"October the first, two-thousand and ten; my eighteenth birthday, and also my day of death."
James turned the key to the car and it roared to life; the occupants of the vehicle were all laughing and enjoying themselves after having a nice meal together for Dustin's eighteenth birthday. It was night now, the group had spent a little longer on their meal then they had planned, but it was fine; the night was still young after all, and they had many more plans before they even considered going home.
"OK, I think we should visit that store we found the other day, the one that sold old video games and stuff, remember?" Dustin spoke up.
"Oh yeah, Page 3, I'm up for it if you guys are?" Matt said as he turned in the passenger seat to look at John and Dustin in the back.
"I'm up for it." John said with a shrug.
"Alright, heading to Page 3!" James said as he shifted the car into reverse maneuvered them out of the parking lot.
The store wasn't very far from where they were, but it would still take some time, about thirty-minutes at most. Thirty-minutes that they didn't have.
The group sped down the four-lane road, all laughing and making jokes. Dustin smiled and looked out the window as the light posts outside shot past them. 'Eighteen...' He thought to himself. 'It hardly feels like I'm even ten yet, I laugh at everything like a five year old after all,' this thought elicited a little giggle from himself. 'Then again I always find myself laughing when I'm with these guys,' Dustin thought as he turned from the window to look at his friends. 'I guess that's what friends are for.'
A bright pair of lights in front of the group blinded them out of nowhere.
"Turn your brights off buddy, damn!" James said aloud as he flashed his own bright lights in an attempt to alert the driver that his bright lights were on.
Maybe if it was in the day time, they would have seen the car swerve, would have seen the intoxicated driver behind the wheel, would have at least been able to prepare for the impact.
The lights got closer and closer, the group realized they weren't changing course, weren't attempting to avoid them. Dustin took a deep breath in as his eyes got wider, 'No,' was all he could think.
Cops arrived on the scene around an hour later, and what a grim scene it was. A truck had struck a car head on, and only one made it out of the accident. It was as if irony itself was tempting the world as the drunk driver was taken into cuffs and thrown into the back of a police cruiser, he was the one who lived. At least from that worlds point of view.
There was warmth spreading over Dustin's body, a warmth that felt like the sun itself was shining on him. 'Strange, I thought death would feel cold,' Dustin thought to himself. His eyes were closed to the world around him, and he was almost afraid of opening them, he had no clue what waited for him on the other side of his eyelids.
"Ar-Are you alright?" A soft and quiet voice spoke up.
It took Dustin a while to process that he had heard something, and even longer to realize it was a voice.
"Sir...?" The voice spoke up again, this time accompanied by a poking against Dustin's shoulder.
Dustin's eyes began to slowly open as he convinced himself that someone else was here, there was no way to prepare for what he was about to see.
Dustin's eyes went wide as his brain began to work again, processing what he was seeing. A pony with a pale amber coat and pink mane stood in front of him. Dustin didn't know much about horses, but he did know that most didn't come with a pale amber coat and a pink mane, let alone a mane that long and apparently styled, and he was definitely sure that horses didn't talk.
"Man, the afterlife is a weird place..." Dustin thought as he closed his eyes again.
"Oh dear, I don't know how to deal with delusional ponies..." The pony said as she bit her lip and looked back and forth in confusion.
"...What did you call me...?" Dustin said as he opened his eyes again to look at the pony.
"A...P-Pony...?" The pony thought she had said something wrong.
"I'm not a pony." Dustin said as he closed his eyes again.
"But you look like one... Are you a zebra then? But Twilight said that zebras have stripes, and you don't have any stripes on your coat..."
Dustin's eyes shot open wide, he quickly began scanning himself.
The yellow pony was right, he was indeed a pony.
Dustin now possessed a very clean and shiny lavender coat, as well as a body that resembled the pony that stood in front of him.
"WHAT!?" Dustin yelled in confusion.
Almost instantly the yellow pony shot up into the air out of fear with a very high pitched scream. Her wings shot out and flapped hard, carrying the yellow pony away in fear.
"She had...Wings!" Dustin said in astonishment.
His brain began to work again, telling him to get his barrings. He looked around himself, trying to make sense of where he was at. He was in a grassy field somewhere, and the sun was shinning down on him, the world seemed more vibrant and colorful.
He tried to collect his thoughts, to make sense of the situation. He remembered the crash, he remembered being in a car, he remembered being with his friends-
"Guys!" He yelled as he realized his friends were missing.
"James! John! Matt!... Anyone...?" His yells got quieter and quieter as the reality dawned on him.
Tears began to well up in his eyes, 'That's not fair...' he thought to himself. He laid back in the grass in a way that was oddly familiar to his new body, and he sobbed quietly.
He felt something on his shoulder, it was the same pony from earlier. The pony settled on the ground beside of him and didn't say a word, she simply began running a hoof over his back, as if petting him. Dustin didn't object, in fact it almost seemed like something a mother would do. He felt his tears flowing faster then before as if the pony was coaxing out all of the repressed feelings he held back. He cried for his lost friends, for his old life, for everything.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you crying?" The soft voice once again spoke up.
"My friends are gone." Dustin said almost in monotone, he feared saying this would start his waterworks up again, but he managed to keep himself composed.
"Oh, that's no problem, I'm sure we can find them and-"
Dustin merely shook his head as tears began to form again.
"O-Oh my..."
"Where am I?" Dustin asked, still in monotone.
"Well, we're in a field not far from my cottage which is on the outskirts of Ponyville."
"Ponyville? Where on Earth is that? I've never heard of such a place."
"Earth?" The pony tilted her head.
"This...Isn't Earth? Is this another planet!?" Dustin exclaimed before looking back and forth, "But then how did I get here...?" He asked himself before putting a hoof to his chin in thought.
"M-maybe you should s-start from the beginning." Dustin's loud exclamation had frightened the apparently frail pony.
"OK, well it all started this morning."
Dustin proceeded to tell his new acquaintance about his mysterious day.
"I think you should meet my friend Twilight, she's the smartest pony I know and I'm just sure she can help." The other pony stood up.
"Twilight? You have names?"
"Well doesn't every pony? My name if Fluttershy."
"You have such strange names. Mine is Dustin."
With introductions out of the way the two made their way to Ponyville. Fluttershy tried to explain as much about Equestria as she could; she told Dustin of the pegasus ponies, about unicorns, and about earth ponies (which he was apparently apart of).
It wasn't a long trot to Ponyville, but Dustin was still unused to his new body, which only made the journey that much more difficult. They two eventually reached Ponyville though, and Dustin felt a little better now that he had a loose grasp on where he was and what he was.
Dustin was astounded to see all the ponies in Ponyville. They came in a variety of colors and shapes, all carrying about different tasks. One thing that did catch his eye though was the mark on the flank of each pony in town, except the younger ones.
"Fluttershy, what do those marks mean?" Dustin asked.
"Oh, those are Cutie Marks, everypony gets one eventually. When a pony is born, they lack a Cutie Mark, but when they find their special talent in life they earn their Cutie Mark. It represents who a pony is."
Out of curiosity, Dustin turned and looked at his own flank. To his surprise there was actually a mark there. It took him a while to make out what it was, but he eventually determined it was a compass rose. "But why a compass rose...?" Dustin asked in confusion.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know. Things for you are probably really hard right now. I think you shouldn't worry about it though, Twilight will fix everything." Fluttershy grinned letting out an adorable 'Squee' in the process.
This made Dustin smile almost instantly, even though he didn't feel like it.
The two eventually arrived at Twilight's house, which happened to be a giant tree.
"This is your friends house?" Dustin asked in amazement.
"Yeah, it's also the town library," Fluttershy knocked on the door and then opened it.
Dustin leaned to the left to look past her and into the house. There were books lining what seemed like every wall, and there were papers spread about the floor.
"Fluttershy?" He heard from inside.
Flutter shy entered and Dustin followed her inside as well.
"Oh, hello Twilight! I hope you're having a good day."
"Well yes, I am actually, thanks Fluttershy. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Uhm, yes actually, if that's OK. You see, I met this new pony today in the fields outside of my cottage and... He has a little problem. Well, a big problem..."
Dustin entered and stood alongside Fluttershy.
"Hello." Dustin said, "I assume you're Twilight?"
"That's me, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia's most faithful student." She said.
Dustin vaguely remembered Fluttershy telling him about Celestia, that means that Twilight is practically royalty.
"...And you are?" Twilight said.
Dustin shook his head, realizing he had been caught up in his thoughts, "Oh, my name is Dustin."
"Well what seems to be the problem?" She asked, she seemed almost eager to solve any problem given to her.
Dustin once again went through his story that he told Fluttershy.
By the end of the story, Twilight was scratching her head and rubbing her temples trying to make sense of the situation.
"So you're saying this isn't your world?"
Dustin nodded.
"And that you should be dead?"
He nodded again.
"But instead you woke up here in Equestria?"
"That about covers it." Dustin said.
"That's...That's...AMAZING!"
The sudden yell caused not only Fluttershy to recoil, but Dustin as well.
"You traveled between worlds! This proves so many theories wrong, proves so many others right! Oh, this is a while new chapter in physics itself! Religions, science, math! This changes EVERYTHING!" The unicorn was bounding around the room in bliss.
Dustin wasn't sure how to react, so he turned to Fluttershy. She shrugged, also unsure of how to proceed.
"Uhm, Twilight...?" Dustin spoke up.
"Oh," the unicorn seemingly blushed as she realized she got caught up in the moment, "Right, your predicament. I don't think I can help..." The unicorn said with a sorrowful tone.
Dustin's gaze fell to the floor, "Oh."
Twilight began rubbing a hoof against her chin, "But I know someone who can..." Her horn lit up and carried a piece of paper and a quill to her. She began writing a letter;
'Dear Princess Celestia...'
