The Phantom Pegasus

Danny felt something hard poke at his arm. He moaned lightly, not wanting to wake. "F-five more minutes, Mom..."

"I'm not your mom, silly!"

Danny moaned. "Who are you, then?" he asked tiredly. "Also, where am I? My head hurts so badly..." He opened his eyes...only to recoil in shock, knocking back his friends as well. Being pushed woke up Sam and Tucker, who looked up as well. For a minute they stared, jaws agape. Before them was a group of interesting looking ponies and unicorns and pegasi. A blue pegasus with rainbow hair and a bizarre rainbow mark with a cloud on her deck had been the one prodding him. She raised an eyebrow.

"You're in Ponyville." She paused, then smiled. "And I'm Rainbow Dash."

"Pony...what?" Tucker asked, baffled. A pony with blond hair stepped forward. They noted she had a strange mark on her behind just like the pegasus- only hers were apples and she lacked wings or a horn.

"Ponyville. A town in Equestria."

"Equest-what?" Sam inquired, beyond puzzled. At that, a pink pony with balloons on her rear and curly magenta hair with a smile jumped forth.

"Hi there! In order, you're in Equestria, and you're in a town called Ponyville that's in Equestria, and you're in the chicken yard for my friend Fluttershy's chickens, and my name is Pinkie Pie, and that's Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy! And-"

"Pinkie Pie, I think we're confusing them a bit. How'd you ponies get in here?" Applejack asked. The trio stopped to take a look at who was before them again. A purple haired pony with a horn and diamonds on its butt that Pinkie Pie said was Rarity. They had already met Rainbow Dash. The other unicorn with dark blue and purple and pink striped hair and stars- Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie had said. A timid yellow pony with pink hair and butterflies as her mark was hiding behind the group and looking at them shyly. That was Fluttershy. The one whose chicken coop they landed in.

Despite everything that was yet to be questioned, Danny took a step. "Uh- we're honestly not sure. All we remember is some weird...unicorn-pony-ghost-thing coming and throwing some sort of portal under us and now we're here and we don't have a clue where we are and-" Danny was cut off by a cry from Tucker.

"My-my hands! I've-" Danny and Sam turned to see Tucker- who was a golden unicorn pony with a PDA mark. Shocked, they looked at themselves. Danny was a pure snow white pony. Raising a hoof up, he felt that he still had his hair. Turning to try to see all of him, he saw wings and a bunch of stars on his butt. Sam was a light purple pony without special features like horns or wings, and hand violet roses as her mark. All three were silent for a minute, then looked back up at the group of ponies, who were staring at them, puzzled by their shock.

"Why are y'all so shocked? It's like you've never seen yourselves before, much less ponies." Applejack said with a frown. Sam scowled.

"Well...not like this. Um...we're not supposed to be ponies." she muttered, trying to figure everything out.

"We're not ponies." Tucker said. The next thing they knew, all the others started laughing, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was still hiding. After a minute, they calmed down.

"Hah, that's funny! You're totally ponies, sillies!" Pinkie Pie giggled. Danny scowled.

"We're- we're not kidding. We weren't originally like this. We don't even know what happened. We've never heard of Equestria, Ponyville, or anything like it! We just want to figure out how to get home." he said.

"Do tell, where are you from, then?" Rarity asked. All three shared a look.

"I doubt you'll believe us, but here's the story..." Danny and his friends began to unravel a story for the new strangers they had barely met. The only thing they didn't reveal was that Danny was half ghost. After they had finished, all the ponies had their jaws on the ground. Danny, Sam, and Tucker uncomfortably shifted under their stares.

"Well," Twilight Sparkle said after awhile, "There's a way to test this to see if you're really whatever a human is again. Try standing up." she said. They all raised an eyebrow, then tried to stand up. They all barely managed awkwardly, Danny even more awkward with the new wings. They weren't used to four legs. More than once they fell to the ground upon trying to get up. Eventually they managed awkwardly to keep up. Applejack giggled.

"You're just like little newborn ponies trying to stand."

Twilight walked up to Tucker to examine his cutie mark. "Wh- what are you doing?" Tucker asked. Twilight smiled.

"I'm just examining your cutie mark."

"Is that what those things are called?"

"Yes. Every pony eventually gets a cutie mark- it's a mark that shows their special talent. Though I can't make out yours. What exactly is it? I've never seen anything like it." she said, fascinated. Tucker grinned.

"It's called a PDA. They're practically the most useful thing ever. Oh, sweet, sweet technology! Wait...speaking of which, where's Karen?" Tucker jolted and searched the ground wildly for it.

"...Karen?" Rarity asked, almost afraid to ask. Sam sighed.

"It's his PDA, like he mentioned. He names his PDAs."

"Oh! I found it!" Tucker crawled under Danny to try to grab the PDA. He nudged it out with his hoof and sighed in relief. It wasn't broken. He carefully tapped it with his hoof and turned it on, then off. "I gotta save energy on it. I don't know the next time I get to charge it." Twilight frowned.

"Well, I'm not sure what to think. If anything, your cutie mark and that...PDA is enough proof something's off. Plus you guys are way too awkward for ponies your age." she said. "And you're trying to find a way home, right?" The trio nodded. "I'll contact Princess Celestia and ask her for help. Maybe we can find a way back."

"Princess Celestia? Don't know who that is, but she might be able to help us?"

"Of course. She and her sister Luna rule Equestria. She was my mentor in magic. Anyhow, what's all your names? I don't think you mentioned them."

"I'm Danny."

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Tucker."

"I must throw you guys a party! To welcome you to Equestria!" Pinkie Pie burst out, finally unable to not announce it. Without another word, she ran off to go start party planning. Twilight Sparkle smiled.

"Get ready for a party later. When Pinkie plans a party, she makes it. Anyhow, I imagine you guys are new to all this stuff, but you should learn about what type of ponies you are. I have to go mail a letter to Celestia. Applejack, mind teaching Sam about being an Earth pony?"

"No problem."

"Rainbow Dash, you mind helping Danny learn to fly with those wings?"

"Of course not! This is gonna be fun!"

"And Rarity, teach Tucker about using magic?"

"But of course."

"Wait- magic?" Tucker asked, surprised.

"Flying?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "But...I can already do that- oh right. I'm a pegasus. I also have wings now. Wonderful, it's the power of flying times two." he thought to himself. Twilight merely smiled.

"You'll see in time. You guys can meet in my library in an hour or so. Fluttershy, you can come with me." she said. Fluttershy nodded. She was still extremely timid around the new ponies, especially after their story, but she managed to crack a small smile at them before she and Twilight left. The three left to give basic training to the three smiled.

"Get ready for Pony 101!" Applejack announced.