

“See, Fluttershy?” urged Rainbow Dash. “He’s cool. Now say hi to him. Of course, be sure to turn off your shield if you have it on.”

“Shield?”

“You see, Mr. Pixis,” Twilight answered, “our leader, before she sent us here, casted a spell on us that would allow us to protect ourselves with a barrier around humans that made us uncomfortable.”

“My! How fascinating.”

“It’s okay,” cooed Rarity, stroking Fluttershy’s mane. “He won’t hurt you.”

Fluttershy, still somewhat frightened, looked up to Pixis with a sad pout, hoping somewhat that he could stay away. However, Pixis slowly lowered his hand towards the side of Fluttershy’s head and set strands of hair from her mane behind her ears before he gently scratched them.

Fluttershy’s apprehension began to melt as a pleasurable smile appeared on her face. With Fluttershy’s acceptance of him, Pixis produced another warm smile. Eren was merely surprised by how well Pixis was taking to the talking ponies and, frankly, how friendly they seemed.

“So Eren,” asked Twilight, “did you get all of that? You know who each of us are?”

“Let’s see…” pondered Eren as he pointed his finger to each pony as he named them. “You’re Twilight, Pixis is with Fluttershy, that’s Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, that dragon thing is Spike, and that blue one is…”

Suddenly, Eren flashed back.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Eren, in his titan form, saw as Rainbow Dash was struck by the abnormal titan that killed Thomas, sending her careening into a nearby building.

“Rainbow Dash!” her friends called from the roof of HQ.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Rainbow Dash!” Eren shouted, putting the ponies aback.

“Heh!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “No need to scream it, Eren. We’re right here.”

“I… don’t know what happened there. Now I think I know where I saw you before.”

“Wait,” Applejack butted in. “What’s that supposed to mean? Did you not see us back there?”

“No, it’s just… when I was still a titan, I vaguely remember her coming to save me or something. Then, when the abnormal titan struck her, both the memory of losing Thomas as well as seeing an ally of mine getting hurt, it must have fueled me on even further.”

“So you do remember being a titan?” Pixis asked.

“Only vaguely sir. It just kind of came in a flash, like a dream.”

“…I see.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

From below the wall, Felman looked upwards towards Eren and Pixis’s direction, still fuming that he wasn’t able to stop Eren or his friends.

"What is the commander thinking?" he fumed. "Up there of all places with those freaks. Without so much as one bodyguard."

"The commander's reasoning is beyond the comprehension of mere men," replied the grey-haired woman soldier."

“Captain, sir!” a soldier called. “The squadron is assembled!”

“Ah, right,” he exclaimed, turning around, “good job…”

The captain was dismayed by the sight now before him. Each of the soldiers lined up to his command sported melancholy and reluctant faces like lambs to the slaughter.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Well, now that we have the introductions out of the way, would you mind telling us where you’re from?” asked Pixis to the ponies.

“You see, Mr. Pixis, we come from a land called Equestria, which I can safely tell you is on another world far from yours. There, the dominant species are ponies, which range from earth ponies like Applejack and Pinkie Pie, unicorns like Rarity, pegasi like Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and alicorns such as myself.”

“Fascinating. I would love to get to know more about this.”

“Well, when we took back the headquarters, we left our saddlebags inside, and my saddlebags contain books about Equestrian history, wildlife, geography, as well as some medical textbooks about the different anatomies of the four different types of ponies.”

“I’ll take note of that if we get out of this mess.”

“Anyways, our leader, Princess Celestia, along with her sister, Princess Luna, who are both alicorns, have been trying to search the cosmos for life on worlds beyond ours. Just recently we found one: yours. However, upon seeing the state Earth is in, Celestia asked me and my friends to volunteer and help your species save this world against the titans.”

“I can only assume why your leaders would have any interest in our world.”

“She’s expressed how eager she is to learn from your species and vice versa, and judging from your advances in technology, namely your three-dimensional maneuver gear, I can see you offering much to Equestria.”

“My, how flattering. How exactly did you come to this world?”

“They came in a bolt of lightning,” Mikasa testified. “I saw it myself.”

“It’s true, Mr. Pixis,” confirmed Twilight. “Princess Celestia hastened our arrival by casting a teleportation spell with plasma, which is what lightning is made from on our world. In fact, Mikasa was the first human we met on this world and let us join her.”

Pixis smiled, his following nod telling them that he believed them.

“So Mr. Pixis, if there’s anything us ponies can do to assist you and your soldiers, then we’ll gladly do it.”

The rest of Twilight’s friends responded with a positive, “Mmhm.” Pixis couldn’t help but notice a small glimmer coming from Eren’s chest beneath his shirt.

“I wanted to ask,” Pixis said to Eren, “you were holding onto a key when we scaled the wall just moments ago. What is its purpose?”

Eren pulled his necklace from under his shirt and held it in front of him so Pixis could see it.

“I’m not entirely sure myself,” Eren answered truthfully. “All I know is that this key was given to me from my dad, and that by going into the basement at my old home in Shiganshina, that I’d find out ‘the truth.’ I don’t know how I’m able to turn into a titan, or what’s in that basement, but all I know is that he’s responsible for it, and I need to go there and find out what’s there.”

Pixis stood silent, assessing his words.

“I see…” he finally spoke. “So you believe going into that basement holds all the answers you seek?”

“Yes,” confirmed Eren. “Sir, will you believe me?”

“For now,” Pixis responded while turning to face him and tapping his noggin with his finger, “I’ll keep in mind everything for which you can’t provide any positive proof by yourself. However, you can prove your true intentions by your actions right now. Provided you intend to obtain material that could make sense of this whole mess, I shall personally see to your protection and that of your friends.”

The ten of them gave a sigh of relief. Pixis then looked to see Armin, reminding him of the speech he gave to protect him and his friends.

“Cadet Armin, was it?” asked Pixis.

“Sir!” Armin called, saluting him.

“You mentioned something earlier about how using this ‘titan power’ might enable us to retake this city. Did you really mean that, or were you just desperate to save your life?”

“It was…” Armin tried to answer. “It was both! I mean,” he tried to elaborate, pointing to what appeared to be a large boulder near the hole in the south end of Trost’s wall, “what I was trying to say back then is that Eren could take on his titan form, carry that large boulder all the way to the destroyed gate, and block the gap with it.”

The present humans, ponies, and dragon looked upon Armin expectantly, trying to determine themselves whether the plan was crazy enough to work or just plain crazy.

“It was just a simplistic idea I came up with. But couldn't you look at Eren's power as a chance to turn this situation in our favor? Of course, I really, really desperate to save our lives, but...”

"Desperate to save..." mused Pixis aloud as he turned to look back out at Trost, pulling his flask out. "Those words are worth more than anything."

As Pixis took another swig from the flask, Eren and the ponies were touched by Pixis' regard for their lives. Mikasa and Armin, however, waited for any suggestions that Pixis could make. Pixis walked back to Eren and crouched down to his level, looking him straight in the eye.

“What do you say, Cadet Jaeger?” asked Pixis with calmness in his voice.

"Sir?" questioned Eren.

“Can you close up that hole?”

Eren didn’t know how to answer that. He was still new to his titan powers and didn’t know how or if he could control them.

"I'm not sure," he answered, looking away shamefully. "I don't understand this more than the rest of you. It'd be irresponsible for me to answer as if I knew either way."

"Oh, right, sorry," apologized Pixis. "I asked the wrong question."

Eren looked back at the commander, awaiting the question.

"Will you close up that hole or not? Which is it?"

Now the answer was more absolute and direct, Pixis's stare only serving to make the choice worse. Despite the likely possibility of failure, the other alternative would be even worse: to let the titans continue pouring into Trost and let Wall Rose fall as Wall Maria did five years ago. Looking out at the land inside Wall Rose, Eren knew he could not allow this to happen.

“I’ll do it, sir,” he answered confidently, “I will do it! I'm not sure if I can close the gap, but I'll still do it!”

Pixis’s calm face quickly morphed into a confident smile.

“Well said!” he complimented, patting Eren on the shoulders. “Spoken like a real man.”

He then stood back up faced the town north of the wall, hoping to call any captains that would be nearby.

“Call in my strategists!” shouted Pixis. "We'll develop a plan!"

“Uh?” stammered Armin, shocked over Pixis’s seemingly oversimplistic optimism. “No way, this is crazy! It’s just some overoptimistic, poorly-thought out plan that I came up with! He's just going to go along with it?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Eren spoke, “but there's no sense in doubting his decision. Commander Pixis must see potential in something the rest of us can't see."

"Something we can't see?"

"Also, I think there's a bigger issue that needs to be addressed before this plan can be executed. Commander Pixis completely understands it."

"What do you mean?"

"The titan’s aren’t our only enemies.”

“Uh…” Armin tried to retort, but stopped upon seeing three other soldiers and Pixis come to accompany Eren and all of his friends.

“There's no time to waste,” stated Pixis. “We need your help, young soldiers and ponies.”

As Pixis walked east down the wall towards the gate, Rainbow Dash walked to the left of the kneeling Eren while Applejack walked to his right, both of their sides brushing against his arms. Eren couldn’t help but feel off put by their proximity to him.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Come on, Eren,” Applejack advised. “I bet yer still mighty sore from becoming a titan and all, so put your hands on each of our backs and push.”

Eren knowing time was running short, placed his hands on the center of Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s backs and pushed as instructed, putting him to his feet and groaning as he did so, still sore as Applejack had predicted.

“Upsy-daisy!” Rainbow Dash said as Eren swooned slightly.

Once Eren got his balance, he felt strong again, ready to take Armin’s desperate plan into action.

“Y’all right there, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

“Hmm,” Eren hummed affirmatively, “much better. Thank you.”

Eren scratched the two ponies behind the ears, causing them both to chuckle in pleasure. While Eren’s hand moved off Applejack’s ear, he couldn’t help but continue with Rainbow Dash, moving on to the side of her neck to the base of her mane. Rainbow Dash hummed in bliss with closed eyes and a wide smile on her face.

“Eren,” spoke one of the soldiers that Pixis had brought, “you can play ‘Petting Zoo’ later. Commander Pixis is expecting you.”

“Right,” Eren said, taking his hand off and running towards him.

Rainbow Dash’s moment of serenity was gone, forcing her to open her eyes and pout in shock. Rainbow Dash looked at him go, almost saddened by his leaving.

“Aww,” Pinkie Pie spoke, sliding out from underneath Rainbow Dash’s forelegs. “Rainbow Dash likes Eren!”

“What?” shouted Rainbow Dash, beginning to blush and turning her head away. “Sure, I like him, but not like that…”

“You two definitely share many similarities,” Twilight added.

“Not to mention that memory he said he had as a titan,” said Rarity. “It’s probably just his way of showing his gratitude.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash mumbled. “I’m sure that’s it…”

“Ponies!” the soldier called. “Pixis wants you too. We’ll take care of Mikasa and Armin. Now go!”

Rainbow Dash, too eager to join Eren, galloped off almost immediately. Twilight and her friends, each taking a light-hearted sigh, ran off to join her.