You woke up hours later, the thunderstorm having passed on. Sunlight was still shining through the window, though it was quickly receding.
 
Too quickly.
 
In roughly thirty seconds it went from daylight to moon-rise, though neither pony made any mention of the fact. This must have been a natural occurrence. Instead, they both were chatting about a new...patient of Fluttershy's. The yellow one was quite cheerful, while the lavender pony seemed...on edge.
 
"Yes, I didn't expect a manticore of all things to come find me!" The yellow pegasus said in awe. "He was hurt, some meanie had cut his tail clean off. The poor dear can't hunt now, at least not until he grows a new one."
 
You stayed quiet, knowing exactly who that 'meanie' was.
 
Twilight forced a nervous smile.
 
"Yes, the poor...manticore."
 
"It should take two weeks for a new tail to grow in." Fluttershy continued, either ignoring Twilight's hesitance or missing it entirely. "After that, he is free to go, back into the forest!"
 
"Right. Fluttershy, remind me to stay clear of your cottage until its gone."
 
"Oh, such a worry wart, Twilight."
 
"Says the pegasus afraid of her own shadow." Twilight replied bluntly.
 
"I-I've gotten over that..." She whispered, then yelped as she looked on the wall where her shadow was being cast by the candles.
 
"Of course." The Kirin said with a roll of her eyes.
 
You yawned, feeling ready to announce that you were awake. Both ponies looked at you, gave one another worried looks, then back you to you with smiles that seemed halfway forced.
 
"What?" You asked, arching an eyebrow. "Is my hair sticking up? Tends to do that, it's stubborn." You continued, running your fingers through your hair. Your arms twinged briefly in protest, still sore from the fighting on the tower.
 
Twilight shook her head, giving you a sympathetic once over.
 
"Are you...okay?" The purple pony asked, concerned.
 
"A little achy, but otherwise fine. Why?" You said, eyebrow staying raised.
 
"Well, you were talking in yo-eeep!" Fluttershy started, until she was elbowed roughly in the side by Twilight. "You didn't have to do that..." The butter yellow pegasus muttered quietly.
 
"No reason, just, um, saw you were pretty beat up before you went to sleep, is all." The little Kirin said, giving you the falsest smile you had ever seen. Fluttershy copied it after a moment, bright and wide.
 
You'd question her about it later.
 
"I'm fine, thanks." You replied. You stretched a kink out of your neck, hearing it pop and sighing sympathetically in relief. You mirrored the motion, getting another series of pops and another wave of relief. "Oh, that felt nice..."
 
Twilight seemed to have a genuine smile now, mirroring Fluttershy's own.
 
"Oh dear, look at the time!" The winged one said, looking at a clock on the wall. "Angel will be so upset with me, I need to get home!"
 
"Oh, you're right." Twilight replied with a nod. "Want me to walk you home? We can continue our conversation on the way."
 
"I'd like that." Fluttershy said, shooting you another look. "Maybe Angel won't be so angry if I come in with a friend."
 
"Mind if I come with?" You asked, stretching your legs. "I need to stretch out, work some kinks out of my body."
 
Twilight thought for a moment, looking outside a few times. It was still dark, and the streets appeared to be deserted.
 
"Well..." She started, taking another peek outside. "I...don't see the harm in it, as long as you stay near us."
 
"Cool, thanks Twilight." You said with a smile, heading for the table with your equipment.
 
"Uh, you may want to leave your armor here. Won't help things if ponies see that terrifying construction." Twilight said, stopping you. She had a point, Azure Rathalos armor was deliberately designed to be intimidating.
 
"That's fair. I wouldn't want to be chased out already because someone screamed "demon'." You muttered, looking forlornly at your damaged armor. You then picked up your knife and put it on your belt, securing it in its sheathe. Small but sharp, you swore it had better cutting power than your actual sword. Seeing as it was made of top-of-the-line Eltalite ore and had cost you a quarter of your bank account at the time, it very well might be. You just hadn't been foolish enough to get THAT close.
 
The three of you left the library as a group, Twilight locking the door behind her. The two ponies continued chatting to one another as you took in the sights. It appeared to be like Pokke, just less...cold. Many of the buildings were built in a rustic fashion, and they appeared sturdy enough. The buildings might even provide ample defense against a rampaging wyvern.
 
Except for that one that looked like a carnival top. That one was just begging to be burned down by an errant fireball.
 
The buildings abruptly stopped soon afterwards, the three of you heading along a trail towards the Forest. You made a note of there being absolutely no wall or defenses at all. Either this was a new establishment (unlikely from the sheer number of buildings) or the threat of attack was small.
 
The two ponies had apparently run out of things to talk about, so you strode along in silence. It was...peaceful. Definitely more so than your past two days had been. Perhaps you could start your vacation after all.
 
The niggling thought that you were dead was still there, just...suppressed, for the most part. Perhaps you were in some semi-perfect afterlife, though why there were no other humans around was beyond you.
 
You heard something shift in the tree the three of you passed by. Something was watching you.
 
Unable to pick it out of the leaves, you decided against warning the two ponies. It may have been a bird, though just judging by the sound it made, it must have been an *awful* big bird. Judging by the ear flicking, they both had heard it too. If they weren't worried, you supposed you shouldn't be either.
 
Eventually the path split off like before, though this time you took the path off to the left, away from the forest. It lead to a humble little cottage over a small bridge, surrounded by a river. Birdhouses were all around, and a rabbit was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and looking none too pleased.
 
You had figured, from the way Fluttershy had been talking about him, that 'Angel' was a boyfriend. Not a...pet rabbit.
 
"Oh, Angel Bunny! I'm so sorry for making you wait!" Fluttershy said, fluttering over to the door. "I had to help Twilight with her new friend!"
 
The rabbit mimed an eating motion, and the pegasus entered the cottage seconds later. The door then slammed far harder than that rabbit should have been able to do.
 
"What was..." You asked, trailing off.
 
"That was Angel. Probably the worst named pet of all time." Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. "I guess we should head back now, before somepony wakes up and sees you."
 
The manticore from the forest was in the yellow pony's backyard. It saw you and wisely beat a hasty retreat, behind her cottage and out of sight.
 
"Right..." You said, turning around to start the walk back.
 
This place confused you more every other moment. You weren't sure if it was the blow to the head or if this place was really just that odd.
---
 
"So, Anon...what ARE you?" Twilight asked during the walk back to the library. She had been silent for most of the trip, but had sent the occasional glance your way. "You don't match *anything* in Equestrian records, though you share some similarities with the simians of Zira..."
 
You looked at the little pony with a quirked eyebrow.
 
"You've never seen anything like me?" You asked in kind, shocked. You had, at the very least, seen something like *her*. It was honestly a little surprising.
 
"Again: Aside from those simians, no...and you honestly only bear a passing resemblance to them." Twilight repeated, shooting you another glance.
 
Shrugging, you started from the bottom.
 
"I'm a human. A race of highly evolved monkeys, for lack of better term." You started, and Twilight nodded in what you hoped was understanding. "Five fingered hands with an opposable thumbs on each hand are what really make us stand out. Omnivorous...uh..."
 
You paused at the whirlwind of motion that was that quill on the suddenly reappearing notepad.
 
"How many are there of you? You said 'race', so obviously there are more..." The mare asked, quill moving so fast you were afraid it would light the paper aflame.
 
"Last I heard, ten or so million of us." You said, going off of the previous year's Guild Reports. Ten million, minus the ten thousand or so killed in wyvern attacks every year.
 
She froze in her tracks, staring at you with a stunned expression.
 
"That's more than double the Equestrian population...how...?"
 
"We're a hardy, quickly reproducing species, Twilight." You said with a bit of a chuckle. "Hell, several thousand years ago there was a war that nearly wiped us all out. We just...bounced back from it once it was over."
 
"...a war?"
 
"Dragon versus Man." You said with a dry chuckle. "Two years ago, a group of archaeologists had uncovered a tomb to fallen warriors. Most were reduced to dust, though there were a few complete skeletons."
 
"Sounds lovely." The pony replied, voice thick with sarcasm. "Doubtlessly fascinating, but lovely."
 
"It was." You said with a morbid chuckle. "Half the excavation crew ended up being killed when something woke up inside the ruins themselves."
 
"W-woke up!? When you said 'killed' I figured something like traps, or ancient magic, not...an actual beast!" The mare said, eyes wide. "To have lived for thousands of years...and still be waiting..."
 
"Yeah, I'll say. The crew of Hunters with them managed to kill it, but it still scared the he-."
 
You were cut off by something high pitched and shrill from behind and above, a cry you knew far too well. Digging your heel into the dirt and whirling, you drew your knife and looked skyward.
 
Pink scales, large yellow beak, big frilly ears...something you recognized instantly: A Yian Kut-Ku. It had its talons bared, heading right for your equine companion.
 
"Twilight, move!" You shouted, and the mare stopped to look back. A brief panicked gasp escaped her before you and the bird wyvern were briefly blinded by a bright pink flash. It caused the wyvern to miss a beat of its wings and plummet out of the sky, crashing into the earth and tumbling a bit before coming to a rest.
 
You recovered first, charging towards the blinded pink annoyance. The entire Kut-Ku line of wyverns were just a pain in your ass at this point, and you so hated when one interrupted some other task, important or not. The Kut-Ku attempted to blindly whip you with its tail, and you easily vaulted over the thin appendage.
 
"Time to try something stupid..." You muttered, grabbing its wing and clambering onto its back, grabbing hold of its throat. Using what you had learned from a hunter from a different region, you raised your knife and brought it straight down.
 
The tool stuck fast in the shell, both shocking you slightly and not surprising you at all. You wrenched the knife out, noting some minor bloodflow from the wound. The second swing you made was in a horizontal motion, not easy with the Kut-Ku attempting to buck you off. That skipped off of scale, unable to actually fit into any sort of gap in the pink shell due to the Kut-Ku's erratic motions.
 
A bolt of magenta light crashed into the bird wyvern's side, nearly singing your leg until you remembered you were immune. The wyvern cried out in shock, then in pain as it was bolted again. Looking over, Twilight had come in to assist you, horn aglow.
 
"What is this thing?!" She shouted, letting loose with yet another bolt as it thrashed about to get you off. You clutched onto its neck tightly, holding on for dear life.
 
"A Yian Kut-Ku!" You shouted over the wyvern's pained struggles. You noticed after the third bolt from Twilight that there weren't any burns on the Kut-Ku. Likely magic immune as well, it was reacting purely on the thought train of 'it looks like it hurts, so it does'.
 
They were never known for being all that bright, after all.
 
Tired of this game, you wrenched your knife arm back and drove the sharp Eltalite-reinforced edge deep into the wyvern's right eye. It screamed in real pain this time, forcibly ejecting you by leaping into the air and rolling. You let go and landed hard on your feet, rolling to a stop and flicking the amputated organ off of the edge.
 
The Kut-Ku retreated, trailing blood as it did so. It flew into the Everfree Forest and disappeared into the trees, likely off to nurse its wounds. Or to bleed out. Hopefully the latter.
 
Your mind was reeling. How was that wyvern here? Did that mean others were? Maybe, just maybe, you were actually on the same world after all. Complete with Yian Garuga, Rathian and Rathalos...
 
...Fatalis?
 
You blood ran cold at the thought.
 
Twilight approached you as you cleaned your knife, making you push those thoughts to the back burner.
 
"Damn good work, could have gone a lot worse." You said with a small smile, standing up.
 
You lifted your knife arm to gesture at the forest, and something hit you in the stomach. Your back struck a tree, something cracked, and you blacked out.
---
 
One moment Anon was congratulating her, the very next he was on the ground several feet away. A rainbow blur was visible for a brief half-second in between the two moments, and Twilight knew the culprit instantly. She fluttered down to the unicorn's side and landed with a small huff, a cocky grin plastered on her face.
 
Rainbow Dash.
 
"And stay down!" The pegasus said, pointing at the floored Hunter. "Wow Twilight, you need to be more careful. It almo-"
 
"You MORON!" She shouted, loudly enough to make Dash take a step or two back. "Do you have ANY idea who you just hit?!"
 
"Uh...no?"
 
"My. New. Friend!" The mare snarled, making sure her every syllable made Rainbow know just how unhappy she was.
 
The blue pegasus took a look at him, then Twilight, then made a sort of tutting noise.
 
"C'mon Twi, Fluttershy's the one with the animal friends. It's her thing. Yours is books, not freaky creatures from the Everfree."
 
Twilight growled at the pegasus, horn alight.
 
Anon chose that moment to groan. With a gasp, she teleported to his side, looking him over. In her anger, she had forgotten to check if he had even survived the hit. With as fast as Rainbow had been moving...Twilight just assumed he was done for. The Hunter was definitely a lot tougher than she gave him credit for.
 
A bruise was forming on his side (adding to his large collection), as well as a few scrapes from hitting the ground so hard...but he appeared fine, otherwise.
 
"Round two, huh?" Rainbow said, flaring her wings in challenge. "C'mon big guy, lets se-"
 
"You move an INCH and I'll turn you into a potted plant!" Twilight warned, looking at her for just a brief second. "Anon, are you okay?"
---
 
Your everything hurt. All your injuries that had yet to heal completely had come back with a vengeance, in addition to the new bruises on your side and chest that you felt forming and swelling up from that...blue cannonball.
 
Fantastic.
 
A pained groan escaped you, all you could do at the moment. Your body was one step away from just quitting on you in frustration, and your mind partially agreed. This shit was ridiculous. A Fatalis, a 'manticore', a Kut-Ku, and now whatever else had just hit you, all within 24 hours. Your poor, abused body just couldn't catch a break, you'd have been better off just staying in that bed...
 
And Twilight likely would have been eaten, your brain supplied. As battered as you were, things had worked out relatively alright. Bruises and fractures aside, of course.
 
You'd heal.
 
You groaned again as you opened your eyes slowly, Twilight standing over you and looking behind her.
 
"-turn you into a potted plant!" She shouted, your hearing finally coming in from the dull ringing you only just noticed receding. Twilight then looked at you, a light touch of both anger and worry decorating her features. "Anon, are you okay?"
 
"Nnngh..." Was your semi-verbal response as you slowly sat up. "Ow."
 
"Can...can you walk?" The pony asked carefully, looking you over with concern.
 
"I...think so." You responded. "Just give me a minute."
 
"It TALKS!?" A harsh feminine voice shouted, causing you to roll your eyes despite your pain. If you got asked that every single time you opened your mouth, someone other than you was going to get hurt. Another check of yourself to confirm that nothing was actually broken, and you let out a deep sigh. You didn't get up just yet, you ached far too much.
 
"What hit me?" You asked after a moment, head cradled in your hands.
 
"Rainbow Dash." Twilight replied flatly.
 
"...a what now?" You said in dull confusion. These pony names, with the nouns, and the verbs, and th-
 
"I hit you, you bucking mor-mmph!"
 
Now interested, your head snapped over to where the scratchy voice had come from. A light blue pegasus, standing in an aggressive manner with a nasty glare leveled in your direction, was there. No taller than Fluttershy, you dared to say she may have been just a tad bit shorter. Her mane was impressively colorful you had to admit, even in a place where pink and purple seemed to be the norm. It was as if someone had dumped a rainbow into the hairs, which now made sense as the pegasus' name clicked. The prismatic maned pony's mouth was being held shut by a pink field of magic, coming from the intensely angry mare just to your side.
 
"Not a 'what', a 'who.'" Twilight replied venomously. "She thought you were a threat, so Rainbow Dash here thought it would be best to act before, or without, thinking!"
 
Those last few words were said in a shout, directed more at her than you. You simply rubbed your temples, attempting to stave off the migraine you felt forming. Tough as Hunters like you were, you all had a breaking point. Yours had been reached for today,
despite only having been up for an hour and a half, tops.
 
To be fair, you had only been asleep for about as long, if the conversation you had overheard was right. Nowhere near enough, especially after that fight.
 
"Right." You said, voice still level. "Listen, I...hurt. Can we just go and deal with this later?"
 
"Yeah, we can. Here, I'll help you up." Twilight replied, offering her back to you. You put your hand on her back, somewhat surprised to feel that she was more plush and soft than she first appeared. You then hoisted yourself onto your feet, feeling the mare beneath you tense up when your weight was applied. "Wow, you're h-heavier than you look."
 
"Sorry."
 
Happy that you were stable, Twilight smiled at you and started walking back down the path. You followed shortly after with a slight limp, leaving the still gagged Rainbow Dash behind the two of you.
 
"H-hey!" Came the call when you were a few dozen feet away. You heard the wind rush up behind you...and then nothing. Turning around, the blue pony was gone.
 
"Oh, I hope she's not doing something...rash." Twilight muttered. She shook her head at your questioning eyebrow, then flinched when a drop of water hit her nose. "Another storm? Was this scheduled...?"
 
"Ah man. I'm gonna get wet." You griped, unable to move at anything over a quick limp. You had gotten wetter before, sure (those Lagiacrus made sure of that), but it wasn't as if you actively looked to get drenched to the bone. The first drops came down...and then nothing aside from a soft hum above you.
 
A pink field of something was over your head, the same color as Twilight's currently glowing horn, presumably acting as an umbrella. Twilight merely smiled at you, then continued onward.
 
You reached the Library without further event, the remainder of the town still asleep. The Kirin locked the door behind her, and your sore body took up the spot on the couch.
 
"Alright Anon, we've had...a day." Twilight said with a dry chuckle. "This unicorn is going to bed, I need to oversee storm cleanup tomorrow. Good night, I'll set up a room for you tomorrow. If you want, there's a bathroom with a shower over by the fireplace."
 
"Thanks. Good night, Twilight." You replied, sitting on the couch. Though you ached, you weren't quite ready to go back to sleep. A shower...sounded good, actually. You hadn't had a shower in weeks, simply due to your line of work. You marched over to the door, pushing it open and looking in awe.
 
The tub was actually rather large, even for you. The shower required a little ducking under, but that would be easy enough. Soap and other amenities were along the wall...you let out a low whistle as you disrobed and stepped in. This had to have cost the pony a pretty zenny.
 
Half an hour later, you were clean and comfortable, drying off in a towel you had found in the closet. It was only barely able to fit around you, your waist only just covered. The bruises had long since stopped twinging, thanks to the heat therapy they received. Dried and happy, you dressed yourself and moved into the library for something to read...but not before correcting Twilight's page in your notebook, crossing out 'mini-Kirin' and writing 'unicorn'. Picking out a few titles, you sat down and cracked one open.
===
 
The following morning, you woke up lying down with a blanket over you. You didn't remember falling asleep, but some nights that's just how it went. Keep going until exhaustion forced you down. You knew that wasn't healthy, but it was habit at this point.
 
One of the books you were reading was on the table next to the couch, bookmarked at the point where you apparently stopped. Now you remembered why you had passed out. Reading that particular book was more boring than gathering Aptonoth dung. "Battle for Canterlot" your ass, it was an angry debate at the very most.
 
Twilight was gone, as she said she would be. You felt much better, though the aches where Rainbow Dash had hit you had come back to some minor degree. Another shower would fix that, and you were in a small rush to use it. Not using one in over two weeks made one giddy to actually be clean for once.
 
Getting up with some degree of glee, you caught something out of place. On the table holding your armor was a bag with a note bearing your name. Head tilted in curiosity, you popped the note open.
 
"Dear Anon,
        Inside is the equivalent of two thousand bits (our currency), cleared by the Ponyville mayor herself. It was the reward for the Manticore venom that fell out of your bag last night. Seeing as you had it, I felt you deserved a little bit of a head start here. Congratulations!
 
                ~Twilight"
 
"Fell out? I was sure I..." You started, scratching the back of your head.
 
No, you HAD secured that, tightly.
 
Right?
 
Checking your bag over, the only thing missing was that bottle of venom. It did indeed look like your bag had fallen over and spilled, with the way things were jumbled around inside. You could live with that, you supposed. Hefting the 'bits' bag, it was shockingly heavy. You knew carrying it all at once was just inviting pickpockets and other ne'er-do-wells, so you took roughly a quarter of it and threw it into your side pouch. The rest stayed inside, thrown into your bag.
 
You really weren't in the mood to punch someone out on your second day in town, after all.
 
Now that you thought about it, the word "reward" implied there was a sort of bounty on things like this. You just might have a line of work after all, and without too much adjustment.
 
With your new found source of income, you decided on restocking your basic medical supplies and then going to get something to eat. Your growling stomach reminded you it had been over a day and a half since you had last eaten, and your backpack's supply had been burned to a cinder from the Fatalis' lightning. As it was still early in the day, you might even be able to catch breakfast.
 
"Alright, game plan. Shower, food, supplies. Then...explore?" You said to yourself, walking back to the bathroom. "Yeah, that sounds good."
 
Half an hour had you dressed and outside, a quarter of the 'bits' in your change bag and your knife in a sheathe on your hip. First stop was to find some sort of food. An Aptonoth steak sounded really good at this point, but you reasoned that these ponies were more than likely vegan. As such, no meat for you.
 
You attracted stares as you walked by, though most were of the curious variety. Most of the ponies also made a point to stay away from you, taking wider paths around you than they rightfully should have.
 
"Buncha Kelbi, I swear..." You muttered, approaching what looked to be a park. You noticed a third sub-type of pony that you had missed, missing both a horn and wings. Not sure what to call them except "pony", you made a mental note to document them as well. A bit taller, though by an almost negligible amount, and a bit more well built. An orange one was manning what appeared to be an apple stand, with a 'buy three get one free' sign up.
 
Your stomach growled again, as you had been wandering aimlessly looking for a shopping district or something. That didn't appear to exist here, shops just springing up where they pleased. You got in line and waited patiently, despite the stares you were still receiving. A few were downright angry glares, including from the orange pony with the hat manning the stand.
 
Standing off to her side was the blue pegasus from last night, and you knew where this was about to go real quick. Mentally groaning, you continued waiting while attempting to show no signs that you even recognized her. Finally, the agonizing wait was over, and you were at the head of the line.
 
The stare the orange mare was giving you was borderline volcanic, the glare Rainbow was giving you equally heated.
 
"Howdy." The orange mare said levelly. "How can Ah help you?"
 
"You could tell him to go buck himself, AJ." Rainbow said, playing Deviljho's Advocate.
 
"I'm just here to buy a couple of apples, miss...?" You trailed off, fishing for a name.
 
"Applejack. How many do ya need, stranger?"
 
"I'll take the deal for four of them, thanks."
 
"Alright, that'll run ya six bits."
 
Reaching into your pouch, you pulled out six of the gold coins and placed them on the counter, where she swept them into a very large bag beside her, completely filled with the coins. She then took four apples and pushed them towards you, which you collected with a thankful nod.
 
"Thanks a lot, Applejack." You said with a hint of a smile, still quite tense.
 
"You're welcome, mister. Next pony, please!" The mare shouted, showing no signs of emotion either way. As soon as you left a smile came to her face, so it was likely you putting her on edge. You expected that, so you weren't too sore.
 
It was obvious she was trying to rush you along and out of her line of sight, so you did just that and left. Dash's jaw hung down as you did so, likely unable to believe you got away without a fight.
 
"Wh-why didn't you do anything, AJ!?" You heard her shout as you took up residence at a nearby table.
 
"He was a customer, had the bits he needed, and got out of the way quick." Applejack responded a moment later, after helping the last pony in line. She then started closing the stand up, hefting the bag onto the top with little apparent effort. That bag must have weighed as much as you did, so you made another mental note about extreme strength.
 
"B-but Twilight-!"
 
"Is a big girl, and can take care of herself." The blonde pony cut across.
 
You ignored the rest of the argument, finished with your meal. They were damn good apples, which you supposed was only natural from a pony named "Applejack." Next on your list was replacing some of the more common medical supplies of yours. Gauze, bandages, tape, things like that. The special potions of yours required a specific blend of Blue Mushroom and a healing herb, both of which you were unlikely to find.
 
Though with that Kut-Ku...
 
"At the very least, you could ha-"
 
Whatever Dash was about to rashly suggest Applejack do was cut off with a gasp. Intrigued, you turned around to see a bright ivory pony looking directly at you, almost at eye level. She had both a horn and wings, as well as a crown and jeweled shoes. Her mane was a multitude of bright colors, though not quite as many as Rainbow Dash. They were the colors of a sunrise, which matched the sun tattoo on her flank. The crown and shoes must have denoted Royalty status, as the ponies in the vicinity were all bowing.
 
...Except for Twilight, almost nestled into the taller mare's side with a smile. You were somewhat surprised, as you hadn't even heard either pony approach.
 
"Ah." The winged unicorn started, smiling lightly. "So you are the 'hue-mon' that Twilight has told me of. Please," she said as you went to kneel. You were no fool when it came to royalty, having had to get clearance to hunt in a duke's land at one time or another. "There's no need for that."
 
"Very well. How can I assist you, ma'am?" You asked as you stood back up.
 
She chuckled.
 
"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the land of Equestria. It's not about how you may assist me yet, but how *I* may assist *you*."