Everyone was in the throne room, minding their own business as they waited for their food. Drak was seated on the floor with his head down, keeping his attention off of everyone. Marcus was lying on his back as he stared up at the ceiling. He would occasionally look at the two rulers and see Rainbow quickly avert her gaze. He shrugged since she was most likely staring out of curiosity. Andrew was talking with the shy mare about animals. Before the food arrived they learned that the correct term for them was ponies. Horses did exist but they lived further away.

Everyone brought their attention to the doors when they heard them open. The friends all got up as carts of food were pushed towards them. They were happy to see the food, but were soon depressed to see nothing but fruit, hay, and vegetables to choose from. Still, they grabbed a plate and filled it with food. Once they had their food, the ponies grabbed some for themselves and went back to where they were stationed before.

“Any reason you didn’t offer any meat on those food carts?” Ryan asked as he bit into his apple.

“What do you mean? No one here eats any kind of meat except for pegasi,” Celestia stated.

“Well, then I believe this will be a good opportunity to break the first barrier,” Marcus said as he set down his corn. “Unlike all you which seem to be just herbivores, we can eat both. We call it being omnivorous and it helps to sustain us,” Marcus watched as some of the ponies turned a little green. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“S-so you e-eat b-both plants and a-a-animals?” Fluttershy asked as she was on the verge of tears.

“We do, but they aren’t all that sentient like you. They are just smart enough to know how to live, but that is just it,” Andrew answered, hoping to calm his new friend.

“Now my question is what exactly are you? I can see that she is a unicorn, she is a pegasus, and she is just normal,” Blake said as he pointed to the mares. “You seem to hold traits of their species so what does it make you?”

“My sister, niece, and I are alicorns. We are given traits of the three pony races. We are also immortal and are the rulers of this land,” Celestia answered as she smiled at them. Some of the friends still cringed at the sight because it was just too genuine.

“So then what exactly are you then? You seem somewhat like us, but you don’t have any fur covering you,” Twilight asked as she pulled out a notebook and pen.

“I can assure you that we are nothing like you. I assume that magic is real in this world,” The lavender mare nodded. “Then I can start by saying that we don’t have magic like you all do,” Twilight couldn’t help but gasp at that comment.

“Then how do you go about you daily lives?” Twilight asked.

“We just make do with what we have and persevere through anything,” Twilight nodded her head slightly as she continued to write.

“So then what is your race called it you can’t perform magic?” Celestia asked.

“We are known as humans. At least six of us are more human than anything,” Callie said looking a little sad.

“Then which of you aren’t as ‘human’ as the others?” Luna asked, but her gaze was ever present on Marcus.

“That would be Blake, Andrew, Luke, and myself,” Marcus answered.

“How exactly are you not as ‘human’ as your other friends?” Celestia asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“That is a story for another time or more likely never,” Marcus stated seriously.

“Why can’t you tell us?” Twilight asked.

“I won’t because we all promised to never talk about it. We just want to forget about it and just move on.”

“How did you all get here anyways?” Luna asked.

“Well, we got cornered by some soldiers and then a portal appeared. We took our chances and jumped through it. The rest is pretty much history,” Luke answered.

Silence came over the room and everyone returned to eating. Marcus was busy eating his apple as he stared at the white unicorn that kept staring at them. He finished the apple and threw the core onto his plate. He was getting annoyed with being stared at by Rarity. He set his plate down a sighed deeply.

“Okay, Rarity, why do you keep staring at us?” Marcus asked.

“I’m just very curious about your clothing. Some of it is decent, but then some of them are horrendous,” Marcus just gave a slight squint at the white mare.

“Why does it matter what we wear? We didn’t have much time to grab presentable clothing,” Marcus stated.

“Well, I could make you some clothing if you need a new wardrobe. Especially your friend Callie over there,” everyone turned to look at Callie. She just shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat.

“If you want to make us clothes then you can. Though you aren’t taking any measurements on me personally. I will just tell you my measurements,” Luke said.

“I have to take your measurements if I am to make accurate clothing for your bodies,” Rarity said as she started to fume.

“I understand that is your job, but some of us are not wanting to strip down naked in front of you. So either you can accept the little help that we are giving you or you don’t have to make us clothes except the ones that want to be measured,” Marcus said.

“Fine, have it your way. I will talk to you all later so I can take your measurements and get notes on what you want designed,” Rarity said as she rubbed her temples.

“Don’t worry, Rares, I’m pretty sure that they are afraid,” Rainbow Dash said. This got Marcus’ attention as he turned to face the rainbow maned pegasus.

“I think that it is you that is afraid of us, Dashie,” Marcus said as he grinned. Her face turned a light scarlet at the nickname.

“Don’t you dare call me that. I can take you on any time of the week,” Rainbow said as she walked closer to the human. She was now standing face to face with him. He was only two inches taller than her, but she wasn’t going to back down.

“You want try me?” Marcus asked as he stared into her magenta eyes. To him, they were really beautiful, but it felt wrong.

“You just name the time and place and I will be there,” Dash growled.

“Rainbow, please back away before you get hurt,” Pinkie said a little hurt at her friend’s actions.

“Why should I? This guy thinks that he can take me and I won’t be talked down to,” Rainbow retorted.

“Pinkie is right, Dash. If you look at his left hand you will see why,” Twilight said.

The pegasus looked down and saw that he had his hand on his knife. She looked up and saw that he was ready for anything that she would try. She growled slightly as she backed away from him. He noticed that she had a tattoo on her hand and was curious as to what it was.

“What exactly are those tattoos that you all have on your hands?” Marcus asked.

“These aren’t tattoos, they are our cutie marks,” Twilight answered.

“What in God’s name is a cutie mark?” Alex asked.

“They help to showcase a pony’s special talent. Why, don’t humans have them?” Twilight asked.

“Not really no. Most of the time humans go through schooling to learn a special set of skills in something that they may enjoy. If we don’t then we go through more schooling for a different set of skills. The only thing that is similar is tattoos that can either be permanent or temporary,” Ryan explained. Pinkie for some weird reason got depressed from hearing this. She ran quickly towards the friends and picked them all up in a one crushing hug.

“How… the… fuck… did… she… do… that?” Luke asked as he tried to get air back into his lungs.

“It’s just Pinkie being herself. You would be better off not questioning it. You’ll hurt yourselves if you try and figure her out.” Applejack said. Marcus could feel his anger spike a bit, but fought it back down into the depths.

“So, Applejack, how is your head doing?” Ryan asked.

“It’s doing fine, but why do you ask?”

“Just making sure there wasn’t any real damage to your head when I whacked you with that branch,” Ryan said as he smiled sheepishly.

“Wait a minute. Are you the one that I saw eating my apples yesterday morning?” Applejack was furious and the way she was staring at the human looked like she was ready to kill. Luke got ready in case she tried to charge his friend.

“Yes I am and I am sorry that I took without asking, but I needed something to eat. If there is a way that I can make it up to you then name it.”

“Fine. You will help me on the orchard and in the barn later,” Applejack continued to glare, but she did calm down a bit.

“I guess we have everything settled then for now,” Celestia said. “You all shall be staying with Twilight while we determine what we can do with you for now.”

“WHAT!” Everyone yelled at the princess.

“Celestia, you can’t be serious,” Twilight groaned.

“For once I will agree with her on something. We still barely know you and I speak for myself that I don’t trust you all very much for about as far that I could throw you,” Marcus said.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. They will be going with you and your friends back to Ponyville. There will be guards stationed there to keep an eye on them. Also, it is a good time for them to leave since it is dark out and they can get on the train without being seen.” Celestia smiled and Blake could see there is more than she is letting on. The alicorn clapped her hands and many guards came running into the throne room.

“Guards, you are to escort my student and her friends along with these ten friends back to Ponyville. Keep an eye on them and report any suspicious activity they may be up to. Use force if necessary to stop them,” the guards saluted as the friends grabbed their cloaks and put them on.

“Fair warning to you princess, if your guards try and harm myself or my friends then I won’t hesitate to separate their head from their shoulders,” Marcus warned as he stared into the princess’ eyes. She could see the fire that burned in his eyes, showing that he was serious. He turned around to see that Drak was slightly shaking. He walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know that you don’t like being surrounded by crowds, but please try to endure. If it helps stand in the middle of us and try to keep your eyes on the ground or one of us. You will be okay and they will have to get through us first if they want to hurt you,” Marcus saw him give a slight nod of his head. He extended his hand and his friend took it as he was helped up to his feet.

“Also before I forget, my sister will join you on your train ride to Ponyville. She will keep an eye on you so you don’t try and hurt any of my ponies,” Celestia said as she stared at the group.

The friends had their cloaks on and were ready to move out when the guards were. Twilight and her friends walked in front of the guards while Marcus and the gang were encircled by them. Drak kept his eyes glued to the ground as he matched the speed of everyone walking around him. Even with his eyes on the ground he could still feel some of the guards staring at him and that made him shake a little. Ryan put a hand on his shoulder as he tried to calm him down. They reached the train station and waited as Luna bought the tickets for everyone. With their tickets in hand, they all boarded the train as they showed the conductor their tickets.

Once in the train everyone took a seat. Twilight stayed with her friends and the princess while the guards were spread along the entirety of the train. The friends stayed close to each other, but took off the hoods to their cloaks. They waited a few minutes before the train finally started to move. Brandon looked out as he saw the scenery that they were passing.

“So how long until we reach Ponyville?” Callie asked.

“We should be there in about seven hours,” everyone groaned about the long train ride. With nothing else to do the friends pulled out their phones and plugged in their headphones.

“Excuse me, but what are you doing?” Twilight asked.

“Well, since we have a long train ride we are going to listen to some music and get some sleep,” Jaeden answered. The lavender mare thought that would be a good idea as she let out a yawn and stretched in her seat.

The friends plugged in their headphones and started up a random playlist. With their songs playing in their ears they closed their eyes as they drifted off into slumber. An hour passed before Marcus opened his eyes and looked around. He saw that everyone was asleep so he paused his music and got up. He looked out some of the windows to see that the guards in the other cars were asleep. He opened the transition door and exited his cart. He looked to his left and saw the ladder attached to the cart.

Luna wasn’t really asleep on the seat. She never slept during the night so she could watch over her ponies’ dreams. She noticed the human get up from his seat and look around. She kept her head down so he would think that she was sleeping. She heard the door open and looked up. She watched as he climbed the ladder to the top. She got up from her seat and headed for where he was going. She reached the top of the train car and looked at him. He was sitting on the edge of the car and was looking off into the distance.

She listened to the music that he was playing and she couldn’t help but let a few tears fall from her eyes. She got to the top of the cart and walked over to him. She stood there for a few seconds trying to decide what to do. After several seconds of thinking she reached out her hand and touched his shoulder. The human reacted quickly as he pulled out his knife and held it to the princess’ throat. The alicorn would have been scared, but she saw the tears falling from his face. He registered that it was the night princess and put his knife his away.

“What do you want?” Marcus stated a little coldly as he rubbed his eyes.

“I came to see what you were up to at this late of time,” Luna answered calmly.

“Just came up here to do some thinking and listen to some music,” Luna could hear the slight hurt that was in his tone.

“Do you possibly want to talk about it?” Luna asked as she carefully stepped towards him.

“I won’t tell you the story, but I will tell you the lesson that I learned.” Marcus turned as he stared into her sapphire eyes. “You may think that you know someone, but it takes only one thing to make your view of them shatter,” Luna stared out at the expanse to get a feel of what he may have been looking at.

“If I may, I do have something I want to confess,” this got his attention as he turned towards her. “Before I tell you what I saw, I want to mention that I have the power to enter dreams so that everypony can sleep peacefully,” Luna could see some of the color drain from his face.

“It may have been only an hour, but I saw what you meant when you mentioned that you and the others aren’t as human as the rest.”

“So are you going to rat us out or try and kill us?” Luna could only look at him as he held no emotion in what he said. “You wouldn’t be the first to try, but possibly the first to succeed if you tried hard enough.”

“I don’t wish to try anything on any of you. If what I saw for a glimpse in those dreams was true then you wouldn’t hold back for a second.”

“You would be correct in assuming that, princess. I can also tell you with certainty that the dream you saw doesn’t even begin to describe the horror that we caused.”

“How many have you all killed?” Luna asked with a little trepidation in her voice.

“I think that we both know that you don’t want an answer to that question,” Luna could only look down as she knew he was right.

“Do you ever sleep during the night?”

“I used to, but not anymore. The nightmares are too much for me to handle especially since there have been times that I have done things that they weren’t around for.”

“If you want, I could help you with your nightmares if you give me the chance.”

“As tempting as that offer is, princess, I respectfully decline. Now if you may, I would like to be left alone up here,” Luna could only look at him for a few seconds before heading back down. She gave one look at the human to see him pull something out and let it get taken away by the breeze.

The alicorn went back to her seat and closed her eyes. She couldn’t help but feel the need to tell her sister about what she saw. She needed to know what they kind of went through, but she didn’t want them to be hunted down by the guards. If what she saw was true then these ten wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them. She would give it more time before she told her sister so that they could remain safe. The dark blue alicorn looked up as she heard the gentle click of the door. She watched as the human took his seat and leaned back.

The train was pulling into the station and everyone was starting to wake up. As they stretched and looked around they notice that Luke and Marcus were missing from the group. They all quickly ran out to see the two friends on the roof of the ticket station looking around. It was still dark out so all the ponies were still asleep. They looked down to see the princess looking up at them. They jumped off the roof and joined their friends so they could continue their walk.

They walked through the streets quietly so they wouldn’t stir the residents. The friends took a good look at their surroundings, noting each building. Drak was still shaking slightly with being surrounded, but with his friends around him no one else noticed. As they walked they reached a giant oak tree that was also a house. Twilight unlocked the door to the tree and when they all entered they could see that it was also a library. The friends scanned the books trying to read the spines for anything interesting.

Brandon was pushed in the back by a guard that wanted him to keep moving. He grabbed the guard by the throat and stared straight into his eyes. He was ready to give that guard a piece of his mind if Callie and Andrew didn’t pull him off. The guard rubbed his throat as he did the ‘I’m watching you’ motion. The human only responded with flipping him off and was slapped in the back of the head by Luke. They continued to walk as they were led to the basement of the library. Twilight opened another door and they all entered.

“So we are going to be sleeping in this tiny basement,” Ryan said.

“There is no way that you can expect us to sleep in such a tiny room,” Blake said.

“Give me a few moments and you will be able to find this room more comfortable,” Luna said as her horn and hands started to glow. The friends had to cover their eyes from the blinding flash of light. Once the light died down the friends saw that there were ten different bedrooms in the basement.

“What exactly did you do?” Marcus asked.

“I just opened a tiny rift in space so that you have a place to sleep for the night.”

“You expect us to open these doors and sleep in a room that you created, thinking that everything will be safe,” Alex stated a little coldly.

“We know that you don’t trust us when we only met, but if I wanted to do something to you, I already would have,” Luna shot back at Alex. Brandon was about to say something but was stopped when Marcus pulled everyone into a huddle.

“Listen I know that we can’t trust them, but for now some of us need the sleep. She is also right about already dealing with us if she wanted to. She is holding something back, but I am unsure. So for now just try and get some sleep. I’ll keep watch for the night so they don’t try anything funny,” everyone knew that Marcus was right, but this was the first time that they didn’t know if he could handle it. “I can see that you don’t trust in what I say. I don’t blame you because I feel like I am lying to myself, but we have been through worse and there is nothing they can do to stop us.”

Everyone gave a slight nod as they broke apart. They looked at the princess as she gave a small smile. The friends only shook their heads as they went to the doors. As they stood in front of the doors they took off their cloaks and threw them to the side. Rarity gave a little huff at their sloppiness as she picked up their cloaks and hung them up. Some of the friends couldn’t help but laugh at her little antics. Once they were done chuckling they opened the doors and stopped mid-step. The rooms looked like the ones that they once had back on earth.

Marcus slammed his door shut from fear of seeing the room. Sweat started to form on his brow as he tried to control his breathing. His friends tried to come over and help him, but he stuck out his hand. He just waved them off as they headed into their rooms. Once they were out of sight, he looked back at his door and opened it again. He looked around at his room and entered as he closed the door behind him. He sat on his twin bed as he waited a few hours before leaving the room.

As time slowly went by he went about his room, looking at his bookshelf and closet. Sadly they were missing the stuff that they used to have adorning it, but that was to be expected. It hurt him to see his old room and was sure that it probably hurt his friends as much if not more. A couple of hours went by as he just looked at his room. He released a deep breath as he opened his door to be greeted with the basement. He walked over to Drak’s door and knocked on it. A few seconds later, his friend opened the door.

“Hey, Drak, I was wondering if you needed some company with you tonight.”

“I-I w-would like t-that,” Drak answered after a long time.

He felt a little happy that his friend was in a sense of calm to at least give him a verbal answer. He walked over to Andrew’s door and knocked on it. Andrew answered the door and looked at him.

“Hey, Andrew, if it isn’t too much trouble Drak would like some company in his room. I don’t think that they will let us sleep down here if they didn’t have a regular check. I know that he is capable of handling himself, but I think it will do him some good knowing that there was a friend watching his back.”

Andrew gave him a nod as he walked over to join Drak in his room. Drak was a very good fighter, but with the unknown of what these ponies could do it doesn’t hurt to have some backup. Marcus walked towards the stairs quietly and ascended them. He reached the door and tried to turn the handle. The door wasn’t locked and he found it weird. Before he opened his door all the way, he closed his eyes and reopened them. He saw the heat given off by the ponies and they were all lying down.

He walked out the door to see that guards were asleep all over the floor. He knew that the only one not asleep would be the princess, but he wanted some fresh air. He carefully navigated his way around the sleeping guards and found the front door. He opened the door quietly and snuck out into the night. He stared at the open expanse of this tiny village and looked back at the library. He decided that there would be enough time to explore so he climbed to the top of the tree and leaned back on a branch.

There were many things in this world that would need to be explained, but that could wait until tomorrow. For now he just watched the village shimmer in the moonlight as he relaxed. He would have been able to relax a little longer if he wasn’t tackled out of the tree. When he hit the ground he groaned quietly at the pain that shot down his back. He opened his eyes to see a rainbow mane in his face. As he looked down he was met with a pair of magenta eyes burning with rage.

“Just what the fuck are you doing out here?” Marcus asked as he returned the stare.

“I could ask you the same thing, buddy,” Dash retorted.

“First off, I’m not you buddy and secondly, get the hell off of me.”

“And just why would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t then I will force you off.”

“I would like to see you try,” Marcus could feel his arms pinned to the ground and saw that he was held in place by her tail. Even with her being a pegasus she did have some strength to her.

He thought about it for a few seconds about how he was going to escape. He decided on something, but was going to smack himself later for it. He looked her in the eyes and gave a little grin. The pegasus only got angrier at the grin and got a little closer to him. She was close enough that he quickly lifted his head and licked her muzzle. She jumped back from the feeling of his tongue and he jumped to his feet. He was about to walk off, but before he could he felt a fist connect with his right cheek.

“Why the buck did you lick me?” Dash asked angrily, but he could see the slight blush forming on her face.

“Well, I said that I would force you off and you wanted to see me try. That is what you get when you challenge me,” Marcus answered as he rubbed his cheek.

“You just listen here, buddy, if you ever do that to me again or even hint towards hurting my friends then I will beat your ass into the ground,” Dash threatened as she held him against the tree.

“Then I guess I don’t need to make the same warning since we think alike,” Marcus couldn’t help but chuckle.

Dash started to walk away, but before she rounded the tree she turned back around and gave him one final glare. After that glare she turned back around and headed back into the tree. He stretched his back as he felt his bones pop all over his body. He brushed the dirt off his pants as he stared into the moon, hoping this would all end. Knowing that might never happen, he went back into the house only to be punched back outside.

He jumped back to his feet and was staring at the guard that punched him. He was smirking as he walked out and closed the door. He stared at him for a few seconds, trying to read his movements.

“What was that about me not landing a blow on you?” The guards asked. After he asked that he knew who exactly it was.

“Oh, are you that whiny guard that made all those empty threats?” Marcus teasingly asked. To him, the guard wasn’t much since he didn’t have any wings or a horn.

“Oh, trust me when I say that they won’t be empty threats for long,” the guard said as he charged at him. The human easily side stepped him and jumped back a couple of feet.

“Before we get started, I would like to know your name.”

“My name is Iron Shield, but that doesn’t matter since you won’t be alive to remember it. I on the other hand would like to know who I am going to kill.”

“The name is Marcus and it will be you that won’t live long enough to remember it,” the guard only laughed as he pulled out his sword and threw off his helmet. He shook his head, letting his silver mane blow in the breeze.

They stood their ground, staring at each other for a few seconds before the guard charged at him. The human stood his ground as he spread his feet a little further apart. The guard went for a thrust with his sword and scored a hit. He felt the blade slide through the human’s abdomen and couldn’t help but laugh. He had easy fights before, but this one really took the cake. He was about to pull out his sword, but was stopped by a hand on the hilt. He looked down at the hand and then up at the face. What he saw nearly made him shit his pants.

The human had a huge smile on his face as he stared at the guard. There was a low laughter at first, but steadily grew in sound. The guard was trembling as he stared into his eyes. He tried to get away but couldn’t. He watched as the human lifted his right hand into the air. He saw it change forms as some black tendrils encased his arm and his fingers turned into claws. The guard gave one last look at him as he saw the smile turn into a grin.

“You really should have backed down when you had the chance,” Iron Shield was about to beg for his life, but was stopped when he brought down his claw.

The human was splattered by his opponent’s blood and couldn’t help but laugh. The guard stood there for a few seconds before splitting into a few pieces. He was cut cleanly into four slices as they fell separately onto the ground. He pulled the sword out of his abdomen and staggered back a few seconds. He shook his head for a few seconds before looking at the dead body. He felt the fear run through his body as he looked at his right hand. The claw changed back into his normal hand and he ran. He ran straight into the forest to get to the old ruins so he could stop this from getting any worse.