A Time Traveler's Perspective

As soon as I wake up, I glance over at the notebook.

I really don’t think I’m going to mess with the notebook for a while, at least not until the end of the day. All of the information is in my head, yeah, but it doesn’t matter if things don’t go a certain way to make sure that it actually matters if the knowledge is up to date and accurate. If I end up going back at the end of the day, or choosing to head forward, then any knowledge that I have about these ponies is going to be completely and totally worthless.

With a stretch and a yawn, I stand up. I really like this new bed, it is way better than the last one. I thought the last bed was alright, I generally end up curling up anyway, but the choice of lying flat on this bed was actually pretty good. My back feels really good right now, maybe lying flat on your back is actually a good idea. I would do research on the matter, and maybe I will later, but for now I need to just start going through my day.

What is the first item on the menu?

I look at the time, and I see that it’s a little after nine thirty in the morning. Maybe it’s the bed, maybe that’s why I ended up sleeping twelve hours. I need to eat, then make sure I get over to Twilight’s before noon. Beyond that, I can’t really think of a lot that I need to do. One final stretch before I go out into the day, and a deep breath to get some nice oxygen to my brain.

Then I shake my head, a wave of stench hits me.

I realize I haven’t taken a bath the entire time I’ve been here.

There are a lot of things that people need to do. We need to go to the bathroom, which I have quite a few times. We need to sleep, which I have done every night. We need to eat, which is checked off whenever I get hungry. Every once in a while, maybe every day if we feel the need, we need to wash he dirt off us. Maybe I should have done this already, considering the fact that I’ve been running around without any clothes to keep the dirt off of me.

Bath, then eat, then wait for around noon to head over to Twilight’s

~

Now I feel better.

I’m heading for Twilight’s after a somewhat nice meal. I may not be a fan of hay bacon, but I am a big fan of eggs. Apparently, all I had needed to do was ask. If everything goes poorly, I might just end up missing Cloudkicker. She is proving to be a good friend, even if she does seem to know how to make every conversation uncomfortable. That just seems to be the way that she is, though, something I would have to get used to.

Maybe, could be, possibly.

Either way, I’m at Twilight’s house-library now. A knock on the door, and soon enough I see my purple little friend. I smile down at him, he smiles up at me, and he motions for me to come inside. “Today’s the big day.” I don’t know if I’m saying this for his benefit or for mine. I know that I’m a little nervous, given what is on the line here. I have to wonder what he’s thinking right now.

“Whatever happens, it’s been awesome.”

I don’t know if awesome is the way I’d put it. “Only when I came around here. You’re the coolest dragon I’ve ever met.”

“How many other dragons have you really met before?” He looks at me, a confused look on his face. I simply pat him on the head, which he doesn’t like, as I chuckle.

“None, but that’s not the point.”

About this time, Twilight comes out with a stack of papers. I don’t know if that’s the speech or the report, but soon enough she hands about three fifths of the papers over to Spike. “After you send those to the Princess, we can all head out to give that speech.” I look at her, wondering if I’m going to have to say anything.

“Well, I’m giving the speech, you’re going to-“

The door opens, and suddenly I hear a scream.

As soon as I can, I turn to see a white pony with purple hair. It seems to be fairly fancy looking, at least in my opinion. If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, there is also some makeup on her face. “Get away from her, you ruffian!” I don’t know how she does it, but she actually jumps at me with her hoof out. I learn, right then and there, that ponies can do jump kicks. Another thing I learn comes a few seconds later, when she is held in the air by the magical aura of a Twilight Sparkle.

She really is as powerful as Spike had said.

“Rarity. I expected better of you.” Twilight doesn’t look happy as she sits the white pony down. This is the Rarity that I remember hearing about before. Element of Generosity doesn’t mean that she’s just going to trust everyone, I guess. “You don’t seem like the type that starts fights at all. And Roger here hasn’t done anything to deserve such behavior.” I honestly don’t know what to say about any of this. As far as I know, Twilight and Rarity are best friends.

Twilight is taking up for me against her best friend.

I think my brain is breaking.

Rarity looks down, as I she realizes that the thing she just did was wrong. “My apologies Twilight. I just thought that you might be in danger.” I hear no apology for me, but that seems fairly par for the course. I get assaulted, nothing. I nearly get assaulted, and the pony apologizes to some other pony. “Forgive me?” For a second, I think that she might look up at me. That is the only thing that makes sense of all of this. I’m wrong, though, and she’s looking at Twilight.

Then they hug.

“It’s alright, Rarity.” I want to say that it isn’t, I’m the one that would have gotten kicked, but I decide that it isn’t worth it. “I know you were just looking out for me, like a good friend would.” That makes sense, but I’m still waiting for my apology over here. “I probably should have told you that I have Roger over, and told you about him. That way, you’d know. You just reacted like a good friend.” Friend, friend, friend, and it’s all okay because they’re friends. I decide to look over to Spike, to see if he might know what I’m going through, but he’s busy staring at Rarity with the most adorable expression on his face.

It should be illegal to be that adorable.

I look back to Rarity, who is no longer hugging Twilight. Instead, and something that makes me wish she might have kept hugging Twilight, she is about six inches away from me and glaring. I really don’t know what it is that I might have done wrong, but this seems to be a trend. I decide to just ignore it for now. After all, this might be the last time I have to deal with it. “Well, Twilight Sparkle, I think it’s about time that we head out. We wouldn’t want to be late for the-“

It’s almost as if the word late is enough, and soon enough we’re all enveloped in the light that comes before she teleports all of us somewhere else. Logic tells me that we’re at … I don’t know where it is we’re supposed to be. I don’t remember Twilight telling me at all, all I know is that she’s supposed to be giving some sort of speech that will either help me out or make things worse. At least Rarity isn’t here, though. She doesn’t seem to like me much, and I really don’t like her.

Nope, I’m wrong.

Even Rarity is here.

When I look to my right, I see some sort of big building. If I have to guess, which I likely will because not a single pony will likely tell me, every single pony is supposed to meet in front of whatever type of government building there is. I then turn to see if there is any of the ponies that I know. I see Cloudkicker near the front, next to a row of ponies that I mostly don’t know. I think the pink one is Pinkie Pie.

There is also a yellow one with pink hair, orange with yellow hair, and blue with hair from all colors of the rainbow. There are a lot of other ones nearby, too many to go through describing, but there are two more that I actually know when I see them. One of them is the pony known as Lyra. At least that’s what I remember her name being. Next to her is the horrible menace, Bon-Bon. I hide behind the nearest pony, which probably seems weird when our sizes are compared. It might also seem weird because I’m hiding behind Rarity.

Now she’s just looking back at me with a confused look on her face. I really don’t know what else to say beyond the most simple answer. “That candy maker is the most violent pony I have ever seen.” That likely isn’t enough for her to go on, but I can’t think of much else. “Please stop her from coming over here.” As soon as I say it, a smirk appears on her face. I get the feeling that maybe I shouldn’t have told her, it might end very badly for me.

Then Twilight clears her throat. Everypony looks up at her.

Crisis averted.

“Attention everypony, attention.” That reminds me, I should probably make sure that I use those words when I speak to these ponies. If I stay here, they probably won’t like it if I shove my own words at them. They probably really like their own words. “I assume that over the past couple of days, you’ve seen something that you’ve never seen before, something that might seem scary. It is bigger than we are, and seems like it might be stronger. It is different than we are, in just about every way imaginable.” I have to wonder if she is trying to get them on my side, or maybe if she’s trying to incite a riot. From what expressions I can see, the riot might be more likely.

“But that is all appearance. I have spoken with him, figured out what he wants, ran some tests.” That is completely true, she does know what it is that I want. I don’t know if the tests that she ran are things relating to whether or not I’m a threat, though. Some things don’t need to be said. “He just wants somewhere to live, in peace, with his family.”

“So you mean there are more of those things?”

“How can we trust that thing? I hear it eats meat.”

At the mention of meat, Pinkie Pie turns to me with a shocked expression on her face. I don’t know if I like this. “You mean he kills living creatures and eats them?” The Pegasus beside her, the yellow one, ends up moving closer to her friend. If I can get anything from her expression, it’s that she’s shocked to hear it as well. Neither of them seem particularly afraid of me, though, which is at least something good.

Twilight doesn’t look happy. She points her hoof out toward Fluttershy. “Could you come up here for a moment, Fluttershy?” At least I now know a name for one more pony. Fluttershy looks around for a few moments, then slowly comes on stage. “I promise this won’t take long, and it has to do with your animal friends.” Those words alone seem to help out, and she seems to get at least a couple inches taller out of nowhere.

“Oh, okay Twilight.”

“Would you say your otters are a threat to Ponyville?” I don’t know where she’s going with this. The obvious answer is no, and a shake of the head is the reply she gets from her friend. “How about that bear I saw at your cottage that one day?” Am I going to be compared to a few animals? There has to be a point, and it will probably make a lot of sense when I’m actually told it. Something tells me that I should know it, though a bear is a pretty big danger.

“Not really. He’s such a sweetie when you get to know him.”

Twilight is grinning, almost as if she just found the winning argument. “And what do otters and bears typically eat?”

I feel stupid right about now. Otters eat fish, and bears eat just about anything. They’re carnivores, just like I used to be, just like I potentially am. She just admitted that neither are threats, despite their meat eating habit. Maybe that’s why Fluttershy’s reaction wasn’t anything close to fear. “You should know, Twilight. Otters eat fish, and bears eat a variety if things. Berries, flowers, sometimes … meat.” Fluttershy looks out, almost as if she’s expecting something bad to happen. “But it is just in their nature, they don’t mean anything by it.”

“And I’m guessing that neither does the human named Roger.” With that, she points one of her hooves at me. That is true, I never actually meant any harm when I did eat meat. It just tastes so good, I sometimes can’t help myself. That is another thing that I don’t plan on saying, though, if I stay here. “And that is what he is, a human. And his name is Roger.”

I don’t know which it is, the name or the species, but almost every single pony panics. I can barely make out what they’re saying, something about the fact that humans are a grave threat. Some of them seem to be saying something about how humans are a myth. Some of them just seem to be panicking because their best friends are. Herd mentality does that to the best of us, and these most certainly aren’t anywhere near the best.

This definitely isn’t something that makes me want to stay.

It certainly doesn’t look like this is making Twilight happy either. Her expression, alone, is enough to convey that she just wants everybody to quiet down and listen. As time goes on, though, it becomes obvious that she has no clue how to deal with this. A captive audience is always easier to deal with than an audience that is in full panic mode. It is almost good that she has friends, there, because soon enough the remaining two whose names I don't know.

“Quiet down, ya’ll. Twi wouldn’t bring a threat here to Ponyville. She’s the one that saved us from Nightmare Moon, remember?” If any of these ponies seem ready for talking to a crowd, it’s this one with the hat. The blue one, the pegasus, seems capable of doing little more than standing with her friends. Maybe there’s something else, but I have no clue. Or maybe she jut knows that cowboy hat over there is better at talking.

It seems to be having some effect.

“Besides, he said he just wants ta be left alone. Ain’t gonna be much of a threat if he just wants ta be left alone. And it ain’t like he can do anything anyway.” She turns to me, then she turns back to the crowd. “Ah bet he’s even more scared of us than we are of him.” That is completely not true, at least that’s what I want to say. I am about to say that, when I notice that Bon-Bon is looking right at me. I try to shrink down, but I can’t.

“Too true.” Rarity speaks up. “Why, he was just cowering over here at the sight of Bon-Bon. I don’t know why, but he said something about her being the most violent pony he had ever seen.” Her hoof pointed at Bon-Bon. “She, the Candy Maker, is enough to make him cower behind me.” This is not my proudest, or strongest, moment. It might actually be one of my weakest. I probably should not have actually given her that ammo. That is just making the ponies laugh.

At this point, I just tune it out. I just stand there, watching the expressions on the ponies out there as Twilight and her friends continue to talk. Each of them probably have the greatest points known to pony kind. Their points would probably be good enough for some sort of debate team. The only thing I see, though, is the curious distrust of dozens of ponies. It feels really weird being the outsider, being the one that is the different one. Even after the days, almost a week, that I’ve been here it feels so weird. I don’t know how Spike does it.

Expressions change from distrust to neutral over time, though I think it has been hours from the start of this fiasco. I look up for a moment, it is definitely past four. I turn back to the ponies, just in time to see that the crowd is actually bigger than before. I don’t know what to say about that, I had thought that all of the ponies were already there. All of them are just standing there, watching me. Twilight then clears her throat, and points to me.

“Nice to see you join us, Roger. I was just telling them about exactly why you came here. Maybe you could give more detail.”

That doesn’t sound so bad. “Well, where I come from I’m one of the only ones of my kind. Something … something terrible happened to the rest.”

“I bet they ate each other.” One of the ponies yelled out.

“No, I can promise you that is isn’t that. It just isn’t something I like to talk about. It happened long before I was born anyway.” That is something that keeps me from having to think about it. I only know it from the history book, but that it enough. “Since it’s just my parents and myself, we … well, I decided to come here to find a new place to live. I didn’t even know where I was going to show up.” Once again, Twilight looks rather sad at my story. It isn’t so bad, aside from the boredom and assault.

“I realized that being alone means a lot of bad things. Imagine if one of us got hurt. None of us are doctors, so it’s not like we can do anything about it. I had to do something, so I did. And here I am.” Of course, there is no real promise that they’ll do anything to help me. This place is just as bad as back home, aside from the fact that there is much less chance for me to get assaulted back at my house. And I have my family there, not that I won’t have them here.

I walk over to Twilight.

“I’ll head back. If you could come get me when everything is done, that’d be great.” I will have my family here, and her speech might just make the difference. I know it seems weird, but there is just something about this place that makes me want to stay. Everything is so colorful, and there are a few ponies that make it worthwhile. I can always stay around Spike, he seems nice enough.

“Sure thing.” I see her motion for Applejack to come closer, and she whispers something in her ear. The only word I can make out is escort. The rest of it comes to my mind as soon as I hear that. Either she is telling Applejack, the orange pony with the hat, to be my escort or an escort. I’m guessing she doesn’t know what to think about the way that the ponies had been acting before. Applejack looks at me, a worried look in her eye, and then back at Twilight.

“Okay, Twi, fer you.”

Soon enough, she is walking in front of me. The crowd parts in front of her, almost as if she’s some sort of leader. A couple of times, I almost trip over a hoof that just happens to be in front of me. Maybe it’s just my luck. Applejack doesn’t seem to want to slow down much, this seems to just be something that she’s doing for her friend. I don’t even think she’s going to talk to me.

When we get out of earshot of the ponies, though, I turn out to be wrong.

“Ah reckon that you did somethin to Twi back there, to get her to like you. But Ah know better. Ah also know that you ain’t really scared of Bon-Bon. Ain’t nopony gonna be scared of a candy maker.” I decide to keep my mouth shut. “If Twi says we should give ya a chance, though, then Ah will. But that don’t mean that Ah ain’t watchin ya.” I have no problem with that, it seems like being watched is something that just happens. “And if Ah see something that Ah don’t like, Ah’m gonna kick you out faster than you can say Applejack.”

That doesn’t sound reasonable.

“We clear, partner?”

“Crystal.”

I might have been wrong when I decided earlier. I still have a decision to make.

“So, where we headin’?”

“Cloudkicker’s.”

The less conversation we make, the better off I’ll be. I would rather not have to put up with this angry pony any longer than I have to.

~

When I’m back in my room, looking at my bed and my journal I decide to lay it all out on paper. I just have to come up with the advantages and disadvantages of my two options. One of them has to have more than the other. I walk over, grab the pen, and open up to the last page. I know it won’t take much, maybe the front and back at worst. I do tend to take short notes notes most of the time, no full sentences.

Never a need for them if I know what I’m trying to say.

Advantages of staying in Equestria and Ponyville
-The threat I know is better than the threat I don’t
-Spike, Cloudkicker, Lyra, and maybe a few others are genuinely nice.
-I have a nice bed
-I know how things work now
-The hay is starting to grow on me
-There are people here, or at least ponies.
-Food is more abundant

Most of this feel like filler reasons. I don’t know why, but there is just something unexplainable about this place that makes me want to like it. Then there are the ponies that make me want to run away as quickly as possible. Well, no, there are just most of the ponies that make me want to run away as quickly as possible.

Advantages of leaving
-I can trust my family
-Can’t trust 90% of the ponies
-Most of the ponies dislike and seem to have a problem with anything different
-No promise that they’ll help us, aside from a few
-I cannot state how much these ponies scare me.

In the end, it doesn’t matter that one has more than the other. I quickly realize that my lack of ability to trust these ponies, and my fear of them, is the thing that I have to think about. Even if everything else is perfect, I have to think about my parents. That is part of my reason for being here anyway. I just have to put my remaining clothes back on, get the thing ready, and leave before anybody can try to convince me otherwise.

When I look up, I see Cloudkicker just standing there.

“How did it go?”

“I’m afraid to say that this is going to be the last time that we’re going to see each other.” That probably sounds worse than it actually is. “Twilight did everything she could, but even her friends aren’t on board with the idea.” She doesn’t seem happy at the thought, so I simply walk over to her and look down as I run my hand through her hair.

“I made you a deal, though. There won’t be any other time, so …” I really still don’t know if this is the best idea, but I did tell her that. Even if this turns out to be a horrible idea, I definitely am not the type to just say I’m going to do something.

That seems to put Cloudkicker in a better mood. I’m glad to know that at least one of us is going to get something out of this.

~

My first time was taken by a pony, one that I will never see again.

Strangely enough, I really don’t know what to think of that. I hadn’t known what to think of that whole affair, but it happened. I have to say, I’m starting to understand why she might like that whole banging thing so much. If I had decided to stay … no time for maybes. I’m going to go back, maybe try some time that is further along or closer to our time. I might actually decide to just stay where I am. Maybe I can come up with a way to get food easier.

I look at the empty bed, kind of glad that she is back in hers, and then put my clothes back on. Strangely enough, they feel kind of weird after the last few days of nudity.

It doesn’t matter.

I push the buttons, setting it back two hundred million years. It is near where I had started, back where everything makes more sense. A push of a few more buttons, and it starts to power up. There is a strange whirring sound, then a hissing sound. I don’t know if this is what’s supposed to happen, but I decide to just wing it. I think it might have made weird sounds before. The hissing becomes a buzzing, which soon becomes entirely too high pitched.

This is the sound before it blew up that one time.

I move to try to unstrap it, but I’m too late. Well, not too late to stop an explosion. That doesn’t happen. The thing that does happen, though, is that it shorts out. That might seem like a good thing, and it does at first as I look up to see an annoyed Cloudkicker standing there. A few seconds later, however, it finally finishes making the high pitched sound.

Then it crackles, and I feel a sharp pain for a few seconds. The feeling of electrocution is not a new one, but boy is this one worse than ever before. It only lasts a few seconds, of course, because it only takes a couple of seconds before I pass out from it. I’m kind of glad that’s how it goes, though, because I really don’t want to go through much of it.

Maybe this is what happens before I go back. Maybe this is just an unknown, a painful unknown. Either way, I can only hope that I’m back where I belong.