David was just another kid, going to a regular school. Sure, struggling more times than others, but he managed. He had short brown hair and was about 5'2''. At school, he would be teased for being a brony. And, on the rare occasion, he'd meet another brony. Every few months, though. Sometimes interesting things would happen. But not too often.
David liked the first few September afternoons. Going back home when the school day ends. The fresh experience of saying goodbye to a new teacher, on a new day, in a new school year. Luckily, David's new school was just across the woods from his house. He felt safe in these woods. He had walked down these woods hundreds of times. One time he lost a bet and had to stay in the woods for three days. That's when he learned, one: some friends are cruel, and two: these woods are, for the most part, safe. The woods were dark, and long, but he knew his way through. As he walked through, he noticed strange things. There seemed to be a large structure off in the distance. Like a castle of sorts. The ground was cleaner and the trees seemed to have less detail.
The foliage got thicker and thicker as he went through the woods. More than David remembered. It was fine. 'Probably just rain making the trees sink lower.' The ground seemed a bit wetter than normal. 'Yeah, just some rain dripping.' He thought to himself. The trees seemed different. They weren't pine. He looked down. Old, mushy rotten apples littered the ground. He kept walking to further investigate this strange new path. No, couldn't be new. He had walked down it plenty of times. He could no longer hear any birds or cars. 'Alright, I've had enough confusion for one day.' He turned around. and walked for a good thirty seconds before realizing: it's now much darker than it was. And the darkness seemed to stretch out for, well, he couldn't really tell. He decided to turn back around. 'It's lighter up there so there must be something.'
He walked for a while. The light staying that same dark green light. Something to his right caught his attention. It must be a house of some sort. It was far from where he was. Probably about... twenty meters? He kept walking down the main path. There was a clearance between him and this house eventually. He saw something moving near it. He ducked down. He was just some kid, walking through the woods, all alone. Who knows what someone would do to him. He heard voices. Two of them. It was too far to understand them. They talked for about fifteen seconds and all he could hear was a door shut. He looked back up. There was nobody out there. He kept walking.
It was brighter than before and he could hear things like frogs and rustling of leaves. He kept walking at the same steady pace he had been for fifteen minutes. He felt the leaves with his left hand as he walked. It felt normal. He saw a light up ahead. He slowly picked up speed. Not four seconds later he hit his foot on a rock and tripped. A sharp pain went down his left arm. 'Thorn bushes... of course.' He got up, brushed himself off, his sweater now muddy, and looked at his arm. A three inch cut going up his arm. His friend always thought it was silly to keep things such as gauze and disinfectant in his backpack. This friend being to one who made him stay in the woods. He cleaned the wound and covered it up with bandage cloth he had. Lesson learned: Be careful in new places. He finally realized this was a new path that he had never noticed.
That light at the end of the forest came to be a clearance from the foliage. He could see the sky again. It was raining..He pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt and continued through. From here, there was a large cliff that seemed to have a large village on it. There was a bridge he had to cross, going over a ravine that he couldn't see the bottom of. 'Well, if there's a bridge then that means civilization. He thought as he studied the bridge. He looked around. There was no other way around the bridge. He carefully and slowly walked across, Tightly holding on to the rope.
As he kept walking through, he looked behind him and the trees. There were a few mountains. He didn't recognize them. They weren't visible back near his house. He couldn't have walked past them, either. they were too far away. He just kept walking. He would soon have to go into a forest again. This was just a small clearance, after all. He kept walking, for about five more minutes. Finally, he could see another house. This one seemed to be a tree. But there was a door and windows, so it must have been someones shelter at least. There seemed to be tiki torches and masks. He noticed a small light ahead of him. Maybe another clearance. If there wasn't anything there, he would try this house.
As he got closer, he could make out a small town. The town seemed like any other. Houses and shops everywhere... ponies? David stepped back. "What..." Those were the only words that came out of his mouth. How could he not have seen it? The cliff village, presumably Canterlot, the bridge, that castle structure and, most likely, Zecora's house, whatever happened couldn't have been good. 'This place is a work of fiction, right?'
David stood at the end of the forest. Looking around him. 'Ponies? How can they be here? They're fictional! They must be!' He gave himself a tight pinch on his right arm with his fingernails. It shot a pain through his arm and drew some blood. 'Okay then. I'm awake.' He hoped that someone there could help him. Maybe Twilight? She had to have something in that large library of hers. He walked towards the town. Hoping, somehow, he could get help. But he was the odd one out. There were hardly any human-like species in Equestria.
David walked over to the town, walking through the streets, not making eye contact to whoever may be there. He had one goal. Finding Twilight Sparkle and getting help.. He got away from the shops and got into the more residential area. He didn't know where to go. He only knew what to look for. A large tree.
He had made it to the library and stepped up to the door. He hesitated, unsure of what to say. He knocked. It took a minute, but she came to the door.
"Hello, can I help y-" She stopped. "Oh, hello again."
"I'm sorry?" He replied in confusion. "You've seen me?"
"Yeah, you came up to the door all confused. Well, I think it was you."
"I don't think I've come by here recently."
"I'm sorry... um..." She cleared her throat. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah. I have a bit of a problem and I'm not quite sure what it is. Can I come inside? It's a bit cold out.." Twilight paused. She looked back into the house. She looked back to David.
"Yeah, sure." She moved out of his way and David walked in. Twilight shut the door.
"So, what's your name?"
"David. I'm a human, just in case you didn't know my species."
"I've done a bit of research on them."
"You have?" David had a concerned look oh his face.
"Yeah. Why?" Twilight raised her eyebrow in confusement.
"Oh nothing it's just... Nevermind." He shook his head.
"Alright then... So... What is this... problem of yours? David took a deep breath.
"I was walking through the woods. Then everything seemed strange. The path seemed to disappear behind me, the terrain and plants seemed to change spontaneously, and I walked through the woods a little more and came here."
"Why me specifically?" David thought about an excuse.
"I've heard you were smart and you could figure things out. Also, you've got this library, so you must have something, right?" David cracked a smile.
"I might." Twilight trotted off to a bookshelf. She looked back at David. "How did you hear about me?"
"I live in a neighboring... Province. I've seen newspapers about you and your 'Elements of harmony' and your level of intelligence."
"Sounds like I'm popular." She looked back at the bookshelf levitating books. "Wouldn't be surprised."
"I'm not too sure what the public thinks. I try to stay away from it. Not the main economy just the ones with knowledge of you."
"Why?" She looked back at David. "Something wrong with that group?" She looked back towards the bookshelf.
"Kinda... It's just..." David stopped. "It's... Complicated... I guess."
"Can't you tell me something? I'm sure I can wrap my head around it." David scratched his neck, with no response. "Is something wrong?" She turned around and walked over to David.
"Well you see, uh..." He paused for a second. He forcefully chuckled. "Where I'm from... There are no ponies, dragons or anything like that. Just humans and a lot of animals. And this place... Equestria, has gained popularity. Some in good ways. And, well, bad ways too. Some things I'd rather not mention. When I said I was in a neighboring province, and I read about you in the news, I was lying." David took a deep breath. "Where I'm from, you're considered fictional." Twilight had a concerned look on her face.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm saying, where I'm from, you don't exist. You're an Image in public media. A story."
"If this place is supposed to be... someones imagination, then how did you get here?" David shifted his shoulders.
"Well, as I said. I was walking through the forest, things got strange, I ended up here and, well... I came here. Looking for help."
"You know about me, huh?" Twilight grew suspicious.
"Yeah. And your friends." He realized that wasn't a good choice of words. He bit his lower lip.
"How I've lived, what I've done, who I've met?" Twilight began to grow angry.
"Only since you moved here. This... story I know about. It features you and your friends. I've seen it.."
"So,, you think of me as a fictional character? Like I'm not real?"
"Well, no. Not until today. I'm not even sure if I'm actually conscious right now. I could be in a comatose state for all I know."
"So you think I'm like some... figment of your imagination?"
"No, it's just-" David stopped. He took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll just go." He walked towards the door.
"Wait, come back!"
"Why? It's not like I belong here, anyways." He turned and looked at twilight. "I'll find my own way." He opened the door and walked outside. Twilight followed.
"David! Wait!" He turned around.
"What? What do you want? Let's just get this over with so I can just go." He walked over to her.
"I'm trying to help. I just want to understand things about the situation."
"I'm fine how I am right now."
"No, you're not! You apparently just show up here?"
"Yeah, just walking through these 'Magical portal woods.'" He said in a joking tone.
"So, you've got no friends, no money and no house?" He thought about it.
"No... Guess not."
"Then why don't you stay here? Until you get a house, that is."
"No, you don't have to-" Twilight cut him off.
"Yes, I do! It's raining right now. You're gonna catch a cold. You at least need to sleep somewhere." He looked at twilight.
"Really? After I told you who i knew who you were?."
"With the things I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if all of this is real." She walked inside. "You've seen the time when we fought Discord, right?"
"Yeah. Why?" He walked up the stairs.
"Well, he knew about us. So, I wouldn't be surprised if something else comes sauntering into Ponyville with that knowledge." She chuckled slightly.
":And he turned out to be bad. So why don't you think that about me?"
"Because you came out and told the truth. You tried to leave when you thought you hit a limit. I don't think I've seen anything other than ponies act like that. You understand. Don't you?"
