> Shingeki no Pony > by Nyancatinator > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ichi > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Twilight could feel was pain. It encompassed her whole body as she struggled to get to her feet. Wait- she had feet! The portal must have worked, as she was back in her human form. But something was off... her purple skin was now a pale tanned color, and her clothes were a rugged shirt and simple pants. Come to think of it, this wasn't Canterlot High at all. It hurt her head just to think, and her eye sight was blurry, but Twilight could tell she seemed to be in the middle a vast meadow, with a forest in the distance. In the opposite direction of the forest, she could see what appeared to be a huge wall. But why did the portal bring her here? Before she could do anything, a series of ear splitting thuds began to shake the ground. She glanced up in terror to see a gigantic humanoid creature bearing down on her. Twilight's eyes widened as she attempted to conjure up a teleportation spell to no avail. I'm not a unicorn anymore. My magic is useless here! What am I going to do? This... thing will be on top of me in seconds! The pony turned human thought to herself. W-why can't I move? Surely I've faced worse than this. Twilight wasn't sure, but something about its eerie grin terrified her more than any creature she had ever faced. It wasn't before the giant's enormous hand was above her, and picked her up by the back of her shirt that Twilight finally came to her senses, and began to scream and struggle. Unfortunately, she had waited too long, and found herself unable to escape its grasp. She many thoughts were surging through her still aching head. I don't understand! Why would the portal send me to my death? All my friends... I never even got to say a final goodbye... She shut her eyes tightly when the naked creature open its gaping maw, lifting her up as if it were about to swallow her whole. Twilight felt tears streaming down her face as she awaited the inevitable. She couldn't believe it was going to end like this. Being eaten by some giant human-like monster. Alas, there was nothing she could do, so she just waited. And waited. But her gory demise never came. The next thing she knew, the titan was sprawled on the ground beneath her with a huge slice of flesh missing from the back of its neck, and she was hurtling through the air towards it. Great, so if I don't get eaten by a giant, I'm going to fall to my death? The thought briefly flashed in her mind as her screaming intensified. However, that end never came either, as Twilight found herself in the embrace of a man, who flung her to the ground in the safest way possible in those circumstances. The impact was still hard, and she could see colorful splotches clouding her vision. She blinked them away, and got a good look at her savior. He was an older man with grayish-brown hair, and a crooked grin. He had landed lightly on his feet, adjusting a cravat that was fastened around his neck as he examined his kill. "Auruo, what's the hold up?" Twilight suddenly heard a feminine voice inquire. A girl with light ginger hair rode up on a chestnut colored horse to the man- Who Twilight guessed was Auruo. A horse! I remember reading about these last time I was on Earth. They're like ponies, but bigger, and they can't speak. "Sorry, Petra dear, I was just rescuing a damsel in distress." The said with a cocky grin, as he gestured towards Twilight. "Yea right, what idiot would be outside the walls- Hey, it's a girl! And what on earth is wrong with her hair?" The girl named Petra was staring at Twilight's mane- er, hair- and the once unicorn noticed it was still its signature navy blue, with a pink and purple highlight. Twilight didn't understand why they were looking at it like they were. At Canterlot High, everyone had bright hair colors, just as the ponies in equestria's manes had looked. Then again, where ever she was now was not Canterlot High or Equestria. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Come on, we'll get you to safety." Petra extended a hand to Twilight, and the she suppressed the instinctual urge to ball her fist as she accepted it. The navy blue haired girl stumbled multiple times as Petra helped her to her feet, not yet used to the strange appendages. Auruo stood in the background with an amused smirk as he watched Twilight attempt to get her bearings. She forced a glance back to her almost killer, just to find an enormous pile of bones where the body of the giant was. Twilight realized she must have looked quite shocked, because Auruo let out a chuckle. "What, never encountered a titan before? They tend to decay at an astounding speed, much to the dismay of our scientists." The man explained, giving one of the bones a forceful kick, sending it flying. Titans, that's what they called the giants. Petra rolled her eyes. "Come on, we haven't time to delay. Heichou will be expecting us back any minute now, and I'm sure all that screaming will attract every titan within a three mile radius." She stated, glancing at Twilight. "You can ride with me, as I wouldn't put it past Auruo here to try anything pervy." Petra explained, mounting her horse and offering Twilight a hand. "Petra, I'm hurt that you would suggest such a thing." He drawled, his words laced with sarcasm as he mounted his own horse, which Twilight hadn't noticed before now. She accepted Petra's hand, as strange as it felt to be riding something that so closely resembled her true form. The ginger gave a curt command, and the horse took off at a gallop, causing Twilight to almost fall off. She wrapped her arms tightly around Petra's waist, still reeling from all that had happened. "Hey, you've been awfully quiet. Are you okay? Wait, don't answer that. Anyways, what's your name? And what're you doing so far outside the walls?" Petra inquired as they rode. It took Twilight a few seconds to process that she had even been spoken to. "Um, my name's Twilight. I don't know what the 'walls' are, but I honestly don't know how I got here." Twilight answered to the best of her ability, cringing at every titan she saw in the distance. "Huh, sounds like you've got some strange case of amnesia." Petra responded, steering them away from a titan that was venturing a little too close for comfort. "Well, if you stick around with me when the mission's over, I could certainly give you something to remember- Agh!" A loud crunch stopped Auruo mid sentence, and Twilight looked back to see he had chomped on his own tongue. Petra would have probably face-palmed if her hands weren't occupied with holding the horse's reins. Twilight blacked out shortly after that, and her dreams were all plagued by the demon that had almost taken her life not ten minutes ago, and her friends whom she might never see again. > Ni > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was woken by the sound of voices. She opened her purple eyes to see that she was in some sort of tent, and she that was laying on a cot. She rubbed the crust from her eyes, and glanced around, seeing two other humans in cots beside her. There was blood seeping through the gauze wrapped around them where they were injured, presumably from the titans. "So you just found her in the middle of nowhere, about to become titan food?" Twilight heard a masculine voice ask from outside the tent. "Hai, Heichou. I killed the titan that was giving her trouble, and then she rode with Petra to get here." She could hear Auruo's voice respond. "I can't imagine what she was doing so far outside the walls. And what's with her hair? Not to say that would be a problem for me-" He was cut off by something, perhaps a glare from this "Heichou." "She's probably just a commoner who wanted an adventure, and got in way over her head. As for the hair, it's probably just dye. That was popular a long time ago." Heichou spoke. His voice came out in a smooth, yet deadpan manner. "We're just waiting on the Commander's word to head back. We'll drop her off in Rose when we return. Hopefully she won't try venturing outside the walls again anytime soon." If only they knew what really happened... Twilight thought to herself. Before she could eavesdrop any further, she was interrupted by the sound galloping horses. "The aberrants are closing in on us. Ready your squad, we leave now." A she heard a male voice announce. Twilight glanced up and saw Petra entering the tent. "Good, you're awake. We have to go now. There's a wagon that will drop you off in Rose when we return. Please, for all our sake, don't try anything like this again." The girl said. Before Twilight could open her mouth to respond, she was already being drug out and loaded into a wagon. She was seated next to a brunette with a cast around her arm, and blood soaked through some gauze wrapped around her leg. The woman's only acknowledgement of Twilight's presence was a slight grunt. In the front of the wagon, there was a pile of large figures wrapped in white cloth. Those can't be... Are they...? Sweet Celestia, those are the bodies of dead humans! Her surprise must have shown on her face, because a man sitting across from her gave her an irritated glare. The ride towards the walls was a bumpy, uncomfortable, and awkward one. No one spoke a word to her, but the strange looks she was getting made it obvious they didn't view her very well. Twilight could only look around, and try to avoid making eye contact with anyone. She couldn't help but notice everyone appeared to be wearing similar if not identical outfits, and they all wore strange metal devices on their waists, with a hilt sticking out of the end. It appears to be some strange weapon sheathe. But why are there triggers on the hilt, and what's that hook directly under it? If the circumstances were better, I'd love to research how they work. She pondered to herself. Everyone wore short, tan jackets and green capes, with what appeared to be an emblem of two white and blue wings. They had a series of harnesses covering their white pants tucking into their knee high boots, and even the men were wearing short criss-crossing leather skirts. Hmm, perhaps this is some sort of military. Are they the ones that go out and fight titans, while everyone else takes shelter in the walls? Gah, this whole situation is so confusing. If only my friends were here, this would be so much easier to cope with. And poor Spike... Spike! In her terror, Twilight had completely forgotten that Spike had gone along with her through the mirror. Alright, calm down. He wasn't with me when I got here, so maybe he made it to Canterlot High! Or maybe he's in an even worse place than this. Alright, I can't get worked up over this now. We're not safe so long as we're out here in the open, no matter what kinds of weapons these people have. When they finally arrived at the wall, which had to be at least 40 meters, everyone was brought to a halt as a tall, blonde man began shouting orders. "Alright, assume formations. We want to make this as quick as possible, with little to no casualties." He announced authoritatively, and everyone assumed a fast pace as they entered the tall gate. Twilight was suddenly very confused. What the? I thought the wall was supposed to be safe! Everything's in ruins, and there has to be at least twice as many titans on the inside than I saw on the outside. Just then, a bunch of soldiers dismounted their horses and flung themselves into the air, long chords shooting from their metal gear and latching onto crumbling buildings as they each unsheathed two swords, gas shooting out from canisters attached to their gear. H-how is that even possible? What's the physics behind that? As the remaining troops rode on, those using the strange gear cut down all the titans in their path, slicing large chunks out of the titan's napes. Twilight outwardly cringed as titans were slayed all around her, but couldn't help but be mesmerized by the skills of all those fighting. They flew through the air with such ease, and showed no fear as they defended the rest of the group. The way they worked in harmony, seeming to know each other's moves without having to speak astounded Twilight. But before they could make it to safety, a large titan, at least 13 meters high broke the ranks, flailing its arms wildly and kicking aside any wagons or horses in its path. This paved the way for more titans to break through. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a titan swat aside a soldiers who had flung himself at the giant, scoop him up, and drop him into its huge mouth. Fear and panic began to over take Twilight as people were plucked out of the air and swallowed whole. She could see plumes of red smoke shoot into the air, and could hear the screams of unfortunate people who were about to become titan food. "Calm down, the other's will handle it." The woman sitting next to her said, and the man across from her gave a reassuring nod. Of course, these people are probably highly experienced. I have to trust that they know what they're doing, even if a few titans broke through... And people are being eaten all around me... And I could be next... Sweet Celestia, what am I doing here?! At that moment, she went full panic mode, and a few seconds later, she was enveloped in a bright light before everything faded to black. > San > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight woke up with a throbbing head for the third time that day. This had to be a new record. Blinking her eyes open, she realized she was no longer inside the wall in the midst of a battle between the soldiers and titans. Instead, she was in what appeared to be a prison cell. Just her luck. "Oh, good, you're finally awake." Twilight looked up to see two men standing before her. One was a short, black haired man with neatly trimmed hair and a cravat fastened at his neck, and the other was a tall blonde, with eyebrows that looked like two bushy caterpillars had crawled onto his face and were trimmed in a neatly curved triangle. She recognized the voice from earlier, when she was eavesdropping on a conversation outside the tent. "Wha-what's going on? What happened? Why was the city overrun with titans? I thought it was supposed to be safe!" Twilight's words were rushed and slurred in her grogginess. The shorter man raised an eyebrow at this but didn't answer her questions. "Never mind your obvious amnesia, what we'd like to know is how you pulled that stunt back in Shiganshina. How were you able to disappear like that?" The taller one asked. "I'm really not sure." Twilight answered honestly. She'd never been able to use magic in her human form before, except when her and her friends wielded the elements of harmony to defeat Sunset Shimmer. "I don't even know how I got here. And who are you, anyway?" "Forgive me, I'm Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps. This is Heichou Levi of the Survey Corps." The blonde one, Erwin, said. "Survey Corps? What is that?" Twilight asked, feeling incredibly confused about the whole situation. "Geeze, you really do have amnesia. Either that, or you were a very sheltered child." Levi spoke smoothly. "No, it's not amnesia. I'm not from here. I'm not even sure where here is, to be honest. I was kinda hoping you could explain it to me." Twilight replied, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. Levi just stared at her, stone faced. "What do you mean 'not from here.' Are you saying your some sort of alien or some shit?" Levi asked, his words laced with venom, yet keeping his usual dead expression. Twilight flinched a little from the use of profanity. Growing up in Canterlot, she very rarely heard any pony cuss like that. "No, it's not like that! Well... Maybe it is... Wait, no! Gah, even if I told you, you'd never believe me." "Ma'am, we just saw you disappear in Shinganshina, and reappear in Trost. Then you were asleep for two days straight, and we had to work diligently to make sure news of your little trick didn't reach the public. We're a little more than curious. At least start out by telling us your name." Erwin explained to her. Twilight bit her lip nervously before answering, "Twilight. My name is Twilight Sparkle." Erwin and Levi gave each other a look that seemed to mean something along the lines of "What the fuck are we having to deal with right now?" "Riiight. Well, Twilight, mind telling us what you were doing outside the walls?" Erwin asked, attempting to sound gentle but a hint of irritation showed in his voice. "I don't know. I was trying to go help my friends, but I woke up out there instead. Honestly I don't know what's going on." Twilight replied, growing tired of asking questions without receiving answers. "So you say. Now I'm going to ask one more time before things turn ugly. How did you disappear and reappear like you did?" Levi asked. Twilight sighed lightly, before responding, "All right, I'll tell you. But you're not going to like it." And so Twilight told them about how she was once a magical pony princess from Equestria who went through a portal in an attempt to help the human copies of her friends at a high school. It sounded a lot better in her head, to say the least.