After freeing Druid Lake from the evil, shadowy clutches of Grimsley, our heroes continued on their journey, where halfway to Draemarth City, they decided to set up camp. Due to the long, sleepless fight that Justin had to endure, he was, no doubt, too tired to handle the whole trip. After taking a nice long nap, however, he ended up awakening in the setting of the sun. Exiting his tent, he realized that he wasn't the only one up.

Justin yawned and stretched his arms out, as he slowly walked towards the campfire that the other four adventurers were sitting around; Gilded Blade the Gryphon Mercenary, Zula the Zebra Herbalist, Swift Justice the Knight Captain, and Ruby, Justin's most beloved daughter, and Alicorn with no magic.

When he was within the light of the campfire, he smiled at the group, sat down on a log that Ruby sat on, and then said, "Hey, everyone... how long was I out?"

"It's been about six hours." Gilded replied. He was standing on the opposite end of where Justin sat, and slightly to the right. Directly in the opposite side of Justin was Zula, who was sitting on the grass. Ruby sat next to Justin, wrapped around his left arm, while Swift sat on a stump at Justin's right.

Zula looked at Justin and Ruby for a moment, before clearing her throat. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but..." She paused for a moment, trying to find what to say. Justin, however, already knew what she was about to ask, considering how she was looking at both, Ruby and he.

"You're wondering how I'm Ruby's father, and Ruby's my daughter, right?" Justin asked. Zula nodded her head, and looked down.

"Of course, if you don't wish to say it, you don't have to." She added.

Justin looked at Ruby, who looked back at him, and smiled. Then she nodded her head, signaling to Justin that she's okay with him telling their story. Clearing his throat, Justin began his story.

It started back in my world... it's called "Earth" just like this one, but... it had its fair share of differences. For starters, the only sentient beings were Humans like me. Ruby, herself, was a Human, until we were brought here.

Going further back... I raised her on my own. Unfortunately, her mother died while giving birth to her... and on her death bed, I swore to protect her with my life.

No, she isn't related to me biologically. I made sure she was aware of that before it would ever be a problem. It doesn't matter to me, though. Her biological father was... not a good person at all. In fact, he was, as my fiance called, an abusive ex boyfriend, who was imprisoned for the things he did to her, and eventually, killed. Still, though... Ruby was given to me by her mother, and so she is my daughter, and I'm her father, even though we don't have the same genes. And to top it all off, she's all the family I've got left.

To this day, I'm unsure of how she became an Alicorn, and I remained Human. It might be the fact that the light that dragged us here chose her first.

Oh, right... I should also mention that we were living in an old, shabby apartment building, barely managing three meals a day... but I made sure she was well fed, and educated. One day, on her birthday, I was in the kitchen, just making her breakfast. She, at the time, was watching some sort of cartoon... can't recall the name of it, though.

When I heard her screaming, I ran from the kitchen, and into the living room, only to see that a strange, white light was pulling her inside it. Out of instinct, I did what any other father should do in that situation, and ran up to her, trying to pull her out of it, refusing to let her go. Inevitably, it pulled us both in.

"And so we landed in some sort of jungle in Gryphonia... Skyhaven, to be exact. For two days, I carried her through it, protecting her with my life. Then we found the city, and walked up to it, only to find that we were, without a doubt, in another world altogether."

"At first, the locals were hesitant, and couldn't understand a word that I said... but when they saw Ruby, they allowed us in." Justin looked at Gilded, and motioned for him to continue with his side of the story.

Taking a deep breath, Gilded began speaking of the events that led him to his journey.

So there I was, just waiting for my sister to show up at our father's bar. She was supposed to be coming back after a trip to Equestria. Anyways, I was simply working at the bar, when all of a sudden, I got word that a foreign creature and an Alicorn Filly, which I KNOW wasn't normal, came from out of nowhere! Quickly, I ran up to them, and saw that they must've been through a lot. Somehow, his daughter was able to speak to us, and we could understand her... but her dad spoke with her, and only she could understand what he said. I don't know, maybe it's the fact that she's an Alicorn, or somethin'. Whatever the case, we spoke with her, and she translated what we said to her dad. In the end, we gave her dad a lot of books, and before we knew it, he was fluent enough to speak, read, and write most of the languages out there.

Gilded walked closer to the fire, and sat on another fallen log that was near him. Then he looked at Swift, and asked, "So, what brings you here, if you don't mind me asking? You said you were from The Highlands, right?"

Swift nodded his head, and replied, "Indeed, I did. Diamond Peak, of course, is the Capital City, but it's at the top of the coldest mountain in the region." And so, he started telling them some of the major parts of the city that they should expect to see.

Meanwhile, just past Goldwood Village, another camp was set up. This one, however, was shorter than the one our heroes have. Within this camp, a pair of females sat around the campfire. One of them was a Gryphon named Gilda. The other one was a pink-colored Earth Pony named Pinkie Pie. The two of them sat silently around the campfire, with both of their minds full of thought.

"So... what was your childhood like, Gilda?" Pinkie finally asked, turning her blue gaze from the fire to her ally.

The sudden question caught Gilda off guard, which made her raise an eyebrow, as she looked back at Pinkie Pie. Then, with a shrug, she replied, "I don't think you wanna know, Pinkie."

Pinkie looked at her confusedly, before asking, "Why not?"

Gilda's raised eyebrow lowered, and she replied with a deadpanned expression, "Because it's too dark for your kind. I'd rather not give you nightmares."

The response made Pinkie look back at the fire, and sigh. "Sorry, Gilda... I thought that, since you and Rainbow Dash were friends when you both were little, I had a feeling you might explain more than what she told me."

Gilda sighed, then looked at the fire for another ten seconds. "Y'know... I'm not sure what Rainbow Dash even sees in you, to be honest. Why, no, how does she even put up with you?"

Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, and replied, "I'm not completely sure, to be honest... I mean, yes I'm always there for her when she's feeling down. I always dedicate my time to making my friends smile, even when they don't need my help."

"Yes, but why, though? I don't understand why you even bother with them! I mean, last time I was there, they looked at me like I was a monster, you know? And from where I came from, I'm sure you know what I normally do to those who give me that look, after what you saw a few days ago. Right?"

Pinkie closed her eyes, and nodded her head. "They just aren't used to seeing other creatures from outside Equestria. There's a reason why we only spoke Equestrian there, y'know."

Gilda pinched the space between her eyes, and said, "Yeah. Rainbow Dash told me about that... and you may as well thank her that I didn't kill anyone while I was there, too. If she didn't warn me about that, you might as well say that Ponyville's roads would be a lot more redder than they are now."

With a nervous smile, Pinkie nodded her head, and replied, "O-of course! That wouldn't have ended well, otherwise!" She nervously chuckled, but stopped when she saw Gilda deadpanning at her again.

Then they just sat down in even more silence.

After five minutes of silence, Gilda sighed, and said, "You still want to know my back-story, huh?" Pinkie Pie looked up at her, and nodded her head. "Alright, then... but don't say I didn't warn you!" With that said, she cleared her throat, and began to tell her story.

So as you already know, I was born and raised in Gryphonia, as a Mercenary. That wasn't always my job, though. In fact, I was originally just a simple kid in school who would listen to the teacher, and do as she was told without question.

One problem, though... the other kids didn't take too kindly to a "Teacher's Pet"... and believe me, they called me names far more worse than that. In the end, I was about to go off on them, when Rainbow Dash stepped between us, and stood up for me. We both got in a fight against a gang of bullies; just the two of us. We kicked so much a-err... flank that day, it was almost like we were meant to be a team. By the end of that day, I made my first, and only friend. Before then, the only one that showed that they cared for me was my dad, and my older brother.

His name's Gilded Blade, by the way. Unlike me, he always seemed more sympathetic when it came to those who were being hurt... something I didn't necessarily understand until Rainbow Dash pointed out that I was the same way when we first met. He was trying to be a role model for me most of his life.

Dash and I soon enlisted in Mercenary Camp... that old place that Minotaur flew out of in Skyhaven. Rainbow Dash and I... well, let's just say that, by the end of our training period, we were the most dangerous of the entire building... even the teachers feared us!

Of course, fear wasn't something that Rainbow Dash wanted... she only wanted respect, and popularity. Me, I wanted to rip the skulls out of the jerks who bullied me in the past. I almost did one time, after they called me a name that, to this day, makes me want to kill those who would even think of the word. I encourage you not to ask me what that word is, as well... for your own safety.

Eventually, though, our different paths led to her moving on in life. She joined Flight School, and had to move to Cloudsdale, over in Equestria. Surprisingly, I was given the option to be an exchange student for the Cloudsdale University... to which I accepted without hesitation. The next thing we knew, we were in the same classes, and had fun doing... well, I wouldn't say "GIRL" stuff. You get the idea. We were Cheerleaders to the team over there, but at the same time, we intervened with the opposite teams by striking fear into their hearts... with a pair of switchblades we had hidden in our pom-poms. She seemed more pumped about it than I ever was, as you could tell from when I visited Ponyville.

Then the time came that I had to leave again. Re-enlisting as a Mercenary, I continued living on up in Skyhaven, while Dash and I wrote to each other, after exchanging our addresses. Four years later, I was invited to hang out with her over in Equestria, while she gave me information on her new home, which is over Ponyville, along with the rules of the "humble little community" over there.

First, I had to let my brother know. You'd be surprised by how tall he is, by the way! You said I was tall when I made it to Ponyville, yet if you saw Gilded, you'd think I was a shrimp on a plate! Still, though... to this day, I think he's merely a softy. Like all softies out there, he tried to keep me from going, which only made me glare at him even more.

"Ya didn't hear this from me, but... I may be his younger sister, and he may be taller than me, yet, according to what he told me, I even scare him when I get angry." That statement caused Pinkie Pie to giggle.

Then Pinkie Pie looked at Gilda, and realized that, for the first time in her life, she saw that Gilda was also giggling. "Wow... I can probably see why!"

Gilda stopped giggling, and looked at her again. "Why's that, exactly?"

"Well, duh! After what you did to those meanies, you could even make a Minotaur wet himself!"

Gilda lightly chuckled at that statement, then replied, "Yeah... I guess I could." Then, she looked back at the fire, and sighed, as her smile turned into a frown.

"What's wrong, Gilda?" Pinkie asked, now noticing Gilda's change of expression.

For a moment, Gilda remained silent, until she closed her eyes. Then, a single tear fell from her left eye. "Why don't you hate me, after what I did in Ponyville? What kind of creature would even want to be friends with me, even after hearing... no, SEEING that I kill for a living?!" She lowered her head, and allowed the tears to pour down her face.

Another moment of silence followed, until Pinkie Pie scooted next to her, and gently wrapped her arm around the back of Gilda's shoulders. To her surprise, Gilda didn't even push her back, or anything. She just sat there instead, while her muscles tensed up.

Slowly Gilda looked at Pinkie Pie, revealing the tears that continued lowering from her golden eyes. Then with a weak smile, Pinkie Pie replied, "Trust me, Gilda... any friend of Rainbow Dash... is a friend of mine!" Gilda was about to retort, when Pinkie Pie shook her head. "I don't care if I'm not YOUR friend, and I don't care if I never do become your friend! I will still treat you like a friend, even if you avoid me, tell me mean things, and refuse to be my friend! You know why? Because even though I'm not your friend, doesn't mean that you aren't my friend!"

Gilda's eyes were slightly widened at that statement, as she just sat there in bewilderment. Then her eyebrows lowered on the outer edges, while a weak smile formed on her beak.

Giving a small chuckle, Gilda said, "Pinkie... you're so weird..." The two of them giggled at that statement. "I guess that's what Rainbow Dash sees in ya."

Then, after a moment of silence, Gilda nodded her head. "Alright, then... ya promise to keep a secret?"

Pinkie, having been familiar with promises, replied, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" As she said those words, she gave her signature sign language with her arms.

Gilda raised an eyebrow, until Pinkie giggled again, and said, "That means I won't say a word, even if it kills me!"

Nodding her head, Gilda replied, "Alright, then... might not wanna do that in public, though. Anyways, as I was saying... I guess we can be... secret friends."

Suddenly, Pinkie's eyes widened in shock. "W-wait... you MEAN that?!"

Slowly, Gilda nodded her head, and smiled. "Yeah." Pinkie was about to hug her, when she held her right claw on Pinkie's chest, and added, "But no hugging! I don't hug anyone, unless it's for a surprise attack."

Pinkie nodded her head, as thunder started to silently crack from a faraway distance. With a yawn, Gilda said, "Well, Pinkie... It's been a... very eventful day, and all, but not all of us can handle being awake all day and night, so... g'night."

Smiling at her new friend, Pinkie replied, "Good night, Gilda! Oh, and... thank you!"

Looking back at Pinkie while standing between the zipper to her tent, Gilda smiled back, and replied, "Any time, Pinkie." Then, after zipping the tent shut, Gilda sat on the pallet she had in the center of the room, and removed the armor around her chest. When she placed it on the ground next to her, she curled the blanket around her, and slowly closed her eyes. With her eyes closed, she looked back on the events that recently took place and, for the first time in a long time, she was able to sleep with a smile on her face.

Author's Notes:

Finally! Done with Season 1! Yes, I know this season was short and all, but trust me! The next one is planned to be much, MUCH more longer than this one! In fact, we haven't even scratched the surface, yet! Anyways, stay tuned for more exciting adventures, as our heroes reach the next part of their journey, in "Season 2: The Highlanders"! Stay tuned, My Little Bronies!

Oh, and yes, I did choose a different song on purpose!