---

“So, you are Hamin, yes?” Luna queried, looking up at the man.

Hamin nodded, standing up from his chair and performing a deep bow. “Yes, Your Highness.” He replied.

Luna smiled thinly. “It’s good to see you know etiquette, but please, rise, you needn’t bow.”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. We simply wanted to ask you a few questions.”

Hamin simply sat back down and nodded, then looked across the three royals. “I assume you’d like to know if I came from the Mirror somehow?”

Twilight nodded. “You and...her, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He looked to the strange woman, asleep on the hospital bed. “...” He clenched his fists in his lap. “To answer your question, no. I’m not from the Mirror World. I don’t think she is, either. Don’t know for sure, though.” He placed a hand on his chest. “I’m from a planet called Earth, in the Solar System, in the Milky Way Galaxy.”

There was a silence for a long span of time, the three Princesses shocked into silence. Then…

“You’re an alien?!” Twilight squeed, before bouncing over. “Oh my gosh! You have to tell me everything! What’s Earth like? What’s it’s magic like? Or it’s culture? Oooh, so many questions!”

Hamin sighed, as if tired. “I couldn’t tell you all that accurately off the top of my head. I’d need time. But, I can tell you that I don’t recall ever seeing true magic on Earth.” He looked to the woman once again. “...Pretty sure some higher power dropped me here. I just...don’t recall how or why or...anything, really.” He shivered. “...Not sure I’m ready to relive it all, either.”

Twilight frowned, stepping back. The Sisters were much the same.

“So...then you are from a different reality?” Celestia surmised.

Hamin nodded slowly. “Yeah. And I’ll be brutally honest here…” He looked to them. “In my reality, all of you are just...fiction.” He looked to the woman. “So is she, but...she seems a bit different. Not sure. Never looked much into the Megaman franchise.”

Dead silence. Hamin looked to all of them to see them staring at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths. “Yeah, that’s about what I figured.”

“Well, that’s…” Luna blinked, as if not even believing her sight at the moment. “That’s…quite a bomb to drop.”

Hamin gave her an apologetic smile. “Yeah, sorry. I just figured it would be better to tell you straight up than lie about it for days or months or years on end.” His eyes turned downcast for a moment. ‘Had plenty of that back home. Don’t need more.’ His eyes returned to their tired yet alert state, and he looked up at them. “Any more questions?”

Celestia shook her head, as if to clear some sort of mental fog. “Y-Yes, actually.” She cleared her throat. “Fluttershy and some students said you were armed. And when we inspected your weapons, what we found was...well, both disturbing and intriguing.”

Hamin perked up slightly at that. “Yeah? What did you find out?”

“Well, the...katana, appears to be made out of bone. Dragon, bone. As well as ivory and some form of iron mixed with some kind of enchanted ice we can’t make any sense out of,” Twilight explained. She shifted on her hooves. “Was...did you kill to make that weapon?”

Hamin shook his head. “No. It was just...on me, when I got here. The sword, the cloak, the greatsword, the book… Only things I recognize as actually mine were the watch, the music box,” he moved a hand to his shirt, clutching a small item hidden underneath. “This necklace, and the MP3.” At their confused stares, he rolled his eyes. “Basically the same as the portable music players you guys have.”

“Oh,” they went in unison. After that was a small pause, all three of them seeming to be contemplating something.

“Still...we’ll be keeping an eye on you, for safety reasons, you understand,” Celestia told him, looking up from the floor.

Hamin frowned, dropping into a moment of thought himself. “Am I to be imprisoned?”

Luna shook her head. “No, but you will be placed under supervision.”

Hamin looked up at her. “Whose?”

“That would be my student, Starlight,” Twilight said, a small hint of pride in her voice.

Hamin grunted. “A’ight then. Anything else?”

They all looked to each other, then back to him. “No, that’s just about everything.” They turned and started to walk out the doors. “We’ll inform Starlight. For now, please, take some time to yourself.”

“...Yeah, I plan to,” was all he said as they left and closed the doors behind them. As they did, Hamin immediately stood up and began pacing. His thoughts were running a mile a minute, too fast for him to puzzle anything out. Thus, frustration arose.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He screamed. It was a not a scream of rage. Not purely. Sadness, loneliness, regret, pain, doubt, fear… It was a scream filled with pure emotional turmoil and little else.

Stomping over to a wall, he punched it, uncaring for how it hurt his hand. “Fucking why?! FUCKING WHY?!?!” He punched it again. And again. And again. Until his knuckles felt like they were bleeding. Then, he slumped to the floor, tears flying from his eyes. “Fucking dammit… Why? I’ve got nothing now… NOTHING!” He pounded his other fist into the tiled floor. More tears flowed from the eyes beneath his glasses. “Family’s gone, probably no way back, friends are gone, so say fucking GOODBYE to them!” A hand went to his face, trying to hold back the onrush of sorrow.

He didn’t stop crying for a long time. He didn’t truly know how long, either, but he didn’t care. He needed to vent. And he knew it.

So, for nearly an hour, he cried, on his knees and on the floor, until finally he calmed down, wiped his tears, and stood up. He then took several deep, shuddering breaths, and looked to the woman still resting soundly on the bed. “...Alright.” He said, walking towards her. “...Alright. I’ll just...focus on what I can do now, I guess.” He said with uncertainty. Sitting back down in the chair, the man looked out the window, waiting as he had been for the woman to wake up.

---

Another hour passed before a low groan escaped the mysterious woman's throat, her eyes slowly blinking open. "Ah, shhh-" she cut herself off, scooting back to support her back while bringing a white glove up to her helmet as she winced.

“Morning, sleepy head,” came a deep baritone from her right.

She opened her eyes and looked over in the direction of the voice, hand still on her head. There, she saw a tall man with short, chestnut brown hair and hazel green eyes, glasses covering said eyes. His skin seemed to be fair and pale as a ghost, and he wore a white dress shirt and light blue vest along with a white linen cloak, the hood pulled down. Black slacks covered his legs, and a light and well-trimmed beard covered a portion of his face.

“How ya feeling?” he asked, smiling kindly.

"Like I dropped a nuke on myself," she replied with a groan. "That's not untrue, though…." She paused and leaned her head back until it rested on the wall, eyes closed. Her eyelids moved and twitched until a flash of green plus signs flashed around her body, her wounds sealing shut.

She sighed in relief and looked at him again. "How long was I out?" She asked.

“About three hours,” the man replied. He rested his cheek on a hand. “Mind if I have your name? Mine’s Hamin. Or, at least, it’s the name I gave myself. Only really remember the initial of my real name.”

"Amelia Jaeger," the woman answered, starting to look around the room. "So, where am I? The princesses transport all the way back to Canterlot for medical treatment?"

Hamin shook his head. “Nah. First time they’d seen you, from what I could tell. This is Ponyville. You kinda just appeared and fell on top of me, covered in slashes. Oh, also, pretty name. I like it. Very poetic.”

Her eyes stopped exploring, slowly coming back to look at him sideways. "Alright," she murmured quietly, starting to take the blankets off her legs. "Well, how's about I just go find them and clear all this up. I'm sure Amber Leaf is losing her mind and driving them, and Sombra, absolutely insane." She'd shimmied her legs over the bedside as she spoke, boots on the floor as she got ready to leave, never taking her eyes off of him.

Hamin sighed. “Lady, Sombra’s gone. Trust me, I know that for a fact.” His own eyes followed hers. “You’re in a different Equestria. Take a second look around you. Did yours look like it was literally drawn by some fan artist?”

"Not that this isn't fun, but I'm going to need you to knock it off, pal," Amelia growled, fists tensing as she stood on her feet. "I need a straight answer. Where are Celestia, Luna, and Amber Leaf." She paused and lifted her hand with her fingers extended, lights starting to flash in the bottom corner of her right eye. "I won't ask again-" She stopped as the light in her eye blinked red. "No… signal…?"

Hamin let out a breath. “Was trying to tell you, dork.” He gestured around them again. “Also, again, look around. We are literally drawings.” He pointed to the obvious black outline of his arm. “See what I mean?"

"It was… always like that," she muttered, eyes searching just before her range of vision. "Where… where's Amber Leaf?"

Hamin frowned. “Sorry. I don’t know if she even exists in this Equestria.”

"You keep saying that," she whispered, focusing in on him again. "What do you mean by that?"

He blinked. “Oh. Shit. You don’t know.” He coughed into his fist. “Well, uh, to put it shortly, multiverse theory is true. Earth has its own multiverse, and Equestria/Equus/whatever has its own multiverse. We’re in an Equestria that’s separate from yours, just like your Earth, or wherever you came from, are in a separate...dimension, I think it was?” He shook his head. “Either way, this Equestria is not like the one you were in.”

The woman stared at him for several long, silent moments. Finally, she sat back down on the edge of the bed, eyes wide. "...You said Sombra was gone," she murmured, eyes on the floor. "How long has he been gone? How long has it been since Celestia and Luna took back the Crystal Empire?"

Hamin shrugged. “Dunno. I only just got to this world three hours ago myself.”

Amelia put her hand over her face at that, blowing out the breath in her lungs. She stared at the wall for a few moments with her hand over her mouth before she shook her head. "This can't be happening," she muttered, voice a lot tighter than a moment ago. "Not again." She tossed her hand and cleared her throat, standing back to her feet.

"Thank you, Hamin, for all the help," she mumbled before going for the door. "But I think I need to find the princesses."

Hamin looked back at her. “They left already, actually. Pretty sure they’re back in Canterlot now.” He stood up, then walked towards her. “But if you want to see them, then we’ll have to go talk to Starlight.” He patted her shoulder as he walked by her. “Come on, she should be in the lobby.”

The woman only nodded, following behind him. Pushing the doors open, Hamin led the woman out of the room and down the halls. “So, which character are you supposed to be?” He asked after a short while. “I don’t know the Megaman series all that well.”

"My base model is Bass.EXE," she replied, her voice sounding dull. "Although, it looks like the model was changed to fit my gender and personal facial features."

“Ah, okay,” he replied, continuing on his way.

As they walked down the hall, a doctor passed by, blinked, then whirled around. “What are you doing out of your bed?!” she cried, galloping after them.

Hamin sighed and turned around. “She’s fine now, don’t worry about it.”

The mare growled at him. “I’ll be the judge of that, thank you very much.”

Hamin raised a brow. “Do you have knowledge of the physiology of digital beings?”

The doctor faltered. “Well, no but-”

Hamin jerked a thumb towards Amelia. “She’s a digital being. And from what I can tell, she’s fit to be released and walk around.”

The doctor opened and closed her mouth numerous times, before groaning and shaking her head. “Very well, very well.” She looked to Amelia. “But I want you back here tomorrow so we can run some tests to be sure you’re alright.”

"If it makes you feel any better, doc," she answered, mildly waving her hand.

The mare nodded, adjusting her glasses with a hoof. “Good.”

“Thanks, doc,” Hamin said, before turning around and waving. “See you later.”

Amelia said nothing more as she continued down the hall, her cloak shifting seemingly on its own.

Finally, they reached the lobby, where a pink mare was waiting on a bench, idly reading a magazine. Hamin waved to her. “Hey. You’re Starlight, right?”

“Hm?” Starlight looked up. “Oh!” She put her magazine down and trotted over. “You must be Hamin! It’s nice to meet you!” She offered a hoof, and Hamin bent down to shake it with his hand.

“Same to you,” Letting go, he gestured to Amelia. “I know this is pretty sudden, but Amelia here wanted to talk to the Princesses.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know it’s kinda late to do that since they probably just got back to Canterlot, but is there a way she can at least send a letter or something?”

“Amelia?” Starlight looked to the woman with confusion at first, before her eyes widened. “So you’re the one made out of code…” Starlight’s eyes seemed to sparkle. “I know this is sudden, but can you tell me how you work?”

Hamin cleared his throat. “Starlight, I don’t think this is the best time to ask that. She’s kinda in need of some help, not a game of twenty questions.”

Starlight blushed lightly and chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “R-Right, sorry!” She cleared her own throat. “Well, I can take you to Spike. He should be in the Castle right now, and he can send a letter to them for you. Will that work?”

Amelia nodded. "How long will it take for the letter to reach them?" She asked. "If it's like snail mail back home, running there would be faster."

Starlight blinked. “I don’t know what snail mail is, but Spike can just use his dragon fire and send it straight to them.”

The woman let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank god," she murmured to herself, her shoulders sinking slightly. "I really didn't want to have to use all my battlechips to ask one question."

Starlight blinked again. “...I’m just gonna, file that away for later.” She shook her head, then turned to the doors. “I’ll wait outside while you sign a release form.” With that, she trotted out the doors.

Amelia sighed and rolled her shoulders. "Never did like that about hospitals," she muttered, turning in search of the front desk. "Always too much paperwork."

Hamin chuckled. “I can agree with that.” He walked by her, gesturing for her to follow. “Over here,” he said, walking towards the front desk. She followed behind him, falling to silence again.

---

“All done?” Starlight asked as Hamin and Amelia walked out of the hospital.

"In every manner of speaking," Amelia replied, a slight aggravation added to her dull tone as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Hamin chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad.” He looked to Starlight. “Shall we go?”

Starlight nodded. “Yup. Just follow me.” She said, before turning and trotting towards the crystalline, tree-like castle in the distance.

Hamin followed after her as Amelia walked beside them. The woman took in her surroundings, noting every detail. "How far south are we?" She asked, watching some ponies go by.

“In relation to what?” Starlight asked, looking back at her.

"The Crystal Empire," the woman answered, bringing her eyes back to the mare. "The Princesses mentioned Canterlot a couple of times, but I always assumed that it was a weeks march or more, not three hours."

Starlight blinked. “You know the Princesses? Weird. They seemed just as confused as to who or even what you are when they were here.”

The woman stared back at the pony before she gave a sigh. "I just want to find some form of normalcy," she muttered, looking to the sky. "Any sort of normalcy in this already weird world."

Starlight frowned. “Well, I’m here to help if I can.” She looked to Hamin. “Same goes for you, Hamin.”

Hamin smiled. “Thanks.” He turned to Amelia. “And just so you know, I’m also here if you need me.”

"Thanks," the woman replied, rubbing at her helmet over where her temple would be. "I'm just… very tired."

“Well, you can sleep when we get to the Castle, if you want,” Starlight offered, then blinked. “Oh, right!” She cleared her throat. “You wanted to know how far south from the Crystal Empire we are, right?” She hummed. “I think it was somewhere around a two day’s ride on the train or a twelve day walk from here.”

Amelia's eye brow arced. "There's a train going to the Crystal Empire?" She asked, her tone starting to change from curious to worried.

Starlight nodded. “Has been for at least three, almost four years, ever since the Empire returned and Spike and the girls saved it from Sombra.”

The woman stared at the mare, her walk slowing until she was stopped. "But the princesses liberated the Empire," she whispered, her voice now full of tension.

Starlight slowly stopped her self, along with Hamin, who was giving the woman a worried look. “No…?” Starlight turned around to face Amelia, a confused look on her muzzle. “The Princesses tried to liberate the Empire, but Sombra cursed it and it disappeared for a thousand years. It only came back three years ago, which is when Twilight, Spike and everypony else saved it.”

The woman stared at Starlight, her eyes wide. She didn't make to say anything, just stood in the middle of the road. Her eyes slowly peeled themselves from the pony and up to the castle in the distance. Her cloak began to flap wildly, a dark aura starting to rise off her body. Like a bullet from a barrel, she took off, a flash of green aura bursting around her as she dashed off towards the castle.

“Wh- Hey! Amelia, wait up!” Hamin cried, before running after her.

“Amelia!” Starlight called, following after them both.

The woman paid no mind to either of them, racing towards the castle doors with all the haste she could muster. She reached the front door and threw her shoulder into it. Naturally, the golden portal slammed open, revealing the immaculate main hall in all its glory.

The woman stopped, panting in the middle of the hall as more darkness poured off her body. Her eyes darted around, green eyes slowly turning to red. "I need… I… I need…" she stammered, hands clenching and unclenching as she looked for direction.

The sound of Hamin’s and Starlight’s cries from behind her gave her pause, her reddening irises turning to look at them, her breaths coming heavily as her shoulders heaved. She looked back to the interior of the castle, looking for the next entry.

Up a flight of stairs, she saw a set of more golden doors behind a balcony, likely leading deeper into the castle. However, there were two hallways leading to the right and left as well. Her eyes narrowed at the door, her form buzzing before she appeared in front of it, throwing it open with one hand.

A circular hallway was what greeted her, numerous doors lining each wall. Her eyes widened at the sight of each of the doors. Almost all the green left her eyes, leaving behind bright red. With an unearthly wail, she screamed to the ceiling, black aura surging out and blowing the doors open.

A frightened yelp echoed down the hall from the left, alerting her to the presence of someone else. Red eyes turned to the sound, dark aura simmering down slightly. She walked forwards and down the hall. Finding the door where the sound came from, she flung it open to find a young, purple baby dragon hiding under his comic book in a large library.

She looked down at the tiny dragon, red eyes glowing amongst the shadowy mist. With an uncanny calm she walked towards him, stopping as she towered over him. "...Census," she murmured, staring down at him. "Death records and censuses of the Crystal Empire pre-disappearance."

Spike blinked, looking up from his comic. “Wh-what?”

"I want records…" she murmured, her hand glowing purple, the comic doing the same as it floated off of him and to the side. "Of everyone in the Crystal Empire. Everyone who was alive when it disappeared...."

Spike gulped. “R-Right! On it!” Flapping his wings, he flew up to one of the shelves, searching for the books Amelia wanted. Thankfully, it took him far less time than it would Twilight, and he touched back down in front of her carrying a pile of books. “H-Here you go,” he stuttered.

She took the books from him wordlessly, walking to the nearest table and sitting down. She started to flip through the pages, scanning much faster than any living being could, searching for a single name.The further she read, the more her aura died down and the red in her eyes receded. Finally, she closed the last book, putting her elbows on the table and face in her hands.

She hadn’t found any names she recognized, save for the one at the very end. ‘King Sombra. Status: Deceased. Cause of death: Purification by Crystal Heart. Long live Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor!’

Spike slowly padded up to her. “U-Uh, is everything-?” The sound of rapid footsteps and hard hooves on the floor interrupted him. “Huh?”

The next moment, Hamin and Starlight appeared in the door. “Amelia!” Hamin called, before rushing over to her side. “Amelia, are you alri-?”

"You were right." The deadweight of the words hit like cement. The woman dropped one hand to reveal the look of absolute defeat she wore. "I'm in a totally different world. My friends are gone, I'm a thousand years from where I should be, history is different, and everything I thought I knew is worthless."

Hamin frowned, looking to Starlight for a moment, seeing her ears lowered. Sighing, he looked to Amelia and put a hand on her shoulder. “If it helps any...I’m basically in the same boat. And, well, like I said, I’m here if you need m-”

"How does that help?" She asked harshly, looking up at him. "I just fought a war, tore myself to pieces, and watched all the ones I cared about get hurt and disappear in front of my eyes. And it was all for nothing. I just end up somewhere else, restarting at square one." She looked away from him and leaned towards the tabletop. "I don't even know if what I did saved them or if the virus killed them anyway…."

Hamin removed his hand, looking away, eyes distant. He was silent as he took in her words , mulling over his own choice. “...I may not have seen my family or those I cared about get hurt like you, but I’m just as alone here. No family. No friends. Not even acquaintances.” One of his hands went for the hilt of his sword, squeezing the pommel hard. “...All I remember is being in a dark place and being tortured.” He grit his teeth, but looked back to her. “But you know what? I’m standing here, ready to help you, because I’m moving forward anyway. I’m broken and more alone than I’ve ever been, but I’m moving. Forward.” He gave her a hard stare, which she met, and for a while they kept that stare down...until his eyes softened. “...And I know that someone as strong as you can do it too.” He gave a small smile. “You’re stronger than me, at least, so you can do it. I’ll be right here, helping you out the whole way. I’ve got nothing else, after all.”

Amelia stared up at him for a second before looking away and giving a small nod. "I guess… you're right," she murmured, starting to get to her feet. "There's no use in moping around." She looked back towards the others, her emerald green eyes falling on Spike. "I'm sorry I scared you earlier."

Spike gave a small smile. “It’s fine. I think I get what was going on now.”

She let a hint of a smile cross her features before looking to the others in the room. "So, what now?"

Starlight smiled herself. “Now, we get you settled in.”

Next Chapter: 4th Meditation (OLD) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes