The guys had to share rooms, with Ramirez and Smith in one room while the rest got a second room. Soon after they had shed all their combat equipment and unloaded their weapons, they hung out in one of the rooms. The guys were pretty hungry and thirsty after their ordeal in the Everfree forest, so they were pretty excited when Spike rang the dinner bell. They made their way to a dining room with a large circular table similar to the map room, where the Mane Six were waiting for them. "Good evening boys! Hope you're in the mood for something special, courtesy of Spike!" Twilight stated. Ramirez sat between Rarity and Twilight, McLaughn between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Smith between Applejack and Rarity while the other two sat between Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
"Mmm, I hope they have some good salads here", Parker stated, knowing that ponies don't eat meat. Spike came out wearing a chef's hat and was pushing a cart full of pancakes.
"Oh sorry guys, I just thought that our castle was short on foods tonight, so I had Spike make what we had, which was apparently breakfast instead of dinner", Twilight explained.
"No problem, we love pancakes where we come from", Summers replied with a smile on his face. Spike was handing out the plates when he came to Smith's side and was putting his plate in front of him. "Wow, you guys are big", he stated, much to Twilights amusement.
"Well we try our best, eat healthy, run and hit the gym whenever we can, that kind of stuff", McLaughn replied. The guys had now taken off their jackets, and were wearing t-shirts. Their arms were shown to be pretty thick from keeping themselves fit for fights. After serving the others and himself, everyone and everypony started eating. After about two minutes, Rarity decided to break the silence.
"If you gentlemen do not mind me asking, what made you want to become fighters?", she inquired.
"Well like we said before, these weapons were originally just toys, and we were going to play war games with them in our world. We just all had a common interest in being the best war gamers out there I guess", Ramirez replied.
"Ooh! so you make war into a game where you come from? That sound like super duper fun!" Pinkie interjected.
"Well yeah, it is kinda fun, it also helps us to relieve boredom and stress", Parker told them.
"Stress from what exactly?" Fluttershy shyly asked.
"Well, just life. College mostly." Smith stated. From there, the group began talking about a bunch of other subjects, such as engineering classes, Donald Trump's presidency, King Thorax's takeover, Twilight's trips to Canterlot High, and a certain mint green unicorn who would love to meet them.
"Yeah we don't know why, but Lyra has always had a strange fascination with humans ever since I told her about them at the market one day", Twilight stated.
"That sounds fun, maybe we could visit her someday", Ramirez replied. He thought it would be cute to see how Lyra would react to meeting her favorite creatures. "However, I don't know what we would actually do in this world."
"My offer for you to become my personal guard is still open!" Twilight told them, with her pretty please face on.
'Good Lord, that is too adorable!', Ramirez thought. Smith saw that his commanding officer had nearly become paralyzed from cuteness overdose and decided to reply on his behalf.
"Maybe we should see what the princesses want with us tomorrow, and then decide based on that", he replied.
"Aww, I hope you will get to stay, You have been such gentlecol-- err, I mean gentlemen by saving us in the forest earlier. I apologize for my repulsive reaction to the actions you took to protect us", Rarity told them, she had hoped that these creatures could stay since they looked like they would be strong defenders against more attacks or kidnappings, such as the one that happened when Starlight went to the Sunset celebration. Fluttershy looked at McLaughn, who had pet her earlier. She considered nuzzling up to him since he was so sweet yet strong in the forest.
"Umm, yeah, what Rarity said", she stated shyly. McLaughn turned and smiled at her. By this moment, they were all finished, and everyone began going to their rooms. However, Twilight wanted to talk with Ramirez one-on-one.
"What is it your highness?" He asked.
"I noticed some strange things on you and your men when we found you in the forest today", she stated.
"What? Do you not trust us?"
"No, it's not that, it's just that some of the stuff you guys were wearing looked similar to the stuff worn by Luna's Night Guards." Ramirez gulped at this statement. He had hoped that the ponies wouldn't notice their New Lunar Republic patches on their uniforms so that they wouldn't have to tell about how they knew so much.
"Also, I think I saw a picture of Rarity on your helmet!", Twilight said giggling with her wings flapping.
"Fine, you caught us. We did know who and what you girls were before we came".
"How?"
"Well, we think that this is a case where we jumped into a world of fiction. In our world, you and your friends are part of a great story which millions of people love. We think that the best explanation is that what's fiction in our dimension is real to another dimension, and we somehow found a crossing point between those dimensions when we went through the portal." Twilight had started taking down notes.
"We also think that that is why our weapons came to life. You see, in our world, the same people who created your story, a group called Hasbro, also creates these play weapons which we used. They deal more with toys than stories, but they create stories to go with the toys, which you are in our world." Twilight looked confused at this. "Here's an example", Ramirez had brought his backpack with him, and he pulled out a Rarity plushie he got from a pony convention. Twilight suppressed a giggle when she saw a large male warrior carrying around something so cute and cuddly.
"I wonder why this doesn't come to life then", she pondered out loud.
"Probably because the real Rarity is already here, but the weapons came to life because they have never existed here before."
"That explains why they were immune to the changeling's magic nullifying stone!"
"Sounds about right."
"Well, I guess I can see what you're saying now. Thank you for answering my questions", she finished off with a hug, leaving Ramirez surprised.
"Your welcome, I'll see ya tomorrow", he replied, hugging her back. 'These ponies are so nice and cute', he thought. They soon headed off to their rooms and went to bed.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
Queen Chrysalis' super secret hideout
"WHAT?! WHERE IS THE REST OF YOUR PATROL?!", the ex-changeling queen snarled at the two returning loyalist changelings.
"They're all dead, your majesty! There were these weird bipedal aliens protecting the ponies!", one of the changelings responded.
"How many were there?" She inquired.
"Five, your majesty, and they were armed with weapons which seemed to be immune to the anti-magic stone!", the other changeling responded. Queen Chrysalis immediately got angry again and slammed her hoof on the ground, creating a monstrous echo in the cave.
"What kind of weapons were they using? Swords? Spears?"
"No your majesty, these were strange weapons that made a lot of noise and light flashes, and if you see the light flash, it kills you instantly!"
"Hmm, next time you attack, use your magic beams to counter them. They may be using ranged weapons", the Queen decreed.
"Yes, your majesty", the two changelings bowed and took their leave.