A Man in Equestria

Chapter 1 - The Bottle and the Picnic

Written by BubbleBuster

Charlie Hazel glanced around happily as the clock struck half-past three. He could now leave his job behind the counter at a rusty old petrol station that only got the occasional customer.
Charlie was of average height and weight. He had glass-green eyes that shimmered in the sunlight, and straight brown hair that he always liked to look nice, work or not. In terms of clothing, he was wearing a dark blue top with the petrol station's logo on it.

Petrol For All, it read in stylized letters.

More like Petrol For Nobody, Charlie thought.

Charlie also wore a name tag that said: Hello, my name is Charlie. How he hated it.

He wore baggy black trousers for his job and he wore sneakers. When he was going out, however, he would wear something a lot more presentable than that slop. This is why nobody comes here, Charlie thought.

He wasn't alone. His workmate was there too, getting some stock from the only other room in the tiny shop. "Yo mate, where does sweets go?" he asked.

"Don't worry about them; there's plenty on the shelves." replied Charlie, crisp and clear.

"Kay, Charlie."

The shop itself was two rooms. The main one had blue walls, a white ceiling and a green and white tiled flooring. The counter was parallel to the double doors leading inside the shop, and it had shelves filled with treats and whatnot. The other room was filled to the brim with stock and was open to staff only. It had the (barely noticeable) blue walls and white ceiling, but there was no proper flooring.

Charlie was just (very eagerly) getting his coat on to leave when a pretty, thin young lady came through the double doors. She went about the shelves for a few seconds or so before coming up to the counter, placing her elbows on it and looking at Charlie with a judgmental face. She stared at him, so Charlie spoke up first.

"Can I help you?" inquired Charlie.

"Yes, pump two." she replied, flashing him a sly smirk. This caught Charlie off guard, but he quickly shook it off and looked at a screen on the counter, finding pump two and the price.

"That'll be twenty ninety-seven, please." he said, practicing his best salesman voice.

The woman fished around in her pocket. She pulled out a regular-sized pink purse before picking out a ten pound note, a five pound note and three one pound coins.

"That is not enough, miss..."

"This is all I have, please take it." she pleaded. "I have three children in the car, waiting for me. We are moving far away very soon. To Glasgow. We need this to keep our family together. Please, we need this fuel."

"Okay, lady." replied Charlie, not bothering to argue and losing patience with each word.. "Let's just get this over with; my shift's over. I need to get home as quickly as possible, I have a life too, you know."

The surprisingly beautiful woman put the money on the counter and slid it over to Charlie, the queen's head showing in all its glory on the pound coins. She smiled, took her purse, maneuvered around the shelves, and exited the shop. Charlie watched as she jumped into an expensive red sports car and sped off.

Con girl...

Charlie took the money and put it somewhere safe before zipping up his coat and yelling to his friend, "You're on your own now, Dan! I'm going!"

"Kay mate! Watch out for traffic!" he laughed, which was infectious; soon Charlie was laughing too. Charlie walked out of the double doors, bursting with joy just because the day was over. He glanced around him.

It was autumn. Brown and yellow leaves were carried around by the wind and few remained on the trees. Laid out in front of the station was a straight road, prone to traffic jams during rush hours. Now, though, only one car came about every fifteen seconds.

Charlie began walking left down the now peaceful road. He looked behind him and saw the few petrol pumps; there were only three at the station. He walked down the long road and round a corner, where he could see the village in all of its glory. He paused a minute, taking a seat on a bench that was conveniently placed for him. He did this five days a week.

Charlie Hazel could hear a tune playing and realized someone was calling him. He got his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. It was his girlfriend Holly. He answered the call and she asked him where he was.

"Oh, sorry Holly. The last customer took a lot of time, and I forgot to call you. I'm on my way home." he apologized.

"Okay, as long as you're okay," replied a sweet-sounding voice.

They said goodbye to each other and Charlie got to his feet, determined to get home. Big, dark clouds were menacingly floating in the sky, ready to rain down on him whenever they pleased. He started walking, humming a song to himself. He went past the sign for the village and down the path. He greeted a friend on his way who he hadn't seen in a while, went down a quiet road and took a right. He was home. Charlie jogged up to the door, getting his keys out of his pocket and opening the door. He took his keys out and went in to his home. Charlie took his coat off, threw it on a hanger, then walked into the living room and sat on a soft, white sofa. His back sank in and he felt warm inside.

The living room was fairly small, the only real furniture being a sofa and a wooden table. At the front of the room was a television. The room had a red and white colour scheme. The walls were red, the ceiling was white, and the floor was made out of polished wood with a red and white rug on it.

The only occupants of this house were Charlie, Holly and their dog, Star. She was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Charlie shouted that he was home, and then he proceeded to walk into the computer room to catch up on his social media.

The computer was already on. He went onto the internet, clicked deviantART, and was took there straight away. Charlie typed in his username and password, and was took to his page. He wasn't an artist, he only came on to meet new people and comment on artwork. He had heard about the new My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic TV show. He had heard about grown men watching it and liking it. He decided to voice his opinion. He opened up a journal entry by someone asking what they thought. There were loads of comments, both good and bad. Charlie started typing what he thought about it.

I do not like the look of the new show.
Charlie clicked enter and it was posted for all to see. A few minutes later he refreshed the page and found that an annoying brony had replied.

do u not like bronys? screw u!!!

I do not mind ordinary bronies, but I hate the ones that overreact, like you.

i hope u get trnsprtd to eqestra and clstia kills u!!!

Charlie burst out laughing. Me, transported to Equestria, he thought, I have great concern for the human race!

Charlie read some arguments between bronies and haters to use up some time. None were nearly as funny as his. He kept on reading the comment that had made him feel so happy earlier.

"What a beautiful day." he paused for a second and added, "I've jinxed it now. Damn it. Maybe if I do nothing but keep on reading nothing'll happen. I bet something will, though."

A few days ago, Princess Twilight Sparkle had told her friends to come to the Golden Oak Library to go on a picnic on Tuesday, and now was Tuesday. It was a beautiful day and the princess had just finished reading The Complete and Unabridged Guide to Complex Magic. Now all she had to do was wait for her friends to arrive. Twilight had made hay sandwiches, something that the pony had not ate in a long time, and she was certain her friends would love them as much as she did. She glanced at the clock in her tree house. It read two o' clock.

"They should be here by now, just give it a few minutes." Twilight said to her overly-excited companion, Spike the dragon. "You too, Owlowiscious. Oh, look! Here they are now."

"Hoo!" said Owlowiscious, eagerly flapping his wings.

"Our friends, Owlowiscious! Oh, yeah, that's the only thing you say." said Spike, rolling his eyes on the last part.

There was a loud knock at the door followed by a posh voice saying, "Twilight, we're here!"

The princess' ears perked up at the mention of her name and she rushed to the door. Grabbing the door handle with her hoof, she swung it open and found her friends waiting outside. "Come on in, girls. I just need to get the hay sandwiches and we'll be off. Did any of you bring any food?"

"I brought some candy!"

"Yep, got some apples and some apple juice for ya'll."

"Great. Let me just get the sandwiches." replied Twilight, trotting down a hallway towards the kitchen.

About a minute later the princess had come back with the hay sandwiches in a box. "Shall we be off?" she asked.

"Eeyup!"

"Totally!"

"I can't wait!"

"Yes..."

"Of course!"

The ponies set off towards the fields near Fluttershy's home, all excited about the upcoming events.

"This is gonna be a real good one! I'm SO EXCITED!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, the excitable party planning pony, hopping to show her anticipation for the picnic. The others smiled and rolled their eyes before concentrating on the road ahead.

Charlie was now dressed into some proper clothing, not the crap from the petrol station. Sometimes he liked to go out for walks in the darkness, and he felt like doing so now. He picked up his brown, leathery coat from the hanger and slipped it on, not bothering to zip it up. It wasn't that cold anyway. He unlocked the door and let it swing freely on its hinges.

He called to Holly, stroked the dog and walked out of the house. Charlie could smell the crispness of the air around him as he walked and walked, never bothering to stop. The stars and the Moon shone down silently on the Earth as Charlie got a good look at them. He sighed.

Charlie loved these kind of nights, and they were so rare that he always cherished them. He never came across anybody. After about ten minutes of walking, he found what he was looking for. An old field that he had been to as a child, perfect for stargazing. As a child, Charlie would spend hours on end alone with the night.

Walking over and sitting down on the grass, Charlie could see everything; he couldn't help but smile. There was a bush separating the field from the rest of the village, and he was glad it was still there. He hadn't done one of these walks in years on end.

Then, as Charlie looked at the stars, he was caught off guard by the sound of something rustling in the bushes.

Probably a fox, he thought. Shrugging it off, he continued ton take in the view.

He then heard a clink. Annoyed by the disturbance, he got to his feet and looked around the area. Then, as if by fate, he found something very peculiar laying there in the grass. It was a clear bottle, thick at the bottom and thin at the top. It had a crooked handle on it, and a cork in the top. What was even stranger was the fact that this bottle contained a watery green liquid that looked like it was right out of a fairy-tale. Charlie picked up the bottle and examined it more closely. Inside the liquid he could see colourful sparks dancing and flying inside it.

Charlie was baffled. What was it, where did it come from and why was it there?

He then did the unthinkable.

Clutching the bottle, Charlie pulled the cork out of it, examined it a little closer, tipped it up to his mouth...

And drank it.

It tasted of all kinds of flavours, some undeniably delicious while others utterly horrid as they splashed around his mouth. When he could finally swallow it, a warm feeling collected in his throat, then his stomach, and then it was gone completely.

So was his consciousness.

Author's Note

My goal for this chapter was 2000 words and I beat it! Yay!