Out With The Old and In With The New

I awoke again and felt the oh so familiar feeling of pain. Pain always finds a way to grope me with its white hot prod. 'What happened anyway? Oh yes, I was in a world full of talking ponies called Equestria. At least that is what Tony called it, wherever he is. Did Tony really exist, or was I just dreaming the whole thing? I was probably dreaming the whole thing, because a world filled with talking, multicolored ponies and wooden wolves with glowing yellow eyes just sounds like something out of a fantasy book.'

I once again felt another throb of pain in my head as usual. I could not tell what was real or not, for this was at least my third time of being knocked senseless. I had received a concussion from a rather large, burly Mexican teen not too long ago, so I hope that I did not receive second impact syndrome, or I would be screwed. 'Speaking of screwed, I am probably dead and In purgatory awaiting a decision from some god or something. maybe this eternal darkness is heaven.'

'How did I get knocked unconscious anyway? I remember the ponies going savage and hurting Mylan, then I tried to save him through friendly dialogue, then I was knocked unconscious by that orange Texan pony named Applejack. So I must be dead or something like that.'

There was nothing to do, so I just relaxed and kept my mind quiet so I could enjoy this almost overwhelming tranquility. There was no need to close my eyes because it was so dark, and my eyes seemed to not need to be moisturized. So there I floated in purgatory, letting my ears take in the amazing sound of absolute silence. 'I need this. After all, I hardly ever get a chance to have such relaxing moments, so I will just wallow in the moment before it ends (If it ever ends.).'

The silence sustained itself, and eventually I could hear what seemed to be a heart beat.

DA,DUM

DA,DUM

DA,DUM

This strange, but familiar sound, scared me due to how sudden it was, and made me look around to try and find the source. I looked around, but found only darkness. I then spotted a small glob of pure white light out in the distance among the sea of darkness. I swam towards it (If you could call it swimming.) and noticed how the light grew bigger and bigger the closer I got. It was then that I swam into the light, ready to find out just what exactly was going on. so I swam and swam and swam, hearing that strange heartbeat again.

DA,DUM

DA,DUM

DA,DUM

The white light grew more intense, so intense that it was starting to make my body invisible. It was like I was starting to submerge myself in a bathtub full of milk, the waves of the mil flowing over and covering my pale skin. It was a strange thought, but there was no better way to describe this strange experience. And then, after what seemed like eons of silence, emerged a sound. It wasn't just a sound, but a voice. It was that annoying Texan voice. 'Applejack'.

The white light grew even more intense, and I actually started to blink as my eyes were becoming irritated by this holy light. There was no longer any darkness, just pure white light. The light then started to grow less intense, and the color yellow was starting to take over. It was that yellow that you saw when light was trying to get through the drapes in a window. Then, The yellows started to make itself more clear, and I awoke into consciousness.

I felt the familiar pain of my injured back, and the familiar feeling of deja vu. I sat up and took in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a large yellow tent with medical beds. This looked like a medics tent at an army camp. I noticed my friends were laying down on the other medical beds. On my left there was Tony, Tyler, and Daniel who appeared to be fine, just knocked out, and then there was Sheldon and Mylan in their beds next to each other on my right. Mylan had that puncture in his leg from a pitchfork, and Sheldon had a large bandage wrapped around his stomach. Sheldon still looked pale, but it was much better than earlier. Mylan's legs were just hanging off the bed due to the size difference.

'So, all of that really did happen. I have no words to explain how I feel.'. I then picked up some more voices outside of the tent behind me. I started to get up to walk around, but my head started to swirl from blood rushing to my head, so I took it easy and stretched as I got up. For some reason I did not fear the ponies outside, as I was too fascinated by the fact that all of this was real. I stumbled as I moved towards the tent flaps, making sure to be as quiet as possible. I brushed the tent flaps aside and walked outside to be greeted by a very bright sun, almost as intense as the white light I saw while I was asleep.

The sun hurt my eyes, and made me wince, so I instinctively lifted a hand up to shade my eyes from it. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed another open plain ahead of me, grass and all. I dared not look at the sun, but the bright light was coming up from the horizon, so I assumed that it was morning. The clearing was mostly grass, but there was a primitive dirt path off to the side, which signaled that I was near civilization.

I turned to the left and walked around the tent, noticing many small flowers lining the edge of the tent. The flowers were yellow, light blue, dark blue, and a few red. I continued my walk/limping around the tent until I reached the back. 'This is where I heard the voices, so I should stay as hidden as possible.'

I moved slowly and peaked around the tent, and I noticed about six different ponies. There was of course Applejack, A Purple unicorn that also seemed to have wings, a white unicorn with dark purple hair, A yellow Pegasus with pink hair, another Pegasus with many different colors, and a bubblegum pink pony. All of them had marks on their flanks. I listened in on their conversation.

"Okay, so what should we do about them?"

"They seem sentient, so I believe that informing the princess is our only solution."

"What should we do Twilight?"

"Just go live your lives, I am going to try and heal the injured ones. Fluttershy, you can stay to help with the healing process if you want. I need to strap down the uninjured ones before they wake up to avoid any unwanted accidents."

"Well jus' ta let ya know Twi, if any of em come near mah apples again ahm gonna end their pitiful lives!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure that it was all just a big misunderstanding."

"Ya better hope it was." said Applejack before turning around and leaving. All but the Purple unicorn and yellow Pegasus left. I turned around and hurried back to the entrance of the tent before lifting it up and running back to my bad to act asleep trying my best not to trip over anything in my way.

The two ponies walked in, and the unicorn hybrid started to strap us all in with its strange magic. The straps wrapped themselves over my arms and torso, as well as both of my ankles. I was completely immobilized. I figured that it was best this way since the ponies would not be so scared of me due to my incapacitation.

"Take a note spike."

"Right away Twilight!"

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I have captured and restrained six strange primate-like beings. The were all wearing clothes, and Applejack claimed that they talked to her, meaning that they must be sentient. They are all quite tall, ranging between four feet tall to around almost seven feet tall. I would like to request you to come and take a look for yourself, because I have no idea what to do. I am currently on the outskirts of ponyville in the grasslands with the subdued creatures, because I don't know if they are a threat or not.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"

After that, I heard what sounded like a large flame being shot out, and then nothing.'So there was a male here as well acting as an assistant?'

After that I felt small yet hard appendages feeling my body. They lifted my shirt, and undid my pants. I guess they were looking for wounds.

"Hey Twilight, They ummm, all have male parts."

"So they are all males? That doesn't help us at all Fluttershy. Did you find any wounds?"

"No."

I heard what sounded like a loud belch, and then something soft dropped to the floor.

"The princess responded!"

I heard a rolled up paper being unraveled, and then the hybrid started to talk again.

"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
This is most interesting news. I will leave as soon as I can and meet you in the Ponyville grasslands.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia"

I sat thinking about all of this. So there were unicorns here that could use magic, and there were pegasi here, meaning that this land was magical. I guess wooden wolves weren't enough, now I have to watch out for magic. The only experience that I've had with magic was in video games, but this was real life now, so caution was indeed necessary.

I decided that I had enough waiting and now was the time to meet these ponies.

I lifted my head and saw the ponies tending to Sheldon and Mylan, not noticing me at all. I saw a small lizard thing sitting down in a chair near the flaps to the tent. He took notice of me soon after I stared at him, and started to freak out.

"Twilight! That one's awake!"

The ponies spun around, and their large eyes met with mine. That really freaked me out. The purple unicorn lifted a syringe with its magic and started to bring it towards my arm. I figured that it was a sedative, and I really did not want to go back to sleep, so I struck up a conversation.

"Hey! Don't put me back to sleep! I have been asleep too long!"

The purple unicorn seems to listen, and lowers the syringe. "Oh! So you can talk! I have so many questions to ask you!"

"I would like you to answer my questions first if that's okay." I say

"Sure!"

"What happened to us?" I knew the answer to some of that, but I wanted to see what the unicorn would say.

"Well, my friend Applejack saw you as a threat, so she bucked you in the head. Your friends were too stunned to do anything else until I arrived, so I cast a sleep spell on them."

"So why did you try to sedate me if you have magic?" I ask.

"Well, I don't want to waste my magic."

"Can you let me out of these straps please?" I beg.

"I am afraid I can't do that, I need to make sure that you are not a threat first." said the purple hybrid with a frown.

"I assure you that I am no threat! I am offended that you think of me as such. Even if I were to attack you, you have magic. I am just so tired of laying down." I say.

"Well, I suppose that it would be alright, but if you do anything bad, then you will have to deal with the goddess of the sun."

"I swear that I will not do a thing." I say wondering who the goddess of the sun was.

"Okay then." says the purple hybrid while using her magic to undo my straps, her horn glowing a nice purple as she did so. I got up and stretched again, and the blood rushed to my head causing me to almost fall over. 'Man that was getting annoying.'

The ponies were quite small, and both looked up at me in awe. I looked over to the small lizard thing.

"And what are you exactly?"

The purple hybrid cut in before it could answer. "That's Spike! He's my assistant dragon!"

"Hey." He says shyly while looking away.

"Who and what are you then? I've heard of unicorns and pegasi, but not one with both." I ask.

The hybrid stands of straight and prepares for a proper introduction. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am an alicorn."

"An alicorn hm? I've never heard of that, but I know that you're a princess because of that letter reading."

"Oh you heard that? Well yes I am, but I don't like to be addressed as such. I don't like the attention." says Twilight.

"I understand, so I'll just leave it alone." I say.

"Thanks. This is my friend Fluttershy." she says while pushing the timid yellow Pegasus pony towards me. "As you may have already guessed, she is very shy, and needs to warm up to ponies before she can act normal around them.

"Well salutations Fluttershy, it's nice to meet you too. I haven't properly introduced myself to you guys yet, so I'll get it over with. "My name is Alexius, and I am a Human." I say.

"Well it's nice to meet you Alexius the human. No offence but that is a very strange name." says Twilight Sparkle.

"None taken." I say. Fluttershy still hasn't said anything since I woke up, and she reminded me of when I was a shy boy in elementary school. Those were some of the worst years of my life.

I heard a loud THUMP! outside before I could continue talking with these strange equines. Twilight Sparkle started to freak out yelling "The princess is here!". "

"What princess? you mean this god of the sun that you were talking about earlier?" I ask.

"Yes! She controls the sun's movement during the day. she is also the ruler of our country!"

"How is a princess a ruler of a country? A princess is the daughter of the ruler, so it doesn't make any sense."

"No time to explain! The princess is going to decide your fate, so act friendly and don't offend her." says Twilight starting to whisper to avoid having princess overhear her. She then left the tent to go greet her, leaving me in an awkward situation with Fluttershy and Spike, who tried their best to avoid my piercing gaze.

I stood up proud and tall, ready to meet a goddess. I awaited for this princess to come into the tent, which did not take too long. She walked in very calmly and proudly. Her size made me quite intimidated, as she was about 5'10. Her mane and tail were a glorious rainbow that waved even though there was no wind, and was complemented well by her golden crown, shoes, and chest plate. Her horn was longer than Twilight's horn, which made me assume that she has very powerful magic. She also had one of those weird pictures on her flank.

"OH! One of you is awake." she said in a soothing voice.

Without wasting any time, I gave the best introduction that I could. "You must be Princess Celestia, I am Alexius the Human. I am humbled to be in you presence. My friends are Tlyer, Mylan, Daniel, Tony, and Sheldon." I say pointing to each respectively.

"Greetings Alexius, I am glad that you are respectful. It's quite rare that a foreigner is so respectful towards me, as most are quite rude. I've never seen your species here before, so that makes you my first. And I am happy to say that we got off to a good start."

"Thank you princess." I say.

"Princess Twilight, I believe that you should wake the other humans, I don't want to have to repeat the same thing twice."

"Yes princess." says Twilight without hesitation. I see her horn glow purple again, which made my friends' heads glow purple as well. In about ten seconds, my friends jumped up in fear, signaling that they still had some remnants of yesterday on their mind. They stopped panicking as soon as they saw princess Celestia though.

"Greetings humans, welcome to Equestria." Says Celestia.

"P-P-P!" starts Daniel before he shuts himself up.

"Listen closely humans, for I have little time to inform you. You all seem quite nice, and I have no qualms in allowing you to stay in my fair country, so I will let you decide where you want to live. Any of you can choose to live anywhere, just tell me and it will be done. I want all of you to feel welcome in Equestria.

Mylan spoke first, "I would be most appreciative if I could live in Ponyville."

"Done. We are all on the outskirts of Ponyville, so that will work well."

Tyler spoke up, "I would like to live here in Ponyville too if that's okay."

"Of course Tyler." says Celestia.

Daniel spoke up, "I would like to live with you in the castle princess."

"Hmmmm, I suppose it would be alright. Perhaps you could tell me about your home and what it's like there?"

"Sure!" yells Daniel.

"And what about you Tony?' She asks.

Tony spoke up almost immediately, "Ponyville would be great."

"Sure, you all love Ponyville don't you?"

"I would like to live in Fillydelphia!" Sheldon says elatedly.

"Someone wants to live big hm?" she says. Sheldon only nodded.

"And what about you Alexius?" she asks.

"I remain undecided, so I guess that I will just stay in Ponyville for now."

"Fair enough. Sheldon and Mylan, you are both still injured from yesterday's encounters, so take it easy." Sheldon and Mylan both looked down at their injuries and frowned a little.

"Mylan, I know that Applejack's brother wounded you, but what happened to you Sheldon?"

"I was bit by a timberwolf." he says shuddering at remembering that moment.

"Well don't worry, you'll heal in no time I'm sure." says Celestia with a reassuring smile which made Sheldon smile a bit. "Well, I must go. Equestria won't run itself. Daniel, you can come with me back to Canterlot castle. You can come with us too Sheldon, I'll have my royal guard ponies drop you off in Fillydelphia with somepony to guide you. The rest of you can just stay here and princess Twilight will guide you all. Celestia started to walk out of the tent, and everyone followed. Celestia, Sheldon, and Daniel all boarded the chariot, and everyone waved goodbye.

"Bye guys! Thanks for looking after me! And don't think I forgot about you Daniel!" while giving Daniel a noogie.

Among all of the goodbyes, I noticed the royal guard ponies. They had very neat armor! It was all gold and had some nice blue brush design that really made the armor look impressive. The chariot soon took to the skies and disappeared towards the large castle built into the side of the mountain.

"Hey Twilight, is that Canterlot?" I ask while pointing to the castle.

"Yes it is." Twilight said with a smile. "Well, let's go guys, I have a lot to teach you."

"Bye Twilight! yells Fluttershy as she flies away.

"Bye!" she yells back. Mylan, Tyler, and Tony just waved without really knowing it since they were all sucked up into their new lives.

Spike came out of the tent, "Hey Twi? Are we heading back to the library?" he asks.

"Yep! And these guys are coming back with me to learn about Equestria!" she says happy to teach newcomers.

"Oh I guess I'll make extra sandwiches at lunch then." said Spike.

"Um Twilight, is it okay if I just stay out here in the grassland for a while? I have to think some things over." I say.

"Oh, I suppose that's okay. Just don't go near the Everfree forest. It is a dark forest, so it isn't hard to spot."

They all started to head toward Ponyville, and waved back at me. I waved to them before sitting in the shade of the tent so I didn't burn my skin in the sun. I saw Ponyville in the distance, and Tony in his pony jacket. I imagine that it is going to be awkward when he encounters that same pony where the idea of the jacket came from. I wish I could see that, but I need time alone for once. So I sat, admiring the huge, open grassland.

I sat and meditated with my legs crossed and my hand in my lap, trying to calm down from all of the recent events. "Wow, those bronies really weren't gay! They were just fans. I see! Just fans who got sucked up into this imaginary world, literally." I say aloud.

I started to notice how hungry I was, as I only ate one apple over a time of two days. Maybe I should have went with them to get food in Ponyville. No, I can wait. I am really hungry for meat though, and I wonder if they sell any there. "Hey I know! I should go steal some apples from Applejack's orchard. I don't like her, and she owes me after kicking me in the face. Speaking of my face, I wonder how it looks after that incident."

I get up and walk through the tent flaps. I am greeted to the light smell of blood and medicine. "Twilight still left a bunch of stuff here, so I am guessing that she'll come back later for it.". I spot a supply bag with a red cross on it, meaning that it was a medical bag. I crouch down and unzip it to look for a mirror. I dig through many different tools including a blood pressure measurer, many different syringes with caps on them, a stethoscope, a small flashlight, and wraps of bandages. I did not find a mirror until I reached the bottom. I snatched it out, eager to see what my face looked like.

I looked into the mirror, and saw that my face looked pretty normal, besides the fact that both of my eyes were bruised making me look like a raccoon. "Well Applejack, you made me look like a raccoon, so now I am going to act like one by stealing some of your apples."

I take a sedative because I feel that I will need it for some reason, and then I walk through the tent flaps to be greeted once again by Celestia's sun. "So I met a god, and I did a good job at it! Very few creatures can say they did that!" I say happily.

I don't know where Applejack's farm is, but I remember seeing her walk away towards the back of the tent earlier, so I'll head that way and look for apple trees. I started to walk, my stomach hurting every time I took a step due to my hunger. I walked through the grass, and noticed many small insects flying around such as ladybugs and small dragonflies. I tread lightly, not wanting to hurt the cute little things. I continued walking, thinking about how the ponies might react to a bunch of aliens suddenly appearing in their town. At least when I get there, they won't overact as much.

I started thinking to myself about these ponies and how they act. I know that their world is not just full of peace and harmony due to how Applejack and that red pony reacted. So there must be some violence that goes on somewhere. This is a world full of magic, so things can definitely go wrong.

I eventually came across a small white fence, and was happy to note that there were apple trees not too far away on the other side. I quickly crouched down behind the fence to avoid any farmer's gazes. I looked around and did not see anything, so I hopped the fence with little effort and made a dash for the nearest tree. When my form was hidden behind the tree, I jumped up and grabbed a branch while ignoring the bark that was scratching and hurting my skin. I hoisted myself up and hid among the leaves like an jaguar waiting for prey.

I started picking up apples and eating as much as I could. I kept eating and eating and eating until the apples started taste odious and my stomach was filled up. Every apple that I devoured, I dropped to the ground below, hearing a soft thump every time one landed. I wanted to leave the apple remains behind so Applejack would find them and get upset. I was counting each apple that I ate, and when I was done with my little deed, I totaled that I devoured twenty apples. "I did not know that I had it in me!".

I drop from the tree as silently as a 140 pound human could, and hopped over the fence again. I ran back in the direction of the tent because I did not want to get caught. The last thing that I wanted to be called by these ponies was a pest. Everyone back in my neighborhood always called me a pest. That escalated into much more, but I do not want to think about that or I will just bring up more bad memories. This is my new life and I was going to start over. "Out with the old and in with the new!"

I came upon the clearing again and saw the large tent in all of its glory. I ran over to the entrance feeling alive! I even jumped a bit along the way because I was just excited! I ran into the tent and found a strange sight indeed. I saw a large bipedal canine creature digging through the bags frantically like it was having a adrenaline rush. It did not notice me until I spoke up to get its attention.

"Can I help you sir?"

The canine beast spun around and stood at its full height, which was up to my neck. That was still dangerous because it could bite me there without too much effort. Then the dog started to talk as well.

"You're strange diamond dog yes?"

"No I am not. What's a diamond dog?" I ask confused.

"We only try to survive. We want no quarrel with hairless pink creature."

"Okay. Take whatever you want." I say.

"Thankee!" it says before taking some bags and running past me out of the tent. That was certainly strange, but I did not bother to think about it too much. This was a strange new world with magic and there were many strange things that I did not know about, so it's best not to freak about it too much.

"Hey, at least he gave me an excuse to steal a sedative for myself. I'll just blame it on the diamond dog."

I went outside and basked in the sun and saw the diamond dog run away into the trees. I paid him no heed as I could feel the vitamin D being soaked into my system, and it made me feel happier. I ran out into the grassy field and starting jumping up into the air and falling down into the grass below. I started to roll around in the grass feeling very happy about myself and life. I rolled next to a flower and smelled it vigorously. I then just sat there lying down and making grass angels. "This must be what cats feel like when they are given cat-nip!"

I then stop moving and feel the sun upon my face. I take a deep breath and relax as multiple ladybugs flew around, some landing on my shirtless torso. "Oh that's right! I need a shirt. Eh, I'll wait. I have the rest of my life to think about shirts.

THUMP!

That sound almost gave me a heart attack when I was in my relaxed state. My head rose quickly and swiveled around to look for the thing that made that noise. I spotted Fluttershy, the lone Pegasus just standing up and staring at me. I did not know what to do, so I just tried to strike up a small conversation.

"Hey Fluttershy! What brings you here?"

She just stared with big eyes, not saying a thing and making me a little bit nervous.

"Um, I thought that you went to town with Twilight and the other humans."

"I decided not to go yet because I needed some time to myself."

"Oh okay. I just saw you over here in the field from my cottage and thought that I would come and say hi."

"Well thanks for making me feel a little more welcome Fluttershy! It means a lot to me. At least you didn't kick me in the head like Applejack did." I say.

"Oh yes. I noticed your black eyes. Applejack overreacted! She shouldn't always try to fight things that she doesn't understand!"

"I agree, thanks for giving me company Fluttershy!"

"It's really no problem. I have plenty of green tea at my house and was wondering if you would like some. Hopefully that would make up for what Applejack did."

"I would love some. Where is your cottage anyway?"

"It's over there." she says while pointing with her hoof. "I might be able to heal those black eyes while you visit Alexius. That is your name right?

"Yes."

"Well come along, I bet you want some of that tea hm?"

"You bet Fluttershy." I say as I get up and started walking towards her cottage. I don't know how I didn't see the cottage earlier, I guess I was just sucked up in the moment. Well I believe that I made one new friend, and I believe that we would get along just fine.