When an Alternate Mane Six Breaks the Fourth Wall. . .

I try to speak, but I don't make a sound.

Twilight chuckles and says, "I cast a spell on you that prevented you from speaking, and in a roundabout way, screaming for help." Her eyes glow fluorescent green for an instant before fading back to the normal green they seemed to be before.

"Girls, quick conference." Twilight says urgently. The girls turn around and start whispering to each other. Considering how silent this room is otherwise, I hear every word they say.

"Girls, my control ability had no effect on him!" Twilight whispers.

"That’s a good thing, right? Other changelings cannot steal him from us, ruining our plans in the process" Fluttershy noted quietly.

"Yes, twilight, that is a good thing. Fluttershy is right" Rarity whispered.

Twilight sighs and whispers, "Fine, but if he turns on us at any time, he'll be eliminated and replaced with another, albeit less qualified candidate."

Through the whole short conference, my heart had been pounding and my palms had started to sweat in nervousness.

I constricted my esophagus shut and pushed air towards the constriction, planning on making something happen to allow me to speak again. I accidentally opened the constriction a little bit, and grunted forcedly.

You know how when you get angry, and your face gets red from the blood you push into it? That’s what I was doing.

As I pushed as much blood as I could to my head, I felt something not of bodily origin in my throat shatter without sound.

All the air is expelled from my lungs with a sudden whoosh, and I nearly black out. I lower my head and try to keep as much blood as I could in it.

I cough and pull as much air as I could back into my lungs, exhaling with a shudder.

"Ow, that hurt" I mutter. Thankfully the girls didn't hear me.

. . . Wait a tic. I spoke?

With that realization, I started to pull against my bonds. They have a little give to them, which perfect for an escape. I smiled.

I began to struggle against the bonds holding my arms to the chair, twisting and pulling my arms free of the magical ropes.

The magic rope around my right wrist is dispelled as I pull my hand out of it.

I use my right hand to tug on the rope around my left wrist, stretching it just enough to remove my hand from it.

'Now the hard part,' I think, knowing that freeing my legs without making any sounds will be damn near impossible. I notice a stone . . . thing on the floor that I could use to beat on the bindings around my ankles. I get down on my hands and knees and reach for it.

"What in Equestria are you doing?! And how did you get your arms free, darling?" Rarity exclaims. I look up in the direction of Rarity's voice and see that I am on the floor in the middle of their conference.

'Great going, Anthony. You just screwed yourself by interrupting their meeting with the purpose of grabbing the metal object which was apparently in the middle of their meeting. Fuck. . .' I think. I give a weak smile to them and recede from the middle of their meeting. I set myself up exactly as I had been before I had broken out of the bonds around my wrists.

"Feel free to bind me again," I groan. The six ponies look at me then at each other.

"You cancelled my voice-cancelling spell, and then you freed your arms. Until you fell over in our sight range, we had no idea of your escape," Twilight said, grinning.

I grin sheepishly. Twilights horn lights up and I feel the bonds around my ankles dispel.

"You passed the first test," Twilight says triumphantly.

I stand up and ask, "This was just a test? Are you kidding me? Seriously? If this was a test, how many more do I have to do?"

"Exactly fifteen more, Anthony Zieno. When you are ready, meet me and my friends back here in my basement. By the way, our group is called the 'AMS', or 'Alternate Mane Six. Rarity is a vampire. Rainbow Dash is a succubus. Applejack is an advanced zombie. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are psychotic killers. Last, but certainly not least, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am a changeling," Twilight says, pointing at the individuals she describes.

Each pony walks up to me and greets me in their own way as they are announced.

Rarity holds out her hand, and I feel compelled to kiss it in a gentlemanly manner, which I do.

Rainbow winks at me as we shake hands gingerly. Her hand feels like the smoothest silk woven into living flesh. I can't help but blush a little when she winks at me.

Applejack lethargically plods over, slaps her clammy, half-rotten hand into mine, and holds my hand in a death grip as she shakes my hand slowly. I am extremely scared; I almost start to hyperventilate right then and there.

Fluttershy nods in my direction, not looking at me. Pinkie does the same, except she looks fiercely into my eyes, as if she were gauging my abilities.

"It's nice to meet you all," I say dully.

"Until you feel ready for your next test, shoo! Go anywhere in Equestria you want to go  . . . And to blend in with ponies a little easier, I have been perfecting a spell to make your features more pony-like." Twilight says.

Her horn lights up and her aura envelops me. Excruciating pain courses through my face and tailbone, a small itch permeating everywhere else.

My hands instinctively raise to my face, either to massage the pain away or to protect my face from more pain. Either way, I don't know. The pain hurts too much to think clearly. I groan and fall to my knees.

After a full ten minutes of the pain, I was lying in the fetal position, tears falling freely down my face. Twenty, I was just whimpering and crying.

Slowly, the pain recedes over a lengthy amount of time.  After the pain is all but a dull ache, I sit up and rub my eyes.

. . . Wait a second, something doesn't feel right. I keep my eyes shut, and I slowly drag my hands across my face, feeling the alien bone structure of it.

'It feels . . . furry . . . and . . . elongated’ I think, confused. I open my eyes, holding my hands in front of my face.

"What the fuck? My hands are fucking blue!" I exclaim. My hands are blue. A comforting steel blue, to be exact.

Something brushes against the seat of my jeans and look over my shoulder to see an ultramarine blue tail with a streak of white through the middle. My hair falls over my eyes, seemingly the same color as the tail I saw behind me. I push my hair- no, mane out of my eyes

"Very dashing, Anthony, if I do say so myself." Rarity says, complimenting me.

Rarity magicks a mirror in front of me and I almost scream.

I look like an anthro pony. I have the mane, the tail, and the furry coat. I see I have not a horn or a set of wings.

"Hmm, an earth pony . . . it'll have to do" I mutter.

"There ain't nuthin' wrong with bein' an Earth pony, Anthony." Applejack exclaims. I choose to ignore her comment.

"You know, I always wanted to see Canterlot in person," I think aloud.

"Here is an Unlimited Anywhere ticket for the Friendship Express. Just show the conductor this ticket, and say where you want to go. He'll handle the rest." Twilight says, handing me a golden ticket.

'I wish there was some chocolate to go with this,' I think. Twilight leads me out of the library basement and then outside. She directs me to the Train Station and I go on my merry way, waving farewell to the AMS.