[[Days ago:]]
 
>A quiet sunset drinking with my friends.
>Griffin bastards are probably cheating at cards again.
>Here I am holding a good two pair of aces when word came out from our scouting party.
 
>"Hey Shovels, they're back." My friend tells me.
 
>I put down the cards and the bottle of grape juice and head on out to meet our new pony prisoner.
>Even though we were miles away from the battlefield, I can still hear the sound of exploding canons and the screeching of the poor saps who were in it.
>The war has taken many casualties. For many, it's never too late to pray for the ponies to stand down and surrender.
>But then again, I bet they're probably praying for the same thing to us.
 
"Hey hey! You guys get any good salmon? I am starving."
>>"Only a couple of trouts. Darn bears steal two of our traps."
"Hah. Only a matter of time before we start a war with the bears!"
 
>They haul in two prisoners. A pony soldier and...something else.
 
"What the hell is that?" I ask.
>>"To be honest, I don't really know myself."
 
>The other prisoner they hauled in walked on twos. He had these long limbs that resembled the apes back at Savanna but he doesn't seem to be savage. He's even wearing a suit.
 
"So what's his story?"
>>"Caught him in the swamp. He said he fell from some portal and doesn't know where he is. What's curious is that he doesn't seem to be a local."
"How so?"
>>"When we got to him, he screamed for a bit, muttering on about 'talking eagles' while covering his ears from the canonshots near the swamp."
"He hasn't seen a griffin before?"
>>"No. Heck when we tried to talk to him he just got even more confused."
"Wait, what were you guys doing at a swamp anyway? I thought you guys were going to the river for the fish."
>>"We were there. One of our men tried to hunt for the bear that took our traps but when he got to the river, he saw that guy."
"Hmm, you think he's one of those insane mutated things from what I hear are 'unicorn training camps'?"
>>"Don't know."
"Right..."
 
>I scratch my head and looked at the other prisoner.
 
"What about him?"
>>"The pony? Guess where we found him."
"...underwater consorting with our trouts for world domination?"
>>"Haha, no. We found him underneath our ape friend. Claims that he doesn't know him. Says big ape landed on him."
"You think he's telling the truth?"
>>"No not really. I can see it in his face, he's hiding something. The ape though seems to be telling the truth."
"So should we release him?"
>>"Well, that's all up to our higher-ups. Speaking of which..."
 
>Our captains have come back to greet our scouting camp looking ever so gallant in their entrance.
>We all line up to greet them with salutes.
 
"SIR!" We all shouted.
>"At ease!" He replied.
 
>He then goes on to our field commander to see if anything new has come up. He directs them to the pony prisoner and the ape.
>The captain inspects the ape. The ape seems to be shaking.
 
>>>"I-Is this some sort of ritual? Am I going to be some sort of slave?" The two legged creature asks, shaking.
>>>>"That all depends, my friend. Pray tell, what are you?" He asks.
>>>"I'm a h-human! I got here from a portal that I found! I swear I don't know anything else!"
>>>>"A likely story." The captain scoffs, ignoring the human bit.
 
>He then redirects his attention at the pony prisoner. This horse seems to be feisty.
 
>>>>"Well now."
>>>>>"Bastard griffins! You'll never win this war!" the horse yells at him.
>>>>"Wishful thinking as always, coming from a filthy hoodlum like yourself. Tell me, where'd they get you?"
>>>>>"From your mother's room! I was just about done with her a second time!" the horse says, while spitting at the captain's shoe."
 
>The captain takes out a riding crop and repeatedly slaps it at the prisoner.
 
>>>>"Manners, my boy."
*WHAPAK*
>>>>>"ACK!"
>>>>"You better have some."
*PLOCH*
 
>The captain continues on with whipping him mercilessly.
>The rest of the camp looks away. Some laughed at him. The two legged creature can't even listen to it, covering his ears and what not.
>Finally, he stops. He doesn't even seem exhausted.
>The prisoner though has bruises and cuts everywhere.
>>>>"Right.  Take this one to the interrogation hut. The other one can sit by that cage."
"Right." I tell the captain.
>I take the ape and put him in his brand new home. The other one gets extra beatings from one of the other soldiers.
*clank*
"Right. In you go then."
 
>The ape then tries to talk to me.
 
>>>"Hey!"
"Huh?"
>>>"What's going to happen to me." he asks.
"I shouldn't be talking to you."
>>>"Oh god, I just...I don't know what's even happening!"
"Have you been living in a cave or something?"
>>>"No."
"Hit your head?"
 
>He puts his hand on his noggin.
 
>>>"I did but not that hard."
"What exactly are you again? A human?"
>>>"Yes!"
"Never heard of them. Is it a new breed of ape? Is that your name? Human, A.?"
>>>"No, it's my specie name! You mean to tell me there are no humans around here?"
"Not that I've heard of."
 
>I grab a cup of grape juice and sat near the ape.
>He seems to be exhausted. He just sits in his cage, probably wondering if he's getting out of here alive.
>Truth be told, I feel sorta bad for the guy. He's not a pony nor a griffin. He's a civilian.
>War ain't a place for guys like him.
 
"You alright in there?"
>>>"...I don't know..."
"Ey, you'll be fine. If you're not tied with the ponies, they'll cut you lose! Worse case scenario is that you get some paranoid hack telling everyone you're a  secret weapon made by the horses to infiltrate our defenses!"
 
>The ape just stays silent, pondering to himself.
 
>>>"This place..."
"What about it?"
>>>"..."
 
>The ape prisoner looks around, confused and worried.
>He puts his hand behind his head and takes a deep breath.
 
>>>"Guard?"
"Yeah?"
>>>"Tell me about this place."
"What?"
>>>"Tell me, where am I?"
"Don't you know?"
 
>He shakes his head.
 
"Huh. Did you really fall out of a portal like my friends tell me?"
>>>"I did! It started with a flash in the forest, a ripple through time and space. I was out walking in the woods and then I saw it. The portal to this world."
"Oh great, now you're sounding like someone who's going to need a straitjacket."
>>>"I'm telling you the truth!"
 
>I'm having trouble understanding this poor ape's line of thought.
>But if he really did fall out of some portal, then by gods he won't survive here much longer, not without any information on where he is.
 
"sigh. Alright, alright. I'll try and help you out the best I can."
 
>I take one more sip of grape juice and sat near the prisoner.
 
"Ape, you're in Equestria. Specifically Vanhoover."
>>>"Equestria's this country's name or the world's name?"
"Country. Right now there's a war between two factions, the tyrant Celestia's kingdom and our kingdom. The griffins."
>>>"What caused the fighting?"
"To be honest, not sure myself. I just got this job out of necessity. Been kinda homeless before all this."
>>>"So you don't have any reason to fight, then?"
"I do. I mean, I'm loyal to my kind."
>>>"What about the ponies? Tell me about them."
"Bunch of backstabbing weasels, the lot of them but I suppose it's inevitable."
>>>"They betrayed your kind?"
"More or less. When I said I wasn't sure what I was fighting for, I meant that the whole start of it was vague. A controversy no one knew existed that grew a tumor and started to ravage the land."
>>>"How long has the war been here?"
"A month. Ponyville had already been evacuated. I fear our time is growing short, and soon the country will drown with the rest of our bloodwrath"
>>>"Bit too far, yes?"
"If you've seen the things I've seen, you wouldn't be making that statement again."
>>>"Huh. What about the ponies? This Celestia. Tell me about them."
"Celestia's an alpha pegasus. An Alicorn who harnesses the power of the sun. Fearsome enough by name, I heard she once banished her sister to the moon for her own political gain."
>>>"What's stopping her from directly conquering the war by herself? If she alone can harness the power of the sun..."
"A ruler without subjects is a ruler of nothing. Celestia has pulled off a facade in a sense that many ponies depict her as a good willed mare willing to do just and fair acts. The moment she shows a murderous or insane act, her public will grow afraid of her, and thus possibly cause anarchy."
>>>"But wouldn't fear cripple her subjects with loyalty as well even if she'd come off as a ruthless dictator?"
"Loyalty to the princess is a far greater way to rule a kingdom than ruling with an iron hoof. Besides in the recent years after she sent her sister to the moon she has gone soft. How soft, I do not know."
>>>"And your kingdom uses that to their battle advantage?"
"More or less."
 
>Our little conversation ends. The other prisoner is dragged from the interrogation room with more bruises than he has eyelashes.
>I squint to see if the poor horse is still breathing.
>Meanwhile the captain orders one of the other griffins to bring the ape prisoner to him.
 
>>>"W-Wait, what's going to happen!?"
"Calm down. He's just gonna ask you a few questions, probably the same questions everyone's been asking you and when you're found unaffiliated you'll be let go."
>>>"Are they going to torture me?"
"Only if you're ruder than him." I say, pointing to the other poor sap.
 
>The ape is then escorted from his cell to the room. I walk back into the campfire to have another bottle.
 
>"Well, talked with the prisoner, eh? Don't tell me you fancy it."
"Ha. Ha. The guy's a civilian. He's just a scared little pup who's lost his way. Fortunately the captain's a bit more generous to non-ponies."
>"Yeah well, I don't think he's being generous now."
"What?"
>"Shh. Listen."
 
>I quiet down to listen to whatever my friend is trying to make me listen to.
>Muffled sounds of shouting from the interrogation room. No sounds of pain though.
>Ruling out that the ape hurt the captain's feelings, he must've found something about him.
>I can hear the words "crest", "worlds" and "books" from the hut.
 
"Oh crud, what's he done now?"
 
>Before I could eavesdrop some more, the sound of a screaming griffon makes me jump from my tree stump.
 
>>"RUN! EVERYBIRDIE RUN!"
"For the love of the goddess, who says 'everybirdie nowa- OH FLAP RUN!"
 
*BLOOSH!*
 
>The scout camp is being fired upon by catapults. The ponies have found us.
>Giant boulders crashing down from the skies. Pegasi using their thunder strikes to accompany the attacks.
 
>"GRAB YOUR GEAR MAN! GRAB YOUR GEAR AND... WATCH OUT!"
 
>My friend tackles me to the ground as a boulder flies towards the interrogation hut.
>I lose my focus for a while.
>My sight is a blur.
>Everyone screaming and shouting.
>As I look to my right, an earth pony charges up to me with a spear.
 
>>"GRAAAAH!" She yells.
 
>Her attack  misses me ever so slightly. I grab a shield from the ground and tried to fight back.
>She moves with fury and anger. I couldn't keep up.
>I then charge towards her with my shield in an attempt to knock her to the ground.
 
*BLONK*
 
>It worked and she's down on the ground, accidentally disarming her as well.
>I stomp on her stomach and ran far away from the campfire.
>Going past the wreckage of the interrogation hut, the ape tries to get his foot off the ground. It's stuck thanks to the boulder.
>The captain and his team are dead.
 
>>>"HEY! H-HELP!" The two-legged creature says.
 
>I contemplate on helping or escaping. Everyone is too busy fighting or dying.
>Why waste time helping this stranger out to escape? The ponies won't kill him or anything.
>...
>But the boulders from their catapults will.
 
"Damn me."
 
>I run to the man and held the giant rock, slowly lifting it up a bit.
 
"I'm gonna hold the boulder. Yank your leg or we're both dead!" I tell him.
>>>"ARRGH...AH!"
>The ape gets his foot free, and we run away from the wreckage as another boulder crashes down to where he was.
>He literally only had seconds to live if not for me.
 
>>>"Thanks." he says, sweating.
 
"You alright?"
>>>"No, not really."
"Argh, come on! Let's get out of here!"
 
>Looking around, our camp is completely overwhelmed. My comrades and friends either unconscious or dead.
>The skies are clouded with pegasi warriors ready to fight anyone planning to fly out.
>I run up north but it's full of pony soldiers as well.
>Alas,any escape efforts were wasted. I'm surrounded by the enemy ponies.
 
"Ah."
 
>I immediately dropped my shield and put my hands up in the air.
>The ape does the same.
>As the sun completely sets, we're now in the mercy of our captors.
>I look around to see who else was still alive.
>There was me, the ape, the other pony prisoner and a few of our guys.
>One tried to fight off to his last breath. His efforts were in vain as he's killed in an instant.
 
"End of the line for us."
 
>We were escorted from one place to another for three days.
>Fortunately our pony captors were generous enough to give us food and water, and no one complained or talked back at them for the sake of the others.
>I looked out our prison wagon and saw the prisoner the captain beat up, being treated for his wounds.
>Looks like the pony is in a coma.
 
>>>"He still alive?" The ape asks me.
"Yeah. He is. He must have been assigned to a dangerous mission, otherwise he wouldn't be getting this much attention from all the medics."
 
>One of my fellow prisoners is shaking.
 
>"Oh gods, they're going to kill us! Maybe use us as slaves or worse!"
>>"I bet they're going to eat us!" someone beside him says.
>>>>"Please, it's only been a month. Food's plentiful. What they need is information, and we're just what they need." an elder soldier says to them.
>"B-BUT I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! WHAT IF I CAN'T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT?"
>>>>"I know not what the future holds, but you either die loyal or snitch like a dog, and I ain't dying with the latter in my life's resume."
"Bold words old griff. If you're so loyal, why'd you surrender at the camp instead of fighting to the death?"
>>>>"Know your place, boy!I was out hunting for meals all night yesterday. Got a little late in waking up and next thing you know, there's a spear on my neck as they were already tying my feathers up.
 
>Tension rose as hours passed by. Luckily it didn't go anywhere. We were all sweating from the heat.
>I look at the ape who was taking off his black coat and using it as a makeshift pillow.
 
"Hey."
>>>"Huh?"
"That afternoon when you were at the interrogation hut."
>>>"Y-yeah?"
"What happened after that?"
>>>"What do you mean?"
"I overheard noises. Captain shouting and making a fuss."
 
>The ape looks away from me. Before he does, he looks around at the fellow prisoners, and the guards from outside.
>Whatever the ape is hiding, he doesn't want to talk about it to anyone right now.
>Time passes by and the wagon passes through another graveyard.
>Though this graveyard doesn't have any tombstones. It's filled with the freshly died corpses of both sides.
>Griffins and ponies both united in death. The smell was disgusting and the sight even more revolting.
>However, we got used to it in the first two weeks of the war. We just have a hard time getting used to the smell is all.
>The ape just stares at the outside of the wagon.
>Fire, chaos and everything else.
>Even the trickster Discord couldn't have stomached this.
 
>Dawn of the third day, the ape is dropped off to an averagely-sized prison in Vanhoover, guarded by many pony soldiers.
>Deprived of any identity to his specie, he looks back at the wagon to me.
 
"You're going to be fine."
>>>"No. No I'm not." He says bluntly.
 
>He seems to have accepted whatever fate he has. Through the 3 day tour he has witnessed a small part of Equestria, and a disgusting part of the war.
 
"You never told me what happened back at the interrogation camp."
>>>"...maybe one day." He says.
"Good luck to your future, ape."
>>>"You never told me your name."
"...Shovels. My name's Shovels."
>>>"Thanks for saving my arse, Shovels."
 
>I salute him farewell as the wagon then moves on to wherever its destination is.
>Do I have any regrets in saving the ape? A little.
>As the wagon goes further away from the prison, I lean back and closed my eyes, wondering what would come next in the path that I took.
 
End of 2