So far, I haven't seen any sign of aggressive break-in, nor panicked departure. The marks on the ground were fresh, like they were gone JUST before my arrival. I checked the other roads, that were leading out of town and the hoof marks' numbers slowly decreased, the further I examined from outside the town.

After the entrances, I started doing circles around the town, even checking under the bridges. When I was done there, I resumed inspecting the inside of the town. Every alley, every main road, playground, park, the town square. I check every part of the town.

After that, I started doing more circles, examining the details too. It was in vain, since trying to look inside the houses, was just a waste of time. Either the curtains prevented me from looking inside, or I found no one in the dark houses. The lamps were turned off and every door inside the houses were closed, just like the entrance doors, which were locked too and not barricaded, at least...

A full lockdown on the 'ghost' town...

''Or am I the ghost of the town? Trapped between death and life?'' I started to have crazy ideas. That something wasn't coming anytime, so I went back to focusing on a more paranormal event, in connection with the emptiness in the town. Thinking back, my theories about what happened, were flawed in a way, I just couldn't realize that at that moment...

''Did the teleportation gone wrong and now the whole town is in Canterlot's hospital gardens? Or the citizens are invisible and they're actually here, looking at me strangely-''

My foolish thoughts came to an absolute stop, when I found myself in front of a peculiar house... and I say this with low description, so let's just say... that building was fucked up...

It looked sweet, though... literally maybe. A freaking gingerbread house! It's roof was from sponge... or from tile, I did not know. The edges of the roof had snow-white frosting, that can be easily mistaken to be real. A... some sort of chimney and the top of a tower was on the roof too. And son of bitch, the tower's top was a small cake!

It was a large building and judging by the sign on its side, it was a pastry shop. The lower part of it was made from stone, wood pillars for support and a pair of candy next to the door, on the small staircase. If someone can't figure out what was the purpose of that building, then that soul was either joking or stupid as Hell...

It was hard to decide, if it was real or the builders of the house really managed to create a visual illusion...

''*snort* Phle- *snort* Please... pleaseehhee.''

''What?''

''I'm begging youhuhuhu.''

''What?!''

''Ehhehhahaa! *gasp* ... lick it... please?''

''... what?''

''I- ahaahh... I want to know it's real ahhahh!''

I stared at the house for a second, before turning away. ''Tempting, but I rather not ruin this nice mystery...'' I found it to be wrong, to reveal the truth about that building. It was such a nice little mystery and ruining it would only leave the constructions as a joke and it would lost its magic.

And I didn't want to end up tasting cement or marble, whatever those realistic sweets made from...

''Agh, damnit...'' Added Dhanthas, finally easing his laughter.

I left the building to its own little secret and walked up to a fountain, in the middle of the town square. Said fountain had a statue on the top, showing a horse in a rather intelligent way. I would have examined it further, noting how differently it looked from a normal equine... there was something... girlish about it...

The name of the town came to mind, but I was already crouching in front of the fountain, leaning down to wash my face and hands a bit...

''What the Hell is going on here? That is it. Ponyville. The sign said it is this way and I didn't see any other road, leading to somewhere else. And here's the zero population of the town. It isn't that Ponyville has no citizens on sight, but a town itself has no population! Even with a temporary blindness I would be able to see that something is not right!''

''Let me think...'' Dhuradhan finally said something and I pulled down my mask to wash my face.

''How awesome it would be, if they were actually watching you the whole time?'' Dhanthas had a point, but I wasn't sure how 'awesome' it would be, actually.

After refreshing and cooling down my head, via fountain water, I kept my head to hang over the stone and took a look at my own reflection. I pulled down my hood to get a clearer view, even though the water was crystal clear in itself. The heat from the sun assaulted my head and face, but the cool sensation had already traveled down to my neck and chest, keeping me from having a sudden temper rise. Which would be predictable, given how much time went by, by progressing nothing.

In the water, I inspected myself. My goat beard changed nothing and if I looked closer, it seemed a bit shorter. Markhar came to my mind. In our fight, I probably got burned at several places... my sincere gratitude for those doctors, but only after Celestia...

The person, who looked back at me on the water surface, was looking ready. I was ready. To start my new life and focus on my plans for the future. My mind was clear, I haven't screwed up anything, my body was alive and ready to take on anything. I kept the optimistic attitude, after what Celestia and Dhanthas told me and I was willing to approach the inhabitants of this world in a friendly manner... and Celestia too...

But what does Equestria wanted me to do? I made sure to do everything flawlessly and it still wasn't enough. What was I supposed to do, if the place where I was told to go, had nothing to offer? I was in Ponyville, just as the note said and I can't progress any further, due to missing citizens! I was supposed to converse with them and build a good reputation with the town. And not just the additional favor for Celestia was what I couldn't do, but the first priority of my staying! Where was they Mayor's house? Without the people to turn to, I was stuck at the first instruction!

I sighed and slid up my mask and hood back to their respective places. I sat down in front of the fountain, resting my back against the stone wall and just listening to the trickling water above me. Maybe I just had to wait? They were having a social gathering somewhere and I just happened to arrive at the wrong time? Anything could happen in an unknown world...

So I waited, using up the only option I had at that moment... aside from running to Celestia and crying for help again...

''The hunter became the prey. The 'Observer' got observed. Just imagine it! They're stalking on you from the shadows of the alleys...'' Dhanthas was still rambling about, dramatically listing things, gathered from somewhere from my past... our past...

Yet, out of curious intentions and completely accidentally, I flicked my gaze over to an alley to my left...

... only to spot something at the end of the narrow gap, turning on the corner...

''Follow!''

''Chase it!''

I immediately sprinted after it, not even stopping when the boxes and other garbage spilled into my way, blocking my path. Doing a really short wall-run on the side of the right house, I used my momentum from leaping a bit to the left. This provided me to be able to make that right turn on the corner, getting that thing back to my line of sight and resuming running with the same speed.

As I said, I was absolutely ready for anything. And that thing was probably the key to find out what is up with the town. I was possibly close to finally start my new life after this little chase, so I made sure to catch that shadowy figure. I did NOT want to miss this opportunity... possibly my only opportunity...

I had managed to catch a glimpse of my target, running into a huge tree, slamming the door behind itself. Said tree turned out to be a house, with balconies on the top and sides, and with hidden windows under the leaves. There was also a sign, showing an open book, indicating that it was a library. The fact that they used a tree to build a library into it, highly reminded me about the Elves and I somewhat felt delighted to see this construction style... a familiar style, to be precise.

And it was nice to know that I had found something, that could give me information... two things actually...

In that way, I could 'kill two Shadows with one swing'...

I pretty much blasted the door open, as I rammed into in with my shoulder, just turning the knob in time, to not rip the lock out of its place. I suddenly had a feeling, that I had just ran into a trap, considering how dark the room was. I was able to make out a staircase to my right, leading up to the balconies, and the towering bookshelves, covering the walls and reaching to the ceiling. A studying area a bit left to the staircase and under the first platform; and a living room area, with four green couches around a brown coffee table. On the left, a doorless gateway leading to another area, but I could not examine the library any further...

The door was the only light source for me at that moment and I saw no sign of my target. It was bound to be a trap, but if I wanted to get answers, then I was willing to lure them out at me. And as I predicted, the door closed behind me, when I reached the middle of the room and the only light source died out.

Activating my Primary Armor, I stood there motionless, ready for an impact. Celestia said to not use my Powers... against the loyal subjects and not for my own sake. And my plan involved my Primary Armor, deciding to finally lay my eyes upon the inhabitants in this world. If the maker of the trap was a bandit, then he probably had buddies, trying to take me into captive. Well, good luck for that, my Primary Armor was hardened, so whatever would they do, it would not work...

And sure enough, I felt something slamming against my back and wrapping its limbs around my chest. ''I got it!'' I heard a female voice, yet not so feminine, like those punk girls on the street.

A purple aura tried to force my arms tightly to my sides and my legs together, not letting me move. ''Ngh... Applejack!'' Another female, sounding young and far behind from me.

Under seconds, ropes were tied around my arms and legs, with that gaping hole between my legs and between my sides and arms. If not for the Primary Armor, they would have been able to tie me up completely, preventing me from movement. Also, it was good that I kept up the ropes around me, tricking them into believing that they 'got it'. Because these ladies, decided to trip me over and make me fall onto my side. Pretending that I was so shocked, I let myself to roll a bit away from the middle of the room and towards a bookshelf, where I dropped the acted shock and hardly moved into a sitting position, my back resting against the bookshelf.

Dhanthas would have made a joke... a dirty one...

''All done 'n tie' up like ah sack o' apples!'' A country accent really close and in front of me. I couldn't see them yet, since my head was hanging forward, acting the defeated. Thankfully, that position allowed me to hold up the ropes more comfortably...

I considered lashing out with a double kick, but my curiosity got the better out of me. Female opponents were rare and I wanted to see their faces. I wanted to see if these ladies' faces actually showed a long life of criminal years. I wanted to see how the inhabitants looked like in Equestria. And they sounded so happy about capturing me, so I wasn't about to ruin their cheering just yet.

And just so you know... I highly enjoyed messing around with weaker warriors like that, no matter how cruel it was. They chose the wrong guy to mess with... the wrong soul as an opponent...

''I light up the room. Rainbow, hold the ropes! Applejack, hold it down and don't let it do anything!'' The young girl ordered the other two and I grinned under the mask. The outcome of my plan was promising, now that I was the 'captive' of three girls... ehh, this sounded wrong, actually...

Let's just say, it was entertaining to listen to them, if not cute in way... and for that, I had to overlook the fact, that they pretty much attacked me in the nicest way. I mean, they didn't hit me once, only made me to fall onto the ground. They were clearly not hostile. And they thought it out so well and look how careful they were. Sadly, I was the dick here, ruining their joy...

But it was fun to listen to... they 'captured' it' , congratulation...

Though, they not knowing if I was a he or she... it did rise an alarm from my part... maybe it was the mask...

Unfortunately it wasn't the mask. Because the revelation, that went through me after that... I suddenly felt like the greatest fool in the world... in Equestria...

Just when the light from outside, started pouring inside the windows and illuminated the room, an orange hoof got planted on my chest, holding me. I followed the... limb, all the way up to the odd shoulder, long neck, round-muzzle and large emerald-green eyes. I leaned back and came face to face with a smirking, small horse. It- no... SHE was watching me in victory. And to the top of that and on the top of... her head, was a cowboy hat, complementing her tied-together hair- mane? And guess what, her tail had the same 'hairstyle' too, with the same red ribbon to tie it with...

To my left, holding the end of the rope in her mouth was a sky-blue pegasus... A. Pegasus. The name fit to her rainbow colored mane perfectly, same with the tail. Magenta pools glared daggers at me and looked ready for any kind of movement from my part... her colorful look wasn't an advantage for her intimidating look.

Though, the eyes were exotic, so I had to give her that. Such eye color was rare to see for me, so thinking this over, she did has a threatening look...

And finally, behind the orange one, a lavender unicorn... a freaking unicorn... with working magic inside her horn. Two shaded stripe in her dark-purple mane and tail; purple eyes turned to look at me, after she had finished pulling away the curtains with magic... if not for her standing position, I could have easily mistaken her as a flag or some sort of cloth.

The unicorn was staring at me in wonder and I stared at them, noting their body size. It seemed to me, that the wingless and hornless 'cow-girl' had a stronger built. It made sense, taking into count her western style and that the other two had easier life with such appendages. The other two shared the same built, but knowing well enough about the magicians, I had an idea which one was the stronger physically.

I also spotted some sort of mark on their sides, however, I quickly looked away from that area, not wanting to give them the impression that I was a pervert. A Mortal would have made that mistake, but not me, after spending so much time with other races. Staring like that is just as an indecency as looking at a human girl's cleavage or backside. Just because the sentient creature is an animal, the basic rules of politeness are present in the world of the powerful beings.

As a Mortal, you may overlook the fact that these creatures are sentient and you just call them exotic... but I call them beautiful, in such a way, that could be considered as bestiary for a Mortal...

You may haven't thought about this, but if you just overlook the fact that they are animal looking, instead of focusing on exactly that and not caring about the intelligence of said creatures... you found them very alike to Mortals or more like to Humans...

Like the skin color of the Elves. It's exotic and mesmerizing when you see their bodies, cloaked in night-blue. A wing could acts as an additional limb to hug a soul, just like it can act as an exciting part in sex. A fur coated body is actually rather soft to touch and with proper cleaning - more like 'grooming' - it could be just like a girl's skin, but softer and the slightly tingling you feel when... use your imagination and ONLY THIS time... try to think dirty, because I won't do a report about my experiments in bed, with creatures like half-humanoid - half-cat...

As I said, there are similarities, too. Curved body is one of those beauty signs, just like eyelashes - the eyes are a key for absolute attracting, so those are really important to be visible and clear - and well kept hair...

Beauty is something natural for these beings and not the hundred Kg makeup or extra big breasts...

And these equines were no difference. I didn't know if it was because of the light, but they look so shining. Pure coats, sparkling eyes and silk like manes. After what I had explained, you must understand, that I found them pretty... and it amused me to think that they tried to capture me. They were lucky, that Celestia told me to not use my skills, nor my Powers against the loyal subjects. What they did was dangerous... their lives could have been ended minutes ago, if not for my curiosity, Celestia's warning and Dhuradhan's advice...

And the reason why I wasn't freaking out over the fact, that talking horses captured me...  was simply because I was used to see talking equines or other animal looking creatures doing the exact same thing like a sentient being...

So I wasn't freaked out... more like pissed beyond belief and my amusement gone away quickly...

It was fairly obvious, yet I couldn't figure it out, up until now, where I finally had a visual outlook of the situation. The signs that could have indicated that there were equines in here, yet I couldn't realize that. All of those clues... the clopping sounds, Celestia's strange behavior over my oblivious state, the name of the town, the lack of foot marks from humanoids, the statue of that horse and smaller objects... it seemed to me, that there weren't any Humanoids in this world.

I thought I was aware of everything finally, but no... Equestria had to fuck me over again... I was such a fool...

The blue one let go of the rope and stepped onto it with her fore-hoof, before speaking up. ''What is that thing, Twilight?'' She asked one of her friend, not letting me out of her sight.

This also proved my prediction true... they had no idea what I was, due to the lacking population of Humanoids...

''I don't know...'' Approached me the unicorn, inspecting me and destroying more of my hopes. There must have been Humanoids in this world! I mean, the objects they were using... they weren't for hooves! ''I've never read about this thing in my books.'' While she scratched her muzzle in thinking, I decided to keep my hopes up and blame their ignorance on my mask and Assassin Gear. I WAS covered with clothing, after all...

''Well as lon' as it stays still, Ah won't buck it back to last week.'' Stated the country one, her smirk slowly forming into a slight frown.

I was finally over with my mental self-beating, to start getting back to optimistic. They weren't Humanoids and I may be their biggest revelation - or not, if I reveal my face - , but Celestia told me to stay casual and they get used to me eventually. No wonder why she had told me that and I hoped that only Ponyville haven't seen a Humanoid and not all of Equestria...

I will ask around to find the Mayor, get my house and while I'm doing my daily routines, I will try to find more Humanoids or Humanoid-like beings hopefully. Not like I had any problems with these equines, but I would prefer to stick out from the crowd due to my clothing and not because of my race.

If I find none, then I shall live with these equines, getting a good reputation with them. I didn't know if they were like the other powerful beings, who cared less about your race, but I wasn't about to be bothered about it. For me, everyone was equal...

And everything else that I could do with a Humanoid, I could do it with an equine... and Dhanthas better be silent and not take my words in the wrong way...

Suddenly and as fast as it was possible, I moved my arms and legs close to each other, then whipped them outwards, ripping the ropes to pieces. The orange one's hoof got lifted down for a second and I used this opportunity to roll to my right, away from them. Loosely hanging pieces of ropes were still on me, even that one, which was previously under the pegasus. I let those pieces to fall down from me, when I moved into a straightly standing position and watched the two, picking themselves up. The normal equine shook her head after she had hit it in the bookshelf, due to me moving out from under her and taking away her stability. The pegasus got splayed out on the ground, after ramming into the bookshelves with her forehead.

But she picked herself up quickly, enraged and she was already flying towards me with extended fore-hooves. I stepped to the right, catching her with an awaiting left arm. I span around, easing down her momentum and hooked my arm under her fore-hooves and neck, holding her tightly to my chest. Making her breathing harder by the uncomfortable position, I ignored her struggling and attempts to kick me somehow, turning my focus onto the farm equine.

She kicked up the dirt from the wooden floor, like a bull would do it and charged at me. At around two meters, she flipped herself around, landing one meter away from me and trying to 'buck me back to last week'. I stepped to the right again, turning my body at the same time and hooked my right arm under her belly, raising her up with some more effort and placing her onto my right shoulder. Her head was just in my peripheral vision, bobbing up and down to wiggle herself out and just like her friend in my left arm, she tried kicking me somehow.

Providing them enough air to breath, but not enough to hold up their adrenaline for too long, I started walking towards the unicorn. I dispelled her attempt at taking control of my body, by releasing my own Energy and damaging her mental self. When her spell broke, she collapsed onto the ground, her face showing a dizzy sensation. It took her a few seconds to regain herself and to get used to the headache, but by the time she was done, a few meters were between us.

Terrified, she backed away from me, all the way up to the front door, where she was cornered by me. Curling into a ball and raising her hooves above her head, she braced herself for impact...

But instead of receiving a stomp onto her horn, I gave her her friends, gently placing down the two equine to their stomach. While the two were catching their breath, the unicorn peeked out from under her hooves, to check what I did. The only thing she saw was me, backing away from them, while her two friends were slowly getting up. I waited until all of them were standing and having their attention on me. While the unicorn was still looking at me in confusion, the cowgirl looked dumbfounded by my retreat and the pegasus looked confused in her defensive stance.

Stopping in the middle of the room and pulling down my mask to show no hostility, but friendly intentions, even after their ambush.

Then, I spoke up...

''Have you heard the saying... ask before firing?''