Sergeant Dean stood off to the side, analyzing his crate of limited supplies. The Princess and the Pegasus, Midnight Flow, sat near the fire in the center of the cave. The Prince was asleep off to the side. The Princess had cast some sort of spell in order to guide the smoke to the exit. The concept of magic truly amazed Dean. The fact that if one could think of it, they could do it, really applied now. On their long walk back, Twilight had told him about teleportation, levitation, attacks, shields, defenses, and so much more. It was a surprise when Twilight had informed him of their most advanced piece of technology being an airship; which there weren't very many of. He couldn't quite fathom that with such advanced natural abilities, they wouldn't be able to create incredible technologies that would far surpass humanity.... or defend against the Dark Elves.

He had told her about various technologies from his own world, but he kept it to a minimum. If the prince were to escape, he didn't want him to get any ideas on how to wage war. Twilight was especially amazed when he showed her his tac-pad. The item in question told him the condition of his armor, exo-suit, and overall health, but there were other features he had figured out how to use.

Before his mission, he had downloaded a few books, three of his favorite songs, and flappy bird. Of course, in Equestria, there was no service, so he had no access to the internet. Nevertheless, Twilight was still amazed and asked him if she could use it. He had told her that she could fiddle around with it when they got back to the cave.

Tuning out the two ponies by the fire, Dean rummaged around in his box. It was a miracle that the thing had made it when the Rift began sucking things in. There were a few small, tied down stacks of 7.62 caliber, totaling up to four hundred rounds. Beside the 7.62, three extra magazines sat in an unorganized heap, previously not put in the correct locations resulting in a being scattered upon impact. Dean rummaged around and found two more thermal sleeping bags and compact pillows. Below them, two flashlight torches lay upon their sides and two med kits sat neatly off in the corner. Dean was about to close the box when a glint caught his eye.

Quickly moving an extra tactical helmet to the side, he reached down and grabbed the heavy titanium gadget from the bottom. Even though Titanium is a lighter material compared to iron or steel, the box still weighed quite a bit. He had only spotted it due to the flicker of the fire catching its reflective green surface; it otherwise blended into the material of the inside of the box, making it virtually invisible.

"A fabricator." Dean mumbled matter of factly. He slowly set the item down and looked around for the power switch. He noticed Midnight Flow looking in his direction, a questioning look on his muzzle.

After a couple of seconds, Dean found the little black button on the side and gave it a light tap. The device was fingerprint activated, meaning only humans could turn it on.

Dean had only heard stories of these devices. They were never intended to be used as military hardware, but when the Orith invaded, the military started to produce them bigger, and better, and more frequently. The one he had in his possession was an antique compared to the ones the military used, but it was still quite a prize to find. This thing would definitely come in handy.

"What's that?" Dean jumped and turned to face the being the voice belonged to in annoyance. He wasn't all that surprised to see Midnight Flow standing off to the side. The machine gave off a hum as it booted up. Dean turned back around and began fiddling with the various parts as they opened up; he was never that good with nano-particles.

"It's a fabricator. It builds things I want it to if I have the right raw materials." Dean looked over the screen. This particular device had Orith technology built into it, explaining why it was in a box in a secret lab. He wondered what other secrets where in there; he still hadn't explored the whole thing.

Dean waited for the Pegasus to respond, but after several seconds of silence, he turned back to find a look of awe. The eyes of the Pegasus were wide and his jaw was hanging open. He couldn't help but smirk slightly at the facial expressions these ponies were capable of.

"H-how? How do you have this technology? No being on Eques could make something like this! Are you certain it isn't magic?" The Pegasus frowned and looked at Dean accusingly. Dean in turn was about to offer a response when Twilight beat him to it.

"He's not from this world, Midnight." She stretched like a cat before blinking owlishly in their direction.

Midnight stuttered and spluttered, his jaw flapping unceremoniously. "But... but I thought Humans, even in myth, were originally from here! There is no way he could be from a different world! only something the likes of Discord could do something like that. You make it sound like 'being from another world' explains everything."

Dean chuckled and Midnight's head swiveled back towards him. He couldn't help himself really. He may have been a battle hardened soldier, but the irony of everything the baffled Pegasus said was slowly getting to him.

"That's because it was a being called Discord who brought me here. And being from another world does explain everything. Nowhere on this planet will you find a being with such advanced technology, not even the Dark Elves." Dean eyed the sleeping Prince, an emotion he couldn't quite place welling inside him briefly.

"That doesn't make any sense though." Midnight Flow growled. "Humans were originally from here according to the stories, simple as that."

Dean sighed and started pressing more buttons. He didn't feel like having this conversation again. He decided to put it off. "Go talk to Twilight, she can fill you in."

Midnight Flow scowled, "Nuh-uh, not until I get some answers. How did you get here if you are from another world?"

Dean stared long and hard at the Pegasus. Glancing towards Twilight, he noticed her head tilted towards him in a thoughtful manner. Sighing once again, he stood up and stretched, towering over the little pony before him. His equipment rattled slightly. Detaching his helmet, he placed it on top of the crate along with his rifle; his sidearm stayed in his hip, as did the knife on his chest.

"I guess it is about time I got some answers. In turn for answering one of your questions, I get to ask one of my own." Dean grabbed the single expanding camping stool and propped it on a flat section of the floor, closer to the entrance. This way, he could talk, and keep an eye on their prisoner.

Twilight nodded and laid down, her legs tucked under her comfortably. Midnight Flow stalked to the other side of the fire, the scowl still smeared across his face.

'He was so calm and collected earlier, why is he suddenly all emotional?' Dean mused to himself. Midnight Flow sat down and glared at him. He was still wearing his odd suit, probably built for aerodynamics.

"To answer your question. I was sucked through a rip in space when a mission I partook in went FUBAR. The enemy had been expecting us, and I was lucky to be alive. After that, the last thing I remember was waking up in a cave with a mismatched creature who I found out later was named Discord. It turns out, Discord brought me here in order to help free the populace of this country, though I think he has an ulterior motive." Dean mumbled the last bit to himself. He looked up to see Twilight's confused look and Midnight's shocked expression. His jaw was comically hanging open and Dean couldn't help but shudder; he hoped that not all ponies were capable of such strange features, it would take him a while to get used to.

"That can't be right." All heads swiveled towards the corner of the cave, towards the voice of the Prince. Dean had given the prince a pair of standard issue pants when they had entered in order to eliminate the smell of piss. The prince had originally refused, but after a threat from Dean involving ears and a nose, he had complied easily enough.

"What do you mean that can't be right? I saw him myself." Dean growled as he glared towards the prince, challenging him to make a remark. It surprised everyone however when the prince gave a straight answer along with a straight, honest face.

"I watched as his life force was sucked from his very being, the whole royal family was present." Everyone went silent as they stared at the prince. Twilight was glaring at him with enough hate to burn through a mountain. Trignar noticed this and began to sweat. "I-I didn't partake in the murder of the Chaos g-god! I am simply t-telling you what I-I know!" He chuckled nervously.

"Maybe it wasn't Discord but someone posing as him?" Midnight Flow suggested. It could have been possible, but Dean had his doubts. Maybe it was a Discord from another dimension? Dean himself was from a different world, but he had no idea if the portal had brought him to another universe or simply shot him a million light years through space. The topic was starting to give him a headache.

"Whatever the being was, it brought me here for a reason. Now, seeing as you are awake, I can ask you a few questions." Dean looked over to Trignar with a smile that did not reach his ears. The prince in turn shivered.

"You should leave the interrogations until we get him to Maretime Bay. That way we can record everything that is said on parchment and act upon it." Midnight Flow stood up and stretched. "Do you have any food? I'm kinda hungry."

A rumble sounded throughout the cave, causing the group to look towards the perpetrator. Twilight in turn blushed a deep shade of red as an embarrassed smirk crossed her muzzle.

"I could do with some food to, I think." She mumbled. Dean couldn't help but chuckle.

Standing up, he walked back towards his crate of goodies and rummaged around. The rule of a question for a question temporarily forgotten. He neatly stacked what things he had to move off to the side. The cave was relatively clean and there was no water to speak of, so nothing would get damaged. After moving aside a few more pieces of kevlar plate, Dean came to his prize: four MRE's.

"Alright, we have one packet of Vegetable Crumbles with Pasta in Taco Style Sauce, Shredded Beef in Barbecue Sauce -" Dean looked up when he heard a retching noise.

"B-Beef? Who would eat beef?!" The prince along with the Twilight and Midnight were all staring wide eyed at him, almost like he had grown a second head.

"My kind would eat beef, and seeing as the Dark Elves are humanoid, I would assume they would to." Dean saw each of their faces pale in horror.

"That is utterly barbaric. Are all humans carnivorous?" The prince scooched away from him in fear.

"Yes they are, though we are actually omnivores. We can eat anything." Dean deadpanned before turning away from them. He only had so many packets, hopefully not all of them where meat based...

"What are humans considered were you come from? If your people are as powerful as they claim, then you would have to be high in the food chain to survive," Twilight's voice seemed to echo around the cave, and Dean paused. He didn't want to scare the ponies, but at the same time, he could use what he was about to say to his advantage.

"My people are masters of death and destruction, but we are also capable of life and love. Back home, we are the apex predators on Earth, the ultimate being. We conquered nature, we built machines that broke the sound barrier three times over. We created weapons so powerful they could level a cities. But we also created wonders. Massive buildings that touched the clouds, satellites that provided information to the whole world, and mechanized artificial intelligence: robots." Dean looked back towards the group once more, the MRE's temporarily forgotten.

"What about ponies, o-or Griffins? Do you not have them where you come from?" Midnight Flow plopped down beside Twilight; the prince continued to hyperventilate.

Dean reached back down and grabbed three MRE packets. Without glancing at the labels, the tossed one to each member of the cave.

"Humans were the only sapient species on Earth. Things like griffins, unicorns, elves and pegasi were myth, only ever mentioned in lore or entertainment." Dean sat down without an MRE. He could go for quite some time without getting hungry thanks to his augmentations, so he decided to conserve what was available. If everything went according to plan, they would reach the resistance base the next day. Food and water would be provided, and Dean would be able to receive help getting his equipment transported. Seeing as the majority of this planet seemed to be herbivores, he would probably need to conserve the MRE's anyway.

"You say you were the only sapient beings on your planet, why's that. Is it because you discovered us?" Twilight scooched forward slightly. Dean could tell she was eager to learn, and he didn't doubt her. It wasn't everyday you got to learn about a living legend, or an alien for that matter.

"We uh, we discovered that we weren't the only sapient beings in the galaxy a few years ago." He did not want to talk about the Orith. It was bad enough that he was trapped on this planet till he fulfilled whatever tasks he had to do. Just thinking about them gave him homesickness, and a feeling of loss.

'Marie.'

A tear leaked down his eye as he went silent. Images of explosions and beams of light flew before his eyes. Screams of the dying cried out into his ears as the roar of gunfire thumped in the background. He could almost smell the burnt flesh from his fellow soldiers as they were hit by light-rifles. Dean couldn't register anything around him, there was simply to much!

"Dean."

"Dean!"

"Sergeant Dean!" He looked up and backpedaled slightly, knocking his stool to the ground. His right hand flew to his holster and grabbed the grip of his pistol, but he hesitated. His breathing came in quiet gasps as he looked around the cave, expecting one of the alien bastards to jump out at him. Then he came face to face with Twilight.

'A friend.'

"I'm sorry." Dean mumbled as he slowly stood up. "I don't know what came over me." He grabbed the fallen stool and placed it back on the ground. Twilight backed off towards Midnight once again, her eyes filled with compassion.

"Would you like to talk about it? When something is troubling you, its best to get it off your chest." Twilight smiled sadly as Midnight nodded in agreement. Dean wasn't so sure. He didn't want to spill his life story to these beings, but one look at Twilight showed that she really did care for him. Sighing, he decided that if they got to know him better, then they would understand why he is what he is. A killer. Taking a seat, he huffed once, looked at Twilight once more, decided to begin his tale.

"Well... It all started when humanity received a signal from space. It was a message, a message that would start the bloodiest war in human history...."