Equestria's First Human

by Ceehoff

Chapters

Chapter II- Introductions
Chapter III- Introductions II
Chapter IV- Moving In
Chapter V- New Kid in Town
Chapter VI- Love and Violence
Chapter VII- A Moment with the Crusaders
Chapter VIII- Harmony or Money?
Chapter IX- Growing Second Thoughts
Chapter X- Over the Line
Chapter XII - Personal Response
Chapter XIII - Finally...
Chapter XIV - Departure
Chapter XV - Unexpected Return
Chapter XVI - A New Beginning
Epilogue
Bonus Scene
Chapter I- Arrival
Chapter XI - What Have We Done?

Chapter II- Introductions

Equestria’s First Human Chapter II

Written and drawn by Ceehoff

“Canadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanada…”

“Okay, Spike, that’s getting really annoying,” Connor said, twisting his pinky in his ear.

“What?" the dragon shrugged. "It’s fun to say! AND, its working! That means that it will drive Twilight crazy!”

The human's face twisted in disgust at that name. It still reminded him of that book back on Earth. HIS earth.

“Say," Spike said. "Can you tell me some things about Canada? It sounds pretty interesting.”

“I haven’t been there much."

“Well, just tell me what you know about it so far."

“Okay, um..." Connor scratched his chin. "Well, it’s like America, but it definitely has a lot more hospitality. The folks there are really friendly for northerners, in my opinion. They have lumberjacks, and...”

“What’s a lumberjack?” Spike tilted his head in curiosity.

“A lumberjack is a kind of like a woodcutter. They chop down trees, but these trees, however, are not like those apples trees. No, these are BIG, thick ones. Not even a bear could fully wrap its arms around its trunk."

“So you guys have bears, too. Cool! What else about lumberjacks?"

“Well, they are really buff and fit. Really buff.”

"How buff are we talking?"

"Let's say they can make the largest pair of shoes look small."

“Wow...”

“Yeah.”

Connor spoke again, “And let’s see… what else about Canada... Oh! They have hockey! An awesome and fun sport."

“Hockey?" asked the dragon. Suddenly, he beamed as bright as the sun. "Heyyy! Another word to annoy Twilight! Hockeyhockeyhockeyhockeyhockeyhockeyhockeyhockey…”

"Ugh..." the human groaned.

“Oh! Waitwaitwait! What if I combined the words together? That'll blow her brains out! Hockeycanadahockeycanadahockeycanada…” Spike laughed.

“Nah, not really effective."

The young dragon shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. Canadacanadacanadacanadacanada! Hockeyhockeyhockeyhockey…”

Why do I even bother? the human groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, look! We’re here!” Spike pointed out into the distance. Just about a quarter of a mile away was a small, quaint village. Town, perhaps. It was populated of two to three story buildings made of wood and plaster, like houses in the Swiss Alps.

The sight of the civilization warmed the human’s heart. Somehow, it felt like home. He could smell the light scent of baked goods from where he was standing.

In the distance, a pink pony with a bouncy, curly, hot-pink mane and tail was trotting happily up the dirt road toward them. Her eyes were closed as if she was lost in happy thoughts, thus not seeing the two figures up the road.

The human's face twisted at the sight of the pink pony. He never saw a pony look so bright and colorful in his life.

“Wow, she’s... pretty colorful and happy,” Connor stated.

“Yup!" Spike placed his hand on his hips. "That’s Pinkie Pie for you.”

Pinkie Pie? What a name. the human snickered

“Hey! Pinkie Pie!” Spike called to her. “How's it going?”

“Ooh! Hiya, Spikey! What’s going--?"

She stopped to a complete halt the moment she laid eyes on the bipedal creature standing right next to the dwarf-sized dragon. She was as silent as a statue. She actually literally was one because she froze right in the middle of her trotting. She was floating in mid-air, which defied all laws of physics, making Connor's brain hurt.

The two opposite being were engaged in a silent stare-down. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the human gave in, deciding that he should be the first to speak.

“Hello!” Connor greeted her.

Suddenly, the pink pony gasped loudly before she zoomed back to the town in a pink blur.

“... What just happened?” the human slowly asked the dragon.

Spike had a grin on his face, chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

“Nothing. She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”

Connor scratched his scalp as he watched the little dragon walk ahead of him.

The human and dragon neared the town at normal walking pace. As they walked past the entrance, Connor gawked at what was present before him.

There were colorful ponies everywhere he looked. They were trotting to and fro, chattering happily and incessantly like chickens in a coop. Every single one of them was engaged in a various enjoyable activities. One pony was happily eating a delicious pastry here, a small filly was playing with a jump rope there; it was like walking into a fairy-tale. These ponies looked like they never had a care in the world. It was all peace and harmony.

Connor's heart warmed yet again. These ponies looked much friendlier than his classmates back at home. Even though it was a town fully of brightly colored miniature horses, it looked a lot more enjoyable than being in that hellhole of a school.

He took a deep breath and walked further in, eager to be part of the town’s happy and quaint agenda. He had high hopes for the town. Never before had he seen a town so happy, friendly, and…

“Ahhhhh! A monster!” a blonde-haired, pink pony shrieked.

After another series of screams, ponies scrambled left and right, desperately trying to evacuate the streets. In a matter of seconds, every pony that was on the street was gone.

There was nothing but the hiss of a solitary breeze. The human could only stand and gaze stupidly at the sudden emptiness.

Spike looked up at him. The poor guy, left all alone like that. The purple dragon knew how being vastly different felt, even though he also knew for a fact that this human had it much worse.

Stepping forward, the young dragon called out, “Everypony! He’s not a monster! It’s okay! He won’t hurt you! He’s just lost, that’s all! He teleported here from his own world in a freak accident and doesn’t know how to get back! Can you find it in your heart to make it hospitable for him?”

There was no response, except for a stallion slamming his shutters shut from the inside.

“Anypony?” called the dragon.

Another pony pulled down the blinds over her window.

Spike sighed in disappointment before turning to Connor. He shook his head with an apologetic look.

The human sighed.

This was beginning to feel like home. Damn it. Well, Spike did his best to convince them, but what if Connor tried to convince them personally? He could do it. His chance was served to him on a silver platter.

But... why was he not moving? What was wrong with him? He was too nervous. He remembered the last time he tried to prove himself back on Earth. He did not know whether it was because he was being pranked or not, but he made himself look like a fool. Some douchebags in school said there was a spider on some really gorgeous girl's taut, round posterior and convinced Connor that he had to get it off of her. Naïvely, Connor grabbed the nearest notebook he could find and swatted at the "spider," which turned out to be only a tramp stamp of a black widow. The "SLAP!" was so loud, that it grabbed every eye that was present in the hall, and the girl lost her cool completely. It could get you a date with her, they said. You would be her brave knight, they said...

What a heap of bullshit...

After being called a "perverted freak" and being laughed at by everyone else, it was the last time he ever tried to prove himself.

He preferred that someone else would help him earn friends instead of him doing it. It would spare him from the embarrassment and pain.

Clop, clop, clop, clop, clop...

Connor's ear picked up the sound of trotting hooves upon the dirt road. Turning, he saw a purple unicorn with a violet, straight mane and tail. They both had a purple and pink stripe running along the direction of her hair. Her eyes were bulbous, had curled eyelashes, and were purple like her coat. On her flank was an image of a six-pointed star that was surrounded by smaller stars. Her head was whipping left and right, trying to search for any active life on the streets.

“Where IS everypony?" she wondered to herself. "Is this some sort of special holiday? I've sure never heard of this one. I thought I’ve studied every single aspect of Ponyville’s culture. Did I miss something? Could the book that I read had a missing page? What's going on?"

The dragon was jumping up and down, trying to get the unicorn’s attention.

"Twilight! Over here, Twilight!" Spike called.

“Spike! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! What’s the big idea of sneaking out like that when you know you have chores to—." Seeing the unknown creature standing next to the baby dragon immediately cut her nagging short.

Seeing the pony staring at him so, Connor thought it would be a good time to say, "Hi?"

"AHH!" she yelped, startled by the sound the creature just made. "Spike! What in Celestia’s name are you doing?!"

"Showing my new friend--," he answered before he disappeared in a puff of purple magic.

He reappeared right behind the panicking, purple unicorn.

"What is that?!" she asked.

"He's Connor, my new friend! He's a human."

"Wh--! Th--! What the hay are you doing hanging around with that thing?! He could've hurt you! Of all the careless things you do, Spike, this is the worst!"

Connor intervened. "Whoa, whoa! Hang on for--."

"You stay away from him!" the unicorn shouted boldly as she pointed an aggressive hoof at him. "You're not going to eat my assistant today, you... you... whatever you are!"

"Why would I wan--?"

"Stand back, Spike! Don't listen to him! He's only buttering up to you, so that he can lure you in!"

"Are you kidding me?" he said, taking a step forward.

"You just don't listen, do you?" she said before she pointed her horn directly at him. It began to glow a purple glow as magic swirled around it.

It quickly evaporated when Spike threw an apple at her head.

"OW! Spike! What--mmph!" she was cut off by the dragon's claw, holding her muzzle shut.

"Will you excuse us?" Spike said, bemused.

With that, the little dragon dragged the stupefied unicorn behind him, stilling gripping her muzzle. He was half the mare's size, and yet, he still managed to drag her around like she weighed as much as a backpack. Soon, they stopped behind an apple cart before Spike released his grip from her muzzle.

"Spike!" the purple pony hissed. "What do you think you're doing??"

"Twilight! Get ahold of yourself!" Spike hissed back. "Everything's okay here."

"Okay?? An unknown creature waltzing into Ponyville is okay?? It could’ve taken you! Geez, Spike, of all the things you do, you sneak out and mess with creatures like that! It could be dangerous!”

"Twilight! Listen to yourself! How do know that he even is dangerous anyway? Besides, if he was dangerous, he would've done something to me long ago. You're jumping to conclusions too quickly. For shame, Twilight!"

The unicorn stared at the little dragon before she sighed. "Okay, you've got a point. What is it anyway?"

"I told you before: he's a human. Plus, it's a 'he', not an 'it'!" he huffed as he crossed his arms.

“A 'human'?” She looked around the wagon to take another look. “I’ve never seen anything like him before, let alone heard of anything like him before! Surely, Princess Celestia could’ve taught me about humans. But she didn’t!”

“Of course she didn’t, because he’s the only human to ever come here in Equestria.”

“You're sure about this?”

“He says he's from a planet called, 'Earth', named just like ours, but he lives in a country that I have never even heard before. Plus, look around you, Twilight!" Spike said, opening his little arms, gesturing to all of the surroundings. "Everypony’s hiding from him! You know how meek this town is when they have seen things they have never seen before. Remember Zecora?”

Twilight craned her neck around the apple cart to look at Connor, who was kicking pebbles around with his feet. His shoulders were slumped slightly, and his hands were in his pockets. By the expression on his face, he looked pretty down.

She squinted at him. What a strange creature... He didn't have a coat of fur! The only hair she could see on him was on his scalp. Was that supposed to be a mane? Plus, where was his tail?? Did humans not need any or did this one's tail get cut off? The human turned his body around, still not noticing the unicorn inspecting him. She looked at his posterior. Seeing there was an absence of a tail hole, it answered her question about tails.

Plus, this human looked like he was wearing clothes, so it looked as if he were civilized. When the human turned back around, she got a look at his face. It melted her heart by a little bit when she saw that there was actually unsubtle emotion escaping from it. He looked just as emotive as everypony else.

"See, Twilight?” Spike asked. “He’s all alone. He's got feelings. We need to at least make him feel welcome as long as he’s here.”

“You're very fond of him,” Twilight observed.

The young dragon gave her a serious look and replied, “Because he and I are alike. We have something in common.”

“What's that?”

“It is being one out of many. Being different.”

Twilight's face softened at what he said. Deep down, she remembered what is was like, when she first got Spike, to convince everypony that Spike was not and never will be dangerous.

“You were able to have me be friends with everypony, and by Celestia, we can have him be friends with everypony,” Spike said with much confidence.

“I get the feeling that this is not going to be easy, Spike.”

“It’s worth a try.” the dragon nodded.

Twilight stared at the dragon intently, lost in thought and rather proud of her little companion. Plus, even if the human was a carnivorous beast or not, Spike was still breathing and alive, standing in front of her. He was smart for a baby dragon, after all. He looked confident in every word he said. Other than the time with Owlicious, would he ever lie about this? Plus, he knew the human longer than she did, so maybe she was jumping to conclusions too quickly. It would not hurt just to meet the new visitor.

Plus, it was the perfect time for some research!

"All right, Spike. I'm with you." Twilight she said, placing a hoof on his little head.

"Okay," he smiled. He knew she was going to be with him on this.

Meanwhile, Connor was lost in his own self. He sighed deeply. Great, this was starting to feel like high school all over again: alone, isolated, casted out. This time, it was a in land full of happy-go-lucky, colorful ponies.

He shut his eyes, and thought of Joshua. He was the one who helped him push past this feeling. Connor missed him already. However, he did not miss him all too much, because there was something in that little dragon that resembled him. He shared the same traits: funny, hyperactive, kind, and loyal. Hopefully, with the young dragon's help, he could make friends with these ponies.

He resolved to stick with Spike as much as he can, because he was the only Joshua around.

“Hey, Connor!” Spike walked out from behind the wagon.

The human replied casually, "Hey, Spike!"

"I've got somepony for you to meet," the dragon proudly stated.

He turned to the purple unicorn, who was walking slowly towards him. She stopped just three feet in front of him. She had her poker face on, but Spike could clearly tell she was pretty nervous. Typical Twilight, being awkward around new faces, the little dragon grinned as he shook his head.

Connor and Twilight faced each other. The purple unicorn’s height reached up to under Connor’s chest. Her horn was up to the base of his neck.

“Now," the dragon said, beginning the introduction. “Twilight, Connor. Connor, Twilight.”

Twilight raised a hoof and spoke in a slightly forced, yet polite tone, “Pleased to meet you!”

Connor looked at her purple hoof and slowly took it with his hand, which made Twilight's spine tingle from how his hands and fingers felt wrapping around it.

"It's nice to meet you, too," he grinned.

"Mm-hmm," she hummed in response. Her bangs bounced as she nodded.

An awkward silence intervened with their introduction. Spike cleared his throat.

Keeeep goiiiing he thought

“So,” the unicorn spoke. “You’re a human, huh?”

“Yeah. Spike told you that?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Cool, cool.”

Again, the awkward silence. Connor’s mind raced frantically. He did not know how long he was going to stay in this world, but he knew it was a good chance that it would be a pretty long time. He needed to get on her good side. But how? He made a mental list of clever compliments, but now, it was just blank.

“I like your mane! It’s looks really nice, and… violet!” the human smiled, internally bashing himself at the latter.

However, Twilight blushed, taking the compliment rather well. Nopony ever seemed to compliment her mane before. As much as she loved books, she wanted to look nice, so she had been fixing herself up for some time. Hardly anypony ever noticed, except for one of her friends, who was a real fashionista. He was the probably the second to notice.

“Oh!... Thank you!”.

Connor beamed weakly, “You're welcome!”

Okay, so that was the first round in making friends (in his perspective, at least). So far, so good. Having to check off the rest was going to be hard, despite that It really simple. Was he really that pessimistic?

It was Twilight's turn to panic. What should she say? She did not want to be rude.

“So! Uh... How did you get here?” she began.

“It’s pretty fuzzy. I can’t remember. The only thing I can remember is that I was angry with something. Then, POOF! Nothing else."

“Strange,” she commented, looking rather astounded.

“I know.”

Twilight scratched her head with her hoof in thought. However, she did not want to be rude in making him wait, so she spoke up again, “Well, anyway, as long as you’re here, you...”

Twilight was interrupted by a pink pony, who zipped up to her at blinding speed.

“Omigawsh, Twilight! Have you seen...” she stopped when she saw Connor.

Connor pointed at her. “Hey, you’re that pony from earl—“

The pony let out the same high-pitched gasp and was gone in a pink blur.

Twilight rolled her eyes. She continued.

“You might as well familiarize yourself with the town. You want a tour?” she smiled a bit, turning around and willing to lead him.

The human nodded.

“Good! With the streets all cleared up, I’m sure that this tour will go smoothly, without the traffic and all!” she laughed.

Connor looked at her, puzzled. Spike clapped his forehead with his palm. Realizing her mistake, Twilight blushed sheepishly and acted fast to recover.

“Well, uh, what I mean is…” she sputtered.

“Smoooooth, Twi," huffed the purple dragon.

“I’m sorry, Spike! I didn’t know that was going to hurt him.”

“I’m not hurt. It’s okay! I understand,” said Connor, coaxing her.

“I know, but I’m sorry!”

“Yes! Yes, I know!” the human said calmly. “That’s what you said for the last thirty times. That’s thirty-one.”

“But I really am--."

“Twilight!” Spike hissed, bumping her side with his elbow.

“Oh... O-okay, then!”

Thank God that was over. She said it over and over all throughout the tour. Connor could instantly tell that Twilight was still nervous having him around. Obviously, the first compliment he had given her was not enough. However, to him, giving compliments was not clearly as enjoyable as receiving them. He would sit around like a beggar and soak them all in, but not very many came through. However, this was different. He promised Joshua that he would try to make friends on his own, to be more forward. Well, here goes nothing.

“Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes?” she replied.

"Thank you for giving me the tour. You’re really good at it," he finished with a smile.

“Thank you!" she said. "However, I’m not the one who gives tours. That’s Golden Compass' job, and she’s much better at it.”

“Yeah, if she would just come out of hiding, that is,” Spike mumbled to himself.

"Yeah..."

Making sure Connor wasn’t listening, she whispered to her little assistant, "You know what? You're right. He pretty is a nice guy. He was exceptionally polite during the tour. He was a good listener, too. It's a shame that everypony is hiding from him."

“Like I said earlier, Twi: everypony here is too meek to look past his appearance,” replied the dragon.

“I am fully with you to help him, Spike.”

“I know,” Spike said. “But before we introduce him to Ponyville, we should introduce him to the rest of the gang.”

“Agreed. We might as well start with them.”

Spike and Twilight gave each other a nod. Behind them, Connor's forehead felt like it was clenching, although not in a painful way. It was more of a brain burning. He was really trying to do his best to make friends all by his own, but, boy, was it tough. He thought it was easier just sitting in the corner, waiting for some person to take pity on him. As grossly pathetic as it sounded, it sure worked for him back on Earth. Except, hardly anyone was showing up. Joshua was an exception. Plus, he remembered what he said earlier about gaining friends on his own. He also said that he would never grow up if he continued to cower in "Self-Pitysburg".

However, right now, he was actually consorting with someone new. It felt really great, like he was actually starting to get some hope after all. It actually made the pain in his forehead worth it.

“Hey, Connor!" called Twilight. "Now that we’re done with the tour, would you like to meet my friends?”

The human felt something crawl up his spine. However, it was not in discomfort, but glee. He was never invited to meet someone else’s friends. He was eager to accept.

“Sure!” he grinned.

“Great!” the unicorn smiled. She turned back to Spike. “I’m sure they’re going to be cool about it. They’re my friends, after all!”

“Don’t you mean ‘our’ friends?” he corrected her.

“Oh, right! So—“ She was interrupted by Spike’s claw, covering her mouth.

“Don’t! Say it... Again..." growled the dragon.

“Agh!” Connor hissed through his teeth.

“What’s wrong?” the purple unicorn asked.

“My arm. I completely forgot about it. Still hurts!” he grunted as he clenched his sore spot.

“What happened to it?”

“I must've fell on it...hard.”

Twilight looked to the sky and tilted her head in wonder.

“Since when did you fall on it?” she asked again.

“I don’t remember," Connor said as he rubbed his arm.

Twilight wondered, He doesn’t remember when he fell on it. Also, he doesn’t remember how he came here. My best guess is that he came from the sky...

“Hey,” she quietly asked Spike. “When exactly did you find him?”

“This morning. Why?”

“I’m guessing that storm from last night was the cause of this.”

Spike scratched his chin. Indeed, it was a strange storm that night. The pegasi would have notified Ponyville that they were setting up a storm, but it arrived on its own, which was rare.

“Yeah, probably," said the dragon.

“And did you see the color of that lightning bolt? It was a bright purple! What on earth would cause a lightning bolt to do that?”

Spike’s mind was blank.

“I have no idea,” he replied.

Twilight was so lost in thought that she bumped into something heavy and bounced back onto the ground. Her head spun.

“Whoa-ho, there sugarcube!” a voice exclaimed. It had a country accent in it.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Applejack!” Twilight said and shook her mind awake. “I was so lost in thought that I didn’t see you!”

“It’s quite all right, Twi. No apples harmed.” said the cowpony, pointing to her large wagon of apples, which Twilight bumped into.

"Howdy, Spike!" she spoke again.

“Hey, AJ!” the dragon replied.

“And howdooowwwWHOA, NELLY! Twilight, what in tarnation is that?!”

Connor had an unimpressed look on face. He sure didn't miss this part.

“He’s a human," the purple unicorn leaned toward her.

“A hyooman?" she repeated. She thought it sounded very weird.

Twilight nodded.

“Ahhhh was about ta say..." she said, squinting at him. "Never seen anything like him before. Is he dangerous?"

"He's not going to hurt you nor anypony else. He's just lost, that's all. I've been conversing with him about an hour ago. He's not as dangerous as you think he is."

The cowpony tilted her head to the side. "Mah stars... Ah may have heard about some critters back in school when ah was a lil' filly, but this is just darn tootin' stupefyin'! Where did he come from?"

“From a planet called 'Earth' which is exactly how we named ours. It’s still unknown how he got here, but my best guess is that it was that storm from last night.”

Applejack scratched her head underneath her hat, asking, “Ya think so? That was one heckuva weird storm now, wasn’t it? So, what are ya exactly doin' with him?”

“We’re just showing him around town. As long as he's here, he should at least be comfortable around here. You wouldn't mind helping me out, would you? He’s a nice guy.”

"Makin' friends? Of course, ah would, but, what's stoppin' you? Makin' friends is pretty simple, if ya ask me."

“That's the issue," Twilight replied. "I'm asking you because I am already facing difficulty in helping him. All of Ponyville hid from him like he was a raging manticore."

“Huh, just like Zecora when she came into town.”

"Yes, it's a shame. Which is why I need your help along with the others! You're not the only one who is going to help. I'm having the rest of the girls help as well."

"Ah was about ta say, Twi! Ah thought you were jus' gonna dump this whole operation on me there. Not that I couldn't do it," she said winking at her with a friendly nudge. "Even so, ah've got a lot apple trees to buck. So, an entire town, huh? Sounds purty big! Is this going to be really hard to do?"

"We'll find out once we get going."

The cowpony looked into her friend's eyes. Man, Twilight sure was determined about helping this newcomer. Either she was doing research or really bonding with him. Plus, Applejack said herself that the folks of Sweet Apple Acres really enjoy making friends as much as they enjoyed apples. To add onto that, Twilight was one of her best friends. Twilight was one of the smartest mares she knew, thus her sense of judgement was equal.

"All right, Twilight. Ah'm with ya," the cowpony smiled.

Twilight smiled. "Thank you so much, Applejack! Now, let's get to work!"

Then, they both faced the human, both smiling and rather confident.

Connor took a look at the cowpony. She had blonde hair and an orange fur coat. She wore a light brown stetson hat and had a pony tail holder fastened near the end of her mane and tail. Her eyes were green like Spike’s, and she had three white freckles on each cheek.

“Well, howdy there, partner!” she grinned.

However, before Connor was about to respond, she grabbed his hand with both hooves and started shaking his arm violently, though friendly.

“Name’s Applejack. What’s yers?”

“C-c-c-c-c-c-o-n-n-n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-r-r-r-r-r-r!” the human spoke as he was being shaken like a maraca.

“Howdy, Connor! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! As much as we enjoy apples, we really enjoy makin’ new friends!”

“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-arm-arm-arm-arm-arm-arm-arm-arm-arm!”

“Um, Applejack…” Twilight corrected.

“Yes, Twilight?” She kept on shaking.

“His arm hurts."

Applejack stopped and blushed sheepishly. "Oops! Sorry."

“S’okay. Ow!” Connor grunted, clenching his arm.

"Whoo, boy! Look at ya! You're a mighty big'un aren't ya? Ah've never seen ya'll before, but ya sure do look like a big'un to me."

"Uh, thanks," he replied, pretty intimidated by her forwardness. His stomach growled.

Whuh-oh! By the sound of that hungry hound in there,” the cowpony said, gesturing at his stomach. “Ya must be mighty hungry! Care for an apple?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Welp, here ya go!”

She gave the wagon full of apples a light kick with her hind leg. An apple tumbled off from the top of the load and hit Connor on his bad arm.

“D'ah!” he yelped in pain.

“Oops! Sorry again!” She picked up the apple and gave it to him. “Here ya go!”

“Thanks,” he said, taking it and inspecting it. It looked smooth, glossy, and flawless. It was very vibrant in color, too, so he knew it had to be a winner.

Just before he was about to take a bite, another apple hit him on the bad spot again.

“D’OH!” he yelped again.

“Here! Take another one!” Applejack smiled, oblivious of what she just did again.

“Nghhh…Okay.”

Suddenly, a whole crate filled with apples landed on his foot.

“D’AAAH!” he groaned loudly.

“Ah, the hey with it! Take an entire crate of ‘em! Don’ worry, it’s on tha' house. You’ll eat fer a month!”

While Connor grabbed his foot, Spike chuckled warmly. He was amused by the little comedic show between the human and the cowpony. He also saw how the bond between them started to kindle. It was a warming sight.

“Aghhhh! Th-thank you, Applejack,” Connor tried to smile through his pain.

“Yer welcome, sugarcube! Golly, you’ve got manners!”

“Easy, Applejack... Well, anyway,” Twilight interrupted. “We'd best be moving on! We need to introduce him to the rest of the gang.”

“Okay, Twilight! You go along and do that. Nice meetin’ ya, Connor!” the cowpony waved.

“You, (ow) too.” said Connor.

Well, that turned out nicely. He had already made three friends in one day. So far, he was making progress. Even though he was reluctant to think of it, he knew something was missing. He was acting forward, that was done, but something was hanging at the tip of his brain.

He got it. Now, he had introduce himself on his own. Spike introduced him to Twilight, Twilight introduced him to Applejack, and now he had to introduce himself. As much as he liked having others introduce him, he knew Joshua would say that he had to turn it all around and introduce himself on his own. He will try that the next pony he met.

"Ah'll see ya'll la--. Oh! Howdy Fluttershy!" Applejack waved, looking past the other three.

Everypony turned to a butter-colored pegasus with a long, flowing, pink mane and tail.

“Oh, hello, Applejack!” The pegasus said with a small, soft voice. “How are you?”

“Doin’ dandy!" replied the cowpony. "Just haulin’ this wagon of apples to the market. Annnnd, I just met this fella.”

Fluttershy turned towards Connor and fell silent. Her eyes widened in fear.

“Uhhh--." the human spoke.

Then, the yellow pegasus squeaked loudly in fear and curled up into a quivering ball.

Twilight slapped her forehead with her hoof. Here we go again.

Connor tilted his head. That pegasus grabbed his interest. She looked so frail, scared, timid, and yet, so graceful. He stared at the quivering little yellow ball of fur with long, pink hair. She reminded him of himself, feeling helpless and scared. Plus, he thought that he should introduce himself the next pony he met. Well, this was his chance!

Twilight stepped toward the pegasus.

“Fluttershy, it’s okay. He’s—." She was interrupted by Connor's arm, touching her back.

“Wait, Twilight. Let me talk to her.”

Twilight was surprised by this, but stepped aside to see what he was going to do. Connor slowly and gently walked up to the timid ball of cuteness and knelt on both knees. He sat there, eyeing the poor thing. It was like looking into a mirror.

Damn, was this going to be hard. Plus, she looked scared as hell. So did he back on Earth. He swallowed his nervousness. This was it. Was he going to make a fool out of himself or a new friend? He tried to come up with something clever to say, but he froze. This was not the perfect to say or do anything clever, considering how scared she looked now.

If I approached myself acting like this, what would I say? he wondered.

He took a deep breath and spoke in his gentlest voice, saying the most basic of sentences. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to be scared. I won’t harm you.”

The pegasus’ shaking weakened, and she slowly looked out from behind her long, curtain-like, thick mane. Connor smiled. Good so far, good so far. Plus, she had sapphire-blue eyes that penetrated deep into his soul. They looked sad and thick with long eyelashes. He liked blue eyes. He swallowed excessive saliva before he spoke again.

“My name’s Connor. What’s your name?”

The pegasus shrunk back a inch.

"It's okay. What's your name?"

“Um…” she muttered. “Fluttermshimmum…”

“I’m sorry?” Connor asked gently as he leaned closer to her.

“My…muh nihm is Flmuttermshy," she muttered again.

“Pardon?"

She turned and squeaked meekly.

“Her name’s Fluttershy,” Twilight wedged in.

“Fluttershy!” The human exclaimed. “I like that name!”

“As you can see, she’s uh…well, you know,” The purple unicorn chuckled.

By the way the little pegasus was shaking, she was not yet convinced into thinking the human was safe. Her eyes were still peeking meekly from behind her draping, pink mane. What else could Connor say? His mind raced. He had to get this little pony on his good side. Should he compliment her like he did with Twilight?

Why not?

"'Fluttershy'. Such a pretty name! A pretty name for a pretty pony—uh, pegasus,” Connor smiled as he corrected himself.

Fluttershy stopped shaking and looked up to the human. Never before had she been complimented like that. No stallion or colt had ever said something so nice to her. She cracked a small smile.

Connor lifted his hand to pet her. However, the pegasus was still in her shy state and shrunk back again.

“Ow!” the human yelped. His throbbing arm stopped him short.

“Oh! Oh my! You’re hurt!” Fluttershy gasped, suddenly breaking out of her shyness. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that! Be right back!”

In a yellow blur, she flew away. Connor was stunned by what had happened. After a minute, she returned with a small first-aid kit. She picked up a roll of medical tape with her mouth and darted right back at Connor. The force of her flying knocked him onto his bottom. She whipped around to his bad arm, and started to massage it with her hooves. Connor winced in pain, but then he started to feel relaxed. It was funny that she suddenly broke out her shy shell at the very moment he displayed a hint of physical pain. Was it that she could not stand to see anypony hurt and immediately help, regardless of her timid personality? Was her attitude like a light switch, easy to turn on and off?

After she massaged his arm, the yellow pegasus wrapped Connor’s arm with medical tape. She had a gentle touch.

“There! All better! Now don’t work it too much, or it will take longer to heal.”

Connor felt his innards bubble with content. Other than his mother, it had been a while since a female had done something good for him. It was the kind of act of kindness that he always wanted.

“Thank you!” said the human.

“No problem!” she 'squee'd.

“EeYUP!” Applejack said. "Looks like somepony just made another friend!"

Spike nodded in consent.

“Well!” Twilight spoke up. “I guess these two have made quite an introduction. We better meet up with the rest of the gang!”

“Do what ya gotta do, Twilight. Ah’ll see y’all later!” The cowpony waved.

Connor got up, waving to Applejack. “Later!”

Then, he turned to Fluttershy. “Nice meeting you.”

“Oh! Um… nice to meet you, too!” Fluttershy smiled shyly. Her wings started flapping, causing her to hover, then fly away like a butterfly.

The human sighed in content. He could not believe the luck he was having. Even though it was a land filled with colorful ponies, he really enjoyed being them. They did not seem so bad, after all.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Edit 9-15-15:

So, I looked back at this chapter, and looking back at it, I realize that I may have gotten Twilight and Applejack out of character a little. So, I polished and trimmed some unnecessary fat from the chapter and added some things more believable :)

I'll be adjusting some more chapters and sections soon!

Chapter III- Introductions II

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter III
Written and drawn by Ceehoff

Connor was touching the bandage that the yellow pegasus wrapped around his arm earlier.

"Well, Fluttershy's pretty nice. I like her," he said with a smile.

“Who wouldn’t?” Spike added in. “She’s kind, sweet, caring...”

"Yes, she is," Twilight supported. "She wouldn't be Ponyville's graceful animal caretaker if she weren't."

"Animal caretaker?" the human repeated. "Huh! No wonder. She really knew how to tend a wound. It's actually starting to hurt much less than it used to."

"That's great!" she smiled.

"Glad to hear it!" smiled her scaly assistant.

As they walked, trees were starting to look more distant from each other, which meant that they were exiting the countryside. Soon, they were back in Ponyville. Once again, it was all too quiet. Jump ropes and other toys that belonged to fillies and colts lied on the street as if they were freshly abandoned. Even some carts that were carrying supplies were abandoned. They tilted forward, which caused some of supplies to spill out. The squashed apples and pastries were evidence that everypony left in a hurry just to hide from the human. Twilight frowned. It was so sad that everypony was still hiding and acting like a bunch of prejudicial, insensitive scaredy-ponies. Connor was different from what they thought of him. He had manners. He had feelings. He had potential. However, everypony else failed to see it. Unknown to Twilight, Connor was thinking the exact same thing, only he was more hurt and self-pitiful. What was everypony's problem?

“So!" Twilight broke the silence. "Who do you like to meet first?"

Connor shrugged. “Anybody. It’s up to you, I guess.”

She stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"I said anybody. It's up to you."

"I'm... sorry? What was that?"

Slightly ticked off, the human repeated louder. "An-y-bo-dy! It's up to you!"

"What's 'anybody'?" the unicorn asked, looking slightly confused.

"Wha... I... you... It's a pronoun! It refers to a random person. Any person!"

"Yes, yes, I know, but why do you say it like that? I think you meant to say 'anypony'."

"Nnnnnnno, I didn't. I meant 'anybody'. How else should I say it?"

"Is that how you say 'anypony' back on your world?" she curiously asked.

"Well... yes! Yes, we do. Heck, we also say 'everybody', 'somebody', that's pretty much it."

"Really? So, it's basically replacing 'pony' with 'body'?"

"I guess you can say that."

"Huh!" she exclaimed as she tilted her head in interest. "Very interesting."

Spike felt a flash of joy run through his scaly body. He zipped up to Twilight and asked with much enthusiasm, “Let’s visit Rarity! Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeeezze?”

The unicorn rolled her eyes and smiled. "Okay, we'll visit Rarity."

Spike pumped his scaly fist in the air. "YES!"

“Does that sound good, Connor?”

“Well, you’re the—“

"WHAAAAAAAAAA!!" screamed a voice in the air above them.

CRASH! Something suddenly crash-landed right in the middle of the trio, causing them to jump, startled. When the kicked-up dust cleared, it revealed a light-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, all perfect hues. Her face was complete plastered onto the dirt ground like a pancake stuck to a griddle. Her wings twitched spasmodically. Her hind legs were flailing up in the air like blue weeds.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you all right?” Twilight ran up to the downed pegasus in worry.

"Mmm! Mihmmumm! Muhmm!" was all the pegasus could say with her face smothered into the ground.

Her legs kicked helplessly in the air until they were planted firmly on the ground. After much tugging and pushing, the pony's face snapped off of the ground like rubber. Her head swayed helplessly from the impact.

“Phhbtbtbtttt!!” She spat out a few pebbles. “I’m fine," she said.

She looked around dazedly, seeing double of everything. She blinked repeatedly to clear up her eyesight.

“What happened, Rainbow?” the purple unicorn asked.

“I was (ooh!) practicing a new (ugh!) trick. Guess I front-flipped one too many," she answered hazily.

Then, she saw some flesh colored orb float in front of her eyes. What the hay was that? She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, until her eyesight was crystal clear.

Frightened reaction in 3…2…1…

“AHHHHH!! HOLY HORSEAPPLES!! A MONSTER!” she screamed.

Then, she sprung herself up into the air and landed in front of Twilight and Spike like she was protecting them. She snapped her hooves up, holding them up in the air like a boxer.

"Stay back, guys! I'll take care of this!" She stomped up to the human, acting all tough. "All right, whatever-you-are, PUT ‘EM UP!"

She pranced around the human like a boxer, throwing a few air jabs to intimidate him. She huffed and puffed after each jab she threw. Connor could not help but smirk at her ridiculous performance.

However, the pegasus was not amused. "You’ve crossed the path of Rainbow Dash! That's right, Rainbow Dash! World's Fastest Flier and Future Wonderbolt! You mess with my friends, you mess with ME! HA! HOO! GRR! C'mon! C'mon!"

Connor snickered. A pony trying to fight like a man. How humorous.

“Ohhh-ho-ho! Taking me lightly, huh? You’ll regret that, you son of a mule!”

She launched at the “monster” but was stopped by a purple aura wrapped around her tail.

“Twilight!" she yelled. "Whaddaya doing?! Run! Get out of here! I can take him! You know I can!”

The purple aura disappeared and the blue contender dropped to the ground roughly.

“The hay, Twilight!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight scolded. “He is not a monster. He’s a human.”

“A what?"

“A human."

"Never heard of that before. Just what the hay is he doing here??"

"He was teleported here by accident."

"And just how did he get teleported here?” she asked testingly, hovering in front of Twilight's face.

“We're not really sure, but our best best guess is that storm from last night."

"Oh, really?" the multicolor-maned pegasus said as she landed in front of Connor. She thrusted her face into his, glaring at him in inspection.

A little personal space, please? Connor thought as he backed up.

Was Twilight friends with this pony? She seemed pretty rude to him.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight cleared her throat. “This is Connor.”

As much as the pegasus' attitude disgusted him, Connor thrust out his hand and smiled politely, “Nice to meet you.”

"WHOA! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch where you're pointing those... thingies!" the blue pony said as she backed away.

“They’re fingers.”

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to know if you washed them or not?" she asked in an brash manner.

"Well, I wasn't able to find a sink, so... sorry about that?"

"Just don't touch me with those. I don't want to get sick with whatever you are carrying."

The hell was wrong with this pony? Didn't her parents teach her any manners?

“Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

The blue pegasus flew over to her unicorn friend. They both turned around, so that Connor would not hear them.

"Geez, Rainbow... Honestly!" the unicorn began.

"What?" shrugged the flier.

"Show some courtesy! Why are you being so rude to him?"

"Have you seen him?? He's a monster! He's come to terrorize Ponyville! He could be one of Discord's vessels!"

"Just listen to yourself! You're jumping to conclusions way too quickly! You don't even know him yet!"

"But-- Whoa! Are you saying that I'm stupid? Well, sure I flunked the math test when I was a filly, but this is cutting it too close! I am not stupid!"

"Well, you sure are acting that way now!"

"Excuuuse me?! Look who's being rude now?" Rainbow said as she pointed an accusing hoof at Twilight.

"You see?? Somepony being rude to you doesn't feel good, does it? Just think of how he feels about you now."

The blue pegasus was about to argue, but her breath stopped short. She hung her head reluctantly.

"Well, now that you put it that way, no..." she sighed.

"I thought so," Twilight nodded. "Plus, I need your help."

"Really?"

"Spike and I are trying to help him get associated with the rest of Ponyville."

"Well, go on and do it! Why do you need my help for? Making friends with this town is soooo easy."

"That's the problem. Ponyville's gone and left him out in the cold. They were too afraid to face him."

"Don't mean to sound ignorant, Twilight, but no kidding! I wouldn't blame them. He's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Come to think of it, I don't think anypony has ever seen him before."

"He was the first of his kind to be here. That is why need to at least make him feel welcome as long as he's here."

"Since when did you grow sappy over this guy?"

"I wasn't the only one who did. Spike met him before I did. He even convinced me to help him. He said he was a nice guy, and he was. I mean, doesn't it break your heart to see somepony be rejected by many? I mean, you love attention, isn't that right?"

"Yeah?"

"And you'd hate to feel rejected and ignored, right?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded, showing growing consent.

"Now, if you were him right now, wouldn't you want some help with making friends?"

The pegasus fell silent as she stared into space in deep thought. She knew exactly how it felt to be alone, especially when she was trying too hard to be a the town's hero during the "Mare-Do-Well Incident". Ponies started ignoring her because she was so desperate for attention.

"Well, you got me there, Twilight. I guess I'll help you, if you're so into it."

"Thanks, Rainbow! I knew you'd come around. Now, first things first, you have to get back out there and apologize for being rude earlier."

"Heh, heh... Yeah, of course," the pegasus sheepishly smiled.

Then, the two ponies broke out of their huddle and walked back to the human, who was just finishing his chat with Spike.

"Look, I know what Rainbow Dash said earlier was offensive, but just give her another chance. She tends to be sporty and obtrusive like that," the dragon said with his back toward the other two. "But other than that, she's a really nice mare once you get to know her. Just put all of what she said earlier behind you."

"Easier said than done, Spike," Connor said. "She really hit me right here." He bumped his chest with his fist.

"It's okay. Besides, it looks like she's about to apologize now. Just give her another chance," he said softly as he turned the human around, facing Rainbow Dash.

There was an awkward silence between the two as they struggled to find something to say.

The sporty pegasus was the first to speak. "Hey, uhhh... Sorry about earlier. I just... I just thought you were a monster who was about to (ahem) attack my best friends."

Connor was next to speak. "It's-it's okay. Thank you for, um, apologizing."

"Yup."

...

If there was a cricket nearby, it would chirp.

...

"So!" Rainbow Dash started again. "Uhhh... What was your name again?"

"Connor... And yours? Sorry, if I forgot..."

She always felt a beam of excitement course through her body whenever somepony asked for her name.

"Name's Rainbow Dash. Future Wonderbolt and Fastest Flier in Equestria!"

"Hey, erm, Rainbow Dash!"

"Hey."

The air jock was trying to think of something else to ask the human, while Connor was patiently waiting for something to escape her mouth.

"So, uhhh... How did you get here, exactly?" she asked.

"I don't know. I kinda forgot," the human replied.

"Did you fly here? Wait... You can fly, right?"

"If I had a plane, I would."

“A plane?”

“Yeah, a plane. Surely, you've heard of an airplane before, right?"

"Nope. No, I haven't."

So Connor was on a world full of talking, colorful ponies without planes. Well, why would they need them? The pegasi sure solved that problem, but what about the ponies who could not fly?

"Well," the human began. "A plane, also known as an 'airplane', is a vehicle that could travel in the air. It has wings like you do, but they are more rigid and don't move. They stick straight out to the sides."

"Then, how do they get off the ground?"

"They gain speed until they lift off of the ground."

"Oh, cool, cool. Wait, so you borrow wings just to fly?"

"Plus, it costs a lot of money just to fly in them."

"Pfft! That’s lame! Why borrow when you can have your own?” She flashed her wings pridefully.

“Oy, I wish! I always dreamed of having my own personal plane. Maybe even a personal jet. Travelling would be SO much faster... and easier!”

“Ok, now what’s a jet?”

“It’s like a plane, but faster."

“How fast?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“Really fast…Maybe even faster. Talking about supersonic speed here."

“Coooool! I did not know you guys had stuff like that! Ha! I just found me a competitor!” she laughed. “Hey! Hey, if you find a way to get back, make sure you bring one of those jet thingies next time you come here! We could race and see who the real speed demon is!”

“I could try. Flying them is not as easy as it looks, but I'll consider it."

"Cool, cool! Y'know, you're not half bad as I thought you would be."

The human was lost in words. "Well, um... Th-thank you! You don't seem as bad yourself."

"Thanks," she replied.

"Yup!" Connor smiled.

“We should hang out again sometime. Well, anyhoo, I better keep practicing. Gotta make sure I look awesome enough for the Wonderbolts, so they can ask me to be part of the team! Catcha later!”

She turned to walk away past Twilight.

"How was that? Did I do well?" she quietly asked her.

"You did great, Rainbow. Thank you so much for helping," the unicorn quietly answered.

"Hey, anything for my best friend! That's why I'm the Element of Loyalty," she whispered before taking off.

"So," Connor spoke. "She seems nice."

“Yes, she is,” she replied. "Once you get to know her, you'll be just fine around her."

Spike cleared his throat. “Ahem! Twiliiiight… Rarity’s?”

“Oh, right! Sorry, Spike.”

“Pretty festive house.” Connor said.

In front of him was a white, tall, house with flourishes of purple and gold yellow. The whole house was cylindrical in form and had statues of prancing ponies all around it. They were arranged around the house like it was a giant carousel.

“That’s Rarity for you! Looking beautiful in and out.” Spike chimed, eyes tired with love. Connor noticed the lovey-dovey expression on the dragon’s face. Out from nowhere, he pulled out a can of breath freshener, squirted some into his mouth, and walked up to the door with a overly-masculine swagger. The human tilted his head, astounded and confused by his attitude.

Connor and Twilight joined Spike at the door. The opened the door to reveal a vast room that was big enough to have an echo. Purple, dark pink, and violet silk drapes hung from the ceiling, giving it a rather medieval/classical touch to the room. One half of the room had a station which looked like a salon, complete with stations for hooficures, haircuts, and make-up appliances. The other half of the room was filled with fabulous, equine dresses fit for queens. Some were hung neatly on coat hangers and some were displayed on mannequins... or ponyquins... whichever suited better. Standing by one of them was a white unicorn with a glamorous, wavy, purple mane and tail. Her head was huddled down and her haunches were up in the air, as if she was deep into work. However, as busy as she looked, she could not ignore the sound of the bell that signaled a customer. She whipped around revealing a dignified and smiling face, complete with black, seductive mascara and baby blue eye shadow.

“Hello! Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything here is chic, specific, and magnifi-que!" she chimed, pronouncing the last words like they rhymed with "boutique". She opened her eyes to see it was only the purple unicorn.

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle! My faaavorite unicorn!” she exclaimed. She had a mid-Atlantic accent.

“Good afternoon, Rarity!” smiled the purple unicorn.

Wait, her name is Twilight 'Sparkle'?? Connor thought. The title for the awful romance novel and a word that describes the vampires involved in that nauseating mush-pile of a love story? Motherfuuu…

“Hi, Rarity,” Spike blushed.

“Why, hello, Spike! How’s my little dragon do—WHAHAHAAAAAHA!"

After seeing Connor, she immediately ducked behind the dress she was working on.

They could only see her hoof waving from behind the dress as she spoke. “Don’t hurt me, you brute! Take anything you want, but just don’t hurt me! WAIT! I mean, don’t take anything you want! If you’re going to take anything, puh-LEEZE take those dresses over there! They so ran out of fashion a week ago! You can do with them, but just... don’t... HURT ME!”

Connor felt hurt. Twilight rolled her eyes, unimpressed. She should have expected that kind of reaction from the white unicorn. She walked up to the ponyquin, which was shaking from the fashion queen's quivering.

“Rarity, come out of there... He’s not a ‘brute’, and he’s definitely not going to take any of your stuff,” Twilight said like she said the exact same thing before.

"Oh, really? Just w-w-what makes you say that d-d-darling?" The white unicorn shivered, slowly peeking out from behind the dress.

"Because I know," Twilight replied. “This is Connor. He was accidentally brought here from his own world.”

“But, just what is he, darling?”

“He’s a human, and yes, I know what you are going to say: you haven’t seen him before. He's the first of his kind to arrive here."

"You don't say!" Rarity exclaimed, still shivering in fear. "Well, whatever are you doing with him?"

"I'm trying to help become friends with Ponyville, but the problem is that everypony just fled from him shamelessly when they laid eyes on him."

"Well, why not? He's definitely got that fierce, bloodthirsty, predator-like look in his eye, don't you admit?"

"Uhh... Thanks?" said a voice behind her.

"EEEEK!" Rarity jumped, finding Connor directly behind her. She grabbed the nearest weapon she could find. "Stay back! I just came back from the spa and I'm perfectly clean! If you ever get a single speck of dirt or a single scratch on me, you will pay!!!"

"A pin cushion?" he chuckled. "Really?"

Realizing how silly she made herself look for blindly grabbing for her "weapon", she blushed. This was the human's next chance to introduce himself. Even though it was hard for him to introduce himself on his own, he was in a more confident mood this time, because he was humored by the fashionable pony's silly little act.

"So, uhhhh... Your name is Rarity, right? I'm Connor."

He opened his palm for a shake. However, the unicorn was not convinced. She only stared at his hand in disgust.

"Pray tell me that you washed your, erm, paws, at least," she whimpered.

Oy, again with the germ pessimism. He was at the end of his rope.

"Excuse me," he said before he stood sharply up and walked to the nearest sink he could find.

He snatched some soap (which slipped out of his hands two or three times) and scrubbed his palms. He rinsed them with the flowing water and dried his hands. He marched back to where he was in front of the paranoid pony and opened his palm again.

"There! All clean! See?"

Rarity could smell the soap from his hands as he opened his palm. Plus, they were much brighter without the dirt covering them. Also, Twilight was eyeing her sternly, mentally commanding her to respond. She slowly inched her white, furry hoof out to meet the human's fleshy, fingered hand. The tip of her hoof rested on the tips of his fingers. Connor placed his thumb over the tip of her hoof and gave a light shake. Funny, her handsh...hoofsh... shake resembled a lady's handshake, the kind of handshake when they only grab around your fingers and shake delicately.

"So, uhhh..." Connor started. "Youuuuuuu make dresses?"

"(Ahem) Yes. I design... and make them. Yes," she replied awkwardly, tossing her mane.

"Cool, cool. So, uhhh..." he said, wishing he was better at keeping conversations flowing. "That's great! I mean, yeah. You must know a lot about fashion."

Rarity nodded gingerly.

"Yeah..." Connor finally spoke.

God freaking damn it! Why was this conversation going down the drain so quickly?? Well, he guessed it was time to do what he did with Twilight when he first met her.

"I like your fur coat! It looks very white and clean," he smiled sweetly as syrup.

"Oh! Uh... Thank you. Thank you, kindly."

That wasn't it. She still seemed pessimistic.

"I also like how you, uh... did your mane! How it's dyed purple like that, and how wavy it looks. I like it... a lot!" he crammed in.

The unicorn looked a little hurt. "I didn't dye it."

Oh, shhiiiii... He was going to bomb miserably. He had to recover and fast!

"WHOA! You don't say?! Damn, I mean, darn!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, I just figured that it was dyed because... it-it looks so rich in color! Hooo, man, that looks so awesome!"

Somehow, that last part slipped out automatically. Fortunately for him, it was enough to put an impressed smile on her face.

"Oh! You really think that?"

"Yeah, yeah! Mm-hmm! Oh, sure! Uh-huh! Oh, yes..."

"Well!" she exclaimed, slowly breaking out of her shell of insecurity for him. "I do work on it every single day, hoping somepony would notice."

"Whaaaaaat?" he gasped, deepening the compliments. "Nopony noticed?? Jeez, they're blind. How could they not notice all of that?"

"Well, I've had some, but not very many. I am certainly lucky that I get to meet another one of my admirers. Tell me, sir, what else about me?"

Man, this was going perfectly! The human was not believing his luck. He could not back down in making friends, especially if they were females. He had to keep it up.

"Well, I like your, uhhh... your eye shadow. Baby blue, is it? That's good! A good and original color. It goes well with your white coat, naturally baby blue and white being a good combination. Hell, white looks good with anything!"

"Hmm!" she hummed in approval. "Indeed, white looks good with anything. Anything else you have to say?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes in hope.

Man, this pony sure loved compliments. However, before he was about to shoot another compliment at her, he was interrupted by Twilight, who was nudging Rarity with her front leg.

"A-he-HEM!" she cleared her throat, feigning an enthusiastic smile. "So sorry to interrupt, Rarity. Even you just looooove ponies who ask about you, but don't you think you should be asking more about him and less about yourself, considering that he is a guest and guests are always first?"

The white unicorn smiled sheepishly. She tossed her mane and cleared her throat.

"Yes, of course. Now, good sir, would you care to tell me...?" her face slowly changed into a look of disgust as she looked down at his shirt.

"What?" the human asked.

"...What in Celestia's name you are wearing?" the unicorn finished.

“Oh, it’s a t-shirt,” the human replied.

“A ‘t-shirt’? Well, pardon me for saying this, but I say it looks simply horrid!"

“Well, it sure suits me,” Connor said, hiding his hurt.

“But, it just looks so plain! No matter what you say, I simply cannot allow you to wear such plain attire if you are going to be staying here. A newcomer deserves to look his or her best, so he or she can attract flies, if you know what I'm implying."

"Yeah, I guess. WHOA, WHAT THE--?" he yelped as he was suddenly lifted into the air like a limp doll.

He was yanked through the air and set on top of a podium with five, angled mirrors in front of it. The white unicorn started circling around him like a prowling shark, eyeing his bland, white T-shirt.

“This ‘t-shirt’ you speak of looks as boring like a plain bagel. Well, with my help, it is time to turn that plain bagel into a tasty, decorative, sprinkled doughnut!”

Needles, thread, gems and other decorative items hovered around Connor, surrounding him. He panicked when he saw the needles, those sharp little suckers pointing directly at him. It looked as if a ghost was about to gore him. Then, they all swarmed him, circling around him like angry bees. He yelped in panic through the barrage.

Seconds later, his t-shirt and jeans were covered with all kinds of gems, head to toe. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and was nearly blinded by how bright it looked.

“There we go! Not so plain anymore! Now you are ready to hit the streets, stunning ponies with your fabulousness,” Rarity beamed.

“Umm, Rarity?"

"Yes, darling?"

“If I want everybody, I mean, everypony to acknowledge me, I don’t want to blind them first. It was very kind of you, really, but to be blunt, I don’t think this sort of decoration might work with me.”

"Oh... W-well, of course! Well, then let's forget these decorations. They do look a little absurd for my taste anyway. The customer is always right, after all," she puffed her chest out, looking dignified. "But feel free to come into my shop anytime, darling! I can always set up a nice pair of clothes for you to your liking.”

She finished with a smile.

How generous. The fussy unicorn did not seem so bad, after all.

"Okay, I'll make note of that. Thanks!" Connor said.

“Now, let's get all of these gems off of you. Where are my scissors?”

Suddenly, in an eye blink, Spike appeared right in front of Rarity with scissors in his claw.

“Hey, Twilight,” the human whispered. “What's with Spike? Why is he acting so... weird like that?"

The dragon was literally floating off the ground, being propelled by the tip of his shovel-tipped tail. He had a huge, goofy grin slapped on his face as his eyes were only galway open.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She grinned.

Connor turned and looked at the dragon again.

“Nope,” he responded.

Twilight raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the human.

He felt a little hurt at her cynicism. “What? What do you want me to say? That he’s in love?? I don’t thi…….OHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh! Okay.”

The unicorn nodded.

“I mean, who wouldn’t? She is pretty, after all,” Connor said.

“Yes, she is, and she makes a really big fuss about it, too. Just pretend that you don’t know about it. He might think that I told you. He’s very secretive about it.”

Connor looked at the dragon, who was still floating. “Why is it such a secret to him?"

"I don't know exactly why. The ironic thing is, whenever he's around Rarity, he makes it so obvious that it doesn't even take a spilled secret to tell everypony."

"Well, he'd better stop making it obvious, then," the human shrugged, saying the only answer he could find.

“That’s what I said, but Spike just doesn’t seem to get it. Soon, all of Equestria will know of his little (she giggled) 'secret'.”

“Doesn't he even look at himself in the mirror? Maybe if he did, then he would get a clue."

“Oh, he does look at himself. However, he just poses in front of it, acting all dragon-ly, saying...” she crossed her eyes as she mimicked Spike's voice. “’Lookin’ good, Spike! Lookin’ reeeeeal good!’”

Connor snickered.

“And that’s probably another secret I shouldn’t have told you,” Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“My lips are sealed.”

“WHOA!!” Spike screamed.

“What? What is it? What’s wrong??” Twilight jumped.

“Sweet! A ruby!” he cheered, bending over to claim his prize.

He gobbled it down, before one could say "apples".

“You eat gems?” Connor raised his eyebrows.

“Yup! They're my favorite food in the world! I could eat any kind of gem."

“Since when did…? Oh, yeahhh! That’s right. You told me when we met. now, I remember.”

“Ooh, ooh! Another ruby!” he hooted.

He wolfed it down. Then another...

And another...

Twilight noticed there was a trail of rubies heading right toward…

“Follow me, Connor," she said.

The unicorn and the human followed the hungry dragon all the way to a two-story house that was decorated with sugary sweets. It literally looked like a legitimate gingerbread house. The way Spike was gorging on the trail of gems and nearing the house’s entrance made Connor think of a particular fairy-tale he heard a while back when he was a child back on Earth.

“Huh! Just like Hansel and Gretel,” he stated openly as he placed his arms on his hips.

“Who??” Twilight never heard of such ridiculous names.

“Hansel and Gretel. It’s a fairy tale of two, hungry, German kids wandering about the sketchy woods. They find a house made out of sweets much like this one, start eating it, and then a witch who lived in the house catches them in the act. She gets really pissed, and to teach them a lesson, she decides to cook and eat them both."

“Eww!”

“But before she was about to place them in the oven, the kids give the witch the slip and push her into the oven, causing her to melt and die.”

“That’s good, but still, that's disturbing.”

"Heh, they were before Disney came in."

“Disney? Hmm, okay," she stated, passing by it. "That’s very interesting. You know, you should tell me more about your world. It sounds like there is so much more to see and know about there that I've never even heard before. Maybe you should tell everypony. Well, that is after you become friends with them."

“Yeah…" he glumly consented.

"Well, I happen to notice on how well you were doing in making friends with my friends. Maybe you should try with everypony else, and you will have a chance," she enthusiastically smiled at him.

"Oh, well, uh... I don't really see that happening."

"Oh, come on, Connor! It's worth to try! You're doing well at it, too."

"To be honest with you, Twilight, being forward isn't exactly... one with me..."

"I understand. I was like that, too, before I met the others. It just takes time to practice, but I assure you that it will be all worth it once you finally master it."

"Yeah," he said through his teeth.

That was the problem. He did not exactly feel like working really hard just to accomplish something, worth it or not. He dislikes excessive work. He hated homework, for God's sakes. He just did not enjoy being very forward. The only plan that worked for him was to sit in the shadows, hoping that some wandering, curious, pitying soul would come by and hold his hand through the tough times in his life. However, the plan was not working as well as he thought. Still, it worked for him. Besides, he liked the attention and drama.

Twilight's chuckling broke him out of his self-pitiful mind. “Anyway, I can assure you that the ponies who live in this house are not witches.”

“I had an inkling.”

Soon, Spike was at the front door of the house. Connor and Twilight joined him.

“Are there any more gems in here??” (It was apparent that Spike did not realize whose house it was because he had his full focus on the tasty gems.)

“Hey, Connor,” Twilight mumbled to Connor. “Do you like surprises?”

“Surprises? What kind of--?"

Spike opened the door, and the lights in the house suddenly flicked on. The sounds of a party horn squeaked, and a pink pony leapt out out of nowhere, wearing a party hat and throwing confetti in the air.

“SUPRIIIIIIIIISE!” her voice rang loudly.

The trio stood in the doorway in shock. Well, all except the purple unicorn. She knew that this was coming. However, what she did not see surprised her.

"Pinkie Pie, didn't you invite any ponies at all?"

That question caused a dramatic change on the pink pony's expression. She looked behind herself to see that there were no ponies to be seen.

“Hey! Where is everypony? I thought they were going to help with the surprise party. Unless, they missed the signal.”

She darted around the room, looking behind furniture, items, tea cups (Who would be dumb enough to hide behind there?), and even behind the chair. She darted right back to where she was, right in front of the three figures.

"Nothing! I don't see anypony!"

Twilight pointed with her hoof toward the back of the house. “Does that explain anything?”

The pink pony turned to where the unicorn was pointing and saw the back door open.

“Ooh! Are we playing hide-and-seek? Party games! WHOO-HOO!” Then, she darted directly up to the human. “'Welcome party pony' is the seeker! Turn around, count to fifty, and don’t peeking!”

"Uhh--," the human was speechless.

"Uh-uh! No peeking, Mister Cheating-at-Hide-and-Seeky-Pants! Close your eyes and count to fifty!" She was gone in an eye blink.

Twilight called out to the pink party pony. “Pinkie, I don’t think they’re playing hide-and-seek.”

The pony’s head peeked out of a mouse hole. “They’re not?” (Seriously, how the hell did she DO that?? Connor's head began to hurt.)

Twilight stuck her head out the back door and saw the clustered hoofprints leading away from the house. “I think they ditched you.”

Pinkie gasped. “What?! They ditched me on the welcome party I set up for your new friend?? Oh, that’s rude, rude, and beyond rude! I know every single pony in this town, and they suddenly had to act like that?! That’s two, two, two times the rude!”

“Wait,” Connor interrupted. “You threw this party for me?”

“Yuppie-yup-yup!”

“Then, why were you gasping and running away like that earlier?”

“Ohhhhh! Right! Well, when I first saw you earlier today, I thought to myself, ‘I know every single pony in this town, but I definitely haven’t seen you before, so that makes you new!'! Plus, I was so scared because I've never seen you before, so I ZOOM! went to find the others to warn them about you until I saw you with Twilight and Spike, and then I noticed that they were not scared around you, and then I was like, "(GASP!) Omigawsh! If Twilight and Spike are already friends with that new thingy, then that thingy is my friend, too!'! So, I went (GASP!) and I left so could throw you this super-duper-allyooper welcome party! Then, you came through the door and I was like, 'SURPRIIIIISE!', and you were like, 'DURRRR?!', and Twilight told me that everypony ditched me, and then I was like, '(GASP!) Why would they do that??', and then you were like, 'Wait, you threw this party for me?', and then I was like, 'Ohhhhhh! Right! Well, when I first saw--'."

"All right, Pinkie Pie, I think we get the idea," Twilight silenced the pink chatterbox.

Connor was stunned by either the fact that the party pony already decided to become friends with an unknown being like him or the fact that she said all of that under one breath.

“Anywayyyyyyyy, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name, creature-that-I-have-never-ever-ever-ever-seen-before-in-my-entire-Pinkie-life? Huh? Huh, huh, huh?” she asked, smiling big.

The human felt a little intimidated by the pink pony, but at the same time, he was amused by her.

"Connor," he answered.

“Hiya, Connor! Hey! That sounds pretty funny when you say it over and over again! Connorconnorconnorconnorconnorconnorconnor…”

“DON’T!” Twilight and Connor shouted in unison. They could not stand to hear somepony incessantly repeat something all over again, thanks to Spike.

“Okey-dokey-lokey! Ooh! Are ya hungry? I got lots and lots and lots andlotsandlotsandlots of cupcakes and other sweet treats!”

“Oh, no thanks,” the human replied. “I'm fine. I don’t usually eat cupcakes. Too sugary, in my opinion.”

“Awwww, come on, party-pooper! Try one! It’s super-duper-looper good!” she smiled.

“I said I'm fi--MMPH!" Pinkie Pie shoved the cupcake into his mouth. At first, he was going to spit it out.

He couldn't.

Why? It was the best damn cupcake he ever had! It was moist, chewy, full of flavor, and the icing was perfection. It was not too sweet or too dull. It tasted sweetly airy and fresh like cold whipped cream. He swallowed it. How perfectly it slid down. He felt his spine shiver in orgasmic delight as it hit his stomach.

“Oh, sweet Lord, that's so good! Can I have another one? Please?” he begged.

“Sure! Eat all the cupcakes and sweets you want! It’s your party, after all!” Pinkie Pie smiled brightly.

His expression suddenly changed into confusion. “But... it’s hardly even a party. There's only four of us.”

“A company of four is still a party!” the pink pony replied.

“Plus four,” Spike spoke, noticing the arrival of four ponies. Everypony turned to Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash entering the room.

“Hooray! You came!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“We will never miss your parties for the world, darling!” Rarity replied.

“Neither will I!” Rainbow Dash added in.

“You kin’ always expect me to come on by!” Applejack smiled.

“Um…me, too!” Fluttershy grinned.

“Now that everypony is here. Well, that is, not everypony in Ponyville... LET'S PARTYYYYYY!!” the party pony shouted, launching herself in the air like a pink, paper rocket.

“Wherem ihf efhrypomny, Pihmkie?” Rainbow Dash asked with her mouth full of cupcakes. "You phehd you ihmvited efhrypomny here."

“They ditched us. They were supposed to help Pinkie Pie surprise Connor. Alas, they were too scared to stay around for the welcome party,” Twilight sighed in frustration.

The blue pegasus swallowed her cupcake before she spoke again. "Are you serious!? They ditched him even when they were invited to one of Pinkie Pie's parties? Pinkie Pie's bucking parties?? Man, that's a new low. Way to go, Ponyville..."

The party pony joined in. “I know! I said to everypony that I was gonna throw a big party for a new pony coming into town and that everypony was invited. I had everything set up and they all came. I turned off the light, told them to hide, and I said, ‘Here comes Twilight and the—well, whatever he is.’. Then, all of a sudden, I heard lots of shuffling, and I was like, ‘Oh! They’re finding a better place to hide!’, which I thought before they ditched me! Then, Twilight and Connor came in, and I was like ‘SURPRIIIIIIISE!’, and then ‘Where is everypony?’, and then, ‘Oh! Are we playing hide-and-seek??’, and then…”

“That’s enough, Pinkie,” Twilight cut her off, preventing her from rambling on. “And by the way, Connor’s not exactly a pony; he’s a human.”

“A human? Hmm, never heard of it!" Pinkie said as she placed a hoof on her chin. Boy, had the unicorn heard that phrase before.

"Yes, that's because he's the first human to ever come here." Boy, had she said that phrase before.

Pinkie's neck stretched all the way up to the bookworm's face. "REALLY?" her voice croaked in over-exaggerating surprise. "Ooh! This calls for another party! Happy First-Human-to-Ever-Come-Here-Without-Any-Idea-How party! I'll get more cupcakes!" She disappeared in a flash of pink.

The purple unicorn rolled het eyes. Then, she turned to the human, who was happily wolfing down some cupcakes. Something still bothered her ever since she first saw him: how did he get here?

She slowly walked up to the gluttonous human, trying not to be so intrusive. “So, Connor. Are you able to remember how you got here?”

Connor gulped down the delicious pastries. “Sorry, no. It’s still pretty fuzzy.”

“Are you absolutely sure? There must be some way that you can.”

“There isn’t, I’m afraid.”

“Maybe if you can just try—“

“Twilight, I can’t remember!" he hastily replied, which caused the unicorn to flinch back. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t. I'm really sorry that I can't be much more help.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry…”

Connor smiled. “It’s okay! I’m just trying to enjoy my time here with you guys. It means a lot to me that you care about me. You have no idea.”

Twilight was concerned. Surely, he had some friends back in his own world, had he? She looked out the window.

“Looks like a big storm is coming up.”

Something started to kindle in the human's mind.

“Yeah, the weather company planned big one for today,” Rainbow Dash said.

Storm…Storm…Storm!....STORM!!

“TWILIGHT!” the human shouted.

Twilight along with everypony else in the room was scared to death by his volume. “What? What is it?”

“I think I remember how I got here!”

Everypony gathered around the human, eager to hear what he had to say.

“So you were pushed out into the hail storm by those two guys? Those morons!” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“Oh, I know! They were, they were! And after that, just before I was about to scream at them, BOOM! a huge, purple lightning bolt crashed down on me,” Connor said, slapping his fist into his palm to emphasize the blast of the lightning bolt.

“And that’s what brought you here to Ponyville?” Rarity asked.

The human nodded in response.

“I guess you can say it was all very shocking! Ha ha haaa! Get it??” Pinkie Pie laughed at her own joke.

Instead of laughs, she got blank stares.

“What? It’s true! And that’s what makes it punny. Get it?? Hahaa! I just did it again!” she laughed hysterically.

Still, the blanks stares...

“Oh, grow a sense of humor, party-poopers! You could really use it to lighten up the mood.”

Applejack rubbed her forehead with her hoof.

“So you did fly here, technically,” Rainbow Dash clarified.

“Probably,” said the human.

“That’s wild!” Twilight exclaimed. “So that purple lightning bolt from last night was you! This is all so weird.”

“What do you think caused that lightning bolt to happen?” Rarity asked anypony.

“No idea, but we know for certain that it was no mere mishap of nature. This obviously is magic, and whoever launched it must be a very elite magician. But, who??"

Knock, knock!

“I got it!” Pinkie Pie squeaked. She hopped over to the door and opened it.

“Hiya, Princess Celestia!” She was suddenly knocked out of the way by a very surprised Twilight.

“Princess Celestia!” she bowed her head. “What are you doing here?”

A tall, white alicorn with a flowing, glittering, multicolored mane and tail walked regally inside the house. Luckily, she was inside before the rain started to pour. She was dressed with a glimmering crown, a gleaming chestpiece, and crystal hoof covers.

“I have a free hour, so I just came by for a visit to see how my faithful student is doing. Surely I've sent you that letter that notified you about it,” the alicorn smiled.

"Nnnnnno, I didn't get the letter," Twilight slowly said, confused.

"Really? I've sent it through Spike. How could it possibly not reach you?"

"Spike! Come on down here! You've got to help me with my research! I can't do this alone! Spiiiiiike!" Twilight called from downstairs.

The little dragon was snoring his nose off as he was sleeping in his small bed, which was right next to Twilight's larger one. The room was still dark, but yellow glows of the rising sun began to peek in through the windows of the room. What time was it exactly? Four to five 'o clock in the morning?

Spike was immovable. He was lying awkwardly in his bed like a puppy had just been dropped in. His scaly belly was facing directly toward the ceiling and the dragon's snoring mouth was wide open, causing his saliva-dripping, forked tongue to hang out.

"HHMPH! BURRRP!" Green flames sparked out of his snoring mouth and a neat, rolled scroll appeared out of the green flame. However, since it was launched directly up out of Spike's mouth, it fell back down and landed on his face. His snout wrinkled as he frantically brushed it off of his face.

"Nugh! Ugh! Big moth! Big scary moth on my face! Watch out, he's got zucchini!" he panicked in his sleep.

The scroll rolled off of his face and bounced far underneath Twilight's bed, camouflaged by shadow.

"Mmmmmmmmm, Rarity..." he softly moaned, puckering his little lips as he tried to kiss the beautiful, white unicorn in his dreams.

"Well, that is a mystery... Anyway, I am thrilled that you came, but isn't it kind of dangerous to go alone without any security guards? Who knows who will do something horrible to you?" Twilight said in worry.

"Don't worry, Twilight! It's all fine. Besides, I would like to visit Ponyville without anything over the top happening, like walking under a shade everywhere I go, or something like that. A girl's got to enjoy a little time to herself once in a while. I hope I didn’t come at a bad t—“ She stopped. Her eyes shot wide open.

Connor turned to see the tall, gleaming royalty staring at him.

Silence loomed in the air. Twilight figured Celestia would react that way.

Twilight wedged in gingerly. “Princess Celestia, this is Connor.”

The princess broke out of her silence and softly asked her student, “W...what is he?”

“He’s a human.”

“I...have never heard or seen this creature before! I’ve reigned for more than a thousand years, and yet, this creature is all so new! How could I not know of this? There has to be some sort of a slip-up.”

More than a thousand years?? Damn! Connor was stupefied.

“Yes, princess, he was brought here yesterday. He’s very new.”

“WHOA, whoa!” Connor interrupted. He could not withhold the urge to blurt out. “You lived for more than a thousand years?? WOW! You’re OLD!”

Silence… Twilight hid behind her mane in embarrassment. Pinkie Pie's mouth gaped open in shock, dropping the cupcake that was in her mouth. Rarity’s mouth hung wide open. Fluttershy covered her mouth with her front hooves. Rainbow Dash inhaled through her teeth, hissing. Applejack slapped her forehead with her hoof. Spike ducked for cover. Princess Celestia just stood there, staring at the human.

Connor winced. Did he just say that? Did he just freaking say that??

“Duh! Erm, uhh… yet, you look…” Oh, God! Think, think, THINK!! he panicked inside. “HOT! You look hot! So young and so hot! Whoo, did it just get hot in here, or is it just you? Heh hehehe...” Motherfuuuu… Immintrubble.

The alicorn princess continued to stare at him. Then, she blushed a bright red. Never before did anypony, especially an unexplained creature, consider her “hot”. She liked the human already.

She smiled, “Oh!...um, thank you! Thank you, kindly!”

Everypony sighed, including Connor. What a recovery.

"Oh, would you like to come in, Princess?" Twilight gestured inside. "We were just having a party in here."

"Yes, I would love to! What is the party for?"

"It's for Connor!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "It's a Welcome-to-Ponyville and First-Human-to-Ever-Come-Here-Without-Any-Idea-How party!"

"Sounds lovely! A very kind thing to do, Pinkie."

"I enjoy making other ponies smile! It's what Pinkie's here to do!"

The princess trotted regally and gracefully inside. She sat herself right next to Connor. The human caught a whiff of her scent with his nose from the air that pushed from her body as she sat down. She really knew which perfume to use.

"So, 'Connor', tell me. Where are you from?" the princess asked.

"Earth."

"Interesting. We call this Earth as well. Big coincidence, don't you think?" she smiled, being friendly.

"Really big," he chuckled.

"What about your country?" She had her purple eyes fixed on his.

"America. More specifically, the United States of America."

"Sounds promising! I like how the word 'united' is used in there. Your folk really must work really hard together just to keep your country running, don't they?"

Connor exhaled sharply in humor. "Yeah, they do. Other than the fact that there is still division... It's... really complex. I don't feel like talking about it. I don't want to bore you with such nonsense."

I understand," she said softly.

"Thanks...uh, I mean, thank you, your majesty...or princess...um..." he struggled to show manners. It was not everyday that he had a conversation with royalty.

"Oh, no need to trouble yourself. Just call me Princess...or Celestia, whichever you are most comfortable with."

"Princess. I prefer 'Princess'."

"All right, then," she grinned.

The other ponies in the room were surprised by how quickly their ruler became comfortable with the human. Well, she was the kindest, wisest, and most loving ruler of all, so it was not too much of a surprise.

Celestia turned to Twilight. “How did he get here?”

“A big, purple lightning bolt," she replied. "It was from that strange storm from last night.”

“Huh, that does seem strange. Lightning doesn’t usually do that.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Then, the princess stroked her chin. "That's weird. A strangely colored lightning bolt, and a strange visitor..." She turned to Connor. "No offense."

"None taken," responded the human.

Then, the princess paused. Being the wisest of all, she figured it all out. She had a very acute sense of memory.

"Unless..." she mumbled.

With her horn glowing a white glow, she turned to Twilight. She walked closer to her.

“Princess? What-what’s wrong?” the purple unicorn asked.

“Trust me with this.”

She slowly tilted her head down and touched Twilight’s horn with her own. She held it there for a few seconds before pulling it away. A glowing rope of magic was strung between the princess’ horn and the unicorn’s horn. After pulling her horn further away, the princess was able to flick out the aura from Twilight’s horn and into the air. It warped in the air until it took the form of a scroll, which unraveled in front of the princess. Her eyes shifted swiftly left and right, reading what was in scripted in the etherial parchment.

“What spell is that?” asked Twilight, woozy from the result of the magic.

“It’s a spell that reveals an entire record of all the spells the user casted. Date, time, destination…”

“What is there to look for, Princess? I don’t have anything to do with this.”

The alicorn's eyes stopped at a certain section of the spectral scroll. “That’s where you’re wrong, my faithful student.”

“What??”

“Remember when you were accepted to my school of talented unicorns? When you got your cutie mark?”

Twilight remembered. She was a filly when it all happened. She turned into a magic berserk when filly Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom ignited. Startled out of her skin, she blasted purple bolts of magic all over the room: levitating the judges, turning her on-looking parents into plants, and turning Spike into a fully sized dragon. (He was a hatchling when it happened.) Princess Celestia saw it all and was impressed. She was able to calm the filly down with the news that she had passed for registration, as well as earning her cutie mark.

“What are you saying, Princess?”

The royal alicorn responded, “I’m saying that while you went berserk that very day, one of the numerous spells you casted was a special projectile teleportation spell. It shot up into the air and out into space. It must have flown through space and hit Connor at the right moment.”

Twilight shot her mouth and eyes wide open.

“So you sent Connor here, Twilight!” Spike pointed.

“I…I had no idea…”

Connor was surprised, too. “You…wow!”

“I’m so sorry, Connor! I-I had no intention! I-I had no idea!”

“No, no! It’s okay, Twilight! It was just an accident.”

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack exclaimed. “I had no idea that Twilight was capable of doin’ that!”

“Holy horseapples!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy whispered.

“My word!” Rarity added in.

“Wait a second!” Twilight said, “If I sent the bolt when I was a filly, wouldn’t he have come right then, when I was a filly?”

“Good question!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “All of this is so confusing, it’s making me hungry for cupcakes again!”

Princess Celestia continued. "The speed of light is still considered slow it you look at it in space. It flew in space for ten years until it reached Connor's Earth and struck at the right place and moment. Any more than that, than he wouldn't have been here."

"And what about the trip back? The retrieval?" Twilight asked. "Wouldn't it have taken just as long?

"My guess is that he went through some kind of portal which immediately sent him back without time altering the course. To put it simply, he's fresh out of the oven."

The human was flabbergasted. So, he was struck by a ten-year-old lightning bolt, which originally was a one out of a million chance to happen. Shhhiiiii...

“What a trip!” Pinkie Pie added in. “And I thought the trip to Fillydelphia was bumpy.”

“Well, Connor,” the royal alicorn turned to Connor, “I guess you can see why I have chosen this young unicorn for my personal student.”

Twilight blushed.

"However," the princess spoke again. "It's not confirmed that that really happened, but it's a possibility. Theoretical or not, he is here and walking amongst us."

"I think it is a well thought out theory. You are the wisest of all, after all."

“Thank you, Twilight," she responded before turning to the door. "I believe now is the best time to leave. I wish you all good luck.”

“Thank you, Princess!”

Just before she flew away, she glanced at the human, sitting in the middle of the group.

What an adventure this human has been put in. I wish him the best of luck. He’s pretty polite for an interdimensional being. Also cute, at that. She smirked, blushing a little. He called me 'hot'. Very kind of him, indeed.

She flew away.

To be continued...

Chapter IV- Moving In

Author's Note

NOTE: I've just recently made some corrections and additions to this chapter. Looking back at it, I can't believe I used to write like that. Grammatical errors left and right. It just lost its flow.

I feel that some of the dislikes I got from this fic were from those errors I made.

Anyhoo, I fixed them :3

Enjoy this refurbished chapter! More will be tended to soon!

Chapter IV- Moving In

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter IV

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“Whoa…” Twilight exhaled. “This is uncanny!”

“You kin say that again,” Applejack muttered.

“So… now what?” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Thump…thump…thump…thump…thump…

The purple unicorn turned to Connor, who was bumping his head against a shelf. He looked like he was pissed at himself about his lack of control of words around Celestia from earlier. However, he was really glad that the recovery worked (as well as everypony did). Still, he felt like a moron.

“I guess he’s with us for now,” Twilight responded. “However, he can't stay with us forever.”

“What??” Fluttershy piped up loudly for somepony so quiet.

Everypony stared at her.

Realizing her sudden outburst, she ducked to the ground and repeated more quietly. “Oh…um…I mean, what? Why?”

“Think about it, girls. He may stay here for a while, but there comes a moment when he has to go back to his own world. He can’t live with us here forever. He needs to be back with his kind, so he could resume his life. The life that I interrupted," she added glumly.

“Awwww…” Pinkie Pie moped. “I wish he could stay here forever. He the nicest, most kindest, interdimen-dimen-dimen...human I’ve ever met! Plus, he's like an abandoned puppy that you just cannot refuse to take home with you and have him stay with you forever.”

“You mean ‘most kind’ or ‘kindest’,” Twilight corrected her.

“I know what I’m saying, Twilight,” the party pony huffed.

The grammar queen rolled her eyes. “Well, I wish he could stay here, too, Pinkie, but it's inevitable. He'll have to be brought back to his home.”

She turned to the rest of the gang. “...And as long as he’s here, we might as well find him someplace to settle in until he returns home. One of us will have to offer him our home.”

"Ah'm afraid ah'm out,” Applejack objected. “Ah don’t think there’ll be enough room for ‘im in the house, unless he shares a bed with somepony. But, then again, that boy's big! He wouldn't be able to keep himself on top of the mattress, fer Pete's sake. Also, ah certainly don’t wanna have him sleepin’ in the barn. That barn gives even me them heebie-jeebies at night."

“I would be glad to take him in,” Rainbow Dash joined. “That is, if he wouldn’t fall right through the floor. That's what happens when a house is made out of a cloud. So, I guess I’m out.”

“Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie squeaked, thrusting her hoof high into air. “I would love to have him stay at my house! Wait a minute, he is in my house, because I live right upstairs of Sugarcube Corner! Ahhhhhhhh!”

After squealing like a little filly who just got a new puppy, she ran up the stairs at blinding speed.

"He could sleep in my room!" she called from the top of the stairway.

The door clicked open.

Suddenly, a landslide of cakes and pastries poured down the stairs. There seemed to be thousands of sweet pastries. Maybe even millions. Her head popped out from the bottom of the pile.

“Oh, but look out for Mount Sugar-Rushmore! He tends to get pretty pushy. Literally! You just have be sure not to land on your head. I had a couple of times, but thanks to my soft, bouncy-wouncy mane, I’m as safe as a cake in a box. A chocolate cake in a box. This mane has saved my life a lot of times!”

An automatic turn-down for Pinkie Pie. They didn't want the human to break his neck from the falling wall of pastries.

“I don’t think he will be able to even walk to his bed in my house," Twilight pondered. "I still haven’t cleaned up all of the books I used for my research project yet.”

Then, she pulled out a small notebook and quill with her magic.

“Note to self: put books back in shelf," she wrote out loud.

Silence loomed in the circle of ponies. Nopony else seemed to volunteer to have Connor stay at their house. Fluttershy’s eyebrows furrowed in determination. This was her chance.

Why the determination? She liked Connor.

No, she like-liked him. The reason? No colt or any other being complimented her so sweetly and politely like he did. She hardly even left her own house because of her shyness. She feared new ponies like they were rabid piranhas. Still, behind all of that, she still wished that somepony would say something exceptionally nice to her, other than her friends. Plus, she felt exceptionally comfortable around him. He was like a new animal to her, and she knew that her ability with animals is superb. He would be in good shape in no time staying with her. Plus, her mind was filled with questions about him: what kind of animals he had, did he like animals, did he have a girlfriend, did he like her, did he--?

Then, she lowered her head, glancing nervously at the purple unicorn. Because of her little outburst earlier, she believed that Twilight knew that she was fancying the visitor. Twilight was a really smart pony, and she was able to pick certain vibes like that, with or without the help of books.

However, Fluttershy also didn't want to miss out on having the human as her guest. Besides, she wanted to teach herself to not look so obvious and predictable about her feelings for the human. That should not be too hard... right?

It was now or nothing. Time to go for the gusto. Taking a deep breath, she thrusted her hoof in the air.

...Before she sank back down sadly in defeat. Somepony else had already beat her to it.

“Very well! I will take him in.” Rarity announced nobly.

“You, Rarity?” Twilight was surprised.

“Um, quick fact about you, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said as she crossed her arms. “You’re the one who gets really pessimistic and freaked out about having ‘unexplained and strange creatures’ in your house.”

“Rainbow Dash, for shame!” Rarity huffed, tossing her head. “Connor is not an ‘unexplained and strange creature’. He is our polite, interdimensional friend in need of shelter. If nopony else will take him in, then I will. After all, it's a generous thing to do, is it not?”

Right, she is the Element of Generosity, after all, Twilight smiled in thought.

“All right, so we are all in agreement?” the purple unicorn asked.

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack beamed.

“Yuppers!” Pinkie Pie concurred with a mouth full of chocolate cake.

“Meh, I’m cool with it,” Rainbow Dash shrugged nonchalantly.

Just say 'no', Fluttershy. Just say 'no'! It's not that hard. You can do it. You can do it! Fluttershy forced herself.

"Um, y-yes..."

Oh, ponyfeathers!

"Then it's settled. Connor will stay with Rarity," Twilight announced.

Rarity nodded at her unicorn friend and turned to approach him, who was still bumping his head on the shelf, still mentally disturbed over how he was brought into Equestria. (He must have had a forehead of iron. Well, what was left of it, maybe.)

“Oh, Connor!” she warbled.

“Hmm? Whu--? Yes?” he immediately turned around to face her. His forehead was a blotchy red.

“Since you're going to be staying here for a while, I would like to offer you a room in my house.”

“Really? At your house?” the human blinked in surprise.

“Indeed, darling!”

Sleeping in another pony’s house. A house that belonged to a white pony who happened to speak English and look somewhat attractive, being a beauty queen and female. He did not know whether to feel grateful or grateful with a hint of creeped out. Still, it was an offer he could not refuse. He wanted sleep, like most teenagers did.

“Okay. Thanks, Rarity.”

"Now, come along, dear! Let's go back to the boutique."

“And, here’s where you'll be sleeping, darling.”

Rarity gestured to a vast and wide podium, lined with silky, maroon curtains.

“It used to be a podium to display my dresses, but place a mattress right in the middle and you will have quite a regal-looking bed. You’ll sleep like a prince!”

“Cool!” Connor exclaimed.

“With these lovely, silky, thick curtains, not even Celestia’s sun could wake you!”

“You really didn’t have to go all through this trouble, Rarity.”

“Pish-posh! I’m quite fond of giving you the best, because you’re my guest!” After saying that, she gasped in surprise. “Oh! That rhymed!”

Connor chuckled warmly at her homely attitude.

“Anyway, make yourself at home. I have to complete an order for a very important client," she said before she turned to a small chest placed beside one of her workstations.

“’Kay.”

“Oh, dear,” she moaned after opening the chest. “I’ve completely run out of baby blue diamonds to decorate the dress for my very important client! Well, no matter. I might as well make the best of it. I need to get more.”

Snatching up a basket with her magic, she walked to the front door.

“Darling, I have to go out and find some more gems. I'll be back soon.”

“Okay!”

She made it halfway out the doorway before whirling around to face him again. “OH, and please try to not get anything dirty!”

“Okay.”

“Or damaged!”

“Okay.”

“Or misplaced by one centimeter!”

“Uhh…”

“Or anything in particular that'll make the whole room look untidy!”

“Are you gonna find those gems or not?” he smirked at her.

“Oh, right! And do be careful around Opalescence! She's not very flexible around new guests.”

“All right, all right,” Connor replied impatiently, though not rudely as he closed the door behind her.

Opalescence? Who the hell was--?

Meow! Connor turned to the sound and saw a cat with a white, flowing coat of fur. It had a small bow fastened on the hair on its head and was wearing… eye shadow and mascara?? (Okayyyyyy, that was weird.)

He was not a huge fan of cats. He didn’t like the way they skulked about, eyeing people down with those glowing eyes and piercing gazes. With those grim looks on their faces, they looked like they were going to pounce on someone and rip his or her throat out, unleashing hell on earth. They looked cuter when they were kittens. However, he digressed. If he was going to stay with Rarity, he might as well get used to this furball. He knelt on one knee, facing the white ball of fur.

“Heyyy,” he said in a reluctantly pleasant voice, “Who’s a cute kitty, hmmm? Whooza coot kittehhhh?”

The cat shot him a grim look, which made him shudder. He swore to God that that cat was previously owned by the devil. He knelt further down and pointed an angry finger at the ball of fur.

“Listen, cat... I’m not a big fan of cats, especially cats with your attitude. Rarity was really kind to let me stay at her place, and I don’t want our guff to ruin it. To prevent that, let’s agree to stay out of each other’s way. You walk your path, I walk my path, no intrusions. Got it?”

The cat simply raised its claw and swiped at his face. A bit of Connor’s sideburn fell off. He slowly stood back up and backed away, careful not to piss it off any further so it would not chop off his head.

The cat had won this argument.

Connor lied flat on the floor of the boutique, heaving a giant yawn.

Rarity sure was taking a long time finding those diamonds. Just how easily does she find them? Not even lifting his head off of the ground, he sluggishly looked at one of the dresses nearby. One was orate with numerous emeralds, looking like a perfect rainbow. Another one was covered with aquamarines. From the look of it, it seemed like she was able to find gems easily. Just how many kinds of gems reside in this world? And how many of them each? They could be everywhere! Hell, he thought before he returned home, he should find as many gems as he could carry. He could buy fifty high definition televisions when he comes back with that kind of load. He could buy a new house. Scratch that, a new, freaking mansion. No, a freaking new mansion and a Lamborghini! That would teach everyone at his high school a lesson. He would get all the riches, and they would not. He smirked dreamily at that idea.

Boredom strangled his body into a heaping pile of laziness. It was too much for his mind to handle, so he sat up. He could feel his spine creak from the tense muscles in his back from lying flat on the hard floor. Looking around, he saw the lifeless expressions on the pony-shaped mannequins. He saw the empty seats in the salon, creaking without even moving. He heard the air conditioning purr from somewhere in the room. His ears were flooded with the silence of the room and the blowing of the air conditioning.

Having his fill or boredom, he stood up, thinking that the best thing to do was to familiarize himself with the house. Sure as hell a lot better than lying idly on the floor like a corpse.

He climbed the stairs to see what fascinating rooms await him. The aromas of rich perfume and fresh rolls of fabric filled his nostrils and tickled his forehead as he reached the second floor. Rarity really did know to make a home smell homely. He noticed one door in the hallway was cracked open. He could not help, but look inside. He heard the sound of blowing wind. It seemed to echo. Sounded like it was a big room.

Pushing the door farther open, he found that he was right. The room had a showcase stand and four pony-mannequins, lined with decorative attire. Were they saddles? Wait... Ponies rode ponies here? That seemed pretty messed up. The room also had a desk, drawers, shelves and a wardrobe. The window was cracked open, probably for air conditioning.

Looks like this is her office, Connor thought.

He saw sheets of blank paper placed neatly on the desktop. A pencil was laid next to it.

He knew exactly what to do.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Hellooooo? Rarity?” a young voice called from behind the door.

It fell silent for a few seconds, waiting for a response.

Then, the door opened, revealing a small unicorn-filly with a white fur coat and green eyes. Her mane and tail were swirly and multi-colored with grayish tones of pink and lavender.

“Big sis?” she called again. She had an eager expression on her face, like she had fun plans with the owner of the boutique.

“Rarity? Where are you?”

So, the white mare was not on the first floor. Maybe, she was upstairs.

She started to climb the stairs, hoping to find her sister on the second floor. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a noise coming from the office. It sounded like a pencil scratching on a piece of paper. Her eyes sparkled in joy. It was her big sister! She immediately leapt into the room.

“Hi, Rarity!“ she squeaked. "Can we go play at the park?"

Her expression suddenly changed when her answer was a pair of unfamiliar, startled, and confused eyes looking into her large, green ones.

“EEEEEEEEEEK!!!” the unicorn shrieked loudly. She was so loud that she made the human panic and cover his ears. The filly whipped herself around and hid just outside the doorway behind the wall between the hallway and the office.

Omigawshomigawshomigawsh! A monster is rampaging Rarity’s office! What is it doing there? Wait... OH, NO! He must’ve taken Rarity as his prisoner and is tearing around her office for gems! But wait, he was writing something on a piece of paper… Oh, no! He must be writing a threat…or a ransom! Ohhhh, you’re not going to get away with this, you big, erm, thingie!! Maybe if I catch that monster, I could get a cutie mark for being a hero! Or a monster-catcher! She shook her head violently. No! No time to wonder! You’ll find out when you’ve done it! Let's see. What can I use to catch a monster? She scanned the hallway desperately, looking for her item. Her eye stopped at the nearest object she found.

Connor was twisting his pinky in his ear. Damn, was she loud. She could have made his ears explode.

Great, more ponies to introduce himself to. He really wished Rarity was there with him. She would help him. He thought he was through with the introductions.

Wrong. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

Whatever, he might as well get it overwith.

He was about to walk up to the door to talk to the filly until a white blur caught his eye. Noticing a shadow creeping over him, he looked up and saw her in the air over him with a laundry basket gripped between her hooves. She gave a loud battle-cry and slammed the laundry basket over his head. The human's arms were pinned onto his sides, but he was able to move his forearms.

Then, the filly started scrambling all over his body, punching him, biting him, and holding him down. Connor, however, was standing silently like a statue, stupefied over what had just happened. The unicorn’s punching, biting, and wrestling were nothing, but little rabbit-punches, nibbles and squeezing.

Okayyyy… the human thought.

Then, two more fillies appeared in the doorway, one an earth pony and the other was a pegasus. They must've heard the unicorn’s screaming and rushed up to see what the rucous was about.

“Sweetie Belle! What in the hey is goin’—“ the earth pony trailed off when she saw the little unicorn’s catch-of-the-day.

“Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! This monster kidnapped Rarity! We have to stop him before he gets away with the gems!”

“Right!” the two other fillies chirped in unison. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HEROES!!”

The “monster” stood and watched as the two other fillies were falling down on him.

Aw, you’ve gotta be fu—…

“Connor, I’m back!” Rarity’s voice rang as she entered the house with a basket filled to the brim with glimmering gems.

“My, my, my! You would not believe my luck! Not only did I find more baby blue diamonds, but also these lovely and rare sunbeam rubies! It was so worth the…”

She paused after she heard some raucous coming from upstairs.

"Connor? What's going on up there??" she called, worried about what she was going to witness.

Placing the basket on the floor, she raced up the stairs. The noise was coming from her office. She dashed up to the doorway to find three fillies tugging, punching and biting a dazed human with a laundry basket over his head and shoulders.

“GIRLS!” the fashionista barked.

The trio of miniature rascals turned their heads to the white, purple-maned unicorn standing in the doorway.

“Rarity!” the little, white unicorn exclaimed, elated and in relief. “You’re okay!”

“Of course I’m okay! What’s not okay is--!"

"Stay back, sis!" She raised a hoof to stop her in her tracks. "We've got this all under control! This monster here just broke into your office and was trying to steal all of your gems! Weren't ya, punk?"

"NO," Connor replied.

"Lies!" Scootaloo shouted. "Shut your maw, you lying, scummy, thieving Diamond Dog!"

"Diamond Dog? What the hell is--?"

"Silence!" Apple Bloom said, striking the basket over his head with a roll of fabric.

"Unbelievable..." he scowled to himself.

"He is not a monster or a Diamond Dog! He doesn't even look like dog!! He's a human!" Rarity was on the brink of shrieking.

“You know this guy?” the little pegasus gawked in surprise.

“Yes! I do! He is a new friend as well as my guest, and look how you're all treating him! For shame! Release him immediately!” The mare stomped her hoof.

The three fillies untangled themselves from the pile and stood in front of the disheveled human.

The human lifted the laundry basket off of his head and shoulders to look at his three, little attackers.

“Girls,” the purple-maned unicorn spoke. “This is Connor. He is a human. He has been brought here from his world by accident, (courtesy of Twilight), and until a way to help him return is found, he'll be staying here for a while.”

“A human? Ah ain’t never seen a human before,” chirped the little yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail.

“Me either. Is he some kind of alien?” the little orange pegasus with a hot pink-orange mane asked out of curiosity.

“Not necessarily, Scootaloo,” Rarity replied. “’Alien’ sounds harsh. 'Unexpected guest' is the more appropriate word.”

"Whoa, nelly," the yellow filly whispered in amazement.

“Now, girls, apologize!” she said in a commanding tone.

The three fillies hung their heads.

“We’re sorry,” they all said in unison.

The human smiled. Even though their little act of heroism was obtrusive and affronting, it was pretty amusing. Strangely cute, too. Like being attacked by a litter of puppies.

"Eh, it's okay. I thought that was pretty funny, actually."

However, they were not cheered up.

“Ugh. There goes our chance to get our “Hero” cutie marks,” the little pegasus moped. “Why is it so hard to get our cutie marks?!”

Connor raised his eyebrows. “I think you just got them.”

“WE DID??” they all asked in unison. Expressions full of hope, they instantly turned their heads around to look at their flanks.

Nothing.

“What—?” They turned back to the smiling human.

“Because you guys are already cuties!”

Ugh, as cheesy as that sounded, he had to say it. Giving compliments was his tool to making friends. It worked on everypony else, so it should work... right?

After a moment of staring at him, the little unicorn was brushing her hoof across the floor, blushing. “Oh! Well, thank you! Thank you, kindly...” she giggled bashfully.

“D’aww, shucks! Thank ya kindly, sir!” the yellow filly said.

“Feh!” the pegasus scoffed. “That’s nothing. Thanks for getting our hopes up. Wait, can we get cutie marks for being cute?”

Connor’s face twisted in confusion. “I’m sorry, but what's a ‘cutie mark’?”

“You don’t know what a cutie mark is??” Scootaloo gasped as if she was offended by his stupidity. “Where have you been lately?"

The other two fillies glared at her. Realizing her mistake, the orange pegasus smiled sheepishly.

“I believe what Scootaloo is trying to say is that a cutie mark is an emblem everypony gets when he or she discovers his or her talent or something that solely represents him or her,” the little unicorn said knowledgeably as if she were in school.

“Most ponies our age earn it, but…” the yellow filly gestured to her flank. “...We still haven’t earned ours yet.”

“Wait,” Connor turned to Rarity. “So the tattoo on your rear is a…'cutie mark'?"

“Yes, indeed!” She turned her flank at an angle for everypony to see. “Everypony gets one. I got mine after discovering my talent in giving things pizazz! But, what on earth, darling, is a ‘tattoo’?”

“In my world, it’s an image we imprint on our bodies... permanently.”

The human sensed a negative vibe and turned to the three young fillies, who had sly smiles on their faces.

“Annnnd!” he said loudly, gaining the fillies’ attention. “Did I mention that it hurts like hell just getting one? A small one for that matter?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Pfft! Hurt, shmurt! We can handle it!”

“Oh, really? Tell me, girls, have you guys ever gotten a shot from the doctor?”

Sweetie Belle’s eye’s shot open as she answered. “Oh! I have! So did Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. I hate that! It hurts so much!”

“Okay, now imagine the doctor giving you more than one shot… Repeatedly…. Really fast, nonstop… On the same spot... Poking and pricking, poking and pricking... And the needle is covered with black ink… Who knows if the tattoo artist remembered to replace the needle or not?”

The three fillies’ faces flushed in horror. Rarity shuddered in disgust. “Eeeeeww! A dirty needle?? Ugh, no tattoos for me, thank you very much! I’m perfectly thankful for my current image.”

“Onnnnnn second thought,” Scootaloo chuckled nervously. “I think I’d rather get my cutie mark without getting pricked by a needle over a thousand times.”

“That’s a great safe idea!” Sweetie Belle chirped.

“Ah couldn’t agree more,” Apple Bloom nodded.

Connor smiled, sighing in relief.

“Hey, uhhh... I never got your names.”

“I’m Scootaloo!” said the orange pegasus.

“I’m Sweetie Belle!” squeaked the little unicorn.

“Ah’m Apple Bloom!” said the bow-wearing, yellow earth pony. "But, we are known as..."

“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they chanted in unison.

“We work together to earn our cutie marks,” the little, white unicorn said.

“Sounds like... hard work,” the human expressed concern.

“It is!” grumped the pegasus. “Especially after you’ve tried to do it so many times. It’s so frustrating.”

“Oh, man.”

“I know! It stinks.”

“Oh, Rarity! I almost forgot!" Sweetie said, tugging her sister’s tail. "Do want to play dress up with us? We’re hoping we could get your opinion on how to look good so we could get our cutie marks in being models.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted once again in unison. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SUPERMODELS! YAY!”

“Sorry, Sweetie Belle," Rarity shook her head. "I have to complete an order for a very important client.”

“That’s what you said last time, Rarity! C’mon! Pleeeeeeeease?”

“Sweetie Belle, this order is so big and important, that it takes me more than a day to finish. The answer is ‘no’.”

“Awwww…” Sweetie Belle pouted. “C’mon, guys, my sister is too busy to help us with our cutie marks.”

They all hung their heads and walked slowly out of the room. However, before they left the room, they all turned to Rarity's guest and waved.

“See ya, Connor!”

“Later,” the human waved back.

They whispered among themselves as they left.

“Hehe, he called us ‘cuties’! That was very nice of him!”

Thank God that was over. So far, Connor was feeling optimistic about his luck in making friends. If he continued to keep it up, he would be friends with every pony in short time. Who would have thought making friends with ponies would be as easy as breathing? He walked up to the window to look outside. Ponies were walking in the streets as if they were having a normal and unexciting day, but something was odd about them. Either it was the dark messing with his vision, or he swore he saw ponies giving Rarity’s house pessimistic looks and talking to each other in a secretive manner.

What the hell was with those ponies? Whatever the reason, he knew he still had work to do. How he hated work.

To be continued…

Chapter V- New Kid in Town

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter V

Written and drawn by Ceehoff

“Did you miss me, hun?” purred a soothing voice.

Connor flinched awake.

Sleepily looking up, he saw that it was that same, beautiful brunette from earlier. Only this time, she was wearing a white, lacey bra and thong. She was sitting on a heart-shape bed lined with blood-red silken sheets. Rose petals were scattered on top. The teenager crossed his arms and eyed her suspiciously.

"What's wrong?" she asked coyly.

“Are you gonna peck my nose up into brain like you did last time?”

“Of course not, silly,” she winked. “I've got something even better.”

“Oh, really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in interest. "You sure about that?”

She leaned in close and her warm breath spilled onto his nose.

“I’m sure,” she whispered.

Breathing gently, she began to give his nose a love bite with her perfectly straight and white teeth. Her hot breath smelled sweet like strawberries. Connor melted in his place. She stopped, but never backed away. Then, she grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and yanked him down onto the bed with her.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Easy, ma'am," he smirked. "Getting a little impatient here, aren't we?"

"I can't wait any longer," she smiled as she put on... cat ears?

She resumed her business with him. As she did so, Connor's eye's rolled back as he embraced the touch of the beautiful woman.

“Ohhhh, sweet Lord! You are…are sooo amazing doi—Ow. Okay that hurt a little. Be careful next time. Don’t want a bust on my lov—Ow! Dang it! What the—OW! The fu—OW! Stop it! You doing it ag—OWW! Motherfu--!”

Connor flinched awake, literally screaming. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary happening around he sighed in relief.

Oop! His nose was itching. He lifted his hand up to his nose and scratched the surface, until a sharp pain suddenly stopped him. He yelped in surprise and pain. He noticed small speckles of blood on his fingers, and even when he touched his nose, it stung like it had multiple paper cuts on its surface.

How hell did?

Meow...

Then, he saw Opalescence standing directly next to him. It all became clear to him now. Opalescence was gnawing at his nose while he was sleeping. The cat from hell had a smug look on its face, taunting him. A vein popped in Connor’s head.

“That’s it, you putrid furball! YOU’RE DEAD!”

He dove at the furball.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!” the human screamed.

Rarity was so startled by the noise coming from upstairs, that she nearly dropped an egg she was about to fry for breakfast. She was lucky that she recovered it just before it hit the floor. Being the rather proper and clean mare, she did not wish to clean up an icky mess. Giving an egg a firm tap, she broke the shell and spilled its contents onto the frying pan.

A few minutes later, Connor slowly descended from the stairs. The smirking cat followed behind.

“Good Morning!" Rarity sang, turning to the human. "I hope you like eggs, becauwha-ha-HAAA!!” She saw the ghastly sight that resided on Connor's face, ornate with scratches and bites. It was like his face had been through a whirlwind of paper.

“Ow," he winced, hurting to even blink.

“Oh my heavens, darling! Whatever happened to your face??”

“What do you think has happened?” He pointed to the scratches. The cat sitting near him had a smirk on her face, showing off her work of 'art'. Damn that cat and its quick, little paws.

“Opalescence!” she scolded. “You should be ashamed of yourself! Treating our guest like that! The nerve of you! Today, you will be getting that bath I had reserved for tomorrow!”

The furball hung her head angrily, knowing that she had lost.

Connor 1 - Cat from Hell 2. (He still had a way to go to lead.)

The unicorn cleared her throat, turning to her houseguest. "So, Connor, do you like eggs?"

“Do I??" he asked, excited. "Yes, I do!"

“Excellent! Take a seat. They'll be ready in less than a minute.”

Connor walked over to the table placed in the middle of the kitchen and sat himself down. Fortunately for him, he had no problem sitting. The chairs and table were a bit smaller in size compared to what he had at home, but it wasn't dramatic. He shifted his rear in the chair, finding a comfortable spot.

It was a vast room like most kitchens. The walls were a light, baby blue, making the kitchen feel relaxing and less bright.

After he finished looking at the wallpaper, he saw Rarity at the stove, slipping some eggs off of the frying pan and onto a plate. Noticing that he was looking at her, she responded with a friendly smile. He looked away, trying not to stare for too long. After slipping the last egg off the pan, the unicorn approached the table carrying a plate of fried eggs with her magic. She set it carefully down in front of him and sighed with pride, admiring her work.

The two eggs that rested on the plate looked perfect. And by perfect, the texture of the eggs were smooth and glossy like it was depicted in the pictures on food menus. There were no burn marks at all. A small parsley leaf was placed right on the top on each egg yolk.

Oh, if only the restaurants back in his world made eggs look this idealistic and flawless.

Connor was about to dig in until he realized something on the table was missing. He leaned down to look underneath the table.

“What’s wrong? Is the parsley leaf too much?” Rarity asked, curious what he was doing.

“No, the parsley's fine, really! But... where’s the silverware?”

“The silverware?”

“Forks, knives, spoons?”

“Oh, of course! Sorry, darling,” she said, turning to the silverware drawer. “I hardly use silverware at all, because I use my magic to eat. A lot of unicorns do. I never knew why I bought them in the first place.”

She opened the drawer to find all of the silverware covered in a gray film of dust.

“Oh my goodness,” the tidy unicorn grimaced, lifting up a grimy fork. “What a display of much needed tender, loving care. Excuse me for a second.”

Grabbing a swatch of cloth, she wiped the filthy fork only to be met with the grating feel of a crusted layer of dust.

“Er... Just hold on for another second, if you would please?” she smiled sheepishly.

She dashed over to the sink, turned on hot water, and quickly scrubbed the measly fork.

Connor’s stomach was growling furiously. The eggs in front of him looked too delicious for him to withhold himself. His hands were trembling, tempted to simply pick up the eggs with his hands and shovel them into his mouth.

No, that was silly. If he wanted a better reputation with these ponies, he'd better show some manners, but, on the other hand, he also didn't want the eggs to grow cold. Nothing tasted worse than cold eggs.

Must…resist…eating…with…hands! Must…show…manners!! His arms were shaking furiously.

“There we go! All clean! Enjoy!” the purple-maned unicorn proclaimed, hovering fork over to the human's trembling hands. He grabbed the fork and bit it, thinking they were the eggs because of his unkempt mind. The force of the bite reverberated in his teeth, coursing through his skull.

“G’AAaaaaaah Owowowowowoww!”

Rarity turned from the sink. “Did you say something?”

“No…(ow)…” he said, choking back his pain. He dug the fork into the delectable egg and shoved it in his hungry mouth.

Oh, sweet Lord…

Rarity sat herself in a chair directly across from him as he ate. She quietly and patiently watched as he wolfed down her perfectly cooked eggs. She thought it queer to intently watch somepony eat, but how the human was eating looked pretty amusing. He was practically one of the few Rarity knew who could eat with silverware. Spike was the other.

The human slowed to a stop, noticing the unicorn staring at him. He swallowed the food that was in his mouth.

“Aren’t you gonna have anything?” he asked, stifling a belch.

“I’m fine, darling. I already ate,” she smiled. "Thank you for your consideration, though."

He was about to resume eating, but he couldn’t. Not with her staring at him. He peeked up and saw her sapphire-blue eyes fixed on him.

“Ermmm,” Connor asked. “Is there something on my face?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. It’s just... so strange.”

"What is?"

"The fact that a whole new species exists. So, there is life in the farthest reaches of space. My goodness! Plus, it is an honor to be able to shelter one of them," she smiled politely. "Twilight will be so full of questions about you the next time you meet her."

"Hmm..." he nodded gingerly.

"You won't mind telling me some of the things about your world, would you? I'm just as curious as she is."

"Uhhh..." he hesitated.

Man, what a broad subject. Where would he start?

"Well, we have politics and governments like you. We, uhhh, have a lifestyle like you. Annnnnnd weeeeeeeee... Man, where will I begin? Do I really have to explain everything in detail? I mean, as far as I know, your world is almost like mine."

"Almost?" she eagerly asked, being a junky for details.

"Sorry... I-I'm still pretty tired. Brain's still trying to develop," he said, weaseling himself from having to think.

"Oh... well, of course. Sorry, darling."

Then, Connor resumed eating. Being tired as he looked, he did not feel much like talking. He just wanted to eat.

"Well, when you have the time, I can't wait to hear what you have in store," she smiled. "Also, I will have to relay it to the others. In fact, I will have to go to the spa with Fluttershy real soon. Oh, I'm sure she'll be amazed at what kind of things you have back on your world. Oh! Is it possible that the animals you have on your world are different from ours? Oh, I bet she'll love to hear that as well! She's a real prodigy when it comes animals. The way she communicates with them... It's like she's a mystical creature in a pony's body. It's scary, yet very amazing! Even an untamable animal like Opalescence wouldn't stand a chance against her. I just don't know how she does it, but--."

However, the human's mind had reduced the sound of her talking to incoherent muffled yammering. Ever since the white unicorn mentioned her name, it made him remember that moment when he first met her.

The way she mended his shoulder after he hurt it... No female had ever done something so nice and careless to him, albeit his mother. It was the kind attention he wanted from a girl in a long time. Her presence was charming, yet so strange. In her eyes, he could see himself. Shy, frail, unconfident, scared, self-conscious... It was like looking in a mirror. Only his reflection was more of an adorable pony with a long pink mane and tail, a yellow coat, wings, and big, sad, crystalline, blue eyes.

He shook his head fiercely. What the hell was he thinking? Why was he acting like this around a pony? A freaking pony, for Christ's sake! He should be thinking that way towards a human girl, not an animal.

But... that pony selflessly helped him. What kind of reaction did he get human girls? Nothing.

On the contrary, he would get more reactions from them if he would just get himself out of self pity and get the hell out into the world. He had every opportunity and ability to expand his circle of friends, but his lack of confidence got the best of him.

Still, Fluttershy...

"Connor?"

"Huh? What? I'm not in love with her!" he blurted out before he slapped his palms flat onto his mouth.

"I... wasn't going to ask you that," Rarity said. "I was just wondering if you were going to finish your eggs. They'll grow cold."

"Oh! Sorry, I was just... my mind just dozed off. It's still morning, so (ha ha!) you know."

"Wait... why did you think I was going to ask that?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"Is it because...?" she leaned closer to him.

"Hey, is there any salt?"

"Oh, silly me!" she said as she used her magic to open the spice cabinet and levitate a salt shaker in front of him. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he grinned.

Before Rarity was going to ask again, Connor quickly applied the salt onto his eggs and resumed eating, humming nervously.

"These are really nice eggs, Rarity," he said.

"Thank you, darling," the unicorn nodded in appreciation.

She said nothing more after that, but snuck a closer look at his cheeks, which were glowing with a hot pink.

At first, she looked suspicious, but then, she smiled.

After breakfast, Connor went back over to his bed to put on his sneakers.

“Hey, Rarity, I’m gonna go visit Twilight and Spike!” he called.

“Okay, dearie! Have fun!”

"Heh... 'dearie'," he grinned, enjoying how it sounded.

He opened the door. He was about to blindly walk out, until he found a cream-colored pony with an orange wavy mane and tail standing in front of him just at the doorway. Her hoof was in air, like she was going to knock on the door. Connor opened it just at the nick of time. Seeing the human, the mare’s eyes shot open in fear, and she was gone in an eye blink. Well, that was discouraging.

He sighed half-heartedly before he resumed his way outside.

As he walked, he could not help but admire the weather. It was another perfect day outside, even if it was not cloudy. He always enjoyed cloudy days, because they made him feel cozy, indoors or outdoors. The air smelled musty and damp because of the storm from last night. The dirt ground was damp from the rain.

He was approaching the center of Ponyville. He could heard a vast crowd of ponies from behind a building around the corner. However, just as he turned the corner and into the street, they were gone, making it look like a ghost town once again. Did they all have some kind of pony sense that alerted them whenever some non-pony comes near? It did not matter. Sense or no sense, they were just going to run from him anyway. He could just stand out in the open and proclaim that he was harmless, however, being the self-conscious mess he was, he did nothing.

He was about to continue walking when he heard a clunking and clanging sound coming from a kitchenware vendor. His eyes scanned it slowly, careful not to pass by an inch of it too quickly. A sudden shift in movement made his eyes turn quickly to a pile of pots and pans. He walked slowly toward it, and it moved again. What was that? Could it be a thief? If it was a thief, Connor would catch him and hand him over to the authorities. From them on, everypony would see that he was not a menace. He grinned, embracing his little daydream. The pile moved again. He licked his lips and started tiptoeing closer to it. He raised his arms up to his face level, reading his arms for snatching.

Suddenly, something crawled out, which startled the human. He whipped, punched, and chopped the air in front of him, before taking a closer look at the "thief".

It was a small baby pony wearing a pan lid on its head. He rolled his eyes, insecure that he got himself scared by an infant. The baby pony playfully pounded its little hooves on the pot like it was a drum. Little coos and flatulent sounds escaped from its small, plump, drool-soaked lips.

Connor could not help but smile at the little tyke. The little scamp did not seem to have a care in the world and was easily entertained by everything. Then, the little baby pony stopped its little drum solo and noticed the tall human. Connor, acting as gently and friendly as he could, knelt to the baby’s eye level and waved. The baby’s face began to wrinkle and twist, like he was about to cry.

Oh, God! Please don’t cry! Please don’t cry! Please don’t, please don’t, please, please, please, please!! the human clenched his jaw.

A loud noise trumpeted from the baby’s small lungs and Connor flinched. It’s all over.

Wait…wait a second…

The baby was laughing! It was a big one, too. It's little belly shifted with each breath it made. It made the human smile like a moron.

Oh, the joy of a baby’s laugh! It made him chuckle himself.

Then, the baby rolled over onto its belly, planting its leg onto the ground before pushing itself off of the ground so it could start crawling to him. Its little forelegs made high-pitched clops as it crawled up to him. When it got to his sneakers, the baby reached up to him. He lost his balance because his hooves were not there to support the front of his body. The baby fell gently on top of Connor's right sneaker. It looked up to him, cooing happily before waving his sausage-like hoofs in the air, asking to be picked up.

How could he refuse?

He bent over and gently wrapped his hands around the baby's tubby torso. He lifted him up to his side. The pony was as light as a beagle puppy. He looked around, glancing at the dark windows of the buildings and houses. Wherever the baby's mother was, he hoped she was watching. The baby grunted frustratedly, wanting the human's attention.

“Hey there, little guy! Havin’ fun with the pots? Acting like a drummer? Hmm?”

The baby pony giggled and made a happy flatulent noise with its chubby lips, spraying the human's face with saliva.

“Where’s your mother? She should be around here somewhere.”

Right on cue. He heard the sound of a pony tearing around inside a building. He also heard a panicked female voice.

The door slowly creaked open, and a frightened face of a mare with a baby blue mane poked out. Her head snapped left and right until she saw Connor holding her precious bundle. She gasped loudly and was darting over to Connor with an elated and relieved expression. The human felt a little spark of joy ignite in his soul. He finally had done it! He earned somepony’s friendship! He held the baby out in front of him toward the mother.

“My baby!” she exclaimed.

“Here you go, ma’am! I guess this is yours? A little word of advice, you should really keep--."

“Gimme!!” She snatched the little tyke right out of Connor’s hands and darted right back into the house.

…That was it?

No “thank you”?

No gratitude at all?

No token of appreciation?

Nothing??

Uh, you're welcome! You grabby, ungrateful... he thought glumly.

He slung his hands into his pockets and turned to trudge toward the library.

Connor saw the library just ahead. It was literally a tree house.

No, a house-tree.

Technically, the house’s exterior was a tree. It was like looking at a special apartment that belonged to some expensive, nature-themed resort. Also, it reminded him of those Keebler elves who made cookies in a tree.

We walked up to the door and gave it a knock. A few seconds later, Twilight opened the door.

"Hey, Twilight," the human smiled.

"Oh! Connor!" the unicorn replied. "What's going on?"

“I’m just gonna hang here for a while. You won’t mind, right?”

“Of course not! Come in! You came in at the right time.”

The human entered, scanning the interior. For a library, it was very roomy. The room was cylindrical and had a small stand in the exact middle. The shelves that held the many books looked like they were carved into the walls, making long, soft edged holes. The ceiling was towering high and adapting to the tree's movements of growth.

"WHOA! What the--?" the human yelped as he was involuntarily lifted into the air by the unicorn's magic. He was yanked through the air and placed roughly on a stool near the stand in the middle of the room. His head spun from the sudden force of Twilight's magic. He rubbed his rear, which had hurt from being dropped into the hard chair. A burst of white light exploded at the side of his eyes, startling him. After the white light, Twilight was in front of him, holding a scroll and quill with her magic. Her eyes were wide open and eager.

"Twilight, what--?"

"Don't talk, just answer the questions," she simply said, looking as excited as a child on Christmas morning. "Oh, this is so exciting! Life existing in the cosmos! Wow! Somehow, I knew it was possible! I have to admit, if you hadn't showed up, then I would have doubted it for good."

"Uhhhhh... You're welcome?"

"Now, tell me, what is your world like? Is it the same? Is it nearly the same? Is it different? Is it totally different?"

"It's... nearly similar."

"Care to explain in detail?"

"Um, well..."

"What kind of politics do you have? What religious beliefs? What races? Ethnics? Technology? Anything!"

"Well..."

"Also, after this, I have some questions about the details of your trip. Which I put you through, that is..."

"Uhh..."

"Does it hurt? Does it make you feel woozy? I am just so full of questions right now!" she smiled brightly.

“Hey!” called a familiar voice from upstairs. "What's up, Connor?"

“Hey, Spike! Nothing much at the moment. What about you?”

“Just hanging around in my room. I finished all of my chores today! It was a really short list.”

“Sweet! Mind if I join you?”

"Heck, yeah," the dragon grinned.

"Wait!" Twilight stopped the human from going upstairs. "What about--?"

"Come on, Twilight, give the guy a break," Spike said. "The last thing he needs is a one thousand question questionnaire."

"Spike, please. You're over-exaggerating," the unicorn said, unimpressed. "It's not going to take that long."

"Spike, it's okay," Connor said to the young dragon. "Just give me a moment. I'll try to not take too long."

The dragon sighed. "Suit yourself."

"Besides, I think you might want to hear this, too," he said as he tapped the floor with his foot, telling him to sit down.

The human shifted his rear in his seat, making himself a little more comfortable in his place. He turned back to Twilight.

"How about I tell you? Well, first off, my planet is like yours in lots of ways. Houses, shelter, necessities, business, politics, you name it. And, what's different, uhhh... Well, we are technologically a lot more advanced than you guys. I mean, a lot."

"How?"

Connor itched his thighs underneath his jeans, trying to think of something, until his hand touched a rectangular lump protruding from underneath his jeans.

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he reached in his pocket. "My iPhone! I completely forgot about this thing."

"An eye-what?" Spike tilted his head in utter confusion.

"An iPhone. It's a phone, only ten times better!"

"What's a phone?" Twilight asked.

Connor stared at them.

Wow... these guys are really behind!

"Well, a phone, also known as a 'telephone', is an invention made by a human named Alexander Graham Bell many years ago. It was used to communicate with people from far away."

"Ahhh! Like letters," the purple unicorn nodded.

"Only with telephones, its always instant and way more efficient than sending letters back and forth. That takes too long."

"It's faster?"

"Way faster. You could call anyone, er, anypony you like as long as he or she has a telephone."

"Oh," the unicorn said in disappointment. "I was going to ask you how it works, but I'm afraid that nopony has a... 'telephone'."

"I'll keep it simple: It's like talking to a pony face-to-face, only the pony you are talking to is not really there in front of you."

"Like having a conversation behind a wall?"

"Close, but the pony you are talking to is someplace else like in a different country or a different town."

"Really? Just like that? Talking to a pony who is physically there, but not present?" Twilight's asked with her eyebrows rising high on her forehead.

"That's pretty much it."

Spike excitedly nudged Twilight in the side. "You know, we could do that for sending in your friendship reports instead of sending scrolls."

"That sounds nice, but it wouldn't be the same," she replied.

"This particular phone, however," Connor resumed. "Does more than just make calls. It plays music, too. Pretty much the reason why this was invented. Jobs is a freaking genius!"

"Wait, it plays music, too??" Twilight gawked. "Well, I have to say, that's impressive! I didn't know that you could make vinyl record players that small! Wait... but, where's the needle?"

"Well... It doesn't really play vinyl records, per se, but it could play digitalized versions of records, which we will talk about later."

"Can you show us?" Spike asked, eager to see what would happen.

"Why the hell not?" the human smiled.

What a good feeling! People, well, living beings were actually interested in what he was doing! He would kill for this kind of attention back on his earth.

He pressed the black, glassy button and the screen flicked on. His fingered tapped and brushed over the screen, trying to pull up his music player.

"Is that light coming from that thing?" the young dragon gasped in awe.

"Well, yeah, I mean..."

Suddenly, the dragon was right next to him, looking at the bright, eerie glow. Connor could feel the dragon's jaw drop on top of his forearm.

"Whoa!" he gasped in awe. "What is that??"

"We call it a 'screen'," the human grinned pridefully.

"Holy guacamole! Look at that picture! It's--! WHOA! What happened?! It's gone! You touched it, and now it's gone!"

"This particular screen is called a 'touch-screen', which means you can touch wherever, and... it obeys your command."

"Twilight! Look at this! C'mere, c'mere! You gotta see this!" he said as he tugged the unicorn's hoof, hopping in his place like a kangaroo.

It was Twilight's turn to be amazed.

"Remarkable!" she gasped as she eyed the human's finger making contact with the screen.

"Smile," Connor said quickly.

"Wha--?"

POOF! A bright, white light flashed in Twilight's face.

"There!" the human smiled. "I just took your picture."

Spike took the iPhone from him and planted his snout against the screen, looking closely at the photo.

"Bwahahahahaaaaa! Look at you, Twilight! You're just so-- BAH-hahahahahaaaa!!" the young dragon guffawed.

"Wha--? Who--? I duh..." she slurred as she shook the dizziness that resulted from the iPhone's bright light. When her vision cleared, she could see a face glowing from the screen. A rather half-stoned, half-mentally stupid purple face with its lower jaw protruding from the face, showing a slack jaw. The face's eyes were half open like they were just waking up from a long sleep.

Soon, the human and the dragon were rolling on the floor, laughing uncontrollably while Twilight's wandering mind was trying to wrap itself around what the heck just happened.

"S-stop it! That's not funny! I--! You--! You caught me off-guard, that's all! Stop laughing right now!"

The human took a huge breath of air after losing so much of it because of the laughing. "Yeah, it has a camera, too."

"Yes, I can see that now. Very... impressive. Now, you were going to show us how it plays music?"

"Okay, okay," he said, still snickering. "Do you guys like metal?

Spike immediately stopped laughing. “What’s metal?”

“Wait, Y…” Connor looked at him. “You don’t know what metal is?”

“Nope!”

“What about you, Twilight?"

“I haven’t,” she replied.

"Well, you ought to at least heard of metal, right?"

The only answer the human got was a stupidly clueless look from both of them.

“…Hard rock?” he asked.

“Oh, I’ve heard of rock!" Spike shot his claw into the air. "I’ve heard of that, but 'hard rock' I've never heard of.”

Connor stared at the two being sitting in front of him. So they had never heard of metal at all... What a world...

Wait, he said to himself that he was willing to enlighten people who had never heard of metal. This was his chance.

“Well, guys, I think it’s time for a little enlightenment!”

“Okay?” Twilight said awkwardly.

“You've both heard of rock, so let’s start with ‘hard rock’. ‘Hard rock’ is…how should I put this simply? Hard rock sounds rougher than normal rock. The electrifying sound of it just makes you want to shout from the top of your lungs and from the bottom of your throat. The guitar sounds a like it has more of a buffeting punch into it. It’s enough to get you all wound up and feel like a warrior."

“Interesting,” the purple unicorn hummed, stroking her chin with her hoof.

Connor scrolled through his music library until he came across what he wanted. "Here. I'm only going to play you guys a sample of hard rock. This is from a band called, 'AC/DC', and they are the best examples of hard rock."

"Very well," Twilight nodded in consent.

The human tapped "Thunderstruck" with his thumb, and it played through the speakers. The two non-humans both flinched just when they heard the loud sound emerge from the tiny device. As the song was playing, they stared at the iPhone with their mouths agape, not believing what their ears were hearing. Connor pressed "pause".

"So? What do you think?" he asked.

“Whoa...” Spike said. "That is amazing! I never knew you guys were so advanced like that! Plus, the song sounded neat."

"Remarkable!" Twilight exclaimed with her mouth agape. "Yes, the song was interesting."

“Next comes ‘metal'," Connor continued his 'lesson'. "It sounds heavier than hard rock. Maybe a little tougher. The guitar sounds like it has more of a gut to it. It sounds bad, tough, unrelenting, and yet all so musical. It really gets your head moving, which is where ‘head banging’ comes in.”

He played Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Likewise, he stopped halfway.

“Eh? You guys like?”

“I like! For sure!” Spike said. "Sounds cool!"

Twilight said nothing, but nodded in thought.

Connor was scrolling to the next song. “Now, we walk into ‘heavy metal’. It sounds much heavier than metal. The guitar has more tendency to make noise a little more than music. In my opinion, it adds more of a beat to it. The singer tends to focus more on volume more than voice. Sometimes you can’t have both of them, but if you practice a lot, then it is possible. The drums sound a little faster. Now, listen.”

He played Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”, stopped halfway, and waited for approval.

“Sounds pretty loud,” Spike raised an eyebrow.

Twilight's expression became less interested as well as uncomfortable. What's next? she thought. It gets even louder?

“And finally, we stop at ‘death metal’," the human said, acting rather scholarly. “Now death metal is all out on the noise, but twice on the epicness. Most people see death metal as just noise, all out of sync, a pain to listen to. I have to admit, though, some death metal really is just noise. That is why I only listen to the good ones. I get really picky when it comes to death metal. I like for it to sound somewhat musical, yet still provide the epic, electrifying aura of awesomeness. Plus, I see death metal bands as the ones who are the most instrumentally talented in a world full of digitalized music, lazy computer enhanced vocals, and rap. The singer sings in a tiger-like growl, the drums are at full speed, and the guitar sounds like thunder, striking incessantly.”

Spike shifted in his seat, feeling an excited tingle rush down his spine scales.

“BUT," Connor said. "I wish there were amplifiers around here. It sounds much better that way.”

“Oh!” Spike pointed to the closet. “There’s one in there!”

“Really? Oh man, that’s sweet! Why’d you have one in the first place?”

He opened the doors to the closet and found an electric guitar lying against the amplifier.

“That,” Spike answered. “But (heh!) that was never meant to last, though. I tried to write a song for Rarity, I had Twilight listen to it, and then she said for me to never play guitar again. I guess it did sound pretty awful."

"Pretty awful??" Twilight eyed him.

"Okay, okay! So, it sounded really awful! Geez, Twilight, thanks for making me feel better about myself. But yeah, I’d rather stick to the piano. I sound better that way.”

Spike flinched. Did he just say he was writing a song for Rarity? Even though Connor already knew, Spike was afraid that he spilled the beans about his feelings for Rarity.

“Um, I mean I was writing a song for…uh… Oh, forget it. Connor… since I trust you enough that you could keep a secret, I need to tell you a secret.”

“Oh? What is it?” he asked, stifling a rude snicker.

The dragon pointed a firm claw at Twilight. "And you, too! Got it?"

"Spike, I already..." She was cut off by the dragon's piercing glare. Rolling her eyes, she sighed, "My lips are sealed."

He wagged a claw for them to draw closer to him. He was satisfied with the distance between them. He wagged his claw again, telling them to come even closer. He was still not satisfied. Closer...

"I have a crush on Rarity," he spoke softly.

Connor nearly burst out laughing at how ridiculous he was acting. How ironic how he already knew the dragon's dark secret... Still, he kept his poker face, so he would not hurt the little lover boy’s feelings.

“No wayyyyy! Rarity??" the human gasped.

“Please don’t tell anyone! I’ve been keeping it a secret…ever since Twilight spilled the beans about it," he said, shooting a glare at his adoptive sister.

“Your secret's safe with me," the human said, raising a hand up to his face level.

“Pinkie Pie Promise?”

“What?”

“’Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye’?”

Connor reiterated the promise. That sealed the deal.

“Cool!” Spike smiled. “Now continue to your ‘death metal’, please!”

“Right!”

He dragged the amplifier out and plugged it in. He found other end of the input cord. Hopefully it would fit in Connor’s iPhone. Well, by Jove, it did! It was a big surprise that it did.

“And now, Spike and Twilight,” Connor puffed his chest out in prideful fashion. “Experience death metal in full, high quality sound! Here is Cannibal Corpse’s ‘Hammer Smashed Face’!”

He hit the play button…

BAM! BAM! BAM! BADA-BAM! BAM! BAM! BADA-BAM! BAM! BAM! BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!

The wall of the wind coming from the speakers literally blew them back against the wall. Their cheeks were flapping furiously, revealing their teeth, plain as day. Connor was right next to speaker out of the way of the blast. He was playing his air guitar, head banging happily, not realizing the turmoil the other two were in.

"Connor!" Twilight shouted through the blast. "It's too loud! Stop the music!"

He could not hear them. The amplifier continued to hurl a merciless pillar of deep, raw growling and distorted electric guitar strumming at the two non-humans. The purple unicorn tried to scream, but the wind clogged her throat, nearly choking her. She had had enough. Fighting the huge distraction that was beating against her face, she concentrated her magic on the power cord. When she sensed that she got a hold of it, she telekinetically yanked the cord out of the socket, shutting the amplifier off. The pillar of musical force stopped and the two slid down the wall like uncooked eggs that had been thrown at the wall.

“Aw man!” Connor whined. “Come oooonnnn! That was the best part!”

Spike slowly stood up like a zombie rising from the grave. His scales were ruffled, and his eyes were wide open. Twilight rose as well, looking as haggard as an overworking soccer mom. Her mane was severely ruffled and tousled.

“That…was…AWESOME!” the young dragon screamed.

Twilight, however, was on the brink of hysteria.

“What in Celestia’s name was THAT?!”

“Death metal!” Connor beamed.

"That noise?!"

"Well, I did say that it may sound like noise as a precaution..."

Twilight was on the brink of screaming again, until she forceful calmed herself. She took a deep breath as she tried to fix her mane. “I have to say, that was very interesting, but I also have to say, I’m not very enthusiastic about it. I just don’t see myself listening to it.”

"Awww... Twilight!" he cooed sympathetically, but then he shrugged. “Well, like they always say, ‘It’s not for everyone.’”

“It's not. Now, please…PLEASE,” Twilight emphasized. “If you are going to play that 'death metal' thing again, do not play it that loud again.”

He rolled his eyes. Another lightweight... Glorious. However, if he was going to stay here, he would might as well try his best to cope with it.

"Okay, Twilight," he said.

"Good! Okay, tell me more about your world."

The human took a deep breath.

"Okay, here goes... It may not sound absolutely one-hundred percent accurate, but I'll do my best to make it that way."

"It's fine. Just tell me what you know," the unicorn nodded, being considerate. She lifted her scroll and quill with her magic.

"Here goes..."

Hours flew by like minutes as the human spoke about many things. Even though he said earlier that his world was much like the world he was in now, there were so many things that Twilight and Spike had never heard of. He talked about cars, trucks, phones, televisions, computers, the internet, music, planes, trains, the economy, currency, what kind of food humans eat, the government, countries; he talked about everything he could think of. However, he did not want to ramble on too much on each category. Instead, he only stated the most basic things he could think of. Well, that was based on his definition of "basic".

"Annnd... that's pretty much it as far as I know," the human concluded.

"Really? That's it?"

"I guess so."

"Wow! There's just so much I have never even heard of before! This is amazing! Out of this world... literally!"

"I'm glad," he smiled, feeling tired from all the talking he just did.

"I just filled up six pages of information! I have to say, this is unlike any other research I've come across. Wait until Princess Celestia hears about this! Which reminds me, Spike I may need your help helping me send all of this to the Princess."

“Okay!” The dragon replied, hopping off of his seat. His rump cringed in stiffness from sitting down for so long. “I’ll be right back, Connor.”

Twilight and Spike descended the stairs and walked up to the desk near a large pane window. She wrapped all the sheets into one scroll and fastened it with a red ribbon. The ribbon had a golden badge with an image of a horseshoe on it. Spike grabbed the scroll and held it in front of his face. He inhaled deeply. When he exhaled, green fire shot from his puckering lips, engulfing the scroll. As the scroll burned, it dissipated into a magical cloud of ash and flew out the window like a guided missile.

“There, now my research project is sent! Thank you, Spike!”

“No problem! Just doing do I do best.” He walked back up the stairs. Twilight pulled out a book from the shelf and sat in her comfy chair to read.

Just outside her window, three dark figures peeked in. They were cloaked in blood-red cloaks with golden flourishes and ominous hoods. There was an image on upside-down crown imprinted on the backs of the cloaks and areas near their flanks.
They peered in through the window for a little longer, and then turned to each other, nodding.

“Tell Lord Hellfire that we have our leverage to Celestia,” one of the ponies spoke.

"Right," they all said in unison.

To be continued…

Chapter VI- Love and Violence

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter VII- A Moment with the Crusaders

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter VII

Written and drawn by Ceehoff

Connor woke up. His back was pressed and tight like a trampoline from sleeping on the grass. His eyes were sticky with sleep. It seemed a lot darker than from…how long ago? He pulled his iPhone out from his pocket and flicked it on. It was six o’ clock in the afternoon, but he was not sure if his clock was right. He transported to Ponyville through a lightning bolt, which Twilight Sparkle had set off without even knowing. She was only a filly when it happened. The time could be different in Equestria.

The groggy human looked at his surroundings as he tried to regain his memory of why he was sleeping out in the open. The sky was a lot easier on his eyes with its orange sorbet color, turning butter yellow near the area where the sunset was. Dark, purple clouds crawled over the sun like snakes. His mind buzzed as he tried to figure out what made him sleep out there and why. He placed his hands on the ground to push himself up, until his hand brushed something soft. It felt like long, smooth hair. He turned and saw it was a light pink mane that belonged to a yellow pegasus sleeping beside him. Connor flinched in surprise. What was she doing there?

Wha-what’s going on? he thought. What happened? And why was I sleeping next to Fluttershy? Did I…..drink??

Connor put his hand up to his mouth and exhaled into his palm. After a couple of sniffs, he realized it smelled like more like nap breath than alcohol breath.

Wait, do ponies even have alcohol? he wondered. They should. I mean, the hell if I should know.

It hit him. Earlier today, he had decided to join Fluttershy while she was relaxing on the slope of the hill. They talked and talked, until they had worn themselves out.

She was curled into a yellow, furry ball of cuteness. Her mane lied gracefully over her hooves and the grass. Her thick eyelashes blew slightly in the weak wind. A little smile was visible on her relaxed face. It was quite a sight Connor had gotten used to. He was relieved that this was not a result from some crude liquid he imbibed or something crude like that. Also, he was most certainly glad that nothing drastic happened between them.

A pony and a human...

Sure, Fluttershy was adorable, and he wanted to be with her, but that did not mean he was going to... Oh, God, that would be weird. With a pony?? He was not that kind of person who would do that sort of thing. That would be weird a f--.

Connor felt something wrap around his forearm. Then, something warm, soft, and fuzzy rubbed against it. The human looked down at his arm and saw Fluttershy nuzzling his arm with her cheek. Her eyes were still closed, therefore she was not awake yet. The poor little thing, not realizing what she was doing.

However, it sure did not feel awkward to him. He blushed a bright red and his skin bubbled with content. His cheeks started to ache from the smile that smeared on his face. She hummed contently as she continued to sleepily nuzzle his forearm. Oh, God, she looked so adorable that he wanted to kiss her!

...

His eyes shifted left and right. Did he really just think of that? Oh, Lord, what was wrong with him? Feeling that way around a pony.

A nice pony...

A really adorable pony...

A freaking adorable pony...

Oh, what the hell. Why not? Nopony else is watching. It was just him and her. All alone. Still, alone as they are, he still did not dare to do anything drastic. Sure, he could kiss her, but not on the lips. That would be really weird. What was next? Him having...? Oh, God.

No. All he was going to be doing was to kiss her on the cheek. Maybe the forehead. Yes, the forehead was the better choice. Kissing on the cheek was only a step closer to an even more intimate kiss. He did not want to get more intimate than that. Just an innocent, secretive kiss on the forehead.

Using his hand on his other arm, he gently pushed aside her mane from her forehead. He purposely combed his finger through her smooth, silky mane. Her hair ran through smoothly through his fingers like cream. Connor slowly leaned in, trying not to disturb her. Her leaned in closer…

Closer...

Her forehead was five inches away. He puckered his lips.

Four inches…

Three inches…

Two inches…

Two and a half inches… He felt the warm aroma surrounding her…

Closer…

Suddenly, Fluttershy gasped and backed away. She blushed in shame.

Dammit! thought Connor.

“Oh! I--I’m so sorry!" she squeaked. "I had--I had no idea that I was... Oh my goodness…”

She saw the human’s lips. Fear slithered up the human’s spine. She caught him with his pants down. (Figuratively.)

“What were you...?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“Uh…I…I-I was trying to blow a leaf off your mane. Stupid thing, getting into someone’s lovely mane!” he smiled nervously.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Th-thank you."

“Well, that was fun!” the human exclaimed as he stood up. "That was a nice little talk we had."

“Uh, yes! It was... That is, if you, um, thought it was.”

“I did.”

“O-okay!”

“I’ll, uhh..." he said, scratching his neck. "See you next time?"

"Yes. Next time," she smiled.

"Great! So... Bye!" he waved.

"Good-bye, Connor," she blushed.

The little pegasus sat silently as she watched him walk away. His rhythm was off from just waking up from a solid nap, along with the fact that he was walking up the hill. He disappeared into the walls and darkness of the forest.

She was alone.

She rolled over onto her back, cuddled in the grass, and looked up to the orange sky, ornate with glowing yellow clouds. She grunted in shame.

Oh, stupid, stupid Fluttershy! she blushed. You’ve just made a fool out of yourself. You act like such a little school-filly! This is the umpteenth time you’ve let your feelings get the best of you! Now he’s going to think that you’re crushing on him. Don’t even think for a second that you two are going to be together. He’s a human. You’re a pony. It’s never going to work out between you two, and you know it! What were you thinking, you silly, silly, little foal?

She winced when she thought of it. There really was no chance that they were going to be together as a legitimate couple. They looked so different. They were different. Yet…

What do you know? She argued with herself. Sure, we may be different, but there’s something about him that just convinces me that we are the same. Also, he was very kind and gentle to me when we first met. It was something that no stallion or colt had done to me. Even if they did, they still wouldn’t match Connor’s kindness. Besides... Just earlier... He actually looked like he was going to... to...

Her cheeks became hot. She brought her hooves up in front of her face, staring at them. She knew she touched him with those hooves. She had touched him before when she tended to his arm, but this touch was different. It had more affection. There was more feeling.

She hugged herself with her forelegs, feeling his presence. If a dragon like Spike could crush on a unicorn like Rarity, Fluttershy crushing on a human would only be fair, right?

She giggled happily as she continued to hug herself.

Connor’s feet made crushing noises as he walked over the leaves, smiling brightly.

"That turned out better than I thought," he muttered happily.

Such a sweet filly. She was pleasant to be around, adorable, graceful, very kind, and gentle.

Suddenly, his train of thought yielded. He pressed his fingers sharply onto his forehead.

"Damn it..." he muttered. "What is wrong with me? Just what the hell drove me to think it was okay to do that? To kiss her? I shouldn't be acting like this around an animal... I should act like this around a girl. A human girl. Not an animal..."

He stopped in his tracks, taken back by what he had just said.

"Well, 'animal' would sound a little too strong. Fluttershy's a good per... pony. She has a good soul. 'Animal' just sounds so... soulless..."

Suddenly, something slammed into the ground directly in front of him. Connor jumped at the sudden noise. At his feet was a little, orange pegasus wearing a helmet and a belt. After much pulling and yanking, the little foal's face escaped from the dirt, leaving a legitimate imprint of her face.

“OW! Unnnnngh! Bad idea! Bad idea!” Scootaloo groaned while rubbing her helmet. "Ugh, there goes our bungee jumping cutie marks."

After brushing the dirt off of her face, she saw two, tall legs in front of her.

“Oh hey! Connor! What's up?” she said, still staggering from the aftermath of her fall.

“Finnnne..." he said, still confused over what just happened. "But what’s up with you?”

“Bungee-jumping, but I guess you can see how that turned out.” She looked up to the tree and called, “Crusaders! It’s a no-go!”

“D’ohhhhhh, shucks!” Apple Bloom poked her head out of from the tree. “That would've been so much fun. Oh, howdy, Connor!”

“Hey.”

Sweetie Belle poked her head out last. “Hi, Connor! Whatcha doing out here?”

“Just paid Fluttershy a visit,” he responded.

“Oh, that’s nice! How’s she doing?”

“She's, uhhh... Doing fine."

"Good!"

"Is this what you guys do everyday?"

"Every day of the week," Scootaloo replied. "A cutie mark waits for nopony!"

Apple Bloom pulled out a notebook, gripped a pencil in her teeth, drew a big line across it.

"Well, that'th off the litht! Tho much fer bungee jumpin'. Pluth, that'th the latht one."

"What?? No way!" the little pegasus barked. "That list ended wayyy too quickly!"

"I agree," Sweetie Belle nodded. "We need to think up of more things to do to get our cutie marks. Everypony, to the clubhouse!"

"Oh!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, dropping her pencil. She leapt out of the tree and landed directly in front of Connor. "Would ya like ta come along? We might need some outside thoughts."

"I don't see why not. I don't really have anything else to do, anyway."

"Cool! Follow us," Scootaloo pointed.

About thirty yards away from him was a large clubhouse, built just a pony's height above the ground. A small step ladder trailed up to a clubhouse that looked like a legitimate house, complete with windows, shingles, shutters, a door, and a small balcony. Damn!

He climbed up the step ladder and walked through the front door. It was definitely a sight on the inside of the clubhouse as it was on the outside. The walls were decorated with drawings of cutie marks and other colored pictures. A convenient little table was placed on the center of the floor. The windows were lined with curtains. It was like walking inside a real house.

"This is nice," Connor nodded.

“Thanks!” Apple Bloom beamed. “Ah fixed the place up mahself.”

“You did all of this?”

“Eeyup!” she smiled proudly.

“Shiii-- I mean, Whaaaaat? Dang! That's awesome! You've got some talent."

“Thanks, but ah wouldn’t say it is mah talent. It’s more of a hobby.”

Connor looked around again. “Hobby” she said? That was bullsh...

“So, Crusaders! What shall we try next?” Scootaloo sat in a chair at the table. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom joined.

“Toy boating?” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof.

“Too boring! Anything else?”

“Jugglin'?” Apple Bloom suggested.

“Kinda lame. No.”

“It’s not lame! Jugglin' shows that one has excellent hoof-eye coordination!”

“Meh, I dunno. I’d rather do something that’s exciting and awesome! Like skydiving!”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” asked Sweetie Belle, raising an eyebrow.

“Not if you have the right equipment and the guts to do it.”

“For little fillies like us, that seems a little over-the-top, don’t you think?”

“Not for me! Rainbow Dash said to do always things over-the-top if you want to be awesome like her! I know I want to! She’s my hero! I’ll do anything to be just like her.”

“That certainly does sound like her: a bit over-confident and overly ambitious,” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

“What are you, a dictionary? And, it does not sound over-confi…whatever! I guess you don't want be great, then."

“Of course I want to be great! It's just...”

“Oh, really?” she said as she placed her elbow on top of the table. “What’s stopping you, chicken?”

Sweetie Belle pounded her little hoof on the table, affronted by Scootaloo’s pompousness, “Okay, then! I’ll start making the parachutes with my sewing skills, and then we will skydive! We’ll see who’s the real chicken then!”

Apple Bloom intervened. “Um, Sweetie Belle. A little reminder: ya can’t really sew. Ah mean, when you made the costumes for our performance at the talent show, ah could’ve sworn mah leg was about to fall sleep, mah costume was so tight.”

“I can sew! I was just a little rusty back then! It has been a while since I’ve sewn something.”

“Sure,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “What about those masks you made to match our capes? They sure had 'rusty' written all over them, if you ask me.”

“It’s not easy, you know! I’d like to see you do it!”

“I’d rather not, ‘cuz it isn’t awesome enough.”

“'Isn’t awesome enough’?! Rarity makes it awesome! She defines awesome!”

“Well, sure! For fashion, that is. But, it’s not clearly as awesome as being really fast!”

“It is so!”

“It is not!”

“It is so!”

“It is not!”

“Crusaders!” Apple Bloom barked as she shoved both of her front hooves into their mouths. “We ave-hay a est-gay!”

Connor sat quietly in his stool, pretty stunned about Scootaloo’s and Sweetie Belle’s arguing. The two little fillies blushed and sunk back in their seats, smiling sheepishly.

Apple Bloom chuckled nervously. “As you can see, we are purty darn passionate about gettin’ our cutie marks.”

“Yeahhhh... I see.”

“Yeah,” the country filly chuckled sheepishly. Then, she pointed her yellow hoof at him and asked, “What do you think we should do?”

The human scratched his chin. “How about, something not drastic and dangerous? Like, uhhh… pottery, music, dancing?”

“Music would be Sweetie Belle’s talent. She has a voice of an angel!” Apple Bloom patted the unicorn's back.

The white unicorn scoffed, “Why does everypony think I’m good at singing?”

“Because you are,” Scootaloo answered as-a-matter-of-factly.

“That doesn’t mean it’s my talent, Scoot. I have other interests.”

They all turned to Connor simultaneously and asked, “What are you good at?”

"Maybe you could give us some idears," the country filly said.

Connor felt a bit overwhelmed.

"Well, uhhh... I'm good at drawing."

“That’s good," said Sweeite Belle. "Rarity showed me your pictures earlier today. They were good! Especially the one of Fluttershy.”

"Uh, thanks, I guess..."

Apple Bloom's face twisted in question. "You guess? Why do you just guess?"

"I... just guess."

"Aw, come now! Show a little more self-esteem! Show a little more pride! T'aint all that bad unless ya lose yerself in it."

"No, I do, it's just... I'm... I'm just... calm like that. I'm just kind of mellow with that sort of thing."

"Okayyy," the farm filly said slowly.

Connor sighed silently in relief. So far, so good. They did not suspect anything yet. He fully resolved to keep his feelings for Fluttershy a secret. The last he wanted was...

"I'm telling you, girls," Sweetie Belle said. "His drawing was really good! It looked almost exactly like her! It was like he--."

"I'm not crushing on Fluttershy!" he barked before clasping his hand over his mouth.

The three foals turned to him, surprised and startled by his outburst.

The human's eyes shifted nervously left and right, looking at each pony in the room. Oh, God. Please don't. Please don't. Please--.

"...He has drawn her a bunch of times before..." Sweetie Belle finished, not taking her quizzical eyes off of Connor.

“Oh. Wait, that was what you were going to say?”

"Yes?"

"Oh! Sorry, I just thought you were..."

"Wait," Scootaloo interrupted him sharply. "What is this about a crush?"

"Nothing!" the human said quickly, standing straight in his chair.

"And what about Fluttershy?" Apple Bloom asked.

"What? What about Fluttershy? Nothing! You misheard me! I didn't even mention her."

"Don't lie now, Connor. Ah know when ya are. Runs in the family."

"I'm not lying! I'm being truthful! I'm speaking... the..."

The small, yellow earth pony's eyebrows furrowed deeply. Her orange eyes did not even twitch to look away from his. An angry pout resided on her little lips, and her head lurched slowly forward toward the human's face. Normally, Connor would persist, but the glare the foal was shooting at him immediately threw him off. Since when did a child look so empowering and intimidating?

He lowered his forehead into his palm. "Ugh... Fine... I do have a crush on Fluttershy. A little one!"

The yellow foal's switched back to her innocent, cuddly expression and turned to the other two to join in with the cooing.

"Oooooooooooohhhhh!"

Oh, God... Here we go, he thought.

“So, you are crushing on Fluttershy,” Scootaloo said with a devious smile.

"A little... It's not what you think," he mumbled.

"Your cheeks say otherwise," Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.

"That and it's cold outside," he coldly answered.

"Whatcha talkin' about? It's nice out today! Well, tonight, that is," Apple Bloom contradicted.

"Ugh..." he groaned.

“It’s okay if you have a crush on her. I mean, she’s sweet, pretty, kind, loves animals, peaceful... Who wouldn’t have a crush on her?” Sweetie Belle shrugged.

The human cupped his face with his hands, hiding in embarrassment.

“Okay, it’s a little crush. Ya don’t need to worry! If it’s such a big secret to you, then we’ll keep it sealed,” the country filly winked.

“Are you absolutely sure you will?” Connor pointed a serious finger at her.

They all chanted, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

“Well, okay. I’m convinced. No backing down," he finished grimly.

“We won't. we won't. Anyhoo, what else are you good at?” resumed Apple Bloom.

“Well, I longboard,” Scootaloo shot a hoof in the air, interrupting him.

“What’s a longboard?”

“It’s like a skateboard, but longer.”

“How long?”

“Taller than you guys to about underneath Twilight’s chin.”

“And what’s a skateboard?”

“It’s a strong wood board with wheels attached under it. It’s very convenient if you hate walking long distances. Here, I’ll draw you a picture.”

He grabbed the nearest sheet of construction paper and crayon he could find and started drawing. He spoke as he drew.

“This is the deck. It’s made of strong layers of wood. It’s usually shaped like a surfboard or a rectangle with two smaller squares on its sides. Here are the wheels. A pair is placed at each end. On the rectangular one, the middle is slightly lowered to provide a deeper center of balance. squares are slightly raised.”

“Nelly! Looks so simple to build. Even ah could build it,” Apple Bloom commented.

“That looks kinda like my scooter,” Scootaloo said as she scratched her chin.

“You have a scooter?”

Scootaloo nodded in response.

“She’s amazin’ on it!” the country filly patted her back. “She can pull off moves like you’ve never seen! It’s like her talent!”

“It’s only a hobby,” Scootaloo corrected.

Connor had an idea. He said slyly, “And longboards go pretty fast, too. Probably faster than your scooter.”

Scootaloo turned to the human. She noticed the smirk on his face.

“It all depends on how one handles it," she slyly responded. "I can handle it pretty well. Well enough to beat that longboard of yours!”

That was exactly the kind of response Connor was looking for.

“You really think so? How about a race?” he smirked.

“Yeah!”

“Ah guess ah better start buildin’ that longboard of his,” chuckled Apple Bloom.

“Whoever reaches the library first wins!” Scootaloo said. “Perhaps when I get there, I should get you a book about learning how be be humble and eating defeat. You’ll need it.”

“Not if I reach there first!” Connor responded. “And maybe I should add in a book about learning how to eat your own words.”

“You’re on!” she said, squinting at her competitor.

“Well, here ya go!” Apple Bloom was carrying the longboard on her back. “Ah did my best to copy it exactly how you drew it.”

Connor’s eyes shot wide open. She copied it perfectly. She even got the trucks right. How did she do that?

“It looks great! How did you do that?”

Apple Bloom puffed her chest out in pride. “Well, first I--."

“Are we gonna race or what? C’monc’monc’monc’mon!” Scootaloo interrupted.

Connor taped two small blocks of rough, gritty plastic onto his palms, and set his board down on the ground. He placed his left foot on top. He bent to a starting position.

“Hey, don’t you need handlebars for that?” the orange pegasus asked.

“Nope! I just use my body. My body is the controller.”

“Oh…Well, you’re still gonna go down!” She began flapping her wings, which buzzed like a small motor.

“So you’re using your wings now? That’s cheating!”

“It’s how I always ride it.”

They both reared to go, giving each other playful, competitive glances. Scootaloo was ready to lift her hoof off the ground and launch off. Connor was ready to push off with all of his might. Sweetie Belle trotted between them, carrying a small colored cloth in her mouth. She held it up high in the air. After one fake attempt, she finally waved it down, signaling the start of the race. In a cloud of dust, the two were gone.

Connor and Scootaloo were head to head. They zipped past the apple trees, which were only blurs to their eyes. The human was definitely amazed by how well the longboard was holding up. Apple Bloom copied it to his exact liking. It rolled smoothly like melted chocolate in a chocolate fondue. Scootaloo was surprised with how fast a single board of wood with wheels was going. However, it did not stop her from beating her wings faster. She was able to inch forward ahead of him. Connor pounded his foot on the ground, pushing himself forward. He inched past her, taking the lead.

They saw a sharp turn up ahead. It turned about eighty degrees before it became straight again. Just when they reached the lip of the turn, they both pushed at the hind of their means of locomotion. Scootaloo drifted around the turn, making a dry, squealing sound from the plastic wheels of her scooter. Connor was leaning back like he was doing the limbo. His hand, taped with the plastic block, braced him up by a foot over the ground. He pushed the backside of his longboard with his right leg, causing him to slide at a forty-five degree angle. They held their sliding positions for about five seconds until they came out of the turn.

Dang! Nice Move! they both thought.

They zipped down the hill and into Ponyville. They were still going at top speed. Connor and Scootaloo were rolling near a congregation of ponies crowding the streets. There was no way through them. Unless…

To their relief, they spotted a large wood board lying against a vendor wagon. It was the perfect ramp. They rolled head-to-head right next to each other as they neared the ramp. They gave each other fun glances and then launched off the ramp, catching big air. The crowd saw nothing but two black silhouettes against the orange sky fly directly overhead. The two soared in the air, giving each other another playful glance. It felt like gravity never mattered. Scootaloo’s wings buzzed still, giving her an extra inch up in the air. They landed perfectly on the other side of the crowd. Seeing who just jumped over them, the crowd panicked and dispersed yet again.

After about five hundred yards, they reached the library, sliding to a complete stop.

“Haha!! I won!” Scootaloo cheered.

“What? No way! I won!” Connor argued.

“No I did!”

“You gotta be kidding me!”

“Actually, you tied…” said Twilight with a slightly unimpressed tone. She was standing at the entrance of the library.

“Tied?!” the two riders asked in unison.

“Aw come on! I had him beat! See?” Scootaloo placed her hoof an inch closer to the library.

“Really, Scootaloo? Really?” Connor glared.

“And you scared away Carrot Top,” Twilight said as she pointed her hoof to a red-headed pony running away from them in panic. “She was about to return her book on professional planting techniques, and you scared her away."

“You mean this book?” the orange pegasus gestured to a book that lied on the ground. Carrot Top dropped it before she ran away.

“Yes, this book.” Twilight used her magic to lift it off the ground and brush the dust off of it.

“We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to. Honest!”

Twilight smiled understandingly, “Oh, that’s all right. I’m sure she’ll come back tomorrow.” And hopefully, with that really big overdue fee she has to pay, she thought to herself.

“Anyway,” Connor said as he picked up longboard. “That was really fun, Scoots. Thanks for the race!”

Scootaloo smiled. “Scoots.” She liked how that sounded.

“I’ll see you later!”

Connor walked into the library with his longboard. Twilight and Scootaloo said their goodbyes and parted. As Scootaloo trotted from the library, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran up to her.

“Well? Who won?” Sweetie Belle asked as she panted from catching up to her.

“It was a tie,” the orange pegasus replied.

“Whoa, nelly!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “That’s a first.”

“He really knew how to handle that longboard of his. I’m quite surprised. Now, let’s go back to the treehouse.”

Just before the trio made their way toward the clubhouse, they saw two fillies standing in their path. One was pink and had a light purple mane lined with a white stripe. She also wore a tiara ornted with small diamonds. The other was gray, had a gray mane, and wore blue-rimmed glasses. They stared them down with conceited smirks on their faces.

“Well, well, well! The freaks had made a freak friend. How adorable!” said the pink earth filly.

“Diamond Tiara, haven’t ya got anythin’ better to do?” Apple Bloom sighed frustratingly.

“Haven’t you? I mean, making friends with that thing? Ugh, so a waste of time!”

“Bite your tongue! He is not a thing! He’s a human,” Scootaloo barked.

“A ‘human’? A rather ghastly sounding name for a ghastly looking creature,” she said as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. Then, she turned to the gray pony by her side, “Am I right, Silver Spoon?”

“Ewwwwww!” the gray pony grimaced. They both laughed.

“My daddy said that he might be a weapon sent by those Dragonfire rebels to oust us out. He will destroy us all once after he earns Ponyville's friendship,” Diamond Tiara said to her companion.

Silver Spoon responded, “Really? My daddy said that he might be a mutated dragon and a pony-eater. He will eat us all and collect our bones.”

The tiara-wearing filly tossed her mane back and sniffed carelessly. “Well, I don’t even know anymore! However, I do know one thing..." She turned to the Crusaders. "He is a heartless freak and will always be a heartless freak for the rest of his miserable, freakish life!”

“Say that all you want, but we know he is not anything you say about him. Plus, we all know you’re just an insecure little filly who still checks her closet for monsters and still needs to sleep with her pweicous wittle teddy beaw,” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

“Be careful what you say, Sweaty Butt. You’ll learn to regret it.” Diamond Tiara said in a quiet, menacing tone.

“Yeah, Sweaty Butt!” Silver Spoon backed up her friend.

“Pfff…whatever. C’mon, girls. We don’t have time to hang around with such rich, snobby, conceited, pretentious blowhards."

“I second that,” Scootaloo nodded in consent. “But, what are you, a dictionary?”

The three little fillies trotted past the two snobs. As soon as they disappeared into the woods, Diamond Tiara suddenly broke down into a tearful fit.

“Help me! Help me, Silver Spoon! You’ve got to help me find Schmoopum Poopums! I can’t sleep without her tonight! The monsters in my closet will get me if I don’t find her! She has got to be around here somewhere! Keep looking! Keep looking!!”

Silver Spoon sighed. “Of all the things I do for you, Tiara. Sometimes I wonder about you…”

To be continued…

Chapter VIII- Harmony or Money?

Equestria’s First Human- Part VIII

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“Is something wrong, Twilight?” Connor asked.

“Oh! No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just…work. I’ve been swimming in work all day, and I’m just tired,” she smiled as she gently closed the door.

“Oh, okay. It’s just… you look like I’ve…bothered you in some way.”

“Bothered me? Of course not! On the contrary, I’m always glad to have you here! I wouldn’t be much of a hostess, if I was annoyed with you for no reason,” she grinned.

"Thanks," the human smiled. “Well, anyway, I’m gonna go hang with Spike up in your room. Later!"

"Have fun!” she waved as Connor disappeared up the stairs.

Ticks and creaks chirped in the empty room of the library. Seeing she had nothing else to do, Twilight pulled a book out of the shelf. She opened the book and skimmed through the pages until she found the page where she had left off. Her eyes darted left and right over the words, taking in what she was reading at high speed, being the fast reader she was. However, she had trouble soaking in on what she was reading, because something else had flooded her mind.

Her eyes slowly trailed off the through the top of the page as she blankly looked up in pondering.

The way Carrot Top fled after seeing Connor with Scootaloo should not have been much of a surprise to Twilight, but she could not help but think. She always enjoyed watching bookworms and knowledge-hungry ponies come into her library, but since he arrived, not very many ponies came. Usually, about five to ten ponies come, excluding her friends.

Come to think of it, before Connor's sudden arrival on his longboard, she noticed that the ponies that were walking near her library were shooting snobbish, ignorant, cold glances at it. To add onto that, some of those ponies were the ones who were the most likely to visit her. Even Lemon Hearts.

Wait... Lemon Hearts... Twilight stood up and walked over to a podium with a big logbook laid on top of it. She skimmed her eyes over the list of names of ponies and the books they borrowed until she came across Lemon Hearts' name.

Lemon Hearts.

1000 Recipes of Lemon.

Due date was...

"Today," she muttered to herself. "But, Lemon Hearts never misses a due date. She never had. She had a perfect score. Well, maybe she just forgot. It's no big deal. Just a little overdue fee needs to be paid. It's not like she would miss it on purpose, right?"

Then, the image of Lemon Hearts' cold stare breached into her mind along with the image of her turning directly around and walking away.

"What on Earth would drive to her to do something like that? It's not like I'm carrying the Cutie-Pox or anything. It's not like I'm carrying some sort of deadly, foreign disease. Yet, why is...?"

Foreign?

Of course... That was why Lemon Hearts gave her the cold shoulder.

It was because of Connor. Just because he was in her library made everypony that walked by it avoid it.

Twilight stared out into nothing. Her mind was working so much that the rest of her body seemed to focus all their power on her mind, thus making her still deathly still like a statue.

She was holding a big sale for books the next day as part of the Pre-Princess Celestia's Royal Visit Sale and expected a lot of customers to attend. However, if Connor was still hanging around in her library, he would scare them all away. She needed the money for business to run smoothly, but she wouldn’t earn a quarter-bit if he was around. Plus, as it was, despite the satiable amount of customers she gets, she was running low on money and incomes. Plus, she was sure as hell she did not want to close the library. With him around, it would be so. Should she kick him out of the library until the sale ends? Should she kick him out of the library during business hours?

She shook her head violently.

No, Twilight, she thought. Don’t think so selfishly. Connor needs my help. As long as he's here, he needs Ponyville’s friendship, and it is our job to help him. Who knows how long he is going to stay here? It could be for days... Weeks... Months... Years... I don't think I'd want him to feel so alienated here for that long. He has to be friend with them soon. I will have to close the library if I have to! It won’t ever be a problem!

She pushed chest out in confidence. However her chest seemed to shrink back, causing her to slouch.

Close the library?

Lose all her books?

Possibly move out of Ponyville and never see her friends again?

She bit her front leg in worry.

Connor slung Spike’s electric guitar over his shoulder and sat down on Twilight’s bed. He lifted the guitar onto his right thigh. After giving his knuckles a loud cracking, he placed his left fingers on the fret board. He used his other hand to scratch his chin, thinking of what song he was going to practice playing. The young dragon sat on the floor in front of him, staring at him intently and patiently.

“What are you going to play?” asked Spike.

“Not really suuuuure..." the human purred in thought.

He pressed his fingers onto the strings, forming a chord (if it was even a correct one). He grabbed the guitar pick and shifted it between his index finger and thumb for comfort. He firmly strummed all six strings.

It sounded lovely…if a monkey was playing it.

Spike covered his ears.

"Nope! Nope, strumming chords will just have to wait," Connor stated, twisting his pinky in his ear. "Guess I'll have to play single notes instead."

"Yeah, good idea," replied the purple dragon. "Do our ears a favor."

"Ah-haaaa..." the human laughed awkwardly.

He scratched his chin. What song was simple to play, yet still sounded so epic and enthralling?

His eyebrow crooked up high into his forehead.

He traced his fingers over every string and fret, and picked the string, finding the first note. It took him about a minute to find the correct one. He traced over the entire fret board again for the second note. It did not take him long for that one…

Connor’s eyes were dry and heavy, stinging in little bits. He had been playing that guitar for about three hours. His left fingers were ripe, red, and creased from pressing the strings on the fret board for too long. The fingertips on his right hand were deflated and bloodless from picking the strings. (He didn't necessarily use the guitar pick for what he was playing.) He could have sworn he cut one of them from picking the high string, which was the finest and sharpest of the bunch. His head kept nodding up and down, controlled by his heavy eyelids.

He lifted the guitar off of him, unslinging the shoulder strap from his shoulder. He saw Spike curled up in a ball, sleeping soundly in front of his feet, which looked amusing to the human. The young dragon twisted on the floor, woken up by the hiatus of the music.

“Why’d you stop?” he yawned.

“I gotta get back to Rarity’s. It’s pretty late,” replied the human, yawning as well.

Spike had a hard time looking at his alarm clock through his heavy eyelids. “Jeez, it’s that late already? How long have I been sleeping?”

“About two hours.”

“Really? Wow… It must have been from your guitar playing. Which reminds me, you’re getting better at it. Much faster than I did,” the tired dragon said as he yawned and stretched his tight muscles.

Connor beamed through his tired expression, “Thanks, Spike. I guess I must have lulled you to sleep, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Guess I'm a satyr,” the human huffed in laughter

“What’s a satyr?”

“A creature that's half man and half goat. They play pipes to mesmerize people into a hypnotizing trance. They’re mythological creatures.”

“You don’t have any goat legs.”

“I know,” the human laughed. "Anyway, I should get going. See you later, Spike.”

“Later,” the dragon yawned again before tipping over back onto the floor.

Connor's knees felt like boiled spaghetti each step he took. He lurched violently forward, but grabbed the guide rail, yanking his body back up for balance. He sighed in relief, thanking God that he spared himself from an embarrassing fall. He found Twilight on the floor of the library, still reading her book. Her eyes were still purple and lively as if she was still in daylight. There were hardly any loose strands of hair protruding from her smooth, bobbing, straight mane. She was hardly slouching at all. Well, she was, but it was in full focus.

“Jeez, Twilight," Connor exclaimed weakly. "Don’t you sleep at all?”

“Once I read a good book, I hardly ever do,” she responded with a smile.

"Eh, if that's okay with you, then... well, it's okay with you. Anyway, uhh... I'll be going now. It's pretty late, and I gotta get to bed."

“Of course,” she nodded. "Good night, Connor."

"'Night," he yawned before shutting the door.

Twilight took a deep breath and resumed to read.

"Shut up and calm down, Twilight. Don't be like them. He's a good guy. So what if the other ponies start to dislike you? At least you have a heart in helping a friend. So what if they don't come to the library anymore? They don't deserve my books, because they are treated with love and loyalty, something which they lack. I don't need their money..."

PLOP! A book fell out of a book shelf and landed rather crudely on its open side. Its pages lay crudely folded against the ground, tainting its once orderly appearance.

Twilight sprung up onto her hooves. "Shoot!" she hissed.

She galloped up to the fallen and lifted it up with her magic. It twisted in the air as it hovered until the front cover was revealed.

"The Dangers of Bankruptcy," it read.

Then, she quickly shoved it back into its rightful place.

Once again, Connor walked the same lonely street, completely empty of what could have been filled with ponies. Then again, why would anypony be out here at this time of night?

A cold feeling reached its foul hand into Connor’s soul.

Loneliness...

He felt that in high school... Now, he was feeling it here in a world of happy-go-lucky, talking, colorful equine beings. What was the world coming to?

He looked around, staring at the tall, silent, buildings, painted blue by the night. It was really peaceful, despite the coldness of ignorance.

Deep inside, Joshua was tugging at the back of his mind.

“I think the better decision is to PROVE to them that you are a great person,” his voice resounded in his mind.

Connor scratched his scalp. What could he do? Should he paint a picture that would touch their hearts? He shook his head. It would be impossible to get paint, especially with all of the shops locked up by fearful ponies.

Should he play a song for them? Spike said he was getting better at guitar after all. The indecisive human rubbed his neck with uneasiness. He hoped these ponies like metal.

Should he do something courteous for a pony in need of help? Yes, it was highly possible to accomplish, that was, if the pony would not run away just when he or she laid eyes on him. That was what happened the first time.

...

Ah, the hell with it. He did not want to do anything. With friends like Twilight and the others, why would he have to work to earn Ponyville's friendship? They would do that for him. That was what friends were for, right? To devote his or her soul to help his or her friend?

He nodded, content with his theory.

However, somewhere deep into his conscience, he could have sworn he sensed Joshua sighing in disappointment and shaking his head deeply.

"What?" he turned to his side.

Who the hell was he talking to? Joshua? He was not even there.

Blushing in embarrassment, Connor shoved his hands back into his pockets and resumed walking back to Rarity's boutique.

“Rarity? It’s me, Connor,” he said behind the door.

He opened it to find a tired white unicorn with her face plastered on the side of her nearly complete dress. She snored soundly. Her red-rimmed glasses were teetering to one side, making her face look a tad askew. Her perfectly groomed mane had a few strands of hair sticking out freely. Her legs feebly held up her slender, white, body, causing them to buckle slightly together.

"Uhhh, Rarity?" he repeated louder.

"No! No, Sapphire Shores! Don't fire me!" she squealed as she flinched awake.

“Sapphire Shores?" he asked with a tilt of the head. "Who the hell is that?"

"AHH! BURGLAR! BUR--Oh, it's you, Connor! Whew! Puh-LEEZE, darling, do not scare me like that!"

“What were you doing at this time of night?”

Rarity readjusted her red glasses, chuckling sheepishly. “I was working on this dress for an important client. Dearie me, I must have slept on the job. Whoopsie! (Ew! And I drooled on the skirt. Oh, silly, silly, Rarity...)”

“Just how many important clients do you have?”

“Oh, quite a lot, darling. You wouldn’t believe how much skill will grant you in return. However,” she said softly, looking down at the ground. “I am quite surprised by the number of customers I had today.”

“How many?”

"Well... None," she said, looking confused as she lifted her head.

“Whoa... I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh, darling, don’t be sorry for something that you did not do. It’s just one of those days. I’m sure you have nothing…” she suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened in shock and her cheeks flushed in sudden realization.

"Uhhh..." the human muttered, feeling uncomfortable by her sudden hiatus. “Rarity? Are you okay?”

She shook herself out of her pensive trance. “Oh! Sorry, darling. I just feel dreadfully tired right now. I was going to say that you had nothing to do with this,” she smiled hugely.

Almost too hugely.

“Oh! Well, okay,” the human responded. “Anyway, I gotta get to bed. You better get some sleep, too. We've got a lot of work to do if I'm going to be friends with everyo--I mean, everypony here.”

“Of course. Thank you for your concern,” she nodded in appreciation.

“Don't mention it," he replied wearily as he pulled his curtains around his bed shut, enveloping him in a soft, silky, red fabric.

Breaking out of her smile, Rarity turned and clenched her jaw around her foreleg, though not too hard so she would injure herself.

So, it was his fault that there were no customers coming to her boutique. That was why she was getting all of these cold stares from passing ponies. They were avoiding her because of him.

However there was something that she did not understand. Connor was gone most of the day. They should have come while he was gone. However, why were they still treating it like he was still in there? It was so rude and thoughtless.

Why, the nerve! How dare they do such a thing! Well, fine! Don't bother coming in and treating yourself to my talent. You do not deserve it! Your filthy arrog--... Her mind stopped her directly in the middle of her sentence, after realizing what tomorrow was.

Tomorrow was the Pre-Princess Celestia's Royal Visit Sale. Like Twilight, she needed the money to keep her business flowing. The ironic thing was, she was getting a good amount of money for filling in orders for very important ponies and celebrities. However, unlike Twilight, she desired fame, popularity, and having herself shine all over Equestria. To her, it was more important than money. However, then again, she believed she could not have one without the other. If fewer ponies visit her boutique, the less money and popularity she earns. The less she earns, the less likely she would shine like a star. The less she shined like star, then...

She would slowly descend into nothing.

She pressed a shocked hoof onto her smooth chest, gasping lightly, so she would not wake up Connor.

Should she kick him out of the boutique until business hours end? Should she kick him out for good and have him live in a different house? If so, then she would not have to endure this solitude.

Then, Rarity shook her head furiously.

No, Rarity. That is selfish and cruel thinking. Like I said before, if they do not wish to set hoof into your boutique because you're currently housing a friend in need, then they do not deserve to purchase your dresses, built out of selflessness and generosity! It is their undoing, not mine. I will have to close the boutique if I have to. It is worth the sacrifice... For a friend!

...

Her eyebrows bunched together.

Close the boutique?? she thought.

She nervously nibbled on the tip of her hoof.

The rooster’s call echoed throughout the clean, country air, past the trees and wooden fences that belongs to Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight’s eyes slowly opened, mucky and slimy from sleep. She sat up in her bed, nearly toppling herself over to land on her face. She did not blink in their usual pattern. Her left eye opened itself much earlier than her right eye did. Twilight gave both of them a thorough rub with her hooves. She swung her heavy head towards the alarm clock.

Eight o’ clock. She felt more tired this morning than the others. She really should not have stayed up so late reading.

However, that scenario did not stop Twilight from realizing what day it was. She pushed herself out of the bed and trotted to her vanity. Her face wrinkled in disgust after catching a glance of her mane. It looked like a vulture had nested in it. After a few strokes of her hairbrush, gripped by her magic, her mane looked perfect again: cute, purple, straight, level bangs.

SNRRRKXXXXXZZZ... snorted a smaller voice coming from the foot of her bed. She turned to a snoring Spike, who was peacefully sleeping in his little basket bed. She had to get him moving, for it was time for the sale. She nudged him in the stomach with her snout. A smooth, sleepy moan vibrated in his throat as he felt something press against his round, scaly belly.

“Why, yes, Rarity... I would love to have some sapphire pie!” he slurred, still asleep. "Heh, heh... It tickles when you kiss my belly like that... I didn't say to stop, though... Hee, hee..."

“C’mon, Spike! Today’s the Pre-Royal Visit Sale! We've got a lot of work to do!”

Spike's quarter-open eyes gazed slepily at the nagging unicorn, whose nose was directly in front of his. He stared idly at her for a good four seconds before he pointed an accusing claw at her, not realizing his little claw went directly up her nostril.

“You’re not Rarity…” He fell silent for another four seconds, not taking his dreary eyes off of her. “Washclothes give me allergies...” he slurred again,, before flopping back onto his bed.

After wiping at her nose furiously, Twilight used her magic to lift him up out of his bed and set him on the floor. Spike was standing straight up, still sleeping.

"SPIKE!" she barked, put off by the little dragon's persistence.

“MONKIES ATTACKING!! TO CANADA!!” Spike shrieked as he finally snapped awake.

“Stop uttering nonsense, Spike! We've got a lot of work to do!” Her growling stomach interrupted her. “But, first…breakfast!”

Grabbing Spike with her magic, she glided down the stairs and ran into the kitchen. She placed the young dragon quite roughly on a tall stool, and zipped up to her cupboards, opening them.

“Uh, Twilight...” Spike tried to say.

“Horseapples!" she exclaimed in frustration. "How did I run out of ingredients for breakfast so quickly? I guess we’ll just have to have oatmeal bars.”

“Twilight…”

“Pony feathers! There’s only one left! I guess we’ll have to split it, then. You can take the one with fewer raisins, since you don’t like them so much. In fact, why don’t you like them? They’re really good for you. Plus, they really help with your digesti—“

“TWILIGHT!”

Twilight rolled her eyes impatiently. “What, Spike?”

Pulling out a small alarm clock, the dragon lifted it to the unicorn’s face.

“The sale doesn't start until ten. It’s eight! We have plenty of time. Once again, Twilight, you wake us up too early for something that doesn’t occur until a couple of hours.”

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. Even though it was not the first time she had done that, she still felt sheepish.

"Wellllll... It's good to wake up early..." she said, rubbing her foreleg with the other.

“Ugh. Say, as long as you’re up, Twilight, can you go to Sugarcube Corner and get some breakfast pastries for you and me?" he asked, feeling the positive warmth of having fresh baked goods for a meal. "I feel like having an egg soufflé today. You up for it?”

“Sure. Why not?” she smiled as she slung her saddlebag onto her back. She was definitely in the mood for a good breakfast pastry in the morning. “I’ll be back soon.”

She left.

Twilight smelled the morning air. As always, it was refreshing. It was rank with the smell of freshly cut grass, damp dirt, and baking pastries. It was a scent she had never gotten tired of. What made a morning more complete was the sight of happy ponies trotting to and fro, saying “Good morning!”, “How do you do?”, or “Such a beautiful day, don’t you think?”.

As soon as she entered the town square, everypony was silent. Twilight’s eye brows bunched in concern. These ponies never acted like this before. She always expected happy, carefree faces and attitudes out of every single one. Could they be…? No, they were probably still pretty tired because they had to wake up early to prepare. She continued her way to Sugarcube Corner. She saw a cream-colored pony with a bobbing navy-blue and pink mane trotting towards her.

Twilight waved, “Good morning, Bon-Bon!”

The pony’s eyes shot open in fear, and then she brushed by, not responding. Twilight looked at her as she walked away, confused and appalled by her rudeness. Bon-Bon always responded to her. What caused her to act so rude all of a sudden?

She shook it off. Maybe she would respond to her next time. She resumed her way to Sugarcube Corner. On the way, she saw ponies left and right looking at her. Some looks were worried, some were snobbish, some were afraid, and some were mad. Twilight even saw some ponies whispering to each other as they were eyeing her critically. A spectral beast of insecurity dug its fierce claws into Twilight’s head and ribs. What in Celestia’s name was causing these ponies to act so…unfriendly?

Seeing Sugarcube Corner had put Twilight’s mind at ease. Her stomach growled. A nice egg soufflé would cheer her up.

"Hi, Twilight!" a pink pony said as she suddenly appeared in front of her.

The bookworm jumped at the party pony’s sudden appearance. It took her a couple of seconds for her to breath normally.

“What’s up?” smiled the pink pony.

“Oh, hello, Pinkie! I was just about to purchase an egg soufflé for breakfast. You have some, right?”

“Yuppers! We also have blueberry, cherry, cheese, strawberry, kiwi, chocolate, va-va-vanilla-nilla, and…”

“Just egg will do,” Twilight chuckled.

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” She pulled up a tray of small, bite sized, red pastries. “Hey, would you like to try a sample of our new chim-cherry-chonga? It’s super-duper good, as it’s super-duper fun to say!
Chimcherrychongachimcherrychongachimcherrychongachimcherry…”

“Okay, Pinkie! Okay!” Twilight giggled at her bubbly personality. She always counted on Pinkie Pie to make her feel better. She was the Element of Laughter, after all.

She lifted a sample to her mouth with her magic. She took a bite.

Her face bunched up, after seeing how unusually hard and bland it tasted. On top of that, it was very cold. She nearly spit it out, but swallowed it instead. It had a rough trip down her throat.

“So? Whaddaya think?” grinned Pinkie Pie, eager for an answer.

“To be honest, Pinkie, it’s pretty hard…and it tastes kinda bland.”

“Really? Huh! I guess you’re right. It has been an hour since these babies have been out of the oven.”

“An hour?? You should serve them while they’re fresh. It's common sense for business.”

“I did, but nopony came to try a sample. I mean, they were there, but they wouldn’t even come near me. It’s like they think I have a disease or something.” She placed a hoof on her forehead and waited. “Nope! No fever...”

Twilight looked around. Indeed, ponies were taking a few steps away from Sugarcube Corner. It was so strange.

“Well, Pinkie, I better get those pastries. I have a hard day of work coming. It was nice seeing you!”

“Bye-bye, Twilight!”

Twilight pushed the door open and walked inside Sugarcube Corner. It smelled divine, as always. The air smelled of cookies, cakes, pies, and a bunch of other tasty pastries. At the counter, she saw a blue, husky mare with a pink mane and tail, which swirled like frozen, raspberry yogurt. She wore a pink apron.

“Hello, Mrs. Cake!” Twilight greeted her.

The baker mare only yelped in fear and immediately looked to the ground, avoiding Twilight’s gaze.

Ugh, not you, too. Twilight groaned in her head. “I would like one—no, two egg soufflés, please!”

“Um…well…yes.” Mrs. Cake trotted up the tray of egg soufflés behind the glass case and hastily put two in a small bag. She placed them at the counter.

“Th-that’ll be eight bits…” she said as she still avoided the bookworm’s gaze.

Twilight gingerly grabbed eight bits and placed them on the counter. What in the blue sky was her problem? Twilight thought she should start a nice conversation.

“So, Mrs. Cake, how are the twins? Are they doing fine?”

“They’re, um…doing fine,” the blue pony mumbled, looking away still.

“That’s good! That’s good,” she repeated, sounding as friendly as she could. “Are you excited for the sale today?”

The baker nodded, still not looking at her.

“What about Mr. Cake? How’s he doing?”

“Fine…”

Twilight gave up. She took the bag and placed it in her saddlebag. “Well uhhhh, have a nice day!”

She turned to leave before she heard Mrs. Cake mumble, “Sure... if that’s how you put it...”

The purple unicorn pretended she had not heard that. She pushed past the door and trotted outside. As she was walking, she ran into Rarity, who had a worried look on her face.

“Hello, Rarity!” The bookworm waved at the fashion queen. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, hello, Twilight, dearie! I was just about to go to the market to find some extra needles. I might need them for all of the dress-making today for the sale…that is…”

“That is what?”

“…If…If anypony shows up,” Rarity rubbed her foreleg meekly. “It just seems like…everypony is trying to avoid me and my boutique…because of Connor.”

Twilight gasped silently.

“Oh my gosh! I know what you mean. Fewer ponies were coming to the library. I was even getting some dirty looks from everypony. In fact, I was just at Sugarcube Corner, and Mrs. Cake acted very strangely around me. It’s like she’s treating me like I have an hairy mole on my face. Not only that, but it seems that everypony was avoiding Sugarcube Corner because Pinkie Pie knows him.”

“But he hardly visits there at all! He seems to hang out at my boutique and your library more than he does there. So, there should be no reason that they should avoid Sugarcube Corner at all.”

“Unless they consider that every place he sets his foot into is contraband. Maybe every pony he meets is considered contraband, too. That’s so prejudicial and unfair of them! Why would they do that?”

“Ugh, as much as I love this town, I am quite appalled by how they behave around him."

“But the sale is today! We need all the money we can get, in order to keep our businesses running smoothly. But... He needs our help.”

“I know, darling! I know. We will help him. If everypony is going to act so immature and prejudicial around him and us, then shame on them! They do not deserve to get any service from us.”

“Not that they will ask for our service anyway…” Twilight added glumly.

Rarity sat back on her haunches, depressed. She knew it was true. Nopony would ever come to their shops when a human has stepped into them. Unless…

“Unless, we send him out during business hours.”

Twilight snapped to attention, surprised. “You mean you thought of that, too?”

“Well, yes, darling! But, at the same time, I feel so cruel and self-centered whenever I think of it. It’s like…” she sighed.

“We’re pushing him away from us. I know.” Twilight hung her head.

“But, if he send him back when business hours are over, I’m sure it will be fine, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I mean, this sale…this sale… is one of most important sales we’ve had all year! We need the money, dear! And if we keep our business running smoothly, so can we when we help Connor.

“You’re right. However, you know what I think? Maybe if he actually tried to befriend Ponyville on his own, then we wouldn't have to worry to much about helping him, thus, we could keep our businesses flowing smoothly."

Rarity placed the tip of her hoof on her chin, pondering. "Well, I suppose that could work. I mean, he is a nice pon--I mean, person, after all. Well, surely he has many friends back at his world, so he should have some experience in making friendships. With a little push, it would be easy for him to befriend everypony with that kind of stature."

"True... But, then again," Twilight resumed. "Seeing how hostile and rude everypony is acting toward him, I think the chances of them actually stopping to notice him would be very slim... It would take forever for them to accept him... And this sale is one day only..."

Her eyebrows bunched together as she further pondered about it.

"Well, it's worth a shot. Right, darling?" the white unicorn gingerly asked.

The purple unicorn sighed. "We'll have to try... But, if it doesn't work..."

...

"Rarity, how will we keep our businesses running if ponies don't show up?"

"I... I don't know, darling... I just don't know..." she replied sadly, falling back onto her haunches.

To be continued…

Chapter IX- Growing Second Thoughts

Equestria’s First Human- Part IX

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“There goes Twilight Sparkle… I can’t believe she is friends with that thing!”

“Ugh, she’s wasting her time. Why can’t she just go plant her face into her books for a change?”

“What’s causing her to do such a thing?”

“Maybe that thing hypnotized her and put her in a trance, so once it has a chance, it kills and eats her.”

“Better her than me! I’m not falling for that trick. It’s her funeral.”

“Could be it possible that that thing is a weapon sent by the Dragonfire?”

“It’s possible. I mean, the group started not so long ago. They’ll do anything to take Princess Celestia down. They will do the craziest things. They are demons like that thing is!”

“Too bad its first victims are Twilight and Spike. I’ve grown to like them. Now, not so much.”

“I thought I would be safe here. I guess I was wrong.”

“Guess we won’t be needing books, then... Off the list for today. For that matter, more than just today.”

Those were the things Twilight Sparkle had overheard the pony folk whisper to each other. It was probably not a good idea to use her hearing-enhancement spell. She could not soak in the venom of their words anymore. Her eyes straining with tears, she ran back towards the library.

No…NO! It’s not true! He is nothing like they say! They’re liars! Liars! she shouted in her mind as she ran. He is not a weapon! He is not a plague! He is not a monster!

Then her dark self took its turn to pollute her mind.

Look what he did to you. You were Ponyville’s only librarian. You were Ponyville’s friend. You were Equestria’s Element of Magic, the last Element of Harmony... Now, you are nothing. You are scum. You are considered contraband and now alone. All because of him… He did this to you, and now, he must pay the price for ruining your life. Helping him is useless now. Send him out. Kick him out. Have Celestia banish him to the farthest reaches of the galaxy! He would be better off left alone and forgotten forever… It would serve him right, and it will reward you with the life you’ve had before you met him.

Twilight’s forehead pounded with pain and controversy. She nearly screamed. The spectral beast of internal war twisted her throat painfully.

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! Oh Celestia, why is this happening to me? Why?? He is not scum! I'm not scum! But, why are they treating us like we are!?

Her little cavalcade of internal conflict was forcefully interrupted when she ran into something heavy. She yelped as she landed on her side and skidded on the dirt road by seven feet.

“OWW! Unghhh…” said a voice.

Twilight, full of embarrassment, apologized to the voice. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! I—EEP!” she squeaked when she saw who the voice belonged to.

It was Connor. He was rolling on the ground in pain. She must have hit him pretty hard for him to be down like that. Or…

“I think your horn nicked me…” he said, lifted his blood-stained hand. "Right on the ribs."

“Oh, Celestia! I’m so sorry, Connor! I-I had no idea, that…” she was stopped by her darker side, cackling in her mind.

Good…Serves him right for getting in your way…

Twilight squeezed her eyes tight, forcing the evil thought out. Shut up! she growled inside.

She walked closer to see the damage she had done onto him. It was not fatal. It was just a scratch…a pretty big scratch, for that matter…big enough for it to bleed plentifully. It was on the right side of his ribcage, trailing from just below his breast, underneath his armpit, and stopped just on the edge of his shoulder blade. Considering how hard she hit him, she must have knocked the wind out of him.

“Are you okay?” she fretted.

“Nngh," he breathed through his teeth. "I probably might need a bandage.”

She nodded quickly. Where could she find a bandage? There was nothing present.

Then, she noticed the library just a few yards in front of her when she turned around. Because of the internal turmoil that resided in her mind, she hadn't noticed that she had already reached the library.

She was about to run inside, until she saw some ponies in the distance. To her fright, they were starting to turn their heads towards her. Twilight knew she had to be quick to patch up Connor before they saw her. She darted into the library and shoveled through the drawers in her kitchen to find bandages. She found two things: a small, cheap band-aid and a roll of medical tape. It would take her too long with the medical tape, especially when ponies were nearby to watch her every move. With that, she snatched the small band-aid with her magic, and ran back out to patch up the injured human. In an eye blink, she ripped it out of the paper casing and placed it on his wound.

“There! All patched up! You can go now. No need to thank me,” she said before hastily running back inside.

“Wait, Twilight! Is Spike in there?”

“Uhhhh, no! I mean, yes! He's in here, physically, but you can't come in here. He’s got, uhhh, the sniffles! So, he can’t come out!”

“No, I don't!” Spike’s voice echoed from inside.

“There, see? His little voice is all stuffed up.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Connor raised an eyebrow.

“No offense, but I have been around him a lot more than you have. I know when he has a cold. I can read it perfectly like a book,” she smiled nervously.

"Yyyeah...." he replied slowly before clearing his throat. "So, uh, Twilight, you think you can help me with making friends with Ponyville today?

“Ohhhh, you know I would love to, but I'm really busy with... Things. You know, taking care of Spike, and... business." She did not dare to mention the sale. She thought if she mentioned anything about the sale toward him, she might hurt his feelings.

"Oh, okay..." the human sighed in disappointment.

"Sorry. Well, you know what I think?" she began, putting a consoling grin on her face. "You could try to make friends with them all by yourself. I mean, it shouldn't be all that hard. Plus, in plain sight, you've got the ability. Everypony does, pretty much."

"Hmm..." the human's eyebrows furrowed in disapproval. "I don't know. I think it'd be better if you'd help."

"I'm sorry, Connor, but I cant, even though I would rrrrrreally love to," she said, straining the enthusiasm. Her antsy eyes scanned for any nearby ponies who would be listening.

"But..."

"Anyhoo, I gotta go! Lots of sales, I mean, business to take care of! Later, Connor!" she exclaimed before shutting the door in his face.

The human slumped his shoulders as he sighed in disappointment.

Great... More work... Just what he needed. Her business would wait. Why couldn't she help him? He didn't want to do this all by himself.

As his shoulders slumped, he was reminded of his current condition by a painful twinge under his arm. He looked down through the collar of his shirt to look at the bandage.

It looked pretty damn pathetic. By the look of it, it looked more like a piece of tape stuck on top of a crack on a concrete sidewalk. The wound was about six inches long, and the band-aid only covered a half-inch of it. Not much of a bandage. Plus, it was placed on wrong. It was like Twilight did not even care where she put it.

Connor stared at the door and then walked away. As he walked, he began to puzzle. It was strange… Twilight seemed okay and cool with having him around at first. Now, she was acting suspicious, high-strung, and paranoid. What the hell was with that?

Inside the library, Twilight peeked outside the window, seeing the human walk away. When he was out of sight, she turned her sight to the ponies in the distance. Her ears folded back onto her scalp.

Mission failed. They had seen her tend to him. She received even more criticizing looks, and the ponies started to walk away from the library, not even turning around to glance.

The only things Twilight was able to see now were trees, buildings, and feeble grass blades emerging from the ground. She whipped around, pressing her back against the wall. Groaning, she slid down the wall and hung her head.

"No, no, no!" she whispered fretfully.

“Hey, Rarity!” Connor said as he knocked on the door to the boutique. “Twilight’s acting pretty weird, so I decided to come back.”

The door opened halfway to reveal a worried unicorn. Only her face was visible.

“Oh, is she? That’s pretty odd…” she replied coyly, even though she knew exactly what was going on.

“So, can I come back in?”

“No! Oh, nonono, darling! Not yet! You can’t come in just yet,” she said quickly.

“Why?”

“Well, uhhh…”

She turned her face away from the door to think. What kind of excuse can she come up with?

Seeing that she had no time to think, her horn glowed and rolls of cloth, pins, thread, string, and other tools spewed from the shelves and drawers around her. They scattered all over the floor like confetti.

“I have a lot of cleaning up to do. My stars, does this place get messy so quickly!” she feigned surprise.

The human's brow lowered. “Yeah… It does. Well, uhhh, do you want any help cleaning it up? I mean, if that's all right with you, then--."

“NO!”

The sudden volume in her voice startled the human.

“I mean, no, I can take care of it myself. It’s my mess, and I, alone, will clean it up,” she cried out, tossing her head back dramatically, making her mane bounce.

“Iffff you say so,” he slowly said.

“Besides, it has to look lovely and neat for the big sale today.” She slapped her hoof over her mouth, realizing her slip-up. “I-I mean it has to look lovely for... for... for walking around in! I can’t enjoy the glamorous decorations with this mess upstaging them. I can’t even walk through it!” the white pony laughed, making it look like it was supposed to be humorous.

“Oh…Well, all right,” Connor spoke with little uncertainty. "But after that, you think you can help me win over Ponyville?"

"Oh, sorry, dearie, but I'm really busy right now."

"What are you talking about? It's just a mess. I'm sure it won't take very long to clean up. C'mon, you can help!"

"Sorry, Connor, but you are just going to have to wait. Forabouttwelvehours," she added quickly before closing the door.

The human threw his hands up into the air, scoffing.

Rarity, too??

“Git yer apples! Git yer apples here! Fresh from Sweet Apple Acres with lotsa love! Well, howdy, good sir! Care for an apple? Great! We got Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Pink Mare, Red Gala… Granny Smith, you say? Don’t be eatin’ mah grandma!” she laughed. “Ahh, just yankin’ yer chain, sir! That’ll be two bits. Yup, she’s fine as fiddle! Thank ya for yer concern!”

Even from far away, Connor could see that Applejack was selling apples like a mad pony.

His stomach growled as soon as his eyes lingered on the apples that lay neatly in their baskets. They looked so smooth, lustrous, plump, and above all, delicious. He could go for a nice, juicy apple. He did not have much of a breakfast at Rarity’s, albeit the fact that it was to die for. The unicorn really needed to learn how to eat breakfast the American way: hearty and heaping. However, if she did that, then she would look a little heavy. The thought of her covered with love handles and rolls of fat made him shudder violently. He would much rather prefer the thin and slim Rarity.

“Hey, Applejack!” he called without even thinking.

Before the cowpony could respond, everypony sight ran and vanished within four seconds. The only two figures visible were the human and the country pony.

Connor sighed, annoyed. He should have known better than to just walk into a congregation and not expect everypony to run from him. He felt stupid.

For Applejack, she was pretty stunned by how quickly everypony vanished. Looking at the solitary, tall figure, she did not know whether to feel annoyed that he scared off all of her customers or to feel sorry for him.

“Well, tangle my mane..." she said, scratching her head underneath her hat. "Jus' look at 'em run! Does this always happen to you?”

The human nodded meekly.

“And it’s that bad?” she asked with a hint of sympathy.

“Actually, it's pretty fun. I've been keeping record of how quickly they could evacuate. They just broke their own record by two seconds!” the human said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Applejack bunched her brows together at his attitude.

Connor held his shoulder in shame. “I’m sorry. It’s just been a crazy morning. I’ve already been shooed away by Twilight and Rarity today. I don’t really know why.”

"Them? Shooing you away?" she said, drawing back in offense. "Well, that's pretty disappointin'. Must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed.”

"I hope so."

“Anyhoo, what's goin' on, partner? Did ya come here fer an apple?” she asked with a positive grin.

“That’s the reason why I’m here,” the human smiled, glad that she noticed. “What've you got?”

“Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Pink Mare, Red Gala…” she listed each one.

“Wait... ’Pink Mare’? Don’t you mean ‘Pink Lady’?”

“No, ah meant ‘Pink Mare’.”

“Pink M... Wait, is that how you say it? Pink Mare? Back on my planet, we had 'Pink Lady'.”

"Ya don't say?" Applejack said in big interest.

"Yeah. Whoo, I might not get used to this whole word placement thing..."

“S’quite all right, sugar cube! So, Pink La—Ah mean, Pink Mare for ya? D’oh! Now ya got me doin’ it!” she laughed.

Connor could not help but smile at her friendly attitude. “So, Pink Mare, please.”

“Comin’ right up!” she said behind her teeth, which were clenched down on the stem of the apple. “That’ll be two bits!”

He slid his hand down his pocket, until he realized he only had quarters in his pocket. Even though he had some money, it was not the kind of currency that these ponies used.

"Oh, I don’t have any money, though. Not from your type of currency, that is.”

The cowmare bopped her own forehead. “Oh, that’s right! Ya came here ‘bout two days ago, and ya don’t have that kind of money on ya yet. The hay with it! It’s on the house!”

“Cool!” he said as he took the apple. "Oh, uh, Applejack. Do you think you could help win over Ponyville today?"

"Darn tootin', partner!" she said with a swing of her foreleg. "But, ah've got a lot of work to do right now. Lotsa apples to sell today. A lotta ponies git mighty hungry during a big sale."

"Sale?"

"Oh, right! Today's the Pre-Princess-Celestia's-Royal-Visit Sale!"

"Pre-Day Sale? Uhhh..."

"Havin' Princess Celestia visit our humble town is a perty big deal. So big, that it kinda gets a little commercial. Not very sophisticated, if ya ask me."

"Oh..."

Boy, had he been there. Especially during the Christmas season.

"Well, anyway, sugarcube, ah'd love to help ya, but ah've got mah hooves full as it is with sellin' these apples," the orange pony said, showcasing a basket of them to prove her point.

Connor's lips twisted in disappointment.

Crap... Turned down again. However, he felt a little more relaxed this time. Unlike Twilight and Rarity, Applejack looked like she really wanted to help him. He did not wish to egg her on any further.

"Well, okay. Maybe when you're done?"

"Sure thing, partner," she grinned.

"Cool. Thanks, Applejack!"

“See ya!” she replied with a tip of her hat.

The moment Connor was out of sight, Applejack felt a cold shiver run up her spine. Something negative was looming in the air. She looked around to see a throng of ponies surrounding her. The looks they gave were not the least bit positive. There were glares. There were cold stares. The friendly cowpony felt like she was being gored by hundreds of needles all around her. As tricky as it was with all the negativity polluting the air, she smiled.

“Apples! Apples! Git yer apples here! Fresh from Sweet Apple Acres! Anypony care for some apples?”

No response. Not even a cough. Just stares.

“Err… that’s right, everypony! Ah’ll be right here if anypony wants any apples. Ah ain’t going anywhere! Anypony want some apples? Do you, sir? Do you, ma’am? How ‘bout you, lil’ missy? You, young man? Get ‘em before they rot!”

Nothing.

“Anypony?” she asked weakly.

Then, everypony turned to walk away. Applejack could have sworn she had heard one of them say that she was another victim.

Soon, the cowpony was alone with her stall and apples. She rested her head on top of the counter, sighing sadly.

“So much fer keepin' the farm up. Ah think ah can see why Twilight and Rarity kicked him out...”

“Oh sweet Lord, this is amazing!!” Connor exclaiming as he feasted on his apple. This apple tasted better than the one he had when he met Spike. Pink Mares (or Pink Ladies) were always so full of flavor. They tasted so flavorful and sweet, that it felt like drinking apple juice straight from a glass. The contents were soft enough to sink one’s teeth in, but not in a gooey kind of way. It felt like biting into soft styrofoam.

Whoosh!

Connor immediately paused. He could have sworn that he saw a peculiar shadow pass over him. After a little more looking around, he shrugged. It was probably just his imagination.

Whoooosh!

"Whaddahell?" He jumped. All he could see was the blue sky along with some large looking clouds. He squinted in suspicion. Not turning his eyes away from the sky, he opened his mouth to take another bite of the apple.

KA-BOOM! A lightning bolt crashed directly behind him which seemed to feel like it struck only two feet away.

"HOLY SH--!" He flinched, causing the apple to fall out of his hand. At the same time, he bit his hand, thinking the apple was still there. The human yelped in pain as he wagged his hand in the air.

“Oh, come on!!” he groaned.

He looked up to the sky to see Rainbow Dash lying on top of a cloud, kicking her legs in the air, and laughing her flank off.

“Gotcha! Ha ha ha! You should’ve seen the look on your face! Priceless!” Rainbow said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“Oh, real funny, Rainbow.” He looked down to the ground to find his apple on the ground. “D'ugh! And there goes my apple…”

She still had the giggles residing in her lungs. “Whoops... My bad.”

Connor sighed. As much as he hated to part with such a heavenly fruit, he could not turn down an apology.

“Eh, don't worry about it. I can get anoth--Wh--Whoa, wait a minute! How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” Rainbow Dash asked with a tilt of her head.

“Standing on that cloud!”

"Huh?" She looked underneath herself. “Oh, this? It’s something only we pegasi can do. Non-pegasi go right through these things,” she exclaimed with a brisk swipe of her hoof.

Connor raised an eyebrow. “Wow. So, that means you could sleep on that thing?”

“Sure can! It’s really comfortable! Much more comfortable than your spring mattresses. Score one for the pegasi!” she exclaimed, throwing her body back onto the cloud. Her entire back up to the middle of her body was buried in white softness. From underneath, the human could see her hooves stretch out toward the sky along with a strained, yet content sigh of comfort before her legs drooped over the edges like limp noodles. Connor felt like yawning himself.

“I'd like to have one."

Rainbow's head poked out from behind the pony-sized cloud. “Are you a pegasus?”

"Er... Well, no.”

“Like I said before, you'll go right through these things. Even if you place one on top of your mattress, you’ll still go through them. You'd have better luck trying to abduct a sheep.”

“Dang..." pouted the human.

“Hey, hey, hey! I didn't make the rules,” she chortled.

Connor sighed, reluctantly accepting the facts.

“What are you doing anyway?” he asked.

“I’m clearing the skies of storm clouds for tomorrow," she responded before flying around to kick away more clouds. "It's Princess Celestia's Royal Visit tomorrow. Don't wanna get the Princess all wet with rain when she arrives."

"Wait, wait..." the human shook his head, waving his hands. "You're controlling weather??"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "That's right! We get some pretty big weather down here. Comes in really fast, too. It only takes the fastest pony to keep it clear," she said, gesturing to herself with pride.

“I'm impressed,” Connor said, stroking his chin.

“That’s me, all right! I can impress anypony,” she boasted. “After all, if I don't impress, how will I be part of the Wonderbolts?”

“Wonderbolts?”

“You never heard of--?! Oh, right..." she coughed awkwardly. "They're only the greatest flight team in all of Equestria! They do all sorts of breath-taking tricks and gravity-defying stunts. So AWESOME! I’ve been trying to get on their team, like, forever!”

“Sounds cool.”

“It's beyond cool!”

Feeling a bit intimidated by her enthusiasm, Connor stood and nodded convincingly. Then, he cleared his throat before he spoke once more. “Say, uh, mind if I help you with the clouds?”

Rainbow cleared her throat and pointed to her wings.

“Oh, right…” he muttered.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ve already got these two helping me," she said, pointing to two other pegasi who were still at work.

"Oh... Okay," he said. "Welllll, after you're done with the clouds, could you help me win over Ponyville?"

"This might take time to finish, but, heck, why not? I never leave a friend hanging," she said with a loyal smile.

"Cool! How long would that take?"

"Aboouuuuutt..." she trailed off in thought. "Two hours?"

"Meh," the human shrugged. "I'm okay with that. Well, you look busy. See you later, Rainbow Dash!"

“Later!” Rainbow waved.

As soon as Connor was out of sight, Rainbow turned to the other two pegasi. “All right, guys! Let’s pick up the pace here! Mayor Mare expects the sky to be spotless, and…”

She stopped when she saw them hovering in front her. They were flying a level slightly higher than hers, giving her dirty looks. They did not move other than blink and flap.

“Uh, guys? C’mon! Let’s get going! The sky isn’t getting any clearer with you two staring at me like that.”

No response.

“What’s up with you two? Let’s go!”

“You’re friends with that thing?” one of the pegasi asked.

The rainbow-maned pegasus wrinkled her snout and looked at her like she asked a very stupid and obvious question. “Uhhh, yes! And for your information, he is not a thing. He’s a human. His name's Connor. He’s a good guy. You should really meet him.”

Silence was in the air between the three pegasi. After an exchanged look, the two snide pegasi turned to fly away.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted after them. “Where do you think you’re going? You have to help me with this, you know! I can’t do this by myself!”

“Oh, we think you can. You said you’re the fastest pegasus ever, right?”

“Well, duh! Why do you think I’ve been practicing so hard just to get into the Wonderbolts? They don’t take slow flyers!”

“Then, you can handle it. You can clear it in ‘ten seconds flat’, like you always say.”

“But, guys! This is the time of year when more clouds come rolling in! Because of the humidity, bigger clouds are more likely to pour in! It will take longer to clear those clouds without your help! Even I need help! Come on!”

“Let’s go. I don’t feel like being hypnotized into becoming that thing’s dinner,” whispered the pegasus to the other.

“Or captured and used for a sacrifice ritual for those Dragonfire rebels,” added the other pegasus.

“Amen to that.”

Rainbow Dash’s eye’s shot open in offense at what she heard. She shook her hoof in the air and shouted, “Fine! Whatever! Go ahead and ditch me! I don’t care! Who needs your help anyway? As a matter of fact, I will! I will clear the sky in ten seconds flat! Just you wait and see!”

A knot tied in her chest as she looked at the cloud-infested sky. Cumulonimbus clouds towered high in the sky, like they were staring down at the small speck of hues. She gulped.

Or maybe ten hours flat, she thought.

Through her senses, she felt eyes staring at her. Looking down, she saw ponies looking up at her, giving her the same cold stare. She cracked a weak smile on her face as she tried to lighten the mood.

“Uhhh, hey, everypony! What’s up? It’s me! Rainbow Dash: future Wonderbolt! Pictures are…(gulp) acceptable.”

It only took a few seconds for everypony to trot away, leaving her alone.

She hated being alone.

From that moment, Rainbow Dash began to have second thoughts about Connor.

Connor’s stomach growled again. He was still craving for a snack. He was pretty upset about dropping his perfect Pink Mare apple. He only ate it halfway. Still, Rainbow Dash was a nice mare. He could not stay mad at her for making him drop it. He was cool with her. Hopefully, she was cool with him.

His stomach growled much louder. He had better find something to eat soon or his stomach would eat itself. It seemed pretty pissed off that the apple was stripped away from it.

Then, he smelled something in the air. It smelled like cake. However, that was not all. It also smelled like cookies, muffins, cupcakes, donuts, and…

Brownies!! Connor drooled in delight.

It had been a while since he tasted a brownie. When was that? Two weeks? Three weeks? Hell, he did not care. He was getting a brownie immediately.

The hungry human followed his nose all the way to Sugarcube Corner. Seeing the festive, iced building, he smiled. He had not seen Pinkie Pie for a while, so it would be a good visit. He would just say “hi!”, be friendly, engage in a little conversation, get a brownie, and put his stomach at ease. Connor smiled, thinking that everything was going to be okay.

He walked up to the door and gave it a knock. Almost immediately, he door opened to reveal a hyperactive Pinkie Pie.

“Hello! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Sweet-tooth Heaven!" she instantly chirped. When she opened her eyes, she gasped in surprise and glee. "Omigawsh! Hi, Connor!"

"Hey, Pinki--!"

"Pinkie Pie!! Honey, shut the door!" shouted a female voice from inside the building. From behind one of the counters inside, he could see a tall, skinny, yellow, goofy pony leap over it with his hooves extended in front of him. He slammed into the door, also shutting it directly in front of Connor's face as well. The human flinched mightily at the force of it being shut.

Inside, Pinkie Pie was bewildered at her employers' sudden outburst.

"Hey!" she exclaimed in hurt at the stallion bracing the door. "Mr. Cake, that was Connor!"

"We don't care! He is not coming in here!" Mrs. Cake responded. "Not after what he did."

"Did what?" the pink pony repeated. "What did he do?"

"He scared away all of our customers!" Mr. Cake answered for his wife. "That's what he did!"

"So?" Pinkie Pie shrugged.

"SO?! Wh--?!" Mr. Cake nearly imploded. "This is the Pre-Princess-Celestia's-Royal-Visit Sale, for Luna's sake! Other than Hearts-Warming shopping, this sale is important! This sale keeps our business running smoothly!"

"But your 'friend..." Mrs. Cake joined in. "... Is not going to let that happen if he is within two feet of this shop. You have to get rid of him, Pinkie. NOW."

"Get rid of him??" the party pony gasped. "I can't do that! That would be too mean!"

"You have to do it, Pinkie Pie," the yellow stallion said gravely.

"Oh, come now, Mr. and Mrs. Cake," she said with a calming smile. "He's not bad! He's a good pony... I mean, perfume... No... Purse? Perky?"

"Now, Pinkie Pie!" Mrs. Cake commanded.

"No, seriously! He's a fun guy! You just need to get to know him, that's all. Ooh! We can throw a party! We could have cake, ice cream, party hats, confetti, and--."

"No, Pinkie! No parties, no getting to know him, and NO letting him in!" the blue, pink-maned pony nearly barked. "It would ruin us, if he got any closer! Our business... Our reputation... Our little foals, Pound and Pumpkin!"

"Don't be silly-willy, Mrs. Cake!" she coaxed the worrisome mare. "Connor's fun, fun, fun!"

The two owners of the store exchanged a serious glance. As much as they dearly loved the happy, bubbly, pink pony, they did not want to have to do what they were about to do next.

"Pinkie Pie..." Mr. Cake said. "If you don't get rid of him, then... We are going to have to fire you."

The pink pony's bouncy mane twitched mightily at the very sound of the word, "fire".

"What??" she squeaked in utter disbelief. "F-f-f-fire me?"

"Yes," said the blue mare with a sigh. "If you are going to attract that thing everywhere you go, you are only going to hurt yourself. These ponies would only ignore you, no matter how hard you try to get their attention.

"But--! You can't! If you fire me, then I wouldn't be able to bake anymore cupcakes! (Gasp!) Then, I wouldn't eat anymore of them! (Gasp!) Then, I wouldn't--!"

"Uh, Pinkie Pie?" Connor said from behind the door. "Are you okay in there?"

The pink pony turned to look at the door, now with the urge to not answer. Her eyes wrinkled in conflict and hurt. She turned back to the Cakes, pleading with her enlarged eyes on what she should do.

"We would tell him to go away ourselves, but... He would most likely listen to you."

The pink mare shrunk low in her position. The Cakes on one side. The door concealing Connor on the other side. She certainly did not feel like ditching a friend, but she also did not wish to lose her job as a baker.

Was is true that everypony was going to avoid her if she was caught consorting with Connor? If that was true, then her futures parties would only be for naught, because everypony would avoid her and turn down her invitations.

And she really... REALLY... Loved cupcakes...

She turned to the door and opened it only by a crack.

"Uh... Who is it?" she shakily said in a sing-song tone.

“Uh, Pinkie, it’s me.”

“Oh, hiya, Connor! What’s up?” she said, trying to keep her voice more unwavered. She did not want to hurt his feelings... That was, she did not want to hurt his feelings any more...

“Fine, but I'm just wondering why you won’t look at me.”

“Ummm… my face is dirty. Yeah, really dirty! I was, uhhh, eating chocolate cake, and I sort of made a mess.”

Connor’s face twisted. He did not remember seeing any chocolate cake smothered on her face. He only saw her for about two seconds and could instantly tell that there was nothing on her face. What was she up to? Was she throwing another party for him?

Connor slowly nodded his head with a devious smile on his face.

“You’re throwing a party for me, aren’t you?”

“What...? Oh, yes! That’s right! Uhh, it’s your, um, Coming-Into-Ponyville party! Yeah!” she tittered nervously.

“Wait, didn’t you just throw me that party already?”

“Oops! Did I say that? I meant, erm, Bachelor Party!”

“Pinkie, I’m not even married,” Connor said before he thought, And why would I, a human, want to marry a pony? That’s just against the laws of nature. Not to mention, that is weird as f--.

“Oops! Did I say that? I meant, erm, Stag Party!”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Oops! Did I say that? I meant…”

“There is no party, is there?”

“Nope, there isn't...”

Things were really starting to get suspicious. Connor’s voice was on the brink of frustration.

“Then why can’t I come in?”

“My face is dirty!”

“No, it’s not.”

He heard a splat from behind the door. Finally, Pinkie Pie opened the door to show him her face, all covered in bits of cake and frosting.

“See? It’s all dirty from the chocolate cake I just ate. Jeezy-weezy, Connie, why are you acting so suspicious?”

Connie, she said. That was the same name Scazz Johnson and Dick Small used to make fun of him. However, when Pinkie Pie said it, he did not feel at all annoyed.

Well, maybe a little...

The human's face twisted at the cake splattered all over her face. “That’s not chocolate cake," he said. "That looks more like red velvet cake.”

Pinkie realized her mistake. Indeed, she smothered her face in red velvet cake.

“Oops! Did I say that?” she giggled nervously. “I guess I was so hungry, that I couldn’t keep track of what I ate! Silly me!”

“Don’t you have to sell those?”

“I’ll just make another one!” she replied.

“If you say so,” Connor shrugged. “But you still haven’t answered my question about me not coming in.”

“It’s a really big mess in here. So big, that one can hardly walk through it.”

The human was able to catch a glimpse of what was behind her. What big mess? It looked perfectly clean and tidy to him. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake crouching behind the counter.

“You sure about that?” he asked softly, getting a little annoyed.

She shifted in one direction to block his view. “Oh, yes! Absolutely positively sure! Now, if you will excuse me, I gotta go sell—I mean, sing!”

She shut the door and hummed loudly from behind it. Connor felt a little more hurt. He never expected Pinkie Pie to act so rude. His growling stomach reminded him of why he came.

“Can I have brownie?”

The door cracked open and a hoof holding a small paper bag slithered out. He was about to take it, but the hoof dropped the bag haphazardly onto the ground before he could grab it. The hoof yanked itself back inside and the door slammed shut.

"What the hell..." he mumbled, lifting his hands and slapping them against his thighs.

Pinkie Pie, acting rude, out of all ponies.

He bent over and picked up the bag. He looked inside it to see if the brownie was still good. Thank God, it was. He started to walk back to the library, until he realized that he could not. Twilight told him to stay out until…business hours? Connor started to walk to Rarity’s boutique. He stopped again. Rarity told him to stay out, too. Where the hell was Connor supposed to go?

He snapped his fingers…

Fluttershy’s.

Connor knocked on the door of her cottage.

No answer.

He knocked again.

Still no answer.

He was getting pretty desperate. He really wanted to see her, after all of the junk that happened today.

As soon as the door opened, Connor snapped his head back toward the door, eager to see Fluttershy. Instead, he saw nothing.

Thump, thump, thump, thump... What was that noise?

He looked further down to see a white rabbit, glaring up at him. Connor wrinkled his nose at the rabbit’s rotten-looking expression. For a rabbit, he looked pretty unpleasant. Still, the human showed respect. That rabbit might be Fluttershy's pet. He thought that if he expressed the same love for animals as she did, he would really swim in the waters of friendship with her. He bent down at his knees and began smothering the rabbit with compliments.

“Hey, little guy! Aren’t you a cute one? You’re Fluttershy’s precious little angel, aren’t you? Who’s a good rabbit?”

The rabbit responded with a deeper glare and a cross of its arms. Jeez, what a grouchy punk. Just like that cat from hell, Opalescence. Connor kept his composure. It would be a nightmare if Fluttershy found out that he and her pet rabbit were in a bad funk. The human smiled, though it was a little more difficult to do around a grouch.

“So, little bro, is Fluttershy home?”

Flappa-flappa-flappa! resounded the rabbit's ears when it rapidly shook its head.

Aw, man... the human thought in disappointment.

“Well, uh, can you tell her that I’ve been here and said, ‘hi’?”

The rabbit glared still.

A small vein popped in Connor’s head. What the hell was with this little turd’s attitude?

“What?”

Glare.

“Cat got your tongue? Oh, that’s right! You can’t talk, can you? Too bad." Then, his hands made a mighty clap. "There! You see what I did? I just acted like a grouch to you. See how that feels? Doesn’t feel good, does it? Better soak in that piece of advice, before I soak it in for you.”

The rabbit still glared. It was a grouch and had no feelings? What was the world coming to?

“Okay, what is your problem? Carrot shoved up your furry a—.”

The next thing he knew, the human found himself sprawling on the ground just a few feet in front of the cottage. Did that punk just…punt him? Connor looked back to see the rabbit with its foot sticking out in front of it.

Damn! Strong legs.

As Connor stood back up, the rabbit flicked out a sign that had crude, red letters scrawled on it, saying “Get Lost!”. (It pulled out that thing from nowhere. How did it do that?) Then, it slammed the door shut, leaving the human sitting alone on the ground.

Inside, the little smug punk clapped the dirt off its paws.

“Angel?” squeaked Fluttershy, entering through the back door. “Who was that at the door? I didn’t know that somepony was there, because I was busy feeding the chickens.”

The rabbit shrugged.

“Was it Connor?” her eyes twinkled as she asked. She was very eager to see him. Ever since he visited her a day ago, her eagerness grew. She felt safe expressing her true feelings at home, but not in public. She was really shy, after all.

The rabbit shook its head, denying the truth that it really was Connor. That lying, little punk.

The pink-maned pegasus persisted. “Are you sure? I thought I heard his voice. As soon as I heard it, I... Oh my! I felt really happy. And then, I thought—.”

The rabbit interrupted her, thumping on her leg with it's hind foot.

“Oh…okay…it’s not Connor…” she hung her head. “Oh, I just wish I could meet him again. ”

Damn that rabbit. Connor rubbed his backside as he walked toward Ponyville.

Then, a cold spectral tentacle tugged at his heart. Bad memories were flooding into Connor’s mind. He remembered the time when he was pushed out of a group of people he wanted to be friends with so badly. He remembered the time when he asked a really gorgeous girl out to prom, and she turned him down, saying, “Sure! I would love to go to prom! Oh, but wait…not with you.”

All of those memories…They had connections to what was happening to him in Ponyville. He was still being ditched.

Then, he thought of something else. The way the rabbit kicked him off the front steps made him think of when Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity pushed him out of their houses. Why were they treating him like that?

Were they getting self-conscious of him?

Were they starting to turn slowly into the rest of Ponyville: scared and prejudicial?

Connor shook his head furiously. No, they could not be. They were his friends, right?

Right?

Then…Why were they acting like that? They were supposed to help make friends for him. He did not want to have to work for it himself. That was too much stress that he did not want.

Connor stopped in his tracks. Voices echoed in his head, mimicking his equine friends' voices. They all had different wordings and style of voice, but there was one word which made everything they said to him today sound the same...

"Sale."

Two of the voices said it as clear as day, but the other three were sounding secretive about it.

What was going on?

Was this sale the reason why they were avoiding him?

What... is... going... on?

Looking up from the ground, he saw the quaint, yet large village in front of him, with the long, winding, dirt road slithering up to it like a snake. He sighed heavily. It was no use. If he even walked back into Ponyville, he was only going to be pushed out again. What was the use of trying?

Connor sat down in the middle of the road. Sliding his hand into the bag, he felt around for the brownie that was... rudely given to him by Pinkie Pie. Once he felt the greasy, flaky surface, he pulled it out and held it in front of his face. He took a bite out of it. After two to three chews, he winced.

Brownies would taste a whole lot better if he were not feeling like this.

To be continued…

Chapter X- Over the Line

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter X

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“OW!! Damn it!” Connor growled in pain.

He was on the ground, grabbing his knee while his longboard skidded up to him. However, his knee was not bleeding; he merely landed on it. Quite roughly. To add on to the pain, as his knee touched the ground, a rock managed to strike him in the soft area between his kneecap and his shin. It was now tingling with pain, feeling like the muscles were about to cramp into a pulp inside him.

He breathed through his teeth, trying to vent out the pain.

Suddenly, he froze. He felt a thousand eyes were staring at him. He whipped around.

Nothing...

No, somepony had to be there. There had to be.

No, there was nothing, except for the ominous orange glow of the sunset staining the buildings and reflecting off the windows.

If nopony was there, then why did he feel like he was being watched?

The emptiness of the town was what was staring at him. The ethereal, ghostly, invisible eye of solitude. It expressed no emotion. It expressed no pity. It expressed no joy. It only expressed isolation.

Worst of all, it was infecting his mind with its venom.

He swore he heard voices, whispering mockingly to him. His head whipped around to find whoever was whispering. Still, no ponies were visible. However, the voices sounded like they were coming from the town. It was no pony or a group of ponies; it was his own mind, viciously mimicking voices he had heard in his life.

“Oh no! The freak’s hurt his knee! Someone call a vet!”

“Ugh, it’s him again. Can’t he just give it up already? It’s hopeless!”

“Yo, that’s dangerous. You can get yourself badly injured... I never said to stop, though.”

“Stop. Just stop. We will never be friends, and you know it.”

“Are you trying to get our attention? It’s not working. Just give up."

“Just get the hell out of here. No one likes you.”

Trying his very best to obliterate the voices in his head, he stood up to spite them.

"Agh!!" he yelped, falling back down again. "Too fast..."

This time, he got up more slowly. His lips tightened, defying the voices in his own head.

"I'm not a loser..." he muttered as he picked his longboard up. He limped as he walked up the path for another downhill run.

"Nngh!" he grunted, falling onto one knee.

What was the point? He couldn't go for another run again. If he did, he would end up alone in a pony-filled town with a broken knee.

No need in achieving more misery than he was already feeling at the moment.

Plus, it was getting dark. The reflected rays of the orange sunset off the windows began to fade. There was no solitary figure of a pony anywhere in the street.

"I wonder if Twilight would let me in this time..." he grumbled.

Twilight sighed sadly as she read her book.

Not one single, solitary customer walked into the library. No money gained at all. She had been reading books while she was waiting. In fact, she was reading her sixth book. She had come by a word that read “money” in her book and literally slumped her forehead on top of the desk.

Connor had pretty much ruined her chances. She felt like he was going to be the death of the library. However, she knew he relied on her to help him become friends with Ponyville, but still…

She could not bear to see another glaring face from another pony looking at her. The ponies would not even go close to her. They would not even talk to her, except in mumbles, grunts, and monosyllabic words. It was bad enough that she was lonely before she met the other five, but she certainly did not want to be lonely again.

Knock, knock, knock!

Twilight snapped out of her sadness and grinned. Finally, a customer! She dashed to the door and flung it open. Was it bookworm, hungry for another book? A satisfied customer returning a book?

No. It was Connor.

Her face switched from happy to surprised.

Then, troubled.

“Oh…um, hey, Connor,” she said weakly.

“Hey, Twilight,” he responded, concerned of her attitude. “How are things going?”

“Just…dandy!” she smiled through her lie. She was not very good at covering it.

Connor was silent as he stared at her for another two seconds. There was definitely something going on with her. He just barely shifted his lip to one side in less than favorable thought.

“Okay,” he spoke softly.

"So, uhhh..." Twilight rubbed circles in the doorway with her hooves. "Any luck today? Did you make any new friends?"

He did not even try. All he did was ask the rest of the gang around to help him, being somewhat lazy and uninvolved as he was. However, he did not want to break the truth. He did not feel like getting a scolding from a pony who avoided him all day.

"No," he answered simply.

"Oh..." she hummed, looking awkwardly away. "Well, I'm... I'm..." With the guilt clogging up her chest, she could not force herself to say that certain apologetic word.

“Hey, Connor!” said a young voice from deep within the library.

The human’s mood brightened in a snap when he saw the young dragon descending the stairs.

“Hey, Spike! I thought you were sick.”

"Sick? Heck, no! I wasn't--."

“He got better!" Twilight broke in. "Yes, dragons recover from illnesses quickly. It’s in their DNA." She smiled nervously, hoping the human was gullible enough to soak in that little lie.

Spike crossed his arms and glared at her. Careful, Pony-occhio. You’ll poke his eye out with that growing muzzle of yours.

Connor stared at the unicorn once more. She was definitely hiding something, and it was less than pleasant. Because he felt bummed out already, he did not feel like playing “Sherlock Holmes” with her. Instead, he played along.

“I didn’t know that,” he falsely smiled. “That's pretty cool. Well, I’m gonna go hang with Spike for a while, then I’ll head back to Rarity's.”

Twilight nodded, still smiling like a liar. As soon as the two non-equine creatures disappeared upstairs, she whirled around and bit her hoof. All of the pressure was driving her insane. She couldn't decide whether to have the entire town mad at her or Connor... Her friends who have been with since her arrival, or a new friend who trusted her so deeply to help him be friends with hers... Either way, somepony was going to feel hurt...

And cheated...

Angry...

She prayed to Celestia that Spike would not bring the entire dilemma up to the him...

"And that's pretty much why they were acting that way around you," Spike concluded.

"Really?" Connor said, leaning toward the young dragon sitting on the floor in front of him. "Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were acting like that because they were having a sale?"

"Mm-hmm," he hummed unenthusiastically. "And they were afraid that you were going to scare away all of their customers. So, they had to act fast just to keep you away from them."

The human was silent as he stared into empty space.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he finally exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "First, the entire town and now them? I thought they were my friends! If they wanted their stupid money, they could've just robbed a freaking bank!"

He slumped on top of the bed, expelling a big, stress sigh.

"Don't let them get to you," Spike coaxed his friend. "I'm sure they'll be over it soon. It's just one of their immature moments."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but it's really getting to me," Connor replied. "Jeez, I can't believe they would DO something like that! They said... They said... That they would help me become friends with this town, and they're doing the exact opposite! So what if they have businesses? That sure doesn't matter! They were supposed to give their full devotion into befriending me with Ponyville!"

The human tipped his back over onto the bed once again. His arms followed, spreading out to his sides like wings.

"Uhhh..." the young dragon said, raising his scaly arm up in the air like a student in class. "Can I... Object to that?"

"Object?" the human restated the word, lifting his head up to look at him.

Spike shifted on his seat, finding a more comfortable spot on his scaly rear.

"Well, you can't really tell them to ditch their businesses and do so without asking why just like that."

"Why not?"

"Well, think about it. Twilight and the others really enjoy their jobs here. (Well, maybe except Rainbow Dash, because she really wants to be a Wonderbolt, but that's not the point.) The point is they do their jobs so they could stay in Ponyville, because they love it here. I mean, who wouldn't? I love it here, too, other than the fact that there are hardly any gemstones around here for a dragon like me to eat. They need money to keep their business running, otherwise, their businesses would fail and they would have to leave Ponyville. It would break their hearts if that happened to them. They couldn't abandon their businesses just like that just to help you."

Connor's eyebrows lower in thought.

"And secondly," Spike continued. "I know how right it is that friends are supposed to help another friend in need, but after you say it like that, it sounds more like you are saying that they have to break their backs to help you while you do nothing but sit back and watch."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the human sat up, shooting a concerned glare from his eyes.

"Well, you can't really tell ponies to do something for you when you clearly have the strength to do it yourself. It's like telling a pony with no legs to pull a cart of hay for you."

"Just what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you could go out there yourself and try to make friends with Ponyville yourself."

"You're kidding, right? Myself? Alone??"

"Well... Yes."

Oh, great... Work.

"No..."

"Of course you can, Connor!" Spike exclaimed. "You've got the ability. How'd you think you were able to befriend me and the others?"

"But, this is different, Spike," the human responded. "You saw what happened! Everypony left me out in the streets all by myself. I even found some irresponsible mare's baby alone at a vendor, and what thanks did I get? Nothing!"

"But that was just one pony," the dragon said. "Sure, there are some ponies who wouldn't give you the thanks you deserve, but I'm sure somepony else would if you would just try."

"I just can't Spike," the human hung his head. "I can't do it."

"Yes, you can!" the young dragon argued. "You've just gotta try even harder. Why are you being so pessimistic about this? Friendship is something you can't turn your back on. You can't live the rest of your life without friends. Just keep doing what you did with me and the others, and you will be just fine. I believe in you!"

The human sighed heavily through his nose in disappointment with a hint of frustration. Why did friendship have to be this complicated? Why did it have sound like it was so much work? It was much easier sitting around in self-pity, hoping somebody would have the heart of an angel to befriend him.

However, the moment he saw the gleam of hope and trust glisten in Spike's emerald, slitted eyes, his frustration slowly diminished. He could sense no lies or cruel misleading in the dragon's expression. After all, he was the only one other than Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy who did not push him away.

Plus, he looked oddly adorable with his hopeful eyes staring at him. Not in a homosexual way.

To add onto that, it was like he was sitting with Joshua in purple scales, and he sure never turned his back on him back on Earth.

Connor sighed again, feeling less frustrated and more calm. "All right, Spike. I'll try. For you."

"Great!" he smiled, before suddenly looking stern. "First, you've got to promise to never back down, whatever the reason may be. All it takes is confidence, something Twilight had taught me a long time ago. Something as important as friendship should never be given up on. Stay the course, and you'll be alllll right."

"All right. I promise," the human responded, holding up an honest hand.

Spike smiled warmly as he cozily sat in his chair. "Hey, tell me more about metal. I've never seem to have learned enough from it."

"Hell, why not?" Connor laughed.

Connor walked down the stairs to the door, and he stopped to see Twilight lying prone in the middle of the floor, reading a book. She still had that sad look on her face. She did not get her money, which made the human frown. It was disgusting how she seemed to value money more than friendship. Still, he made his promise to never back down.

He took a breath and resumed his way down the stairs. As soon as he touched bottom, he made a beeline for the door, but not before he wished Twilight "goodbye".

"G'night, Twilight," he said, politely.

"Oh… Good night, Connor. See you tomorrow…" she said with a depressed sigh.

The human scowled in his mind.

As soon as Connor stepped outside, he slumped his shoulders as he gazed at the dark ground before him. Not letting all of the crap that had happened earlier today get to him was going to be harder than he thought.

He looked up. The sky was a deep navy blue with white stars covering it like pepper on a steak.

"Nice night…" he mumbled to himself.

However, it did not feel all too nice with the funk he was in with the ridiculously shallow town.

He walked silently through the dark streets like a ghost. The atmosphere almost felt haunted with the moon's ethereal light shining down upon him. The cicadas' chirping filled his ears, making it feel as if his mind was whirling.

He started to hear the voices again.

“Ugh, there he goes again. Don’t expect us to stop and get involved with you.”

“Hey, creature! The swamp is that way. You’re welcome.”

“Can’t they just do something about him? I’m getting tired of him waltzing by every day.”

“I think I found the zoo’s exhibit for ‘Dangerous and Ugly Creatures’. Call them right now.”

“Why do I even bother?”

He scowled as he shrugged, hiding his head from the invisible jeerers.

"Damn it. This isn’t going to be easy, Spike. I sure hope you know what you’re saying," Connor thought.

“Rarity?”

Connor was standing in the opening doorway, seeing the fashionable unicorn standing deathly still like a statue. She sat nearby one of her showcased dresses. Her head was cocked straight up in the air, as if she was waiting patiently for sompony for many painful hours. That sompony definitely was not Connor. She was waiting for customers.

Not one came.

However, she did not move from her spot. Weren’t business hours over already? Connor saw mascara running slowly down her flushed, red cheeks. She was crying, but was standing still. Small sniffles were heard from her delicately small muzzle.

“Hey, Rarity?”

No response.

“Rarity!” he barked.

"Ah!" she gasped, startled. She whipped her head around to look at him with her teary eyes mixed with drooling mascara. It looked like there were huge, hairy, spider legs were pasted on her face. Her eyes twitched, focusing their attention on the human standing in front of her.

“I’m going to turn in for the night. You should, too,” Connor spoke.

She turned from his gaze and stared into space, weakly nodding. She was silent as a corpse.

“Good night,” he spoke.

She didn’t answer. More tears were flowing out from her red eyes.

“Good night,” he repeated.

Nothing.

He gave up. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he climbed onto his bed, and pulled the curtains surrounding the podium shut. After a few seconds, he heard sniffles and hiccups coming from behind his curtains. Then, they transformed into quiet sobs.

He cringed under his sheets. He should feel bad for her, but he was so disgusted by her self-centeredness, that he could hardly show any sympathy.

I will give all of you one more day… he thought as he trailed off to sleep.

“Come on, Rarity, hurry up! We’ve got to prepare Ponyville for Princess Celestia!” Twilight Sparkle shouted from behind the curtains.

Connor flinched awake. His eyes felt as dry as prunes. He pawed for his iPhone. When he grabbed it, he flicked it on. Holy crap! How early did she wake up?

“Twilight, it’s fahve in the mornin’! Ah wouldn’t blame her fer bein’ so slow, because she was waken up at a time like this,” yawned Applejack. "Even ah don't wake up this early to work in the barn."

“G'UUUUGHH! I’ve been up all night trying to clear out those huge, cumulonimbus clouds from the sky, thanks to those two dweebs!” grumbled Rainbow Dash. They were too scared of Connor to even finish their work with me! I hate being alone... Have you seen them looking at me? Not even my awesome tricks could get them out of their stinking attitudes! I have to admit, Connor is kind of ruining it for me.”

“Ah hafta agree with Rainbow. He visited me while ah was selling my apples, and then after that, nopony went near me for the rest o’ the day. Ah didn’t even make enough money fer today's quota!” said the cowmare.

“It happened to me, too,” Pinkie Pie sadly added in. “Nopony wanted to buy any of my yummy cupcakes. They've been sitting out for so long, that they got all crumbly and dry.” Her stomach made aggressive noises. “As much as I love-love-love cupcakes, it was not fun having to finish them off while they were icky like that. My tummy’s acting all maddy-waddy.”

“But…” Fluttershy squeaked quietly.

“Rarity! Let’s move!” Twilight called again.

The yellow pegasus squeaked in defeat.

“Ugh... I’m sorry, darling. It was such a horrid day yesterday, and I feel a little more tired than usual,” Rarity said as she descended from upstairs. “Still, why so early, Twilight?”

“Princess Celestia’s Royal Visit!” the librarian reiterated, losing her patience. “We have to prepare for her arrival! Everything has to be perfect!”

“Why couldn’t this wait until nine in the morning?” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

“Then, there wouldn't be enough time to prepare! How many times must I say this??”

“Ah’m pretty sure Princess Celestia would be okay with only a few welcome banners. She’s a lot more humble than she looks, ya know," Applejack pointed out.

“But, this is royalty we are talking about! The one who rises the Sun! The one who personally chose me to be her faithful student! We have to take it to extremes when preparing for something as important as this!”

“Ah realize that, sugarcube. Ah’m jus’ sayin’ it ain’t worth hurting yerself. Ah’m sure the princess would understand.”

“I'm not willing to take that chance, Applejack.”

The cowmare rolled her eyes. That Twilight, always worrying.

“Hush, girls! Connor is sleeping right over there, you know!” Rarity hissed as she pointed to the closed curtains.

“Should he come with us?” Pinkie Pie asked. "Seeing that the sale is over..."

“No, Pinkie. The sale is over, but not the event. This has to be done without anything in the way. I can’t take that risk," Twilight replied.

“But...” Fluttershy spoke up again.

“Let’s move, girls!”

“No!” the animal lover squeaked meekly.

Connor heard an ensemble of hooves and the "click!" of the door being shut.

“'Without anything in the way'? What, I’m considered an obstacle now?” he grumbled as he sat up.

Good thing the curtains hid the notion that he was awake; he heard everything. He clenched a portion of the bed sheet with his hand. Why the hell were they acting like that? Did they not devote their time to help him be friends with Ponyville? Connor furrowed his eyebrows, scowling in displeasure. Now, he had to do this all by himself

The nerve.

And they seemed so nice at first.

He pushed the curtains apart, sat up, and twisted himself around, hanging his feet over the side of the bed. He sat silently. He should try to understand the circumstances if he walked outside. That was somewhat considerable. What was not considerable was the fact that Twilight and the others were going back on their promise. It would be best to sit and wait.

But, he was alone.

Again...

In a friend’s house, for God's sake...

He really wanted to be with them. He wanted them to be happy around him. He wanted to be happy around them.

"Friendship is something you can't turn your back on," he heard Spike say.

His eyebrows lowered in thought.

"You've got to promise to never back down, whatever the reason may be. All it takes is confidence. Stay the course, and you'll be alllll right."

The human sighed, slacking his shoulders in fatigue. What a promise to make...

However, Spike was his only true friend here now. He did not want to lose him, too.

Oh, what it would feel like to be accepted without the slightest bit of hesitation. How could he make it feel alive?

Slipping on his pants, he walked over to Rarity’s desk and pulled out a sheet of paper from the pile. He grabbed a pencil.

“Well, that turned out pretty decent," Twilight positively stated without sarcasm. "We got all the decorations up in time for Princess Celestia’s Royal Visit. Whew, I’m tired!”

“Maybe you wouldn’t be so tired, if you didn't wake up so darn early,” Rainbow Dash sulked, crossing her forelegs. “Seeing how quickly it took us to prepare for the Royal Visit, we could have just slept in for two to three more hours!”

“But this way, we get time to relax in between. Plus, it’s good to get stuff done early.”

“Pfft! I can just get it done in ten seconds flat, like I always do.”

“Ah'm kinda surprised that we were able to git all of the decorations set up that quickly, seeing that they're startin' to dislike us,” Applejack added in.

“I as well, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are going to act continue to act like that, now that everything's done,” Twilight said in discomfort.

“Do y’all think it’s a bad idea to have Connor to participate in the Royal Visit?”

“Yes," Twilight nodded. "I don’t want Princess Celestia to arrive to an empty Ponyville.”

“Well, he could jus’ hide somewhere, until it is over.”

“I don’t want to risk it. He is likely to be found. He isn’t that hard to find.”

"Ah guess that's true. He's the least to look like a pony," the cow mare sighed.

“Girls," Rarity broke into the conversation. "Do you want to settle back in my boutique, just to cool off until Princess Celestia gets here? I could use cup of tea right now."

“Ooch, me, too," the librarian strained. "Let's go, girls."

Fluttershy wanted to say something, but she was too meek to even interrupt. She did not respond fast enough. She sadly walked behind them.

After two minutes of walking, they had reached the Carousel Boutique. The fashion designer craned her neck to look in the window. The lights were on. That could only mean one thing. She opened her door to find Connor sitting at her desk, scribbling onto a sheet of paper. He turned around in his seat to see the six ponies walking in.

He was elated to see them, but at the same time, he felt uneasy. He was still hurt by the things they said about him from earlier this morning.

“Hey, guys,” he smiled weakly.

“Ah, you’re awake. That’s good,” Rarity feigned interest. “The girls and I were just going to cool down here until Princess Celestia arrives.”

“Cool. When is she going to arrive?”

“She'll arrive soon, but I’m pretty sure we have some time to relax after helping with preparations," Twilight wedged in for her unicorn friend.

“Cool," he nodded, still weary from being waken up by the librarian's corny sense of waking up early.

He knew what the answer would be if he asked. However, what if it was the other way around? It was worth a shot.

“Can I come?”

“Oh!" the librarian gasped, startled by the question. Her eyes shifted to the side in uneasiness. "Uhhhhh..."

"TWILIGHT!" Spike screamed in alarm, jumping in from nowhere.

Everypony jumped, violently startled by the loud volume coming from the small dragon’s lungs.

“Spike! Don’t shout like that without warning! That’s rude!” Twilight scolded, twisting her hoof in her ear.

“But, Twilight! Princess Celestia is coming right now! It’s only a matter of minutes until she gets here!”

Twilight head drew back in utter surprise. “What?? How did you know?”

“She just sent us a scroll about it!" he replied, waving it in the air. "She said she will come at any minute!”

The purple unicorn clapped her cheek. “Holy horseapples! That soon?! Girls! We’ve got to move! No time for tea!”

Everypony scrambled to the door.

“Wait!" Connor called after them. "What about me? Can I come?”

“Oh, uhhh... No, you have to say here,” replied the librarian.

“What?!" he shouted, throwing his arms up in the air. "Why?"

“It... It's just... You just can’t come! I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.”

Spike glared at his adoptive sister.

Connor argued. “I can hide somewhere where nobo—nopony can find me! Come on! Can I? I would like to see the Princess again.”

“Ah’m afraid Twilight’s right, sugarcube. Ya hafta stay here. It’s for your good!” Applejack wedged in.

“Yeah, Connor. Sorry,” Rainbow shrugged in false apology.

The human's jaw went slack. He couldn't believe it. The air jock and the cowmare were taking Twilight’s side? Since when?? They were all right with having him around earlier. What in burning hell made them change their minds?

“But…” he tried to argue.

"Aw, come on, Twilight! Why not?" Spike stepped in for his friend. "The sale's over! Why can't he come? Princess Celestia would--."

Twilight yelped as soon as she saw a small, flying speck depart from the castle on the mountain. "GAH! Here she comes! Let’s go, girls! Sorry, Connor!”

Snatching Spike before he was going to continue, she ran out the door, leaving the slack-jawed human alone in the room.

Again...

He stared at the door in disbelief. Why couldn't he come? Did she forget that Princess Celestia knows him? If he was seen by her, she would call for him to approach her, allowing him to stand by her side. All of the freaking town would see it! They would see their leader, their ruler, give him her approval right in front of their eyes, thus ending all conspiracies shot at him. It sure sounded a hell lot easier than having to befriend every individual pony at a slow rate, one-by-one.

But, NO! He had to sit in Rarity’s boutique for even longer, thus, not making it any easier for him to befriend the stupid, prejudicial town. At a faster rate, that was...

He gazed at the floor underneath him. He closed his fists. All of this was getting closer to high school than before. He gritted his teeth. He stood amongst the silence of the empty boutique. Squeezing his fist, the flesh on his index finger ground noisily against his thumb.

No! I won’t stay here! Whether you like it or not, I’m going! I’m going to make sure the Princess sees me, and acknowledges me in front of everybo... (grrrumph!) everypony! Then, I will finally earn Ponyville’s respect. It’s time for this bird to break out of its cage and fly free. Just you wait, Twilight! Connor thought as he darted outside. I won’t be a burden any longer.

“The sky still needs work…” Twilight criticized. “I can still see rain clouds. Pretty big ones, too.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight! I tried my best to kick them away after those two blowhards ditched me. It’s not as easy as it looks, Twilight! I’d like to see you try it!” Rainbow Dash shouted, angrily pointing a hoof at her.

“I'm sorry, Rainbow. It’s just... I want this to be perfect for the Princess.”

“And it will be!” Applejack coaxed her. “Jus’ relax, sugarcube. It'll be all right.”

“You’re right. As long as things don’t go awry, all will be fine.”

She stretched her neck upwards, peeking over the the congregation of ponyfolk. Heads bobbed up and down in the ocean of colors. The air was scented with a mixture of smells residing on their coats: carrots, pastries, flowers, strawberries, and vanilla. Literally, the entire town had come to witness her arrival.

“I really hope this goes smoothly," she thought out loud.

Out of the many pairs of colorful eyes that were in the congregation, none saw a tall, bipedal being tiptoe behind the corner of a building thirty yards away from the crowd. He tiptoeing was more of limping because of his aching knee from last night. He craned his neck around to see the end of the crowd. If he crept up any closer, he would the sole person responsible for starting a stampede. Even though he was a head and a half taller than most, he was not satisfied with his view. Plus, some ponies had hair that could easily block his eye-view. Now that he thought about it, it was only a matter of time before somepony would occasionally look behind his or herself and see him.

Where else could I hide? he thought.

He noticed one of the houses had a low-hanging roof. He saw a garbage can conveniently placed underneath its lip.

Jackpot! Using the garbage can for support, he climbed up onto the roof of the house. Praying that his foot would not fall through it, he slowly pushed himself up the slope and up to the apex. He lied on his stomach on the slope facing away from the throng. He peeked his head over the edge. He breathed in the clear air in content. Man, did it feel good to be outside!

He scanned the crowd. He saw the gang standing in front of the congregation along the wall, facing inside the opening.

Sooo, Twilight, you said I couldn’t come? Well, look at me now! he gloated in thought. Connor, one. Twilight, zero!

Trumpets sounded in the air. Everypony started to cheer. All of their eyes were fixed on a floating chariot, gliding down toward the landing. It was a golden-leaf chariot, pulled by two pegasus stallions covered in shimmering armor. On the chariot, sitting on a red velvet cushion was the Princess, waving to the pony folk down below. Behind the chariot was a five-stallion squad, branching out in different directions. Each of them landed on top of a building surrounding the area where the Princess was going to land. By the stern and vigilant expressions on their faces, they looked like they were security guards, making sure some punk pony would not try to do anything drastic to the princess.

Connor’s face beamed. This was his chance to make an impression in front of Ponyville. He leveled himself, getting ready to spring out and shout “hello!” to the princess. Then, she would wave back to him and invite him up to her chariot as a special guest of honor. Oh, man, would Ponyville feel like a bunch of mules when they found out they had been hostile to a friend of Princess...

Something had caught his eye on the roof of a building in front of him, across the road where everypony gathered. The building had a tall, pointed spire on its roof. The building's foundations were cylindrical. A sign that hung from the edge of the roof of its vast porch read "Town Hall of Ponyville" in gold, flowing letters.

He leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at it. Behind the spire of the town hall, he saw small movement. One of the shapes seemed to have nearly slipped off the roof, before it scrambled up again.

His eyes squinted at what he saw. The figure was wearing a blood-red cloak with gold marking. Around the area where the cutie mark was was an image of an upside-down crown with an image of an eye perched above it.

What were they doing? Whatever it was, it looked sketchy.

An orange glow emerged from behind the spire. A bright, orange line drew across the base, burning that area. Then, the line disappeared. The spire creaked, leaning forward toward...

"Holy sh--!" Connor hissed in alarm.

He sprung from behind the roof, slid down the slope, and landed into the crowd. He elbowed, shoved, knocked over, and even punched past ponies like a mad bull until he emerged from the wall of the crowd. When he was in plain sight, ponies started to clamor in panic. He launched at the Princess. He saw the spire's sharp point descend upon her like a nuclear bomb. By where it was pointing, it was going to skewer her down her back and out of her chest like a shish kabob.

“LOOK OUT!” he hollered, as he dove at her. She whipped her head around to see the human launching at her.

"Connor?! What--OH!" Celestia yelped as she was tackled off of her seat.

KA-CHANG!

The pike struck right where she sitting, impaling the chariot and pinning it down to the ground. Wooden shards and bits shot out in all directions like confetti packed into a frag grenade.

Celestia groaned as she lifted her head from the ground. He shifted her legs to push herself up, but could not do so. She struggled to get up until she had realized that something was pinning her down. Her horn glowed, about to use her magic to shove whatever was on top of her, until she saw that it was Connor. His eyes were shut tightly. His arms were squeezing tightly around the soft and warm torso of the royal alicorn, not letting go. His eyes blinked open to the hiatus of the commotion. He felt his cheek touching the soft white fur of her side. He looked up.

Their eyes met. Then, they traced back to the chariot, skewered by the fallen pike. It stuck up right where she was sitting. If Connor had not pushed her aside, it would have gored into her back, through her heart, and out her chest. Their eyes met again.

Celestia’s eyes opened wide. The human had saved her from a gruesome and tragic death. Out of all the ponies who could have saved her, it was him. Hell, he was not even equine! She cheeks glowed a bright pink, because a certain cute creature who had unknowingly flattered her was hugging her tightly.

Connor whipped his head around, looking at his surroundings.

A large grin cracked across his cheeks. A single chuckle escaped his throat.

He saved the princess... He freaking saved the princess! Best of all, the entire freaking town just saw it! He did it!

However, he wasn't greeted with cheers. All was silent. Gasps and whispers rung throughout the air, annexed by the stunned and gaping faces. All eyes were focusing and zipping between the fallen princess and the bipedal being him on top of her.

"He... He just saved her!" a voice whispered. "He saved the Princess!"

"How could I have not seen that spire? I can't believe I missed that!" another whispered. "Yet, he did? Man, am I bad..."

"Oh, dear... I always thought it looked strange and menacing, but... I didn't think it'd have the guts and heart to do that!"

"Did I miss something?"

However, these whispers were not loud enough for the human to hear. His smile slowly transitioned to a frown. Why were they all just standing there? Why were all just staring at him like that? Were they going to show any sign of gratitude or relief that he was there to save his or her beloved ruler?

Suddenly, he was enveloped in an aura of magic, lifted into the air, then hurled down to the ground again, landing on his upper chest. He groaned in pain as his collarbones and the bottom of his neck cringed in throbbing pain. Then, he felt heavy hooves relentlessly pinning him down to the ground.

“Get off of her, scumbag!” shouted a royal guard. “How dare you touch the princess with your filthy paws!”

“’SCUMBAG’?? ‘FILTHY’?? I JUST SAVED HER LIFE, YOU FU—!” His head was shoved into the ground by a massive hoof belonging to one of the guards.

“This will teach you a lesson to touch the Princess of the Sun without permission!” one snarled as he stomped on his bad knee.

Connor shouted in pain. Then, he was being peppered with stomps and punches. From a distance among the crowd, Fluttershy gasped in horror as she saw him get brutalized. She galloped into the scuffle, trying to pull the guards off of him.

“Stop it!" she cried. "Stop it! You’re hurting him! Please!”

“Get off, foal!” a guard yelled as he struck her face with a merciless hoof.

She cried out as she flew into the air and landed on the hard ground. Connor’s eyes shot open in shock. Through the kicking and stomping legs of the guards, he saw the frail pegasus cup her face with her hooves, twisting on top of the ground in pain. After a pained whimper, her hooves lowered, revealing a teary face stained with tears and blood from a flesh wound that resulted from the guard’s hoof.

Connor thrashed against the guards with the strength he never revealed before in his life.

“YOU BASTARD!" he shouted. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HER! YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU LOUSY MOTHERF—!”

"Pin him down!!" the guard shouted, pressing his foreleg down on top of his head, having the rest to follow, only pinning his limbs. "Pin him down and keep him there!"

He turned his head to look at the rest of the gang. They were standing agape. Connor’s desperate expression shouted for them to help him. They did nothing. They just resumed to stare at him, equally as stunned as the rest.

So, that was how it was…

Celestia continued to stare at the destroyed chariot, deadpanned. How could she have not seen this coming? It was large, big...

Dangerous...

Then, she saw Connor being pinned ruthlessly down by the towering pack of guards. She gasped in fright. She had been so deadpanned and shocked from what just happened, that she did not notice the brutality that was being done upon her savior.

“Guards! Off of him!” barked Celestia.

“But, Princess! He touched you without your permission! He must be punished!"

“NOW!” she commanded loudly.

Like a timid litter of puppies, they split, revealing a dirty, bruised human. His head was ducked under his shoulder level.

She scowled as she glared at the tall, hulking guard. She never liked him from the start. He could not live a single day without beating something into a pulp.

“Connor…” she said softly.

His fingers clawed into the dirt as he clenched his fist. His breathing was shuddered.

"You... You saved my life," she said with a grateful smile. "And I thank y--."

With a pained and angry snarl, he clawed into the dirt to push his body forward, tearing himself away from her.

"Connor!" she exclaimed.

However, he wasn't running away, he was storming up to the crowd, stopping in front of them by a few feet. His fists were clenched with all of the strength he wielded in his forearms and his eye twitched with contempt as he gave all of who was in his sight a venomous hate glare.

"So this is it, huh?" he snarled. "So this is how you react to me, saving your princess from a gory death? Is it too much to show a little thanks?! A little approach to apologize? A little attention?! Anything?! Would a weird, scary, dangerous creature like me not do this for all of you ingrates?! WELL?!"

There was no answer, except for the guilt causing them to cringe back, staring at the ground with growing shame.

"WELL, YOU'RE GODDAMN WELCOME!" he roared. "You know what?! I'm out of here! SCREW ALL OF YOU!"

He whirled around, hurling himself back in the direction of the boutique.

"Connor! Wait!" Celestia called, reaching out to him.

He ignored her. His pain was too great for him to listen anymore. He disappeared around the corner of a building, separating himself from her sight.

"C'mon, girls! Follow him!" Twilight shouted, darting away. The gang followed behind her, chasing after their human. Rainbow Dash, however, turned around to retrieve her yellow pegasus friend. Grabbing her hoof, she pulled her up and escorted her to follow the rest.

The princess reached a hoof toward them, bereft of Connor leaving her just before she was about to thank him. Behind her, everypony was still silent. Her ears flattened against the back of her head. Her head slowly turned around to gaze at them. Her eyebrows furrowed in unpleasing concern.

“Princess, we must leave now! It’s not safe here!” a guard said as he used his magic to lift the spire out of the ground and reassemble the chariot in a matter of seconds.

"In a moment..." she replied with a grim glint in her eye, still focusing on the throng. "I need to say something first."

She turned around at funeral procession speed, facing the throng of silent ponies. As she stepped nearer, heads arose, noticing the regal, white alicorn approaching them. However, the expressions were far from happy as they gazed upon her frown.

She stopped directly in front of them, staring down at them like a vulture.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke in a soft, yet unpleased voice.

"I don't know what happened between all of you and Connor, or what you had said and rumored about him, but seeing how he reacted, I can only assume that the damage you caused onto him is in levels far more than I expected. I am gravely and sorely disappointed in all of you. You all are in dire need of a change of attitude and heart. He is not what you say he is. Until you all change your short-sightedness towards creatures that are mysterious to you, don't ever expect me to visit you for a long time."

Everypony bowed his or her head, further crippled by guilt.

She turned around, facing the guard.

"Ready the chariot. We're leaving now," she said to him.

He nodded enthusiastically, feeling newly timid after hearing her scathing words directed at the town.

The alicorn elegantly climbed up the step and sat herself on her seat with the cushion now decorated with a big hole in the middle from the spire.

"I expect more from you, Ponyville," she said, turning back to the throng. "Get your minds out of the dirt."

With that, the chariot launched forward, gliding up into the sky. As she was flying, she heaved a stressed sigh. The nerve of them.

Her eyes flickered open. There was something else that she didn't understand.

A great, pointed spire falling down toward her...

How could that happen? How could she not notice that gargantuan spear falling down on her at once? Surely, it might have taken a while for it to tip over and collapse on her, yet, she failed to notice it.

No, the security guards should have seen it. They were watching everything. How could they not have seen that spire fall on her? Worse, none of them dove to the rescue. She was insanely lucky that Connor had intervened. He was no security guard, but he noticed it?

What in the higher entities' names was going on?

She chewed her hooftip.

“Damn it! That thing has foiled us!” a Dragonfire pony stomped his hoof into the ground.

Hellfire's face was silent in the darkness of his hood.

“My lord,” the other turned to him. “Does this mean we have go with plan ‘B’?”

A sword spearing him in the belly was the answer he had gotten from the orange stallion. The other two ponies flinched in shock as they saw their comrade get slain in front of them.

Hellfire brought his muzzle close to his victim’s ear.

“Yes…”

He yanked the sword out from the pony’s belly. After a bloody death rattle, the unfortunate pony fell into dead silence.

"We go with plan ‘B’... Commencing now.”

SLAM!

The human busted through the doors of the boutique in rage. He paced the floor, breathing loudly. He kicked the base of a table.

Unbelievable! He was left out in the cold by the gang and beaten by the guards for saving the princess’ life. What the hell was wrong with those ponies?! Were they blind? Were they stupid? Did they not know a good deed when they see one?

Then, tearing the pillowcase of the pillow belonging to his bed, he stormed into the kitchen. He shoved most of the fruit that was in the fruit bowl into his makeshift traveling sack, spitting profanities under his breath.

“Connor!” exclaimed a familiar voice behind him.

He turned to the voice. Twilight, Spike and the five were standing in the doorway, staring at him. He snapped back around. He did not feel like looking at them at all.

"What do you want? You here to stare at me some more?" he spat, making his way to pack some more food.

They walked further into the boutique. Twilight noticed the pillowcase in his hand.

"W... What are you doing?" she asked shakily.

"I've had enough..." he grumbled loudly to himself. "I've had enough of this stupid place. There's no way to get it through their thick heads..."

"Connor!" the purple unicorn exclaimed. "Don't do this! Look, we were wrong to tell you to stay here, and we're sorry!"

"She speaks for all of us, darling," Rarity stepped in. "Don't do anything brash now!"

"Well, why not?!" he responded. "I've had it up to here with this place! I tried to win their hearts, but NO! All I ever got was nothing. I'm not staying here any longer if they going to give me nothing!"

"You don't need to leave! That all saw what you did. They'll come around. And if they don't, then we'll still be here for you! We're still your friends!" Twilight said.

"Oh, really?" he whirled around to face her. "Do friends turn their back on those who needed help? Do friends believe rumors from assholes who falsely accuse you? You were all becoming like them! Don't think I didn't notice! I asked you for help, but you never did! And because of that, you broke my trust! You broke it, kicked it, gnawed on it, and threw it into hell! I congratulate you all for being such insensitive PRICKS!! Haven’t I suffered enough?!”

“W-what? What do you mean?”

“Oh! I guess I forgot to tell you! It must be fault now for not telling you! Back on earth, I was alone! I was suffering! I was friendless! And now, that world has caught up with me again. In here! In a world full of freaking ponies! PONIES, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE! I can’t even make friends with ponies now?! THANK YOU! OH, THANK YOU, NATURE, FOR CRAPPING ON ME! How can I ever repay you??”

Twilight put her hoof on her chest in hurt. “Oh, Connor! I-I had no idea…”

“Now, you know! Nothing you can do about it now, can you? It’s too late to try to coax me, Twilight. You have done enough! All of you, for that matter!” He pointed at them. “Screw you! Screw you, screw you, screw you, SCREW ALL OF YOU! You’re not my friends anymore! You are all DEAD to me!” he stomped over to Rarity’s desk and picked up a sheet of paper. Holding it up so they could all see it, he tore it in half and threw the halves down on the ground.

“Well, since I'm being thanked for doing them a big favor, I guess I can go home now, right? Yeah, I should go home! It’s sure a hell lot better than staying here!”

He stormed to the door and flung it open. “Now. I’m going to find a way back to my world if it kills me! I haven’t got anymore time to hang around with backstabbers like you! Screw all of you!”

He turned to leave, but stopped when he saw the frightened face of Fluttershy, hiding behind Rarity’s legs. Her azure eyes shimmered with flooding tears, shouting at him to not leave.

He could not help but stare back at her. She looked so innocent, but above all, beautiful. He would do anything to be with her. However, now that he believed that she has fallen with them, the pain was even greater.

He felt his eyes prune up. However, he did not feel like tearing up in front of his traitors. Growling, he threw himself around and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Coincidentally, the thunder rolled the very second he slammed it.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Yeah, the part where they started laughing at him was just rather OoC and quite ridiculous. I made them all act like a bunch of assholes :/ It kind of surprises me to realize that I had missed that, or why I haven't thought of that while I was rewriting it.

Well, nobody's perfect, I guess. I'm not a professional writer. I'm just a storyteller still in need of perfecting the flow of the story XD

Anyhoo, I hope you guys enjoy this rewrite a lot better than the last one.

Chapter XII - Personal Response

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter XII
Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“I think there might be a tool shed somewhere out here,” Spike said as he shoved past trees and bushes in the forest.

“'Kay," Connor huffed in response, short on breath. "I’m sure we can find some things in there.”

They were brushing past leaves, trees, and bushes in the forest. Panting and running as fast as their legs can carry, they knew they had to find something quick. They only had an hour until Dragonfire releases the hydra into Ponyville, as well as Hellfire killing Twilight and the others. Connor would never allow Hellfire to lay a hoof on Fluttershy, and Spike would never allow Hellfire to lay a hoof on Rarity or Twilight.

“There it is!” the young dragon exclaimed, pointing to a small shed in the distance.

"Ah!" the human huffed in relief. "Let's comb through it."

They ran up to the small shelter, catching their breath for a few seconds. The shed was narrow and short like an outhouse, only it was four times longer in length. Green patches of moss polluted its dull brown surface and its window was fogged with a mess of cobwebs from the inside, making it hardly visible to look in. Spike grabbed the handle and pulled.

“Dang it! It’s locked!” he said, kicking it in frustration.

He shoved his small body against the door, trying to break in until a forearm protruded in front of him.

“Allow me,” Connor said, gently pushing Spike out of the way.

The human clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He noticed the rusty hinges on the door. The screws were partially squeezed out of their sockets. Then with all of his might, he lifted his leg and mightily kicked the door down, making a small shower of flying screws. Dust kicked up, stinging his eyes. When it cleared, he stepped aside.

“After you,” he gestured into the shed.

“Thanks,” the dragon nodded, entering. “What are we looking for anyway?”

“Anything sharp. Pitchforks, scythes... Something that can put those rebels onto he ground."

Spike shivered a little at the thought of using anything sharp against another being. A bookworm of a unicorn sheltered him, and she never appreciated violence. Living with her made him a softy, despite being a rare and dangerous creature that was meant to be dangerous and ruthless. However, there was no time to act soft, especially when his caring big sister’s life was on the line, not to mention that his favorite pony's life was on the line as well.

“Right! Anything to skewer those Dragonfire ponies into shish kabob! I’ll marinate them in their own sweat, and thrash my teeth into their broiling, crispy flesh!” he growled, wiggling his fingers.

After a moment of silence, he noticed Connor looking at him.

“That was a little much, wasn’t it?” Spike twisted his tail in shame.

“Dude...” was all the human could say.

"Sorry... It's just the growing desire for action growing in me. I've read this in books, and it gets me pumped up, but when it's in real life, then it all just comes rushing in. In fact, how did I even come across that thought? It was probably from some of that Cannibal Corpse we were listening to a couple of days ago.”

“Eh, don't worry about it," Connor shook his head. "I've heard worse from them."

"Really? It gets even worse??"

"Never mind. Now, let's move! We have to find something quick before he does them over!”

They pushed past tools and broken parts, digging things out of buckets and barrels. So far, there was no luck. They pushed other items aside, threw some off of shelves, tossed them, broke them, but still, there was nothing.

Connor threw his arms up in the air. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! Nothing sharp at all?? Damn! Okay, Spike, new plan. We find blunt objects. We're going to have to beat the snot out of them.”

“Got it!”

Spike pulled out a steel rod and a baseball bat.

“I’ll take the bat!” the human snatched it.

“Hey! I should have the bat! I found it first!"

"Too late. Called dibs."

Spike winced in disgust as he eyed his object. It did not look like much of a steel pipe. A strong one, that was. The walls were thin, and its glossy surface looked like it was slick enough to slip right out of his claws. Even if he could keep it in his grip, it looked like it would break within one strike.

Then, something else caught his eye. Gasping in glee, he grabbed it and held it up high in the air like a trophy.

“I’ll take this cricket bat,” Spike grinned.

“Great!" Connor said. "Okay then. So, it looks like we've gotten what we need, but I don’t think it'll be enough for this predicament.”

“Hey,” the dragon said, squinting through the cobwebs clouding the window. “Isn’t that the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ tree house?”

They stepped outside to get a better look, because the window in the shed was too foggy with dust and dirt. It, indeed, was the Cutie Mark Crusaders' tree house.

“Hey, yeah," Connor spoke. "But what are going to find in there? It’s full of crayon drawings and other girly stuff.”

“Trust me. Apple Bloom can get really creative with wood. I’m sure there’s something in there we could use,” Spike replied, climbing up the little slope-ladder.

He opened the door, and was greeted by a table at the other side of the room. On top of the table was a small heaping pile of wooden creations.

“See? What'd I tell you?” the dragon smiled.

“Okay, so I was wrong. Let’s search it.”

He combed through it until he came across a certain familiar object. His eyebrows peaked in interest as he took it, raising it up to his eye level.

“Hey," he pondered. "This looks like a gun.”

What he was holding was an L-shaped block of wood with a thick, broad handle. Resting on top of the wooden block was presumed to be a small slingshot. The pad in the middle of the rubber band had a small loop sewed onto it, which seemed to fit the hook that was infused onto the small lever placed on the back.

Connor chuckled in his breath. “Thank you, Apple Bloom."

He slipped the small loop over the hook, and grabbing a nearby marble, he placed it in the pocket. He took aim at a window and pulled the hook back with his other hand...

PIFFT! Doink!

The marble bounded off the window, which made the human scoff in disappointment.

“So much for that,” Spike sighed, crossing his arms.

"Guess not, but there's nothing big to do to change that. I just need to cut the band down to a smaller size."

He placed the slingshot gun on top of the table. His fingertips fumbled over the tight, stubborn knot, cussing in his breath.

"How the hell did she make a knot like this with her freaking teeth?!" he shouted in his breath. "Dammit..."

Without another word, he grabbed Spike's wrist and lifted it up.

"Whoa, hey!" the scaled tike sputtered. "What--?"

"Shush!" he replied quickly. "Just need to use your claw for a second."

The human guided the young dragon's small claw into an small opening. After he inserted it, he shook his wrist, trying to wedge it deeper inside. A section of the knot rose like bread dough and the human grabbed at it with his other hand. Tugging at it, the rubber band unwound itself in a snap. Spike, put off by the unexpected grab, yanked his claw back and rubbed it. Connor stretched one side of it and held it up in front of Spike.

“Uhhh... If you may?” he asked.

Nodding, Spike lifted a single claw and briskly swiped at it. The human stretched out the other side and held it in front of his helper, cutting it once again. Then, he fastened the band onto the gun again, yanking at it until he was sure that it was tight enough. He gave it another test shot.

PAFF! Clack!

A little better, but it could use a little more power. However, he had no time to cut it inch by inch until it was to his liking. Time was slipping through his fingers like sand. It was time to take it to extremes. He told Spike to cut off a big portion of it, which Spike did, and fastened it to the gun again. It was pretty difficult to slip the small loop onto the hook because the band was very tight. He placed a marble into the pocket of the band.

“Hey, Connor, check out what I found!” Spike interrupted, holding up a classic model slingshot. “I found it in the garbage can.”

“The garbage can? How?”

“I guess the Crusaders couldn’t grip it. Not with those klutzy hooves,” the scaly tike laughed. “If they can’t use it, I know I can!"

“Good enough!" He lifted up his sling gun, and placed his finger over the trigger. “I’m pretty sure I stretched this thing far enough. It should be rea—.”

TWANG!

He gave the trigger only a touch, and the marble launched like a mad missile. He flinched, scared out his skin. The marble ricocheted left and right, bouncing and deflecting like a small rubber ball. Connor and Spike danced frantically to dodge the little missile until it shot out through the window, shattering the glass.

They gawked at the damage.

“I think it’s ready to go,” Spike said.

“Ugh... Apple Bloom’s gonna kill me,” Connor sighed.

Spike noticed a purple liquid leaking out of a broken jar on the table. It dripped on the table, creating a small puddle.

“They swiped samples of potions from Zecora’s hut again,” the dragon sighed, rolling his eyes. "When are they going to learn that they're not going to be potion-brewers?"

A bird flew in through the broken window. It picked at its feathers, chirping carelessly. Its head zipped left and right, until it saw the puddle of liquid.

It hopped eagerly up to the puddle, chirping curiously. Its quick head inspected the strange substance, until it hopped directly into it. Its wings flapped furiously, sifting the liquid through its feathers. Then, it started to tweet a song before it was rudely interrupted by its own dry lungs, making it cough loudly. It scooped the liquid up with its beak and gulped it down.

It flapped its wing against its chest, clearing its tiny throat. It continued to sing lively, until it suddenly flinched and fall over.

“Wh--?! D'ptfh! Poison?!" Connor sputtered in shock. "Why do they have poison?! Why are three small fillies in possession of freaking poi--!?"

A small, long, dreary whistle escaped the small birds throat.

It was not dead; it was asleep.

Which meant…

“Sleeping potion?” Spike scratched his scaly head.

They slowly turned to each other...

Then, they turned to a container of pins sitting near one of the posters on the wall....

They both grinned in unison.

Fluttershy whimpered, staining her ropes with her tears. Not only did she know that she was in danger, but also that there was no chance she would never see Connor again.

She didn't get it. She never did anything to him, yet she still had to suffer the venom of his words. She squeaked and moaned sadly, soaking her cheeks with tears. Rarity, who was tied up next to her, tried to calm her, but the crying pegasus kept refusing her offer, disappointed in her for hurting the human's feelings.

“Oh, for the love of Star-Swirl the Bearded! Shut up!” a rebel mare groaned. “Or else, I'll come over there and shut it for you!”

She only cried louder, feeling the pain double because of the cloaked mare's sharp tone.

The rebel mare trotted angrily up to her and roughly fastened a cloth over her mouth. Now, Fluttershy’s cries were nothing but pitiful sniffles.

"There," she huffed. "Spared me from listening to anymore obnoxious noise."

Hellfire stepped into the room, looking grim as usual. He trudged over to the window, gazing at the glamourous civilization perched on the side of the mountain. A low, long sigh blew out of his nostrils as he groped at a small, eye-shaped, golden medallion, pinned at the neck of his cloak. He hid it within the hollow of his black hoof.

“Why are you doing this to us?" the purple unicorn asked from the middle of the room, still tied down onto her seat. "We’re brothers! We’re sisters! We’re family! Why are you treating us like this?”

“For our future, Twilight Sparkle." he softly replied. "It's for our own good.”

“Good?? What good can come out from this? This is barbaric!”

"Indeed," he looked back up, gazing at the mountain. "It may seem barbaric now, but it'll serve a big purpose later on."

“More pain and suffering?”

He lowered his head in response. "Just the opposite. Prosperity and cleansing. Renewal. I was like you once, Twilight Sparkle. Happy, carefree, talented... I had everything. But, now..."

He clenched his grip on the medallion.

"I've seen the true light... Behind everything... Behind your so-called 'Loving Leader'..."

“What are talking about?" she glared at him, angry at him for insulting her teacher. "What about the Princess? She is a kind and loving lead--!"

Twilight flinched mightily, seeing him suddenly appear directly in front of her. His glaring eyes were screaming with bloodthirsty rage. Such a gaze made Twilight's blood curdle and it crippled her to silence.

"You have been greatly deceived, Twilight Sparkle..." he growled. "Even such an intelligent pony as you has not seen her true self. How verrrrry crafty of her to reach into you with affection, so you would not suspect her of anything. I was lucky I was before it was too late. She has been playing you all for saps, ALL OF YOU, making you believe she is a kind and loving leader, oozing with courtliness and respect."

He leaned back, lengthening his distance between himself and the purple unicorn, and he snorted spitefully.

"She wouldn't know respect if it gored her in the eye."

The room was quiet.

"Now do you see?" Hellfire squinted. "Do you feel even a flicker of respect for your loving princess now? Did you feel most of it wither away into dust, leaving you as an empty, pitiful shell out in the bitter cold?"

"I don't believe you!" she responded defiantly. "Not once has she ever let me down! She is nothing like you say!"

"I was with her before you even became her student, little pony. Do you really believe that when you've only lived less than one-tenth of her life? You and I both know that a pony can't stay one way all through his or her life. Ponies change, just as I do. Even you. You were once skeptical about friendship, but now you embrace it after you took down the feared Nightmare Moon. Luna changed the moment she was defeated, just as she did when she became Nightmare Moon. A powerful alicorn like Celestia can't combat change. Change is inevitable. Do you think that one pony would have the patience to be kind and loving all through his or her life?"

Twilight's expression weakened, hearing those words. Indeed, change was inevitable. She also had her guilty moments when she tired of being good.

"I know your pain, little one," Hellfire said softly, assuming she had realized the truth. "I had felt the exact same way before. I felt as if my life had been for nothing, serving for a cause that seemed good back then. You are not the only victim. Everypony is. All of Equestria. But, no more..."

He turned, staring up into the emptiness of the ceiling.

"No longer will Equestria be tortured with deception. No longer will everypony suffer from his or her leader's lack of respect for her subjects. Now, it is her turn to suffer from humiliation, followed by extermination. She will pay for the damage she had done. Not just to me, but everypony! Then, following that, they will have a leader who will no longer deceive them. That leader will always be honest, pure, and nothing like the previous one."

"Stripped from the deception that drools out from Celestia's husk... THAT is true freedom and prosperity for all ponykind!"

"Even if you did kill Princess Celestia, who will move the sun?" Twilight tested him spitefully. "Care to tell me that? Only she is capable of doing that!

Hellfire rubbed his forehead with his hoof. "Again, another deception caused by that damned Celestia. She is not the only one who could move the sun. Anypony with an abnormal aptitude for magic could do it. All it takes is a spell."

The bookish pony's eye grew wide.

“The Star-Swirl the Bearded Wing, a tightly secured chamber containing numerous scrolls containing spells etched down by Star-Swirl the Bearded himself, with the help of his assistant, Clover the Clever. Out of the many scrolls that lie in the chamber, one was the most safeguarded of all: The Orbital Spell. It was a Forbidden Spell, the most forbidden of them all. Not even the guards were allowed to set eyes upon it. They were supposed to be the most elite and vigilant of all. Yet, I managed to slip by them and study it.”

He noticed Twilight, whose eyes seemed to scream that she couldn't believe what she was hearing, along with the obvious statement that he was insane.

“That’s right, little one... I can move the Sun and the Moon. Better yet, I will move the sun and the moon until it forms an eternal solar eclipse, creating the Eternal Eye. No night. No day. Just an eternal eye keeping watch over everypony. As long as the Eternal Eye burns in the sky, nopony will dare step out of line. They will be under my watch for millennia. Only by then will the world be in perfect balance.”

He paused.

“However,” Hellfire continued. “As I studied it, I saw that there was something I had to sacrifice when using it: my life energy. That was another reason why it was the most forbidden spell of them all. To common ponyfolk, that is. Only alicorns would take the side effects as if it were a just a cold. Once used, it will drain most of your life away, leaving you to die a minute after you use it. I do not feel like dying before the birth of my new reign, which was why I passed by another Forbidden Spell: The Leech Spell. That one, I will save for Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna, that is, if she is adamant to her sister's wishes. Once I kill Princess Celestia, I will be free to create the Eternal Eye, and before I die, I will use the Leech Spell to drain all of Luna’s life and use it as my own. She will be the first of many ponies I will use to preserve my life for eternity. Ponies will volunteer willingly to lend their lives for me in gratitude for my reign. My reign and I will live on forever.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. "Over my dead body..."

A glint of grim disapproval shone out of his blue eyes. Then, he grinned darkly, lust for blood brewing in his chest once again.

"So be it, Twilight Sparkle..."

“You ready?” Connor said, placing a corked pin bullet into the pocket of his sling gun.

"Yeah," he replied, pounding his scaly fist into his palm. "We'll show them to mess with Ponyville!"

They walked down the dirt road toward Ponyville. The moment the human saw the wooden fence, memories of when he first came to Ponyville flooded right back into him. Everypony was so kind to him then. It was time to turn those memories into realities. Still, what if Ponyville still did not accept him even if he saved them? He shook his head, chiding to himself that it would be impossible for them to not accept him after saving their lives. However, they did not show any appreciation to him when he saved Princess Celestia from a gory death. His eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Spike," he said.

“Yeah?” the young dragon turned to him, curious what he had to say.

“I’m giving Ponyville one last chance. If that fails, then I'll be leaving. No exceptions. It wouldn't be worth the trouble if we succeed.”

“Believe me, Connor. They will accept you for doing this,” he responded in a serious, yet consoling tone.

“They sure didn’t when I saved the princess," the human scowled. "How will this be any different?”

“Trust me. They will."

Connor sighed. The purple dragon sure was persistent. He did not feel like arguing, especially at a time like this.

“Let’s go find out, then,” he spoke. “You'd better be right. If it doesn't work, I just want to let you know that it has been an honor to be your friend.”

“Right back at you,” Spike smiled in response.

Two red-cloaked figures were standing in the road. Connor stuck his leg out to the side to stop Spike.

"Move off the road!" he whispered.

They ran off to the side of the road, jumped over the fence, and hid behind the apple trees. They saw the two Dragonfire ponies, a stallion and a mare, facing toward the town. Their cloaks whipped smoothly in the humid wind.

“Looks like they don’t want anypony to leave,” Spike whispered. “So, are we going to stick them with sleeping darts? Have a little test shot?”

Connor looked around. He could not sneak around them. It would take them too long, especially with so little time.

"Spike, could you move your tail? It's pressing on my ankle."

"That's not me."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he looked at his foot. Pressing against his ankle was a blue plank, angled at the tip, and had a pair of handlebars sticking out of it.

"Scootaloo's scooter!" Spike exclaimed. "What's it doing up here?"

"Maybe those Dragonfire ponies found her scooting up here and abducted her into Ponyville for that thing's dinner," Connor replied.

"That's horrible!" the young dragon gritted his teeth in disgust.

The human stroked his chin in thought. An idea crossed his mind.

“Spike, do you still have that cricket bat?”

The Dragonfire ponies stood on the damp, dirt road, keeping a vigilant eye on Ponyville. Nopony was going to leave. The hydra would not have much of a meal if ponies were to escape. They were still as statues, until the mare looked up into the sky.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still gray with storm clouds. No rays of sunlight were present. It was only a huge blanket of clouds. It beamed a dull, gray haze over all of the land.

The stallion sighed loudly, stomping his hooves frustratedly into the damp earth. Then, he noticed the mare standing next to him. He smirked.

“Man, this is sooooo boring! I hate watch-guarding,” he moaned, trying not to sound like a whiny little colt.

“I don’t mind it. It’s relaxing actually,” replied the mare, uninterested.

“Really? I like watch guarding, too!” he beamed. “We have so much in common!”

The mare did not even look at him. “Mm-hmm."

“Y’know, after all of this is done, you wanna go out?” the stallion asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No thanks," she scoffed. "I’m not interested in creepy, pervy nose-pickers.”

“Hey! I don’t pick my nose!" he drew back in offense. "A fly just happened to fly up in there. I had to get it out!”

“Right. I’m still not going out with you.”

“Are you sure? Because I know some moves that will blow your mind away,” he persisted, smiling flirtatiously.

“Why don't you go choke on an apple?”

He chortled saucily. “Well, maybeeee, I would like to choke on your--."

"HEY, TURDS!" a voice shouted behind them.

Startled, they both whipped around and something zoomed directly between them. As it went by, their faces were viciously struck by something hard and heavy. They flipped and twisted in the air, and then slammed onto the ground. Their faces grew quiet.

Connor was riding Scootaloo's scooter like a skateboard with Spike perched on his back. Both of their weapons had small traces of blood dribbled on them.

"You're in our way!!"

After a minute, they were rolling up to the entrance of Ponyville. The human realized that they were coming in too fast. Pushing his foot down on the ground, he slowed the scooter to a stop. They rolled it behind the bushes and tiptoed deeper past the entrance.

Connor heard faint sounds of crying around a corner of a building. Walking slowly and silently up to it, he pressed his back against the wall and craned his neck around the corner. Ponies of all ages were out in the streets, holding each other and crouching low over the muddy ground, looking miserable like starving puppies.

“That scum... Forcing everypony out of his or her house just so the hydra could have an easy meal. Despicable,” he whispered in contempt.

He saw Dragonfire ponies at every house, blocking the doorways and windows. He swore in his breath. There were so many of them. He and Spike would get easily caught. They would be ridiculously lucky to sneak past them in time. One false move, and Ponyville would turn into a gruesome buffet.

RAAAAAAAAWWWWWWRGH!

Connor’s blood curdled at the sound of its guttural and loud roar. He looked toward the direction where it came from.

“C’mon, Spike. I need to be sure of something,” he whispered.

They both crouched and crept, following the sound of the hydra’s roar.

They crept around the outermost part of the town, around the buildings, making sure that they did not run into any obstacles in their path. They swerved yards away from the sight of anything red and hooded.

A shadow crept over him, sending a startling chill down his nerves. Hesitant with looking up, he saw a head attached to a long, slender, scaly neck past a roof of a building. He judged that the hydra was at least seventy to one hundred feet tall, including neckspan.

He tiptoed quietly up to a corner and peeked past it, judging that this was the closet they could go. His eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as he saw the head yank itself forward, tugging at something. Looking further around, he saw huge, thick metal leashes around each neck. Its heads tried to force themselves out of it braces. Large, tree-trunk-thick chains were pinned deep into the ground by a wide and thick mechanical dock. Standing behind the dock was a Dragonfire stallion, standing by a lever.

"Looks like he's the one in control of unchaining the hydra," Connor whispered to Spike. "We've gotta take him out first. We just need to get a little closer."

"Got it," the little drake nodded.

They crept behind buildings until they were in a good distance, about thirty yards away. Spike grabbed a scrapped newspaper and draped it over himself. He slithered on top of the ground, peeking through a small tear to make sure he moved at the right time. Behind him near the building, Connor held his breath, nervous that the stallion might see him. He calmed down when he reached the stallion.

A small, scaly fist slithered out from underneath the newspaper and its thumb rose up into the air.

The human gulped and raised his weapon, pointing it at the stallion. His hands were quivering. It was getting extreme for him. He could not stop shaking. Spike quietly shook his fist, telling him to hurry up.

“Hey!” the stallion barked.

They both froze in fear.

“Stop squabbling over there, you two! If you don’t shut up, I’m making sure the hydra devours you first!" he sighed in aggravation. "Idiots."

Sweet Lord, that was close. Having his fill of surprises, Connor's hand stopped shaking, embracing the sheer luck they had just received.

A little to the left…

To the right…

Too far…

A little more to the left…

"Ah-choo!" Spike sneezed from a butterfly landing on his nose.

“Shit!” Connor hissed.

“Hey!” the stallion yelled, spotting the young rascal.

His hoof rose to pull the trigger, until he felt something sting his rear end.

"Agh! What--?"

Shifting his eyes, he saw the cork and needle sticking into his flank. His eyes traced up to the human…

Then, they rolled back into his head. His knees buckled together, tipping his body to the side. Spike acted fast as he threw the newspaper off of him and braced himself underneath the stallion's side. His knees trembled furiously as he struggled to keep him up. Connor snuck up to his aid, lowering the body down gently onto the ground. They whipped around, hiding behind the mechanical dock to catch their breath.

“That was too close!” Spike panted.

“Way too close," the human shook his head. "It can't get any closer than that anymore. We really need clean up our act if we're going to slip by them smoothly.”

“But there are tons of them! It’s going to be impossible! We were only lucky with this one. If we keep going at this rate, we'll never reach them in time!"

A deep, guttural rumble sifted through the clouds overhead. A raindrop landed on top of Spike's plump nose. Others followed, beating the ground hard and making loud slapping noises. Then, in a matter of ten seconds, a thick barrage of rain showered down on top of them, soaking them instantly to the bone. Connor's neck craned around the dock to see nothing but a gray fog hover in the air.

“Aaaaaghh! Dang it!” Connor shouted through the rain. (He did not worry about yelling because he was drowned out by the loud sound of the rain.) “How are we supposed to drop them now? I can’t see a thing!”

“It's not that bad!" Spike shook his head.

“Are you kidding? I can hardly see anything ten feet away from me!”

“What about that Dragonfire pony over there?” Spike pointed.

The human squinted, seeing nothing but a hazy patch of shadow and rain. “I can hardly see him at all!”

“That’s a mare! Can’t you tell?”

“No! I can’t even--!" he paused. “Wait a second. Spike, you can see through the rain?”

“Sure I can!" he replied as if the human had asked him a stupid question. "Are you saying that you can’t?”

“Just barely."

The dragon snickered. “Wow, you humans have weak eyes.”

"Yeah, yeah…" the human mumbled impatiently. "Whatever…"

Then, a devious grin cracked across Spike's lips.

"Hey," he said, nudging his ribs. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Connor looked at the dragon.

He looked at the curtain of fog.

He looked at his gun.

Finally, he looked at his small, scaly comrade.

"Yeah…"

Dragonfire ponies were falling left and right, getting pricked with potion-tainted needles. Only a small amount of them had dents and swollen tissue on his or her skull. The hostages were in panic as to who or what did that to them, until they saw two silhouettes skulking through the rainy fog. One was short, and the other was tall. Some ponies even saw them up close. They were in shock.

“It’s that creature! It-it took down that Dragonfire pony! Spike, too!”

“Celestia’s mane! That creature took down that Dragonfire pony like it was nothing!

“It… It saved my daughter. That thing saved my daughter!”

"What the hay?! Where did that come from?"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

“Ho ho! Right in the neck! That oughta put 'im down!”

"Ha! Sweet."

“My son was about to be pummeled by those unruly ponies, until that creature and Spike showed up and put them to sleep… LITERALLY!”

“That creature's called a human, right? Something like that?”

“You know what? I’m actually starting to like that thing…”

“They’re helping us! I sure hope things go smoothly for them. Ponyville rests on their hooves-- I mean, claws, or--… Ugh, never mind. We're counting on them!”

The rain ceased, giving the air clarity again. Two soaking saints stood back-to-back in the middle of the road right in front of the town hall. Their projectile and blunt weapons were gripped firmly in their palms as they gazed upon their work. The sight of the large number of cloaked ponies lying motionless on the ground forced an elated chuckle out of the taller one.

"Hoo! Wouldn't you look at this, Spike?"

"Oh, I'm looking," he nodded, chuckling boyishly himself. "Well, chop off my tail and tape it together! We're good!"

"Yes we are! Just look at them! Dropped like china plates." He shook his head. "No, wait. We can't celebrate just yet, Spike. We've still got to get to--."

Connor paused as soon as he laid his eyes on his armed comrade.

"What?" he shrugged.

"Where'd you get the shades?"

Spike's eyes crossed to look at his own nose.

“Oh, yeah," he chortled. "I managed to swipe these from a vendor while we were taking out the Dragonfire ponies who were poking fun at Bon-Bon and Lyra. How do they look? Pretty cool, huh?”

“The sun’s not even out," the human added cynically.

The young dragon turned to his friend. He pushed his shades down to reveal a pair of half-open eyes, ornate with a single raised eyebrow.

"Please," he simply said. "Don't ruin this for me."

“They look good,” Connor sighed with a smile.

They felt eyes staring at them. They turned to see everypony staring at them, mouths agape. The human placed a finger over his lips, implying to them to be silent. They politely stepped back in response.

They placed fresh, wet needles into the pouches of their slings, gripped their blunt weapons in the other hand, and crept up to a nearby window looking inside the town hall.

Fluttershy cried her poor eyes out. She didn't want to die. She had so many animals to take care of. How would they survive without her? How would she survive without them? She desperately wanted to cry as loud as her lungs could summon, but with the cloth over her mouth, she could not even make a noise louder than a squeak.

Her eyelids trembled. She missed him so. Even though he left less than an hour ago, she already missed him.

She liked him…

No, she like-liked him…

Hell, she loved him. It was not even love at first sight. It was much more than that. She had her reasons to love him. He was kind to her. No colt or stallion could match his kindness. There was something about him that was so relatable to her. Best of all, she found out that he was in love with her as well.

Or, at least before he left…

She moaned in sorrow. He was gone and not coming back. How she wished she could see his face again. At that moment, she even swore that she was hallucinating images of him. She could see his face in the window, peeking in.

Wait a second…

Fluttershy squealed happily through her gag as if she was saying, “He’s here! He’s here! He's come back!”

Behind the window, Connor noticed her ecstatic behavior, and he shook his head furiously and silently. He sliced his hand across his throat, mouthing, “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! You’ll blow my cover! Stop it!”

It didn't help. She lurched forward, starting to break down into tears. Her red, streaming eyes begging loudly for assistance.

“I know! I know!" he continued to mouth. "You’re in trouble! Now, just shut up, so I can save you!”

Rarity noticed her unexpected behavior.

“Fluttershy, darling, what is it now? One second you were happy, and the next, you were—Oh my goodness!” she gasped in surprise when she saw him through the window.

One of the rebels noticed her outburst. He squinted suspiciously at her. Rarity’s eyes quickly shifted left and right. She made it too conspicuous. What could she do?

“Er… It’s okay, my dear Fluttersy. It’s okay,” the unicorn gently shushed her. “The big, scary spider is gone now. It’s gone now. It’s okay.”

"Pff..." one of the cloaked ponies scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Arachnophobes..."

Connor clapped his hands together and nodded, mouthing, “Thank you!”

Oh, God… Now, Pinkie Pie saw him.

Her hair suddenly inflated back to its curly state, and her mouth opened wide, ready to cheer. Right before one sound escaped her throat, Rarity used her magic to seal her mouth shut.

Thank… God…

“That unicorn is using her magic. Inject another shot of the serum!” commanded a Dragonfire pony.

Rarity’s magic, however, was in the stage of recovery. It was weak from the aftermath of the serum. She could have vended them off, but her magic was fatigued, so she was helpless. She was injected with a syringe and her magic died, thus…

...Releasing Pinkie Pie’s goddamn mouth…

“OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH! He’s here! He’s here! Connor’s here! Connor’s here! Yippie!”

The cloaked ponies stared at each other in confusion.

Connor slapped his forehead, swearing in his breath. “Dammit! We’ve been caught!”

Spike pulled out a hallow orb. “Yeah, but not seen in a second!”

With his stubby arm, he hurled the orb through the window with all of his might. It rolled about a foot or two into the room before it popped explosively open, upchucking a massive cloud of smoke.

The human was flabbergasted. “Wh--?! Where'd you get the smokescreen??”

“I swiped it off a Dragonfire pony, okay?" he replied impatiently. "Now, come on! Let’s GO!”

The human plowed his foot through the door, slamming it open. Spike, with the aid of his acute eyesight, shot needles at the coughing rebels and shouted out directions to his blinder friend.

“To your left! Right! Forty-five degrees left! Two o’ clock!”

From the sound of falling bodies, Connor was sure he had gotten each one. He reached into his small slingbag…

"Left! Left!" the dragon shouted. "What are you waiting for?!"

"I'm out of ammo!" he responded, throwing down his now useless weapon.

"Then sock 'em!"

"Right behind you," he said, wielding his bat.

He stumbled onto a coughing rebel. Connor cracked him on the jaw, making a musical, clunky sound ring from the bat. While the human was beating up rebels and having the time of his life of finally venting out his anger, Spike scrambled over to the six captives, cutting the ropes with his teeth and claws.

CLANK!

Spike could feel a drop of a rebel’s blood sprinkle onto the side of his head, resulting from the human’s mighty swinging. Spike released Twilight, then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and…

Where was Fluttershy?

“NOPONY MOVE!”

Everypony froze. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a horrified, gagged Fluttershy with a sword hovering by her head. Hellfire had his foreleg squeezing around her neck like a cobra. Connor’s eye shot open in shock.

“Fluttershy!” he shouted.

The orange unicorn's seething rage rung in his voice. “Make one false move, creature, and this pegasus dies!”

To be continued…

Chapter XIII - Finally...

Equestria’s First Human - Chapter XIII

Written and Drawn by: Ceehoff

“Make one false move, and this pegasus dies!!” shouted a rage-ridden Hellfire, holding his gnarly blade up to Fluttershy’s head. She shrieked under her cloth gag. Her eyes were flooded with fearful tears.

“Hold on there, buddy,” Connor held his hands up in the air. “Let’s just calm down here… Yes, it is very sad that your mother dropped you on your head when you were a little colt, but if you could just go to the hospi—.”

“Silence, savage!!” he roared.

An orange stream of light shot from his horn, through the wooden panels of the ceiling and out through the roof, emulating an orange beacon.

"Now, drop your weapon, cretin! Now! Drop it!" he snarled, nearing the edge of the blade toward his captive.

The human sneered in spite, dropping his bat down to the ground.

"Kick it over here!"

Connor reluctantly pushed the bat with his foot, sliding it over to him. With a swing of his blade, Hellfire hacked it in two, not letting go of his hostage. He flicked the two bits to the side. He raised his blade back up to the yellow pegasus, notifying the human that he was not finished. He and the five ponies, human, and dragon gave each other grave glares, carefully inspecting each other of them doing any funny business. Hellfire was the first to break the gaze as he glanced around him.

“You fools! Where are you?! You dare to ignore the help signal?! Come in here!!” he snarled as he shifted his head left and right.

“Oh, yeah," Connor chuckled tauntingly. "I forgot to mention that Spike and I managed to drop your puppets with sleeping darts. Every single last one of them. Too easy, in my opinion. You should really reconsider your militia."

“Meddling primate! You may have foiled my plan from earlier, but you will not foil me now! I have waited months for this, and I will not lower myself to be spat upon by the likes of you! I will kill Princess Celestia, and I will rule Equestria! YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!! NOPONY WILL!!”

He wheezed and growled in rage, as he tried to regain his breath for his angry tirade. Fluttershy’s left ear was ringing.

Twilight grit her teeth in combat. She could take him out with her magic, but the anti-magic serum was still effective in her body. However, it would not take long for it to wear off. For now, she had to wait. Hopefully, it would wear off before Hellfire kills her pegasus friend.

“Why are you helping these ponies?" the orange stallion growled. "You've seen how they treated you! You could've joined us, make these ponies pay for the sins they have committed against you and your reputation! Your honor! Yet, you play the hero, naïvely believing that these ponies will accept you for sparing them. Is it really worth the all of the trouble to save a town full of prejudicial ponies who still loathe and spit on you?”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take," Connor softly spoke in a bold manner. “If they still treat me that way, it won't matter anymore. At least, I will have accomplished something, in keeping them safe from sick-minded, war mongering, blood drinking, pus-bathed bastards like you. Back where I came from, we have ways to deal with your kind."

"I'm trembling."

"Try me..."

“Enough chat! Now is the time to act! Answer me this, beast: You talk big, but are you going to act big?” he snarled with a crazed smirk.

Connor's cheeks flushed. What a time to act like a bad-ass. He was standing about fifteen feet away from him, and the blade was a hair width away from Fluttershy's head. He mentally bashed himself on the head for acting so over-confident.

"Well??" he asked as he carved a long cut on Fluttershy’s other cheek.

The poor pegasus cried a muffled, painful moan. The human clenched his fist so hard, veins popped up from underneath his flesh. He gritted his teeth tightly, making his heightened breaths hiss.

An eyebrow rose up on Hellfire’s forehead. The way the human reacted…

He smiled devilishly as he ran his tongue up Fluttershy’s neck. Connor flinched forward, ready to punch him.

The stallion began to laugh. “My, oh my… You have special feelings for this one, haven’t you?”

The human swallowed nervously.

“You do!" he nearly laughed. "Well, now I have seen everything."

He began to laugh. The first was a little silent, and then it got louder as he progressed. Later, he was a cackling mess of bloodlust. Connor's mind was cursing itself out. Making it too conspicuous, now he believed that he just gave the orange, demented stallion a sick reason to kill her quicker. He had to stop him.

The stallion's laughing provided the perfect cover for the human to find a way to surprise him. He slid his hand into the pouch slung onto his side. Dammit! He was out of sleeping darts. Plus, he left his gun lying on the other side of the room. His bat was useless because it was hacked in two and lying on the other side of the room.

He noticed the speakers behind him. A limp input cord dangled off the top edge.

Still laughing…

Connor slyly slid out his iPhone from his pocket, making it peek out halfway. Then, he reached waved his hand behind himself, pawing for the input plug. When he got a hold of it, he hid it the cord behind his forearm. He tucked the plug behind his palm. He turned the dial to maximum volume. He noticed Twilight witnessing him. Able to pick up Connor's plan with her intellect, she gave him a nod. He nodded back.

Hellfire finished his manic laugh. He flinched back into action, ready to dig his blade into her yellow body.

“Just in case you do mess up," he smiled coldly. "I will allow you to say your last words to your little posey here. Well? Any at all?"

The human swallowed. How was he so sure that this was going to work? Unless he played his cards right, it would really be the end of her.

"Fluttershy?"

The crying pegasus whimpered, shaking her head furiously to deny that this was the end.

“Fluttershy, look at me! Look at me...”

Her red, soaking, azure eyes reluctantly opened to gaze upon him. Her whimpering ceased.

“Listen to me…" he said, staring into her eyes. "I need to say something to you… I’ve wanted to say this ever since I’ve talked to you out in the fields. Remember?”

“Mm-hmm,” she moaned from behind her cloth.

“I… I just want to say…"

Hellfire smirked. Fluttershy nodded her head rapidly, eager for him to finish. Connor's hand stirred to shift the input plug between his thumb and index finger. Small sparks flickered from Twilight's horn.

Oh, God, I hope this works… he thought.

"Plug your ears!"

He yanked his iPhone out with one hand while yanking the cord out with his other. He clapped them together, plugging them in at once.

A death metal singer's loud screaming thundered out of the speakers behind him as if a lightning bolt had just struck inches near him. Everypony in the room screamed in pain as they plugged their ears as tightly as they could.

Hellfire shouted painfully as he released his grip around Fluttershy's neck to cover his ears. Never in his life had he heard anything so loud and relentless.

"TWILIGHT!" Connor shouted over the noise.

"HRRRNG!! RIGHT!" she grunted as she fought against the pain in her ears.

She pointed her horn at the yellow pegasus and shot a large rope of magic at her. Once it touched her, Fluttershy reappeared in a purple flash directly next to her and the others.

Connor smiled through the pain in his ears, seeing that she was safe and unharmed. He saw the orange stallion staggering in his place, pressing his ears against his skull with his forelegs.

He tried to kill his little pony. He was going to get it.

Feeling a newfound energy, he pushed against the ground and launched himself at Hellfire. The speakers behind him had reduced to static and smoke before they exploded in a shower of sparks. The orange stallion staggered to his hooves to shake the pain out of his ringing, stinging ears. The moment he looked up, he saw a tall figure collide into him.

He found himself flying two feet in the air before he landed on his shoulder. The wooden floor firmly gripped the flesh behind his coat, making him tumble uncontrollably until the back of his head smacked into the wall.

"WHOO! HA, HA!" Connor hooted as he pranced in victory. "You just got your ass whooped by death metal, bee-otch! Not so tough now, huh?? Whatcha gonna do now? Whatcha gonna--?"

A hellish growl erupted from Hellfire's throat as he lifted his sword, gleaming in threat.

"Oh, shit…"

"DAMN YOU!"

The orange unicorn launched himself at the human and swung at him with all of his might. Connor automatically ducked, feeling the blade brush against his back. Seeing his maneuver, Hellfire swiped his sword in the other direction, aiming for his torso. The human threw himself backwards, but felt the tip of the sword whiz directly in front of his nose. His mind was boggling with profanities.

"Hold on, Connor! We're comin'!" Applejack called, summoning the others to follow her to the human's aid.

"Let's knock him into next week!" Rainbow Dash growled.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" the cloaked stallion roared.

And with that, a glowing orb inflated from his horn. He launched it at the six rescuers and it expanded, showing no hope of avoiding it. It engulfed all of them and hovered into the air, out of the way. The ponies pounded against it with their hooves, trying to break out, but the wall was too thick. Not even Applejack could break through with her strength.

"Hey! Let us out! Let us out!!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she rammed into the wall of the orb.

"You'll get your fight!" Hellfire snapped at her. "But for now, it's just me and him. Our fight! He brought this all on himself."

"Oh, come on…" Connor groaned.

The orange stallion launched himself at his target again, lifting his sword up behind his head for a killing hack. The human leapt aside and felt sparks tickle his shins. As soon as he lifted his head from getting up, he saw the blade zoom in toward his head once again. He ducked, feeling the breath of death sift through his hair. Then, a hoof cracked him across the face, pushing him back by five feet, including the stunned staggering. He tripped over on one of the chairs that bound the six ponies and fell on his back. Dazed by the strike and fall, Connor wiped at his bleeding lips until he saw a shadow loom over him. Hellfire was in the air, falling down on him with his gnarly blade spearing down at him.

"WHOA!" he exclaimed in surprise, grabbing the nearest object he could grab.

He shielded himself with a wooden chair.

CHUNNK!

The moment Connor opened his eyes, one of them was nearly skewered by the blade that stopped about one inch from his face.

"Ohhh…" he shuddered.

Behind the chair, Hellfire pushed down before the human was ready to push back. However, his head twitched the right way to avoid a gruesome death. His cheek, however, was not lucky as it was slit by the jagged blade before it stuck into the wooden floor behind his head.

"Agh!" he yelped in pain.

He felt fresh blood ooze out from his two-and-a-half-inch-long wound.

Feeling aggravated and that he should return the favor, he tucked his legs in underneath the orange stallion and planted both feet into his stomach with all of his might. Hellfire flew in the air before he landed on his back. His cheeks puffed out from the clenching and twisting pain in his abdominals.

Connor rolled out from behind the stuck sword and chair.

"I'll take this!" he said, tugging at the sword until it popped out from its place. Flinging the wooden chair off of it, he lunged at the crouched unicorn.

"I beg (cough!) to differ…"

Hellfire's horn glowed and the sword froze in its place in the air, immediately slipping out of Connor's hands as he swung at him. After an awkward stop, the human whipped around to see the floating sword subconsciously taunt him. It whirled its point around toward him and fired like a missile at his chest. He dodged just in time, feeling the sword tear a large slit in his t-shirt. He smirked as he saw the blade close in on Hellfire.

"Ha! That idiot!" he chuckled to himself.

Hellfire clapped his fore hooves together, clasping the blade like it was a slip of paper.

"Aw, damn…"

Hellfire suddenly reappeared in front of him in an orange blur before the human was bucked in the chest by the stallion's black hooves. He flew back onto the wall while his head whipped back and smashed the window over it. He slid down the wall onto his rump as he gasped for air. The stallion's mighty hind legs seemed to have pressed all of the oxygen out of his lungs.

Then, Hellfire roughly landed on top of him like a block of lead that dropped onto him, annexing to the pain. His forelegs pressed against his neck, determined to push it through the wall. Connor's hands trembled, clawing at Hellfire to yank him off, but the lack of oxygen in his lungs made him weak. Hellfire snarled as he hellishly glared into his prey's frightened eyes.

In the floating orb, Fluttershy was horrified. She beat the wall, desperately wanting to jump in and save him. Tears flowed out of her frightened eyes as she helplessly gazed at the manic stallion strangling her special somepony.

"NO!" she screamed. "Stop it! Please!"

However, her screams fell onto deaf ears as Hellfire relished in her fright and pressed harder. Connor could feel his eyes about to roll back into his skull.

He couldn't die.

Not like this...

His hands pawed at his sides, finding something to vend off his opponent with. His vision began to darken.

No! Not now! His hands desperately brushed over the debris around him until he felt his finger glide across something glossy…

Smooth...

Jagged…

Flat...

Angular…

He grabbed the object, and with the remaining energy left in his fading life, he swung it at his strangler.

Through the object, he felt the tremor of tearing flesh and tissue as well as the moistness of the blood that was left in its wake. Hellfire howled in crippling pain and lifted his foreleg off the human's throat.

"GWWUUUHHHHHHH!!" Connor loudly gasped in a huge intake of air. He rolled to his side, coughing uncontrollably as he tried to regain his lost energy. His ears were filled with pressure, making him hear only muffled sounds and bumps. His eyesight was blurred, slightly tingling with speckles of color as he tried to gaze at the damage he had done to his opponent. He could see a red and orange, pony-sized blob tumble and roll over on the ground, staggering like a cork in a swirling glass of water. He saw lines of red trail from the blob as it moved.

He blinked forcefully until his eyesight became clear. Simultaneously, his ears were cleared of pressure, hearing pained moans and yelps from Hellfire. The human looked at his hand, holding a large, knife-shaped shard of glass, which was coated with maroon blood. He felt the pouches on his fingers sting from the cuts that formed on him from the swing he made.

He heard the hiatus of Hellfire's painful sounds. He looked up to see him huddled low over the floor. Behind him, he saw blood droplets patter onto the wooden surface. The stallion's breath became raspy and labored.

"You…" Hellfire growled deeply.

Connor felt his stomach flip after hearing that ominous tone.

"HRURGH!" the orange stallion whirled around, revealing his…

Oh, God!

A large, wide slit ran from the temple of his skull and ended on the tip of his muzzle, crossing over his eye. Blood dripped plentifully from his severed eye. Not even his eyelid could hold back the large amount of blood.

Connor looked down at his shard of glass, then back up at the seething pony.

Maybe hitting him upside the head with a blunt object was a better idea...

"DAMN YOU!!" he roared louder than before.

He flung himself at the human, reeling his blade up to his side. He swung at the human with all of his might, drunk with rage. Connor barely managed to escape as he felt the tip of the blade run down his forearm. He noticed Hellfire stagger before he turned around to strike at him again. Tablespoons of blood flung from his eye. Despite all the energy summoned by the orange stallion's will to kill, he was being weakened by the loss of blood.

Hellfire repeated the same move again and again until he backed the human up to a corner. Red trails spilt in his wake.

"I will prevail! I WILL!!" he snarled as he lifted his blade up into the air. He took his time, though, because he knew that there was no chance for the human to escape.

Connor's eyes darted desperately around himself to find a way to escape. He saw the floating orb hovering over Hellfire. Inside, the ponies gawked in horror. Fluttershy covered her eyes, not bearing to see her special somepony get slain in front of her. Spike's palms pressed against the orb, watching helplessly. The human bowed his head.

So this was the end…

However, he did not see it end this way, being slain by a sword-wielding, demented, rage-mongering nutcase of a pony. He always expected that it might be a fatal car accident, or being shot by a thug, or of old age in a hospital.

NOw, it didn't matter…

He was still going to witness his own falling curtains...

…That was, until he saw Spike's cricket bat by Hellfire's hooves.

"Enjoy where you're going, thing!" the cloaked pony smiled dementedly.

Connor thrust his foot up against the underside of Hellfire's chin, sending his head over his back. He crouched low, grabbing the cricket bat and swung it behind his back. He turned the handle in his palm to turn the bat to the angled end.

"Why, you--!"

Feeling as if his arms were not affected by gravity at all, the human swung.

KROCK!!

He was struck directly on the side of the head, near his jaw. Hellfire flipped in the air to the side. Then, he landed on his side. His face grew silent and calm as blood trailed down the side of his head.

The orb surrounding the ponies dissipated, dropping them. They all landed perfectly on their hooves.

The human panted as he slowly walked up to the unconscious heap of bloodlust.

"Don’t… ever… mess with my friends again," he panted, wiping droplets of sweat and blood off his face. "You lousy piece of shit…"

He felt the eyes of the six ponies staring at him, and then all of a sudden, they crowded around him, giving him a group hug.

"You came back for us!" Rarity squealed in delight. "You did it!"

"That was awesome!!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, firmly punching the human's shoulder.

"Now, that's what ah call a real good buckin'!" Applejack smiled, tousling his hair.

Then, Fluttershy broke from her hug around his waist and dove at his chest, hugging him tightly. Tears of joy leaked from her eyes as she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck.

The others released their hugs and stepped back, standing four feet in front of him. They hung their heads.

“Connor?” Twilight began. “We’re so sorry for how we behaved around you. It was wrong of us to turn our backs to you and become ashamed of you. We should have realized that friendship is worth more than money. We don’t blame you for saying all of those things to us earlier.”

Connor shook his head. "No… It's my fault, actually. I falsely believed that friends should do all the work in helping me being befriended by others. I was lazy. You love this town a lot, as well as your friends, and your businesses and occupations were important enough to keep you guys together. I was being a conceited, pitiful ass. Plus, I apologize for yelling at you and calling you such things…"

“No, no, no, darling. You had every right! We acted like such ruffians to our new friend,” Rarity said as she pat him on the back.

The human sighed. Why were they saying it was their fault? He was just as guilty as they were. He did not want this moment to turn into a back-and-forth blame game.

"We all made mistakes," he smiled warmly.

He gently pushed Fluttershy off of his chest and knelt down to her eye level.

“Fluttershy,” he began. “I’m sorry for saying those things in front of you. You didn't do anything and I should’ve known that you would not be used to that sort of thing… You know, being frail and sensitive and all… I’m also sorry that I have embarrassed you in front of everybo—dammit, everypony. Can you ever forgive me?”

He was responded with a nuzzle on his chest.

“Of course," she cooed happily. "There's no need to apologize for embarrassing me. You didn’t embarrass me one bit. I’m just so happy that you came back.”

Connor’s heart melted. All he could ever do was hug the pegasus back. He pressed her deeper onto his chest, feeling her softness and warmth. Rarity squealed silently in bliss, overcome by the blooming friendship between the human and the caretaker. Twilight smiled. Applejack crossed her forelegs, beaming proudly. Pinkie Pie smiled, and Rainbow Dash started sniffling.

She shook herself out of her tears. “Great! Now you got me acting all sappy!”

Everypony laughed warmly.

“What’s so funny?” the rainbow-maned pegasus said as she threw her legs up. “If I act all sappy then, I…I’ll be…I…” She started to sniffle again. Without another word, she dove down and hugged the human's back. Muffled sniffles were only heard from the blue pegasus. Everypony saw this as a good opportunity for another group hug. One by one, everypony including Spike, surrounded Connor with hugs and revival of the happier memories they had together before this entire ordeal.

Suddenly a bright, white flash appeared in the middle of the room, nearly blinding them. When it faded, two guards armed with spears sprung out and crouched low to the floor in a combating stance. They shifted left and right, looking for enemies to vend off.

To their surprise, there were none.

Dumbfounded, they raised their spears. They saw bodies of sleeping and unconscious Dragonfire ponies scattered on the floor. Then, they saw the six ponies, Spike, and Connor, looking surprised as well. They saw Hellfire lying on the floor, unconscious. The guards looked at each other and nodded. After one of them flashed a light out from his horn, Princess Celestia entered the room in a white flash.

“Stop right there! You will not get away with this—.”

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed.

The alicorn exclaimed in surprise, seeing her pupil unharmed. “What’s going on in here? Where's the leader?"

Spike jumped from the huddle, looking very excited. “Connor knocked him out!”

She sputtered. "Connor did this?"

“Yeah! It was like, ‘Any final words to say to Fluttershy?’ And Connor said, ‘Fluttershy, plug your ears!’ Then, Connor used the speakers and his death metal to stun him! And, then Connor ran up to him and BOOM! He knocked him over his hooves! Then, he went WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH with his sword, but Connor dodged them all! WHA! Ka-CHA! Connor uses a shard of glass to tear his eye in half! He was all like 'CURSE YOU!' and he kept swinging at him until Connor knocked the living daylights outta him with a cricket bat to his ugly face! It was so awesome!"

Celestia stared at the human, who innocently waved at her.

Click.

Everypony flinched. The two guards sprung back into their combat stances pointing their spears toward the noise. Celestia turned to the noise.

Next, a groan was heard. She saw a cloaked stallion shift on the ground. He placed his hooves firmly on the ground, trying to lift himself. However, the large amount of blood lost and the wooziness that swirled in his brain made his knees buckle in and drop him back onto the ground. He cursed in his breath before he attempted to push himself up off the floor again.

The princess' hooves sounded loudly on top of the wooden floor as she walked toward to the staggering stallion. A glint of anger flickered in her eyes.

"Your gig is over, rebel," she said grimly. "When you tamper with my subjects, there will a huge price to pay. So huge, that it will make you wish that--."

The stallion turned to her, revealing the unscarred side of his face. Celestia suddenly froze in her place. Her eyes widened dramatically.

"Oh, mother, help me…" she shakily gasped.

"What?" Twilight asked. "What's wrong? Princess?"

The white alicorn did not respond to her pupil's concern. Her lips were cracked open as she gaped at the stallion.

"Hellfire?" she squeaked in disbelief. "Is… Is that you?"

"You KNOW him??" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight gasped as soon as she heard that name her teacher mentioned.

The stallion's snarled in rage. He lurched forward to attack, but fell down on his front, still weak from the aftermath of the fight. Yet, still persistent in doing harm onto the princess, he crawled slowly toward her, trying to grab her hooves. He growled when she lifted them away from him.

"Hellfire," she squeaked again, but with more child-like fear. "What…? What are you doing?"

"You…" his voice rumbled as he tried to grab her hoof again. "You… I'll kill you… I'll kill you!"

"I--!" she stuttered sadly. "I don't understand! You… You were dead! You killed yourself!"

He growled spitefully, not feeling like answering.

"This… This has to be--! This has to be the work of somepony else! A brain-washing zombification spell!" she said. "Don't worry, Hellfire! I'll help you! I'm going to break you out of this spell once and for--!"

"YOU WILL DO NOTHING!"

The white princess flinched in shock.

"This is no spell," he sneered in sick humor. "This is me… The real me…"

She covered her mouth with her hoof. Her eyes began to moisten.

"So, all those attacks," she whispered. "Those were your doing? You were the leader of Dragonfire this whole time??" She shook her head, trying to deny it to be true. "Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to kill me?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" he roared. "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'VE DONE! It was unforgivable, what you did. And now, you must pay the price!"

"Princess, what is he talking about?" Connor asked the stunned alicorn.

"Of COURSE, she didn't tell you!" he laughed ironically. "She never told ANY of you! She's been playing you all for saps! You have never seen her true self! You think she is kind, caring, compassionate, respectful, and above all, great. Well, you're wrong…"

All eyes turned to the princess.

"Hellfire, why are you saying all of this?" Celestia pleaded.

"Your mind is as little as your respect, Princess," he growled. "You never let me avenge them…"

"Avenge who?" Applejack asked.

"That dragon had to pay for what he had done to my family. My wife. My daughter. They had meant the world to me! All the stars in the sky! Yet, you threaten me with a dishonorable release from the Royal Guard if I set a hoof out there to hunt down that damned behemoth and avenge them! Well, you're wrong. I set up my own suicide, so you would never know that it was me who killed that damned dragon that laid waste to my family."

The alicorn gasped again.

"The dead dragon… That was all your doing? You killed it? But... Nopony has ever smote a dragon. Alone!"

Hellfire continued. "Yet, after I killed the dragon, I still felt no satisfaction. You had dishonored my family just as that behemoth did! So, therefore, you had to pay as well. Yet, I failed…"

Celestia remembered the sight of her eyes opening to a blade that pointed down on her.

"No…" she whispered. "That was--!"

"So, I went into hiding. I kept my identity hidden, hoping that when I kill you, you would experience the crippling despair and defeat when you find out that one of your own beloved subjects has plunged you into the fiery pits of Tartarus. Ever since, my thirst for your blood had tantalized me so, driving me to kill even my own subjects in order to quench it. I hid until I found the perfect opportunity to end you. Your Royal Visit." He pointed a venomous hoof at Connor. "But, he, that cretin, foiled my plan. If it weren't for him, you would've died an hour ago. Alas, it was not meant to be. So, now, because of that meddling creature you call a 'friend', we are now here, reunited. However, that cretin was not the one who started all of this. Isn't that right, princess?"

All eyes were fixed on the alicorn.

"No, Hellfire! You don't understand!" she shook her head. "I knew that our first meeting after your family was killed did not go smoothly, but I was going to return, to apologize for acting so short with you. But, you were gone before I could even apologize!"

"You should've done that sooner, Princess," he sneered. "Because now, you have brought all of this to your subjects. Me! Singlehoofedly, you killed your own reputation as a leader. Equestria is too precious to be ruled by someone as cold-blooded as you. They must have a new leader, and it will be me. I will show them how a leader must act. I will act nothing like you, a short-tempered liar and a deceiver! They will have me, a leader who is always willing to help and support those who had been through a terrible loss. That is how I formed this organization, out of those who had lost their families and loved ones. I spared them from being hurt by your short temper and closed-sightedness. The rest were ponies who got tired of you. You should have done a better job keeping them loyal to you, because now you have led your own reign to its ruin. How ironic…"

Celestia's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, Hellfire…" she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I have brought all of this onto you. This is my fault. You have to come back, Hellfire. Think of your friends… Shining Armor… Think of me..."

He voice began to tremble tearfully. "I loved you, Hellfire. I loved you dearly as I loved all of my subjects. It breaks my heart so to see you like this. Please... Please don't break it anymore…"

"Bite your tongue!" the stallion snapped coldly. "You will not fool me anymore! You will not fool all of Equestria anymore! Your reign of deceit ends now. That is why I have formed Dragonfire, to embark the nation on a journey toward revolution, from the filth you have spewed on it. No longer will you sit on the throne and consider yourself a great leader. This is all an act of mercy, compassion, and retribution. They should be thankful that I didn't resolve to destroy Equestria completely. They would be grateful that I would become their leader, and they would give their lives to keep me and my reign alive. As for retribution…"

He paused a second, growing a bloody smirk across his darkened face.

"I witnessed my family perish by dragon's fire. Now, all of Equestria will witness their old leader perish…" His horn glowed. "…BY DRAGONFIRE!"

Outside, the mechanical lock had unlocked.

RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRGGH!! They hydra roared. Sounds of screams and panic sounded from behind the door. The ground trembled.

"We've got to get out of here! NOW!" Twilight shouted.

They all scrambled toward the door.

Suddenly, after a shower of splinters and broken wood and beams, they found themselves scattered, sprawling on the floor of the town hall. A wave of gray sunlight flooded the entire room. Twilight grunted as she strained to stand back up.

"Princess!" she exclaimed in panic as soon as she laid eyes on the alicorn pinned underneath a vast and thick beam. She scrambled over to her silent body.

She shouted her name repeatedly as she tried to shake her awake.

Celestia awakened with a painful grunt. "My wing… It's broken."

On the other side of the beam, Twilight could see the splayed and ruffled feathers of the alicorn's wing. They curled up along the face of it.

"Don't worry, Princess! I'll heal--!"

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR….. A deep, guttural rumble loomed over her head.

Then, the roof and one of the walls was torn and broke apart like an eggshell. Debris, plaster, and wood rained over her. The four heads of the hydra lowered menacingly in, viciously eyeing the purple unicorn and the downed princess. She gasped in fright. The other five, the human, and the dragon shrunk back in panic. Then, the four heads splayed apart like fingers on an open palm, denying escape for everypony. It roared angrily as well as hungrily. Fluttershy threw her arms around Connor, hugging him out of fear. He hugged her back in protection.

"GO ON!!" Hellfire shouted at the top of his lungs. "FEAST!! FEAST ON THEM ALL!! END THEIR MISERABLE LIVES!!"

The four heads flinched as they looked up to Hellfire lying behind the ponies, human, and dragon.

They growled viciously, glaring at him with contempt.

The stallion's eyes widened.

"What's going on?!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Twilight gazed at the hydra, and then at Hellfire.

"I guess that we're not the ones the hydra is going after…"

The heads licked their chops.

"No…" Hellfire whispered.

RRRAAAAAAAAWWWWGH!!

"NOOOOOO!!"

The heads lunged at him.

Connor reeled Fluttershy's head towards him with her face buried in his chest. He ducked his head. He saw nothing, but heard the blood-curdling sounds of screams, snapping bones, tearing flesh, and spilling blood ring in the air.

Then, after a small bellow of the four-headed behemoth, it was all over.

The human looked up to see a red, bloody, torn cloak descend onto the ground, landing gently like a tissue.

Everypony crept up to the cloak's remains, staring at it in disbelief as well as relief.

"He's… He's gone!" Rarity gasped.

"Whoa, nelly…" Applejack gawked.

"Hulmph!" Pinkie Pie retched. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Meanwhile, Twilight used her magic to lift the heavy beam off of Celestia. She crawled up to her side, helping her up.

"Agh!" the princess hissed through her teeth.

"Easy! Easy, princess," hushed the pupil. "You just have to not use it for a while."

"I'll be fine, Twilight…" she responded, though not so enthusiastically.

HHRRRRRRrrrr…

Oh, yeah… The hydra.

Having completely forgotten about the four-headed beast, they whirled around to gaze at it in fear. Was it going to attack again?

Nothing. It just stared at the ponies in the room. Its eyes had no nuance of violence and hunger at all.

"Uhh… Good hydra?" Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Even a hydra has the instinct to think what is good and what is bad," the princess stepped up to face it.

"Princess?" Rarity tilted her head in confusion.

"Cruelty changes minds. It hurts ponies and other creatures that are involved with him or her. Because of Hellfire's unstable control of emotion, it caused him to be cruel to this hydra. In all living beings, there is a limit in being able to tolerate those who are constantly cruel to them," she said as she stared into its yellow eyes. "Fortunately for us, that cruelty has led Hellfire to his own undoing."

A distant wail sounded in the air. The hydra's heads flinched up to hear it. Then, it heaved a wail in response.

"Okay? What's it doing now?" the multicolor maned pegasus asked.

"Well, this is a surprise," the alicorn chuckled. "It has younglings."

"Babies??" Applejack drew her head back in surprise. "Ah never thought ah'd say this, but the poor thing, bein' taken away from her little buckaroos! Now, that's jus' cold."

"Indeed it is…"

She gazed at the clouds. The sun shone through its thick, gray veil, making everything it touches a duller color. A steady sigh blew through her nostrils as she gazed at the depressing sight.

"Princess…" Twilight walked up to her gently. "About Hellfire…"

The alicorn sighed. "He was a good stallion. I believed that he was, indeed. However, of course, in every great stallion, there is always a weakness that would get the best of them, relentless of how harmless that weakness may sound. Hellfire's weakness was emotion. Yes, emotion is an important essential in life, but it is a tight rope to walk on. Too much, and you will fall into a tangled, unruly mess of corruption. Never underestimate the power of weaknesses, my faithful student."

She gazed back up at the sky.

"He loved his family dearly. He only meant well for them, but in an unorthodox way. I told him that he must not let his emotions get the best of him, but alas, look at what happened. He lingered in the past for too long. I wanted him to move on, but not to forget his deceased family completely. You will never progress forward if you stay in one spot, metaphorically speaking."

Twilight smiled at her teacher's wisdom. Her head lowered as well.

"Now, that I remember, Hellfire was Shining Armor's best friend. I've only met him a couple of times while I was growing up with my parents. I was surprised that I didn't recognize him sooner. He just looked so… different," she said. "Now that I heard that he faked his own suicide, I could only imagine how my brother felt hearing that… He must've felt so devastated."

She felt a large wing curtain over her back and pull her in directly next to Celestia's side.

"It's all right," she smiled consolingly. "What is in the past is gone. We can only move forward."

She gazed upon her smiling face. She knew all along that this princess was no liar or deceiver like Hellfire said. Feeling her eyes moisten, she wrapped her hooves around the princess' chest, giving her a grateful hug.

Connor heard their entire conversation. His eyes lowered in thought. Deep down inside of himself, he felt that he could relate himself to Hellfire. If he continued to act so selfish and shunning, then he would end up just like Hellfire, a corrupt, heaping pile of pity. Plus, he had nearly lost his composure completely that time he left the six ponies in anger. Sure, one would be angry after an entire village laughed at him or her, but if one could find a way to plow through it and forget it, life would feel a little more blissful. There was plenty of room for one's life to be better. That was what life was all about, right? To create and build? Renewal?

Celestia separated her hug with her personal pupil.

"I've got to go. This hydra must be brought back to her babies."

"Yes, of course, Princess," Twilight nodded.

The white alicorn stepped forward toward the hydra, until she stopped to look back at the human, still deep in thought.

Believing that she had something to say, she floated gently over to him. Connor never noticed her until she calmly cleared her throat.

"Oh!" he exclaimed drearily. "Princess, uhhh… What is it?"

"You know it is rude to leave just when somepony is going to say something to you," she rose an eyebrow.

"Wh--? Oh…" he sighed, remembering the moment he ran off from the laughing village. "Right… I'm sorry. What was it you were going to say?"

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life," she smiled. "If you hadn't come, then Equestria would've been rocked by tragedy. I couldn't be anymore thankful."

"Don't mention it," he replied half-heartedly.

"And another thing," she included. "I would like to thank you for selflessly saving Ponyville from a terrible disaster."

"No, princess, it wasn't just me," Connor shook his head. "Spike helped, too. If it weren't for him, I never would've even thought of coming back."

He felt the young dragon pat him on the back of his leg. He returned the favor by tousling the protruding scales on his head.

"Glad to be of service," Spike nodded.

"Nonetheless," Celestia smiled. "You still have my thanks."

"Yeah. Though, I wish this town would give theirs," Connor rolled his eyes, gesturing to the empty town.

The princess gazed at the town. Indeed, it was empty. She frowned in slight disappointment, hoping that there would at least be somewhat of a crowd watching them. She turned back to the human and smiled warmly.

"They will, Connor," she said. "They will soon enough."

"I hope you're right."

She did not wish to reveal that she had scolded the entire town just after he ran away. It would be too soon. She did not want to spoil anything.

Instead, she responded with a nuzzle on his cheek.

"I wish you good luck."

The moment she turned away, her cheeks were burning pink. She really enjoyed how his cheek felt on hers. In a flash of light, she and the hydra disappeared into thin air.

He heaved his shoulders in grief. Still no acknowledgement from Ponyville. No use staying in Ponyville now; he was still an outcast. He descended the single step of town hall, only to sway and teeter like a tower with no foundation. He nearly fell over. His foot skidded to one side to hold him up at the last minute. Rarity ran up to his side.

"Darling! Are you okay?" she expressed concern, bunching her eyebrows together in worry.

"I'm fine..." he responded breathily. "Just tired. I guess my trip out of Ponyville will have to wait..."

The white unicorn drew back in stunned surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"I said earlier that I was going to leave Ponyville if they still wouldn't accept me. Look around you..."

Rarity expressed emotions of hurt as she scanned the surroundings. Nopony was in sight except for the sleeping bodies of the Dragonfire ponies.

"You won't mind if I sleep at your place for the night before I go, right?" Connor asked.

Rarity looked at him with a subtly hurt expression. He was leaving? How could he? He just saved Ponyville from a threat, and he was just going to leave??

"Of... Of course, darling," she managed to respond through her hurt feelings. "You can stay."

"Thanks."

Twilight stood with the other four, as she watched Rarity and Connor walk to the boutique. Fluttershy reached a helpless hoof toward him. Seeing that he was not turning back, she sat on her haunches and sighed in depression.

"I can't believe he's leaving," Rainbow Dash said.

"He's done a lot jus' fer Ponyville, and he's just gonna leave? Dag nabbit! Why does everypony here hafta be so shallow around him? It's darn tootin' frustratin'!"

"Not the perfect time for a Going-Away Party, huh?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Psssst!" hissed a pony, hiding behind a corner. Curious and slightly annoyed, Twilight galloped up to the secretive pony.

"What is it?" she grunted, losing her patience. "You know, you guys got a lot of nerve to act so rudely around him after he nearly lost his life trying to help you!"

"Yes, I know! I know! It's just…" the pony took a deep breath, cutting to the chase. "What's his name again?"

"Connor. Why?" she quickly answered.

The pony hung his heavy head and sheepishly kicked a stone with his hoof. "Well, the others and I have been talking..."

"Who? Who exactly?"

"Well…" the pony paused. "Ponyville! Everypony! We need your help with something..."

"With what?" Twilight raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Just a little arrangement..."

Connor rose slowly out from his bed. He should be happy that he had gotten a really good sleep, but the thought that he was still an outcast made the morning less than enjoyable. He shifted his limbs and joints. No strains. He felt the elastic, plastic surface of the band-aid across his cheek. He felt something brush against his skin. It felt silky. It was definitely not his t-shirt. Looking down, he saw the big slit-hole in his t-shirt.

"Aw, jeez…" he groaned.

He smeared his face with his hands, wiping the sleep off of them.

Time to leave.

He slipped his jeans onto his legs and his sneakers onto his feet, which were crusty with dried mud and flakes of dried blood. He pushed through the curtains of the podium and arched his back, making loud cracks in his spine. He shivered by how good it felt.

He turned to leave, until he saw Rarity staring at him. Her blue, pampered eyes were fixed on him, hardly looking away at all. She had a little smile cheekily trying to form on her face.

"Penny for your thoughts," Connor spoke, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Would you be a darling, and (ahem) fetch the newspaper for me before you go?" she slowly said, stifling a smile.

The human squinted at her unusual attitude. Was she hiding something?

Ah, what the hell. Why did he care? He was going to leave anyway.

"Sure," he sighed with a shrug. He walked up to the door. After opening it, he bent over to pick up the newspaper. He looked up to view the weather.

Well, it was a nice day. The many various colors on the ponies' coats really brought out the color of the blue sky. Such a shame that he was going through a rather unenthusiastic mood at the moment to enjoy this lovely weather. He turned back into the house, shutting the door behind him.

Wait…

What the hell?!

Connor gingerly pushed the door open to see everypony in Ponyville crowding the entrance to the boutique. Their heads shifted and bobbed around like they were in an ocean of numerous hints and shades of colors. All eyes were fixed on him. Feeling overwhelmed by the sketchy crowd, he took a step backward, inching his way back inside, until Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Spike walked up behind him, shutting the door behind them.

"Wh--?" he sputtered, surprised to see everypony in one place.

Were they hiding in the boutique the entire time?

He turned back to the crowd, who drew back slightly from his quick look at his friends.

There was hardly any sound at all.

Not a cough...

Not a sneeze or even a gas leakage...

Connor felt as if he was involved in some sort of staring contest. He did not have much time for games. He broke his eyesight from them and turned to the six ponies behind him, mentally asking them on what to do next.

Then, a gray pegasus pushed herself out of the crowd. She had a lemon-yellow mane and tail and had the image of bubbles on her flanks. Not taking her eyes off of him, she slowly and gently walked over to him. As she stood in front of him, she leaned her head forward to get a closer look at the human.

Connor stared into her yellow eyes. There was something off about this one. This pony’s eyes were askew, facing opposite directions at once. His eye traced over each eye, panicking in mind over what eye he should look into. Her expression was calm with hints of filly-like curiosity.

It was a silent staredown between the cross-eyed pegasus and the human. Then, the gray pegasus turned to her saddlebag perched on her back and pulled out a small box wrapped in brown paper and tied with a black string. She gently and slowly placed it by his feet, spitting out the black string that crept between her teeth. She pushed it toward him with her perky muzzle.

The human gazed upon the small box.

He looked up to the cross-eyed pony, who still stood silently. She bowed her head, insisting that he should take the mysterious package. He picked it up.

He gingerly untied to black string and unwrapped the brown paper. A small white box peeked out.

Wait a second...

Was this going to be some cruel prank? The classic spring pie shtick? So cliché, yet he had to find out. He tucked his finger under the flap covering the top of the box. Taking a deep breath, he flicked it open. He flinched his head away, avoid ing whatever was going to smack his face.

Nothing.

It was just a muffin. Connor crept his fingers between the muffin and the walls of the box and scooped it out. The cross-eyed pegasus gestured at him to take a bite. The human's eyes quickly darted around him to find some sort of telltale sign that this was going to be a prank. There was only one way to find out.

He dug his front teeth into the pastry.

It tasted sweet and grainy. Ooh! Banana Nut! However, he did not like the texture. It felt like he was chewing on paper.

Paper?

He saw a small piece of paper wrapped in a scroll sticking out from one of the muffin's air sockets. Connor took it out and unwrapped it. The message inscribed on it looked as if it was scribbled with an ink quill pen. Through the messy writing and the bad spelling, it read:

"wELKuM".

He stood silently in his place with his jaw slacking in stunned surprise.

From behind the note, the gray pony slowly walked closer to him. Her sad, crooked eyes and her small smile gazed into his flickering soul with puppy-like innocence and guilt. Connor looked up away from her eyesight, staring at the vast congregation behind the gray pony. The sight of their staring eyes were mesmerizing and overwhelming, internally pushing him to respond.

He had his response.

An elated sigh escaped his clenching throat. Either it was the pollen in the air or the welling tears in his eyes, he could not grasp control over it.

He grunted in surprise the moment he felt something bump against his belly. He looked down to see the cross-eyed pegasus nuzzle her soft cheek into his abdomen. He could hear the hum of content behind the closed lips of her smile.

He could not control himself anymore.

He dropped to his knees and yanked her closer to him, hugging her tightly.

Both of their ears were filled with the electrifying sound of cheers and beating hooves. They crowded around them, flooding them with warm and friendly approval. The six ponies behind him smiled, proud of the wonder sight of reconciliation they were witnessing directly in front of him.

Finally…

The crowd faded into silence as the little goofball spoke.

“We’re sorry fo’ being so mean to yoo. I just don't know what went wrong," she moped, meekly looking up to the human. "Can yoo ever forgive us?”

Connor smeared the remaining tears off of his quivering face.

"Of course I do," he smiled. "Maybe you guys aren't such bad ponies after all."

The gray pegasus blushed shyly, grateful for his compliment.

"All of those times we didn't get along, all of those times we were separated out of contempt…" the human said. "They don't matter now. Now, that we have finally understood each other, nothing else matters anymore. They're all in the past."

The two opposite beings hugged once more, officially sealing the deal for a brighter future ahead. In the midst of the reconciliation between them, Connor's eyes opened.

"Nothing else matters…" he muttered in thought.

A smile grew on his face as he repeated it under his breath.

"You know," he said, separating himself from the pony's embrace. "That reminds me of something."

"What?" the gray pony eagerly asked.

"Something I feel I should really share with you. Every last one of you!" He turned to the six ponies behind him. "Guys? You think you could fetch me an amp and Spike's electric guitar for me, please?"

A small stage stood in front of the steps of town hall. Ponies crowded in front of the stage, curious on what was going to happen. Twilight and the others stood at the back of the congregation, standing on an elevated platform for their friend to easily spot them.

Everypony cheered as Connor walked onto the stage with Spike's electric guitar slung around his torso and over his shoulder. Three other ponies trotted onto the stage with him, carrying an instrument of their own. A grey pony with a smooth, black mane and tail carried a cello. A mint-colored unicorn mare with a mint-green and white mane and tail carried a brass lyre. A unicorn stallion with a blue coat and short, blonde, wavy hair carried drumsticks. He sat behind a drum set and gave them some test beats. The other two mares tuned their acoustic instruments to their liking. Connor plugged the guitar to the amp. He plucked lightly at the strings, tuning them to the correct tuning. He sat himself on a stool and spoke into a microphone perched on a stand.

“Hey, everybo… Ugh… Everypony!”

He was responded with warm laughter from the crowd.

“Yeah,” he laughed at himself. “I still have to get used to that. Anyhoo, I just want to say how grateful I am for you guys to accept me. You're the best!”

Everypony cheered.

“And in return, I am going to play a song for you. It’s not mine, but it belongs to a rock band back on my world. I love their music, it’s a cool song, it’s meaningful, simple to play, and it's dedicated to our friendship. I've been practicing on this song for a while, because I thought it'd be a good hobby to finally learn how to play the guitar as long as I'm here. We've had made mistakes, bot of us, but as long as we're friends, nothing else matters. What you said before, thought before, did before, what I did before, what I said, yadda-yadda-yadda, nothing matters. It means sh…sh…poop to us now. Time to move forward."

He was met with hoofs beats of applause.

“Enough talking! Let's listen to some music! This song is Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters'.”

The whole time he was playing, the mint-green pony was staring at fingers intermittently, fascinated by how versatile and flexible they were. The dignified black-haired pony gracefully shifted her bow over the thick strings of her cello, making smooth, ethereal, pulsing, harmonious hums.

He started playing...

When he finished, everypony cheered. Some mares were tearing up, and stallions were whooping like party animals. Connor stood up and thrust his hands in the air, soaking in the love that was dripping from their applause. He pointed across the stage to Fluttershy and bumped his left breast before pointing to her again. The little pegasus blushed in joy, happily squealing in her seat.

Twilight heard a sniff beside her.

"Princess Celestia!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"I saw everything," she responded, wiping a tear from her eye. "That was such a beautiful song. A wonderful job."

"Yes, wonderful, indeed…"

The purple unicorn smiled contently at the sight in front of her: the cheering, the acceptance, the courtesy. The moments of hardship were finally over. Now, he would not feel so alone before he returns to his own home.

Return…

Leave…

Depart...

Twilight hung her head. “He has to go home now? His own home?"

The alicorn sighed, feeling her pupil's depression as well. "Yes, my faithful student. He can't stay with us forever. He's got to be with his own kind. There, he could resume the life he had that we interrupted. Just yesterday, I had finally learned to wield a spell to send him back to his own world. It wasn't easy..."

"But, he’s changed us so much, that it’s just so hard to let him go.”

“I know Twilight,” nodded the alicorn. “However, who said we're going to send him back now?”

The pupil whipped her head around to the princess in surprise.

Celestia continued. “I will give him some more time to settle here. He deserves it. Now, he needs time to enjoy himself. He will be happy here, but the time will come for him to leave."

Twilight sighed sadly. She remembered saying something like that a while back when he first arrived.

"I understand," she concurred sadly.

She felt a large wings blanket itself over her slack shoulders. She looked up to see her teacher's consoling smile. In response, Twilight cuddled into the white fur of her princess.

"By the way, what kind of music does he call this again?" Celestia asked.

"He calls it 'metal'," smiled the unicorn.

To be continued…

Author's Note

Oh, God, I couldn't believe that I thought that was such a good idea! I had to make some MAJOR changes in this chapter. Lots of cliches and cheesiness. It HAD to go... I guess that's what happens when you gain experience in writing pony fictions. Plus, for those who haven't read this yet, I wanted to show something in Hellfire, the reason why he became the stallion he was then. Plus, I had to think of a more unique way for him to meet his doom. The original battle... Blowing him back with death metal and then being sandwiched by Connor into the wall, knocking him unconscious?? WHAT THE HELL, ME?! If that's not ridiculous, then I don't know what is! Hellfire used to be an elite soldier of the Royal Guard! You think he'd put up more of a fight.

Which reminds me... "The Tale of Hellfire" is released! That was part of the surprise along with this re-release, as a "Thank you for your support!".

Enjoy!

Man, isn't it amazing to see how much you changed now just by looking at your older works?

Chapter XIV - Departure

Equestria’s First Human - Chapter XIV

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

Connor had never felt happier in his life. Ponies did not run away from him. Instead, they remained where they were and acknowledged him with ‘hello!’s and other friendly gestures. This was the very first time since a long time that he had made more than one friend. It was all he could ever ask for. He wished it were more possible to be friends with everyone back at home, but who gives a damn? Ponyville was more of a home to Connor than back on his world. He certainly did not feel like being the scapegoat again. He would much rather be respected. Screw his world! He was in a much better place now. He did not even miss anyone.

Then, the image of his family and Joshua seeped into his mind. Did he just say that he was not going to miss anyone back on Earth?

A little too brash, wasn't it? His family always was on his side since birth. They fed him, clothed him, taught him…

And Joshua… He was Connor’s best friend, let alone his only friend. He had always at his side. He defended him. He was there to cheer him up.

Geezus, Connor had to say something so brash like that? It was like he was expressing ingratitude towards everything they had done for him.

Okay, so he would miss some people, but that did not change the fact that he was not going to go back. He had had enough of being the scratch pole for others. Ponyville was his huge break. He needed it badly.

He looked up into the sky. It felt like days had passed. Maybe months… Years.

Okay, not years. He was only exaggerating. But, still, he had no recollection of how long he was staying in Ponyville.

A mint-green blob appeared in the side of his eye. Looking to his side, he saw the harp-playing unicorn directly next to him. How long did he not notice her sitting there?

“Oh! Sorry... Were you saving this spot for somebo…” Dammit… “Somepony?”

It was supposed to be for her friend with the tan coat and navy and pink mane, but she was too focused on him to consider it.

“No, you’re okay,” she blankly responded, not even blinking.

"Oh, okay."

He shifted his rear over his seat, finding a more comfortable position to sit in.

However, how could he feel comfortable when a unicorn was still staring intently at him?

Connor was about to speak, but stopped short by her sudden movement. She awkwardly shifted around, left, up, down, and right on top of the bench. After a few uneasy tries, she pushed her hips forward underneath her. Her round, little belly poked out toward the sky, and she spread her legs out in front of her, reclining her back on the back of the bench.

An eyebrow rose up onto the human's forehead. That pony was trying to sit like him.

The unicorn shifted her back and rear by a few inches, and sat still. She did not say or express anything, until a relaxing smile cracked across her face.

“Ooh! Now, this is comfortable! At first I thought it would be uncomfortable, but wow! I really like this!” she nodded enthusiastically. “I could feel my spine, too! Maybe I should go to a spa, because it feels kind of tense.”

She bounced happily in her seat until she slid off, landing firmly on her haunches. She climbed back up, smiling sheepishly. In the distance, Connor and the unicorn could see a cream colored pony with a bobbing pink and navy-blue mane in the distance.

“Lyra! Where are you?” she called.

“Over here, Bon-Bon!” the mint unicorn called in reply.

“Oh, there you are!” She saw the person sitting next to her mint-colored friend. “Omigawsh! Connor! Hi!”

“Oh, hey, uhhhhhh…” the human trailed off, twirling a finger in the air.

“Oh, I’m Bon-Bon! Sorry, we haven’t met before.”

“Bon-Bon! Okay, I got it now. And no we haven't,” the human smiled.

“I just want to say that I absolutely loved that concert you had set up for us. That was such a beautiful song! You—." She cut herself short after noticing the strange position her friend was in.

“Lyra, what are you doing?” she asked with a tone that subtly stated that she dealt with the unicorn’s shenanigans for a long time.

“Experimenting,” the unicorn replied innocently. “You should really try this! It’s very comfortable. Hay, you could even feel things in your back that you have never even felt before.”

“You know it’s rude to mimic others.” The earth pony rubbed her forehead.

“It’s not rude! He doesn’t think it’s rude! See?” she gestured to Connor.

The tan pony shook her head in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry about this," she apologized to him. "Lyra tends to get a little carried away.”

“Hey!” whined the unicorn in hurt.

“No, it's fine,” Connor responded. “There’s nothing wrong with a little experimenting. Besides, it’s not everyday that you get an admirer.”

“Yeah, Bon-Bon!” Lyra brown-nosedly concurred, crossing her forelegs.

“Hoo boy…” the cream colored pony sighed. The human had no idea what he had gotten himself into. “Well, if it’s okay with you, Connor, then I will be, too.”

“Cool,” smiled the human. “Anyhoo, I’d best leave you alone with her. You two seem to have plans, so I won’t stall you any further.”

“Stall? No, no, no! It’s a real treat to meet you! Feel free to say 'hello' to us anytime,” Bon-Bon smiled.

"Okay, then. I'll see you later."

“Bye!” She leapt up onto the bench and sat on her belly, tucking all of her legs underneath herself. Lrya still sat like she did.

“Lyra, you can stop—.”

“SHHH!!" she hissed. "Quiet, Bon-Bon… I’m experimenting…”

"Oh, jeez..."

It had been two months since Connor arrived in Ponyville. He continued to play guitar for everypony and was getting progressively better at it. He was able to strum crisp chords, and was slowly learning how to shred. He even played one death metal song. To his surprise, everypony enjoyed it, despite it sounding so brutal and rough. They took a quick liking to it. After all, it was death metal that helped save them from a rather horrible and anarchy-ridden future. Best of all, he felt that he accomplished his goal in enlightening people (or ponies) with metal. It could not get any better than that.

Ever since she met Connor, Lyra grew a fatal obsession with humans. They were just so magnificent to the mint-colored unicorn. She tried to walk on two legs, tried to make some "robotic" hoof caps that resemble hands, and even wore a shirt with a simple, cutely drawn image of a human on it. Little by little, it had gotten crazier. She even stood out in the middle of a lightning storm just to wait for the arrival of another human. (She heard how Connor arrived, but was clueless that it was magical lightning that brought him there.)

Above all else, she still sat like he did. Bon-Bon could have sworn she spotted some new gray hairs ever since the birth of Lyra’s obsession.

Connor was also asked to speak in front of Miss Cheerilee’s class and tell them some things about life back on his own Earth. He was able to sneak in some United States history. (He joked that they were going to be quizzed on it.) If he was not speaking in front of Miss Cheerilee's class, he was speaking to Twilight. Apparently, his first talk with her was not enough. She wanted to suck him dry of details. What did she think he was? The internet? Although, she showed a lot more interest in his stories than the little schoolfoals did. Actually, they were fine, except for the pink earth filly, Diamond Tiara. She never showed any interest. The snobby filly only showed interest in her mane. She had been tossing it and tampering with it throughout his whole speech. Maybe he should have set up a quiz. However, to his surprise, Silver Spoon had a lot more manners than Diamond Tiara did. She actually sat and listened. Of course, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were angels. They soaked in his stories and historical information like sponges. (Well, Scootaloo, being the fussy, active, filly she was, was the first to give in to boredom.)

All of that time had passed, and Connor still did not kiss Fluttershy. Not even once.

No, not on the lips. As adorable and humanesque the yellow pegasus was, he was not the kind of person to do anything bestial. However, she was just so damn cute that he was nearly tempted to kiss her on the lips. Just to get that temptation out, he tried to kiss her cheek or forehead. Yet, Connor could still not even pull it off after those two months. He kept getting interrupted by something whenever he thought the perfect time had come.

Damn it.

Rarity placed a spotless china plate onto the table. On it was the best damn eggs one ever laid eyes on. The surface of whites were smooth as a gentle pond, and the yolks were golden-yellow. A small basil leaf was perched onto the very top of the yolk. The edges of the whites were a faint yellow with butteriness and crispiness. Two, brown, crispy pieces of angularly-cut toast were laid beside the two circular suns of perfection. Boy, did she have an eye for detail and perfection.

“Connor! Breakfast is readyyyyy!” Rarity called, nearly singing at the end. “It’s eggs! Your favorite!”

In her mind, she counted down from three, expecting Connor to rush down the stairs, like he always did.

Nothing...

She counted down from three again.

Still, nothing.

“Come on, Connor! They’re going to get cold! You do know how dastardly and horrid it is to eat cold eggs!”

No answer.

It was so strange. Something was not right…

She exited the kitchen and trotted up to Connor’s bed.

A sound of a sniff came from behind Connor’s curtains. Rarity flinched back. Did he catch a cold? He better not have. The white unicorn never liked being around somepony who had a cold. The thought of all of the germs staining themselves onto a pony’s coat and wriggle into his or her pores made her shudder in disgust. Not to mention how icky and messy it gets when somepony had a cold. She hated seeing used tissues lie all over the floor or bed.

“Connor, are you all right in there? Your breakfast is going to get ice-cold!” she said, trying not to breath in any germs. “It’s a pity that you have gotten a cold, believe me, but please… PLEASE don’t give it to me.”

“It’s not a cold…” he responded shakily.

“Then, what’s wrong?” she asked, showing sympathy. “You never hesitate to answer a call for breakfast, especially when it’s eggs.”

She opened the curtain to find a curled ball of flesh and pajamas reside in the exact middle of the mattress. Rarity inched forward slowly, trying not to disturb him any further. As she was trotting up to him, she noticed a few darkened and moist spots on the sheets. She noticed small sheets of paper containing doodles of bipedal creatures like him, smiling, happy, carefree...

“I miss them…” Connor croaked through his clenched throat.

Rarity looked at the pictures closely.

“Your family?” she guessed.

The human curled up tighter. His breaths started to shudder tearfully.

The purple-maned unicorn cupped her heart with her white hoof. The poor thing… He looked so strong on the outside, yet he was like a small, young colt on the inside, scared, dependent, and still a youngling. She slowly sat herself down directly next to him and placed a comforting hoof over him.

“Oh, darling…” she said, patting his shoulder. “It’s okay. At least they are still alive and well, yes?”

“But not happy…” he responded behind his forearms.

“Whatever do you mean, dear?”

“How long has it been since I got here?”

Rarity twirled her hoof in the air, thinking of a number.

“Twooooo months?" Then, she gasped in surprise. "Oh, my stars, darling! That’s a pretty long time! They must miss you so.”

“They think I’m dead…” he sniffed in response. “I was struck by lightning. Everypo…I mean, everybody back on Earth believes that I’m dead now.”

“That’s nonsense, dear!” she smiled. “You seem alive to me.”

“I can’t let them keep thinking that I’m dead. They have to know that I’m alive,” the human rose his voice slightly, but not by means of anger. “Which reminds me…”

Rarity patted his shoulder, signaling him that she was listening. Connor uncurled himself from his ball of grief and sat up to face her.

“I think it's time that I have to go home…”

Rarity was taken back by his words. Why would he want to leave Ponyville and return to his own world? He seemed so happy staying in Ponyville. She, including the rest of the gang, really wanted him to stay. Then, Twilight’s voice had rung in her head.

“The time will come when he has to return to his own world. He can’t stay here forever. He needs to be with his own kind and resume his life…the life I had interrupted.”

She sighed in sad acceptance. She knew that it was true. Plus, she had been warned that this moment would come. Besides him being friends with Ponyville, he was still alone. There were no other humans in Equestria. Hell, there were no humans in the entire world. How was he supposed to live without another of his own kind?

“Don't take it that I don’t appreciate anything you and the others had done for me,” the human spoke. “It’s just… You guys made me realize something. You all have made me realize how well worth it is to fight for friendship and not cower in the shadows anymore. It was hard, but it was worth it. I figured if I could relive that moment of confidence and bravery that I showed here, then I'm sure I will make friends back on Earth.”

He wiped the remaining streams of tears off of his face with his damp forearm. “You guys changed me. I won’t be that pathetic, whining, lazy, unconfident wimp anymore. It’s time for me to be a man… or 'stallion' as you would call it,” he chuckled lightly. “But don’t worry, Rarity, I'll never forget you guys. It's impossible to forget such an event as this. This will be my way of saying ‘thanks you' to you.”

Rarity smiled. He, indeed, had grown up. She was so proud of him. The others would be, too. She wrapped her forelegs around his torso, around his shoulders. He hugged back, pressing his face into her coat.

“If that is what you believe,” she spoke softly. “Then, I'm with you."

"Thanks," he smiled.

All of a sudden, he heard the front door creak open. There was no click of the doorknob, so it must have been already open. A sound of small hooves pattered in its wake. He looked up from the white mare's coat to a small silhouette with the yellow morning sun shining at a distance behind her.

Then, he heard sniffles.

He squinted from the brightness to see Sweetie Belle standing in the doorway. Tears streamed down her small, baby cheeks.

"Hey," the human said blankly. "You, uhhh, heard everything?"

A tearful whimper escaped her trembling lips as she galloped up to him, and she leapt up, hugging around his abdomen. Connor could feel his shirt dampen from her salty tears as she smothered her trembling face onto him. Smiling sympathetically, he released one arm from Rarity and wrapped it around the crying little filly. He pulled her in, having her cry into his chest.

“I going to miss you, Connor…” the little unicorn’s voice croaked in tears.

“Same here, Sweetie Belle,” he said, feeling his eyes moisten as well.

"Same here..."

The three tightened their hug...

The next day, Connor, the six ponies, Spike, and Princess Celestia gathered at the spot where he had first arrived, further out on the dirt road that lead to Ponyville. Birds' song floated along the gentle, cool wind emitting from the aquamarine sky above them. The human deeply inhaled the clean, untampered wind, and savored it every tongue of it. This would be the very last time that he would ever enjoy pure, clean breezes like this.

“Is this the spot?” Celestia asked, stopping in her tracks.

“I think so," he replied. "From how long it took to walk from that apple tree when I met Spike, I’m pretty sure this is the spot."

“Now, Connor…” the princess spoke sternly. “I just want to let you know that it takes a lot of magic just to create this portal, even for me. So once it has been cast, it will take a long time for me to recharge. So enter quickly.”

“I understand, Princess,” the human nodded.

The royal alicorn responded with a warm smile, appreciative for his understanding. The human turned around to face the six ponies and dragon behind him. All of their eyes were shouting sadness as they gazed upon him.

“I guess this means goodbye," he spoke, feeling a wave of emotion sift through his veins.

Celestia walked directly up next to him and lowered her head beside his. “If you have anything to say to them before you go, you can do so now...”

“Ooh! Ooh! Waitwaitwaitwait!" Pinkie Pie squeaked as she waved a hoof in the air. "We can't do that yet! Let’s wait for everypony else first. We don’t wanna start without them!”

“But everypony's already here,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh, silly willy Dashie! I didn’t mean us. I meant them!” She pointed to the distance, toward the village.

What came over the hill made the human and the rest gawk in surprise. A huge throng of ponies were walking toward them, silently chatting amongst themselves.

“I thought I’d invite everypony! You wanna know why? ‘Cuz everypony is your friend, and you should always invite your friends, party or no party. Y'know, come to think of it, we should have a party! Right now! WHOOoo!"

“Hold on there, sugarcube,” Applejack pinned her down with a single hoof. “Ah don’t think this is a perfect time fer a party. This ain't even a happy occasion, if ya ask me.”

“Of course it’s a happy occasion!" the pink pony simply smiled. "We’re celebrating Connor’s two-month-long visit here! He is our bestest of best friends and we're really happy that he came here! The least we can do is not cry and be happy, because if you're crying, that means that you are sad, and if you are sad, then you are not having fun, and if your are not having fun, then—.” Her mouth was instantly plugged with Rainbow Dash's hoof.

"Okay, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I think we get it."

The human chuckled lightly at the small display of bubbly personality.

After removing the cyan pegasus' hoof from her mouth, the pink party pony smiled brightly. “Well! Everypony is here now! Now, you can start.”

“Of course,” the human chuckled. “I think I will start with you first.”

He knelt in front of her.

"Pinkie Pie," he began. "You're the best partier I've ever met. When it came to parties, I was pessimistic to participate at first, but you singledhoofedly managed to turn that upside down in a snap."

"That's what I do! Turning sad frowns upside down like there's no tomorrow! I can never stand seeing another pony looking so sad. Ever! Everypony should be happy!"

"You've got a gift, and you certainly used it well. I admire you," he smiled. "Your bubbly attitude sure got me out of the crapper."

He glanced at the ground before he looked back at the pink pony again.

"I'm going to miss your parties, Pinkie. Your sense of humor, your laughter, your pranks, your cupcakes... Oh, GOD, the cupcakes! And that's another thing! You're a kick-ass baker! For once in my life, I've never enjoyed a good cupcake until now."

"Hee, hee! Oh! That reminds me..." she said before pulling out a small box from her curly, bouncy tail. (Seriously, how did she--? Oh, screw it... He knew that physics were nothing to her. He stayed long enough to realize that.)

She placed it in his open hands for him to open it. After he removed the string and lifted the flap, he saw a chocolate cupcake with white, whipped icing on the top. He began to drool instantly as he eyed the moist surface of the pastry and the fluffiness of the icing.

“I made this for you!" she chirped in pride. "Special, special,special recipe for a special friend! But, don't eat it yet!"

Dammit! he shouted in his mind as he crept his fingers away from the heavenly treat.

"Save it for when you get back home!" she resumed. "It'll remind you of us when you eat it!”

His expression faltered. "But that's the problem! As much as I really want to eat this, I don't want to. I want to preserve this."

“Don't worry, silly billy!" she shook her head. "Cupcakes come and go. It happens every single day. But, if you think about us every single time you eat a cupcake, then memories of us together will last forever. That's the icing on the cake!”

“Thanks, Pinkie Pie,” the human smiled warmly.

Before he could even open his arms, the pink pony leapt up and hugged his entire torso with all four legs. He chuckled in surprise. She was very light for a pony that was about his chest level. Her curly mane tickled his nose. She smelled exactly like vanilla icing.

After a three seconds of nuzzling him, she released her monkey grip on him, landing perfectly on all four hooves.

Then, he shifted over in front of the orange cowmare.

“Applejack," he began. "You are one of most hard-working ponies I have ever met. That will earn you a lot benefits in the future. Not only that, but you are really honest. Honesty is definitely not easy. However, you deliver it easily like it was nothing. That makes you even more strong than any other pony I've seen. I wish I had the guts to be as honest like you. You have my highest respects. Apple Bloom and Big Mac sure are lucky to have a sibling like you."

“And you've got a real kind heart there,” Applejack smiled as she placed a hoof on his left breast. “A heart of gold, ah say! Thank ya ever so much for stumblin' over here, sugarcube."

The human smiled in response. Then, a huge, red apple was hoisted up in front of his face.

"Here ya go, partner! The finest apple ah could find in Sweet Apple Acres, from me to you," she said with pride. "Gobble that sucker down when you get home safe and sound, ya hear?"

“Ohohoho, sweet Jesus!" he drooled before flinching himself back into composure. "Will do, Applejack. Thank you so much!"

He opened his arms for a hug, but his head was snatched and tucked under her forelegpit. He felt her soft hoof playfully and softly grind the top of his cranium. He was going to playfully push away, but the orange mare released his head from her grip and gave him a big hug.

He smirked in humor as he caught a whiff of her mane. It smelled exactly like apples. Red Gala apples, to be exact.

After he separated his embrace with Applejack, Connor stepped over to the cyan, multi-hued pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash," he spoke. "If I had two words to describe you, it would beeee..." He paused in thought. "'Freaking fast'. Yeah, that'll do."

"Hey, I'll take it!" she responded with a shrug. "That's how I am after all! Fast as lightning!"

"I know you are," the human smiled. "If you do become part of the Wonderbolts, which I believe would totally happen at a great chance, don't forget us. Never forget anyone who stood by your side through it all."

"Are you kidding? Of course I won't forget! I never leave a pony hanging, even my best friends."

"Awesome. You know, ponies could use friends like you, loyal, unrelenting, and most of all big-hearted. With the amount of loyalty you have right now, you would be a friend for ages."

"Mm-hmm!" she nodded. "Hey, if you ever come back, bring back one of those jet-thingies, will ya? We still need to race, see who's really the fastest, who's twenty percent cooler."

The human chortled at her ludicrous, yet humoring request. "All right, Dash. I'll do my best."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed, pumping her hoof into the air.

Then, her face started to tremble as she tried to fight back the oncoming urge to cry. She slapped her own face to snap out of it.

"You okay, Dash?" the human asked with an obvious smile.

"(Ahem!) What? Me? O-o-of course, I am! Why would I not be?" she sniffed loudly.

Rolling his eyes, Connor opened his arms, welcoming her for a hug.

After she noticed his invitation, she could barely contain herself any further. The multi-color-maned pegasus threw herself at him, whipping her forelegs around his ribcage. She cried quietly into his chest. Connor gently wrapped his arms around her in exchange before lifting his hand up to tousle her multi-colored mane.

She gently pushed against him to separate herself from his embrace. She wiped her tears away with her blue foreleg.

"See you later," she smiled weakly due to the aftermath of tears.

He walked up to Rarity, who was tearing up already. He knelt at her eye-level.

“Thank you so much for letting me stay with you. That was so generous of you. Generosity is the most beautiful thing a pony could commit. Just as beautiful as you. I will never forget that. Hay, I won’t forget about those delicious eggs you made me for breakfast. They were awesome.”

“No problem at all, darling. Only the best for a best friend,” she replied. “And thank you for being such a generous guest.”

“Your talent in dress-making is fabulous, Rarity. You will be famous someday, famous for your generosity and talent. It'll attract loads of attention.” Connor glanced at Spike before speaking again. “You should really hang out with Spike more often. He's a really nice dragon. Your generosity inspires him so much, that it drives him to be exceptionally generous to you, too.”

“I know, Connor. I know he is," she nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

He hugged her.

“Thank you so much...”

When they separated, she blushed. She really liked how he confidently said that generosity was just as beautiful as she was. She could emphasize with Celestia when he said she was so young and hot.

The human stepped over to the purple unicorn.

“Twilight,” he began. “You are the smartest pony I’ve ever met. So smart, that you make me look stupid.”

He winked, which made her giggle in humor.

“Well, maybe that was an over-exaggeration, but you are still the smartest. I’m glad you liked the stories about my world. If I ever come back, I will be glad to tell you more! I would also like to thank you for being the first pony to bravely approach me when I first arrived here. You showed real strength. The strongest ponies always earn awesome benefits. You showed strength in learning, you showed strength in raising Spike as your own, and you showed strength in helping me earn Ponyville’s friendship. Speaking of Spike, take good care of him while I’m gone. I’m sure the poor little guy might not handle himself without me around.”

“I think he can handle it. He is a strong young dragon, after all. He is just how I imagined him to be," she said before she tousled the chuckling dragon's head scales.

“You’re a good adoptive sister, Twilight. A damn good sister. Spike is lucky to have somepony like you taking care of him. Even though my visit was by accident, I’m glad I have met you.”

"All the same for me," she responded with a grateful smile.

They reeled each other in for a warm hug.

"We're going to miss you," she whispered.

"You, too," he whispered back.

Connor gently separated the hug to step over to Spike.

"My first encounter, my compadre, and awesome dragon," he laughed as he exchanged fist-bumps with his scaly friend. "You and I make the best team. Especially since we put those lobster-back pony rebels down to the ground. That was kick-ass!"

"Oh, yeah! Totally," he nodded before he pounded his small fist against his chest.

"Thank you so much for introducing me to your friends," Connor resumed. "I'd never have gotten this far without your help."

"Always willing to assist, no matter what." He puffed his little chest out in pride.

The human lifted his right arm for Spike to grab. The moment he got a grip on it, they both yanked each other in. As soon as they bumped shoulders, Connor whispered, "Kiss Rarity for me, okay?"

"When the time is right," Spike replied. The dragon certainly had manners.

After patting each others' backs, they released their brotherly embrace.

Connor shifted over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Girls,” he started. “Keep on keeping on! Someday, you will get those cutie marks. Don’t stop what you’re doing…without tearing the place down, okay?”

The fillies giggled.

“Don’ worry! We won’t! We’ll do that for you,” Apple Bloom beamed.

“Thank you for racing with me earlier. That was fun!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“We’ll miss you,” Sweetie Belle chirped.

“Same here, girls,” he replied.

He stretched his arms out wide, hugging them all at once. They hummed in content.

Finally, Connor walked up to Fluttershy, who was leaking a large amount of tears from her eyes. The teenager thought he was going to cry himself, seeing her look so miserable. It made him forget what he was originally going to say to her. He knelt on one knee, leveling his eyes to hers.

“Fluttershy…” he spoke.

He took a deep breath, trying to pick up on what he was going to say. However, it was all so fuzzy.

“You…are the kindest, most adorable pony I have ever met. You never lost faith in me, and you have no idea how much that means to me. I wish I could stay with you for the rest of my life, believe me, but we both know that this is for the best. The least we could do is remember and cherish the wonderful times we had together. It would mean a whole lot to me. To both of us.”

The yellow pegasus whimpered, squeezing even more tears out from her trembling eyes. He brushed a hand over the little pegasus' wet eyelashes, wiping her tears away.

He continued. “Don’t ever change from who you are now. You could change things you are ashamed of or alter a few insecurities, but never EVER change who you are. You are too precious to wither away in corruption. Never ever ever change who you are now.

"I... I won't... I wont! For you," she smiled past her tears.

He hugged her around her neck, gently rocking her back and forth. With a whimper, she hugged back. They never released their hug after twenty seconds, much to their dismay.

He turned to the white alicorn, wiping small tears from his moist eyes.

“Are you ready to go?” the alicorn gently asked.

"Not just yet."

He turned around, facing the entire congregation.

“Thank you for accepting me as your friend! Thank you! Thank all of you! I love you all!"

Everypony cheered and stomped his or her feet in approval.

After it died down, he turned back to the princess.

“I’m ready.”

The royal alicorn raised a hoof in the air. “Before you go, there is something special I need to give you."

Her horn glowed a golden light. She slowly nodded her head forward, bringing her horn closer and closer to his chest. She touched her horn onto Connor’s left breast, where his heart was. He winced after feeling something tingle like a thousand feathers were brushing against it.

Then, it burned before it quickly went back to the tingling sensation again.

Celestia shut off her magic and lifted her head to glance at her work. Wondering what she did to him, Connor pulled at his shirt to look down past his collar. He could not get a full view of it, so he lifted his shirt up to his collar. A crisp, clean, black image of the sun shone brightly from his chest with clean, high-definition outlines and contours. The flames that engulfed it curved to one side in a circular direction like a saw.

"Whoa..." he gawked at his gift. "That's awesome!"

"It is the Sun of Equestria," she knowledgeably replied. "It will never wash away or weaken. It will be omnipresent and permanent as the memories you've had here. It is my special gift to you."

"Thank you!" he enthusiastically replied.

"You're very welcome," she smiled.

"Sugarcube," Applejack said from behind him. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay here forever?"

Connor paused. The way she asked that question was so full of warmth as well as the need to test him for any second thoughts.

Yes, he could stay there forever, but...

"Oh, Applejack," he replied with a sad sigh. "You know I would really love to. I would give anything to stay with you guys for the rest of my life, honest to God, but..."

He paused to glance at the blue sky. Images of his family and friend, Joshua, poured into his mind, sprouting waves of sadness and yearning throughout his entire body.

"I can't," he pondered. "Even with our new connection, I don't belong here. I have to be with my own kind. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just didn't want to admit it. Alas, here I am, actually returning home."

He sighed through his nostrils, reluctantly accepting his fate.

Then, a smile of hope widened on his face.

"However..." He turned around. "I will not return home without saying how grateful I am for being brought here. I am grateful that you helped me discover the brighter side of me that I had never explored before. You helped me learn a lot of importants things about friendship that I have never come across before in my life. And after realizing that now, I realized that it takes the most loyal, most caring, and best of friends to teach me all of this. You guys were those friends..."

His throat clogged up. His eyelashes became moist.

"Everything..." he spoke, feeling the clump in his throat grow. "Thank you... For everything. You're..."

He gasped in some more air.

"You're my best friends..."

He was at the end of his rope. His shoulders shook rhythmically with each silent sob he erupted from his clenching chest. He planted his open palm over his eyes, feeling sheepish for looking like a tearful wreck in front of them.

"Oh, darling," Rarity cooed.

Without another word, the six ponies and dragon started walking toward him. After seeing it through his fingers, Connor trudged up to meet them in the middle of the space that used to linger between them.

Then, they were huddled in a massive group hug, gripping him tightly like nothing in the world would ever break them apart.

After a half of a minute, they begin to separate the hug, one-by-one, slowly dissipating like an ice cube in a glass of warm water.

First, Rainbow Dash...

Then, Twilight...

Rarity...

Pinkie Pie...

Spike...

Applejack...

He smiled as he saw the five ponies standing in front of him.

Wait... Five?

He felt something grip tighter around his shins.

He looked down to see Fluttershy lying stomach-first on the ground with her forelegs wrapping fully around his legs. A sad, pitiful whimper chirped behind her clenched teeth.

A glint of sympathy shimmered in Connor's small smile. He bent at his knees slowly, lowering himself to her level.

"Hey, hey..." he softly spoke, stroking the top of her head. "It's all right. Don't cry..."

"But, you're leaving forever..."

"Yes, I know," he nodded. "But please stop crying. I don't want you to be sad. This is a happy moment, as depressing as it seems. This is a beginning for all of us. I want to see you smile."

She looked up to him, revealing a reddened face with wet wafts of fur caused by tears. The human's hand trailed over her face to push a loose strand of her pink mane back into its mass.

"Okay?" He looked into her eyes.

After a teary hiccup, her lips trembled into a small smile. The human smiled back, never looking away from her eyes.

He never showed it on the outside, but something clicked within his brain. This was the very last time he was going to see her. All of the time he spent staying with them, he never had the perfect opportunity.

Now, it came.

He lifted her chin with his finger, so her face would be open to him. He leaned his head down toward her, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips onto her forehead near the tip of her nose bridge. The feel of his warm lips and his moist breath made the yellow pegasus melt in her place. Her eyes rolled back into her head and her eyelids fluttered shut, willingly accepting her special somepony's token of his deepest feelings.

Much to her dismay, she felt his lips lift off. Her eyes fluttered open to see the human's warm smile.

"I love you, Fluttershy..." he whispered.

He was prancing and cheering like a wild man in his mind. Yes! He finally said it! He finally did it! Freaking finally!

As he was standing up and turning away, Fluttershy felt she had to return her feelings for him.

She instantly shot up into the air, grabbed his head, and with much enthusiasm, she pressed her lips on his cheek, humming yearningly.

She released, ending her two-second-long kiss.

Connor felt his cheeks burn in bliss. Caressing his cheek, he whipped around at her, thanking her with a warm smile. The pegasus responded with a happy squeak.

The others cooed at the adorable sight they had just witnessed.

"I'm ready," the human nodded to Celestia.

She nodded back in response. Her horn began to glimmer. It grew brighter and brighter as she strained to power it up. Her teeth gritted in struggle. Never in a long time had she used a spell that would make her struggle to cast it. The wind began to blow, lightly brushing by everypony. The aura around Celestia’s horn began to spin rapidly like a mini tornado. Strands of electricity shot out. Then, in midair, an ethereal circle began to grow into the size of a regular door. Coming from inside the portal, a bright light flashed, hiding what was behind it.

Before Connor began to walk towards the portal, he got a farewell nuzzle from Celestia, followed by “goodbye”s and “we’ll miss you”s from everypony. Before stepping into the portal, the human turned to take a one last look at his best friends.

This was it… The last time he would be able to see them again. No more would he see their smiling faces. No more would he be able to frolic with them. No more would he be able to feel their company. Now, they would only exist in his memory.

The human was now a silhouette standing in front of the luminous portal to home. He saw the six ponies and dragon wave at him. He noticed a tear drool from Fluttershy's eye.

In sync, a tear streamed from his eyes as well.

God in Heaven, he was going to miss them. Especially her...

He thrust his foot into the portal, engulfing it in a bright white light. Then, it engulfed the rest of his leg…then his hips…his torso…his head…and finally, his other leg.

The portal evaporated.

The air became quiet.

He was gone.

Fluttershy sniffled. Even though she was happy that she had finally expressed her love to the human, she knew that would never see him again. She began to sob softly. Rarity laid a hoof on her quivering back.

“You love him that much, don’t you, darling?” the fashion queen gently asked.

Through her sobs, Fluttershy was only able to say, “Yes…”

Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around the crying pegasus, giving her a comforting hug. Princess Celestia stood at a distance, observing the six little ponies. She, too, was sad that he had to leave, but she knew it was necessary.

“I miss him, too, my little ponies,” she trotted up to meet them. “I also wished that he would not go, but we all know it was for the best. However, I can assure you that he will never forget us, as long as we never forget him. We did not let him leave without giving him something important. We gave him confidence. Now, he will restart his life, making new and more friends than ever before. It’s the least we could do.”

However, the wise alicorn’s word did not comfort Fluttershy completely.

She fell back onto the ground to collapse into a pile of pity.

"No!" she squeaked, standing back up. "No! He said that I mustn't cry! And I won't! I will do it for him."

She looked up into the sky.

"For him..."

Damn, that was a bright light...

Connor rubbed his straining eyes resulting from the portal's ridiculous amount of luminosity. He blinked repetitively until they became clear.

All around him, he could see green hills, ornate with sprouting patches of trees. The sky was clear.

Where exactly was he? He had no recollection on where he was. He could be anywhere: California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Virginia...

He was going to have to find that out for himself. There was only one way for him to find out.

Then, he realized his feet were as heavy as lead. He did not want to move...

Not just yet...

He looked behind himself at the empty space where the portal that led him home was supposedly. Hoping that there was still a chance for him to see if it was still there, he reached forward with his hand.

He only felt the cool wind brush past his spread fingers. The portal was gone for good.

He dropped his shoulders and expelled a depressed sigh. His eyes screamed ethereal images of the six ponies and Spike, smiling, happy, confident, welcoming...

All of that was gone, too. Now, they exist a million miles away or Lord knows how many. Much too far for him to tolerate.

He hung his head, finding the time to spend himself to mourn over the parting, until he saw the image of the sun from underneath the thin fabric of his white T-shirt.

He clasped it with his hand. He shut his eyes in thought. He looked up to the sky, gazing upon the invisible faces of his equine, faraway friends.

"For you..."

Without any further thought, he turned around and started walking in one direction. He did not care where he was walking; only by moving would he be able to find out where he was.

No swerving left...

No swerving right...

No turning around to walk in the other direction...

Just forward...

Forward into the future.

DONK!!

THUD!

"OWwwwww!" he groaned as he squirmed on top of the floor.

His hands gripped his forehead over the pulsating, throbbing pain. As he laid moaning on the ground, something rattled over him.

"Ssssssss... Ahhhhh, son of a bitch!" he cussed.

That was what he got for walking forward with his eyes closed. Although he did not exactly walk the whole way with his eyes shut. After a mile or two, he thought it was the perfect time to act dramatic and resume with his eyes shut.

Now, he saw what happened to him because he allowed too much drama into his life.

"Dammit!" he hissed as wiped his forehead for any blood, which there was none.

What the hell did he run into?

Looking up, he saw a road sign perched high above him, still trembling from its impact with the teenager's head. He heard a loud "WHOOSH" beneath it. Looking down, he saw a car zoom by on the highway, followed by a barrage of other cars trailing behind it. From the amount of cars on the highway and the short distance between them, it was near heavy traffic.

He turned his head around to look behind himself. Then, he turned his head back to the highway. He bit his lip.

Thank God he ran into that sign. He would have walked right into the highway and be roadkill in an instant.

Standing back up, he ducked underneath the overhanging corner and stopped in front of it to read it.

"Exit 36," it read.

"Hey!" he exclaimed with a smile. "This is the exit leading to my house! Princess Celestia, you did really well."

He pranced over the tall blades of the grass and trudge up the hill to walk alongside the on-going slope. Finding an open spot between the outside traffic line and the guard rail of the overhanging bridge, he resumed walking, making sure he did not swerve closer to the stampede of speeding cars not far next to him.

After a few hundred feet of walking, he had finally caught up to civilization. He was walking next to a large, multi-block shopping plaza, complete with thirty shops, two grocery stores, six large restaurants, a movie theater, and a home improvement department store.

A scent filled his nostrils.

"Mmmm!" he hummed. "Coffee."

He was walking at a distance next to a Caribou Coffee with outdoor seats on a patio. He heard the soothing sound of high-tempo jazz music.

And the sound of somebody spewing coffee coming from the open door leading inside...

"Gesundheit," Connor mumbled.

Then, he heard the sound of scrambling, clangs, clunks, exclamations, and "Excuse me"s, until a figure suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Must've been some pretty hot coffee," he chuckled to himself.

"CONNOR!" the figure shouted.

The figure sprung from his place, throwing himself at him, leaping over the patio fence like he was an Olympian. Connor squinted at him. Just who was--?

Wait.

The figure scrambled up the small hill leading up to the sidewalk.

"Joshua!" Connor exclaimed.

He felt the teenager collide against him, nearly tipping him over as he hugged him around his shoulders.

"Connor!" he screamed as he shook his shoulders in overwhelming joy. "You're alive! Holy shit, you're alive!!"

"Yeah, of course I am."

The joyous teenager hugged him again. "I thought you were dead! Hell, everyone thinks you're dead!"

"Wh--? Really?"

"Yeah! There was a funeral, a procession, a coffin, a tombstone, everything!"

"Oh, God..." he excalimed, feeling his stomach twist. What could be even stranger and creepier than visiting one's own grave?

Joshua released his grip from his presumed-dead friend and clutched his own cranium past his blonde hair, excitedly cussing in his breath.

"Holy... This is all so sudden..." he shook his head. "This is so weird. You were struck by a huge-ass lightning bolt and you walk back over here, unharmed, two months later? How could you not have been killed?! That blast would've burnt you into oblivion!"

"I guess I was just lucky," Connor shrugged. "Really lucky..."

"But if you were alive during those two months, why didn't you come back sooner? We were grieving our hearts out for you!"

"Well..." he paused to glance at the aquamarine sky.

Should he tell him? One half of his body was yanking at him to spill the beans about his trip to Ponyville and meeting his equine friends, and the other side tugged at him to keep it a secret.

"It's a long story. A really long story..."

"And? What is this story? I wanna hear it," Joshua grinned.

That guy.

"Okay. Here's the story: I was pelted by a large lightning bolt that was summoned by a unicorn who lives on a planet lightyears away, inhabited by colorful, talking, magical, happy ponies, who I made good friends with. I also managed to befriend a dragon and take down a rebellion group, sparing the entire nation from chaos and anarchy."

...

Joshua began to laugh. Then, after a few seconds, he transitioned to a guffawing wreck, lurching forward, cupping his forehead, and slapping his kneecap like he was being mercilessly tickled by invisible feathers.

"Ah-ha! Ha, ha, haaaa! Ah-ha! Haaaaaaaaaaokay, seriously now. What happened?"

"Look, does it really matter?" Connor threw his hands up over his shoulders. "I'm alive! That's all that matters, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, of course. Meh, screw it! As long as you're alive an--Oh jeez, your parents! They've gotta know, pronto!"

"That's where I'm heading, all right."

"Here! Get in my car! I'll drive you over there."

"Couldn't have thought it better myself. Thanks, man," he smiled.

The two teenaged high-schoolers climbed up the steps leading the front door. The house behind it was two-stories tall (three, including the basement) and had a garage annexed in its right side. The driveway leading to the house and garage went over a small, cylindrical tunnel, where the water passage passes through. All of its sides were built with red-orange bricks with no cheap plastic siding whatsoever. The facade of the house bore nine windows, five on the top and four on the first floor, making way for the front door, of course.

A rather idealistic house for an idealistic middle-class family, yet idealistically provided all of its comforts.

"Well," Joshua gestured to the door. "Here you go. Knock away, dead man."

Connor smiled at the nickname provided by his well-meaning, blonde friend. Taking a step forward, he was directly in front of the door. He lifted his fist and pressed the dusty, gritty button of the doorbell.

DING-DONG!

That haunting, high-pitched bell sent a nervous chill running down his spine after hearing. He had not seen his family for two months and Lord knows how much they had changed since. He hoped to God that his disappearance did not set off a fatal bomb of depression that would dramatically change their appearance. Would they look as haggard and depressing as zombies fresh from the grave? Would they even act the same as they did before he disappeared, happier and more carefree?

He clenched his bubbling stomach. All of those fretful thoughts were riling his emerging nausea.

He heard slight thumping and creaking of floorboards behind the door. His stomach flipped.

The lock clicked open.

He inhaled sharply.

The door creaked open, revealing a 40-year-old woman with brown hair that fell just on top of her shoulders. She was wearing a periwinkle blouse and white pants. She had a small spread at her middle, but it was not enough to deform her figure. She had a mug in her hand, filled with tea.

Seeing her like this had surprised him. It looked like she hardly changed at all, other than the fact that there might have been some more gray hairs on her head than before. Plus, come to think of it, he did not remember her middle spread. She might have been putting on a little weight. She might have had a period of depressed eating ever since his sudden disappearance.

The poor thing...

"Hello? Can I help with anyth--?" she immediately stopped after laying eyes on him. She gasped in utter surprise.

"Mom..." was all he could say.

Her mug broke as it fell onto the floor.

In an eyeblink, her arms were slung tightly around his neck, nearly choking him. He could feel his shirt dampen from her pouring tears.

"Oh, my God!" she cried. "Oh, my Go-ho-hoodd, Connor! You're alive!"

He wrapped his arms around her back, feeling her tremors.

"Honey?" called a deeper, masculine voice. "What's going on?"

"Dad?"

...

He heard the sound of a newspaper being flung down to the ground and footsteps rushing toward the foyer. A forty-five to fifty-year-old man with grey strands of hair on his sideburns emerged into the room. He was still wearing his office shirt and pants, and he was wearing black silk socks.

Without another word, he rushed up, nearly colliding into him, and snatched him in a hug.

"Mom? Dad?" said a younger, feminine voice from another room. "What's going on in th--?"

A blonde girl about the age of sixteen appeared into the foyer. Her jaw dropped the moment she saw the one in the middle of the hug.

"Jessie," Connor smiled between his parents' smooching on his cheeks.

"I... I gotta call you back, Milly!" she spoke into her phone before shoving it back into the pocket of her sweatpants. She ran on her toes up to the huddle, joining in on the group hug.

Cries of joy, tears, and kisses surrounded him in all directions. Growing emotional himself, Connor hugged them back, crying in joy that they were okay.

Just as he was...

His mother grabbed his cheeks, turning his face toward hers. "But, how? How did you survive that lightning bolt? It could've killed you!"

"Just lucky, I guess," he chuckled.

Choking back happy tears, she planted a large kiss on his cheek. Then, she ran up to Joshua, hugging him as well, thanking him for finding her long-lost son.

"It's no problem, ma'am," he grinned.

"We've got to tell the others about this! This is more than good news! Our son is alive and unhurt!" his dad exclaimed happily. "This deserves a celebration! Tell me, son. What do you want to do?"

"Burgers!" he immediately responded. "Shitloads of them! I'm starving!"

"Mind your language, son, but great idea! We're having a barbecue tonight! Invite some people over, darling!" he said to his wife.

"Oh, Daddy?" Jessie tapped his shoulder. "Can you get veggie burgers, too?"

"Oh, grow up and eat a real burger!"

Connor smiled hugely. This was what home was. Man, was he ever so glad to be back.

However, that gave him no reason to forget the friends he made from afar, the ones who were not even remotely human, yet stayed by his side through everything like they were.

They helped him come back a new man, locked and loaded for a brighter future ahead with everything taught him about friendship.

He slowly walked out from the clamor inside the house and out into the front yard, facing the orange sky above him.

He shut his eyes.

Twilight? Rarity? Rainbow? Applejack? Pinkie? Fluttershy? Spike? he thought. Can you all hear me?

"Come on, Connor!" Joshua called from inside. "Your dad wants you to help him with the grill and pick the toppings for the burgers!"

"I'm coming!" he responded.

He glanced back to the orange sky, feeling the sun's warmth against his face.

Thank you... For everything...

He walked back inside to meet with his family and friend again.

Little did he realize that millions of miles away, six ponies and a dragon were staring right back at him...

THE END...?

Author's Note

Like I said, I couldn't believe that I thought the way I did. However, I was a beginner. I had no idea that the world of literature and fan fiction could be so unmerciful to clichés and lazy ideas. However, I'm just glad that I didn't stick with the whole "Ooh, the Earth and its inhabitants are scum! I'm not going back to that shit-hole again! Nyah, nyah, nyah!" shtick. That would have KILLED my reputation as a non-profiting and unofficial writer.

Plus, I heard a song from a certain soundtrack based on an animated Disney film, which gave me an inspiration to amend some events in this story. When I heard it and compared it to "EFH" I felt a tsunami of feels. OH, GOD! THE FEELS!!

Well, enjoy this amended chapter! For those who have read my original edit, you will notice HUGE changes.

Chapter XV - Unexpected Return

Equestria’s First Human Chapter - XV

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

"WHOO!!" Joshua hooted. "Friggin' Graduation, baby! Tonight's gonna kick ass!"

"It sure will be," Connor smiled.

Two feminine voices cheered behind him in the back seats of the car. The two boys sat in in front seats, with Joshua in the driver's seat.

"Whoo! Awesome! Parrrrr-tay!"

The one in the front passenger seat chuckled to himself. The way she cheered reminded him so much of a certain pink party pony from a while back.

"Damn, these past two years really flew by. I can't believe it," the driver laughed. "And it feels like the first day was only like a month ago."

"Time flies when having fun," Connor added in.

"Sure does. Plus, best of all," the blonde soon-to-be-college-man said as he shook his friend's shoulder in a pal-like way. "We graduated with you alive."

"Heh... Yeah."

A while back, he told him where he actually was, but ever since, Joshua still did not believe him. Well, he would not blame him. It would have sounded ridiculous at the first mention.

However, in actuality, it was not.

He felt a soft hand stroke his shoulder behind him. He met the hand with his, clapping gently over it and stroking its surface with his thumb.

"Aren't you so excited?" a raven-haired girl giggled. "We're actually going to college! Aah! Can you believe it??"

"I believe!" he smiled back before he moped. "I just wish we were accepted into the same college, though."

"Aww! Are you gonna miss me?"

"Hell, yes I would! You're my girl!" he exclaimed with a sad smile.

"Yes, I am," she winked. "Yet, we have different interests in majors. Plus, unfortunately, most couples never usually make it through college. Long distance relationships never really last long. No pun intended."

"Yeahhh..." he sighed.

Like with a yellow, pink-maned, adorable-as-a-puppy-litter pegasus from a while back...

Since the last visit, as much as Connor wanted to be with his little Fluttershy, he knew that clinging on to her from afar (by that, a million or so miles away) would be like clinging onto the past, which was unhealthy. They both knew they had to move on.

Gone, but never, ever forgotten...

"Buuut," she cooed as she rocked her shoulders back and forth. "Before we leave for college, I have something special planned for both of us."

This made an eyebrow rise on his forehead.

Joshua and the girl sitting behind him had devious smiles on their faces, overhearing both of them.

"Really?" Connor said, raising both brows this time.

"Mm-hmm," she purred. "I've always wanted to do this since we became a couple."

"I'm listening."

After pushing back a loose strand of her black hair, she gently whispered into his ear. His smile grew wider and bigger the more he listened, embracing the juiciness of her plans. Then, his lips pursed in surprise.

"Ohhh, ho, ho, ho!" he exclaimed on the brink of excited laughter. "Really? You'd do... That?"

She nodded slowly.

"I love you..."

"But that doesn't mean you have to go easy on me. I like it rough."

"Wo-ha-how! I didn't know you had it in you! Are you absolutely sure? Cuz' you're really sweet and fragile and all..."

"No, I think I can take it," she winked flirtatiously.

"Well, all right, then!" he smiled. "But either way, I'm still gonna kick your cute little ass in lasertag!"

"In your dreams," she growled playfully, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Then, an ear-piercing sound rung from her small purse.

"Oop! Hold on a second. I got a call," she said as she pulled her cell phone out.

While she was chatting away, Joshua had just finished kissing his girlfriend's arm and hand. Still keeping an eye on the road, he leaned over to Connor.

"Man, you should be proud of yourself to have a girlfriend like her," he whispered, nodding over to the chatting raven-haired girl. "She's perfect for you."

He chuckled. "Yes, she is."

"How did you do it? Ever since you came back, other than the good news that you were miraculously alive, you've been attracting people left and right, even without my help. Hell, you became the school's fourth most popular guy, for God's sake! How did you do it?"

"My pony friends helped me," he responded. "They helped me learn a lot about friendship, a lot more than I have ever imagined."

"Jesus, Connor, you've still been joking me around with those freaking ponies you speak of," he said with a slightly annoyed groan. "Just tell the truth!"

"I am telling the truth," he innocently argued.

And, he was...

"Ugh..." he grunted. "Seriously, man."

Connor shrugged. "Fine, fine. Once I awoke, I had some epiphany about it. It just..." he shuffled his hands around in front of him, coming up with a better word to describe his "sudden realization".

"It just hit me!"

Joshua continued to stare at him until he shrugged.

"Meh, I guess that's truthful enough," he said. "I mean, who wouldn't feel changed after a near-death experience?"

Connor nodded in agreement.

I am so not joking, he thought as well.

He turned his head to gaze out of the window. The bright street lights shone brightly out in front of the pitch-black trees of the patch of nature directly next to the road. Usually, a roadside bank, a gas station, or a fast-food joint would glide by in front of him, leaving a trail of lights imprinted in his eyes.

The sound of rushing cars hissed by behind him. As he turned around to view them, he noticed that there was a big amount of traffic, which is likely to happen on a Saturday night.

A long exhale flew out of Joshua's mouth.

"Hoooooooo, and just when I thought high school was never going to end," he chuckled. "We're finally moving to the big leagues."

"Ain't that the truth," Connor nodded. "No more chemistry classes for me, thank you very much."

"I'm just glad I got to that extra credit. I would've failed harder than an amateur skateboarder on YouTube."

"Haaa..." he chuckled in monotone. "But, we don't need to worry about that anymore."

"You're daaaamn right, we don't."

Then, Connor sighed.

"You know, it's kind of hard to realize that after being together for a long time, that we'll be apart in different colleges."

The blonde teenager smiled. "Don't fret about it too much, man. We'll still see each other. You know, during fall breaks, winter breaks, spring, all those breaks. We could still find some way to get back together again."

"That's true."

"Until then, I just want to say this in case we don't ever get to before we leave," Joshua said, clearing his throat. "Let me just say, that it was an honor to be your friend. A damn, good one. We both had problems, but we still managed to push on through it all. Now, we're here. We will be apart during college, but at heart, we're inseparable. Even by death."

"Even by death," Connor grinned, lifting up his fist for a bump.

"LOOK OUT!!" the raven-haired girl suddenly screamed.

A truck suddenly appeared out of nowhere, careening uncontrollably towards them.

"OH, SHI--!"

CRASSH!!

The sound of voices, slow-passing traffic, and approaching sirens filled Connor's waking ears. He felt the warmth of the lumpy, gritty asphalt underneath his cheek. Flickering blue and red lights wedged between his opening eyelids, making his waking eyes sting.

Then, his eyes were fully open. They shifted up and down, staring in confusion and bewilderment. He lifted both of his arms to his shoulders and pressed his palms firmly on the ground to push himself up. As he pushed, his arms trembled from feebleness like his entire torso was as heavy as stone. When his torso was up, he slid his feet underneath himself to push the rest of him up. He swayed to one side before he used his leg to bring back to balance again.

His head was spinning like a whirlpool had formed in the fluids that held up his brain.

"Wh... What the hell happened?" he muttered aloud.

When he took a step, something ground underneath his foot. He lifted it to see a shard of glass underneath. Next to it was another shard of glass.

And another...

Another...

The hissing sound of steam and smoke whistled behind him. He slowly turned around to see two vehicles, both crunched. One of them was still sitting in the middle of the road with a crunched front. The other was off the road near the trees with a crunched passenger side.

His eyes widened at the sight of his earlier seat.

Obliterated...

Completely caved in...

Crunched...

Yet, he was out here...

Alive...

He shuddered as he sighed in relief.

He thanked God that he was safe.

But, what about Joshua? The others?

"Oh, God!" he gasped in fright, running toward the car. "Joshua! Girls!"

"Connor!" a masculine voice called back from behind an ambulance.

"Oh, thank God! Joshua!" he sighed. "You're okay!"

"'Okay' being an understatement," he replied, rubbing his temples. "Damn drunk drivers..."

"Are the girls okay?"

"I haven't seen them..."

...

Oh, no...

They saw the two girls' limp bodies in the back seat.

"Oh, God... Oh, God!" Joshua began to panic, grasping his skull. "They're--! They're--!"

"What a shame..." a deep voice hummed behind them. "Such an imminent and usual way to perish. So quick, brief, and abrupt, yet still so effective and debilitating. Sometimes, I can't believe that I'm still amazed by it after all of these years."

They never turned around, but they felt a cold, smooth lick of wind brush by their ankles, sneaking up their pant legs. They looked down to see small tongues of black smoke sift between their legs. Turning slowly around, they saw a tall, black hooded figure tower over them. A white, thin, deathly, skeletal pair of hands grasped around its tall, gleaming, razor-sharp scythe. Its black cloak dissipated into black smog around its legs. Its ridiculously shaded and concealed face emptily stared at the two humans

Their blood just transformed into ince as they gazed upon the spectral being, for they could not believe their eyes.

It was Death himself.

"Wha--? N-No! No! NO! No, don't take them away!! You can't! Not now!" Connor pleaded.

His hidden face turned slowly to him, which sent violent chills down his once warm spine..

"Them?" he queried. "The two young women in the back seat? I don't come for them, for they are still breathing life."

"Then why--?"

"It is you I come for..." he replied with a soothingly deep and dark voice.

"No! That's impossible!" Joshua argued out of fright. "We're still alive! We're the ones breathing!"

"Are you, mortal?"

His long, white finger lifted up, pointing at two figures sitting in the front seat of the car. The two teenagers squinted to get a better look, but it was too dark to see. They stepped closer.

A police car's headlights passed over behind them, lighting up the...

"No... No... No, no, no, NO, NO, NOO!!" Joshua cried as he saw his own limp, bloody, body leaning against the deflated airbag of the steering wheel.

Connor's stomach churned the very second he saw his own corpse, limp and devoid of life.

The blonde soul rushed up and fell on his knees in front of the tall figure.

"No! I can't be dead! I can't!" he said on the brink of tears. "I was just going to go to college! College! Where my parents expected me to go! They're not expecting me to go in a coffin! Don't take me! Please, don't!"

"Easy, Joshua LaFayette," the black figure spoke, lifting an open hand. "Calm yourself. There is no need for fear and pleading. I wasn't coming for you specifically."

"You... You weren't?"

"No, I wasn't. You weren't supposed to die in that crash. Yet, somehow, your weak, feeble body couldn't make it through that crash. Your body gave in before its time was up."

"Oh..." the teenager silently exclaimed. "Then what's the point of you--?"

"Maybe I should've explained my arrival in more detail," he sighed, stroking his darkened forehead. "I have come for your friend..."

"You mean--?"

"WHAT?!" Connor cried.

"Yes, mortal, it is you who I have come for..." the black figure said, pointing his twig-like finger at him.

"B-b-but, I can't!" he cried. "I can't go! I haven't been to college yet! I have so much to live for! For God's sake, don't do this to me!"

"I'm sorry, mortal. What's done is done," he replied, shaking his head.

"Then--! Then--!" he grunted, desperate to find a loophole. "I won't go! See, my body's still there! See?! See?! I can just reattach myself onto it!"

"I'm afraid that is not possible, mortal..."

"Of course, it's possible! It can't get any more than possi--!"

"Whoa! Easy, now!" said a voice near his side. "Careful..."

He turned and saw two medics place Joshua's dead body on a stretcher. As soon as the stretcher rolled away, it revealed Connor's corpse, mangled, crushed, and crunched while everything above the bottom edge of his ribcage was still intact other than the blood that had erupted out of the husk's mouth.

"Ohhh, shit..." Joshua mumbled in utter shock.

The owner of the body instantly fell to the ground, vomiting a maelstrom. However, nothing came out since his soul no longer had a stomach. When he was finished, he tipped back onto his rear, blinking through the tears forced into his eyes from the retching.

"Unless, you'd like to return as a horribly disfigured paraplegic without anything underneath from the chest down, by all means, reattach yourself," the tall figure said. "You wouldn't last long even if you did."

Connor stood up, wiping the tears and drool off of his face. He clenched his fists tightly.

"Fine..." he mumbled. "So be it. I can take a hint."

He turned back to the tall, black, deathly figure and lifted both of his wrists in front of him.

"Go ahead," he muttered. "Take me. Escort me into the afterlife."

However, he felt nothing wrap around his wrists. Not the cold, thin flesh of the Reaper, not some steel shackles, nor a word of command to follow. The Reaper stood silently, blankly staring at the pitiful human in front of him with his concealed face.

"Well?" the human said. "Aren't you going to take me? Isn't it your job to take souls and escort them to the afterlife?"

"Indeed..." he blankly replied.

"Then, why are you just standing there?" he asked irritably. "I'm accepting my fate here!"

Joshua could only stand and watch helplessly as he saw his friend willingly submit himself to the supernatural being.

Then, Death simply stepped back and leaned casually against the wrecked car that had skidded in the middle of the street. He folded both of his thin hands together while still holding a grip on his scythe, using it as a leaning post.

The two teenaged souls glanced at each other in confusion. Only one of them was feeling a little more irritated than the other.

"What are you doing just sitting there?" Connor asked. "You're the Grim Reaper! Death! You're supposed to escort me to the afterlife, so I can go to either Heaven or Hell!"

"Tell me something I don't know, mortal..." he replied cooly

The human stomped his foot firmly on the ground, losing his grip at the end of his rope.

"Stop fooling around with me!" he snapped. "I'm not in the mood for joking around, all right? Either you take me or not! Which one??"

"Neither."

"Then, what the hell is the point of you being here?"

"Just keeping you company," he replied simply. The bottom of his cloak shifted as if he was crossing his legs underneath them in a very casual and carefree manner.

"Ohhhhhhhhkayyyyy? And just why are you doing that?" he quizzed with a severe, quizzical wince.

"Until the next step of your life arrives..."

"You are the next step of life! What is this, Screwing Around with Dead People Day? Stop acting so coy and stupid!"

The black hood suddenly sharply turned to look at the irritated human, which had immediately silenced him. He had no idea what kind of intimidating or ill-meaning expression loomed in the blank, shaded face of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse. It overwhelmed his mind with numerous nervous and frightened thoughts of what kind of dirt the supernatural being was going to do to him. Never insult a supernatural being wielding a sharp weapon.

Then the Reaper looked away, shaking his heavy head.

"Of course you wouldn't know what's really going on. You don't know her true intention."

"Wait... Who's intention? What are you talking about?"

"First, let me just say that you surprise me, mortal," he spoke, comfortably adjusting his grip on his scythe. "In my lifetime, I had come across many souls I had to carry away. They were interesting, but only a few of them were able to interest me the most. You, on the other hand, so far, seemed to blow them all away. Getting struck by a lightning bolt shot by some little, purple unicorn living in a world millions of miles away and get teleported back there to walk among the likes of her; that is most bizarre, I have to admit."

"You--," Connor stuttered. "You know about that?"

"Wait, what?" Joshua flinched in surprise. "Ponies? What about ponies?"

"Yes. I've been watching you," the dark figure replied. "Also, while you were there, you managed to befriend them after saving their lives from certain peril. After that, you grew on them and they accepted you as their own apologetically after a period of despise and prejudice toward you. That was very interesting, mortal, enough to impress even me. Bravo, Connor Powell. Bravo..."

"Oh, my God..." the blonde teenager gasped. "So all of that pony shit you were joking about all of this time was real??"

"Yes! I wasn't even joking around! I was telling the truth, but you didn't believe me," he responded.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that any of it was real at first mention??"

"There's no need to fret about it, Joshua. Doubt is only natural," Death shrugged cooly. "Peter doubted that Christ was our Father's son, Thomas doubted that Christ was resurrected from the grave; you are not the first. But, alas, like both Peter and Thomas, you now see the truth before you. Now, do you believe?"

Joshua staggered back a few inches and clasped his scalp with both palms, looking perplexed as if he had just walked off a boat that rocked violently in the ocean.

"This... This is all too crazy," he muttered. "This is heavy. So that's why you were gone for so long. That's why you seemed like a prodigy in making friends..."

Connor nodded, which only made his friend even more stunned.

"Holy shit..." he quietly exclaimed.

The spirit turned back to face Connor. "You've been rewarded, mortal, with a second chance at life, because of the princess' feelings for you."

"Feelings?"

"You did so much for her subjects, helping them change from their judgmental selves and saving her life as well as the town's. That is why she gave you that mark that resides on your chest."

"Mark?" the two humans said in unison.

Connor lifted his shirt to look at the marking of Equestria's Sun, still in mint condition and rich in black value.

"What about it?" he asked.

"That is no mere tattoo or decoration she gave you. It's a mark containing a spell. You've been enchanted."

"What kind of spell is it? What is it supposed to--AGH!"

Suddenly, his chest burned like boiling water had been dripped onto it. Then, he felt it tingling much like when he first acquired it. An illuminating, bright, yellow light shone from it, shooting out from him like a spotlight.

"Ah, I see the spell finally starting to take its toll," the Reaper stated, lifting himself off from the car he was leaning on.

"What kind of spell? What is it supposed to do? You still haven't told me!" he hastily pleaded.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time left to tell you, Connor Powell. You'll just have to talk about it with her," he replied, walking over to Joshua. "Come along, young one. We must reattach you to your body before you're officially proclaimed dead."

The light from the marking began to whine louder as the magic powered up to activate the spell.

"No! Wait! Joshua!!" he shouted over the squealing noise. "WAIIIIIT!"

The last thing he saw before he was yanked into a swirling portal was Joshua's face looking back at him, filled with disbelief, sadness, and helplessness.

A full tea cup was lifted from a lustrous, chrome platter, which had a small, brass tray of sugar cubes, a brass teapot, and a small china beaker of cream on it as well. It levitated up to a pair of white lips, which delicately and gently pursed along the edge of it before the cup tipped to pour the hot liquid through the opening. Once it had poured a small amount into the opening, the lips released from the edge, smiling. A long, content hum sounded from behind them.

"Excellent tea," Princess Celestia hummed contently before placing it gently back onto the tray. "And such a wonderful day, too."

She looked out the window in her throne room to gaze at the aquamarine sky. The clouds were stout and plump and the rock of the mountain glimmered brightly in the sun.

She looked down near the side of her throne to gaze upon a small frame that sat next to her. After being engulfed by a golden-yellow aura of sparkling magic, it levitated up in front of her face. She smiled back at the image of the smiling Six Elements of Harmony. After placing it back in its proper place, she lifted another frame up in front of her face.

The six ponies and Spike were huddled together along with a certain non-equine creature who had left a couple of years ago. Seeing his smile made her smile back, only with a little more pink residing in her cheeks.

"Cutie," she giggled. "He called me 'hot' and 'young'. And also managed to change all of us ethically..."

She pressed the frame onto her chest.

"Someday, you will come back to us..." she said softly. "Someday..."

Suddenly, a purple light emitted from the space between the picture and her body. Surprised, she removed the frame from her chest to glance at her neckpiece. The purple gem that was imprinted in the exact middle of it was glowing.

Her eyes suddenly grew wide.

She trotted up to the window to look at the sun, which glowed brighter before it suddenly glowed back to normal power again.

She turned back to the throne room, staring blankly in front of her in utter surprise.

"He... He's back."

To be continued...

Author's Note

The moment I started to rewrite this chapter, I immediately thought, "Hell, where do I start? I might as well delete the whole freaking chapter."

...And I did... :I

Chapter XVI - A New Beginning

Equestria’s First Human - Chapter XVI

Written and drawn by Ceehoff

His body awoke...

He felt the tickling smoothness of soft grass blades brushing against his entire back of his body.

The scent of newly-grown and fresh grass filled his nostrils as it was being pushed around by cool wind.

Birds were chirping lively in the distance.

His eyes cracked open only to have his retinas nearly scorched off by the bright, warm sun. He blinked repetitively until they were somewhat prepared to open again without pain. However, the sun was directly in his sight, so he rolled over to his side to face away from the shining, eternal beacon for a moment. The moment he opened his eyes again, he noticed that everything was blurry. He wiped them with his fists until his sight was crystal clear.

"Where am I?" he mumbled.

He looked slowly around to see himself sitting in a vast, grassy field with small hills and grass that stretched farther than the eye could see. There were patches of trees of various sizes, moving along with the hills. It was like sitting in the middle of a colossal, green blanket. The sky was an aquamarine blue, which gradually deepened into a darker, fuller blue further up. Small, plump clouds hovered across the sky like snails.

"What happened?" he mumbled again. "How did I get here?"

He slowly sat himself up. He felt lighter than usual, which was funny, because in moments like this, one would usually feel as heavy as lead and feeble as a sprout. However, he was able to lift himself up with hardly any restraint. Plus, he felt the breeze brush by him, which felt a lot more refreshing, feeling like it was passing through his body.

"Why does this place look so familiar?"

He had no recollection of what had happened before he arrived. His mind was blank of memory. That was, until he felt his shirt brush over a very sensitive patch of skin in his chest. He winced slightly at the sudden tingling of nerves. He gingerly placed a finger on the exact spot, which made his chest tingle once more, only with more of a tickling, stinging sensation.

"What the hell? Did I get bitten or something?"

He rolled his shirt up, exposing the black mark of Equestria's Sun imprinted on his chest.

"What the f--?"

His mind cut off his speech as a maelstrom of memories flew right into his mind, making his torso sway. He clapped his hands on his head, trying to prevent himself from swaying even more.

EEEERRRRRRRRRRT!!

"LOOK OUT!!"

"SHI--!"

CRASH!!

His breaths were labored as he shuddered. He heard the flap of the Death's long, black sleeve as it was being lifted up to expose a long, twig-like finger pointing at him.

"It is you who I come for..."

"No! You can't! Not now!"

"I'm sorry, mortal, but what's done is done. There is no turning back..."

He fell back onto the ground, automatically using his forearms to hold him up at the last minute.

"Well? What are you waiting for??" he heard himself say. "Aren't you going to take me?"

"No... Just keeping you company."

"Why are you doing that?"

"You've been granted another chance at life."

The human flinched in surprise and concern. Another chance at life?? Granted by who??

"That pony princess fancies you the most, mortal. That is why she gave you that mark on your chest. You've been enchanted..."

"What does it do??"

"You are just going to have to talk about it with her..."

"No! Wait! WAAIT! Joshuaaaaa!"

His mind became calm. There was nothing more to soak in. It all made sense. Princess Celestia was the reason why he was here.

So that meant...

"I'm back..." he mumbled. "I'm back. I'm... I'm back! In Equestria!" he said with a growing smile on his face.

But suddenly, his face faltered in thought. As much as he loved the place he was in now, why was he sent back?

Why did the Princess sneak a spell onto his body? Why didn't she tell him? Why did she have to be subtle and conspicuous?

The more he thought about this, the more it began to frustrate him. Why would the princess stoop herself so low to sneak a spell onto him without his consort? It was like he felt... violated.

Not only that, but...

... His family back on Earth.

"Oh, God..." he gasped, feeling a wave of nerves course through his chest and abdomen. He just died back on Earth and reappeared here without them knowing. It would not be long until his death has been officially proclaimed to his parents... again. The next thing he imaged was his parent's outbursts of sorrow, which made his stomach churn uneasily.

The churning peaked higher as Joshua's face floated in his eyes. His expression was so full of defeat, trauma, and the growing despair that he was never going to see his friend ever again.

Only this time, college was not the cause of their separation...

...

He clenched his fist.

"Princess Celestia," he whispered. "You'd better have a damn good reason for putting me through all of this..."

Then, he heard a faint noise in the wind. It faded before it slowly increased again.

FWIP! A pink bird darted directly past his head from behind. It's wings nearly slapped his cheek.

"Whoa! Easy, there," he spoke to the bird as it flew. "What's the deal?"

The bird perched itself on a tree branch belonging to one of the trees. Its small head darted to one side as it leaned forward.

That was when the faint noise came back.

The bird warbled lively in return, singing a very lovely, brief tune that lasted three seconds. Then, it flew off the branch, darting toward the thick foliage of the forest. The moment it disappeared between the trunks and branches of the forest, it peaked the human's curiosity. He slowly walked up to the very edge, careful to not just step in without any confirmation that it was safe to enter.

Erupting from behind the trees was the bird's singing.

Then, the mysterious noise sounded once again.

He leaned closer.

It sounded like singing. No words, just vocals... It matched the bird's singing perfectly, on-tune and on-tempo. It sounded so... angelic.

He gasped. Deep down inside himself, he knew that that sweet, sweet voice belonged to none other than...

"Fluttershy!" he smiled.

Without any further thought, he was racing past branches, bushes, and other foliage of the forest like a crazed deer. Oh, dear God, had it been so long since he heard that lovely voice. Ever since he had been away, he had been hearing her sweet voice in his head to remind him of the good times he had spent with her, since he knew that he was never going to see her again. However, deep down inside him, he knew that he was. Now, he was actually back.

In the distance, he saw cracks of light emerge between the tree trunks ahead of him. His smile grew wider. He was getting close.

Then, he emerged from the foliage, engulfed in sunlight. The small, quaint, homey cottage that belonged to his loved pegasus was standing forty yards away in front of him. Peeking through one of the windows in the second story was the yellow pegasus, vocalizing with much sweetness and class until the pink bird perched itself onto a hang that was directly in front of it.

"There you are, Missus Pink Jay! Are you hungry?" She pulled out a small bag of bird seed.

The bird chirped happily as the little pegasus poured a hoof-ful into a small dish.

"There you go," she smiled. "Enjoy!"

Before Connor was able to say anything, she disappeared back into the cottage, singing a tune to herself. He grunted in defeat.

Wait, she was heading downstairs, right?

He ran fully out of the foliage and up to the front door. He panted, barely containing his excitement. He was desperately wanting to give her a huge hug. Maybe even a big kiss on her forehead, cheek, or wherever. Whatever he would do, all he knew was that he was finally going to see her.

He lifted his arm to knock, until BONK!! an tortoise with a helicopter propellor strapped onto its back suddenly appeared out of nowhere, colliding headfirst into the door. It was rather loud, for he could see the door rattle for about half a second.

"Didn't see that coming..." the human muttered.

He knelt down to the downed reptile to see if it was okay, but then, the doorknob rattled, which immediately made him stand back up again.

The door opened, revealing a bewildered and concerned yellow pony.

"Oh, goodness! What was--?"

"Hi, Fluttershy!" he smiled with much enthusiasm.

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her mouth creaked open, gradually opening wider. The human chuckled in delight. This is was exactly the kind of reaction he was looking for.

"Oh! Oh my goodness!!" she exclaimed, beating her wings, launching herself at him.

He extended his arms, more than ready to exchange. As soon as her nose was two inches away from his chest, he threw his arms around her.

"Tank! Are you okay?"

What the...?

He opened his arms, seeing that there was no crying pegasus being cradled in his grasp. He looked up to see that he was standing in the doorway, nearly in the foyer of the cottage. He whirled around, seeing Fluttershy standing over the small tortoise.

"Wh--What?" he muttered.

What happened? She was directly in front of him. He had her in his grasp! How the living hell did she end up over there?

"Fluttershy! It's me! I'm over he--!"

He own mind had cut him off. Something he was seeing in the corner of his eye was amiss. Looking to his side, he saw a door-side mirror, hung next to a group of coat-hanger hooks. So far, nothing was amiss...

...Until, he saw what was in the mirror.

No reflection...

"What...?" he gasped. "Wh--... Wh--... What's going on? What's happening??"

"Now be careful next time. Okay, Tank?" he heard Fluttershy speak next to him. "Rainbow Dash is depending on me to look after you while she is practicing her tricks for the Wonderbolts."

The tortoise nodded sluggishly in response before it hovered away.

"Hee, hee! Such a cutie," she giggled. She walked back into the house. Connor could only stand and watch as she passed directly through him like he was smoke.

The human's eyes widened in shock.

He was a ghost, a spectre, invisible to her eyes. He heaved a heavy, sad sigh. How cruel it was to return to a place one hasn't been to for a long time, only to not be seen by those he loves. How was he supposed to embrace her now?

However, his fretful queries had been cut off just when Fluttershy suddenly stopped halfway through him.

At first, she looked surprised. Then, two seconds later, she shuddered blissfully, rubbing her cheeks into her small, smooth, slender shoulders.

"Oooh! All of a sudden it's so warm in here," she sighed happily. "Ahhh..."

Connor smiled at her bliss as well as in relief. So, he wasn't a ghost; he was a soul. Souls were much warmer. If this was the only way he could be intimate with her, then he would gladly be able to oblige. He would keep her warm everywhere she goes.

Yet, still, he was saddened that he would never actually get to be there with her physically, to actually hold her in his arms...

Suddenly, his chest tingled again. The mark behind his shirt began to glow again.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What's--?!"

He was gone in a bright flash of energy.

The little pegasus squeaked in surprise, feeling the warmth suddenly disappear.

"--Going on now?!"

...Now?!

"Oh..."

Looking under his feet, he saw a white, marble floor, reflective and lustrous as a mirror (even though he could not see see himself). Just to his left was a long, red carpet that extended from one end of the vast room to the door across from it on the other side of the room. He looked farther up to see gaping structures, oak-tree-trunk-sized columns and pointed arches that stared down at him like he was a little ant. Windows comprised most of the white, marble walls inside the room, allowing the sun to shine all of its light into it. The very apex of the periwinkle ceiling was nearly about one hundred feet above him.

He blew an elongated whistle, amazed by the room's size and architectural beauty.

As he slowly rotated in his spot to gaze further on, he noticed two dignified ponies exchanging a low conversation. After turning around, he noticed that there were more than just two ponies in the room. There were guards, too, standing still as statues in vigilant watch.

They still could not see him. Yet, how could they not hear him? He heard his own voice echo in the room. Then again, maybe it was just some perk that spirits have, hearing their own echoes. He did not know.

Suddenly, a small, ping-pong ball sized, pink orb of light suddenly flew up in front of his face, startling him. It rocked in the air, back and forth in a figure eight. He reached out to it until it darted past his hand, traced down his arm, and circled around his torso. Then, it disappeared into thin air, before reappearing a distance away from him.

It hovered effortlessly in the air, baiting him to follow it.

He slowly walked toward it. Who knew what its intention was? It could lead him to something good or something bad. Whatever the effect might be, he knew he had to stay on the tip of his toes. He would have be ready to react either way. As soon as reached with three feet away from it, the small orb hovered away from him, leading him up to the door on the other end of the room which the red carpet touches. The door was tall, extending about twenty feet above him before it converged into a pointed arch.

As soon as he reached the door, the glowing orb disappeared, revealing the chrome doorhandle that it was hovering in front of.

He gazed up at the door once more. The only reason a door would look as big as this was that it might be the throne room, where Princess Celestia sits. Swallowing the excess saliva in his mouth, he gripped the door handle.

He tightened his grip.

"Now I'll get to know why she put me through all of this..." he muttered to himself with increasing seriousness.

He opened the door, which creaked noisily and slowly open like it was a front door belonging to a haunted house. When it was fully open, Connor could see a tall, golden throne placed at the very top of a small, ascending, white marble stairway. Red and maroon curtains surrounded the entire back of it. Two guards stood on both sides of the throne, wearing more decorative and regal-looking armor than the ones in the last room.

After briefly noticing his surroundings, he automatically looked up to the throne, which was empty, throwing off his serious attitude.

That was, until a navy blue alicorn with a twinkling, flowing, night-sky blue mane and tail appeared from behind it. After she sharply glanced at the two guards, the two stallions nodded before slowly proceeding out, walking directly through the human like a ethereal spirit he was. The door had shut behind him, emitting a noisy echo within the room. He turned back around from looking at the guards to see the navy-blue alicorn stand directly in front of him, which startled him. Since when did she get there? He did not even hear her lift off or land.

Her blue eyes peered at him with a half-lidded, stern approach, like she was snobbishly and arrogantly inspecting him.

Wait... She could see him??

He rocked to one side, and her eyes followed suit, fixated on him. He rocked to the other side. Same result.

Impressive, but... pretty creepy.

“Uhhh… Hey!” He broke the silence. “Is Princess Celestia here?”

“SHE IS HERE, BUT IS IN ANOTHER ROOM,” her voice bellowed, nearly deafening the human standing in front of her. “BUT, DO NOT GO ANYWHERE. SHE WILL BE WITH THEE SHORTLY.”

“I’m right here, you don’t need to shout. Jeez...” he mumbled, twisting his pinky in his ear. “Okay, uhhh, how long will it take?”

“AT LEAST A MINUTE.”

He should probably stop asking her questions. His face was barraged by a huge gust of wind. However, not asking her anything did not help, because she had some other things she would like to say to him.

“SO THOU ART EQUESTRIA’S FIRST HUMAN, AS I AM TOLD? WE ARE CHARMED TO MEET THEE.”

“You sure about that?" he meekly queried. "You seem a little... unhappy about it..."

“OF COURSE, WE ARE HAPPY. HOW COULD IT BE NOT CLEAR TO THEE?”

“The shouting, for one? You look pretty irritated in my opinion,” he politely implied.

“WELL, YOU ARE MISTAKEN, HUMAN. IT IS TRADITION TO SPEAK THIS WAY WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS.”

“Yeah, cool, but I’m right here…”

“WE KNOW,” she nodded.

“Then, why are you still shouting?" he asked with a hint of frustration. "You could hurt somepony’s ears with that kind of volume.”

What a hypocrite. He listened to metal with that kind volume.

“NO MATTER WHAT THOU SAY, HUMAN, THIS IS HOW IT IS, WHETHER THOU LIKE IT OR NOT,” the loud alicorn sniffed, resting her case.

“I see that you’ve met my sister, Luna," said a voice to his side.

Connor turned to see Princess Celestia walk in from the balcony. About time she came; he felt like his ears were going to bleed, even if he was a spirit. It was relieving to have a pony who talked normally join the conversation.

"Luna... Okay..." he said, twisting a finger in his ear. "But why is she shouting like that?”

“It’s the traditional Royal Canterlot voice of the olden days. It was used to speak to large masses of ponies. Nowadays, it is hardly ever used anymore," she said before looking at her sister. "However, Luna still is not over it.”

“SISTER, PLEASE! NOT IN FRONT OF HIM!” the navy blue alicorn complained.

After receiving a disapproving look from the white alicorn, the night princess shrank back in shame.

“I mean, sister! Not in front of him!” she said in a smaller voice.

“Whew... Much better,” Connor smiled, lifting his hands off of his ears. “And, boy, does your voice sound pretty, now that it’s not loud and shouting.”

“Oh!" she exclaimed. "Well, thank thee kindly, human.”

“His name is Connor, Luna,” Celestia corrected.

Luna blushed in embarrassment again.

“So, why does she still speak that way?” the human asked.

“A dispute between us many years ago,” the white alicorn answered. “Because our subjects weren't very appreciative of the night, she became depressed and bitter, causing her to rebel and attempt to wreak eternal night upon all of Equestria. Because of the bitterness in her heart, she became a feared omen, Nightmare Moon. I had to banish her to the moon for a thousand years before she wreaked any more havoc onto us. When she returned a thousand years later, Twilight and the others brought her back to normal with the Elements of Harmony. Since she had been imprisoned on the moon, Luna still had the ways of olden days imprinted in her. She still has work on becoming more savvy.”

Luna hung her head. “’Tis true… I have no urge to argue. I was foolish back then.”

“But that was all in the past. It doesn't matter anymore. Now, I am just happy that I get to have my little Lulu back,” she smiled as she nuzzled her little sister’s cheek.

“Sisterrr!” Luna whined past her sister's affection. “Not in front of him, please!”

Connor awkwardly watched as the two exchanged a personal moment.

“Well, I guess we should focus more on the matter at hoof going on now,” Celestia said as she turned to Connor. "I just want to say--."

"Why?"

She paused, startled by his sudden will to speak.

"Excuse me?" she squeaked.

"Why?"

Beside her, Luna craned her neck to get a more frontal look at her sister.

"I... I don't seem to understa--."

"Why did you do it?" he asked with an increasingly serious expression. Despite the warm social bonding from earlier, he still did not forget his earlier thoughts about the princess of the Sun.

She shook her head faintly, not understanding what he was implying. Actually, she did not understand why he was acting so serious and seemingly angry. The human scowled slightly, assuming that she had forgotten.

"Why did you cast a spell on me to make me return here?"

Her lips were frozen. Why did he look so unhappy? Why did he look so unpleased? Her jaw tensed, trying to choose her words carefully.

"Because..." she said. "I felt like you... deserved it."

"What did I do to deserve this?"

The tone he used like he was being wrongfully punished hewed down the alicorn's feelings in chips and small chunks. Did he actually forget everything that he did long ago?

"You did everything," she responded. "You've done so much to change us, that I thought that you rightfully deserved it."

"Rightfully'?" he nearly shouted. "Since when did I have a right to have a spell cast on me without my consent?!"

"I..." she stammered, feeling hurt and a little scared. "I just wanted to make you happy..."

"How dare you?!" he barked. "That's--! That's just low! That's sneaky! That's... That's lowbrow! Why?! If I wanted to have a spell cast onto me, then I would've asked for it! I didn't need your decision to have me return here! But, NO! You had to do it without breathing a hint toward me! You think I feel good about this?! Well, let me tell you something, it doesn't feel convincing at all! Not one bit! It felt like I had just been goddamn violated! Do you have any idea what I have been through, ever since I found out that I have been hexed by you??"

The white alicorn wanted to answer but her newfound guilt prevented her will to speak.

"I had just witnessed myself, my own dead body, crunched to a bloody pulp from the ribs down! I witnessed my friend's husk, which was not even supposed to be dead yet! I had to witness my best friend's look of despair just before I came here! My life was doing just fine before I had to go through all of that shit! I made lots of friends! I was the fourth most popular guy at school! Jesus Christ, I was going to go to college soon! College! What I and my parents had to work so hard to--My parents! For Christ's sake, what about my parents?? My sister?? If they find out that I was killed again, they would be devastated! It'll happen all over again!! All the worrying, the crying, the despair, the freaking funeral...! Worst of all, my best friend had to witness me die once again, this time, without ever coming back! It feels like I had ditched him, my best friend, whom I trusted more than anyone else back on Earth! And you're saying that you did this just to make me happy?! Well, you're wrong! I'm hysterical! Offended! Now, you can just go--! Go--! Guh..."

He collapsed onto his knees, panting heavily.

"Connor!" Celestia exclaimed leaping up to him in fright with Luna following behind.

The human then fell onto his hands, falling on all fours. He panted heavily as if he was shot in the leg and was trying to vent the pain. His eyes became blurry with moisture, feeling a crippling wave of fading energy and growing emotion. His panting calmed as a large, white, feathered wing opened underneath him, pressing against his chest to lift him up.

Meanwhile, Celestia's mind was being tangled with questions as well as internal self-chiding. She had never expected this kind of reaction from him, yet she did sense that there would be uneasiness beforehoof. She just did not think it would turn out like this. She only wanted him to be happy that he was back. Yet...

Connor was lifted back up to his feet. His expression was blank and dark, full of trauma as he blankly stared at the ground in front of him. To the alicorn, he felt pretty stable, but she kept her wing on his chest in case he was going to collapse again.

He gently pushed her wing off. He turned around with his back facing toward the two princesses.

The room became deathly silent, which frightened Celestia. She internally braced herself for any sort of sudden outburst or any oncoming harsh mud-flinging.

Neither happened.

His lips cracked by a thread before he spoke.

"Can I just be alone for a while...?"

The alicorn's heart faltered. Apparently, he did not wish for her to console him, to have her comfort him from his traumatic moment that he mentioned earlier. However, she did not wish to make him even more upset.

She about to turn to leave, but the human walked instead, heading to the door that lead into the room just before the throne room. His feet made no sound as they slowly trudged over the carpet, making the princess feel even more emotional.

The door creaked open...

The door shut. Its echo penetrated the air, slowly dissipating into silence.

Then, that silence was broken when small sounds were heard behind the thick doors.

Bitter sniffles transitioned to pitiful moans...

Then, to bitter weeping...

Fifteen minutes had passed. However, to the princesses, it felt like an hour. The room was quiet, except for the sound of smooth, slightly-labored breathing. The pillars and domes, and pointed arches stared down at them like hungry vultures sitting on tall trees, waiting for their prey to pass away. The colored lights from the stained glass windows illuminated on the two princess' perfectly groomed coats.

Luna tilted her head to glance at her older sister, whose eyes were shut as if she were meditating.

"Sister..." she softly spoke.

Celestia's eyes opened immediately, before glancing drearily at her.

"Yes, Luna?" she replied.

"Like the human, I am gravely upset about what thou did..."

The white alicorn looked away, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Yet, I am curious as to why thou did it," Luna continued. "Why did thou go so far as to do unto him all this trouble?"

Celestia sighed again.

"I felt that he earned it," she replied, not looking at her sister. "After all that he did."

"Did what? Prithee, tell me." The dark alicorn leaned closer.

"He saved all of Equestria from a terrible threat, as well as he saved me."

"Save you?? Save thee from what?"

"I would've been brutally skewered by that falling spire if he weren't there to see it."

Her sister gulped. "Sk-skewered?? Good Goddess, sister!"

"And, he changed us ethically. He was despised by Ponyville because he was different and the only one of his kind to walk there, but after what he did, he changed them. They learned to never again avoid anypony because he or she is different. Instead, they should welcome that somepony as if he or she were their own. And..."

"Annnnnnd, what?"

"Er... Nevermind," she flinched out of her blushing trance. "It... It's nothing."

Her younger sister leaned closer to her, squinting suspiciously.

"Sisterrrr," she said. "What is it? Prithee not act that way. I know thou art hiding something."

Celestia did not forget the first time she had met Connor.

She walked into Sugarcube Corner and gasped in surprise to see him sitting among the ponies.

“Princess Celestia, this is Connor," Twilight said.

“W...what is he?” the royal pony softly asked her.

“He’s a human.”

“I...have never heard or seen this creature before. I’ve reigned for more than a thousand years, and yet, this creature is all so new! How could I not know of this? There has to be some sort of a slip-up.”

“He was brought here yesterday. He’s very new.”

“WHOA, whoa!” Connor shouted, interrupting their train of conversation. He could not withhold the urge to blurt out what he was going to say next. “You lived for more than a thousand years?? WOW! You’re OLD!”

Silence…

Twilight hid behind her mane in embarrassment. Pinkie Pie's mouth gaped open in shock, dropping the cupcake that was in her mouth. Rarity’s mouth hung wide open. Fluttershy covered her mouth with both of her front hooves. Rainbow Dash inhaled through her teeth, hissing. Applejack slapped her forehead with her hoof, groaning in her breath. Spike ducked for cover.

The princess stared blankly at the human.

He winced.

“Duh! Erm, uhh… yet, you look… You look... HOT!! You look hot! So young and so hot!" he smiled nervously. "Whoo, did it just get hot in here, or is it just you? Heh! Heh, heh, heeehhhshit..."

The white alicorn blushed. Never before did anypony, especially an unexplained creature, consider her “hot”. She liked the human already.

“Oh! Um... Thank you! Thank you, kindly!” she smiled.

Everypony sighed, including Connor. What a recovery.

"I'm not hiding anything," she argued.

"What about the blushing? Wouldst thou care to explain that?"

The white alicorn cupped her cheek. "It's hot in here. Why are you so suspecting, Luna?"

The night princess leaned even closer, squinting tighter.

"Behind every object lies a dark shadow, sister... " she purred menacingly. "Forget thee not, I am the Princess of the Night, and I am very familiar with the dark. Very familiar..."

Celestia gulped.

The sound of the opening door erupted, surprising both of them. From behind, Connor walked out, rubbing his reddened, bagged, tear-stained eyes. The white alicorn felt like she wanted to glide down and hug him, but seeing he looked somewhat unpredictable regarding emotion, she kept her distance.

"Connor?" she gingerly asked him. "Are you all right?"

Noticing her, he walked further up the red carpet path and stopped at the very base of the stairway, meekly looking at the ground.

"Yeah..." he quietly responded. "I'm fine..."

She sighed in relief.

"And..." he said. "I would like to... apologize."

"Apologize?" she asked with surprise. "Oh, no, you don't need to apologize. I understand--."

"Princess..." he gruffly spoke.

"Hm?"

"Please... Let me..."

The princess nodded obediently, sitting further more onto her haunches, cushioned comfortably by the red, silky, pillow-like pad.

Connor continued.

"I, uh... Want to apologize for those things I said to you. It was unduly harsh. I was just so scared and scarred by what I've seen earlier that I had nearly lost my composure. I was hysterical. None of what happened earlier to me was your fault. It was only a freak accident. Seeing that I can't go back, I should be more thankful for what you did for me, as hurtful as it was that you did it without my knowing it. You were really kind, compassionate and... thoughtful to offer me such a gift, and I thank you dearly. You must really care about me to do such a thing. As grateful as I say I am right now, I..."

He paused and turned to look out the window.

"I'm really going to miss them... I just wish I had a chance to say 'good-bye' to them... My family, my friends..."

"And you will..." Celestia said as she flew from her throne and landed gently next to him. "There is always a time. In fact, you can do so now, if you wish."

He looked at the princess beside him, who was smiling warmly and affectionately at him, urging him to do so. Then, he turned to walk up to the window. The sky was burning blue and the sun was glowing like a million beacons. It was certainly a beautiful day. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, which humorously notified him that he had clear path to speak to them. He placed a palm on the window.

"Good-bye, Mom... Good-bye, Dad... Good-bye, Jessie, sis... Good-bye, Joshua... Good-bye, everybody..." he softly spoke. "I love you all. Every single one of you... I'll miss you..."

His head bowed and his eyes burned as tears filled his eyes. His palm slowly trailed down the glass of the window. His shoulders began to quiver.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his cheek pressed onto the white alicorn's smooth, velvety neck. Her cheek rubbed his right temple. He felt her long and slender foreleg and large, curtain-like wings wrap around him, reeling him in for a warm and consoling hug. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion he buried his face into her neck, hiccuping for air as he cried.

"Shhhhhhhh..." she gently hushed him as she stroked his back. "Shhh... It's okay. It's okay, love. You said it now. I guarantee you that they all heard it, nice and clear."

"I hope so..." he sniffled.

"They will... I promise you..."

The teary human hugged the princess tighter. The princess allowed the tears that leaked from his eyes to stain her coat, welcoming his presence. Luna smiled at the heart-warming scene from a short distance. The way she hugged him reminded her of that very day, just a few months ago, when Nightmare Moon was no more. She did not wish to join the hug, because she had only met the human. It would push the boundaries into awkwardness.

After a minute, Connor's tears had ceased. The white alicorn princess never loosened her grip once. She still held him tightly like he was an infant pony of her own.

Then, she released her chin from his temple and craned her neck to look more into the human's damp eyes.

"Connor," she whispered.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, meeting her eyes.

"It is time for the next step."

"What next step?"

She folded her wings back to her sides, releasing him from her hug. She stepped back next to her sister.

"The next step: Incarnation. Since you will be remaining here in Equestria, you will have be put into a body. Of course, you can't stay as an invisible spirit forever. Living here wouldn't be as enjoyable if you can't be seen," she finished with a friendly giggle.

"Of... Of course," he smiled weakly, still recovering from his moment of tears.

"However, before we do that," she said with a more crucial tone. "You will have to make a decision."

Connor nodded, eager to hear it.

"You have to decide what you will incarnated as. Either you want to be a human again or a pony."

"That's it?"

"No. It's not. This is not a simple decision. You really have to look inside yourself, if you are to make your decision. Deep inside yourself," she said with much seriousness. "This is not like a test what you would take at school. This decision is the rest of your life with no turning back whatsoever..."

Now, the human's head was really itching. The crucial tone in her voice tipped his confidence over like an unstable china vase. He really had to think this through. However, he could not concentrate with the two princesses staring at him. He stepped back about four feet before he slowly turned around to think.

He always wondered what it was like to be a pony. There was never a time during a human's life where he or she never thought of what he or she would be like as a four-legged animal or any other kind of animal. However, if he became a pony, he would lose his hands. How would he play guitar? How would he hold up a glass of water? How would he do anything that would be impossible for a hoof to do? Hands were much more versatile. Yet, then again, if he was going to be a human, he would have to eat what the ponies ate: wheat, plants, vegetables, oats, hay, soy... Damn... Still, there was still Sugarcube Corner; he could eat some stuff there. Yet, then again, if he ate nothing but sweets, he would become corpulent. That was the last thing he wanted, a heartache before he turned twenty-one. But, if he became a pony, he would have to wash all of the fur that would cover every inch (not including his genitals) of his body, so it would take longer to take a bath.

He clutched his skull with his hands.

God damn it! Why couldn't he decide?!

Then, suddenly, Fluttershy's angelic singing voice resounded in his mind, putting him at ease from the stress he experienced from thinking.

He loved her very much. But, he knew that he could not be with her as a boyfriend. Still feeling his ethics take over him, he knew that he could not do anything to express his love for her back...

Not as a human, that was...

He was going to be living in Equestria from now on. Staying as a human with the kindest and sweetest pony in Ponyville was going to be like torture. He had so many feelings for her, that there would be moments that he could hardly control himself. He knew better than to be in a cross-species relationship with her.

However, if he was a pony, then...

"Princess..." He turned around.

"Yes, Connor?" Celestia responded. "Have you made your decision?"

He walked up to her.

"Yes..." he replied with a glint of confidence in his eye.

...

"I wish to be a pony..."

Celestia smiled internally. With either decision he made, she vowed to not show any trace of surprise. This was his choice, not hers.

"Is that thy final decision?" Luna asked gravely and seriously.

"Yes."

"Dost thou understand that in making this decision, there is no turning back whatsoever after the procedure hast been complete? Are thou confident with this decision?"

"Yyyes," he responded, feeling a smidgen of intimidation in the seriousness and urgency of her question. However, he was very confident in his answer.

"Very well," Celestia smiled. "Then, follow us."

The alicorn sisters and the human walked over to a door that led into another room. Celestia slid her horn into a small slot that was located in the exact middle of the door. The cracks and markings filled and glowed with glowing magic, bright enough to burn splotches into the human's eyes. The door opened, revealing a tall, circular room nearly about the size of a basketball court. There were no windows. Torches on the wall lit up the room with a warm, orange glow, revealing the black, smooth, marble walls and floor. Connor felt the soles of his sneakers catch onto a spacing that was as thin as a pencil. He followed its path to see it had curves, crossings, and perpendicular angles.

“Stand in that circle,” Celestia pointed a hoof at a carved circle in the exact middle of the room.

He obediently stepped into the circle.

“What kind of room is this?” he asked.

“This is our Meditation and Enchantment Room,” she replied. “We come in here to meditate and practice spells and other forms of magic. This will be the perfect place for the procedure. Nopony enters in here without consent. We won’t be disturbed in here.”

The sisters circled around him, stopping at opposite ends of the room with Connor standing between them. They knelt on all fours, shifting in their places to get more comfortable.

“Remember, Connor. This spell is permanent, so you'd better be sure you want this,” said Celestia sternly.

“I’m sure, he nodded.

The white alicorn smiled, pleased with his will to stick with his decision. “Before we begin, let me notify you that this spell will take some time to complete. This is crucial, if you want to become perfectly equine.”

“How long are we talking?”

“About thirty to sixty minutes.”

"That doesn't seem so bad..."

"You don't have magic to summon," she tittered ironically. "Luna! Are you ready?"

“I am ready, sister,” the night princess replied.

Bowing their heads, they pointed their horns directly at him. They emitted sparks a few times at first before they grew into swirling funnels of golden-yellow and violet lights.

“Is this going to hurt?” Connor asked.

“That, I don’t know,” replied the white alicorn.

“Well, if it does, I’m expecting a lollipop after this.”

The alicorn smiled in response.

“Now, Luna!”

Two, telephone-pole thick columns of magic shot at the human from both sides. Then, what seemed as fast as gunshot, Connor’s entire body was cocooned in a bright, white light of magic, lighting up the entire room. He floated effortlessly over the ground, circling slowly like a spinning planet. He could feel his skin tingle and tickle in a bubbly sort of way. It felt like bubbles were rising up from his insides like freshly poured soda. It felt strangely relaxing. He could even feel his bones slowly shift, stretch, and bend, centimeter-by-centimeter, rearranging themselves into his new form. He felt a wave of warmth course throughout his skin as he felt fur protrude out of his pores.

Thirty to sixty minutes.

It was going to take a while.

“Hang in there, Luna! We’re almost there!” Celestia called over the loud magic.

Luna gritted her teeth, fighting against the fatigue that coursed throughout her body. Her forehead and the base of her horn began to ache. Never before had she felt so much fatigue just from summoning magic.

Connor was still engulfed in blinding light. His silhouette was barely visible through the bright wall of magic.

Just when both of the princesses thought they were going to give out and shut down, they were suddenly blown back, resulting from a sudden outburst of energy coming from the enchantee. They both skidded on top of the floor. With cat-like reflex, Celestia jumped up onto her hooves, while Luna slid over the ground, back into a wall. Their ears were ringing from the small explosion. Their eyes were foggy from the sudden bright flash. They staggered on their feet, which resulted from the spell. Not only did their kneecaps hurt from kneeling, but they were feeble. A lot of energy was taken out of them.

It took thirty seconds for their senses to clear up.

How long had it been? Celestia closed her eyes and sensed the sun outside. Judging by the distance it had shifted, it had been an hour exactly.

Both princesses spotted a body lying in the middle of the room. The body behind the cloud of dust was silent, though not deathly silent. They crept slowly up to it, excited and slightly nervous to view their results. After a few more steps, the princesses saw a body of an earth pony, lying on its side with its eyes closed. Its fur coat was a pinkish cream-like color, a peachy color, like the color of skin. It had a short blackish-brown mane and tail. An image of Equestria's Sun was imprinted on its flanks, much like the mark it had on its chest of its previous form.

“Connor?” Celestia squeaked softly.

There was no answer. She shook him gently.

“Connor?”

Then, the pony’s eyelids wrinkled. Soft moans hummed from under his closed lips.

“Connor…” the alicorn repeated.

“Mmhhh… nuht mnow, Muhmm. Jus’ five muhr minutphhs…” the pony mumbled.

She could not help but giggle at his innocence. The pony looked so adorable to her.

“Wake up, my little pony,” she softly sang in his ear. “The spell was successful.”

Connor's eyes fluttered open. They were blurry from fatigue. He lifted his head, squinting at his surroundings. After looking around, he noticed a big white blob. After a few more blinks, his vision cleared up, and he saw the Sun Princess inspecting him. She smiled as she looked at him in the eyes. They looked exactly like his old eyes, only they were slightly larger and more circular.

The new pony was about to rub his eyes, until he saw he had a hoof instead of a hand. In utmost surprise and awe, his sight traced from his hoof to the rest of his body. He hooted in amazement. She actually did it!

He pushed himself up so he could stand. It was no problem at all, until he took his first step. He fell right back onto the floor, landing flat on his chest with his rear falling briefly after it.

Celestia offered to help him to his hooves, but he pushed her hoof gently away, physically telling her that he could do it by himself. He placed his hooves firmly on the ground by his head and pushed up. His legs trembled and quivered, awkwardly trying to hold up his new form. He tightened all of his muscles to stop himself. When he thought the trembling was over, he took a creful step forward with his foreleg. Next, he tried his back leg. After three, slow strides, he fell again, only Celestia held him up with her wing.

"Here, let me help you with that," she giggled.

Using her magic, she lifted him onto her back and walked out of the room with Luna trailing behind her. When they were back in the throne room and in front of the throne, she placed him gently down in front of her.

“How do you feel?” she asked with concern.

“Weird… but fine, I guess,” the pony replied.

“Yes, it may feel weird for a little while, but you will adjust to it in no time. It just needs some practice.”

“Yes, of course.”

Celestia smiled. She had done a fine job, indeed.

“So…” the new pony slowly said. “I guess this means I’ve gotta go now. Hopefully, my legs will let me. Thank you, Princess!”

“Actually, Connor, just call me, ‘Celestia’," she said with a wink. "You don’t have to call me ‘Princess’ anymore.”

“Oh! But, uhh... Why not? it's respectful, isn’t it?”

The alicorn smiled at his courtesy. “Indeed, it is. But for now, it would be a lot more respectful to me if you just called me ‘Celestia’ from now on. I would like that very much.”

“Okay then, Prin--... Celestia. Thank you…” He knelt on all fours (quite roughly, since he was still getting used to his new form) and gently kissed the alicorn’s hooves.

Her snow-white cheeks burned bright pink as she felt his lips press onto her slender hoof.

Once he had broke away, Connor stood back up and began to walk awkwardly out of the room.

“Wait!” Celestia called. “Before you go, I need to give you something.”

The ponified human turned back around and faced the princess, curious of what she would give him.

She held the kiss on his forehead for seven seconds before she released with an elated smile. The ponified human was flabbergasted. Princess Celestia, deity and loving ruler of Equestria, just kissed him. It was such an honor to receive such a blessing from her.

“Th-thank you, Prin—I mean, Celestia!”

“You’re very welcome,” she smiled. “Now, you may leave. I have a chariot waiting for you outside.”

“Oh, cool! Thank you! Well, I'll see you later!" he smiled.

After a few slow steps, he fell onto his front. He regained his posture and walked a little slower. He fell again… and again… and again…

"Wait. Hold on, I got this..."

Finally, at a really slow pace, he was able to trot correctly. If he were racing against a tortoise, the tortoise would probably win. Inch by inch, he slowly and awkwardly trotted toward the door. Celestia could not help but smile at his humorous pace. He was like a newborn fawn taking its first steps, which made her barely contain herself.

Clop, clop…clop….clop, clop… clop, clop, clop… cloppity cloppity… He nearly lost balance.

He reached the door, but he turned his head around to look at the two princesses again. He smiled and waved before nearly tumbling to the ground because of his lack of frontal support. They both waved back at him in response.

After a few more off-beat clops, Connor was absent from the room. Luna sensed something much affectionate looming from her sister's aura. She still had that wide smile cracked across her cheeks.

“Sister, that is not the usual blessing thou givest…” the moon princess stated.

“I know…” the sun princess responded, blushing.

The trip aboard the flying chariot did not take long at all. Since Canterlot was easily visible from Ponyville, it only took about two to three minutes for him to arrive.

The chariot lowered to the ground, foot-by-foot, toward the street containing Town Hall, because it was the widest, perfect for landings.

"Prepare to touch ground, sir," one of the Royal Guard drivers called over his shoulder to Connor.

"Oka--!"

Before he could finish responding, the chariot touched ground and bounced up underneath him, making him lurch forward and smack his face against the inside.

"D'oh!"

"Ugh..." the other guard groaned, rolling his eyes.

They pawed the earth underneath them to brake into a smooth stop. The new pony climbed out of the chariot, rubbing his sore muzzle.

"Agh... Son of a--!" he groaned. "That's gonna hurt tomorrow. I should be careful with this new face. This muzzle would be the first to get hit..."

He stopped rubbing his nose to nod at the chariot drivers in thanks. After returning the nod, the drivers flew off, careening back to the sparkling castle perched high on the side of the mountain.

He looked around to see a medium-sized crowd of ponies walking to and fro, minding their own business, while some were attracted by the chariot. Their eyes were fixed on him, tilting and scratching their heads in confusion and curiosity at the new pony standing before them.

It was just as well; he had not been in Equestria for a long period of time, so it would take a while for them to recognize him, along with the fact that he was now equine. For now, it was probably best let them figure it out, because he had some ponies he would like to visit. He would more than gladly visit Fluttershy first, but alas, he was still not apt enough to walk in his new body yet. It would take him forever to reach her cottage. He might as well visit somepony closest to him.

After turning around, he saw the library in the distance.

Twilight it was, then.

He took slow and clumsy steps, inching toward the large tree. It took him about a twenty minutes to reach the front door. However, before he knocked, (he leaned against the doorway for support) he stopped himself. Maybe he should check if she was inside. He inched to the window and looked in.

Indeed, she was in. She was lying on her stomach in the middle of the floor, looking relaxed. He smiled. That Twilight.

Should he surprise her?

...

Hell, why not? She was going to be flabbergasted either way.

He inched back up to the front door and leant against the doorway for support while he slowly pushed the door open. It creaked, but the purple was so focused into reading, that she didn't notice. He inched up to her, trying very hard to be quiet. Man, was she going to be surprised.

Soon, he was standing directly in front of her. He could see her eyes shifting left and right over the words in the book that she was reading. The library was quiet. The sounds heard in the entire library were only flipped pages and quiet, smooth breathing from the unicorn's lungs.

Twilight was reading a book written by Stephanie Mare.

“I promise you, Bella, I will love you forever. I will love you until, uhhh... you know, we die or something like that. Whatever. I love you, okay?” Edward whispered into Bella’s ear.

“Oh, Edward! Make love to me…right…NOW…” the young mare snarled saucily as she threw herself onto the vampire-pony.

CRASH!! The door exploded into splinters. A small puppy skipped happily into the room, wagging its tail and scratching its ear with its hind leg. It quickly morphed into a stallion, ripped with muscles and crusty with dried, overly-applied cologne.

“EDWARD MULLET!" the stallion shouted. "Get your filthy, undead, bony, white vampire hooves off of her! She's mine!!”

“Jacob Buck!!” the vampire stallion exclaimed, glaring at him with his red eyes. “We meet again! Your tanned coat of fur, twelve pack, and overly-gelled mane will not win Bella this time!”

“Foolish, cocky, vampire! Of course, I will win her! It's inevitable! Behold!!” he exclaimed as he ripped his shirt off, revealing a chest full of muffin-topping muscles. “Come with me, Bella! Do not linger with this foul, blood-sucking cur! I am the number-one, macho werewolf stallion! You deserve me more than that pretty-pony! I love you, Bella!” He squirted more cologne onto himself.

“No, Jacob... I can’t go with you,” Bella replied.

“WHAT?! Why must thou teaseth me, O, sweet Bella! Now is not the time! Prithee, stop it!”

“I just got married to my Mullet-Wullet just a minute ago. I’m so sorry, Jacob... You were such a good friend to me, but Edward came in first... Plus, I’m just a shallow hussy. Vampires are hotter.”

"OH! Suck it!" the vampire hooted. "Oh, wait! You can't, 'cuz you're not a vampire! BURN!"

“Edward, you wretch!" he pointed a harsh hoof at his nemesis. "You hypnotized and stole my screw-buddy! How dare you?! You will pay for your crime! HERE COMES THE JACOB CANNON, MUTHABUCKAH!!!”

“C’mere, pretty-pony!” Edward hissed.

BAM! BAM! KA-BOOM! WHACK! POK! ZINK! RATATATATATATATAT!! EEEEeeeeeeee-BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! PUNCH! PUNCH! ZAP! BRZZZZZT! TWANG! FLUSH! QUACK! MEOW! KA-BLOOIE!!

“Wow,” Twilight spoke with a severe grimace. “This book sucks! Why do fillies even like this garbage?”

“Hey, Twilight!”

"WAUGH!"

She launched up into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling. She landed on all fours, slapping a customer-friendly smile on her face.

“Oh, hello, sir! Sorry to keep you waiting. I was doing a little… book review,” she coughed. “Welcome to the library! How can I help you?”

“Twilight, it’s me!” replied the stallion.

“You sure seem to know me… but I don’t know you," she said, inspecting him. "I haven’t seen you before. Are you new here? If you are, I would be more than happy to provide you with books about Ponyville culture! Just say the word, and I'll fetch them for you before you could even say, 'Honorificabilitudinitatibus'!"

...

"Errr... What?" Connor said, flabbergasted by the huge word that escaped her mouth. "Twilight..."

“I have books on activities, holidays, events…”

“Twilight…”

“Oh, and I even have Ponyville History books!”

“TWILIGHT!”

The unicorn froze, surprised by the sudden volume.

“Twilight, it’s me! Connor!”

The bookworm blankly stared at him. She leaned closer to inspect him. Her purple eyes zipped left and right, tracing over each feature of his face. Then, they traced to his cutie mark.

Equestria's Sun... Just like what Celestia--...

Then, her eyes widened in surprise. She cupped her mouth shut as she gasped. She could not believe what she was seeing.

"Hey, Twilight," the colt smiled.

“Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!" she nearly shrieked as she threw her forelegs around his neck, giving him an elated hug. He hugged her back, but did not worry about falling this time, because of the unicorn holding him up.

After two seconds of squealing happily, she released her grip. "You're back!! I thought you'd never come back!"

"I thought so, too," he chuckled. "But, here I am."

"And you're a pony, too!"

Suddenly, her smiled quickly turned into a offended frown. "You're... a... a pony..."

"What's wrong?" the colt asked, concerned.

"But..." she sputtered. "Why?"

"You're saying you don't like my new form?"

"No! No, no, I like it! It's just... Why?" She looked up at him, gazing at him in sad disbelief. "We were fine with what you were before. We loved you for who you were before. Why did you change? Is it permanent?"

"It is..."

She gasped faintly in response to his brief and blunt answer. "But, why?"

Connor sighed through his nostrils, knowing what he would have to do next.

"You might want to sit down," he gestured to a stool. "It's a long story..."

The purple unicorn's eyebrows bunched together in concern. His tone waved a yellow flag, notifying her that this was going to be serious. Not only that, but his attitude made her even more concerned. He looked depressed and let down. What did he go through just to end up here in front of her as a new pony? Something really sad, maybe...

Her horn lit up and the stool was reeled in, stopping directly behind her. She pulled another stool up for Connor to sit on as well. He nodded in thanks before he sat down on it, sitting like he did as a human, directly on his haunches, leaving his hind legs to hang off the edge of the seat. He put his front hooves together and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll start..." he cleared his throat, taking intermittent looks at the unicorn sitting in front of him. "Of course, you know I returned home a long time ago. I was reunited with my family and best friend. They were very happy. And upon returning home, I had used everything you and the others had taught me about friendship, and I was able to make a lot more friends than I had imagined. Since then, I became the school's fourth most popular guy."

"That's wonderful!" the unicorn smiled, clapping her hooves..

"Yes, it is," he smiled back, appreciative of her support. "And I thank you all for that. Now, back to what happened. A year or two had passed, and I had graduated high school, ready to go to college. I was with Joshua, my best friend, along with two girls, one of them being my girlfriend. We were in the car, driving somewhere to celebrate our graduation, as well as a final get-together before we left for college. Everything was going fine... Then..."

SqueeeeeeeeeeeCRASH!! he heard the crunching of sheet metal in his mind.

"There was an accident. Joshua and I woke up, thinking we survived, but..."

He saw the two dead bodies in the front seat.

"We didn't. We were dead. Stripped from our bodies like weeds in a garden."

The black cloak and the long, white, bony finger of Death illuminated in his eyes.

"We were visited by Death himself..."

He could hear the creak of Twilight's seat as she leaned forward, aghast, amazed, and full of intent to listen.

"He was actually coming for me..." he continued, feeling the depression loom over him again, causing him to talk slower. "Because Joshua was not supposed to be dead yet. Then, he told me, that I had a second chance at life. Do... Do you remember that day, before I left, when Princess Celestia gave me that mark of Equestria's Sun?"

She nodded, remembering.

"He had been watching me... He knew what she did to me. He told me that she had enchanted me with a spell that would retrieve my soul after my death. I was sent back here, never to return. Even if I could return to Earth, I still could not plant myself back into my old body..."

He saw the blood and bits of organs that trailed from his mouth, down his chin, and splattered all over his side of the car.

"I was too broken..." He took a deep breath. "So, I was brought here, without ever having a chance to say goodbye to any of my loved ones back home. Plus, I was angry at Princess Celestia for enchanting me without my consent, like she had violated me. I cried and cried and cried, until i could cry no more. By then, I realized that none of what happened, my death including, back on Earth was her fault. I learned that she really cared for me to grant me this gift, and I should be thankful."

He paused.

"Then, she offered to incarnate me as either a pony or a human again. I chose to be a pony because I thought that I should move on, not linger in the past. I'll be living here for the rest of my salvaged life, so I figured I'd have to live like you. Eat what you eat, do what you do, work how you work... Plus..."

His cheeks turned pink.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight said for him.

He nodded meekly, admittedly.

"Yes... I couldn't stay as a human in a nation full of ponies, left and right, especially around her. It would be like torturing and tantalizing myself. Mind you, I couldn't return my full affection for her in my previous form. Because..." he snorted awkwardly.

"Huh? What are y--? Oh! Ohhhh, right, right. Yes, I understand completely," she nodded.

"Thanks," he said with a chortle.

Then, their small exchange of words dissipated into awkward silence.

"So..." Connor rubbed his shoulder. "That's it. That is how I'm like this."

"Oh, my gosh!" she gasped faintly. "That is so... I mean... I... I have no words to say about any of this."

"'Utterly unexpected' would fit just right," he pushed a smile.

"Yes. Yes, it would."

Connor slid his rear off the chair. "Again, I would like to thank you all for teaching me all about friendship, Twilight. Your friends, too. Back home, I didn't feel so depressed, helpless, and alone anymore. If I hadn't run into you guys, then I wouldn't have changed. I wouldn't be here talking to you. I would still be a helpless wreck. Thank you so much."

Smiling, Twilight slid off of her seat, walked closer to him, and gave him a warm hug.

"You're welcome... I'm also glad you came here, too. We wouldn't have learned to act less arrogant and prejudicial toward non-ponies, if you hadn't come along."

"You're welcome..." was all he could say, returning the hug.

The sound of a yawn coming from the top of the stairs, made their ears twitch. They broke the hug and whipped around to see Spike slowly descending down the stairs, seemingly oblivious that Connor was here. His eyes were open by a thread, still heavy from fatigue.

"Afternoon, Twi," he yawned. "Just woke up from my nap. Are there anymore chores you want me to do?"

"Oh, I've got one," she giggled, nudging Connor playfully. "You can come down here and say 'hello' to an old friend here."

He stopped in the middle of his descent, looking confused. "Old friend? Who?"

"Hey, Spike!" the colt said with a humored smile.

...

The young dragon's feet beat rapidly on the steps like a drum as he quickly descended the stairway. He tripped on the very last step, barely controlling his speed. He ran into the colt, nearly toppling him over, hugging him.

"You're back!" he exclaimed joyfully. "Oh, this is so awesome! I thought you'd never come back!"

"It's good to see you, too, buddy!" the colt laughed, giving him a noogie. "How are things?"

The little dragon shrugged. "Chores... The usual stuff."

"Awesome. Have you kissed Rarity yet?"

He bowed his scaly, chubby head. "No, unfortunately."

"Aw, come on!" he playfully punched him. "After all of this time? Not once?"

"No, but I have been helping her out with some things. Being her pin-cushion, taking out her trash, fanning her while she is in the sauna at the spa..."

"You gotta go for it, dude. I'm not joking."

"Okay, okay, I will!" he replied with much enthusiasm. "So anyway, how did you get back? Holy Guacamole, you're a pony, too! How is that even possible?"

Connor's stomach growled loudly, cutting the line of conversation short.

"Here," Twilight giggled. “We'll talk about it on the way to lunch. You must be hungry after all of what happened today."

"You know, come to think of it," the colt itched his scalp. "I really am."

"Especially with that new body of yours. Come with me, both of you," she said, walking to the front door. "We'll eat at my favorite place. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, too, Connor."

After exchanging a tolerable and nonchalant shrug, the dragon and the colt followed her out the library.

“May I take your order, madame?” the classy waiter asked Twilight with a French twist in his voice.

“I would like to have a dandelion and wheatgrass sandwich, please,” she replied.

“And would you like hay fries or cucumber chips with zat order?”

“Cucumber chips, please.”

“Exzellent selection, madame.” The waiter turned to Connor. “And for you, sir?”

“Ayyyyyyyyyeee haven’t decided,” he scratched his chin, looking at menu. “You know what? I’ll have what she is having... Please.”

“And would you like hay fries or cucumber chips with zat?”

“Fries.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Do you guys have any gems?” Spike wedged in.

The waiter raised a disapproving eyebrow at him.

“No? Okay, I’ll just have the cucumber chips then," he sighed as he handed him the menu.

“Ze order will be completed in fifteen minutes.”

Twilight nodded in response, properly excusing him.

“So, Connor, how are you feeling right now with your new self? You seemed to have a little trouble walking on the way here. Are you trying to get used to your new body?”

“Yeah," he nodded, peeking at his feet underneath the table. "I'm not falling over as much anymore, though."

“That’s good. Just take small baby steps until you get the hang of it. No need to push yourself further than you could handle. You know, if you don't mind my saying so, you look pretty good as a pony!”

“Really? You think so?"

"Well..." she blushed, thinking it sounded pretty disarming, but she had already brought it up, so she had to continue. "Of course! I mean, I'm pretty sure Princess Celestia would want to make you look at least normal and idealistic in appearance. Not like I'm saying it's not a good thing."

"Oh! Thanks," the colt smiled.

"You're welcome," she smiled. "You seem pretty tall, too. I wish I was tall. It'd be so much easier for me to find books that way."

“But, you have magic for that, right?"

“Of course, but I’m talking about looking at them. I have to know what book I’m grabbing. However, it would help Spike a lot if he was taller.”

“Yeah,” Spike joined in. “I actually got taller once.”

“Did you?” Connor tilted his head.

“Yeah! It was so awesome! I could reach things easily! Buuuut, it was not a very good cause.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was his birthday,” Twilight spoke. “He got a whole lot more presents than he did during his previous birthdays, and he got greedy. Dragons are known for that certain character trait. It’s in their nature. No offense, Spike.”

“None taken,” the dragon shook his head. "I'm just glad you raised me right."

Twilight continued. “The perk was that the greedier he got, the bigger and faster he grew. He actually grew up to the highest level of maturity. Whoo, was it a doozy!"

“Oh…” Connor said, seeing Spike in a whole new angle.

“He kidnapped Rarity right in the coil of his tail. Just before things were about to get worse, he remembered the kind, sweet dragon he was before and returned to normal, therefore saving Ponyville from anymore damage.”

“That’s good!”

“That’s not the half of it!” Spike looked excited. “Rarity said I was her hero for saving myself from myself, and she kissed me.” He sank in his chair with a dopey, lovey-dovey look on his face. “It was wonderful.”

"Wow!" the colt laughed in amazement. "That's great!"

“And did I mention that it was not the first time she kissed me? I gave her a fire ruby, and guess what?” He pointed at his cheek. “Mwah! Right there.”

“Atta boy, Spike! Now, you just gotta kiss her in return. If you do, maybe she would give you fewer menial chores to do for her. Taking out her trash? Being her pin-cushion? If that's not menial, then I don't know what is."

"Yeah, I guess so." He rested his cheek in his palm. "Though, at this point, anything for my Rarity..."

He melted in his seat once more, sighing that dreamy, smitten sigh once again.

The waiter returned, carrying a wide platter with three dishes. After distributing the food, he left with a “Bon Appetit!”. Twilight took a large bite out of her sandwich and chewed it slowly, embracing the flavor and craftsmanship of her delicious meal. Content moans escaped from her mouth as she chewed. Spike was shoveling cucumber chips into his mouth, hardly chewing at all.

Connor did nothing but stare at his food. Now that he saw it placed in front of him, he wished he had seen this kind of thing coming, yet, it snuck up on him like a nuclear bomb. His meal was nothing but plants, carbohydrates, and grains, like a meal a vegan would live off of. He could really go for some meat, maybe chicken, or fish, at least. However, if he ate that, it would probably go against the laws of pony nature. A pony... eating flesh... Now that he thought about it, it would look very controversial. Besides, he said himself that he needed to eat their food from now on.

Sooo... Bon Appetit.

He lifted his forelegs to grab it. Then, he placed them back down in slight disheartenment.

Right... No fingers... Well, whatever...

...

He twisted the shin of his left foreleg and wedged the tip between the plate and the bread. He pushed to scoop it, but the bread got caught in the grip of his hoof, pushing it nearly off the plate. He used his right hoof to push it fully back on. Then, he kept his right hoof on the other side of the sandwich while he used his left to scoop it up.

Piece of cake...

Until, the bottom slice of bread folded and bunched, not a lick of it onto his hoof.

No problem. He would just try again.

He flattened it out. Using his right hoof to hold the other side, he attempted to scoop it up with his left again.

Same result. The stupid bread bunched up again.

"Dammit..."

He flicked his left hoof, hoping that it would get on there.

...

The top slice was flipped on top of his right hoof.

"Ugh..." he grunted.

He flicked his other hoof to flip it back on...

He missed.

"Ugh, you've gotta be--..."

To pick up the slice of bread, he pinched both of his hooves together, trying to clasp the top edge of the crust. Once he got a grip of it, he lifted it up. However, he lifted it too fast, because the bit of the crust clasped in his hooves got torn from the rest of the bread, making the slice fall back onto the table.

He tried again, only slower this time. He got a good grip on it. There was no sign of bread tearing off. Like a crane, he slowly held it over the rest of the sandwich. He swung it to get the flat side facing the open-faced sandwich. When he thought it was the perfect place to release, he released...

He was wrong. He released too early, and the slice of bread landed three inches away from the sandwich.

"Dammit!"

He heard Twilight giggling from across the table. Was she looking at him the whole time?

"Aw, come onnn! Give a me break, will you?" he huffed.

"Here, let me help you with that," she tittered, lifting the top, chipped slice of bread onto his lunch.

"You could've helped," he pouted, finishing with a slight chuckle.

"I'm sorry," he smiled apologetically. "It was hard to not watch."

"Just how do you do it anyway? With hooves?"

"We just balance it on our hooves, or eat it dog-style. But, seeing you had trouble trying to get it on your hooves, I think that your best option is eating it dog-style until further notice."

Connor shrugged. "Meh. So be it."

Like a tame puppy would, he perched his hooves between his legs, staring at it before beginning to gorge.

"Well, here we go..." he mumbled.

He tipped his head down over it and slowly took a bite, feeling the crispness of the wheatgrass and dandelions snap between his teeth. He started to chew. Until it became a mushy pulp, he swallowed it.

His eyes suddenly snapped open. He sat silently for about ten seconds, which made the purple unicorn worry. Her stomach fell at the very motion of his cheeks puffing out. Was he about to puke??

Connor lurched forward, making retching noises from his throat. Twilight immediately grabbed the nearest napkin she could find and curtained it over her face.

The colt threw his forelegs in the air.

“THIS IS AMAZZZIIINGGG!! Oh, my gosh! Where have you been all my life?”

Without any further ado, he wolfed it noisily down.

The unicorn sighed in relief as she placed the napkin back onto the table. Celestia must have enhanced his sense of taste as well, making what ponies consider to be delicious the equivalent of what man consider delicious. Such a genius.

“Howdy, Twilight! Howdy, Spike!” she heard a voice beside her.

“Oh! Hello, Applejack!” the bookworm responded.

The cowmare noticed the new pony noisily wolfing down his meal.

“Who’s this, uhhh… fine and polite young colt here?” she asked with a barely straight face.

“Take a closer look, AJ. You’ll see," the librarian winked.

"Ya sure 'bout that? He's sendin' food bits flyin' everywhere like a flock o' mallards." She inched away.

"Go on," she urged her.

Applejack stared at the gorging pony. The colt seemed to sense that he was being watched and stopped gorging. His cheeks were stuffed with large bits of sandwich and hay fries. He swallowed all of it. It was such a big amount, that his throat ached as it went down. He choked down the remaining bits of his food, before saying, "Hey, Applejack!"

Her jaw slacked in an instant the moment she heard his voice. Her eyes zipped down to glance at his the mark of Equestria's Sun on his flank.

"Pickle mah ponytail, is that our ol' buckaroo, Connor??" she asked with a gradually growing smile.

Twilight nodded with pride.

The next thing the the colt knew, his scalp was being mercilessly ground by the cowmare's hoof. "Celestia's beard, you done came back!! Darn tootin'! Darn tootin', indeed!"

"It's good (ow!) to see you, too (ow!) Applejack!" he grinned through the pain in his scalp.

She immediately transitioned her from her noogie to a hug. She parted, still gripping his shoulders.

"And, my gosh! You became a pony, too! How'd that happen?"

“Princess Celestia,” the equine human replied. “Luna, too. They helped me become this way."

The cowpony changed from her smiling face to a concerned, hurt face. “But why, sugarcube? We loved ya fer who ya were before. Why’d ya hafta change?”

"(Oy... How many more times am I going to tell this story?) Well, it's a long story."

"CONNOR!" squealed a pink pony that appeared directly in front of his face.

"What the blue hell?!" he jumped. "Where did y--?"

Ah, screw it. She was Pinkie Pie. Physics meant nothing to her.

“You're back!! And you’re a pony, too! (GAAASP!) This is super-duper-luper-zuper-quper-muper-kuper-bluper-allyooper! Omigosh! We should throw a party! A Birthday party!! Well, not really a birthday, but a second birthday party! Born as a new pony! Omigosh, that means two times the cake and sweets!"

She caused such a raucous, that passersby looked towards their way. They squinted and inched their heads closer to look closer at him. Their lit-up expressions meant that they had recognized him, and they began to crowd around the four ponies and dragon. Eventually, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash sifted through the congregation to see what was happening.

"Twilight! Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" the white, purple-maned unicorn spoke. "Darlings, what in Equestria is going--?"

"Omigosh, guys!" Pinkie Pie pressed her nose onto hers. "You won't believe what happened!"

"Too close, darling! Too close!" She pushed her back. "What happened?"

"He's come back!"

"Beg pardon?"

"He's come back!"

"Who? Would you please explain in detail, darling?"

"Connor, silly! He's come back!"

The fashionista gasped loudly. "What?!"

"Eeeyuppers!" the pink pony warbled. "Plus, he's a pony, too!"

“Holy horseapples!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Rarity? Twilight? Applejack?" squeaked a small voice from the edge of the crowd. "Is that you up there? Wh-what's going on?"

She crouched low to the ground, creeping past the legs of the congregation surrounding them.

"Um, excuse me... Sorry... Sorry... Pardon me... Excuse me, ma'am... Pardon me... Excuse me..." she mumbled meekly until she reached the very inside edge.

"Girls? What's going--EEP!!"

She squeaked loudly, throwing her hooves up to her mouth.

Those eyes... That mark on his flank... His voice... It was all there in front of her. Her cheeks blushed a deep red like a rose. He was back! Equine, too!

And he looked... so handsome to her.

Connor stood up to speak. “That’s right, everyp—BURP!”

The crowd was in silence. The colt swore he heard a cricket chirp in the midst of the congregation.

He chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry… Just had a sandwich…an AMAZING sandwich, by the way. Sweet Jesus… Anyhoo, that’s right, everypony! I'm back and now equine. Now, I know what you're thinking: this is really out of the blue. I don't blame you for thinking that. All of this was out of the blue for me, too. Until my acci--..."

Boy, he really had to say the whole story again, did he?

He took a deep breath.

"Until my accident back on Earth, I though I wasn't going to return, either. Abridged version, I died back on Earth. I guess it's safe to say that I am resurrected back here, because of Princess Celestia. I will be ever grateful to her for allowing me another chance at life to live with you guys. I am so lucky to be living with you guys again."

They cheered in approval, giving him small applause.

"And for everyone back at home, whom I had been stripped away from so suddenly, I will live the rest of my live blissfully, not allowing this sudden turn of events to cripple me and keep me held back. All for you!"

Everypony exchanged conversations of consent between each other. Connor looked around, looking at the positive feedback from his speech. Then, his sight fell upon Fluttershy, the little pegasus he had been wanting to see since.

“AND,” he shouted, silencing the crowd. He took a few steps forward, nearing the yellow pony on purpose. “Now that I am like this, I can live just like you. I can eat like you, sleep like you, play with you, converse with you, a whole bunch of things with you! Plus, since I’m not a human anymore, I don’t have to regret doing this.”

Fluttershy squeaked in absolute surprise. She couldn't tell if her mind was playing with her, but the pony she loved was kissing her, full on the lips. She felt like she was going to faint, but she was too entranced by the touch of his soft lips to allow it. Connor released the kiss, looking deep into her blue eyes, lined with heavy eyelashes. Beside them, Rarity squealed in joy, Applejack laughed warmly, Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof victoriously, Twilight cooed, and Spike grinned. Pinkie Pie had a huge, goofy smile slapped on her face.

"I've waited a looonng time to do that," Connor whispered into her ear.

Fluttershy shrank down in shame.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I… I’m sorry, Connor… It is very wonderful to see you again, but for some time, I have been doing some thinking… This…this just can’t work out… you and I,” she said sadly.

The colt felt a spear skewer his heart. She… did not love him anymore?

“I’m not into colts anymore.” Fluttershy hung her head. “I’m into mares now… I’m so sorry…”

Everypony else gasped in shock. The other five shrunk back in hurt. The ponified human inched away, shaking his head in disbelief. He could not believe what he was hearing. All that they had done together, it was gone. He felt like he was going to…

The yellow pegasus began to giggle.

“Jesus, Fluttershy! That was NOT funny!” he tried his best to hold back a chuckle.

“I got you!”

“Aw, come on! That was way too cruel!"

The yellow, adorable pony could not help but giggle. She slithered a forearm around the back of the colt’s head and pulled him in for another kiss. This time, the kiss was deeper. Their mouths were cracked open for some subtle tongue play. She moaned lightly as she kissed him, as did he. They both knew that they had been wanting to do this for a long time.

Everypony cheered at the heart-warming sight before them.

Spike's brain suddenly snapped.

"You gotta kiss her, dude..." he heard the colt's voice in his head.

He saw Rarity standing an arm's length next to him. The perfect opportunity had come! He stood on his chair, so his head was level with Rarity’s, and pressed his lips onto her cheek. Her cheek felt so smooth against his lips. The smell of her alluring perfume filled his nostrils. A surprised gasp escaped the white unicorn's mouth as the young dragon held the kiss for two seconds.

“I love you, Rarity," the young dragon smiled.

The unicorn blushed. Those words rang in her ears like bells. It sounded so musical and sweet. Never before did somepony say something like that so passionately to her. It felt so generous... like her.

Rarity smiled, put a hoof around Spike's back, and pulled him in for a hug. It was not just any hug. No, this hug put all other hugs behind. A tingling warm sensation sifted throughout their bodies as they embraced.

"Oh, Spikey-Wikey... That is so sweet and generous of you!" She spoke softly. "I love you, too."

She planted a gentle kiss on the young dragon's smooth, scaly forehead.

I did it. Spike thought, imagining that the colt was listening. I really did it. I hope you saw it, Connor.

Connor and Fluttershy broke the kiss to regain their breath, and looked deep into each other’s eyes.

"My first kiss," the yellow pegasus whispered back.

"I knew there was something special about it," the colt grinned.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders pointed at Connor's flank in excitement.

"Hey! Look at your Cutie Mark!" Scootaloo pointed at the colt's flank.

Connor craned his head around to look at it. Indeed, something had been added onto it. At first, it was just an image of the sun, but then, it suddenly had an image of a bipedal figure standing inside it. Since when did that appear? He had no idea, but he did have an idea on what it was about.

"Golly, that looks plumb tootin'! But, what does it mean?" Apple Bloom twisted her face in confusion.

"I guess it's a reminder of who I once was."

"It does! Hey, that is the Equestrian Sun! I learned about it in class. It is rewarded by the Princess herself if somepony does something extra special for the sake of Equestria. That means you're extra special!" Sweetie Belle's voice squeaked when she said "extra". "We always thought you were!"

"Thanks, Sweetie Belle!" The colt tousled her mane.

Fluttershy flapped her wings until she was afloat. She gently took one of Connor’s hooves with both of hers and pulled at him, toward the direction of her cottage.

“Where are you two going?” Rainbow Dash asked them. “You guys are going to miss the big party Pinkie is going to throw for you guys!”

“That’s okay, Rainbow. You go on and have fun. We'll catch up soon. I just…want to be alone with her for a while,” Connor said before looking up to his favorite little pegasus, who giggled bashfully. She knew exactly what he meant.

“Wow! That…that was awesome!” Connor’s voice escaped out the window to Fluttershy’s bedroom. “I mean, wow! That was so awesome!”

“Do you really think so?” Fluttershy asked.

“Do I look like I’m joking?? I mean, holy crap! That was spectacular! I can’t even think of anything else to describe how awesome that was!”

“Are you telling me that you hadn’t done this before?”

“Of course not! But now, I see this in a whole new light! I had no idea that it was going to be that exciting.”

“Well, I’m glad you like it. It was nothing, really.”

“Are you kidding? You just spelled ‘carbohydrate’ in Word-a-Palooza!”

Two ponies sat on the floor in the middle of the room with a word game placed between them.

“Applause… Freaking applause…” Connor clapped his hooves together.

“Oh, stop it! Really, it’s nothing!” she modest replied.

“I had no idea you were so good at this game. Guess that’s another thing I learned about you today. Along with the fact that you're a great kisser," he said with a wink.

The pegasus giggled. “Now you know.”

Connor slumped onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He slid his hooves behind his head and sighed comfortably.

“Ahhh… I am going to love it here.”

“I am, too, now that you’re here… with me… alone.”

Connor sat back up. He saw Fluttershy inching her head toward him. Connor felt the same urge. He leaned his head forward to meet hers. Their lips were one inch apart. Their breaths were growing more passionate and desirable.

“Wanna play Word-a-Palooza again?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hell, yeah!”

Connor loved his new home already.

The End…

...or is it??

Epilogue

Equestria’s First Human- Epilogue

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

“Oh, heavens, no! Emerald is not an option for this dress!” Rarity tossed the gem aside.

“What about rubies?” Connor suggested. “It blends in nicely with the violet flourishes. Plus, the dress is white. White does match everything after all.”

“True… true…” she nodded in thought.

“And, it matches the shoes…” he briefly added in.

“Rubies it is, then!” Rarity’s face beamed. “My, my, Connor! You’re a good helper.”

The colt shrugged. “I don’t know much about fashion as much as you do. I just thought it would look nice.”

“Well, that was a good suggestion. I'm thankful,” the fashion queen smiled.

The human could only smile for an answer.

A lustrous ruby levitated from its box, floated over to the dress, and was placed right in the middle of the bosom of her work.

“Annnnd, done! Ooh, and it does look ravishing with that ruby! Again, thank you, darling.”

“No problem.”

Rarity levitated her working glasses off of her muzzle and placed it back on top of her desk, shifting it side to side so it would be level with the edge. She sighed in relief, grateful that she finished the dress just before the deadline was due. She turned back to the colt.

“So you are going to be staying here until your house is finished?”

"That's right," he nodded.

“When will it be finished?”

“Finished? It hasn’t even started yet.”

“Hasn’t started??" she exclaimed. "But it has been a week already! They should have started building it for you just a few days ago.”

“I can't commission a house without any money, Rarity. The construction workers said they would do it for free, as an honored citizen's discount, I didn't take the offer. I still wanted to pay.”

“But they were going to do it for free, darling! For free!” she emphasized as if he never knew the meaning of the word.

“I know. It’s just that I don’t want to feel pampered like a prince or feel like some god or anything, just because I am... Well, was the only human to walk through here. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable, now that I think about it."

“Well, dear, you don’t need to wait any longer for your house! Just tell me the price, and I will lend you some bits."

Connor shook his head. “No, no, no, Rarity! You don’t have to do that! And see? That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Are you sure?"

"I am. That’s why I’m going to find a job today.”

“A job? Oh no, darling, you don’t need to go through all that trouble," she shook her head. "I could just lend you the exact amount to pay for the house. It is generous, is it not?”

“Yes, it is generous, but I need to do this in order for me to grow up and prepare. I won’t sit around and do nothing for the rest of my life. This is my new life, Rarity, and I need to work to make it more pleasant."

Rarity grinned. Connor definitely had changed from the helpless human he was before. Also, she sensed determination in his tone, determination that would not be held down.

"All right. As you wish,” she smiled. “Tell me, darling, what do you have in mind, or what are you looking for in a job?”

The colt scratched his chin. “Welllll… maybe something like, uhhhh… You know, come to think of it, I can’t think of anything.”

“Oh! How about working with me?" she grinned. "You can be my needle-colt, extra hoof, and a colt’s view critic.”

“Thanks for the offer, Rarity, but I think I will have to pass. Like I said earlier, I don’t know anything about fashion as much as you. I'll just walk around and see what Ponyville has in store for me. Plus, wouldn’t Sweetie Belle help you?”

The unicorn cried out in shock and she shook her head rapidly. “Oh nonononono! No, not Sweetie Belle. No…”

“Why not? She’s your sister."

“The poor dear always wants to help me with my dress-making, but when she does, things just always get worse.”

“’Always’?" he winced. "You sure you not over-exagger—.”

“ALWAYS…” she gravely spoke, nearly pressing her nose onto his.

By the piercing and intimidating look of her eyes, he resolved that she was utterly serious.

“Okay, I believe you. A little space, please?” he said.

She backed away, now smiling and looking fresh as a blooming flower as if nothing had happened.

“But, darling, why not work here? It’s always nice to have you around. Plus, your masculine insights would be useful."

“Well… I guess,” Connor said, itching his scalp. “Tell you what, if I can’t find one, then I will definitely consider working for you.”

“Splendid!” Rarity smiled.

Connor stood up on all fours. “Well, I’d better get started. See you later."

“Good luck, darling!" she waved.

He walked out the door, and shut it behind him. Outside, he took a deep breath. It was time to face the world.

“Oh, I'm just glad that you happen to come over!” said Mayor Mare. “Our intern just left two days ago, and we need somepony to fill in for him.”

“What do I have to do?” Connor asked.

“Stamp all of these documents!” She pointed a hoof to a sizable stack of papers, no higher than a loaf of bread.

He shrugged. “That doesn’t seem all too b—.”

Slump! A muscular stallion laid a higher pile of papers on top of the smaller pile, now the height of a broom.

“Uh, still doesn’t sound all too…”

SLUMP! SLUMP! SLUMP! SLUMP! Six more heaping piles of papers sat on top of the desk, all the same size.

“Oh…”

“Make sure you read them first before you stamp them!” the middle aged mare grinned.

Nope…

"I don’t think you're fit be a masseuse,” said a blue pony with a pink mane and tail. She had mascara and wore a headband that kept her mane out of her eyes. “Seeing how you performed on my sister, it’s best that you don’t be one."

She gestured to her twin, who was pink and had a blue mane and tail. She also wore mascara and a headband.

“Sister, I can’t feel my back…” she groaned.

Connor scoffed.

Nope...

“Working at the gym, huh? I like your spirit, kid, but do you think you can handle it?” a gruff stallion at the colt like a drill sergeant would glare upon a newcomer.

“Yyyyessss. I mean, yes!"

“Good enough. You will be our laundry colt.”

“Pardon?”

“You will have to wash all of the used and dirty towels.” The stallion pointed to a heaping pile of towels, damp and fuming in a rank, sour scent.

“Why are there so many towels??" he said as he covered his muzzle. "There are hardly any ponies here.”

“They're all Heavyweight’s towels. Heh, my best customer…” he chuckled.

“Who's..."

“YEAAAAAAAAH!!!” snarled a hulky and burly pegasus on the other side of the gym. He was on the bench, pumping a two-thousand pound weight. Every rep he made released a flowing river of sweat, pouring out from all of his pores. An unlucky stallion who was walking by him slipped on the puddle and twisted his ankle.

“And when he’s done, you have to mop up all of his sweat puddles. Make sure you wear a gas mask, because it's like walking in a vinegar factory." He paused to take a deep breath. "Ahhh! The smell of victory and hard work!”

Nope…

“Well, for this job, you have to clean out all of the public toilets—.”

Oh, HELL no!

He slumped onto a public bench, feeling limp as a noodle, sighing in fatique. What a day… He could not find one stinking job that he could enjoy. He combed the entire town just to find a job. The town was small, so there were fewer possibilities. What could he do?

Should he be an artist? Sounded fulfilling, but he was not satisfied after hearing about how much they get paid. Not very much. Should he be a musician? He did know how to play the guitar, but he saw that more as a hobby than a job. Should he work for Rarity? He liked the idea, but he did not know fashion as much as she did, so what was the good in that? At some point, he was going to slip up, and Rarity would make a pretty ugly dress. He did not want that. Being a fashionista was Rarity’s dream, and he did not want to ruin that for her.

“What can I do here??" he growled frustratedly. "I don’t even know what to do now!”

He slumped back onto the bench, allowing his limbs to hang over the edges. He shifted his tongue in his mouth. His saliva felt pasty. He walked to and fro, trying to find a measly job, and he did not even stop to take a break. He was parched.

“I’d better go get something to drink... My mouth feels like a desert."

He slid his rear off the bench, beginning his search for a place to get a drink. Should he go to Berry Punch’s Place? Hopefully, she was not drowning herself in her own drinks again.

Wait, hold the phone...

He noticed a new building built within the skirts of Ponyville. It looked like one of those modern bars, sturdily and artistically built and ornate with sheet metal planes, flourishes and streaks. It definitely stood out from all the buildings made of clay, plaster, wood, and concrete. On top of the roof, there was a neon sign above it that read, “Guzzling Gallop.”

A new bar in town, eh?

Connor looked inside his small bag of bits, making sure he had enough. Luckily, he did. He had about eleven bits with him, enough get him a drink a size large enough to quench his thirst.

Walking through the entrance, he saw a long bar, lit by some neon lights and colored lamps that hung over it. The stools were made of shining metal with red, leather seat cushions. The room itself was dim. The bar top was lined with smooth, glossy wood, reflecting blobs of bright neon lights. Standing at the bar was a lime-green mare with a red, bobbed mane and tail. Her eyes were ruby red.

Her head looked up at the sound of the colt walking in.

“Hello, sir!” she said. She sounded throaty, yet did not overwhelm the femininity in her voice, which sounded alluring.

"Hello,” the colt replied.

“Welcome to Guzzling Gallop! What can I get for you?”

Connor sat himself on the cushion of the stool. As rigid and stiff as it looked, it felt like sitting on a cloud.

“What do you have?”

“We have apple citrus punch, tomato and hot pepper juice, blackberry punch, vanilla bean milk, grapefruit and cherry punch, cherry limeade…”

“Ooh!, can I have the cherry limeade?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who the hay do you think you are? Some kind of pimp or something?”

Connor stammered like a fool. What did he say? He did not even mean to offend her.

“I don’t go off all that easy, young colt. I’m a dignified mare, you know! I’m not stupid, either! I suggest you think again about calling me like that…”

The colt's face burned like fire. He just met a mare and offended her without even knowing it. Dammit, he felt like an...

“Ahhh! I’m just kidding, you gullible stud!" she smiled all pal like. "Whoo, that look on your face was priceless!”

Wait, what?

“What was that all about?” he asked, put off and relieved at the same time.

“Don’t worry about it! You’re all good! I was only teasing,” she winked.

“Okayyy...”

“So, a cherry limeade for you, then?”

Connor nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Comin’ right up!” she bent over behind the bar, digging around the cabinets for the right ingredients with her rear sticking up in the air. She bent back up and placed a bottle of lemon-lime soda, a gallon of limeade, a gallon of cherry juice, and a jar of cherries on to the bartop. She grabbed a stainless steel cup and poured in equal amounts of each juice into it. Then, she placed a stainless steel lid on top of it and shook it.

The colt was impressed by her hooficoordination. She made it look like she had hands.

The mare grabbed a tall glass, dropped some fancy ice cubes into it, and poured in a pinkish liquid. It sizzled soundly as bubbles flew out from the mouth of the glass. Finally, she skewered a lime and a cherry with a colored glass toothpick and dropped it in, allowing it to splash fashionably.

“Here you go, sir! Enjoy your cherry limeade! That's my name, too!” she said with a smile.

“Cherry Limeade? That's your name? Okay, then. Thanks!”

He wrapped his lips around the straw and took a sip.

Sweet Jesus…

He was sipping his drink contently until he noticed the lime green mare craning her neck to one side as if she was staring intently at something. Judging by the direction her eyes were facing, she was staring at Connor’s rump. He tried to ignore it, but he did not enjoy anypony staring at him while he was imbibing, especially at a private area.

"Getting a little frisky there, Ms. Limeade?”

She snapped out of her trance, noticing his uncomfortable and slightly displeased expression. “Oh no! No, I’m not! I don’t go that way. It’s just… your cutie mark… It’s unlike anything I have ever seen before. How does it represent you?”

“Well, I—.”

“Wait! That actually looks familiar. I think… I think I may have seen that cutie mark printed in the papers.”

“Papers?”

“Hey, yeahhh…” She continued to stare at his special mark some more. Then, her face lit up. “Yes! Now I remember! That’s the cutie mark that belongs to ‘Equestria’s First Human'. Wait…That means you are ‘Equestria’s First Human’?”

“That’s right,” the colt beamed.

Cherry Limeade’s face beamed even brighter. Even Connor could tell that it was one of her few times she had crossed paths with a celebrity.

“Wow! No kidding! This is so freaking cool!” Suddenly, she looked confused. “Wait… but, you look like a pony to me. Aren't you... human anymore?”

“It’s a long story," he chortled as he shook his head. "I don't wanna bother you with it."

"No, no, no! Tell me! I don't mind, really! I've got a lot of time on my hooves. Also, I like to get to know my customers better," she smiled half liddedly, placing her elbows on the bar to cradle her head in her hooves.

The colt shrugged. "Well, okay then. Where can I start?"

"Hmm," Cherry stroked her chin in thought. "Tell you what, why don't you tell me everything?"

"Everything?" he asked in surprise.

"Mm-hmm! Everything."

"Like 'when-I-first-came-here' everything?"

She nodded in response.

"You sure you don't need to go to the bathroom first?"

"No, but if I do, I can hold it," she winked.

"Okay," he shrugged.

"Annnnnd... That's pretty much it for now..."

The green mare standing behind the bar in front of him shook her head, laughing in her breath.

"Wow..." she huffed in awe. "That was amazing! The papers sure mentioned some of those things you said, but just hearing you say it from your perspective... I... Wow! That's all I have to say, wow!"

Connor grinned.

"And that fight with that Hellfire guy?" she continued to marvel. "That was so intense!"

"It was more than intense. I had never gotten into a fight like that before in my life. Even I wonder why the hell I'm still alive right now."

"Pfft!" she scoffed. "Who the buck cares? You still kicked his sorry flank. Better enjoy that victory."

"I am, it's just one of those things that you would never expect. Must've been one of those desperate impulses out of fear. I dunno."

"Can I be honest for a moment?" she said. "I started hating you when you were mentioning how lazy and wimpy you were before. But now, I like you alll over again. It's good to see a pony get enlightened after all of that junk."

"I'm glad."

"Wait..." she paused. "So all of that junk happened, and you returned home, never able to come back. But you did come back. How'd that happen?"

"I died..."

It felt as if she was slapped in the face from his blunt, unhesitant answer. Her head drew back about two inches.

"You died??" she nearly squeaked.

"Back on Earth. My Earth," he replied. "I died."

She gingerly leaned forward, giving him a small poke on his shoulder. "But you're..."

"Just before Princess Celestia was about to summon the portal back home, she gave me this," he said, shifting in his seat to point at the outer ring of his cutie mark. "She gave me a mark that looked exactly like that, excluding the figure in the middle. At first, I thought it was a permanent and omnipresent tattoo, until I died in a car accident."

"Car accident?" she asked, looking confused.

"(I'll tell you about that sometime later.) I died along with my friend, Joshua, who was ironically not supposed to be dead yet. Death told me all about Princess Celestia's little spell that resided in it, and before I knew it, I was back here, never able to say 'goodbye' to any of my loved ones. After finding out what she did to me, I was pissed off at her because I felt that she violated, having been hexed without my consent. I was brought back to the palace as a spirit and I gave her a piece of my mind, traumatized as I was. However, the one thing helped me change my attitude was the thought that she really cared about me. We exchanged apologies, smiles, hugs, then, viola! She and her sister, Luna, turned me into a pony."

"Damn..." she whispered before leaning apologetically on the bartop, giving his hoof a pitiful pat. "I'm so sorry about that."

"Don't be. It was all in the past. I am going to miss all of them, but I won't allow that to hold me back from my new life here. Time doesn't run out of batteries unlike a watch does. However, when it does, I just add in new ones."

“Nice philosophy," she smiled. "Quite the poet, aren’t you?”

The colt shrugged. “It’s like a switch; you turn it on or off whenever you please.”

An amused breath escaped her throat. “Ha! You’re just playing with me now, aren’t you? You’re going all Confurcius on me! Stop, you’re making my brain melt!”

They both shared a laugh, then it got silent right afterwards.

The colt had to make sure of something.

“So,” Connor broke the silence. “You said you heard me from the papers?”

“Yup!” Cherry replied. “As a matter of fact, you’re in every single paper in Equestria.”

The colt nearly choked on his drink. “What??”

“Mm-hm! You’re popular now, boy. You’re like a celebrity! You’d be 'Sapphire Shores' famous if it were judged by a level, and that's pretty famous."

"Holy shit..." he whispered loudly.

“I know, right?"

It was a good feeling to know that he was getting popular, but even for him, it was too much. Just having a whole town know him was all right, but the entire freaking nation? He felt a little dizzy. Then again, he used to be a creature that nopony else had even heard of before, so it was pretty inevitable. He counted to three and calmed down. He had enough of talking about him.

“You said you heard me in the papers, and I have never seen you around here before. So, I guess that means you’re not from here?” he asked innocently.

“Yeah, I came from Fillydelphia,” Cherry replied. "Just three days ago."

“Oh, cool! If you don’t mind my asking, why did you move here? I’m sure that there are a lot of ponies up there, and they will help you with business with all the money coming in, after all. This is a pretty small, quaint town.”

“That’s the problem," she sighed, glancing at the small, circular window on the front door. When I do business, I like to make friends and not just friends you could talk to, then never see again as soon as they exit the front door. No, I’m talking about friends who you can see on a daily, bi-weekly, or even tri-weekly basis. In Fillydelphia, it feels awkward working there, because most of my customers are complete strangers who I will never see again. It feels a lot better working around friends. With this small town, it will be easier to see certain ponies on a more constant basis. I’m just homey that way. But, in order for me to actually experience it, I need to attract them here."

“Well, you succeeded," the colt smiled. "I’m here! Plus, this cherry limeade is really damn good. It'll be enough for me to come back for another daily fill."

She turned from the window, flashing an appreciative smile at him. “You know what? I like you! You’ve got a good attitude. I can’t see why everypony was avoiding you before.”

“I’ve heard that one before…” Connor scoffed. “But, now I’m fine. Everypony is fine with me.”

“Awesome! So, if you don’t mind my asking, what brought you here to my humble little bar?”

“I got parched after combing through the town to find a decent job. Plus, it was pretty stuffy outside.”

“You’re looking for a job?” A dark, over-hanging bar light that hung directly over her head blinked on. “Hey! You could work here!”

Connor’s eyes shot open in surprise. “R-really?”

“Yeah! You can be my assistant bartender. But first, answer me this: do you know how to mix a drink?”

The colt stammered. “Well, um… I-I made lemonade once, back on my world.”

“Really? Your world has lemonade?”

He nodded.

"That's..." she paused to think. "That'sssssss good enough, yet not good enough at the same time. If you're going to be my assistant bartender, you'll have to learn how to mix drinks. I'll teach you. However, I'm not giving that position right now. It isn't free, you know. Until you know to mix, you'll be given a temporary job in the meantime. I guarantee you that it won't be something that'll make you hate me later. Let's sayyyyy, maybe liiiiiike waiting tables and sweeping floors. Does that sound good enough?"

Connor scratched his scalp. That sounded promising. Back on Earth, he always thought being a bartender looked pretty convincing. He always enjoyed the artistry they displayed in concocting alcoholic drinks. However, he was not old enough to involved with alcohol. Then again, would it matter? He was on a different world, plus he looked like he was of legal age to drink. Plus, bars were good social spots.

"Hmmmm..." he hummed in thought.

“Annnd, staff gets a fifty-percent-off discount on drinks here,” Cherry added in.

He beat the bartop with a firm, clenched hoof.

“I’ll take it!”

“Awesome! My first new staff member in the new location! Just for that, your next refill is on the house.”

Oh, hell yes…

BAM!! Connor kicked the door to Rarity’s boutique open in triumph.

POINK! “Ow!” Rarity yelped.

She rammed a needle into a soft spot on her hoof. After suckling it for two seconds, she whirled around to face him, put off by the unnecessary entrance.

"Darling, would it hurt to knock before crashing in like that?" she chided, giving her hoof another pitiful suckling.

"Sorry..."

The unicorn shook it off, looking refreshed. "Now, tell me, darling, did you find a job to your liking?"

"Indeed, I did!"

"Oh, splendid!" she smiled, clapping her hooves at her housemate. "What kind of job is it, dearie?"

“I’m going to be working at a new bar in town, called the ‘Guzzling Gallop’,” the colt replied triumphantly. “I’m going to be an assistant bartender! Well, not yet, but I will be. Right now, I’m just a waiter/mopping colt.”

“A... A bar?” the unicorn lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but why with that expression?”

She sighed. “To be honest, darling, I never enjoyed bars.”

“You don’t??" he gasped in surprise. "Why?”

“Bars can be so rowdy. I’m a lady with taste for more etiquette and sophisticated surroundings. Plus, those bars can get so dirty with spilled punch, unkempt and unruly stallions, and other sorts of things. It’s all just so…uncouth.”

“Not being very supportive, are we?” Connor huffed, crossing his forelegs in disapproval.

“I’m just being honest, darling. Forgive me, but it’s just not my kind of place to go.”

“It’s not what you think, Rarity. This bar is a whole lot more classy than what you just mentioned. This bar has really fancy and classy drinks, like Bloody Mares and Pineapple Punch. Plus, I’m sure that it won’t get really rowdy. C’mon, Rarity! Just give it a try! For me? Pleeease? This is a big moment for me. This is my very first job!”

The unicorn’s eyes traced uneasily around the room. She did not like bars, especially the run-of-the-mill kind. She did not feel like being harassed by some drunkard or getting puked on. (She just came back from the spa, so she did not want to ruin her perfectly white coat of fur.) However, at the back of her mind, she knew that she really was being prejudicial. She never even visited this “Guzzling Gallop”. Plus, Connor was practically begging for her to come. He was staring at her with pathetic puppy-dog eyes. The white unicorn could have sworn she saw the colt’s tail wag.

Oh, what the hell. She was the Element of Generosity, after all. Plus, she thought the colt looked pretty irresistible when he was begging her like that. How could she say no? She did not want to burst his bubble. Even if it meant that she was going to a bar, it was a sacrifice she would have to make for her friend.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Rarity smiled.

Connor launched off of the ground and leapt around her, cheering. Even for his first job, he was pretty excited about this.

“Thanks, Rarity! You won’t regret this!” the colt smiled brightly.

“I’m sure I won’t. Tell you what, darling, do you mind if I bring Fluttershy? We could use a little extra company.”

“Oh yeah! Suresuresuresuresure! You can do that! Now come on c’monc’monc’monc’monc’monc’monc’mon, let’s go! I'm starting tonight!"

Rarity placed a hoof on his lips, shutting them.. “Ah ah ah! Not so fast, darling! I do need to tidy up, after all.”

“But Rarityyyyyyyy!” the colt whined like an impatient child waiting to step into Disney World.

“No ‘but’s, mister! If you want me to go anywhere, you must respect the fact that I must look fabulous wherever I go. Believe me, I won’t take long.”

Connor sat on his haunches and pouted. “Okay…”

She giggled.

Fluttershy and Rarity were sitting at a tall table in the middle of the bar, surrounded by small chat. The bar was not even full. A half a glass of milk would look more plentiful. The room was dark, and the colored lights emitted spectral glows of liveliness. That was, if the rest of the surroundings were lively.

“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about crowding,” Rarity said to the pegasus sitting across from her. “Besides, where is Connor? I haven’t seen him in while.”

Suddenly, Fluttershy squeaked in surprise. Somepony was hugging her from behind.

“Hey there, beautiful!” said a familiar voice.

“Oh! Hi, Connor,” she smiled, closing her eyes, embracing her crush’s embrace.

The colt pecked her on the cheek. “How are you doing tonight? Fine?”

“Oh, yes! I’m doing fine,” she nodded.

“Awesome! What about you, Rarity?”

“Doing fine, dear,” she replied as she further scanned her surroundings. “I must say, darling, it’s pretty empty in here. Well, not like it’s a bad thing for me. I never liked crowding.”

“Well, it is a new bar,” Connor said in an obvious tone.

“Are you going to be our waiter tonight?” Fluttershy fluttered her eyes excitedly. “Oh, please that say you are!”

BLUUAAAAARGH!!

“Yo, Connor! Duty calls!” Cherry Limeade called. “We got ourselves a cookie-tossing drunk near the bathroom door! Ugh, and she couldn't even make it...”

“I’m on it!” he replied. He turned back to the unicorn and the pegasus. “Sorry, girls. I gotta work. I’ll see you later!”

The colt lifted up a mop with his teeth and trotted away. Then, Cherry Limeade walked up to the table.

“Hey, ladies!" she greeted them. "So you two are Connor’s friends?”

“Indeed, we are,” Rarity nodded politely.

“Oh, um…yes we are.” As always, Fluttershy was shy around new ponies.

“He never told me your names,” the lime-green mare pointed out.

“Rarity, yours truly,” said the fashion queen.

“Um… I’m Fluttershmumm…”

“Pardon?” Cherry inched her head closer to her.

“Fluttermshumm…”

“What? C’mon, girl, you need to speak up.”

The frail pegasus squeaked uncomfortably.

“Her name is Fluttershy,” Rarity spoke. “As you already noticed, she is shy. Really shy.”

“Obviously,” Cherry mumbled to herself.

“She is also Connor’s little pegasus,” Rarity squeaked as she beamed proudly.

“Oh, really? Aww, that’s sweet!" the green mare cooed. "Well, I could certainly see why he would fall for a graceful mare like her. Look at her with her long, pretty, pink mane and tail! Those big eyes! Almost every colt in Equestria would be after you, hun.”

“Well, um… He came first, so I guess they need to be, um, quicker on the draw next time?” the yellow pegasus meekly smiled.

“Their loss!" she laughed before flipping out a flipbook. "Anyway, what can I get for you girls?”

“A Shirley Grapple, please,” Rarity said.

“And for you?” Cherry turned to Fluttershy.

“Um…can I have…have… apple juice?” she softly asked. “That is, if you don’t mind…”

“Do I look like I mind? Of course, you can! You can get anything you want here, girl. The customer is always right.”

“Th-Thank you…”

“If you don’t mind my saying so, Miss Limeade, this place looks pretty empty,” Rarity spoke.

“Well, it is a new bar,” the lime-green mare said obviously.

“Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Not like I mind, though. I rather enjoy such space. It's so that I wouldn't muss up anything that I had worked on in the spa earlier today,” she said, bouncing a tongue of her mane in her hoof.

“Well, you'd better enjoy it while it lasts, hun, 'cuz DJ Pon-3 is coming over to put up a show here soon, and I’m sure a crowd is going to swarm in at anytime.”

"Oh, lovely..." Rarity slumped.

Cherry looked at the clock. “As a matter of fact, she was supposed to come a half hour ago. Where is… Oh, ponyfeathers...”

The DJ was hurling in a bathroom stall. Connor was mopping up the mess. So, that was the pony who tossed her cookies earlier.

“Ugh! Tall Glass!!” She called over to another stallion working at the bar. “How many drinks did you give her?”

“Only two!”

“Of what kind??”

“Tomato and jalapeno punch!”

“Tomato and jala--?? But that’s one of the lightest drinks we serve here!”

“That’s what I thought, but look at this!” The stallion pointed to a small flask. “This contained one-eighty straight proof vodka! She spiked her punch even further!”

“Whoooo!! Wub wub wub wubwubwub! Wub wub wub wubwubwubBLUAAAAAGH!! (Cough) Whoo!! Let’s spin those buckers!!” the DJ mare hooted before her head fell back into the bowl of the toilet.

“And did I mention it’s empty?” Tall Glass added in.

“Horseapples! You’ve gotta be freaking kidding me! Oh crud, this isn’t good! Not good at all!" She clapped a hoof over her cheek. "These ponies are expecting a show! Now they’re going to get nothing! Then, they’re going to leave with their money back, and my business is going to go down in the gutter! Son of a mule! No offense…”

“Non taken,” said a nearby mule.

Connor overheard everything, and so did everypony gathering around the stage. Clamor started to ring.

“DJ Pon-3 isn’t playing? Shoot, I knew I this bar was going to be a fluke!”

“I just paid twenty bits to see her play! Now, I’m getting nothing. Check, please!”

“Ugh, come on, Roseluck. Let’s ditch this house of Lame.”

“I knew I didn't want those tickets in my baaag.”

“What a waste…”

First day on the job, and it looked like it was going to go downhill, all for nothing. He could not allow that to happen. Connor ran up to Cherry Limeade, willing to save his first day.

“Quick! I need a guitar! Where’s one?”

“Up on the stage, but what are you talking about?”

“They came for a show, and that’s what they're going to get!

“Connor, are you crazy?! Do you even know how--??”

The colt was already up on the stage before she could finish her sentence and the guitar was strapped over his shoulder. The cherry-maned mare bit her lip. He was going to get toasted out there.

“Hey! Hey, everypony, uhhh… what’s up? Sorry! Sorry, we are currently having a problem with the DJ here. She… had one too many, so I will be filling in for her, and…”

A whole lemon that was thrown from the crowd nearly hit Connor’s head.

“Ha, haaa!" he goofily smiled at the thrower. "A little to the left, and you could’ve gotten bonus points! Better luck next time! Anyhoo, here's the first song. It's called 'Margaritaville'.”

Just before he was going to strum, a horrifying though crept into his mind, freezing him in his spot. He gulped.

He didn't have fingers anymore...

How was he going to play complex chords with round, inflexible hooves? It was like playing soccer with no legs. However, he did say that he was going to put up a show.

And a show he was going to put up…

He took a deep breath and started strumming...

He finished. He looked up from his guitar to gaze upon the crowd.

They were silent. It did not look very convincing. He was sure he played every single note right. Hell, he played the entire song perfectly! At first, he thought it was going to be impossible with hooves, but it actually felt like he had fingers.

The damn crowd… What was their reaction?

They cheered. The colt heard some ponies talk over the noise.

“Good show, good show!”

"Not what I had in mind, but I'm actually feeling okay with this."

“That was catchy! And soothing! Felt like I was on the beach.”

Amongst the ponies he gazed upon, he saw Fluttershy behind the crowd and sitting with Rarity at the tall table. Her azure eyes were full of approval and pride for him, applauding him for his act of bravery.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlecolts! Thank you very much," he waved at the crowd. "Just so you know, it's not quite over yet. I still have another song to play."

He lifted the guitar onto his thigh after he sat down on a short stool that was placed on the stage pre-handedly.

"This song goes out to a very special pony I know. She's shy, but she is really kind. More than you could ever imagine. I love you, baby! This is for you!" he proclaimed before he readied his arms for another song.

"I love you, too!" she mouthed, making sure that he saw it.

And he did. He responded with a wink.

"This song is called, 'See Me, Feel Me'."

After he finished playing, he was met with louder cheering and applause.

The colt embraced the positive feedback. He did it. He saved his first day of work! He saw Cherry Limeade standing behind the bar, smiling at him. She nodded in approval. Connor blushed, happy and proud of himself. Then, he saw Rarity cheer her heart out, acting a little more wild than he thought he would see her. Fluttershy folded her hooves over her heart, allowing love-struck tears to dribble from her eyes.

"Thank you, everypony! Good night!" he called.

“Congratulations, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “You saved the bar from a bad business day, and you have been promoted to entertainer/assistant bartender! I’m so proud of you, dear!”

“Thanks, Rarity! I just knew tonight was going to be a blast,” Connor smiled.

“Yayyyyy!” Fluttershy cheered softly.

“Oh, come now, Fluttershy, you simply must cheer louder than that! This was Connor’s big day!” the unicorn lightly chided her.

“No, it’s okay, Rarity. I like it just the way it is," the colt said, winking at her.

The yellow pegasus hugged him happily for his compliment.

“Well, we’d best go home now, Connor," Rarity said. "It’s very late, and we do need some sleep. Tomorrow is another big day.”

“Okay. I’ll catch up soon.”

When Rarity disappeared in the night, the two ponies hugged, cuddling deeply into each other. They broke the hug and looked deep into each other’s eyes. The way the moonlight reflected off of Fluttershy’s eyes made the colt fly without having to leave the ground.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Connor asked softly, his warm breath coating her forehead.

“Yes… tomorrow,” she blushed.

“Can’t wait…”

They both leaned their heads forward, until their moist lips made contact. It was a light kiss at first, but as a few seconds passed by, their kiss went deeper, involving tongue action. He felt the vibration of her content moan run through his tongue, heightening the pleasure.

They released, gasped softly for air, and looked into each other’s eyes again. Her azure eyes shimmered in the moonlight. The colt pushed a loose strand of her mane away from her face.

“Goodnight, Fluttershy…” he spoke softly.

“Goodnight, Connor…”

The colt snuggled in his bed. Boy, did it feel softer than before! Especially after he worked so hard during the day, it just felt so much better.

Connor stretched his forelegs and released a mighty yawn. As he stretched himself further, he felt his hoof push against something. He heard a small "klak!" following shortly afterward.

"Shoot!" he hissed. He twisted himself around in his bed to pick it back up. However, before he set it back up again, he had to take another look at it.

He smiled warmly as he gazed upon it. Deep inside, a warm fire burned within his heart.

After what seemed about a minute, he placed it back in its original spot, rolled over underneath his sheets, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The taped up drawing of him and his new friends smiled warmly back at him as he drifted into his dreams.

End.

Actually...

It’s not… Stay tuned for more stories! Some might even involve Connor... who knows? You will have to see for yourself.

Author's Note

I just want to thank all of my fans for their support as well as the readers who convinced me to bring about these new changes to the story for the sake of my future readers. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have continued. I wouldn't have persevered. You are all the best!

Thank you, all of you, and I hope you enjoyed the redone version of "Equestria's First Human"!

Just know this, after this, I will be on a literary break for a while. A fic writing hiatus, if you wish to call it. I have to fill out commissions and work on the Ask EFH Tumblr blog, as well as working at college. But, alas, I say again, stay tuned for more stories!

P.S. The Tale of Hellfire is now released! Check it out now! That is, if you have the time...

Bonus Scene

Equestria's First Human - Bonus Scene

Written and drawn by Ceehoff

“Hello,” cooed a familiar, soothing voice, dripping with sauciness.

Connor found himself back in his human form and in a room filled with lit and scented candles. The entire room was draped with red, silky curtains and sheets. A heart-shaped bed with a canopy sat in the exact middle of the room. Among the rose petals and next to a bottle of champagne resting on top of it, that voluptuous brunette was lying on her side, curling her leg up over her other to reveal her curvy thighs. She was wearing a white bra with a thin, white veil draping over abdomen. Her panties were the same structure as the bra. She stroked up her smooth, gleaming thigh with her perfectly carved hands, ornate with slender fingers.

“Ohhhh, no!" he shook his head, backing away from her. “Noooo! Nooo-nononononono. No... Not this time.”

“What’s wrong?” she coyly asked, pursing her lips, trying to look sexy... which was not working. Oh God, how he despised that face she was making. It reminded him of those sleazy girls in the sketchy dating agency advertisements he found on the internet and billboards. What was so attractive about that kind of face anyway?

“You," he bluntly replied with no hesitation. "Every single time I run into you, you always brutalize me in a weird and kinky way, then I wake up having to put bandages on myself. It never fails!”

“I can assure you,” she purred. “That won’t happen tonight. I guarantee it.”

“Pfft... Right," he rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, baby," she smiled saucily, shimmying her shoulders slowly. "Come here and lie down with mama. We're gonna have some fun tonight..."

He puked in his mouth. “'Mama'!? Ughh! What the hell!? Phrasing! And, NO, I don’t want to have fun! Not with you. We’re done."

“Wait, we’re done?”

“Yeah... DONE.”

“Are… Are you kidding me?” The brunette pushed herself up off the bed, stomping up to him. “What do you mean we're done?? You can’t do this to me! I’m your fantasy, for God's sake!”

“Was my fantasy," he sniffed, crossing his arms. "I’ve changed now. I held onto you because I was a hopeless, insecure, unconfident, immature wimp. Now, I’ve matured a lot more than you can imagine, sister, so, basically, I don’t need you anymore. Now, you can take your bras, panties, champagne, and Lord-knows-what and be on your way.”

“It’s that Fluttershy, isn’t it?" she huffed. "Are you freaking blind?! She’s a pony, genius! What are you, some kind of bestial freak? Knowing that you are a total ethics pansy, I doubt you can do anything thing with her!”

“Sure I can!” he retorted challengingly.

“Oh, ho! Okay then, buster! Tell me! What are you gonna do with her?”

“Hmm, let me guess, help her with her animal friends, take her out to dinner, walk in the park, play cards, play instruments, share a sundae...”

It was not the kind of answer the brunette was expecting. A point on the scoreboard for Connor.

“How can you do this to me?? What does that pony have that I don’t?” she huffed.

“Well, she’s nice, kind, sweet, gentle, adorable, and she doesn’t always act so kinky and horny unlike you. She’s too sweet and innocent for that sort of thing.”

“Just listen to yourself! I can’t believe this! After all I had done for you, this is how you treat me, you pig!”

“All you've done for me? All you’ve ever done was attack my nose. Not very beneficial, if you ask me."

“You ungrateful prick! Ugh! Falling in love with a freaking pony! A horse! A whore horse! Well, you know what? Fine! I'm leaving! Congratulations, moron! You have just lost all of this!” She gestured to her bodacious figure. “I hope you’re happy!”

“I most certainly am...”

SLAP!

“Ow! WHA-? Wha—?”

Connor jumped awake. Antsy, he looked around, unfamiliar with his surroundings. He glanced at his limbs to find out that he was still a pony. He slumped back down on the bed, sighing in relief. It was only a dream. He chuckled to himself. Even though that brunette slapped him in the face, he was glad that she was gone. No more kinky business with her, that was for sure. Her lady parts looked a too disproportionate on her anyway…

Wait, who slapped him?

Meow!

Oh, great… the cat from hell. Counting to three, he turned to Opalescence, who was sitting directly next to him on the bed. As usual, she stared at him bemusedly, which he could easily tell from her mascara. Seriously, why did Rarity give the cat mascara? Having his fill of being attacked by the mangy furball, the colt slowly leaned closer and glared at her.

“If you lay another paw on me, I swear…" he growled, pointing a firm hoof at her. "I swear… that I will make your life a living hell. Are you gonna hit me now? C'mon, cat, I dare you. I freaking dare you, cat. Come on, give me another,” he egged her, ever so wanting to wreak havoc onto her since the moment he met her.

Opalescence still had a bemused look imprinted on her furry, white face. She glanced at his hoof, before looking back at him again.

"Well?"

To his surprise, the cat crawled underneath his hoof and rubbed her back against his fur. She purred warmly with no hint of reluctance or contempt at all.

The colt was stunned. Opalescence finally softened up to him. Maybe she was not a cat from hell, after all. Appreciative of the cat’s newfound attitude, he returned his affection with a gentle stroke on her back. The way her back flexed to meet his hoof made it obvious that she enjoyed it. She released herself from the colt’s grip and circled around a small patch of comforter before lying herself down next to him. She gave her paw a lick or two, and curled up into a white ball of soft fur. Connor could not help but stroke her fur again. She was very soft.

“No hard feelings?”

Opalescence licked the human’s hoof.

"Heh... No hard feelings..." he grinned.

Careful not to disturb her, he reached behind his pillow with his other hoof and slid the baseball bat out from behind it. He placed it under his bed, for he would not need it anymore.

“Yoo-hoooo!” Rarity called from kitchen. “Breakfast is ready! It’s your favorite!”

Connor slowly slid out of the bed, so he would not disturb Opalescence. When he placed his hooves on the floor, he ran to the kitchen. He would not miss her eggs for the world.

Chapter I- Arrival

Equestria’s First Human- Chapter I

Written by: Ceehoff

“You alright, Connor?”

“Yeah… I’m fine,” he mumbled as he brushed spaghetti off of his shirt.

“Those idiots…tripping you over like that…the nerve,” Joshua mumbled as he grabbed Connor’s hand, pulling him up off the floor. "Don't those guys ever quit? Douchebags..."

“Ow,” Connor grunted in pain.

"Hey, Connie!" jeered a voice from a distance in the cafeteria. "Your shoelace is untied!"

"You missed a spot! It's not on your shirt, though! OH!" hooted another one.

"Hey, Scazz and Dick! Why don't you come over here and try that again, you freaking apes!?" Joshua shouted after them.

"Ooooh, you've upset Connie's nanny, Scazz."

"Must be somebody's time of the month."

The blonde teenager scoffed in aggravation before he gestured his friend to sit down on a nearby chair at an empty table. Connor grunted loudly the moment his behind touched the concave of the seat. The clenching pain in his kneecap summoned his hand to grab it.

“Tell ya what,” Joshua said, before patting him on the back. “Why don’t you just hang here while I get your lunch?"

“N... No, you don’t have to, Joshua. Really."

“No, no, no dude! It's cool. It's no problem at all.”

Connor didn't want to feel helpless and pampered like a prince, but his knee was wrenching in pain, preventing him from even swinging his leg.

“Okay, if you say so.” He lightly shrugged, giving in.

Joshua turned to depart, until he stopped midway. "You were getting spaghetti, right?"

He nodded.

"I'll be back momentarily."

As he watched the blonde teenager walk toward the cafeteria bar, a weak and touched grin formed on his lips, fighting back twitches and winces of pain.

Joshua was a good friend. More specifically, he was Connor’s ONLY good friend in the entire high school campus. The rest of the students were nothing more than just acquaintances or people he would casually say “hi” to. Some were just brutes who had nothing better to do than to make other people’s lives miserable.

However, none of the brutes compared to the two biggest pair of unruly gorillas to walk on campus: “Scazz” Johnson and Dick Small. (Yes, that was his real name.)

Connor was really damn sure that those two were the actual reason why jocks were perceived as unkempt and idiotic.

After lunch, Connor and Joshua left the cafeteria, heading toward class.

However, Connor’s walking was more of a limp. Joshua noticed at the corner of his eye.

“It hurts that bad, huh?”

“Not quite as bad apart from everyone in the cafeteria laughing at me.”

“Meh, I wouldn't say 'everyone'. Most of them were..."

"Ugh..."

"...But never mind them. Just ignore them. Don’t forget, I got your back. Jesus, those dicks just don't know when to quit if their life freaking depended on it, especially when they got their little flock of sheeple following them around.”

“Maybe it’d be better if I just left this rancid wreck of a high school. I really thought my social life would take a positive turn from the crappy social life I had in middle school," Connor sighed.

“Oh, come on, that's harsh. You've still got friends here."

"Not very many, though..."

"Better than nothing. You've got me."

"I know..."

"If you ask me, I think the better decision is to PROVE to them that you are a great person. No quitting. No turning back.”

“Easier said than done, Josh,” Connor rolled his eyes.

“Of course it isn't easy, but it’s damn well worth it!" Joshua smiled.

Connor smiled back.

"But," Joshua continued. "You have to know that I can't do all of the work for you. You have to learn how to do things on your own, or you'll never grow up. I'm only saying this because I care. I know you can do it, man. You just need to believe in yourself."

He gave him a supportive pat on the back to rest his case, throwing a grin in there as well.

The limping teenager grunted in response. Even though it meant a "yes," it was not a very convinced and enthusiastic one. As much as he trusted his best friend, he tried to do that very thing, but it never worked out. Maybe if he tried harder, that would be something. Still, he hated having to put so much stress and pain just to try even harder. Plus, what was wrong with having a little drama in one's life? Even though most people say that he or she did not appreciate drama in his or her life, having drama in one's life was like smoking. Why? You might not like it at first, but after a few tries, it would latch onto you like lung cancer.

It was unhealthy, but he didn't feel like stopping.

There was nothing like nice, thrashing metal to boost one’s morale after a day full of work and boring, predictable routines. It was a damn fine substitute for coffee.

Connor lurched his head front and back contently like everything that happened in the cafeteria was ancient history. Metal was his cure for a bad day. If he ever met a person who never heard metal in his or her life, he would be more than willing to enlighten him or her. It looked pretty stupid, but he couldn't resist wiggling his left fingers, pinching his right fingers like he was holding a guitar pick, and play a solo on his air guitar. It made him feel more energized, yet pretty silly. As long as no one else was around to see him, it was acceptable.

He was at his locker, grabbing only a textbook and a workbook; he didn't have much homework to do. He grabbed his books and then walked down the stairs toward the front lobby. On the way, he had been gifted with a couple of snobbish and dirty looks from some students. Others were a look of compassion and pity, but kind of rare. He also caught some students snickering rather unsubtly, cruelly reminding him of his little incident back in the cafeteria.

It's been like that since freshman year. Now, it was his junior year, yet he felt as if time had frozen since freshman year. He still felt like one. A very lonely freshman. A very lonely freshman who was about to graduate in a year. He hoped college would suit him better. That way, he would ditch the hellhole of a high school and have fun in college, get a diploma, and become successful, while the others still live by their snobbish egos and wallow in self-ruin later. Karma was a bitch to those acted like bitches. He devilishly smiled to himself.

He was in front of the school doors, about to push through them.

BOOM!

Was that the sound of his headphones acting buggy again?

BOOOOM!

It came from outside. Connor slowly opened the door to look out. The day suddenly looked a lot more gray and dark than just a minute ago. Gawking stupidly at the somber clouds, he pushed through the doorway and walked further out from the front of the school. The clouds were black, and thunder rolled menacingly. Connor, for one, enjoyed cloudy days, but that grim spectacle was an exception.

DONK!!

“OW! Motherfu--! Gaaaaagh!” he growled in pain. Something hit him squarely on the top of his head. Aggravated by the unexpected surprise, he turned sharply around to spot the culprit, which skittered into the grass beside the concrete walk.

Oh, shit...

Hail.

LARGE hail.

Clack! Clack! Clackclackclackclackclackclackclack!

He automatically covered his head with his books from the incessant barrage and rushed back to the entrance, which had an overhanging roof. Many other students who were outside did the same. In a matter of seconds, students were packed and huddled shoulder-to-shoulder undercover. There was no way anyone was going to go out and get pelted by lacrosse-ball-sized hail. Connor was tightly squished between a husky guy who never seemed to use deodorant in his life and a really attractive blonde girl, who was coincidentally the captain of the cheerleading squad. (Score! For the girl part, though...)

He turned around to squeeze his way back into the school building, but the wall was too thick and tightly packed. He was squeezed back out and pushed back up to the very edge like a pimple. He tried his best to not get pushed out from under the overhanging roof and get beaned repeatedly by hail.

Then, he heard snickering. What was so funny? It was just a storm. Connor was pretty sure that they'd seen a...

Wait a second...

Suddenly, he found himself sprawling in the middle of the courtyard, immediately drenched by the rain and mercilessly bludgeoned by the hail.

Who the hell pushed him? Then, hearing a pair of people laughing, he turned his head to see...

“SCAZZ! DICK!” Connor shouted on the brink of lust for bathing in their blood.

"HAW! Where's your umbrella, Connie?" Scazz jeered. (How Connor despised that nickname!)

Scazz, Dick, along with a few other morons started to guffaw at the sight of him, being pummeled by hail.

Out in the barrage, Connor was at the end of his rope.

“SCAZZ AND DICK! YOU FILTHY MOTHERFU—!”

Ka-BLAM!!!

In a eye blink, a blinding bolt of purple lightning crashed directly on top of him, blowing everyone else back as if they were directly next to a nuclear explosion. After the blinding light had diminished, a smoking, burnt ring remained directly at the teenager's exact position.

It took seven seconds for everyone to recover from the blast. Ears were ringing, and eyes were blinking away the bright light that burned into their retinas. The storm coincidentally began to dissolve. After recovering from the trauma, Scazz and Dick saw the burning ring, gaping in absolute shock.

Connor was GONE.

“SCAZZ! What the hell did you DO?! You friggin’ KILLED him!” Dick screamed, shoving him.

“I killed him?! You were the one who talked me into doing it, you idiot!” argued Scazz.

“You were the one who pushed him!” he snapped back.

“Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that some big-ass lightning bolt was gonna come crashing down right on top of him?!”

“You still friggin’ KILLED him!”

“I did n—."

A muscular hand landing on their shoulders had cut them off, making them hiccup in shock and approaching terror. They both turned slowly toward each other to find a grim, muscular face, glaring down at them as if the Grim Reaper came for their souls. The principal, the most feared man in the entire faculty, was standing directly behind them.

“Scott Johnson and Dick Small,” he growled. “Come with me to my office…now.”

It was laundry day for Scazz and Dick. Specifically, it was laundry day for their pants.

----------

Connor’s ears were ringing intensely. His limbs felt light like feathers. His entire body felt like it was floating. He opened his eyes to find himself in a vast, white, endless void. It was so bright, that it stung his eyes. It took a while for them to adjust. The ringing in his ears stopped as well. He looked down to make sure the rest of his body was still there. Indeed, it was, but he saw he was floating. A cold aroma leaked into his spine. He could not move, except for his eyes, which were scanning desperately around the nothingness.

Is this real? Where am I? he wondered.

It was deathly quiet. It was filling his ears like balloons, nonetheless. The only thing he could hear now was his own confused mind.

Was this Hell?

Limbo?

Heaven??

Anyone care to give me an answer?? Hello?! his mind screamed.

Nothing.

Okay. This is reeeeallly freaking me out! God? Are you there? If you are, stop teasing me! I get it, all right? I’m sorry I accidentally spat out Communion wine all over the priest’s alb, okay? It was my First Communion! How was I supposed to know that that Communion wine was gonna taste stronger than I could handle? I was a KID! I drank Hawaiian Punch for Christ’s sake! CRAP! I used Your Son’s name in vain! Dammi-GAH! SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! I meant to say “darn it”! I didn’t mean to curse! I'm sorry!

Then, a rumbling sound filled his ears. If Connor’s body was still functional, it would soil his pants. (He was really grateful that it did not happen.)

W-what was that? he thought.

Then, he was flung down at full force like he was going down the steepest hill on a rollercoaster.

He was not sure, but it felt like the white void was warping into a cone pointing downwards. By how fast he was "falling", he could feel blood ooze up to his head, enough for his eyes to shut themselves from the speed. Suddenly, he felt his body slam onto a wet, muddy surface. His ears were ringing again, but that time, it was from the sound of his own landing, which sounded exactly like thunder. He felt his body again, but it was very feeble. He could hardly lift himself up. It felt like there were one hundred pound weight placed flat on his back.

His head, feeling heavy with exhaustion, scanned the surroundings. The pouring rain enveloped the black, round trees in a gray haze. Everything looked familiar... but why did it look so unfamiliar at the same time?

It was too much for Connor’s brain to handle. Blacking out, his head splashed into the puddle of muddy water.

“Oh, Connor, my darling!” exclaimed a voluptuous brunette, wearing nothing but an erotic, red garter and red, laced panties. “How cruelly the others have treated you! It's unforgivable! Please know that I am not like them. I've desired you and loved you ever since you walked into my sight.”

“Oh! Well, uh… good to know,” he replied, seated next to her on a king sized bed, lined with cream-colored sheets and a red, velvet comforter.

“Oh, but you're hurt!" she gasped, touching his shoulder with her soft hands. "You must be tended to! Where does it hurt, my love? Maybe, I can help make it better.” She fluttered her lovely, piercing brown eyes and smiled with her perfectly glossed lips, showing teeth as white as God's hand towels. Connor felt his stomach flip.

He slowly pointed to his forehead, still stunned from what was happening. “Here?”

She leaned toward him and gave him long, deep kiss exactly where he pointed. She smelled good. What was it? Vanilla and strawberries? Damn, he was getting turned on. His forehead was tingling like crazy.

“And here?” He pointed to his chin, feeling more comfortable.

Kiss.

“And here,” he said slyly as he pointed to his lips.

She kissed, but she did it on his nose. She did it quite violently.

“Hot—I mean, Not where I had in mind, but I guess that works, too. Wha—ow. That's pretty hard for a—ow! Ow! Ow! OW! What-? Stop, stop-“

“STOP!”

He snapped awake to find a bird perched on his chest. The little creature tilted its head, looking confused. Connor's nose stung.

It was all clear now. Only a dream. The pesky bird jabbed at his nose with his sharp little beak the whole time he was passed out.

Brushing the bird away, he sat up. He felt heavier than lead from all of the commotion earlier. It felt as if limbs would snap out of their sockets as he tried to push himself up. Looking around, he saw he was sitting in the middle of a dirt road lined with a wood fence and bulbous trees. The sun was shining at full power, and the sky was blue as aquamarine. Small clouds hovered across the sky, and the country air smelled fresh and clean. He had no recollection on how he got here. It all seemed so hazy at the moment.

Where am i? Come to think of it, why was I sleeping out here? Unless… SCAZZ AND DICK! They pulled a damn fraternity prank on me! Those freaking BASTARDS! Ooooooooh, when I get my hands on them, it'll be hell on earth! he thought as he pounded his fist into his palm, ready to taste sweet, sugary vengeance.

He leapt back up to his feet. However, as he got up, he staggered down onto his knees. His eyes were burning with binding colors. He should not have gotten up so fast. After all, it was one hell of a night. Lord knows how much energy he wasted from last night. Nonetheless, his goal was steadfast: Scazz and Dick were going to get it when he returned.

The question was, back from where? Everything looked so new to him, yet at the same time, it was all so familiar.

I guess I should just start walking, he thought. It should be familiar once I get moving.

Walking with weak legs was not Connor’s cup of tea. Neither was walking around in an unknown location. Other than the birds chirping around him, he heard his stomach yowl loudly.

“I better find something to eat soon. My stomach’s eating itself here.”

“You’re telling me! I can go for some gems right now,” a voice rung out from the side of the road.

The human stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to the voice, and the voice turned to him.

“YEEAAAAAAAGH!!!! A MONSTER!!!!!” both voices shrieked.

The human ignored the feebleness in his legs and scrambled behind the nearest tree to hide. When he caught his breath, he calmed down.

What the hell was THAT?! he wondered.

He slowly craned his neck around the tree to get a closer look. He prayed that whatever he saw wouldn't bite his head clean off.

Nothing. Just another tree. That was, until he saw a purple, shovel-tipped tail peeking out from behind it.

Shit, that's one big-ass lizard!

The owner of the tail, hoping that the thing he just saw would not bite his head off, craned his neck around the tree to get a closer look.

What the hay IS that?! He’s unlike anything I’ve ever SEEN before! Is he some kind of new species? the creature wondered.

Soon, their eyes met. They stared intently at each other, not looking away for one second. They moved cautiously from behind the trees, and stood still as statues, face-to-face with each other.

This creature was up to the middle of Connor’s hip in height. He had green and lavender scales. His eyes were glossy and big like emeralds. His head looked rather large for his little body. So far, to the human, the little lizard looked pretty harmless, but then again, how was Connor so sure of it? He didn't know anything about these kinds of lizards. Maybe if he approached him slowly, he could get him on his good side. He certainly did not want to be dinner for the small lizard. He cleared his throat.

“Hello?” they said in unison.

They both flinched.

“You talked!” they said in unison again.

"Since when did you talk??" they said again.

Then, there was an awkward silence. As funny as it was that they spoke in unison for about four times, they thought this particular event was serious business.

“W-what ARE you?" the dragon spoke slowly.

“I...I’m a human... Man... And you are?” the human asked.

“A... A dragon.”

The human nearly lost his composure. "HOLY SH--! You're a dragon?!"

The young dragon stepped back, startled by his spasmodic outburst.

"Y-y-yes, I'm a dragon!" he replied hastily.

"Sweet mother of... I... I thought you weren't real! I thought you never existed!

"Well, I do exist," the dragon said politely as he could.

"I mean, you never existed in real life! Y-you only appeared in stories and fairy tales!"

"Really?"

Connor nodded spastically.

The young dragon winced in confusion and said in a less fearful tone, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! How could I be famous if I never existed? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“THIS ENTIRE THING DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!” Connor shouted.

Awkward silence once again. The dragon's eyes opened wider, surprised by the human's volume. The human realized his mistake.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled like that. It’s just that—I don’t know where I am, how I got here, or how to get back... It’s-it’s all just a big mess!” he fretted before he pressed his fingers onto his forehead and heaved a stressed sigh.

The dragon took pity on him. He was a strange creature, indeed, but it still had emotion nonetheless. The dragon tilted his head, noticing the human's expression. He looked sad, tired, and on the verge of breaking down to a tearful fit. It struck the young dragon's heart. He resolved to approach the human slowly and kindly.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay! It’s my fault, really. I shouldn’t have thrown so many questions at you," the dragon spoke softly. "Let’s just start this over now. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Spike, and I’m a dragon. Now, you go.”

The human spoke gingerly. “Name’s Connor. Connor Powell. I’m a human."

The human's stomach growled.

Spike chuckled, “And hungry. Here, help yourself to these apples in these apple trees!”

“Apples?”

Connor turned to the trees and saw bushels of apples hanging from the branches.

Wait... He walked the entire way with an empty stomach and didn't even see the apples?? Connor slapped his forehead with his palm.

I am such an idiot, he thought, frustrated.

"Yeah!" the dragon said. "Go ahead! I'm sure Applejack wouldn't mind."

"Applejack? Mmkay..." he said, ignoring it on account of his hunger.

He walked to the apple tree and spotted an amazing apple. It was large, bright-red, and flawless. Its glossy coat twinkled from the little droplets of rain. The leaves that surrounded it decorated it nicely, giving it a classy, organic look. He reached up to claim his snack, until a sharp pain in his arm stopped him short. Surprised by the sudden pain, he flinched his arm back. Could the reason why it was hurting have been from what happened the previous night? He did remember falling on it when he arrived. He landed on it hard. He looked at the apple, hanging smugly on the branch like it was taunting him.

Ha-ha! You'rrrre not gonna eeeeeat meeee! it seemed to sing.

Shut up! Connor growled in his head.

“What’s wrong?” asked the young dragon, “You don’t like apples?”

“No, it’s not that. My arm hurts. Must’ve fallen on it,” he grunted in pain.

“Here, let me get that for you!” Spike offered enthusiastically. He climbed the tree trunk all the way up to the branch with the hanging apple and gave it a sharp shake. It did not fall off. Spike shook it again. Nothing. He shook it harder. Then, the apple finally broke off the branch with a small snap and fell onto the human’s head.

“Oops! Sorry about that!” apologized Spike.

Connor picked up the apple from the ground and eyed it hungrily. Hopefully, it tasted as good as it looked unlike those burgers from McDonald's back at home. He took a slow bite, gingerly tasting it.

Sweet Jesus... He found a new love. It was like eating an orb of apple juice. It was sour, yet it was sweet and juicy. The skin was snappy. It tasted just like the Pink Lady apples he had at home.

While the starving human feasted on the delicious apple, the curious dragon cleared his throat.

“So, uh…'Connor', is it? Where are you from?”

The human's head perked from his delightful snack. He swallowed before replying, “America.”

“'America'?”

“Well, more like the 'United States of America'.”

“Huh! Never heard of it!”

“You never heard of it?? This is Earth! You should have!”

“Yeah, this is Earth, but I’ve never heard of America. Is it brand-new?”

Holy shit, was this dragon stupid?

“It’s been around for about…t-two to three-hundred years!” the human exclaimed.

“But, if there was a new country, the news about it should’ve reached everypony in less than two days," Spike said.

It was Connor’s turn to be confused.

“So you live on Earth, and you haven’t heard of America… Have y... have you even heard of Europe?”

“Nope.”

“Asia?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Australia?”

“No.”

“Canada?”

“Ooh! I like the sound of that one, but no. Heh heh! Canada… Can-ada. Cana-da. Canad-a. Canadacanada! Ooh! What fun! Ha ha! Canadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanada…”

While Spike was playfully reiterating his new funny word, Connor sat in utter shock and stupor. That young dragon lived on Earth, but he never heard of any of those countries he mentioned? Was that dragon a real shut-in? Or…?

“Maybe you live on a different planet that you guys also named ‘Earth’. I dunno, I’m just guessing." the scaled dragon shrugged.

Sweet Mother of...

That was it. Connor felt an aura of nausea loom inside of him. He stared at the ground with his eyes wide open. Then, he shook his head quickly. He had to make sure of something first.

“Waitwaitwait…hold on,” he said. “If you claim you’ve never seen me, a human, before in your life, and I seem to have somehow traveled from my planet to yours, does that mean… I’m the only human here??”

“Well as far as I know, you ARE.”

Great. Now, he was stuck in a world full of talking dragons and had no clue on how to get back. He could build a rocket, but how was he supposed to build a rocket with no knowledge on how to operate rockets, let alone build them? It was all a big mess. It was crazy!

“Yeah,” sighed Spike, looking casually up into the sky. “I know how you feel. Being the pig amongst guinea pigs, the ruby among emeralds. I mean, take a look at me! I’m a dragon in a town populated by ponies! It wasn’t easy to accept, but after acting like myself, I blended in in no-time!”

The hell did he just say?

“Wait! Ponies?” the human asked.

“Yeah! Ponies!” Spike answered before he slapped himself on the forehead. “DOYYYY! Of course! Where are my manners? I should introduce you to Twilight! The rest of the gang, too!”

“Twilight? What gang?" the human asked again.

And why does that name remind me of that God-awful romance saga? he thought with a disgusted look on his face.

His arm was tugged by the eager, little, scaly fellow.

“Follow me!” Spike piped up.

“Agh! The arm! The arm! The arrrrm," groaned the human.

“Oh! Sorry…”

“What’s with the sudden enthusiasm?”

“Nothing! You're interesting, seem like a swell guy, and deserve to meet my friends, that’s all!”

"Swell guy," the human repeated to himself, enjoying how that sounded.

“You seem pretty funny, too," Spike added. "Plus, you gave me a new word to annoy the snot outta Twilight with! Won’t that be a blast? Canadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanada…”

Maybe this whole incident was not so bad after all. He actually made a friend! It was all so easy! With the luck he was making now, he figured he would not have to work so hard making friends. He hated excessive work.

He was perfectly all right with this.

To be continued…

Chapter XI - What Have We Done?

Equestria’s First Human Chapter-XI

Written and Drawn by Ceehoff

Twilight hung her head.

Pinkie Pie’s mane immediately deflated from fluffy and curly to long and straight. Her lively pink color turned duller. A big frown cracked across her cheeks.

Applejack hung her head. "Ah feel jus’ horrible."

“He needed our help... He trusted us... We acted so selfishly and allowed the others to get to us,” Twilight said. “He was not the monster. We were the monsters."

"'We'?" Spike snorted.

He started walking to the door.

"Spike?" the purple unicorn noticed him. "Where are you going?”

"Out, where else?" he grumbled in response.

"Spike, this is no time to--."

"No time to what?" he whipped around to face the six ponies. "This is the perfect time! I just lost a friend, thanks to you! You all let your peers get the best of you and hurt Connor in the process! He trusted all of you. You all got some nerve!" Spike huffed. "And you called yourselves his 'friends'. I was more of a friend to him than you guys! That stupid sale was already over! You could've brought him with you! The princess would have loved to see him. I bet things would've changed a lot then. If he hadn't come, then the Princess would've been dead!"

Twilight flinched back in hurt. Feeling offended, she opened her mouth to argue. However, nothing came out. Coming to realization, she hung her head in shame.

Spike continued. "Connor and I had a lot in common. In fact, I feel the same as he does. Tch, whatever... I'm getting out of here before I become more like you guys."

Rarity stepped up. "Now, Spike, I can see that you're frustrated as well, but there is absolutely no reason to--."

"Just shut up," the little drake growled at her.

Everypony in the room gasped silently, utterly stunned at the sudden remark he flung at the white unicorn. Although, nopony was more shocked than Rarity. She stared at him with her mouth agape and her eyebrows bunched together in hurt. If Spike was able to say such a thing to the pony of his dreams without a hint of hesitation, then this was definitely serious.

"S... Spike?" she squeaked in disbelief.

"And don't try to stop me. You still have NO clue on how serious this is!"

He then walked to the door, touching the doorknob before he noticed something.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Take a look at this!" The dragon picked up the torn halves of the paper Connor had torn before he left in anger. "This is what he thinks of you now. Proud of yourselves?"

The torn halves belonged to a drawing the human had drawn. It was a picture of him and the others together, smiling like there was no problem in the world.

Applejack took off her hat in shame. Pinkie Pie hung her head. Fluttershy teared up. Rainbow Dash gently landed to hang her head as well. Rarity and Twilight cupped their mouths with their hooves.

"I've wasted enough time scolding you." Spike said as he turned the doorknob.

In the back of his mind, he knew that the six ponies were not the only ones who needed to have a talk. He remembered Connor's promise to never give up, no matter what happened. However, he felt that his words fell onto deaf ears.

"Spike, we're sorry!" Twilight reached to him. "We didn't know that--"

"If you are sorry, then you would fix what you've broken! You can run out there and apologize to him, that is if he is still within reach. Until you do, don't even think about talking to me. Now, if you will all excuse me, I'm getting the hay out of--."

The door suddenly opened, flattening poor Spike onto the wall. Four royal guards stood in the doorway.

“Twilight Sparkle! Princess Celestia sent us here,” said the tallest one with a tone of utmost urgency.

Surprised by the guests, he stuttered. “W-what for?”

“For protection. She does not want you to fall into the hooves of Dragonfire.” He turned to the other four. “Shut the doors and lock the windows! Make sure nothing gets in or out! Every nook and cranny!”

The guards scrambled about the room, slamming doors and windows shut. The loud clapping noises nearly deafened the six ponies standing in the room. After the tallest one shut the front door with a loud, 'slam!', he immediately whipped around, not noticing a pancaked dragon slither down the wall and behind the plant standing next to the door.

The guards formed a circle around the six mares. They stiffened their postures as they vigilantly watched the premises. Twilight was dazed and confused by the Princess’ sudden act of concern for her student. Never before had she taken her security to extremes. Still confused over what was going on, she walked up to the tallest one.

“Tell me again; why are you doing this?”

“Princess Celestia had given us strict orders to safeguard you from those filthy Dragonfire ponies. As the Princess’ most elite squad, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure your safety,” he said like he had been reciting it numerous times.

“That’s very kind of her, but what do those Dragonfire ponies have to do with me?”

“They find your talent in magic as a great asset for commencing their next attack.”

Twilight was getting nervous. “Just how of great importance is my power to them?”

The guard chuckled. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them?”

She stared at him, tilting her head in confusion.

“In fact, ask one RIGHT HERE!” he shouted as he tore off his armor, revealing a blood-red cloak and hood. The other “guards” did the same.

The six ponies gasped in shock.

It came to Twilight that nopony saw the Dragonfire ponies' attempt to murder Celestia, because the guards were actually spies. They were aiding Dragonfire in their attack, making it look like a guard’s blunder.

Twilight crouched low to the ground, flaring furious magic from her horn. "You'll never get away with this!"

Seeing the purple librarian standing in defiance, the rest crouched low to the ground, readying for combat.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way!" Rainbow Dash growled, hooves clacking together.

"Don't kill them," one of the cloaked ponies spoke. "We want them alive!"

"Yer not takin' us anywhere!" Applejack shouted, bucking at them with her hind legs.

However, her hooves only hit thin air. Turning her head around, she saw that nothing was there. A shadow crept on top of her, zooming into her. The pony twisted in the air, whirled around, and cracked his hind hoof across Applejack's face, sending her flying into an assortment of pony mannequins.

"Why, you--!" Rainbow Dash growled, launching herself at the pony who struck her friend.

Just when she was a foot away from the stallion, a beam of magic struck her side, making her veer out of her flight path. She collided into the wall and fell to the ground, being rained down upon by the debris from the hole she made.

The cloaked unicorn who shot her was about to give another blow until a beam of magic struck his head, knocking him down head over hooves. He staggered up and glared at Twilight, whose horn was glowing brightly.

In a matter of seconds, the foyer of the boutique became a miniature battlefield. Ponies were scrambling left and right, throwing punches, diving onto another, shooting bullets of magic at each other.

After a minute of fighting, the cloaked ponies were finally able to knock out each pony, one-by-one, shooting tranquilizer beams at them. Rainbow Dash was the last to be knocked out because of her nimbleness. But even that was not enough.

The four cloaked stallions stood over their neutralized targets, huffing and puffing.

"Damn it..." one of them panted. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to push myself so much just to capture some mares. They really put up a fight."

Meanwhile, Spike had just regained his swimming head after being flattened. He gazed drearily around the room, still sitting behind the pot. His blurry eyes caught four, red blobs standing a few feet away from him. After rubbing them, he saw the red cloaks with gold flourishes. He clapped his mouth shut with his palm, keeping silent.

"It would be their last once Lord Hellfire is through with them," the taller one spoke. "Get the sacks. We're taking them to the town hall."

Spike saw one of the cloaked ponies lift Rarity up with his magic, rudely pointing her head toward the opening of the sack.

“D... Don’t you dare... put me in that filthy... sack. My mane will... get dirty...” she mumbled before she finally lost to slumber.

Her body slid down into the sack, engulfing her entire body. Her silky tail peeked out from the lip of the sack before it was flicked in.

Spike could only watch each of the sleeping ponies get shoved into the crude sacks.

"Hey, wait a minute," one of them spoke after drawing the string of the sack that Twilight was in. "Wasn't there supposed to be six of them?"

"We're missing one," the other said.

Spike saw something pink hanging at the upper end of his eye. He looked up to see Fluttershy hiding behind one of the tarps that hung from the ceiling. Her forelegs gripped tightly around the rope that held it up. From up there, she had seen everything, which made her whimper.

"I thought I heard something!"

She gasped, nearly falling off the tarp. She tightened her grip, praying that her hooves would not give out on her. Her eyes shifted desperately around the room, finding a way to escape. To her dismay, the Dragonfire ponies had locked everything.

As she was still adamantly searching for an escape, her eyes fell upon Spike, who was coincidentally looking at her.

“Help us!” she mouthed, weeping silently. A large tear drooled from her azure eyes and crawled down her cheek. It stopped at the edge of her jaw and it had separated itself from her face. It fell directly on top of the tall pony's nose.

“What the…?” he mumbled, wiping the salty morsel off with his hoof.

He looked up.

"There she is! Up there!"

She squeaked in fright and lost grip of the tarp. She landed on her chest, directly in the middle of the pack. She whimpered in pain. The Dragonfire ponies surrounding her began to close in like a pack of timberwolves. She whimpered and shook, deathly afraid of the grim expressions on their faces. Through their legs, she saw Spike nod and run out the door. The shadows enveloped her.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!” Fluttershy’s scream pierced through the rain.

Connor stopped in his tracks, startled by the sudden shrill sound.

He turned to see a black silhouette behind a thick veil of rain.

Nothing good came from that scream. Was she in trouble? Should he go back to see what was going on?

He turned away, huffing through his nostrils. Water was flicked off from the tip of his nose from the rush of air.

"Feh..." he snorted rejectingly. "Why bother? Even if I did do something, it still wouldn't change anything. Those arrogant blowhards of ponyfolk don't know a good act when they freaking see one, so why even bother? It's their problem now..."

His foot got caught in a small pile of mud, forcing him to lurch forward. His hands and knees were coated with dirty water that resided in the creases of the dirt road. The human groaned in frustration as if everything he interacted with was against him. He pounded his fist in the dirt road, irritated with being subjective to such a humiliating event. He stood up, eyeing his wet jeans.

Well, he should not have anything to complain about other than the dirt in the water drying up, because he was already damp from the rain. His t-shirt was glued onto his torso like a wet tissue. His thighs felt cold from the breeze that brushed past his legs every step he made. He stood up, feeling the dirty water from the puddle drool from the knees of his jeans and down to his ankles, soaking his socks.

He scoffed in frustration. It would take a matter of minutes for him to start chafing like a bastard and feel his feet prune up in his damp socks.

However, those problems were not nearly as bad as having six friends stabbing his back.

Wait...

What about Fluttershy? Since when did she stab him in the back?

Never. Not once.

Yet...

Connor's stomach pruned the moment he saw her frightened, teary face hiding behind Rarity's legs in his mind. She was going to jump in to stand up for him, wasn't she? Yet, he had to say all of that in front of her before he stormed out?

He stopped in his tracks, crippled by the memories he had with her from the moment she bandaged him to the moment where they had their meaningful conversation while enjoying the scenery in front of them.

Without another thought, he walked off the side of the road and sat down in the grass. The rump of his jeans dampened, sucking up droplets of rain that slid off their smooth surfaces. His held his forehead in his hand.

Now, he really couldn't go back. He embarrassed her in front of everypony, being the insecure, timid, frail pony she already was, and he also managed to single-handedly make himself look like an ass in front of her, blindly blaming her in the mix. If he went back, who knows if she would ever speak to him again? Would she avoid him like everypony else as well? Would they never interact again?

"Dammit!" he hissed, hammering his other fist into a tree that stood directly next to him.

Something struck him on the top of his head. Grumbling and cursing in his breath, he turned to the culprit that rolled a few inches in front of him.

An apple...

Just like the one he ate when he first came here...

When he met Spike...

"You hungry?" he heard his youthful voice.

Which led him into thinking about the rest... Before everything...

“I’m always glad to have you here!” Twilight's voice rung out in his mind. He felt the nuance of her smile when she said it.

“Care fer another apple? Oh, the hay with it! Take an entire crate!”

KLUNK!

“Yer welcome, sugarcube!”

Connor cracked a small smirk across his lips.

“You know, you seem pretty cool for a…uh…uhhhh…”

“Yes, human! Yeah, you seem pretty cool for a human. Can’t wait to hang out again! Make sure you bring one of those jet-thingies with you so we can race! Looking forward to it!”

He chuckled in amusement.

How the hell was he going to learn how to fly a jet in such a short amount of time? He huffed in ironic humor.

“Well, the customer is always right, after all. If you should come back, I will make sure I design you a shirt to your liking, darling! No need to repay me! It is a generous thing to do, is it not?” he heard Rarity say.

He clenched his fist.

“Anypony who is friends with my friend is my friend, too! Now, let’s PARTY! Want a cupcake? They’re super-duper-alley-ooper good! Om, nomnomnomnomnom!”

He could not help but chuckle at Pinkie Pie's bubbly, positive attitude.

"There you go. All better! Now, don't move it around too much, okay?" Fluttershy's soft voice said.

He felt a flicker of warmth in his heart, and his shoulder tingled, remembering the softness of her touch. Pulling his t-shirt collar to the edge of his shoulder, he saw the bandage, still wrapped tightly and warmly around his arm. Behind the dirt, sweat, and rain, Connor could still smell her scent wedged within the pores of the cloth.

He bowed his head. Just seeing her face in his mind would bring him closer to tears.

"Why did it have to be like this?" he mumbled to himself.

He pounded his fist into the grass.

A lightning bolt struck.

Time to take the train home. Connor stood up from his grassy seat and trudged back onto the road. He held out his arms wide, waiting for one lucky bolt to strike him. This was how he got here, and this was how he was going to go back.

He waited...

“Come on!” he growled. “Come onnnn!”

Thunder struck in the distance. It was about two miles away because it took ten seconds to sound. He shifted in his place, knowing that this was going to be a while. He wanted to get the hell out of this place. There had to be something to speed this up.

He looked around to find something, preferably something metal.

But…was it Twilight who summoned that lightning to fetch Connor in the first place?

No, it was a perfect idea. This was a magical land of colorful, talking ponies. Surely, the lightning should be magical enough, too.

To his luck, he found his conductor. A steel hoe with a wooden shaft was leaning against the other side of the wooden fence. Its end was sunk into the mud. He grabbed it and held it up high in the air with the steel tip perched into the sky.

Any moment now…

Lightning struck from a mile away.

Maybe the next one…

Boom!

Not that one either…

Flash! BOOM! Connor gritted his teeth

BOOM!

Much farther away than the last one.

“DAMMIT, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HIT ME! SEND ME HOME! RIGHT HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE! COME ON! HIT ME! HIT ME! SEND ME HOME, DAMMIT! HIT—.”

KA-BLAM!!!

A lightning bolt struck an apple tree near him. From the force of the blast, it knocked him back like five hulky football players had run into him in unison. His ears rung, and his eyes were blurred. His hair stood up on his head, despite it being weighed down by the rain. His nose picked up a scent of burning wood. Blinking his eyes until they became clear, he saw an apple tree split right down the middle, smoke rising from the scorched insides. A large portion of the wooden fence next to it was blown to shards and burnt. If there was anything magical about that lightning bolt, it would help him have breakfast with his maker quicker than he would have wished.

Connor gawked at the tree, stunned and frightened. He dropped to his knees. He fell on all fours. He pummeled the wet, muddy ground with his fist. Each pound he made, the more he speckled himself with drops of mud.

“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT!” he yelled each time he pounded the ground. “Who the hell are you to kill yourself? It’s freakin’ stupid! It’s immature! It makes you look hopeless! IT’S PATHETIC!”

He nearly broke his hand after the last punch. Pain scratched the inside of the bones in his hand.

He stood up and sighed heavily.

It was no use. He couldn't go home on his own. He was stuck here for the rest of his life.

“CONNOR!”

His head flinched up. He turned to see a short dragon pound his short legs into the muddy ground.

“Spike?" the human squinted in disbelief. "What're you—?”

The young dragon put his hands on his knees, panting heavily. “You…have….You….have to.”

“What? What is it?”

Spike gasped in a huge amount of air. “Those Dragonfire ponies! They-They've kidnapped Twilight! Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, everypony! I barely managed to escape! They're in trouble! You've gotta help me!”

So, they were in trouble, after all. However, Connor was less than enthusiastic.

“I can’t..." he replied grimly. "I'm not going back. Not after what they did."

“Please! You have to! I tried to find somepony else to help, but everywhere I looked, Dragonfire ponies were everywhere! They're taking all of Ponyville as hostage! You're the only one available!”

“And what do you want me to do?” the human replied angrily. “Go back and save them?? I'm still a freak to them! You saw what happened! Even if I do save them, they'll still treat me poorly, beat me, or whatever! I can't do it!”

“Of course you can!" he argued, throwing his arms up in the rainy air. "I don’t see you as a freak! We’re friends, remember?”

“I course I do, but I’m afraid that even in your comfort, I'm not going back. I don't belong there.”

“Please! They gonna KILL them! Fluttershy, too! PLEASE!”

Connor felt his stomach churn at the mention of her name. However, knowing the damage he had done, he knew he hurt her as well. Plus, Lord knows how many of those terrorist rebels were even in Ponyville now? Chances were, it was one out of one-hundred of a chance that he would be successful.

“I’m sorry, Spike. I-I can’t.”

The young dragon's arms flopped down to his feet in disbelief. He could not believe what he was hearing. His best friend was giving up on him. What could he say to change his mind?

“Canada!”

"Spike... No..." Connor groaned.

“Canada!”

“Spike...”

“Canadacanadacanada!”

“You won't make me go back...”

“Whatever you say." Spike crossed his arms. "Canadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanada!”

“Damn it, Spike! Stop it!”

“No! I'll stop when you agree to help me. Canadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanadacanada…”

“GOD DAMMIT, SPIKE! STOP IT! I’M NOT A HERO! I CAN’T SAVE THEM! IT’S OUT OF MY POWER, AND IT’S WHAT THEY DESERVE FOR TREATING ME THIS WAY!”

The little dragon flinched at his sudden outburst. Then, he stomped his scaly foot into the mud.

“Okay, fine! Don’t come and save my friends! Be a loser! This is exactly why everypony is avoiding you! You’re too big of a wimp to grow a pair and do something about it! This is the perfect chance to prove yourself to them, and this is what you decide?? You--!" he stammered from his anger, pointing a strong, hurtful finger at the sulking human. "You broke your promise!"

Connor's jaw tensed.

However, Spike wasn't finished. "I chose you to be my friend, so I could teach you to stop moping around and feeling sorry for yourself! I guess I have failed you, then! Spike angrily stomped off. "You know what? Do what you feel! I don’t care…”

“However,” he turned around once more. “I think the better decision is to PROVE to them that you are a great person.”

Connor’s eyes shot wide open.

Joshua...

Spike walked angrily away, leaving the stunned human all by himself.

“I’m a loser? A wimp?” Connor said to himself, gritting his teeth. “I am NOT a wimp! I--! I--! I am a wimp...”

As much as it hurt, he knew Spike was right. He did nothing. The only thing he did was sitting at a distance, expecting somepony to approach and smother him with affection. He was expecting Twilight and the others to do it for him.

Nonetheless, he hated being insulted.

“Well, I'll be a wimp, then…” he snorted, turning around to resume his way.

It was too late now. Everypony had to suffer for his or her unforgivable acts toward him. If they died, then they died. Everypony including Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and…

...

He felt the bandage clench around his arm.

...

“I must be out of my mind..." he said as he whirled around and chased after the little dragon.

SLAP!

Twilight yelped in pain as a heavy hoof slapped across her purple cheek, which was turning a more maroon-ish color. She shook, abstaining herself from weeping like a weakling.

“WHERE IS THE DRAGON?!” a Dragonfire pony yelled in her face, sprinkling her with specks of saliva.

Twilight spat out the blood that leaked in her mouth. "I told you! I don't know!"

“Bullshit!” he lifted his hoof in the air, ready for another blow.

Something grabbed it the second it launched.

“That’s enough! Beat her again, and you’ll kill her. We need to save these ponies for Lord Hellfire," another said, gesturing to the others.

The Elements were each tied to a chair each, shoulder-to-shoulder, in a line. All of their chairs were nailed to the ground, so they could not shuffle away. However, one was tied down more than most. Rainbow Dash thrashed in her seat, trying to escape from the thick bundle of large ropes. He neck was tied to the spokes of the backrest, so she could not chew her way through the rope. Rarity and Twilight were struggling to use their magic, but they were injected beforehand with a serum that numbed their horns, thus shutting down their magic until the serum wears off.

“Come on!" the brutish stallion snarled in the other's face. "Ever since the princess 'commanded' us to get off of that hairless thing, I had been dying to beat the living daylights out of something!”

"Ugh,” scoffed the unicorn. “Just shut up and wait for Lord Hellfire. Idiot...”

The brutish stallion snorted in reluctance.

The unicorn spoke again. “Since we lost the dragon, we will have to commute with the princess another way. But how?”

Another one of them walked up to them, overhearing their bickering. “I saw some loudspeakers downstairs. We just need a volume enhancement spell, and we should be able to contact her.”

“And just how will she able to talk to us? Care to tell me how we do that?” the unicorn asked testily.

“She won’t have to. We just need to deliver a little ransom to her. Plus, with somepony as protective as she is, she wouldn't dare to not answer it.”

The unicorn scratched his chin. “I see... A little inconvenient, but it just might work. Get the speakers up here!”

After five minutes, the large speakers were set up and arranged. All of the speakers pointed directly at the large castle built on the slope of the mountain. One of the cloaked ponies shattered the tall window for clarity. They sat around the six, tied-down ponies, eyeing them darkly in silence. None of them moved a muscle. They stood deathly still like ghostly statues and stalking specters. Silence, other than the rain pattering against the windows, filled their ears, nearly driving Twilight and the other five nearly insane. One of the rebels smirked venomously, brewing paranoia into the captives into fretting on what was coming up next. Were they going to be tortured? Were they all going to be beaten? The captives had no clue.

A door swung open noisily, making all but the cloaked ponies flinch. The rebels bowed their heads.

“Hail, Hellfire!” they all chanted.

The leader walked slowly and menacingly past his subjects and stopped in front of the six captives. Twilight looked up to see only a grim, blank muzzle peek out from the shadow of his red hood. The gold markings ornate on the hood reminded her the shape of an open maw of a dragon, baring its sharp fangs at her. She shrunk back, intimidated by his presence.

The stallion raised his hoof. The purple unicorn flinched, bracing herself for another strike. However, nothing came. His hoof was ascending up to his head. His hoof slithered into the opening near his cheek and pushed his hood back. Twilight saw a grim face of a stallion with a dull orange coat of fur. His cheeks were slender and sharp. The color underneath his eyes were a shade darker than his coat. His mane was raven black, straight, and long. His eyes were an ethereal blue. His sheathed sword lifted the left side of his cloak, making it drape irregularly.

“Talk about a great need of some tender loving care,” Rarity grimaced at the ghastly sight. She could not keep her mouth shut when it came to cleanliness.

In an eye blink, Hellfire was standing right in front of her. She gasped in fright as she saw the grim stallion glare at her with contempt. She leaned her head away from him, careful to not get too close to him. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up and down her body. So refined…so curvy…so desirable. Her face decorated with mascara, eyeshade, and smooth, silky, purple hair added on to her beauty.

Beauty that reminded him of somepony he had consorted with some time ago.

“You must be Rarity, Ponyville’s finest dress-maker, the one who crafts the most fashionable, desirable, and beautiful dresses in all of Equestria,” he said in a low, soothing voice. “And Ponyville’s most beautiful mare, as you proclaimed?

He inched near her. "Indeed, you really are a beautiful one. So perfect in every way…"

“Yes…” she responded, inching further away from him. “So I proclaimed...”

“Get away from her, you creep!” Rainbow Dash shouted. A hoof to the face by another cloaked pony silenced her.

Then, Hellfire lowered his head down to Rarity’s neck, nuzzling it. The white unicorn squeaked, shuddering at the thought of his filth getting into her perfectly groomed white coat.

“Such a smooth, swan-like neck. So smooth and soft,” he purred.

He gave it a small lick. Rarity whimpered loudly. Not only was his move so perverse, but she was worried that his saliva was going to stain her fur coat.

Hellfire spoke again. “Such a pity that it's going to be slit soon enough..."

He chuckled as he brushed by her up to his subjects. Rainbow Dash was snorting furiously at Hellfire, angry that he pulled such a move on her best friend.

“Where is the dragon?” he asked.

“We lost him, sir…”

Hellfire’s eyebrow twitched. “The dragon is our key to contacting the princess,” he said softly.

However, no good came from his voice. It had throat-slitting rage carved into it.

“B-but, fortunately, we found these loudspeakers. We just have to use a volume enhancer spell in order for it to reach the princess. It saves the time from, er... boring conversations...” he replied, gulping his nervousness.

Hellfire sigh rumbled in his throat. “So be it…"

“Yes, sir. Thank you for--GWAGHCK!”

The six hostages gasped in utter horror at the sight of the leader's gnarly blade escaping out the other end of the pony's chest.

“However, you still have failed me," he softly said in his ear. "You know the price of failing an objective. We are on the brisk of revolution, and mistakes are unacceptable. Remember that as you rot in Hell...”

He yanked the sword out and the pony collapsed dead on the floor with his blood pooling around him. Turning his sword, he wiped the sides of his weapon on the dead pony's cloak, cleaning it of the blood. When he finished, he slid his sword back into his sheath. A guard crawled up to his side while others were dragging the corpse away.

"Is the hydra in position?" the orange stallion asked.

"H-Hydra?" Twilight stammered.

RUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!! The blood-curdling sound came from outside.

“Yes, my lord," his subject replied. "Locked up and craving for flesh.”

“Good.” He turned to a pony near the speakers. “Turn them on. It is time to deliver the message.”

The speakers were flipped on, and then were covered in an aura of magic. Hellfire lifted the microphone up to his lips. Every word he spoke was booming like thunder.

“PRINCESS CELESTIA! THE TIME HAS COME TO PROVE YOURSELF TO YOUR SUBJECTS. I AM THE FOUNDER AND LEADER OF DRAGONFIRE! MY REQUESTS WILL NOT GO UNANSWERED. MY REQUEST IS FOR YOU TO ARRIVE AT THE TOWN HALL ALONE, UNACCOMPANIED. IF YOU FAIL TO MEET THIS REQUEST, OR TRY ANYTHING ELSE, THE HYDRA WILL BE RELEASED FROM ITS BONDS, AND IT WILL FEAST. TWILIGHT SPARKLE, YOUR FAITHFUL STUDENT, AND HER FRIENDS WILL ALSO BE SENT TO THEIR DEATHS. AGAIN, MY REQUEST WILL NOT GO UNANSWERED. OTHERWISE, BLOOD WILL BE ON YOUR HOOVES. YOU HAVE AN HOUR TO RESPOND. SHOW THESE PONIES HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT THEM. ARE YOU A SAVIOR OR A MURDERER? THE CHOICE IS YOURS.”

He dropped the microphone onto the ground, echoing a loud pop and a shrieking sound in its wake. He glared at the tall utopia in the mountain.

"After months of waiting for the perfect opportunity," he said, glaring up at the castle. "Celestia will finally die by my hoof... The debt will be paid..."

Two figures stood agape on the dirt road. They slowly separated their fists from their fist bump.

“Did you hear that?” Spike gawked at the town in the distance.

"Yeah," Connor replied, gawking as well.

“Soooo..." the young dragon trailed off. "Are we still going to help?”

The human gulped. The real work for friendship was about to begin.

“Yeah…" he nodded. "But we will need some things to help us on the way. Come on.”

They ran off the road, disappearing into the foliage of the forest.

To be continued…

Author's Note

EDIT: 1/21/16 Went ahead and edited some parts of this chapter, too.

Never really knew how many grammatical errors and cringe-worthy parts there were in this chapter XD

But anyway, I'll be back occasionally to fix things.