Author's Note

And here we go! Chapter 1 of Strangers Like Me. Hope you all like it!

–1–

... H-hello, I guess.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

She told me this would be a good way to speak my mind every now and then, and maybe help myself to be more of an... Extrovert, but this is the first time I've actually picked up this journal.

It's... Actually really nice.

—

Sorry, I was looking it over for a bit. It's made of a soft and smooth... Leather? And it ties together like one of those older books I would've seen back home. You know, with the thread that ties around it from the outside, and a small notch for it to tie around, or click together with?

Of course, I still don't really think it's leather. These ponies probably just found some sort of substitute for that kind of thing...

Wow. Heh. I just looked at that paragraph again and, were it a few months ago, I probably would have thought whoever had written it to be, well, crazy.

That's rude of me, I'm sorry. I still don't really know... Well, who this journal is meant for, actually.

Technically, it was given to me, but why would I need to read what I already knew?

Either way, I picked this up for a reason; One that, honestly, I think I should start explaining.

My name is Rick. I would add my last name too, though, I'm not sure it really matters anymore.

See, a while ago, something happened... Something strange...

I was at home, bundled up in my bed–since where I lived was currently going through a cold front–and just... Resting. No TV, no reading, no browsing through the Internet like it was my day job. I was Just resting...

On that same day though, I got a knock at my door.

Already, this wasn't normal.

I didn't really have anyone to knock at my door in the first place, honestly.

Maybe my parents, who would come by for the occasional visit every now and then, but they would usually call first; a sort of, 'hello, be ready because we're going to pop in today', kind of call.

As for friends... Like I said, the reason I was given this book is because, honestly, I'm... Not much of a social person.

I don't like crowds, or just socializing with other people in general.

It's not that I don't like them! No!

I-it's just... I get all stammery, and nervous. My heart starts to beat really fast, and... And... It makes me anxious just thinking about it...

So, yeah, friends were out...

When the knock came, I was of course terrified.

It sounds silly, I know, but I quickly started to assume the worst. A robber come to steal from me; some sort of deranged killer; even that one guy who I had barely managed to ask for money from, back in grade school, come to force me to pay him back.

Like I said, Silly, I know.

It took me about... Well, let's say, twelve minutes? Yeah, twelve minutes before I could even manage to uncover myself. After that, it was another five of just getting up, taking a few, quivering breaths, and making my way to the door.

Even then, I felt as though something would go wrong. Not an omen that I just suddenly had on this particular day. I always felt like this; Paranoid.

When I stood in front of my house door, my feet shifting slightly in the slippers I had put on, and my teeth grinding against one another, I had hesitated.

I reached for the doorknob and just... Stopped...

I felt like I should've just pretended I wasn't home, and let whoever was there go, but that wouldn't be right.

And besides, I couldn't really just glance through my door's peephole, or a window. The peephole never really worked, the glass having been cracked and broken sometime before I moved in, and my windows were all too far from the door for me to get any sort of clear view of my doorway. Besides... I always kept the shutters closed anyways.

So, knowing that I shouldn't keep whoever it was waiting... I put my hand on the door handle, its cold metal providing a sharp contrast to the warmth I had been under... And opened the door...

~~I~~Nobody, actually, would've ever guessed that this would be the first time I should've listened to that paranoia of mine.

The rest after that was... Fuzzy... Or, furry, heh, if you want to put it that way... Just... Next thing I know, there aren't anymore people... Instead... Ponies...

Again, I read that paragraph a second time and... God I never thought I'd ever have to write something like that.

Then again, I never thought I'd be writing in a journal in the first place.

Anyways, since I came here–to Equestria, I mean–things have been... Not bad, but not good.

Sure, ponies are nice here. Really nice in fact. So much so that, compared to where I'm from... Well, it didn't really compare at all.

But, I still could never get over that... That anxiety of mine...

I was lucky enough that, when I came here, I had ended up near a pretty small village... Ponyville... Appropriate, right?

There weren't necessarily a lot of ponies, but whenever they bundled together, like during a market sale, it always did seem like it.

The first pony to really introduce herself to me, or, more accurately, calm me down and explain where I was, was a purple unicorn mare named Twilight; actually, the first pony to greet me was a pink and hyperactive pony, who went on about something that had to do with cake and... Never meeting me and... Well... I couldn't really understand much from her. She talked really fast. Plus, she really scared me that time, though she didn't seem to notice.

Anyways, Twilight told me everything I needed to know... She was nice to me that way. She never minded the fact that I wasn't a pony–or anyone else for that matter–or that, apparently, I was supposedly the only human here. To her, it was just like she was talking to a normal ~~person~~ pony.

Sorry about that. I'm writing in quill with ink, so, I can't really erase any of my mistakes, like with a pencil.

Back to the pony bit.

Um, honestly, she was a big help, getting me adjusted, and all that. She had even been the one to, surprisingly, buy me my first house here in Ponyville. I had told her that it really wasn't necessary–that it was too much–but she had just giggled and told me, "Oh please! Nothing's too much for a friend!"

... Friend... That was... Is my first friend.

She had managed to help me so much on my first day here... And tried to help me even more later on, some time after finding out about how timid I was...

As to how she found out...?

Well, that pink pony from earlier? The one I said had kind of scared me? She... Threw a party for me... Full of other ponies... In a house that Twilight had just bought for me...

That was the first part of the house I managed to get myself to know. The corner... Alone... At least, wishing to be alone.

Nonetheless, though nopony–and yes, that's how they refer to the term here–seemed to mind my lack of communication with them, Twilight, she felt it was a little disheartening.

"One of the best things somepony could have to help them, even when they're scared, is another friend."

So, she tried to help me through it; through getting over my anxiety and meeting other.

She had been kind enough to take baby steps, of course.

She had started off by introducing her other friends to me, including that... Pink one...

That didn't really work out though, since I always ended up shying away from them... It was especially awkward when she introduced me to this nice, but just as shy as me, pegasus named Fluttershy. The two of us could barely look at each other, let alone make a conversation that didn't consist of 'sorry's and other things like that.

She did everything she could to help me get out of my shell, actually. This journal being one of those things..

But... The reason I pick it up today though, dusting off some of the... Well, dust, that it had picked up in my cabinet after so long, is because I really need something to help me cope right now.

Recently, she decided to go for a... much bigger step... something she called... 'Shock therapy'... As in, psychological shock, involving me and a lot of ponies.

She planned on taking me with her, and her friends, to this big event over in Canterlot called 'The Grand Galloping Gala'.

See the problem?

I-I can't handle a crowd that big! I can't!

There's going to be so many of them; Strange ponies that I had never met before, in a big city I had never been to before, with judgmental and professional ponies... Everywhere... And... And...

—

A-again, sorry, I needed a moment.

Still, none of that compares to the worst possible thing! S-she intends to have me meet her teacher, and that same teacher's sister. Not a big problem?

It is when the two are the princesses of Equestria!

J-just what am I supposed to do? What if I mess up!?

... It's a really bad situation, but I can't just let Twilight down and say 'no'. I can't lose my first friend... Somepony so willing to deal with my social timidity.

Either way, all I know is that, tommorow, I pick up a suit that another of Twilight's friends, Rarity, had made for me, and we're off to Canterlot... By train...

I just checked my clock, and it's somewhere along 1:30. I haven't been able to sleep well this whole week since Twilight had told me about this and, reluctantly, I had said yes.

I also took a small peek outside, through my window. It's hard to believe that, in a bit, I'm going to meet the two that raise and lower the moon and sun here.

I've never been so nervous in my life.

A-anyways... Wish me luck...

~~God, why didn't I just say no?~~