A Strange Place for a Strange Man

by The Asexual Jelly Bean

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Original Character
Length: 8906

A man enters a world, which is seemingly familiar to him.

A man is sent to a world, which seems really familiar. Now he just wants to find out, why, or how he got here.

Published 2013-11-25 20:20:04 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-16 16:11:30 UTC

Where am I?

”Am I home? N-No... am I at school?... no. Where am I? What is this pla-”

"This might hurt for just a second, but once that's over, you should feel at peace."

He hit himself on his left arm, to see if he was alive. And he was. It seemed like it hurt.

”Ow! Ok. So I'm not dead. But at the same time, I don't feel alive. Usually the world isn't so... dark.”

He stands up, because sitting down on your feet hurts a bit, after a little while.

"You said you really wanted to meet them, didn't you? Now's your chance."

”Argh! What are these images in my head?”

He starts walking a bit. But it's so dark!

He hears a growl behind him. The growl seemed oddly familiar, though. Kind of like a... manticore.

”You have got to be freaking kidding me!”

He starts running. He catches a glimpse of light from his right eye. He follows it, on the way there, he slips and falls to the ground, with a faceplant. He turns around, so he stares directly at the running manticore.

”Oh, you have got to be freakng kidding me!”

The manticore jumped to him, and stands with spread legs right above him, looking like he's about to eat him.

A familiar voice stopped the manticore from killing him.

”No! Bad manticore! Come over here, and tell me what you were just thinking about!”

”Was that... Fluttershy?”

"You said you really wanted to meet them..."

”Them! Am I really in Eque-”

”Oh are you ok?”

He was interrupted by an innocent, quiet voice. He looked at the direction the voice came from.

”Is this real?” He asked.

”Uhm... yes, at least I think so.”

She blushed and reached out for him, with her cute, yellow hooves. He grabbed it, but as he did so, he noticed something strange. He has hooves!

After he's up on his legs again, another flashback of a sort occures.

"I hear you've been obsessed with these... animal creatures for quite a while. Anything you want to tell me about them?"

”... hey! Hey! Are you ok?! You've been out for a few minutes.”

He shakes his head, and replies.

”Yes, I'm fine, but... I know you.”

”You do? How?... I never met you before, not what I remember that is.. I'm sorry..”

”No no no! Not like that. I've seen you before. You're Fluttershy, right?”

”Yes, I am.” She started blushing again, with a slight smile, as well.

He hugs her, and tells her ”Thank you for saving me, I'm really grateful.”

She hugs back, as a way of saying You're welcome.

”Let's get out of this place. I'm kinda freaked out, after experiencing this.” He said, partly shaking. More or less, because he's freezing, and shock.

The two of them starts walking, to Ponyville, where they are welcomed by a particular Blue rainbow-maned pegasus pony.

”Hey, Fluttershy! Wait up!”

Fluttershy looks back, and there she is. Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy speaks up ”Oh hey, Rainbow Dash. What have you been doing?”

”Oh, not much I was just doing some tri...”

She stared at the strange Earth Pony, standing besides Fluttershy.

”Erh... Fluttershy, who is that?”

”Oh him? He's a Pony I just saved from a manticore.. And here I was, thinking I had put that manticore in its place. I hope it has stopped now.” She looked pretty mad, which is rather understandable.

”Oh.. well hello there... erh... what's your name?”

Rainbow Dash asked.

”Oh, sorry. I totally forgot. I'm James.”

Rainbow Dash looked at me with wide eyes, like she'd just seen a ghost.

”James? That doesn't sound like a pony name.”

She stared at his flank. It was blank.

”I see you're a blank-flank, as well.”

He was kinda shocked, and yet, it was pretty obvious, seeing that he just got here.

Fluttershy started laughing a little bit. Sounded more like a slight squeek, though. But it is Fluttershy after all.

”I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. It's just pretty funny to see a full-grown stallion with no Cutiemark.” And once again. The usual blush, except this time, she stared down at the ground and started digging in it with her hoof.

”Naw, it's ok. I don't mind. I just got here, anyway.”

They both looked at him, with question-marked expressions. It went on like this for a few minutes.

Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

”You just... got here?”

He looked towards her, and nodded slightly.

”How do you mean? You mean you just got to Ponyville, because that's not a very good reason, for being a blank-flank.”

Fluttershy agreed with her statement, with a clear nod.

”I'm aware of that. But I mean, I just got to Equestria. I don't know how, nor do I remember what had happened before I got here.”

James said.

”Well, let's go and find Twilight, she's smart. She might know something. Eggheads like her, knows everything.”

….

”What do you mean you don't know?! You're an egghead, you have to know!”

Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Twilight sighed.

”Rainbow, that's not how it works! How was I supposed to know, what had happened to him. All I can tell, is that he has some sort of amnesia or something.”

”Am-what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight facehoofed.

”Amnesia... memory loss.”

”Oh... now I get it.”

James just stood there, not knowing how to react to any of it. But he couldn't stop staring at Twilight's purple eyes, for some odd reason.

”Hey, you. Whoever you are!”

Twilight said.

”Oh yes, my apologies. I'm James.”

”James, huh? That doesn't sound like a-”

”I know, it doesn't sound like a pony name. Already heard that.”

He glanced towards Rainbow Dash, who glanced towards him and grinned quietly.

Twilight started speaking again.

”Ok. So do you remember anything? Just the slightest.”

”Well, I know, that I'm not actually a pony.”

Their expressions changed again. Silence fell over them.

Twilight broke the silence, though.

”You're not actually a pony? Then... what are you? You look exactly like a pony to me.”

”No... I'm not usually a pony. I was a human.”

”A human?”

Rainbow Dash asked, with confusion in her voice.

Twilight looked like she was about to ask the same thing.

”A human? I never heard of that race before. Wait just a second, I'll try searching through some of my books, to see if I can find anything about them.”

”I don't think you can. As far as I'm aware, we don't exist in Equestria.”

James said.

”Then how did you get here?”

”I have no clue.”

Fluttershy joined in on the conversation, after staying quiet for a while.

”In any case, I guess you can sleep at my house, until we find a place for you to live.”

That sounded pretty nice to him. He always found Fluttershy's house, to seem pretty cosy.

”Ok. So, let me know if you remember the slightest thing.”

Twilight said.”

”I will. Don't worry.

They parted ways. Rainbow Dash flew to Cloudsdale, Twilight went upstairs to the bedroom, and Fluttershy and James went onwards home.

When they got home, they didn't say much. Fluttershy just let him sleep on the couch. Of course she found a blanket for him, as well.

Fluttershy went uptairs, and spoke a single word, on the way up there.

”Goodnight!”

And james replied back with.

”Sleep tight!”

And thus, they fell asleep.

Applebucking, ey'?

“Ok. She’ll help you with what your heart desires. No worries. She doesn’t bite. Just follow her to the nurses room. “

He follows the woman to the nurses room, where he’s told to lay down on the little bed.

“Now then. This might hurt for just a second, but once that’s over, you should feel at peace.”

She picks up a needle, which is quite long actually. She stabs it into his arm, and presses the the little top of it down, so it spits the liquid inside his veins.

He gets pretty nauseous and dizzy. The room starts spinning as the light fades away slightly.

He wakes up with a gigantic gasp.

“What happened? Those images just won’t go away. But maybe that’s how I got here? Am I starting to remember?”

He stands up, and walks around in a circle, just thinking about what could’ve happened, and trying to remember why he decided to come here. He doesn’t remember a thing.

All his trotting around is quite noisy, because he’s not used to the hooves, so he wakes up Fluttershy.

“What are you doing down there?”

Fluttershy asked in slight concern.

“Oh, sorry Flutters. I’m just trying to remember what happened before I got here. I’m somewhat scared, and I want it to make sense. But it just doesn’t.”

James told her.

Fluttershy walks to him, and hugs him. Typical Fluttershy. But it was probably a good idea. He was pretty hyper, and really scared, so he needed it. He relaxed a bit.

“So, there. I think you should get some more rest. We have some friends you should meet.”

Fluttershy said.

“Yeah. I will. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

She just winks at him, and goes upstairs again.

He lay down on the bed, and closes his.

My Little Pony - My Little Pony… Aaaaaaa…. My Little Pony - I used to wonder what friendship could be…

He looks at the computer screen right in front of him. He’s obviously watching My Little Pony. He’s not exactly smiling, though. He looks rather depressed. But there’s still this spark of happiness inside of him. He watches the full epsiode, and goes on Facebook. He just goes onto a pony-page, so he can watch even more ponies.

He covers his eyes with his hands, and cries. You can see the tears dripping from his eyes and onto his hands, where the drops just roll down from, and down upon the floor. He starts moaning loudly.

He’s woken up by Fluttershy’s kind voice.

“Hey, James. You need to get up. It’s morning, and breakfast is ready.”

He stands up, and dried off his eyes with his hoof. Apparently he had actually cried in the real world, as well.

“Yes. I’m coming. Just give me a second.”

He said.

“Of course.”

She trots into the kitchen, where she sits down on a chair.

He thinks about the dream he just had. It’s depressing him a bit. Was this his life?

He breaks his own trance, by shaking his head. He walks into the kitchen, to sit with Fluttershy.

“Do you want some food?”

She asked him.

“No, thanks, Fluttershy. I don’t really have any appetite. Sorry.”

He said, with a basically whispering voice. He was depressed, which to Fluttershy, was pretty obvious.

“What’s wrong? You seem down.”

She asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing just-”

“That’s not true. What’s wrong?”

“Fine. I had a dream. I think I remember a bit of what happened, but…”

He sighed.

“It’s hard to explain.”

He didn’t want to say it. What would she think of him, if he told her that she’s just some cartoon character, from a show meant for little girls. That wouldn’t exactly bring them closer to eachother.

“Oh, come on. You can tell me.”

Fluttershy said assuringly.

“I was watching a cartoon show on my computer-”

“A what on your… what?”

She asked. How was she supposed to know what any of those things were.

“A computer is a electronic device, which has a screen, that shows living images, and so on. A cartoon is a set of images put together, so that it looks alive.”

He explained to her.

She looked like a big question mark.

“I think I understand, but that’s kinda weird.”

“Yeah, you’d probably have to see it, to fully understand it. Anyway, as I was saying. I was watching this cartoon on my computer. I watched one episode of the cartoon, and after that I started crying. I just sat there, crying loudly.”

She looked very concerned.

“Are you ok?”

Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, don’t worry about it. It was hopefully just a dream.”

James said.

They stand up from the tables and walk outside.

…

They are by the Sweet Apple Acres farm, where they see Applejack, bucking trees of course.

She looks in our direction.

“Howdy ya’ll? What are you up-”

Like everypony else, she stops for a little while, and stares at James.

“Who in tarnation are you?!”

She asked with a loud country voice.

“Oh, hello, Applejack. I’m James.”

He felt confident around her, because it felt like he knew her, and not like he just met a stranger on the street.

“How do ya’ll know ma’ name?!”

She exclaimed.

Fluttershy seemed surprised, as well. But she quickly changed the topic.

“Applejack, this is James, we found him yesterday, almost being killed by the manticore in the Everfree Forest.”

Fluttershy said.

“Oh, well then. I guess you’re a cool guy, after all.”

Applejack said.

James wasn’t sure how to react to that, so he just smiled at her, and nodded.

Applejack spoke up.

“So how did ya’ll get here?”

“To be totally honest with you, AJ. I don’t know. I have no clue, whatsoever. I just woke up in the Everfree Forest. I don’t remember much else.”

James said.

Applejack looked at Fluttershy, for an approval from her. And she just nodded. She probably knew what AJ was up to.

“Anyhow. Do any of you two wanna help me buck some apples?”

James just straightened up to look more tough, and said.

“Yeah, I might be up for that.”

“Oh sorry, Applejack. But I kinda have to go back to my animals.”

Fluttershy said, in a sad, insecure voice.

“Oh, that’s alright, Sugarcube. You might be able to help me some other day.”

Fluttershy smiled, and flew onwards home.

Applejack and James just went to some trees, where Applejack tried to show James how to buck the trees.

“You just have to turn your backside towards the tree, lift yourself up a bit, like this.”

She lifts up her legs, and starts loading them for, what seemed like, a powerful kick.

“And then you just push your legs as hard as… possible!”

She smashed the tree with her hind legs, and the tree was totally emptied, as all the apples fell down into the buckets.

“Now, why don’t you give it a try?”

He went to a tree, not too far from their current position. He turned his backside towards it, lifted up his hind legs, and smashed the tree. At least it felt like that. But the apples didn’t fall like rain, as when Applejack did it. The apples fell, but not as many at a time.

Applejack burst out in laughter, like she didn’t even try to keep it in a bit. She just laughed.

“Oh, come on, AJ. I’m new at this.”

James said.

“I know, it was just pretty funny. I thought you could do better than this.”

James looked at Applejack, kind of annoyed.

“I can! I’ll prove it to you!”

He goes to another tree, which hasn’t already been bucked.

He lifts up his hind legs, and loaded his kick, and smashed the tree. And as when AJ did it, the apples just fell into the buckets.

James looked at Applejack, who’s laughter suddenly disappeared.

“So… what do you have to say to that?”

He said as a joke.

“That's pretty good. I’ll give ya’ that. Now, do you think you can keep like that for most of the day? This is a really big harvest, and we could really need your help. This is what we call Applebuck season. And like last year, Big Mac hurt his back. It’s like he’s just trying to hurt himself, so that he doesn’t have to help.”

Applejack said, seemingly mad.

“Yes. I’ll try my best, don’t you worry.”

James said.

Applejack started smiling again, and told James to go to a specefic part of the farm, and go buck there. So that they split the work a bit. So he did, and started bucking.

…

It was starting to get pretty late, like 7.00pm, and a lot of the trees were bucked.

James went to Applejack, and asked her.

“Hey, AJ. Is it ok if I go home now? I’m really tired and I need some rest.”

“Yeah, of course. I was going to tell you to stop, after finishing this tree. So you just go on home. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

James nodded, and went to her, and grabbed her with his right foreleg, and hugged her. She started blushing slightly. She hugged back, and kissed him on the cheek. After that, he went a bit backwards again, and winked at her, and ran away. As he ran, he also looked back at her, and waved to her, and she waved back.

…

“Hey, Fluttershy! I’m home!”

He yelled, as he went inside.

“Oh, hello again. How’s it been?”

Fluttershy asked curiously.

“It’s been really fun. But I think I’ll go sleep now. It’s been very hard on me. I’m not used to such work.”

James said.

“Ok. Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight!”

He went to the couch and covered himself in the blanket. He fell asleep.

Sort It!

James is in class, while wearing his first ever MLP T-shirt. It’s a picture of Rainbow Dash, which says Keep Calm, and Brony On.

“Haha, guys! Look at that! James has become a brony-faggot!”

“Stop it…. STOP IT!” He runs out of the classroom, out of the school entrance, and runs home. He runs inside the house, and upstairs, where he just sits down by his computer.

It was only like 7.00PM, so it was quite dark. He didn’t hesitate, before he found his favourite episode of My Little Pony. He needed some cheering up, and lately, the only thing that’s been able to do that, is MLP.

An oddly familiar scene appears, once more.

My Little Pony - My Little Pony… Aaaaaaa…. My Little Pony - I used to wonder what friendship could be…

He’s watching the episode of My Little Pony, which he also did in his earlier dream. He watches it til’ the end. And then he starts crying, just like before.

James woke up, and once again, he was confused. He just can’t understand what’s been going on. Why is he getting these dreams? All he remembers from before he became, well, a pony. Is that he was a human. Nothing else.

“God dammit, these god forsaken nightmares has got to stop.”

He noticed it was still dark out, thus guessing it was only the middle of the night. He went to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water. He took the glass with him into the couch, where he took a sip of it, and lay down again. He didn’t close his eyes. He was afraid it would appear again. The horrible nightmare he’s been having.

He finally got the guts, and went back to sleep. It wasn’t the same dream. This was… different.

He was standing at a graveyard, and in front of these two tombstones. They both had a name inscribed. But it was too blurry to really see, what it said. James kneeled down, and picked up a pitcher, which was right besides him, and started pouring water over the flowers by the two graves. After he finished that, he sat down on both knees, folded his hands, and started speaking.

“Please tell me you can hear me. Please.” He sobbed for a while, before he went on.

“... I can’t seem to live anymore… my life has been a complete mess, ever since you passed away. I wish he took me, instead of you. Why didn’t he take me?! I miss you. I can’t possibly live on like this. I have nothing to comfort myself with, which I haven’t had ever since you two passed away… I wish I could find friends, but it’s too hard. People hate me. There are nobody who wants to even talk to me. They just either hit me, or they just insult me.” He broke down crying uncontrollably. He wasn’t able to speak anymore, so he just picked up the pitcher and ran off.

He woke up slightly, and whispered to himself.

“That’s it. No more sleeping.”

He checked outside, it was morning. The sun was shining, and it seemed like a generally good day.

He remembered that he had to go help Applejack buck again, today.

“God dang it. I can’t be bothered doing that for a whole day again.”

“Goodmorning.”

He turned around to the face of Fluttershy.

“Oh, hey, Fluttershy.”

She motioned for him to come out in the kitchen with her, and began to talk, while doing so.

“Come on, we need to get some food. Especially you, you haven’t eaten anything for two days straight.”

James just shrugged, and went to the kitchen with her. He just got a bowl of apple bits and milk. It was actually pretty good. Although, he usually wouldn’t like stuff like this. Did his tastebuds change, during his Transformation? He tried thinking about eating meat, which, for some reason, disgusted him, more or less.

Fluttershy spoke.

“It’s kind of nice to see you eat, for a change.”

James just looked up and nodded, and said.

“Yeah. It’s also great to eat, in the first place. I was starting to starve quite a lot. But I’ve just had a lot of thoughts going on in my head, lately, so my appetite has been all gone.”

She didn’t say anything. She just smiled at him.

“So hey, are you up for going to meet our friend Rarity today?”

Fluttershy asked.

“I’d love to, Flutters, but I kinda have to help Applejack applebuck…. again.”

He said, sighing.

“Oh, well. I guess I can speak with Applejack, maybe she’ll let you go, just this time.”

Fluttershy said.

“Really? That’d be great! Thank you!”

James said, almost cheering.

They raised up, and went outside. They walked off to Applejack’s.

…

“Howdy, ya’ll! What’s up, James, are ya’ll ready to buck some apples?!”

Applejack asked, the second she saw them coming.

Fluttershy stepped in, before James was able to answer.

“Applejack. We actually came to ask, if it was alright, if he could come with me today. I was planning on introducing him to Rarity today.”

Applejack seemed to get a little disappointed.

“Well, if ya’ll need to, then I guess that’s fine. I could just really use an extra pair of hooves on the farm, while the Applebuck season is here. Ya’ll remember how it went last year.”

James spoke up.

“I guess I can stay here for a little while, and then I can meet Rarity later?”

Fluttershy stood still, and considered the offer for a few seconds, when she finally said.

“I guess that’s ok. Let’s say… 6.00PM?”

James just nodded, and smiled.

Fluttershy flew off into the distance, while AJ and James started bucking again. James was doing pretty bad, because his legs felt broken, after the previous day’s bucking. They both ran from appletree to appletree, just fighting their way through, one by one.

…

It was now 5.50PM, and James went to Applejack and said.

“Applejack, I think I should take off now.”

“Already? Oh, guess the time flies by, when you’re having fun, ey’?”

Applejack said.

“Guess so. But I’ll see you later, then.”

James yelled, as he ran off.

“Yep, see ya’ll later!”

As James ran, he thought about the dream he had, where he was at the graveyard. He didn’t remember what he was doing there.

“I really gotta see a psychologist about these nightmares.”

He said, while running.

…

He was now at Ponyville, and started looking for Fluttershy. He had no luck, for quite a while. He saw a white unicorn with a purple mane.

“Hey, Rarity! Have you seen Fluttershy anywhere?”

James yelled, as she walked by.

“Oh, me? Why yes. She’s at my Boutique.”

She replied.

On the way there, she asked him a question.

“Say, who are you again?”

“Oh, my apologies. I’m James. And no, that’s not a pony-name, I get it. Fluttershy was going to introduce me to you today.”

James said.

“Oh, ok… wait. How do you know who I am?”

She asked, in sheer confusion.

“Uh. That’s quite a long story.”

James said.

“Well, then. Let’s just go find Fluttershy.”

Rarity said, after a few moments of silence.

They weren’t far from the boutique now.

“Oh, Rarity. Why did you have to go to town, by the way? You aren’t carrying anything.”

James asked.

“Oh, I simply just went to the tailor to order some thread, and a bit of silk cloth.”

“Oh, ok.”

They were at the Boutique, and they went inside.

Rarity yelled, as she entered.

“Hello, Fluttershy. I’m here, and I brought your friend with me! Oh and hello Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie Belle came running downstairs, almost slipping on the way. And Fluttershy just came into the living room, from the kitchen.

“Hey, sis’! Who’s that?”

Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she saw her sister and James.

“Oh, hey, I’m James. I’m a friend of Fluttershy. Aren’t you just an adorable little sweetheart?!”

James said.

They all stared at him kinda strange, after saying that. Maybe because he meets a little filly, and starts talking to her like that, the second he meets her.

Fluttershy spoke.

“So, James, was it fun on the farm today?”

“Yeah, it was decent. Might do that again, another day. Maybe even tomorrow. Depends if I have time.” James replied.

“So you’ve already met Applejack, then?”

Rarity asked.

“Eyeup! And Big Mac.”

Twilight arrived, and as she came in she instinctively yelled out.

“Hey, Rarity!”

“Oh hi, Darling. What are up to?”

Rarity replied.

Twilight didn’t reply at first, she was kind of frozen in place. She didn’t expect to see Fluttershy and James, as well.

“Oh, sorry. I was just coming over to see if you were busy. It’s just, my library. It’s getting really messy, and I would’ve asked if you could help me clean it up. Celestia made me read, celestia knows how many books, yesterday.”

She sighed slightly, and looked towards Fluttershy, and James.

“But I can see you’re probably busy, so I’ll just do it alone.”

“No, no. No need. I’ll come help you.”

Rarity said.

James joined in.

“Yeah. I can help too, if you want me to.”

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Really? Thank you!”

James sort of blushed. He always had a slight crush on Twilight.

“I guess I can help too, then.”

Fluttershy added.

“Well, let’s go then.”

Twilight said.

…

They were at the library now.

“So, James, can you go sort the books over there, in alphabetic order?.”

She pointed at a big bookshelf, at the left corner of the room.

“Sure, no problem.”

He went over there, and started reading the cover on each book, as he asked.

“So, where should I start from? Like, where shall the first book stand?”

“Oh, let me show you.”

Twilight said, walking towards the shelf.

She picked up a few books with her magic, and put them on the top of the shelf.

“So from top to bottom?”

“Yes.”

She went back to the other two, and set them to work.

Apparently Twilight hadn’t cleaned the house for a little while, so Fluttershy did that for her.

Rarity sorted another shelf, and Twilight, the same.

They were close to finish, as a familiar event happened.

“WOOOOWWWW!!”

*Smash!!*

A blue rainbow-maned pegasus had hit the window, gone through it, and smashed into the treehouse floor, causing all the books to fall to the ground, once more. And all the ponies in the room, now covered in books. Well, except for Fluttershy, who was flying, and not covered in books.

“Rainbow!”

Twilight yelled, looking very angry.

“Not again! Why do you have to do that, all the time?!”

Rainbow Dash’s face darkened a bit.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I can help you clean it up.”

Her frown turned to a slight nervous smile.

Twilight simply facehoofed and sighed.

“Sure. You go Sort out those books over there”

This time, she pointed at a mass of books, lying over where James was, who now stuck out his head from the mountain of books.

“What the hay just happened?”

James said, as he was kinda confused. Normally he would’ve said what the hell. But hay just came natural to him.

“Oh, sorry. I just crashed into the house…. again.”

Rainbow said.

James jumped all the way out of the mountain of books, as Rainbow Dash went over there, to clean it all up.

Suddenly Rarity appeared.

“Well, that happened.”

She stated.

And Fluttershy didn’t say much else, than. squeek.

They all began cleaning up again.

 It was starting to get late, and the ponies were getting tired.

“Well. Thank you guys, for helping me…. twice!.”

She stared at Rainbow Dash with her vicious glare.

Rainbow just looked towards the floor, and blushed in embarrassment.

Twilight broke the slight silence.

“Well. I think I’ll hit the hay. I’m really tired, and need sleep. I have to read even more tomorrow.”

“Yes, I think I’ll go home too.”

Rarity said, letting out a yawn.

“Yeah, me too.”

Rainbow said.

“Same with James and I. We need some rest, as well.”

Fluttershy said.

They all went outside, except for Twilight, who just stood by the door, waving.

As they all got home, they simply went to bed, and slept.

Surprise!

James woke up after a long night sleep, with a slight sigh of relief, even.

“Finally. A night without a nightmare. This is a rare event.”

He said to himself, kind of frustrated, more or less because he’s sick of the nightmare’s he keeps getting.

He walks out the door at the second he wakes up. As he does so, he starts thinking. Thinking about reasons he could be getting them.

“It must have something to do with my previous life. Maybe it’s something that happened before?”

All he remembers really, is the fact that he was a human once, but now a pony. He doesn’t remember why he became a pony, other than the fact that he was a brony. That’s the only reason he can think of, at least. Also, usually after he wakes up from a nightmare, he only remembers slight glimpses of them, thus not being able to remember much of his earlier life.

“I wish I could get a dream-reader. Does that even exist? Even in the real world? As far as I remember, it was stated that someone had invented a dream-capturer, but that seems pretty unlikely.”

He just kept talking to himself, while taking a little walk. Well, it was starting to get decently far, though. And he even realized, that he was inside the Everfree Forest.

“Oh, hay. Look at where I am. Great, James. Get lost in the Everfree Forest. You can now check that off of your list.”

He said, seemingly angry at himself.

He turned around, to find himself facing a bunch of bushes, rather than a road leading backwards.

“Wait. Have I been turning without noticing it, and now I’m lost. Oh look, a classic. I can pick two ways to go, which one is it. Oh dang.”

He chose to go right, because, why not?

As he ventures through the road, he finds himself in a quite familiar spot.

“Isn’t this where I was attacked by that manticore?”

He asked himself.

Aside from the circumstances, and the danger that he’s currently facing, he still went further inside the forest. He was curious as to what lies ahead in this forest. Since he wasn’t able to see it in the show itself, he might as well go see if there’s something new.

Getting further into the forest, just gets you more creeped out by the place. He started feeling paranoid, and he started getting scared. He even thought he heard slight growls, which just disappeared in the wind. This didn’t calm him down, infact, he just started feeling more and more paranoid everytime the growls disappear.

He finally made it to a dead end, and decides to go backwards. He probably needs to go home, Fluttershy might be worried about him. He’s been out for quite a while now.

He turns around, and fears that he might encounter a strange creature.

He closes his eyes and covers his face, before looking all the way behind him, he peaks out with his right eye, and realizes that there’s nothing.

“Oh, phew. Nothing.”

“ROAR!!”

“Oh, celestia, why?! Why are you doing this to me?! Why me?!!!!”

He cried out, as he turned his head to look behind him. And what was he faced with? A Timberwolf.

“This is just dang great, isn’t it?”

He ran away as fast as possible, but has a hard time doing so, he’s not used to running on four legs. This slowed him down quite a lot. He found a rock, sort of big, and apparently a Timberwolf is pretty easy to trick, which he remembers from the show. So he runs to the rock, in hopes that he’s able to jump over it. He fails. He faceplants the rock, slightly. Not too hard, so not fatal. But the Timberwolf, as said before, is easy to trick, so it just jumps over it.

The Timberwolf runs away, as James sighed.

He hears another growl. This time it sounds louder, and more dangerous. This happens at the same time, as he realizes, that the Timberwolf did not get tricked, it was simply fleeing from, whatever this creature is.

He looks up, and sees a gigantic Timberwolf. It looks sort of like the one in the show, which is made by the three Timberwolves building themselves together.

“Is this the one from the show? The one that was defeated by Spike?”

He asked himself, right before he screamed, and ran as fast as he could away.

He made it out of the forest, and saw Fluttershys’ cottage.

“Yes! I made it!”

The Timberwolf was long gone, luckily.  He apparently escaped from it somehow. Either that, or it was still chasing that other Timberwolf.

“Fluttershy! Are you home?! Fluttershy?!”

He yelled as he went inside.

He got no reply.

He decided to go to town, to try and find her.

…

He was in Ponyville, and started searching for her. The town itself seemed rather empty. There were nopony. He started getting pretty scared, and started shaking slightly. It was even starting to get dark. But, it was only 1.00PM.

“What in the blue Luna is going on here? Why does the town seem so wasted?”

He went further into the town, where he decided to go to Raritys’ boutique.

On the way there, he felt sort of strange. He felt spied on, despite the fact, that there were nopony in sight!

He was there, but he was only met with a little piece of paper, which said.

At the tailor to get some stuff. Will be back soon.

He didn’t know where that was, so instead, he went to Twilights’ house.

Nothing.

He went to the cakes. He hadn’t been there yet, maybe they’re there.

“SURPRISE!!! Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie! I heard that you were new here, and thought I’d throw you a party. Do you like it, huh?! I hope you will! I didn’t plan it alone. Fluttershy helped me! Twilight did too, but not too much, because she was busy with reading some books, apparently. Well, do you want a piece of cake? Some punch? Some Sarsaparilla?!”

For a while, James didn’t know where to put himself. He was rather shocked.

He wasn’t sure wether he should scream in shock, or smile in relief.

He chose to smile. Which turned, more or less, into a shy-like face.

He got back his conscious.

“Oh. Wow. Sorry, I sort of froze there. Oh my god, Pinkie! How nice of you!”

He grabbed her and hugged her. He was pretty shocked. He was certain that he was going to die. And now this. That is, most likely, a pretty shocking experience.

And Pinkie is used to giving hugs, so she didn’t find it weird at all. She just hugged back, and yelled out.

“You’re welcome!!”

James started looking for Fluttershy. He wanted to speak with her.

He found her, by the corner of the room, seemingly hiding herself a bit.

“Hey, Flutters, What’s up? Why are you just sitting there?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just don’t like when Pinkie invites the whole town.”

She replied.

“Arh.. I understand. Too many people. I feel your pain. I used to be like that.”

She smiled, as she asked.

“So, where were you this morning?”

“Oh, so you did notice. Well, I decided to take a morning walk, to think about some stuff. And suddenly, I found myself lost, in the Everfree Forest. Which is when I chose the wrong way back home. And so I ended up by a blind end. When I was chased by a Timberwolf.”

Fluttershy didn’t reply right away. It was pretty shocking.

“Oh my gosh. Even I haven’t been through something as wild as that, and I’ve lived here since I was a little filly. You been here for a few days, tops.”

Fluttershy replied.

“Yeah, guess you’re right. Anyway. Wanna do something? We could go talk to the others, if you’d like?”

“Sure, let us.”

She said.

They started partying, and speaking with some of the other ponies, attending the party. Which they spent most of the day on.

After the party was over, they all said their goodbyes, and went onwards home.

When they got home, they went straight to bed. Partying with Pinkie can be pretty tiring after a while.

Happiness

He sat by the table, eating breakfast, when he heard something on the radio.

“Middle-aged Man and Woman found dead in a car right outside the city”

At first he didn’t notice, until he thought about two particular people, who went to work, just a few hours ago. He dropped his spoon as tears rolled down his eyes, and feared the worst. He picked up the phone lying on the table, and called his mother’s phone, but all he got was an instant Voice Mail. He tried calling his father, same thing. He went in shock. His phone rang, as his heart stopped beating for but a second.

He picked it up.

The man on the phone spoke.

“Hello, are you the son of ms. and mr. Cartner?”

lo

“Yes, I am. Why?”

His voice sounded like he could break down any second.

“We’re sorry to inform you, sir. But an accident has happened.”

He hung up the phone, knowing what the man in the phone would say, as he went outside, and started walking. Not anywhere in particular, he just walked. He had no idea where to put himself, or what he was doing. He just panicked.

He started walking faster and faster, and at some point he started running.

He started thinking about his parents for a slight second, and stopped walking.

He broke down crying, laying down on his knees, covering his eyes, as tears streamed down his eyes. He screamed loudly.

“NO! IT’S NOT TRUE! NO!!!”

His phone started ringing once more. He picked it up.

The man spoke again.

“Sir, you have to remain calm, and listen, ok?”

He answered, with a fragile, crying voice.

“Yes… o-ok…”

“Your parents have sadly passed away, and there is no way for us to get any of them back.”

“I know, but…”

He started crying even more, and fell to the ground, thinking about a life without his parents, as he realized it had become a reality.

“Sir. Your parents are lying here in the hospital, you can come see them for the last time right now, if you want to.”

“I do. I’ll come now.”

…

James woke up, gasping for air, as he started crying slightly. Knowing that this is most likely his earlier life. Why else would he keep dreaming these exact things, all the time?

He stopped crying again, after only a few seconds.

“Naw, this can’t be it. I don’t even feel that sad, so… why do I keep getting these dreams? Well, never mind that. Maybe Fluttershy’s up.”

He walks into the kitchen, where Fluttershy is sitting with Angel, trying to get him to eat a carrot, but failing horribly.

James thought to himself.

Ugh. I’ve always hated that damn bunny.

He walks to them, picks up the carrot, and looks at Angel with a vicious glare, and said.

“Eat it…”

In a deep, almost scary voice.

Angel picked up the carrot and started munching.

Fluttershy looked at James surprisingly.

“Oh, thank you, James. He’s been very picky lately.”

“Yeah, well. You just have to show him who’s in charge.”

James said, smiling.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just afraid I might hurt the little thing.”

James grinned slightly, and sat down by the table, and got some Applebits.

Fluttershy looked at him, and asked.

“What’s bothering you?”

“Me? Oh, nothing.”

“You’re lying. I can see it. What’s wrong?”

“Uh… fine. You read me like a book, Flutterz. I’ve just been having these strange nightmares. About a human, who I think is my previous life. But tonight it was worse than usual. Tonight I lived through his parent’s passing, and it was really tough. Even made me cry after the dream ended.”

Fluttershy stared at James, with wide depressed eyes.

“Oh my gosh, that’s horrible.”

She went to him and grabbed around him with her left and right forelegs.

As she hugged him, he felt vulnerable, and started crying some more. He recognized the feeling of comfort, the same way as his mother used to make him feel. He realized that the boy in his dreams really is him.

When Fluttershy noticed that he was starting to cry, she pressed harder, to comfort him. She tapped him on the back multiple times, and said.

“So, so. I know it’s hard, and I know you’re going through a lot, but you gotta keep strong, James. Life is hard, and I want you to remember, it’s just dreams. You’re just going through a hard time, and you need remember that.”

He let go of her, and leaned a bit backwards.

“I will. Thank you Fluttershy. I really needed that.”

He wiped away a few tears from his eyes, and smiled towards Fluttershy.

“You’re welcome. If you need anything else, I’m right here, ok?”

“Yes, of course. Well. I better head out. I promised Twilight at the party yesterday, that I’d visit her today.”

James said, as he stood up, and walked outside.

…

He stood by the door at Twilight’s place, knocking with his right hoof. The wooden door seemed to be pretty old, and a few splinters cracked off of the door, by the second knock, and it was really noisy.

The purple mare opened the door, with a heartly hello.

“Oh, hey, James. glad you could make it.”

“No, biggy. So, what are you up to now?

James asked, as he stepped inside, and looked around.

The house itself seemed bigger this time, and a lot more cosy. Most likely because of the feeling he felt, at the moment. He had never imagined being in Twilight’s house, just for a visit.

“Well, I was planning on reading a few books Celestia had sent me, but I then remembered you were coming over. So I made some tea. Would you like some?”

Twilight said.

“Yes. Thank you.”

He went over to a chair standing by the table in the little kitchen she had, and sat down upon it.

He waited patiently for Twilight to get the cups from the living room. It was a strange sensation, to sit in Twilight’s house like this. A few words ran through his mind like a stream.

Just for a visit. Just for a visit… VISIT!

He started smiling, the second Twilight turned towards him. She went over to him, and placed two tea cups, and a (Mistake, fix it) on the table, and poured some tea into both cups. James tried to pick up the cup, wondering how to do so.

“How do I pick these up? I’m sort of new with hooves, and all that.”

Twilight sighed and laughed, both at the same time.

She grabbed around the tea cup with her hoof.

“That’s how you do it.”

She said.

James tried to do the same thing, but failed. He didn’t seem to understand how that worked, thus thinking too much about it, and making it even harder for him to do it.

She now sighed in slight anger. Although, she kept on smiling. At least it seemed so. James had always called himself delusional, in a way. Even though he wasn’t.

She picked up his hoof with magic, and formed his hoof the way he should, and made him grab around the tea cup, and lifted up. She then let go, hoping that he would keep the position intact, and still hold it, afterwards. And he did, now knowing how to do it.

Twilight smiled towards him, happy that he could now hold a cup. Pretty odd, by her standards, but what did she expect from him? He was different species after all.

“Sorry, Twi. I’m just not used to… hooves.”

James said.

“It’s alright. It just seemed pretty odd, if you ask me. But then again. Different species, different ways of motion.”

She replied, smiling and nodding towards his tea, motioning for him to drink it.

“Yeah, I know.”

He said, slightly blushing.

“But, hey, Twilight?”

James asked.

“Yes?”

“ I don’t know if you know anything about this, but. I’ve had these nightmares, ever since I got here. Always really depressing, and dark. It’s every single night. The same kinds of nightmares, all the time. About a boy who’s depressed about his parents, and getting bullied. And I’m starting to think it might be my earlier life as a human, although I’m not actually sure.”

James said, almost creating tears in his own eyes.

“Wow, I don’t think I know how to reply to it. However, it might be true. Since you know you’re not actually a pony, it would make sense if that is your earlier life. It might be glimpses of your past, which were removed from you, when you got here. Maybe the boy was sent here, because of the problems he had. I don’t know how it’d be possible, seeing that your species don’t exist here. But It has to have some sort of connection.”

James looked down at the table, thinking about it. Wondering if it really could be his earlier life. And if it was, does that mean his parents are dead, and that he’ll never get to see them again?

He covered his forehead with his hooves, and bursting out a slight roar in sheer pain.

It felt like a crackling thunderstorm inside his head.

An image appeared.

He sat by a table with a man, talking. In a room he recognized clearly.

“You know, there’s no way for you to get there. It’s a cartoon world, and it’s impossible to break, what we know as, the fifth wall.”

“But…”

He sobbed.

“I just want to get away from this place. I don’t want to live this life! It’s being too hard on me, and my mind can’t take it!”

“We know you’re depressed, and we want to do everything we can to help you, no matter the cost.”

The man said, almost regrettingly.

“What is it you don’t understand?! I don’t want to live anymore! All the will I’ve had is gone, washed away, like all the small rocks on the beach when tide comes! My pride, my will to live, everything and everyone I’ve loved are all gone! Nobody are left to support me, except for myself and you. And you want me to carry on living. Why won’t you take me?! Put me out of my misery, please!”

He yelled, tears streaming.

The man looked surprised.

“James, I didn’t know how hard it was for you, but no matter how much you want to, it’s impossible for us to control. We can not simply let you die, nor do we want to. We need to find a way to do this, without getting you killed.

The scene changed. He was in another room, but with the same man as before.

“We’ve made our decision. We’ll do it. We’ll go through with what you wanted. However, we’re not happy about this. But we can see you are in a situation, which is impossible to get out of. We’ve seen what you’ve been through, and we can’t live with ourselves, knowing a boy we want to help, is living in such misery with no way out.”

A woman entered the room, who the man motion James to go to.

“Ok. She’ll help you with what your heart desires. No worries. She doesn’t bite. Just follow her to the nurses room. “

He follows the woman to the nurses room, where he’s told to lay down on the little bed.

“Now then. This might hurt for just a second, but once that’s over, you should feel at peace.”

She picks up a needle, which is quite long actually. She stabs it into his arm, and presses the the little top of it down, so it spits the liquid inside his veins.

He gets pretty nauseous and dizzy. The room starts spinning as the light fades away slightly.

…

James woke up in his own room. With no traces of ponies, except for the posters in his room.

But something was wrong. He didn’t feel sad. But he felt relieved. At peace. He felt light as a feather.

He heard the door knocking. He went over to it, and what he was met with, almost made him cry.

His parents.

He jumps towards them, hugging them! Crying in happiness.

“You’re alive! You’re alive!”

His parents looked at him with wide eyes.

“Yes, of course we are? What a weird thing to say.”

His mother said.

His father said something, as well.

“Why would you think we weren’t? We’ve just been out getting some groceries.”

“I know. I’ve just been having a nightmare. It’s over now.”

James said. He smiled to his parents, who smiled back at him. He went out in the kitchen with them, but as they turned around, he whispered something to himself.

“Although, the nightmare seemed so real. I kinda miss the ponies, though.”

He didn’t think that much about it from then on, except for when he was watching the show. But only as slight glimpses, and then the thoughts were gone.

Alternate Ending

James woke up in Twilight’s house, with all the ponies staring down at him, all with worried expressions. Especially Fluttershy, she almost cried. Until she saw him open his eyes.

“Guys! He’s alive!”

She bursted out, as they all started smiling.

“Yes, I am. And I have a pretty clear idea of what has happened now. I don’t think the nightmares will continue. It’s all gonna be fine now.”

He said, with a relieving feeling in his chest.

Twilight looked at him, smiling.

“Finally we got to the bottom of this! Well, technically we did. Then again. Oh, hay! It doesn’t matter.”

James smiled at Twilight, hugging her, and kissing her right on the lips, she was surprised at first, but relaxed after a few seconds, and even started kissing back.

After stopping, she just stared at him, along with all the others. Everybody surprised.

“Ok. That was unexpected.”

Twilight said. She was still frozen as a block of ice.

“Sorry, I just always wanted to do this.”

James said, blushing, and almost gasping for air, in fear of she’d react after calming down.

She got out of her trance, and kissed him again.

When the kiss was done, she leaned back, and said.

“Ok, I guess I can go with this for a little while longer.”

They all just nodded, and accepted something was happening between them.

It was pretty silent for around 20 seconds, when Pinkie finally broke the silence.

“Well, now that you feel better, maybe we can hold a party for you! A feeling better party just for you! Then we can have cake and streamers, sarsaparilla, and punch and everything!!”

After a while they all started laughing.

“Ow!”

James yelled.

“Huh?! What’s wrong?!”

Twilight asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just a gigantic headache, after the whole incident before. I’m really sorry for scaring you all like this. I hope you can forgive me.”

James said, smiling, but with a smidge of sadness.

“Lighten up, it’s ok. You’re not hurt, so we’re all happy.”

Rainbow Dash said.

“Hay! Ya’ll are ok, and for that, we’re grateful.”

Applejack said, assuringly.

James lived as a pony the rest of his life, and with Twilight Sparkle.

Being with Twilight Sparkle like this, had been a dream for him. Something he thought was impossible. His dream had come true, and he was happy.