>A flash
>Of all things that could bring you into a new universe like a trippy tunnel or a portal like in those movies it had to be a simple flash
>You were out hunting with an obviously illegal weapon you built yourself with parts, which despite its fancy name was just a souped up shotgun with 4 tubes for shells you spun into place to reload
>You are Anon, a simple man living a simple life in a simple world, an amateur outdoorsman that likes videogames and music that works for a private security firm. 
>But now you were Anon:  a newcomer into a universe filled with pastel colored ponies and dangerous creatures
>You emerged from the flash and fell onto what looked to be a really clean road surrounded by rather impressive mansions.  
>It appeared to be early in the evening based on the suns position
>However before you could continue gawking at this new environment you were rushed by what looked to be 4 really weird looking white horses clad in golden armor, then darkness as they crashed into you with great force.
>You open your eyes again, you've been in this cramped cell for about 2 days with absolutely no food or water and with no idea of how you got there
>The only think that kept you from desperation was your faith in the justice system, but those horses just gave you an uneasy feeling, was this still your planet? Did you die in the woods?
>Your head hurts like a motherfucker and your stuff is gone
”Damn it I must have eaten some bad venison and killed someone….”
>You were cut off by a rather polite coughing from the cell door.
>Odd, since you didn't hear anyone walking by
>Expecting to see human cops you see yet another one of those weird pastel ponies who starts speaking in rather good English
”So, it can speak Equestrian? How odd, where’s the guards report?”
>As the gray pony continued talking you couldn't help but stare at the pony next to him, another one of those white armor clad ponies, and not only that, he was holding your stuff: A wallet, a backpack heavy with supplies and your gun. 
>If you could only get your gun you might be able to….
”So, what is your name beast?”
>Did that horse just call you a beast? Ok this was no time for being snarky
>You thought a little on how you were to approach this, they probably think your some sort of monster hell bent on destroying them
”My name is Anon officer, was there a problem that warranted throwing me in this rather cramped cell?”
>The gray pony was obviously taken aback by your rather dignified response 
”Ah, so you are civilized? Do tell, what kind of animal are you?”
>Now he calls you an animal? You try not to flinch at his words
”I’m a human being, a product of millions of years of evolution from primates, my scientific name would he Homo Sapiens. My species has conquered our world, is at the top of the food chain and is very technologically advanced“
>The pony continues to blankly stare at you, studying you with his piercing eyes. 
>You stare back at him, trying to figure out what he was, eyeing his suit and any body language he might show
> You silently hope they don’t dissect you or anything like that
”I see, and what are these objects you had with you when you emerged from that strange magical discharge?”
>He grabs the items with some sort of force field and levitates them to the door
>You stand up causing the three ponies at the cell door to back away a little bit in fear as you walk towards the door.
>You point at your belongings as you describe each of them
“That would be my wallet, it contains my currency and identification papers, that bag is a backpack where I carry various supplies, and that long black tube is…..”
>You hesitate; if there was any chance you were going to be able to get out of here you couldn't just say it was a weapon, however you thought that they may have already looked at it closely and figured out what it was
”….my weapon”
>The gray pony looked visibly pleased with your answers, as if he already knew what they were but was testing you
”Right, so it’s safe to assume you aren't a real danger like we assumed you to be. We were ordered with releasing you if you were not a threat. Be warned, you will still be watched by our extensive network of informants, so don’t try anything funny, understood?”
>You simply blink at his words, did he just say you were free?
“So you know what they were?”
>The pony simply nods motioning for his guards to escort you out
 >All your items were also returned to you, including your shotgun which puzzled you
>You guessed that they didn’t have strict weapons laws.
>You exited the small fort into the city proper
>Everywhere you looked you saw ponies, of all shapes and sizes but nothing like the horses back home, they sometimes stopped to stare at you but continued on their merry way after getting an eyeful.
>You had to get out of the public and find someplace to settle at least temporarily since you doubted you were going to be able to leave this world anytime soon
>But the first thing you had to do was figure out where the hell you were
>You randomly walk down the city roads and eventually found what looked like a library
”Well, with any luck there might be information on where I am in there”
>Walking past another pair of those guard ponies who didn’t even look at you as you walked past them you enter the main hall of this rather large library
>Upon entering you are taken by surprise by the large collection of booked stored in massive bookshelves everywhere.
>You groan a little, reading was never your thing but this time your life sort of depended on it. 
>Lucky for you though the books were properly labeled by topic unlike the mess of numbers that passes for a library system back home, fuck you Dewey. 
>You start at the geography section, grabbing rather thick books and reading as much as you can for a few hours on countries of this world.
>Apparently this was the Kingdom of Equestria, a population of a few hundred million, the population was 90% pony and 10% other, the other being things like dragons, gryphons, dogs, etc. 
”Well no wonder they don’t have much problem letting weird things like me around just like that if there’s dragons and intelligent dogs walking around”
>Your next stop was the encyclopedias which you skimmed to get a basic knowledge of things like culture and other details which much to your surprise was very much like home but with a twist
”They even have things like beer pong? Fuck yes”
>Next were the History books which give background on things like the three pony tribes united to make Equestria, Luna’s banishment, nightmare night, heart and hooves day and hearth’s warming eve, etc.
”That sounds like a rip-off of Christmas”
>Your last stop in your now 20 hour and counting trek was the anatomy books, you didn't expect much trouble but you at least needed to know the weak points of these ponies. However what surprises you the most were the chapters on Unicorns and Pegasi. 
”So I guess the mentions of magic and flying weren't total bullshit to begin with, well that explains the weird force field where they had my stuff in back there”
>Armed with your new knowledge you figured it was a good time to sleep. Lucky for you this was a 24 hour library and you figured that you could probably hide somewhere and sleep. 
>The next morning, or rather afternoon you were woken up by a tapping to your head by the librarian mare.
”Excuse me sir, but you aren't allowed to sleep in at the library”
>You groggily get up and apologize to the rather cute mare and leave the building. 
>Armed with this new knowledge you could do anything, so first things first, you had to get a new job.
>You were in the city of Fillydelphia, which reminded you of Philadelphia back home which then reminded you of Philly cheese steak sandwiches. 
>You felt your stomach growl asking for food
>You didn't have any money but you had lots of dry food in your backpack which you munched on as you looked around for any opportunities for a job or home
>You eventually reached the edge of the city where most of the city’s businesses were, which upon asking around had plenty of jobs available. 
>You settle for a cargo guardsman gig at a distributor which would involve you moving around all over Equestria by train escorting things like food shipments and other stuff every 4 weeks. It paid well and you figured that it would give enough to rent out a small flat nearby 
>They gave you the necessary materials to do your job and gave you your pay early after explaining your situation to a rather sympathetic boss letting you get that flat now.
>A few days later you were deployed to the first delivery you would escort which was to the capital of this country. 
>You make your way to the freight loading yard and take your position in one of the empty cars after presenting the proper paperwork you got from your boss. 
>Once the train departed you just took in the scene as you passed town after small town, however as you passed a relatively backwater village some covered up ponies accompanied by what looked to be weird looking dogs began to make chase and try to board the cargo holds
>You carefully used the on board metal walkways to navigate towards where they were trying to board and yelled at them to go away
>When they didn't heed your warning and actually got on you carefully made your way to them and aimed your shotgun at them with one last warning. They seemed to get the message and jumped off, however one of the dogs feigned jumping off and rushed towards you. 
>Not wanting to kill him you smashed the canines head with the butt of your gun and threw him off by the scruff
>Not a single bandit casualty in the end
>Much to your surprise though this made you a very desirable guard in the eyes of competitors who were now asking to hire you, all of which you denied since you had no interest of getting involved with corporate conflicts and because you rather liked your current boss.
>This went on for a couple of months letting you get further acclimated to Equestria and its ways. 
>Every once in a while some guardsmen came by to question you on what you were doing but this eventually stopped after they figured you were well integrated and not a threat.
>One thing that bothered you was your lack of friends; you didn't really feel like going out there aside from the local bars which were just filled with grumpy workers who had no interest in making friends. 
>And then there was the issue of your needs, because there were no human women here there was nobody to really do anything with. 
>The mares of this world were cute but you didn't want to take any chances and get a disease or something, plus you doubted any mare would even consider dating a gruff working class guard who wasn't even a pony.
>A few days later you were visited by a pair of suit clad stallions who gave you a demand of coming with them to visit their boss who upon asking you figured out was the local millionaire tycoon. 
>You didn't really wanted to go but you didn't think it would be a good idea to deny that pony anything so you followed them to the waiting stagecoach and was taken to the massive mansion on the other side of town
>Not much was knows about the old stallion other than where he got his money from, which was from importing and exporting goods supplemented by his pet project of buying up old homes in dirt cheap pieces of land 
>Upon arriving you raised your eyebrow at the mansion as you were led inside. 
>Everything was over the top with posh decorations and expensive wares everywhere and not only that, there were self-portraits of this tycoon all over the place
”Pfft, narcissist” 
>You were led to the office of the mansions master where you were told to wait for his arrival.
>30 minutes and a glass of water later he arrived, casually walking to his desk where he sat himself down to study you a little with his beady little eyes. 
”So Mr. Anon, I hear you’re a very good guard and fighter, I like that.”
>You mentally face palmed, of course he wanted to hire you as a guard
”Listen, I have no interest of changing jobs so whatever you’re offering I don’t want it”
>The old pony laughed at your outburst
”Oh I didn't bring you here to hire you as a guard, I have much better personnel for that, I’m here to hire you for another type of job” 
>Your interest was piqued, and motioned for him to continue
”I recently acquired a historic mansion a ways from here that I want to tear down, however by law I need someone to kick out any squatters or things that may be in there, you see where I’m going with this?”
>You were a little bit confused, why would he need to hire out people to clear out a home rather than report them for trespassing?
“Why don’t you just report them to the proper authorities?”
>The old pony shrugged
“I didn't want to deal with things like ethical treatment and the like”
>You sort of wanted to sock him for that, but you figured you might as well do it since he might hire someone else that could seriously hurt anyone in that house
”I may do it but I want to know how much you are willing to pay for this job”
>The pony pulled out a checkbook and started writing on it, presenting the finished check to you
”……deal”
>The next day you were taken to the abandoned building which was placed in the oldest part of town amidst other abandoned structures. 
>You were able to enter the mansion with help from the key you were given and a good kick. 
>You pulled out your shotgun now loaded with beanbags and turned on the flashlight you taped to it, looking around for any signs of squatters or intruders that may be inside.
>Everything was quiet though, which didn't surprise you since the building was obviously sealed shut since its last owners left which was almost 200 years ago
>You went room to room looking for any signs of life that may be in the house, always keeping an ear open for any noises aside from the creaking of wood as it expanded and contracted from changing temperatures.
>You had a map of the mansion from the public records which you glanced at every once in a while to figure out where to look next, and your eye was caught by a rather peculiar note scribbled at the entrance of a room that connected to the basement on the first floor
”Do not enter eh? This should be interesting”
>You carefully made your way to the room in question and saw the rather heavy and barricaded door to the basement.  
>However upon studying the barricades something about them bothered you
”Odd, these were nailed in to keep whatever’s in there from getting out”
>Since it’s been 200 years you figure that whatever was in there died already, and you did have a job to do. 
>With that you pulled out your favorite crowbar and approached the hasty barricade.
”Alright Freeman, let’s get these boards out of the way”
>Tearing apart the decayed barricade and adding some oil to the door hinges you manage to force the door open to a rather long staircase down.
>You got nervous at what might be down there but you figured that it couldn't be as bad as a dragon or something like that.
>Carefully making your way down you find a rather large room filled with useless crap, but what catches your eye is yet another barricaded door, but unlike the last one this one was much bigger, made of iron and had very rusty chains keeping it shut 
>Peeking through the grates the doors you saw what looked to be a rather endless tunnel going towards the mountains that were a quite a ways away from the mansion.
>Before you could properly figure out where this was going though, you needed to get these doors open
>Once again pulling out your trusty crowbar you tear away the wooden barricade. The chains however were a different story, you were going to have to saw these off, a task that shouldn't be impossible due to how degraded they were. 
>Rummaging through your supplies you pull out your handy metal saw and began hacking away at where you thought the chains all joined up. 
>Upon finishing the cut much to your joy the entire tangle of chains fell giving you access to the opening mechanism
>Before you approached the handle though something odd caught your eye. 
>The doors themselves had insignia's which were hard to recognize up close.  
>However when you backed away the insignia was clear as day when you shone your flashlight at it
”A crescent moon with….bat wings? Oh great this was probably the hideout of some cult or something” 
>You hesitated now, sure you were armed, but in a world of magic and shit you didn’t really want to take the risk. 
>You decided to do some research before you continued.
>With that you left the basement and swept the rest of the empty mansion before heading back outside to the waiting chariot.
”Did you finish examining the house?”
>You weren't exactly sure if it was a good idea to reveal what you had found to these ponies yet, so you decided to keep it to yourself for now
”No, not yet, I’ll continue tomorrow”
>The driver nodded
>You asked to be left at the library instead of your home and to be picked up the next day. 
>You had a feeling that you were going to have to look around for a while before finding anything.
>2 hours later you found something in the historical materials section of the library, a book on mythological creatures whose cover had many different insignia's, including the mystery bat winged crescent
>Checking the table of contents you looked for anything relating to the mystery insignia, however one chapter caught your attention
>”On Chiroptera Caballus”
>Opening another book on scientific names you translate the name for this peculiar species
”Bat Pony? Could that be it?”
>Turning to the chapter you see the exact same emblem that you saw on the iron door
”Bingo” 
>You find out that Bat Ponies were an apparently extinct species of ponies related to pegasi that evolved influenced by dark magic.
>They were not evil but unlike regular ponies they were carnivores and had bat wings to fly. 
>Turning to another page you find out that this species was actually rather intelligent and even served princess Luna before her banishment which the Pegasus took advantage of to expel the Bat Pony population, a rather dark chapter in Equestrian history
>Apparently there was heavy conflict between Bat and Pegasus communities that just boiled over forcing the bats to retreat 
>They ended up establishing small settlements in remote regions of Equestria that were constantly harassed by Pegasus militia for about 800 years after Luna’s banishment
>The closest one is rumored to be hidden near present day Fillydelphia, but was allegedly never found by the local Pegasus militia in their 800 yearlong crusades.
”So that’s what that door goes to, the hidden settlement.”
>However when you remember who bought the house your heart sank a little bit
”That fucko is probably going to sell everything in that place that could go to a museum or something if that village really is there”
>You would have to worry about that later, maybe there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel anyway but you had to make sure.
>You let yourself fall asleep at the table opting to let the librarian wake you up when making her rounds then wait for the chariot to arrive to take you back to the abandoned mansion.
>Upon arriving back at the old home you make your way to the basement to pry open the iron door
>Armed with your new knowledge and ready with your shotgun to repel anything you start working on the old lock 
>When you finally open the heavy iron door something falls into the room which startles you for a few seconds 
>Upon examining this strange pile you figure out it’s the bones of a pony that was leaning against the door from the inside. 
>However what catches your attention was the slender and hollow bones it had on its wings, nothing like what a regular Pegasus had, no this one had the wing bones of a bat.
”Looks like I’m on the right track”
>Making your way inside the narrow cave you turn on your lantern and start your journey towards the end of it to whatever it holds at the end. 
>Looking around you as you walked you notice the rather degraded stone towers holding the cave roof up in regular intervals, all of which had the same bat winged crescent moon carved into it. 
>You decide to stop and examine them up close, taking the rather elegant features in with wide eyes
“Carved right out of the bedrock, this must have taken real skill to accomplish”
>With a newfound respect for the designers you continue your trek into the darkness
>30 minutes later you reach what you think is the halfway point between the mansion and the mountain range and find a peculiar sight.
>The stone columns looked like they were blown apart, and not only that, the right half of the tunnel at this point was sort of collapsed.
>It was as if someone tried to seal the cave shut but failed
”Must have been the same ponies that tried barricading all those doors closed, what the fuck happened that needed all this?”
>You continued your trek and after 2 more hours of walking you arrive at what you think was the end with yet another door, this one even larger and made out of stone.
>However this one had no chains or anything like that, but what it did have was a hastily carved in symbol: A pony face with wings coming out of it, the symbol of the Pegasus tribe later used as the emblem of the Pegasus militias.
”Damn, looks like they did end up finding that one settlement, what a waste”
>You were hoping that this would be an untouched refuge for this fascinating species of pony you just found out about, but fate must have had other plans for them
>You couldn't help but feel a little sad at this, but you needed to continue to at least get the story of what happened out there
>You looked around for a way to open it and much to your luck it used a magical lock that was left open. 
>You touched it to see if it activated and sure enough it did, allowing you passage into the raided settlement
>What appears before you is a massive cave with light filtering in from an unknown source
>There were buildings all over the place, some carved out from the cave walls and others made out of rather large stone bricks
>The amount of planning and power needed to build all of this made the stone pillars seem like child play
>You continued your sightseeing around this underground village frozen in time, however when you arrive at the center of this settlement your heart jolts at what you see
>A rather large and spread out pile of hastily placed bones.
>You slowly approach the eerie above ground /underground mass grave and study the bones, most of them showed heavy damage
”I guess this is what became of these Bat Ponies”
>You bow your head in respect and stand up to continue exploring the dark village, but a few faint noises catch your attention
>You turn around to try and find the source of this noise, but you instead you hear a dull thud next to you, as if something just landed
>You immediately pull out your shotgun and aim for whatever landed, expecting to see a horrible animal of some kind ready to eat you
>However what greets you is a pair of inquisitive eyes that flinches when you shine your light at it causing its owner to speak
”Ow, it’s so bright! *giggle*”
>After letting your eyes get used to the light of your flashlight again you are greeted by the sight of a rather young pony, probably late teens in pony years. 
>She had a grayish coat and a dull red mane with a grayish hue. Her cutie mark was  of 4 overlapped hearts.
>However it’s her other features that make catch your attention: Slit Irises, small fangs and a pair of bat wings
>Could it be?
”You are…..a bat pony…..aren't you”
>She giggles again at your shocked expression and nods
”Yup! Welcome to our humble town stranger, hopefully you’ll be nicer than our last visitors so long ago”
>You remember the situation that went down here and quickly put away your weapon. 
>You kneel down to study the mare closer and continue your questions
”Were you here when this all happened?”
>The mare looks around and shakes her head
”Nope, but I got told about it by my parents”
>You take a look at the roof for any signs of more Bat Ponies but find none
”Are your parents around?”
>The mare’s expression turns slightly sad and she sighs as she responds
”No, they....went away years ago. I’m the last one around here, so it’s a little hard to preserve what’s left of this town”
>You feel drawn to the sad figure, compelled to stroke her face and tell her it’s going to be ok, but you keep a little distance to be safe
”So how have you been eating and drinking?”
>She starts pointing at random places in the dark as she lists her spots
”I gather small animals for food at the nests over there, water at the spring over there, bathroom in the cave over there, and I learn by reading the books left at the library”
>The prospect of a library intrigues you since it might contain valuable information on this pony species
”Can you show me your library?”
>She nods her head and beckons you to follow her
>You both make your way through derelict building razed by fire or explosions
>You can’t help but wonder why she was so trusting of you considering she probably never saw anything like you before
>You chalk it up as curiosity and continue following the eager mare barely noticing she’s been describing several buildings on the way
>before you stop her to repeat what she’s been saying your cut off by her next announcement
“Well here it is, it’s pretty isn’t it? Not as damaged as the other buildings”
>You grin at the Batty mare and make your way inside expecting to see books everywhere but in the end found none on the stone bookshelves
“Uhh, where are the books?”
”Sorry, the books are all gone now, the last one we had saved actually fell apart yesterday…..”
>Of course they wouldn't be able to last 200 years in these conditions
“So there are no books about your history or anything like that left?”
>She looked visibly upset now 
>You figured she was harmless by now and went in to give her a hug, but she flinches as you hold her
”There there, I’m not going to hurt your or anything, I want to help you out”
>Much to your surprise she hugs you back and coos as she enjoyed your body heat, rubbing her face on your neck
”You’re so warm~”
>You chuckle at her behavior and get up, having to pry her away from your neck that she took a strange fascination to
”So what do you say we get you out of here? This is no place for a young pony and you might as well let everyone here rest in peace”
>She took a step back, shaking her head
“This is my home? Why would I leave it?”
>You tried thinking but decided to let your heart do the talking as stupid as that sounded to you
“Look, you’re the last one of your type left around here, there’s really no reason to keep suffering through this pressing solitude in this ghost town. You did your job well but it’s time to move on and let the residents of this place rest in peace finally. Besides, don’t you want to see the outside world?”
>She looked hesitant but nodded, she knew it was time to go and let her ancestors rest. Yes this was her home but she’s seen the outside world a few times through some small openings and always wanted to go out
”Will we be able to come back to visit?”
>You wondered, maybe if you explain the situation to that geezer he might be willing to let you use the tunnel, but you had a feeling it wouldn't be so simple. 
”We’ll see, oh by the way, you never told me your name?”