Now bording flight to Canterlot

Nate got up to get on the plane.

He had always wanted to go to Canterlot, ever since his best childhood friend Wes said that he was moving there. A human living in a society that mainly consists of ponies was unheard of: At least by humans. Nate likes to think of them as two teenage girls who are mad at each other. They don't often talk to each other, but they talk a hell of a lot behind their backs. Of course, it is hard to keep from Equestrians ears since both pony and human immigrants and pioneers.

Both human and pony politicians (mainly humans, as Nate thought) were to blame for the detrimental comments. About half of the population supports equality between the two species, but the other half... Not so much. Nate was on the half that supported equal treatment for both of them.

Nate merely observed in curiosity as several ponies got off the return flight. Until now, he hadn't realized how much of a tourist he looked liked. He had a camera slung around his neck, his favorite tropical button shirt, creamy brown cargo shorts, and sunglasses snugly in his pocket for whenever he needed them. Then again, not every day do you get to go temporary live with another intelligent species.

All passengers, please quickly enter the plane. The portal will be closing soon.

Nate stopped stalling, and gave the lady behind the counter his ticket. He then went onto the plane, sitting in the seat closest to the window under row 17. A guy who looked like a surfer and his wife or girlfriend or whoever ended up sitting next to them. 'At least I don't have to sit next to an annoying fucking baby.' He thought.

Please turn off all electronic devices.

The only devices Nate had on him was his phone, which was turned off, and his camera, which he didn't think would interfere with anything.

Unlike most flights, this one didn't fly through the sky, this one flew through a portal. The carrier began to pick up speed, which was always Nate's favorite part. Everybody watched in awe as the frame of the portal began to flash with electricity, then open up just before the plane zoomed into it.

Through the window, colors exploded and mixed with each other, every color of the rainbow was present, it was truly beautiful. He was tempted to the edge with taking a picture, so he did, and he annoyed everyone in the process.

An hour passed, and the passengers were still traveling through the beautiful portal.

"Hey, man, do you know what time it is?" The surfer guy said.

"Ugh... What?" Nate said, comprehending his question. "Oh, it's 5:48 PM."

"Thanks." Replied the surfer guy.

Nate remembered something. "Oh, you know that there is time difference between worlds, right?

"That's right, I remember hearing that on my phone or something." He smiled thankfully.

Nate went back to his relaxing position, with his head up against the chair.

"Paul." He said, holding out his hand.

"What?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My name is Paul." He said, again.

"Oh. Mine is Nate." He said, shaking his hand.

Nate went back again, closing his eyes this time. Paul.... Paul. That was a stupid name for a surfer. Why not something like... Dane? Then again, he had no idea if he was a surfer. He could already feel the classic airplane boredom getting to him. He did, however, like the novelty of it.

An outside force interrupted the cozy chamber that is his mind. A kick behind his seat.

Maybe I was wrong about there not being any kids on this flight... He thought, knowing that it was going to be a long flight.

We will be arriving in fifteen minutes.

"Thank God." He said under his breath.

Nate had no idea what he was going to do when he got to Canterlot. Up until now, he hadn't given it much thought. Maybe he'll just grab a cup of coffee. He also thought about reuniting with Wes. But then he realized how unlikely that seemed. It had been a while since him and Wes last talked, so him not recognizing him would be strike one.

He also imagined how unlikely it would be to find some, let alone one, of the few humans in Equestria. Then again... Humans would easily stand out against the ponies.

Either way, Nate had a good feeling about this trip, and he was going to return happy; whether he'd find Wes, or not.

I looked through the window, to see the other side of the portal coming closer. Almost there... I thought. Light filled the plane as we exited/entered through the portal. The plane slowed down. It took it a lot less longer to slow down than usual, since it wasn't a normal plane, and had been modified or whatever to travel through dimensions.

Everybody began to unbuckle their belts, so Nate did too. While he did, he looked outside. Luscious green pastures and trees, and rivers, and rainbows... It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. His eyes were glued to the window, but his body forced him out of the trance, and to walk off the plane.

"Welcome to Equestria!" Said a pony in a blue suit, and brown mane, and a lighter coat.

"Thank you, miss." He said with a smile, which turned back into neutral after she stopped looking at him. He remembered something, and backed up to her. "Excuse me, but do you have any cafes around here?" He asked.

"Of course! Just make your way to the food court." She said. He had always heard that ponies were typically extremely friendly, this pony was no exception.

"Thanks." He said, walking towards the sign that read, "FOOD." He had to admit, their transportation system, or at least their ports, were a lot more convenient and organized then Earth's.

He was in absolute fascination as he saw beings walking around on four legs. He could tell that they were intrigued as well. In particular, one unicorn was casting a spell to carry her luggage over her head. God, I wish I could do that. He thought. He knew that coffee beans were plants exclusive to Earth, so It got him wondering if Equestria had an Earth franchise here.

He was wrong. Apparently Equestria did have their own coffee company. It was called Pinkie's Brew. Obviously referencing the pony that held the laughter element. She was known for her hyper personality, so he smirked at the restaurant's pun.

He found a USD to Bit converter to the side of the restaurant. He slipped two fifties and a twenty into the machine, and received several handfuls of coins. They appeared to be huge, but it seemed like every time he slipped them into his pocket, more room seemed to be magically made for them. He ended up fitting all of them into his two pockets. He then went into the restaurant.

Everything was pink. Everything. The walls, the tables, the cups, and even a bunch of the pastries and baked goods. He stepped up to the counter, to the pony behind it. She smiled at him, and put extra effort into making him feel welcome because he was human.

"Uh, hi." He asked, scanning his eyes around the menu. He just settled for a regular cup, and gave her the bits.

"Right away." She said, giving a stallion behind her the order.

Nate walked into the line that had already ordered and soon received the coffee. Taking a sip of it, it sent waves of energy down his spine. That's just what he needed. He walked out of the restaurant, taking a complimentary newspaper on his way, and headed down to the luggage conveyer, where he got the rest of his bags.

While he was there, he saw Paul waving to him. Fuck off... He thought, while waving back and smiling. But, Paul did make him recall something. The time difference. He looked across the room, trying to find a clock, and eventually he did. He walked up to it and it read, "6:55 AM."

Woah.... He thought. Usually at his home at this time, it would still be dark out, but now it was bright as could be.

While Nate walked to the exit, he read one of the headlines which read, "Equestria's Plentiful Resources Could Lead to More Trade Routes." He had to take a note of that to read it later.

While exiting, he noticed that the outside resembled a train station. In fact, there was a train just loading on passengers and steaming up and starting.

It was beautiful. The houses were gorgeous, and on top of that, a castle hung above them on top of a mountain, which gushed waterfalls sending down to the town's river.

"This is it." He thought out loud as he looked up and gazed at the Inn he was going to stay in.

It was three stories high, made out of bricks and wood and a roof made out of straw. I really liked the old style of architecture they had. I reached for a door just when it flang open in front of me after it exploded in a wavy membrane of magic.

"Excuse me s-Sir." He said. He was a lot different from the cashier at Pinkie's Brew. He clearly was used to seeing humans. Which is strange considering that the cashier must work at a place with lots of humans tourists.

"No problem at all." Nate said, too quiet for him to hear as he was already several feet away from him.

As Nate gazed down at the lobby, he saw why the pony didn't flinch at him. The inn must've been designed specifically for humans. Most of the beings in there were in fact, human.

The inside looked even more beautiful. The floor of the lobby had a gorgeous sparkling tile, and you could see all stories as they all had decks that hang over the lobby. Two fountains, one to the right, and one to the left of him. They were identical. Nate didn't know who the pony was on the fountain, but the inscription caught his attention.

Equality for all, and all for equality.

Nate hadn't realized that there were also ponies who didn't like humans. He had always thought that it was always on the human's part. Then again, it still might be indirectly the humans' faults due to their behaviors.

He stopped wasting time, and spoke to the mare behind the counter.

"Can I help you?" She said with a wide smile.

"Uhh, yeah..." He said while scratching his neck. "I talked with somebody over an email, my name is Nate R-"

"Ah! I'll bring it right up." She said, knowing exactly who he was. She began typing furiously. He wondered how her big hooves could hit individual keys. "So you're staying in the one bed, one bath? On the third floor?"

"Yeah." He said.

After exchanging other information, she slid my room key over to him.

"3rd floor, 3rd room." She said with one last smile.

"Thanks!" He said.

Nate walked over to the elevator and pushed the top button. It was dead silent, which he liked because he enjoyed the seclusion. Nobody bothered him or opened the elevator door. Then again, maybe it was because he was only going up to the third floor.

It opened up, and he was gazing down at the lobby. He walked down to the third door and put the key in the hole.

The door swayed open by a simple touch. He turned around to lock the door, then noticed a little plastic bag tied to the doorknob. Picking it up, it was decorated in pink and blue swirls. He opened it up and dumped it on a table. There was an entire map of Equestria, a smaller map of just Canterlot, toothpaste, and toothbrush, shower soap, and a few other goodies. Ponies truly were a lot nicer than humans, as he thought.

Then he had time to look around his apartment. There was a central area with a TV, a bed, and a couch (Which he assumed that folded out into a pullout bed.) Also, there was a gigantic window showing off all of canterlot. He saw forests and mountains and waterfalls and castle. Similar to what he saw on the plane.

Nate decided to get settled in by plopping down onto the bed and turning on the TV. Besides, maybe it would help to get to know some of the pony's culture.

After about an hour of TV, Nate decided to stop being the lazy bastard that he thinks of himself as, and actually enjoy his vacation. Flipping off the TV. He got up. He stretched, before walking out the door which clicked behind him. He went down the elevator, and out the lobby door.

He didn't really have anything planned for his vacation, which probably was stupid of him, but he put that behind him for now. There was one thing he did have on his mind though. Wes. He wanted to find him. He remembered him saying something about the Trottingham Embassy which was in Canterlot.

Nate grabbed his map of Canterlot which was tugged snugly in his pocket. He scanned across the whole town, and came near the castle. He found a section labeled, "EMBASSIES." And saw the smaller section within it labeled, "Trottingham Embassy."

So he walked down the brick road. He was intrigued as the bricks seemed to reflect off the sun, they must've been made from some sort of metal.

It was as if every corner of this town was beautified and detailed extremely. The castle was enlarging with every step, and it was easy to see because of the mountain it rested on.

Eventually, he got to the embassies. There were a bunch of stands up for every town in a Equestria. All of them had the goal of trying to bring in more tourists to their town. Especially humans since Canterlot was were all humans get dropped off.

Nate stood in the middle of them, they all formed a half circle and were in alphabetical order. The Trottingham embassy was one of the last ones. He saddened a bit inside when he saw a pony at the stand instead of a human, but he gave it the benefit of the doubt.

"Excuse me." Nate said.

"Uh-Oh. Hi!" She said.

"Do you have a human who works here?" He asked.

"Do you know their name?" She asked.

His heart leaped inside of his chest. "His name is Wes."

"Yes, he just got off. He has the night shift." She said.

Nate couldn't hold back his huge smile. "Thank you so much! Do you know where he is?"

"Y-You're welcome!" She said, not expecting that much enthusiasm. "He's probably sleeping right now, he was here all night."

"Where does he live?" He asked. Any sadness that he had was covered with joy and a new burning desire to meet up with his old friend.

"Do you have a map?" She asked.

"Sure! Right here." Nate said, Reaching for his map of Canterlot then spreading it on the table.

"M-kay.... It's right... Here!" She said pointing to it. She then put a marker in her mouth and circled a building. He was amazed at her skills of writing with her mouth. "He stays here sometimes, but spends most of his time in his house at Trottingham.

"Thanks!" He said, pulling a coin out of his pocket and sliding it on the table. He curled the map into a roll, then slid it back into his pocket. Turning around he thought of something.. He turned to face her again. "Is Trottingham a nice place?"

"Yeah! I love it." She said.

"I hope everybo- pony there is as nice as you." He said with a smile.

He didn't want to wake up Wes. It was probably best if he came during the night. He probably should of asked for Wes' hours. Either way, he might as well pass the time with dinner; he didn't realize how hungry he was.

After some walking, he found something that looked decent. There was even meat on the menu, which was a big pro for him.

Nate sat at a single table and was waited on by a pony. He ate an imported steak, and decided to add a house salad; after all, he might have to get used to not eating meat for a while, despite how much he loved it.

He made his first payment with bits, then left. Outside, the sun was beginning to go under the mountains, and he became more excited.

To burn off a few extra minutes, he sat on a park bench and pulled out his phone and played with it for a while. He noticed that he was getting even more looks than he already has been getting. Come to think of it, how would ponies use phones? Or did they?

9:00 PM

The sun was fully down, it moved a lot faster In Equestria. Nate kept hearing things about two princesses who control it. He made his way back to the embassies, which was a good distance away. By the time he got there, the moon was shining in the sky, being a surprisingly large source of light.

Over at the Trottingham embassy, he saw him. Or at least the silhouette of him, but every time he got closer he noticed more detail. Every detail that made him reassure himself. He was talking to somebody else about Trottingham, and as Nate was only inches away, he left, leaving them alone. Wes noticed him.

"Hi!" Wes said with a forced smile, clearly not recognizing him.

"Wes-" Nate said before getting cut off.

"Woah... It's you..." He said, his expression changing to serious. "I couldn't see your face in this darkness, but still... I couldn't forget."

Nate filled him in on why he came, what he did when he got here, where he lives, his life, basically everything.

"Well you're doing great, as am I." Wes said with a grin. "I would say that we're going to have a blast, but the problem is, I'll be heading to Trottingham tomorrow."

"You are?" Nate said disappointingly. "Yeah, I remember a pony here telling me about Trottingham earlier. I heard good things." He tried to put aside the fact that he knew nothing about the town.

"Well maybe you could stay longer, or do you have to be back by a certain day?" Wes asked. "You could always come to Trottingham with me."

"Maybe..." Nate never really ever had anything important planned with his life. "Anyway..." He said, changing the subject. "What's it like to live with ponies permanently?"

"It's wonderful!" Wes said.

"Really? Don't you get lonely without any other humans?" Nate asked.

"Well, no. I don't get lonely. I've come to like ponies in general more than humans." He answered. "Besides, even if I did want to come live at Earth once more, it would be hard."

"Why do you say that?" Nate asked.

"I-Ohh.. I forgot that you didn't know already." He said, fumbling for something in his pocket. He then brought out a golden locket shaped with a heart. I didn't like where this was heading. Wes sighed and then snapped it open.

His jaw nearly dropped when he saw the picture. "No way...." He said. "No way." This time, with a slight chuckle. There was a picture of a pony with baby blue fur, and a darker mane. Nate looked at him to see if he was serious. He showed no signs of dishonesty.

"You just don't understand..." He said defensively, his cheeks reddening.

"Chill down... I never said I didn't like it." Nate said, giving him back his locket. "I think It's great."

"Are you still unemployed?" Wes said, him being the one to change the subject this time.

"Yes." Nate said hastily.

"Are you looking for a job?"

"Not actively."

"Really..." Wes said, letting it rattle in his mind for a second. "You know what I like about you?"

"What?"

"You keep to yourself and aren't charismatic." He said with a smile.

"I can't tell if that was a compliment or not." Said Nate, rolling his eyes.

"That's not the point. The point is that I have the perfect idea for a job for you."

"Well tell me about it, then." Nate said, not sure if he even wanted a job in the first place.

"Over in Trottingham, we have a prince who stays in the palace." Said Wes. "There have been flyers all around town for a new valet, or personal butler for him."

Again, Nate question his sincerity. "That's the worst idea you've ever had, and that's saying something.

"How is it bad?" Wes asked.

"Do you seriously think that he'd just accept anybody like me off the streets?" Nate asked.

"But you're not just anybody... You're a human."

"So what?"

Wes didn't say anything, still having that smug look on his face and letting Nate think it through.

"Well that still doesn't mean anything, I doubt the prince cares if they're human or not."

"Maybe... Maybe. But think of how little time ponies and humans have actually spent knowing about each other. Haven't you noticed a bit of extra importance when talking to ponies?"

"I-Ah..." Nate said. He had to admit that he did in fact notice it.

"Just consider it," He said.

Laughing, Nate said, "I will. I'm just telling you, I have a snowball's chance."

"Once I get off, I'll buy you a drink on me." Wes said.

"I'll hold you to that." Nate said smiling.

They said their goodbyes then parted. Nate felt like he just let a ton off of his chest. It felt so great to finally talk to him again. Whether or not he was actually going to consider the job, he had made up his mind that he would extend his trip.

Just as he promised, Wes had brought him over to a bar that he'd known about and they both got mugs of hard cider. A mix of techno and reggae music played in the background which was a huge turn on for him.

"Never tried this stuff, is it good?" Nate asked.

"Damnit, do I have to tell you everything?"

Nate chuckled a bit. "You haven't changed a bit." He said, as he took a sip from the mug.

They watched as ponies danced on the dance floor. It was both adorable and hilarious for Nate. The way that they had similar ways of dancing to humans, but managed to do it on four legs amused him.

"But man... I'm serious, you need to consider moving here..." Wes said.

Nate sighed. "I'll think about it, okay? I've only been here for a day. I am extending my trip so I can come to Trottingham though, you should be happy about that."

"Sounds great." He said.

After a few more drinks, they said goodbye again and parted.

Nate went back to the hotel, up the elevator, and to his room. "Oh God..." He said, leaping on the bed, it felt like ages to him since he had slept in a bed. Let alone one this comfortable.

Nate thought about his first day in Equestria. And the next days to come. He had already made up his mind about heading to Trottingham, but kept putting the job aside until now. It's not like I could even get it if I tried... He thought to himself. But, the small shred of hope that he had was making him cling to the idea that he might have a shot at it. Wes sounded convinced enough.

He wanted to think about it more, but his short term needs won out, and within minutes, he was out cold.

Author's Note

Please tell me about any 1st and 3rd person errors I've made.