Jacob was panting hard after that last yell of success, while every other pony watched in silence with confused expressions.
Applejack was the first to speak “Look, Ah know you’re happy to talk again and that your injury’s all cleared up, but keep the cursin’ out of it.” She scorned him, taking a few steps towards him.
Jacob just looked at her with a big smirk on his face “Fine, fine. I’ll tone it down.” He agreed, standing up. He was about to walk past Twilight Sparkle to get his things, when she spoke up.
“H-Hold on…” she mumbled, looking at his flank. She looked for a cutie mark, but found none “You’re a blank-flank?” she asked.
Jacob cocked a brow “The hell’s a cutie mark?” he asked, not stopping to look at her.
The three ponies looked at each other, and Twilight was the first to talk “Alright, I think it’s time you answered a few questions, Jacob…”
Jacob didn’t stop for her “No can do. I’m grateful for the tune-up, but I’ve got to get going.” He replied, just taking his satchel and fitting it onto himself.
“Hey, the filly cured you, the least you could do is answer some questions!” Applejack called out to him, getting more and more annoyed with his rudeness.
Jacob looked back at her, moving for the door “And I said that I don’t have the time!” he replied angrily, walking straight into the wall next to the door.
Applejack smirked trotting up to him “Well, if you’re in such a hurry, you should look where you’re headed!” she laughed.
Jacob made a heavy sigh “Whatever. I have people waiting for me, so-“ he began, before Twilight cut him off.
“What are ‘people’?” she asked.
Jacob just gave her a weird look.
“…What?” she asked.
“You don’t know what a person is?” Jacob groaned, rolling his eyes. He then turned to face them and said “A human? Ever heard of them?” he asked, as if it was the most obvious thing.
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates when he said that word “H-Humans?! They exist?!” she asked, flabbergasted.
Jacob made a small laugh “At least SOMEONE knows what I’m talking about! Just a little bit!” he said with a pint of sarcasm. He then opened the door and took a step outside.
“H-Hold on! You still haven’t explained what’s going on! And how do you know that humans exist?!” she asked, going around him and standing in his way.
Jacob stood there, staring at her for a few moments “You aren’t going to leave me alone until I do, aren’t you?”
Twilight shook her head with a scowl.
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Jacob groaned, turning back around and walking into the cottage once more.

Jacob sat down on the bed once more, the other three ponies gathered in front of him. “So… What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Firstly, what do you know about humans?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Well, humans are… bipedal, mammalian creatures, usually hairless, except for the top of their head, have fingers and toes on their hands and feet, not hooves…” he began to explain, looking for something to compare it to “You know what monkeys are, right?” he asked.
Fluttershy gave a nod this time “I-I do, there are some that live here in the Everfree Forest.” She answered.
Jacob gave a nod “Good. We’re kinda built like monkeys, except without tails.” He explained. “Lastly, I’m a human.”
Applejack looked him over “Funny, you sure don’t LOOK like a monkey…” she pointed out, not believing him.
Jacob shrugged “I got turned into this form when I got here. I just hope I can go back to normal, all this magic crap is giving me the creeps…” he muttered.
“Hey, magic isn’t ‘crap’!” Twilight grumbled, offended, but Jacob didn’t seem to care.
“Anything else?” he asked.
Applejack poked at the cannon sticking out of his bag. “What about these things? Ya shot somethin’ at me when we found you!” she asked.
Jacob pulled his bag away from Applejack’s curious poking “Don’t poke that!” he scorned her “This is an ‘Arm Cannon – Buster Class’. It’s a weapon I use to defend myself with.” He explained. He took the arm cannon out of the bag, and locked it onto his foreleg. He suddenly pointed at the open door, shooting out an energy ball, and leaving a burn mark on one of the trees outside.
“Amazing… How did you do that? I’ll assume it’s not ‘crappy’ magic?” Twilight asked.
Jacob gave a quick nod, before opening a small panel on the arm cannon “It’s a machine. It gathers power from a small solar panel on the top, to keep a constant rate of power. It uses said power to use one of seven different ‘points’, or modes. Each mode shoots something different; for example, the Buster point, which I’ve just shown you, gathers plasma energy and shoots it out the barrel. Believe me when I say it hurts if you get hit by it. I could go on forever explaining all the details, but I don’t really have the time for that. We’ll leave it here for now.” He explained.
“What else is in your bag?” Fluttershy finally asked.
“Well I’ve got a first aid kit, I’m pretty sure I have some NutriPills left in here, my digital map, my magicite clothes, a laser machete to cut things, a few energy grenades to blow things up, my iPod 360 for music…” he began. He took out a small brown bag, but quickly stashed it “I forget what’s in here; I’ll have to look later.” He lied.
At the repeated mention of weapons, Fluttershy got visibly more upset “But why do you have so many dangerous things with you?” she asked.
Jacob took a deep breath before saying “You really want to know?”
All three ponies nodded in agreement, and awaited his story.

“Well, I’m from a city called ‘New New York’, back on Earth. Earth is the name of my planet, just in case I’m not on it anymore. Right now, just about every city in the country is like mine: made of metal, and currently warring between the Magi, a religious group that uses magic and their ‘God’ as an excuse to overthrow us and change the city, killing many innocent bystanders that don’t agree with them, and the Mechanis, those who use technology to try and advance our civilization for the better. I am a Mechanis, as you can see by my equipment. I need to have these weapons to keep myself and the other safe. The Magi want to take all of our technology and advancements, and be rid of them, because their ‘God’, whom they say created everyone and wants the heretics dead, said so. Plus, they say it’s not natural, and thus does not belong in our world. I’m just a lowly ‘errand boy’ of sorts in my group; I go out, acquire vital information and return it to the base, hoping not to be caught and killed by the Magi who patrol the streets. If I AM caught, they’d probably kill me slowly, using their magic to keep me alive so that I continue to feel excruciating pain until I either do die, or convert to their stupid ideas. We currently outnumber them, but for some reason they’re just pushing us back regardless of what we do. So I keep fighting, hoping to kick those bastards out once and for all.” He explained. “I guess I went on a bit of a tangent there.”
The ponies all looked at him in shock “So… you and the others are fighting and killing each other over disagreements?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
Jacob rolled his eyes and said “It’s not that simple. I fight because I don’t want to see innocent people get killed by those magic-using assholes!” angrily “It’s kill or be killed!”
Twilight and Applejack were unsure of what to say after that, but Fluttershy finally stepped in.
“W-Would you want to go back to such a place?” she asked.

Jacob actually stopped and looked at her. Did he want to go back? If he stayed, even if he found a way to become human again, he’d be leaving his kind behind to fight the war themselves. But if he went back, he’d be putting himself in danger again, and who knows if they’d win the war, anyway? He didn’t answer the question, and stood up off the bed “If that’s everything, I’ll be headed back out.” He said flatly.
“B-But where will you go?” Fluttershy asked.
“No idea. I’ve never been here before.” He replied, pointing out the obvious.
Twilight Sparkle gave a groan “Well, you’ve got nowhere to stay, so why not stay with one of us?” she asked “You don’t have a home to call your own here and while you’re looking for a way back home, you’ll have a place to stay.”
Jacob just looked back at her quietly. Back home, nobody was really friendly with anyone, even among Mechanis; nobody really talked to each other outside of missions and even then, they only mutually agreed to work as allies. He didn’t have any friends back home, and here were 3 ponies, complete strangers, being friendly to him. It was kinda creepy to him. However, she had a point; He did need a place to stay. “Seriously?” he asked her.
“Well, Ah don’t see why not. You’re…. rough around the edges, but Ah can tell you’re at least a decent person.” Applejack admitted, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. “But ya better believe Ah’ll be keepin’ mah eye on you!”
A small smile crept onto Jacob’s face. After thinking about it for another few moments, he finally said “Well, if I’m going to be stranded in this place, I guess I could live out here, if that’s alright.” Looking at Fluttershy for her approval, he saw that she was smiling too, and gave a small nod.