If either of the ponies spoke during our short trip to the dining hall, I didn’t notice them at all. I was too stunned by the pure beauty of the castle I was in to notice anything but what I was looking out. There were guards standing at attention every so often throughout the halls, each giving me very stern looks. However, I didn’t notice any of them. The colors seemed to almost hypnotise me as if I was a two-year-old seeing them for the first time. The weird thing was, I couldn’t really say what made the colors and everything else in this world so hypnotic. All I know is that it could have taken use five hours to get to the dining hall and I wouldn’t have known.

We enter another incredibly large room, but this one was considerably longer, and had a long dinning table in the middle. Celestia sits at the head of the table with Twilight to her right. Celestia gestures a hoof towards the seat to her left, and I sit down in it. A couple of fancy dressed waiters come in to take our order of anything we want. I stick with water, unsure of anything in this world, while Celestia and Twilight both have tea. Not even a full minute after ordering, our drinks come out with unnecessary fanciness. Large silver platters, fancy waiters carrying them, the works. You know? Fancy stuff.

I nervously sip my water while Celestia and Twilight silently sip their tea with their magic. I was almost shaking after five minutes of awkward silence. After seven minutes, I had to break to impossibly loud quiet. “So!” I said probably louder than necessary. Neither ponies jumped, but they both looked at my questionably. “Uh... Um... I mean....” My awkwardness was showing like Celestia’s sun.

“If you’d like to,” Celestia began. “We can get down to why we’ve brought you here.” The relieve on my face must have been apparent.

“I’d like that very much.” I said letting out a huge sigh.

“Well Hunter, to be honest, we’ve been watching you and your planet for a very long time. But before I start, I should probably start from the beginning.” Celestia set down her tea and got comfortable in her seat. I did the same. “The window paintings you saw in the throne room were true events as you may have guessed. When my sister and I found Equestria, it was in utter chaos caused by Discord. He made all of life horrible for unicorn, earth pony, and pegasi alike. So Luna and I used the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, and encase him in stone. However, I’m sure you know this from the show you watched back on Earth.”

“So you know about My Little Pony?” I was again very confused.

“Of course we do. I was the one who came up with the idea for Friendship is Magic.” Celestia spoke as if it were nothing. Many questions raved in my head.

“But what about Lauren Faust? I thought she-” Celestia cut me off.

“Lauren... She was such a nice human.” Celestia seemed lost in memory for a second, but quickly regained focus. “Well, the show you know of back on Earth is not an exact mirror of our world here. The basic idea of Twilight and her friends is about all that is true. Major history events are also true. Such as the narrative at the beginning of the first episode. Also major holidays are true. Nightmare’s Night, Hearth’s Warming, Hearts and Hooves Day, etc. The story of Discord is also mostly true. And the story of how the Elements of Harmony got their cutie marks is true as well. But besides those, the show is fiction.” Thousands of questions poured into my head.

“So what about Lauren Faust? What about-” Celestia cut me off again with her hoof.

“If you would please save all questions for the end, it would be much appreciated.” I got the hint. “As you know, my sister and I imprisoned Discord into his stone state and all was well. However it was only for a few years, unfortunately. I began to experience crippling headaches and attacks of bursts of magic, where I couldn’t control my magical power. Luna and I had no idea what caused it or how to stop it. After many months of the uncertainty, the magic attacks and headaches stopped. But they were replaced with visions of the future. I saw many things that have come to pass, and the will pass. I saw my sister turn hateful and spiteful, and finally turn into Nightmare Moon. I saw my prized pupal earn her cutie mark as well as her friend’s and her defeat of Nightmare Moon. That is why I was so quick and eager to accept Twilight as my personal student the day she got her cutie mark.” She paused for a moment to sip her tea. I sipped my water as well.

“However I only saw part of Discord’s escape. I didn’t foresee Twilight and her friends imprisoning him again. I wasn’t even sure if she was alive when he escaped. I did know that he would be locked away again, but I did not know how. And after I saw him imprisoned again, I did not expect to see him break free a second time. This time, however, he was more powerful than before. He raised an army of chaos, and destroyed the kingdom my sister and I worked so hard to build. But after those visions had passed, I saw something I couldn’t quite believe. A whole different world. Your world. I viewed most of mankind’s history in my vision. I saw the crusades, the Romans, the American Revolution. And throughout the history of your species, I saw mankind’s horrors. Their lust for power, and their hunger for war and violence. I did not expect to see your race survive as long as it did. But it didn’t only survive. It flourished. Your technology was eons ahead of our race. And after seeing what technology could do to a species, I decided to try to keep it from ever reaching Equestria.”

“But throughout the entire history of what I saw, I not only saw your violence, hate, and greed. I saw your love, compassion, and kindness. Those characteristics were not always as strong as they could have been, but they were always there. No matter what time and hardship was going on. At times, you could be much like my little ponies, here in Equestria. But at other times, I feared the very thought of humans in our world. I watched the human world develop and flourish. It seemed I was watching it all in an accelerated state. However my vision of your world slowed down to real time on one particular human. A lovely woman by the name of Lauren Faust.” I sat there trying to piece together the puzzle that Celestia was making. I thought I began to understand.

“I was unsure why my vision slowed on Lauren, and it took me some time to fully understand what my vision was trying to tell me. As you know, your world has much more effort put into your entertainment. Such as television shows and movies. I saw Lauren talking to seemingly very important humans. I was very surprised when I understood what they were saying. The humans talking to Lauren were approaching her on making a television series about a toy line they have had for years. My Little Pony.” Again, many questions poured into my mind, but I managed to hold my tongue.

“Lauren was seemingly not too excited by the idea of rebutting the series. I was still unsure of what my magic was trying to tell me. As the meeting went on, I saw some images of previous My Little Pony series. It was then, that I understood what my magic was telling me. The My Little Pony series didn’t look like our world in Equestria, but it had some similar concepts. The unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, etc. As I previously said, in the history of your species, I saw you fight relentlessly for things you believed strongly in. However before I could look more into your world, my vision faded, and I was back in Equestria. My vision seemed like it had lasted for years, decades even. Yet when I opened my eyes, no time had passed since I closed them. But I did not forget about what was coming to pass.” By now Celestia’s tea had grown cold, but she sipped some anyway.

“I studied and researched restlessly for weeks, trying to find a spell to link us to your world. After countless days, I figured out a portal spell that would allow me to view, and even take things from your world. At this point, I was unsure if Lauren took the offer to make the series, but I still had to make sure. My plan was to convince Lauren to make the show to find humans with enough compassion to fight for Equestria when Discord made his second escape. I finally was able to use the spell successfully, and I saw into your world once again. But I was again very surprised on what I saw.”

“I know that at least three months had passed since I last viewed Lauren in your world, however when I looked through the portal, I saw that only a few hours had passed. I guessed 8-9 hours only had gone by in your world. And even as I watched Lauren go about her daily business, it seemed incredibly slowed down. As if their whole world was in slow motion. After some quick calculations, I figured that a day on Earth, was the equivalent to a year in Equestria. I was unsure what would happen if I tried to bring a human into Equestria, but I knew I had to try to convince Lauren to go through with the show. A day passed in Equestria, and I saw only four minutes had passed on Earth. I reassured myself that this would be the only way to stop the inevitable escape of Discord. So...” she paused for seemingly dramatic effect. “I summoned Lauren into Equestria.”

“It took several hours to get her to calm down and listen to us. I had seen Lauren’s other works on television and saw that she was one of the kindest humans I’ve ever seen. A few days passed, and I told Lauren of what would happen to Equestria if Discord was successful. She seemed torn on what to do. She wanted to help us, but she didn’t know what she could do. I told her my plan of creating an army of humans. At first she almost seemed angry with the idea. But after growing attached to few ponies she met during her stay, she understood why someone would be willing to fight for us. She agreed to try to make the show to get followers of the cause.”

“Lauren stayed with us for a full Equestrian year. I told her of all of the things I saw in my visions of the future, and she agreed to make them part of the show. I didn’t tell my sister of her decent into Nightmare Moon, because I knew that Nightmare Moon would be essential for Twilight to meet her friends in Ponyville. Lauren was very displeased with leaving, and even asked if she could ever come back. I told her only if I was sure Discord was defeated forever. She agreed, and I sent her home.” By now, Luna had raised the moon, and it was dark outside.

“I always kept a watchful eye on Earth and Lauren. The time difference was somewhat difficult for me, but I was able to make some sense of what I was seeing. As the years went on, I noticed Luna begin to show signs of hate and bitterness. More time passed, and I finally knew that Luna would soon become Nightmare Moon. Coincidentally, at the same time Nightmare Moon emerged, the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was premiered. I was forced to imprison my sister in the moon for a thousand years as I predicted. And for a time, things were peaceful.”

“As time went on, I learned more about your world. I learned you had the same months and seasons as us, but you also measured years from a certain starting point. I never understood when you choose to start counting, but I digress. I seemed that the show aired October 10, 2010, which was the same day I banished Nightmare Moon into the moon. 1000 years later, as expected, she escaped, and Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to stop her almost exactly like in the show. 1000 years here was only 1000 days on earth. So 1000 days after October 10, 2010 was-” Believe it or not, I cut off the princess.

“July 28th... Today.” I spoke softly.

“Correct. It was only a few months ago that my sister escaped. And much to my surprise, it was only another few months until Discord escaped for the first time. I was unsure of how to deal with Discord, knowing what he would eventually do. But luckily, Twilight was able to save Equestria again, and trapped Discord in stone again. And that was only a few weeks ago.” My mouth dropped. A few weeks ago, Twilight stopped Discord for the first time. Yet back on Earth, it was already the end of the third season. It seemed like Discord happened long ago. But I did save my questions as per Celestia’s request.

“It was then I told my student of my history and of Earth. A few weeks of studying and here we are.” The way the princess put everything seemed so simple. Yet there were still thousands upon thousands of questions in my head. Thankfully, Celestia spoke once more. “If you have any questions, you may ask them now.” I didn’t know where to start.

I took me a moment to gather my thoughts collectively, and another moment to find the right words. For my first question, I decided on the obvious. “Why me? Why, out all of all the other bronies in the world, did you choose me? Sure I’m an offensive lineman for football. But I’ve heard stories of Marines being bronies. I’ve heard mixed martial arts fighters being bronies. So why me?” This question almost seemed to trouble Celestia, but she responded regardless.

“For very specific reasons, Hunter. Because your world moved at such a slower rate, it was much easier to monitor the bronies of your world.”

“Wait,” I spoke again. “You spied on all off the bronies of the world? How is that possible?”

“It’s fairly simple actually.” Celestia began. “I used some spells to aid me in my task. Luna helped me of course, and Twilight helped also for the past few weeks. We monitored most of the bronies.”

“May I ask why you watched us? What purpose could that serve?”

“Multiple reasons. Firstly, to make sure no brony who was mentally or physically unfit to fight would be summoned to Equestria. Secondly, to find someone like you.” Celestia said simplistically.

“What do you mean someone like me!? And are you saying bronies are going to be forced to fight for you?!” My voice was increasing in volume without me noticing. I was angry because it seemed as if Celestia was going to make humans her personal slaves. That didn’t sit well with me at all.

“Of course not Hunter. No one has to serve if they don’t want to. Even you have the option to be sent home right now. If that’s what you want.” To be honest, I had no idea how to respond with. Celestia was talking about this like it was going to be a full blown war. Were people (or ponies) could easily die. And she was asking me if I wanted to stay and help the cause, or go back to Earth. I won’t lie, life wasn’t perfect on Earth, but it was home. But I felt an odd connection with Equestria. I’ve always wondered why the show always gave me such strong emotions. And now I’m finding out it may be because it’s my destiny to fight to save Equestria. This was a lot to put on the mind of a 16-year-old to say the least.

“And you don’t have to decide now Hunter.” Twilight said, speaking for the first time all night. “We agreed that anytime during your training, you can choose to go home.”

“But you still didn’t answer my question. Why did you choose me? As far as I can tell, I’m the first human in Equestria besides Lauren Faust.” My eyes were heavy, and my mind was wanting rest. But my mind also wanted answers.

“You are correct about being the second human in Equestria. And to answer your question...” Celestia paused, thinking to herself. “We chose you because you’re one of the only humans who may be able undergo a certain spell I recently discovered.” I lost count of how many times I didn’t know what to say. “The spell I’m speaking of has never been used before, but we know some effects that it may have on a human. If we were to take a fully grown human, the spell would most likely break down the human’s body. So we had to choose a human who was not fully grown and hadn’t fully finished developing.” I took a long drink of my water.

“They spell also works the mind, increasing the capability of it. We needed a fairly smart human for the spell to be worth doing. We also needed some human that was physically active, so that their body would be used to physical change. And perhaps the biggest factor in our decision, you’re observations.” I waited for Celestia to go on. When she didn’t, I spoke up.

“What do you mean observations? Like what I’ve seen?”

“Exactly. The spell also targets the memory of the user. Making almost every piece of useful information stored easily accessible.” Pardon my French but, my mind was fucked. “For this particular cause, I made the only information that would be enhanced be of military or fighting nature.” Mind equaled beyond fucked.

“So what are you saying exactly? I’m lost...”

“Let me explain,” the princess began. “All of the information you observe is stored in you brain. However, not all of it is accessible to you. The spell makes all information that would be useful for our cause, easily accessible.” I thought I was beginning to understand.

“So you’re saying military tactics that I’ve learned from, let’s say, a video game, would be easy for me to do?”

“In a sense, yes. We know you’ve had experience with firearms, and all of the information you’ve even heard about them will be fresh in your memory.” The talk of guns worried me.

“So you have guns? In Equestria?” I wasn’t sure if I could/wanted to believe it.

“Yes. They are one of the highest guarded secrets Canterlot has to offer, but we have literally thousands of assorted firearms stored away.” Mindfuckmindfuckmindfuckmindfuck.

“H-how did you...?”

“It was a simple enough task. We used the spell to bring objects in from your world on assorted firearms. We then used a simple copy spell to make exact replicas of the weapons.” Celestia spoke of tools of war as if it were nothing.

“So you brought guns... into Equestria. What else did you bring?” I was praying that I didn’t hear anything with nuclear, or atomic in the names.

“We have brought helicopters and other vehicles and copied those too.” Celestia must have known what I was getting at. “I did not bring the enormous bombs your people have used before. I do not want to resort to that sort of violence.”

“Do you know what guns could do to Equestria!?” My voice had risen again and I stood up from my chair. “The show I know of back home was peaceful enough! Guns and weapons would ruin this world!”

“I know the risks Hunter. I used my own magic to make almost all of the firearms we have. When Discord is defeated, I will destroy all weapons of war I brought into this world.”

“Well how do you even know that Discord would use guns? If he doesn’t know about them, aren’t we essentially handing them over to him?”

“During my vision of Discord’s destruction of Equestria, I saw Discord’s army using firearms. I didn’t know what they were at the time, but I know now. I’m not sure how Discord achieved this, but he would have found the weapons regardless.” This calmed me down a bit, and I regained my cool. I sighed, and sat back down.

“So you were saying something about this spell...”

“Yes.” Celestia said, regaining focus. “The spell would make all useful information easily accessible.” By now, I was dead tired. I usually went to bed around 11 o’clock, and at least two hours had passed since I blacked out at 10:30.

“Can you give me a more specific example? I’m about to fall asleep, so my mind is... you know?”

“Well let’s see.” Celestia began to ponder her thoughts. “You’ve seen many movies in your life, correct?” I nod. “And most of those involve fighting? Hand to hand combat?”

“I suppose...”

“I remember you watching a movie with multiple knife fighting scenes. I can’t seem to remember the name... It was very bloody...” I wondered how the princess fancied my taste for violence. I’ve seen some pretty fucked up stuff on the Internet. Beheadings, hangings, suicide. And I began to worry if Celestia saw all of that too. “It seemed to be almost a medical kind of movie.” I realized what movie she was talking about. I found it pretty ironic that the princess of Equestria would be sitting here, trying to explain the movie Repo Men to me.

“Repo Men?” I ask.

“Yes!” Celestia said in realization” That one! At the climax of the movie, do you remember seeing the protagonist use multiple methods of hand to hand combat?” I recalled the very bloody scene where Jude Law sliced and diced people with knives, saws, and even a hammer.

“Yes...” I began to piece together what Celestia was trying to say.

“All of those techniques you witnessed have been stored in your brain. Regardless if you know how to utilize them, you know the forms and techniques of how to use those weapons.” So what I think Celestia was saying, was that since I saw Jude Law kill those people with his weapons, that I would be able to do the same. After Celestia used the spell on me of course. Even though it seemed like he simply thrashed knives around in Repo Men, I thought about the other movies I’ve seen with similar concepts.

If I was fully understanding what Celestia was saying, I would know multiple fighting techniques from simply viewing them in a movie. I thought about all of the different movies I’ve seen that have factual, useful, and interesting information. And then I thought about actual documentaries I’ve seen on things. I’ve seen a whole lot of documentaries on the Military Channel about sniping, firearm mechanics, tactics used in wars throughout history. Supposedly, all of that information would be available for me to use. I was beginning to like this idea.

“Okay. So you chose me because I watch a lot of movies?” I ask. Celestia chuckled.

“Essentially, yes. You’re one of the few who fit perfectly in every category. But there was one aspect that made us choose you.” I hated admitting this, but I loved recognition from people. I loved when people told me I did a good job, or when people talked about me in good ways. I know it sounds a little shallow and childish, but it’s one of my many flaws. So when Celestia started talking about me like this, I was ecstatic on the inside. “You have the most compassion out of everyone else who we considered for the position. You always cared about whatever you believed in. You stood up for others. To put it simply Hunter, you were nice.” Now it was my turn to blush.

“I... Thank you.” I now this probably sounds girly, but I was touched.

“But now, I need to tell you why we need this position in the first place.” Celestia’s tone grew more serious, so I did my best to listen intently. Celestia sighed before she spoke. “Twilight here...” She paused, seemingly upset with what she was saying. “Is very... contempt in fighting for her homeland.” I looked at Twilight with wide eyes.

“You? You want to be part of this war?” I think anyone would have been surprised when they found out Twilight Sparkle, the librarian of Ponyville, wanted to partake in war. Twilight had a very serious expression on her face, and simply nodded. I turned my attention to Celestia again. “So what does this have to do with me?”

“As you may guess, I’m not pleased at all with Twilight’s seriousness in partaking in war. However she insists that she will fight.”

“I will princess! I don’t understand why you don’t want me to go through with this. You were going to allow other ponies to enlist. Male, female, pegasi, unicorn, earth pony. So why don’t you want me to help?” Twilight was obviously frustrated. I sat there in silence, hoping for Celestia to speak before another awkward silence crept in.

“Because I care for you Twilight. You’re the best student I’ve ever had under my teachings. And believe me when I say; I’ve had many proteges.” Twilight wouldn’t stop.

“But I’m not any different from anypony else when it comes to what I’m willing to fight for. Or die for...” Those last words hung in the air like a dirty joke at someone’s funeral.

“But Celestia,” I croaked out. “I still don’t see what Twilight wanting to fight for the cause has anything to do with me.”

“If I were to let Twilight fight for Equestria, I’d need to make sure she not only had the best training, but that she was always with someone who could protect her if need be. I’m not sure if I could handle knowing that Twilight died in the war when I could have prevented it.” She gave me the sternest look I’ve ever seen. “I’m not taking any chances.”

“So.... I’d be her bodyguard?” I asked.

“No. You would be her instructor during her training, and part of her team during the war.”

“So what about my training? Would you use your spell on me or...?”

“My initial plan was to have you go through the Training of the Royal Guard before I enchanted you with the spell. That way, the information you would have learned from your training will be more easily utilized.”

“But how would I go through the training when, I assume, the program is meant for ponies?” Celestia and Twilight locked eye contact for a second, and then both turned towards me.

“We would of course make you a pony.” And my mind was, once again, fucked.

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