The human found himself in a familiar forest resting by a pool of crystal blue water. He got to his feet and saw something shinning behind the waterfall. Isaac pulled his hood over his head and made his way through the pond. He passed through the cascading water to find a dark cave. As he took a step inside the walls were lined with lit torches. He took one from the wall and made his way through the cave to find a shinning bright ball sitting on a pedestal.
The human cautiously made his way to the shinning sphere. Isaac examined the ball with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell is this thing?" He said aloud. Isaac picked up the sphere in his right hand and felt it sink beneath his skin. He started to yell in agony as the sphere moved up his arm and into his chest cavity.
Isaac felt blood fill his mouth as he collapsed on the ground. His body was shaking as some unknown force coursed through his body. He felt his muscles beginning to tear and his insides beginning to liquify. Suddenly the pain was gone and he felt a euphoria take hold of him. He felt the dream collapse as he heard someone call out his name.
Isaac woke up in a cold sweat with his heart beating like a drum. He looked to his right to see Twilight looking at him with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay? I heard you screaming."
"Nothing, just a bad dream." He said as he sat up.
"That didn't sound like a normal dream."
"I don't know what qualifies as normal anymore." Isaac cracked his back and rubbed his left shoulder. "So what's up?"
"I just wanted to come and apologize." Twilight said as she sat down on the bed.
"For what? The note?"
"What note?" Isaac walked over to the trash can and pulled out the crumpled note. "Oh that." She said in a low tone. "While I don't mind you staying here. I don't appreciate you having sex with two of my best friends, especially in my house." She said as her eyes narrowed.
"Like I said, Rainbow surprised me while I was drunk and Applejack didn't give me much room to escape the situation." He said with a sigh. "However, I do see your point. I'll start looking for a place of my own." Twilight looked at him in surprise.
"I'm not trying to chase you out the door or anything. I'm just looking out for my friends."
"I understand. Frankly I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole 'open relationship' thing. Honestly, I have never been put in a position like this before and the attention I'm getting from the mares in this town isn't making it any easier." He said with a sigh.
"I can see how that would be frustrating. How do relationships in your world work anyway?"
"Most of the time they're monogamous." He said as he sat down on the bed next to the mare.
"Really?"
"Yeah, considering the ratio is almost even where I come from and polygamy is frowned upon in most areas of the world."
"What happens to those who are polygamous?" She asked as she tilted her head.
"Nothing too bad. Mostly looked down on to those who don't practice it. I just don't care. Who am I to judge their lives?"
"What if someone cheats on their wife or husband?" She asked.
"Depends. Most of the time divorce follows afterwards, sometimes they talk out their problems and stay together." He bit his lip at the next part. "Sometimes the cheated kills the cheater." Twilight looked at the human in shock. "It's unfortunate but it happens."
"What happened to the killer?"
"That is left up to the courts. Most of the time it's a prison sentence and some of them get away with it."
"What?"
"No court system is perfect." He said with a shrug.
"What else can you tell me about your people?" She asked as she leaned her head in.
"If I'm going to talk about humans then I think we should get Lyra over here. No doubt she'd be interested."
"Good idea." Isaac pulled out his phone and selected the contact.
Hello?
"Hey Lyra it's Isaac."
What's up?
"I'm going to teach Twilight about human culture. Thought you might be interested."
YES! What time?
"Um....How about twelve o'clock at the library?"
Perfect! I am so there!
"Great see you then." He said as he hung up the phone. "Get that Twilight?"
"Yep." She said with a smile.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go get something." The human said as he made his way towards the door.
"What are you getting?"
"Just something I left behind." Isaac said with a grin. The man put on his jet black shirt and made his way out the door. The human moved through the town keeping an eye out for a cyan Pegasus and an orange Earth pony. As he reached the edge of the forest he saw a familiar yellow Pegasus mare. She was wearing a white dress that cut off at her knees and a brown sleeveless top. Isaac made his way over to her with a smile on her face.
"Hello Isaac, what brings you here?"
"I'm going into the forest. You?" The mare looked at him in surprise.
"Th-the forest? It's dangerous in there."
"I know but I forgot something and I aim to get it back." He said as he started to walk into the forest.
"Wait. I'll go with you." She said in a timid voice. Isaac looked at the mare in confusion.
"You sure? I don't want to take up any of your time."
"Oh it's alright. I need to go in there anyway to get some plants." She said with a smile. The two made their way into the forest and walked down the dirt path. Even though Isaac had been in there before the place felt different. As they made their way through a bush rustled causing the mare to grab Isaac's arm as she let out a small yelp. The human looked at the bush and saw a small squirrel come out. The human chuckled as he looked bak at the mare who had a bright blush on her face. She immediately let go and gulped.
"S-sorry."
"It's fine." He said with a smile. The two came to the clearing. Fluttershy let out a gasp at the sight of the dead manticore. Isaac approached the beast and looked over it's body. "Ah ha! There you are." He said as he saw the knife sticking out of the manticores jaw. Isaac wrapped his hand around the handle and pulled the knife from the manticores body. Isaac looked over the blade and wiped the blood on the grass next to him. He turned back around to see Fluttershy with tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Y-you killed the manticore?"
"No, I only stabbed it. That's when Luna came along and threw it against the tree." Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled. Isaac put a hand on her shoulder and let out a sigh. "If she didn't then it was going to kill me." Fluttershy took a deep breath.
"It's alright. I understand." She said with a sigh. As Isaac got to his feet he heard an odd noise. He turned his head towards the waterfall. As he looked at it time seemed to stop and the area became quiet. He then felt a hand on his shoulder snapping him out of the trance. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I just spaced out for a second." He said with a weak grin. The mare nodded and made her way back to the cottage. Isaac looked at the waterfall one last time and caught up to the mare. The two made their way down the path. As they made their way through the forest Isaac noticed that the yellow mare was staring at him. "What's up?"
"N-nothing." She said in a timid tone.
"C'mon Fluttershy I know that something's bugging you. What is it?"
"I was just wondering....how man animals have you killed?" Isaac gulped at the question.
"Well...Quite a few fish, two deer and-....never mind." He said in a low tone.
"What?" Isaac took a deep breath and looked back at the mare.
"I.....I had to kill a dog in self defense once." Fluttershy looked at him in horror.
"Wh-what?"
"The dog was infected with rabies and he was going to kill me." He said as he hung his head low. "He was bitten by a raccoon, that's how he got it. I'll regret that for the rest of my life. Haven't had a dog since then." Fluttershy's eyes shrank as she connected the dots in her head.
"Y-you mean that Scout was..." Isaac gave her a reluctant nod.
"Yeah." Fluttershy wrapped him in a tight hug. Isaac blushed and returned the gesture.
Get down! The voice blazed in his mind Isaac grabbed Fluttershy and ducked just in time to avoid a wooden wolf from bitting them. Isaac pulled out his knife and got in a defensive position. "What the hell is that thing?"
"A Timber wolf!" She yelled.
Seriously? He thought. "Fluttershy go, I can-" He was cut off as the mare stepped in front of the human. The wolf growled at the two creatures. Fluttershy frowned and took a step forward.
"How dare you scare us like that!" She yelled. The wolf tried to move, but found itself become paralyzed by the mares gaze. "I have half a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to." The human looked in amazement as the large wolf started to whimper and lower it's head. "Oh it's okay. Run along now." The mare said with a warm smile. The wolf then ran back into the brush. Fluttershy looked at Isaac who's mouth was agate.
"How did you do that?"
"I can talk to animals. It's my special talent." She said with a smile.
"Good thing too. That thing would have probably killed me." He said as they continued on their way. As they walked through the forest another bush moved causing the yellow mare to grab the humans arm again in fright. Isaac looked down and saw that the mare's large breasts had enveloped his arm. Isaac felt his face blush and cleared his throat. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and staggered for a moment.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just need to rest for a minute." He said as he sat down against a nearby tree. Fluttershy knelt next to him with a worried look on her face. "Mind if I ask you something?"
"S-sure."
"How did you stop that Timber Wolf from tearing me apart?" He asked as he took a deep breath.
"I used my 'stare' on him."
"The what?"
"It's um...a little trick I can do. It makes the animal I'm looking at freeze up and do what ever I say." She said in a low tone.
"That must come in handy."
"Well, I can't control it. It just happens." She said as she lowered her head.
"It's still surprising and I'm a bit relieved."
"Why?"
"Just imagine if that gift got into the wrong hands. It's reassuring that a nice pony like you has it." Fluttershy's face turned bright red at the humans words.
"Thank you." She said as she gulped. Isaac got to his feet and the two continued down the path way with Fluttershy following close behind. The two found themselves back in front of Fluttershy's cabin as noon approached. Isaac stopped in front of the cottage with the yellow mare.
"Thanks for coming with me Fluttershy. I'm not too sure how things would have turned out with that wolf if you hadn't come with me." He said with a smile.
"N-no problem." She then heard her stomach growl. "S-sorry, it must be getting close to lunch time."
"Yeah it is. Hey listen I'm gonna give Twilight and Lyra a lesson on humans at the library. You want in?" the mare smiled and gave him a nod. Isaac smiled and made his way back to the library with the yellow mare following close behind. As they walked back Isaac noticed that the mare was looking at him with a bright blush on her face. Isaac opened the door to the library to see Lyra, Twilight, Vinyl and the other four mares waiting for them on the couch.
"Oh good you're back." Twilight said as she grabbed a notebook and quill.
"I was going to ask if you minded Fluttershy joining in, but I guess we're past that point." He said as he sat down. "When did you get back Vinyl?"
"Just got in this morning." The mare said as she sipped an energy drink. Isaac nodded and then turned his attention to the group.
"So what do you want to know?"
"Everything." Lyra answered.
"Well, that sure narrows things down." He said in a sarcastic tone. "Let me just get my thoughts together." He said as he let out a sigh. "Okay, granted I don't know everything about humanity but I'll give it a shot." He got to his feet and cracked his back. "Are we sitting comfortably?" The mares shifted slightly in their seats and nodded. Isaac started his lesson with a brief explanation of dinosaurs and the cave men. Fluttershy raised a hand. "Yes?"
"What did they look like?" She asked in a timid tone.
"Massive lizard like creatures. Hang on I think I have a video of them." He said as he pulled out his P-Pod. He scrolled through the menu and selected his movie folder. "We depicted them as this." He said as he handed her the device. Fluttershy gave a yelp in fright as she saw the T-Rex.
"Why don't you just put it on projector mode?' Vinyl asked.
"Projector mode?" Vinyl took the device and pointed it at the far wall. An image shined against the wall showing the massive dinosaur. "Man, wish I knew about that earlier." Isaac continued to ramble on about the massive creatures.
"What happened to them?" Twilight asked.
"Wiped out by a comet that blocked out the sun in a cloud of dust and ash. Causing them to become extinct. I'm fuzzy on the details but that's what scientists say." He said with a shrug.
"So how did your people get started?" Twilight asked.
"That is still up for debate. There are theories that an all powerful being created us or that we evolved from apes." The mares looked at him in confusion. "There's scientific proof that humanity shares DNA with monkeys, but a lot of people don't believe that." He said with a sigh. "Honestly I don't care and the debate itself is getting tiresome."
"Why? What's wrong about having different points of view?" Lyra asked.
"Nothing at all, but humanity has had enough bloodshed over this argument." He said as he let out a sigh. "Countless wars have been fought over this topic and it's getting old."
"Wars?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah, religion although it inspires hope, it's also a cause of great violence and despair."
"I'm not following."
"Lets say that you like ice cream while Twilight prefers cake. There's nothing wrong with that, but you insist that Twilight is wrong and you're constantly trying to change her mind." He said with a sigh. "Eventually Twilight gets angry enough and tells you off. You become angry with her and you stop being friends. Soon, the rest of the cake eaters ban together and decide to take their cake loving global and decide that anyone who doesn't like cake is a deviant and should be punished."
"That's insane!" Twilight yelled.
"That's escalation and it's happened countless times in my peoples past. We've gotten much better at accepting each other but we still have a long way to go." He said as he sat back in a chair. The mares looked at him in confusion. "It's not pretty but it's how we've evolved as a species. We've made mistakes and we learn by them."
"What other wars have your people had?"
"Most I don't know about. How about we start with the founding of my country?" He said as he scrolled through his device and found a map of the continent. Isaac stated how it began; the leaders, the locations and the government structure. He was cut off as Ditzy came running inside out of breath. "What's up Ditzy?"
"Somebody is causing trouble in town. Some Griffin, she sound like she knows Rainbow." The mares looked at the cyan Pegasus and gave her a nod.
"Gilda." Rainbow said in a reluctant tone.
"That's her name." Ditzy said as Rainbow got to her feet and barged out the door. The other mares soon got up and followed her.
"Who's Gilda?" Isaac asked.
"She's an old 'friend' of Rainbow's. She acted like a total jerk and blew everypony off last time she was here." Pinkie added.
"So?"
"She has a really bad temper and isn't afraid to smack a few ponies around." Applejack said as the group gave chase. The clouds outside were starting to turn dark and a light sprinkle was starting to cover the land. Isaac noticed a large group of ponies and shouting coming from the center. Isaac and the mares forced their way through the crowd to see a large griffin and the cyan Pegasus arguing with one another. The griffin then rolled her right claw into a fist and punched the mare in the face sending her staggering back.
As the Griffin tried to land another blow her wrist was caught by the human who had a cold look in his eyes. "Who the fuck are you?" She yelled as she broke the man's grip on her.
"Back the fuck off." Isaac ordered.
"This doesn't concern you."
"You just nailed my friend in the face. That makes it my business"
"I can handle this myself Isaac." Rainbow said as she stumbled. Pinkie walked over to her and pulled her off to the side.
"I'm giving you one chance to walk away." Isaac said as he stared at the Griffin who easily stood a foot above him.
"You got guts. Nice to see somepony in this town with a spine." She said with a smirk. She quickly swung at the humans face. Isaac dodged the blow only to be met with a kick to the stomach. Isaac felt his rib crack and cried out in pain. As he looked up he felt his face take a blow from the creatures left claw. Isaac felt his face swell up and his left eye swelled shut. He staggered backwards and smiled at the beast who looked at him in confusion. "What the fuck?"
"That all you got?" The griffin charged at him and landed a few kicks to his stomach. Isaac coughed up more blood. The griffon then felt a rope being wrapped around her. She looked to her left to see Applejack with rage in her eyes and the other end of the rope in her hands. Gilda quickly grabbed the rope and threw the farmer into the charging cyan mare, sending them both to the ground.
Twilight's horn suddenly glowed and shot out a bolt of magic at the Griffin. Gilda dodged it and the bolt which connected with the human, sending him to the ground. Twilight immediately stopped her barrage and was met with a quick jab to the face from the feathered being. The beast was then shot off the mare by an invisible force. She looked in surprise as she saw the human get to his feet. The Griffin lunged at the human with a fist clenched. As she closed in on her target the human dodged her attack and felt something catch her tail.
The human gripped the appendage and slammed her into the ground. The Griffin let out a cry of pain and quickly got to her feet. The Griffin took flight and launched herself at the human. Her claw clamped around his neck and she took towards the sky. "You may know how to fight. Lets see if you can fly!" She said as she let go of the man.
Isaac felt a familiar sensation of falling as the clouds passed around him. He felt himself collide with the hard earth and darkness take hold of his body. The Griffin landed next to the human and smirked. The group of mares got to their feet and charged at the the feathered beast. Gilda turned around to face her attackers only to see the looks of shock and fear strewn across their faces.
The Griffin turned around to see the heavily bleeding human on his feet and looking at her with a malicious grin strewn across his face."Now this is where the fun begins." Isaac said in a dark tone He slapped the Griffin with the back of his hand sending her crashing against the building's outside wall. Isaac quickly grabbed her throat and lifted her off the ground above him still holding the smile. The light drizzle had turned into a downpour which was making the blood from the human and Griffin run down their bodies. He started to squeeze and felt the mare claw at his arm. Isaac felt the pain and immediately let go.
The Griffin jumped behind him and brought her arm around his neck. Isaac still held the smile on his face. The human opened his mouth and bit down on the beast's arm. Isaac felt his mouth fill with blood as the griffin cried in pain and let the human go. She felt a fist collide with her face. Gilda felt the force break her beak and instantly slumped to the ground in pain. Isaac walked over to the Griffins damaged body and smirked. He raised his right hand which lifted the Griffin off the ground by an invisible force.
Isaac stuck out his thumb and index finger in a squeezing motion. The griffin felt her windpipe being crushed by the unseen force. "Mercy!" She chocked out.
"Sorry didn't catch that. Cat got your tongue?" He said as his grip tightened.
"MERCY! PLEASE!" She yelled. Isaac dropped his arm and the Griffin fell and started to breath heavily. Isaac grabbed the feathers on top of her head and picked her up so their eyes met.
"Pull anything like this again and I'll send you home in a coffin." Gilda nodded as she looked at him in fear. Isaac let go and dropped the Griffin on the ground again. As he started to walk away he looked at the mares who had tears in their eyes. As he took a step forward the group cringed back and Twilight's horn flared.
"J-just stay back!" Isaac looked at her in surprise and took another step forward. Twilight acted on instinct and fired a bolt from her horn. Isaac raised his arms and felt the bolt knock him on the ground. The human looked at the mares who had fear in their eyes. Isaac quickly got to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth.
Twilight looked closely and saw that his injuries were healing themselves. "J-just go away!" Twilight yelled in fear. The words tore at Isaacs heart and he got into a squatting position. He launched himself over the group of mares and landed behind them. He turned back and looked at them one more time before running off.
Isaac quickly made his way into the library to retrieve his knife and his jacket. He pushed the weapon into his pocket and threw the hoodie over his body. Isaac then heard the door open to reveal a purple dragon with a confused look on his face. "You okay Isaac?"
"I'm fine Spike." He said in a cold tone.
"You sure? You look like hell." The dragon then burped up a letter. "Hang on a second." He said as he unrolled the letter and turned away from the human. The dragon unrolled the letter and had a look of confusion on his face.