When I awaken, I slowly open my eyes and sit upright. Well, at least I'm fixed up for the time being. I look down at my hands and close them tightly. If I had run faster, or just shot sooner, I could have saved him... Dolum. I want to cry out again, but reality hits me and I jump to my feet, ready for a fight. As I take in my surroundings, I fall flat on my ass.

This isn't Topaz Falls...

I get back up and thoroughly investigate my surroundings. I'm in the middle of a dirt path surrounded by... columns. At the bottom of these... columns, are bright blue flowers, covering most of the ground. The columns are dark brown and go up for at least fifteen meters, forking off into smaller columns that go off in different directions. At the ends of these small columns are countless large, green things.

"What the fuck is going on?" I walk up to the... thing, and slowly place my hand on it. It feels dusty, rough, and very cold. I pull my hand back and look around for answers. The area around where I was lying has a large scorch mark. The area beyond the path is filled with more of these strange columns and bright blue flowers. After looking around for a bit, I check my possessions. My belt holds my trench knife and revolver, along with all of the ammo I had. As I go through the various pockets of my belt, I come across my phone. I pull it out and look it over: it’s 18 centimeters long, seven centimeters wide, and three centimeters thick. It's made of solid, clear glass, and has one metal circle on the left side in the center. The corners are curved off and a small crack has formed from the metal circle to the top right.

"Well, at least it didn't shatter... like last time." As I hold it with my left hand, I place my thumb on the metal circle, making it emit light and bringing up the home screen.

"Damn. No service, hmm." I place it into my left pocket and continue my search. Two frag grenades, two arcane grenades, three magazines (two full and one empty), sword, rifle, leg and arm armor, but no chest armor. I look over my shirt and find that it's caked in blood. I tear what remains off and toss it aside, leaving the arm bracers on. Bringing my rifle out, I start walking down the path. I don't know which way to go, so I pick a direction and start moving.

Some time passes by as I walk, and I continue to take in my surroundings. The air seems... better. Like, as if it hasn't been sent through a purifier for hundreds of years, better. It also seems warmer; I've only been moving for maybe an hour, and I'm already sweating lightly. The ground cover is also changing as I move down the path. The bright blue flowers are being replaced by strands of green and various other things, the likes of which I've never seen before. The path I walk continues down, making slight turns every so often. I can see large ‘U’ marks in the road, some going in one direction and others going in the other. What the fuck made these? The overhang from the columns is starting to break apart, letting bright beams of light shine through.

Finally, the path leads down to a bright opening where the columns seem to stop. I quicken my pace and reach it within minutes. As I break through the columns’ overhang, I stop and take a good look around. The columns continue to my left and right for as far as I can see. The path I'm on continues down to... what seems to be a house, but is covered in green matter, similar to the stuff from earlier. All around the house are little boxes with holes in them. A small, virtual stream of water flows in front of the house and continues away. A small bridge crosses over the stream, and connects the path I'm on to the one that leads to the door. I figure if someone doesn't live there, it'll be a good place to hunker down for a bit. When I make it to the top of the bridge I stop dead in my tracks. The door opens, and out walks a yellow-and-pink pony.

She stops in the doorway and just stares up at me. I return the stare, but find myself a little confused - she looks nothing like the ponies I know. She seems to be half the height of the other ponies and lacks the massive horn on top of her head, though she does have the wings. She has long pink hair that flows with slight curves, and has large blue eyes. I can see the mark on her backside is three winged creatures with pink wings and blue bodies.

This isn't right. If that’s a pony, then that would mean I'm on the-

"Oh my… hello there, friend; I'm Fluttershy. What brings you to my home?" the pony says in a light, timid voice, slowly approaching me. This is not good. The last time I was with ponies, things ended horribly, and I believe they wanted some form of justice. I can't afford to be captured right now; I need to get back to Topaz and find my squad!

"Um, sorry to ask but..." OH FUCK - now she’s right in my face! I quickly jump back and get ready for whatever this pony is planning on doing. She slowly lets herself back down to the ground and tries to walk towards me, but with every step forward she takes, I take one backward. She finally stops and puts a hoof to her chin in thought. Her face brightens up with an idea, and she flies back inside the house. I'm taking no chances here. As soon as she’s inside the house, I turn around and run.

I run off the path and head in the opposite direction of the house. Right now I'm in an open field; there are open fields to my left, the dark-brown columns to my right, and lighter-brown columns directly ahead of me.

"Wait, don't leave! Come back!" she yells from behind. I look back and - oh fuck, she's chasing me! She's in the air, flying towards me from five o'clock. I make a slight left and sprint like my life depends on it. Thanks to my chest piece being gone, I can move pretty fast. But her flying is just too fast for me to hope to get away. Luckily, I make it into the light-brown columns and start zigzagging around. Thanks to the columns, she can’t follow me directly, so she flies above and follows me from the air. Oh come on... that's cheating! I continue my mad dash through the columns while checking the airborne pony - she's still hot on my trail. I make a sharp turn and-

"What in tarnation?!" I crash into another pony and roll to the ground, the other pony on top of me. She has a light-orange coat, blonde hair that's tied at the end, three red dots for a mark, white freckles on her cheeks, and wears a stetson. Something is really wrong here: this one doesn't have wings or a horn! What the fuck is going on?!

"Consarn it! What in the hay has ya all-?" She stops once she gets a good look at me and quickly gets up. Once she's off, I begin trying to back away, but the yellow one drops behind me.

"Uhh... Fluttershy, is this one ‘a yer creatures from back home?" Oh sweet Barbra - ‘one of her creatures’? I need to get away!

"No. It showed up in front of my home, but ran away." Like this I think to myself as I grab my rifle and dash away again, heading in any direction that gets me away from these... ponies.

The yellow one goes into the air again and relays directions to the other one. Cheaters. I look back to find the orange one hot on my trail and gaining fast. She has a lasso in her mouth and is spinning it in the air. Where did that come from? With a swing from her neck, she sends the rope flying and it latches onto my arm. I sling my rifle onto my back and try to pull free, only to have her pull back with greater force. I quickly stop and run towards her. Without me pulling, she promptly falls onto her backside. I take advantage of this and use the slack in the rope to tie her legs together. With her incapacitated, I let my hand loose and continue to run.

"Dag nabbit! You just wait till ‘ah get loose, ya hear me!" she yells as I run away. I look back to see the yellow one fly down and help her friend out. Hopefully I can get some distance between us before they start chasing me again.

I stop in my tracks as the rows of columns end, revealing a large, red, two-story building in front of me. It has an angled roof with black shingles, and two windows on the second floor. I hear running in the background, so I guess this will be my hiding place for now. I run around the corner and - MOTHER FUCKER! Why does life hate me so much?! - I come around the corner and stop a meter away from another pony. This one is closer to the correct size, but is still smaller than what I would have expected. He's red with short, light-orange hair; white freckles; deep green eyes; and has a large, light-green dot as his mark. Again, there are no wings and no horn. We stare at each other for a few moments until the other two ponies appear behind me. Now my back is facing the red building with the red pony to my left, the orange one to my right, and the yellow in front of me. I shift my eyes from one to another as I slowly bring my hand to my revolver. I really don't want to do this, but if I have to-

SMASH

I turn around in time to see the doors fly open and a big box fly straight toward my face.

When I finally re-awaken, I try to rub my eyes, but find my arms being restrained. I blink a few times before taking a good look around. I'm currently lying face-up in a bed, with my wrists tied to the posts. The closest wall to me has a window on it, and there’s a dresser between it and the bed. On the other side of the room is another dresser, with a vanity mirror and a large pillow on the floor in front of it. The only door in the room hangs slightly open on the wall behind me. The bed sheets are red with a white trim, and cover me up to my waist... though something doesn't feel right. I shift around to move the sheets down, and... why am I naked? Everything on me has been removed except my potestatum annuls. Before I can contemplate this more, the door swings open and three ponies walk in.

The first two I recognize from the chase earlier, but the third one is new. She has a lavender body, purple eyes, and dark blue hair that has a pink streak going through it. Her mark is a six-pointed star with five smaller white stars at the points. As I look between the three, I suddenly realize that they are all nude... why are they all nude?! What's going on here?! The purple one looks at me and stops for a moment before running to my side and investigating my body.

"Hmm... I don't think I've ever read about anything like this before. Where did it - or he," she says as she sees my exposed... self, “come from?” With a bright red blush on her cheeks, she pulls the sheet back over my waist and turns back to the other two.

"He was in front of my house," says the yellow one - Fluttershy, I think. "I tried to talk to him, but he ran away-"

"Why, in all a’ Equestria, did ya run from us like that?" the orange one asks me. I stare at them and stay silent. If I told them why I ran, they would probably hang me. I can't die right now; I need to get back to Topaz Falls and find my friends. After a few silent moments, the three of them turn to each other and huddle up, whispering to one another. Afterwards, they turn back and the yellow one walks right next to me. I scoot as far away as my restraints will allow, but she climbs onto the bed and stands over me so that we are staring face-to-face.

"Sooo... what's your name?"

"..."

"Umm... I'm Fluttershy."

"..."

"Can you speak?"

"..."

"Do you understand me?"

"..." I can feel something in my nose tingling - I think I'm about to sneeze.

"Hmm... well, if you can't-"

“AH-CHOO!” Having nothing to block my nose, my sneeze goes straight to her face. She stumbles back quickly and slams her backside into my lap.

"Get the fuck off me!" I yell as I twist my body, making her fall off the bed. My heart is racing and my rage is boiling over; nobody gets to touch me like that, accident or not. I look at the other two and see that they're just staring at me with their mouths slightly open. I look down to Fluttershy; she's on her back on the floor, looking up at me with hurt eyes. She quickly gets to her feet and runs out the room, crying.

"Fluttershy!" yells the orange one as she chases after her.

"What was that-?” the purple one starts, but I cut her off.

"Where are my pants?!" I demand.

"They're in the other room, but-" I begin pulling my arms inward in an attempt to break free. After a few seconds, I hear some cracking, followed by the snap of the two bedposts. Hands free, I untie myself and stand, making sure to cover myself. As I stand, a light-purple field envelopes me and lifts me into the air. The same aura field is around the purple pony’s horn.

"You’re not going anywhere until..." - I drop the sheet - “...until-til-til-" With a bright red blush, she quickly turns around and drops me. Thank you, nudity! I make my way to the door and look around the hall. There's a door directly across from me and two down the hall - one on each side. In-between the two doors on the other side is a stairway that leads down. I'm not sure which room she meant, so I go to the closest one and open it.

"What are you doing!" I yell. This room is similar to the one before, only it has the red pony from earlier in it, with a grenade in his mouth! He looks at me, then down a bit, and drops the grenade. As the grenade hits the ground, the clip pops off. I leap over, grab it, toss it through the window - shattering the glass - and curl into a ball. Moments later, a small explosion comes from outside and shakes the building.

"Earthquake! Earthquake! Run fer the hills!" an elderly voice yells from downstairs. I stand up and look back at the red pony. He's lying on the floor, holding his forelegs against his ears. On top of the dresser to my right are all of my belongings, so I take my clothes and begin getting dressed.

"What was that?!" yells the purple pony from the doorway. I look at her, then get back to the task at hand. Once I have my pants on, I feel something grab me and toss me onto the bed. I hit the backboard and bounce onto the mattress before rolling off. I stagger back up to see that the red pony is standing in front of me in a defensive stance, pawing the ground with his left foreleg.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" He snorts in response and begins to charge me. I easily sidestep the attack, and leave my left arm out to catch his throat. Once my arm makes contact, I quickly squeeze it shut while holding onto my wrist with my other hand, putting him in a choke hold. As I tighten my squeeze, he tries to break free, twisting, turning, slamming me into walls, but none of it breaks my grip.

"P-please... stop!" I look up to see that Fluttershy has come back, but still has tears flowing from her eyes. I stare at her for a moment before I drop the red pony and stand straight up, looking back to the yellow one. As the red pony gasps for air, I walk over to the dresser and continue to collect my belongings.

Fluttershy runs over to the red pony and says, "Oh dear, oh dear! Big Mac, are you okay?"

Once his breathing is under control, the red pony stands and says, "Eeeyup." I finish putting on my arm bracers and begin putting on my leg bracers. I kneel down and start working the metal latches, when Fluttershy approaches me from the side.

"Uh..." she says while looking down.

"Sorry about earlier. I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's just... I really don't like being touched... like that." She looks up to me and gives me a soft smile. I begin putting my belt on, when I notice my blades are missing. I have my guns, but not my blades.

"Where are my blades?" I ask as I finish putting on the belt.

"Um... well..."

"You'll git those back when we decide yer not a threat," says Big Mac as he glares at me. As I check my pockets, Big Mac begins circling me, never looking away.

I look down at him and ask, "Do you need something?"

"What are ya?"

"I could ask you the same thing." After I've found and checked every pocket - finding that the only missing things are my blades - I begin to walk out of the room, only to be stopped at the door by the purple pony.

"Please... I just want to ask some questions, and then you can go," she says desperately.

"... How many?"

"Just a few."

"Hmm... Return my blades, and you've got a deal."

"Only after we talk."

"Deal." The three female ponies sigh in relief, and make their way out to the hall. I follow them, with Big Mac close behind me. We make our way down the hall to the living room. The living room is a large open area with a couch in the right corner and a cushioned seat in the left. Directly next to the stairs is a rocking chair, rocking back and forth slightly, in front of a small bookshelf and a door. On the left side of the room is a large doorway that leads to the rest of the house. As we fill the room, the orange pony motions to Big Mac, who goes to the door by the stairs and opens it up. He walks in and quickly returns with five cushions on his back. He sets four of them in a small group together and one on its own. I think I know where I'm sitting. I cross my legs as I sit on the cushion and wait for the others to take their seats.

"Sooo... I think introductions are in order. I'm Twilight Sparkle," says the purple one, "and these are my friends: Fluttershy, Applejack, and Big Macintosh," she says as she points to each of the ponies being mentioned.

"My name is Miles Eremita."

"Okay. So Miles - oh! Hold on," Twilight closes her eyes and squints her face, making an aura glow around her horn again. A second later, a white flash appears in front of her, revealing a scroll of paper, a quill, and a small container that I presume is full of ink. Levitating them with her magic, she unrolls the paper, sets the container down, dips the quill into the container, and begins writing on the parchment. "Okay. So Miles, where are you from?"

"Classified. What are you writing?" She looks up to me, then scribbles something down.

"What do you mean, ‘classified’?"

"I mean, it's classified. You know what that means, right? It's a secret, or-”

"I know what it means!" she snaps at me. "What I mean is, why is it classified?"

"Classified. Now, what are you four, exactly?"

"Huh?"

"What are you? You look similar to ponies, but the ones I've seen were much taller and had horns and wings." The group in front of me looks at me in awe and confusion. I don't think they knew that I knew their representatives from the negotiations.

"You know about the princesses?" asks Twilight.

"...I guess...?" Princesses? When did the ponies form a hierarchy? Twilight quickly scribbles something down and makes the parchment disappear in another flash. "Where did you send that?"

"I sent it to the princess, so-"

"WHAT?!" I yell as I jump to my feet. I can't believe this. She sent it to their princess! Not even to a lower government official - THE PRINCESS! They're going to hang me for sure now, I just know it!

"What's wrong, Miles?" asks Fluttershy as she gets up and tries to approach me. I can't stay here. I have to get out as quickly as possible! I look to my right and see an open window. That'll do. I quickly sprint towards it and leap out, still managing to hit the glass and shatter it. As I run off, I can hear them calling me back, but I ignore it. I have to get back to Topaz Falls! Both my friend’s lives and mine are on the line now!

Now that were in Equestria (In the story at least, man tear) We can start something I've been wanting to do for a while. Its called, Brony Points. If you want to know more about this I'll post a blog about it. Also...please don't kill me for making Fluttershy cry.