Having Some Fun Time With The Princess And Her Friends

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Intro/Meeting a New Friend/Hanging Out/Going To Equestria
Chapter 2 - Meeting The Gang/PAAAAAR-TAY!!!
Chapter 3 - Meeting Royalty
Chapter 4 - Town Meeting/Going Back Home
Chapter 5 - Once You Go Human, You Won't Wanna Go Pony
Chapter 6 - Fun Time With Applejack/Home Shenanigans
Chapter 7 - Just A Little Dash Here, And A Little Dash There
Chapter 8 - Getting Fancy With Rarity
Chapter 9 - Feeling Pinkie Keen/I'm In Trouble
Chapter 10 - One Very Shy Adventure/Ponynapped/Rescue/Life Is Saved
Chapter 11 - A Magical Time With Twilight/Trixie Trouble/The News
Chapter 12 - Going Bowling/Return To Equestria/The Moment of Truth/Song Time/Friendship Letters and a New Beginning (End of Season 1 Story)
Season 2 Chapter 13 - The Start of a New Beginning

Chapter 1 - Intro/Meeting a New Friend/Hanging Out/Going To Equestria

"Yeah, thanks Mom. I love you too. No, I'm not just sitting around doing nothing. Tell sis that I said "Hi". Thanks. Bye." **click*** "Let's see, bills are paid: Check. I've cleaned the house: Check. Well, now that all of that's done, the only thing left to do is just relax and enjoy some me time. Hello PlayStation."*

Hello, my name is Mathew Reed. I like to draw, read, sculpt, and play video games. I don't have a girlfriend and I hardly get to hang out with my friends since I rarely go outside anymore. But that doesn't mean I'm a nobody even though I liked to watch My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. What? Even though it's originally made for young girls yet males like myself aged 18-35 like the show, I'm no means a Brony whatsoever. None. Period. That was a while ago. Not anymore. I did manage to finish college though. So at least there's one thing that isn't boring about me. But I'm not here to brag about my life. Instead, I'd like to tell you the story on how a certain magical pony princess from another world and even her world changed my life, or should I say, our lives for the better. Okay, so there I was, in my room, playing video games on my PS2 minding my own business.

“Aaaand, done!” I said as I finished up a game on my PS2. "Whelp, I’m bored. What to do now? Maybe I’ll just take a walk to kill time. Or maybe aimlessly surf the internet until something catches my eye."

As I pondered what I would do to spend the rest of the early afternoon, I took notice of an uncanny purplish gleam in the center of my room reflecting on what seemed to be nothing. My eyes darted across the room, seeking a source for the glow.

"What the..." I asked myself in bewilderment as my mind began to formulate possible causes for the gleam until eventually settling for one. "Man, they were right about TV screens ruining your eyes." I muttered, taking off my glasses in order to wipe off the foggy residue with my shirt.

Upon putting the glasses back on, however, the lenses didn't appear to be the culprit. I once again took off the glasses in a fruitless attempt to rub my eyes, an action which failed to disperse of the glow.

In addition, a small gust of wind began to blow. Confused, I looked at my window to see that it was closed. I then got up and checked my air vent. The lack of flowing air through it told me that the air conditioning was off.

Whatever was going on was seriously starting to freak me out.

"I’ll b...ack, gir...!” A feminine voice shouted vaguely, seemingly from nowhere.

Further discombobulated, I looked around to realize that there's no one around me.

“Whoa, what? I know I'm not high or anything. I don't even smoke.” I mumbled, scratching my head in confusion

*Crackle Crackle*

*Whish*

*BOOM*

A loud crash almost made me you-know-what in you-know-where.

"WHOA!!!!" I hurriedly ducked for cover behind my bed as the purple light quickly brightened and expanded, making the area flash a blinding white.

“Somebody here?” I asked aloud.

No answer.

Instead, the gleam became a bright purple glow, as the swirling winds increased in intensity and an electric crackling sound began to emit from the strange, inexplicably bright light. I covered my eyes as the shining, luminous light became too bright for me to stare at directly.

After a few seconds, the wind, light, and crackling noises dissipated in almost an instant.

Trembling with the sudden intensity of a crack addict hopped up on caffeine and adrenaline, I slowly peeked from behind the side of my bed farthest away from the explosion to find my jaw almost dislocating in shock at what I laid my eyes on.

"M-maybe I am high. What the?" I uttered shocked at what I saw.

“Wow, what a trip. That took a lot out of me. Next time, I should probably ask for help from Rarity.” A small, strange talking animal muttered to itself after emerging from what I’d guess was some kind of portal.

Anyway, I stood there looking at her. She looked sort of familiar, but it couldn't be who I thought it was.

“What the heck? How does something like this even happen?” I thought to myself.

She broke me out of my trance when she spoke.

“Oh, hello there!” The home invader spoke aloud.

I almost moved to hide myself back behind my bed, but figured I’d surrender, as the being had already spotted me.

"Drat! Might as well come out now." I thought, still afraid beyond belief of what was standing in front of me.

“Um...hello.” I sheepishly replied.

“Hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle! Who..." She trailed off, taking on a look of total astonishment. "...and what, may I ask are you?” The strange creature asked as I crawled from cover, ironically looking as confused as I did.

“Uh...My name is Mathew...I’m...a human.” I barely managed to shakily murmur as I was still looking in shock at the creature standing before me and talking; in perfect English, no less!

“Well, Mathew, I’m very sorry to have alarmed you like this. You see, I was practicing this spell I had recently learned which was supposed to allow me to travel great distances across Equestria, and I-!” She started to say.

“Okay, sorry to interrupt, uhh...Twilight Sprinkles, but you don’t even have to finish that sentence for me to have a ton of questions.” I skeptically interrupted, the fear in my voice mostly gone as I figured from the tone of the creature's voice that it wasn't here to rip my brain out or do something freaky like in a typical science fiction movie. “Also, you aren't in any place called ‘Equestria.’” I added.

“Sparkle.” The unicorn-like extraterrestrial being with wings corrected matter-of-factly. “But what do you mean, ‘not in any place called Equestria’?”

“Exactly what I said, er...Twilight. You are not in Equestria. You are in America.” I told her.

“America? What the hay kind of country is that?” She asked me.

“Certainly not one where you’re from, I’m guessing.” I muttered under my breath.

“Odd...I seem to have made a bit of a miscalculation in the incantation. Still, I guess I’ll have to mark this down as a new kind of spell.” Twilight pondered for a minute in silence.

As the creature was wondering what had happened to transport it to this place, I surveyed every inch of its small, horse-like body. It had such a strange, yet...cute look to it. Like a teddy bear, or a pet. Either way, I felt compelled to touch it. I slowly approached the somewhat-small, purple alien and laid my left hand on the top of its head and applied very light pressure with my fingers. It instantly became apprehensive, as I’d expected.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked in surprise after shaking my hand off of its head and backing away.

“I’m...uh...obtaining knowledge...and stuff...yeah, that's it.” I answered uneasily, realizing how foolish my excuse sounded as soon as I uttered it.

“Other than the fact that you can talk and that you don’t look like anything I've ever seen before, you seem pretty tame. Are you housebroken?” I asked, assuming she was some sort of animal that had lost its owner.

“You mean like some kind of pet?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at me in what seemed like offense.

My eyes widened in surprise at its knowledge. “Well, you’re dead-wrong if you think I’m some stray animal. I’ll have you know that I am a pony.” I almost laughed at the irony of Twilight’s statement about not being a stray animal.

"I fail to see the point in that remark. But alright, that rules out the possibility of being a lost pet, I guess..."

“A pony, huh?” I asked, tilting my head slightly and raising an eyebrow myself. “Not sure how being a pony is different from being an animal." I said.

"It's a huge difference, actually." She said matter-of-factly again.

"Right...but I guess that you being a horse...!" I started to say before I was once again cut off.

"Pony." She corrected.

"Sorry, 'pony'...explains the mane, wings, horn and tail. The wings and horn must mean you're a winged unicorn. But that doesn’t explain the fact that you’re purple and so are your eyes, along with the oddly...straight dark blue mane and tail with purple and pink highlights.” I said while staring at her.

Don't you hate it when you remember something and then forget what you remembered later on? This is one of those times.

"Yes, I am an Alicorn. But what's so strange about my appearance that...?" The alien horse...er, pony didn't finish its question as it noticed me leaning to the right to get a better look at its body. I noticed a tattoo of some sort adorned on its backside.

“Hey, what’s that starry-looking thing on your butt? That some kind of branding?” I asked rather brashly.

The alien’s jaw dropped a little as it blushed in embarrassment at my admittedly rude comments and question.

“You’ve got quite some nerve, talking to a mare in such an incorrigible manner.” She stated in annoyance, glaring at me.

I was about to stick my foot further into my mouth with yet another idiotic comment regarding its...I mean her gender. However, I caught myself and instead slid backward a couple of inches in apprehension.

“I’ll have you know that I was born the way I am, and I’m proud of it. Also, to answer your question, this is my Cutie Mark.” She explained, turning her body to face sideways, looking back at her flank. “It is a symbol of my special talent, which deals in the infinitely vast and ever-expanding subject of magic."

"Whelp...now I'm *really lost. What sense does that make??"* I thought.

"But that’s enough about me for now; what about you?” She asked hoping that I'm not gonna stare at her again.

“What? What about all the...!?” I asked, but she cut me off again.

“In due time, Mathew. But for now, I'd like to familiarize myself with my surroundings...As you can see, I’m entirely new to this country.” She said while looking at my room.

“Fair enough. Quick note, though: I think you’re in a whole another world, given that you look way different from any horse on this planet and you can talk but haven’t seen a human before. Anyway, what do you wanna know?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Hmm, where to begin...? Ah! You said you were a ‘human,’ right?” She asked me.

“Yea.” I answered.

“Well...what’s a human?” She asked with utmost curiosity.

"Really? You don't know what a human being is?" I questioned, shocked at her realization.

"I can't say I do." She replied. "I haven't seen anything quite like you before. Would you mind enlightening me?" She said sitting down on her haunches.

“Sure. Ah, well...let’s see...” I pondered as I rubbed my chin, trying to begin a proper explanation of my species. “Okay, do you have monkeys where you come from?” I asked her so I can explain the 'human' thing better.

“That we do.” Twilight answered, her eyes widening in eagerness to hear what I had to say.

“Good, that's going to make this easier. So anyway, humans are like monkeys, but...we don’t have tails, most of us aren't nearly as hairy, and we are able to stand completely upright on two legs, seeing as instead of having ‘forelegs’ like you, we have ‘arms’ and ‘hands’." I said while showing her my hands and feet.

"Interesting..." Twilight mumbled to herself before giving me a once-over. "Do you have a gender? If so, then are you male or female?" She asked rubbing her chin.

"Yes, I have a gender. I'm male. There are two predominant genders in this world, by the way: Male and Female." I said with a smile.

"I see...I also can't help but notice your clothing." She exclaimed while looking at the clothes that I'm wearing.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Is...is it common for a human to wear clothes?" She asked.

I almost gave her a look like she was crazy, but it took mere seconds to understand the inquiry, as she wasn't wearing clothes herself. Odd that she even knew what 'clothes' were, though.

"Yea, we wear clothes on a regular basis." I exclaimed.

"Really? Why?" She asked a bit confused.

"Well...for lots of reasons. But we'd be here all afternoon if I went into that." I said to her hoping that I didn't have to tell her that we wear clothes because of a certain taboo that we need to keep in check.

"Mm-hmm...I see. Is there anything else you'd like to teach me?" She asked yet again.

"Let me see...humans are also capable of speech, as evidenced by the fact that this conversation is unbelievably happening now. As I’m assuming these 'ponies' are the dominant species in your world, humans are the dominant species here. That's just the basics from my point of view, though.” I exclaimed.

“Wow, I see…!” Twilight responded in thoughtful understanding. “Well, what about ponies? Are there ponies here?”

“Well…yes and no,” I answered uneasily. “You see, while there is such a thing as horses and ponies here, ‘ponies’ of your kind would supposedly be…how you say, ‘not real.’ Your look seems like you were drawn out of a cartoon of some sort...no offense." I said non-offensively.

"None taken." The mare pardoned, though when I got to the subject of her appearance, it struck a chord in my head.

"Hmm...interestingly enough, there’s this kids’ TV show I’m sort of familiar with that your look reminds me strongly of. I think it's called My Little Pony or something like that, and there’s tons of toys and books and whatnot based on it.” I said.

“What!? So what you’re saying is, in this world, a world that is strikingly similar to mine is known about and visible through this...‘TV’ device, but not tangible, or believed to be real?” She asked in shock.

“I guess so. I’m also going to guess that in your world, humans don’t exist, and that there’s nothing that even hints to us existing?” I wondered.

“100% correct.” The Alicorn responded. “At least until now, anyway. Say, seeing as there’s the possibility that my world’s already known of, has there been any research done in order to prove its existence?” She asked a bit curiously.

“Research?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well yeah." She responded most seriously. "You know...magic tests, teleportation spells, et cetera.”

“Um…if your idea of ‘research’ includes ‘making toys and merchandise for human children, girls specifically, but recently missing the demographic, instead attracting humans my age and older,’ then I’ll say it’s going swimmingly!” I responded sarcastically.

She let out a small chuckle.

“Nice one. You’re pretty funny,” Twilight complimented. “But seriously, what about the magic? Can’t humans use magic?” She asked raising an eyebrow herself.

“Sadly, no. There isn’t one magic bone in our bodies. It's all physical labor and technology for us. The closest thing to magic we have here is maybe...optical illusions and strange ways to exceed the believed physical limitations of the body.” I exclaimed.

“How peculiar...you can’t even do something like this?” She asked as her horn began to glow a bright magenta and, within a second, my entire body was engulfed in the same luminous shade of ethereal light.

“Whoa, what the...AAAAHHHH!!!!!!" I screamed as I began to involuntarily float into the air, thrashing about like a fish out of water. She levitated me over my bed, and loosened her magic grip. The glow around me disappeared instantly as I came crashing onto my bed face-down. Twilight giggled again.

“Cute.” I flatly stated with a fake smirk after lifting my head. She giggled a little more. “Ahem! Well, to answer your question: No. No we can’t do that.” I said, getting up off the bed and standing in front of her.

Comparing my height to hers, her head seemed to meet a little below my waistline. Her size overall was pretty close to that of an actual pony in this world, though maybe a little bit smaller. It was sort of hard to tell, given I didn't necessarily have a reference guide for this sort of thing.

“Whoa, you’re huge!” Twilight exclaimed looking up in surprise. “Are all humans this tall?”

“Mm, not really.” I said, unsure. “I’m six feet tall, while I think the average height for humans...at least, in America, is somewhere lower. But then, there’s many other humans who are taller than I am. Some by a little, others by a lot. That, and humans have various body shapes and sizes. In terms of shape, I’m pretty lean.” I told her.

“Is that so? Interesting." She said in astonishment.

I went to show her more of the place and what was in it. She had so many questions about what all of the stuff I had was.

“So...wanna play some Playstation? There’s tons of games to play.” I asked.

“Like what?” She asked.

“You’ll see…” I answered as she climbed off of me to allow me to grab two controllers and turn the TV and game system on. I handed her one of the controllers and grabbed a CD case to show her some of the games I had. “I got quite a few games for us to play together. Would you like to play some...Sonic...? Street Fighter...? Mortal Kombat...? Halo...?”

“I don’t know what any of those are, but I suppose I’ll pick...that one.” She said, pointing a hoof to the disc with the design of a black dragon on it.

“Mortal Kombat it is. I have to warn you, though. This game is a bit uh...graphic. I dunno if you can handle it.”

“What harm could a series of moving images do to anypony? Or human?” I raised my eyebrows and gave her an ‘I warned you.’ look before I put the game in. Shortly, we were immersed in a virtual world of intense violence and ridiculous amounts of blood. The first thing we saw was at the title screen, where a yellow ninja had punched a blue ninja in the face.

“I get the feeling this game has a bit of violence in it.” Twilight hypothesized.

“And your feeling would be right.” I was sure to enter the tutorial mode that allowed for the practice of finishing moves and picked a particularly brutal one, just to see Twi’s reaction.

“Now, are you absolutely sure you won’t get scared?”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Why are you so afraid of what I might-? *GASP*” She didn’t finish as she turned to the screen to watch the blue ninja rip another ninja’s head off, the spinal cord attached, with his bare hand and present it to the camera. The look on her face changed from one of naïve confidence to wide-eyed shock and disgust.

“Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off!” She begged as she hid behind my back.

“I told you.” I said, breaking into a laugh as I took the game out.

“Oh, dear sweet Celestia, that was horrible!” She said still breathing heavily.

“That it was. That it was. Why don’t we play something a bit more...friendly?”

“I don’t mind the violence, but that was just grotesque.” She said as she returned to her original position.

“Noted.” We spent some time trying out various games for her to play. I tried my best to keep her away from any games that showed a lot of killing in them. We started off with simple run-and-jumpers like Sonic the Hedgehog, which she caught the hang of very quickly. We also played Street Fighter. She was quickly able to learn the controls of the game, despite its notoriously confusing moves list descriptions. Nonetheless, Twilight proved to be a much faster learner than I could’ve anticipated. We didn’t play it for very long, due to her needing to use magic to be able to press all of the buttons, which didn’t help her headache. Otherwise, she actually proved to be a very challenging and analytical opponent; especially with Chun-Li and Rose (her two favorites). She beat me a few times, to my surprise and teensy bit of humiliation.

The most fun we had together was when we were playing co-op in a game by the name of ‘‘Splosion Man,’ where teamwork was absolute key for level completion. We were on-point with coordination for the most part, with each of us making an occasional mistake that got us both killed again and again.

After a while, I went to look at the messages on Skype on my computer only to find nothing. I then went on Facebook only to find nothing as well. YouTube had nothing as well, so don't bother asking.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked.

"I'm just looking at my computer for stuff. It does all sorts of things, calculations, plays games, music, watch videos and connect to the internet which is possibly the greatest collection of information and some of the stupidest stuff you can imagine at the very same time. I guess you could call it a kind of 'magic window'. Here. Let me show you where you currently are." I threw myself into the chair and wheeled it over to the desk. A couple mouse clicks later and I had brought up Google Earth. Twilight Sparkle was amazed, her jaw hung open seeing an entire globe turning slowly in front of her. He clicked a few times and the picture blurred as he zoomed in eventually reaching where he lived. "We're right there." I said pointing to the screen.

"So this is happening now? If you were to go outside could I see you there and here as well?" She asked excitedly.

"Nah, this is a static image. It was taken maybe 2 years ago before I even moved here and it'll stay until they decide to map this area again. Okay, lemme show you something else. " I smiled at her and she liked the fact he had the same passion for learning and teaching like she had.

We spent the next two hours hopping from site to site, I taking her on a tour of the internet

She wanted to try it herself, but I simply said that she cannot do that on her own, or she might run the risk of breaking something and end up costing me my next electric bill. She ended up pouting again. My heart exploded just by looking at her cute little pouty face.

"Ok, wanna hear something cool?" I asked the mare.

"Like what?" Twilight asked back.

Well...there's this thing called rapping." I said.

“...Rapping? What is that?” She asked.

“Y’know, Rap? Hip-Hop? It’s a music genre!” I said.

“Well it sure as hay doesn’t exist in Equestria, to my knowledge.” Twilight pointed out.

“Whaaaaat?” I was bewildered. “Hip-Hop doesn’t exist there? You, my dear little pony friend, have much to learn. Basically, Rap is a sort of abbreviation for the phrase, ‘Rhythm And Poetry.’ It’s basically reciting a poem to the tune of a musical beat. That’s as simple as I can make it sound.”

“Interesting...” Twilight wondered.

“What kinds of music do exist there?” I asked my purple pony friend.

“We have various styles, such as classical, rock, polka, pop, and so on..." She said naming the music genres.

"Yet *no rap or Hip-Hop? I'm not sure whether to be astounded or offended. Where's the black culture? Or, whatever the pony equivalent to 'black' is."*

"Ok, let me grab a piece of paper and a pencil so we can brainstorm your lyrics.” I said while getting a pencil and some paper.

“Alright!” Twilight said eagerly awaiting to do this rap thing.

“Oh, and just for good measure...here.” I said as I got up to grab a black cap from my closet and place it on Twilight’s head facing backwards. “There. Looking all G’d up now.”

“G’d up? What’s that mean?” She asked in confusion.

“Nothing.” I laughed. “Now let's see watcha got, Lady T-Spark!” I said getting ready.

“…What?” She asked a bit confused.

“First rule of being a rapper: You gotta have a stage name.” I said with a smirk.

“Ooookay…?” She said still confused.

“You’ll understand. Now let's get to work.” I said getting ready.

We spent a fair amount of time brainstorming lyrics for Twilight to recite, I even took the extra step in going onto my computer and searching for instrumental hip-hop beats for her to go along with. It took longer than I’d expected trying to write up the lyrics, considering she was trying to fit in all these big, intellectual words, most of which I didn’t even think had rhymes to them; especially a particular forty-five letter-long word I had no idea she’d even known.

Once that slight nuisance was out of the way, we tested her song out on various instrumental beats I looked up on my computer.

Eventually, we finished this little project and I couldn’t wait to see the results...

“Okay, I’ll play the beat. You ready?” I asked.

“Yeah. Um...how did that phrase go? Oh yeah! Drop that funky beat, yo!” I cracked up at that. Priceless. Nonetheless, I began the beat for her.

“Get ready!” I said getting ready to start.

“Okay. Here goes nothing. Yeah...okay...ready to um...lay it on ‘em...” She said, nodding her head to the opening jingle. As soon as the first drum set sounded, she began.

I’m a pretty little pony who’s a connoisseur of books.

I’m more than meets the eye, you could tell just by my looks.

I represent the fair town of Ponyville.

And now I’m here to show you *all my mad mic skills.*

As a filly, I was silly, chose my talents over friends.

Reading books willy nilly from beginning to end.

In the city of Canterlot, born and raised.

In the libraries is where I spent most of my days.

Studying the entirety of the day away.

Not exactly the best way to live..but hay.

It got me enrolled in an exclusive institution.

So I figured books were my only suitable solution.

I even got my Cutie Mark at the entrance exam.

And got recruited as Princess Celestia’s right hand...

Or should I say ‘hoof,’ given that we’re ponies.

Not changelings or illusions or any kind of phonies.

I spent my *whole life studying up on magic.*

Which made my social skills look unbelievably tragic.

'Till one day, I was assigned to make the move to a town.

Not on a high mountainside, but *way down on the ground.*

I was reluctant at first.

Not sure what to expect.

I feared the worst, but I could only accept.

That I was given a mission to stop Nightmare Moon.

And gain some friends as an ultimate boon.

In the end, I succeeded and made five friends.

Who’ll have my back all the way to the end...

Rainbow Dash...she’s a blast and a half.

Loyalty is her element; she’s always there in a flash.

Then I got Pinkie Pie, who’s all that and a laugh.

And since Laughter’s her element.

She’ll get you laughing fast.

Next up is Fluttershy, who’s a heck of a mare.

She’s the element of Kindness.

Always able to care.

Then there’s Rarity, who’s got no ferocity.

Quite the opposite, representing Generosity.

Last, but not least, there’s Applejack.

A pony I *know has got my back.*

She’s the element of Honesty, without a doubt.

She tells no lies; no matter what it’s about...

*Silly me; I never actually mentioned my name!*

It’s Twilight Sparkle, and the element of Magic’s my game.

Our experience and friendship has become a big part of me.

And that’s exactly what makes us the...

Elements of Harmony! Word!

I ended the song and stared in amazement at the unicorn.

“How was that?” She asked excitedly.

“Outstanding!” I said clapping my hands.

“Really?” She asked smiling.

“Yeah, that was amazing for your first time! I’m impressed!” I said, giving her a thumbs up.

“Aww, thanks!” She smiled warmly at me. I smiled back.

Dinnertime came, but I didn't know what I felt like eating. So, I asked Twilight what she liked eating.

“A lot of things. Mainly fruits and flowers, but I’ll eat sweets, too.” She said.

“I see...is there such a thing as ‘pizza’ in Equestria?” I asked.

“That there is! I don’t have it very often, so I could go for that.” She smiled.

“Okey doke. Whatcha want on it?” I asked again.

“Just cheese is fine.” She said plainly.

“Alright.” With that, I picked up my phone, called the nearest restaurant, and placed a delivery order for a large cheese pizza. I was given a thirty-minute waiting period. “It’ll be here in a half-hour."

Thirty minutes passed and we soon heard a knock on the door.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“Sounds like the pizza’s here. I’ll get it.” I gathered up the money out of my wallet before rushing to the door to pick up the pizza and pay the delivery guy.

Once we got all settled, I decided on a movie. "What's that and those there?" Twilight asked.

"TV and movies. You know, popular entertainment?" I said.

"Oh like in books and plays?" She asked excitedly.

"Kinda like that yeah." I said while picking out my favorite movie. Spider-Man 2.

Twilight had to admit she was intrigued and she wanted to learn more about me and my world so we decided on a course of action. She would introduce me to aspects of Equestrian life as well as her friends while I would try to do the same to her. but for now, it was movie time. She loved every single minute of it. Well, except the part where Doc Ock had to die. But she still enjoyed it nontheless.

As soon as the movie was over and we had our pizza, we watched yet another movie: Iron Man. She didn't really like this movie all that much once it was over, I kinda didn't either. But what can you do?

After some time, I decided to see what was on TV. And once I flipped through the channels, I settled on The HUB for a bit. And to my amusement, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was on. It was playing Season 2: Episode 14, The Last Roundup. My first favorite episode. Twilight stared at it like you couldn't believe.

"So you weren't kidding about the whole re-imagining thing." Twilight said still all wide eyed at the show that was playing.

"I told you so." I said with a smile.

Once that was over, I went to show her some more episodes like 'A Canterlot Wedding', 'One Bad Apple', 'Apple Family Reunion' etc. on my computer. She didn't want to be reminded of the whole wedding thing again, so I skipped that one and went for the other

ones that didn't remind her of what she did wrong.

After we watched T.V., I felt like doing a little bit of stargazing before bed. Twilight did to. So, I invited her to come outside with me. I wasn't really afraid of having her be seen by others since it was dark out, but I was still very cautious about the whole situation. Spreading the blanket down on the ground they set up their telescopes and Rick pointed out certain interesting sights and areas in the sky.

"Right there... " I said motioning to Twilight to look at where my finger was pointing. "...is the planet Jupiter. Biggest planet in the solar system. And you should be able to see two of its moons, actually just their shadows right now."

Twilight was amazed. Never before had she seen an extraterrestrial planet in such detail. The bands of colour, the swirling vortex of the Great Red Spot and the Galilean moons were all there in front of her eyes. I would occasionally find another stellar object for her to see and admire.

Finally, when she felt that her head was swimming we decided to lie down as I named the constellations and gave stories to them when I knew them. We were currently lying down, as Twilight described the night sky and the constellations to me.

"And that one right there,.." Twilight said pointing with one of her hooves. "...is the Great Pony. Those four stars make out his body, those stars are his legs and those stars are his head. The ancient ponies used to say that he circled the sky and made it move. And over there, that one bright red star is the eye of Stormwind the Dragon. If you look closely a little over to the right of that you can see the smoke coming from his mouth. And then over there you can see the twins Canter and Bollux, sons of the Great Pony. They were both great sportsmen and adventurers that helped out the pony heroes of old and some even say led the first ponies to Equestria. Then if you see over there right behind the Great Pony, there's a triangle with that bright star at one tip, the red star on the other side and that binary star at the bottom. That's Kick'em High the Trickster. He was an Earth Pony that went about tricking the gods and teaching ponykind about all sorts of things. As a punishment, he was tied to the Great Pony's tail and was forced to walk behind him for all eternity...." I listened to her go on and on about the constellations and the stories behind them.

We searched for almost every constellation we could find while looking at the stars. until Twilight spoke up. "Why do I feel so comfortable with you?"

"What seriously?" I started to laugh at that. When I saw her face fall slightly I quickly waved my hands and continued. "It's nothing bad, I was just laughing because I felt the same way. Twi it's weird, it's really weird but you and I just click. I can't explain it but I just 'get' you. You open your mouth and say something and I know how you're feeling and what you're talking about." I said.

"That's exactly how I feel!" She said happily then sighed. "It's usually so difficult to talk to the other fillies, I'm always afraid they won't understand what I'm talking about but with you, unless it's a cultural thing I know you're going to get it." She finished.

After some time, Twilight spoke again. "Hey Mat?" She asked, using my nickname in the process.

"Yes?" I asked back.

"Do you wanna visit my world and see what it's really like there?" She asked again.

"I do indeed." I said with a smile.

And with that, we left with a *POOF*

*POOF* We arrived next to Twilight's tree house in what looks to be Ponyville.

"Wow." I said in awe.

"Pretty nice huh?" Twilight asked while looking at me.

"Indeed." I said again yawning a little.

"I'm glad you like it. Now, let's head off to bed." She said again yawning as well.

And with that, man and pony came together as one and felt truly happy as we drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2 - Meeting The Gang/PAAAAAR-TAY!!!

Morning came and Twilight and I were just waking up from our peaceful nights rest. Spike came in of course and looked at me, looked at Twilight and back at me again. He was not happy.

Twilight broke the awkward silence by speaking first. "Hi Spike. Meet my new friend Mat." She said wondering what her assistant was gonna do.

"H-hi." He said still nervous about meeting me.

"Hello there." I said with a friendly smile. Spike soon relaxed.

After the whole awkward situation was over, we all got ourselves cleaned up, (ladies first of course) then made our way into the kitchen for breakfast.

After breakfast Twilight told Spike a little bit of myself all the while telling him where she was last night and why she decided to bring me here.

Being the baby dragon that he is, he didn't quite understand all that science stuff. I did though. But I also knew how to dumb it down so that he would understand it better. He did.

Of course Twilight being the stubborn mare that she is, stuck her tongue out at me. I ignored it, but that didn't stop my heart from exploding again from seeing her cute face. Anyway, I got to thinking if I'm to go around exploring Ponyville in my current form, I might end up scaring "everypony" to death. She thought about that too. So, with that, I was determined and a little scared to see what I would look like as a pony. It didn't take long for Twilight to find the transfiguration book on how to turn any creature a.k.a me into a pony. I had her do a numbing spell so that I didn't have to suffer any unnecessary pain while I was being transformed. It worked. I looked at myself in the mirror that Twilight levitated in front of me. "Wow." I thought to myself. I then had to learn how to walk as a pony since my now pony limbs move differently than human limbs do. I failed a few times. But after a while, I got the hang of it.

We decided to head over to Sweet Apple Acres to see Twilight's friend Applejack. On our way there, we bumped into what looked like a light pink pony with a dark pink mane and tail. I knew that this was Pinkie Pie right away, but I didn't want to tell them the whole "We somehow re-imagined Equestria and the adventures you girls have through something called a T.V." thing just yet. I already did that with Twilight. Anyway, she got back up and looked at me, I looked at her and then she said..."*GASP* Oh my gosh, are you new in Ponyville? Because I know everypony in Ponyville and I've never heard of you before. You don't look like you're from Ponyville. That means you're new and I love meeting new ponies. So hi, my name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours? *GASP* Do you like cherry chongas? I've made them mys...*OOF*." I shoved a hoof in Pinkie's mouth to stop her rambling.

Nice to meet you too Pinkie, I'm Mat by the way. And no, I've never had a cherry chonga before. But I will try one later though. Bye now." But before we could leave, *OOF* Pinkie shoved a...you guessed it...a cherry chonga in my mouth.

"Have fun you two." Pinkie said, leaving.

"What was that about?" I asked once we were out of the pink pony's sight.

"Oh, just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." Twilight said in return.

We managed to make it to Sweet Apple Acres. And to our surprise, Applejack was there doing what she does best. Harvesting apples.

"Howdy Twilight, who's your new colt-friend?" She asked. I could only face-hoof at that remark.

"Hi Applejack, he is not my colt-friend. I'm just here to help him get used to this place while he's visiting." Twilight hastily answered, blushing.

I didn't exactly have a pony name planned out when we were thinking about the whole transforming thing, so I went with my nickname "Mat" instead. "Hello, my name's Mat. It's very nice to meet you." I greeted the farmpony with a friendly smile.

"Aw shoot, any friend o' Twilight's a friend o' mine." She said shaking my "fore-hoof" causing it to shake itself silly afterwards. Spike who was quiet the whole time stopped my hoof from shaking aggressively.

After that, came Big Macintosh. "Hi there." I said to him. "Howdy." He said back. Then it was Applebloom's turn to say "Hi.". Granny Smith was asleep in her rocking chair, so she was the only one who didn't greet us.

We stayed a bit longer to have breakfast until we decided to visit Rarity at her Boutique. We said our "goodbyes" and then went our way. Spike ended up going all wide-eyed once we arrived at the Boutique to see Rarity.

“Yess…!” I heard Spike whisper in a poorly-hidden sense of delight.

“Well now. You sure seem happy to visit this next place.” I taunted. “Something special about it?”

“Only that it’s run by the most beautiful pony in all of Equestria, the amazing Rarity!” Spike gleefully and lustfully responded, his gaze seeming to be aimed into outer space. I swore I could see literal pink hearts in his eyes as he informed me of this supposedly 'beautiful' Rarity pony.

“Is that so?" I asked

Being the "gentlecolt" that I am, I wiped my hooves on the doormat so as to not track in dirt and other unwanted grime when we went in. I knocked on the door, and soon I heard a "Just a minute." before the fashionista greeted us. "Welcome darlings. Oh, how's my little Spikey-Wikey doing?" That made Spike come back to reality.

"I'm doing great Rarity, thanks for asking." He answered her.

She looked at me and smiled. "I must say deary, what a lovely stallion you got there." She said with a wink making the purple pony blush again. Spike however just crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance.

Ok, now that right there is where hit the mark. I could only stare at what seems to be the cutest look I've seen yet. Twilight was so out of it, I could feel her face burning. And I wasn't even touching it. I snapped her out of her love-embarrassed trance by clearing my throat. "Anyway, I do apologize for the disturbing silence." I said to Rarity once I regained my composure.

"No apologies needed um..." She said not knowing my name.

"It's Mat." I said helping her out.

"Nice to meet you Mat." She greeted.

"Nice to meet you too Rarity." I said in return.

"Hi, I'm Sweetie Belle. Nice to meet you." Sweetie Belle said.

"Not to sound rude, but we really must get going." Twilight said anxious to get out of this "love curse" thing.

"Bye-bye now." Rarity said as she waved.

"Next up, Fluttershy's place." Twilight said as we were making our way out of the Boutique.

"This is going to be interesting." I thought to myself as we were making our way to the cottage.

We arrived at the cottage only to find that "nopony" was there.

"Huh." Twilight said puzzled. "She must be running an errand or something. We'll meet her later I suppose."

And with that Twilight, Spike, and I went back home only to be spooked in the process.

“WHOA!” I screamed as I flew face first onto the floor of the building. *THUD* “OOMPH!”

SURPRISE!!!! Shouted everyone.

They were all happy to see us. Except, I didn't see Fluttershy anywhere. "Where could she be?" I thought to myself.

"Hey Twilight, glad you and your colt-friend could join us." Rainbow said now annoying us in the process.

"Really Rainbow? You too?" I thought to myself.

"Yeah...great." I said sarcastically.

I looked around and saw Fluttershy hiding near the punch bowl and decided to ever so calmly approach her without scaring her. She saw me but did not move on account of me looking like I was mad at her.

"Hello there." I said to her softly.

"Um...hi." She nervously said back.

"It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of me." I told her.

"T-thank y-you." She once again said nervously.

"You're welcome." I said hugging her.

She hugged back feeling better about meeting me.

"Hey dude, over here!" I heard someone call out. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, we didn't get to properly introduce ourselves. Name's Rainbow Dash. The fastest, most coolest flyer in all of Equestria. And the one who aced her way to getting into The Wonderbolts team." Rainbow said with a smile while greeting me.

"That's great." I said smiling back to her.

"Great? More like so awesome." She squeaked.

"Well, I'll talk to you more later Rainbow." I told her.

"Later." She said back.

I decided to dance a little just so I can get used to moving in my new pony body. Only, one problem.

“Twilight, I have no idea how to dance in this body!” I whispered harshly.

“Just uh...do what I do!” She hurriedly answered as she began to dance.

I did my best to keep up with and imitate her seemingly erratic, random movements.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to get used to the routine. However, I still felt unbelievably uncomfortable. Walking as a pony was hard enough...dancing...was harder.

Despite that, I found myself somewhat able to get into the rhythm…even if I did look and feel like a complete idiot. Everyone was giggling while they watched.

“Okie dokie, I hope everypony is having tons of fun out there!” shouted Pinkie, who was standing near the record player. “But now, for the first time at a Pinkie Pie party, we’re gonna play a slow song to set the mood for all you couples out there; you know who you are!” she added as she looked directly at Twilight and me and winked while smiling ear-to-ear, much to our chagrin. As the party pony said, the music changed to a very slow, gentle song that greatly contrasted the previous one.

“Yikes, what a curve-ball.” I mumbled. “How’s this going to work?”

“Stand on your back legs and lean towards me,” Twilight instructed. “We use each other for support. Just be careful with my wings though."

“Okay.” Twilight and I each pushed up and were standing on our hind-legs.

Steadily, we allowed ourselves to lean over into one another.

Given our difference in size, I rested my fore-hooves on Twilight’s shoulders and she wrapped hers around my waist as we took slow, coordinated steps around our area of the dance floor.

The dance felt extremely weird, yet familiar at the same time.

It really wasn’t too different from human slow-dancing, if one disregards the fact that we were quadrupeds.

Pinkie must have gotten bored quickly though, because after less than five minutes, she changed the song back to the party music that was playing earlier.

“That’s enough of the mushy stuff! Now it’s time to party-hardy-hearty until you just can’t party no more!” she shouted as she raced back to the dance floor. My goodness, could that girl move.

Part of me wanted this to be over so I could think of a way to sort this little rumor out; if not with the whole town, then at least with Twilight’s friends; not to mention have a little talk with a certain purple dragon about spreading rumors.

The party went on for hours with dancing, fun, and socialization. This kind of party was hardly any different from a party back in my world; yet another anomaly I mentally jotted down.

I also caught glimpses of Pinkie moving around so wildly that she wound up shoving other ponies into walls; something that made me avoid the pink mare for the majority of it...or at least, try to, up until...

"Hey, Twilight! Can I borrow this lucky-ducky-bo-bucky stallion for a sec?" Pinkie asked, showing no signs of losing energy as we danced around.

"Sure, I guess. I think I need a break, anyhow." She said.

"Twilight!" I called, a bit wary about taking time to dance with who I'd already observed as an equine wrecking ball. "A-are you s-!"

"Yes, go ahead." She permitted (which I didn't want her to do). "Pinkie's the only one of my friends you didn't take the time to get to know yet. Now's as viable an opportunity as any!"

And with that, Twilight relinquished me to Pinkie Pie, who took no time to drag me back to the center of the bakery's dance(?) floor.

"So Mat, What brings such a mysterious fella like you to a town like Ponyville?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, I-!" I started to say, but I was cut off.

"Did you hear about the delicious baked goods at Sugarcube Corner? This is Sugarcube Corner by the way, in case you didn't know. Or maybe it was the choices they have to offer over at Sweet Apple Acres! That's where my best friend Applejack works. Believe it or not, we don't compete. Sometimes, we even sell Apple Acres food products here!"

"Okay. But I-!" I got cut off again.

"OOH! I bet it was the fancy, super-elemagent...eloquent...no, that isn't the word...Elephant? No, that's just silly..."

"Elegant?" I guessed.

"Yeah, that! Did you come here for Rarity's elephant, nice clothes over at the Carousel Boutique? No, that can't be right...You'd have been wearing something from there if that was the case..." the mare kept rambling as we danced, hardly taking a breath.

"No, I jus-!" Yep, I got cut off again.

"I've got it! You came here to meet Twilight because you're one of those super-genius-y types that likes to spend all day cooped up in a room with like, a bajillion, chameleon books and science-y stuff and then you heard about how smart Twilight is, so you just had to pop into town to meet her because you wanted somepony to share your smarty-pantsness...!"

"Intellect," I corrected her again.

"Internet with, right?"

"Lol. Huh?" I thought in surprise.

"Well...you're getting warm, but I-!" Again I got cut off.

"Ooh, this is my JAM!!" She interrupted me yet again as the song changed to something akin to a pop song I'd had the grievous displeasure of suffering through...repeatedly...about five to seven times a day on the radio.

In any case, Pinkie picked up the pace of her dancing (how that was even possible is beyond me), even going as far as to wrap her forelegs around my waist to toss me around like a ragdoll.

"PinkIIIEEEE!!!!" I frantically shouted, losing all sense of awareness as the mare wrestled me around relentlessly.

"Yes?" She finally heard me despite being in her little zone.

"Not so rough! It's...my first time." I shyly admitted, given I'd had no experience with this kind of roughhousing.

"Your first time?? Oh, well you're really lucky then. Cause you're about to take a ride on the Pinkie Express!"

"P-please be gentle!" I begged, at the mercy of this fun-loving, hyperactive mare I was sure was out of her mind.

"By the time I'm through with you, Mat, you'll be begging for more!"

"H-huh??" I asked the party mare in confusion.

"Trust me! You're gonna love it!" She pulled me in and whispered in my ear. At that, I mulled over exactly how our conversation was going so far...and when I was done, I'd come to a horrible epiphany regarding the wording...

"Um...we're still talking about partying...right?" I nervously asked the party mare.

"Of course, you silly billy! If this is your first time, then it's my job to make it memorable for you!" She said.

"Oh, it's memorable alright." I mumbled.

"Good to hear! Ooh! Here comes the bestest, most awesome part!!" With that, she pulled me close and wrapped one foreleg around me...

"Pinkie, what are you doing?! Pinkie! Stop!" And with a mighty swing, she sent me spinning around the room like the Tazzmanian Devil.

"WHOOOOHOAHOAHOAHOAHOAHOAHOAHOAHOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" I couldn't see anything at all.

At the same time, however, I felt myself crashing into other party guests and bouncing off of walls like a Pinball!

Eventually, a table broke my fall as I unceremoniously flipped over it, landing flat on my back.

Dizzier than a sleep-deprived drunk person with vertigo, I pulled myself up, only to stumble about like the ground beneath me was shaking.

"Okay, there's crazy, there's over the top crazy, and then there's...that!"

Right as I was about to fall over again, I felt myself enveloped in a warm, tingly sensation. Suddenly, I lost control of my body as it was levitated into the air and placed on a nearby stool. The bluish glow dissipated almost instantly and within a moment's time, I was joined by Rarity.

"Enjoying yourself, Mat?" The mannerly white mare asked.

"That's an understatement." I sarcastically muttered as I recovered from the vicious physical assault that was Pinkie Pie's dancing.

"I understand Pinkie can get a little...rambunctious at times, but she does mean well." Rarity said.

"Yea, I'm sure...I just don't know how she can bounce around like that for so long, though. She doesn't seem to have lost any energy." I said still feeling a bit dizzy.

"Well, these sorts of social events are part of what she lives for. It's almost necessary for her to be as energetic as she is. However, I'd like to apologize." She said again.

"For what?" I asked now feeling less dizzy.

"One, for not warning you sooner of Pinkie Pie." She joked, which I actually managed to heartily chuckle. "And two, for um...revealing your relationship with Twilight without your permission. It's just that...and keep this between us...Twilight was one of the last ponies I'd expect to find a special somepony."

"Ouch." I thought.

"Really? Why?" I asked, the dizzy now gone from my head.

"It's just...how do I put this...she's an extraordinarily busy mare. Given what I've observed of her schedule, I didn't think she'd had time to search for companionship." She told me.

"Now would probably be a *real good time to tell Rarity we're not really dating. Ah, what's the purpose of that, I'm sure that has been long defeated."* I thought.

"Yea, well...uh..." I began, not exactly sure what to respond with. "From what I gathered about her, she's really nice. Cute, too. I'm sure we'll...work things out."

"I do hope you do. You seem like a sensible fellow. Polite, perpetually curious, and might I say handsome." She said with a little smile.

"Stop, you're making me blush." I countered, mildly flustered by the white mare's compliments.

"Not to mention modest. You and she seem compatible. You two should have a prosperous relationship." She said smiling still.

"You...you really think so?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow, although I knew the chances of Twilight and I becoming that close so soon was highly unlikely...especially because I wasn't actually a pony...but still, it shocked me that Rarity was so observational of me...

"Hey, Mat! Rarity!" A voice called from behind me, I turned to see none other than Twilight approaching. "What's up?"

"Hey, Twilight! Oh man, are you a sight for sore eyes." I said to Twilight.

"And sore everything else!" I thought.

"Good evening, dearie! Mat and I were just conversing, getting to know one another a little better." She told Twilight.

"Oh! Well that's good." Twilight said to Rarity.

"Quite. Oh dear, I seem to have misplaced my drink. Please excuse me while I go and locate it." With that, Rarity made her exit, allowing Twilight to take her seat.

"So...what did you and Rarity chat about?" Twilight asked me.

"Pinkie's insanity." I managed to coax a giggle out of the Alicorn.

"Heh heh, yeah, I guess we should've warned you." She said.

"Yea. But then she started giving me this stuff about our 'relationship'." I said.

"You too?" She asked, catching me off-guard.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"While you were busy being practically mauled by Pinkie, she pulled me to the side and began talking to me...about you." She said.

"Really, now?" I asked again.

"Mm-hmm. She really seems to think we'd be a good couple." She agreed.

"That's basically what she was telling me. I didn't take her to be one to play matchmaker." I said.

"Neither did I...*sigh* but still...I...um..." She faltered, which only served to catch my full, undivided attention.

"What's up, Twilight?" I asked the purple pony.

"I-it's just so...unusual...to think about that sort of thing." She stammered.

"What, having a significant other?" She nodded, blushing.

At that, a strong, awkward silence (despite everything going on around us) washed over us.

"Why don't we just enjoy this party?" She shyly suggested, seeming to want to end the conversation prematurely. "We can um...we can talk about this another time. For now, we celebrate your welcome into Ponyville." She added as she stood up, reaching a foreleg out toward me.

"Fine by me." I agreed, taking her up on her offer to dance.

The rest of the Welcome to Ponyville party went rather swimmingly. Cake, ice cream and fruit punch (which I have to say tasted kind of funny towards the end of the party…like somebody had drank directly from the bowl, but then backwashed it), and even getting to chat with quite a few of the other party guests (even if most of them were simply asking me questions about my "relationship" with Twilight). I was actually, dare I say, having fun.

By the time it was over, everyone had left with the exception of Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy and I.

Rainbow and Applejack took off early because they were both exhausted from their hefty work schedules during the day.

We all stood outside of the bakery, momentarily basking in the moonlight.

“Whew, what a party.” I said, fatigue evident in my voice.

“Pinkie Pie’s parties are always magnificent.” Rarity informed. “They are simply fabulous. Definitely ones you can only know of from experience.” That was actually pretty unusual to hear from her.

She didn’t seem like one to enjoy parties like this one; maybe ones where everybody just sits around gossiping about others over tea and crumpets. But hey...I ain't complaining.

“Oh, you guys! Thank you!” Pinkie enthusiastically stated. “But it’s all thanks to you for being here, Mat!”

“Me? Why, what I do?” Pinkie giggled at my cluelessness.

“You silly! You were the guest of honor! The party wouldn’t have been so super awesomely spectacular with ten chimmy-cherries on top if you weren’t here!”

“Aww, thanks, Pinkie! Heh-heh. But I thought they were called cherry-ch...*OOP!*”

My favorite snack food forcefully found its way into my mouth. The color and flavor? White strawberry cake frosting.

“Please, do not get her started!” Rarity warned as she removed her hoof from my mouth.

“*ACK!*” Yet another hoof in my mouth. This time, it was pink and tasted like bubblegum. Pinkie Pie giggled gleefully with a funny little snort at the end of it.

“Hey, that’s pretty funny!” The pink party mare giggled some more as she took her hoof out of my mouth.

“You know what? Next one to do that gets bit!” I playfully warned as I bared my teeth.

“Wow, Mat.” Twilight began in surprise. “Your teeth...they look so...sharp!”

“What, sharp teeth not normal here?” I asked in confusion, putting a hoof to my mouth.

I assume that the shape of my teeth were the one thing the transformation spell didn’t bother to change.

“Oh, no.” Responded the yellow mare. “Sharp teeth are perfectly normal. Just, not for ponies.”

“Why?” I asked still a little confused.

“Ponies are vegetarians. We mainly only eat plants and baked treats. Because of that, our teeth don’t need to be sharp to eat. See?” Fluttershy opened her mouth to give me a look at her teeth; all of them flat. “Only dragons and some of the animals that live in the Everfree Forest have sharp teeth. Dragons do because they eat jewels. Some animals in the Everfree Forest do because they eat other animals...you’re not either of those things...right?” She nervously asked me.

“Of course not!” I said.

“Then why are your teeth so sharp?” asked Rarity.

“Gee, I just can’t get a break from these darn moments of extreme pressure, can I? Man, It's like I’m on some lie-detecting game show where the first lie that gets found out ruins everything for me. Good thing Applejack isn't here. Hmm...” I nervously thought.

“Well uh...” I shakily began, darting my eyes back and forward between the faces of the inquisitive ponies. “This is gonna sound a little embarrassing, but...I like to chew on things that aren’t meant for eating sometimes.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Pinkie.

“Like...things like ice or wood or plastic or even metal. Not that I actually eat them or anything; just chew on them. That, and when I can’t open something with my hooves, I use my teeth. I-it’s not something I’m proud to admit, you know?” I lied of course.

“Oh dear! You...*yawn* might want to get that checked out.” Rarity advised. “That’s certainly not good for a pony.”

“Yes,” Fluttershy added. “I’ve heard of such a thing before. I don’t remember what it’s called...I think it’s Pica...but I think it happens when a pony doesn’t get enough sweets in his or her diet.”

“Really?” I asked in genuine shock. I had no idea disorders like Pica would exist in this universe, albeit under different circumstances. “How odd...*AGH!*” Pinkie Pie found it necessary to shove a chocolate chip cookie in my mouth.

Where she even got it from, I had NO clue, because she hadn’t moved from her spot since we got out here.

“Dr. Pinkie Pie at your service!” Pinkie happily announced. Everyone had a good laugh at that. Even I laughed with a mouthful of cookie. Hey, it was better than hooves. Plus, it was delicious!

“Gee thanks, Dr. Pie.” I quipped.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” She said.

“We should probably get back home now.” Twilight said. I turned to her and noticed Spike was knocked out and snoring on her back. That little talk would have to wait. “Good night, girls!” Twilight waved as we walked away.

“Peace!” I added with a wave of my hoof as I followed the Alicorn“

Bye!” “Good night!” "Have a marvelous night!” The three mares behind us called back.

“Oh, and congrats on the new colt-friend, Twilight!” Pinkie shouted. We both cringed in discomfort once again.

"You know, I'm actually looking forward to meeting Princess Celestia." I said once everyone were gone yawning a bit in the process.

"Me too. But, that can wait until tomorrow." Twilight said with a little yawn as well.

"Agreed." I agreed.

Once we headed upstairs, I got a little shaky all of a sudden.

“What’s the problem?” Twilight asked a little confused.

"No offense, but I’m a pony now, and you’re a pony, and...” I said a little nervously.

“And...? What’s your point?” She asked still a little confused.

“Well...you know...biology...” I tried to keep it as vague as possible.

“What are you talki...?” She began to ask, but gasped in disbelief as she finally realized my lewd thought mid-sentence. "Mat! You…you didn’t think I...?”

“N-no!” I hurriedly answered. She gave me a deadpan 'Don’t you lie to me' look. “Okay, yes, sort of.” I admitted with shame.

“But it's because we’re the same species and I uh...I dunno how that would work. Being ponies I mean." I told her still nervous not about sleeping together but the fact that I'm now a pony.

“Oh, well I don’t see how it would be too different unless...” Her eyes widened. “...Unless what you’re implying is...is that you being a pony for a day has already changed how you feel about me?”

“What? N-no, of course not.” I brazenly fibbed as turned my head away, towards her window. I didn’t want to admit that...that I actually did start to feel some type of new way for her.

There were so many thoughts racing through my head. Like how it would be wrong. How I wasn’t actually a pony. How I’m human. How we don’t even live in the same universe.

As a human, Twilight and I bonded quickly back in my world. But the bond was purely platonic...or so I thought. I had no reason or motivation to see her as anything more than a friend.

Maybe being turned into the same species as the Alicorn began to toy with my mind, even though I’d only been like this for a day...which reminded me; I wouldn’t be here in Equestria forever,

I refused to develop or acknowledge any unusual feelings for anypony for the indefinite, yet severely limited amount of time I was here…even Twilight.

Doing so would only make my departure and our eventual separation from one another THAT much more difficult.

“Oh, okay.” She said. I expected her to be relieved by my response, but the look I saw on her face when I turned back to face her…it seemed to be one of slight disappointment. That killed me inside.

"Now I feel like a jerk for saying that." I miserably thought to myself.

“*sigh* Listen…I’m just overreacting to a foolish...or should I say ‘foalish’ assumption I made...I’ll sleep with you...if you’re alright with that,” I offered with a sympathetic smile. She brightened up a little and smiled herself.

We climbed into her bed and lay juxtaposed with each other.

“So...how’s this gonna work?” I asked.

“We’ll just turn our backs to each other, I suppose.” She answered while getting in bed.

“Sounds good.” I said while climbing in bed myself.

“Alright. Good night, Mat.”

“Good night, Twilight.” I tried to go to sleep, but something was eating at me, keeping me awake. I knew what it was, but I didn’t know why it was bothering me like this. Much as I tried to ignore it and go to sleep, I eventually figured it would keep me up all night if I tried to push it to the back of my mind. “Hey...Twilight?”

“Yes?” She tiredly asked, although she didn’t move, indicating that she was still awake.

“Now or never.” I thought hoping to clear the air.

I sighed quietly and swallowed hard, gaining enough courage to sit up, turn around and place a small, tender kiss on the Alicorn’s cheek. Although she didn’t move from her original position, I saw her horn flicker with magic for an instant.

“Sweet dreams.” I said as I turned back around and shut my eyes. My heart was racing, but that didn’t keep me from finally finding peace as fatigue instantly overtook me.

I shifted myself into a more comfortable position (as comfortable as I could get with all my limbs bending in moderately dissimilar ways than what I was used to) as I was drifting off into a much-needed slumber.

Sometime after I’d lost myself in a comfortable night-long ride to the infinitely vast land of dreams, I swear I felt something softly touching my own cheek and holding itself there for a few seconds.

My eyes sprang halfway open, but slowly closed once again as a calm smile crept onto my face. The foreign object attaching itself to my cheek felt wet, yet…warm. It also felt like there were two of them.

The objects removed themselves with a quiet pop.

“Sweet dreams, Mat.” A familiar voice whispered.

We soon fell asleep wondering what tomorrow would bring us this time.

Chapter 3 - Meeting Royalty

I awoke from what felt like the best night of sleep I’d had in a very long time, despite how completely insane the events of the day before went.

However, I found myself in a position very much unlike the one I’d gone to sleep in.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a shaggy mass of navy blue with a streak of dark purple and pink in it.

My hoof was resting on something that was…rising and falling in a familiarly slow, steady pattern.

“Ooh, wow.” I thought as I finally realized what happened. I somehow wound up cuddling up to Twilight in my sleep.

“I hope she won’t be mad about this. Maybe if I just move *real slow, I can-!”*

A sudden yawn coming from the ball of blue, pink, and purple stopped my thought process dead.

“Good morning.” Twilight whispered.

“Uh...g-good morning, Twilight.” I fearfully babbled.

“Oh, man! It’s too late! I am so in trouble!” I ever so nervously thought to myself.

“Sleeping with me wasn’t entirely different this time, was it?” She calmly asked as she rose from under my foreleg.

I had no clue how to respond.

“Uh, I-I...um...huh?” I was baffled by her surprisingly calm reaction. "Wha...?" I was still shocked at what happened.

“You moved around a lot in your sleep last night," She began, seeming to take note of my confusion. "I didn’t think you'd ever stop. I was about ready to wake you up until you wrapped your leg around me and settled yourself almost instantly," She explained.

"I-I did?" I continued to ask.

"Mm-hmm. I wanted to move, but you finally calmed yourself down enough to lie perfectly still. Not to mention I was feeling much too lethargic to try slipping out of your grasp without waking you, so I decided to make the best of it and go back to sleep myself. I’ll admit, for as unusual as it was, it was...nice.” She continued.

“Wow, I’m sorry.” I said as I sat up. “I guess being a pony messed up how I sleep, to. I-I didn't mean to um...” I stammered.

“It's no big deal. From the way you were moving, it seemed like you were trying to find positions of sleep that were physically impossible for you to take in your current form, until you unconsciously found me and hugged me." She explained some more.

"Huh...I expected her to be a *lot more upset that I spooned her in my sleep. Could she have gotten used to me that quickly?"*

"Y-you're not mad?" I blurted out, still a bit disheveled.

"Not in the least. I can only assume that was the most familiar position you could find, all things considered about our most recent sleeping arrangements...It also makes for an interesting little note to take down about how you're handling being turned into a species of life entirely different from your own...amongst all the other observations I've gathered thus far.” She said again.

"Might as well not push the issue further if she's over it already." I thought again.

“Makes sense...I guess,” I concurred, moving a hoof to scratch my head. Something felt out of place, though…like the side of my mane was pushed up in a goofy fashion. Twilight’s giggling confirmed that I had a bad case of bed-head.

“Your mane...it looks so lopsided.” The Alicorn kept chuckling.

“Huh? Blah.” I responded with a dismissive hoof wave. “Your hair isn't looking so hot either, scruffy.” Twilight scoffed.

“Touché...Why don’t we wake Spike and get ourselves cleaned up so we can tackle today’s tasks?”

“Alright.” With that, Twilight and I woke the dragon from his sleep (something he was none too happy about, to my amusement), got ourselves clean, and straightened our crazy-looking bed-manes up into their cleanlier (in my case), more organized and publicly presentable nature.

Washing up here was no different from washing up back in my universe.

Despite this world being one where the dominant species was magical horses, therefore less advanced in terms of technology, it had many essential utilities and other things that humans used every day.

I wondered if this world was only as different as it was because of the fact that magical ponies ruled it.

“Alright, Spike? Take a letter.” Twilight told her trusty companion.

“Okay,” Spike obliged as he grabbed a feather and a sheet of paper. “Ready.”

“Dear Princess Celestia

The latest spell I learned, the spell that was supposed to let me instantly transport myself to different places like Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and even Canterlot, I am sorry to say was a failure in that department. However, this same spell instead let me travel to someplace where nopony has gone before. I am delighted to inform you that I may have discovered intergalactic travel! I have even brought a guest from said universe I visited. I showed him Ponyville and I wish to show him around Canterlot to discuss his knowledge from his universe with you as well, if that is okay.”

P.S.

My guest and I were wondering if we were able to make an appointment to visit you today. He’d love to meet you and make your acquaintance. In addition, I’d like to share with you the knowledge I’ve gained from my experiences in his universe. While I am currently unsure exactly how the information I’ve acquired has any ties to my primary studies on friendship, I am sure that this information is worthwhile and may even be able to be documented, as well as open a new area of study on an entirely new subject of magic, which I will dub M.I.T.: Magic Intergalactic Travel! I’ve memorized the spell I utilized to send myself to the alternate universe, but I haven’t had much practice with it, which causes it to burn up a considerable deal of energy as of yet. As such, I currently can’t use it very often. In short, I hope to hear from you soon!

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Aaaand...done! Except I might need you to proofread it…Some of those words sounded way too hard for me to spell.” Spike told Twilight.

“Ugh, Spike...” Twilight complained.

“I got it. Let me see it,” I said. Spike looked at Twilight, who gave him an affirming nod. He reluctantly handed me the letter, seemingly ashamed of his work. “You're looking like somebody died. It's not that bad, is it?”

“...Read it,” Spike mumbled.

“Alright, let’s see here...Dear Princess Celestia, my...apoin ment...? akwaintence...? nalege...? e-experianses...? a-a-acwired...?” At this point, I was trying very hard not to laugh at the poor little dragon’s illiteracy. I was noticeably failing, because every word he spelled wrong made me either snort, puff out my cheeks, or scoff. I was also grinning the entire time.

“Ohh, this is why I wanted you to do it, Twilight!” Spike complained, causing Twilight to scowl at me.

*Ahem* “Sorry. Sorry. Okay, I’ll get serious now,” I assured the dragon after I took a deep breath. “Awright then...pry marry...? What the...what is this...? Doc, you meant it? *SNORT* *AHEM* uh, where was I...? Oh, yeah...Oh, no...i...innergolacktick??” I completely lost it in a fit of laughter at that one. I dropped the paper and fell back on my haunches cracking up. I tried in vain to put a hoof in my mouth to control myself.

“Mat! That’s not nice!” Twilight scolded.

“I-I’m so s-s-sorry-hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-haaaa!"

*ZAP!* "AAGAHGGH! Oww...!” Twilight zapped me with a small jolt of magic to stop me from laughing.

“Are you finished?” The Alicorn impatiently asked.

“Yeah...yeah I am...” as soon as I said that, Spike started stifling laughs of his own. “What?”

“Y-your hair...!” Spike choked out between laughs.

“My hair...? What...Oh, uh-uhh...No you didn’t...!”

“Take a look,” Twilight said as she laughed and levitated a mirror towards me. My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw what she did to my mane. It looked like the hair of an anime character!

It was so frizzy and unruly, with every strand of hair sticking upwards in crazy zigzag patterns that made it look like I was trying to brush it with a balloon. The unicorn and dragon were howling with laughter.

“I hate you both so much right now. Heh-heh...I guess I deserved this, though. Alright, let me proofread this letter so we can get on with the day.” I picked up the letter and corrected every mistake the dragon made (there weren't too many of them, but his spelling could've used some help), and handed it to him. “There, happy now?”

“Thanks, Mat.” Twilight said, smiling. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Oh, hardy har-har.” I dryly responded.

He then rolled the letter into a scroll and, with a strong breath of green fire; he burned the scroll to sparkling vapors that flew out of a nearby window.

"Okay. Now that that's done, now what?" I said still not wanting to give away anything that might cause suspicion.

"Now, we...*KNOCK KNOCK*. Twilight was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Howdy." "Hello darlings." "Hi guys." "HEEEYYY!!!!" "H-hello." The gang said as they all came in to greet us.

"Hello there. What brings you here?" I said face-hoofing once I noticed that I sounded like Zecora.

"Oh, just wanted to see how our friend and her new colt-friend were getting along together." Rainbow said now getting on my and Twilights nerves.

Honestly, she does look like the type that I was hoping for. but now's not the time to question it. We needed to see what the Princess had to say about my arrival.

*BUURRPP!!!!* Spike burped. And not a moment later, a letter appeared in front of him.

We all gathered around to see what it said:

"Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

While it is unfortunate to hear that your spell did not work the way you’d intended, it is most wonderful to hear that you’ve discovered something entirely new with it! In all my millennia, I have never heard of a pony being able to travel outside of one plane of existence and into another one! You never cease to amaze me, my Most Faithful Student, and I hope to meet this intergalactic friend of yours soon.

Yours Truly,

Princess Celestia.

P.S. If you’re having difficulty with spelling, Spike, then please let me know. This letter was very hard to read with all the spelling corrections."

"Well, that's good that she wants to meet me." I said.

"Indeed." Twilght agreed.

"My my, now what's this all about? And what's this new world like?" Rarity asked.

"We wanted to let her know about my arrival here. As for the new world thing, you'll find out once we know for sure you are all allowed to come." I said not sure if that was a good idea yet.

"Ok, well lets not keep the princess waiting. Let's move." Twilight said not wanting to waste another minute.

The royal carriage took us all all the way up to the skies to where the castle was. Now it was my turn to stare in "awe" at the sight. I was even drooling a bit.

"You okay sugarcube?" Applejack asked returning me back to reality.

"Yeah, just a little shocked that's all." I said back.

"That's quite ah'lright. Yew seem like a decent feller. What with that party an' ah'll." A.J. said glad to see nothing wrong with me.

We arrived at the castle only to be greeted by a very jumpy Twilight.

"Shining Armor, Cadence." Twilight said flying a little in the process.

"Twily, glad you could come." Shining said while hugging his little sister.

Cadence however greeted Twilight with a “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” dance.

I don't know which was worse, the fact that I didn't turn away once they started their special dance, or the fact that Twilight shook her flank in my face when they did it.

I could only stare in shock this time. My face was so red, it looked like I've been eating a bunch of jalapeño peppers.

Spike must’ve been getting quite the gut workout because he fell on the floor cracking up, holding his sides and kicking wildly into the air all the while. The girls did too much to my dismay.

Shining saw this and soon broke me out of the embarrassing moment.

"T-thanks." I said still shocked at what happened.

"Anytime." He said.

"Oops, sorry." Cadence apologized.

"Gah! Me too! I...uh...*gulp* Sorry, I forgot y-you were t-there and...*sniff*..." Twilight said looking like she was on the brink of crying.

“Aww, even as a full-grown mare, you’re still the adorable little filly I took care of all those years ago.” Said Cadence as she ran a hoof through Twilight’s mane to console her. "It's okay. It was just a simple mistake."

“I um…I'm sorry, Mat...I didn't mean to um...to...uhh...” She trailed off, failing to find suitable words for giving me a surprise view of her booty.

“N-no, you’re fine,” I shakily interrupted. “I probably should've moved. You were only doing your thing. But uh…at least…at least…um…” I stammered over my own words and froze as I drew a blank.

" Say something stupid! Anything that’ll make this whole thing wash away!”

"...At least you have a nice figure...?” I finally finished. That only made Twilight blush even more as Cadence giggled a little while Spike and the girls continued dying of laughter on the floor. I instantly regretted saying that.

"Real smooth there pal. Not."

"S-still...I should've looked b-before...oh...*sniff*...th-thank you by the way.” Twilight said still a little shocked as she stood looking at the ground and brushing one foreleg with the other. She seemed to almost become another Fluttershy.

I have to say, after all that, she was still pretty cute with the way she was acting. Even if it was my fault.

“Soooo…” Cadence announced, in an attempt to shed the awkward air. “Who are you?” She asked me.

“My name's Mat, Mrs. Princess Cadence ma’am.” I politely answered.

I got a laugh from some of the girls (minus Twilight since she was still upset).

"It's actually Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my subject." She corrected with an air of regality.

"Her name is in Spanish? 'My Love, Cadence.' Wow." I thought.

"Oh. My apologies, Mrs. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." I excused myself as I stepped forward and reverently bowed to her. She laughed, which served to confuse me. The girls and Spike minus Twilight were still laughing.

“I'm sorry...I was just messing with you," She informed with a smile. "You can rise. And please, just call me Cadence,” the pink Princess requested, much to my surprise as I brought myself back to a stand.

"And you can call me either Shining or Armor." Shining Armor said while we shook hooves together.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, really. We're all grown ponies here, and I'd like for you to be as comfortable as possible here in Canterlot." For a Prince and Princess, they sure were cool.

“Oh, okay C-cadence," I stuttered, at which she let out a small chuckle and offered up a hoof.

Taken by surprise yet again, I carefully raised my hoof to hers as if I was about to lay my touch upon a delicate, highly coveted, wonderfully decorative one-of-a-kind vase.

"Relax, Mat. I promise, I won't bite."

"Y-yea, I'm sure...It's just not every day you get to meet a Princess, you know? Plus, given what just happened."

"I assure you, you are perfectly okay. You have nothing to fear. Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine.

"That's what Applejack said when I first met her." I thought.

"I-it's very nice to meet you both." I said hoping to clear the air of what happened with the greeting of Twilight and Cadence.

With that Spike and the girls all stopped laughing.

In any case, what brings you here with little Twiley?" She asked as we broke contact.

"Yep, she had to say it." I thought again.

I looked at Twilight only to see that she was still a little upset.

"It's alright." I said hoping to cheer her up. "It's over now, there's nothing to worry about." I said with a cheerful smile.

*sniff*..."Thanks." She said back.

"Um..." It took me a second to gather my scattered thoughts, messily strewn about my brain by the overwhelming discombobulation brought in by Princess Cadence's presence (as well as the fresh new mental image of Twilight bending over in front of me... but I digress).

"Oh! Yeah, I’m here with Twilight and her friends to visit Princess Celestia.” I said to Cadence.

"That we are princess." A.J. said surprising me since they've been quiet. Save for a few laughs, but still.

"Yes. I must say, he is quite the gentlecolt." Rarity said embarrassing Twilight even more so than me again.

“Oh, so you must be the guest Auntie Tia was telling me about!” Cadence questioned.

“She told you about him?” Twilight asked with small surprise as she turned again to face the royal winged unicorn.

“Yes. She seemed so excited about meeting you two. She couldn’t stop talking about how her most faithful student of all ponies wound up being the one to cross intergalactic borders...by accident, no less."

This pony gained my respect instantly, along with a little admiration for her calm, level-headed nature.

I saw Twilight’s face brighten up with such a look of ecstatic vigor that I thought she’d spontaneously rocket up through the sky with excitement.

“I even told Shining Armor! You should’ve seen the look on his face." She said making Shining blush. "You’ve made us so proud, Twilight!” The pink princess finished as she hugged the little Alicorn pony.

"Indeed." Shining agreed.

“Oh, thank you so much!” Twilight said as she returned the hug. “You don’t know the half of how great that makes me feel!"

"Oh, I think I have an idea..." She replied as they broke their hug. "So, Mat." She began, focusing her sights on me. "How has your tour of Equestria been thus far?" she asked with a sense of curiosity. "I understand you've been here for a bit longer than today."

"So far, it's been a blast, to say the least! I've only been here since yesterday, but things here are so...captivating! Especially given that magic is actually a real thing here!" Cadence's eyes widened in shock.

"Magic isn't a thing in your world?" She asked.

"No. At least, that's what I thought until Twilight here showed up in front of me the other day." I told the pink Alicorn princess.

"I see...Did you get to do some sight-seeing in his world, Twilight?" She asked again.

"Not yet, but I will soon enough. After I meet up with the princess that is. And maybe, she'll even let you all come too if she'll let me." I said with a smile.

Twilight really seemed like she wanted to see Princess Celestia as soon as she could. Even sooner, if it were possible.

But then, I had my reasons for sharing in her enthusiasm. Getting to meet Princess Celestia face-to-face? Surely, an opportunity much too rare and prestigious to pass up.

"I'm sure she can't wait to meet up with you, either!" She assured with a bright, beautiful smile.

She then turned toward me, but as she did so, her smile faded, which I took as a sign that she found something out of place about me.

Pretty soon, her eyes narrowed, studying me scrupulously.

"I-is there something wrong?" I asked, mindful about the tone I took.

"Oh no. Not here, not now." I nervously thought to myself.

"No...No, it's just...I'm picking up something...eccentric about you."

"Eccentric?"

"Yes."

"L-like what?" I asked in fear of what I thought was her discovery.

"That's what I intend to decipher." She cryptically answered as she continued her stare-down.

I simply froze in place, my heart thumping like a drum as the proverbial elephant in the room began making itself known.

"What is she staring at?" I nervously thought to myself as Cadence stared at me.

Nervous, I looked around in case she may have been staring at something within my general direction.

When I couldn't find anything she may have found of interest, I fearfully brought my gaze back to her.

Her face almost seemed frozen in that studious, scrutinizing expression.

After a few unbearably awkward silent seconds, she then brought her gaze over to Twilight and began studying her up in the same fashion she'd studied me.

"Hmm..." She continued to ponder.

"Is...there something wrong, Cadence?" Twilight asked in wonder.

"Not necessarily...I sense something, however." She replied, deep in thought as she alternated between Twilight and I. "Something...Warm...Pleasant...Sweet, yet...Somewhat unsettling."

"You do?" Both Twilight and I asked at the same time.

The two of us exchanged looks of confusion before turning back toward a pensive Princess Cadence.

"Is...there something you're not telling me, Twilight?" At that, the unicorn's eyes widened a bit.

"Something I'm not telling you? L-like what?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Like something about...you know." With that, the carnation pink Alicorn smirked at her little sister, lowering the lid of her left eye, so as to communicate to the purple Alicorn mare that she picked up some unspoken vibe of some sort.

"Oh!" Twilight seemed to realize, leaving me in the dark. "Well, there IS something I'd been thinking about bringing up to you recently. And since you're here, I guess now it's as good a time as ever to do so.”

"Twilight and Mat are dating." Rainbow Dash cut in.

"Pushing it!" I thought with a hint of anger.

"Really?" Cadence asked.

"Sort of, I just don't want to make a big deal out of it since we haven't talked to Princess Celestia yet." I lied a little hoping that the love curse thing would go away.

"Ok. well let's all go see Princes Celestia together then." Cadence said as she and her husband led us inside to go meet Celestia.

The sight I saw when we walked into the room took my breath away five times over. The throne room itself was able to do that at least twice. The very first thing I noticed was the stain-glass windows. Each of them seemed to show some kind of picture of a historic event. One showed a portrait of two Alicorns, one white and one navy blue, beating a monster that looked exactly like the statue in the garden.

Another one showed six very familiar smaller ponies beating a different version of the dark blue winged unicorn. The third showed the same six ponies beating the snake monster again. If I wasn’t mistaken, I’d say that Twilight and her friends...were Equestria’s protectors.That thought threw me for so many loops that I thought I had a case of vertigo because of it. I forgot about my amazement at the rest of the extravagant throne room simply because of the windows.

“Well, hello there!” Said the voice in a friendly tone. I looked up and lost my breath another three times when I laid my eyes on the magnificent being before me sitting on her throne.

She was stunning! Her long, effervescent multicolored mane and tail flowing as if a gentle breeze was lifting it, her gold tiara and horseshoes, her alabaster body, equipped with a Cutie Mark of what seemed to be the sun.

Everything I saw in this Princess struck me speechless as my jaw dropped. It almost dislocated when she got up and walked towards us.

She was at least twice my size, her horn was at least three times the size of Twilight’s, and when she flared her wings to stretch them, each one of them seemed to be ten of a pegasus’s wings put into one.

“You must be the guest my most faithful student was telling me about.” She bowed to me, which shocked me even more. “I am Princess Celestia. Nice to meet you. What, may I ask, is your name, kind sir?” I froze in such a state of amazement that I just flat-out gawked at her.

“Um...Mat? You alright there?” I heard Spike ask. I said nothing. “Mat?” He asked again.

“Mat!” Shouted Twilight. I still said nothing. What woke me up was a hoof swiftly making its way across my face. “Snap out of it!”

“AH! Oh! Umm I-I’m sorry! I'm Mat.” I shakily said, rubbing my cheek. “And yes, uh...I-I’m the guest Twilight brought h-here, Your Highness, Ms. Princess Celestia.”

“Simply ‘Celestia’ will do just fine,” She informed with a cute little laugh. “I see Twilight has told you of me?”

"Y-yes. Please, forgive my nervousness. Meeting you and discovering exactly how important Twilight is...it’s just a lot to take in.”

“What do you mean by how ‘important’ I am?” Twilight asked.

“Well...other than what you told me before, I learned that you’re also Celestia’s niece-in-law, your brother’s the captain of the Royal Guard, your sister-in-law’s another princess, and you and your friends are Equestrian heroes. That’s what I mean.”

“Wow, you’ve learned a lot about me. Yes, all of that is true. But one thing I didn’t realize myself...was that Princess Celestia is now my aunt!” She excitedly proclaimed. Celestia chuckled again.

“Hm, yes, that is true, isn’t it?” The sun goddess rhetorically asked. “But that’s enough about us...” She continued in a more serious tone, standing back up. “What about you...Mat?”

“Oh! Right...I’m from a universe that is similar to this one in terms of how ponies interact with one another amongst other similarities, but at the same time, completely different. Like how there’s no such thing as pegasi or unicorns, my world is far beyond this one in terms of technological advances due to lack of the existence of magic, and that there is no clear answer as to the existence of a supreme overseer like yourself...It’s also worthy of note that not everybody in my world is quite as friendly as most of the ponies here in Equestria...or at least, in Ponyville.

"I see. This world of yours sounds quite peculiar...but I feel that there is one more thing that you’re not telling me...”

"Uh-oh. Does she know that I'm not really a pony? Or did she figure out the love curse thing between me and Twilight? Or does she know that we somehow recreated their world through T.V.?" I nervously thought to myself.

...something else you’re hiding...” She stared at me, studying me like some kind of animal. Her stare was unsettling to say the least. I didn’t want to tell her about me being human, for fear of her reaction. Her horn suddenly lit up with a golden aura as I froze in fear.

“Princess? What are you going to do to him??” Twilight asked, panicked by her mentor’s action.

“Do not worry my student. I simply wish to scan his anatomy.” She said as her horn cast a similar golden aura over me.

I felt a barrage of tingling sensations all over me as Celestia highlighted me in her glow.

She closed her eyes and focused for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and ended her spell. “I sense that there was a spell placed on you for you to maintain your current form,” She deduced to the collective shock of me, the girls, Twilight, and Spike. She turned towards the purple Alicorn.

“Is there something you know about this?” She asked Twilight.

"Man, and I was *so close from being revealed."* I continued to panic in thought.

“Y-yes.” Twilight admitted. “You see, he’s not actually a pony like us. He’s what’s called a ‘human.’ He is part of the dominant species in his world, where ponies like us don’t exist. I transformed him into a pony just in case everypony who saw him in his human form would panic. I took precautionary measures mainly because I remembered how everypony treated Zecora when she first arrived in Ponyville.”

“I understand. Which reminds me...what was it about ‘Magic Intergalactic Travel’ you were talking about in your letter to me?”

“Oh yes! It was just an idea swimming around in my head recently, but I wanted to document the spell I used, seeing as I have it memorized now, so that other unicorns strong enough to use it would be able to traverse to Mat’s world and interact with humans themselves.”

“I see..." Celestia thought out loud.

"*sigh*...It's true, I'm known as a human in my world." I admitted sadly.

"Huh, well did you get to do some exploring in his world yet Twilight?" Celestia said.

Not yet, but I'm kinda hoping to bring the girls along for the ride." Twilight said to her mentor.

"Very well. can you transform him back please?" Celestia asked.

"Here where he's gonna be exposed to everypony?!" Twilight looked a bit uncertain having to transform me back in public.

"It's alright. I think I'm better off as a human than a pony anyway." I told her hoping to clear the air.

"Say what's this talk 'bout a 'human'? Applejack asked.

"Just wait and see." I said to her.

And with that, Twilight used her magic on me to transform back into my old self.

*ZAP* "There you go princess, just like you wanted."

*GASP!* The girls stared in shock.

Celestia was unsure whether or not I should continue staying here, but she came up to me and said..."Congratulations Mat on your stay in Ponyville."

"H-huh? B-but I thought being human meant that I wasn't gonna be visiting anymore." I uneasily said to the Sun Goddess.

"True, but that would make this a lot harder on Twilight more so than me." She told me in return.

"Ah, I see your point." I agreed.

"I also hope you and your friends have fun while visiting Mat's world." Celestia told Twilight.

"We will indeed Your Highness." All six girls agreed.

And with that, we left to go show and tell the town about me and my stay here in Ponyville.

To be continued...

Chapter 4 - Town Meeting/Going Back Home

We all got ourselves settled in to the chariot ready to go to Town Hall to set up a meeting. Once we arrived and we were getting settled, a bunch of the towns ponies kept on looking at me strangely.

"Eh, can't say I blame them for looking at a somewhat hairy monkey with no tail who wears clothes. Oh well." I thought to myself once I got seated with the others sitting right next to me.

"Okay, uh...hey, everybody. I'm sorry to have caused all of you to take time out of your daily schedules to be here today. I know there's a lot of questions most of you might have, but, with all due respect, I request that they wait until I'm done. *AHEM!* So yea...First and foremost, I don't mean no harm to anybody here. I don't know how much I can emphasize that, but I'm a friendly. In fact, I know some of you pretty well already. How, you might ask? Well, remember that one pony that was here the other day? That was me." At that, the whole crowd took on a collective breath of surprise that could've given a vacuum cleaner a run for its money.

"But how?? Y-you're not a Changeling, are you??" Asked one of the audience members.

"No, I'm not a Changeling. I am of a species nobody knows about here. But I'll get to that in a minute. Ok, who's up first?" I asked the crowd.

"Ooh, ooh. Pick me, pick me." A yellow filly with red hair and a pink bow called out.

"Oh, hey Applebloom. What is your question?" I asked the filly.

""So if yer an' alien, an' Twilight brought-cha here with her magic, then how'd ya get turned into a pony from there? And might Ah ask why you're not a pony now?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Wow, she's got quite a brain in her." I thought.

"The answer: Magic. I got the idea to have Twilight turn myself into a pony right after she brought me here for the first time. And I guess Princess Celestia wanted to let everybody know who the real me was." I told her. "That, and I was gonna show Twilight's friends my world as well." I finished.

"Ooh." I heard one of the ponies say.

"Indeed." Twilight agreed. "Um, as you may or may not know, but Mat is a human." Twilight told them.

"Ahh." I heard another one say.

"And from what I understand, human beings don't exist here in Equestria. I appear to be the very first of my kind to enter into this place. Which is in a galaxy far, far away from here I might add." I added some more.

"Galaxy? Far, far away?" A light brown, blue-eyed Earth stallion questioned. "Might you elaborate on that?"

"Exactly what I said, sir. I'm from an entirely different plane of existence. And before you hit me with a bunch of science-y questions about ripping through the fabric of time and space and astronomical wormholes that would quite possibly rupture the flow of reality and defy, shatter, and make an outhouse of the laws of physics as we know it, as well as outrageous 'black-hole grandfather paradox theories', I'd have to refer you to Twilight, because she's the one who managed to conjure up the spell to bring me here. I don't know that much about it myself." I told him.

"That I did." Twilight agreed with a smile.

"Wait. You're seriously from a whole 'nother world??? Name's Lyra Heartstrings by the way." Asked a mint green unicorn.

"Yea. Somewhere amongst the cosmos, there exists a world entirely inhabited by my kind. In some ways, its civilizations and natural landscapes are just as affluent in diversity as the ones here this world are. In many other ways, it's far different." I said to her.

"Ok, who's next?" I asked. "You there." I said pointing to a filly with a purple mane and tail and with orange fur.

"Hi, Scootaloo's the name. Hey are there ponies like us in your world?" She asked.

"Yes and no. You see Scootaloo, the ponies in my world do not talk, nor can they fly or use magic. So I guess we have a bunch of Earth ponies there." I answered her.

"I see..." She thought.

"Next question. Hmm...you there?" I called out.

"Hi, my name is Mrs. Cheerilee." A pony with the same color scheme as Pinkie but reversed greeted.

"Hiya, what is it you wanna know?" I asked the school mare.

"Yes well, since you can't fly and you don't have magic, what do you use?" She continued.

"Technology such as television, computers, telephones, and there are some vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses and we also have trains as well. And we have airplanes that actually help us to fly in the sky. That sort of stuff." I assured her.

"Hmm..." She looked a bit blank on what I told her. Rainbow however went wide eyed at my statement.

"Anyway, next question." I said looking around at the audience.

"I do believe I have one, dear." Rarity said as she approached me.

"Yea, Mademoiselle?" I asked Rarity while using a French/Prench accent.

"My, that eloquence of yours." She coyly remarked with a sweet little smile. "*AHEM!* But I must know...your clothing...does your species wear it often?"

"Yea. Almost all the time, actually. And because I know you're big on clothes, Rarity, I'll let you know this: The fashion industry is huge in my world. Designer brands of all kinds of clothes. Distributed, sold, bought, worn, and modeled all over the world."

At that, the dainty little mare practically squee'd in excitement as her eyes glimmered with interest.

"But generally, yea, we humans wear clothes almost all the time. We only ever take them off when we bathe or on 'special occasions, if you catch my drift."

"Oh my! That's very intriguing. You know, I've been having aspirations to expand my designer market toward non-ponies. Do you think it would be okay if you were able to maybe...allow me to...to scale you sometime?" She innocently requested.

"I uh...I guess so." I agreed, thrown off by the request. "But why? I'm the only human here."

"I know, but if there's something I adore when it comes to fashion design, it's a challenge. Quite frankly, if most humans dress like you do, then there's much work to be done." She said smiling.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, taking the statement as a jab at my admittedly-shabby fashion sense.

"Nothing personal, Mat, it's just...your ensemble could use a little sprucing up if your kind wears clothes all the time. Besides..." She trailed off as she stood on her back legs to get into my ear. "You definitely want to look good for Twilight...don't you?" She whispered with that perturbing, yet cute little giggle of hers.

Once again, that made Twilight blush. I however face-palmed.

"Hey, I haven't the slightest clue if I actually *like her like her yet."* I annoyingly thought to myself.

"Fine. Just let me know a good time." I said feeling a bit uneasy at Rarity's remark.

"I knew you'd see it my way. I shan't disappoint you," she excitedly let me know as she went back to the group.

"Hmm...anybody else?" I asked the group.

"Excuse me!" Called a filly from the crowd.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle! What's going on!" I greeted.

"Hi, Mat. Um...do you have a Cutie Mark right now like you did when you were a pony?"

"As a pony, I did. As a human, I don't. Humans don't have Cutie Marks." At that, a good portion of the crowd gasped in shock. "I know, it's weird to hear from me. But yea, if a human has a special talent, then he or she will just know it and find a way to become successful using said talents." The audience droned in bewildered interest at my confession. "So with that, is there anything else you all wanna know?" I asked. "Ok, who's next?" The crowd went into a small, controlled fit of overlapping hooves as many more seemed to have questions than I expected. "You there!" I called out.

"Good afternoon, sir. Caramel's the name." Spoke the stallion I chose. "Seeing as you're not the same species as any of us, then I presume that means you probably don't have the same diet?"

"More or less true." I told him.

"So...are you an herbivore like us? Or do you eat jewels like a dragon? Or do you eat other animals?" He continued asking.

"I'm an omnivore by nature." I curtly replied, which garnered a surprisingly small amount of shock. "But since coming here, I've not eaten any kind of meat, considering you're all vegetarians." I assured him. The crowd soon relaxed. I was shaking a little since I never really told Twilight yet that I sometimes eat meat when I first met her. Oh well. "Any other questions?"

"Over here!" A different mare shouted.

"Yes, you." I asked.

"Berry Dreams here. So...um...I'm not sure if you know this, but it's just about springtime." She said nervously.

"Why, yes. Yes it is." I stated.

"And I'm not sure if you know exactly what happens to mares during the springtime." She continued

"I got a bad feeling about this." I thought hoping she isn't going in that direction.

"I'm aware of it, yes. Your point?" I stated.

"*gulp* I'm just gonna be blunt with it: Have you and Twilight done any-!" She continued but was cut off.

"Enough of that!" I annoyingly thought.

"AH! AH! I'm gonna have to stop you there, Berry Dreams. T.M.I." I commented while making a "T" with my hand.

"Wha-?" She asked in confusion.

"Too much information. Especially when there's kids in the audience. Next question, please!" I hurriedly skipped.

"Thanks." A red faced Twilight whispered in my ear.

"No problem." I said back.

(evil laughing)

A startled Twilight seemed to recognize the voice, letting out a long sigh. “Now what?” She grimaced.

"It's funny how Twilight Snarkle here would be in a relationship with a hairless monkey. Yeah, I'm talking to you Snarkle. You and your idiot friends ruined everything." A blue mare with a purple wizard cloak and hat gloated. Twilight face-hoofed at the rude comment.

“What are you doing here, Trixie?” Twilight challenged the other mare.

"What's wrong Snarkle? Afraid that your stupid bangs and lousy magic skills might get in the way of The Great and Powerful Trixie?" Trixie continued to gloat.

"Hey! What's wrong with my bangs? They match my tail." Twilight said wagging her tail a little to show what she meant.

"What's up with you?" I politely asked the mare.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that "The Great and Powerful Trixie" was just basking in your spotlight in where it should be mine. And to let you know that I'm here because "The Great and Powerful Trixie" has been receiving some...*growl*...tough crowds." She gloated again but I just decided to just glare at her.

"Hey! I'll have you know that we've defeated you twice now, and we are not afraid to do it again." Twilight shot back.

"Yeah!" The gang said.

"Whatever, it's not like he can beat me though." She continued to gloat, only to me this time.

"Uh...yeah, I can." I gloated back at her. She was really starting to get on my nerves now.

"Hah! You expect "The Great and Powerful Trixie" to believe that she can be beaten by a simpleton hairless monkey? Well, you are sadly mistaken." She barked.

She was so temping me to fight, but I just continued to glare at her.

"Whatever. See you losers later." And with a *POOF*, she was gone.

"Phew, that was close." I mumbled.

"Indeed. Well it looks like we'll be heading home since Trixie ruined the meeting. Later everypony". Twilight said while waving goodbye to the crowd.

And with that, we headed home.

A short time later, we arrived at Twilight's library to just hang out for a bit before it was time to go to my world.

"Ok, now what?" I asked not knowing what to do next.

"Beats me sugarcube." Applejack replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Heh, you're pretty funny A.J." I said to the farm pony.

"Hey now, Ah'm bored too ya know." She said with a sigh.

"Um...I'm a little bored too. N-no offense." Fluttershy commented.

"I say, that Trixie has been getting under my fur for quite some time. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be sitting here bored myself. No offense myself." Rarity scoffed with a flip of her mane.

"Not me, I never get bored." At that we all looked at Rainbow. "Ok, maybe I'm a little bored too." She admitted in defeat while crossing her hooves in the process.

"Aw, usually I'm all over the place when I'm happy. But now, I'm not since that phony-bologna-pony ruined my happy mood." Pinkie said with a frown.

"Eh, that settles it. To Mat's world we go. Spike, take care of the library while were gone. Ok?" Twilight said.

"You got it." Spike assured her with a salute.

She began powering up her horn so she could take us all to my world. *POOF*

And with a *POOF* we all appeared in my room.

"Wow." the mares said in unison. Except Twilight since she already got to see it.

"You weren't kiddin' when you were talkin' 'bout this technology stuff." A.J. said.

"Uh-huh." The four mares all agreed.

"Anyway...wanna have a look around?" I asked them.

"Sure." And with that I got to show them the house. Twilight decided to just to read a book on my bed while I was entertaining her friends.

First up, I got to watch Iron Man with Rainbow much like I did with Twilight. Only this time, she liked it.

I then watched Project Runway with Rarity. She wouldn't even budge from her spot after it was over. It was a good thing I had some DVD's of it for her to watch. So I put in the Season 1 DVD in and had her watch the entire season.

Then it was Fluttershy's turn. I don't know why I didn't give these away, but I put in Zoboomafoo for her to watch. She wouldn't stop talking and pointing at the screen. She was almost as cute as Twilight when I got to show her my computer.

Next up, I had Pinkie Pie watch The Three Stooges cartoon. She laughed so hard she peed a little on the carpet.

"Oopsie." She said feeling a little embarrassed.

"It's alright. It'll soon dry up." I said to her.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” She said feeling better knowing that she had a bit of an accident.

Speaking of peeing, I saw Twilight come out of my room some time later for a bathroom break herself.

Finally, it was Applejack's turn. I had no idea what to have her watch, but then I soon settled on The Amanda Show hoping it has the Hillbilly Moment stuff. I'll be frank, some episodes don't have that in the show. But today I got lucky.

It was starting to get late, so I called the group over and I ordered vegetarian pizza for each of us for dinner.

"Well, today was certainly an interesting day. I mean, I was fine until Trixie showed up." I said while working on my second slice.

"It could've gone better, but I agree. Sorry about that by the way." Twilight said while eating her slice as well.

"Trixie sure is a sneaky one, but I agree as well." Pinkie Pie added while eating her slice in one big gulp.

"Too bad I didn't get the chance to fight her sorry flank, I would've been awesome at that." Rainbow remarked while eating her slice with attitude.

"Rainbow darling, this isn't the time nor the place to be discussing that kind of behavior around our friend." Rarity scolded Rainbow while nibbling on her slice.

"Uh-huh." The rest of the mares agreed while finishing their slices.

Once dinner was over, I put the leftovers in the fridge and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then I went and got out my spare camping bed from when I went camping a few years back and had the six ponies all get ready for bed waiting what tomorrow would bring us.

"Ok here's the plan for tomorrow." I started to say. "Before we go back to Equestria, I was thinking we all go for a road trip." With that, I got a bunch of 'yay's' from the six mares. "But I cannot allow you all to be seen by anybody while were outside." I got a bunch of sad 'awws' from them that time. "However, Twilight here could turn you all into humans just like she was able to turn me into a pony. Maybe. Then you won't be spotted and taken away to who-knows-where so they can do who-knows-what to you." I finished.

"It's worth a shot." Twilight agreed.

"Then it's settled. Goodnight everypony." I said to them.

"Goodnight Mat." They said back.

And with that, we all went into a deep sleep.

Correction, I went to a deep sleep. The six ponies all stayed awake chatting about what they would like to do in the morning.

They were careful to not let their talking and giggles disturb me while I lay sleeping just halfway across the room.

The moon cast just enough light for the ponies to be able tell each other apart.

Pinkie Pie was the first to speak, which didn't surprise anyone. "Isn't this great, you guys?! I'm so excited! Are you guys excited? I know I am! I can't wait to see all the bakeries and throw a bunch of parties and-" Twilight put a hoof over her mouth, cutting her off.

"Pinkie! You gotta be more quiet!" Twilight whispered. "You're gonna wake up Mat!" She slowly withdrew her hoof, revealing an embarrassed grin from Pinkie. "Heh...sorry." She giggled.

"No harm done, sugarcube." Applejack whispered. "Ah'd say we're all mighty excited."

"I simply couldn't agree more!" Rarity chimed in. "I'd say the fashion here is simply to die for! Oh, this could be great for business, you know!" Rarity kicked her hooves in the air.

"I want to see all the animals." Said Fluttershy. "I want to see them all. I mean, you know, if that's okay with you guys." She trailed off, letting her mane cover half of her face.

"It's all good Fluttershy. Now, let's all go to sleep." Twilight said.

And with that, the six ponies fell asleep with smiling faces.

Chapter 5 - Once You Go Human, You Won't Wanna Go Pony

The alarm clock screamed as read out "7:00" in flashing red lights. I groaned and slapped around the nightstand where the annoyance sat, missing multiple times before finally hitting my target.

I then rolled over onto my back, looking up at the ceiling. I really didn't want to go to work today, especially if it meant leaving 6 ponies alone in my house for the eight hours I was gone.

Sadly, I needed the money, so I had no choice. I got up, picked what I wanted to wear for today. After showering and getting dressed, I paced down the hallway to find that the ponies were already awake.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were arguing over who could beat who in certain athletic trials while Pinkie Pie was telling jokes to Fluttershy. Rarity was using her magic to tend to her unruly mane and Twilight was speeding through a book and taking notes with her magic. "Okay, you guys. I'm off to work. Please don't wreck the house while I'm out, ok?" I pleaded.

Rarity tilted the mirror she was levitating to where she could see me. "Please, darling, if we wrecked this house anymore, it would be in ruins!" She said, still running a brush through her hair. Twilight stopped studying for a second to glare at Rarity, then resumed working.

I scratched my head and smiled weakly. "She's right. I guess it could use a little TLC, heh-heh." I said nervously. I grabbed my car keys off the coffee table and started to head out when the yellow pegasus mare stopped me. I turned to see her hovering in the air, nervously fiddling her hooves together.

"Um, y-you're not going to have breakfast, M-mat?" She asked nervously. "It's t-the most important meal of the day, you know." She hid behind her mane yet again. "Well, I-I mean, if you don't want to, I guess that's okay."

I checked my cell phone for the time, then looked back at Fluttershy. I did have some time to kill, and I was feeling a little malnourished. "I guess I can have a bowl of cereal or something." I admitted. Fluttershy smiled and followed me into the kitchen, followed by everyone else.

Toast was made, the last of the orange juice was drank, and I had my bowl of cereal, eating in a timely manner so I could still arrive to work on time. After breakfast, I waved to them as I walked out, announcing that I'll be home around six.

"I'm going to do some grocery shopping on my way back. Anyone need anything?" I offered.

"Apples!" Cried Applejack.

"Cake mix!" Shouted Pinkie Pie.

"Would you mind picking up a little hay if you happen to find some?" Twilight asked, taking a break from her studies. I remembered a place that wasn't too far from here that sold hay, so he smiled and nodded. I turned to Fluttershy to take her order.

"Oh, I'm not picky. Just whatever you decide." Smiled Fluttershy.

"As am I." Added Rarity.

Rainbow Dash nodded and simply said "Ditto".

I typed the list on my phone and pocketed it. "Well, I best be off, then. I'll see you all later this evening." I called. The Equestrians waved after me, wishing me a good day at work. I smiled as I got into my car.

It had been a very long time since someone said things like that. I backed out of the driveway and sped down the street in the direction of the factory.

Twilight used her magic to shut the door and locked all the locks. "Okay girls." She said with a determined smile. "I think what Mat said last night might be a good idea." The others looked at each other, clueless, then back to her.

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asked, nervously.

Twilight smirked. "I mean, I'm gonna take his advice and turn us into humans ourselves." The ponies cheered, jumping for joy.

"But first." She said, her eyes narrowed and her smirk gone from accomplished to mischievous, "I'm going to need a test subject." The others exchanged nervous laughter, making up excuses for why they can't participate.

Twilight shrugged, using her magic to tear a piece of paper into six shreds of similar shape. "I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." She warned. She wrote the names of the remaining 5 ponies onto the shreds with a pen.

As the names were placed face down on the floor and shuffled around, the "contestants" in Twilight's game of chance began to silently panic.

Twilight finally placed the names in a line, closed her eyes, and surrounded the name that was 3rd from the left with her magical aura. Twilight read the name of her lab rat, and smirked at her.

All she could do was hide behind her mane.

Many hours later, I pulled in the driveway. My car sported a roof ornament in the form of a tied-down square bale of hay. I climbed out of the car and opened the back door, removing the groceries from the seat they occupied. I then shut the door with my foot and walked up to the front door, fishing around my lanyard for my house key. I then realized that the ponies would probably open the door for me, so once I arrived to the door, I just merely knocked.

I heard nervous talking coming from inside. I immediately expected the worst. Next came the sound of locks being unlocked, and finally, a beaming Twilight Sparkle flew the door open.

"I did it!" She screamed, bouncing when she spoke. "I turned Fluttershy into a human!"

As I crossed the threshold into the house, a single thought crossed my mind: "Wait. Ponies don't normally wear clothes." I looked up from thought to see that Twilight's claims were true. Fluttershy had been turned from pony, into a human.

Medium height and rather curvy, with a fair skin tone and a head of long, flowing pink hair. Her wings managed to stay attached and still carried the same color as her original coat, making her appear angelic. But not only was Twilight's claims true, so was my fear.

Fluttershy just stood there, red-faced and naked, awaiting my reaction. Sadly, I could give no reaction. I was frozen solid from shock. The groceries dropped from my arm and a small drop of blood fell from my nose.

Fluttershy, being overwhelmed by her caring nature, sprinted towards me, bouncing all the way. Not being used to her new legs just yet, she stumbled a bit while running, but still managed to catch me from falling too far. She pulled me into a sobbing embrace, her two new friends pressed firmly against me.

"Oh, my! You're bleeding! Are you okay? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" She cried, panicking and practically in tears. I flopped around in her arms, rag doll style.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack burst into laughter, Rarity just stared, and Twilight trotted over to check on me.

"You didn't kill him, did you, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash joked. Applejack stomped the ground laughing while Fluttershy was brought closer to tears from Dash's remark.

Twilight observed me and giggled. "He's fine, Fluttershy. Just in shock." She said, hoping to calm their new human friend. Rarity trotted back towards my room. "I'll go get you some clothes, deary." She called.

After some searching, She found a pair of black gym shorts and a green hoodie and levitated them back into the living room. "Here. Try these on. Maybe he'll regain some sense of class once you've put everything away." She said, glaring at Fluttershy's chest in envy. Fluttershy quickly pulled on the shorts and hoodie, hoping the quicker she did, the quicker I came back to my senses.

Once she was clothed, I indeed began to show signs of regaining consciousness. I was given a tissue by Twilight Sparkle to plug the still bleeding nostril.

I looked up at Fluttershy, who was still shaking. "I'm so sorry about that." I apologized. "I'm just not used to seeing that everyday." I was expecting a verbal beatdown, but was instead given a hug. "Oh, I'm just glad you're okay. I was so worried." She whispered.

Twilight interrupted the hug, using her magic to re-balance Fluttershy. Twilight turned back to me. "It seems that I can only do this to one person for once a day." She began. "After I changed Fluttershy, I started feeling extremely woozy. I think it'll take some practice before I can change us all. I mean, it's sort of like how I used the teleportation spell when we went traveling, but weaker." She finished.

I rubbed my head, trying to take in all this information. "Well, how long does it last? I mean, when does the effect wear off?" I asked.

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Well, I transformed her around ten, and it's a little bit after six, so..."

At that time, there was a soft glow. It caught everyone's attention, and they were staring at Fluttershy. She looked down at herself, watching the glow turn brighter and brighter. Fluttershy's glowing outline slowly morphed from her human form back down to her original pony state, the clothes seeming to drape over her. The glowing faded, and she moved the hoodie to where she could see out of the neck giggling. "Oh, that was fun!" she chimed.

Twilight, with wide eyes, looks back at me to finish answering my question. "Eight hours."

After the fiasco with Fluttershy, I decided to cook dinner this time around. I had bought all the necessary provisions to make a homemade pizza from my trip to the grocery store earlier. I almost bought a small bag of pepperoni, but I soon remembered what happened at the meeting back in Ponyville, I learned that the Equestrians were all herbivores.

The ponies all helped me bring the rest of the groceries in when Applejack spoke up. "What is this device?" She asked in awe. I saw the pure wonder in her eyes as she stared back, waiting for an answer.

"It's my computer. I can play games on it, keep in touch with friends, even look up information. Right Twilight?" I looked at Twilight who then agreed. "If there's anything you want to look up, you just type it here," I motioned to the keyboard, "and it pops up. Things like Google, Facebook, YouTube, and e-mail. will show up here." I pointed at the screen.

"C-can I try it?" Applejack nervously asked.

I smiled a bit. "Absolutely. Just let me check my messages first." I replied. Applejack hopped off from my chair, allowing me to sit down. I pulled up my e-mail inbox and went sped through the messages. Most of them were spam, but one was from a co-worker that I frequently talk to. The message said something about how urgent it is that I visit the attached website and give me support. A.J. looked up at me, anxious. "What do you think that means, Mat?" She asked nervously. I chuckled a bit.

"It's probably just a prank e-mail to get me to go to lemon-party-dot-org." I laughed. "He's always trying to get me to go there. Kinda twisted, if you ask me."

Pinkie Pie shot up to the front of the group. "A LEMON PARTY!!!! That sounds sweet! Well, actually, it would be pretty sour, but it still sounds like a lot of fun! I wanna go to a lemon party! Let's click it, LET'S CLICK IT!!!!" She pleaded, trying to take control of the mouse.

"Pinkie, no!" I shouted, seizing control of the computer and closing my inbox. "Absolutely not." I warned. "That website is pure evil. It just sounds nice to lure people in." Pinkie Pie frowned a little bit. "I'm sorry," I continued. "but you're just going to have to take my word on this one."

Pinkie frowned a little more. "Oki Doki Loki" She said, defeated. She climbed back down from the computer's desk and I finished explaining to my small audience (Except Twilight of course) how everything on the computer works. I returned the internet browser to Google and moved up out of the seat.

Twilight instantly jumped in the recliner and started clacking away at the keyboard. She looked at the screen, only to have her excitement replaced by frustration. She huffed loudly. I checked the computer screen, seeing that Twilight's hooves were going to make it very hard to type. I couldn't help but let a small laugh escape past my lips.

Twilight flared up her horn and used her magic to start pressing the keys individually. She was slow at first, but her speed began to pick up almost immediately. She started her research by keying in "History of Earth". Millions of search results popped up, and Twilight began at the top of the list. I walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

With dinner finished and the table set, I called everyone in to eat. They all hurried to the table for a decent spot, while Twilight stayed glued to the computer. "I'll be the in a second." She called, not moving her eyes from the screen.

I placed the big cheese and veggie pizza in the middle of the table and went over it with a pizza cutter, creating small, square pieces. I then placed four pieces on each plate and poured water in everyone's glass. Once I seated myself, Twilight hopped off the computer and took a spot at the table.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, I began cleaning up the kitchen. Fluttershy and Applejack offered help, which I gladly accepted, and the rest of the ponies went right back to the computer. Rainbow Dash managed to beat everyone else to the chair and, remembering a certain video sharing website, looked up videos of "Amazingly Awesome Stunts".

Applejack dropped the last of the dishes in the sink as I washed them. Fluttershy had just returned to the living room, laying down on the couch and observing the computer screen from a distance.

I washed the last of the dishes and was on my way to the living room when the orange mare stopped me. "What's up, A.J.?" I asked. The pony glanced down, nervously, her blonde mane and Stetson covering her eyes. "Well...ah...ya see...y-ya know how Twilight said she can turn all us pony folk into your kind?" She asked, a blush starting to form.

"Uh-oh," I thought, "I'm about to be asked out by a horse. And with A.J. no less. And just when I thought Twilight was gonna do that." "Y-yeah..." I replied, also nervous. "Where was this heading?"

"Well, Ah was...ya know, just wonderin'...if Ah can get Twilight to change me...d-do you think you could take me outside?" Applejack finished. I let out a sigh of relief, which Applejack mistook for disappointment. "A-ah mean, your house is nice and all, but Twilight found that spell, and, well, Ah reckon we'd all like that chance to go out with ya." She realized her slip and panicked. "Ah meant outside! Go outside w-with ya." She corrected. An awkward smile spread across her face.

I laughed a little. "Why didn't you just say so? Of course! I mean, I think we can work something out where you can all take turns going outside." I smiled. "Like a schedule." Applejack smiled and bucked the air in glee.

I walked into the living room with a bouncing Applejack and called a meeting with the others. They discussed plans for daily "field trips". After a few minutes of discussion, the schedule boiled down to this:

Sunday: Pinkie Pie

Monday: Fluttershy

Tuesday: Twilight Sparkle

Wednesday: Applejack

Thursday: Rarity

Friday: Rainbow Dash

Saturday: Back to Equestria

It was bedtime, so I had the ponies get in their sleeping bag to sleep in again. Twilight resumed her studies, clicking off the monster truck videos that Rainbow Dash left up. Twilight pulled up Google once more and began typing away, something about "Historic Wars" showed in the search box.

I wished everyone good night, which they all returned, including an ecstatic Applejack. I walked to my room and re-set my alarm. I had another day off tomorrow, so I could focus on showing Applejack a good time. I fell asleep almost instantly.

Chapter 6 - Fun Time With Applejack/Home Shenanigans

The alarm sounded, and I slammed it almost instantly. I sat up, groaning and yawning, before showering, dressing myself, and making my way into the living room for breakfast. I was greeted by six groggy, yet friendly, ponies. They all had toast and apple juice for breakfast, which everyone seemed to enjoy very well.

After breakfast, everyone returned to the living room. I stood in the corner and most of the others retired back to the sleeping bag. The odd one out was Applejack, who stood in the middle of the floor, beaming, with a blanket covering everything but her face. "Well, Ah gotta protect mah modesty, ya know?" Applejack explained.

My eyes widened, remembering the first time this happened. "Oh, right." I said, turning away. Twilight jumped off the bed and positioned herself in front of Applejack, fixing her stance so that she may be able to cast the amount of magic that was needed.

Her horn glowed brightly, then, so did Applejack's figure. The rest of the tired ponies found themselves wide awake, still new to the transformation process. The light dimmed, and a face popped out from the covers. She wobbled a bit to keep her balance, but found it easily. Her golden hair kept the ponytail style, and her freckles remained, too. She stood about my height, had a more muscular tone about her, and her skin was tanned. She looked down on her new figure, hardly able to see much past her well-proportioned chest. She squealed in excitement, almost losing her balance again.

During the transformation, I raided my closet for the gym shorts and hoodie that Fluttershy had previously worn. If I was going to agree to these daily one-on-ones, I was going to have to get them some clothes. I decided that the first order of business was clothes shopping. I paced back into the living room with Applejack's clothing at the ready. "Here ya g-" I began, but couldn't finish. Applejack danced around in the thin blanket, which she clutched tightly around her figure. "How do Ah look, sugarcube?" She asked, placing her Stetson back on her head, which to my surprise, still fit. "Well...y-you...." I stammered, but remembered the temporary clothes I brought. "J-Just put these on."

Applejack giggled and stumbled to the bathroom to change. Rarity, who had taken the computer for fashion research, rolled her eyes. "Men." She sighed, clicking on pictures of French couture. The other girls giggled at a red-faced me. "Good news!" Rainbow Dash teased, "Your nose didn't bleed!" She burst out in laughter. I narrowed my eyes at the rainbow-colored pegasus.

Applejack returned from bathroom. The hoodie was almost fitting on her torso and the shorts stopped a little bit above her knees. "These gall-durn things are SO uncomfortable." She complained, adjusting the hoodie. I, trying to fight another blush, put on my shoes. "Yeah, we're gonna go fix that now. Our first stop is a clothing store." I said while handing a pair of flip-flops to Applejack, who then gladly slipped them on. "Alright, partner! Let's go!" She cheered, pulling me to the door. Once out, Fluttershy flew to the doorframe. "Have a good day, you two! See you this evening!" She called, pulling the door shut and locking it.

Applejack wiggled in the passenger seat from the excitement, whipping her head around every so often to catch a glance of something that they passed. If I didn't find it so funny (and a tad cute), it would almost be annoying. We pulled into the clothing store's parking lot and got out of the car. Applejack struggled with the seat belt, but eventually managed to get it. She fell slightly, trying to get out of the car, but luckily, I had predicted this and caught her. Once she was righted, we made our way into the clothing store. Applejack immediately took to the racks and racks of clothes, trying on almost anything that appealed to her.

"Uh, sugarcube?" She asked me, who was looking at some clothes. "What do ya reckon Ah do about these?" She questioned, pointing to her chest. I looked around and led her to the undergarments section. She nodded and scoured the racks, looking for something to support her's. She grabbed a couple that seemed her size and ran to try them on as well.

When we emerged from the store a couple hours later, Applejack was wearing an orange t-shirt, straight-legged jeans, a pair of boots, some modest underwear, and her signature Stetson. She giggled loudly as she inspected herself. "Oh, thank ya so much! Ah really do like it!" She said, embracing me tightly. my face turned a little red again. "Um, it's fine. No problem at all, really." I reassured. As Applejack released me from her iron embrace, I leaned against my car. "So, what do you wanna do?" I asked.

We continued down the highway towards the city, while Applejack looked out the window still taking in all the sights. She would occasionally look down and check her new duds, sometimes even peeking down her shirt, which distracted me from driving a few times. When we finally made it into the city, Applejack resumed the excited seat wiggling. The city was packed to the brim with stores, restaurants, bars, and business offices. The only time she had seen anything close to this was back in Manehattan, but that was when she was a filly.

I managed to find a really cheap parking garage and parked there. I figured I could show Applejack around a little bit, since she had a pretty good window of time until she returned to pony form. I spent the next few hours walking by the nearby streets, Applejack struck with amazement from everything she saw.

During our walk, we spotted a Western-themed bar and grill. It had been a little while since breakfast and the farm hand was already getting hungry for lunch. I got out of the car first, rushing around to assist Applejack, who had found it much easier to get out on her own this time. We exited the parking garage and stepped right under the summer sun that was beating down on the city. We continued on towards the bar, Applejack occasionally fanning herself with her hat.

We finally made our way into the bar, the air conditioning feeling amazing after walking in the blistering heat. The waitress sat us at a booth and took our drink orders. As the waitress walked away, I noticed that Applejack had relaxed a little. She was still looking around, but her smile had formed into a half-frown.

"Are you okay, A.J.?" I asked, concerned. Applejack tried to force a smile, but I narrowed my eyes, seeing straight through her facade. "Ah guess Ah'm just missin' home a bit, ya know?" She confessed. "This here place reminds me a bit of Sweet Apple Acres. I wonder how Big Mac and Applebloom and Granny Smith are doin'." Applejack trailed off, her voice carrying some sadness. She looked down to the table in thought. I moved from my spot in the booth and scooted in next to her.

"I'm really sorry," I began. "We can go eat somewhere else if you'd like." I placed an arm on Applejack's shoulder, which made her look up at me. She smiled warmly at me. "Ah, ya don't gotta do that, sugarcube." She replied. The waitress came by with our drinks and asked to take our food order. We didn't even get a chance to look at the menu.

Applejack, not trying to stray away from the ordinary, ordered the fresh apple salad. I, not wanting to offend A.J. by ordering my usual burger, got the same. I was gonna have to get my daily dose of protein back, somehow.

Meanwhile, back at the house....

Twilight stared intensely at the computer screen, checking out websites for museums and libraries that were close to the city, and taking notes. Rainbow Dash flew up beside her, watching her work before figuring out that she was bored and returned to the mirror. She had been watching taped wrestling on the television and re-enacting catch phrases and entrances that some of the wrestlers used. She flexed her front legs in a power pose and slowly lifted herself towards the ceiling.

"CAN YOU SMELL WHAT RAINBOW DASH IS COOKIN'?!" She yelled proudly, letting loose a flurry of punches against the air.

Pinkie Pie looked up at her, giggling. "You're not cooking anything, Dashie." She explained. Rainbow Dash ignored her and continued with her new routine. Pinkie walked towards the kitchen, looking to grab something to drink. She pulled open the newly stocked fridge to find a big green box. It had depictions of abstract trees and big, red and green lettering. Curious, she looked inside. She found the shiny, cylindrical containers inside, all the same size, and each with the same artwork as the box. "Oooh, shiny!" She whispered. She pulled a shiny container from the box and shut the door to the refrigerator.

Carrying the can in her mouth, Pinkie trotted over to Rarity, who was busy sketching her new designs. Pinkie sat the can down next to her. "Rarity, can you open this for me, pretty please?" She asked. The white unicorn, not paying attention, pulled the tab on the can, the carbonation letting out a loud snap, then an appealing fizz. Pinkie cheered and stuck a straw in the can. Making sure none of the others was looking, she took a small sip of the green liquid. Her eyes widened.

"Hey, guys! You gotta try this stuff!"

Applejack and I, finishing our light lunch, stepped outside. The heat had died down quite a bit, making the weather enjoyable. I looked around the busy street. It seemed drastically more full of life than the street I live on just twenty minutes away. I checked my cell phone for the time.

"Well, we still have a couple hours until we have to head back home." I said. "What do you wanna do until then?" Applejack pondered for a second then smiled. "Ah'd be alright just walkin' around s'more, if'n that's okay with you." She answered. "Ah hadn't been to the city since Ah was just a little filly."

Filly. For some reason, that word snapped me back to reality. She wasn't really a human. She was a pony that happened to look like a human for right now. I was having a great time with A.J. so far, but for some reason, that word put a small dent in it. And that question was, why?

I shook the matter and perked up a smile. "Of course." I said, and we walked down the street, window shopping and taking in the city's lights and sounds.

After about an hour and a half, Applejack and I arrived back at the vehicle. I paid for the ticket to the parking garage and we hit the main street in the direction of home. The car ride was a little more silent than usual. Actually, it was completely silent. I looked over at Applejack, who smiled warmly back at me. I wished that there would have been something extravagant that we could have done together, but surprisingly, there wasn't that much to do for her in the big city. The thought kinda depressed me.

We arrived at home, just a few minutes left to spare before Applejack returned to her pony form. We exited the car and walked up the front steps. I stopped Applejack before we could enter the house. Applejack saw that I wasn't quite myself. "Ya okay there, sugarcube?" She asked, concerned. I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry that we didn't exactly get to do much." I confessed. "I wish I could have shown you a better time." Applejack gave a sympathetic smile and put her hand on my shoulder. "Aw, shucks. Ah had a great time with ya today." She comforted. "Ah was just glad to get out of the house for a spell." I smiled, knowing that I did some good today. I knocked on the door, expecting Twilight Sparkle to answer the door. Instead it was a panicky Rarity.

"What the hay is going on in here?" Applejack demanded.

"Both of you! Get in here! QUICK!!!!" Rarity screamed, pulling us in and slamming the door.

The scene inside the house was scary. Actually, it was downright disturbing. Twilight was rapidly clicking on the computer's mouse. Her hair was a few strands out of place and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. The computer screen flashed rapidly before her.

"Studystudystudystudystudy GOTTA STUDY!!!!" She screamed, letting out a maniacal cackle afterwards.

"What the heck?" I thought to myself. I was about to confront her when I was knocked back by a rainbow blur. Out of breath and in slight pain, I looked up to see the source.

It was Rainbow Dash, carrying an extremely hyped up Pinkie Pie on her back. They were screaming and laughing ecstatically.

"How fast was that, Pinkie?!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Pinkie looked at her stopwatch. "Point eight seconds!" She replied, screaming louder than Rainbow Dash. They cheered and did another lap.

I could do nothing but watch in horror. I looked over at Applejack to find that amid the chaos, she had transformed back to her original pony state. I looked at Rarity for an explanation. The unicorn just shook her head.

"I don't know how this escalated so quickly." She cried. "All I know is that Pinkie Pie asked me to open a small canister of something. Figuring it wasn't too much trouble, I opened it for her. Then she started acting all crazy and convinced Dash and Twilight to partake in it as well. They've all gone insane, I tell you! INSANE!!!!!!" Rarity started bawling. Applejack looked around the room, finding that Fluttershy was missing.

"Wait. Where's Fluttershy?" She asked. Rarity shrugged. "I didn't see her drink any of it. In fact, I think she went and hid somewhere. Which honestly sounds like a brilliant idea right now."

"Hold on a second." I thought. I bent down and picked up one of the cans that occupied the floor. Sure enough, Pinkie had found my stash of Alpine Blitz, a citrus soda that had been found to be packed full of caffeine. I had no clue how I was going to stop this. Suddenly, an idea formed.

"What goes up must come down." I muttered to myself.

Applejack looked at me. "What was that, sugarcube?" She asked. "Ah didn't quite catch that."

"Quickly! To my room!" I ordered. The two mares and I ran full speed to my bedroom. I slammed the door behind us and locked it. As I wiped a bead of sweat from my brow, I heard voices coming from the closet. I sneaked over and flung the closet door open.

"Oh, no! They found me!" Fluttershy screamed, covering her head with her front legs and whimpering.

"Don't worry," I said. "It's just me."

The yellow pegasus looked up and ran over to me, burying her face in my chest. "It was horrible!" She wailed. I patted her head and she pulled away slightly. "What are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked.

I looked at the door. "The effects of the caffeine will wear off eventually." I began. "And when they do, everything will go right back to normal. So for now we're just going to wait." I told her.

About half an hour later, I peeked outside the door. Everything had gone quiet, almost TOO quiet. I motioned for the others to come, and they followed me into the living room. The others were scattered about, holding their stomachs and groaning.

I walked over to Pinkie Pie, narrowing my eyes slightly. Pinkie Pie tried to let out a nervous laugh, but found that it hurt her stomach too much. I cleaned up the soda cans with Rarity while Applejack and Fluttershy prepared dinner. Needless to say, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle didn't have as much of an appetite as the others.

With dinner eaten and the dishes washed, the ponies retired to the camping bed. Twilight had decided to take the night off for studying and went to bed herself as well. I wished them all good night, and the ones who weren't sick from the massive soda intake cheerfully returned it.

After my light went out in my room, all the ponies turned their attention to Applejack. She was bombarded by questions, many of which she couldn't understand. She waved her hoof around in the air to try and silence them. "Please, everypony!" She begged, "One at a time!" The chatter died down a little and Twilight Sparkle took the first question. "What was the outside world like?" She asked.

Applejack chuckled. "It was great! We went clothes shoppin', we walked around the city for a while, and we had lunch at a place that was almost like Sweet Apple Acres! After that, we-"

"You two had lunch together?" Rarity confirmed cutting Applejacks sentence off. "Like a lunch date?" She continued.

Applejack tried to hide her blush. "Aw, shucks, Rarity. 'Twasn't like that at all." She said. "We were just hungry and we stopped for a quick bite. Ah imagine it'll be the same for each of ya when it's y'all's turn to go."

The girls giggled at the thought of having one-on-one lunch with me. After a couple more minutes of quiet chit-chat, the ponies finally settled down and fell asleep.

Chapter 7 - Just A Little Dash Here, And A Little Dash There

I rolled out of bed for the first time in a while without an alarm clock. I yawned and stretched, feeling fully rested. The sun peeked in through the blinds and gave my room a warm and cozy look to it. I wondered if I had even woken up in the same room that I fell asleep in the night before.

Sadly, my pleasant awakening was interrupted by a rainbow-maned Pegasus busting through my door. The shock scared me off my bed and onto the floor. I rubbed my head and sat up, looking at the Pegasus who had taken my spot on the bed.

"Oh, good! You're up!" Rainbow Dash said, trotting in place. She squealed and done a mid-air lap around the room. "I'm so excited to go outside! I really needed to stretch these babies out!" She said, referring to her wings.

I pulled myself together and stood up, glaring. "There is no way you're flying." I said sternly. Rainbow Dash stopped flying and landed back on the bed. "Why the hay not?" She protested. "I'll look like a human, so what's the harm?"

I facepalmed and sighed. "Because there are no such things as flying humans, Dash." I answered. "The only thing close to that are humans that control machines that fly. So you're gonna have to keep your wings to yourself. I said that at the meeting, remember?" I gave her a stern look.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms. "Fine." She huffed. She let her wings carry her out of the room and back down the hall. I then proceeded to shower and get dressed, choosing a black polo shirt and jeans. I pulled on a fresh pair of socks and walked into the living room, where the ponies got up and started making breakfast. Fluttershy was making her tea, Twilight started brewing coffee, Applejack was making something on the stove. Pinkie Pie and Rarity sat on the couch chatting with Rainbow Dash, asking her about her plans for the day.

"Did I sleep in that late?" I asked aloud. I proceeded to walk into the kitchen and sat down at the table which was already set.

Twilight laughed a little. "Yeah, just a little." She replied, levitating a mug of coffee my way. "But you've been working really hard, so you deserve a little extra shut-eye." I accepted the floating coffee and took a sip. Applejack finished making what looked like oatmeal. At least, that's what I hoped it was.

After breakfast, everyone gathered in the living room for Rainbow Dash's transformation. I had the hoodie and shorts ready and Rainbow Dash got under the "Transformation Blanket" as it had became to be known as. Twilight fired her magic. The blinding light came upon the room and Rainbow Dash's figure morphed underneath the blanket.

The transformation had been completed. Rainbow peeked out from the blanket, revealing a slim-face with the same style and color hair that her mane had been. She stood about my height and was athletically toned, more so than me, which annoyed me a tad. She squealed again and looked down, finding that her new friends weren't exactly as noticeable as Applejack's or Fluttershy's.

"H-Hey! What gives!?" She shouted. Her wings unfurled with her horrific realization. Her wings, like Fluttershy's, they bore the same color as her original coat. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, her wings threw the blanket off of her, leaving her standing naked in front of everyone. Rainbow's face immediately turned a blood red, using her wings to try and cover herself up the best she could.

I stood dumbfounded, still holding the clothes. Rainbow Dash glared at me.

"Dude! Do you mind!?" She yelled at me. I snapped out of my funk and blankly threw the clothes over to her. She snatched them out of the air and stomped towards the bathroom, muttering under her breath, still using her wings to cover what they could.

She came out of the bathroom a few seconds later, looking rather perky. She actually seemed to forget about the entire incident. She walked beside the bar that separated the kitchen and the living room and swiped a pair of sporty sunglasses that belonged to me. "You ready to go?" she said to me, sliding the sunglasses on.

"Yeah." I answered. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my keys and waved goodbye to the others.

We got in the car and went our way to the clothing store getting some modest underwear, a navy tank top, a light blue over shirt, and denim shorts. Soon after, Rainbow Dash and I emerged from the discount clothing store in a hurry. Rainbow Dash held the hoodie and shorts in her arms, She still wore the sunglasses that she took from my counter.

Once we were in the car and headed towards the city, I turned down the radio and looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Remind me why we're in a hurry, again?" I asked.

Rainbow Dash looked over at me with a smile and tilted down her sunglasses. "So we don't waste any time, obviously!" She said. I could tell that she was trying to be as cool as possible, but her bounciness wasn't doing her any favors. I noticed that she kept looking up at the sky as they drove.

We made it into the inner city when the weather went from sweltering sun to torrential downpour in a freak instant. Rainbow Dash's smile was flipped. She slouched in the passenger seat and folded her arms. "Not cool." She muttered.

I could hardly see past my windshield. The rain was coming down hard, which eliminated any kind of outdoor activity. I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who still retained her pose and was muttering something about "flying up and kicking the clouds away". I smiled at her ambition, but that didn't solve the issue at hand.

"We'll find something to do." I finally said, trying to calm my testy companion. "Just sit tight." I smiled at her direction and was relieved when she sat back up straight and unfolded her arms.

The rain persisted as I drove to the parking garage. Rainbow Dash and I stepped out of the car and walked a short distance to the edge of the ground floor. It would have been great if I had an umbrella with me. Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the downpour and looked around for a place to take temporary shelter. Almost directly across the street stood an arcade. She smirked at me and pointed in the arcade's direction.

"We need something to do to wait out the rain." Rainbow Dash said. "Are ya up for some friendly competition?"

I returned the smirk. "But of course." I answered.

We quickly sprinted from the shelter of the parking garage and into the rain. We laughed as we dodged the few cars that occupied the streets. Once we were across, we flung the busy arcade's doors open and bolted inside, our laughter making it difficult to collect our breath.

A few hours later, we left the prize counter at the arcade. Rainbow Dash wore a giant, ninja-styled teddy bear on her shoulders while I wore a frown of defeat.

"Well, that was satisfying!" Rainbow Dash giggled. I couldn't remember the last time I got destroyed at video games like that. Oh wait, I first got beat by Twilight when we first met. Oh well. We had made a bet that whoever won the most tickets got to keep the other's tickets as well. In retrospect, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Rainbow Dash opened the door and stared up to the sky in awe.

"Look!" she shouted excitedly, "The rain stopped! Woo-hoo!" I also looked up to confirm Rainbow Dash's observation. The streets were still soaked and the smell of the rain lingered. Rainbow Dash jumped from one puddle into the next. A rumbling came from her stomach.

"Heh-heh. Guess I'm a little hungry after all that dominating!" She boasted. I narrowed my eyes, but felt my stomach rumble as well. Just down the street was a small diner that I had been going to since I was young. Jen, the owner, treated me like her own son, even more so than her own children. I suggested that we eat there and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

We entered the diner and sat ourselves at the bar, which was my normal spot. After a couple minutes of waiting, Jen stepped out from the kitchen to greet her favorite customer. She ran around the bar and hugged me. I while sitting, was still noticeably taller than her. She withdrew from the hug and looked at Rainbow Dash, who gave a friendly smile and wave. Jen smiled at me.

"Oh, you brought yourself a girlfriend, eh?" She asked in a slight fit of giddiness. "It's about time! I didn't think you had it in you, honestly."

My face turned red which seemed to be like the millionth time. I looked over at Rainbow Dash, whose face looked the same shade of red for a second. I looked back to Jen and put my hands up.

"Oh, no! You see, she's not really m-" I started to say, but Rainbow Dash put a hand on my mouth. "Oh, don't pay attention to him. He's really shy about it." She said, winking in my direction. "It's almost adorable."

My eyes shot open, watching in horror as Rainbow Dash and Jen made conversation about me. My stomach grumbled again and the girls' conversation was cut short.

"Oh! I almost forgot, dear!" Jen apologized. "Do you want your regular Ham and Cheese?" she asked.

"No, no. Just a salad for me." I answered quickly, hoping Rainbow Dash didn't catch on. She instead nodded, ordering the same, and we both were served bottomless iced tea, specially made by Jen herself.

When Jen disappeared into the kitchen, I quickly turned to Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing?!" I whispered. "Why did you tell her we were together!?"

Rainbow Dash laughed and leaned my way. "Because it's fun!" She whispered back. I groaned and face-palmed. "Seriously?" I replied.

Before I could get another word in, Jen brought out our salads and two small cups of ranch dressing. "Funny," Jen began, "I never took you for a salad-eater." I smiled awkwardly. Rainbow Dash giggled and dug into her salad, almost finishing it in just a matter of minutes.

"Wow!" said the diner owner, surprised. "You must have been hungry as a horse!" I narrowed my eyes and kept working on my own salad. "If only you knew." I thought.

Jen was bringing out refills for the tea when she sighed, catching me and Rainbow Dash's attention. "Are you okay?" I asked. Jen just smiled and nodded.

"It does me good to see you happy like this, Mat." She answered, "Especially all that you've been through. I'm glad you found someone." There was a small tear forming in her eye as she spoke.

I wanted to tell her how we weren't dating, how she was actually a pegasus pony from another dimension and how, if anything, we were hardly friends, but I couldn't. I just couldn't bring myself to break Jen's heart like that. So I figured he would just play along.

"Yeah." I said, grabbing Rainbow Dash's hand. "I guess I'm pretty lucky."

Rainbow Dash's face went as red as the red in her hair. She smiled warmly and squeezed my hand back. We said our goodbyes to Jen and exited the store with just an hour until Rainbow Dash transformed back into her pony state. We walked back to the parking garage and climbed in. Once we were out of the city, I turned to Rainbow Dash.

"It was good seeing her." I said. "I thought it was funny how she instantly assumed we were a thing." I chuckled a bit to myself. "I think I sold it back there with the hand grab, don't you?"

Rainbow Dash blushed a little and looked out the window. "Yeah...sold it." She said, trying to sound as happy as possible.

The ride back to the house was almost silent. We pulled in the driveway, seeing silhouettes of ponies through the living room window. I started up the stairs when Rainbow Dash grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Let's go out back." She suggested. "I want to show you something."

I looked around nervously and followed her to the back yard. She started to remove her over shirt, revealing her cyan wings and stretching them out. I was racking my brain for a decent reason as to why she brought me back here. She walked behind me and put her arms around me and across my chest. My heart raced and my breathing picked up.

"Ready for a ride?" She said, smirking. My eyes shot open.

"Wait, what are you do-AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Rainbow Dash had picked me up into the air and was flying upward with me in tow. My legs thrashed in the air.

"PUT ME DOWN!!!!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!!!!" I screamed. Rainbow Dash grunted and fixed her grip on me. "Cool it or I'll drop you!" She shouted back, straining a little. She flew upward until we could see the outer buildings of the city. I got lost in the scenery of the clear sky and, for a second, forgot about being up a few thousand feet in the air.

After a little more flying, Rainbow Dash flew back down, just low enough for me to fall from her grip safely. I looked back up and saw her give a thumbs up. "Check this out!" She yelled, and sped back up to her original altitude. I used my hand as a visor to shield my eyes, not losing sight of her. Rainbow Dash stopped ascending, then bolted downward, a visible cone of some sort forming around her.

"What is she..."

BOOM

My jaw dropped as a rainbow-colored shock wave expanded in the sky above me. I'd never seen anything like it in my entire life. Rainbow Dash, who had transformed back into a pegasus sometime during her flight, landed next to me.

"Aww, yeah!" She shouted. "Now, that's a Sonic Rainboom, baby!" She looked up at me, whose gaze was still fixed on the sky. She nudged me with her head, which snapped me out of my trance.

"H-How did you do that?!" I stammered. Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest. "Years of practice." She replied. "I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" She trotted up the stairs and knocked on the door. Fluttershy let her in and I followed the two pegasi into the living room, where everyone else was waiting for Rainbow Dash to tell them about her day.

Once dinner was over with, I took a step outside for a breather. A couple minutes passed before the back door opened. It was Rainbow Dash again. She walked over next to me and laid down. She then looked up at the sky, then to me.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about making you feel weird around that lady." She said. "I just thought it would be funny, is all. I didn't expect it to get all sappy."

I looked down to Rainbow Dash. "It's okay." I assured her. "It wasn't too bad, I guess." I smiled at her, which caused her to smile. She stood and began walking back into the house. I also got myself up and walked back in, preparing myself and the others for bed. Rarity was going on and on about exactly where she was going to go tomorrow and what she wanted to do. I walked back to my room and passed out almost instantly on my bed from exhaustion.

Chapter 8 - Getting Fancy With Rarity

I woke up the next morning having to talk to my boss on the phone and having him tell me that if I missed another day of work, I'm fired. I told him that I'm taking care of some guests at my house (which is true) and cannot make it to work until they leave. Which by the way is impossible since I'm heading back to Equestria once the whole field trip thing is over with. He cussed at me and hung up. "Bah, whatever." I scoffed. I hung up the phone, sat up and went through my morning routine, finally getting dressed and joining the others in the living room.

The ponies seemed to already have started eating breakfast, which I just shrugged off and went into the kitchen for a quick alternative of toaster pastries and some Alpine Blitz, making sure Pinkie Pie didn't see where I hid the remaining cans. I ate quickly and proceeded to the living room, where Twilight was getting ready to transform Rarity. The white unicorn waved her off.

"Oh, not yet!" She said, interrupting Twilight's concentration. "I want to go out a little later, if that's okay with Mat." I thought for a second, remembering a few errands I had to run. "Sure," I said to Rarity, "Sounds great! I just have to go take care of a few things."

I grabbed my car keys and waved goodbye to everyone. As I walked out the door, Rarity jumped on the computer to do some last minute research towards her upcoming night on the town.

I returned home around noon and unloaded the small amount of groceries that needed to be picked up. As I walked into the room, I noticed that the living room was empty. The computer was unoccupied, the bed had been made, and worst of all, the ponies were not in the room anymore. The room was practically spotless.

"They're...gone?" I thought nervously.

Immediately, a wave of panic swept over me. I ran to the kitchen, only to find it as empty and clean as the living room. I ran to the back porch and saw no sign of them either. I bolted down the hallway towards my bedroom, screaming for them.

"They can't be gone." I thought, tears starting to form. "Not now."

I got to the doorway of the bathroom when I tripped over something large. I fell and tumbled down the hallway a good distance, slamming into the wall at the end. Disoriented and in pain, I looked back to see a yellow Pegasus running towards me.

"Oh, my goodness!" Fluttershy said, stopping right next to me head. "I'm so so sorry! It's completely my fault! Are you okay? Please say you're okay." Tears of her own started to form as she knelt down next to me to inspect him for injuries.

I sat up and winced, noticing that my head had made quite a hole in the wall. I was bleeding a little from my forehead, making the nervous wreck of a pony put her head in my chest, sobbing. I embraced her and laid his head on top of her flower-scented mane.

"It's okay." I said, trying to calm Fluttershy. "I'm just fine. I'm just glad you're here." I felt more tears start to build up, but keeping my manly composure, forced them back.

"What's going on out here?" A curious Twilight Sparkle called, poking her head out of the bathroom door. "We were getting makeovers and we heard a large crash and "AHH!" She saw my still bleeding head wound and the hole in the wall. Putting two and two together, she dashed towards me. "Are you two okay?!" She said panicky. She was also pulled into the slowly growing group hug.

"I'm fine." I said softly, stroking Twilight's mane. She quickly healed my wound with a new medical spell she learned and also pushed her head into my chest.

"Hey! I wanna hug, too! I love hugs!" Pinkie Pie bounced from the bathroom and joined the group hug. Rainbow Dash was next, then Applejack and finally Rarity. They sat and held the group hug for a minute until Rarity pulled away.

"Well then." She said, clearing her throat before she continued. "I believe it's time for us to go." I nodded and they all stood and followed the white unicorn back into the living room. They all decided that until they had their own clothes, the infamous hoodie and shorts were to stay in the living room on the end table closest to the computer. Rarity had donned the also infamous "Transformation Blanket" and announced that she was ready. I took a seat in the recliner while the others crammed onto the couch.

Twilight's horn began to glow and the familiar light shone from beneath the blanket. Rarity's shape changed right before everyone's eyes and the light died out. Rarity draped the blanket loosely around her, twirling in it like a new ball gown. Twilight looked and noticed something of Rarity's was missing. She gasped and pointed with her hoof.

"R-Rarity!" She stammered. "Y-your horn! It's gone!"

Rarity's eyes shot open and she felt around her forehead for her horn, only to find that Twilight was correct. She immediately dropped to her knees and began sobbing.

"It's not fair!" She screamed, pointing in Rainbow Dash's direction. "She got to keep her wings! Why can't I keep my lovely horn?! It's not fair!"

She threw her hands in the air, causing a sudden flash of blue magic and the coffee table to be vaulted a few feet into the air. It came crashing back down on its side, causing Rarity and the others to jump. She brought her hands back down and observed them. They were glowing with the same faint blue that her horn did. Rarity pushed a hand towards the table, and it levitated long enough for it to right itself. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief knowing that her and Twilight could use magic in their human form. She stood and levitated the clothes towards her and proceeded towards the bathroom to change.

Rarity emerged from the bathroom moments later, the hoodie seeming to droop over her modelesque figure. I slipped on my shoes and waved goodbye to everyone before grabbing my keys and walking out of the door with Rarity.

After a few minutes of driving, we arrived at the clothing store. Rarity ran into the store almost immediately after I threw the car into park. She went directly to the racks that had cute little summer dresses, holding them up against one of the mirrors to see which complemented her better. I stood off to the side, uninterested and bored. Rarity stopped looking at the dresses for a second to glance over at me.

"Darling, you really should pick out something nice for yourself." She said, moving over to the men's section. She held up a white polo shirt, giving it a thorough inspection. "What size do you wear?" She asked.

I sighed a little and joined Rarity at the rack where she currently was. I browsed over the other selections and pulled out a khaki, short-sleeved button up. I showed it to Rarity, who glanced at it, then back at me. She shook her head in disapproval. She handed the white polo to me instead. I checked the size and held it up to take a look to see if it'll fit, causing Rarity's eyes lit up something fierce.

"Perfect!" She squealed. She picked up one of the dresses that she was previously holding. It was also white, but with a few light splashes of lavender. "And this would simply make an excellent match!" She walked over and grabbed a white sun hat and a pair of sunglasses that were on sale for next-to-nothing. Afterwards, I introduced Rarity to the underwear section, where she picked out the most lavish bra and underwear set she could find. We then proceeded to the checkout, where we laid their rather large purchase.

"Are you sure this is no trouble at all?" Rarity asked, watching the cashier scan the items.

"It's no trouble." I replied. He handed the money over to the lady and started to walk out of the store. Rarity went to the store's restroom to change and quickly got back to the car. She sat down and saw that I still wore the purple t-shirt I had on and not the white polo.

"You're not going to wear your new shirt?" Rarity asked.

I looked at the shirt in the rear view mirror. After a moment of thought, I reached back and brought it up to the front of the car. I pulled my purple shirt off, my slightly toned torso catching Rarity's eye. She watched, or more accurately, stared, at my torso until the white polo covered it. Her trance was broken and she blushed a bright red. I put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking lot. The sky started to turn a light orange as we sped off towards the city.

The sun was beginning to set as Rarity ans I arrived in the city. Rarity had been talking about wanting to see the many fashion stores of the city, so I decided to pull into the parking garage that was beginning to seem all too familiar to me. We found a spot on the second level and parked. I led Rarity to the north exit of the parking garage, which in turn, led to the more high-end part of the city. It wasn’t too long of a walk before the two of us had reached our destination.

Rarity seemed to be floored by the amount of designer clothing stores that had appeared before her. The mass of people walking the area looked as if they themselves had just simply stepped down from the stores’ displays. Rarity grabbed Tristan’s arm, gasping from the sight of it all. She finally let out a squeal of delight as she took off running into the closest store, a helpless me in tow.

Once in the store, Rarity flew from rack to rack, inspecting every dress, blouse, skirt, and accessory. She checked the sewing, the patterns, the fabric, and made mental notes on what she could do to bring the fashion of this world back to Equestria with her. She smiled as she was time and time again struck with inspiration.

I, however, took a seat on a bench that was placed on the further end of the store. I never was one to really appreciate high fashion. My phone could only give me so much entertainment until it, too, became boring. I looked up at the clock that was placed tauntingly above the door to the shop, sighing as it seemed like it moved slower the more I watched it.

After a short while, Rarity approached me and informed me that she was ready to leave. I nearly shot up from my seat at the bench and pocketed the phone. On our way out, the saleswoman wished us a good evening, to which I simply waved. We stepped back outside and proceeded down the sidewalk. Before I could think, I felt myself being pulled into the neighboring store.

Night had fallen a little earlier than usual as Rarity and I exited the last store on the block. Rarity skipped out, filled with more ideas and possible designs than she feared she could hold. I shuffled behind her, my hands in my pockets. The two continued a little further before I felt a slight pain in my stomach. I figured that around this time, the others had probably already eaten dinner and cleaned up.

After walking another block, Rarity discovered a small, café-like structure. The closer we got, the more it began to look like a line was forming right at the door, occupied by hipsters and blue-bloods alike. I looked around the area for an eatery with a slightly less wait. Unfortunately for Rarity and I, no such haven could be found. I groaned, but my apathy was cut short by Rarity grabbing my hand and pulling me closer to the front of the line.

The host saw the two approaching and put a hand up, stopping them. He stood behind a dark oak podium and, in my opinion, dressed a little too seriously for his job.

“Do you have a reservation?” The host asked, his faux-French accent had me questioning just what kind of place this really is. I was beginning to get a sad, dark feeling in the pocket where my wallet sat. Rarity stepped in front of me and studied the host for a second, then gave him her most seductive smile.

“Oh, of course, darling!” She said, batting her eyelashes. I stood behind and felt my face get warm. Rarity continued. “It’s under Boulevaire.”

The host raised an eyebrow to Rarity and began skimming the list. Sure enough, the name was on the list, causing quite a surprise for both the host and me. The host quickly gathered two menus from the box on the side of the podium.

“R-right this way, Lady Boulevaire!” He stuttered. He quickly took off through the restaurant. Rarity began to follow, but noticed that I was still standing in front of the podium, jaw-dropped from disbelief. Rarity leaned backwards and pushed his jaw shut with her index finger.

“Come, darling, you’ll catch flies that way.” She said, still wearing her smirk. She grabbed me by the hand again and pulled me through the crowded café. I marveled at how much larger the inside appeared to be in comparison to the outside. It looked as if someone crammed a five-star restaurant into a donut shop.

Rarity and I were seated at the further end of the room and were asked for their drink selections. As the host hurried away, I caught Rarity’s attention.

“How did you do that?” I asked, my voice hushed.

Rarity looked at him, puzzled. “Do what?” She asked. I nodded towards the podium where the host stood. “Oh!” She said, “You mean how I got the reservation?”

I nodded furiously. “What did you do?” I interrogated, “Did you brainwash him? Did you read his mind or something?”

Rarity scanned her surroundings for any nearby eavesdroppers and motioned for me to lean towards her. I swallowed nervously and did so. Rarity also leaned over the table, our faces meeting inches away from each other. She raised a hand to my ear and whispered.

“I looked at the book.”

Rarity burst with laughter and fell backwards into her seat, leaving me still hovering above the table in disappointment. I sighed and sat back down, kicking myself for overthinking it. The waiter approached with our drinks, causing Rarity to force back her laughter.

He sat down two glasses of water and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pencil. Rarity ordered the spaghetti, and I, thankful that I could eat something other than salad for a change, ordered the same. The waiter nodded and, just as quickly as he had appeared, vanished into the kitchen.

Rarity sat her menu aside and focused on the boy across the table. I was too busy looking around the restaurant to notice her gaze. Seeing him dressed so decently and in such a lavish place, I almost seemed like a completely different person, and a handsome person at that. She giggled softly to herself and began to walk her fingers around the table.

Once I had given the room a satisfying overlook, I turned my attention back to Rarity, who was staring deeply into my eyes. Her fingers were like legs, seductively walking around her side of the table. I felt my face get hot (again) and started laughing nervously.

“A-are you okay, Rarity?” I asked, cautiously.

Rarity let out a relaxed sigh and giggled more, making me feel slightly uneasy. “I’m perfectly fine, darling.” She said dreamily. She straightened herself up in her seat and smiled at me. “You know,” She began, but was cut off by the return of the waiter. Steam rose from the plates of pasta as he laid them before the two diners. He refilled my water glass and took off again, without so much as a single word to either of them.

“This looks delicious!” I said, immediately diving into the spaghetti. Rarity nodded in agreement and began eating as well. After a few minutes of enjoying the food, I wiped my mouth with the dining cloth and spoke again to Rarity. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?” I asked, half curious and half nervous.

Rarity’s eyes widened, knowing exactly what I was talking about. Still, she tried to playing it off the best she could. “Oh, it was nothing!” She said, feeling that her fake smile and enthusiasm may be failing her. I decided to not press further into the matter, but instead, concentrate on the warm, Italian goodness that lay in front of me.

The waiter returned just as Rarity and I finished their pasta, bringing along with him a big bottle of…wine? I began preparing my “thanks, but no thanks” response in my head. But before the wine could be rejected, the waiter had poured them both a glass and placed the rest of the bottle on the table.

“Compliments of the owner.” He said to Rarity, almost with the same faux-French accent as the host. “He is a big fan of you and your husband’s charity work.”

I nearly choked on the forkful of spaghetti that he was chewing. Rarity shot a look at me, half delighted and half panicky that her “husband” may not make it through the rest of the conversation. I recollected my composure and wiped my mouth again. The waiter never took his eye off of me as he laid down the check and left. I picked up the bill and disdainfully shelled out enough to cover the bill and tip. I began to stand up when Rarity grabbed me by the arm.

“What’s the rush?” She asked playfully. “We have plenty of time! Let’s sit and enjoy a drink.”

I looked at my phone. We had roughly two hours before the transformation wore off. I sat back down and took my wine glass in hand and raised it.

“Okay.” I said, “One drink.”

I, being the responsible adult that I was, abided by my own “One drink rule”. Given that I was driving us both home, anyway, I had to remain sober. However, someone else enjoyed the wine just a tad too much.

Rarity stumbled down the sidewalk, using me as a living crutch and cackling to herself rather loudly. Passersby looked at us, bewildered by the purple-haired woman’s drunken ranting. I gave apologetic looks to anyone within earshot and fixed my grip on Rarity. "I know the wine was good," I thought to myself. "but did she really have to drink the whole bottle?"

After what seemed like forever, we had finally made our way back to my car. I helped Rarity into her side of the car and fastened her seat belt for her. During this, Rarity flung her arms around my neck and pulled my face into her chest.

"I'm so glad I have such a great friend like you!" She said, her words occasionally slurring. I tried fighting against Rarity's surprisingly tight embrace, but somehow could not break away from the inebriated iron grip long enough to gasp for air. She finally let go, giggling loudly as she fell in defeat against the seat's backrest. I ran around to the other side of the car and quickly climbed in. Checking my phone, I realized I only had half an hour to get Rarity home before she took on pony form.

I quickly threw the car in gear and peeled out of the parking garage as quickly as possible. Rarity threw her hands up and cheered as the car weaved through traffic and out onto the main highway. I checked his phone again and found that I may or may not barely make it back in time. I stepped on the gas and Rarity cheered again. She talked and giggled the entire ride back to my house.

I couldn't have timed it any better. As soon as the car pulled into the driveway, a light shone from next to me, signifying Rarity's return to her unicorn state. I noticed that sometime during the transformation, Rarity had passed out from a combination of alcohol and exhaustion from transforming.

"Great." I thought to myself. "How am I gonna pull this off?"

I decided that the best thing to do was to remove the summer dress she was wearing. Although she was no longer a human, I still felt extremely uncomfortable doing so. My intentions were good, but my conscious still carried a haunting sense of perversion. I attempted to shake my self-brought guilt by quickly completing the task and opened the passenger door. Rarity mumbled in her sleep as I walked around to her side and lifted her from the seat. I struggled against the weight of the unicorn, but managed to get a good hold on her and kicked the car door shut.

I waddled up the the front door of the house, noticing that all the lights were out and there were no noises coming from inside. I fished my keys out of my pocket and quietly unlocked the door to the house. I shifted Rarity around and proceeded through the door frame, pulling the door shut behind me with my foot and locking the door with my most free hand.

As predicted, the lights were all out and the ponies had went to bed early. I quietly kicked my shoes off and tip-toed over to the bed where most of the other ponies lay sleeping. The only excepting was Rainbow Dash, who lay kicked back in the recliner. It took all my strength to lower Rarity gently and without disturbing the others onto the bed. I took one of the blankets that lay unused on the floor and covered the white unicorn with it. I smiled to myself and leaned over Rarity.

"Good night." I whispered.

Rarity unconsciously stirred. "Good night, my prince." She whispered, and planted a long kiss on my right cheek before I could think to act. Then, as if nothing happened, Rarity passed back out on the bed, snoozing quietly while a dumbstruck me just froze.

"D-did she just...." I thought.

I rubbed my face and drug myself back towards my room, still in an intense state of shock. As I stripped down to my boxers and flopped onto his bed, I let out a sigh of confusion. Was Rarity dreaming of me? Or someone else?

Hopefully it was just the alcohol talking I reassured himself. Besides, nobody saw it happen but me. Just let it go.

I nestled down between the sheets of my bed, slightly more calm about the situation knowing that there was no conscious audience. I looked forward to tomorrow, where I would spend the day with Pinkie Pie, and maybe I could completely forget the events of tonight. I let the thoughts drift away as I drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the living room, a set of uneasy eyes lay wide awake, trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed....

Chapter 9 - Feeling Pinkie Keen/I'm In Trouble

Rarity woke up the next morning a short while after everyone else the next morning. The scent of pancakes wafted from the kitchen and through her nostrils. She lifted her head from the pillow and was greeted with something that surprisingly, wasn't a stranger to her: a hangover. As she sat on her hind legs and held her head in her hooves, she started to question what had happened the night before. The only thing that she could remember was the wine from the restaurant.

"Wine?" She thought. "Well, if it was merely wine, then it had to be much more potent than Berry Punch's..."

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Rainbow Dash teased. "Looks like you had a rough night."

Rarity took this offensively and immediately summoned her bedside mirror and brush. Rainbow Dash looked incredulously at the white unicorn, who was frantically grooming her unruly mane. Rarity took a quick glance at the pegasus, who was staring at her incredulously.

"What?" She said, attempting to multitask. "Is it wrong for someone to want to look their best as early as possible?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and continued to switch the television on to the motor sports channel. Rarity shrugged off her lack of understanding and finished styling her mane and tail. Afterwards, she sluggishly made her way into the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of coffee.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she noticed that I was already dressed and showered, enjoying my pancakes like they were going out of style. Applejack was helping Pinkie Pie crank out pancakes at the stove, who was ranting on and on about her plans for today. Fluttershy who sat next to me also enjoyed an equally sizable stack of pancakes.

"Where's Twilight?" Rarity asked, noticing the absence of her fellow unicorn.

"She's on the computer, researching as usual." I replied between bites of pancake.

Rarity glanced over into the living room, where Twilight sat in the computer chair and was clacking away quickly on the computer's keyboard. "Is she not going to join us for breakfast?" Rarity continued. "She of all ponies should know it's the most important meal of the day." "Even more so if you're in my predicament." She thought to herself.

"She said she had already eaten before we were awake," Fluttershy said quietly, "But I haven't seen a dirty dish all morning. I'm honestly a little worried about her."

"She gets like this with her studies sometimes." Rainbow groaned. "Twilight would probably forget to breathe if she didn't have us around."

The four of us laughed, causing Rarity's headache to swell a little larger. She glanced over to Twilight, who locked eyes with her for a split second before returning her attention to the computer screen.

After breakfast was eaten and cleaned up after, everyone prepared for Pinkie Pie's transformation. Pinkie slid herself under the blanket and started bouncing from excitement. I had the hoodie and shorts at the ready, and Twilight positioned herself in front of the hyperactive earth pony.

"Stand still!" Twilight barked. "I can't get a clear shot!"

Pinkie stopped bouncing momentarily, but her mind was still racing. Twilight seized this rare opportunity and fired the spell at Pinkie, who began to glow beneath the blanket. Rarity had to look away from the light, as it only increased the pain of her hangover.

Pinkie's shape morphed and the glow faded until a shorter girl with pink, poofy hair emerged from the blanket. She giggled wildly and danced around the living room, completely oblivious that she had lost her blanket in the process. I, hoping to not get another scolding, closed my eyes and blindly held out the clothes.

"Woo! Look at me!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I'm a human! I'm a human! And look at these things! They feel like huge bags of jiggly gelatin! JIGGLE JIGGLE JIGGLE! Hee hee!"

I didn't have to look for my face to instantly become blood red (yet again). The others were either shocked by the naked Pinkie Pie running about the room, or laughing hysterically at her fascination with her chest. I waved the clothes about, still protecting my dignity. Pinkie snatched them from my hands and pulled them on.

I peeked just as Pinkie pulled the zipper up on the hoodie. I sighed in relief as I stood to pull my shoes on. Pinkie squealed with delight as I walked to the counter to collect my car keys. She bounced towards the door, giggling all the way.

"We should be back by dinner." I announced, making my way out the door with an ecstatic Pinkie Pie. Everyone waved goodbye to the two of us, even Rarity, who was slowly overcoming her hangover. Everyone but Twilight, who seemed more involved in her studies than ever.

Pinkie and I got in the car and backed out of the driveway. As we started for the discount clothing store, Pinkie began wiggling in her seat in excitement, similar to the others before her. I took small sips of coffee from my to-go mug while Pinkie Pie went on and on about how today was the last day of a street carnival in the city and how much she really wanted to go.

"A street carnival, huh?" I thought to myself. "It's definitely been a while."

We arrived in the innermost part of the city a while later, I scanned the surrounding area for a decent place to park. Pinkie Pie just sat, still wiggling and talking as she had been since we left the house. The only difference was her outfit. She now wore a tight, pink v-neck, pink frilly skirt, and pink flats. To me, she looked like a ballerina dancer straight off the stage. Her style was just about as eccentric as she was.

A wave of relief washed over me as we found an empty parking meter just around the corner from the carnival. Pinkie nearly exploded from the excitement when we parked the car and began climbing out of the seats. The smell of carnival food wafted through the air and got stronger as we approached the event area: five blocks of Benson Avenue that had been blocked off to traffic. It ran alongside the city park, where games, rides, and a musical stage were all set up and already being enjoyed by the public.

Pinkie cheered and pulled me into the heart of the carnival. It didn't take much before I myself caught the joyous feeling that Pinkie Pie had emanated. It was almost contagious. I no longer required the tugging of my shirt to catch up with the pink-haired woman, and, for the first time in a while, I completely let all my inhibitions and worries dissolve into nothingness.

Pinkie Pie danced over to the booth that sold wristbands for rides. I purchased them each one and then followed Pinkie over to the line for the Merry-Go-Round. She seemed more excited than even the smaller children who also occupied the line. The current cycle didn't last long, and after the current riders had exited, it was time to send in a new crowd.

The operator counted in his head as the children passed. Pinkie had just slipped through before the operator held out a hand, halting Tristan from entering. Pinkie froze and looked back at me, making a small frown.

"It's okay." I called after her. "I'll be waiting at the exit."

Pinkie smiled again and skipped to the closest horse. The bell rang, signifying that the ride was beginning, and Pinkie cheered. The other children around her cheered also, causing me to crack a smile. The ride went around and around with Pinkie Pie cheering and giggling all the while.

"If only she could only see the irony the way I do." I thought, chuckling.

The ride ended a few minutes later and Pinkie bounced off of her horse and skipped over to me, who, as promised, was waiting for her at the exit gate. We rode all the other rides together, one of which I got sick from almost immediately following. Pinkie Pie drug the disoriented me over to the closest food stand and sat me down at one of the picnic tables.

She ordered us both a soda and a funnel cake and I groggily handed her the money. Pinkie Pie returned to the table with the food, licking her lips in both hunger and excitement. The smell of warm dough and sugar made me forget about my sickness and I graciously accepted. The two of us ate the funnel cakes with much content, and, in Pinkie Pie's case, quickly.

We followed up our small lunch with more games and a second round of rides, taking occasional sitting breaks to just sit and absorb the atmosphere. The sky began to turn a dark orange, causing me to look at my phone in panic. It had been eight hours exactly, but Pinkie hadn't changed yet.

"Maybe Twilight's spell lasts longer the more she uses it!" Said Pinkie Pie, seeming to read my mind.

"That could be the case," I replied, "But I don't wanna take a risk. We should go home now."

Pinkie Pie frowned at this and her hair went from poofy to flat as fast as her emotions changed. I was slightly startled by the new hairstyle, but kept my stern face.

"Can't we ride just one more ride?" Pinkie begged, her bottom lip quivering.

I sighed and gave in. For some reason, I couldn't find it in my soul to say no. Pinkie's hair changed back into it's cotton candy-like form as she grabbed my arm and once again hauled me towards the Ferris wheel.

We were on our way home from the carnival after the ride. I had bought some more snacks for the trip home, seeing as how we missed our dinner deadline before we could make it back to their car. The sun had set a few minutes ago and Pinkie had already transformed, the light causing me to swerve a little.

Pinkie sat contently in the seat on her hind legs, putting down a couple more of the funnel cakes and grinning from ear to ear. She laid herself down in the seat and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and sighing in satisfaction.

"I had a super-duper fun time with you today, Mat!" She beamed. "You're fun to hang out with and super nice and I'm so glad I can call you my friend!" She wrapped her front legs around my torso, causing me to swerve a bit again. I smiled and petted the pink pony's mane.

"I had fun, too." I said softly. "And I'm also glad to call you my friend."

"Friend..." I thought to myself. It's been a while for that, too. I thought back to the first few months after I left my family. I was so depressed that I had practically cut myself off from the few friends I had and the rest of the world. I smiled again as Pinkie pulled back from the embrace and sat back into her seat.

"You're the best all-around person in this whole wide world! Not that I've really met anyone else from this world, but I would say that if I did, I would still say you're the best!" She continued, giggling. "It's no wonder why she likes you."

I swerved yet again, this time almost sending the car off the road. I slowly turned my head to Pinkie, who was wide-eyed and covering her mouth, realizing that she had slipped some top secret information.

"What...did you say?" I stammered.

Pinkie buried her head in her hooves. "No, no, no." She said in a panic. "I can't say anything else! I Pinkie Promised her that I wouldn't say anything about the crush she has on you!" Pinkie's eyes widened again and she started sobbing loudly. "Why can't I stop talking about it?!"

I returned my attention to the road ahead, completely numbed by this news. One of the ponies liked me? This didn't make any sense. I shook my head and attempted to calm myself, then looked back at Pinkie, who needed to do some serious calming of her own.

"Look, Pinkie," I began, trying not to flip out, "You guys are only going to be here two more days, then were all going back to your world. It's kind of pointless to try to date someone from a world that you never thought could exist in real life, correct?" I finished.

Pinkie wiped an eye and nodded in understanding. Luckily for the both of us, we arrived at the house before the conversation got any more awkward. Pinkie bounced out of the car and up the steps of the front porch and up to the door. I followed behind her, still in a slight case from shock.I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door, expecting to see the happy faces of the others.

Instead, I only got to see that the other ponies, even Fluttershy, was giving me mean looks.

"What did I do?!" I questioned in fear, "What's going on here?!"

Rainbow Dash flew up to me and poked me in the chest. "You kissed Rarity last night while she slept!" She accused. "What kind of creep does stuff like that?!"

My jaw dropped the more they talked about it. The other ponies started yelling too, taking their own verbal shots at the defenseless human. Rarity looked a me in a mix of horror and anger, and soon joined in on the shouting. Feeling a migraine coming on, I jumped onto the couch, hoping to end all this once and for all.

"STOOOOP!!!!" I shouted. Everyone fell silent. I was still met by a few bad looks, but none the less, I got the attention I needed. "Let me explain everything."

I told everyone, detail for detail, the events of everything that had happened the night before, from the dinner, to the drunken ride home, to Rarity's sleeping kiss. The other's faces all softened as I finished the story. Rarity's mind finished filling in the blanks of last night and she ran to me, weeping.

"I'm so sorry..." She said, burying her face into my shoulder. "I hope you don't think less of me..."

The others followed suit, jumping onto my lap and sides apologizing to me. A few minutes of sobbing and apologizing, they all readied the living room for sleep. Fluttershy excitedly jumped into the bed, eager to be the first one awake for her first day out. As the ponies all settled, I waved them goodnight. They happily returned the gesture, making me happy that things were back to normal. Whatever that was.

Twilight stayed awake however and decided to come into my room to apologize.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, taking notice of Twilight's sad face.

"I'm sorry I brought all this on to you." She replied. "I mean the whole Rarity thing."

"How so?" I asked, curious.

"Well, you see," She began, nervously. "I was the one who saw her kiss you."

My eyes widened a little. "Twilight saw it?!" I thought, trying my best not to show a reaction.

"It was too dark to tell, but all I could see was you leaning over Rarity and then I heard a kiss." Twilight went on to explain. "I was feeling a little restless last night, but I didn't want to disturb anypony else, so I just waited, hoping that eventually I could fall asleep." Her volume lowered. "Then I saw the kiss, and..."

I cut her off. "Let's just forget about this whole silly incident." I said, hoping to cheer her up.

"I feel really bad for telling the others." She pressed. "I was just stressed out by it all and it slipped. I'm really, really sorry. I know I should have come to you first."

I smiled and ran my fingers through Twilight's mane. "It's okay." I comforted. "I forgive you. Everyone slips every now and then."

Twilight smiled warmly at me through teared-up eyes and rested her head on my arm. The two of us laid like this for a while. Twilight let out a yawn and stood back up, wiping her eyes.

"I should probably get to bed." She said. "You need your rest as well if you plan on taking Fluttershy to the city tomorrow morning." Twilight turned to go back towards the living room and I walked a little further down the hall to my room. I stripped myself of my day clothes and pulled on a tank top and gym shorts and crawled under the covers for some much needed rest.

Chapter 10 - One Very Shy Adventure/Ponynapped/Rescue/Life Is Saved

I woke up the next morning thinking to myself. "How much of a handful can Fluttershy be?". And not a second later after, the door flung itself open, revealing the aforementioned yellow pegasus. She was hovering above the ground and carrying a tray with as much breakfast food as it could hold. She floated ever so carefully to my side of the bed and sat the tray onto my lap. Toast, oatmeal, pancakes, a tall glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee lay atop it. I could do nothing more than sit and stare.

"Fluttershy." I said, yawning, but still in shock. "You know you didn't have to do this, right?"

Fluttershy grinned and spun around in the air. "Well, um, y-you didn't have to let me go outside with you today either." She replied. "S-so maybe we're even now? I'm just so excited, I-I could explode!" She drew in the biggest breath she could and curled up into a ball, causing me to turn away and cover my ears.

"...Pshhh..." Fluttershy whispered, mimicking the sound of what I thought to be a drop of water hitting a hot frying pan. She extended her hooves in an exploding fashion, trying to add emphasis on her excitement. I tried with every fiber of my being not to laugh at how adorable she was acting. It was almost heart-attack inducing.

Fluttershy landed softly at the foot of my bed and nudged at his tray. "Now eat up, Mister." She instructed. "Breakfast is the absolute most important meal of the day, you know!"

She stood and watched patiently as I ate the food that was made especially for me, taking glances upwards to find that Fluttershy still stood her post. I hurried through my meal as fast as I could, hoping to avoid more awkward silence. I finished the last pancake and guzzled the last drop of orange juice and slammed my glass back on the tray. Fluttershy clapped her hooves together in delight.

"Oh, my!" She said, "Somepony was hungry! Do I need to get you more?"

I waved my hands in the air. I was almost too weak from eating so much in one setting. "No, no." I answered. "I'm stuffed. Thank you." I put on a big smile and moved the tray onto my nightstand. "I'm going to go take a shower now, so I'll be in the living room soon."

Fluttershy nodded and flew upward. She hovered over to the now empty breakfast tray and picked it up with her hooves. "Do you need any help getting cleaned up?" She asked, flying over to the door.

My face grew red from Fluttershy's innocent question. I shook it off and cleared my throat. "N-no. I'm fine, thanks." I stammered. "I'll see you in a sec, okay?"

Fluttershy nodded again and took off down the hallway and into the living room. I shuffled out of bed and across the floor towards the bathroom.

I took my shower and changed into my clothes for the day, which were a purple v-neck and dark gray jeans. From my bedroom, I walked into the living room, seeing that everyone was already on about their own business. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all sat around the television, roaring with laughter at the men on the screen. I looked closer at the screen to find that they were watching an episode of a prank show that I had recorded a while back.

"Look at all that flour!" Rainbow Dash squealed.

"Guys! It's not good when flour and water mix!" Pinkie Pie defended. "Trust me, I know!"

Applejack giggled "Ah guess y'all would call that a sticky situation!"

The three roared with laughter again.

I chuckled to myself and looked for the rest of the ponies. Twilight was busy on the computer, as per usual. I sighed loudly, wondering how Twilight was going to cope without a computer once she got back to Equestria. I turned my attention to Rarity, who was in a much chipper mood as she read through a fashion brochure she received from one of the shops she visited. But there was no Fluttershy to be found.

She walked out of the bathroom, already wearing the hoodie and shorts. I gave her a puzzled look.

"W-well, I don't want you to hurt your nose like last time I got changed." Fluttershy explained, a small blush forming.

My eyes widened, remembering the event all too well. I nodded quickly and allowed Fluttershy to walk over to Twilight. She took a seat right next to the chair, beaming up at Twilight. Twilight noticed her company and spun the chair around to cast the spell.

Twilight deployed her magic on the yellow Pegasus and Fluttershy started morphing for the second time since she'd been here. When the light faded away, I, like the others, was relieved to see that she had grown into her clothes correctly and, in my mind, had filled them out quite nicely. Fluttershy's pink hair fell over her busty torso and the shorts hugged her hips tightly.

Fluttershy twirled around, excited to once again be in human form. She skipped to the door as I, trying to keep my mind away from Fluttershy's voluptuous figure, slipped on my shoes and waved goodbye to the ponies. They all waved back, then turned their attention back to the television just in time to catch the demise of yet another prank victim.

"Ooooh!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "That's gotta hurt!"

"That has got to be the biggest green ball I have ever seen in my whole entire life." Added Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy and I were fast on our way into the city after our stop at the clothing store. After extensive consideration, Fluttershy picked out a yellow sweater, an off-white skirt, and some modest underwear. She sat quietly in the passenger's seat, letting out a fidget of excitement every now and again.

"So." I began, hoping to break the silence. "What do you wanna do today?"

Fluttershy simply smiled at me. "Oh, um, whatever you want to do is fine." She replied. "Really. I'll be happy with just about anything."

I sighed. "But it's your first day out." I reminded. "You should get to do anything you want. You know, within reason."

Fluttershy looked up in thought, lightly tapping her chin. She gasped as she remembered something Twilight had told her about. "I want to go to the zoo!"

Her request had captured my attention. "The...zoo?" I asked.

Fluttershy nodded quickly. "Yeah!" The Pegasus exclaimed. "Wouldn't that be great? Every animal your world has to offer in one place! Can we go?" She bit at her nails in excitement, awaiting my answer.

In all the years I had lived in the city, I never once had been to the zoo. My mom either didn't have the money to take me or I was too busy balancing a full time job and, at the time, college. I searched for the zoo on my phone and set my GPS app to get them there. Fluttershy gasped when the voice on the phone gave me my first bit of direction.

"I-it talks to you?" Fluttershy asked in awe.

I chuckled. "Yeah, it'll do that from time to time." I replied. As we continued driving, Fluttershy would giggle every time it spoke. I found Fluttershy's amazement entertaining. She spent the entire trip staring at the phone, waiting for their navigator to give its words of wisdom. She even tried to talk back to it a few times, but every time, she was met with disappointing silence.

After a good twenty minutes, we finally reached our destination. The phone even declared so, and Fluttershy gave a small squeal as we turned into the massive parking lot. We parked in the third row and began walking to the entrance. The sign above the gate was adorned with the likeness of several different animals, which only added to Fluttershy's giddiness. I had only just got done paying the woman at the gate for admission when Fluttershy took me by the arm and started pulling me around the zoo.

Our first stop was to the reptile house. I watched in half-amazement as Fluttershy skipped towards the different habitats, tapping the glass of each and managing to get the attention of any animal she wanted. She would speak to them, giving them compliments on their scales or breaking up a fight that occurred between two iguanas.

Fluttershy waved goodbye to each of the reptiles before skipping away to the next habitat. I made an unsettling discovery as we were walking out of the reptile house: the reptiles had been smiling after Fluttershy visited them. I tried to shake it off as a hallucination and exited the building.

After that, we made our way to the bird sanctuary, which seemed to peak Fluttershy's interest. She hurried into the netted area and began instantly pointing out every type of bird she saw.

"How do you know about all these different kinds of birds, Fluttershy?" I asked, surprised.

Fluttershy held out a finger as one of her new feathered friends landed gently on it. "Oh, we have a lot of the same animals in Equestria that you do here in your world." She explained. She sang a few notes to the bird and the bird sang it back, matching Fluttershy perfectly. My eyes widened as they continued to sing more, with the addition of a few more birds. Soon it became a full fledged choir, and passersby were beginning to stop and stare in awe.

I took notice of the growing crowd and quickly stepped up to Fluttershy, interrupting her conducting. She looked around at the large group of people who began applauding her. The birds flew away and Fluttershy became flustered over the abundance of attention. Her whimpering gave me all the reason I needed to pull her away from the bird sanctuary and into the Arctic Area, where we would spend the next hour marveling at the penguins and polar bears while avoiding the masses.

Back at my house, Pinkie Pie had been pulled into the seclusion and privacy of a certain bedroom closet by one of the other ponies. Nervous sweat flowed from her as she was met with a scrutinizing stare.

"Mat was acting kinda weird when he came back home with you." Her closet-mate informed. "You didn't say anything, did you?"

Pinkie's eyes shot open. "N-no!" She stammered. The other pony's eyes narrowed. "W-well, I slipped and told him that one of us liked him, but I didn't say any names! Pinkie Promise!" She said, repeating the motions of the Pinkie Promise that they had made earlier.

The other pony put a hoof to her head. "You can't say anything to him." She reminded. "I didn't expect anything like this to happen when we got here, but after spending nearly a week with him, I've discovered feelings for him that I've never had for anypony else." She sighed deeply. "Please keep this secret and hope that its just something I can get over before we go back to Equestria."

Pinkie Pie nodded furiously in agreement as she quickly escaped their makeshift meeting room, leaving the other pony to collect her thoughts.

"What am I gonna do?" The mysterious pony thought.

It had been a few hours since we arrived at the zoo, so Fluttershy and I decided to have lunch. Set up just between the Arctic Zone and the aquariums was a jungle-themed concession stand. Fluttershy ordered a simple to-go salad and I, who was still full from my massive breakfast, settled for a simple ice pop. They took a seat at a nearby bench to enjoy their lunches.

"So." I said, trying to jump start a conversation. "What do you think so far?"

Fluttershy swallowed the bite of salad she had in her mouth and beamed at me. "It's great! I-it's more than great!" She blurted. "I'm having the time of my life, Mat!" She threw her arms around me, wrapping me in an iron embrace.

"That's...great." I whispered, "But...can I...have some air?"

Fluttershy released her hold on a breathless me, who sat gasping for air. "O-oh." Fluttershy said in a much more sober tone. "I-i'm sorry."

"You're...fine." I said, catching my breath.

When I found my normal breathing pattern again, we finished our quick lunch and proceeded over into the aquariums. The inside was dark, with only the lights from the massive tanks surrounding them and a few overhead lights illuminating the way. Fluttershy stared admiringly at all the sea life that swam around them. A group of children had glued themselves to a glass wall, watching as a Great White shark maneuvered through the water on the other side. I saw the massive predator and began shaking out of fear.

"It's okay, Mat." Fluttershy coaxed, hoping to calm me down. "He's behind a very thick layer of glass. He couldn't hurt you if he wanted to."

I gulped and, with Fluttershy gently pushing me, approached the edge of the tank. The children made way for me next to the glass so she could have a front row seat to the shark's activity. The shark took notice of his new observer and swam close to the tank, revealing just how big he really was. I shakily watched as it came eye to eye with him. If it wasn't for Fluttershy being there, I probably would have ran. But instead, I stood my ground, waiting until the shark left. I exhaled, relieved that the beast had gone.

Some of the children giggled at my reaction to the shark, but was soon silenced by Fluttershy's piercing stare. She pulled me away from the glass wall and they continued through the rest of the aquarium. My mood eventually picked back up as we left the aquarium and made our way to the Safari Park.

The first animal we saw was the lion. Fluttershy stood next to the railing where they were kept, waving to get its attention. The lion approached and purred loudly as it gained a lot of attention from the pink-haired woman. I approached Fluttershy, bewildered at her bravery.

"How are you not the least bit afraid of that beast?" I asked.

Fluttershy giggled. "It's just like a Manticore," She replied, "Just not nearly as big."

I cocked my head to the side. "A Manticore?" I echoed.

She nodded.

"What's that?" I followed up, not sure if I was ready for an answer.

"A Manticore." Fluttershy informed, "Has the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and large wings. They're about twice the size of that lion there."

My mind had been partially blown that something so terrifying existed in their previously assumed cute world. My mouth hung slightly open from trying to even picture such a thing. It was no wonder Fluttershy was treating the lion like an overgrown house cat.

We finally left the lion's habitat and explored the rest of the Safari Park area of the zoo. Once we had been through the rest of the zoo (and the gift shop, where I bought Fluttershy a stuffed panda bear), we proceeded back through the entrance gate and back to my car. The upholstered seats felt amazing to us, who were feeling slightly weary after the day.

I checked my phone for the time. It had been four and a half hours since Fluttershy's transformation, giving us plenty of time for another activity and, very possibly, dinner. I looked over at Fluttershy, who was snuggling her panda bear. I smiled to myself as I backed out of the parking space and started driving towards the city.

Fluttershy and I had arrived in the city about a half hour later. It was about mid-afternoon when we got there, which meant that we had until roughly eight to do a few more things and have dinner before Fluttershy returned to her pegasus form. The trip was almost nothing but Fluttershy going on and on about their zoo visit. It was probably the most talkative that I had ever heard her be. It did my heart some good to see Fluttershy so happy.

However, a ding from my car quickly ended that as the light on the dashboard warned me of my low fuel level. Fluttershy seemed to not have even noticed the sound as she continued on about the animals. I sighed a little and glanced over to my pink-haired passenger.

"I'm going to need to stop and gas up the tank before we can do anything else." I informed her.

"Oh." Fluttershy said, ending her giddy chatter. "That's fine." She smiled at me and snuggled her plush panda bear some more.

We found a gas station a few moments later and pulled in next to the closest pump. I killed the engine and got out, keeping the door open. I put in my bank card and punched my PIN number in. Fluttershy, who remained perfectly seated, watched as people walked the sidewalks next to her. She tried to wave at a passerby, but was met with a look of skepticism. The stranger shook his head and ignored her, continuing on his way. Fluttershy slumped in her seat and sighed.

The nozzle thunked a few minutes later, signifying that the tank was full. I replaced the nozzle and received my receipt from the pump. As I climbed back in the car and pulled the driver's door shut, I noticed Fluttershy's drastic mood change.

"Everything okay, 'Shy?" I asked.

Fluttershy looked at me with sorrowful eyes. "I tried to wave at somepony just now, but they looked at me funny." She confessed. "Is everypony here like that?"

I smiled weakly and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Not everyone is exactly friendly to people they don't know." I explained. "Some people just aren't interested in making new friends. It doesn't exactly excuse them from giving weird looks or being unkind to you, but that's just how a lot of humans are."

Fluttershy sniffled a bit. "Kind of like Cranky Doodle Donkey." Fluttershy replied, finding common ground with Pinkie's experience. My eyes narrowed in confusion, but decided to go along with it.

"Uh...sure..." I answered. I pulled away from the subject, hoping to cheer her up. "What do you wanna do next?" I asked. Fluttershy thought to herself, but could come up with nothing. She had already had one of the best days ever. What more could she ask of me?

"I honestly don't know." Fluttershy admitted. "I-i've already had such a great day so far..."

I also thought for a second, then was struck with an idea. I put the car in gear and made the quick drive to the city park, where Pinkie Pie and I had been the day before for the carnival. Today, it was a much different scene, as all the rides and booths had been taken down and removed. Fluttershy quickly perked up when we took a parking spot on the side of the street opposite of the park.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle had taken a rare break from the computer to do some theory writing in the kitchen. Rainbow Dash, who was seated in the recliner watching a motocross race, seized this opportunity and bolted to the computer seat. She looked around nervously as she picked up an unsharpened pencil with her mouth and typed out "how to deal with a crush" into Google's search bar. She hit the enter key and a split second later, thousands upon thousands of search options appeared before her. Not wanting to waste any time, she unthinkingly clicked the first result.

The page that appeared next was a post on an advice board. The user, "apples2apples", was apparently having the same problem. "Huh," Rainbow Dash thought, "Weird name." She ignored the thought and began reading the comments, hoping that someone would have just the information she needed.

LikeABawws: Just come out and tell him. That's it. If he doesn't return the feelings, just get over it and move on.

2258kittykittylicklick: Well, if you want to take a more romantic approach, just try dropping subtle hints. Giving compliments, doing something nice for him, even inviting him to have lunch with you could be all you need to get your point across.

BlackenedSunrise: Love is stupid. Just don't even bother, you'll end up hurting in the end.

Rainbow Dash ignored the following comments, as they were all attacking "BlackenedSunrise". She sighed, dropping the pencil she held in her mouth. As she went to close the window, a certain white unicorn popped up beside her.

"What's this?!" Rarity said in a playful manner. "Our little Dashie has a crush?! How exciting!"

Rainbow Dash panicked and tried to cover the computer screen the best she could. "W-what?! N-no!" She cried, but Rarity could see right through her defenses, smirking all the while. Rainbow Dash gave a sigh of defeat.

"Fine." She huffed. "I-I have a crush on somepony."

Rarity squealed in delight. "Oh, this is just fabulous!" She gushed. She pulled another chair up next to her rainbow-maned companion. "Tell me all about it!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I can't." She replied. "I'm not gonna say anything about it."

Rarity was displeased by this and put on her best pouting face. "Can you at least tell me their name?"

The pegasus stayed resilient. "Absolutely not." She contested. "Its not exactly something everypony would approve of, if you catch my meaning."

Rarity dramatically threw a hoof over her forehead. "Oh, a forbidden love!" She swooned. "How romantic!" She paused her act to place a hoof on the back of an annoyed Rainbow Dash. "I do hope things work in your favor, dear." Rarity comforted.

Rainbow Dash simply sighed and left the computer desk, returning to the recliner and focusing her attention back on the race. Rarity climbed up on the chair for her turn at the computer as she smiled and closed the advice board's window.

It had been half an hour since Fluttershy and I had arrived at the park. We had walked the area of the park and were now sitting on a bench next to the small lake that lay in the park's center. Fluttershy tossed some duck food on the ground at her feet. A couple ducks waddled over and quacked gratefully, causing her to giggle.

I checked my cell phone, noticing that I was finally able to feel hunger again after my massive breakfast. I mentioned an Italian restaurant that was only a few blocks away from here and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. She stood and threw the rest of the food on the ground for the ducks, who were quickly amassing around the food. We walked off of the grass and back onto pavement, crossing the street back towards the car.

I stopped by the parking meter and fed it a few more quarters, adding an hour to the display. That gave us two hours to eat and maybe stop at a few places before having to hit another part of the city. We continued walking to the next intersection and made a left, continuing the short walk to the restaurant.

Once inside, we noticed that business was surprisingly stagnant. There was very few customers in the entire restaurant, which bewildered me. Any other time, it was packed with some more customers loitering about outside, waiting to get in. I began to have second thoughts when one of the waiters hastily walked towards me.

"Just two?" She asked, beaming. I simply nodded, slightly freaked out by this girl's enthusiasm. She giggled a little as she grabbed two laminated menus from behind the host's desk and motioned us to follow her. We did, and she seated us at a small booth next to the door. The waitress quickly rambled off the specials before taking our drink orders. Fluttershy and I both ordered iced teas and the waitress disappeared.

Fluttershy looked the menu over a few times, unsure of what she wanted. She read each item's description carefully and had finally decided when the waitress sprang back into view. I ordered the lasagna and Fluttershy ordered the spaghetti with three cheese sauce. The waitress scribbled down the order, swiped back the menus, and disappeared again, leaving Fluttershy and I sitting in a semi-awkward silence.

After a few minutes, I finally spoke. "So." I began, "Is Equestria much like my world?"

Fluttershy thought for a second, then shook her head. "No." She replied, "Your world is actually more advanced than ours." She looked down a little bit, then back up at me. "I-i mean, we don't have TV or cars or computers."

I tried to picture that for a second. No television, no internet, no phones. I shuddered a little bit, realizing just how attached to my gadgets I really was. And here was a person, er, pony, who had never even heard of anything like that before she came to my world, and she seemed perfectly content about that.

"What do you guys do with yourselves?" I asked, hoping to find clarity.

Fluttershy looked back and forth nervously. "W-what do you mean?"

"You don't have almost any of the technology that I do." I said. "What do you guys do to keep from being bored all the time?"

Fluttershy perked up. "We have all sorts of festivals, holidays, and events." She happily answered. She then began explaining everything from the Running of the Leaves to Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming Eve, which she found were oddly similar to a lot of my world's festivals, activities, and events. She was in the middle of describing Winter Wrap-Up when the zippy waitress dropped off our food. The smell of it was enough for me to dive in immediately, followed by my pink-haired counterpart.

I had finished my lasagna in record time and Fluttershy was about halfway done with her spaghetti when the waitress came by and dropped off the bill. I took a quick look, then slipped my bank card on top. I laid back in the booth, giving myself some time to rest while Fluttershy finished her spaghetti. After the waitress came to take payment, the two of us started talking again about the celebration similarities between Earth and Equestria.

After a while, I checked my cell phone. We had an hour until the parking meter expired, and roughly two until Fluttershy's transformation. After the waitress had returned my bank card, we got up and left the restaurant. The sky outside had begun to soften, with very few clouds in the sky. Fluttershy asked me about a small store they passed on the way to the restaurant. I smiled and nodded, and began to make our way there. We didn't make it halfway before trouble somehow sniffed the two of us out.

Fluttershy was walking alongside me when she heard something coming from the alleyway we had just passed. She stopped mid-step and tried looking into the alley. I stopped a few feet further ahead and turned back to see what had piqued Fluttershy's interest.

A minute or so passed until we put the thought into the back of our mind. We turned to leave when a shadowy figure jumped from the ally and grabbed Fluttershy, pulling her back into the darkness. Fluttershy tried to fight the best she could, but her strength couldn't best her captor's.

"Mat!" She screamed. "Help!"

The captor put his hand over her mouth, still fighting to pull her deeper and deeper into the alley. "Shuddup!" He hissed. "If ya know what's good for ya, you'll keep quiet!"

I instantly bolted down the alley after them. I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right about the alley, and now Fluttershy was getting kidnapped. "Stop!" I yelled. "Let her go!"

The chase went on for several more feet until the alley dead-ended into the back door of another building. The criminal tried to open the door, but thankfully for me, it was locked. I finally caught up with them, slightly out of breath, but still ready to do whatever it took to get Fluttershy home safely.

"Let her go." I said. Fluttershy mumbled against the criminal's hand, which showed no sign of a lessening grip. The criminal spat at the ground and glared at me.

"Go find your own broad, buddy." The attacker growled. "This one's mine."

My rage got the better of me. I knew that I wasn't nearly as big as the other guy, but it didn't stop me from sprinting at full speed towards them. I drew back a fist. "Fluttershy!" I screamed. "Duck!"

Fluttershy managed to break free of the attacker's hand and did as ordered, just in time to see a fist fly beside her head. My punch landed between the eyes of the criminal, knocking him backwards a few feet. Fluttershy saw her opportunity to escape and took it. She wiggled free and stood behind me, trembling and sobbing. The attacker regained his balance and glared at me.

"You're gonna pay for that one, punk!" He threatened. He charged at me, who simply stood my ground, waiting for the right moment. The criminal got just more than an arm's length away from me when he was greeted with yet another punch, this one finding his gut. My punch coupled with the kidnapper's running speed knocked the wind out of my foe, dropping him a second time. I began walking towards the battered enemy when Fluttershy caught me by the arm.

"Please," She begged me. "No more fighting." Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked back and forth between her potential kidnapper and her rescuer. I looked Fluttershy over for any possible wounds, but thankfully found none.

I turned her around and we began a slow walk to the alley's exit. We got a few feet away from the main sidewalk when I felt a sharp, cold pain in my right shoulder blade. I fell to my knees, screaming. Fluttershy gasped as she saw the source of my agony: a small knife that had been their attacker's last shot. She turned to find him, but he had somehow disappeared from the scene.

My breathing increased rapidly as I felt around for the blade. I touched it, sending a shock of pain through my system. It had to be at least half an inch in my flesh. Fluttershy winced as I let out another agonizing grunt. I took a deep breath as I quickly removed the knife and dropped it at my side. I screamed again, falling forward on my left hand. I took some quick breaths and attempted to stand. I wobbled from dizziness and had to use Fluttershy as a support stand.

"We have to get you home!" Fluttershy urged, tears welling in her eyes. I nodded and the two of us made the pain-riddled walk back to his car. Once there, I quickly fished my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the car.

"A-are you sure you're okay to drive?" Fluttershy asked, getting in and shutting her door. "Maybe we should get you to a hospital."

I turned the key over once I was seated and slammed the car in drive. "Can't." I breathed. "If we do, you'll be at risk of transforming before we can get home." I peeled out of the parking spot and sped down the street to the nearest intersection. "Maybe Twilight can help."

Fluttershy quickly nodded and removed her sweater, placing it behind my still bleeding shoulder. I tried not to stare at the half-naked passenger and focused on getting home as soon as possible. I hung a left at the intersection and sped down the main road that would lead us home

Aside from my occasional grunts of pain, the ride back to my house was otherwise silent. Fluttershy kept nervously checking the wound in my shoulder. The bleeding had gone down some, but I wasn't out of the clear. Every time she leaned over, her breasts would enter my peripheral vision, and I would have to keep looking away. Between my growing dizziness from blood loss, the task of driving, and Fluttershy's chest being in my face every so often, I wondered if it could crazier than it already was.

"At least she's wearing a bra." I thought to myself.

We indeed made it home, I make a sloppy entrance into my small driveway. Fluttershy flung the car door open as soon as the engine was killed and scrambled towards the house. I pushed open the door with my good hand and stumbled up the remainder of the driveway and up the steps to my front door, where Fluttershy had already busted the door open.

Inside, the other Equestrians were derailed from all their personal tasks by the half naked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, who before hadn't moved one bit from her recliner, was floored by Fluttershy's sudden entrance.

"What's going on?!" She asked, annoyed. She then took notice of Fluttershy, who stood in front of a pale-looking, severely beaten me. Twilight Sparkle, who ran into the living room from the kitchen, was completely unaware of the situation.

"Is everypony okay?!" She asked. She looked at me, who stumbled in past Fluttershy and fell face first on the couch, letting out a loud grunt as I made contact with its cushions. Twilight trotted up to me and gasped at my bleeding wound. She immediately turned to Fluttershy, determined for answers.

"What happened to him?!" She demanded. Fluttershy recoiled at Twilight's harsh tone, but proceeded to quickly tell them about how she was attacked and how I saved her. She then told them all about the knife and how I was still bleeding. Fluttershy would have continued, but Twilight cut her off and started looking through some books for a medical spell.

After minutes of frantic searching, she finally found one. She sped back over to me and removed Fluttershy's bloody sweater and my shirt, shuddering at the severity of the wound. The others gathered around to watch as Twilight began magicking the wound back together. It took about five minutes for the wound to be healed, and no one spoke the entire time, fearing the worst of their host.

The spell finished, Twilight levitated and flipped me face up, and gently placed me back on the couch.

"Mat!" She said, shaking me. "Are you okay?!"

Sadly, she received no answer. I had fallen unconscious during the procedure and lay perfectly still on the couch. Twilight sighed deeply, then looked at the others.

"I need blankets." She said, trying not to yell. Her voice was broken and somber. Rainbow shot up and ran to my bedroom to retrieve a couple blankets and pillows. She flew back into the living room, where Twilight levitated the blankets over me, then my head for the pillows. She moved the computer chair over beside my head and sat, watching me as I slept.

I was jolted awake in the middle of the night. I sat up in a panic, my vision not yet accustomed to the darkness. My vision eventually came, and I saw that I was on the couch in the living room, and the other's lay sleeping at various places in the room. I looked next to where my head lay to see a wide awake Twilight staring back at me, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, Twi." I said groggily. "What happened?"

Twilight threw her front hooves around my neck and fell onto me, sobbing gently into my chest. I was knocked back down onto the pillows by this, but somehow felt no pain. I felt the shoulder that was injured to find that the wound was completely healed. I smiled and returned the embrace to Twilight.

"Thank Celestia you're okay." Twilight said, still sobbing. She tried to keep her voice down as to not disturb the others. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you." Her eyes shot open and she sat up a little on my torso, wiping her tears away with a hoof. "I-I mean, we would all be in trouble if something had happened to you."

I chuckled a little and stroked her mane. "It was just a scratch." I joked, hoping to raise her spirits. "But thank you." I continued soberly. "I would have been in pretty bad shape if it weren't for your magic."

Twilight smiled and carefully climbed down from the couch. "Please get your rest." She urged. "You need it." She nuzzled me and walked across the room to lay down.. A faint glow emitted from her horn to light the way. She then curled up and quickly fell asleep. I too shut my eyes and, as quickly as Twilight, faded back into my painless slumber.

Chapter 11 - A Magical Time With Twilight/Trixie Trouble/The News

I grunted as I awoke the following day. My neck felt stiff and it pained me to move it much. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair, inhaling deeply as I started to focus on getting the rest of my body fully functioning. Rubbing my eyes, I saw that everyone else was already awake. Rainbow Dash trotted over to me, checking my shoulder where the knife once was.

"How ya feeling?" She asked, more perky than concerned. I groaned and cracked my neck. The initial tinge of pain was quickly replaced by a wave of relief.

"Much better now." I replied sarcastically. My voice reflected my groggy state and I moved to place my feet on the floor. Flinging the blanket off of me, I noticed that the shirt that I was wearing the night before lay just beside the couch. I leaned over and picked it up, bringing it close to my face to examine the back of it. The mass of blood had oxidized around the knife hole, thus ruining the shirt. I lowered the shirt and sighed a little. Rainbow Dash, who was also inspecting the shirt, winced at the blood stain.

"Yikes." She slipped. She forced a smile to counteract her reaction. "Glad you're okay, champ." She said, turning to walk back to the recliner. It seemed to me like that was her favorite spot in the house. Twilight Sparkle was next to check on me. She took an extensive look at my shoulder, then beamed at me.

"Good afternoon!" She said cheerfully.

I tilted my head to the side. "Afternoon?" I asked, confused. I checked my phone. It was indeed a little past noon. I figured that I must have slept like a brick after I had fallen back asleep. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Twilight gave a smirk. "After yesterday, you needed the rest." She reminded. "Besides, I've built our itinerary around a later time frame." She levitated a piece of paper towards me and I grabbed it. The handwriting was nothing short of spectacular, much better than my own. I skimmed the list, and was quite surprised that somehow, she had almost had the trip planned out by the minute.

"You really put some thought into this, haven't you?" I asked, half teasing. Twilight, however was oblivious to the remark and instead, took it as a compliment and smiled at him.

"Oh, absolutely." She replied. "I want today to go off without a hitch."

"One can only hope." I thought. I rubbed my eyes again. "Well, then." I returned. I stretched and stood up. "I guess I better get myself cleaned off. Be back in a few." I began walking through the living room and down the hallway towards the bathroom for a much needed shower.

After getting dressed and somewhat groomed, I returned to the living room, finding that Twilight had already transformed herself into a fair-skinned human and was already dressed. She stood to about my shoulders and her purple hair was styled much similar to her pony form's mane. Her body was slender, with an average bust and a few curves otherwise. Twilight's deep, purple eyes used Rarity's mirror to view her new form, causing a grin to spread from ear to ear.

I slipped on my shoes and retrieved my car keys from the end table next to the couch. "Are you ready to go?" I asked Twilight. She handed Rarity back her mirror, which she accepted with her magic.

"Yes." She confirmed, putting on a spare pair of my shoes. Her giddiness showed as she awkwardly walked to the door, pulling it open. The two waved goodbye to the others and walked down to the car. "So this is how humans get around?" She asked, touching the cool metal surface of the door before opening it and climbing in. "How does it get the energy needed for propulsion?" She asked, fascinated. "What do all these buttons do?" I put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. I did the best I could to answer her questions as we drove off to the discount store.

I took a drink of gas station coffee while Twilight Sparkle sat in the passenger seat admiring her new clothes. She was wearing a lavender polo shirt with a purple skirt and a pair of black flats. She had been spewing questions to me the entire ride to and from the store. Although I was more than willing to answer her questions, I started to feel a minor headache coming on again.

The two of us entered the city and arrived at our first stop of the day: the science museum. Twilight tapped her feet in excitement as I pulled into the parking lot and parked in a spot near the back. I turned back the key and they exited the car. I drained the rest of my coffee while trying to keep up with Twilight, who was walking briskly towards the entrance doors. Once inside, Twilight marveled at the fine marble floors and ornate walls of the museum's lobby. Given, it was no Canterlot Castle to her, but it was still a magnificent sight. Groups of people wandered around us as they made their way towards the prehistoric section of the museum.

Twilight had brought along with her a small notepad for note taking, and already the pages had begun to fill. Information in regards to trilobites, dinosaurs, and other early life started decorating the pages as she flipped feverishly from one to the next. We continued on in the exhibit until finally coming to a display of human evolution. Twilight observed the different life-sized models that represented each stage of development all the way up to now. She took notes and leaned in closer to the last mannequin, who was unclothed like its predecessors.

"So that's what you look like underneath." She said quizzically. More notes were taken.

I raised an eyebrow to her comment and felt my face getting hot. "Couldn't you have just looked it up on the computer?" I said. I was getting weird looks from passersby. Their eyes all seemed to question the purple-haired girl's reason for staring at the naked mannequin. I shrugged at them, not knowing what to say.

"I did." She replied. She turned back towards me. "But I wanted to observe the human anatomy first hand. So that's why we're here." I simply sighed and continued to lead Twilight through the rest of the prehistoric exhibit.

Next stop in our museum visit was the Space Center. It was far darker than the rest of the museum with only black lights and a few stray spotlights to illuminate our path. Twilight gasped as she saw the constellations, planets, and other astronomical bodies unfurl before her. The notes flew faster than ever as she quickly moved from one display to the next. It was then when she made an important discovery.

"Mat!" She beamed, eyes wide. "You won't believe this!" She ran back to me, holding up a piece of paper. "The stars and constellations are exactly the same in my world as they are in yours! They're in the same position and everything!"

I scratched my head, trying to think of how this is a big deal. Instead, I smiled and tried to match Twilight's level of enthusiasm.

"It's almost like we're in the same exact spot on a completely different plane of existence!" Twilight continued, writing more notes down. She continued walking through the space exhibit with me barely able to keep up behind her. "Oh, Celestia will be pleased with all these findings!"

"No offense Twi, but I thought you already new that we're from different worlds since you brought me to your own." I told her.

"Oh...right. My bad." Twilight blushed in embarrassment.

After Twilight and I had walked through the Space Center and watched a chemistry demonstration, Twilight finally ran out of notebook paper. I led her to the museum's gift shop, where I bought her a new one that featured multiple planets on its cover. Twilight squealed with delight as she clutched the notebook to her chest and started walking towards the entrance of the museum.

"Wait!" I asked, dumbfounded. "You're done? There's still a whole lot of museum left to explore, like the physics department and the biology exhibit."

Twilight smirked at me. "Since you told me and my friends that our worlds are scientifically the same, with the exception of technological advancements and some life forms, I'd actually like to know more about your history." She replied.

She produced the itinerary from her pocket and showed me that the history museum was on the list right after lunch. "Shall we get going?" She asked me. Her stomach grumbled a little bit and Twilight blushed a little.

"Whoops. Seems like I'm ready for lunch." She said, looking down at her torso. "How about you? I noticed a small cafe near here when we arrived. Sound good?"

I agreed with the plan for lunch, considering I slept straight through breakfast. We walked back through the front doors and into the beaming sunlight.

We then exited the parking lot and crossed the street to where the aforementioned cafe was conveniently located. It resembled a coffee shop in many aspects, but had a full lunch menu as well. Twilight quickly ordered a veggie-burger meal. The cashier punched it in her machine and looked over at me, who was having trouble deciding.

"I'll have the same." I said sheepishly. The cashier nodded again and typed in the rest of their order. I paid her and within a few minutes, we received our food and sat down at a small table in the middle of the dining area.

Twilight let out a soft moan of pleasure as she took her first bite of the veggie-burger, letting the new experience savor before swallowing with a loud gulp. I tried ignoring the noises and began eating as well. After taking my first bite, I found out for myself the reason for Twilight's reaction.

"This is actually pretty good." I said, continuing to devour my discovery. Twilight nodded in agreement as we quickly finished our meals. I threw away the trash and with our hunger more than satisfied, we then walked back across the street and over to the history museum that stood just next door to the science museum.

Upon entering the history museum, Twilight noticed that its interior was much akin to that of the science museum. The lobby had been adorned with portraits and busts of historic figures from every era of American history. Twilight had her new notebook ready and eagerly followed me through the lobby and into the first exhibit.

Twilight took much more time going through the exhibit this time around. She carefully read, reread, noted, and read again every paragraph on every plaque on every display. Though I found this redundant and boring, the purple-haired girl found it exhilarating. Every word that flew gracefully from her pen was pure ecstasy to her. She quickly scribbled down some key points from one George Washington display and skipped gleefully over to the next. My heart swelled a little seeing her so happy and full of life.

After a short while, we left the area of the museum that covered colonial America and continued our journey through history in the Industrial Revolution exhibit. Twilight took a seat at the bench near the exhibit's opening for a small break.

"This walking on two legs ordeal is tiring! How can these humans stand to do it all day?" She thought to herself.

I took a seat next to my companion and leaned back onto the bench's backrest. Twilight took this opportunity to review some of the data she had collected so far. I raised an eyebrow to the studious female that accompanied me.

"You really dig this learning stuff, huh?" I asked. Twilight beamed back at me, giving me my answer before making it verbal.

"Oh, yes!" She quickly replied. "It's my favorite thing to do! Well, other than reading, experimenting, theory writing..."

"I think I got it." I chuckled. Twilight bounced a little in her seat, but her facial expression quickly changed as a question came into mind.

"So." She began, "Why did you leave your university?"

I was taken aback by her question that seemed to fly in out of nowhere. I leaned forward and sighed, keeping my eyes locked on the floor.

"Well." I hesitated, "I wasn't exactly fond of the whole idea of going to college, really. Why should I spend years and years in an institution learning something, and then have to spend the rest of my life paying it back?"

Twilight wore a look of confusion, but decided to keep silent, hoping there was more to my explanation than a silly financial problem.

"But then I fell in such a funk that my grades in the classes I actually was passing started to slip. I eventually just quit caring about my education and was soon expelled for lack of academic progress. That's why I've been slaving in that factory until lately."

Twilight nodded in understanding, but my head continued to hang from my shoulders and my gaze on the floor remained. Twilight watched me for a second, then closed her notebook, scooting close enough to lay an arm over my shoulders.

"I understand that it can be hard at times." She said, hoping to comfort her guide. "But I know that you can push on and be the absolute best you can be." I lifted my head to meet her eyes and she smiled warmly at me. "Which will be pretty tough, considering you're already such a great person for this world. And ours as well."

I returned the smile and embraced Twilight Sparkle. Blushing from the sudden act, she wrapped her arms around me as well.

"Thanks, Twi." I whispered. Twilight tightened the embrace momentarily and then pulled back, trying her best to hide the redness of her face.

I stood and stretched my arms out. Twilight stood also and reopened the notebook back to the page where she had left off.

"Ready to go on?" I asked, my spirits much higher after our little conversation. Twilight nodded with excitement as we began through the next exhibit.

As we walked, we saw the rise of industrialism from the meager factories to the formation of labor unions and the marvelous inventions that eventually came. Twilight took extra detailed notes, hoping to bring some of these ideas back to Equestria with her. I was carefully speculating a massive steam-driven machine.

Twilight stopped taking notes and watched me as I followed the brass tubes around and around. She smiled while I tapped the gauges and fiddled with the knobs and levers. A small chuckle escaped past her lips, causing me to stand upright. I put a hand behind my head and looked around nervously.

"Yup, yup." I said, trying to seem preoccupied. "Very, uh, interesting." Twilight's chuckle had evolved into full blown laughter. "What's so funny?" I asked. Twilight shook her head and approached me.

"Nothing, nothing at all." She lied. "I'm just glad to see you taking interest in something, that's all"

I looked back at the machine and smiled. "I just thought it looked cool, that's all."

Twilight Sparkle admired the machine as well, then turned to me, realizing that our faces were but a few inches apart. She blushed and took a step back with nervous laughter.

"Well." She said, clearing her throat, "Your secret's safe with me." She smiled sheepishly, and found relief in my laughter.

Unfortunately, our moment was crushed when a voice all too familiar rang out from behind them.

"Well, well, well." She said. "If it isn't the idiot monkey and the goody four-hooves Twilight Snarkle."

Our faces froze in horror, realizing that we both knew the voice. Our hearts both stopped and our minds raced, trying to somehow put this possibility together.

What the heck is she doing here? I thought.

How the hay did she even get here? Twilight thought too.

The two of us both turned our heads slowly, hoping to not see what terror stood behind us. Much to our despair, the figure stood, dressed in a single periwinkle dress with icy blue hair that hung down over her shoulders and piercing purple eyes. As if on the same brainwave, we said the name together.

"Trixie?!"

Trixie Lulamoon stood laughing as Twilight and I exchanged looks of severe confusion. Trixie sauntered over to the two of us, fixing her cold stare on me. She let out another dastardly chuckle and turned to Twilight.

"What are you doing here, Snarkle?" She interrogated. "Run out of people to humiliate back in Ponyville?"

Twilight scowled. "If anyone was doing the humiliating, Trixie, it was you." She spat.

"Indeed." I agreed in anger.

Trixie faced me and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you ever listen, Reed?" She snarled. "I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, always wins."

"As if." I stated.

"Don't you mock Trixie." Trixie shot back.

"I'll do whatever I-"

My sentence was cut short from Twilight placing a hand over my mouth. "None of this explains how you're even here!" She snapped. Her voice became shaky from anger, and the shaking began to spread through her body. I slowly lowered Twilight's hand from my mouth.

"I'd like to hear this, myself, actually." I said, staring incredulously at the blue haired girl.

Trixie turned away from us. "After Sparkle had defeated that Ursa Major,"

"Ursa Minor!" Twilight corrected angrily.

"No interruptions!" Trixie shot back. She took a breath and continued. "After that night, I had nowhere else to go. I had been run out of every town and city in Equestria. I was passing by the front gates of Canterlot when I overheard the guards talking about a rumor they heard about how Celestia had been taking vacations in other worlds. It was then that I decided to infiltrate the archives in hopes of learning such a spell."

Twilight's eyes widened. "But it's nearly impossible to get into the Canterlot Archives!" She protested. "How did you get past all the guards?!"

Trixie turned back again to face the dumbstruck couple. "The Great and Powerful Trixie needs not to explain!" She barked. "I searched all through the Starswirl the Bearded section. I was near the point of failure when I found it: the Trans-Dimensional Teleportation Spell. Nearly captured, I used every last ounce of my energy to escape."

"I awoke to find myself in a field near this city. After days of hiding and recollecting my energy, I was able to figure out how to use my magic again and make myself into one of the disgusting bipeds that walked this world. Just like him." She said pointing at me.

Trixie approached me slowly. Her face came within inches of mine as she raised her hand to my face. She brushed her fingernails gently against my cheek and let out a chuckle.

Twilight Sparkle couldn't hold back anymore. Something triggered in her head that unleashed a feeling that she wasn't sure she had felt before. Maybe it was the way she touched me, or maybe it was something else. All she knew was that the floodgates had been opened somewhere inside her, and there was no stopping the force that followed.

"Get away from him!" She screamed. She threw her hand out in front of her and from it a powerful blast of magenta magic flew into Trixie, knocking her into a wall. My heart immediately skipped a beat from such a close encounter with Twilight's magic.

Nearby museum patrons screamed and a frenzy broke out around us as they all ran for the exits. I quickly backed behind Twilight, trying to pull her away from Trixie, but the purple-haired woman wouldn't budge. Smoke rose from her attacking hand as Trixie picked herself up from the museum floor.

Trixie stared wildly at her attacker, infuriated. She drew back to attack, but made a realization and instead, burst into laughter. Twilight clenched her fists.

"What's so funny?!" She demanded.

Trixie brushed herself off and began walking towards us again.

"Isn't it obvious?" Trixie called. "You have feelings for the human! You're in love with him, aren't you?!"

Twilight's eyes had sprung open in surprise. She turned to me, who could do nothing but look back at her. Thoughts raced through my head faster than I could keep track of. I thought back to when Pinkie Pie and I were returning from the carnival and Pinkie had accidentally let it known that I had an admirer. Was it Twilight Sparkle all along?

"Is this true?" I asked, nearly breathless. Twilight's face began to turn red causing her to look away from me. She sighed and faced me once again.

"Mat...I-"

At that moment, Trixie had fired back a light-blue magic blast of her own, sending Twilight flying back several feet and landing on her back.

"Twilight!" I called. I immediately ran to her aid, lifting her head and shoulders from the floor. "A-are you alright?" I nervously asked.

Twilight slowly stood back up. Her body shook as she tried to fix her stance. I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away once again, but despite her short-lived loss of equilibrium, she still wouldn't move from her spot.

"Twilight, we have to leave!" I begged. "If we stay any longer, the police will-"

Twilight put a finger to my lips and stared into my eyes for a moment. She silently lowered her hand and returned her attention back to her foe, who stood ready to attack again.

"I didn't want to do this, Trixie." She said, beginning to walk in her direction, "But you leave me no choice. You need to be taught a lesson about bullying others."

Trixie's rage let loose as she fired multiple blasts of magic at her quickly approaching enemy. Twilight, without thinking, put up a magenta force field around her body, absorbing each shot Trixie made. The more the shield absorbed, the brighter it glowed. Trixie's facial expression quickly changed from enraged to frightened as Twilight closed the remaining gap. Trixie stood frozen with fear as Twilight leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Don't ever touch him like that again!" She spat at Trixie.

A split second later, the shield burst in all directions, leveling the surrounding displays and throwing Trixie into the furthest wall, knocking her unconscious. I was lucky enough to be standing far enough back to only experience a shock wave that made me lose my balance. I quickly regained my footing and dashed over to Twilight, who was wobbling from weakness. Outside, the speaker from a police car sounded.

"Come out now with your hands up! We have the building surrounded! This is your only warning!"

"Twilight!" I said, panicking. "We have to get out of here now!"

Twilight nodded and pulled me close to her as she used her last bit of magic to teleport us both out of the museum just in time for the SWAT team to bust down the doors. Trixie, who had regained some of her consciousness, looked up to find multiple SWAT team members surrounding her and a police officer brandishing a shiny new pair of handcuffs.

Twilight and I reappeared next to my car. I checked around to see if anyone had noticed, but was relieved to find that everyone's attention was completely fixed on the scene outside the museum's entrance. I sighed and fished my keys out of my pocket. Twilight was swaying from the weak state she found herself in. I opened her door for her and helped her in the car. Twilight would have thought this gesture was chivalrous if she wasn't at the brink of fainting.

I quickly ran around to my passenger, who lay limp in her seat.

"Come on, let's get you home." I said, breathless.

Twilight shook her head slowly. "N-no..." She exhaled. Her voice was weak, but in good enough condition to carry sound. "F-food..."

I shook my head furiously. "We need to get home, Twilight. You aren't well."

Twilight shook her head also and slowly fixed her sitting posture. "I need to eat if I'm going to get any better." She replied. "I know it sounds weird, but somehow that works for me." I gave her a doubtful look.

"But it's not even time for dinner yet." I told her.

Twilight gave me an icy stare, causing me to laugh nervously. " Ok, ok." I said fearfully.

Several minutes passed since we escaped the chaos of the history museum and possible incarceration. I had been doing my best to get to a certain restaurant that would do more than relieve Twilight's ailment. At least, that's what I hoped would happen.

We pulled into the parking lot of a Chinese buffet and parked at the closest available spot. I got out of the car and hurried around to Twilight's side to assist her. Much to my surprise, Twilight had begun looking and feeling better. She exited the car on her own and, with the exception of a misstep, had begun to walk normally.

"I think you were just faking sick so you could get an early dinner." I joked. Twilight glared back at me and huffed. "What? I'm kidding!" I said. I figured I was going to have to make a mental note on saving the jokes for Pinkie Pie.

I held the door open for Twilight as we walked into the restaurant. The smell that hung in the air was enticing to both of our stomachs, almost like lunch didn't even happen.

The waitress came over with menus and directed us to a table right next to the multiple buffet counters. The waitress took our drink orders and walked back towards the kitchen as Twilight and I quickly attacked the buffet.

Twilight piled her plate up with as much fried vegetables, rice, and noodles as it would hold. I returned to the table with some as well, but also sneaked a few things in with it, hoping it couldn't catch the attention of the ever observant Twilight.

We sat down and began eating. Twilight had brought in her notebook and was scribbling something down on one of the pages.

"Doing research on the awesomeness of Asian cuisine?" I asked. Twilight Sparkle let out a soft giggle.

"No." She replied, not lifting her eyes from the page. "I'm preparing a letter to Celestia for assistance on getting Trixie out of trouble." I nearly choked on my food.

"Are you kidding me?!" I asked, shocked. "You and Trixie try tearing each other apart and now you want to help her?!"

Twilight finished writing and shut the notebook. "If Trixie had been practicing the transformation spell for a while now, she knows that at any moment, she'll turn back into a unicorn." She lectured. "We honestly can't have an inter-dimensional incident right now, can we? Besides, Celestia will know just what to do with her."

I sighed and picked up one of the hidden morsels I had on my plate and ate it quickly. The flavors exploded onto my taste buds and I let out another sigh, this one from pure pleasure. I quickly picked up another one and inhaled it.

"What's that?" Asked Twilight. I finished chewing and swallowed.

"General Tso's chicken. It's so go-" I slapped a hand over my mouth.

Twilight stared blankly at me for a second and an awkward silence took place.

"Drat! And I was *this close to not getting caught eating meat in front of Twilight. Oh well."* I thought nervously.

Twilight looked back down at her food and scooped up another forkful.

"Don't let Fluttershy know that you're eating that or she'll freak." She said.

"I won't, I promise." I promised.

We ended up bursting with laughter and we both finished our plates. We went back up for seconds and devoured them just as quickly as the first.

The waitress then brought out our bill and some fortune cookies.

Twilight nodded. then looked over at the fortune cookie and picked it up, observing it at every angle.

"What's this?" She asked.

I picked mine up as well. "It's a fortune cookie." I explained. "There's a small piece of paper inside that has a fake fortune written on it." I cracked open my cookie and showed her the paper for demonstration. Twilight Sparkle cracked hers open as well, delighted to find that her's, too, contained a fortune. "You gotta eat the cookie after you read it." I continued, "Otherwise the fortune won't come true." I let out a small chuckle. "But they really aren't meant to be taken seriously."

Twilight read her fortune aloud. "You'll find love where you least expected." She blushed a little and placed the paper in her polo's pocket and took a small nibble of the cookie, making a dissatisfied face. "They call this a cookie?" She asked.

I laughed a little and read mine. "A life changing event is headed your way." I scoffed a little and threw the fortune down on the plate. "Kinda late for that, isn't it?" I thought.

With dinner paid and our stomachs full, Twilight Sparkle and I now sat in the car, both relying heavily on our seats' backrests. Twilight groaned, holding her stomach as if she feared it would explode at any given second. I related to Twilight's pain as I rubbed my own stomach.

"Well..." I began, "what do you wanna do now? We still have plenty of time before we have to be home." I checked the time on my phone. It had only been four hours since we left the house, but for me, it felt like an eternity.

Twilight removed the itinerary from her polo pocket and checked off the two museums, lunch, and dinner. She expected to not have gone through most of her list in such a short amount of time, but she also didn't count on having an encounter of the Trixie kind.

Frustrated, she crumpled up the paper and pitched it into the back seat, crossing her arms. "I don't know." She huffed. "Trixie completely derailed the schedule."

Trixie. My mind still wasn't able to fully grasp what had happened at the history museum. It all seemed too unreal. My thoughts then went to a specific moment of the confrontation. I looked over at Twilight and Trixie’s words echoed in my head.

“You're in love with him, aren't you?!”

I stared blankly at Twilight. I wanted to ask her about it. I wanted to know for sure, but I stopped myself. "Not right now." I thought.

I leaned up a bit and tried smiling at my grumpy companion. "The day's not completely ruined." I comforted. I tapped the steering wheel in thought. A few minutes passed until I had an epiphany and started the car. As I shifted into reverse, Twilight fixed her posture and rebuckled her seatbelt, giving me a look of confusion.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see." I replied with a smile. I drove the car out of the parking lot and down a few blocks to Twilight's surprise destination. Her eyes lit up as she saw the city library come into view. It was a three story building that had the external appearance of a courthouse, with white granite columns and a large flight of steps leading up to the library's double doors. Twilight's excitedness had returned, despite the unfortunate turn of events at the history museum.

I, relieved that I had saved the day, pulled over next to the curb near a parking meter. Grabbing her notebook, Twilight quickly got out of the car and stood by while I inserted a generous amount of quarters, buying us a couple hours of time. We traversed the steps and entered the library, Twilight letting out a small gasp upon witnessing the book covered walls. I led her over to the history section, hoping to pick up where we left off at the museum.

Twilight zipped through book after book, keeping notes on the most important dates of American and world history. I was surprised to find that I myself was even learning a thing or two. Twilight finished the books that I had brought her a while later and she dubbed her history lesson complete. I returned the books to their rightful shelves before taking Twilight up the stairs to the section of the library that kept the classical literature, a personal favorite of Tristan's.

I was more than eager to show off some of my favorite authors. Books containing the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and many other literary pioneers lined the table at which Twilight sat. Her eyes widened a little at how much I was throwing at her, but she knew that she could handle it. She saw the same kind of giddy fascination in my eyes as I rapidly explained why each author was critical to the formation of modern literature. Her heart fluttered as she watched.

I finally pulled out the last book. It's cover was worn heavily and the spine hardly held the pages in place. I gently carried it over and took a seat across from Twilight, who was already skimming through the first volume. I searched through the pages carefully, being ever so gentle as to not rip the already aged and fragile paper. I smiled as i came to my destination and cleared his throat. The sudden sound stopped Twilight's writing and she cocked her head to the side, paying close attention to the words I read.

"She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

"One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart, whose love is innocent."

As I placed the open book on the table, I noticed that Twilight Sparkle was staring at me in amazement. She seemed almost in a trance, her mouth barely hanging open.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Twilight snapped out of her daze that the poem had put her in, blinking a few times before replying.

"Mat." She said softly, "T-that was beautiful!"

I chuckled a bit, then turned the book around for her to read. Twilight leaned over the book, reading back the poem in her head before my voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Lord Byron." I said. "It's my favorite poem."

Twilight rapidly flipped to an empty page in her notebook and copied down the poem word for word. She turned back to the page she was at before, anxious to continue.

"Are there any more like those in here?" She asked excitedly. I laughed a little more.

"Of course!" I replied, excited to find that someone liked the poem as much as I did. "This book of poetry is packed with them. I can check it out for you to read later, if you want."

"Oh, absolutely!" Twilight beamed. She grabbed the book from her table and laid it next to her on the seat. She continued to skim through the remaining books while I played aimlessly on my phone. After a while, I stretched and heard an announcement over the library's intercom, stating that it was closing soon.

"Have we really been here that long?" I asked aloud. I checked my phone to find that it had been six hours since we left the house. I jumped and returned all the books back to their spots and pulled Twilight along to the front desk downstairs.

The librarian at the desk took her time checking out the book and reminded me of an overdue book I still had. After multiple promises of its return, we finally managed to leave just as one of the other librarians locked the door behind us. Outside, the sky was turning a magnificent shade of orange and there was but a few clouds in sight.

"Huh." I said, "It's been getting dark earlier recently." We walked back to our parked car just in time for the meter to expire and climbed in. Twilight retrieved her crumpled itinerary from the back seat and went back over it again.

"It actually has." She confirmed. "We'll have plenty of time."

"For what?" I asked, giving her a confused look.

"You'll see." Twilight replied, with a smile.

The sky had grown darker when Twilight Sparkle and I had arrived at the park. Twilight giggled with glee as we pulled up to a parking meter and switched off the engine. Twilight excitedly scrambled out of the car and stood next to the car's hood, bouncing on her heels. I also exited the vehicle and walked around to meet my giddy companion, her face beaming. Fishing around for quarters in my pocket, I looked over to the distant lake's edge, then up at the sky.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, managing to find some loose change.

"You'll see!" Twilight replied. "What time is it?"

I pulled out my cell phone and unlocked the screen. "Seven-thirty." I answered. Twilight's bouncing continued.

"Great!" She exclaimed. "Just a little while longer!"

I looked doubtfully at Twilight, then bought an hour of time from the parking meter. A faint green light appeared onscreen and the timer began counting.

We quickly crossed the street to the park, avoiding the traffic to the best of our ability. Once our feet landed on the grass, our pace slowed to a nonchalant stroll. There were a few other people in the park, either walking their dogs, jogging, or simply passing through. Twilight pulled out her itinerary and pen, crossing off a few things before disposing of the worn paper in the nearest garbage basket. She placed the pen back into her polo pocket and let out a sigh of contentment.

After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached the lake's edge, where a lone bench sat next to the water. I remembered this bench as the one he and Fluttershy occupied while she fed the ducks. A smile crept across my face and I sat down on the worn wood, Twilight quickly following. I checked my phone again and looked around. The lake's water showed very few signs of movement, and the sound of passersby chatting had changed to the subtle chirping of crickets. A few fireflies flashed around us, the only light other than the barely visible moon and stars.

I glanced over at Twilight, who was watching the sky anxiously. Her head was in constant motion as she searched the sky. Whatever she was looking for, I hadn't the foggiest idea, but I had found pleasure in her smile. I felt accomplished that he had turned a nightmare of a day into a nice, peaceful evening. I hoped that this would be the last instance of craziness for a good while.

My thought's slowly drifted back to the burning question that had plagued me since earlier that day. I wasn't sure if I wanted the answer, but I also knew that if I let it go unreconciled, that it would just keep bugging him until I snapped. I let out a soft sigh that caught Twilight's attention.

"Everything okay?" She asked, her former giddiness disappearing. I scratched my head, unsure of just what to say in response.

"W-well." I stammered. "Remember at the museum whe-"

A streak of light bolted across the sky before I could finish my sentence, ripping Twilight's attention away from me.

"Darn it!" I thought to myself. "Do I ever get a freakin' break?"

Twilight bounced on the bench as she pointed up to the sky, which was soon being populated by more zipping white lines.

"It's happening! It's happening!" Twilight rejoiced. "The meteor shower! Finally!"

I, who was cradling my head in my hands, looked up to find that Twilight's claim was true. I sat wide-eyed and jaw-dropped as the astronomical light show blazed above me. We sat motionless, completely fixated on the brilliant display for several minutes. The meteors had became less and less frequent until, finally, the last one shot through the sky and disappeared.

Twilight glanced over at me, whose expression of amazement continued to take residence on my face. She giggled to herself.

"Well?" She said, facing me. "What did you think of that?" I smiled, not moving my eyes from the sky.

"That was amazing." I replied, turning to Twilight. "I've honestly never seen a meteor shower before. I mean, I've heard people-"

"You've never seen a meteor shower?!" Twilight asked incredulously. I shook my head, causing Twilight to sigh a little. "You really don't get out much, do you?" She teased. I chuckled at Twilight's jest before responding.

"You're one to talk." I joked back. "It seems like you're constantly studying. How do you ever make time for your friends?"

Twilight smiled and looked up at the sky again. "I was a total shut-in when I studied in Canterlot. When Princess Celestia sent Spike and I to Ponyville for the first time to overlook the Summer Sun Festival, she told me to make friends, which is something that I, at the time, wasn't very knowledgeable of. To say the least, I wasn't intending on making friends. I ended up meeting the others that day, who were bent on becoming friends with me. It was almost annoying, really. I just wanted to do my job and go back to Canterlot. I didn't have the time to make friends with all these crazy ponies. Pinkie Pie even threw a surprise party for me that night. But, as we've told you before, everything didn't exactly go as planned. After searching for the Elements of Harmony and defeating Nightmare Moon, I realized I couldn't be more wrong about the importance and necessity of making friends. I thank Celestia each and every day for that."

Twilight returned her attention to me, who was staring back at her. "And I'm especially thankful for this opportunity to make another one." She smiled at me, despite her self-conscious decision to use "friend" instead of something that more identified with her true feelings. I smiled, too, our eyes locking for a moment before speaking.

"Yeah, me too." I said. I felt a swelling sensation in my chest as I gazed into Twilight's purple eyes, the moonlight shining just enough to give us a deep, inviting appearance. We sat in silence, simply looking at each other. Feeling my face get hot, I jumped from the bench and quickly faced away from Twilight, rubbing the back of my head while I planned out my next words.

"Twilight." I began. "I need to ask you something, and I want you to be one hundred percent honest with me."

"Do you think it can wait a little bit?" She replied. "We have a huge problem here."

I threw my arms up in exasperation and turned toward her. I gasped a little too loudly when I saw that human Twilight was no longer with me, and her original pony form sat in her place, her clothes strewn about on the bench before her.

"How did I miss that?!" I cried. Twilight put a hoof to my mouth.

"Keep it down!" She whispered. "We can't draw any attention to us, not now."

I panicked and looked around for other people who could have seen the transformation. Luckily, there was no one, allowing a uniformed sigh of relief escape the both of us. I took the clothes from Twilight and clutched them close to my chest.

"We still had a couple hours until you changed!" I whispered back. "Why now?" Twilight shook her head.

"I don't know." She confessed. "It may be from where I used up too much energy from our little meet-up with Trixie." Twilight gasped, a sudden realization hitting her like a freight train. "Trixie!" She breathed. "We need to get home! Now! I need to send that letter to Celestia!"

I nodded and the two of us began our stealthy journey back to his car. The street lights flickered on, forcing us to take refuge in the small areas of darkness that we were left with to dodge any on-comers. we had bolted between trees and bushes for a few minutes before finally reaching the edge of the park. Twilight went to make the final break for the car when I stopped her in her tracks.

"No. Too Risky" I said between breaths. "I'll get the car and bring it around."

Twilight nodded in agreement and I, as calmly as possible, walked over to the car and got in. I turned the key over and the engine sputtered to life. With no traffic in sight, I quickly made a U-turn in the middle of the street and drove up onto the sidewalk that lined the park. I flung the passenger door open and frantically motioned for Twilight. She responded by running as quickly as she could across the open area and diving into the car. I slammed the accelerator, and with the sudden takeoff, the door slammed closed.

The drive back home was nothing short of quick and reckless. I kept the gas pedal firmly against the floorboard of the car while my Alicorn passenger clung to her seat for dear life. Upon arriving home, I had slowed the car down to lower suspicion of any onlookers. I whipped the vehicle into my driveway and slammed the shifter into park before killing the engine and making a mad scramble for the front door. Twilight followed closely behind me.

I fumbled with my keys as I searched for the one that would unlock the door. Fortunately for us both, an orange pony opened the door for them.

"Well, howdy! Y'all sure are home earl-" Applejack started, but was interrupted.

Twilight and I quickly pushed past the farmhand, knocking off her hat. She kicked the door back shut.

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack demanded. The other ponies in the room jumped from their sudden entrance. They watched nervously as Twilight ripped the page out of her notebook, rolling it up, and casting a spell on it to have it go to Celestia.

Twilight let out a sigh and sat down on the floor. "Let's just hope it worked."

"Ah don't mean to interrupt y'all," Applejack said, "But what in the hay is going on around here?!"

Twilight let out another sigh and explained their unfortunate confrontation with Trixie. The group gasped at the mere mention of her name, followed by questions of her existence in this world and Rainbow Dash's opinion of what she would have done if she was in Twilight's place.

I continued the story from my perspective, detailing the physical part of the event excitedly. Twilight blushed at my retelling, but felt a morbid pride for showing up her boastful rival. Rainbow Dash thrusted a hoof in the air as the pegasus hovered a few feet above where she sat.

"Aww, yeah!" She shouted, "Atta girl, Twilight! I didn't know ya had it in ya!" She landed back on the floor and was met with an expression of disapproval from Applejack.

"Now, Rainbow," She began, "Don't be gettin' all rowdy on us. Twilight only did what she had to do to protect Mat. She didn't gain any personal enjoyment from it, did ya, sugarcube?" Twilight exchanged glances with the earth pony.

"Oh, no, of course not!" Twilight lied. She glanced nervously at me, who gave an unnoticeable wink. Twilight winked back as inconspicuously as possible.

There was mixed chatter amongst the group. Rainbow Dash begged me for more details about the fight.

As I once again declined Rainbow Dash's request, I noticed that Twilight had approached Applejack and was whispering into her ear. As Twilight pulled away, Applejack nodded and the two ponies exited the living room and walked down the hallway to my room. The sound of the door being shut barely reached his ears over the conversations of the others.

"Uhh, excuse me for a sec." I said sheepishly. Rainbow Dash nodded and went to search for snacks in the kitchen. I quietly slipped out of the living room and tiptoed down the hallway. I felt somewhat bad for wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation, but with my track record of trying to ask Twilight myself, this was about as close as I was going to get in regards to having my question answered.

I stood with my back on the wall adjacent to my bedroom door and leaned toward it. I could hear their voices surprisingly well. It sounded like one of them was pacing the hardwood floor inside.

"...And then I just completely lost all self control! The way she spoke to him, the way she touched him. Oh, Celestia, what am I going to do?" Twilight pleaded. Applejack sat on my bed, watching the troubled unicorn pace madly in front of her.

"Ah don't know, sugarcube." Applejack replied. "When did you start feelin' this way about Mat?" Twilight stopped pacing to think for a second.

"I guess it was at the time I had him transformed as a pony and we were getting ready for bed one time." She admitted. "I mean, I don't know how this emotion developed so quickly. I just feel something inside for him that I've never felt for anypony else. I-I can't explain it." Applejack gently hopped down from the bed and approached her friend, who now sat on the floor in despair. Applejack sat down next to her and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Ah know this can't be easy for ya," She began, "But if ya tell Mat what ya really think of him, it may not end like ya hope. After all," She sighed, "We're from completely different worlds." Twilight laid her head on Applejack's shoulder, lightly sobbing. Applejack embraced Twilight, gently petting her mane. "Now, now, sugarcube." She said softly. Twilight sniffled and lifted her head to meet the farmhand's emerald eyes.

"Nopony else is to know about this." Twilight whispered. "Pinkie Promise me you won't say a word to any of the others." Applejack nodded and went through the motions of the promise, sans the actual eye-poking. She stood back up and yawned.

"We should be gettin' to bed, Twi." Applejack informed. "Ya need the rest after y'all's day." Twilight nodded in agreement and also stood, wiping the tears that still lay on her face. Twilight began walking out of the room with Applejack following right behind her.

I heard the hoof-steps getting louder and the turning of the doorknob to my bedroom. I quickly jumped away from the wall to the opposite side of the hallway in hopes of not blowing my cover. I pretended like I was entering the bathroom when Twilight exited the door, not even sharing a passing glance. Applejack, who was close behind Twilight, stopped in her tracks. I stopped too, looking back at the orange mare. After Twilight was out of earshot, Applejack glared back in my direction.

"Did ya catch all that?" She said, narrowing her eyes. Chills went up my spine as I scrambled for the right words to say.

"W-what are you talking about?" I replied, my voice shaky. "I-I was just going to the bathroom! Ha-ha." I tried to weasel a smile, but Applejack saw straight through the facade.

"Ah am the Element of Honesty, ya know?" She spat. "Ah think ah can tell when I'm bein' lied to." She stared him down for another moment or two before sighing and lowering her head. "Just don't make this harder on the poor girl." She insisted. "It's gonna bad enough as it is." I nodded somberly as the earth pony walked back into the living room to join the others.

I rubbed my head and trudged into my room. I closed the door behind me and shuffled over to the bed, where I removed my clothes and donned my gym shorts. As I crawled between the blankets, my mind began racing with thoughts of the purple unicorn. I had finally gotten my answer: Twilight Sparkle was the secret admirer. Her words echoed through my head, almost haunting me as I struggled to fall asleep. Of all the people I could have ever imagined, a talking unicorn from another world was the one who had fallen in love with me. After hours of sleeplessness, exhaustion had finally acquired the upper hand over my mind, sending me straight to sleep.

Chapter 12 - Going Bowling/Return To Equestria/The Moment of Truth/Song Time/Friendship Letters and a New Beginning (End of Season 1 Story)

The next morning ended up being like any other morning. Wake up, shower, get dressed, eat, greet the gang, road trip, come home, bed.

Anyway once I showered and got dressed, I dragged myself into the living room to see that all the ponies were not only awake, but were standing in the middle of the living room, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash holding a large parchment banner that read "Thank You, Mathew!" in crayons and ink. It was adorned with hearts and hoofprints, each with their owner's name scribbled next to them. I cocked my head to the side, pleasantly surprised yet completely lost.

"What's all this?" I asked. Applejack stepped forward.

"We just wanted to do somethin' special for ya, sugarcube." She replied. "Ya know, for takin' care of us while we were here in your home."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie added. "We've all had so much fun! And look!" She pulled a baking sheet from behind her and laid it down on the coffee table. "I made cupcakes!" More chatter erupted from the group, each one excitedly gushing their gratitude. I rubbed my shoulder and looked downward, blushing.

"You guys didn't have to do this, you know." I said.

Rarity stepped forward, joining Applejack.

"Oh, but darling, you deserve it." She said. "We want today to be all about you."

"Exactly." Joined Rainbow Dash, dropping her part of the banner. "Whatever you wanna do, we're game for it. Right, everypony?" The others confirmed Rainbow Dash's claim.

I noticed that Twilight Sparkle had been quiet and reserved since I had arrived in the living room. I sighed and hoped that things between us could be patched up before we all return to Equestria.

"Sooo..." Pinkie Pie began, "Whatcha wanna do?" The others watched me as I furrowed my brow in thought.

"Well." I started, "How about after breakfast, we all go out and we'll just plan it from there."

"All of us?" The girls repeated.

I nodded.

"Alright." Twilight yawned. She proceeded towards the kitchen. "I'm going to need some coffee first, though." Everyone else followed Twilight into the kitchen, where a quick breakfast was served and, between Twilight and I, much coffee was drunk.

The Equestrians then retrieved their newly washed human clothes and stepped inside them. They gathered in the middle of the living room and Twilight cast a cloud of magenta magic all around them. I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my keys while the transformation finished.

As the others were making last minute preparations, a thought came across Fluttershy's mind.

"U-um, Mat?" She said softly, "I-is there enough room for all of us in your car?" My face drew a blank, not having thought of this earlier. I scratched my head, thinking of a way I could get seven people to the city.

"What about the bus?" I asked. "There's one that runs right through here." I checked my phone again for the time. "Which is any minute now. We should get outside by the bus stop."

The others quickly followed me outside, where the bus was already stopping to allow other passengers to board. We all joined the line that was formed at the bus door. I fished out the necessary fare for the eight of us and tossed it into the box. The bus driver stared incredulously as the colorful group boarded and took seats near the back.

The Equestrians immediately engaged in excited chatter. Twilight kept to herself and simply sat staring out of the window, watching the passing scenery. It was all she could do to keep from thinking of me. She let out a small sigh, which was picked up on by Applejack.

"You okay, Twi?" She asked. Twilight glanced over at her, then returned her attention to the world outside the bus window.

"I'm fine." She lied.

"I don't know." She said. "You just aren't acting like yourself."

"I'm fine, Applejack." She replied harshly. The girl just shook her head. She was about to press further, but she felt a tap on the shoulder from behind. She peeked over the seat at me, who then was shaking my head. Applejack wore an expression of confusion, but heeded my warning and decided that she should just leave the conversation be. She faced forwards and sighed. Pinkie Pie, however, shakily occupied a seat with me. Her jitters raised concern with him.

"You didn't get into the coffee, did you?" I asked, already sure of the answer.

Pinkie furiously nodded, her pink hair bouncing every which way. I exhaled deeply and ran my fingers through my hair. The other passengers had already started staring.

"This'll be a long ride."

One by one, we stepped off of the bus and into the bright sunlight that was cast over the city. The bus driver rolled his eyes as he shut the door and put the bus in drive. I shielded the blinding rays with my hand and surveyed his surroundings while the others stood behind him.

"Where to?" Applejack asked. After another moment of thought, I turned back to the group and smiled.

"We're going bowling!" I beamed.

"Bowling?!" the Equestrians asked in unison.

"Yes, bowling." I confirmed. "I think you guys will love it."

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Silly filly! We have that back in Equestria!"

I cocked my head. "You do?" I asked, dumbfounded. "But how do you grip the ball?"

Applejack smiled. "Oh, we normally just push it with our heads." She replied, giving it a couple light taps. I shook my head and returned his focus back to the street.

"Okay..." I mumbled, mentally mapping out the route to the bowling alley. I looked left and right before pointing down the sidewalk. "That way."

Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of delight as the group began the four block trek to the bowling alley. The temperature that day was the highest the city had seen the whole year, and everyone was beginning to feel it. Sweat dripped from what felt like every pore on my face as I panted from the heat.

After several long minutes of walking, we all finally reached the bowling alley, a short building placed right between two much higher ones. The cool air from the building's air conditioning hit us with relief, vocalized by a collective sigh. I stepped up to the counter and bought three games and rented eight pairs of shoes. The man behind the counter stared the group down before accepting my payment and moving over to the counter where the bowling shoes were kept.

Pinkie Pie bounced up to the counter to get first pick. The man eyeballed the eccentric, pink-haired woman before finally asking her shoe size.

"I dunno." She said cheerfully. I hurried up next to her and removed her pink flats and reading the number on the insole.

"Six and a half." I answered quickly. I handed Pinkie Pie back her shoe while awkwardly smiling at the man. The man rolled his eyes and pulled a pair of red and blue shoes from behind the counter. Everyone else pulled off their shoes to read off their numbers as the man pulled pair after pair of crusty bowling shoes from under the counter. I was the last to retrieve my shoes.

"Twelve, please." I said. The man fished around behind the counter and tossed a pair of green and cream colored shoes to him.

"I'm surprised you didn't have to check your shoe." The man replied harshly. I rolled my eyes and moved back to the register to serve another customer.

I shook off the man's distasteful attitude and joined the others at lane nine. Everyone had already changed shoes and picked out their bowling balls. I divided everyone into two teams. The first consisted of myself, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity composed the opposition and after all of our names were entered into the computer, the games began.

After a while, the tenth frame of the third game came and was drawing to a close with only two bowlers left: Me and Pinkie Pie. I picked up my ball and proceeded towards the beginning of the lane. I held the ball up to my face as I stared intensely down the polished wood. My team had won the first game, but took a loss in the second. My team was down by just a bit, so a win was possible. After a few moments of mental preparation, I shuffled forward, brought my arm back, and threw the ball forward with all my might.

The ball blazed down the alley with tremendous speed, only a short couple of seconds separating its departure and its collision with the pins. The ball smashed through the front pin and continued its course of destruction all the way through the back of the set. The pins were sent flying. Strike.

I threw a fist into the air as his teammates cheered, even Twilight Sparkle, who was beginning to come out of her depression. I strutted back to the seats with the rest of his teammates.

"You rock!" Fluttershy softly cheered. "Woo-hoo!"

I laughed a little, looking back towards the alley, Pinkie Pie had grabbed her ball and was standing next to the foul line, tossing the ball in her hands. I smirked.

She has been doing terrible this whole game. I thought to myself, This game is ours!

Pinkie Pie twirled around, took a step back, skipped, and launched the ball with a speed that rivaled mine. The ball veered right in the direction of the gutter.

Yes! I thought again.

The ball was on the edge of the wood before it made a sharp turn at the last second, it zipped back across the alley and straight into the first pin. The others exploded around it, sending some pins into the adjacent lanes. A red "X" appeared on the overhead screen. My jaw dropped, as did all of Pinkie Pie's teammates. After a moment of speechlessness, Rainbow Dash jumped into the air.

"YES!" She screamed. There was an eruption of cheering from her team as Twilight and I simply glared their direction.

"That was a great game," Fluttershy interrupted. "Good job!" She beamed a wide smile at them.

"Eeyup." Applejack added. "That there was a close one." Rainbow Dash began to walk their way, followed by the others from her team.

"Winners get to pick lunch!" Rainbow Dash called. Her claim was met by Rarity's bemused expression.

"Now, Rainbow, this is Mat's day." She reminded. "Shouldn't he get to pick where to eat lunch?" I rubbed the back of my head and smiled sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter to me," I corrected. "Today should be just as much about you guys as it is me." I looked over to Rainbow Dash. "What did you have in mind?"

"Pizza!" She quickly answered.

"Pizza?" I repeated.

"Pizza!" The others cheered.

I chuckled as I removed my shoes and replaced them with my high-tops. Everyone else switched their shoes and they bolted to the counter to drop them off. The man behind the counter stared at the group as they exit the bowling alley and entered the sunlight once again. The temperature outside had dropped down a bit. It was still warm, but not scorching as before I led the group a block further down the street then across to Papa Domino's Pizzeria.

Once inside, we were immediately seated and our drink order was taken. The waiter left and everyone skimmed the menu, excitedly discussing their topping options. I sat back against my seat and sighed, watching the others laugh and talk. My mood sank, catching the eye of one of his fellow diners.

"Is everything okay?" Twilight Sparkle asked. She had tried to avoid talking to me for most of the day in fear of making her already complicated situation even more so, but she couldn't stand seeing me this way. Applejack gave a concerned glance, but resumed in conversation with the others.

"Yeah, its okay." I lied. "Just doing some thinking." Twilight nodded silently. I looked towards her.

"Can I talk to you later?" I asked. "You know, just us?" Twilight's heart began racing.

"U-um, yeah, sure." She shakily replied. The waiter had come back just in time to take her mind off of my request. After finally agreeing on toppings, I ordered a large pizza with extra cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, and peppers. The waiter nodded and hurried the away, yelling something in Italian to the man in the kitchen.

After a pleasant, and filling, lunch, the group and I emerged from the pizzeria, smiles of content stretching across each of our faces. It had only been a few hours since we left, but since it was Twilight's first time transforming everyone, we weren't sure of how much time the other ponies had left before they all changed back to their pony selves. I sighed as he checked my phone for the time, then I gathered everyone's attention.

"I think I want to spend the rest of the day at home." I said. "Not that I'm not having fun with you guys out here. I just want to hang out with you guys for a while before we all head back to your world."

"Ah understand, sugarcube." Applejack interjected. The farmhand smiled warmly at me, as did everyone else. Together, we made the walk back across the street and then headed south, passing the bowling alley once again and reaching the bus stop. Thankfully for me, there was a change in drivers. I paid the fare and the group claimed the seats we all had earlier.

It took much less time for us all to return home, seeing as how we were the only passengers this time. The bus stopped near my house and the driver, with a friendly smile, waved us all goodbye as we exited. We walked down the sidewalk and up the driveway, where I tossed Rainbow Dash the house key.

"I'm going to take some of the others to pick up a few groceries." I stated. "We'll be back after a bit." I glanced over at a select few. "Pinkie? AJ? Twilight? You guys wanna come with me?" I asked.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie nodded. Twilight simply shrugged, not wanting to offend me. Rainbow Dash looked at the key for a second, then nodded to me. Fluttershy waved to everyone as she followed Rainbow Dash into the house, followed by Rarity. Twilight sighed,

The ride to the retail store was a quick one, as the structure was only a few minutes outside of the city. Inside, I pushed the shopping cart while the others hastily tossed cake mix, vegetables, soda, and a few other things into the cart's basket. I tried ignoring the unfriendly looks of the other shoppers that came as a result to my five overly eager companions. Pinkie Pie had been prancing about the whole time, shouting things about having a party while adding balloons and streamers to the items in the cart.

The process of checking out was painstaking for me, as the cashier also gave odd looks to my brightly colored entourage. She brought up the total and I handed over the necessary payment. While getting change, the cashier gives another look to the group.

"Looks like you guys are throwing a party." She said sarcastically. Pinkie Pie bounded up in front of me and flashed a humungous grin.

"Oh, yeah!" She exclaimed. "We're having a big party! It's because we're leaving tomorrow to go back to E-"

"Europe!" I interjected. I slapped a hand over Pinkie's mouth, which was still mumbling at full speed. "We're going back to Europe tomorrow! Gotta have a big party!" I smiled weakly as I used my free hand to place the rest of the items in the cart. The cashier just stared.

"Yeah, whatever." She sighed. I, once assured that Pinkie Pie had finished her rant, pushed the cart out of the front doors. The group hurriedly made their way back to the car, where I loaded the groceries into the trunk while the others got seated and buckled.

I slammed the trunk shut and slid into the driver's seat. As we began the trip home, Twilight Sparkle looked over at me, watching me as I drove. She sighed to herself. Twilight could no longer deny that over the past few days, despite Applejack's advice, she had fallen more in love with me, and she wasn't quite sure how much longer she could go without telling me. Twilight was then reminded of my request at lunch.

"Can I talk to you later? You know, just us?"

That was it. Twilight's opportunity had made itself known. She took her attention off of me and focused on the road ahead. Thoughts raced through her head as the blood in her veins raced through her body from her heart's relentless beating. The house came into view and Twilight made up her mind.

At home. She thought. "I'll tell him tonight when we go home."

"What was that?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight's face grew red.

"Nothing, forget it." She innocently said.

Pinkie Pie hung the final streamer from the ceiling. In less than an hour, she had transformed the living room and kitchen from their dull, normal existence into an energetic atmosphere. A large punch bowl was surrounded with brightly colored cupcakes on the kitchen table and various other baked goods, courtesy of Applejack, lined the counters.

I pulled up my music player on the computer screen and double-clicked a playlist I had made. As the first song thumped its way through the computer's large speakers, the Equestrians cheered and began to dance in the middle of the living room. I quickly moved the coffee table and recliner off to the far sides of the room, creating a larger space for the makeshift dance floor. The music progressed through the playlist and the celebration was now in full swing.

Pinkie Pie then stood by the refrigerator, drinking a plastic cup of her specialty punch.

The party had rode into the early hours of the night, which at this time, the Equestrians had reverted back into their original forms. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew about the house, collecting the balloons and streamers from the ceilings. Everyone else assisted with clean-up on the ground, which consisted of moving back furniture, setting up the bed, and, in Pinkie Pie and Spike's case, disposing of the leftover snacks.

"How are we gonna get rid of all this?" Applejack asked. Pinkie pie simply winked at the confused farm pony before sticking out a wildly oversized tongue that scooped up the remaining treats and tossed them into the mouth of the pink party pony. A.J. simply shrugged, not the least bit surprised.

Twilight Sparkle had finished her cleaning task and was preparing us all to go back to Equestria when I realized that I have a chance to tell Twilight how I feel about her.

"Ok girls, before we go back, let's make sure we did everything. I started to say. "Ok, so we cleaned up the party supplies...check. Did you all go to the bathroom?" They all nodded. "Ok, we're all set." I finished.

"Ok everypony, and Mat." Twilight said. "Let's go." She powered up her horn, and with her usual *POOF*, we were back at the library tree.

Spike must've heard us, because he came running in a speed that rivaled Rainbow Dash's.

"Mat, girls, I've missed you." He cried.

"Hey, it's ok. We've only been gone a week." I assured him. "Ok. Now that we're back, let's go tell Princess Celestia about our road trip." I said to the girls.

"Uh-huh." They nodded.

And with that, we waited outside for our ride. And once it did, we got ourselves in and ready to head to Canterlot to see Her Highness, Princess Celestia.

We were all silent until Twilight spoke.

"Mat, I have something I want to tell you." She carefully informed.

“What’s up?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

“Well...I...I think I...” She was hesitating, losing her words.

“You...what?” I asked again, wondering what was keeping her from answering me.

“I...kind of...L... *sigh* Ohh, why is this so hard…?” She went silent. I tilted my head slightly to get a look at her face to see her cheeks turning a bright pink. Whatever she wanted to tell me, it must’ve been big.

“Twi...what is it you’re trying to-!” I was cut off as she turned to me and pressed her lips against mine, which froze me in complete surprise. Shortly after, she pulled her head away. I got the message right away, but I was dumbfounded. I looked at her, but she was looking down at the floor of the chariot once again; not out of sadness, but out of embarrassment. “Umm...I-is that your way of telling me that you like me?” I asked, still taken aback by her unexpectedly brash action as I impulsively licked my lips.

“Wh-what if it is?” She sheepishly asked.

“Then...then I don’t think I heard you very well.” I slyly retorted with a smirk. “Mind repeating that?” She giggled. "But, there is something that I have to admit." I said sadly.

"Oh, whats that?" Twilight asked.

I sighed. "When you fought Trixie," I began, "And she made that bold accusation, I overlooked it. I was told myself that it was just an attempt for Trixie to mess with our heads, but as the day went on, I began to question if you really held those feelings for me. So when you went back to talk to Applejack that night..."

"You eavesdropped on us?!" Twilight interrupted. She was furious that I had invaded her privacy like that, but decided that now wouldn't be the best time to start an argument.

"I had to!" I quickly answered. "I tried asking you about it that whole day, but every time I did, something would happen and it would derail the conversation completely. Eavesdropping was my only option."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

I dropped my head. "I was told not to. Applejack didn't want me to act on it for the sake of you not being hurt. I tried my best to not do that, but the more we were together, the more I realized myself that I harbored the same feelings. I kept flashing back to the days when we first met, you know, when we hung out with your friends in your world, and especially everything you said to Trixie that day. No one has showed so much care for me for a long time now. I just didn't want us to part ways and have to wonder 'what if' for the rest of our lives, ya know?"

Twilight nodded solemnly. A tear rolled down her cheek as she thrusted her head into my shoulder. I turned and fully embraced Twilight, feeling a tear of my own form. The two of us sat silently holding each for a little while, letting our hearts talk amongst themselves.

In the rich orange light of the radiant, clear-skied sunset we were flying in, Twilight looked even more beautiful than ever. Her mane flowing freely in the unreasonably frigid wind as the waning sunlight hit her in just the way that made her large, gorgeous purple eyes glimmer as she smiled warmly at me. In that moment, all my worries about me being human and from a different universe temporarily washed away as I smiled back at her. But I was more focused on the little lavender unicorn I was holding than anything. After we stared into each others eyes for a few seconds as we hugged, we closed our eyes, moved in and locked our lips together once again. She tasted faintly of sweetened lemon, which I guess had something to do with the last thing she ate or drank while I wasn’t around. I lost myself in the euphoria of it...

“*AHEM!*” Spike interrupted, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“*pop* Oops! Heh, sorry, Spike.” Twilight apologized, flustered and withdrawing from the embrace.

“Yea, my bad…” I added as I scratched my head in embarrassment.

The rest of the ride was awkwardly silent, but I couldn’t help but frequently glance at the object of my affections. I tried to avert my gaze, so as not to be tempted to flirt with Twilight and make Spike feel more unsettled than he already was. Twilight hardly moved from her position of discomfort, but I did catch her staring back at me a couple times, where she would swiftly look back at the floor of the chariot. She was adorable. Spike must’ve noticed our little game, because every time I looked at him, he seemed more and more annoyed as he stared off into space with a furrowed brow, away from Twi and I. Eventually, the Canterlot castle came into view as we approached.

“Finally! I was getting tired of sitting here with you two flirting with each other.” Spike complained. I laughed at the dragon’s agitation.

“Don’t worry, Spike.” I began. “I promise that we won’t do nothing else in front of you.” He looked at me and smiled. “’Cept this.” I quickly added as I kissed Twilight on the cheek, causing her to giggle and blush. I gave him a purposefully goofy smile. He shot daggers at me with his eyes before turning away. I was wondering if he felt...jealous, in a way.

Spoiler alert, the others (Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash) were in another carriage, so they didn't get to see what happened.

A short time later, we all arrived in Canterlot once again, the chariot gracefully landing in front of the palace doors. The two of us gave our appreciation to the guards for the ride before we entered the enormous building and walked/trotted all the way up the stairs to the throne room door.

We wasted no more time in entering the throne room to be greeted with the luminescent presence of the Sun Goddess Princess herself. The second she laid eyes on us, she stood up and smiled. The girls and I walked up to her. I felt the need to take a bow, but I was stopped.

“Formalities, while thoughtful, are not necessary, my faithful subject.” Celestia calmly informed, prompting me to stand back up as I looked at her.

"Oops." I said blushing.

"However, in order to show you my thanks, it would be my honor if you were to stay in Equestria." Celestia offered.

“Thanks! I’m eternally grateful, Princess. But...I likely won’t be staying long. Not that I wouldn’t come back, but-” I started to say but was cut off.

“Yes, I understand. You have no intention of leaving your world permanently.” She informed. “However, I require something from you first.”

“Anything! You name it. A slushy? A sweater from my world? A hug?” I said

“No,” She answered as she let out a small chuckle. “I need you...to prove your feelings towards Twilight.” Twi and I both shot looks of confusion at each other, then at her.

“Um...prove my feelings?” I blankly asked.

“Yes. I’m aware that you two are more than friends.” She said.

“What? How’d you know…?”

“Word spreads quickly around Canterlot; especially amongst the guards.” She informed with a wink. I almost asked her what she was talking about, but then I remembered the first time we came here.

“Oh...”

“Indeed.”

“Okay...I accept your challenge.” I confidently said as I walked over towards the purple unicorn and kissed her on the cheek. “There.” I said.

“A nice try, but not quite.” Celestia said unconvinced.

“No? Okay.” I kissed her again, except this time giving her a small peck on her lips, provoking her to blush vehemently. “That good enough?”

“*sigh* It will take more than you kissing her to convince me.”

“I see...is there something specific you want me to do?”

“Not at all. Simply do what comes to mind that you think would convince me that your feelings are truly genuine.” I wasn’t sure what she was looking for me to do, but if kissing didn’t work, then something had to give. After a moment of pondering, I finally hatched an idea.

“I got it! How about a song?” I suggested.

“A song would be nice. Let’s hear it.” I simply nodded before I began to think about what song I’d serenade the two lovely mares with. A short time later I decided on Roy Orbison-You Got It.

Once the music started, I suddenly lost control of my body as it began to do these ridiculous dance moves on its own. Rather than resist it, I got curious and allowed it to happen.

"Every time I look into your lovely eyes, I see a love that money just can't buy."

"One look, from you, I drift, away."

"I pray, that you, are here, to stay."

"Anything you want, you got it."

"Anything you need, you got it."

"Anything at all, you got it."

"Baby!"

"Every time I hold you I begin to understand."

"Everything about you tells me I'm your man."

"I live, my life, to be, with you."

"No one, can do, the things, you do."

"Anything you want, you got it."

"Anything you need, you got it."

"Anything at all, you got it."

"Baby!"

"Anything you want, Anything you need, Anything at all."

"I'm glad, to give, my love, to you."

"I know, you feel, the way, I do."

"Anything you want, you got it."

"Anything you need, you got it."

"Anything at all, you got it."

"Baby!"

"Anything you want, you got it."

"Anything you need, you got it.'

"Anything at all, you got it."

"Baby."

"Anything at all."

"Baby."

"You got it!"

Once the music stopped and I regained control of my body, I took some deep breaths because I was a bit worn out from dancing like that. Soon after, I looked up at Twilight and Celestia to see that they had different looks on their faces. Celestia wore a look of what seemed like surprise, satisfaction, and approval. Twi, on the other hand, was on the verge of tears, albeit grinning ear to ear.

“Is that...proof enough...for y-?” I was about to ask the Sun Princess before completely interrupted by her student to be holding nothing back, holding me tight as she moaned into the embrace. Eventually, she let me go with an audible pop. I simply stared at the unicorn, mind-blown and a little disoriented.

“WOW...I uh...take it you liked that?” I stammered.

“Like it?” She rhetorically asked. “That was the most wonderful thing anypony’s ever done for me!” She tearfully answered.

"Aw, is my little princess crying?" I cooed.

“I...I think it’s okay...these are just tears of joy.” I heard her loud and clear as I stroked her mane with my hand as we continued to hug.

With that, we all enjoyed a relatively short amount of time conversing with one another on various subjects before I let out a large yawn, the events of the day finally catching up to me. “It's getting late...I’m beat.”

“Yeah, it is getting pretty close to quitting time, isn’t it?” Said Applejack.

“Yes, it is time to rest, my little ponies,” Celestia stated.

A chariot carried everyone except Twi and I back to Ponyville. We stayed behind because Celestia had mentioned that she wanted to discuss our situation further.

“Now then.” Celestia began. "With everything I’ve observed from you two since Mat’s arrival here, I believe I’ve more than enough information to suffice for now. I do hope you realize, however, that I’m expecting an extensive letter on what you’ve learned about friendship...from both of you.”

“No problem, Princess Celestia! Consider it written!” Twilight happily replied.

“Wait...what??” I was completely bewildered.

“See it as one of the perks of dating my most faithful student. You have also become a scholar on the subject of friendship under me, which means I expect a letter on a lesson of friendship from you as well.” I had mixed feelings about that, but I supposed nothing comes absolutely free, no matter what universe one was in.

“But...I-!”

“There’s no pressure. You may write one if, and only if you happen to discover a lesson on friendship.”

“Yea, but... *sigh* I suppose that’s fair." I hesitantly said.

"All right. Well, good night you two." Celestia said before we went back to the library to do what we needed to do.

Dear Princess Celestia,

There was QUITE a lot to learn on a wide scale, spanning from friendship to my perception of physical reality, and so much more! But I’ll keep this to the point. Your student Twilight Sparkle has shown me time and time again how limited my knowledge of a variety of topics such as the existence of another world full of sentient beings, the possibility of magic, and the like is. She’s also shown me that making friends is possible no matter what world you live in. Never did I think that I’d be met with a creature as… captivating as Twilight is. I surely never thought I’d make friends with her either, given that she simply (and quite literally) popped into my life spontaneously. After she arrived and gave me some insight on where she came from, I've decided to share some insights on where I came from as well as show her around the house and what was in it.

In return, she introduced me to an entirely new world-no, an entirely new PLANE OF EXISTENCE! I’m not entirely sure what you call this world, so I guess I’ll have to refer to it as ‘Equestria,’ the name of what I understand is your country. As we spent time together, our bond grew and we became closer. Honestly, I think spending time in the form of a pony may have had a hand (or hoof) in the way I saw her. Originally, I saw her as a sort of...pet (no offense intended), given our differing species. However, the longer I’d been around Twilight (in either form), the more I’d strangely found myself...attracted to her. Strange, right? An 'alien' getting a crush on a unicorn. In any case, I was unsure of myself, trying to suppress and ignore my new feelings of affection. Evidently, I failed. But I don’t regret it. If it wasn’t for that, I’m not sure everything would’ve played out as it did over the course of my time in Equestria. I also wouldn’t have come to the conclusion that love truly is blind.

Despite the trials and tribulations Twilight and I had gone through, I’m ecstatic to say that I’ve enjoyed my time in Equestria. I especially cherish my time with Twilight and I’d like to say thank you for understanding me and my background, Your Highness. I can promise that we both will relay as much information about my world to you as you want. I also promise to keep your daughter/niece-in-law/most faithful student as content as possible, while at the same time keeping myself from becoming a distraction from her studies on the magic of friendship.

Your Newest Faithful Subject,

Mathew AKA Mat.

“There…” I concluded.

“Alright, my turn…” Twi began.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Friendship… a concept that seems so simple, yet proves itself to be totally complex at every turn. As you know, I was trying to demonstrate a spell that would send me to a different area of Equestria that actually wound up sending me to a whole new world entirely. Of course, this is where I met Mat. I was at first, startled by his appearance when we met. It was something the likes of which I’d never seen before... An entirely foreign species of being never known to have ever set hoof--or FOOT, rather--in our WORLD, much less our country. Despite that, he proved to be relatively approachable. We spent some time getting to know one another and he even allowed me the opportunity to gather quality information about his residential plane of existence, which led to the two of us forming a connection of sorts. As a thank-you gift, I brought him back to Equestria in order for him to acquire some insight on life here.

As I spent time with him, I realized that he, despite being of a race that is entirely alien to our world, exhibited the same qualities of friendship that I’d been studying up on ever since you relocated me to Ponyville. I was growing quite fond of him, and quickly, too. In addition, likely because of the extensive amount of time we spent together gathering information on each other, I began to feel something new for him...I wasn’t sure myself of what it was that was making me feel this way, but the idea of Mat and I being more than friends was put into my head when Rainbow Dash appeared and introduced herself to him. It was initially a recurring, yet passing thought until we’d met with Rarity, who insisted that we would make a cute couple. Me being the dedicated student I am, I merely attempted to shift such allegations off as simple hearsay in the name of focusing my time on honing my magic skills and researching friendship as you had assigned me.

Then again, Mat and I had hardly been out of reach of one another, with us spending a considerable amount of time together this past week. During that time, he and I talked...a LOT...and the more we did, the more I found a wide variety of traits within him that very much resembled those of a pony. Not only that, but I also began to take a special interest in him...for more reasons than just his surprisingly-advanced thought process that proved he was more than some strange animal I'd stumbled upon. Since my first encounter with the human world up until our first meeting with you, my feelings towards him grew to be…peculiar to me, to say the least. However, I knew what I'd begun to feel...affection. Simply put, I'd developed a 'crush' on my extraterrestrial companion.

Not necessarily knowing why, coupled with thoughts of the perceived immorality in being ensnared in feelings of affection toward someone who not only wasn't a pony, but also wasn't even a resident of our world, I tried my best to keep my inexplicable infatuation hidden until I was sure for myself if my feelings were more than a simple illusion. But I went with my feelings and just decided to kiss him. After I had don that,he told me that he loved me back.

Throughout this entire time, I learned two primary lessons: The first is that friendship can be obtained by anyone, anywhere, no matter what existential boundaries may be placed. The second is that love is blind...I mean this in the sense that Mat and I have been able to see past our physical and existential differences. While they are not completely out of the way as obstacles in the name of our recent courtship, we are currently settling into the idea of an interspecies relationship. In addition, while I am aware of the vast assortment of other stipulations of our involvement with one another, I cannot help but feel...calm and relaxed whenever he is around. There are many other lessons I’ve learned along the way, but I will report them to you in separate letters so that you may accurately categorize them. I’d like to thank you, Princess Celestia, for allowing him to visit Equestria and permitting me to travel to his world. As I've previously stated, I understand that there is a plethora of issues Ty and I need to address for a relationship of this caliber to function correctly, but as they say: When there's a will, there's a way.

Your Most Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

“Great!” Spike announced as he swiftly organized the parchments into scrolls and proceeded to engulf them in his telegram-sending flame.

“Thank you, Spike. You will be rewarded accordingly,” Twilight commended the dragon.

“One more thing...” I said.

“What’s up…?” As she asked, I gave her a small kiss on her lips.

“To a long, beautiful friendship…” She responded by returning the gesture before turning around.

“To a magical, loving friendship…” I said before we got comfortably snuggled together and drifted off to a blissful slumber.

The End.

Season 2 Chapter 13 - The Start of a New Beginning

"One month later..."

"Spike! Oh Spike! Gah, where is that dragon when you need him." Twilight said while looking around the room in search of the purple dragon.

"What's up hon?" I asked my marefriend.

'"Oh, it's just I need Spike to reorganize some books today. But I can't seem to find him anywhere." Twilight said in return.

"Want me to help?" I asked again.

"Sure." Twilight said with a smile.

"What do I need to do?" I asked in confusion.

"We just need to reorganize some books. Any questions?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. How many books are we organizing?" I asked looking at the bookshelves.

"Oh I'd love to reorganize the whole library, but let's just settle on this shelf here." Twilight said pointing at a bookshelf.

"Ok. Just how are we gonna organize them?" I asked again.

"Its really simple. Currently they are organized by genre. From within each genre, they are then organized alphabetically. What we'll be doing is organizing each of them alphabetically, but by series, for any of the non-academic works. If it's an academic work or journal, we'll be organizing them by subject. Then, by the authors last name. Within that, organize them again by the city where they were published. Now for adventure books we need to-" I decided to cut her off her rambling since she was talking like Pinkie Pie.

"How about I do what you do?" I asked taking my hand off her muzzle.

"Ok, that works too. Let's get started." Twilight said getting ready.

Seconds later.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Twilight screamed.

"Whoa, whats wrong?!" I asked while panicking.

"The entire row is out of order." Twilight said panicking as well.

"Gosh Twilight, you don't need to act like you saw a ghost." I said hoping for my heart to start working again.

"Oops. Sorry." Twilight apologized.

"It's ok. Now, where were we? Ah, the books." I said while going back to the books.

Even more seconds later.

"There, done." I said.

"Looks like that's everything." Twilight said.

"Yup." I agreed.

"I think Fluttershy needs some help with her animals. Do you think you can help?" Twilight asked me.

"Sure thing." I said in return.

And with that, I went over to Fluttershy's house to help take care of her animals.

"Heh, hard to believe it's been about a month since Twi and I started dating. Time sure flies." I thought while approaching Fluttershy's cottage.

*KNOCK KNOCK* I knocked on the door.

"Oh, Mat. You're just in time. Come in." Fluttershy said while opening the door.

"Thanks." I said while making myself at home.

“Excuse me for a moment while I go and get the food.” And with that, she trotted ahead and made a turn into a different room, leaving me to observe the abode. I paced around for a couple of minutes before I felt something land on my back. I craned my head around to see a small, white rabbit eyeing me up like I was about to steal something.

“Eh...what’s up, doc?” I asked. The rabbit remained silent as he meticulously paced up and down my back like he was looking for clues of some sort. Afterwards, it jumped onto my head and looked me in the eye from an upside-down perspective. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood perfectly still. The rabbit finally jumped off of me and onto the floor, where it turned to face me, offering its paw up for what I could guess was some sort of shake.

“What the heck? Is this rabbit her guard dog or something?” I thought.

“How...do you do?” I uneasily asked as I placed my hand in the rabbit’s paw. At that moment, Fluttershy came back into the room carrying a few large bags of various animal feeds and a set of bowls of various colors and sizes.

“I see you’ve met Angel Bunny.” She said, smiling lightly.

“I er...suppose I did.” I answered as I watched the rabbit bound over to its keeper and nuzzle into her leg.

“Aww. Momma missed you, too...I know you’re hungry, but so are a lot of our friends today. Mat...could you please come here?” She asked.

“Yes?” I asked back.

“Can you fill these bowls up with food depending on the sizes and colors of them?” She asked again.

“Of course. Just let me know which type of feed goes into which bowl.” I said.

“The red bowls are to be filled with these feeds.” She instructed as she pointed towards two of the bags; they featured pictures of furry animals, which I interpreted as those bag being for mammals. “The green bowls are to be filled with this feed,” The next two bags she pointed to had pictures of lizards on them. I guessed those were for reptiles and possibly amphibians. “And the blue bowls are to be filled with this feed.” The last bag she pointed to showed a picture of a bird on it. “Once we’re done, I’ll need you to set up the bowls accordingly around this room.” She finished.

“Okey doke. How do you want it?” I asked unsure where to place the food bowls.

“Small mammals eat together on that side of the room while the larger ones eat on that side of the room,” She began. “The smaller mammals, with a few exceptions, are herbivorous, while a good percentage of the larger ones are carnivorous. There is also a fair share of omnivores, but those are very rare amongst all the critters and creatures that live here with me. The green bowls will be set up over there by that corner, but not too close to the wall over there. The animals eating from these bowls will need their space, much like the others. Their eating habits are about the same as the mammals, but the sizes of their bowls are much more relative in terms of consistency. The blue bowls, you don’t have to worry about. Those are for the birds, and I can deliver their food to the birdhouses outside. That isn’t too much to handle...is it?” She asked.

“Uh...nope.” I assured, although not feeling all that sure myself. There was quite a bit of specific instruction when it came to feeding these animals. I was already worried about messing up and feeding a plant-based meal to a carnivore or vice versa.

“Okay. While you’re filling the bowls, I um...kind of need to run to the store and get the ingredients for a special salad sundae for my little Angel Bunny here.” She said innocently.

“Wait, what?? Why didn’t you just go and pick that stuff up before I came here??” I asked in shock.

“The animals here were waiting long enough as it is. I promise I won’t be long. If you’re having trouble, then Angel Bunny will be here to help you.” Rather than argue with her, I let out a defeated sigh before nodding. I figured I might as well get this done as soon as possible so I could return to the library to see Twilight.

“Fine.” I said flatly.

“Oh thank you, Mat!” The now-elated yellow mare said as she wrapped me up in a surprisingly strong hug. I did my best to return it. “I’m really sorry to make you do this on such short notice, but I’ll make it up to you...I promise.” She promised.

“Don’t worry about payback. All you need to worry about is getting back here soon enough. I don’t wanna mess anything up while you’re away.” I said.

“Are you sure? I mean I could pay you...or maybe teach you how to take care of your own pet if you ever decided to get one...or maybe we could um...hang out or something?” She asked nervously.

“No payback necessary, Ms. Shy. Although I wouldn’t mind spending some time with you...but we’re wasting time at this point. Go get your recipe.” I told her as I let her go. She took a bit longer than I expected to let go of me, but didn’t need me to remind her. She was out the door in a flash, leaving me to perform the odd job with the assistance of her pet rabbit.

“I am not looking forward to this.” I looked at the rabbit to see it eyeing me up like it did when we first met, although much more scrupulously. I gave a look of perplexity at the small creature, basically asking it why it was staring me down the way it was. It shrugged nonchalantly before pointing towards the bags and bowls, signaling for me to get cracking on the task at hand. I wordlessly nodded, moving to get started. I have to say, it certainly was odd communicating with a rabbit that didn’t speak without saying very much myself. I thought little of it, however, and just accepted it as I worked on distributing the food.

Even Later...

By the time I was done filling the bowls up, Fluttershy had returned, groceries in hoof. She set the bags down to inspect my progress.

“Very good! The bowls are filled almost exactly like how I would fill them.” Fluttershy congratulated.

“Yeah...I probably would of messed up big time if it wasn’t for your bunny friend here.” I said, gesturing towards the rabbit lounging on the sofa with a newspaper in its admittedly-adorable little paws. It raised its foreleg to form a sort of thumbs-up before continuing its reading. I didn’t even bother to question how a rabbit could be literate to the point of being able to read, or how it acted very much like a human being minus the ability to speak.

“Good, good...I’ll be in the kitchen making Angel Bunny’s lunch." Fluttershy said while walking in the kitchen.

With that statement, she trotted into the kitchen to fix lunch for Angel Bunny and me. I took the initiative to try my hand at distributing the bowls as evenly as I possibly could.

“Bigger red bowls to one corner except for a couple, smaller red bowls to another corner except for a couple… green bowls in that corner, but not too close to the walls...but still separate from each other based on size. Jeez, why can’t they just be organized by color instead of this?”

There were quite a lot of bowls to set up and even amongst the red bowls, I could only use my sense of judgment to distribute them accordingly. The only other way I was able to accurately place the bowls was by looking at the types of food in them, but even that didn’t help much. The green bowls were even harder. They were almost all the same size, and they were all going in one corner. I still guessed that I’d need to separate plant-food bowls from meat-food bowls, and something else, and...

“D’ahh, forget this this! I’m losing my patience.” I just set the bowls down wherever, but still made sure they were at least separated by color.

“Done already??” The Pegasus asked in surprise.

“Yyyyep.” I responded while feeling at least a little unsure about the bowl placement.

“Good!" Fluttershy said with a smile.

"All righty then, I'll best be on my way." I said getting ready to leave.

Just when I was approaching the door, I heard a buzz saw sound coming the kitchen. I then watched Angel Bunny as he literally turned into his own rendition of Taz the Tasmanian Devil, devouring his salad from top to bottom in less than five seconds. Once his vicious feasting had come to an abrupt end, he lay down in the now-empty bowl, stomach full to bursting as he let out a small burp. He then yawned and stretched before getting up and bouncing slowly out of the room. I could only assume two things: One, that rabbit had a very large appetite. And Two, he got a case of ‘The Itis’ after he was done.

“Well then.” I said scratching my head in confusion.

“He tends to do that when he’s really hungry.” Fluttershy informed with a small, cute little giggle.

"Anyway...I'm out. Bye Fluttershy." I said waving to the butter colored Pegasus.

"Bye." Fluttershy waved back.

"Well, that was certainly interesting." I thought to myself as I was walking back to the library.

"Hmm, I wonder what kind of fun things there are to do here." I wondered.

"Did you say 'fun things'? I love fun things." Rainbow said as she approached me.

"Yeah, I did." I told her.

"Then have no fear, Rainbow Dash is here." Rainbow praised. "I have got to show you my new moves that I've made." She said.

"Ok Rainbow, let's see what you got." I said.

"Ok. Here goes nothing." And with that, she was off.

"Wow, she's good." I thought in astonishment. "Hey Dash! Look out!" I shouted.

"Huh?" Dash said not knowing what I meant.

*CRASH!!!!*

"Uh-oh." I thought in panic.

"Dash! Are you all right?" I said hoping she didn't break anything.

"Ow my head. Am...am I bleeding?" Dash asked, her eyes spinning in the process.

"No, you just look dazed." I assured her.

"Gah, my ears are ringing. Look, don't tell everypony about the crashing part ok? I have a reputation and everything." Rainbow pleaded.

"I won't." I promised.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Rainbow thanked. "Look, I gotta get going. But I'll come by later for more flying practice." Rainbow said before flying off.

"Ok, later." I said waving goodbye.

"Hmm...better see how Twilight's doing." I said while I was heading back to the library.

"Honey, I'm home." I called.

"Hey you." Twilight said while giving me a welcome home kiss. "I've been waiting for you." She said with half-lidded eyes and a smile.

"I know, but I've been busy with stuff." I said while giving my special somepony a massage.

Shifting closer to her, I began to run my hand through her mane, going at a steady pace while savouring the soft, silky texture it had against my fingers.

I could feel her relax and begin to pace her breathing with my strokes. I decided to be a little bolder and began using my other hand to stroke her muzzle and neck, and in response she soon closed her eyes, her every breath growing more intense as timed passed, now paced perfectly with the rate at which I was caressing her. By now, I had already positioned myself so that my face was just in front of hers, indulging in the subtle movements of her face, the rhythm of her chest as she continued to draw in deep breaths, while simultaneously trying to take in her exhalations.

"Mmm...that feels good." Twilight moaned.

"I thought you'd like that. I mean, you did have one heck of a day." I said.

"I did, didn't I?" Twilight asked. *growl* "Excuse me. Looks like it's a little past lunchtime. Twilight blushed. "I think we should have a lunch date together. What do you think?" Twilight asked.

"I think that sounds lovely." I agreed. "Well, shall we go malady?" I asked while holding the door for Twilight and I.

*giggle* "You're so cute, you know that?" Twilight giggled.

"I know." I said also giggling.

And with that, we headed out to have our very first romantic outing.

Somewhere in Ponyville...

"So, what's the plan boss?" Trixie asked.

"First we need to find a way to rid of the human, then alert Princess Celestia that we're gonna be taking over the town, then force her and her sister along with the elements to start a war, and then all of Equestria will be ours! (evil laughing)" Sunset Shimmer said cackling.

"Ooh, Trixie likes the sound of that. I've always wanted to rid of Twilight Snarkle and her useless friends for some time now." Trixie said with an evil grin.

"Then it's settled. Soon, my plans will go into action! (evil laughing)" Sunset Shimmer cackled.

Meanwhile...

"Ahh...this is the life. Just you and me together. What more could you ask for?" I asked my special somepony while eating a tomato and lettuce sandwich.

"I know right? I am sorry for being busy though. I couldn't help it." Twilight frowned.

"It's cool." I said with a smile. "You know what would be even better though? I asked hatching an idea.

"What?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This." I said while playing the guitar.

"*sniff* T-that was beautiful my love." Twilight said with a smile and a tear.

"Aww, who needs a kiss?" I asked smiling.

*smooch time*

"*sigh* That hit the spot." Twilight sighed.

"I thought you'd like that. You know, I'm just about ready for dessert. You?" I asked.

"Ooh, let's head over to Sugarcube Corner. I'm sure Pinkie has a ton of sugary sweets we can have." Twilight suggested. "What do you want to get?" She asked.

"We won't know until we get there." I said packing up.

And with that said, we made our way to Sugarcube Corner for dessert.

*ding* "Hey guys!" Pinkie Pie greeted while bouncing towards us. "Ooh, are you two dating? Oh neat. I guess you came here to try my super-awesome-amazingly-one-of-a-kind milkshakes." She rambled with a smile.

"You just read our minds, that's exactly what we're here for." I said to the overly-excited mare.

"Sweet." Pinkie giggled.

"How much is it?" I asked while getting out my sack of bits.

Hint: Since I've been spending time in Equestria, I decided to get a gob as a masseur over at the spa with Aloe and Lotus as my bosses.

"Oh silly, it's free since you two are dating." Pinkie giggled some more.

"I swear, if she continues to live here, she's gonna turn into dessert herself." I thought

"Oh. Well then, let's go grab a seat." I said while looking for us both to sit and enjoy our milkshakes.

Some time passes...

“Here you are!” Pinkie declares, while you eye up the milkshake and its enticing mound of decadent whipped topping.

“Wow, this looks delicious!” You gasp to your server.

“It sure does.” Grins Twilight.

"Have fun you two." And with that, she disappeared in a flash.

Your eyes return to your dessert, which has been crowned with a red cherry, at the summit of the whip cream. At first you think of taking the little bonbon for yourself, but you can’t forget your manners or your lovely mare. Looking at her thoughtfully, you ask, “Twilight, would you like the cherry?”

She beams you a loving smile, and replies. “Okay.”

You hoist the cherry by its fairly long stem and hold it up to her. “Open up.” You snicker.

Twilight opens her mouth as you place the cherry on her tongue. She slowly closes her mouth and pulls the cherry off of its stem, smiling at you, while she chews and swallows it. “Mmm.” She expresses. Twilight spies one of the spoons, and uses her magic to lift it up, collecting some of the whipped cream. “Here.” She utters.

You open your mouth and empty the spoon of its contents, allowing the cool, fluffy and very creamy topping to dance across your taste buds before swallowing it. “Yum.” You mutter. “Shall we?” You un-wrap the straws and place one in both sides of the shake. Twilight nods as she leans over to her straw and starts drinking the cold chocolatey beverage. You promptly join her, taking several sips, savoring not only the milkshake, but also the act of sharing it with Twilight.

After taking several sips you stare affectionately at each other. Taking your spoon, you fill it with some of the cream and present it to Twilight. Without a word, she leans over and empties your spoon, licking her lips very slowly, while batting her violet eyes at you.

She continues sharing the whip topping with you, until the mound has finally vanished, leaving you both to return to your straws and finish the rest of your chilly dessert.

Once your milkshake glass is empty, you both finally head back towards the library.

"Hey...do you think-" Twilight was apprehensive as she spoke. "-we could, wecoulddoitnow?" Her slow, shy pace broke as she blurted out those last few words, squeezing her eyes shut in the process.

Twilight marveled me at how despite the obvious physical differences, over time I had come to see her no differently from a human girl. Though I had fallen for her at first for her mind, her physical body playing no role in that first spark, over time I had developed an appreciation for her form. The contours of her stature, the minute details of her limbs, her soft, silky coat, not to mention her increasingly enticing hindquarters, among other things. I saw no reason to withhold from Twilight now, especially when both of us wanted it so. Especially since I was doing it for Twilight Sparkle.

I gave my agreement, and proposed we move to her bedchamber. A strong aroma of eucalyptus hit me as I entered, it seemed she had a scented candle already prepared. Twilight trotted to her bed, sitting on the side facing me. I sat by her side, the scent of her on the sheets easily overpowering whatever fragrance was present, and almost driving me to lose all higher thoughts right there and then. The only light now came from the candle, for the storm was still ongoing and obscuring the moon.

"Could I take off your clothes for you?" she requested, seeming more bold than she had been through the evening. Upon my consent, Twilight's horn began to glow a faint purple, and she managed to work the buttons off my shirt, removing it and tossing it to the side.

"You know, you really do have too little fur!" She giggled, after taking a few moments to take in my form.

I could only laugh with her and agree, stating that it was why I needed to wear so much in the first place, as opposed to her, who could walk in public naked. It was only at this time that I even realised she was naked most of the time, which made for a bit of discomfort as it was now she began trying to remove my pants, succeeding after a significant amount of effort. Last were my undergarments, and her she opted to just use her mouth to disrobe me rather than any magic.

"Wow, um..." Releasing a significant amount of pressure on my groin as she tore off the last of my clothing and tossed them to the side, Twilight could only gaze as she saw my exposed self, her body erect and still as she said this.

"I've...well, I've never actually seen something like that before, other than in my textbooks and-" Twilight blushed and suddenly kept silent, but continued to stare in curiosity. Slowly moving her head closer and closer, she eventually tried poking it with her tongue, which took a superhuman amount of restraint from myself to not ejaculate at that touch. Soon, she grew ever bolder, placing her lips around it and taking the length into her mouth. Despite the somewhat clumsy movements of her tongue, it drove me wild all the same, but not enough to not try and think of something I could do in return for her.

It was a wild guess, but I had found myself obsessing over it too many times to not take the chance I had now, especially considering what I had seen in her journal. Twilight's head, occupied in servicing me, was positioned perfectly. Using just two digits, I lightly began stroking her horn, indulging in the little bumps that were a result of its spiraled shape. I noted the sudden disruption of her rhythm, which probably meant my wild guess was correct. I began to massage more of her horn, stroking it from the rounded tip to its base and back, eventually causing it to glow a faint purple. Meanwhile, Twilight began to work even harder on me, as if she were not to be outdone. At last, neither of us could restrain ourselves any longer, and I came into her mouth, just as her horn gave off as blinding flash of white light as well.

"Hmm...so this is what it's like..." Twilight licked the residual white fluid off her face after her comment, and waited a few moments to savour the taste before swallowing it.

"Though I'm surprised you knew how my horn would react!" Twilight chirped.

"Yes, well...I had to try it out, ahahaha..." I said a bit nervously.

I opted to attribute it to luck and declined to mention how much I had read, before positioning her so she would be seated on her rump, her back leaning against a pile of pillows on her bed. Without warning, I spread open her hind legs, taking a few moments to admire her more private regions. Clear fluid was already leaking out of her, while the cute, tiny nipples positioned slightly above were erect. The moment my tongue made contact with her vulva, Twilight let out a moan, and her tail began to wag, brushing me across the chest. I took my time experimenting, noting the intensity of her moans and her breath, along with the sheer speed in which she was wagging her tail as a guide to how well I was doing. Once I had figured out how to have her consistently keep up her sharper, higher pitched moan, drinking in her sweet ejaculate along the way, I moved a hand towards her belly and began to rub her hardened nipples, while with the other I manged to grab hold of her quivering tail, tugging on it gently. Her moaning turned into loud shouts of ecstasy, and soon she uttered one great moan as she climaxed, her head arched backwards, the little pony's entire being quivering gently and clear fluid continued to ooze out of her orifice.

After letting some time pass for us both to recuperate, with some idle chatter in between, I placed Twilight on her back, her legs dangling in the air. Here, much of here boldness seemed to have vanished, for she began blushing profusely again as she laid down, hind legs spread as I began to enter her.

She winced slightly as I began to push against her with increasing pressure.

We waited for her to recover, but once that was over with, we began to move. The feeling of being within Twilight was indescribable, as though I were slipping into warm honey, at just the right temperature, enough to have me lose all sense. I pressed myself against Twilight, once more taking in everything of hers I could, her pulse, breath, movements and vocalisations, pacing myself with her as she rocked her hips in rhythm with mine. She began to moan once more, which, in tandem with her musky scent, the motions of her chest, her eyes shut in ecstasy, and the faint tightening of her lips, made me feel more alive than I had ever been before. All of it would grow more vigorous, until finally, both of us climaxed with each other, the sheer intensity of the moment leaving us wracked for a long time even after the deed was done.

To be continued...